RTHK: Major US pipeline stays shut after ransomware attack

The US government declared a regional emergency on Sunday as the largest fuel pipeline system in the United States remained largely shut down, two days after a major ransomware attack was detected.

The Colonial Pipeline Company ships gasoline and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the populous East Coast through 8,850 kilometres of pipeline, serving 50 million consumers.

The company said it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack involving ransomware  attacks that encrypt computer systems and seek to extract payments from operators.

"This Declaration addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products and provides necessary relief," the Department of Transportation said in a statement.

The emergency declaration allows for fuel to be transported by road to the affected states: Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The declaration also provides regulatory relief to commercial motor vehicle operations that are part of the emergency support efforts.

Colonial said earlier on Sunday that it had opened some smaller delivery lines, but the main system was not yet back up and running.

"While our mainlines remain offline, some smaller lateral lines between terminals and delivery points are now operational," Colonial said in a statement, adding it would "bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so."

"We have remained in contact with law enforcement and other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy who is leading the Federal Government response," it added.

"Maintaining the operational security of our pipeline, in addition to safely bringing our systems back online, remain our highest priorities."

The attack prompted calls from cybersecurity experts for improved oversight of the industry to prepare for future threats.

"This attack is unusual for the US. But the bottom line is that attacks targeting operational technology  the industrial control systems on the production line or plant floor  are becoming more frequent," Algirde Pipikaite, cyber strategy lead at the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity, said on Saturday.

"Unless cybersecurity measures are embedded in a technology's development phase, we are likely to see more frequent attacks on industrial systems like oil and gas pipelines or water treatment plants."

The United States was rocked in recent months by news of two major cybersecurity breaches  the SolarWinds hack that compromised thousands of US government and private sector computer networks and was officially blamed on Russia; and a potentially devastating penetration of Microsoft email servers.

The latter is believed to have affected at least 30,000 US organisations including local governments and was attributed to an aggressive Chinese cyberespionage campaign. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- BYD Company Limited said its new vehicle sales reached 45,234 units in April 2021, surging 42.21% year on year, while growing 10.82% month on month, according to the company's latest monthly sales results.



Regarding year-to-date performance, the automaker sold 149,379 vehicles in the Jan.-Apr. period, posting a substantial increase of 60.48% from the year earlier. As of April 2021, BYD had seen its monthly sales rise year over year for ten consecutive months.

With 25,662 vehicles sold, BYDs new energy vehicle (NEV) business scored a 97.48% year-on-year sales surge in April, thanks to the precipitous rise in the PV sales. Among the new energy PVs sold last month, there were 16,114 BEVs (+61.69% YoY) and 8,920 PHEVs (+288.5% YoY). However, CV sales fell 14.32% to only 628 units.

Tang DM-i; photo credit: BYD



At the Auto Shanghai 2021, BYD announced the Tang DM-i officially hit the market, which came with three trim levels with prices ranging from 189,800 yuan ($29,505) and 216,800 yuan ($33,700) after subsidies.

Built on the BYD DM-i platform, the new model is powered by a plug-in hybrid system combining with a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine and an electric motor, and uses a lithium ion phosphate Blade Battery.

e-platform 3.0; photo credit: BYD



Meanwhile, BYD also launched the e-platform 3.0, which is designed for the next-generation high-performance smart EVs. The EA1, the all-new full-electric hatchback BYD unveiled at the Auto Shanghai, is built on this platform.

BYD's oil-fueled vehicle sales in April climbed 4.03% from the previous year to 19,572 units. To be specific, SUV sales dropped 13.73% to 13,004 units, while sedan sales shot up 160.06% to 5,633 units.
Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, and SACE, the Italian export credit agency recently discussed partnership in supporting sustainable development projects, trade finance of SMEs and the Halal sector.



The meeting follows the memorandum of understanding signed between ECI and SACE as part of the 6th UAE-Italy Joint Economic Committee event, held at the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) in Rome in 2018, which laid down the framework to enhance business opportunities between the two countries.



The delegation, led by Pierfrancesco Latini, CEO of SACE, Michal Ron, Chief International Officer of SACE and President of Berne Union, met with Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, along with senior officials from both organisations at ECIs branch in Dubai.



During the meeting, the state export credit agencies (ECAs) have explored collaboration in co-insurance and re-insurance opportunities in strategic sectors and bolstering sustainable development projects, as well as jointly utilising Islamic finance and sustainable finance in funding these projects. This is in line with both countries national sustainability goals and in support to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).



The two ECAs have also discussed how they can jointly support Berne Union, the leading global association for the export credit and investment insurance industry, whose members include government-backed official ECAs, multilateral financial institutions, and private credit insurers across the globe, with a focus on the Youth training and skills development.



The meeting explored ways on how ECI and SACE help boost the flow of goods, services and investment capital worldwide by providing insurance and guarantees to protect exporting companies, investors and financial institutions against political and commercial risks.



Pierfrancesco Latini said: Italy and the UAE have a similar vision to put sustainable development at the core of their global agenda. The cooperation talks between ECI and SACE in supporting strategic investments and green projects will be a major boost to both countries time-honoured trade relations. Through this alliance, we are determined to help Italian and UAE businesses access sustainable finance which will pave the way for highly responsible trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.



Massimo Falcioni said: We are honoured to further the cooperation that ECI has started with SACE three years ago. By providing support to Emirati and Italian companies involved in sustainable development and green energy projects, we will increase the competitiveness of trade and export businesses from both countries, thereby strengthening further the excellent long lasting relationships between the UAE and Italy.



Through ECIs Shariah-compliant trade credit solutions, we aim to initiate to build the Halal Route, a global corridor where Halal certified businesses from both countries can trade with confidence and get easy access to trade finance too, he added.



Michal Ron, Chief International Officer of SACE and President of Berne Union, said: ECI and SACE are our esteemed members at Berne Union and we are very pleased to welcome their initiative to support our objective of increasing international trade flows, including trade finance, financing of large-scale projects and sustainable financing, which addresses the pressing need to develop innovative mechanisms to fund green projects in emerging markets.  TradeArabia News Service
Tamil Nadu: CM urged to ensure return of fishermen jailed in Iran, Myanmar

May 10,2021 | Source: The Hindu

Families of fishermen from Kanniyakumari who are locked away in an Iranian prison have urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to take steps to obtain their release. Sahana, sister of Sahaya Vijay of Pallam, one of those who were arrested when they were on a Kuwait fishing boat that had sailed into Iranian waters, said the health of nine fishermen were in a bad condition. They are all youngsters but their health has deteriorated over the last year. The parents of three of the men have passed away while waiting for them. We have submitted petitions to all concerned and even paid around ?4 lakh to an advocate to bring them back, she said. Ms. Sahana said that the families now hoped that the new government headed by Mr. Stalin would extend a helping hand to the men, who are serving a three-year term in that country. P. Justin Antony, founder president, International Fishermen Development Trust, said the fishermen were arrested in January 2020 for trespassing into Mahshahr near oil platforms coast, Khuzestan Province. They have been imprisoned in Bushehr Jail, Iran. The families have not spoken to the men but get WhatsApp voice messages from time to time, he said while urging the Union and State governments to take steps to bring the men back.



In Myanmar prison



Similarly, families of fishermen who have been arrested and imprisoned in Myanmar have urged the government to obtain their early release. Ten men, including eight Tamils and two Bengalis, who were on a boat from Andaman, were arrested a month ago by the Myanmar Navy since they had entered that countrys waters while fishing. Boat owner Sekar, who hails from Virudhunagar district, said that the men had let their longline gillnet in the sea and it had moved with the currents overnight into Myanmar waters. They did not go there with an intent to fish but only to retrieve the net. Our country lets go fishermen from neighbouring countries when they stray into our waters. But unfortunately they dont reciprocate it when it comes to our men, he said. His boat and nets worth ?80 lakh had been stranded in Myanmar along with the men. Parthiban, brother of Jayaseelan and Raja, who hail from Paramakudi and are now in a Myanmar prison, said they wanted the fishermen to be released as soon as possible. Till last week, we did not even know that they were arrested. We have submitted petitions to local MP and MLAs urging the government to take steps to bring them back, he said. Balaji, a boat owner from Kasimedu, whose boat is stuck in Myanmar, said luckily he managed to bring back his men after they had drifted into their waters when the engine broke down. There are many instances of fishermen getting stuck in prisons in neighbouring countries due to straying into their waters. We need a system by which we can quickly bring back the men when they get stuck, he said.

 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD.
Karnataka: The upcoming marina at Malpe and why the local residents are against it

by Rashi Goel

As Mangalore resident Spandana walked on to Padukere beach in the first week of April, a menacing sign restricting the entry of anyone connected with the marina project on to the beach welcomed her. This white sand beach was a favourite spot from her childhood, as she grew up in Udupi, which is only a thirty-minute drive from Padukere. Curious, she tried to find out more. The villagers there are not willing to have a conversation with anyone. They are suspicious of everyone and even tried to take pictures of my car number plate, she informed. The plans for a marina to come up in this part of the southern state of Karnataka have been in the offing for a couple of years. And for many months now, this beach has been a site of many protests. Discussions regarding developing the beach in order to increase tourism and employment opportunities began in 2018. According to the feasibility report conducted by the Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, the proposed marina at Padukere, Malpe has the possibility of being constructed in an area of 3.69 km with the help of breakwaters (an offshore structure such as a wall protecting the harbour or beach from the force of waves) extending 1.66 km to 2 km into the sea. It is proposed to cover a large area between Shanthinagar and Mattu Koplu. The marina will not be for berthing large cruise ships  only for yachts and sailboats. Publications report that the proposed cost of this project is Rs. 800 crores.



The case for



With Indias only functional marina currently in Kochi, there are fewer intermediate berthing facilities for the 4,000-plus boats travelling between the Arabian sea and south Asian countries, says G. Jagadeesh, deputy commissioner of Udupi. The government sees this as an opportunity to increase tourism, especially international tourism, in turn increasing employment as well. The many small, natural islands in this region make it even more suitable for the parking of various yachts and boats. Because theres no other marina of international standards in India, the one at Padukere, to be implemented by the Coastal Development Authority, is planned to be a state-of-the-art one. The government is trying its best to assure people that the project will not be taken ahead if it is harmful to the environment and the construction of the marina will be done without flouting environmental norms, informed Jagadeesh. Restaurants, clubs, gazebos, and a promenade are proposed for attracting international tourists.



The case against



So, why are the villagers against a marina that would turn Padukere beach into a rich mans paradise? As fishing communities, their biggest concern is the possible impact on their livelihoods. A fisherman, Krishna Suvarna, president of the Malpe Fishermans association said, We fishers only oppose that which is likely to harm our fishing. A lot of fisherfolk in the Malpe area use a fishing technique that involves casting a net close to the shore. The presence of a marina with its small boats, accompanied by their sounds and movements, is bound to disturb the natural habitat of the shallow-water fish. They will retreat further out in the seas, making it difficult for the fishers to fish for them. A fishing community leader, Rama Kanchan explains, We are not against development, but we are against anything that has the potential of harming the region and our lives. The aspects which the government sees as tourism and economy-boosting are precisely the ones the villagers are dreading. They do not want their culture and social activities to change or be destroyed on account of a marina. Yet another fisherman said they fear that, because of such projects, they might be forced to leave their hometowns, the land of their forefathers.



Marinas have long-term environmental effects



There are several research papers that highlight the impact of anthropogenic modifications to waterways, on the existing quality of seas, biodiversity, quality of water, quality of air, and the environment as a whole. Besides the loss of livelihoods, the presence of a marina will also hugely affect aquatic species, even resulting in the danger of extinction of some of the endemic species, said a marine researcher who did not wish to be named. According to research done by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), this region boasts of 28 types of phytoplanktons, 28 species of seaweed, 25 types of sea anemones, 390 species of fish, and 234 molluscan species. A marina, which is a dock or a basin, not only provides a berthing facility for yachts, but it also provides facilities such as fuel, water, electricity, and sewage pump-outs for boats. Globally, the increase in recreational boating has resulted in an increased demand for marinas or mooring spots. The construction of the breakwater as well as other parts of the marina causes a big reduction in the aquatic vegetation which actually forms the food for the young fish. A fluctuation in the quantities of small, shallow-water fish, as well as in the salinity and other water conditions, results in less food for certain avifaunal bird species.



The mangroves in Padukere. The construction of a marina or a port will harm the mangroves and the breeding grounds of fish and shrimp. Photo by Spandana W. Marine biologist, Lavina, a former researcher at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), highlights the fact that Malpe is a region that is rich in mangroves; it has huge mangrove forests. The construction of a marina or a port will definitely harm the mangroves and, in turn, the breeding grounds of fish and shrimp. With concern in her voice, she also talks about the possible impact on dolphins. Boats in the water result in a lot of movement and sound pollution  they end up disrupting the communication system of dolphins. It ends up disturbing their regular behaviour. While the marina is still in the proposal stage, the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune has already conducted a feasibility report that green-lights this project. The effects a marina has on the environment is usually not visible immediately; it could take a long time for the damage to show up. The locals of the area are afraid that in addition to the damage to the ecology and biodiversity of the region, the governments assurances are only to placate them for now. Later, it is possible that the villagers themselves wont be allowed access to their beaches. In the light of multiple coastal infrastructure projects, such as those in Goa, Mumbai and Kolkata, being planned across the country, this is an important conversation to have.

 2021 Mongabay-India
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The Cuban ministers who were not included on the Central Committee of the Communist Party (PCC) at that organization's 8th Congress should take stock of their situations. Evidently, there is a reason they were not chosen to form part of the PCC's highest body, along with their colleagues who were.

The argument that some ministries must be more important than others quickly falls apart: is the Ministry of Internal Trade really more important than the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment? Of course not.

And yet, Betsy Diaz Velazquez is on the Central Committee, while Rodrigo Malmierca was left out of the powerful body.

Of course, one of the factors that could explain these exclusions is the deficiencies evidenced by the ministers left out. Malmierca himself has not managed to bring about any appreciable increase in the amount of foreign investment on the island, despite appeals by the leadership to expedite this process.

Rene Mesa Villafana, at Construction, has been unable to follow through on the housing construction plan, especially those for those people declared vulnerable.

Eduardo Rodriguez Davila, at Transportation, has not been able to prevent the country from paying large sums of money for the demurrage of ships transporting goods to Cuba. The port-transport-internal economy triad continues to be a problem for the national economy.

Manuel Sobrino, in charge of the Food Industry, was recently chided by Diaz-Canel himself due to the limited application of science and innovation to his ministry's work.

In the case of Alpidio Alonso, despite what the elite in power claims, it seems that, deep down, the Castroist leadership is not satisfied with the response of the Culture area's directors to the protests of the young artists and members of the San Isidro Movement. Here it is worth mentioning that the president of the UNEAC, Luis Morlote, will not be a member of the Central Committee of the PCC.

Marta Wilson, at the head of the Central Bank of Cuba, was recently criticized at a Round Table by Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca for the obstacles that the banking system forces agriculture workers to deal with in the context of the Ordering Task.

As for the head of Agriculture, Gustavo Rodriguez Rollero, he did not even make it to the 8th Congress, having been removed from office a few days before the event began; he never did manage to make good on his promise of delivering 30 pounds of groceries a month to each consumer.

But neither ought we think that Diaz-Canel only snubs those whose work he deems wanting. The young leader prefers loquacious ministers who are comfortable in front of a microphone, and who provide lengthy explanations, not delegating to other officials speeches that they should give themselves.

In light of this, it is understandable that Livan Arronte, at the Ministry of Energy and Mines; Eloy Alvarez, at Industry; and Jose Ramon Saborido, at Higher Education, are all on thin ice with the president.

Perhaps that same thing was a factor in the departure of Polito Cintra Frias from the Ministry of the Armed Forces. He was excellent as a military strategist, but suffered from acute microphonobia. It is not far-fetched to suggest that since Diaz-Canel's rise to power he has undertaken a kind of purge of those leaders who shy away from speaking in public. How else can we explain the mysterious resignation of the powerful General Abelardo Colome Ibarra as head of the Ministry of the Interior? Only those working within the ministry even knew what his voice sounded like.

In any case, the truth seems to be that the ministers who did not make the Central Committee of the ruling PCC are now in Diaz-Canel's crosshairs, and could be fired any second.
Lootah Real Estate Development has appointed Raja Alameddine as the companys new CEO. An industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in various asset classes, Alameddine will chart a new course for the growth and overall success of the organisation.

In his new role, Alameddine will be responsible for leading his team strategically, expanding Lootahs regional footprint and driving a new vision within the organisation. He brings with him extensive experience in various asset classes, including master-planned cities, mixed-use communities and innovative lifestyle developments.

Welcoming him into the fold, Group CEO Arash Dara said: "Alameddine has a proven track record in leading and managing large real estate investment, development, financial and legal operations and offers a unique advantage in chartering this new course for our organization."

"His appointment will bring continued leadership to our team with a deep focus on delivering sustainable, tech-powered, and affordable lifestyle real-estate projects to the community," he stated.

Alameddine will be responsible for assessing suitable partnerships or joint ventures as a business strategy for expansion into new markets and development of new product portfolios for LRED to gain a strategic edge in the market, he added.

With more than 27 years experience in real-estate, Alameddine has worked with several property developers, investment banks, as well as contracting and design companies.

His career is characterised by strong geographical mobility, particularly in the GCC region with a focus on the UAE, contributing to his ability to adapt and succeed in different work-cultures.

In the emirates, he had worked with Gulf Related, where he was instrumental in implementing the groups regional development activities, as well as the delivery of innovative projects and large-scale communities, said Dara.

His Saudi experience includes working for Ghazzawi Group, where he successfully undertook the development of the large land bank the group owns in the kingdom and introduced a range of new concepts that placed Ghazzawi Group on the regional developers map.

Prior to joining Ghazzawi Group, he had led the investment division of Jeddah Economic Company, where he worked on funds structuring, securing investments and reshaping the overall investment division.

On his appointment, Alameddine said: "I am honoured to lead Lootah Real Estate Development and will focus on leveraging our teams strengths and capitalizing on opportunities that will help create value to our community."

His extensive experience and involvement in real estate will see him build a new foundation for Lootah Real Estate, that will see the release of landmark projects this year with heavy focus on the adoption of sustainability and technology within the context of lifestyle mixed-use projects, stated Dara.

Fluent in English, Arabic and French, Alameddine holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the American University in Beirut and Bachelors Degree in Engineering  with distinction, from the same university.-TradeArabia News Service
LG TVs on display in an electronic store in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Tuan Hung.

South Korean TV brands Samsung and LG have dominated the market in recent years, accounting for more than a 60 percent market share last year.

Since 2015 they have held a 50-60 percent share.

Samsung, the worlds leading TV manufacturer, and LG, both saw their market share rise by 2 percentage points in 2020 to 41 percent and 20 percent, with the former in first place and the latter in third.

On the other hand, Japanese brands, which accounted for half the market until 2014, have gradually disappeared.

Sony was the only Japanese brand to have a double-digit share last year, and was the second largest in the market with 21 percent despite declining by 3 percentage points from 2019.

The Vietnamese TV market only reflects a global trend.

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba sold its North American TV business to Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Compal Electronics in 2015.

The same year another Japanese company, Panasonic, decided to stop production in the U.S. and China. It recently stopped production of low-end TVs in Vietnam.

Peter Richardson, research director at Hong Kong market research firm Counterpoint, said: "The reason Japanese players suffered was down to their strategy. Japanese brands like Sony and Panasonic have little capacity to produce LCD and LED panels, so they are not able to bring anything differentiated to the market."

Nguyen Huy, spokesperson for an electronics store in Hanoi, said South Korean TVs have been replacing Japanese brands thanks to their beautiful design, reasonable prices and good sales policies.

Samsung and LG produce TVs in every segment with pricing ranging from a few million dong to billions (VND1 million= $43.7), and "South Korean TVs are 20-30 percent cheaper than Japanese models with the same size and resolution," he said.

Samsung and LG offer consumers a wide range of choice, selling besides traditional TVs also some unique ones like LGs wallpaper and Samsungs picture frames, he said.

Tran Phong, an audiovisual specialist, said: "TVs have evolved from being an asset to a home decoration. Youngsters who are keen on state-of-the-art technologies and house furnishing prefer Korean TVs with unique designs to dull Japanese TVs."
Lychee farmers in northern Hai Duong Province take their produce to a market. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Lychees grown in Hai Duong Province will be sold on e-commerce platforms Voso, Sendo, Lazada and Chinas Alibaba on Saturday, according to the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency.

It would be the first time that the fruits are sold online, and the agency said the biggest hurdle to this is farmers lack of knowledge of e-commerce, online marketing, selling and customer support and quality control.

It has collaborated with the northern provinces Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Industry and Trade to provide training to lychee farmers and traders in setting up and operating stores on the four e-commerce platforms.

Hai Duong harvested 43,000 tons of lychee last year and exported half of it, including 1,600 tons to Japan, Australia and the U.S. It expects to harvest 55,000 tons this year, and export half to China.

In nearby Bac Giang Province, the director of the Department of Industry and Trade, Tran Quang Tan, estimated 180,000 tons of lychees would be harvested this year, with half of it exported to China, 10 percent to Japan and another 10 percent to the U.S., the EU and Australia.

The harvest will take two months starting May end.

Around 300 Chinese merchants have registered to visit Vietnam to buy lychees in Bac Giang.

Local authorities will arrange transportation for them at the border, test them for Covid-19 and quarantine them for 14 days.

The northern provinces of Bac Giang and Hai Duong are Vietnams lychee growing hubs, with the former having the largest area for lychee cultivation, which was 28,000 hectares last year, according to Bac Giang Portal. Hai Duong province came in second with 10,000 hectares, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported.
A lax mentality that breached prevention protocols has worsened the situation of virus variants and other factors that Vietnam is dealing with in its fourth Covid-19 wave.

After going for more than a month without any Covid-19 community transmission, the streak snapped on April 27 with a hotel employee infected by a group of Indian experts quarantined at the hotel in the northern province of Yen Bai.

Two days later, six more local cases were recorded in the northern province of Ha Nam. The cases stemmed from one man who finished his mandatory 14-day quarantine period after returning from Japan, but neglected post-quarantine self-isolation protocols and ended up passing the virus to others.

In the following days, the outbreak spread to several localities, especially following a four-day Reunification Day holiday that saw tourism sites jam-packed with people. As of Saturday, the spark of infection has ballooned into 176 community cases recorded in 19 cities and provinces, forcing lockdowns on several places across the country.

In the latest outbreak, even a frontline hospital in the Covid-19 fight has not been spared. Hanois National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the main facility for Covid-19 treatment not only for the capital city, but the northern region in general, has been locked down after becoming a novel coronavirus hotspot, triggering dozens of infections in at least 14 localities.

Commenting on this development, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said: "That stronghold has now been breached."

Vietnams fourth Covid-19 outbreak has shown marked differences compared with the earlier ones in Da Nang City last year or Hai Duong Province earlier this year: multiple hotspots; the existence of different variants; the difficulties in tracking down "patient zeros;" and infections detected after completion of mandatory quarantining.

Multiple hotspots

Nguyen Van Kinh, chairman of the specialists council for Covid-19 treatment, said previous Covid-19 waves had spread from one hotspot to different locations. For example, the Da Nang outbreak last year had the Da Nang Hospital as its epicenter, and the one in Hai Duong outbreak earlier this year the Poyun industrial area.

But this time, things have been different: multiple outbreaks have been observed across different locations within a short time frame  one at Ha Nam Province, stemming from the man returning from Japan who tested positive after completing the mandated quarantining in a centralized facility, but tested positive later and passed the infection to people in localities like Hanoi, HCMC and Hung Yen; another in Vinh Phuc Province, associated with a group of Chinese experts who'd tested negative three times during their quarantine, but were found positive later; yet another in Yen Bai Province where a group of Indian experts staying in a local hotel tested positive; and even one at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which has proved highly contagious, spreading to many other localities.

"This coronavirus wave is much more complex with so many outbreaks involved, forcing all provinces to ramp up their prevention measures," said Kinh.

Variants of concern

Genetic sequencing has revealed the existence of several variants among cases in the new wave, most notably one carrying double mutations  B.1.617  that originated in India.

This variant, making its first appearance in Vietnam, contains two key mutations called E484Q and L452R, which have been found separately in other variants but not together in a single strain. These mutations have been seen to make the virus more transmissible and less susceptible to neutralizing antibodies, experts said. This variant has been found among patients in the outbreak at Vinh Phuc, Hanoi and Hai Duong.

Another variant with origins in the U.K., called B.1.1.7, which had already appeared in Vietnam previously, have been found among cases at Ha Nam, Hung Yen and Ha Tinh. The U.K. variant is believed to be more transmissible, but not more deadly, experts said.

Le Quoc Hung, head of the Tropical Diseases Department of HCMCs Cho Ray Hospital, said the presence of multiple outbreaks and variants at the same time means these are independent of each other and have come from different sources.

"The virus is ever-changing. The recently observed variants would increase infection risks and incubation periods so they could go from one person to another in a shorter time frame," he said.

While isolation and lockdowns might be very effective against local outbreaks, multiple variants and infection sources mean the virus has spread on a much wider scale, requiring much greater containment efforts, he added.

Missing Patient Zeros

In previous Covid-19 outbreaks, the first patients to be infected with the virus were relatively quickly identified, which was especially helpful for contact tracing and quarantining. But things changed with the Hai Duong outbreak earlier this year. The virus had already spread far and wide by the time it was detected, making it very difficult to track down the original source of infection, Hung said.

The same thing is happening with the current wave, he added.

"We have totally lost track of F0 cases," said Hung, referring to patients who were infected first and placed in the first chain of transmission. The fact that most patients were largely asymptomatic also means they did not know they had the virus and still continued to travel, silently allowing the virus to fester within the community.

"They are like time bombs," Hung said.

The inability to track down Patient Zeros has made contact tracing much harder. Combined with the fact that authorities have been detecting a high influx of illegal entrants trying to enter Vietnam, meaning there could be people who have slipped through the border undetected and the chance of the virus silently infiltrating society is high, he added.

Negative three times, but positive again

The 28-year-old man who sparked the coronavirus outbreak in Ha Nam had already finished his 14-day quarantine after returning from Japan and tested negative three times, but he still managed to contract the virus later. The same thing happened with the group of Chinese experts in the Vinh Phuc outbreak and other cases.

Tran Dac Phu, a senior advisor for the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC), said there must have been breaches in quarantine procedures at hotels for the virus to get out.

Truong Huu Khanh, head of the Neuro-infectious Disease Department of HCMCs Childrens Hospital 1, said novel coronavirus positive results after 14-day quarantining may indicate problems with either the quarantining or testing procedures.

"In general, the problem lies with human carelessness, not the disease," he said.

The Ministry of Health recently extended the Covid-19 quarantine period from 14 to 21 days.

Letting their guard down

People used to be much more fearful and careful about Covid-19, said Hung, with streets becoming empty and crowds not gathering anywhere during previous outbreaks.

But in this wave, citizens have decided to go out and party despite frequent reports of new Covid-19 cases popping up everywhere.

Authorities have found numerous instances of people going to karaoke parlors despite existing bans. Some people have neglected self-isolation protocols and endangered public health in the process, Hung said.

He said Vietnams earlier successes and high trust in the government may have made people complacent and not follow protocols strictly.

He warned: "This is especially alarming. People play a vital role in the Covid-19 fight. If outbreaks are not quickly contained, the virus will spread on a large scale and have unexpected impacts."
Medical workers instruct passengers at HCMC's Tan Son Nhat Airport to have their samples taken for Covid-19 testing, May 6, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

A Da Nang man infected with Covid-19 visited HCMC during the Reunification Day-Labor Day holidays and traveled around city, the HCMC Center for Disease Control said.

The 25-year-old man lives in Da Nang's Lien Chieu District with 12 other people, some of whom have also tested positive, according to the city Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

He flew to HCMC on April 30 by Vietnam Airlines flight VN113 at 9:10 a.m. He was driven by a friend to another friend's house in Binh Tan District, then to a karaoke parlor in Tan Phu District, Nguyen Hue pedestrians-only street in District 1, and a cafe in Tan Binh District.

On May 1 he ate breakfast at a pho restaurant in Binh Tan and went to a cafe, but whose names and addresses he could not remember.

He visited a beef noodle place in Tan Phu for lunch and went to the Landmark 81 Building in Binh Thanh District in the afternoon.

At around 7:30 p.m. he traveled to the Anh Sao Bridge in the Phu My Hung urban area in District 7, another popular destination in the city, before finishing off for the night at a restaurant in Binh Tan.

On May 2 he ate breakfast at a restaurant in Binh Tan and then went to the same cafe as the previous morning.

He had lunch at a restaurant on Ngo Chi Quoc Street in Thu Duc City and went to a cafe in Thu Duc after playing billiards at an unidentified place.

He went to a motel in Binh Tan District, a Highland Coffee outlet and a noodles restaurant in District 12 and another cafe in Phu Nhuan.

On May 3 he went to Galaxy Tan Binh cinema in Tan Binh District for an afternoon show, then went to a restaurant in Tan Phu and another restaurant in the same district that night.

On May 4 he had breakfast near his hotel before flying back to Da Nang by Vietnam Airlines flight VN136 at 6:25 p.m.

Since May 5 he has been going to work and traveling around Da Nang.

On May 7 his sister who lives with him tested positive for the coronavirus, and so he was placed in quarantine where he tested positive.

Da Nang, a popular tourist destination, has had 48 Covid cases since late last month when the fourth wave began. The central city had been the epicenter of an earlier wave last year.

HCMC has had only one case of local transmission in the new wave.

Nationwide, there have been 411 in 26 cities and provinces.

On Sunday 92 people were diagnosed with the disease, the highest single-day tally since the disease first appeared more than a year ago.
Mubadala Health continues to drive specialized training to raise the bar in nursing standards and attract local talent, the company said ahead of the International Nurses Day on May 12.



This year, International Nurses Day founder, the International Council of Nurses, is focusing on the global nursing shortage; how the profession will look in the future; and how nursing will transform the next stage of healthcare. It has declared Nurses: A Voice to Lead - A vision for future healthcare as the theme to mark the day, held on the anniversary of the birth of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale.



Chief Executive Officer of Mubadala Health, Hasan Jasem Al Nowais, said that a highly skilled nursing staff is a mainstay across its network of healthcare facilities.



The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role played by these dedicated and skilled professionals, and we hope this will elevate further the status of nursing as a career. In alignment with Abu Dhabi and the UAEs mission to maintain a strong, sustainable healthcare sector, Emiratization in healthcare is a key priority for Mubadala Health, as is providing excellent training and career opportunities for all healthcare workers including nurses.



Al Nowais explained that the Train for Work Emiratization program is firmly entrenched across all Mubadala Health assets, creating attractive career opportunities to increase the number of UAE nationals employed across all levels of staff.



This is supported by additional training initiatives, such as Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabis annual Wateen program that, over the course of a year, helps Emirati graduates such as nurses gain the practical knowledge and skills needed to excel in their healthcare careers.



Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabis Abeer AlBlooshi is an Emirati nurse who has been encouraged by Mubadala Health to continue developing her skills and expertise since joining the hospital in 2017.She is currently Senior Clinical Director of the hospitals Nursing, Surgical and Transplant Institute.



Abeer, who also teaches nursing at one of the universities in the UAE, said: I believe we need to change the way the nursing profession is viewed, and to enhance perceptions so that people will see it as the rewarding and challenging career choice that it is. According to some recent reports, it is estimated that only about 8 percent of nurses at public hospitals are UAE nationals.



I think we also need to focus on specialization and advance practice in addition to post-graduate studies for the existing workforce and to showcase the incredible diversity of roles and skill sets within the profession.



Using the example of Mubadala Health assets, Abeer said: You have nurses working in general and specialized departments and institutes at our hospitals - Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Healthpoint. Similarly, nurses at Imperial College London Diabetes Centre are trained to be diabetes educators, and support patients emotionally and practically in all aspects of managing their condition. Similarly, at Amana Healthcare, nurses are highly specialized in treating long-term and complex cases.



Alongside these more conventional nursing roles, Mubadala Healths network also has nurses trained in triaging patients for telemedicine, providing remote care monitoring, and swabbing patients at PCR screening stations.



Abeer added that Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi offers various training and development programs for its nurses, for example, the Charge Nurse Leadership Journey, which focuses on developing the soft skills and has 72 nurses enrolled.



In addition to specialized training delivered by Mubadala Health facilities for their own nurses, ICLDC offers broader training opportunities to enhance diabetes nursing skills in the UAE as a whole. Its one-year Imperial Diabetes Educator Training Course (IDET) multidisciplinary program aims to equip healthcare employees such as nurses, to work in diabetes education and management in a variety of settings. It also offers ad hoc complimentary courses in diabetes to nurses across the UAE so that they may improve their skills.



With the exception of the National Reference Laboratory, Mubadala Health employs nurses in diverse roles across all of its assets, namely Abu Dhabi Telemedicine Centre, Amana Healthcare, Capital Health Screening Centre, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Healthpoint, and Imperial College London Diabetes Centre.  TradeArabia News Service
Tran To Nga during a rally to call for justice for Agent Orange victims in Paris, 2019. Photo by Collectif Vietnam Dioxine.

A French court on Monday dismissed a case by an elderly French-Vietnamese woman against several agrochemical companies over the use by the U.S. military of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

The court in the Paris suburb of Evry ruled that it did not have the jurisdiction to judge a case involving the wartime actions of the U.S. government, the ruling seen by AFP said.

Tran To Nga, a former journalist born in 1942 in what was then French Indochina, accused the chemicals firms, including Monsanto and Dow Chemical, of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling Agent Orange to the U.S. government, which used it to devastating effect in the war.

She also accused them of causing damage to the environment.

Dismissing the case the court said that the companies were acting "on the orders" of the U.S. government, which was engaged in a "sovereign act."

NGOs estimate that four million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were exposed to the 76 million liters (20 million gallons) of Agent Orange sprayed by U.S. forces to destroy ground cover and food sources in its battle with North Vietnamese troops between 1962 and 1971.

Tran To Nga suffers from typical Agent Orange effects, including type 2 diabetes and an extremely rare insulin allergy.

One of her daughters died of a malformation of the heart.

The multinationals have argued that they could not be held responsible for the use the American military made of their product.
Vietnam's Covid-19 daily new cases have gone past 100 for the first time as the Ministry of Health announced another 31 community transmissions Monday noon.

With 78 cases announced in the morning, the number recorded in the day so far has risen to 109, the highest number since the disease first broke out to Vietnam more than a year ago.

On Sunday, 92 local cases were recorded. The previous high was 84, recorded on January 28 as the third wave broke out in the northern Hai Duong Province.

21 of the new cases were recorded in Hanoi, seven in Bac Giang, one each in Hoa Binh, Da Nang and Hai Duong.

In Hanoi, 12 cases were recorded at the locked down National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, a major coronavirus hotspot. Among them were a medical worker, eight patients and three of their family members. Three other patients, two men and a woman aged 35-72, were associated with public cancer facility K Hospital, which is also under lockdown. Two others, both male aged 1 and 56, have been in contact with confirmed coronavirus cases.

All the cases in Hanoi are being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

In Bac Giang, one man and six women aged 19-47, were all those who have made contact with confirmed coronavirus cases. They are all treated at the Bac Giang Province general hospital.

In Hoa Binh, a 33-year-old man was infected after being associated with the K Hospital. He's being treated at the Hoa Binh Province general hospital.

A 35-year-old man in Da Nang and a 25-year-old man in Hai Duong were infected after making contact with other coronavirus cases.

A 35-year-old Pakistani expert is an imported case who flew from the UAE to HCMC on May 8. He's being treated at the Long Dien District medical center in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

Nationwide, 442 community transmission cases in 26 cities and provinces have been recorded since late last month as Vietnam experiences one of its most challenging Covid-19 waves yet.
In an historic vote, the United States and 45 co-sponsors at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, Conference of State Parties succeeded in condemning the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria for its continued use and possession of chemical weapons. Such weapons constitute a violation of Syrias obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, or CWC.

The decision was adopted with 87 countries voting in favor of it and only 15 against. In addition to condemning Syrias use of chemical weapons, it suspends certain of Syrias rights and privileges it holds under the Convention  most notably its right to vote. This right will only be returned when the OPCW director-general reports that Syria has completed certain measures. For example, said State Department spokesperson Ned Price, Syria must resolve all outstanding issues regarding the initial declaration of its chemical weapons stockpile and program.

The vote followed the release of two OPCW Investigation and Identification Team reports in the past year that officially linked the Syrian government to chemical weapons attacks in 2017 and 2018. Those reports concluded that Syria continued to use poison gas years after the Assad regime renounced their use o and surrendered the Regimes declared stockpile for destruction. The United States itself assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons at least 50 times since acceding to the CWC in 2013.

This is the first time such an action has been taken against a country at the OPCW. The United States welcomes the OPCWs decision and applauds the international communitys continued commitment to upholding the international norm against the use of chemical weapons, said spokesperson Price.

The use of chemical weapons by any state presents an unacceptable security threat to all.
The United States has revoked the general license that had effectively suspended sanctions and authorized transactions with nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises. In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the punitive move was a consequence of the Belarusian authorities flagrant disregard for human rights.

In 2015 the U.S. Treasury Department first issued -- and then repeatedly extended -- the general license allowing transactions with the nine firms because of what State Department Spokesman Ned Price said was notable progress at the time in the field of human rights and specifically due to the release of all political prisoners in Belarus:

Regrettably, we find the human rights situation has deteriorated to arguably the worst point in Belarus independent history.

Secretary Blinken noted that as a result of government suppression surrounding the fraudulent August 2020 Presidential elections in Belarus and its aftermath, there are more than 340 political prisoners detained in Belarus today. Given the sharply deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus, the U.S. Government determined a further extension would be inconsistent with the Belarus Democracy Act and incompatible with American values. The nine state-owned enterprises affected by this action, Mr. Blinken said, finance and support the Lukashenka regime, facilitating its violent repression of the Belarusian people and repeated rejection of the rule of law.

Secretary Blinken mentioned three Belarusian political prisoners by name  blogger and presidential candidate aspirant Syarhey Tsikhanouski, opposition leader Maria Kalesnikava, and independent media expert Ilhar Losik -- noting that they are among hundreds of Belarusian prisoners unjustly imprisoned by the Lukashenka regime for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The United States calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those unjustly detained or imprisoned, Secretary of State Blinken declared. Moreover, we commit to working together with the international community to further promote accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Belarus.
A late bloomer on leadership, University Student Government Association president works with UMB administration to ensure that all student voices are heard on critical decisions.

To celebrate and promote the University of Maryland, Baltimores (UMB) core values, the University hands out Presidential Core Values Awards, designed to recognize students, faculty, and staff who embody the seven values at the heart of UMBs mission: accountability, civility, collaboration, diversity, excellence, knowledge, and leadership.

Leadership Award Winner: Nivedita Hegdekar, student, Graduate School and Francis King Carey School of Law



Nivedita Hegdekar had no intention of pursuing an executive-level leadership role with the University Student Government Association (USGA). She was shy and introverted growing up, so the biochemistry and molecular biology student at the University of Maryland Graduate School didnt see herself as a leader.

But in 2017, when Hegdekar was a USGA senator, then-treasurer Alex San Nicolas nominated her as secretary. A student leader saw something special and took a chance on me, Hegdekar said.

Now as president for the past two years, Hegdekar is a student advocate working closely with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) administration to ensure that all student voices are heard on critical decisions.

She has led USGA during a turbulent year that has seen students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice issues. USGA held listening sessions, created virtual events to keep students engaged, and reassessed its policies to make them more inclusive. She proposed creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion executive-level position and is leading the new USGA Equity Committee.

The greatest challenge this past year was making sure that every UMB student felt heard and helped. I tried to address as many campuswide issues as possible, Hegdekar said. We have also worked tirelessly to improve the culture of our campus.

Hegdekar has served on the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, where she has been instrumental in voicing student concerns and providing collaborative solutions, and on the search committees that chose the UMB president and chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.

When policies were being framed, it was important to make sure there was adequate student representation, said Hegdekar, who also is pursuing a masters degree in patent law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

In addition to USGA, Hegdekar serves as a UMB representative on the University System of Maryland (USM) Student Council, where she plays an active role in addressing policies and issues that impact students across the USM system.

Cynthia Rice, director of student development and leadership, calls Hegdekar a responsible and caring leader.

Instead of coming to UMB to only obtain a degree, she has been actively involved in leaving the University a better place than it was when she entered, said Rice, who nominated Hegdekar for the 2021 Presidential Core Values Award for Leadership.

Hegdekar says empathy has helped shape her into the leader she is today.

Leadership is ultimately about serving others. It means motivating others and leading them in a direction that is compelling and inspiring. And empathy is the foundation of these actions, she said.

Hegdekar has enjoyed working with students from across the UMB schools and student leaders from the USM institutions as well as UMB presidents Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, and Jay A. Perman, MD. And she is grateful to one person in particular: San Nicolas.

His decision forever changed my life for the better, she said.

Honorable mention: Robyn Palmeiro, LCSW-C, School of Medicine; Thomas Leone, UMB Police Department
The covid-19 stimulus bill signed into law by California's governor in late February included billions to send direct payments to low-income residents. These payments, the Golden State stimulus checks, aim to help those who have been hit especially hard by the pandemic and many residents who were unable to claim the federal benefits because of their immigration status.

Eligibility

According to the California Franchise Tax Board, the entity tasked with administering the payments, recipients must meet certain requirements:

 Those earning less than $30,000 per year

 Households who received the Earned Income Tax Credit for 2020

 Anyone unable to receive recent federal payment because they do not have a Social Security Number, but who have an Individual Tax Identification Number and income of less than $75,000

 Households in the CalWORKS public assistance programme

 Those who qualify for the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment

 Recipients of the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants

State officials released information this week on the total number of payments that have been made. In total, 2.5 million Californians have claimed the benefit. In order to receive the payment, taxpayers must submit a tax return, which they have until 17 May to complete. The state is expecting that the numbers will increase as the deadline approaches and still has over a billion dollars in funding to distribute. In the state of California, around 600,000 people file their taxes with an ITIN number of which over half would qualify to receive payments.

How do these payments differ from federal stimulus checks?

All residents who submit a tax return in California receive a Tax Identification Number. This number was used to allow immigrants to claim the benefit. Since the federal stimulus checks are based on Social Security Numbers (SSN), immigrants and other residents did not receive the federal payments. Although the California law did aim to make up the difference in payments these individuals were unable to claim, it falls short.

While highlighting the integral role undocumented workers play in the state, the California Immigration Policy Center stated that these workers who make up about ten percent of the states workforce are overrepresented in frontline industries responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group was disappointed to see that the bill only allocates funding to pay about 30% of the federal benefits claimed by many in California with a SSN.
RAK Ceramics, one of the world's largest ceramics brands based in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, has announced that it has surpassed pre-pandemic levels of operation for the first three months, with record levels of revenue and profitability, reflecting resilience and strong growth of the business.

Announcing its results for the quarter ended March 31, RAK Ceramics said its revenue surged to a five-year high to hit AED723 million ($197 million), up 22 per cent over last year mainly driven by growth in all core markets.

It has reported a net profit of AED62.7 million, outperforming pre-pandemic levels of profit (AED36.9 million in 2019).

According to RAK Ceramics, operations across global markets continued to improve in Q1, leading to the strongest start to the year recorded by RAK Ceramics since 2016, it added.

Total gross profit margin for Q1 2021 reached an all-time high of 35% driven by an increase in revenue, an improvement in efficiencies and the optimisation of production lines.

The Q1 2021 revenue grew by 78.5% in Saudi Arabia, 2.1% in the UAE, 67.0% in India, 18.9% in Bangladesh, and 22.7% in Europe when compared to the same period in 2020, driven by improved economic activity.

In Saudi Arabia, the companys strategy continues to yield results. The imposition of anti-dumping duties on tiles from India and China in the kingdom initially led to an increase in demand for RAK Ceramics products.

Capitalising on this demand, the company invested in differentiated tiles and new showrooms, developing significant brand equity in the market. RAK Ceramics is now the go-to provider of premium ceramic products in the Kingdom.

In the UAE, despite the impact of Covid-19, workforce was not reduced, and production reached the highest level in 5 years due to increased demand from Saudi Arabia.

In India, RAK Ceramics implemented several initiatives to streamline the business and also boosted its sales strategy. Improved economic activity and positive business sentiments in the real estate sector led to increased demand and steady growth in revenue.

In Bangladesh, production is running at optimum capacity. RAK Ceramics introduced new products for the rural and urban segments of the market, improving brand visibility. This has led to an increase in market share.

In Europe, the business surpassed pre-pandemic levels of operation. RAK Ceramics was able to increase its customer base in Central Europe and the UK by differentiating itself from competitors and providing superior product management.

With an eye on future growth, RAK Ceramics continues to invest in branding initiatives including collaborations with premium designers, franchising of retail concepts and the launch of outlet stores in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

On the solid results, Group CEO Abdallah Massaad said: "I am pleased to report strong financial results for the quarter, driven by record levels of revenue and profitability. While 2020 was a difficult year for the business, however early implementation of measures to manage the impact of the pandemic has led to an accelerated recovery beginning as early as Q3 2020."

"Today, RAK Ceramics is in a position of strong growth, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of operation, with gross profit margins reaching an all-time high," he stated.

"Looking ahead for the remainder of 2021, our priority will be to invest in brand equity, grow our business in Saudi Arabia and protect our market share in the UAE and Bangladesh," he added.
US Treasury opens up $350 billion in covid-19 aid

The US Treasury launched access to $350 billion in covid-19 aid for state, local, tribal and territorial governments on Monday, releasing rules for allowable uses and a prohibition on tax cuts by recipient states.

The Treasury said that states with seasonally adjusted unemployment rates that are now 2 percentage points above levels in February 2020 can receive all of the funds they are due immediately. But those with smaller increases in unemployment will get their funds in two payments a year apart.

The total funding for states in President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan Act is $195.3 billion.

Treasury said $65.1 billion has been allocated to counties and $45.6 billion for metropolitan cities, which will both get their funds in two tranches a year apart, with the first payment coming in May.

Tribal governments, which receive a combined $20 billion, will receive an initial payment in May and a second payment in June based on employment data. The $4.5 billion allocated for US territories will all be delivered in May, Treasury said.

Treasury said the eligible uses for state and local funds include public health responses to the pandemic and replacement of revenues lost to the pandemic determined through a formula in Treasury guidance. Uses also include addressing negative economic impacts from the pandemic, including aid to unemployed workers and hard-hit communities, and premium pay for essential workers.

The Treasury also said the funds can be invested in improvements to water, sewer and broadband internet infrastructure.

But the Treasury maintained its plans to prohibit states from using the funds to offset tax cuts, a provision opposed by a number of Republican states.
As New York state rushes to vaccinate as many residents as possible, some signs point to a quick economic recovery. By the end of March, the New York Department of Labor reported an eighty-six percent decrease in initial claims across the state.

How to file an unemployment claim in New York?

New Yorkers who lose their job to covid can receive benefits for ninety-nine weeks. This number is based on the twenty-six weeks provided by the state and an additional fifty-three weeks of benefits funded by the federal government.

Claims can be filed through the Department of Labors website. Unemployed workers must claim benefits for all weeks they would like to receive benefits. Typically, there is a waiting period between when a claimant files unemployment and when they receive their first payment. However, for those requesting benefits because of a loss of work due to the pandemic, the waiting period has been waved.

Each week, those requesting payments must provide information to demonstrate that they are eligible. If the benefits are approved, recipients will receive their payments through a pre-paid debit card or direct deposit. For those who receive a debit card, the funds can be withdrawn from an ATM or point of sale terminal. For those with access to a bank account that allows for direct deposit, account information can be provided to the Department of Labor, and the benefits will be deposited as claims are approved. Once your application has been approved, the Department of Labor will send a Monetary Determination with information on your weekly benefit amount.

After making your claim, it will take between two to three weeks to receive it. Delays may be caused if the state needs additional information before sending payment. If, after logging into the unemployment portal, your status reads pending, this could be because the state is taking time to review and process your application for benefits. If your payments are approved but delayed, do not worry, you will receive back pay for all the weeks you were approved to receive benefits.

To ensure timely delivery of unemployment benefits the Department of Labor states that claimants should respond to any questionnaires, messages, or phone calls from us as quickly as possible. Failure to do so will delay your claim or result in the denial or suspension of your benefits. To avoid fraudulent calls, the caller will will verify their identity by providing: (a) the date you filed your application; & (b) the type of claim. If these pieces of information align with your records, the representative may ask you for your social security number.
A report published recently on British journal Nature noted that such certification by the WHO could help "address the current shortfall in vaccines available through COVAX," and potentially opens the door to "wide distribution in lower-income nations through the COVAX initiative."

GENEVA -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday validated the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm for emergency use, a move widely welcomed by officials and experts worldwide and set to benefit the global fight against the pandemic.

This is a "great success and benefit for the world" because the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine validated by the WHO is proving very effective in countries including Pakistan where it is being administered, said Musarrat Amin, a Pakistani strategic security analyst.

The world right now is suffering due to COVID-19 and the Sinopharm vaccine is a blessing because of its easy storage requirements, which will make it a desirable vaccine for the low-income economies of the third world countries, Amin said.

"The Sinopharm vaccine being added into the WHO's COVAX program is a huge relief for the third world countries," she added.

COVAX is an initiative led by international partnerships and agencies, including the WHO, to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are distributed equitably.

The WHO's emergency approval of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine is "a step in the right direction" and is "a great attempt to help beat coronavirus in developing countries," Abbas Zaki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and Fatah's Commissioner General for the Arab and Chinese Affairs, told Xinhua.

Prior to the WHO's decision, the Chinese vaccine has already been used in dozens of developing countries, including Palestine, and "offers reassurance and comfort to developing countries as it is safe and effective," Zaki said.

Bangladesh is very pleased to learn about the WHO decision to include the Chinese-made vaccine in the Emergency Use Listing, which surely comes as "a big blessing for the whole world in the fight against the deadly disease," said Mushtuq Hossain, an advisor to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research under Bangladesh's Health Ministry, in an interview with Xinhua.

He said Bangladesh's drug regulator has already approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use in the country, and the decision of the WHO will further facilitate the vaccination of more Bangladeshis.

Brunei's health ministry on Saturday shared the information of the WHO's emergency use approval for Sinopharm vaccine with local media, asking for publication on respective platforms to let the public know that all vaccines used in the country have WHO endorsement and to encourage wider vaccination.

A report published recently on British journal Nature noted that such certification by the WHO could help "address the current shortfall in vaccines available through COVAX," and potentially opens the door to "wide distribution in lower-income nations through the COVAX initiative."

"For many countries, Chinese vaccines were the only accessible ones," it wrote, adding that researchers in other countries such as Brazil, Turkey and Chile are "beginning to see evidence of their effect in controlling the pandemic."

China has been fulfilling its commitment to making its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good "at a time when the vaccine shots are not available in many places or being nationalized," Amin said.
Another batch of CoronaVac vaccines was delivered to Ukraine, Health Minister of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov has said.

"The next 500,000 doses of CoronaVac vaccine from Sinovac Biotech have just landed in Boryspil," Stepanov said on his Facebook page.

According to him, a total of 1.9 million of this vaccine have been contracted in Ukraine, of which 1.215 million have already been received by the country.
Hryhoriy Kuropyatnikov, the flagship of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the United States Coast Guard's Hamilton ship conducted joint exercises at sea for two days, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Monday.

"According to the plan of the exercises, the interaction of two coast guard ships took place with the involvement of the Starobelsk Ukrainian Navy ship. The crews worked out the coordinated actions of the tactical group to stop provocations at sea and repel an attack from the sky according to NATO standards, the Interior Ministry said in Telegram.

It is noted that the development of complex elements of maneuvering, evasion from an air attack and the organization of anti-sabotage defense of the ship, all elements of the exercises "traditionally took place under the supervision of ships of Russia."

"The coast guard ships and ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet not only observed, but created additional difficulties for maneuvers, they announced a sudden closure of areas for navigation, created a navigational hazard and traditionally left unanswered requests for compliance with international norms for safe navigation," the Interior Ministry of Ukraine said.
Biden to join videoconference of presidents of NATO's eastern flanks, where Ukraine, security in Black Sea region to be discussed

U.S. President Joe Biden will join the videoconference of the presidents of NATO's eastern flanks, which will take place in Bucharest on Monday, May 10, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has said.

"Glad to welcome Joe Biden to Bucharest Nine Summit which I host in Bucharest today," Iohannis said on Twitter on Monday.

He said that he also, together with Polish President Andrzej Duda, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in preparation for NATO Summit, focusing on Transatlantic ties, NATO-2030, defense and deterrence.

According to the DW publication, it is expected that the main topics of discussion at the summit of the so-called "Bucharest Nine" will be security in the Black Sea region and the situation around Ukraine.

The summit is aimed at coordinating the security of the positions of the countries of the region; the presidents of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will also take part in it.
From May 11 to May 13, the Ukraine 30 All-Ukrainian Forum will continue its work, its objective will be "National Security."

As the organizers of the forum say, "Ukraine is a European state that resists armed aggression from Russia; Russia remains a source of long-term systemic threats to Ukraine's national security, world stability and international democratic values."

"This necessitates the implementation of an effective strategy, which should ensure the cessation of aggression and the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized state border on the basis of international law. That is why the National Security Strategy of Ukraine is based on three basic principles of state policy: containment; stability; interaction," the organizers said.

On May 11, the forum will be opened by President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

There are three sessions. As part of the session "National Security Strategy of Ukraine," Deputy Head of the President's Office Roman Mashovets; Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov; Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Taran; Interior Minister Arsen Avakov; Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov; Head of NATO Representation in Ukraine Oleksandr Vinnikov; U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Kristina Kvien; EU Ambassador to Ukraine Matti Maasikas and others will speak.

On the same day, the sessions "Ukraine's Policy for NATO Membership" and "National Security Strategy of Ukraine" are working. Among the participants in the discussions are Head of the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Ivan Bakanov; Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies Oleksandr Lytvynenko; Deputy Head of the President's Office Ihor Zhovkva; First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova; Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation Polina Lysenko, and others.

On May 12, three sessions of the forum are dedicated to the Ukrainian army. The discussions will be attended by Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran; Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak; Commander of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yevhen Moisiuk; Deputy Prime Minister for Strategic Industries Oleh Urusky; Director of the Ukroboronprom State Concern Yuriy Husev and others.

On May 13, the forum will discuss the security challenges of Ukraine and the prospects for overcoming them, border security, cyber security strategy, civil protection and public security issues.
Anti-terrorist exercises to be held in Lviv region on May 12-14  SBU

Within the period from May 12 to May 14, 2021, the coordination group of the Anti-Terrorist Center under the Directorate of the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Lviv region will conduct planned anti-terrorist and counter-sabotage exercises.

According to the SBU regional department, major trainings will be held in conditions as close as possible to real ones.

"The State Security Service of Ukraine asks residents and guests of Zhovkva, Kulykiv and Dubliany to understand possible inconveniences and properly respond to the legal demands of law enforcement officers," the service said on Facebook.

During the exercises, it is envisaged to carry out restrictive measures in certain territories, the possibility of checking citizens' documents, inspecting motor vehicles.

The SBU asks citizens to have identity documents with them.
According to the department, Vietnam will export 6.4 million tonnes of rice in 2011, an increase of 233,000 tonnes compared the volume recorded in the previous year.

It is likely that India will remain the largest rice exporter in the world, with 15.5 million tonnes rice shipped abroad this year. Thailand will rank third with an estimated export volume of 6.1 million tonnes.

Last year, Vietnam shipped abroad 6.15 million tonnes of rice worth US$3.07 billion, down 3.5% in volume but up 9.3% in value year-on-year.

Statistics show that in the first four months of this year, the country exported 1.89 million tonnes of rice, down 10.8% in volume but up 1.2% in value over the same period last year.

The Vietnam Food Association said Vietnams rice export structure has shifted towards quality types with higher prices and added values.
The article said the leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) earmarking US$119 billion for infrastructure and committing to increasing the private sectors contribution to the gross domestic product from 42% to 55% by 2025 have attracted foreign investors and resulted in upbeat signals in the financial market.

It cited an example of the VanEck Vectors Vietnam exchange-traded fund, saying it is up 9% since the Congress wrapped on February 2. In addition, Dragons United Kingdomlisted Vietnam Enterprise Investments fund has gained 17% this year.

Pouring cash into improvements should enable the government to achieve its 6.5% to 7% annual growth targets while boosting profits for appropriately positioned companies, said Bill Stoops, chief investment officer at Dragon Capital in Ho Chi Minh City, as quoted by the article.

On the countrys property potential, Nick Niziolek, head of global strategies at Calamos Investments, was quoted as saying that New household formation in Vietnam is running at 80,000 to 90,000 a year, and supply at 60,000 to 70,000. Thats an exciting long-term opportunity, he added.

Regarding commercial and digital infrastructure, it quoted Sean Fieler, chief investment officer at Equinox Partners as saying that Vietnamese engineers cost less than in India, and thousands of them are learning Japanese. According to him, FPT Vietnam, a diversified IT provider with a burgeoning outsourcing business in Japan, saw its shares jumping by a third this year and can run further.

With all the countrys positives, US investors might have reason to edge back into Vietnam anyway, the article concluded.
DP World, the Dubai-based provider of smart end-to-end supply chain logistics, has significantly expanded its European inland network, adding three key ports in the Alsace region through its affiliate company, Swissterminal.

Earlier this month, the public authority Syndicat Mixte des Ports du Sud Alsace (SMO) awarded the concession contract of the Ports of Mulhouse-Rhin to the public-private company composed of the SMO, the Caisse des Depots et Consignations and Alsaceteam (joint venture of Swissterminal and the two French seaports Grand Port Maritime de Marseille and Haropa Port du Havre).

The operation of the three French inland ports is granted through a subdelegation contract to Alsaceterminal, a subsidiary of Swissterminal, which will take over Ottmarsheim, Huningue-Village-Neuf and Ile Napoleon ports in the course of 2021.

DP World believes this is a hugely positive announcement for the firm and its customers as it allows expansion of its already vast network across Europe, thereby offering greater geographic range, more transport solutions, and an increased number of connections.

More specifically the move will improve transport connections in the border triangle region between France, Switzerland and Germany, which holds such economic importance for numerous industries such as chemicals, metals, food processing, and construction.

The strategic location of the ports is also expected to grow in significance in the near future.

New rail connections due to be implemented will link them to the two main French seaports of Le Havre and Marseille-Fos, while inland shipping to the largest North Range ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium) will be strengthened.

Rob Harrison (Vice President) Inland & Logistics at Europe & Russia in DP World, said: "This is an incredibly exciting announcement for everyone involved, but also for trade in the region, as we as a sector continue to strive to introduce more products, improve efficiency and reliability, while of course reducing our carbon footprint and that of our customers through more sustainable inland transport methods, such as barge and rail."

"Swissterminal and its partners have committed to improving transport connections within Europe across the supply chain, especially within the border triangle region, and DP World will support those commitments where it can, while also offering the benefits of its wider European and global network, resource and facilities," stated Harrison.

"We would like to congratulate our colleagues at Swissterminal and our new partners in the region. We look forward to working with them as the potential of these ports becomes a reality," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The conference was organised after the PM inspected pandemic prevention and control work in the southwestern border provinces. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, joined the meeting from Hanoi, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh from Tay Ninh province, and Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh accompanied Chinh from An Giang.

At the event, PM Chinh underlined the growing complexity of the current COVID-19 outbreak, with a very high risk of the coronavirus spreading nationwide.



There were localities lowering guards against the virus and not prepared themselves with suitable response scenarios, he said, emphasising that local leaders will be held accountable for leaving the pandemic out of control or stagnant economy in their localities.

The PM also noted the threat from illegal entry across the border while the pandemic is ravaging neighbouring countries, and demanded strict control of entry and residency.

Voicing his concern over the spread of misinformation on COVID-19 response efforts and vaccination on social media which has created public concern, Chinh urged the mass media, the Party Central Committees Commission of Mass Mobilisation and Commission of Education and Communication to intervene to end the issue.

He stressed that if the pandemic spreads across the country, it would affect the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils for the 2021  2026 tenure and this academic year, therefore, all local administrations, organisations and units must strictly and drastically comply with instructions of the Party and the Government regarding COVID-19 control and ensure social security and order.

The PM also pointed to the need to prepare accommodations and treatment facilities for a 30,000-case scenario.

He asked all cities and provinces to come up with plans to ensure safety for the upcoming elections, and the completion of the 2020-21 school year while ministries must collaborate more closely to combat the virus.

The Ministries of National Defence, Public Security and Health were also asked to send more personnel and supplies to support border provinces, particularly those in the southwest.



According to the Health Ministry's statistics, 257 new infections had been detected in 26 cities and provinces from April 29 to 12:00 May 9. Meanwhile, during only the past week, a total of 515 people entered Vietnam illegally from Laos, Cambodia and China. The actual number is likely to be even higher.
To ensure safety in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held virtually with more than 700 voters from 26 locations in the three districts of Lac Thuy, Kim Boi, Cao Phong.

At the meeting, voters listened to brief biographies of the candidates and their plans of action.

On behalf of the candidates, Politburo member Mai pledged that, if selected, she would work hard alongside the delegation of Hoa Binhs NA deputies to continue renovating and improving their operational efficiency towards promoting democracy and truly and fully reflecting the aspirations of the people.

With all their abilities, enthusiasm and responsibilities, the elected candidates will strive to deserve the voters trust, she affirmed.

Local voters expressed their hope that after being elected, the NA deputies will pay attention to the issues of infrastructure planning and development, urban management, natural resources, and the environment, as well as working to tap into local potential for socio-economic development, improve the quality of education, training and medical services, and preserve and promote the cultural values of ethnic minority communities.

The candidates are also expected to uphold the sense of responsibility and fairly reflect the opinions of voters to the National Assembly, contributing to bringing the will and aspirations of localities to the agencies, departments, the legislature and the Government.

Earlier on May 8, Politburo member Mai held a meeting with voters in Yen Thuy district, Hoa Binh province.

* On the same day, Politburo member and Chairman of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission Tran Cam Tu and other NA candidates met with voters in Lao Cai provinces constituency No. 2.

Politburo member and Chairman of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission Tran Cam Tu speaks at the meeting with voters in Lao Cai province on May 10.



At the meeting, constituents were briefed on the candidates biographies as well as their action programmes if selected.

Delivering his action plan, Politburo member Tu highlighted the four key issues, including advising on and participating in the building and completion of the legal system; engaging in deciding on the countrys important issues, such as policies to build, consolidate and enhance the combat strength of Party organisations and members, as well as to prevent and combat corruption; supervising the implementation of the Constitution, laws, ordinances and the NAs resolutions; and renovating the supervising and questioning methods and actively monitoring the implementation of post-supervision conclusions and recommendations.

He also pledged to focus on directing the improvement of the efficiency of inspection, supervision and Party discipline, contributing to preventing and repelling the degradation in political thought, ethics and lifestyle as well as manifestations of self-evolution and self-transformation within the Party. In addition, Tu also promised to strongly fight corruption, wastefulness, negative acts, and bureaucracy in the spirit of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

At the meeting, voters voiced their support for the content in the candidates action programmes, expressing their wish that when elected, the NA deputies will promptly convert their action programmes into reality.
With the state of alarm in Spain having ended on Sunday, Spains regions  which are in charge of controlling the pandemic in their territories  no longer have the sole authority to introduce coronavirus restrictions on fundamental rights, specifically the nighttime curfew, limits on social gatherings and perimetral lockdowns of regions, provinces and municipalities. Now, these measures once again need to be authorized by the courts.

Ahead of the end of the state of alarm on May 9, some regional governments sought support from the courts, while others prepared alternative measures. The Basque government asked for authorization to seal its regional borders, but the request was denied last Friday. This means that there are currently no restrictions on inter-regional travel in Spain.

Seven regions  Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid and Murcia  have, however, asked courts to approve perimetral lockdowns in municipalities and health areas where there are high transmission rates of the coronavirus.

Another four regions  the Canary Islands, Navarre, Valencia and the Balearic Islands  requested authorization to maintain the nighttime curfew. Galicia and La Rioja also asked to implement this measure in areas at extreme risk from the virus.

So far, only the Balearic Islands, Madrid and Valencia have been given the green light from the courts. In the Canary Islands, the High Court approved some of the regional governments measures, but not the nighttime curfew, while in the Basque Country, the court struck down all the restrictions proposed by the Basque government.

Vaccination drive in Bilbao in April. Fernando Domingo-Aldama

Despite the concern that the end of the state of alarm will lead to legal chaos, the central government  a coalition of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and junior partner Unidas Podemos  believes the regions have enough authority to take action under the current laws. It has also said that regional authorities can request the government implement a state of alarm in their territories, if deemed necessary.

As an additional measure, the government approved last week a royal decree that gives the Supreme Court the final word on coronavirus restrictions. Under the new decree, if a lower court refuses to authorize a coronavirus restriction that affects fundamental rights, a region can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court  something that has not been possible until now.

The goal of this is to enable the countrys top judges to set down uniform criteria for when regional governments and the central administration itself can and cannot limit rights and under what conditions. In this way, the government hopes to prevent the confusion that occurred last year between June and October, when judges from lower courts reached contradictory decisions on coronavirus restrictions affecting fundamental rights. The Canary Islands regional government has already indicated that it plans to follow this route after the High Court struck down the curfew measure.

Experts, however, warned that these legal processes could delay key decisions and hinder the effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Under no circumstance can we lift a restriction from one day to the next in regions where the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is above 250 and there is strong community transmission, said Daniel Lopez-Acuna, a former director of emergencies at the World Health Organization (WHO). Once this legal framework disappears, there is the risk that we will have upticks from the end of the state of alarm because there will be more movement and interaction, he added, criticizing the judicialization of health decisions.

While coronavirus contagions are on a downward trend, the country remains in a high-risk situation: the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants stands at 202. Whats more, the incidence rate in each region varies greatly  from 41 cases in Valencia to 463 in Basque Country.

EL PAIS has summarized which measures have been approved in each region and territory of Spain. Next to each territory is the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants reported on Friday.

Andalusia (191.73)

The coronavirus restrictions in Andalusia will be eased in three phases according to the progress of the vaccination drive and the incidence of the pandemic. The first phase  stabilization  will take place between May 9 and 31, and involve the end of the nighttime curfew and perimetral lockdown of the region. Under this phase, food and drink establishments can open until midnight with a maximum of eight people per table in indoor spaces and 10 people in outdoor spaces, according to the coronavirus alert system. The capacity for civil and religious ceremonies is set at 300 and 500 people for indoor and outdoor facilities, respectively. Nighttime bars and venues can open until 2am, at the same capacity as the hospitality sector. Dancefloors, however, will only be allowed in municipalities on the lowest risk level, and must be outdoors. Face masks must also be worn. For outdoor events, audience members of different groups need to be separated either by an empty seat or maintain a safe distance of 1.5 meters. As for beaches and parks, there are no limits on when people can go. The second phase  progression  will take place from June 1 to 30, and the third  normalization  will begin on July 1.

The regional government also wants to introduce a perimetral lockdown in municipalities where the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is above 1,000, and on a case-by-case basis in areas with smaller populations. These measures are yet to be approved by the courts.

Aragon (293.85)

The perimetral lockdown of the region and the nighttime curfew has been lifted. In areas with high transmission rates, social gatherings are limited to six people in public spaces and to four in private spaces.

Asturias (111.7)

From Sunday, the regional government will allow the hospitality industry to close at 1am and serve six people to a table. The Asturian government will also ask the High Court for authorization to apply perimetral lockdowns in situations of extreme risk. Capacity in conferences and conventions will be increased to 300 people, with assigned seating. Large-scale events and nighttime activities will not be allowed. In shops that are larger than 300 square meters, capacity will be limited to 70%.

Balearic Islands (60.43)

The regional government of the Balearic Islands has received backing from the courts to maintain a curfew from 11pm to 6am and a six-person limit on social gatherings between a maximum of two households, both in outdoor and indoor spaces. The court also authorized the region to maintain security controls for arrivals to the islands and to restrict capacity at places of worship to 50%. In Mallorca and Ibiza, indoor dining in bars and restaurants is suspended, and a maximum of four people are allowed at an outdoor table. While in Menorca and Formentera, four people can be seated at a table indoors and six outdoors. Bars and restaurants must close at 10.30pm.

Basque Country (447.56)

The Basque High Court on Friday ruled against the measures that the regional government wanted to leave in place after the end of the state of alarm, on the basis that such limits to fundamental rights could only be implemented under the state of alarm. These restrictions included: perimetral lockdowns, a nighttime curfew and a limit of four people at social meetings. Basque premier Inigo Urkullu announced on Thursday that the region would not appeal to the Supreme Court if their measures are struck down. A non-binding report from the Basque public prosecutor opposed both proposals on the grounds that they violate fundamental rights. Bars and restaurants, however, will close at 10pm with a maximum of four people allowed on sidewalk cafes. Cultural activities and stores must close at 10pm.

Canary Islands (90.76)

According to the Canary Islands regional government, the nighttime curfew remains in place, even though the regional High Court did not authorize its extension after the state of alarm. The regional government has appealed this decision to the Supreme Court. Currently, there is an 11pm-6am curfew on the islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote and 12am-6am curfew in the rest of the archipelago. The High Court did approve a six-person limit on social gatherings in Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote and a 10-person limit on the other islands. The security controls in the regions ports and airports have also been authorized, as well as the other restrictions that were in place before the state of alarm ended on Sunday. With respect to the hospitality industry, in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, El Hierro and Lanzarote, a maximum of six people are allowed to be seated at a table in an outdoor area, and four people in indoor areas. Food and drink establishments on these islands must close at 11pm. In the rest of the region, the limit to a table is 10 and six, respectively, with closing time set at midnight.

Beachgoers in Las Canteras beach in the Canary Islands on March 31. Javier Bauluz

Cantabria (231.26)

The regional health department has published an order that makes it mandatory for establishments to close at 10.30pm after the end of the state of alarm. This rule applies to all businesses with the exception of health services and centers, pharmacies, emergency veterinarian care, social service residences and gas stations. The businesses affected are not able to allow new customers in after 10pm, according to the resolution that came into effect on Sunday and has no end date. There is no curfew, no limits on mobility and no limit on social meetings.

Castilla-La Mancha (202.52)

There is no curfew or limits on social gatherings in Castilla-La Mancha. Food and drink establishments must close at 1am and there is a limit of 10 people to a table. The regional government said that further restrictions may be introduced in areas with high transmission rates.

Castilla y Leon (169.98)

Authorities in Castilla y Leon have not requested to seal the regional borders or introduce a curfew. Food and drink establishments can now close at midnight, instead of 10pm. The deputy premier of the region, Francisco Igea, said that this is aimed at preventing a surge of contagions in private gatherings indoors. The region is going to maintain the restrictions recommended by the Health Ministry based on the coronavirus alert system, such as closing down the interior of bars and restaurants in areas where the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is above 150. In principle, these measures will not require authorization from the courts.

Catalonia (251.14)

The Catalan regional government has put an end to the nighttime curfew. The region, however, asked the Catalan High Court for authorization to limit social gatherings to six people and capacity in places of worship. The court gave the go-ahead for these measures at around midday on Friday. After the state of alarm, restaurants will be able to open until 11pm and shops until 10pm, according to the regional government.

Extremadura (94.27)

There is no curfew or perimetral lockdown in Extremadura. Food and drink establishments must close at midnight. Up to 15 people can meet for socializing.

Galicia (93.75)

The Galician regional government has lifted the perimetral lockdown of the region and the nighttime curfew, except in municipalities where the 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants is above 500 or the seven-day incidence rate is above 200. The region has also pushed back the closing times of bars and restaurants until 11pm and 1am, respectively. Social gatherings between members of different households are prohibited between 1am and 6am to prevent homes turning into bars, said Galician premier Alberto Nunez Feijoo. The premier said that the government will request authorization from the High Court to apply this ban and the curfew in high-risk areas.

La Rioja (269.13)

There will be no nighttime curfew, apart from in areas with extreme risk levels. There will be no restrictions on mobility, apart from in areas that have high risk levels. There will be no limits on social meetings. Bars and restaurants will see their opening hours affected according to local risk levels.

Madrid (317.56)

The Madrid regional government lifted the curfew and restrictions on social meetings on Sunday. The ban on gatherings in the home between members of two different households has also be lifted. The measures that still in place are the mandatory use of face masks, the capacity limits on bars and restaurants (50% in indoor areas and 75% in outdoor areas), the ban on bar counter service and the 75% limit on capacity in shopping malls, theaters and cinemas. The hospitality sector can now open from 6am to midnight. The perimetral lockdown of basic health zones  areas that are smaller than districts that contain several primary healthcare centers  are also be maintained. A total of 14 health zones will be confined from Monday.

Murcia (69.41)

The regional government announced on Friday that it would be reopening its borders from Sunday and will also scrap the nighttime curfew. Instead, there is now a limit on all non-essential activity from midnight until 6am, according to regional premier Fernando Lopez Miras. He added that municipalities will have to implement restrictions when a medium to high level of transmission is detected and that municipalities will be confined when the incidence exceeds 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants or rises more than 80% on the previous week.

Navarre (296.12)

The Navarre regional government has signed an order to extend the 11pm-6am curfew and the six-person limit on social gatherings between two households until May 20. Outdoor dining areas are allowed to stay open until 10pm and up to six people are allowed to be seated at a table, but indoor dining is suspended.

A sidewalk cafe in Valencia on March 23. Monica Torres

Valencia (40.54)

Authorities in Valencia asked the regional High Court for authorization to set a curfew between midnight and 6am, limit social gatherings to 10 people, both in private and public spaces, regardless of whether they take place indoors or outside, and reduce capacity at places of worship to 75%. On Friday, the court ruled in favor of these measures until May 24.

Ceuta (84.32)

In the North African exclave city of Ceuta, the local government will approve a decree to suspend all non-essential activity after midnight and keep nighttime venues and clubs closed. No more than six people from different households will be allowed to meet.

Melilla (295.14)

The North African exclave city of Melilla has announced that it will not maintain the curfew or perimetral lockdown of the city after May 9. It will, however, seek authorization from the courts to set a six-person limit on social gatherings and restrict capacity in places of worship. Although the perimetral lockdown will be lifted, travelers may still have the option of voluntarily taking an antigen test upon arrival, as has been happening since Christmas.

With reporting from Cristina Vazquez, Lucia Bohorquez, Guillermo Vega, Sonia Vizoso, Isabel Valdes, Juan Navarro, Maria Fabra, Bernat Coll, Eva Saiz, EFE and Europa Press.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
The Spanish government believes that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is now over, and that there is no need to extend the state of alarm. The emergency situation, which had been in place for six months and gave the regions the legal backing they needed to limit fundamental rights such as movement, officially came to an end at 12am Sunday morning. Regional chiefs, however, many of whom are from different political stripes than the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Unidas Podemos coalition government, have complained that they have been left high and dry in this new situation and do not have the necessary tools to control the epidemic.

Writing in EL PAIS on Monday, Spains justice minister, Juan Carlos Campo, argues that the ongoing vaccination campaign and the current situation of the pandemic in Spain has made it possible to end the state of alarm, something that he considers to be good news. After suffering three waves of the epidemic, leaving behind an official death toll of more than 78,000 victims, Spain is still registering an average of 600 Covid-19 deaths a week.

The intensive care units (ICUs) of regions such as Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country, meanwhile, remain under high pressure while the cumulative incidence in these territories remains either at extreme risk or very close to that level.

The vaccination drive picked up speed in April, and the most vulnerable population  i.e. the over-60s, who account for 95% of mortality  will be fully vaccinated or will at least have received one dose of a Covid-19 inoculation  by the end of May. When this situation is reached, the experts argue, the pressure on hospitals will fall.

The government understands that the legal framework is sufficient to combat the pandemic given the phase in which we find ourselves Spains justice minister, Juan Carlos Campo

Despite the concerning figures, the central government believes that the existing legal measures available to the regions  which are in charge of their vaccination drives, their healthcare systems and the coronavirus measures they deem necessary  are sufficient to deal with the situation. The government has pointed out that the regions can call on the central government to approve emergency situations just for their territories, and has also committed to making the necessary legal changes should the Supreme Court veto nighttime curfews or lockdowns implemented by a region.

The government understands that the legal framework is sufficient to combat the pandemic given the phase in which we find ourselves, argues the minister in his article. It is a flexible framework with guarantees, and allows the health authorities to adapt decisions and necessary measures to each regional situation. And it must be the judges who decide on proportionality if strict measures restricting rights have to be taken, he adds.

The early results of this new situation  one that Spain has already seen, when the first state of alarm expired last summer  suggest that there will be legal problems ahead. The High Court in the Basque Country, for example, has already vetoed the restrictions that the regional premier, Inigo Urkullo, wanted to implement  and that is despite the fact that the northern territory has one of the worst incidence levels of the virus in the country. The courts in the Balearic Islands and Valencia, meanwhile, have backed similar restrictions.

On Sunday, the High Court in the Canary Islands also rejected limiting the entry and exit of citizens, as well as refusing to authorize a nighttime curfew.

Police officers monitor the celebrations in Barcelona during the first night without the state of alarm this weekend. JUAN BARBOSA / EL PAIS

The decision of the court in the Canary Islands was made by five judges, with three in favor and two against. This reflects the huge differences of criteria that exist among the judiciary across the country when it comes to ruling on restrictions affecting fundamental rights without the backing of a state of alarm.

Last week, the government approved a decree allowing the Supreme Court to reach a consensus on these cases in a shorter time frame than usual. For this to happen, public prosecutors or regional governments will have to appeal rulings from their territorial courts. The justice minister has announced that if the top courts rulings show that there is a need to make additional legal changes, these will be studied and proposed in parliament.

Campo also points out that regional governments always have the possibility of requesting [from the central government] a state of alarm for their territories, with the scope that they deem necessary.

The state of alarm ended in Spain at 12am on Sunday morning. Despite restrictions remaining in place, the lapse of the emergency situation saw thousands of Spaniards take to the streets that night, to celebrate and party. The end of the restrictions also meant that in parts of Spain nighttime venues with music licenses could reopen, albeit with dance floors remaining closed for now.

Opposition backing

Since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Spain, opposition parties have flip-flopped over their support for the state of alarm. At the outset of the health crisis, the central government  which lacks a working majority in the Congress of Deputies, and thus must seek support of other groups to pass legislation  found widespread backing for the emergency measure. However, as the crisis progressed, this support has come and gone.

The main opposition Popular Party (PP), for example, has voted in favor, against and abstained when an extension to the state of alarm has been proposed in Congress. They like to govern with constitutional exceptionalism, said PP leader Pablo Casado of the coalition government by way of justifying his partys abstention so as not to give backing to the legal violation of the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to comments he made last year and that were reported yesterday by the Cadena SER radio network. Now, however, Casado has accused Sanchez of disappearing and leaving the regional governments alone with 100 Covid-19 deaths a day and legal chaos.

Speaking on Sunday, after Madrid was host to scenes of late-night revelling and parties, the citys PP mayor, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida denounced the situation. The fact that right now, after the end of the state of alarm, there is no legal Plan B, a legal framework, weakens all of the administrations, he said, in comments reported by the Atlas News agency. The deputy mayor, meanwhile, Begona Villacis of center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens), said that the situation was the reflection of an even more insensitive attitude, that of the prime minister of the government, who has decided to end the state of alarm and leave us in a vacuum. What does the situation that we have now mean?

Despite the complaints from politicians, for now no regional government has requested that a state of alarm be implemented in its territory.

English version by Simon Hunter.
The writer Jorge Volpi argues that collective manifestos carry less and less weight these days, and now have practically no influence or relevance in political terms. The discrediting of the figure of authority as a whole [] further erodes the idea that they might serve some purpose, he said in December during a graduation ceremony at New York University (NYU). Perhaps the strength of the signed hereunder no longer carries the importance it once did or has the ability to mobilize voters, but leaflets and manifestos signed by numerous hands have the capacity to stimulate discussion and at the same time to feed the eternal debate between what is published and what is public.

Since Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors election victory almost three years ago, Mexicos intellectual community has dedicated several letters to the president with titles such as: Against authoritarian drift and in defense of democracy, signed by 650 writers and academics in July 2020, In defense of freedom of speech, published in September 2020, and most recently, In defense of the Electoral Institute (INE), signed by almost 2,400 public figures including Enrique Krauze and Aguilar Camin, writer Angeles Mastretta, political scientist Jose Woldenberg, anthropologist Roger Bartra, actors Jose Maria Yazpik and Daniel Gimenez Cacho and academic Marta Lamas, among others.

Lopez Obrador during his morning press conference on April 26. GOBIERNO DE MEXICO

A month after its publication, Lopez Obrador railed against the signatories and accused them of being the same people who backed the fraud in 2006, alluding to the general election that he narrowly lost to Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (PAN) and said those who have monopolized all of the conventional media had done so to his disadvantage. According to Lopez Obrador, his political movement is only being backed by a small group because the rest were coerced with grants and succulent contracts during the time of former president Carlos Salinas of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The president narrowed the support of the thinking class to a handful of renowned intellectuals who have been consistent in their ideas and singled out 13 names, among them Elena Poniatowska, historian Lorenzo Meyer, La Jornada opinion writers Enrique Galvan and Pedro Miguel, producer Epigmenio Ibarra, director Luis Mandoki, actors Damian Alcazar and the Bichir brothers, writer Fabrizio Mejia and illustrators Rafael Barajas (also known as El Fisgon), Jose Hernandez and Antonio Helguera.

Lopez Obrador jokingly offered the collective his apologies because I am placing them in the spotlight, although they are used to that. EL PAIS contacted half a dozen of them for this story. Others made their excuses based on time constraints and Hernandez said he would prefer not to comment on the matter because I do not consider myself an intellectual of the 4T [Lopez Obradors Fourth Transformation movement] and, honestly, I have nothing to contribute.

Among those who did talk about their inclusion on the list of friends of the president, historian Lorenzo Meyer acknowledged that he didnt find it entirely disagreeable to be mentioned in the National Palace and that his ideals remain intact. Meyer identifies with the president in his proposal to combat rampant corruption and the unjust distribution of income in the country. The long friendship between the two started during Lopez Obradors early political career in Tabasco in the 1980s and has not diminished, Meyer tells EL PAIS. For years we would see each other once or twice a year at my house or his, but since he assumed the presidency, we have not been in touch, he says. Asked if he has laid aside his role as a critic to become an apologist for political power, Meyer says his stance has always been constant. Before I was against the government and against the corrupt regime that brought it to power. Now I am not against the government but I remain opposed to the regime that designed this system and still shows no sign of changing. As to the personal cost of aligning himself with Lopez Obrador, the historian notes: I used to be invited to give talks and that doesnt happen anymore. Its the same with the Spanish embassy. I used to know all the ambassadors but now I dont receive invites to anything.

Lopez Obrador with Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and the historian Lorenzo Meyer during a ceremony in the capital on October 19, 2020. Moises Pablo / EL PAIS

Epigmenio Ibarra agrees with the presidents assertion that the intellectual landscape contains a terrible imbalance. Speaking to EL PAIS, the audiovisual producer notes: We cannot ignore the fact that for years we had one of the longest, most perverse and totalitarian regimes in the world. Because they had money and they censored the media, they killed off or coerced critical thought. According to Ibarra, this is the basis for the current intellectual class reviewing their contracts and their dealings with the PRI and PAN governments.

Ibarra, who owns Argos, one of the biggest producers of soap operas in Latin America, adds: I feel very proud to be included in a group of people for whom I have profound respect, even if I consider myself to be a minor character among them. Discussing the consequences of his political activism, Ibarra speaks of the number of insults and lies thrown at me every day. I am a witness to the last few decades in Mexico and Central America. I had the good fortune that Lopez Obrador allowed me access to document his struggle but to these people I am not a journalist or a movie director, just someone who makes soap operas.

The 13 intellectuals singled out by Lopez Obrador have three things in common: age (they are all 53 or over), pride in being associated with the president, and all but one of them are men. None are young or among the new generation of voices that have joined the cause of Lopez Obradors 4T in the wake of its overwhelming victory at the polls. Neither are they new faces in the sphere of public debate and all have at one time or another shared a struggle or a sit-in on Lopez Obradors long battle for power. Being faithfully allied to a single cause is another defining characteristic.

Producer Epigmenio Ibarra recording during Lopez Obradors daily briefing on June 9, 2020. Moises Pablo / Moises Pablo

Until now, with a few exceptions, the most recognizable faces among the thinking class were cautious when it came to openly expressing their support for the president in power. Prudency dictated that it was better not to speak too gushingly of an administration that would be in power for six years and tended to leave the post with a trail of broken promises, betrayals and dead bodies in its wake. Not one would have forgiven being publicly cited by a president. The most instructive recent case was that of former president Enrique Pena Nieto. His meteoric election campaign took a blow when he was incapable of saying which books had had an effect of his life during the 2011 Guadalajara Book Fair. The incident probably didnt cost him any votes, but there was not a single writer, thinker or intellectual who wanted to be seen alongside him during his six-year tenure from 2012 to 2018. He was a pariah for the intelligentsia. That is not the case with Lopez Obrador, with all of those mentioned in his early morning call, far from seeking to distance themselves from the president, feeling pride in being close to him and often stating in an echo of his famous campaign slogan: It is an honor to be with Obrador.

Historically, the relationship between intellectuals and the government in power in Mexico has been a story of love and hate since the Revolution, from the post-revolutionary zeal of all of us together to a definitive break after the Tlatelolco massacre and the later thawing of relations when Carlos Salinas came to power in 1988. During the Salinas administration, the intellectual class was divided between those gathered around the mast of literary magazine Vuelta, founded by Octavio Paz, and later Enrique Krauzes Letras Libres, against the intellectuals of the Nexos Group, which later became known as the San Angel Group, led by figures such as Jorge Castaneda and Hector Aguilar Camin, who supported Vicente Foxs presidential campaign in 2000. From that era, Lopez Obrador maintains, emerged many of those who now belong to the conservative intelligentsia at the service of a rapacious minority.

Lopez Obrador with Pedro Miguel, Antonio Helguera, Jose Hernandez and El Fisgon on August 29, 2020. TWITTER

Addressing Lopez Obradors assertion of an intellectual imbalance (more than 2,000 against the 10 that support us), the La Jornada illustrator El Fisgon said in a recent interview: In October 2020, 650 intellectuals published a letter (In defense of freedom of speech, signed by figures such as Javier Sicilia, Enrique Krauze, Arturo Ripstein, Angeles Mastretta, Hector Aguilar Camin, Rafael Perez Gay, Hector de Mauleon, Valeria Luiselli and Jorge Castaneda, among others) that was reprinted in every newspaper and we responded with a letter that we couldnt even pay to get published in La Jornada, our own newspaper, and we reproduced it on social media instead. Do you know how many people supported this letter? Almost 52,000 people signed this letter that was never published in the mainstream media but had a huge impact on social media, and thats what balances it out, said El Fisgon.

In the view of Pedro Miguel, the editor of the opinion section at La Jornada, Lopez Obradors list was restrictive and unfair, and should have included more people like Paco Ignacio Taibo II or Maria Luisa Albores, the environment secretary, he told EL PAIS.

According to Miguel, being among those on Lopez Obradors list is concerning because of the responsibility it implies and because it wasnt among my life plans to be close to power or considered an intellectual, he jokes. The courtesans who criticize us and who were close to power forget three things: that we are allied to the political project of the left and have been since we were teenagers; that we are not for sale and I have not been paid a cent of public money, I live on my salary from the newspaper; and thirdly, we are not hypocrites, because we do not claim to be impartial or non-partisan, he adds.

As El Fisgon summed up after appearing on Twitter with Lopez Obrador after a lunch at the National Palace: Those who didnt like us now like us even less, and those who liked us, like us more. And thats it.

English version by Rob Train.
KYODO NEWS - May 10, 2021 - 20:53 | Arts, Feature, All

The booming popularity of the manga series "Jujutsu Kaisen" has made a temple in central Japan the latest magnet for fans eager to visit a site associated with their favorite cursed spirit.

Senkoji temple in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, deifies Ryomen Sukuna, one of the key antagonists in the series about a high school boy who joins a secret organization to fight against spirits that bring misfortune to people.

The temple's 66-year-old chief priest, Daien Oshita, has welcomed the unexpected "anime pilgrimage," saying he has read the manga himself and is happy for people to learn more about the local history of the Hida region.

The manga, which has been serialized in Shueisha Inc.'s Weekly Shonen Jump since March 2018, has garnered a strong following with over 45 million copies in circulation as of April this year.

The manga has also been published in English from 2019, and a 24-episode anime television series aired from October 2020 to March 2021 in Japan. An animated movie is scheduled to be released later this year.

In the Nihon Shoki, Japan's ancient chronicle completed in the eighth century, Ryomen Sukuna is depicted as a demon with two faces and eight limbs that rebelled against the imperial court during the Yamato period.

But in the Hida region, Ryomen Sukuna is regarded as a hero and benefactor of the land. Legend has it that 1,600 years ago, he was the leader of a powerful clan that discovered the mountain where Senkoji temple was later built and ruled over the entire region.

Many statues of him can be found at the temple, which is also famous as a place where Enku, a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Edo period, stayed for a long period.

But this year, the crowds have come for something other than the statues of Enku.

To help visitors from beyond the region learn more about Ryomen Sukuna, Oshita has opened a "Sukuna hall" to the public on weekends. The special opening of the hall, previously limited to Buddhist memorial services, is expected to run until the end of the year.

Oshita is also doing a trial exhibition of two Ryomen Sukuna statues side by side -- one in a standing pose, which had been enshrined at the back of the main hall, and another in a sitting pose carved by Enku.

He said the temple's seal stamp of Sukuna and good-luck charms featuring the god are also popular.

"Learning about the history of Ryomen Sukuna from different angles will prompt people to think about good and evil," said Oshita.
KYODO NEWS - May 10, 2021 - 23:37 | All, Japan

A UNESCO advisory panel recommended on Monday that a chain of islands in southwestern Japan with dense subtropical forests be added to the list of natural World Heritage sites, government officials said.

The listing of the 43,000 hectare area, comprising Amami-Oshima Island and Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture as well as the northern part of the main Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island in Okinawa Prefecture, is expected to be officially approved during an online World Heritage Committee session between July 16 and 31.

The advisory body assessed that the islands are crucial for the preservation of biodiversity and sought protective measures, such as preventing traffic accidents involving animals and capping the number of tourists on Iriomote Island.

The registration of 2020 candidate sites, including the southwestern Japan islands, has been delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Japanese government initially submitted its proposal for the islands, noting diverse ecosystems that are home to rare endemic animals and birds such as the Amami rabbit, the Iriomote cat and the Okinawa rail, to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in February 2017.

However, it withdrew the proposal in June 2018 on the advice of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a UNESCO advisory body.

The government revised the designated area by including a forest within a former U.S. military site in northern Okinawa that was returned to Japan in December 2016 and reinforced measures against invasive species before resubmitting the proposal in February 2019.

Local governments and residents rejoiced at the UNESCO panel's decision.

"The news inspires dreams that can brighten up the atmosphere amid the coronavirus pandemic," Amami Mayor Tsuyoshi Asayama told reporters, pledging to continue efforts toward the registration of the site.

"We will engage in the development of a sustainable region that is worthy of world natural heritage so that we can leave this precious natural environment to our descendants 100 and 1,000 years from now," Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said in a statement.

Joining the celebratory mood from Tokunoshima Island was Mutsumi Minobe, the 58-year-old director general of a nonprofit organization that promotes eco-tourism, who said, "I hope people are still living alongside forests where the Amami rabbit dwells after 1,000 years."

Meanwhile, Yusuke Takayama, 39, who engages in activities to protect the Iriomote cat, expressed concern about potential "overtourism" as well as improper feeding and traffic accidents involving the rare wildcats.

"We need bold measures such as capping the number of visitors entering the island," he said.

If registered, the southwestern Japan islands would become the fifth natural World Heritage site in the country after the Ogasawara Islands, which were added to the World Heritage list in 2011.

There are currently 23 World Heritage sites in Japan including cultural properties.

This year's World Heritage Committee session will evaluate candidate sites for 2020 and 2021.

Japan is also awaiting a decision by a UNESCO advisory body on a World Cultural Heritage candidate, the Jomon Era archaeological sites in the country's north, including the Sannai Maruyama village ruins in Aomori Prefecture dating back around 5,900 years.

The decision regarding the 17 archaeological sites across Hokkaido and Aomori, Akita, and Iwate prefectures is expected to be delivered later this month.

Related coverage:

Japanese architectural craft approved as UNESCO intangible heritage

UNESCO lists mountainous site in Japan as biosphere reserve

Japan's largest mounded tomb eyed to become world heritage site
Bengaluru:

A 48-year-old entrepreneur from Bengaluru was allegedly beaten by a group of Uber cab drivers after an argument started over seat belts near Kempegowda International Airport on Monday night in Bengaluru.

Dave Banerjee, the victim, tweeted about the incident and posted pictures of his injuries.

Banerjee tweeted, "Got beaten up by a mob of 20+ #Uber drivers at #Bangalore Airport last night for demanding seatbelts. Uber SOS said we cant help, call the police"

Banerjee said his flight from Mumbai reached Bengaluru airport around 9 pm and he boarded the Uber car but he didnt find seat belts in the rear seat. He asked the driver twice about seat belts but he didn't reply and then tapped him on the shoulders and asked him to stop the car immediately.

The driver stopped the car and Banerjee went down to pull out the seat belts which were inside the seat but the driver came down and called other drivers claiming that he was beaten by Banerjee.

Banerjee says around 20 drivers beat him up for about 40 minutes. He contacted Uber but they asked him to call the police. Later he took another cab and reached home.

Speaking to NewsNation Malika Baruah, wife of Dave Banerjee, said her husband has visible injury marks and got treatment from a hospital.

She further said that they will be filing a complaint at the concerned police station.

After support started pouring in for Banerjee, Uber has issued a media statement in response to the incident.

"Whats been described has no place on our app. Safety of our riders is a priority for us at Uber. We have barred the driver-partners access to the Uber app. We will support the law enforcement authorities in their investigation and proceedings in any way possible"

Police officers from Bengaluru North East Division said so far no complaint has been received by them regarding this incident but whenever a complaint is filed, police will take action.

Also read: Gujarat elections 2017: BJP, Congress to meet in Delhi to finalise candidates today



Also read: Sex rackets running from Ghaziabad hotels busted
New Delhi:

As the Gujarat elections are around the corner, both Bhartiya Janata Party and Congress are all set to finalise their candidates for the upcoming polls on Wednesday.

The BJPs central election committee is all set to meet in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah in Delhi.

Senior BJP leaders from Gujarat will leave for Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the names of the candidates for the upcoming polls with the top leadership.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, BJP state president Jitu Vaghani, former chief minister Anandiben Patel and other senior leaders are expected to discuss the list of prospective candidates with the central leadership.

On the other hand, Congress parliamentary board is also meeting on Wednesday to decide on candidates for Gujarat polls.

PCC chief BharatSingh Solanki and party in charge Ashok Gehlot has already arrived in Delhi.

Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14. The votes will be counted on December 18.

First phase poll to take place in 89 constituencies on December 9 and second phase will take place in 93 constituencies.

Model code of conduct has already been enforced in the state.

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New Delhi:

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party will contest a few seats in Gujarat polls. He said he has urged people to vote for his party and Congress also.

We will go for campaign there as well, he said.

Samajwadi party had already contested Uttar Pradesh polls with Congress and the party would continue its support in Gujarat too.

On Tuesday, Akhilesh appealed to people to decide whether they want to carry forward the "development" initiated by his party during its rule or promote the "anti-development" policies of the BJP.

We are contesting on very few seats in #Gujarat, will go and campaign there as well. Have appealed to ppl to support us and Congress also: Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/XsW49EQ4Vv  ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2017

Yadav also accused the ruling BJP of "spreading hatred" in the state instead of initiating any development works.
Dubai's real state sector witnessed solid activity last month recording a total 4,832 property transactions worth AED10.97 billion ($2.3 billion), according to a UAE-based real estate portal, Property Finder.

Of this, the off-plan transactions increased by 12.9 per cent, hitting a 14-month high while the secondary/ready property deals fell for the first time in 11 months, it stated.

One in four apartments sold in Dubai last month were either in Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Jumeirah Village Circle or Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

According to Property Finder, this is the highest value of monthly property transactions in four years. April had 4.2 per cent more than March 2021 in terms of volume and 0.6 per cent more in terms of value. This brings the year to date total to 16,577 transactions worth AED36.12 billion, it stated.

In April, 70 per cent of the total transactions were up to AED2 million, while 23 per cent were between AED2 million to AED5 million, four per cent were between AED5 million to AED10 million and 3 per cent above AED10 million.

"The dynamics in the residential real estate market in 2021 have been interesting thus far. In April alone, we have seen six villa transactions over AED50 million, with one on the Palm recorded as the second highest villa transaction in 2021 worth AED105 million," stated Lynnette Abad Sacchetto, Director of Research & Data.

"When looking at the mortgage transaction data, we have seen that April, March and January of 2021 had the highest number of monthly transactions since March 2010," he noted.

Interestingly, one of the major trends seen in April was in Mohammed bin Rashid City which recorded most transactions in a single community.

"Followed by Jumeirah Village Circle, accounting for 5.8% of all transactions and Dubai Marina with 5.6% of all transactions. In addition, Business Bay, which has dominated the top two spots for the most number of monthly sales in a community for the past year, fell from 7.2 percent of total transactions in a single month to 3.5 percent. Falling from number one on the ranking to number 10," he added.

In April, 60 per cent of all transactions were for secondary/ready properties and 40 per cent were for off-plan properties. When we look at the volume of transactions, the off-plan market transacted 1,934 properties worth AED3.09 billion and the secondary market transacted 2,898 properties worth a total of AED 7.89 billion.

Comparing this to March 2021, the number of off-plan transactions in April increased by 12.9 percent, the highest in 14 months and the secondary/ready property transactions decreased for the first time in 11 months by 0.92 percent.

"In the past few months, we have seen the highest amount of off-plan transactions month-on-month since February 2020 as the off-plan sector seems to be picking up again," said Sacchetto.

"Developers are wooing foreign investors with attractive pricing schemes and capitalizing on the new visa regulations to attract foreign direct investment," she added.

In the villas/townhouses sector, 18.5 per cent of all sales in April took place in Mohammed bin Rashid City, followed by Dubailand (10.3 per cent), Dubai Hills Estate (9.4 per cent), Rukan (5 per cent) and Town Square(4.9 per cent).

Looking at apartments, 8.5 per cent of all sales transactions took place in Dubai Marina followed by Jumeirah Village Circle (8.4 per cent), Jumeirah Lake Towers (7.6 per cent), DownTown Dubai (7.3 percent) and Business Bay (5.4 per cent).

According to Property finder data, the top areas of interest in terms of searches for villas/townhouses in April 2021 were Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Mohammed bin Rashid City and Damac Hills, while for apartments it were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay and Jumeirah Village Circle.-TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi :

A man trying to sneak into the Hindon Air Force Station at Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district by attempting to scale the high-security walls was shot at and injured by the security forces on Tuesday late evening.

SSP Ghaziabad confirmed the incident. He said, "A suspect trying to sneak in has been shot. He has suffered bullet injuries."

The suspect has been identified as Sujeet belongs to Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh. He tried to enter the airforce station at around 11 pm.

As he ignored the warnings by security personnel to stop, he was shot in the left leg in order to immobilise him, SHO of Sahibabad police station Rakesh Kumar Singh said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official said there was an IB alert about a possible attack by some terrorist outfits on the airbase.

Sources said it is being ascertained whether the man has links with terrorist outfits.

Following the incident, high alert has been issued and security has been beefed up at the airbase.

(With PTI inputs)

Read more: PM Modi says India support rules-based security architecture

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New Delhi:

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has appointed a committee to look into environment protection and infrastructure for pilgrims at Amarnath Shrine.



It has also asked why extra shops and open toilets have not been removed.



NGT suggests that the area around Amarnath Shrine cave should be declared as 'silence zone' to prevent avalanches, throwing offerings/coconuts near the cave should be stopped.



NGT has also asked 'why SC orders of 2012 for protection of the area haven't been followed?'



The National Green Tribunal had on Monday capped the number of devotees allowed to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir at 50,000 per day.



The NGT has also stayed all the constructions going on inside shrine complex.

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New Delhi:

The Supreme Courts three-judge bench on Thursday asked CBI to file its reply on the plea filed by Karti Chidambaram seeking to travel abroad in INX Media case by Thursday evening.

The CBI had sought more time to reply to the plea filed by Karti Chidambaram. The matter was adjourned till November 20.

Earlier on November 9, the Supreme Court asked CBI to respond whether Karti Chidambaram could be allowed to travel abroad for 4-5 days and what can be the conditions imposed on him so that he does not escape.

The apex court read the documents sent by CBI carrying evidences against Karti. The court indicated that the documents carried details of 6 bank accounts belonging to Karti.

However, the CBI advocate Tushar Mehta requested Judge to not make the documents public.

Kartis advocates Kapil Sibal and Gopal Subramanium strongly objected to the Mehtas requests. They said that unless Karti would come to know what CBI has presented, how come he will be answering it.

The advocates said that they are ready for questioning but CBI is not calling them. After courts order, CBI called him for two days and questioned for 5 hours.

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New Delhi :

Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, who is the chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, on Tuesday launched a first of its kind document on joint training aimed at promoting synergy among the three services.

The document 'Joint Training Doctrine Indian Armed Forces-- 2017' has been prepared in a "collegiate manner" involving all the three service headquarters and flows from its mother and capstone doctrine namely, the 'Joint Doctrine Indian Armed Forces -- 2017' released in April this year, an Army official said.

The official noted that besides numerous advantages of the doctrines, the document will also go a long way in "fostering initiative" and "stimulating creativity" for promoting "integration" between the three services in times to come.

"The aim of the doctrine is to promote synergy and integration amongst the three services and other stake-holders leading to an enhanced efficiency and optimum utilisation of resources", the official said.

As a part of the modern warfare, thrust is being given on integration of all the three services in dealing with adversarial conditions.

Read more: PM Modi says India support rules-based security architecture

Several western countries have been focusing on joint training of personnel of all the three services. The Gulf Warin the 1990s is an example where all three services played a crucial role. "The future battles will be fight in an environment where the Army Navy and the Air Force will have to fight as a cohesive unit. This document lays out basic framework on training involving all the three wings of the armed forces", the official said.

Thrust is also given on joint training in international military exercises. Armed force personnel of all the three wings recently underwent a similar exercise 'Indira 2017' with their Russian counterpart.

"This key stone doctrine will basically serve as a foundation and knowledge base from which specific directives and strategies will be issued by the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee to the Head Quarters Integrated Defence Services and Service Head Quarters to consolidate proven concepts, structures, mechanisms, capacities, capabilities etc, from time to time", the official said.

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New Delhi:

The police on Tuesday conducted raids on three hotels in Ghaziabad for allegedly running a sex racket, the sources informed.



One of the hotel owners has been detained by the police while two managed to escape.



Police raided the three hotels located on Railway Road, Bazariya Market and those found indulging in illegal activities were held.



Police raided the three hotels under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police Manisha Singh after they got a tip-off. The city magistrate was also present during the raids.



One hotel owner was held while two others managed to escape. The absconding hotel owners will be nabbed soon, said Singh.

Also read: Jailed Dera chief Gurmeet Singh gets VIP perk alleges prisoner, Jail Minister denies



Also read: Odisha: Girl stripped naked, filmed inside school premises in Malkangiri
New Delhi :

A woman was allegedly gangraped and dumped near RTO office in Unnao of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

Pushpanjali Devi, SP Unnao, informed that the victim lives in Ahmedabad and she took a train to Kanpur. Later, she found a few people who were known to her and went with them.

A few hours later, she fell asleep and found herself at unknown place. She alleged that they raped her at the location. A medical test was conducted and police teams have been formed to nab the culprits, the SP Unnao said.

On November 10, a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped in a village in Fefna area here, police had said.

#UttarPradesh: Woman gang-raped and dumped near RTO Office in Unnao, police forms team to arrest the culprits. pic.twitter.com/9VZoJ87npk  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 15, 2017

The incident took place on November 10 when the girl had gone to attend a marriage function with her mother when a man, belonging to the same village, took her to a secluded place and raped her, they had informed.

The girl lives in Ahmedabad. She took a train to Kanpur where she found a few people known to her & went with them. She dozed off & later found herself at an unknown place where they raped her. Medical test was done. Team formed to arrest the culprits: Pushpanjali Devi, SP Unnnao pic.twitter.com/8xEdGEdysg  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 15, 2017

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New Delhi :

This day in History is very important from the point of view of India as it is the 151st birthday of India's first woman to study law at Oxford university.

In fact Cornelia Sorabji is the first Indian national to study at any British university only to become India's first woman advocate. Google honours her on this day by creating a doodle of Cornelia in front of the Allahabad High Court where she started her career as a pleader.

The doodle was created by Jasjyot Singh Hans. Corneli Sorabji was one of the nine children of the highly respected Sorabji Karsedji and his wife, Francina Ford.

Cornelia went to study law at Oxford at a time when the universities were reluctant to accept female students. With the help of National Indian Association she was able to sit for Civil Laws Exam at Somerville college.

On her return she observed that women who owned considerable property did not have the necessary access to defend it. Under the existing Purdahnashin practice these women were barred from interacting with any male.

Despite achieving success at the Bombay University LLB examination she was not allowed to file petitions and pleas untill the law that barred women from practicing was channged in 1923.

Cornelia Sorabji breathed last at her London home on July 6,1954.
New Delhi:

Kerala Transport Minister Thomas Chandy on Wednesday submitted his resignation after facing land encroachment allegations.

Earlier, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that the cabinet did not had a discussion on Thomas Chandy's issue. But, he said that NCP will discuss the issue with their central leaders and inform their decision.

The cabinet didn't discuss Thomas Chandy's issue. Today I had a discussion with Thomas Chandy and NCP's TP Peethambaran. NCP will discuss it with their central leaders and inform their decision, said Vijayan.

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday had dismissed a petition by state Transport Minister Thomas Chandy for quashing the Alappuzha district collector's report which alleged large-scale land grab by him to build a plush resort.

Hundreds of BJP workers had on Tuesday converged in front of the Secretariat and staged a protest demanding the immediate resignation of Thomas Chandy who is facing allegations of land encroachment for a luxury lake resort owned by him in Alappuzha district.

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New Delhi:

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday reiterated his stand over PoK, saying that the latter belongs to Pakistan and India must give up fight pursuing the region.

While addressing a gathering in Uri, he said, How long will we shed blood of our innocent people? We must understand that region belongs to Pakistan, and its been 70 years, but they (India) failed to take back.

It (PoK) is not their (Centre) father's share, he said. The former chief minister said, "Pakistan was not weak to allow India to take that part of Jammu and Kashmir under its occupation".

Kab tak begunahon ka khoon behta rahega aur hum ye kehte rahenge ki wo hamara hissa hai? Wo inke baap ka hissa nahi hai. 70 saal ho gaye hain. Wo Pakistan hai, ye Hindustan hai aur 70 saal se ye usko haasil nahi kar sake. Aaj kehte hain ye hamara hissa hai: Farooq Abdullah in Uri pic.twitter.com/iabCHWaFCC  ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2017

The Lok Sabha member from Srinagar had raked up controversy last week when he said that PoK belongs to Pakistan and it won't change even if the two countries fight wars against each other.

"I tell them in plain terms not only the people of India, but also to the world that the part (of J-K) which is with Pakistan (PoK) belongs to Pakistan and this side to India. This won't change. Let them fight how many wars they want to. This won't change," he had said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Gujarat BJP after being banned from using the word Pappu in its video campaign targeting the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has now replaced the word with Yuvraaj.

BJP has released two campaign advertisements where they have referred the Congress vice president as Yuvraaj without naming him. The state BJP has released a 48-second long video, almost similar to the rejected clip, a set at the grocery store and a 5 minutes and 4 seconds-long video on Twitter, a tea stall set.

In the video one can see a grocery shop owner and his assistant working when in background one can hear sir, sir. In reply, the assistant says, Yuvraaj has come. The owner says, You can buy anything from here but not votes.

BJP supporters used the word Pappu and Yuvraaj on the social media to mock Rahul Gandhi.

The election commission on Tuesday had objected to the use of word Pappu, stating that the word ridicules a person commonly known by that name.

Soon after the media committee of the Gujarat Election Commission asked the BJP to drop the word, the saffron party argued that it had made no direct reference or named anyone in the video campaign. Yet, the committees decision remained unchanged.

Also read| Gujarat Assembly elections 2017: EC bars state BJP to use 'Pappu' in electronic advertisement



In the video published on Twitter, the BJP has also targeted the three youth leaders Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor. Without naming them they have been referred Ina Mina Dika.
Technip Energies has been awarded a large Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for its Para Xylene (PX) and Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) complex project at Paradip, Orissa, on the East Coast of India.

This EPCC contract covers the delivery of a new 1.2 MMTPA PTA plant and associated facilities. PTA is a major raw material used to manufacture polyester fibres, PET bottles and polyester film used in packaging applications.

Marco Villa, Chief Operating Officer of Technip Energies commented: We are pleased to be awarded another prestigious contract by Indian Oil Corporation Limited. We look forward to starting this significant project which illustrates our commitment to India  a core market for

us. It also significantly consolidates our leading position for executing complex petrochemical projects.

Paradip Refinery is the most-modern refinery in India. Its products meet the energy demands of the domestic market and are partly exported. With the aim to create a value chain, Paradip Refinery has ventured into petrochemicals with the production of Polypropylene (PP), Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG), and is now going into Para Xylene (PX) and Purified Terephthalic Acid

(PTA) production. The availability of PTA at Paradip will provide a boost to polyester manufacturing facilities in the vicinity.

Technip Energies has a strong footprint in India and local presence in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Dahej.-- TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi :

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh again refused to meet his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, who wanted to discuss the issue of deadly smog that has been enveloping the national capital.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Kejriwal had asked Singh to meet him in Chandigarh over stubble burning by farmers leading to smog and pollution in the national capital and surrounding areas.

"Captain Amarinder Singh Sir, I am coming to Chandigarh on Wednesday to meet Haryana CM (Manohar Lal Khattar). Would be grateful if you could spare some time to meet me. It is in collective interest", Kejriwal said in a tweet.

Read more: Navy chief launches document on joint training of three services

The Punjab Chief Minister's reply this evening was tweeted by his media adviser Raveen Thukral: "Stop politicising the #pollution issue, you know any meeting between us would be useless, and in any case now that the apex court is also seized of the matter, let us leave it to them and the central govt to find long-term solutions."

In Chandigarh, Singh claimed he failed to understand why the Delhi chief minister was trying to force his hand, knowing well that any such discussion would be "meaningless and futile".

Singh alleged that Kejriwal's tendency to indulge in petty street politics was well-known. He said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was "trying to divert" public attention from his government's "failure" to check the problem of pollution in Delhi, as exposed in the National Green Tribunal's response to the "ill-conceived" odd-even scheme. The problems faced by the national capital and Punjab on this count were completely different with no meeting ground, Singh said.

Stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana has been seen as major cause for smog and air pollution in the National Capital Region, by the authorities.

.@capt_amarinder Sir, I am coming to Chandigarh on Wed to meet Haryana CM. Would be grateful if u cud spare sometime to meet me. It is in collective interest  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 14, 2017

Stop politicising the #pollution issue, you know any meeting between us would be useless, and in any case now that the apex court is also seized of the matter, let us leave it to them and the central govt to find long-term solutions: @capt_amarinder to @ArvindKejriwal  RaveenMediaAdvPunCM (@RT_MediaAdvPbCM) November 14, 2017

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Geneva:

The largest diamond ever offered at auction went under the hammer in Geneva for nearly USD 34 million, a world record for a gem of its kind, the Christie's auction house said.

The 163.41-carat flawless D colour diamond, suspended from an emerald and diamond necklace called The Art of Grisogono, sold for 33.5 million Swiss francs (USD 33.8 million, 28.7 million euros), after taxes and commissions, at the Christie's autumn jewel auction.

This marks "a new world-record price for a D colour diamond at auction", Rahul Kadakia, auctioneer and head of Christie's international jewels division, told AFP.

D is the highest colour grade attributed to a diamond, indicating that the stone is completely colourless, and thus extremely rare.

With a drawn-out round of rapid-fire bidding starting at 20 million francs, the necklace was finally sold to a telephone bidder, who wished to remain anonymous, for well above the asking price of 25 million.

But some had expected The Art of Grisogono, which Christie's described as a "masterpiece of unparallelled beauty and exquisite workmanship", to fetch even more.

Read more: Saudi Arabia approves Yoga, declares it as sports activity

"I am disappointed that the Art of de Grisogono didn't sell for a more dazzling price", said Tobias Kormind, head of 77 Diamonds, a large European online diamond jeweller, who had said before the sale he thought the price might top $50 million.

The flawless, D colour 11 A type diamond was cut from a 404 carat rough rock which was discovered in February 2016 in the Lulo mine in Angola -- the 27th biggest rough white diamond ever discovered.

The rough was analysed in Antwerp and cut in New York, where a team of 10 diamond-cutting specialists were involved in mapping, plotting, cleaving, laser-cutting and polishing the giant rough rock into a polished, flawless diamond.

A team from Swiss luxury jeweller de Grisogono then created 50 different designs around the 163.41-carat diamond, before opting for an asymmetric necklace with the stone as its centrepiece.

The left side of the necklace is made up of 18 emerald-cut diamonds and the right side composed of two rows of pear-shaped emeralds.

Another highlight of Tuesday's auction, a large pink diamond once set in the crowns of numerous French kings and emperors, including Napoleon, meanwhile sold for far more than the USD 6-9 million estimate.

It went under the hammer, again to an unidentified telephone bidder, for 12.5 million francs, with the final price tag after taxes and commissions ticking in at 14.4 million francs (USD 14.5 million, 12.3 million euros).

The gem was named after Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian cardinal and diplomat, as well as a great art collector, who served as chief minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, and who bequeathed it and other diamonds to the Sun King in his will.

The pink stone, originally dug out of the ancient mines of Golconda in south-central India, sparkled on the crowns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

And it graced the crown of Napoleon I, Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, among others.

It has since passed through the hands of famous French jeweller Frederic Boucheron and later the Baron von Derwies. Christie's said the seller was a private collector, but did not reveal their identity.

Tuesday's sale marked the first time the diamond appeared at auction in 130 years.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar in Chandigarh over the Delhi smog issue on Wednesday.

Delhi was shrouded with thick blanket of smog last week. One of the main causes for Delhi smog was stubble burning neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab.

Delhi CM had also contacted Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to meet him as he is also based out in Chandigarh.

But, Amarinder refused to meet Kejriwal by saying he does not have the same luxury of time as the Delhi Chief Minister.

When Kejriwal had requested neighbouring states to stop the stubble burning, Amarinder had said that Kejriwal is a peculiar person with views on everything but no understanding.

Mr Kejriwal is a peculiar person who has views on everything without understanding the situation. There is 20 million ton of paddy straw, where do I ask farmers to store? So Mr Kejriwal doesn't understand this problem, said Singh.

Delhi has been struggling with hazardous air quality over the last week. Delhi woke up to thick smog on last Tuesday.

Delhi government proposed odd-even scheme to counter the menace of air pollution but NGT had asked them to carry it out without the exemptions to women and two-wheelers.

Delhi govt had to call off odd-even as they did not want to compromise on security to women.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Pakistan on Wednesday violated ceasefire in Shahpur Kirni Sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

Heavy shelling was reported from both the sides. Firing started at 7:40 AM in the morning.

No damage has been reported yet.

Army is giving retaliating strongly and effectively.

Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0815 hours in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC), the spokesman said.

Earlier on October 18, Pakistan violated ceasefire in Balakote sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. Four civilians were injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Balakote sector.

There were reports of damage to the houses and cars in the Balakote sector.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Iranian authorities have confirmed reports that direct discussions had taken place with Saudi Arabia on Monday."There have been talks and they have been about bilateral and regional issues," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told a press conference.

According to media reports, Saudi and Iranian officials have met at least twice in Iraq in recent weeks.

The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 2016 and are currently facing off in multiple proxy conflicts, including in Yemen.

Tehran had not previously confirmed the meetings but Iraqi President Barham Salih said his country had hosted several rounds of talks between the two countries' representatives.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran view each other as arch-enemies and have been competing for decades for economic and political primacy in the region. Saudi Arabia has been leading a military alliance supporting the Yemeni government in its fight against the Iran-linked Houthi rebels.

However, Saudi and Iranian officials have softened their language recently and said they are prepared for reconciliation.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told state television that Riyadh seeks positive and special relations with Iran if Tehran ended negative behaviours. Iran followed by saying it hoped for constructive dialogue to resolve differences between the countries, in a marked change of tone compared to past years.

Ladakh administration extends Curfew till May 17, comply with SoPs strictly

Germany says it would give the J&J Covid-19 vaccine primarily to those aged 60 and up

Israel delays Palestinian eviction hearing after clashes, postpones the hearing in a legal case
Kolkata: Violence is on in West Bengal after the results of assembly elections. Dozens of BJP workers have been killed and several others injured, as well as hundreds of people have fled. Now, overseas Indians settled in different countries have protested against the killings. BJP leader Kapil Mishra posted pictures of protests by these overseas Indians on his Twitter account.

Saffron flags and posters were seen in Bassingstoke, United Kingdom, with 'Demonstration against the massacre of Hindus' and 'Hindu Lives Matter'. Indian migrants living in Canada also protested against the Bengal violence in Calgary and Toronto. Here a poster read, 'Stop Hindu genocide in West Bengal'. 'Enough is enough now'. Be afraid of God. Another poster calls 'Mamata Banerjee a butcher' from West Bengal.

Protests against violence by the Trinamool Congress also took place in Nigeria, Melbourne in Australia, Atlanta in Georgia and Houston in Texas. One of the protesters said that all these demonstrations are against the violence under Mamata Banerjee's rule in West Bengal. In Bengal, the state government has failed to stop violence, where hindus are being killed, raped and fled. The protester also said that no media is covering the atrocities while it should be strongly condemned.

'Could have cancelled earlier too,' said Sourav Ganguly for the first time on IPL postponed

UK Mulls easing Lockdown: PM Johnson to announce 17 May changes for England

Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi government said, "If he had done his job properly..."
ROME: sparking concerns in Rome, it has been reported in Rome that more than 2,000 migrants have reached the Lampedusa Island in the Mediterranean Sea by boat within the past 24 hours.

According to state media, DPA reported on Monday, the number of migrants boarding crowded vessels for the treacherous journey to the small island between North Africa and Sicily has sharply risen in recent days.

It has also been reported on Monday that, during the previous 24 hours, 2,128 people landed on the Italian island, including 635 overnight. Patrol boats picked up several hundred people traveling in small boats and brought them ashore, while others managed to reach the coast.

In recent weeks, private sea rescuers have reported seeing greater numbers of migrants setting off in rubber dinghies and small wooden boats towards Europe, often from Libya, while dozens have drowned when vessels capsize.

According to a count by the Ministry of the Interior published on May 7, more than 10,700 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year. There were 4,100 arrivals during the same period last year. Many of those making the perilous journey came from Tunisia, the Ivory Coast and Bangladesh.

Right-wing parties, including the co-ruling League party of former interior minister Matteo Salvini, responded by warning about "thousands of illegal immigrants" arriving in Italy. Salvini called for a crisis meeting with Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Sunday.

Israel delays Palestinian eviction hearing after clashes, postpones the hearing in a legal case

UK Mulls easing Lockdown: PM Johnson to announce 17 May changes for England

Israel approves aid package for aviation sector El Al, Israir
Tanaiste welcomes reopening of 12,000 businesses this week and return to work of 100,000 people

Staff are asked to continue working from home wherever possible

Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar has today (Monday the 10th of May) said this is a significant week for business with around 12,000 due to reopen their premises or resume normal trading, and 100,000 people expected back to work this month.

He also indicated that the Work Safely Protocol is being updated to include revised advice on ventilation and workplace antigen testing, and will be launched in the near future.

This is a moment that businesses across Ireland have been waiting for as we see the return or reopening of around 12,000 businesses, the return of non-essential retail and personal services, and roughly 100,000 people expected to return to work this month. As Minister for Enterprise I want to thank companies for their efforts and those of their staff in getting to this point. Thanks to your diligence in fighting the pandemic, and those of the general public, we can move on to the next phase of reopening. This has been the longest lockdown since the pandemic began. I am determined to do all we can to ensure that it is the last. Businesses can also be reassured that Government financial supports will remain in place at least until the end of June, and that we are working on new financial supports for those most affected by the lockdown. These will be announced at the end of May. Businesses opening tomorrow will receive a double CRSS payment for each of the next two weeks to help with the cost of re-opening. The Department of Enterprise is currently updating the Work Safely Protocol to include new advice on ventilation, and will also set out recommendations on how antigen testing can be incorporated into the workplace. I will be launching this new Protocol in the near future. Importantly, we are still asking people to work from home wherever possible. The virus is still circulating, and around two thirds of the adult population have yet to receive the vaccine. Mixing in the workplace can allow the virus to spread, so we all need to continue playing our part in defeating this cruel virus.

ENDS

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) plays a key role in implementing the Governments policies of stimulating the productive capacity of the economy and creating an environment which supports job creation and maintenance. The Department has lead responsibility for Irish policy on global trade and inward investment and a remit to promote fair competition in the marketplace, protect consumers and safeguard workers.

For further information please contact Press Office, D/Enterprise, Trade and Employment, press.office@enterprise.gov.ie or (01) 631-2200

Back to Department News
As a land-dwelling animal, homo sapiens tends to ignore what is going on in the worlds oceans. But the effects of climate change and warmer temperatures are just as devastating for life beneath the surface of the sea as on dry land. During her time at ETH Zurich, Ulrike Pfreundt studied the impact of these worrying trends one of the planets most diverse and ecologically important habitats  coral reefs, which are breeding grounds for at least one quarter of all the oceans fish species.

As the average water temperatures rise, corals begin to shed the symbiotic algae that feed them and bleach out. The reefs are then overgrown with macroalgae, preventing baby corals from reaching the sheltered nooks and crannies they need to latch onto and thrive. Half of the Great Barrier Reef has already been lost, says Pfreundt. At this rate, we may lose more than 90 percent of all coral reefs within a generation. And this could become a problem for humanity, too.
Cybersecurity

White House, CISA react to pipeline ransomware attack

The FBI on Monday attributed the cyberattack against Colonial Pipeline to ransomware group Darkside. The attack, which was announced on Friday, led to the shutdown of fuel pipelines serving the East Coast of the United States as a precautionary measure.

At a White House briefing on Monday, officials provided details on the government response. Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger described Darkside as "ransomware as a service" operation in which the malware developers share proceeds from attacks with partners. Neuberger didn't say whether the government believes the breach may have progressed from Colonial's IT to operational technology that controls the pipelines, citing the ongoing criminal investigation but said that such spread was a "concern," and said that's why, "quickly and effectively negating the spread of the ransomware is always the first area of priority."

Neuberger added the FBI released a flash alert to industry with indicators of compromise and mitigation measures. Additionally, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is preparing its own release information to critical infrastructure providers about the ransomware attack that shutdown a key natural gas pipeline for the East Coast on Friday, according to Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, who joined Neuberger at the press briefing.

Sherwood said the administration on Friday convened an interagency team including DOE, CISA, the Defense Department, Treasury Department, and Transportation Department's Pipeline Safety and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to manage the situation. The Transportation Security Administration is responsible for the cybersecurity of oil pipelines, the Energy Department is considered the sector specific agency and is leading the government's response.

The Energy Department has "also convened oil and natural gas and electric utility partners to share details about the ransomware attack and discuss recommended measures to mitigate further incidents across the industry," Sherwood-Randall said.

Eric Goldstein, CISA's executive assistant director of the cybersecurity division, said in an emailed statement that the attack "underscores the threat that ransomware poses to organizations regardless of size or sector."

As the administration confronts a rise in ransomware activities, cybersecurity experts and lawmakers continue to debate the pros and cons to paying ransoms. In general, the FBI has long discouraged the private sector from paying out of fear it will encourage future attacks.

Neuberger said that companies are often left in a "difficult position" if they have no other method of recovering stolen data.

"That is why given the rise in ransomware and given frankly the troubling trend we see of often targeting companies who have insurance and may be richer targets, that we need to look thoughtfully at this area  to determine what we do in addition to actively disrupting infrastructure and holding perpetrators accountable, to ensure that we're not encouraging the rise of ransomware," she said.

Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who has previously introduced legislation to expand CISA's role in responding to cybersecurity breaches into industrial control systems, told FCW on Monday that, "You can expect substantial congressional oversight on this incident in the near future."

Speaking at the White House shortly after the press briefing, President Joe Biden said the intelligence community does not have evidence that "Russia is involved although there is evidence that the actor's ransomware is in Russia. They have some responsibility to deal with this."
A cyber-criminal gang that took a major US fuel pipeline offline over the weekend has acknowledged the incident in a public statement, said a report.

"Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society," DarkSide wrote on its website, said the BBC report

The US issued emergency legislation on Sunday after Colonial Pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack.

The pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day - 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel.

The operator took itself offline on Friday after the cyber-attack. Work to restore service is continuing.

On Monday, the FBI officially confirmed that DarkSide was responsible for compromising Colonial Pipeline's networks, saying that it was continuing to work with the firm and other government agencies on the investigation.

During a speech about the economy at the White House on Monday, US President Joe Biden said he was being "personally briefed" on the situation with the pipeline each day.

The White House said there are no issues with fuel supply as officials worked urgently to ascertain the scope and fallout of a ransomware attack, said a CNN report.

"My administration takes this very seriously. We have efforts under way with the FBI and Department of Justice to disrupt and prosecute ransomware criminals," Biden said during remarks on the economy from the White House East Room.

"My administration is also committed to safeguarding our critical infrastructure, much of which is privately owned and managed, like Colonial," the President continued. "Private entities are making their own determination on cybersecurity."
FCW Insider: May 10, 2021

The Biden administration extended the deadline for federal agencies to implement portions of a Trump-era executive order aimed putting less reliance on educational attainment in federal hiring.

House appropriators lamented the absence of a dedicated space acquisition chief, challenging the new administration to make a nomination soon.

The Commerce Department wants to establish a new office that will work across the federal government and partner with the private sector to "get ahead of supply chain resiliency issues," Secretary Gina Raimondo said Thursday

The agency chief said is refocusing the Energy Department's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response on providing grid operators with threat intelligence and response capabilities.

Quick Hits

*** The government response to a ransomware attack on an energy company that led to the closure of a key natural gas pipeline on the East Coast is an "all hands on deck effort," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on the CBS program "Face the Nation" on May 9.

"Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent," Raimondo said of the attack on Colonial Pipeline's business systems. "They're here to stay and we have to work in partnership with businesses to secure- secure networks, to defend ourselves against these attacks."

Raimondo added that President Joe Biden was briefed on the attack.

*** The IRS rescinded an award in a $73 million analytics contract after a protest from two losing bidders, Washington Technology reports.

*** Government purchasers are reporting struggles in the acquisition and deployment of artificial intelligence solutions, according to a survey from KPMG. GCN has more.
Details of the industry-hobbling Colonial Pipeline cyberattack are starting to emerge. Reuters and Bloomberg say the hack was likely the work of a cybercriminal group, and that the ransomware gang DarkSide appears to be the primary suspect. Bloomberg claims DarkSide stole almost 100GB of data in two hours on May 6th as part of a "double-extortion scheme" where intruders threatened to both leak company data and lock Colonial out of its information.

It's not certain if Colonial agreed to pay a ransom. The oil and gas giant reportedly asked FireEye's Mandiant forensics team to help investigate the breach.

The attack was important enough to get the US government's involvement, regardless of who was responsible. Officials were scrambling to help Colonial restore its fuel supply business, while Reuters understood that a government investigation was in the "early stages." President Biden received a briefing on May 8th.

If DarkSide or a similar group is involved, this would represent one of the most impactful ransomware campaigns to date. Hackers have targeted city governments and other key infrastructure before, but Colonial's reach could lead to extensive problems if it can't recover quickly. The company provides nearly half of the East Coast's fuel supply, including at airports. A lengthy shutdown could restrict travel across the US and have a knock-on effect for the American economy at large.
NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors with losses in excess of $100,000 that they have until June 28, 2021 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NasdaqGS:PTON), if they purchased the Company's securities between September 11, 2020 and May 5, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Peloton 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-pton/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by June 28, 2021 .

About the Lawsuit

Peloton and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On May 5, 2021, the Company disclosed two separate recalls of its Tread+ and Tread treadmills following numerous reports of injury, advising that it had stopped sales and distribution and that "[c]onsumers who have purchased either treadmill should immediately stop using it and contact Peloton for a full refund or other qualified remedy."

On this news, shares of Peloton plummeted 14%, or $14.08 per share, to close at $82.62 per share on May 5, 2021.

The case is Wilson v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., et al., 21-cv-03299.

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.

Story continues

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

SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/646233/PELOTON-INVESTORS-ALERT-BY-FORMER-LOUISIANA-ATTORNEY-GENERAL-KAHN-SWICK-FOTI-LLC-REMINDS-INVESTORS-of-Lead-Plaintiff-Deadline-in-Class-Action-Lawsuit-Against-Peloton-Interactive-Inc--PTON




The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here  just click The Station  to receive it every weekend in your inbox.

Hello and welcome back to The Station, a weekly newsletter dedicated to all the ways people and packages move (today and in the future) from Point A to Point B.

What a week! It's too much to cover everything that happened in the world of transportation, so here are some of the highlights. Oh, and yes, I know that the big story this weekend was Elon Musk's appearance on SNL. As there's no shortage of hot  and tepid  takes on Twitter and the rest of the interwebs, I think I'll pass on any commentary.

Instead, it's worth noting that what Musk says publicly about Tesla Autopilot and the company's progress on a fully autonomous driving system directly contradicts with reality  and what his own employees are telling regulators.

A memo that summarizes a meeting between California regulators and employees at the automaker shows that Musk has inflated the capabilities of the Autopilot advanced driver assistance system in Tesla vehicles, as well the company's ability to deliver fully autonomous features by the end of the year. The memo was released by transparency site Plainsite, which obtained it via a Freedom of Information Act request. You can read the whole story here.

My email inbox is always open. Email me at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com to share thoughts, criticisms, opinions or tips. You also can send a direct message to me at Twitter  @kirstenkorosec.

Micromobbin'

News and announcements this week demonstrated how micromobility businesses are evolving and merging with other forms of mobility.

No company embodies this better than Revel, the company that began with shared electric mopeds and, since the start of 2021, has evolved into an e-bike subscription service, an EV charging hub and an all-Tesla, all-employee ride-hailing service.

Story continues

What, one might ask, is founder and CEO Frank Reig up to? Well, we did ask it, and we published our interview so our readers could learn more about Revel's journey and plans for the future.

"If we're talking about electrifying mobility in major cities, it starts with infrastructure. And we're the company rolling up our sleeves and doing it now by building that infrastructure and operating fleets. Because in a city like New York, the infrastructure does not exist for electric mobility."

Another company that's diving straight into the subscription model is the Australian startup Zoomo. The startup  which connects the gig economy, subscription services, electric mobility and big business  has a business model that wouldn't have seemed possible more than a decade ago. Zoomo offers monthly e-bike subscriptions to gig economy bike delivery workers and corporate partners with bike delivery fleets. The startup announced it raised $12 million only a few months after an $11 million Series A. Zoomo said it will use the fresh cash to expand its service into more of the U.S. and into continental Europe, as well as to further develop its consumer subscription offerings.

Betting on e-mopeds

Micromobility charging infrastructure company Swiftmile is partnering with European e-moped manufacturer GOVECS Group to deploy Mobility Hubs to charge and organize e-mopeds in shared and commercial fleets. With included parking stations, this model, which we're starting to see with e-bikes and e-scooters, could be a great way to eliminate the use of vans to swap batteries. Germany is expected to see the first of these hubs in Q1 2022.

A small win for JOCO

Last week, I wrote about NYC Department of Transportation's cease-and-desist order to the new e-bike-sharing platform JOCO. The company ignored the order, maintaining that because its bikes are stationed in private garages, the city doesn't have the authority to control its operations. To that, the city replied with a lawsuit, demanding a halt in operations and penalties for violations.

On May 7, the court denied the city's request for a temporary restriction on JOCO's operations. The case is very much still open, but it's a small win for JOCO and will allow the company to continue operating and expanding as scheduled. The hearing is scheduled for June 16, during which time the city is likely to drive home its exclusive partnership with Lyft-owned Citi Bike.

#BatteriesForBirds

As a recent transplant to New Zealand, I can tell you that this country really loves its native birds (and therefore, often hates cats, which are not native). Because of the isolation of New Zealand's ecosystem, mammalian life never arrived or evolved, meaning the country has only native birds, insects and reptiles and amphibians -- and not much in the way of predators, allowing the birdlife to flourish.

I say all of this so you understand the significance of Lime's plan to give its old scooter and bike batteries a second life powering tools designed to save these precious birds. The project, done in partnership with The Cacophony Project and 2040 Limited, will use damaged Lime e-bike battery cells to power thermal cameras that are used to identify bird predators.

Bike launches

CERO, the LA-based e-bike startup, has launched its CERO One electric cargo bike for preorders. The bike, with a small front tire, a big back tire and racks over each, is designed to carry loads up to 77 pounds. Customers can choose between a Platform, Small Basket and Big Basket variant. The starting price (including a front platform) is $3,799, and first deliveries can be expected around August or September.

Aventon has also announced the launch of the newest model of its Aventure e-bike, complete with fat tires and a color display screen that syncs with your smartphone to handle functions like turning the bike on, tracking mileage, powering on and off the lights and planning trips.

 Rebecca Bellan

Deal of the week

money the station

It's not all acquisitions and SPAC rumors in the world of autonomous vehicles. There are still traditional VC raises taking place, even in the midst of continued consolidation.

Einride, the Swedish startup known for its unusual-looking electric and autonomous pods that are designed to carry freight, raised $110 million to help fund its expansion in Europe and into the United States. The Series B round, which far exceeds its previous raises of $10 million in 2020 and $25 million in 2019, included new investors Temasek, Soros Fund Management LLC, Northzone and Maersk Growth. Existing investors EQT Ventures, Plum Alley, Norrsken VC, Ericsson and NordicNinja VC also participated in the round.

Einride has raised a total of $150 million to date. The company didn't share its post-money valuation.

Einride is an interesting case study in the AV world. It has a present-day business of human-driven electric trucks, which carry freight for customers like Coca-Cola and Oatly. It's also developing, testing and eventually planning to deploy its Pod vehicles, which are designed without a cab. These Pods are meant to operate autonomously, although it should be noted that they are also supported with teleoperations, which means human monitors can control the vehicle remotely.

Einride had planned to expand into the U.S. but COVID-19 interrupted the move. Now, with fresh capital, co-founder and CEO Robert Falck told me the company is planning to have operations up and running in the U.S. before the end of the year. The plan is to set up headquarters in Austin, Texas, and open additional offices in New York and Silicon Valley. Global agreements are in place with brands such as Oatly, which includes U.S. operations, with more to be announced soon.

Einride's presence in the United States, and specifically Texas, brings into the region yet another AV company focused on freight. Middle-mile delivery is getting more attention, interest and investment as 2021 unfolds. Another competitor in the region promises to spice things up, particularly on the hiring front.

Other deals that got my attention ...

Firefly Aerospace raised $175 million, across a $75 million Series A round that valued the company north of $1 billion, and a $100 million secondary transaction which consisted of the sale of holdings held by primary Firefly investor Noosphere Ventures. The launch startup also announced that it intends to raise another $300 million later in 2021, after its forthcoming inaugural Alpha rocket launch, which is currently targeting a June takeoff.

Kneron, a startup that develops semiconductors to give devices artificial intelligence capabilities by using edge computing, received a $7 million boost in capital from Delta Electronics, a Taiwanese supplier of power components for Apple and Tesla. The $7 million investment pushes Kneron's total financing to more than $100 million to date. As part of the deal, Kneron also agreed to buy Vatics, a part of Delta Electronics' subsidiary Vivotek, for $10 million in cash, TechCrunch's Rita Liao reported.

Reinvent Technology Partners X, a new special purpose acquisition company created by Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus, filed for an IPO. The filing states that the SPAC is looking at merging with a late-stage company in a "technology sector or subsector, including consumer internet, online marketplaces, ecommerce, payments, gaming, artificial intelligence, SaaS, digital healthcare, autonomous vehicles, transportation, and others." The duo's previous SPAC, announced earlier this year, was when they agreed to merge with Joby Aviation.

Solid Power, a Louisville, Colorado-based developer of solid-state batteries, raised $130 million in a Series B funding round led by Ford and BMW, the latest signal that the two OEMs see SSBs powering the future of transportation. Under the investment, Ford and BMW are equal equity owners, and company representatives will join Solid Power's board. Solid Power received additional investment in the round from Volta Energy Technologies, the venture capital firm spun out of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.

Youibot, a four-year-old startup that makes autonomous mobile robots for a range of scenarios, raised 100 million yuan ($15.47 million) in its latest funding round, led by SoftBank Ventures Asia, the Seoul-based early-stage arm of the global investment behemoth. Youibot's previous investors BlueRun Ventures and SIG also participated in the round. Also, it's worth noting that Softbank Ventures Asia led a financing round back in December for another Chinese robotics startup called KeenOn, which focuses on delivery and service robots.

Policy corner

President Joe Biden isn't the only person in Washington with his eyes on electrifying transportation. Two separate pieces of legislation were introduced in Congress this week aimed at boosting zero-emission vehicle use in the country.

First, we have a $73 billion proposal introduced May 4 by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Their plan, "Clean Transit for America," would replace more than 150,000 diesel buses, vans, ambulances and other publicly owned vehicles with zero-emission models, as well as building out charging infrastructure to support the new fleet.

The following day, Reps. Andy Levin (D-MI) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) re-introduced a revised version of the "Electric Vehicles Freedom Act" to build out a network of EV charging stations across the country. Democrats supported a version of this bill last year. Although that bill failed, Biden's outspoken support for EVs and his $2 trillion climate plan may give this new bill a more optimistic fate.

On the same day that Reps. Levin and Ocasio-Cortez announced their bill, a House subcommittee on Commerce and Energy held a hearing to discuss yet another bill that was introduced back in March. This bill, known as the CLEAN Futures Act, is the Democrats' comprehensive climate legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nationally by 50% by 2030. It would also earmark billions for EV infrastructure and to spur domestic manufacturing of EV parts, like batteries. (Are you keeping all of this straight?)

Not every lawmaker at the hearing was so enthusiastic on the terms of the CLEAN Futures Act. There was particular pushback from Republicans. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) said that the bill would "push" EVs on Americans "whether they are ready for them or not."

"I have concerns that the CLEAN Future Act puts the cart before the horse by mandating electric vehicles, because there is no consideration for American workers or car buyers, our growing reliance on China for critical materials and minerals to make batteries, and certainly the strain that EVs will place on our grid," he said.

Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN) added that the future of the transportation industry should not be a "one-size-fits-all made by Washington." He said that hydrogen and renewable diesel should also be considered alongside battery electric.

During that same House subcommittee on Commerce and Energy meeting, most of which was spent on the CLEAN Future Act, several other proposed bills were mentioned, including the "NO EXHAUST Act," the "Electric Vehicles for Underserved Communities Act of 2021" and the "Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Future Act of 2021" or the "ATVM Future Act."

The NO EXHAUST Act promotes the electrification of the transportation sector to improve air quality and electric vehicle infrastructure access -- especially in rural, urban, low-income and minority communities, according to Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), who introduced the bill.

 Aria Alamalhodaei

A little bird

blinky cat bird green

We hear things; and we're here to share them with you.

Remember waaaaayyyyy back in April when a report from The Information said that Argo AI CEO and co-founder Bryan Salesky told employees in an all-hands meeting that the autonomous vehicle startup was planning for a public listing later this year? At the time, and right here in The Station, I provided a bit more context, noting that while Salesky did indeed mention the prospect of an IPO during the company's regular weekly all-hands meeting, there was more to the story.

The comments were made as the CEO discussed upcoming important milestones in 2021 that will lead to an IPO or a significant raise of some kind. The upshot: Apparently all fundraising options are on the table, including a merger with a special acquisition company, or SPAC. (Argo has raised $2 billion to date.)

Now, it appears that Argo is leaning toward a more traditional investment path  at least, at first. In an interview with Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow, Salesky said the company is going to be raising money this summer. His public comments support what I've heard from folks in the know.

"We're really excited about doing that," Salesky said in the interview. "We'll be taking money from some of the capital markets and we'll be looking at, you know, an IPO in the future as well. I think that it's one of those things where you know we don't know the exact source that we're going to take the funding from next. We're looking at a bunch of options, but we're really excited about how that's going to keep us going for the future to really be able to scale out autonomous vehicles."

Speaking of Argo, the company revealed new details on a long-range lidar sensor that it claims has the ability to see 400 meters away with high-resolution photorealistic quality and the ability to detect dark and distant objects with low reflectivity. The technology, which is the product of Argo's acquisition of lidar company Princeton Lightwave, is poised to help it deliver autonomous vehicles that can operate commercially on highways and in dense urban areas starting next year.

The company said the first batch of these lidar sensors are already on some of Argo's test vehicles, which today is comprised of Ford Fusion Hybrid sedans and Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs. By the end of the year, Argo's test fleet will transition to about 150 Ford Escape Hybrid vehicles, all of which will be equipped with the in-house lidar sensor. Ford, an investor in and customer of Argo, plans to deploy autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing and delivery in 2022. Argo's other investor and customer, Volkswagen, said it will launch commercial operations in 2025.

TC Sessions: Mobility 2021

The TC Sessions: Mobility 2021 event, which is scheduled for June 9, is approaching in about a month. We recently released a "mostly" final agenda.

Now two more announcements. Pam Fletcher, who is leading innovation efforts at GM, will be interviewed at the event. And, for all those AV fans out there ... we're putting Karl Iagnemma, a co-founder who now heads up Motional, and Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson, on our "virtual" stage. Have a question for either of these folks? Email me.

Other guests to TC Sessions: Mobility 2021, include Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt; investor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, whose SPAC merged with Joby; investors Clara Brenner of Urban Innovation Fund; Quin Garcia of Autotech Ventures and Rachel Holt of Construct Capital, as well as Starship Technologies co-founder and CEO/CTO Ahti Heinla. We also plan to bring together community organizer, transportation consultant and lawyer Tamika L. Butler, Remix co-founder and CEO Tiffany Chu and Revel co-founder and CEO Frank Reig to talk about equity, accessibility and shared mobility in cities.

See y'all next week.
Emirates has set up a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items, to support India in its fight to control the serious Covid-19 situation in the country.

Emirates will offer cargo capacity free of charge on an "as available" basis on all of its flights to nine cities in India, to help international NGOs deliver relief supplies rapidly to where it is needed.

In the past weeks, Emirates SkyCargo has already been transporting medicines and medical equipment on scheduled and charter cargo flights to India. This latest airbridge initiative takes Emirates' support for India and for the NGO community to the next level.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates' Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "India and Emirates are deeply connected, since our first flights to India in 1985. We stand with the Indian people and will do all we can to help India get back on its feet. Emirates has a lot of experience in humanitarian relief efforts, and with 95 weekly flights to nine destinations in India, we will be offering regular and reliable widebody capacity for relief materials. The International Humanitarian City in Dubai is the largest crisis relief hub in the world and we will work closely with them to facilitate the movement of urgent medical supplies."

The first shipment sent as part of the Emirates India humanitarian airbridge is a consignment of over 12 tons of multi-purpose tents from the World Health Organization (WHO), destined for Delhi, and coordinated by the IHC in Dubai.

Giuseppe Saba, CEO of International Humanitarian City, said: "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid built the International Humanitarian City (IHC), so Dubai, in coordination with humanitarian agencies, would be able to assist communities and families, most in need  around the world. The creation of the humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India, facilitated by Emirates SkyCargo, Dubai's International Humanitarian City and UN agencies, to transport urgent medical and relief items, is another example of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's vision for the IHC, being brought to life. Last year over 1,292 shipments were dispatched from the IHC in Dubai, setting the standard for humanitarian response globally. We appreciate the great efforts by IHC's partner Emirates SkyCargo establishing this humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India in this time of need."

The freight division of Emirates has a close partnership with IHC, developed over several years of delivering relief materials to communities across the world impacted by natural disasters and other crises. IHC will support Emirates SkyCargo in channelling relief efforts to India through the airbridge.

Following the Port of Beirut blasts in August 2020, Emirates also leveraged its expertise in humanitarian logistics to set up an airbridge to Lebanon to assist with relief efforts.

Emirates has led the aviation and air cargo industry in its efforts to help markets around the world combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The air cargo carrier has helped transport thousands of tonnes of urgently required PPE and other medical supplies across six continents over the last year by rapidly adapting its business model and introducing additional cargo capacity through its modified mini freighters with seats removed from Economy Class on Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft along with loading cargo on seats and in overhead bins inside passenger aircraft to transport urgently required materials.

In addition, Emirates SkyCargo has partnered with UNICEF and other entities in Dubai through the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance, to transport Covid-19 vaccines rapidly to developing nations through Dubai. So far, close to 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been transported on Emirates' flights, equating to nearly 1 in 20 of all Covid-19 vaccine doses administered around the world.

Through its scheduled cargo flights to close to 140 destinations across six continents, Emirates helps maintain unbroken supply chains for vital commodities such as medical supplies and food. - TradeArabia News Service
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When Joselyne Cimpaye helped care for her ailing grandmother, with the knowledge that it wouldnt be long before her loved one would pass away
If she gets her way, Karah Harris will bring communities together through both volunteerism and professionalism.
Mango House Seychelles, LXR Hotels & Resorts, the highly anticipated hotel opening this July, has announced Sasha Tyas as general manager.

Situated on pristine beachfront in the southwest part of Mahe along the sparkling calm waters of the Anse Aux Poules Bleues bay, Mango House Seychelles is set to be the perfect year-round island oasis with 41 rooms, suites and villas offering breath-taking views of the glittering Indian Ocean.

Tyas aims to bring the intimate hotels commitment to handcrafted hospitality to life and nurture local talent to develop a strong team of luxury hospitality professionals. Born in England and raised in France, Tyas is an accomplished hotelier with more than 20 years of experience in luxury hospitality. Filled with positive energy, and speaking five languages, she brings her international experience in managing luxury properties across Portugal, Brazil, the Caribbean, Seychelles and Maldives to this role.

After receiving her masters degree from the Universite de Pau et des Pays de lAdour, Tyas began her hospitality career in 2000 at Vila Vita Parc Resort & Spa in Portugal. In 2010, she spearheaded the opening of the five-star resort Martinhal in Portugal before moving to the Caribbean in 2012 to work at the Canouan Resort at Carenage Bay. In 2018, she became one of only two female general managers appointed in the Maldives at Constance Moofushi. Tyas ability to speak multiple languages allows her to grasp the needs of individuals from varying cultures and backgrounds.

Tyas continues to break the mould in her domain, this time as the first female general manager for Hilton in the Seychelles. On her appointment, Tyas said: When I was growing up, my father was a photographer. He and his work has inspired in me a life-long love for travel, art and design. With its storied history and connection to world-renowned Italian photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri, I am so proud to be leading the opening of Mango House Seychelles. This role offers the unique opportunity to create special moments for guests that last a lifetime. We look forward to sharing Seychelles vibrant cultural heritage and local stories at the property, creating an intimate yet social setting where guests feel truly at home and return to time and time again.

Mango House Seychelles is the ultimate destination for avid explorers seeking intuitive luxury and curated experiences. The intimate House of Art and Culture offers guests a sanctuary from busy, urban lifestyles and allows them to discover unspoiled Mahe, world-class dining, eco-friendly aquatic adventures and premium wellness.

The opening of Mango House Seychelles marks the introduction of LXR Hotels & Resorts to the region, with a capable team led by Sasha Tyas set to welcome visitors with open arms this summer. - TradeArabia News Service
No one was injured after shots were fired Saturday afternoon at a park on the citys north side, but at least one vehicle was hit, police said.
A gunman killed six members of an extended family Sunday, May 9, 2021, at a birthday party in Colorado Springs before turning the gun on himse
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Our highways, roads and bridges are so overburdened and so badly in need of both expansion and repairs that it is jeopardizing our ability to rebound from the COVID economy.
Mexico & Banderas Bay Area News



US Airlines Add More Flights to Vallarta - Nayarit



GAP officials say that 14 airlines will be flying to the Puerto Vallarta International airport in May, with an average of 47 flights per day, for a total of 1,474 flights during the month. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - In response to increased demand from US travelers, more airlines are launching



The Gustavo Diaz International Airport usually sees this type of increase in the early winter rather than just before the summer months.



According to data from Grupo Aeroportuario del PacAfico (GAP), who operates the PVR airport, air traffic usually decreases in May (before the summer season). However, possibly due to demand coming back as the pandemic wanes, this year is seeing a rise in the number of flights compared to last month.



GAP officials say that 14 airlines will be flying to the Banderas Bay region, with an average of 47 flights per day, for a total of 1,474 flights this month.



This development is a possible consequence of a recent announcement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that U.S. citizens who have already received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be able to resume traveling. To date, more than 53% of the US population has already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.



"The United States is well ahead in its vaccination process, so we're now seeing some airlines starting to operate routes that are usually active only in the winter," said Marc Murphy, managing director of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).



As of May, United and Alaska continue to be the U.S. airlines with the most flights to the Banderas Bay region, with an average of 28 and 64 a week, respectively.



On the national front, Aeromexico and Aerolitoral maintain their supremacy in the domestic market, with an average of 44 flights per week.



Viva Aerobus began operating a non-stop flight from Ciudad Juarez to Puerto Vallarta on Sunday, May 2, with two frequencies per week (Thursdays and Sundays).



Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua is a strategic point on the northern border of Mexico, with a potential market of 1,428,000 inhabitants, it also borders El Paso, Texas, so many North Americans could take this opportunity to travel to their favorite beach destination on the Mexican Pacific.



With a duration of 2 hours and 10 minutes this non-stop flight shortens travel time for those traveling from Ciudad Juarez. Previously travelers along this route had to make a stopover in Guadalajara, Monterrey, or Mexico City, which took up to a full day.



Added to this,



Overall airline activity has had its ups and downs since commercial airlines resumed service in June of last year, following the end of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, only 11 airlines resumed flights to the region. Since then, tourism has gradually increased, thanks to more routes being added by more airlines, and increased passenger capacity on existing flights.



"We must reiterate that health and safety conditions for tourists are guaranteed. Both the airport and the airlines follow strict protocols and sanitary measures endorsed by state, national & international authorities to prevent possible COVID infections," GAP assured.



Sources: Puerto Vallarta Tourism Trust - Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau - In response to increased demand from US travelers, more airlines are launching more flights to Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit. Such is the case of Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines who have added flights from Portland, Seattle and Salt Lake City.The Gustavo Diaz International Airport usually sees this type of increase in the early winter rather than just before the summer months.According to data from Grupo Aeroportuario del PacAfico (GAP), who operates the PVR airport, air traffic usually decreases in May (before the summer season). However, possibly due to demand coming back as the pandemic wanes, this year is seeing a rise in the number of flights compared to last month.GAP officials say that 14 airlines will be flying to the Banderas Bay region, with an average of 47 flights per day, for a total of 1,474 flights this month.This development is a possible consequence of a recent announcement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that U.S. citizens who have already received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be able to resume traveling. To date, more than 53% of the US population has already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine."The United States is well ahead in its vaccination process, so we're now seeing some airlines starting to operate routes that are usually active only in the winter," said Marc Murphy, managing director of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).As of May, United and Alaska continue to be the U.S. airlines with the most flights to the Banderas Bay region, with an average of 28 and 64 a week, respectively.On the national front, Aeromexico and Aerolitoral maintain their supremacy in the domestic market, with an average of 44 flights per week.Viva Aerobus began operating a non-stop flight from Ciudad Juarez to Puerto Vallarta on Sunday, May 2, with two frequencies per week (Thursdays and Sundays).Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua is a strategic point on the northern border of Mexico, with a potential market of 1,428,000 inhabitants, it also borders El Paso, Texas, so many North Americans could take this opportunity to travel to their favorite beach destination on the Mexican Pacific.With a duration of 2 hours and 10 minutes this non-stop flight shortens travel time for those traveling from Ciudad Juarez. Previously travelers along this route had to make a stopover in Guadalajara, Monterrey, or Mexico City, which took up to a full day.Added to this, Spirit Airlines recently announced plans to continue its international expansion by adding Puerto Vallarta's Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR) to its route map. As of July 1 Spirit will offer daily direct flights from Los Angeles as well as Dallas (DFW) and Houston (IAH) with three weekly frequencies on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.Overall airline activity has had its ups and downs since commercial airlines resumed service in June of last year, following the end of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, only 11 airlines resumed flights to the region. Since then, tourism has gradually increased, thanks to more routes being added by more airlines, and increased passenger capacity on existing flights."We must reiterate that health and safety conditions for tourists are guaranteed. Both the airport and the airlines follow strict protocols and sanitary measures endorsed by state, national & international authorities to prevent possible COVID infections," GAP assured.



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Help India!



Amid the present Covid-19 crisis, over two dozen NGOs in J&K, especially in Kashmir valley, are working in the region by providing medicines, oxygen, and helping with the relief and rehabilitation of the needy people affected by the pandemic.

Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net

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Srinagar: At a time when health infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir is under strain due to rising Covid-19 cases, several local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and community organizations have stepped up to do relief work.

Amid the present crisis, over two dozen NGOs in J&K, especially in Kashmir valley, are working in the region by providing medicines, oxygen, and helping with the relief and rehabilitation of the needy people affected by the pandemic.

These NGOs have set up control rooms where they attend hundreds of SOS calls for oxygen cylinders, food and medicine etc.

As per reports, nearly all Intensive Care Units (ICU) beds in the valley are occupied by patients due to the massive surge in cases.

More than 350 people have died this month due to Covid-19, and thousands of new cases are reported every day.

As per reports, the valley also witnessed deaths due to the lack of ICU beds in the hospitals. On April 29, a video of a young man pleading with the hospital authorities to shift his father, struggling to breathe to the critical ward, went viral on social media.

The young man along with his sister were crying and begging for help until a social media storm finally reached the ears of SKIMS officials and the patient was shifted to ICU.

However, several family members of Covid-19 patients admitted at other hospitals, took to social media to seek help and highlight the shortage of ICU beds.

Several among those who highlighted these shortages included attendants of the patients, who said that doctors have expressed their inability to make the beds available to them.

In this scenario, it is the NGOs that are working to fill in where the government has been unable to. From arranging free oxygen cylinders to drop the medicines at the doorsteps of people and arranging ambulance services, these NGOs are doing it all.

In March 2020 when the Covid-19 hit the region and the lockdown was imposed, Srinagar-based NGO Ehsaas International did the most challenging and demanding job of producing the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for the health workers and doctors.

We started with producing PPE kits since it was running short throughout India. We manufacture them and roped in several people, who worked 247 to produce good quality and quantity of PPE kits, Hakim Mohammad Ilyas, a representative of the NGO told TwoCircles.net.

Ilyas said they produced over 350 PPE kits per day and it helped the health workers in fighting the initial wave of the virus.

As time passed, more and more cases were reported and the oxygen demand got high, the NGO launched mission oxygen and helped over 800 patients who were in dire need of oxygen by arranging over 50 oxygenic concentrators and cylinders.

As the second wave of the virus hit the region in April this year, the NGOs came up with the telly-consultation where they get experts from the health department who guide and counsel the patients via phone calls regarding the virus.

Doctors from all over the world help the patients in fighting the virus. We get around 300 calls per day across Kashmir for the consultation, Ilyas said.

The NGO is working on a project of establishing four Covid hospitals in Srinagar Municipal Corporations (SMC) community centres and collaboration with Voluntary Medical Society (VNS).

He said over 200 doctors and paramedical staff had volunteered for the project.

Like Ehsaas, another NGO Help Poor Voluntary Trust (HPVT) is on its toes since the pandemic broke out and are helping people with ferrying Covid positive patients, medicines and oxygen cylinders.

Mohammad Ali Lone from the NGO told TwoCircles.net that over two thousand patients are registered with the NGO, whose medical bills they bear.

The cost goes around 18 lakh per month. We have deployed over volunteers in six major hospitals in Kashmir, who help the poor with lifesaving drugs on discount rates, Lone said.

Lone said for ferrying patients they have arranged a fleet of 11 ambulances laced with oxygen and other critical equipment.

Right now we have procured over 150 oxygen cylinders and 64 oxygen concentrators and are in process of getting more, Lone said.

The NGOs have over 100 dedicated volunteers who work in shifts. They receive over 20 distress calls every day.

Lone said the good Samaritans (who are Kashmiris) donate to the NGO wholeheartedly.

Last week, a person donated 3.5 lakh for our oxygen program, another one donated 15 lakh for the same, he said.

Amid an atmosphere of hopelessness created by Covid-19, these NGOs in Kashmir are turning Good Samaritan and are helping people in these testing times.

Another prominent NGO that is working 247 is Social Reform Organization (SRO) Kashmir, which helps patients with oxygen supply.

In March 2020 when panic gripped people after the valley witnessed the first case of coronavirus from the Khanyar area of Srinagar city, the SRO Kashmir started working on Covid-19 mitigation efforts.

Following the first case, the authorities put the entire city under strict restrictions sending people in panic mode. The restrictions on public gatherings, assembly and movement in many areas were aimed at avoiding the spread of cases.

Within days, the cases shot up.

However, due to strict restrictions, people found it hard to buy essentials, and healthcare was affected too.

It was then that a Srinagar based businessman thought of doing something for the needy.

Mohammed Afaaq Sayeed from Srinagar had a brainstorming session with his colleagues and friends which included doctors, journalists and other prominent businessmen.

They decided to create a Facebook group named Coronavirus Watch J&K and help people to fight the fallouts of the pandemic and to create awareness about it.

The response was overwhelming. Within a month we reached the membership of over 22,000 people, Sayeed told TwoCircles.net.

They would post guidelines related to coronavirus, suggestions from the doctors, Dos and Donts etc in the group.

People would seek suggestions for different ailments to which multiple doctors would respond online.

The lockdown had broken the back of an already ailing economy, and many people were left jobless and found it hard to earn their livelihood.

The group started receiving many distress calls from people regarding the shortage of food and other essentials.

SRO Kashmir has done extensive relief and rehabilitation work during the massive earthquake that struck Kashmir Valley in 2005.

They also carried out relief work during the 2014 floods when Srinagar was submerged in floodwater and everything had come to standstill. The NGO (SRO Kashmir) was registered in the year 2006, its chairman and one of the founding members Javid Ahmad Dar, a resident of Batamaloo told TwoCircles.net.

SRO also carried out relief work during the various unrests in the Kashmir valley in 2008, 2010 and 2016.

As the second wave of Covid-19 hit the Valley, there was a huge demand for oxygen cylinders. The hospitals were unable to cater to the demand and people with Covid-19 symptoms felt the dire need for oxygen. It was at this time that SRO Kashmir chipped in and helped people with oxygen concentrators.

They put aside all its programs and decided to work on the Oxygen Kashmir program. In its first attempt, the NGO procured around 200 oxygen cylinders.

We would get around 250-300 distress calls every day. People were in dire need of oxygen. And we kept ourselves on our toes and tried to fill the void, Sayeed said.

Local people in the region have commended the efforts of these relief organizations for coming to their rescue during the present crisis.

Imtiyaz Ahmad, a local trader from Srinagar said that if not for these community organizations and the community consciousness among the society, people in Valley will not survive a day.

More and more people should help their effort by donating to them. They are our hope, he added.
RECENT COLORADO RECALLS

February 2021: Petition gatherers in Lake County didn't get enough signatures to recall coroner Shannon Kent, after he and his wife, deputy coroner Staci Kent, were arrested on Feb. 18 after law enforcement found unsanitary conditions at their private funeral home, including an unrefrigerated corpse that was leaking from a body bag, another body that had been at the funeral home for months, unidentified cremated remains and other issues. The Kents have closed their business and are facing criminal charges. He resigned on April 30.

Sept. 14, 2020: A second recall attempt in a year to remove Gov. Jared Polis began, but ultimately none of the 631,266 signatures necessary to get on the ballot were turned in by the 60-day deadline, Nov. 13.

May 2018: A petition effort failed against Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, now a Republican state senator, after the family of 16-year-old killed in a vehicle collision with a train said Kirkmeyer had not used her official position to make rail crossings safer.

Dec. 1, 2015: Planned Parenthood supporters failed to get enough signatures to recall Republican state Rep. JoAnn Windholz, after she posted on Facebook that abortion clinics foment violence, after a gunman killed three and wounded nine others at a clinic in Colorado.

Oct. 13, 2015: Snowmass Village Councilman Chris Jacobson was recalled with 92% of the vote against him after a bizarre series of events that included his arrest on a drunken-driving, trashing his jail cell, then skipping five consecutive council meetings.

April 2017: Opponents couldn't get enough signatures to recall Fremont County Sheriff Jim Beicker after one of his deputies, who resigned, came under investigation for mishandling evidence in a 2006 murder case.

Sept. 10, 2013: Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo were recalled over gun control legislation they helped pass. Another senator, Evie Hudak, resigned as a recall effort against her was being organized.

Jan. 11, 2011: Johnstown Mayor Mark Romanowski survived a recall election, 862-548, after he caused an uproar by recommending a plan to switch from diagonal to parallel parking spaces.

Dec. 6, 2010: A recall election against Southern Ute Indian Tribe chairman Matthew Box failed because too few members of the tribe voted in a special election. Box was accused of giving jobs to people outside the tribe.
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Sayona Mining Ltd

Sayona Mining Ltd (SYA.AX) Rights Issue Closes Oversubscribed

Brisbane, Australia, April 22, 2021 - (ABN Newswire) - Emerging lithium miner Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (HAM: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 & SHORTFALL



Sayona 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



Contact:



Brett Lynch

Managing Director

Phone: +61 (7) 3369 7058

Email: info@sayonamining.com.au



Source:

Sayona Mining Ltd



Copyright (C) 2021 ABN Newswire. All rights reserved.
Vijay Kumar, city police station incharge speaking to ANI. (Photo/ANI)

Jhajjar (Haryana) [India], May 10 (ANI): A West Bengal-based woman who died with COVID-19 symptoms at a hospital in Haryana was allegedly gang-raped while she was going to join the farmers' protest at Tikri border in Haryana.

The police said they have formed a team including three inspectors which will be supervised by DSP with the cyber cell, to track down the accused. A case has been registered into the matter against four persons.

As per the First Information Report filed by the father of the 25-year-old deceased, the activist came to Tikri from West Bengal on April 11 to join the farmers' protest against the farm laws.

She was admitted to a hospital in Jhajjar district with COVID-19 symptoms on April 26.

"As per her father, she was raped. The victim was hospitalised for COVID and succumbed to it on April 30. A case has been registered into the matter and an SIT has been formed," Vijay Kumar, city police station incharge told ANI.

Quoting the complaint, Kumar said the woman narrated the rape incident to her father on phone.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
Representative Image

Beijing [China], May 10 (ANI): A lawyer in mainland China, who was deregistered after taking up the case of one of the Hong Kong fugitives captured while trying to flee to Taiwan, has been barred from leaving the country to the United States on national security grounds.

Lu Siwei, who was going to attend an American fellowship programme, was delisted by mainland provincial judicial authorities after handling cases related to the 12 fugitives who were arrested for attempting to escape prosecution over their roles in Hong Kong's anti-government protests, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Border security guards on Saturday stopped Lu at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport as he was about to board the Delta Air Lines' DL288 flight for Seattle, he told SCMP. "They told me I could not leave," he said.

The lawyer said that he was eventually let go, but the authorities prevented him from using his mobile phone for two hours. He was meant to catch the US-bound flight after being invited to attend the Humphrey Programme, a 10-month academic scheme, as a visiting fellow.

Lu further said that he had been earlier barred from leaving the mainland when he wanted to attend a legal forum in Hong Kong last year.

He believes his involvement in the fugitives' case might have triggered mainland authorities to extend the travel ban to prevent him from attending the academic programme.

His license was also revoked earlier this year after he took up the case of the fugitives, most of whom were subsequently charged with offences relating to illegal crossing and jailed, SCMP reported.

In January, Sichuan's judicial authorities revoked Lu's licence, finding that he had "repeatedly made inappropriate remarks on the internet" for a long period of time.

The lawyer maintains that he was not worried about further action from Chinese officials. "If they would like to have me arrested, they would have done so a long time ago," he said.

Story continues

However, he did mention that the loss of his professional licence had taken a toll on him as he barely managed to feed himself.

Beijing, which was perturbed by violent anti-government protests in 2019, imposed the national security law to take action against those who protested against the government. Subversion was made a criminally punishable offence in Hong Kong under the Beijing-drafted national security law.

Last month, Hong Kong Police arrested over 10,200 people in connection with the anti-government protests in the last 20 months, signalling the extent of the crackdown launched by Beijing-backed authorities to silence dissenters.

Over 600 people have already been convicted, according to SCMP. During that period, 26 serving civil servants were arrested or charged over their suspected involvement in the social unrest.

The protests erupted in June 2019 over the now-withdrawn extradition bill. The bill was deemed as an example of increasing Chinese influence in Hong Kong. (ANI)
File Image: Rahul Vohra takes a selfie at a cafe (Irahul Vohra/ Facebook)

Indian actor Rahul Vohra died due to Covid-19 complications a day after sharing a heartbreaking farewell note on Facebook that said he could have been saved if he received proper treatment.

The 35-year-old YouTube star was admitted to the Rajeev Gandhi super speciality hospital in Tahirpur in Indias capital of New Delhi.

On Saturday, theatre director Arvind Gaur announced the death of the actor in a message.

Rahul Vohra is gone, my talented actor is no more. It was only yesterday that he told me his life could have been saved if he got a better treatment. He was shifted to Ayushman, Dwarka, last evening but we could not save him. Please forgive us, we are all your culprits. My last respects, he wrote.

Prior to his death, Vohra had pleaded for help in another Facebook post on 4 May.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

He wrote: I am Covid positive. I am admitted for 4 days but no recovery. Is there any hospital where I can get an oxygen bed because my oxygen level is dipping here? There is no one to take care of me.

This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it.

I am posting this because I am very helpless. Because the people at home are not able to handle anything, he wrote.

Screenshot of late Rahul Vohra pleading for help in a Facebook postIrahul Vohra/Facebook

Following the news, actor Bharat Pandit took to social media to say: Rahul Vohra is no more. After hearing from Ratnesh and reading your post, I have repeatedly called and texted you, brother. But you did not answer.

I learnt from Rahul Sharma that you have been shifted to another hospital. Sharma called me to inform me this morning that what you wrote in your post has come true. Om Shanti (Rest in peace).

India has reported an all-time high of 412,262 new infections last week with 3,980 deaths. The total fatalities stand at 2,40,116 this week with 3.7 million active cases.

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Israel "firmly rejects" pressure not to build in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday following days of unrest and spreading international condemnation of planned evictions of Palestinians from homes in the city claimed by Jewish settlers.

Tensions over Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem have stoked daily confrontations. Washington said Saturday it was "deeply concerned" and wanted "authorities to approach the residents  with compassion and respect".

East Jerusalem is among territories that Palestinians seek for a future state. US-sponsored statehood negotiations with Israel stalled in 2014. Israel deems of all Jerusalem its capital  a status not recognised abroad.

"We firmly reject the pressure not to build in Jerusalem. To my regret, this pressure has been increasing of late," Netanyahu said during a televised address ahead of national commemorations of the Israeli capture of East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.

"I say also to the best of our friends: Jerusalem is Israel's capital and just as every nation builds in its capital and builds up its capital, we also have the right to build in Jerusalem and to build up Jerusalem. That is what we have done and that is what we will continue to do," Netanyahu said.

East Jerusalem tensions have spilled over into clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians around Al-Aqsa, Islam's third-holiest mosque, at the height of the Ramadan fast month.

On Saturday night, Islam's holy night of Laylat al-Qadr, Palestinian youth threw stones, lit fires and tore down police barricades in the streets leading to the walled Old City gates as officers on horseback and in riot gear used stun grenades and water cannons to repel them.

Netanyahu said Israel allows freedom of worship but "we will not allow any extremist element to disturb the peace in Jerusalem  We will not allow violent unrest."

Story continues

Pope Francis called for an end to violence in Jerusalem, saying he was following events there with concern and inviting parties to seek solutions in order to respect the multicultural identity of the Holy City.

"Violence breeds violence, stop clashes," the pope told pilgrims who gathered in St. Peter's Square in Rome on Sunday.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
The Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MP, Azam Khan, had to be shifted to the ICU of Medanta Hospital in Lucknow after his condition deteriorated. Azam Khan had to be shifted to Lucknow from Sitapur jail on Sunday for the Covid treatment.

Azam Khan's son Abdullah was also shifted to Lucknow along with him, both father-son duo had tested positive for Covid-19 a few days back. They were shifted on Sunday evening with a police team to Lucknow's Medanta hospital.

As per information, Azam Khans oxygen requirement was about 10 litre per minute after which he was shifted to ICU. Earlier at the Sitapur jail, the oxygen level of Azam Khan had dropped to 90, after which Azam Khan had to be shifted to Lucknow in heavy security along with officials of the health department and administration.

Sources suggest that initially, Azam Khan was not ready to go to Lucknow, but after officers explained the situation, he agreed to it.

The Samajwadi Party veteran has been in the Sitapur jail for more than a year along with his wife Tazeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam after they surrendered at the Rampur court. Khan's wife, however, had secured bail a few days back, but his son and Azam Khan both are still in jail.

The three have multiple cases lodged against them by the Yogi Adityanath government for their alleged connection to various incidents such as land grabbing, encroachment and others. The Samajwadi Party leader also has secured bail in most of the cases. His son also got bail in some of the cases lodged against him.

In 2019, a case was filed against them for making fake PAN card and passport by manipulating the documents of Abdullah. Despite repeated calls, Khan did not appear at the court for the case. Therefore, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him, after which the three surrendered and were sent to the Rampur district jail. On February 27 last year, the trio were shifted to the Sitapur jail. In December 2020, Khan's wife was granted bail.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
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.

Vote

View Results
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021

End Sanctions, Create a New Paradigm

May 9, 2021 (EIRNS)It seems to me that if mankind is going to survive or not as a species, are we going to go extinct or not, really depends on whether we can overcome being victimized by imperial thinkingdivide and conquerand letting ourselves be in this camp, hostile to the other camp. Or, can we somehow evoke in ourselves and in others this quality of the inner self-development in cohesion with the lawfulness of the creation of the universe?

It seems to me that this is a method which absolutely must be applied now. I think that on the question of somehow overcoming this geopolitical confrontation, or especially the divisions of identity politics which are increasing divisions by the daywe have to somehow find this inner mechanism, this inner idea which makes us all human belonging to the one human species. Given the pandemic, and the fact that we are really in an unbelievable crisisa moral crisis, a political, medical, military crisis, an economic crisis, a financial crisisthat we have to start somewhere where we address this question of what makes us all human, and that is the sacredness of every human life on this planet.... And I think we will be able to do that, because I think human beings have the potential to be human.

With these words Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened the second panel of the Schiller Institute conference The Moral Collapse of the Trans-Atlantic World Cries Out for a New Paradigm, an event which brought together speakers from the United States, Europe, South America, Syria, Afghanistan, and Japan. Confronted with the deadly realities of the threat of nuclear war, of pandemic and famine, and of the neo-Malthusianism that has infected the minds of so many and stymies their acting against the very real threats to humanity as a whole.

Barbaric sanctionsmurder conducted in the name of human rightsare a disgusting tool used to crush countries into submission. The Saudi blockade of Yemen, the U.S. extension of deadly sanctions on Syriathese are clear expressions.

But what of the sanctions demanded by the likes of supposedly progressive people?

What of the Green demand that nations not develop, not utilize their resources, and not have growing populations?

Whether sanctions take the form of U.S. opposition to a government (think Syria, Russia, Iran), or the Great Resets opposition to an atmospheric gas (CO2), the effect of their implementation is to crush development and deprive people of their lives, livelihoods, and futures.

We must not be moral failures! A world in which an accident could result in the unleashing of a barrage of hundreds of nuclear missiles and thousands of warheads, absolutely devastating civilization is not a world that can be tolerated, nor one suitable to the inherent dignity of the human individual.

Share the Schiller Institute conference and rise to the level of thought and action the present demands and the future deserves.


Farmer Ta Thi Thanh Thuy worked hard for years to grow rice on her small piece of land near the mouth of the Mekong River in Vietnam. But now Thuy has started farming shrimp. Many of her neighbors over the last 10 years have done the same.

In the past, such a change was unlikely. However, the effects of climate change are making rice-growing in her area more difficult. Seawater has brought higher salt levels to the Mekong River Delta area.

Officials hope the move toward shrimp farming will improve the countrys seafood industry. The government has set the high goal of increasing shrimp exports by more than 100 percent to $10 billion by 2025. Local governments are giving farmers training and some assistance, including loans with good terms.

"Life was very hard for us until we began to farm shrimp," Thuy told Reuters news agency. The 52-year-old farmer also said, "Many shrimp farmers around here have been able to build nice houses and open saving accounts at banks.

"We planted rice but we harvested no rice," said Ta Thanh Long, another shrimp farmer. "There was a time the rice could still grow when the water was still fresh. But then the water became more and more salty each year."

At least one-third of the rice farming area along the 72-kilometer coastline of Soc Trang Province has been affected by seawater in recent years. That information comes from Duong Minh Hoang. He is the former director of the province's Agriculture Promotion Center.

Hoang said the center has urged people to farm things that will grow in salty water. He said climate change is affecting everyone, so they have to try new things to survive.

Vietnams shrimp exports grow

Vietnam is the world's third largest exporter of rice. But earnings from shrimp exports have risen above those from rice since 2013. And they continue to grow.

Seafood processors around here come to buy up all the shrimp we farm," said Ta Thanh Tung, who is 44 years old. He is one of Thuy's five siblings who have all moved from rice to shrimp farming.

"We heard they're exporting the shrimp to Europe, China and the United States, he said.

Industry experts say exports will rise by five to 10 percent yearly over the next 10 years. Land used for shrimp farming is increasing by three to five percent a year.

Vietnam's largest seafood exporter is Minh Phu Seafood Corporation. It has the goal of turning the country into the world's largest shrimp exporter. The company expects trade agreements between Vietnam and other countries to help raise the countrys exports to one quarter of the worlds total by 2045.

That could help ease economic pressure that the Southeast Asian country will face in the years ahead. The World Bank estimates that climate change may lower Vietnam's national income by as much as 3.5 percent by 2050.

Environmental concerns

The change to shrimp from rice comes with its own set of environmental problems.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates more than half of Vietnams mangrove tree forests have been cleared to make space for shrimp farming. Mangroves protect coastal areas from soil loss and the effects of powerful storms.

And experts criticize the lack of government oversight of the new small shrimp farms. They have many questions including what the shrimp eat and what happens to the shrimp waste.

There are also concerns about the use of antibiotics to treat disease in farmed shrimp. Antibiotics can be found in shrimp waste. Waste is usually thrown back into surrounding waterways. This raises the risk of chemical pollution in nearby areas and harm to the food chain.

Matt Landos said these kinds of unseen pollutants are not discussed enough. He is an Australia-based animal medicine scientist. He told Reuters that pollutants are present at harmful levels in the area.

The increasing salt levels that led to shrimp farming could harm the mouth of the Mekong area in the long term.

A rise of 0.7 to one meter would put about 40 percent of the area underwater, said Le Anh Tuan. He teaches at the College of Environment and Natural Resources at Can Tho University.

The problem will continue and parts of the rice fields will have to become seafood farms, or grow fruit or other crops, Tuan added.

Shrimp farmers say they are already dealing with worrying signs that the water is getting saltier faster.

Thuy said it was harder to find fresh water now. "We are very concerned that because of rising seawater levels our farms will one day be under water, Thuy added.

Im John Russell. And Im Alice Bryant.

Reuters news agency reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

shrimp n. a small shellfish that has a long body and legs that is commonly eaten as food

province n. any one of the large parts that some countries are divided into and that have their own government

sibling n. someone who is a brother or sister

oversight n. the act or job of directing work that is to be done

food chain n. a series of living things that uses lower member in the series as food and in this way are dependent on each other
General Stephen Townsend is the top U.S. commander for Africa. He warns that a growing threat from China may come not just from the waters of the Pacific but from the Atlantic as well.

Townsend told The Associated Press that China is looking to establish a large navy port on Africas western coast. The port would be able to host aircraft carriers and submarines. Townsend said China has talked with countries from Mauritania to the south of Namibia to build the port.

The port would permit China to base warships in its expanding Navy in the Atlantic as well as Pacific oceans.



Townsend said, theyre looking for a place where they can rearm and repair warships. That becomes militarily useful in conflict. He said China is a long way toward building such a base in Djibouti, so they are looking at the Atlantic coast.

Townsends warnings come as the U.S. military is beginning to move from the wars against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. The attention will be on the Indo-Pacific area and threats from China and Russia. The Biden administration views Chinas fast-expanding economic influence and military power as Americas long-term security threat.

U.S. military commanders around the world warn that Chinas growing power is happening in more than just Asia. They argue that China is aggressively asserting economic influence in countries in Africa, South America, and the Middle East. They are pushing for bases and other positions there.

Townsend said that the Chinese are outperforming the U.S. in some African countries. They are investing in building ports and transportation and economic projects in those countries. He fears the relationship will lead to greater access for China in the future.



Chinas first naval base in a foreign country was built years ago in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. China has been increasing the size of the base since it was built.

Townsend said there are as many as 2,000 military workers at the base, including hundreds of Marines who are responsible for security. He said the U.S. military thinks they will soon be adding aircraft, including attack helicopters.

For some time, the U.S. believes that China was working to establish a base in Tanzania. But Townsend said he was not worried because the African country is on the Indian Ocean side.

The Chinese search for a naval base on the Atlantic coast, Townsend said, concerned him greatly. The general pointed to the shorter distance from Africas Atlantic coast to the U.S.

Im Dan Friedell.

Lolita C. Baldor reported on this story for the Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

__________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

assert  v. to demand that other people accept or respect (something)

access  n. a way of being able to use or get something
For 14 months, a French wine aged in space. Now, it has returned to Earth to be sold.

A single bottle from a case of space-aged Bordeaux is being put up for sale by the auction house Christies. It may cost up to $1 million.

The wine is a 2000 vintage Petrus. It is considered a world-class red wine made from Merlot grapes in the Pomerol region of Bordeaux. The sale was announced Tuesday in London.

Tim Triptree works for Christies wine and spirits division. He said the bottle adds to a greater understanding of the maturation of wine.

The money from the sale will go to the European rocket company, Space Cargo Unlimited. The company has experimented with viticulture and microgravity. It launched the 12 bottles of Petrus 2000 in November 2019, and flew them to the International Space Station.

The bottles were taken back to Earth in January. They spent almost 440 days, and about 300 million kilometers, in orbit.

The wine returned to Bordeaux, where a bottle was opened for a taste test at the Institute for Wine and Vine Research. Top wine experts compared the space-aged wine with Petrus bottles that stayed on Earth.

Jane Anson is a leading wine critic and a writer for the wine magazine Decanter. She and the other two experts thought there was a clear difference between the two.

The space bottle seems more evolved than I would expect from a 21-year-old bottle of Petrus 2000," Anson said in Decanter.

"It is beautiful and nuanced, with fine tannins and a sense energy."

The wine investment company Vinovest says a bottle of Petrus 2000 usually costs about $5,366. One sold at auction for $51,660 in 2018.

Christie's is selling a bottle of the space-aged wine, along with a bottle of the original Earth-aged Petrus 2000. The purchase also includes a set of glasses and a corkscrew made from a meteorite.

Christie's says the sale price could reach $1 million.

Im Jill Robbins.

Steve Gorman reported this story for Reuters. Dan Novak adapted the story for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

______________________________________________________

Words in This Story

auction-n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most

grape  n. the fruit that is used to make wine

mature-adj. having reached a final or desired state

viticulture-n. the study of grape cultivation

orbit n. the curved path that something (such as a moon or satellite) follows as it goes around something else (such as a planet)

evolved-n. to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state : to develop by a process of evolution

nuance-n. a very small difference in color, tone, meaning, etc.

tannin-n. a reddish acid that comes from plants, is used in making ink and leather, and occurs in various foods and drinks (such as wine)

corkscrew  n. a tool for opening wine bottles
Robert Nichols is the state senator for Senate District 3. First elected in 2006, Nichols represents 19 counties, including much of East Texas and part of Montgomery County. He can be reached at 699-4988 or toll-free at (800) 959-8633. His email address is robert.nichols@senate.texas.gov.
Flash flooding is being reported all across town, including on Frank Avenue, due to the severe storm that hit moments ago, according to a press release from Jessica Pebsworth, communications director for the city of Lufkin.
A Family Man: Instrumental Music to Inspire, Motivate and Relax a Family Man

NEWS PROVIDED BY

IAM Music Company

May 10, 2021

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- IAM Music Company releases a stunning new instrumental music collection into the contemporary jazz instrumental music genre. The project, from award winning producer, songwriter and musician, Derrick 'Doc' Pearson, is entitled "A Family Man: Instrumental music to inspire, motivate and relax a family man."

On the heels of his last three consecutive Billboard Top 10 Gospel album projects, Doc Pearson turns his attention to inspiring through impactful instrumental music. With the help of his friends (Earth Wind & Fire legendary horn arranger, Thomas 'Tom Tom' Washington and Motown legendary orchestration arranger Paul Riser, along with a group of renown musicians and artists), Derrick 'Doc' Pearson offers the world an instrumental music collection that blurs the lines between Inspirational, Funk, R&B and Contemporary Jazz music.

The first single, "A Family Man," is a funky foot stomping instrumental musical romp featuring Doc Pearson's classic base and keyboard stylings. "A Family Man' is complimented by an entertaining animated music video, "A Family Man" (The Family Version), which is being viewed and streamed now on YouTube, Vevo and other video formats.

"A Family Man: Instrumental music to inspire, motivate and relax a family man"

features 18 Digital tracks (15 CD tracks), of musical magic that will inspire and motivate any listener. From motivation, to relaxation, to inspiration, this instrumental music project, with its unique blend of musical genres, has it all.

Featured tracks: A Family Man, Beside Still Waters, The Soldier Boy March, I Surrender All Y'all, Road Trip, The Climb, Confidence, and Cozumel.

SOURCE IAM Music Company

CONTACT: Derrick E Pearson, docpearson1@me.com
Deirdre Barrett used the image of a plague doctor to illustrate her book cover. Credit: Deidre Barrett

You're strolling down the street, or giving a work presentation, or having dinner with friends. Suddenly it hits you: You're not wearing any clothes. It's a common anxiety dream many of us have had at one point or another, but in recent months Harvard researcher Deirdre Barrett, who has been charting dreams during the pandemic, has noticed that people are increasingly reporting a kind of coronavirus equivalent in which people get caught maskless.

"It really looked to me like the mask dreams were sort of starting to replace the naked-in-public dreams that so many people have," said Barrett, assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "[It] represents the classic social anxiety feeling that lands somewhere on the embarrassment/shame continuum."

According to Barrett, who created an online survey last year to collect information on dreams in the age of COVID-19, early on people reported dreaming about being angry or fearful of others not wearing masks. But increasingly, dreamers have been reporting feeling ashamed of not wearing a mask themselves. Some have reported graphic, mask-themed nightmares.

"There was one in which the whole world had been wearing masks so long that people didn't have mouths anymore," said Barrett. "The mask had sort of merged with their lower face, and you had to choose whether you got food inserted through a cut in your trachea, or an IV."

Other dreams mirror people's fear about going back to work or school as states gradually roll back restrictions. "Basically, they're about the workplace, or school, being scary as an infectious environment," she said. "In one dream, a woman returned to work to find there was a new rule requiring employees take off their shoes and socks and walk on a dirty, wet carpet all day."

To date, Barrett has gathered more than 15,000 specific accounts of what has been occupying our sleeping minds during the outbreak. Much of the data, which she began compiling for her 2020 book "Pandemic Dreams," shines a light on how our subconscious brains are grappling with a time like no other.

"As a dream researcher I was immediately curious to see what our dream lives would tell us about our deepest reactions to this new disaster," said Barrett, who has studied the dreams of 9/11 survivors, Kuwaitis during the first Gulf War, and prisoners of war held in World War II concentration camps. Her ongoing work about our pandemic dream lives also includes suggestions for how we can ease our anxiety-laden thoughts as we head off to bed.

When the Gazette first spoke with Barrett in May of 2020, much of the nation was under lockdown in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly virus. At that time, many of the dreams she was analyzing reflected literal fears of infectionrespondents wrote in about feeling sick or catching the virus. Many of the more metaphorical dreams featured insects in starring roles.

"I've just seen dozens and dozens and dozens of every kind of bug imaginable attacking the dreamer: There are swarms of every kind of flying insect you've ever heard of; there are armies of cockroaches racing at the dreamer; there are masses of wriggling worms; there were some grasshoppers with vampire fangs; there are bed bugs, stink bugs," Barrett told the Gazette last year. As the lockdowns wore on, people increasingly reported dreaming about being isolated and alone, she said. More recently, she's noticed an uptick in anxiety-fueled dreams about returning to work or school.

Barrett's work is also helping reveal how the stress of the pandemic is affecting people in different ways. As part of her research, she has been running the dream descriptions through a text analysis program to identify common emotions and themes. "For both men and women, fear was about double the samples from pre-pandemic times; illness was about three times; and death was about four times pre-pandemic norms," said Barrett. But when it came to sadness and anger "Women were double their pre-pandemic norms," while men reflected the "same amount of sadness and anger as before the pandemic."

Barrett said she suspects that discrepancy may be directly related to the fact that more women, who are over-represented in non-contract, part-times roles, have lost their jobs during the pandemic. "They're also doing the majority of the nursing in the home if family members are sick. In hospitals, they tend to be at the lower rungs of the medical staff, so they were likely to be the people who had trouble getting PPE early on when there was a shortage," she said. "The fact that women are more sad and angry about things seems to make a lot of sense to me."

Fortunately, it's not all gloom in doom in our REM sleep cycles. Barrett said that around the time the FDA began approving the COVID vaccine, she noticed "an uptick in broadly optimistic dreams." Early in her work people reported dreaming about seeing family and friends, or going out to their favorite nightclubs, only to wake with a deep sense of sadness. But starting in December, "reactions really changed," said Barrett. Instead of feeling disappointment people reported those types of dreams left them "feeling cheerful."

For those eager to avoid unsettling dreams, Barrett has a few helpful hints. Instead of trying to train yourself not to dream of something frighteningan ineffective approach, according to the researchfocus on something positive instead. "Try to create a mental picture of it as you fall asleep," said Barrett, who suggests placing a photo or other object connected to the desired dream near your bed. Keeping a dream journal and talking with others about your dreams can also help you "understand and move past your anxieties," said Barrett, "in your sleeping, and waking life."

This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu.
Fluorescence labelling of distinct layers of the brain. Each colour represents a different cell type within the cortex. Credit: Maria Bergamasco

A novel approach to immunotherapy design could pave the way for new treatments for people with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma.

Using specifically designed receptors, researchers were able to completely clear brain cancer tumors in preclinical models, using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

Published in Clinical & Translational Immunology and led by Associate Professor Misty Jenkins, the research is a crucial step towards developing new immunotherapy treatments for this devastating illness.

More than 1800 Australians are diagnosed with brain cancer every year. Brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in children and adults under 40. Adults diagnosed with glioblastoma have a five-year survival rate of just 5%.

CAR T cell therapy could offer solution

CAR T cell therapy is a new type of immunotherapy that uses the body's own T cells to fight infection. It is one of the greatest advancements in cancer therapy in decades and has proven to be effective against blood cancers such as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and adult diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). There are currently more than 600 CAR T cell therapy clinical trials worldwide.

Associate Professor Jenkins said results from the research were incredibly promising.

"This approach of immunotherapy harnesses the patient's white blood cells to recognize and destroy their own cancer," she said.

"Current CAR T cell approaches have relied on repurposing existing antibodies. We have created our own, high-affinity specific receptors, which enable them to bind very tightly to the cells."

"We found this approach completely cleared the tumor in preclinical models of brain cancer in the laboratory."

Associate Professor Jenkins said the research team was now looking to progress the 'proof of concept' research through to clinical trials.

"If we can progress this to clinical trials, it would be Australia's first CAR T clinical trial for brain cancer," she said.

"CAR T cell immunotherapy is still very new, but it has enormous potential, and we are excited about its future applications," she said.

"This won't necessarily be the silver bullet for brain cancer, but I envision this treatment could potentially be used in combination with other therapies in the future, offering hope to people diagnosed with this insidious disease."

Fast-tracking therapeutic development

The research was supported by grants from Carrie's Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation and the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation.

With this support, Associate Professor Jenkins spearheaded a new immunotherapy brain cancer program at WEHI, enabling WEHI to make further advances and breakthroughs for brain cancers in both adults and children.

Her research uses a new type of CAR T cell receptor that has superior properties to other versions of the therapy.

"We now have the techniques, tools and platforms established to advance immunotherapies and other brain-cancer-tailored approaches, allowing us to very rapidly test and translate these into the clinic," she said.

"These therapies could provide hope for many patients, for whom current standard therapies have dismal outcomes."

In conjunction with this research, the team is also working on developing further enhanced CAR T candidates, which will be the first of their kind, paving the way for novel therapies for patients with solid tumors.

More information: Rebecca C Abbott et al. Novel highaffinity EGFRvIIIspecific chimeric antigen receptor T cells effectively eliminate human glioblastoma, Clinical & Translational Immunology (2021). Rebecca C Abbott et al. Novel highaffinity EGFRvIIIspecific chimeric antigen receptor T cells effectively eliminate human glioblastoma,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/cti2.1283
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Britain on Monday was set to announce a further easing of its coronavirus lockdown, joining several European nations in gradually reopening their economies, but India remained in the grip of a devastating outbreak.

Rapid vaccination programmes have allowed a number of wealthy nations to start taking steps towards normality, but the virus is still surging in many countries and concerns are growing about global vaccine inequality.

The pandemic has claimed close to 3.3 million lives worldwide and Britain has the highest death toll in Europe, but its successful vaccination programme has allowed the authorities to start relaxing curbs.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to announce the latest measureseffective May 17in a press conference on Monday, including the reopening of indoor seating in pubs and restaurants.

When asked during a BBC interview Sunday if hugging would be allowed, senior minister Michael Gove said: "Without prejudice to a broader review of social distancing... friendly contact, intimate contact between friends and family is something that we want to see restored."

Cinemas are also expected to reopen, as well as some large indoor venues after the government held several pilot eventsincluding a rock concertto test safety measures.

This follows Spain's lifting of a state of emergency in place since October, allowing people to travel between regions.

"It's like New Year's," said 28-year-old Oriol Corbella in Barcelona, where the end of the curfew was met with shouts, applause and music.

In Germany, people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were exempt from many restrictions from Sunday after the government passed new legislation.

And Cyprus on Monday will exit a third partial lockdown with a new coronavirus "safety pass" system to allow people to move freely.

India variant worries

India, suffering from one of the worst outbreaks in the world, reported nearly 370,000 fresh infections and more than 3,700 new deaths on Monday.

The devastating wave has overwhelmed India's healthcare system, and experts have said the official figures for cases and fatalities are much lower than the actual numbers.

The situation in India has been worsened by a new variant, which is more contagious and there are fears it could potentially dodge some vaccine protections, the World Health Organization's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told AFP on Saturday.

The Indian outbreak has spread to some of its neighbours, with Nepal reeling from a worrying spike in cases.

Because of the outbreak in the Himalayan nation, China will set up a "separation line" on the summit of Mount Everestwhich straddles the China-Nepal borderto avoid possible infections by climbers from Nepal, state media reported.

Dozens have been taken ill from the Everest base camp in recent weeks.

'What about the poor?'

The United States remains the worst-hit nation in the world, with the highest number of known fatalities and infections.

But its actual death toll may be higher than the official figure of 581,000, with a University of Washington study released last week estimating deaths at more than 900,000.

"I think there's no doubt... that we are and have been undercounting," top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci told NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday.

The United States was battered by the pandemic but since January, new infections have come down as more than 114 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Some travellers from hard-hit Latin America are flying in to get jabbed.

Dozens lined up at a pop-up vaccination booth in Florida's Miami Beach to get a free, single-dose Johnson & Johnson shotwith no proof of residence required.

"In my country, (COVID-19) is getting out of hand and there's not much chance we'll have access to the vaccine soon," said 40-year-old accountant Maria Bonilla, who arrived Saturday from Honduras.

But Miami Beach city commissioner David Richardson, who oversees the facility, told AFP he has mixed feelings about the vaccine tourists and urged the US government to send doses overseas.

"My only concern is that it seems that the people who can afford to buy an airfare can come to the United States and get a vaccine now," he said.

"What about the poor people in South America?"

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
A woman walks out of a shop in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 10, 2021. The Czech Republic is massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation pay respect to nearly 30,000 dead. Monday's wave of easing came after the new infections fell to the levels unseen from August when the government failed to react in time to an opposite trend, the growing numbers of infected which later contributed to record numbers of deaths. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The Czech Republic was massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions on Monday as the hard-hit nation paid respect to nearly 30,000 dead.

The latest wave of easing came after new infections fell to the levels last seen in August, at which time the government failed to react in time to a rising number of infections, which later contributed to record numbers of deaths.

People in the capital, Prague, formed lines before opening time as all stores and shopping malls across the country returned to business.

"It's a relief that they are open," said Dan Cooper, one of the shoppers. "I think I have a long list of things that I need to buy now."

In a visible change, Czechs were allowed to remove face coverings in all outdoor spaces if they stay at least two meters (yards) from other people. Many haven't worn them in previous days and weeks anyway.

Also reopening Monday were car dealerships, tanning salons, shooting ranges, travel agencies, shoe repairers, tattoo parlors and many other services.

Children returned to all elementary schools under strict conditions even in the hardest-hit regions. All have to wear face masks and be tested twice a week. They are also returning on a rotating basis, with in-school attendance one week and distance learning the next.

People wait in line in front of a shop in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 10, 2021. The Czech Republic is massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation pay respect to nearly 30,000 dead. Monday's wave of easing came after the new infections fell to the levels unseen from August when the government failed to react in time to an opposite trend, the growing numbers of infected which later contributed to record numbers of deaths. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The relaxation move came as the daily number of new cases dropped from almost 17,000 in early March to 381 on Sunday, the lowest figure since the end of August while the number of infected fell to 101 per 100,000 people in the past seven days.

But in some counties, the number of cases still surpassed 180 per 100,000, prompting some experts to warn against dropping the restrictions there.

"If the situation remains unfavorable in some counties and regions, the relaxation there should not be the same as in other parts of the country," Petr Pazdiora, the head of the Institute of Epidemiology at the University Hospital in western city of Plzen told Czech public radio.

The Czech Republic at one point topped the global death toll table per capita, due to too-early relaxations.

The government was set to discuss later on Monday a plan to allow spectators to attend concerts and other cultural events. The Culture Ministry proposed that up to 700 people could attend outdoor events while the number would be limited to 400 indoors.

People wait in line in front of a shop in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 10, 2021. The Czech Republic is massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation pay respect to nearly 30,000 dead. Monday's wave of easing came after the new infections fell to the levels unseen from August when the government failed to react in time to an opposite trend, the growing numbers of infected which later contributed to record numbers of deaths. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A woman adjusts watches in a shop in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 10, 2021. The Czech Republic is massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation pay respect to nearly 30,000 dead. Monday's wave of easing came after the new infections fell to the levels unseen from August when the government failed to react in time to an opposite trend, the growing numbers of infected which later contributed to record numbers of deaths. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

People wait in line in front of a shop in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 10, 2021. The Czech Republic is massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation pay respect to nearly 30,000 dead. Monday's wave of easing came after the new infections fell to the levels unseen from August when the government failed to react in time to an opposite trend, the growing numbers of infected which later contributed to record numbers of deaths. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

People wait in line in front of a shop in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, May 10, 2021. The Czech Republic is massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation pay respect to nearly 30,000 dead. Monday's wave of easing came after the new infections fell to the levels unseen from August when the government failed to react in time to an opposite trend, the growing numbers of infected which later contributed to record numbers of deaths. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

High schools and universities still remained closed, together with bars and restaurants.

Czech leaders, officials and citizens were planning to light 30,000 candles at Prague Castle, the seat of the presidency, Monday evening to pay respect to the victims of the pandemic.

The nation of 10.7 million has registered at least 29,711 deaths.

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.
Confocal micrograph of stereocilia on the inner (IHC) and outer (OHCs) hair cells, completely embedded in the tectorial membrane (TM). Credit: Pierre Hakizimana, CC-BY-4.0 First published in doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22870-1

Researchers at Linkoping University, Sweden, have made several discoveries on the functioning mechanisms of the inner hair cells of the ear, which convert sounds into nerve signals that are processed in the brain. The results, presented in the scientific journal Nature Communications, challenge the current picture of the anatomical organization and workings of the hearing organ, which has prevailed for decades. A deeper understanding of how the hair cells are stimulated by sound is important for such matters as the optimisation of hearing aids and cochlear implants for people with hearing loss.

In order to hear sounds, we must convert sound waves, which are compressions and decompressions of air, into electrical nerve signals that are transmitted to the brain. This conversion takes place in the part of the inner ear known as the cochlea, due to its shape, which is reminiscent of a snail shell. The cochlear duct houses the hearing organ, with many hair cells that are divided into outer and inner hair cells. The outer hair cells amplify sound vibrations, which enables us to hear faint sounds and perceive the various frequencies in human speech better. The inner hair cells convert the sound vibrations into nerve signals. In the current study, the researchers have investigated how the conversion takes place. It is, namely, still unclear how the inner hair cells are stimulated by sound vibrations in order to produce nerve signals.

It has long been known that the outer hair cells are connected to a membrane that rests on top of them. The outer hair cells have hair-like protrusions known as stereocilia that are bent and activated when sound causes the membrane and the hearing organ to vibrate. However, the current view is that the stereocilia of the inner hair cells are not in contact with this membrane, which is known as the tectorial membrane, and that they are stimulated by sounds by a completely different mechanism. It is this model that the new study challenges.

The relationship between the hair cells and the tectorial membrane has been studied in detail via electron microscopy since the 1950s. But it is extremely difficult to investigate how this gelatinous membrane functions, since it shrinks as soon as it is removed from the ear. This makes it extremely difficult to preserve the relationship between the inner hair cells and the tectorial membrane. In addition, this membrane is transparent, and has therefore been essentially invisible. Until now. The LiU researchers noticed that the tectorial membrane reflected green light. This discovery made it possible to visualize the tectorial membrane by microscope.

"We cannot see any gap between the tectorial membrane and the hair cells. In contrast, the stereocilia on both outer and inner hair cells are completely embedded in the tectorial membrane. Our results are incompatible with the generally accepted idea that only the outer hair cells are in contact with the tectorial membrane," says Pierre Hakizimana, principal research engineer at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at Linkoping University, and principal author of the article.

Illustration a shows how the relationship between the inner hair cells (pink), the outer hair cells (green) and the tectorial membrane (white) is usually depicted, with a gap between the membrane and the inner hair cells. Illustration b shows the discovery of the researchers with all of the hair cell stereocilia completely embedded in the tectorial membrane, and the calcium ducts (blue) that transport calcium ions to the hair cells. Credit: Sanna Hedin CC-BY-4.0

Pierre Hakizimana and his colleagues have studied the inner ear of guinea pigs, which is very similar to that of humans. When the researchers investigated the relationship between the membrane and the hair cells in more detail, they made a further discovery.

"We found calcium ducts with an appearance that we've never seen before. These calcium ducts span the tectorial membrane and connect to the stereocilia of both the inner and the outer hair cells," says Pierre Hakizimana.

The research group, led by Professor Anders Fridberger, previously discovered that the tectorial membrane functions as a reservoir for calcium ions, which are needed for the hair cells to convert the sound-evoked vibrations into nerve signals. The researchers followed the motion of the calcium ions in the ducts, and their results suggest that the calcium ions flow through the ducts to the hair cells. This may explain how the hair cells obtain the large amounts of calcium ions needed for their function. The study has also shown that the stereocilia on the inner and outer hair cells are bent by the tectorial membrane in similar ways. The next step of the research will be to understand in more detail how the calcium ions are transported, and identify the protein or proteins that make up the newly discovered calcium ducts.

"Our results allow us to describe a mechanism for how hearing functions, that is incompatible with the model that has been accepted for more than fifty years. The classic illustrations in the textbooks showing the hearing organ and how it functions must be updated. The mathematical models used in research to study hearing should also be updated to include these new findings," says Pierre Hakizimana.

New information about how hearing functions may eventually contribute to the development of cochlear implants, hearing aids that are inserted into the cochlea and use electrical stimulation to restore hearing for children and adults.

"Cochlear implants are an amazing solution for treating hearing loss, but they can be improved. A deeper understanding of how the inner hair cells are stimulated by sounds is important to optimize how cochlear implants stimulate the auditory nerve," says Pierre Hakizimana.

Explore further Why you lose hearing for a while after listening to loud sounds

More information: "Inner hair cell stereocilia are embedded in the tectorial membrane", Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications "Inner hair cell stereocilia are embedded in the tectorial membrane",(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22870-1
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Since it debuted in 2011, the Get SET Early program, which provides pediatricians and parents with a relatively simple process to screen for indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children as young as age 1, has steadily grown in use and validation. Early screening and identification of ASD has been linked to more effective treatment.

A new study, published in the April 26, 2021 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, further bolsters these findings.

Led by Karen Pierce, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Neurosciences who with colleagues created the Get SET Early program, researchers at the UC San Diego Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) assembled a network of 203 pediatricians in the San Diego region who conducted systematic screenings of 59,411 infants or toddlers at their 12-, 18- and 24-month check-ups.

Parents completed a validated questionnaire about their child's use of eye contact, words, gestures and other forms of age-appropriate communication, using either a paper form or an iPad. The final question on the screening tool: "Do you have any concerns about your child's development?" (Yes or No).

Digital screens automatically scored patients as pass or fail. Pediatricians were asked to indicate whether they were referring toddlers who failed a screening for further evaluation and if not, why not.

Overall, 897 children failed the initial screening and received further evaluation at ACE. Within this cohort, 403 received a subsequent diagnosis of ASD. Approximately 60 percent of these children were assessed at their 12-month well baby visits, and received a comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis and treatment referral by age 15 months.

"There is extensive evidence that early therapy can have a positive impact on the developing brain," said Pierce, who is co-director of ACE. "The opportunity to diagnose and thus begin treatment for autism around a child's first birthday has enormous potential to change outcomes for children affected with the disorder. These toddlers, as part of the Get SET Early program began treatment roughly three years earlier than the national average of 52 months."

But the study also revealed some surprising findings: Participating pediatricians referred only 39 percent of toddlers who had failed a screening for additional evaluation.

"Data from the iPads indicated the lack of referral follow-through was because pediatricians thought that the results of the screen were wrong," said Pierce. "But if a parent noted that they were concerned by checking 'yes' on the last question, the referral rate increased to 70 percent.

"These findings underscore the importance of parent participation and input when seeking to detect the earliest signs of ASD or other development delays in young children. If you are a parent and have even minor concerns about how your child is developing, you must speak up. Don't wait. Your voice carries weight."

ASD is now estimated to affect one in every 54 children born in the United States. Multiple studies, including research conducted by Pierce and colleagues have found that simple parent checklists performed as early as a child's first birthday can identify symptoms of ASD. Early diagnoses have been found to be highly stable as early as 14 months.

Pierce said the Get SET Early program, which has expanded to other cities and states with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, can be adopted by any pediatric office, at virtually no cost.

Explore further Autism diagnoses prove highly stable as early as 14 months

More information: Karen Pierce et al. Get SET Early to Identify and Treatment Refer Autism Spectrum Disorder at 1 Year and Discover Factors That Influence Early Diagnosis, The Journal of Pediatrics (2021). Journal information: Journal of Pediatrics Karen Pierce et al. Get SET Early to Identify and Treatment Refer Autism Spectrum Disorder at 1 Year and Discover Factors That Influence Early Diagnosis,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.04.041
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Schools and stores reopened in several parts of Europe on Monday as the continent eased out of months of COVID-19 lockdowns, but India remained in the grip of a devastating outbreak.

Rapid vaccination programmes have allowed a number of wealthy nations to start taking steps towards normality, but the virus is still surging in many countries and concerns are growing about global vaccine inequality.

The pandemic has killed close to 3.3 million people worldwide since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019, upending normal life and causing global economic havoc.

Ireland on Monday lifted domestic travel restrictions and began a phased reopening of non-essential retailers, while Greece opened nursery, elementary and middle schools.

Britain, which has the highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe, was set to announce the reopening of indoor seating in pubs and restaurants and allowing "intimate contact between friends and family," the latest easing of restrictions following a successful vaccination campaign.

Cinemas are also expected to reopen, as well as some large indoor venues after the government held several pilot eventsincluding a rock concertto test safety measures.

Ahead of the announcement, the city of London launched a campaign to bring tourists back to one of the most visited European capitals.

Act 'responsibly'

Spain, which at the weekend lifted a six-month state of emergency and allowed travel between regions, sounded a note of caution after joyful crowds celebrated in the streets mask-less and without observing social distancing.

"The end of the state of emergency does not mean the end of restrictions. Far from it. The virus threat still exists," Justice Minister Juan Carlos Campo wrote in an opinion piece in El Pais, urging Spaniards to behave "responsibly."

Cyprus on Monday was to exit a third partial lockdown with a new coronavirus "safety pass" system to allow people to move freely.

And in Germany, people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were exempt from many restrictions from Sunday after the government passed new legislation.

Germany also opened access to the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to all adults on Monday, lifting a priority system.

But in Norway, an expert government committee recommended that the country drop the Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca jabs over the risks of rare but serious side effects.

Meanwhile, German firm BionTech, which developed a vaccine with US pharma giant Pfizer, announced a $200 million joint venture with China's Shanghai Fosum Pharmaceutical to produce up to one billion jabs a year and said it was building its own Southeast Asia manufacturing site in Singapore.

India variant worries

India, suffering from one of the worst outbreaks in the world, reported nearly 370,000 fresh infections and more than 3,700 new deaths on Monday.

The devastating wave has overwhelmed India's healthcare system, and experts have said official figures for cases and fatalities are much lower than the actual numbers.

Africa is closely following the outbreak in India, as the country is one of the biggest suppliers of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax programme aimed to help immunisation in poorer nations.

The situation in India has been worsened by a new more contagious variant and there are fears it could potentially dodge some vaccine protections, World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told AFP on Saturday.

BionTech sought to ally such fears on Monday, saying that "to date, there is no evidence" the jab needed adapting against the emerging variants.

Underscoring the gravity of the Indian outbreak, an Australian court on Monday kept in place a contentious ban on citizens returning home from the country.

The Indian outbreak has spread to some of its neighbours, including Nepal.

And China plans to set up a "separation line" on the summit of Mount Everestwhich straddles the China-Nepal borderto avoid possible infections by climbers from Nepal, where dozens have been taken ill at base camp, state media reported.

Glimpse of the future?

The world got a glimpse of post-pandemic life as Tokyo hosted a test event ahead of the Summer Olympic Games.

The sound of pounding feet echoed in an eerily empty stadium as track and field athletes ran to recorded crowd noises.

"It's weird running in a stadium with no fans," US sprinter Justin Gatlin said after winning the men's 100m.

Meanwhile International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach was forced to postpone a visit to Japan, organisers said Monday, after a coronavirus state of emergency was extended less than three months before the Tokyo Games.

The United States remains the worst-hit nation in the world, with the highest number of known fatalities and infections.

But its actual death toll may be higher than the official figure of 581,000, with a University of Washington study released last week estimating deaths at more than 900,000.

The United States was battered by the pandemic, but since January new infections have come down as more than 114 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Some travellers from hard-hit Latin America have been flying in to get jabbed.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A Trinity College study published in the journal Scientific Reports demonstrates an extremely high burden of physical and mobility problems experienced by people who are homeless and were admitted for inpatient care to an acute hospital in Dublin. The study found that only one third of participants could climb a hospital stairs and there was a very common presentation of geriatric conditions such as frailty, falls and needing a mobility aid on a long term basis, despite a low median participant age of 45 years.

Overall, the study provided visible evidence of accelerated physical aging among this cohort relative to the general population with participants, (all homeless and mostly using hostel accommodation or rough sleeping) in their 20s, 30s and 40s experiencing poor physical status and geriatric syndromes comparable to housed individuals in their 70s or 80s years.

It is commonly accepted that adults who are homeless experience poor health and frequently require hospital in-patient care. The objective of this study however was to evaluate a wide range of physical functioning variables to enable better future planning of targeted health and accommodation services for this group.

Uniquely this study collectively evaluated this group using a broad range of robust physical functioning measures, including lower extremity physical function, falls risk, functional capacity, stair climbing ability, frailty, fitness and grip strength. Notably, many participants were unable to even complete the simple physical tests due to pain or not feeling well enough.

The study of 65 people, (32.3% female, 66.7% male) was carried out in St James's Hospital and initiated by the Physiotherapy Department, Trinity College and Inclusion Health Team at St James's Hospital. It was conducted by Sinead Kiernan, Physiotherapy Researcher, Department of Physiotherapy St. James's Hospital and first author and supervised by Dr. Julie Broderick, Department of Physiotherapy, Trinity College and Dr. Cliona Ni Cheallaigh, Lead Inclusion Health Service, St. James's Hospital and School of Medicine, Trinity College.

Most participants (64.0%) utilized hostel accommodation or were rough sleepers (17%). It was previously noted that people who are homeless tend to present more often for unscheduled caresuch as presenting to the emergency department much more commonly than those who are stably housed. Some will need to be admitted to hospital for further careand this cohort can constitute a substantial proportion of inpatients in many acute hospitals at any one time. Some of these patients were referred to physiotherapy and appeared to have very low levels of mobility but the physical characteristics of this vulnerable group were not well known.

Key findings

The majority (83%) of participants had mobility problems.

Over half (54%) of this cohort experienced at least one fall in the previous six months.

Only 31% could attempt to climb one flight of stairs.

Only 38% could walk for six minutes.

The majority of participants (70.5%) were frail or pre-frail.

One quarter (25%) displayed extremely poor balance.

Dr. Julie Broderick, Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Trinity College said: "This study conducted by Physiotherapy researcher Sinead Kiernan found that general physical and mobility levels of participants who were homeless in their 20s, 30s and 40s were comparable to levels we would expect to see among stably housed people in their 70s or 80s, this is visible evidence of accelerated physical aging among this cohort. The huge physical burden experienced by this group who mostly utilized hostels or were rough sleepers is concerning. As well as other complex needs, mobility levels, strength and fitness need to be targeted in this group to prevent further deterioration. Falls prevention strategies are also necessary. Accommodation services for people who are homeless need to be suitable and accessible for people with low mobility levels."

Recommendations

It is established that many people who are homeless experience problems associated with addiction and mental health complexities, but physical and mobility limitations also deserve greater consideration. The Trinity research team propose that medical and rehabilitation services are needed to target these limitations as some may be reversible with appropriate physiotherapy provision. Physiotherapy and other physical rehabilitation services are a priority for this group.

Appropriate community and outreach services are also necessary as it is likely that ongoing support will be needed after discharge from hospital. Specific community-based onward referral services are also required.

And finally, the research team recommends that housing policy should respond to the physical health needs of people who are homeless along with housing and accommodation services that are designed with accessibility in mind.

Explore further Personalized patient navigation service reduces readmissions among hospitalized patients with comorbid substance use

More information: S. Kiernan et al. Markedly poor physical functioning status of people experiencing homelessness admitted to an acute hospital setting, Scientific Reports (2021). Journal information: Scientific Reports S. Kiernan et al. Markedly poor physical functioning status of people experiencing homelessness admitted to an acute hospital setting,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88590-0
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday opened the door to the possibility of relaxing indoor masking rules as more Americans are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

As immunizations climb, "we do need to start being more liberal" in terms of rules for wearing masks indoors, though the nation is still averaging about 43,000 cases of the virus a day, Fauci told ABC's Sunday program "This Week." "We've got to get it much, much lower than that," he added.

Fauci's comments came in response to a question about recent statements made by Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, The New York Times reported. Gottlieb said that relaxing indoor mask mandates now"especially if you're in environments where you know you have a high level of vaccination"would give public health officials "the credibility to implement them" again in the fall or winter if cases surged again.

Asked whether he agreed with that assessment, Fauci said, "I think so, and I think you're going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated."

"The CDC [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] will be, almost in real time updating their recommendations and their guidelines," Fauci added. "But yes, we do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated."

Over a third of the U.S. populationmore than 114 million peopleis fully vaccinated and another 45 million people have received the first dose of a two-dose protocol, according to the CDC.

Right now, the agency says that even vaccinated people should still wear masks in indoor public spaces, including restaurants when they are not actively eating and drinking.

In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Jeffrey Zients, President Joe Biden's COVID response coordinator, was more circumspect than Fauci about Gottlieb's comments.

"I think everyone is tired, and wearing a mask isit can be a pain," Zients said. "But we're getting there. And the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter and brighter. Let's keep up our guard. Let's follow the CDC guidance. And the CDC guidance across time will allow vaccinated people more and more privileges to take off that mask."

Zients also suggested that instead of reaching herd immunity, the goal should be getting 70 percent of Americans immunized, the Times reported. Biden has called for 70 percent to have at least one dose by July 4.

Reaching 70 percent will create "a pattern of decreasing cases, hospitalizations and deaths and take us down to a sustainable low level," Zients said, pointing to Israel as a model.

In that country, vaccinations have reached almost 60 percent of the population since they began on Dec. 19 last year, and the seven-day average of new cases has dropped from a high of more than 8,600 on Jan. 17 to fewer than 60 as of Saturday, the Times reported.

Only a third of parents will get shots for their younger kids right away

As U.S. health officials prepare to authorize Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in younger children this week, a new poll shows that less than a third of parents would get their child vaccinated as soon as the shots are approved for kids.

Only 29% of parents of children under age 18 said they would get their child vaccinated "right away," according to data published last Thursday by Kaiser Family Foundation.

Another 32% said they would wait to see how the vaccine is working before getting their child a shot, while the remaining parents said their child would be vaccinated only if their school requires it (15%) or they definitely wouldn't be vaccinated (19%).

Public health experts have said that vaccinating children is key to ending the pandemic.

Pfizer's vaccine is already authorized in the United States for people ages 16 and up, while two othersfrom Moderna and Johnson & Johnsonare authorized for those 18 and older.

The survey percentages did not stray far from what was seen among American adults late last year in another Kaiser survey. In that survey, 34% of adults said they would get a vaccine as soon as possible, and 39% said they would wait and see.

Those attitudes have shifted over time. The latest data, from April, shows about 64% of American adults say they've either already gotten a vaccine or would get one as soon as possible, while a further 15% say they will wait and see.

"We're in a new stage of talking about vaccine demand," Mollyann Brodie, executive vice president of Kaiser's Public Opinion and Survey Research Program, told the Times. "There's not going to be a single strategy to increase demand across everyone who is left. There will have to be a lot of individually targeted efforts. The people still on the fence have logistical barriers, information needs, and lots don't yet know they are eligible. Each strategy might move a small number of people to get vaccinated, but all together, that could matter a lot."

In Thursday's Kaiser survey, parents' intentions for their children typically mirrored their intentions for themselves. Among parents who have already received at least one dose or want it as soon as possible, three-fourths said they would get their children vaccinated right away (48%) or wait and see (29%).

The latest survey by the non-profit health research group was conducted April 15-29 among 2,097 adults.

Pfizer and Moderna are already testing their vaccines in children as young as 6 months old and expect to ask the FDA for emergency use authorization covering infants and children later this year. Pfizer expects to submit for emergency use authorization for children ages 2 to 11 in September, CNN reported.

Biden backs proposal to lift patent protections on vaccines

The Biden administration last week announced that it will support a controversial proposal to waive patent protections for coronavirus vaccines, while the drug industry warned such a move would actually dampen the development of vaccines.

The United States had been a holdout at the World Trade Organization over the proposal, which could give drugmakers around the world a look at the trade secrets of how the viable COVID-19 vaccines have been made, the Times reported. But President Joe Biden has come under pressure to throw his support behind the proposal, the newspaper reported.

Katherine Tai, the United States trade representative, announced the administration's support for the proposal last week.

"This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures," she said in a statement. "The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines."

Tai said the United States would participate in negotiations over the matter, but that those talks would "take time, given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved."

Shortly after the decision was announced, the pharmaceutical industry issued a statement that assailed the extraordinary decision. Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, called the announcement "an unprecedented step that will undermine our global response to the pandemic and compromise safety."

"This decision will sow confusion between public and private partners, further weaken already strained supply chains and foster the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines," he said, adding that the move would have the effect of "handing over American innovations to countries looking to undermine our leadership in biomedical discovery."

But global health activists praised the administration's decision. It is "a truly historic step, which shows that President Biden is committed to being not just an American leader, but a global one," said Priti Krishtel, an executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge.

Still, the activists said a waiver alone would not increase the world's vaccine supply. It must be accompanied by a process known as "tech transfer," in which patent holders supply technical know-how and personnel.

"Handing needy countries a recipe book without the ingredients, safeguards and sizable work force needed will not help people waiting for the vaccine," Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath, president and chief executive of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, told the Times. "Handing them the blueprint to construct a kitchen thatin optimal conditionscan take a year to build will not help us stop the emergence of dangerous new COVID variants."

As of Monday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 32.5 million, while the death toll topped 580,000, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, over 156.1 million cases had been reported by Monday, with more than 3.2 million people dead from COVID-19.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus

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A study of more than 173,000 women in Denmark, presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, suggests that girls with a higher body mass index (BMI) during childhood are less likely than their peers with a lower BMI to develop breast cancer as adults, both before and after the menopause.

The findings contrast with those for adult BMI, which indicate that women who gain weight after menopause have an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. While the authors are unsure why children with a higher BMI appear to be protected against breast cancer, they caution that having overweight or obesity can have many adverse impacts on general health.

"Our results suggest that having a higher BMI during childhood may lower your risk of breast cancer both before and after the menopause. But we must be really clear that weight gain should not be considered as a way of preventing breast cancer", says lead author Dr. Dorthe Pedersen from Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. "There are so many health risks linked with having overweight or obesity, it is vital for women to maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives."

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with around 55,000 women diagnosed every year in the UK alone, and almost 1 in 5 cases developing in those under the age of 50. Previous research has established a link between increased BMI in adult women and a lower risk of breast cancer before the menopause, but an increased risk after menopause. Although a high childhood BMI may be protective against the risk of overall breast cancer, past studies had not been large enough to investigate the link by type menopausal status.

To provide more evidence, Danish researchers analysed data for 173,373 women from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register born between 1930 and 1996 (aged 25 to 91 years now) who had information on height and weight measured at annual school health examinations from ages 7 to 13 years. Cases of breast cancer were identified by linking with the Danish Cancer Registry.

During an average of 33 years of follow-up, 4,051 women were diagnosed with breast cancer before the menopause (at 55 years of age or younger), and 5,942 women after the menopause (after age 55 years).

The analyses suggest "inverse associations" between childhood BMI and breast cancer risk before and after the menopause, which means that breast cancer risks decreased as BMI increased. For example, when comparing two 7 year-old girls with an average height and one z-score difference in BMI (equivalent to 2.4 kg), the girl with the highest BMI had a 7% lower risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer and a 10% lower risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer than the girl with the lower BMI.

The authors say that further studies are needed to uncover the mechanisms underlying these associations. They acknowledge that the findings are associations only, so no conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and point to several limitations, including that the study used BMI as a marker of fat mass, but children with the same BMI can have different body fat distributions and overall levels of body fat.

Explore further New study suggests weight gain may reduce breast cancer risk

More information: This article is based on oral presentation TS02.04 at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO).

Provided by European Association for the Study of Obesity
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Africa is watching aghast as India struggles with coronavirus, fearing a long-running shortfall in the Indian-made vaccines that it needs to help shield its people.

Often dubbed the "world's pharmacy", India is one of the biggest suppliers of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax programme to help immunisation in poorer countries.

But India has been hammered by an explosive growth in infectionsaccelerated, say scientists, by a new variant.

The country has recorded 22 million cases out of a population of 1.3 billion, inflicting a death toll of nearly a quarter of a million.

After sending more than 60 million doses abroad, India announced at the end of March that it was delaying overseas supplies as it works to meet its own needs.

African Union (AU) health ministers held emergency talks online on Saturday to discuss the vaccine gap.

"The vaccines situation is extremely complex now because of the situation in India," said Cameroonian virologist John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the AU's health watchdog.

"We are hoping that there will be a continuous supply of vaccines through Covax from India, but we are watching in total horror and disbelief what is going on in India and we don't expect that vaccines will be shipped out of India anytime soon."

Of all the continents, Africa has been relatively spared the worst of the pandemic so far with just over 124,000 deaths officially recorded for 4.6 million cases.

On the other hand, Africa has overcrowded cities, with slums that are a breeding ground for the virus, and a fragile health infrastructurerisk factors that also feature prominently in India's tragic experience.

The continent has administered 19.6 million doses, or just two percent of the global totalaccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80 percent of doses have been administered in wealthier countries.

Lacking the means to manufacture their own vaccine in bulk, African countries have so far had to turn to the open market or the Covax scheme.

The AU's African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) hopes to acquire vaccines through its own programme by the end of July or early August, and Nkengasong said that while he hoped that date could be brought forward he could make no guarantees.

Maintain guard

Nkengasong said he did not expect the vaccine market to open up again until the third quarter, and urged African leaders to adjust their strategy accordingly.

The virus variant wreaking havoc in India has already been detected in several African countries, notably Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

Nkengasong pushed for a three-pronged strategystep up testing; improve prevention through awareness programmes; and boost supplies of vaccines and oxygen.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pleaded with African countries to maintain the utmost vigilance until the vaccine crunch is resolved.

"What's happening now in many other parts of the world can happen in our Africa if we let down our guard," he told the AU meeting.

"In many countries, the emergence of rapidly spreading variants, combined with premature easing of public health and social measures and the inequitable distribution of vaccines is having tragic consequences."

The AU ministerial meeting in the meantime urged strict respect of social distancing guidelines in a continent where there is some resistance to vaccines.

The Democratic Republic of Congo announced at the end of April that it had "redeployed" 1.3 million "surplus" AstraZeneca vaccines to five neighbouring countries.

The health ministry admitted that some sections of the population had simply refused to have the jab.

In some rich countries, the problem of vaccine under-supply is starting to switch to one of a surplus of vaccines that are least popular with the public.

"The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage. It's also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating," Tedros said scathingly.

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Countries around the world are racing against time to vaccinate their populations against the coronavirus.

But India has thus far been a poor performer, with only 9.6% of its population receiving a vaccine so far (compared to 51.8% in the UK, 45% in the US, 32.1% in Germany and 14.9% in Brazil).

While there are a few issues plaguing the vaccine roll out, the most egregious is the fact most Indians, many of whom live in poverty, are being made to pay for their shots. And the government is allowing vaccine producers to charge whatever they like.

Not enough jabs

To cover its entire adult (over 18 years) population, India needs 1.9 billion doses of vaccines. If these vaccines were to be administered over the next 12 months, India would need 161 million doses each month, or 5.4 million doses each day.

At present, India produces only about 2.5 million doses per day, which may rise at best to three million doses per day over the next few months. At the present rate, India would be able to cover only 30% of its population by early 2022.

Only by 2023 would it be able to administer the shot to everyone above 18, which would be late, given the pace and spread of the pandemic.

How did it come to this?

There are three major reasons for this issue.

First, while many countries permitted a diverse basket of vaccines for domestic use, India limited its emergency approvals to just twoCovishield and Covaxin.

Covishield is the Indian name for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India. Covaxin, on the other hand, was developed jointly by India's public sector and a private company named Bharat Biotech.

The reason appears to be a beliefbased on zero evidencethat the two "Made in India" vaccines would be sufficient to meet India's domestic needs and international commitments.

For example, India could have granted emergency approval to the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, and the US-based Pfizer vaccine, in February 2021. Sputnik V was refused approval in February on the grounds that it had not supplied data on immunogenicity (immune response).

However, the same standards did not appear to have been applied to the other two vaccinesCovishield was given approval in January, even though its immunogenicity data were not yet available. Trial data from the UK, South Africa and Brazil published in The Lancet was considered adequate at the time.

Similarly, Pfizer was compelled to withdraw its application for emergency approval because the drug regulator insisted conducting a local bridging study would be necessary. However, Covaxin was given approval in January even when its Phase 3 data on efficacy were not available.

Second, the vaccine business is risky, given the amount of money that has to go into research, development, and testing, and many won't end up being effective. Early public investments reduce risk exposure for vaccine companies and help raise their production capacities. Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany made large at-risk investments in vaccine companies for research and capacity expansion. India failed to do so.

Third, India failed to place advance purchase orders for adequate quantities of vaccines. The first purchase order wasn't placed until January this year. By this time, capacities of vaccine producers were already locked into other supply commitments elsewhere.

As a result, vaccination centers are being closed, and people are being turned away. In most cities, the mobile applicationCoWinused to book appointments for vaccination, isn't allowing people to register. And even if people manage to register, appointments are not available for many months.

There is enormous public anger against the government of India for this, as well as for the serious flaws in its public health system which have been exposed by the sharp rise of infections in the second wave. This includes a lack of oxygen in hospitals and even a lack of space for funerals in crematoriums.

Vaccine price deregulation

In April the government of India undertook a curious policy shift in its vaccine policy. It deregulated vaccine prices. Vaccine producers could "self-set" the price for their vaccines. Consequently, the two vaccine producers steeply raised the prices of vaccines by two to six times in just a week.

For the same vaccine, the government of India, state governments and private hospitals have different price tags. And the only people in India who receive the vaccine for free are healthcare and frontline workers, and those aged over 45.

The vaccine prices are now so unaffordable that informal workers are forced to spend about half of the household's monthly salary on vaccinating all the adult members of their households. While it may only be about 800 Rupees for both doses (A$14), when a person at the poverty line may only earn around 50 Rupees (A$0.87) a day on average, this is a large portion of their monthly income. Depending on the definition, one-quarter to one-third of the Indian population is below the poverty line.

The vaccine producers lobbied hard to "free" vaccine prices. One producer said in a television interview he was hoping for "super profits," and another said he wished the "maximum price" for his vaccine.

The government's decision to deregulate the vaccine prices allowed "super profits" for private companies, even as an economic and humanitarian crisis was building and unemployment was rising.

Predatory capitalism during human tragedy

Many commentators welcomed the new vaccine policy in the hopes increased prices would incentivise producers to increase supply. But they fail to see that vaccines are global public goods. They impart not just private benefits, but also social benefits, and so every barrier to vaccination must be minimized.

This is why most other nations, including Australia, the US, UK, Germany, France and China, are providing vaccines free of cost to all. India is an unfortunate exception to this global trend, and vaccines are now unaffordable to many.

Poor and faulty planning by the government of India has led to an acute shortage of vaccines. In the midst of the vaccine shortage, the government has effectively withdrawn from the social responsibilities of a welfare state. It has also opened the flood gates for a vulgar form of predatory capitalism to take the stage amid a raging human tragedy.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Ireland on Monday lifted domestic travel restrictions and began a phased reopening of non-essential retailers in the most significant loosening of pandemic curbs so far this year.

After more than five months of severe restrictions, a ban on travel between counties was finally lifted to allow citizens to move freely throughout the Irish Republic.

Meanwhile hairdressers and other personal services, as well as non-essential shops, were permitted to trade once again on an "appointment only" basis.

Galleries, museums, libraries and other cultural attractions were also allowed to unlock their doors to the public.

Around 12,000 businesses are now due to reopen this week according to deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar, who also serves as enterprise and trade minister.

"This is a moment that businesses across Ireland have been waiting for," he said in a statement.

"This has been the longest lockdown since the pandemic began. I am determined to do all we can to ensure that it is the last."

Next Monday retail businesses are set to fully reopen and the government estimates 100,000 staff will return to work throughout this month.

However Varadkar said employees should still "work from home wherever possible".

Irelanda nation of around five millionhas suffered 4,921 deaths from COVID-19 according to latest official figures.

After restrictions were relaxed in December cases surged and for a time in January the country had the highest rate of infection in the world, according to Oxford University data.

Ireland entered its third lockdown just before the start of 2021 and the nation's vaccine rollout was initially sluggish, tethered to an EU-wide programme hampered by supply issues.

But some 1.8 million vaccine doses have now been administered across the country, according to official health service data last updated Friday.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Micheal Martin received the first dose of the AstraZeneca jab in his home city of Cork.

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New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus most likely will necessitate the development of more vaccine options in the years ahead, and a biomedical scientist at Iowa State University believes the 'key' to that development lies in the way the virus binds to human cells.

Michael Cho, a professor of biomedical sciences at Iowa State, is studying how to develop COVID-19 vaccines that target SARS-CoV-2's receptor-binding domain, or the part of the virus that docks with the host cellular receptor, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). This docking process allows the virus access to the host's cells, which leads to infection.

Cho was the lead author of a study recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Frontiers in Immunology detailing the ability of a vaccine to induce antibodies in mice that target the virus's receptor binding domain. The patent-pending vaccine approach is available for licensing from the Iowa State University Research Foundation. Cho will deliver a virtual presentation on the potential of the approach to BioConnect Iowa's vaccine and immunotherapeutics meeting on Wednesday.

The antibodies produced by the experimental vaccine attack the receptor binding domain, or RBD, of the virus. The RBD is the portion of the viral spike protein that binds to host cells to initiate infection. Cho likens the spike protein to a key, and the RBD is the part of the key that actually enters the lock.

"The spike glycoprotein is the key that opens the lock, and the region of the key with all the peaks and valleys and grooves is the RBD," Cho said. "If antibodies attack the RBD, then the key won't work and the door will stay locked, preventing infection. We don't really need to make antibodies against the entire spike protein, which is more difficult to make. We can just focus on the RBD portion."

This approach differs from the three vaccines currently available in the United States to ward off COVID-19. The mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna work by delivering a set of instructions that teach the immune system how to make the entire spike protein that triggers an immune response. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is known as a viral vector vaccine that uses a modified version of a different virus.

Cho and his colleagues conducted trials of the RBD subunit protein vaccine on mice and were able to induce a potent antibody response in the rodents over the course of three injections. The study showed that one or two injections are sufficient, depending on the adjuvant used. Cho said he would like to test the approach in human trials.

Easy to produce, scale up

The RBD-targeting vaccine has some advantages over the vaccines currently licensed for use in the United States. Cho said the experimental vaccine is relatively easy to produce and scale up because it requires only a small portion of the virus's spike protein to manufacture. The RBD vaccine also can be delivered multiple times, which could be necessary to develop immunity against multiple virus variants that will inevitably emerge.

Cho said the process of reaching herd immunity to COVID-19 through vaccines will take time, allowing for new variants of the virus to spread. This is particularly true for populations in developing countries that have had only limited access to the currently available vaccines so far. And as more variants emerge, the likelihood grows that additional vaccines will become necessary, he said.

"Just because we have vaccines now, that doesn't mean we won't need more in three or five years, maybe even longer," he said. "I don't think our vaccine is too late to play a role."

The 2021 Immunotherapeutics Virtual Conference is presented by Iowa State, the University of Iowa and BioConnect Iowa. The conference aims to connect cutting-edge university research with industry leaders. Cho will address the virtual conference Wednesday morning. Registration information is available at www.isupark.org/news/registrat  apeutics-conference/.

Explore further Our immune systems blanket the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with antibodies

More information: Ling Niu et al, A Structural Landscape of Neutralizing Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain, Frontiers in Immunology (2021). Journal information: Frontiers in Immunology Ling Niu et al, A Structural Landscape of Neutralizing Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain,(2021). DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.647934
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Muslim-majority Malaysia will tighten coronavirus curbs across the whole country ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday as cases spiral, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Monday.

The move comes after authorities declared a slew of curbs limiting movement and social events in many places across Malaysia recently, including a partial lockdown in the capital.

The Southeast Asian nation has been battling a fresh COVID-19 outbreak since early this year, seeing thousands of new infections as the government declared a state of emergency to slow the spread of the virus.

Controls were slowly eased as infection rates fell, but case numbers regularly spiked past 4,000 a day as schools and special markets during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan were allowed to open.

The new curbs, Muhyiddin said, will kick in on Wednesday, a day before the country celebrates Eid al-Fitr, and remain until June 7.

While all sectors of the economy are allowed to carry on, social events such as feasts, house visits and wedding receptions will be banned during this time.

People will not be allowed to cross state or district borders, and not more than 50 will be allowed inside large mosques (or more than 20 for smaller ones) for special Eid prayers.

Schools and universities will be closed, except for those sitting for international exams, though childcare centres and kindergartens will be allowed to open.

Malaysia has seen a less severe outbreak compared to other countries, recording a total of more than 444,000 infections and 1,700 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

But the regular spike in infections, and the arrival of virus variants such as from South Africa and India, has worried health officials as the number of available beds and ventilators start to run out.

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All images are X400 magnification. Algorithm performance using Google Cloud AutoML Vision, Average precision recall curve for image dataset, magnification X400. Credit: Hideyuki Kobayashi

A research group led by Dr. Hideyuki Kobayashi at Toho University Omori Medical Center in Tokyo developed an AI-assisted image classifier that provides scores for histological testis images of patients with azoospermia. The objective of Dr. Kobayashi, a urologist, was to create an easy-to-use method of pathological examination for the daily clinical practice setting. With it, testis images could be classified at 82.6% accuracy.

Infertility affects females and males equally. In male infertility, azoospermia (the absence of sperm in semen) is a major problem that prevents a couple from having a child. For the treatment of patients with azoospermia, testicular sperm extraction (TESE) is required to obtain mature sperm. When examined, histological specimens are typically ranked with the Johnsen score on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the histopathological features of the testis.

"The Johnsen score has been widely used in urology since it was first reported 50 years ago. However, histopathological evaluation of the testis is not an easy task and takes much time due to the complexity of testicular tissue arising from the multiple, highly specialized steps in spermatogenesis. Our goal was to simplify this time-consuming step of diagnosis by taking advantage of AI technology. To do this, we chose Google's automated machine learning (AutoML) Vision, which requires no programming, to create an AI model for individual patient data sets. With AutoML Vision, clinicians with no programming skills can use deep learning in building their own models without help from data scientists," said Dr. Hideyuki Kobayashi, Associate Professor of Urology department at Toho University School of Medicine (Fig. 1).

"The model we created can classify histological images of the testis without help from pathologists. I hope that our approach will enable clinicians in any field of medicine to build AI-based models which can be used in their daily clinical practice," he said.

Johnsen scores and classification of four labels used in study. Credit: Hideyuki Kobayashi

To simplify the use of Johnsen scores in clinical practice, Dr. Kobayashi defined four labels: Johnsen score 13, 45, 67, and 810 (Fig. 2). He and his co-researchers obtained a dataset of 7155 images at magnification X400. All images were uploaded to the Google Cloud AutoML Vision platform. For the X400 magnification image dataset, the average precision (positive predictive value) of the algorithm was 82.6%, precision was 80.31%, and recall was 60.96% (Fig. 3).

AI has become popular and is being applied in all fields of medicine. However, the use of AI by clinicians in hospitals is still hampered by the need of help from data scientists in the proper use of AI. "The cloud-based machine learning framework we used is for everyone. It can become such a powerful tool in medicine that, in the near future, doctors in hospitals will be using AI-based medical image classifiers with ease in the same way they use Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel now," Dr. Kobayashi said. He added, "The most difficult part was taking images of testis pathology and it was very time consuming. Two colleagues worked very hard to obtain all the images used in the study. I really appreciate their dedicated efforts."

Dr. Kobayashi's group has described the development of an AI-based algorithm for evaluating Johnsen scores combining original images (X400), which achieved high accuracy. This is the first report of an algorithm that can be used for predicting Johnsen scores without having to rely on pathologists and data science experts.

Explore further Study examines sperm production in men with testicular cancer

More information: Yurika Ito et al, A method for utilizing automated machine learning for histopathological classification of testis based on Johnsen scores, Scientific Reports (2021). Journal information: Scientific Reports Yurika Ito et al, A method for utilizing automated machine learning for histopathological classification of testis based on Johnsen scores,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89369-z

Provided by Toho University
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In April 2020, as COVID-19 spread, the government of Bangladesh strongly recommended that citizens wear masks; a month later, masks were mandated. Eighty percent of Bangladeshis initially reported in surveys that they were wearing masks.

"As we were tracking the data, we were seeing that suddenly a lot of people in South Asia started wearing masks," says Yale SOM's Mushfiq Mobarak, a development economist who was already engaged in studying COVID-19 in the developing world. "We actually paused the research for a bit. A donor who was interested in supporting it, I called them back and said, it doesn't seem like this research is necessary right now, because people have solved the problem for themselves."

But as the months passed, mask-wearing didn't seem to be continuing. "As we kept tracking, month by month, June, July, August of 2020, we saw that this wasn't a behavior that was persistent or consistent." Surveillance studies by Mobarak's team showed that only half of people in Bangladesh were wearing masks in May and a quarter in June.

So Mobarak and his co-authors, who include Yale SOM's Jason Abaluck, set out to investigate ways of encouraging mask use that would stickto create new social norms. In order to simultaneously test a variety of interventions, the study, carried out in partnership with the NGO Innovations for Poverty Action, had to be huge, involving over 340,000 people in 600 villages. Each village where interventions were carried out was paired with another in a different union to serve as a control, within the same national subdistrict but not so close that interventions in one could have a spillover effect in the other. Surveillance staff were assigned to observe and record the prevalence of mask-wearing in markets, mosques, tea-stalls, and at the main entrances to villages.

The results showed that a "cocktail" of four interventions together had a substantial effect, increasing mask-wearing from 13% in the control areas to 42%an effect that was consistent over 10 weeks, and persisted during two weeks of surveillance after the interventions ended. Three of them, Mobarak says, produced a much smaller impact: free distribution of masks direct to households, at mosques, and at markets; endorsements from imams and other community leaders; and promotion of the mask program through videos and brochures, "making sure that people understood that everybody in this community received masks and everyone was expected to wear it to protect each other."

The key fourth ingredient that was needed to see larger increases in mask-wearing was the deployment of monitors to gently intervene when people weren't wearing masks. "They walk around and if somebody is not wearing a mask, they intercept them and politely say, "We distributed masks herewhy aren't you wearing one?'" If the person didn't have a mask or couldn't go home and get one, the monitor offered a free surgical mask.

Credit: Edited by John Zebrowski, graphics by Benjamin Hecht

The team tested a variety of other interventions that did not prove to make a difference. For example, seeing the impact of the monitors, they wondered if a monitor accompanied by a village police officer would be even more effective. "It turns out that that doesn't increase the effect size any more," Mobarak says. "It's not so much that there's a threat of legal sanction that people are worried about. It's more this informal sanctionthe awkwardness of that conversation and people's desire to avoid that little bit of shame that you might feel."

Nor did text message reminders, rewards for villages with improved mask-wearing rates, or messaging that emphasizes the altruistic benefits of mask-wearing make an impact. And when applying the results, knowing both what does and doesn't work is key, Mobarak points out.

"It is a precise combination of things and a set of tasks that need to be done in an overlapping, integrated way," he says. "You can't just do one and not the other. And we're also able to tell the government, there's a whole bunch of other things that you might think are reasonable ways to promote masks, but we can safely avoid doing them and save money."

To reinforce these key elements, Mobarak and his team have created a mnemonic: NORM.

No-cost: free masks distributed door-to-door

Offering information on mask wearing via video and brochures

Reinforcement in-person, in-public

Modeling and endorsement by trusted leaders

The researchers and their NGO partners are already working with governments to implement the interventions identified in the study, reaching out to the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and regional leaders in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, where infections have exploded since late March.

"We've realized that we need to create what we call implementation toolkits, with all these details laid out clearly for them, and then directly talk to the government staff, not only at the high level, but the people who would be working at the field level and the mid-level bureaucrats," Mobarak says. "For us to get at something like a hundred million masks quickly as well as implement the complementary set of interventions that are required to ensure that people wear those masks persistently, this kind of nuts-and-bolts work is really critical."

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More information: Jason Abaluck et al. Normalizing Community Mask-Wearing: A Cluster Randomized Trial in Bangladesh, National Bureau of Economic Research (2021). Jason Abaluck et al. Normalizing Community Mask-Wearing: A Cluster Randomized Trial in Bangladesh,(2021). DOI: 10.3386/w28734
Living Memory Home writing exercise. Credit: Weill Cornell Medical College

When a loved one dies, memories of that person become particularly valuable in connecting the mourners with the deceased. A new Weill Cornell Medicine online application, called Living Memory Home, offers a virtual and personal memorial space that allows mourners to deposit their memories and feelings about their loss and honor their loved one.

Living Memory Home users are able to create a memorial space that they can personalize with photos and messages. They can customize a virtual cabin and choose an appropriate view. The curated set of questions prompt users to write memories and feelings about their loved one. Users may write as if they are speaking to the person who died, which can help with the grieving process, said Dr. Wan Jou (Lavender) She, a postdoctoral research associate at Weill Cornell Medicine who co-designed Living Memory Home with researchers from the institution's Center for Research on End-of-Life Care. The center is co-directed Dr. Holly Prigerson, the Irving Sherwood Wright Professor in Geriatrics II and professor of sociology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

"It could be stressful to always worry about forgetting the memories, so Living Memory Home serves an important function to allow them to deposit their memories," Dr. She said.

Living Memory Home was developed in collaboration with Dr. Chee (Jim) Ang from the University of Kent's School of Computing and Dr. Panote Siriaraya from the Kyoto Institute of Technology. Dr. Ang and Dr. Siriaraya played a role in providing insights into human computer interaction, particularly in relation to how users interact with technology in a social-technical context.

People who experience the loss of a loved one through death often report in research studies that their biggest fear is forgetting memories and details of that person. To that end, some people use social media as a forum to honor their loved one. However, the mechanism of receiving likes and comments on these forums often encourage people to act in a socially acceptable way and discourage the sharing of negative thoughts or taboo subjects, according to Dr. She.

While receiving likes or supportive comments on social media may feel gratifying, Dr. She said, mourners may self-edit the content and remove some details of the relationship, making the content superficial and less reflective of the complexity of the loss. However, grief involves revisiting the experiences and processing the variety of emotions, positive and negative, accompanied with the loss. Being unable to process grief appropriately could lead to prolonged grief disorder, which is when a person gets "stuck" in their grief, Dr. She added. They feel a persistent and pervasive longing for someone six months or more after the person has died, which can lead to a mistrust of others, feeling numb, substance use, suicidal thinking and other challenges.

To support the mourning process, Living Memory Homewhich is free and available to the public offers a virtual space in which people can memorialize and reminisce about their loved one privately, reflecting on both positive and negative memories and emotions.

To study design opportunities and challenges to facilitate backstage grieving, Dr. She and colleagues recruited 20 adults who had all lost a loved one within the past three years to use the Living Memory Home program for one month, later interviewing them about their experience with the program. The researchers presented their findings at CHI'21: ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing System, hosted May 8-13 in Yokohama, Japan.

"This study helps us understand how people use digital technology for sensitive and personal matters such as grieving, so that we can incorporate human values in technology design." Dr. Ang said.

The center's investigators developed Living Memory Home in response to the popularity of its self-screening Grief Intensity Scale, a free tool that assesses a person's risk of developing prolonged grief disorder. The center's researchers wanted to next create an application that could help people from reaching that state of prolonged grief disorder.

Explore further Study looks at factors that influence pre-loss grief
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An expert committee set up by Norway's government to evaluate AstraZeneca's and Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccines said on Monday that both should be abandoned over risks of rare but serious side effects.

In order to avoid a slowdown of the vaccine rollout the committee recommended that the two jabs should be made available for people on a voluntary basis.

The committee's head Lars Vorland said they did "not recommend the use of adenoviral vector vaccines in the national immunisation programme", as he handed in their report.

"This is of course because of the serious side effects" observed in a small proportion of people who have been injected with these vaccines, Vorland added.

Health Minister Bent Hoie has not yet made the government's position on the use of the vaccines known.

From the 134,000 injections of AstraZeneca's vaccine administered in Norway up until mid-March, five cases of severe thrombosisthree of them fatalwere reported in relatively young and previously healthy people. Another vaccine recipient died of a brain haemorrhage.

Norway suspended AstraZeneca's vaccine on March 11 while its rare but potentially serious side effects were studied in more detail.

On April 15, Norwegian health authorities recommended dropping the jab from the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, but the government chose to first set up a committee of experts to examine the risks associated with the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccineswhich are both based on the same adenovirus technology.

The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization both recommend continued use of the vaccines, arguing that the benefits far outweigh the associated risks.

US drugmaker Johnson & Johnson's vaccine has not yet been deployed in the country, but rare cases of thrombosis have been reported in the US.

Neighbouring Denmark is the only country in Europe that has officially dropped AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines, but many have restricted the use of AstraZeneca's to certain age groups.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
Credit: New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai

Ophthalmologists at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai have created a new technique to evaluate patients with sickle cell retinopathy and assess the disease before it progresses and leads to permanent vision loss.

Using optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiographyan advanced imaging system that captures the motion of red blood cells in blood vessels non-invasivelythe researchers discovered that sequential imaging of affected retinal blood flow in sickle cell patients can help assess how the disease is progressing and how effective their treatment is for reducing focal vascular strokes. Their study was published in the May issue of Biomedical Optics Express.

"We have added a new dimension to ocular imaging technology that no one has thought of before. For the first time, we have shown that by doing rapid, repeated retinal imaging of sickle cell patients, you can see microscopic changes in blood vessels and blood flow. The more the blood flow fluctuates across images, the more at risk patients are for a permanent blockage, which severely damage their eyesight," says lead investigator Toco Chui, Ph.D., Director of the Marrus Adaptive Optics Laboratory at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. "Using this approach, we can non-invasively monitor the retina over time and see how a patient is doing before or after initiation of therapy."

Sickle cell disease is an inherited red blood cell disorder caused by a mutation in hemoglobin. The hemoglobin folds abnormally and distorts red blood cells into a sickle shape; the sickle-shaped cells clump together and can block blood flow. This causes repeated damage to capillaries, which become inflamed and sticky, resulting in permanent blockages that can affect vision in the retina, and in some cases, major bleeding and retinal detachment.

"Our work can be a game-changer for sickle cell patients, especially for those who have no symptoms of retinopathy. It can lead to earlier diagnosis of retinal issues and prevention of irreversible blindness. Without this technology, it's impossible to judge their eye condition until patients report vision loss, when it's too late," says co-author Richard Rosen, MD, Belinda Bingham Pierce and Gerald G. Pierce, MD Distinguished Chair of Ophthalmology, and Chief of Retina Services for the Mount Sinai Health System.

The researchers analyzed 27 participants. Thirteen had sickle cell disease with retinopathy of varying severity levels; some were on standard therapy (hydroxyurea) and others were not on treatment. The remaining 14 were controls, with no sickle cell disease or retinopathy. The team used OCT angiography to image all subjects 10 times in a row over a 10-minute span. An hour later they repeated the imaging procedure. They analyzed the blood vessels that repeatedly opened and closeda trait of sickle cell disease. When this happens, blood cannot flow freely and these blood vessels are at risk of permanent closure which can lead to blindness. For patients without sickle cell disease, scans showed that the blood vessels for the most part remained open, providing continuous blood flow.

For each patient, researchers stacked their groups of ten scans together and counted the blood vessels that "flickered." Healthy blood vessels remain white on all scans with no flickering, indicating consistent blood flow in the vessels. On all scans, the untreated sickle cell patients had substantially more flickering (more intermittent blood flow) than patients on treatment, indicating that treatment was effective. Patients with no sickle cell disease had no or very minimal blood flow fluctuations. Investigators used measurements of flicker frequency and locations of flickering to develop a computer algorithm for assessing risk of retinal blood blockages in sickle cell patients.

"For the first time ever in sickle cell disease, we have too many good drugs and we don't know well enough who should be on what, and what combinations work best. What we hope is that OCT angiography and this new algorithm can be used to solve this problem. Instead of following lab tests and waiting for horrible things to happen to the patient, for the first time we can use this technology to measure the number of vaso-occlusive events that are occurring on a new treatment regimen to find out if it is best for the patient," says Jeffery Glassberg, MD, Director of the Director of Mount Sinai's Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program.

Davis B. Zhou, a medical student from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, played an integral role in creating the algorithm for the study during his extended research elective in the Einhorn Center for Clinical Research at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

Explore further What people with sickle cell disease need to know about COVID-19

More information: Davis B. Zhou et al. Quantification of intermittent retinal capillary perfusion in sickle cell disease, Biomedical Optics Express (2021). Journal information: Biomedical Optics Express Davis B. Zhou et al. Quantification of intermittent retinal capillary perfusion in sickle cell disease,(2021). DOI: 10.1364/BOE.418874
Diagram of the brain of a person with Alzheimer's Disease. Credit: Wikipedia/public domain.

World-first research led by Western Sydney University has found a connection between the accumulation of rogue proteins in the eye, and Alzheimer's disease. A finding that could pave the way for an eye test to detect Alzheimer's disease long before it damages the brain.

The study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, saw the team produce unique antibodies to detect rogue proteins called 'amyloid beta oligomer." While scientists already know these rouge proteins can be detected as much as two decades before the onset of Alzheimer's disease, this is the first time they have been detected in the eye before clinical disease and brain damage have ensued.

Research senior author, Associate Professor Mourad Tayebi from Western Sydney University's School of Medicine, said the finding was significant and that, with adequate funding, clinical trials could be less than two years away.

"Scientists have previously known that these rogue proteins accumulate in blood, but this is the first time they've been found in the eye before disease manifestation. This could lead to a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease and new diagnostic approaches which could enable the first routine eye-check for Alzheimer's disease," he said.

"Alzheimer's disease has reached 'epidemic' proportions and represents a substantial health burden, affecting the quality of life of millions of patients and their families. Introducing these routine eye-checks that could catch the disease before it impacts the brain could change the lives of millions."

Explore further Women accumulate Alzheimer's-related protein faster

More information: Umma Habiba et al. Detection of retinal and blood A oligomers with nanobodies, Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (2021). Umma Habiba et al. Detection of retinal and blood A oligomers with nanobodies,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/dad2.12193
Enough COVID-19 vaccine doses are available in the United States that many Americans may now have the freedom of choice.

Unvaccinated folks going to their local clinic or pharmacy could choose between the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that have been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for emergency use.

Picking the vaccine that's right for you will depend on factors related to your living conditions, your medical history and even your gender, experts say.

Here are some questions to ask when selecting your COVID-19 vaccine:

Do you want the most effective vaccine?

Here you are in luck, said Dr. Dial Hewlett, medical director of disease control with the Westchester County Department of Health in White Plains, N.Y.

"Most of us believe that all three of the products that are available are pretty equal in effectiveness in terms of preventing serious disease and infection," Hewlett said.

All three vaccines produce immunity in pretty much the same way, by tricking the body into producing incomplete copies of the virus that causes COVID, SARS-CoV-2. The immune system recognizes these copies as an invader and builds a defense against them that has been proven to protect people when they're later exposed to the actual coronavirus.

The Pfizer and Moderna shots belong to a new class of vaccine that uses messenger RNA to deliver genetic information directly into the cells, prompting them to churn out the incomplete virus copies. The fragile mRNA must be kept frozen during transportation, and folks need to get two doses for full effectiveness.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a more time-tested method to spur an immune response. Researchers hollowed out a common cold virus and then inserted some of COVID's genetic information into the germ. The genetically modified virus infects a person's cells, which absorb the coronavirus info and start producing incomplete copies.

The J&J vaccine requires refrigeration but doesn't need to be kept frozen, and folks only have to get a single dose for full protection.

Are you concerned about protection from COVID variants?

Here, too, there's good newsall three seem capable of resisting tough new COVID variants that have emerged from Britain and South Africa.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the only one directly tested against these variants in the clinical trials that led to its FDA emergency authorization. South Africa is one of the sites where the J&J trial was conducted, and the vaccine was shown to be 66% effective in preventing infection and 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were developed before the emergence of these more nasty COVID variants, but recent studies from Qatar and Israel indicate that the Pfizer vaccine remains effective against them.

The Pfizer vaccine showed about 90% documented effectiveness in protecting against infection with the British B.1.1.7 variant and 75% effectiveness against the South African B.1.351 variant, according to numbers out of Qatar, a small Arabian nation located on the Persian Gulf.

By comparison, the annual flu vaccine typically is 40% to 60% effective, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's likely that Moderna's jab will be equally as effective as Pfizer's, but that company also has been working on potential booster doses that would provide additional protection against variants, Hewlett noted.

Recently released early data from booster clinical trials show that additional Moderna doses produced a strong immune response in people who'd already been vaccinated.

"When they gave a third shot to people, they found that there was really a boosted response in terms of antibody levels versus some of the variants," Hewlett said.

Worried about an allergic reaction to the vaccine?

Some people have experienced severe allergic reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but those reactions have been very rareabout 4.7 cases per million doses for Pfizer and 2.5 cases per million for Moderna, according to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sites administering the mRNA vaccines now keep emergency epinephrine on hand in case anaphylactic shock occurs, and people are asked to hang out for 15 minutes to make sure they don't have an allergic reaction.

There have been no problems related to allergic reactions with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, so people who've had a reaction following other vaccinations might want to talk with their doctor about getting the J&J jab.

Are you a young female?

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been associated with a rare but dangerous clotting syndrome, which led to a pause in the vaccine's distribution while experts went over the data.

However, this effect has mainly been seen in women younger than 50. The vaccine's label now carries a warning that notes most cases of the clotting disorder have occurred in women aged 18 to 49.

An FDA risk/benefit analysis estimates that for every 1 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered to women in that age group, 13 cases of dangerous blood clots will occur and 12 COVID deaths, 127 ICU admissions and 657 hospitalizations will be prevented.

Members of an FDA advisory panel that reviewed the vaccine's safety data during the pause suggested that young women be warned about this risk, and consider getting either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead. Women younger than 50 should talk with their doctor.

Would it be difficult to return for a second vaccine dose?

Public health officials wanted to keep the Johnson & Johnson shot on the market because it is a much more handy vaccine for protecting communities that aren't well served by the U.S. medical establishment.

The J&J vaccine only requires refrigeration, so it can be transported to places that can't afford deep-freeze units. And because it only requires a single shot, it's ideal for folks who would find it difficult to come back for a second dose, Hewlett said.

"I think that it is of benefit to many other segments of the population, including the members of some of our society who may have unstable housing arrangements, where if we can give them one dose it's going to cover them," Hewlett said.

The disabled and homebound benefit from requiring a single dose, as well as inmates in correctional facilities, Hewlett said.

Unfortunately, the pause due to clotting concerns might keep people in underserved communities from considering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, even though it poses little to no risk for men and older adults.

"I was on a Zoom conference this morning with some community leaders in the city of Yonkers, and I was told by one of the people on the call that a lot of the members of our Latinx community have been totally turned off from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine," Hewlett said.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about Journal information: Journal of the American Medical Association The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID-19 vaccines

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Not only are the soft, flexible wearable devices more comfortable for mothers, they also exceed the capabilities of monitoring systems currently used in top hospitals. Credit: Northwestern University

Laboring mothers have been wearing the same cumbersome, polyester fetal-monitoring belt for decades. Not only can these belts slip out of place, requiring constant adjustment, theyalong with the array of other wires taped to the mother for monitoringtether the mother to the bed, limiting her ability to walk around or move freely in ways that are more comfortable.

Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Northwestern University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is replacing all the belts and wires with three small, thin, soft, flexible and comfortable wireless sensors.

The new wearable devices measure the mother's and baby's vital signs as well as provide new data, including information about the mother's physical movements and laboring positions, that cannot be collected with current technology. Because the devices seamlessly stream data straight to a physician's smartphone or tablet, the sensors open new possibilities for remote monitoring, which is particularly important during the pandemic and for mothers who live in remote, rural areas.

The researchconducted by materials scientists, obstetricians, dermatologists, anthropologists and electrical engineerswill publish during the week of May 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study includes data from more than 500 women, who wore the wireless sensors alongside traditional monitoring systems during labor in both high- and low-resource settings. The team is currently testing the device on a cohort of 15,000 women during various stages of pregnancy, labor and post-partum. So far, study results indicate that the wireless sensors outperform current technology in precision and accuracy.

"Pregnancy monitoring really hasn't changed for decades. Compared to some of the technology advances we see in cardiology or imaging, women's health has lagged behind," said Northwestern's Dr. Shuai "Steve" Xu, co-senior author of the study. "To be able to generate new innovation and new technologies to make caring for women easieras well as more helpful for physicianshas been an honor for our team."

"We are replicating the function of gold-standard monitoring equipment with affordable, easy-to-use, patient-centric devices," said bioelectronics pioneer John A. Rogers, who led the device development. "We can use these devices in nearly any settingfrom an advanced, high-resource hospital to a remote health clinic or homeall with clinical-grade quality and precise data collection. In fact, it turns out that, in certain important ways, our wireless devices actually exceed the capabilities of monitoring systems currently used in top hospitals."

Xu is an assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a Northwestern Medicine dermatologist and medical director of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics (QSIB). Rogers is director of QSIB and is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern, with appointments in the McCormick School of Engineering and Feinberg. Xu and Rogers co-led the study with Dr. Jeffrey Stringer, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he directs the Division of Global Women's Health.

Continuous, advanced monitoring

When a woman is in labor, health care workers connect her to several continuous monitoring systems to ensure mother and baby are healthy and safe. Two separate belts are strapped around the mother's abdomen to measure the baby's heartbeat and the length, strength and frequency of the mother's contractions. The mother also wears wired electrodes, stuck to her chest, to measure heartbeat and heart activity as well as a clip on her finger to measure oxygen levels.

The Northwestern and UNC-Chapel Hill team's devices replace all of these belts and wires. Embedded with Doppler technology, one single, flexible device softly adheres to the curve of the mother's abdomen to monitor both the baby's heartbeat and the mother's contractions. A second devicethe size of a postage stampadheres to the mother's chest to monitor her heart and core body temperature. And a third device wraps around her finger to monitor oxygen levels and peripheral body temperature.

"Eliminating the wires not only increases the comfort and freedom of movement for the mother, but it also leads to more reliable data," Rogers said. "The wires and the forces they impose on skin-adherent sensors can be a significant source of electrical noise. We can remove that noise to yield improved data on the health of the mother and baby."

All three wireless devices also communicate with one another to acquire more advanced metrics than currently possible with today's technologies, including continuous blood pressure monitoring, which is particularly crucial for patients with complications such as preeclampsia.

"Measuring continuous blood pressure is a new metric we can capture," Xu said. "We know that blood pressure disorders in pregnancy are a big driver of morbidity and mortality in our country as well as in the developing world. Having the ability to continuously check blood pressure is really important."

'It's incredibly freeing'

Delivering a baby is already a massive physical, emotional and mental challenge. Oftentimes, this challenge comes with tradeoffs between comfort and precise monitoring. Although the mother might want to move around to find comfortable positions, that movement can sometimes displace traditional, wired monitoring systems.

Study coauthor Dr. Jessica Walter explains what the new devices can measure. Credit: Northwestern University

"Being able to move, breathe and feel comfortable during labor is so important," said study co-author Dr. Jessica Walter, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Northwestern Medicine. "Mothers often don't want to move because the monitoring bands can slip out of place, and they don't want the bands to have to be readjusted. It can be uncomfortable when physicians and nurses move and push on those sensors."

Already a mother of a young child, Walter was pregnant with twins throughout the study. When she tried the wearable devices on herself, they were comfortable and completely unnoticeable underneath her T-shirt. She could even add a second abdominal device to differentiate between the twins.

"It's incredibly freeing to have a small sticker on your chest and belly," Walter said. "I completely forgot about them. Yet they collected the same information as a hospitalall while I was naturally moving around."

Walter and the researchers imagine these sensors could be used throughout a woman's pregnancy to provide remote monitoring between in-person doctor's appointments. The wireless, waterproof devices can be worn in the shower and during exercise.

"We wanted to make these devices so easy and convenient to use that it's not extra work for the mother," Xu said. "Pregnant women go to work, to the gym and have active, busy lifestyles. Current monitoring systems cannot be worn as women go about their day. We want women to be able to wear our technology and forget about it."

First tech for tracking labor position

Because the abdominal device contains an accelerometer, it can track the mother's movements. This data could yield new insights into the importance of specific positions during labor.

"Physicians and nurses ask mothers to make a lot of position adjustments during labor to increase blood flow to the uterus, for example," Walter said. "If we could look back at data to see if baby looks better when mom is on her back or side, then we could actively study those positions to make different recommendations, making labor even safer for mom and baby."

"This is the only technology that we're aware of that can link mother and baby's vital signs to the mother's body position," Xu said. "Positional changes can be consequential. For the first time ever, our system allows us to quantify those benefits, opening up a rich area of future analytics and evidence-based obstetrical care."

Transforming health care in low-resource settings

The Northwestern and UNC-Chapel Hill team has deployed the device internationally, starting with hospitals in Zambia, Ghana, India and Kenya. The affordable, clinical-grade system could potentially be particularly valuable in low-resource settings in the developing world.

"Developing these kinds of technologies, taking them out of an academic laboratory setting and launching them in a context where their value is impactful in terms of saving livesthat's what we aspire to accomplish with this work," Rogers said. "In these parts of the world, mortality rates can be alarmingly high during childbirth. The ability to track the health of the mother and baby at a precise level, continuously throughout the birthing process, is very valuable.

"Childbirth is a dangerous and traumatic event, even in the best of circumstances where parents have access to the most advanced systems available in health care," he said. "Inadequate equipment and insufficient health care personnel can create significant challenges. Our technologies have powerful potential in these contexts."

Fitted with a small, thin, rechargeable battery, the devices are stable, with reliable power in rural settings. Using Bluetooth technology, the devices wirelessly transmit data to a nurses' station displays or directly to a smartphone or tablet.

"The beauty of the technology is that it can operate with a wide range of mobile devices without sacrificing accuracy," Xu said. "You don't need expensive equipment that requires a specialized engineer to install."

Rogers and Xu are working with UNC-Chapel Hill's Dr. Stringer to use the technology to identify potential warning signs during labor. Using data from mothers and babies, the team is developing new algorithms that can identify women's risk of adverse outcomes and help predict and plan for interventions. These precision approaches can lead to earlier intervention and better health outcomes for mothers and newborns.

"The low-cost wearable sensors are both advanced technologically and highly usable in low-resource settings," Stringer said. "The sky is the limit for this monitoring technology. I think it will transform maternal-child health outcomes."

More information: Dennis Ryu el al., "Comprehensive pregnancy monitoring with a network of wireless, soft, and flexible sensors in high- and low-resource health settings," PNAS (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dennis Ryu el al., "Comprehensive pregnancy monitoring with a network of wireless, soft, and flexible sensors in high- and low-resource health settings,"(2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2100466118
People crowded on the beach in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, May 9, 2021. Barcelona residents were euphoric as the clock stroke midnight, ending a six-month-long national state of emergency and consequently, the local curfew. Spain is relaxing overall measures to contain the coronavirus this weekend, allowing residents to travel across regions, but some regional chiefs are complaining that a patchwork of approaches will replace the six-month-long national state of emergency that ends at midnight on Saturday. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Spain's top coronavirus expert on Monday delivered a stern warning to citizens who are acting as if the pandemic has ended now that the government has relaxed measures against the spread of the coronavirus amid an accelerating rollout of vaccines.

Scenes of revelers partying in mass over the past weekend, in many cases without social distancing or masks, have infuriated many, including health workers, and created a new political quarrel. The street celebrations followed the end of a state of emergency, a blanket national rule that allowed authorities to take strict measures against the virus such as travel bans, nighttime curfews and curbs on social gatherings.

Fernando Simon, who heads the Health Ministry's emergency coordination center, said that he was unable to predict how the contagion rate would evolve after the euphoric scenes.

"Until two days ago I would had been able to say that the downward trend of the past few days would continue. But right now, neither I nor anybody else in Spain knows what will happen," Simon said Monday.

Simon took as a personal failure having failed to transmit the urgency of being cautious to people, but also to members of the media and politicians who had turned the end of the most sweeping restrictions into a celebration.

"We don't know how many people will be admitted in ICUs," the official added. "I hope that the impact will be limited, but nobody knows."

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left, welcomes his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Monday, May 10, 2021. Sanchez is in Athens as part of a Delphi Economic Forum meeting.(AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

Spain's two-week rate of infection, a variable closely watched by epidemiologists, fell to 188 new cases per 100,000 residents on Monday from 198 on Friday. The variable closely watched by epidemiologists peaked at nearly 900 at the end of January and has since then been on the way down barring a mild uptick in mid-March.

The country has recorded more than 3.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic and over 78,000 deaths.

Opposition parties have blamed Spain's ruling center-left coalition for not extending the state of emergency or devising new legislation that would prevent the country's 17 regional governments from having to get a court's approval to impose measures that restrict basic freedoms.

But Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday repeated that he considered the current legal framework as sufficient to fight the pandemic.

Simon said that he expected that any new infections would hit harder people under 60, an age group in which only those with essential jobs have received coronavirus jabs.

The expert said that he believed the impact on older people could be lower.

Nearly one in three of Spain's 47 million residents has received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot and 6 million people, most of them above 70, are fully vaccinated.

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 single prostate cancer cell. Credit: Anne Weston, Francis Crick Institute, CC BY-NC

Targeting a molecule on the surface of immune cells could offer an exciting new way to treat prostate cancer by reawakening the immune response against it.

A team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, found that patients whose immune cells within tumors displayed a molecule called CD38 on their surface lived less long than those without.

The researchers found that the CD38 protein molecule seems to suppress the immune response and is a sign that prostate cancer is successfully hiding from the immune system.

Targeting CD38

Their study suggests that therapies which target CD38such as the multiple myeloma drug daratumumabcould hold promise against prostate cancer too, by reawakening the anti-cancer immune response.

As a result of the new findings, researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden are now running clinical trials to test out if targeting this CD38 pathway in people with prostate cancer can benefit them.

They also believe that testing for CD38 could pick out patients with a poor prognosis and could help assess the likelihood that they will respond to certain treatments.

The study is published in the journal European Urology and was funded by Prostate Cancer UK, Movember, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Sanofi-Aventis.

The researchers studied prostate tumor samples to find out how often CD38 was present on different immune cells, whether its presence had influenced how quickly their cancer progressed and whether it made their cancer more likely to evolve and develop resistance to treatment.

Linked to worse survival outcomes

The team found that having a higher density of immune cells displaying CD38 was linked to worse survival outcomes for people with prostate cancer. A density of more than 1.5 of CD38 immune cells per mm2 in these biopsies from advanced prostate cancer was associated with a more than doubled risk of dying.

Researchers also found that there was an increase in the density of immune cells displaying CD38 in tumors as prostate cancer progressed to become resistant to hormone therapy.

They showed that CD38 is mainly present on specific types of immune cells known as B-cells, which are responsible for producing various molecules which turn the level of the immune response up and down.

Supporting the 'anti-cancer' immune response

Some immune cells can move from the blood into tumors to help recognize cancer cells as abnormal and destroy themsupporting the body's 'anti-cancer' immune response. However, researchers found that immune B-cells displaying CD38 on their surface may stop anti-cancer T-cells from functioning, suppressing the anti-cancer immune response and increasing the chances that the disease will progress.

Researchers think that CD38 levels could therefore identify patients who could benefit from treatments that target this molecule's function.

Clinical trials are now under way to translate these findings and reactivate the anti-cancer immune response in prostate cancer.

Fighting cancer's cloaking strategy

Study leader Professor Johann de Bono, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said:

"We believe that CD38 on the surface of immune cells is acting to dampen down the immune response. We have shown that the presence of this protein on immune cells within prostate tumors is a sign of worse survival outcomes and exhausted anti-cancer immune responses. It is now clear that CD38 has a role in prostate cancer's growth and spreadsuggesting that targeting it with drugs, which already exist and are used in other cancers, could be a promising new approach to treatment.

"Our findings suggest that we can target immune cells displaying CD38 proteins on their surface to reawaken the immune system and fight cancer's 'cloaking' strategy. I'm already leading a clinical trial in this area, which is a first in prostate cancer."

Professor Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:

"As cancers develop, they often evolve the ability to evade the immune system so they can keep growing and spreading without being attacked. This new study suggests that in prostate cancer, tumors can supress the immune system via the CD38 molecule on the surface of immune cells. The findings are exciting and open up a whole new potential approach to treating prostate cancer using immunotherapyan approach that is now being tested in clinical trials which have the potential to show real benefit for patients."

Explore further Researchers uncover new evidence linking inflammation and increased prostate cancer risk

More information: Christina Guo et al. CD38 in Advanced Prostate Cancers, European Urology (2021). Journal information: European Urology Christina Guo et al. CD38 in Advanced Prostate Cancers,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.eururo.2021.01.017
Office workers in Midtown, New York, on May 10, 2021

From large corporations calling employees back to business district skyscrapers to the return of lunchtime lines at salad bars: signs that workers are returning to New York's offices, albeit in "hybrid" mode for now, are multiplying.

Several companies emblematic of America's financial capital are preparing for a huge in-person return of staff after 14 months of widespread teleworking and a vigorous vaccination campaign.

JP Morgan Chase bank led the way at the end of April when it announced that it would bring all of its US staff back to the office on a "rotational" basis starting in early July.

Then last week, fellow New York financial giant Goldman Sachs sent employees a memo telling them to prepare to return to the office from June 14.

The instructions came around the same time that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most of New York's pandemic-era restrictions will be lifted on May 19 as COVID-19 positivity rates, now around two percent, continue to fall.

Local government is also making moves: city hall brought back 80,000 employees last Monday.

The announcements accelerate a return-to-work movement that was just getting under way in America's largest city. New York has taken a cautious approach to reopening after finding itself the early epicenter of the US's outbreak in spring 2020.

Just 16 percent of workers had returned to offices at the end of April, up from 13 percent in January, according to Kastle Systems, which specializes in building security.

"There's definitely an upward trend, but it is an incremental trend," Kastle Systems chairman Mark Ein told AFP. "It is a slowly building wave."

Robert Byrnes in his office at the East Midtown Partnership business association

New York occupancy rates are below the US average but some insiders are predicting a sharp increase in the next two months.

"We've seen a dramatic shift," said Craig Deitelzweig, president of Marx Realty, a company managing seven buildings in Midtown and Wall Street.

Its occupancy rates passed 30 percent last week, against less than 20 percent previously.

"The tenants who weren't back were saying September and now we're hearing June or July, some even in May," he said.

'Optimism'

Potential clients scouting out new offices have also picked up, he said, with many expressing a demand for outdoor spaces and windows that opennot always the case in Manhattan skyscrapers.

"Before I would look through my window at the avenue and there would not be a single person on the sidewalk," said Robert Byrnes, president of the East Midtown Partnership, a business association.

"Now, it is still not packed, but I can see a few dozen people from my window. There's definitely a sense of optimism," he added.

Yet, many employees remain reluctant, especially when they have long commutes on public transport to get to their desks.

A commercial space available for rent in Midtown Manhattan on May 7, 2021

Nadjeda Estriplet, human resources manager at a financial technology company, returned to her office in Manhattan, an hour from her home in Brooklyn, for the first time Thursday.

But she's in no rush to return more regularly, especially since she prefers to wait until the summer before getting immunized to make sure there are no adverse reactions to the vaccines.

Her company, like many others, has surveyed its employees and is "leaning towards a hybrid" model from September, with two or three days a week of work in the office mandatory.

Jordan, 34, who works at a large financial firm, also hopes that he can continue to work from home at least two or three days a week and save himself two hours of commuting a day.

Apprehensions

"I sleep better when I work from home, and I also eat betterhealthier food when I make it myself," said Jordan, who declined to give his full name because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

So far, his employer hasn't "put on any pressure" to return to the office but he expects, with apprehension, new instructions soon.

Companies seem aware that some employees might have reservations about returning. In its memo, Goldman Sachswhere young executives recently denounced endemic overworksaid staff would have the opportunity to discuss their situation with their superiors.

Some 72 percent of American employers say they are open to a hybrid mode, but generally on the condition that staff are in the office for at least 20 hours a week, according to a study released in late April by Arizona State University and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The flexibility could be explained by the companies' reluctance to force staff to get vaccinated. Forty-four percent want to impose immunization on all their employees, while 32 percent preferred to "encourage" it, the study found.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
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ARCHIVED - 39 more Algerian migrants intercepted in Mazarron and Cartagena



82 Algerians were detained between Thursday and Saturday last week

Following the detention of 43 unauthorized migrants on the beaches of the Region of Murcia last Thursday a further 39 were detained along the coastline of Cartagena and Mazarron on Friday and Saturday morning, all of them believed to be of Algerian nationality.

The migrants were travelling from north Africa on three small boats, the first of which was intercepted in Mazarron in the early hours of Friday. On Saturday another craft was intercepted two miles from Cabo de Palos by the maritime salvage vessel Rio Cervera and all 12 of those on board were found to be in good health, as were the 14 who later made it ashore at the Playa del Pedrucho in La Manga del Mar Menor.

The new arrivals were taken to the area designated for the reception of migrants in Escombreras and attended to by the Cruz Roja according to coronavirus protocols before being detained and interned.
Japanese electronics manufacturer Toshiba has relaunched its TVs in the South African market with eight new models. It also has plans to introduce more devices in future.

Toshiba was founded in 1939 as Tokyo Shibaura Denki and changed the company name to Toshiba Corporation in 1978.

The company developed Japans first transistorised televisions in 1959 and has been manufacturing televisions ever since.

In 1971 Toshiba released the worlds first expanded IC colour TV and a year later it produced the first color TV with black stripe-type cathode-ray tubes.

In 2003 Toshiba introduced a high-definition TV upgradable to receive terrestrial digital broadcasts in Japan.

In 2010 the company commercialized the worlds first 3D LCD TV which do not require dedicated glasses. Toshiba was also the first to introduce an Android capable Smart TV in 2014.

Toshiba said despite not having a strong presence in South Africa, it still manufactures great televisions in the tradition of Japanese quality and innovation.

The latest Toshiba TV models offer exceptional picture quality thanks to its proprietary CEVO video processing engine.

Toshibas TVs sold in South Africa are manufactured in Cape Town, which the company said will create job opportunities to the community.

We are proud to be producing TVs in South Africa again, said Toshiba spokesperson Mohamed Hamdy. This will build on Toshibas history and deep relationships with South Africa.

Toshiba Smart 4K LED TVs are available from Takealot and other leading retailers, starting from R4,299.

Below is pricing for the Toshiba TVs currently available from Takealot and HiFi Corp.

Toshiba 40-inch Full HD TV with Digital Tuner  R4,250 | R4,399

Toshiba 43-inch Full HD TV with Digital Tuner  R4,499

Toshiba 43-inch UHD Smart TV  R6,399 | R6,499

Toshiba 50-inch UHD Android Smart TV  R8,498 | R8,999

Toshiba 55-inch UHD Android Smart TV  R9,898 | R9,699

Toshiba 65-inch UHD Android Smart TV  R13,499 | R14,299

Toshiba 75-inch UHD Android Smart TV  R20,499
The rand has broken through R14.00 to the US Dollar and is trading at levels last seen in January 2020.

The rand was one of the currencies which were the hardest hit after the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread around the world.

The local currency, along with other emerging market currencies, weakened significantly as investors were looking to safe havens when the pandemic gained momentum.

The rand traded at its lowest ever level to the US Dollar  R19.26  in early April shortly after the lockdown started in South Africa.

It started to strengthen as confidence returned to global markets and money started to flow into emerging economies.

This year the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continued and the risk appetite among investors is soaring.

This, in addition to local political developments, helped the rand to become on the worlds best performing currencies.

Over the past four weeks and on a year-to-date basis, the rand registered exceptional gains against the US dollar, the euro, and the British pound.

Bianca Botes, executive director at Citadel Global, said the rand recovered ground in April as the Federal Reserve in the United States reiterated its expected dovish stance.

The Federal Reserve said it was still too early to consider tightening monetary policy, while President Joe Biden moved to unveil his plans for a further $1.8 trillion stimulus package.

As usual, the anticipation of massive amounts of liquidity for several months provided support for the rand and other risk assets, Botes said.

Nedbank explained the key drivers behind the rands strength were strong global risk appetites, a weaker US dollar, robust commodity prices, and better-than-expected domestic fiscal outcomes.

It was also helped by encouraging signs that the ruling party started to take action against corruption within its ranks.

Risk appetites among international investors are likely to remain healthy throughout 2021, Nedbank predicted.

This risk appetite is fueled by the vaccine-led global recovery, the ultra-accommodative monetary policies of the worlds largest economies, and increasingly aggressive fiscal stimulus, especially in the US.

The global drive to rebuild infrastructure and transition to green energy also bodes well for commodity prices over the medium term, although some correction is likely over the shorter term, Nedbank said.

These forces are expected to eventually encourage greater interest in emerging market economies.

The rand will benefit from these trends, but the upside will be limited by domestic factors, particularly high fiscal risks, energy shortages and uncertain growth prospects.

The effective rand is fairly valued based on our calculations of purchasing power parity. We think the upside for the rand is quite limited but expect the currency to hold value in 2021, Nedbank said.

The chart below shows the US Dollar to the South African rand over the past two years.
South Africans can bulletproof their cars by installing armour for windows, doors, and rear seats, which will cost anywhere between R200,000 and R1.5 million depending on the level of protection.

Bulletproof vehicles are a necessity for transporting cash in South Africa because of the high incidents of cash-in-transit heists.

Private companies transporting valuable items like smartphones and cigarettes are also using armoured cars to protect against hijackers.

The use of bulletproof cars is now gaining momentum among rich individuals who want to feel safe amidst the high number of armed hijackings in the country.

These individuals typically stay in security estates to protect them against house invasions, and they want to extend this projection to their cars when they leave the estate.

It is, however, an expensive and resource intensive process to bulletproof standard vehicles like SUVs or luxury sedans.

Speaking to ENCA, CVI Engineering director Jaco de Kock said they import special materials from across the world to create a bulletproof car.

Glass is imported from South America, the steel is manufactured in Sweden, while the composite materials come from different parts of the world, he said.

The bullet-resistant transparent armour glass is made by Panama-based firm Optima Ballistic Glass.

This bulletproof glass contains multiple layers of leaded glass and sheets of polycarbonate.

Most civilian vehicles are protected at two specifications:

B4 , which protects against handguns up to the .44 Magnum.

, which protects against handguns up to the .44 Magnum. B6, which protects against high-powered rifles like the R5 and AK47.

The equipment used for the modifications to create a bulletproof car differs significantly based on the level of protection.

The photos below show the difference between the B4 and B6 ballistic glass.

De Kock said on the low-end people can expect to pay around R200,000 while more serious protection can cost around R1 million.

This is, however, only part of the cost. The vehicles also have to be altered to cope with the additional weight of bulletproof glass and armour plating.

Up to a ton of material can be fitted to a vehicle which require suspension upgrades, improved brakes, and structural modifications.

Armormax managing director, Grant Anderson said motorists looking for a comprehensive B4 protection upgrade can expect to pay an all-inclusive price from around R580,000.

The price of level B6 protection, he said, increases to R1.5 million with armouring of windows, doors, pillars, floor, roof, and making vehicle structural modifications.

The most popular vehicles which are modified are double cab bakkies and luxury SUVs for corporate clients.

After the vehicle is converted into an armoured car it still looks like a standard bakkie or SUV, but with additional protection.

For those who do not want to go through the process of having their car modified, there is also the option to buy a bulletproof car. It is, however, not cheap.

MMI Armoured Cars are offering new and used armoured cars with prices ranging between R649,990 and R3,199,990.

For R649,990 you will get a 2017 Infiniti Q502.0T with 57,500km on the clock and level B4 protection.

The price for a second-hand 2016 Infiniti QX70 5.0 S SUV with 35,500km on the clock and level B4 protection is R999,990.

On the high-end of the B4 protection scale a new 2021 BMW X5 xDrive 50i is advertised for R2,799,990.

Those looking for level B6 protection should be prepared to pay a lot more.

A new 2021 Nissan Patrol 5.6 V8 LE with level B6 protection costs R3,199,990, while a 2021 Toyota Land Cruiser 200 with the same protection costs R3,299,990.

Now read: How much it costs to bulletproof your car in South Africa
The National Department of Health has launched COVID-19 vaccine registration portals on WhatsApp, USSD, and SMS in South Africa to allow users to easily book their COVID-19 shot from a mobile phone.

Citizens eligible to register in the countrys phased vaccination rollout currently include persons aged 60 and older and healthcare workers who were not vaccinated in the first phase.

Remaining adults can opt-in to receive a message from government for when registrations will be opened to them.

The Department has outlined the new registration channels as follows:

WhatsApp  Send REGISTER to the COVID-19 hotline at 0600 123 456.

 Send REGISTER to the COVID-19 hotline at 0600 123 456. SMS  Dial *134*832* followed by your ID number.

 Dial *134*832* followed by your ID number. USSD  Dial *134*832# and follow the prompts.

Users 60 years and older will be presented with a process similar to the website-based Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS).

On WhatsApp, the user will be required to provide proof of identification in the form of an ID, passport, asylum seeker permit, or refugee permit number.

They will then be asked for their medical aid number, after which they will have to read and accept the EVDS privacy policy.

Once completed, users must submit personal identification data to register for a booking.

The screenshots below show some of the steps in the WhatsApp and USSD processes.

Government first opened online vaccine registrations on 16 April, with only members of the public 60 years and older allowed to register as part of phase 2 of the vaccination.

This follows phase 1 of the rollout which included the vaccination of frontline and healthcare workers from late February.

To date, more than 380,000 South Africans have received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

In total, South Africa has secured 31 million from Johnsons & Johnson and a further 20 million from Pfizer and BioNTech.

Since the latter requires two shots per individual, the total vaccines will be just enough for the target of 41.5 million people.

Millions more doses of the vaccines are scheduled to arrive in the country over the next few months.

Bhekisisa and Media Hack recently published an infographic which makes it easier for South Africans to understand when they can expect to receive their COVID-19 vaccine.

The most important dates for vaccination of various groups include:

17 May 2021  Adults 60 years and older can get the vaccine.

 Adults 60 years and older can get the vaccine. July 2021  Adults 40 years and older can start receiving the vaccine.

 Adults 40 years and older can start receiving the vaccine. November 2021  All adults 18 years and older become eligible for the vaccine.

Below is the infographic showing the most important dates for COVID-19 vaccine deliveries and rollout in South Africa.
An American Canyon resident convicted on multiple domestic violence counts has been sentenced to 22 years and four months in state prison, the office of Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced.

Anthony Frazier, 41, received his sentence Friday in Napa County Superior Court from Judge Mark Boessenecker following his conviction after a seven-day jury trial in November for kidnapping, criminal threats and four counts of spousal injury.

The convictions stemmed from several incidents involving his spouse in 2018 that were not initially reported to law enforcement, Haleys office said in a news release. On one occasion, Frazier strangled his spouse to the point of unconsciousness, according to the department.

The investigation was handled by American Canyon Police and the Napa Police Department, led by Detective Bill Hernandez.
Californias Ralph M. Brown Act open meeting law allows supervisors to hold closed sessions for real estate negotiations limited to price and terms of payment. The agenda must identify the negotiating party. But dont look there to figure out who wants to renovate the resorts and airport.

County agendas for both the Berryessa and airport closed sessions identify the negotiating party only as the firm to be selected. The Napa Valley Register asked the county to explain how that complies with the law.

The person/entity the Board of Supervisors selects will be publicly identified, as well as other respondents, the county said in an email statement.

However, at this stage, the law is intended to protect and maintain the leverage the county has going into negotiations with some or all of the respondents, so the Board can arrive at the best price and terms of payment for the public, the statement said.

Supervisors know the names of the parties the county is negotiating with, but have been instructed to keep the information confidential, the statement said.

Napa County is overseeing redevelopment and operations for the Spanish Flat, Steele Canyon, and Monticello Shores resorts, which are on federally owned land. That involves selecting concessionaires to do the work.
Armenia Ombudsman: Trials against Armenian POWs continue in Azerbaijan with gross violations of international law

Armenia President receives Masdar's representatives

Ankara hopes Erdogan and Biden find common ground

Acting US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker arrives in Yerevan

Candidate for Armenia PM: Heads of headquarters of Democratic Party are apprehended

More on COVID-19 and tense election campaign in Armenia, June 9 digest

Members of European Parliament call on Yerevan and Baku to start exchanging information for demining

Members of Armenian opposition Adekvad Union post posters reading "Antinikol" near government building

France says it will do everything it can to ensure Amazon is subject to minimum global tax

UN warns of likelihood of mass deaths from hunger and disease in Myanmar

Beijing accuses Washington of paranoid mania

Stanislav Zas: There are still risks of escalation of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Trump supports Nigerian government decision to block Twitter access

Erdogan announces visit to Shushi with his family

Armenia ruling party MP Hamazasp Danielyan drops mandate

Armenia ex-president shares promised record about acting PM

Armenia acting PM ends campaign meeting in Gyumri with march, accompanied by many security officers

"Armenia" bloc holding rally in Yerevan

Opposition Bright Armenia Party leader inviting Nikol Pashinyan to a debate

Nagorno-Karabakh issue discussed within the scope of Russian-Turkish consultations in Moscow

168.am: Armenia acting PM in Gyumri, snipers on roof of city council

Armenian authorities forcing employees of educational institutions and nuclear power plant to attend campaign meetings

Putin-Biden meeting in Geneva to take place in 18th-century villa

Armenia opposition party leader: There are 1,837 Armenians who lost their extremities after war in Artsakh

Bright Armenia Party leader slams discourse over transferring acting PM's son in exchange of POWs

Leader of opposition Liberty Party says Armenia acting PM steals over $2,500 from budget every month

Headquarters of political party running in elections applies to Prosecutor General's Office and Police of Armenia

Armenia Ombudsman's Office, Central Electoral Commission hold discussion to guarantee citizens' suffrage

Armenia acting premier, "support group" employees visit Shirak Province

Tech Week Artsakh 2021 to be held in Stepanakert

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee: Such development of events might lead to clashes

2 citizens apprehended for electoral bribery in Armenia's Gavar

Republican Party of Armenia vice-president: Serzh Sargsyan disclosed an audio recording a little while ago

Dollar continues dropping in Armenia

Armenia High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Ukraine deputy FM express willingness for cooperation

Turkeys Erdogan to visit Artsakhs Shushi

Armenia health ministry: 5 of 11 children with acute gastroenteritis are discharged from hospital

Azerbaijan MOD publicly admits that it is not well-established

Armenia independent MP: Acting premier is leading country to events similar to those of March 1, 2008

Russia resumes air communication with Armenia

Armenian man says Nikol Pashinyan 'liberated' Armenia's Etchmiadzin

Shooting in Russia, casualties and shooter are Armenian

Goris town deputy mayor on captured Armenia soldiers return: Negotiator was the Russian side

"I have the honor" bloc member: We must achieve Azeri forces withdrawal from Artsakh territories by talks

Vanetsyan: It was assumed that Armenia would recognize Karabakh in case of war

Lavrov: Turkey, Iran interests are considered when discussing unblocking of regional communications

Armenia PM contender: 2 of 3 principles of Karabakh conflict have been violated

Vanetsyan: Possibility of deeper Armenia-Russia integration should be considered after our coming to power

Russia FM: Nagorno-Karabakh status issue has yet to be agreed upon

Tuesdays fire at Yerevan landfill not put out yet

Armenia Ombudsman: Manipulating issues of return of captives during election campaign increases tension

Woman, 84, dies at Yerevan hospital after being attacked by stray dogs

99 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Blinken to Menendez: US will continue to take a look at possible suspension of aid to Azerbaijan

Security Council chief meets with head of Red Cross mission to Artsakh

Armenia MOD: Disoriented, captured soldier is in Stepanakert

World oil prices on the rise

Newspaper: Armenia ruling party is "singing its swan song

Newspaper: Armenia state institutions employees are warned not to attend ex-President Kocharyan's rallies

Researchers record highest level of CO2 emissions in history

Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Russians have mainly fulfilled their obligations as ally

Armenia ombudsman considers election campaign climate "extremely worrying"

Palestinian leaders arrive in Cairo for talks on reinforcing ceasefire with Israel

Blinken: 'Hundreds' of US sanctions against Iran to remain in effect

Armenia MOD: Official investigation launched against 2 military unit commanders who were dismissed today

Armenian serviceman who was captured today has been returned

UN Security Council endorses Antonio Guterres who is running for Secretary-General for the second time

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case on Armenian serviceman beaten by Azerbaijani soldiers

US is ready to provide technical support for delimitation of border between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenia 3rd President to Nikol Pashinyan: I'm giving that depraved 24 hours

"Armenia" bloc calls on Central Electoral Commission to respond to Nikol Pashinyan's calls for violence

Armenian National Congress Party member: People who talk about peace achieve the greatest victories

"Armenia" bloc member: Pashinyan dismissed regiment commanders because they refused to advocate for him

Armenia MOD: Incident between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers took place a week ago

Armenia ruling Civil Contract Party holding campaign meeting in Ashtarak, led by Nikol Pashinyan (LIVE)

Soldier ends up on Azerbaijan territory, Baku starts trial against Armenia POW, Jun 8 digest

Head of Armenia's Geghamasar village endorses Robert Kocharyan, to manage bloc's territorial headquarters

"Armenia" bloc representative: I call on law-enforcement authorities to get ready to perform their duties

Armenia President receives acting high-tech and economy ministers and CEO of FAST

Armenia 2nd President says his bloc is against vendettas, supports justice

Armenia opposition party's candidate for PM Samvel Babayan makes call to citizens

Armenia ex-officials registration on "I have the honor" bloc electoral list is declared invalid

Karabakh President grants high state awards to relatives of policemen who fell in the war

Karabakh President meets in Yerevan with heads of communities of Kashatagh region

Armenia Central Electoral Commission: Advertisement of Robert Kocharyan's book is associated with campaign posters

Edmon Marukyan: Bright Armenia Party is only one that can become axis of government of national accord

Armenia former President Kocharyan on incumbent authorities: Psychology of flawed people

Armenia applies to ECHR to ensure respect of rights of Armenian POW captured today

Armenia opposition party's candidate for PM and citizen get into dispute

One dollar drops below AMD 520 in Armenia

Armenia 2nd President on the reason for country's defeat in the war and return of Armenian POWs

Armenia 2nd President: People will give evaluation during the elections

Three more remains retrieved during search in Artsakh

Homeland of Armenians political party members meet with Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia acting PM to voters: Prepare for civil revenge

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Authorities clumsiness, unprofessionalism, treachery brought current situation

Official: 3 deputy FMs of Armenia dismissed

Armenia MOD: Soldier ended up in area under Azerbaijan army control due to fog

Russia's Putin, Armenia 2nd President hold phone talks

Azerbaijan state prosecutor demands sentencing Lebanese Armenian Euljekjian to 20 years in prison
On May 4th, as now seems appropriate, we were all treated to the extraordinary sight of an X-Wing Starfighter movie prop sitting in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, as if awaiting its turn in the restoration queue at the Smithsonians Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The museums press release below explains exactly how this coolly amusing occurrence came to be

The Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum will display an X-wing Starfighter in the newly renovated building on the National Mall starting late next year. The full-sized vehicle, with a wingspan of 37 feet, appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and is on long-term loan from Lucasfilm. It will undergo conservation in the Restoration Hangar at the museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, work that will be visible to the public when the center reopens May 5.

Despite taking place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars introduced generations of fans here on Earth to outer space as a setting for adventure and exploration, said Margaret Weitekamp, space history chair at the museum. All air and space milestones begin with inspiration, and science fiction so often provides that sparkthe iconic X-wing displayed amid our other spacecraft celebrates the journey from imagination to achievement.

Designed for Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, X-wings take their name from the distinctive shape of their strike foils when in attack position. Artists at Industrial Light & Magic depicted X-wings and other vehicles using miniatures as well as full-size vehicles and cockpits, combined with visual effects. This will be the first Star Wars movie prop on long-term display at the museum since the Star Wars: Myth of Magic exhibit in 1997.

The X-wing Starfighter will be displayed outside the Albert Einstein Planetarium beginning in 2022. For more information about how the museum is transforming all of its exhibitions and revitalizing its Mall building, visit https://airandspace.si.edu/reimagining-air-and-space.

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. It is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport. It is open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free, but there is a $15 fee for parking.
In the event of a military conflict, the American army faces collapse due to insufficient funding for the defense sector, said Dakota Wood, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation research institute.

In her article published in The National Interest, she spoke about the perilous situation of the US military due to insufficient funding, especially in the defense sector, Prime reports.

The expert noted that the state of the US armed forces at the moment raises concerns due to outdated military equipment and the insufficient amount of what is available. Wood said that most of the military equipment was purchased in the 80s and 90s of the last century, and the navy has halved in the past thirty years. The specialist also questioned the competence of the pilots due to the low number of flight hours. The army does not have enough units to do everything that can be required of it, Wood said.

The researcher also focused on the competitors of Washington, which have invested in weapons over the past twenty years, as evidenced by their exercises. She warned that US adversaries would not wait for President Joe Biden's administration to resolve its internal problems and modernize its military.
During the early 1970s, a Martin B-57B Canberra (ex USAF 52-1576) took part in several NASA joint flight test programs at their Flight Research Centre within Edwards Air Force Base in Californias Mojave Desert. This particular Canberra was involved in numerous research endeavors with both NASA and its forebear, the N.A.C.A., but in 1974-75 it played a role in proof-of-concept testing for the Viking Mars landers, a cooperative effort with NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

With completion of the Viking parachute tests, which took place at the Joint Parachute Test Facility in El Centro, California, the B-57B flew from Edwards a number of times to measure/analyze atmospheric turbulence as part of NASAs effort to develop models for predicting what the Viking Mars lander might encounter during its decent in the Martian atmosphere. Additional atmospheric testing provided samples of aerosols for the University of Wyoming and clear-air turbulence data for the Department of Transportation.

The aircraft was tested over a span of many years at Edwards Air Force Base by various NASA centers for other types of research. This particular Canberra also took part in a number of important flight tests at other N.A.C.A./NASA establishments. Perhaps the most important of these took place during Project Bee with the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory at Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio. These experiments proved that conventional jet engines could successfully operate with liquid hydrogen as a fuel source.

As the NASA archives record: On 13 February 1957, the first of three successful flights was made and the fuel system worked well. The transition to hydrogen was made in two steps. The hydrogen lines were first purged, then the engine was operated on JP-4 and gaseous hydrogen simultaneously. After two minutes of operations on the mixture, Algranti [the pilot] switched to hydrogen alone. The transition was relatively smooth and there was no appreciable change in engine speed or tailpipe temperature. The engine ran for about 20 minutes on hydrogen. The pilots found that the engine responded well to throttle changes when using hydrogen. When the supply was almost exhausted, the speed began to drop. As this became apparent, Algranti switched back to JP-4 and the engine accelerated smoothly to its operating speed. The engine burning hydrogen had produced a dense and persistent condensation trail, while the other engine operating on JP-4 left no trail.

Interestingly, Project Bee served as an important milestone in convincing NASA that liquid hydrogen would be a safe fuel for the Saturn V rockets which would serve the Apollo lunar missions of the 1960s and 70s.

Later, in 1982, the B-57B aircraft returned to the (then) Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (since renamed for lunar astronaut Neil Armstrong) for more Langley-sponsored turbulence testing. These experiments provided data on mountain waves, jet streams, convective turbulence, and clear-air turbulence; valuable details for improving airliner operational safety.
A Memorandum of understanding was signed Monday between China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA), the China-Eurasia Council informed.

According to the Memorandum of understanding, Parties agreed to strengthen cooperation with each other, to contribute to the development of relations between institutions, to continue and bust cooperation in academic, informational, educational, and other fields. Memorandum of understanding on cooperation between organizations was signed by the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Dr. Robert Ghazaryan from one side and Dr. Mher Sahakyan, the founding head of the China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research from the other side.

Dr. Robert Ghazaryan stressed that Chinese studies are one of the most important scientific directions in the Institute of Oriental Studies of NAS RA, where the Institute has quite great success. At the same time, the China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research, in particular its director Mher Sahakyan, also makes a significant contribution to the development and strengthening of this field. In this regard, it is very important that such institutions in Armenia will join forces in the hope of working together and achieving significant scientific achievements. Besides, our two scientific institutions have good experience of cooperation. And the combination of our efforts and works can serve the further development of this field and will create prospects for new cooperation.

Dr. Mher Sahakyan noted: It is our honor to develop cooperation with the Institute of Oriental Studies of NAS, which is one of the well-known Armenian academic institutions and has great contribution in Middle Eastern and North African studies. Actually, China-Eurasia Council for Political and Strategic Research and Institute of Oriental Studies, NAS cooperate with each other already for 4 years. In 2018 together with Dr. Robert Ghazaryan and Institute of Oriental Studies we jointly organized Rethinking Chinas Foreign Policy special course and Eurasian Research on Modern China and Eurasia international conference. This Memorandum of Understanding will provide an added impetus to strengthen our cooperation and unite efforts and capabilities in research and academic diplomacy.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 10.05.21:

The second president Robert Kocharyan, the ARF and Reviving Armenia parties will participate in the snap parliamentary elections as the 'Armenia' bloc.

While the three leaders of the bloc were signing the declaration of the bloc with a solemn ceremony, their supporters have gathered in Freedom Square in the heart of Yerevan.

After the official ceremony, Robert Kocharyan, who heads the bloc, joined the people gathered in Freedom Square with Ishkhan Saghatelyan and Vahe Hakobyan.

Providing more direct contact to the supporters, Kocharyan took off his suit and tie on the stage, remembering that the last time he had made a public speech in public was 18 years ago.

Kocharyan's speech from the platform was short. The second president singled out three main directions of his campaign: border security, dignified peace in Artsakh [Nagorno-Karaakh], and economic growth.

By the way, now only Kocharyan has presented the campaign and his political agenda if he elected the PM. Other members have not made any clear campaigns yet.

During the snap elections scheduled for June 20, Kocharyan's main rival will be acting PM Nikol Pashinyan.

Former Soviet Union republics commemorated the traditional Victory Day celebrations on 9 May, honoring the surrender of Nazi Germany at the end of the Great Patriotic War in 1945.

Meanwhile, since 1991, Armenia has been marking Shushi Liberation Day - a national holiday marked in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh as a way to celebrate the anniversary of the Capture of Shusha and the Siege of Stepanakert from Azerbaijani forces in 1992.

However, this year was of a different feeling for the whole nation as Armenian current authorities have handed over Shushi and other Nagorno-Karabakh territories to Azerbaijan - during the last Artsakh war in autumn 2020.

On Sunday, Armenian acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and other high-ranking officials have visited the Yerablur military pantheon where almost all victims of the autumn war have been buried.

However, because of security forces, reporters could not even approach Pashinyan to ask him questions.

One woman was taken to hospital by ambulance after a major accident, involving a car escorting Armenias acting PM Nikol Pashinyan, at a downtown intersection in the capital Yerevan.

The respective footage shows this woman being taken out of a Mercedes.

The police informed NEWS.am that the circumstances of this incident are being ascertained.

As of Monday morning, 83 new cases of COIVD-19 were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 219,353 in the country.

Also, 15 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 4,249 cases.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 622, the total respective number so far is 205,200.

Kourtney Kardashian often introduces her followers to Armenian cuisine.

After her visit to Armenia, the founder of the Poosh website has started making posts more often about Armenian national dishes.

This time, Kim Kardashian's older sister prepared the sisters' favorite food: the Armenian beeshee; but this timetogether with Kendall Jenner and Khloe Kardashian.

Earlier, Kim Kardashian herself had spoken about her favorite Armenian dishes. According to Kim, they were best prepared by her grandmother Helen, the mother of Kims father, Robert Kardashian.
Indiana Right to Life Announces New Children's Book on Adoption

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Indiana Right to Life

May 10, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS, May 10, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, Indiana Right to Life is excited to announce the publication of "So Many Special Families," a children's book on adoption by national author and Indiana resident Korynn Freels. "So Many Special Families" is about the gift of adoption. It explores different children from three unique adoption scenarios: infant domestic adoption, foster care adoption, and international adoption.

On the release of this new book, IRTL's President Mike Fichter remarked:

"We're thrilled to announce the release of 'So Many Special Families' and are so grateful to Korynn for sharing this wonderful gift with us. This book will bless so many lives, from biological mothers who choose life for their babies to the parents of an adopted child. We're so happy that Korynn was called to share her talents with Indiana Right to Life."

Author Korynn Freels said:

"My genuine hope for this lovable children's book is that it will inspire and encourage both adoptive families and their children, as well as biological mothers. As a mom who has gone through pregnancy and the birthing process, I can say firsthand that it is not easy. So I genuinely hope that biological mothers know through this story, that they are serving as a hero in two ways: They're serving as a hero to a precious baby, as well as to a family who wants nothing more than to be called 'mommy' and 'daddy.' They deserve to know that by choosing life and adoption, they are incredible and strong."

Freels is a nationally known children's author who has written for Hallmark Gold Crown and Ripley's Believe It Or Not, but when the pandemic hit, the needs of non-profits were on her mind. She felt led by Jesus Christ to give the gift of writing a children's book to Indiana Right to Life. Speaking about the call she received to donate her time and this book, she said,

"Some people are able to tithe financially, some by volunteering. I knew that my best efforts at tithing was going to be offering the craft of writing."

"So Many Special Families" will be available for sale online for $10 apiece plus shipping and handling and also available for bulk purchase at IRTL's new book website. All proceeds benefit Indiana Right to Life.

SOURCE Indiana Right to Life

CONTACT: Katey Price, 814-244-1431, media@protectinglife.com
Hundreds hurt in new Jerusalem clashes

Hundreds hurt in new Jerusalem clashes

Hundreds were wounded in new clashes Monday between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem as a planned march marking Israel's 1967 takeover of the holy city threatened to further inflame tensions.



Palestinians hurled projectiles at Israeli officers in riot gear who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas, an AFP correspondent at the scene said, following a night of sporadic clashes.



"There are hundreds of people injured from the clashes" and about 50 were hospitalised, the Palestinian Red Crescent said about the latest unrest since violence escalated following the last Friday prayers of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.



The clashes were the latest in days of the worst such disturbances in Jerusalem since 2017, fuelled by a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over nearby Palestinian homes in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.



A key court hearing scheduled for Monday on Sheikh Jarrah, the flashpoint east Jerusalem neighbourhood at the centre of the property dispute, has been postponed.



There were fears of further violence in the city ahead of a planned march Monday by Israelis to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, an anniversary known as "Jerusalem Day" in the Jewish state.



Israeli police had, as of Sunday, approved the march, which was scheduled to start around 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).



The leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, has also announced a visit Monday to the tense Sheikh Jarrah district.



Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel's response to the protests and rioting.



"We will uphold law and order  vigorously and responsibly," Netanyahu said while vowing to "guard freedom of worship for all faiths".



But the Israeli role in the hostilities  especially Friday's clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site  has met widespread criticism.



All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel  Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan  have condemned the Jewish state.



The Middle East quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations  and Pope Francis  have all called for calm. (AFP)
Malaysia tightens virus curbs ahead of Eid holiday

Under the latest rules, people will not be allowed to cross state or district borders. File image: Shutterstock

Muslim-majority Malaysia will tighten coronavirus curbs across the whole country ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday as cases spiral, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Monday.



The move comes after authorities declared a slew of curbs limiting movement and social events in many places across Malaysia recently, including a partial lockdown in the capital.



The Southeast Asian nation has been battling a fresh Covid-19 outbreak since early this year, seeing thousands of new infections as the government declared a state of emergency to slow the spread of the virus.



Controls were slowly eased as infection rates fell, but case numbers regularly spiked past 4,000 a day as schools and special markets during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan were allowed to open.



The new curbs, Muhyiddin said, will kick in on Wednesday, a day before the country celebrates Eid al-Fitr, and remain until June 7.



While all sectors of the economy are allowed to carry on, social events such as feasts, house visits and wedding receptions will be banned during this time.



People will not be allowed to cross state or district borders, and not more than 50 will be allowed inside large mosques (or more than 20 for smaller ones) for special Eid prayers.



Schools and universities will be closed, except for those sitting for international exams, though childcare centres and kindergartens will be allowed to open.



Malaysia has seen a less severe outbreak compared to other countries, recording a total of more than 444,000 infections and 1,700 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.



But the regular spike in infections, and the arrival of virus variants such as from South Africa and India, has worried health officials as the number of available beds and ventilators start to run out. (AFP)
Paul Simon Institute to host virtual talk with Decatur mayor

CARBONDALE, Ill.  The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will host a virtual conversation with Julie Moore Wolfe, the mayor of Decatur, Illinois, on Wednesday, May 12.

Moore Wolfe and institute director John Shaw will talk about the mayors career in economic development and politics and the challenges she and her city have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion is part of the institutes Meet the Mayor series of virtual conversations with leaders of Illinois communities.

The event will be livestreamed via Zoom at 2 p.m. Wednesday. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required at paulsimoninstitute.org/event-information.

Moore Wolfe was appointed mayor of Decatur in 2015 after serving on the city council since 2009. She has lived in Decatur  a central Illinois city about 40 miles east of Springfield  for 30 years. Moore Wolfe started her career as a journalist, joining WAND-TV as a news anchor in 1986. She later became president of the Chamber of Commerce in Decatur, and then served for four years as the regional manager of the Governors Opportunity Returns program.

Mayor Moore Wolfe is a determined, respected and creative leader of an important Illinois community, Shaw said. We are eager to learn more about her highly successful career in economic development, politics and government, as well as the important work she has done to revitalize Decatur.

The institute welcomes questions for Moore Wolfe; submit a question by email to paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu or in the Questions & Comments box on the registration form.

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is a think tank at SIU Carbondale promoting better politics and smarter government and preparing students for careers in public service.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) indicated to "Axios on HBO" he's already impatient with the White House's quest for Republican support for President Biden's infrastructure package, saying. "The American people want results" and don't care if these results are achieved with bipartisan votes.

Why it matters: The Budget Committee chairman and former presidential rival can cause a lot of headaches for Biden if he so chooses. He controls the budget process Senate Democrats have used to bypass GOP opposition and pass legislation on a pure party-line vote.

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He's one of the Democrats' key progressive leaders and they can't afford to lose anyone in a 50-50 Senate.

Driving the news: To test Sanders' reaction to the White House's thinking on what has broadly been dubbed "infrastructure"  but in reality is a sweeping social welfare program that goes well beyond what is commonly understood as infrastructure  I asked the Vermont senator to react to a quote from the influential Biden aide Steve Ricchetti.

Here's what Ricchetti told the Washington Post: "We have a little more time for the consideration of this, and the percolation of these proposals, to have broader consultation and dialogue. There's more receptivity on the Republican side to having that dialogue, and they also see the potential to reach some common ground here."

Here's how Sanders reacted: "In general I don't agree with that. ... The bottom line is the American people want results."

"And frankly, when people got a, you know, $1,400 check or $5,600 check for their family, they didn't say, 'Oh, I can't cash this check because it was done without any Republican votes.'"

The big picture: In the White House's view, this infrastructure package doesn't carry the "emergency" label in the way the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package did. Aides think it would be harder to defend what they did on that package: ignore the Republican compromise proposal and immediately steamroll ahead with a Democrats-only package.

Story continues

Sources familiar with the White House's internal thinking say Biden's inner circle sees little downside risk in taking some time to negotiate and to split up the infrastructure package to find something palatable to enough Republicans to get 60 votes.

The tax hikes Democrats are proposing on corporations and wealthy families  which Republicans probably will never support  are broadly popular. Biden advisers see little risk in passing a subsequent Democrat-only bill that contains these tax increases.

If Republicans support a smaller package that fits a traditional definition of infrastructure  say, one that covers roads, bridges, ports, etc.  it will give Biden and Democrats a bipartisan "win" to carry into the 2022 midterm elections.

Between the lines: The bigger challenge for Sanders and other progressives who are impatient with this period of closed-door bipartisan discussions is that it's not only the White House that wants to take a little time to negotiate.

Key Democrats in the Senate were frustrated that they didn't have a say in shaping the first coronavirus bill. They have made clear to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that they will not tolerate being rubber stamps again, and want time to go through a normal process of legislating and see if they can't strike a deal with Republicans.

This group of eager bipartisan negotiators includes Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a Biden ally, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and well-known moderate Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said they would like to see "progress by Memorial Day" and the bill passed by the summer.

Behind the scenes: While the White House has been talking to Republicans, it has also made sure to stay closely engaged with progressives.

Vice President Kamala Harris has talked to progressive members, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.), per a White House source.

And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met last week with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The bottom line: If these bipartisan negotiations drag into the summer, expect progressives like Sanders to get increasingly vocal about their frustrations.

Sanders believes the lesson of the Obama era  in which the former president held out hope of getting Republicans to support the Affordable Care Act  is that it's foolish to let Republicans slow-walk the Democratic agenda.

"Congress takes breaks and it's easy to obstruct," Sanders said. "The Senate is a very slow-moving process. ... I would begin, you know, starting this work immediately. If Republicans want to come on board, seriously, great. If not, we're going to do it alone."

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The Telegraph

Joe Biden ordered US officials to rebuke Boris Johnson for jeopardising the peace process in Northern Ireland due to its stand-off with the European Union, it emerged on Wednesday night. In a significant diplomatic intervention which now threatens to overshadow the G7 summit in Cornwall, Americas most senior diplomat in Britain told the Brexit minister Lord Frost that the UKs stance on the Northern Ireland Protocol was inflaming tensions in Ireland and Europe. Yael Lempert is said to have is
EJ Hersom, Department of Defense

Todd Anderson, the owner of Old Corner Saloon in Clements, California, has been arrested.

Prosecutors say Anderson sold fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards from his bar.

He's been charged with identity theft, forging government documents, and falsifying medical records.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

A California bar owner has been accused of selling fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards, state and county officials said this week.

Todd Anderson, the owner of Old Corner Saloon in Clements, California, has been charged with identity theft, forging government documents, and falsifying medical records, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar said in a statement.

An investigation was launched after California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control received a complaint regarding fake vaccination cards being sold at the bar, the county district attorney's office said.

In the month after receiving the complaint, undercover agents bought four fake vaccination cards from the bar for $20 each, investigators told The Washington Post.

While later searching the bar, investigators found 30 blank cards, a lamination machine, and two more completed fraudulent cards.

It remains unclear how many cards were sold at the bar before investigators received a complaint.

California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said in a statement that it plans to file disciplinary action against the business, which could result in the bar having its license suspended or revoked.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Chad's new leader, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, on Monday made his first visit to Niger, a fellow Sahel country fighting jihadist insurgents, since coming to power at the head of a military junta after the shock death of his father last month.

The junta took charge on April 20 after President Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's 30-year leader, died fighting rebels.

After arriving in Niamey, the Niger capital, the 37-year-old general held talks with newly elected President Mohamed Bazoum, an aide to Bazoum said.

He was then scheduled to head to the west of the country to meet Chadian troops deployed under a regional anti-jihadist mission.

Deby "came to see his troops (who are deployed) in Tera, and he used the occasion to hold talks" with Bazoum, the source said, without giving further details.

Chad has 1,200 troops in western Niger under a five-nation initiative, the G5 Sahel, aimed at pooling military resources to fight an expanding jihadist insurgency in the region.

The Chadian military has high standing in the region as a relatively well-equipped and -trained force.

Deby, in brief remarks to the Nigerien media, said, "We came here to affirm our friendship... to thank President Bazoum for all his support since the death of Field Marshal (Deby). We also came to show our support for our forces in Tera."

Thousands of people have been killed and more than a million have fled their homes since a jihadist revolt began in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Burkina Faso and Niger in 2015.

Niger, the poorest country in the world by the yardstick of the UN's Human Development Index, is also struggling with jihadist attacks in its southeast, coming from neighbouring Nigeria.

Deby died, according to the authorities, on April 19 after suffering mortal wounds fighting the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a large armed group with a rear base in Libya.

The new junta appointed a transitional civilian government and promised to hold elections within 18 months.

Story continues

On Sunday, the junta declared victory over the rebels, staging a parade with several hundred army vehicles, including tanks, and 156 captives that they described as FACT prisoners.

Bazoum last month was named by the G5 Sahel as a "facilitator" between the new Chadian authorities and FACT.

bh/stb/ri/gd
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The city, conquered by the Azeris last November, has been declared the "cultural capital" of Azerbaijani Karabakh. But the Armenians claim it. About 200 Armenian prisoners have not been returned, violating the agreement mediated by Russia. For now, the Azeris continue to hold them hostage to use as a weapon of blackmail in negotiations.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - On May 7, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev (photo 1), declared the city of Shusa the "cultural capital" of Azerbaijani Karabakh, after having wrestled it from the Armenians in last Novembers conflict. But the Armenians also claim the historical and cultural heritage of Susi (in their linguistic variant) in the mountainous region of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).

The city at over 1300 meters above sea level, was a place of encounter and conflict between Armenians and Azeris, Christians and Muslims already at the time of the Russian Tsarist Empire. Located at a crucial crossroads for transport and trade in the region, Susa has been a place of eclecticism since its foundation in 1752, embracing churches and mosques, large markets and caravanserais, museums and meeting places for poets and artists of various kinds. Even before a war and political vindications, the cultural appropriation of one of the two sides is a wound to a shared memory.

Following the clashes that took place after the collapse of the USSR, Shusa had remained under Armenian control since May 8, 1992. Aliev's declaration took place precisely on the eve of that date. Azerbaijan declared the conquest of the city on November 8, 2020; a month earlier he had bombed the great cathedral of Ghazanchetsots, the pride of the Armenian Apostolic Church (photo 2).

The Azerbaijani president said that "the further refinement of the governmental and legislative administration in Susa will not only serve the restoration and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage in the city, but will provide an opportunity for its continued development", according to the principles of Azerbaijani and Muslim identity, "elevating it to the international arena as a shining pearl of Azerbaijan's rich culture, architecture and town planning over the centuries".

The question of prisoners

In addition to the dispute over identity, the Armenians are still deeply troubled by a highly contentious issue linked last autumns conflict: the return of prisoners of war.

The issue has become a delicate international one as Baku has repeatedly resisted pressure from the US and Russia to find a solution. It is a question of fulfilling the mutual obligations approved with the mediation of Moscow, but also of allowing a broader agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan to rearrange the entire ex-Soviet region of the Caucasus, which allows Russia to reconnect with Central Asia to the south.

Last May 6 in Yerevan, Sergej Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, conducted talks with his counterpart Ara Aivazyan and the "acting" prime minister Nikol Pasinyan, asking for the signing of a memorandum on mutual understanding between the governments of the two States in conflict on biological-health security. The text envisages a large project to modernize the health facilities of Armenia, largely financed (10 million dollars) by the United States.

However, the Armenians condition any further agreement to the return of the approximately 200 prisoners. These are still in the hands of the Azeris (photo 3), who only recognize just over half that number and continue to hold them hostage as a weapon of blackmail in the negotiations.

On May 4, the head of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Rustam Muradov, had brought three of them back to Yerevan, to facilitate Lavrov's mission, but the gesture was not enough to soften the position of the Armenian representatives, who expect Moscow to take a of a much more decisive position.
LANCASTER, Texas (AP)  Officers in a Dallas suburb fatally shot a man firing a gun in a home Monday, hours after he was released from a hospital where he had a mental health evaluation.

Officers were dispatched to a home in Lancaster on Sunday night after receiving a report of a man refusing to let a woman leave. They found Kalon J. Horton, 29, who appeared to be intoxicated and in an altered mental state. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and was later released, according to a police statement.

On Monday morning, police in the city about 16 miles (26 kilometers) south of downtown Dallas received a shooting report and arrived to find Horton firing a gun in a different home occupied by two children, police stated.

Police Chief Samuel Urbanski said officers confronted and shot Horton, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital. He said the others in the home were not injured.

Urbanski said the shooting remained under investigation.
Chile exports the lion's share of the worlds alginate, which is used widely in everyday products, including cosmetics.

Video Transcript

LUCIA NEWMAN: At a glance, it's obvious that planet Earth is more water than land.

LIESBET VAN DER MEER: [SPEAKING SPANISH]

INTERPRETER: At first, it looks like there's nothing, but underneath, there is extraordinary biodiversity. One trunk of algae can sustain more than 400 species. There are snails, sea urchins, anemone, it's where life begins.

LUCIA NEWMAN: These are macroalgae forests, as indispensable for our survival as those that grow above ground. Through photosynthesis, they absorb just as much CO2 gas. And together with phytoplankton and seagrass, they produce nearly 1/2 of our planet's oxygen.

They're also like nurseries for small fish to find shelter from predators. Along 2,000 kilometers of Chile's Pacific coast, these forests can grow 40 meters high and live for up to 25 years. But they are in danger.

LIESBET VAN DER MEER: [SPEAKING SPANISH]

INTERPRETER: There are areas, especially in the North, where the algae is being extracted indiscriminately.

MARIA CAMPOS: [SPEAKING SPANISH]

LUCIA NEWMAN: Almost every day, Maria Campos walks onto the edge of these rocks to catch "huiro" as it's called in Chile. It's hard work, but it's escalating price has allowed her to send her three children to university. These "huiros" or algae are drying out here so that they can then be taken off to be sold. And why is this algae in such high commercial demand?

Because they are the source of alginate. You probably have never heard of it, but believe me, you have consumed it. This is used for making your cars dashboards, it's the most expensive type. This variety is used for making creams, shampoos, and soaps. And this one called the Black Widow is used in making the plastics that we use practically every day.

It's also used widely in the cosmetic industry. From here, it's taken to a processing plant to be chopped and shipped, primarily to China and Japan. Chile produces 40% of the world's alginate, but much of it is harvested illegally. Maria Campos says, she only takes what the ocean throws out.

Story continues

MARIA CAMPOS: [SPEAKING SPANISH]

INTERPRETER: This is what we call the head of the tree. The ocean threw it out to shore because it was no longer needed. This isn't the same "huiro" that the boat extracts. The fishermen dive, cut it out from the head, and kill it.

LUCIA NEWMAN: Licensed fishermen are allowed to rip out the algae, a technique that was illegal until 1980. Last year, 500 tons were exported, 1/2 of it harvested without authorization in a thriving black market. Chile's long coastline makes it difficult to police, but there are other ways to help turn the tide.

ALEJANDRO PEREZ: Like [INAUDIBLE], for example, from seeding or regrowth of the plant terrestrial environments and then put it back in the water.

LUCIA NEWMAN: It requires an investment, yes, but employing science to counter the depletion of natural species has already become a necessity. So that, as Darwin once said, "we don't all perish." Lucia Newman, Al Jazeera, Pichicuy, Chile.
A Chinese teenager was left injured and traumatized after being knocked down by a woman during an unprovoked attack in the U.K.





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The incident: The victim, a 19-year-old female student from Sheffield University, was out shopping for the first time in a year when she was attacked by a woman in Sheffield City Centre at around 3 p.m. on April 25, The Star reported.



The teenager was outside Boots on Fargate when a woman allegedly demanded to know if she was Chinese before hitting her in the face and pulling her by the hair to the ground. A witness intervened and stopped the suspect.

A Sheffield University staff member who was injured during the incident along with the Sheffield Chinese Student and Scholars Association (CSSA) brought the teenager to a hospital where she received treatment for eye injuries, according to Shef News.

It is unbelievable that such cruel racist abuse happened at such a place and time," the victim was quoted as saying. I hope my experience can make more people aware of the seriousness of racial discrimination. I dont want this kind of incident to happen again.

The case is reportedly being investigated as a hate crime.



The response: According to The Star, the incident went viral in China after it was shared on thousands of student chat rooms and social media, with some users warning against studying in Sheffield.



The Chinese community in Sheffield, which condemned the attack as unacceptable, has called for a campaign to stop racially motivated attacks in the city.

Community leader Jerry Cheung said there have been numerous attacks targeting Asians last year, noting that they now need people who run the city to say it wont be tolerated.

According to Cheung, there are 6,000 Chinese students in the city, contributing around 200 million ($280 million) to the economy each year.

Cheung has reached out to universities and intends to involve the council, students and police in a coordinated effort to prevent racially motivated incidents.



Last year, NextShark reported a similar unprovoked attack on a female student from Sheffield University who was verbally and physically assaulted by a group of people for wearing a protective face mask.



Featured Image via Shef News

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A Chinese American member of a Florida county school board was called a communist during a heated meeting about face masks last week.



What happened: Santa Rosa County school board chairwoman and former science teacher Wei Ueberschaer was heckled while discussing a proposed mask requirement on May 3, the Washington Post reported.



Prior to this meeting, State Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees announced on April 29 that lifting the use of face masks when social distancing was not possible.

Parents objecting to the mask requirement shouted at officials, calling them names such as "RINOs" (Republicans In Name Only).

This is Santa Rosa County, not China, a man from the audience yelled at Ueberschaer, while another parent called her a communist.

A resident of the county since 1998, Ueberschaer said she would have responded to the derogatory comments had she heard them over the loud noise.

Some parents posed the same arguments that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former President Donald Trump made, claiming masks can have negative effects on children.

A video clip of the meeting was uploaded on Twitter and has been viewed more than 234,000 times as of this writing.





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No longer a protective strategy: During the meeting, Ueberschaer lamented face masks becoming a political issue instead of being seen as a strategy to protect people.



"While my preference would be to finish out the remaining weeks of this school year with a protocol that's been working in our schools all year, I will continue to rely on our public health officials to recommend (policies with) their expertise in infectious disease control," she said.

Previously, students did not have to wear masks whenever they were outside or could socially distance themselves.

Prior to the meeting, students attending Santa Rosa County schools were required to wear face coverings in most areas, Pensacola News Journal reported.

The board members ended up lifting the mask order and replacing it with a recommendation.



On the same day, DeSantis announced that he will sign several executive orders to suspend and eventually invalidate all local COVID-19 emergency orders in Florida.



Featured Image via allinlen

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NYPD's New Civilian Panel Will Help Combat Hate Crimes

100 Captive Thai Elephants Now Free Because of COVID-19, Walk 93 Miles Back Home

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A coronavirus patient getting admitted to a government hospital in Kolkata, India, on April 22. Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto via Getty Images

India has been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases for weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to put a national lockdown in place.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and others have said a lockdown could prevent the spread of the virus.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci has said India should impose a national lockdown to address its raging COVID-19 crisis. The step is one the country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has so far refused to put in place.

India has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases for weeks. The country on Monday reported 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to Reuters. The surge has caused some hospitals to run out of oxygen, and crematoriums have been overwhelmed with bodies.

Fauci told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that a national lockdown could help "break the chain of transmission" of COVID-19.

He told the CNN affiliate News18 on Friday that the lockdown would have to be in place for only four weeks or so.

"As soon as the cases start coming down and you vaccinate more people, then you can get ahead of the trajectory of the outbreak," he said.

The Indian Medical Association has also called for a national lockdown, Reuters reported.

But despite the calls from Fauci and others, Modi has shown no sign of establishing a new national lockdown.

There are lockdowns in several of India's 28 states, but they don't compare to last year's strict, two-month national lockdown, which the Associated Press said caused the country's economy to decline by 23% in the second quarter.

Modi's government has said it's doing all it can in a "once-in-a-lifetime crisis," the AP reported.

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Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson. OGUT/Star Max/GC Images

Fox News will not confirm or deny whether its top-rated host has taken the COVID-19 vaccine.

Tucker Carlson has attacked public health experts and questioned vaccine efficacy.

Other prominent conservatives have gotten their jabs off-camera, while some on Fox touted it.

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For all of Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson's opinions and misleading statements about COVID-19 vaccines, his own decision on taking the shot remains a mystery.

Insider has reached out to Fox News on multiple occasions to see whether Carlson has taken the vaccine - or if he ever plans to - but the network has not responded with a statement.

Carlson is in a unique position with an immense influence over millions of conservatives, effectively becoming the face of both the network's primetime lineup and nascent streaming strategy.

White Republicans - a substantial portion of Carlson's and Fox News' audience - are the demographic with the most vaccine hesitancy in the United States.

-Logan Mitchell PhD  (@loganemitchell) March 1, 2021

President Donald Trump received his COVID-19 vaccine in private and off camera, while other Republicans have taken the shot publicly to assure voters that it's safe after extensive trials on tens of thousands of people.

Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News founder and executive chairman of News Corp, privately took the vaccine back in December.

Many Trump supporters have expressed outright hostility toward the vaccine, as shown by backlash Ivanka Trump faced after posting her vaccine pictures on social media.

On Monday morning, the hosts of "Fox & Friends" said they took the vaccine and descibed it as a "relief."

Amid these mixed messages across conservative media, Carlson has staked out territory on the most vaccine skeptical end of the spectrum.

Just last week, Carlson baselessly attacked the vaccine by providing false and misleading data on thousands of Americans dying after taking the shot.

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His consistent undermining of public health experts - whom he tells his audience should not be trusted - recently brought a CNN doctor to demand Carlson be transparent with his viewers and tell them whether he's gotten the vaccine.

"Every night he has a million questions about this vaccine. Somehow, magically, he has no one on his show that can answer these questions - I'm willing to answer these questions," Dr. Jonathan Reiner said on Sunday after calling the primetime host a "saboteur."

"I have two questions for Tucker Carlson," he continued. "Number one, you have been vaccinated? Number two, why won't you tell your audience whether you have been vaccinated? I am tired of his nonsense."

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LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP)  The Islamic State group is using stealth to regenerate its forces by developing its military capabilities underground, and France is deploying its warships and aircraft in the region to help troops on the ground root out the threat, a senior French naval officer said Monday.

Rear Adm. Marc Aussedat, who leads a task force centered around Frances nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, said that 18 advanced Rafale fighter aircraft are carrying out reconnaissance flights in Syrian and Iraqi airspace to gauge the actions of IS, and to bring their weapons to bear if necessary.

Why are we doing this mission? ... First of all, is to give to these forces, coalition and Iraqi security forces, the means to fight the regeneration of Daesh on the ground. Daesh is hiding, Daesh is developing its capacity underground, Aussedat told reporters, referring to the Islamic State group's Arabic-language acronym.

Frances regional military muscle-flexing has manifested itself in Task Force 473, a naval force of several warships including anti-submarine frigates and an air defense destroyer thats centered around the De Gaulle. The country already has a frigate deployed in the east Mediterranean on a permanent basis.

The primary mission of the task forces five-month deployment in the east Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean is to assist Operation Inherent Resolve, a U.S.-led mission of forces from several countries tasked with eradicating IS remnants following its three-year occupation of large swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory.

Aussedat said the French task force has also helped in the fight against piracy and international trafficking in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean where it temporarily took command of Task Force 50, a U.S. naval force led by the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, to help build trust and cooperation between the two navies.

According to Aussedat, the deployment also aimed to project French power and to show the French flag in regions where the country has strategic interests including the eastern Mediterranean. French energy company Total, along with Italian partner Eni, is licensed to drill for oil and gas off Cyprus.

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The presence in these areas is made to prevent and to fight for stability, for the freedom of navigation, for our freedom of action and of course the interests of France but also of the partners which are linked with us, Aussedat said.

Its also a way to ensure our ability to appreciate, to assess the situation on a national basis, but also a European basis or on a NATO basis to prevent crises, but also to intervene if necessary.

Those partners include a Belgian and Greek frigate, as well as a U.S. destroyer that had earlier joined the task force. The French task force will end its deployment with a joint exercise in the western Mediterranean with U.K. aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The Charles de Gaulle made a similar port of call to Limassol a little over a year ago when reporters were allowed aboard the ship, but this year COVID-19 restrictions prevented that.

Cyprus Defense Ministry said it would carry joint maneuvers with the French task force as part of a bilateral defense cooperation agreement.
A French soldier mans a machine gun in the door of a NH 90 Caiman military helicopter during Operation Barkhane over Ndaki - Benoit Tessier/Reuters

The French government has blasted a new open letter by scores of serving French military personnel to Emmanuel Macron warning of impending civil war at the hands of Islamists as a crude manoeuvre by the far-Right.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin dismissed the letter, which includes dire warnings of societal collapse and army intervention, as a blatant bid to boost the far-Right ahead of regional and presidential elections and called on the anonymous signatories to have the bravery to identify themselves.

In all, 145,000 people, a mixture of military personnel and civilians, had endorsed the second letter by Monday afternoon and 1.7 million people had read it. There are about 426,000 serving members of the French armed forces, including the Gendarmerie.

An initial letter released two weeks ago by a group of semi-retired generals and mostly retired officers made similar claims that France was heading for disintegration and civil war at the hands of Islamists and Leftists.

It was supported by Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally and candidate in presidential elections in 12 months time.

Her party commands strong support from the armed forces, with one poll suggesting over 40 per cent of the military and 54 per cent of police officers voted for Ms Le Pen in the first round of the 2017 presidential election. She garnered 21 per cent from the wider electorate in round one.

The themes of immigration and security are dominating the French presidential pre-campaign after the murders in the past two weeks of a police officer by a drug dealer and a police employee by an Islamist who turned out to have arrived in France illegally from Tunisia a decade ago.

The armed forces are taking disciplinary action against at least 18 serving personnel, including four officers, who signed the first letter.

French armed forces chief of staff General Francois Lecointre - JOEL SAGET/AFP

However, on Sunday, Valeurs Actuelles, a Right-wing magazine that published the initial appeal, released a second letter warning that Frances survival is at stake if more radical action is not taken to stop the rot.

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The letter was penned by an unknown quantity of serving armed services personnel some of whom had seen active duty in Frances operations in Mali and Afghanistan and had taken part in Operation Sentinel, the anti-terrorist patrols in French streets.

Some of us lost their comrades. They gave their lives to destroy the Islamism to which you make concessions on our soil, they wrote.

As such, it went on, they are well placed to comment on the domestic situation. Its a professional assessment we are delivering. Because this downward spiral, we have seen it with our own eyes in many countries in crisis. It precedes collapse. It heralds chaos and violence, they claimed.

We have seen with our eyes the abandoned suburbs, the little deals with criminals. We witness the violence in our towns and villagesWe see hatred of France and its history becoming the norm, they wrote.

Yes, if civil war breaks out, the army will keep order on its own soil because it will be asked to do so, they reiterated.

Civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly. The survival of our country is at stake.

The text also compared the Macron administration to wartime collaborators with the Nazi occupiers and likened the officers who signed the first appeal to resistance fighters.

Those who sought to punish the "elders" who wrote the first letter were guilty of cowardice, deceit, perversion, it claimed.

Head of the "Rassemblement national" far-right party Marine Le Pen addresses MPs - THOMAS COEX/AFP

On Monday, Ms Le Pen reacted by saying civil war "is brewing" during a visit to western France. "In any case, it is a risk. Of course, there is always a risk of civil war," she said, adding that she welcomed the second letter as she had the first.

"It is clearly not a call to insurrection," she said. "Otherwise I would not be supporting it."

Speaking to BFM TV on Monday, Mr Darmanin, the interior minister, blasted the serving soldiers who allegedly signed the letter as cowards.

Were talking about unnamed people. Is that bravery to be anonymous?, he said.

When you want to go into politics, you run for election, he said, adding that the tribune was a crude manoeuvre to boost the far-Right little more than a month before regional elections in France and a year before a presidential ballot in which Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen are polling to face off in the second round.

The main instigators of the initial letter are alleged to have ties to far-Right, anti-immigration movements in France, as well as conspiracy theorists close to the Yellow Vest movement.

The first signatory, Jean-Pierre Fabre-Bernadac, ran security in the 1990s for the far-Right National Front - now called the National Rally. Another, Christian Piquemal, was stripped of his title as a four-star general after attending an anti-migrant rally in Calais.

Gerald Darmanin, French interior minister, at the Avignon police station after a French officer was killed during an anti-drug operation in Avignon on May 5, 2021

Mr Darmanin said: It appears were talking here about radicals who want to help the National Front (sic) win the elections.

When you are brave, you give your name. I think I know what Im talking about because I have several military people in my family. When you are a member of the armed forces, you dont do this sort of thing in hiding.

Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister, also blasted the latest appeal as the work of a few radicals who were harming the reputation of the bulk of the armed forces.

I am deeply wounded because this damages part of our forces, he said. The people who risk their life on the ground keep quiet, he said. They have weapons in their hands and they fight the Islamists.

French defence minister Florence Parly also responded on Monday, saying the letter "smacks of a vulgar political machination".

"You will have noted that this tribune uses the rhetoric, the tone and references of the far-Right. To what end? Surely to divide, split at a time when France needs to come together," she told reporters.

"What damages our Republic is when people attack our armed forces. Their neutrality is what allows the French to trust in their armed forces. Our soldiers are proud of that, the French are proud of it and I would like to reassert my faith in them."

The government was slow to react to the initial letter but polls suggest it has struck a chord.

One by Harris Interactive for LCI found that 58 per cent of those asked agreed with the letters conclusions and 73 per cent agreed with their view that France is disintegrating.
by Francis Khoo Thwe

His wife found his lifeless body in hospital with extensive bruises and organs removed. A doctor also died during a military raid in Thanlyin as did a pro-democracy protester in Myinmu. The wave of arrests continues. Military junta designated the government-in-exile a terrorist organisation.

Yangon (AsiaNews)  Ko Zaw Tun, a poet using the pen name Khet Thi, was tortured to death in police custody, this according to family members after they saw his bruised body, which had organs removed.

Khet Thi was arrested at his home in Shwebo along with his wife who was later released. He was an active opponent of last February's coup d'etat, when the military removed from office the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

A line from one of Khet Thi poems  They shot [protesters] in the heads / They dont know revolution lies in the heart  is popular among members of the pro-democracy movement.

Meanwhile, the repression goes on. A doctor died yesterday after falling from a flat in a housing complex in Thanlyin township while the military was searching the complex, where anti-regime protests had broken out the previous night. The authorities arrested 16 people, including two women and two children.

Junta forces also killed one protester in Myinmu yesterday afternoon, injuring four more. The protesters were demanding the release of two activists arrested in the morning.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military under General Min Aung Hlaing have killed about 780 people since the outbreak of anti-coup protests.

On Saturday, the junta designated the Government of National Unity (NUG) as a terrorist group, allegedly for bomb attacks, arson and killings.

The NUG was set up on 16 April and is composed of members of the National League for Democracy (Suu Kyi's party) and representatives of ethnic groups.

It seeks to undermine the military dictatorship and adopt a new, democratic federal constitution that would maintain national unity while devolving powers and resources to the countrys ethnic groups.
Rescue attempts are made as a small whale stranded in the River Thames is seen in this picture obtained from social media in London, Britain, on May 9, 2021. DAVID KORSAKS @dkfitldn/via REUTERS

A young minke whale was rescued from a shallow area of London's River Thames on Sunday.

But after officials brought it to another part of the river for evaluation, it slipped loose.

The whale is now missing again and rescuers fear it is injured.

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A 13-foot-long injured whale calf is missing hours after rescuers freed it from a lock in London's Thames river on Sunday.

The young minke whale was freed from the Thames' Richmond Lock after it became stuck on boat rollers.

A spokesperson for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution told The Guardian that the whale was "displaying concerning behaviors," and health officials were concerned it may be "unwell."

But after the whale was brought to another location after the rescue, officials lost sight of it overnight, according to CNN.

Rescue personnel work to save a small whale stranded in the River Thames in this picture obtained via social media, in London, Britain, May 9, 2021. RICHARD FRANK @RICHARDFRANK/via REUTERS

British Divers Marine Life Rescue team spokesperson Martin Garside told CNN that the whale was brought to a main part of the Thames using an inflatable pontoon, but it "made its own decision" and swam into the main river alone.

"Where it is now, we don't know," Garside told CNN. "It slipped away in darkness as the tide rose last night."

Rescuers are hoping to find the whale on Monday so they can evaluate its health condition.

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DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran confirmed publicly for the first time on Monday that it is in talks with its regional arch rival Saudi Arabia, saying it would do what it could to resolve issues between them.

"De-escalation of tensions between the two Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf region is in the interest of both nations and the region," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a televised weekly news conference.

Iran was waiting for the outcome of the talks, he said: "We welcome resolving of the issues that have existed between the two countries ... We will use our best efforts in this regard."

Ambassador Rayed Krimly, head of policy planning at Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry, last week told Reuters that talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran were aimed at reducing regional tensions. He said it was too early to judge the outcome and Riyadh wanted to see verifiable deeds.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a rivalry that has played out in proxy conflicts across the region, from Yemen to Syria to Iraq. The two countries cut diplomatic ties in 2016. Middle East officials and sources said last month that they had held two rounds of talks.

The arrival of President Joe Biden in the United States has altered the diplomatic calculus across the Middle East. Washington aims to restart a nuclear deal with Iran that Biden's predecessor Donald Trump abandoned, and has called for Saudi Arabia to end a war against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi forces.

Some sources told Reuters last month that Tehran had promised to use its influence to halt Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, in return asking Riyadh to support the nuclear talks.

Nuclear talks in Vienna between Tehran and world powers aim to bring Washington and Iran back into full compliance with the nuclear deal. In retaliation for sanctions reimposed since 2018 by Trump, Iran has breached nuclear restrictions under the pact.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Peter Graff)
The Biden administration and Israel clashed over the recent escalation in violence between security forces and Palestinians at a holy site in Jerusalem, with the Israelis asking the White House not to intervene, according to Israeli officials.

Why it matters: This is the first major crisis between Israel and the Palestinians that the Biden administration has had to deal with.

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After four years of close to no criticism by the Trump administration for its actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the Israeli government is now faced with a U.S. government that is much more critical.

At least 215 Palestinians were injured during clashes with Israeli police on Monday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including 153 who were hospitalized, according to AP.

The big picture: President Biden has thus far viewed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a very low priority in comparison to other foreign policy issues.

The White House was not interested in spending much political capital or time on the issue, and was seeking to avoid a fight with Israel over the Palestinian conflict.

But the Jerusalem crisis that erupted over the weekend prompted many members of Congress and progressive organizations to weigh in and demand that the White House intervene.

Driving the news: The Biden administration has been monitoring the escalation in Jerusalem in recent days and raised its concerns with Israel both privately and publicly.

The issue was mainly being dealt with by the State Department, but the White House weighed in on Sunday when national security adviser Jake Sullivan called his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben Shabbat.

The White House said Sullivan raised concerns about tensions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, where 300 Palestinians are under threat of eviction from their homes.

Sullivan also "encouraged the Israeli government to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations" being held on Monday, according to a White House summary of the call.

The other side: The language used in the White House summary was quite mild and moderate, but the Israelis responded with their own version of the call that gave an impression the conversation was much more difficult.

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Israeli officials said Ben Shabbat told Sullivan during the phone call that Israel believes the Biden administration and the rest of the international community should stay out of the crisis in Jerusalem and avoid pressing Israel.

Ben Shabbat told Sullivan that international intervention is a reward to the Palestinian rioters and those who back them who were seeking international pressure on Israel," according to an Israeli official briefed on the call,

The Israeli official said Ben Shabbat told Sullivan that Israel is handling events in Jerusalem "from a position of sovereignty and responsibility regardless of Palestinian provocations."

The Israeli national security adviser told his U.S. counterpart that if the U.S. and the international community want to help in restoring calm, they should put pressure on the inciting elements on the Palestinian side, the Israeli official said.

The White House said Sullivan assured Ben-Shabbat that the U.S. will remain fully engaged in the days ahead to promote calm in Jerusalem.

Whats next: The United Nations Security Council is meeting for a closed session later on Monday to get updates about the Jerusalem escalation.

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Tzipi Hotovely has accused the Palestinian leadership, including Hamas and the PLO, of incitement after clashes in Jerusalem.

Video Transcript

- Worshippers say that they were provoked by the police.

TZIPI HOTOVELY: The police is there to keep law and order. This is their duty, and the fact that they are policemen and they had to go to the holy place is just because of one reason. We have seen-- I mean, everything is under a video today, you know? Everything today is--

- On the holiest, the holiest night of Ramadan. The timing was Terrible, wasn't it

TZIPI HOTOVELY: Let me say that for years, for years, the holy month of Ramadan, we allow and we enable to thousands and thousands of Muslims to go and pray on the mountain. And for many years, no provocations, no Israeli soldiers have to be on Temple Mountain. So people in the house, when they are watching us, need to ask, what happened this time? So the answer is incitement, of the leadership of the Palestinians, coming both from the Hamas leaders and from the PLO leaders, and this is a serious problem. While Israel was calling everyone to calm down, to come into peace-- Jerusalem is a city of peace.
AMMAN (Reuters) - Several thousand Jordanians protested near Israel's embassy in Amman on Monday, calling on their government to scrap its peace deal with Israel in the face of serious Israeli-Palestinian clashes around Jerusalem's al Aqsa mosque.

Riot police blocked roads leading to the fortified embassy complex to keep back demonstrators who gathered around the Kaloti mosque in the capital near the Israeli mission.

"No Jewish embassy on Arab land!" protesters chanted. Others clapped when they heard that the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip had fired rockets toward the Jerusalem area and southern Israel on Monday. [L1N2MX0BO]

"Revenge...revenge...Oh, Hamas, bomb Tel Aviv!" they chanted.

Jordan which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1994, summoned the Israeli charge d'affaires in Amman on Sunday to voice the kingdom's condemnation over what it said were Israeli "attacks on worshippers" around the al Aqsa compound, which is in the walled Old City of Jerusalem.

King Abdullah, whose Hashemite family has custodianship of Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem, said Israel should respect worshippers and international law safeguarding Arab rights. [L1N2MW060]

Al Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, has been a focal point of violence in Jerusalem throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Tensions have been especially high due to the planned evictions of several Palestinian families from a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers.

Most of Jordan's 10 million citizens are of Palestinian origin. They or their parents were expelled or fled to Jordan in the fighting that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948.

They have close family ties with their kin on the other side of the Jordan River in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Republican Representative from Colorado Lauren Boebert joins members of the House Freedom Caucus, who are among the most conservative Republican lawmakers, to speak to the media about their opposition to the Equality Act (EPA)

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert invoked former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill while complaining about coronavirus restrictions in Britain.

The controversial Republican from Colorado appeared to imply the UK was weak for using social distancing restrictions in order to curb the pandemic.

"As of May 17, Brits can hug again per their government. Theyve sure come a long way since 'we will fight them on the beaches,'" she wrote, referencing a famous speech Churchill gave to the House of Commons in 1940 addressing the potential invasion of Britain by Nazi Germany.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson approved a gradual reopening plan for the UK on Monday that would allow limited indoor gatherings again on 17 May, including "cautious hugging."

The congresswoman  who spent her first month dodging calls for her removal from office for her alleged incitement of the Capitol insurrection  has worked to counter government mandates intended to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

In January, Ms Boebert tried to pass a bill that would outlaw Joe Biden's federal mask mandate.

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person may be required to wear a face covering on Federal property or while traveling in interstate commerce," the bill's language read.

She later explained that she would prefer if the president put people back to work and re-opened, despite the fact that in January few Americans outside of the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions had received their vaccines.

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"The Biden administration is already headed in the wrong direction. Instead of focusing on reopening our economy and getting Americans back to work, this president wants more mandates and more lockdowns. Continued federal overreach wont end the Covid-19 pandemic or put food on the table," she said.

However, it appears that the federally coordinated vaccination campaign is slowly returning the US to a pre-pandemic state, and unemployment pay extensions have helped to keep food on the tables of out of work Americans.

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The congresswoman and other conservative voices have criticised the government for issuing mask mandates and, in the early days of the pandemic, shutdowns. They argue that people should be free to choose whether or not they want to wear a mask or dine inside, regardless of how those decision may effect other Americans  or the world.

During the Second World War, citizens in both Britain and the US endured the rationing of food, gas, and numerous other goods to help ensure supplies needed for the war were available.

In fact, just five years before Mr Churchill became the prime minister  on 10 May 1940, exactly 81 years before Ms Boeberts reference to him  the British government issued all citizens, men, women and children, with "general civilian respirators", better known as gas masks.

In the wake of World War I and the lead up to World War II, British civilians were instructed not only to carry their gas masks with them, but to practise with the bulky, rubbery masks for 10 to 15 minutes one day each week.

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Adam Kinzinger says he warned GOP of impending violence before Capitol riot

White House wont say if Colonial paid ransom over DarkSide hacking demands

Trump State Department aide to likely get plea deal for role in Capitol riots
House Republicans are forging ahead with their plan to oust Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as GOP Conference Chair -- with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announcing a recall vote will be held on Wednesday -- illustrating the tight grip former President Donald Trump continues to hold over the Republican Party six months after the presidential election Trump continues to falsely claim was stolen.

Cheney's refusal to side with Trump and other Republicans on what she's called "the big lie" and her vote to impeach the former president for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack has made her an outlier in her party, and while it's not the first time this year she's faced an internal challenge, it will be the first time she's facing one without the support of Republican leadership.

"If we are to succeed in stopping the radical Democrat agenda from destroying our country, these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team," McCarthy wrote in a letter to GOP colleagues Monday obtained by ABC News. "Having heard from so many of you in recent days, it's clear that we need to make a change."

McCarthy over the weekend publicly endorsed four-term New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, making all but certain Cheney will be stripped of her role as soon as this week. McCarthy follows the No. 2 House Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana in voicing support for Stefanik.

PHOTO: House Republican Conference chair Rep. center, accompanied by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of La., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill, Jan. 15, 2019, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP, File)

Cheney has not responded to McCarthy, but least one House Republican who joined Cheney and eight other House Republicans in voting to impeach Trump, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, went after House leadership on Monday and said Cheney is being run out of her post for only one reason: because she is consistent in her message and refuses to lie about the truth.

"I think when it comes down to it," he told the National Press Club Monday, "what she is being removed for is making it uncomfortable and being consistent, and God bless her for having the consistency to tell the truth. Because history -- I'm going to tell you, in the longterm -- is going to write very well about her."

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"She's being run out for one thing: her consistency. She said the same exact thing that Kevin McCarthy said on Jan. 6 which is Donald Trump is responsible," Kinzinger added.

MORE: Cheney sees 'turning point' for party already turned to Trump: The Note

In addition to describing McCarthy as hypocritical, Kinzinger said he dismissed his own warnings about violence in the days ahead of Jan. 6.

"I was very disappointed when my party's leaders -- Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise in particular -- decided that winning the next election or winning the majority was more important than a clear-eyed recognition of what happened on Jan. 6," Kinzinger said. "What happened on Jan. 6 is a lie led to violence."

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Stefanik, the frontrunner to replace Cheney, was among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn election results and defended questioning results in a floor speech after the Capitol attack and has expressed full support for the controversial Republican-backed audit of election results in Arizona, which election experts have worried will further undermine confidence in the electoral process.

Asked on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" whether he supported Stefanik for the No. 3 House Republican position, McCarthy said, "Yes, I do," and pointed to what he said GOP messaging should be.

PHOTO: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks during his weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE)

"Any member can take whatever position they believe in," McCarthy said, denying Cheney's ousting was based on her criticisms of Trump. "What we are talking about, it's a position in leadership. We are in one of our biggest battles ever for this nation and the direction of whether this century will be ours. As conference chair, you have the most critical jobs of the messenger going forward."

MORE: Cheney not fighting, but not backing down in face of Trump, Republican backlash

While Stefanik, nearly 20 years her junior with a more moderate voting record than Cheney -- who once avoided saying Trump's name but became one of his staunchest supporters -- and her allies are hoping to a quick vote to add her to the leadership team, that vote is unlikely to happen on Wednesday. It could happen later this week, after Stefanik formally makes her pitch to colleagues -- potentially in a separate closed-door meeting.

MORE: Rep. Elise Stefanik on path to GOP leadership after aligning with Trump

As House Republicans dealt with internal drama over the potential ouster, the White House said Monday it wouldn't affect negotiations over President Joe Biden's agenda.

"The president knows that there is some introspection going on in the Republican Party right now, and a determination about who they're going to be, who they want to lead them, and what they want to represent moving forward. He's not going to focus on that," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, denying that the situation would influence Biden's thinking as he heads into his first in-person meeting Wednesday with McCarthy and congressional leaders.

PHOTO: Rep. Elise Stefanik, center, accompanied by, from left, Reps. Mike Johnson, Mark Meadows, Lee Zeldin, and Jim Jordan, speaks to the media before the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 23, 2010. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP, File)

Ahead of his weekend endorsement of Stefanik, McCarthy last week was overheard saying he has "lost confidence" in Cheney. The pair shared an awkward moment on Capitol Hill in late February when they disagreed responding to a reporters' question over whether Trump should speak at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference.

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Trump also weighed in last week from Mar-a-Lago -- the once "Winter White House" which has still seen prominent GOP figures visit since Trump left office, McCarthy included -- to criticize Cheney in a statement as a "warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership" and endorse Stefanik as "a far superior choice."

Stefanik, in a recent interview with former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka, took her own jab at Cheney, saying the House Conference Chair's job "is not to attack members of the conference and attack President Trump."

MORE: GOP congressman Gaetz, Trump Jr. urge Wyomingites to oust fellow Republican Liz Cheney

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Cheney will need a simple majority to keep her post. In February, Republicans voted 145-61 to keep her in the coveted role after similar circumstances forced a vote. With 212 Republicans currently serving in the House, her critics need about 45 more votes to remove her.

Now, although Cheney isn't backing down from the next imminent challenge, she is not openly fighting the move, either. Branding herself as an "unapologetic conservative," she has continued to warn there are consequences if the GOP continues to push Trump's big lie.

PHOTO: Rep. Liz Cheney speaks with reporters following a GOP strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 20, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP, FILE)

Late last Wednesday, she published an opinion piece in The Washington Post laying out her case, writing, "The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution."

"History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be," she said.

Kinzinger calls out GOP leadership for backing election 'lie' over Cheney originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
by Shafique Khokhar

For Muhammad Ali, father of a 17-year-old boy, no one thinks or cares about disabled people. Caritas made him feel that my son is also important for someone. Providing food packages among Muslim brothers and sisters is an example of religious harmony that transcends differences, said Caritas Karachi executive secretary.

Karachi (AsiaNews)  Today no one thinks or cares about disabled people, said Muhammad Ali speaking to AsiaNews. His 17-year-old son, Muhammad Rizwan, suffers from intellectual disability. I thank Caritas Pakistan Karachi for making me feel that my son is also important for someone, he added.

We are poor and raising a child with an intellectual disability is not easy, but we try to do our best. Due to our poverty, we could not provide him medicines and healthy food. Today we received a food package from Caritas, which allows us to joyfully celebrate the feast of Eid, which marks the end of the holy month of fasting of Ramadan.

Last Friday, Caritas organised an Eid festival in Karachi, with the support of the Robin Hood Army Pakistan. Christian activists handed out food packages to Muslim families with disabled minors.

The event was held at the St Catharine Boys Hostel, Khuda Ki Basti, Karachi. Some 34 families from the Lyari resettlement received gifts for Eid from Mansha Noor, Amir Robin of Caritas, and Mr Faisal from the Robin Hood Army.

According to UN estimates, more than 650 million people have disabilities in the world, mostly in underdeveloped nations. Pakistan officially recognised the issue in 2002.

A survey by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics titled Disabled population by nature of disability reported 3,286,630 people with disabilities in the country. The latter include blindness, deafness, speech impairment, as well as mental and physical disabilities.

Distributing food packages among Muslim brothers and sisters is an example of religious harmony, said Caritas Karachi executive secretary Mansha Noor. Humanity is higher than differences of religion and we will continue this practice in the future.
Charlie D'Agata reports from Kabul, which was rocked over the weekend by the deadliest bomb attack in the country in over a year. A car bomb was detonated in front of a girls' middle school and two more bombs exploded after students rushed out. It comes as the U.S. is drawing down troops to leave the country completely by September 11.

Video Transcript

ANTHONY MASON: We're getting the clearest picture yet of a horrifying bomb attack on a school in Afghanistan. A series of explosions on Saturday killed at least 53 people and wounded more than 150. Officials say most of the victims were school girls. Charlie D'Agata visited a hospital in Kabul where some of the young victims are being treated. Charlie, good morning.

CHARLIE D'AGATA: Good morning. It takes a lot to shock this country. But what happened over the weekend took cruelty to a whole new level. We've just come back from the hospital. I have to tell you what you're about to see is hard to watch. With her extensive internal injuries, doctors aren't sure whether 14-year-old Mariam is going to make it.

[BEEPING]

They do know that 18-year-old Habiba will not. By fate alone, Zeinab happened to be further back from classmates who died on the spot.

- [SPEAKING ARABIC]

CHARLIE D'AGATA: The explosion felt like it came from the ground in the sky, the 13-year-old said, and I started running. She then noticed her arm was bleeding from a chunk of shrapnel.

- [SPEAKING ARABIC]

CHARLIE D'AGATA: She told us she doesn't understand why someone would want to kill her. I think they just don't want us to study, she said. On Sunday, parents laid those children who didn't survive to rest. Sent to school in search of a better life in the hope of a brighter future, dreams now buried along with their daughters.

[CHAOTIC SCENES]

The interior ministry told us a massive car bomb right outside the gates was followed by 2 more explosions from devices planted on the street, a vicious attack designed to kill or maim as many children as possible right after the bell rang just as schoolgirls came rushing out. The bombing underscores the widespread instability American troops leave behind as they start to head home.

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[GUN FIRING]

Afghan security forces are already overwhelmed trying to push back militants on the battlefield while keeping civilians safe at home. Zeinab told us she doesn't know what happened to her friends, and she's determined to return to school when she can. And you won't be afraid?

- [SPEAKING ARABIC]

- [SPEAKING ARABIC]

CHARLIE D'AGATA: No, if I get scared, they'll hit us again, she said, then I won't be able to study. The Taliban say they're not responsible for the attack. ISIS has a history of bombings in that area. The Taliban also say they're declaring a ceasefire, a three-day ceasefire that starts when the Muslim holiday of Eid later this week. Tony.

TONY DODKOUPIL: It's unspeakable violence. Charlie D'Agata for us in Kabul. Charlie, thank you very much.
A melted amalgam of nuclear fuel at Chernobyl is beginning to react.

The issue is rainwater, which has activated materials buried deep within the closed plant.

The reaction could burn out naturally, but it could also require human intervention.

On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 exploded at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, causing the worst nuclear accident in history. Now, thirty-five years later, smoldering nuclear embers are still buried within Chernobyl site, raising questions about just what might happen thereand whats at stake.

 You think science is badass. So do we. Lets nerd out over it together.

Ukrainian scientists recently realized that leftover nuclear fission fuel made of uranium has begun reacting again in an inaccessible room deep within a damaged area of the shuttered plant. The telltale sign is increased readings of neutron activitya measurable byproduct of nuclear fission, according to the scientists from Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP) in Kyiv, Ukraine, who held discussions about dismantling the reactor last month, according to Science magazine.



Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is surrounded by a massive megastructure called Chernobyl New Safe Confinement (NSC). At NSC, there are hundreds of sensors working around the clock to monitor factors like air quality, and the sensors have detected increased neutron activity near the fallen reactor hall where the embers are.

Photo credit: German Meyer - Getty Images

Some zones within the NSC are fully sealed off in their own sarcophagus-like structure called the Shelterincluding the reactor hall where scientists have noticed the increasing neutrons. That means tough questions about what the best course of action is.

Inside the reactor hall, everything is a dangerous mess. Sciences Richard Stone reports:

When [the] reactors core melted down, uranium fuel rods, their zirconium cladding, graphite control rods, and sand dumped on the core to try to extinguish the fire melted together into a lava. It flowed into the reactor halls basement rooms and hardened into formations called fuel-containing materials (FCMs), which are laden with about 170 tons of irradiated uranium95 [percent] of the original fuel.

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Its important to note that experts dont fear a second Chernobyl disaster, as there isnt enough viable material or surrounding collateral for that kind of threat or damage. But the right kind of small nuclear activity could bring down the Shelter itself, which is 34 years old and rickety.

Scientists believe rainwater leakage has caused similar higher neutron readings in the past, and theyve since installed special chemical sprinklers that can stanch neutrons in most of the interior of the Shelter. But some basement rooms are just out of reach even for the sprinklers.

Photo credit: Pam Wright / EyeEm - Getty Images

One of the NSCs great purposes is to finally, fully block out the rain. But water from before has still leached into the farthest reaches, where water helps to slow the neutrons and make them more likely to interact with the remaining nuclear fuel. Scientists figured the threat would decrease as the amount of water dried and receded, but somehow, the opposite has happened.

So, what are the next steps? The ISPNPP scientists say the growth in neutron activity is low enough that they still have a few years before theyll need to act either way. In that time, they say, the incipient reaction could very well sputter out on its ownespecially once the water supply fully dries out. Now that the NSC keeps the rain out, there isnt any fresh water flowing in to continue to fuel new reactions.

But if the reaction doesnt run itself out, the scientists are discussing their options. The location is far too poisoned with radiation for any human to venture in, but they might build a robot that can maneuver into the affected area to spray neutron-stanching chemicals, for example. Monitoring what continues to shift, disintegrate, and react within the Chernobyl complex remains a full-time job for some of the worlds greatest minds.

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They took a total of thirty-two shots when the provided circumstances made it unsafe to take a single shot, the probe found.

An internal report released by the Professional Standards Unit of the Louisville Police Department found the Kentucky officers should not have fired into the home of Breonna Taylor on March 13, 2020.

They took a total of thirty-two shots when the provided circumstances made it unsafe to take a single shot. This is how the wrong person was shot and killed, Sgt. Andrew Meyer wrote in a report dated Dec. 4 and obtained by ABC News.

An internal report released by the Professional Standards Unit of the Louisville Police Department found the Kentucky officers should not have fired into the home of Breonna Taylor (above), killing her. (Photo courtesy of Taylor family)

Meyer wrote that all three Louisville Police officers  Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and now-former detectives Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison  violated use-of-force policies when they ignored the significant risk of hitting someone who did not pose a threat.

Taylor was killed when the officers rained a barrage of bullets into her apartment while serving a no-knock warrant. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was legally armed, fired a warning shot that allegedly struck Mattingly in the leg. The officer then returned fire.

Read More: MaKhia Bryant hoped to return to mom before she died in foster care system

However, the internal report noted that Walker was not a clear, isolated target because he was in a bedroom, and the apartment was dimly lit.

Ms. Taylors safety should have been considered before he (Mattingly) returned fire, Meyer wrote.

Taylor was shot six times by bullets from at least two officers.

Hankison was the only officer indicted in the shooting, and those charges were only for wanton endangerment because three bullets missed Taylor and entered her neighbors apartment.

Read More: San Diego sheriffs employee awarded $60K in settlement

An attorney for Taylors family, Lonita Baker, told a local news affiliate the Professional Standards Unit report raises more questions for her clients. Had the officers did as they were trained, they would have retreated, she said. According to this investigator, it didnt justify any shots because they couldnt assess the threat.

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Taylors slaying last spring has been a clarion call for banning no-knock warrants across the country, and the state of Kentucky passed a partial ban on no-knock warrants last month. Its new law only permits no-knock warrants if there is clear and convincing evidence that the crime being investigated would qualify a person, if convicted, as a violent offender.

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The post Officer shouldnt have shot into Breonna Taylors apartment, internal probe finds appeared first on TheGrio.
A man and woman in Indiana were arrested Friday after their young daughter tested positive for meth and fentanyl, police say.

The 3-year-old girl had tested positive for the substances during an investigation by the Miami County Division of the Indiana Department of Child Service, Indiana State Police said in a news release.

Police launched their own investigation into Byron Parsons, 54, and his wife, Breanna Parsons, 29, after MCDCS requested help from police in removing their daughter from their home in Peru, located roughly 60 miles southwest of Fort Wayne.

Police found the girl and her mother during a traffic stop.

During a search of the Parsons home, officials discovered methamphetamine, heroin, a syringe and other drug paraphernalia, police said.

Byron Parsons was found at work, where police said he was in possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. He was arrested.

The couple were taken to Miami County Jail and are expected to face charges of neglect of a dependent, possession of a syringe, possession of heroin, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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The parents of Finnegan Elder, one of two Bay Area college students sentenced to life in prison in the killing of a police officer in Italy, discussed the guilty verdict in an ABC News exclusive interview.

Video Transcript

ETHAN ELDER: Watching your-- your son mature in prison is very hard.

- This morning the parents of Finnegan Lee Elder, the 21-year-old now sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an Italian police officer, breaking their silence.

LEAH ELDER: And there's a lot of things in Finn's reality now, of his life as a prisoner, that I just can't think about. It's too hard. It's too painful.

ETHAN ELDER: This tragedy that happened-- it's changed us all.

- Elder and his friend, 20-year-old Gabriel Natale-Horthe, were vacationing in Rome in July 2019, when they tried to buy cocaine. The drug deal went wrong and police say they were called in as part of a sting operation.

When Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega and his partner went to meet the American teens, prosecutors say Finnegan fatally stabbed Cerciello Rega 11 times with a seven inch knife. Now he and Natale-Horthe are facing life behind bars in Italy.

LEAH ELDER: He feels like he has been sentenced to something worse than the death penalty.

- Finnegan's parents arguing the punishment far outweighs the crime and that their son has been deeply mischaracterized.

LEAH ELDER: Finnegan, first and foremost, has an incredibly kind and very, very gentle soul. He is honest to the point of-- I used to say when he was younger, that Fin vomits the truth. He does not see a reason to lie. So he's incredibly kind. He's incredibly sensitive and he's painfully, painfully honest.

- Cerciello Rega was slain just a month after his wedding. His widow, there in the courtroom when the guilty verdict was read.

[NON-ENGLISH]

- Finnegan's mother, overcome with emotion, and his father reportedly yelling out, "Finnegan, I love you," as his son was let out of the courtroom. Now his parents, concerned about their son's mental state, saying he suffers from depression.

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LEAH ELDER: I understand that a man's life was lost that night. I understand that Finnegan should serve some time. I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence that's proportionate and something that helps at least acknowledges his mental health issues.

Finnegan's American attorney believes the life sentence, Italy's most severe punishment, is too harsh and they're appealing.

- They gave him and they gave Gabe a sentence that is befitting a mafia boss who wantonly kills innocent people. How could these two boys possibly be in that same league?
While there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the stricken Colonial Pipeline, as the company said Monday that it expects the outage to be resolved by the end of the week, oil analysts say drivers in the Southeast, from roughly Alabama to potentially as far north as the nation's capital, could see brief supply disruptions.

Exactly where those sporadic shortages could occur are hard to predict, experts say, but they agree about what could make it much worse: panicking.

The Colonial Pipeline, which typically moves 2.5 million barrels of fuel per day, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, has been shut down since Friday, when the company's technology infrastructure was targeted in a ransomware cyberattack.

Analysts said the problem isn't really the prospect of higher prices at the pump, per se  gas stations can charge for gas only if they have it in their tanks to sell in the first place.

"It's not so much a pricing event even for the affected area. This is going to be a supply event," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.com.

Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said: "I expect that there will be some sporadic outages, but they will be short-lived as the pipeline restores operations."

Had the shutdown needed weeks to resolve, he said, governments in the affected states would have wanted to consider implementing gas rationing, such as setting per-gallon daily limits and restricting fill-ups to alternate days. At the federal level, the government is suspending regulations on an emergency basis (as it has sometimes done after major hurricanes) to make it easier for trucks to ferry fuel to cities squeezed by the shutdown.

Landlocked Southern cities  Atlanta, in particular  risk running low on fuel, numerous oil analysts said. Of particular concern is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: The airport, the primary hub of Delta Air Lines, was the country's busiest before the coronavirus pandemic. The sharp curtailment of air travel, particularly business travel, is a silver lining in this case, an expert said.

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"Large airport tank farms typically hold four to five days' supply, and with activity  particularly international, which consumes the greatest gallon uplift per flight  still depressed, this is probably closer to six to seven days' supply," airline industry analyst Robert W. Mann said.

Restoring pipeline operations by the end of the week, he said, will be "touch and go," but it should be soon enough to avoid canceling flights, rerouting passengers and switching out planes  all options that carriers probably would have had to explore, he said.

If the outage had been projected to drag on for multiple weeks, refiners along the Gulf Coast could have been forced to throttle production, because they would have no place to pump the refined product. "If the pipeline doesn't restart, refiners have to reduce their operation, because they're going to run out of storage space," Lipow said.

DeHaan said any event that would slow refining capacity heading into the summer driving season would be bad news. "Ahead of Memorial Day, to have a refinery partially shut down, that's not a great outcome," he said. "There's going to be some ripple effects just contingent on how long this continues."

The worst response from the public, industry professionals said, would be to hoard gasoline, which could squeeze supply even more in the short term and distort consumption behavior in a way that could cause unintended consequences.

"This is definitely a bad situation. Price will be impacted, but it won't be anything like the number of likely outages we could see, especially if motorists panic and hoard," DeHaan said.

John Hall, chairman of the London-based Alfa Energy Group, said, "If panic buying kicks in, prices could rise further well over the $3 level, but until the pipeline operator can say the line is up and running, the backlog will build and concern will remain."

There are other ways to get fuel to areas where supply could be at risk, but they are slower, more fragmented and pricier.

"There's a lot of moving pieces, logistically," DeHaan said. Cities with port access, like Savannah, Georgia, or Charleston, South Carolina, might be able to get fuel via tanker vessel, and a smaller pipeline, the Plantation Pipeline, could make up some of the shortfall, but because its capacity is less than a third of that of the hobbled Colonial Pipeline, it would be "a trickle," he said.

"Shortages ... are already starting to happen," he said, noting that the GasBuddy app just activated a feature  more typically used after natural disasters  that lets drivers see at a glance which gas stations have fuel.

"The more hoarding happens, the longer this event impacts supply," DeHaan said. "Hoarding is going to drastically strain the system ... because there's no intermediate breathing room."
BANGKOK (AP)  Three senior journalists working for a news agency in Myanmar who fled after the military government ordered its operations to stop have been arrested by police in northern Thailand, their editor said Monday.

The three work for DVB, also known as Democratic Voice of Burma, an online and broadcast news agency, its executive director and chief editor, Aye Chan Naing, said in an email. Burma is the former name for Myanmar and is still used by some opponents of military rule.

He said the three, along with two activists, whom he did not identify, were arrested Sunday in Chiang Mai during a random search by police. They were charged with illegal entry into Thailand, he said.

From photos published by local Thai media, it appeared that the journalists may have continued to report from a single-story house in which they seemed to have set up a makeshift video production studio.

Myanmars junta, which seized power in February and ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has attempted to silence independent news media by withdrawing their licenses and by arresting journalists. About 40 are currently in detention, including at least two who work for DVB.

Most of the detained journalists are being held on a provision in the Penal Code that prohibits comments that cause fear, spread false news, (or) agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a Government employee. Violations are punishable by up to three years in prison.

DVB strongly urges the Thai authorities to not deport them back to Burma, as their life will be in serious danger if they were to return, the statement said. They have been covering the demonstrations in Burma until March 8  the day the military authority revoked DVBs TV license and banned DVB from doing any kind of media work.

Large street protests against military rule were being held in many cities in Myanmar at that time. Government security forces increasingly used deadly force to disperse them, killing at least 750 protesters and bystanders, according to several detailed independent tallies. The junta says says its forces have killed one-third that total and that using lethal force was justified to stop what it calls rioting.

The statement also appealed for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene to protect the journalists' safety, and for the international community to ask the Thai government not to deport them.
By Catarina Demony

LISBON (Reuters) - Three Portuguese border officers were sentenced to several years in jail on Monday, in a much-awaited ruling over the fatal beating last year of a Ukrainian man in a Lisbon airport.

The Lisbon court found that Ihor Homeniuk, 42, was kicked, beaten, handcuffed with his hands and legs taped and then left to slowly asphyxiate on the floor of a room at a detention centre at the airport. He had come to Portugal to look for work.

Homeniuk's death sent shock waves across the nation, ultimately leading to the abolishment of the border service last month amid calls from human right advocates to tackle abuses.

"You, in acting the way you did, took someone's life and ruined yours," Judge Rui Coelho told the officers, who will now stay under house arrest until they are sent to prison. "The death was a direct consequence of the defendants' conduct."

Two of them, Duarte Laja and Luis Silva, were sentenced to nine years behind bars while Bruno Sousa will spend seven years in a jail. The officers will appeal the decision.

Although the murder charge was dropped as the court said the three officers had no intention to kill Homeniuk, the judge said they "wanted to hit, cause pain and discomfort" to the victim.

The three officers were found guilty of inflicting serious bodily harm that ultimately led to Homeniuk's death, the court said.

Pictures taken during Homeniuk's autopsy and seen by Reuters showed his body covered in dark bruises, from his face to his ankles, with deep handcuff marks on his wrists.

"Justice has been done," Jose Schwalbach, the lawyer for Homeniuk's widow, told reporters as he left court. "It will serve as an example for all officers who do their job with difficulty every day but who cannot abuse the power they have."

(Reporting by Catarina Demony in Lisbon; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Matthew Lewis)
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greece reopened primary schools and junior highs for in-person classes Monday for the first time in months, as the country eases coronavirus restrictions even as daily infections and deaths remain stubbornly high.

Greek courts also restarted many activities, with civil courts reopening to all cases and criminal courts now hearing cases involving defendants in custody and any cases reaching the statute of limitations next year.

Long lines developed outside the courthouse in the northern city of Thessaloniki as lawyers, witnesses, defendants and court staff arrived. Limits have been placed on the number of people inside each courtroom, forcing authorities to adapt.

Greece has been under coronavirus-related restrictions since early November, but has gradually begun easing the measures as it gears up for the vital summer tourist season. Restaurants, bars and cafes opened last week for outdoor service for the first time since November, while retail stores have also reopened on an appointment basis.

The gradual reopening comes despite new infections and COVID-19 deaths remaining high, straining Greeces health system and putting intensive care units near capacity. The country of nearly 11 million people has seen over 11,000 deaths, and 60 new deaths were announced Monday.

Domestic travel between regions will restart at the end of this week, when museums will also reopen, while open-air movie theaters reopen next week.

On May 14, an extremely important step will be taken, both for society and for the economy, with the opening of the tourism sector and the resumption of domestic regional travel, government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni said Monday.

The tourism industry is a major revenue source for Greece, and the government is hoping international visitors will help bolster an economy still suffering after a decade-long financial crisis that saw the countrys gross domestic product shrink by a quarter.

All school grades are now open in Greece. Students and teachers are required to carry out home COVID-19 tests twice a week and upload the results to be allowed to attend classes in person. The tests are provided free of charge and the same requirement has been extended to workers in several sectors that have reopened.

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___

Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Srdjan Nedeljkovic and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

__

Follow more of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
by Bernardo Cervellera

Msgr. Giuseppe Guo Jincai, formerly excommunicated, is to ordain three new priests tomorrow. No consultation with the two bishops of Xuanhua and Xiwanzi. The rush to ordain priests before the Winter Olympics.

Rome (AsiaNews) - Tomorrow the bishop of Chengde, Msgr. Giuseppe Guo Jincai, will ordain 3 priests for the so-called diocese of Zhangjiakou. It is a cause of great pain and scandal among the faithful of Hebei and many say that "once again the Agreement between China and the Vatican has been betrayed". Also because there are some candidates with mental problems and others with moral problems among the ordinands.

Msgr. Guo Jincai is one of the bishops whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Francis, on the occasion of the Sino-Vatican Provisional Agreement (22 September 2018). Msgr. Guo was ordained bishop in 2010 without a papal mandate. At the signing of the Agreement, the pope also established the diocese of Chengde for him, which already existed according to the administrative divisions of the government, but had not been recognized by the Holy See. Bishop Guo is also one of the two bishops who was allowed to participate in part of the Synod on Youth (photo 2).

The diocese of Zhangjiakou is another diocese established in 1980 by the Chinese government, but currently not recognized by the Vatican. It is entrusted by the government to a diocesan administrator, Fr. Wang Zhengui.

From the Holy See standpoint, the territory of Zhangjiakou belongs to two different dioceses: Xuanhua, entrusted to Msgr. Agostino Cui Tai, underground bishop currently being held in an unknown location by the police; and Xiwanzi, entrusted to Msgr. Joseph Ma Yanen.

It was Fr. Wang to push Msgr. Guo to ordain the 3 new priests for the so-called diocese of Zhangjiakou.

The problem arises from the fact that the ordination will be carried out without any prior consultation with the two bishops who, from the point of view of the Holy See, are responsible for the faithful of Zhangjiakou, even if neither is recognized by Beijing.

By dispensing with the consultation with the actual pastors, the Holy See is circumvented and the episcopal structure is designed according to the wishes of the Chinese government. But this, in itself, contravenes the premises of the Agreement, according to which, pending a dialogue on the administrative structure of the dioceses and on the recognition of unofficial bishops, everything was to supposed to remain on standby.

Failure to consult with the other two bishops also leads to new problems. Of the three candidates expected to receive the priesthood tomorrow, one was expelled from the seminary because he exhibited mental problems. Another candidate - according to the faithful - has moral problems.

Tomorrows priestly ordination would appear to have been hurriedly organised by Msgr. Guo Jincai, who is vice-president of the National Patriotic Association. The Catholic faithful maintain that Msgr. Guo and Fr. Wang Zhenghui, are pushing through a hasty ordination in order to "to impress the city and the government", given that the Winter Olympics will be held in Zhangjiakou (February 4-20, 2022).

And with the advent of so many tourists, there will be a need for many priests, which the so-called diocese of Zhangjiakou does not have. In fact, it has only 10 priests. The diocese of Xuanhua has 46; that of Xiwanzi has 23 priests.
BRITAIN-SCOTLAND-EU-POLITICS-BREXIT-INDEPENDENCE

Protesters with Scottish Saltire flags attend a march calling for Scottish independence in Glasgow on January 11, 2020. Credit - Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images

Scotland could be one step closer to becoming an independent country.

The British government has been forced to play defense on calls for a second Scottish independence referendum, after the countrys main nationalist party secured an emphatic victory in elections for its devolved parliament on Friday.

The question of a referendum is now a matter of when, not if, Scotlands leader Nicola Sturgeon told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a phone call following the election results, her press office said in a statement.

But the power to grant Scotland an independence referendum lies in London, not Edinburgh, and Johnson pushed back against the idea on Saturday, calling it irresponsible and reckless.

So just how likely is a new Scottish independence referendum?

What were the results of the election in Scotland?

Together, pro-independence parties won a majority in the Scottish Parliament in elections on Friday.

Sturgeons Scottish National Party (SNP) won 64 seats, one more than at the previous election, but one short of an overall majority. The Scottish Greens, who also support independence, won eight seats.

In its pre-election manifesto, the SNP pledged to hold a new Scottish independence referendum after the COVID crisis is over.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives back at Bute House after the SNP won a historic fourth term in government on May 09, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

This election is most immediately about the need to steer the country safely through the rest of the pandemic, Sturgeon said ahead of the vote. But it is also about the longer term job of rebuilding and recovery that is needed, and who is best placed to lead that.

Why is the Scottish National Party seeking independence?

Scotland has already had one independence referendum, in 2014, in which Scots voted by a margin of 55% to 45% to remain part of the United Kingdom. The British government agreed to hold that referendum after the SNP won a majority in the Scottish Parliament, calling it a once in a generation event.

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But support for another referendum has steadily risen in the years since 2016, when the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, a move opposed by more than 62% of Scottish voters.

Read more: The U.K. Has Officially Left the European Union. But Could Scotland End Up Back in It?

After the Brexit referendum, the SNP argued that Scotland was being pulled out of the E.U. against its will and that this material change in circumstances justified another vote on Scottish independence.

What happens next?

While the SNP has pledged not to hold a new independence referendum until after the COVID-19 crisis is over, it has been relatively clear about its immediate next steps, says Akash Paun, manager of the devolution research program at the Institute for Government, a London-based think tank.

At the top of the partys independence to-do list is formally requesting permission from the U.K. government to hold a new independence referendum, by passing whats known as a Section 30 order under the Scotland Actthe same mechanism that it used to bring about the 2014 referendum.

It needs to do this because, even though the Scottish Parliament has a suite of its own devolved powers, the British Parliament in Westminster still controls legislation over constitutional matters.

Newly elected members are welcomed to the Scottish Parliament chamber at Holyrood on May 10, 2021 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Andrew Cowan - Pool/Getty Images

The SNP are going to argue that they have a clear mandate and a manifesto commitment to do this, and that they and their allies have won a majorityand that it would be democratically illegitimate for the U.K. government to simply say no, says Paun, adding that the appeal to democratic legitimacy is a political argument rather than a legal one. Does the SNP have any way to compel the U.K. government to pass such legislation now? Of course they dont.

Most analysts expect Johnson, who has publicly opposed the idea of another Scottish independence referendum, to refuse a request to hold another one. The next step for the SNP would be to bring forward its own bill in the Scottish parliament calling for a referendum, even if they dont have authorization from Westminster to do so, says Paun. This would likely pass with the support of the pro-independence parties in Edinburgh, he says.

That would lay the ground for a contentious battle at the Supreme Court in London, which would be forced to rule on whether the Scottish Parliament had the authority to call a referendum on its own. Indications are, its quite likely the Supreme Court would block it, Paun says.

How likely is another independence referendum?

In the near-term, another referendum is probably not very likely. But if Scottish nationalists continue to dominate the countrys parliament, it might become harder for U.K. leaders to deny requests for another vote.

Sturgeons SNP has long focused on winning the political argument for independence, insisting that the legal argument will flow from that. Now, the British government is attempting to win the political argument for union.

Johnson has set up a union unit at his 10 Downing Street office, and observers predict his Conservative government will launch a ramped-up PR campaign focused on the benefits of U.K. public spending in Scotland. Its more of a longer game: can you persuade enough voters and public-opinion formers in Scotland that the Conservatives in Westminster are not hostile to Scotland? Paun says.

What would Scottish independence mean for the rest of the U.K.?

The government reportedly fears that if Scotland were to become independent, it could precipitate a broader breakup of the U.K.

Next on the cards, they fear, could be Northern Ireland, which also voted to remain in the E.U. in 2016, and where support is rising for reunification with the Republic of Ireland, which is an E.U. member state.

Scotland is going to be the generational decision, probably in the next five-to-six years and possibly even before that, depending on what happens there, Peter Cardwell, a former special advisor to two U.K. government Northern Ireland secretaries, told TIME in April. If Scotland becomes an independent country, then a united Ireland is probably inevitable.

Read more: Northern Ireland Is Experiencing Its Worst Violence in Years. Whats Behind the Unrest?

Still, as much as the hard version of Brexit delivered by the Johnson-led government has increased the popularity of nationalism in Scotland, it has also made the prospects of leaving the U.K. more difficult, particularly if an independent Scotland wished to rejoin the E.U. The effects would be felt hardest in areas close to the border, where seamless cross-border trade with England would be at risk from trade checks between the two countries.

Tellingly, in Fridays elections, all Scottish constituencies sharing a border with England elected lawmakers from the Scottish Conservatives, who oppose independence.

The ironic thing about Brexit is that it made it easier for the SNP to argue for independence on democratic grounds, says Paun. But it makes the economic argument for independence much more difficult.
This analysis originally appeared at The Lens, the Center on Reinventing Public Educations blog at the University of Washington Bothell.

Last April, school districts were one month into unanticipated, universal closures and still figuring out the basics of their spring remote learning plans. Many school districts were overwhelmed by shifting basic operations like access to critical services and laptop distribution. It is not surprising that summer planning in 2020 felt a bit like putting together a puzzle with pieces from different boxes.

This year, however, we are in a vastly different situation. Districts have a year of experience with remote and hybrid learning. Vaccination efforts are well underway. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has set in motion a variety of support programs and guidance for state and local leaders, and Congress has passed a tremendous stimulus bill that provides districts with nearly $122 billion for addressing pandemic impacts.

Given all of these unmatched supports and only months until summer arrives, it is noteworthy that school districts have put out so little information about 2021 summer learning and enrichment plans. Moreover, many of the plans released are missing high-leverage strategies being discussed by experts across the country, like tutoring, assessment data, and clear communication plans.

Districts release limited summer programing plans this spring

CRPEs review of 100 urban and large school districts for summer plans finds that, similar to last year, most summer school plans are vague. A significant majority lack explicit learning supports and feature incomplete or confusing messaging.

A little more than half of the districts53 of the 100do not share information on summer plans at all.

The others report a variety of summer learning and enrichment options. About a third35 of the 100have released detailed plans, including offerings broken down by grade band, learning mode options, program dates, and availability of programs targeting specific groups such as multilingual students. Some have already opened registration or presented their plans to their school boards.

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The final 12 districts commit to a broad vision of summer school but lack specificity and transparency in what summer learning and enrichment options will look like.

For districts with detailed plans, specifics vary

In early March, Saint Louis Public Schools presented a summer learning plan that incorporated information about their planning committee and a tiered approach to address learning recovery, as well as postsecondary support and project-based learning options. Most importantly, their communication plan, their outline for proposed timing, and progress to date are explicit and accessible. Boston Public Schools has released a detailed plan for projected number of seats and costs by program focus, like credit recovery or summer enrichment. The School District of Philadelphia is hosting information sessions for families to learn about summer program options and is clear with parents about the risk of summer slide and the value of academic programming during those months. A Philadelphia parent would easily be able to find information about summer learning opportunities that are most appropriate for their children.

Thirty-three districts say how long their summer program will be, with a range from two to eight weeks. Twelve districts are offering a month or less of summer learning and enrichment, while 21 districts are offering five or more weeks. Dayton Public Schools is offering free two-week summer camps for students in grades 1 through 12 who need extra instruction. Orange County Public Schools is offering a longer, eight-week summer program for students in elementary to high school.

Summer learning plans may not meet students personalized learning needs

Of the 100 districts we reviewed, 47 released information on their summer learning plansand nearly half of those (22) provided no information about learning mode. Among the others, a majority (13) will offer the choice of in person or virtual; eight will offer only in-person learning, and four will offer only virtual learning.

Some of the virtual summer programs will include both synchronous and asynchronous instruction. San Antonio Independent School District, for instance, will offer the Digital Learning Playground for PK-8 students, which blends the two. Such an approach accommodates the significant swath of families who prefer a remote learning environment, but it is unclear whether such virtual-only approaches will provide enough individualized learning or opportunities to rebuild relationships.

While many districts describe how students can enroll in summer learning, only one of the 100 districts said diagnostic assessments will be used to determine which students need summer learning.

That district, Shelby County Schools, in Tennessee, plans to prioritize students using two assessments, but will not mandate anyones participation. In addition, Shelby County Schools will increase the amount of learning time over typical summer weeks by decreasing summer school weeks and moving up the start of the 202122 school year.

After a year of unprecedented disruption, its discouraging that more districts are not, like Shelby, using assessment and academic data to determine which students are most in need of summer learning support.

Districts focus heavily on summer enrichment programming, for better or for worse

This years summer programming has the potential to simultaneously provide individual student instruction while helping schools prepare for good assessment, tutoring, and personalized support in the fall.

School districts are most frequently offering opportunities for enrichment, academic content, credit recovery, and learning acceleration for summer 2021:

Twenty-three districts will offer enrichment programs. For example, Gwinnett County Public Schools plans summer enrichment and acceleration for students in grades K-8.

Twenty-one districts will offer reading/math programs. For example, Atlanta Public Schools Academic Recovery Academy (ARA) is a full-day summer program for all grade levels that combines literacy and math learning.

Eighteen districts will offer credit recovery programs, like Milwaukee Public Schools. Nine districts will offer learning programs. For example, Kansas City Public Schools plans summer accelerated learning in preparation for the 202122 school year.

Among the significant number (23) of school districts who identified enrichment as a top priority, community partners were often incorporated into plans for additional services and support. Leveraging community partners in this way builds on communities strengths and allows districts to prioritize the delivery of otherlikely academicservices. Columbus City School Board of Education outlined multiple partnerships with local organizations, such as the historical society and conservatory. In March, San Francisco Unified School District established a coalition of community organizations, nonprofits, and business leaders for Summer Together, a free program for students and families.

What is most worrisome is whats missing in 2021 summer school planning

So far weve reported on what we noticed, but what is most troubling are the things we didnt see in the 47 plans reviewed:

1. High dosage tutoring. Despite the growing evidence base and broad support for high dosage tutoring, this strategy was almost completely absent in the summer programs we reviewed. Only one district outlined a detailed plan for tutoring: in Idahos West Ada School District, the tutoring will be available by appointment only.

2. Standardized assessment data. With many districts forgoing their typical testing schedules this year, either interim or summative, it is not surprising that prioritizing students using assessment data are not included in more of the summer learning plans. That said, without end-of-year data, it will be difficult for school districts to identify priority students for inclusion in summer programs or determine the extent to which students receiving special education services are in need of compensatory education. Lack of student academic data will leave educators and leaders flying blind as they prepare for summer and fall and leaves the door open for reductive strategies to address unfinished learning (e.g., interventions targeting content from earlier grades).

3. Public transparency about funding. Twenty percent of the American Rescue Plan funding for education agencies must be used to address learning loss. This category is very expansive and includes summer programming and extended learning time as options for expenditures. Because districts have not yet shared details on how they will spend the first tranche of these funds, its unclear how much districts will rely on these funds for 2021 summer school and the extent to which they will be transparent about their funding strategies.

This is an initial analysis describing the landscape of what summer learning and enrichment opportunities we may see this year. As district plans develop and evolve we are hopeful that the puzzle pieces will come together with more clarity and grounding in the things we know will help students prepare for another unprecedented fall.

Dr. Christine M. T. Pitts is Research and Evaluation Manager at Portland Public Schools. As a facilitative leader, she also collaborates and coordinates across policymakers and state leaders to investigate and advocate for policies that prioritize equity in education.

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Former President Donald Trumps Muslim travel ban is finished, but thousands of people around the world are still suffering the consequences and unable to come to America, according to Bronx Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres.

The first-term lawmaker planned to introduce the Keeping Our Promise Act in Congress on Monday to smooth the way for nearly 21,000 would-be immigrants by giving them a year to claim their green cards or resume applications that were put on ice under the Trump policy.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that ended Trumps ban, which prohibited residents of nearly a dozen Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

But data from the State Department show that 20,900 green card lottery winners are still struggling to claim their immigration papers, Torres said.

They live in Burma (Myanmar), Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the State Department.

Even though the Trump Muslim ban has been repealed, the victims of the travel ban were never made whole, Torres said.

His legislation will fully reverse the discriminatory and destructive legacy of Trumps ban, he said.

Just hours after Biden took office on Jan. 20, when he ended the ban, he called it a stain on our national conscience ... inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all.

Trump issued his self-described Muslim ban seven days after he took office in 2017, claiming it would protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks.

The ban went through several iterations after courts struck down some of its provisions as unconstitutional.

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Windham, N.H.

Michael Casey/AP/Shutterstock Kristi St. Laurent, who ran for a House seat in the 2020 election, poses in front of Town Hall in Windham, N.H.

As cries of "fraud" and "stolen" continue to mount in one small northeast corner of the country six months after the presidential election, local candidate Kristi St. Laurent tells PEOPLE: "I can't wait for it to all be over."

For now, many political eyes are on Windham, New Hampshire  a town of roughly 16,000 residents that wouldn't normally be a hotbed of political activity.

But in the midst of a contentious recount detailed in a new story by the Associated Press, the town now also serves as a microcosm of what's unfolded elsewhere in the wake of Donald Trump's loss to now-President Joe Biden: supporters of the former president are continuing to cry foul at election results, even when numerous recounts have shown that the ballot box is both reliable and secure.

The conflict in Windham unfolded after St. Laurent, a Democratic candidate for a state House seat, initially lost her race by 24 votes and requested a recount.

As the AP notes, such moves aren't uncommon in New Hampshire. But what happened after this one is. The recount showed that, rather than gaining votes, St. Laurent lost 99 votes  while four of the Republicans in the race each received an additional 300 votes.

Watch: GOP leader McCarthy will vote to oust Cheney

The discrepencapcy was significant enough that, in response, the state legislature passed a bill (signed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu) authorizing hand tabulations of votes and an audit of the town's ballot counting machines.

But Republican voters in Windham claimed fraud, arguing that something must be amiss with the recent elections  and if there was a mistake in one election, they said, there might have been mistakes in the tabulation of all the races.

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That all four House races were actually won by Republicans  and that the discrepancy found in St. Laurent's race didn't change the outcome  doesn't seem to be dissuading conservative voters in the town who, like Trump, are claiming without evidence that someone has done something wrong.

It's all gone beyond what St. Laurent, first imagined.

"My intent in appealing to the commission was to find out what the cause of the discrepancy was and then just make sure it doesn't happen again," she explains to PEOPLE, adding that she was "kind of nervous" that even an appearance of election fraud would engulf the race.

Sure enough, it did, with Trump himself weighing in on the audit  which the AP reports is being spurred on by former Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, who lives in the town.

Lewandowski contended to the AP that the town's residents were "gravely concerned that the election system is not properly secured and that there is the potential at least for results that don't align with what voters want."

The AP reports that a crowd of roughly 500 people showed up to last week's meeting of the Windham Board of Selectmen. Some in the crowd were carrying signs that mirrored the rhetoric of Trump in the wake of his own election loss to Biden, calling into question the legitimacy of elections.

RELATED: The Donald Trump Allies That Dominion Voting Systems Has Sued Over 2020 Election Conspiracies

Miami, Florida Election Day

CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Voters cast their ballots in Miami on Nov. 3

"Congratulations to the great Patriots of Windham, New Hampshire for their incredible fight to seek out the truth on the massive Election Fraud which took place in New Hampshire and the 2020 Presidential Election," Trump said in a recent election, echoing his other baseless claims about voting.

Lebanon City Clerk Kristin Kenniston, who will oversee the Windham audit, told local station WCAX that Trump's comments were hard not to take personally: "There is so many of us that put in the blood, sweat and tears to plan these things to make sure that they are 100 percent accurate."

Experts have also taken issue with Trump's statement, noting that the notion that the Windham races were rigged against the former president makes no sense considering how Republicans succeeded there.

"An election where the Republicans made gains in the state Legislature was rigged against Donald Trump. Now that doesn't really logically add up at all," professor John Lappie told WCAX.

Officials said in a recent release that the forensic audit of the four Windham elections will begin on May 11 at 10 a.m. and "must take place within 45 days of the effective date of April 12, 2021, which is May 27, 2021."

According to the AP, the Windham audit will take place in public view.

"Statistically, there are going to be some people who have remaining questions and doubt," St. Laurent tells PEOPLE. "But they've set up a lot of transparency into the audit and I have to agree with Gov. Sununu, who said the discrepancy in my race is an isolated incident. I would say that, by and large, the people in New Hampshire have a fair level of trust in our elections."

RELATED: Supreme Court Rejects Texas Lawsuit Challenging the 2020 Election Results

Trump's challenges to the November presidential election were roundly rejected by the courts and local and state elections officials of both parties who said no widespread fraud was found.

The Supreme Court in December rejected a lawsuit aimed at throwing out the results in four swing states Trump lost.

Voting equipment company Dominion, which found itself the target of many of the conspiracies of alleged fraud and other wrongdoing, has subsequently sued multiple Trump allies for their statements about the company.

Nonetheless, Trump's version of his loss has gained traction among the GOP base.

Former President Donald J Trump speaks during the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando on Sunday, Feb 28, 2021 in Orlando, FL

Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Former President Donald Trump

In Arizona, a similar situation is playing out as 2.1 million ballots that were previously counted and certified by the Republican governor are now being recounted in a partisan audit that will not ultimately have any legal bearing on the results.

"My concern grows deeper by the hour," Arizona's secretary of state said in April. "It is clear that no one involved in this process knows what they are doing, and they are making it up as they go along."

Watch: Kevin McCarthy backs Stefanik over Cheney amid GOP leadership fight
By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale to Canada of 4 AEGIS Combat Systems made by Lockheed Martin in a deal valued at up to $1.7 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The Pentagon said the sale of the powerful missile and radar systems to the NATO ally would "significantly improve" network-centric warfare capabilities for U.S. forces operating globally alongside Canada's.

AEGIS systems are primarily used aboard ships though they have been adapted for land use.

The package would include four shipsets worth of the AEGIS Combat System and three shipsets of the MK 41 Vertical Launch System as well as support equipment, spares and technical support, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale on Monday.

Despite approval by the State Department, the notification does not indicate that a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Grant McCool)
The head of the Vaticans doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Roman Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights.

The strong words of caution came in a letter from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed to Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB will convene for a national meeting June 16, with plans to vote on drafting a document on the Communion issue

There is division among the bishops, with some pressing for Biden and other Catholic public figures to be excluded from Communion over their abortion stance, and other bishops warning that such a move would be politically polarizing.

Ladaria, in his letter, said any new policy requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions.

Even then, Ladaria advised, the bishops should seek unanimous support within their ranks for any national policy, lest it become a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church in the United States.

Ladaria made several other points that could complicate the plans of bishops pressing for tough action:

 He said any new statement should not be limited to Catholic political leaders but broadened to encompass all churchgoing Catholics in regard to their worthiness to receive Communion.

 He questioned the USCCB policy identifying abortion as the preeminent moral issue, saying it would be misleading if any new document "were to give the impression that abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest accountability on the part of Catholics.

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 He said that if the U.S. bishops pursue a new policy, they should confer with bishops conferences in other countries both to learn from one another and to preserve unity in the universal church.

 He said any new policy could not override the authority of individual bishops to make decisions on who can receive Communion in their dioceses. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., has made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches in the archdiocese.

Among the leaders of the campaign to rebuke Biden is Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who recently issued a pastoral letter arguing that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should not receive Communion. A few days later, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego published an essay saying such an initiative will bring tremendously destructive consequences.

Ladaria's letter was dated May 7. It was first reported Monday by Catholic News Service and the Jesuit magazine America.

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Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Has the lion king met his match?

Recent footage captured by safari guide Reggi Barreto at South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park shows a male lion drinking at a watering hole when an unexpected contender for power confronts him.

A small turtle swims right up to the big cat's face in Barreto's clip as the mammal laps up water. At first, the lion ignores the lurking reptile, but soon the turtle makes themselves impossible to overlook.

In the video, the turtle eventually emerges from the water and confidently waddles up to the lion. Once close enough, the smaller animal starts poking at the lion's mouth with its face. Undaunted by the blood around the lion's lips, the turtle in Barreto's footage keeps marching at the predator.

RELATED: Reptile-Sniffing Dogs Become Research Assistants to Help the Saint Louis Zoo Save Box Turtles

For their courageous, persistent, and potentially dangerous efforts, the turtle earns a lion-free watering hole. The big cat eventually concedes to the tiny turtle and leaves the reptile's swimming area.

"It was an incredibly rare sighting for me to film  watching the terrapin approach the lions that had blood on their chins from the zebra," Barreto told Last Sightings about the footage they captured.

As Barretto mentions, the brave turtle from the footage didn't confront just one lion. The safari guide also captured the terrapin swimming up close to a lioness and surviving the encounter.
Violence also this morning with the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March, which marks the Israeli conquest of the city. The judges overturned the sentence scheduled for today in legal battle over the ownership of some houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Netanyahu threatens an iron fist. Pope and international community appeal for calm.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For the third consecutive night, the Israeli police engaged in heavy clashes with young Palestinians in Jerusalem. The international community is closely following the evolution of the situation and Pope Francis himself yesterday, at the Regina Caeli, expressed "concern".

The alert in the area remains high, with new violence erupting this morning near Temple Mount in conjunction with the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March led by nationalist Jews.

Hundreds of Palestinians and about twenty Israeli policemen have been injured in the violence of the last three days.

Two factors that have led to the escalation of recent days, as Muslims celebrate Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and prayer. On the one hand, the International Day of Jerusalem - the anniversary of the conquest of the city in 1967 by the Israeli army - traditionally honoured by a march with the flags.

This year the commemoration is compounded by the Supreme Court ruling, due yesterday, postponed to today and finally cancelled at the request of the State Attorney General Avichai Mandelbli, relating to the possession of some properties in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Dozens of Palestinian families risk being thrown out of their homes for the benefit of Jewish settlers, as part of a story that goes beyond the legal sphere in court. Judges are expected to set a date within the next 30 days.

In the night clashes, Palestinian protesters threw rocks and stones in the direction of the Israeli police, who responded using grenades and water cannons. The violence was concentrated near the Damascus gate in the old city. Palestinian medical sources speak of numerous injuries. Scuffles between the two fronts also occurred over the weekend in the northern city of Haifa and near Ramallah, in the West Bank.

Acting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the management of public order and the use of force by the police towards Palestinian protesters. The government, he said, "will not allow any radical element to undermine the calm" in the city, even though the situation is now out of control and there is a strong risk of further escalation as Israel experiences a political and institutional crisis that could undermine the stability of the area.

Meanwhile, Jordan, the guardian of Muslim sacred places in Jerusalem, has condemned the use of force by Israel and Tunisia has asked for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council for this afternoon. The Quartet of Middle East negotiators made up of the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations expresses "deep concern" and appeals to Israel asking for "restraint".

The ongoing march of Israelis close to Zionism represents a further and deliberate provocation for the Palestinians, adding to the tension sparked by the Sheikh Jarrah controversy. More than 300,000 Palestinians and about 210,000 Israeli settlers live in the area and tension is at its peak. The legal battle for many Palestinians constitutes "definitive" proof of an Israeli project aimed at erasing their presence from the holy city.
While uncertainty remains over when  or even if  travel demand will make a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Japans two major airlines are positioning themselves to take advantage of any upturn with a punt on low-cost services.

With leisure demand expected to recover much faster than business travel, ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. are both strengthening ties with low-cost carriers (LCCs).

But the moves by the two airlines, which have established themselves as full-service carriers, could be a double-edged sword, aviation experts say.

ANA Holdings, the parent company of All Nippon Airways Co., is planning to launch a new LCC brand in the year to March 2023 with flights connecting Japan with Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Its domestic rival JAL said Friday it will make Spring Airlines Japan Co. a consolidated subsidiary in June. The unit of major Chinese LCC Spring Airlines Co. will take its place in the JAL group alongside wholly-owned budget airline Zipair Tokyo Inc., which started operations last year in the midst of the pandemic.

The two budget carriers reflect JALs strategic shift away from what used to be seen as a cautious stance on LCCs.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday the government needs to speed up the process of approving clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines at a time when Japanese drugmakers have lost ground to foreign rivals.

"We need to consider revising the system, to approve (trials) more quickly," Suga said at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting.

In Japan, Shionogi & Co. and several other companies have been developing coronavirus vaccines, but large-scale clinical studies have been a major hurdle to getting domestic vaccines approved and on the market.

In order to gain approval, a vaccine needs to pass a clinical study involving tens of thousands of participants in which its safety and efficacy is assessed, but due to the relatively low number of community coronavirus infections in Japan, the effectiveness of the vaccines is difficult to evaluate.

In addition, inoculation programs using vaccines developed by U.S. and European companies are already under way in Japan and elsewhere, reducing demand.
Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the powerful Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren, will step down for health reasons. Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical, will take over on June 1, Nikkei has learned.

The chairman of the business lobby is often called the "prime minister of business circles," and it is extremely rare that someone in the position steps down in the middle of a term.

Nakanishi is currently the chairman of Hitachi and became chairman of Keidanren in May 2018 but has recently been hospitalized on and off for lymphoma treatments. His successor, Tokura, became vice chairman of Keidanren in 2015. Four years later he became one of the vice chairs of the Board of Councillors and has since supported Nakanishi's management.

For Sumitomo Chemical it is not the first time for the head of the company to lead the business group. Former Keidanren Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura was also from the chemical maker.

Nakanishi was diligent in attending government meetings and media events online while receiving medical treatment. However, a regular news conference in April was canceled due his health problems.
Japan's health ministry has approved the use of a rheumatoid arthritis drug, baricitinib, for treating COVID-19 patients. It's the third coronavirus drug to be approved in the country, following remdesivir and dexamethasone.

Baricitinib helps subdue inflammation resulting from immune disorders. It is already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and atopic dermatitis.

In November last year, the US Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use approval for the drug in combination with antiviral drug remdesivir to treat COVID-19 patients.

Eli Lilly Japan, which manufactures and sells the drug in the country, told an online news conference on Monday that baricitinib has already been administered to more than 200,000 COVID-19 patients around the world.

The firm said it hopes the drug will be used to treat between 4,500 to 6,000 people in Japan by the end of March next year.

Only adult patients who need supplemental oxygen because of pneumonia are eligible to receive the drug. It will be used in combination with the antiviral drug remdesivir, and will be administered once a day.

The drug is not approved for pregnant women.

Eli Lilly Japan says using baricitinib along with remdesivir speeded up recovery by one day on average in international clinical tests, compared with the remdesivir-only control group.
ATLANTA  In honor of their lifetime of achievements, Spelman College will name a renovated theater, lobby, dressing rooms and supporting areas the LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center. Located in the John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts Building, the updated arts center is being made possible by a lead gift from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation along with generous donations from Richardson Jackson and Jackson, Bank of America and David Rockefeller, Jr.



At the height of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s, actress-producer-director LaTanya Richardson Jackson, C'71, was honing her significant talents on the stage of the Baldwin Burroughs Theatre in Spelman College's John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts Building. She performed, alongside then Morehouse College student, Samuel Jackson, as a member of the Morehouse Spelman Players in productions like The Sale by Pearl Cleage, C71. Their auspicious debut in plays produced by Spelmans Department of Drama catapulted the couple into award-winning careers spanning nearly 50 years of artistic excellence and theatrical success.



"The love that both LaTanya and Sam continue to exhibit for Spelman since their time on stage decades ago is heartwarming," said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. "These living legends met and acted together on stage on our campus. Their dedication to their artistry will leave a legacy that will inspire students in the Atlanta University Center for years to come. We are grateful for their gift and that of the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, Bank of America and David Rockefeller Jr. to renovate the space where these beloved talents got their start. Pioneers and leaders in producing important stories, LaTanya and Sams excellence will forever resonate in the arts center named for them.



Richardson Jackson and Jackson both performed leading roles with the Morehouse Spelman Players on Spelmans theatrical stage in the 1970s. They were directed by Spelman drama professor Baldwin W. Burroughs, Ph.D., for whom the stage is named, as well as award-winning playwrights, Carlton W. Molette, Ph.D., and Barbara Molette, Ph.D. Richardson Jackson spent time in programs on Spelmans campus as a high school student before becoming an undergraduate.



The benevolence of God placed me, Sam and our daughter Zoe inside a miracle which out of great gratitude, we work hard to share. Sam and I are invested in the success of Spelman because Spelman first invested so much in us, said Richardson Jackson, who served on the Spelman College Board of Trustees (1998-2006) as well as on the advisory board of the Spelman Womens Research and Resource Center. Our beloved Mellody Hobson and George Lucas [of the Hobson Lucas Family Foundation] have always been friends who supported Spelman. Their legendary philanthropy has forever graciously seeded many of the causes that Sam and I champion. But for them to offer of themselves in this incredibly generous way (without our knowledge) speaks to an understanding of the importance of Spelman women to the world, while lovingly giving zoom focus to the reality of our miracle. Bank of America and their CEO Brian Moynihan are new friends who have joined us in this preservation process and we are ever grateful for their support.



Were pleased to support Spelman College as it inspires, trains and develops the next generation of leaders, from entrepreneurship to the arts, with a commitment that aligns with our focus on advancing racial equality and economic opportunity, said Anne Finucane, vice chairman, Bank of America. We believe that when the power of the arts is combined with the longstanding traditions of Spelman, it yields excellence, and were honored to be a part of this important work.



Richardson Jackson is an accomplished actress of stage and screen, who served as The Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theater at Fordham University and has received critical praise, as well as a Tony Award Best Actress Nomination for her performance as Lena Younger in the 2014 Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberrys "A Raisin in the Sun," the Lily Award for Broadway Excellence for To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Lincoln Center Theater Award for Joe Turners Come and Gone. Her extensive New York theater credits include "For Colored Girls..., "Spell #7," "Casanova," The Trail of Dr. Beck, From the Mississippi Delta, Stop Reset and August Wilsons 20th Century cycle at the Kennedy Center. Her film and television credits include Fried Green Tomatoes, The Fighting Temptations, Dorothy Dandridge, the Netflix series Luke Cage," HBOs Show Me A Hero, for which she received a NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Greys Anatomy, Blue Bloods, U.S. Marshalls, Freedomland, Losing Isaiah, Malcolm X, Mother and Child, The Watson Go to Birmingham and Sidney Lumets critically acclaimed 100 Centre Street. She was the narrator for the award-winning documentary on Lorraine Hansberry, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart. Richardson Jackson and Jackson are the proud producers of the internationally awarded documentary Enslaved, streaming now on EPIX.



During his years at Morehouse College, Samuel L. Jackson as a member of the Morehouse Spelman Players, starring in The Three Penny Opera, Perrys Mission, The Sale and Dr. B. S. Black. After college he spent a decade in New York City appearing on stage at The Public Theater, The Billie Holiday Theater, the New Federal Theater and with the Negro Ensemble Company, where he originated the role of Pvt. Henson in A Soldiers Play. He created the role of Boy Willie in August Wilsons The Piano Lesson and Wolfe in Wilsons Two Trains Running at Yale Repertory Theatre. Widely recognized as one of the most prolific actors working, Jackson has won several acting awards around the world, including a Special Best Supporting Actor Award of Excellence at The Cannes Film Festival for Jungle Fever  a Spike Lee Joint! He has a BAFTA Award, numerous NAACP Awards, three Golden Globe nominations, and the Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Pulp Fiction. He has been named the highest grossing actor of all time. He has appeared in more than 100 films, including Star Wars, Coming to America, Do the Right Thing, The Hateful Eight, Snakes on A Plane, Glass, A Time to Kill, Eves Bayou, Shaft, The Banker, and as Nick Fury for the Disney Marvel franchise. Jackson was the narrator for the acclaimed documentary I Am Not Your Negro, based on the writings of James Baldwin and he has also lent his voice to memorable advertisements, video games, audio books, and animated films like the Incredibles series.





About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the Colleges picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Colleges status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MITs Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Childrens Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelmans first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, actress and producer LaTanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones. For more information, visit Spelman College.



Bank of America

At Bank of America, were guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. Were delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. Its demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com , and connect with us on Twitter ( @BofA_News ).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts .

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Research Shows Almost Two Thirds of Unvaccinated Employees Will Refuse the COVID-19 Vaccine

Some companies arent being equitable when it comes to their employees taking time off to get their shot.

A new survey reveals that almost two thirds (64 percent) of unvaccinated employees in North America will refuse the COVID-19 vaccine. The research also found that just under half (45 percent) of respondents stated their company is not requiring employees to be vaccinated. Furthermore, half of employees do not receive paid leave for the vaccine, and of that group, 70 percent receive no leave at all.

In addition, the survey of more than 1,000 part and full-time employees, HR managers and business owners at small or medium-sized businesses found that approximately half of employees do not receive paid leave for the vaccine, and of that group, 70 percent receive no leave at all for the vaccine.

Zenefits conducted a study into how small business employees feel about returning to work and the vaccine following the news that major companies, like PwC and IMB, are returning employees back to work later this year with a hybrid model.

What we found most interesting was the views on vaccines, as its clear that it's a divided topic. Here at Zenefits we hope that everyone is given all the information they need to make an informed decision on the vaccine, and given the opportunity to have it, should they wish, Nadene Evans of Zenefits said. We hope that this survey helps people understand better other people's feelings around returning to work, and it's okay to feel uneasy, or excited, or both!

Key findings from the study:

 45 percent of respondents stated their company does not require employees to be vaccinated

 64 percent of the unvaccinated population refuses to get it

 52 percent of employees have been asked to limit discussion around the vaccine

 50 percent of companies do not receive paid time off for the vaccine, and a majority of those (70 percent), do not receive unpaid leave to get their shot
A cyberattack during the weekend caused the shutdown of the Colonial pipeline, which carries some 45 percent of the gasoline and diesel fuel the East Coast of the U.S. consumes, media have reported, noting that the attack could threaten the security of gasoline supply and push up prices.

Gasoline futures immediately jumped on the news of the attack, adding 2 percent.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Colonial Pipeline Co. learned on Friday that it had become the target of a cyberattack and that it took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations.

The New York Times reported that Colonial Pipeline Co. had declined to say when it will reopen the pipeline, fueling fears about the supply of gasoline on the East Coast.

Reuters cited experts as saying the outage will not have an impact on prices at the pump unless the Colonial pipeline remained shut for more than three days.

The Colonial pipeline is the biggest pipeline infrastructure in the United States, running 5,500 miles from Houston to Linden, New Jersey, carrying some 2.5 million barrels of gasoline and diesel daily.

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Reuters quoted the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy as warning against panic buying in anticipation of shortages as this could cause a spike in prices without any fundamental reason.

The report, however, also cited a statement by the American Automobile Association, which said that "The shutdown can have a large impact if it is prolonged."

In addition to the direct threat of supply shortages if it lasts, the outage has also highlighted the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructure to cyberattacks. There are several suspects for the ransomware attack and, according to investigators cited by Reuters, it could be a new group rather than an established cybercrime organization. While new, the group appears to be well organized and made up of experienced hackers, Reuters also reported.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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At a time when oil and gas investors have been celebrating the latest oil rally after OPEC+ pledged to maintain strict production discipline, not everybody is pleased with the direction things have been taking.

Just a month ago, U.S. oil exporters were licking their chops at the prospects of nabbing more business from a key customer: India. In April, reports emerged that New Delhi was looking to dramatically cut imports from Saudi Arabia, blaming the OPEC kingpin and other leading producers for driving up oil prices at a time when the country is grappling with one of the worst Covid-19 waves in the world.

But maybe they popped the champagne corks prematurely: Indian state refiners have now reversed the steep cuts in some quid pro quo after receiving critical medical aid from the Arabian oil giant.

The refinersBharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.NS), Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS), and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS)have reversed their decision to buy only 9.5 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia in May from the previously planned 10.8 million barrels after Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern oil producers supplied liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to India.

In a series of tweets last week, Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan welcomed offers by Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar and assurance of a steady supply of LMO and cryogenic tanks to India. The country's daily deaths from the second wave recently crossed the 4k mark, the highest anywhere on the globe, with Modi's government blamed for handling the pandemic poorly.

However, that's still a far cry from the 14.8 million barrels of Saudi oil they typically order in a month, underlining just how strained the relationship between the two countries has grown.

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In February, India's oil imports from Saudi declined sharply by 42% to 445,200 barrels per day while the United States' share climbed to 545,300 barrels per day, thus making it the second-largest oil exporter to the country behind only Iraq.

India is the world's third-biggest oil importer, buying 85% of its oil needs with the majority sourced from the Middle East.

Source: India Times

Diversification drive

The sharp drop in oil imports from Saudi Arabia can also be blamed squarely on the country's diversification drive and, of course, the adverse effects of the pandemic. India's crude oil imports in February fell 18.3% Y/Y to 15.24 million tonnes, marking the biggest year-on-year decline since October 2020.

The oil ministry has been urging domestic refiners to diversify their crude resources and lessen dependency on the Middle East. They have responded by curbing reliance on the Middle East from more than 64% of imports back in 2016 to 60% in 2019.

Meanwhile, the United States has seen its share of oil business with India expand rapidly over the timeframe.

Source: India Times

India, South Asia's regional dominant actor with more than 1 billion citizens, has emerged as increasingly vital to core U.S. foreign policy interests. India is often characterized as an "indispensable partner" of the United States and a nascent great power that Washington views as a potential counterweight to China's growing clout. Related: Oil And Gas Rig Count Climbs Amid Price Rally

Over the past 15 years, Washington and New Delhi have increasingly pursued a "strategic partnership" based on shared values, including economic, security, civilian nuclear cooperation, and lately, energy interests.

After the four-decade ban on U.S. oil exports, India started sourcing LNG and crude oil from the U.S. in 2016, with India's exports of U.S. crude growing 10-fold over a 4-year span.

The Energy Bridge

Energy has indeed emerged as the new bridge in the U.S.-India bilateral relations.

India is a developing nation that has been trying to become less dependent on OPEC for its energy imports and while also looking to diversify its energy mix. The country has increasingly shifted its attention to the United States, ramping up its oil imports from 26,000 barrels/day in 2017 to 545,000 barrels currently. Iraq, however, remains India's top crude supplier, managing to ship 867,500 barrels per day.

But even more importantly, India is seeking to clean up its act by moving away from dirty coal to cleaner natural gas in electricity generation. And it's pulling all stops to achieve its goal: Last year, India's oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that the country plans to invest a whopping $60 billion in natural gas to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from 6.5% currently to 15% by 2030.

And those dollars are beginning to flow into the U.S. shale gas sector.

Last year, state-run PetroNet LNG Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Houston-based LNG developer Tellurian Inc. for $2.5 billion for rights of up to 5 million tonnes per year of LNG over the lifespan of the project marking the largest investment by an Indian company in U.S. LNG.

The money will go to the Driftwood LNG project for natural gas production, gathering, processing, and transportation facilities, as well as a proposed 27.6 mtpa liquefaction export facility that will be built near Lake Charles, Louisiana, on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

This brings India's total LNG investments in the U.S. to $4 billion to date, with the Asian nation having contracted a total of 9 million metric tonnes per annum of LNG from U.S. shale producers, making it the 6th largest buyer of U.S. LNG.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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As major oil companies released their first-quarter earnings, profits from their petrochemical units hit record highs and demand for petrochemicals is only set to grow.

According to Bloomberg, this trend is worrying for consumers as construction and manufacturing staples such as PVC and ethylene have increased substantially in price due to pandemic-driven demand, supply disruptions, and the post-Covid economic recovery.

There was a significant increase in demand for several products during the pandemic, most notably - packaging, medical goods, and protective equipment.

As demand for PPE and other medical equipment, both for hospital and private use, looks set to continue for the rest of the year, demand in these areas is not expected to falter any time soon.

This April, ExxonMobil Corps petrochemical unit announced Q1 profits of $1.4 billion, an increase of $1.271 billion on Q1 2020. This profit was partly due to market disruptions which led to a fall in the availability of several products, particularly in North America as polyethylene and polypropylene production was hit badly by poor winter conditions.

Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and The Dow Chemical Company, also reported a surge in profits thanks to the increase in petrochemical prices. With Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC also announcing a major increase in its profits. A total of nine petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia have gone from reporting losses to profits between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 thanks to better petrochemical market conditions.

Experts expect the petrochemical trend to continue throughout 2021, after an initial decline in the market at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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In Asia, PetroChina has announced its greatest quarterly profit in seven years. In Taiwan, sales posted in April by the four major subsidiaries of the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) conglomerate increased by over 80 percent on the previous year thanks to an increase in product demand and prices. Koreas Kumho Petrochemical also saw larger than expected profits, owing mostly to the increase in demand for synthetic rubbers, resins, and phenol derivatives.

There are fears in North America that supply will fail to meet demand, with some producers struggling to recover from harsh weather conditions earlier in the year and hurricane season now looming.

While output might have stagnated in North America, other countries are looking to ramp up their production of petrochemicals in response to the growing global demand for refined oil products.

In Iraq, the Ministry of Oil has been working closely with supermajor Shell to further develop the countrys petrochemical industry. Several refineries are already up and running across the country. But Iraqs greatest aim is to establish its $8 billion Nebras petrochemical complex, originally outlined in 2012, to produce 1.8 million metric tonnes of various petrochemicals per year.

While North America appears to be struggling to keep up with growing petrochemical demand, other nations and international oil companies appear to be making the most of the petrochemical boom. Demand is not expected to slow any time soon, as medical equipment continues to be vital for public and private use, meaning there should be plenty more profit in the future for petrochemical companies.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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Tesla plans to build a new industrial building with a yet unknown function next to its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, Austin Business Journal reported, citing documents the electric vehicle maker had filed with the citys planners.

Tesla filed the site plan for a still mysterious project, dubbed Bobcat Project, on April 30, according to the documents Austin Business Journal has seen.

Neither the site plan nor company or city representatives Austin Business Journal has reached for comment shed more light on the project. A video posted on YouTube last week shows a clearing for the Bobcat Project and some preparatory work that could be the foundations for another industrial building.

Tesla has been doing restoration work near the Austin Gigafactory since last year in order to wind down the mining operations on the land, Andy Linseisen, assistant director of Austins Development Services Department told Austin Business Journal, but these were the only comments he had.

Tesla has plans for additional facilities on the large area of land it owns around Austin. One of those could be a SpaceX facility, sources have previously told Austin Business Journal.

Meanwhile, construction for the Austin Gigafactory is proceeding, and Elon Musk has set a goal for the Texas facility to be operational by the end of this year.

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The Austin facility is expected to manufacture Teslas Model X and Model Y and the upcoming Cybertruck and Semi.

Earlier this year, Musk said on Twitter that Giga Texas would need more than 10,000 people for workforce just through 2022! and touted the sites benefits as being close to the airport and downtown and right on the Colorado river.

The electric vehicle maker is also building a Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany, and is ramping up production at its first operational overseas factory in Shanghai, China.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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In the same way that the U.S.s global hydrocarbons power has been turbo-boosted by the rise of its shale energy industry, which began with gas in earnest in 2006 and with oil in 2010, so Russias has seen its own oil and gas power extended by the sustained development of its Arctic oil and gas reserves. As of now, Russias Arctic sector comprises over 35,700 billion cubic metres of natural gas and over 2,300 million metric tons of oil and condensate, the majority of which are located in the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas, lying on the south side of the Kara Sea. According to Russias President, Vladimir Putin, the next 10-15 years will witness a dramatic expansion in the extraction of these Arctic resources. The period will also see the corollary build-out of the Northern Sea Route as the primary transport route to monetise these resources in the global oil and gas markets, especially to the Kremlins core economic and geopolitical partner, China. Russias number two gas producer (after state-owned Gazprom)  Novatek  is at the heart of these plans and last week made further significant announcements to this end.

The first of these, according to Novateks chief financial officer, Mark Gyetvay, is that the companys Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG)-2 project, based on the Gydan Peninsula, will receive at least an additional US$6 billion in investment this year, 50 percent more than last year. This will be in line with ensuring that the first of the projects three proposed production lines is launched in 2023, with around 40 percent of the LNG plant currently completed.

Overall, Gyetvay added, the participants in Arctic LNG-2 have already approved US$11 billion in external financing for it, with a third of the total coming from Chinese banks, another third from banks in Europe and Japan, and the remainder coming from Russian financial entities. There is no question that whatever the amount required to successfully bring in the Novatek project it will be found, as the effective sequestration of as large a portion of the Arctics oil and gas resources as possible is one of Putins principal personal political objectives. The entire Arctic development is an absolute priority for President Putin, aimed at bringing Russias LNG standing in the world market into line with its status as a global gas superpower, as its LNG capability has always been way behind what its gas production power would warrant, Andrey Polischuk, senior oil and gas analyst from Raiffeisenbank, in Moscow, told OilPrice.com.

Indeed, just last week, Russian state development bank, Vnesheconombank, together with a consortium of other Russian banks, announced a 15-year loan to the project totalling 3.11 billion (US$3.7 billion). The result of these efforts will be that the Arctic LNG-2 project will have three major LNG production plants (trains) of 6.6 million tons per annum (mtpa) each, totalling 19.8 mtpa, and a cumulative gas condensate production capacity of 1.6 mtpa.

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This will complement the continued progress at Novateks original LNG project at Yamal (Yamal LNG), which saw first output from its slightly delayed fourth train began earlier this year. According to Novatek, it is highly likely that the first full cargo from the 900,000 mtpa LNG plant will be loaded on to a tanker within the next three months or so from now. The delay to the fourth train came within the context of Novatek having previously brought the first three plants of its US$27 billion flagship Arctic LNG project in the Yamal Peninsula online on time or even ahead of schedule. Specifically, the first train opened in December 2017, the second in July 2018 and the third in December 2018, allowing Novatek to produce capacity of 16.5 million mtpa by the beginning of 2019 from the Yamal LNG facility. Just a few months after that, Novatek had also completed a fleet of 15 icebreaking carrier ships that could move its LNG product from Yamal to the global LNG markets. All of this had been achieved despite the full weight of U.S. sanctions having being imposed on Russia in 2014 as a result of its annexation of Crimea.

Overall, Gyetvay, has repeatedly stated that Novatek will be able to produce at least 100 million mtpa of LNG soon after 2030 if not before and will be able to do so at a very low relative cost of production. Specifically, he said that it will be possible to deliver LNG into northeast Asian markets on a sustained basis for a little over USD3 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). This is comprised of a USD0.07/MMBtu cost of feedgas, USD0.43/MMBtu of liquefaction costs, plus between USD2/MMBtu and USD2.50/MMBtu of shipping costs. This all fits neatly within Russias plans for LNG production of 80-140 million mtpa by 2035, which would exceed even the expanded output capacity of LNG powerhouses Qatar and Australia.

The second announcement that falls within Putins Arctic LNG ambitions for Novatek was that the partners in the Arctic LNG-2 project have now also concluded 20-year deals to take LNG from the plant. The sales agreements will cover total LNG production from the facility as from when that begins in earnest in an expected 2023 and will be based pro-rata according to each partners stake in the project at the time, Currently, in addition to Novateks own 60 percent stake in Arctic LNG-2, Frances Total holds 10 percent, Chinas CNPC and CNOOC hold 10 percent each, and the remaining 10 percent is held by a consortium comprising Japans Mitsui and Jogmec. The loadings will be made on a free-on-board basis and will travel from any of the transshipment terminals available at the time, although two are currently in development; one at Murmansk (for vessels going West) and the other at Kamchatka (for vessels heading East). The long-term off-take agreements between Arctic LNG-2 and its participants ensure the future revenue stream from LNG sales and de-risks the project, underlined Novatek chief executive officer, Leonid Mikhelson.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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Crude oil imports into Europe surged by close to 1 million bpd last month, Bloomberg reports, citing a sharp rise in Brent crude prices.

Nigeria, the United States, and Brazil were among the exporters that benefited from the price trend caused by maintenance at several large producing fields in the North Sea and a recovery, albeit weak, in oil demand on the continent.

The arbitrage to Europe has opened up, and that should encourage higher inflows particularly from the U.S. and perhaps also Nigeria whilst Indian demand remains in doubt, consultancy FGEs head of short-term market research James Davis said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The increasing demand from Europe could be tied to anticipation of easing up on lockdowns in the months to come, according to Emmanuel Belostrino, an analyst at Kpler, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Oil prices recorded two consecutive weeks of gains despite the surge in Covid-19 cases in India, which is among the worlds top importers of oil. While cases in India rose by six figures every day, Europe and the United States began to reopen more actively thanks to vaccinations, which spurred optimism for demand.

More and more U.S. states are reopening for business. In Europe, the EU has stated it plans to start allowing foreign tourists into the bloc as of June in a bid to avoid another destroyed summer season for its tourism industry.

The euphoria over an accelerating US economy and summer reopening plans across the European Union remains in the drivers seat for the oil complex, Vanda Insights said in a market commentary on Friday.

It appears that even the Friday jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department, which revealed a much weaker recovery in hiring than expected, could not affect prices negatively despite the fact it suggested the recovery in employment may take longer than anticipated.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The plan of South Africas government to lease LNG-to-power ships to solve its electricity crisis has drawn a lot of criticism because of alleged irregularities in the bidding process and the multi-billion cost for emergency supply for 20 years.

Earlier this year, Karpowership, a company from Turkey, was announced as the Preferred Bidder for projects for the so-called powerships to be docked at the ports of Coega, Saldanha, and Richards Bay that will provide power to South Africas electricity grid under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).

Competitors of Karpowership, as well as environmentalists and the opposition in South Africa, say the bidding was rigged and would cost a lot to the nation for fossil fuel-powered electricity.

Karpowerships bid offers low-cost electricity generation, supported by a clean thermal energy solution using LNG, the company said in a statement in March.

But South African gas company DNG Energy sued to block the award to Karpowership because of alleged corruption during the tender process. According to court documents, DNG Energy has filed and Bloomberg has seen, some of the eight biddersincluding Karpowershipwere exempted from some of the requirements in the tender.

DNG Energys executive director, Aldworth Mbalati, told a court he was approached by a businessman who boasted close ties to the South African energy minister and other government officials and offered to help with the tender. Mbalati rejected the proposal, he said in an affidavit.

Karpowership has strongly denied the allegations.

South Africa is trying to solve its electricity shortage crisis which has prompted the worst rolling outages in the country.

Meanwhile, last month, South Africa-based Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) published a report that found that in the 2019/2020 financial year alone, around US$641 million (9 billion South African rand) that was budgeted and disbursed by South Africas National Treasury to local governments to provide free basic electricity to the poorest-of-the-poor has been misappropriated by municipalities.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Marketing is the best way to ensure that your business gets the best advertising out there. The power of the internet has made things so much easier for laypeople. Anyone can easily become a pro at digital marketing with a few simple tutorials. Ace Marketing Expert Ken Johnson talks about his marketing experience.



In my time as a social media influencer and marketer, I have worked with many influencers and brand and have seen expenses of over $10 million mainly to influencers. The best advice I can give is to use your social media following to accomplish any task you set your mind to, said Ken.



He has had his beginnings in the world of social media and influencer-based marketing since even before the internet started using those words. Even before Facebook, or Instagram, Ken was using his social media following on Myspace to promote events and shows in the off-road industry. He drove a lot of traffic towards the Offroad Expo, the largest expo for trucks and jeep in the world. Over a period of 7 years, Ken helped to grow the marketing for the expo to such an extent that it is now the largest social media platform in the off-road industry.



If you are joining a company rather than launching your own business, social media marketing requires a whole lot more creativity. You can choose to be creative with your parent company. In my case, when I joined the company called Lucas Oil, there were no departments for social media. So I was able to take over and actually create these departments and channels and introduce both traditional and modern types of advertising, said Ken.



Ken may be an entrepreneur today, but his passion will always be the building of social media accounts and increasing his followers.









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
Allianz has completed an acquisition of 66 percent stake in Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL), East Africas largest insurance group.



The announcement means that JHL retains a 46 percent shareholding in the company.



The acquisition follows the execution of an agreement signed on September 29, 2020, in which Allianz agreed to acquire about 1,522,622 ordinary shares -- the majority shareholding in the short-term general (property and casualty) insurance business operations of JHL in five countries in Africa.



These are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Mauritius.



Thus, Jubilee General Insurance Limited in Kenya becomes a member of the Allianz Group and upon completion of corporate filings, will operate under the name: Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Limited.



The transaction is Allianzs second direct investment in the country, after establishing Allianz Insurance Company of Kenya Limited as a greenfield operation in 2014.



Alone and together with Allianzs recent acquisitions in leading African markets of Nigeria and Morocco, this transaction is a reflection of Allianzs long-term commitment to Africa and fits with our ambition to gain leadership positions in key markets in the continent, said Coenraad Vrolijk, Allianz Africa Regional CEO.



The two Allianz companies in Kenya, Allianz Insurance Company of Kenya Limited and Jubilee Allianz Insurance Limited are expected to operate separately, until their operations are consolidated into Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Limited, which is subject to regulatory approval.



All contracts issued by the two companies remain valid and we will continue to honour our commitments and deliver the quality of service that Allianz is known for globally, said Nandini Wilcke, Regional Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Allianz Africa.



The transaction gives Allianz a bigger platform to offer its wide range of insurance products, from simple digital products to flexible corporate solutions, Vrolijk added.



Nizar Juma, Chairman of JHL said: We are pleased to embark on the first step of our strategic partnership with Allianz, which will support Jubilees ambition to increase insurance awareness and accessibility across East Africa by providing innovative, affordable and technically advanced property and casualty insurance products to consumers across the region."



CEO of Allianz Life Ghana, Gideon Ataraire welcomed the news of the acquisition. He said: Allianz recent strategic acquisitions within the African region are proof of the Allianz Groups confidence in the burgeoning regional market.



Allianz and JHL will continue to work together to finalize the acquisitions for the businesses in Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Mauritius, the firms said in a statement to newsrooms.

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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Some students of the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) have rejected the Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering certificates issued to them by the University upon completion of the programme in 2020.



They argued that before they enrolled for the course in August 2018, the authorities of TTU told them it had not secured an accreditation to independently run the course.



Therefore, TTU was running the programme in affiliation with the Cape Coast Technical University (CTU) and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, USA.



However, upon completion of the programme in July 2020 and graduation in October, TTU issued them the certificates without any reference to CTU and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.



Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of TTU, has rejected their assertions and said that the institution was clothed with the mandate to issues the certificates.



Mr Kow Richardson-Nketsiah, PRO in a reaction to the aggrieved students' concerns, told the GNA that, although the University was running the programme in affiliation with the Cape Coast Technical University, it received an accreditation last year to independently run the course.



Therefore, the TTU was cloaked with the power to issue the certificates to the students despite being enrolled before receiving the accreditation.



He said the grading system used for assessing the students was not different from the one used by the CTU.



More so, it was the lecturers of TTU who taught the students and marked their scripts.



He pledged the University's readiness to engage the aggrieved students for further discussion.



Mr Justice Ato Bentil, the Course Leader for the 2020 batch, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, the aggrieved students would use every legal means and appropriate avenue to compel the authorities of TTU to issue them the right certificates.



He said the grading system and syllabus used during the duration of the course came from CTU and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, therefore, they expected the certificates to be issued by those institutions and not TTU.



The Course Leader explained that though the aggrieved students had met the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of TTU, Prof. Victor Kwaku Bondze Micah, on the issue, nothing concrete came out of the meeting.



Checks by the GNA at the National Accreditation Board(NAB) revealed that NAB issued accreditation to the TTU on May 7, 2020, to run Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering (Production Option).



The accreditation certificate number -NAB/1AC/003187 takes effect from May 11, 2020 and expires on May 10, 2023.



A letter sighted by the GNA indicated that the TTU terminated its affiliation with the Cape Coast Technical University on March 2, 2021.

Source: GNA









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Any industry could be disrupted by a few pioneers and game-changers passionate enough to do so. Dr. Ahmed El Muntasar is a cosmetic doctor renowned in the UK and internationally.



He is known for his precise, non-surgical procedures, and his list of clients includes many well-known celebrities. Dr. El Muntasar is on a quest to revolutionize the world of dermatology and cosmetic surgery



When I was getting started with cosmetic medicine, I always hated how long it took to recover from a procedure. I wanted to find a way to make things less painful, faster to bounce back from, and less invasive. This was when I stumbled upon non-surgical procedures. When executed well, these can be just as effective as surgical treatments and deliver the same results, if not better, with much less discomfort, he shares.



With the desire to create a better way of helping people look the way theyve always dreamed of with an improved recovery process, Dr. Ahmed set out to learn from the best surgeons in Europe. He graduated with a BSc Honors in Biomedical Science from the prestigious University of St. Andrews in Scotland, one of the top institutions in Europe.



Then, he completed his medical degree at the University of Manchester. For his postgraduate training, Dr. Ahmed El Muntasar headed to Greater Manchester. He holds a full General Medical Council registration and has completed further training through the British Association of Dermatologists and Royal College of Surgeons. His work has been recognized and featured in several renowned medical publications worldwide. One of Dr. Ahmeds greatest passions, which has also been a focal point throughout his career, is patient safety.



The patient always comes first. My job is to make the process as comfortable and easy as possible for my patients. Everything else hinges on that, he says.



With this goal in mind, Dr. Ahmed led the Quality Improvement Committee for East Lancashire Teaching Hospital. His role was to push forward innovation with the patients interest at heart. Dr. El Muntasar went on to complete an MSc in Medical Education and Leadership at University College London.



Once he found his niche in non-surgical techniques for cosmetic improvement, he worked with several well-known clinics, including Mayfair, London; Manchester; and Leeds.



Today, Dr. El Muntasar enjoys a thriving practice with three locations across the United Kingdom. What makes him different isnt just the long list of celebrities eager to work with him. Dr. Ahmed does not look like the typical doctor. Stylish, genuine, and friendly, Dr. El Muntasar has a magnetic personality that shines through his social media accounts as well as on camera.



He has over 636,000 followers on Instagram alone and has been featured in a number of reputable publications such as Forbes. Dr. Ahmed El Muntasar is extremely enthusiastic about the future and all the innovation that is bound to happen in the aesthetics industry. He is committed to being at the forefront of new trends and continues to represent his patients interests to the best of his abilities.



















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In line with its Kindred initiative, Vodafone Ghana Foundation has rehabilitated the labour ward of Akyem Achiase Health Center in the Eastern region.



The Akyem Achiase Labour Ward Rehabilitation project was aimed at refurbishing the labour ward from its dilapidated state with run-down floor tiling and a 32-year-old maternity bed to a modern state to provide safer delivery for pregnant women and greater ease for health workers.



In attendance were representatives from the Ministry of Health and allied organizations.



Speaking at the event, the District Director of Health Service, Ms. Stella Owusu, commended Vodafone Ghana Foundation for the gesture and implored all other organisations to follow its leads.



Its amazing how the foundation has painted and tiled the facility anew. With its help, the health centre now has brand new obstetric beds and other pieces of furniture. It has also changed the wards age-old fans, plugs, and lighting system. It is really nice of the foundation to again provide the health centre with pieces of Covid-19 personal protective equipment such as facemasks, hand sanitizers, and alcohol wraps.



Vodafone has really shown that indeed together we can achieve more. For this reason, I encourage us all present here to subscribe to Vodafone so that it will have a sustained means to continue to embark on such impactful social responsibility projects as this, she said.



Representing the Chief of Achiase, the Achiase linguist, Omankyeame Baffuor Amankra Boafo III, expressed appreciation to the foundation for refurbishing the facility.



On behalf of the Chief and the people of Achiase, I am very grateful for this project. To demonstrate the seriousness of our appreciation, we, the people of Akyem Achiase, pledge to abandon our presently subscribed-to telecommunications network and cling to Vodafone. From today, I promise that all of us will defect from our current networks, which are oft-times unstable, to Vodafone because of what the foundation has done for us.



The Akyem Achiase Labour Ward Rehabilitation project implemented by the foundation, under the Kindred Month programme, to improve health care delivery and boost education in communities.



For his part, Head of Vodafone Ghana Foundation,Rev. Nana Amaris Perbi, said under the programme, staff of Vodafone Ghana embarked on four community-based CSR projects across the country to drive staff-led philanthropic activities by the Vodafone Ghana Foundation.



Once December comes around, anyone with request of a societal need can submit to any worker they know at Vodafone Ghana for onward submission to the foundation. Afterwards, the selection arm of the foundation will scrutinize and select the most qualified ones in February, Rev Pebi said.



The three other projects implemented under the programme this year are the rehabilitation of Okorase health facility in the Eastern region, the upgrade of an ICT laboratory at the Adaklu Ahunda Basic School in the Volta region, and the setting up of a computer laboratory at the Ofankor M/A 3 primary school in the Greater Accra region.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has pledged the government's support to the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) towards scaling up a technology developed by the institution to purify water bodies polluted through illegal mining activities.



He said the discovery of that technology was a major boost to the governments quest to restore the health of water bodies affected by illegal mining, commonly called galamsey.



The Deputy Minister designate of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr George Mireku Duker, gave that assurance on behalf of the sector minister when he hosted the UMaT team at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in Accra yesterday.



"The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has declared his unwavering support to the UMaT researchers and has called for an all-hands-on-deck approach so that we can implement the technology, and this gives all of us hope that we will win the battle," he stressed.



The UMaT team was led by Vice-Chancellor of the state university, Prof. Richard Amankwah.



The team made a presentation on the new technology and demonstrated how it was capable of cleaning polluted water bodies, with an assurance that the efficacy of the technology was unquestionable.



Regulatory approval



The technology, which has already been tried in a river at Tarkwa and deemed to work perfectly, would need regulatory approval from the Water Resource Commission to be scaled up to other polluted rivers.



Mr Duker said the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry would ensure that the new technology was subjected to approval by regulatory bodies as soon as possible so that it could be implemented to clean polluted rivers such as the Pra, Offin and Birim.



The Deputy Minister nominee said the sector minister had, in collaboration with other state agencies, advanced processes to deploy river guards to ensure that water bodies did not get polluted after the water had been purified.



He said the decentralisation of the galamsey fight meant that metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives must support the initiative to clean up water bodies.



The technology



In the presentation, Prof. Amankwah explained that since the colloidal particles in the water bodies could not settle at the bottom of the river on their own, the technology would ensure that environmentally friendly irons were introduced to neutralise their charges to force them to settle.



He assured members of the public that the chemicals used for the purification of the water were not harmful to human and aquatic life.



"We have experts in the team of researchers, so the right things are followed in this technology. If a multi-element test is run on the water after purification, none of the elements would be found to have adverse effects on human, fish or grass life," he assured.



Prof. Amankwah said the technology was relatively not expensive and could help to regain the purity of huge volumes of water.

Source: graphiconline.com









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Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong has charged journalists to projects opportunities within their regions in order to attracts investors to invest in these regions.



According to him, journalists should develop a conscious culture beyond holding duty bearers accountable and pointing to the ills in society to projecting local economic opportunities in a way that will attract investors to harness these opportunities to create jobs for locals.



He said this as part of his three days tour of the North East, Northern, Upper East, Northern and Upper West Regions to gain first hand acquaintance of state owned media houses amid ongoing talks of retooling them to become viable players in an increasingly competitive media landscape.



You as journalists must play a very critical role in the development of the local communities in which you are. You are described and rightly so as the fourth estate of the realm, when you take away the executive, the judiciary and legislature, the media constitutes the fourth estate of the realm and this raises the question of what is the responsibility of the media in the national development exercise.



One of them is to hold duty barriers accountable, another includes to draw the society's attention to key issues that must be attended to but I think you also have to promote opportunities in your various communities. There are many communities with lots of potential and while we are not pleased with the level of economic development in those areas, we in the media space need to do more in projecting the numerous opportunities in our local areas, he stated.



Safety of Journalists



The Minister said the safety of journalists is of paramount interest to his office as sector Minister. This according to him has resulted in the formation of the Coordinated Mechanism for the Safety of Journalists under the watch of the National Media Commission (NMC) to curb the incidence of attacks on journalists in the country.



This he said provides a support mechanism for journalists and provides the NMC with the needed platform to interface with journalists who come under physical attacks by investigating, validating and taking the necessary steps to seek legal action.



COVID-19 admonishing



The Minister in his admonishing to journalists on COVID-19 and related matters tasked journalists to keep the COVID-19 safety messages alive. He noted that eradicating the virus from the Ghanaian ecosystem is a collective responsibility and therefore, journalists must take up the responsibility of adequately informing the public particularly in areas where COVID-19 education is very low.



This the Minister charged journalists to re-energize their public information role to increase public awareness on governments vaccination programme and rally support behind government to help eradicate the virus in it entirety.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The police have arrested a notorious armed robber Musah Adamu, also known as Adams, at his Tema hideout following a tip off. A statement issued by the police said the 25-year-old engaged in a suspected robbery activity at Tema Industrial Area in November last year and has since been on their radar.Th e suspect, however, escaped leaving behind his mobile phone and an unregistered motorbike which were retrieved by the police.



According to the police, Adamu and his gang specialise in the use of industrial cutters, grinders, heavy-duty hammers and equipment to break into banks, companies and warehouses.



Adamu is currently on remand and will re-appear in court on 17 May 2021.



Below is the full police statement:



Acting upon intelligence, the Tema Regional Police Command on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, arrested a 25-year-old suspected notorious robber by name Musah Adamu aka Adams at his hideout in Tema.



The suspect together with his accomplices, now on the run, on November 24, 2020, engaged in a suspected robbery activity at Tema Industrial Area about 2.50am, but absconded when police responded to a Distress Call; leaving behind his mobile phone and his unregistered motorbike which were retrieved by police.



The suspect has since been on the radar of police until his arrest on Wednesday. Adamu and his gang specialize in the use of industrial cutters, grinders, heavy-duty hammers and equipment to break into Banks, Companies and Warehouses.



Some members of Adamus gang are currently on trial at the Sunyani High Court after their arrest during a robbery activity. Other members wanted by the police in connection with the robbery in November 2020 are Ali aka Dangote, Nsiah aka Nab, Efo aka Senior Man, Solani, Quarshie, Santiago and Adamu; a Taxi Driver in Tema.



Musah Adamu has since been arraigned before the Tema Circuit Court and remanded into police custody to re-appear on May 17, 2021.



The general public is hereby called upon to volunteer and assist the police with any information that will lead to the arrest and subsequent prosecution of the above named suspects who are now on the run.









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South Africa's Department of Home Affairs has proposed a new law that will allow women marry more than one husband, in the same way that polygamous men are allowed to marry more than one wife.



The 67-page policy document also called Green Paper on Marriages, stated that the current marriage act does not promote equality.



The policy document highlighted that the current marriage legislation is discriminatory as it does not recognise Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Rastafarian marriages. The policy document also called for polyandry to be legally recognised as a form of marriage.



The Green Paper proposed three new marriage regimes to bring equality in marriage laws. One of these options is a gender-neutral marriage regime.



It read;



This would accommodate both polygyny and polyandry



Therefore all marriages, whether monogamous or polygamous, could be concluded regardless of the sex or sexual orientation of the person."



South Africas Ministry of Home Affairs appears to favour the option for a gender-neutral marriage regime that allows both polyandry and polygyny. The Ministry wrote;



The political appetite of the country to confront the challenges of the current marriage statute will be tested through these options. However, if Section 9 of the Constitution was to be implemented in its entirety, option 3 will tick all the boxes.



The Ministry however noted that the option for polyandry has ruffled feathers and South Africas traditional leaders have vociferously opposed the proposal, claiming that a woman being married to more than one husband is an unacceptable practise because it is not of African origin.



It added;



Ironically, stakeholders who believed in the practice of polygamy  were opposed to the practice of polyandry.



This is the beginning of a crucial public discourse that will re-define the concept of marriage in South Africa.



The process will unearth issues that may make some of us uncomfortable, but will encourage dialogue within the South African and international communities.



South Africans have until the end of June to comment on the departments proposals.













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At least 15 people have been killed by a landslide at a clandestine gold mine in Guineas north-eastern Siguiri region.



Overhanging rocks collapsed on Saturday morning, crushing some victims and burying others inside the mine.





A government spokesman has said the exact circumstances and causes of the tragedy will be investigated.



A local Red Cross official said two women were among the dead and that it was likely more bodies would be found.



This site is already mined by machines. The miners had struck too far in. Thats how the earth, being very badly suspended, gave under, Djanko Dansoko is quoted as saying by news site Guinee360.





There are hundreds of unofficial artisanal mines around Siguiri, where gold is laboriously panned by hand and safety standards are low.



This particular site is near the village of Tatakourou, about 40km (25 miles) from the city centre of Siguiri.



Seventeen miners were killed in a landslide in Guinea two years ago, and a dozen more nine months later.



The search for gold attracts clandestine miners from Mali, Senegal and other West African countries.



Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz has been given a five-year jail sentence by a court in Geneva, in a trial described as the mining sectors biggest-ever corruption case.





The trial threw a spotlight on an often murky struggle for control of Africas natural resources.



Steinmetz, a former diamond magnate who also holds French citizenship, was convicted of bribing public officials in Guinea, in order to gain control of the countrys iron ore deposits.



The court also ordered him to pay compensation of 50m Swiss francs (41m; $56m) to the state of Geneva.



It is clear from what has been presented that the rights were obtained through corruption and that Steinmetz co-operated with others, to obtain them, Chief Justice Alexandra Banna told the court, according to AFP news agency.



Steinmetz, who has always denied bribery, condemned the verdict as a big injustice. He plans to challenge the verdict and will not go to jail pending the appeal, his lawyer said.



The Simandou mines, in south-eastern Guinea, are estimated to be the most valuable untapped iron ore deposits in the world.

Source: bbc









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A virologist at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) is warning of a third wave of Covid-19 in the country if Ghanaians failed to adhere to safety protocols.



Dr Michael Owusu has observed that many have relaxed in observing the safety protocols, especially the wearing of facemasks, a situation he says could prove dire if any of the new Covid-19 variants were imported into the country.



Countries like the United Kingdom and India have been hit by a strong new variant, causing mass hospitalization and deaths.



Dr Owusu has warned that Ghanaians could not continue to be apathetic towards Covid-19 protocols when the B1617 Covid-19 variant, which has the same transmissibility as B117 discovered in the United Kingdom, continue to lurk around.



India is having B1617. That one has the same transmissibility as B117 and because the behaviour of this one and the variant in the UK are very similar, it is highly likely that if it enters any country, it is going to take that country into the third wave, he warned.



He cautioned that Ghana, which has been receiving visitors from all over the world may have the best measures at the airport but a slip of a single case from India may prove too expensive.



He wants the public to be wary of developments in India after that Asian country was hit by a wild Covid-19 strain.



For such a highly populated country, it means whatever they have, once they move and travel out of the country, everywhere they go, they are likely to see that country with this variant we have.



He continued: When people are not behaving well and you even have one person who slips through here at the airport, that person can easily infect many people and that can contribute to a third wave. I mean weve seen the churches that have these mass gatherings.



If you have one person slip into that place, you will not be a prophet to tell that this will lead to the next wave that we are talking about.



According to Dr Owusu, it was time the police and other security agencies tasked to enforce all Covid-19 safety protocols did so, adding Ghana cannot afford to be at the same level as India currently.



We are happy that there is a law in place, but then the implementation and execution and ensuring people are arrested are also other problems.



We have to ensure that people do what is right; one is the education as what we are doing, and two, we have to continue to enforce the law. For those who flout the law, they should be arrested, and those who dont put on their masks should be prosecuted.



We must revisit what we did before and ensure that people do what they are supposed to do so that we dont put the country in a difficulty like India is facing now with so many deaths. We dont want to see that in Ghana.

Source: adomonline.com









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Emirates has set up a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief items, to support India in its fight to control the serious COVID-19 situation in the country.



Emirates will offer cargo capacity free of charge on an "as available" basis on all of its flights to nine cities in India, to help international NGOs deliver relief supplies rapidly to where it is needed.



In the past weeks, Emirates SkyCargo has already been transporting medicines and medical equipment on scheduled and charter cargo flights to India. This latest airbridge initiative takes Emirates' support for India and for the NGO community to the next level.



HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates' Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "India and Emirates are deeply connected, since our first flights to India in 1985. We stand with the Indian people and will do all we can to help India get back on its feet. Emirates has a lot of experience in humanitarian relief efforts, and with 95 weekly flights to 9 destinations in India, we will be offering regular and reliable widebody capacity for relief materials. The International Humanitarian City in Dubai is the largest crisis relief hub in the world and we will work closely with them to facilitate the movement of urgent medical supplies."



The first shipment sent as part of the Emirates India humanitarian airbridge is a consignment of over 12 tons of multi-purpose tents from the World Health Organization (WHO), destined for Delhi, and coordinated by the IHC in Dubai.



Giuseppe Saba, CEO of International Humanitarian City, said: "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid built the International Humanitarian City (IHC), so Dubai, in coordination with humanitarian agencies, would be able to assist communities and families, most in need  around the world. The creation of the humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India, facilitated by Emirates SkyCargo, Dubai's International Humanitarian City and UN agencies, to transport urgent medical and relief items, is another example of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's vision for the IHC, being brought to life. Last year over 1,292 shipments were dispatched from the IHC in Dubai, setting the standard for humanitarian response globally. We appreciate the great efforts by IHC's partner Emirates SkyCargo establishing this humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India in this time of need".



The freight division of Emirates has a close partnership with IHC, developed over several years of delivering relief materials to communities across the world impacted by natural disasters and other crises. IHC will support Emirates SkyCargo in channelling relief efforts to India through the airbridge.



Following the Port of Beirut blasts in August 2020, Emirates also leveraged its expertise in humanitarian logistics to set up an airbridge to Lebanon to assist with relief efforts.



Emirates has led the aviation and air cargo industry in its efforts to help markets around the world combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The air cargo carrier has helped transport thousands of tonnes of urgently required PPE and other medical supplies across six continents over the last year by rapidly adapting its business model and introducing additional cargo capacity through its modified mini freighters with seats removed from Economy Class on Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft along with loading cargo on seats and in overhead bins inside passenger aircraft to transport urgently required materials.



In addition, Emirates SkyCargo has partnered with UNICEF and other entities in Dubai through the Dubai Vaccine Logistics Alliance, to transport COVID-19 vaccines rapidly to developing nations through Dubai. So far, close to 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been transported on Emirates' flights, equating to nearly 1 in 20 of all COVID-19 vaccine doses administered around the world.



Through its scheduled cargo flights to close to 140 destinations across six continents, Emirates helps maintain unbroken supply chains for vital commodities such as medical supplies and food.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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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.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has pledged his commitment to the road safety campaign embarked on by Multimedia Group Ltd to help reduce the rate of carnage on roads.

He noted that road traffic accidents accounted for a high percentage of all deaths recorded in the country annually.



He made the pledge when a team from the company paid a courtesy call on him in Parliament last Thursday.



Documentary



The team presented copies of its documentary, Crushed, to the Speaker.



The documentary, according to the team, was part of its contribution to address the increasing number of road accidents in the country.



The documentary, which captures chilling details of how many families have lost loved ones to road accidents, reveals that accidents cost the country about 1.6 per cent of GDP per anum, which in terms of numbers is about $800 million.



Personal experience



He recounted his personal experience in which the seatbelt he wore saved his life in three separate accidents.



Members of Parliament are always on the move, so I had about three near-fatal accidents but survived because I obeyed one of the guiding rules of a passenger; putting on my seatbelt.



On all three occasions, even though I was using Landcruisers, none of them could be recovered but I came out unhurt because the belt held me to the seat, he said.





Mr Bagbin advised drivers and passengers to always prioritise the use of seatbelts to save lives.



Role of Parliament



The Speaker gave the assurance that he would involve Parliament in this advocacy by tasking not just the committees of Parliament but parliament as a whole to discuss and analyse the current road traffic challenges.



That, he explained, would enable Parliament to come up with proposals that would be implemented by the government in order to curb the growing yet unfortunate trend.



Personally, what I think I can do to support it, I will do. And I will also want to get the opportunity for the House to, at least, take some action about the matter, he stated.



Fatality statistics



Statistics at the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service indicate that 771 people lost their lives in road-related accidents between January and March this year.



This was an increase of 29.58 per cent over the figure for the same period in 2020, which was 595.



The Head of Education, Research and Training at the MTTD, Superintendent of Police Mr Alexander Obeng, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that on the average, nine people died from road accidents on a daily basis.









Source: Graphiconline.com









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The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has called for urgent steps to confront the monetization of politics in the country.



That, he said, would help to reduce corruption and save the country's democracy.



The cost of getting elected to any position in Ghana has increased to intolerable levels and that is the root cause of corruption," he stated.



Consultative forum



Mr Nketiah was speaking at a consultative forum organised by the Department of Peace and Development Studies of the University of Cape Coast in Cape Coast.



The forum was to solicit ideas as inputs into the departments new programmes of study.





Mr Nketiah said there was the need to research into ways to purge politics of monetisation, pointing out that if the problem was not addressed, the situation would further lead to sacrificing merit in the nation's democracy.



He urged the nation's academic institutions to research into effective ways of making the nation's democracy formidable.



Religious charlatans



Mr Nketiah further called for a critical look at "untouchable religious leaders" some of whom he described as charlatans and their intrusion into politics.



According to him, the increasing presence and numbers was becoming a problem.





He said some of those religious men were exploiting the poor to grow "fat" adding that was another problem that must be confronted by the nation.



"I see a lot of charlatans emerging on the religious scene proclaiming to be everybody and threatening politicians; if you don't see me you can't win. We are in a country of poverty and yet the very poor are being exploited," he stated.



"It is like no politician can talk about them, the security cannot talk about them and their increasing presence and increasing numbers is becoming a problem," he added.



Peace and security



He also called for a proper structuring of the security agencies to make it more nationalistic in nature devoid of nepotism, religious considerations and cronyism to ensure peace and stability in the country.



He further called for improved living conditions of the people saying that the best forms of security is to make the people happy.









Source: Graphiconline.com









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Noi Bai airport deserted amid new Covid-19 spread

Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi has become deserted amid the countrys new Covid-19 outbreak.

The scene is totally different from the recent Renunciation Day (April 30) and May Day holiday when the airport experienced a passenger surge.

However, after the holiday, Vietnam has been facing the Covid-19 spread, causing people to cancel their trips by air.

Many localities have imposed social distancing regulations. Meanwhile people in Hanoi are advised to stay indoors as much as possible for virus prevention.





At 10 am on Sunday, Bamboo Airways counters were mostly deserted. Passengers were reminded of fulfilling health declarations and wearing masks.





Due to the small number of passengers, only three security screening gates were in operation.







Rows of seats were left empty







The safety distance was ensured among passengers






Government will, this month, start rolling out eight additional interventions under the Ghana's Coronavirus Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support Scheme (Ghana-CARES) programme, to create more jobs and boost the Ghanaian economy.



The 100-billion Ghana cedi programme, also known as "Obaatanpa" would witness the implementation of various projects in the health, agriculture, tourism, trade, digitization and technology as well as housing and social services sectors.



Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, announced this at the Minister's press briefing in Accra, on Sunday, to update the public on key government programmes and progress made so far.



The media encounter held on the topic, "Rebuilding the Ghanaian Economy, "was also intended to address the concerns raised by the campaigners of #Fixthecountry Movement.



Mr Ofori-Atta said government would also begin the implementation of $250 million Jobs and Skills Development programme to create jobs in the private sector businesses, instead of expanding government employment schemes.



The Minister said, in the coming days, his outfit would collaborate with the Water Resources and Sanitation Ministry to address water challenges, especially in the urban centres to ensure regular flow of potable water from the taps.



It would also work collaboratively with the Ministries of Transport and Roads and Highways to tackle traffic congestion on the highways.



In July this year, he said, a new Development Bank would be set up to provide long-term financing to the private sector through commercial banks.



Mr Ofori-Atta noted that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Ghanaian economy, the rate of growth of the public debt had been lower under the Akufo-Addo-led Government than under previous administrations.



"The rate of debt growth was lower despite massive investments in our flagship programmes such as the Free Senior High School Policy, Planting for Food and Jobs, NABCo, One District, One Factory, One Village, One Dam, restoration of teacher and nursing trainee allowances while maintaining macroeconomic indicators and exchange rate stability," Mr Ofori-Atta emphasised.



"We were elected not to complain or compare, but to get things done. To fix what is broken and Government and I are determined and committed to do just that," he assured.



The Minister underscored the need to keep the healthy conversation and dialogue on fixing the economy going so that "we can have a collective action to deal with the country's challenges".



He announced a hashtag 'Fix this together and save our country'

Source: GNA









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Alexander Murakhovsky, the Siberian doctor who treated President Vladimir Putin's critic Alexei Navalny after he was reportedly poisoned with novichok last year, has disappeared, Russian police said on Sunday May 9.

The physician, 49, was last seen leaving a hunting base in a forest in the Omsk region around 2,200 km (1,370 miles) east of Moscow in an all-terrain vehicle on Friday, police said.



There are unconfirmed claims that he contacted other hunters by radio to say that he would go on by foot but was confused over which direction to go amid reports of wild bears in the vicinity.

His friends looked for him but failed to locate the missing minister.



Russian national guards, police, emergency ministry staff, and volunteers are involved in the exercises with helicopters deployed to find him.

A search effort was already underway including emergency services, drones, a helicopter, and volunteers on the ground.



In February another doctor who treated the activist died in mysterious circumstances amid claims he had been liquidated. The following month another medic died after suffering a stroke, prompting claims the death was suspicious.



Mr. Navalny fell ill during a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow in August last year with suspected Novichok poisoning. He was eventually allowed to be airlifted to Germany for further treatment.

Dr. Murakhovsky had said that initial laboratory tests after treating Navalny had not shown traces of the Novichok nerve agent.



But tests by laboratories in three European countries, confirmed by the international chemical weapons watchdog OPCW, said that poison had in fact been used on the opposition figure.



The Kremlin has denied accusations of being behind the attempted killing of one of President Vladimir Putin's main political opponents.

In November 2020, Dr. Murakhovsky was controversially promoted to regional health minister of Omsk.



He was called out on Twitter by Mr. Navalny, 44, who said: You lie, fake test results, are ready to please the bosses in any way  you get an award and a promotion.

When Navalny returned to Russia, he was immediately arrested. He was jailed in February for parole violations, on what he says were politically motivated charges, and sent to a penal colony.















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former president of Ghana, H.E John Agyekum Kuffour has shared his view on the cuurent unrest of the youth in the country. Over the last few days, the youth in Ghana has called on the government to fix the country and make their lives in the country easy going.



Former President Kuffour took to twitter to say that unless you transform the lives of ordinary people, you cannot hope to transform Africa.



In his view, Africa will only be a better place if its leaders make policies that directly affects and positively transform the lives of every person on the continent.



Unless you transform the lives of ordinary people, you cannot hope to transform Africa.

 John Agyekum Kufuor (@JohnAKufuor) May 10, 2021















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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Although she has produced a good number of quality movies which have won her awards, renowned filmmaker Shirley Frimpong Manso says she has thought of quitting countless times.



According to Shirley, the difficulties she has to go through in producing a movie which sometimes runs into losses discourage her from continuing as a filmmaker.



Had it not been the encouragement I get from the fans, loved ones and the actors, I might probably have quit producing movies a long time ago. It is so stressful putting together a movie, the production that goes into just one movie is sometimes unbearable, she told Graphic Showbiz at the premiere of her latest movie Chasing Lullaby.



The award- winning movie producer advised Ghanaians to start supporting their own just like the Nigerians have been doing.



The Nigerians are very good when it comes to supporting their own but the pull him down in Ghana is just too bad and I wish it stops. We dont like supporting our own and I am not surprised the Nigerians are ahead of us when it comes to production. If Netflix has an office in Nigeria then it should tell you that we are lagging behind, she told Graphic Showbiz.



Chasing Lullaby (A Mothers Day Story) was released on all streaming platforms on Sunday, May 9, which commemorates Mother's Day.



Meanwhile Sparrow has reconstructed its streaming service Sparrow Station to ensure a wider reach of its content.



It is available on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Roku, and Amazon FireTV. Movies are also available to stream at www.sparrowstation.com.



The new face of the subscription-driven platform will include the release of feature films, short films, series, short series, shows and documentary films starting from May.





The streaming service will now feature new content such as Chasing Lullaby, COVID-19 inspired film Us in Between, Adams Apples The Movie and many others.



To still ensure consumers enjoy the best of content, older productions such as Adams Apples Season 1 and 2, V Republic, Shampaign, Potato Potahto, Perfect Picture, Love or Something Like That, Rebecca and many more are also featured on the platform.



Watch "Chasing Lullaby" trailer below:



Source: Graphic Showbiz









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Melinda Gates, the estranged wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, was reportedly meeting with divorce lawyers since 2019 following reports of links between her husband and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Citing sources close to the situation, The Wall Street Journal reported that Melinda Gates began working with lawyers from multiple firms two years ago.



One source who is a former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told the Journal that one concern Melinda Gates had was Bill Gatess association with Epstein.



The Journal reported that Melinda Gates and her advisers held several calls in October 2019, around the same time when The New York Times released a report detailing the multiple meetings her husband had with Epstein, who committed suicide in prison two years ago.



A spokesperson for Bill Gates said at the time that the meetings were to discuss philanthropy and that he regretted ever meeting with Epstein.



When reached for comment by the Journal, a representative for Bill Gates told the outlet that he stands by his previous statements regarding Epstein. A former employee of the couple's foundation told the Journal that Melinda Gates expressed her discomfort with Epstein after she and her husband met with him in 2013.



By March 2020, the couple were already discussing how they would divide their immense wealth, the Journal reported. Melinda Gates's legal team includes Robert Stephan Cohen, who also represented Michael Bloomberg and Ivana Trump in their respective divorces.



The May 3 divorce filings show that the couple agreed to separate their assets according to a separation contract, the Journal reported. Their assets include a $131 million home compound in Washington state, a rare Leonardo da Vinci notebook, and investments in Microsoft and Four Seasons Hotels.



The couple announced their plans to divorce last week, saying in a statement that they had come to this decision "after a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship," adding they can no longer "grow together as a couple."

In court documents, Melinda Gates said her marriage to Bill Gates was "irretrievably broken."









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Credit: Florida International University

At the southern end of Biscayne Bay, FIU Institute of Environment researcher Piero Gardinali is slicing through the water.

A triathlete, Gardinali is used to seeing kayakers and jet skiers zip by him on the surface as he swims toward the Miami Seaquarium. On the shore, sunbathers relax and others play catch with their dogs.

Beneath the water, seagrasses sway as if dancing to a beat. Fish, stingrays and even lobsters wander by.

But the usually serene bay that serves as a playground for locals and tourists alike would begin sending warning signs about its own health.

In August of 2020, hundreds of barracuda, eels, lobsters, pufferfish, toadfish, rays and snook in the northern bay died on a single night, their rotting carcasses bobbing on the water's surface and creating a stench detectable for miles. An algal bloom quickly followed and white foam accumulated on the water's surface, both indications of underlying concerns.

Pulling back from disaster

The FIU Institute of Environment quickly took action, deploying automated surface vessels, buoys and researchers who collected water samples. In the days that followed, they monitored the bay for clues about what had happened, though many suspected a long-simmering problem a century in the making.

Few other organizations could match the institute's efforts to determine what was taking place on the bay. Designated a Program of Distinction in Environmental Resilience by the state of Florida and falling within FIU's College of Arts, Sciences & Education, the institute has focused heavily on monitoring of coastal waters.

"If we don't attack this right away, if we don't put all of our best thinking, all of our best management, best practices in terms of infrastructure, revitalization," said Todd Crowl, director of the institute, "this will become a common event, and that's not a term I ever want to hear about Biscayne Bay."

Reckoning with history

A large part of the problem affecting Biscayne Bay is man-made.

In the early 1900s, developers dredged the bay to create Miami Beach and Star Island. They also built causeways to connect those islands to the mainland and added more islands still, forever altering the flow of water throughout the bay.

Back on the mainland, construction activity likewise would contribute to eventual problems in the freshwater bay. In the late 1940s, canals were carved into the Everglades, so more land could be used for farming and other industry. Those same canals are still used today to periodically lower the levels of Lake Okeechobee in central Florida, a source of irrigation for a $1.5 billion-a-year agricultural industry that produces sugar cane, winter vegetables, citrus and rice. Lowering the lake level flushes already nutrient-rich waters through the fertile farmlands around the lake and then to urban coastal areas.

Along the way, the water collects grass clippings, pesticides and fertilizers from landscapes that homeowners try to keep green year-round. Septic tanks built throughout South Florida likewise contribute to a toxic stew that spews into Biscayne Bay with every rainfall, discharge and flush, fueling the growth of algae and weedy plants at the bottom. As temperatures rise, this organic material eats up the available oxygen, said James Fourqurean, director of the institute's Coastlines and Oceans Division. That, in turn, kills off fish and seagrasses. Without the latter to do the clean up work, the bay becomes murkier. The conditions become ripe for algal blooms and fish kills.

Monitoring the bay

Gardinali, the triathlete and associate director of the Institute of Environment, is a chemist who has studied the bay for decades. After the August fish kill, he was on the water directing efforts to collect water quality samples. He saw first-hand how researchers used an autonomous surface vessel that zig-zagged its way south along the bay hunting for clues to what was happening under water.

The institute's CREST Center for Aquatic Chemistry and Environment also deployed buoys to monitor the available oxygen in the water and to provide a clearer picture of how many nutrients are swirling about the bay.

Marine sciences Associate Professor Kevin Boswell envisions a future where countless other stationary buoys and autonomous surface and underwater vessels constantly monitor the bay. The sensors on such devices would communicate findings to a computer that relays results to researchers and would use artificial intelligence to guide the autonomous vessels to investigate trouble spots. Perhaps inexpensive sensors could line the docks of waterfront homes to collect data.

Information from these sources would be publicly available to residents and tourists. For decision-makers in government, the information could help them devise better policies and management efforts to keep the bay healthy.

If funded, this real-time system would provide a much needed baseline of the bay's health and would be used to better monitor conditions of the bay. For now, Crowl, the institute's director, continues to host frequent meetings with local and state officials to share all available data on Biscayne.

Taking action

The seagrass die-offs, fish kills and algae blooms can be remedied by curtailing sewage leaks, converting septic tanks to centralized wastewater treatment, cleaning and treating stormwater and reducing fertilizer overuse.

Coastal communities are taking heed.

The city of North Bay Village signed a memo of understanding with FIU to explore ways to help the bay. Researchers are working with the small municipality, located on two islands in the middle of the bay, to develop methods of restoring seagrass beds.

The Miami-Dade County mayor created a chief bay officer position to advise the mayor and county commissioners about the bay's health and to serve as a liaison between the county and other stakeholders.

In February, Coral Gables passed a resolution to curb the amount of fertilizer entering the bay.

Still, expensive problems are not easy to solve. A November sewage leak fouled Biscayne Bay's waters, leading officials to temporarily declare an emergency to keep swimmers away from South Beach and Virginia Key.

Researchers at the Institute of Environment say we must get a handle on what's happening in Biscayne Bay. And we must do it now. Before hotter summers, calm wind and excess nutrients do their worst. Before the damage becomes permanent and people like Piero Gardinaliwho views the bay not as just a body of water to put under a microscope but as source of life itselfwill no longer be able to swim among the fish who play and forage in the seagrasses while families enjoy a care-free day in the sun.

How's Biscayne Bay doing day to day? See for yourself by checking out the live data coming from monitoring buoys set in place by resarchers within FIU's CREST Center for Aquatic Chemistry and Environment.

Ready to share knowledge about Biscayne Bay conservation efforts with your students? The College of Arts, Sciences & Education has developed educational modules for science teachers to use in the classroom.

Explore further Biscayne Bay fish kill is a warning sign, researcher says
Excavation site Grotta La Sassa - Angelica Ferracci. Credit: University of Tartu

A new study in Current Biology from the Institute of Genomics of the University of Tartu, Estonia has shed light on the genetic prehistory of populations in modern day Italy through the analysis of ancient human individuals during the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age transition around 4,000 years ago. The genomic analysis of ancient samples enabled researchers from Estonia, Italy and the UK to date the arrival of the Steppe-related ancestry component to 3,600 years ago in Central Italy, also finding changes in burial practice and kinship structure during this transition.

In recent years, the genetic history of ancient individuals has been extensively studied, focusing on movements and settlements of humans around Eurasia. However, the genetic history of individuals from the Italian Peninsula during the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age transition around 4,000 years ago was still unexplored. Researchers from the Institute of Genomics of the University of Tartu in collaboration with universities in Italy and the U.K. have collected human remains from the Italian Peninsula and generated ancient genomes in the aDNA laboratory at the University of Tartu, Estonia.

"For the study, we extracted ancient DNA of 50 individuals from four archaeological sites located in Northeastern and Central Italy dated to Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, and Bronze Age. We were able to generate the first genome-wide shotgun data of ancient Italians dated to the Bronze Age period and study the arrival of the Steppe-related ancestry component in the Italian Peninsula. This genetic component, ultimately tracing its origin in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, a steppeland located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and very common in Central and Northern Europe. It is also presented in the Bronze Age Italian individuals which we scrutinised and suggesting that populations in the South of the Alps experienced a similar evolution," said Tina Saupe from the Institute of Genomics, the lead author of the work.

"For the genetic analysis, we used a reference dataset including individuals from the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, and Sardinia dated from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. We decided to study the new genomes altogether with available data to have a deeper insight into the genetic changes and demography of this important transition, but also to understand its impact in the following centuries" added co-author Francesco Montinaro from the same institution and from the University of Bari, Italy. Researchers found that samples dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic from the Italian Peninsula are more similar to Early Neolithic farmers in Eastern Europe and Anatolian farmers than to farmers from Western Europe, which opens the possibility of different histories for the two Neolithic groups in Europe.

Map - Eugenio Israel Chavez Barreto. Credit: Eugenio Israel Chavez Barreto

"Because of the geographical distribution of the archaeological sites of published and newly generated genomes, we were able to date the arrival of the Steppe-related ancestry component to at least ~4,000 years ago in Northern Italy and ~3,600 years ago in Central Italy. We did not find the component in individuals dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic, but in individuals dated to the Early Bronze Age and increasing through time in the individuals dated to the Bronze Age," pointed out by Luca Pagani, Associate Professor at the Institute of Genomics and University of Padova and co-senior author of this work.

"In addition, we were able to find a shift in burial practice correlated with the change of relatedness between the individuals in two of the sites, but we did not find any changes in the phenotypes of ancient Italians during the transition," said Christiana L. Scheib, the aDNA research group leader at the Institute of Genomics and corresponding author.

"It was remarkable to see how this project developed over time and how the interpretation of the results changed once samples from Central Italy were added thanks to the collaboration with the universities of Oxford, Durham, Groningen and Rome Tor Vergata," said Cristian Capelli (University of Parma), co-senior author of this study.

"These results of this study have shown that the genetic profile of ancient individuals from the Italian Peninsula changed with the movement and settlement of humans since the Neolithic. This knowledge enlightens us on our genetic origin and enables plans for further studies including a denser sampling of individuals dated to the Iron Age and Roman empire," said Scheib.

Explore further Ancient DNA reveals origin of first Bronze Age civilizations in Europe

Provided by Estonian Research Council
Credit: Asociacion RUVID

The research group led by Gianni Gallello, from the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History of the University of Valencia, has used the analysis of rare earth elements for the first time to find human activity in a prehistoric cave. Through the analysis of the archaeological strata, with chemical methods, it has been possible to interpret the occupation and uses of the Cocina Cave (Dos Aguas). Previously, the ArchaeChemis group tested it in deposits in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Rare earth elements are common chemical elements in the Earth's crust whose importance as a strategic resource has been growing in recent years, since they are essential for the development of new technologies. Gianni Gallello, the first signatory of the work, specializes in the analysis of the use of rare soils as an indicator of human activity.

A multidisciplinary team led by Gallello, made up of researchers from the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History and the Department of Analytical Chemistry (ArchaeChemis), together with specialists from the British Geological Survey and the University of California (Santa Barbara), has used for the first time the analysis of these elements to study human activity in a prehistoric site.

"To determine these elements, mass spectrometry has been used from samples taken from archaeological sediments, digested with an acid solution, to later be able to study their proportions and concentrations," explains Gallello. This analysis in archaeological deposits has been developed within the framework of the multidisciplinary unit ArchaeChemis during the last 10 years and has been tested in Ethiopia, Tanzania or the Vall del Serpis (Alicante).

The study, published in Boreas, one of the most important international scientific journals in Quaternary research, addresses information from a prehistoric site, Cocina Cave (Dos Aguas), recently excavated by the University of Valencia and the SIP (Museum of Prehistory of Valencia) under the direction of Oreto Garcia Puchol, Sarah McClure and Joaquim Juan Cabanilles. The long sequence of human presence (8,5004,000 BC) includes mainly evidence of activities related to hunting, gathering and ranching.

"In this study, rare soil elements and stratigraphic information were used together with other archaeological markers. Thus, the concentrations and proportions of these elements are very consistent with the archaeological interpretation. Our studies show that lands can be very useful in identifying whether the formation of soils or archaeological strata is related to natural processes or anthropic activities," says Gianni Gallello, previously distinguished in the Marie Curie program at the University of York.

Explore further A new methodology with chemical and physical analyses differentiates Ibero-Roman from Punic ceramic fragments

More information: Gianni Gallello et al. Analysis of stratigraphical sequences at Cocina Cave (Spain) using rare earth elements geochemistry, Boreas (2021). Journal information: Analytical Chemistry Gianni Gallello et al. Analysis of stratigraphical sequences at Cocina Cave (Spain) using rare earth elements geochemistry,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/bor.12530
Chickpeas mature on the plant. They are mature when they have turned a yellow color. Credit: ICRISAT

Chickpeas are an important crop and food in India. They are used almost every day in meals and snacks. India is the largest producer, consumer, and importer of chickpeas. And with good reasonthey are high in protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

While India grows about 12 million tons of chickpeas each year, the national yield of the crop has not increased much over time. However, the need for more chickpeas to feed the increasing population continues to grow.

This is why a group of researchers across several research institutions in India are working to develop high yielding chickpea varieties. The team recently reported their results in The Plant Genome.

"High yielding varieties will help smallholder farmers by delivering more produce with an option to increase income," says Rajeev Varshney, member of the Crop Science Society of America. "It is important to develop better varieties that are tolerant to drought and are able to meet the demand."

Over time, chickpea production has moved from northern India to the central and southern parts of the country, where there is less water. This is in addition to climate change impacting global agriculture.

Varshney and his collaborators set out to breed new varieties of chickpeas with drought tolerance and higher yields. They used genetic techniques to breed several traits for drought tolerance. They focused on popular chickpea varieties already grown by farmers.

The team used a common method called introgression, where a popular variety is crossed with a variety with the desired traits. Following a series of evaluations and repeated crossings, the breeders arrived at an improved chickpea variety with the desired traits.

"However, this conventional process is not very precise, and in this procedure, breeders need to screen a large number of plants in field conditions," Varshney explains. "For example, if there is a lot of rain in that season, breeders cannot select the line for drought tolerance. It ruins the whole experiment."

To combat this, the researchers used a technique called marker-assisted backcrossing. It uses laboratory techniques to detect a genetic marker. Genetic markers are DNA segments associated with certain plant characteristics or agronomic traits desired by farmers.

By being able to detect certain plant characteristics in the lab using genetic markers, there is no need to do lots of testing every year in the field. It makes the breeding process precise, fast, and cost-effective.

The work helped incorporate drought tolerance into three popular varieties of chickpeas. Overall, researchers developed six lines of chickpea with higher yields under drought conditions. One line, Pusa Chickpea 10216, has been released for use by Indian farmers.

"We worked with already released elite varieties that are preferred by farmers," Varshney says. "By improving these, it's more likely they will be adopted by farmers in a faster manner."

"Here we have demonstrated successful use of using genetic markers to develop drought tolerant chickpea varieties," Varshney says. "We would like to see this kind of breeding being deployed by our national partners at a large scale in India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and elsewhere."

This research shows the public benefits of this kind of genetic research. Maintaining strong public support and funding for the research pipeline allows such work to take place.

"The work shows how genomics research can be used to develop better high-yielding drought tolerant varieties," Varshney says.

More information: Introgression of "QTLhotspot" region enhances drought tolerance and grain yield in three elite chickpea cultivars. The Plant Genome. doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20076 Introgression of "QTLhotspot" region enhances drought tolerance and grain yield in three elite chickpea cultivars.
Tea is the world's most consumed drink after water

Climate change is set to devastate Kenya's tea production as the world's largest exporter faces rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and insect infestations, according to analysis released on Monday.

Tea is the world's most consumed drink after water and disruption in supply from the east African nation is predicted to have a global impact.

A report from the charity Christian Aid outlined the various threats Kenya faces to its key black tea crop, as well as the dangers that other countries are likely to encounter as the planet continues to warm.

Citing a peer-reviewed study, the report said that the quadruple threat of rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, droughts and new insect infestations are forecast to destroy 26.2 percent of the country's optimal tea growing areas by 2050.

And climate change is expected to reduce the areas with medium quality growing conditions by nearly 40 percent in the same time frame.

"For generations we have carefully cultivated our tea farms and we are proud that the tea that we grow here is the best in the world," said Richard Koskei, a tea farmer from Kenya's western highlands.

"But climate change poses a real threat to us. We cannot predict seasons anymore, temperatures are rising, and rainfall is more erratic."

Karimi Kinoti, head of Christian Aid's Africa division, said tea was just another example of how people living in countries least responsible for the climate crisis are bearing the heaviest burden.

"Africans make up 17 percent of the world's population but we generate just four percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that have caused the climate crisis," she said.

"And yet it is we who are suffering the brunt of the impacts of climate change."

'World will be watching'

The report warned that the livelihoods of more than three million people in Kenya's tea industry would come under threat in the next two decades.

Britain, the biggest per capita tea consumer, is set to host crunch UN climate talks in Glasgow in November.

Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa climate and energy think tank, said the COP26 negotiations presented a vital opportunity for richer nations to provide proper support for poorer ones already having to adapt to climate change.

"As a major historical polluter and the creator of the industrial revolution the UK has played a big part in the climate emergency which we Kenyans are suffering from," he said.

"This year, as hosts of the G7 and COP26, the UK has a big role to play in tackling it.

"The whole world will be watching, especially Kenyan tea farmers and other people on the front lines of the climate crisis," added Adow.

 2021 AFP
A bovine egg after fertilization: The parental genomes are still located in two separate pronuclei. Before unification, the chromosomes (magenta) cluster at the pronuclear interface. Part of the cytoskeleton is colored blue. Super resolution microscopy image. Credit: MPI for Biophysical Chemistry/ Tommaso Cavazza and Melina Schuh

Only one in three fertilizations leads to a successful pregnancy. Many embryos fail to progress beyond early development. Cell biologists at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Gottingen (Germany), together with researchers at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics in Mariensee and other international colleagues, have now developed a new model system for studying early embryonic development. With the help of this system, they discovered that errors often occur when the genetic material from each parent combines immediately after fertilization. This is due to a remarkably inefficient process.

Human somatic cells typically have 46 chromosomes, which together carry the genetic information. These chromosomes are first brought together at fertilization, 23 from the father's sperm, and 23 from the mother's egg. After fertilization, the parental chromosomes initially exist in two separate compartments, known as pronuclei. These pronuclei slowly move towards each other until they come into contact. The pronuclear envelopes then dissolve, and the parental chromosomes unite.

The majority of human embryos, however, end up with an incorrect number of chromosomes. These embryos are often not viable, making erroneous genome unification a leading cause of miscarriage and infertility.

"About 10 to 20 percent of embryos that have an incorrect number of chromosomes result from the egg already containing too few or too many chromosomes prior to fertilization. This we already knew," explains Melina Schuh, director at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry. "But how does this problem arise in so many more embryos? The time immediately after the sperm and egg unitethe so-called zygote stageseemed to be an extremely critical phase for the embryo's development. We wanted to find out why this is the case."

Insights from a new model system

For their investigations, the scientists analyzed microscopy videos of human zygotes that had been recorded by a laboratory in England. They additionally set out to find a new model organism suitable for studying early embryonic development in detail. "Together with our collaboration partners at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, we developed methods for studying live bovine embryos, which closely resemble human embryos," explains Tommaso Cavazza, a scientist in Schuh's department. "The timing of the first cell divisions is comparable in human and bovine embryos. Furthermore, the frequency of chromosomes distributing incorrectly is about the same in both systems." Another advantage of this model system is: The scientists obtained the eggs from which the bovine embryos developed from slaughterhouse waste, so no additional animals had to be sacrificed.

Schuh's team fertilized the bovine eggs in vitro and then used live-cell microscopy to track how the parental genetic material unites. They found that the parental chromosomes cluster at the interface between the two pronuclei. In some zygotes, however, the researchers noticed that individual chromosomes failed to do so. As a result, these chromosomes were 'lost' when the parental genomes united, leaving the resulting nuclei with too few chromosomes. These zygotes soon showed developmental defects.

"The clustering of chromosomes at the pronuclear interface seems to be an extremely important step," Cavazza explains. "If clustering fails, the zygotes often make errors that are incompatible with healthy embryo development."

Dependent on an inefficient process

But why do parental chromosomes often fail to cluster correctly? The Max Planck researchers were able to uncover that as well, as Cavazza reports: "Components of the cytoskeleton and the nuclear envelope control chromosome movement within the pronuclei. Intriguingly, these elements also steer the two pronuclei towards each other. So we are dealing with two closely linked processes that are essential, but often go wrong. Thus, whether an embryo will develop healthily or not depends on a remarkably inefficient process."

The scientists' findings are also relevant for in vitro fertilization in humans. It has been discussed for some time whether the accumulation of the so-called nucleoli at the pronuclear interface in human zygotes could be used as an indicator for the chance of successful fertilization. Zygotes in which these pronuclear components all cluster at the interface have a better chance of developing successfully, and could therefore be preferentially used for fertility treatment. "Our observation that chromosomes need to cluster at the interface to guarantee healthy embryo development supports this selection criterion," Schuh says.

More information: Tommaso Cavazza et al, Parental genome unification is highly error-prone in mammalian embryos, Cell (2021). Journal information: Cell Tommaso Cavazza et al, Parental genome unification is highly error-prone in mammalian embryos,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.013
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

In states such as California and Florida, the $3 billion orange and citrus industry is big business. More than six in ten Americans drop oranges into their grocery carts. And when they peel that orange or drink a glass of juice, they want it to taste sweet.

Enter citrus greening, a disease here to wreck your morning and the U.S. citrus industry's bottom line. Spread by the invasive Asian citrus psyllid insect, the disease now affects every citrus growing region in the country, costing growers $975 million annually. Once infected, a citrus tree produces small, bitter fruit, helps spread the disease and then dies prematurely.

While the disease is an incredibly serious threat to growers, scientists hope to counterpunch using gene editing. This technological solution can be applied in multiple waysfor example, making citrus trees resistant to disease or reducing the viability of this invasive insect. While these technologies show promise, consumers will have to determine if the technologies are acceptable.

In a study published in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, the University of Delaware's Brandon McFadden, Kelly Davidson and John Bernard as well as Brittany Anderton from iBiology examined public attitudes toward gene editing. The researchers analyzed how common communication strategies impacted support for using gene editing to reduce pests and disease. McFadden, Davidson and Bernard are professors in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics within UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

"It is a technology that will be used to solve major societal problems in areas like the agriculture and medical fields," said McFadden. "But there is a low familiarity with gene editing because it is relatively new and a very technical subject."

More knowledge can assist the public in understanding the potential benefits and costs. The study's goal was to better understand consumers' concerns about the gene edited trees, which host the disease, and gene editing insects, which spread the disease.

"At the outset, we thought that there would be more general support for gene editing the tree; however, there was similar support for gene editing the insect or tree," said McFadden. "And in general, respondents were supportive of both gene-editing solutions to combat citrus greening."

This support for gene editing is good news for citrus growers and the scientists working on technological solutions. The results are also a positive forecast for other industries that will need to tap the technology in the future. But such support will require continued communication to the public.

Despite the promise of gene editing to address citrus greening and other threats to the food system, consumers receive mixed messages about the relationship between breeding techniques from advocacy groups and policymakers. In the survey, consumers had low familiarity with gene editing but linked it to genetic modification, typically referred to as GM or GMO. Both solutions employ bioengineering to alter the genetic material of living organisms. However, unlike what is typically referred to as "genetic modification," gene editing can make much smaller, and more precise, changes to DNA. In some cases, these changes can accelerate the development of traits that could otherwise be obtained through natural genetic variation and conventional breeding.

Consumer acceptance may be a very different story for gene editing than what was experienced for GMOs.

"Public engagement with gene editing is occurring much earlier for gene editing; there is positive sentiment about potential human-health advancements," McFadden said. "To maintain the trust of the public, it is important to communicate the potential risks and benefits associated with a specific application. But that's not enough from a communication standpoint, because we also need to communicate the risks and benefits relative to doing nothing as well as other potential solutions."

Explore further Genome editing to treat human retinal degeneration

More information: Brandon R. McFadden et al. The effect of scientific information and narrative on preferences for possible geneedited solutions for citrus greening, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy (2021). Brandon R. McFadden et al. The effect of scientific information and narrative on preferences for possible geneedited solutions for citrus greening,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13154
DNA origami is a technique that allows scientists to create 3D bots made from DNA. Credit: Daniele Adami, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Only in cancer medicine do clinicians aim to attack and kill legions of a patient's own cells. But healthy bystander cells often get caught in deadly crossfire, which is why cancer treatments can cause severe side effects in patients.

Researchers seek smarter medicines to target the bad guys only. One hope is that tiny robots on the scale of a billionth of a meter can come to the rescue, delivering drugs directly to rogue cancer cells. To make these nanorobots, researchers in Europe are turning to the basic building blocks of lifeDNA.

Today, robots come in all shapes and sizes. One of the strongest industrial robots can lift cars weighing over two tons. But materials such as silicon are not so suitable at the smallest scales.

While you can make really small patterns in solid silicon, you can't really make it into mechanical devices below 100 nanometres, says Professor Kurt Gothelf, chemist and DNA nanotechnologist at Aarhus University in Denmark. That's where DNA comes in. "The diameter of the DNA helix is only two nanometres," says Prof. Gothelf. A red blood cell is about 6,000 nanometres across.

Lego

Dr. Tania Patino, a nanotechnologist at the University of Rome in Italy, says DNA is like Lego. "You have these tiny building blocks and you can put them together to create any shape you want," she explained. To continue the analogy, DNA comes in four different colored blocks and two of the colors pair up opposite one another. This makes them predictable.

Once you string a line of DNA blocks together, another line will pair up opposite. Scientists have learnt how to string DNA together in such a way that they introduce splits and bends. "By clever design, you branch out DNA strands so that you now have three dimensions," said Prof Gothelf. "It is very easy to predict how it folds."

Dr. Patino is developing self-propelled DNA nanorobotics in her project, DNA-Bots. "DNA is highly tuneable," she said. "We can have software that shows us which sequences produce which shape. This is not possible with other materials at this tiny scale."

While DNA nanorobots are a long way from being used in people, with Prof. Gothelf saying that 'we won't see any medicines based on this in the next ten years," progress is being made in the lab. Already scientists can obtain a string of DNA from a virus, and then design using software shorter stretches of DNA to pair with and bend the string into a desired shape. "This amazing technique is called DNA origami," said Prof. Gothelf. It allows scientists to create 3D bots made from DNA.

In an early breakthrough, Prof. Gothelf's research lab made a DNA box with a lid that opened. Later, another group built a barrel-shaped robot that could open when it recognized cancer proteins, and release antibody fragments. This strategy is being pursued so that one day a DNA robot might approach a tumor, bind to it and release its killer cargo.

"With nanorobots we could have more specific delivery to a tumor," said Dr. Patino. "We don't want our drugs to be delivered to the whole body." She is in the lab of Professor Francesco Ricci, which works on DNA devices for the detection of antibodies and delivery of drugs.

Meanwhile, the network Prof. Gothelf heads up, DNA-Robotics, is training young scientists to make parts for DNA robotics that can perform certain actions. Prof. Gothelf is working on a 'bolt and cable' that resembles a handbrake on a bike, where force in one place makes a change in another part of the DNA robot. A critical idea in the network is to 'plug and play," meaning that any parts built will be compatible in a future robot.

Bloodstream

As well as carrying out specific functions, most robots can move. DNA robots are too miniscule to swim against our bloodstream, but it is still possible to engineer into them useful little engines using enzymes.

Dr. Patino previously developed a DNA nanoswitch that could sense the acidity of its environment. Her DNA device also worked as a self-propelling micromotor thanks to an enzyme that reacted with common urease molecules found in our bodies and acted as a power source. "The chemical reaction can produce sufficient energy to generate movement," said Dr. Patino.

Movement is important to get nanorobots to where they need to be. "We could inject these robots in the bladder and they harvest the chemical energy using urease and move," said Dr. Patino. In future such movement 'will help them to treat a tumor or a disease site with more efficiency that passive nanoparticles, which cannot move." Recently, Patino and others reported that nanoparticles fitted with nanomotors spread out more evenly than immobile particles when injected into the bladder of mice.

Rather than swim through blood, nanobots might be able to pass through barriers in our body. Most problems delivering drugs are due to these biological barriers, such as mucosal layers, notes Dr. Patino. The barriers are there to impede germs, but often block drugs. Dr. Patino's self-propelled DNA robots might change these barriers' permeability or simply motor on through them.

Stability

Nanoparticles can be expelled from a patient's bladder, but this option isn't as easy elsewhere in the body, where biodegradable robots that self-destruct might be necessary. DNA is an ideal material, as it is easily broken down inside of us. But this can also be a downside, as the body might quickly chew up a DNA bot before it gets the job done. Scientists are working on coating or camouflaging DNA and strengthening chemical bonds to boost stability.

One other potential downside is that naked pieces of DNA can be viewed by the immune system as signs of bacterial or viral foes. This may trigger an inflammatory reaction. As yet, no DNA nanobot has ever been injected into a person. Nonetheless, Prof. Gothelf is confident that scientists can get around these problems.

Indeed, stability and immune reaction were obstacles that the developers of mRNA vaccineswhich deliver genetic instructions into the body inside a nanoparticlehad to get over. "The Moderna and the Pfizer (BioNTech) vaccines (for COVID-19) have a modified oligonucleotide strand that is formulated in a nano-vesicle, so it is close to being a small nanorobot," said Prof. Gothelf. He foresees a future where DNA nanorobots deliver drugs to exactly where needed. For example, a drug could be attached to a DNA robot with a special linker that gets cut by an enzyme that is only found inside certain cells, thus ensuring that drug is set free at a precise location.

But DNA robotics is not just for nanomedicine. Prof. Gothelf is mixing organic chemistry with DNA nanobots to transmit light along a wire that is just one molecule in width. This could further miniaturize electronics. DNA bots could assist manufacturing at the smallest scales, because they can place molecules at mind bogglingly tiny but precise distances from one another.

For now though, DNA robotics for medicine is what most scientists dream about. "You could make structures that are much more intelligent and much more specific than what is possible today," said Prof. Gothelf. "This has the potential to make a completely new generation of drugs."

Explore further The collective movement of nanorobots observed in vivo
There is still heated debate about how and when to phase out coal - it remains an issue at demonstrations such as this 2019 in Berlin. Credit: Shutterstock/hanohiki

Can expert commissions develop solutions for controversial issues that will enjoy broad democratic support? A team of researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) has analyzed the work of Germany's "Coal Exit Commission" using a set of new criteria. While the authors view positively the Commission's success in reaching a compromise, they criticize its failure to deliver an outcome that promotes the common good, particularly with respect to the high cost of the coal exit and its unambitious contribution towards Germany's climate goals, as well as the lack of public participation.

On 29 April 2021, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions of the Climate Protection Act (2019) are incompatible with the constitutiona ruling that has put Germany's "coal compromise" back in the spotlight. The ruling has forced the government to amend its existing climate targets rather making effective climate action merely a matter for future generations.

Fierce debates accompanied the decision-making process around the coal phase-out. There were widespread concerns that the end of Germany's coal era would affect the economic performance of the coal regions, reducing quality of life and endangering social cohesion. In response to this, a special commission was established by the Federal Government on 6 June 2018. "The Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employmentalso known as the 'Coal Commission' for shortwas the most important commission in this legislative period and was supposed to help resolve the conflict around the coal phase-out," says project leader David Loew Beer, who led the study at the IASS. "Today we can say that it has been at least partially successful in this respect. Our research aimed to evaluate whether the commission's work has benefited democracy and sustainability."

For the study, which has been published in the "Zeitschrift fuer Politikwissenschaft" (Journal of Political Science), the researchers evaluated the reports of the Commission and articles from various media outlets as well as statements and studies released by participating organizations. In addition, interviews were conducted with 14 of the 28 members or their deputies.

At the time, a range of stakeholder groups were included in the commission, including representatives from environmental organizations, private sector entities, trade unions, science, and the regions. In the end, 27 of the 28 members approved the compromise. "The federal government viewed this as confirmation that the commission had been able to strike a fair balance between the different interests," says scientist Loew Beer. Interviews with those involved in the negotiations, however, revealed that the final negotiations were largely conducted by a small and informal group of participants.

How widely accepted was the Coal Commission?

One special feature of the study is that it applies a comprehensive system of criteria that was developed to examine the legitimacy of the Coal Commission and that enables researchers to derive generalisable findings which can be applied to other commissions. "Our analysis also examines the third area of legitimacy, so-called throughput legitimacy," explains Loew Beer. "This offers insights into the democratic quality of the Commission's work and considers issues such as: were members able to contribute equally? What was the quality of the debate? How were the individual members of the Commission equipped? There is very little empirical research on thisand our approach has enabled us to gain new insights."

Recommendations for future commissions

The Commission's work resulted in:

the Coal Phase-out Act

the Structural Strengthening Act for Coal Regions, which provides for extensive financial aid for the affected regions.

According to the study's conclusion, in its various legislative initiatives the federal government frequently refers to the agreement reached by the Commission, even where these deviate from the Commission's recommendations in practice. From the perspective of democratic theory, it is problematic that the federal government failed to assume political responsibility for its decisions. According to the authors, this explains why the "coal policies" pursued by the federal and state governments continued to meet with public resistance.

Other critical aspects: It was difficult for the public to understand how exactly the decisions were made. Was a solution found to compensate for the differences in expertise, experience, and access to resources among the Coal Commission's members? Not at all. The federal government's desire to limit its financial exposure, coupled with its unambitious approach to climate policy, diminished the Commission's ability to pursue the common good, resulting in an outcome that the Federal Constitutional Court has rightly criticised as unsustainable.

The researchers also note that it is somewhat paradoxical that while government has allocated substantial funding for the affected regions, the compromise has met with little approval in the regions. Loew Beer speculates that this could be due to the lack of involvement of citizens in the Commission's work and the legislative process.

The researchers recommend the following for future commissions:

binding criteria for the composition and support of future commissions, as well as transparency guidelines

mandates that reflect the diverse interests of the affected parties

a broadening and strengthening of parliamentary debates and decision-making processes. Such far-reaching issues as this should be debated and decided by parliament

professional and inclusive moderation

the creation of citizen participation processes to accompany the work of future commissions

Explore further In coal phase-out, Germany pledges billions to mining regions

More information: David Low Beer et al, Wie legitim ist der Kohlekompromiss? Spannungsfelder und Verhandlungsdynamiken im Prozess der Kohlekommission, Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft (2021). David Low Beer et al, Wie legitim ist der Kohlekompromiss? Spannungsfelder und Verhandlungsdynamiken im Prozess der Kohlekommission,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s41358-021-00261-8

Provided by Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V. (IASS)
Flooding sign in Railroad, North Carolina. Credit: Erin Seekamp

Recurring flood damage to homes and powerful storms that threaten infrastructure are realities facing many coastal North Carolina communities. However, for three predominately African-American, rural communities near the coast, NC State researchers documented additional injustices that threaten the communities' ability to adapt to a changing climate.

In their study, the researchers reported on efforts to help these communities think about how to adapt to sea-level rise, flooding and other climate change impacts. They found that inequalities, economic limitations and injustices facing these communities can make residents feel vulnerable to climate impacts, and unheard in local planning and recovery efforts.

Their findings, published in the journal Land Use Policy, highlight the need for policymakers and researchers to work with affected coastal communities using strategies that are racially and economically inclusive.

"We need more research that uncovers climate injustices that exist in climate change adaption planning efforts, and that helps us to enhance community resilience," said study co-author Erin Seekamp, professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at NC State. "Many residents have strong social bonds and deep connections to coastal landscapes, and leaving isn't a desired option. Yet, human health issues are a concern as residents face mold and failing septic systems due to flooding and rising water tables."

The Abstract spoke to Seekamp about the study:

The Abstract: Why did you study communities in Tyrrell and Washington counties in North Carolina?

Seekamp: Tyrrell and Washington counties are home to some of the lowest lying, rural areas in coastal North Carolina. Many of the communities are dependent on the region's natural resources for their livelihoods through forestry, agriculture and nature-based tourism.

They are already experiencing some of the effects of a changing climate, including recurrent flooding, marsh migration and increasing salinity in the groundwater and soils that is reducing agricultural production and forest health. They're also seeing coastal subsidence, meaning the land is sinking and slipping into the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.

There also isn't the same type of tourism visitation as there is in Dare County to the Outer Banks beaches. The relatively low population in the region also means that there is a more limited tax base to implement adaptation solutions.

TA: What challenges do these communities face for climate change adaptation?

Seekamp: People in the region are at a disadvantage for climate change adaptation and planning. The current structure of most federal and state programsand funding mechanismsare focused on urban centers and major tourism destinations.

Adaptation strategies supported by those programs, such as beach nourishment or sea walls, typically have unintended negative consequences to areas that rely on marshes to reduce wave energy and mitigate some effects of storms like hurricanes.

Many of these rural coastal communitiesparticularly communities of colorare also experiencing demographic changes that challenge their ability to prepare and adapt.

Even more troubling is that adaptation planning and outreach activities aren't reaching some of the smaller communities.

Yet, even when they haven't received climate change education, they already know they live in vulnerable locations. They can tell you exactly the extent of flooding that happened from past storms by pointing out where the flood waters rose to in their homes. They can tell you that drainage ditches that used to be maintained to help "move the water out" aren't maintained much anymore. And, they can tell you that they don't feel like they have a voice in planning or recovery efforts.

TA: Are there other barriers you documented?

Seekamp: In addition to the counties having a limited tax base to support community-driven planning and adaptation efforts, there are barriers for people to participate in planning efforts. They're often held during working hours or in the early evening. With some jobs being a one- to two-hour commute one way, attending isn't an option. And, many people told us that they have stopped attending because they are never heard when they do attend.

Additionally, the inability of many residents to continually meet changing flood insurance requirements means that when recovery support arrives, the only choice presented is forced migration, which is unacceptable. There is a strong sense of place and reliance on community ties and support.

It's clear that past decisions and current policies are disproportionately impacting communities of color and that structural change in adaptation and recovery efforts is needed.

TA: What is the Rural Coastal Community Resilience (RCCR) framework, and how did you use it in this study?

Seekamp: The RCCR framework is a tool, developed by Matthew Jurjonas during his doctoral studies at NC State, to have conversations about community perceptions about vulnerability and resilience to climate change threats.

In community workshops, we work with coastal science specialists with NC Sea Grant to provide information about climate change and the threats facing the community. Then, we lead community members through an activity to evaluate whether their community is prepared to plan for and adapt to climate change threats, and discussions about their ratings. At the end of the workshop, we have them re-evaluate and rate their adaptive capacity again.

What we weren't expecting was that in workshops with predominately non-Hispanic white community members, the conversation highlighted things they could do to build their capacity to adapt. In workshops with predominately African-American communities, the conversation highlighted their vulnerabilityespecially their feelings of lack of agency or self-efficacyand their inability to build adaptive capacity without the support of an external champion.

TA: What is the need for better engaging these communities?

Seekamp: We need new strategies for communicating climate science and identifying community strengths that can be leveraged to build adaptive capacity. This includes training on inclusiveness and implicit bias for researchers and outreach specialists, as well as for local and county government leaders. It also means a more concerted effort to collaborate with local residents on research and planning efforts, including ensuring representation on research teams and planning committees. This could support development of culturally appropriate outreach and engagement efforts that are led by community members themselves.

Explore further Development policy decisions will affect coastal communities' risk more than climate change

More information: Matthew Jurjonas et al. Uncovering climate (in)justice with an adaptive capacity assessment: A multiple case study in rural coastal North Carolina, Land Use Policy (2020). Matthew Jurjonas et al. Uncovering climate (in)justice with an adaptive capacity assessment: A multiple case study in rural coastal North Carolina,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104547
Prof. Raz Jelinek (left) and his student Ravit Malishev. Credit: Dani Machlis/BGU

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University (BGU), together with American and German colleagues, have developed new "molecular tweezers" to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their recently announced findings were published in Cell Chemical Biology.

For years, medical professionals have struggled with bacterial infections becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. These molecular tweezers may be the key to battling one of greatest public health issues of the 21st century.

"Our discovery prevents infection without building up antibiotic resistance, and it might even be preferable to develop treatments based on molecular tweezers rather than antibiotics," said BGU Department of Chemistry Prof. Raz Jelinek.

The research team, led by Prof. Jelinek and his Ph.D. student Ravit Malishev, tested their molecular tweezers on the Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) bacteria. In the U.S. staph infections have an estimated mortality rate of over 25%, and 40% for drug-resistant strains.

The tweezers target biofilm, a thin layer of fibers that protects the bacteria. By gripping the fibers and destroying the protective layer, the tweezers impair the bacteria without directly attacking it, which prevents resistance from occurring.

Prof. Jelinek, who is also BGUs vice president of research and development and a member of the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, explained, "The tweezers are just like your home tweezers but a million times smaller, and instead of plucking hairs they attack fibers of the bacteria's biofilm." By doing that they break the biofilm, making it more vulnerable to human immune defenses and external substances that are used against bacteria like antibiotics."

"The success of the study indicates an innovative direction of antibiotic treatments against pathogenic bacteria. We found that binding the tweezers to the biofilm disrupts its protective capabilities. Consequently, the bacterial pathogens become, less virulent to the human body, and, more vulnerable to elimination by the immune system. This breakthrough may open up new ways to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria." Prof. Jelinex hopes that following further testing, a pill containing millions of ingestible tweezers could identify biofilms in the body and break them apart.

Explore further Researchers provide new insights into how antibiotic resistance develops

More information: Ravit Malishev et al, Inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm-forming functional amyloid by molecular tweezers, Cell Chemical Biology (2021). Journal information: Cell Chemical Biology Ravit Malishev et al, Inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm-forming functional amyloid by molecular tweezers,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2021.03.013
Escherichia coli. Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH

Antibiotic resistance in E. coli has been steadily increasing since the early 2000s despite attempts to control it, a new study suggests. In the biggest genomic survey of E. coli to date, that took more than 16 years in Norway, researchers have successfully tracked the spread of antibiotic resistant genes and have shown that these genes are being transferred between E. coli strains.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Oslo have tracked multidrug resistance in Norway and compared this to a previous study from the UK. They found that resistant strains developed around the same time, but increased more rapidly in the UK population.

The results, published today in The Lancet Microbe show that tracking these resistant strains is important in the surveillance and control of drug resistant E. coli, which poses a significant issue in hospitals where it can cause severe infection and mortality. In addition, understanding how these genes are transferred between strains, and what has caused them to acquire drug resistance can help prevent the growth of antibiotic resistance strains.

The bacterium, Escherichia coli is a common cause of bloodstream infections world-wide*, which seem to be increasing over the last decade. E. coli is commonly found in the gut, where it does not cause harm, but if it gets into the bloodstream due to a weakened immune system it can cause severe and life threatening infections. As an added challenge for health care providers, multi-drug resistance (MDR) has become a frequent feature of such infections, and in a worrying number of cases the available treatment options are becoming limited.

In the largest study of its kind, and only the second systematic longitudinal genomic study of bacteremia E. coli, researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Oslo processed a nation-wide catalogue of samples from more than 3,200 patients to track antibiotic resistance over 16 years. By harnessing the power of large-scale DNA sequencing, they tracked the emergence of drug resistance and compared this to a similar study conducted in the UK**.

The team found that MDR started to increase and show in more strains in the early 2000s due to antibiotic pressure, and now multiple MDR E. coli strains are present in Norway. However, MDR E. coli seems to be more widely present in the UK, despite similar policies in place around antibiotic use. The UK population however is considerably larger than Norway which could explain some of the differences. Further research is needed to allow for closer comparison and to identify the exact factors that cause rapid spread in some locations compared to others.

MDR is relatively rare in bacteria. However, this new study has identified that lineages that previously were not thought to have MDR have acquired drug-resistance genes, showing the increased ability of E. coli to share MDR genes that move horizontally between strains.

Professor Jukka Corander, co-author and Associate Faculty member at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "The high number of samples from the Norwegian population and the level of genomic detail on the strains of bacteria enabled us to make much more far-reaching conclusions than were ever possible before. This study demonstrates the power arising from a systematic national surveillance of resistant organisms, which both collects and makes the data available for in-depth analyses. Without these in place, it would have been impossible to approach the central research questions formulated in the study and find answers to them."

The researchers hope to conduct similar research in the UK to build on previous studies and gain a full data set of 16 years in the UK in order to more closely track MDR resistant E. coli.

Dr. Rebecca Gladstone, lead author of the study and Bioinformatician at the University of Oslo, Norway, said: "Being able to estimate the expansion timelines of the MDR clones of E. coli and to identify multiple occasions of novel acquisition of resistance genes is particularly exciting as this is the first time that this has been possible. Understanding and tracking the movement of these drug resistance genes and the strains that carry them are necessary for controlling the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, which is a huge issue in healthcare."

Professor Julian Parkhill, co-author and Professor in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at University of Cambridge, said: "Long-term studies such as this one provide in-depth understanding about the complex epidemiology underlying bloodstream infections. The next step would be further research to detail the factors determining the success of emerging pathogenic clones of these bacteria, to help find a way to control and possibly minimise the spread of multidrug resistance."

Explore further Campylobacter strains exchange genes, can become more virulent and antibiotic resistant

More information: The Lancet Microbe, www.thelancet.com/journals/lan  (21)00031-8/fulltext *Kern WV, Rieg S. (2020) Burden of bacterial bloodstream infection - A brief update on epidemiology and significance of multidrug-resistant pathogens. Clin Microbiol Infect; 26: 151-7. **Teemu Kallonen et al. Systematic longitudinal survey of invasiveEscherichia coliin England demonstrates a stable population structure only transiently disturbed by the emergence of ST131, Genome Research (2017). DOI: 10.1101/gr.216606.116 Journal information: Genome Research
Credit: Pexels

In 2018, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged with multiple criminal sexual acts. Weinstein's conduct brought further attention to the viral #MeToo movement and also made those in positions of power rethink how employees should be treated.

But beyond the moral and legal fallout from such behavior, there's a practical one.

"Beside the emotional and psychological toll on its victims, sexual harassment is also bad for business," said Gjergji Cici, the Capitol Federal Professor of Finance at the University of Kansas.

His new article, "#MeToo Meets the Mutual Fund Industry: Productivity Effects of Sexual Harassment," shows that removing or diminishing the threat of sexual harassment from the workplace improves productivity. Specifically, using the male-dominated mutual fund industry as a testing ground, it reveals productivity of female mutual fund managers significantly increased after the Weinstein scandal and the rise of the #MeToo movement.

It's published in Finance Research Letters.

"No matter how you look at it, sexual harassment is bad. But in our study, we take a look at it through an economic lens," he said.

"If you think about these knowledge-intensive industries, their most important production factor is the human capital of their employees. We see sexual harassment as a friction that impedes the full utilization of human capital and affects productivity. It's bad for the people who are being sexually harassed, bad for the company and bad for the customer."

A mutual fund is defined as a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. Cici's study (co-written with Mario Hendriock, Stefan Jaspersen and Alexander Kempf of the University of Cologne) examined a period from January 1992 to March 2019. The sample consisted of 4,375 funds managed by 8,833 managers, 12% of whom are women. It found that, compared to male-managed funds, the returns of female-managed funds improved by at least eight basis points per month or 96 basis points per year after the Weinstein accusations surfaced.

Cici became interested in this subject after reading an article about the scandal in October 2017.

"We went into this topic a little bit skeptical in the sense that we didn't have a good way to measure things, like whether and to what extent sexual harassment is present at Company A or Company B," he said.

But this heavily publicized event represented a "positive market-wide shock that increased awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace and generally created conditions for removing sexual harassment-related frictions," Cici wrote. Many companies responded by instituting policy changes such as mandatory training and new guidelines for reporting and handling these offenses.

Mere weeks after the Weinstein news broke, two portfolio managers at Fidelity, one of the nation's largest mutual fund companies, were fired because of such claims. Cici realized the mutual fund industry coupled with the widespread corporate response to the Weinstein scandal could be combined as the perfect petri dish for observing these effects.

"You can measure performance or productivity better in the mutual fund industry because detailed data on mutual funds are publicly available. You know who the person behind a mutual fund is, whether it is a female or a male portfolio manager, and what they are doing with their portfolio," he said.

According to a 2016 survey by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 25% of female employees have been sexually harassed at work.

"Harvey Weinstein helped us to look at this in a different wayfrom the reverse. We know there's sexual harassment in the workplace, so taking that as given, we can analyze the data to ascertain what improvements were made to address it and how that affected employee performance."

Cici expects improvements are also happening in other industries  they're just harder to measure.

"If you think about a publicly traded company, you have a CEO at the top and some other company executives, and then it's hard to attribute the actions to outcomes of productivity. How can you determine which of these employees is responsible for what fraction of the productivity?" asked Cici, a native of Albania who is in his third year at KU.

"If we had a clear way to measure what we've observed in other industries, you'd probably find similar results."

Fortunately, at least this one industry is quantitatively shown to be improving in regard to the treatment of its employees. He anticipates the information revealed in "#MeToo Meets the Mutual Fund Industry" could have applications elsewhere.

"I hope it brings to the attention of companies the fact that removing and fighting sexual harassment in the workplace is in their best interest," Cici said. "Companies should fight sexual harassment because when they do, everybody wins."

Explore further The economic fallout from a #MeToo scandal

More information: Gjergji Cici et al. #MeToo meets the mutual fund industry: productivity effects of sexual harassment, Finance Research Letters (2020). Gjergji Cici et al. #MeToo meets the mutual fund industry: productivity effects of sexual harassment,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2020.101687
Ocean-bottom sediments, shown after materials such as leaf wax chemicals have been extracted. These sediments -- collected in 1985 by the Ocean Drilling Program -- were processed recently at UB as part of a study on summer temperatures in southern Greenland during past interglacials. Credit: Douglas Levere / University at Buffalo

Over hundreds of thousands of years, sediments from southern Greenland have been making their way into the ocean, where they're carried by underwater currents to a location in the Labrador Sea called the Eirik Drift.

Here, they settle on the ocean floor, where they form a record of history, accumulating in layers that document the environmental past of the lands from which they came.

A new University at Buffalo study uses these deposits to learn about ancient climate in southern Greenland, focusing on summer temperature during periods of relative warmth on Earth, called interglacials, over the past 600,000 years.

The scientists looked, specifically, at chemicals in leaf waxes. These compounds are among many materials found in the ocean-bottom mud, and for southern Greenland, the chemicals' make-up changes ever so slightly depending on how warm or cool the region is, says first author Allison Cluett, a Ph.D. candidate in geology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

One conclusion of the research: Periods of prolonged warmthwhere summers remain warm for many thousands of yearsmay be particularly disastrous for the Greenland Ice Sheet. The findings are a warning for today, says Elizabeth Thomas, Ph.D., UB assistant professor of geology, who conducted the study with Cluett.

Allison Cluett, University at Buffalo geology PhD student, is first author of a study on summer temperatures in southern Greenland during past interglacials. She is pictured in Greenland, where she was working on a different study. Credit: Elizabeth Thomas

"What we see is that sustained summer warmth is associated with dramatic ice sheet mass loss," Thomas says. "Today, we're releasing greenhouse gases, causing Earth's temperature to rapidly increase to levels last seen during these ancient warm periods. Climate models show that if we continue emitting greenhouse gases at the current rate, there could be long-lasting effects that will keep the Earth's temperature warm for thousands more years. We need to act now to dramatically reduce our emissions to minimize these potential, very long-term impacts."

The study will be published on May 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research finds that summer temperatures in southern Greenland were elevated for about 20,000 years during a warm period that occurred roughly 400,000 years agoa time when scientists believe the Greenland Ice Sheet shrank substantially.

That contrasts with a period of warmth that took place roughly 125,000 years ago and lasted about 5,000 years. During this shorter interglacial, summer temperatures in southern Greenland were generally even hotter than during the warm period that occurred 400,000 years ago, the study concludes. And yet, the Greenland Ice Sheet is thought to have experienced a much greater decline during the warm period that took place 400,000 years ago.

"Strong ice sheet retreat and forest cover in southern Greenland occurred during a period of sustained warmth about 400,000 years ago," Cluett says. "Today, with global temperatures rising again, we could be on a similar trajectory if we don't make reductions to greenhouse gas emissions. Our research really points to the importance of the duration of warmth for the ice sheet."

Extracting and analyzing leaf wax chemicals from ocean-bottom and other sediments is a complex process. This photo shows just one of many steps: The vials hold what scientists call the acid fraction, which contains materials including leaf wax chemicals. Credit: Allison Cluett

While potential scenarios on a scale of thousands of years may seem like a long time, actions taken over a brief period can have intense effects that reverberate far into the future, affecting generation after generation, as Cluett and Thomas point out.

The study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), including through an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an NSF-funded Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship to Cluett, and an NSF Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities grant to Thomas. The leaf wax chemicals that the scientists studied came from marine sediment collected in 1985 by the Ocean Drilling Program, from a spot on the Eirik Drift about 280 kilometers south of Greenland.

In addition to the warm periods 125,000 and 400,000 years ago, Cluett and Thomas also leveraged the sediment samples to reconstruct summer temperature trends for southern Greenland during four other interglacials.

"These are periods that are really difficult to study in the Arctic," Cluett says. "That's because as the ice sheets grow and wane, terrestrial records like lake sediments that could provide insight into environmental changes are often eroded away, so there's very little information about what the climate was like during these past times, which may be our best analogues for future warming."

The findings add to a trove of information that scientists are building up about the climate history of Greenland. For example, past studies have provided insight into topics such as ancient year-round temperatures at the summit of the ice sheet; the potential size of the Greenland Ice Sheet at various points in history; and the presence of spruce forests in southern Greenland during the exceptionally long warm period about 400,000 years ago (indicated by pollen found in the ocean mud). The new research adds to this picture.

Taken together, these historical insights could help scientists understand how the Greenland Ice Sheet may respond to modern climate change.

Explore further Greenland caves: Time travel to a warm Arctic

More information: Allison A. Cluett el al., "Summer warmth of the past six interglacials on Greenland," PNAS (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Allison A. Cluett el al., "Summer warmth of the past six interglacials on Greenland,"(2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2022916118
A Bombus consobrinus queen visiting a L. album var. barbatum flower in the Mitsumata population. Credit: Tsubasa Toji, Shinshu University

The morphological compatibility between flowers and insects was given in the famous textbook example of Darwin's orchids and hawkmoths. As in this example, many studies have shown that geographical variations in flower size match the size of insects in each region. In other words, studies have shown 'flower-sized regional adaptation' in which large flowers evolve in areas pollinated by large insects and small flowers evolve in areas pollinated by small insects.

However, when examining the genetic similarity between populations, are plants in each region more similar, or are plants with large (or small) flower sizes across nearing regions more similar? This has remained unknown until this study led by doctoral candidate Tsubasa Toji of Shinshu University's Professor Takao Itino lab. The team used white nettle to show this classic flower-insect size agreement, and by combining population genetic analysis, examined the actual evolution of flower size.

The flower traits of white dead-nettle (Lamium album var. barbatum) were clearly correlated with bee size. On the other hand, the genetic structure was similar between plants of each region. In other words, the flower size was independently large and small in each mountain area or a parallel evolution of flower size developed independently between mountain areas.

This study was conducted very simply, combining two methods: field research and population genetic analysis. Field studies showed geographical variation in flower size, showing that flower size was clearly correlated with the bee size visited in the population. Genetic analysis showed that there is an overarching genetic structure or genetic divergence between mountains.

When the two results are combined, the flower size of each population is independent of the genetic structure, and the flower size differs greatly even between genetically similar populations, or groups belonging to the same mountain range. In some cases, flower sizes were similar even between populations that were genetically distant, or species belonging to different mountain areas. This suggests that flower size evolved independently in each mountain area.

The group is in the process of confirming the parallel evolution of flower traits between mountainous areas for other plant species using the same approach. They are also trying to find out about other plant species and are exploring the possibility that the parallel evolution of this flower trait between mountains is a fairly common phenomenon. Ultimately, by extending the trait comparison between mountain areas to organisms of other taxa other than plants and combining it with population genetic analysis, they hope to elucidate the actual state of evolution of various species occurring in mountain regions.

Explore further Plant provenance influences pollinators

More information: Tsubasa Toji et al, Intraspecific convergence of floral size correlates with pollinator size on different mountains: a case study of a bumblebee-pollinated Lamium (Lamiaceae) flowers in Japan, BMC Ecology and Evolution (2021). Journal information: BMC Ecology and Evolution Tsubasa Toji et al, Intraspecific convergence of floral size correlates with pollinator size on different mountains: a case study of a bumblebee-pollinated Lamium (Lamiaceae) flowers in Japan,(2021). DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01796-8

Provided by Shinshu University
A boat blocks two whales, which will have to change their course in order to avoid a collision. By studying both whale behavior and tourism practices, researchers from the Smithsonian and Arizona State University hope to provide scientific information that policy makers and tourist companies can use to make whale-watching safer for whales. Credit: Hector Guzman

According to the International Whaling Commission, whale-watching tourism generates more than $2.5 billion a year. After the COVID-19 pandemic, this relatively safe outdoor activity is expected to rebound. Two new studies funded by a collaborative initiative between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and Arizona State University (ASU) show how science can contribute to whale watching practices that ensure the conservation and safety of whales and dolphins.

"The Smithsonian's role is to provide scientific advice to policy makers as they pioneer management strategies to promote whale conservation," said STRI marine biologist Hector Guzman, whose previous work led the International Maritime Organization to establish shipping corridors in the Pacific to prevent container ships from colliding with whales along their migration routes. "Now we have methods to measure how whale behavior changes as a result of whale-watching practices. These two papers were published in a special volume of Frontiers in Marine Science dedicated to studies of whale-watching practices worldwide."

Whale watching is on the rise around the world and is part of sustainable tourism-development projects in countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Nicaragua and Panama. But critics say that jobs and increased income for tour operators and coastal residents cannot be justified if whales are harmed.

Whale-watching regulations in Panama first established with Guzman's help in 2005, and modified in 2017 and 2020, prohibit activities that cause whales to change their behavior. The aim of the first study was to discover if the presence of tourism boats caused the whales to change their behavior during the breeding season.

According to Panama's whale-watching regulations, tourists should be closer than 250 meters from a whale. Credit: Hector Guzman

Researchers monitored humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) during their August-September breeding season within Panama's Las Perlas Archipelago protected area. From a high vantage point on Contadora Island and from whale-watching vessels, they recorded the number of tourist boats and whales present and activity, including changes in direction, breaching, slapping the water, dives and spy-hops (raising the head above the water surface) on 47 occasions.

They discovered that whale-watching vessels frequently disregarded legal guidelines designed to protect the whales: deliberately chasing whales, getting too close to adult whales and calves, and forcing whales to change their behavior. Other notable observations included:

Tourist boats chased groups that included calves more often than groups of adults.

Groups that included a calf changed direction more often than did other group types.

Whales changed direction more often when more than two to three tourist boats were present.

Roughly 1,000 whale watchers visit the Las Perlas islands each year, and that number is growing. In the second study, researchers interviewed tourists waiting to return to the mainland at the Contadora airport to better understand the whale watching experience. They interviewed every third person waiting in line.

At the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, a small exhibit teaches visitors to the Smithsonian's Culebra Point Nature Center about research that led the International Maritime Organization to designate a specific transit zone for ships as they enter the canal to minimize collisions with humpback whales breeding in the Bay of Panama. Credit: Jorge Aleman, STRI

Ninety-nine percent of the tourists who saw whales reported seeing at least one behavior while whale watching, and 68% reported that their experience met or exceeded their expectations. 30% said that they did not observe a whale. Half reported that they had observed either their boat or other nearby boats chasing whales at high speed, or that they had gotten closer to the whales than the distance permitted by law.

Breeding whales are threatened by marine pollution, ship strikes, climate change, noise and disturbances while they are resting, socializing and feeding. In the future, researchers hope to measure the amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) in whale fecal samples to find out if the animals are under stress, use better technology (e.g., theodolitesinstruments that measure angles) to measure the distance between boats and whales, use drones with cameras to document interactions and continue to survey tourists to better understand whale watching and inform management strategies to keep these magnificent animals safe.

"I wanted to do a study with practical outcomes for conservation, not just another paper that sits on a shelf," said Katie Surrey, doctoral candidate at ASU and co-author of both papers. "In Las Perlas, where whales come to breed, we observed harassing behavior, like ten tourist boats surrounding a single mother and calf. But we also talked to tourists and operators who learned a significant amount about whales and champion better whale-watching practices and conservation efforts as a result. For my dissertation I plan to find out more about what motivates both the tourists and the operators, so that we can suggest ways to both improve their experience and safeguard the whales."

Explore further Shhhh, the whales are resting

More information: Susana Cardenas et al, Tourist Knowledge, Pro-Conservation Intentions, and Tourist Concern for the Impacts of Whale-Watching in Las Perlas Archipelago, Panama, Frontiers in Marine Science (2021). Journal information: Frontiers in Marine Science Susana Cardenas et al, Tourist Knowledge, Pro-Conservation Intentions, and Tourist Concern for the Impacts of Whale-Watching in Las Perlas Archipelago, Panama,(2021). DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2021.627348
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Induced bank filtration is a key and well-established approach to provide drinking water supply to populated areas located along rivers or lakes and with limited access to groundwater resources. It is employed in several countries worldwide, with notable examples in Europe, the United States, and parts of Africa. Contamination of surface waters poses a serious threat to attaining drinking water standards. In this context, human pathogenic microorganisms such as some viruses and bacteria, originating from the discharge of wastewater treatment plants, form a major contaminant group. A detailed study at an induced bank filtration site along the Rhine river in Germany has now linked transport of bacteria to seasonal dynamics. Key results of the study show that floods should be considered as particular threats, because they can reduce the purification capacity of bank filtration, thus leading to an increase in the concentrations of bacteria in groundwater. Changes in properties of the riverbed sediments over the course of a year can markedly influence the purification capacity of bank filtration and these dynamics may need to be considered in risk assessment practices.

Toolbox for Waterworks Operators

A project led by Prof. Dr. Irina Engelhardt, who teaches hydrogeology at the TU Berlin, aims to enhance our understanding of bank filtration processes and to improve predictive capabilities of models describing transport of microorganisms in bank filtration. Model-based tools are developed to enable waterworks operators to assess more accurately the purification potential of their bank filtration plants with regard to microorganisms. Partners collaborating to the research include Prof. Dr. Alberto Guadagnini and Prof. Dr. Monica Riva from the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Ambientale of the Politecnico di Milano.

First results of the cooperation were recently published in an article titled "Uncertainty analysis and identification of key parameters controlling bacteria transport within a riverbank filtration scenario" in the international journal Water Resources Research.

Uses in Germany and in Italy

More than 100 bank filtration plants are spread across Europe, mostly located in Northern and Central European countries (particularly in Germany, The Netherlands, France, and Finland). In Germany, drinking water production by induced bank filtration is regionally significant. For example, about half of the drinking water in Berlin is obtained by this method. In contrast, induced bank filtration is not widespread in Mediterranean countries. In Italy, an example can be found in Lucca (Tuscany) along the Serchio river. But pressure on water resources in the Mediterranean is increasing due to climate change. Induced bank filtration, as a resource efficient drinking water production method, could become a tool to combat increasing water scarcity in the region.

Uncertainty in numerical model predictions

For drinking water production by induced bank filtration, groundwater extraction wells are placed near rivers or lakes. These wells mainly yield so-called bank filtrate, corresponding to water that flows from the surface water body to the well which is naturally purified by the underground migration. Human pathogens are affected by a complex system of processes during their migration through the aquifer and their concentrations tend to decrease in time because these are partially retained on the sediment grains and can also naturally lose their infectivity. A critical operational question for waterworks operators is: how strong is the purification effect of bank filtration, or, in other words, how much can nature reduce the concentration of microorganisms?

The research has highlighted the role of the main factors influencing these effects. These include, for example, groundwater flow velocity, temperature, and the mineralogical composition of the subsurface. Furthermore, it is shown that the transport behavior depends on the microorganism species considered. As a result, predictions about migration of microorganisms in groundwater are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. The research offers a powerful and flexible tool to quantify and possibly control such uncertainty to increase confidence in the purification effect of bank filtration.

Explore further Tracing water from river to aquifer

More information: Dustin Knabe et al, Uncertainty Analysis and Identification of Key Parameters Controlling Bacteria Transport Within a Riverbank Filtration Scenario, Water Resources Research (2021). Journal information: Water Resources Research Dustin Knabe et al, Uncertainty Analysis and Identification of Key Parameters Controlling Bacteria Transport Within a Riverbank Filtration Scenario,(2021). DOI: 10.1029/2020WR027911

Provided by Politecnico di Milano
Sampling a rain collector near the Puu Laau cabin on Mauna Kea. Credit: Kiana Frank

To better understand how and where groundwater is recharged on Hawaii Island, a team of earth and atmospheric scientists from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa looked to the sourcerainfall. In a published study, the team reported a time-series of rainfall data which highlights that extreme events, such as volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, can affect the chemistry of precipitation.

The researchers measured hydrogen and oxygen isotopes and the chemical composition of rainfall from central to leeward Hawaii Island at 20 stations. Rain water isotopes help scientists identify the origin of groundwater and understand the recharge processes in a region.

Preparing for future water security

The results from this study can be used to better quantify and characterize precipitationthe ultimate source of Hawai'i's groundwater.

"In order to better serve communities in Hawaii, specifically in access to fresh water and ensuring better water management, we need to understand where the groundwater is recharging and how it flows in the different aquifer systems," said Diamond Tachera, lead author of the study and graduate researcher at UH Manoa's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). "This is critical to future water security."

Serendipitous timing

Hawai'i Island is characterized by the interactions of Pacific trade wind flow with two 13,000-feet high mountains, as well as one of the largest natural emitters of sulfur dioxide on the planetKilauea Volcano.

Rain collector located near the HiSEAS site on Mauna Loa. Credit: Diamond Tachera

The study period included an extreme weather event, Hurricane Lane, a major volcanic eruption at Kilauea in 2018 and the nearly-complete cessation of long-term volcanic emissions after that historic event.

"These events allowed us the rare opportunity to investigate the impact of volcanic emissions such as sulfate (also known as vog) and a hurricane on precipitation chemistry," said Tachera.

Consistent with previous research, the study revealed long-term variability in rainfall chemistry due to changes in atmospheric and climate processes in this region. Additionally, the team found significantly more sulfate in the rain samples collected during the Kilauea eruption and substantially less after the volcanic activity ceased.

"Interestingly, we documented a decrease in the amount of rainfall, which may have been due to increased aerosols from the Kilauea eruption, as well as isotopic changes in precipitation coinciding with Hurricane Lane," said Tachera.

More information: Characterization of the isotopic composition and bulk ion deposition of precipitation from Central to West Hawaii Island between 2017 and 2019. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100786 Characterization of the isotopic composition and bulk ion deposition of precipitation from Central to West Hawaii Island between 2017 and 2019.
Mountain Ringlet butterfly. Credit: Melissa Minter, University of York

UK landowners and conservationists welcome wider-spread use of Gene Conservation Units (GCUs) to help protect some of the rarest plants and insects, research at the University of York has shown.

In particular the Great Yellow Bumblebee and the Mountain Ringlet Butterfly, which are at risk of further population decline, would benefit from Gene Conservation Units, currently only employed for forest trees and agricultural species or their relatives.

Genetic diversity in these species is essential if they are to adapt to new, and often challenging, environmental conditions. Gene Conservation Units are areas of land managed to allow the recovery of species, and maintain evolutionary processes to enable them to adapt to environmental change.

For tree species, this means promoting natural regeneration, and for others, it means ensuring that the breeding population is large enough, and diverse enough, to be able to weather the changes ahead. Habitat management may achieve this, as well as population monitoring to ensure a large population is sustained.

Ph.D. researcher Melissa Minter, from the Department of Biology at the University of York, said: "In investigating whether landowners would be interested in adopting a system of GCUs, we looked at the potential benefits these might bring to some species of insects and plants.

"We have shown that the genetic diversity of cold-adapted butterflies, such as the Mountain Ringlet, is at high risk of local extinction in a warming climate and so conservation measures are needed to secure the survival of threatened populations.

"Similarly, the Great Yellow Bumblebee now only survives on a few Scottish islands and the northern tip of mainland Scotland, which means that any changes in our climate could negatively impact their already depleted population.

"We wanted to know if GCUs could provide a solution to some of these issues and whether this concept could be applied to other species, in addition to forest trees."

The research involved a survey questionnaire of conservationists and land managers to gather opinions on adopting a system of GCUs to protect biodiversity. The survey results showed that if GCUs could be co-developed with stakeholders, then a GCU approach is more likely to appeal to land managers.

Specifically, landowners would benefit from setting-up GCUs on their land as recognition of best practice in conserving species and genetic diversity, and supporting evolutionary processes to help species cope with environmental change. A working group has now been established to look at how the first non-tree GCU could be developed.

NatureScot's Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve (NNR) was registered as the UK's first GCU in recognition of its ancient Caledonian pine forest in 2019. Since then, the Woodland Trust have registered several more sites across the UK, including three more in Scotland, for six tree species.

NatureScot Woodlands Officer and research co-author Jeanette Hall said: "We have seen first-hand how successful the Gene Conservation Unit approach can be with the registration of our Beinn Eighe NNR and this research shows the exciting potential for working with land managers to expand this work to cover many more plant, animals and wild species.

"Conserving genetic diversity remains an international biodiversity priority so in what will be an important year for nature and tackling climate change, it's great to see partnership working across the UK leading the way in this field."

Genetic diversity was the focus of one of the international Aichi 2020 biodiversity targets. This year new global targets to improve nature will be agreed at a Conference of the Parties in Kunming, China (COP15), followed by the COP26 on climate change in Glasgow.

The study is published in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence.

More information: Melissa Minter et al, Exploring the potential for 'Gene Conservation Units' to conserve genetic diversity in wild populations, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (2021). Melissa Minter et al, Exploring the potential for 'Gene Conservation Units' to conserve genetic diversity in wild populations,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/2688-8319.12061
Scientists Martin Hengesbach (left) und Andreas Schlundt at the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometre at Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany. Credit: Uwe Dettmar for Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany

When the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates, this initially only means that there is a change in its genetic blueprint. The mutation may lead, for example, to an amino acid being exchanged at a particular site in a viral protein. In order to quickly assess the effect of this change, a three-dimensional image of the viral protein is extremely helpful. This is because it shows whether the switch in amino acid has consequences for the function of the proteinor for the interaction with a potential drug or antibody.

Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt and TU Darmstadt began networking internationally from the very start of the pandemic. Their goal: to describe the three-dimensional structures of SARS-CoV-2 molecules using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). In NMR spectroscopy, molecules are first labeled with special types of atoms (isotopes) and then exposed to a strong magnetic field. NMR can then be used to look in detail and with high throughput at how potentially active compounds bind to viral proteins. This is done at the Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ) at Goethe University and other locations. However, the basic prerequisite is to produce large quantities of the proteins in high purity and stability, and with their correct folding, for the large amount of tests.

The network, coordinated by Professor Harald Schwalbe from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Goethe University, spans the globe. The elaboration of laboratory protocols for the production of proteins is already the second milestone. In addition to proteins, the virus consists of RNA, and the consortium already made all important RNA fragments of SARS-CoV-2 accessible last year. With the expertise of 129 colleagues, it has now been possible to produce and purify 23 of the total of almost 30 proteins of SARS-CoV-2 completely or as relevant fragments in the test tube, and in large amounts.

For this purpose, the genetic information for these proteins was incorporated into small, ring-shaped pieces of DNA (plasmids). These plasmids were then introduced into bacteria for protein production. Some special proteins were also produced in cell-free systems. Whether these proteins were still correctly folded after their isolation and enrichment was confirmed, among other things, by NMR spectroscopy.

Dr. Martin Hengesbach from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Goethe University explains: "We have isolated functional units of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins in such a way that their structure, function and interactions can now be characterized by ourselves and others. In doing so, our large consortium provides working protocols that will allow laboratories around the world to work quickly and reproducibly on SARS-CoV-2 proteins and also the mutants to come. Distributing this work from the beginning was one of our most important priorities. In addition to the protocols, we are also making the plasmids freely available."

Dr. Andreas Schlundt from the Institute for Molecular Biosciences at Goethe University says: "With our work, we are speeding up the global search for active agents: Scientific laboratories equipped for this work do not have to first spend several months establishing and optimizing systems for the production and investigation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, but can now start their research work within two weeks thanks to our elaborated protocols. Given the numerous mutations of SARS-CoV-2 to come, it is particularly important to have access to reliable, rapid and well-established methods for studying the virus in the laboratory. This will, for example, also facilitate research on the so-called helper proteins of SARS-CoV-2, which have remained under-investigated, but which also play a role in the occurrence of mutations."

More information: Nadide Altincekic et al. Large-Scale Recombinant Production of the SARS-CoV-2 Proteome for High-Throughput and Structural Biology Applications, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences (2021). Nadide Altincekic et al. Large-Scale Recombinant Production of the SARS-CoV-2 Proteome for High-Throughput and Structural Biology Applications,(2021). DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.653148
Low India market share

According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam-India bilateral trade grew positively in the first three months of 2021, reaching USD 3.3 bn, up by 34.1% over the same period last year. In this, exports reached USD 1.71 bn, up 22.2%, and imports reached USD 1.58 bn, up 50% over the same period in 2020. Some industries with strong export turnover, such as tea, increased by 693.8%; coal increased by 256.5%; plastic materials increased by 195%; iron and steel increased by 186%; and handicrafts such as bamboo, rattan and carpets increased by 103.5%.

With such strong growth, it is being questioned whether these industries were much affected in April by the sudden outbreak of the new variant of the Covid-19 in India. Speaking with Saigon Investment, Mr. Hoang Vinh Long, Deputy Secretary-General of the Vietnam Tea Association, said that although tea export turnover for the Indian market increased sharply in recent years, so far India is still not a big market for the tea industry in Vietnam, because India itself is a major source for tea production in the world. Besides, the month of April is often considered dormant in the tea industry because of slack tea production during this month, so the impact on Vietnamese enterprises will not be much.

However, in recent years, the textile and garment industries of Vietnam and India have strongly been promoting trade. In particular, when the pandemic broke out in China, the search for alternative material sources in markets like India was strengthened. According to assessment by Mr. Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Textile and Garment Association, the pandemic in India has not had much effect on Vietnamese textile enterprises. Currently, Vietnam buys Indian materials and accessories, but these are in very modest amounts. Similarly, other exports to India are also very small, although businesses are continuing to monitor the current situation in India very closely.

At the India-Vietnam Investment Forum held at the end of January, Mr. Pham Sanh Chau, Vietnam's Ambassador to India, said that in recent years, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and India has been growing impressively. However, currently, the turnover is about USD 12 bn, so the opportunity to exploit this 1.4 billion peoples market for Vietnamese enterprises is quite huge and attractive.

However, although businesses are not affected much, before the complicated progress of the pandemic in India from mid-April, the Vietnam Trade Office in India had recommended to Vietnamese businesses to regularly contact their Indian partners to update developments and inform of local government blockade measures. Accordingly, it is necessary to discuss with partners to renegotiate the terms of their contracts, conditions of delivery, payment, and discuss occurrence of any unforeseen circumstances. For new orders, to apply safe and beneficial payment terms for businesses, deferred payment methods must not be used.

Export opportunities

Up until now, India has always been a competitor of Vietnam in many export products such as seafoods, textiles, footwear, and tea, to the US or to Europe. When the pandemic spread in India, it already had advantages over some export industries of Vietnam, such as the seafood industry. According to the latest analysis of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep), the current development of Vietnam seafood exports to some countries and regions will have advantages, in which imports into the US will be a bright spot for the seafood industry.

In particular, Vietnamese shrimp will have more opportunities in the US when India, the largest supplier in this market, will face production difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts in the Indian shrimp industry have also determined that this year will be really difficult due to lack of reefer containers, with the cost of transporting goods to increase three times due to rising fuel prices, increased packaging costs, labor costs, removal of export incentives by the government, and the Indian rupee falling against the US dollar.

According to analysis by Vasep, India's present situation which has got out of control, can lead to supply and price disruption, when farmers rush to harvest shrimp early, and factories fail to process in time amid a nationwide lockdown. In addition, Indian shrimp is under attack by the US shrimp industry, in a move to pressure the US government to tax 2% on Indian warm water shrimp, and at the same time bring up allegations of forced labor and the use of banned antibiotics by the Indian shrimp industry. So 2021 can be seen as a dark year for the Indian shrimp industry. Mr. Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company, emphasized that it is necessary to clarify that at present, Vietnamese enterprises mostly do not import raw shrimp from India because they cannot trace the origin.

Businesses in Vietnam hope that India will soon overcome the current drastic pandemic phase, which will eventually help businesses of both the countries to promote more trade, because India is still a potential market with a very large population. In the first quarter alone, the Vietnam Trade Office in India has implemented about ten direct and online trade promotion programs for many commodities in many states in India. If there is no impact of the pandemic, it is expected that by this May, the Trade Office will coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to promote agriculture, processed food, as well as the export of dragon fruit from Binh Thuan province.

Thanh Lam
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This article was originally published by CalMatters and is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.
" " Scotland is one of Europe's least wooded countries and the rewilding movement is aiming to change that. (Here Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin west of Cannich.) Nilfanion/Wikimedia/(CC BY-SA 3.0)

The worldwide populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish fell by an average of 68 percent between 1970 and 2016, according to the 2020 Living Planet Report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Ecosystem destruction has led to 1 million species  500,000 animals and plants and 500,000 insects  being under threat of extinction.

This is a serious problem that different groups and organizations are hoping to improve through a number of conservation strategies. For instance, in Scotland, one of Europe's least wooded countries at 19 percent compared to the continental average of 37 percent, an alliance of 22 environmental organizations called Scottish Rewilding Alliance wants to make Scotland the world's first "rewilding nation." The goal is to help the small country reintroduce native species, restore degraded land and connect more people with nature.

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What Is Rewilding?

There isn't one clear definition of rewilding. However, the general purpose is to restore the abundance and diversity of wildlife to a place. It's a large-scale restoration of nature to allow nature to eventually look after itself again.

While that might sound like regular conservation, Peter Cairns, the executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, a rewilding charity that is one of the founding members of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, says that rewilding is different from conservation as usual.

"If you look back 30, 40, 50 years, conservation has had a pretty similar model," Cairns says. "Protecting little pockets of wildlife, little pockets of habitats. And there have been success stories over that period, but the bigger picture is that conservation efforts have failed."

Many conservation efforts look at one part of the problem  for example, saving a particular animal or planting a certain number of trees in an area. Rewilding is a more holistic approach that aims to allow natural environments to restore themselves. Rewilding isn't one project, but rather dozens or hundreds of projects, to bring back landscapes and reintroduce species.

" " One goal of rewilding Scotland is to reintroduce keystone species back to Scotland, including beavers, lynx and potentially wolves. Digital Wildlife Scotland/Shutterstock

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The First Rewilding Country

Scotland is known for being a very green country with impressive rolling hills, but this iconic landscape is actually due to centuries of deforestation and degradation.

"People look at Scotland and see some very beautiful and dramatic landscapes," says Richard Bunting, representative for Trees for Life and Rewilding Britain, two charities that are also part of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance. "A lot of those landscapes are ecological shadows of what they could be, should be and what they once were."

What supporters of rewilding want is for the Scottish government to declare Scotland to be a rewilding country  the world's first  before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this coming November. In February 2021, 30 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), led by the Scottish National Party, brought a motion to parliament to recognize Scotland as a rewilding nation.

Practically speaking, as the first rewilding country, Scotland would commit to 30 percent its land and sea to be rewilded by 2030; establish a community fund to support rewilding of towns and cities; reintroduce or rehome keystone species, such as beavers, lynx and potentially wolves; create a coastal zone where trawling and dredging are prohibited; and introduce a plan to keep the deer population in check to allow land to recover from overgrazing.

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What Do the Scots Think?

Making Scotland the first rewilding nation has popular support. A poll conducted for the Scottish Rewilding Alliance by an independent polling company, Survation, surveyed 1,071 adults October 2020 and found that 76 percent supported the idea, and only 7 percent outright opposed.

There is some concern from farming unions, who worry that rewilding will mean a reduction in farming land and will threaten food security.

"We don't want to see rewilding impact food production," Bunting says. "What we have is huge areas of land, peatland, moorland, grasslands, river systems, all of which are often in a very poor state in Scotland and need to be restored."

The idea of reintroducing wolves, which were once native to Scotland but have been missing from the country for hundreds of years, is also controversial. However, while wolves sound scary to people, Cairns says people should resist the idea that we can't have large predators and people sharing the land. Wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 2015 and that project has been heralded as a major success. In addition, Bunting adds that reintroducing wolves to Scotland is way down the line in terms of the rewilding work to be done.

" " The Eurasian lynx was once native to Scotland and will one day be reintroduced as part of the rewilding effort. ARTERRA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

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What's Next?

Already, there are lots of large and small rewilding projects taking place. For example, on the Bamff Estate in Perthshire, a family-run farm is aiming to rewild 450 acres by removing sheep from the fields and linking the land to the woods and beaver wetlands. Small numbers of native breeds of pigs, cattle and ponies will be allowed to roam free. To do so, the family needed to raise 25,000 (about $35,333), and through crowdfunding, they raised 37,925 ($53,600).

Another project, which focuses on a more urban area, is the Cumbernauld Living Landscape project, which is outside of Glasgow. This project is upgrading paths so that more people can more easily access their local parks or nature reserves and connect with nature.

"There are an increasing number of projects that are springing up, big and small, urban and rural that demonstrate that there's an appetite for rewilding and ecological restoration, at all different scales," Cairns says. "We are on the journey, and we're right at the beginning of the journey."

Now That's Interesting As of May 1, 2019, beavers are protected by law in Scotland as a European Protected Species. This decision will help the beaver begin to thrive again as part of Scottish wildlife after it essentially disappeared in the 1700s.
 "Constraining Criminal Laws" | Main | Two sharp discussions of the inefficacy and inequities of the war on drugs 

This new extended Hill article, headlined "DOJ faces big decision on home confinement," provide an effective accounting of the building discussion around the status of home confinement in the federal system as it appears the pandemic is winding down. I recommend the full piece, and here are excerpts:

The Biden administration will soon have to decide whether to send back to prison thousands of inmates who were transferred to home confinement after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have been facing mounting calls to rescind a policy implemented in the final days of the Trump administration that would revoke home confinement for those inmates as soon as the government lifts its emergency declaration over the coronavirus.

Advocates and lawmakers argue that the program has been a resounding success, and that it would be unjust to reincarcerate thousands of individuals who abided by the terms of their home confinement. If you're one of these people, you're trying to figure out, 'Do I go back to college? Do I start a new job? Do I start a family? Do I sign a lease? I mean, what can I do, not knowing where I'm going to be in six months? That's cruel to keep somebody in that doubt and uncertainty for this long and to say, You know, don't worry about it, it's not going to happen tomorrow, said Kevin Ring, president of the advocacy group Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

Last year, in response to the CARES Act, then-Attorney General William Barr directed the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to prioritize home confinement for certain inmates in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus within the prison system. According to the BOP, about 24,000 inmates have been released to home confinement since the beginning of the pandemic. Advocates say there are now about 4,500 people facing uncertainty about whether they might have to go back to prison after months of reintegrating into society.

BOP Director Michael Carvajal told a House Appropriations subcommittee in March that just 21 inmates released to home confinement were sent back to prison for alleged rule violations. And in the program overall, only one person has committed a new crime....

The uncertainty about the programs fate began in January, a few days before President Biden's inauguration, when the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo stating that under federal law, those inmates released under the CARES Act must report back to prison when the coronavirus emergency is over, unless they are nearing the end of their sentence.

Randilee Giamusso, a BOP spokesperson, said the Biden administration had recently expanded the eligibility for home confinement. This is an important legal issue about the language Congress used in the CARES Act, Giamusso said in a statement. It is important to recognize even under the Office of Legal Counsel's (OLC) reading of the statute, the BOP will have discretion to keep inmates on home confinement after the pandemic if theyre close to the end of their sentences. For the more difficult cases, where inmates still have years left to serve, this will be an issue only after the pandemic is over.

Giamusso added that Biden recently extended the national emergency regarding COVID-19, and that the Department of Health and Human Services expects the public health crisis to last at least through December. The BOP is focused right now on expanding the criteria for home confinement and taking steps to ensure individualized review of more inmates who might be transferred, Giamusso said.

Still, some lawmakers and advocates argue that the Trump-era policy would unnecessarily upend the lives of those deemed low-risk enough to be sent home and who have since abided by the terms of their home confinement. Biden and Garland are facing pressure to rescind the policy memo, receiving letters from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee; a bipartisan group of 28 House lawmakers; and a coalition of advocacy groups....

This past week, the White House told advocates that Biden is preparing to use his clemency powers, in what would be a rare early exercise of the power to commute or pardon incarcerated people. Ring said rescinding the home confinement policy, or using another tool to keep those affected by it out of prison, is an easy way for Biden to show that hes serious about taking on mass incarceration.

They've said they want to use the clemency authority more robustly to let people out of prison who don't need to be there, said Ring, who has served time in federal prison. Well, here's 4,500 people that Bill Barr and Donald Trump cleared as the lowest of low risk. So if you can't find a way to keep these people home, I mean, how discouraging will it be for those who are hoping for clemency?...

Experts and advocates alike see the home confinement policy as a radical experiment that yielded positive results, potentially adding more momentum to criminal justice reform efforts that have seen a growing bipartisan consensus against the tough-on-crime policies of the late 20th century. Ring, of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said lawmakers should consider the success of the home confinement program as a potential alternative to incarceration. I think this is still a good model or a good use of natural experiment to show that we can keep more people in the community, and not keep them in prison, he said. Congress should use what happened here as evidence for expanding home confinement going forward.

But in the meantime, Ring said, the priority is for the Biden administration to make clear that it does not intend to re-incarcerate those who are serving their sentences out at home. Not only do they need to fix it, they need to fix it immediately, he said. They need to announce to these people, You're not going back. We're not making you go back. We'll rescind the memo or we'll use some other authority we have to fix this.' But these people need to get on with their lives.
FILE PHOTO: Pakistan's Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa arrives to attend the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad

KABUL (Reuters) -The Pakistani army chief offered Islamabad's support for the Afghanistan peace process in a meeting with President Ashraf Ghania in Kabul on Monday amid growing violence as the United States withdraws its troops.

Britain's chief of defence staff also attended the meeting.

Pakistan is a key player in moves to resolve the conflict between the Western-backed government and the Taliban insurgents.

In the past, Islamabad has been accused of harbouring the Taliban but in recent years Washington and other Western powers have acknowledged its efforts to push the militant group to take part in peace talks.

Pakistani Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa reiterated to Ghania that "a peaceful Afghanistan means a peaceful region in general and a peaceful Pakistan in particular," a Pakistani military statement said.

"We will always support 'Afghan led-Afghan owned' Peace Process based on mutual consensus of all stakeholders," it said.

General Bajwa was accompanied by British Chief of Defence Staff General Nicholas Patrick Carter. Britain still has troops in Afghanistan in a war that started with the overthrow of a Taliban government following the 2001 attacks by Islamist militants in the United States.

In recent weeks, Pakistan has been negotiating with the insurgents to try to get them to commit to a ceasefire, Taliban and diplomatic sources have told Reuters.

Pakistan is also trying to persuade them to agree to an extension of the U.S.-Taliban agreement which stipulated U.S. and other foreign forces should withdraw by May and to continue to take part in planned peace talks in Turkey.

But violence has risen starkly in recent weeks as the U.S. forces pull out.

The Taliban announced on Sunday they would commit to a three-day ceasefire for the Muslim religious holiday of Eid later this week.

Afghanistan's presidential palace said on Monday the security forces would also observe the ceasefire.

(Reporting by Kabul and Islamabad bureaux; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
A cyberattack last week that shut down a pipeline, which carries nearly half of the East Coasts jet fuel and gasoline, raises the question for the zillionth time: When is the government going to start taking serious measures to prevent, or at least minimize, these debilitatingpotentially catastrophicincidents?

One possibly serious step is about to take placethe installment of a first-ever National Cyber Director, an official vested (at least on paper) with powers to order, coordinate, and enforce cybersecurity actions in the public and private sector.

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Its pathetic that this step has taken so long. As far back as 1984, a national-security directive, signed by President Ronald Reagan, warned that computer networks, which were just then emerging, were highly susceptible to interception, unauthorized electronic access, and related forms of technical exploitation by terrorist groups and criminal elements. In 1997, a commission appointed by President Bill Clinton sounded the alarms: The capability to do harmthrough information networksis real; it is growing at an alarming rate; and we have little defense against it.

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The year after that, real cyberattacks, mounted by Russia and soon after by China, started happening. The Pentagon procured early-warning devices and created teams of specialists (there werent many back then) to run them. The National Security Agency switched from tapping analog phone lines to interceptingand manipulatingdigital cyber signals to keep up with the global shift.

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But these measures protected military channels of communication, and even then imperfectly. As the internet exploded, nearly 90 percent of traffic flowed through privately controlled networks. The Clinton administration defined sectors of critical infrastructure, which were already dependent on networkselectrical power, oil and gas, water supplies, banking and finance, telecommunications, emergency services, and continuity of government in case of disasterand created Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), where government agencies (mainly the NSA) could share best practices with the companies that controlled those sectors.

But no mandatory measures were imposed. Executives sent their specialists to ISAC meetings, but they werent required to do anything afterward. Banks took aggressive measures to fend off hackers, because security was at the heart of their business. Electrical power and pipeline companies didnt, for the most part, because security was very expensive and no attacks had yet taken place.

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Now, of course, attacks are commonplace. Hundreds of cybersecurity companies have grown up to handle them. But the governments power to set and enforce security measures is still weak. Private companies arent even required to report intrusions when they take place; many of them are hesitant to do so, lest consumers stop buying their products or their stock prices tank.

Russias hack last year of SolarWinds, a network management system used by 300,000 people, including many in government agencies, infused a renewed layer of urgency in dealing with this problem. But then-President Trump did nothing, and the incoming Biden administrationwhose transition was obstructed by Trump officials refusing to offer briefings or access to classified materialwas slow to take up the issue.

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There was also a big dispute on how to handle cybersecurity generally. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which was established by Congress in 2019 to come up with strategic ideas on the subject, had recommended the appointment of a National Cyber Director. But several analystsincluding some who had worked for President Obama and now for President Bidenpreferred to strengthen and clarify the roles of existing agencies, placing them under the wing of the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology.

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However, Solarium staffers countered, the National Security Council has never been very good at running operationsand it has few avenues for reaching out to private industry. A National Cyber Director, besides being the presidents chief adviser on the issue, would be focused on operations and would have powers to work with industry.

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Key legislators sided with the Solariums approach. Biden complied, and he nominated for the job Chris Inglis, a Solarium commissioner and, more to the point, a former career official in the NSA, a rare specimen in that he worked on both the offense and defense side of the agency, and rose to deputy director. He left the job under pressure, along with the director, Gen. Keith Alexander, during the uproar over Edward Snowdens revelations. But Inglis has remained widely respected, viewed as a straight shooter by most factions in the debate over government surveillance, and he is likely to be confirmed by the Senatethough its unclear when his confirmation hearings will take place.

Still, it remains to be seen whether Inglis will be able to do what the theoretical outlines of his post envision. One challenge will be how he coordinates with the deputy national security adviser, Anne Neuberger, another former NSA official who has worked well with Inglis in the past but is also known as a tenacious bureaucratic fighter. Her job is to set policy; Inglis will be to enforce and coordinate it with other agencies and with the private sector. Sometimes these sorts of power-sharing arrangements work out; sometimes they dont.

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A bigger challenge will be persuading or compelling private companies to step up their game in warding off attacks. Colonial Pipeline, the company hacked last week, forcing a stoppage to the flow of half the East Coasts jet fuel and gasoline, is a private firm. According to journalist Kim Zetter (and subsequently confirmed by several other news outlets), the attackwhich seems to have been mounted by a Russian criminal group called DarkSidewas aimed not at the pipelines valves or sensors directly but rather at the companys IT system. However, the IT system provides a passageway to the valves and sensors, and the safeguards protecting that link are reportedly weak.

Colonial shut down its main pipelines as a precautionary measure, to prevent DarkSide from exploiting those weak links. Company spokesmen have been vague on when they can turn the valves back on, saying only that it will take them more than one or two days but less than six weeks.

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One reason for this vagueness is that, as weve learned in the last few days, the company was hit with a ransomware attack. According to Bloomberg News, DarkWare stole nearly 100 gigabytes of data, then locked down some of Colonials computers and servers, demanding a ransom to turn them back on. It is not known whether Colonial is paying the ransom or what steps are being prepared if it doesnt. Because Colonial is a private firm, it doesnt have to reveal what its doing and not doing.

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The National Cyber Directorwhenever he is confirmedwill be able to assemble groups of industrialists, including the Colonial executives, to discuss common policies. Biden is also reportedly ready to issue emergency measures, requiring companies to report cyber intrusions to a new federal bodya cyber equivalent to the National Transportation Safety Boardand creating ways for the NSA to share information with private companies about existing threats, including more highly classified information than has previously been shared.

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Bob Gourley, co-founder and chief technology officer of OODA, LLC, a cybersecurity firm, put the problem this way in an email to me: There is one metric above all others that can tell you if an organization has a good cybersecurity program: Does the CEO really care? If the CEO does not really care, there is no hope for a risk-mitigating security program. If the leader does really care, it still requires hard work and vision, but at least there is hope.

The question, for Inglis, Neuberger, and the others trying to put serious policies into place, is: Can they make CEOs, like those running companies like Colonial Pipeline, care?
Its 2021, but theres still an awful lot of stuff from 2016 onward yet to be litigated. We know that, absent legal consequences, it could all just happen againthe criming and the pardons, the lying, the self-dealingmaybe in 2022, maybe in 2024. On a recent episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick spoke with Preet Bharara, who served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until he was famously fired by Donald Trump in 2017. Bharara now hosts the podcast Stay Tuned With Preet, which became required listening for the Trump legal resistance, and authored the book Doing Justice: A Prosecutors Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law. We spoke about accountability for the Trump administration, Rudy Giuliani, and the death of truth. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Dahlia Lithwick: Lets start at the very beginning of the resistance, which is you getting fired by Donald Trump.

Preet Bharara: If we could pause right there for a moment, because you said resistance.

You hate that word.

Well, I dont call myself a resister. I dont consider myself to be part of whatever is called resistance. I dont mean anyone any disrespect, but what I care about is the rule of law, and the justice system, and equality before the law, which I think people of all shades of ideology have generally cared about, and I call them like I see them. I dont identify with any particular capital-R Resistance.

Before we let it go, can you tell me what capital-R Resistance signals to you?

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I think for some peopleand Im not saying this is what it means, and people should call themselves whatever they want to call themselvesit can signify a sort of automatic, knee-jerk, everything that Trump or anybody associated with Trump, says, does, thinks, feels is automatically wrong. I think thats largely the case, but I also like to think of myself as an independent thinker.

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I do think that rule of law, and justice, and what happens at the Justice Department, and what lawyers do happens on a different axis from the axis of right-left, Democrat-Republican. Its on an axis that, I think youre saying, is really lashed to truth, law, other values that are separate from purely political values. One of the things I want to get at is this question of what you do when that is completely politicized. In other words, when that truth-seeking, justice-seeking function really just flattens out into a left-right, good-bad. But lets start with you getting fired, because Im really curious what you would have done had you stayed on. If you hadnt been summarily fired right out the chute, what would have been your posture on this question of how long you hang out and try to do your best and when you just bolt?

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Donald Trump gets elected. U.S. attorneys traditionally leave, with some period of transition. I was preparing to leave, but then in my case, Donald Trump asked to meet with me, implored me to stay on for another term. I agreed to do that not because I thought of myself as some mitigator, but I thought of myself as someone who had an independent role where I wasnt directly reporting to the president of the United States. Barack Obama told all of us, which has been the tradition before Trump and I think since hes left office, that United States attorneys are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, but they operate, as should most officials in the Justice Department, independently from political pressure.

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When I met with Donald Trump and agreed to stay on, it was under the understanding that we would remain independentsome people call us the sovereign district of New Yorkand I wouldnt be meddled with by the president. Were not a policy arm of the government. Were a legal office that does criminal cases and defends against civil cases. I didnt see any conflict between doing my job as I had done it for 7 years before and continuing to do so while Donald Trump was the president. I often say, You know how many times Barack Obama called me? Zero, and thats how it should be between the president and the United States attorney.

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What would it have been like if I had stayed? I dont think it would have been tenable. Even if I had not been fired, at some point as I think back, Trump wouldve continued to do the thing that he was doing, which was trying to cultivate some side relationship at the same time that my office had jurisdiction over and was being asked to investigate various things, including violations of the emoluments clause.

As weve seen, there have been other things that have gone on with respect to the president. At some point, I think not that much after I was fired, I would have probably had to go, either because I was being meddled with or because perhaps the office would have been asked to take some position that we didnt think was right. I dont know that it wouldve lasted long anyway.

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To the extent anyone thinks about Trump anymore, its gleefully imagining his criminal exposure in the after times, both in New York and elsewhere in the country. I gather hes facing what, 29 lawsuits, three criminal investigations, like a lot.

A whole bunch.

His tax returns are in the hands of Cyrus Vance Jr., the district attorney of Manhattan. Theyre working to flip folks in the Trump organization. I wonder what piece of that youre watching or are you just watching all of it? What do you expect to see in terms of accountability and having some sense that there is some closure to any of this?

People often, particularly if theyre not lawyers, conflate some of these legal challenges that the former president faces with the civil cases. Theres not that much that we know about by way of criminal investigations. The one that we know about most directly and most prominently is the one you mentioned, the Manhattan district attorneys investigation into Trumps finances and business dealings.

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I tend to agree with those people who liken Trump to a mob boss who doesnt have to say the words. Historically, its been very hard to prosecute the mob boss for these precise reasons.  Preet Bharara

I dont know because Ive not been in the grand jury, Ive not interviewed the witnesses. Cy Vance doesnt call me up and tell me stuff, but there is some signaling going on. Cy Vance is not running for reelection. Vance is, as they say, a lame duck. As a lame duck, hes done certain things, including hiring an outside forensic accounting firm, which is not super unusual but its not that common. Hes done something else that is less common, which is hire an outside lawyer, Mark Pomerantz, whos a very distinguished, well-respected lawyer in New York. Im not going to put too much weight on it, but it seems like the kind of move you make when you believe that theres going to be a charge or theres a good likelihood of a charge, because its a pretty public thing to do. It also risks alienating people in your own office. Its just a gut feeling that I have that taking these actions indicates to me that that office believes theres a decent likelihood of a charge, and so thats the one Id be watching.

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It doesnt sound farfetched to think, Well, when it suited him, Donald Trump inflated the value of his holdings. Otherwise he understated the value of his holdings. Both of which can incriminate him criminally and subject him to exposure. That all sounds like it makes sense. Theres also the reporting that Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who was prosecuted by SDNY, has met with prosecutors and investigators with the DAs office like a gazillion times.

All of those things, again, theyre not dispositive, but they all indicate to me that its a very serious undertaking. Theyre taking it very seriously. Theyre spending a lot of resources on it, and you dont do that if its a long shot, I dont think.

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Is there anything that you feel is urgent and exigent that should have been looked at and that should be investigated and that slipped through the cracks somehow? Do you feel as though these handful of criminal investigations and the civil suits hes facing kind of get us there in terms of accountability?

Theres two categories of things that I think about. One is stuff we dont know. I find it hard to believe we know the full scope and landscape of the things that Donald Trump did behind the scenes that were improper, unethical, and perhaps criminal because theres not been an excavation. I dont know if there are people who are thinking about doing that excavation, and I dont know if there are people who are thinking about coming forward.

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Trump still strikes fear in the hearts of people who would betray himthats elected officials and perhaps also people in his Cabinet. He hasnt lost that power yet. I had assumed at some point that there might be the possibility of people coming forward and saying, You dont know the half of it. You know, what he did with respect to DHS, what he did with respect to this, that, or the other thing, and how many other enforcement actions he tried to interfere with. Theres that category, the stuff we dont know about, which Ive just got to believe there is something there.

Then the other stuff thats big ticket that happened out in the open for which there was an attempt to hold him accountable: the Big Lie of the election, his involvement in the incitement of the riot and the insurrection on Jan. 6, the stuff he did with the interference in the election in Georgia. I dont know if hell get any accountability there. I dont know that the administration has the interest and stomach to do something there, especially when theres an interest in moving on.

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Its a little bit hard because on all these issues where people want to hold Trump accountable, there are arguments that he has been careful enough with his language, that its not clear, 100 percent galloping over the criminal line, although theres a good argument to be made that he did. With respect to the secretary of state in Georgia, he did not say directly and openly in recorded fashion, I want you to make up votes to get me the 11,000 some that I want. Similarly with the insurrection, he did populate his words with the phrase, Do it peacefully, because some staffer must have said, You got to say that one time, Mr. President. He didnt say, Hit Capitol Police officers over the head with a fire extinguisher, beat them up, break windows, go into Nancy Pelosis office. I want you to chant, Hang Mike Pence.  But he did enough that reasonable people like me and you would say he should be held accountable for those things. In everything he does, he figures out a way to signal what he wants without outright saying it.

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I tend to agree with those people who liken him to a mob boss who doesnt have to say the words. Historically, its been very hard to prosecute the mob boss for these precise reasons.

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Lets get to the great, luminous, searing, scorching crazy of Rudy Giuliani. Before we dig in, can you just remind us what Giuliani is probably on the hook for, this influence campaign to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden? Whats the backstory?

He was part and parcel of this campaign to do a number of things: try to encourage officials in Ukraine, not necessarily to investigate Hunter Biden and his role in a company, Burisma, with respect to corruption, but just to announce an investigation. Because as I think reasonable people understand, what Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, his henchman, were looking for was a political victory. They didnt really care about corruption.

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Also, what were seeing now, sort of a redux of the Ukraine affair, is the involvement of Giuliani trying to get the Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch fired, and the New York Times reporting suggests that thats one of the central things that the Southern District investigators are looking at and whether he was violating FARA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, by lobbying or doing things at the behest of a foreign government without registering as an agent. All that stuff is swirling around. The fall of Rudy has been something to watch. Its been a sight to behold, and its been, among other things, sad.

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I think you know better than anyone that Rudy was not a clown show his entire career. He has this long and storied career as a serious attorney. Thats whats sad is that hes turned into Sidney Powell and Lin Wood overnight.

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Its funny, hes adopted the playbook that every prosecutor is familiar with. That is your targets, your subjects, the people you charge, they never send you flowers or chocolates, but they will attack you. They will say youre political. They will call you every name in the book. I mean, Rudy has taken to saying that the people of the Southern District are jealous of him because they havent made the kinds of groundbreaking cases that he made.

Nobody remembers your cases, Rudy. The people who are in that office today, almost all of them, who are probably working on these matters were not born at the time that Rudy got his two-year sentence against Michael Milken. Hes resorted to this kind of crazy rhetoric because thats all he has. It is the case that he had a certain kind of mean streak and hyperaggressive approach to crimebroken windows, the squeegee guyswhen he was mayor and when he was U.S. attorney and that he has an explosive personality. Theres lots of negative things about him and a lot of people didnt like him for those reasons. But the straight-out crazy, nonsensical nature of some of the things he says and does now, that is new.

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What is going to get us to the truth part of how we have shared norms and values?

It will not surprise you to know I dont have an answer to that question.

No, I know. I dont either.

Look, lets take Jan. 6. We cant get agreement because we need political agreement on forming a bipartisan, equally allocated commission to get to the truth of what happened. Thats how little there is agreement on what the truth is and whether people want accountability. This is the saddest thing of everything. Its not the lack of accountability for people who may have done bad things. Thats not good. I dont mean to be overly dramatic, but for large segments of the population, the death of truthI dont know what you do about that. I mean, people would say that unless you had a videotape of Donald Trump committing a crime, like stabbing a person on Fifth Avenue or shooting a person on Fifth Avenue, famously, its not that they would necessarily forgive him. They wouldnt believe it.

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We are on the cusp of deepfakes becoming a big problem in this country, and I think its an underestimated problem. Thats just going to be another way for people to never be confronted with contrary evidence because everything can be manufactured, everything can be made up. Weve always known theres a subset of the population who thinks that the moon landing was faked, that 9/11 was faked, that the Earth is flat, etc. Its not tiny; its not 1 percent. Theres some percentage of people who think that, and they have been empowered, and thats maybe the greatest tragedy of the Trump administration.

Garry Kasparov, who speaks very wisely and sagely about these issues having had the experience of the Soviet Union, says the damage is not done when somebody says, The truth is X, and some liar says, The truth is Y. The damage is done when somebody says, The truth is X, and the other person says, Theres no such thing as truth. They dont even say, Y is correct. They just say, You have no idea, and you cant believe anything, but follow me, and people follow that guy.

To hear their entire discussion, listen below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This spring marks 10 years since the Syrian war began. Omar Alshogre, director of detainee affairs at the Syrian Emergency Task Force and a new student at Georgetown University, will not let you forget what that war actually means. Since the 2011, its estimated that more than 500,000 people have been killed or gone missing, millions have been internally displaced, and millions more have escaped to neighboring countries as refugees. Alshogre himself has lived many lives. A decade ago, he was a teenage protester in Syria during the Arab Spring. Then, he was a political prisoner. After that, a refugee, who escaped to Europe on a rubber boat. Hes lost so muchhis home, most of his familyand has testified in front of European war crimes investigators and briefed members of Congress on the crisis in his home country. Still, he remains hopeful. On Mondays episode of What Next, I spoke with Alshogre about his time in Syria and what we need to remember about Syria as it enters its 10th year of war. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Mary Harris: I wondered if you ever have any weird moments, now that youre in college, where youre in a class and the Middle East comes up and you hear the people around you weigh in, and then you weigh in and say, actually, Ive lived there, heres what I went through.

Omar Alshogre: I get surprised, shocked when I hear people talking about Syria, like they actually dont understand whats going on: How was it when ISIS started killing the people? Its like there was no regime killing people for years before ISIS existed.

Do you feel like its your job to help them understand?

Yes. I want them to understand the brutality. So I will tell them brutal stories. But I always end it in a very hopeful way.

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In 2011, the war startedor I wouldnt say the war started, I would say the revolution started in Syria.

You were 15 years old when the people around you started taking to the streets, following the lead of protesters in Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt. They protested with flowers in their hands.

I didnt understand when I was there. I just joined the demonstration because my favorite cousin, the person I love the most, my cousin Bashir called me and said, Omar, come to the demonstration. I went there and there was thousands of people. I enjoyed being there. There was music and people dancing and jumping, saying freedom. Nothing sounds wrong at all until the intelligence services and the army attack and start killing people. In school they tell you that police protects you My father himself was an officer, retired in 200910. Id never seen the police killing anyone. But they started shooting people, people I knew were good. I started to get very confused and I froze in place, could not move. They arrested me and took me to prison.

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When they arrested the people, they were recording the entire massacre. They killed some people. They collected all the young people, all the men they found, tied our hands behind our backs and put us on the ground, jumping on our heads, forcing us to say God, Syria, and Bashar. And I used to say these words when the teachers would take us to streets. This time, enforced with guns and the militaryI knew they were wrong because I was forced to say them.

Did you know what the protesters were asking for when you began going?

The word that stuck in my head was freedom. I knew what freedom meant physically, never thought about freedom of speech until I was asked by the guard who was jumping on my head, Do you want freedom?

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And what did you say?

At 15 years old, I said yes, because who can say no to freedom? But the freedom to torture was what he gave me back when I said I want freedom. I learned that I should say, no, I dont want freedom. I was taken to prison and tortured for four days and I realized the value of freedom, physical freedom, but also the freedom of speech, which we had nothing of. And I started to understand my fathers words about the importance of not talking about it.

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So you never considered not going back to the protests, even though you suffered for going?

Suffering was way I understood freedom, I understood the need we have for change in Syria. So thats what empowered me the most. The first two days of torture I had was the thing that empowered me the most to continue fighting. And you learn how to escape when they attack because the first when they attack.

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Over the next year and a half, you were detained six more times. Youd find ways to evade authorities. Sometimes, your father would bribe guards to look the other way at the checkpoints that led to school. Your dad also started driving you to protests, since he could see this was important to you.

My father believed in the Syrian revolution. He drove me to the first demonstration, but he told me, hide your face, they may kill 1 million people there. When I saw people dying all the time around me, I realized he meant what he said. I learned how to cover my face, to not be in the first line.

Youve talked a couple of times about a girl you loved. Do you know what happened to her?

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I do. During my time in prison, in May of 2013, they attacked my village and the hometown and killed almost everybody they met. A bomb came on her house and she died.

Im so sorry.

You were arrested for the final time in November 2012. By then, you were 17. You were detained for nearly three years and spent time in one of the most notorious prisons in Syria, along with two of your cousins. One of those facilities was called Branch 215, run by military intelligence and known as the Branch of Death by many Syrians; another was called Saydnya, which Amnesty International calls the human slaughterhouse.

It was unbelievable. I could not believe that Im still alive after that kind of torture, after that fear. My heart did not easily get used to the joy the guard was having while he was torturing me, while he was aware of me being innocent, minor, a kid in prison. The guard forced me to torture my cousin, who I loved the most, and they forced my cousin to torture methey gave him the gun and said, Youve got to shoot him. shoot me. At the same time they gave me a screwdriver and said, You can open a car on your cousins body. My cousin was crying in front of me. My legs were shaking so I could not stand, and my hands were shaking. I could not really carry that screwdriver. They would say to my cousin, If you dont shoot him we will kill him. I then decided, maybe its better if I do it. I make it as small as I can, as little pain as possible. But we took the decision they are to do not do it. Then they shot me and they opened his car in his body. We returned to our cell, I have a bullet in my hip and a scar that you cant believe. And we dont know whats going to happen tomorrow.

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Eventually, your cousins were killed in prison. How did you manage to escape?

They pulled me out from my room, saying I will be taken to execution. Every single hour the guards would come and ask me, How do you want me to kill you? Be creative. Imagine hearing this question 48 times and you are forced to give creative answers, which do not include shoot me or slaughter me. They want a new way where they can enjoy killing you. They shot me and I felt like I died and felt no pain. When I went down, I saw my feet and the torture marks and the blood, and I was told that there will be no blood in the afterlife. So I realized I was still alive. That was one of the scariest moments of those three years.

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I was in the middle of nowhere. As soon as I realized I was alive, I looked around me and saw a car stuck behind me. The driver said, jump in. At the last station I jumped off. There was a lot of people around me. I was in central Damascus and people were looking at me in a very, very weird way. Three guys came and said, Call your family. I said, Look, I dont remember anything. They tried to help me and one of them noticed my arm and said, What is this? I said, Thats a number. I always had it with me in prison. One time a small bird actually got to the torture chambers. A prisoner captured that bird, and I asked the prisoner who captured that bird, if you give me a feather, I will give you my food for two days, which was a potato. I took that feather and used it to write the phone number on my arm every day. That bird was my only hope and only chance to survive.

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So they called this phone number and were answered by a young girl who said to me, stay where you are. It took me many days before I knew who it was: my sister.

Those people who picked him up werent some rescue team or humanitarian task force. They were random passersby who noticed you on the side of the road, starving, looking bewildered and lost. Then you learned your mother and sisters had managed to escape to Turkey and paid for your release. When you reunited with them, you weighed just 75 pounds and had tuberculosis. Your mother urged you to go to Europe to seek treatment and a chance at a better life. So you and your 10-year-old brother took the perilous journey, partly by boat, and ended up in Sweden. Its there you learned to tell people about what happened to you in Syria.

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I had no emotions. I had no feeling. I was entirely empty. A mother of a detainee would call me and say: I heard you were just released, I had my kid who was maybe with you in the same prison. Can I send you a picture of him? Maybe you recognize him. I lost no memories from my time in prison. I remember still every single small detail. With some medication, I say, Yes, I saw your son. They slaughtered him. They took his eyes off his face and burned his body. Her kid called me the other day and said, Omar, my mom talked to you yesterday or two days ago, and shes in the emergency room in the hospital since then. What did you tell her? I felt like I was in a coma and I just woke up. What am I doing? Killing people by

By telling the truth.

By telling the truth but actually destroying lives, families, connections. So I get a turnaround, I take a different path. I started to to talk to others the way that makes them feel best. So: Have you seen my son? Yes, I saw him and he died with a smile on his face. He felt no pain. He slept and never woke up. Thats what I had to tell. But the reality was different. We were slaughtered. It was torture.

I wonder whom you blame for what youve been through, or whether you even think about it in terms of blame.

My father used to be very angry most of the time. What I remember most is that that was never useful or helpful, that never made me stop doing what I was doing. What I do is my part. I use what I count as my talent, public speaking. I know there is so many parts involved: the reason behind the war, the regime, Russia, the Iranian support. When I talk to people living their normal lives and not working on a daily basis on the Syrian case, those people need to hear something different. Im talking to young people, to university students, to businessmenthey feel hopeless when they hear about Syria. When I talk about it, I talk about it from a very personal level so people feel connected and feel they can act. I tell them about kids in Syria. I tell them about a woman whos being resilient in Syria, who created this and this, how to support this and this. The narrative that the Syrian regime is trying to build is that its too complex., that you cant involved, that you cant understand it, that you cant help. Thats what Im trying to break down.

Do you want to go back to Syria?

I would love to. Its beautiful, its green, and the places that have been destroyed can be rebuilt. The only thing we need to do to get rid of the regime and the corruption that exists. When the regime falls, Ill be taking the first flight.

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The banana as we know it is in trouble. Emerging reports suggest the fruits deadliest disease has been spotted in Peru and Venezuela, two of the worlds largest exporters of bananas. Following Colombias confirmed infections in 2019, it appears the disease is spreading through Latin America, and biosecurity measures meant to contain the pathogen have been unsuccessful. Much in the way the world was caught off guard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the banana industry is ill-prepared for what is poised to be a catastrophic wipeout of commercial bananas. Hope rests heavily on a newly developed genetically modified banana variety, which promises to save our banana from commercial extinction, but it may not be that simple.

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Tropical Race 4, or TR4, the fungal strain that causes Fusarium wilt, has been spreading across the world for the past few decades. For experts who care passionately about bananas and people whose livelihoods depend on them, watching disease reports creep across the globe has been like watching a train filled with bananas hurtling toward unavoidable wreckage, frame by agonizing frame. Despite experts sounding the alarm for years, minimal international biosecurity efforts have meant that the disease has leapfrogged across the globe, beginning in Taiwan, then moving across Asia and into Africa. For decades, plant breeders have been trying to develop a banana that would please consumers and be immune to TR4. They tested wild bananas and attempted to crossbreed inedible wild species with edible domestic seedless varieties to try and transfer traits of immunity. By most accounts, these methods have been largely unsuccessful.

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Now, the disease has touched down in Latin America, the primary exporter of bananas for markets in Europe and North America. Because the disease is often undetectable for up to two years, it is likely that TR4 exists in Latin America beyond Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia, waiting to be recognized and already steadily spreading.

Good news came at the end of February, when Australian researchers announced a new banana genetically modified to be resistant to TR4. The team managed to insert the gene that makes one of the wild banana varieties resistant into a commercial banana, and the researchers are now hoping to continue to boost the new bananas immunity using CRISPR. But how did the industry come to think of GM as its last and only hope?

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To answer that, we have to return to a different banana era. Nearly all of the bananas that are imported to the United States and Europe are Cavendish bananas, as has been the case for decades. But the Cavendish is not the thoroughbred of bananas; the fruit bruises easily, its per-plant yields are lower than other varieties, and it requires extensive agrochemical inputs to grow. Among cultures that entertain dozens of market banana varieties, such as India, Southeast Asia, and Central America, the Cavendishs popularity is low; it just simply doesnt taste as good as a banana can taste. However, the Cavendish has dominated in one important area: immunity.

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In the 1950s, the horse the banana industry backed was a variety known as Gros Michel or Big Mike. This was a dreamy banana: It was resilient, the fruits were large, and it tasted sublime. But it was nearly wiped out in Latin American plantations by TR4s predecessor, Tropical Race 1; like TR4, the disease rotted plants from the inside and spread through contaminated soil. Nothing could clear the pathogen from the soil once a farm was infected, and the spores remain there to this day. So the Gros Michel banana was quickly replaced in the fields with Cavendish, which was immune to TR1. Unfortunately for the banana industry, Tropical Race 1 turned out to be just the first deadly pathogen to threaten bananas as we know them. TR4 emerged in Taiwan in the 1990s, this time with Cavendish in its crosshairs. (TR2 and TR3 emerged in the meanwhile, but theyre less virulent and dont target the banana family.) And because the Cavendish bananas are seedless (wild bananas are chock-full of seeds, but many consumers dont like them) and thus cultivated by suckers, the nearly genetically identical plants are even more vulnerable to the spread of disease. For many scientists, the solution seemed clear: If no one could find a banana that was resistant to TR4 and fit both consumer expectations and an industry built on paper-thin production margins, theyd have to make one.

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Enter CRISPR, the genetic editing technology. Early coverage of CRISPR technology focused on what it could mean for humans, with plenty of references to the 1997 film Gattaca. However, the food we eat is also a target. Being able to snip a gene that makes a crop susceptible to a pathogen is the stuff of fantasiesand in some cases very recently, realityfor GM giants like Monsanto and Syngenta.

While most corn and soy in American supermarkets are genetically modified, GM foods are currently banned in the European Union. (It remains to be seen whether the United Kingdom will retain these rules post-Brexit.) The GM Cavendish developed by the Australian researchers will have an easier path to markets in the United States, where its estimated that perhaps 75 percent of the food in our supermarkets has at least one genetically modified ingredient.

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How soon after planting Cavendish 2.0 will researchers need to start developing another genetically modified banana for Tropical Race 5?

While research so far supports a lack of adverse health effects due to GMs, there are still plenty of valid critiques of the technologys production and regulation. And for all that GM foods may help, they still fail to change many of the systems that create the crises they swoop in to solve. Producing genetically modified foods is currently expensive and therefore requires the backing of large corporations, whose priorities lie in yields and profit, not biodiversity or the health of workers and the environment. Like many crops grown in monoculture systems, bananas rely heavily on the frequent application of agrochemicals. This growing practice has had long-lasting and catastrophic effects on the lives of plantation workers and surrounding ecosystems, but producing bananas in crowded conditions has also made them vulnerable, allowing disease to quickly spread unhindered by the healthy soils or biodiversity that usually serves as natures insurance policy. The researchers pursuing transgenic bananas are currently seeking a new banana that will tuck neatly into Cavendishs slot in this system, without disturbing, or questioning, any of these other elements.

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The banana giant Fresh Del Monte Produce has teamed up with the Australian university that developed that first TR4-resistant GM banana to fund a five-year project to perfect and test the new variety outside of laboratory greenhouses. And although Del Monte has made no announcement yet, it wouldnt be unexpected for this new banana to be patented (as the TR4-resistant genes already have been), meaning that unless other banana corporations like Chiquita and Dole develop their own varieties, they will be at a significant disadvantage while their Latin American plantations wilt beneath TR4. And for hundreds of thousands of smallholder banana farmers for whom bananas are a cornerstone of food security, a TR4-resistant fruit may remain forever out of reach.

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Bananas are far from our only monocrop. Many of the worlds staples rest precariously upon just a handful of varieties. And while genetic modification promises us another tool to fight pathogens, its worth reflecting on just how reactive this process is. As with the pandemic that has swept across the globe this past year, preventing the initial spread of the disease would have been far less expensive than trying to mitigate after it has established itself in several countries.

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How soon after planting Cavendish 2.0 will researchers need to start developing another genetically modified banana for Tropical Race 5? What about Tropical Race 6? And this is to say nothing of the challenges that bananas face under climate change. Yields may drop globally by up to 50 percent by 2050, and it remains unclear how resilient a GM banana might be in that scenario.

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There are ways of growing bananas, and other crops, that support biodiversity and soil health. One example is the agroforestry systems used by many Indigenous groups across Latin America. These systems allow space between plants and grow multiple banana varieties so that disease is far less likely to spread. But the temptation of a shiny technological fixand short-term profitsfrequently mutes the conversations about how such measures could be integrated into larger-scale banana production, or how the products of environmentally conscious growers could be brought to willing consumers abroad.

Often, genetically modified foods are held up as a necessity to feed an ever-growing world, but what is less discussed is how the ways we grow that food actually exacerbate our problems. Industrial agriculture strips away topsoil, mandating the use of inputs like chemical fertilizers to replace lost nutrients. Growing genetically identical plants close together allows pathogens to spread quickly, decimating entire crops.

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If bananas are a case study in the future of our food, we should think carefully about the framing of the case for GM crops. If the priority is short-term yields and band-aids against rogue pathogens, then GM is a step in that direction. But if long-term resilience and environmental health are in our sights, its worth reconsidering what efforts will get us there. A real solution will require a combination of strategies. For our banana, it is crucial to examine the biosecurity and monoculture methods that allow these diseases to spread so ferociously. Without significant changes, were just waiting for the next variant to take us by surprise.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
People do not need to isolate when travelling to Czechia

At the same time, a ferry to Austria has restored its operation.

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The Czech Republic does not consider Slovakia a country with a high risk of infection.

Our paywall policy: The Slovak Spectator has decided to make all the articles on the special measures, statistics and basic information about the coronavirus available to everyone. If you appreciate our work and would like to support good journalism, please buy our subscription. We believe this is an issue where accurate and fact-based information is important for people to cope.

It switched Slovakia from the red tier to the orange tier of countries on May 10, meaning that people entering the Czech Republic from Slovakia should show a negative antigen test no older than 24 hours or a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours.

Before entering the country, they need to fill in a form and submit it to a respective regional hygiene office. They must show confirmation of this at border control if asked.

Incomers do not have to stay in self-isolation after their arrival. They are required to wear respirators during the first 14 days since their arrival, both inside and outside, State Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Martin Klus wrote on Facebook.

At the same time, Klus reported that the ferry between Zahorska Ves and Angern in Austria has resumed operation. It will run twice a day from May 10, between 5:00 and 10:00, and between 15:00 and 20:00.

More information about conditions for travelling to neighbouring countries can be found on the Foreign Affairs Ministry's website (Slovak only).

Read more about the coronavirus developments in Slovakia:

10. May 2021 at 11:15 | Compiled by Spectator staff
China's rocket debris falls to Earth as 'accurately predicted'

Global Times) 08:51, May 10, 2021

Most parts burnt up during reentry, 'common practice' of space powers

The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, April 29, 2021. China on Thursday sent into space the core module of its space station, kicking off a series of key launch missions that aim to complete the construction of the station by the end of next year. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua)

China's space authority announced on Sunday that remnants from China's Long March-5B Y2 carrier rocket reentered the Earth's atmosphere, most of it burning up on entry, with some remnants falling in the Arabian Sea.

Amid an intense China-US relationship and increasingly fierce competition in technology between the two great powers, some Americans have been racking their brains and grasping every chance to hype the "China threat" theory, with the latest episode being they accusing China of being "irresponsible" for leaving rocket debris "uncontrolled, causing threats to objects on Earth," despite the fact that it is a global common way to deal with rocket debris, practiced by all space powers including the US itself.

Chinese aerospace experts mocked that they felt "surprised" that some people would buy such absurd logic as it is common sense in the science field. Analysts of foreign affairs pointed out that it reflects the double standards of the West in an attempt to sabotage China's space station construction plan, exposing their military intentions to track China's space hardware.

'Completely normal'

Debris from China's Long March-5B Y2 carrier rocket reentered Earth's atmosphere at 10:24 am Beijing time on Sunday with most parts burning up during the process, China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said. The location of the re-entry is 72.47 degrees east longitude and 2.65 degrees north latitude, indicating somewhere on the Arabian Sea west of the Maldives.

Despite clarification by China's space industry insiders and Foreign Ministry that the probability of the rocket remnants causing harm was extremely low, a number of Western media outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, as well as the US' Pentagon and NASA, claimed the debris was heading back to Earth in an "uncontrolled" manner and criticized China of being "irresponsible" for the ocean landing.

"The accusations were false, groundless," said Song Zhongping, an aerospace expert and TV commentator. "The so-called 'uncontrolled' trajectory refers to the loss of propulsion, but in no way means that China has lost track of its flight path and real-time location."

Every movement of the rocket fragments is being closely watched by China's space tracking network, and accurate predictions on its landing site were made accordingly and the flight course would avoid densely inhabited areas in the designing phase, Song told the Global Times on Sunday.

Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said it is "completely normal" for rocket debris to return to Earth, and it is a common practice carried out by all global participants in the aerospace field, including the US.

"The wreckage's fall is within the normal range under widely accepted standards, with most parts burnt up during re-entry and a few were insufficiently burnt due to differences in the atmospheric environment," Wang said.

"Except for the SpaceX reusable rockets, all remnants from the first and second stages of traditional launch vehicles return to Earth in an uncontrolled manner. And all countries conducting such practice track the falling pieces and calculate their trajectories as China does," Wang noted.

The Tianhe space station core module's successful delivery to orbit has proven the reliability and controllability of the Long March 5B rocket, Wang added.

Following the successful launch of the Long March-5B Y2, which sent the first section of China's space station - Tianhe core module cabin - into orbit, China kicked off an intense construction phase of the country's first space station project, where a busy schedule of another 10 launches has been set for the next two years. The space station is expected to be operational by 2022.

Estimated to be the only operational space station in orbit that will be open to foreign partners after the retirement of the International Space Station scheduled in 2024, some Western countries, especially the US, are jealous of how rapidly China is growing in aerospace technology. "Therefore, any progress in the aerospace sector will touch a nerve in the US strategic community," Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The US has continued suppressing China on science and technology field after US President Joe Biden took office. It tried to use the issue of the rocket debris to smear China's image in the globe, accusing the country of damaging world peace, and on the other hand, it attempted to play up the "China threat" theory as not every country can develop Long March rockets, Li said.

Space debris is an issue faced by all countries in the process of space development. Space needs protection from all countries just like Earth. However, it is a scientific and technological issue and should not be politicized, Li stressed.

Several Chinese space industry insiders reached by the Global Times on Sunday revealed that China did its homework during the initial rocket design phase on the liftoff position, trajectory planning and related technical preparations, which all took into consideration the falling of rocket debris.

Military intentions

Before the debris reentered the Earth's atmosphere, the US military and certain EU agencies closely tracked the debris and predicted the landing time and location. Experts noted that Western predictive analysis of the wreckage of the final stage of the Long March-5B Y2 carrier rocket is a kind of anti-missile training for them.

"Although the upper stage of this rocket is not a real missile, the prediction of its flight trajectory and reentry performance parameters can be used as an exercise to predict the reentry parameters of a real missile warhead. It is a reference for their future precise anti-missile operations," said Huang Zhicheng, an expert in the space industry.

Huang noted that the treatment of rocket debris around the world is basically at the same level. The main problem is that the debris of the upper stage of the rocket may cause a small amount of debris, but the probability of causing harm is very small. However, this problem has not been finally solved by any country.

'Comet-like' or 'serious threat'?

In stark contrast to media reports on China's rocket debris, burning rocket remnants of the second stage of the US SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which crashed on a farm in Washington state in March, were described by media like Associated Press as "leaving comet-like trails" as the vessel streaked across the Pacific Northwest sky.

The different descriptions of the two rockets reflects the double standards adopted by some Western forces in the way China is treated, said Song, as "they are not really worried about causing harm to people, but since it's a Chinese rocket, they have politicized the matter, put a label on it and then hyped it."

Xing Jianwei, vice chief designer of the Long March 2C carrier rocket, told media that China is developing the capability to control the rocket's fairing (when the nose cone that protects the payload is jettisoned in space) after separation so that the attitude of its re-entry to Earth can be controlled.

During the nearly 60 years of space activity, no case of rocket debris causing human casualties has been reported. The risks for all rocket debris are fairly close, hence, it is seriously anti-intellectual to claim that Chinese rockets have a particularly high risk, analysts said.

"I now really doubt the common sense of science in Western society, since they believe in such logic," Wang Yanan noted.

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)
Current Affairs

S ince it reopened its first resort last June after forced closures caused by the pandemic, Sandals Resorts International, in an aggressive and strategic marketing thrust, has welcomed nearly 200 influencers, celebrities and travel media to its resorts all across the Caribbean and hosted several major radio remotes, creating close to 300,000,000global media impressions.



The increase in media and influencer visits is a key component of the companys reinvigorated marketing strategy as it leads the recovery of the regions tourism industry and aims to inform the world that Sandals Resorts and the Caribbean islands are open for business.



So far in 2021, Sandals South Coast has hosted two separate radio remotes reaching approximately 5,000,000 radio listeners and resulting in over 50 million impressions.



Radio remotes see international radio stations broadcasting live from Sandals and Beaches Resorts to their listeners back home. This element of the companys strategy began as early as September 2020 at Sandals Grande Saint Lucian with broadcast reaching 19 key markets in the United States.



On the heels of these successful radio remotes, Beaches Turks and Caicos is set to host its own radio remote in May with additional remotes tentatively slated for Barbados, Grenada and The Bahamas. In addition to US radio stations, the company also intends to invite stations from the United Kingdom to Grenada and/or Barbados later in the year.



Adam Stewart, Sandals Executive Chairman, said: Our company has always been an innovator in marketing and promotions. Were one of the most well-known hospitality brands across the world and thats due to our well-oiled marketing machinery. Weve been doing radio remotes for many years and we know the reach is significant. Now more than ever it is important that we harness the power of these activities and our radio remotes have proven instrumental in reaching our audience and letting them know that the Caribbean is open for business."



Of the companys decision to ramp up its influencer marketing campaigns, Stewart said, The power of influencer marketing and online marketing is undeniable, especially now when our audience is spending most of their time online. We have been working strategically with a number of influencers with a combined global audience of several million in addition to top-tier publications with millions of readers around the globe. As a result, the Caribbean is trending. Millions of eyes are on the region and in many of our islands where tourism is the largest economic driver, this attention is well-needed and much-appreciated.



The power of the brand has also seen the company enjoy powerful organic publicity through a number of celebrities who have openly shared their positive Sandals and Beaches experiences through their social media platforms.



With vaccinations trending upwards in source markets and across the region, Stewart is confident that the region is poised for a record comeback. He added, We are already seeing our bookings increase at a steady pace and we expect hotel occupancy of 65 to 80 per cent in June and July. I am very optimistic, not just for the recovery of our own brand, but for the recovery of the regions tourism sector, all the industries that rely on tourism and of course for the thousands of Caribbean nationals who earn a living through tourism.



To date, Sandals has reopened15of its resorts across the region including those in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Grenada, The Turks and Caicos Islands and Sandals Emerald Bay in the Bahamas with its Barbados resorts set to reopen in a few weeks. Approximately 80 per cent of the companys group-wide team is back at work with team members who were at reduced pay now returned to full salary and job opportunities across the region being offered to those whose resorts remain closed.






Apple and Epics court battle is resulting in a whole lot of revelation than what one anticipated. This time, a Microsoft executive has admitted (during the court case) that the Xbox console business has never been profitable. The same is said for Sonys PlayStation segment in the court documents as well. This piece of information was revealed by Xbox vice president Lori Wright.

When asked How much margin does Microsoft earn on the sale on the Xbox consoles? by the Epic Games lawyer, Ms. Wright replied that We dont. We sell the consoles at a loss. When the lawyer asked again Just to be clear, does Microsoft ever earn a profit on the sale of an Xbox console?, Wright just replied with No.

Also read: Apple wanted Netflix to continue offering in-app purchase support

As mentioned in Thurrott.com, console makers are familiar with this. They often try to make up for the losses from the hardware business by offering software and services. In the case of videogames, hardware makers also try to cut costs over time by manufacturing cost-reduced versions of their consoles that still lose money, but less money, stated the website.

So, how is this related to the Apple-Epic trial? It was to show how videogame and smartphone markets are different despite both taking 30% cuts. For Xbox, this is how Microsoft tried to make up for the loss. However, in Apples case, the firm already has margins on its iPhone and iPad hardware and it does for the App Store as well.

However, this is not the only information that comes out of the Apple-Epic court case. Recently it was also revealed that Apple chose to hide a mass hack on 128 million iPhone users back in 2015. In another instance, it was revealed that Apple also thought of bringing iMessage to Android at some point. However, that did not happen as the firm wanted to keep users trapped in its ecosystem.
Microsoft has released a major update to its OneDrive app on Android. The latest update brings support for casting to the companys cloud-based storage service.

The company has released version 6.29.1 on the Google Play Store. This version enables OneDrives Android users to display their media files on a Chromecast-compatible device. You can now display your media files on a Chromecast receiver or TV from a compatible device, the company wrote in the changelog of the app.

The company wrote that the new casting option is available in the top toolbar in the OneDrive Android app. To use this feature, all users need to do is open an image or video on their OneDrive for Android app, tap on the Cast icon in the top toolbar and select the device you want to cast your content on. Once users select their preferred device, they will be able to see their content on large screens.

Android Police reports that while the new option can cast most files, it cant cast the files that it cant playback on its own. So, if a user is trying to cast content that OneDrive for Android cant play on its platform natively, it may take them into another app after downloading those files to local storage.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Android users in the U.S. can now join the invite-only Clubhouse, more than a year after the social audio app debuted.

At its weekly "town hall" meeting Sunday, Clubhouse founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth are expected to announce that the popular app will be available for American Android users in beta mode.

"With Android, we believe that Clubhouse will feel more complete. We are so grateful to all of the Android users out there for their patience," Davison and Seth said in a company blog post. "Whether you are a creator, a club organizer, or someone who just wants to explore, we are so excited to welcome you to the community."

Clubhouse's Android arrival comes after more than 10 million downloads on Apple's operating system.

Clubhouse competition rears its head

The move to Android for Clubhouse also comes after Facebook said last month it will be rolling out soon a series of audio features including Live Audio Rooms which allows users to listen and participate in live conversations, similar to Clubhouse and Soundbites, where users can create and share short audio clips. And last week, Twitter announced its audio chat product called Spaces, to users who have more than 600 followers.

The anticipated competition for Clubhouse appears as the social audio phenomenon exploded during the pandemic as people were looking for ways to socialize with each other besides video chats and conference calls.

At Clubhouse, members can feel like they are either eavesdropping on conversations or exchanging ideas with power players and celebsfor free. Chats can go on for hours as this interaction comes at a time in a world mostly frustrated and weary with being socially isolated and worn out from attending video conference meetings all day long.

As Clubhouse began to grow exponentially since last fall with such notables as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey and even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company admitted in its blog on Sunday that "the load stressed our systemscausing widespread server outages and notification failures, and surpassing the limits of our early discovery algorithms."

Davison and Seth have repeatedly said that the company has had to focus on hiring to help fix its issues instead of adding new features. "It was an important time of investment, which we think will help us serve the community much better in the long run," the founders said in the blog post.

Clubhouse also said it will soon allow Android users in other English-speaking countries and then globally. The company also said it will continue to get feedback, add more users currently on the waitlist to join the app on Apple's iOS, and eventually add new features including payments and club creation before launching it to its users.

The company said it has seen global growth in its chat rooms ranging from rural Georgia farmers interacting with entrepreneurs in Tanzania, film clubs forming in India, debate rooms in Germany, and quiz shows originating in the Middle East.

"We've seen firsthand what we've always believedthat the need to gather with other humans is universal," the company blog said. "Throughout this period, we have felt the need to be cross-platform more strongly than ever."

Explore further Clubhouse competitor: Twitter launches rival audio chat rooms feature Spaces on Android

(c)2021 U.S. Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Attorneys general from 44 US states are urging Facebook to drop its plan to create a version of Instagram for children under 13

Officials representing most US states on Monday called on Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg to nix plans to launch a version of Instagram for children.

In a letter to the founder and chief of the leading social network, 44 state attorneys general argued that such a service would be "harmful for myriad reasons."

Concerns expressed by attorneys general included cyberbullying, predatory adults, mental well-being, and Facebook's missteps on data protection and privacy, according to a statement released by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"Not only is social media an influential tool that can be detrimental to children who are not of appropriate age, but this plan could place children directly in the paths of predators," James said.

"There are too many concerns to let Facebook move forward with this ill-conceived idea, which is why we are calling on the company to abandon its launch of Instagram Kids."

The plea echoed concerns expressed by advocates for children, who also urged Zuckerberg to ditch plans for a version of Instagram geared toward pre-teens.

Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood and the Electronic Privacy Information Center were among nearly 100 groups and individuals from North America, Europe, Africa and Australia to make the plea in a letter to Zuckerberg in April.

"In short, an Instagram platform for young children is harmful for myriad reasons," the attorneys general said in a copy of the letter seen by AFP.

"It appears that Facebook is not responding to a need, but instead creating one."

Instagram is exploring the launch of a version of the image-centric social network for children under 13, with parental controls.

Facebook-owned Instagram, like its parent company, allows only those older than 13 to join but verifying age on the internet makes it challenging to catch all rule breakers.

"The reality is that kids are online," Facebook spokeswoman Stephanie Otway said in response to a prior AFP inquiry.

Facebook is working with child development and mental health experts to prioritize safety and privacy, according to Otway.

Instagram, which has more than a billion users, recently unveiled technology aimed at preventing underage children from creating accounts and blocking adults from contacting young users they don't know.

The platform is also looking at ways to make it more difficult for adults who have been exhibiting "potentially suspicious behavior" to interact with teens.

 2021 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Single-photon imaging is the future of high-speed digital photography and vastly surpasses conventional cameras in low-light conditions. However, fixing the blurring caused by the motion of independent objects remains challenging. Recently, researchers at Tokyo University of Science developed an innovative deblurring approach that accurately estimates the motion of individual objects and adjusts the final image accordingly. Their strategy produces high-quality images even in complex dynamic scenes and may find applications in medicine, science, and security.

Imaging technology has come a long way since the beginning of photography in the mid-19th century. Now, many state-of-the-art cameras for demanding applications rely on mechanisms that are considerably different from those in consumer-oriented devices. One of these cameras employs what is known as "single-photon imaging," which can produce vastly superior results in dark conditions and fast dynamic scenes. But how does single-photon imaging differ from conventional imaging?

When taking a picture with a regular CMOS camera, like the ones on smartphones, the camera sensor is open to a large influx of photons during a predefined exposure time. Each pixel in the sensor grid outputs an analog value that depends on the number of photons that hit that pixel during exposure.

However, this type of imaging has few ways to deal with moving objects; the movement of the object has to be much slower than the exposure time to avoid blurring. In contrast, single-photon cameras capture a rapid burst of consecutive frames with very short individual exposure times. These frames are binarya grid of 1s and 0s that respectively indicate whether one photon arrived at each pixel or not during exposure. To reconstruct an actual picture from these binary frames (or bit planes), many of them have to be processed into a single non-binary image. This can be achieved by assigning different levels of brightness to all the pixels in the grid, depending on how many of the bit planes had a "1" for each pixel.

Besides its higher speed, the completely digital nature of single-photon imaging allows for designing clever image reconstruction algorithms that can make up for technical limitations or difficult scenarios. At Tokyo University of Science, Japan, Professor Takayuki Hamamoto has been leading a research team focused on taking the capabilities of single-photon imaging further. In the latest study by Prof. Hamamoto and his team, which was published in IEEE Access, they developed a highly effective algorithm to fix the blurring caused by motion in the imaged objects, as well as common blurring of the entire image such as that caused by the shaking of the camera.

Their approach addresses many limitations of existing deblurring techniques for single-photon imaging, which produce low-quality pictures when multiple objects in the scene are moving at different speeds and dynamically overlapping each other. Instead of adjusting the entire image according to the estimated motion of a single object or on the basis of spatial regions where the object is considered to be moving, the proposed method employs a more versatile strategy.

First, a motion estimation algorithm tracks the movement of individual pixels through statistical evaluations on how bit values change over time (over different bit planes). In this way, as demonstrated experimentally by the researchers, the motion of individual objects can be accurately estimated. "Our tests show that the proposed motion estimation technique produced results with errors of less than one pixel, even in dark conditions with few incident photons," remarks Prof. Hamamoto.

The team then developed a deblurring algorithm that uses the results of the motion estimation step. This second algorithm groups pixels with a similar motion together, thereby identifying in each bit plane separate objects moving at different speeds. This allows for deblurring each region of the image independently according to the motions of objects that pass through it. Using simulations, the researchers showed that their strategy produced very crisp and high-quality images, even in low-light dynamic scenes crowded with objects coursing at disparate velocities.

Overall, the results of this study aptly showcase how greatly single-photon imaging can be improved if one gets down to developing effective image processing techniques. "Methods for obtaining crisp images in photon-limited situations would be useful in several fields, including medicine, security, and science. Our approach will hopefully lead to new technology for high-quality imaging in dark environments, like outer space, and super-slow recording that will far exceed the capabilities of today's fastest cameras," says Prof. Hamamoto. He also states that even consumer-level cameras might timely benefit from progress in single-photon imaging.

Explore further Scientists achieve single-photon imaging over 200 kilometers

More information: Kiyotaka Iwabuchi et al, Image Quality Improvements Based on Motion-Based Deblurring for Single-Photon Imaging, IEEE Access (2021). Kiyotaka Iwabuchi et al, Image Quality Improvements Based on Motion-Based Deblurring for Single-Photon Imaging,(2021). DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3059293


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The Texas Legislature wrapped up this years lawmaking session on Sunday. Although members of the House and Senate touted wins for both Republicans and Democrats, tensions are rising between the legislative bodies amid criticism from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. What would you grade this years legislative session?

You voted:
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MOTHERS have been some of the hardest hit by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Globally, mothers have lost their jobs, largely as a result of care-giving demands as many were forced to leave their careers to be at home for their families.
THE Government expects to spend $107 million on Covid-19 vaccines to allow vaccination of 85 per cent of the population, or about 1.2 million people.

So said Minister of Finance Colm Imbert yesterday, at the Red House, Port of Spain.
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The first virtual meeting of the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) ended in virtual comess when committee chairman House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George brought the proceedings to an abrupt end on Monday night.

Sitting from their homes, United National Congress (UNC) members vehemently protested after Annisette-George cut off Couva South MP Ravi Ratiram in mid sentence and advised members to submit their questions to ministers in writing.

SFC had been considering a supplementation of appropriation of $2.9 billion spread across various ministries.
As the clock struck 5 a.m. to signal the end of the daily curfew, hundreds of people began showing up at all the facilities under the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) for their first shot of Sinopharm vaccines.
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), also known as novel coronavirus, the virus that causes Covid-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab which was isolated from a patient in the US. Photo: REUTERS
Vallarta Living



Discover Alfonso's Leather Museum in Puerto Vallarta

Slide Description 002 Slide Description 002 Slide Description 002 Slide Description 002 Slide Description 002 The mannequins are a dream project of hand-making examples of the clothes worn by Mexican people throughout history during Mexico's struggles for independence. Alfonso has been working on this project for the past 20 years! Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - One day while leading my walking tour along the cobblestones of central Vallarta, we happened upon several people dressed in old frontier clothes. As we drew closer, they turned out to be mannequins standing outside a local leather store.



This is when I met Alfonso. His leather apron and happy greeting drew us inside. Here we found numerous offerings of all things leather. Even the air smelled of leather.



Alfonso told us he has been working with leather for 53 years. His well-worn leather apron attests to this. The mannequins are his dream project of hand-making examples of the clothes worn by Mexican people throughout history during Mexico's struggles for independence. He has been working on this project for the past 20 years!



He perfected his tailoring skills while in Hollywood. Here he worked creating the rugged clothes for actors in the popular westerns of the 1970-1990 era. After returning to Mexico, he attended a reenactment of the ancient Mayan ball game. There he had the inspiration to create his museum to preserve for coming generations the greatness of the Mayan culture through the fashions and styles of the different periods of Mexican history.



The books and illustrations he found only went back to the 1850's so his first projects covered the indigenous Indios, rancheros, banditos, and fighters for independence from 1850 up to the Mexican Revolution of 1910. There were not many women examples back then for him to draw from so most of his mannequins are of men. He next wants to work on costumes from the War of Independence of 1810.



He does extensive research, diving into archives of old photos and stories to find the examples he uses for creating his clothing. When I first met Alfonso back in 2012, he only had a few mannequins... the ones we saw while walking. He has eventually outgrown that space and so he and his museum are now housed on the second floor of the Art with Leather shop on Venustiano Carranza.



His growing group of mannequins currently numbers 40 and he is still finding more historical examples. He recently heard about a long shirt used by some warriors that was so thick with several layers of leather that arrows could not penetrate to the skin to inflict a wound.



The materials Alfonso uses are not always easy to find. The headdresses on some of the Indios for example needed feathers and quills difficult to obtain today. Some of the hats are made from dead animal skins he finds while exploring the surrounding areas. A recent badger roadkill will now become another hat complete with the preserved head, eyes, and teeth. Most of the leather is cowhide that he dyes himself with alcohol-based inks. Sometimes strange furs come to him donated by friends or customers. He only uses animal skins native to the culture. No animals are killed in the wild.



His tools include various needles for sewing, punches, awls, knives, glues, inks, brushes, and tools for leather designs. Tooling is another of Alfonso's skills. His designs can be found on the mannequin belts and boots and even notebook covers sold in his shop.



Stop in to see the amazing work he has done. His care in recreating history and his skill with the materials are obvious. When he has time, Alfonso will tell you some of the stories behind each costume. And be sure to notice his apron... it tells much about this interesting and talented man.



Art with Leather is located at Calle Venustiano Carranza 370 on the south side of Vallarta.



Sandra Cesca has lived in Puerto Vallarta for 12 years. She is a cultural tour guide with her own small business: Puerto Vallarta Walking Tours. She is also a freelance writer and cultural photographer whose work can be found on Your Cultural Insider and Sandra Cesca Photography. Contact her: - One day while leading my walking tour along the cobblestones of central Vallarta, we happened upon several people dressed in old frontier clothes. As we drew closer, they turned out to be mannequins standing outside a local leather store.This is when I met Alfonso. His leather apron and happy greeting drew us inside. Here we found numerous offerings of all things leather. Even the air smelled of leather.Alfonso told us he has been working with leather for 53 years. His well-worn leather apron attests to this. The mannequins are his dream project of hand-making examples of the clothes worn by Mexican people throughout history during Mexico's struggles for independence. He has been working on this project for the past 20 years!He perfected his tailoring skills while in Hollywood. Here he worked creating the rugged clothes for actors in the popular westerns of the 1970-1990 era. After returning to Mexico, he attended a reenactment of the ancient Mayan ball game. There he had the inspiration to create his museum to preserve for coming generations the greatness of the Mayan culture through the fashions and styles of the different periods of Mexican history.The books and illustrations he found only went back to the 1850's so his first projects covered the indigenous Indios, rancheros, banditos, and fighters for independence from 1850 up to the Mexican Revolution of 1910. There were not many women examples back then for him to draw from so most of his mannequins are of men. He next wants to work on costumes from the War of Independence of 1810.He does extensive research, diving into archives of old photos and stories to find the examples he uses for creating his clothing. When I first met Alfonso back in 2012, he only had a few mannequins... the ones we saw while walking. He has eventually outgrown that space and so he and his museum are now housed on the second floor of the Art with Leather shop on Venustiano Carranza.His growing group of mannequins currently numbers 40 and he is still finding more historical examples. He recently heard about a long shirt used by some warriors that was so thick with several layers of leather that arrows could not penetrate to the skin to inflict a wound.The materials Alfonso uses are not always easy to find. The headdresses on some of thefor example needed feathers and quills difficult to obtain today. Some of the hats are made from dead animal skins he finds while exploring the surrounding areas. A recent badger roadkill will now become another hat complete with the preserved head, eyes, and teeth. Most of the leather is cowhide that he dyes himself with alcohol-based inks. Sometimes strange furs come to him donated by friends or customers. He only uses animal skins native to the culture. No animals are killed in the wild.His tools include various needles for sewing, punches, awls, knives, glues, inks, brushes, and tools for leather designs. Tooling is another of Alfonso's skills. His designs can be found on the mannequin belts and boots and even notebook covers sold in his shop.Stop in to see the amazing work he has done. His care in recreating history and his skill with the materials are obvious. When he has time, Alfonso will tell you some of the stories behind each costume. And be sure to notice his apron... it tells much about this interesting and talented man.Art with Leather is located at Calle Venustiano Carranza 370 on the south side of Vallarta.has lived in Puerto Vallarta for 12 years. She is a cultural tour guide with her own small business:She is also a freelance writer and cultural photographer whose work can be found onandContact her: sun4sandra(at)gmail.com.



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The second and third trains of Ho Chi Minh Citys metro line No. 1 have reached a seaport in the southern metropolis after a nine-day journey.

The trains were transported by the Kaisa cargo vessel, which docked at Khanh Hoi Port in District 4 at around 6:00 am on Monday.

The ship began its voyage at the Port of Kasado in Japan on May 1.

After being unloaded from the ship, the second and third trains will be transported by road from the port to the Long Binh depot of the metro line in Thu Duc City on May 11 and 13, respectively.

They will then be installed on the T1 track at the depot for trial operations.

This is a very important milestone of the metro project, marking the official transition from construction and installation to trial operations, said the municipal Management Authority for Urban Railways.

To date, three out of the metro line's 17 trains, consisting of 51 carriages, have been delivered to Vietnam from Japan, with the first arriving at the port on October 8, 2020.

The Kaisa vessel, which carries two trains of Ho Chi Minh Citys metro line No. 1, is seen being docked at Khanh Hoi Port in the city, May 10, 2021. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

The next trains will be brought home in the coming time and the line is expected to be put into commercial operation next year.

Each train has three carriages and can carry a total of 930 passengers, including 147 seated and 783 standing guests.

The metro line is 19.7 kilometers long, including 2.6 kilometers of underground railways and 17.1 kilometers of elevated tracks.

The route runs from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City through three underground stations and 11 stops above the ground.

A train carriage is unloaded from the Kaisa vessel at Khanh Hoi Port in Ho Chi Minh City on May 10, 2021. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

The maximum speed is 110 kilometers per hour along the elevated section and 80 kilometers an hour underground.

About 84.44 percent of the workload of the project, which started in August 2012, has completed so far, Tien Phong newspaper reported.

The project costs more than VND43.7 trillion (US$1.9 billion), most of which has come from Japan's official development assistance (ODA).

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Having scored admirable academic and professional achievements at a young age, this Vietnamese businesswoman said the early loss of her mother shaped her character.

Ngo Thuy Ngoc Tu, 33, grew up with her father and younger sister, having lost her mother to an illness at the age of six.

For the next 12 years, Tu would learn to keep sadness at arms length, partly because she did not want to emotionally burden her father, but more importantly because she was now the sole female model in the family for her sister.

Tu developed the habit of being independent in almost everything she did, a trait that would later prove helpful during her time at Stanford University in the U.S..

But throughout her twenties, Tu confessed, she was haunted by an irrational fear.

I was obsessed with the number 35  the age at which my mother passed on, Tu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

I used to think that my life, too, would be just as short and [35] would be when it stopped.

I later learned that many others who shared the same backgrounds also experienced a similar obsession.

While the fear pushed Tu to live every day to the fullest, it also deprived her of the fun in it all because everything was in a rush.

Tu was also torn by her inner conflicts: she was intrigued by innovative endeavors but dreaded failure and losing what she had.

In 2009, Tu decided to return to Vietnam after graduating from Stanford University despite bright career prospects in the U.S..

Between 2009 and 2013, I worked like a machine, learning by trial and error with different educational business models, Tu recalled.

Her second startup is a roaring success, having raised tens of millions of dollars in funding.

But deep down Tu was unhappy. She admitted to finding herself crying a lot during this period.

Ngo Thuy Ngoc Tu (left) and her younger sister are seen during a trip together in this provided photo.

Resolution for change

In 2019, I decided to face my pains and learned to understand them before actively seeking help from support groups, especially those with women who shared my problems, Tu said.

I sought help from psychological experts and took on meditation to try and open the box that had been holding my pains.

The journey lasted a whole year.

Tu spent two weeks traveling alone to the northern town of Sa Pa, where she spent most of her time writing, meditating, reading, and talking to herself.

To make the trip happen, I had had to organize my work very carefully, speaking to my loved ones and colleagues to avoid any shock as I would be towing away my laptop and cellphone for the entire trip, Tu said.

But to Tu, every startup should be well prepared to operate smoothly without one of its co-founders for some time.

Im certain the biggest problems every co-founder has to face might not be external, but arise from within themselves, she said.

Tu learned that sometimes the best supporter is a good listener, rather than those throwing solutions or emotional reactions at the people around them.

Having weathered the ups and downs of life, Tus current goal is to inspire and provide professional support to other women.

I was lucky to receive much support from male colleagues in my previous projects, but many other female entrepreneurs are not as fortunate, Tu observed.

There are women I know who were chiefly in charge of a startup project but had to step away from the spotlight at crucial moments for a number of reasons."

That is why she has taken on the new roles of a public speaker and co-founder of an investment fund to support young businesswomen.

Ngo Thuy Ngoc Tu speaks to students at an international university in Ho Chi Minh City in this provided photo.

Tu was the first female student from a public school in Vietnam to be accepted into Stanford University with a full scholarship in public policy. She later earned an MBA from INSEAD in Singapore. Tu was picked to host the town hall meeting between former U.S. President Barack Obama and young leaders in Ho Chi Minh City when he visited Vietnam in 2016. She is currently the chairwoman of a major English language center in Ho Chi Minh City and the co-founder of the venture capital fund Touchstone.

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Elon Musk kicked off his "Saturday Night Live" debut by declaring himself to be the first person with Asperger's syndrome to host the US comedy sketch show.

"Or at least, the first person to admit it," he said.

In his opening monologue, the eccentric tech entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX offered an explanation for some of his past eyebrow-raising behavior.

"Look, I know I say or post strange things but that's just how my brain works. To anyone Ive offended I just want to say, I reinvented electric cars and Im sending people to Mars in a rocket ship," he said. "Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?"

Musk has previously drawn criticism for moves like publicly mocking the US Securities and Exchange Commission and calling a cave diver who rescued boys trapped in Thailand a "pedo guy".

But on SNL, the billionaire took swipes at his own expense. He joked about his tweets, his son's unusual name -- X  A-12 -- and that time he smoked weed on Joe Rogan's podcast.

And of course, as a big booster of cryptocurrencies, he once again enumerated the benefits of dogecoin.

Pressed on what exactly dogecoin is, Musk called the cryptocurrency -- which now has a market value of around $72 billion -- "an unstoppable vehicle that's going to take over the world".

But then he agreed that actually "it's a hustle".

For the second time in a week, the world's second-richest person seemed to drive the value of the digital asset. Not long after its recent surge after Musk's Twitter endorsement, it was sent on a brief tailspin during his SNL performance.

It dropped to as low as 49 cents during the broadcast after a pre-show high of about 74 cents, according to CoinDesk.

During the show, cast members wondered aloud why exactly the tech billionaire would want to join their set.

With a segment of a Chinese rocket re-entering Earth's atmosphere around the time of the live broadcast, they concluded that the spaceman "needed an alibi."
A group of six Vietnamese border jumpers were caught trying to sneak into Vietnam on Sunday evening through the countrys border with Laos.

Authorities in Nam Giang District, Quang Nam Province, where the interception happened, are waiting for the results of COVID-19 tests on the six illegals, A Viet Son, chairman of the Nam Giang Peoples Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.

The group consists of four ethnic Hmong individuals who hail from the northern province of Lai Chau, including Sung A Tung, 35, Chau A Khai, 25, Lua A De, 33, and Sung A Pao, 43.

Meanwhile, the two others are To Thi Huyen and Doan Van Minh, who come from Quang Nam and neighboring Da Nang, respectively.

The group admitted that they were part of a herbal medicine smuggling operation.

While the four Hmong people headed to Laos to source the herbs, Minh and Huyen procured the harvest and shipped it back to Vietnam.

Duong De Chau, a senior border guard in Tay Giang District, Quang Nam, said local border guards will levy administrative fines on the six for trespassing and violations in forest protection.

Tay Giang District, which adjoins Nam Giang District, has detected and penalized a total of 22 illegal entrants since the start of 2021.

As Vietnam is tightening border security to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection from border jumpers, Quang Nam authorities have set up scores of control posts along its border with Laos, helping detect various cases of illegal entry.

The majority of border jumpers found in the area are herbalists from northern Vietnam who smuggle medicine across the Vietnam-Laos border, a local official stated.

A post along the Vietnam-Laos border in A Xan Commune, Tay Giang District, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

Vietnam has sealed its borders since March last year but it still grants entry to diplomats, foreign experts, and Vietnamese repatriates.

The country requires all arrivals from outside the country to undergo different forms of quarantine to stem COVID-19 spread.

Many border jumpers have been found trying to sneak into the nation to duck such quarantine over the past few months.

The daily spike in local cases of Vietnam has reached 109 as of Monday afternoon, beating the record of 92 patients reported on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health.

Vietnam has confirmed 442 domestic cases in 26 provinces and cities since April 27, after it had gone about a month detecting zero infections in the community.

The country has documented 3,444 local and imported COVID-19 infections as of Monday afternoon, with 2,602 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the ministrys statistics.

The Southeast Asian country has administered 851,513 out of its stock of 917,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses, the health ministry said in a report on Monday morning.

Those vaccinated are medical staff and other frontline workers.

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Read what is in the news today:

COVID-19 Updates

-- The Vietnamese Ministry of Health announced an additional 80 COVID-19 cases, including 78 community infections, on Monday morning, raising the national tally to 3,412 patients with 2,602 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths.

-- The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho denied on Sunday evening rumor that there was a local COVID-19 case, which prompted the lockdown of a local hospital.

-- The Peoples Committee of northern Bac Ninh Province has applied social distancing measures throughout Thuan Thanh District from 2:00 pm on Sunday given the complex developments of COVID-19 there over the past few days.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control announced on Sunday afternoon it was looking for passengers who traveled with patient No. 3,141 on two flights from Hanoi to Cam Ranh City in south-central Khanh Hoa Province on May 1 and from Da Lat City in Lam Dong Province to Hanoi on May 5, as well as in a van from Nha Trang City to Da Lat on May 2.

Society

-- Thatch burning is allegedly the cause of a blanket of smog over Hue City in central Thua Thien - Hue Province from Sunday morning to afternoon.

-- The central province of Quang Ngai has proposed that an airport be built on Ly Son Island, one of its popular tourism hot spots.

-- The Da Nang Department of Transport decided to cease the operations of government-backed public buses in the entire central city from Monday to stall COVID-19 infections as it recorded 48 local cases from May to the present.

-- Two more trains for the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien metro route project arrived at a port in Ho Chi Minh City from Japan on Monday morning.

Business

-- Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup announced on Sunday afternoon that it will stop manufacturing smartphones and televisions, focusing instead on producing equipment for VinFast cars.

World news

-- England will press ahead with plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions further on May 17, including allowing people to meet indoors, thanks to favourable data on infections and vaccines, Reuters cited the government as saying on Sunday.

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The Peoples Committee of Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam is seeking in-principle approval from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to build an airport on Ly Son Island, one of its popular tourism hot spots.

According to Quang Ngais proposal, the Ly Son airport project will be executed in the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model in An Hai Commune, Ly Son Island District.

The proposal envisages the airport being capable of receiving narrow-body aircraft like the Airbus A320, A321, and similar models, with a runway length of 2,400 meters.

The airdrome project is expected to handle between three million and 3.5 million passengers a year upon its completion.

At present, Ly Son Island, located about 24 kilometers from the provinces mainland, is only accessible by boat, which is an inconvenience for tourists, the province said in the proposal, asking that the airport be added to the national aviation master plan for the next ten years.

Quang Ngai authorities believed that the airport would boost socio-economic development on the island in particular and in the province in general, as well as ensuring national security.

The latest aviation infrastructure plan for the 2021-30 period, with a vision for 2050, proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) does not include an airport on Ly Son.

Ly Son covers an area of less than ten square kilometers and is one of very few volcanic islands in Vietnam.

It is well known for several scenic spots and freshly-served seafood among Vietnamese locals, as well as its production of a special variety of garlic.

The island welcomed 240,000 tourists in 2019, according to Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper.

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Two children have died allegedly from food poisoning after eating chicken congee left over from the previous night and a refrigerated can of soft drinks in Bac Lieu Province, located in Vietnams Mekong Delta region.

On Monday, Nguyen Hung Thai, deputy director of the provincial Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, and his subordinates visited and offered their condolences to the family of Dang Thanh Tam, the 31-year-old father of the two deceased children.

The delegation of officials also presented VND2 million (US$87.43) in support to Tams family, who are struggling with economic hardship, with Tam working as a fisherman and his wife as a homemaker.

Previously, their two daughters, five-year-old D.T.T. and nine-year-old D.L.T.N., ate the chicken congee that had been cooked on Saturday and left out overnight at around 9:30 am on Sunday.

They also drank a can of soft drinks from their refrigerator during a meal.

T. and N. then exhibited signs of food poisoning and were rushed to Bac Lieu General Hospital for emergency care.

The two children could not make it and died at the hospital.

Authorities have conducted an autopsy to investigate the cause of their deaths.

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Ho Chi Minh City chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong ordered on Monday that checkpoints be set up at traffic hubs and entrances to the city to stem coronavirus spread.

Chairman Phong gave the order at an urgent meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control against a backdrop of the pathogen having infected 442 people in 26 provinces and cities since April 27, including one case in Ho Chi Minh City.

The city leader said he was genuinely worried perusing the national list of local infections recorded since that date, when Vietnam detected the first domestic case after having spent about a month finding no transmission in the community.

Pandemic control is the top priority of the city at the moment, the chairman underlined, adding that all government agencies have to roll up their sleeves.

An outbreak will shatter all of our work plans, chairman Phong remarked.

He underscored that the city must stay on high alert for COVID-19, with checkpoints having to be set up at traffic hubs and entrances to it.

Health workers, police officers, and soldiers will operate these checkpoints.

Those arriving in Ho Chi Minh City from outbreak sites have to file health declarations at such checkpoints, Phong was quoted by VnExpress as saying.

Ho Chi Minh City established 62 similar checkpoints in April 2020, when Vietnam enforced extensive social distancing rules because of a serious outbreak.

The municipal administration dismantled them after three weeks, when the virus had been kept at bay.

Ho Chi Minh City is at high risk of coping with a large outbreak, Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the local Department of Health, said at Mondays meeting.

Tens of thousands of people returned to the city from their hometowns or tourist destinations after a recent public holiday, lasting from April 30 to May 3 inclusive, Binh explained.

Ho Chi Minh City is a transport hub with 60 small and major seaports so it is possibly easy for the virus to spread from ship passengers to the local community.

The risk also comes from centralized quarantine centers, foreign experts granted entry into Vietnam, crowded hospitals, and border jumpers, Binh added.

Local health authorities have prepared resources to conduct up to 40,000 coronavirus tests in a day if necessary, he said.

Were working on plans to build a 5,000-bed field hospital while practicing for a scenario where wed have to treat 30,000 coronavirus patients at a time, as required by the prime minister, the official revealed.

Vietnams health ministry reported a daily rise of 109 local infections in its unexpected report around noon on Monday. Normally it provides daily updates at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm.

The Southeast Asian country has documented 3,444 local and imported COVID-19 infections as of Monday afternoon, according to the ministrys statistics.

Recoveries have hit 2,602 while virus-related deaths have remained at 35 for months.

The current bout is much more serious because patients have been found catching the highly contagious double-mutant Indian variant, health experts said.

The Southeast Asian country has administered 851,513 out of its stock of 917,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses, the health ministry said in a report on Monday morning.

Those vaccinated were medical staff and other frontline workers.

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Thatch burning is allegedly the cause of a blanket of smog over Hue City in Vietnam's Thua Thien - Hue Province from Sunday morning to afternoon.

The haze appeared around 10:00 am and lingered through 3:00 pm on the same day.

Smoke covered most of the downtown area and reached the height of the Vincom shopping mall, the tallest building in the city, which is the capital of the central province.

Its intensity did not decrease even at noon.

Many locals complained that the blanket of smog was accompanied by a burning smell, allegedly caused by thatch burning.

The weather is hot and the pungent smell of straw burning is very unpleasant, said Dinh Vinh, a local man in An Cuu Ward.

It is not clear if this smoke poses any danger to health.

A woman rides a motorbike past a hill with the Vincom shopping mall, the tallest building in Hue City, seen in a haze afar in Thua Thien - Hue Province, Vietnam, May 9, 2021. Photo: Minh An / Tuoi Tre

The smog apparently can be traced back to the paddy fields where farmers were burning piles of straw left from their last crop near Thuy Thanh Commune in Huong Thuy Town, about three kilometers from Hue Citys center.

Hue chairman Hoang Hai Minh said he would request subordinate functional forces to verify and handle the issue.

People ride motorbikes in a haze in Hue City, Thua Thien - Hue Province, Vietnam, May 9, 2021. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

Earlier, Thua Thien - Hue chairman Phan Ngoc Tho issued an order to strengthen measures to limit straw burning after rice harvest in the province.

Accordingly, grassroots authorities are requested to advise people to apply machines in the collection and transportation of straw and use bio-products to process post-harvest straw into organic fertilizer for farming, contributing to reducing environmental pollution.

At the same time, the functional forces must regularly inspect and handle cases of burning straw on fields and roads.

The order also stated that the chairs of the Peoples Committees at all levels must be responsible for consequences left by peoples burning straw after harvest.

A farmer burns straw in the paddy field bordering Hue City and Huong Thuy Town in Thua Thien - Hue Province, Vietnam, May 9, 2021. Photo: Minh An / Tuoi Tre

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Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts will host and executive produce Turning the Tables With Robin Roberts, a four-part interview series with female celebrities on Disney+.

Guests include Debbie Allen, Sofia Carson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenna Dewan, Sheila E., Melissa Etheridge, Mickey Guyton, Betsey Johnson, Billie Jean King, Tig Notaro, Raven-Symone and Josie Totah.

This project is very personal to me, and Im proud to bring it to Disney+, said Roberts. The guests weve assembled are an amazing group of women who have all achieved great success in their various careers. Although they represent different age groups and backgrounds, they were all willing to open up and share their unique stories with honesty and humour. I welcome viewers to come along with me on this journey as we learn about the importance of expressing vulnerability and connecting with others.

LeBron James will serve as an executive producer on the series with his media conglomerate, The SpringHill Company. In addition to Roberts and James, the assembled team of executive producers is comprised of women, BIPOC and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In each episode, Roberts sits down with three famous women who share experiences that are both personal and moving. As the shows title suggests, the guests often turn the tables and interview Roberts and each other in heartfelt and often humorous conversations that showcase authenticity and vulnerability.

These conversations delve deeper and are more candid than traditional interviews. In one episode, Roberts and her guests explore their identity, both personally and professionally, and the insecurities theyve faced in their careers. Other segments feature topics such as overcoming both health and emotional issues and experiences that have led them toward the freedom to live their own truth.

During Roberts tenure as co-anchor of Good Morning America, the broadcast has won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Morning Program and the 2017 Peoples Choice Award for Favourite Daytime TV Hosting Team. She has been honoured with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, as well as the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and was named one of Glamours Women of the Year. Roberts founded her own production company, Rockn Robin Productions, which creates original broadcast and digital programming for ABC and other networks, ranging from informational shows and documentaries to live special events.

Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts is produced by Rockn Robin Productions and The SpringHill Company. In addition to Roberts and James, executive producers are John R. Green and Reni Calister from Rockn Robin Productions and Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson and Philip Byron from The SpringHill Company, with Kadine Anckle as showrunner.

Friday, 30 July on Disney+.

Related
Filming of US dance show Come Dance with Me begins in Melbourne next week and tickets are available for a studio audience.

Shot for US television, the series follow 12 young dancers from the US and the inspirational adults theyve chosen for their TV dance partners as they compete for $100,000.

The show will feature celebrity judges and choreographers flown into Australia for the production. Jenna Dewan (Step Up, World of Dance) is so far named as one of its judges.

The show will be produced by CBS Studios and 3 Ball Productions with Eddie McGuires Melbourne-based JAM TV assisting in production.

Tickets are free but all children must be over 12 years of age and accompanied by an adult.

Filming takes place from Wednesday May 19  Friday June 25.

You can register your interest here.

Related
Dateline is in Georgia this week to meet Bishop Bryan who used to be a psychologist, but now is an exorcist.

America is on its knees thanks to the global pandemic, and a year marred by division and uncertainty. Dateline investigates why so many are now turning to religion and seeking solace in the spiritual world.

9:30pm Tuesday on SBS.

Related
Giuliana Rancic is stepping down as host of E!s red carpet coverage after almost two decades.

After 20 fabulous years hosting E!s red carpet, I have decided to step out of my red carpet heels into a new pair of shoes, she wrote on social media.

Her announcement comes three months after co-host Ryan Seacrest, exited E!s Live From The Red Carpet after almost 14 years.

But Rancic has a deal with E! parent NBCUniversal.

One of my passions is great storytelling and I am thrilled to announce a new development deal with E!s parent company NBCUniversal where I will be producing and bringing stories to life, she wrote.

While we will all miss watching Giuliana bring her iconic interview style, infectious humor and keen sense of fashion to E!s red carpet, we are excited to announce a development deal across NBCUniversal where she will bring her passion projects to life, E! said in a statement. We look forward to collaborating with Giuliana in the future and we will always be her biggest fans  on and off the carpet. 

Rancic began her career at E! as a correspondent and became a co-host of E! News in 2005.

She visited Australia in 2015 to host the ASTRA Awards.

Source: Deadline

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News Corp has quashed media talk of them getting into Free to Air television anytime soon.

News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller told the Australian Financial Review,Ive been on record in the past about that statement, so Im not going to give the rumours any momentum and there have been no meetings by myself or directors with Seven.

It follows a reports that Lachlan Murdoch was recently spotted outside Sevens Martin Place offices fuelling speculation about a deal in the pipeline.

Miller also confirmed News Corp has no plans to get rid of our stake in Foxtel.

Weve had no approaches and weve made no approaches, he said.

As part of News Corp third quarter results Foxtels total closing paid subscribers were 3.541 million, a 21% increase compared to the prior year, primarily due to the launch of Binge and the growth in Kayo subscribers, partially offset by lower residential and commercial broadcast subscribers.

1.946 million of the total closing subscribers were residential and commercial broadcast subscribers, and the remaining 1.595 million consisted of Kayo, Binge and Foxtel Now subscribers.

As of March 31, 2021, there were 914,000 Kayo subscribers (851,000 paying), compared to 444,000 subscribers (408,000 paying) in the prior year.

Binge, which launched in May 2020, had 679,000 subscribers (516,000 paying) as of March 31, 2021.

As of March 31, 2021, there were 238,000 Foxtel Now subscribers (228,000 paying), compared to 338,000 subscribers (317,000 paying) in the prior year.

Additional source: Mediaweek

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Seven News has confirmed its Spotlight special on Craig McLachlan will air on Sunday night at 7pm.

Produced by Mark Llewellyn, this will comprise video diaries kept by McLachlan and exclusive interviews.

McLachlan was cleared of sexual assault charges but still has a defamation case against the ABC and Sydney Morning Herald / The Age. For Spotlight he will get to tell his side of the story.

It is likely different versions may screen in different states due to legal proceedings.

A major @7NewsSpotlight documentary months in the making. New evidence. New eyewitnesses. Never-before-seen footage. Explosive revelations. 7NEWS Spotlight: Horror Show. Premieres Sunday, May 16 at 7.00pm on Channel 7 and @7plus. pic.twitter.com/y3TJ6Z0LoX  Channel 7 (@Channel7) May 9, 2021

Back before the allegations, the life of once-acclaimed actor Craig McLachlan and his long-time partner, Vanessa Scammell, was perfect and their future looked bright.

Overnight, that all changed.

From mega-star to alleged monster, in January 2018 press reports put McLachlan in the frame of multiple sexual harassment allegations against female theatre actors.

Soon after McLachlan sued for defamation, a case thats still to be heard. He was charged and would face trial on 13 serious indecent assault and common law assault offenses against four women on the set of The Rocky Horror Show in 2014.

The public vilification was instant and unforgiving against the backdrop of Harvey Weinstein and the international #MeToo movement.

McLachlans career was dead: he was stood down from The Rocky Horror Show and The Doctor Blake Mysteries and hasnt been able to land a job since.

Just before Christmas last year, he was acquitted of all crimes, but McLachlans fight to clear his name is far from over.

In this confronting and emotionally-charged 7NEWS Spotlight exclusive documentary, McLachlan opens up for the first time about the case which has dominated the past three-and-a-half years of his life.

Fearful even of trips to the local supermarket, McLachlan self-exiled to a shipping container on a remote property to escape the public glare. He reveals at the height of his despair being admitted to a mental health facility and a failed suicide attempt.

Nothing if off limits as he details his stratospheric fall and the depression that ultimately saw him hit rock bottom, featuring hours of never-before-seen, unfiltered confessional videos shot by McLachlan over the course of his ordeal.

Above all, this is a love story between McLachlan and his leading lady, Vanessa Scammell: how their relationship survived allegations that would have destroyed most couples.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36

Related
ABCs Annah Fromberg and The Mercurys Amber Wilson were jointly named Journalist of the Year at the MEAAs Tasmanian Media Awards on the weekend.

Hobart-based Fromberg was also awarded for Public Service Journalism for her investigation into a controversial program for troubled kids.

The Keith Welsh Award For Outstanding Contribution To Journalism went to veteran camera operators David Brill and Tony King.

David Brill spent decades travelling the world, covering most of the major international conflicts of the past 50 years  the fall of Saigon, the fall of the Berlin Wall and on assignment in Afghanistan, the Balkans and South America. David worked as a video journalist for SBS Dateline from 2006-2016 and continues to work with ABC journalists and at UTas. In a career spanning five decades Tony King has earned the reputation as Tasmanias most dependable news cameraman  the man in the right place, at the right time, getting the angles that guarantee the best coverage of any breaking event.

Winners in bold:

Journalist Of The Year

Emily Baker, ABC, Body of work

Annah Fromberg, ABC News online and ABC TV News, Body of work

Amber Wilson, The Mercury, Body of work

Best News Story

Adam Holmes, The Advocate and The Examiner, Bridget Archers cashless welfare dilemma

Sarah Maunder, SBS News online and SBS radio, Young people in Tasmania are struggling more than ever to find work

Amber Wilson, The Mercury, Hush, Hush

Arts Reporting

Lachlan Bennett, The Advocate, Trading in Terror / performers of the Pandemic

Andy Cunningham, ABC TV and ABC online, Pop-Up Pianist

Tim Martain, TasWeekend, Where did you come from?

Science, Technology & Environment

Andrew Bain, COSMOS, Good Krill Hunting

Alexandra Humphries, ABC 7pm bulletin and ABC online, Body of work

Tim Martain, TasWeekend, River and Ocean

Sports Coverage

James Bresneham, The Sunday Tasmanian, Mercury online, Herald-Sun, Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser, NT News and TasWeekend, Body of work

Brent Costelloe, WIN News, Body of work

Chris Rowbottom, ABC News and online,Body of work

Health Reporting

Emily Baker, ABC, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Woes

Alison Branley, ABC TV and online, Blood Money

Tim Martain, TasWeekend, Lets talk about death

Public Service Journalism

Annah Fromberg, ABC News and online, Brahminy Investigation

Adam Holmes, The Examiner and The Sunday Examiner, Body of Work

Sam Ikin, Butterfly Foundation website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major podcast applications, The Butterfly Podcast

Excellence in Legal Reporting

Loretta Lohberger, ABC News, Tasmanian child abuse claims

Amber Wilson, The Mercury, Monster Hid in Plain Sight

Piia Wirsu, ABC Radio and online, Inside justice and corrections

Feature, Documentary or Current Affairs

James Boyce, Tasmanian Inquirer, Tasmanian Poker Machine Bill Feature

Annah Fromberg, ABC TV and online, Brahminy Investigation

Meg Powell, The Advocate and The Examiner, Solid rocks, sacred ground: behind Tasmanias worst kept secret

Best New Journalist

Alexandra Alvaro, ABC News Tasmania 7PM bulletin, ABC News online and ABC Radio, Body of work

Erin Cooper, ABC News online, ABC News Tasmania 7PM bulletin and ABC News, Body of work

Jackson Worthington, The Examiner, Body of work

Photo: ABC

Related
China's consumer products expo presents recovery opportunities by connecting markets

Xinhua) 08:12, May 10, 2021

Staff do preparation work at the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

"China's recovery from the pandemic gives hope to the world, Hainan's International Consumer Products Expo is a practical step to bring such hope to other countries," said Xiong Yu, a professor at the Britain-based Surrey Business School of the University of Surrey.

HAIKOU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- In recent days, thousands of consumers and business persons in Haikou, capital of China's southernmost Hainan province, have witnessed the economic vitality at the first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE).

The expo running from May 7 to May 10 has attracted 648 foreign enterprises showcasing over 1,300 brands in Haikou, and is expected to be the largest consumer goods expo in the Asia-Pacific region.

Striving for post-pandemic recovery, multinational giants came to the expo to debut their new products and showcase their top-notch goods, and overseas small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also flocked here to observe the booming Chinese market.

A visitor smells a bottle of perfume during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 8, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhou Jiayi)

Fabrice Megarbane, L'Oreal's president for North Asia Zone and chief executive officer (CEO) of L'Oreal China, told Xinhua that with the prevention and control measures of COVID-19 pandemic entering a regular basis, China continues to open up to the world with a positive and enterprising attitude, setting an example for other countries.

Expressing his belief that China's business environment will be more friendly as the opening up measures will continue to deepen, Megarbane said by connecting China's domestic and international markets, multinational enterprises have the opportunity to obtain a wider range of resources.

U.S. luxury fashion company Tapestry thinks alike. Yann Bozec, president of Tapestry Asia Pacific, said at the scene, "the expo is not only an innovative platform bringing together high-quality products and services from all over the world, but also an important opportunity to showcase our brand concepts, expand market channels and innovate consumer trends."

"The constant upgrading of Chinese consumer demand and rising standards has brought new trends and opportunities to the market, becoming a powerful driving force for the growth of the global market," Bozec said.

Photo taken on May 8, 2021 shows different kinds of alcoholic drinks on display during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

As the pandemic continues to batter world economy, the first trade fair in China's biggest free trade port has not only attracted global giants, but also groups of foreign SMEs.

Showing Xinhua reporters around the Irish pavilion, Gareth Hargadon, head of Economic Section with the Irish Embassy in China, proudly introduced products ranging from food and beverage to animal nutrition, luxury home wares and babycare products, calling them unique offerings of Ireland.

Though Ireland is a small country, its brands are active participants of physical expos in China, such as last year's China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing and China International Import Expo in Shanghai, he noted.

"I think the more these trade fairs happen, the more opportunities for Irish companies to promote their products, because China is a massive market ... There is a big opportunity for us here," Hargadon said.

Lee Junhyung, CEO of Sunwah-Fonwin Korea Inc, said Korean companies came here with "high expectations" and many of them had achieved results beyond expectations on the first day of the expo.

"The (South) Korean companies need this kind of expo to enter the Chinese market and to find buyers," he said.

Suppara Seakacharn, commercial consul with Thai Consulate-General in Guangzhou, told Xinhua that many Thai companies interested in joining the CICPE failed to come to China due to the pandemic, so the commercial section offered those companies online channels to tap into the Chinese market.

Photo taken on May 8, 2021 shows a fashion booth during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Jiayi)

In the opinion of Paolo Bazzoni, chairman of China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC), the expo is a very important message from China, which is significant for Italy.

Noting that China is unlike many places of the world that forbid travels, Bazzoni said the CICC "will facilitate all the exhibitions in China, in order to attract our company to follow."

"I think China has a role to demonstrate to the world that is possible to recover, it's possible to continue and grow," he said.

He said the open free trade and offshore duty-free policy and new development paradigm of "dual circulation" have given Hainan unprecedented advantages, pushing the province to a leading place in the world in terms of business growth.

A report jointly released recently by KPMG China and The Moodie Davitt found that the Hainan free trade port will likely become the world's biggest duty-free market in the near term if it continues on its current growth curve.

By the end of 2020, offshore duty-free business in Hainan was worth approximately 5 billion U.S. dollars, boosted by an enhanced shopping policy, said the report.

Promoting trade and connecting world markets not only benefit China, but also bring recovery hope and inject impetus to the world economy.

People walk into the venue of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021.(Xinhua/Ding Hongfa)

"China's recovery from the pandemic gives hope to the world, Hainan's International Consumer Products Expo is a practical step to bring such hope to other countries," said Xiong Yu, a professor at the Britain-based Surrey Business School of the University of Surrey.

Jack Chan, chairman of services company EY China, said the CICPE provides a vast stage for quality goods from across the world, which will definitely promote the global supply of high-end consumer goods and services.

Besides driving forward consumption, the expo can also accelerate the development of modern service industry in sectors like finance, exhibition, freight and logistics, Chan said.

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)
An American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER. William Perugini/shutterstock

American Airlines is facing numerous setbacks in South America.

Rising COVID-19 cases in Chile, Brazil, and Peru forced the airline to cut flights in April.

Civil unrest and protests in Colombia are now further threatening success in the region.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

American Airlines' expansion strategy in South America is experiencing a seemingly never-ending stream of hurdles.

Tourism-dependent Latin America was among the first regions to welcome US tourists during the coronavirus pandemic, and American was standing ready to fly eager travelers. Earlier in the year, the airline had announced new flights to cities in Chile, Colombia, and Brazil in a bid to attract leisure flyers as it waited for business travel to recover.

But while the continent appeared to be welcoming at first, doing business in South America quickly proved problematic.

Flights to Santiago, Chile, were among the first to be impacted when the country closed its borders for the month of April. American had planned to launch a new non-stop route from New York using one of its largest aircraft, the Boeing 777-200, on May 7.

Chile appeared promising when it opened to Americans in November 2020. But a spike in COVID-19 cases following the country's summer season prompted the government to once again close its borders to tourists.

The state of emergency in the country planned for the month of April has now been extended through June, according to the US Embassy in Chile. American, as a result, pushed back the launch of its inaugural New York-Santiago flight to July 2; though, Chile may extend its border closure depending on conditions in the country.

Spiking COVID-19 cases were also the reasoning for flight reductions to Brazil and Peru, the airline confirmed to Insider's Brittany Chang in April. Both countries still allow US citizens to enter despite the rise in cases, according to the US Embassies in Brazil and Peru.

In Colombia, however, American faces a new challenge: civil unrest. Protests have gripped the country with some turning violent and taking the lives of at least 26 people, according to ABC News. The Washington Post Editorial Board is also predicting that Colombia's levels of unrest could spread to regional countries, like Peru.

Story continues

American, in response, has issued a travel alert for the Colombian city of Cali, where the protests have been the most extreme, allowing travelers to change their flight to any day between May 4 and May 18.

The protests could discourage future travelers from booking trips to Colombia or encourage flyers with existing bookings to change away from Colombia at a time when American is deploying some of its largest aircraft to the country.

Rebuilding a lost South American network at the wrong time

American's desire to grow in South American comes as the airline seeks to rebuild following the loss of a partner in LATAM Airlines prior to the pandemic.

Delta Air Lines spent $1.9 billion in 2019 for a 20 percent stake in LATAM, significantly growing its presence in South America. The move saw LATAM drop American and the Oneworld airline alliance to join Delta and the SkyTeam airline alliance, leaving American to rebuild in a historically profitable region.

"Latin America has, for roughly 30 years now, been one of American's international beachhead," Henry Harteveldt, travel analyst and cofounder of Atmosphere Research Group, told Insider. "In fact, it's been American's most successful region outside of the US."

With LATAM gone, American was left with Brazil's GOL Linhas Aereas, a limited partner in the region. But GOL didn't have the reach of the larger airlines that were now aligned with American's competitors.

Delta bought a new partner in LATAM Airlines alongside its existing partner in Aerolineas Argentinas while United had Avianca and Copa Airlines. To regrow its South American network, American chose to launch new routes from the US with a domestic partner, JetBlue Airways.

American launched its routes to Colombia, Brazil, and Chile in a partnership with JetBlue dubbed the "Northeast Alliance." For American, the partnership provides access to customers across JetBlue's network that can connect onto the new routes.

"It's understandable that American would be eager to start rebuilding its network in Latin America because it is so strategically important to the airline right now," Harteveldt said.

Ceding Europe to United and Delta, for now

South America isn't totally lost for American as the airline still operates around 30 daily flights to cities across the continent. Cirium data also shows a steady stream of cargo-only flights operating to Santiago from Miami in 2021, which Harteveldt says helps stem the losses.

But while American focuses on South America, its competitors are locked in on the reopening European continent. United and Delta were both quick to resume flights to European countries open to Americans like Greece and Iceland while also starting new routes to Croatia.

"I think American is looking at this and saying, 'we're going to be very careful about which routes we pick and which battles want to fight,'" Harteveldt said, thinking back to 2018 when American launched Iceland flights alongside Icelandair now-defunct Wow Air with flights to Dallas. But the airline hasn't completely ignored Europe, nor a gradually reopening Middle East.

A new route between New York and Athens, Greece, is scheduled to launch on June 2 and existing routes to Athens from Chicago and Philadelphia will resume in June and August, respectively. The airline also just launched a new route between New York and Tel Aviv, Israel, with plans for another route to Israel from Miami, which may pay off as the Middle Eastern country starts to accept vaccinated tour groups.

American may also be waiting for the European Union to open its doors to US citizens, Harteveldt says, so the airline can fly more passengers on its traditional routes to cities like Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; and Rome, Italy.

But success in South America remains challenging as new and unexpected roadblocks appear that are outside of the airline's control.

"It's not American's fault, for example, that you had a strong surge of virus in a particular country, Harteveldt said. "It's not American's fault that travel restrictions are in place when American may have thought that some of these restrictions would have been eased or removed."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Telegraph

Buckingham Palace has refused to back the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a row with the BBC over whether the couple sought the Queens permission to name their daughter Lilibet. Lawyers instructed by Harry and Meghan said it was false and defamatory for the BBC to suggest the couple did not ask Her Majesty if they could use her highly personal pet name for their second child. The Duke and Duchess claimed they would not have used the name if the Queen had not been supportive of their choice. B
PokerStars LIVE at the Hippodrome Set For Grand Reopening

May 10 2021 Matthew Pitt

PokerStars LIVE at the Hippodrome is set for a grand reopening on May 17. Cash games will run around the clock in the newly refurbished poker room, with tournaments resuming during the first week after the lifting of lockdown restrictions.

Live poker players have been left twiddling their thumbs for more than a year following the governments COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. It has been a tough time for everyone, but thanks, in part, to the coronavirus vaccines, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

PokerStars LIVE at The Hippodrome has been busy during the enforced lockdown. The poker rooms have undergone a significant transformation so much so that they are barely recognisable from before The Hippodrome bolted its doors shut. Everything is now PokerStars branded, and we have to say it looks incredible.

Kerryjane Cragie is the Head of Poker at The Hippodrome Casino. Cragie and her team love poker and cannot wait for May 17 to roll around so they can welcome players back to the revamped venue.

I cant tell you how much we are looking forward to throwing open the doors, hearing the riffling of chips and the exciting sounds of a busy poker room. We have been gearing up for three months now with all the refurbishments and have had the team back on site for weeks, practising, training and getting it all in order.

Those refurbishments Cragie alluded to are extensive. What can players heading to PokerStars LIVE at The Hippodrome expect?

There are actually four poker rooms, a bar, an outdoor smoking area, and even the loos are on brand! The whole space has been reimagined and refurbished, and the look and feel are amazing. Im thrilled with how its all turned out. Now that we took over the whole third floor, we even have direct access with our own entrance from Leicester Square straight to the poker floor and access to our fabulous roof terraces above and to the rest of the Hippodrome casino.

The poker floor itself has been totally redecorated in true PokerStars style. New window treatments, graphics on the walls and lightboxes to give a little zing. TVs have been added to all rooms, there is a dedicated cash desk and registration point, and the most comfortable chairs I think youll find anywhere. It is stunning and is a great place to play poker.

The consensus on social media is that British poker players cannot wait to return to the live poker world and regain some normality in their lives. Cragies team posted on Facebook that the plan is to run cash games around the clock from the very second they are permitted to do so. Are they really opening 24-7?

We are! And we will be building strongly as players return. Our poker tables will be open from one second past midnight on May 17th. Our initial hours will be Monday to Thursday midday to 8am, with 24 hours opening Fridays through to Monday morning. And then as soon as the demand is there, we will stay open 24hrs, seven days a week.

We will be offering a great range of stakes (and steaks from Heliot Steak House, which are delicious). 1/2 NLH is the most popular, with 2/5 NLH a daily feature. We have had some great action on our 1/2/5 PLO tables and will offer higher stakes on demand.

It is not only cash games returning to PokerStars LIVE at The Hippodrome because a 40,000 guaranteed tournament is scheduled for the first weekend back. The buy-in is 275 in total, starting chips are 25,000 with 30-minute levels. The plan is for 14 levels on each of the three starting flights, with four levels of late entry, and six levels of re-entry.

Date Time (BST) Tournament Fri 21 May 12:00 p.m. Day 1A Sat 22 May 12:00 p.m. Day 1B Sun 23 May 10:00 a.m. Day 1C Turbo flight 2:00 p.m. Day 2

PokerStars LIVE at The Hippodrome

There are some restrictions in place, as you would expect. All tables are played seven-handed with protective screens in place. This is because social distancing measures are still in place. Face masks must be worn at all times, too. There is the obvious issue of available tables, so Cragie highly recommends booking your seat in advance because this tournament will prove extremely popular.

Seating is limited, so pre-registration is recommended, available from Tuesday 18th or get down early on the day. It is the first tournament in over a year, so we are expecting a sell-out. Full details are on our Facebook and Twitter pages in addition to our website.

What if you are on the fence about making the trip to the new-look Hippodrome for live poker? Should you head there on opening day or in the coming weeks?

You have got to see it to believe it!  Come and get a feel of the new poker floor and see for yourself. We will answer any questions and do anything we can to make it the best experience for each individual. Our poker rooms were a great success with a fabulous atmosphere before, and we have made them far better. We have also concentrated on dealer training, safe play and great poker, and now we have awesome surroundings to make it all come together.

We have all missed live poker, me included. I am so happy to see our PokerStars Live rooms opening up again. And I personally invite everyone to get back to the tables and start enjoying what you love, in a place that does what it can to love you back, and Im happy to meet with anyone who has questions or suggestions.
Every University of North Georgia (UNG) graduate has a story to tell.

After overcoming several obstacles to get into and stay in college, Laura Vinson became the first student from the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen (REACH) Georgia scholarship program to earn her degree.

After studying multiple concentrations of music on UNG's Dahlonega Campus and student-teaching, Camden Pruitt was the first to receive UNG's new Bachelor of Music degree.

And Caroline Wible was among the 13 graduates accepting the first healthcare services and informatics administration degree.

These graduates were among the more than 1,100 who participated in the spring 2021 commencement ceremonies May 8-9 at the Convocation Center on UNG's Dahlonega Campus. The ceremonies resembled a mix of traditional elements and socially distant protocols. Additionally, some 54 cadets commissioned into military service in individual ceremonies held May 5-7.

Emotions were palpable during all 13 ceremonies over two days as families were escorted into a VIP box to watch their graduate walk across the stage to accept their diploma folder.

Vinson's sister was front and center to see her youngest sibling graduate. Vinson, who received her bachelor's degree in sociology, said her graduation is not her achievement alone. It is for her, her family, her supporters, and the REACH organization.

"It's so overwhelming. I have had so many people supporting me, and it's finally happened," said the 22-year-old from Clayton, Georgia. "We are achieving a long-standing goal that we have been trying to reach. I'm doing it for the REACH team and every REACH scholar who is behind me. I am showing them it is possible."

Pruitt knew a college education was possible, but thanks to the new Bachelor of Music degree, the 23-year-old from Woodstock, Georgia, is skilled in teaching music as well as performing. The new degree played a role in her acceptance into a graduate school program at North Dakota State University.

"They were excited to hear I was the first class graduating with the Bachelor of Music degree," Pruitt said. "It led them to wanting me in their program."

Many professional medical offices and hospitals are eagerly waiting for graduates of the healthcare informatics degree to enter the workforce.

"There is a huge need for these graduates because doctor's offices, clinics, medical schools, and hospitals need their own informatics specialists who can install and maintain the new health information management programs being developed regularly," said Amy Brown, administrative assistant with the Department of Interdisciplinary Healthcare. "With their degrees, our students can serve as health information managers and keep the clinical, operational and administrative departments connected."

Wible, who works part-time at a dentist office, said her employer has offered her a full-time position, which will allow her to help update the dental software system and ensure all data is saved and stored properly.

"This new degree of mine will let the professional medical workers such as doctors, nurses and dentists focus on the patients while I focus on the data," she said.
U.S. military planners are looking for options to base forces and equipment in Central Asia and the Middle East after American and allied troops leave Afghanistan in the coming months, Wall Street Journal reported.

With withdrawal preparations ramping up, U.S. military commanders want bases for troops, drones, bombers and artillery to shore up the Afghan government, keep the Taliban insurgency in check and monitor other extremists. Options being assessed range from nearby countries to more distant Arab Gulf emirates and Navy ships at sea, U.S. government and military officials said.

Preferable, according to some military and Biden administration officials, would be Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which border Afghanistan and would allow for quick access. But Russias large military footprint in the region, Chinas growing one and tensions between them and Washington complicate plans for Central Asian bases, the officials said.

The drive to work looks like it will be a little bit longer for now, one official said.

No formal requests for bases in Central Asia have been made to date, according to U.S. officials, with the Pentagon still weighing the pros and cons. The State Department and White House are also involved in the decision.

The U.S. had maintained a base in Uzbekistan until it pulled out in 2005. The Karshi-Khanabad base shown in 2002.

The U.S. maintained two bases in Central Asia, one each in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, which were used for Afghanistan operations. But it decamped from Uzbekistan in 2005 and from Kyrgyzstan nearly a decade later.
Today marks the 98th birthday anniversary of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, who served as the President of the Republic in 1993-2003.

Heydar Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923 in Nakhchivan city of Azerbaijan. In 1939, after graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical School, he entered the Architecture Department of the Industrial Institute of Azerbaijan (now the State Oil Academy of Azerbaijan), but the World War 2 impeded the completion of his education.

Since 1941, Heydar Aliyev headed a department at the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Nakhchivan, and in 1944, was sent to work at state security bodies. He received special education in the cities of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and Moscow. In 1957 he graduated from the History Department of the Azerbaijan State University. Having worked for twenty five years at state security bodies, Heydar Aliyev served as the deputy chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR since 1964, and from 1967, held the office of chairman of the committee, and rose to the rank of a major general.

Elected as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan at the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in July 1969, Heydar Aliyev became the head of the republic.

Elected as a candidate to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union's Communist Party in 1976, and a member of the Political Bureau in 1982, Heydar Aliyev was appointed the first deputy chairman of the USSR's Council of Ministers. While on this position, Heydar Aliyev headed the most significant areas of the USSR's economic, social and cultural lives.

For twenty years, Heydar Aliyev was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, and for five years, worked as a first deputy chairman of the USSR's Council of Ministers.

In October 1987, as a sign of protest against the policy pursued by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union's Communist Party and, personally, by Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, Heydar Aliyev resigned from his post.

In connection with the tragedy committed on January 20, 1990 in Baku by the Soviet troops, Heydar Aliyev, appearing the next day at the Representative Office of Azerbaijan in Moscow with a statement, demanded that the organizers and executors of the crime committed against the people of Azerbaijan be punished. As a sign of protest against the hypocritical policy of the USSR leadership towards the critical conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, in July 1991, he left the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

After returning to Azerbaijan in July 1990, Heydar Aliyev first lived in Baku, then moved to Nakhchivan, and the same year was elected a deputy to the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan. In 1991-1993, he held the post of chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1992, at the constituent congress of the New Azerbaijan Party in Nakhchivan, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the Party.

In May-June 1993, when, as a result of a crisis in the government, the country was on the verge of a civil war and faced the peril of losing independence, the people of Azerbaijan demanded to bring Heydar Aliyev to power, and the then leaders of Azerbaijan were obliged to officially invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku.

On June 15, 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan, and on June 24, by a resolution of the National Assembly, he proceeded to fulfilling the authorities of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On October 3, 1993, as a result of the nationwide vote, Heydar Aliyev was elected president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

At the election held on October 11, 1998, he was re-elected president of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev, giving his consent to be nominated as a candidate at the 15 October 2003 presidential election, relinquished to run at the election due to health problems.

On December 12, 2003, national leader of the Azerbaijani people, President Heydar Aliyev passed away in the Cleveland hospital in the US, where he had been undergoing medical treatment, and on December 15, was buried at the Alley of Honor in Baku.

This year, for the first time in the modern history of independence, Azerbaijan pays tribute to the bright memory of the great leader Heydar Aliyev amid the restoration of the country's territorial integrity. The glorious Victory of Azerbaijan in the 44-day Patriotic War began precisely with the activities to strengthen the army, develop the economy, with large-scale work to strengthen statehood, creative work, which began with the period when the national leader returned to the leadership of the country. Liberation under the leadership of the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev from the occupation of Azerbaijani lands during the 44-day Patriotic War is a glorious page in the centuries-old Azerbaijani history. This Victory is a triumph of the ideals of independent statehood, to which the great leader Heydar Aliyev strove.
Turkey is pursuing its decisive stance and working toward its strategic goal, European Union membership, despite being subjected to double standards and obstructions by the bloc and member countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, marking Europe Day.

He noted that having left behind a tumultuous year, marked by disagreements and conflicts, Brussels and Ankara have recently been approaching a positive agenda and eyeing further cooperation in several areas.

It is obvious that the bloc cannot continue its presence in a strong manner without the contribution and support of our country," Daily Sabah cited Erdogan as saying.

He pointed out in a written statement that the EU needs a new institutional structure, vision and comprehensive approach, as well as a review of its decision-making mechanism.

Some member countries carrying their bilateral issues with Turkey to the corridors of the EU, have held Turkey-EU relations captive, (and) weakened the blocs fighting capacity against global threats, he said.

The president highlighted that the EU faces several challenges including the migration crisis, anti-Islam sentiment, xenophobia, financial and economic fragilities, the departure of the United Kingdom from the bloc, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Faruk Kaymakc, the deputy foreign minister and director for EU affairs, also shared a message on the occasion of Europe Day. As of 1999, after Turkey was officially declared a candidate for the EU, we started to celebrate May 9 Europe Day in our country. We believe our future is common. We believe that the EU can be stronger and become a global actor together with a strong Turkey, he stated.

Kaymakc added that Ankara and Brussels share a common history, geography, trade, sports, art and culture.

Turkey has the longest history with the union and the longest negotiation process. The country signed an association agreement with the EU's predecessor in 1964, the European Economic Community (EEC), which is usually regarded as a first step to eventually becoming a candidate. Applying for official candidacy in 1987, Turkey had to wait until 1999 to be granted the status of a candidate country. For the start of the negotiations, however, Turkey had to wait another six years, until 2005, a uniquely long process compared with other candidates.

Kaymakc stressed the recent visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel to Ankara has manifested the bloc's interest in Turkey. "Turkey wants to proceed to the positive agenda after the EU summit in June 2021, if not earlier than that date. By positive agenda, we refer to the updated March 18, 2016 refugee deal with them," he noted.

The EU leaders on their visit last month said the bloc is ready to support a concrete and positive agenda with Turkey, especially in the areas of economic cooperation and migration.

"Turkey wants to proceed to the positive agenda after the EU summit in June 2021, if not earlier than that date. By positive agenda, we refer to the updated March 18, 2016 refugee deal with them," he noted.

Turkey-EU relations are marked by disputes on several issues, including tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's role in Syria, the migrant crisis and the stalemate in Turkey's accession process to the bloc. During a meeting in Brussels on Dec. 10, EU leaders decided to draw up a list of Turkish targets to sanction.

But since then, the rhetoric on all sides has mellowed dramatically as Turkey and the bloc voiced their intent to "turn a new page." Turkey has recently reiterated that it is part of the bloc and sees its future in the EU, underlining that it will continue efforts toward full EU membership.
Around five million people have taken part in the nationwide Immortal Regiment march online, including some 2.5 million this year, the press service of the Immortal Regiment national social patriotic movement said on Sunday.

"We have stopped receiving applications for the participation in the Immortal Regiment online march. Around 2.5 new applications were added to the last years more than 2.5 million participants," it said.

Online marches started in the Russian regions at 15:00 local time. According to the organizers, applications filed before 10:00 a.m. on May 7 and approved by moderators were broadcast on Victory Day, May 9. "The duration of the march differs in different regions, depending on the number of applications," TASS cited the press service as saying.

In Moscow, the online march was broadcast on around 300 urban screens in Moscow, as well as on the Ostankino TV Tower, in metro and in a number of shopping malls. In regions, it was broadcast on local television.

Applications filed on May 7 and 8 will be broadcast on the marchs online resources on May 10, and applications lodged on May 9 could be seen on May 11.

It is planned to hold an Immortal Regiment march in a traditional offline format on June 24, 2021, the day when the first Victory Parade took place in Moscow 76 years ago.
Iran confirmed publicly for the first time on Monday that it is in talks with its regional arch rival Saudi Arabia, saying it would do what it could to resolve issues between them.

"De-escalation of tensions between the two Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf region is in the interest of both nations and the region," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a televised weekly news conference.

Iran was waiting for the outcome of the talks, he said: "We welcome resolving of the issues that have existed between the two countries... We will use our best efforts in this regard."

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a rivalry that has played out in proxy conflicts across the region, from Yemen to Syria to Iraq. The two countries cut diplomatic ties in 2016. Middle East officials and sources said last month that they had held two rounds of talks, Reurters recalls.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during his visit to the country on May 10-11, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"On May 10-11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a working visit to Baku, within its framework a meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and negotiations with Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov are planned," the statement said.

The diplomatic service added that the Russian side is determined to continue an open and mutually respectful dialogue on the entire spectrum of development of relations with Azerbaijan - in politics, economy, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

"Particular attention will be paid to the comprehensive implementation of the statements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia dated November 9, 2020, and January 11, 2021. The parties plan to consider the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, humanitarian aspects of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, issues of post-conflict reconstruction, and establishing peaceful life," TASS cited the ministry as saying.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the main goals also include unblocking all transport and economic ties in the region.
Presidents of Belarus and Russia, Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin, have agreed to meet in the near future to discuss the existing problems, the press service of the Belarusian leader said on Sunday.

"Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin exchanged views on the situation in Belarus and Russia. The presidents agreed to meet in the near future to discuss the problems facing the countries," it said.

"Lukashenko and Putin discussed the schedule of joint events planned for the next few months both in Belarus and in Russia," the press service said. "In furtherance of Vladimir Putins talks with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, who visited Moscow, the sides discussed the situation in the zone of responsibility of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)."

The presidents also touched upon the "situation in Ukraine and that countrys striving for close cooperation with NATO," TASS cited the statement as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov as his official envoy to the Federal Assembly, or Russias national bicameral parliament, on issues of the denunciation of the Open Skies Treaty, as follows from a presidential order posted on the official internet portal of legal information on Sunday.

"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Alexeyevich Ryabkov is to be appointed Russian presidents official representative during the consideration of the issue of denunciation of the Open Skies Treaty, signed in Helsinki on March 24, 1992, by the Federal Assemblys houses," TASS cited the document as saying.

On May 5, the Russian government passed a resolution approving termination of the treaty and referred this proposal to the president.

The Russian foreign ministry released a statement in mid-January informing that Russia was beginning domestic procedures to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty "over the lack of progress in what concerns the removal of obstacles for its continuation in the new conditions."

The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 in Helsinki by 27 member nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), known as Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) before 1995. The treaty came into effect from January 1, 2002 after being ratified by 20 countries. Russia ratified the Treaty on Open Skies on May 26, 2001.
Health Minister of the Omsk region Alexander Murakhovsky has been found alive following a three-day search after he missing on a hunting trip, authorities said Monday.

Omsk regional police said Murakhovsky had not been seen since leaving a hunting base in a forest near the Bolesheukovsky district village of Pospelovo on Friday.

Murakhovsky was found after he emerged from the forest near the village of Basliy and sought out help from villagers, the RBC news website cited the regional government's press service as saying. He was taken to the district hospital for a health examination, authorities added.

Murakhovsky's wife confirmed that he has been found and that she spoke to him on the phone.

Omsk police, National Guard officers, local residents and search parties had resumed search operations early Monday morning after an overnight pause. Police said that Murakhovskys ATV had been found 6.5 kilometers from the hunting base.
Russias Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine may be supplied to Germany in June, with talks on that matter continuing, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said on Sunday on Sputnik Vs Telegram channel.

"Talks with Germany on purchased of the vaccine continue. The Sputnik V vaccine may be supplied to Germany this June, and not to the prejudice to supplies to other countries," it said.

Germanys Bild reported earlier on Sunday that talks on Germanys possible purchase of the Russian vaccine had allegedly come to a dead end. The Russian Direct Investment Fund refuted these reports as untrue.

"Bilds reports are not true and can be seen as an example of a disinformation campaign geared to bar the Russian and other similar vaccines from entering the European and other markets. In the recent time, the Bild newspaper has published more than 15 such articles attacking the Sputnik V vaccine that contain wrong facts based on information from anonymous sources," it said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has phoned President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev today.

The conversation took place shortly before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's arrival in Baku.

According to the Kremlin, Putin and Aliyev "warmly congratulated each other on the 76th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War."

At the same time, the leaders noted that the memory of the heroism of the soldiers-liberators is sacredly honored both in Russia and in Azerbaijan, and the citizens are deeply grateful to the veterans for their unparalleled heroism during the war.

The press service of the Russian president also drew attention to the fact that Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed their mutual disposition "to build up comprehensive Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation."

Concluding the conversation, the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan agreed to continue further contacts between the countries at various levels.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, forcing businesses to adapt quickly even though they are not ready for it.

Not having to queue to take a roll call every day, workers at a construction site in Hanoi use their smartphones to scan their faces from a management app. Timekeeping by FaceID on mobile phones has replaced traditional timekeeping forms to help monitor workers in real time and manage construction sites remotely.

In fact, construction site management has been digitally deployed by many businesses on mobile applications. However, many businesses just apply the form of reporting through photos and papers, and workers still have to be present directly to handle suddenly arising tasks. The cost of office administrative formalities also lies in the business process with too many papers, records, applications, and equipment for printing and storing information.

The digital transformation races. (Photo: LVN)

In the field of logistics, the use of technology application 4.0 for shippers and vehicle owners is in great demand. Many drivers are accustomed to using cellphones to track roads and send daily work reports.

According to the Vietnam Association of Logistics Service Enterprises, Vietnamese logistics enterprises are providing from two to 17 different logistics services, mainly delivery, transportation, warehousing, express delivery and customs declaration. Some 50-60% of businesses are applying different types of technology, depending on the size and nature of their services.

The effectiveness of IT application in logistics has been proven in practice. For example, the Saigon New Port Company, after successfully applying advanced production management programs, has reduced the leisure time of ships by 55%, 3/4 of freight forwarding time, and 60% of cases of labor and traffic unsafety.

Similarly, the Vietnam Post Corporation is building a Vmap mapping platform and a real-time database on location, address data, and code assignment of addresses to households.

Digital transformation must be quick

Digital transformation is a trend among local businesses, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Vu Tuan Anh, Deputy General Director of Dr SME, said that without digital transformation, Vietnamese firms will lose a lot when competing with national and international brands.

"Digital transformation is imperative, but performing digital transformation is not just buying an application or technology to use, but it is considering resources and the conditions of each business," Tuan Anh said.

Businesses look to digital transformation. (Photo: D.A)

Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh, Chairman of NextTech Group, pointed out that SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and micro-SMEs account for 96.7% of the number of Vietnamese enterprises, contribute 40% of GDP, and create 60% of jobs. But they do not benefit much from digital transformation due to their low budgets and fragmentation. Digital transformation solution providers often focus more on the Government sector and large and medium enterprises with higher budgets located in big cities.

Tuan Anh said that digital transformation technologies such as cloud computing are available in corporate governance solutions in Vietnam, which have been researched and developed by Vietnamese organizations. This is an important advantage if local businesses are truly determined to transform.

Mr. Dang Quang Vu, Chief Technology Officer of FastWork, commented that most Vietnamese employees now use smartphones so that digital transformation is easy to perform from the lowest level.

Mr. Dinh Minh Quan, CEO of FastWork, said that thanks to digital transformation, the corporate governance system will become simpler, and more seamless, transparent and efficient. Managers and employees can simultaneously approve, coordinate and exchange jobs on a single platform.

Quan noted that there is no digital transformation solution that "fits" all types of businesses. Digital transformation solutions must be developed based on demand and existing problems.

Economist Vo Tri Thanh mentioned three lessons for success in digital transformation, including: Think big, act specifically, act drastically from small, innovative, highly diffuse things; deeply combine digital transformation with business development strategy; and consider leaders as pioneers in digital transformation.

Bao An

Race for digital transformation: now or never The rules of the game in the future will be "quick fish eats slow fish". Even giants, without timely performing digital transformation, may lose ground to rookies that are young and agile in the 4.0 technological revolution.
In the fight against Covid-19, heavy economic losses to some people and businesses are unavoidable.

Huy, a motorbike driver for an e-hailing taxi service, said: "From the morning until now (4:30 pm), I only got VND81,000 (less than $4). Yesterday I earned net revenue of VND300,000 ($13). VND300,000 is just barely enough to exist. VND50,000 for gasoline, VND50,000 for food, and money for house rent, I almost have no money for savings."

The situation has worsened as Covid is returning to a serious extent, spreading across many provinces, especially in hospitals in Hanoi.

"I hope the outbreak is over soon so everything will be back to normal," Huy said.

On a Bamboo Airways flight from Con Dao Island to Hanoi on the afternoon of May 7, there were only about 20 passengers, and most of the seats were empty. A flight attendant explained: "Due to the epidemic, many people canceled the flight."

A flight with only several passengers. Photo: Luong Bang

At the airport, the scene was unusually quiet. There were long lines of taxis waiting for customers. That scene appears in almost all areas in Hanoi. People understand that it is advisable to limit leaving their homes and not go to crowded places when not necessary.

The economy will be affected. Tech-motorbike taxi driver like Huy or airlines have to undergo a new "fire test", and the losses are unavoidable.

Factories in Vietnam are activated on an anti-epidemic emergency state, because even if one person gets Covid-19, the whole plant is in danger of closing down.

At this point of time, Vietnam is still considered a country that has achieved success in epidemic control. The people are still safe, and factories are still operating in the "new normal" except for some high-risk businesses that have to be suspended.

This is a global pandemic, with unpredictable developments and many new strains can appear. Vietnam's anti-epidemic attitude is "know ourselves", which means that the authorities understand the weaknesses and what the consequences will be if the epidemic breaks out.

Trust of the business community

The way Vietnam is combating the epidemic at present is different from the first wave when it is now calmly controlling it by region, step by step, and strengthening traceability, instead of applying nationwide social distancing as in the first wave in early 2020.

Do local businesses support the Government's anti-epidemic measures?

According to a study by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on the impact of Covid-19 on enterprises, most respondents said they would support social distancing measures in the future. The results, according to VCCI, demonstrated the achievements of the Government in effectively dealing with the epidemic during the outbreak of early 2020 as it strengthened the business community's trust in the Governments responsive decisions and ability to manage another crisis.

After all, this is a global "catastrophe", a tough battle. In that war, heavy economic damage to a part of people and businesses is unavoidable. This is not desirable, but when the vaccination rate is still low, and is not enough to achieve "community immunity", epidemic prevention by using drastic measures as the Government is doing is essential.

If the coronavirus spreads to the community as is now happening in several countries, the consequences will not be measured in money, but with people's lives. If we have health, have the people, and have the factories, we have a chance to come back stronger when the disease is controlled.

Luong Bang

Covid-19 hits hard: thousands of job lost and working hours cut While carrying passengers from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Mekong Delta recently, Huy, a worker at a transport firm, talked about Covid-19, noting that this is an unprecedented crisis in her last 20 years of working.
Nguyen Bao Ngoc from Hanoi has won a scholarship to enter a doctoral program in environmental science at the University of California, Berkeley, and is now pursuing internships in the US in her field of research.

Nguyen Bao Ngoc

The UC Berkeley program ranks second in the world.

"My luggage is lacking many things, but Berkeley chose me maybe because they saw my passion and patience as I dared to do what I wanted, she said.

Her mother is an associate professor, head of the surgery department at the Military Medical Academy, and her sister is a PhD student in the US.

Ngoc said she had great advantages from the start.

Everything would have gone smoothly if Ngoc had followed the way designed for her. However, fearing that she would "become lazy in seeking her passions", Ngoc decided to try new fields.

When she was a 12th grader at a high school for the gifted majoring in mathematics, she entered a national science and technology competition for high school students.

Ngoc and her friend at the school used phytolith in straw to fix some heavy metals and reduce CO2 emissions from the soil. They won first prize at the competition and then entered an international competition where they won third prize for environmental science projects.

I stood in a large room where there were more than 500 posters on research projects, not by famous scientists, but by students at my age from all over the world, she recalled.

Ngoc realized then that in the US, any idea, no matter how "crazy", has opportunities for development. So Ngoc decided to study in the US.

Ngoc applied at some universities in the US and chose the University of Denver, which she believed would promote her abilities. In her first year there, she began figuring out plans, writing research outlines and seeking funding for projects.

She joined the Young Leadership program at the university and together with five classmates, designed a project on teaching science and technology to secondary school students.

During the three months, Ngoc and her co-workers helped students understand that technology can be a springboard for them to open the door to their future.

When she was a second-year student, she began a project on assessing the pollution level of heavy metals in To Lich River in Vietnam after hearing about $3,500 funding available for student research.

To Lich river in Hanoi suffers from heavy pollution and massive accumulation of mud in the river bed. The local authorities once considered cleaning up To Lich with water from Red River.

This was a big challenge, because very few international research works in recent years had mentioned this issue.

Ngoc realized that the researchers in the past only got eight water samples. She believed that the figure was too small for a river dozens of kilometers in length.

Ngoc decided to measure the heavy metal pollution concentration at 19 points on the river. She also calculated 165 pollution points at wastewater sewers along To Lich River.

Her study found that the river had heavy metal pollution exceeding the permitted level for over 20 years. Zinc and cadmium were the most serious. The pollution at some points was worse than at others. The pollution was mostly caused by nearby factories.

Nguyen Bao Ngoc has won a scholarship to enter a doctoral program in environmental science at the University of California, Berkeley, and is now pursuing internships in the US in her field of research.

Ngocs scientific articles are going to be sent to some international journals. She also has a website where she answers questions about To Lich river and shows her research results.

PhD is just the beginning

After challenging herself with a series of personal projects, in early September 2020, Ngoc applied for the doctoral program at UC Berkeley.

When applying to top-tier schools, international publications and masters degrees are helpful. But Ngoc had not finished her tertiary education program and could only show her efforts to seek funds and her ability to research independently.

In her essay, instead of listing prizes and her research experience, Ngoc focused on what she had learned after every project, especially the one assessing heavy metal pollution levels in To Lich River.

Ngoc said the period gave her wonderful experiences and made her realize that she wanted to pursue further scientific research.

I want to become an expert in the field. So, studying for a doctorate is just the beginning of my career, she said.

As soon as she received the letter of approval from UC Berkeley, Ngoc contacted the professor who would guide her in the next five years to discuss documents and projects.

She has recently completed interviews for an internship at the Denver Water Bureau and a NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) internship program on using satellite imagery to detect algae pollution in lakes in Texas.

Thuy Nga - Phuong Thu - Huu Chanh

Illegal sand extraction rampant on Da River The illegal excavation of sand has been found at a section of Da River which runs through Hanoi, and local authorities have apparently done little to curb the problem.
Compared with neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, the rate of vaccination against Covid-19 in Vietnam is still low, accounting for only 0.86% of the population.

Having controlled the previous outbreaks of Covid-19 well, Vietnam is now facing a new wave. In just 10 days (from April 27), the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread across 19 provinces with six outbreaks and 241 cases.

At the same time, Vietnam faces a big challenge: The rate of vaccination is low compared to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, countries with high rates of people vaccinated are seeing a rapidly decreasing number of new cases each day.

On December 15, 2020, nurse Sandra Lindsay, of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New York City, was one of the first people vaccinated against Covid-19 in the US.

At that time, the young woman said: "I hope this (the vaccination) will be the beginning of the end of a very painful period in our history."

Over four months later, Sandra's wish has partly come true.

In addition to social distancing, wearing facial masks and disinfecting, vaccination is one of the breakthrough measures that will help stamp out Covid-19 epidemic.

In the US, the vaccination rate is at a very high level: 75 doses per 100 people. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), new Covid-19 infections in the US have fallen for the third consecutive week.

On January 8, the number of new cases per day in the US was 300,000. But by May 7, this number decreased by 8 times, to 43,000 cases.

Likewise, countries with high vaccination rates have made impressive achievements. On January 8, the number of new infection cases per day in the UK was 68,000. On May 7, the number dropped by 27 times, to 2,500 cases. The vaccination rate in the country is 75 doses per 100 people.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore - with a small population and a developed economy - has a rate of vaccine dose per 100 people as high as rich countries such as Germany, France, and Canada, with 38 doses per 100 people.

Currently, Vietnam is using AstraZeneca's vaccine in its vaccination campaign. Since March 8, more than 830,000 people have been vaccinated, out of a population of 98 million people (0.86 doses per 100 people).

In 2021 and early 2022, Vietnam plans to import vaccines from a number of sources: 39 million doses provided by Covax Facility, enough for 19.5 million subjects of priority; 30 million doses of AstraZeneca for 15 million people; the Health Ministry is under negotiation with Pfizer to buy 31 million doses this year or next year for 15.5 million people. In addition, Vietnam will get about 2 million additional doses from other organizations.

However, compared with developed countries or some countries in the region like Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the vaccination rate of Vietnam is still very low. Vietnam, thus, will face many challenges in the fight against this epidemic as the virus is constantly changing.

Hong Lien - Dac Vinh

Health Ministry will do its utmost to ensure safety during COVID-19 vaccinations: Minister The Ministry of Health will mobilise all resources to carry out COVID-19 vaccinations to ensure absolute safety for people, Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has said.

Another road for Covid-19 vaccines Western nations have the capacity in terms of economic potential and the legal and moral aspects to promote access to vaccines on a global scale.
The HCM City Department of Transport has called for solutions to speed up the progress of major projects, including ring roads and railway stations, as part of its effort to develop a modern, highly connected transport system.

Hanoi Highway and Metro line No 1 in HCM City's District 2. The city Department of Transport has called for solutions to speed up major transport projects in the city. Photo sggp.org.vn

At least five key transport projects are behind schedule due to a lack of capital and tardiness in site clearance, the department said.

Ring Road No. 3, a national key project that connects provinces and cities in the southern key economic region, is far behind schedule. The VND55.8 trillion (US$2.4 billion) road would be 90km long and pass through HCM City and Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An provinces.

It is expected to reduce traffic pressure on roads in central HCM city, and shorten travel time between HCM City and provinces.

Construction has been divided into four sections. However, only the first section of 16.3km from Tan Van to Binh Chuan (Binh Duong Province) has been completed. It accounts for 18 per cent of the total length.

The road will be linked to national highways 1A and No. 22, and the expressways Ben Luc-Long Thanh, HCM City-Trung Luong, HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay and HCM City-Moc Bai.

Ring Road No. 4 will be a 198km expressway running through HCM City and the provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An. It is expected to cost around VND99 trillion ($4.3 billion).

The road would enhance inter-regional links, especially with Hiep Phuoc Port Urban Area in Nha Be District, helping boost economic growth in the southern key economic region and the Mekong Delta.

The department said that investment policies for the ring roads must be approved in the 2020-25 period to enable quick acquisition and clearance of land, calls for bids, and launch of construction.

The Government approved the two ring road projects 10 years ago. They are expected to cost a total of VND154 trillion ($6.6 billion).

Binh Trieu, Thu Thiem stations

According to an adjusted master transport plan to 2020, which was approved in 2013, the Binh Trieu-Hoa Hung overhead railway was expected to be built in the 2021-2025 period to reduce the number of railway crossings in inner HCM City.

In addition, two passenger stations were slated to be built, including one at the current Sai Gon railway station covering 6.14 ha and the Binh Trieu railway station on 41 ha.

But no progress has occurred, according to the department.

In addition, the Thu Thiem station project, which includes the North-South high-speed railway, the HCM City light railway to the proposed Long Thanh international airport, and other types of public transport, were all approved in 2013 but have not been implemented.

The department recommended that detailed planning of the Thu Thiem station be studied. It would cover an area of 14,7163 ha.

HCM City-Moc Bai Expressway

The department also asked the city Peoples Committee to conduct a pre-feasibility study for the HCM City-Moc Bai Expressway project.

Former PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the Ministry of Transports proposal to give HCM City the authority to approve investment decisions for the expressway.

The expressway would link Ring Road No 3 in HCM Citys Hoc Mon District with the Moc Bai International Border Gate on the Vietnam-Cambodia border in Tay Ninh Province.

The expressway project is divided into two investment phases. Total capital is estimated at VND13.6 trillion, including site clearance costs sourced from the State budget.

The first stage will cost VND10.7 trillion under a Public-Private Partnership investment.

Construction is expected to be completed by 2025 with at least four lanes, and will be expanded to six or eight lanes by 2045.

Recently the city government approved an infrastructure development plan over the next 10 years, which includes solutions for management policies, transport infrastructure, and capital and investment policies.

VNS

HCMC to pour investment in traffic infrastructure projects Ho Chi Minh City will pour investment in traffic infrastructure project this year, Director of the city Transportation Works Construction Investment Project Management Authority Luong Minh Phuc has said.
Two more imported trains of the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line in Ho Chi Minh City arrived on Monday morning.

Two more imported trains of the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line in Ho Chi Minh City arrive on May 10.

According to the Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) of HCM City which is the metro project's investor, the trains left Japan's Kasado Port on May 1 and arrived at Khanh Hoi Port on the morning of May 10. They will be transported to the routes Long Binh Depot on May 11.

This first metro line in the city has 17 trains which are being produced in Japan. In the first stage, the line will use three-carriage trains.



Earlier, the first train for the project was transported to Vietnam last October.



MAUR's deputy head, Huynh Hong Thanh, revealed that two more will be brought to the city in July this year.



Each train comprises three carriages measuring 61.5 metres long allowing a maximum speed of 110 kilometres per hour. It can transport 930 passengers.



The train is designed with a simple interior design that is easy to be cleaned and maintained. Its colours are blue and grey.



This is the widest train in Vietnam at 2.95 metres.



The trains have been scheduled for the trial run by the end of this year on the elevated section from Binh Thai Junction to Long Binh Depot.



Thanh added that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the import of the projects equipment and machines from countries such as Germany, Spain, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan was slowed. The pandemic has also affected the entry of foreign experts.



Because of Covid-19, some bidding packages of the project were 4-8 months behind schedule.



At present, around 83.63% of the project has been finished.



The 20-km Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line which had an initial investment of VND17.38 trillion consists of 14 stations along 19.7 kilometres, including a 2.6-kilometre underground section and 17.1 kilometres of elevated tracks.

Dtinews

Opening of first metro line in HCM City delayed to 2022 The opening of the first metro line in HCM City, which runs between Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9, will be delayed until 2022, city authorities have said.
Eighty new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on May 10 morning, including 78 domestic infections and two imported, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said.

The new infections took to the total number of coronavirus cases in Vietnam to 3,412, including 411 locally-transmitted infections detected since the latest outbreak hit the country on April 27.

The local transmissions were detected in Bac Ninh (27), Vinh Phuc (19), Da Nang (13), Bac Giang (5), Hanoi (9), Hoa Binh (2), Dak Lak (1), Dien Bien (1), Lang Soon (1).

The two imported cases are a Vietnamese citizen returning from France and an Indian expert who arrived in the country from Qatar. Both were immediately quarantined on arrival.

Of the 13 new cases in Da Nang city, eight of the patients, including seven women, work at AMIDA Beauty Salon.

In Hanoi, six of the new cases are either patients at the Dong Anh district-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases or their relatives.

According to the MoHs Medical Service Administration, 2,602 patients had been given the all-clear from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Among active patients undergoing treatment, 25 tested negative to the virus once, 22 twice and 17 thrice.

As of May 10 morning, the total number of people quarantined is 59,198, including 991 in hospitals, 25,804 in state-designated establishments and the remainders at their places of residence.

Up to 42,943 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on May 9, raising the total to 851,513, mostly medical workers, members of steering committees for COVID-19 prevention and control, and members of police and military forces./. VNA
There have been several reports over the past few years about the declining wine market in China. Indeed, wine production in China is currently listed as the 6th fastest declining industry in that country ( Fastest declining industries in China by revenue growth (%) in 2021 ). So, it seems worthwhile to gather in one place some pictures of the situation, given that China has been the second largest wine market in the world ( The wine market in China ).We can start with a look at the simple economics in recent years. Here is a graph of the estimated market size (in USD) over the past few years, from the IBISWorld industry statistics The decrease over the past few years is obvious. This decrease is reflected clearly in estimated wine consumption, as shown in the next graph, which goes all the way back to 1960. (This and all subsequent graphs are from the Annual Database of Global Wine Markets , compiled by Anderson, Nelgen and Pinilla, supplemented by the OIV's State of the World Vitivinicultural Sector In 2020 .)The decrease in consumption dates from 2016, and is continuing rapidly as I write. Note that this timing pre-dates by 3 years the decrease in market size illustrated above, which suggests an interesting incongruity.Moreover, there is no equivalent decrease in the Chinese area under vine, which is shown in the next graph. This has plateaued recently, but not decreased.On the other hand, there has been a dramatic decrease in wine production, despite the stable vineyard area, as shown in the next graph. Interestingly, the decrease in production started in 2012, 4 years before the decrease in consumption. Is this prescience?Clearly, these patterns cannot be reconciled in too many ways. It has been argued that production is being decreased to match decreasing consumption (even though it pre-dates the decrease in consumption), while the vines themselves are either not being grubbed out or their reduction is not being recorded. The reduction in Chinese production could, of course, be a shift from quantity to quality  bulk wines being replaced by fine wines ( Fine wine and caviar  made in China? ).It has also been suggested that Chinas wine production has been dropping due to competition from imported wines, but this cannot be so. In fact, there has been a dramatic recent decrease in imports, which matches decreasing consumption, since it also starts in 2016, as shown in the next graph. Note that imports were effectively zero before 1995. Clearly, it is not just domestic wine that is going off the boil, but the foreign stuff, as well.So, it is the decreasing production that is anomalous. The decrease starts before the decrease in consumption, and is not matched by any decrease in vine area. So, what is going on? It has been noted that an economic slowdown has been occurring in China, and there has been a trade war with the USA, and now also with Australia. Also, wine may well be finally losing the cachet that it started to acquire among Chinese consumers after the Cultural Revolution, back in the 1970s, and which accelerated in the 1990s. A 2014 even that might explain some of the observations is the Chinese government's official crackdown on business / political graft in 2014, which curtailed formal gift-giving ( For liquor makers, cheer dries up in China ).Finally, by way of contrast, it is worth noting that Chinese beer consumption has plateaued recently, but not decreased, as shown in the final graph. Note that beer consumption increased at the same time as wine, but greatly exceeds wine consumption by a factor of 30. A beer market, clearly, not a wine market.An interesting alcohol market, obviously. So, why is the Australian wine industry concerned about losing the Chinese market ( China indefinitely suspends economic talks with Australia )? It is declining, anyway; and any forecasts from the graphs above do not promise that it will remain a major market for too much longer.Thanks to Bob Henry for some of the above suggestions.
1. Audubon Center at Debs Park, Los Angeles, California

This surprising birding mecca just five miles from downtown Los Angeles has 280 beautiful acres to explore, mountain and city views, and, come spring and fall, migratory birds galore.

"You can expect to see a ton of migrants here, says Marcos Trinidad, director of the Audubon Center at Debs Park. While hiking the park's main trail through landscapes of primarily native plants you might spot migratory species such as black-headed grosbeaks, hooded orioles and lazuli buntings (known for their piercingly blue-hued heads). A good spot for sightings: the pine and silk oak trees around the park's Peanut Lake. You can see them with your [naked] eyes, but to really appreciate the beauty and colors, it's best to use binoculars, says Trinidad.

Throughout the year, keep an eye out for California birds along the trails, including California thrashers, California scrub jays and California towhees. In winter, western tanagers can often be seen in the park's flowering eucalyptus trees.
Click here for updates on this story

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) -- A local Asheville businessman who emigrated to Hendersonville decades ago has pledged $250,000 of his own money towards a $1 million goal to help his home country, India, which has been ravaged by COVID-19.

The $1 million will go to buy 1,000 oxygen concentrators to help people with COVID-19 who are struggling to breathe and struggling to stay alive.

Rakesh Agarwal isnt the kind of businessman who craves the spotlight or adulation. But the soft-spoken, gentle-natured founder of Ashevilles Rug and Home store has his heart and donations focused on helping people in India ravaged by COVID-19.

This country, the United States, has been great to me, said Agarwal. And as an immigrant, it is our responsibility to help both our adopted country as well as our birth country.

In 1986, Agarwal, with his wife, Dolly, and 2-year-old daughter, Aanchal, moved to Hendersonville.

At age 29, while in India, he met someone connected to a well-regarded rug manufacturing company in Hendersonville and they recruited him for his skill and business acumen.

Agarwal wants to earmark the $1 million specifically to help rural communities.

Large cities like New Delhi have medical equipment, but my focus is going to be to bring these machines to small rural towns and villages who are so desperate for supplies, and to help so many people sick," Agarwal said.

We want to buy 1,000 oxygen concentrators. There are no oxygen supplies, and those with COVID have a very difficult time breathing," he said. "We have to get some of these devices which are much stronger for COVID patients. I think with these oxygen concentrators, we can save tens of thousands of lives.

Agarwal founded a nonprofit called Vision Express, which helps people in India struggling with eyesight. The nonprofit also does work in the U.S.

Over the past decade, he has gone on seven medical mission trips to India, taking six to eight local people from the Asheville area each time to India to both assist and see his home country.

Ive always believed in building bridges between the United States and India, said Agarwal. Whatever Ive gained here, is because of the goodwill of the people here.

He said hopes people will respond and donate to help raise the $1 million and potentially save people's lives.

Agarwal said he has lost a very close family member to COVID-19, and many of his relatives back in India have been very sick as the pandemic ravages the country with deaths.

Imagine waiting for four days to take a loved one to the cremation ground, said Agarwal. There is no dignity even in death, you know?

He said the country has estimated up to 1 million people per day are getting sick with the virus.

India has a population of 1.35 billion in a country roughly one-third the size of the United States.

Because deaths from COVID-19 have been so widespread in India, the country has had to set up makeshift crematories to burn bodies as people continue to succumb to the virus.

Now is the time to step up. Western North Carolina has been so good to our family, and we love it here so much," Agarwal said. "People are so kind and I know people will help us raise this money.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
CHICO, Calif. - This Mothers Day, dozens of people drove by Chicos Seventh-Day Adventist Church to celebrate one womans incredible life.

Frances Caviness Layland, better known as Frankie, has lived in Chico for nearly 70 years.

After travelling the world with her husband as a missionary, she has seen and done a lot.

But this Tuesday is a day not many people get to celebrate.

Frankie is turning 100-years-old.

Its exciting when you think about it, she beamed. 100 years.

But she and her late husband are not just any locals.

If you are ever driving down Vallombrosa Ave. and wondered about the statue in front of the Chico Area Recreation & Park District (CARD), it is Dr. Calvin Layland, Frankies husband and founder of the Mangrove Medical Group.

After Dr. Layland served in the Korean war, he and Frankie moved to Chico to work and raise their children.

Even then, they still found the time to travel the world to help others, put some through school and made them a part of their family.

Frankie journaled her travels and experiences every day and published them in her book called Frankies Story.

As he held Frankies hand, her brother Ted Caviness knows how much of an impact she had on others.

Its been a great life and such an inspiration to everybody, especially to me, he said.

To this day, Frankie is known as Nana to many people across the world.

I dont feel any older, she beamed. But I know I am older.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA  Action News Now has reached out via social media to help identify people in critical need of financial support as they wait for their settlement offers and partial payments from the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) to compensate them for their losses and pain and suffering due to fires determined to be caused by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E).

Out of 40 people that we heard from six were still living in their cars. One man who had lost his home in the Camp Fire moved to Nevada. He said he is 44 years old and can not work due to medical issues that make it impossible for him to stand very long or walk very far. The man said he is living in the car with his 74-year-old diabetic mother.

Many people shared with Action News Now their concerns that they will die before they receive any money from the FVT. Some had family members who died during the fires and others had family members, parents and spouses, who died after the fires but before any compensation was received.

Medical ailments are prevalent, with cases mentioned involving cancer, blindness, diabetes, PTSD. Others are trying to recover from recent surgeries. Some surgeries can not be conducted yet because several people do not have a safe place to recuperate from a procedure.

One woman who lost her home in the Camp Fire in Butte County said she contacted the FVT trust when her husband became very ill. She said five months later, on Apr. 22, 2021, she heard from the Trust. She said it too late, however, as he had passed away. She is raising kids now on her own now.

Action News Now provided the list of 40 people to the Fire Victim Trust on Saturday. Trust Administrator Cathy Yanni thanked Action News Now for the email and said that she will add the names to their triage list to help those in dire straits receive priority in payments.

Yanni had told Action News Now in a previous interview that people need to contact their attorneys to be prioritized for payment if they are having difficulties that impact their safety.

A couple of military veterans were on the Action News Now list. One is a single mom with four children with Aspergers who are domestic violence survivors who have been staying with friends and family. She said she is exhausted and her family needs a home of their own.

The other veteran is 100% disabled and is in Concow living in a moldy RV on ten burned acres. The veteran said there is no water, no heat, and no air conditioning. He said only one electrical outlet in the RV is still functional.

One senior citizen said she is renting a mobile home in Paradise, but said it is taking 2/3rds of her Social Security check to cover the rent costs.

The latest claim information from the FVT was provided as of April 30, 2021. Out of 67,170 claimants registered, 9,532 had received preliminary payments of up to $25,000. A total of $122.6 million dollars had been paid out for preliminary payments. That is an average of $12,862 per preliminary payment. Many attorneys took their fees from those preliminary payments, leaving recipients with under $10,000 in their pockets until determination offers are made and the first 30% payment to a claimant is received.

As of April 30, 2021, 334 claimants had received their 30% pro-rata payments on their approved and signed off claims for a total of $72.6 million dollars, which is an average payment of $217,365.

An investigation by reporter Lily Jamali, anchor of KQED-San Franciscos radio show The California Report, revealed that the FVT racked up $51 million in overhead costs in 2020, while disbursing only $7 million to fire victims.

Jamali said, ...during the first year of operation, the Trust spent nearly 90% of its funds on overhead, while fire victims waited for help.

Almost all of the fire survivors told Action News Now that they are tired and frustrated waiting for an initial payment of any amount from the Trust. So far fewer than 10,000 of the 70,280 claimants have received payments, either preliminary or pro-rata (30% of their offers). The expectations are that it could take another couple of years for final payments to be made.

No claimants are guaranteed to receive 100% of the offers in their determination notices, however. The percentage they will be paid will depend upon the sales price of PG&E stocks currently owned by the Trust, and by how much is spent in the administration of the Trust itself.

Action News Now continues to work with the Fire Victim Trust in order to clarify the numbers and the issues related to their work in compensating fire victims. The survivors who will be paid by the Fire Victim Trust had losses from several different fires that were all determined to be caused by PG&E over the past several years.

Disclaimer: This story was written by an employee of Action News Now who lost her home during the Camp Fire.
AnyMind Group, a brand enablement platform that provides technology and solutions for publishers, marketers, business owners and influencers, has today announced the launch of a suite of features on its publisher platform, AnyManager, to help mobile and web publishers to tap on the continued growth of mobile usage.

The features center around helping web publishers leverage on progressive web applications infrastructure, and for native mobile app publishers to gain more insights from their app store data, and are designed to provide both sets of publishers with greater accessibility and insight into user acquisition and monetization.

Initially launched as a platform with features just for web publishers, AnyMind Group has in the past year expanded the functionality of its AnyManager platform for native mobile app publishers.

Hitoshi Maruyama, Managing Director of Publisher Growth for AnyMind Group, said: In a mobile-first region like Asia, and in some markets even mobile-only, it is imperative that publishers are able to grow further by fully maximizing their potential audience whilst keeping up and capitalizing on the latest technologies. We are also seeing, and in fact powering, more fluidity by mobile app and web publishers in expanding opportunities by leveraging further on social media channels and e-commerce, augmenting possibilities for borderless growth.

Web publishers

Web-based publishers that are looking to better tap on the worlds mobile-connected population can now leverage features for progressive web applications (PWA) through AnyManager. By implementing PWAs, publishers can look to improve user experience such as speeding up site load speeds and creating a push notification system to inform users of newly published content.

In recent years, it has become increasingly important for publishers to develop strategies and implement measures to cater to diverse user segments in order to drive more relevant content to a user.

Web-based publishers who have set up PWA infrastructure on AnyManager can now tap on targeted push notifications to specific user segments based on device, location and other parameters including users that have clicked on a site during a certain period or frequency of clicks, enabling web publishers to notify users of new content, promotions, and opportunities, directly on their mobile device. Data from push notifications is also linked to a publishers own Google Analytics data and advertising yield data, both available through AnyManager.

Publishers can also tap on customizable Add-to-Home screen prompts and formats to easily cue browser notifications for site visitors to add a site as a PWA on their mobile devices.

Native mobile app publishers

Native mobile app publishers can now access analytics features for app store and conversion improvements along with competitive analytics. This is in addition to current functionality for advertising demand activation and mediation and an app health score feature that provides publishers with a rating of their native mobile app based on factors including development, monetization, analytics and user acquisition.

Native mobile app publishers can also tap on a new feature called AnySDK, a software development kit (SDK) for ad monetization that enables the delivery and mediation of ad requests from major mobile platform partners through a single SDK.

Additionally, native mobile app publishers can also gain greater insight into user opinion of their apps by tapping into natural language processing-driven features such as sentiment rating and analysis of user comments, and identification of keywords and phrases based on app store rating. This helps publishers to better understand and highlight potential app issues, improvements and fixes.
BBC Studios International Production announced today that it has agreed a first-look development deal with award-winning documentary maker Alex Gale. The deal will see Gale co-develop premium non-scripted content with BBC Studios local production companies in Australia, India, South Africa and Germany. BBC Studios will produce and distribute the developed programmes internationally.

Founder of Amped Pictures, Gale directed Amazon Primes Sons Of The Soil for BBC Studios India. The access-led docuseries followed the fortunes of Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan and his pro kabaddi team across a season in Indias fastest growing sport. Gales previous work includes the BAFTA Scotland-winning BBC documentaries Scotland 78: A Love Story, Glasgow 1967: The Lisbon Lions and the RTS Scotland-winning The Fort.

Commenting on the agreement, Matt Forde, Managing Director of International Productions at BBC Studios said: Alex is a remarkable documentarian who has a unique approach to creating candid and thought-provoking films; his handle on the sporting world and bringing their iconic figures and stories to life are unparalleled. Weve been lucky enough to partner with Alex previously and so were incredibly proud to be working with him to create original content for our audiences worldwide.

Alex Gale commented Its very exciting, theres such a range of untapped storytelling opportunities across these distinct and contrasting cultures. The aim is to create high production value docuseries with characteristically local narratives that also have the potential to engage an international audience. BBC Studios local knowledge, industry relationships, and brand recognition in these countries is invaluable, it will help us secure access to talent, previously unseen environments and institutions.
Authored by Pratik Gour Co-Founder & Head of Business Development, Footprynt

2020 was a year that saw our world, and life as we know it, turned upside down. COVID-19 rampaged across the globe, and in its wake, left behind a landscape radically different from anything weve previously known. Online shopping exploded, purchasing patterns and priorities drastically changed, and businesses across sectors were forced to re-evaluate their business models and strategies.

As 2021 rolled around, things seemed to be on the mend. Most countries had weathered the storm, and the daily global case count was trending downwards. The world seemed to be limping towards normalcy. Tragically, the past month in India has proven that to be a false hope. The coronavirus is here to stay, and we have a long fight ahead of us.

Under these circumstances, businesses need to take urgent steps to survive. And the best way to do that is by adapting their brand communication to address the collective new reality we all face. But thats easier said than done. Building a connection with a customer base has never been a simple task, and the pandemic has only escalated the challenge. With marketing teams downsized and underfunded, any path forward needs to be chosen with a great deal of care.

However, there are a few simple steps that every brand needs to take to effectively manage consumer sentiments in these testing times:

Acknowledge the situation and moderate your message

A business that refuses to acknowledge the changes that have happened over the last year is one thats bound to suffer. Companies and brands exist as part of a larger societal ecosystem. Over the course of the last year, people across the world have been faced with the loss of their loved ones, financial and job insecurity, and enforced confinement to their homes. Under these circumstances, its imperative that brands be mindful of the situation and craft their communication strategy with empathy, compassion, and understanding.

Now is not the time for crass consumerism and blatant branding activities. Flashy photo shoots and celebrity endorsements can wait another day. Instead, put respect and integrity at the heart of every message. Use social platforms to promote wider social messages, whether it be encouraging people to stay at home, highlighting the importance of wearing a mask outdoors, or urging them to vaccinate as soon as the chance arises. Consumers will remember this restraint and appreciate it all the more in the days to come. In time, this approach will lead to the formation of a fan base whose loyalty is both enduring and well-earned.

Join the fight and take a stand

At a time when the entire world is united in its fight against this pandemic, the onus to step up and contribute falls on everyone. This holds especially true of businesses. With their organisational resources and audience bases, they are ideally positioned to make a lasting impact. This aid can take many forms, with financial donations to the many NGOs working to stem the crisis being one obvious route. However, its understandable that this may not be a feasible option for businesses that have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. Companies that support their employees by avoiding any layoffs, or use their social platforms to amplify important messages and information, can make just as much of an impact.

Whats most important is that any such contribution stems from a genuine desire to help, and that this comes across clearly in its communication. If a brand does choose to help, it should also be careful to avoid trumpeting its contributions. At times like these, choosing to do nothing is still a better option than aid offered insincerely.

Plan for the future

With the situation worsening every day, it can often be difficult to think of a future beyond COVID. But as with so many other difficult times throughout history, this too shall pass. And in the global economic resurgence thats sure to follow in the wake of the virus, businesses that have planned ahead will have a massive advantage over their competitors. Work on strategies that look beyond the current wave, ensure new product launches and activities are slotted in the pipeline, and plan for upcoming quarters to the best of your ability. This forward-looking approach will serve as a statement of intent to all of a brands stakeholders, and give them confidence in its future prospects.

A time for solidarity

An unfortunate truth of this pandemic is that many smaller businesses  across every sector and industry  wont survive to see the end of it. While companies shutting down is a natural part of the economic circle of life, COVID-19 has been a black swan event devastating in its severity. In a situation that has seen even the best-run businesses struggle to survive, every brand must showcase their solidarity with the wider community. Let brand rivalries take a backseat for the moment and instead focus on extending a helping hand to those who need it, especially when it comes to smaller, homegrown businesses. This attitude should be reflected in a brands communication approach as well  thank customers for their loyalty and support, and avoid appearing pompous for having survived this once in a lifetime event.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) today announced the appointment of Srinandan Sundaram, currently Executive Director, Customer Development, as Executive Director, Foods and Refreshment, with effect from July 1, 2021. Srinandan Sundaram replaces Sudhir Sitapati, who is leaving the organisation to pursue an external opportunity.

Sitapati joined the organisation as a Management Trainee in 1999 and has successfully managed roles across Sales and Marketing. As Executive Director Foods and Refreshment, Sitapati led the transformation of Tea into a purpose-led category that regained market leadership and gained shares for the last three years. During his tenure, Sitapati led the merger of Adityaa Milk and more recently, GSK Consumer Healthcare business into HUL, bringing iconic brands like Horlicks and Boost into the Unilever family. The Unilever Food Solutions business, under his leadership, was rewired and transformed into a growth engine for the company.

Sundaram joined HUL as a Management Trainee in 1999 and over the last 22 years, has had a strong track record in both Customer Development and Marketing. In his current role, Sundaram has been at the forefront of bringing in leading-edge technology and transforming the companys CD organisation into a High Tech  High Touch team. The Shikhar app, launched under his leadership, has lent a competitive edge to the business, especially during the pandemic and is the largest eB2B app in India today.

Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, HUL, said, I would like to thank Sudhir for his immense contributions to the company over the last two decades. We cherish iconic ad campaigns like Daag Acche Hain and Swad Apnepan Ka that were created under his leadership. He played a pivotal role in the merger of GSK CH into HUL. I wish him the very best as he embarks on a new chapter in his career. I am delighted with the appointment of Srinandan as head of Foods and Refreshment and Im certain that he will take the business to the next level of performance.
When the Maharashtra State Government announced a partial lockdown on April 14 and later a complete lockdown, many companies were already prepared to transition their employees to a remote working model while others dragged their feet. The second wave of the coronavirus spread has wreaked havoc with four lakh fresh cases and 4,000 mortalities daily. Many agencies have given an off to their employees, provided access to medical care and even sent food and other provisions to employees that are living apart from families. Despite devastation to businesses, many companies have shown empathy and slowed down so that employees may grapple with their personal challenges. The need for an empathetic workplace culture has been brought to the focus.

Also read: Empathy at the workplace comes to the forefront during COVID-19 second wave

Adgully organised a Twitter Chat on Friday, May 7, 2021, to understand the Employee-Organisation Relationship  Moving forward in post-Covid world and sought to identify the new dynamics between employer and employees during the height of the second wave.

Joining the discussions were:

Ameer Ismail, President, Lintas Live

Bansi Raja, Chief Happiness Officer, Gozoop

Dr. Ranjit Nair, CEO, Germin8

Ritesh Singh, Co-Founder & MD, ARM Worldwide

Siddharth Devnani, Director, SoCheers

Srinivas B Vijayaraghavan, Vice President  Marketing, Gupshup

Tarunjeet Rattan, Managing Partner, Nucleus PR

Companies step up

While workplaces were able to transition to remote working much quicker, they launched additional initiatives as well.

Nucleus PRs Tarunjeet Rattan said, We onboarded a psychologist to talk to each employee to help them manage stress, fear, responsibilities and a general sense of overwhelming helpless anger. We also struck deals with our own clients in the healthcare space to help our employees first.

ARM Worldwides Ritesh Singh said, We have implemented a 4-day work week from May 15-June 15 for tackling mental health. Weve also created fitness groups, where we hold exercise sessions every day.

Adding further, he said, We have restricted layoffs and enhanced the medical insurance coverage for our workforce. Additionally, appraisals are being rolled out and those in need are receiving their salaries in advance.

Germin8s Dr. Ranjit Nair said, The first obvious thing we did was support for those who tested positive in terms of arranging for things to be delivered to them, finding hospital beds, ensuring cashless usage of group insurance for emergency finance. Then we decided on Covid leave for anyone who tests positive and is symptomatic or needs to take care of a dependent that is unwell. Covid leave doesnt count towards earned leave. Finally, were conducting a vaccination drive by tying up with a Mumbai hospital for all employees and their family members under the age of 45.

Gozoops Bansi Raja said, I am proud to say that Gozoop announced no Covid related job losses as early as March 2020. We were the first in the advertising industry to announce performance appraisals last year in July 2020. Weve also created a Rs 75 crore Covid relief fund to provide financial aid to Gozoopers in need and serve the community.

LintasLives Ameer Ismail said, We have pulled together agency resources like HR and our Lintas Employee Welfare Trust, who have stepped up to provide support and assistance, including financial support.

Many agencies adopted the long view towards the pandemic and have asked their employees to continue working from home even in 2021.

A long runway for return to office

SoCheers Siddharth Devnani remarked, We ensured that relocation to hometowns was smooth  assuring long heads-up before asking them to back to Mumbai, ramping up IT support and ensuring we are up to date fairly frequently with their locations.

Commenting on facing the second wave, he said, We never moved back to office! We are embracing the complete remote model.

Raja added here, Having benefited from the counsel of pandemic experts and medical professionals, we were clear that we would only return to office once herd immunity is reached through the vaccinations.

Nair said, Unlike some companies, we had not yet returned to office. We were to start from a physical office from April, but when the numbers rose in late February and early March, we extended our work from home model to an unspecified date.

GupShups Srinivas noted, The first wave took everyone by surprise and work cultures had to change overnight. We had seen the transition of employees to their hometowns and were able to strike a balance between office work and home work. So, for the second wave we were prepared with remote on boarding and training processes.

He further said, Our platform sends six billion messages a month; thats 2,314 messages a second! So, running that infrastructure with a hybrid workforce was a huge learning for us and we were ready for a repeat of the wave.

Ismail said, Our WFH model has now been tried and well tested without any loss of productivity. While the intensity of this wave came as a surprise to most of us, our teams were well adjusted to remote working and even virtual meetings and pitches.

Adding further, he said, We will transition to a hybrid model once we get our employees vaccinated.

Leaders with an uncompromising view of employee welfare were able to take better decisions for the long term and protect their employees from the more virulent second wave. They set personal benchmarks like waiting for herd immunity or ensuring all employees are vaccinated before asking them to return to work.

Aligning external stakeholders

Often businesses had to make tough calls, let go of uncompromising clients and tapping into their reserves to stay afloat.

Ismail stated, I called and emailed each of our clients personally and shared the current situation and the decisions we had taken to put employee welfare first. I was amazed at the responses I received from clients. Clearly, they all were concerned but the empathy, understanding and offering of support was totally unexpected.

Raja said, We sent communications to all our clients and largely they have been mindful. Where needed, we have had a one on one conversation with the client and have never shied away from making tough calls on business if they arent in line with our values.

Singh said, Earlier, P&L has been the focus of maximum leaders, but this year is different. Leaders need to look at the reserve and surplus in the balance sheet and everything will fall into place.

Nair commented, Some clients demanded discounts and growth was slower than we would have liked, but things like branching out to new foreign markets worked for us.

Rattan said, Having a good mix of verticals and balanced portfolio of clients help you survive a crisis. It helped us branch out into digital, tech, healthcare and hygiene, who needed to manage their reputation in this time of crisis.

Devnani concurred, adding, Mix of clients from different verticals really worked to our advantage early on  we had a set of clients that went on hiatus, but some scaled up. This ensured while we settle in the new normal the cashflows were sustained.

Policy and practice

While all organisations have put a policy in place in response to the pandemic situation, practice is another matter altogether. Business pressures often encourage managers to flout policy and take risky bets. Unfortunately, such bets give rise to a toxic workplace culture and result in deteriorating health of employees.

Raja noted, Coincidentally, I was just speaking with our Founder and Vice President on one of our defined policies which needs more last-mile practice. While it's obvious that great leaders drive a vision or a policy, having systems and review processes in place ensures implementation. Great people supported by great systems go a long way in ensuring that important policies are executed well.

Devnani added here, We are a lean team and relatively flat. This really helps the companys team heads debate, define, rollout policy and implement it too. Flexibility and a de-centralized ownership is the key to navigating a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world.

Ismail opined, Culture at the workplace is the most important hidden asset that any organisation possesses. It is the secret sauce of any agency and needs to be curated and nurtured. Its what makes people in our business get motivated to go from being good to great.

While agencies are giving leeway to their employees to attend to the urgent and important duties during the pandemic, the leaders are clear that work for clients will continue to be a strong focus. While priorities are being reset the intention is to bounce back stronger and deliver great work.

For more updates & collaboration, connect us on :

WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube
In a national-level account win, Omnicom Media Groups communications planning and media buying subsidiary, PHD Media India has bagged the media mandate for Bel Group Indias brand The Laughing Cow. The Bel Group which originated in France has a rich history of 150 years in cheese and healthy snacking. Bels iconic brand The Laughing Cow cheese, was launched in Mumbai and Bengaluru in October 2018. The Bel group plans to add value to the cheese and healthy snack category in India with new product launches under The Laughing Cow brand. The Laughing Cow brand is already a household name in over 130 countries around the globe.

Alamjit Singh Sekhon, Commercial Director, Fromageries Bel India said India is a key focus market for the Bel Group. Our range of delicious cheese (Creamy Triangles, Slices, Blocks, Spread, and Cubes) under The Laughing Cow Brand has a taste that caters to the Indian palette. The entire range is nutritious, being made from cows milk with added fortification. Consumers find the Laughing Cow Creamy Cheese triangles to be unique as they are the only soft, spreadable portions of cheese in India. We believe that PHDs data centric and uniquely innovation approach to media and communication will help amplify our presence. We are confident that this partnership will help accelerate our journey in India and grow the cheese category by creating impactful brand awareness.

Commenting on the new alliance, PHD Media India CEO, Monaz Todywalla said, This is a major win for us, and were looking forward to making strides in the dynamic FMCG segment which is always an exciting prospect because of the sheer volume of opportunities out there. The Laughing Cow is an iconic cheese brand & we are delighted to win media mandate in India. We are confident that this will be a journey of mutual growth and are eager to get started on a thoughtful, data-driven storytelling strategy for the brand.
The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) is appealing to all segments of the industry to take a deep breath in this hour of crisis.

Says IAA President Megha Tata " Yes, we are passing through an unprecedented crisis. There is pain and grief all around us. But as they say, extraordinary times need extraordinary responses. Corporates have responded with alacrity and fortitude to the call of the nation. Money and material is being raised to help those in need. Communication is being used, and will be used, to strike a chord of positivity.

And this time around, as a responsible industry Association with a unique mix of members including leaders from the world of marketing advertising and the media, we are appealing to all stakeholders in our industry to deal with one another with a degree of sensitivity, understanding, empathy and kindness. It's as simple as that. And as important.

I thank Raj Nair and his team at Madison BMB for immediately responding to our appeal to prepare a communication campaign that will convey this message to our community.

Raj Nair, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Madison BMB

Adds Nandini Dias, Chairperson IAA Leadership Awards Committee, " For three years now IAA through a well-managed campaign has been urging industry leaders to save lives by adopting flexi-timings. It evoked a very positive response. This time the challenges are different. We need to rebuild lives and livelihoods irrespective of where you work from or whether you belong to a local or global organization. Our industry members at every level of the corporate ladder are facing unique challenges. And we believe this is the time to introspect, look within, and dip into the reserves of goodness that exist in all of us and create strong foundations for long term renewal.

Our campaign seeks to do just that. And of course, as we always maintain, communication should be a force for good.

Nandini Dias, Chairperson IAA Leadership Awards Committee and CEO Lodestar UM, India. The campaign was created by the Madison BMB team of Rohan Joseph CD Copy, Vallabh Yeolekar CD Art, Raj Nair, CEO and CCO.
On behalf of News Broadcasting Association (NBA), Rajat Sharma  President NBA, thanked Honble CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath for organizing Covid Vaccination camp today at Noida exclusively for media personnel.

The camp was organized at Indra Gandhi Kala Kendra Noida where people from various media houses including India TV, ABP, TV Today, News 24 got their first does of vaccination. The Covid Vaccination camp witnessed the august presence of MP Shri Mahesh Sharma & Shri Jai Pratap Singh, Hon'ble Cabinet Minister, Medical and Health, Family Welfare Maternal and Child Welfare Department, Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier this month the Uttar Pradesh government had decided that media officials will be given priority during the vaccination drive against Covid-19. The state government has said that journalists should be allotted separate centers for inoculation, adding that necessary arrangements should also be made at their workplace to administer the vaccine for free of cost if required.

Notably, several states including Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and others as Uttar Pradesh have declared journalists as frontline workers and decided to give priority in the vaccination drive as the second wave of pandemic rages across the country.

This is notably a great move by government of Uttar Pradesh to bolster the war against Corona.
Shrugging off the disruptions of last year, businesses and agencies are looking for a strong revival in 2021. Adgully  as part of our annual TRENDING NOW endeavour  has been presenting the strategies and views of a cross-section of industry leaders as they go about reclaiming lost time and market opportunities and build for a stronger future, armed with the lessons of 2020.

Also read: Constant deliberate innovation focus is a critical need for businesses today

While the global pandemic has bought economies to a halt and massively disrupted businesses, it has also fuelled start-up dreams and we even saw several Indian start-ups achieve Unicorn status during the pandemic period. The times have never been better for the budding entrepreneurs to give wings to their start-up dreams.

One such start-up is Zoomcar. Founded in 2013 by David Back and Greg Moran, Zoomcar, is an Indian self-drive car rental company, headquartered in Bangalore, India.

In conversation with Adgully, Greg Moran, CEO, and Co-Founder Zoomcar, speaks about what motivated him to choose India as a market for starting his venture, how digital has helped him to grow his business and much more.

Please take us through your journey as an entrepreneur. What motivated you to establish your start-up? What were you doing prior to turning an entrepreneur?

I have always been passionate about sustainability and shared model for sustainable economic development. While working in the clean technology and infrastructure disciplines for an investment bank, I witnessed first-hand the opportunities that existed in working for environmentally sustainable solutions in India. Further exploration revealed the challenges in urban transportation, namely lack of infrastructure that can cushion the hike in personal vehicles.

Realising the toll it was taking on Indias environment and a complete lack of self-drive model  and not just chauffeur-driven car rentals or cab aggregators  led me to spearhead the launch of Zoomcar. I have always been fascinated with India as a market. As a fast-growing economy, it provides entrepreneurs with amazing opportunities to not only scale up their ventures, but also deliver a social impact through unique, and oftentimes tech-enabled, service offerings.

The opportunities in India, I realized, would only be compounded over the years, and thus, it became imperative for me to be part of Indias growth story by introducing sustainable self-drive models that cater to the challenges in mobility at large. The business model of Zoomcar not only revolves around sustainability, but also caters to the market need for convenient self-drive mobility. There is always a risk whenever a new category is launched. However, at Zoomcar, we believe that we have succeeded in carving a niche for this disruptive offering. We now see several start-ups and cab aggregators follow our lead and venture into self-drive mobility, which only comes as a validation for what we had set out to achieve.



What need gap did you want to fulfil with your start-up? What is the core business proposition?

We were thinking about mobility and transportation solutions. We started looking at the market more carefully and realised that car ownership levels were incredibly low at 2 or 3 per cent. We saw the notion of car sharing as really a great opportunity because ownership levels were jut not going to

support. We looked at car sharing as a great entry point with self-drive. When we started to look at it more closely in 2011-2012, I spent three months on the ground here roaming around India in 25 cities, 12 states, and realised that it was a total white space. No one was doing anything in the market, everything was offline, all un-organised, all unstructured, no websites, no apps.

So, we wanted to bring order to that chaos through a common technology platform and a brand which people could identify across the country. We ended up raising a bit of capital in late 2012. I dropped out of business school and moved to Bangalore, from there the rest was history.

Zoomcar operates a short-term rental and a long-term subscription model. The former operates on an hourly and daily basis with prices starting at Rs 50/hr and ranging up to Rs 250/hr depending on the vehicle type. Long-term subscription starts at Rs 15K per month and runs up to Rs 45K depending on the vehicle type.

What were the challenges that you faced in your start-up journey and how did you overcome them?

The personal mobility segment in India is fast growing and we saw it to be a segment that needed the most disruption, but the journey has most certainly has had its challenges. To start car rentals, Zoomcar first had to get a license, but we could not get one. This was primarily because the Contract Carriage Permit needed us to have yellow board license plate vehicles. As Zoomcar did not have a fleet and we needed to tie up with an owner of a fleet soon. By this time, we had already raised seed funding and had tied up with several car makers. I had put in all my savings into Zoomcar, and it was suddenly a make-or-break situation. The only way out was to work with an existing player that already had a license. At that point in time, there were five of those (in Bengaluru) and four rejected Zoomcar outright, and it was down to the wire as we met with Ramesh Tours and Travels. If that did not work, it meant going back to the US. I did not book a return ticket (to India). I had one final meeting with Ramesh. We agreed on the terms and worked out a licensing agreement. I went back to the US the next day, but I could come back and that was a relief. It was extremely nerve wracking and very stressful because it would have been awful to return money to investors before starting a business.

Over the past seven years, while Zoomcar has continued to rent out cars on an hourly basis, it has also brought in several changes. Today, one can have a car delivered to their location. Zoomcar runs on a different model, and the focus is on customers who want the freedom of having a car any time they require, for a longer duration. The only way we have been able to stay ahead of the curve is by keeping our laser-sharp focus on the vehicle rental space and business. Whether it is cars or two-wheelers, we believe that in personal mobility there is a shift from ownership. That will not move towards the taxi industry, but more towards self-drive or rentals.

What were the clearances that you required for your venture from various authorities?

There is always a learning curve involved when one is introducing a new category. Car rentals were completely unheard-of category when we commenced operations. I remember how cumbersome a task it was to comply with regulations for number plates of the fleet, simply because of the

unprecedented opportunity. It has been a learning experience to educate and sensitise the authorities and our customers alike, about the perks of car rentals.

How is digital helping you further your business?

We are the market leader in the self-drive space with over 10,000 cars in the fleet. Zoomcars organic growth has been phenomenal. We have seen massive growth in terms of scale towards the second of 2018 and 2019. The amount of user-generated content we receive is unprecedented. We are a performance marketing-focused brand and the majority of our marketing team consists of performance marketers. We have a CRM team that helps in increasing repeat transactions and the frequency of transactions. We have always operated in a cost to income ratio, which is 6 per cent.

When Zoomcar got deployed on roads, the sticker with our brand name itself was the biggest outdoor campaign. We got a huge network growth through word of mouth, that has helped us in getting organic traffic, which is around 50-55 per cent. We are also focused on curated content and are associated with new-age content platforms like Filter Copy to create campaigns with a focus on awareness. We are also associated with TLC channel. On an average, we receive more than 60,000 high-quality user-generated content. Our customers pose for photographs with Zoomcars, surprisingly with doors open, because that is where the logos are. This just signifies the brand resonance we have achieved in the last seven years. Many brands spend a huge amount on marketing to attract influencers and get user-generated content, but Zoomcar has grown organically. Zoomcar is a selfie brand. Our users love to pose with the cars (which they book through our app) and the Zoomcar logo in the background. A testimony of this is the fact if you would do a quick dipstick on us on Instagram and search for #Zoomcar, you would see tons of high quality user generated content across different formats, but primarily selfies and videos.

On an average we see almost 15K to 20K user generated selfies and videos across organically every month. This validates the fact that with Zoomcar, our users feel empowered, independent, and liberated! We hardly spend any money on any sort of influencer activity as our users become a natural set of micro-influencers for the FTUs (first time users). Our Instagram base grew by 100% organically. One of the prime reasons for Instagram being our cornerstone of brand strategy is that our core target audience (Age: 21 to 28 ) are Instagram natives and dont shy away from showing their passion for fashion, food and travel and we get a solid leverage out of this. Moreover, all organic and satisfied customer selfies on Instagram further signify that they not only had a great in-trip experience while using our service, but we have actually been able to wow our customers who we proudly refer to as Zoomers.

What were your key learnings from 2020? How do you see the start-up ecosystem progressing in 2021?

COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of our economy indeed. What used to be the norm till last year may well become obsolete in the coming weeks. Therefore, each industry needs to adapt itself to the new normal. The car rental industry, to that end, is well-equipped and prepared to serve its

customers. We are already seeing a 400% rise in demand and we expect this to settle down at 200-300% over the next few months. People are now looking for shorter term mobility access as opposed to a long-term investment. We have seen a rise in demand for cars for personal work and emergency use cases. Rentals for intercity travel are up and a lot of people are opting for one-way travel. The notion of owning a car amidst such an intensifying emphasis on social distance may have taken the backseat. Still, the necessity of a mobility service remains as relevant as before.

As people would avoid public transport to keep themselves safe from contracting the virus, the need for rental cars will only go up. We are looking at various car subscription models to serve the needs of the customers. We also see more demand for in-city trips, compared to outstation ones and a strong focus on shorter term subscriptions. Our focus will be to diversify on this front and ensure we are covering all cities.

With COVID-19 forcing operations to go entirely digital, Zoomcar is leveraging technology such as AI and IoT to offer an impeccable experience to its customers. We also have key less entry, which minimise human contact and curb transmission of the virus. Every car is also thoroughly sanitized before and after each drive.

With deep-rooted technology models, Zoomcar has tweaked its mobile app to allow customers to reach out at any time in case of a query through emails, messages and chatbots. The platforms entirely digital payment gateway also makes for a smooth and hassle-free experience. Vehicle monitoring and predictive analysis will help us with data like speed, distance, RPM, clutch, break and time, that will be used to calculate the driver score, which encourages customers to drive cautiously. Not only does it increase safety of the customers, but will also help maintain the car in a better condition. A close eye will be kept on engine temperature and coolant level to predict engine seizures before it happens and guide the customers safely to a stop in case of any such situation. By prioritising safety, hygiene and customer experience with technology at the core, Zoomcar is looking to make its cars future-ready and COVID-19 safe.

One of our focus areas has been increasing this exponentially by adding more and more vehicle models, which will be offered on a subscription basis. We are also aggressively partnering the major automobile OEMs to offer a subscription as an alternative to vehicle ownership.

What would be your message for the budding entrepreneurs?

I would only like to say that in the start-up world, once you get a little bit of traction and youve secured a couple of early believers, you only need to consistently focus on two things  executing at an efficient pace, and making sure that customer experience is rock-solid. If you get these two things right, you can go far in your business.

For more updates & collaboration, connect us on :

WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube
Six people, including two teens, were injured on Sunday afternoon after a boat exploded on Lake Lanier, officials said.

The 16-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy were flown to Grady Memorial Hospital following the incident, which happened near Margaritaville at Lanier Islands about 2:30 p.m., according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. A 39-year-old woman was taken to Grady by Hall County fire services.

The explosion happened as the boat was refueling at the gas docks at the Port of Indecision, DNR spokesman Mark McKinnon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The boat was fully ablaze when first responders arrived at the scene.

Another dock caught fire after a Jet Ski drifted over to it from the burning boat, McKinnon said.

Three other people were injured during the incident in addition to the three people who were taken to the hospital.

Crews managed to put out the fire, and the cause of the incident remains under investigation.

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(c)2021 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)

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Joshua Matthew Black said in a YouTube video that he was protecting the officer at the U.S. Capitol who had been pepper sprayed and fallen to the ground as the crowd rushed the building entrance on Jan. 6.

Let him out, hes done, Black, a Leeds resident, claimed to have told rioters.

But federal prosecutors say surveillance footage doesnt back up Blacks account. They said he acknowledged that he wanted to get the officer out of the way  because the cop was blocking his path inside.

At least a dozen of the 400 people charged so far in the Jan. 6 insurrection have made dubious claims about their encounters with officers at the Capitol. The most frequent argument is that they cant be guilty of anything, because police stood by and welcomed them inside, even though the mob pushed past police barriers, sprayed chemical irritants and smashed windows as chaos enveloped the government complex.

The January melee to stop the certification of Joe Bidens victory was instigated by a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump who have professed their love of law enforcement and derided the mass police overhaul protests that shook the nation last year following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

But they quickly turned on police in one violent encounter after another.

We backed you guys in the summer, one protester screamed at three officers cornered against a door by dozens of men screaming for them to get out of their way. When the whole country hated you, we had your back!

The Capitol Police didnt plan for a riot. They were badly outnumbered and it took hours for reinforcements to arrive  a massive failure that is now under investigation. Throughout the insurrection, police officers were injured, mocked, ridiculed and threatened. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died after the riot.

Officers who spoke to The Associated Press said police had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction or plan and they were told not to fire on the crowd, they said. One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fighting hand-to-hand against rioters. Another decided to respond to any calls of officers in distress and spent three hours helping cops who had been immobilized by bear spray or other chemicals.

Three officers were able to handcuff one rioter. But a crowd swarmed the group and took the arrested man away with the handcuffs still on.

Still, some rioters claim police just gave up and told them that the building was now theirs. And a few  including one accused of trying to pull off an officers gas mask in a bid to expose the officer to bear spray  have claimed to be protecting police.

Matthew Martin, an employee for a defense contractor from Santa Fe, New Mexico, who has acknowledged being inside the building, claimed police were opening doors for people as they walked into the Capitol.

Dan Cron, Martins attorney, said a photo filed in court by authorities shows an officer using his back to hold a door open for people. No police barriers were in place when Martin walked into the Capitol area, nor was there anyone telling people they werent allowed in the building, Cron said.

He thought that was OK, Cron said, adding that his client was inside the Capitol for less than 10 minutes and didnt commit any violence. He doesnt know what the policies and procedures at the Capitol are, Cron said. He had never been there.

On the surface, images taken of officers who appear to step aside as the mob stormed the building could be beneficial to the rioters claims. In the days after Jan. 6, those images fueled rumors that police had stood by on purpose, but they have not been substantiated.

Experts caution against drawing conclusions.

The context will be very important in claiming officers welcomed in a crowd, said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. They were trying to control a fast-developing, difficult, potentially explosive situation. So I dont think its enough to say, The officer didnt tackle me.

Authorities say Michael Quick of Springfield, Missouri, claimed that he didnt know at the time that he wasnt allowed in the Capitol when he and his brother climbed in through an open window. He believed police were letting people in, despite seeing officers in riot gear.

Attorney Dee Wampler, who represents Michael and Stephen Quick, said he doesnt currently have proof for the claim the officers were letting people into the building, but he pointed out that he has thousands of documents from prosecutors still left to review.

If this case was tried, the evidence would be that there was a fairly large number of officers that were standing around when my clients entered, and they didnt try to stop the Quicks, Wampler said, adding that his clients didnt commit any violence inside the Capitol.

But the argument did not work for Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who sported face paint, a furry hat with horns and carried a spear during the riot.

Chansleys lawyer said an officer told his client that the building is yours and that he was among the third wave of rioters entering the Capitol.

In rejecting a request two months ago to free Chansley from jail, Judge Royce Lamberth said it wasnt clear who made the comment and concluded Chansley was unable to prove that officers waved him into the building, citing a video that the judge said proves that the Phoenix man was among the first wave of rioters in the building. The judge noted that rioters were crawling in through broken windows when Chansley entered the Capitol through a door.

Chansleys attorney, Albert Watkins, still insists that his client was in the third wave of rioters in the building and said it shouldnt shock the public that rioters who were hanging on to Trumps every word and believed the election was stolen legitimately believed they were allowed in the building. Its whats in their hearts and minds, Watkins said.

In all, Joshua Black made two claims that he helped officers at the Capitol.

Before encountering the officer he claimed to have protected at a Capitol doorway, Black said, police shot him in the cheek with a plastic projectile as he tried to keep another officer from being bootstomped by other rioters while outside the Capitol. But prosecutors say surveillance video doesnt depict an officer on the ground, nor is Black shown trying to help an officer.

Blacks attorney, Clark Fleckinger II, didnt return a phone call and email seeking comment.
Brace yourselves - the cyberattack that shutdown a major artery for petroleum products may hit you at the gas pump soon.

Alabama - along with Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee - relies on the Colonial Pipeline for most of its fuel supplies. The network ships more than 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to customers throughout the eastern U.S., or about 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast.

Reuters is reporting the Southeast will probably be the first section of the country to see a spike in gas prices because of the incident on Friday.

See also: What you need to know about the Colonial shutdown

A cybersecurity attack forced the Colonial Pipeline to shut down its entire system, from Texas to New York City. A Russian criminal group called DarkSide has been linked to the attack, according to NBC News.

Some smaller lines were restarted Sunday, but there is no timeline for the restart of the main pipelines.

The outage is hitting just as Americans, showing pent-up demand from the COVID-19 pandemic, are taking to the road and air travel more and anticipate summer vacations.

AAA says the national gas price average Monday is $2.96 per gallon, an increase of six cents in one week. If that trend continues, an increase of three cents would send the national average to its highest level since November 2014.

The AAA average in Alabama is $2.68, which makes it one of the lowest averages in the nation. According to GasBuddy.com, gas can still be acquired at pumps in the Birmingham area for as low as $2.30.

The longer the pipeline is down, the greater the threat of rising gas prices, Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA  The Auto Club Group, told CBS Miami. If operations are restored on Monday, drivers may see very little to no impact at the pump. A lengthy downtime, like a week, would be a different story.

According to AAA, other pipelines and gasoline imports will be able to ease the strain, while the U.S. Department of Transportation has loosened hours restrictions for drivers transporting gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products. Other areas of the country should see little impact.
A man in Volusia County, Fla., led authorities on quite the chase after he stole a police car and proceeded to zoom down a highway.

The chase didnt end there, however, as the man proceeded to steal another of the same departments vehicles after crashing the first.

10 Tampa Bay WTSP News reports that 33-year-old Xavier Javern Cummings stole the first vehicle from the Cocoa Police Department on Thursday afternoon. Authorities proceeded to pursue Cummings down I-95, where they managed to force him off the road and into the woods. It was there that the stolen cruiser crashed and became stuck.

According to the Volusia Sheriffs Office Facebook pagewhich posted a video capturing the incidentCummings jumped out of the stolen car as officers approached the wreckage. He then somehow was able to get into yet another Cocoa Police Department vehicle, zooming northbound on the highway.

After units along I-95 successfully deployed stop sticks, the suspect again ran off the 258 mile marker, where Sheriff Mike Chitwood and Division Chief Brian Henderson approached the vehicle, reads the post. Additional units quickly converged behind them to take the suspect into custody. No injuries were reported.

Cummings was taken into custody shortly after the second crash occurred. He is currently facing charges of armed burglary of a conveyance; escape; fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (two counts); grand theft firearm; (two counts); grand theft motor vehicle (two counts) and driving with a suspended license.

It remains unclear how Cummings managed to steal the first police car.
A 16-year-old south Alabama girl has been reunited with her family after authorities say her estranged boyfriend kidnapped her at gunpoint in front of her family Sunday afternoon.

The ordeal began in Geneva County about 3:30 p.m. and ended early Monday after a police chase that spanned both Georgia and Florida during which shots were fired. Iziquel Pashenz Vang, 21, is being held in a Florida jail.

Geneva County Sheriff Tony Helms said 16-year-old Jada Yvonne Varner had been in a relationship with Vang but had broken up with him on Wednesday. Her family had been gone from their Slocomb home because they were concerned Vang might try to harm Varner but returned Sunday to pick up some of their belongings.

While they were there, Helms said, Vang entered the home and held Varners family members at gunpoint, then dragging Varner to her own vehicle  a 2008 silver Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible. He dragged her out, put her in her own car and made her drive away,' the sheriff said.

Lawmen quickly descended on Varners family home, notified surrounding law enforcement agencies and reached out to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which later issued an Amber Alert.

About 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Helms said, the FBI also got involved in the case and started tracking Varners cell phone. By then, Georgia and Florida investigators were also involved.

We knew that he had spent some time in Tallahassee, and we felt like thats where he was going back to,' Helms said.

About 1:15 a.m. Sunday, said Madison County, Florida Sheriff David Harper, the sheriffs office received information from the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office in Georgia that the suspect wanted for the Alabama kidnapping was possibly traveling on U.S. 221 in Quitman, Ga. toward Madison County, Fl.

Authorities believed Vang to be armed and dangerous with a stolen handgun, Harper said.

More agencies then joined the hunt including the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, Brooks County Sheriffs Office, Lowndes County Sheriffs Office, Georgia State Patrol, Morven Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol, the FBI and Hamilton Department of Corrections tracking dogs.

At 1:29 a.m., Harper said, Brooks County sheriffs deputies advised they were in pursuit of the Mitsubishi at a high rate of speed south on U.S. 221 at or near the Jefferson/Madison County Line with shots fired. The pursuit ended with the suspect crashing the stolen Mitsubishi on Highway 90 west of Greenville. Varner suffered an injured ankle but is otherwise OK.

Vang fled from the crash scene on foot. Tracking dogs and deputies tracked Vang through a heavily wooded area where he was taken into custody at 4:47 a.m. He is being held without bond in the Madison County Jail.

This individual was, without doubt, a threat to the public,' Harper said. His arrest was possible because there are men and women who choose to put service to others above themselves. I am proud of the collaborative effort of all the agencies involved in the apprehension but more importantly the safe recovery of the kidnapping victim.

Vang is charged in Alabama with first-degree burglary. Helms said more charges are expected.

In Florida, he is charged with attempting to elude, kidnapping-false imprisonment, grand theft of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, failure to remain at the scene of a crash, resisting arrest, and driving with a suspended license.

Helms said Vang likely faces charges in Georgia also, and had outstanding warrants from Wisconsin on domestic issues there.

Varner was taken to the hospital, and then reunited with her family.

We are happy. The family is happy,' Helms said. Everybody was working together for one common thing and that was to get her returned home unharmed and get him in custody. It worked out great.
Melinda Gates had begun meeting with divorce lawyers by at least 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing sources and documents.

The couple announced their split last week after 27 years, saying in a statement together that the decision came after a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship.

Melinda Gates, 56, had been in contact with lawyers from different firms dating back to 2019, according to the new report.

Unnamed people who spoke with The Wall Street Journal contended that Bill Gates work with the late Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire and convicted sex offender, was an issue between the technology tycoon, 65, and his wife.

The statement released last Monday by Bill and Melinda Gates did not go into specifics about their split.

Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives, a portion of the statement says.

We continue to share a belief in that mission, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.

Bill and Melinda Gates are parents to two daughters  25-year-old Jennifer and 18-year-old Phoebe  and a son, 21-year-old Rory.

2021 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A smuggling attempt of less than 2 kilograms of meth could lead to a heavy punishment for a local Rio Grande Valley man.

A Pharr, Texas man faces up to life in prison after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count in connection with drug smuggling allegations, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office Southern District of Texas.

The allegations are related to his arrest on Feb. 8 as he attempted to enter the country from Mexico.

According to court records, Eduardo Maldonado attempted to enter the United States from Mexico at the Lincoln- Juarez bridge port of entry in Laredo as a passenger on a commercial bus.

During a routine X-ray examination of luggage and other items on the bus, authorities noted anomalies in a cardboard box belonging to Maldonado, the release stated. A K-9 unit also positively alerted to the presence of contraband. A subsequent physical search revealed nine packages which tested positive for cocaine, meth and heroin.

In all, the packages contained less than 1.5 kilograms of heroin, the release stated.

The Pharr man allegedly admitted to federal law enforcement that he was at a bar in Mexico with his girlfriend when he met a man who offered him $3,000 to transport a box to Birmingham, Alabama.

He was to give it to someone waiting for him at the bus stop. The man paid for Maldonados bus ticket. Maldonado claimed he did not know what was in the box and did not check, but admitted he knew something was in it based on the amount of money he was to be paid, the release stated.

On March 9, Maldonado was formally indicted on several drug conspiracy charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On April 30, Maldonado agreed to plead guilty to count 1, records show.

On Tuesday, the court accepted Maldonados guilty plea and set his sentencing for early August.

If convicted of the first count, Maldonado faces up to 10 years in prison.

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lzazueta@themonitor.com

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(c)2021 The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)

Visit The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) at www.themonitor.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A three-vehicle crash in Morgan County Saturday afternoon left one woman dead.

Joyce Tollie Phillips, 68, was killed when the 2016 Ford Focus in which she was a passenger collided with a 2011 Dodge Durango driven by Erika Cardona Mercado, 31, of Albertville.

The accident happened about 1:30 p.m. on Alabama 36 near Red Oak Road, about three miles east of Somerville.

The Dodge crossed the center line and struck a 2012 Honda Civic before colliding with the Ford, accord to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Phillips died while being transported to a nearby hospital. The driver of the Ford was injured and transported to a hospital for treatment.

Troopers are continuing to investigate the accident.
From todays Down in Alabama podcast:

An Alabama bill that would lift the ban on yoga in public schools would prohibit religious references and symbolism and limit yoga classes to poses, exercises and stretching.

You know, forward folds and downward dogs and all that stuff.

Also, schools would have to use English descriptive names for the movements and techniques. (So no stretching in a foreign language.)

On todays briefing well talk about that bills status, a prison inmate who died the day before his release, and an unforgettable softball game.

The Down in Alabama podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Get this and other AL.com newsletters here.

You can find Down in Alabama in these places:

Spotify podcast page

Alexa skill page on Amazon

Amazon Music podcast page

iTunes podcast page

Google podcast page

YouTube channel
A male was killed in a Sunday-afternoon shooting in Fairfield.

Birmingham police notified Jefferson County sheriffs deputies shortly after 3 p.m. that a shooting happened at 311 Valley Road, said Sgt. Joni Money. The victim was found in the 5700 block of Avenue O in Birmingham.

Money said the victim was a passenger in a vehicle that stopped at an intersection on Valley Road when someone in another vehicle opened fire on them. The driver sped away from the gunfire and then realized his passenger had been hit.

The cause of the shooting is not yet known.

Investigators say there was a black SUV, possibly a Chevrolet Equinox, behind the victims vehicle and may have information that detectives need. They are asking those inside the SUV to call detectives.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
A 19-year-old was shot to death Sunday night in eastern Birmingham.

Birmingham police Monday identified the victim Demonteco Usher. He was one of two people killed Sunday in Jefferson County homicides.

East Precinct officers were dispatched just before 11:30 p.m. to 6709 Interlaken Avenue on a report of a person shot, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. The citys gunfire detection system  Shot Spotter  also alerted to shots fired in the area.

Usher was found unresponsive and pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. No additional details have been released.

Usher is Birminghams 38th homicide of 2021. Of those, three have been ruled justifiable and therefore arent deemed criminal. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 78 homicides, including the 38 in Birmingham.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
Authorities are asking for the publics help in identifying the occupants of an SUV involved in a fatal shooting Sunday afternoon in Fairfield.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office on Monday identified the victim as Douglas MacArthur Crenshaw. He was 31 and lived in Birmingham.

Birmingham police notified Jefferson County sheriffs deputies shortly after 3 p.m. that a shooting happened at 311 Valley Road, said Sgt. Joni Money. Crenshaw was found in the 5700 block of Avenue O in Birmingham. The shooting happened at 2:32 p.m. and Crenshaw was pronounced dead on the scene at 2:57 p.m.

A man was shot to death Sunday, May 9, 2021 on Valley Road in Fairfield. The driver of the vehicle he was in stopped for help at Avenue O in Ensley. (Photo courtesy of Leon Allen.)

Money said the victim was a passenger in a vehicle that stopped at an intersection on Valley Road when someone in another vehicle opened fire on them. The driver sped away from the gunfire and then realized his passenger had been hit.

Authorities on Monday said someone inside what appears to be a white Toyota 4Runner opened fire on the black Dodge Charger in which Crenshaw was a victim.

According to the video evidence of the shooting, there was also a black Chevrolet Traverse traveling behind the victims vehicle when the shooting occurred. Detectives would like to speak with the occupants of the Traverse in relation to what they saw.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
Decatur police say a man was shot to death Sunday night.

Officers responded to a call at 10:50 p.m. at 1220 Second Ave. S.W. of an unresponsive male. They arrived to find Chester Lee Jordan, 59, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police say Jordan was transported to Decatur Morgan Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Sean Mukaddam at (256) 341-4617 or email SMukaddam@decatur-al.gov.
An early-morning shooting in Montgomery left one man dead.

Authorities Sunday afternoon identified the victim as Solomon Hughes. He was 26.

Montgomery police Lt. Jarrett Williams said officers responded shortly after midnight to a report of shots fired in the 1100 block of West Boulevard. Once at the scene, police learned the victim had already been transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

No additional details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting have yet been released. No arrests have been announced.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP, Montgomery police at 334-625-2831 or MPDs Secret Witness tip line at 334- 625-4000.
This is an opinion column

I am a pediatrician. But Alabama may soon take my white coat and stethoscope, charging me with a felony for doing my job.

I co-lead the Youth Multidisciplinary Gender Team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of 55 subspecialty partnerships nationally that provide affirming care to gender diverse youth. One of 33 such bills nationally, Alabamas Senate Bill 10 would criminalize doctors for providing this care, and it is one vote away from reaching Governor Kay Iveys desk.

When I first read this bill, it reminded me of a recent consult with another patient battling gender dysphoria. My patient  a well-built teen clad in oversized maroon scrubs  was pacing tensely about the small room in my hospitals psychiatric ward.

This patient, admitted into the hospital as male, was admitted for a third suicide attempt and unrelenting depression. Earlier that day, the patient told the care team an inescapable secret: The patient had always known herself to be a girl. With puberty closing in, a visceral dissonance deep inside her, amplified by the trepidation of angering her family, left her entirely hopeless. Her dark eyes, windows to a kind but troubled soul, conveyed her long journey to today, forever searching to be heard and understood.

Since the first pediatric gender clinic emerged at Boston Childrens Hospital in 2007, medical care models have been improved and refined to uphold health for transgender youth worldwide. Teams like mine unite pediatric endocrinologists, primary care pediatricians, behavioral health clinicians and affirming chaplains. This evidence based, guideline-driven standardized care is endorsed by the 70,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics, among several other medical organizations. For decades, weve been quietly healing thousands of youth, just like this patient. Slowly, meticulously, helping youth and families become whole.

Yet Alabama could join Arkansas in ruling this care illegal. Should SB10 become law, the State of Alabama would become the final arbiter of medical decision making. Never, in 28 years of practice, did I see this coming.

Nor did Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Deeply conservative and no policy ally to the LGBTQ community, he valiantly vetoed a similarly audacious bill. Admonishing his own partys lawmakers for egregious legislative overreach and their eagerness to exploit cultural divisions for political benefit, he embraced and elevated the real people to be affected.

SB10 was not prompted by constituent concerns, nor by imminent threats to economic or public safety. Its sponsor, Senator Shelnutt (R-Trussville) revealed publicly hes never met a transgender youth. Legislators are correct in designating gender diverse youth as a vulnerable population. They are correct that vulnerable people need to be cared for, even protected. But they are very wrong in thinking that criminalizing medical care for this vulnerable population is protection. Sacred texts of many faiths agree that caring for vulnerable members of the community is a Divine imperative. Finding love, nurture and acceptance allows vulnerable persons to grow and thrive. You cannot nurture or protect someone you have not listened to, learned from, or acknowledged as fully human. Such ignorance creates a bad bill with worse repercussions.

SB10s language basically outlaws routine newborn circumcision inadvertently sweeping swaths of our pediatric workforce into prosecution.

If SB10 becomes law without a provision to continue care for over 200 patients now thriving and healthy under our care, should I violate medical ethics or commit a felony? To cease ongoing care is unethical medical abandonment. If I continue standard of care medicine, I could go to prison.

This conundrum is not lost on Alabamas future physicians. In several recent meetings, potential medical students residents, faculty and rural health hopefuls have expressed reservations about working in our state. These bills matter.

Trans and gender diverse youth comprise 1.7% of the population. Like my recent patient, internalized guilt, confusion, shame and sense of defeat lead almost half of transgender youth to embark on suicide during their journeys. Our clinic patients have made large right turns away from that darkness, serving as daily reminders of the healing power released by affirmation and hope.

To those like my new friend whom we have not yet met, we have the tools to help you and wont let our hands be tied by shallowness. To all youth, we pediatricians see you, embrace you and say your names, whether chosen or given. We will uphold your health and life as we work daily to improve the provision of culturally responsive care for all children and families. We elevate your voices and we refuse to let ignorance get in the way of your wellbeing.

Dr. Morissa Ladinsky is Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UAB Pediatrics, Division of Academic General Pediatrics and co-lead of the UAB Youth Multidisciplinary Gender Health Team.

The opinion expressed above is that of the author and does not represent her employer or institution.
The motives behind GOP move to oust dissenter Cheney

Xinhua) 08:16, May 10, 2021

Photo taken on April 2, 2021 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

A researcher said that support for former U.S. President Donald Trump is the most powerful motivation for private citizens and politicians to stick with the Republican Party.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Republicans are moving to replace House Republican Conference Chair Congresswoman Liz Cheney -- one of the few in her party who refuses to march in lockstep with former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The development underscores Trump's massive and continuing importance in the GOP, experts said.

The GOP's move to oust Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, from her No. 3 leadership post was recently precipitated when she greeted U.S. President Joe Biden at the Capitol and tweeted that Biden won the election fair and square, countering Trump's narrative of a stolen election.

That began the backlash against Cheney, one of a tiny number of Republicans who view Biden as the nation's legitimate president and underscores the massive influence Trump still holds over the GOP.

"I don't know if it means (Trump) is an active player, but he's still a massive presence in the party," Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua.

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the center for international and security studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that support for Trump is the most powerful motivation for private citizens to stick with the Republican Party.

"Even when Trump personally is less active, he has functional control," Ramsay said.

Indeed, a CNBC poll in February found that 74 percent of Republicans want Trump to stay active in the party, and nearly half want him to remain head of the GOP.

Former presidential contender Senator Mitt Romney recently said Trump is "by far the largest voice" in the Republican Party.

"I expect he will continue playing a role. I don't know if he'll run in 2024 or not. But if he does, I'm pretty sure he will win the nomination," Romney said.

Perhaps more telling is the fact that a number of high-level GOP lawmakers, who blasted Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, have backpedaled on their statements.

Moreover, Republicans who voted to impeach the former president have been censured by their own state parties, not to mention booed at rallies and criticized by their own base.

"The devotion of the GOP base to Trump right now is so strong, so complete, that even the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 hasn't materially impacted his influence on the party," noted Peter Wehner, who worked in the administrations of former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, in a recent article in the Deseret Magazine, a U.S. publication.

"While Trump may no longer be president, what defines the GOP today is Trump," Wehner argued.

Rather than causing a movement, experts said Trump is simply the reflection of the pent-up frustration and grievances of millions of Americans, many of them rural, working class and living in the nation's heartland.

Over the past 25 years, tens of millions of Americans have seen their jobs shipped abroad while corporate CEOs have transitioned from millionaires to billionaires. Many believe that for decades both Democratic and Republican leaders were on the side of the global elitist class.

At the same time, they believe the U.S. corporate media -- and most recently Big Tech -- are trying to silence them by kicking them off platforms such as Twitter. Many note with disgust that Trump has been banned on the platform.

The question remains how Trump's popularity in the GOP will impact the midterm Congressional elections.

Historically, midterms favor the party that does not hold the White House, noted Galdieri, and experts said the Democratic majority is tight enough that Republicans should have a good chance of winning a House majority.

Ramsay said politicians who are not personally loyal to Trump are likely to face a pro-Trump opponent in their party primary, while extremely pro-Trump politicians are unlikely to face any real primary competition.

Ramsay added that Cheney herself appears to have little interest in staying in the House leadership. The job involves a lot of work to help others get re-elected, and she will have a hot race of her own to win in 2022, Ramsay argued.

But Cheney does not want to resign, Ramsay said. "She seems to want to become the undisputed leader of the conservative fragment that rejects Trump," Ramsay said. 

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)
Research News

Study finds melting of ice sheets, glaciers can be slowed

By CHARLOTTE HSU

This study is important because the statistical techniques used  called emulation  allowed us to explore many more different futures than possible with the numerical ice sheet and glacier models. 

New research from a large international community of scientists predicts that sea level rise from the melting of ice could be halved this century if the world meets the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Thats relative to projections based on countries current pledges to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases.

The study, published in Nature on May 5 and led by Tamsin Edwards, reader in climate change at Kings College London, explores the land ice contribution to sea level in the 21st century arising from the worlds glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Edwards is the lead author on the paper, Projected land ice contributions to twenty-first-century sea level rise, and worked with more than 80 authors internationally.

Contributors included UB climate scientist Sophie Nowicki, the papers second author. Nowicki led the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP6), a major international effort that provided key data for the study. UBs Center for Computational Research facilitated the research by providing resources for data storage and sharing.

The new study in Nature uses a large number of computer models combined with statistical techniques, making predictions for the latest socioeconomic scenarios to inform the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes Sixth Assessment report, which will be published later this year.

The research predicts that if the world can limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Greenland Ice Sheet losses would fall by 70%, and glacier losses by half, compared with current emissions pledges (called nationally determined contributions). For Antarctica, the predictions did not produce a clear link between the volume of ice loss and different emissions scenarios. This is because it is unclear whether snow falling in the cold interior of the ice sheet will offset melting at the coasts. However, under a pessimistic storyline, with much more melting than snowfall, Antarctic ice losses could be five times larger.

Ahead of COP26 this November, many nations are updating their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, says Edwards, director of the Kings Climate Hub. Global sea level will continue to rise, even if we halt all emissions now, but our research suggests we could limit the damage: If pledges were far more ambitious, central predictions for sea level rise from melting ice would be reduced from 25 centimeters to 13 centimeters in 2100, with a 95% chance of being less than 28 centimeters rather than the current upper end of 40 centimeters. This would mean a less severe increase in coastal flooding. (COP26 is the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.)

This study is important because the statistical techniques used  called emulation  allowed us to explore many more different futures than possible with the numerical ice sheet and glacier models, says Nowicki, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Geology, College of Arts and Sciences, and in the UB RENEW Institute. This is because numerical modeling takes a lot of time and computer resources, and so we are limited in the number of simulations that we can do.

These numerical simulations, however, are the key input for the emulator, she says. ISMIP6 gave key inputs for this study, providing 600 sea level rise projections from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from 27 international ice sheet models. The first ISMIP6 workshop that I organized was seven years ago, and it took us as a community this whole time to get here.
For the new White House tenants, the events of January 6, 2021 ushered an opportunity to refresh the progressive narrative and raise public hackles against soldiers and cops. Throwing fuel on that Reichstag fire were approximately fifty arrested Capitol protesters with ties to the military and police. Most had been separated from government service for years or decades. Three were active army reservists and six were enlisted police officers who are now suspended or fired over their horseplay.

The Department of Justice has been relentless in its efforts to bring the Capitol invaders to heel. Deeper and darker politically supercharged criminal and counterintelligence investigations have taken a second seat, to include those involving surveillance by the Obama inner circle on the Trump campaign, the compromise of careless Senate Democrats by moles from the Chinese Communist Party, eyewitness and digital evidence of Biden family swindles, and the textbook definition of treason from an Obama secretary of state who allegedly disclosed a close allys military strategy to a Mideast terror regime.

For their part, the FBI has been quick to act upon tens of thousands of leads from private citizens, poring over Capitol Police body cams and telephone and security videos as prima facie evidence to obtain hundreds of arrest and search warrants and indictments. Special agents from every field division in the country have been tasked to work on the case. Of those arrested, some have been imprisoned without bail, others are awaiting formal charges, and many will receive little more than misdemeanor trespassing complaints. The whole episode has now become a latter-Day of Infamy for Democrats to blaspheme all of the conservative faith and a tiresome reason to permanently ban the former president from all social media posts.

As Inauguration Day approached, House Speaker Pelosi put up the cement and steel ramparts and the FBI conducted security checks on the 25,000 National Guard personnel assigned to security posts. A dozen, five ten-thousandths of a percent, were sent packing, their reputations and careers sullied by politically inappropriate comments and texts or for behaviors still unexplained. None had confirmed ties to extremist groups.

Four months later, the Capitol is still a citadel and January 6 remains the gift that keeps the Democrat media flacks in print and Republicans diving for cover. The nine active duty soldiers and cops arrested by the FBI have become the cause celebre for Joe Biden to have misgivings over the remaining 19 million under arms here and abroad.

Newly-minted Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a retired Army four-star now on leave from the boardroom of defense contractor Raytheon, placed the entire U.S. military into a 60-day staggered stand down, dropping its guard to hunt a ghostly phalanx of extremists and racists plotting within the rank and file. And while no such insurgent has raised his head across town at DHS, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has followed suit, launching a probe to reveal the internal menace but offering no details on the purity test that would expose the revolutionists on their payroll.

Evidence of a systemic insider threat at DHS or the Pentagon is woefully inadequate, but there are hallway anecdotes and loud acclamations by the ruling class that white supremacy is the most severe national security threat confronting the country. We know this to be true because the teleprompter told Joe Biden as much during his recent SOTU address to Congress, even as al Qaeda, giddy over a military withdrawal from Afghanistan, promised a September 11 do-over for America.

For the U.S. military, much of the insider threat has taken place overseas on foreign battlefields and involved the treachery of coalition forces. On the homefront, given the millions enlisted and mixtures of races, ethnicities, and cultures, the risk of green-on-green attacks has been de minimus.

In past attacks, behavior and rhetoric often presaged violent action. At Fort Hood, Major Nidal Hasan radicalized in full view of the FBI and fellow soldiers and threw up more red flags than a Beijing military parade. That embarrassment was promptly veiled as workplace violence during the early years of the Obama presidency.

In late 2019, a Pearl Harbor sailor with a vocal hatred for his supervisors and forced to undergo anger management counseling was still in possession of his issued weapons when he shot and killed two civilian shipyard workers and wounded a sailor. Two days later, a Saudi student pilot invited for flight training at the Pensacola Naval Base suddenly revealed his jihadist leanings, killing three airmen with a sidearm in an incident that smacked of terrorism.

Against what apostasy the Beltway generals will now proceed after this declared war on domestic extremism by the commander-in-chief remains a mystery. Supremacism and extremism are Democrat wordsmithing at its best, meant to frighten on its face and dropped into the woke vocabulary without suffering an explanation or qualification.

Existing political activity regulations for soldiers and cops permits the expression of a personal opinion on political candidates and issues, short of outright threat. Participation in political groups is governed by restrictions over activity, not membership. This will likely change. The Defense Departments Diversity and Inclusion Board has already recommended that service members be banned from membership in hate groups, following guidance issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a far-left organization that also condemns the VFW and American Legion for citing extreme hatred. If the past is prologue, the scrubbing of conservative thought and opinion from social media platforms, and the dogged Capitol investigation conducted in utter disregard of the significant property and lives lost to months of unchecked rioting, offer more than a whiff of smoke that the coming inquisition will fall hard upon the political right.

The insider threat now being pushed by military and DHS appointees of the Biden administration is ill-defined, grounded in assumptions, and is precariously balanced on the events of January 6. Since Austins official announcement of the stand down on February 5, thousands of listening sessions have been held across all branches.

The greatest concern among service members was the lack of a definition for extremism. The Pentagon spokesman admitted that the numbers of insider extremists was small, something over zero, and suggested that they would keep looking until they found a problem. Defense and DHS chiefs have an obligation to put flesh and bones on White House fancies, so the witch hunt will soon venture beyond evidence of extremist group membership and into shotgun approaches that will blindly vacuum up innocents for their ideological opinions, party affiliations, and sympathies.

Ideological purges are self-fulfilling prophecies. A political culling of the military and law enforcement herd will keep raising the temperature of suspicion and unjustly disaffect and censure loyal servicemembers and civilians in ways that could bring about disunity, resistance, and disobedience in the ranks. Those fortunate enough to survive the litmus of loyalty will endure classroom training by equity officers that will impart the dangerous misconception that the real enemy may be alongside them in the foxholes, not in their laser sights.

The top definition for "supremacist" in the trendy Urban Dictionary describes it as once a term denoting racist beliefs, it has been taken by the Democratic party to mean anything or anyone not sharing Democratic party beliefs. It's basically a meaningless insult. An insult it may be, but one that can easily be mishandled by military and federal law enforcement leaders to advance more sinister Democrat goals and strategies. If we continue to erase history and obstruct its lessons, it will be harder to recognize the real supremacists and extremists in todays battle space as those who are casting the political aspersions and pointing fingers.

Image: Library of Congress

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A dispute between Britain and France involving warships catches the eye.

Screengrab CNN

Screengrab NYT

On May 5, 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath and spoke at the tomb of Napoleon at the ceremony commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of the emperor. Macron maintained that the historic figure was both ogre and eagle, Alexander and Nero, the soul of the world and the demon of Europe. He added, We love Napoleon because his life gives us a taste of what is possible if we accept the invitation to take risks.

A day later, Frenchmen accepted that invitation, and taking risks, engaged in a confrontation, a dispute over access to waters in the English Channel, with the fishermen of the island of Jersey. The island is a self-governing British crown dependency, not part of the UK, and is 14 miles off the coast of France. Jersey has substantial freedom from Westminster and has day to day control over its fishing waters, but the UK is ultimately responsible for its defense and international relationships. Therefore, access to Jersey fishing waters is part of the EU-UK trade agreement of Brexit. Under post-Brexit requirements, Jersey introduced new requirements for fishing boats to submit evidence of their past fishing activities to get a license to carry on operating in Jersey waters.

French fishermen claimed Jersey had imposed unfair terms, created restricted zones, and limited the kind of fishing equipment that can be used. Jersey granted access to its waters to 41 French fishing vessels larger than 39 feet, though 344 applied. The French fishermen on May 6, 2021 protested over the new fishing licensing arrangements in the Channel Islands, and among other things over licenses for smaller vessels. For a moment there was fear of another scallop war, a one-day war, against Jersey and implicitly Britain, similar to the Great Scallop War, guerre de la coquille, of October 2012.

A flotilla of 70 French trawlers staged a protest at and tried to blockade St Hellier, the capital of Jersey, firing flares, waving banners, and shouting slogans. Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared unwavering support for Jersey responded with gunboat diplomacy, sending, as a precautionary measure, two Royal Navy gunboats, H.M.S Tamar and H.M.S. Severn to the scene. Macron then issued an order for two French military patrol boats to face off against the British navy gunboats, but almost immediately withdrew the order. Johnson urged de-escalation of the crisis, and called on France and Jersey to stop friction, while stating that UK had unwavering support for Jersey, any blockade would be completely unjustified.

However, Macron threatened to cut energy supply, mostly delivered through underseas cables, to Jersey which gets 95% of its energy from France if French fishermen were not given bigger quotas by jersey.

The event was not a restaging of Trafalgar but a manifestation of nationalism to which Macron, in supporting the French fishermen, is resorting to show his credentials as a way of appealing to the right-wing base of his presidential rival Marine le Pen. Though there is no close parallel, Macrons attitude is reminiscent of the belligerence of Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentinian general and president, unpopular at the time in his own country, who on April 2, 1982, ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the South Atlantic archipelago, a British overseas territory. He never believed that the UK would respond militarily. However, the British government led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force to retake the Islands. After a ten-week war, the event ended with the Argentine surrender to the British forces, and in Argentine the removal of Galtieri from power.

The event in May 2021 is the result of the Brexit arrangements. Until January 1, 2021, the UK was subject to the EU common fisheries policy, according to which the fishing fleets from the EU countries had equal access to the EEZ, exclusive economic zone, which by agreement is 200 nautical miles from the coast of each state or maritime halfway point between neighboring countries.

After the Brexit deal, the right of EU fleets to UK waters was reduced by 15% and will further decrease until 2026. Then the UK has the right to ban foreign fishing fleets altogether, though there will be annual negotiations. This is significant since the UK EEZ is the fifth largest in the world. The UK and EU require a license to fish in each others waters. The French fishermen are angry about the regulations by the Jersey government in order to get a license, and assert that Jersey has been slow to approve licenses.

Fish has for long been a slippery issue for Britain and neighbors. This is not the first time of friction and confrontations. Over a twenty year period, mid 1950s to mid 1970s, UK was in dispute with Iceland over the cod wars, after Iceland in 1958 expanded its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and banned foreign fleets from fishing in these waters. Since 1982, a 200 nautical mile zone has been the international standard. Iceland won the cod wars, as is shown by the flaunting of the Iceland gunboat that opened fire on a British navy vessel as an upscale restaurant in Reykjavik harbor. More disputes between UK and Iceland and Faroe Islands are likely because Iceland has a increased its agreed quota of mackerel while the competitor Scotland gets less. This issue between UK and Iceland is disconcerting because it is a dispute between two NATO allies; Iceland has threatened to withdraw from NATO and to close the U.S. base on Icelandic soil over a fishing dispute with UK.

A dispute over scallops in the English Channel took place in October 2012 off the coast of Le Havre. The Great Scallop War resulted from the fact that there were different fishing restrictions for British and French boats. British scallop fishermen are allowed to fish for scallops all year long, while the French are not allowed to fish between May and October. Further friction occurred the same year when 40 French fishing boats surrounded five British boats, attacking them with rocks and nets. Another incident took place in August 2018 when 35 French boats tried to prevent British fishermen from catching scallops off the Normandy coast. Some British trawlers and then French boats were damaged.

In September 2018 Cornish fishermen accused France of sabotaging their crab pots , dragging and breaking them. In October 2018, dozens of French fishermen interested in scallops faced off with some British rivals , leading to some scanning of vessels, stone throwing, and smoke bombs.

In October 2020 two British boats near the 12 mile French territorial limit were surrounded by French boats which threw flares and frying pans. In April 2021, French fishermen briefly blockaded trucks carrying British fish to processing plants in Boulogne sur Mer

The confrontation continues. On May 7, 2021, France , going beyond simply stopping British boats, issued a legal notice that British fishermen were no longer welcome to French ports. It had officially banned Jersey fishermen from offloading their catch at French ports. One Jersey boat was threatened with violence and turned back. Because France wont let British boats dock and offload in France, British fish supplies normally going to France have piled up in Jersey. The surprising result is that because the export to France has virtually stopped, Jersey fishermen have been giving away lobster hauls free.

The present dispute is symptomatic of the anger and bad feelings left by British exit from EU, and the new role of Britain in the post Brexit world. It is yet another problem between UK and EU , together with differences over the coronavirus developed at Oxford and produced by Astra-Zeneca. However, for Prime Minister Johnson his gunboat diplomacy was a triumph, not only in checking hostilities by the French, but helping his Conservative party be very victorious at the local and regional elections held the same week.

The Royal Navy patrol ships have returned to their base in Portsmouth but they are constantly ready to protect UK fishing waters. Boris Johnson and Macron are supposed to be holding emergency peace talks. What is unexpected that Boris, the person regarded by some as a clownish buffoon, a figure with an unorthodox private life, a man clearly not destined for sainthood, would defuse the crisis and manifest the mantle of Lord Palmerston and Winston Churchill and be the incarnation of British patriotism.

In his public announcement of the Brexit deal in December 2020, Johnson symbolically wore a fish patterned tie and a herringbone shirt to illustrate his concern for British fish. His position is clear, the UK will be an independent coastal state with full control of our waters. For Britain, its time for dover sole.

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There is nothing that makes a happier Mother's Day for this mother than enjoying an ad that attacks leftists right in their smuggest spot, which is their disdain for Southern states and Southern education. In Minneapolis, an organization called TakeCharge Minnesota placed an ad in the local paper exposing just how bad their schools are compared to those in the South.

One of the constants about leftists is the sneering disdain they have for Southerners  and the deeper south one goes, the greater the leftists' disdain. As I know well, for many years, if you challenged anything about public education in a Northern state, things such as the constant lowering of standards or the abandonment of grammar  you would be met with the fact that more kids from blue states went to college than did kids from red states. Invariably, Mississippi or Alabama would be thrown out as Exhibit A to prove the pathetic weakness of education in those deep red states.

It was useless to point out that, of late, kids going to college aren't getting educated any more than they were in K12. Instead, they're also getting indoctrinated. Where they once studied the greatest thinkers and writers of ancient and modern culture, they now do ridiculous things such as looking at pre-colonial America through the filter of sexuality and gender. Yes, that was a real assignment one of my children got at a prestigious little liberal arts college. Another of my children was told to think about biblical-era Jerusalem in terms of social justice.

Instead of expanding young minds, today's education is as reductionist as anything taught in a Chinese school during the Cultural Revolution. It's not about imparting knowledge; it's about imposing leftist shibboleths.

None of these arguments matters to leftists. They've got their mantra: the redder the state, the more stupid the people and, of course, the worse the schools in these states.

That's why an ad that appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune is so brilliant. Minneapolis is one of America's most woke, most blue, most arrogant cities  except that, as the ad states, its schools perform worse than schools in...wait for it...Mississippi. The ad then identifies by name mothers who would have the happiest Mother's Day if their children got true school choice.

Because of the limitations of our server, this is the largest version of the ad I can get to appear here. You can see a full-size version at PowerLine:

By the way, the ad is also a good ad because it brings attention to the TakeCharge Minnesota organization. The statement of purpose on that organization's home page is magnificent and could easily be repeated in every blue state:

Concerns and sensitivities are still on edge from last year's death of George Floyd, riots, and destruction in Minneapolis. TakeCharge is a new organization committed to countering the prevailing narrative in popular culture that America is structured to undermine the lives of black Americans. Kendall Qualls will lead TakeCharge with the objective to inspire and educate the black community and other minority groups in the Twin Cities to take charge of their own lives, the lives of the families and communities as citizens fully granted to them in the Constitution. We acknowledge that racist people exist in the country, but explicitly reject the notion that the United States of America is a racist country. This is a subtle, but significant difference! We also denounce the idea that the country is guilty of systemic racism, white privilege and abhor the concept of identity politics and the promotion of victimhood in minority communities. TakeCharge will build a coalition of community champions, academic professionals, and business leaders to ignite a transformation within the Black community of the Twin Cities by embracing the core principles of America  not rejecting them. These principles are embedded in the belief of hard work, education, faith, family, and free enterprise in the personal pursuit of dreams that can be realized by anyone regardless of race or social standing.

Bravo! If you keep scrolling down the home page, you'll be impressed by the work this organization is doing. You can donate here. I did because this is the type of organization that's doing the hard work of countering the racial hatred that leftists are pouring into America to tear it down.

Image: Chalkboard by rawpixel.com.

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Surveying the damage already inflicted on the Middle East Peace achievements of the Trump administration in just over 100 days of the Biden presidency, Caroline Glick calls that region "A Powder Keg, Courtesy of Washington." The piece is lucid, so I recommend reading the whole thing.

The damage is heartbreaking to those of us that saw signs that a genuine new equilibrium was forming, with the prospect of the Arab world accepting the existence of Israel. Here is some of the damage:

In Afghanistan and Iraq, violent attacks against U.S. forces are rising steeply. From January through April, attacks on U.S. forces increased 40%. President Joe Biden's announcement that the U.S. will withdraw its forces from the country by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the jihadist attacks on the U.S. worsened the situation by communicating a message of profound American weakness and defeatism. The Taliban, al Qaeda and Iran clearly believe they are now free to humiliate and bleed the U.S. as they take control of the country. In Iraq, Iranian-controlled Shiite militias launched three missile strikes against U.S. bases in the past week. Hoping to avoid confrontation with Iran as its emissaries appease it in Vienna, the Biden administration is assiduously avoiding acknowledging that Iran is behind the attacks, and so it guarantees that more attack will soon follow. As in Afghanistan, Iran reads U.S. behavior as an invitation to strike with immunity. In Syria, Iran's Syrian proxy President Bashar Assad and Iran's Lebanese proxy Hezbollah continue to wage a war of extermination against Syrians who oppose them. In southern Syria last weekend, after opposition forces from the village of Am Batana, six kilometers from the border with Israel attacked a joint Syrian military and Hezbollah base nearby, the military ordered the entire village to evacuate by 2 pm last Saturday, or else. Most of the villagers reportedly fled their homes. While turning a blind eye to Syria, the Biden administration continues to empower the Lebanese armed forces and government  both wholly controlled by Iran through Hezbollah. Last month, the administration transferred armored trucks valued at $14 million to the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese military and asked that Congress provide financial assistance to the government. Hezbollah for its part has launched a charm campaign on the public. Having caused the government to go bankrupt and forced the people of a once prosperous land into destitution, Hezbollah is now carrying out a well-publicized food drive, handing out Iranian basic foodstuffs to starving Lebanese along with Hezbollah membership cards. Just months ago, hope abounded that Saudi Arabia would join the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in the Abraham peace accords with Israel. But the picture is now reversed. Recognizing the U.S. has changed sides, the Saudis no longer believe that with Israel they can contain Iran. So now they are hoping to cut a deal with the ayatollahs. Ties between Israel and the UAE are also showing signs of stress. Last week, the UAE joined the anti-Israel cavalcade, releasing a statement condemning Israel for quelling Arab violence against Jews in Jerusalem. And this week reports emerged that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif paid a visit to the Emirates.

I doubt we'll be seeing any more historic agreements between Israel and major Arab States, such as the signing of the Abraham Accords at the White House:



YouTube screen grab (cropped).

A train wreck, and far worse to come.

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The 2020 Census results are a complete embarrassment to California's ruling Democrats.

Despite opening the floodgates to millions of illegal aliens, making the state the home to one out of four foreigners who break into the country without authorization, the state has made substandard gains in population over the last decade.

The population that the state did gain over the last decade was well below the 7.4% national average, according to the New York Times, and really bad compared to places like number-one Texas. As a result, the state is losing a congressional seat, for the first time in its 170-year history. It's happening despite the 6.1% gain because the number of congressional seats is capped at 435. Any state that gains a seat does so at the expense of another. Hello, California.

That's a significant reversal, because until now, California's story has always been about growth, with Census data often showing that its population had doubled.

Worse still, the population has gone negative, not merely substandard in growth, just in the past year. Residents are voting with their feet.

According to Breitbart News:

California's population declined by more than 182,000 people last year, marking the first time in the state's history that it has experienced a year-over-year loss. State officials said Friday that California's population slid 0.46 percent to slightly under 39.5 million people between January 2020 and January 2021, the Associated Press reported.

Yet despite these embarrassing numbers, brought on by one-party leftist rule in California, state officials delude themselves that it's nothing to do with their policies. Breitbart notes:

State officials chalk off the declining population over the past year to a declining birth rate, reductions in international immigration, and deaths from the coronavirus. In 2020 alone, 51,000 Californians died from the coronavirus.

Really? I just went to a farewell party last night in Lake Elsinore, California  a very multi-racial one, where nearly all of the attendees were black and Mexican. They were homeowners. Industrious immigrants. Entrepreneurs. Cops. Military people. The street they were on, in a very pretty, newish neighborhood of McMansions with big yards and swimming pools, was loaded with "For Sale" signs.

My friend, her husband, and their kids were pulling up stakes for South Carolina. They weren't the only ones planning on going

Reasons cited? Not just high housing costs  the party attendees already had their own homes, as Breitbart cited, quoting the former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, who's now running in California's recall referendum to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

They cited a feeling of non-representation in the one-party state run solely by Democrats. They felt shut out. They detested the state's ever rising taxes and ever falling services. They loathed the rising crime and the war on cops.

Probably the biggest reason so many cited for leaving was strong desire not to expose their multi-racial kids to wokester education and Critical Race Theory. They said they didn't want their kids to grow up to be victims full of hate for others. They very much liked that red states such as South Carolina and North Carolina and Texas and Florida are full of people who "have manners."

"You can breathe in a place like that," said one.

All of these things are realities of why Californians are fleeing. It's not COVID as they claim. It's not reduced legal immigration, well made up for by illegal immigration now.

It's wokester socialism and the high cost of living.

In South Carolina, my friend said everyone else they were meeting who was buying a home was from someplace else, and most were fleeing the horrors of their own one-party blue states. Yes, they intended to vote conservative, not liberal, as some areas have been seeing from earlier waves of leavers who made their way to places like Phoenix and Austin. It suggests that that this intense wave of people fleeing California are more values-motivated.

This ought to be a huge embarrassment to California's ruling Democrats. They've gotten every last thing they've wanted on the wokester wish list  illegals, goodies for illegals, wokester education, high taxes, greenie policies, rolling blackouts, high electrical bills brought on by greenie mandates, cultural supremacy, falling educational scores, non-stop lockdowns  and people don't want to live in it. They don't like the socialist paradise, and they're fleeing like Venezuelans.

Yet amazingly, they delude themselves that none of this is their fault.

As was said by Jack Nicolson in A Few Good Men, "you can't handle the truth."

They're losing huge chunks of their tax base as well as a congressional seat to human flight (they even lost billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to Texas), yet they still have no intention of trying to find out why. There's no light on; it's no wake-up call in those quarters.

Seems it's because they are counting on Joe Biden to take from the prospering red states and use them to bail out their socialist failure. Nobody's thinking of solving this by finding things to do that might just persuade people to stay. They don't care that people are fleeing. Yet they're the loudest voices out there talking about "sustainability" and "sustainable growth." Everyone can see that on the sustainability front, they fail, big time. Bearing only socialism, they are nothing but revolting leeches.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.

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There is another garbage piece by Ralph Martire on Sunday in the State Journal-Register of Illinois, titled "Trickle-down harms people, communities and the government."

Democrats' theory on what they call trickle-down economics, meaning that those in higher-risk leadership positions make more money than those in lower-responsibility positions, is that it's a problem. Their solution is socialism at its worst: for the government to continually confiscate a greater share of money for the government and then to trickle out some of the money to those the politicians and bureaucrats decide should get it. A significant amount of money is trickled to special interest groups the Democrats like.

The politicians and bureaucrats keep a significant amount for themselves, which is why many of the wealthiest counties in the U.S. are around D.C., where they produce nothing. Planned Parenthood, unions, and community groups do very well. Very little of the $1.9-trillion slush fund that was supposedly for COVID relief in the last stimulus payout was actually for COVID.

I see that the Biden administration is also giving $250 million to community groups to supposedly get people to take the vaccine. My guess is those are groups just like ACORN, which was used to get votes for Democrats on the side. The Clintons, the Bidens, and other politicians have also done extremely well while gorging at the public trough, pretending they care about us.

Martire and other Democrats say tax cuts starve the government, but the Reagan, Bush, and Trump tax cuts of the last few decades, along with the capital gains rate cuts during Clinton's term, all substantially increased tax revenues. They did not decline, as the think-tanks said they would and still pretend they did.

Here is a hint: if revenues go up, an increased deficit is caused by too much spending, not the tax cuts. It is a simple concept. The increased revenues did not starve the government, harm the people, or kill the communities. Uncontrolled spending and unsustainable promises are the problem.

The Democrats' Great Society and other anti-poverty programs over the last 60 years, where they spent trillions, did not cut poverty to record lows. They made more people dependent on the government and encouraged the break-up of families.

Trump's tax cuts and reduced regulations not only increased government revenue and cut unemployment rates for all races and education levels to record lows, but also substantially raised income levels for those at the bottom and reduced the poverty rate to a record low at the end of 2019.

The truth is that this so-called trickle-down, or supply-side, economics has always worked when the private sector is allowed to keep more of the money they earn to either spend, save, or invest throughout the economy. It not only helps people and businesses in the private sector, but also gives the government more money to spend.

When will the media start reporting the truth instead of essentially campaigning for Democrats and their radical leftist plans to destroy the U.S. as we know it?

Image: David Shankbone via Flickr (border added), CC BY-2.0.

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It was supposed to be another fun-filled Quds Day celebration, the last Friday of Ramadan  May 7 this year  the day on which Israel-hating Muslims demonstrate to protest Zionism and the fact that Israel's first capital city is in Jewish hands once again. But one particularly ambitious celebrant in Iran chose to set a particularly large Israeli flag on fire, and it didn't work out as planned. A sudden gust of wind spread the fire from the flag to his clothing:

Here the fire spreads to his clothing:

And here he runs away on fire:

The entire sequence can be seen on this tweet:

Authorities in the Islamic Republic attempted to burn the Israeli flag, as they usually do. But this time, karma got them and they ended up burning themselves.



Meanwhile unlike the regime, ordinary Iranians increasingly refuse to burn or walk on Israeli and American flags. pic.twitter.com/flOKCA44wn  Masih Alinejad  (@AlinejadMasih) May 9, 2021

While I am not exactly an expert on Islamic theology, I do know that they don't believe in karma. They do believe that Allah controls everything and often attribute bad things happening to Israel, America, Jews, or whatever else they hate to Allah's will. When things don't work out so well for them, often it is the work of a jinn, or maybe a Zionist plot. With some proclaiming that Jews control the weather, maybe it was a Zionist gust of wind.

William Jacobson admits that because this accident befell an Iranian, it does not strictly qualify as what he labels a "Palestinian Work Accident," which happens when an anti-Israel stunt goes bad. He lists 13 examples on this page, and some are pretty funny.

Unfortunately, now that Biden has wrecked the progress that the Trump administration made toward Middle East peace, we will be seeing more such work accidents.

Hat tip: Misanthropic Humanitarian.

Photos both cropped screen grabs from Twitter.

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It was one of those "dare you to try it" tourist attractions that seem to be popping up in China. Now there is at least one man who must wish he had never accepted the dare to cross a glass-bottomed suspension built over a high gorge at a resort at Piyan Mountain in the Chinese city of Longjing.

The U.K. Daily Mail reports:

A tourist was left clinging on for dear life after the glass panels of a 330-ft high bridge in China were damaged in strong winds. (snip) According to a report in the Straits Times, the man was stuck on the bridge for a brief period. He crawled to safety, guided by firefighters, police, and forestry and tourism workers.

You can see what purports to be the stranded man clinging to the bridge in the picture on the right in this tweet showing the bridge before and after the glass panels broke away:

Someone was trapped high up on a suspended glass walkway at a scenic spot in north east China yesterday when high winds caused glass panels to fall out around them. They were eventually able to climb to safety. pic.twitter.com/0vkFHasyWh  Matt Knight (@MattCKnight) May 8, 2021

With its headlong rush to quickly build all the appurtenances of an advanced industrial society, certain corners seem to be cut in China on occasion. The horrific high-speed rail crash in 2011 at Wenzhou killed 43, but the first reaction of authorities was to bury the evidence.

I don't plan any trips to China because I have written too many items critical of the regime and don't trust its members to leave me alone if I am in their jurisdiction. But if I did go, I'd avoid any tourist attractions with the slightest hint of risk attached.

Photo credit: Twitter screen grab.

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Glenn Greenwald properly ridicules secretary of state Anthony Blinken for sermonizing last Thursday on "World Press Freedom Day," using Radio Free Europe as his megaphone. But his critique could be extended considerably.

Continuing his world tour doling out righteous lectures to the world, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday proclaimed  in a sermon you have to hear to believe  that few things are more sacred in a democracy than "independent journalism." Speaking to Radio Free Europe, Blinken paid homage to "World Press Freedom Day"; claimed that "the United States stands strongly with independent journalism"; explained that "the foundation of any democratic system" entails "holding leaders accountable" and "informing citizens"; and warned that "countries that deny freedom of the press are countries that don't have a lot of confidence in themselves or in their systems." The rhetorical cherry on top of that cake came when he posed this question: "What is to be afraid of in informing the people and holding leaders accountable?" The Secretary of State then issued this vow: "Everywhere journalism and freedom of the press is challenged, we will stand with journalists and with that freedom." Since I know that I would be extremely skeptical if someone told me that those words had just come out Blinken's mouth, I present you here with the unedited one-minute-fifty-two-second video clip of him saying exactly this: That the Biden administration is such a stalwart believer in the sanctity of independent journalism and is devoted to defending it wherever it is threatened would come as a great surprise to many, many people. Among them would be Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and the person responsible for breaking more major stories about the actions of top U.S. officials than virtually all U.S. journalists employed in the corporate press combined.

Greenwald's focus is on Assange, but there is a lot more to worry about. Democrats (and Liz Cheney) lately are fond of the expression "THE BIG LIE," frequently capitalizing it for emphasis. The object is to invoke Nazi comparisons to questioning the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, even though Democrats endlessly questioned 2016's result and even fabricated evidence of "Russian collusion" to delegitimize Trump's presidency.

But there are "big lies" that continually plague our politics, and one of them is that we have a free press. We don't, in point of fact. We have a media structure that operates as an arm of the Democrats. That includes the corporate media, 90% of which support Democrats, and social media companies  from which a substantial share of Americans get their news.

Both social media and corporate media push narratives favorable to Democrats and suppress information that might harm them.

The social media's suppression of the New York Post's story on Hunter Biden's laptop got Joe Biden elected. Polls indicate he wouldn't have been elected if more people had known about Hunter's arrangements with China and Ukraine giving "The Big Guy" a rakeoff on the big money flowing into Hunter's pockets.

Our media have willingly surrendered the role of a free press in order to take sides with the progressives that want to radically restructure society with themselves in power, unconstrained by competitive elections. It is a central fact of our current political era.

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab, cropped.

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Even as the Biden administration doubles down on Critical Race Theory, a dishonest, divisive, toxic idea holding that Whites are racist, inferior creatures who have used their unfairly obtained privilege to oppress Blacks and other races, parents are beginning to fight back. It turns out that, once you ignore cancel culture make a statement, there are a lot of people who want to follow your lead. One of those parents, to his surprise, found himself at the head of a brewing revolution.

Three weeks ago, two letters exploded on the New York education scene and started echoing through the rest of America. The first was from a teacher challenging Grace Church High School's anti-white Critical Race Theory indoctrination. The second letter was from Andrew Gutmann, who spoke out against the same indoctrination at the Brearley school. Both schools are expensive, claim to be elite, and are teaching a doctrine every bit as toxic as the Jim Crow eugenics garbage that Democrats promoted in the first half of the 20th century.

While the teacher's letter was an eye-opener, the fact that Gutmann is a parent meant that his letter resonated with parents across America. To his surprise, he's found himself leading the charge for these parents. In an opinion piece in the New York Post, Gutmann describes the positive feedback he's getting, as well as the fact that there is a huge battle ahead for those parents unhappy about the hard left turn their children's education has taken:

I am enormously gratified by the overwhelmingly supportive emails and messages that I have personally received. Countless parents expressed to me their appreciation for stating clearly and forcibly what so many Americans have been thinking but have been too afraid to state out loud. Many also conveyed that they felt newly emboldened to speak up for their children. I have learned that my letter has been circulated and discussed in Board of Trustees meetings of schools across the country and I have been told that it has begun to make an impact. Even Brearley, after initially dismissing the contents of my letter and indicating a desire to double down on antiracism initiatives has, for the very first time, offered parents an opportunity to ask questions about the school's diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracist initiatives.

That's the good news. The bad news is that Gutmann learned from the outpouring of messages that, in a single year, Critical Race Theory has become deeply embedded in American education from kindergarten through to graduate work:

Prior to sending the letter, I had no idea how pervasive and entrenched critical race theory had become in our schools, including public and religious schools. Nor did I comprehend just how many parents were dealing with the same issues as our family, with close-minded administrations and racist, age-inappropriate and indoctrinating curriculums. I have been told stories about children as early as kindergarten being asked to draw a self portrait, with explicit instructions to focus exclusively on accurately depicting their skin tone. I have been told stories of young adults at elite medical schools spending weeks of instruction on transgender issues and antiracism in lieu of pediatrics and geriatrics.

The biggest issue standing in the way of fixing the problem is cancel culture:

Additionally, we cannot fix these educational problems until we eradicate the insidious cancer that is cancel culture. Too many parents are too afraid to speak up in support of their children's education for fear of losing their jobs. And it's true that there is an appalling stench of cowardice emanating from the corporate boardrooms of our country. Just like the administration of my daughter's private school, our business leaders have been cowering to a small, miseducated and unenlightened social media mob. This must stop!

There's much more, and I urge you to read the whole thing. It's clear that, because CRT is so entrenched, Gutmann does not think the end of the battle is anywhere near. Instead, his tone is rather like Churchill's in 1942, when Churchill said, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Just a month ago, American parents hadn't even started to fight. As more engage in the battle, the pace will accelerate.

Image: Andrew Gutmann. Video screen grab.

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I ignored the story that Bill and Melinda Gates are getting a divorce. Their personal life holds no interest for me, although I care that Bill Gates is having an outsize say in both the climate change debate and in the response to COVID. His skills as a computer programmer and his genius as a shark, scooping up other people's creations, do not make him qualified to weigh in on the climate or COVID. But as I said, his personal life was a "meh"  that is, right until the Wall Street Journal hinted that Bill Gates's involvement with Jeffrey Epstein led directly to his divorce.

It's been public information for a long time that Bill Gates met Epstein several times beginning in 2011. Even the New York Times, back in October 2019, reported on those meetings:

Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who committed suicide in prison, managed to lure an astonishing array of rich, powerful and famous men into his orbit. [snip] Few, though, compared in prestige and power to the world's second-richest person, a brilliant and intensely private luminary: Bill Gates. And unlike many others, Mr. Gates started the relationship after Mr. Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.

The official Bill Gates line is that the two men were talking about philanthropy. Still, the whole thing was weird. For example, again according to the WSJ, in 2011, Gates emailed a colleague saying of Epstein, "His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me." According to a Gates spokeswoman, Bill was just talking about the unique decor in Epstein's mansion and the way Epstein would "spontaneously bring[] acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates."

I wouldn't refer to either "decor" or business practices as a "lifestyle," but maybe Bill does because he's an odd bird. Most people, though, when they think of Jeffrey Epstein's "lifestyle," don't think of curtains, dining room sets, or spontaneous business meetings. They think of Pedophile Island and the Lolita Express. If Bill really was referring to Epstein's immoral proclivities, at least he conceded that "it would not work for me."

In any event, the point I'm making is that it's not news that the famously eccentric-to-the-point-of-weird Bill Gates knew Epstein surprisingly well. It's not even news that Melinda Gates warned her husband as early as 2013 against pursuing an acquaintance with Epstein.

What's new is the connection between the divorce and Bill's hanging with Jeffrey. Thus, The Wall Street Journal reports:

According to the documents reviewed by the Journal, Ms. Gates and her advisers held a number of calls in October 2019 when the New York Times reported that Mr. Gates had met with Mr. Epstein on numerous occasions. Mr. Gates once stayed late into the night at Mr. Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, the Times reported.,

As always, the Daily Mail is blunt. It headlined its story "REVEALED: Melinda Gates has been consulting divorce lawyers since October 2019 when Bill's meetings with Jeffrey Epstein were revealed and she decided marriage was irretrievably broken.'"

The Daily Mail is right to be intrigued because there are just a few ways to view the timing of Melinda going to the lawyers when Bills friendship with Epstein became public. The first way to view it is that it's just a coincidence. Under this scenario, Melinda had long planned on October 2019 as the starting point for pursuing divorce for her own reasons (e.g., the timing was right when it came to a long, drawn-out process that would affect her children).

The second way to view it is that it was one thing to warn Bill away from Epstein privately, but another thing altogether to have the world know that her husband was friends with the notorious pedophile. That is, the publicity was the straw that broke the camel's back.

And then there's the third, most titillating viewpoint, which is that, once the relationship between Epstein and Bill became public, Melinda became very worried that people would start digging and soon discover much worse than a philanthropic relationship. I'm not asserting that this is the case. I'm merely mentioning it as a reasonable scenario based on the slender evidence currently available.

Since I dislike and distrust Bill Gates, I wouldn't mind his being derailed from his machinations regarding both climate and COVID. This divorce might do it, especially if there's an Epstein problem.

Image: Bill and Melinda Gates. YouTube screen grab.

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After reading Andrea Widburg's May 6 blog post entitled "Media are in love with Jen Psaki's honesty and her 'competence porn,'" I knew it was time to update and reprise a satire I wrote for American Thinker a few years ago during Obama's second term. It lampooned Barack and his minions for playing so fast and loose with facts, truth, and reality. Here it is an updated version of that original satire, with a fresh coat of paint  but be prepared to realize that, while it is satire, it sounds remarkably close to the truth.

WHITE HOUSE JOB OPENING

 DIRECTOR OF SOPHISTRY 

JOB TITLE: Director of the Office of Sophistry

DEPARTMENT: Executive Branch

DIVISION: Propaganda, Disinformation, and Logical Fallacy

SALARY RANGE: Vastly Overpaid Consistent with Other W.H. Staff Positions

SUPERVISED BY: Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Consulting Adviser Barack Hussein Obama (via Zoom)

GENERAL PURPOSE

The art of sophistry, using information that sounds correct but is deliberately false, is essential to the effective operation of this administration. This is a highly responsible position that supports every employee of the Executive Branch. This includes collaborating with devious Marxist leaders; propagandizing administration spokespeople; and egotistical, conniving redistributive apparatchik White House staff members who are all dedicated to facilitating an anti-American "Reset" agenda by deceiving the public at every turn.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS  EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Graduation from elite Ivy League university in which candidate excelled in regurgitating subversive ideologies; collectivist utopian dogma; and politically correct, approved thought.

Degree in manipulative journalism with special emphasis in subterfuge, hoodwinking, and fabrication

A portfolio demonstrating skills of duplicity, deception, and prevarication.

Experience in hyping media, misdirecting legal authorities, and finessing responses to congressional inquiries is highly desirable.

Familiarity with historical and modern masters of propaganda and the ability to apply their essential communication memes  for example: "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." "It also gives us a very special, secret pleasure to see how unaware the people around us are of what is really happening to them." "It is not truth that matters, but victory." Adolf Hitler "The press must grow day in and day out. It is our party's sharpest and most powerful weapon." Joseph Stalin "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan." Barack Obama



DIRECTOR OF SOPHISTRY WILL POSSESS THESE SKILLS

Be highly creative, imaginative, and dishonest

Be comfortable with half-truths, fairy tales, and fabrications

Have strong writing skills that can seamlessly deny reality and easily torture the truth

Have the ability to conceal disdain for the middle class; the media; and especially racist, homophobic GOP deplorables clinging to their guns and religion

Be deaf to reason, rationality, and virtue

Be able to redirect blame, cast aspersions, and concoct groundless accusations against political enemies

Have proven skill sets in manipulating social media to shadowban, deplatform, censor, and cancel opponents, dissenters, and free speech advocates

MAJOR DUTIES

Prepare all presidential speeches, talking points, and presentations using distortion, deception, and deceit written in very short sentences

Develop justifications for White House and federal agency staff that invent, dodge, and cook up schemes that exonerate their illegal, anti-American actions while expanding their authority

Convincingly employ coercive language in new ways to indict moral, hard-working, patriotic Americans and impugn America as a racist, hateful, homophobic, xenophobic while advancing progressive socialism

Concoct false narratives including pro-China stances and recruit smooth-talking dupes to deliver them

Invent believable strategies that employ "climate change" as a rationale for all administrative actions

Create new "Wars on" (fill in the blank)" to deepen the concept of victimization in support of the W.H.

Ensure that all allegations of misconduct, overreach, or malfeasance against the president and his/her staff are turned against the accusers, to their everlasting regret  additionally, that every accuser is added to the W.H. enemies list and that the confabulated narrative created about them devastates their career, future, and personal life

OVERALL WORK SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITY

The Sophistry Director is accountable for checking all White House and federal agency communications to ensure that they contain sophistry and propaganda consistent with the administration's goal of resetting and fundamentally transforming America into a third-world fiefdom of Communist China.

Image: Jen Psaki. YouTube screengrab.

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The May 2021 Android security patch is now rolling out to Samsungs Galaxy Fold 5G. The device is currently receiving the latest Android security maintenance release (SMR) in South Korea and the United Kingdom. The new firmware is identified by the version numbers F907NKOU3EUD7 and F907BXXU5EUD7 in the two countries. Both carrier and unlocked models of the phone are receiving the new update.

As detailed by Samsung last week, this months security update contains fixes for three critical and dozens of moderate and high-risk vulnerabilities found on Android OS. It also patches 23 Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) items. For the uninitiated, SVEs are security vulnerabilities that are specific to Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Apart from this months security fixes, the latest update for the Galaxy Fold 5G should also introduce those camera and Quick Share improvements that have accompanied the May update for pretty much every Samsung flagship so far. The 4G variant of the Galaxy Fold also received those improvements.

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Its unclear though whether either of the two picked up the Dual Recording camera feature that Samsung introduced to the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 phones with the latest update. This feature lets you record videos from both the front camera and the primary rear camera at the same time.

Moreover, Samsung has also been bringing some Galaxy S21 camera features to its older Galaxy flagships over the past month or so. Features like the ability to use the ultrawide camera in Pro and Pro Video modes have hit Samsungs Galaxy S20, Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Z Fold 2, and a few other models recently. Its unclear whether the original Galaxy Fold is picking any of those features.

Galaxy Fold 5G joins the May 2021 security update party

Samsung began rolling out the May 2021 security patch to its devices in the last week of April. Over the past couple of weeks, the company has seeded the latest Android SMR to a number of Galaxy smartphones. The Galaxy Fold 5G is now picking up this update as well. It follows the update for the 4G variant of the phone last week.

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If youre a Galaxy Fold 5G user in South Korea or the UK, you should receive a notification to download this update over the air (OTA) anytime now if you havent already. You can also manually check for updates through your phones Settings app. Users in other regions should also receive this update in the coming days.
(ANSA) - TURIN, APR 28 - Turin prosecutors on Wednesday said they were probing a new terrorist group calling itself Individualists Tending To Savagery (ITS, in the Italian acronym).

They said ITS was very active in South America where it had claimed responsibility for many terrorist acts in the last few years.

The group has posted videos on how to build parcel bombs on Italian Internet sites, the prosecutors said. (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 10 - All of Italy is a moderate-risk yellow zone, except for Sicily, Sardinia and Valle D'Aosta, as of Monday after the government revised the way regions are classed in Italy's tiered system of COVID-19 restrictions on the basis of improved contagion data.

Furthermore, Italy no longer has any high-risk red zones, where movements are limited and all non-essential shops must close, after Valle D'Aosta was bumped down to orange, joining Sicily and Sardinia in this tier.

In yellow zones, the coronavirus restrictions are far less stringent.

All shops can open, for example, and bars and restaurants can serve people at outdoor tables.

In orange zones non-essential shops can do business but bars and restaurants can only do take-aways and home deliveries and cinemas and theatres have to stay shut.

The health ministry said Sunday that Italy had registered 139 COVID-19-linked deaths in the previous 24 hours, the lowest daily figure since October 25. (ANSA).


A lawyer and climate campaigner has accused the Supreme Court of continuing a systemic campaign of suppression of the environmental impact of Heathrows expansion, after he was fined 5,000 for contempt of court.

Tim Crosland, director of environmental campaign group Plan B Earth, was found in contempt for revealing the Supreme Courts decision on Heathrows third runway a day before it was made public in December.

The 51-year-old lawyer, from Elephant and Castle in south London, previously described breaking the embargo as an act of civil disobedience, saying: I have no choice but to protest the deep immorality of the courts ruling.

Mr Crosland arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday prepared to go to prison, and had even packed his toothbrush just in case.

He told the PA news agency before the hearing that he thought he might get a short custodial sentence of two or three weeks, adding: Two weeks in prison is a tiny price to pay to get the truth out there.

Mr Crosland said he broke the Supreme Courts embargo because of the Governments decision not to provide honest evidence to the public about the effect Heathrows proposed third runway would have on the climate crisis.

Tim Crosland outside the Royal Courts of Justice (Sam Tobin/PA)

Addressing the court, Mr Crosland said: If complicity in the mass loss of life that makes the planet uninhabitable is not a crime, then nothing is a crime.

Three Supreme Court justices found Mr Crosland in contempt of court for his deliberate and calculated breaches of the embargo and fined him 5,000.

Lord Lloyd-Jones, sitting with Lord Hamblen and Lord Stephens, said Mr Crosland wanted to demonstrate his deliberate defiance of the prohibition and to bring this to the attention of as large an audience as possible.

The judge acknowledged Mr Croslands concerns about climate change, but added: These matters do not assist the respondent (Mr Crosland) in relation to the issue as to whether there has been a contempt of court.

Mr Crosland was also ordered to pay the attorney generals costs of bringing the case against him.

But Mr Crosland was granted permission to appeal, which will have to be heard by a panel of Supreme Court justices who were not involved in the contempt hearing, or the five justices who heard the Heathrow case.

After the hearing, Mr Crosland joked that this meant Ill end up having spoken to all the judges at the Supreme Court about the climate crisis by the end of it.

He added: I think, in some ways, the judges are in the same position as the rest of society. They have been misled for so long and so this is a kind of judicial training, is one way of looking at it.

So I think this is a really good opportunity to get to speak to the last remaining Supreme Court judges about the crisis and what they are going to do about it.

Mr Crosland accused the justices of having continued that systemic campaign of suppression about whether the Government knew that Heathrow expansion was inconsistent with the Paris agreement.

He earlier told the court that he broke the embargo because I believed that Heathrow expansion would breach the Paris temperature limit of 1.5C.

He said he believed this information was being deliberately suppressed from the public domain, so he decided that the antidote to that suppression was the spotlight of publicity that would follow from breaking the embargo.

After the hearing, Mr Crosland said the courts were being co-opted to this political economy that is driving us to destruction and they are losing their fundamental purpose, which is to uphold the law  and the first part of the law is safeguarding the right to life, safeguarding the younger generation.

He also admitted he was slightly disappointed not to have been sent to jail, telling the PA news agency: I think probably it would have been a good outcome in a way to get a custodial sentence.

I had my bag packed, I had my books ready to read so I think they found a way to make this as uninteresting as possible by giving me a fine.

Thats not really much of a story so thats a bit disappointing.

Mr Crosland added that being imprisoned would have revealed some of the violence inherent in the Governments dishonesty and that could have had quite a good mobilising effect, but he was also quite happy to be going home.

In a statement after the hearing, the attorney general, Michael Ellis QC, who brought the contempt proceedings, said Mr Crosland was wrong to have acted in contempt.

Mr Ellis added: His actions undermined our legal process and he acted in full knowledge of the likely consequences.

It is right that the Supreme Court agreed and held him accountable for his actions.
A small whale has been freed after it became stranded along the River Thames in south-west London on Sunday evening.

Hundreds gathered at Richmond Lock and Weir after the whale, believed to be a Minke and between three to four metres long, became stuck on the locks boat rollers.

Videos showed it being hosed down by a man believed to be a Port of London Authority (PLA) staffer, while a vet performed a check-up at the rivers edge, before the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) arrived at the scene to the cheers of onlookers around 9pm.

Fire crews were also at the scene, along with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service.

Footage posted from the scene showed the whale finally being freed at about 1am.

Glen Nicolaides from London Fire Brigade told the BBC the whale had been moved to a more stable location where it would be assessed to determine the scale of its injuries and whether it could be released.

Earlier, a witness told the PA news agency that quite the crowd watched as the attempted rescue took place.

A man seen hosing down the whale (Jake Manketo/PA)

Jake Manketo, 20, from Richmond, said: Everyone here is just hoping they get it out.

We couldnt believe our eyes when we first saw the poor fella, not every day something like this happens in Richmond.

It is believed the whale was first spotted at midday a few miles up the river near Barnes Bridge.

The RNLI was cheered on arrival to the scene (Jake Manketo/PA)

A spokesman for the PLA, which owns and operates the lock, said: At around 7pm on Sunday, a small whale, approximately 3-4m long, believed to be a Minke whale, became stranded at Richmond Lock and Weir.

PLA staff have attempted to assist the whale with water along with British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Minke whales are the smallest of the great whales, growing to about 10m.

They can usually be found throughout the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Their range extends from the ice edge in the Arctic during the summer to near the equator during winter.

The lock is situated between Teddington and Richmond, comprising three vertical steel gates suspended from a footbridge.
A minke whale stranded along the River Thames is to be put down, rescuers have said.

Crowds gathered at Teddington Lock in south-west London on Monday to catch a glimpse of the animal, thought to be between 10ft (3m) and 13ft (4m) long.

But the whale is now due to be put to sleep as it would not survive on its own in the sea, Julia Cable, national co-ordinator at the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service, said.

A Minke whale near Teddington Lock (Yui Mok/PA)

The vets are here from London Zoo.

They will give the whale a large anaesthetic dose which will put it to sleep, Ms Cable said.

The whale shouldnt feel anything.

She added: Its always sad, but we now know that putting it back out into the open sea would have been sending it to starve out there.

Ms Cable said the whale was either still maternally dependent or recently weaned, based on its size.

It will be socially dependent, so to be on its own something has happened.

It has been separated from either its mother or a group, she added.

Its in a nutritionally poor state, its also got injuries from stranding.

We know it was stranded for five or seven hours yesterday, so all the time that happens the organs can get damaged as well.

Hundreds of people gathered at Richmond Lock and Weir on Sunday after the animal became stuck on the locks boat rollers.

Videos showed it being hosed down by a man believed to be from the Port of London Authority (PLA), while a vet performed a check-up at the rivers edge, before the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) arrived at the scene to the cheers of onlookers at about 9pm.

The whale was found to be in poor health and was put on pontoons to make it more comfortable on Sunday night as it was decided then that it should be put to sleep.

But it managed to get free and back into the river.

People gather on the footbridge at Teddington Lock to try and spot the Minke whale (Yui Mok/PA)

Ms Cable said whales tend to appear in the Thames every year, although live strandings were rare.

She said: We started off with beluga, then there was a humpback and then there was another minke, then a fin whale turned up.

But this is the first in recent years of a live stranding.

Its not common and hopefully we wont see it again for a while.

Dan Jarvis, welfare development and field support officer at the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service, said rescuers were working in conjunction with the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) which carries out post-mortem examinations.

He said they are likely to need help from the Port of London Authority to make arrangements for the removal of the whale.

Mr Jarvis said it would be a long journey for the stranded whale to make it back to the open sea, around 30 miles, and logistically a big task.

A man was seen hosing down the whale (Jake Manketo/PA)

He said the whale was put on pontoons to make it more comfortable on Sunday night as it was decided then that it should be put to sleep.

It actually managed to get free of the pontoons unfortunately and back into the river, he said.

Reflecting on the likely conclusion, Mr Jarvis said: This is likely the case with stranded cetaceans.

Its for a very good reason theyve come ashore.

Sometimes it is by accident, they do get stranded, but usually sadly it is the case that theyre already seriously ill or badly injured.

And theres not a great deal we can do in that situation.

The whale was spotted near Teddington Lock just after 10.20am on Monday, heading downstream towards Chiswick and back towards Richmond Lock and Weir.

Pictures showed passers-by and photographers lining the river on Monday afternoon, with the whale clearly visible in the water.

Minke whales are the smallest of the great whales, growing to about 33ft (10m).

They can usually be found throughout the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Their range extends from the ice edge in the Arctic during the summer to near the equator during winter.
PHOENIX (AP)  On the floor of Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where Sir Charles Barkley once dunked basketballs and Hulk Hogan wrestled King Kong Bundy, 46 tables are arrayed in neat rows, each with a Lazy Susan in the middle.

Seated at the tables are several dozen people, mostly Republicans, who spend hours watching ballots spin by, photographing them or inspecting them closely. They are counting them and checking to see if there is any sign they were flown in surreptitiously from South Korea. A few weeks ago they were holding them up to ultraviolet lights, looking for a watermark rumored to be a sign of fraud.

This is Arizonas extraordinary, partisan audit of the 2020 election results in the state's most populous county  ground zero for former President Donald Trump and a legion of his supporters who have refused to accept his loss in Arizona or in other battleground states. Theses ballots have been counted before and certified by the Republican governor. Much of the country has moved on.

And yet, in this aging arena, Republicans are searching for evidence to support claims they already believe.

The effort has alarmed voting rights advocates, election administrators and civil rights lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice, who this past week demanded confirmation that federal security and anti-intimidation laws are being followed. Senate President Karen Fann responded Friday by telling the department it had nothing to worry about.

They lost and they cant get over it," said Grant Woods, a former Republican Arizona attorney general who became a Democrat during Trumps presidency. And they dont want to get over it because they want to continue to sow doubt about the election.

The 2.1 million ballots were already counted by Maricopa County election officials in November, validated in a partial hand recount and certified by Gov. Doug Ducey. Two extra audits confirmed no issues. No evidence of fraud sufficient to invalidate Joe Bidens narrow victory in Arizona and Maricopa County has been found.

Still, counters are being paid $15 an hour to scrutinize each ballot, examining folds and taking close-up photos looking for machine-marked ballots and bamboo fibers in the paper. The reason appears to be to test a conspiracy theory that a plane from South Korea delivered counterfeit ballots to the Phoenix airport shortly after the election.

When the recount started, the ballots were viewed under ultraviolet light to check for watermarks. A theory popular with QAnon followers has it that Trump secretly watermarked mail ballots to catch cheating.

There are no watermarks on ballots in Maricopa County. The effort has since been abandoned.

Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The audit, ordered by the Arizona Senate, has the U.S. Department of Justice saying it is concerned about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

Despite their obvious partisan biases, the auditors insist they can be trusted because theyre running an independent and transparent operation. Yet theyre recruiting from right-wing groups. They tried to block media access. They fought in court to not disclose written procedures theyre using to count votes and keep ballots secure. They lost.

And its entirely unclear who is paying for it and how much its costing. Taxpayers, through the Senates operating budget, chipped in $150,000, but the CEO of the small company leading the audit has acknowledged that wont cover costs.

Fundraisers, one from the conservative One America News Network and another tied to Patrick Byrne, a former CEO who promoted election conspiracies, are raising hundreds of thousands more.

Critics call the undisclosed private funding a huge red flag  the audit could be funded by foreign governments or people with a stake in the outcome like ardent Trump supporters.

Ken Bennett, a former Republican secretary of state who is serving as the Senate's liaison to the auditors, dismissed mounting criticism.

I think Republicans can count votes on ballots as well as Democrats or Libertarians or independents, Bennett said.

The audit has it's own Twitter account and it has taken on a Trumpian air, deploying hyperbole and sharp attacks on Democrats and journalists.

THE GREATEST AUDIT IN THE GALAXY CONTINUES!! the account tweeted in all-caps on May 4.

All of it is made possible by the GOP-controlled state Senate, which issued an unprecedented subpoena demanding access to all ballots and the machines that counted them in Maricopa County, home to the Phoenix area and 60% of Arizona voters.

After months of court battles with the GOP-controlled county Board of Supervisors, which maintains the election was well-run, the Senate got hold of the ballots. That came despite repeated audits and a hand-count of a sample of ballots that showed the results were accurate.

Fann, the Republican Senate president, insisted again Saturday that the audit has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with the large segment of GOP voters who he convinced that he actually won, despite the lack of evidence.

Everybody keeps saying, oh, theres no evidence and its like, yeah, well lets do the audit and if theres nothing there, then we say look, there was nothing there, Fann said. If we find something, and its a big if, but if we find something, then we can say, OK, we do have evidence and now how do we fix this.

The ballots were handed over to Cyber Ninjas, a tiny cybersecurity firm whose president, Doug Logan, is a Trump supporter who has shared outlandish conspiracy theories about the election.

That concern continues to the counters themselves. Anthony Kern, a former Republican state lawmaker who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, has been spotted several times tallying the votes.

The audit is recounting only the presidential race and the U.S. Senate contest, two contests won by Democrats. Down-ballot races, where Republicans fared better, are not being reviewed.

Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The audit, ordered by the Arizona Senate, has the U.S. Department of Justice saying it is concerned about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

The operation has been slowed by mistakes and operational problems. On the first day, a reporter noticed counters using blue pens, which are banned in ballot counting rooms because they can be read by machines. That prompted a court order requiring only red or green pens.

Staffing has been an issue as well. Despite promises that an army of counters is imminent, only about a third of the 46 counting tables are being used.

On Thursday afternoon, just 16 counting tables and 12 photography tables were in use, split into red, blue, green and yellow color-coded teams.

The fastest tables spent about 6 seconds per ballot. One particularly slow green table spent 20 seconds or more on each one. So much time passes between batches of ballots that, at any given time, half or more of the counters were not doing anything.

The Senate leased the Coliseum for four weeks as part of an audit that was supposed to take about 60 days. But with one week left before the auditors have to vacate the arena for a series of high school graduations, only about 10 percent of the ballots have been counted.

Bennett said the count may continue into July.
Rheinmetall has won a pioneering land forces order of pan-European and NATO-wide significance. The British Ministry of Defence has contracted with the Dusseldorf-based technology group to modernize the British Armys main battle tank fleet. In all, 148 Challenger 2 main battle tanks will be upgraded with the 120mm smoothbore main armament from Rheinmetall, together with a completely new turret structure, including state-of-the-art digital system architecture.

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The latest generation L55A1 120mm smoothbore gun from Rheinmetall will place the modernized Challenger at the forefront of NATO tank technology. (Picture source: Rheinmetall)

Forming part of the British Armys Challenger 2 Life Extension Project, or LEP, the modernization programme is poised to convert this tried-and-tested tank into the new Challenger 3, keeping it in service for decades to come. The programme will take place during the 2021-2027 timeframe. Just announced in Telford (UK), the contract is worth around 770 million (665 million).

A new turret structure including improved survivability systems assures maximum crew protection. The main optical sights improve the target acquisition and tracking capability of both the commander and gunner.

The latest generation L55A1 smoothbore gun from Rheinmetall will place the modernized Challenger at the forefront of NATO tank technology. This gun fires subcalibre KE projectiles and programmable multipurpose ammunition. Delivering enhanced accuracy and penetrating power, the gun system features state-of-the-art fire control technology.

The Challenger 3 will be a network-enabled, digital tank featuring unsurpassed lethality and greatly improved survivability on the battlefield. It will be able to fire current and future Rheinmetall 120mm kinetic energy rounds and programmable multipurpose ammunition. Combined with the latest fire control technology and sensor systems, this will significantly boost the vehicles combat effectiveness, resulting in remarkably accurate firepower.

Much of the upgrade work will be carried out in the UK at the Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) plant in Telford in the West Midlands. The company boasts a rich heritage, having delivered the first Challenger 2 tanks to the British Army over 25 years ago. RBSL is a joint venture between Rheinmetall and BAE Systems, with Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH holding 55% of the shares.

As Armin Papperger, chief executive of Rheinmetall AG, recently put it, Were proud to be taking charge of one the United Kingdoms most important army technology programmes here in the cradle of the British tank industry. In technological terms, the upgrade will put the British Challenger tank on the cutting edge of NATOs armed forces. To make this happen, weve amalgamated the longstanding expertise of RBSL with Rheinmetall of Germanys unsurpassed know-how in large-calibre weapon systems, digitization and advanced turret solutions.

John Abunassar, head of Rheinmetalls Vehicle Systems division, points out that The British Army is getting a world-class capability. At the same time, were celebrating the return of top-notch tank technology to the British Isles, because the bulk of the work will take place in the UK and involve the inclusion of numerous local suppliers. This announcement comes after years of hard work and collaboration with our customer, especially in the recent extraordinary circumstances brought about by COVID-19.

RBSL will be working together with subcontractors from all over Britain, giving an economic boost to their various locales. Work will be directed from the RBSL factory in Telford, with technical support from the companys heavy armour specialists in Telford and at the RBSL facility in Washington near Newcastle in the northeast of England.
The first reason why the government should come clean and say that its numbers are an undercount is public safety

The world is worried about its Vishwa Guru as our mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic has turned into a global story. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent research centre in the United States, has estimated that by September 2021, which means in just four months, another million Indians will die. And this is based on the official numbers, which are anyway difficult to accept given what has been revealed by the scenes in the crematoria across states and in our major cities, and also by the numbers that the newspapers have put out. A newspaper in Gujarat reported on May 6 that 17,822 bodies had been cremated or buried with Covid-19 protocols in one month in the states seven major cities -- Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Baroda, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.

But the government had acknowledged only 1,745 deaths officially from Covid-19, or 10 per cent. And remember that these cities are only about a third or less of the states total population. In the villages, the chances of those being tested and treated are even fewer.

This is, of course, not only about Gujarat. On May 3, a newspaper had reported that Bhopal had acknowledged only 104 deaths from Covid-19 while reports from the crematoriums and cemeteries spoke of 2,557 Covid patients among the total of 3,811 who were cremated or interred. That is a ratio of 1:25. A report on May 4 from Haryana said that the difference between the official death toll and the number from crematoria was 1:2. This is similar to the number reported for Bengaluru for the last one month (1,422 official toll; versus 3,104 cremated with Covid-19 protocols). In Uttar Pradesh, a report from Meerut said the difference was 1:7.

If we remove the outliers and look at the data, it seems like a figure of twice and perhaps three times the official one is not unreasonable. If we take that into account, our official death toll of 2.3 lakhs, the third-highest in the world, actually looks like 5.6 lakh or more than seven lakh and easily the highest in the world. This will not surprise anyone and has been borne out by the saddening and shameful and horrific visuals that the entire world has now seen from India.

I should clarify that the fudging of the numbers is not entirely because of governmental fraud. It has happened in part because most people are dying at home, unable to access medical facilities or unable to afford them and they have not been tested. Second, how a death is classified depends a lot on the state government and the people making out the certificate. A person who has Covid-19 but also has another disease can be classified either as a Covid death or as something else. It serves the immediate purpose of the government to pretend that the official number is low because it makes it appear less incompetent and helpless than it really is. But hiding the number and not actively promoting the fact that things are much worse is dangerous for us all.

The first reason why the government should come clean and say that its numbers are an undercount is public safety. If people are fed nonsense like recovery rate (a meaningless number for a disease that has no cure), then they will be less alert and more prone to carelessness about masking and social distancing. If they knew that many more people are dying after being infected, especially because the government cannot manage hospitals at this point in time, they would not think they were personally safe.

The second reason is our shortage of oxygen. After Delhi, now two BJP-run states, Gujarat and Karnataka, have said that they are not getting enough oxygen from the Narendra Modi government. Gujarat has said it needs 1,400 tons a day and will need 1,600 tons a day by May 15 but is currently getting only 795 tons. Karnataka had asked for 1,200 tons instead of the 962 tons allocated by the Centre.

The Central government says that it has enough oxygen but this is untrue. We do not. And we will make our jobs more difficult if we continue to be in denial.

The third reason is credibility. The world is reporting the Indian numbers and saying that these cannot be believed. And the world cannot be blamed for feeling this, because it is true -- based on what our own media is reporting. The damage to India has already been considerable in terms of reputation, but that is not important. What will happen is that more countries will ban the entry of Indian travellers. Already that list is quite large. In time the wave will recede, but another one is likely to come. At that point, the world will look at our official numbers and try and add a factor of their own to arrive at the real number if they think that we are still fudging. This will harm Indians on work visas, families who are separated and Indian business in general.

That is why in our self-interest we should actively make attempts to find out the real fatality rate as the first step towards trying to curb this deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
A just and relatively honest society requires a system that inflicts swift and commensurate retribution on transgressors

Corruption is Indias favourite conversation topic. We love discussing it and bemoan its all-pervasiveness. Whenever two or more Indians meet, the conversation inevitably moves to corruption. Sometimes I wonder what we would say to each other if there were no corruption to talk about? We are all near experts at it and have all experienced it in one way or another and at all levels. Yet, with so much collective experience, it is an elusive topic to write about. Like our gods, it takes so many myriad forms. It defies a simple definition. But we all know what it is.

Economists prefer to bandy about a different term when referring to corruption. They call it economic rent. According to the International Monetary Fund, it is the extra amount paid (over what would have been paid for the best alternative use) to somebody or for something useful whose supply is limited either by nature or through human ingenuity. Quite clearly, this definition excludes the moral dimension. But then our problems get even more compounded when we realise that morality itself is very elastic and varies depending on time, place and context.

Economic rent takes other forms, which tax the common good much more. High import duties, for instance, meant to restrain imports, actually serve to increase prices and profits for domestic manufacturers. Did you notice how all car tyres or batteries cost about the same? Or how all similar-sized airconditioners and refrigerators cost about the same? Or, till recently, how all air tickets cost the same and an arm and a leg at the same time? Adam Smith explained it best by noting that: People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public.

Opinion polls show that there are some professions that are believed to be entirely corrupted. Politicians and policemen top this list. Much of the corruption we see in everyday life is a result of their unnecessary exertions. Some years back I had the opportunity every morning to contemplate a vacant plot of land in the Gurgaon neighbourhood I lived in. Roads bound the plot on all four sides and naturally people walking take a short cut across it. Some soul with a penchant for orderliness has taken upon him to put an end to this practice. First a sign came up demanding that people not do the most rational thing, which is taking a short cut. The sign was ignored, and my dog Charlie has been using the signpost to leave his signature. Then a small length of barbed wire pegged between two poles appeared astride the path at both ends. The people who use the path still find it convenient to go around the poles and take the not-so-short shortcut. Good old Charlie just slips under the wire and seems quite happy that he has two more poles to leave his daily markers on.

The nature of most of our lawmaking is just like this. They are irrational and people will respond rationally to them, by circumventing them if not completely ignoring them. Now the only way that plot can be prevented from being used as a short cut is to build on it. If the empty plot is just walled up, the walls will encourage another use, which will be odious to boot. Laws that conflict with common sense just do not work. Which brings me to another aspect. We have laws that prohibit urinating in public and on walls, private and public. Urinating is meant to be a private business. But where are people to urinate when you just don't have enough urinals? Therefore, a law against urinating in public makes sense only when you have enough public urinals.

Thoughtless laws corrode a state thoroughly. This is why states built around tight regulation and appeals to a higher human ideal always fail. Corruption is all-pervasive and a worldwide phenomenon. It comes built in with nature. Animals steal food from each other just as humans extort from others. But human beings live in organised societies and societies are simply systems based on laws. For laws to work, it must be clear that if caught, the trial will be swift, and if found guilty the retribution will be commensurate.

That's where we have serious problems. Who makes the law? Politicians. Who enforces the laws? The police. Both are believed to be overwhelmingly corrupt. And can we expect anything better from the courts? Corruption in the judiciary and the need to uproot it were intermittently discussed in the past few years. Judges themselves have provoked these discussions. Former Calcutta high court judge Soumitra Sen became the first judge in the country to be impeached by the Rajya Sabha for misappropriation of funds in 2011. P.D. Dinakaran, the former chief justice of the Sikkim high court, had to resign in July 2011 in the wake of graft allegations. The next year, former CJI and NHRC chief K.G. Balakrishnan faced allegations that his family members had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.

In 2003, the CBI arrested Shamit Mukherjee, a former Delhi high court judge, for his alleged involvement in a land scam. In 2008 the Punjab and Haryana high court was rocked by a different type of controversy after a bag containing Rs 15 lakhs was delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur on August 13, 2008. The money was allegedly meant for another judge, Nirmal Yadav. Justice Yadav, who had to quit later, is still facing trial. The judicial process seems to be working for her, as it works for most of the well connected by lingering endlessly.

A just and relatively honest society requires a system that inflicts swift and commensurate retribution on transgressors. It is apparent that we quite clearly do not have that and will not have in the foreseeable future. The only way we can get that for ourselves is a vigilant media that relentlessly probes, investigates and informs the public. The fellows who still call the shots in our media businesses are the ones who have turned a calling into a business, like the fellows who got themselves farmhouses in Mehrauli. That then leaves the people to fend for themselves. Which is what they are doing in many parts of the country that are increasingly being gripped by insurgencies.
The heavily chopped Bel Air you're looking at wasn't built on U.S. soil. This monster revs and spits flames in Australia, where Supercharged Outlaw racer Jack Danaher put it together to achieve six-second quarter-mile times and eventually to make a jump to the Pro Mod class.Danaher and his wife Lisa have been racing in the Supercharged Outlaws class for quite a few years now. And they've driven numerous cars in the process, including a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette dragster they imported from the U.S. The Vette that once belonged to Mike Maggio helped Danaher ran 6.40s at 218 mph (351 kph).That's a really high bar for his new Bel Air, but Jack is confident that it will run six-second sprints given the extensive upgrades that went in it. Like any serious Outlaw, this car packs a Hemi under the hood. The 7.4-liter V8 is a full-blown custom build, featuring a short-deck TFX block, a Callies crank, BME connecting rods, and BAE cylinder heads.A Waterman Lil Bertha fuel pump pushes methanol into the engine, while a LencoDrive three-speed gearbox routes the oomph to the rear wheels. Jack did not disclose how powerful the Bel Air is, but we're looking at a four-figure rating and it's most likely in excess of 2,000 horsepower.This mean Bel Air has yet to be filmed on the track, but hopefully we'll get to see it running at full blast soon. Based on these photos provided by Drag Zine , it looks like a real-life Hot Wheels car that might just break the sound barrier.
VEV is the short version of vehicle evaluation and verification, which is why these prototypes feature makeshift exhaust systems. All three mules are fitted with Goodyear Wrangler Territory rubber shoes, and two of them are benchmarked alongside the new Bronco and crew-cab Ranger Tremor.Camouflaged in their entirety, the mid-sized pickup trucks are believed to feature leaf springs out back. Only the Raptor has been spied with a coil-sprung rear axle, and furthermore, the Raptor rocks 285/75 by 17-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires that measure 34 inches in diameter.Based on the styling of the front grille, bumper, and fog lights, the crew-cab pickup that wears black-and-white camouflage is the range-topping Lariat trim level. The extended-cab pickup mirrors the rear-hinged rear doors of the 2021 model and based on the length of the rear doors, the legroom is tight.All three mules feature roof rails, but only the black-clad prototype features the sailplane of the Wildtrak for Australia and Europe. Unfortunately, the Ranger Wildtrak currently isnt available in the United States or Canada.Expected to launch next year for the 2023 model year, the all-new Ranger is twinned with the all-new Volkswagen Amarok . As far as North America is concerned, its very safe to assume that customers will be offered the 2.3-liter EcoBoost as the base powerplant. Higher up, the Blue Oval may offer U.S. customers the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 from the new Bronco and F-150.Theres also talk of a plug-in hybrid with 362 horsepower and 502 pound-feet (680 Nm) of torque, according to hearsay, and the rumor is likely true because the Bronco is going plug-in hybrid as well. The Raptor could level up to the 3.0-liter EcoBoost of the Explorer ST, and elsewhere in the world, the EcoBlue turbo and bi-turbo diesels are poised to soldier on mostly unchanged.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NHTSA

The chronology of events detailed on thes website begins with 11 vehicle owner questionnaires alleging cover detachment while driving. These VOQs date back to April 2020, which is why the issue was brought to the Critical Concerns Review Group in May 2020 for analysis. Based on the rates of detachment, severity, and the detectability of loose covers, the CCRG didnt propose a callback.Be that as it may, thewas made aware of the analysis in September 2020. One month later, the Field Review Committee approved a one-time repair extended coverage action for 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first. The Dearborn-based automaker continued to monitor the filed data after the launch of the extended coverage program, and surprisingly enough, they asked the NHTSA to review the data because of the proactive repair jobs performed before the progression of the issue to a detachment.In other words, the Blue Oval was afraid of losing money on replacement roof rails covers. Ford met with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yet again last month to discuss a safety recall , approving a field action that covers 661,162 vehicles from the 2016 to 2019 model years.Most of them were sold in the United States and federal territories (620,483) while the remainder is believed to be located in Canada (36,419) and Mexico (4,260). Ford isnt aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to this condition, and the fix is far simpler than you may think it is.According to the Part 573 Safety Recall Report submitted with the NTHSA, plastic push pins will be used to secure the roof rails to the vehicle. Known owners will be informed of the recall from June 28th through July 2nd while dealerships will be notified of the remedy procedure from May 12th onward.Based on current data, Ford believes that 9 percent of the vehicles exhibit the defect. Affected trim levels include the Base, XLT, Sport, and Police Interceptor Utility with black- and silver-painted roof rail covers. 2016 to 2019 models with plated roof rail covers are not included in this action.
Heck, it's not even a real car, but it is a good modern interpretation of what Italian cars are all about. Ferrari is the most "Italian" car brand, virtually synonymous with red, expensive race cars for the road. But there used to be a time when Alfa did that job.Nowadays, Alfa Romeo only makes a couple of normal vehicles. Don't get us wrong, the Giulia sedan is very cool, but it's nowhere near as flamboyant as what they built in the past. We're talking about exotics so exciting it creates headlines whenever one hits the auction block.During the 1960s, the Italian brand created a series of TZ models in collaboration with Zagato. They were stunning, with proportions you don't see today. But designer Samir Sadikhov decided to do something about this and put together the TZ4 you see before your eyes.The long nose immediately catches your attention. It's very reminiscent of Ferrari, both old and new. The shape is like the 250 GTO, one of the most expensive pieces of metal on the planet. Meanwhile, the bright neon color screams "Monza SP1/SP2."But the back is just as good, with a chopped race car look, similar to a Shelby Daytona, but with an Italian flavor. And all that suggests that if Alfa finds a way to build this unofficial concept, it could be worth a lot of money.Such a car exists: the Zagato TZ3 Stradale , an Alfa-shaped Dodge Viper powered by the 640-horsepower V10 engine. Along similar lines, the Italians produced the Alfa 8C, based on Maserati tech. What we're trying to say is that it can be done, and the brand will become more popular with the big-money crowd over at Pebble Beach. Samir Sadikhov is not some guy making random renderings. He worked with Genesis making real concours-level concept and more recently designed the Rezvani Tank.
APS

This new, next-generation main battle tank is meant to replace the Challenger 2 version that has been in service for over 20 years. According to the Armys official statement, the new model is the result of advanced armor technology research performed by experts within the UKs Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).Based on the fact that modern warfare is becoming more complex , with new and various types of threats that need to be counteracted, the Army required a tank that would be lethal and provide the best protection possible.Challenger 3 is built with an upgraded engine that features a new cooling system and suspension, for better accuracy when firing during transits. Able to reach a speed of 60 mph (96.5 kph), Challenger 3 will also carry high speed ammunition that has an extensive range and can hit the target faster. This ammunition  the best available today, according to the Army - will be fired from a new turret with a 4.7-inch (120mm) smoothbore gun.The new Challenger tank is also the first to be equipped with an optimized active protection system () that provides automatic target detection and tracking, meaning that it can recognize incoming threats and counteract them. Additionally, it will feature thermal long-range cameras that allow the tank commander to have improved visibility whether its day or night, and in all weather conditions.Another significant innovation has to do with digitalization and connectivity. Not only does Challenger 3 allow for the ammunition to be digitally programmed, but its designed with a digital open structure that enables it to connect to other combat vehicles within the Brigade and share crucial data.This battle winner is set to become fully operative by 2030 and no less than 130 engineers, plus 70 technicians, are working to deliver the new Challenger 3 tanks.
SUV

Of course, thousands of Lambo owners will tell you there's nothing to worry about and, unlike most of the media, they'll be speaking out of their personal experience, but at the same time you can't really ignore what used to be quite a common occurrence We say "used to" because the cases of Lambos bursting into flames have seemingly gone down lately, so it does feel like something we're mostly over now. Whether that's down to the Italian carmaker silently acknowledging there was a problem and fixing it or any other explanation, we'll never know. Hell, it might even be the case that it stopped being newsworthy simply because it was happening so often, which is why we stopped hearing about it.Well, it certainly looked as though the company's first, the Urus, would be safe from the "curse" that's plagued its much slimmer siblings. After all, this is a Porsche Cayenne at heart, so if it caught fire, it would be a stain on the German manufacturer's reputation just as much as on Lamborghini's.We now find out that only two weeks ago, the seemingly inevitable happened as a Lamborghini Urus could be seen burning down quietly on the side of a Taiwanese highway. The incident happened in the morning, with the driver having plenty of time to pull over on the shoulder and get out safely. Reports from the local media claim a tow truck driver who happened to drive by stopped and tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher, but the flames turned out to be too violent by that time. The same outlets say it only took a few minutes for the car to be turned into a husk, making the firefighters' work seem pretty pointless as there was nothing left of the $220,000+ SUV by the time they got there.The investigation didn't reveal exactly what went wrong, but it's believed the fire was caused by a fault in the SUV's electric wiring. So, even if the Urus is powered by a 4.0-liter V8 engine, this incident might end up giving more ammunition to those who (wrongly, we might add) like to point out the EVs' tendency to catch fire: it may have had an internal combustion engine, but it was still the electrical part that sparked the flames.
The Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile  Extended Range (AARGM-ER) is the new missile that the Navy began developing in 2016, as an improved version of the existing AGM-88E AARGM, designed to have an extended range and to prove even greater efficiency and survivability.As recently announced by the Navy, a new test involving the AARGM-ER and a F/A-18 Super Hornet was performed with great results, at the end of last month, at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. During the demonstration, an F/A-18 Super Hornet conducted a captive carry flight (a type of test where the missile does not separate from the carrier aircraft) with an AARGM-ER, for the first time.The F/A-18 Super Hornet performed a series of aerial maneuvers, which allowed participants to observe and evaluate if the guided missile was able to properly communicate with the aircraft . According to the official statement, the test was able to demonstrate an overall compatibility between the F/A-18 and the missile.While the AARGM-ER weapon is still in its manufacturing phase, regular tests are an important way of collecting data, in order to improve the process. Like the previous version, this optimized missile has an expanded target set, counter-shutdown capability, and is able to provide improved detection and locating. But, for even better performance, its built with a new rocket motor and warhead that give it a longer range.The F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet is considered the Navys main strike and air superiority aircraft, also an upgraded version of the previous F-18C/D. Larger and heavier, this new Super Hornet was designed to provide a higher range and better endurance levels than the original model.The AARGM-ER weapon is compatible with the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft and will also be integrated on the supersonic F-35 fighter jet.
Over the past couple of months, the Nikola Motor Company has started showing off its Tre Class 8 semi-truck in various stages of development and after finally escaping the freezing temperatures and snow of Northern Michigan winter testing, its time for some powertrain commissioning.Interestingly, it seems the European-style trucks have managed to survive the grueling challenges posed by a rather harsh winter this year, so the Iveco experience must account for something, combined with the gamechanger powertrain developed by the U.S.-based startup.Well, time will tell if the company manages to break the Class 8 tradition with this model, and before that happens, they also have to make sure everything works as intended. As such, the latest stage of testing took place at an Indiana-based proving grounds and included all sorts of casual things test and development teams do with such trucks: climbing slopes with high inclines (20% grade), driving at high speeds with big loads, braking, and more.As far as were concerned, were mostly interested in the more scenarios, because as the test driver says, hes happy theres no need to shift any of those 18 to 21 gears anymore... and oh yes, by the way, its very fast.How much so is put to the test during the latter part of the video embedded below via a traditionally American drag race . From the 6:30 minute mark the host explains they were out doing some fun things and it naturally occurred to them that lining up next to their Ford F-350 transport truck would be interesting.The Nikola Tre has a cabin full of people for the attempt (we counted four, also notice the partial Iveco logo on the steering wheel at the 6:42 mark), so its got some work to do when trying to best the F-350. Of course, no details are being given  what's the distance theyre using for the race, nor the powertrain for the Blue Oval pickup truck... or whos the actual winner.Still, its a nice appetizer for things to come. Even if the F-350 seems to edge past the Tre semi before the race is over... But, then again, did anyone expect the big truck to win? Better yet, isnt everyone hyped right now about incoming Nikola Tre vs Tesla Semi drag races once both come out to play into the real world?
EV

Try MOOVILITY app with #Apple #CarPlay to find the next available AC/DC/HPC charger also while heading at #Autobahn speed. Check & compare services. Search for chargers supporting your service. MOOVILITY becomes your InCar EV charging assistant! #emobility pic.twitter.com/RpqVnpDx0H  MOOVILITY (@moovility_me) May 3, 2021

The latest to get a new app is CarPlay, as MOOVILITY, a service that provides users with information on nearby charging stations, has recently been updated with new capabilities that allow drivers to access certain features right from the car.More specifically, MOOVILITYs CarPlay support makes it possible to check and compare services from the head unit, search for chargers supporting your model and access your wallet, all without even touching the phone.Needless to say, MOOVILITY is a service that mostly comes in handy in Europe, but on the other hand, it shows that the CarPlay app ecosystem is growing, and in the long term, this is pretty good news.Apple unlocked CarPlay for third-party apps with the release of iOS 14, and since then, severaltools landed on the platform to provide drivers with new capabilities right in the car. The same thing happened on Android Auto, where Google allowed devs to add support for the car experience in more categories of software, including navigation apps.This is why Android Auto users are now provided with several worthy Google Maps alternatives , all offering navigation capabilities right in the car. Furthermore, EV app developers are eyeing an expansion to Android Auto as well, so overall, the app ecosystem is growing here too, with more big names likely to announce similar updates in the coming months.MOOVILITY requires iOS 14 or later to be installed on an iPhone, but this isnt necessarily a surprise given that without this version of the operating system it wouldnt be able to offer CarPlay support anyway. The app is free of charge and supports a wide array of services across Europe.
USS Miguel Keith, the Navy s newest Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ship, was commissioned during a restricted, yet emotional ceremony on Saturday, at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, California. Its inspiring motto, Semper in Pugna, meaning Always in the Fight, is perfectly in sync with the story behind the ships name.Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, who served with the Combined Action Platoon 132, III Marine Amphibious Force, in Quang Ngai Province. Like the story of many U.S. Navy heroes, Miguel Keiths journey culminated with a mortal wound that was transformed into a victorious ending.In 1970, a ground attack on the entire platoon left him seriously injured. However, Keith, who was serving as a machine gunner, continued to perform his duty, which resulted in the death of 3 attackers and the dispersion of 2 more.But this wasnt the end, as Keith was wounded again by an enemy grenade. Incredibly, he was still able to advance, kill more attackers and disperse the rest. Although he eventually succumbed to his wounds, his efforts contributed to his platoons victory over a numerically superior enemy.Miguel Keiths family was able to honor his memory on May 8, the day he passed away heroically, at the ship commissioning. Keiths brother was present at the ceremony, while his mother, who is also the ship s sponsor, was the one who gave the traditional order, Man our ship and bring her to life!, through a recording.USS Miguel Keith is the third ESB, previously known as Afloat Forward Staging Base in the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) program. These platforms are mainly support ships with logistics tasks.The Miguel Keith will operate from Saipan, in the western Pacific Ocean, as part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force.
The Biden administration said it's "working with" fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline to try and restart operations after a ransomware attack took it offline.

Why it matters: Friday night's cyberattack is "the most significant, successful attack on energy infrastructure" known to have occurred in the U.S., notes energy researcher Amy Myers Jaffe, per Politico.

The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a regional emergency declaration for 17 states and Washington, D.C., to keep fuel supply lines open.

The big picture: Colonial Pipeline carries 45% of fuel supplies in the eastern U.S. Some 5,500 miles of pipeline has been shut down in response to the attack.

While gasoline and diesel prices aren't expected to be impacted if pipeline operations resume in the next few days, fuel suppliers are becoming "increasingly nervous" about possible shortages, Bloomberg notes.

What's happening: The emergency declaration covers: Alabama, Arkansas, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The DoT agency said in a statement the declaration "addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products and provides necessary relief."

Colonial said in a statement Sunday while its main fuel lines remained offline, some smaller lines between terminals and delivery points were now operational.

"[We] will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations."

 Excerpt from Colonial statement

What they're saying: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CBS' "Face the Nation" there's an "all hands on deck" effort to resume operations.

"We are working closely with the company, state and local officials, to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there arent disruptions in supply," she told CBS' John Dickerson.

Of note: The shutdown follows other significant cyberattacks on U.S. companies and the federal government in recent months.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
Melinda Gates first met with divorce lawyers to discuss ending her marriage to Bill Gates in October 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Why it matters: The Journal reports that Melinda Gates was concerned about her husband's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

When the couple announced earlier this week that they are divorcing after 27 years of marriage, they gave no official reason for the split.

The big picture: Melinda Gates consulted with lawyers at several firms about her divorce "since at least 2019," according to the Journal.

According to the Journal, Melinda Gates had concerns about Epstein as far back as 2013.

Bill Gates met with Epstein several times starting around 2011, well after the latter was convicted of sex crimes, per the New York Times.

Of note: The couple met Epstein in 2013 to discuss philanthropy, and Melinda Gates later voiced her discomfort with these meetings. Her husband and several employees continued with the meetings, per the Journal.
A former Trump administration official is aiming to win the House back for Republicans with a new redistricting group focused on Florida that he's launching Monday.

Why it matters: With multiple competitive seats, an extra seat the state is receiving because of population growth and the once-a-decade redistricting process, "whoever controls the U.S. House could come through Florida  and I think it will come through Florida," Carlos Trujillo told Axios.

Just as Democrats looked to California to flip control of the House in the 2018 midterms, this group of Republicans sees Florida as the path back to House control in 2022.

Trujillo, a former Florida lawmaker, was President Trump's ambassador to the Organization of American States.

The big picture: Redistricting will be an important tool nationally for Republicans, because they control the process in 18 states, compared to Democrats' seven.

They also have complete control in Florida.

Last go-around, the Florida Supreme Court struck down GOP-drawn maps, ruling they had been gerrymandered to favor the party.

But "the Supreme Court has completely turned over in Florida over the last 10 years," Trujillo said. "So our hope is the maps that are presented  as long as they're in compliance with the state Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act  should be ratified by a nonactivist Florida Supreme Court."

Trujillo worked on the state House's redistricting committee during his freshman term in the legislature.

He told Axios he thinks his new nonprofit called Democracy Now, will help provide a counterweight to groups like the League of Women Voters Florida, which sued last time over gerrymandered maps.

Districts to watch: Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist is no longer seeking reelection for Florida's 13th District, and fellow Democratic Reps. Val Demings and Stephanie Murphy are both considering forgoing reelection to run for statewide office.

With five current vacancies in the House, three flipped seats would be enough to split the chamber between Republicans and Democrats

three flipped seats would be enough to split the chamber between Republicans and Democrats "I think that's how competitive and how instrumental Florida will be. It's not only for the next election cycle, but really for the next 10 years in the country," Trujillo said.

Plus, Florida is receiving an additional seat from reapportionment, based on the results of the most recent census.

Between the lines: Besides helping legislators draw maps and redistricting advocacy, Democracy Now will focus on issues related to legal immigration and access to courts.
In an interview for "Axios on HBO," I challenged White House chief of staff Ron Klain on the contradiction between trying to go big on both big government and bipartisanship.

Driving the news: "I don't think it's big government to fix the ten bridges in this country that are most economically significant and are in serious" disrepair, Klain replied.

"Most of these Republicans have stood in front of a Rotary Club or a Kiwanis Club and given a speech about how we need to fix our bridges, roads, our highways, our infrastructure. People stand up and give speeches all the time about how people should have affordable childcare. It's basic, basic things that we're putting forward. And, again, I think they should have bipartisan support."

In an interview with Jonathan Swan on last night's "Axios on HBO," Sen. Bernie Sanders indicated that's he's impatient with President Biden's quest for Republican support for his infrastructure package.

Asked to respond, Klain told me: "What President Biden has said is he wants to try to find common ground with Republicans on these economic measures that have been bipartisan in the past. ... These things shouldn't divide our political parties."

Klain brushed off a question about whether Biden's ready to run against Donald Trump again in 2024.
Kocharian again blamed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for Armenias defeat in last years war in Nagorno-Karabakh and said Armenians will become a nation of losers if the latter holds on to power as a result of fresh parliamentary elections slated for next month.

Kocharian, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the newly established Resurgent Armenia party formally created the alliance called Armenia with a joint declaration signed in the presence of journalists. They effectively kicked off their election campaign at an ensuing rally held in Yerevans Liberty Square.

We are now a country which cannot protect its borders and ensure the security of its population on its own, Kocharian told the crowd that gathered there. We have a government that has consistently weakened the army and is now doing nothing to rebuild it.

Our aim is to establish dignified peace. That cannot be done by a government that embodies defeat, disgrace, humiliation and deaths. But we can do that, he said in a speech repeatedly interrupted by Kocharian! chants.

Kocharian said the Russian-brokered agreement that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in November also left Karabakh facing a quite murky future. He argued that the agreement allows Azerbaijan to demand in 2025 the withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the Armenian-populated territory.

That infamous agreement of November 9 means that in four and a half years from now Azerbaijan can renounce the Russian peacekeeping troops, he said. Has any of you heard from the current rulers what they are doing in that direction? Are they prepared for such a scenario or not? A government symbolizing defeat cannot be an effective negotiator.

The Karabakh-born ex-president went on to launch a scathing attack on Pashinian, portraying him as an incompetent and clueless leader. In April 2018, our people brought to power someone who does not know what statehood is and how the state machine works and is managed, he said.

Kocharian, 66, has been at loggerheads with Pashinians government ever since it took office in May 2018. He was first arrested in July 2018 on coup charges stemming from the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. He was twice freed and twice rearrested before Armenias Court of Appeals released him on bail in June 2020.

A court of first instance threw out the coup charges, rejected by Kocharian as politically motivated, last month after the countrys Constitutional Court declared them unconstitutional.

The ex-president opposition allies are also highly critical of the current government. Dashnaktsutyun has been one of the main organizers of recent months opposition protests aimed at forcing Pashinian to resign. It was allied to Kocharian when he ruled the country from 1998-2008.

This election is about having or not having a state, Ishkhan Saghatelian, a Dashnaktsutyun leader, said after signing the joint declaration with Kocharian and Resurgent Armenia.

Resurgent Armenia was set up recently by local government officials and other well-known residents of southeastern Syunik province which has been facing serious security challengers as a result of the Karabakh war.

Kocharian said last month that the upcoming snap polls will be a two-horse race between Pashinians Civil Contract party and the political force led by him.

Speaking to journalists before Sundays rally, he defended his decision not to enter a more broad-based opposition alliance proposed by Levon Ter-Petrosian, another former president and his longtime foe.

Ter-Petrosian first floated the idea at a March 25 meeting with Kocharian and former President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter also turned it down.

Kocharian insisted that the three ex-presidents can work together in trying to unseat Pashinian even without forming a single political alliance. The formation or non-formation of an alliance is just one of the techniques of that struggle, he said.
Ter-Petrosian last week publicly called on Sarkisian and the other former Armenian president, Robert Kocharian, to lead a broad-based opposition alliance in an attempt to unseat Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Both men turned down the proposal before Ter-Petrosian suggested that the political parties led by him and Sarkisian set up an electoral bloc without Kocharians participation. Sarkisian did not accept that proposal either, saying through his office that the bilateral alliance cannot be effective.

The office made clear that Sarkisians Republican Party (HHK) will team up instead with the Fatherland party of Artur Vanetsian, a former head of Armenias National Security Service (NSS).

Ara Sahakian, a senior Fatherland member, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service that the bloc might join forces Ter-Petrosians Armenian National Congress (HAK) party.

I dont exclude that new alliances or transformations will materialize, he said. Events are developing very rapidly and everything is possible.

Sahakian, who had served as a deputy parliament speaker during Ter-Petrosians 1991-1998 presidency, voiced strong support for the idea of an alliance of the three ex-presidents but cautioned that their relationships remain very complicated.

We have always wanted them to be united, not divided, so that we and other political groups can rally around them. So its up to the three of them to decide, he said.

In a statement released on Friday, Ter-Petrosian claimed that the creation such an alliance is the only way to oust Pashinians criminal and nation-destroying regime. He again said that none of the ex-president should aspire to the post of prime minister.

Speaking on Sunday, Kocharian insisted that he, Sarkisian and Ter-Petrosian can jointly fight against these authorities even without forming a single bloc.
I regard what I just said as our biggest achievement: the citizens of the Republic of Armenia feel that they are the masters of our country. At the end of the day, this is what the nonviolent, velvet, popular revolution of 2018 was done for and that goal has been achieved, he said, speaking in the parliament.

Pashinian claimed to have carried out important institutional reforms, seriously reduced tax evasion and made revolutionary changes in the countrys prison system. He also insisted that the current Armenian government does not control the judiciary unlike the previous ones.

Pashinian described the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh as the biggest problem of his three-year tenure. He claimed that the war was already inevitable when he swept to power, implicitly accusing Armenias former leaders of mishandling the Karabakh peace process.

The 45-year-old former journalists similarly blamed former Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian for Azerbaijans victory in the six-week war when he addressed the National Assembly last month.

Sarkisian and Kocharian had led Karabakh during its successful 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan. Like virtually all Armenian opposition leaders, the ex-presidents hold Pashinian responsible for the outcome of the second war stopped by a Russian-mediated truce accord last November.

Another former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian, charged last week that Pashinian and his political team have failed in all areas.

Pashinian scoffed at such claims. We take many things for granted, he said. After that catastrophe [of November 2020] not a single gunshot has been fired in Armenia. Do you realize what this means? Could this have happened under a government that has failed in all areas of governance?

The prime minister also said that unlike their predecessors he and other senior Armenian officials have not enriched themselves by sharing in the profits of lucrative businesses.

Taguhi Tovmasian, an independent lawmaker who left the ruling My Step bloc in November, countered that none of the countrys former rulers has been convicted or even accused of such corrupt practices under the current authorities.

Who and how has benefited from whose business? Tovmasian asked. And how have they been punished in the post-revolution Armenia for the sake of restoring justice?
Armenias constitution stipulates that such elections can be held only if the prime minister resigns and the parliament twice fails to elect a new head of the government within two weeks. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his cabinet formally stepped down for that purpose on April 25.

Deputies representing the parliaments pro-government majority did not reelect him or install another premier when they first voted on May 3. They made sure that the second vote yields the same result.

This means that the National Assembly will be automatically dissolved. It will formally retain its legislative powers pending the election of a new parliament next month.

The two opposition parties represented in the outgoing legislature agreed to this scenario during talks with Pashinian held earlier this spring.

Pashinian first expressed readiness to hold early elections in December amid angry anti-government protests triggered by Armenias defeat in a six-week war with Azerbaijan. The Armenian opposition blamed him for the defeat and demanded that he hand over power to an interim government.

Pashinian and his My Step bloc stated on February 7 that they see no need for snap polls because of what they called a lack of public demand. A coalition of opposition parties resumed street protests in Yerevan on February 20.

Five days later, the Armenian militarys top brass issued a statement accusing Pashinians government of misrule and incompetence and demanding its resignation. The prime minister rejected the demand as a coup attempt. He went on to announce on March 18 that the snap polls will take place after all.
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Clear skies. Low 51F. NW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 51F. NW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
WHO's emergency listing of Chinese vaccine to benefit global COVID-19 fight

Xinhua) 08:22, May 10, 2021

Photo taken on March 30, 2021 shows an exterior view of the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

A report published recently on British journal Nature noted that such certification by the WHO could help "address the current shortfall in vaccines available through COVAX," and potentially opens the door to "wide distribution in lower-income nations through the COVAX initiative."

GENEVA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday validated the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm for emergency use, a move widely welcomed by officials and experts worldwide and set to benefit the global fight against the pandemic.

This is a "great success and benefit for the world" because the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine validated by the WHO is proving very effective in countries including Pakistan where it is being administered, said Musarrat Amin, a Pakistani strategic security analyst.

The world right now is suffering due to COVID-19 and the Sinopharm vaccine is a blessing because of its easy storage requirements, which will make it a desirable vaccine for the low-income economies of the third world countries, Amin said.

"The Sinopharm vaccine being added into the WHO's COVAX program is a huge relief for the third world countries," she added.

A medical worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital on the outskirts of Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Feb. 4, 2021.(Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

COVAX is an initiative led by international partnerships and agencies, including the WHO, to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are distributed equitably.

The WHO's emergency approval of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine is "a step in the right direction" and is "a great attempt to help beat coronavirus in developing countries," Abbas Zaki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and Fatah's Commissioner General for the Arab and Chinese Affairs, told Xinhua.

Prior to the WHO's decision, the Chinese vaccine has already been used in dozens of developing countries, including Palestine, and "offers reassurance and comfort to developing countries as it is safe and effective," Zaki said.

A staff member checks the packaging quality of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

Bangladesh is very pleased to learn about the WHO decision to include the Chinese-made vaccine in the Emergency Use Listing, which surely comes as "a big blessing for the whole world in the fight against the deadly disease," said Mushtuq Hossain, an advisor to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research under Bangladesh's Health Ministry, in an interview with Xinhua.

He said Bangladesh's drug regulator has already approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use in the country, and the decision of the WHO will further facilitate the vaccination of more Bangladeshis.

A frontliner receives her first shot of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei, April 3, 2021. (Photo by Jeffrey Wong/Xinhua)

Brunei's health ministry on Saturday shared the information of the WHO's emergency use approval for Sinopharm vaccine with local media, asking for publication on respective platforms to let the public know that all vaccines used in the country have WHO endorsement and to encourage wider vaccination.

A report published recently on British journal Nature noted that such certification by the WHO could help "address the current shortfall in vaccines available through COVAX," and potentially opens the door to "wide distribution in lower-income nations through the COVAX initiative."

"For many countries, Chinese vaccines were the only accessible ones," it wrote, adding that researchers in other countries such as Brazil, Turkey and Chile are "beginning to see evidence of their effect in controlling the pandemic."

China has been fulfilling its commitment to making its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good "at a time when the vaccine shots are not available in many places or being nationalized," Amin said.

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)
Milky Way's Disappearing Act from Washington / Oregon Coast

Published 05/09/21 at 6:45 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Manzanita, Oregon)  If you're wondering where is the Milky Way these days  er, nights  there's good reason. It's largely gone from Oregon and Washington skies, including those on the coastlines of both states. (Above: weird neon glow, ocean mists and the stars at Lincoln City)

Looking up from the beaches of the Oregon coast or Washington coast will yield the surprising sight that the rest of the galaxy has vanished, leaving plenty of stars but not that captivating stretch of hazy, cosmic mass. That, according to OMSI astronomer Jim Todd, is because May always sees the disk of our Milky Way galaxy lying flat, nearly parallel to the plane of your horizon.

On May evenings before midnight, the equator of the Milky Way circles the rim of the horizon, with the North Galactic Pole standing high overhead in the constellation Coma Berenices, or Berenice's Hair, Todd said. In this direction, where the glare and the dust of the Milky Way are minimal, the sky beckons you to look at the deep-sky objects beyond the Milky Way.

Todd said if you're looking at it from the North Galactic Pole (a way of viewing the galaxy through imaginary coordinate-like lines), the Sun and the solar system essentially revolve clockwise around the center of our Milky Way galaxy  or the nucleus, as Todd called it.

The galactic plane is the plane in which the majority of a disk-shaped galaxy's mass lies, Todd said. The directions perpendicular to the galactic plane point to the galactic poles. Most often, in actual usage, the terms 'galactic plane' and 'galactic poles' are used to refer specifically to the plane and poles of the Milky Way, which is the galaxy in which the Earth is located.

So far now, the Milky Way is skirting the rim of our horizon on May nights, which means you could theoretically spot more of it looking to the edge of the ocean from the Oregon and Washington coast after dark, depending where it winds up.

Todd said all this indicative of the year being about halfway between the March equinox and June solstice.





The Milky Way above Cannon Beach: this shot, taken during late summer, shows the galaxy looming above the northern Oregon coast in full splendor. MORE PHOTOS BELOW, including star map

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Cape Foulweather

Cannon Beach with no Milky Way

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Starlink Satellites Make Striking Appearance Above NW Oregon | Video

Published 05/05/21 at 1:06 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Portland, Oregon)  This time nothing landed on the Oregon coast nor exploded in the atmosphere, but today's launch of 60 Starlink satellites resulted in a long, spellbinding streak in the skies above the Portland metro region. OMSI's Jim Todd sent out video of this, taken by Canby resident Emily Rader. (Photos above: stills from video by Emily Rader)

Click here to see the video

There are no reports of it being seen along the Oregon coast, and according to tracking websites the region wasn't in the string of satellites' flight path.

It happened about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, with the satellites at approximately 250 miles above earth, traveling 17,500 mph.

Todd said initially the satellites were seen in a stretched-out line that measured roughly 5 to 8 degrees in length. The 60 satellites were launched in one rocket from Florida earlier Tuesday, then began separating above the atmosphere.

The satellites are putting on a show for observers as they move across the night sky, Todd said. For about 6 minutes each, the 60 satellites appear as a moving train' of moderately faint magnitude points of light between +2 to +4, near the brightness of the stars in Ursa Minor.

General motion will vary, with the train appearing to move from west to east around 20 to 40 degrees above the horizon.

Once they've gone on to their own orbits, Todd said your best bet for seeing them in from a dark location, far from any bright lights. Oregon Coast Beach Connection captured some of these satellites late in 2020 (below). They will get fainter over the next few nights as they slowly rise to their operational orbits of 342 miles.

Before they disappear, if there are clear skies on the beaches, you'll be able to see them for another night or two on the Oregon coast or Washington coastline, where it's usually quite dark. See heavens-above.com for sighting predictions.

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Apparent SpaceX Rocket Debris Found on Oregon Coast Found at Waldport: what appears to be charred debris from the Falcon X rocket

Fireball Debris Over Oregon Coast, Washington, Canada Was SpaceX Rocket Documented on the Oregon coast, northern California, Idaho, Washington and even in southern Canada

A whale seen from space, courtesy NASA

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House Approves Bill to End Unnecessary and Duplicative Pistol Purchase Permit Requirement

Press Release:



Raleigh, NC The state House voted today to end an unnecessary and duplicative pistol permit process that requires county sheriffs to sign off on handgun purchases. House Bill 398 was introduced by Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba) and came at the request of the NC Sheriffs' Association.



Currently, federal gun dealers are already required to go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, before a person can purchase or receive a handgun. This is also the primary tool used by the sheriffs to approve pistol permits.



"This legislation came at the direct request of the NC Sheriffs' Association," said Rep. Adams. "We have made significant improvements in updating the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and it simply no longer makes sense to have our sheriffs tasked with approving and issuing individual pistol purchase permits. It is duplicative, costly and an unnecessary burden on law enforcement and law-abiding gun owners."



According to the sheriffs and lawmakers, the current permit process, which dates back to 1919 and only applies to handguns, is outdated and longer needed with enhancements and a more robust background check system.



"Improvements to NICS over the last several years have rendered the pistol purchase permit obsolete," said NC Sheriffs' Association Executive Vice President and General Counsel Eddie Caldwell. "Thanks to funding from the General Assembly several years ago, decades of mental health records have now been uploaded into NICS.



"With these enhancements, now the NICS check duplicates the records search done by the sheriff for the pistol purchase permit. Because the pistol purchase permit has outlived its usefulness, the NC Sheriffs' Association supports repeal of the laws requiring a pistol purchase permit. The Association continues to support the concealed handgun permit law."



The bill, which passed by a vote of 70-47, now goes to the Senate for further consideration.


State Rep. Brooks Landgrafs radioactive nuclear waste bill appears headed back to the House Environmental Regulation Committee.

The state of Texas reported the bill  House bill 2692  was postponed Tuesday and then on Wednesday a point of order was sustained. It was then reported that the bill will be recommitted to committee, according to the Legislature Online website.

It is eligible to return if the point of order is cured in committee. It remains to be seen if there is time in the session for that to take place.

The bill has been a struggle for the Odessa Republican and its backers in Andrews County. Last week, the Republican Party of Texas called HB 2692  a BAD BILL on its official party Twitter account. Previously, state Rep. Tom Craddick of Midland and Tommy Taylor of Fasken Oil and Ranch publicly opposed the passage of the legislation.

Landgrafs office hasnt responded to an email sent Wednesday morning about HB 2692 and the opposition by those in the Permian Basin to its passage.

Landgraf of Odessa co-authored the bill that would ban the storage and disposal of high-level nuclear waste away from civilian nuclear power plants or university research reactors in Texas. A proposal from Waste Control Specialists to expand their existing nuclear waste site in Andrews County to store high-level waste would be impacted by the bill.

Craddick earlier in the session sent a letter to the Environmental Regulation Committee that stated the bill muddies the waters between a tax cut for a specific vendor and the issue of high-level radioactive waste storage in Texas. Taylor spoke in opposition of the bill before it was voted out of committee, 6-2.
Taylor Getwood, 18, on Tuesday will become the youngest trustee in PAISD history.

His campaign pitch and promise to voters was to bridge the divide between students, parents and administrators and make the board process more transparent and accessible.

I think it is really imperative that we have the student perspective, Getwood told The Enterprise on election night. Now more than ever, education is constantly changing. And I think with me being as young as I am, I will be able to bridge that gap between our parents and the board and between our students and the board.

Related: PA voters elect youngest PAISD trustee in history

Getwood, who has personal relationships with every current board member, said he is looking forward to the first step of a political career, one not far off from Mike Floyd, who made headlines in 2017 when he was elected to Pearland ISD Board of Trustees at 18 years old.

His journey provides some insight into what the next few years could look like for Getwood, who graduated Early College High School just last year.

Related: Teens election to Pearland school board turns heads

He should expect that his life is going to be very different from other 18-year-olds, Floyd told The Enterprise. He has to be careful. He got elected to a position of responsibility, and it is his job now to live up to that.

Floyd and Getwood join a handful of 18-year-old school board members taking their concerns to the voters and running successful campaigns across the country.

Every decision, every vote I took, had that perspective of a student, Floyd said. Whether it was what tiles were going to put on the floor, whether we should expand a certain gymnasium or whether it was, do we put out a statement out about a certain racial or insensitive issue that happened in our community.

Floyd, who resigned from an extended term in 2020 after the approval of a $300,000 contract with a controversial special needs facility, is now the treasurer for the Texas Democratic Party.

Related: 21-year-old Pearland ISD trustee resigns over Shiloh Treatment Center contract

He said bringing a student perspective to the board was a given as he was so young himself.

I think this is going to be true for (Getwood) as well, he said. Just because of who he is and how young he is, he is shaped by that in-class perspective.

While students, many of whom texted Getwood elated by his surprise victory, may seem like the most obvious benefactor from the election, Floyd said teachers stand to benefit the most.

It is not necessarily the students; it is mostly the teachers, he said. A lot of seniors in high school and juniors in high school really get to know their teachers, not just as teachers, but as friends and as mentors. And bringing that perspective in, it just benefits the entire community.

Viola Garcia, an Aldine ISD trustee and the president of the National School Board Association, said that several 18-year-olds have been elected over the years, but its still not enough to constitute a trend.

There have been a number of those over the years, Garcia said. I will say that there has been participation over the years. The greatest avenue for student participation in activities going on in school districts is generally through the superintendents advisory committee.

Garcia said any increased involvement is a good thing for school districts, adding that virtual meetings during the pandemic have attracted a new layer of participation from parents and students.

I think it is absolutely positive, she said. Our students and their civic engagement is absolutely important for our future. I think it is important to listen to the voices of the students. After all, they are the ones that we are on the school board about, we are there for the benefit of the students.

The change to the Port Arthur ISD board is not insignificant.

Getwood handily unseated Lloyd Marie Johnson, a seasoned trustee with more than a decade of experience on the board.

Johnson, who will remain involved with the Parent Teacher Organization, credits Getwoods appeal to young voters with his victory.

He had a very young following, and they came out and were strong voters, she told The Enterprise. I commend them for being responsible voters.

But the youth influence on the Port Arthur ISD governing body is nothing new.

Brandon Bartie, who worked in the district for several years leading up to 2015, was 31 when he became the boards then-youngest trustee.

He now serves as board president.

Weve been hearing it, and in my generation Ive been hearing it for years, you know, that we are the future. We are the future leaders of Port Arthur, he said. And you know, we have stepped up, Id say my generation has stepped up and fulfilled some of those spots and are taking on some big shoes.

And I think, you know, as we get older, were going to see it as well with the younger generation coming in doing the same thing, he said.

While they may have their age in common, the approaches to governing still vary between the younger trustees.

When Bartie was first elected, he started his term by listening. And when Getwood won, he encouraged him to do the same: He should learn all he can, do the trainings and make good, solid, sound decisions.

Floyd on the other hand hit the ground running when he was elected and urged young elected officials to do the same.

Thats what people want young people to do is sit back and shut up, Floyd said. Absolutely not. He might be nervous at his first meeting, and it is important to know how the board operates because you dont want to interject at a time thats in violation of the board rules. But if there is an issue on your first meeting that you vigorously disagree with, or vigorously support, say it. It is why you were elected  to bring a voice. Dont shut up, speak up.

Getwood said he plans to do a little bit of both.

With this being my first time holding office, especially with my age, there is going to be a lot that I dont know, he said. So my first year I am definitely going to sit back for a little while and learn the ropes. But I will also be vocal, and if I dont understand something, I am going to ask.

Their age is not the only new thing younger representatives are bringing to the board, though.

Many decisions, including approval of routine purchases and contracts with lawyers typically are placed on a consent agenda  a list of items that are voted on all together with little discussion.

But that seems poised to change.

Getwood said in conversations with constituents, he heard that long consent agendas with short meetings have left voters confused and disillusioned.

Ive witnessed this and a lot of people in Port Arthur have witnessed this before, he said. It is honestly one of the reasons we dont have a lot of participation in board meetings. They come, they get the yay or nay, and then they dont know exactly what the vote was for.

Getwood said the issue is something he hopes to discuss with the board once he gets his bearings.

But whatever issues Getwood ultimately pursues while on the board, he, Bartie and Floyd agree that more young people should become involved in politics.

I think that being elected at a young age taught me how to communicate better. It taught me how to work hard, Floyd said. Some of these meetings are long ... and they can be sometimes pretty arduous to get through, but having that stamina and having the backing of the community  which he has (by) being elected  I think thats just a confidence boost that he needs to have. It changed my life and I hope that it yields the same thing for him.

Bartie said that anyone who is interested in moving the government forward and is interested in moving our city forward is amazing.

Especially because you really dont see that often where you have young people wanting to step into that arena and make things happen for the city and on a different caliber than they would normally do, he said. Versus just going to school and coming back teaching or going to school and coming back and being a principal or superintendent.

Getwood, who has attended many board meetings, and other school district functions throughout his school years is ready to continue working with mentors he has always known, now as colleagues.

I know each and every board member personally, he told The Enterprise. Thats why I dont feel as though Im going to have a problem. I have worked alongside them, and they have seen me grow up, some of them actually helped to raise me. They all know who I am, and I know who they are. I dont think that were going to have any problems when it comes down to making decisions together.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

twitter.com/isaacdwindes
A 25-year-old woman from Mali surprisingly gave birth to nine babies on Tuesday, the BBC reports.

With assistance from the West African country's government, Halima Cisse was flown out to Morocco, where she received specialist care and shocked doctors by delivering nonuplets by Caesarian section. Doctors had reportedly only detected seven babies during a scan.

"I'm very happy," Cisse's husband, Adjudant Kader Arby, told the network. "My wife and the babies [five girls and four boys] are doing well."

IN TEXAS: Republicans pushing abortion ban after 6 weeks

During her pregnancy, Cisse had become somewhat of a local celebrity in Mali, Reuters notes. Doctors, however, were concerned about her babies' chances of survival, leading to government intervention. Cisse first spent two weeks at a hospital in Mali's capital, Bamako, before she was moved to Morocco on March 30, Mali's health minister Fanta Siby said, according to the BBC.

"God gave us these children," Arby, who already shares an older daughter with Cisse, told the network. "He is the one to decide what will happen to them. I'm not worried about that. When the almighty does something, he knows why."

Thirty-three-year-old Nadya Suleman currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered at birth to survive after giving birth to eight babies in the U.S. in 2009. There have been previously recorded cases in which two women  one in Australia and one in Malaysia  gave birth to nonuplets, but none of the babies reportedly survived after a few days.

Cisse and her nine babies are expected to return home in several weeks, according to the BBC.

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BEIJING (AP)  China will draw a separation line atop Mount Everest to prevent the coronavirus from being spread by climbers ascending Nepal's side of the mountain, Chinese state media reported Monday.

A team of Tibetan mountaineering guides will set up the separation line at the peak before climbers attempt to reach the summit from the Chinese side, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

It was not clear what the separation line would be made of. The climbers ascending the north side of the mountain from China will be prohibited from crossing the line or coming into contact with anyone or any objects on the south, or Nepalese, side, it said.

Nepal's government and mountaineering officials did not immediately comment on the separation line.

Both countries suspended the climbing season on the world's highest mountain last year due to the pandemic. Nepal has issued permits allowing 408 foreigners to attempt climbs this year as it tries to boost tourism revenue.

China has issued permits to 38 people to climb on Mount Everest this year. Xinhua said 21 Chinese climbers were approved to attempt to reach the summit from the northern slope. A separate group of 17 climbers has also received permits to hike on the northern slope.

While China has mostly curbed domestic transmission of the virus, Nepal is experiencing a surging outbreak with record numbers of new infections and deaths in recent days. Most major cities and towns are under lockdown and all domestic and international flights are grounded.

Officials in Nepal have refused to speak about any Everest outbreak. One climber, a Norwegian, told The Associated Press last month he had developed COVID-19 and has since left the country after getting better.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, a mountaineering expert who has been in the mountaineering community for decades, said it was not possible to draw any kind of separation on the Everest summit.

The only point where climbers from both sides would even come close is the summit, which is a small space where climbers spend only a few minutes to take photographs and experience the 360-degree views.

Climbers would be wearing thick layers of clothing and gear and their faces would be covered with oxygen masks, glasses and protection from the freezing air.

The idea that anyone with coronavirus could even reach the summit is impossible because climbers with any respiratory difficulties will just not be able to reach the altitude, he said.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  Pamela Pitts' body was found burned beyond recognition in a pile of trash in 1988. Tips flooded in blaming a Satanic cult, a drug dealer, an ex-lover, an overdose at an Arizona party spot.

It would take more than 30 years, some prison calls and an eyebrow-raising plea deal before a convicted murderer would confess. But in a shocking twist, a court recently agreed the 19-year-olds killer wouldn't spend any more time behind bars.

Over the years, investigators couldn't pin down the evidence they needed to arrest anyone in the slaying that stoked fear about a killer on the loose around Prescott, a tourist town about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Phoenix.

The tips didn't add up. And then the case went cold.

Yet, suspicion followed Pitts' roommate Shelly Harmon for the 20 years she spent in prison for fatally shooting her ex-boyfriend, Raymond F. Clerx. As her sentence was ending, police started monitoring Harmon's phone calls.

One call gave prosecutors what they said they needed. In it, Harmon's father said she never told him what happened.

I had a moment. I had a huge moment, Harmon replied.

Dennis McGrane of the Yavapai County Attorney's Office saw it as an admission of guilt.

Like a sudden quarrel with the roommate," he said. She wasn't planning it, but she did do it.

Harmon's attorney, Dwane Cates, said the statement could have referred to Clerx's death.

Clerx had wanted to end the relationship and was going to take their dogs. In a burst of anger, Harmon shot him as he lay on the roof of a car watching planes overhead. She later dropped his body in a mineshaft.

Harmon confessed. But with Pitts' death, her story changed over the years: She said Clerx was her alibi. She claimed another roommate strangled Pitts.

Prosecutors tried to draw similarities between the two cases to back up a theory that when Harmon felt threatened or abandoned, she killed. Cates called that a stretch.

Prosecutors knew Harmon was furious with Pitts over money, for wanting to move out and for sharing news of Harmon's pregnancy, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Pitts went missing on Sept. 16, 1988, the day that Harmon drove around Prescott looking for her and saying she'd kill her if she found her, the documents say. Harmon also said she knew how to conceal a killing: by burning a body or dumping it down a mineshaft  a statement a judge said could be included at a trial that was supposed to start last week.

But prosecutors were dealt a blow when the court ruled no evidence of Clerx's death could be introduced.

Plus, the autopsy was inconclusive because of the extent of Pitts' burns. The court said no one could suggest it was a homicide or probable homicide. Pitts body was identified through dental records.

Prosecutors acknowledged that they faced a trial without the evidence or witness recollections they had hoped for. That's when they considered a plea deal.

It weighed heavily on us, guaranteeing an outcome versus taking a chance at trial," McGrane said.

Harmon's attorney maintained the evidence was stronger against someone else.

But Yavapai County sheriff's Lt. Victor Dartt said he followed leads until they no longer checked out.

Shelly was the only one that I could keep corroborating, he said.

Harmon, whose maiden name is Norgard, was charged with first-degree murder in 2017. She was living outside Carson City, Nevada, after being released from prison for Clerx's death. She got married, managed rental properties, and did bookkeeping and tax work.

Harmon had not registered as a felon as required in Nevada, so she was picked up and told of the murder charge later, Dartt said.

In March, she agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and detail how she killed Pitts.

Harmon recounted that she was upset Pitts was late on rent and had overdrawn a joint bank account. So, she went looking for her, the two fought and Harmon said, I just lost it.

She said she hit Pitts repeatedly against the ground until she was no longer moving. As voices drew near, Harmon said, she "freaked out.

I was thinking, Oh, my God, shes dead, shes dead, and I killed her,' Harmon said.

Pitts' family found the account unbelievable, like half a story.

It was just to get out of jail," said Pitts' brother, Paul Pitts Jr. She got a golden ticket, and she got away with murder.

Harmon was sentenced to 20 years but received credit for the time she served for Clerx's death and the years she spent in jail awaiting trial in Pitts' slaying.

Still, the Pitts family celebrated  it wasnt justice, but it was an ending to the decadeslong case. They remembered the 19-year-old who exuded 1980s rock style and whose room always smelled like Aqua Net hair spray. She loved animals, took care of the elderly, was kind and bubbly but also had a tough, know-it-all side, her family said.

Pitts' mother, Carol, said Harmon will have to live with killing her daughter for the rest of her miserable life.

Harmon is barred by the plea agreement from talking about the case. Her usually chatty attorney, Cates, would only say, This is a very sad case all the way around, and it just needed to end.

Harmon, now 50, is back in Nevada, friends say. Mary Burgoon said she's had a few meals with Harmon and her husband. She said Harmon was unjustly jailed and believes she pleaded guilty only to avoid prison time.

Wouldn't you if that was the only way you could get out of there? Burgoon said. I do not believe that she did it.

___

This story has been corrected to show the month the trial was supposed to start is May.
Texas lawmakers are poised to enact sweeping restrictions on access to abortions, prohibiting the procedure before many women know they are pregnant, and opening the door for a potential flood of lawsuits against abortion providers.

The House on Wednesday gave initial approval to a priority heartbeat bill passed by the Senate earlier this spring, which was authored or sponsored by nearly every Republican senator and more than 60 members of the House. The legislation must still get another vote in the lower chamber before its sent to the governor, who has signaled that he is looking forward to signing it into law.

Abortion rights advocates say the legislation is among the most extreme measures nationwide and does not exempt people pregnant because of rape of incest. Beyond the limitations on abortion access, the bill would let nearly anyone  including people with no connection to the doctor or the woman  sue abortion providers, and those who help others get an abortion in violation of the proposed law. People who support abortion funds and clinics could also be hit with lawsuits, and lawyers warn those sued would not be able to recover some of the money they spent on their legal defense.

The unprecedented, extraordinary, and exceptionally broad language in the bills means family members, clergy, domestic violence and rape crisis counselors, or referring physicians could be subject to tens of thousands of dollars in liability to total strangers, nearly 400 Texas lawyers told House lawmakers in an open letter circulated by abortion rights advocates.

In a separate letter, more than 200 physicians said the bill would place doctors at risk of frivolous lawsuits and create a chilling effect where providers are reticent to give information out of fear of being sued.

The language in the bill is broad enough to open doctors from all specialties  like pediatrics and emergency medicine  up to lawsuits, the letter said, adding that as licensed physicians in Texas, we implore you to not weaponize the judicial branch against us to make a political point.

The bill, Senate Bill 8, bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected without specifying a specific timeframe, but a legislative analysis and its proponents have said that can be as early as six weeks.

State Rep. Shelby Slawson, R-Stephenville, the lead sponsor of the measure in the House, introduced the bill with a personal story.

She said her mother was given a dim prognosis of an abnormally developing baby but carried the pregnancy to term  and now 44 years and two days later, that little baby girl is standing in this chamber, her heart beating as strongly and as rapidly as it did all those years ago.

As she lays out before you, Senate Bill 8, the Texas Heartbeat Act, Slawson added, to applause from other lawmakers.

But debate over the bill quickly became contentious, and Slawson did not directly answer a variety of questions from Democratic lawmakers, including about broader health topics like if access to contraception had anything to do with the rate of unintended pregnancies, or if women could become pregnant while menstruating.

State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, told Slawson that what she referred to as the sound of a heartbeat around six weeks is actually electrically induced flickering of fetal tissue, according to medical experts. At that stage of development, she said there is no developed heart.

I don't know that I agree with that, Slawson said.

Well, that's what the science says, said Howard, who grew emotional as the debate escalated and said later that the abortion debate is the worst day of the session every single session.

You guys know that there have always been abortions and there always will be despite the obstructions that youre putting in place here. Despite the self-righteousness of valuing life over what I value, which I highly resent. I also value the lives of the women and families who have to make these decisions, she said.

An amendment from Slawson carved out a class of people who cannot file lawsuits under the bill: Those who impregnated a woman through rape or incest. She also changed the proposed law to limit lawsuits to only perceived violations of the bill and not any breach of state abortion rules.

The legislation, which has an exception for medical emergencies, was passed with 81 votes in favor and 63 against. State Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, was the lone Democrat to vote for it, according to an unofficial tally. State Rep. Alex Dominguez, Democrat-Brownsville, was present but didn't vote.

Most abortions in Texas are currently prohibited after about 20 weeks. Pill-induced abortions are barred at 10 weeks, in accordance with federal guidelines. The abortion provider must perform a sonogram on the woman 24-hours before the abortion and give them information about medical risks, abortion alternatives and assistance available to those who follow through with their pregnancy.

More than 56,600 abortions were performed on Texas residents in 2019, according to state statistics, most of them in the first trimester.

The bills passage comes as conservative state houses across the country have tried to curtail abortion access, emboldened in part by the new conservative makeup of the Supreme Court.

States including Texas are now trying to ban abortions at various stages of pregnancy or for different reasons  and with a goal of teeing up challenges before the Supreme Court, Heather Shumaker, director of state abortion access at the National Womens Law Center said.

While heartbeat bills passed by other state houses have been blocked by the courts, Texas lawmakers believe legal language in their version makes it stronger.

But the provisions are controversial, and the lawyers who sent the letter to House lawmakers said they contravene the Texas Constitution and undermine long standing rules and tenets of our civil legal system.

Abortion providers and others could be sued later for conduct that was legal at the time  an ex post facto liability that violates the very bedrock of our legal system which requires notice and due process before imposing liability, the letter said.

Earlier Wednesday, abortion rights advocates hosted a morning press conference in protest of the measures, which they said would ban abortions before many women know they are pregnant.

To the surprise of many  particularly my male colleagues here in the Legislature  women's bodies are not clocks, Howard said at the press conference outside the Capitol. Periods are oftentimes irregular for many women. So unless you're very deliberately trying to become pregnant, you're likely not even considering at four weeks pregnancy  six weeks gestation  that you may be pregnant.

Former state Sen. Wendy Davis, who gained national attention for filibustering abortion legislation in 2013, said the legislation would disproportionately hurt those who cant afford to leave Texas to get an abortion.

What I know is that women like me, like my daughters, if they found themselves in that position, we would get in a plane, we would fly to another state, or we would get in a car and drive across state lines, she said.

Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization, celebrated the passage of the measure saying it was the "strongest pro-life bill to ever reach the Texas House floor."

This is a historic day for the state of Texas. The House has taken bold and wise action to protect innocent preborn children in the womb," Rebecca Parma, a senior legislative associate with the organization said in a statement.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands as she arrives for a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, July 5, 2019.

Ties between Bangladesh and China could be substantially damaged if the South Asian country joins any initiative launched by the Quad alliance, Beijings envoy to Dhaka told reporters on Monday.

Bangladesh will gain nothing by participating in efforts by the Quad, Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming said, as member countries of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue woo Dhaka to be part of their Indo-Pacific efforts.

Bilateral relations with Bangladesh would be substantially damaged if it joins hand with [Quad] initiatives, Li said in response to reporters questions about the group comprising the United States, Japan, Australia and India.

It is not wise to ponder over joining [initiatives] with such a small group or club. [The Quad] is a narrow-purposed geopolitical clique, and Bangladesh should not join it, since it will not derive any benefit from it, he added.

Lis comments partially corroborate what Chinese state media reported about Defense Minister Wei Fenghes talks with Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid on April 27.

According to the Xinhua news agency, Wei told Hamid that Beijing and Dhaka must make joint efforts against powers outside the region setting up a military alliance in South Asia.

Wei raised the issue of the Quad during his talks with Hamid, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen told BenarNews. A Bangladesh official who attended the Wei-Hamid meeting, but who was not authorized to speak to the media, said Hamid did not talk about the Quad.

Defense Minister Wei seemed displeased at the formation of the Quad. The honorable president listened patiently, but he did not utter a single word about the Quad, the official told BenarNews.

Beijings warning came after the Quad, at a virtual meeting in March, agreed to deliver 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to Indo-Pacific nations by 2022, a move that analysts said was a perfect counterpoint to Chinas so-called vaccine diplomacy.

Analysts also said it was a big step in countering Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, Beijings geopolitical program to build a modern-day Silk Road through a network of ports, railways, roads and trade routes to connect China to markets in Southeast Asia, South Asia and beyond.

Bangladesh is among countries that China is targeting under OBOR. In 2016, Beijing and Dhaka signed a memorandum under which China agreed to lend Bangladesh U.S. $25 billion tied to 27 Chinese-backed infrastructure projects.

And now, with the halt in COVID-19 supplies to Bangladesh from India, Dhaka is looking to Beijing to fill the vaccine gap. On Monday, Ambassador Li said Chinas gift of 500,000 doses of Sinopharms coronavirus vaccine would reach Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The vaccine aid arrives just in time, Xinhua quoted Li as saying.

[I]t is the latest outcome of China-Bangladesh anti-pandemic cooperation, which again shows that our two peoples are in the same boat, and we will stand with each other till the end of this battle, he said.

Indo-Japanese efforts in Bangladesh

Meanwhile, India and Japan are working separately and together to finance infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, research organization Observer Research Foundation (ORF) noted in a brief in April.

Increasingly, India is finding its space in Japans foreign policy frameworks such as  the Quadrilateral Initiative.  Japans Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) and Indias Act East Policy are complementary frameworks that create scope for the two countries to deepen their collaboration in the region, the New Delhi-based ORF said.

The two countries have thus begun to collaborate in third countries: for instance, in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. In recent years, the bilateral partnership between India and Japan has expanded and they are pooling efforts in third countries in the context of their shared outlook towards the Indo-Pacific.

New Delhi and Tokyo are already collaborating on two projects in Bangladesh  the Ramgarh-Baraiyarhat Highway and the Jamuna Railway Bridge, ORF said.

India and Japan are key middle powers in the Indo-Pacific, so infrastructure linkages in the region are significant vis-a-vis China, the research organization said.

While the partnership is not overtly a step to supplement the many potential measures to counterbalance perceived apprehensions with regard to Chinas growing footprint, it offers scope for smaller nations in the region to reduce their reliance on China and look to engage with other countries, ORF said.

For Ambassador Li, the Quad is decidedly anti-China.

China always maintains that the U.S.-led Quad is a minor anti-China initiative  a military alliance aimed against Chinas resurgence and its relationship with neighboring countries, Li said.

It is a small club of four, and we all know what it is for  for China  and that is why Japan has joined hands with the U.S.

In April, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Quad was not aimed at one country. But after the groups leaders met in March, he acknowledged that they did discuss the challenge posed by China, according to news reports.

As for Bangladesh, it hopes to reap benefits from both China and Quad nations, even as it walks a tightrope.

We do not see any problem in joining any alliance in the world for peace and development. But we are not [interested] in a military alliance. According to our foreign policy, friendship with all is not enmity with anyone, a senior foreign ministry official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, told BenarNews.

One analyst said Bangladesh needed to tread carefully.

As an independent country, Bangladesh has the right to decide whether to join or not. But a friendly state like China cannot be ignored. So when China raises an objection, Bangladesh has to proceed cautiously, Ehsanul Haque, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, told BenarNews.
People gather as shops burn in the background during an anti-Jakarta protest in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia, Sept. 23, 2019.

Indonesian police arrested a pro-independence activist in Papua on suspicion of treason and sedition in connection with anti-Jakarta demonstrations that turned into deadly riots in the region two years ago, authorities said Monday.

The arrest of Victor Yeimo, chairman of the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB), a Papuan civilian organization that seeks a referendum on self-determination for Papua, occurred over the weekend amid escalating tensions in the far-eastern region.

Indonesias president has ordered a crackdown on Papuan armed separatist rebels after they assassinated the governments intelligence chief for the region in late April.

Yeimo was picked up on Sunday in the provincial capital, Jayapura, after being a fugitive for nearly two years, said M. Iqbal Alqudusy, a police spokesman for a counter-insurgency task force known as Operation Nemangkawi.

He was named a suspect based on witness testimony who described him as the leader of the demonstrations, who gave speeches about independence for Papua, Iqbal told BenarNews.

Yeimo, 42, faces up to 12 years if convicted of charges of treason, police said.

His arrest was not his first brush with the law.

In 2009, Yeimo was arrested and sentenced to a year in prison for leading a rally demanding a referendum on self-determination for Papua. The mainly Melanesian populated region, which comprises Papua and West Papua provinces, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-administered ballot.

In 2019, more than 40 people were killed in Papua during demonstrations and riots sparked by the perceived harsh and racist treatment of Papuan students by government security personnel in Java that August.

Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri, the police chief of Papua, said Yeimo had fled to neighboring Papua New Guinea after the 2019 unrest.

Yeimo admitted that he returned to Jayapura in September 2020, Suara.com quoted Fakhiri as saying.

On August 19, 2019, Yeimo shouted Free Papua as he gave a speech in front of the provincial governors office, Fakhiri said, accusing Yeimo of being the mastermind of mass demonstrations that ended in anarchism and damage to public facilities.

In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded the Papua region  which makes up the western half of New Guinea Island  and annexed it.

Many Papuans and rights groups said the 1969 vote, known as Act of Free Choice, was a sham because it involved only about 1,000 people.

Last year, at least 13 Papuan activists and students were convicted for raising Morning Star flags  the symbol of the Papuan independence movement  during pro-referendum rallies in 2019 as part of nationwide protests against racism towards Papuans. They were sentenced to between nine and 11 months in prison on treason charges.

A far-fetched accusation

Last month, the Indonesian government designated the Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatist group and its armed wing, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), as terrorists.

That happened after the TPNPB claimed responsibility for killing army Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha Karya during a roadside ambush in Puncak regency on April 25. Putu Danny headed the Papua operation of the State Intelligence Agency.

The TPNPB also said they had killed two teachers, a motorcycle taxi driver and a 16-year-old in separate incidents in April. The rebels said the civilians worked as spies for the government.

The killings prompted President Joko Jokowi Widodo to order government forces to intensify operations against the rebels.

Sam Awom, the Papua coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), called Yeimos arrest arbitrary and said it was a consequence of the government designating separatists as terrorists.

We activists are very worried about this, because the designation [of Papuan rebels] as terrorists will not solve the problem. In fact, what the government has to do is open up as much space as possible for dialogue between the government and the OPM, he told BenarNews, referring to the separatist Free Papua Movement.

By using the anti-terrorism law to go after the Papuan rebels, police will have powers to arrest more people because they do not need hard evidence, Awom said.

There is huge potential for human rights violations such as forced detention and summary executions, he said

Awom defended Yeimo, saying he had led a demonstration in Jayapura in September 2019 that ended peacefully.

Victor being the mastermind of the riots is a far-fetched accusation, I think, he said, urging the government to release all political prisoners instead.

Veronica Koman, an Indonesian lawyer who has represented Papuan activists in the past, said Yeimos arrest could lead to more trouble in the region.

Indonesia is giving a momentum for West Papuans to take to the streets again. Anger has been building up since the terrorist labeling, Koman said in a message posted on Twitter.

Several organizations have announced they would mobilize if Victor Yeimo was not released.
Utah-based Breeze plans to carry leisure travelers to smaller cities that have been overlooked or abandoned by larger airlines. The airline hasnt said which cities it will serve, but Neeleman has hinted it will start in the Southeast, including Florida.
Malaysian authorities released photos of eight suspected Abu Sayyaf group members caught in Sabah, May 10, 2021.

Security forces in Sabah captured eight suspected Abu Sayyaf militants, as well as eight women and 21 children, found hiding in a swamp area over the weekend, after Philippine authorities tipped them off that the men were in Malaysia, officials said Monday.

Sabah Police Commissioner Hazani Ghazali said the raid occurred early Saturday.

Philippine authorities had confirmed that the eight had snuck into Sabah to escape arrest following operations against ASG members, Hazani told reporters, referring to the Abu Sayyaf Group.

All 37 comprising the eight men with 29 others  eight women and the remainder children  were caught hiding in a swamp area in the Beaufort district of Sabah, he told BenarNews. Authorities are still checking if the 29 have family ties to the eight suspects.

Authorities in both countries identified the two suspected sub-leaders as Sansibar Bensio and Mabar Binda.

Two of them, Sansibar Bensio and Mabar Binda, were wanted by Philippine authorities for involvement in battles with the authorities and kidnapping activities of foreigners, Hazani said.

Philippine Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr. said military units from the Joint Task Force Sulu (JTFS) had alerted their Malaysian counterparts in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), leading to the Saturday raid.

Based on the report from the ground, the ESSCOM responded to the information provided by the Joint Task Force Sulu and launched a police special operation in Jalan Taman Sri Arjuna, Beaufort, Sabah, around 3 oclock in the morning, May 8, 2021, said Vinluan, commander of the Western Mindanao Command.

Escape to Sabah

Vinluan said the eight had escaped to avoid getting caught by Philippine authorities in Sulu, which is about 323 km (200 miles) east of Sandakan, a city in Sabah.

They were trying to avoid relentless operations by the military in Sulu, Vinluan told BenarNews, adding they likely would have kidnapped people if the opportunity arose.

They then moved to Sabah and set up an ASG cell there to scout for new victims and launch other terror activities, Vinluan said.

Bensio and Binda allegedly were involved in the kidnapping of Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra and Dutch national Ewold Horn along with Indonesian nationals in the southern Philippines, according to the military.

Horn was killed as he tried to escape amid a gun battle between troops and his captors in 2019, seven years after he was kidnapped. Vinciguerra was able to escape after being held for two years.

Military authorities also linked Bensio and Binda to kidnappings for ransom of 10 Filipinos who were held in the jungle of Sulu at different times but later freed.

Philippine Col. Hernanie Songano, commander of the 4th Marine Brigade in the south, said intelligence information indicated the group was aiming to use Sabah as a springboard to facilitate foreign terrorist groups in Southeast Asia to conduct terror activities in the Philippines.

In 2017, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesian launched trilateral patrols aimed at preventing acts of piracy and kidnappings at sea along their common maritime boundaries.

Foreign terrorist groups

Vinluan, meanwhile, said troops and police were looking for two more Indonesians and one Egyptian foreign militant in Sulu.

The Egyptian is the younger brother of the militant identified as Yusop, who was killed along with two Abu Sayyaf militants in April, Vinluan said.

Their mother, Reda Mohammad Mahmud, an Egyptian national (alias Siti Aiza), blew herself up at a military camp in 2019. Because her explosives were set off prematurely, no one else was injured or killed.

Sulu, a remote island province in the far-southern Philippines, has been home to terrorist atrocities in recent years.

Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a twin suicide bombing at a Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province, where 23 people were killed, including an Indonesian couple who blew themselves up. An August 2020 bombing in Jolo killed 14 people.

BenarNews staff in Zamboanga, Philippines, contributed to this report.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

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Investigations editor

Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine.
The proposal to add a section of downtown Lenox to the National Register of Historic Places includes a total of 264 residential and commercial properties, all constructed before 1944.
Amanda Burke covers Pittsfield City Hall for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Find her on Twitter at @amandaburkec.
It appeared likely that the attacker explored the facilitys network to identify critical assets before executing the ransomware attack, Nathan Brubaker, a senior manager at the cybersecurity company FireEye, said at the time. This tactic, which has become increasingly popular among hackers, makes it possible for the attacker to disable security processes that would normally be enough to detect known ransomware indicators, he said.
BOISE - Despite the nationwide pandemic, the number of cybersecurity job openings in Idaho saw a 28% increase in 2020 with an estimated 1,200 available postings through the course of the year. Since 2015, openings for cybersecurity jobs have grown by 160%, sustained by accelerating demand across multiple industry sectors. Nationwide, job postings rose to more than 350,000 in 2020.

With rising phishing attacks fueled by pandemic concerns and widespread remote work, the industry is set to grow even more rapidly. According to a recent Fortune Business Insights Market Report, the global cybersecurity market size was $153.16 billion in 2020 and is projected to more than double to $366.1 billion in 2028.

Idahos Cybersecurity Cluster

Cybersecurity is often referred to as a unique industry, yet it is not formally classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) standard for established businesses. This is because while the NAICS system is production-oriented  grouping businesses into industries based on similarities in the processes used to produce goods or services  cybersecurity is more market/product-oriented. Thus, where the NAICS fails to capture cybersecurity, the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) identifies network security  a cybersecurity service  as a unique product. Both NAICS and NAPCS are classification systems administered by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The NAPCS is a comprehensive, market- or demand-based, hierarchical classification system for products (goods and services) that is not industry-of-origin based but can be linked to the NAICS industry structure. The most recent Economic Census (2017) showed that the NAPCS-based product  network security design and development services  generated revenue of $3.71 billion from surveyed establishments nationwide. The revenue generated was linked to an expansive cluster comprised of 13 NAICS industries as shown below.

This NAPCS cluster has shown rapid employment growth in recent years. Since 2013, the average employment in these 13 industries combined saw a 49% increase statewide; employment growth for all industries in the state was 18.7% over the same timeframe. The establishments comprising this cluster are numerous and are mostly micro-businesses. As of 2020 preliminary estimates, there were 2,900 businesses with at least one employee in this cluster and only 9% of these businesses had 10 or more employees.

Despite the rapid growth seen over the past decade, Idahos cybersecurity scene is still considered emergent when compared with the more established clusters in Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia. A SWOT analysis of the NAPCS cyber cluster shows that Idaho still has a location quotient  a measure of concentration relative to the national average  less than the national average. Idaho has the 13th lowest concentration of cyber employment.

Idaho has a surprisingly large number of businesses that provide cybersecurity services as a product. There are currently over 200 Idaho businesses operating within the state that offer cybersecurity services. A mapping of known cybersecurity establishments indicates clear geographic clustering in the Boise metro area and some light clustering in the Coeur dAlene, Pocatello and Idaho Falls metro areas.

The potential to develop a thriving ecosystem is present in nearly every region across the state. In a 2017 Report by New Americas Cybersecurity Initiative, the authors identified four factors that contribute to cluster growth:
Senate Bill 128, Impose same expanded hours mandate on both new and used car dealers: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate

To impose a new mandate on both new and used auto dealers that they must be open for 30 hours per week during at least 48 weeks a year. This would likely have no effect on new car dealers, whose generally larger operations and costs make them likely to keep long hours already, but the additional burden could force some used car dealers to go out of business.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, will the Catholic Church stand up to Bill O'Reilly?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
To address the spiralling hospital bed shortfall across India, including several underserved states.

With a grant of DKK 10 Million, approximately Rs 12 crore by Danish Novo Nordisk Foundation, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) will be anchoring and hosting a project to establish four emergency hospitals fitted with advanced equipment for COVID-19 care as well as a number of mobile hospital units.

Through this ambitious project, facilitated by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, parties look to address the spiralling hospital bed shortfall across India, including several underserved states.

C-CAMP along with Office of PSA will oversee the establishment of new emergency hospitals and a number of mobile hospital units with a total of 364 beds and the capacity to treat close to 1300 COVID-19 patients per week with oxygen concentrators and respiratory support equipment among other emergency infrastructure.

In the areas most severely affected the capacity will be in place within few weeks, and the mobile hospital units will be set up as soon as possible in states where infection rates are expected to increase in the coming weeks.

The proposed hospital locations have been identified based on urgent need requests as received from State Government health agencies.

Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP CEO & Director, said Cases are skyrocketing in several states and hospital beds with oxygen capability are the need of the hour even in previously self-reliant urbanized health care centres. With this support from Novo Nordisk Foundation, we are eager to boost the number of oxygenated beds and ICUs on a war footing and enhance capacity even in states that currently witness relatively low cases. With a strong possibility of Third Wave in future, such models of collaboration will be crucial for augmenting an immensely stretched healthcare system.
Weve been getting many excuses as to why not to return, said Rovetto, who is offering a signing bonus of up to $600 to try to add 15 to 20 employees who agree to stay through the middle of October. Obviously, it was a legitimate one with COVID, but, you know, I think thats getting used less and less now. The vaccines are free, they are out there for anyone.
Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain
The IAB South Africa's Youth Action Council is calling on all interested parties in the digital media and marketing space to attend its inaugural town hall on 15 June via Zoom and also for participaction in their Mentor Month initiative throughout the month of June.

The IAB Youth Action Council, started in June 2020, aims to increase the engagement and participation of under 30s in the digital marketing industry, with three key objectives. These three pillars of focus are: one, to provide easier access to relevant information and platforms; two, to provide a platform that facilitates collaboration with the other IAB councils to explore and solve existing challenges; and three, to provide a seat at the table alongside industry heavyweights.The council has established various programs which guide them in being able to achieve their objectives. One of these platforms is Future Masters. The wonderful thing about the industry we work in is that opportunities for learning are endless. What started as an idea for a project the council was going to be working on, has grown into an umbrella for all projects the council seeks to carry out that have to do with knowledge share, says Luzuko Tena who heads up the council.Under their Future Masters program, the Youth Action Council will be running two initiatives in June, namely: their bi-annual town hall event and Mentor Month.{mentor month} is an opportunity to fill the gap in connection that the industry has in and amongst its younger peers. With the Y-council being made up of representatives of the youth in our industry across different departments, it's important that we stay connected and rooted in the community that we come from, says Tshegofatso Phetlhe, creative director at VMLY&R and a member of the IAB Y-Council.Phetlhe adds: The one-on-one sessions are an opportunity for us as the Y-Council to build relationships and networks with the youth that are just entering this space in marketing and advertising. Theyre about sharing advice on everything from the different roles that we occupy in our professional capacity; to us sharing with one another how one can create an impact-led career and most importantly building staying power in this industry. We believe that these sessions will not only strengthen the youth but also begin to foster safe spaces to build one another up as we learn from one another.For the first town hall of 2021, scheduled for 15 June, the focus will be mentorship in the industry, the importance of it and also what it really is. This event presents a wonderful opportunity for young people in the industry to come together, take centre stage and discuss issues and topics relevant to them. In November 2020 the council had its first town hall event, which was a wonderful success and as we lead up to June (Youth Month and 1 year since the council has been up and running) time has come for another one. Agenda to follow.Register for the free town hall webinar: http://bit.ly/Ycouncil2021TOWNHALL More info on Mentor Month (deadline 28 May 2021): Mentor Month Sign-Up
South Africa's health ministry said it had detected the first four cases of a new coronavirus variant that emerged in India and was responsible for a surge of infections and deaths in the Asian country.

A healthcare worker receives the Johnson and Johnson coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination at Khayelitsha Hospital near Cape Town. Reuters/Mike Hutchings

Testing had also picked up 11 cases of the variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK, the health ministry said in a statement."The Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa confirmed today that two variants of concern, other than the B.1.351 already dominating in South Africa, have been detected," health minister, Zweli Mkhize, said.The four positive cases were detected in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, and all had a history of travel to India, which on Saturday recorded its highest ever single-day Covid-19 death toll of 4,187 fatalities.Of the 11 people infected with the UK variant, eight were found in the Western Cape, Mkhize said, adding that the B.1.1.7 strain was detected in community samples and that this suggested community transmission had already set in.Africa's worst-hit country in terms of infections and fatalities, South Africa's second wave was driven by its own variant that quickly dominated infections countrywide.South Africa has ordered tens of millions of vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer as it looks to ramp up its slow mass vaccination campaign, with only 382,480 frontline healthcare workers inoculated out of a population of 60 million.
This job expired on 11 May 2021.
Vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to a return to normalcy. Most COVID-19 vaccines rolling out worldwide have been authorized for adults. Pfizers vaccine is being used in multiple countries for teens as young as 16, and Canada recently became the first to expand use to 12 and up. Parents, school administrators and public health officials elsewhere are anxiously awaiting the shot to become available to more kids.
Though daily testing data varies periodically, state figures show that the seven-day average for total tests administered has decreased since January, when the first vaccinations were just beginning for health care workers. That month, the seven-day average regularly surpassed 90,000 tests until testing numbers began generally decreasing in February and March. In April, seven-day testing averages ranged between around 70,000 and 80,000, down from peaks in November when daily tests were surpassing 100,000.
Heres the strange thing: almost 20 years into a series of chaotic, staggeringly expensive, failing wars across significant parts of the planet, the U.S. military  "the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known" (George W. Bush), aka "the finest fighting force that the world has ever known" (Barack Obama)  continues to eat taxpayer dollars as if they were nothing at all. According to the Costs of War Project, the US has sunk almost $2.3 trillion dollars into the failed Afghan War from which its now retreating and a minimum of $6.4 trillion into all the major conflicts of the Global War on Terror (not even counting future costs caring for the wars vets). And all of this happened in years in which little indeed went into American domestic infrastructure. And yet, even as it leaves Afghanistan, the Biden administration is actually upping the already stratospheric Pentagon budget, and Republicans in Congress, who normally fight spending a cent on anyone other than corporations and billionaires, are urging the president to spend even more. Worse yet, the American public generally seems remarkably satisfied with such spending. Somehow, what the US military machine has done over all these years just never seems to sink in here.

The latest polling figures show that only 14% of Americans saw this countrys "defense" efforts (as theyre always called, despite those "forever wars" in distant lands) as too much and would like to see military spending lowered. Half of all Americans consider the US defense posture "just right" and 35% would like more of the same (up from 25% last year). In January, a Gallup poll indicated that 74% of Americans were "very or somewhat satisfied with the nations military strength and preparedness" and, in that context, the military always has a sky-high positive image in polling here  and it only rose in pandemic year 2020.

Its as if Americans were simply not living in the world that the US military was operating in and, in a sense, as retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and TomDispatch regular William Astore, who runs the Bracing Views blog, suggests today, they may not be. That military and the "industrial complex" that goes with it may, in fact, represent another universe entirely, one that Americans look at from afar as if it were all happening to someone else  as, in a sense (ask the Afghans, Iraqis, or Somalis), it is. ~ Tom

Endless War Is A Feature of Our National Programming

By William Astore

Why dont Americas wars ever end?

I know, I know: President Joe Biden has announced that our combat troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by 9/11 of this year, marking the 20th anniversary of the colossal failure of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to defend America.

Of course, that other 9/11 in 2001 shocked us all. I was teaching history at the US Air Force Academy and I still recall hushed discussions of whether the days body count would exceed that of the Battle of Antietam, the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. (Fortunately, bad as it was, it didnt.)

Hijacked commercial airliners, turned into guided missiles by shadowy figures our panicky politicians didnt understand, would have a profound impact on our collective psyche. Someone had to pay and among the first victims were Afghans in the opening salvo of the misbegotten Global War on Terror, which we in the military quickly began referring to as the GWOT. Little did I know then that such a war would still be going on 15 years after I retired from the Air Force in 2005 and 80 articles after I wrote my first for TomDispatch in 2007 arguing for an end to militarism and forever wars like the one still underway in Afghanistan.

Over those years, Ive come to learn that, in my country, war always seems to find a way, even when it goes badly  very badly, in fact, as it did in Vietnam and, in these years, in Afghanistan and Iraq, indeed across much of the Greater Middle East and significant parts of Africa. Not coincidentally, those disastrous conflicts havent actually been waged in our name. No longer does Congress even bother with formal declarations of war. The last one came in 1941 after Pearl Harbor. During World War II, Americans united to fight for something like national security and a just cause. Today, however, perpetual American-style war simply is. Congress postures, but does nothing decisive to stop it. In computer-speak, endless war is a feature of our national programming, not a bug.

Two pro-war parties, Republicans and Democrats, have cooperated in these decades to ensure that such wars persist and persist and persist. Still, theyre not the chief reason why Americas wars are so difficult to end. Let me list some of those reasons for you. First, such wars are beyond profitable, notably to weapons makers and related military contractors. Second, such wars are the Pentagons reason for being. Lets not forget that, once upon a time, the present ill-named Department of Defense was so much more accurately and honestly called the Department of War. Third, if profit and power arent incentive enough, wars provide purpose and meaning even as they strengthen authoritarian structures in society and erode democratic ones. Sum it all up and war is what America now does, even if the reasons may be indefensible and the results so regularly abysmal.

Support Our Troops! (Who Are They, Again?)

The last truly American war was World War II. And when it ended in 1945, the citizen-soldiers within the US military demanded rapid demobilization  and they got it. But then came the Iron Curtain, the Cold War, the Korean War, fears of nuclear Armageddon (that nearly came to fruition during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962), and finally, of course, Vietnam. Those wars were generally not supported  not with any fervor anyway  by the American people, hence the absence of congressional declarations. Instead, they mainly served the interests of the national security state, or, if you prefer, the military-industrial-congressional complex.

Thats precisely why President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued his grave warning about that Complex in his farewell address in 1961. No peacenik, Ike had overseen more than his share of military coups and interventions abroad while president, so much so that he came to see the faults of the system he was both upholding and seeking to restrain. That was also why President John F. Kennedy called for a more humble and pacific approach to the Cold War in 1963, even as he himself failed to halt the march toward a full-scale war in Southeast Asia. This is precisely why Martin Luther King, Jr., truly a prophet who favored the fierce urgency of peace, warned Americans about the evils of war and militarism (as well as racism and materialism) in 1967. In the context of the enormity of destruction America was then visiting on the peoples of Southeast Asia, not for nothing did he denounce this country as the worlds greatest purveyor of violence.

Collectively, Americans chose to ignore such warnings, our attention being directed instead toward spouting patriotic platitudes in support of "our" troops. Yet, if you think about it for a moment, youll realize those troops arent really ours. If they were, we wouldnt need so many bumper stickers reminding us to support them.

With the military draft gone for the last half-century, most Americans have voted with their feet by not volunteering to become "boots on the ground" in the Pentagons various foreign escapades. Meanwhile, Americas commanders-in-chief have issued inspiring calls for their version of national service, as when, in the wake of 9/11, President George W. Bush urged Americans to go shopping and visit Disney World. In the end, Americans, lacking familiarity with combat boots, are generally apathetic, sensing that "our" wars have neither specific meaning to, nor any essential purpose in their lives.

As a former Air Force officer, even if now retired, I must admit that it took me too long to realize this countrys wars had remarkably little to do with me  or you, for that matter  because we simply have no say in them. That doesnt mean our leaders dont seek to wage them in our name. Even as they do so, however, they simultaneously absolve us of any need to serve or sacrifice. Were essentially told to cheer "our" troops on, but otherwise look away and leave war to the professionals (even if, as it turns out, those professionals seem utterly incapable of winning a single one of them).

You know that yellow "crime scene" tape the police use to keep curious bystanders at bay? Our government essentially uses "war scene" tape to keep the curious among us from fathoming what the military is doing across so much of the world. That "tape" most often involves the use of classification, with everything that might matter to us designated "secret" or "top secret" and not fit for our eyes to see. This cult of secrecy enables ignorance and reinforces indifference.

Anyone like a Chelsea Manning or a John Kiriakou who seeks to cut that tape and so let ordinary citizens examine any of our war crime scenes in all their ugliness is punished. You, John Q. Public, are not supposed to know of war crimes in Iraq. You, Jane Q. Public, are not supposed to know of CIA torture programs. And when you dont know, and even when you do (if only a little), you have no ability to question this countrys warlords in any rigorous fashion. You have no ability to resist wars vigorously and you know it, so most likely you wont act  as so many once did in the Vietnam era  to stop them.

For a self-styled democracy that should abjure such conflicts, war has instead become both omnipresent, omni-absent (if youll let me invent a word for our strange situation), and oddly mercenary in these disunited states of ours. Borrowing a line from The Godfather, war isnt personal in America, its strictly business. Basically, this country has its very own powerful warlords, even if they dont have personal names, just collective ones  like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. In those wars of "ours" lies undeniable evidence that corporations are indeed citizens, as the Supreme Court declared in 2010 by judicial fiat in the eerily named "Citizens United" case. As a result, Americas corporate warlords are now a new kind of ultra-powerful citizen. Think of them as warped versions of Marvel superheroes, collectively profiting from incessant conflict.

Did I say America no longer has citizen-soldiers? Of course, America has them. In place of old-style heroes like Alvin York (from World War I) or Audie Murphy (from World War II), we now have "heroes" like Citizen Raytheon and Citizen Boeing. Remember, as Mitt Romney reminded us, "corporations are people, my friend."

Your Views on War Dont Matter  Or Do They?

As I think about war, American-style, certain phrases pop into my head from the Catholic catechism: is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen. Apply that to Americas global conflicts and youve captured the grim reality of this forever-war moment, even if President Biden is now trying to get US combat troops out of one of them (and others are looking fervently for ways to continue fighting it). Worse yet, behind the scenes, that "world without end" invariably threatens to become a world with an end as the Pentagon persists in building yet more nuclear weapons  the phrase of the moment is "modernizing the nuclear arsenal"  while pursuing an antagonistic new cold war with China and Russia.

Referring to Catholic doxology in this fashion may seem heretical to some, but thought about another way, its all too appropriate, as war in some sense is a widely shared cult, if not a religion, in America. Too many people believe in it, even worship it. Signs of this include the transformation of anyone who wears a military uniform into an automatic hero. People sacrifice their children to that cult. And even if you or your children choose not to serve (as so many Americans do), or if youre among those rare citizens who vociferously protest against our wars, your tax dollars nevertheless feed a war machine thats always cranking away, well-lubricated by our endless cash contributions.

While our coins still say "In God We Trust," the god our nations leaders profess to trust is most assuredly a warrior, not the prince of peace. Under the circumstances and against a backdrop of perpetual war, no one should be surprised that this country is increasingly wracked by conflict and rent by violent impulses.

Common sense informed by history tells us that war is terror, atrocity, and murder. More than a few of Americas sons and daughters have indeed been transformed by war into murderers overseas  and thats before "our" troops come home, haunted by deadly experiences and their physical and moral wounds. Yet despite their pain, despite those wounds, Americas war machine rumbles on, sowing the dragons teeth of future conflicts through vast weapons sales abroad and further military deployments that so often are justified, bizarrely enough, as helping to prevent war.

Of course, wed like to think of our country as a shining city on a hill, but to others we must seem more like a citadel bristling with weaponry, a colossus of war. And sadly enough, too many of our fellow Americans in that citadel would rather be militarily strong and wrong than pacifically meek and right.

That grim reality was summed up for me by an offhand comment from that self-styled lord of war, then-Vice President Dick Cheney. Early in 2008, his administrations invasion and occupation of Iraq having cratered and with casualties mounting, he was reminded that public opinion in this country had turned against that war and people wanted it to end. "So?" Cheney replied.

Who cares if the people are against war? For that matter, who cares about right and wrong? What matters is what the national security state wants and what it wants is war till the end of time.

What is to be done? I see two possible paths for this country. One is to work to find ways to end all our wars and the massive global military presence that goes with them. In the process, we would begin to dismantle our imperial war machine and so hobble the military-industrial complex and its warlords. The other is the path this country remains on (despite Joe Bidens inclination to end the Afghan War). If followed, it will continue to allow the petty Caesars among us to rage until this imperial power finally collapses under the weight of its military excesses and failures. One path would lead to a possible restoration of democracy and citizen empowerment as Americas founders intended; the other will undoubtedly terminate in the chaos of slow-motion collapse in a world threatened by nuclear annihilation.

There is no fate but what we make, said Sarah Connor in the Terminator movies. Whatll it be, America? Do we have the collective courage to make a better fate for ourselves by pulling the plug on the war machine?

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Books, John Feffers new dystopian novel Frostlands (the second in the Splinterlands series), Beverly Gologorskys novel Every Body Has a Story, and Tom Engelhardts A Nation Unmade by War, as well as Alfred McCoys In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power and John Dowers The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II.

William Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) and professor of history, is a TomDispatch regular and a senior fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network (EMN), an organization of critical veteran military and national security professionals. His personal blog is Bracing Views.
Authored by Janita Kan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

HR expert and author Jim Stroud says the impact of critical race theory (CRT) in workplace training could be detrimental to employees because it could lead to increased bullying and anxiety in the workplace.

A woman holds a placard reading "white privilege" during a demonstration in Barcelona, Spain, on June 14, 2020. (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)

The the quasi-Marxist theory has been heavily promulgated throughout academia, entertainment, government, schools, and the workplace in recent years and rose to new prominence following the rise of far-left groups such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter. Some workplaces have included concepts from the doctrine in their racial and cultural sensitivity training, which essentially teaches employees that the United States is fundamentally racist, or that one race is inherently superior to another race.

Stroud, who has 20 years experience in human resources and has written about CRTs impact on the workplace, argues that such training could negatively impact workplace dynamics and teaches employees to mistrust each other.

So imagine that youre working in a space and the day before the training, everything was fine, Stroud told NTDs The Nation Speaks. You work with your co-workers, you had good friendships, good team building exercises, everything is fine. After the training, youre looking at your co-workers in a different way. Youre wondering, okay, I thought you were my friend but because of this training, I now believe that youre oppressing me, so I dont really know if were really friends. I dont really know if were really working together. I dont know if the reason why you refused me taking on some project is because my idea wasnt valid or because youre racist.

Human resources expert and author Jim Stroud in a screenshot from an episode of The Nation Speaks that aired on May 8, 2021. (NTD)

Employees may also question whether they were chosen to work on a certain project because they were suitable for the job or because of some corporate policy aiming to fulfill at curbing discrimination stemming from intersectionality, he added. Intersectionality is the concept where different aspects of a persons identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalization.

So I also think that it would bring about a lot of anxiety inside the workplace because if people disagree with critical race theory then you will be accused of being racist, which is what critical race theory does, he said.

If an employee continues to deny that accusation, the CRT states that that individual is all the more racist, he explained. Eventually, this anxiety in some people could lead to hostile workplaces.

Stroud said that CRT is essentially a movement to make racism acceptable, saying it teaches the idea that white people are born oppressors without redemption and that all minorities are oppressed.

It teaches that the most important thing about anyone is their skin color, not their character, not the things they do, not the personality, not even the environment that they inhabit, he said. Thats purely telling you that your worth and everything you are is measured in the color of your skin.

The movement to push back on the expansion of CRT in schools and workplace training has fueled a heated debate on how cultural and racial sensitivity education should be conducted. Conservatives and Republicans have warned that the CRT movement is not about eliminating racism, and is simply pushing divisive concepts. Meanwhile, progressives and Democrats argue that the CRT approach would advance equity for all.

During his administration, President Donald Trump placed a ban on critical race theory training in federal workplaces, but President Joe Biden rescinded the measure. Instead, Biden has promoted policies that embrace the ideology, issuing an executive order stating that the federal government must pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all.

Stroud said he believes that the best way for corporations who are grappling with partisan politics in their organization is to attempt to steer conversations away from politics, but he warned that this could prompt backlash, citing the example of employee exodus at software firm Basecamp. The technology company saw mass resignations after its CEO announced that its employees are banned from openly sharing their societal and political discussions at work.

In a blog post, Basecamp CEO Jason Fried explained that the discussions are a major distraction, saps our energy, and redirects our dialog toward dark places.

Its not healthy, it hasnt served us well. And were done with it on our company Basecamp account where the work happens. People can take the conversations with willing co-workers to Signal, Whatsapp, or even a personal Basecamp account, but it cant happen where the work happens anymore, he said.

Stroud said he also hopes to see legislative measures that would make an individuals political affiliation a protected class under state or federal discrimination laws in order to counter discrimination or bullying based on a persons political beliefs.

Hopefully by the time of the election, itll become law. I think will be tricky because talking about politics is is something that both sides need, he said, adding that given the Democrat-controlled Congress, it is unlikely that such a law would pass.
Covid superstar and media darling Bill Gates is having his reputation completely destroyed by Melinda Gates in the wake of their divorce.



I don't think there's any question that her staff is leaking all this Epstein stuff to the media:





EXCLUSIVE: Melinda Gates warned Bill Gates about Jeffrey Epstein.



After a secret meeting between the couple and the wealthy sex offender, she said wanted nothing to do with Epstein. Bill had a ... different attitude. https://t.co/zD6NXNOaCM  Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) May 7, 2021

Alternate Framing: Melinda Gates gets out in front of the story of her own previously unreported 2013(!) meeting with Epstein by anonymously feeding a story to the Daily Beast that actually, she was really deeply concerned about the guy https://t.co/G2zMxTywTm  Gumby, JD (murdered) (@gumby4christ) May 7, 2021



From The Daily Beast, "Melinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey Epstein":

Melinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside her husband, Bill, in New York City and soon after said she was furious at the relationship between the two men, according to people familiar with the situation.



The previously unreported meeting occurred at Epsteins Upper East Side mansion in September 2013, on the same day the couple accepted the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award at The Pierre hotel and were photographed alongside then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg.



The meeting would prove a turning point for Gates relationship with Epstein, the people familiar with the matter say, as Melinda told friends after the encounter how uncomfortable she was in the company of the wealthy sex offender and how she wanted nothing to do with him.



[...] The ties between Gates and Epstein ran much deeper than the tech mogul first admitted. As The New York Times reported, starting in 2011, Gates met with Epstein on numerous occasions. This was three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl in Florida; by then, accusations that Epstein exploited girls and young women were widely reported in the press.



Heres the original @nytimes story from October 2019, by @FlitterOnFraud @JamesStewartNYT https://t.co/yCVwwDGhOV  David Enrich (@davidenrich) May 9, 2021

[...] The New York Times revealed Gates had met with Epstein at a 2011 get-together at Epsteins Manhattan townhouse that included the financiers ex-girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin and her daughter. (Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epsteins sex ring, has accused Dubins hedge-funder husband, Glenn, of abusea charge he has strenuously denied.)



Indeed, the Times reported Gates visited Epstein multiple times from 2011 to 2013, and that Epstein had tried pitching a new charitable fund to JPMorgan honchos and to the Gates Foundation. In 2013, Gates also took a ride on Epsteins private jet (christened by tabloids as the Lolita Express), from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, according to flight records reviewed by the Times. CNBC also reported that Gates rendezvoused with Epstein in New York in 2013.



When Gates first met Epstein, he was still Microsofts chairman and the second richest person in the world, with a net worth of $56 billion.

I wonder if Epstein ensnared Gates in his blackmail ring?





Bill Gates on Jeffrey Epstein's "Lolita Express" flight logs



Epstein was working with a lot of scientists and had plans to "seed the human race" with his DNA "20 women at a time" at Zorro Ranch.





Melinda Gates met with divorce lawyers in 2019, say people familiar and documents reviewed by WSJ. One concern: her husband's dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. https://t.co/xHtQnMrjQY  The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) May 9, 2021



From WSJ, "Melinda Gates Was Meeting With Divorce Lawyers Since 2019 to End Marriage With Bill Gates":

Ms. Gates consulted with divorce lawyers roughly two years before she filed for divorce from Mr. Gates, saying their marriage was irretrievably broken, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.



[...] One source of concern for Ms. Gates was her husbands dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to the people and a former employee of their charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ms. Gatess concerns about the relationship dated as far back as 2013, the former employee said.



[...] According to the documents reviewed by the Journal, Ms. Gates and her advisers held a number of calls in October 2019 when the New York Times reported that Mr. Gates had met with Mr. Epstein on numerous occasions. Mr. Gates once stayed late into the night at Mr. Epsteins Manhattan townhouse, the Times reported.



Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, said in 2019 that the software mogul and Mr. Epstein had met multiple times to discuss philanthropy.  Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so, Ms. Arnold said at the time.

When these revelations first came out the media just brushed over them.



When the coronavirus broke out the media portrayed Gates as a visionary and a prophet.







Are they still going to have him on the air after this?



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The first Dance for Life was in June 1992 as a fundraiser in response to the AIDS crisis. In the years since, Dance for Life became the nonprofit organization Chicago Dancers United. The mission of its Dancers Fund has expanded to provide financial support for preventive health care and medical needs to any member of Chicagos professional dance community. In 2020, Chicago Dancers United further broadened its grantmaking to include support for general health and wellness needs; more at chicagodancersunited.org.
Muti is plunging back into concert life. He is conducting his much-curtailed 50th anniversary tour with the Vienna Philharmonic in Florence on Monday and at Milans La Scala on Tuesday, before returning to Ravenna to prepare for festival appearances of his Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and for the debut of a piece of music written for the Dante anniversary based on the Divine Comedys Purgatory canticle. It is one of three, along with Inferno and Paradise, commissioned for this years festival.
Schools in both Brandon and Winnipeg are shifting back to primarily remote learning on Wednesday.

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Schools in both Brandon and Winnipeg are shifting back to primarily remote learning on Wednesday.

The change is expected to remain in place until May 30, Education Minister Cliff Cullen announced during a Sunday afternoon media briefing.

Cliff Cullen

Schools in other parts of the province will face other new health measures.

Additional closures and measures will be considered as new circumstances come forward, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said.

"We need to act now to break these transmission chains," he said, adding the change comes with some reluctance.

"We want to keep as many children in school as we can  and thats why weve always wanted the schools to be the last place to close and the first to open."

Approximately 20 per cent of new COVID-19 infections have been among school-aged children, of whom three-quarters have been in Winnipeg and Brandon.

There were 176 schools in the province with one or more case of COVID-19 a week ago, and at latest count there were 213, of which 17 resorted to remote learning.

Although Roussin maintains schools have done an excellent job of protecting people from the virus, in-school transmission is still taking place.

"Much less than its occurring in the community," he clarified, adding most cases linked to student-aged children are occurring as a result of after-school gatherings.

Theres no specific cause of transmission within schools, he said, but going back to remote learning will offer a "very good way to interrupt those transmission chains."

Kindergarten to Grade 6 students whose parents are critical service workers who cannot make alternative care arrangements will be accommodated with continued in-school class time, Cullen said.

Further, high-risk students and those with special needs from K-12 will also be accommodated with in-school class time.

Dr. Brent Roussin

Cullen pointed to these accommodations and $185 million in funding for schools COVID-related expenses as helping ease people through this difficult time.

Approximately $160 million is anticipated to be spent by the end of the school year, and more funding is expected to free up thereafter.

The impending shift back to remote learning for most students will mean even more difficult times ahead, said Brandon School Division board of trustees chair Linda Ross.

"My personal feeling is safety first, so cases are rising everywhere; weve had several cases in Brandon schools in the last couple weeks, so I think its probably a good idea," she said.

"Were in a better position than we were earlier in the pandemic because people have done this before, so it will be easier to do the turnaround."

That said, she added teachers will be even more strained than ever, particularly since theyll be expected to handle both remote learning and in-person instruction.

The additional funding from the province announced is welcome, but she said money only goes so far when youre drawing from a limited pool of teachers.

"Weve hired everyone weve been able to find, so its certainly putting a strain on the system," she said.

Thus far in Brandon, she said in-school transmission has not been an issue.

"These cases have been contracted outside of schools, and so you catch them right away and people isolate," she said. "As far as we can tell, there has been very little transmission in schools."

On Sunday, the Brandon School Division announced one case of COVID-19 in a Maryland Park School grades 3-5 classroom on May 4-6. As with other cases, the province has clarified the "infection was not believed to be acquired at school."

In the provinces latest rundown of COVID-19 in schools during the two weeks leading up to May 5, they reported 574 active cases, including 478 students and 96 staff members.

Within this time frame, they reported 16 cases in Brandon schools, including:

 One case at Prairie Hope High School

 Three cases at Ecole New Era School

 One case at King George School

 Three cases at Vincent Massey High School

 One case at Meadows School

 One case at Ecole secondaire Neelin High School

 Two cases at George Fitton School

 Four cases at Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School

These rising numbers have been "a major concern," Ross said. "Its better to be too careful than not careful enough."

In addition to her concern for staff, Ross said she worries about the parents of young children who will now have to miss work in order to look after their kids  an impact likely to carry a financial sting.

Child-care facilities will remain open, but the province has said children who are on remote learning at school should not attend child-care facilities before or after school hours.

During Sundays media conference, Cullen was asked about the provinces dashed plan to have teachers vaccinated in North Dakota.

At latest update, the province was instead seeking to have vaccines shipped from North Dakota to teachers in Manitoba.

"Certainly, discussions are still underway with our friends and neighbours in North Dakota on that front," Cullen said.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Additional supports for businesses should have accompanied the latest round of closures that took effect Sunday.

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Additional supports for businesses should have accompanied the latest round of closures that took effect Sunday.

Thats according to Brandon Chamber of Commerce vice-president Barry Cooper, who said businesses facing their third closure thus far in the pandemic are running on fumes.

"There are certain businesses hurt really hard by this and some businesses that havent really been affected at all," he said, adding the support "needs to be targeted at the businesses being closed through no fault of their own."

Bridge grants have been well received by the business community thus far, he said, but more needs to be done.

"Were asking businesses to close down for the greater good, but with what comes that is the responsibility to help them survive."

In the wake of Sundays announcement that schools in Brandon and Winnipeg are shifting primarily to remote learning Wednesday, Education Minister Cliff Cullen said more would be done to support those economically affected by recent decisions.

"Stay tuned," he said, adding an announcement would be made within a few days.

Among those hardest hit by economic hardships since the pandemic began more than a year ago have been the owners of gyms and fitness studios.

Brandon-based Anytime Fitness owner Amber White said her business has been shuttered for a cumulative six months thus far.

Faced with at least three weeks of closure as a result of Sundays tightened restrictions, she again had to issue layoff notices to her staff, which as of last week was a skeleton crew of approximately six.

"Blindsided" by the forced closure, the frustration was evident in her voice while discussing the issue over the phone Saturday.

"Weve been going through a roller-coaster of emotions for the past year, but this one came at a complete blindside  because the government has been talking about not closing small businesses again, and theyve given us literally one day because we have to close by midnight tonight."

Gyms in particular have been safe, she said, pointing to one potential COVID-19 exposure at GoodLife Fitness reported recently as evidence.

Although someone with COVID-19 was reportedly in the facility April 19 and 20, the province did not subsequently announce an outbreak.

To White, this means the measures put in place, which were strengthened shortly before Sundays imposed closure, have been working.

"In gyms, we just made a change a week and a half ago where we had to move all our equipment 10 feet apart  so we literally just went through this roller-coaster," she said.

"We really didnt foresee this happening this time because we just changed a week ago."

Like with previous closures, White said all they can do is wait it out.

Things are getting increasingly dire with every closure, with businesses digging deeper and deeper into debt in an effort to weather the storm.

"I dont think many industries that have been shut down can sustain a third closure," she said. "This means all of us as business owners have to find other outlets of finding money and loans and taking more of a hit, so its going to take us more years to recover."

The Brandon Chamber of Commerce has been great at digging into the local business community to determine whos in the greatest need, she said, adding she hopes they find success.

"As much as theyre trying, theyre getting pushback and a turned shoulder from the government as well."

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
The COVID-19 pandemic showed no signs of slowing down during the weekend, with 1,017 new cases of the virus recorded in Manitoba.

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The COVID-19 pandemic showed no signs of slowing down during the weekend, with 1,017 new cases of the virus recorded in Manitoba.

Six new deaths were also recorded, including two people from Prairie Mountain Health. The deaths of both a man in his 80s and a woman in her 60s were related to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern.

Although an active case count of 402 was initially reported in the Westman-area health region on Saturday, a data correction the following day reset it at 398.

As of Sundays print deadline, the regions latest active case count made available by the province remained that of Saturday.

Either way, the active case count marks a dark new record for Prairie Mountain Health. The former peak for active cases in the health region was 350 recorded on Dec. 5, in the midst of the second wave.

That said, the province had fallen behind in updating their data at the time, with the following day seeing active cases drop to 158.

This indicates Sundays record high, which currently tops a steep upward trend during this third wave, is even more notable.

Within Prairie Mountain Health, the majority of active cases are in the Brandon district, where there were 102. This is followed by 72 in Porcupine Mountain, 67 in Agassiz Mountain, 40 in Little Saskatchewan, 28 in an unknown district, 26 in Turtle Mountain and 20 in Dauphin, with the balance spread through other districts.

New cases reported during the weekend include:

 811 in the Winnipeg health region

 83 in Southern Health-Sante Sud

 64 in Prairie Mountain Health

 44 in Interlake-Eastern

 18 in Northern

There are 210 people in Manitoba hospitals as a result of COVID-19, of whom 17 are in Prairie Mountain Health.

There are a total of 52 people in intensive care units as a result of COVID-19 in Manitoba, of whom three are in Prairie Mountain Health.

The province put stricter health measures in place Sunday in order to crack down on the number of contacts made with people from outside their household. This included shutting down gym and fitness centres, prohibiting in-restaurant and patio restaurant dining, prohibiting indoor gatherings and limiting outdoor gatherings to a maximum of five people, among other measures.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 10.9 per cent provincially and 13 per cent in Winnipeg.

 The Brandon Sun
Manitoba is again extending funding for the Manitoba Bridge Grant as many businesses shutter for the third time.

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Manitoba is again extending funding for the Manitoba Bridge Grant as many businesses shutter for the third time.

The province is making a fourth round of $5,000 payments available to businesses and organizations through the third wave of COVID-19, but also boosting payments to restaurants, Premier Brian Pallister announced Monday morning.

The news comes on the heels of new health restrictions announced on Friday, which severely limit capacity in retail stores, close fitness centres and shut down dine-in service at restaurants.

"We recognize this quick closure for many businesses will have a significant impact on their operations, particularly the restaurant industry who we know were preparing for a busy Mothers Day weekend. Our government remains committed to delivering the right programs at the right times to help individual Manitobans and businesses through these challenging times," Pallister said.

Businesses that received prior bridge grant payments will automatically get another $5,000 as early as May 14, according to a press release.

The Manitoba Bridge Grant will also give restaurants an additional $2,000, for a total payment of $7,000 to help cover the cost of food waste, wages and maintenance. According to the province, approximately 1,800 restaurants are eligible for the top-up.

An additional $2 million will also be provided to the Dine-In Restaurant Relief program to help restaurants shift to delivery.

See Tuesdays newspaper for more information.

 The Brandon Sun
Theres a growing concern among some of Westmans municipal leaders the taps will run dry.

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Theres a growing concern among some of Westmans municipal leaders the taps will run dry.

Last week, the City of Morden announced water restrictions in order to retain enough water in their Lake Minnewasta reservoir to sustain the communitys needs.

The reservoir was 6.1 feet below its full supply level  its lowest since 1983.

Although municipalities farther west arent reporting as dire a situation, theyre keeping their eyes trained on water levels.

RM of Wallace-Woodworth CEO Garth Mitchell said unlike the City of Morden, their water source is underground via bored wells.

Although this allows them greater reliability, the water table is lower than normal.

"Weve definitely got concerns about the drought issues, but we havent taken any measures  yet," he said, adding that monitoring is ongoing to determine what course of action, if any, will need to be undertaken.

The RM of Pipestone links into the neighbouring RM of Wallace-Woodworths water supply, so is in the same boat.

Conditions are dry, Reeve Archie McPherson said  "No doubt about it, very dry."

Theyve discussed their options in the event water levels run dangerously low, and although limiting water use is one of them, theyre not there yet.

A farmer by trade, McPherson said hes hoping for precipitation on a number of fronts.

"A lot of dugouts are going to maybe be dug deeper," he said, adding the winter snowmelt resulted in virtually no runoff, which they rely on to fill dugouts.

"Everybody, whether youre living in town or the country, knows were in desperate need of moisture."

Much of the Municipality of Brenda-Waskada draws water through the Southwest Regional Water Co-op, which supplies area communities with water drawn from groundwater wells from the Oak Lake Aquifer near Melita.

"It seems to be holding up, according to our last meeting anyway," RM of Brenda-Waskada Head of Council David Vanmackelbergh said, adding hed be more comfortable if he saw some precipitation.

"If it stays like this all summer, there is going to be some fairly major issues I would imagine, but at the moment were not desperate yet."

From an agricultural perspective, he said theres enough moisture to get cereals in the ground, but that livestock producers face the greatest potential hardship, since dugouts are looking pretty dry.

In general, he said a little rain would go a long way.

"No major concerns at the moment, but its definitely top of mind."

 tclarke@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Drawing insight from his own immigrant experience, Enver Naidoo has been named Westman Immigrant Services executive director.

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Drawing insight from his own immigrant experience, Enver Naidoo has been named Westman Immigrant Services executive director.

He replaces outgoing head Carly Gasparini, whose short term is ending after she resigned to accept a position in her hometown of Sudbury, Ont.

SUBMITTED Westman Immigrant Services next executive director, Enver Naidoo, is seen outside the downtown Brandon building during the weekend.

Naidoo previously served as the organizations local immigrant partnership co-ordinator, helping build relationships and strategies to improve long-term integration of immigrants and newcomers.

"We definitely recognize the need for community collaboration," he said, adding immigrants dont live in a vacuum.

"Theyre involved in multiple areas of our community, whether thats attending post-secondary institutions, or their kids are in school, or theyre utilizing services like at the YWCA, so its reaching out to these different leaders, and all of them are very supportive of coming toward collectively."

The community interest in opening more doors for immigrants and newcomers is "very promising and very encouraging," and Naidoo said he looks forward to expanding upon his previous work in his new role.

Naidoo immigrated to Canada from South Africa in the late 1990s, and said although every immigrant experience is different, his key to success was forging strong connections with his new home.

He now calls himself a "proud Canadian" and aspires to make sure other immigrants and newcomers have the same opportunity to thrive in their new chosen home.

"We do have incredible resources in our community, and I think Westman Immigrant Services is doing an incredible job to make sure  people know about these resources," he said. "Im really excited to step in and support them in making sure we can continue to serve the community and newcomers."

In a release issued Friday, board chair Steve Robinson offered Naidoo his congratulations.

"The board is elated that Enver is taking on the role of ED at WIS. Enver has an exciting vision for the organization and is already seen as a leader in the Immigrant sector," he said. "The board is confident that Enver will be a great fit with our team and are very much looking forward to working with him."

Naidoo begins his new role May 25 and will attend the organizations annual general meeting on June 11. The virtual event will begin at 10 a.m., and registration information can be found through emailing darlenek@westmanimmigrantservices.ca.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
A series of women and children gaze, unsmiling, at the camera. Even though all are Australian citizens, many of them born here, people of colour had to seek exemptions to travel overseas. Part of the White Australia Policy in the 1920s, anyone wanting to challenge the ban had to convince the authorities as to why, and have their photo taken as part of the process.

Peter Drew in front of his new posters featuring women and children who were born in Australia but had to get exemptions to travel because of the White Australia Policy. Credit:Eddie Jim

The photographs are revealed in Peter Drews Aussie posters, which he is pasting up around Melbourne this week and in Sydney in June. Sourced through the National Archive of Australia, those featured share a reverse reality with Australian Indian citizens, who - regardless of their nationality - are not allowed to return home. These things just keep happening in one form or another. It shows the way in which theres conflict between those notions of nationality and race and citizenship, says Drew.

The 37-year-old artists work often explores the idea of identity. His first Aussie posters were inspired by the wave of xenophobia in Australia back in 2016. It was right after the Lindt cafe siege and ISIS were dominating the news, he says.

Political parties including Reclaim Australia and One Nation were attracting a lot of attention and the federal governments Stop the Boats campaign was in full force. Thats what I wanted to counter with the Aussie posters.
Dozens of people eligible for their coronavirus vaccination were in line outside Sydneys Olympic Park on Monday morning to receive the first of thousands of vaccines scheduled to be administered this week.

A dental hygienist from the Southern Highlands who left her house before the sun was up stood alongside University of Sydney clinical staff to receive their shots at the hub, which opened for appointment-only vaccinations at 8am.

Opening day for Olympic Park vaccination hub. Credit:Nick Moir

After following the teal-brick road of QR codes from the train station  they link to the vaccine eligibility tracker page  the group were ushered in by their 15-minute groups.

Some in the queue had previous been booked in to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine before cancelling their appointments, after vaccine advisory group recommended under-50s receive Pfizer.
One million people aged 40 to 49 in NSW are able to register their interest from Monday to receive their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine within weeks.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that, excitingly, the states health department was taking expressions of interest for the Pfizer vaccine for that age group from 5pm. However, the Service NSW link for registrations went live on Monday morning.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the one million people in NSW aged between 40 and 49 can now register to have their Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination. Credit:Nick Moir

Thats around a million people in NSW, Ms Berejiklian said, adding that the state had an adult population of about 6 million.

We cant tell you exactly when youll be getting the jab but well be able to give you enough notice to get yourself here in the coming weeks.
Australias coronavirus vaccine strategy has received a boost with evidence showing Pfizers vaccine offers good protection against COVID-19s new variants.

Emerging data from Britain also suggests AstraZenecas much-maligned vaccine works just as well as Pfizers mRNA jab in the real world, with two doses of either vaccine cutting the risk of contracting COVID-19 by as much as 70 per cent.

Nurse Sioban Cheesman gives Angela Massie her AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Perth earlier this month. Credit:Getty Images

Its really good news, said Associate Professor James Wood, a leading vaccine expert at the University of NSW.

It does present herd immunity as a much more achievable proposition in Australia, with our vaccine mix  with the caveat we dont know what well be seeing in six months time.
European analysts question credibility of 'Xinjiang Uygur genocide' report

CGTN) 09:12, May 10, 2021

Emin, 2nd L, a resident of Uygur ethnic group, chats with his neighbors in Tacheng city, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, April 2, 2020. /Xinhua

A former Norwegian mayor and two analysts wrote an analysis disclosing the identity of the think tanks behind the alleged first independent report on Xinjiang, which they argue, used fabricated and biased sources.

The report titled "The Uygur Genocide: An Examination of China's Breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention" and the two institutes behind it are not independent, according to the article titled "A Critical Analysis Of A Report By The Newlines Institute And The Raoul Wallenberg Center," which was written by Gordon Dumoulin, Jan Oberg and Thore Vestby and published on The Transnational on Tuesday.

Through searching the websites of Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy and Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights and examining the circle of scholars who participated in the "Uygur genocide" report, the authors of the analysis said that the report is not "independent" because it's the product of cooperation among individuals from at least six interest groups including Christian fundamentalism and hawkish conservative U.S. foreign policy circles.

Meanwhile, the Newlines Institute is funded by Fairfax University of America, a university which Virginia state regulators found to have "patently deficient" education standards in 2019 and of which certificate to operate was almost revoked.

The analysis pointed out that the background information makes it "problematic" to say the report is an independent one published by independent scholars from an independent institute.

It also raises questions about the credibility of the main sources in the report.

Taking "The Xinjiang Victims Base" as an example, many of the victim statements in the report are taken from the so-called database which appears on an internet address called "shahit.biz," according to the analysis.

However, the three authors of the analysis found that there is no "about" section accessible on the website and no information on the methods used, as in their opinion, homepages which are completely anonymous would normally be considered of no credibility or other value as a source of documentation.

By examining the sources, the analysis summarized that the majority of them on which the report is based on are Western, particularly from the U.S. mainstream media, plus materials from organizations which, the authors claim, are indisputably and without exception on an anti-China mission.

The report will only have negative consequences for U.S.-China relations and even for the United States itself, according to the analysis.

(Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji)
Nottage is arguing that the union, representing all unions, was at least partly designed to protect whites only  when it came to jobs, it didnt want nobody that nobody sent, to quote the late Abner Mikvas mythical ward boss in Chicago. That exclusionary history is represented by Brucie (Andre Teamer), an older African-American character whose poverty has led him down a spiral of self-abuse. But Brucie is balanced by Jessie (Chaon Cross), a younger white woman who now seems headed down the same path herself. Nottages main focus, though, is on two members of the rising generation, the sons of Cynthia and Tracey, played respectively by Edgar Miguel Sanchez and Mike Cherry. These two guys, Chris and Jason, start out as pals, but their initial fraternity gets ripped apart by economic duress curdling over time into racism of the bloodiest kind. That part of Sweat has much in common with Willy Russells socialist musical from the 1980s, Blood Brothers.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Native bees attempting to fly across patches of cleared land in Western Australias Kimberley region would overheat and drop dead before ever reaching the other side, unable to find food or an area to rest. Such is the scope of the clearing, scientists and local Indigenous people fear some areas could become open killing fields, where predators like feral cats and birds of prey feast on fragile native fauna, like the bilbies, which no longer have scrub to shelter in. From ground level, the Kimberley landscape appears pristine, covered by a blanket of lush woodland savannah. But from above the damage is clear: bold lines crisscross the land as far as the eye can see in a perfect grid pattern. The lines are the result of seismic surveys by companies looking for oil and gas to extract and a testament to the regions growing industry, which extends west to Broome and east to the doorstep of the Gibb River Road. Since 2009 one company alone, Buru Energy, has cleared more than 14,000 kilometres in a straight line of native Kimberley bush without needing a permit  thats the equivalent of the distance between Perth and London. This data was sourced and analysed from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety by the Lock the Gate Alliance, then independently verified and analysed by WAtoday. Resource companies like Buru Energy have used an exemption under WAs environmental regulations to carry out the clearing, leaving traditional owners with little ability to have a say.

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The way our native title has been handed to us it granted the Yawuru people exclusive rights over this country. They forgot to tell us its got lines in it, Yawuru traditional owner Micklo Corpus said. The lines are getting bigger and bigger and longer and longer. So on our country now we can go to Tasmania and back to Darwin on those lines. Buru Energy was approached for comment but did not provide a response. A bulldozer clears native vegetation in Kurrajong. Credit:Lock the Gate The Environmental Protection Regulations 2004 allow petroleum titleholders to clear vegetation without a permit for oil and gas exploration as long as it isnt within an environmentally sensitive area. Companies still have to submit an environment plan outlining the impact of their operations but it is up to the mines regulator to forward the plans to the Environmental Protection Authority  the body tasked with providing environmental insight  if they consider the impact to be significant. The Lock the Gate Alliance is not aware of any of the clearing by Buru being referred to the EPA. Traditional owners and environmental groups say the lack of oversight could push threatened species to the brink of extinction and plans to frack the Canning Basin pollute the water sources of Aboriginal communities.

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They want regulations to change to increase accountability for companies and enable locals to have a say about projects before bulldozers move in. Loading Fracking refers to the practice of drilling into the earth to extract unconventional gas using chemically treated water to fracture the rock. Seismic surveys are carried out to find pockets of gas to frack. They use trucks to lower a plate onto the ground which generates an acoustic signal that provides information about an areas geographical make-up. Death by a thousand cuts Located almost 3000 kilometres north-east of Perth, the Kimberley is one of Australias largest biodiversity hotspots and home to more than 65 species that are found nowhere else on Earth. However, the region remains largely undocumented by Western science, with new species added to the record every year.

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Loading Curtin University fellow Adam Cross, who has spent most of the past decade working in the regions tropical savannah and who gave the example regarding native bees in the opening paragraph of this report, recorded more than 30 new species of ants during a trip to its northern end. On another occasion, he recorded the largest population of extremely rare carnivorous plants recorded in Australia. Theres this massive potential, untapped biodiversity, that is potentially being lost before we can even describe it, he said. Dr Cross said the flow-on effects of removing native vegetation extended within hectares of the actual cleared site and species found only in tiny pockets of territory could potentially become extinct before they were studied. Organisms have to move further and across more dangerous lands to search for food or a mate or somewhere safe to rest; plants have less success with pollination because its a greater distance to the nearest plant, he said. Yawuru traditional owner Micklo Corpus protesting during a premier and cabinet meeting in Broome. Credit:Damian Kelly Its a concept thats known as a death by thousand cuts.

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Even after exploration activities end, Dr Cross said it could take decades for the landscape to be recolonised, and even then, there were few examples of successful, high-quality restoration. Mr Corpus, whose country is within Buru Energys exploration area, said the surveys had destroyed medicine trees and anthills and changed the way water flowed across his land. Wildlife had also been disturbed by the vibrations, coming to the surface only to find there were no food sources. These mining companies are coming in and flashing money in front of us to work for them to destroy our country, only for them to get paid handsomely, Mr Corpus said. They are not going to think about us when they go home and have a T-bone steak. He said Indigenous people should be given the resources to study their country before resource companies swoop in. An ant nest and boab trees near Logue River, east of Broome. The area is within Buru Energys exploration permit areas. Credit:Damien Kelly Greater protections

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Australian universities face having their controversial Confucius Institutes shut down within months, with the University of Sydney among the first to submit contracts for scrutiny under the Commonwealths foreign veto scheme.

At least one centre - RMIT Universitys Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute - will close this year, with the university saying it would cease operations due to budget pressures caused by COVID-19.

Chinas then Vice-President Xi Jinping and then RMIT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner officially open RMITs Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute in 2010. Credit:John Woudstra

The institutes, which are hosted by 13 Australian universities in partnership with Chinese universities, have come under scrutiny from the federal government amid concerns they function as a plank of the Chinese Communist Partys propaganda effort.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne last month warned further decisions were forthcoming as she exercised new veto powers to terminate Victorias controversial Belt and Road agreement with China, as well as two education agreements made by the state government - one with Iran and one with Syria.
Business groups and unions are warning of a fresh flood of cheap foreign imports into Australia amid concerns the nations anti-dumping authority is not well enough resourced to safeguard domestic industries.

The manufacturing division of the CFMEU wants the federal government to boost its defence of Australian jobs against cheap imports as the coronavirus-induced economic downturn fuels a global oversupply of steel, paper, alloy, glass, processed food and solar panels among other products.

China launched anti-dumping action against Australian winemakers last year. Credit:Shutterstock

The union is also concerned China could escalate its trade war against Australia by increasing already high amounts of dumping to try to decimate the domestic industry and increase the nations reliance on Chinese goods.

Relations between Australia and China have deteriorated over the past year, with Beijing slapping export restrictions or tariffs on a range of Australian products including wine, barley, beef, coal, lobster and forestry products.
A landmark judgment that enforced federal environment laws over logging operations has been overturned in the Federal Court.

State-owned forestry agency VicForests has won its appeal against last years landmark judgment which halted logging operations in native forests in Victorias Central Highlands.

VicForests has won its appeal against a Federal Court judgement that ruled its logging operations were subject to federal environment protections for the critically endangered Leadbeaters possum. Credit:Justin McManus

The Federal Court in May ruled in favour of local environment group Friends of Leadbeaters Possum, which argued VicForests had breached the federal Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act when it logged forest coupes in the Central Highlands region.

Until then, an effective exemption from federal laws had been applied to logging undertaken in areas that are covered by Regional Forestry Agreements. RFAs are drawn up by state governments and co-signed by the federal government.
West Australians are in the dark on the prevalence of amphetamines being prescribed by doctors in the state after the publishing of a key report was quietly discontinued by the McGowan government.

Medical professionals and researchers support the continued publication of the report  which they say provided important data on trends  despite polarising views on whether the reports revealed over or under-prescribing of ADHD medications in WA.

WA Health Minister pledged to keep in place a transparency regime for ADHD prescribing rates. Credit:Nine

Months after becoming Health Minister in 2017, Roger Cook promised to continue publishing an important report that kept track of the number of stimulants, such as amphetamines, being prescribed by WA doctors for conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He said the community must be constantly vigilant and aware of [the stimulants] use and ensure that it does not become too prolific.
Singapore: Joint naval exercises conducted by China and Indonesia off the coast of Jakarta over the weekend are the latest sign of closer ties between the once-feuding nations, following Beijings offer to salvage sunken submarine the Nanggala without charge.

Leading analyst John Blaxland from Australian National University said that while Indonesia was being pragmatic by agreeing to the naval drills, China was also using the increased cooperation with south-east Asias largest state to send a message to Australia.

It is a far cry from the tense stand-off between the countries on the water only 16 months ago, when Indonesia President Joko Widodo deployed warships to the Natuna Islands in a dispute over fishing rights in an area claimed by Indonesia as its exclusive economic zone. Four years earlier, Jokowi, as he is known, held a cabinet meeting on a warship in the waters there during another diplomatic flare-up.

Indonesias President Joko Widodo has accepted a Chinese offer to resurface a sunken submarine and allowed joint military exercises between the nations navies. He is pictured here with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017. Credit:European Pressphoto Agency

Chinas proposal to recover the submarine, which sank on April 21, killing all 53 personnel onboard, free trumped other salvage offers from Australia and the United States, a soft power play met with suspicion by some regional security observers.
Paris: The European Union has not made any new orders for AstraZeneca vaccines beyond June when their contract ends, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Sunday, after the EU signed a deal with Pfizer-BioNTech.

Breton also said he expected the costs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to be higher than the earlier versions.

Syringes of AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany. Credit:Getty

The Commission last month launched legal action against AstraZeneca for not respecting its contract for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and for not having a reliable plan to ensure timely deliveries.

We did not renew the order after June. Well see what happens, Breton told France Inter radio. He did not rule out a potential renewal at a later stage.
London: An injured minke whale calf that became stranded in Londons River Thames has been put down after its condition deteriorated and hopes for its survival faded, hundreds of kilometres from its home.

The whale had been spotted by a photographer swimming upstream in the Thames on Monday, local time, after rescuers had refloated it to save its life, but it became stuck again.

A man hoses down a young minke whale that was stuck at Richmond Lock in London. It later slipped back into the water. Credit:David Kors via AP

Despite the efforts of rescuers from the Port of London Authority, Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), British Divers Marine Life Rescue, London Fire Brigade and the police, the whale was put down.

Theyre going to put the whale to sleep. Its suffering quite badly, it has been for about the last 45 minutes, said Julia Cable, National Co-ordinator at British Divers Marine Life Rescue, adding the whale would be given an overdose of anaesthetic and wouldnt feel anything except the needle.
Rome: The discovery of a prehistoric human skull in a cave in Italy has disproved macabre theories that Neanderthals indulged in ritual cannibalism  instead pointing to the prospect that they were eaten by giant hyenas.

The skull was one of thousands of fossilised bones and bone fragments found in the large cave near the village of San Felice Circeo, on the Tyrrhenian coast about half-way between Rome and Naples.

The skull has a hole at its base, leading archaeologists to suggest that it was the work of hyenas, gnawing at the bone to get at the brains inside.

They say they cannot be sure whether the hyenas tracked and killed the Neanderthals, dragging them into the cave, or whether they were scavenging on people who had already died inside the cave of some other cause.
Wanzo had been an administrator and supervisor of vehicle services with the Illinois Secretary of States office. She oversaw the public service center at the Howlett Building in Springfield, where vehicle owners can pay title and registration fees, apply and pay for license plates and make sales tax payments for vehicles.
Theres nobody Michael Lewis likes better than a hero who gives a defiant middle finger to the conventional wisdom: The short-seller who bets against a soaring mortgage market; the equities trader who insists that the stock exchange is rigged.

And then theres Mr Lewis himself, who has made his own name and fortune by writing against expectations, taking arcane subjects that most of his mega-readership might know next to nothing about and skilfully unfurling their intricacies in all of their dramatic glory. His last book, The Fifth Risk, was about the unsung heroes of the federal bureaucracy and how the Trump White House was making their job harder, if not impossible. Mr Lewiss new book, The Premonition, reads like a sequel of sorts, as he follows medical renegades who warned for years that something like the Covid-19 pandemic was bound to happen, while the federal government proved inordinately unhelpful. Its a lesson that Charity Dean, a California health official, says she learned a long time ago: No ones coming to save you.

Ms Dean is the most memorable of the main characters in The Premonition, which includes the doctors Richard Hatchett and Carter Mecher, who were part of the pandemic planning team in the George W Bush administration; a biologist and MacArthur genius named Joe DeRisi; and Bob Glass, a scientist whose 13-year-old daughters science fair project became the basis for the social distancing model of disease control.





The Premonition: A Pandemic Story Author: Michael Lewis Publisher: Penguin Random House Pages: 304; Price: Rs 999

The title of The Premonition suggests that the people in this book harboured a sixth sense about the future, but Mr Lewis suggests that they werent prophetic; they were just competent, dedicated individuals who were paying attention. They had read up on the flu pandemic of 1918. They saw what happened with SARS in 2003, and what almost happened with the swine flu in 2009. They knew that whatever system was supposed to contain disaster was really a patchwork.

True to form, Mr Lewis makes few grand claims for what he finds, preferring instead to let the curated details speak for themselves. I think this particular story is about the curious talents of a society, and how those talents are wasted if not led. Its also about how gaps open between a societys reputation and its performance, he writes in the prologue.

The main question running through The Premonition is how, when it came to the initial Covid response, a very rich country that was ranked first globally in pandemic readiness in 2019 managed to incentivise almost all the wrong things. Mr Lewis describes a health care system whose for-profit operations are so entrenched that hospitals last spring couldnt even avail themselves of a non-profit lab that was faster and free, because the hospital computers were incapable of coding for a $0 test. Staffers at the lab eagerly awaited a shipment of precious nasal swabs from the Strategic National Stockpile that turned out to be a bunch of Q-Tips. A venture capitalist offering to help alleviate the nasal swab shortage procured 5,000 eyelash brushes.

This method of hewing so tightly to his characters perspectives gives the narrative its undeniable propulsion, but it also comes at a cost. He doesnt supply any endnotes, or even a sense of how many people he talked to. His main characters are presented to us as they would undoubtedly like to appear: charmingly obsessive, unwaveringly principled and unfailingly right.

At several points, he transcribes long block quotes from Mr Hatchetts journal entries  essentially handing him the mic. He portrays Sonia Angell, the former public health director for California, who happened to be Mr Deans boss and nemesis, as monstrously incompetent, which may be true, but he doesnt include any comment from Ms Angell. When a figure is about to get eviscerated in print, journalists are at least supposed to give her a chance to explain herself; Mr Lewis may have done this, but his spellbinding narrative is so driven by Ms Deans point of view that it doesnt give any indication that he did.

Ms Lewis knows that one persons story will never convey the entire picture. Yet to judge by the morality tale he offers in The Premonition, his own method is to choose a side and run with it.

He ends with whats apparently intended as a heart-warming epilogue about Ms Deans decision, a year into the pandemic, to enter the private sector. She has named her venture The Public Health Company. Were going to do private government operations, like Blackwater, she says. For some readers, her reference to a notorious mercenary force might sound ominous, but theres no scepticism or pushback from Ms Lewis, nothing to suggest that he might see it differently from Ms Deans: as the brilliant idea of an honourable person whose only intention is to do the right thing.
In one of the largest logistics deals in the country in recent years, US-based private equity fund manager Group has bought from Warburg Pincus and Embassy Group. Though did not disclose the deal value, sources in the industry pegged the transaction at an enterprise value of Rs 5,250 crore.

comprises 22 million square feet of modern logistics and warehousing facilities, as well as yet-to-be-built assets, located across Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, and Pune. These are leased to leading e-commerce and retail players.

Warburg Pincus had a 70 per cent stake in the $250-million joint venture (JV) set up in 2015, while Embassy had 30 per cent.

For Blackstone, warehousing seems to be a new focus area, after it entered office properties in 2011 and then malls. floated two REITs (real estate investment trusts) with its partners Embassy and K Raheja Corporation and listed them. It is the largest owner of offices in the country.

With the latest deal, Blackstone will have a portfolio of over 40 million sqft of developed and yet-to-be-developed assets with its partners Hiranandani and Allcargo. This is similar to what another logistics developer Indospace has.

It will be Blackstones second venture in warehousing. In late 2019, Blackstone formed a JV with GreenBase, a Hiranandani Group firm, to develop warehousing and logistics parks, marking its entry into the Indian warehousing and logistics sector.

The equal JV planned to invest over Rs 2,500 crore to develop around 12 million sqft of industrial and warehousing assets across the country in three to four years.

So far, the JV has finished 2 million sqft of warehousing, and a similar space is under development.

Since 2010, Blackstone has acquired more than 1.2 billion sqft of logistics globally.

Tuhin Parikh, Blackstones head of real estate in India, said: We are committed to growing our presence in India. For the past 16 years, weve been partnering local developers and governments to transform assets and businesses, and help communities prosper. Jitu Virwani, chairman and managing director of Embassy Group, said: We are extremely focused on consolidating our resources towards the growth of our core businesses of office and residential development and management. This transaction with Blackstone Real Estate, along with the upcoming merger with IBREL, is a strategic move in that direction.

The Embassy  Warburg Pincus JV was looking to monetise the business at an enterprise value of Rs 1,700-1,900 crore in an earlier round of talks with investors last year. Though talks also took place separately with two other  Asia-focused logistics player ESR and GLP-backed IndoSpace  they did not materialise owing to valuation differences.

Owing to rapid growth in e-commerce and the introduction of goods and services tax, several entered the logistics space in the past five years. While domestic such as Embassy and Welspun entered the space, PE funds such as Warburg Pincus also actively invested in it.

According to Colliers International, the sector has attracted interest from multiple large institutional investors, with investment inflows of Rs 27,800 crore ($3.7 billion) since 2017. Between 2017 and the first half of 2020, the sector garnered a 17 per cent share of the total PE investment in the country.
US pharma giant has issued royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licences to three Indian drug makers  Cipla, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Lupin  to manufacture and distribute Baricitinib, which is being used to treat Covid-19.

Earlier, Gilead too had signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with Indian pharmaceutical to expand the production of Remdesivir, a widely used anti-Covid drug.

The voluntary licensing agreements will ensure high-quality manufacturing and accessibility of Baricitinib during this pandemic, improving the local treatment options available to positively impact the lives of people who are currently battling Covid-19 in India, said in a statement. The firm added that discussions were also taking place with other Indian players for the grant of voluntary licences to manufacture Baricitinib, which has recently found favour among clinicians for the treatment of Covid-19.

Luca Visini, managing director of Eli Lilly, India subcontinent, said that the firm has responded to the current surge of the pandemic in the country by issuing licences for Baricitinib to accelerate its local manufacturing and distribution. More licences to additional Indian generic manufacturers are expected to be announced soon, Visini added.

Olumiant, or Baricitinib, is an oral drug developed by US biopharmaceutical major, Incyte Corporation, and licensed to In December 2009, Eli Lilly and Incyte announced an exclusive worldwide licence and collaboration agreement for the development and commercialisation of Baricitinib for patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

On May 3, Eli received permission from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), a division of the ministry of health, for restricted emergency use of Baricitinib. The drug is to be used in combination with Remdesivir to treat hospitalised patients who need supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Typically, a patient needs 14 tablets of Baricitinib for a full-course of treatment.

Eli Lilly has already donated 400,000 tablets of Baricitinib to the Indian government. We will continue to explore other possible initiatives to support patients and the healthcare system in India, Visini said.

The company has also been in talks with the Indian government and regulatory authorities to donate its other Covid-19 treatments such as Bamlanivimab and Bamlanivimab used in combination with Etesevimab.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma has filed a Compulsory Licensing (CL) application before the Indian Patent Office, seeking the licence to manufacture and distribute Baricitinib in India. Natco has launched the drug at Rs 30 per tablet (4 mg) even as the CL proceedings are underway.

Natco said that it had approached Eli Lilly in December 2020, seeking voluntary licensing to manufacture Baricitinib and that it had offered a 7 per cent royalty on the net profits. However, Natco did not receive any response from Eli Lilly.
The rating agency, Standard & Poor's, on Monday said that the continued strengthening of will support Ltd's (BB-/Stable/--) commitment to deleverage.

The India-based company has guided for average prices to increase by about Rs 6,0007,000 per ton quarter-over-quarter in the three months ending June 2021. This rise of nearly 10 per cent should push up EBITDA/ton for Tata Steel's India operations to about Rs 30,000-32,000 for the quarter, about 2x the estimated mid-cycle profitability, the rating agency said in a statement.

Sustained at these levels could lead to upward rating pressure. In such a scenario, we would expect the company's ratio of funds from operations (FFO) to debt to move above our upgrade trigger of more than 25 per cent, said the rating agency. stock was trading 2.64 per cent higher (over previous close) at Rs 1,213.14 per share on BSE.

However, is less likely to maintain the ratio above 25 per cent if normalise to mid-cycle levels such that EBITDA/ton is about half the current estimate.

Tata Steel has reiterated its commitment to reduce its debt by at least $ 1 billion a year, even as it resumes growth capital expenditure (capex).

We believe the company could outperform this target in FY22 based on current steel prices and capex plans, added.

Tata Steel has indicated a total capex of Rs 11,000 crore for FY22, of which Rs Rs 7,500 crore will be for Indian operations. The company has announced resumption of its 5 million tonne a year expansion in Odisha, on which there is a residual capex of about $ 2 billion. Benefits from the expansion will accrue in phases from FY24.
Chief Minister on Monday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that with the Covid case load surging, his state will no longer be able to supply oxygen to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as was being done till now.

In a letter to Modi, Vijayan said the state produces 219 metric tonnes of oxygen and given its huge daily requirement, it is in no position to give this outside the state any more, and hence, it should be allowed to use it for its own needs.

The reserve stock of 450 tonnes of oxygen has now come down to 86 tonnes and with cases continuing to rise, should be given exemption with regards to oxygen supplies, he demanded.

presently has 423,000 active Covid cases, and the daily test positivity rate is also at its peak of 28 per cent and given the spike, the total number of active cases is likely to cross five lakh very soon.

Kerala on Monday received 350,000 doses of Covishield vaccineto combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Indigo regular flight carrying the Covishield vaccine landed at Cochin International Airport at 11.50 AM, a CIAL spokesman said.

The state government has placed an order for over one crore doses of vaccine to accelerate the vaccination drive in the state.

Chief Minister has said the COVID-19 vaccination drive for those in the age group of 18-45 would be prioritised in Kerala with people having comorbidities given preference.

"It has been informed that the State will get a small portion of doses this month. So, the vaccination drive for those in 18-45 will be prioritised," Vijayan has said.

He has said the state government would initiate steps to ensure the availability of enough vaccines and take the matter up with the Centre.

The Kerala High Court has also sought information from the Centre on the time-frame in which the state government would get its share of vaccines.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Monday appreciated the Kerala government for fixing the rates which are to be levied by the private health care sector when treating Covid patients.

The appreciation was made by the court while hearing a petition on the way the private health care sector was fleecing Covid patients and the state government informed the court that they have come out with the rates that can be charged.

The state government has also informed the court, all the violators will be charged under the Clinical Establishment Act and the fine would be 10 times the additional charges that have been levied.

According to the new set of prescribed rates from now on the private sector can for a patient in the general ward charge only Rs 2,645 daily while for a NABH accredited hospital, it can charge Rs 2,910.

Likewise the daily rates for the ICU would be Rs 7,800 and for NABH accredited hospital it will be Rs 8,580 and for those who require ventilator facility in the ICU, the daily rates will be Rs 13,800 and Rs 15,180.

The treatment protocol has also made it clear that in a day the PPE Kits that can be billed shall be two in general wards per day and 5 per ICU bed per day and the rates shall not exceed the MRP declared by the manufacturer.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) has dispelled rumours doing rounds on various social media platforms that 5G trials are responsible behind the recent surge.

DoT has categorically said these messages are false, absolutely not correct and have no scentific basis.

"The general public is hereby informed that there is no link between 5G technology and spread of and they are urged not to be misguided by the false information and rumours spread in this matter," the DoT has said on Monday.

"The claims linking the 5G technology with the pandemic are false and have no scientific basis. Moreover, it is informed that the testing of the 5G network has not yet started anywhere in India. Hence, the claim that 5G trials or networks are causing in India is baseless and false," it said.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had earlier directed all commissioners, DIGs and superintendents of police to initiate action against those spreading rumours that Covid-19 infection spreads through 5G trials.

In a letter to all the commissioners of police, DIGs and superintendents of police, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said that rumours are being spread on social media that radiation during 5G testing is the reason behind the sudden surge in Covid infection and deaths.

An audio also went viral in which a youth can be heard speaking to a person in Bihar claiming that the 5G testing is the reason behind the sudden surge in Covid cases and a man can be heard saying that because of the 5G testing people are dying.

Some posts were also uploaded on social media that 5G towers were closed and uprooted in villages in Fatehpur, Siddharthnagar, Gorakhpur and Sultanpur.
Battling severe vaccine shortage,



the government hit out at the Centre and alleged that it was "indulging in politics" by not providing the required doses to the state.

has already put on hold the vaccination programme for the 18-44 age group, stating that it will announce the dates for starting the drive once vaccines are made available.

"The Government of India is indulging in politics with us. As a central government, it should respect the federal structure and facilitate quick delivery of vaccines and medicines to us," state Health Minister Banna Gupta told PTI.

"We have placed an order for 50 lakh doses. They (Centre) are saying that it will be supplied between May 15 to May 30. How can we start the drive for 18-plus under such circumstances?" he added.

Accusing the Centre of step-motherly treatment, Gupta said the ruling dispensation in New Delhi which believed in 'Ek Desh, Ek Vidhan, Ek Samvidhan' (One nation, one rule, one Constitution) was "playing games" with the people of

The state has been severely hit by the second wave of the COVID-19, recording 3,853 fatalities so far, besides having 58,806 active cases at present.

Attacking the Centre, Gupta sought to know the need of sending vaccines to foreign nations when the people of the country were dying.

The minister said the BJP had promised to provide free COVID-19 vaccines to the people of West Bengal and Bihar ahead of the elections, if it was voted to power, but here was a state that was ready to buy it while the Centre was indulging in politics -- whether it was over important drugs such as Remedesivir or vaccines.

"Why are you doing politics with us? Provide us vaccines. We are ready to purchase it. You are torturing our people and disrespecting them," Gupta said.

He also slammed the Centre, alleging prejudiced approach even in providing life-saving drugs.

The state had placed the demand for 50 lakh vaccine doses to launch the vaccination programme for the 1.57 crore population in the 18-44 age bracket under the Liberalised and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of COVID-19 vaccination for which registration had commenced since April 28.

The state had placed orders with the Pune-based Serum Institute of India for 25 lakh doses of Covishield and with the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech for another 25 lakh doses of Covaxin to launch the drive.

Gupta said: "We are fully equipped to start the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group. If you give us vaccines today we will start the drive from tomorrow. The state has made arrangements for inoculation of about 4.5 lakh people a day."



He said that 1.57 crore population in the state fall in the 18-44 age group.

The first dose of the vaccine has been administered to over 27.31 lakh people, including frontline workers and those above the age of 45.

The second shot has been given to about over 5.85 lakh people.

Gupta alleged that different prices for vaccines for states show the policy of Centre's "discrimination".

Last week, Chief Minister Heman Soren had described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's phone call to him on the COVID-19 situation as the PM's "Mann Ki Baat", instead of business.

"Today the respected Prime Minister called. He only spoke his 'Mann Ki Baat'. It would have been better if he would have talked business and heard the issues," he had said.

Official sources had then said that Soren was unhappy as he was not allowed to present the issues concerning his state before Modi and instead, it was only the prime minister who talked about the COVID-19 situation.

Soren's jibe at the prime minister had triggered a political slugfest with the BJP accusing the chief minister of lacking the basic courtesy expected of a person holding his office and lowering its dignity.

(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.)
Vaccination centres in did



not administer Covaxin for the second consecutive day on Monday because of lack of stock, leaving citizens fuming as many of them are due for their second dose of the vaccine against COVID-19.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), through its Twitter handle, released a list if 105 vaccination centres that would be functional on Monday, but informed that these would be administering only the Covishield vaccine.

On Sunday also, the BMC had not administered Covaxin to the beneficiaries due to unavailability of the vaccine.

Several citizens expressed anger and frustration at the state of affairs as many of them are due for their second dose since they had taken the first jab over 42 days back.

As per the government guidelines, the recommended gap between two doses of Covaxin is four-six weeks and for Covishield the suggested interval is four-eight weeks.

Local resident Rupesh Lingayat took to Twitter to express his frustration.

"My father took 1st dose of Covaxin, now it is impossible to get 2nd dose of Covaxin and its been 43 days since took 1st dose. He is 63. Please help," he tweeted.

Another resident Param Sampat also tweeted that his sister had got a booking on Saturday for 3-5 pm slot, but when she reached at 2.45 pm, authorities told her they were out of stock gave her a token for Monday.

"Today when she reached at 8, she was denied a vaccine. This is absolutely irresponsible," he tweeted.

The BMC's executive health officer, Mangala Gomare, did not respond to calls or text messages on the lack of Covaxin doses in the city.

According to a BMC report, a total of 1,76,505 people have been administered Covaxin doses in the city, including 1,20,167 who have received the first dose and 56,338 who have got the second dose as well.

Till Sunday evening, 27,00,431 people were vaccinated in against COVID-19. These included 20,52,963 beneficiaries who have taken the first dose and 6,47,468 people who have received their second dose, the report said.

Currently, there are 175 active vaccination centres in Mumbai, included 81 run by the BMC, 20 by the state government and 74 private facilities.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We are in the process of restoring service to other laterals and will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations, the company said in a statement.
Health Minister on Monday said Delhi has only one day's Covaxin stock left and its Covishield doses will last for just three to four days.

The minister's remarks came a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to direct manufacturers to increase vaccine supplies to the capital between May and July.

"Covaxin doses can last up to one day only, while Covishield doses can last up to three to four days," Jain told reporters after reviewing preparations at Guru Teg Bahadur COVID Care Centre at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in central Delhi.

Delhi has so far received 5.5 lakh doses of vaccines for the 18-44 category, and over 43 lakh doses for 45-plus, and healthcare and frontline workers, according to government data released on Sunday.

Around 39 lakh doses have been administered in the national capital so far.

Till Sunday evening, Delhi had 4.65 lakh doses of vaccines available for those above 45, and healthcare and frontline workers, while 2.74 lakh doses were available for the 18-44 age category.

The health minister said the dip in the positivity rate and the number of new infections over the last fortnight is a "glimmer of hope".

"The number of cases has reduced from around 28,000 to 13,000 now. The positivity rate has come down from a high of 36 per cent to around 20 per cent," Jain said.

He, however, said there's no room for any leniency and urged everyone to keep their guard up.

Jain said the 400-bed Guru Teg Bahadur COVID Care Centre has been attached with the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital.

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has provided the infrastructure for the facility and the Delhi government has given medical support, he said.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the DSGMC, said the COVID care centre will be managed by 50 doctors from LNJP Hospital. They will be supported by a team of 150 nurses and ward boys.

All beds have oxygen concentrators. The facility has a backup of 150 D-type cylinders. It has all the essential drugs, including Remdesivir and Fabiflu, used in the treatment of COVID-19, Sirsa said.

"Patients who need up to 20 litres per minute of oxygen can be treated here," he said, adding that the treatment and food will be completely free.

(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.)
leader Atishi Monday said the Delhi government will have to close vaccination centres where Covaxin is being administered to beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group after Tuesday evening if its stocks are not replenished.

Delhi's Covaxin stock for this category would last till Tuesday evening, she said, adding Covishield doses for this age group can last up to four days.

"On Monday morning, Delhi had 2.74 lakh vaccine doses for people in the 18-plus category," she said, releasing the city's Vaccination Bulletin'.

"After Tuesday evening, the Delhi government will have to start closing down the vaccination centres where Covaxin is being administered (to the 18-44 age group). We will also have to shut down Covishield inoculation centres after four days," she said.

She said the Delhi government has already placed a purchase order for 1.34 crore vaccine doses with both manufacturers -- Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India.

"We hope that the Central government make more vaccine available soon," she added.

Delhi vaccinated over 1.28 lakh people against on Saturday, while around 39 lakh doses have been administered in the national capital so far, she said.

No vaccination took place on Sunday.

(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.)
Dear Reader,

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Fire broke out at a private lab in South Delhi's Greater Kailash on Monday, said the

There were no casulaities in the fire mishap, said the police.

According to the police, fire broke out at the Bhasin lab in the S Block of Greater Kailash today.

It is the biggest lab of South Delhi conducting more then 1000 RT-PCR COVID tests and other tests on a daily basis, the police said.

The police stated that the entire staff of Gretaer kailash police station rushed to the spot and helped the staff of the lab to get out of the premises.

The fire was doused after seven fire tenders reached the spot.

"There were no casulaities. Swift action of Greater Kailash police station has saved lives of staff and patients of lab who came there for testing," the police added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress in on



Monday demanded a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the kin of over 8,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in the last 13 months in the state under provisions of the

Addressing a press conference, Congress president Amit Chavda said a drive is being launched to collect all the required information about the victims who have died since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state.

As per the government data, COVID-19 has claimed 8,394 lives till May 9 in

Chavda sought the disbursement of the compensation under section 12 of the which provides for "ex gratia assistance on account of loss of life".

"The has two components. One is about punishment for violation and another is regarding the welfare of the victims. But the government has completely ignored this second part. There were instances in the past when governments had paid compensation in cases of calamities and accidents," claimed Chavda.

Stressing the need for such financial assistance, the Congress leader said most of the COVID-19 victims belonged to the lower middle class or middle-class stratum and many families have lost their sole earning member in this pandemic.

"We want the government to pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of these 8,000-plus victims as per the provisions of the Disaster Management Act. The Congress will collect data about these victims and hand it over to the government to speed up the disbursement process," said Chavda.

He also slammed the ruling BJP in Gujarat for its handling of the pandemic in villages.

Chavda alleged that rural areas, where 75 per cent of Gujarat's population lives, are bereft of any facilities. He accused the state government of hiding the actual figures of deaths caused due to COVID-19.

At the presser, Chavda was accompanied by party MLA Naushad Solanki, who represents Dasada seat in Surendranagar.

Solanki claimed that in Surendranagar district alone, where infection is not that severe, as many as 3,580 people have died in the last 65 days due to COVID-19 and other reasons.

"This is an indication that the government is suppressing data regarding (COVID-19) fatalities. The government claims only 8,394 people have died so far in the state due to the viral infection.

"However, looking at the data of Surendranagar, the actual figure of the entire state would be 25 times more, which comes to around 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh deaths so far," Solanki claimed.

Citing the Centre's guidelines, the state government had earlier informed that if people with comorbidities die of coronavirus, then such fatalities may not be included in COVID-19 deaths.

A death audit committee takes a final call to categorise the deaths, it had said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani recently denied allegations that the state government was hiding the actual number of COVID-19 fatalities.

As of May 9, Gujarat's overall COVID-19 caseload stood at 6,81,012 with 8,394 fatalities, as per the state health department.

(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.)
Indias deadly second wave is continuing to worsen, with daily new cases consistently exceeding 300,000 and deaths now having surpassed 3,000 a day. Hospitals are running out of intensive care beds and many are critically short of oxygen for treating patients.

Alarmingly, a lack of high-quality real-time data means that we dont actually have a clear picture of just how bad the situation currently is, writes Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton. The proportion of people in India returning a positive result when tested is 18%  nearly double the World Health Organizations target threshold of 10%. This suggests a large number of positive cases are going unrecorded, meaning the outbreak is actually larger than the numbers suggest.

It is, as Michael says, an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Its also highly worrying for the rest of the world. This surge in cases could well stand in the way of ramping up protection using vaccines. India is the worlds largest vaccine producer, creating doses not just for itself but for other countries too  including the UK. It also provides doses for Covax, the initiative set up to distribute vaccines equitably around the world. But when domestic infections started to surge last month, India blocked most of its vaccine exports  and theres no indication of when these might resume.

Rapidly rising case numbers have also given the B1617 variant  which was first discovered in India  the chance to spread. Its now been found in 17 countries. Although yet to be confirmed, there are concerns that the mutations it carries may make it less susceptible to the effect of vaccines. The sheer volume of new cases in India also raises the risk that other, troublesome variants might emerge down the line, as mutations are generated by chance when the virus replicates.

As India faces this crisis, countries around the world are donating supplies and money.

However, donations of vaccines to India have been less forthcoming, despite calls for countries with high vaccination rates to share their supplies. Foreign Office minister Nigel Adams has said the UK will only do so when it has a surplus of vaccines. The US has pledged to send 60 million AstraZeneca doses overseas, but in the future, as they become available.

India is far from the only country that would benefit from this sort of sharing. After a great start, Ghanas vaccine programme has fallen off the pace, writes Nana Kofi Quakyi, Research Fellow at New York University. To a large extent, this is a direct effect of Indias second wave. The African Union and Covax are two of Ghanas main vaccine suppliers, and both receive their doses from the Serum Institute of India. Restriction of its exports has caused Ghanas supplies to dwindle.

South Africas COVID-19 vaccine programme also looks bleak, says Veronica Ueckermann, Adjunct Professor at the University of Pretoria. At its current vaccination pace, it will take over a decade to reach herd immunity. Again, this is largely down to access  South Africa has struggled to get doses  though there have been problems with the vaccines it has procured, too.

Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was halted when data suggested it was less effective against the dominant variant in the South Africa, B1351. Rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was also paused while blood clot risks were investigated, though with the US clearing the vaccine for use, South Africa has now restarted the rollout by giving it to health workers.

But even with restrictions lifted and Indias exports potentially flowing again in the future, developing countries will still be left short of what they need. One solution, suggest Etienne Billette de Villemeur, Bruno Versaevel and Vianney Dequiedt, would be to get vaccine manufacturers to offer voluntary licenses for key parts of their products, so that developing countries can make their own vaccines for a low price. However, so far the pool of COVID-19 technologies licensed in this way remains empty.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The (IAF) IL-76s, carrying four cryogenic containers from Jakarta, Indonesia landed at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

IAF aircraft are engaged in several workers including airlifting containers from other countries and medical transportation within the country as the second wave of COVID-19 continues to ravage the country.

"Two IAF Force IL-76s airlifted 4 Cryogenic Oxygen Containers from Jakarta, Indonesia and landed at Vizag," according to an official statement.

Meanwhile, an IAF C17 airlifted zeolite (respiratory oxygen raw material) from Frankfurt, Germany to Mumbai, Maharashtra. Two other C17s are bringing 2 oxygen generators from Bordeaux, France and oxygen Concentrators and respirators from Israel to Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

In India, C-17s airlifted 4 cryogenic oxygen containers from Pune to Jamnagar, 7 from Gwalior and Bhopal to Ranchi and 2 from Hindon to Ranchi.

"Other C17s are bringing 4 cryogenic oxygen containers from Vijayawada to Bhubaneswar, 6 from Chandigarh to Ranchi, 2 from Agra to Jamnagar, 2 from Hindon to Bhubaneswar, 6 from Hyderabad to Bhubaneswar and 2 from Jodhpur to Jamnagar," the statement added.

The IAF has deployed 42 transport aircraft for COVID-19 relief tasks, including 12 heavy lift and 30 medium-lift aircraft.

"IAF has deployed 42 transport aircraft for COVID relief tasks including 12 heavy lift and 30 medium lift aircraft. They are used to bring in relief measures, personnel and material from abroad," said Air Vice Marshal M Ranade.

"So far we have lifted about 75 oxygen containers and it is in progress," Ranade added.

India reported 4,01,078 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the union health ministry on Saturday. The cumulative number of cases in the country has now gone up to 2,18,92,676.

India registered 3,18,609 discharges in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall recoveries to 1,79,30,960.

The country's death toll has reached 2,38,270 following 4,187 deaths in the last 24 hours. At present, India has 37,23,446 active 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.)
: on Monday



reported as many as 27,487 new COVID-19 cases and 65 fatalities, taking the caseload to 19,00,060 and death toll to 5,879, the state government said.

While the total number of active cases stands at 4,19,726, the positivity rate is at 27.56 per cent, showing signs of decline.

With 31,209 recovering from the disease in the last 24 hours, the total number of people recovered reached 15,04,160.

As many as 99,748 samples were tested and the test positivity rate (TPR) was 27.56 per cent.

While Thiruvananthapuram reported 3,494 cases, Malappuram and Thrissur districts reported 3,443 and 3280 cases respectively.

Ernakulam, which reported highest number of cases in the state in the last few days, added 2834 new cases.

Of the fresh cases, 255 people had come from outside the State and 24,815 were infected through contact, the government said, adding those who tested positive Sunday included 114 health workers.

No case has been reported from the people who came from abroad in the last 24 hours, the government 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 Delhi Police has issued a lookout notice against businessman Navneet Kalra in connection with the recovery of over 500 concentrators from his restaurants, officials said on Monday.

It is suspected that Kalra has left Delhi along with his family.

"A lookout notice has been issued against Kalra in connection with the alleged hoarding and black-marketing of concentrators," a senior police officer said.

The police had earlier said that teams had been formed and raids were being conducted in the Delhi-NCR and neighbouring states.

On Friday, 105 concentrators were recovered from two upscale restaurants in south Delhi's area. The restaurants are owned by Kalra.

On Saturday, the police transferred the case to the Crime Branch.

On Thursday, 419 oxygen concentrators were recovered from another restaurant owned by Kalra and a farmhouse in south Delhi. Four men were arrested during the raids.

The oxygen concentrators had been imported from China by a private company.

Kalra is on the run since the raids, and his mobile phone is switched off, according to the police.

(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.)
Ola Foundation, the philanthropic arm of ride-hailing firm Ola, has partnered with GiveIndia to provide consumers with concentrators for free through the Ola app.

The service will start rolling out in Bengaluru from this week with an initial set of 500 concentrators. Ola and GiveIndia will scale it up across the country with up to 10,000 concentrators in the coming weeks.

With the O2ForIndia initiative in partnership with GiveIndia, we will provide free and easy access to concentrators to those in need, said Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and group CEO, Ola. We hope this initiative brings much-needed support during these very difficult times and helps in mitigating the pain and the anxiety among those impacted.

Consumers will be able to log into the Ola app and request an oxygen concentrator by providing a few basic details. Once submitted, the request will be validated and Ola will then pick up the concentrator via one of its cabs with a specially trained driver and bring it to the consumers doorstep.

Once the patient has gotten better and no longer requires the concentrator, Ola will pick the device back up and return it to GiveIndia to get it ready for the next patient who needs it. This entire experience will be seamless and the oxygen concentrator, as well as the doorstep delivery and pickup, will be completely free for consumers.

Through this initiative, we will provide oxygen concentrators to those recovering or isolating at home, right at their doorstep, said Atul Satija, CEO and founder 2.0 at GiveIndia. We hope the easier access to oxygen will ease the distress of many patients.

Many tech companies and startups are also coming up with new initiatives to provide support in addressing the crisis created by the second wave of Snapdeal, Indias largest value e-commerce company, has launched an initiative to connect Covid-19 patients with potential plasma donors. Using its wide reach in India across smaller towns and cities, Snapdeal has created an easy to use platform called 'Sanjeevani' accessible via the website and mobile app.

Patients and donors can register themselves with their mobile numbers or email ids and provide relevant information like blood group, location, age and donor recovery date. After registering, Snapdeals algorithm will look for relevant matches and connect patients with potential donors.

Sanjeevani was first launched to help the employees of Snapdeal find possible donors. But given that it has been especially hard to find eligible plasma donors at this time, Snapdeal has opened this platform for everyone.

Sanjeevani will also help raise awareness on the importance of plasma donation and encourage recovered Covid-19 patients to donate.

Another startup, Droom, an online automobile marketplace, has announced a 1 crore budget to combat covid for its employees and dealers community under the banner  Droom Cares. Droom Cares is an initiative by the company for the well-being of its employees, the entire dealer community and other stakeholders.

As part of this initiative, Droom will ensure proper sanitisation of a few healthcare facilities, police stations, clinics, pharmacies, as well as the homes of healthcare workers in Delhi NCR to ensure they are protected from the virus. The company will be using Germ Shield, its anti-microbial coating developed by the company.

Droom has also created a Covid team to verify all leads regarding oxygen supply, hospital beds, ICU availability, oximeters, food suppliers, plasma donors, and life-saving drugs. This initiative enables Droomers to help anyone in need.

Droom has launched programmes for its over 20,500 dealers to provide support related to pharmaceuticals, covid vaccination, medical assistance. It would also provide an isolation ward to asymptotic dealers. The firm has also launched multiple programmes for Droomers by converting its Sector 15 office into an emergency response centre with telemedicine services, nurses, and all basic healthcare facilities.

The second wave of the pandemic has triggered an unprecedented crisis for the country. We would like to show our commitment to society by trying to help people in these difficult times, said Sandeep Aggarwal, founder, and CEO of Droom. To overcome this situation, Droom has activated its Droom Care initiative for all its stakeholders, which will provide immediate relief to combat the current situation.
Erica Gibson, who lived in the 7700 block of South Hermitage Avenue in Gresham, was shot in the 17000 block of Arlington Lane in the south suburb about 10 p.m. Saturday, according to the medical examiners office.
The ruling NCP and Congress in



Maharashtra on Monday hit out at the Centre over its handling of the COVID-19 situation in the country and called for "one nation, one policy" to fight the pandemic.

State Minority Affairs Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik also demanded that the Narendra Modi government convene an all-party meeting to chalk out the policy.

"The cannot be eradicated only through advertisements at a time when there is a need to work out 'one nation, one policy' considering the current COVID-19 situation in the country," a statement said quoting Malik.

He claimed the situation in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was such that the last rites of COVID-19 victims were being performed in rivers instead of crematoriums.

"The COVID-19 pandemic cannot be tackled until there is one policy for the country. The Modi government should call an all-party meeting to decide the policy," he said.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that "the Centre is not able to handle the COVID-19 situation," he claimed.

Malik also referred to the constitution of a 12-member National Task Force of top medical experts by the Supreme Court to formulate a methodology for oxygen allocation to states and Union Territories and to facilitate a public health response to the pandemic.

"The Centre is not carrying out works which it is supposed to. So, these are being carried out by court orders. This means the (central) government is falling short of discharging its duty," the NCP leader alleged.

Maharashtra Revenue Minister and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat targeted the Centre over its vaccination programme, saying it has unfortunately been proved that the Modi government "does not have" any proper policy and planning to inoculate people.

"The Centre earlier talked about successfully tackling the first wave (of COVID-19)...(but) the way elections were held, the way Kumbh Mela was organised...the entire country is suffering consequences of the same," Thorat told reporters here.

"The central government, its leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji are completely responsible for it, he claimed.

The SC had to intervene and form the task force, Thorat noted, and asked what exactly was the Centre doing.

"It is being seen that it (the Centre) is not serious about anything," he claimed.

Thorat also claimed that adequate number of vaccine doses were not being made available to states to inoculate people in the age group of 18 to 44 years.

He charged the Centre with not giving permission to foreign players willing to provide vaccines to India.

Thorat also demanded that the Centre allow states to develop their own apps for people to register for vaccination.

The Shiv Sena, which shares power in Maharashtra with the NCP and Congress, also hit out at the Centre, saying the SC took the step of forming the task force considering the COVID-19 situation, but "those ruling the country are engaged in politics".

They were busy in appointing chief minister of Assam (after the recently held Assembly polls) and "in conspiring" to not let the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal do its work, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' alleged without naming the BJP or its leaders.

"At such a time, what should the people, who are about to die, do? Who is their saviour?" it asked.

The Supreme Court's heart melted and it formed the national task force of 12 experts, the editorial noted.

"This committee should now pump life into the collapsed health care system," 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.)
The Biden administration has now agreed to back a proposal to suspend intellectual property protection for COVID vaccines. This is a break from US governments long-held position on strong intellectual property protection, which has also been supported by many research-intensive countries in western Europe as well and the pharmaceutical industry.

These protections are codified in the World Trade Organizations Trade-Related Aspects of (TRIPS) agreements. India, South Africa, and many other emerging economies have been pushing for a waiver from patent protection, and have been supported in this effort by the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

While the waiver cannot be put into place until other WHO members agree (at which point manufacturers can presumably start production without any licensing agreements), more and more countries that were previously opposed to the deal, including France and New Zealand , are also now indicating their support. It could be a matter of time before the proposal goes into effect.

So what are the pros and cons of this waiver and what are the alternatives?

The primary concern remains that while the COVID-19 vaccines now thankfully exist, their distribution across the world is not even, despite the existence of the COVAX network: a global effort to share vaccines between countries.

At the time of writing, 44% of the US population and 51% of the UK population are vaccinated, but these percentages are woefully much lower in many developing economies with India at 9.4% and all of Asia and Africa at 4.4% and below 1% respectively.

The intent behind the push for the waiver is of course well intended  to remove any bottlenecks due to intellectual property protections and ramp up the production and distribution of these vaccines in the rest of the world.

The question remains as to whether the bottlenecks in COVID vaccine production are due to intellectual property protection. Typically, we think of patent protection leading to high prices and reduced output as monopolies tend to set prices well above the marginal cost of production to maximise profits.

But high prices do not seem to be the problem here. This is not the same situation as the $750 dollar pill, Daraprim, bought by pharma bro Martin Shrekeli.

Vaccines are priced far more reasonably even if all countries do not pay the same price for them. So even if companies like Pfizer are making profits, would removing the IP protection increase production and distribution in the developing world?

Immediate relief

If IP protection is waived, perhaps some immediate relief in terms of production and distribution could follow if more manufacturers in emerging economies can join in and allocate resources to vaccine production immediately.

However, in addition to waiving legal protections, manufacturers in emerging economies need to be supported with the technology to actually produce the vaccines.

This may be particularly true of the newer mRNA vaccines such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, which are difficult to manufacture, but may equally apply to adenovirus vaccines such as the one produced by AstraZeneca.

While opening up the possibility of production via the waiver may be a start, it is not a guarantee that enough manufacturers will be found to take up production. This type of technology transfer may be best achieved via voluntary licences  in which originators provide manufacturers with the know-how to produce their vaccines  as has already been done by AstraZenca.

Future complications

One might then ask, where is the harm in trying even if this does not work? The trouble is in maintaining incentives for the future. After all, the reason we created patent protections in the first place is to provide incentives via short-term monopoly profits so that firms and individuals can invest in innovation. The monopoly creates inefficiencies, which we tolerate in exchange for technical progress.

If intellectual property protection is waived in the face of a public emergency, even as a one-off, will firms invest next time there is a similar emergency? The fact that Pfizer reaped millions in profits is beside the point. What is more relevant is how much more we benefited from the vaccines through saving lives, reducing suffering, and opening up the economy (when we eventually do).

Setting aside intellectual property protection can be a dangerous precedent, particularly if it may not work.

So what can be done to alleviate the production problem globally? Voluntary licenses are a start. Along the same lines, the US could just buy the patents from the current manufacturers outright based on their discounted future value, and then make them available to manufacturers world over.

These purchases could be done not just for the patents, but also for providing assistance for technology transfer. This would maintain incentives for research, development and innovation, and at the same time protect populations around the world and in the US from the rise of variants that may be able to evade the vaccines we have.

Farasat Bokhari, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Economics, University of East Anglia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Getting people vaccinated is the only long-term solution to the current Covid-19 crisis in India, America's top public health expert Anthony Fauci said on Sunday as he called for scaling up manufacturing of vaccines both domestically and globally to fight the deadly pandemic. The endgame of this all...is going to be to get people vaccinated...India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. They've got to get their resources, not only from within, but also from without, Fauci, who is the Chief Medical Adviser to US President Joe Biden, told the ABC News in an interview.

The Supreme Court Monday said it will hear on May 13 the suo motu case on management of Covid-19 on account of technical glitches. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, L N Rao and S Ravindra Bhat said, "Our server is down today. We judges had discussion among ourselves and have decided to take up the matter on Thursday." Justice Bhat further said that in the meantime judges will go through the Centre's compliance affidavit filed late night and even amicus curiae in the matter will get time to go through the government's response.

A Delhi court on Monday refused to grant any stay on coercive action against businessman Navneet Kalra in connection with hoarding of oxygen concentrators after seizure by Delhi Police from his restaurant "Khan Chacha". Kalra had moved the Saket court seeking anticipatory bail in the case.Delhi Police Crime Branch had launched a manhunt against him.A special judge has directed the investigating officer (IO) to file the reply on Kalra's application by Tuesday. Kalra moved the court seeking interim relief of no coercive action by Delhi Police and also denied the allegations of hoarding of oxygen concentrators.

The first consignment from South Korea of 30 oxygen concentrators and 200 oxygen cylinders with regulators arrived in India on Sunday, as the country battles the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. The South Korean embassy, in a statement, said that Seoul is sending two consignments of medical supplies, containing 230 oxygen concentrators, 200 oxygen cylinders with regulators and 100 negative pressure isolation stretchers to India. The first flight containing the medical supplies arrived on Sunday at 4:30 pm, according to the embassy. The second flight would come on May 12.

Amid a barrage of complaints about private ambulance operators charging exorbitantly to transport Covid-19 patients in Agra, the district administration on Sunday capped the fares, officials said. The Agra police also formed a squad and released a WhatsApp number on which the people can register complaints against those involved in black marketing of cylinders, Remdesivir injection and other drugs used for COVID-19 treatment. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muniraj G said the residents can raise their complaint on WhatsApp number 7839003386 and the official Twitter handle of the Agra police.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
The government on Monday listed out steps to augment supply in the country as it sought to counter the narrative of lack of medical leading to health crisis and death of many COVID-19 patients.

Key steps have been taken to increase the availability, streamline the distribution and strengthen the storage infrastructure in the country amid rising Covid-19 cases, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

"The steps undertaken focused on the entire oxygen supply chain. These include efforts for improving oxygen production, enhancing tanker availability to optimize logistics, improving oxygen storage at the last mile, and easing norms of procurement," the ministry said.

The national capital, like most parts of the country, is reeling under shortage of medical oxygen as COVID patients keep thronging the hospitals.

The courts last week had lashed out at both the Centre and the Delhi government while ordering adequate supply of oxygen to save lives of serious COVID-19 patients. An AAP MLA on Sunday had claimed that Delhi received just 499 metric tonnes of oxygen on May 8 against the average supply of 700 MT ordered by the Supreme Court.

The commerce ministry stated that oxygen production has increased from 5,700 MT per day in August last year to 9,446 MT per day in May this year.

The production capacity has also increased from 6,817 MT per day to 7,314 MT per day, and capacity utilization has gone up from 84 per cent to 129 per cent during this period, the ministry noted.

It said that steel companies from both the public and private sectors have stepped up efforts to meet the nation's requirement of medical oxygen and on May 4, the total liquid medical oxygen (LMO) production by the steel plants was 3,680.3 MT.

"The total LMO supply per day was up from an average 1,500-1,700 MT in mid-April to 3,131.84 MT on April 25, and further to 4,076.65 MT on May 4," it said.

It informed that LMO sale has also increased from about 1,300 MT/day in March 1 to 8,920 MT/day on May 6.

During the first wave of COVID-19, the maximum sale of 3,095 MT/day of LMO was seen on September 29, 2020. The sale grew more than five-fold from 1,559 MT/day on March 31 this year to over 8,000 MT mark by May 3, 2021.

On the oxygen allocation process, it said that it has continuously evolved to streamline the distribution in the country. It added that the allocation to states/UTs is dynamic in nature, based on requirements as per norms, and consultation with states/UTs, manufacturers and other stakeholders.

"There is a mismatch between producing and consuming states, and equity among states to be maintained. Moreover, one-third of the production is concentrated in East India, while 60% of demand for oxygen is in North and South India, resulting in transportation challenges," it said.

It added that mapping of source and destination of oxygen has been completed to optimize transportation plans in consultation with states/UTs, manufacturers and other stakeholders.

Regarding oxygen production capacity enhancement plans, the ministry said that additional 70 MT/day production is expected in Karnataka.

"1,594 PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) plants are being established to improve oxygen supply near demand clusters...74 of the 162 PSA plants have been installed and the rest will be installed by June 2021. 1,051 additional PSA plants sanctioned under the PM Cares Fund in March and April 2021 will be commissioned in the next three months in phases," it added.

On imports, it said 50,000 MT of liquid oxygen is being imported from overseas, with orders and delivery schedule for 5,800 MT has been finalized; three quotations have been received for 3,500 MT, which was approved on April 21 with delivery over three months.

In addition, 2,285 MT of LMO is being imported from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and France. Further procurement of one lakh oxygen concentrators has been sanctioned under PM Cares Fund on April 27 and the offer has been received for 2,500 units.

"There has been a good response to the tender floated by ONGC. Offers for 50,000 concentrators have been received from domestic manufacturers. Awards for 9,800 units have been finalized with a delivery schedule of 4,800 units on May 15 and 5,000 units on May 27.

"In addition, 55 bidders have expressed interest to supply 70,000 75,000 units of concentrators. Orders are being finalized and will be placed based on promised delivery schedule," it added.

The ministry said that in March 2020, the capacity of tankers was 12,480 MT and their number was 1,040. Now, the capacity of tankers has gone up to 23,056 MT and their number has increased to 1,681, which includes 408 converted tankers and 101 imported tankers.

"248 oxygen tankers are being imported, with 101 tankers imported so far and another 58 tankers to be imported in next 10 days; In addition, 100 tankers are being manufactured domestically," it said.

Till the evening of May 9, 293 MT has been offloaded in Maharashtra by railways; 1,230 MT in Uttar Pradesh; 271 MT in Madhya Pradesh; 555 MT in Haryana; 123 MT in Telangana; 40 MT in Rajasthan; and 1,679 MT in Delhi.

A web and app-based Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS) has been launched to enable real time tracking of oxygen movement in the country.

About 2,500 additional drivers are being trained to drive oxygen tankers by the National Skill Development Corporation and Logistics Sector Skill Council.

It added that the number of cryogenic tanks for storing oxygen at hospitals has increased to 901 from 609 since March 2020 and availability of medical oxygen cylinders has increased from 4.35 lakh in March 2020 to 11.19 lakh in May 21.

"Additional, 3.35 lakh cylinders are being procured in line with estimated increase in demand. Orders have been placed for additional 1,27,000 cylinders on April 21. DRDO is procuring 10,00,000 NRM valves under PM Cares Fund - this device will reduce wastage of oxygen by shutting out the supply during exhalation," it said.
The on Sunday



made an appeal to various industries in the state to produce medical under the CSR scheme, following a surge in COVID-19 infections in the state.

Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the government has requested JSW, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL), Tamil Nadu Newsprintand Papers Ltd (TNPL) and other entities to expedite measures towards producing medical in view of an increase in demand.

Tamil Nadu on Sunday recorded an all time high of 28,897 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the caseload to 13,80,259 while 236 deaths in the last 24 hours took the toll to 15,648.

Thennarasu said the state government proposed to set up a facility to accommodate 300 beds equipped with support, with the help of CPCL.

"We have also asked companies like Hyundai Motor India, NLC India Ltd to take steps to produce medical oxygen," he added.

To a query, he said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was planning to set up four oxygen plants in Tamil Nadu while NLC India was mulling establishing three.

Earlier, Chief Minister M K Stalin interacted with industry leaders at a meeting and explained about the measures taken by his government to control the virus spread.

He sought their cooperation for the two-week full lockdown, an official release said.

After listening to the views and demands put forth by the associations, Stalin said his government would make suitable announcements on Monday.

(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.)
Getting people vaccinated is the only long-term solution to the current COVID-19 crisis in India, America's top public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday as he called for scaling up manufacturing of vaccines both domestically and globally to fight the deadly pandemic.

The endgame of this all...is going to be to get people vaccinated...India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. They've got to get their resources, not only from within, but also from without, Fauci, who is the Chief Medical Adviser to US President Joe Biden, told the ABC News in an interview.

That's the reason why other countries need to chip in to be able to get either supplies to the Indians to make their own vaccines or to get vaccines donated. One of the ways to do that is to have the big companies that have the capability of making vaccines to really scale up in a great way to get literally hundreds of millions of doses to be able to get to them, he said.

Responding to a question, Dr Fauci said that India needs to immediately build makeshift field hospitals like what China did a year ago.

You've got to get that. You can't have people out in the street not having a hospital bed. The oxygen situation is something that was really critical. I mean, to have people not have oxygen is really tragic, what's going on over there, he said.

The 80-year-old physician and immunologist, who serves as the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said there is an immediate problem of hospital beds, oxygen, PPE and other supplies.

Then there's the problem of looking forward to how are you going to shut this down, how are you going to turn it around, how are you going to break the chain of transmission? he said, underlining the need for a countrywide lockdown to arrest the spread of the virus.

Vaccines is one of them but there are other ways too, like shutting down the government. I have advised them in the past that you really need to do that. You've got to shut down. I believe several of the Indian states have already done that, but you need to break the chain of transmission. And one of the ways to do that is to shut down, the top American doctor said. Fauci, in an exclusive interview to PTI last week, had termed the situation in India very desperate and suggested that the government marshal all its resources, including the armed forces, to immediately build makeshift field hospitals, and urged other countries to help with not only materials but also personnel.

He called for a nationwide lockdown, not necessarily for six months but for a few weeks to break the continuity and transmission of infection.

He also recommended mass to arrest the current spread of the deadly disease across India.

India is struggling with an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 4,00,000 daily new cases being reported in the past few days.

China reported the first COVID-19 case in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic, affecting more than 157,789,300 people and over 3,285,200 deaths worldwide.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's exports are on a "good course" this year as traders have contracted over 50 lakh tonnes of the sweetener so far, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Monday.

The government has fixed a mandatory export target of 60 lakh tonnes of surplus for the ongoing 2020-21 season (October-September). This export policy was, however, approved only in January.

During the 2019-20 season, India, the world's second-largest sugar-producing nation after Brazil, had shipped 59 lakh tonne of the sweetener.

"Over 50 lakh tonnes of has already been contracted and exports are on a good course," Pandey said in a virtual press conference.

The mandatory sugar export policy was announced to support the The cash-starved mills were allowed to earn from the export to ensure they make timely payment to sugarcane growers, he said.

Besides exports, mills were also encouraged to divert to ethanol production.

Elaborating more, Food Joint Secretary Subhodh Gupta said, "Liquidity is a major problem for the We are resolving these issues in two ways -- one is exporting surplus sugar and the second is diverting towards ethanol."



On sugar exports, Gupta said the progress has been good. Initially, there were logistics problems and the issue of containers.

"Now, the export is smooth. Already, more than 43 lakh tonne of sugar has been despatched from mills. This year, we will be exporting sugar in record less time by June itself," he said.

The money which mills get either by exports or by diverting to ethanol will be used for making cane payment to farmers, he said adding that these measures have helped improve liquidity position of mills and cane arrear is also reducing gradually.

On ethanol blending, the official said the country has touched 7.4 per cent ethanol blending, while 11 sugar producing states and adjoining states have already touched 9.5-10 per cent blending.

"Another five states are in the range of 8-10 per cent. Now, the effort is to increase in states where blending levels are low," he said adding "we should have 10 per cent blending next year pan India."



According to the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA), export contracts for 56 lakh tonnes of sugar have already taken place from India so far.

Out of which, about 34.78 tonne of sugar has been shipped, while 4.43 lakh tonne of the sweetener is under loading and another 4.54 lakh tonne is in transit or for delivery to port-based refinery, its data said.

In total, 43.76 lakh tonnes of sugar has been dispatched from mills for export purpose so far this season.

AISTA, however, expressed concern about high freight rates although the availability of containers has increased.

India is left with 4 lakh tonne of sugar to be contracted under the existing policy for which contracts may conclude soon, the trade body added.

Much of the sugar has been exported to Indonesia, Afghanistan and the UAE so far this year.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reserve Bank of India's Covid-19 relief package will provide some relief to (FIs) in the next 12-24 months. However, it will largely be at the expense of postponing the recognition and resolution of underlying asset-quality problems, according to the rating agency Fitch.

There are growing indications that Indias latest wave of Covid-19 infections will add to risks among (FIs) by sapping near-term momentum from the economic recovery, Fitch Ratings said in a statement.

We expect the shock to economic activity from the latest wave of the pandemic in India to be less severe than in 2020, even though caseloads and fatalities are much higher. The authorities are implementing lockdowns more narrowly, and companies and individuals have adjusted behaviour in ways that cushion the effects," it added.

Nonetheless, indicators show that activity dropped in April-May, which is likely to delay the countrys recovery, and the number of newly recorded cases remains extremely high. There is a risk that disruption could persist longer and spread further than our baseline case assumes, particularly if lockdowns are introduced in more regions, or nationwide.

"We anticipate that the RBI may introduce additional measures to support the financial sector if indications of economic stress mount, such as credit guarantee schemes or a blanket moratorium like the one that ran from March-August 2020," Fitch said.

The agency, in April 2021, had argued that the surge in Covid-19 cases could add to headwinds facing Indias banks and non-bank if it led to a resurgence in asset quality pressures. The latest data suggest that this risk is mounting.

Among the RBIs measures announced on May 6, the reintroduction of a restructuring scheme for individuals, small businesses and (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) may be significant for FIs. It covers those which have not previously taken up restructuring. It also allows flexibility to extend the period of moratorium and/or the residual tenor by up to two years for previously restructured amounts.

The scheme, which runs until end-September 2021, may provide borrowers with additional time to resolve repayment stresses and allow financial institutions to spread credit costs over a longer period. Take-up under the last scheme, which ran to March 2021, was modest.

However, the economy at the time was posting a strong post-lockdown recovery. Since then, risks to small businesses have risen, particularly as many would have balance sheets that have weakened since 2020. Meanwhile, many individuals face medical bills that will add to strains on their income and savings.

The RBI has also allowed funding by small finance banks to smaller microfinance institutions (MFIs) for on-lending to be classified as priority-sector lending. This could support liquidity among those MFIs, some of whom have concentrated regional exposures that increase the risk of collection shortfalls as the virus spreads into Indias hinterlands this time around.
Covid-19 related deaths in India are expected to double in the coming weeks. People across socioeconomic classes are being cremated en masse in large holes in the ground. The ordeal doesnt even end with death. Medical bills are piling up, a burden large enough to tip working-class families into multi-generational poverty. Younger adults desperate for vaccines are effectively being forced to pay for them, while those most at risk arent adequately insured. The states threadbare safety net has all but collapsed.

In normal times, most Indians use savings, borrow and call on friends and family to pay for health care, assuming its accessible. Out-of-pocket expenses are among the highest in the world. More than 60% of the population isnt covered by insurance. Government workers can get some protection under a few different plans, but most others, including the self-employed, pay for their own treatment. Costs are rising because of a growing dependence on private hospitals and clinics.

Two years ago, after several failed attempts at universal coverage, Prime Minister Narendra Modis administration unveiled what it called the worlds largest plan, targeting over 107 million people--the poorest 40% of the population. It was meant to be a better version of a decade-old policy that fell short in terms of the amount reimbursed and its cap on the number of people enrolled from one household. Under the new plan, families are covered for up to 500,000 rupees ($6,670) for medical procedures. Eligibility was widened and is based on several deprivation criteria in rural and urban areas.





ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: India sees 366,499 new cases; lockdown in several states

Yet the new policy hasn't effectively improved access to health care, according to a working paper by Duke University researchers. To begin with, the eligibility criteria rely on a 10-year-old census, and exclude many potential participants because of inconsistent data. Whats more, outpatient services, which account for 60% of out-of-pocket expenditure, arent included. Another area of concern is the programs dependence on private hospitals. Finally, if the insurance did fully cover its intended beneficiaries, the cost would far exceed budget allocations.

For a country battling the most severe surge of the pandemic the world has seen, it's hard to start thinking about long-term changes. India is now considering setting up a fund worth at least 1 trillion rupees to support the uninsured, the 'Hindustan Times' reported last week. Helping the population through a third wave is the obvious priority. But now is the time for policy makers to get serious about a minimum--and rising--standard of care for everyone.

As an alternative model, Taiwan stands out, and not just because of its globally acknowledged success in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Although its population of 23 million isnt comparable to Indias 1.4 billion, Taiwans fundamentally strong health care holds valuable lessons.

All long-term residents are covered under a comprehensive national insurance. Co-payments on prescriptions as well as physician visits are reasonable, and capped at about $7 and $14, respectively. Hospital stays, too, have cost limits.

It wasnt always like this. Before 1995, four out of 10 people in Taiwan didnt have any medical insurance. For all its export-powered boom in the preceding decades, the capitalist society's score in treating preventable deaths was worse than countries behind the Iron Curtain. Now, Taiwan is doing almost as well as the U.S. on this measure, and isnt too too far behind Japan.

Taiwans transformation was triggered by its decision  on the recommendation of Princeton University economist Uwe Reinhardt  to move to a single-payer system. Effective insurance didnt come with a massive price tag. Taipei used technology, such as electronic health cards that store patient and treatment data, to drive efficiencies and limit spending to 6% of gross domestic product. Thats far lower than other rich countries. The Taiwanese system isnt immune to cost pressures, but thats a price of its popularity: Some patients seek just too many consultations.

In India, public health expenditure is just 1.2% of GDP. Yet targeting a higher number won't automatically make things better. The right care, as Reinhardt emphasized, is about not pricing anyone out. But in Indias heavily informal economy, only 90 million people earn regular salaries. Among them, 80% make less than $270 a month. Can this narrow base of taxpayers prop up a good standard of care at prices that dont exclude the poor?

The best means toward that end is making the government a single buyer of everything  from generic drugs (in which India is a world leader) to medical equipment  to prune expenditure. The countrys natural wage advantage can be harnessed in providing labor-intensive services cheaply  not by impoverishing medical professionals but by stepping up hiring in the public sector and expanding state-funded training.

Assume that superior cost management crunches the 2.4% of GDP that Indians spend out of pocket to 2%. Provide an equal amount for infrastructure investment for at least 10 years and throw in 1.2% of GDP of current public spending. The 5.2% of GDP in required funding can come, like in Taiwan, from payroll and sin taxes, as well as levies on interest, dividends and rents.



ALSO READ: Group health insurance cover easier to get if all participate, say experts

The financing will get centralized, not the service delivery. Private hospitals wont wither away, but they will have to accept government-mandated prices. The primary responsibility for clinical care will reside with Indias 28 states. They will be free to offer add-ons. Maybe the national program wont be able to immediately cover chronic mental illness, for example. But richer western and southern states ought to be able to include it. In Tamil Nadu, for instance, the recently elected chief minister announced that his government will reimburse private hospitals Covid-19 treatment bills. Additionally, private insurance plans will exist as a top-up for those who want specialized procedures or long-term rehabilitation.

The pandemic will eventually recede, but scarred citizens wont want to face such despair again. People are scrambling for resources on social media and elsewhere. Individuals have turned to importing oxygen concentrators, cutting deals with suppliers across the globe. Anecdotally, some are combining more widely available smaller-capacity breathing devices to create larger ones that are in short supply. Indian style jugaad, or quick, self-administered workarounds, cant fix a broken system, though. Its time to build health care anew.
Hudson said he did not know if there were working smoke detectors in the apartment. He said the Office of Fire Investigation had a team at the building to determine the cause, which remained unknown Monday morning.
Within six months of being sworn in as chief minister, Mamata Banerjee must become a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Which seat will she choose? And more to the point, will the Election Commission of India (EC) facilitate an election? At least three choices are available to her immediately.

Elections were countermanded in the Shamshergunj and Jangipur Assembly constituencies where candidates succumbed to Covid (elections to the West Bengal Assembly were held on to 292 of the 294 seats). And in Khardaha, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate, Kajal Sinha, died of Covid after she ...
LIC's holding across 296 companies where its holding is more than 1 per cent slipped to an all-time low of 3.66 per cent as on March 31, 2021, down from 3.70 per cent as on December 31, 2020 and from all-time high of 5 per cent as on June 30, 2012, as per primeinfobase.com, an initiative of PRIME Database Group.

Pranav Haldea, the managing director of Prime Database Group attributed this to profit-booking by India's largest institutional investor, adding that the stake held had touched an all-time high of 5 per cent in 2012.

Interestingly, in value terms there was an increase in the equity assets held by the state-run company at an all-time high of Rs 7.24 lakh crore in March, which represents a 6.30 per cent increase, it said, pointing out that market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose by 3.70 and 5.10 per cent, respectively, during this period.

Holdings by companies declined to a 5-year low of 4.80 per cent as on March 31, down from 5 per cent at the end of December 31, 2020. In value terms, it went up by 3.09 per cent from the previous quarter to an all-time high of Rs 9.48 lakh crore as on March 31, 2021.

accounts for over three-fourths of the overall value of the stakes held by companies in equities, it added.

Mutual funds' holding reduced to 7.23 per cent as on March 31, 2021 down from 7.42 per cent as on December 31, 2020, and Haldea said that this is the fourth straight quarter where the MFs have sold their holdings after 24 continuous quarters of an increase.

However, in value terms, the holding of domestic went up by 4.81 per cent to Rs 14.30 lakh crore on March 31, 2021 from Rs 13.64 lakh crore on December 31, 2021.

Net outflows by domestic stood at Rs 26,810 crore during the quarter, as retail investors booked profits.

On the back of decrease in holdings of and companies, holding of domestic institutional investors (DII), which includes domestic mutual funds, insurance companies, banks, financial institutions, pension funds also decreased to a 10-quarter low of 13.03 per cent as on March 31, 2021 from 13.56 per cent as on December 31, 2020.

Net outflows of DIIs stood at Rs 23,124 crore during the quarter, while in value terms, DII holding went up to an all-time high of Rs 25.75 lakh crore as on March 31, 2021, which is an increase of 3.27 per cent over the last quarter.

Haldea said foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) holdings stood at 22.60 per cent as on March 31, 2021, down from 22.74 per cent as on December 31, 2020, despite net inflows of Rs 55,741 crore during the quarter.

In rupee value terms, FPI ownership also reached an all-time high of Rs 44.66 lakh crore as on March 31, 2021, up 6.77 per cent from Rs 41.83 lakh crore as on December 31, 2020.

The percentage holding of the government (as promoter) in companies listed on NSE increased to 5.60 per cent as on March 31, 2021, from 5.22 per cent as on December 31, 2020.

Retail investors' holding went down in 713 companies despite a 15.57 per cent increase in their stock prices, and went up in 863 companies which had the share prices move up by 5.52 per cent, Haldea said, adding that this validates the oft-used phrase that retail buys at the peak and sells at lows.
The on Monday said it has promoted Jose J. Kattoor as Executive Director (ED) with effect from May 04, 2021.

He will look after the Human Resource Management Department, Corporate Strategy and Budget Department and Rajbhasha Department.

Prior to this, Kattoor was the regional director for Karnataka, heading the Bengaluru regional office of the RBI.

In his last assignment in Mumbai, he was in charge of communication. In his career of three decades with the central bank, Kattoor has served in communication, human resource management, financial inclusion, supervision, currency management and other areas in the Reserve Bank. RBI has now 13 executive directors, including one chief financial officer.
The on Monday came out with modified guidelines that allow sound private sector to undertake government business, whether at the Centre or in states.

According to the modified norms, scheduled private sector banks, which are not under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework of the RBI, can undertake government business after executing an agreement with the central bank.

"Scheduled private sector banks, not having agency banking agreement with RBI, but intend to handle government agency business, may be appointed as agents of upon execution of an agreement with

"This will be subject to the condition that the concerned bank is not under PCA framework or moratorium at the time of making the application or signing of the agreement with RBI," the central bank said in a notification.

It may be mentioned that the Ministry in February 2021 had lifted the embargo imposed in September 2012 on further allocation of government business to private sector

In view of the lifting of the embargo, the has decided to revise the framework for authorising Scheduled Private Sector as agency banks of RBI for conduct of government business.

The notification further said existing private Sector agency bank with whom RBI already has agency banking agreement and who are authorised to do government agency business may continue to do these government agency businesses for Central and/or State Governments without taking any fresh approval from the central bank.

It also said once RBI authorises a bank for any government business, separate approval from RBI with regard to mode (physical or e-mode) and area of operations is not required and the same will be decided by the CGA (for Central Government) or the Department of the State Government, keeping the RBI informed in the matter.
At least seven persons were killed in a shooting at a Colorado birthday party.

Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a shooting call for service at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park at approximately 12:18 am local time on Sunday, according to a readout from the police department, reported Washington Examiner.

Upon arriving at the scene, which was later discovered to be a birthday party for one of the victims, officers found six deceased adults and one adult male with serious injuries who was transported to a local hospital where he died, the statement added.

The motive was not immediately clear, and authorities continue to investigate the deaths as homicides.

The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, entered, and began shooting people at the party before committing suicide, police said.

The children present at the scene were unharmed and are now with relatives, and the names of the victims and the suspect will be released after the coroner has identified the deceased as well as their cause and manner of death, the statement added.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers called the deaths a "senseless act of violence" and asked the public to remain patient as authorities investigate the incident, reported Washington Examiner.

The incident follows several recent shootings throughout the Last week, a shooter opened fire in an attack in Green Bay that left three, including the suspect, dead.

A shooting in New York City's Times Square on Saturday left three wounded, and a second Saturday evening shooting at a Miami-Dade area mall left three victims wounded, reported Washington Examiner.
Norway should exclude the COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson in its inoculation program due to a risk of rare but harmful side-effects, a government-appointed commission said on Monday.



Those who would volunteer to take either of the two vaccines should however be allowed to do so, the commission added.



Authorities on March 11 suspended the AstraZeneca rollout after a small number of younger inoculated people were hospitalised for a combination of blood clots, bleeding and a low count of platelets, some of whom later died.



On April 15, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said the AstraZeneca vaccine should be dropped entirely but the government instead sought further advice, including on the jabs made by J&J which the country has yet to adopt.



"The government will use this as basis for its decision, together with recommendations from the Institute of Public Health, on whether to use these vaccines," Health Minister Bent Hoeie told a news conference.



A study in Denmark and Norway found slightly increased rates of vein blood clots among people who have had a first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine, including clots in the brain, compared with expected rates in the general population.
The former chief physician of the Siberian hospital, where Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was treated immediately after he was poisoned with a nerve agent last year, has gone missing.

Local police in Omsk told TASS that Alexander Murakhovsky, Health Minister of the region, was reported missing on Saturday after leaving a hunting base in a forest on an all-terrain vehicle on Friday and has not been seen since, CNN reported.

In a statement, the regional Interior Ministry of Omsk said police officers were searching for a man who had gone missing in the Bolsheukovsky district, without naming the physician."On May 8, 2021, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of for the Omsk Region received a message that in the village of Pospelovo, Bolsheukovsky District, a resident of Omsk, born in 1971, left the hunting base on an ATV going to the forest. For about a day, the acquaintances of the disappeared made independent attempts to find the man, after which they reported the incident to the police," the statement said.

The Ministry said that search operations underway were complicated by the difficult terrain and the presence of wetlands.

Murakhovsky was promoted to the position of Health Minister of the Omsk region after his handling of Navalny's hospitalisation last year, CNN reported citing TASS.

He was the chief doctor at Omsk emergency hospital number 1 when Navalny was admitted to the acute poisoning unit of the hospital on August 20, 2020, after falling ill on a plane heading from Siberia to Moscow.

Murakhovsky had then told the media that the main working diagnosis for the Kremlin critic was "a metabolic disorder which caused a sharp drop in blood sugar", CNN reported.

Navalny had ridiculed the promotion of Murakhovsky to Omsk regional health minister, saying: "You lie, fake test results, are ready to please the bosses in any way - you get an award and a promotion."

In February this year, a senior doctor of the hospital, Sergey Maximishin, suddenly died at the age of 55. Rustam Agishev - another top doctor who worked at the hospital, also died in March, although it is not clear if Agishev had anything to do with Navalny's treatment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied any role in Navalny's poisoning, and prison officials say they are providing adequate care.

The Kremlin critic went on hunger strike on March 31 while in prison to demand medical care, but ended it last week when he was finally given medical attention.

has brought several cases against Navalny, which he and his supporters say are trumped up.

(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.)
faces a major crisis.

The German is considerably below whats needed to replace the population. German seniors, meanwhile, are living longer and drawing more on state resources for their pensions and health care.

There are basically two ways out of this demographic crisis. First of all, could boost its

The German state provides generous family leave and child-care policiesnot to mention the famous Kindergelt, the direct monthly payments of child benefitsand the fertility rate has indeed edged up over the years from 1.24 children per woman in 1994 to 1.57 today. But the trend in industrialized countries suggests that it will be difficult to push the rate much higher. The closest to the replacement rate of 2.1 children that any EU country gets is France at 1.88.

The second way out of Germanys crisis would be through immigration. The country could throw open its doors to people from all over the world to take unwanted and unfilled jobs, pay taxes, and support the increasingly aging population.

That is exactly what did. The government of Angela Merkel, in 2015 and 2016, accepted over a million from the Middle East and North Africa. Germany now has the fifth largest population of in the world (after Turkey, Colombia, Pakistan, and Uganda).

This headline-grabbing decision, five years later, has been a remarkable success. The million have prospered, reports the Center for Global Development.

In 2015, nearly everyone in the mediaGerman, European, internationalreferred to the millions of desperate people trying to get into Europe as an immigration crisis. They should have given it a different label: the immigration solution to the continents demographic crisis. Germany wisely chose to take advantage of this opportunity, while the countries of Eastern Europe by and large have embraced demographic suicide.

The naysayers had a field day back in 2015 with their predictions of political failure for Merkel and social chaos for Germany. Today, Germany continues to be the strongest European economy. It struggled during the pandemic, but is now rapidly scaling up its vaccinations. And the anti-immigrant backlash, represented by the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland, has ebbed, with the popularity of the party falling to 11 percent in recent polls. Meanwhile, with its liberal platform on immigration, the Green Party has surged to 25 percent and may well win the September 2021 elections.

Its useful to bear the German experience in mind as the United States once again tackles its own immigration crisis.

Immigrants are a gift

The United States has been the exception to the demographic rule for industrialized countries. The U.S. fertility rate, at 1.73, is also well below replacement. But because of a constant stream of immigrants, America has managed to grow at a healthy clip.

That began to change in the 2010s. According to the latest Census numbers, the United States grew at the second slowest rate over the last decade since the founding of the country. The culprits were a declining fertility ratethe birthrate has declined 19 percent since peaking in 2007and a reduction in the number of immigrants. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemicin terms of mortality, long-term disability, and anxiety over economic insecuritywill only make matters worse.

America has always depended on immigrants and undocumented workers. That dependency has only grown more acute over the years. Lets take a look at four critical sectors.

Between half and three-quarters of the farmworkers who ensure a supply of food to the American population are undocumented workers, and many of the rest are recent immigrants. The pandemic hit farmworkers and food manufacturing workers hard, and even the Trump administration had to acknowledge them as essential workers in reducing their risk of deportation (though not providing them additional protection against infection).

Even before the pandemic hit, the food sector faced a shortage of workers. In a 2017 survey of farmers by the California Farm Bureau, 55 percent reported labor shortages, and the figure was nearly 70 percent for those who depend on seasonal workers, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, Congress (read: Republicans in the Senate) has failed to provide a legal framework for what remains an essential workforce, pandemic or no pandemic, though the recent Farm Workforce Modernization Act has a shot of passing with bipartisan support to provide a million undocumented farmworkers with legal status.

The health-care sector similarly depends on immigrants. Of the nearly 15 million people working in the health sector, about 18 percent are immigrants. COVID-19 is going to exact a heavy toll on this sector, though. According to a recent Washington Post poll, one in three health-care workers are thinking about exiting the profession: Many talked about the betrayal and hypocrisy they feel from the public they have sacrificed so much to savetheir clapping and hero-worship one day, then refusal to wear masks and take basic precautions the next, even if it would spare health workers the trauma of losing yet another patient.

Even without pandemic-related job changes, the United States has been looking at a major upcoming nursing shortage: over a million new RNs are needed by 2022. Nursing schools are just not keeping up with the demand created by retirement.

Manufacturing, challenged by foreign competition and outsourcing, has infamously declined in the United States. Despite the spread of automation, this sector too needs more workers. There are currently 500,000 job openings, and one recent report estimates 2.1 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2030.

Then theres domestic work, one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S economy. Home health aides, child-care providers, housecleaners: the vast majority are women and more than one-third are foreign-born. By 2026, care jobs will constitute one of the fastest growing professions in the country, and we will need more caregivers and nannies than we have ever needed before, writes the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Home-based elder care is already the single fastest growing occupation in our entire economy due to the rapidly growing aging population.

Home health aides directly take care of aging Americans. But the United States needs younger workers across all professions to keep alive federal programs like Social Security that support aging Americans. The cohort of people aged 55 to 64 grew by 70 percent between 2000 and 2016 while the working-age population expanded by only 15 percent. Thats bad news for people looking to retire in the future on their Social Security benefits.

Fortunately, immigrants have come to the rescue. They are overwhelmingly working age and have a higher participation rate in the labor force than the native born. Their contributions to Social Security help keep the system afloat. The undocumented have been even more generous, providing an estimated $12 billion to the Social Security system through payroll taxes in 2010 alone (without much hope of ever drawing from the system themselves).

Even with these contributions, however, Social Security is still expected to face a major funding shortfall by 2035 under current projections. One answer: more immigrants!

If this story were a fairy tale, the immigrant would be the goose that lays the golden egg. Immigrants didnt just build America. They are essential to the health and prosperity of the country today. Immigrants are the gift that keeps on giving.

ALSO READ: Joe Biden urges US Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform

Whenever a goose starts laying golden eggs, however, someone invariably starts talking about wringing the poor animals neck and impoverishing everyone involved.

The politics of immigration

The Republican Party remade itself into an anti-immigrant force before Donald Trump entered the political scene. Tea Party insurgents called for closing the border with Mexico. David Brat, an unknown economist, ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a 2014 Virginia race by hammering at the immigration issue. Trump, however, took immigration and ran with it, promising to build a new wall along the southern border, shut down travel from predominantly Muslim countries, and make it nearly impossible for refugees and asylum-seekers to find haven in the United States.

Because of Trumps success in turning his extreme positions into federal policy, immigration largely disappeared as an electoral issue in 2020. The Republican Party focused instead on economic attacks (Biden as a socialist) and cultural broadsides (the perennial racist and misogynist dog whistles).

But with the Democrats back in the White House and in control of Congress, immigration will likely become again a major campaign issue in the mid-term elections. The economy is on an upswing, the pandemic is waning, and the Biden administration has been competent and relatively scandal-free. Without an actual platform of their own since they decided to turn their party into a personality cult, the Republicans will inevitably characterize the influx of people over the border as a crisis and the presidents biggest failure.

The numbers at the border have indeed increased, with the influx for April near a 20-year high. Despite the Republican Party criticisms, these numbers are not the result of Biden administration policies. The number of people apprehended at the border, for instance, spiked in 2018, under Trump, at more than 850,000, which obviously had nothing to do with Biden.

The surge so far this year is largely seasonal, a result of pent-up demand from the COVID-19 border closures, and a function of all the applicants stranded south of the border by Trumps Remain in Mexico policy. The numbers already appear to be plateauing. And the number of unaccompanied minors being held in Border Patrol facilities dropped dramatically in the last week.

The Biden administration has reversed many of Trumps policies, canceling funding for the border wall, reversing the Muslim travel ban, and dismantling the Remain in Mexico program. Without any fanfare, the president also allowed the ban on guest worker visas to expire at the end of March. Pictures of joyful family reunifications at the border are now replacing Trump-era images of children separated from the parents.

The administration has also pledged to address the root causes of migration by funding initiatives in Central America that will reduce violence and corruption, stabilize economies, and address humanitarian crises. That, of course, is easier said than done given the authoritarian leadership in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Tasked with tackling this issue, Vice President Kamala Harris is well aware of the folly of funneling aid into corrupt governments, and she is reportedly lining up civil society representatives to meet on upcoming visits to the region. A long-term strategy of fostering political and economic transformation in the region, however, wont win any points with Republicans or most voters in the United States in the short term.

The recent kerfuffle around refugee policy illustrates the political stakes.

As a candidate, Biden promised to bring U.S. policies on refugees and asylum in line with standards and raise the annual ceiling to more or less the level of the Obama years. Because of a failure to file the necessary paperwork, however, the number of refugees admitted into the United States in the first months of the Biden administration remained extremely low. Because refugees are often conflated in the public mind with immigrantsand the administrations immigration policy was getting poor marks in the pollsthe president tried to get away with suppressing the number of incoming refugees. Challenged by members of his own party, Biden again reversed himself, returning to the previous promise of a cap for the remainder of this year of 62,500 and an annual ceiling of 125,000 for 2022.

The back-and-forth on refugee policy is an unusual deviation from an otherwise consistent set of policies coming from the administration. Its a sign that immigration will continue to be subject to finger-in-the-wind calculations rather than rational debate. Its a shame that it will require enormous political courage to embrace policies that are in the best interest of the United States, whether from the point of view of the labor force, the sustainability of the social welfare system, or the livelihoods of the newest residents of the country.

Republicans, with their steadfast commitment to political divisiveness and firearms, love to shoot themselves in the foot. Theres no reason for the rest of the country to follow suit. Maybe a delegation of Syrian-Germans can come to America on a speaking tour to explain how a crisis is really an opportunity.
Malaysias and a former unit have filed suits against firms including Chase & Co. and Bank AG as the nation seeks to recover assets worth more than $23 billion linked to the scandal-plagued state-owned investment fund.



1MDB, whose full name is 1Malaysia Development Bhd., and SRC Sdn. filed a combined 22 civil suits against a slew of entities and individuals for various alleged wrongdoings including fraud and conspiracy to defraud the fund, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. Among those named were and Bank, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be identified discussing non-public information.

At least two suits were filed in London, according to publicly-available court records. Banks Singapore branch faces a lawsuit, while separately sued Citigroup Inc.s head of commodities research Ed Morse alleging professional negligence, the filing shows.

declined to comment while Deutsche said it hasnt been served any papers on and isnt aware of any basis for a legitimate claim. The banks were named earlier on Monday by the Edge newspaper. New York-based Morse didnt respond to an email seeking comment outside business hours, and Citigroup couldnt immediately comment.

The court proceedings mark Malaysias continuing efforts to recover billions of dollars allegedly siphoned from 1MDB by people connected to the countrys former prime minister. Over much of a decade, 1MDB has become shorthand for one of the worlds most daring heists -- a conspiracy that spawned probes in Asia, the U.S. and Europe.

Authorities have spent years tracking funds that allegedly flowed from 1MDB into high-end art and real estate, a super yacht and, ironically, the hit Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street, chronicling an earlier era of financial crimes.

The government has had a string of recent successes, the most high-profile coming last year when Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reached a $3.9 billion pact with Malaysian authorities to resolve probes into the Wall Street giants role in the scheme. Goldmans overall tab for additional settlements with authorities in the U.S., U.K. and Hong Kong swelled to more than $5 billion.

In March, Deloitte PLT agreed to a 324-million ringgit ($80 million) settlement with the Malaysian government to resolve all claims related to the firms audit of 1MDB and SRC between 2011-2014. The deal also came less than a week after Malaysian lender AMMB Holdings Bhd. agreed to a $699 million settlement over its role in dealings linked to 1MDB.

Pursuing Wrongdoers



A Malaysian court is currently hearing an appeal by ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak to overturn his conviction and 12-year jail sentence linked to the 1MDB scandal that brought down his government in 2018.

Najib, and the fugitive financier Jho Low and his family are among individuals named in the civil suit. Low, whom prosecutors have accused of orchestrating the fraud, has previously professed his innocence.

We have not received the summons, Najibs lawyer Farhan Shafee said. We also found out from the press. M. Purvalen, a lawyer representing Jho Lows mother, said he has not been approached to represent the Low family in this suit.

The Governments recovery efforts are now focused on pursuing other wrongdoers who have caused losses to 1MDB and or SRC during the execution of their duties, as parties directly or indirectly involved in 1MDB and or SRCs various operations and transactions, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said in a statement.

The specific allegations against Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan werent immediately clear. Deutsche Bank helped 1MDB raise more than $1 billion in 2014. JPMorgan in 2017 was reprimanded by Swiss regulators over its handling of money transfers related to 1MDB in previous years.

Deutsche Banks shares reversed gains and were down 1% at 1:22 p.m. in Frankfurt.
A transportation department spokesman previously noted that one of the main purposes of the flyover was to carry bike and pedestrian traffic on the Lakefront Trail over Grand Avenue and Illinois Street, where there was frequent crowding and close encounters with motor vehicle traffic. That part of the flyover opened for use at the end of 2018.
Israeli police faced off with Palestinian protesters Sunday in another night of clashes in east Jerusalem, a day before Israeli nationalists planned to parade through the Old City in an annual flag-waving display meant to cement Israeli claims to the contested area.

The late-night skirmishes raised the likelihood of further clashes Monday during the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations.

Israeli police gave the go-ahead to the parade Sunday, despite days of unrest and soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions at a flashpoint holy site and in a nearby Arab neighborhood where Jewish settlers are trying to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes.

Addressing a special Cabinet meeting ahead of Jerusalem Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that will not allow any extremists to destabilize the calm in Jerusalem. We will enforce law and order decisively and responsibly.

We will continue to maintain freedom of worship for all faiths, but we will not allow violent disturbances, he said. At the same time, he said, We emphatically reject the pressures not to build in Jerusalem.

The United States again expressed its serious concerns about the situation in Jerusalem, including clashes between Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem's Old City, home to sites sacred by Muslims and Jews, and Israeli police, as well as the expected expulsion of Palestinian families.

Washington made its concerns during a phone call between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart. Sullivan urged to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations," according to a statement by National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne.

Jerusalem Day is meant to celebrate Israel's capture of east Jerusalem, home to the Old City and its sensitive holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war. But the annual event is widely perceived as provocative, as hardline nationalist Israelis, guarded by police, march through the Damascus Gate of the Old City and through the Muslim Quarter to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

This year the march coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of heightened religious sensitivities, and follows weeks of clashes. That, combined with Palestinian anger over the eviction plan in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, could set the stage for an especially volatile day.

Amos Gilad, a former senior defense official, told Army Radio that the parade should be canceled or at least kept away from Damascus Gate, saying the powder keg is burning and can explode at any time. Israel's public broadcaster Kan said the final route of the parade had not yet been decided.

In recent days, dozens of Palestinians have been wounded in clashes near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City. The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It has been a tinderbox for serious violence in the past.

The occupier plays with fire, and tampering with Jerusalem is very dangerous, Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official, told the militant group's Al-Aqsa TV station.

captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.

The violence, along with the planned evictions in east Jerusalem, have drawn condemnations from Israel's Arab allies and expressions of concern from the United States, Europe and the United Nations.

In Sunday night's clashes, Palestinian protesters shouted at police and pelted them with rocks and bottles, while police fired stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse the crowds. Palestinian medics said at least 14 protesters were injured.

The clashes were less intense than the previous two nights. Police said over 20 police officers had been injured in recent days.

But there were signs the violence was beginning to spread.

Late Sunday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired four rockets toward Israel, setting off air raid sirens in southern city of Ashkelon and nearby areas, the Israeli military said. It said one rocket was intercepted, while two others exploded inside Gaza. Early Monday, Israeli tanks and artillery struck several Hamas posts near the border in retaliation for the rocket fire. There were no reports of injuries.

Earlier in the day, Israel carried out an airstrike on a Hamas post in response to another rocket attack. Gazan protesters affiliated with Hamas militant group also launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel during the day, causing dozens of fires.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, Israeli police also clashed with hundreds of Arab students at Israel's Hebrew University, using stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Police said 15 people were arrested at another protest in the northern city of Haifa.

Jordan and Egypt, the first two countries to strike peace deals with Israel, both summoned senior Israeli diplomats to condemn the Israeli actions.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, who acts as custodian of Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites, condemned what he called Israeli violations and escalating practices and urged Israel to halt its provocations against Jerusalemites.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was following the events in Jerusalem with worry and called for an end to the clashes.

Violence only generates violence, he told the public gathered at St. Peter's Square.

(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 has announced its limited support for the TRIPS waiver, a proposal to suspend intellectual property protections for products and technologies needed for the fight against COVID-19, including vaccines, for the duration of the pandemic.

This would involve a temporary suspension of certain rules set out in the TRIPS Agreement, the intellectual property treaty of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The waiver was first proposed by India and South Africa  two countries with robust generic pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity  in October 2020 as one important tool to address availability of COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostic tools and therapeutic treatments.

For seven months, the proposal has made little progress due to opposition from the US, the EU, Switzerland, the UK, Japan and

The surprise announcement garnered a positive response in many quarters, and was soon echoed worldwide, with the EU, New Zealand and France expressing more willingness to negotiate.

Yet the is the centre of attention because its statement is such a big departure from its previous antagonism towards other countries public health measures that affect intellectual property rights. For example in 1996, it threatened to impose sanctions on Brazil for reforming patent laws to improve access to AIDS medication.

Given this history, and intense lobbying from the pharmaceutical sector, the US support for the TRIPS waiver was for many a welcome surprise.

Narrow scope

Support for the waiver, and the latest US Trade Representative report indicating that the will respect the right to grant compulsory licenses consistent with the the TRIPS Agreement, may give all trading partners, not just developing countries, the confidence to boldly use those powers to improve the supply of COVID-19 vaccines without fear of trade retaliation.

But aspects of the US announcement are more narrow in scope than the original proposal.

The initial proposal would cover all technologies for the detection, prevention, treatment and response to COVID-19, while the US statement limits its support for waiving intellectual property rights in vaccines only. While vaccines are the centre of attention right now, the broader proposal would address the limited supply of therapeutics, like Baricitinib or Redemsivir, or diagnostics, like reagents for COVID test kits.

Nevertheless, the US support could help bring the TRIPS waiver to the next stage of text-based negotiations. There is now hope that formal negotiations can start addressing outstanding issues, such as how long the waiver would last, and whether anything more than vaccines may be covered.

Beyond patents

As the TRIPS waiver gained public attention, many have referred to the measure as a patent waiver.

This has obscured other intellectual property rights which are included in the original proposed TRIPS waiver: copyright, trade secrets, and designs  not just

certainly deserve a lot of attention: the manufacturing and supply of one product, especially complex biologics like COVID-19 vaccines, is often governed by multiple patents, which may be owned by different entities.

But trade secrets, which protect different kinds of exclusive information, including data gathered during the regulatory approval process, and tacit know-how are also essential for manufacturing and producing vaccines.

Providing incentives to share or reveal trade secrets, information covered by non-disclosure agreements, as well as regulatory submissions, such as clinical trial data, would not only spur competition. It would also provide the basis for further innovation.

This was seen in the case of Shantha Biotechnics development of a Hepatitis B vaccine for Indian domestic supply, which used yeast instead of the traditional bacterial system, allowing production of a low-cost Indian vaccine which went on to become the mainstay of a global vaccination drive led by UNICEF.

Some of the COVID-19 vaccines on offer  those developed by BioNTech and Moderna  use mRNA, a relatively novel technology that has only recently been produced in large numbers.

Many countries may not yet have the means or know-how to produce them domestically. The WHO has set up a mRNA technology transfer hub to provide a mechanism to share the technology globally, but none of the current vaccine manufacturers have yet offered their help or expertise to this initiative.

Sharing knowledge

By covering multiple types of intellectual property in a global measure, the TRIPS waiver as originally proposed would provide more freedom to operate for manufacturers and suppliers and to do so in a speedy manner.

Companies in many different countries could use the shared knowledge without the need to negotiate country-by-country and product-by-product licence agreements. This would diversify locations of production. It is hoped and expected that the prospect of a waiver will spur efforts to persuade pharmaceutical companies to enter into more voluntary arrangements and non-exclusive licensing to enable the transfer of technology in a controlled and transparent way.

To end the pandemic, we need a number of different strategies to share around the benefits of existing COVID vaccines, treatments and tests, as well as enable further innovation from multiple sites.

Wealthy countries need to reverse their over-ordering of doses, export restrictions should be lifted to increase production, and data from regulatory approval processes should be made accessible. Governments should oblige companies, paying them where necessary, to enter into voluntary transfers of their know-how, share trade secrets and other undisclosed information.

The TRIPS waiver is a masthead for all of these things to happen simultaneously and urgently now.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
A fire erupted on Monday at Kuwait's largest oil field, injuring two workers, the country's state-run news agency reported.

The injured workers were in stable condition and receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, according to the state-run KUNA news agency, citing Qusai al-Amer, the Oil Company spokesman.

The blaze at the Great Burgan Field in the southeastern desert of Kuwait, which produces some 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, did not impact production, the report said.

Kuwait, a nation home to 4.1 million people that's slightly smaller than the US state of New Jersey, has the world's sixth-largest known oil reserves. Most of the country's production comes from a single field, Burgan.

(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.)
When federal regulators late last year accused one of the worlds most popular platforms of illegally selling $1.38 billion worth of digital money to investors, it was a pivotal moment in efforts to crack down on a fast-growing market  and in the still-nascent industrys willingness to dive deeply into the Washington influence game.

The company, Ripple Labs, has enlisted lobbyists, lawyers and other well-connected advocates to make its case to the Securities and Exchange Commission and beyond in one of the first big legal battles over what limits and requirements the government should set for trading and using

Ripple has hired two lobbying firms in the past three months. It has retained a consulting firm staffed with former aides to both Hillary Clinton and former President Donald J. Trump to help it develop strategy in Washington. And to defend itself against the S.E.C., it hired Mary Jo White, a former chairwoman of the commission during the Obama administration.

Ripple is just one of a long list of companies scrambling for influence in Washington as the Biden administration begins setting policy that could shape the course of a potentially revolutionary industry that is rapidly moving into the mainstream and drawing intensifying attention from financial regulators, law enforcement officials and lawmakers.

There is a tectonic shift underway, Perianne Boring, the president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a lobbying group, told other industry lobbyists, executives and two House lawmakers who serve as industry champions, during a virtual gathering last month. If we dont start planning and taking action soon, we have everything to risk.

So far, cryptocurrency has been a highly volatile investment, but it is already starting to alter the way individuals, companies and even some central banks do business. Firms like Ripple, which is based in San Francisco, run cryptocurrency platforms that allow customers to make nearly instant global payments through a system that operates largely outside government monetary networks.

Globally, the value of all outstanding cryptocurrency has jumped to about $2.4 trillion  or more than the approximately $1.2 trillion of United States currency in circulation worldwide  from about $200 billion two years ago. This is from an industry that was born only a dozen years ago, when the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was introduced.

As the stakes have grown, so has the recognition that the industrys future  at least in the United States  will be shaped in Washington, prompting the rush to scoop up well-connected advocates.

The board of advisers at the digital chamber is stuffed with former federal regulators, including a former member of Congress and a recent chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, J. Christopher Giancarlo, who was named to the board of BlockFi, a financial services company that tries to link with traditional wealth managers.

Max Baucus, the Democratic former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Jim Messina, a former top Obama adviser, also have recently been named to senior industry posts.

Lobbying disclosure records show that at least 65 contracts as of early 2021 addressed industry matters such as digital currency, cryptocurrency or blockchain, up from about 20 in 2019. Some of the biggest spenders on lobbying include Ripple, Coinbase  the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States  and trade groups like the Blockchain Association.

The lobbying burst is one of several recent signs nationwide that the industry is becoming a bigger presence in the economy. FTX, the cryptocurrency trading firm, is spending $135 million to secure the naming rights to the home arena of the Miami Heat.

The billionaire Elon Musk, who hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, was asked about Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency featuring the face of a Shiba Inu dog that was created as a joke but has recently surged in value. Its the future of currency. Its an unstoppable financial vehicle thats going to take over the world, Mr. Musk said, before adding, Yeah, its a hustle. The price of Dogecoin plunged nearly 35 percent in the hours after the show aired.

With the industrys hires of recent government officials, claims of conflicts of interest are already starting to emerge.

Jay Clayton, who was the S.E.C. chairman until December, is now a paid adviser to the hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management, which invests hundreds of millions in Bitcoin and Ether, two cryptocurrencies, for its clients. Mr. Clayton declined to comment.

The day before Mr. Clayton resigned from the S.E.C., the agency filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, which competes with Bitcoin, alleging that the company had improperly raised $1.3 billion from investors through what the agency claimed was effectively an illegal stock offering.

Binance.US, which runs a cryptocurrency exchange, this month hired as its chief executive Brian P. Brooks, who until January served as the acting head of the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, which helps regulate banks. The day before he stepped down, the agency granted a conditional charter to Anchorage Digital Bank, making it the countrys first national cryptocurrency bank. A spokeswoman for Mr. Brooks said Binance was not a bank, so there was no conflict.

Ripples new lobbying firms include one that was recently set up by K. Michael Conaway, a Republican who until this year served as a House member from Texas and helped push pro-cryptocurrency legislation last year. Mr. Conaway is banned from lobbying his former colleagues for a year.

So Ripple has enlisted Mr. Conaways former chief of staff, who is also a partner at the lobbying firm but is no longer subject to the revolving-door ban, to lobby on bills pending in Congress.

Among the other firms working for Ripple is Teneo  led by Declan Kelly, a former aide to Mrs. Clinton  which has assigned Tony Sayegh, a senior Treasury Department official during the Trump administration, to help shape its communications strategy in Washington.

So far, the industry has not become a big player in campaign contributions, although there are major exceptions, like Sam Bankman-Fried, the 29-year-old billionaire founder of FTX, who donated $5 million in October to a political action committee that backed President Biden. (Mr. Bankman-Fried said in an interview that his donation was not an attempt to influence industry regulation, but that he does want to participate in the discussion.)

The cryptocurrency industry has a long list of lobbying goals, detailed in an eight-page letter sent to Mr. Biden in March that called for the government to settle on a clear set of policies with a light-touch regulatory approach.

The regulatory questions relate to at least two key parts of the cryptocurrency industry: so-called tokens, which are the currencies themselves, like Bitcoin, and platforms like Ripple that allow rapid money transfers with these cryptocurrencies, or the buying and selling of them, like Coinbase.

But considerable tension remains over existing federal rules, with public sparring among rival companies like Coinbase and Binance, a sign of how hard it will be to reach consensus on any new regulations.

Industry leaders are at least somewhat hopeful that it will have more support from the Biden administration than it did from the Trump administration, pointing out, for example, that Gary Gensler, the new S.E.C. chairman, taught courses about blockchain technology at M.I.T.

At his confirmation hearing in March, Mr. Gensler said had brought new thinking to the world of payments and financial inclusion. However, he indicated that he would strike a balance between encouraging new financial technology to flourish and protecting investors.

The cryptocurrency industry is less optimistic about Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, who expressed deep concern this year about Bitcoin.

It is a highly speculative asset, and I think people should beware, it can be extremely volatile, Ms. Yellen said at a New York Times DealBook event in February. And I do worry about potential losses that investors in it could suffer.

One sign of the industrys growing clout in Washington came during the closing days of the Trump administration, when the Treasury Department proposed a rule to curb the use of for money laundering by requiring companies handling certain transactions over $3,000 to know the names and addresses of the customer and the recipient.

Even before Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the proposed rule in December, he was targeted in industry appeals to delay or abandon the idea.

In the early days of the internet, there were people who called for it to be regulated like the phone companies, Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of Coinbase, wrote on Twitter in November, adding that he had sent a letter to Treasury to object. Thank goodness they didnt.

Thousands of such comments have been sent to Treasury.

Among those raising concerns was Sigal Mandelker, who until late 2019 was the top Treasury official overseeing the financial crimes agency that proposed the tighter rule, after her departure. She now works for Ribbit Capital, which is an investor in Coinbase and other cryptocurrency industry players and joined the chorus objecting to Treasurys plan. Ms. Mandelker did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Mnuchin backed down and pushed off final action to the Biden administration, which has extended the comment period and is considering how to proceed.

The Ripple enforcement case brought by the S.E.C. in December centers on whether a digital asset the company sold, called XRP, should be defined as a security or a commodity, a major distinction in terms of regulation.

Ripple asserts that XRP is effectively a currency, and like any currency or commodity can be bought and sold without S.E.C. intervention. But the agency argues that each sale of XRP is like a stock or bond trade, meaning a buyer is effectively acquiring a stake in Ripple when purchasing the asset. As a result, the S.E.C. argues that Ripple should have registered with the agency and provided extensive public disclosures like those required with stock or bond offerings.

Ripple, which in 2019 became one of the first cryptocurrency companies to open a lobbying office in Washington, has aggressively pushed back, successfully asking a federal judge to force the S.E.C. to turn over what the agency considers confidential internal documents.

Stuart Alderoty, Ripples general counsel, said that in the absence of clear cryptocurrency rules, the federal government was effectively creating regulatory policy via enforcement, an approach that is confusing and harmful to investors and the industry.

If you have a responsible player in the industry, they are going to be engaging with policymakers, he said.

The S.E.C. case against Ripple has helped persuade industry players on the sidelines to get involved.

The industry needs to accept that good legislation and regulation is what is required, not no regulation, said John E. Deaton, a lawyer who has moved to intervene in the enforcement action against Ripple. Because right now it is like the Wild, Wild West, and you have different federal agencies fighting over which one has jurisdiction.

The House this month passed a bill backed by industry lobbyists to create a working group of federal regulators, industry executives, investor protection groups and others to examine possible frameworks for a regulatory system.

We need to get the big prize done, Representative Darren Soto, Democrat of Florida and a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, a group of lawmakers working with the industry to help promote cryptocurrencies, told the industry conference last month. Which is the statutes and jurisdiction and definitions to create that certainty, to really let blockchain and cryptocurrency flow and improve in the United States.
By Aaron Sheldrick and Simon Webb

TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude prices climbed more than 1% on Monday after a major cyber attack that forced the shutdown of critical fuel supply pipelines in the United States, highlighting the fragility of oil infrastructure.

Brent crude was up by 76 cents, or 1.1%, at $$69.04 a barrel by 0039 GMT, having risen by l.5% last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose by 70 cents, or 1.1%, at $65.60 a barrel, after gaining more than 2% last week.

Signalling the seriousness of the situation, the White House was working closely with Colonial Pipeline to help it recover from the ransomware attack, which forced the biggest U.S. fuel pipeline operator to shut a network supplying populous eastern states.

Colonial's network is the source of nearly half of the U.S. East Coast's fuel supply, transporting 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline and other fuels, and the company had to shut all its pipelines after the cyber attack on Friday, which involved ransomware.

It was not clear who carried out the attack, but sources told Reuters the hackers were likely a professional cybercriminal group.

Colonial said on Sunday its main fuel lines remain offline but some smaller lines between terminals and delivery points are now operational. It didn't say when the network might return to full operational capacity.

"The major takeaway is the bad guys are very adept at finding new ways to penetrate infrastructure," Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates told Reuters. "Infrastructure has not developed defences that can offset all the different ways that malware can infect one's system."

A prolonged shutdown of the line, described as the "jugular of infrastructure" in the United States by one analyst, would cause prices to spike at gasoline pumps ahead of peak summer driving season, a potential blow to U.S. consumers and the economy.

U.S. gasoline prices jumped nearly 2%, while heating oil was up by more than 1%.

The attack has prompted calls from American lawmakers to strengthen protections for critical U.S. energy infrastructure from hacking attacks.

The Department of Energy said it was monitoring potential impacts to the nation's energy supply, while the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Transportation Security Administration told Reuters they were working on the situation.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo and Simon Webb in New York; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Equity gauges Sensex and Nifty rallied for the fourth straight session on Monday on hectic buying in mainly pharma, power and as investors brushed aside concerns over rising coronavirus cases amid positive global cues.

At the closing bell, the 30-share BSE index quoted 295.94 points or 0.60 per cent higher at 49,502.41. Over the last four sessions, the Sensex has gained 1,248.90 points or 2.58 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 119.20 points or 0.80 per cent to 14,942.35  taking its total gains over the four days to 445.85 points or 3.07 per cent. On Monday, L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, NTPC, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, ONGC and M&M.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech and Axis Bank were five losers among the 30 shares.

Sectorally, BSE metal, capital goods, healthcare, power, utilities and industrials indices rose up to 3.53 per cent, while IT was in the red.

Broader midcap and smallcap indices rallied up to 0.97 per cent.

"Domestic equities continued to defy concerns of rising Covid-19 cases and extended mobility restrictions by several states by extending gains for the fourth consecutive trading day," said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Favourable global cues, steady March quarter earnings along with favourable commentary, liquidity support announced by the RBI and absence of nationwide lockdown have aided domestic equities to shrug off rising COVID-19 cases in the country, he further noted.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is quoting at Rs 453.2, up 2.27% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 43.96% in last one year as compared to a 61.85% jump in NIFTY and a 43.62% jump in the Nifty Energy.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is up for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 453.2, up 2.27% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.88% on the day, quoting at 14953.6. The Sensex is at 49575.73, up 0.75%. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has gained around 12.19% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is a constituent, has gained around 7.39% in last one month and is currently quoting at 18295.6, up 1.42% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 58.32 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 87.76 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 455, up 2.09% on the day. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is up 43.96% in last one year as compared to a 61.85% jump in NIFTY and a 43.62% jump in the Nifty Energy index.

The PE of the stock is 13.39 based on TTM earnings ending December 20.

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For manufacture and commercialization of baricitinib for treatment of Covid-19 in India

Cipla announced it has signed a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company, USA for the manufacture and commercialization of the drug baricitinib for Covid-19 indication. Baricitinib was issued a restricted emergency use approval by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health, India for use in combination with remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 in hospitalized adults requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This collaboration is a step further in Cipla's efforts to enhance access to critical treatments for patients affected by the pandemic. Cipla will leverage its extensive distribution footprint to make this therapy accessible to more patients and markets.

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According to a latest update Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the EU-India Business Roundtable took place virtually to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of climate, digital and healthcare and to support increased trade and investment. The business roundtable was organised in the margins of the EU-India Summit in Porto, Portugal, and with the support of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Business strongly welcomed the step of Heads of State and Government to revive trade negotiations. A comprehensive trade and investment agreement would help in further deepening EU-India bilateral trade and investment ties.

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer stated that the relaunch of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an essential step forward for both our economies. India and the EU will both profit from strengthening bilateral cooperation in the areas of climate, digital and healthcare, and from increased trade and investment. The EU is India's largest trading partner with about 11% of its total trade, worth around Euro 80 billion, and the EU is India's top foreign investor. Both sides should use this window of opportunity, based on our shared values, commitment to rules-based multilateralism, and benefit from mutual economic opportunities.

Confederation of Indian Industry Director General Chandrajit Banerjee noted that Indian industry, on its part, welcomes the announcement of resumption of formal negotiations on the India-EU trade deal at the India - EU Summit, and is ready to support the negotiations in any way possible. A pact on trade should benefit the EU with better access to a huge and rapidly growing market as well as help India access technology which could qualitatively upgrade the Indian economy.

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The board of Greenply Industries has approved incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in India for manufacturing of plywood and its allied products.

The board also approved setting-up of a new unit in Sandila Industrial Area, Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, for manufacturing plywood and its allied products by the said proposed wholly owned subsidiary.

For plywood and its allied products, the company's existing capacity is 24.90 million square meter per annum. The capacity utilization of the same was 142% for year ended March 2020.

The capacity addition by the company's proposed wholly owned subsidiary would be 13.50 million square meter per annum. The capacity is expected to be operational by Q4 FY22.

The company said that the investment required to set up the plant is approximately Rs 75 crore (excluding cost of land and licence of approximately Rs 40 crore). The new project would be financed through debt and equity.

Offering the rationale for the said capacity expansion, Greenply said it decided to set up the plant at Hardoi considering the proximity of principal raw materials such as agro forestry timber and availability of workers, along with growing demand in northern and central markets of India.

Greenply Industries is one of India's largest interior infrastructure companies. It is engaged in the manufacturing of plywood and allied products.

The company's consolidated net profit rose 17.21% to Rs 24.99 crore on a 1.61% fall in net sales to Rs 340.40 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

The scrip rose 2.24% to end at Rs 205.20 on Monday.

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The LaSalle County coroner on Monday identified the three men from Chicago who were killed Thursday when they ignited a black powder substance that exploded along a bank of the Illinois River next to Starved Rock State Park.
Hero MotoCorp on Sunday (9 May) announced that it has extended closure of manufacturing plants and other facilities till May 16, 2021.

Shares of Hero MotoCorp were trading 0.48% lower at Rs 2,842.65 on BSE.

In view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation across the country, the two-wheeler manufacturer has decided to extend the shutdown at its manufacturing facilities across India, its Global Parts Center (GPC) in Neemrana and its R&D facility in Jaipur by another week, till 16 May 2021.

Hero MotoCorp said the company is continuously monitoring the situation and is ready with its business continuity plans to be able to quickly resume and scale up operations as and when the situation improves.

The company had proactively halted the plant operations temporarily in a staggered manner for four days from 22 April to 1 May, which was then extended till 9 May. All corporate offices of the company have already been in Work from Home (WFH) mode.

Hero MotoCorp is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, in terms of unit volumes sold by a single company in a year.

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In matter related to patent dispute with Bracco Diagnostics

Jubilant Pharma, a subsidiary of Jubilant Pharmova, announced that it has received a favorable and unanimous judgment from the United States Court of Appeals summarily affirming Jubilant's earlier favorable rulings from the US Patent Office (PTAB) and the US International Trade Commission (ITC). These two rulings by the Appellate Court deny the appeals filed by Bracco Diagnostics, Inc (Bracco).

Jubilant successfully challenged Bracco's patent infringement claims in an Inter Parties Review (IPR) proceeding before the U.S. Patent Office as well as in a separate proceeding in the ITC. In both instances, Jubilant was successful.

Despite the rulings of both the PTAB and the ITC, Bracco filed appeals to the US Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. These appeals are now dismissed.

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Jubilant Pharmova rose 1.70% to Rs 849.70 after the company said its subsidiary, Jubilant Pharma, received a favorable and unanimous judgment from the US Court of Appeals.

Jubilant Pharma, a subsidiary of Jubilant Pharmova, announced that it has received a favorable and unanimous judgment from the United States Court of Appeals summarily affirming Jubilant's earlier favorable rulings from the US Patent Office ("PTAB") and the US International Trade Commission ("ITC"). These two rulings by the Appellate Court deny the appeals filed by Bracco Diagnostics, Inc.

Jubilant successfully challenged Bracco's patent infringement claims in an Inter Parties Review (IPR) proceeding before the U.S. Patent Office as well as in a separate proceeding in the ITC. In both instances, Jubilant was successful.

Despite the rulings of both the PTAB and the ITC, Bracco filed appeals to the US Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. These appeals are now dismissed.

"The rulings demonstrate the uniqueness of our RUBY-FILL Generator and Elution system and its intellectual property and the strength of our research and development efforts," commented Sergio Calvo, President of Jubilant's Radiopharmaceuticals Division.

"The favorable ruling by the United States Court of Appeals further confirms Jubilant's right to continue development and commercialization of RUBY-FILL in the U.S. marketplace and to continue focusing on our goal of bringing innovative products to the market for patients in need of the latest technology," stated Pramod Yadav, CEO, Jubilant Pharma.

Jubilant Pharmova (erstwhile Jubilant Life Sciences) reported 52.4% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 309.83 crore on a 16.6% rise in net sales to Rs 1,743.63 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Jubilant Pharmova is engaged in pharmaceuticals, contract research and development services and proprietary novel drugs businesses.

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Due to Covid-19 situation & Resorts India announced that considering the situation arising due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and in compliance with the advisories / directives issued by the Finnish Government arising out of COVID 19, the operations in 3 SPA hotels of Holiday Club Resorts Oy (HCR), Finland, a Material Unlisted Subsidiary of the Company, will continue to remain suspended, i.e. 2 SPA Hotels until 19 May 2021 and 1 SPA Hotel until 07 June 2021.

Considering the emerging situation in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 in India and thetravel / movement restrictions (inter district / interstate and intrastate) imposed by the respective State Government Authorities, the Company has, over the last two weeks, suspended the operations in most of the Resorts for the time being. The re-opening of the resorts will be guided by the easing of travel / movement restrictions by respective State Government Authorities.

As a result, the business of the Company will get impacted and it is difficult to quantify the expected impact at this point of time.

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The car major said that the maintenance shutdown is being extended till the 16 May 2021 due to the current pandemic situation.

The auto maker said that some activities would continue in the plants.

"The company has been informed that Suzuki Motor Gujarat has taken the same decision, it added.

In the last week of April 2021, the car major had advanced its bi-annual maintenance shutdown to 1st May through 9th May from earlier plan of June.

"As part of the car manufacturing process, Maruti Suzuki uses a small amount of oxygen in its factories while relatively much larger quantities are used by the manufacturers of components. In the current situation, the company believes that all available oxygen should be used to save lives," it said.

Maruti Suzuki India is engaged in the manufacture, purchase and sale of motor vehicles, components and spare parts (automobiles).

The car major reported 9.7% decline in net profit to Rs 1,166.10 crore on 33.6% increase in net sales to Rs 22,958.60 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

The scrip shed 0.04% to currently trade at Rs 6699.90 on the BSE.

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Vedanta Ltd is quoting at Rs 293.3, up 3.62% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 268.47% in last one year as compared to a 61.85% gain in NIFTY and a 223.31% gain in the Nifty Metal.

Vedanta Ltd is up for a fifth straight session in a row. The stock is quoting at Rs 293.3, up 3.62% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.88% on the day, quoting at 14953.6. The Sensex is at 49575.73, up 0.75%. Vedanta Ltd has added around 37.57% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Metal index of which Vedanta Ltd is a constituent, has added around 30.82% in last one month and is currently quoting at 5335.85, up 2.88% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 159.46 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 198.93 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 295.25, up 3.74% on the day. Vedanta Ltd is up 268.47% in last one year as compared to a 61.85% gain in NIFTY and a 223.31% gain in the Nifty Metal index.

The PE of the stock is 9.18 based on TTM earnings ending December 20.

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Vivimed Labs hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 28.45 after the company announced the receipt of Government of India (Director General of Health Services) approval to manufacture and market Favipiravir tablet 200 mg & 400 mg for Indian market.

The company will sell Favipiravir tablets under its own brand name "Favulous" across India. The drug is approved to be used to treat mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults under restricted emergency use.

Favipiravir registered highest sales in the month of April 2021. Since the launch of the drug last June, Glenmark Pharma has registered a turnover of Rs 762 crore.

Commenting on the launch, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Vivimed Labs, said: "With huge spike in COVID-19 cases being reported daily in India, there is an urgent need to provide more treatment options to healthcare professionals. We are launching 'Favulous' at a competitive price to make the drug accessible to more and more patients thereby ensuring good health and reducing their financial burden. This is in line with Vivimed's commitment to be at forefront in India's fight against COVID-19."

The company will work closely with the various governments and medical community to ensure availability of 'Favulous' to patients across India.

On a consolidated basis, Vivimed Labs posted a net loss of Rs 49.55 crore in Q3 FY21 as against a net loss of Rs 32.07 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales jumped 40.6% year on year to Rs 277.94 crore in Q3 FY21.

Vivimed Labs is a pharmaceutical and chemical products company. The company's segments include speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

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April 2021 turned out to be worse than expectations. We had expected labour participation rate to stabilise at its March 2021 level. The LPR had dropped sharply in March already after a modest fall in February. But, the LPR fell for a third consecutive month in April.

It fell to 39.98 per cent. This is the lowest LPR since May 2020, the month of a stringent nation-wide lockdown. The LPR in April 2021 is therefore the worst since the national lockdown. Perhaps, this fall is the result of the local lockdowns in several states. For example, in Maharashtra, a state that imposed partial ...
The Working Committee unanimously decided on Monday to postpone the election to the post of party president until the Covid-19 situation in the country improves, sources said.

The had earlier decided to have a new president in place before June 2021 and the party's central election authority chaired by Madhusudan Mistry had proposed holding the election on June 23.

However, top Congress leaders were of the view that holding the election right now would not be proper as the situation in the country was very grim.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot proposed that there should be no election to the post of Congress president currently in view of the Covid-19 situation and senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad seconded him.

Azad, a prominent member of the group of 23 leaders who had demanded organisational elections, said at the meeting that no one in the party was seeking an election right now and thus the election as proposed by the central election authority should be postponed, the sources said.

Mistry had earlier proposed that the election be held on June 23 and counting on June 24. Hw also proposed the notification for the election of a new Congress president be issued on June 1 and nominations for the same be accepted between June 2 and 7.

"The CWC unanimously decided to postpone the election of Congress president till the Covid situation in the country improves," a top leader told PTI.

The CWC had in its meeting on January 22 decided that the process for electing a Congress president would be completed by end-June and had asked the election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistri to prepare a schedule.

Meanwhile, leader of Congress in Lok, Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has written to President Ram Nath Kovind for convening an urgent session of Parliament to discuss the COVID situation in the country.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to convene a special session of the Parliament over the #COVID19 crisis. pic.twitter.com/K6Ou0h3jgK  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2021 In his letter to the president, Chowdhury said it is important to convene a Parliament session in order to find a way to ease the lives of people suffering from novel

He described the pandemic situation in the country as grave and said there is a need to find a solution to handle the issue.

"In this critical situation I would urge your kind conscience to convene a special (COVID crisis) session of Parliament because India consists of a number of constituencies and each member of Parliament representing his/her constituency from respective state has some say about the condition of people therein and in order to find a way to ease the lives of suffering people," he said in his letter.

The decision to convene a special session of Parliament was taken at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party consisting of all party MPs on Friday.

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Frankie Brandon, William Larson's older sister, said Sunday afternoon that the teen had stopped by their mother's house in the 8300 block of South Throop Street on Saturday night, changed clothes, then headed back out. Later that night, a friend came knocking on the window asking if she had heard from the teenager, then told her about the shooting at the liquor store a few blocks south.
leader and his son Abdullah Khan were shifted to Lucknow's Medanta Hospital from Sitapur jail on Sunday for COVID treatment, police said on Sunday.

The father-son duo was tested positive for COVID-19 on April 30. According to sources, Azam Khan's health suddenly deteriorated on Sunday following which he along with his son was sent to Lucknow by an ambulance.

has been lodged in Sitapur jail since February last year with more than a hundred cases registered against him. His son Abdullah has also been lodged in Sitapur jail in several cases filed against him.

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Union minister and MP Nitin



Gadkari on Sunday appealed to workers to not play while doing social service and asked them to reach out to people with all possible help in the time of the pandemic.

Addressing the party workers virtually at the conclusion of the Nagpur executive meeting, the senior BJP leader said no one knows the post-COVID future, and one should "think for the best and prepare for the worst".

He also asked the party workers to diligently follow the pandemic protocols, saying the BJP has lost many workers this time.

"Don't do in social service as only the good work done by you will credit the workers as well as the BJP. Social work should be done in the interest of the people. does not only mean to be in power, but it is social work and nationalism.

"We should stand with society and the poor without thinking about caste, religion or party and help all, which will surely bear fruits for the BJP in the future through this good work," he said.

Gadkari said no one should step out of his or her house without any valid reason and always wear a face mask, maintain social distance and follow all protocols of the pandemic.

"You should first start following these protocols before asking the people to do so through the word of mouth," he said.

Gadkari further said many public representatives and corporators have expressed their desire to open hospitals and COVID centres.

"However, this is a very risky work because someone might get infected again... mistakes may happen while administering injection or oxygen and a huge problem will arise if someone loses life in this process," he said and advised that the number of beds be increased in the existing hospitals only.

"It will be better if such COVID centres are opened by the existing hospitals only as they have the required number of doctors, nurses and staff for the purpose," he added.

During his address, Gadkari praised threelocal BJP workers for helping people by providing them with oxygen cylinders and concentrators.

Gadkari also asked the party workers to focus on arranging blood and plasma without holding any blood donation camps.

He said blood and plasma can be arranged from donors from their respective wards in limited numbers in blood banks.

Gadkari also asked the party workers to arrange well-equiped ambulance services and vehicles for carrying dead bodiesin every district in the Vidarbha region in east Maharashtra.

The Nagpur MP appealed to the party workers to arrange for food and medicines for their colleagues who are in need and focus on helping senior citizens with water and other things at vaccination camps.

Appealing to the party workers to not take the pandemic lightly, Gadkari asked them to work through video conferencing and use mobile phones for communication.

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Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has sanctioned the prosecution of former ministers and top brass Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee in the being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"After taking note of media reports that Governor of the State of Jagdeep Dhankhar has accorded sanction for prosecution in respect of persons who happened to be members of the Legislative Assembly, it is made categorically apparent that Governor of the State of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar accorded sanction for prosecution in respect of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, for the reason that all of them at the relevant time of commission of crime were holding the position of Ministers in the Government of West Bengal," the Raj Bhavan said in a release on Sunday.

According to Raj Bhavan, had made a request to the West Bengal Governor and provided all the documentation pertinent to the case.

"Governor is the competent authority to accord sanction in terms of law as he happens to be the appointing authority for such Ministers in terms of Article 164 of the Constitution. The sanction came to be accorded by the Governor after had made a request and made available entire documentation relevant to the case to the Governor and he invoked his powers under Articles 163 and 164 of the Constitution, being the competent authority to accord such sanction," it added.

Raj Bhavan further refuted the news reports that the sanction has been accorded with "political premeditation" as the four leaders have been elected to the current state Legislative Assembly.

"The impression generated in some quarters of the media that sanction has come to be accorded because these persons at the relevant time were Members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is factually untenable. The premise of the sanction as indicated is that these persons at the relevant point of time of commission of crime were holding the position of Ministers in the Government of West Bengal," said the Raj Bhavan.

The development comes just a day ahead when two of the four former ministers are going to take oath as ministers in the new West Bengal cabinet in the presence of the Governor himself on Monday. Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim are among the 43 names of ministers that were released on Sunday by the

The made national headlines in 2014 when Journalist Matthew Samuel conducted a sting operation in Kolkata. In the purported sting operation video, TMC leaders were seen taking money. A police officer was also seen in the video.

According to sources, permission was sought from the Governor to file a chargesheet under Section 6 of the Anti-Corruption Act against the four ministers. Finally, Dhankhar has given his consent.

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Inc.s internal rules for banning content are a shambles, and the company needs to fix the process to have credibility in enforcing them, a member of the social media giants independent content oversight board said.



The comments by Michael McConnell, the panels co-chairman, follow its decision last week to leave in place a ban on former President for his posts surrounding the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters on Jan. 6.

Their rules are a shambles, McConnell said on Fox News Sunday. They are not transparent. They are unclear. They are internally inconsistent.

We gave them a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent, McConnell said. The hope is that they will use the next few months to do that and then, when they come back and look at this, they will be able to apply those rules in a straightforward way.

upheld its ban on Trump for six months. The company suspended his account after Trump encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol in what became a deadly attempt to stop the counting of Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden. The ban was originally temporary, but was changed to an indefinite suspension the following day.

Egging On



McConnell also said Trumps posts were a plain violation of Facebooks rules against praising dangerous individuals and organizations during a time of violence.

During the Jan. 6 riot, Trump issued these statements which were just egging on -- with perfunctory asking for peace, but mostly, he was just egging them on to continue, McConnell said.

Members of both parties in Congress have called for breaking up large tech companies, arguing that they exert monopolistic power on the marketplace, censor certain voices, and hold back innovation. Conservatives, including Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, have called for breaking up over Trumps ban.

Heres a real life example of the tyranny of #BigTech - a fake @Facebook court decides @Facebook can do whatever @Facebook wants, in this case, suspending Donald Trump w/o process or standards. Thats what monopolies do. Break them up https://t.co/rgTel7DopY  Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 5, 2021

Private company



McConnell, a constitutional law professor at Stanford University and former federal judge, dismissed concerns that Facebook was violating Trumps First Amendment rights by leaving the ban in place, saying the social media giant is a private company.

Hes a customer, McConnell said. Facebook is not a government and he is not a citizen of Facebook.

A lack of consistency and transparency around Facebooks content rules do, though, contribute to questions about bias and unfairness, he said.

Fairness and consistency are absolute bedrocks of freedom of expression rules, McConnell said. If Facebook simply let Mr. Trump off the hook completely, it would not be equal treatment of everyone because all users of the platform are subject to the same set of rules, and that includes Mr. Trump.

McConnell dismissed concerns from Hawley and others that he and other members of the oversight board are toadies for Facebook because the companys CEO Mark Zuckerberg appointed them.

Ive gotten to know these 20 people around the world and the danger that they are toadies for Facebook is just about zero, McConnell said, referring to the other members of the board. Many of them have spent their careers criticizing Facebook. We are not beholden to Facebook.
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], May 10 (ANI/NewsVoir): Chitkara University, Punjab, and Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Mohali signed an MoU to provide a fillip to research and innovation here today.

The MoU was signed during the Virtual Commemoration of 33rd Foundation Day of C-DAC. Dr V. K. Saraswat, Member, Niti Aayog presided over the function.

Dr P K Khosla, Executive Director, C-DAC, Mohali while signing the MoU stated, "The thrust areas at C-DAC, Mohali are Cyber Security, Healthcare technologies, Agriculture Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Embedded Systems. After visiting Chitkara University campus and meeting the leadership team there, I was sure of the synergy that C-DAC and Chitkara University share. I also visited the research labs and other Centres of Excellences at the University. I was impressed with the work going on in the cutting-edge research areas - especially the Immersive and Interactive Technology Lab, CoE in VLSI Design, CoE in Cyber Security and IoT." Collaborative working in the domain of Cyber Security and IoT is the need of the hour.

Dr Archana Mantri Dr Archana Mantr, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University was ecstatic on this momentous occasion. She said, "The only way we can take giant steps forward is with collaboration. At Chitkara University, we want to contribute to the Nation's Intellectual worth and help the young generation to bring out innovations which can positively impact lives of people. This MoU is one step in that direction."

The MoU was signed by Dr Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor, Chitkara University and Dr P K Khosla, Executive Director - C-DAC, Mohali in a virtual ceremony. While signing the MoU, Dr. Chitkara announced, "We are filing the 700th Patent and incidentally today our 70th patent has been granted. Today we are crossing the 1800 Scopus indexed publication mark." She considered this signing of MoU as a positive step forward for the research fraternity.

The Ceremony was attended by the top leadership of Chitkara University and C-DAC. Going forward, the MoU will facilitate joint development of technologies as well as joint supervision of Masters and PhD scholars. The MoU will also augment knowledge generation, dissemination and exchange in the areas of Cyber security, Agritech, Healthtech and Cloud computing.

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier R & D organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for carrying out R & D in IT, Electronics and associated areas.

Different areas of C-DAC, had originated at different times, many of which came out as a result of identification of opportunities. C-DAC has today emerged as a premier R & D organization in IT & E (Information Technologies and Electronics) in the country working on strengthening national technological capabilities in the context of global developments in the field and responding to change in the market need in selected foundation areas.

Chitkara University, situated near Chandigarh, has emerged as the most vibrant and high-ranking University in North India. With another campus in Himachal Pradesh, the university offers courses in Engineering & Technology, Business, Planning & Architecture, Art & Design, Mass Communication, Sales & Marketing, Hospitality Management, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, and Education. With state-of-the-art infrastructure, scientifically driven pedagogy, and strong industry collaborations, Chitkara University not only attracts the most exemplary students from across the nation but, with its seamless placement support, is also able to help them carve high growth careers.

For more details, please visit (https://www.chitkara.edu.in)

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 10 (ANI/NewsVoir): Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana, (BJS) Chennai in association with Shree Tamilnadu Jain Mahamandal, Chennai under the inspiration of BJS Founder Shantilal Ji Mutha and guidance of National President Rajendra Ji Lunker inaugurated an Oxygen Bank in the name of O2 Bank Mission - Rahat at Medi Sales India, Kilpauk.

Thiru. M.K. Mohan, MLA honoured the event as Chief Guest. The benefits of this Bank is extended to all the section of society.

BJS is planning to install 10,000 oxygen concentrator machines across India through its 400 chapters. In Tamil Nadu also, BJS is planning to install 1000 such machines. In Chennai, it has started with 60 machines now and will go upto 150 machines. These machines runs only on water and requires no refilling.

The Oxygen Concentrators will be available to all the needy people at a nominal rent, that too for the maintenance and given for 15 days.

Minimum Rent for the machine will be Rs 100 per day from 1st to 5th day. And Rs 200 from 5th to 10th day, Rs 500 from 11th day onwards.

Anyone needing this machine has to come with the address proof like Adhaar card and any reference.

Narendar Srisrimal, Gautam Vaid, Rajendra Dugar, Kailash Kothari, Daulat Raj Banthiya, Mahaveer Parmar, Lalit Khanted, Ashok Kankariya, Abishek Bhirakcha, Manoj H Jain , Prakash Modi Presidents and Secretaries of Various BJS Chapters and many other members and sponsors of the projects were present on the occasion.

Along with this project, BJS is running various other projects for humanity like Plasma Donation Camps, Smart girl workshops for girls, Mission Zero for COVID-19 & Vaccination camps across India.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cipla has entered into a licensing agreement with American pharma company Eli Lilly to expand access to COVID-19 treatment in India. Under the agreement, Cipla has got royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing rights for manufacturing and commercialisation of the drug Baricitinib for Covid-19.

"Cipla today announced it has signed a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company, the USA for the manufacture and commercialisation of the drug Baricitinib for Covid-19 indication," the company said.

Notably, Baricitinib was issued a restricted emergency use approval by the health ministry's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for the use in combination with Remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in hospitalised adults requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Cipla said it'll leverage its extensive distribution footprint to make this therapy accessible to more patients and markets. "Enabling access to high-quality treatment and medication is core to our purpose of 'Caring for life," Umang Vohra, MD and Global CEO, Cipla Limited, said.

Baricitinib is an oral medication that's currently registered in India for the treatment of moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients. Baricitinib has not been approved for the treatment of COVID-19 but has been authorised for emergency use by the FDA.

Recently, homegrown pharma company Natco Pharma Ltd also received an emergency use approval for Baricitinib tablets of 1mg, 2mg and 4mg strengths from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

India is facing a huge shortage of essential medicines, equipment and medical oxygen as Covid-19 ravages the country. Several countries, including the US, UK, Canada, other EU and Gulf countries, have come out in support, however, patients continue to die due to shortage of essential medicines and medical oxygen across majorly-hit cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

Also read: Natco gets emergency nod for Covid-19 drug 'Baricitinib'

Also read: Barclays cuts India's FY22 GDP forecast to 10%; figures to get worse if curbs continue

Also read: India to reach 'peak' of 2nd Covid wave in 20 days from now, says SBI Research
The ESIC under the Ministry of Labour and Employment has installed oxygen generation plants at two hospitals in the Delhi NCR area. A 440 LPM capacity plant has been installed at the ESIC Hospital and Medical College in Faridabad, while another plant of 220 LPM capacity was commissioned at ESIC Hospital in Jhilmil, New Delhi, today. This will enable these hospitals to augment the availability of their ICU and ventilator beds.

ESIC is actively helping fight COVID-19 by quickly converting 30 hospitals all over the country into Covid Dedicated facilities. These hospitals have around 4,200 beds, including 300 ICU beds and 250 ventilator beds. The facility has been made available to all citizens of the country. A dashboard has also been started to facilitate beneficiaries to know about the availability of beds in these hospitals.

Also read: COVID-19 crisis: Delhi Metro services to remain suspended from Monday till May 17 morning

Union Minister of State Santosh Gangwar congratulated the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of ESIC hospitals for achieving this feat. He expressed hope they will keep their morale high during this pandemic, and keep serving humanity with dedication.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Sunday, May 9, announced the extension of lockdown in Delhi by another week till May 17 in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the national capital. Addressing a press briefing, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also announced that metro services will remain suspended too during the lockdown period. During the previous curbs, the metro was open in the morning, from 8 am to 10 pm, and evening, from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Kejriwal had announced a six-day lockdown in Delhi on April 19, which was earlier extended to May 3 and then May 10 with hospitals in the national capital overloaded and medicine and oxygen supplies running low.

Also Read: Delhi government extends COVID-19 lockdown by 1 week
More than 1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs, which will receive over 9 lakh additional doses in the next three days, the health ministry said on Monday. The Centre's statement comes as some states say their vaccine stocks are drying.

The Centre has so far provided nearly 18 crore vaccine doses (17,93,57,860) to states and UTs free of cost. Of this, the total consumption, including wastage, is 16,89,27,797 doses, the ministry data shows.

"More than 1 crore COVID vaccine doses (1,04,30,063) are still available with the states and UTs to be administered. States with a negative balance are showing more consumption (including wastage) than vaccine supplied as they have not reconciled the vaccine they have supplied to armed forces.

Furthermore, more than 9 lakh (9,24,910) vaccine doses will be received in addition by the states and UTs within the next three days," the ministry said. Vaccination forms an integral component of the five-point strategy of the Government of India of containment and management of the pandemic (including Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour), the ministry said.

UP has a maximum of 12.7 lakh vaccines at its disposals, followed by 10.4 lakh in Gujarat and 8.78 lakh in Tamil Nadu. Haryana has reported maximum wastage at 6.49 per cent of the total vaccines allocated to it, followed by Assam at 5.92 per cent and Rajasthan at 5.68 per cent.

The issue of vaccine shortage has taken centerstage in India, with many states, including Delhi, reporting medical oxygen crunch. The Delhi government, in an SOS to the Centre on Monday, said it has Covaxin stock only to last a day, while Covishield stock is enough for around four days. According to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi needs 83 lakh doses per month to vaccinate everyone above 18 years of age in the next three months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office tweeted on Sunday that India is the fastest country in the world to administer 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. India achieved the feat in 85 days whereas the USA took 89 days and China reached the milestone in 102 days.

Also read: India records 3.66 lakh new Covid-19 cases, 3,754 deaths in 24 hours
Those Americans who now receive health insurance from their employers  about half of all people in the United States  would instead get amounts of funding from their employers comparable to what their employers spend now purchasing health insurance. The funds would be deposited directly into employees HOAs, giving individuals the ability to control their own health care spending and the power to choose and own their health insurance plan. A person who loses his or her job would be able to remain enrolled in health insurance at the same cost (and still use the money saved in their HOA), a dramatic change from the current system.
French electronics brand Thomson, which re-entered the Indian market in 2018 with LED TVs, has recently ventured into the air coolers segment. Pegged to be about 4 million-units market this year, with a possible growth rate of 15-20%, Thomson plans to sell 40,000 units this season. Thomson is manufacturing its air coolers locally, at its Bawal plant in Haryana. At this backward integrated facility, the company has the capacity of manufacturing up to 1 lakh coolers a year.

"After a successful launch of other appliances, we saw air coolers have the best potential growth in India as it is growing 15% year on year. Since there were no affordable premium brands in air coolers, especially online, we took that opportunity and introduced the right kind of pricing in coolers, especially desert coolers from 50LT onwards," says Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd. SPPL is the India Brand Licensee for Thomson in India.

Since the launch of air coolers in April, Thomson has been selling well in the northern part of India but has also witnessed a spike in the southern regions which caters to most of the sales including Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad. "We are seeing a jump in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra. Key states where there is an even higher jump are Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. These are some of the prime focus sale territories but due to the sudden temperature increase in the past few years in the southern part of India there has been a significant jump in those states too," adds Marwah.

Moreover, the current lockdowns haven't disrupted sales for Thomson. Foreseeing the demand, Thomson had adequate stocks in place. Although during the initial launch, the company witnessed a spike in sales and were completely out of stock, the company is now completely in stock and prepared for the coming months.

Commenting on the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on business, Marwah adds, "The second wave has been quite severe compared to the first one. I think the biggest challenge so far has been the consumer sentiments which have been down in terms of air coolers being a seasonal product. While there is not much impact currently but if lockdowns continue with a ban on non-essential delivery, it will definitely impact sales."

A new category for Thomson, the company claims to have developed the Cool Pro technology where air coolers are designed with improved honeycomb cooling media to give maximum cooling with less water consumption. Thomson has been selling air coolers exclusively on Flipkart and its CPW50 and CPD70 are the two best-selling models for the brand. Priced at Rs 5,999, the CPW50 window air cooler has been the bestseller due to its blower speed for maximum cooling with the compact size. CPD70 is the 70-litre desert cooler retailing for Rs 7,599. In terms of after-sale, Thomson claims to have a network of 550 service centres across India and is currently catering to more than 18,000 pin codes.

Also read: Godrej Appliances expects indigenisation to increase, AC sales to jump by double digits

Also read: Consumer durable retailer Vijay Sales expects online sales to contribute 10-15% to revenue
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday asserted that the state-wide lockdown from May 10 to May 24 should be strictly followed. There should not be any kind of laxity in enforcing the lockdown. Whoever violates the guideline, strict action should be taken against them, he said in a statement.

The CM said along with all efforts for investigation, treatment, vaccination and expansion of resources, the government will strictly follow the coronavirus-induced lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection. Without this, it is not possible to stop this deadly wave, he said.

He also conducted a high-level review on COVID-10 situation, lockdown and availability of resources. Gehlot said the deaths from the virus are very worrying and distressing. In such a situation, people of the state should follow the lockdown with utmost sincerity and responsibility, he said.

He also suggested police forces to conduct flag marches in police station areas and checkpoints to create public awareness. The CM also called for rationalising prices of medical oxygen, beds, ventilators, among others, in private hospitals.

The Rajasthan government has decided to implement a strict lockdown in the state from May 10 to May 24 to break the chain of coronavirus infection. During this period, there will be no marriage ceremony and all religious places will remain closed. The Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) works in rural areas will also remain suspended during this period.

Also read: COVID-19: Haryana extends lockdown by a week till May 17
Global investment firm Blackstone on Monday said funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate have acquired Embassy Industrial Parks from Warburg Pincus and Embassy Group. Blackstone called it one of India's largest logistics transactions, but didn't disclose the deal value.

"Embassy Industrial Parks comprises 10.6 million square feet of modern Grade A logistics and warehousing assets near urban centres, tailored for tenants in rapidly developing sectors," the investment firm said in a statement. The warehouses are located across major industrial hubs in India including Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, and Pune, and are leased to leading e-commerce and retail players.

In 2015, the Bengaluru-based Embassy Group had formed a joint venture with private equity firm Warburg Pincus to build industrial parks. Warburg Pincus had a 70 per cent stake in the joint venture -- Embassy Industrial Parks, while the Embassy Group had a 30 per cent stake.

"Blackstone is among the top 10 business groups in India by the total value of assets and the transaction will help reinforce the firm's leading position in the office, retail, and logistics," the statement said.

Also read: Fincare Small Finance Bank files for IPO, plans to raise Rs 1,330 crore

Logistics is one of the highest global conviction themes of the firm, anchored by the belief that e-commerce trends will further fuel demand for logistics space, especially near city centres, said Asheesh Mohta, Head of Blackstone's Real Estate India Acquisitions. "This is particularly true in India, where e-commerce is in its nascent stage of development and has tremendous opportunities driven by positive trends in urbanisation, domestic consumption, and the emerging retail sector, which remains heavily underpenetrated compared to major economies around the world."

Tuhin Parikh, Blackstone's real estate head, said the firm is committed to growing its presence in India and has been partnering with local developers and governments to transform assets and businesses for the past 16 years.

It has also successfully launched the country's first two REITs, Parikh added.

Blackstone's real estate business was founded in 1991 and has $196 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is one of the largest property owners in the world, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, multifamily and single family housing, office, hospitality and retail.

Also read: Jack Ma makes rare visit to Alibaba's Hangzhou campus on 'Ali Day'
Industrialist Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) is in the process of drastically cutting down its debt while going for a new capital expenditure cycle. It has made a prepayment of Rs 2,462 crore to its term lenders in addition to the loan repayments of Rs 20,000 crore in the last three years until December 2020. The company reported a debt of Rs 25,600 crore in December 2020 vis-a-vis Rs 46,500 crore in December 2017.

JSPL plans to double its capacity at Angul plant in Odisha to 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) in the next three years. VR Sharma, MD, JSPL says, "We are also working to achieve our 15:15:50 target, that is, Rs 15,000 crore EBITDA, Rs 15,000 crore net debt and Rs 50,000 crore gross turnover." In the coming quarters we intend to further strengthen the balance sheet and become net debt free in the near future, he adds.

The steelmaker's Vision 2030 focuses on increasing the capacity of the company to 27 MTPA through clean energy resources. It will require a capex of Rs 1.20 lakh crore. Brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher expects a further reduction of net debt "by Rs 9,000 crore by 2022-23 despite high spend of Rs 10,000 crore on capex." Another brokerage Equirus expects the company to spend Rs 15,000-Rs17,000 crore over the next 3-4 years to raise crude steel capacity, and also reserve a part of the amount for the value-added portfolio. The planned capex is unlikely to derail the company's deleveraging plan, it added.

JSPL has recently announced divestment of its 3,400 mega watt (MW) thermal power business to reduce debt as well as to cut down its carbon footprint by almost half. It has agreed to sell 96.42 per cent stake in the subsidiary Jindal Power Ltd to the promoter entity Worldone for Rs 3,015 crore.

JSPL shares rallied nearly 450 per cent to Rs 500 in the last one year. During the last financial year, the company recorded the highest-ever production of TMTs, platers, billets and wire rods. In tune with the production, it also clocked the highest ever sales of TMTs. JSPL's strong performance is also due to surge in exports -- especially China-bound, recovery in domestic demand, government's infrastructure push, appreciation of steel prices, divestment of Oman business, among others.

The deleveraging and strengthening of JSPL's balance sheet is expected to help the company to cash in on the industry's upward cycle. Global steel prices are rising and expected to remain buoyant for another couple of years, whereas, prices of key raw materials of iron ore and coal are witnessing a down trend. In the last financial year, steel prices have increased by Rs 4,000-5,000 per tonne thanks to domestic as well as the overseas demand. Expecting the current high profitability cycle to continue for sometime, the Indian steelmakers are embarking on a new capex cycle and reducing its debts.

Also read: JSPL to sell stake in Jindal Power to Worldone for Rs 3,015 crore

Also read: BPSL acquisition won't escalate JSW Steel's debt
Getting people vaccinated is the only long-term solution to the current COVID-19 crisis in India, America's top public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday as he called for scaling up manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines both domestically and globally to fight the deadly pandemic.

The endgame of this all...is going to be to get people vaccinated...India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. They've got to get their resources, not only from within, but also from without, Fauci, who is the Chief Medical Adviser to US President Joe Biden, told the ABC News in an interview.

That's the reason why other countries need to chip in to be able to get either supplies to the Indians to make their own vaccines or to get vaccines donated. One of the ways to do that is to have the big companies that have the capability of making vaccines to really scale up in a great way to get literally hundreds of millions of doses to be able to get to them, he said.

Responding to a question, Dr Fauci said that India needs to immediately build makeshift field hospitals like what China did a year ago. You've got to get that. You can't have people out in the street not having a hospital bed. The oxygen situation is something that was really critical. I mean, to have people not have oxygen is really tragic, what's going on over there, he said.

The 80-year-old physician and immunologist, who serves as the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said there is an immediate problem of hospital beds, oxygen, PPE and other supplies.

Then there's the problem of looking forward to how are you going to shut this down, how are you going to turn it around, how are you going to break the chain of transmission? he said, underlining the need for a countrywide lockdown to arrest the spread of the virus.

Vaccines is one of them but there are other ways too, like shutting down the government. I have advised them in the past that you really need to do that. You've got to shut down. I believe several of the Indian states have already done that, but you need to break the chain of transmission. And one of the ways to do that is to shut down, the top American doctor said.

Fauci, in an exclusive interview to PTI last week, had termed the situation in India very desperate and suggested that the government marshal all its resources, including the armed forces, to immediately build makeshift field hospitals, and urged other countries to help with not only materials but also personnel.

He called for a nationwide lockdown, not necessarily for six months but for a few weeks to break the continuity and transmission of infection. He also recommended mass vaccination to arrest the current spread of the deadly disease across India.

India is struggling with an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 4,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days. China reported the first COVID-19 case in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic, affecting more than 157,789,300 people and over 3,285,200 deaths worldwide.
Around 20 people in France have been currently detected with the variant of COVID-19 first found in India, French Health Minister Olivier Veran told LCI TV on Monday.

The World Health Organisation has described the Indian COVID variant as a "variant of interest", suggesting it may have mutations that would make the virus more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade vaccine immunity.

Also read: BioNTech to set up mRNA vaccines manufacturing site in Singapore
The European Union has not made any new orders for AstraZeneca vaccines beyond June when their contract ends, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Sunday, after the EU signed a deal with Pfizer-BioNTech.

Breton also said he expected the costs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to be higher than the earlier versions.

The Commission last month launched legal action against AstraZeneca for not respecting its contract for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and for not having a "reliable" plan to ensure timely deliveries.

"We did not renew the order after June. We'll see what happens," Breton told France Inter radio. He did not rule out a potential renewal at a later stage.

Concerns have risen on potential side effects of the Anglo-Swedish Covid-19 vaccine.

Europe's medicines regulator said on Friday it is reviewing reports of a rare nerve-degenerating disorder in people who received the shots, a move that comes after it found the vaccine may have caused very rare blood clotting cases.

While the regulator has maintained that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh any risks, several European countries have limited use to older age groups or suspended use altogether.

In answer to a question at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the move towards what he sees are more effective vaccines against new variants of Covid-19, calling it "pragmatic".

"We are vaccinating with this vaccine (AstraZeneca) in France and in Europe. We must continue to do this because it will help us get out of the crisis," he said.

"But for future orders, in order to respond in particular to variants, we see that other vaccines are now more effective, so this signals a European pragmatism which I welcome."

The European Union signed a new contract with Pfizer-BioNTech to receive 1.8 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines for 2021-2023, to cover booster shots, donations and reselling of doses, the European Commission said on Friday.

An increase in prices for second-generation vaccines could be justified by the extra research required and potential changes to industrial equipment, Breton said.

"There may be a little extra cost but I will let the competent authorities unveil it in due course," he told France Inter radio.

Also read: Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm gets WHO approval for emergency use

Also read: Cipla, Lupin, Sun Pharma to make, sell low-cost versions of Lilly's COVID-19 drug
DRDO's new anti-Covid oral drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), was recently granted emergency use approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) as an adjunct therapy in moderate cases of COVID-19. The 2-DG drug is expected to help hospitalised COVID-19 patients and reduce their supplemental oxygen dependence.

The anti-Covid oral drug has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO's) leading laboratory- Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories.

How was 2-DG developed? How were clinical trials conducted?

DRDO Project Director and Scientist of 2-DG, Dr Sudhir Chandana explained how the drug was developed. He stated that when the pandemic hit India in April 2020, they discovered that 2-DG halts the spread of COVID-19 inside the body cells. "After the findings, we asked the DCGI for permission to conduct clinical trials. In May 2020, we got permission for the clinical trials. By the end of October 2020 we had completed the second phase of trials, and the results were very good. Using standard care, 2 DG will be more beneficial for the Covid-19 patients," Chandana told News18.

A total of 110 patients were part of the Phase-II clinical trials of DRDO's 2-DG drug. The results showed that in terms of improvement of vital signs of COVID-19 symptomatic patients there was a difference of 2.5 days compared to Standard of Care (SoC). Approval for Phase - III clinical trials were granted in November 2020. These were conducted in 27 COVID-19 hospitals spread across several states. "Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence," an official DRDO statement had explained earlier.

How 2-DG controls COVID-19 and reduces dependence on oxygen?

Explaining how 2-DG controls COVID-19 and reduces dependence on oxygen, Chandana told the new channel, "The 2 DG drug, like glucose, spreads through the body, reaches the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and destroys the protein's energy production. The drug also works on virus infection spread into lungs which help us to decrease patients dependability on oxygen".

How will 2-DG be manufactured?

The DRDO stated that the 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) drug can easily be produced in India and made available in plenty to the citizens as it is a generic molecule and analogue of glucose.

How is 2-DG be consumed?

The anti-COVID drug 2-DG has been developed in powder form and is ingested orally by dissolving it in water.(Edited by Mohammad Haaris Beg)

Also Read: DRDO's anti-COVID drug approved for emergency use
Investor wealth hit all-time high of Rs 213 lakh crore on BSE today after Sensex and Nifty rallied for the fourth consecutive session led by gains in pharma and metal stocks. Market cap of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 213.28 lakh crore today against previous close of Rs 211.24 lakh crore.

The rally in market wealth came after Sensex closed 295.94 points higher at 49,502 and Nifty jumped 119 points to 14,942.

Investor wealth has surged by a huge 109.38% since last year's historic market crash in March.

On March 23, 2020, market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 101.86 lakh crore against market cap of Rs 213.28 lakh crore today.

The decline in market cap came after Sensex and Nifty logged their highest losses ever. While Sensex lost 3,934 points to 25,981, Nifty closed 1,135 points lower at 7,610.

Since March 23 last year, Sensex has gained 23,521 points or 90.53%. Similarly, Nifty has clocked a record rise of 96% or 7,332 points.

However, Sensex and Nifty have fallen 5.73% and 3.16% till date from their record highs hit on February 16 ,2021.

Sensex and Nifty scaled record highs of 52,516 and 15,431 on February 16 this year led by extension of gains after investors cheered Union Budget on February 1.

The weakness in the benchmark indices came after Indian markets were impacted by profit booking, weak global cues and rising coronavirus cases in the country.

Sensex, Nifty end higher for fourth session; pharma, metal stocks lead gains

Meanwhile, market breadth was positive with 2,968 stocks ending higher against 1,038 closing in the red today.

Number of securities hitting 52 week high stood at 358 and number of shares falling to their 52 week lows stood at 63.

Here's a look at what experts said about the market action.

Ruchit Jain, Senior Analyst - Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said, "Positive global markets provided an impetus for a head start for the week. The index was approaching the psychological mark of 15000 once again and although we did not surpass it today, the overall activity in the broader markets was much positive. A move above 15,000 could lead to some momentum towards 15,150 immediately. On the flipside, the support seems to be shifting higher which is now seen around 14,850-14,800.

The pharma and the PSU space continued to witness good buying interest while the Nifty midcap index too is positively placed. Traders are advised to continue to focus on such individual pockets which could provide good short term returns. "

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said, "Nifty continued with its winning streak and posted a fourth consecutive positive close on May 10. On the way up, it has surpassed 78.6% retracement of the previous fall. The index is now staring at a crucial hurdle zone of 15,000-15,050.

A falling trendline, the daily upper Bollinger Band & a key swing high are all in this zone. Once this barrier gets taken out on a closing basis, it will add significant weight in favour of the bulls. Beyond that, the index will be set to march towards the all time high of 15,431. On the other hand, a gap area of 14892-14863 will act as an immediate support area."
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COVID-19: Kejriwal writes to Union Health Minister, seeks uniform price for vaccine

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan seeking uniform price for COVID-19 vaccines supplied to Centre, state governments and private sector, and permission for states to develop their own app or other mechanisms for carrying out vaccination. Delhi has administered 38.97 lakh doses to health workers, frontline workers and those above 45 years of age till May 8, while about 2.99 lakh doses have been administered to 18-44 age groups.

COVID-19: Maruti Suzuki extends production shutdown till May 16

In view of the rising COVID-19 cases, Maruti Suzuki India has extended the maintenance shutdown at its plants till May 16. Earlier, the company had decided to shutdown its factories from May 1-May 9 by advancing its bi-annual maintenance shutdown.

Emirates to fly medical aid to India for free

Emirates airline said on Sunday it will fly medical supplies from Dubai to nine cities in India free of charge from this week to help battle a devastating upsurge in the coronavirus. Earlier this month, Qatar Airways also airlifted 300 tonnes of aid free of charge from Doha to India.

India 'squandered' its early successes in tackling COVID-19; PM Modi's actions 'inexcusable': Lancet report

Medical journal Lancet has lashed out at the Indian government for mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. India "squandered" its early successes in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi could preside over "a self-inflicted national catastrophe" if the projections of 1 million fatalities from COVID-19 by August turn out to be true, it said. The widely respected publication stated that the success of the country in overcoming the COVID crisis will hinge upon PM Modi's administration "owning up to its mistakes".

FPIs pull out Rs 5,936 cr from equities in May amid raging 2nd COVID-19 wave

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) withdrew Rs 5,936 crore from the Indian stocks in the first week of May in the wake of worries over the massive second wave of COVID-19 and its repercussions on the economy. Overseas investors pulled out Rs 9,659 crore in the month of April after putting in money in the preceding six months.

COVID-19: GST on vaccines in interest of manufacturers and citizens, says FM Sitharaman

Responding to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the Centre has already granted exemptions from all duties for COVID-19 related supplies, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on vaccines is in the interest of manufacturers and citizens. Banerjee requested the prime minister to waive all forms of taxes and customs duty on equipment and drugs being used to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Navy Pier Inc. may want the rest of the city and state to let it function behind the curtain, but over the years it has benefited from access to taxpayer money, and its in charge of one of the most prized pieces of property in Chicago, one that will be even more important as the city economically transitions out of COVID-19.
Highlights Google will now show vaccination centres across India on Google Maps.

Google Search will show all crucial information about vaccination against Covid-19.

Google is running various campaigns to help nonprofits raise funds.

Google is one of the leading tech companies lending a helping hand to India in its fight against the Covid-19 crisis. Earlier this month, Google announced a horde of efforts it is making towards the cause, including a grant of Rs 135 crore. In a new announcement, Google has detailed how its Covid-19 response to India's crisis will come about. Primarily, there are three priorities, and they include help through digital platforms. Google is amplifying critical information on vaccines, testing and vaccination centres, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and safety protocols through Search, YouTube, Maps in India.

In a blog post, Google said it is "focused on three priority areas" as its support for India's fight grows bigger. These areas are "ensuring people can access the latest and most authoritative information, amplifying vital safety and vaccination messages, and providing financial backing for affected communities, health authorities and other organisations."

Get help with the Covid-19 vaccine

The biggest help here is through Google Search, which is turning into an even more useful centre for everything related to vaccination in India. Google Search on all devices, including smartphones, laptops, tablets, and feature phones, will show information panels when you ask a query about vaccines. These panels will bring up the latest details on vaccine safety, efficacy, and side effects, along with a registration link to CoWIN portal. There will be information on prevention, self-care, and treatment, as well, available on these panels, sourced from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Right now, Google shows around 2,500 testing centres through Search and Maps. But its new initiative will help users find vaccination centres across the country. Google Search and Google Maps will share the locations of 23,000 vaccination centres nationwide. And these results will be available in English, Hindi, and seven other Indian languages so that more users can find help. The list for vaccination centres is sourced from the health ministry.

YouTube will bring official information in a set of playlists on its India channel about vaccines, advice from medical experts, and how you can prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Quick information on hospital beds, oxygen cylinders

In addition to providing users with vaccine-related information, Google will also be sharing crucial details about hospital beds and oxygen cylinders. This feature uses the Q&A function of Google Maps, allowing users to ask about and share information on available beds in nearby hospitals and medical oxygen. Google has said it is testing this feature right now. Amid the acute shortage of medical oxygen, related equipment, and beds in hospitals, people are trying their luck with whatever information they receive. Google's new feature will prove to be helpful, but since the information will be provided by users, those seeking help may need to verify the accuracy and freshness of these leads.

Reminders on getting vaccinated

Since there is still a lot of doubt in people around vaccines, Google will be encouraging such people, among others, to get vaccinated through health information campaigns. These campaigns include the 'Get the Facts' around vaccines campaign, "to encourage people to focus on authoritative information and content for vaccines" on Google Search homepage, Doodles, and reminds inside its large suite of apps.

Support for health authorities and affected communities

Google is helping nonprofits in India raise funds through internal donation campaigns. These nonprofit organisations include GiveIndia, Charities Aid Foundation India, GOONJ, and United Way of Mumbai. So far, Google has managed to raise Rs 33 crore with campaigns underway to get more monetary help. There is also a COVID Aid campaign that Google is running on the Google Pay app featuring the partnering nonprofits. "We want to thank all our Google Pay users who have contributed to these organisations, and we hope this effort will make a difference where it matters most," Google India said.
Highlights Apple's manufacturing partners have confirmed Covid-19 positive employees.

Both Foxconn and Wistron have Covid-19 patients at their facilities in India.

The production of iPhone in India may hit a snag because of this.

Apple expanded its manufacturing business in India not long ago. Taiwanese companies Foxconn and Wistron are the partners that have been making iPhones in India. But both manufacturers have hit a snag with production, thanks to Covid-19. Several employees at both facilities have tested positive. While Foxconn said it sent infected employees for quarantine, Wistron closed the facility for at least five days to prevent infection from getting spread to others. The production of iPhones may be affected, although none of the partners has confirmed production slowdowns.

Foxconn confirmed that at least 10 Chinese engineers at its plant in Chennai have tested Covid-19 positive, as per Taiwan News. The Taiwanese manufacturing giant said treatment for patients is underway at a hospital while the Chennai facility has been disinfected thoroughly. Because disinfection was done, Foxconn did not close the facility and is continuing to operate it. The government of Tamil Nadu recently imposed a complete lockdown till May 24. However, manufacturing industries have been permitted. Foxconn said in a statement that it will provide employees with the necessary means to prevent infections.

On the other hand, Wistron had to close its facility in Kolar, Karnataka for five days because three Taiwanese employees were infected. The facility now seems to be up and running as the manufacturing industry has the government's permission to operate during the ongoing lockdown.

India is reporting close to 4 lakh daily Covid-19 cases, in a situation that has the world's attention. The crisis caused by the second wave of coronavirus was aggravated by the acute shortage of medical supplies and life-saving drugs, leading to more deaths per day than India saw last year during the first wave. The worst affected states include Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, all of which have imposed total or partial lockdowns to break the chain. Since manufacturing industries are allowed this time, Apple's partners are able to operate. But if the situation worsens, the production of iPhones in India may be impacted by stricter curfews.

Earlier in March, Apple announced that it was starting the production of the latest iPhone 12 in India. "We are proud to be starting production of iPhone 12 in India for our local customers," Apple said in a statement. With the iPhone 12 added to the manufacturing lines, Apple now makes the iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and the iPhone SE 2020 in India.

The iPhone maker's strategy to focus on manufacturing in India is primarily an outcome of two reasons. First, manufacturing locally would allow Apple to reduce taxes on the iPhone -- even though the price of the iPhone remains more or less the same -- levied on the imports. The second reason has more to do with geopolitical trade relations between the US and China. Apple wants to play safe should a situation arise in the near future because of the tussle between the two countries that might impact iPhone production. And that is why the manufacturing of iPhones is expanding in India. It is also in line with the prime minister's Make in India initiative.
Prince Pipes & Fittings Limited (PPF) announced that the company is airlifting oxygen concentrators from international partners to contribute to Indias relief efforts in fighting the surging second wave of Covid-19. The equipment will be handed over to the state machinery of Bihar and Rajasthan in two phases within this month.

Nihar Chheda, AVP Strategy, Prince Pipes & Fittings Limited said, We are airlifting over 100 units of oxygen concentrators to be handed over to the state machinery of Bihar and Rajasthan in two phases within this month. The equipment sourced are CE certified and compliant with WHO guidelines. With the urgency of supporting the medical infrastructure of hospitals in these states, the units will help in reducing dependency on oxygen cylinders as the concentrators obtain oxygen from ambient air and can be used for flexible patient treatment. We are committed to devoting our best efforts in supporting the nation at this crucial time.


(Nikkei Asia)  Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong flew to the Netherlands in fall 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking crucial semiconductor production equipment supplied exclusively by Dutch manufacturer ASML.

This equipment is indispensable for the South Korean companys cutting-edge products. ASML says it has shipped about 100 units worldwide  but more than 70% have gone to Samsung rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The trip by Lee, Samsungs de facto leader, signals the sense of crisis for the company, which has lost ground to TSMC in advanced semiconductors. Samsung is struggling in the mass production of advanced products such as the central processing unit  which serves as the brain of smartphones  and losing market share in contract manufacturing. Inferiority in cutting-edge products could weaken the competitiveness of other core items such as semiconductor memory and smartphones.

Our competitiveness in advanced processes is comparable. We have secured large customers and are closing the gap, Kim Kinam, Samsung Electronics vice president and head of its semiconductor division, said when asked about the technology gap with TSMC at a shareholders meeting in March.

But on April 29, Samsung reported that operating profit at its semiconductor division dropped 16% on the year to 3.37 trillion won ($3.03 billion) for the January-March quarter, despite sales rising 8% to 19.01 trillion won. This marked the first profit drop in a year.

Brokerages blame the drop primarily on Samsungs non-memory business, which handles contract production of CPUs and communications chips. A plant in Texas has been shut down since mid-February due to a power outage caused by a cold snap. Normal operations are expected to resume during the April-June quarter, but prolonged difficulties could lead to defections from Qualcomm and other customers.

Samsung also has struggled to debut state-of-the-art production at home in South Korea. Several suppliers say the company was delayed in boosting the yield on the most advanced chips, with 5-nanometer circuitry. It trailed TSMC by several months in the launch of 5 nm mass production, and the technology gap has been widening ever since.

The thinner the semiconductor circuit width, the higher the processing performance and the lower the power consumption. This also aids in miniaturization of electronic devices.

A buying frenzy in semiconductor manufacturing equipment seems to have caused the delay. Equipment for advanced technology called extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography prompted Lees emergency visit to the Netherlands. Though Samsung is increasing the number of units it purchases, the company has failed to grab as much production technology as TSMC, which secured equipment before anyone else.

The scale of investment required by the contract manufacturing business also likely will impact Samsung. In April, TSMC revealed plans to allocate $100 billion to capital spending over the next three years to 2023 as a response to the semiconductor shortage.

Samsung plans to invest around $40 billion in 2021, but the majority will be in dynamic random access memory and other memory chips, and the scale of investment is inferior to that of TSMC, which specializes in contract manufacturing.

TSMC is accelerating its dominance, amassing a 56% share of contract manufacturing in the first three months of 2021, up 2 percentage points from the same period last year, according to Taiwan-based research firm TrendForce. The share is up 8 points from two years ago, while second-place Samsung has lost 1 point of market share over the same period.

Major U.S. customers such as Apple and Advanced Micro Devices outsource almost all of their orders to TSMC, and the hurdle to gaining that scale is high.

Mounting tensions between the U.S. and China also play a role. Taiwan and the U.S. are united against Beijing, while South Korea comparatively maintains two-way diplomacy that risks isolating South Korean companies from semiconductor supply chains.

Samsungs declining competitiveness in advanced semiconductors may spread beyond the companys chip business. Though non-memory semiconductors manufactured on a contract basis account for only 7% of total semiconductor sales, the performance of Samsungs own smartphones depend on the companys CPUs and image sensors. Apple, a competitor in smartphones, outsources all of its CPU production to TSMC, and the technology gap with TSMC could develop into a gap with Apple in smartphone performance.

Smartphones and memory chips account for a combined 60% of Samsungs total sales. If Samsung falls behind in the technology race for advanced semiconductors, which has generated a virtuous cycle for its mainstay business, it could lead to a decline in the profitability of Samsung as a whole.

This article was originally published by Nikkei Asia

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

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RTHK: Hundreds hurt in new Jerusalem clashes

Hundreds were wounded in new clashes Monday between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem as a planned march marking Israel's 1967 takeover of the holy city threatened to further inflame tensions.

Palestinians hurled projectiles at Israeli officers in riot gear who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas, an AFP correspondent at the scene said, following a night of sporadic clashes.

"There are hundreds of people injured from the clashes" and about 50 were hospitalised, the Palestinian Red Crescent said about the latest unrest since violence escalated following the last Friday prayers of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

The clashes were the latest in days of the worst such disturbances in Jerusalem since 2017, fuelled by a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over nearby Palestinian homes in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

A key court hearing scheduled for Monday on Sheikh Jarrah, the flashpoint east Jerusalem neighbourhood at the centre of the property dispute, has been postponed.

There were fears of further violence in the city ahead of a planned march Monday by Israelis to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, an anniversary known as "Jerusalem Day" in the Jewish state.

Israeli police had, as of Sunday, approved the march, which was scheduled to start around 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).

The leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, has also announced a visit Monday to the tense Sheikh Jarrah district.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel's response to the protests and rioting.

"We will uphold law and order  vigorously and responsibly," Netanyahu said while vowing to "guard freedom of worship for all faiths".

But the Israeli role in the hostilities  especially Friday's clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site  has met widespread criticism.

All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel  Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan  have condemned the Jewish state.

The Middle East quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations  and Pope Francis  have all called for calm. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China makes huge contribution to global poverty reduction: President of EU Chamber in China

10:09, May 10, 2021 By Li Xinyi ( People's Daily

Since childhood, Joerg Wuttke, President of EU Chamber of Commerce in China, has been deeply fascinated by China for its profound cultural background. He is still impressed today by the streets of Beijing swamped by crowds of bicycles when he first visited China in 1982.

Aerial photo taken on April 28, 2020 shows a view of a poverty-relief relocation site for the Baiku Yao People in Nandan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

In the following 39 years, Wuttke has been living in China and witnessed the huge changes. The livelihood of the Chinese people has taken a giant leap forward over the past decades, he told Peoples Daily in a recent interview, adding that people are dressing more fashionably today and automobiles have become a primary tool of transportation.

In the past 100 years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) led the Chinese People to establish a new China, and has created a better life through ceaseless efforts, he said.

The remarkable progress China has achieved in infrastructure construction over the past years left a deep impression on Wuttke.

He told Peoples Daily that in 1990s, it cost him 24 hours to get to a primary school at an altitude of 4,000 meters in Qinghai province from Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. When he visited this destination again in 2006, rugged roads were gone and what he saw was wide and flat expressways. It only took him five hours to get there.

In just decades, China has achieved what would be impossible in many countries regarding infrastructure, he noted.

After eight years of constant efforts, China has completed its poverty alleviation tasks on schedule by the end of the last year. In fact, China is about 15 to 20 percent of global population, and to solve the poverty problem is already a huge endeavor and a huge contribution, Wuttke told Peoples Daily.

In the past, many rural residents would choose to work in cities, he said, adding that a large proportion of them have started to go back to their hometowns today as the rural environment and development are improved, he said.

Chinas poverty alleviation not only profoundly changed the underdevelopment in rural regions, but also strongly promoted the integrated development of all social sectors, Wuttke said.

The EU Chamber of Commerce in China was established in 2000, and now has around 1,700 members, including European transnational corporations and medium-sized enterprises.

Chinas measures, such as lowering threshold for foreign investors, shortening negative lists and the implementation of foreign investment law, have mirrored the countrys firm resolution to continuously deepen reform and expand opening up, Wuttke remarked.

Last year, the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic traumatized global economy, and impacted many of the members of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. Wuttke said that China not only is an important consumption market for European enterprises, but also drives their innovation, adding that the member enterprises of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China will embrace more opportunities.

Wuttke holds that the care for the Chinese people is the secret to the CPCs success. He said the international society is having an increasingly deeper understanding of China, and is urgently hoping to know more about the CPCs philosophy of and innovation in national governance.

This is not very common that a party lasts that long, and on top of it, in power, he said, adding that he witnessed the economic miracle achieved by China under the leadership of the CPC and it was an honor for him to be a part of the process. Wuttke said he hopes the CPC can make more glorious achievements in the future, and wished a better life for the Chinese people.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The increase in the standard deduction has sharply limited the tax advantage of itemizing deductions, as well as a taxpayers ability to do so. If the SALT cap was lifted, it is uncertain whether only those with higher incomes would be able to take advantage of the deduction or be able to itemize as an alternative.
The couples new three-story town home was built in 2004 and has three bathrooms and an open-concept kitchen with new custom white cabinetry, a large island with quartz countertops, Thermador appliances and a Kohler farm sink. A west-facing living room has a gas fireplace and a new custom granite mantel. The town home also has a built-out rooftop deck with Trex decking, a ground-floor patio, a two-car attached garage and a primary bathroom with a double vanity, marble floors and a Kohler rain shower.
We have 10 miniature horses that go to schools, nursing homes, community events. They go in and out of elevators, up and down stairs, and into hospital rooms, so its not just being outside, were actually going inside, she said. We just added a cat to our program.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Eager to the turn the page on the Trump years, the Biden White House is launching an effort to unearth past problems with the politicization of science within government and to tighten scientific integrity rules for the future.

A new 46-person federal scientific integrity task force with members from more than two dozen government agencies will meet for the first time on Friday. Its mission is to look back through 2009 for areas where partisanship interfered with what were supposed to be decisions based on evidence and research and to come up with ways to keep politics out of government science in the future.

The effort was spurred by concerns that the Trump administration had politicized science in ways that put lives at risk, eroded public trust and worsened climate change.

We want people to be able to trust what the federal government is telling you, whether its a weather forecast or information about vaccine safety or whatever, said Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

People need to know "its not by fiat, somebodys sort of knee-jerk opinion about something, added Alondra Nelson, the science offices deputy director for science and society. Nelson and Lubchenco spoke to The Associated Press ahead of a Monday announcement about the task forces first meeting and part of its composition. It stems from a Jan. 27 presidential memo requiring evidence-based policy-making.

Scientists and others have accused the Trump administration of setting aside scientific evidence and injecting politics into issues including the coronavirus, climate change and even whether Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama in 2019.

Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard University historian who has written about attacks on science in the book Merchants of Doubt, said politicization of science undermines the nation's ability to address serious problems that affect Americans' health, their well-being and the economy.

There's little doubt that the American death toll from covid-19 was far higher than it needed to be and that the administration's early unwillingness to take the issue seriously to listen to and act on the advice of experts and to communicate clearly contributed substantively to that death toll, Oreskes said in an email.

Lubchenco, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Obama administration, pointed to an incident during the Trump years that became known as Sharpiegate as a clear example of "political interference with scientific information that was potentially extraordinarily dangerous.

During Sharpiegate, the NOAA reprimanded some meteorologists for tweeting that Alabama was not threatened by the hurricane, contradicting President Donald Trump, who said Alabama was in danger. The matter became known as Sharpiegate after someone in the White House used a black Sharpie  a favourite pen of Trumps  to alter the official National Hurricane Center warning map to indicate Alabama could be in the path of the storm. A 2020 inspector general report found the administration had violated scientific integrity rules.

The Sharpiegate case revealed flaws in the scientific integrity system set up in 2009 by President Barack Obama, Lubchenco said. There were no consequences when the agency violated the rules, Lubchenco said. Nor were there consequences for NOAAs parent Cabinet agency, the Commerce Department. Thats why President Joe Biden's administration is calling for scientific integrity rules throughout government and not just in science-oriented agencies, she said.

Lubchenco said a reluctance to fight climate change in the last four years has delayed progress in cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases. That will inevitably result in the problem being worse than it needed to be, she said.

What we have seen in the last administration is that the suppression of science, the reassignment of scientists, the distortion of scientific information around climate change was not only destructive but counterproductive and really problematic, Lubchenco said.

Kelvin Droegemeier, who served as Trumps science adviser, in an email repeated what he told Congress in his confirmation hearing: Integrity in science is everything, and science should be allowed to be done in an honest way, full of integrity without being incumbered by political influence.
Photo: Contributed Sunday's Vancouver Airport shooting victim is understood to be Karman Grewal (top left), seen here in an RCMP mugshot from around three years ago.

As the public continues to try to wrap its head around a brazen, daytime execution outside YVRs main terminal on Sunday afternoon, there are media reports naming the man shot dead.

According to Punjabi publication Chardhi Kala and the Vancouver Sun, the 28-year-old victim was Karman Grewal, of the United Nations (UN) gang.

The UN gang, added Chardhi Kala, has been in conflict with the rival Brothers Keepers Gang for many years and has predicted more violence in reaction to the Mothers Day shooting.

News of the killing, which happened around 3 p.m. right outside the doors of the main terminal, spread quickly around the world, with the BBC also picking up the story.

Language advisory for video below

Richmond YVR Shooting 2 pic.twitter.com/Hyy5UgLCMT  Jayson (@JaysonTbird) May 10, 2021

Late Sunday night, Richmond RCMPs Chief Supt. Will Ng held a press conference, along with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), to condemn the targeted killing and appeal for dashcam footage from the public.

Ng called the shooting an "attack with no regard for public safety, adding that this generation of gangsters is taking things to another level.

They are looking for any opportunity to target people or rivals of other gangs and doing it with no regard for children or innocent people in the community."

Ng said police are taking "next-level strategies," which include working with other law enforcement agencies and partners and will do their "utmost to bring those responsible to justice."

IHIT's Sgt. Frank Jang, meanwhile, said the victim was known to police and the incident is believed to be part of the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict.

He said at least two suspects involved fled the scene in a black SUV, which was caught on dashcam heading east at high speed near Sea Island Way and No. 3 Road.

Its understood around that point the vehicle was intercepted by an RCMP cruiser, which was shot at by the suspects.

Police say thats when, for the safety of the public, they discontinued the pursuit.

One police vehicle had a bullet hole in its windshield, although no officers were injured.

Shortly after the incident, a burned-out vehicle, similar to the one fleeing Richmond, was found in the 9700 block of Princess Drive in Surrey.

Investigators believe the suspects fled in the vehicle on Highway 99, onto Highway 91, crossing the Alex Fraser Bridge and onto River Road before ditching the vehicle and burning it in an alley -- about 28-kilometres away from the airport.

Jang said he is tired of seeing all the violence on the streets and that there "are no further words" to describe it.

"Please do the right thing. Stop killing each other. Apparently, it's fallen on deaf ears for some and they continue shooting their guns and putting all of us in jeopardy," he said.

No suspect is currently in custody.
CDCs Macarena Garcia compares COVID-19 case trend data with the timing of government prevention steps. Photo by Meena Celeste Garcia

Macarena Garcias career in public health had a bit of an unlikely start: capitalizing on her ability to type nearly as fast as many people talk.

Now she boasts a doctorate degree in public health, is trained in data analytics, and has managed teams of senior public health technical advisers across much of sub-Saharan Africa. She has spent four years advising governments on how to effectively implement Global Fund grants, and five more years as a senior health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And she is now leading CDCs COVID-19 work in the Dominican Republic.

But she might have accomplished none of that had it not been for the fact that she types 90 words per minute.

That simple skill is what changed the direction of my life, she says.

Born in 1977 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Macarena moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was a child. She got her undergraduate degree in political science in 1999 and planned to enter a dual-degree masters program in law and international public affairs that fall, but fate intervened.

That summer, a friend of mine called me up and said, Hey, I have a job for a transcriber, and I know you type really fast. 

The job was an eight-week gig transcribing interviews for producers of the television series, Survivor, which was being shot in Kenyas Shaba National Reserve, a short flight from Nairobi. Though the physical challenges endured by the contestants were real, Macarena found the overall experiencewhich involved condensing three days of shooting into each 30-minute episodemore boring than dramatic. But she found real drama during a break from the TV work when she toured a nearby mission hospital.

Every single person was wasting away from HIV, Macarena says. I thought, This is the biggest problem on this continent, and I want to do something about it. 

She put her masters program on hold and volunteered to work instead with an HIV program in Botswana. After a year, she decided to return to graduate school to study public health.

In 2004, after getting her masters in international studies and public health at the University of Sydney, Macarena got her first job as a development worker, managing an HIV program with Catholic Relief Services in Nigeria. It proved to be a good fit.

I really sort of fell in love with the work and the effect that work could have, she says. Similar work followed in Vietnam, Lesotho, Kenya, South Africa, and some other places.

Eventually, she got her doctorate from Flinders University in South Australia. And in 2015, Macarena joined CDC in Atlanta as a senior health scientist. Her work focused on responses to emergencies, including the 2015 Zika virus outbreak, the 2017/2018 hurricanes, and the 2019 e-cigarette and vaping-associated lung Injury outbreak, which prepared her for her current work in the Dominican Republic.

Last July, the Caribbean nation of nearly 11 million people was reporting about 1,500 new COVID-19 cases a day, and Macarena was tapped to guide CDCs response. With nearly a third of the country living in poverty, any efforts to combat the pandemic needed to be low-cost.

Luckily, the Dominican Republic proved to be resource-rich when it comes to public health. It offers universal health care, and over the years, CDC has trained nearly 600 Dominican epidemiologists.

Over the course of the outbreak, the Dominican Republic has declared states of emergency three times to limit the spread of the disease. The most recent emergency declaration established a 5 p.m. curfew, after which no one was allowed outside without a pass. On weekends and holidays, the curfew began at noon. Pharmacies, supermarkets, and restaurants delivered.

In December, Macarena, her partner, and their 11-year-old daughter moved full-time to the Dominican Republic. As CDC country director, Macarena is responsible for all CDC activities in the country, including HIV prevention, care, and treatment; emergency preparedness and response; laboratory capacity and, of course, COVID-19.

Macarena has advised the Dominican Republics president and his health cabinet on travel orders, and she engages with the Vice Presidents Office on Vaccine Supplies and implementation of the countrys vaccination program.

Since her arrival, rates of COVID-19 cases have remained stable at about 520 per day, for which Macarena credits the host of government prevention steps that have been implemented. I am but a tiny cog in the machine, she says.

Meanwhile, Macarena is adding to her skill set  she has enrolled in another masters degree program, this time in data science and analytics, and is a part-time professor of research methods and biostatistics at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, which has a department of public health. Her work and studies are keeping her busy and her typing skills sharp.
Lucky Cement posts 15% fall in revenue

10 May 2021

Taiwans Lucky Cement has posted a 14.5 per cent YoY decline in April revenue to TWD345.56m (US$12.44m) from TWD404.2m in the year-ago period.



In the first four months of 2021, the company saw a 7.8 per cent fall in revenue to TWD1.39bn from TWD1.51bn.

Published under
Walking into a restaurant last week, my wife and I were greeted by a sign that read, We are short staffed. Please be patient with the staff that did show up. No one wants to work anymore. Evidently, this is not an exaggeration. A recent newspaper article quoted other restaurant owners making the same complaint. An increasing number cant find enough workers to keep their doors open.

Some people attribute this to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, but in many parts of the country, life is returning to a semblance of sanity. Restaurants and other retail establishments are resuming regular hours and activities, and more and more people are venturing out from their homes. But workers are staying away in droves. Why?

It appears unemployment benefits and several rounds of Covid-19 stimulus payments have convinced some folks its no longer necessary to work to generate income. Months ago, a friend who owns several service franchises told me it has become difficult to find workers. Often, his help-wanted ads receive little or no response. Even previous employees are reluctant to return to work, satisfied to collect government payments while not working.

Is this the American dream? As one wag has termed it, Payday every day  and no work on payday. Our society has come a long way; but that doesnt mean its a good way.

In the early 1900s, German sociologist Max Weber wrote The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which embraced values such as diligence, discipline, hard work, innovation and frugality. While his discussion encompassed theology, sociology, economics and history, this work ethic is firmly anchored in teachings from the Bible.

The book of Proverbs in particular affirms the virtues of enterprise, initiative, determination and the use of ones unique skills for the benefit of others. It says things such as:



Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth (Proverbs 10:4).

He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment (Proverbs 12:11).

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty (Proverbs 14:23).

The laborers appetite works for him; his hunger drives him one (Proverbs 16:26).

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men (Proverbs 22:29).

He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored (Proverbs 27:18).

Granted, most of these proverbs are couched in an agricultural context, but the principles fit any field of vocational endeavor: Hard work, diligence and the proper utilization of talents and abilities usually reap a tangible reward.

Work obviously isnt a concept that developed over the past few centuries. Its origin traces to the Creation account, recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. After creating humankind in His own image, the Lord gave Adam and Eve their job description: God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food (Genesis 1:27-29).

For the six days of Creation, God Himself had been diligently, ambitiously and imaginatively working. And He desired for the people created in His own image to do likewise. Sadly, following the first man and womans sinful disobedience against God, disregarding the one taboo He had given them, one of the curses of their rebellion was that work became hard. Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food (Genesis 3:17-19).

But that doesnt diminish the fact that work was ordained and mandated by God, a form of sacred service to Him and His creation. In fact, the apostle Paul noted this in a letter to a first-century church: For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

[Interesting side note: These words had significance even for Vladimir Lenin, a founder of Communism. He referred to them in his 1917 work, The State and Revolution, and later they were incorporated into the Russian Constitution of 1918: He who does not work shall not eat. We dont offer hear this cited by voices heralding the supposed virtues of socialism.]

Getting back to the claim that no one wants to work anymore, even if not intended, this reflects an affront to God. Because the Scriptures declare work is much more than physical and mental labor expended in return for a paycheck.

From the beginning, working was designed as a form of worship and reverence for the Creator. As it declares in Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Some may disagree, but refusing to work simply because a check from the government will arrive without the investment of any time or effort is to say, in effect, God, I dont want to serve you. I have no desire to use the strength and abilities youve given me to honor You or to be of benefit to others. One reason we were created is to work. To intentionally not work when were able to do so rejects a key part of Gods plan and purpose for us all.



* * *

Robert J. Tamasy is a veteran journalist, former newspaper editor and magazine editor. Bob has written, co-authored and edited more than 15 books. These include the newly published, Marketplace Ambassadors; Business At Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Todays Workplace; Tufting Legacies, The Heart of Mentoring, and Pursuing Life With a Shepherds Heart. A weekly business meditation he edits, Monday Manna, is translated into more than 20 languages and sent via email around the world by CBMC International. The address for his blog is www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com. His email address is btamasy@comcast.net.
The Conasauga Drug Courts Community Outreach Group completed a drive Friday that collected 50 teddy bears and other toy animals that were donated to Daltons Northwest Georgia Crisis Center.

"It is hoped that the toys will become comforting friends to children who are receiving services from the Crisis Center," organizers said.

The stuffed animals were collected by Drug Court participants, staff members and members of the Whitfield County Sheriffs Office, along with Judge Jim Wilbanks and his staff.
A skunk has tested positive for animal rabies in Walker County, and public health officials are reminding residents about the potential dangers of rabies and urging them to make sure their pets are vaccinated against the potentially deadly disease. This is the first confirmed animal rabies case in Walker County for 2021 and the first since 2014.

While confirmed cases are relatively rare, officials emphasize animal rabies can be found throughout Walker County.Rabies is always circulating in our wild animal population, said the Walker County Health Departments Environmental Health Manager Jason Osgatharp.



Mr. Osgatharp cautioned residents to avoid wild, stray, and possibly unvaccinated animals that may be infected with rabies and emphasizes residents should take additional precautions to protect themselves, their families, and their pets. Getting your pet vaccinated against rabies is the single best way to protect your pet from rabies, he said. Its important to do it for their protection, for our protection, and because its state law.



Reducing the risk of rabies in domestic animals and limiting human contact with wild animals are two measures central to the prevention of human rabies.

Other effective precautions against rabies include:



 Vaccinate all dogs, cats and ferrets against rabies. Check with your veterinarian to make sure your pets have up-to-date protection against rabies. Remember that the vaccination of pets against rabies protects not only the pets, but more importantly, protects people.



 Dont leave pet food out where wild animals can access it. Leaving pet food out is a sure way of getting wild animals to visit your home endangering you, your family and your pets.

 Remind children to avoid animals they dont recognize, especially stray or wild animals. These animals may be infected with rabies.

 Small children should not be left unattended with dogs, even if the dog is a pet or the child is familiar with it.

 Keep pets at home. Obey any county laws requiring that dogs be restrained to the owners property. Pets that are kept close to home are less likely to encounter a rabid animal.

 Report any raccoon, fox, bat or skunk that is out during the day in a residential area or that is behaving strangely to the local Georgia Department of Natural Resources Game and Fish Division office at 800-241-4113.

 Report stray dogs and cats and aggressive or sick-appearing animals to the local animal-control office.

 Dont attempt to assist injured or sick animals without professional help. Even animals which would never bite otherwise can bite when sick or in pain.

 Bats found in sleeping quarters should be captured and tested for rabies even when there is no evidence of a bite wound or contact with the sleeping individuals.

 After-hours calls involving aggressive animals should be directed to 911.

 After-hours calls involving animal bites and their potential for rabies exposure should be directed to 866-PUB-HLTH (866-782-4584).

Walker County residents can contact the Walker County Health Departments Environmental Health Office in LaFayette at 706 639-2574 for additional information or with any questions or concerns.


Honoring Those Who Serve will be held on Saturday at Honor Park as a tribute to those who serve. Military veterans will be honored by song, praise and prayer. The event begins at 10 a.m. and the ceremonies begin at 11 a.m.

The event will include music by the Scottish Highlanders and Suttles Family Legacy.

The keynote address will be given by Dr. Mary Lambert. Leroy Wilson will be asking God's grace. VVA 203-member Don Hays will be displaying the Georgia Vietnam KIA plaque. Many other veterans will be directing events.

Building the Blue Bridge has been added to the events this year. The organization unites the northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee regions in "support of first responders with care, empathy and trust in pursuit of safe neighborhoods for our children."

Extra parking can be found at Constitution Hall, with a shuttle provided. Guests may want to bring a lawn chair as seating is limited.
While the FBI made a big splash raiding the homes and offices of three state lawmakers on the eve of the legislative session, The Tennessee Journal has learned that initial flurry of activity didnt mark the end of federal agents probes within the Cordell Hull Building.

Lawmakers who hired Republican Reps. Glen Casada of Franklin and Robin Smith of Hixson to design and mail constituent correspondence or campaign materials have been quietly interviewed by investigators over the course of the legislative session that concluded Wednesday. Reps. Casada, Smith, and newly elected Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) were subjected to searches in January, along with current and former aides.

Rep. Jason Zachary told colleagues on the House floor he had been visited by agents as recently as this week. The Knoxville Republican spent $4,408 in the third quarter with Phoenix Solutions, the New Mexico based political vendor believed to be at the center of the FBI investigation. House members have said Rep. Smith was a major promoter of the mysterious outfit that went from no presence in the state to capturing $231,144 worth of business from Republicans last year. Reps. Smith and Casada have declined to say whether they hold ownership stakes in Phoenix Solutions.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has said he became aware of the FBI investigation after he took over the speakership from Rep. Casada in August 2019. Speaker Sexton this session spearheaded legislation to ban lawmakers from obtaining services contracts from the state, a move designed to end legislators consulting firms being paid with taxpayer money to organize constituent correspondence for their colleagues. The measure was cosponsored by Senate Speaker Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), who likened the practice to money laundering. The bill passed the House 82-0, with Reps. Casada, Smith, and Warner declining to cast votes.

Phoenix Solutions received $28,500 to send out constituent surveys on behalf of members, Rep. Smiths Rivers Edge Alliance was paid $11,000, and Rep. Casadas now shuttered Right Way Consulting billed for $12,500 in work. Rep. Smiths attorney has suggested Speaker Sexton adviser Chip Saltsman somehow inspired the raids. Rep. Smith and Mr. Saltsman are both former state Republican Party chairs who later branched out into political consulting.

WTVF-TV reported earlier this year that Rep. Casada had told colleagues the FBI had asked him about his role in the controversial passage of Governor Bill Lees signature school voucher legislation in 2019.

One of Rep. Casadas most vocal critics when he was speaker was then-Rep. Rick Tillis of Lewisburg, whom Rep. Warner defeated in the August 2020 primary. The Registry of Election Finance voted last month to conduct an audit on the $75,500 Tillis disclosed spending on another previously unheard-of vendor called Dixieland Strategies of Rainbow City, Ala. Rep. Warner told a reporter he couldnt remember whom he dealt with at the company, though his attorney told the Registry checks will show the money was made out directly to the outfit.

Questions had been raised about Dixieland after it sent out mailers with the same Chattanooga postal permit code as Phoenix Solutions and a political action committee called Faith Freedom Family Fund. An unrelated vendor has said he was told to bill work for both the PAC and Phoenix Solutions by Rep. Casadas former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, another subject of the raids.

The FBI probes shadow loomed over the House for the entire legislative session. Lawmakers are now waiting for the other shoe to drop with a round of indictments. But for the moment, no one is the wiser about what  if anything  will come of the investigation.
There is trouble at small city, dysfunction junction once again. The drama of the small cities of Hamilton County is cyclic. Hamilton County lifelong natives know this, and so do the two primary local governments, they say, here goes Red Bank again, or here goes Collegedale.

It is expected drama, subject of local mockery, and mostly ignored by the majority of Hamilton County residents, especially for those of us that dont live in the small cities. The locals call them, circus without a ringmaster.

That is until their dysfunction spills over, littering Hamilton County with backwards insults, and personal attacks.

My coffee friends and I were taken by the insult to Mayor Hollie Berry and Commissioner Dalton that occurred in a formal public commission meeting.

According to Chattanoogan, Commissioner Jeno stated verbatim in a public meeting, This is just another stunt from you girls - or women. (reference to Hollie Berry and Dalton)

To the credit of Jeno, she self-corrected her inappropriate insult, but it speaks volumes that Jeno also knew it was an inappropriate. Otherwise, the end correction of women would not have been required.

The mayor and vice mayor are hardly girls, a surface search of these women shows they are savvy, educated, and accomplished business women. Mayor Berry is becoming famous for her unique art that is widely sought after, hardly a girl. They are likely Democrats, and were duly elected in a landslide victory.

In this case, the Democrat women are acting fiscally conservative with other peoples money. Sometimes Democrats can surprise.

Referring to accomplished grown women as girls is absolutely marginalizing language towards the citys mayor and vice mayor.



Lets reverse the insults to test and measure the appropriateness.

What if Mayor Berry referred to Commission Jeno as old girl? How do you think that would have been received in a public meeting?

In fact, let me try a gender-age based insult on Commission Jeno, you are a mean old girl, or listen old girl dont disrespect the mayor.

Was that appropriate?

Great politicians attack issues, not people.

Politicians that dare to venture off into attacks on people, instead of issues, are the lowest bar of elected class and lack substance to take on issues. Further, engaging in gender based language creates liability, and losses of circuit court summary judgement, right?

Mayor Hollie Berry and Vice Mayor Dalton, go forth fearlessly and lead, and know many people were embarrassed by the published girls reference towards you.

April Eidson

* * *

I was reading through the Opinion section this morning. This particular one stopped me in my tracks. I live in Red Bank and have followed the recent goings on at the Commission meetings.

Recently, it has come to light that the mayor and vice mayor have been scheduling meetings of city manager subjects but never invite the city manager. This does not make any sense because the mayor nor commissioners have anything to do with the job of the city manager. This is so unprofessional. Why do it?

The city manager has poured his heart and blood into Red Bank for 35 years. Tim was born and raised in the community. He is a Red Bank High School alumni. He has gained respect and gratitude for the loyal service to the community of Red Bank. Last week's Commission meeting was proof. The Commission chambers were packed with long time residents who wanted to show support for our city manager.

The meeting revealed the stories of the "city manager meetings" without the city manager. The hush fell over the huge crowd. I watched the commissioners as they too were beyond shocked. Why the ugly treatment towards someone who has gone beyond his job to make Red Bank

a wonderful place to live? Is it because he is from Red Bank and knows what makes it tick and run smoothly?

Tim helped with the James Avenue ball fields. In 1998, The field was dedicated to the Church League President and league founder Mrs. Norma Cagle. The community of Red Bank made Declaration for the field to forever be named Norma Cagle Field. After our church league folded in 2000, the fields sat vacant after a gentleman tore everything down and then left in vacant. The property sat there. Only drug dealers and trouble makers used the area. The community of Red Bank and Rivermont Recreation took on the task and rebuilt beautiful ball fields on the James Avenue property. After the land swap, the Red Bank Girls Fast Pitch League uses the Norma Cagle Complex as home fields. The original fast pitch fields were destroyed to make room for the new Red Bank Middle School.

Tim saved the city of Red Bank over $300,000 as he does three jobs instead of one. Why make the city manager so miserable that he wants to step down? Something is fishy.





A lot of long time residents remember soon after the election, Hollie Berry and Stefanie Dalton went after Red Bank's then Mayor and demoted her to Commissioner. How does that happen within a very short time span after an election? Many have asked, how many neighborhoods did they actually visit? None of my neighbors knew who they were. Many saw the women weaving through voter lines as they spoke to the voters and offered water.





As I watched the Commission meeting, I saw people walk up to the podium and give their speeches. It was warming to see the love and support that they showed for Tim.



Red Bank was built many decades ago as Dry Valley but later was officially named Red Bank for the red clay dirt in the yard's bank. Our community was built on the backs and brows of it's residents. Those residents raised children and grandchildren to show respect to one another. These same residents' families came to support a young man who gained their respect and admiration for the 35 years of hard work and dedication to their hometown.

Some spoke of uncertainty of bringing their businesses into Red Bank because of the "behind the back" politics. One gentleman stated that the mayor and vice mayor need to be held accountable their actions against the city manager. If their actions happened in a non-political business, they would be talked to and then fired.





It all boils down to the fact that the mayor nor the vice mayor has any business scheduling "city manager style" meetings without the city manager being there. Again, why the attack on the city manager all of a sudden? I (like many) do not understand why? His record, career, dedication and loyalty speak volumes above anything. Is this how they treat the loyal Red Bank employees? As much as I love my hometown of Red Bank. I would not want to work there.





Throughout the decades, Red Bank has caught its fair share of bad jokes, ridicule, nasty remarks, challenges, miscues, but it has raised up above all the critics. The price on houses and property in Red Bank is soaring through the roof. New housing developments are being built as well. Our schools are doing quite well. My family gets many daily calls about our homestead in Red Bank. It is in a nice spot according to many realtors.

We as a community need a mayor that we can trust. We have been blessed with many down through the decades. The community of Red Bank needs their government officials and departments to work together as a well-oiled machine. Apparently, there are several doubts that the mayor nor vice mayor has Red Bank's best interests at heart. Time will tell.





Laura Crane
The new hit Freeform series Cruel Summer with Chiara Aurelia as Jeanette Turner is taking the world by storm. The series, produced by Jessica Biel, is now the number one most watched Freeform series and many viewers binge the teen drama on Hulu the next day. With four Cruel Summer episodes currently available for streaming, and three left to air, lets look at what all the fuss is about and why Aurelia had to steal this one thing from the set.

Cruel Summer on Freeform: Chiara Aurelia as Jeanette Turner and Olivia Holt as Kate Wallis | Bill Matlock/Getty Images

What is Cruel Summer on Freeform about?

Cruel Summer on Freeform is a teen psychological thriller that revolves around two main teenage girls  Jeanette Turner and Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt). The story bounces between three summers in 1993, 1994, and 1995. At first, it is a bit difficult to tell which year the scene occurs. However, there are enormous details to give it away  from the teenagers hair and outfits to the posters on the walls.

When we met Jeanette, she called herself nerdy. She had crimpy hair, glasses, and braces. However, in 1994 she transformed into a popular girl with a boyfriend. But in 1995, her style was more grunge, short hair, and very angry at the world. In her defense, she is the most hated girl in the country, so she must also be scared and lonely.

RELATED: Cruel Summer: Who is Kates Stepsister, Ashley? Heres Why She Looks So Familiar

On the other hand, Kate Wallis started in 1993 as the beautiful and popular girl that Jeanette seemed to be jealous of. She went missing sometime in the summer of 1993, and when she returned in 1994, shes outraged that Jeanette stole her boyfriend and two best friends. In 1995, she was also angry, but mainly at Jeanette and the adults who allowed her to go missing.

Kate believes that Jeanette saw her in the basement of Assistant Principal Martin Turners (Blake Lee) house and failed to rescue her or report it to the authorities. However, Jeanette claimed she had no idea that Kate was there and did nothing wrong. Who is telling the truth? Start your Cruel Summer binge on Hulu to find out more about the two teens.

Where is Cruel Summer on Freeform filmed?

Although the Cruel Summer series on Freeform is set in Skylin, Texas, the series was filmed in Dallas, Texas. Skylin is a made-up formerly sleepy town in Texas. There are numerous references to Texas in the series, including a few to Whataburger. According to the Dallas Observer, several scenes take place in One Nostalgia Tavern. The bar is full of items to bring viewers back to the 1990s, including bar games and a jukebox.

Who is Chiara Aurelia?

RELATED: Cruel Summer Episode 4 Recap and 1 New Burning Question

Chiara Aurelia was born in New Mexico and began acting, dancing, and singing at four. According to IMBd, The 18-year-old moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2014 to pursue acting. She appeared in a recurring role on NBCs The Brave and ABCs Agent Carter.

She joined the cast of Pretty Little Liars Season 7 in 2017 as Alison. The actors role in the cast of Cruel Summer on Freeform is most similar to Alison in the 1994 Jeanette scenes.

Chiara Aurelia stole this one thing from the set of Cruel Summer on Freeform

When Chiara Aurelia met with the Nerds of Color Podcast, she discussed how much she loved the 1990s setting for Cruel Summer on Freeform. The journalist asked if there was one clothing item she loved the most.

I am obsessed with the Steve Madden black wedge shoes, Aurelia admitted. Those for sure. Those are definitely something I stole from the set at some point. The 90s aesthetic is so fun and so cool to play around with. My style personally resonates with that.

Watch Aurelia in more Cruel Summer episodes on Freeform Tuesday evenings at 10 p.m. or stream the series on Hulu.
The ratings dont lie  Home Town Takeover on HGTV is a bona fide superstar, with more than 6.5 million viewers tuning in to the May 2 premiere, according to a press release from the network. Ben and Erin Napier of Home Town fame take on the biggest project of their careers when they revitalize not just a house, but an entire town, on the uplifting series.

Every episode of Home Town Takeover will have something exciting to offer. But the second installment is extra special for some movie buffs. Plus, it has special meaning for Erin, who is a huge fan of the film Big Fish.

Ben and Erin Napier are renovating Wetumpka 1 project at a time

Ben and Erin Napier | HGTV

Tens of thousands of people submitted their applications to win the privilege of a whole town makeover on Home Town Takeover. The Napiers knew it wouldnt be easy to pick a winner. But Wetumpka, Alabama stood out for so many reasons, thanks to their small town pride and resilience in the face of a natural disaster.

Multiple buildings were damaged during a January 2019 hurricane. But rather than give up hope, the residents banded together to fix up the properties and help each other as a true community should. And now, the Home Town hosts along with a revolving cast of HGTV and discovery+ stars are offering their time and talent to the project, too.

The Home Town hosts help renovate the house from Big Fish

RELATED: Home Town Takeover: Ben and Erin Napier Are Friends With Sheryl Crow  Heres How They Met

Movie aficionados are no doubt familiar with the 2003 Tim Burton fantasy comedy Big Fish. The film, which is based on a novel by the same name, documents a son reconciling with his dying father. Its all set to the backdrop of a house in a small town which happens to be located in Wetumpka.

The home is now a private residence that still bears remnants of its famous past, helping to draw tourists and Burton fans to the area. But the property was in need of some repairs. Luckily, Erin is a huge fan of the movie, so she was more than eager to restore the house to its former beauty while retaining that Hollywood charm from the movie.

In the episode, Erin admits the house has personal significance for her. She explains how actor Albert Finney, who played the older Edward Bloom, looked exactly like her grandfather. He died just a few years before the film was released. Now, Erins family feels a special connection to Big Fish.

Erin Napier kept true to the Big Fish movie details

In the end, the Home Town host renovated the Big Fish house to look like the movie but still be functional for the Whitfield family.

She incorporated sconces from the dining room scene into the design, plus vintage spindles on the staircase and the same tile on the fireplace that fans see in the film. Erin even contacted a wallpaper company to recreate the exact same pattern for the dining room walls.

And the homeowners were predictably blown away by the finished product. I dont have to be embarrassed anymore or feel like Im letting anyone down, Shellie Whitfield gushes, This is perfect and beautiful and the whole town can be proud of that.

Erin agrees. Its maybe the only house I love as much as my own house, she admits.

Catch new episodes of Home Town Takeover on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on HGTV plus streaming on discovery+.
Sacha Baron Cohen has managed to make plenty of enemies as well as fans with the attention-getting characters hes created. His comedy skills and amazing range of accents have enabled him to entertain millions. At the same time, hes also fooled more than a few famous people. Hes made it clear that hes not afraid to target celebrities from all walks of life.

Cohen may be a towering figure to some people (Donald Trump is keenly aware of him), but exactly how tall is he? Here are the facts about this unusual comedian and what his height might be.

Sacha Baron Cohen | Rick Rycroft/Getty Images

Sacha Baron Cohens career

A reminder that Sachs Baron Cohen is up for TWO Oscars tonight.



Best Supporting Actor for The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and Best Adapted Screenplay for Borat Subsequent Movefilm.



From Ali G to Oscar winner?#Oscars pic.twitter.com/w9Yzdpa0pQ  LADbible (@ladbible) April 25, 2021

RELATED: Sacha Baron Cohens 5 Best Movies So Far

Although hes best known for a character who comes from Kazakhstan, according to IMDb, Cohen was born in London. He was a performer from an early age, acting in plays with a Jewish youth group, and putting together a break dancing crew.

After university, Cohen worked as a model before moving into local TV. He appeared in the satirical news program The 11 Oclock Show, where his character Ali G was created. This led to a spinoff show in 200 and a movie in 2002. Shortly after, he moved to the US to create Da Ali G Show.

He also worked in movies such as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and as the voice of Julian in the animated movie Madagascar. In 2006, he released his biggest movie yet, the blockbuster Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

The strange world of Borat

A reminder that Sachs Baron Cohen is up for TWO Oscars tonight.



Best Supporting Actor for The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and Best Adapted Screenplay for Borat Subsequent Movefilm.



From Ali G to Oscar winner?#Oscars pic.twitter.com/w9Yzdpa0pQ  LADbible (@ladbible) April 25, 2021

RELATED: Borat Had the FBI and Police Following Sacha Baron Cohen

According to NPR, the mockumentary featured Cohen as a TV journalist from Kazakhstan. He interviewed public figures as the character, often getting them into embarrassing situations. When the movie came out, it was an international hit. So many people saw it and could now recognize Borat that Cohen assumed that hed have to give him up for good.

But when Donald Trump was elected president, Cohen couldnt resist bringing Borat back to explore the political landscape. The second movie, Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, featured the outlandish character returning to America in an attempt to offer President Trump a bribe.

Somehow, this movie managed to surprise as many people as the first, including a famous scene with Rudy Giuliani. Cohen says that hes definitely done with Borat now. The reactions to the character have led to him being chased, sued, and nearly arrested.

Sacha Baron Cohens height and his number one source of support

Sacha Baron Cohen after winning for Borat:



"Donald Trump is contesting the result. He's claiming a lot of dead people voted  which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA." #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/jMKeLQpBAX  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 1, 2021

RELATED: This is How Sacha Baron Cohen Met His Wife Isla Fisher

Fortunately for Cohen, he has an understanding wife to support him during all of this craziness. According to People, he started dating actor Isla Fisher in 2002, and the couple got married in 2010. They have three children together, and they seem to have a strong relationship.

Although shes clearly an important source of support for her husband, Isla probably doesnt prop him up physically. According to Pop Sugar, Cohen towers over her at 63, a full foot taller than her petite 53.

You would think that Cohens impressive height would make him even easier to spot when hes in character. Yet it seems that hes continually able to get so deep into character that he manages to fool people everywhere. Whether you appreciate his humor or not, thats an impressive skill.
Kate Winslet doesnt want to be treated differently than any other actor on set. In her latest role, on HBOs Mare of Easttown, the Oscar winner insisted she and her co-stars have the exact same trailers.

Kate Winslet on Mare of Easttown | Michele K. Short/HBO

Kate Winslets the star of the HBO limited series

Winslet plays the title role on Mare of Easttown. Her character, Mare Sheehan, is a small-town detective in Easttown, Pennsylvania, investigating the murder of a young mother. She gets (unwanted) help from an outsider, Detective Colin Zabel (Evan Peters), which involves questioning those closest to her.

Mare of Easttown isnt a thriller in Winslets opinion. Although theres a murder to solve theres a lot more going on. As she told TVLine in April 2021, she thinks of it as a story about community, and family, and mercy, and hope

From the outset of the show  no spoilers  its clear theres a lot more at play. Sheehans dealing with family issues while simultaneously investigating a murder thats shocked the community. Through it all Winslets Mare of Easttown accent disguises her own.

Shes also an executive producer on Mare of Easttown

Lets take a look at the facts: Kate Winslet  Small town drama  An air of mystery  Kate Winslet in plaid  Beer  pic.twitter.com/o260rBWqP1  HBO (@HBO) April 18, 2021

RELATED: Where Was Mare of Easttown Filmed?

Winslet not only plays the lead on Mare of Easttown but shes also an executive producer. She told IndieWire in a May 2021 interview she took the last 10  15 years to earn my stripes.

Im not one to follow a trend, Winslet said. I just like to do my own thing. So theres a reason that I didnt get into producing earlier in my career. Im an actor, and I love my job. I was always fine doing exactly that. Its enough for me, anyway, to just be doing that, she said.

As she got more involved with projects from a very early stage Winslet decided Mare of Easttown was the right one to try producing.

With Mare, it just felt like the right time, she added. Plus, I had learned so much about producing, and I thought, Well, if ever Im going to produce, I want to know what Im doing. I dont want to have the title in name only. I dont want to do that. I think people maybe do that a bit, and thats not my bag.

In her role as executive producer, Winslet hid in the trunk during her co-stars sex scene to offer support. In late March 2021, with just a few weeks until the Mare of Easttown premiere, she was talking to writer Brad Ingelsby making last-minute tweaks.

Kate Winslet said shed cry if she had a bigger trailer than her Mare of Easttown co-stars

RELATED: Mare of Easttown: Who Is the Real Killer in Kate Winslets New HBO Series?

I remember telling our producer Mark Roybal, about a week before we started, Oh, just quickly, its very, very important to me that you know this, she recounted to IndieWire. I dont know how the process works with booking trucks and equipment, but if I arrive on day one and I have a trailer thats bigger than everyone elses, no matter what it says on my contract, I will actually cry.

What happened? The people behind Mare of Eastown listened.

And then they changed everything! Because, sure enough, there was a trailer that I was supposed to have that was bigger, Winslet said. And then there were probably two or three other cast members [who were set up to] have the same as me, and I said, No, were not doing any of that, none of that! Everyone is having the same!

Mare of Easttown airs Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.
A royal expert is claiming Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex knew what the interview he and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex did with Oprah would mean for the royal family.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys Oprah interview involved multiple claims against the royal family

Prince Harry | Koen Van Weel via Getty Images

RELATED: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Might Be Ditched From the Royal Family, Royal Biographer Says

Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special aired in March 2021. It marked the first time the couple publicly discussed their 2020 decision to step down as senior royals. During their conversation with Oprah, which lasted more than two hours, Harry and Meghan made numerous claims against the royal family.

Harry claimed he and Meghans relationship with the royal family changed after their 2018 tour of Australia. He suggested Meghan did so great it made other royals jealous. The couple also claimed an unnamed royal made racist remarks about their sons skin color.

Meghan recounted how the Firm supposedly denied her help when she didnt want to be alive anymore. Harry said his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking his calls and that his relationship with his brother, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was still very much about space.

The couple also claimed they didnt refuse a title for their son. They said Archie wasnt offered a title or security. Finally, the last major claim involved Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Meghan said Catherine made her cry, not the other way around, which is what had been reported after her and Harrys 2018 royal wedding.

Royal expert says Prince Harry wanted to rock that boat with Oprah interview

#EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry reveals to @Oprah a large part of the reason he and Meghan left the UK was because of racism. #OprahMeghanHarry pic.twitter.com/ksAZWargg1  CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 8, 2021

RELATED: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Reuniting With Kate Middleton and Prince William Is Hard to Even Envision, Royal Expert Says

During a May 2021 interview with Page Six, royal expert Ingrid Seward said the Duke of Sussex knew what he and Meghan would be getting themselves into when they spoke with Oprah.

He knew what he was doing, Seward said. I can swear to you that, and he wanted to rock that boat. Quite why, I dont understand, but he did want to. And then he did, and I dont think hes surprised by the repercussions or that he regrets it for a moment.

Harry lives an ocean away from his family but in April 2021 he saw them for the first time since the Oprah interview aired. The 36-year-old returned to the U.K. for the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. A pregnant Meghan stayed behind in California because doctors didnt clear her for travel. Harry had a brief conversation with William and Catherine outside the church but not long after he was back stateside.

Prince William and the royal family responded to racism claims made in Oprah interview

Prince William says he hasnt spoken to his brother yet but will do and they are very much not a racist family. pic.twitter.com/3j0AulDDOB  Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) March 11, 2021

RELATED: Prince Charles Reportedly Wanted to See Prince Harry After Philips Funeral But Was Turned Down: The Schedule Wouldnt Allow It

Following Meghan and Harrys Oprah interview Queen Elizabeth II and William responded to the racism claims. Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the queen.

The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan, the statement read. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning, the statement continued. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

On March 11, 2021, William denied the racism claims when a Sky News reporter asked him about it during an outing with Catherine. We are very much not a racist family, he said before noting he hadnt spoken to Harry yet.

Harry may someday reunite with the royal family but for now, he and Meghan are living in California and preparing for the birth of their daughter in summer 2021.
Fans of actor Michael Alonis work in the Netflix runaway hit Shtisel love his character Akiva Shtisel, his dedication to his art, and his seemingly constant search for love.

Now in his new project, yes Studios The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Aloni drops the ultra-conservative Jewish garments and the curly sidelocks. If youve only seen him in Shtisel, you might not even recognize the actor.

Actor Michael Aloni, 2013 | Jim Spellman/WireImage)

Aloni has become an international star thanks to Shtisel

The actor was raised in Tel Aviv in a secular Jewish upbringing. Aloni revealed that portraying the youngest son in the ultra-Orthodox Shtisel family was an eye-opening experience for him.

In the role of Akiva Shtisel, Aloni played an aspiring artist in a community that frowns upon the profession. At 26 and unmarried, Akiva is a disappointment to his father, who tells his son of his disillusionment frequently.

Akiva is so far from my world, the actor told The Jewish Chronicle in 2019. Only 30 minutes away in distance, but a whole world away in our lives. It was exciting as an actor to step into a world that you dont know, to be exposed to a whole new totally different culture.

Shtisel is back! Seasons 1, 2, AND 3 are now streaming on Netflix all over the world. Enjoy !#michaelaloni #shtisel @yesstudios2 @netflix pic.twitter.com/fHPMXDIVsp  @ShtiselOfficial (@shtiselofficial) March 25, 2021

The star explained to The Jewish News that, although hes well-known in Israel, the community Shtisel was filmed in was unaware of his presence.

Im a pretty well-known face in Israel from hosting The Voice, but they didnt know me in Mea Shearim and we were able to shoot the first season undercover with a hidden camera inside a vehicle and a phone mic in our ears for instructions, Aloni said.

Aloni on marriage offers from Orthodox moms

The When Heroes Fly actor says the show counts among its fans, surprisingly, the very Orthodox groups it portrays.

Places vary in levels of orthodoxy, depending on how closed they are, and while there are signs in the neighborhood saying no internet and no television, they had a kosher WhatsApp group and found a pirate route to downloading the series, he explained.

RELATED: Shtisel: Why Giti Weiss Actor Neta Riskin Wasnt Eager to Join the Netflix Hit Soap

Hes even received offers of matrimony from Orthodox parents eager to marry their daughters to a good guy like Akiva Shtisel.

So for the second season they were all shouting Akiva, Hello Akiva and some of them thought I was really an artist and wanted to arrange shidduchs (matchmaking), Aloni said. I got requests in my Shtisel inbox from mothers claiming to have wonderful daughters and they had no problem with them marrying a poor artist.

His new role in The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

In the new yes Studios television series, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Aloni leads the cast as Gabriel Ermosa in the new sweeping drama that follows a Sephardic family throughout the early to middle-20th century.

Who would like an update on what our wonderful Kive, Michael Aloni, has been up to? All of you? Thought so .

Michael has been filming some behind-the-scenes interviews for the incredible, upcoming new series The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem! @yesstudios2 #michaelaloni #Shtisel pic.twitter.com/WoTm4MbZtp  @ShtiselOfficial (@shtiselofficial) April 22, 2021

Co-producer Dafna Prenner stated about the series in part, After years of watching with envy costume dramas from around the world, we feel lucky to be able to produce a period drama that will bring to the screen the rarely seen sights and sounds of early 20th century Jerusalem.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Sarit Yishai-Levi, the historical drama will feature dialogue in Hebrew, English, Ladino and Arabic. Aloni, clean-shaven, no sidelocks, no black hat or coat in this drama, revealed that he wept when he finished the book.

He explained to The Jerusalem Post what drew him to this new series.

Trailer for The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

When you write something thats very particular and seems provincial and personal, you can hit the hearts of people, Aloni said. Family is family. Life is full of choices we make that we have to live with, and we carry our familys history on our shoulders and in our hearts.
For many, many years, for the kids to get out of my classrooms, at the door, they would have to shake my hand and say a complete sentence to me, looking me in the eye, said Alfano. That just goes so well with the military, even though the intention was to put them out in the workplace.
Inspired by fossils, data is encoded into DNA format and encased within tiny glass spheres that protect it from decay caused by the elements over time. Invention currently used to trace product origin throughout supply chains and as a data storage medium, has the potential to protect information for millennia

The European Patent Office (EPO) announces that the Austrian and Swiss researchers Robert N. Grass and Wendelin Stark have been nominated as finalists in the "Research" category of the European Inventor Award 2021 for their invention of glass-encapsulated DNA data storage. The invention provides a novel method of preserving data converted into genetic code using artificial fossilisation with tiny glass spheres.

Grass and Stark, chemical engineering professors at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich) overcame the challenges of storing data on synthetic DNA. By developing a way to encapsulate data in DNA inside tiny glass spheres - and recover it without error - they created a storage format with the potential to protect valuable data for millennia, as well as a robust DNA barcode for supply chain use.

"Grass and Stark demonstrate that an innovative, cross-disciplinary approach can produce technological advancements with potential benefits for many future generations to come, especially in light of the increasing digitalisation of every aspect of society," says EPO President Antonio Campinos, announcing the European Inventor Award 2021 finalists. "With patent protection, they turned their research into a business with real-world applications".

The winners of the 2021 edition of the EPO's annual innovation prize will be announced at a ceremony starting at 19:00 CEST on 17 June, which has this year been reimagined as a digital event for a global audience.



Mimicking fossils to overcome digital data decay

Humanity is generating data at an astounding rate but much of this is either stored on hard drives and servers, which have finite lifetimes rarely extending beyond a decade, or on magnetic tape or even floppy disk, which start to decay and degrade after 20 years. Grass and Stark's invention paves the way for long-term data storage that overcomes this impermanence by mimicking the DNA-storing capabilities of fossils.

The two met in 2004 after Stark was appointed Assistant Professor at the ETH Zurich's Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences. That same year, Grass joined as one of Stark's first PhD students. They shared one trait in particular: an engineering mindset that drove them to research and build new technologies that translate medical or biology-focused technologies into practical inventions in other fields.

DNA writing (synthesis) and reading (sequencing) was one such area that captured their attention, specifically the idea that DNA - in addition to storing the genetic information of every living creature - could be used as a means of preserving data. This is done by converting digital data (a series of zeros and ones) into a corresponding sequence of the four DNA base pairs. While DNA data storage had already been proved possible by other scientists, including US geneticist George Church in 2012, one obstacle to this method remained: unprotected DNA strands soon chemically degrade after exposure to water, air and heat. They found inspiration for a solution in fossils, where DNA is preserved for hundreds of thousands of years. "The challenge was clear; make DNA stable," explains Grass. "Fossils proved to be the way to go, so we studied the chemical structure of glass precipitates on DNA, which eventually led us to the encapsulation technology."

In 2012, Grass's team (under Stark's guidance) recreated this protective effect by sealing synthetic DNA inside glass particles with diameters up to 10 000 times thinner than a sheet of paper. Once the desired data is converted into DNA - using a synthesis technique that includes error-correction coding from fellow ETH Zurich scientist Dr Reinhard Heckel, thereby making up for DNA damage and data loss - this DNA is encapsulated in glass particles. Although these non-porous "glass fossils" protect the DNA from most corrosive agents and temperature damage, the DNA can be easily recovered and read by treating the particles with a fluoride solution that can dissolve glass, but which does not harm the information. Using this method, Grass's team was able to achieve error-free data recovery after a week's storage at 70C - a period at increased temperatures which is the environmental exposure equivalent of 2 000 years of storage in average central Europe temperatures.

With proof that their technology worked, ETH Zurich filed a European patent application for Grass and Stark's invention which was granted in 2018.

Imagining a world written in DNA

Grass and Stark took their concept from research to reality by commercialising it through the ETH spin-off company Haelixa AG, established in 2016. The company is one of several ETH spin-offs co-founded by the researchers, who see them as an excellent way to bring patented inventions to market. "If you want to make a company and get investment from a university or funding agency, you have to have a very compelling story about your intellectual property protection," says Grass. "This is why patent applications are an extremely important step."

Haelixa's glass fossils have proved to be highly useful as a robust barcode for tracking purposes - the miniscule DNA-containing particles are applied to a product or substance and later retrieved for verification. The technique has been used to trace underground water flow and verify products in supply chains, such as organic cotton and conflict-free gemstones that have been sourced from suppliers with certified ethical extraction practices.

The potential of Grass and Stark's invention as data storage is also gaining impetus as it becomes possible to store greater quantities of data. In 2018, to promote the technology, the album Mezzanine' by Massive Attack was re-released on DNA format by the researchers encoding a 15 MB data file into strands of synthetic DNA. The technique gained further publicity in 2020, when the first episode of the Netflix series "Biohackers" - a 100 MB video file - was successfully stored on DNA. The high cost of writing synthetic DNA largely limits its use currently, but Grass and Stark are working to cut costs by simplifying DNA synthesis equipment. Grass is confident new technology will make it possible to access megabytes of DNA storage for only a few euros in the coming years, making it ideal for securely storing valuable information.

With this aim in mind, the inventors continue their research. "We envision a world not too far down the road where reading DNA is really accessible in everyday technology," says Grass. "If you take the world we work in, reading and writing DNA is like taking pen to paper - a much more commonplace medium for people to interact with."
Former Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, shown in this 2016 photo, recently told a group of young conservative in April that there was nothing here when immigrants founded the United States. That angered Native Americans and others. He later said on CNN that he was speaking in context of the U.S. governments creation and didnt mean to minimize treatment of Native Americans.
In the more than 15 years Salomon Tibiri has been offering spiritual succor as a military pastor in Burkina Faso, hes never fielded so many calls from anxious soldiers and their relatives as in recent years, when the army found itself under attack by Islamic extremist fighters.

Before the crisis there was more stability, Tibiri said, seated in a military camp church in the city of Kaya, in the hard-hit Center-North region. Now (the soldiers) are busier, and when you approach them you feel their stressmuch more stress.

Once considered a beacon of peace and religious coexistence in the region, the West African nation has been embroiled in unprecedented violence linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State since 2016.

[Editors note: A series of terrorist attacks on churches led Open Doors to add Burkina Faso to its persecution watch list in 2020 for the first time, and to rank it No. 32 out of the 50 countries where its hardest to be a Christian in 2021. Meanwhile, Burkinabe Christians have debated whether or not to join civilian militias in response.]

The attacks have thrown an ill-equipped and undertrained army into disarrayand overwhelming the chaplains tasked with supporting them.

In interviews in the Center-North and in Ouagadougou, the capital, military chaplains told The Associated Press that they are stretched thin by the unprecedented conflict and what assistance they are able to provide through phone calls and prayer services is insufficient.

Image: Sophie Garcia / AP

Just seven chaplains, hailing from Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim faiths, are charged with spiritually advising some 11,000 soldiers and helping maintain their morale. The army has not devoted what little resources it has for them to embed with units, and they say the distance only makes it harder to keep soldiers motivated.

The troops face death every day.  At this moment they also need to have much more spiritual help, said Noel Henri Zongo, a chaplain and Catholic priest.

Its crucial work as experts say the psychological effects of conflict like whats occurring in Burkina Faso can be particularly tough on soldiers who are experiencing it in their country for the first time. It can put them at greater risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and also increase the likelihood of them acting in ways contrary to their moral values.

Last year, 524 civilians were killed by soldiers and local defense militias fighting alongside them, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), more than the 432 killed by the extremists. At least 180 bodies were found in mass graves near the government-controlled town of Djibo, with evidence of army involvement in large-scale executions, according to Human Rights Watch.

Etienne Bonkoungou, another of the chaplains, said he regularly counsels troops grappling with the question of whether their participation in the fight makes them defenders or killers.

The Bible says not to kill, so as a soldier these questions often arise, Bonkoungou said. To kill another, to watch a colleague die (or kill someone yourself), should you kill? Should you not kill?

To help them reconcile that dilemma, he uses biblical examples of devout people fighting in wars, and advises that even sometimes God himself orders killing.

Soldier Luc Yelkouni acknowledged that the conflict impacts our morale.

A 29-year-old veteran of nearly a decade with the military, he had never before suffered the kind of trauma as in recent years, with one colleague after another killed by the extremists. After a stint in the Sahel, he turned to a military priest for help dealing with an experience from his deployment that was so traumatic he said he didnt want to go into details, even three years later.

Speaking to the priest was reassuring, Yelkouni said.

The chaplains play a key role for us, he said, and the collaboration is really good.

While the chaplains did not say what they think the army should do, one said it would be helpful if there were four or five more of them. And they wish they could be physically closer to those deployed for dangerous duty.

The role of a chaplain is to be present where the men are, Zongo said, and what he needs to bring is the necessary capacity to face danger and to get up after failure.

The army, whose communications team facilitated the chaplain interviews and sat in on them, did not respond to a request for comment.

But last year, in an acknowledgment that its clergy needed help, it brought in US military chaplains to train their counterparts.

Maj. Mike Smith, lead chaplain with US Special Operations Command Africa, said the Burkina Faso chaplains had never been trained in tasks like caring for the wounded, counseling families, mourning the dead, and motivating fighters.

(The army was) seeing casualties on a regular basis, whether soldiers were being killed in attacks or wounded in attacks, Smith said. And  it was tearing at the resiliency of their force, just as a whole, and it even impacted their retention.

With the coronavirus pandemic also affecting operations, the US supplied the Burkina Faso chaplains with iPads that they used to record sermons and broadcast them to the front lines through messaging apps.

Image: Sophie Garcia / AP

How much they are able to lift spirits can have real consequences, with experts saying low morale in the ranks is impacting Burkina Fasos counter-terrorism strategy.

Heni Nsaibia, an ACLED analyst who specializes in the Sahel region that has been the epicenter of the violence, said it appears that volunteer militias have essentially replaced the army on the front lines as soldiers prefer to stay in their barracks.

A decision last month to conduct airstrikes and use special forces rather than launch a ground offensive after a deadly ambush in the eastern part of the country is also a likely indication of greater reluctance among regular troops, he added.

Despite the limited resources, soldiers said the chaplains have been a lifeline.

Yempabou Kobori, 30, said one thing that keeps him going is a Bible verse his pastor shared from him from the Book of Psalms, about staying safe even as thousands around you fall. He recites it before battle.

It reminds me that I am not alone.
The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in his first public comments on the war in his countrys Tigray region is sharply criticizing Ethiopias federal government, saying he believes its actions constitute genocide: They want to destroy the people of Tigray.

The United States ambassador hosted him today to learn more.

In a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, the elderly Patriarch Abune Mathias addresses the churchs scores of millions of followers and the international community, saying his previous attempts to speak out were blocked. He is ethnic Tigrayan.

The video comes as the conflict in Tigray marks six months. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones, the result of a political struggle that turned deadly in November. Dozens of witnesses have told the AP that civilians are targeted.

I am not clear why they want to declare genocide on the people of Tigray, Mathias says, speaking in Amharic and listing alleged atrocities including the destruction of churches, massacres, forced starvation, and looting.

It is not the fault of the Tigray people. The whole world should know it.

He calls for strength, adding that this bad season might pass away. And he urges the world to act.

The comments are a striking denunciation from someone so senior inside Ethiopia, where state media reflect the governments narrative and both independent journalists and Tigrayans have been intimidated and harassed. The video also comes as Ethiopia, facing multiple crises of sometimes deadly ethnic tensions, faces a national election on June 5.

Dennis Wadley, who runs the US-based Bridges of Hope ministry and has been a friend of the church leader for several years, told the AP he shot the video in an impulsive moment while visiting him last month in Ethiopias capital, Addis Ababa.

I just pulled out my iPhone and said if you want to get the word out, lets do it, Wadley said on Friday after arriving in the US. He just poured out his heart.  Its so sad. I actually hugged him; I never did that before.

A church official reached on Friday confirmed the video and the interest of Mathias in making it public. The church patriarch serves alongside a recently returned exile, Abune Merkorios.

I have said a lot of things, but no one allows the message to be shared. Rather, it is being stifled and censored, Mathias says in the video.

Many barbarisms have been conducted these days all over Ethiopia, he says, but what is happening in Tigray is of the highest brutality and cruelty.

God will judge everything, he adds.

Ethiopias government says it is deeply dismayed by the deaths of civilians, blames the former Tigray leaders and claims normality is returning in the region of some 6 million people. It has denied widespread profiling and targeting of Tigrayans.

Ethiopian Protestants largely agree with the government, Sofanit Abebe told CT.

Currently in the United Kingdom pursuing PhD studies in New Testament, next year she will return to the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST). Founded in 1997 by three prominent denominations, the seminary represents nearly all of Ethiopias evangelicals, approximately 2025 percent of the national population of 112 million.

Without naming the offending parties, the Ethiopian Gospel Believers Churches Council (EGBCC) has made clear statements in favor of the peace process, she said, and against the destructive forces intent on destroying Ethiopia.

Earlier, the EGBCC organized two separate weeks of prayer and fasting for the Tigray region, mobilizing resources on its behalf.

But Abebe noted that the conflict started when the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) first attacked the national army. While lamenting with the patriarch the sexual violence against women and other atrocities in Tigray, Abebe wonders why he has not spoken out against ethnic violence in other regions.

Perhaps he is a victim of a TPLF misinformation campaign?

The patriarchs statements were irresponsible, Abebe told CT. To throw around a term like genocide is a massive mistake that might embolden rebels across the country, when a critical election is just one month away.

Witnesses have told the AP about seeing bodies strewn on the ground on communities, Tigrayans rounded up and expelled, and women raped by Ethiopian and allied forces including those from neighboring Eritrea. Others have described family members and colleagues including priests being swept up and detained, often without charge.

Churches have been the scenes of alleged massacresone deacon in Axum has told the AP he believes some 800 people were killed in a November weekend at the church and around the cityand of mass graves.

I struggle to find a word other than genocide to describe what is going on, Meron Gebreananaye, a Tigrayan Baptist in the UK pursuing her PhD in religious studies, told CT.

I am alarmed and ashamed that so many Ethiopians are willing to engage in denial and political explanations, for what is clearly an issue of basic humanity.

Estimating about 5 percent of Tigrayans are evangelicals, she stated that the patriarchs homeland is the heart of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith and the entry point of Christianity into all of Ethiopia.

Gebreananaye is also a writer with the Tghat initiative, chronicling the war in Tigray. She referenced confirmation by the United Nations Office of Human Rights of violations by the Ethiopian army that could amount to crimes against humanity. It has agreed to carry out a joint investigation with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.

She is also concerned about reports depicting orchestration of a deliberate famine. The AP has also reported that thousands of Tigrayans across Ethiopia have been detained on suspicion of treason, far beyond suspected military personnel.

His Holiness has spoken out with great courage, Gebreananaye said, and at considerable personal danger to himself.

Mathias, born in 1942, has been outspoken in the past. In 1980, he became the first leader of the church to denounce the rule of Ethiopias communist regime and was forced to live abroad for more than thirty years, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Yoseph Mengistu, a former instructor at EGST, calls for deliberation.

Sadly, at the moment, many are siding with either TPLF or the Ethiopian government without knowing the intricacies of the situation, the senior teaching fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London told CT.

I dont believe the patriarch is lying or trying to misinform.

But there is a war going onand beyond conventional means. While rebel forces were routed quickly, they have rebounded with a war of propaganda. Too many Western media outlets and governments have been taken in, he said.

Not present in Ethiopia, Mengistu is hesitant to comment on the details. But as it is, the people suffer.

The innocent and poverty-stricken peoples of Tigray are a bargaining chip, Mengisto said, and are caught up in the middle.

So also are the churches.

Religious leaders are influenced by their ethnic roots, Ermias Mamo, deputy secretary-general of the Kale Heywet church, told CT. We are divided more than any time before.

The previous TPLF government is partly the cause, he said, as to stay in power it destroyed the national vision. President Abiy Ahmeda fellow evangelicalis doing his best to unify the nation, encouraging change and democracy. But given the nature of the country, regional leadership defers to its ethnic majority.

As a result, churches, mosques, and evangelicals are all divided.

We are in a mess, hoping for the Lord to intervene, said Mamo.

It is confusing and complicated. Please pray for us.

Cara Anna reported for the AP from Nairobi, and writer Haleluya Hadero contributed. Jayson Casper reported for CT from Beirut.
As COVID-19 vaccination rates slowed this spring, Americans attention turned toward the groups less likely to get the shot, including white evangelicals.

Black Protestants were initially among the most skeptical toward the vaccine, but they grew significantly more open to it during the first few months of the year, while white evangelicals hesitancy held steady.

With African Americans, many credit robust campaigns targeting Black neighborhoods, launching vaccination clinics in Black churches, and convening discussions featuring prominent Black Christian voices for reducing rates of hesitancy. So for those eager to see higher levels of vaccination, the question became: Are white evangelical leaders doing enough to engage their own?

The latest poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research organization focused on health issues, found that as of the end of April, white evangelicals (54%) were about as likely to have received the COVID-19 vaccine as the country overall (56%).

The difference comes with the attitudes among the unvaccinated. White evangelicals are half as likely as Americans overall to say they plan to get the shot ASAP, and 20 percent say they definitely wont be getting the shot, 7 percentage points lower than the rest of the country.

Most evangelical churches in the country span a range of perspectives on vaccination, which makes it difficult for pastors to know when or how to address the topic.

I know pastors who wont even mention masks because people would leave. Id say vaccines are even more sensitive, said Dan DeWitt, who directs the Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity at Cedarville University. Pastors feel so constrained. They want to take care of their people, but they know one careless comment could cost them.

The issues dividing the country in 2020 divided churches too. While pastors tried to adapt worship services and continue to provide spiritual care for the suffering and mourning, congregational disputes over politics, racial issues, and COVID-19 responses spiked. Church leaders fielded complaints for being too cautious or not cautious enough, with members threatening to leave or simply making the move over reopening plans.

After a year like that, some dont feel comfortable publicly endorsing or rejecting the shot; maybe they would if tensions werent so high. Even pastors who personally trust the vaccine and would recommend it may worry that its not their topic to preach on or that doing so would unsettle their congregation.

Curtis Chang, the former pastor and Fuller Theological Seminary senior fellow behind ChristiansAndtheVaccine.com, says pastors are in a tough position. Theyre really stuck. Theyre feeling paralyzed and muzzled, he said. He challenges them to think beyond Sunday sermons to other ways to engage the issue.

Changs site and campaign offer a slate of informative videos for Christians and for pastors in particular. His message to those leading evangelical congregations: Dont feel like you need to preach on this from the pulpit. Look for other subtle ways to exercise your influence.

Thats what Kentucky minister Carl Canterbury did. He told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he wouldnt address the vaccine from the pulpit, but, knowing that vaccine misinformation is rampant in his small town in east Kentucky, he would talk to fellow members at Louellen Pentecostal Church about why he went ahead and got the Johnson & Johnson shot.

So many people think its a conspiracy, and they want to know, are you getting it? The day I had my shot, I had four members in our church to stop by and ask, did I take the shot, and I told them, yes, Canterbury said, noting that every pastor in the small town of Closplint had also been vaccinated. Because I did, they did.

What happened at his Pentecostal church, where people changed their mind after hearing a pastor or church member talk about why they got the shot, is a promising trend.

And it makes sense. Though many people were eager to immediately roll up their sleeves for the COVID-19 jab, having questions about the new vaccines or wanting to wait for others to get the shot is actually a common, natural response, wrote epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz.

Its also worth reiterating that most of these hesitant people do eventually get vaccinated. Sometimes they are late, sometimes they take a while to convince, but most of them are reasonable people worried about something they dont yet fully understand, he said. Most can also be reassured with time and adequate information shared by medical providers.

PRRI found in March that among churchgoers who are waiting to see if theyll get the vaccine, nearly half of white Protestants said engagement from their faith communityeither seeing others get vaccinated or hosting events like forums or clinicswould make them more likely to do so.

The poll also found that white evangelical Protestants who attend church more often are slightly less likely to want to get the vaccine (in March, 43% said they had done so or planned to ASAP) than those who attend less often (48%). Among Black Protestants, it was the opposite; church attendance was correlated with greater openness to the vaccine.

Chang suggested that the Black church tradition has primed them to see health as a community issue, and that Black churchgoers are more likely to trust the model set by their pastorsmany of whom signed up for the vaccine early in public-facing vaccination campaigns.

As vaccine access expanded in March and April, many prominent pastors touted their decision to get the vaccine, such as Southern Baptist Convention president J. D. Greear, who posted a #sleeveup selfie on Twitter. Others opened their churches as vaccination sites, such as First Baptist Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress, a former evangelical adviser to President Trump.

But many white evangelicals see vaccination not as a mandate of their faith but as a matter of personal conscience. Its between them and their families, them and their health care provider, or them and God.

There are a few who embrace conspiracy theories about the vaccine and the coronavirus, of the sort promoted by evangelical leaders such as Eric Metaxas, and some who claim the inoculation is somehow connected to the mark of the beast. More commonly, though, evangelicals who are hesitant to receive the vaccine were resisting what they saw as cultural pressure to take away their freedom to make an individual decision.

Chang said that for some the attitude is, I made my decision. Dont tell me what to do, or I prayed about it, God told me not to take the vaccine, therefore end of discussion.

Christian messaging around the COVID-19 vaccine has employed a range of theological reasoning: Vaccination is a way to take advantage of the blessings and protections God gives us through science. Its an expression of love and care for our neighbors, especially those who are medically vulnerable. It allows us to participate in Gods healing of the world.

As stances on masking and vaccination become conflated with ideological positions, evangelicals are also sensitive to how they talk about the issues in faith terms.

At Madison Baptist Church in Georgia, pastor Griffin Gulledge models wearing a mask to church and prays during services to thank God for the vaccine and for effective treatments against the coronavirusThat sends a message, he saysbut he also believes that hes not a public health expert, and people may have good reasons for waiting to vaccinate.

Christ tells us to love your neighbor as yourself, then the apostle Paul tells us to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. I think those are two things we need to balance, said Gulledge. I dont think it is reasonable for people to say in all cases, universally, to love your neighbor you must follow this or that precaution and you must get vaccinated at this time.  These things are complicated. Reasonable people are going to come to different conclusions.

Despite assumptions about COVID-19 approaches in the rural South, 30-year-old Gulledge said the vast majority of his church was eager to get vaccinated, so much that they helped him find an appointment to get the shot when he moved to Madison to become the churchs pastor in March of this year.

Being a pastor and being a part of Christian community has always involved designating between matters of gospel importance and individual freedom. Lately, those issues have come up in particularly visible, fraught ways as the country takes sides on pandemic responses and vaccines.

DeWitt at Cedarville points out how much tone and perception matter when it comes to how churches address COVID-19. What some people see as an act of caring, others see as overreach.

How do we stay committed to the gospel and committed to this message that we care for body and soul? he asked. If there is no good evidence that the vaccine is hurtful, and if there is evidence that the vaccine is helpful, then church leaders should be vocalnot for virtue-signaling but because its an actual good and leads to flourishing.

DeWitt also sees the attitudes over coronavirus responses as tied to deeper issues in the American church, where he worries too many people are conflating scriptural identity and political identity. Were in a culture in which things that are superficial are seen as deeper loyalties, he said.

The fact that American evangelicalism is so fragmentedthat the big-name ministry leader who inspires one group of evangelicals may totally turn off anothermakes it a challenge to engage the movement as a whole, even when calling on shared beliefs and values.

The recipe here is information plus trust, said Chang. We can provide the information. The trust has to come from a person whos sending this along and saying to their friend or their church or their family, Hey, would you be willing to take a look?
Before Biden runs up the debt, he should read Proverbs

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In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20 NIV

In the field of personal financial planning, we apply this verse all the time when we tell clients to maintain a cash reserve of at least three to six months of living expenses. Having cash reserves in our time is equivalent to having food and oil in storehouses. In the wisdom literature of Proverbs, when it is wise to do one thing the implication is that it is unwise or foolish to do the opposite. Therefore, since it is wise to maintain healthy storehouses of supplies, it is foolish to have nothing in ones barn.

This principle  like just about every principle that applies to personal finances  applies equally to states and nations. Therefore, a wise nation maintains a storehouse or reserves. Likewise, a foolish nation spends or consumes all that they take in.

Here in North Carolina, the state is required to save 15% of each years tax revenue growth for it to be set aside in the states Rainy Day Fund. This our states storehouse. Leading up to the Covid Recession, multiple sources listed North Carolina as well-prepared for an economic emergency. One such source was Moodys Analytics. You can find their infographic here, which listed North Carolina as Highly Prepared for Moderate Recession, Mostly Prepared for Severe Recession. The infographic is from their 2018 Stress-Testing Study.

While it is encouraging to know that many of our nations states have similar laws mandating a reserve of some variety, sadly, the federal government does not. That has resulted in the federal government spending everything it collects in taxation and leaving nothing for the inevitable rainy day.

In personal financial planning, we see bad debt being created for one of two reasons. There is either a spending problem  i.e., the individual is spending more money than they make  or they experienced an emergency during a period when there were no cash reserves on hand.

During our nations early years, when debt was created, it was solely done for emergency purposes  usually war. After the wars conclusion, we typically paid down that debt. Somewhere along the lines, we have lost that tradition. To compound the issue, we have also developed a spending problem.

The chart below is sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Database, affectionately referred to as FRED. This official government data shows our nations debt as a percentage of our nations Gross Domestic Product. Our debt is currently 129% of our nations economic output.

To put this into proper perspective, imagine sitting down to review your financial plan and realizing that you have accumulated $129,000 in credit card debt while only having a salary of $100,000. To someone making $1,000,000 in income per year, that $129,000 in credit card debt might be manageable. However, for the person making $100,000 in annual income, the $129,000 credit card debt is likely to be a very large problem that needs to be addressed. Ultimately, there are only two ways to pay down debts. You either reduce your spending or increase your revenue.

When it comes to our nations debt problem, we often hear that we need a balance of the two approaches. Lets look at the tax argument first.

President Biden has proposed a tax increase. Some have argued that his proposal, if enacted, would be the largest tax increase since 1993 or 1968 (depending on who you read). One of my favorite verses is 1 Peter 3:15b. It reads Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. While Peter is obviously talking about the hope that we have in Christ (see the first part of the verse), we can certainly apply this principle to our daily lives. We should be able to defend our beliefs with sound reason articulated with gentleness and respect. So, while you might be immediately for or against President Bidens tax increase proposal, can you defend your position with reason?

The chart below is again sourced from FRED, so it is official government data. While I have combined the data into one chart, each dataset can be verified by visiting the FRED website. The hyperlinks are in the footnotes.

The gray vertical bars represent official recessions as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The green line illustrates the highest income tax rate over time. The scale on the left side of the chart shows us that, for example, in 1944 and 1945, the highest income tax rate at the time was 94%. Likewise, we see that the current highest income tax rate is 37%.

The black line uses the scale on the right side of the chart, and it illustrates the federal receipts (tax revenue) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product. The red dashed line is a 12-year simple moving average in an attempt to smooth out the swings.

By putting all this information onto a single chart, we see that our tax revenue has never exceeded 20% of Gross Domestic Product  at least not since 1930 which is the earliest date that we have data for all datasets. In 1950, tax receipts were a little more than 13% of our nations GDP. However, since 1951 tax receipts as a percentage of GDP have been relatively steady, swinging from ~15-18% most of the time. This is despite a somewhat steady decline in the top tax rate.

From this study, we can conclude that the federal government takes in approximately 16% of GDP in tax revenue regardless of the top tax rate. Therefore, in order to address the massive debt that our nation has been steadily accumulating since the 1982 recession, our nations leaders should be focusing on ways to increase our nations output and not on our nations top tax rate.

If history is our guide  and it should be  then raising the tax rates per the Presidents proposal should yield approximately 16% of our GDP in tax revenues. If the President and Congress leave the tax rates alone, the same appears to be true. Raising tax revenues by increasing tax rates appears to be a fallacy.

In looking at this data, it is also interesting to note that the revenue collected is eerily similar to a flat tax rate. Regardless of tax rates, it certainly appears that the revenue generated is a fairly steady 15-18% of GDP. One could make a case for a flat tax being biblical. Isnt it interesting that it appears that Gods natural order of the economy seems to also suggest that a flat tax is a natural outcome?

Chart Sources: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) via Optuma.

Chart One is the Total Public Debt as a Percentage of GDP. You can find the chart on the St. Louis Fed website here.

Chart Two illustrates:

Green Line  US Individual Income Tax: Tax Rates for Regular Tax: Highest Bracket, found here.

Black Line  Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product, found here.
Controversial televangelist Ernest Angley dies at 99

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Members of Grace Cathedral in Ohio wept openly in the sanctuary as leaders announced the death of their controversial founding pastor, televangelist Ernest Angley Friday. He was 99.

First off, wed like to thank all of you for praying for Rev. Angley, and Rev. Angley made so many sacrifices for all of us, and he showed us so much love, began Grace Cathedrals Rev. Steve Millar in a Friday night service broadcast on Facebook.

But Rev. Angley, because of his decline this past week, around 4:30 today went to Heaven. Rev. Angley was our father, our pastor. He was an author, he announced through sniffling as audible weeping erupted from the congregation in the background.

Millar said that Angley, who never remarried after his wife, Esther Lee Angel Sikes, died in 1970, is reunited with her.

Angley was dear to our hearts, but we know hes in Heaven now with his wife, Angel, and [her death] was over 50 years ago, Millar stated. Now he can see his wife [and] he doesnt have any ache and pain in his body.

On Sunday, as the church celebrated Mothers Day and continued mourning the passing of their founder, Rev. Chris Machamer noted that Angley was also reunited with his mother too.

The Lord called his servant home, and it was such a quick calling. Rapidly, his health went down. And in a matter of a couple of days, he was in Heaven, Machamer said during the livestreamed service. He snapped his finger to indicate how quickly Angley died.

I was just thinking as they were singing the last song, Rev. Angleys mother had such a great impact on his life growing up down through the years. And its been many, many decades since hes been able to see his mother. But hes seeing her now.

Angleys church operates campuses in Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, Ohio. His weekly one-hour program The Ernest Angley Hour is broadcast both nationally and internationally.

While he has ministered to millions over the years, Angley also attracted attention due to multiple controversies.

In 2017, the church was forced to close its Cathedral Buffet after a U.S. District Court ordered the congregation to pay $388,000 in back wages and damages to more than 200 congregation members who had worked at the restaurant. Even though Angley won an appeal, the restaurant did not reopen.

A report in 2019 also presented 23-year-old recorded evidence suggesting Angley had sexual relations with a man. The scandal, which began in 1996, led to a significant drop in membership at his church. It is unclear how many members remain.

The allegations came to light after a longtime associate pastor suddenly resigned and told friends and family that Angley had touched him inappropriately for seven years.

Angley and two other members of his ministry addressed the allegations during a church service on July 13, 2014, a recording of which was reviewed by The Beacon Journal.

"I'm not a homosexual. God wouldn't use a homosexual like he uses me. He calls me his prophet, and indeed I am ," Angley reportedly said in the recording, according to The Journal.

"They called Jesus a homosexual. Did you know that? And still do because he was with men. Oh, Mary Magdalene and a few women. But you can't stop the people's lies," Angley was quoted as saying.

Angley, who was also accused of inappropriately touching the genitals of male members, denied touching them at the time but admitted to inspecting their "privates" and asking them to come in for follow-up inspection sessions following vasectomies.

"I've helped so many of the boys down through the years. They had their misgivings. Sure, I'd have them uncover themselves, but I did not handle them at all," he said in the recording of the service.

"I would tell them how that would work. And they'd have to watch it. I'd have some of them come back to me that I felt needed to. And I would tell them, I would look at them, their privates  I, so I could tell how they were swelling.

Former church members explained at the time that church members were often threatened and bullied into following Angleys orders, which included life-changing decisions that broke up some families.

The former members accused the pastor of controlling what they read, what they watched on television, who they married and when.

Pam Cable of Akron, who left the church in 1988, told The Beacon Journal at the time that the man is a monster.

"He's a monster. And I can't understand why all these years have gone by and nobody's ever really been able to do anything about him, she said. The people in Akron, Ohio, have a Jim Jones sitting in their backyard. ... These people in his congregation would drink the Kool-Aid if he told them to. They would.
House church leader arrested by Chinese authorities on 'spurious' fraud charges

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Amid an ongoing crackdown on Christians and their churches, communist authorities in China have arrested an elder of a house church in southwestern Guizhou province in a trumped-up fraud case, according to reports.

Zhang Chunlei, an elder of Love (Renai) Reformed Church in Guiyang, was arrested on suspicion of fraud on May 1, the day Chinas new administrative measures on religious clergy went into effect, the United Kingdom-based nonprofit Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.

In its newsletter, the house church decried the arrest as a serious trampling on the Christian faith.

We know that he has been treated so unfairly because of his faith. The so-called charges against him for scamming brothers and sisters are simply unfounded; the suspected fraud is outright absurd! the church insisted.

Zhang was first placed under administrative detention for illegally operating as an association on March 16, hours after police raided a Christian retreat at a privately rented property in Guiyang attended by some members of his church.

That day, at least five church members were administratively detained while a dozen family homes were searched. Computers, phones and documents were confiscated from the homes while several church members have been summoned and questioned by police, according to CSW.

Zhang was arrested after he went to the police station to negotiate the release of his church members, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported in April.

While three other Christians from his church were released after three days of administrative detention, Zhang didn't walk free on March 28 when he finished his detention. Instead, he was charged for fraud on the same day, ICC reported.

CSWs founder and President Mervyn Thomas said in a statement that Zhang spent over six weeks in detention on charges that are "corempletely unfounded." Thomas called Zhang's fraud charges "equally spurious."

We call for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all charges against him to be dropped," Thomas said.

Last month, Chinese rights lawyer Sui Muqing told The Epoch Times that Zhangs wife, Yang Aiqing, was taken away by police on April 21 after being subpoenaed, along with Zhangs son and younger brother. Zhangs son and brother were released the same day, while Yang was detained in handcuffs and shackles for 24 hours before her release.

Love Reformed Church is an unregistered Protestant church that was forcibly shut down by the authorities in September 2018, months after revised administrative regulations on religion came into force.

Last week, police arrested a preacher from the heavily-persecuted house church in southwestern Sichuan province, Early Rain Covenant Church, for allegedly disturbing public order by officiating a members funeral.

Preacher Wu Wuqing was arrested by officers from Damian Police Station in Chengdu citys Longquanyi District on Friday afternoon, hours after the funeral service, ICC reported.

In April, authorities harassed house church leaders across China, including elder Zhang from Guiyang Renai Reformed Church, preacher Zhang Peihong at Shanghai Lancun Zhongyue Church, and preachers Qie Jiafu and Huang Chunzi at Beijings Zion Church.

Authorities in China are also continuing their crackdown on Christianity by removing Bible apps and Christian WeChat public accounts as new highly restrictive administrative measures on religious staff went into effect last week.

Father Francis Liu from the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness said in a tweet that some Christian WeChat accounts, including Gospel League and Life Quarterly, were no longer available online, ICC reported at the time.

According to recently-released reports, religious persecution in China intensified in 2020, with thousands of Christians affected by church closures and other human rights abuses.

CCP officials are enforcing strict controls on religion under the direction of President Xi Jinping, according to a report released in March by China Aid.

Open Doors USAs World Watch List ranks China as the 17th-worst country in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians. The organization notes that all churches are perceived as a threat if they become too large, too political or invite foreign guests.

The U.S. State Department has labeled China as a country of particular concern for continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
ND gov. vetoes penalty for colleges that award funding to abortion providers

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North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has vetoed part of a bill that would have penalized higher education institutions that direct government grant money to abortion providers.

Last Friday, Burgum signed Senate Bill 2030, which includes a clause prohibiting colleges and universities from providing challenge grant funding to entities that provide abortions unless the abortions provided are necessary to prevent the death of the woman.

However, Burgum vetoed a section of the bill that would have created a penalty of $2.8 million for any institution of higher learning found to violate the grant ban.

The section would have also penalized any individual who signs a contract that violates the bill with a class B misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.

In his official veto message obtained by The Christian Post, Burgum explained that the penalty was, among other issues, void of due process and egregious in its amount.

The State Board of Higher Education is simply instructed to deduct the $2.8 million without providing the institution with formal notice, an opportunity for hearing, or a determination by an objective fact finder, wrote Burgum.

 leaders of our higher education institutions have shared that their faculty, researchers and grant officers are unwilling to take such a personal risk, thereby jeopardizing hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding and putting jobs, careers and faculty recruitment at severe risk across our university system.

In the statement, Burgum reaffirmed his administrations support for strong pro-life public policies, adding that taxpayer funding should not go toward funding abortions.

Burgum stated that the sections of the bill he left intact were meant to clarify that higher education institutions are ineligible to receive challenge grant funding from the state unless they ensure that the grant dollars won't go to abortion organizations.

Introduced in January, SB 2030 passed the House of Representatives on April 7 in a vote of 66 yeas to 25 nays. The bill passed the state Senate on April 26 with a vote of 35 yeas to 11 nays.

According to The Star Tribune, the bill was primarily designed to prevent North Dakota State University from providing grant funding to Planned Parenthood for sex education.

The legislation had its share of critics, among them the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. FIRE argued that SB 2030 conflicted with First Amendment protections for public universities.

FIRE takes no position on the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, but notes that this bill is viewpoint-based discrimination at its most obvious, wrote FIRE legislative fellow Josh Smith in April.

After all, the funding restrictions only target pro-choice organizations and viewpoints, leaving pro-life organizations and speakers unaffected.

The North Dakota Catholic Conference, which supported the legislation, explained in a statement after the veto that the pro-life provisions and the challenge grants remain intact.

With the veto of Section 5 of the bill, there is no new language requiring the institutions to never partner with an abortion provider, the conference stated.

However, the discussions about SB 2030 alerted the institutions to existing pro-life laws which they must follow. Governor Burgum expressly called attention to these already existing laws in his statement.

The conference added that the North Dakota University System will now have to decide whether to help our students by accepting the challenge grants or do business with abortion providers.

We call on them to choose life, the Catholic conference stressed.
No address was available for Stephens and both were pronounced dead at about 8:15 p.m., according to the medical examiner.
Saddleback Church 'in violation of SBC doctrine by ordaining women pastors, Al Mohler says

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Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler says Rick Warren's California-based Saddleback Church is in "direct violation" of denominational teaching for ordaining three women pastors and is calling for the denomination to reaffirm its teaching.

This past week, Saddleback Community Church in California ordained three women as pastors. In a development described by the church as historic, the church posted a photograph of the ordinations with the text: Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren and others pray over the first three women the church has ordained as pastors, Mohler wrote in an op-ed published on his website Monday.

Citing a Live Good interview with Cynthia Petty, one of the women ordained as a pastor by the largest church in the denomination, Mohler said that there is "no doubt" that the women were promoted to an office traditionally reserved for men.

There is no doubt that these three women are considered to serve as pastors and in the teaching office. Southern Baptists are clear, through the Baptist Faith & Message, that this is contrary to Scripture, Mohler stressed.

This is no longer a point of tension and debate. These moves represent an attempt to redefine and reformulate the convictional foundation of Southern Baptist faith and cooperative ministry. The theological issues have not changed since the year 2000 when Southern Baptists spoke clearly and precisely in the Baptist Faith & Message. More importantly, the Holy Scriptures have not changed and cannot change.

Mohler, who is vying to become the next president of the SBC, argued that an increasing number of SBC churches like Saddleback have promoted women as preachers or pastors. He said the denomination needs to make the standards of denominational cooperation clear for all affiliated churches.

In an increasing number of cases, it is now clear that some churches, including quite large and well-known churches, are placing women in the office of pastor in direct violation of our confession of faith. Further, a number of churches that are at least listed as Southern Baptist welcomed and advertised women preaching in the morning service, he stated.

The Southern Baptist Convention must not be unclear about our theological convictions and the ground of our cooperation. We cannot afford to be. Attempts to deny the issue will not work. Right now, Southern Baptists will decide if we will redefine the doctrine of the Southern Baptist Convention. I do not believe that Southern Baptists will allow this to happen. I do not believe that Southern Baptists will retreat from the truth.

The Christian Post reached out on Monday to inquire if Saddleback plans to remain a part of the SBC. However, a response was not immediately received.

Mohler noted in his op-ed that the push to ordain women preachers isnt new. He stated that the issue was roiled the SBC since the 1970s until the conventions Conservative Resurgence clarified the question conclusively.

There never was a moment when more than a handful of women served as pastors of SBC churches, but the mainline Protestant denominations were rushing headlong into the ordination of women as pastors and (Episcopal) priests, driven by two major energies  first, the demands of second wave feminism and, second, the impulses unleashed by liberation theology, he argued.

In both cases, the main obstacle was the Bible, but, already compromised by theological liberalism, these denominations deployed revisionist arguments to defuse any argument from Scripture. The strategies of biblical subversion also took two basic forms. The argument was proffered that either the Bible was misread by Christians for nearly 2,000 years or the Bible is just hopelessly mired in patriarchy and oppression and the biblical authors were flat wrong.

Mohler argues that denominations that have adopted liberal theology have brought about the feminization of liberal Protestantism, which has been like the kiss of death for them.

Put bluntly, there are just not that many males left, he added. Actually, there are not many people left in those churches. Liberal theology is the kiss of death for any church or denomination. Little remains but social justice activism and deferred maintenance.

Jason Keith Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the Saddleback ordinations a disappointing departure from Scripture.

This is a disappointing departure from the clear teaching of Scripture, the BF&M, & long-held SBC consensus & practice, he tweeted Sunday. I Tim 3 & Titus 1 list qualifications, not suggestions. Lets hold fast to Scripture.

Pastor Dwight McKissic, who leads Cornerstone Baptist Church in Texas, argued on Twitter that Scripture is not as clear on the topic as conservative pastors say.

Rick Warren has written the best selling book in Christendom & is a SWBTS graduate, McKissic wrote in response to Allens tweet. Billy Graham affirmed women preachers. If the Scripture is clear as you say, then Ghrahm, Warren, & whoever let a woman preach in SWBTS, wouldnt have done so.

My point is, the SBC has never, ever declared Saddlebacks, Billy [Graham] or the Texas pastor where Beth Moore preached yesterday, wrong. Therefore, its technically not true, thus, inaccurate for Dr. Allen, or anyone else to claim the SBC officially forbids a woman frm preaching.
UMC chaplain treks 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail to minister to people along the way

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A United Methodist Church chaplain recently began an assignment offering pastoral and personal support for those trekking along the 2,193-mile Appalachian Trail.

The Tennessee-based UMC Holston Conference named Chris Bone Spur Estus, who oversees a ministry to help those struggling with substance abuse, as their ninth Appalachian Chaplain.

In an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday, Estus explained that the position involves him being loving, listening, and [a] non-reactive presence to people along the way.

Estus, who got his hiking nickname "Bone Spur" due to having a bone spur in the big toe of his right foot and being a San Antonio Spurs fan, began walking the trail on March 26. The Appalachian Trail is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States that runs from Georgia to Maine.

I've done two sections. I've done Maryland, and I've done New Jersey. And, in fact, I just finished New Jersey last week. And I did those as 'shake-down hikes,' just to make sure that I was properly prepared, he explained.

I'm doing what is called a 'flip-flop. [Its] where you start halfway, and then you go North to Maine, and then you turn around, and you go back to where you started from, and you go South to Georgia.

On May 22, Estus will start again on the trail, beginning at Pen Mar Park on the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania and then head North.

Estus has a history of walking long trails. He hiked the Colorado Trail in 2020, a 485-mile route from Denver to Durango.

Estus told CP that while the Colorado journey was not an official ministerial assignment, he nevertheless was able to do ministry along the way.

I am in 12-step recovery and have been for 21 years, and so, therefore, my entire life is sort of a walking ministry, noted the chaplain. I'm going to whoever is along the way.

Having a traveling chaplain is not unprecedented in the UMC. The early Methodist Church of the 18th and 19th centuries was known for its itinerant preachers and circuit riders.

I would say it's similar in that I'm truly itinerant with my ministry being 2,193 miles long plus the stops along the way. Its not like I'm settled in one place, waiting for the people to come to me, Estus said.

Regarding his experiences on the Appalachian Trail, Estus told CP that he's been impressed by the willingness and actual thirst people have to talk about things that concern them most. This includes encountering a number of people who suffer from the disease of substance abuse disorder in one way or another.

A great number of people experiencing it not because they have the problem themselves, but rather a family member or a friend does. Frequently these people have no one to talk to, no one who understands, Estus noted. I'm fortunately in a position, after 21 years recovery, of being able to listen and offer my experience.

My experience has been that God can do for me [than] what I can't do for myself, whether its quitting drinking, trying to control the substance abuse of a loved one, or even climbing the next mountain, he added.
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Lets begin with some good news: you didnt get hit by falling rocket debris yesterday.

Remnants of a Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday. Most of its components were destroyed upon entering the atmosphere. Parts that survived reentry crashed into the ocean west of the Maldives, a small island chain south of India.

However, we dont need threats from space to endanger life on Earth.

Six people were killed yesterday morning during a birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The suspected shooter, believed to be a boyfriend of one of the victims, is dead as well. One of Americas largest pipelines was shut down late Friday after being hit by a cyberattack and is still offline this morning.

Last Saturday afternoon, three bystanders were shot in New York Citys Times Square when a man arguing with other people fired wildly into the crowd. One of the victims was a 4-year-old girl who was toy shopping with her family and was hit in the left leg.

Speaking of children: the Walt Disney Company has unveiled the Rainbow Disney Collection. Designed to honor the annual Pride month in June that celebrates the LGBT community and movement, the catalog of apparel and toys features T-shirts, Mickey Mouse ears, mugs, and even baby apparel, all adorned with rainbows.

This is just one way Disney seeks to introduce children to LGBT ideology. The 2020 Disney-Pixar animated film Onward had a minor character who was a lesbian; Pixars short film Out featured a gay lead character; and the Disney Channel cartoon series The Owl House featured a bisexual main character.

In 2018, Cartoon Network featured a same-sex wedding proposal on the animated series Steven Universe. The network is working to create comic strips asserting that there are multiple gender identities. Earlier this year, the Nickelodeon series Blues Clues and You! unveiled a song teaching children the alphabet while promoting LGBT advocacy.

'The stronger the emphasis, the fewer the Christians'

If youre like me, you read such news and feel frustrated that the Church is not doing more to impact the culture. If we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:1314), why is our salt and light not doing more to season and enlighten our culture? Why, in fact, are churches and Christian institutions sometimes the problem more than the solution?

In an article published yesterday, David French makes a vital distinction between Christendom and Christianity. As he explains, Christianity is the faith, Christians are believers in the faith, and Christendom is the collective culture and institutions (universities, ministries) of the faith.

French cites the Danish philosopher Sren Kierkegaard, who saw the Christian institutions of his day as hurting rather than helping the faith. Kierkegaard issued the compelling warning that imitating Jesus is really the point from which the human race shrinks. The main difficulty lies here; here is where it is really decided whether or not one is willing to accept Christianity.

He then explained the problem: If there is emphasis on this point, the stronger the emphasis, the fewer the Christians. If there is a scaling down at this point (so that Christianity becomes, intellectually, a doctrine), more people enter into Christianity. If it is abolished completely . . . Christianity spreads to such a degree that Christendom and the world are almost indistinguishable, or all become Christians; Christianity has completely conqueredthat is, it is abolished!

In other words, we can make the imitation of Jesus into doctrines about Jesus and then build institutions to proclaim these doctrines. But we should remember Jamess warning: You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believeand shudder! (James 2:19).

Doctrines and institutions that do not lead people to know and imitate Jesus personally will never change the culture. Thats because the culture changes when people change. And people are changed not by our words but by Gods Spirit.

People tempted by LGBT attraction and ideology are liberated not by protesting against Disney (though we should clearly stand against unbiblical morality) but by the transformation Jesus brings to a life yielded fully to him (2 Corinthians 5:17). For people being tempted by other forms of immorality in our broken culture, the answer is the same: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 4:6).

The earliest image of Jesus

A 2,000-year-old marble head of Emperor Augustus has been discovered in a town in Italy. It was originally part of a statue towering at least six feet seven inches. I have seen many such statues of Augustus in museums, each depicting the emperor in power and glory.

Now contrast these statues with the earliest image of the Savior born in Bethlehem when Augustus ruled from Rome (Luke 2:17). It was made in mockery of the Christian faith and depicted a donkey-headed Christ on his cross. Other early images made by Christians show Jesus as a shepherd and a healer. Not until the fourth century do we find images of him ruling in authority.

This is not because his earliest followers knew Jesus to be anything less than King of kings and Lord of lords (cf. Revelation 19:16). Rather, their depictions call us to serve our King by serving others. The more we love Jesus, the more we will love those he loves. And he loves everyone.

The Holy Spirit uses changed people to change the world. The apostles could impact the Sanhedrin by their preaching because their lives had been impacted by its truth (Acts 4:13). Paul could call multitudes to Jesus because he had been transformed by Jesus (cf. Acts 22:121).

Churches and institutions can call our culture to imitate Jesus to the degree that those who comprise these churches and institutions imitate Jesus.

The 'visible absence' and 'invisible presence' of God

If you and I will meet with our risen Lord each day in worship, submitting to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and asking him to manifest the character of our Lord in our lives (Galatians 5:2223), he will answer our prayer. If, like Jesus, we will seek to serve rather than to be served (Mark 10:45), our Lord will use us to draw others to himself.

In Telling the Truth, Frederick Buechner speaks of the visible absence and the invisible presence of God in the world. I would add a third category: the visible presence of God in the world through the people of God in the world.

Whom will you serve today?

Originally published at the Denison Forum
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The Jewish holiday of Shavuot is approaching and many American Jews reading this will not know what I am talking about. Shavuot (Pentecost) celebrates the giving of the Torah (Bible) to the ancient Hebrews at Mount Sinai whereupon they became the Jewish nation, entrusted with the laws that would inspire and change their history and that of the entire worlds forever. It is one of the most important days on the Jewish calendar and sadly so few even know how to pronounce it.

What happens to a people that is so disconnected from its own foundational texts and traditions? Contemporary American Jewry provides the answer. Our community is thinning through assimilation and intermarriage and ignorance has led large portions of it to rebrand Judaism as social justice. More non-Orthodox Jews in America are likely informed about books like White Fragility than they are the Old Testament. We are a diminished, weakened form of our old selves.

Diaspora Jews have always proven a barometer of the wider culture in which they live. Non-Jewish Americans are similarly breaking from their traditions and core beliefs, busily constructing a society of young people who dont know Adam Smith and havent read The Federalist Papers. What becomes of this people?

They elect socialists to Congress and elevate Marxists to positions of influence. They deny young men on college campuses due process and promote race-based theories that run counter to the American ideal. They reject their history and destroy their future as they flail about, unmoored by the wisdom they inherited because they have chosen not to inherit it. They too are a faded shadow of their promise.

Shavuot literally means weeks. Jews are commanded to count daily the 7 weeks between the holiday of Passover when our forefathers left Egypt to Shavuot when we received the Law which was the starting point of our true freedom, as a people united by principles and a mission rather than by victimhood and oppression. There are two important lessons embedded here that Americans of all faiths (and none) can use now more than ever.

First, people need laws to shape their lives and guide them toward a higher purpose and prosperity. Without them we are aimless, and all we know how to do is destroy. Abolishing the police, erasing our borders, decriminalizing criminal behavior, equity  these are bad ideas born from minds that have been deprived of all the good ideas our history has bestowed upon us. The Jews couldnt enter the Promised Land until they received the law and agreed to abide by it. Americans cant get there either if we treat the Constitution as a working draft or the Amendments as not absolute.

Second, it takes hard work and time. God might have offered the Bible to the ancient Hebrews immediately on the other side of the Red Sea but He made the people walk the desert first for seven weeks. Imagine seven weeks of civics taught in every middle school and high school in this country. Imagine making every elected official participate in seven weeks of American history and economics lessons before assuming office. What if time and effort had to be put into the assumption of responsibility for the laws that govern our country? Would there still be bad leadership and bad ideas? Yes. But maybe fewer.
Pastors warn smartphone addiction 'major issue' in Church, offer solutions

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Two pastors have offered practical advice for combating smartphone addiction  an issue they said is permeating the Church at an unprecedented rate.

Smartphone addiction is one of the major pastoral issues of today, Joe Rigney, an author, seminary professor, and pastor at Cities Church, said in a video posted on the Gospel Coalition website, yet it only emerged in recent years.

I think anytime when were preaching at our church and we make an application to technology and smartphones ... you can feel it palpably from our people that theres a hunger for, Yes, we feel like theres something wrong here, and we just dont know exactly what to do. Because we feel like theyre so essential to living. Theyre so useful in so many ways, yet it feels like theres something thats off, he said.

The first step in combating smartphone addiction, Rigney said, is admitting theres a problem to begin with.

I think the first thing is just to admit and recognize that if youre a pastor or if youre a layperson, youre not the only one, and this is a more widespread problem, and you need to admit that it is a real problem, he said. I think that probably the first thing is just to really face it squarely  these little devices have been designed by some of the smartest people on the planet to make sure that youre on them all the time, and youre not Superman.

Instead of reaching for a smartphone at the beginning of the day, Rigney recommended reaching for the Bible or spending time in prayer.

If I resist [my phone] and get to prayer, Bible ... all of a sudden when Im getting out the door Im like, Oh, that was good. That was a good morning. I feel different than if I had been scrolling around the house for 30 minutes before the kids woke up, he reflected.

Dave Mathis, the executive editor for desiringGod.org and a pastor at Cities Church, agreed that to get a bigger sense of what your life is for, what your life is about, its important to pray first thing, and to pray last thing, rather than check the world. He stressed that smartphone addiction takes away from the important things in life, like spending time with ones children.

[One] of the great tragedies is to live with such gifts and count them as small things, or to count them as an annoyance, or to count them as pulling us away from these amazing and silly devices that we carry around, he said.

I find extended time on the smartphone is depleting, Mathis added. Its draining. I come away and my eyes feel strange, emotionally I feel like I have less energy. In contrast, spending time with loved ones or expending energy in the service of others makes him feel better.

Theres brain chemistry behind that, too, not just spiritual significance. So one thing about these phones is also how inactive they make us, and God didnt make us to be inactive. Thats one thing to fight in the process, he said.

Rigney encouraged believers to intentionally put their phones aside to find refreshing freedom, adding: Im putting it over there because I want to deliberately remove this shackle, not accidentally remove the shackle.

Numerous studies have linked smartphone addiction to depression, stress, anxiety and other mental health issues. A recent OnePoll survey of 2,000 adults that was commissioned by Vision Direct found that adults are spending 4.5 hours a day on smartphones.

Nina Schroder, a mental health therapist at Virginia Commonwealth University, told The Christian Post that in light of these statistics, students have to understand what is going on with the risks of excessive screen time.

I dont think they completely understand the effects of screens, she said. I want people to understand that there are negative effects of high screen use.

Im not saying that everything about screen use is bad, because there are some great uses. But we have to be mindful about how much were using it, how were using it, when were using it, and how its affecting us.

In a recent op-ed for CP, Pastor Greg Laurie said the antidote to smartphone addiction is to simply be still.

We need to make a conscious effort to disconnect from this barrage of media. This doesnt have to be a permanent thing (though that wouldnt be the worst idea ever) but it does need to be intentional, he said. We need to sit down, look at each other, and talk.

"This is a critical time for the Church and faith communities to step forward. This doesnt mean we have to offer our version of everything culture has, but rather something the culture is severely lacking. Im talking about authentic, loving community filled with people who go out of their way to engage with others  especially those who are young  and then take them under their wing to mentor and disciple them.
Biden admin. bans sexual orientation, gender identity discrimination in healthcare

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced that the agency will interpret federal civil rights law to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, leading critics to say it could require hospitals and doctors to perform sex-change surgeries.

In an announcement Monday morning, HHS explained that it will interpret Title IXs explicit prohibition on sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under the policy, HHS Office for Civil Rights will enforce Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to protect the civil rights of individuals who access or seek to access covered health programs or activities and prevent discrimination against consumers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

As justification, HHS cited the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County. In that case, the high court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects against employment discrimination, applies to sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Supreme Courts conclusion comes even though neither category (sexual orientation or gender identity) is mentioned explicitly in federal civil rights law.

The HHS statement notes that while it will enforce this new interpretation, the agency will still comply with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as well as all other legal requirements.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences, Becerra continued.

It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone  including LGBTQ people  should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.

In 2020 during the Trump administration, HHS reversed Obama-era policies by finalizing a regulation that stated that sex discrimination protections would be determined according to the plain meaning of the word sex' as male or female and as determined by biology.

Terry Schilling, president of the conservative think tank American Principles Project, said in a statement that the HHS decision Monday vindicated the organizations claim last year during the 2020 election that Joe Biden would make child sex change operations official government policy if elected president.

At the time, the ad was widely denounced in the media as misinformation, stated Schilling. But now that Joe Biden is president, our concerns have sadly been vindicated.

Schilling said that the new policy is about forcing hospitals and medical professionals to adhere to leftist ideology regarding sexuality and gender and forcing them to provide sex-change procedures to all comers, including children.

Schilling argued that such a policy is not based in science. He referenced a recent decision by a prominent hospital in Sweden to halt the use of puberty blockers on minors under the age of 16.

Yet, it is now apparently the policy of the U.S. government that such treatments must be given to children or else healthcare institutions risk losing federal funding and being shut down, Schilling continued. This is a travesty and must be opposed.

Chase Strangio, deputy director for Trans Justice with the American Civil Liberties Union LGBTQ & HIV Project, celebrated the HHS decision in a statement.

With health care for transgender youth under attack by state legislatures, this move to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in health care is critical, Strangio stated.

The Biden administration has affirmed what courts have said for decades: Discrimination against LGBTQ people is against the law. It also affirms what transgender people have long said: Gender-affirming care is life-saving care.

Earlier this year, Biden issued an executive order aimed at combatting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The order instructed the head of each federal agency to review all existing policies and issue new policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

In March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it will enforce discrimination protections for LGBT individuals.

In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it will enforce the Fair Housing Act based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Critics of Bidens executive order have argued that it could have lasting impacts on people of faith who uphold traditional beliefs on sexuality and marriage.

Despite the fact that Bostock dealt only with employment law, no doubt Biden administration activists will try to apply it wherever they wish, Travis Weber, vice president for policy and government affairs at the Christian conservative activist organization Family Research Council, told The Christian Post in March.

In April, the Biden administration filed an appeal of a court ruling against an Obamacare mandate that required doctors and hospitals to perform gender transition surgeries.



The Biden Admin says it can punish doctors and hospitals for sex discrimination' unless they perform controversial gender-transition procedures," Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a Twitter thread.

"A court struck down this #TransgenderMandate in January  But the Biden Admin just appealed.
Franklin Graham warns Biden: 'Omitting God is a dangerous thing'

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Prominent evangelist Franklin Graham took to Facebook Thursday to criticize President Joe Bidens failure to include the word God in his presidential proclamation recognizing Thursdays National Day of Prayer.

I was deeply saddened to read that President Biden is the first president to omit the word God in his proclamation, wrote the 68-year-old son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, who called on Congress and President Harry Truman in 1952 to issue the first National Day of Prayer proclamation.

It is hard to believe we have come this far.

Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, warned that omitting God is a dangerous thing.

He is who we as individuals and as a nation need to call on for help. He created us and made salvation possible for us through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Prayers to anyone or anything else are to no avail.

Bidens omission of any reference to a deity led to an outcry among some notable Christian conservatives.

[W]e need to call on God, not just some generic Gods or some power in the air, but on God, Himself, the Creator who made and created this earth and who sent his son Jesus Christ from heaven to this earth, to save mankind from sin by dying on a cross and God raised him to life, Graham asserted on Fox News Primetime Thursday.

According to Graham, Theres no one else to pray to except to God.

Graham contends that Biden did not craft the proclamation, suggesting that it was a White House staffer who wrote the message and may not have even ran it by him.

After the televangelist indicated a desire to give the president the benefit of the doubt by claiming that I dont think Joe Biden would have approved that one, host Pete Hegseth asked if Graham had a message for people who doubt the power of prayer.

God answers prayer. He hears prayer. He listens to prayer. But weve got to approach God in the right way, Graham replied. We have to confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness and  not go to Him with  dirty hands, so to speak, but with a clean heart.

As Hegseth noted, the tradition of a National Day of Prayer dates to 1775, when the Second Continental Congress set aside a day for Americans to pray to be ever under the care and protection of a kind providence as they began the struggle for independence.

Presidents have issued proclamations in honor of the National Day of Prayer since 1952. Since 1988, the National Day of Prayer has been observed on the first Thursday in May.

In contrast to Bidens proclamation, last years National Day of Prayer proclamation by then-President Donald Trump featured 11 references to God. Former President Barack Obamas final National Day of Prayer proclamation in 2016 included two references to God.

Thursday was not the first time Graham has spoken out against an action taken by the Biden administration or the Democratic-controlled 117th United States Congress.

Last month, he took to Facebook to criticize the Biden administrations State Department for authorizing U.S. embassies around the world to fly the LGBT pride flag alongside the American flag.

As the 117th Congress began in January, Graham accused the Democratic majority of shaking a fist in the Creators face by adopting rules eliminating the use of gendered terms such as mother and father.

Over the past four years, Graham is among many conservative evangelical leaders who informally engaged with the Trump White House.

He compared Republicans who voted to impeach the former president following the U.S. Capitol riots to Judas. Prior to the election, Graham warned that attacks on Christian businesses would intensify should Biden win.
Facebook bans LifeSiteNews after reporting deaths from US gov't vaccine database

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A nonprofit pro-life news website has been permanently booted from Facebook after the social media giant accused it of publishing false information about COVID-19 that could contribute to physical harm over an article citing United States government information on people who died after receiving the vaccine.

LifeSiteNews reported Tuesday that its Facebook account appears to have been permanently unpublished for violating the social media platforms community standards on misinformation that could cause physical harm.

The social media platform says that it removes pages that post content that discourages vaccinations. In justifying the ban, Facebook cited an April 9 article with the headline COVID vaccines can be deadly for some.

That particular article highlighted an open letter that Dr. Hooman Noorchashm sent to the Food & Drug Administration and Pfizer warning about the dangers of administering COVID-19 vaccines to people who have or have had the disease.

The doctor argued that those who have or recently had the disease have viral antigens present in the endothelial lining of blood vessels and other tissues. If such antigens are present, the doctor argues that immune response will be triggered by the vaccination and target the tissues, inflaming and damaging them. He argued that a result could be the formation of blood clots that might result in significant complications.

His immunological hypothesis appeared to be bolstered by recent data showing that the side effects from the vaccine were three times more likely to be seen in those who previously had the virus.

The Telegraph reported Sunday that the figures came from King's College ZOE app, which has logged details from over 700,000 vaccinations and found those with a prior infection were far more likely to report side effects than people who have not had the virus.

The LifeSiteNews article lists the information of several anecdotal cases of middle-aged and elderly people whose deaths were tabulated in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) as contracting the coronavirus and dying soon after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

However, the LifeSiteNews article doesnt specify if the vaccine caused the deaths in question.

The report also mentioned that local news reporting shows other cases of people who earlier contracted the virus and died after receiving the vaccine. One example was a 36-year-old who died from multi-system inflammatory syndrome. One doctor cited in an article linked to by LifeSiteNews cautioned against tying the 36-year-old's death to the vaccination, calling such an observation preliminary.

We are working with the CDC to see how vaccines can play in all directions, Dr. Stephen Threlkeld told WREG Memphis. We dont have any data to suggest the vaccine has any effect in either direction.

The Christian Post reached out to Facebook for comment on the action taken against LifeSiteNews. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that it removed the page for "violating our COVID-19 policies.

Facebooks COVID-19 and Vaccine Policy states that the platform seeks to protect people from harmful content and new types of abuse related to COVID-19 and vaccines.

Based on input from experts in health communication and related fields, Facebook says that it is also taking additional steps amid the pandemic to reduce the distribution of content that does not violate our policies but may present misleading or sensationalized information about vaccines in a way that would be likely to discourage vaccinations 

In a lengthy segment about how some Americans have died after receiving the COVID shot on his Fox News show Wednesday, Tucker Carlson observed how differently the public officials and the press are treating this vaccine rollout and the risks associated with it versus previous public health responses.

He noted that in 1976, the U.S. government vaccinated 45 million people with a swine flu vaccine, and 53 people reportedly died after receiving that shot. That program was stopped because of it as authorities deemed it too risky, he said.

Contrast that with what is happening now, Carlson said. This time, our health authorities have reserved their energy for anyone who dares to question vaccines. LifeSiteNews, a nonprofit news organization, just found itself permanently banned from Facebook. Why? Because it reported government numbers from the VAERS database.

Carlson further added that popular podcaster Joe Rogan was criticized in the media for asking whether young, healthy people should receive the COVID vaccine.

If American citizens are going to be forced to take this vaccine or any other medicine, they have an absolute right to know what the effects of it might be. And they have an absolute right to ask that question without being silenced or censored or mocked or given the finger, Carlson said. No amount of happy talk or coercion or appeals to false patriotism can change that.

The Facebook ban is not the first time LifeSiteNews has been banned from a major social media platform because of its content on COVID vaccines.

Earlier this year, video streaming platform YouTube closed LifeSiteNews channel on similar grounds.

Despite disagreeing with LifeSiteNews' presentation of the science and ethics surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines, National Catholic Bioethics Center bioethicist Edward Furton slammed the move.

YouTube is not staffed by scientists, but by engineers and technicians who understand little to nothing about scientific matters, he said in a February interview with Catholic News Agency.

Far worse, they favor a liberal ideology that supports abortion not only here at home but throughout the world. They believe that there is a universal right to kill the unborn. Such a view revokes their claim to moral superiority over others.

Censorship by big tech is one of the greatest threats to the principles of democracy that we have seen in decades, he added. This is done solely for the purpose of controlling information and preventing the free discussion of ideas among their fellow citizens.

A leaked video from July 2020, months before the U.S. government approved a COVID-19 vaccine, shows Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressing concern about the safety of COVID vaccines.

But I do just want to make sure that I share some caution on this [vaccine] because we just don't know the long-term side effects of basically modifying people's DNA and RNA, he said, according to journalist Sharyl Attkisson. [B]asically the ability to produce those antibodies and whether that causes other mutations or other risks downstream. So, there's work on both paths of vaccine development.
Juror wrongfully dismissed for listening to 'Gods guidance' in lawmaker's fraud case, court rules

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A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that a juror was wrongfully dismissed from a trial for saying the Holy Spirit influenced his views in the case after deliberations began.

The juror was removed from a fraud case involving former Congresswoman Corrine Brown, D-Fla, for saying that his Father in Heaven influenced a belief that Brown was not guilty.

The congresswoman, who served in the House of Representatives from 1993 until 2017, faced 18 felony counts related to fraud, ethics and tax offenses. She was accused of conspiring to defraud donors of over $800,000 in contributions to a charity that claimed to provide scholarships to poor students. Authorities allege Brown misused her position in Congress to engage in the conspiracy.

In a decision released Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that the juror's removal was wrong and, in the process, vacated the guilty verdict against Brown and called for a new trial.

Chief Judge William Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, authored the majority opinion of the decision, writing that the district judge abused his discretion by dismissing the juror and further concluding that this removal violated Browns right under the Sixth Amendment to a unanimous jury verdict.

Jurors may pray for and believe they have received divine guidance as they determine another persons innocence or guilt, a profound civic duty but a daunting task to say the least, wrote Pryor for the majority.

Juror No. 13s vivid and direct religious language  read in the light of his other statements  suggests he was doing nothing more than praying for and receiving divine guidance as he evaluated the evidence or, in secular terms, provided an explanation of his internal mental processes  all consistent with proper jury service.

According to Pryor, the removal of the juror, "who listened for Gods guidance as he sat in judgment of Brown and deliberated over the evidence against her," deprived Brown of a "unanimous verdict of a jury of ordinary citizens."

Judge Charles Wilson, a Clinton appointee, authored a dissent to the majority, being joined by three other appeals court judges, who argued that the juror removal was a tough call, and one the district court did not take lightly.

The majority casts the district courts decision as misconstruing religious expression while failing to safeguard the right to a unanimous jury verdict. On this record, I cannot agree, wrote Wilson.

 from the district courts superior vantage point, it was necessary to ensure that a verdict was rendered based on the law and evidence  a principle that is foundational to our system of justice.

The First Liberty Institute, which helped represent the dismissed juror, released a statement on Friday, celebrating the appeals court decision.

We are grateful that the court reaffirmed the strong standard required to dismiss a deliberating juror, said Lea Patterson, a counsel with First Liberty, in the statement.

No American should be disqualified from fulfilling their civic duty as jurors simply because they believe that God answers prayer.

Brown was released from prison last April during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic after serving less than half of her five-year sentence. Her attorney argued that his client was vulnerable to the coronavirus because of her age and underlying health conditions.
Were incredibly concerned about the immediate health and safety risk this is posing, Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz said in a news release. Theres currently no means of fire suppression in the area of the main break should any disaster occur, and were concerned about the potential contamination this may cause to the nearby households that utilize well water.
Sister Byrne: Cultural battles aren't waged between left versus right, but 'the devil and Our Lord'

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Addressing an international pro-life conference last week, a Catholic nun who spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention stressed that the political and cultural battles engulfing the United States are the result of a battle between the devil, who is real, and Our Lord.

Sister Deirdre Byrne, who gave a pro-life speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention, spoke at the 50th annual conference for the pro-life group Heartbeat International.

The 2021 Heartbeat International Virtual Conference took place from April 27-30 in Columbus, Ohio. The conference was designed for ministry leaders, staff, board members, and volunteers of life-affirming pregnancy help centers, medical clinics, maternity homes, and nonprofit adoption agencies, as well as professionals in the area of medicine, counseling, social work and education.

During her speech, Byrne urged Catholics and the pro-lifers gathered in-person and online to be battle-ready to act as soldiers for Christ in this dark time, where every day, things seem to be ramping up about things that are against the family and faith. She maintained that this battle we face is not a battle between Republicans and the Democrats.

Its not conservatives or liberals, or left versus right, Byrne added. This is a battle between the devil, who is real, and Our Lord.

Byrne, a member of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and a retired U.S. Army colonel who works as a surgeon at a Washington, D.C., medical clinic managed by her order, stressed the importance of praying for pro-abortion politicians, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

We have to pray for all these people, these politicians who are wanting to make the abortion pill over the counter so people will be able to take it like bubble gum or Tylenol, she continued.

Biden and Pelosi, both Roman Catholics, have been criticized for their public support for abortion, which contradicts the teachings of their faith. Many priests and bishops have suggested that Catholic politicians advocacy on behalf of such a grave evil should disqualify them from receiving communion. Byrne, however, maintained that it was important to pray for such politicians because their soul is in a mortal state.

In her address at the Heartbeat International Conference, Byrne discussed her work administering abortion pill reversals, which she described as an incredible blessing.

Abortion pill reversals enable women who have already taken mifepristone, the first of two drugs administered as part of a chemical abortion, to reverse the process. Mifepristone blocks the natural pregnancy hormone progesterone, while the second drug in a chemical abortion, misopristol, is ingested 24 to 48 hours later and induces contractions and a miscarriage.

Byrne also reflected on her service in the Army and as a missionary, recalling how it was horrible to see mans inhumanity [toward] man" manifest itself in international conflicts. Referring to abortion as the greatest inhumanity, she lamented that people dont even think about it anymore; its become a natural thing.

Yet Byrne said she remains optimistic about the final outcome of the battle between Satan and God because we know that God is in charge and that Hes far greater than the devil.

It is He thats going to make things better, she proclaimed. And so we just have to be there, prayer warriors, and be battle-ready.

Heartbeat International identifies itself as the first network of pro-life pregnancy resource centers founded in the U.S. that has since become the most expansive network in the world.

The organization manages over 2,800 pregnancy help locations including pregnancy help medical clinics [with ultrasound], resource centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies in more than 60 countries around the world to provide alternatives to abortion.

Heartbeat Internationals ministries include Option Line, a hotline designed to assist women who are desperate for answers in an unexpected pregnancy, and the Abortion Pill Reversal Network, a hotline that helps women seeking an abortion pill reversal. The organization also operates a news website and a podcast highlighting issues of importance to the pregnancy help community.

During her RNC speech last summer, Byrne described preborn children as the largest marginalized group in the world. She also praised Trump at the time for being the most pro-life president that this nation has ever had while criticizing the then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris as the most anti-life presidential ticket ever.
And we have 500 women on our client roster whose babies are due in the coming months.

If called beyond prayer, we need financial assistance in rebuilding, the centers founder and vice president of its board of directors, Christine Dennis, said in an interview with Peoria-based diocesan newspaper The Catholic Post.

The centers contents, including diapers and baby supplies, were lost to the fire, and the center needs material assistance.

Fire investigators believe the fire was intentionally set but under control by 3 a.m., a local news station reported. No one was injured in the fire.

The Peoria Fire Department responded to the fire at Peoria Womens Care Center around 2:40 a.m. on Monday and said most of the fire was contained in the front room, but damage was done to the entire building.

An Illinois pregnancy center was set ablaze in an act of arson during the early-morning hours of May 3, causing an estimated $250,000 in damage as the pro-life center scrambles to find a permanent location.

Womens Care Center is a pro-life chain founded in 1984 and now has 33 centers across 12 states. Its goal is to help pregnant women choose life for their babies, have healthy pregnancies and become self-sufficient.

The Womens Care Center in Peoria serves around 13 women per day, performs 1,000 ultrasounds annually and saved 596 babies from abortion last year, according to its website. The center in Peoria was established in 2013.

Despite their losses from the fire, Peorias Womens Care Center continues its mission to help pregnant women.

Our doors are open. We just dont have any doors, Connie McClure, director of client care at the burned center, told the official newspaper of the Diocese of Peoria.

The center is searching for a temporary site to operate until the original location is rebuilt. The headquarters in South Bend, Indiana, has sent a mobile unit to service patients in a parking lot nearby for the time being.

It may look a little different, but weve made a promise we will be there to support them, McClure said.

Dennis said good will come from the tragedy through the rebuilding process, according to The Catholic Post. She stated that they are saddened but not crushed.

We take care of our women No. 1. And when we take care of them, everything else falls into place, she said.

McClure said counselors were already speaking to some of the centers 500 clients the morning of the fire to promise them their care would continue as their due dates approach.

According to WMBD, fire investigators announced Monday that the cause of the fire was arson, and the investigation will be aided by both the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal and the Peoria Police Department.

At the scene of the fire, Peoria Fire Chief Tony Ardis told media that places like the Womens Care Center are often targeted for arson.

Pregnancy resources centers offer pregnancy testing, STD testing, ultrasounds, parenting classes, baby gear, pregnancy-related items, employment assistance, maternity housing and referrals. In the past, other pro-life pregnancy centers have been attacked for their pro-life beliefs.

The abortion industry often claims pregnancy resource centers offer services that are deceptive and harmful to women, pro-life group Live Action reported.

A pro-life womens healthcare center in Texas was vandalized in 2019 as words like liars and fake clinic were spraypainted on the side of the building.

A report declassified this year by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security classified both pro-life and pro-abortion extremists on a list of domestic violent extremist groups motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States who pose an elevated threat to the homeland in 2021.
Amazon, public libraries pressured to ban trans-critical book highlighting harms to teen girls

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Public libraries and retail giant Amazon have faced increasing pressure to ban a book that's critical of transgender ideology amid what the author calls a rising culture of censorship.

To the surprise of many, Amazon refused to stop selling a book by Wall Street Journal contributor Abigail Shrier, titled, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, despite a high-pressure campaign by employees who are demanding its removal.

Corporate media outlets supportive of the transgender movement also expressed their disappointment in Amazon's decision not to pull the book, running such headlines as: "Amazon will not remove book advocates say endangers transgender youth," "Amazon overrules employees calls to stop selling book questioning mainstream treatment for transgender youth," and "Amazon Refuses to Stop Selling Anti-Trans Book."

Canada's, CTV News reported Monday that a trans-identified parent in Ottawa is attempting to get the Ottawa Public Library to remove the book from its shelves. The mother, who claims to be on the "trans spectrum" and to have a 6-year-old gender-nonconforming child, sent a letter to the library complaining about the book. The library, however, has refused to remove it on the grounds of intellectual freedom.

"I sent this letter to Ottawa Public Library along with 204 signatures about the transphobic book, Irreversible Damage, by Abigail Shrier in their circulation. Their response is attached. Selecting material is NOT neutral and 'intellectual freedom' is different than hate speech," the trans-identified woman, Elm Klemic, complained on Twitter.

As somebody who identifies within the trans spectrum and as somebody who has a trans child as well, it hit close to home and I was really outraged about it, Klemic told CTV News. The main theory in this book is that trans youth dont know themselves, and cant, shouldnt be allowed to transition.

The news outlet also interviewed a program manager from the Ottawa Public Library who said the institution investigated the complaint and decided not to remove the book just because the ideas in it are unpopular among some. The library already has a waitlist of 30 people who want to read the book, the program manager added.

In response to the backlash in Canada, Shrier described the alarming shift in norms in the culture  that the baseline expectation today is that unpopular ideas and speech must be censored and resisting calls for censorship is what is seen as surprising.

"And it isnt only the activists who are pushing for censorship  but journalists  journalists! Those whose lifes work depends on a culture of free expression," Shrier wrote on Substack.

Amazon, which said earlier this year it wouldn't sell books on its platform that frame LGBT identity as a mental illness, reviewed Shrier's book and found that it did not violate its content policy. Amazon, however, subsequently banned Ryan Anderson's 2018 book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment.

Before Shrier's book was released last year, the online retail giant prohibited her publisher from purchasing ads to promote the book.

The Irreversible Damage author recounted Thursday an exchange she had with a Seattle Times reporter who reached out to her for comment after a single Amazon employee accused the book of being "hate speech." The Seattle Times journalist reportedly asked her: "Well ... I see contagion, epidemic, dont you think that tends to diagnose [transgender-identifying people with a mental illness]?"

Are you seriously going to pull out random words from my book? Shrier replied, adding that those words refer to social phenomena such as peer-to-peer fads and trends.

Irreversible Damage explores how, for the first time in approximately 100 years in clinical diagnostic history, the predominant demographic of people with gender dysphoria is teenage girls. Until recently, the extremely rare condition was seen almost exclusively in young boys.

Teenage girls today do not have traditional gender dysphoria, the book argues, and have gotten mired in an internet-fueled peer contagion, a thesis that dovetails with a 2018 study from public health researcher Lisa Littman.

"What happened to us  as thinkers, journalists, Americans? Our commitment to free expression, codified in the U.S. Constitutions very First Amendment, once webbed American culture like tree roots through the earth. Now it strikes us as so much useless netting," Shrier posited.








Son of megachurch Pastor EA Adeboye dies in his sleep at 42

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The family of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the world-renowned general overseer of the Nigeria-based Redeemed Christian Church of God, is now grieving after the sudden death of the megachurch leaders third child, Oluwadamilare Temitayo Adeboye, on Tuesday.

It is with a deep and heartfelt sense of loss, we announce the departure of our beloved son, brother, husband and father, Oluwadamilare Temitayo Adeboye. Who went to be with the Lord on the 4th of May, 2021, the church announced in a statement Thursday.

Oluwadamilare, who was 42 when he died, was also a pastor like his father, who was named one of the world's 50 most powerful people in 2008 by Newsweek. According to This Today, the younger Adeboye was one of the regional youth pastors in RCCG serving in Eket, Akwa-Ibom.

He reportedly had no apparent health issues and simply went to bed after a preaching assignment then failed to wake up on Tuesday, according to his wife, Temiloluwa, with whom he fathered three children.

His life was well lived as he served the Lord without reserve, giving effortlessly and leading fearlessly. He was crowned by the Lord with blessings of 3 seeds and a beautiful wife. Though shaken, our anchor remains Jesus Christ in whom we have the assurance that we will one day meet in a place where there is no pain, the church said in their statement in which they also asked for privacy and prayers for the family.

Leke Adeboye, Oluwadamilares younger brother who also works with the RCCG, quoted Isaiah 57:1 from the Amplified version of the Bible on his social media, noting: The righteous man perishes [at the hand of evil], and no one takes it to heart; Faithful and devout men are taken away, while no one understands that the righteous person is taken away [to be spared] from disaster and evil.

In a statement Thursday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari also offered prayers for the Adeboye family.

My deepest sympathies to the family of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), on the passing of his son, Pastor Dare Adeboye. I pray that God Almighty will grant the departed rest, and comfort grieving family, friends and associates, he noted on Facebook.

Adeboye, according to Newsweek, is one of the most successful preachers in the world. He told the publication that his church has outposts in 110 countries. In Nigeria alone, where he claims some 5 million members, his church has 14,000 branches. Some 360 RCCG churches can be found in Britain, with about the same number spread across cities in the U.S., such as Chicago, Dallas and Tallahassee, Florida.

The 79-year-old Pentecostal leader once accused some U.S. preachers of being condescending toward him and his church.

"I've been going to America now since 1979, almost 40 years. When we get there and all these big, big men, talk to us, they always ask a question 'and how can we help you?' It's a polite way of saying, 'I know you have come to beg,'" Adeboye noted in 2015. "And I have always told them 'no, no, no. The only help I need from you is to come to Nigeria and see what God is doing. That's all.'"
With tens of millions of Americans out of work due to the pandemic, many are searching for their next role in this tough job market  or inspired to start their own business. For the latest episode of my ongoing leadership lessons series with Entrepreneur, I sat down with an expert in both arenas. Ian Siegel, bestselling author and co-founder and CEO of ZipRecruiter, has a 25-year career in executive product and technology leadership roles at companies including CitySearch, Stamps.com and Rent.com.

Related: 13 Leadership Lessons from Zoom Founder and CEO Eric Yuan

Siegel co-founded ZipRecruiter with three of his friends in Santa Monica, California in 2010, and it has grown to employ more than 900 people and disrupt the recruitment industry since its inception. ZipRecruiter is an online employment marketplace that uses matching technology to connect millions of job-seekers to their next opportunity  over 900 million job applications have been submitted through the site.

It's easy to see why the platform has become so popular. Employers can easily send a job to over 100 websites with one push of a button, while job seekers have one easy-to-search database with a list of roles pulled in from across the internet. When Siegel shares where the idea for ZipRecruiter came from, one can see why it was profitable from the beginning. He spent his entire career working for early stage internet startups, and he experienced first-hand the pain points of his the recruitment hiring industry.

My teams across the board were too small to have an HR department to do the recruiting, so I had to personally put the same job post on multiple websites, Siegel says. And to make matters worse, every site had different mechanisms for collecting the candidates. So, he did what everybody did back then; he printed out all of the resumes and put them into stacks to combine all of the applicants for one job into one reviewable list.

I was spending so much time on this that I decided to pull three friends together to fix this problem, and together we created that magic button where you could send the job to every job board  turning the web into one big job board, he added.

The day ZipRecruiter launched, it was profitable.

Customers were beating the gates down like it was a Black Friday sale, Siegel jokes. They came in so fast that we were completely taken off guard.

Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers and The Tipping Point) says this about Siegel: Ive been arguing for years that no part of American corporate life is crazier and more irrational than hiring and job search. ZipRecruiters Ian Siegel is one of the brave souls trying to fix it.

Here are 20 takeaways from my hour-long conversation with this remarkable entrepreneur who generously shared his key leadership lessons:

1. Build the service that you wish you could use

ZipRecruiter is a rare example of immediate market fit, and according to Siegel, that's because he trusted his gut. "All I did for research to build this business was build the service that I wished existed throughout my career.

2. Focus on telling everyone what your one thing is versus building something new

The vast majority of people think that growing their business means building something else or something new, and that's not always true. Instead, Siegel suggests that the best way to grow a business, after you have found product-market fit, is to invest heavily in all of the different ways you can become ubiquitous. Your business might do and offer many things, but he believes every company is famous for selling one thing, so know what makes you special, and focus on telling as many people as possible about it.

How do you find what your one thing is? Have a current customer who loves you talk to a prospective customer. Listen to the first sentence out of their mouth, and however they described you in that first sentence  thats your one thing. For example, They post jobs everywhere is ZipRecruiters thing.

3. Entrepreneurship is a willingness to throw yourself into the unknown

There can be a lot of discomfort in being an entrepreneur. The thing that you do the best at is the thing you will do five percent of the time. The other 95 percent of your time is spent doing things that you have never trained for or that you might not feel confident in. For example, if you're a chef who opens up your own restaurant, picking a restaurant space, designing the decor, hiring people and designing a menu might not be your forte, because youre a chef. But as a new entrepreneur, you need to learn to take ownership of those things.

Related: 12 Leadership Lessons from Mailchimp Co-Founder and CEO Ben Chestnut

4. You need one million of something to be successful

Siegel gives this advice to anyone who asks about their startups. If you dont have one million of something, don't try to raise money. You do not have momentum, you have an idea. It can be a one million visitors, one million registrations, one million products sold. Ninety percent of businesses never get to $1 million in revenue, but that is the best proof that you have a real business. Now if you ever get to a million, congratulations. You have truly cracked the code on something, and that is a tremendous milestone.

5. Celebrate version 1.0s and the people with the courage to create them

Version 1.0 is a delicate, fragile thing. You want to create a culture where people are generating ideas. That said, Siegel advises that 1.0s are so easy to crush with a power imbalance. When people give me an idea, I have to train myself to not respond and then figure out a way to say, yes, and rather than tell them it wont work. This prevents stifling potentially great ideas, so always listen and support version 1.0s.

6. Things that work, work right away

If something works, it works right away, and you should be able to look at a chart and see the proof in the numbers the day it launches. No matter what your AB tests tell you the outcome was, you should be able to feel it and see it immediately.

7. Think about pricing as a lever of opportunity

Most entrepreneurs Siegel talks with are undercharging for their product. They are afraid to ask for full value, and they dont understand their customers price insensitivity. Siegel believes it comes down to confidence: It is an insecurity that they have on if what they built is good enough. They dont have the perspective. Believe in yourself.

8. A lot of business is not about what you choose to do, its about what you choose not to do

The notion of white space and simplification exists in many facets of business and is a concept that Siegel and his team are disciplined in. White space, or putting as little effect on the screen as possible, is where every additional feature, button and link potentially becomes cognitive overload that can confuse your users and create problems for you. Every year, ZipRecruiter purposefully turns features off. It recognizes that the most challenging place to apply this concept is to product prioritization.

Related: 12 Leadership Lessons from Envoy Founder and CEO Larry Gadea

9. The key to a successful work/life balance is if everyone is 100 percent aligned

Siegel describes that he and his executives have been successful in this arena because they have a clear understanding of who they are as a company and what they are trying to accomplish. We put out a short list every quarter of things we are going to do without question. If a great idea comes up, we dont touch it until next quarter. We have great ideas that come up all the time, but we have the will and the discipline to not touch it. The key is focusing on accomplishing the goal you have already set before you move onto the next goal.

10. If you want to create an open culture, let people operate like intrapreneurs

If people have an idea that will improve your business, let them freely share it. Never assume that anything is unchangeable. Siegel believes there are only two types of managers; managers you work for and managers you work with. Im more of the guy you work with. I will walk the floor. I will sit down and talk to you about what you are working on. I am keenly interested.

11. Write your resume like a caveman

Siegel states that there are fundamental disadvantages to the modern-day job search. He offers nuggets of wisdom found in his latest book, Get Hired Now!

1. Job applications are no longer obtained by humans; robots receive them. The only job of your resume is to get it past the robots. Seventy-five percent of resumes are read by a robot, not a human, for companies of all sizes.

2. Forget the vellum paper. You do not need to write prose and outline the 20 years of experience you have.

3. Use the most simple template possible, and describe your skills and contributions in as straightforward a way as possible using common vernacular.

4. Unconscious bias is prevalent, and we all have it. The key to getting hired once you are in an interview is winning those first 20 seconds. Win that battle, and everything after that is just a validation of their first impression. Its prescriptive.

12. There is a magic sentence to say when interviewing

Siegel recommends using it to win over an interview: I am so excited to be here because [fill in the blank with something specific to the company]. That fill in the blank can be anything from, I use your product every day and I have so many ideas for you, or I love your company culture and want to be a part of it.

13. Be a thought partner in any role you are a candidate for

When a candidate thinks about the health and overall wellness of the business, that is the person Siegel want to hire. He elaborates that hes not looking for someone to work for him, but with him. He likes to ask, What is the worst thing about our business? If you got here, what would you change? If you are afraid to answer the question, and only offer compliments, you probably won't get hired by Siegel.

14. Growing as a leader sometimes means doing less

Leaders should not be reviewing every decision everyone makes. Leaders are not there to check off boxes. Try to make as few decisions as possible during the business day. Take time to think about the bigger picture at 30,000 feet, and only make the really big decisions. Leave the rest up to your very talented team.

15. Generously give the benefit of the doubt, and listen better

Siegels New Years resolution is always the same: Listen better. When you start to feel upset, give the benefit of the doubt. True malice rarely exists between two individuals inside of a business or as part of your business. Listen better.

16. The trick to hyper growth is taking a breath and maintaining perspective

Effective hyper growth is like a magnifying glass. Problems seem 10 times larger based on the number of people they are impacting. When you go from 100 customers, to 1,000 customers, to 10,000 customers, to 100,000 quickly, all of a sudden, that small bug that you weren't that worried about at 1,000 customers is a huge deal at 10,000 customers. This affects your prioritization and how you feel about your product.

17. A leaders job is to tell the truth

Siegel says that telling the truth means doing so consistently and calmly, even if it feels confrontational. Its important to give constructive feedback the moment after something difficult happens. Telling the truth is explaining to someone what level they are really at, and how far away they are from the next level.

18. Courage over conviction is what creates an entrepreneur

Theoretically, I was as credentialed as someone could be to forge ahead with a startup, Siegel shares. Yet despite my experience, people would constantly ask me if I was qualified and if I could pull this off ." He compares becoming an entrepreneur before you have made your first dollar to telling people you are an artist (i.e. How many paintings have you sold? What galleries are you in?). Entrepreneurship is about courage and belief in your experiences amid all the doubt that might come your way.

19. There is a certain amount of experience that you can consider enough before you start your own business

If you have been working hard at your craft for seven to 10 years, that is enough, and you are ready to be an entrepreneur. Siegel reflects, If I had the courage, I could have been an entrepreneur much younger than I was.

20. Leadership commands you to speak beyond the merits of your business

Leadership often commands you to speak to what is happening to society as a whole. Its not about being right or wrong, just be authentic and available when sharing your truth.

With a new book under his belt and multiple Comparably Award wins for being a top-rated CEO and one of the Best Places to Work in multiple categories, Ian Siegel has created an accessible and powerful roadmap for companies to hire employees and for people looking to get hired. Watch the full webinar to hear more from this incredible leader.

Related: 13 Leadership Lessons with Wondery Founder and CEO Hernan Lopez

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
A jingle is a song or melody of short duration (5 to 60 seconds) and easy to remember, which seeks to promote a product or service, usually by alluding to its attributes or some emotional link with the consumer.

Many advertisements, especially those made on radio and television, have this element that helps create unique campaigns that remain engraved in the mind of the listener, improving the positioning of the brand in the market. This strategy is known as auditory branding .

The effectiveness of jingles lies in the fact that, being musical compositions, they are more persuasive than a simple text and generate less rejection in the audience that receives it. Although today this technique is used less and less, there are songs that, despite the fact that some are no longer transmitted, people remember and continue singing. For this reason, we made a list with the best jingles that today are part of the memory of Mexicans:

Vermox

This brand of tablets to eliminate amoebae and bugs, became famous thanks to its jingle, which surely we all sing at some time. A true achievement of advertising to remember a product as generic and as difficult to position as those in the pharmaceutical sector.

If you feel that your tail itches, in one of those, you have worms. If you feel that your tail itches, take Vermox .



Pinol

This all-purpose cleaner has become one of the darlings of the home, in part because no one forgets its tune. In fact, this famous jingle served the brand to do another form of promotion: the Sing and win with Pinol contest where people, from the original version, created their own song and uploaded it to YouTube.

"Pinol, Pinol, aromatize, clean and disinfect, uhhh!"



Duvalin

Without a doubt, the short melody of this sweet spread is one of the jingles that we will never forget, especially because it creates an emotional bond with the brand:

XL-3

This anti-flu drug, despite having been on the market for more than 40 years, managed to differentiate itself from the others with a simple melody that they include in all their advertising spots and that also works as their slogan.

"With XL-3 goodbye to the flu in a 2 x 3."

From the fort

This brand, which is currently part of Grupo Herdez, began as a leader in tomato products. Hence the famous jingle that has endured for years.

The little tomatoes were very happy, when the executioner arrived to make them juice. I do not care about death if I die with decorum in Del Fuerte products " .



My Joy Toys

This toy company, created in 1956, has found itself in the mind of the consumer and has been part of the memory of the Mexican thanks to its jingle. Although it had an extended version, this was the most popular:

With Mi Alegria toys, we learn and play.



Fabulous

This multipurpose cleaner is a good example of hearing branding. Not only has he relied on his jingle, but also on his slogan to place himself at the top of mind. If you think of the cleaner, you probably don't remember its packaging, but you do remember the song:

Alka seltzer

The advertising of this antacid has always been so effective that the brand is the ultimate benchmark for stomach relief. His jingle used in the 90s was the adaptation of a famous opera, whose song ends with the phrase:

"Alka Seltzer you must take, for an upset stomach, he loves you good, he loves you good, take Alka Seltzer because he does love you."



Bimbo

The largest bakery company in the world has positioned itself as an inseperable companion of Mexicans, with its effective emotional marketing campaigns where the bear is the protagonist. But this jingle is not far behind:

This is my country, these are my people. Good people who work, who dream, who reach and who look straight ahead .



Coke

This company, which is undoubtedly one of the most valuable in the world, has always accompanied its advertisements with music. He has used famous songs, Christmas carols and even artists like Motel and Natalia Lafourcade for his latest campaign Wake up the magic. However, the most memorable will always be the simple one:

"Always Coca-Cola."



McCormick Mayonnaise

This jingle became popular in the 70s in Mexico to make this American brand indispensable in Mexican homes thanks to the slogan "Put it tasty." It is so popular in the national ideology that the Ventaneando episode where the presenter Pedro Sola confused the Hellmann's brand with the red cap brand has become infamous.

Tutsi Pop

The candy brand launched a special year-end commercial promoting its Christmas boot-shaped "Tutsibota" packaging. With the letter Boot, boot and it's not a ball, the famous package of sweets always refers to those rest periods when we were children.

Zest

The soap brand launched this jingle with an iconic commercial that demonstrated its bar's cleaning ability with a pair of vintage glasses. We have all ever said the phrase "Zest, it brings you back to life because it does clean and refresh."

Do you remember any other jingle? Complete the list on our social networks!

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
If 50 Cent is "in da club with a bottle full of bub," you best believe that it's going to be top-notch.

Rapper and television producer 50 Cent made his debut in Texas last week, and he's already getting in the spirit of how we do things here in Houston.

LIFE IN HOUSTON: Rapper 50 Cent hits up Houston's Turkey Leg Hut

On Saturday the rapper, born Curtis Jackson, attended the Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction at the NRG Center.

Brian Tafelmeyer

He shared a photo of himself participating in the fun over the weekend, trading in his New York fitted cap for a Stetson's cowboy hat.

In the caption, he wrote, "Man there are some people in Texas that got a lot of money. I bid $175,000 for a bottle of wine Bottle with popping cork and I still lost."

The 2021 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition drew more than 2,600 entries from 18 countries, including Argentina, France, Italy and Spain. Texas wines represented 346 entries, and 351 entries were received from this years featured region, Sonoma County, Calif.

The 2021 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition Grand Champion Best of Show sold for $200,000, according to a press release. Alexander Valley Vineyards CYRUS, Alexander Valley, 2014, was purchased by Lisa Blackwood, Randa and Ray Gilliam, Julie and Alan Kent, and Kristina and Paul Somerville.

New Houstonian 50 Cent himself launched Le Chemin Du Roi Brut, Champagne AOC, NV. The wine was this year's Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show. The wine was purchased by Demetra and Frank Jones, and Leticia and Stephen Trauber for $160,000.

Courtesy 50 Cent/Twitter

WORLD OF WINE: 50 Cent to promote cognac, champagne brands in Houston-area Spec's

Rodeo Houston congratulated the music mogul for his big win. "Congratulations to @50cent on winning Reserve Grand Champion in our 2021 RodeoUncorked! International Wine Competition."

Rodeo Houston said to 50 Cent in a statement, "Were SO happy you made the move to Houston!"

This isn't the first time the rapper has promoted his wine brand in Houston. He visited H-town in 2019 to promote his cognac and champagne.
Joel C Ryan/Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP

LONDON (AP)  Veteran British broadcaster David Attenborough has been appointed the peoples advocate at the global climate summit this year, where he is expected to address political leaders about the need for urgent action to tackle the crippling threat of climate change.

The 95-year-old, best known for his documentaries on the natural world such as Planet Earth, said the coronavirus pandemic has shown how crucial it is to secure international agreements to solve worldwide problems.
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1. This is Joe Manchins moment

It was the morning of Friday, March 5th, and victory was in sight. Joe Bidens first major act as president, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, had gone to the Senate, and it appeared to be headed for a swift passage. The moderates in the Democratic caucus had quibbled over the size and duration of the bills weekly unemployment benefits, but those concerns were addressed, and the day began that Friday in March with the belief that all 50 Senate Democrats were ready to vote aye.

But when the latest text of the bill circulated that morning, one senator took a look at the text and balked. What Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia saw in print was not the deal he and his fellow Democrats had reached about the unemployment benefits and a related tax credit. And Manchin wasnt about to get rolled. A few hours later, as the final round of voting began on the Biden relief bill, Manchin informed his colleagues that he couldnt support the deal. He said he was thinking about voting for a Republican amendment with an even stingier version of the unemployment provision, a move that would blow up the deal Senate Democrats had brokered and possibly the entire Covid-19 relief package.

Manchins gambit froze the Senate. While Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats scrambled to appease Manchin without alienating the other Democrats, the voting process was held open for nearly 12 hours, a new record in the modern history of the chamber. It took well into Saturday to reach a compromise and call the final vote. Manchin got the terms he wanted, and the American Rescue Plan passed 50 to 49, without the support of a single Republican. After the vote, Manchin was everywhere. His masked face and helmet of graying dark hair graced the front page of The New York Times. He agreed to appear on four of the five Sunday talk shows, a ubiquitous sight in a boxy blue suit and soft red tie, his Senate lapel pin twinkling in the studio lights. ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz asked, If [Democrats are] not getting bipartisan support, which they arent no matter how many meetings they have, do the Democrats now have to cater to Joe Manchins agenda?

The question couldnt be more relevant. Manchin, who is 73, has served more than a decade in the Senate representing what he affectionately calls my little state of West Virginia. Most of that time has been in the minority. Hes watched partisanship and procedural dysfunction turn the Senate, supposedly the worlds greatest deliberative body, into a graveyard of legislation and a staging ground for presidential candidacies. In this toxic environment, Manchin crafted his own persona of the lonely centrist who just wants everyone to get along. He loves to bring up his Republican friends and clings to an unshakable belief that the most effective policies result from bipartisanship, give and take, negotiation.

Over the years, Manchin has milked this why-cant-we-all-get-along act for all its worth. Hes able to do it because hes always served in a divided government, when Democrats lacked the votes to do any actual legislating. In a way, hes been able to play on everyones team because he wasnt the critical vote on anything.

That changed on the night of January 5th, 2021. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnocks victories in Georgia meant Democrats would control the Senate by the slimmest of margins. Now, as the most moderate Democrat in the upper chamber, Manchin can be the decisive 50th vote on key pieces of the Biden policy agenda  or play the spoiler. He can help deliver the votes needed to reform or eliminate the filibuster  or insist, as he has so far, that negotiating with Republicans is a wiser path than changing the rules of the Senate. Either way, Manchins influence cant be understated, and his colleagues know it. As one of them reportedly greeted him in the hallway of the Capitol: Your highness. In a narrowly divided Senate, any one senator can be the king- or queenmaker, says Jim Manley, a former aide to Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid. Hes decided he wants to be the kingmaker.

Now that hes arguably the most powerful senator in America, its worth asking: What does Manchin want? Does he have the chops to be a kingmaker? And if McConnell and the Republicans filibuster bills on voting rights, immigration, and the environment over the next two years, what will it take to change his mind?

2. Think of him like a mayor

In pre-Covid days, Manchin used to give tours of his home state to other senators and reporters. Its an easy trip from Washington to West Virginia, about four hours by car, four and a half if you go the scenic route. The uber-wealthy Maryland and Virginia suburbs fall away fast, and the next 200 or so miles are some of the prettiest country youll see this side of the Mississippi. But the chasm between the nations capital and many parts of West Virginia is staggering  and that was the point of the tours. Its a beautiful state wracked by poverty and addiction. It has one of the lowest median household incomes in the country. Its the lone state in the union to see its population decline over the past 70 years. As Richard Ojeda, who ran for the House of Representatives there in 2018, put it, the choices available to a young person after high school were dig coal, sell dope, or join the Army.

Manchin grew up in a different West Virginia. In 1950, when he was three, its population surpassed 2 million people, the highest its ever been, and the coal industry was thriving, employing 125,000 souls and sustaining the economies of hundreds of small towns across the state. Farmington, where Joe lived, was one such town. The grocery store run by his grandfather, his fathers furniture shop  all of it depended on coal workers. Today, as coal continues its long decline, Farmington is a shell of itself, but generations of Manchins are still there. They stayed, says Nick Casey, a former state Democratic Party chairman and friend of Joe Manchins. It made the Manchins not a dynasty so much as survivors.

Manchins political education began at home. His father was the mayor of Farmington, and his uncle, A. James, was a political activist and legislator who helped deliver the state for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential primary fight. (In his office, Manchin hangs a poster of JFK with a quote: Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.) A. James Manchin was a rotund, bow-tied talker who never forgot a name and never left a hand unshaken. Young Joe watched his Uncle Jimmy amass a following as the head of a popular statewide program that removed cars from rivers and creeks, each vehicle disgorged celebrated with a little parade. Let us purge our proud peaks of these jumbled jungles of junkery was how A. James typically put it.

Manchin saw from a young age that government worked when it delivered for the people in a way you could see, feel, and touch. He also learned to heed the folks in the little white houses, the modest homes that dot the mountains and hollows across West Virginia. Even now, as his states senior U.S. senator, Manchin is known for how accessible he is, how quickly he or his office will respond to any complaint or request, how he stays connected to the people of his state. Most people in the state have some form of a Joe Manchin story where he came through, where he showed up, says Randy Jones, a political strategist based in Charleston. At nonpolitical events, when the politicians show up, sometimes you get an eye roll from folks: Oh, great, the politicians are here, Jones adds. I dont think thats ever the sentiment about Manchin.

In a state where Charleston, the largest city as well as the capital, has a population of about 45,000 people, West Virginia politics holds onto its small-town feel. Contra the nationalization of American politics, where red-team-blue-team loyalties outweigh the particulars of any one place, in West Virginia people still call their elected officials for help with potholes, barking dogs, and VA checks. Chris Kofinis, a former Senate chief of staff of Manchins, told me Manchin liked to tell a story about how as governor he once made his security detail stop on the highway at a construction project so that he could personally tell the crew they werent following the latest safety protocols.

Evan Vucci/AP Evan Vucci/AP

John Perdue, a former longtime state treasurer, says Manchin stays in constant contact with his extensive network back home. These small towns all have a mayor and a city council, Perdue told me, and they all matter, and he makes them feel like theyre players. Like a small-town politician taking the temperature of his people, Manchin likes to call around the state when theres a big vote on the calendar. According to Perdue, Hell say, Do you think Im on the right track? Am I doing the right thing here? 

And like any good local politician, Manchin wants nothing more than to smash the stereotype of the place he calls home, to make West Virginia the kind of place where the choices for staying outnumber the reasons to leave. He wont get a better chance to do that than as part of Bidens dramatic vision for how government can reimagine the American economy. I think this is the moment when West Virginia is going to get its shake, says Nick Casey, the former state Democratic Party chairman.

3. Hes shrewder than he lets on

To grasp how Joe Manchin thinks, you have to know this: He is a negotiator, his friends and allies say, a believer of compromise. Manchin first proved himself to be a canny legislator, cutting deals as a state rep, then honed those skills even more when he was elected governor in 2004, using all the trappings of the office to win over his skeptics and get the Legislature to pass his bills. I wore that governors mansion out, he once told a reporter. I went through more booze and food than you can imagine. Whenever he encountered opposition to one of his plans, he demanded that all parties come together and stay there until theyd hashed out a deal. His belief is that if we all sit in a room and come to terms with the same set of facts about who is being hurt the most, well be able to come up with the best solution that addresses that fact, says Chris Kofinis, the former chief of staff.

A year into his second term as governor, after winning re-election in a landslide, Robert Byrd, the states senior U.S. senator, died. On the national stage, Byrd was known as the former KKK member who rose to become a towering political figure, a man who could quote Tacitus and Montesquieu, and who had an unrivaled command of the arcane rules and procedures of the Senate. But what West Virginians usually remembered most about Byrd was his prodigious use of earmarks. Drop a pin in West Virginia and youre liable to hit a laboratory, high school, federal agency office, or four-lane highway that Byrd made happen. If you talk to people who are 70, 80, 90 years old and you ask what they remember about Senator Byrd, theyll tell you about something specific in their communities, David Satterfield, a longtime executive at West Virginia University whos known Manchin for years, says. They wont talk to you about the Byrd rule or the filibuster.

If Manchin wanted to bring West Virginia on par with its neighbors, and if he wanted to fill the void left by Byrds death, he would need more than a governors powers. The governor was constrained by balanced budgets, the whims of the Legislature, and the quirks of the state constitution; but a single senator on the right committee, as Robert Byrd had proved, could deliver in a way no governor could match.

In 2010, he got elected to the Senate, in part thanks to a TV ad that featured him firing a rifle at a sheaf of paper with cap-and-trade written on it, referring to the Democratic climate bill opposed by the coal industry. But like a guest who shows up just as the partys winding down, Manchin won his race in the same year Democrats lost the House of Representatives and with it one-party control of Washington. Democrats had already lost their filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority in the Senate; they would lose the majority itself in 2014.

Still, Manchin hoped his dealmaking approach as a governor would translate to the Senate. If only he could put the right people in the room, he could get something passed. Yet time and time again, his efforts went nowhere. After the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, he tried to work with the NRA to pass background checks for gun purchases. In the end, not only did the NRA bail on him mid-negotiations and help sink the bill, but several of Manchins fellow Democrats voted against it. In 2018, he joined a bipartisan group of senators who introduced a compromise immigration-reform bill that would protect the 1.8 million so-called Dreamers, but that bill failed to garner 60 votes as well. Amid his failures to broker a grand bipartisan compromise, Manchin still managed to drum up some glowing PR. Time published a glowing story that described him as someone with a bias toward action, and that Manchin-Toomeys defeat positioned him as a man willing to take political risks back home for the greater good. Manchin in the Middle was how Politico titled a profile of him. He was the Last of the Moderates, a decent guy who loathed the Beltway crowd and only wanted to Get Things Done.

Manchins critics say he misunderstands the modern Republican Party and GOP leaders like Mitch McConnell. What he fails to realize is that, in this age, theres no cutting deals with McConnell, Jim Manley, the former aide to Harry Reid, told me. Honestly, I dont quite get it. Hes either intoxicated by all the national press hes receiving as the key man in the Senate, or hes doing what he thinks he needs to get re-elected in West Virginia.

In 2014, Republicans won control of the West Virginia Legislature for the first time in 84 years; two years later, Donald Trump won the state by 42 percentage points, the second-highest margin after Wyoming. Manchin greeted the Trump presidency with outstretched arms. I dont think Donald Trump is far to the right, he said on the eve of Trumps inauguration. I think hes pretty much centrist  a moderate, centrist conservative Democrat. Manchin briefly entertained rumors that he might join Trumps cabinet and backed Trump nominees like Scott Pruitt, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency for 17 months before leaving amidst a series of scandals. Even as the sheer incompetence and mendacity of the Trump presidency piled up, Manchin lauded Trump as a president who tries to do the reasonable thing, the responsible thing.

Joe Manchin doesnt answer to the Democratic political establishment, says one grassroots leader. The Democratic political establishment answers to him.

On the merits, Manchins assessment of Trump couldnt have been further off the mark. But as a political strategy, it paid off. When Manchin ran for re-election in 2018, Republicans vowed they would finally oust one of the last red-state Democrats, and their Super PACs poured more than $10 million into the state to finish him off. Manchin and his Democratic allies spent even more money. In the end, he squeaked out a three-point victory. It was the closest election of his career and his most impressive, coming just two years after Trumps resounding victory in West Virginia. Fresh off re-election, Manchin leveraged his friendship with Trump to pass a long-awaited law funding the pensions and health care benefits of retired coal miners. In the eyes of political observers inside and outside of West Virginia, he is now more or less untouchable. Joe Manchin doesnt answer to the Democratic political establishment, says Stephen Smith, the founder of WV Cant Wait, an upstart grassroots populist group. The Democratic political establishment answers to him.

4. If anyone gets Joe Manchin, its Joe Biden

Manchins relationship with Trump was close enough that, according to a person close to the senator, Trump would call Manchin and introduce himself as Don. By contrast, Manchins relationship with former President Obama was practically non-existent. Obama called Manchin just three times  once to congratulate him on his 2010 victory (Dont bring that rifle to Washington, Obama joked, referring to the viral cap-and-trade TV ad), another time about the background-check bill, and a third time to urge him to support the Iran nuclear deal. (Manchin voted against it.) Ive had more personal time with Trump in two months, he told Politico in 2017, than I had with [Barack] Obama in eight years.

When the Obama White House needed someone influential to put pressure on Manchin, the person close to him told me, the job fell to then-Vice President Joe Biden. It was a natural decision: Although Biden and Manchin didnt overlap in the Senate, their backgrounds arent all that different  two Joes, roughly the same age, hailing from industrial states, longtime allies of labor unions, and adherents to the belief that the Senate only works when theres bipartisan compromise.

Manchin recently told The Hill that hes spoken with Biden half a dozen times since the president took office in January  a recognition, no doubt, of Manchins importance as the 50th Democratic vote. Manchin said of Biden: I think hes a good human being, just a good heart and a good soul, and hes the right person at the right time for America.

Yet four months into Bidens presidency, Manchin represents potentially the biggest obstacle to any reform that requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. Despite the spike in the use of the filibuster by Republicans during Obamas presidency, and despite all the indications that Mitch McConnell wants nothing more than to regain the Senate majority and will use the filibuster accordingly, Manchin holds fast to his belief that compromise is the best way forward. In keeping with that belief, he is one of the few Senate Democrats who defends the filibuster, calling it a critical tool for protecting the rights and representation of small and rural states like his. Under no circumstance, he wrote in an April op-ed, would he vote to weaken or abolish the filibuster.

So far, most of Manchins fellow Democrats appear willing to give him the leeway he wants to negotiate with Republicans without lighting him up for it. And the liberal Democrats who have criticized him, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have only strengthened his position in the eyes of his constituents back home. Harry Reid, the former Democratic majority leader of the Senate, says Manchins insistence on working with Republicans reflects the political changes in his state and the will of his constituents, who want to see him pushing for compromise. Hes got a lot of patience, Reid told me, but I think Joe will come to the conclusion that if Republicans continue to negotiate in bad faith and remain unserious in terms of getting things done, Democrats are going to have to act without them.

If he doesnt reach that conclusion, and Republican obstruction escalates, Manchin can expect pressure from inside and outside his caucus, from senators in Washington and grassroots organizers in West Virginia. The fiction of politics as being a polite conversation between left and right is hilarious to us here, says Stephen Smith of WV Cant Wait. In West Virginia, weve always known that politics is not left versus right, its up versus down.

There is, of course, some recent precedent for a bipartisanship-loving, Rust Belt Democrat changing his tune in the name of getting things accomplished. During his presidential bid, Biden offered many Manchin-esque paeans about the need for bipartisanship. You will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends once Trump was gone, Biden said in 2019 on a campaign stop in New Hampshire. If we cant change, were in trouble. This nation cannot function without generating consensus. And yet, as president, Biden has gotten wise to the GOPs antics. When Republicans couldnt come up with a suitable counteroffer on Covid relief, Biden pushed ahead without them and Democrats passed his $1.9 trillion package on a party-line vote. And when those Republican lawmakers cried foul, Biden said his agenda had broad support among Republican and independent voters, which was the sort of bipartisanship that truly mattered.

Both Biden and Manchin agree that the next two years  and perhaps no more  present the chance to pass transformative legislation to end the Covid-19 pandemic, repair the economy, and rebuild the nations infrastructure. He probably wont get a better shot at that kind of change in his lifetime. Thats the window, Manchin told the Charleston Gazette-Mail in February. Thats it. Two years. Thats all we got.
Kellys eight years as head of village government were not easy. The Park Forest Plaza with anchors Sears, Goldblatts and Marshal Fields was foundering. Glitzier shopping centers in Matteson and later Orland Park rubbed the sheen off the Plaza. The location in the center of the community was the problem. The villages founder, Philip Klutznick, admitted the center should have been built on Route 30, the villages northern border.
SAN ANTONIO - The Alamo needs a makeover; on that, at least, everyone agrees. Plaster is flaking off the walls of the nearly 300-year-old former Spanish mission, the most revered battle site in Texas history. Its one-room exhibit space can hold only a fraction of key artifacts. And the surrounding plaza is a tourist circus, packed with novelty shops and a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum.

But Texans are deeply divided over how, exactly, to remember the Alamo. A $450 million plan to renovate the site has devolved into a five-year brawl over whether to focus narrowly on the 1836 battle or present a fuller view that delves into the site's indigenous history and the role of slavery in the Texas Revolution.

READ MORE: Lazy rivers, lagoons, and epic pools promise ultimate Texas getaway

Generations of Texas schoolchildren have been taught to admire the Alamo defenders as revolutionaries slaughtered by the Mexican army in the fight for Texas independence. But several were enslavers, including William B. Travis and Davy Crockett - an inconvenient fact in a state where textbooks have only acknowledged since 2018 that slavery was at issue in the Civil War.

Indeed, an enslaved man named Joe, who was owned by Travis, survived the battle of the Alamo and became one of the primary sources of information about the 13-day siege, inspiring dozens of books and movies, including the John Wayne classic.

Key members of the state's GOP leadership and some conservative groups are insisting that the renovation stay focused on the battle. A bill introduced by 10 Republican state lawmakers would bar the overhaul from citing any reasons for the Texas Revolution beyond those mentioned in the Texas Declaration of Independence - which does not include slavery.

"If they want to bring up that it was about slavery, or say that the Alamo defenders were racist, or anything like that, they need to take their rear ends over the state border and get the hell out of Texas," said Brandon Burkhart, president of the This is Freedom Texas Force, a conservative group that held an armed protest last year in Alamo Plaza.

Democratic elected officials in San Antonio want the Alamo story to be told from other perspectives. Indigenous leaders, for example, want the site to show respect for its ancient role as a burial ground. Meanwhile, historians argue that support for slavery was indeed a motivating factor for the Texas Revolution, a fact that should be acknowledged at the site, even if it tarnishes some giants of Texas history.

"Sometimes we try so hard to create perfect heroes, and in trying so hard to create perfection, we force ourselves into a corner where it's difficult to accept the reality that people are not perfect," said Carey Latimore, a history professor at Trinity University.

"As we become more diverse as a nation and a people, we've got to learn how to talk about these difficult conversations, but we've got to talk about it with nuance. And that's what's missing right now in our society, is the nuance."

Elected leaders have talked for decades about redeveloping the Alamo complex, which lies in the heart of San Antonio, not far from the famous River Walk. But those plans have always presented logistical challenges - the Alamo is owned by the state, while the adjoining plaza is owned by the city - as well as ideological ones.

READ ALSO: Texas security company helped spread Trump's election fraud claim

The original plan, announced in 2017, called for repairing the Alamo, fixing up the plaza and building a world-class museum for artifacts, including a collection donated by rock musician Phil Collins, an Alamo enthusiast. It represented a rare alliance between the state's Republican leadership and one of its more liberal cities, with San Antonio committing $38 million to the budget and the state of Texas pitching in $106 million. That left at least $200 million to be raised through donations.

But aspects of the plan quickly met with outrage, especially its treatment of the Cenotaph, a 56-foot monument to Alamo defenders erected in the plaza in 1940.

Under the plan, the Cenotaph would be moved 500 feet south and deposited in front of the historic Menger Hotel. The idea was to make the plaza "period neutral" and help visitors imagine how the Alamo looked as a mission and fort. But conservative groups rallied in armed protest and turned up at public meetings chanting "Not one inch!"

State leaders took up the cause, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, who has closely aligned himself with former president Donald Trump. Last year, Patrick threatened to wrest control of the Alamo away from the General Land Office, which is led by George P. Bush, a potential political rival and son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Patrick took to Twitter to criticize Bush's "lousy management."

Meanwhile, Alamo Plaza became a focus of San Antonio's Black Lives Matter protests. Last summer, the Cenotaph was spray-painted with graffiti decrying white supremacy.

The struggle over the Cenotaph ended in September when the Texas Historical Commission, a state board whose members are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, voted to deny a permit to move it. Nearly half of the board members of the nonprofit raising funds for the Alamo renovation resigned in protest - raising doubts about where the rest of money would come from.

The board's decision necessitated a new vote by the San Antonio City Council to authorize the project. Bush and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg threw their political muscle behind reviving the project. In early March, Nirenberg took the unusual step of replacing a city council member, Roberto Trevino, who had been leading two committees coordinating the project and had been staunchly in favor of moving the Cenotaph.

On April 15, the city council voted to go forward with a new plan that leases much of the plaza to the state for at least 50 years - and leaves the Cenotaph in place.

"The plan itself is much more than a single monument," Nirenberg said in an interview. "My view, which is shared by the vast majority of San Antonians and Texans, is that regardless of your feelings on the Cenotaph moving, it's not moving. This is the most significant piece of land in the entire state of Texas, and it deserves the reverence and dignity of a preservation project that has been a generation in the making."

READ MORE: Jolt Action aims to harness the 'huge voting power' of young Latinos

The day after the council vote, Nirenberg appeared with Bush and Patrick in Alamo Plaza to unveil a new exhibit with a replica of a cannon that fired upon the Mexican army. Bush and Patrick traded compliments, with Bush declaring that "there's nobody in the state Capitol who cares more about Texas history" than Patrick.

Meanwhile, issues of race and slavery at the Alamo remain unresolved.

The Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, an Indigenous group, is still fighting to have the complex treated as a cemetery and to tell the story of the Indigenous people buried there, said Ramon Vasquez, one of its leaders.

"The site is much bigger than just the 1836 battle," he said.

Trevino, who represents much of central San Antonio, said his push to move the Cenotaph had been aimed at telling a more "inclusive story." He also supported carving into the monument the names of enslaved people and Tejanos - native Texans of Mexican descent - who were present at the 1836 battle.

These days, Trevino wonders whether the city would have been better off redoing Alamo Plaza on its own.

"The issue for the project has been that there's a lot of moving parts, and a lot of people who have tried to insert their version of history," he said. "You have to remember that this city is predominantly Hispanic. And for many years, it has not felt like it's seen itself in that story."
Every year as part of the Houston Chronicles Salute to Nurses program, three outstanding nursing students are awarded a scholarship to serve as assistance to support their nursing educational endeavors. This tradition is celebrated by the Chronicle every year during National Nurses Week, which takes place May 6-12.

As part of their award, the recipients receive a $1,000 scholarship; two invitations to the Salute to Nurses drive-thru celebration held Thursday, May 6, at the Houston Chronicle; an award at the appreciation event; and recognition in the Houston Chronicle Salute to Nurses section.

This years recipients are:



Erica Coleman, University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing

Erica Coleman is a third-semester nursing student in the accelerated BSN program at UTMB, and is set to graduate in December.

She has dreamed of being a nurse since she was 15 and was eventually accepted into the advanced nursing pathway program organized by Klein ISD and Lone Star College that allowed high school students admittance into the licensed vocational nursing program.

She has since obtained her LVN license and is continuing her nursing education to become an RN, BSN.

I decided to pursue nursing to care for people in their worst times as well as their happiest times, with the desire to make a difference in someones life by giving encouragement, providing strength, providing comfort, and care for all aspects of a person, she said.

Coleman is open to all specialties within the nursing field, though she is particularly interested in exploring critical care nursing. Other future career goals include creating a platform for the nursing community, travel nursing, and nurse entrepreneurship.

Im interested in providing care for unstable patients and bringing them back to their ultimate health status, Coleman said. These critical skills will provide the necessary knowledge for me to continue my career as a CRNA.

She added, This scholarship will allow me to be one step closer to making a difference in the ever-changing and challenging world of health care. I aim to make a difference in my Houston community, and this scholarship will be an important factor when it comes to affording the education I need to do that.



Lance Edwards, Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)

A senior in the nursing program at UTHealth, Lance Edwards is set to graduate in August.

Originally from London, where he worked as a licensed psychologist, Edwards found his license didnt carry over from the U.K. when he arrived in Houston.

As a result, he spent a decade working as a multi-systemic therapist in the criminal justice system, working with adolescents through the court system.

He found that he missed working in the medical setting since he worked in hospitals in the U.K., and began considering his next career move.

I decided I didnt really want to do psychology over here and after a relative went to an emergency room at Methodist West, I saw that the staff was fantastic and it made me start thinking this was maybe what I wanted to do, he said.

Edwards then began to pursue an academic path for nursing and found that taking the prerequisites was more of a challenge here than what they require in the U.K., as they took a couple of years.

It was a career shift for me, but Im very glad I chose this path because I really love it, Edwards said.

He is hoping to pursue emergency nursing as his specialty and eventually work in an ER, or potentially in medical-surgical nursing.

Ive got kids, so one of the challenges of pursuing a full-time course load is that I gave up my career that I had before, making [finances] a little tighter, he said. This scholarship will not only help with that, but the acknowledgment also means a great deal and its a fantastic addition to have on a resume. Its going to help me stand out against other people when going for jobs and will be beneficial when Im applying for my residency in a few weeks time.



Natalie Filer, the University of St. Thomas Peavy School of Nursing

Natalie Filer is a junior in the nursing program and scheduled to graduate in May 2022. She has always had a passion for the medical field, ever since she was in middle school.

In high school, I took various health science courses and through these various courses I realized that I had a strong connection with  nursing, she said. Ultimately, I pursued a career in nursing to give each patient I encounter the proper care  and build relationships with patients.

Filers goals for her nursing career are to provide each patient with the care they deserve.

I strongly believe that each patient should be treated with equality no matter their background and choices, she said. The beauty of nursing to me is being able to interact with others of many different backgrounds and cultures.

Filer is also aiming to be as active as possible within the nursing community, to pay it forward the way people helped her as she pursued a career in nursing.

As of now, I am wanting to pursue a career within the neonatal intensive care unit or labor and delivery, she said. With two semesters of nursing school left I am keeping an open mind. I know wherever I am placed will help me continue to grow and develop within my nursing career.

She added, Receiving this scholarship means so much to me, and I am so surprised and excited. I am a Houston native and I remember as a young child going to get the newspaper in the front lawn each Sunday, and receiving this from the Houston Chronicle is truly an honor.
Leadership is a cornerstone of advance practice health care. After a year of pandemic, the call for leaders to usher in new health policies, protocols and education is urgent.

The University of Houston College of Nursing prepares the next generation of nursing leaders and clinicians with the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), a post-masters program providing evidenced-based practice in direct patient care and leadership, quality improvement and systems leadership.

What weve learned in the time of COVID is that now is the time for leadership, said Kathryn Tart, professor and founding dean of the UH College of Nursing. We have cared for our community all through the pandemic. Advanced practice nurses are critical.

The DNP program is designed for working nurses and is offered in a hybrid delivery method (classes online and face to face). Students can choose between two post-masters tracks: the family nurse practitioner or nursing administration. The program spans 37-42 credit hours over five to eight semesters. Additionally, students of the DNP program can expect to complete clinical contact hours with excellent experiences with practice partners.

The University of Houston College of Nursing is positioning itself to continue the critical work of educating nurses to meet state and national needs for nurses in the workforce, Tart said.

The UH College of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice is approved by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and is accepting applications for fall 2021. Deadline to apply is June 1, 2021. Final admission for all approved DNP students is pending the approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

For more information and to apply, visit https://uh.edu/nursing.

 The University of Houston College of Nursing
Howard Wood cant help but fight for recognition for the Women Air Service Pilots of World War II.

As the dad of three daughters, he believes its only right to honor these ladies who honorably served their country.

Though they played a vital role during World War II, they werent recognized for their contributions until 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. At this time, they were finally given veterans status. They also became Congressional Gold Medal Recipients under President Obama in 2009.

After so many years of no recognition for these ladies, its our time to pay it back, said Wood, Director of Communications for the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission.

A new monument to the WASP  Remembered Whispers  will be at the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park at Texas 105 and Interstate 45 in Conroe. It will be dedicated at 11 a.m. on Memorial Day along several other monuments at the park.

According to information from the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park Commission, 1,074 women graduated from the Women Air Force Service Pilots program approved by the US military during the height of World War II.

These female pilots, known as Avenger Girls, flew non-combat missions across the US. Members of WASP became trained pilots who tested aircraft, ferried aircraft and trained other pilots. Their purpose was to free male pilots for combat roles during World War II.

These ladies werent treated fairly, Wood, a US Marine veteran, said. They were given sub-quality aircraft and had to pay their own way. The WASP members were U.S. federal civil service employees, and did not qualify for military benefits. Each member paid for her own transportation costs to training sites, for her dress uniforms and room and board.

They also faced discrimination from male pilots who refused to fly with or be instructed by women.

The WASP arrangement with the US Army Air Forces ended abruptly on Dec. 20, 1944. During their short time of service, 79 were killed or injured while performing their assignments.

When they got out, they werent recognized as service members, Wood said.

Jimmie Edwards III and the other members of the Commission felt it was only right to honor the female pilots at the Veterans Memorial Park.

Edwards wanted an interactive monument for the Park and designed a four-section monument that will have iron chimes of various sizes hanging from beams.

When the wind is soft the sound from the chimes will be soft. When the wind is stronger the sound gets louder.

The iron pieces are being manufactured by Buzzard Industries in Conroe.

The sections will be to the left and right of the north end of the Luther James Dorsey Bridge at the Park.

A plaque with research by Dr. Rebecca Howard will be at the monument site. The Commission wishes to make the park an interactive experience, so there will be a QR code on the plaque.

Visitors can go use the QR to get more information about the monument on their smart devices.

They are working with the National Wasp WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas and Texas Womens University in Denton to put together information for the monument.

The critical and brave service of the Avenger Girls not only paved the runway for women pilots in the US military and president day commercial aviation, but provides an example of service and perseverance for all Americans, according to a statement from the Commission.

Monuments for the founders of the park, Montgomery Countys fallen soldiers, The Line, and a refurbished Veterans Memorial from downtown Conroe and the Victory Row flags will all be dedicated in a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Memorial Day.

There will also be a kids Cast and Catch event starting at 10 a.m. on May 30 at the park. Its for ages three to nine and a pole and bait will be provided. There will also be motorcyles, hot rods, Jeeps and more. Hot dogs and beverages at noon.

Register for Cast and Catch at https://www.facebook.com/honoredmission. Also see the MCVMP Commissions Facebook page for more information about the park.

shernandez@hcnonline.com
LOS ANGELES (AP)  One person was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting at a crowded party in Los Angeles, authorities said.

The shooters were believed to be two gunmen who walked up to the party late Sunday in a residential area of Hollywood near the Sunset Gower Studios.

Officers who were in the area heard numerous shots fired and went to the scene, where they found the four shooting victims and an unruly crowd, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Monday.

It is unknown if this is gang related, the statement added.

Police Capt. Brian Bixler said the motive was unknown and he asked witnesses to come forward.

We would really like to know exactly what transpired here, he said. There was a lot of people, so we know somebody saw something.

One person died at the scene and three other gunshot victims were taken to hospitals, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

One wounded victim was in critical condition and the other two were in stable condition, the police statement said.

Another person had an unspecified, non-life-threatening injury and an additional person had an unspecified medical complaint, Humphrey said.

Its the most egregious thing you can do  indiscriminate fire into any kind of party, police Lt. John Radtke said.
LISBON, Portugal (AP)  A court on Monday sentenced three Portuguese immigration inspectors to between nine and seven years in prison for the killing of a Ukrainian immigrant who was in custody at Lisbon airport.

The three inspectors were convicted of grievous bodily harm, which a former senior immigration official said amounted to torture, leading to the 40-year-old mans death during interrogation. Two of the men received nine-year prison sentences and another got seven years.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Sonya A. Grier, American University Kogod School of Business

(THE CONVERSATION) Despite the increasing diversity among Americas college students, business school professors remain overwhelmingly white.

In U.S. business schools, Black and Hispanic individuals make up 23.2% of students, yet only 6.7% of the faculty.

As a researcher with a long-standing interest in the reasons business schools lack diverse faculty, I  along with marketing professor Sonja Martin Poole  set out to examine how business schools select their faculty. We did this by talking to 21 Black and Hispanic professors who have served on search committees at business schools throughout the U.S. We discovered four major reasons professors of color often get screened out of the process.

1. Race is unmentionable

Search committees rarely have open conversations about race as they search to diversify their faculty, the professors in our study told us. They described conversations about race as anemic and uncomfortable, which in turn led people to avoid the topic.

As one professor in our study stated regarding race, If we dont talk about it we dont have a problem.

The faculty members in our study described a variety of reasons they believed search committees avoided talking about race. These include different beliefs about fairness and fear of saying something that could lead them to be seen as racist. The silence on race ended up creating a perception among the Black and Hispanic faculty members in our study that the search committees were not concerned with racial justice.

When discussions about race are hampered, we believe it makes it more difficult to recruit diverse faculty.

2. Diversity is poorly understood

Faculty members told us that many of their colleagues thought their school was already diverse since the schools had business professors from around the world.

This view is at odds with most diversity efforts in American higher education, which aim to increase Black and Hispanic faculty members from the U.S. because of historical disadvantages that both groups have faced in this country.

Others discussed broad views of diversity, which included sexual preference, gender orientation and diversity of thought as important criteria.

The absence of a clear definition of diversity enables individual search committee members to define or interpret diversity as they see fit. It also makes it difficult to assess whether diversity goals are actually being met.

3. Blind faith in colorblind criteria

Even though search committees were using supposedly merit-based or colorblind criteria, Black and Hispanic candidates still got screened out of the process.

For instance, search committees might consider the number of times a candidate has been published in an academic journal. But this ignores the fact that many Black and Hispanic scholars may study race-related topics, which are largely absent from and marginalized at top-ranked marketing journals. The rank of a journal where an article is published is used to assess faculty members for tenure and promotion. Publication at top-ranked journals is typically a requirement for tenure at most universities.

Search committees also consider the status of the school from which the candidate received their doctorate, as well as who was their adviser. Historically, elite schools have had limited racial diversity among their faculty. Even potential Black and Hispanic doctoral students face biases and are the least likely to receive responses from faculty as they seek academic mentors and support.

Search committee members also told us that hiring committees often do not value the extra work that many Black and Hispanic doctoral students perform. This extra work includes mentoring students of color, consulting with administrators on issues related to Black and Hispanic populations and serving as what the study participants viewed as being token members on various committees.

4. Hierarchy and gatekeepers matter

Faculty members in our study felt they were invited to be on search committees to be the token diversity voice. But the presence of Black and Hispanic faculty members on search committees does not necessarily lead to the hiring of diverse candidates. The reason is that powerful committee members  such as the department chair and full professors  often determine whom is eventually hired.

Given Black and Hispanic faculty members were often the only one from their group on these search committees, and rarely at the full professor level, typically they felt they had to go against the grain to disrupt any observed bias.

At business schools that had more racially diverse faculty, some participants told us that there were strong diversity advocates in senior administration or on the faculty. This suggests that strong diversity advocates  not the hiring practices these schools have in place  are whats yielding a diverse faculty. Once those advocates leave, future hires may not be as diverse.

Despite improvements in faculty diversity, many students leave college without ever having learned from a Black or Hispanic business professor. The absence of racially diverse faculty cheats students out of a high-quality education by limiting their exposure to the views of educators from diverse racial backgrounds.

In order to bring about more diversity among business school faculty, I believe colleges and universities must acknowledge the various ways race influences faculty hiring in order to find ways to make hiring more inclusive.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/why-business-school-efforts-to-recruit-more-diverse-faculties-are-failing-156917.
DEL RIO  Struggling to escape the Rio Grandes grasping current, Ernesto Parra collapsed onto the refuse-choked Texas shore.

I was very afraid, especially for the little ones, Parra, 55, said moments after he waded across the river from Mexico with his wife, Mariana, their 11-year-old son and two dozen other migrants.

Parra owned a small business in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo. He and his family are part of a wave of Venezuelans fleeing their shattered country.

There are things that have terrified us on this journey, he said as his wife cried inconsolably. But we couldnt remain at home any longer.

Across the entire border with Mexico, the U.S. has seen an upwelling of migrants this year. But in few places has the traffic increased as sharply as it has along the 60-mile stretch from Del Rio to Eagle Pass.

From October through March, agents in the Border Patrols Del Rio sector had 68,570 encounters with migrants  more than four times as many as in the same period a year earlier.

The Rio Grande Valley in far South Texas has long been the favorite corridor for undocumented border crossers. But smugglers and word of mouth are drawing many farther north, putting great stress on rural areas of Southwest Texas unaccustomed to the crush.

This is the worst weve seen it as far as the migrants. Its been terrible, said Joe Frank Martinez, 64, the Democratic sheriff of Val Verde County, whose seat is Del Rio. The policymakers came in and changed the policy, but they didnt have a plan to put the policy in place.

Echoing officials in neighboring Kinney County, which last month declared an emergency, Martinez called the influx a crisis that has overwhelmed local, state and federal efforts to contain it.

Its causing a lot of hardship to our community, to local resources, to our federal partners, Martinez said. This is going to continue until some policy is put in place that prohibits this activity and allows these immigrants a path for citizenship.

A world on the move

Nearly destitute Mexicans and Central Americans used to dominate the cross-border traffic along this stretch. But in recent weeks, some 60 percent of the people passing through a migrant assistance center in Del Rio have been Venezuelans. The rest were from Haiti, West Africa and Uzbekistan.

A whole world seemingly on the move, squeezing through tiny, isolated Del Rio.

The influx of Venezuelans  about 100 every day  underscores the ubiquity of mobile communications as well as inconsistent border enforcement and confusion about the Biden administrations immigration policies, Martinez and others say.

Across the entire border, the Border Patrol had more than 550,000 encounters with migrants from October through March, nearly three times as many as a year earlier, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The number of single adults entering the country  most of them men looking for work in an expanding U.S. economy  has spiked. Migrant families and unaccompanied children also continue to pour in, encouraged by word that some who preceded them were granted at least temporary permission to enter.

The border is going to stay open to those who really want to cross, said Alexis Araujo, 51, a Honduran construction worker who was preparing to make a second attempt to cross the Rio Grande from the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, which sits opposite Eagle Pass.

I am here by the grace of God, and he is not going to fail me now.

Treacherous crossing

Central Americans journey to the border can take weeks or even months of walking, hopping trains and riding buses. Haitians and Africans have traveled in the same fashion from South America.

Many of the better-financed Venezuelans arriving in Del Rio fly into Mexico City or Cancun with visas, catch flights to the northern city of Monterrey and take buses to the border.

Then theyre led to the barren Mexican riverbank by smugglers in the pre-dawn darkness. The water is knee-deep near an island in the middle of the river. But it deepens and the current accelerates near the Texas side, an area of pastures and quarries a few miles west of the center of Del Rio.

A Houston Chronicle reporter and photographer watched as the Parra family and other migrants made the crossing at this spot on the last day in April.

Younger children suddenly found themselves chest deep in dark water. Adults struggled to hold infants and packs of dry clothes aloft, above the reach of the water. Grunts of exertion turned to panicked cries.

Once ashore, adults soothed upset children and one another. Some wept from jangled nerves, others from pure relief. Many changed into dry clothing. Discarded items choked an empty lot and the patio of a neighboring home.

Rather than try to evade detention, the Venezuelans turn themselves in. The U.S. agents keep busy processing rather than pursuing them. Politeness prevails, even kindness. Agents offer a hand to those struggling to climb out of the river  and coats to those shivering from the cold.

The Biden administration in March granted temporary protected status to Venezuelans already in the U.S. Those who apply for the status and are approved are protected from deportation for 18 months. They can apply for work permits and authorization to travel.

In addition, there has been a noticeable tendency since early April to allow Venezuelan migrant families and even individuals to apply for political asylum and to be released to await hearings, said John De la Vega, a South Florida immigration lawyer with Venezuelan clients.

These past three weeks, weve seen them be more reasonable at the border, De la Vega said. The policy is inconsistent  but more lenient.

Many, if not most, of the Venezuelans intend to apply for asylum, said De la Vega and migrants relatives. The vast majority of such petitions are rejected.

Many of the families who crossed with Parras appear to have been released from custody within days. Adults traveling without children were still being detained, according to their relatives.

In a statement, Customs and Border Protection officials said migrants are released pending court appearances because of crowding in detention facilities and the need to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.

As the administration reviews the current immigration process, balancing it against the ongoing pandemic, we will continue to use all current authorities to avoid keeping individuals in a congregate setting for any length of time, the statement said.

Given it lip service

Twenty-four hours before Parra and his group of Venezuelans scrambled into Texas, Sheriff Martinez stood at the same spot along the river and considered the impact of the immigration surge on his isolated county of 40,000 people.

Val Verde was one of a handful of majority Hispanic counties on the Texas border that voted for Donald Trump in November, in part because of concerns over immigration.

With graying hair, a burly build and a starched white shirt, Martinez fits the classic profile of a Texas sheriff. Raised in Del Rio, hes been a lawman for most of his life, serving as elected sheriff here for 13 years after finishing a 25-year career as a Texas state trooper.

A day earlier, Martinez had attended a meeting in Uvalde where ranchers and others demanded that the government do more to stop the migrants. He said he understands the frustration.

In the last administration, the rhetoric was negative, the sheriff said. A lot of people are still tied to that.

In mid-March, Martinezs deputies responded to a gruesome crash that occurred when a smugglers pickup, fleeing state troopers, rammed another vehicle head-on. Eight migrants were killed. A local man and his young daughter traveling in the other vehicle were badly injured.

Sharply critical of Bidens immigration moves, Martinez is no easier on Trump and his predecessors.

Every administration over the past several decades has talked about it and given it lip service and not done anything about it, Martinez said as he scanned the river and the far shore with binoculars. Something has to be done rather than just talking.

Our goal  my goal  is to not have them wandering through our streets, the sheriff said.

In two small municipal buildings in Del Rio, volunteers offer assistance to migrant families who have been released to await asylum hearings.

In one room, women seated at computers help arrange plane and bus tickets, paid for by the migrants or their sponsors. In an adjoining room, volunteers pass out water, answer questions and keep an eye on toddlers and preschool children playing with donated toys.

The recent arrivals from Venezuela and elsewhere are better off than previous waves of Central American migrants. Most have the money  their own or provided by relatives and friends  to move on from here, said Tiffany Burrow, director of operations at the Val Verde Humanitarian Border Coalition.

We are like a travel hub for these people, Burrow said. They have to figure out how they are going to survive long term in this country.

Many of the Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans make a beeline to Miami. But others head for Utah, Nevada, Georgia or Oklahoma  anywhere friends or family await.

This is not just about South Texas. This is much bigger than that, Burrow said of the migrant crush. It really needs to be looked at. Because its not sustainable the way it is. I dont know what the answer is.

The volunteers ethos could be summed up by the psalm someone tacked to a wall in the chaotic receiving hall.

He heals the broken-hearted, it says, and binds up their wounds.
TIRANA, Albania (AP)  Albanias prime minister expressed his determination Monday to remove the president from his post, claiming he has embarrassed the country.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said President Ilir Meta should be discharged. Ramas Socialist Party has accused Meta of violating the constitution by taking political sides in an election last month.
NEW YORK (AP)  Amid growing pressure on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association from studios, stars and large swaths of the film industry, NBC said Monday that will not air the Golden Globes in 2022, putting in doubt the viability of one of Hollywood's oldest and most-watched award shows.

Criticism of the HFPA, which puts on the Globes and has been denounced for a lack of diversity and for ethical impropriates, reached such a pitch Monday that Tom Cruise returned his three Globes to the press association's headquarters, according to a person who was granted anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly about the decision.

In a statement, NBC said it believes the Hollywood Foreign Press Association  which is facing possible boycotts over the inclusiveness of its membership from Netflix, Warner Bros. and many Hollywood actors  is committed to reform. But change can't come quickly enough for next year's Globes.

However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right, the network said. "As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, long a subject of ridicule from even its own telecast hosts, has come under fire following an investigative report in February by The Los Angeles Times that recounted the organization's questionable record on diversity  including, presently, no Black members among its roughly 90 voting members.

The press association has pledged to thoroughly reform, and last week approved a plan to, among other things, diversity its membership. But that hasn't stopped several studios from threatening to pull out of the Globes.

Last week, Netflix and Amazon Studios both said they would cut ties with the HFPA if it didn't swiftly enact more drastic changes.

We dont believe these proposed new policies  particularly around the size and speed of membership growth  will tackle the HFPAs systemic diversity and inclusion challenges, or the lack of clear standards for how your members should operate," Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos wrote in a letter to the group.

In a letter sent Sunday and shared with reporters Monday, WarnerMedia said it would cease holding screenings and other events for the HFPA until it made more substantial changes.

For far too long, demands for perks, special favors and unprofessional requests have been made to our teams and to others across the industry, WarnerMedia executives said in a letter. We regret that as an industry, we have complained, but largely tolerated this behavior until now.

The outcry against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has gathered force over the last six weeks, as a film industry where racial and gender inequity long went unchecked has grown newly intolerant of the ways of the group, made up of mostly little-known journalists who profit considerably from the annual telecast.

Increasingly, Hollywood has abandoned the HFPA. A group of 100 entertainment publicity firms has said they would urge their clients to skip HFPA functions. Mark Ruffalo, a winner this year, recently said he cannot feel proud or happy about being a recipient of this award" any longer. Scarlett Johansson said HFPA press conferences for her meant facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn't address the 2022 telecast in responding to NBC's decision, but board members of the group laid out its schedule of reforms  ultimately leading to a revamped membership and board by early August, as well as numerous other policy changes.

Regardless of the next air date of the Golden Globes, implementing transformational changes as quickly  and as thoughtfully  as possible remains the top priority for our organization, the group said in a statement. We invite our partners in the industry to the table to work with us on the systemic reform that is long overdue, both in our organization as well as within the industry at large.

Last week, the press association ratified plans to add at least 20 new members this year with a specific focus on recruiting Black members and with a goal of increasing membership 50% over the next 18 months.

For some, that timeline wasn't aggressive enough. In the next few months, several potential awards contending films are set to premiere at film festivals and elsewhere. Tina Tchen, president and chief executive of Time's Up, called the HFPA's pledges window-dressing platitudes."

These measures ensure that the current membership of the HFPA will remain in the majority and that the next Golden Globe Awards will be decided with the same fundamental problems that have existed for years, said Tchen.

The Globes, produced by dick clark productions, have suffered ratings drops in recent years but still rank among the most-watched award shows  usually third to the Oscars and the Grammys. The 78th Golden Globes, held Feb. 28, attracted 6.9 million viewers, a 63% drop from the 2020 telecast, watched by 18.4 million.
We appreciate the Landmarks (Illinois) efforts to raise the awareness of the architectural significance of the building, Brady said. It is an additional data point as part of the development parameters that were included with the comprehensive plan and for the property owner in their efforts to find someone to try and take over the property.
MANDAN, N.D. (AP)  A judge in North Dakota will allow the lead defense attorney for a man accused of killing four people to withdraw from the case, but the other lawyers working with Chad Isaak must continue to represent him.

It's unclear if the judge's decision will delay Isaak's trial which is set to begin June 7.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP)  Attorneys for the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies in North Carolina have asked the local prosecutor to recuse himself from the investigation because they say he's too close to the men who fired their weapons.

Attorneys Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers said in statements Monday that District Attorney Andrew Womble's involvement would be a miscarriage of justice for Andrew Brown Jr., who was killed April 21 in Elizabeth City.

The involved officers have close relationships with District Attorney Andrew Womble, making him unfit to lead the investigation into Andrews killing, Crump said in his statement.

In an email on Monday, Womble referred to a previous statement that he would not step aside, stating that he remained ready, willing and able to fulfill my statutory obligations.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has urged that a special prosecutor be appointed. But under state law, the district attorney has to agree to let another prosecutor step in.

Brown was behind the wheel of his car and outside of his house when he was shot. Sheriff's deputies working as part of a regional drug task force were serving a drug-related search warrant at the time of the shooting.

Womble has said that Browns car made contact with law enforcement officers before the shooting began. But Brown's family and its attorneys have said that Brown died from an unjustified "execution."

Brown was shot five times, including in the back of the head, according to an independent autopsy commissioned by his family.

The letter to Womble from the Brown family's attorneys, which was dated May 5, states that a conflict of interest precludes Womble from investigating and prosecuting the case without inherent bias.

There is no doubt all seven officers involved, including the three shooters, have worked directly with you and your office for years in prosecuting various cases, the letter stated.
PEMBROKE, N.H. (AP)  An audit that examines a controversial New Hampshire legislative election will begin Tuesday, the attorney generals office announced.

The audit, which will be live streamed from the Edward Cross Training Center in Pembroke, is reviewing the November 2020 Windham election for four state legislative seats. Republicans won all four seats, but questions emerged after a candidate who was a Democrat requested a recount. It found that all four Republicans gained an additional 300 votes, while the Democrat lost 99.

The discrepancy has fueled concerns among conservatives about the fairness of the countrys election process. Donald Trump last week praised those challenging the Windham vote count, as part of his wider claim of election fraud from 2020.

Trump had been to Windham in the past and is not shy about suggesting that voter fraud is rampant in the Granite State. In 2017, he claimed that he and former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte would have won in New Hampshire the previous year if not for voters bused in from out of state. There is no evidence to support that claim.

Recounts are not unusual in New Hampshire, which elects 424 lawmakers every two years and allows candidates to request recounts if the difference in votes is less than 20% of the total ballots cast. There have been at least 15 recounts after each of the past four election cycles, with only a handful of outcomes changed.
LEICESTER, Mass. (AP)  Authorities in Massachusetts on Monday released the name of the man fatally shot by police after ramming an SUV into a town police station and pointing a rifle at officers.

Zachary Richardson, 24, was shot and killed Sunday morning after crashing through the front doors of the Leicester police station, according to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.
Thanks to better than expected tax revenues, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he now plans to fully fund the states Evidence-Based Funding law.

But his plans to roll back some of the tax incentives for a school choice scholarship program continue despite the latest tax figures.

The Evidence-Based Funding law passed several years ago requires the state to increase funding for kindergarten through high school each year. In February, Pritzker proposed keeping that spending level. Now, he has reversed course.

Because our outlook has improved I have informed legislative leaders that I am now in a position to propose increasing evidence-based funding for schools by $350 million, Pritzker said.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability recently reported base general funds revenues for April increased nearly $1.8 billion.

State Rep. Will Davis, D-Hazel Crest, was critical of the governors original proposal of flat funding, but welcomed the change of position thanks to the better-than-expected revenues.

Committing this certainly helps school districts and it probably takes a load off of them but the great thing about it is that there are also those federal dollars there, so its EBF-plus, Davis said.

The most recent federal COVID-19 stimulus package includes $5 billion for Illinois schools.

Republicans also applauded the governors move to comply with the law, but all sides acknowledged theres still a significant gap in the states budget.

While Republicans continue looking for cuts Pritzker has previously requested from state agencies, Democrats and the governor are looking to end what they call corporate loopholes to the tune of nearly $1 billion.

State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, criticized the governor targeting incentive programs to raise revenue by nearly $1 billion.

We have seen him walk back on these promises that provided a needed platform to allow Illinois to continue to succeed, Keicher said.

One of those incentives the governor is looking to slash from 75% to 40% is the Invest In Kids scholarship tax credit, a move expected to generate $14 million additional tax dollars for the state.

The Catholic Conference of Illinois said the program has helped 20,000 students with more than 25,000 waiting in line.

Unfortunately, Governor Pritzker has recommended severely cutting the Invest in Kids program, the Illinois bishops said in a letter. If his budget recommendation is enacted, the program will struggle to remain viable.

Davis said he understands the program is helping some get private education, but hes focused on building up public education.

Now if someone for whatever reasons decides they would like to put their kid in a private or parochial school, thats their choice to do so, but all of our kids should be receiving high-quality education in our public schools, Davis said.

In opposing slashing the Invest In Kids program, the bishops highlighted students able to access the school choice tuition from donors getting a tax credit have received a high-quality education, even during COVID-19.

Participating schools have provided excellent education to these students, even during the pandemic, through in-school, high-quality instruction, the bishops said. And the need is still not being met.

For most of the past year, most of the states public school students were forced to learn remotely as local school boards decided not to return to in-person education during the pandemic.

The House and Senate are back in Springfield on Tuesday. They have a May 31 deadline to pass legislation, including a budget.
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan's biggest local chamber of commerce floated a plan Monday in which $400 million in federal COVID-19 relief money would be spent on incentivizing people to return to the workforce and to get vaccinated, while officials learned the state's overall aid package will be larger than expected.

The Detroit Regional Chamber's proposal would cost the same as a plan pending in the Republican-led state House but would be structured differently. Rather than pay up to 400,000 unemployed workers $1,000 to go back to work instead of collecting benefits, as the House suggests, the state would give $2,000 to as many as 100,000 people.

Employers would get $1,000 for each returning or new employee, to use as a signing bonus or for training. They would receive $100 for each employee who is vaccinated in the future, offsetting the costs of clinics or paid time off to get a shot.

Building on your strong proposal, the chamber believes a bipartisan solution to accelerate employment growth, economic growth, support vaccine efforts, and replenish our (unemployment) fund is possible, Sandy Baruah, president and CEO, wrote in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate budget committees.

Industry groups say a return-to-work incentive would help businesses find desperately needed workers who, due to supplemental federal pandemic aid, can get $662 a week in unemployment funding, which is the equivalent of more than $34,000 a year. Others say businesses, including restaurants, need to raise wages.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has vetoed the GOP-led Legislature's previous attempts to soften future higher taxes on employers by depositing general funds into the unemployment fund.

Also Thursday, the U.S. government said Michigan's state government will get $6.5 billion in coronavirus funding, which is nearly $900 million more than had been anticipated. Billions more will go to local governments and schools.

Because Michigan's unemployment rate is not significantly higher than its pre-pandemic level, the state is eligible to receive just half of its allotment immediately, with the rest being provided one year later. That could change if Michigan waits to request its money after new jobless figures are released.

Municipalities will get half their funding in May and half a year later. Detroit, the state's largest city, will receive nearly $827 million total. Wayne, the biggest county with 1.7 million residents, will get almost $340 million while Keweenaw, the smallest at 2,100 people, will receive $411,000.

Governments can use funds to support the coronavirus public health response, address the pandemic's economic pain, replace lost tax revenue, boost pay for essential workers and upgrade water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

___

Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
With the rescission of the mask mandate and full reopening of businesses, medical experts worried spring would bring a debilitating fourth wave of COVID-19 infections to Texas.

But as vaccination rates slowly leveled off in recent weeks, the rate of infections and hospitalizations did as well. Public health officials are cautiously optimistic efforts to quell the spread of the virus and vaccinate as many people as possible are working.

Yet despite claims from officials like Gov. Greg Abbott that this downturn is linked to herd immunity  the mysterious target ranging between 60 and 80 percent fully vaccinated against COVID-19  experts say Texas cannot rely on vaccinations alone to achieve what some think may mean the end of the pandemic.

Nobody knows for sure whats going to happen, said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston. But my educated guess would be as more of the population becomes either vaccinated or immune through natural infection, we wont see as many cases.

Fewer than 3,000 patients have been hospitalized across the state for the past five weeks, according to a Chronicle data analysis. Its the longest streak with that few patients since June 2020.

Dr. Carl Vartian, chief medical officer at HCA Houston Healthcares Clear Lake and Mainland hospitals, worries the public conflates herd immunity with ending COVID-19. But COVID-19 may not truly end. Rather, experts suspect it will become endemic, never fully leaving the population  like influenza, which still infects hundreds of thousands of people a year in the U.S.

The vaccines currently authorized for emergency use are designed to reduce severe complications and death from COVID-19, but researchers dont know whether herd immunity from mass vaccination prevents infections.

We have to remember the number of people who have had natural disease are in the tens of millions, he said. Some we knew about, some were asymptomatic and we never really diagnosed them. Between the vaccine and people whove already had COVID, I think we got a huge percentage of our population.

Even if the nation as a whole reaches herd immunity, that doesnt grant Houstons safety. Disease transmission happens at the local level; therefore the virus can continue spreading wildly in areas with lower rates than the national average. And visitors to these places could even bring the virus back with them when they return home, spreading it anew.

Herd immunity is sort of a false god to begin with, Troisi said.

Why there was no wave

Medical experts cant pinpoint the exact reason behind the low numbers, but the historic winter storm, slowly rising vaccination rates and continued mask-wearing may account for part of it.

As the state came off the holiday peak by late January, people became more cautious about mask-wearing and gathering with people outside of their immediate circles, said Ben Neuman, a Texas A&M epidemiologist.

A fourth wave in the spring, doctors worried, would be worse than any of the previous surges. Houston is now home to a more infectious variant of COVID-19, B.1.1.7, and while that doesnt necessarily mean its more severe, it is more transmissible.

Infection and hospitalization rates are low, but theyre not decreasing. Neuman suspects that more younger people are catching COVID-19 but are asymptomatic, and skipping tests.

Wastewater samples are still detecting COVID-19 in the statewide population, so the virus is still there. But epidemiologists worry there is now a false sense of security without high reported infection rates.

What if we are now a mine without a canary? Neuman said.

What about herd immunity?

Herd immunity is possible for some viruses such as polio and smallpox, but epidemiologists think the world wont be as lucky with COVID-19. The current theory is that immunity from a prior infection or a COVID-19 vaccine lasts for at least a year, and will require booster shots in the future.

As of May 5, 11 million people, or more than half of Texas adults, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 8 million are fully vaccinated.

The numbers are similarly high in Webb Countys seniors; nearly 84 percent of the 65 and older population in the county had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Were something like halfway toward the virus going extinct on its own, Neuman said.

If the county and the state can fully vaccinate at least 50 percent of the population, they can start to turn the corner on infection rates, public health officials said. Scientists have held up Israel, which has vaccinated half its population, as an example. The country has lowered infection rates in the six months since its vaccine campaign debuted, and offers a blueprint for local and national governments worldwide to curb the pandemic.

Nationwide, Vartian expects infection rates to stay low.

There will be individual upticks here and there, there might be a superspreader event, he said. Anything can happen. But slow and steady wins the race. 

Putting all trust into a COVID-19 vaccine to solve the pandemic is fine, Troisi said, but its unattainable as long as children  who make up 20 percent of the U.S. population  are ineligible for vaccines and vaccine hesitancy continues.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizers vaccine for emergency use in children between 12 and 15 years old as soon as next week, which should put shots in the arms of tens of millions of teenagers.

For the pandemic to truly end, there needs to be a mixture of public health measures, contact tracing and vaccination, experts said.

The idea that if we got 80 percent of the population immune, we wouldnt see any more infections, was never realistic, Troisi said.

Staff writers Jordan Rubio and Lisa Gray contributed to this report.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

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LANCASTER, Texas (AP)  Officers in a Dallas suburb fatally shot a man firing a gun in a home Monday, hours after he was released from a hospital where he had a mental health evaluation.

Officers were dispatched to a home in Lancaster on Sunday night after receiving a report of a man refusing to let a woman leave. They found Kalon J. Horton, 29, who appeared to be intoxicated and in an altered mental state. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and was later released, according to a police statement.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP)  Police officers fatally shot a man minutes after he killed a bicyclist during an argument near a South Carolina park Sunday morning, authorities said.

David Whit Oliver was on the phone with 911 reporting he was being harassed when operators heard gunshots, Greenville Police Chief Howie Thompson said.

Eight minutes later, officers pulled over the man, identified as Jeffrey Mark Murray, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where witnesses said he shot the cyclist. Murray then got in a gunfight with a officer and a recruit he was training, Thompson said at a news conference.

Murray, 62, was shot and died a short time later, the Greenville County Coroner's Office said.

Oliver, 44, died at the scene of the first shooting, authorities said.

Investigators are still trying to figure out what led Murray to kill Oliver, the chief said.

Oliver was an avid cyclist and was riding his bike near his home by Greenville's Legacy Park when he was killed around 11 a.m. Sunday, Thompson said.

He gave 911 dispatchers Murray's name before he was shot, Thompson said.

Murray lived about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the crime scene.

The chief credited witnesses to the shooting for helping them find Murray quickly by giving officers the tag number of the vehicle he left in, the direction he was driving and a good description of what he looked like.

We were able to stop this suspect and keep him from doing anything else today," Thompson said.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting by the officers, while Greenville police are investigating the death of the cyclist.

There is body camera footage of the police shooting, and the officers tried to save Murray's life with first aid after he was shot, Thompson said.
DETROIT (AP)  Detroit police Chief James Craig announced Monday that he will retire as head of the city's police force, but he did not immediately reveal his future plans, which could include a run for political office as a Republican.

Craig, who has had the longest tenure of any recent Detroit police chief, said his retirement is effective June 1 and is voluntary.

He was hired in 2013 by an emergency manager after the state assumed control of the financially broken city. Craig, who is Black and a native of the city, immediately set out to restore residents confidence in the Detroit Police Department, which had a history of civil rights abuses by officers against the citys mostly Black population.

Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters that Craig has brought professionalism to the department.

I tried to convince him to stay, but I couldnt persuade him. He gave eight good years of service and I wanted to be here to say, Thank you, Duggan said at the news conference where Craig announced his retirement.

Some Republicans have said they hope Craig challenges Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is expected to seek reelection in 2022. Craig said Monday that he is a Republican but that he has not made a decision about seeking political office.

Im not ruling it out, he added.

Detroit has had about a dozen police chiefs since the early 1990s, including five in the previous five years before Craig was hired. Several were forced out amid allegations of wrongdoing.

Before taking the Detroit job, Craig was Cincinnatis chief starting in 2011 after being hired in 2009 to lead the Portland, Maine, Police Department. Craig served 28 years in Los Angeles after starting his police career as an officer in Detroit in 1977.

Craig, 64, has railed against the number of illegal guns on Detroit streets while being an outspoken proponent of the Second Amendment. Following a number of justifiable shootings or those done in self-defense, Craig said in 2014 that Detroit residents had the right to arm themselves as a form of protection.

Detroiters are fed up, he said at the time. Theyre fed up with violence. Im not encouraging violence, and in fact, Im about the business of identifying those violent perpetrators that carry illegal guns.

He also has pushed back against calls for cities to defund police departments following last Mays death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which led to protests around the U.S. against racism and police brutality that at times turned violent. Demonstrations in Detroit were largely peaceful, but the city was sued by activists who said officers used excessive force against protesters.

Craigs retirement is good for the people, good for the city, said Kenneth Reed, spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, which often has been critical of the department and how officers have treated residents.

He came in early on and he encouraged people to arm themselves, Reed said. He did not have a crime-fighting plan and never had.

In 2018, Detroit had 261 homicides  the fewest in decades. Last year, homicides topped 300 in the city of more than 672,000. Non-fatal shootings also were up.

To date, five Republicans have formed gubernatorial campaign committees. All are lesser-known candidates without major government or political experience.

Chief Craig would bring a whole new level of leadership that is exciting, said Meshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

Others considering whether to run include businessman and Iraq War veteran John James, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020 and 2018, and businesswoman Lena Epstein, who ran for a suburban Detroit congressional seat in 2018.

Whitmer, who won by 9 percentage points in 2018, has not officially announced plans to run again, but she had $3.5 million in her campaign account as of Dec. 31.

Republicans see Whitmer as vulnerable next year amid fierce criticism from conservatives over her handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans hope a strong candidate from Detroit could peel away some votes in the Democratic stronghold, where Whitmer received about 94% of the vote in 2018.

Sam Riddle, political director of the Michigan National Action Network and local radio host, said Craig has loads of political capital as well as world class communication skills that he could use to persuade voters.

Craig will attract a statistically significant number of votes from Detroit even if he runs as a Republican against (Whitmer), Riddle said.

Adolph Mongo, a Detroit-based political commentator, said the governor should be worried.

We got a lot of conservative folks in our community. The people who are affected by crimes  how many funerals are people going to every week? Kids getting shot. Hell get some votes. People see him on TV and say hes trying.

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Associated Press writer David Eggert in Lansing contributed to this report.
It started slowly 10 years ago, and then really over the last four to five years, the restaurant scene in Hinsdale has grown, said Kathleen Gargano, Village Manager of Hinsdale. Residents in the town welcomed all of our new restaurants, and the word spread to the Western suburbs and the city that we had all of these fantastic dining options. Experienced restaurateurs with high profile chefs recognized the opportunity and opened in Hinsdale.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  The operator of a former pharmacy in southern West Virginia has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine to settle federal allegations that it illegally filled prescriptions of controlled substances.

Mountaineer Drug Inc. stopped operating a pharmacy in the Boone County community of Whitesville in October 2019 during the ongoing federal investigation, prosecutors said in a news release Monday.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Serene, stark and seemingly in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania, the National Park Service memorial to the people who died on United Airlines Flight 93 is hard to find on a map  as the Sept, 11, 2001, terrorist attack itself slips deeper into the nation's collective memory.

And even schools that do teach about the day may only bring it up only on the anniversary, rather than as a point in a long arc of history and a turning point that left the U.S. irrevocably changed, 20 years later.

Families of Flight 93's 40 passengers and crew members are trying something new to change that: an annual award for heroism. Nominations open Monday through the nonprofit group, Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial.

The award aims to reward selfless acts of heroism, but also to educate the public on what happened when those aboard the hijacked plane, bound for San Francisco, discovered that jets had been flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.

The passengers and crew of Flight 93 then tried to wrest control of the aircraft, which crashed into a field, leaving no survivors  a sacrifice then-President George W. Bush called one of the most courageous acts in U.S. history, believed to have stopped a catastrophic crash into the White House or the Capitol.

The hope is to use the award to connect teachers to the Friends' organization's considerable teaching materials and historical records from the day, and bring it to classrooms, said Donna Gibson, a banking executive who, as president of the Friends organization, has given countless tours of the site tucked amid the wildflowers in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands.

By the time the 20th anniversary rolls around in four months, 75 million Americans will have been born in those two decades, the organization estimates.

That's nearly a quarter of the country, and it shows.

One of the questions I get when people visit is, Was this a national park when the plane crashed here? Gibson said.

A Boy Scout troop touring the site were puzzled when they heard about the messages that passengers left on answering machines from the plane's air phones. What's an answering machine? they asked.

Another time, a group visiting the area for an ATV park were at a nearby restaurant asking the staff how they could fill their next day there, unaware the memorial was so close by, Gibson recalled.

Flight 93 inspired a major motion picture, a Neil Young song and stack of books. But the worrisome thought for family members is the story of Flight 93  and, along with it, the wider story of 9/11  is being forgotten, including the decades of geopolitics that came before the attack and the dramatic change it created in American life.

It's not taught thoroughly in schools.

Jeremy Stoddard, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, has studied since 2003 how 9/11 and its aftermath are taught in middle and high schools around the country.

There hasnt been a lot of good data on that, its very anecdotal, Stoddard said.

There was an initial burst of materials for teachers that Stoddard and his colleagues found to be inconsistent and lacking detail in how 9/11 was explained. Little of the material addressed controversies or gave students assignments to help them explore the subjects, they found.

In 2017, Stoddard and two colleagues found that one-third of states  16  had education standards that included no mention of the attacks, or any content related to terrorism or the war on terror. That could be because those states give broad guidance to teachers that do not include specifics dates, events or people.

But even for states that do mention the subject, standards are generally a guide for teachers and not a requirement, leaving teachers with substantial autonomy on how and what to teach.

In a 2019 survey of teachers and how they teach the subject, Stoddard heard many say they were seeing an increase in students repeating conspiracy theories about Sept. 11 in class.

Even educators who teach it are sometimes uncertain where to place the material, or in which course. The subject often gets tacked onto the end of U.S. history courses that go in chronological order.

Stoddard encourages teachers to use primary sources: letters, documents, photographs, television news recordings and audio recordings of first-person accounts.

Stoddard also encourages teachers to move beyond the anniversary, and teach the roots in history  going back to the redrawing of the borders of Middle East countries after World War 1 and the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s  and its lasting effect on American life, including foreign policy and domestic security.

These kids dont recognize how much ... all the things that occurred as a result that have impacted their lives," Stoddard said.

The families of Flight 93 victims also worry that the Flight 93 story is overshadowed by the stories of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Those memorials in New York and Washington  major urban centers, as opposed to a rural field  might pull in millions of visitors a year.

The Flight 93 memorial attracted 411,000 visitors in 2019, according to National Park Service figures. But it is also a click away online, with resources for teaching about Flight 93 and Sept. 11.

The award is for things that were done in 2020, but how that ties back to 9/11 and Flight 93 and the resources that we have, said Emily Schenkel, a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, resident whose godmother was an attendant on Flight 93. So this is keeping that awareness and making these connections for younger people who either werent alive or dont have a recollection of 9/11.

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Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter.
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  A lawsuit has been filed to challenge a legislative proposal to change the way Supreme Court justices would be elected in Montana.

A Roman Catholic nun, a former court clerk and three former state lawmakers are among those challenging the constitutionality of a bill the legislature passed to ask Montana voters if they want to elect Supreme Court justices by district, rather than on a statewide basis.

The complaint, filed on May 6 in Butte, asks District Judge Kurt Krueger to declare the bill unconstitutional and to prevent Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen from certifying the referendum for the November 2022 ballot.

The office of the Secretary of State has not received service of any legal documents related to the alleged lawsuit, and thus is unable to comment, spokesperson Richie Melby said in a statement.

The 2021 bill is similar to one passed a decade earlier that sought to divide the state into seven judicial districts, with each district electing one Supreme Court justice from that district. The Montana Supreme Court found the 2011 law unconstitutional because, in part, it would create new qualifications for the office of Supreme Court justice.

This year's proposal would not require candidates to live in specific districts, but would only allow residents of each district to vote in one judicial race. That would eliminate the right of all Montana voters to select all seven justices of the Supreme Court, the complaint states.

In the case of the 2011 bill, the Montana Supreme Court found the language and structure of the state constitution requires the election of Supreme Court justices on a statewide basis while District Court judges would be elected by district-specific basis.

Ethical rules do not permit judges to represent" particular constituencies or interest groups, the Supreme Court wrote in 2012.

The complaint also argues the bill is an effort to change the state constitution via referendum, rather than through a constitutional referendum. A constitutional referendum would have needed a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature to be put on the ballot. The bill passed 94-55 over both houses, six votes short of a two-thirds majority.

The plaintiffs are Sister Mary Jo McDonald, former District Court clerk Lori Maloney and former Democratic Rep. Fritz Daily  all of Butte  along with former lawmakers Bob Brown and Dorothy Bradley; Mae Nan Ellingson, a delegate to Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention; Vernon Finley, a former chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' Tribal Council; and the League of Women voters.

Brown, Bradley, Ellingson, Finley and the League of Women Voters are plaintiffs in another complaint challenging a new law that eliminates the Judicial Nomination Commission and allows the governor to directly fill judicial vacancies that occur between elections.
Deborah Cannon/AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Republican Don Huffines, a former state senator from Dallas who has sharply criticized Texas' handling of the pandemic, said Monday he will challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022.

Huffines is a wealthy businessman who has spent the past year rallying with conservative activists around Texas, including outside the governor's mansion in October. Abbott, who did not have a serious primary challenger in his first two campaigns for governor, has faced pressure from within his party over COVID-19 closures and a statewide mask mandate.
PARIS (AP)  A French serial killer sentenced twice to life imprisonment for the murder of eight women has died Monday at 79, the Paris prosecutor said.

Michel Fourniret, one of Frances most notorious serial killers, died in a secure unit of a Paris hospital, prosecutor Remy Heitz said in a statement.

Arrested in 2003 in Belgium, Fourniret was convicted to life in prison in 2008 for the murder and the rape or attempted rape of seven female teenagers and young women. The crimes were committed in France and Belgium between from 1987 to 2001.

Fourniret's wife, Monique Olivier, received a life sentence as an accomplice in several of the cases.

Ten years later, he was convicted again to life imprisonment for the murder of the companion of a former cellmate, who had disappeared in 1988. The same year, he confessed two other murders, including in 1990 of 20-year-old British citizen Joanna Parrish, who worked as a teacher in the Burgundy region.

In 2019, Fourniret was charged in the case of Estelle Mouzin, a 9 year-old girl who disappeared in 2003 as she was coming back from school in Guermantes, a small town east of Paris. In March last year, Paris prosecutor said Fourniret confessed to the murder of Mouzin.

Olivier, who divorced him in 2010, has accused Fourniret of several other murders in which he was suspected of being involved.
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP)  Police in Bay St. Louis are investigating the gunshot death of a Gulfport man.

The shooting happened around 4 a.m. Sunday, WXXV-TV reported.

Officers responded to the Third Base Lounge and found Jermaine Watts, 23, in the parking lot, Bay St. Louis Police Chief Gary Ponthieux Jr. said.

He had been shot multiple times and died at the scene, police said.

Authorities later issued an arrest warrant for a 33-year-old Pass Christian man.

The investigation is continuing.
HONOLULU (AP)  Scientists in Hawaii have started to introduce native damselflies into the wild on Oahu's North Shore to help repopulate the insect and potentially save the species from extinction.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has been releasing orange-black Hawaiian damselflies to an area near Dillingham Air Field, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii New Now reported Saturday.

Department officials said in a statement that the only other wild population of the insects is in Tripler Army Medical Center, but that the location is not ideal for population growth.

Kapua Kawelo, manager for the U.S. Armys Natural Resources Program, said the state department's invertebrate program partnered with the Army to raise the endangered species in a breeding facility for introduction to the wild.

Crews have been releasing up to 120 damselflies every week for nearly a year and scientists said they are starting to see promising results. William Haines, a researcher with the states invertebrate program, said last year there were only 100 damselflies and now there are about 4,000.

Were starting to see individuals emerging from the stream that are not marked, which means they are wild born, Haines said. Thats really encouraging to see theyre completing their entire life cycles in the wild.

Haines added that they were able to document the progress because all the released damselflies have a small number marked on their wings.

Hawaiian damselflies are threatened by mosquito fish, which were introduced in the early 1900s to control mosquitos but are now causing damselfly populations to decline. The insects are found in small populations on Oahu, Hawaii Island, Maui and Molokai. The species is extinct on Lanai.

Researchers have said that damselflies can help control mosquito and fly populations.

They are an important part of the Hawaiian ecosystem. We used to have about 25 species of Hawaiian damselflies that are all endemic, so theyre only found in Hawaii, Haines said. Theyre important predators of other insects.
BARGNY, Senegal (AP)  Since her birth on Senegals coast, the ocean has always given Ndeye Yacine Dieng life. Her grandfather was a fisherman, and her grandmother and mother processed fish. Like generations of women, she now helps support her family in the small community of Bargny by drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by male villagers. They were baptized by fish, these women say.

But when the pandemic struck, boats that once took as many as 50 men out to sea carried only a few. Many residents were too terrified to leave their houses, let alone fish, for fear of catching the virus. When the local women did manage to get their hands on fish to process, they lacked the usual buyers, as markets shut down and neighboring landlocked countries closed their borders. Without savings, many families went from three meals a day to one or two.

Dieng is among more than a thousand women in Bargny, and many more in the other villages dotting Senegals sandy coast, who process fish  the crucial link in a chain that constitutes one of the country's largest exports and employs hundreds of thousands of its residents.

It was catastrophic  all of our lives changed, Dieng said. But, she noted, Our community is a community of solidarity.

That spirit sounds throughout Senegal with the motto Teranga, a word in the Wolof language for hospitality, community and solidarity. Across the country, people tell each other: on est ensemble, a French phrase meaning we are in this together.

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This story is part of a yearlong series on how the pandemic is impacting women in Africa, most acutely in the least developed countries. APs series is funded by the European Journalism Centres European Development Journalism Grants program, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AP is responsible for all content.

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Last month, the first true fishing season since the pandemic devastated the industry kicked off, bringing renewed hope to the processors, their families and the village. The brightly painted vast wooden fishing boats called pirogues once again are each carrying dozens of men to sea, and people swarm the beach to help the fishermen carry in their loads for purchase.

But the challenges from the coronavirus  and so much more  remain. Rising seas and climate change threaten the livelihoods and homes of those along the coast, and many can't afford to build new homes or move inland. A steel processing plant rising near Bargnys beach raises fears about pollution and will join a cement factory that also is nearby, though advocates argue they are needed to replace resources depleted by overfishing.

Since there is COVID, we live in fear," said Dieng, 64, who has seven adult children. "Most of the people here and women processors have lived a difficult life. ... We are exhausted. But now, little by little, its getting better.

Dieng and her fellow processors weathered the pandemic by relying on each other. Theyre accustomed to being breadwinners  one expert estimated that each working woman in Senegal feeds seven or eight family members. Before the pandemic, a good season could bring Dieng 500,000 FCFA ($1,000). Last year, she said, she made little to nothing.

Dieng's husband teaches the Quran at the mosque next door to their home, and the couple pooled their money with their children, with one son finding work repairing TVs. Other women got help from family abroad or rented out parts of their refrigerators for storage.

They survived, but they missed their work, which isn't just a job  it is their heritage. Processing is a pride, Dieng said.

Most fishing in Senegal is small-scale, and carried out in traditional, generations-old methods, as old as the ways Dieng and other villagers process the fish. They refer to it as artisanal fishing. Once processed, the fish is sold to local and international buyers, and preserving it means it lasts longer than fresh and is cheaper for all who purchase it. In Senegal alone, the fish accounts for more than half of protein eaten by its 16 million residents  key for food security in this West African country.

Industrial fishing is carried out in Senegals waters as well, via motorized vessels and trawlers instead of the traditional pirogues, and more than two dozen companies also specialize in industrial processing in the country alongside fishmeal factories and canning plants. The fishmeal factories price women like Dieng out by paying more for the fish and depleting resources  5 kilos of fish are needed for 1 kilo of fishmeal, a lower-grade powder-like product used for farm animals and pets.

Senegals government also has agreements with other countries allowing them to fish off the countrys coast and imposing limits on what they can haul in, but monitoring what these large boats from Europe, China and Russia harvest has proven difficult. The villages say the outsiders are devastating the local supply.

Dieng has become a local leader and mentor whose neighbors increasingly come to her for advice on everything from money woes to their marriages, and she and others are now part of a rising collective voice of women in Senegal working for change along the coast and beyond.

Senegal has designated land near Bargny as an economic zone in its efforts to invest in redevelopment. Diengs neighbor Fatou Samba is a town councilor and president of the Association of Women Processors of Fish Products, and shes testified about the challenges in artisanal fishing. She hopes to stop much of the expansion of big industry as fishmeal companies scoop up fish and send the product to Europe and Asia.

If we let ourselves be outdone, within two or three years, women will not have work anymore, Samba said. We are not against the creation of a project that will develop Senegal. But we are against projects that must make women lose the right to work.

Samba also warns of the effects of climate change, with rising tides eroding Senegal's coast and forcing fisherman to seek their catch further out to sea. Samba and Dieng have each lost at least half of their seaside homes as water gutted rooms during the rainy seasons of the past decade.

In addition to their laborious work processing fish, Samba and other women handle the bulk of the work at home.

Especially in Africa, women are fighters. Women are workers. Women are family leaders, Samba said. Therefore, women must be empowered.

Dieng, Samba and other women want to be heard  by the government, and by the companies building projects near them. They want better financing, protection of their fish and processing sites, and improved health regulations.

These women open their doors to family, friends, neighbors and even strangers who are eager to hear about the work they take such pride in, and which they want preserved  to help put food on the table for their families and to pay school fees for their children so they can have a future that might not involve fish. But while theyre happy to talk about the work, they hesitate to focus on themselves. Community is what they are most comfortable with.

Late last month, when word spread that fishermen were finally coming back to Bargny with catches, Dieng and others hurried to meet the pirogues, tethered by ropes to the beach. It was the longest Dieng had been away from the catch. She bought enough to have her haul carried by horse-drawn cart to the plot of land she and friends claimed along acres of black sand. Then she started the work shes known for decades.

Once the fish were piled onto the ground, the women smoothed them out with a small, flat piece of wood. They covered them in light brown peanut shells, bought by the sack, and then lit embers in a bowl and placed those on the shells, which started to burn. Smoke billowed everywhere, a sign of progress. But it also made trying to breathe as brutal as toiling under the hot sun  even tougher during Ramadan, when the women are fasting.

The women stoked the fire, and after feeling confident it would smoke for hours, stepped away. After a day or so, they returned to turn the fish and let it dry in the sun. Another day passed, and the women returned to clean it. Finally, the fish was packaged in vast nets, sold and taken away in trucks.

The pandemic has taught villagers a crucial lesson: Money from fish may not always be there, so its important to try to save some of their earnings.

The pandemic also is not over, so Dieng and other women go door to door to raise awareness and urge people to get vaccinated. Like many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal imposed strict measures at the start of the pandemic. The government was widely commended for its overall handling of the pandemic, and curfews have been lifted and restrictions largely eased. But the country has had more than 40,000 cases, and both volunteer and government campaigns aim to keep another wave at bay.

At the end of a long day of work, and before she goes home to break fast of Ramadan with her family, Dieng stands in front of her smoking fish and records a video she hopes will to motivate the women working in the industry.

"Its our gold. This site is all, this site is everything for us," Dieng said of the coast and its vital importance to Bargny. "All the women must rise up. ... We must work, to always work and work again for our tomorrows, for our future.

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Meet the women of Bargny: See the portrait series.

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Follow Carley Petesch on Twitter: https://twitter.com/carleypetesch

Follow AP's multiformat Africa news on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Africa
ROME (AP)  Several hundred more migrants reached a tiny Italian island before dawn on Monday, swelling to past 2,100 the number of arrivals in around 24 hours and fueling calls from across the political spectrum for the Italian government to strengthen its migration policies.

Italian state radio said four boats arrived at Lampedusa island after being escorted the last miles to port early Monday by Italian coast guard or custom police vessels. The 635 latest arrivals followed more than 1,400 who arrived on Sunday.

Human traffickers, mainly based in Libya, but also in Tunisia, often take advantage of calm seas to launch unseaworthy boats toward European shores.

Many migrants slept on the dock after Lampedusas migrant housing center, which had been empty until Sunday, rapidly surpassed its 200-plus capacity. Hundreds more were being transferred to an unused passenger ferry offshore for quarantine until they can be tested for COVID-19. Another commercial passenger ship was being dispatched to Lampedusa to take on some more.

The situation on Lampedusa is literally explosive, said a police union official, Domenico Pianese, in a statement which noted that some 2,150 migrants had stepped ashore on the island since before dawn on Sunday. If we have another day like yesterday, with an incessant succession of disembarking, it wont be possible to manage public and health safety, he said.

Sunday's steady stream of migrant boats arriving at the 20-square-kilometer (about 8-square mile) island, which is closer to northern Africa than to the Italian mainland, was the biggest number of migrants to come ashore in a single day at an Italian port this year.

This year's arrivals have already topped by far the number of migrants arriving via sea in the same period in each of the past two years. According to Interior Ministry figures, by May 10, 2019, just over 1,000 people had arrived by sea ; by the same date in 2020, 4,184 had arrived, and this year so far nearly 13,000 have arrived.

The numbers, though, are far lower than those earlier in the past decade, when hundreds of thousands of rescued migrants were brought to Italy within the span of a few years.

Il Giornale di Sicilia, a Sicilian daily, said just before midnight Sunday, a boat dispatched by the port captain's office aided a fishing boat with 352 migrants aboard, some 9 nautical miles (16 kilometers) from the island. A few hours later, another coast guard motorboat took aboard 87 men in a boat farther out at sea, while successive hours saw more boats, some of them rusting fishing vessels, reach the island, the newspaper said. Among the latest arrivals were at least 13 women and eight children, the daily said.

Among those arriving on Lampedusa since Sunday were Somali, Eritrean, Sudanese and Bangladeshi migrants, U.N. refugee agency officials said.

The island's mayor, Salvatore Martello, renewed urgent appeals to the Italian government to deal with the sea migrant issue. Lampedusa lives off tourism, and Italy has just launched a national campaign to quickly vaccinate residents of tiny islands against COVID-19 ahead of the looming holiday season.

Right-wing anti-migrant leader Matteo Salvini, whose League party is part of Premier Mario Draghi's three-month-old wide-ranging coalition, kept up his pressure for a government huddle. Giorgia Meloni, a far-right opposition leader, insisted that Italy immediately set up a naval blockade to thwart Libya-based traffickers from launching more vessels.

Political leaders on the left also pressed for effective management of the migrant arrivals.

Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta, a former premier, said there was no choice but to convert a European military mission, now tasked with enforcing an arms blockade against conflict-wracked Libya, into one that can manage rescue operations.

Letta urged the government to press the European Union to make good on pledges to have many of those rescued migrants who land in Italy transferred to other EU nations. "Draghi's the right person, because on a European level he is listened to because he saved the euro (currency),'' Letta said referring to last decade's financial crisis.

In Brussels, the EUs top migration official, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, appealed to member countries to help Italy out by taking in some of the migrants.

There is a need for solidarity towards Italy and I call on other member states to support with relocation, she told reporters after talks with the head of the U.N.s refugee agency. I know its more difficult of course in the pandemic times, but I think its possible to manage.

But past efforts in which some EU nations pledged to take in some of the migrants reaching Italy or Malta saw some countries fail to honor promises promptly, if at all, Italian officials have lamented.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said the EU must come up with a system for coping with migrant arrivals by sea, after years of wrangling over who has responsibility for them.

Yes, there were several boats coming, but were talking about manageable numbers. Through a rational and agreed mechanism, this would be very manageable, in our opinion, Grandi said.

Many migrants are fleeing poverty in their African or Asian homelands and are eventually denied asylum. With the notable exception of Tunisia, most countries whose migrants are rescued in the central Mediterranean and brought to Italy don't have repatriation agreements with Rome. So many denied asylum never leave Italy.

Among those arriving on Lampedusa since Sunday were Somali, Eritrean, Sudanese and Bangladeshi migrants, U.N. refugee agency officials said.

Last month, a rubber dinghy deflated in the Mediterranean north of Libya, and passengers' phone calls for help, relayed to Libya, Malta and Italy, failed to save them. About 130 migrants were believed to have perished in that shipwreck.

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Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Jonathan the Husky may have some competition for his mascot job at the University of Connecticut.

On Monday, a moose was spotted walking through the UConn campus in Storrs, and one WFSB viewer was around to capture the mooses stroll.

UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz told Hearst Connecticut in an email that the university learned of the visitor through social media since Public Safety didnt receive any calls about it.

Deputy spokesperson Mike Enright added that the moose was walking along Route 195, which is the main state highway that goes through campus, so it was likely seen by many onlookers.

Its common to spot deer throughout campus, and certainly theres a big population of squirrels and other small critters, but a moose sighting is very unusual, Reitz told Hearst Connecticut in an email. Were not aware of one for at least the last decade, although its possible that theyve been spotted on or near campus without being reported.

According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, there have been 949 moose sightings in 86 different towns over the past 20 years in Connecticut. Sightings came from nine to 43 different towns each year with many of them taking place along the Connecticut-Massachusetts border, according to DEEP; moose were spotted in Barkhamsted, Canaan, Colebrook, Goshen, Granby, Hartland, Norfolk, Salisbury, Stafford and Union for six of the last 10 years.

Perhaps it was the quieter campus that drew the moose in for a stroll now that most students have left. Regardless of what brought the moose to the school, Reitz stated it would have been a welcome sight to students.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the campus is very quiet because most students have left and classes have ended, she told Hearst. While that cuts down on traffic and the chance for any collisions, Im sure our students would have loved to have the experience of spotting a moose strolling past Mirror Lake.
Small village in SW China's Guizhou connected to outside world and bright future by 4G network

10:15, May 10, 2021 By Cheng Huan ( People's Daily

Staff members of the branch of China Mobile Group Guizhou Co., Ltd. in Bailidujuan administrative district, Bijie city, southwest China's Guizhou province, examine and repair a base station in Butang villagers' group, Gamu neighborhood of the administrative district. (Photo/Branch of China Mobile Group Guizhou Co., Ltd. in Bailidujuan administrative district)

After the drizzle that had been falling all night finally stopped after breakfast, Chen Yuanfu and Chen Yuanyang, two brothers who live in a small village in southwest China's Guizhou province, took out their equipment to make short videos about their stockaded village.

In their short videos, they would film family members and record interesting stories in the village, which is called Butang villagers' group.

Located in the hinterland of the Wumeng Mountains, Butang villagers' group in Gamu neighborhood, Bailidujuan administrative district of Guizhou's Bijie city, used to be basically isolated from the outside world due to the high mountains and dense forests.

Last year, the two brothers quit their jobs in the cities, returned to their hometown and started to create short videos, something they had never imagined in the past.

"We could only get one channel on TV after installing the fishbone antenna high in the air, let alone making phone calls," recalled the brothers.

According to Chen Yuanfu, when he was in elementary school, he was once poisoned after eating a kind of wild fruit, and his fellow villagers had to run several miles in the mountains to send him to a hospital.

Before finishing middle school, the two brothers left their hometown to work in other provinces. Back then, since communication device was still scarce in Butang, every time they wanted to talk to their parents by phone, they needed to first reach an acquaintance who lives in the nearest town, and then ask the acquaintance to bring their parents over to pick up the phone at an agreed time when they came to the town to buy things.

In 2008, Chen Yuanfu bought his first mobile phone with nearly two months' salary. However, when he returned home for the Spring Festival that year, the mobile phone, which he thought would make his friends so envious of him, couldn't find any signal in the small village.

A few years ago, the two brothers learnt how to make short videos. They wanted to make videos of the landforms and scenery of their hometown and post them online, but the idea was not realized because of poor signal.

In 2019, the over 280 residents of 62 families of Butang villagers' group finally saw a turning point in the communication situation when Guizhou province started to implement the fifth batch of pilot projects for universal telecom services and planned to build 3,513 4G base stations in five cities and autonomous prefectures including Bijie, in a bid to cover remote mountainous areas with 4G signals.

To make more residents benefit from 4G signals, the branch of China Mobile Group Guizhou Co., Ltd. in Bailidujuan administrative district decided to locate a base station on the top of an about 300-meter-high mountain behind the house of the two brothers.

To the surprise of Ge Zhixian, manager of the branch of China Mobile Group Guizhou Co., Ltd. in Bailidujuan administrative district, the construction of the base station in Butang villagers' group took much longer than expected 20 days or so.

There was no road to the top of the mountain, and it took technicians one and a half hours to climb up the mountain. Besides, they could find no way to use large-scale machinery and equipment for the construction.

Eventually, the construction team found a local transport team that carried things with mules and horses. The construction materials were then carried to the mountain top bit by bit on the backs of mules, horses, and people.

After three months of painstaking efforts, the 4G base station was completed by the end of 2019.

Since it got stable network coverage, the quiet Butang villagers' group has quickly become boisterous as villagers had broadband installed at their homes and started a craze for smart phones and TV sets.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuanfu and his brother Chen Yuanyang decided to stay in their hometown and start their own business. Within about a year, they created more than 300 short videos, and attracted several hundred thousand followers. One of their videos has gained more than seven million views.

As they have been known by more and more people, some companies and shops in their county began to ask them to advertise their products, according to the brothers, who said that their income is more than what they used to make as migrant workers.

At present, the two brothers, who are basically Internet celebrities in their hometown, are preparing themselves for rural e-commerce. They want to promote local specialties on online shopping platforms and help increase the income of their fellow villagers.

In fact, just like Butang villagers' group, many villages in remote mountainous areas of Guizhou have achieved leapfrog development because of access to the Internet.

During China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, Guizhou took part in the implementation of five batches of the country's national pilot projects for universal telecom services, completed the construction and transformation of the optical fiber facilities in 8,900 administrative villages, and newly built 5,047 4G base stations. By the end of last year, Guizhou had covered all its natural villages with more than 30 households with 4G networks.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
BATH, Maine (AP)  The U.S. Navy's top officer liked what he saw Monday during a tour of shipbuilder Bath Iron Works, praising the shipyard and its workforce for getting back on track after a strike last summer.

Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, applauded the patriotism he saw in the workforce and described the shipyard founded in 1884 as a national treasure" after touring ships under construction, and speaking to shipbuilders and shipyard leaders.

Ramping up construction of destroyers is important as the U.S. Navy faces growing competition from China and Russia.

Bath is on a path here to begin delivering two ships by the end of the year. Thats a strong trajectory for Bath Iron Works. And its not without a lot of hard work during a pandemic to get to that point, he said.

The General Dynamics subsidiary was more than six months behind schedule before a two-month strike by production workers last summer. The delays were serious enough to knock the shipyard out of contention for a lucrative contract to build a new class of frigates, officials said.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, who joined Gilday on the tour, said shipyard managers and production workers are now on the same page.

Collins said she witnessed an unprecedented cooperation and King said there was "a new spirit of cooperation.

Ive seen a mood here in the last several visits thats unlike any other Ive experienced since Ive been here, King said. Theyre all focused on one goal, which is meeting schedule and meeting budget, he added.

The strike by production workers represented by Machinists Union Local S6 happened in the middle of the pandemic. The shipyard said it wanted more flexibility to get caught up on a backlog of work while workers didnt want to give up ground to subcontractors.

The shipyard builds destroyers, the workhorse of the Navy fleet. The ships have the ability to provide air defense while simultaneously waging war against submarines and surface warships.

The shipyard has hired nearly 3,000 workers since 2019 as part of its effort to speed up production and meet the Navys timetable for delivering ships, said shipyard spokesperson David Hench.

The workforce now tops 7,000, and the company is hiring 2,000 more workers this year, he said.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Elected politicians in North Carolina who hold concealed weapons permits  including General Assembly members  would be allowed to bring their guns into places that are currently prohibited, under legislation a House judiciary committee approved Monday.

Local prosecutors, judges and court workers already receive special exemptions to state rules that prohibit concealed permit holders from bringing guns to schools, parades and funerals; to any state and federal government buildings, or to any establishments where alcohol is served. Local sheriffs issue permits that last five years. Recipients have to receive special training.

If the measure becomes law, those officials already exempt would be joined by any person who is an elected official or person appointed to fill an elective office in North Carolina when acting in the discharge of their official duties.

That includes all municipal, county and state elected officials, including the 10 members of the Council of State, which includes the governor and lieutenant governor. It would allow General Assembly members to lawfully carry their concealed handguns while conducting business inside the Legislative Building and the adjoining Legislative Office Building, which otherwise prohibit guns except for law enforcement.

But the bill would also apply to lawmakers back in their districts while they are conducting government business, such as holding meetings with constituents in an area that otherwise prohibits concealed weapons.

Three unidentified Council members and many House members requested the permit exemptions, according to the chief bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell of Beaufort County. Kidwell said he's received death threats in the past, and expects other colleagues have as well. Another co-sponsor, GOP Rep. Mike Clampitt of Swain County, said he wore a bulletproof vest on the campaign trail last fall.

I would simply say that while I believe in a much kinder, gentler society, we dont appear to be headed down that road right now, said Rep. Dean Arp, a Union County Republican. Its simple common sense. And my question is, why in the world would you deny that (right) to someone who has a concealed carry permit and otherwise legally qualifies?

Bill opponents focused on the portion of the measure that would allow for armed legislators in their offices, committee rooms and on the House and Senate chamber floors. The legislative complex has undergone significant security upgrades in the past three years, with the installation of metal detectors at the main entrances and ID badges for legislators, staff and news media.

We just spent untold dollars protecting our means of ingress and egress. And we have a robust police force," said Rep. Deb Butler, a New Hanover County Democrat. I just think that this is just a terrible idea.

It would be up to a prosecutor or jury to determine whether an elected official was truly performing an official duty at the time the person was armed if charged with otherwise breaking the concealed weapons law. The bill still prevents the elected officials from carrying their concealed weapon inside a school or on educational property. District attorneys and judges can arm themselves even in those locations.

Under legislative rules, the measure, which now goes to another committee, must pass the full House by Thursday or the idea is essentially dead until the next two-year session begins in 2023. The bill marks another effort by Republicans in the General Assembly to ease restrictions on concealed weapons or purchasing a gun. The House last week approved a bill that would end the process of sheriffs issuing a permit before someone can buy a pistol.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  North Carolina House lawmakers unanimously approved on Monday a bill that would prohibit physical restraints being used on pregnant incarcerated women before, during and after they give birth.

The proposal also requires women to be provided sufficient food and dietary supplements during their pregnancy.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Nebraska will get roughly $1 billion in aid under the federal government's plan to help states hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to new numbers released Monday.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced a state-by-state funding breakdown for President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan, an effort to restore jobs lost during the pandemic and replenish the coffers of governments that saw huge declines in tax revenue.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Eager to the turn the page on the Trump years, the Biden White House is launching an effort to unearth past problems with the politicization of science within government and to tighten scientific integrity rules for the future.

A new 46-person federal scientific integrity task force with members from more than two dozen government agencies will meet for the first time on Friday. Its mission is to look back through 2009 for areas where partisanship interfered with what were supposed to be decisions based on evidence and research and to come up with ways to keep politics out of government science in the future.

The effort was spurred by concerns that the Trump administration had politicized science in ways that put lives at risk, eroded public trust and worsened climate change.

We want people to be able to trust what the federal government is telling you, whether its a weather forecast or information about vaccine safety or whatever, said Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

People need to know "its not by fiat, somebodys sort of knee-jerk opinion about something, added Alondra Nelson, the science offices deputy director for science and society. Nelson and Lubchenco spoke to The Associated Press ahead of a Monday announcement about the task forces first meeting and part of its composition. It stems from a Jan. 27 presidential memo requiring evidence-based policy-making.

Scientists and others have accused the Trump administration of setting aside scientific evidence and injecting politics into issues including the coronavirus, climate change and even whether Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama in 2019.

Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard University historian who has written about attacks on science in the book Merchants of Doubt, said politicization of science undermines the nation's ability to address serious problems that affect Americans' health, their well-being and the economy.

There's little doubt that the American death toll from covid-19 was far higher than it needed to be and that the administration's early unwillingness to take the issue seriously to listen to and act on the advice of experts and to communicate clearly contributed substantively to that death toll, Oreskes said in an email.

Lubchenco, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Obama administration, pointed to an incident during the Trump years that became known as Sharpiegate as a clear example of "political interference with scientific information that was potentially extraordinarily dangerous.

During Sharpiegate, the NOAA reprimanded some meteorologists for tweeting that Alabama was not threatened by the hurricane, contradicting President Donald Trump, who said Alabama was in danger. The matter became known as Sharpiegate after someone in the White House used a black Sharpie  a favorite pen of Trumps  to alter the official National Hurricane Center warning map to indicate Alabama could be in the path of the storm. A 2020 inspector general report found the administration had violated scientific integrity rules.

The Sharpiegate case revealed flaws in the scientific integrity system set up in 2009 by President Barack Obama, Lubchenco said. There were no consequences when the agency violated the rules, Lubchenco said. Nor were there consequences for NOAAs parent Cabinet agency, the Commerce Department. Thats why President Joe Biden's administration is calling for scientific integrity rules throughout government and not just in science-oriented agencies, she said.

Lubchenco said a reluctance to fight climate change in the last four years has delayed progress in cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases. That will inevitably result in the problem being worse than it needed to be, she said.

What we have seen in the last administration is that the suppression of science, the reassignment of scientists, the distortion of scientific information around climate change was not only destructive but counterproductive and really problematic, Lubchenco said.

Kelvin Droegemeier, who served as Trumps science adviser, in an email repeated what he told Congress in his confirmation hearing: Integrity in science is everything, and science should be allowed to be done in an honest way, full of integrity without being incumbered by political influence.

Droegemeier said the White House science office, where Nelson and Lubchenco now work and where he used to be, is more about policy and does not have the authority to investigate or enforce rules.

Last week, Republican legislators accused the Biden White House of playing politics with science when it removed climate scientist Betsy Weatherhead, who had been praised by atmospheric scientists, from heading the national climate assessment. Lubchenco said it was normal for a new administration to bring in new people.

Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said the Biden administration is trying hard but isn't approaching the task of restoring science quite right.

Its impossible to keep politics out of science, Brinkley said. But you can do your best to mitigate it.

He said that only looking as far back as the Obama and Trump administrations will doom the task forces efforts not to be politicized itself and looked at in a partisan way.

Whats really needed, Brinkley said, is to get to the root of things and look back as far as 1945. Both Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, and John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, elevated science efforts and tried to keep out the politics. But Brinkley said that with the onset of the environmental movement, the distraction of the Vietnam War and corporations seeing science as leading to too much regulation during the Reagan era, a unified public admiration for science fell apart.

Harvard's Oreskes said her research indicated Ronald Reagan was the first president in the modern era to exhibit disregard and at times even contempt for scientific evidence.

The new task force will focus more on the future than the past, Nelson said.

Every agency is being asked to really demonstrate that they are making decisions that are informed by the best available research evidence, Nelson said.

One of the four task force co-chairs is Francesca Grifo, scientific integrity officer for the Environmental Protection Agency since 2013. She clashed with the Trump EPA, which would not allow her to testify at a 2019 congressional hearing about scientific integrity.

The others are Anne Ricciuti, deputy director for science at the Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences; Craig Robinson, director of the Office of Science Quality and Integrity at the U.S. Geological Survey; and Jerry Sheehan, deputy director of the National Library of Medicine.

___

This story has been corrected to show the climate scientists surname is Weatherhead, not Wetherhead.
CLEWISTON, Fla. (AP)  A Florida elementary school principal will not be prosecuted for spanking a 6-year-old girl in front of her mother last month, officials said.

The State Attorney's Office that covers Hendry County released a memo Friday explaining that corporal punishment is legal in Florida and that the principal of Central Elementary School in Clewiston appeared to have explicit permission from the child's mother. Clewiston is located near the southwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee.

A school staff member called the girl's mother on April 13 to report that the first grader had damaged some computer equipment and that the mother would have to pay for it, officials said. The mother reportedly told the staff member that the girl was also causing damage at home, but she was afraid to spank the child. The mother then asked whether a school staff member could spank the girl, officials said. The staff member explained that the mother would have to give permission in person and be present for the punishment, officials said.

A video secretly taken by the mother and later turned over to law enforcement shows the principal and staff member, both women, holding the girl in place while the principal spanks her three times. The principal explains to the girl why she was being spanked and tells her to apologize to her mother. At no point during the video does the mother object to the punishment. The mother can be heard thanking the principal near the end of the video, officials said.

The mother reported the spanking to the Hendry County Sheriff's Office the next day. She told investigators that there was a language barrier, and she didn't understand what the principal was going to do, officials said. The school staff member said their initial telephone conversation was in Spanish. Clewiston police took over the case, but when their detectives tried to interview the mother, she declined to give a sworn statement, officials said.

Prosecutors noted in the memo that edited portions of the original video had been released to the news media, resulting in an incomplete or misleading account of the events surrounding the spanking.

Brent Probinsky, an attorney representing the mother, said the mother did not give permission for the spanking. And regardless of whether permission was given by the mother, the principal and staff member broke the law by violating the school district's prohibition of corporal punishment, Probinsky said.

Hendry County school officials declined to comment on whether the principal would face disciplinary action, citing an ongoing investigation.
KENANSVILLE, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina man charged by authorities earlier this year with taking indecent liberties with a child is facing new charges after victims from years ago came forward, a sheriff's office said.

The Duplin County Sheriffs Office said Delmus Buddy Foss was charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child stemming from a Nov. 7, 2020 investigation, news outlets reported. Deputies said once their investigation began into the assault of a 6-year-old girl who lived in the Beulaville area, several adults came forward to make more accusations of sexual assault against Foss that they said happened during their childhoods.
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)  Gunmen in two separate attacks ambushed vehicles carrying paramilitary troops in southwest Pakistan, killing at least three soldiers and wounding five others before fleeing, the military said Sunday night.

The first attack took place in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province and it killed three soldiers and wounded another, the military said in a statement.
JERUSALEM (AP)  When Samira Dajanis family moved into their first real home in 1956 after years as refugees, her father planted trees in the garden, naming them for each of his six children.

Today, two towering pines named for Mousa and Daoud stand watch over the entrance to the garden where they all played as children. Pink bougainvillea climbs an iron archway on a path leading past almond, orange and lemon trees to their modest stone house.

The Samira tree has no leaves, she says, pointing to the cypress that bears her name. But the roots are strong.

She and her husband, empty nesters with grown children of their own, may have to leave it all behind on Aug. 1. Thats when Israel is set to forcibly evict them following a decades-long legal battle waged by ideological Jewish settlers against them and their neighbors.

The Dajanis are one of several Palestinian families facing imminent eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem. The families plight has ignited weeks of demonstrations and clashes in recent days between protesters and Israeli police.

It also highlights an array of discriminatory policies that rights groups say are aimed at pushing Palestinians out of Jerusalem to preserve its Jewish majority. The Israeli rights group BTselem and the New York-based Human Rights Watch both pointed to such policies as an example of what they say has become an apartheid regime.

Israel rejects those accusations and says the situation in Sheikh Jarrah is a private real-estate dispute that the Palestinians have seized upon to incite violence. The Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions submitted by The Associated Press. A top municipal official and a settler group marketing residential plots in Sheikh Jarrah did not respond to requests for comment.

Settler groups say the land was owned by Jews prior to the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation. Israeli law allows Jews to reclaim such lands but bars Palestinians from recovering property they lost in the same war, even if they still reside in areas controlled by Israel.

Samira Dajanis parents fled in 1948 from their home in Baka  now an upscale neighborhood in mostly Jewish west Jerusalem. After several years spent as refugees in Jordan, Syria and east Jerusalem, which was then controlled by Jordan, Jordanian authorities offered them one of several newly built homes in Sheikh Jarrah in exchange for giving up their refugee status.

I have beautiful memories from this house, says Dajani, now 70, recalling how she played with the other children in the close-knit neighborhood, where several other Palestinian refugee families had also been resettled. It was like heaven after our exodus.

Things changed after Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 Mideast war, and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state and view east Jerusalem as their capital.

In 1972, settler groups told the families that they were trespassing on Jewish-owned land. That was the start of a long legal battle that in recent months has culminated with eviction orders against 36 families in Sheikh Jarrah and two other east Jerusalem neighborhoods. Israeli rights groups say other families are also vulnerable, estimating that more than 1,000 Palestinians are at risk of being evicted.

The Dajanis and other families have been ordered to leave by Aug. 1. A Supreme Court hearing in the case of another four families that was to be held on Monday was postponed for at least a month. If they lose the appeal, they could be forcibly evicted within days or weeks.

A woman from another family in Sheikh Jarrah said it was an inhumane act to take away someones home. She invited her parents to move in with her and her husband if they are evicted from the home where she was born and raised, but her father refused.

He said there is no way Im leaving this neighborhood unless Im dead, she said, requesting anonymity for fear of retribution by Israeli authorities. Its been 65 years that hes lived in this neighborhood.

Israel views all of Jerusalem as its unified capital and says residents are treated equally. But east Jerusalem residents have different rights depending on whether they are Jewish or Palestinian.

Jews born in east Jerusalem are automatically granted Israeli citizenship, and Jews from anywhere else in the world are eligible to become Israeli citizens.

Palestinians born in east Jerusalem are granted a form of permanent residency that can be revoked if they spend too much time living outside the city. They can apply for Israeli citizenship but must go through a difficult and uncertain bureaucratic process that can take months or years. Most refuse, because they do not recognize Israels annexation.

Palestinians are also treated differently when it comes to housing, which will make it difficult for the Sheikh Jarrah families to remain in Jerusalem if they are evicted.

After 1967, Israel expanded the citys municipal boundaries to take in large areas of open land where it has since built Jewish settlements that are home to tens of thousands of people. At the same time, it set the boundaries of Palestinian neighborhoods, restricting their growth.

Today, more than 220,000 Jews live in east Jerusalem, mostly in built-up areas that Israel considers to be neighborhoods of its capital. Most of east Jerusalems 350,000 Palestinian residents are crammed into overcrowded neighborhoods where there is little room to build.

Palestinians say the expense and difficulty of obtaining permits forces them to build illegally or move to the occupied West Bank, where they risk losing their Jerusalem residency. Israeli rights groups estimate that of the 40,000 homes in Palestinian neighborhoods, half have been built without permits and are at risk of demolition.

In part due to the protests, Israel has come under international pressure over Sheikh Jarrah, with both the United States and the European Union expressing concern. Rights groups say the government can halt or postpone the evictions if it wants to.

In the meantime, Samira Dajani has planted her spring flowers in small pots that shell be able to take with her if she is forced from her home in August. The trees named for her and her siblings will have to stay. She says she tries not to think about it.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  A proposal from a group of Maine Republicans to ban mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for five years is up for consideration by a legislative committee this week.

The lawmakers, led by Rep. Tracy Quint of Hodgdon, have based their proposal in part on the theory that coronavirus vaccines cause reproductive harm. Numerous medical authorities have said the claim lacks merit, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated there is no evidence that any of the COVID-19 vaccines affect future fertility.

The proposal is slated for a work session before the Maine Legislature's Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services on Tuesday.

The bill states that it prohibits mandatory vaccinations for coronavirus disease 2019 for 5 years from the date of a vaccines first emergency use authorization by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration in order to allow for safety testing and investigations into reproductive harm.

Maine authorities are not currently considering any proposals that would make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for residents.

THE NUMBERS

New cases of coronavirus are trending slowly downward in Maine.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Maine did not increase over the past two weeks, going from 355.86 new cases per day on April 24 to 306.71 new cases per day on May 8. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Maine did not increase over the past two weeks, going from 1.00 deaths per day on April 24 to 0.86 deaths per day on May 8.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday the state has had more than 64,000 cases of the virus and 795 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

___

VACCINE PROGRESS

More than 52% of the eligible people in the state have had their final dose of coronavirus vaccine, state officials said on Monday.

Maine was one of the first states in the country to surpass the 50% threshold.

The county that has made the most progress in vaccinating residents is Cumberland, which is the largest county in the state. More than 60% of the county's total population has had at least a first dose, state officials said.

___

MILLS JOINS BIDEN, GOVERNORS

Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said Monday she will meet virtually with President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of governors to discuss innovative ways governors are helping to get people vaccinated.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, Mills said. She said "there is more work to do to get this pandemic behind us, which is why we are doubling-down on efforts to expand access to the vaccine, to get into hard-to-reach communities, and to deliver shots into arms.
We are so grateful to have hard-working, dedicated volunteers who give so much of their time and energy, Director of Volunteers Shannon Thompson said in the release. Without our volunteers, particularly in this past year, we would not have been able to provide over 100 million meals to our neighbors who have fallen on hard times.
SPARKS, Nev. (AP)  A Sparks dog owner is facing charges after fatally shooting another dog.

Authorities say 57-year-old Harold Miller admitted to shooting the dog after it fought with his dog and became free of its collar.

Sparks police received several 911 calls Saturday around 6 p.m. that a man walking his dog had fired several rounds at another canine.

Officers say they found Miller based on witness descriptions and recovered a handgun in his possession.

He was booked into Washoe County Jail on three counts of discharging a weapon where a person may be endangered.

It was not immediately known Monday if Miller had an attorney.

No details on condition of the dog were given.
LONDON (AP)  A British lawyer and climate campaigner was fined 5,000 pounds ($7,070) on Monday after being convicted of contempt of court for a tweet which broke an embargo on a U.K. Supreme Court judgment over Heathrow Airport's expansion.

Tim Crosland, a director of an environmental campaign group, revealed on social media the court ruling on Heathrow Airport's proposed third runway a day before it was made public in December. He was among involved parties to receive a draft of the appeal judgment, and has said that he broke the embargo deliberately as an act of civil disobedience" to protest the deep immorality of the court's ruling.

The court had ruled that a planned third runway at Heathrow was legal. The case was at the center of a long-running controversy and environmentalists had argued for years that the climate impact far outweighed the economic benefits of expanding the airport.

Crosland said the proposed 14 billion-pound ($19.8 billion) expansion of Heathrow, one of the worlds busiest, would breach Britains commitments to the Paris climate agreement.

He argued that the government deliberately suppressed information about the effect that the airport's expansion would have on the climate crisis, and said the publicity gained over breaking the embargo would act as an antidote to that.

Addressing the court, Crosland said: If complicity in the mass loss of life that makes the planet uninhabitable is not a crime, then nothing is a crime.

Three Supreme Court justices found Crosland in contempt of court for his deliberate and calculated breaches of the embargo and fined him 5,000 pounds.

The judges said he wanted to demonstrate his deliberate defiance of the prohibition and to bring this to the attention of as large an audience as possible.

Crosland had brought a small suitcase to Mondays hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in case he was given immediate jail time.

The maximum sentence had been up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Dalindyebo Shabalala, University of Dayton

(THE CONVERSATION) The U.S. and Europe are debating waiving patent rights for COVID-19 vaccines, a move that could allow more companies to produce the vaccine around the world. But its not as simple as it might sound.

When the U.S. announced on May 5, 2021, that it supported the idea of a temporary waiver, the statement was vague. Some European countries still oppose even a narrow waiver.

Any agreement will take weeks of negotiation among the World Trade Organizations 164 members, and then months more for production to begin.

That long timeline wont solve the immediate problem. Many poor countries have vaccinated less than 1% of their populations, while 44% of the vaccine doses have gone to Europe and North America, where wealthy countries secured large vaccine contracts. At the same time, the disease is spreading quickly in South Asia, and new variants are raising the risks around the world.

The idea of temporarily waiving World Trade Organization rules on intellectual property rights for the COVID-19 vaccines was first proposed by South Africa and India in late 2020. The original proposal was broad, covering patents, copyrights, trade secrets and industrial designs related to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19.

The U.S. is suggesting a much narrower approach, but exactly what that would look like isnt yet clear.

Some European countries with vaccine industries, including Germany, argue that waiving intellectual property rights would pose a danger to future vaccine innovation and is unnecessary. Others pointed out that most countries in need lack the facilities, technology and skilled technicians to produce the vaccines even if patent rights were waived, and said the bigger problem was countries like the U.S. and Britain preventing their vaccines and ingredients from being exported to the rest of the world.

Critics are correct that, by itself, a temporary waiver is not sufficient to address the gap in production. They are correct that vaccine ingredients and other supplies remain a major blockage.

But it is also clear that vaccine makers are not voluntarily licensing their vaccines at the scale needed to expand production enough to stop the pandemic.

The UNICEF COVID Dashboard shows that Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, which both use new mRNA technology in their vaccines, have licensed to few other companies. Moderna had voluntarily agreed not to enforce its patents but has not shared trade secrets or know-how. Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have primarily licensed to companies with which they carried out national clinical trials, and these may be limited just to production for export for existing developed country contracts or purely domestic supply. Refusals to license to experienced drug manufacturers such a Biolyse in Canada or Teva in Israel present a serious problem.

I have worked on legal issues related to access to medicines since 2004 and have been involved in these debates at the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization. I believe that U.S. support of the waiver proposal can lead to an effective outcome if minimum criteria are met: The vaccine makers will have to give up some control, and the countries must ensure those companies are appropriately compensated.

The waiver could build on the existing system for compulsory licensing of patents and extend that to trade secrets and knowledge. The negotiations around access to HIV/AIDS medicines in the 1990s ended up with a similar framework.

How to make compulsory licenses work for vaccines

When a country approves a patent, it gives the patent holder a monopoly for a limited term, usually 20 years, for new and highly inventive ideas. The key phrase is limited time. This makes sure that once a patent runs out, others can make the product. Generic drugs are an example.

For emergencies, the patent system has safety valves that allow governments to intervene before that limited time is up. Based on public needs  including health emergencies  a government can allow others to make the product, usually with a reasonable royalty, or fee, paid to the patent owner. This is known as a compulsory license.

Today, any country that has issued a patent to a COVID-19 vaccine maker can use that patent simply by issuing a compulsory license to enable production by its own companies.

The problem is that many countries dont have vaccine production facilities within their borders  they need to rely on imports. But under Article 31 of the WTOs Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, or TRIPS, compulsory licenses cant be used to produce vaccines for exporting to other countries. That means countries like China and the Philippines that have thriving pharmaceutical industries cant use compulsory licenses to send vaccines to Africa, for example.

There have been several attempts to solve this problem, including a change to the TRIPS Agreement approved in 2005. But only one country  Rwanda  has used that system to access drugs, and it was deemed too difficult to use. Rwanda was able to import 7 million doses from Canada, but it took almost two years, and the Canadian generic producer declared the system economically unsustainable for a private company.

The technologies in COVID-19 vaccines, especially those based on mRNA vaccines, are complex and involve multiple patents, trade secrets and know-how. The TRIPS Agreement requires countries to provide protection for trade secrets. Some countries laws, such as the U.S. Defense Production Act, allow for requiring such technology transfer, but many countries dont want to violate the agreement.

To successfully expand vaccine production, countries need a relatively seamless system. The waiver must lift the TRIPS limitations on exports and allow countries to require sharing of trade secrets and know-how. This would let a country like the Philippines issue a blanket license for COVID-19 technologies, allow its companies to produce vaccines developed elsewhere and export those vaccines to countries that lack their own manufacturing capacity.

Lifting those restrictions could help ensure that the world is not still in the same position in 2022. And that is what the proposal is truly aimed at.

How soon could the world see results?

Both the threat of the waiver and its actual implementation could accomplish several things.

First, they increase the incentive for companies to voluntarily license their vaccines and transfer knowledge to trusted partners in other countries. Provided there is pressure to do so, they could allow production for export to additional countries.

Second, they increase the leverage developing country companies and governments have in negotiations with vaccine makers for licenses, like the production agreement between Merck and Johnson & Johnson brokered by the Biden administration.

Finally, if implemented, the waiver would ensure that pharmaceutical companies are compensated for their work in developing vaccines while ensuring that they cannot prevent wider production.

This is an international emergency that requires extraordinary measures, as U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai noted. These measures do not need to be taken at the cost of either innovation or access.

This article updates a version published April 14, 2021.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/us-support-for-waiving-covid-19-vaccine-patent-rights-puts-pressure-on-drugmakers-but-what-would-a-waiver-actually-look-like-160582.
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP)  The twisted remains of several all-terrain vehicles leaned precariously inside Baba Mirs sprawling scrap yard, alongside smashed shards that were once generators, tank tracks that have been dismantled into chunks of metal, and mountains of tents reduced to sliced up fabric.

Its all U.S. military equipment. The Americans are dismantling their portion of nearby Bagram Air Base, their largest remaining outpost in Afghanistan, and anything that is not being taken home or given to the Afghan military is being destroyed as completely as possible, even small outposts are being dismantled or reduced to rubble.

They do so as a security measure, to ensure equipment doesnt fall into the hands of militants. But Mir and the dozens of other scrap sellers around Bagram see it as an infuriating waste.

What they are doing is a betrayal of Afghans. They should leave, he said. Like they have destroyed this vehicle, they have destroyed us.

As the last few thousand U.S. and NATO troops head out the door, ending their own 20-year war in Afghanistan, they are involved in a massive logistical undertaking, packing up bases around the country. They leave behind a population where many are frustrated and angry. The Afghans feel abandoned to a legacy they blame at least in part on the Americans  a deeply corrupt U.S.-backed government and growing instability that could burst into brutal new phase of civil war.

The bitterness of the scrapyard owners is only a small part of that, and its based somewhat on self-interest: They feel they they could have profited more from selling intact equipment.

Its been a common theme for the past two traumatic and destructive decades in which actions that the U.S. touted as necessary or beneficial only disillusioned Afghans who felt the repercussions.

At Bagram, northwest of the capital of Kabul, and other bases, U.S. forces are taking stock of equipment to be returned to America. Tens of thousands of metal containers, about 20 feet long, are being shipped out on C-17 cargo planes or by road through Pakistan and Central Asia. As of last week, 60 C-17s packed with equipment already had left Afghanistan.

Officials are being secretive about what stays and what goes. Most of what is being shipped home is sensitive equipment never intended to be left behind, according to U.S. and Western officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to talk freely about departing troops.

Other equipment, including helicopters, military vehicles, weapons and ammunition, will be handed over to Afghanistans National Defense and Security Forces. Some bases will be given to them as well. One of those most recently handed over was the New Antonik base in Helmand province, where Taliban are said to control roughly 80% of the rural area.

Destined for the scrap heap are equipment and vehicles that can neither be repaired nor transferred to Afghanistans security forces because of poor condition.

So far about 1,300 pieces of equipment have been destroyed, said a U.S. military statement. There will be more before the final deadline for departure on Sept. 11, said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The practice is not new. The same was done in 2014, when thousands of troops withdrew as the U.S. and NATO handed Afghanistans security over to Afghans. More than 387 million pounds (176 million kilograms) of scrap from destroyed equipment and vehicles was sold to Afghans for $46.5 million, a spokeswoman for the militarys Defense Logistics Agency in Virginia said at the time.

Last month, around the time President Joe Biden announced that America was ending its "forever war, Mir paid nearly $40,000 for a container packed with 70 tons of trashed equipment.

Hell make money, he told The Associated Press, but it will be a fraction of what he could have made if theyd been left intact, even if they werent in working condition.

The vehicle parts would have been sold to the legions of auto repair shops across Afghanistan, he said. That cant happen now. They've been reduced to mangled pieces of metal that Mir sells for a few thousand Afghanis.

Sadat, another junk dealer in Bagram who gave only one name, says other scrap yards around the country are crammed with ruined U.S. equipment.

They left us nothing, he said. They dont trust us. They have destroyed our country. They are giving us only destruction.

The Western official familiar with the packing up process said U.S. forces face a dilemma: Hand off largely defunct but intact equipment and risk having it fall into hands of enemy forces, or trash them and anger Afghans.

To make his point, he recounted a story: Not so long ago, U.S. forces discovered two Humvees that had found their way into enemy hands. They had been refitted and packed with explosives. U.S. troops destroyed the vehicles, and the incident reinforced a policy of trashing equipment.

But Afghan scrap yard owners and dozens of others who sifted through the junk in the yards wondered what dangers could have been posed by a treadmill that was torn apart, the long lengths of fire hose that were cut to pieces, or the bags once used to create large sand-barrier walls with their powerful mesh fabric now sliced and useless.

Dozens of tents cut and sliced sat in piles on the floor. Nearby were fuel bags and gutted generators, tank tracks and gnarled metal that looked like the undercarriage of a vehicle.

They destroyed our country and now they are giving us their garbage, said gray-bearded Hajji Gul, another junk dealer. What are we to do with this?

___

Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin lawmakers this week are expected to take their first floor votes on police reform measures since George Floyd's death sparked a national reckoning on policing and racial justice.

The Senate is widely expected to pass a bipartisan package Tuesday and send it to the Assembly for consideration. The bills mostly deal with administrative changes and data gathering, not use-of-force policies.

Although more contentious proposals are still in the works, including restrictions on chokeholds and the establishment of a statewide use-of-force policy, Tuesday's vote will represent the first signs of movement in Wisconsin after GOP lawmakers ignored Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' calls for special sessions on police reform following Floyd's death last May in Minneapolis and again following the August police shooting of another Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white Kenosha police officer.

This doesn't solve every problem, but I think that this really shows that there is transparency and areas where we can make that a little bit better and collect a little more information, Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard, a former police officer who co-sponsored the measures, said during a joint Milwaukee Press Club-WisPolitics.com virtual luncheon discussion Tuesday. It's better for everyone to be able to see that."

The legislation includes proposals that would create a $600,000 grant program for community-based policing in large cities; require police to post use of force policies online; require the state Department of Justice to gather more data on use of force incidents and produce an annual report; require police to maintain and share personnel files with other agencies during the hiring process; and require Milwaukee and Madison's police and firefighter oversight commissions to add union nominees.

Pressure to overhaul police practices has been mounting across the country since Floyd's death. A white former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder last month for killing Floyd.

The Kenosha police shooting of Blake, who was left paralyzed, put the spotlight on Wisconsin. Although Evers called special sessions after each incident, Republican leaders refused to convene the Legislature.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos instead created a task force to examine racial disparities. Tuesday's bills reflect some of the panel's recommendations.

The task force also has recommended a statewide prohibition on officers using chokeholds except in life-threatening situations or in self-defense and the creation of an independent use-of-force review board to research incidents and develop best practices.

Wanggaard and Democratic Sen. Lena Taylor are working together on legislation to implement those ideas. The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, which Wanggaard chairs, passed a bill Thursday that would ban chokeholds except in life-threatening situations. Opponents say the move would give officers an excuse to continue using chokeholds.

During the luncheon, Wanggaard said an officer would still have to explain why a chokehold was necessary. Taylor acknowledged that a bad officer could escape discipline using the self-defense exception, but I wasn't going to let the perfect get in the way of the good. I can't change that people would lie.

___

Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trichmond1
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  An annual report using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows North Dakotas rate of workplace deaths remains among the highest in the country.

The annual report released by the AFL-CIO shows that 37 North Dakota workers died in 2019 due to on-the-job injuries. The rate of 9.7 deaths per 100,000 workers was third-highest in the nation, behind Alaska and Wyoming, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP)  Glenn Youngkin, a political newcomer who campaigned as a conservative, Christian outsider, bested a field of seven candidates to emerge as Virginia Republicans nominee for governor, in a year when the GOP hopes to end a 12-year losing streak in statewide races.

Youngkin defeated a hard-right contender in state Sen. Amanda Chase, who closely aligned herself with former President Donald Trump, as well as an establishment candidate, former House Speaker Kirk Cox, who had more than 30 years experience in government as well as the endorsements of former governors George Allen and Bob McDonnell.

While Youngkin did not embrace Trump to the same extent as Chase, he spoke favorably of the former president during the campaign. He also made election integrity a top issue in his campaign, allowing him to appeal to Trump voters who still believe the 2020 election was stolen from him without having to invoke Trumps name directly.

In the sixth and final round of counting on Monday night, Youngkin passed the 50% threshold to clinch the nomination, and his closest remaining opponent, Pete Snynder, issued a tweet conceding: I send my heartfelt congratulations to @glennyoungkin on a tremendous race + deserved win.

The state party's website showed Youngkin with around 55% of the vote as final ballots were being tallied late Monday night.

I am prepared to lead, excited to serve and profoundly humbled by the trust the people have placed in me.," Youngkin said on Twitter. "Virginians have made it clear that they are ready for a political outsider with proven business experience to bring real change in Richmond.

In a statement late Monday, the Virginia Republican Party celebrated Youngkin's nomination, calling him a homegrown Virginian who had nothing handed to him."

From his life experiences, Glenn has developed the skills and character to lead Virginia with humility and courage, party officials said. "He has the know-how to get Virginia moving again and rebuild it into the best place to live, work, and raise a family in America.

Party Chairman Rich Anderson said Youngkin ran a flawless campaign, adding that he looked forward to throwing "the full force of the Republican Party of Virginia behind him in the coming months.

The state Democratic Party painted a different picture, calling Youngkin a pro-Trump extremist.

Throughout this campaign, Youngkin has advanced Trumps dangerous election conspiracy theories, opposed critical COVID-19 relief for working families and small businesses, and threatened to gut Virginians health care," Virginia Democratic Party Chairwoman Susan Swecker said in a statement.

More than 30,000 delegates cast ballots Saturday at what the Republican Party of Virginia is calling an unassembled convention to choose their nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

With no candidate garnering a majority after the first round, the winner was determined in part by whom delegates listed as their second and third choices among the seven candidates vying for the spot.

Under the ranked-choice voting system implemented by the party, the votes of the last-place candidate, former Roanoke Sheriff Octavia Johnson, were redistributed to the six remaining candidates based on whom those delegates designated as their second choice.

The process was repeated in subsequent rounds until Youngkin gained the majority.

Youngkin, a former CEO of The Carlyle Group investment firm, is making his first run for public office. He lent his campaign more than $5 million and spent more than any other candidate through March 31, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project. He campaigned as a conservative Christian outsider and highlighted his business experience.

The party began counting ballots in the attorney general race on Sunday. Delegate Jason Miyares won a close race after three rounds of balloting over hard-right candidate Chuck Smith.

Smith's surprisingly strong showing was interpreted by some as a good sign for Chase, a hard-right gubernatorial candidate who has been censured in the General Assembly in a bipartisan vote and is most closely associated with former President Donald Trump.

Chase, though, finished in third place. She has suggested she might run as an independent if she feels like the nomination process was unfair.

Democrats will choose their nominee next month in a state-run primary. Former governor Terry McAuliffe is the front-runner in a field of five candidates.

Virginia bars incumbent governors from seeking reelection, so Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam is barred from seeking a second term this year.

Virginia is the only state with an open-seat gubernatorial contest this year; the race is being closely scrutinized as an early signal of each partys political strength heading into the 2022 congressional elections.

Republicans have not won a statewide race in Virginia since 2009. But Republicans have some hope of ending their drought this year; since 1973, only once has the party controlling the White House gone on to win the governor's race in Virginia the next year.

The convention was open to Virginia voters who pre-registered as delegates. People who had voted in past Democratic primaries were allowed to participate if they renounced their earlier Democratic votes and promised to support the Republican nominees in November.
It's been nearly one year since George Floyd was killed while in Minneapolis police custody, but the fight for justice is far from over.

The Houston-based George Floyd Foundation will host a commemorative concert in Floyd's honor on May 30 as a reminder of "the continued fight for #JusticeforGeorge" and "so many others that have lost their lives unjustly," per a press release. The all-white attired affair will take place at the Fountain of Praise Church in Pearland, which is the same church Floyd's funeral was held.

'WHO DO YOU BELIEVE': From Rodney King to George Floyd, how video evidence can be differently interpreted in courts

Members of Floyd's family, celebrities and community leaders will be among those in attendance.

"We could not have predicted that George Floyd, whose killing by police would inspire a year of worldwide protests, unifying people of all nationalities, calling for an end to systemic racism and police brutality," said Shareeduh Tate, Foundation president and Floyd's cousin. "A year later, his injustice has continued to shake the nation and the world and it is our intention that the sacrifice of his life, is not in vain and does result in justice, saving other lives and ultimately change the world."

While Floyd's death sparked a summer of racial reckoning and nationwide protests against police brutality, events since then continue to prove that there is still a lot of work to be done.

Derek Chauvin, the officer witnessed recorded kneeling on Floyd's neck at the time of his death, was found guilty on April 20 of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Two days later, a mural of Floyd in Houston was vandalized with a racial epithet.

Nationally, at least 64 people were killed by law enforcement between the first day of testimony in Chauvin's trial on March 29 and April 17, with Black and Latino people accounting for more than half of those killed, per the New York Times.

HOW HOUSTON FEELS: Here's how Houstonians reacted to the Derek Chauvin verdict

Floyd grew up in Houston's Third Ward and was a star football player at Jack Yates High School, where a mural featuring the popular "Black Lives Matter" phrase and the red and gold No. 88 jersey here wore now spans two blocks.
While talking with police, the Indiana victim asked a relative to leave the room, because she did not want to upset them with what she was about to tell detectives, the affidavit states.
PHOENIX (AP)  Joshua Matthew Black said in a YouTube video that he was protecting the officer at the U.S. Capitol who had been pepper sprayed and fallen to the ground as the crowd rushed the building entrance on Jan. 6.

Let him out, hes done," Black claimed to have told rioters.

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But federal prosecutors say surveillance footage doesnt back up Blacks account. They said he acknowledged that he wanted to get the officer out of the way  because the cop was blocking his path inside.

At least a dozen of the 400 people charged so far in the Jan. 6 insurrection have made dubious claims about their encounters with officers at the Capitol. The most frequent argument is that they can't be guilty of anything, because police stood by and welcomed them inside, even though the mob pushed past police barriers, sprayed chemical irritants and smashed windows as chaos enveloped the government complex.

The January melee to stop the certification of Joe Biden's victory was instigated by a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump who have professed their love of law enforcement and derided the mass police overhaul protests that shook the nation last year following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

But they quickly turned on police in one violent encounter after another.

We backed you guys in the summer, one protester screamed at three officers cornered against a door by dozens of men screaming for them to get out of their way. When the whole country hated you, we had your back!

The Capitol Police didn't plan for a riot. They were badly outnumbered and it took hours for reinforcements to arrive  a massive failure that is now under investigation. Throughout the insurrection, police officers were injured, mocked, ridiculed and threatened. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died after the riot.

Officers who spoke to The Associated Press said police had to decide on their own how to fight them off. There was no direction or plan and they were told not to fire on the crowd, they said. One cop ran from one side of the building to another, fighting hand-to-hand against rioters. Another decided to respond to any calls of officers in distress and spent three hours helping cops who had been immobilized by bear spray or other chemicals.

Three officers were able to handcuff one rioter. But a crowd swarmed the group and took the arrested man away with the handcuffs still on.

Still, some rioters claim police just gave up and told them that the building was now theirs. And a few  including one accused of trying to pull off an officers gas mask in a bid to expose the officer to bear spray  have claimed to be protecting police.

Matthew Martin, an employee for a defense contractor from Santa Fe, New Mexico, who has acknowledged being inside the building, claimed police were opening doors for people as they walked into the Capitol.

Dan Cron, Martins attorney, said a photo filed in court by authorities shows an officer using his back to hold a door open for people. No police barriers were in place when Martin walked into the Capitol area, nor was there anyone telling people they werent allowed in the building, Cron said.

He thought that was OK, Cron said, adding that his client was inside the Capitol for less than 10 minutes and didnt commit any violence. He doesnt know what the policies and procedures at the Capitol are, Cron said. He had never been there.

On the surface, images taken of officers who appear to step aside as the mob stormed the building could be beneficial to the rioters' claims. In the days after Jan. 6, those images fueled rumors that police had stood by on purpose, but they have not been substantiated.

Experts caution against drawing conclusions.

The context will be very important in claiming officers welcomed in a crowd, said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. They were trying to control a fast-developing, difficult, potentially explosive situation. So I dont think its enough to say, The officer didnt tackle me.

Authorities say Michael Quick of Springfield, Missouri, claimed that he didnt know at the time that he wasnt allowed in the Capitol when he and his brother climbed in through an open window. He believed police were letting people in, despite seeing officers in riot gear.

Attorney Dee Wampler, who represents Michael and Stephen Quick, said he doesnt currently have proof for the claim the officers were letting people into the building, but he pointed out that he has thousands of documents from prosecutors still left to review.

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If this case was tried, the evidence would be that there was a fairly large number of officers that were standing around when my clients entered, and they didnt try to stop the Quicks, Wampler said, adding that his clients didnt commit any violence inside the Capitol.

But the argument did not work for Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who sported face paint, a furry hat with horns and carried a spear during the riot.

Chansley's lawyer said an officer told his client that the building is yours and that he was among the third wave of rioters entering the Capitol.

In rejecting a request two months ago to free Chansley from jail, Judge Royce Lamberth said it wasnt clear who made the comment and concluded Chansley was unable to prove that officers waved him into the building, citing a video that the judge said proves that the Phoenix man was among the first wave of rioters in the building. The judge noted that rioters were crawling in through broken windows when Chansley entered the Capitol through a door.

Chansley's attorney, Albert Watkins, still insists that his client was in the third wave of rioters in the building and said it shouldnt shock the public that rioters who were hanging on to Trumps every word and believed the election was stolen legitimately believed they were allowed in the building. Its whats in their hearts and minds, Watkins said.

In all, Joshua Black made two claims that he helped officers at the Capitol.

Before encountering the officer he claimed to have protected at a Capitol doorway, Black said, police shot him in the cheek with a plastic projectile as he tried to keep another officer from being bootstomped by other rioters while outside the Capitol. But prosecutors say surveillance video doesnt depict an officer on the ground, nor is Black shown trying to help an officer.

Blacks attorney, Clark Fleckinger II, didnt return a phone call and email seeking comment.

___

Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
Recently, John Kerry traveled to Shanghai to talk climate change with Chinese counterparts. Afterward, a joint communique committed to fight climate change with the seriousness and urgency that it demands. On Earth Day, President Biden opened a virtual world summit on climate with an announcement that the U.S. would halve our emissions by 2030.

Recall that, upon his inauguration, Biden issued a flurry of executive orders related to climate change, including one designating climate change a national security threat, one rejoining the Paris Accord, another halting the Keystone XL pipeline and yet another freezing petroleum leases and permits on federal land for 60 days. Lots of drama and aspiration.

Whats reality? The primary security threat by Bidens new climate-change name looks the same as the leading national security threat in traditional terms: China. The totalitarian Communist dictatorship is responsible for 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EDGAR database.

Chinas emissions are not only the worlds most, but they are increasing every year. U.S. emissions are less than half as much and have been decreasing for over a decade. Half again lower is India, whose emissions account for about 7 percent.

The administration should confront China on climate change and raise an international outcry about its renegade behavior, not send John Kerry to make nice with China, whose vice minister stated the real position: Some countries are asking China to do more on climate change. Im afraid that is not very realistic.

At home and overseas, China continues to build noxious coal-fueled power plants. Meanwhile, fracking in the U.S. has generated increased supplies of natural gas, enabling the replacement of coal with natural gas plants which emit half the GHGs.

The Paris Accord serves as a fig leaf for China, allowing it to posture as climate-conscious, while doing the opposite. In 2015, China submitted a Nationally Determined Commitment under the Paris Accord that made a mockery of the accord. It committed to stop increasing its GHG emissions by 2030. In other words, China committed to worsen global climate conditions for 15 years  with a decade now remaining.

By rejoining the Paris Accord without confronting China, the administration endorses this farce.

Restricting fracking endorses farce, as well. Fracking has been, and continues to be, the most powerful driver of our declining emissions. Happily, Bidens 60-day ban on leases on federal lands expired on March 21 and has not been renewed.

A positive here in Connecticut is the natural gas power plant project in Killingly that seems to be proceeding. The Killingly plant stands to do more to stop climate change than Gov. Ned Lamonts proposal for an artfully named new gas tax, the Transportation Climate Initiative.

In addition to reducing emissions, fracking and natural gas have made the U.S. energy-independent with big foreign policy benefits.

The benefits could go much further. If natural gas can replace coal plants here in the U.S., it can do so abroad. The U.S. is beginning to export oil and gas (which Keystone XL would have facilitated). We could export on a preferential basis to India, which is now building coal plants. Using petroleum, this key ally could pursue economic development without following Chinas disastrous path of massive GHG emissions.

In the purely economic sphere, hasty abandonment of all fossil fuels has significant costs. China illustrates this point in the opposite case: China is continuing  and increasing  its use of cheap coal, precisely because of the economic benefits of low-cost energy.

Why does the world community overlook Chinas disastrous behavior?

Simple. China and its apologists construe climate change on a per-capita basis, saying Chinas emissions are half of U.S. emissions because China has four times the population.

The fallacy here is obvious: Mother Earth does not care how many people damage the environment. For example, does it matter whether one person gives you a lethal dose of arsenic or four people each give you one-quarter of the lethal dose? You still die, right?

Apologists for the Chinese assert further that China is a developing nation, with half the per-capita income as the U.S., so it would be inequitable to stifle Chinas economic growth with emissions restrictions.

The fallacy here is just as obvious: Mother Earth does not care about equity.

Now at this fifth anniversary of the Paris Accord, revised NDCs are due. Only eight have been submitted, not including Chinas.

If Biden is serious about climate change and national security, he should call upon all nations to submit revised NDCs committed to immediate and continuing reductions in GHG emissions, with no exceptions and no excuses. Second, enforcement provisions should be added to the accord, committing all signatories to collective action against violators.

These provisions would add meaning and teeth to the accord, which is now just diplomatic talky-talk. Then, the accord might actually save the world from climate change, while, at the same time, serve as a soft power instrument to save the world from the traditional national security threat posed by an increasingly militaristic totalitarian Chinese Communist regime.

Red Jahncke is the president of Townsend Group Intl, LLC, a Greenwich-based consulting firm. A version of this column appeared originally in Washington Examiner.
During the 87th Texas Legislature, representatives from Jolt Action dropped 275,000 multi-colored rose petals onto the rotunda floor at the Texas State Capitol.

The drop on April 8 was meant to represent the thousands of Texans of color that turn 18 years old every year, and thus are eligible to vote. The symbolic form of protest was in direct response to the states ongoing attempts to, in Jolts opinion, suppress Texans right to vote.

We will not allow these blatant attempts to suppress our vote...If theyre gonna attempt to suppress our vote, were going to be a thorn in their side, Jolt wrote on Instagram.

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Jolt is a nonprofit organization with an aim toward building a movement of young Latinx Texans to transform the state through the power of their vote. In March 2021, the organization named Dr. Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia as its executive director. Hitting the ground running, she and her team are building on the hard work the organization put in during the previous election season, making sure Texas has the representation that looks like and advocates on behalf of every member of the state, particularly Texans of color.

Its been absolutely wonderful. Its challenging, empowering, and its been really exciting. I think right now in Texas, were in a very critical time of doing the work were doing, Gonzales-Dholakia said of her new role. Were at this point where the rest of the state, and really the country, realizes the value and impact that Latinos in Texas have in our elections and civic engagement across our state. Im coming in at this critical time in our history where we have the opportunity and the ability to turn things around so that our democracy represents the people of Texas.

As the daughter of Mexican-American migrant parents, Gonzales-Dholakia grew up with a work ethic that most Latinos can relate to. She helped build the family's janitorial business, which became their bread and butter, and a source of pride.

Courtesy of Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia

The disarmingly charismatic leader spoke to the importance of the work Jolt does, particularly why it's imperative for Texans of color to enter the political arena.

I think for a long time Latinos havent been engaged. We havent been empowered. No one has asked Latinos what is important to us, what bills we should be proposing, she said with gusto. People go into Black and Brown communities right before elections to ask for their votes and then [those representatives are] gone. What Jolt does is build political power for Latinos across the state of Texas. We are not just doing this in voter mobilization and engagements, but we take it a step further by uplifting their stories, empowering their voice and cultivating them into the next generation of leaders in our state.

Gonzales-Dholakia broke down the numbers when speaking to the importance of having seats at the table at the Legislative level.

About half of all the people in the state of Texas under the age of 18 are Latino. Every year, 2,000 Latinos turn 18. Thats huge voting power! she explained. Its a critical time to empower Latinos and help them realize the power of their story and their vote.

Currently in the throes of a whirlwind legislative session, the team at Jolt are working tirelessly to combat bills and legislation they say go against the fundamentals of democracy.

The most pressing issue [in this current session] is voter suppression. Black and Brown voters came out in historic numbers in 2018 and 2020. Our legislators saw what that meant, so rather than doing everything they can to make sure everyone in our state can vote, we have legislators working to make it harder for certain communities to vote.

The San Antonio native doesnt hesitate to say that these communities are generally those of color, working class Texans and students of voting age, to name a few.

Gonzalez-Dholakia and her team are already looking toward the battles ahead.

We are working toward next steps with redistricting and making sure we have fair maps that represent Latino populations, she said. When we enter the special session, we will be present, empowering and giving information to Latinx youth.

Acknowledging that redistricting isnt typically top of mind for most voters, she said its Jolts job to make it easy to understand for folks when they enter the voting booth.

 We must explain what redistricting is and how it affects them and communities. Its purposeful in its confusing nature. We will be there to educate our community about what redistricting means and how it impacts us. Its going to be very important to us to see fair maps.

Reflecting on the rose petal drop, Gonzalez-Dholakia said, Our goal was to show our representatives that these are the numbers, this is the beauty and power of the Black and Brown people who turn 18 every year. Later that afternoon, sitting on the lawn of the Capitol, we listened to these young people who are so empowered and hopeful at a time when they could feel so hopeless  thats such an important thing Jolt focuses on. These young people talked about not wanting the bills to pass, but if they do, theyre still going to be there and we are going to keep going. We didnt just survive these last four years, we flourished. We got stronger and we got wiser.

The married mother of three has a lot to look forward to in regards to her role at Jolt, the political landscape of Texas today and what she envisions for Texass future.

What were trying to do right now is empower Latinos across the state of Texas in a way that honors and celebrates our culture and the power of our story. All of the voter mobilization and civic leadership we focus on comes back to this overarching vision and goal of increasing the political power of Latinos across Texas so that we can live in a state where the representation of the state represents the people [who live there].
ADDISON, Texas - Key elements of the baseless assertion that the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump took shape in an airplane hangar here two years earlier, promoted by a Republican businessman who has sold many things, from Tex-Mex food in London to a wellness technology that beams light into the human bloodstream.

At meetings beginning late in 2018, as Republicans were smarting from midterm losses in Texas and across the country, Russell Ramsland and his associates delivered alarming presentations on electronic voting to a procession of conservative lawmakers, activists and donors.

Briefings in the hangar had a clandestine air. Guests were asked to leave their cellphones outside before assembling in a windowless room. A member of Ramsland's team purporting to be a "white-hat hacker" identified himself only by a code name.

Ramsland, a former congressional candidate with a Harvard University MBA, pitched a claim that seemed rooted in evidence: Voting-machine audit logs - lines of codes and time stamps that document the machines' activities - contained indications of vote manipulation. In the retrofitted hangar that served as his company's offices at the edge of a municipal airstrip outside Dallas, Ramsland attempted to persuade Republican candidates to challenge their election results and force the release of additional data that might prove manipulation.

"We had to find the right candidate," said Laura Pressley, a former Ramsland ally whose own claim that audit logs showed fraud had been rejected in court two years earlier. "We had to find one who knew they won."

He made the pitch to Don Huffines, a state senator in Texas. Huffines declined.

He tried to persuade Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas. Sessions declined.

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No candidate agreed to bring a challenge, and the idea of widespread vote manipulation remained on the political fringe - until 2020, when Ramsland's assertions were seized upon by influential allies of Trump. The president himself accelerated the spread of those claims into the GOP mainstream as he latched onto an array of baseless ideas to explain his loss in November.

The enduring myth that the 2020 election was rigged was not one claim by one person. It was many claims stacked one atop the other, repeated by a phalanx of Trump allies. This is the previously unreported origin story of a core set of those claims, ideas that were advanced not by renowned experts or by insiders who had knowledge of flawed voting systems but by Ramsland and fellow conservative activists as they pushed a fledgling company, Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG), into a quixotic attempt to find evidence of widespread fraud where none existed.

To assemble a picture of the company's role, The Washington Post obtained emails and company documents and interviewed 12 people with direct knowledge of ASOG's efforts, as well as former federal officials and aides from the Trump White House. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters or out of fear of retribution. Three individuals who were present in the hangar for those 2018 meetings spoke about the gatherings publicly for the first time.

By late 2019, ASOG's examination had moved beyond audit logs. Among other claims, Ramsland was repeating the ominous idea that election software used in the United States originated in Venezuela and saying nefarious actors could surreptitiously manipulate votes on a massive scale. As the 2020 election approached, he privately briefed GOP lawmakers in Washington and met with officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), documents and interviews show.

ASOG's examination by last summer had cost more than $1 million, according to a document the company gave government officials that was obtained by The Post. Ramsland had sought funding from Republican donors whose fortunes were made in the oil, gas and fracking industries, Pressley said.

After the Nov. 3 election, to an extent not widely recognized, Ramsland and others associated with ASOG played key roles in spreading the claims of fraud, The Post found. They were circulated by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, a staunch Trump ally who had been briefed by ASOG. And Ramsland's assertions were incorporated in the "kraken" lawsuits filed by conservative lawyer Sidney Powell - who The Post learned had also been briefed two years earlier by ASOG - and aired publicly by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney at the time, as they tried to overturn Joe Biden's victories in key states.

During that period, Trump was hyper-focused on making the case that the election had been rigged, former White House aides said. He would listen to "literally anyone" who had a theory about it, in the words of one former senior administration official.

Among those voices were the people in Ramsland's network.

In the aftermath of the election, Trump was surrounded by those repeating claims Ramsland had made, and in seeking to overturn the election, Trump embraced some of those ideas.

The idea that the election was stolen took root and remains persuasive to millions of Americans. Although the DHS during the Trump administration called the election the "most secure in American history," polls have consistently shown that about one-third of Americans - including a majority of Republicans - believe that Trump lost because of fraud. An internal poll by the National Republican Senatorial Committee in March found that among Republicans who believed the election was stolen, nearly half said hacked machines were partly to blame and an additional 8% said they were the main source of fraud.

The fraud claims have undermined faith in the electoral process, have been cited as a motivation for legislation to curtail access to polls in dozens of states and have spurred the companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic to file billion-dollar lawsuits. Ultimately, the conspiracy-mongering helped inspire the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In an email exchange with The Post, Ramsland, 68, confirmed that ASOG provided research for Powell and Giuliani but said that he had never spoken to Trump himself and that the company was "one of many voices" that expressed concerns about election-system vulnerabilities. He noted that election security has been a long-standing concern across the political spectrum and said many others had "reached similar conclusions regarding irregularities in the election system."

Through an attorney, Powell confirmed that she had met Pressley, but she did not respond to questions about where or about her work with Ramsland. Giuliani and his attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment. Gohmert declined to comment on his interactions with Ramsland.

Through a spokesman, Trump declined to be interviewed.

Pressley, 58, said she and Ramsland had a falling out in part over his use of her analysis of election data and her suspicions that his motives were financial or partisan. She said he has not provided evidence for his claims about the 2020 election and fears those claims could undercut legitimate questions about the integrity of U.S. voting. "I'm heartbroken by it," Pressley said recently, speaking in detail about ASOG for the first time, during a three-hour interview near Austin.

In emails to The Post, Ramsland called Pressley "unreliable" and said ASOG ceased doing business with her "because of her lack of technical experience and complete inability to understand electronic investigative work." He said Pressley had a limited view of the work performed by ASOG, adding that "our cyber team had already gone far beyond the simple audit log data and analysis she had initially brought to ASOG."

Many people and organizations claimed after the election to have evidence casting doubt on Biden's victory. But Ramsland and ASOG's role was unique, said Matt Masterson, a former senior U.S. cybersecurity official who led a team tracking the integrity of the 2020 election for the DHS.

Repeatedly and at key moments, Masterson said, ASOG was the source of morsels of inaccurate information that shaped public perception. Some of the ideas it pushed had circulated previously, he said, but they were supercharged by the influence and connections of Ramsland and the people around him - and by the air of authority the company provided.

"It wasn't just that the president would tweet about their stuff. It was all these little nuggets and grist that they provided or that were cited to them in testimony or in the 'kraken' cases. It provided the appearance of substance and fact to something that had no substance or fact," said Masterson, who has not previously discussed ASOG publicly. "It was like: 'Look, these are professionals. . . . They have former military experience. And look at what they found.' They gave those who wanted to push and believe in the lie something to hold on to."

- - -

The nation's embrace of electronic voting grew out of the debacle of 2000, when hanging chads and other hard-to-interpret paper ballots muddled the outcome of the presidential race, souring many Americans on the analog technology the country had used for decades.

Two years later, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, dedicating billions of dollars to modernize U.S. elections. It encouraged jurisdictions across the country to replace their old voting machines with new digital systems.

The result was a massive investment in paperless touch-screen voting machines, also known as direct-recording electronic voting machines, or DREs, which states came to view as simpler, cheaper and more accessible to people with disabilities.

"There were some electronic voting machines before that, but this was the thing that opened the floodgates to them," said Matt Blaze, a professor of law and computer science at Georgetown University who researches election technology and security.

Blaze and other experts warned that DREs introduced new security risks: Without a reliable paper trail, there was no way to check whether the machines had accurately recorded voters' intentions.

As concern about this vulnerability mounted, a growing number of states and localities began requiring voting machines to leave a paper trail. Today, most voters mark paper ballots by hand, and they are then scanned and tabulated by a machine. Some use touch-screen machines that produce a printed copy of the voter's selections. A few still vote on paperless machines.

There has never been a documented case of a U.S. election being stolen through hacking, according to Blaze and other experts.

Still, concerns about the security of electronic voting continue to simmer, including among experts. It does not help, they say, that some machines contain modems to simplify the reporting of results and that those machines have sometimes been left connected to the Internet for extended periods.

It was DREs, and the built-in inability to verify their results, that helped persuade Pressley that her race for a seat on Austin's nonpartisan City Council in 2014 had been stolen.

As a candidate, Pressley told voters that she had grown up outside Dallas, the daughter of a cattle auctioneer. She said she arrived in Austin two decades earlier as a poor single mother and succeeded against the odds. She earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, worked for 17 years in the semiconductor industry and owned a company that sold bottled rainwater.

The campaign foundered amid revelations she had previously appeared on Infowars, the right-wing website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and on another occasion had said data showed that military-grade explosives were planted inside the twin towers on 9/11. That comment prompted the Austin American-Statesman to retract its endorsement of her. (Pressley told The Post that she had "no opinion" on whether planes brought down the World Trade Center.)

The race was not close: Her opponent, a community organizer, defeated her by a margin of almost 30 points.

Pressley could not believe it.

"I knew in my heart that I had won," she recently told a gathering of law enforcement officers outside Houston, one of hundreds of speeches she has given about the case, "and I became convinced there was fraud."

A recount confirmed her loss. But nearly all the ballots had been cast on DREs, and Pressley remained skeptical.

She took the case to court.

Among other evidence, Pressley cited an audit log that contained nine instances in which a machine made by the company Hart InterCivic recorded an event as "Invalid/Corrupt." She argued that those and other alleged irregularities meant the true outcome of the election was impossible to determine.

A state judge threw out the case before trial and fined her and her attorney for bringing a frivolous lawsuit. Pressley appealed, and in 2016 a three-judge panel upheld the lower-court ruling.

"Pressley produced no evidence that the 'Invalid/Corrupt' error messages resulted in any legal votes not being counted, resulted in any illegal votes being counted, or otherwise materially affected the outcome of the election," the Texas Court of Appeals panel found, adding that Pressley's own expert witness testified that it was "not known" what the nine error messages meant.

"This type of expert testimony is based on uncertainty and mere speculation and is therefore unreliable and irrelevant," the panel said.

Pressley would go on to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, which said it was too late to take up her underlying fraud allegations but found that they were not frivolous and dropped the fines. Her expert witness had testified that corrupted memory sticks that contain ballot data "could" damage the credibility of vote counting, the court wrote. To avoid fines, it wrote, "Pressley needs only to have some factual basis for her claim . . . not evidence that is ultimately admissible."

Hart InterCivic told The Post that the error messages did not affect the tally and that "the election results were accurately recorded and reported." The company said the error messages indicate a failed connection between memory sticks and the devices that read them - a hiccup resolved by simply reconnecting and trying again.

By 2018, Pressley had become an outspoken critic of electronic voting systems that lack a paper trail. She founded True Texas Elections and recruited poll-watchers in more than a dozen counties to look for evidence of fraud in the state's March primary that year. Afterward, she filed a complaint with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, saying Democratic votes might have been undercounted.

On election night in November 2018, the volunteer poll-watchers obtained audit logs generated by the central tabulation machines in Dallas County as they tallied votes, some of which had been cast on DREs manufactured by the largest voting-machine company in the nation, Election Systems and Software, or ES&S. Such logs record an array of activity and can be difficult to interpret for anyone unfamiliar with the software involved.

In a statement, ES&S said that its voting equipment has been through thousands of hours of independent testing and that its accuracy has been verified through audits and other examinations.

But as Pressley pored over the logs, she fixated on specific words. "Downloaded," "cleared," "replaced," the audit logs said, over and over.

Soon, she came to suspect that those audit logs, too, were a window into surreptitious vote-switching.

- - -

Allied Special Operations Group, as the firm was first named, was initially envisioned as a one-stop shop for government and corporate clients seeking cybersecurity, physical protection and sophisticated open-source intelligence services, Ramsland and former employees told The Post.

The company was formed in June 2017 by Adam Kraft, a former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Kraft was the company's chief executive, and it was based at his house in a subdivision north of Fort Worth. Kraft declined to comment for this report.

An early promotional video described ASOG as "a group of highly trained professionals who have seen it all," and it emphasized the intelligence backgrounds of some team members. "When someone says, 'I know a guy,' he's talking about ASOG," said the narrator, who said ASOG personnel had taken part in the types of missions "that many of us only see in the movies."

Months after Kraft filed papers to establish the company, he was joined by a trio of other men, state records show.

Alvan "Locke" Neely, a retired Secret Service agent who first served in the Ford administration, became ASOG's chief operations officer.

Keet Lewis was named ASOG's vice president of strategy. Lewis served on the executive committee of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a Washington-based organization that for decades has been a networking hub for powerful conservative activists and donors.

According to his biography in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Lewis consulted on international energy projects and had helped develop the Skimmer Basket Buddy, a patented maintenance tool for swimming pools. He did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Ramsland, who was also then a member of the CNP, joined as ASOG's chief financial officer. The son and grandson of West Texas oilmen lived with his wife in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas, home to former president George W. Bush and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Ramsland had charted an unusual career path, including investment banking, consulting on a proposed cattle ranch in the South Pacific and working with NASA on a venture aimed at growing crystals in space. He also owned oil and gas interests in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, records show.

According to business filings in Florida, Lewis and Ramsland later served together on the board of Photonx, a company that according to its website uses variable wavelengths of light "to treat specific pathogenic and chronic diseases." (Ramsland told The Post that in its current form Photonx's device "expressly doesn't purport to treat disease.")

Photonx now has office space inside the Addison hangar, according to a mailbox outside and a sign visible to visitors at the front door.

Ramsland was a "numbers and models" man, said Gene Street, who partnered with him in the 1990s on the London restaurant that Ramsland's resume, obtained by The Post, says was "Europe's highest-grossing Tex-Mex restaurant."

"If you ever needed to know where a single penny went, he was the guy that could tell you," Street said.

Ramsland had donated to the campaigns of numerous Republicans, including Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, campaign finance filings show. He had also run for office himself, challenging Rep. Pete Sessions in the 2016 Republican primary as a part of the tea party, the fiscally conservative movement that had formed in opposition to President Barack Obama's agenda. A campaign ad showed Ramsland wearing a cowboy hat and shooting a rifle at cardboard boxes labeled "open borders" and "Obamacare." Ramsland lost by nearly 38 points.

Weeks before he joined ASOG, Ramsland spoke to a conservative association, delivering remarks rife with outlandish claims, according to video reviewed by The Post. Ramsland called the deadly 2012 attack on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, a "deep-state operation," and he traced the origin of the "deep state" to a World War II-era collaboration involving Prescott Bush, the father of former president George H.W. Bush; the Muslim Brotherhood; and liberal financier George Soros - who was born in 1930 and was not yet an adult.

ASOG's early work included hunting for intelligence about a group of Chinese nationals for an exiled Chinese billionaire, an associate of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and providing VIP protection details in the United States and abroad, a specialty Neely brought from the Secret Service.

In the fall of 2018, influential Texas Republican fundraiser JoAnn Fleming urged Ramsland and Pressley to join forces, Pressley told The Post. Ramsland soon shifted ASOG's attention to election security. Fleming did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Neely said he left his position with the company when resources moved toward election security.

"My focus was and has always been protection and investigations," he said in a brief interview outside his home in suburban Dallas. "They were going a totally different direction, and it was just not - they were pouring all their resources into that, and it was just not my gig."

The relationship between Ramsland and Kraft also grew strained, according to three people who worked for or with the company at the time. Kraft eventually departed under pressure, the people said.

- - -

In November 2018, Texas Republicans were reeling from a battering at the polls. Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke had lost narrowly to Cruz, and strong Democratic turnout had cost Sessions his longtime seat representing a swath of Dallas and its fast-growing suburbs as the party picked up seats in both chambers of the state legislature. Some Republicans were looking for explanations beyond the apparent purpling of Dallas.

Soon, Pressley was in the hangar, briefing Ramsland on her election-fraud theories. "Russ got really excited. They all did," Pressley said. "I think they saw this as their next big thing."

ASOG and Pressley began looking for a losing candidate who would challenge the election outcome and force Dallas County and ES&S to lift the hood on their technology to show whether votes had been manipulated, according to Pressley and to emails and other documents provided by her attorney.

They alighted on state Sen. Don Huffines, a wealthy Republican real estate developer whose bid for a second term in the Texas legislature had just ended in defeat, handing his district to a Democrat for the first time in almost four decades.

Within weeks of the election, Pressley said, Huffines was in the hangar with James "Trey" Trainor, who had been nominated by Trump to serve on the Federal Election Commission but was not yet Senate-confirmed. Trainor was advising Huffines at the time.

Pressley presented her analysis of the audit logs and their mysterious "replaced" and "cleared" messages, she said. Ramsland told Huffines that he was "horrified" by signs of fraud, she said. Challenging the result and forcing officials to turn over voting-machine data could prove that the vote was manipulated, they said.

Pressley said she and Ramsland waited impatiently for Huffines to decide. In early December, he told them that he would not challenge his loss.

"We were all ready to go. We had someone who was going to fund the challenge and everything," she said. "It was devastating."

Huffines did not respond to requests seeking comment.

In an interview, Trainor confirmed the hangar meeting with Ramsland and said he advised Huffines not to bring a challenge. Under Texas law, contested state Senate races are decided by a Senate vote rather than by a judge.

"We were never going to convince senators that something nefarious had gone on, whether it did or didn't," Trainor said, noting that some Republicans might not have backed a challenge that risked embarrassing the GOP secretary of state.

ASOG briefed a number of people during this period, including Powell and Gohmert, according to Pressley and a former ASOG employee named Joshua Merritt. Pressley said Powell approached her after one briefing in the hangar, gave her a business card and called the audit-log analysis proof of fraud.

Ramsland and Lewis were also working to coax another losing candidate to bring a challenge: Sessions, the ousted congressman.

Lewis called a Sessions donor and left a voice message suggesting that the congressman's race had been stolen. The donor forwarded the message to Carolyn Malenick, a volunteer for Sessions. Within days, Sessions was on a plane from Washington to Texas for a trip to the hangar, according to Malenick, who joined him there.

A calendar invitation for the Dec. 14, 2018, meeting shows that Ramsland, Lewis and Pressley were among those expected, as was Fleming, the conservative fundraiser who Pressley said had connected her and Ramsland.

Also in attendance, Malenick said, was conservative talk-show host Kevin Freeman.

Pressley said she gave a PowerPoint presentation that began with a picture of Joseph Stalin and a quote attributed to the Russian dictator: "I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this - who will count the votes and how."

Ramsland followed, accompanied by the purported white-hat hacker, who would not provide his name to the audience, Malenick said. The two presented a $4 million plan that included ASOG standing up an "operations" center to search for voting irregularities, Malenick and Pressley said.

Malenick, a longtime Republican fundraiser, told The Post that she eventually came to believe Ramsland was misleading donors.

Ramsland told The Post that the center was Kraft's idea and that election investigations are costly. He said Malenick had "problems with truthfulness," citing an FEC case from the 1990s that ended with her paying a $5,000 fine.

With a certification deadline fast approaching, Sessions, too, decided against formally challenging his election result, according to his brother and attorney, Lewis Sessions.

Privately, Pete Sessions did not drop the matter. He filed a confidential complaint with Paxton, the Texas attorney general, alleging "a variety of legally questionable conduct" in Dallas County voting. The complaint, provided to The Post by Lewis Sessions, included an affidavit from Pressley in which she said her poll-watchers reported that they had been treated with hostility and had seen an elections worker using an Internet-connected laptop. She also enumerated audit-log messages - including "replaced" and "time stamp mismatch" - she considered suspicious.

On Jan. 31, 2019, Pressley presented her findings to Paxton in a meeting in an Austin office used by Ramsland, she said. Emails between her and Ramsland show preparations for the meeting.

But again, nothing came of the effort.

Ramsland has said in media appearances that ASOG brought information to Paxton's office and urged further examination. It is unclear whether he was referring to the Pete Sessions complaint and Pressley's briefing or to a separate complaint, and Ramsland did not respond to messages seeking clarification. He told The Post that he now believes Paxton's office lacks the financial resources and the "level of technical expertise and sophistication" necessary for a meaningful investigation.

In a statement, Paxton's office said: "We take every credible allegation of fraud seriously. In this case, after a thorough investigation by our office with the assistance of election systems experts, cybersecurity experts, and the FBI, we found the claims in this case were unverifiable, and an audit of the voting records confirmed the outcome of the election."

Legally, the allegations of fraud in Dallas in 2018 had all but reached a dead end, Pressley said.

With Pressley in tow, Ramsland launched a fundraising blitz, traveling to the ranches and mansions of some of Texas's wealthiest conservative funders. Ramsland told potential funders that their money would support legal challenges to ensure election integrity before the 2020 election, Pressley said. "The hook was always Trump - that their guy could lose," Pressley said.

Pressley said that early in February 2019, she accompanied Ramsland to present her audit-log analysis in Midland to Charles Richard "Dick" Saulsbury, who had made a fortune in engineering work in oil and gas. In Cisco, they met with Farris and Jo Ann Wilks, whose wealth stemmed from the sale of a family fracking business.

Pressley said pledges as high as $700,000 were discussed. The Post obtained correspondence in which Ramsland named Saulsbury as a potential funder and in which Pressley referred to a "Wilks investor meeting."

Saulsbury, through a spokeswoman, did not respond to questions. Reached briefly by phone, Farris Wilks said he had no memory of providing money to Ramsland, then hung up.

Ramsland said neither the Wilkses nor the Saulsburys were donors. Malenick and a former ASOG employee said the company had sought to raise capital at the time by selling ownership shares. Ramsland did not respond to a follow-up question about whether the Wilkses or the Saulsburys were investors.

Pressley, a Republican who has donated to candidates from both major political parties, said she began to grow suspicious that Ramsland's motives were political or financial, or both, particularly in February 2019 when he took her research to the District of Columbia to meet with Washington insiders but excluded her.

"I don't think he wanted me there and hearing what he was saying," Pressley said. "Everything he was doing . . . became about getting to Trump. He had this idea it had to get to Trump."

Pressley's company, True Texas Elections, sought a consulting contract from ASOG in February 2019, but it never materialized. As their relationship deteriorated, Pressley sent a cease-and-desist letter to ASOG late that month, demanding that Ramsland stop presenting her research without authorization, according to their correspondence.

Ramsland denied to Pressley that he had tried to exclude her from the meetings in Washington and challenged her allegation that he had co-opted her audit-log analysis. She had shown her presentation to dozens of people without any confidentiality agreement or copyright markings, he wrote. "We frankly do not understand how a project to save Texas and our country has turned into this," he wrote in a letter reviewed by The Post. "This isn't just your project. This has been a team effort from the beginning."

- - -

As 2019 progressed, Ramsland decided to take his case to the public through "Economic War Room," the online television show hosted by Freeman.

Like Ramsland and Keet Lewis, Freeman was a member of the Council for National Policy, according to membership directories posted online by the watchdog group Documented.

"We finally decided that if we couldn't get the government to pay attention without public opinion and public pressure, the best guy to go to would be Kevin," Ramsland later recalled in a panel discussion, a recording of which is posted online.

Asked whether CNP had supported Ramsland's efforts, the group's executive director, former congressman Bob McEwen, R-Ohio, said: "CNP is a convening organization of several organizations and individual members. And that's what it does. It doesn't sponsor legislation or oppose legislation. It is an opportunity for people, patriotic citizens, to gather together to share their concerns and interests in our nation's security."

In emails exchanged over the course of a week, Freeman said he was unavailable to answer questions about his presence at the meeting and his involvement with Ramsland.

Ramsland appeared on the show multiple times in 2019 and 2020, at least once with another ASOG employee who appeared with his face in shadow and voice disguised. The employee's identity was kept secret on the show, with Freeman referring to him as Jekyll, a "white-hat hacker." It was the same purported hacker who had accompanied Ramsland during meetings in the hangar with Sessions and others, according to Pressley and Malenick.

The Post has reported that Jekyll is Merritt, a former Army mechanic who studied network security administration after leaving the military. In December, The Post reported that affidavits in Powell's lawsuits from a purported "military intelligence expert" using the pseudonym "Spider" were actually written by Merritt.

Merritt, who told The Post in December that he had briefed Powell and Gohmert, declined to comment for this report.

Together, Ramsland and Merritt painted a picture of an entirely porous voting system, wide open and hackable. Ramsland made a range of specific claims, including that hackers or rogue operators could direct vote data to a remote location, change it and then "re-inject" it, or they could unleash "some sort of a bot" to change the results without anyone noticing. He said there were indications that vote manipulation was already happening and said all major U.S. voting-machine companies were vulnerable.

Among his claims was that source code initially written by the company Smartmatic formed the basis of much of the election software used in the United States. Ramsland often pointed out, as other critics had, that Smartmatic's founders were Venezuelan.

Representatives of ES&S, Dominion and Hart InterCivic, the nation's three largest voting-machine companies, told The Post that they do not use or license Smartmatic software. They all said their companies' software code is not in any way based on Smartmatic code, and Smartmatic said its code is not incorporated into other companies' software.

Ramsland told The Post that "many cyber groups" have reported that different companies share software code similarities. He did not respond to questions asking that he name any cyber groups that support his claims about Smartmatic code.

In his media appearances, Ramsland also resurfaced an old claim about Scytl, a Spain-based election technology firm that he described as a "somewhat disturbing company" in one appearance on Freeman's show. "They're housing all of our votes, and they're doing it in an insecure fashion," he said in a September appearance.

The following month, Ramsland added a twist, claiming on an online talk show hosted by conservative Debbie Georgatos that American votes were "being held on a server in Frankfurt, Germany."

Scytl has said that it has no servers in Frankfurt and that its systems are not used to count or "house" votes in U.S. elections. Ramsland told The Post in an email that "any 8th grader with a reasonable background in white hat cyber investigation tools" could trace votes to a Scytl server in Frankfurt.

One of Scytl's products is a platform used by some counties to publicly display unofficial vote tallies online on election night, according to the company. After polls close, as results begin trickling in, they are published online by media outlets and state and local governments. Those unofficial election-night reports depend on tallies that are transmitted by local officials to a publishing system. In some counties, that publishing system is made by Scytl.

Ramsland claimed to The Post that Dallas County's use of such a Scytl platform showed that votes were sent overseas.

Harri Hursti, a data-security expert who has spent years highlighting vulnerabilities in electronic voting technology, said Ramsland's claims about vote-fixing overseas were nonsensical. Even if a hacker could manipulate the numbers that are posted online, the underlying votes would not be affected, Hursti said. Those are kept separately, sequestered from the Internet, and they are - once tallied and checked for discrepancies - the official results of any election.

ASOG paid Hursti's company, Nordic Innovation Labs, $2,500 in November for an 18-page memo explaining the history of Dominion, its business acquisitions and the many systems and machines Dominion now supports, according to Nordic's managing partner, Dan Webber.

Hursti said ASOG ignored information he provided, in an effort to shape a sensational narrative about election fraud. Such baseless claims are now distracting time and attention from actual election-security problems, he said.

"This is counterproductive," he said. "There is so much that needs to be fixed."

Over this same period, in 2019 and 2020, Ramsland was attempting to win the attention of Washington insiders, an effort Gohmert was also engaged in.

Gohmert has said that a year before the election he gave Trump information from a group of "former intelligence people that were monitoring the election in Dallas County" - a description that closely resembles the way ASOG portrays itself - and that the president considered it "a real problem." Speaking on a podcast in November, Gohmert said his own reaction to the information was, "Holy cow."

In July 2020, ASOG gave a two-hour briefing to seven members of the House Freedom Caucus, Ramsland told MyPillow founder Mike Lindell for his movie about alleged election fraud. Ramsland said members were "horrified" at what ASOG presented.

ASOG also reached out that summer to the Senate Homeland Security Committee and was referred to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), part of the DHS. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reviewed a packet of information from ASOG that included the document saying the cost of the company's investigation had surpassed $1 million. Also included was an affidavit from Pressley and over 40 pages dedicated to her and her poll-watchers' observations of the vote in Dallas County in 2018. The Post obtained the documents.

Ramsland said that DHS officials in Texas found ASOG's information compelling but that Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency officials in Washington were "too busy to take a briefing" and agreed to only a short call.

In a statement, the DHS confirmed that its officials had spoken with Ramsland and his associates, "reviewed the information provided and determined that it was speculative and not actionable."

- - -

Hours after the final votes were cast on Nov. 3, Trump doubled down on the claims that he had been making for months. "This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country," Trump said. "We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election."

Over the next several weeks, Ramsland and others tied to ASOG played key roles in the full-court press to persuade Americans that the 2020 election had been rigged.

Ramsland and Lewis appeared on Lou Dobbs's show on Fox Business Network, claiming there was evidence of widespread fraud. The claim that all U.S. voting machines secretly harbored Venezuelan software was repeated by Giuliani and Powell in numerous media appearances. The claim that Scytl servers in Frankfurt could be used to flip votes went viral on the right after it was repeated by Gohmert.

On Nov. 12, Gohmert said he had told Trump that data on these servers was critical to getting to the bottom of the fraud.

"I had suggested that the president might get information from Scytl," Gohmert said on Newsmax, "and I sent him specifics that he needed to get that would show a lot of fraud."

The next day, Gohmert told a virtual prayer group that the Scytl data would show "how many votes were switched from Republican to Democrat," claiming that he had learned all this from "some of our former intel people."

Scytl denied the allegations. In a statement, the company said that its products were not used to tally votes in U.S. elections and that it "does not even have offices in Frankfurt and does not have servers or computers in the German city."

But Trump fanned the theory, according to archives of his deleted tweets. Late on Nov. 15, he retweeted to his millions of online followers a video clip of Ramsland saying in a pre-election interview that votes from 29 states were routed through "a server in Frankfurt, Germany" and that Scytl "controls and reports your vote."

Ramsland also contributed material to Powell's lawsuits and to one brought by Lin Wood, another pro-Trump lawyer, seeking to overturn Biden's victory. On Nov. 18, a nine-page affidavit from Ramsland filed to a federal court in Wood's Georgia case made an explosive allegation: Multiple precincts in Michigan had recorded more votes for president than what he said was the estimated number of voters.

Ramsland's claim was amplified the following day by Giuliani and Powell at a news conference at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee. Like Ramsland, Powell said excess votes in some jurisdictions were as high as 350%.

The claim in Ramsland's affidavit soon collapsed under scrutiny. The precincts he cited were actually in Minnesota, a mistake Ramsland blamed on "my guys" in his exchanges with The Post. Ramsland said the Minnesota numbers also showed excess votes, a claim contradicted by official results.

In an interview, Wood said he did not know Ramsland and referred The Post to the lawyer who represented him in the case, Ray Smith, who noted that a corrected affidavit had been filed to the court. He declined to comment further.

Another of Ramsland's affidavits claimed a 139% voter turnout in Detroit - meaning the number of votes cast exceeded the number of voters. Detroit's official election results show that about 258,000 of its 506,000 registered voters cast ballots - a turnout of just under 51%. Ramsland later filed an affidavit saying his original figures were based on data that was online but that "no longer exists [f]or some unexplained reason."

Two Ramsland affidavits filed in Arizona purported to expose more than 100,000 illegal votes in the state, again based on high turnout rates, and suggested forensic testing to determine whether batches of fake ballots had been cast for Biden. Ramsland attached the resumes of six "key team members" he said had been involved in the preparation of his material. The only one identified by name was a former ASOG computer scientist who had died a year earlier.

Ramsland and one of his associates also played starring roles in the election-integrity "hearings" that Giuliani and GOP state legislators held in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The events were intended to persuade legislators to wrest control of the election certification process and demand further investigation.

Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel who specialized in psychological operations and is now chief executive of a cybersecurity firm, appeared as a witness at each of those hearings. He said he was working with ASOG to examine the 2020 election.

"Your vote is not as secure as your Venmo account," Waldron concluded in a hotel ballroom in Phoenix on Nov. 30, provoking murmurs from the audience.

"Pardon me? Say that one more time," Giuliani said.

Waldron obliged. A video clip of the exchange was posted to Trump's official YouTube page.

Waldron declined to comment for this report.

By December, Ramsland was opening doors for people seeking to challenge the election results. He connected Patrick Byrne, the billionaire former chief executive of the online retailer Overstock, with Powell, and Powell connected Byrne with Giuliani, Byrne told The Post.

Byrne was bankrolling a group of what he described as cyber experts - his "bad news bears" - to investigate election fraud. "They were the ones really getting their fingernails dirty, so to speak, hacking and cracking," Byrne said in an email exchange with The Post. He said Ramsland, who had come to Washington for the effort, "acted as the conduit and synthesizer for a lot of research that was being done by other parties and technologists in our network."

On Dec. 18, Trump hosted a now-infamous hours-long meeting at the White House during which Byrne, Powell and her client Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, sought to persuade the president to appoint Powell special counsel to investigate the election, including by examining voting machines in key swing-state counties.

Trump ultimately did not appoint a special counsel.

During this period, some White House lawyers heard Trump make claims that made no sense or seemed "bat---- insane," one former senior administration official said, later learning that they came from a network that The Post found included Byrne, Powell and Ramsland.

According to a document obtained by The Post, skeptical Trump advisers developed a list of questions aimed at determining whether there was evidence for the claims, many of which by then revolved around Dominion. The evidence never surfaced, the people close to the former president said.

Byrne told The Post that White House officials "refused to look" seriously at the claims and that he and his allies will ultimately be vindicated.

- - -

Of all the ways in which Ramsland pushed the stolen-election narrative, arguably the most damaging was an ASOG report on Dominion machines in Michigan's rural Antrim County, said Masterson, the senior cybersecurity adviser who was then focusing on elections at the DHS.

Antrim County became ground zero for baseless claims about Dominion voting machines when, early on Nov. 4, county officials posted unofficial results showing Biden winning by about 3,000 votes - a seeming impossibility in a reliably conservative region. Election officials quickly acknowledged the mistake and called it human error, saying a clerk's failure to correctly update software had led to inaccurate vote totals. Final results showed that Trump had won by more than 3,000 votes.

Trump allies seized on the mistake as evidence of rigged or at least faulty voting machines. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel claimed at a news conference that a "major software issue in Antrim County" could mean results were wrong in other counties using similar technology. Trump tweeted a Breitbart article that sought to tie Dominion software to the error that made Antrim "flip blue in favor of Joe Biden" and to Election Day "glitches" that delayed voting in two Georgia counties.

The following day on Fox News, Powell said computer glitches were "where the fraud took place, where they were flipping votes in the computer system or adding votes that did not exist." She called for an audit "of all of the computer systems that . . . played any role in this fraud whatsoever."

Powell's wish for an examination of voting machines was granted after local real estate agent William Bailey filed a lawsuit in Antrim County on Nov. 23, alleging that the election had been marred by "material fraud or error." Four days later, an ASOG team working for Bailey showed up at the offices of three Antrim townships and requested Dominion voting-machine records.

On Dec. 4, Judge Kevin Elsenheimer, a former Republican leader in the Michigan legislature, ordered that the ASOG team be given further access to the county's voting equipment for a forensic examination. The decision, which offered a rare opportunity for election skeptics to examine Dominion machines, was celebrated by Trump's campaign.

"BIG WIN FOR HONEST ELECTIONS," Giuliani said on Twitter.

Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to Trump, referred to the ASOG examiners as "our team" on Fox News. Ellis did not respond to requests to clarify the Trump campaign's relationship with ASOG.

The ASOG team returned to Antrim on Dec. 6 to examine county election equipment. ASOG's Dec. 13 report, signed by Ramsland, made sweeping allegations about a conspiracy to fix the election. It claimed that Dominion's systems were "intentionally and purposefully designed" to generate ballot errors and to shunt those ballots to electronic adjudication, where administrators could change votes at will, with no oversight.

The judge allowed the release of a redacted version on Dec. 14, the day members of the electoral college met to make Biden's win official. Trump tweeted about ASOG's report several times, claiming it exposed a "massive fraud" that cost him the election and saying Elsenheimer "should get a medal" for releasing it.

ASOG's report claimed that audit logs for Dominion machines showed an alarming 68% "error rate."

That alleged error rate - which ASOG calculated by dividing the number of perceived error messages by the total numbers of lines in the audit log - was "meaningless," according to an analysis by Alex Halderman, a University of Michigan professor of computer science and engineering. Halderman, who as part of the lawsuit examined the Antrim results and the ASOG report at the request of the Michigan secretary of state and attorney general, wrote that audit logs record multiple lines for each ballot scanned and that many of those lines are "benign warnings or errors" that have no bearing on the accuracy of the machines' count.

For example, he said, ASOG appeared to count the "ballot has been reversed" warning as an error that showed that votes had been tampered with. But that entry means that a voter attempted to feed his ballot into the machine and the machine balked and spit it out - just as a vending machine often balks at a wrinkled dollar bill. That happens all the time, Halderman wrote.

Of ASOG's claim that many ballots were sent to electronic "adjudication," where they were manipulated, Halderman said his examination showed that Antrim County did not perform electronic adjudication of ballots at all. Halderman said ASOG had correctly identified some security weaknesses in the county's election system, but there was no evidence that anyone had exploited those weaknesses.

"The report contains an extraordinary number of false, inaccurate, or unsubstantiated statements and conclusions," he wrote.

County and state officials, as well as Dominion, also said key claims in ASOG's report were baseless.

Ramsland told The Post that ASOG had six days to do its report and that Halderman's analysis contradicted 12 of ASOG's 29 "core observations."

Three days after the court released the report, a hand recount of the county's ballots showed that the presidential election results were correct, off from the previously reported results by 12 votes out of about 16,000 cast. Dominion's machines had counted accurately.

"The tabulators did what they were supposed to do, and they did it very accurately, and there's absolutely no evidence that there was some reverse cyberattack that manipulated them," said Michigan state Sen. Ed McBroom, a Republican who led a Senate investigation of fraud claims. The ASOG report, he said, was "probably more harmful to the discussion" than anything else happening in Michigan at the time.

"I don't see how anybody can take Mr. Ramsland and his group seriously as genuine purveyors of fact," he said. "It's very clear they're beyond mistaken and misrepresenting what actually happened, either out of carelessness or with some sort of purpose."

At his "Save America" rally in Washington on Jan. 6, Trump made reference to Antrim County and "the troubling matter of Dominion Voting Systems" as an example of how he had been wronged.

"In one Michigan county alone, 6,000 votes were switched from Trump to Biden," he said. He also repeated Ramsland's claim that there were more votes than voters in Detroit. "In Detroit, turnout was 139% of registered voters," he said. "Think of that."

He called the Nov. 3 vote "the most corrupt election in the history, maybe, of the world," then urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. By the thousands, they complied.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites, Kayla Ruble and Scott Clement contributed to this report.
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He pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, criminal confinement and intimidation. East Chicago police accused Brewer of firing a gun at several teens who were in the car and detaining a 14-year-old and taking him back to Gary against his will, according to court documents.
Now that were well into 2021, enterprises that thrived during the upheaval of the pandemic did so because they adapted their business processes, or accelerated improvements that were already underway. Recently, I sat in on a CIO roundtable with tech leaders across IT, education, logistics, and the public sector to discuss IT reinvention and the way its changing the role of IT.

First, I define reinvention as an organization shifting responsibilities from the traditional cost and complexity management to those capabilities that address the emerging needs of a business, ultimately enabling every company to become a tech-driven company while simultaneously running the business.

There is also a dual mandate to support both traditional product lines and new digital business units, the formalization of which of varies by industry sector. This has implications on the evolving role of the chief information officer (CIO) and the IT organization to drive the digital mandate or cede that role to a chief digital officer (CDO), which can also vary by organization. The journey is different for everyone. Here are some of the key takeaways from our discussion.

Leading new technology adoption

Juniper Networks CIO Sharon Mandell is leading her companys reinvention with software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings to become a different kind of operating company and customer experience organization. She explained that she sometimes faces challenges moving the business off the status quo and asks whether leaders are being thoughtful about their business models, not only in our products but across the business to solve the business challenges.

Once something is stable and people have moved on, it's very hard to get them to let go of it and that keeps you bound in a certain set of resourceswhich typically are not the resources you need for the future. It's often difficult to change that mindset, she adds.

Hans Keller is CIO at Erickson Living, which has a cross-threaded business model of geriatric practices and restaurants across the U.S. in facilities that span 40 million square feet of real estate. Keller sees his teams model as an intersection between design thinking, lean agile, and visual collaborationto make sure we understand what problem we're trying to solve. He goes on to explain that, The how should be consistent and the what should always change.

Ken Piddington, CIO at US Silica, a 120-year-old, Texas-based mining processing and logistics company, said his company had been reinventing before the pandemic, but the pandemic shifted the timing and the prioritization of some projects. I think the biggest thing for usfrom an IT perspective [is] a change in mindset and starting to think more like products, as opposed to projects, and that's really been good for us, he shared. US Silica has also worked differently with its end customers, which include truck drivers who are always mobile, and a nationwide supply chain, to get app releases in their hands as quickly as possible.

Serving a remote workforce and community

Shonita Stevenson of the L.A. County Public Library serves 100,000 employees in 34 departments and millions of constituents across the county. The library dispatched staff home to work remotely with tablets and laptops, leveraging Office 365 and undertaking a county-wide risk management framework. We were able to push all of our processes and operations basically from the scheduler and we're remotely working pretty effectively, she says. I think we have to still continue to think outside the box when we're pushing a technology to drive where we're going and then allow the flexibility of it to create a roadmap.

Capitalizing on success

Lin Zhou, CIO of The New School, says reinvention is innately part of its strategy, and that technology itself is essential to literacy in the same way reading and writing are. We are blurring the lines between CIO and approvals. We work together [and] partner [to] create degree programs and minors and those are initiated by IT. Thats one example of how we are shifting the strategy, he explained. The New School is also incubating its IT work so it owns its intellectual property, folding customer centricity into its reinvention, and in the process more than tripled its Net Promoter Score.

Maurice Tayeh is CIO of Hatch, an engineering, project, and construction, business consulting, and operational services firm. He explained that for organizations that were already delivering superior service, the pandemic presented an opportunity to amplify what they do, position it as a potential revenue source, and lift their game and really become part of the business rather than just the support organization.

Any company is going to have applications to the hundreds, and possibly, thousands. So, how do you take these solutions that you developed internally and try to sell [them]? There is a great opportunity here to monetize these services, he shared.

Moving beyond device management

Terence Felton, CIO at Waubonsee Community College, manages device deployments across his campuses and much more. When you start talking about the strategic use of technology, we want to talk about processes and business functions, which I don't think we talk about enough as technologists, he explains.

We really need to be paying much more attention to the process, the functionthe business case that we are trying to either innovate or change. What we're struggling with in terms of reinvention is the sort of tug of war between computing end user devices and cloud, which is, by nature, sort of very tactical. On the one hand, I need IT to support my iPads. On the other hand, I also need IT to automate my entire student recruiting admissions registration systems.

Rodney Nobles, CIO at Waukesha County Technical College, threw out the formal strategic plan a few years ago and went for an IT brand statement insteadreinvent, rethink, and repurpose processes and technology so people can have content anywhere at any time on any device. Its not hard for my staff to remember. Everything we do touches that [statement] or we don't do it. We're in education, so we're about enrollment, retention, and completionand that's what we work towards, he says.

He adds that while many departments or divisions see IT as just a service provider for their devices, he wants them to look beyond that, and the pandemic created that opportunity. Its about people, processes, and technology. Theyve all got to work in harmony together, he says.

Speed with purpose

Nobles and Tayeh also addressed the issue of speed versus quality, something Nobles refers to as speed with purpose. Its like a big puzzle, and you need to make sure that the pieces fit and they fit right, explains Tayeh. I don't want to sacrifice speed if it's not properly glued together because, yes, you may get a solution out of the door...but you're going to spend tons of time trying to patch it and keep it working, which to me, that's money, that's time, and most importantly, that's sometimes a bad user experience.

While the roundtable represented different industry sectors and overarching business mandates, many of the underlying threads are common. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and its valuable for service providers to engage with customers across industries and sectors to listen to their concerns and goals, and tailor solutions accordingly, especially as the traditional notion of IT expands across the entire organization.
Every eight years, New York City has its own version of a political Olympics. Many municipal elected officials face term limits, forcing them from posts theyd rather cling to forever. The mayor, the city comptroller, the public advocate, the borough presidents and a majority of the City Council are usually ejected from their offices, and a huge crop of newcomers runs to replace them.

This year, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Comptroller Scott Stringer are term-limited, as are the presidents of every borough other than Queens and a large majority of the City Council.

Into this fray come the endorsers  the activist groups, political action committees, nonprofit organizations, county machines and the politicians themselves. Although every candidate would love the backing of a celebrity like Jay-Z, the endorsements that pack the biggest punch are not always the most glamorous. New York is still a labor town where a few major union endorsements can mean thousands of dollars, thousands of votes and a long-awaited victory.

But the outsized attention on the mayoral race  and a lack of media focus elsewhere  has meant that most members of the public and various political insiders are scrutinizing the endorsements that matter least. Scott Stringer winning the backing of the United Federation of Teachers, Maya Wiley scoring the support of 1199SEIU or Eric Adams seizing both the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council and service workers union 32BJ SEIUwonplenty ofcoverage in prestigious outlets like Politico and The New York Times. The reason is understandable: These unions are all very big and could, in theory, tip the outcome of the race at the top of the ticket.

No candidate, however, has united the support of labor, potentially making this primary a repeat of what happened in 2013 when the major labor unions divided their support among four Democrats. Then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio ended up winning comfortably, despite having fewer endorsements than Christine Quinn, who was City Council speaker at the time, and former city Comptroller Bill Thompson.

In general, organized labors backing matters less in high-profile races. Voters learn more about the candidates and support who they want based on shared values or a gut feeling, rather than what the teachers union or health care workers union tells them to do.

I think labor, when united, can still have an impact citywide, said Neal Kwatra, a veteran Democratic operative who has worked closely with labor unions. However, they are definitely most impactful these days in the down-ballot council and legislative district races where manageable electorates make organizing on scale more viable, and voter contact strategies are cheaper and more efficient.

In other words, the smaller the race, the lower the turnout and the less the candidates are known  the more likely labor union endorsements will move the needle. These days, with diminished local press coverage and the Times editorial boards decision to not endorse in down-ballot contests, union and advocacy organization endorsements are one of the few ways, besides interacting with a candidate or campaign directly, that voters can get a sense of who their City Council candidates are and where they stand ideologically.

Labor unions play that role for candidates through two crucial functions: pumping money into campaign coffers and contacting their own members who live in the district. Member-to-member contact is the most effective mechanism a union has. I learned this firsthand when I ran for the Democratic nomination for my local state Senate seat and found myself up against an opponent who had won the backing of several labor unions, including New York State United Teachers, the state teachers union.

My Brooklyn district was filled with many public school teachers, both active and retired. About a month before the primary, I learned from a teacher friend that NYSUT had already sent campaign mail for my opponent to his household. The union sent several mailers to every teacher in the district and made phone calls to them. My opponent was effectively benefiting from a free, parallel campaign being run on his behalf.

At that point, I had a sinking feeling that I wasnt going to win, and I turned out to be right. While I cant entirely attribute my defeat to labor unions not endorsing me  tactical errors and the relative strength of my opponent mattered too  I understood intimately that having these large organizations oppose me was going to be a major disadvantage. In total, a little more than 15,000 people voted in that Democratic primary. On a scale that small, I dont doubt that these endorsements mattered.

To figure out whos going to win the Democratic nomination  which is tantamount to the election in many districts  for City Council or the state Legislature, you can usually just look for who has the most labor endorsements. Some of this might be that the most organized campaign attracts union backing, or that unions choose candidates with deep political connections who appear to be front-runners. But its also that amassing these endorsements means a lot of different unions will be contacting members, sending mail and kicking in campaign cash from their political action committees.

A look back at labor endorsements from 2013, the last time most of the City Council seats were open, shows that a vast majority of their chosen candidates triumphed. The same will likely be true in 2021.

Within New York City, labor unions are one of the only organizations with the capacity to regularly dispatch volunteers on campaigns when they choose. Their only rival, on a much smaller scale, is the Democratic Socialists of America, which can deploy hundreds of volunteers for select campaigns.

Truly special local campaigns can overwhelm the might of organized labor. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat then-Rep. Joseph Crowley, even though the fourth-ranking House Democrat and Queens party boss had every labor union in town stumping on his behalf. In gentrifying areas such as northwestern Brooklyn and Queens, labors power appears to be diminished. DSA upstarts such as state Sen. Julia Salazar and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, my old campaign manager, have dispatched labor-backed incumbents.

While organized labor as a whole is much more moderate than the DSA, the two forces arent always at odds. In eastern Queens, Jaslin Kaur, a DSA candidate, is running with the support of 1199SEIU. In Brooklyn, Alexa Aviles, another DSA-approved contender, has consolidated labor support.

Unions are not as powerful as they were a half-century ago, when incredibly charismatic and well-known leaders like UFTs Albert Shanker, Transport Workers Union President Mike Quill, Central Labor Council leader Harry Van Arsdale and public sector boss Victor Gotbaum were on the front pages of newspapers, commanding great loyalty from rank-and-file members.

They were household names. Everyone knew who they were, said Joshua Freeman, a professor of labor history at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Todays labor leaders, Freeman said, are removed from that radical political worldview, in which labor was at war with capital  Shanker and Gotbaum had been young socialists, while Quill, a firebreather in his own right, had fought with the Irish Republican Army. If labor leaders of the 21st century no longer dominate the popular imagination, they still command highly sophisticated political operations. The best political operatives in the state can often spend time working for a union. Statewide, with campaigns costing tens of millions of dollars, their war chests become even more crucial. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is not doomed yet if organized labor stays in his corner.

In this Junes mayoral primary, its far less clear what labors impact will be because the unions did not consolidate behind any candidates, and most voters heading to the polls will have some familiarity with the top-tier candidates. By June, heavy spenders like front-runner Andrew Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will have unloaded their war chests on advertising. A single endorser, in such a sea of information, may not have such a tremendous impact.

A mayoral race, as every cycle shows us, can be a visceral experience for a voter. In 2001, a majority of New York City voters decided a centrist business executive should lead the citys recovery from 9/11. In 2013, the citys liberal-leaning electorate was fed up with Bloomberg, choosing an antithesis candidate in de Blasio, a lifelong progressive politico.

In 2021, one candidate will capture the zeitgeist and win the election. So far, Yang, despite a near-total lack of organized labor backing, seems to be doing the best job of appealing to voters eager for a more energetic answer to the outgoing mayor. If Yang wins, it will show that endorsers cant determine a mayoral race thats inevitably headed in a different direction. But if Adams pulls off the upset, it could demonstrate that unions still have a lot of electoral muscle.
Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds said he supports the new law, though he doesnt see it impacting the county too much because not many juveniles get arrested with serious offenses. If that does happen, Reynolds said, judges always determine how to best house and sentence the juvenile, which would still happen under this law.
The process has been slow, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears to be winning when it comes to staying alive politically despite a litany of ongoing scandals. A lot of this has come down to projecting normalcy as multiple investigations continue. A poll released last week suggests his favorability rating has stabilized so why not resume favorite gubernatorial activities like taking reporters on train tours and raising campaign funds one $10,000 check at a time?

It is becoming increasingly easy to forget just how far he has come from the precipice of political death months ago when even his buddy President Joe Biden was saying the end might be near. But Cuomo never gave up despite all the trouble that began three months ago when top aides to Cuomo met with a handful of Democratic state lawmakers. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss why his administration waited months and months to release data on the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 in hospitals. State politics would never be the same.

A scathing report on nursing home deaths by Attorney General Letitia James was bad enough, but the governors political problems escalated when the press found out that Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa had told legislators that the administration withheld data showing the true extent of nursing home deaths last year because they did not want then-President Donald Trump to find out.

Then came allegations of sexual misconduct, self-enrichment, safety concerns at the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and other alleged malfeasance by a governor whose pandemic stardom now seems very distant. It is now getting tough to keep track of just how events of the past three months have led to multiple ongoing investigations  including an Assembly impeachment probe  into a governor who is still fighting for his political survival.

Heres a timeline to keep things straight.

February

Feb. 10  Top Cuomo aides meet with legislators. The administration releases long-awaited data on the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 in hospitals following legal action and months of political pressure.

Feb. 11  The New York Post reports Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa admitted the administration hid that data out of fear of how then-President Donald Trump might use it.

Feb. 12  Democratic legislators begin discussing impeachment. Cuomo meets with President Joe Biden though a spokesperson later says nursing home deaths were not discussed.

Feb. 17  Cuomo rants about Assembly Member Ron Kim during a conference call with reporters after Kim criticized the governor in the media. His administration releases a transcript of the Feb. 10 meeting with lawmakers.

Feb. 19  Media reports begin focusing on Cuomos history of berating fellow elected leaders. Infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm contradicts claims DeRosa made to lawmakers on Feb. 10 of a close relationship with the administration.

Feb. 22  Assembly Democrats meet to discuss their response to the escalating nursing home scandal.

Feb. 24  Former Cuomo aide Lindsey Boylan publishes a Medium post detailing allegations of sexual harassment first made on Twitter in December. Cuomo skips regularly scheduled COVID-19 briefing as calls grow for an investigation into Boylans accusations. Karen Hinton details troubling pattern of penis politics with Cuomo dating back to his time as secretary of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Feb. 27  A second former aide, Charlotte Bennett, accused the governor of sexual harassment via The New York Times.

Feb. 28  Cuomo sort of apologizes to the former aides for what he says were comments misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation and provides a referral to James to conduct an investigation after initially trying to install a political ally to run the probe.

March

March 1  A fourth woman, Anna Ruch, accuses Cuomo of sexual misconduct stemming from a 2019 encounter at the wedding of aide Gareth Rhodes.

March 3  Cuomo tells reporters he will not resign and claims he never touched anyone inappropriately. Rhodes becomes the first high-profile staffer to announce his resignation amid growing scandals.

March 4  An unprecedented editorial in Scientific American urges Cuomo to resign over his handling of COVID-19. Media reports show Cuomo aides altered a Department of Health report on nursing home deaths.

March 5  State lawmakers pass legislation rolling back some of the governors emergency powers during the pandemic.

March 6  Former aide Ana Liss and Hinton accuse the governor of sexual misconduct.

March 7  Times Union reports safety concerns at Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joins growing list of legislators calling on Cuomo to resign. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie questions Cuomos ability to continue leading the state.

March 8  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the state congressional delegation call on Cuomo to resign.

March 9  An unnamed aide accuses the governor of groping her at the executive mansion in late 2020. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul makes her first comments on the sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo since Feb. 27. Nearly two dozen female Assembly members  including Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes  release a letter urging patience with James sexual harassment probe.

March 10  Former Rep. Nita Lowey releases a statement in support of Cuomo.

March 11  Heastie announces the formation of an impeachment investigation. Albany police officials say the state police notified them of potentially criminal alleged groping at Executive Mansion.

March 12  A New York magazine story details toxic work environment overseen by Cuomo and top aides like DeRosa. Cuomo gets mocked for appearing outside Executive Mansion wrapped in a blanket. A former Albany reporter Jessica Bakeman accuses Cuomo of sexist and inappropriate conduct.

March 14  Media reports allege gubernatorial adviser Larry Schwartz mixed politics with the ongoing distribution of vaccines.

March 17  Black leaders stick up for Cuomo at vaccine event in Harlem.

March 18  Former Albany reporter Valerie Bauman outlines her own experience with troubling behavior by the governor.

March 19  Gubernatorial aide Alyssa McGrath accuses Cuomo of sexual harassment. The New York Times reveals an FBI investigation into nursing home deaths.

March 22  Federal Highway Administration announces it has no safety concerns about safety of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

March 23  Assembly Democrats unveil a new hotline seeking tips for impeachment probe.

March 24  Media reports reveal Cuomos family members like CNN host Chris Cuomo received special access to COVID-19 tests early in the pandemic.

March 25  Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine announces the impeachment investigation will widen to include the testing allegations. State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt files an ethics complaint against Cuomo.

March 29  Rochester-area woman Sherry Vill accuses the governor of improperly touching her during a 2017 visit to view flooding damage along Lake Ontario.

March 31  Media reports show Cuomo aides hid damaging information on nursing homes while the governor pursued a multi-million dollar book deal on his leadership during the pandemic.

April

April 5  Assembly Member Vivian Cook defends Cuomo at closed press event in Queens.

April 6  Cuomo appears alongside Gary LaBarbera of the New York Building and Construction Trades Council and others at a press-free event in Manhattan.

April 7  More details emerge about the alleged groping at Executive Mansion. Cuomo denies intimate knowledge of preferential COVID-19 tests given to family members. The state Legislature passes a new budget that includesnumerous concessions to state legislators one week past the April 1 deadline.

April 13  Cuomo holds outdoor event at Capital Region cidery while claiming COVID-19 restrictions prevent reporters from attending.

April 14  USA Today Network reports at least six top aides were extensively involved in helping the governor with his book.

April 19  A Cuomo aide accuses James and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli of being unethical for pursuing an investigation into the Cuomo book deal. Cuomo claims staffers work on the book was voluntary. A poll shows Cuomos approval level with registered voters has hit a record low. Media reports show that the FBI is investigating whether Cuomo tried to shield political donors from liability during the pandemic.

April 20  Stewart-Cousins holds a briefing with reporters but declines to criticize Cuomo for keeping public events closed to reporters.

April 21  Lavine outlines purview of ongoing impeachment probe. Stewart-Cousins appears alongside Cuomo at a closed-press event in Yonkers highlighting vaccination efforts.

April 22  State Sen. Todd Kaminsky and Assembly Member Judy Griffin appear alongside Cuomo at a Long Island event despite their calls for him to resign.

April 23  Assembly Member Inez Dickens defends Cuomo at closed press event in Manhattan that also includes Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum and Assembly Member Al Taylor. Cuomo calls the impeachment probe a review and claims reports of sexual harassment are one-sided.

April 26  Cuomo holds the first in-person press conference since December where he denies at a Syracuse event that he sexually harassed aides and other accusations of wrongdoing. The state Senate Investigations Committee opens a probe into safety concerns at Mario M. Cuomo bridge.

April 27  A Cuomo aide attacks a New York Post reporter over story alleging he said accusers want attention. Assembly Member Donna Lupardo, who has not called on Cuomo to resign, and local officials appear alongside Cuomo at an open-press event in Binghamton.

May

May 3  Cuomo denies any wrongdoing at first in-person briefing in New York City since December.

May 10  The governor declines to directly answer reporter questions at a New York City press conference on comments by his aide accusing James of allowing political motivations to taint her investigation into the governor. He also declines to say whether he has been interviewed by James, the FBI or Assembly members in their respective probes.

May 13  Asked whether he recognized that his intent has no legal bearing on sexual harassment, Cuomo offers his own definition of the standard he signed into law.

May 17  The governor releases a financial disclosure that reveals a $5.1 billion deal for his erstwhile best-selling book.

May 19  The New York Times reveals that DeRosas father was among the people who received preferential COVID-19 tests early in the pandemic.

May 20  It is stupid to ask whether he personally profited from the pandemic, Cuomo says at a Buffalo press conference alongside Mayor Byron Brown. The Washington Post reveals Cuomo bro Chris helped craft the administrations response to scandals during strategy calls with gubernatorial staff.

May 24  A Siena College poll finds his favorability rating has stabilized with registered voters. State Sen. John Brooks joins the ranks of elected officials willing to appear next to Cuomo in public.

May 26  Assembly Judiciary Committee provides first update in weeks on its ongoing impeachment investigation.

May 27  Cuomo gives reporters a tour of a train tunnel in Manhattan, the most extensive exposure to reporters since he resumed in-person press conferences weeks before.

June

June 1  Bloomberg reports a planned $10,000 per plate fundraiser scheduled for June 29  the first known time Cuomo has solicited campaign cash since his scandals erupted.

This article has been updated to clarify the timing of comments by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Candidates for mayor of New York City have made their cases this year in Zoom forums and delivered impassioned stump speeches, but there may be no pitch as effortlessly engaging as a candidate joyfully dancing toward a camera, telling New Yorkers shes on her way to replace Bill de Blasio as NYCs first afro latina mayor. Thats what former nonprofit leader Dianne Morales did in one of her TikTok videos last fall, amassing over half a million views.

Morales has combined effective online communication and organizing with the farthest-left platform in the race to amass a progressive, young fan base that has propelled her from a relatively unknown nonprofit leader to a champion of the left. Morales supporters congregate on online platforms such as TikTok, Twitter and even the audio chatroom Clubhouse. On Twitter especially, fans of the candidate can be spotted easily by their profile photos set against purple, pink and orange gradient backgrounds. This sunset-colored corner of the internet is known among supporters as the Dianneverse. Some of her young supporters started out volunteering for the campaign and are now staffers on it, a fact they say demonstrates Morales reliance on young people not just for their boundless energy to knock on doors, but for their insights on policy too.

Alice Volfson, a 20-year-old college sophomore who lives in Manhattan, started off volunteering for Morales in January. Shes now a staffer on the campaigns field team. Like other Morales supporters, she said she first discovered the candidate on TikTok. I remember being so shocked that she was on trend, like the music choice, the way that the video itself was so accessible, Volfson said. Early videos she remembers watching laid out the headlines of Morales policies or mentioned the fact that shes a single mother  while the candidate danced along to Lizzos Exactly How I Feel or NIKIs Indigo. TikTok, in the last political cycle, has definitely been used by a lot of politicians, which I appreciate, Volfson added. But a lot of the time, I see TikToks that very clearly look like theyre not made by the youth.

Morales, 53, doesnt have that problem because her 20-year-old daughter is at the helm of her TikTok page, directing the first video in April 2020, in which the two are dancing in unison and plain text announces that Morales is running for mayor. That video also also garnered over half a million views. It was just she and I kind of messing around in the house, you know, pandemic madness. And she was trying to teach me this dance, Morales recalled to City & State recently. And it just sort of took off. And then all of the sudden, we had people reaching out wanting to volunteer for the campaign. It was really just organic.

I remember being so shocked that she was on trend, like the music choice, the way that the video itself was so accessible.  Alice Volfson, 20, a Morales campaign staffer

While Morales is undoubtedly the candidate of cool, young progressives, a citywide campaign cant be won on that kind of cachet alone. However, she has also won the backing of progressive kingmakers such as the Working Families Party, thanks to policies that surpass even staunchly progressive rivals such as New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Maya Wiley, the former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, in their ambition. (WFP ranked Morales second in their endorsement, below Stringer, but the organization has since pulled its endorsement of Stringer following an allegation of sexual assault against him, which he denies.) Her platform includes $3 billion in annual cuts to the New York City Police Department, a pledge to rebuild the citys public housing complexes and move toward a model of European-style social housing, plus free tuition at the City University of New York system.

The excitement building around Morales is visible not just online, but on the ground. On a recent morning at Herbert Von King Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Morales own neighborhood, the parents of a young family with kids stopped to call out and promise her their vote  an occurrence the first-time political candidate is still getting used to. Later that day, supporters biked from Bed-Stuy to City Hall in a fundraiser-rally to support Morales transportation policies, including a publicly funded Citi Bike and expanded busways in low-income neighborhoods and transit deserts. She has the energy that other people dont, said Nicole Murray, a 35-year-old project manager who participated in the event. There are other candidates that Im OK on, because I think they have OK ideas to run a city well, but its not that same energy to really inspire people and to challenge the way things are.

Morales, who is currently polling around sixth place in the Democratic primary, doesnt have the name recognition or high-powered consultants of Andrew Yang, the institutional support of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, or even the years of government experience that Wiley, Stringer, or former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan can cite. But the Bed-Stuy native argues that her lack of establishment ties and entrenchment in government make her more likely to deliver bold change. The folks that have those connections and the folks that have that history have been complicit in the creation of, kind of, the dysfunction that we're in today, Morales said.

Morales early career was spent in education. She helped launch the Department of Educations Office of Youth Development and School Community Services under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, serving as its chief of operations from 2002 to 2004. She later served as executive director of The Door, a youth development organization that offers services including college advisement, nutrition education and outreach for homeless LGBTQ youth. In her latest role, she served as executive director and CEO of Phipps Neighborhoods, a South Bronx-based social services nonprofit for low-income families  an arm of the affordable housing developer Phipps Houses. There's some value to not just having somebody from the outside, but having someone who has firsthand experience, both personally and professionally, in terms of taking on some of our greatest challenges in the city, Morales said. Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas said she endorsed Morales in part because Morales nonprofit experience is directly applicable to the job. While a nonprofit is not a government entity as big as New York City  she's really touched on the kind of the biggest issues that we face in New York City, Gonzalez-Rojas said.

While Morales might not have a long record in government to be picked apart, her association with Phipps Houses has been scrutinized. The developer has appeared on an annual list of worst evictors in the city and has been criticized for poor conditions in its developments. Her campaign previously told Politico New York that Morales had no involvement in the housing development side of Phipps.

Still, the fact that Morales career has been focused largely outside of politics means that she doesnt have to answer to the political establishment, she said. I think that gives me the freedom to be sort of unapologetic and unabashed about the positions that I think are most beneficial to the community, because that's who I feel accountable to, Morales said.

High on the list of communities Morales said she feels accountable to is, Working-class folks, low-income Black and brown folks, immigrants and women (who) have not been historically welcomed into the political space, Morales said. If elected, Morales would be the citys first female mayor, the first Latina mayor, and the second Black mayor. But, as was the case for other far-left candidates in New York City, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a large chunk of Morales support seems to come from gentrifiers and already politically engaged voters: In a Data for Progress poll of 1,007 likely Democratic primary voters conducted from March 21 to April 5 in which Morales polled at just 3%, she performed slightly better among white and college-educated voters. One smaller recent poll showed her doing better among Hispanics than whites, however. In a poll of 500 likely primary voters conducted by the Washington D.C.-based firm GQR in late April, Morales landed in seventh place, with 14% of Hispanic respondents, 6% of white respondents and 2% of Black respondents saying shed be their first choice.Her recent bike ride fundraiser drew a racially diverse crowd, though several of the supporters City & State spoke to worked in fields such as government and public policy.

Earlier that day, the young family who stopped Morales in Herbert Von King Park to share their support looked like a typical example of the white yuppies who have recently arrived in neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy, pushing up housing prices and making it increasingly unaffordable for working-class people of color.

Of course, a candidates base doesnt need to be made up of only low-income people and immigrants for the candidate to be deeply concerned with their priorities. Those are also some of the populations on whom the COVID-19 pandemic has taken an outsized toll. As New York City enters a new phase of the pandemic, with vaccinations climbing but a true end still out of reach, Morales has promised to use this time as a turning point for radical change  a term those in the mainstream tend to shy away from. Given the multiple crises and pandemics at this period in time, who do we want to be in history? Morales asked. Do we want to be known as the people who let people die of hunger, or be homeless, or lack health care? Or do we want to sort of be the society that looked out for each other?

For her supporters, several platform issues in particular have been galvanizing, and are easily summed up in rallying cries like Defund the police! and Free CUNY! that may have a particular appeal to younger people. I think theres a recognition among young people about sort of the collective good and prioritizing the collective good over individual benefit, Morales said.

Gabriel Hawkins, a 15-year-old volunteer for Morales campaign, put it more simply. I think young people on average are more progressive than their older counterparts, said Hawkins, who did not learn about Morales on TikTok or Twitter, but from a friend in real life. Hawkins hunch is supported by research showing that Generation Z largely aligns with millennials in having more liberal views than older generations.

Id like to see Dianne build coalitions with other groups. You dont need to prove yourself to the left. We know.  Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson

While Hawkins himself cant vote, hes among Morales supporters who was particularly attracted to her promise to defund the NYPD by $3 billion. While other progressives in the race, including Stringer and Wiley, have proposed police budget cuts, theyve shied away from using the defund language.

Thats not to say that other Democratic primary candidates dont have their own plans for police reform, protecting tenants and investing in transit and bike infrastructure. And while practically the whole field also uses the rhetoric of protecting those most impacted by the pandemic, a number of progressive lawmakers and political organizations believe that Morales is the candidate who will actually follow through on the change she promises. Her endorsements include Gonzalez-Rojas, Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes and state Sen. Jabari Brisport.

Samelys Lopez, a housing activist who ran for Congress in the Bronx last year, cited Morales social housing plan as another reason she stands out. As part of her plan, Morales would rebuild New York City Housing Authority buildings and move toward resident-managed public housing, as well as commit all city-owned land to building affordable housing. I lived in the shelter system for a while, so housing is always something that's been very, very important. And she's talking about social housing, investing in NYCHA, food justice, Lopez said. Coming from the Bronx, you see a lot of bread lines in the community. And people are hungry, people are starving.

If elected, Morales would still face an uphill battle in pushing through her progressive policies  some of which, as outlets like Gotham Gazette have reported, remain short on details, especially when it comes to how she would balance the budget while increasing spending. Her affordable housing reforms and plans to move toward social housing would rely in part on state funding, and her call for rent cancellation during the pandemic requires state action. And while her proposed $3 billion cut to the NYPD has pleased police reform advocates, getting the City Council to pass it is a different story. Last year, the de Blasio administration and City Council approved less than $1 billion in nominal budget cuts to the NYPD, which critics complained were largely illusory, and even that  at the height of the grassroots defund the police activist movement  required a contentious fight. A lot of people, including in communities impacted by policing, bristle at the term, Barry Friedman, a professor and director of the Policing Project at New York University School of Law, told The New York Times, of the defund language.

The excitement around Morales is not unlike the energy that New York saw build around other left-of-left insurgent candidates, including Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman. Each of those first-time candidates represented a break from the (largely white and male) political establishment and pushed the boundaries of what defines a progressive.

But the challenge facing Morales is more complicated than knocking off a single entrenched establishment lawmaker. In addition to the fact that polls show the primarys current front-runners are Yang and Adams, two of the more moderate candidates in the race, Morales does not have sole ownership of the progressive lane in the Democratic primary, which is also occupied by Stringer and Wiley.

Morales argues that she is meaningfully to their left. There's a lot of daylight between me and them, Morales said. There's a lot of differences in our policies, despite folks inclination to sort of lump us all together.

I think theres a recognition among young people about the collective good, and prioritizing the collective good over individual benefit.  New York City mayoral candidate Dianne Morales

Still, liberal lawmakers and organized labor have chosen Stringer and Wiley over Morales in many cases. Stringer still holds support from the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and United Federation of Teachers, while Wiley has been endorsed by 1199SEIU and Reps. Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velazquez, along with progressive local lawmakers, including state Sen. Michael Gianaris. Stringer has far outraised Morales, having amassed almost $3.5 million in private contributions, according to the latest campaign finance filings. With matching funds, he has roughly $7.4 million left in the coffers. Morales, by comparison, has raised slightly over half a million dollars in private contributions, but has qualified for $2.2 million in public funds.

But Morales says that her campaign stands out from the others for being one truly driven by grassroots support  or, as some like to chant at her rallies, people power. The campaign says it has the lowest average contribution of the top-performing candidates at $47, and that roughly 30% of contributors have described themselves as unemployed.

Although Stringer has consistently polled above Morales and Wiley, the allegation of sexual harassment made recently by a former volunteer for Stringers 2001 public advocate campaign has rocked the city comptrollers mayoral bid, potentially creating an opportunity for Morales to break through. Although he denies the claims and no supporting evidence to corroborate them has yet emerged, Stringer lost endorsements from many of his key supporters, including the Working Families Party, which had initially ranked Stringer first, Morales second and Wiley third in their endorsement.

Though the energy around an anti-establishment candidate promising to upend the status quo is palpable on both social media and at in-person rallies, thats no guarantee that the rest of the city is ready for such a candidate. While she has cemented her position as the candidate of the citys most left-wing young voters, Morales will have to appeal to a much broader swath of the city to win, including older and more mainstream liberals and rank-and-file union members.

Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson, who hails from Southeast Queens and is 24, endorsed Wiley and has yet to choose who he will rank second. Though Anderson said he is aligned with Morales ideologically, he said Wiley has demonstrated an ability to build a diverse coalition of support, including from labor, middle-class and working-class people. Id like to see Dianne build coalitions with other groups, Anderson said. You dont need to prove yourself to the left. We know.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is one of the groups that hasnt rescinded its endorsement of Stringer, and its president, Stuart Appelbaum, said last week that their support of the embattled candidate still stands. What Scott brings to the table is a comprehensive knowledge of the way city and state government work, and experience in dealing with government at every level, Appelbaum said. I think we need that experience at this moment in New York Citys history.

The Freelancers Union, an organization representing independent workers, co-endorsed Wiley and Yang. Former New York City Council Member Rafael Espinal, who now serves as the organizations executive director, said that Morales was viewed very positively in the endorsement process, but that there was a concern about her viability. For our membership, Maya seemed like a more viable candidate, in both experience and her ability to manage and work within the systems of government, but also on the campaign trail, Espinal said.

Morales and her supporters are used to the campaigns viability being questioned. The rhetoric of viability would have had me not be in this race, because I didn't fit, said Morales. I didn't check any of those boxes  and yet, here I am.
On Friday, Devlin Barrett, a reporter at the Washington Post, published an alarming story about two of his current, and one of his former, colleagues: last year, President Trumps Justice Department obtained phone records belonging to the Post journalists Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller and the former Post journalist Adam Entous (who is now at the New Yorker). The records in question covered a period between April and July 2017, during which time Nakashima, Miller, and Entous collaborated on stories about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Justice Department only notified the reporters of its actions last week; it said that it also obtained a court order to get their email records, but did not follow through.

The Justice Department stressed that it was investigating leaks to the reporters, not the reporters themselves, but the clarification, quite rightly, failed to cut it with journalists and press-freedom groups. Cameron Barr, the acting executive editor of the Post, said the paper is deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists, and urged the Justice Department to immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment. The American Civil Liberties Union said that this should never have happened; elsewhere, Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, pointed out that the Justice Departments own guidelines require it, in most circumstances, to notify news organizations before their records are seizednot three years afterward. Brown called on officials to explain why they are only now notifying the Post, and on what basis the Justice Department decided to forgo the presumption of advance notification.

From the Existential Issue: A day in the life of news

As Barrett and other observers noted, this wasnt the first time that wed heard about Trumps Justice Department seizing a reporters phone records: in February 2018, officials informed Ali Watkinswho had recently joined the New York Times as a law-enforcement reporter and had previously worked at Politico and BuzzFeed, where she, too, covered Russia and the electionthat they had obtained years worth of records linked to her phone number and two personal email accounts. (As with the Post reporters, officials said they did not surveil the content of any calls or messages.) Officials were investigating James A. Wolfe, an aide to the Senate Intelligence Committee with whom Watkins had been in a long-term romantic relationship, and his contacts with Watkins and other reporters; separately to the investigation, a Customs and Border Protection official reportedly confronted Watkins in person about her relationship with Wolfe and asked for her help in exposing leakersan approach that Watkins perceived as a threat. Later in 2018, Wolfe pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his media contacts, and was sentenced to two months in prison; the Times, for its part, announced a review of Watkinss past reporting and disclosures, and ultimately assigned her to a new beat. At the time, critics charged that some of the coverage of Watkins, including in the Times, risked centering her personal life at the expense of the chilling federal seizure of her communications. Now, with the Post story, the focus is back on the latterand the delayed disclosure in this case reminds us that there may still be more we dont know about Trumps surveillance of the press.

Not that this is solely a Trump storyhis administration may have waged war on journalistic sources, but it didnt subvert the conduct of prior administrations so much as escalate it. The Obama Justice Department prosecuted nine suspected leakersmore than every prior administration combinedand wasnt shy about dragging reporters into the process. Officials renewed a Bush-era subpoena targeting James Risen, a veteran national-security reporter, and chased him all the way to the Supreme Court in a bid to compel him to testify against sources; they backed down on the eve of a trial, with Risen prepared to go to jail to defy them, but the wider court battle nonetheless gutted legal protections for journalists in Maryland and Virginia, where many intelligence staffers are based. In 2010, the Justice Department not only obtained phone and email records frombut also tracked the physical movements ofJames Rosen, of Fox News; he was named as an aider, abettor, and/or co-conspirator in a leak case related to his reporting on CIA intelligence about North Korea, though this accusation, too, was eventually dropped. (Rosen later left Fox amid allegations of inappropriate behavior, then joined Sinclair.) In 2013, meanwhile, the Obama administration obtained records for twenty-one phone lines used by the Associated Press and its reporters as it investigated leaks related to a CIA-thwarted terrorist plot in Yemen. As Ramya Krishnan and Trevor Timm would later report for CJR, officials issued thirty subpoenas in total for phone records, and also considered subpoenaing records from the Post, the Times, and ABC News. (They ultimately decided against this.)

Fast forward to Friday, whento the consternation of many journalistsBidens Justice Department defended the Trump-era move against the Post as, in Barretts words, an investigative step of last resort that was not taken lightly. We do not yet know of any instances of Biden himself going after journalists sources. But he hasnt pledged explicitly that he wont, eitherand, in its first weeks in office, his administration continued the Trump-era push to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, under the Espionage Act, drawing blowback from a coalition of press-freedom groups who say that the charges against Assange threaten to criminalize various routine acts of journalism. As the Freedom of the Press Foundation noted in January, after Biden was inaugurated, he had already been lauded for striking a new tone with the press. But refraining from insulting and delegitimizing reporters on a daily basis is an incredibly low bar. It is by the actions of its Justice Department and intelligence agencies that the Biden administration should ultimately be judged.

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On Friday, Politicos Playbook team called it surprising that Bidens Justice Department would defend the Post seizures. But it wasnt, really. Risen once told Margaret Sullivan, the Posts media critic, that he expected the Obama administration to drop the Bush-era subpoena against him, only for officials to escalate matters; as Obama prepared to hand power to Trump, Risen warned, in a Times op-ed, that if Trump decided to jail whistleblowers or spy on journalists, he would have Obama to thank for bequeathing him such expansive power. Trump amped up the war on leaks, and his administration, of course, should bear the bulk of the blame in the Posts case. But its not bothsidesism to call out loathsome things that both sides are actually doing, and the Biden Justice Departments statement last week reminds us that we must continue to be vigilant. This is a thing that happens regardless of who is in power, Barrett told CNNs Brian Stelter yesterday. Obviously there are some Trump-specific things to this example, but this broader institutional pushthis desire for controlhas existed within the Department of Justice for a while now. And its been growing.

Below, more on Biden and the press:



Other notable stories:

From the Existential Issue: The deepfake industrial complex

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
At this time of year, periodic rain showers on the north coast of California give way to months of daily sunshine and a wildfire risk that grows in severity until the next fall rains arrive.

In Sonoma County, a new set of eyes is watching over the forest. Those eyes will be able to tap into an artificial intelligence program to make sure emergency dispatchers are alerted to actual fires instead of mist rising off the forest floor or steam from the regions numerous natural geysers.

The county has entered into a $300,000 contract with South Korea technology firm Alchera to provide artificial intelligence software that can alert fire dispatchers to the precise location of flames or smoke.

The two-year pilot project is funded through $3 million in hazard mitigation grants that the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded to the county. The money will also be used to add 27 cameras to the states AlertWildfire system, said county Emergency Management Director Chris Godley. The new cameras will be erected on 17 towers to increase coverage in heavily forested Sonoma County and parts of neighboring Mendicino and Lake counties.

Godley said he expects that fire dispatchers will have to spend some time teaching the AI system how to discern smoke from the countys numerous geysers, which are used to produce geothermal energy. He said he expects the learning period to end by this fall, at which point the alert system will be fully operational.

He said the Alchera system sends an alert to dispatcher when it detects smoke. The dispatcher teaches the AI how to better discern images by entering a simple yes or no.

The system also transmits an image of the fire through the dispatchers camera. A blue box appears over the suspected wildfire smoke.

Godley said he expects the system cut at 20 to 30 minutes from the usual time fires are detected and reported, and up to an hour at night time.

That extra 20 minutes can make all the difference, he said.

The Tubbs fire in October 2017 destroyed more than 5,000 homes in Sonoma and Napa counties and killed 43 people. From 1964 to 2015, Sonoma County experienced 18 major wildfires that destroyed 2,000 structures, according to the county.

Insurance losses caused by wildfires have increased dramatically in the past decade. According to a report by Swiss Re, wildfires have caused a cumulative $56.3 billion in insured losses from 2011 to 2020. By comparison, wildfires caused a cumulative $8.7 billion in losses from 2001 to 2010, $5 billion from 1991 to 2000 and $1.4 billion from 1981 to 1990. All of those figures are converted to 2020 values.

California is investing in wildfire resilience projects to stem the destruction. On April 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that provides $536 million in funding to support wildfire suppression, improve forest health and build community resilience. FEMA said in February that is provided $103 million in disaster assistance grants to California after the state experienced another disastrous fire season in 2020.

Advanced fire detection systems can address the problem by getting firefighters to the scene quicker. But false alarms are a nagging problem.

Bow Rodgers, US vice president of operations for Alchera, said despite Godleys concerns, the AI system will have no problem telling wildfire smoke from geyser steam. He said Alchera has gained significant experience over the past two years through a proof-of-concept trial usingAlertWildfires network of cameras. The system, operated by the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of California, San Diego; and the University of Oregon, operates about 650 cameras mounted on towers scattered across California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.

While Sonoma County is so far the only jurisdiction that has contracted with Alchera to send alerts to dispatchers, Rodgers said the company is in discussions with the states investor-owned utilities with hopes of expanding the alert system throughout California.

Rodgers said Alchera got its start by creating facial-recognition software. He said the ability to detect visual anomalies can be used for a variety of purposes. Alcheras first major deployment was through a contract with Korea Electric Corp. that is used to spot worn power transmission lines.

A 2020 research paper by the Center for Research and Technology in Greece says that scientific interest in remote sensing systems to detect forest fires has exploded in recent years. While fewer than 10 academic articles on the subject were published each year for most of the 1990s, the number of papers started increasing in 2000 and surpassed 200 in 2019.

Several commercial applications, in addition to Alchera, have emerged.

In Germany, 105 cameras deployed by IQ Fire Watch are trained on the Brandenburg National Forest, a vast stretch of pines that has the highest risk of wildfire in Northern Europe. The system sends alerts to a command center when it detects smoke, creates a map showing the location and transmits information about nearby water sources to firefighters, according to the company.

Our system can be used for any kind of forest, IQ Fire Watch spokeswoman Victoria Boehm said in an email. It detects smoke and smoke-like occurrences with a multi-spectral sensor at an early stage and processes the information in real-time with a feature-based algorithm in combination with artificial intelligence.

Insight Robotics, based in Hong Kong, has installed networks of thermal cameras to detect wildfires in China, Mexico, Spain and Portugal, the company says. Insight says it uses a patented software algorithm that extends the range of thermal sensors beyond the typical limit of a few hundred yards and minimizes false alarms.

Omdena, a global technology firm based in Palo Alto, Calif., boasts that a partnership it formed with Brazilian agriculture tech provider Sintecsys developed an artificial intelligence program that was able to correctly identify from images 95% to 97% of real fire outbreaks with a false positive rate of 20% to 33%.

Scientists at the University of Michigan built a fire detection system that is powered by harvesting the kinetic energy of moving tree branches. The self-powered sensing system designed by MSUs Laboratory of Soft Machines and Electronics are equipped with carbon monoxide and temperature sensors to reduce the likelihood of a false positive, according to an article in MSU Today.

The machines  officially called triboelectric nanogenerators  produce enough electricity to send a new message every three minutes, head researcher Changyong Cao wrote for a paper published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Cao said sensing technologies to detect wildfires are becoming more common, but often they are depend on batteries. Solar power isnt an option in a dense forest. He said a network of sensors spaced about 100 meters apart or more could provide full coverage to a forest. The nanogenerators provide enough power to send a report every three minutes.

The new fire-detection systems augment monitoring that has been conducted using satellites operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since 2007. NASAs Terra and Aqua satellites orbit the earth in a north to south pattern at alternative times during the day. Together, they can view the entire earths surface every one to two days. The systems can serve the same feature on the ground two four times every 24 hours.

About the photo: A firefighter from San Matteo helps fight the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
RENO, Nev. (AP)  A former school teacher has sued the CEO of a major cryptocurrency company that wants to build a smart city in the Nevada desert, accusing him and his wife of sexually harassing her and creating a hostile workplace at their Lake Tahoe home where she worked as a nanny, tutor and assistant.

Lawyers for Blockchains CEO Jeff Berns and his wife in turn are asking a judge to sanction the 45-year-old woman and her attorney, former Washoe County District Attorney Cal Dunlap.

They say her claims were concocted as part of an orchestrated plot to blackmail Berns while he was pushing a proposal in the Nevada Legislature backed by the governor to establish Innovation Zones key to Blockchains plans to someday build a futuristic city east of Reno.

Rebecca Ellers lawsuit says Jeff and Mary Berns engaged in a civil conspiracy to defraud her in 2018 by concealing that her job duties would include serving as sexual eye candy and to eventually participate with them in three-person sex.

The environment  was sexually pervasive, degrading, and insulting, the latest version of the lawsuit says.

The Reno Gazette Journal first reported on the lawsuit seeking in excess of $150,000 in damages.

Defense motions filed last month say Eller concealed that her true intent in accepting employment with the Berns was to gather personal information to use against them in order to extort money from the Berns or coerce a large settlement.

Gov. Steve Sisolak has touted Innovation Zones as key to Nevadas economic future and offered support of a draft proposal circulating in the Legislature. But the idea of giving companies powers similar to those of local government has generated pushback and led the governor to reduce the proposal to a study.

A resolution to form a committee to further study the proposal and potential ramifications was introduced Thursday in the state Senate.

Berns lawyers filed their most recent motion for an award of attorneys fees as sanctions on April 22, just days before Sisolak put the brakes on the Innovation Zone proposal.

That motion was sealed by Washoe District Judge David Hardy, who earlier sealed the initial lawsuit filed in September and redacted parts of the amended suit filed in March.

Berns, 59, told the BBC in March he intended to sell the desert land where he hopes to build the smart city if lawmakers decided against Innovation Zones. He declined comment on the governors recent move and whether he thought the lawsuit affected the decision.

But he said earlier the ludicrous allegations in the lawsuit by a former disgruntled employee are an attempt to extort me and malign my family. The Berns are seeking at least $50,000 in counter damages.

Considering this absurd lawsuit was filed nearly eight months ago, the timing of this being pushed to the media during the Nevada legislative session is not a coincidence, he said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press last month.

His lawyer, Kent Robison, wrote in April court filings that Eller learned while working at their home that Berns would be launching a huge project in 2021.

Eller waited to file this lawsuit to help exploit the Berns into an inappropriate settlement thinking that the Berns would not want to risk adverse publicity given the Innovation Zone concept, Robison wrote.

Sisolak wouldnt say whether the sexual harassment allegations affected his handling of the proposal, which he earlier said had potential to make Nevada a hub for cryptocurrency and other yet-to-be developed implementations of blockchain technology

This bill was not about Jeff Berns, Sisolak told the Gazette Journal. This bill was about Innovation Zones.

Washoe District Judge Hardy said, in refusing to dismiss most of the lawsuit last month, that he reached the highly unusual conclusion to seal documents and purge all content that is immaterial, scandalous and impertinent.

The parties have created a litigation tone and status quo that must be stopped, he wrote.

He dismissed claims the Berns were stalking Eller but refused to dismiss fraud and conspiracy claims.

The lawsuit says Eller relocated from Colorado where she earned $58,000 annually and was working in July 2018 as a part-time substitute teacher and private tutor for students in Incline Village, including Berns daughter, when Mary Berns asked if she was interested in a job.

The Berns offered her $75,000 with medical benefits to be a nanny, tutor and personal assistant living in their guest house for free. After signing a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement making Blockchains her employer, she moved in Aug. 1, 2018, the suit said.

The next few months, Eller said Mary Berns made invasive inquiries into her private sex life, insisted on discussing the Berns sex lives and suggested that she and Eller share a hotel room, the suit said. It said she told Eller to indulge her husband  with back and shoulder rubs, and that Jeff Berns once swatted her buttocks and said she had a great figure.

Eventually she quit. She got a job at Lake Tahoe School but said in the lawsuit Berns had donated more than $1 million to the school and used his connections to end her work there.

The Berns tell a different story.

They say as early as May 2018, Eller began telling Mary Berns that Ellers husband was abusing and cheating on her. She regularly sought comfort from Mary Berns and voluntarily confided personal information to her, the defense says.

The Berns are guilty of only trying to be compassionate and provide the plaintiff with a secure job and safe living arrangement.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
BUTTE, Mont. (AP)  A fire gutted the historic M&M Cigar Store in Butte early Friday, taking with it 131 years of the Mining Citys history.

Its a total loss. No question, said Jim Merrifield, a battalion chief with the Butte-Silver Bow Fire Department. No one was injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The fire was reported at 3 a.m., and responding firefighters said there were 12-foot (3.6-meter) flames coming from the roof.

There was smoke in every orifice of the building, Merrifield said. The fire was on the roof and spread throughout the building through the duct work.

Firefighters initially had the blaze under control. But it restarted at around 9 a.m., sending more smoke into the sky and causing further damage.

It smelled like history disappearing, David McCumber, editor of The Montana Standard, wrote in a column.

Firefighters worked to save the bars iconic neon sign Friday afternoon while a backhoe was being brought in to knock down the rest of the building for safety reasons.

Safety is the No. 1 priority, Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said. But that sign is so important to this community, were going to do what we can to save it.

Also Friday afternoon, owner Selina Pankovich posted on the bars Facebook page: The show must go on. Im at a loss for words right now, but that phrase keeps playing in my head, she wrote. Thank you for all the support. I know this loss is shared by the entire community and together we will bring the M&M back once again.

Comments of support came from Oregon, Texas, Chicago and Ireland.

The buildings name comes from the initials of the two men, Sam Martin and William Mosby, who opened the first bar in Butte in 1890.

The bar, which had a string of owners, was famous for staying open around the clock, catering to miners getting off work and serving large breakfasts at all hours, according to a description on a National Register of Historic Places plaque outside the building.

During Prohibition, the bar changed its name and officially became a cigar store. Cigars were sold in the front of the building while liquor continued to be served in an illegal speakeasy in the back, according to the plaque.

McCumber eulogized the bar, writing: We loved you, M&M Cigar Store, with your tin ceiling and your great grub and your no-nonsense vibe, from the St. Paddys Day crush to a lifesaving bartender pouring out the first patrons 6 a.m. eye-opener.

You allowed all of us to feel like a part of the passing show, one more butt on a stool in a 140-year parade of them, from down and almost out to senators and governors, treated the same, he wrote.

Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff Ed Lester said the building was simply a legendary place.

Everyone from Butte has stories about what happened at the M&M, he told The Montana Standard on Friday morning. You could have a few drinks, gamble, watch a fight and have the worlds best ham and cheese omelet _ all in one place.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The COVID-19 slump is over for Ohios casinos and racinos. The question is how much business will surge beyond where it was ever at ahead of the pandemic.

The states 11 casinos and racinos in April combined to take in a record $217.1 million in gambling revenue, after paying out winnings, reports released by the state show.

This broke the record of $215.9 million set in March, a month that had been easily the best ever for the 9-year-old industry. The previous record for any month was $184.2 million in March 2019.

The best April on record was $162 million in 2018.

The surge in business earlier this year immediately followed the lifting of government-imposed overnight curfews and the arrival of stimulus checks, on top of what typically is a busy time of the year for the facilities.

The $217.1 million taken in last month from table games and slot machines was up 35.5% from $160.2 million in April 2019. (A year ago, the casinos and racinos were closed throughout April as part of a three-month shutdown that lasted through mid-June, and later were subject to curfews through mid-February.)

Leading the way in April was Hollywood Casino Columbus, with $24.7 million, compared to $19.7 million in April 2019.

In the Cleveland-Akron market, revenue was up a combined 37.5% over April two years ago for the three facilities:

* JACK Thistledown Racino: $19.5 million, up 58.8% from $12.3 million.

* JACK Cleveland Casino: $24.1 million, up 41.4% from $17 million.

* MGM Northfield Park: $24.5 million, up 21.3% from $20.2 million in April 2019, which was the first month the facility rebranded to MGM from the Hard Rock Racino Northfield Park.

Ohios seven racinos, which under regulation by the Ohio Lottery Commission are limited to chance-based slot machines known as video lottery terminals, had $124.5 million in revenue, up 38.9% from $89.6 million in April 2019.

The four casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo took in $92.6 million, up 31.1% from $70.6 million in April 2019. The casinos, under regulation of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, have a wider variety of slot machines, plus table games and poker rooms.

About a third of this gambling revenue is turned over to the state in the form of fees and taxes.

Below are details for each Ohio casino and racino. Ohio casinos

Statewide April 2019 April 2021 Revenue $70.6 million $92.6 million Table games $22.5 million $26.9 million Slots $48.1 million $65.7 million JACK Cleveland Casino Revenue $17.0 million $24.1 million Table games $8.2 million $11.0 million Slots $8.8 million $13.0 million Slots payout 92.2% 91.9% Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino

(JACK Cincinnati Casino in 2019) Revenue $16.8 million $21.3 million Table games $6.3 million $7.3 million Slots $10.5 million $14.0 million Slots payout 91.8% 91.6% Hollywood Toledo Revenue $17.1 million $22.6 million Table games $2.7 million $3.2 million Slots $14.4 million $19.4 million Slots payout 90.6% 91.4% Hollywood Columbus Revenue $19.7 million $24.7 million Table games $5.3 million $5.5 million Slots $14.3 million $19.2 million Slots payout 92.1% 91.9% Source: Ohio Casino Control Commission Ohio racinos Statewide April 2018 April 2021 Slots $89.6 million $124.5 million Pct. payout 90.9% 90.6% JACK Thistledown Racino Slots $12.3 million $19.5 million Pct. payout 90.6% 90.3% MGM Northfield Park Slots $22.0 million $24.5 million Pct. payout 91.0% 90.7% Hollywood Mahoning Valley Slots $10.8 million $15.1 million Pct. payout 90.2% 90.1% Scioto Downs Slots $14.2 million $21.7 million Pct. payout 90.7% 90.4% Miami Valley Gaming Slots $15.1 million $19.2 million Pct. payout 91.7% 91.2% Belterra Park Slots $7.4 million $9.2 million Pct. payout 90.9% 89.9% Hollywood Dayton Slots $9.7 million $15.3 million Pct. payout 90.5% 90.8% Source: Ohio Lottery Commission

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner . Follow casino coverage at cleveland.com/casino.

Previous stories

Ohios casinos, racinos crush revenue records with big March, free of overnight curfews and return of poker rooms

Best bets to make your entertainment dollars last longer at the casino - Thats Rich!

See inside JACK Thistledown Racinos new, climate-controlled outdoor gaming patio

Where things stand with JACK Cleveland Casino, Thistledown Racino after Dan Gilberts sale: Q&A with Chairman Matt Cullen

Ohios casino, racino business dips 26% in 2020, a year of coronavirus disruptions; state out $165 million in taxes and fees
BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- Two authors with local ties will be featured at a book-signing event from 1 to 3 p.m. June 6 at Heritage Farm, home of the Brunswick Area Historical Society, 4613 Laurel Road.

Stephen Tako and Annette Palmer have probably never met, but they have much in common. Tako grew up in the Valley City-Brunswick area and now lives in California. Palmer grew up in California and now lives in Brunswick.

Both are motivational speakers and are comfortable performing on stage.

Tako is an anti-bullying advocate. As the host of his video talk show, Tako Talk, he interviews guests who share their stories to inspire adults and children who have been negatively impacted by bullying and to increase their self-esteem.

As an actor and voice-over artist, Tako has worked in films, television and commercials, including suicide-prevention and anti-bullying public service announcements.

Along the way, Tako played the role of a yeti -- which was fitting, as he is 6 feet, 7 inches tall -- and he was able to keep his custom-made costume. He began to do some appearances at schools where, as Junga, the yeti would talk about bullying and the importance of being positive. It hit the right note with his audiences.

He published his first childrens book, Junga the Dancing Yeti, aimed at ages 4-7, in 2018. He has developed a book series based on the character that teaches children relevant lessons about acceptance, bravery, doing the right thing, finding the good in others, having a positive self-image, courage and overcoming bullying.

Junga the Dancing Yeti Meets Heidi was published in February, and Tako said he will have books and other items based on the colorful character at the book signing. You can learn more at https://www.jungayeti.com/.

She speaks for the trees

Annette Palmer will sign her book in Brunswick. (Photo Courtesy of Annette Palmer)

In addition to being an author, Palmer is a full-time private music teacher, with an emphasis on singing and piano. As a voice major at the University of Southern California, she brought on-stage experience to the Brunswick community when she and her husband, Bob Palmer, moved here.

She is also a Sunday school teacher and a musician. And she is one of the founders of the local chapter of Toastmasters, where she mentors youngsters who want to learn about public speaking.

A train trip to the Klondike sparked the idea that became her first book.

I had a stunning serendipity one season that led to a richer form of knowing God. It occurred when I discovered that He was most likely speaking through what He has made -- what was all around us -- nature, Palmer said.

In TREES... Gods HINT to Humanity? published by WestBow Press, she theorizes about the reason why trees are all around us. She hopes to connect readers with God in a newer and richer way every time they simply look outside.

I wrote this book to share a completely different growth. Its one that leads to an awesome connection -- a connection with God through, believe it or not, trees! I believe trees, are the biggest hint from God to humanity, and a most powerful invitation to know Him, she said.

See more at https://www.westbowpress.com/en. She will have books for sale at the signing.

The public is invited to the event. If you have already purchased the books, bring them to the signing. Admission and parking are free, and some of the historic buildings will be open that day.

Read more from the Brunswick Sun.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Zakiayyah Bergen brushed aside tears as she accepted 150 restaurant gift cards for teachers in her school district from Mojo World Eats and Tommys last week.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District was one of six Northeast Ohio school systems that received 735 gift cards in Advance Ohios Feeding the Frontlines project to reward educators exemplary service and dedication to their students during the coronavirus pandemic. They were awarded during Teacher Appreciation Week.

The $20 gift cards were funded by four sponsor businesses: Ohio Savings Bank, Geauga Pawn and Alliance Loan Company, Leaf Home Solutions and Wells Fargo Advisors. The gift cards are redeemable at nine independent restaurants, all of which are recent Clevelands Best honorees from contests on cleveland.com to determine the best burgers, barbecue and more in the region.

It has been a long year, a hard year, for all of us -- and just to think that our community appreciates what we are doing means so much, said Bergen, who teaches social studies and science at Roxboro Middle School. Sometimes you just feel like you are swimming upstream all alone. Just to think that someone took time out of their day to come and say, We see you, we care about you and we appreciate you means absolutely everything.

Monica Donahue coordinated the project for Advance Ohio. The initiatives main objectives, she said, are to honor educators commitment and innovation during the pandemic while supporting independent restaurants that were shuttered early in the pandemic. It followed a Feeding the Frontlines program that provided over 2,000 meals to healthcare workers in Michigan last spring.

We decided to honor those working in education this time because our teachers are out there on the frontline, just as much as the healthcare workers, Donahue said. Its a win for our sponsors because they get great recognition for giving back to the community. Its a win for the locally-owned restaurants because were providing them business.

Heres a look at the Northeast Ohio school districts that received gift cards through Feeding the Frontlines last week and the participating restaurants located near each school system.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools

Stephanie Gruber, top right, manager of Tommy's, and Michael Herschman, bottom right, owner and chef at Mojo's World Eats, delivered gift cards to teacher Zakiayyah Bergen at Roxboro Middle School. (Photos by Charlie Swain and Brenda Cain, special to cleveland.com)

Mojo World Eats and Tommys each delivered 75 gift cards to the Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools, purchased by Ohio Savings Bank, a division of New York Community Bank.

These teachers have had a really, really rough year. They have been working so hard and really powered through that. They deserve a special treat to celebrate the end of the school year, said Stephanie Gruber, manager of Tommys on Coventry. We have always had a really nice relationship with the schools and we were thrilled to be able to give this for them.

Tommys was one of the finalists in cleveland.coms Most Sinful Dessert contest in 2018 for their homemade milkshakes.

Three generations of Heights school alums are in this bloodline, said Michael Herschman, owner and chef of Mojo World Eats. We are all proud and grateful for our Heights teachers, and teachers everywhere, who are molding the minds of our future in a challenging new academic environment.

Mojo World Eats and Drink, formerly Lopez, and was a finalist in cleveland.coms Best Mexican Restaurant contest in 2019.

Tallmadge City Schools

Tallmadge City Schools Superintendent Steve Wood accepts 110 gift cards from Missing Mountain Brewing Company as part of the Feeding the Frontlines initiative to thank educators for their efforts during the pandemic. (Photo by Lori Leonardi, special to cleveland.com)

Missing Mountain Brewing manager Courtney Duncan was among the staffers who delivered 110 gift cards to Tallmadge City Schools Superintendent Steve Wood, thanks to Leaf Home Solutions.

Missing Mountain Brewing Company loves giving back to the community and were grateful to make a small contribution to the amazing teachers. Cheers! Duncan said.

Missing Mountain was a finalist in cleveland.coms Best Brewery contest in 2019. In addition to its brewing operation, the restaurant offers a full menu.

The recognition meant a lot to our team, Wood said. The 110 gift cards proved extremely popular. They were made available to all who planned on using them and the gift cards were all spoken for within a few hours.

Akron City Schools

Gift card recipients at Akron City Schools may want to try the Passillada from Uncle Tito's Mexican Grill. The dish was a hit with cleveland.com judges and includes plenty of shrimp, chicken and scallops. (photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com)

Leaf Home Solutions purchased 81 gift cards from Uncle Titos Mexican Grill for Akron City Schools. Uncle Titos added an additional $5 to each card. Uncle Titos was a finalist in cleveland.coms Best Mexican Restaurant contest in 2019.

Everyone is going through hardships and we are blessed, said Uncle Titos manager Antonio Lopez. It comes down to nothing to help out the community. Thats what we are here for, to give a little back to our community.

Hudson City Schools

Many educators in the Hudson City School District will be able to treat themselves to delicious smoked meats at Oak and Embers barbecue restaurant. The eatery was a finalist in cleveland.com's 2019 Best Barbecue restaurant contest. (photo by Lisa DeJong, Plain Dealer)The Plain Dealer

Leaf Home Solutions purchased 60 gift cards from Oak & Embers Tavern, which added another 10 vouchers for educators. The restaurant was a finalist in cleveland.coms Best Barbecue contest in 2019.

Education is the foundation of our great country and the teachers are the bricks on which that foundation is built, said Chris McCauley, co-owner of Oak and Embers, which also has locations in Chesterland and Orange Village. We could not be more proud to provide our support to our great teachers.

Cleveland Metro Schools

Educators at Buhrer Dual Language Academy accepted some of the 200 gift cards that were given to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Pictured, from left, are Shari Obrenski, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, and teachers Migdalia Caraballo, Socorro Fuentes, Edna Vega and Maretta Hamilton and Mark Baumgartner of the union. (photo courtesy Mark Baumgartner, special to cleveland.com)

Ohio City BBQ and Blue Habanero each delivered 100 gift cards to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The cards were purchased by Wells Fargo Advisors.

Blue Habanero was the winner of cleveland.coms Best Mexican restaurant in 2019, while Ohio City BBQ was a finalist in the Best Barbecue contest that same year.

I feel so honored to have been given the opportunity to participate in something like this, said Nav Singh, owner of Ohio City BBQ. Ohio City BBQ is always looking for ways to engage with the local community from fundraisers through donating food, holding food drives and donating gift cards to various raffles. Its always a great way to meet people in the community.

According to Mark Baumgartner, a trustee with the Cleveland Teachers Union, the gift cards were awarded in a random drawing. Numbers were assigned to each member of the union, including support staff, and the computer randomly chose the recipients, which included 141 teachers, 41 professionals, two nurses, two counselors and two psychologists.

West Geauga Schools

Diane Martin, right, of the West Geauga school system accepted 150 gift cards from a representative of JC's Restaurant and Johnny's Grill and Pizzeria. Geauga Pawn and Loan Association supplied 75 gift cards from each eatery. (photo by Jim Nash, special to cleveland.com)

One-hundred-fifty teachers and support staff in the West Geauga School District received gifts cards from Johnnys Grill and Pizzeria in Newbury and JCs Restaurant in Burton thanks to Geauga Pawn and Alliance Loan Company.
Im going to be recommending to board that we reject these bids and we sit down with construction industry and figure out what we can do to put these projects more in line  NICTD general manager Mike Noland said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez voted his conscience when he supported the impeachment of former president Donald Trump. That didnt sit well with his fellow Republicans.

You can listen online here.

On Friday, the states GOP voted to censure Gonzalez for his vote, with some calling for him to resign. Gonzalez, from Rocky River, is the latest Republican to be rebuked by their state parties for supporting impeachment proceedings against Trump in January. Staying with politics, Ohio likely will lose its only congressional district with a majority of Black residents when districts are redrawn this year. And Cleveland Housing Court is warning renters facing eviction for not paying their rent during the pandemic that the CDCs moratorium on such evictions could soon end.

Hear cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn discuss these stories and more in The Wake Up podcast.

The podcast is a summary of cleveland.coms morning newsletter The Wake Up. You can receive The Wake Up through email at 5:30 a.m. each weekday by subscribing here.

You can get our podcasts delivered directly to your phone, and we have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

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LEICESTER, Massachusetts  A man repeatedly rammed his SUV into a police station Sunday morning, then was shot and killed when he got out of the vehicle and pointed a rifle at officers, reports say.

The unidentified suspect managed to get the SUV nearly completely into the lobby of the police station, the Worcester County district attorneys office tells necn.com. Police officers were on duty in other parts of the town when the SUV crashed into the station at about 6:15 a.m., the Associated Press reports, but a dispatcher saw the attack on live surveillance video.

When officers arrived back at the station, the suspect, reportedly a male in his 20s, got out of the vehicle and pointed a rifle at them, masslive.com reports. Officers then shot the man.

The suspect was taken to a hospital but he died of his wounds. No other injuries were reported.

CNN reports that officials did not release the identity of the man, but said he did have an upcoming court date for a traffic violation.

The confrontation was captured on video, but Worcester County DA Joseph Early Jr. said footage will not immediately be released to the public.
CINCINNATI, Ohio  A woman is in custody after police say she put the body of her granddaughter in garbage bags and then stored them in a cooler.

LaTonya Austin, 42, is scheduled to make her first appearance in court on Monday, WKRC Channel 12 reports. She was arrested Sunday morning.

WLWT Channel 5 reports that court documents show that Austin is accused of abusing her granddaughters corpse in April. However, no details have been released on how the girl died.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez is the latest Republican to be rebuked by their state parties for voting to impeach President Donald Trump.

Were talking about the truth of Trumps loss, and what it means for politics, 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 was unusual about the way Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson announced he would not seek an unprecedented 5th term?

Why is it likely that a Congressional District in Cleveland where Black voters have made up the majority will cease of have that minority majority after next year?

Did any Ohio Republicans involved in the vote to censure Congressman Anthony Gonzalez for his vote to impeach Donald Trump have the courage to vote no and stand with Gonzalez?

What is NOACAs 30-year plan for spending the expected $13.4 billion it would get for transportation needs in Northeast Ohio?

Why is the Cleveland Housing Court warning renters who could not pay their rent during the pandemic that they soon could be thrown out of their homes?

Why did a Rocky River School tax fail with voters last week?

Why are families of many federal prisoners awaiting trial in Northeast Ohio about to have a much more difficult time visiting them?

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.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took steps last week to reduce the use of harmful hydrofluorocarbons, commonly found in refrigerators and air conditioners, one of the first things consumers wanted to know was how the changes will affect them.

The answer? They probably wont.

Yes, many consumers own appliances that use HFCs as a coolant, but nothing in the EPAs proposed rule calls on homeowners to relinquish their still-functioning equipment, according to those familiar with the EPAs action.

Well just keep using our fridge and when it comes time to buy a new fridge it will have this other stuff in it, said Scott Denning, professor of atmospheric sciences at Colorado State University.

What the EPAs proposed rule does is put the onus on producers to provide suitable refrigerant alternatives, many of which are already in use today. The EPA is calling for an 85% reduction in the production and importation of HFCs over the next 15 years, and the industry has signaled its willingness to comply.

The only thing consumers may notice is when they replace their appliances, their utility bills will go down because the new technology will be more efficient, said Durwood Zaelke, an adjunct professor at University of California at Santa Barbara and president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development in Washington, D.C., and Paris.

If an appliance needs additional refrigerant to keep operating, there will still be some HFCs available so consumers are not left high and dry, said David Doniger, senior strategic director in the climate and clean energy program of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

He said there are large chillers cooling buildings decades old that still use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, the ozone-depleting chemicals that were phased out long ago and eventually replaced with HFCs.

Those familiar with the coolant industry and its response to regulation expect a seamless transition away from HFCs to natural refrigerants or another type of synthetic coolant called hydrofluoroolefins, or HFOs.

After it became clear that chlorofluorocarbons were destroying the Earths protective ozone layer, chemical companies came up with HFCs. Initially, they were considered a good replacement for CFCs, which drift high into the stratosphere and deplete the ozone layer. HFCs dont go as high, Denning said, but now it turns out they cause global warming.

In fact, pound-for-pound, HFCs are a much more potent greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide emitting from the burning of fossil fuels, he said.

The chemical industry has known what to expect for some time thanks to the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol that calls for phasing out HFCs. The EPAs recent action was made possible by the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act passed with bipartisan support late in the term of former president Donald Trump.

The chemical companies that make HFCs are not fighting the proposed changes, Zaelke said, in fact those manufacturers with confidence in their engineering prowess see increased regulation as an opportunity to produce alternatives the market will demand.

Doniger said that wasnt always the case. The industry pushed back starting in the 1970s when the move to eliminate CFCs began. The chemical makers relented in the 1980s after determining they were on the wrong side of science.

He recalled an industry lobbyist telling him, " You know, its better to be at the table than on the menu. "

Commercial users of refrigeration also have a stake in the regulation, including those in the food supply chain.

The majority of large refrigerated warehouses already use natural refrigerants, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide, said Lowell Randel, senior vice president for government and legal affairs at the Global Cold Chain Alliance, whose members store and ship fresh and frozen foods around the country.

Ammonia is a very energy efficient and capable of reaching a wide range of temperatures, Randel said, and while its classified as a toxic chemical, the overall safety record is good.

So, theres some really good technology out there already available, Randel said.

The Giant Eagle supermarket chain, which is based in Pittsburgh and operates stores throughout Northeast Ohio, issued a statement saying it has already begun taking active steps to reduce our environmental impact, including using alternative refrigerants and refrigeration systems where possible.

The statement, which was provided after being contacted by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, also said the company does not anticipate changes to affect product pricing or the shopping experience.

The National Grocers Association, which represents privately owned, independent grocers, is still evaluating the proposed EPA rule, said spokesman Terence Huie. The association wants to make sure the requirements are financially realistic for its members who operate on small profit margins.

I would say a lot of our members have already transitioned away to new systems, he said, but a fair number still rely on HFC technology and the transition could be expensive.

Thats sort of the main concern we have right here, right now, Huie said.

Doniger said he expects future EPA rules to limit the amount of leakage that can occur and that require components of larger systems to be replaced if they break down.

When equipment that uses HFCs comes to the end of its useful like, appropriate steps will also be needed to ensure it is disposed of properly.

As long as HFCs are contained they are not a problem. But when there are leaks, the liquid HFCs evaporate into the air, which happens at about room temperature, Denning said.

Most leakage occurs when equipment is disposed of, say, in a landfill and lines are broken to allow HFCs to spill out, Zaelke said.

For that reason, its important that HFCs be captured, reused or destroyed at the end of their useful life, and that consumers insist that their replacements be as environmentally friendly as possible, he said.

So, we need to be demanding consumers to make sure we get the good stuff during the phase down, Zaelke said.
Rotunda Rumblings

Going Gonzo: U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez on Friday became the latest pro-impeachment House Republican to be raked over the coals by his states party. But as Jeremy Pelzer reports, the Ohio Republican Party not only voted to censure Gonzalez, but also passed an impromptu resolution calling for his resignation. Gonzalez didnt respond Friday, though U.S. Sen. Rob Portman issued a statement supporting the Rocky River Republican.

Drug problem still rages: Ohio officials are sending 60,000 doses of naloxone nasal spray, which stops opioid overdoses, across the state, Laura Hancock reports. Last year at this time, overdose deaths increased in the spring and summer.

Weekend numbers: On Friday, coronavirus deaths increased by 84 Ohio residents, and cases rose by 1,397, Hancock reports. Saturdays new case total was 1,297, and Sundays was 794.

Not reaching the Summit: At least a dozen candidates have filed to run in the special election for Ohios 11th Congressional District. But now that ex-state Rep. Bryan Flannery has bowed out of the race, none of those candidates are from Summit County, writes Doug Livingston of the Akron Beacon Journal. Flannery was also the only white candidate in a district drawn to satisfy minority representation requirements under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Minority report: Requirements in the congressional map-drawing process that Ohio voters approved in 2018 will probably return the 11th district entirely to Cuyahoga County when new districts are drawn, Sabrina Eaton writes. Doing so would likely make it lose its majority minority status for the first time since the district was created in the 1960s, although local politicians and redistricting experts predict the district would still be represented by African Americans for the foreseeable future.

Record deal: Legislation requiring police to record interrogations of suspects charged with serious crimes like murder or rape is now being considered in the Ohio Senate after passing the House last month. The Associated Press has more on the legislation, House Bill 8, which has bipartisan co-sponsors.

Supremacy Clause? What Supremacy Clause? House Bill 295, from state Rep. Kris Jordan, a Delaware County Republican, would allow the Ohio General Assembly to order the attorney general to review the constitutionality of any presidential executive order, federal agency rule, or federal congressional action. If the AG declines to act, the legislature could declare the order, rule or action unconstitutional, and any local government or person who receives public funding would be banned from implementing the federal directive.

GOP get-together: Many of the top Republicans eyeing runs for Ohio governor and U.S. Senate next year are set to attend a May 15 political summit held by the Strongsville GOP. Scheduled attendees include declared/potential U.S. Senate candidates Mike Gibbons, Bill Johnson, Josh Mandel, Bernie Moreno, Mark Pukita, and JD Vance. Also slated to appear: gubernatorial hopefuls Joe Blystone and Jim Renacci and Anthony Gonzalez primary rivals Max Miller and Jonah Schulz. Keynote speakers for the event are U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and conservative analyst/author Candace Owens.

Oh gosh: Another potential Senate Republican candidate, Dayton Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, issued a statement on Friday to criticize President Joe Biden for leaving the word God out of his May 5 National Day of Prayer proclamation. President Biden has embraced the far-lefts cancel culture that attempts to rewrite American history, tear down our institutions, and now, cancel God, Turner declared. Its disheartening to see this decision from a President who once claimed that faith is the bedrock foundation of his life.

Tale trail: On Friday, First Lady Fran DeWine and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz launched Ohios sixth Storybook Trail at Great Seal State Park in Chillicothe. The new trail featuresThe First Strawberries, a Cherokee story retold by Joseph Bruchac, with 15-20 child-height panels along the trail featuring book pages and an activity to accompany the text, according to a release from Gov. Mike DeWines office.

Lobbying Lineup

Five groups that lobbied on last legislative sessions House Bill 220, which would have allowed governmental entities in Ohio to utilize blockchain technology in their operations. State lobbying forms dont require people to indicate if they are for or against a bill.

1. Amazon.com Services LLC

2. Ohio Rural Water Association

3. Automobile Club of Southern California

4. Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

5. City of Dublin

Birthdays

Ex-state Rep. Jim Butler

Micah Derry, director of Americans for Prosperitys Ohio chapter

Straight From The Source

I think the governor has had a steady hand in this.

- Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, praising Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for his coronavirus policies. Brown, speaking while visiting the Cincinnati Health Department on Friday to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, had less kind words for GOP state lawmakers, saying they have politicized the states pandemic response.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
COLUMBUS, OhioFor the first time since the initial days of the coronavirus pandemic, almost all Ohioans receiving unemployment benefits will have to show theyre actively looking for work, according to a state news release.

Until now, Ohioans who have received jobless benefits since before Dec. 6 have been exempted from work-search activities, such as applying for jobs, attending a resume-writing course, or coming up with a reemployment plan on OhioMeansJobs.com. That exemption will end the week of May 23, according to the release from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

About 146,000 unemployed workers receiving long-term traditional unemployment benefits will be affected by the policy change, according to ODJFS spokesman Bret Crow. Crow didnt immediately know how many Ohioans receiving federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits would be affected.

Starting in mid-March 2020, Ohio  like other states  waived work-search rules for people as the coronavirus crisis ramped up, and state stay-at-home and business closure orders resulted in record unemployment filings.

Ohio reinstated work-search requirements for new applicants starting Dec. 6, but residents who began receiving benefits before then continued to be exempted  at least, until now.

Under state law, some people remain exempt from the work-search rule, including workers on a temporary layoff of up to 45 days, in an approved training program, or who are members of a union that refers its members to jobs.

In addition to notifying the press, ODJFS said it will directly send notifications to unemployed Ohioans alerting them to the change.

Its just an important next step in our economic recovery, because were creating jobs at a faster rate than were able to find people to fill those jobs, said Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in an interview. This will certainly help by having those individuals begin that work-search requirement, helping them just to begin to rekindle that effort, that relationship with employers.

Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that it only makes sense to restore the work-search requirements, as most Ohio workers have had the opportunity to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Ohio business owners are creating jobs faster than people are returning to the workforce, said Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in a statement. Now that all Ohio adults have access to the vaccine, its time to return to the traditional work requirements.

Both new and ongoing claims for traditional unemployment benefits have fallen in recent weeks  though thats been in part because state officials have worked to clamp down on a wave of fraudulent claims that inflated the numbers.

Read more Ohio politics and government stories:

New coronavirus cases in Ohio dip to lowest point since August; hospitalizations also down; see latest county, state trends

How much money will your city get from the American Rescue Plan?

Due to slow coronavirus vaccine demand, Ohio is declining and delaying 80% of doses from this weeks allotment

EPA plan to phase down production of HFCs used in fridges, air conditioners should not stress consumers

Ohio reports 713 new coronavirus cases: Monday update
As the trooper stopped the vehicle, he saw that the driver never placed the Jeep in park and kept her foot on the brake. The trooper stood outside of his patrol car, giving verbal commands for the driver to put the vehicle in park and to lower the window, a release said.
When they are using their hands to make a letter and theyre saying its name, like A, if they make the sign for A, theyre saying the letter name but then theyre also saying its sound, Cook, a kindergarten teacher at Kolling Elementary School in St. John, said. Hearing the sound and seeing it cements it more in their brain, it works both sides of their brain, so then its easier for them to recall that information.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10) -- At least three mayors in Metro Manila are in favor of shifting to a more relaxed general community quarantine starting May 15.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said extended lockdowns could lead to rising cases of hunger and mental health problems. But she stressed the need for strict enforcement of minimum health protocols in workplaces.

If lockdowns continue as is or are further restricted there may be other effects that are also very serious like rising evidence of mental health problems, social unrest, hunger and poverty, said Belmonte.

Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro said a longer implementation of strict quarantine would mean a bigger problem for the economy. Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco echoed the same sentiments, saying people are now suffering.

For his part, MMDA chairperson Benhur Abalos said restrictions should be gradually eased.

I think, personally, Metro Manila is really ready...We could be ready with GCQ, but probably with restrictions [] Parang inunti-unti mo (Its a gradual opening), he told CNN Philippines News Night.

The OCTA Research earlier said the average daily COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila are expected to decline between 1,700 to 1,800 by May 14, when the modified ECQ in NCR Plus is scheduled to end.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health said the healthcare utilization rate should be below 50% and the average daily attack rate and two-week growth rate should be steadily decreasing to be able to shift to GCQ.

Abalos added that Metro Manila mayors are expected to come up with a consensus on whether or not to shift to GCQ within the week.

The country recorded 6,846 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, pushing the nationwide tally to 1,108,826, where 59,897 are active cases.

CNN Philippines correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report
Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is moving steadily toward full enrollment in preschool education thanks to the implementation of the region's free education policies.

By the end of 2020, the region's gross enrollment rate for preschool education stood at 87.03 percent, up more than 52 percentage points from 2011, according to the regional education department.

The ratio was higher than the rate of 85.2 percent for the whole country.

At present, there are some 2,200 kindergartens in Tibet, over 10 times the figure for 2011, when the region expanded its free education policies for farmers and herders to cover preschool education.

Under the policies, the children of farmers and herders are exempted from meal, lodging and basic school expenses. Children of urban families in financial hardship can also enjoy the policies.

Dawa Yangzom, a resident of Hongxing community, Gyixong Town, Gonggar County, is satisfied to see her 6-year-old son Tenzin Jigme enjoy school meals with milk, vegetables and meat.

"The food in the kindergarten provides nutrition for my son's physical development. There are more varieties of food than at home, and the food is all free," she said.

This stands in sharp contrast to old Tibet under feudal serfdom. Before the region's peaceful liberation in 1951, serfs accounted for more than 95 percent of the population in Tibet but were barred from receiving education. In 1951, there were only about 3,000 students in schools across the region.

Since 1951, the country has been constantly increasing education spending in the region.

In 1985, Tibet began to provide free meals, lodgings and tuition to children from farmers' and herders' families throughout their nine years of compulsory education. The policies were subsequently expanded several times.

Now, Tibet has become the first provincial-level region in China to provide 15 years of free education, from kindergarten to senior high school.

Preschool education has developed at a blistering pace over the past years, and such institutions now cover almost all cities, counties, townships and villages with a relatively large population in Tibet.

There are more than 150,000 students enrolled in kindergartens at present, data showed.

Cheng Dongya, vice dean of the education college at Tibet University, said preschool education plays an important role in long-term education.

"The rapid development of Tibet's preschool education reflects the country's emphasis on the education of ethnic minority groups, and will help foster the talent pool necessary for the long-term development of the plateau," said Cheng.
You are here: Arts

Filming recently wrapped for "Formed Police Unit," a movie spotlighting Chinese police units on overseas United Nations peacekeeping missions.

The film's executive producer is Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, the helmsman of the 2019 disaster blockbuster "The Captain," and it stars Huang Jingyu, Wang Yibo and Zhong Chuxi.

Lau says "Formed Police Unit" shows how Chinese people treasure and love peace, and it pays tribute to all the peacekeepers.

A release date has not yet been announced, but a Thursday post via the film's social media says it will hit theaters in 2022.

2020 marked the 20th year of Chinese police participation in UN peacekeeping missions. China's police forces have sent over 2,600 peacekeeping officers on the missions over the past 20 years, according to data released in January.
Read the full article in the May 2021 digital edition. . .

Stress, whether direct or perceived, can have a significant impact on skin health, and stress can be defined in a number of ways. One of the most popular and widely accepted definitions is: Stress arises as a result of events exceeding individual perceived ability to cope.This definition emphasizes the person. It is a personal perception of events as overwhelming, rather than the nature of the event, per se. Skin response to psychosocial stress is complex and governed by bidirectional communication between the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. This response is modulated by central and peripheral pathways, with the mediators produced shaping altered skin physiology, including impaired wound healing, skin barrier function and immunity.1

Stress Reducing Modifiers

We all need human interaction. Having reported on the benefit of human touch in the past,2 it is time to revisit the meaning for human health in times of isolation. Touch has a significant impact on our psychological and physical well-being. The neurophysiological wiring for affective touch perception has been attributed to C-tactile (CT) afferent fibers that respond optimally to soft and slow strokesevoking pleasure related to tactile stimuli in the brain. A gentle touch is associated with oxytocin release, further promoting social bonding. However, CT-targeted stimulation triggers oxytocin release only when touch is perceived as positive by the individual.3

Touch Hunger

Prominent British scientists studying affective touch came together to discuss the implications of lack of touch for the benefit of the public in times of epidemic.4 Touch is, for most people, a meaningful and grounding experience; the need for touch exists below the horizon of consciousness.

Before birth, the fetal nervous system can distinguish its own body from the mothers. The concept of self is rooted in touch and the human body is reliant on caregivers to satisfy the bodys core needs.5 Adults may not comprehend the importance of touch and can feel something is missing but cannot identify that touch contributes to loneliness.6 However, people touch with close friends and family more than they realize.

There is a parallel with primates in having a core set of five friends7, 8 who do their grooming togetherthis is the original form of social touch. In both primates and humans, these intense coalitions act as a buffer, protecting the individual against the dangers in the world. People have different needs and boundaries, not everyone suffers from a lack of touch but its total absence in times of stress contravenes the hard wiring that regulates our body since infancy.

Touch is a modulator that can temper the effects of stress and pain, both physical and emotional. Lack of touch has been associated with greater anxiety. In times of high stress, touch from others helps people cope better, similar to the calming effect of cortisol. In high-stress states, it can feel as if our bodies can barely contain emotion and feel we need others to hold us. Touch gives the brain permission to delegate its resources for coping, which relaxes the body and helps alleviate stress.

The CT afferent fibers that register gentle stroking touch have been studied since 1995, when discovered in humans. The neurons in the skin of all social mammals transmit slow electrical signals to the emotional processing parts of the brain, playing a critical role in developing the social brain and our ability to withstand stress.9 The highest density of neurons across the body occurs in parts humans cannot touch ourselves, such as the shoulders and back. Stimulation of these neurons releases oxytocin and dopamine, which reduces cortisol levels and regulates mood. One study confirmed that even gentle, slow stroking from a stranger can reduce feelings of social exclusion.10

Humans only need gentle touch intermittently. In the absence of human closeness, people can derive some benefit of feeling touch and soothe themselves by watching affection on the screen. The brain codes multisensory experiences in multiple ways: humans can feel the pain and pleasure of others just by seeing them. When stroking another person, humans engage systems that would be activated when being stroked.5

In relation, social closeness has been shown to reduce the negative effects of stress on skin barrier recovery as well as reduce self-reported stress. For example, one study showed being present with a person going through the unfamiliar procedure of tape-stripping positively affected skin repair.11

. . .Read more in the May 2021 digital edition. . .

References

Thompson, A.R. and Montgomery, K. (2018, Apr). Stress and more stress: the importance in skin disease of worrying about what others think. Br J Dermatol 178(4) 821-822. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29668105/ Steventon, K. (2020, May 1). Epidermal evolution: Rhythm, stress and touch response. Cosmet Toilet 135(5) 50-54. https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/research/biology/Epidermal-Evolution-Rhythm-Stress-and-Touch-Response-569986931.html Portnova, G.V., et al. (2020, Jul). Perceived pleasantness of gentle touch in healthy individuals is related to salivary oxytocin response and EEG markers of arousal. Exp Brain Res 238 2257-2268. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-020-05891-y Morgan, E. (2021, Jan 24). Lost touch: how a year without hugs affects our mental health. The Guardian. Available at : https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jan/24/lost-touch-how-a-year-without-hugs-affects-our-mental-health? Katerina Fotopoulous Lab. Available at: https://www.fotopoulou.com/ Prof Francis McGlone: school of psychologybiography, publications, professional. Liverpool John Moores University. Available at: https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/staff-profiles/faculty-of-health/school-of-psychology/francis-mcglone Robin Dunbarresearch summary. Experi Psych. Available at: https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/team/robin-dunbar Dunbar, R. (2011, Apr 25). Friends to count on. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/apr/25/few-people-dunbars-number Pawling, R., Cannon, P.R., McGlone, F.P. and Walker S.C. (2017, Mar 10) C-tactile afferent stimulating touch carries a positive affective value. PLOS One 12(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173457https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173457 Gentle touch soothes the pain of social rejection. (2017, Oct 18). University College London (UCL). Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2017/oct/gentle-touch-soothes-pain-social-rejection Robinson, H., et al. (2017, Jul). The role of social closeness during tape stripping to facilitate skin barrier recovery: Preliminary findings. Health Psychol 36(7) 619-629. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28277705/
Reader, have you ever found yourself on a vacation, wondering if your life could perhaps be more like a movie? And by like a movie, I mean specifically Shrek, Indiana Jones, and pretty much every other action/fantasy movie created over the past century featuring a bridge that suddenly breaks leaving our heroes  or occasionally villains  in a massive pickle? Well, one poor, poor tourist visiting the Jilin region north-east China got to live the full action flick experience, finding himself stranded on a roughly 853 foot tall, glass-bottomed suspension bridge after a sudden onslaught of approximately 93 mile-per-hour gale-force winds broke several panels of glass throughout the structure.

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While fortunately, there were no casualties stemming from the incident, the poor man was stranded on the bridge for roughly about 30 minutes on Friday afternoon untilfirefighters, police, and forestry and tourism personnel were able to rescue him, The Guardian reported.

"The staff of the scenic area rushed to the scene as soon as possible, brought emergency equipment and successfully transferred the trapped person to a safe area," local authorities said in a statement posted to Weibo, per CNN, noting that the man was taken to the hospital for assessment. He was ultimately discharged in stable emotional and physical condition.
Communist authorities arrested a preacher from the heavily-persecuted house church in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province, Early Rain Covenant Church, for allegedly disturbing public order by officiating a members funeral.

Preacher Wu Wuqing was arrested by officers from Damian Police Station in Chengdu citys Longquanyi District on Friday afternoon, hours after the funeral service, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported, saying it learned about the arrest from ERCCs prayer request.

Wu, who's also been persecuted in the past, was released late in the evening.

Authorities have shut down utilities at his home many times, and Chengdu police have threatened that if he continues to serve at ERCC, they will intensify their crackdown and monitoring of his movements, ICC said.

Source:The Christian Post
Mothers Day, which in the United States falls on the second Sunday of May every year, is a time when people remember and celebrate their mothers.

While its exact origins are disputed and it's not a federal holiday, the date is widely observed and often celebrated with the giving of gifts, candy, meals and time together.

Throughout the long history of Christianity, there have been many mothers who have exerted great influence over famous church leaders or carved their own prominence in the past.

Here are seven mothers who were important figures in Christian history, either through the influence they had on their famous children or through their own actions.

Source:The Christian Post
A Mississippi community is mourning the loss of their 55-year-old pastor who was killed by a small plane, which was carrying three Texas residents who were flying to a university graduation ceremony, that crashed into his home.

The Hattiesburg community has raised, as of early Sunday, nearly $11,000 through an online fundraiser it put together for the family of Gerry Standley, an assistant pastor at the Wayside Holy Temple church, who was one of the four people in the house when the plane, a Mitsubishi M-2B-60, crashed on Tuesday night.

The community held a candlelight vigil and balloon release Saturday evening to honor and remember the pastor.

Standley and his wife, Melinda, had celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary last month.

Source:The Christian Post
Grand Canyon National Park is one of those bucket list destinations that seldom disappoints.

After all, it is all about the sheer beauty of the landscape. This natural wonder, a testament to the design of God the Creator, with its varying colors and deep gorges carved through layers of rock is truly magnificent. Yet, many visitors dont give much thought to how they get to the Grand Canyon. This partially explains why the Grand Canyon West tourist trap exists.

Most of the canyons visitors arrive after passing Williams, a short drive from the national parks busy South Rim entrance. However, this small Arizona town (population 3,023) that was named after a mountain man and Old West legend the wokists have probably canceled is more than just the gateway to the Grand Canyon.

It is actually a destination in its own right, thanks to its prime location along the former U.S. Route 66, once known as the Mother Road or the Main Street of America. In fact, the longest uninterrupted stretch of the original 2,400-mile highway can be found in northwestern Arizona.

Source:The Christian Post
Chinese medical team helps build "anti-epidemic shield" for cooperation projects in Laos

Xinhua) 10:51, May 10, 2021

VIENTIANE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- After arriving in Laos on Tuesday, the medical expert team sent by the Chinese government has coordinated with the Lao side to fully carry out its job to join the fight against COVID-19 here, and has also helped build an "anti-epidemic shield" for cooperation projects and for the Chinese people in Laos.

The Chinese medical expert team has been to the Lao Ministry of Health to participate in the regular epidemic prevention and control meetings and on-site working conferences since the second day after its arrival, and has been going to the designated hospitals and temporary hospitals for treating COVID-19 infected cases, quarantine centers, virus sampling sites, laboratories, and border checkpoints in Laos, to exchange views and experience with the Lao colleagues and to provide suggestions and training courses to the Lao side, as well as directing the Chinese people and enterprises engaged in cooperation projects to handle the epidemic prevention and control, and reassure the infected Chinese compatriots.

The team of Chinese medical experts, along with medical materials, arrived in Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday to assist Laos in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The medical team includes experts in infection prevention and control, intensive care, epidemics, and laboratory testing.

Laos has been seeing a surge of COVID-19 infections recently. The Chinese medical team will help the Lao side in upgrading the precaution and treatment scheme, improving the technical level and response capabilities, studying the trend of the COVID-19 epidemic and making corresponding recommendations.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
The "Global Consumption Innovation & Duty Free and Travel Retail Conference" was held at the ongoing China International Consumer Products Expo, on May 7, in Haikou, the capital of Hainan province in China.

The conference was co-organized by the Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development and China Duty Free Group (CDFG). Feng Fei, governor of Hainan province; Wang Bingnan, vice-minister of commerce; and Wan Min, chairman of China Tourism Group (CTG) attended the conference.

Chen Guoqiang, general manager of CDFG, joined by Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oreal North Asia Zone, and celebrity online shopping anchor Wei Ya, shed light on new consumption and business forms during a round-table discussion on the topic of duty free.

Centering on the theme of "new consumption, new platforms, and new opportunities," the conference aimed to pool wisdom for the development of global consumption innovation, duty free retail, the tourism retail industry, and creating new markets for China's consumption, said Wan Min in his speech.

Wan noted that CTG's broad business scope included travel services, retail, transportation, travel finance, hotels, and cruise ships. He said that the enterprise had seized opportunities brought by China's new development paradigm and will help build Hainan into an international tourism island and an international tourism consumption center.

In the roundtable discussion session, Chen Guoqiang shared his views on promoting the development of the offshore duty-free shopping industry while China speeds up the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.

Chen said that Hainan had now become a popular destination for global investment and consumption, with enormous development opportunities and a huge tourism retail market. He emphasized that CDFG will adjust its business development model under the leadership of its parent company CTG and actively develop new forms of travel retail.

Slated for May 7-10 and covering 80,000 square meters, the expo has attracted 648 overseas companies and 1,365 brands from 69 countries and regions, as well as 857 enterprises and 1,263 brands from China.
In one of the most disruptive cybersecurity incidents to take place in the United States, Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline announced late Friday that it was the victim of a cyberattack, later confirmed to be a ransomware attack. The company said it proactively took specific systems offline and halted all pipeline operations.

Colonial called in federal authorities and hired FireEye Mandiant to conduct an incident response investigation. On Sunday, the third day of its shutdown, Colonial said it was developing a system restart plan while keeping its four main oil lines offline. The company said it would bring its "full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations."

News of Colonial's shutdown reverberated all weekend throughout the cybersecurity world, given how critical Colonial's pipeline business is to the nation's economic health. Colonial transports 2.5 billion barrels of oil per day to the eastern US and connects to 30 refineries and almost 300 distribution terminals. It carries gas and other fuel from Texas to the Northeast, delivering around 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast.

The criticality of Colonial Pipeline to the national infrastructure became clear late Sunday when the Biden administration issued emergency waivers in response to the cyberattack, lifting limits on the transportation of fuels by road as fears of shortages begin to put upward pressure on oil and gas prices. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the President had been briefed, and it's an "all-hands-on-deck" situation to ensure the attack doesn't disrupt the US oil supply.

Multiple sources have identified the attackers as the DarkSide group, an eastern European criminal ransomware gang, although DarkSide's website does not indicate it is the attacker. DarkSide's silence suggests to many experts that it could be negotiating a ransomware payment by Colonial, which has reportedly refused to answer questions about whether it plans to pay the ransom. Although DarkSide operates with the tacit permission of the Russian government and spares Russian, Kazakh and Ukrainian-speaking companies from its attacks, it is not technically considered a state-sponsored threat actor by most cybersecurity experts.

A big question remains how quickly Colonial can develop its restart plan. "There is no simple light switch or push button to magically restart and restore operations," Marco Ayala, ICS cybersecurity and sector lead, 1898 & Co. (part of construction engineering firm Burns & McDonnell) and sector chief of the FBI's Maritime Domain InfraGard group, tells CSO. When it comes to Colonial's operational technology or industrial control systems, "When was the last time that was ever done? They might be dusting off old three-ring binders on safe full system start-up."

Even with this and other questions yet to be answered, the Colonial attack offers a few lessons for how ICS firms should prepare for and respond to a cyberattack.

Greater visibility into OT systems could speed restart

A lack of visibility into the security status of its OT systems is likely what caused Colonial to shut down operations in the first place. "The big problem here is not knowing how deep and how far and how wide the impacts are," Ayala says. "From a critical infrastructure perspective, such as pipeline, natural gas or any other operations, if you don't know how deep and how far and how wide it went, you have to start talking to your operational director. and from a board-level standpoint, talking to your security officers and your operational directors saying, 'Hey, maybe we should be shutting down because we don't know how far it went.' Shutting down operations is a clear sign that they have little faith in their current operating technology security system, security environment, and posture."

In a note to clients, Ayala predicts that Colonial's recovery will "be anywhere from 48 to 84 hours or more to prep for return to operations. Given the breadth of the unknowns, the discovery, containment, decontamination and remediation effort will be lengthy and will likely result in a gradual return to operations."

Marty Edwards, vice president of operational technology security at cybersecurity firm Tenable and the longest-serving director of ICS-CERT, agrees. "They need to be able to have enough visibility into their environments to know how broad the impact actually is," he tells CSO. "It is often the case that critical infrastructure owners and operators simply don't have enough visibility, especially into these operating technology and industrial control system environments."

"They have the systems in place on the IT network to be able to reach into all of those laptops that are sitting on people's desks at home because of the pandemic, but they don't often have the same technology to reach into the industrial control system environments and determine their state," Edwards adds.

Better segmentation could avoid shutdowns

To help avoid a similar shutdown of their operational systems, industrial organizations should focus on better segmentation of functions and networks. "There should be clear and proper segmentation," Ayala says. "We have to do proper architecture. We have to know how to react. The lack of demarcation or lines in the proverbial sand and segmentation are big key pieces here. The lack of segmentation and demarcation of OT from IT is our biggest threat. To make matters worse, OT and IT are so intertwined now that if [an attacker takes down IT], OT could possibly crumble."

Segmentation comes into play when hunting for infected components and isolating them as quickly as possible to speed the return to normal operations. "You have to have that kind of real-time visibility that if something starts impacting your network operations in one geographic area, you can quickly reach into the system and find out where else you could potentially be vulnerable and segment and isolate those systems in as quick as a fashion as possible," Edwards says.

Transparency about the attack is critical

Another critical piece for organizations to consider is the governance policy surrounding ransomware events, particularly preparing for the aftermath of an attack by lining up effective communications strategies before you need them. "I always encourage as much transparency as you can give as an organization," Edwards says. "They should have almost pre-vetted statements, holding statements, press releases, etc., for these kinds of events so that the chief information security officer, when he or she gets the call that says, 'Boss, we have a problem,' they know already who in the organization they have to get approval from to release the statements, what the statements are going to be, they already have on retainer their incident response companies, etc."

Industrial organizations should also have or develop prudent plans for how to manage these attacks. "If companies have a well-tested and maintained disaster and recovery plan with good backups of all of these types of systems, then they can have confidence that they can isolate the incident," Edwards says. "They can shut down those environments, restore them from their backups according to their disaster recovery plans and come back up in as short of a time as possible."

Working with government is essential

Ayala gives Colonial high marks for its communication strategy and for working with the federal government. "They are working with their federal partners. They should be doing that. They should be working with the FBI, CISA and DHS."

Longer-term, the federal government should probably play a more critical role in preparing for these sorts of incidents. "We've said for a long time that it has to be a true partnership. I'm not throwing around the term partnership to mean more information-sharing programs or something. We need to have a combination of the private sector and the federal government at the table to really, really hammer out some solutions here," Edwards says.
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea has told the World Health Organization that it has tested 25,986 people for the coronavirus through April but still has yet to find a single infection.

The WHO said in a weekly monitoring report that North Koreas testing figures include 751 people who were tested during April 23-29, of which 139 had influenza-like illnesses or severe respiratory infections.

Experts have expressed skepticism about North Koreas claim of a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19, given its poor health infrastructure and a porous border it shares with China.

North Korea has described its anti-virus efforts as a matter of national existence. It has barred tourists, flown out diplomats and severely restricted cross-border traffic and trade.

The North has stopped providing the number of people it quarantines this year, but previously said it had quarantined tens of thousands who had exhibited symptoms.

___

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

 In coastal Senegal, beginning of the fishing season renews hope for industry ravaged by COVID-19

 While wealthier nations stockpile vaccines, some of the poorest countries have yet to receive any, even for medical staff

 Joyful reunions among vaccinated parents and children marked this years Mothers Day

 Concert advocating vaccine equity pulls in $302 million, exceeding its goal

Follow more of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

SAN SALVADOR El Salvador  The president of El Salvador says he will donate coronavirus vaccines to seven towns in Honduras even though his own countrys vaccination effort is still struggling.

El Salvador has administered about 1.25 million shots, not nearly enough for the countrys 6.5 million people.

But President Nayib Bukele was apparently touched by appeals from mayors of seven towns in neighboring Honduras who asked El Salvador for help, claiming their own government has abandoned them. He said Monday the donations will not affect El Salvadors vaccination drive.

Bukele has been known for staking out populist positions in the past.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have established a travel corridor for tourists who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The Gulf sheikhdoms jointly announced Monday that fully vaccinated travelers will be able to fly between the two countries without having to undergo mandatory quarantines.

The deal starts with Eid al-Fitr, one of Islams biggest holidays, at the end of this week. Travelers must demonstrate their vaccine status with approved COVID-19 health pass apps.

Similar quarantine-free travel bubbles are in effect elsewhere in the world, like Australia and New Zealand.

Daily infection rates in the UAE and Bahrain are similar, hovering around 1,500 infections per day  still far above last years levels.

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LANSING, Mich.  Michigan has passed a 55% coronavirus vaccination rate, a benchmark that will lead to the easing of in-office work restrictions in two weeks.

Employers currently must prohibit onsite work if an employees job can feasibly be done remotely. With Mondays announcement, state officials say they anticipate lifting the rule May 24.

Under the states pandemic system, when the vaccination rate reaches 60%, sports stadiums, banquet halls, conference centers and funeral homes will be allowed to raise their capacity to 25% of normal  and gyms will go to 50%. Restaurants and bars will no longer have an 11 p.m. curfew.

After 65%, all limits on indoor capacity will be lifted. At 70%, the state will rescind its mask and gatherings rules.

Authorities, however, can delay easing restrictions in any area with a high infection rate.

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JACKSON, Miss.  Mississippi will stop accepting supplemental unemployment benefits for pandemic relief from the federal government next month.

Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday that the weekly supplement of $300 per person was intended to help people who are unemployed through no fault of their own because of the coronavirus pandemic. He says that conversations with small business owners and employees indicate the aid is no longer needed.

Reeves says Mississippi will opt out of the additional federal unemployment benefits June 12, the earliest date allowed by federal law. Without the federal supplement, the maximum weekly unemployment benefit in Mississippi is $235.

The governor also says he has told the Department of Employment Security to resume requiring that a person document they are looking for a job in order to receive unemployment benefits.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala.Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Monday that Alabama will be the latest U.S. state to halt pandemic-related unemployment boosts, including the additional $300 benefit from the federal government.

Ivey cites an increase in job postings and complaints from businesses that they are unable to hire workers. She says she believes the increased unemployment assistance intended to bring emergency relief during the pandemic is now contributing to a labor shortage.

That view is echoed by conservative groups but disputed by some advocates for low-income families.

As Alabamas economy continues its recovery, we are hearing from more and more business owners and employers that it is increasingly difficult to find workers to fill available jobs, even though job openings are abundant, Ivey said in a statement.

Ivey says Alabama will end its participation in all federally funded pandemic unemployment compensation programs effective June 19. That includes the additional $300 weekly payment to recipients of unemployment compensation and benefits to gig and part-time workers who would not usually qualify.

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LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County expects to reach so-called community immunity by mid-to-late July, officials said Monday.

According to Barbara Ferrer, the countys public health director, the county expects to administer 400,000 shots weekly.

The county has administered nearly 8.5 million doses as of May 7 and needs to put an additional 1.5 million first doses in arms to hit the goal of 80% of county residents vaccinated.

The county reported four deaths on Monday and there is a lag in weekend reporting, Ferrer said. The county has had just over 24,000 pandemic-related deaths in total.

The county also reported 179 new cases on Monday.

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LOS ANGELES -- The superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District said Monday there are disparities in the return of students to classrooms in the nations second-largest district.

Elementary schools have higher in-person enrollment in more affluent communities than in low-income communities while the opposite is true in high schools, Superintendent Austin Beutner said in his weekly video briefing to the school community.

Beutner cited the example of West Los Angeles, where median household incomes exceed $115,000 and nearly 70% of elementary school students have returned to campus for in-person learning. In the city of Bell, however, where incomes are about $44,000, fewer than 20% of students are at schools.

At the high school level, COVID-19 safety protocols keep most instruction on-line, even for those who attend in person.

In the city of Huntington Park, where the median income is about $44,000, 12% of high school students have returned to in-person learning. In the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, where the median is nearly $100,000, only 5% have returned.

Beutner stressed the extensive safety measures put in place on campuses, the districts massive COVID-19 testing program and commitment to make vaccinations available.

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IRVINE, Calif. -- Prosecutors say a Southern California man has pleaded not guilty to charges he obtained $5 million in federal coronavirus-relief loans for phony businesses and then used the money for lavish vacations and to buy a Ferrari, a Bentley and a Lamborghini.

Mustafa Qadiri was arrested last week on suspicion of scheming to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program.

The 38-year-old will stand trial in June on multiple charges including bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

Prosecutors say his loan applications included altered bank records, fake tax returns and false information about employees.

He was released on $100,000 bond.

Qadiris attorney, Bilal A. Essayli, declined further comment Monday.

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SEATTLE -- Washington states Department of Health says preliminary data shows more people died of drug overdoses in 2020 than any other year in at least the last decade.

Authorities say the effects of the coronavirus pandemic likely led to a drug use surge.

The Seattle Times reports fatal drug overdoses increased by more than 30% last year compared to 2019. Thats an increase more than twice as large as any other year over the last decade.

Officials are still analyzing the preliminary data and causes of death in specific cases and expect the number of overdose deaths to grow even higher.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Millions of Californians would get tax rebates of up to $1,100 under a proposal unveiled by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of a broader pandemic recovery plan made possible by an eye-popping $75 billion budget surplus.

Individuals and households making between $30,000 and $75,000 annually would get a $600 payment under Newsoms plan announced Monday. All households making up to $75,000 with at least one child, including immigrants who file taxes, would get an extra $500 payment.

The payments are part of what Newsom is calling a $100 billion plan to drive the states economic recovery. It also comes as Newsom faces a recall election.

The massive budget surplus is largely due to taxes paid by rich Californians who generally did well during the pandemic, and marks a major turnaround after officials last year said they feared a deficit of more than $50 billion.

The payments will total an estimated $8.1 billion, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance. The proposal also includes $5.2 billion to pay back rent and $2 billion for overdue utility bills for people who fell behind during the pandemic.

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PORTLAND, Ore.  Portlands mass vaccination site will close on June 19 after giving hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 inoculations.

The All4Oregon site has been running since Jan. 20 at the Oregon Convention Center. The site began offering walk-in appointments last week but organizers say a drop in volume makes it clear that demand for a mass vaccination site is waning as shots become more widely available elsewhere.

All4Oregon will offer stop offering first doses of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine on May 27 and will offer second doses only in June. As of Friday, the site had administered 465,000 shots.

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NEW ORLEANS -- Organizers of a New Orleans vaccination event on Thursday will offer a free jab in the arm  and a free pound of boiled crawfish.

The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports that the vaccine promotion is being arranged by local business incubator Propeller, City Councilman Jay Banks, the city health department and longtime local seafood dealer Cajun Seafood.

Its one of numerous vaccination events held day to day in New Orleans, where as of late April roughly 43% of city residents had received at least one vaccine dose.

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MADRID  Spains top coronavirus expert has delivered a stern warning to people who are acting as if the pandemic had ended just because the government has relaxed measures amid an accelerating rollout of vaccines.

Fernando Simon said Monday that he was unable to predict how the contagion rate in Spain will evolve in coming days following scenes of revelers partying in mass over the past weekend, in many cases without social distancing or masks.

The street celebrations followed the end of a state of emergency, a blanket national rule that allowed authorities take strict measures such as travel bans, curfews and curbs on social gatherings, which collide with fundamental freedoms.

Spains rate of contagion fell to 188 new cases in two weeks per 100,000 residents from 198 on Friday and, way down from a peak of nearly 900 at the end of January. The country accumulates over 3.5 million confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic and over 78,000 deaths.

Simon said that he expected that new infections would hit harder people under 60 years ago, an age group that barring those in essential jobs is not being vaccinated yet. The expert said that the impact in older people could be lower among the elderly.

Nearly one third of Spains 47 million residents has received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot and 6 million people, most of them above 70, are fully vaccinated.
AP

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP)  Two students were rescued after their homemade boat constructed from buckets and kiddie pools drifted too far from the Southern California coast, authorities said.

The men in their early 20s set out Saturday from Isla Vista in the vessel of questionable seaworthiness, said Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason.
BRIDGEPORT  Whether through work or in his personal life, Samuel Diaz III has heard all of the myths and falsehoods people cite for not getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Oh  the microchip, Diaz, chief strategy officer for Southwest Community Health Center, said, rattling off a list that included the untrue claim recipients are implanted with a tracker. That one isnt so active anymore.

Still, Diaz and other prominent Hispanic leaders know there is still plenty of fear and skepticism in that community about the shots and have launched a new online, bilingual public service advertisement to whittle away reasons the holdouts have for avoiding the vaccines.

I think that the majority of the people who said, Im gonna do it, they did it, said Eddie Martinez, president of the Greater Bridgeport Latino Network. The people who are hesitant are those who are just not informed or (have) too much information, not knowing which is true, which isnt.

Martinez, Diaz and others are featured in the nearly five-minute video, released late last week, which seeks to debunk several pieces of misinformation about the COVID-19 shots.

Im here to call foul on the myth that vaccines are not safe, says John Torres, director of the Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders, into the camera. Trials with more than 70,000 people have shown that both vaccines are safe and effective.

Alma Maya, the citys former town clerk and a Democratic activist who, along with her household, battled COVID last fall, is also featured.

I assure you, you do not want that for your loved ones, Maya says in the video of her familys experience. I reject the rumor that the vaccine was developed too fast. Actually, no shortcuts were taken when developing the vaccines.

In addition to his duties with Southwest Community Health Center, Martinez is an instructor at his familys Shotokan Karate School in Stratford. In fact, he appears in the video at the school, letting viewers know it is impossible to catch coronavirus from the vaccines.

Nurse Jessica Alicea-Planas, who teaches at Fairfield University; Frankie Colon, head of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, and Clodomiro Falcon, who runs the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also each take a turn sharing information.

Martinez said those in the advertisement are people who have been known a long time in the community and are trusted by many.

This type of community outreach is hardly novel. For months, Black and Hispanic leaders, including heads of churches and elected officials, have been trying to overcome suspicion in those communities. Beside the misinformation that can be found on cable television or social media, vaccination advocates must also grapple with the medical professions prior use of minorities as test subjects.

The Black and Brown people are still kind of leery, Maya said, noting it took her several months to convince a close family member to get vaccinated.

Diaz said the decision to temporarily take the Johnson and Johnson shots  that was the third vaccine approved following inoculations offered by Pfizer and Moderna  out of circulation last month to review six rare blood clotting cases did not help boost confidence.

Once its pulled back, its tough to reintroduce it to the market and have acceptance, Diaz said.

Connecticut has a stockpile of 125,000 Johnson and Johnson doses but is not ordering more because of low demand, health officials said.

Diaz said he also believes the states decision to start lifting many of the COVID-related business and gathering restrictions put in place after the pandemic stuck Connecticut last March has given some people a false sense of security they do not need the shots.

Martinez said he also has heard from people who said they are leaving it up to the rest of the public to get vaccinated.

The thought is, Well, if enough people do it, I dont have to, Martinez said. That Ive heard a lot. People who are really even close to me. Family and friends. Were just gonna wait for most people to do it and then we dont have to.

Its a very selfish viewpoint, Diaz said.

City Hall has been trumpeting the need for vaccines for months and recently has had to fine-tune social media and print messaging to hone in on those who are still on the fence, said Communications Director Rowena White.

Were catering to what information they want to hear, White said. If the concept of (vaccine) safety is no longer relevant or hearing its important to me, health wise, is no longer relevant, what is?

She said the citys more recent advertising has focused on encouraging residents to get their shots to be able to see family and travel again.

White also acknowledged having to confront some of the persistent myths. Newly printed cards containing information on the inoculations being distributed around town specify the vaccines do not contain microchips.

It legitimately would come up, White said. If thats a feeling or a concern of our community, we need to address it.

Martinez said the Greater Bridgeport Latino Network said they hoped to follow up its public service announcement with a webinar addressing vaccine hesitancy.

And Diaz said work remains underway to make the shots as easily accessible as possible, including efforts by Southwest to offer no-appointment inoculations and to launch a bus that will drive into neighborhoods and offer people vaccines right outside of residents homes.

We want to keep the conversation going, Martinez said. Although Connecticut is in a good place (with COVID cases), we want to make sure we dont let off the gas.
Len Fasano of North Haven, the former Senate minority leader and 18-year veteran of the General Assembly, was approved by a key legislative committee on Monday to become one of two part-time commissioners in the nonpartisan law-writing office.

Members of the Executive & Legislative Nominations Committee praised Fasano as a fair, collegial, policy-driven lawmaker, before they approved his nomination for the full General Assembly to consider and ratify. Fasano, with a law office in New Haven, would be paid about $52,000 a year and serve as Republican legislative commissioner, to Democrat Ed Maley.
BOSTON (AP)  Lawyers made their final pitch to jurors Monday in the fraud and corruption case against a once-celebrated young Massachusetts mayor, painting contrasting pictures of a shrewd con man driven by greed to line his own pockets or a victim of lies who never committed a crime.

After two weeks of testimony in Boston's federal court, jurors will decide whether former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, 29, is guilty of stealing from investors who backed his smartphone app and extorting tens of thousands of dollars from marijuana businesses who wanted to operate in the city.

In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Hafer described Correia as a shameless liar who betrayed trusting investors and abused the power of his office in order to fund his lavish lifestyle and shower his then-girlfriend with expensive gifts.

"The evidence has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant would and did say anything to anyone to get what he wanted," said Hafer, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. attorney's office. He convinced and persuaded people from all walks of life  from a trusting orthodontist to rough and tumble street guys  to do what he wanted. And what he wanted was money and what he wanted was power.

Correia, who was elected mayor at the age of 23 in 2015, faces charges including wire fraud, extortion conspiracy and bribery. He has insisted since his 2018 arrest that he's innocent and blamed the accusations on his political enemies. He never took the stand and the defense called just three witnesses.

Correia's lawyer sought to sow doubt in prosecutors' case by suggesting the government witnesses who pleaded guilty in the extortion scheme are lying in an effort to take Correia down and help themselves.

Kevin Reddington acknowledged that Correia used investor money for personal expenses, but said the former mayor was not "the brightest bulb when it came to business and believed he could use the money as he deemed fit as long as he was working on the app.

He thought mistakenly that this was money that was his because it was his job because he was producing and he was developing this app," Reddington said.

Jurors will begin deliberating Tuesday.

Investors, some of whom had close personal relationships with Correia, described throughout the trial how the polished and well-spoken recent college graduate earned their trust by falsely claiming he had already successfully sold another start-up.

Overall, prosecutors say Correia took about two-thirds of almost $400,000 he received from investors for himself. Among the things prosecutors say he paid for with investor money: a helicopter tour of Newport, Rhode Island, a Mercedes, a $300 bottle of cologne, a $700 pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, and tens thousands of dollars at luxury hotels, casinos and high-end restaurants.

In 2014, while serving as a Fall River city councilor, Correia told a student loan lender he was only making $17,000 a year and could not afford a payment. Shortly after, he spent $2,000 on plane tickets and more than $1,000 for two nights at an upscale Cape Cod resort, Hafer said.

Prosecutors showed jurors a clip from a 2015 debate during the race for mayor in which Correia pledged to spend taxpayer dollars wisely just like he said he had done in his business.

He had no problem looking the voters right in the eye and telling them he spent his money wisely knowing it wasnt true, Hafer said. Think about that  it tells you a lot, he said.

A string of people who had sought to run marijuana businesses in Fall River testified about how Correia or middlemen negotiated bribes in exchange for letters of approval from the city they need in order to get a license. Prosecutors had one man, Charles Saliby, use fake money to show jurors how he says he stuffed $75,000 in cash in a metal box clipboard before handing it to Correia in the mayor's city-issued vehicle.

Reddington suggested it made no sense that Correia  who knew at the time that the FBI was all over him like a new suit"  would be so bold as to accept a bribe like that in public. Reddington urged jurors to carefully scrutinize the witness' testimony and their motivations.

Words are one thing. Evidence is quite another," Reddington said.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Palestinian militants launched dozens of rockets from Gaza and Israel unleashed new air strikes against them early Tuesday, in an escalation triggered by soaring tensions in Jerusalem and days of clashes at an iconic mosque in the holy city.

Twenty-four people, including nine children, were killed in Gaza overnight, most of them in Israeli strikes. More than 700 Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and across the West Bank in 24 hours, including nearly 500 who were treated at hospitals. The Israeli military said six Israeli civilians were hurt by rocket fire Tuesday morning.

This round of violence, like previous ones, was fueled by conflicting claims over Jerusalem, home to major holy sites of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The rival national and religious narratives of Israelis and Palestinians are rooted in the city, making it the emotional core of their long conflict.

In recent weeks, tension has been soaring in Jerusalem, marked by clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in the walled Old City, located in east Jerusalem which Israel captured and annexed in the 1967 war.

One of the flashpoints in the Old City has been the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site of Islam and the holiest site of Judaism. Another driver of Palestinian anger has been the threatened eviction of Palestinian families from homes in an east Jerusalem neighborhood by Israeli settlers.

Monday was a long day of anger and deadly violence, laying bare Jerusalems deep divisions, even as Israel tried to celebrate its capture of the citys eastern sector and its sensitive holy sites more than half a century ago. With dozens of rockets flying into Israel throughout the night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with top security officials and warned that the fighting could drag on, despite calls for calm from the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.

Hamas, the militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, fired dozens of rockets Monday evening, setting off air raid sirens as far as Jerusalem. The barrage came after Hamas had given Israel a deadline to withdraw forces from the Al-Aqsa compound.

By Tuesday morning, Hamas and other Gaza militants had fired more than 200 rockets. That included a barrage of six rockets that targeted Jerusalem, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) away. It set off air raid sirens throughout Jerusalem, and explosions could be heard in what was believed to be the first time the city had been targeted since a 2014 war.

There appeared to be some first signs of de-escalation in Jerusalem early Tuesday. Palestinian worshippers performed the dawn prayer at the mosque without confrontations as Israel apparently limited the presence of its police officers around the compound. Amateur videos showed dozens of faithful marching to the mosque and chanting we sacrifice our blood, soul for Al-Aqsa.

In Gaza, an Israeli drone strike killed a man in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis early Tuesday, according to local media reports. In another strike, a woman and two men were killed when a missile struck the upper floors of an apartment building in the Shati refugee camp on the edge of Gaza City, according to Gaza Health Ministry and rescue services.

Hamas' armed wing said it intensified the rocket barrages following the airstrike on the house.

The Israeli military said it had carried out dozens of airstrikes across Gaza overnight, targeting what it said were Hamas military installations and operatives. It said a Hamas tunnel, rocket launchers and at least eight militants had been hit.

Dozens of rockets were intercepted by Israels Iron Dome defense system. But one landed near a home on the outskirts of Jerusalem, causing light damage to the structure and sparking a brush fire nearby. In southern Israel, an Israeli man was lightly wounded after a missile struck a vehicle.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that terrorist organizations in Gaza have crossed a red line and attacked us with missiles in the outskirts of Jerusalem.

He said fighting could continue for some time and that whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price, he said, warning that the fighting could continue for some time.

Gaza health officials gave no further breakdowns on the casualties. At least 15 of the 22 deaths in Gaza were attributed to the airstrikes. Seven of the deaths were members of a single family, including three children, who died in a mysterious explosion in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. It was not clear if the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike or errant rocket. More than 100 Gazans were wounded in the airstrikes, the Health Ministry said.

In a statement issued early Tuesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the rocket attacks would continue until Israel stops all scenes of terrorism and aggression in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque.

Tensions at the site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, have triggered repeated bouts of violence in the past.

In Mondays unrest, Israeli police fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in clashes with stone-throwing Palestinians at the compound.

More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the mosque as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets.

Over 600 Palestinians were hurt in Jerusalem alone, including more than 400 who required care at hospitals and clinics, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Palestinians and police reported renewed clashes late Monday. Israeli police also reported unrest in northern Israel, where Arab protesters burned tires and threw stones and fireworks at security forces. Police said 46 people were arrested.

Mondays confrontations came after weeks of almost nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The month tends to be a time of heightened religious sensitivities.

Most recently, the tensions have been fueled by the planned eviction of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, where Israeli settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties.

Israels Supreme Court postponed a key ruling Monday in the case, citing the circumstances.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned in the strongest terms the rocket fire on Israel and called on all sides to calm the situation.

More broadly, were deeply concerned about the situation in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including violent confrontations in Jerusalem, he said. He said the U.S. would remain fully engaged and praised steps by Israel to cool things down, including the court delay in the eviction case.

In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by thousands of flag-waving nationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City to mark Jerusalem Day.

The annual festival is meant to celebrate Israels capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. But it is widely seen as a provocation because the route goes through the heart of Palestinian areas.

Israel also captured the West Bank and Gaza in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.

Meanwhile, the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar, which frequently mediate between Israel and Hamas, were all trying to halt the fighting, a diplomatic official confirmed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.

The tensions in Jerusalem have threatened to reverberate throughout the region and come at a crucial point in Israels political crisis. Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition last week, and his opponents are now working to build an alternate government.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  A man was shot while driving along Berkshire Avenue over the weekend, according to police officials.

Capt. Kevin Gilleran, head of the Detective Bureau, said police learned of the shooting around 11:45 p.m. Saturday.
Yinchuan City, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has tracked 133 close contacts and 316 secondary close contacts of a new imported COVID-19 case reported on Saturday, according to the local COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters.

A total of 355 close contacts were quarantined at designated places and tested negative for the coronavirus. Besides, 11,244 of Yinchuan's residents have been sampled for nucleic acid tests, with 7,103 samples testing negative for COVID-19 and the remaining still being tested.

The newly-confirmed imported case, a male, arrived in Yinchuan on Friday after 14-day medical observation and three nucleic acid tests in Shanghai. The 32-year-old was found positive during a nucleic acid test after he arrived at Yinchuan Hedong International Airport.

Further epidemiological investigations are underway, and the venues he visited have been disinfected.
Gerald Herbert/AP

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  The Louisiana Senate voted Monday to require regular audits of the state's elections by the legislative auditor, a measure pushed by Republicans who said they wanted to ensure people have confidence in election results.

The proposal by Sen. Heather Cloud, a Turkey Creek Republican, was sent to the House with a 27-10 vote. All Republicans present for the vote backed the bill. All Democrats  except Norco Sen. Gary Smith  voted against it.
STRATFORD  The town has issued another call for potential developers interested in redeveloping the former Center School property.

A 40-page request for proposals posted to the towns website last week gives a June 22 deadline for bids to be received at Town Hall.

And while the document isnt too specific about what uses officials want to see at the 3.6-acre downtown site off Sutton Avenue, the document spells out one thing they do want: developers prepared to dig.

The town is seeking proposals that include subterranean parking accommodations for residents and tenants of the proposed development under this RFP, as well as for employees of the Stratford Board of Education (BOE) Building, the RFP says. A limited amount of surface parking spaces will be allowed for visitors, deliveries and for municipal use.

While not spelled out in the RFP, at a recent meeting of the towns Redevelopment Agency, Chairman George Perham outlined a total of about 50 to 60 parking spaces to service the nearby school board building, 100 or so for the property itself and another 30 to 50 for the public.

Im pretty confident we could get over 200 cars down there, he said.

Mary Dean, the towns director of economic development, said Friday that the town is open to ideas.

Were really not defining the number of spots, she said. We really wanted to recognize what the surrounding neighborhood wanted for the property, so we took a lot of time with this one. Weve had a lot of interest from developers, so lets hope that they follow through with proposals to us.

The concept of a parking garage on the site was floated by the administration of prior Mayor John Harkins  and prompted residents to rally in opposition.

But Perham said underground parking could be a novel solution.

The intent and the idea is to have more open space, Perham said later. And to get more open space, wed like to see more underground parking.

Because digging could put a financial burden on the project, he said the town is entertaining the idea of a public-private partnership.

The town will work with the selected developer to determine a cost share agreement on the shared subterranean parking model, the RFP says.

In response to a question from agency member Anthony Nizzardo, Perham said the underground parking could be accessed through an easement from the owner of an adjoining property or through a paper street that runs parallel to Interstate 95 to a traffic circle at the end of Sutton Avenue.

We have two options depending on how it goes, he said.

The chairman also said an earlier engineering report shows the water table is 12 to 14 feet below the surface.

We might not be totally out of it but well be out of it enough to not have a tremendous amount of cost added to the subsurface parking garage, he said. Its really nice soil. Theres no ledge or anything else. Its good digging ground.

Perham also said the town has removed the so-called Koperwhats House  a historic home adjacent to the site on East Broadway  from inclusion in the development for the time being because it might be used as a temporary location for an African-American History museum.

The RFP shows that property as a site for potential future development, though it also envisions access to the site via a driveway off East Broadway between the house and the school district building.

The RFP also calls on possible developers to highlight innovative practices that they have used to solicit, evaluate and incorporate public comments into similar redevelopment projects.

A lack of public outreach was one of many elements that doomed a proposal from a preferred developer unveiled by the redevelopment agency last year.

The town walked away after the developers plans for a 132-unit apartment development were widely panned, the last in a series of failed development efforts at the property, which has stood vacant since the former school was demolished in December 2018.

Kaitlyn Shake, D-2, the Town Council member whose district covers the site, said that although now the size of the property is smaller, the subterranean parking feature will also provide parking options to BOE employees potentially alleviating concerns for parking congestion.

Now we wait for the responses and I look forward to July when the administration will share the proposals with the Town Council for review, Shake said.
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Pound US Dollar Exchange Rate Forecast: Could an Upbeat Bank of England Further Boost Sterling?

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The Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate rose by 0.7% today after Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated that the UKs roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions remains on track. The pairing is currently trading around $1.40.Sterling headed higher against the Greenback today as confidence in the UK economy continues to grow, with England set to further ease lockdown restrictions on 17 May.Boris Johnson told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show on Sunday:The roadmap remains on track, our successful vaccination programme continues  more than two-thirds of adults in the UK have now had the first vaccine  and we can now look forward to unlocking cautiously but irreversibly.The Pound (GBP) has also benefited from the Scottish National Partys (SNP) narrow miss of achieving a majority in the Scottish Parliament.As a result, GBP traders are more hopeful that this could prevent the break-up of the UK, despite Nicola Sturgeons warning to Boris Johnson that a Scottish independence referendum was a matter of when, not if.Marios Hadjikyriacos, investment analyst at XM, commented:With political risk fading for now and the Bank of England preparing the ground for ending QE later this year as the British economy kicks into higher gear, the outlook for sterling remains favourable.The US Dollar (USD) has continued to fall today following last weeks dismal US payrolls data. Friday saw Aprils nonfarm payrolls data fall massively below forecasts from 770 thousand to 266 thousand, despite forecasts of an increase to 978 thousand.CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented on the payrolls figure:US payrolls report threw an enormous monkey wrench into this narrative after a huge miss to the headline expectation, as the US economy added 266,000 jobs in April, well below the consensus of one million that was predicted.According to the latest release, the US economy had only produced 266,000 jobs last month, falling blow expectations and dampening confidence in the US economy.Silvia DallAngelo, the senior economist at the investment manager Federated Hermes, commented on the data:The US labour market will continue to improve, as the economy re-opens and confidence comes back, supported by further progress in the vaccine rollout and fiscal stimulus. However, as the April report shows, the process of healing will be lengthy, possibly somewhat bumpy, and it might be incomplete as the crisis could leave some degree of scarring in the labour market.Rising tensions between China and Australia have, however, prompted demand for the safe-haven Greenback today. As a result, we could see the USD/GBP exchange rate claw back some of its losses if risk sentiment further sours.Pound (GBP) traders will await tomorrows speech from Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England (BoE).Any upbeat comments about the outlook for the British economy would further drive up the Pound to US Dollar exchange rate.US Dollar (USD) investors will await a speech from John Williams, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.If Williams confirms fears for the outlook for the US economy following the below forecasts payrolls figures, then the Pound to US Dollar exchange rate could continue to head higher.

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A recent study has shown that Qingfei Paidu soup, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) widely used to treat COVID-19, can help reduce the rate of death among hospitalized patients by half, China Daily reported Monday.

The study, led by researchers from Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, examined more than 8,900 hospitalized COVID-19 cases in Hubei Province, the hardest-hit region during the epidemic, from January to May last year.

Nearly 30 percent of the patients had taken Qingfei Paidu as part of their therapies. Results suggest that the mortality rate for those undergoing the TCM treatment stands at 1.2 percent, while the rate for other patients is 4.8 percent, said the report.

The study concluded that the use of Qingfei Paidu is associated with a 50 percent reduction of mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, without amplifying the risk of developing acute liver or kidney injuries.

The newspaper cited Li Jing, head of the research team, as saying that based on the national diagnosis and treatment guidelines for COVID-19, Qingfei Paidu is the only prescription that is recommended for treating all patients ranging from mild to critical cases.

Qingfei Paidu is a concoction made of dozens of TCM herbs and roots such as ephedra, licorice root and bitter almond.

The study is by far the largest clinical research on Qingfei Paidu and its findings have provided strong evidence proving its marked efficacy in saving the lives of COVID-19 patients, according to the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
There's no gratitude in politics, they say. But this aphorism appears to have been refuted in last week's multiple elections.

The Conservatives in England, the SNP in Scotland and Labour in Wales: all were rewarded.

The point is that in each of our nations, the leaders of these (governing) parties were fronting up the Covid vaccination programme, and were the principal public voice of the policy. It has been extraordinarily successful. So, to the administrators, the political spoils.

The Conservatives might be perplexed, given the vaccination triumph rested so heavily on Boris Johnson's wise decision not to join in the pan-European procurement system, that the pro-European SNP and Welsh Labour have benefited from a policy they would not have chosen.

But to be fair to the Scottish and Welsh First Ministers, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford, they never challenged the way the vaccines were distributed. Whereas the Labour Party in England did.

And we should not forget it  because it reveals something about why they have become so unpopular.

Priority

In January, the English Labour Party objected to the jabs schedule set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which was to prioritise purely on the basis of risk of dying from Covid.

We were all ranked by age, eldest first  with only front-line health workers given higher priority, regardless of age. It was simple, fair and based on the best medical assessment of risk of death from Covid.

But Keir Starmer's Labour Party disagreed, and argued that all 'key workers' should be prioritised. Or, as its press release declared: 'Approximately 6.2 million key workers would benefit from being moved up the priority list.'

Keir Starmer's Labour Party challenged the way the vaccines were distributed and it might have lost votes because of it

Doubtless they would. But the inevitable consequence, had Labour's policy been adopted, would have been to delay the vaccination of older, more vulnerable people, with, literally, fatal results.

Needless, to say, all the 'key workers' Labour sought to prioritise were in the public sector, whose trade unions are the party's most significant financial backers. Follow the money.

The most voluble supporter for this policy was Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, who has just been removed from her position as party chair, allegedly because she was responsible, as 'campaigns coordinator', for Labour's abject performance in the Hartlepool by-election.

The most voluble supporter for Labour's 'public sector first' policy was Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, who has just been removed from her position as party chair [File photo]

Rayner's defence of Labour's vaccine policy called to mind the comedian Diane Morgan's creation, Philomena Cunk  also a redhead with a strong Northern accent

Having heard Rayner's deplorable defence of the party's 'public sector first' vaccination policy on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, I thought at the time this was not a person you should put in charge of anything.

She was, in that interview with Justin Webb, specifically demanding that teachers be given special priority.

But when Webb put it to her that this 'would make the delay longer for other people  those over the age of 65', Rayner blithely retorted that 'we wouldn't be pushing them down, because the Government can deliver more vaccines'.

Untrue

But first, the NHS was already getting as many vaccines as they could handle; and second, no matter what the pace, if you had put teachers ahead of the over 65s, you would still be relegating, in the pecking order, those at much higher risk of dying from Covid.

Rayner even told the BBC that 'all front-line key workers, including teachers, are more at risk of infection and death, and that's a fact.'

Not only was that untrue (England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, had already pointed out: 'Is there a clear signal in the data of a markedly increased risk of infection or mortality in teachers? No.'), the figures showed that the professional group most at risk of dying from Covid were restaurant managers: way, way ahead of teachers.

Indeed, the risk to teachers was even lower than that of the working age population as a whole. Restaurant managers, however, are not part of the Labour/public sector union nexus.

So farcical was Rayner's defence of Labour's policy, she reminded me of the comedian Diane Morgan's creation, Philomena Cunk  also a redhead with a strong Northern accent  who started life in Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe.

In fact, Labour's policy was little different from what had actually happened in much of the EU.

Rayner claimed that teachers were more at risk of death and infection from Covid-19, despite England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam (pictured) having already pointed out: 'Is there a clear signal in the data of a markedly increased risk of infection or mortality in teachers? No'

Not only was their rollout much more sluggish than ours, but in many of those countries, notably Portugal and Italy, the public sector unions had ensured that their members got priority.

This is yet another reason why the decline in the deaths of the elderly from Covid there has been so much less rapid than in the UK. (Our fatalities among those aged 70 or over have fallen by 98 per cent since the peak in January.)

Pressure

In February the Portuguese former Europe Minister, Bruno Macaes, an outspoken admirer of the UK's approach, observed of his own nation: 'You have to understand the country is organised around corporatism. So the police will get vaccinated, the firemen  the politicians. Only at the end the elderly, because they are a mere age group and don't even have a union, the poor fellows.'

The Portuguese former Europe Minister, Bruno Macaes, is an outspoken admirer of the UK's approach to vaccinations, observing that his own nation 'is organised around corporatism' [File photo]

It so happened that our own Government came under great pressure from the police to give them special treatment.

The head of the Met, Dame Cressida Dick, had asked them to do so, and declared herself 'extremely disappointed' that officers had not been prioritised.

The head of the Met, Dame Cressida Dick, said she was 'extremely disappointed' that police had not been prioritised for vaccines [File photo]

When I raised this with a friend at the heart of the vaccination scheme, he told me with a sigh: 'Every department in Whitehall argued that its stakeholders were a special case.'

It was vital for the Government, as a whole, to hold the line against this: not just in the interests of saving the greatest number of lives, but also to prevent the vaccination queue becoming an unedifying competition between various vested interests.

If that had happened, it would have undermined the societal solidarity and fairness which have been so important in our battle against Covid.

When solidarity and fairness are displayed by the Conservatives, rather than Labour, no wonder Hartlepool chose blue over red; and no wonder Keir Starmer seems confused.

Watch out Fogle! My Chihuahuas might give you a nip

What foolishness is this? In last Thursday's Mail, Ben Fogle denounced that splendid breed, the Chihuahua: 'What is the point of such yappy little dogs? You can't go for lovely long walks with them.'

We have three delightful Chihuahuas who all adore going for walks, of any duration. Why would they not? As Fogle points out, little dogs have oodles of energy.

His article was a commentary on a recent report from the University of Helsinki that 'small breeds are by far the most likely to attack humans'.

That may be  but if owners of Chihuahuas thought like Fogle and never took their dogs for a walk, it is obvious the poor mutts' pent-up energy might result in aggressive behaviour.

Chihuahuas have oodles of energy and are handy companions for anyone with a rat infestation as their origins in Mexico were as ratters. Pictured: Dominic Lawson's three Chihuahuas out for a walk

It would be yet another demonstration of the rule 'blame the owner, not the dog'. And Chihuahuas get a bad name precisely because too many owners wrongly consider them a 'handbag dog' and treat them accordingly.

In fact, their origins in Mexico were as ratters  and their tiny size was engineered to enable them to hunt in apertures too small for standard breeds.

We have certainly benefited from this: it is only our Chihuahuas' 'high prey instinct' (as the textbooks call it) which has kept our infestation of rats down to tolerable levels.

On many nights we hear a penetrating squeal  which is the noise a rat makes when suddenly seized in the jaws of one of our Chihuahuas.

And, for the record, they've never done that to a human.

They might make an exception if they came across Ben Fogle, however, because they are sensitive creatures, and resent hurtful comments.
A mother who had ten kids in ten years, and has since welcomed her 11th child, has revealed her ambitions to have as many as 14 children.

Courtney Rogers, 36, who lives in Santa Fe county, New Mexico, was a virgin bride when she married pastor husband Chris, 32, in October 2008.

The couple welcomed their 11th child in November last year, and now have six boys and five girls: Clint, 11, Clay, nine, Cade, eight, Callie, seven, Cash, six, twins Colt and Case, five, Calena, four, Caydie, two, Coralee, 23 months, and Caris, six months.

Courtney Rogers, 36, who lives in Santa Fe county, New Mexico, is mother to six boys and five girls: Clint, 11, Clay, nine, Cade, eight, Callie, seven, Cash, six, twins Colt and Case, five, Calena, four, Caydie, two, Coralee, 23 months, and Caris, six months

Courtney Rogers, 36, who had ten kids in ten years, and has since welcomed her 11th child, has revealed she spends 975-a-month on the food shop

Courtney, the eldest of six, met Chris through mutual friends at church camp in Georgia in 2007.

She has not been more than nine months without being pregnant since she married her husband, who is the eldest of ten children.

The couple, whose monthly food shops cost $1,200 home-school their huge brood and drive a 15 seater van, according to The Sun, but are still considering expanding their family.

'We want to have more if we can,' said Courtney. 'We want to have 12 children, a family of 14 even.'

The couple welcomed their 11th child in November last year, a girl called Caris, and they now have six boys and five girls aged between five months and 10 years

The couple, whose monthly food shops cost $1,200 (975), home-school their huge brood and drive a 15 seater van

In January, the family was forced to cut out all meals and days out, which were costing well over $1,000 a month.

The kids wear hand-me-down clothes and shoes, with stay-at-home mother Courtney does some sale shopping to save some money.

Courtney and Chris, who were both homeschooled, say they love teaching their children on their 12-acres of land - which also has a farm.

And the devotd mother said that it helps her to ensure all her children get attention and nobody feels left out.

She admits that she's been criticised by strangers for having so many children, and so close together.

'The people who ask how I can give all my kids enough attention are usually those who send their kids off to school,' she explained.

'I do not understand their logic when I am around my kids 24 hours a day.'

Courtney who lives in Santa Fe county, New Mexico, was a virgin bride when she married pastor husband Chris, 32, in October 2008

The couple also have Clint, 10, Clay, eight, Cade, seven, Callie, six, Cash, five, twins Colt and Case, four, Calena, two, Caydue, 21 months and Coralee, 10 months

But the doting mother insists she's not done having babies, and says she wants 'to have 12 children'

She said that homeschooling means that ever lesson can be easily adapted, and she's not forcing her children to sit still for hours at a time.

The flexibility allows them to run around outside and feed lambs between lesssons.

Courtney, who also teaches local kids at church Sunday school, explains she's 'more like a tutor' and sometimes has 'four kids queuing up' to ask her maths questions while she's changing nappies.

She has had seven vaginal births, two C-sections (one of which was to twins) and also sadly had two miscarriages.

Courtney and Chris, who were both homeschooled, say they love teaching their children on their 12-acres of land - which also has a farm

In January, the family was forced to cut out all meals and days out, which were costing well over $1,000 (812) a month

Courtney, who has never suffered with morning sickness, said she 'loves being pregnant' and thinking about what her latest child will be like and picking out names.

She doesn't like using birth control but says it isn't for religious reasons, and just 'doesn't like the idea of taking a pill'.

The parent's wake early, around 7:30am, and Courtney called mornings 'the most hectic part of the day', but her older children lend a helping hand and have chores to do.
A cropped turtleneck jumper is grabbing attention on social media for all the wrong reasons.

The $22.95 Raglan knit from fast fashion website Shein looks like any other from behind, but it's a very different story in front.

The fabric is cut above the cleavage, meaning the jumper would fully expose the wearer's bra or breasts if they didn't have a top on underneath.

The $22.95 Raglan knit (pictured) from fast fashion website Shen looks like any other from behind, but it's a very different story in front

The fabric is cut above the cleavage, meaning the jumper would fully expose the wearer's bra or breasts if they didn't have a top on underneath

Poll Would you wear the jumper? Yes No Would you wear the jumper? Yes 53 votes

No 273 votes Now share your opinion





Available in sizes six to 14, the jumper is made from polyester and has thick cuffed sleeves that match the turtleneck neckline.

The style boasts over 3,000 customer reviews, with some raving about the flattering fit of the material while others wondered why they had paid almost $23 for a top that doesn't cover their modesty.

And it's not the first piece of Shein clothing to raise eyebrows online.

Earlier this year, a provocative pair of jeans from the famously outrageous retailer caused a stir for their unusual cowboy-inspired cut outs.

They look normal from the back, but these jeans take a very racy turn at the front

The $30.95 pants appear normal from the back, but at the front a large piece of fabric is cut out from the waist down to the crotch, leaving the wearer's intimate area free for all to see.

The style exposes every inch of the stomach, groin and upper thigh, making underwear - ideally high-waisted - essential.

Available in sizes six to 14, the straight leg jeans made from cotton and polyester have deep pockets on either side and a button-front closure.

A large piece of fabric is cut out from the waist down to the crotch, exposing every inch of the stomach, groin and upper thigh

The silhouette (pictured) is inspired by cowboy chaps, sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leather leggings and a belt that buckle on to protect against contact with horses and livestock - but these are traditionally worn over trousers for modesty

The jeans have only just dropped online, but they're sure to attract interesting reactions once orders are delivered.

The silhouette is inspired by cowboy chaps, sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leather leggings and a belt that buckle on to protect against contact with horses and livestock.

Chaps have no seat, meaning they are not joined at the crotch, but are traditionally worn over jeans for modesty.
A Coles Mother's Day cake fail has the internet divided - with some certain the 'childish' cakes were decorated that way on purpose.

A video of the iced chocolate cakes with the caption 'Hagrid is working at Coles' quickly went viral as millions across Australia celebrated Mother's Day.

The cakes had hearts and messages for mum scrawled on the top in a display that made even the most novice cake decorators squirm.

A Coles Mother's Day cake fail has the internet divided - with some thinking the very childishly decorated cakes were made to look awkward on purpose

A video of the iced chocolate cakes with the caption 'Hagrid is working at Coles' quickly went viral on Sunday, as people around the world celebrated Mother's Day

'Whoever did those lied on their resume,' one woman laughed.

'I saw these and all of the hearts were so bad,' another woman said.

Others tagged their friends and laughed that all of the cakes would look like this if they worked there.

Poll Do you think the cake is 'bad' on purpose? Yes, it is clever marketing No, a baker rushed the icing Do you think the cake is 'bad' on purpose? Yes, it is clever marketing 191 votes

No, a baker rushed the icing 80 votes Now share your opinion





'That is so sad,' said another woman.

'Imagine actually making this,' laughed a man.

But most people seemed to think the cake was 'ugly' on purpose with one woman describing the move by Coles as 'really clever'.

'No one would believe that was professionally made,' she said.

With others agreeing the the 'amateur design' is part of a genius plan to help out dads and kids.

'That's so hubby can say he made it,' one woman laughed.

'Yep, so dad can tell you he and the kids decorated it with love,' agreed another.

Others laughed and said it looked like it had been sat on or dropped.

The video creator dropped in to clarify her caption.

The cakes had hearts and cute messages for mum scrawled on the top - in a display that made even the most novice cake decorators squirm

'I know it is for the kids and everything but when I saw it it just made me think of Harry's birthday cake straight away,' she said referencing Harry Potter.

Others laughed and said there must be a lot of kids and dads now caught out in a lie.

Another said she couldn't stop laughing at the cake while one woman commented it looked like someone made them at the end of a big night.

Some people said they wouldn't pay for something 'that bad' but many disagreed and said it was lovely.

The video has had more than 23,000 shares in just 18 hours and attracted hundreds of comments.

The cakes were on sale for $4 by the time the video was made - which indicates a 25 per cent discount.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Coles for comment.
Lucy Goff, 47, launched Lyma, billed as the worlds first super-supplement, in 2018. She lives in London with her husband Simon, a technology innovator, daughter, eight and stepson, 14.

For me 2012 was the year from hell. I spent six weeks in hospital battling septicaemia following the birth of my daughter  I had an emergency C-section after being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.

I nearly died and emerged feeling terrible. Over the next few months I saw top Harley Street doctors. Each told me I had toxins in my body and prescribed a different course of treatment, which resulted in a kitchen full of tonics and supplements. I was spending a fortune but none had any effect. I was still bedridden and couldnt cook a meal.

Lucy Goff (pictured), 47, launched Lyma, billed as the worlds first super-supplement, in 2018. She lives in London with her husband Simon, a technology innovator, daughter, eight and stepson, 14

I limped on and in 2014, a friend took me to Geneva to convalesce. By chance I met Dr Paul Clayton, an Oxford professor and world authority in nutritional science.

I told him my story and he explained that many of the supplements sold today deliver no provable benefits. Worse still, many of the doses are too high. The bioavailable curcumin supplement I was taking was wrecking my stomach lining. He prescribed me a new regime using eight patented ingredients, each dosed at exact levels. Within a month, I was back at work, full of energy. It was life-changing.

I asked him: How can I get more of these ingredients? And he said: You cant. I did you a special formula, but this level of ingredient is not available to the consumer.

Starter kit: 199, lyma.life

It was my lightbulb moment. I left my job in consumer PR and started working with Dr Clayton to produce the ultimate supplement containing adaptogens, immune boosters and anti-inflammatories. We spent years perfecting our formula.

By taking an evidence-based approach to nutrition, I knew our supplement would deliver results. The generic turmeric that factories use is 1.50 a kilo. The patented turmeric we use is 263 a kilo.

Our first batch sold out in two weeks. Were one of the bestselling supplements on Net-a-Porter. The proven benefits include relief from stress, improved sleep and focus, and more brain energy. Customers tell me its given them thicker hair and helped with the menopause. Fans include designer Bella Freud and actress Chloe Grace Moretz.

Last year we branched into at-home beauty gadgets with the Lyma laser, which helps to even out skin tone, heal conditions such as rosacea, and fade scars.

Im on a mission. I want people to feel they are the best version of themselves.
Australia's top 10 must-see destinations have been revealed by travel experts - including an untamed Aboriginal landscape so sacred, you need a permit to enter.

To celebrate 30 years on air, Channel Nine's Getaway has named the country's most popular holiday spots, from the red desert of the Northern Territory to the slate grey mountains of Tasmania.

They include iconic attractions such as Uluru, Sydney Harbour and the pristine white beaches of the Whitsundays in Queensland.

Unexpected entrants include remote areas like Mitchell Plateau, WA, and Arnhem Land, Aboriginal Australia's untouched 'final frontier', as well as places with unique ecosystems such as Lord Howe Island and the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland.

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Australia's top 10 must-see destinations have been revealed by travel experts. Pictured: Hill Inlet at the northern end of Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays, Queensland

Australia's top 10 travel destinations 1. Lord Howe Island, NSW 2. Uluru, NT 3. Mitchell Plateau, The Kimberley, WA 4. Great Ocean Road, Victoria 5. Arnhem Land, NT 6. Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Tasmania 7. Daintree Rainforest, Queensland 8. Sydney Harbour, NSW 9. Barossa Valley, SA 10. The Whitsundays, Queensland Source: Getaway via Channel Nine Advertisement

1. Lord Howe Island, NSW

The top destination to visit in Australia is Lord Howe Island, a stunning volcanic isle 600km off the New South Wales coast.

Sitting between Australia and New Zealand, the island is hailed as an 'unspoiled paradise' just a two-hour flight from Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport.

Known for its white sand beaches, sub-tropical forests and crystal clear waters filled with coral reef, Lonely Planet lauds Lord Howe Island as a 'shining example of sustainably managed tourism', as it allows just 400 visitors at any one time.

Despite being just 11 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide, the island is home to some of the world's best hike and cycle trails, and boasts world-class diving sites around the nearby Admiralty Islands.

But perhaps the crowning glory of this island paradise is the extraordinary 'cloud forest' that hovers over its mountain peaks.

The rare phenomenon is created by a balanced ecosystem that causes clouds to float directly over mountaintops, shrouding peaks in cotton-like wisps.

The cloud caps, which hang between the 875-metre summit of Mount Gower and lower Mount Lidgbird during summer months, form when air travelling across the ocean collects invisible water vapour, which collides with the mountains it rises before cooling and condensing into clouds.

Lord Howe is part of just one percent of global woodland where cloud forests grow, along with regions in Central America, southern Mexico, South America, Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and the Caribbean.

A unique cloud forest floats over two mountain peaks on Lord Howe Island, 600km east of the NSW coast

The rare phenomenon (left) on Lord Howe Island (right) is created by a balanced ecosystem that causes clouds to float directly over mountaintops, shrouding peaks in cotton-like wisps

2. Uluru, Northern Territory

At number two is Uluru, the cultural and geographical heart of Australia built around a massive sandstone monolith regarded as a a 'cathedral' and resting place for the spirits of ancient Aboriginal elders.

While climbing the rock has been banned since October 26, 2019, there are still plenty of once-in-a-lifetime experiences on offer inside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Visitors can head on sunrise camel treks to watch the sun emerge from behind the sacred rock, or wait until sunset to capture the magic of the NT at twilight from a helicopter ride over the park.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (pictured) offers once-in-a-lifetime experiences

Uluru, a massive sandstone monolith, is regarded as a a 'cathedral' and resting place for the spirits of ancient Aboriginal elders

3. Mitchell Plateau, the Kimberley, WA

At number three is Mitchell Plateau in the Kimberley, WA, the home of Australia's most remote Aboriginal community.

The isolated landscape rewards you with breath-taking views of tropical rainforests, wilderness, and spectacular waterfalls cascading down into the Mitchell River National Park.

Known for its gorges, ancient Aboriginal art and boab trees, Mitchell Plateau is specifically recommended for adventure seekers as a unique opportunity to disconnect from the modern world.

Pictured: Bell Gorge in the Kimberley, WA

The area is known for its waterfalls, bush walking trails and natural swimming pools

4. Great Ocean Road, Victoria

In fourth is the Great Ocean Road, a heritage-listed road stretching 243km from Torquay to Allansford along the southeastern Victorian coast that was recently voted the 'most beautiful route in the world'.

It received the nod after notching up a staggering 1,321,570 hash-tagged photos on Instagram - the equivalent of roughly 5,349 per kilometre.

As well as being one of Australia's most popular tourist attractions, the Great Ocean Road is also the world's largest war memorial, built by returned soldiers to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting in World War I.

The eastern section of the road was completed in 1922, with the final leg from the seaside town of Lorne to Apollo Bay finished in November 1932.

The route has earned its legendary status thanks to the highly-rated attractions it runs through, such as the Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell National Park and Bells Beach, famous for its world-class surf.

The Great Ocean Road (pictured) has been named the world's most beautiful road trip route

The heritage-listed road (pictured) stretches 243km along the southeastern Victorian coast

The route has earned its legendary status thanks to the highly-rated attractions it runs through, such as the Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell National Park and Bells Beach, famous for its world-class surf

5. Arnhem Land, NT

A surprise entrant in fifth position is Arnhem Land, a remote and undeveloped part of the Northern Territory where few have the privilege to visit.

Travellers need a entry permit to access the protected Aboriginal land, which is also known as 'Australia's final frontier'.

The eastern edge of the Top End as well as its environment and the culture of its Aboriginal residents remain a mystery to outsiders, but photos uploaded to Instagram by those lucky enough to enter hint at an unspoiled paradise.

Raging rivers run wild, African-style savannah teems with remarkable wildlife and lush wetlands overflow with fish, crocodiles and exceptional marine animals.

A surprise entrant in fifth position is Arnhem Land (pictured), a remote and undeveloped part of the Northern Territory where few have the privilege to visit

Travellers need a entry permit to access the protected Aboriginal land (pictured), which is also known as 'Australia's final frontier'

The world's top 10 travel destinations 1. Icefields Parkway, Canada 2. Milford Sound, New Zealand 3. Petra, Jordan 4. Angkor Wat, Cambodia 5. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania 6. Jellyfish Lake, Palau 7. Santorini, Greece 8. Cinque Terre, Italy 9. Aitutaki, Cook Islands 10. Paris, France Source: Getaway via Channel Nine Advertisement

6. Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Tasmania

At six is Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, a rugged landscape about one hours' drive from Strahan in the heart of Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area.

While much of the park is remote and untouched, a series of trails along the Lyell Highway that runs through the centre offer stop-off points where visitors can gaze in awe at the remarkable view.

Fresh water in the thundering rivers is stained by tannins from surrounding vegetation, creating great black pools at the bottom of gorges hewn out of the mountains.

7. Daintree Rainforest, Far North Queensland

In seventh is the Daintree Rainforest, a tropical region on the northeast coast of Queensland.

This ecologically unique rainforest is home to the widest variety of rare plants and animals on earth, with all found inside an area of roughly 1,200 square kilometres - making it the largest chunk of protect tropical rainforest in Australia.

The Daintree is the oldest living rainforest in the world, and contains the highest number of plant and animal species that are rare, or threatened with near extinction, anywhere on the planet.

The Daintree is also home to Prema Shanti, one of Australia's top-rated wellness spas.

The Daintree Rainforest (pictured) is home to the widest variety of rare plants and animals on earth

The Daintree (pictured in the distance from Rex Lookout) contains the highest number of plant and animal species that are rare, or threatened with near extinction, anywhere on the planet

8. Sydney Harbour, NSW

At eight is Sydney Harbour, the world famous waterside that is home to iconic sights such as the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay.

It is one of the only places on earth where you can capture two of the world's most instantly recognisable structures in one selfie.

9. Barossa Valley, SA

In ninth is the Barossa Valley, South Australia, which is widely regarded as one of the finest wine regions in the world.

Famed for Shiraz grapes, the area northeast of Adelaide boasts an array of high-profile wineries offering tours and cellar-door tastings, as well as stone cottages and churches that are relics of the Germans who settled there in the 19th century.

South Australia's Barossa Valley (pictured) boasts an array of high-profile wineries and is famous for producing world-class Shiraz grapes

Sydney Harbour is home to iconic sights such as the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge (pictured) and Circular Quay

10. The Whitsundays, Queensland

Rounding out the top 10 is the Whitsundays, a collection of 74 idyllic islands in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland.

The area, known for its dense rainforest, scenic hiking trails and incredible white sand beaches, boasts world-class diving and sailing as well as a string of luxury hotels and restaurants on upscale Hamilton Island, the most famous of the 74.

Before the pandemic, the Whitsundays welcomed an average of 500,000 visitors each year - making it one of the world's most popular destinations.



Rounding out the top 10 is the Whitsundays (pictured), a collection of 74 idyllic islands in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland

Before the pandemic, the Whitsundays (pictured) welcomed an average of 500,000 visitors each year - making it one of the world's most popular destinations

Getaway executive producer John Walsh said a lot of time and effort went into determining Australia's top 10.

'Curating these lists wasn't an easy task as so many destinations come to mind,' he said.

'But, between us all, we went through our archive of stories and landed on the 20 destinations we believe best represent the experience of the show and the whole wonderful world of travel.'
Pursuit of Love viewers have praised Andrew Scott's dance moves and 'perfect' portrayal of 'dapper' neighbour Lord Merlin as the 'saving grace' of the hotly-anticipated new period drama.

The Emily Mortimer novel adaptation kicked off on BBC One last night, with the Irish actor, 44, playing the Radletts' libertine neighbour, Lord Merlin.

And while many who tuned in were quick to take to social media to brand the adaptation of Nancy Mitford's classic novel everything from 'uneducated, unintelligent and ill-informed,' there was one element that viewers agreed on - Andrew Scott's convincing portrayal of the charismatic Lord Merlin.

'Honourable mention to the divine Andrew Scott, who embodies Lord Merlin perfectly,' wrote one, while a second enthused: 'Andrew Scott as Lord Merlin is absolute perfection.'

The hotly-anticipated new period drama kicked off on BBC One last night, with Irish actor Andrew Scott, 44, playing the Radletts' libertine neighbour, Lord Merlin. Pictured, in his entrance dance scene

Lord Merlin (pictured) is described as 'an artist, a musician and a patron of all the young' and is 'loathed' by Uncle Matthew, played by Dominic West

Taking to Twitter, one viewer went so far as to brand Andrew Scott as Lord Merlin 'perfection' (pictured)

The period drama follows the story of Linda Radlett - played by Lily James - and her hunt to find love and marriage, while Dominic West plays her Uncle Matthew.

Lord Merlin, described as 'an artist, a musician and a patron of all the young,' is 'loathed' by Uncle Matthew, played by Dominic West, who can be heard at one point exclaiming: 'That man is holding a comb!'

But in contrast, Linda is bowled over by her eccentric neighbour - especially when it comes to his grand entrance.

As he prances about in a pair of blue patterned satin pyjamas to the eclectic sound of T.Rex, before knocking back glasses of champagne and kissing surrounding dancers, Linda watches on hot and flustered - and it turns out she isn't the only one.

'#AndrewScott as Lord Merlin, dancing to T.Rex, has to be one of the TV highlights of the year....' wrote one viewer, while a second commented: 'ThePursuitOfLove Gave it a chance but found it incoherent & inconsistent.

'Lily James was as entrancing as ever and there were a few bits of tongue-in-cheeky sparkle. However, saving grace was Andrew Scott's Lord Merlin flaunting it like Adam Ant to T.Rex's Dandy In The Underworld.'

In his entrance scene, Lord Merlin could be seen prancing around in a pair of satin pyjamas to the eclectic sound of T.Rex, before knocking back glasses of champagne and kissing surrounding dancers (pictured)

At one point in the first episode the narration says that it's rumoured Lord Merlin has two black whippets (pictured)

Taking to the comments section, one person penned: 'Watched The Pursuit of Love earlier and thought Andrew Scott was just brilliant as the dapper, avant-guard inclined Lord Merlin' (pictured)

A third added: 'Sunday evenings in sore need of a helping of fun and glamour. Andrew Scott is adorable as the aesthete Lord Merlin, prancing in pyjamas to the strains of Marc Bolan,' a fourth penned:

'I am marrying Lord Merlin in The Pursuit Of Love no one is stealing him from me we are husbands now bravo Andrew for making me fall in love again with another one of your characters.'

A further wrote: 'Watched The Pursuit of Love earlier and thought Andrew Scott was just brilliant as the dapper, avant-guard inclined Lord Merlin.'

Speaking about the character he plays, actor Andrew Scott describes Lord Merlin as 'audacious and free with his attitude towards love, life and sex and art'.

And it's not the first time the Irish actor has won over viewers thanks to his charming looks - after he garnered huge acclaim for his role as the Hot Priest in the hit Phoebe Waller-Bridge series, Fleabag.

Fan favourite: The Irish actor garnered huge acclaim for his role as the Hot Priest in the hit Phoebe Waller-Bridge series

He made his name playing the sadistic Jim Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock, but the BAFTA winner feared he would become typecast because of his success in the role, especially after his turn as a villain in the James Bond film Spectre.

In an interview with the June issue of British GQ, he said: 'After Sherlock, there were a lot of "sub-Moriarty" roles that were offered to me.

'I played a villain in one of the Bond films - I was like, "Yeah, I want to be in the Bond film!" - and that was a really good experience. But I think after a while you have to go, "No, I don't want to do that any more."

'I think romantic comedy is very underrated; I was always looking for something that explored romantic love in a really intelligent and human way and I felt, when I first started talking to Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] about it, that this was ideal.'
The Queen's cousin Princess Olga Romanoff says she was taught to 'sit down and shut up' rather than 'air dirty linen in public'.

Princess Olga, 71, is the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II's eldest nephew, Prince Andrew, who escaped Russia on a British warship in 1919 and lives alone at Provender, a 30-room 13th century home in Kent.

Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin of King George V, Queen Elizabeth IIs grandfather.

Appearing on Lorraine today, she said that Her Majesty has the 'right approach' to public life, rather than royals partaking in high-profile interviews such as Harry and Meghan's explosive chat with Oprah Winfrey.

The Russian royal added that being a princess 'never had an impact on her' and that she was 'horrified' when she read an article dubbing her a potential love match for her third-cousin the Prince of Wales in 1967.

The Queen's cousin Princess Olga Romanoff, pictured in London 2016, says she was taught to 'sit down and shut up' rather than 'air dirty linen in public'

Princess Olga, 71, is the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II's eldest nephew, Prince Andrew, who escaped Russia on a British warship in 1919. She is pictured in 1968

'I was taught to sit down and shut up and never wash your dirty linen in public, whatever it happens to be,' she said. 'So I think the Queen does that right.'

Speaking of being considered a potential bride for Charles she went on: 'Harpers & Queen, or Harpers as it was then, did an article on me being a potential bride.

'But they also did about other foreign royalty, like the Swedes, the Luxembourgs, all princesses of that era in 1967 as possible suitable brides for old Prince Charles.

'My mother did the blurb and I didn't know anything about it until it came out and I was horrified'.

Appearing on Lorraine today, she said that Her Majesty has the 'right approach' to public life, rather than royals partaking in high-profile interviews

The Russian royal added that being a princess 'never had an impact on her' and that she was 'horrified' when she read an article dubbing her a potential love match for her third-cousin the Prince of Wales

A family tree of Ms Romanoff showing her ancestry date back to Tsar Nicholas II

'Did you not fancy the job?' asked host Lorraine Kelly.

'Not at all,' she replied. 'My mother said all these thing about me and I wasn't allowed to speak for myself.'

Olga's parents fled Russia during the revolution, a year after the Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed by Bolsheviks revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky in Yekaterinbur on July 1918.

Through her mother is Nadine Sylvia Ada McDougall, Ms Romanoff is a descendant of William Paterson, who founded the Bank of England in 1694, and also of Henrik Borgstrom, who founded the Bank of Finland.

Olga, who takes the English spelling of her surname as opposed to the Russian 'Romanov' - was home-schooled before moving between London, Scotland and Kent and returning to the historic home of Provender in 2000.

Olga, who takes the English spelling of her surname as opposed to the Russian 'Romanov' - was home-schooled before moving between London, Scotland and Kent and returning to the historic home of Provender in 2000

Princess Olga said she was brought up in an 'eccentric way' and that being a royal never made much of a difference to her life.

'[It] didn't make any impact at all', she said. 'I was brought up in quite an eccentric way, with a governess and nannies and I was very chaperoned and everything.

'So although I knew who my father was, it didn't have an impact because you're brought up with it and it doesn't affect you.'

Provender was bought by her grandmother Constance Borgstrom in 1921 and is laden with portraits of her illustrious Russian relatives.

The Romanoff descendant now spends her time restoring her UK family home and rents the servants' wing on AirBnB in order to make extra money.

This evening she will appear on ITVs one-off documentary The Queen and Her Cousins, and spoke of meeting host Alexander Armstrong.

'Meeting Alexander was just fantastic', she said. 'You met someone in life and suddenly bond and he was absolutely great, we both had a great laugh, it was as if I'd known him forever.'

Last week Olga spoke of her admiration for the 'quite divine' Prince Philip in an interview with the Telegraph.

The Romanoff descendant now spends her time restoring her UK family home and rents the servants' wing on AirBnB in order to make extra money. She is pictured in 2006

She said: 'I just think hes wonderful because A, hes very good-looking. B, he doesnt take bullsh--. He says it how it is even if he gets into trouble.'

While she is a blood relative of the royal family, Olga said she wasn't sure she considered the Windsors 'cousins', because she only met them a little as a young girl, and had too many cousins to count.

Speaking of Prince Philip, the royal said she only ever met him once but would have loved to meet him when he was younger, because he had always been one of her personal heroes.

Upon hearing of his death, she said she felt 'terribly sorry' for the Queen and the royal family, especially Princess Anne, whom she knew when she was younger.
A TikTok who posted a positive Yelp review for a waiter was left speechless after she was contacted by his girlfriend just 20 minutes later.

After eating out with friends at a restaurant, Antonia, from Wisconsin, put a jokey post on the review site at the request of the waiter, Ira, writing: 'My King, Love you!'

Less than half an hour later, she received a message from the woman via the review app accusing her being 'inappropriate' and questioning if her boyfriend had been 'flirting'.

Antonia posted a video explaining the bizarre exchange to TikTok, which already has over 35,000 views and sparked a fierce debate in the comments with some saying it was a 'red flag', while others took the girlfriend's side.

Flirty: A TikTok user named Antonia left a positive Yelp review for a waiter but was left speechless after she was contacted by the waiter's girlfriend just twenty minutes later

In the clip, Antonia speaks to the camera saying: 'So we were all just at a restaurant and the waiter asked all of us to write a review on Yelp and mention his name in it.

'So I did, it was pretty funny, I wrote 'Thank you, Ira our king'. But then I get a message on Yelp twenty minutes later.'

She shared a screenshot of the review she left for the waiter writing: 'Love the atmosphere. Pretty good drinks, nice food menu. Ira? My king. Love you. Xoxo'

The waiter's girlfriend replied to her review on the app and asked her to remove or edit the review, writing: 'I saw your review for my boyfriend Ira and I don't really appreciate what you said calling him your king etc.

She shared a screenshot of the review she left for the waiter writing: 'Love the atmosphere. Pretty good drinks, nice food menu. Ira? My king. Love you. Xoxo'

The girlfriend reached out to the woman over the review app accusing her being 'inappropriate' and questioned if her boyfriend was 'flirting' saying that she 'would like to know'

Antonia posted a video explaining the bizarre exchange to TikTok on May 7, which already has over 35,000 views, and sparked a fierce debate in the comments with some saying it was a major 'red flag', while others took the girlfriend's side

'I felt like it was inappropriate and a comment about his services would have sufficed.

'I don't know if he gave you some kind of impression or was flirting etc but I'd like to know.

'If not, then if you don't mind editing the review or writing a new one that would be great. Thank you.'

Antonia assured the girlfriend that they were not flirting, telling her there was 'nothing to worry about' because the waiters were simply having a competition to see who could get the most Yelp reviews that night.

The girlfriend then apologized, telling her to enjoy her night, saying: 'It wasn't about writing one [a review], it's about how it was written and perceived.

'But if it's nothing, I apologize and enjoy the rest of your night.'

In the video, Antonia said: 'This is the rest of our conversation, I didn't want to be like you're f*****g crazy.

'Imagine going on Yelp to look at your boyfriend's restaurant and messaging someone from a review within 20 minutes.'

Antonia assured the girlfriend that they were not flirting, telling her there was 'nothing to worry about' as the waiters were simply having a competition to see who could get the most Yelp reviews that night

People flocked to the comments to give their opinions on the girlfriend's behaviour with one user writing: 'TWENTY MINUTES LATER?! Does she get alerts for Yelp reviews at the restaurant he works at or something?'

Another wrote: 'Tell me your girlfriend doesn't trust you without telling me your girlfriend doesn't trust you.'

However, while some called the girlfriend's actions a 'red flag', they also called out the 'flirty' nature of the Yelp review saying they can understand why she felt 'insecure'.

One TikTok user named Kristiana wrote: 'Her behavior is a red flag but that review is a bit odd too.'

And one woman named Kristen defended the waiter's girlfriend saying that Antonia's review was 'pretty flirty' and she wasn't crazy to feel insecure about it.

She wrote: 'I mean, your review was pretty flirty. Is she crazy for feeling a little insecure about that? No. Is she crazy for messaging you? Quite possibly.'

People flocked to the comments to give their opinions on the girlfriend's behaviour with one user writing: 'TWENTY MINUTES LATER?! Does she get alerts for Yelp reviews at the restaurant he works at or something?'
The family of a boy who is battling a rare form of blood cancer say they're desperate to raise 95,000 by Wednesday to pay for his life-saving stem cell transplant.

Nathaniel Nabena, nine, lost his eye to Myeloid Sarcoma last September and travelled to the UK from Nigeria with his family for a private specialist eye prosthetic in London two months later.

While in the UK he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, but is not entitled to free NHS treatment because he is not a British national.

His parents Ebi, 45, and Modupe, 38, originally raised 87,000 so their son could undergo chemotherapy, but need a further 95,000 to undergo a life-saving transplant.

The total currently stands at 107,713, but the family need to reach their goal of 201,000 by Wednesday, appearing on This Morning today to appeal for more funding.

Nathaniel Nabena, nine, needs 95,000 by Wednesday to pay for his life-saving stem cell transplant, which he is not entitled to on the NHS because he is not a British national.

The total currently stands at 107,713, but the family need to reach their goal of 201,000 by Wednesday, appearing on This Morning today to appeal for more funding

'We have about 50,000 already raised', said dad Ebi.

'We need about 150,000, because Great Ormond Street hospital have waived a lot [of fees] and the great British people, their generosity and support have helped us so far in tackling the first treatment and this is just the final one to give him back his life.'

Nathaniel had his eye removed at London's Moorfield Eye Hospital in November last September after being diagnosed with a myeloid sarcoma while living in southern Nigeria.

His family raised 5,000 so he could travel with his father in November, but within days of arriving he began having nosebleeds and had a high fever and was rushed to Croydon University Hospital.

What is acute myeloid leukaemia? Acute myeloid leukaemia is an aggressive and rare form of blood cancer. The symptoms of AML usually develop over a few weeks and become more severe. According to NHS Choices, the symptoms include: Pale Skin

Tiredness

Breathlessness

Frequent infections

Unusual and frequent bleeding - including the gums and nosebleeds In advanced cases, patients are incredibly vulnerable to life-threatening infections and internal bleeding. If a GP suspects leukaemia, they will arrange a blood test to determine blood cell production. In AML, stem cells within the patient's bone marrow produce too many immature white blood cells, which are not capable of fighting infection. This also can lead to a decrease in production of the oxygen-carrying red blood cells and platelets that help the blood to clot. Each year around 2,600 people in the UK are diagnosed with blood cancer. After diagnosis, patients need urgent chemotherapy due to the aggressive nature of the cancer. In some cases, radiotherapy may be needed along with a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

His father recalled: 'When he lost the eye he became better and we decided to come and fix the eye.

'But unfortunately when we arrived, after a few days he started bleeding from the nose and had a very high fever and they called the ambulance and he was taken to A&E and diagnosed and has leukaemia in his blood and bone marrow.'

After being diagnosed with the rare form of blood cancer - which was so aggressive he could have died within weeks without chemotherapy - the family managed to raise 87,000 for his first round of treatment.

He underwent three rounds of chemotherapy at Great Ormond Street Hospital to prepare him for his lifesaving treatment, but still needs to raise money for his life-saving transplant.

Surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital will operation itself for free, but consultants say that because his cancer could return at anytime, the cash must be raised by Wednesday while chemotherapy is keeping the cancer at bay.

Nathaniel says it makes him 'happy' to think of all the people who have donated money to his treatment, while Ebi says he 'doesn't want to know the outcome' if they are not able to raise the necessary funds.

'It's very, very important', said Ebi.

'Doctors have advised we cannot afford to wait, if we do not do that [have the transplant], all the work we have done and funds we have raised it will all be a waste.

'We do not want to know the outcome of not having this lifesaving treatment.'

Parents Ebi, a business analyst, and wife Modupe are currently staying with family in Croydon, South London, and were initially told the hospital bill could be as much as 825,000.

Ebi told the Mirror earlier this month: 'We've seen a dramatic turnaround from the hopeless situation we were in six months ago.

'It's incredible that the doctors are treating him in their private work without charging.

'They are wonderful. We are so grateful to everyone for giving us hope but at the same time asking people to help Nathaniel cling on to life. We know it's a lot to ask.'
A new TV series tells the story of Livia Drusilla, who became the most powerful woman in the world as the wife of the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar.

As viewers might expect from a show set in Ancient Rome, Domina, offers up plenty of sex, violence and political backstabbing.

Within the opening episodes, Livia (played by two actresses in different stages of her life) bludgeons a would-be rapist to death with a large rock and senators are slaughtered on Augustus' orders.

But the shocking scenes have nothing on Livia's compelling real-life story that saw her accused of killing her grandsons, exiling her 'wanton' stepdaughter and poisoning her own husband in her quest to secure dynastic power.

Taking its title from the female form of 'Dominus', the Latin word for master, Domina focuses on the wives, sisters, mothers, daughters and mistresses who used their influence at home and in the bedroom to wield soft power in Ancient Rome.

And no one was more successful at this than Livia.

Most powerful woman in the world: New eight-part Sky Atlantic series Domina tells the story of Livia, who became the most powerful woman in the world as the wife of the first Roman emperor Gaius Octavius, later known as Augustus Caesar. Pictured, Kasia Smutniak as Livia

Future emperor: Tom Glynn-Carney as the young Gaius Octavius (second from left) in Domina

Born about 58 years before the birth of Christ, Livia came from an upper-class Roman family living under a strict moral code, which was even stricter for women.

As has come to be expected of historical dramas, Domina does away with this and gives Livia (played by two actresses, Nadia Parkes and Kasia Smutniak) far more freedom than she would likely have been afforded.

In the first few episodes she has a fling with the rebel Sextus Pompeius and asserts herself by violently bludgeoning a would-be rapist to death with a stone.

Livia came to womanhood in violent times. She was 14 when Julius Caesar was murdered on the steps of the Capitol, the blood running into his scarlet boots.

Domina starts the following year, in 43 BC, with the wedding of the then 15-year-old Livia to her cousin Tiberius Claudius Nero, who was 30 years her senior.

That same year, three of the most powerful men in Rome, including Mark Antony and the future Gaius Octavius - Julius Caesar's adoptive son - organised a massacre of Rome's key Republicans, offering incentives to deliver their chopped heads on a platter.

On the run: The series starts in 43BC, the year after the assassination of Julius Caesar, with 15-year-old Livia (played by Nadia Parkes) preparing to marry her cousin Tiberius Claudius Nero, who is three times her age. The first two episodes cover Livia in exile (pictured)

Despite hiding in wells, sewers and roof-spaces, 300 senators and 2,000 of the nobility were massacred.

Among those who backed the wrong side were Livia's father Livius (played in Domina by Game Of Thrones' Liam Cunningham) and her husband.

As civil war raged, Livia, Tiberius and their young son Tiberius fled Rome in fear of their lives.

The first two episodes cover their time on the run and exile in Perugia and Sicily and their eventual return to Rome once an amnesty is declared.

Villain? Livia has been depicted as a ruthless murderess who is willing to stop at nothing to gain control. Pictured, a bust of Livia

Critics have compared the early episodes to Game Of Thrones, with Octavian and his trusted sidekick Agrippa ordering massacres and seducing women.

By the time she returned to Rome in 39 BC, Livia was pregnant with her second child.

It is then she was introduced to Gaius Octavius, known by historians as Octavian, who is said to have fallen in love at first sight despite being married to Scribonia at the time.

A marriage between Octavian and Livia was mutually beneficial.

Livia found herself back in Rome a social outcast without a fortune, while Octavian could see marriage to a woman from an old Republican family could help build bridges.

Domina puts a rather more romantic spin on the situation, which likely would have been largely out of Livia's control, and shows her pursuing the man who up until recently had been her father's sworn enemy.

As soon as Scribonia gives birth to a daughter, Julia (later known as Julia the Elder), Octavian divorced her. Some reports say this happened on the same day.

Weeks later in January 37 BC, Octavian took her as his new wife. She had given birth to her youngest son, Drusus, three days before.

Guest star: Domina features a powerful performance by that grande dame of European cinema Isabella Rossellini (right) playing Balbina, a brothel madam whos an early enemy of Livia

Although the circumstances of their marriage was far from auspicious, it was destined to last. The pair remained married for 51 years until Augustus' death in 14 AD.

Livia, the first feminist? In a way we can say that Livia was one of the first feminists, says Kasia Smutniak, who plays her as an adult. She fought for her rights, and rights for women. She used power to survive. She was a tough woman who was both feared and cherished. Simon echoes those thoughts. Livia changed the game for Roman women who followed her, he says. Her riches-to-rags-to-power story is utterly compelling. Yet for many this eight-part Sky drama will be the first time they have heard of her. That was the case for Nadia Parkes, who appears as the young Livia. I forgot women even existed in Roman times, she laughs. I think the extent of my knowledge of that period is the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar. 'So I uncovered a whole world I didnt know about  all these wonderful women who existed with their own feelings and stories and their own desire for power: the things we associate with being a powerful woman nowadays existed then  its just not in the history books. Advertisement

While the Emperor was known for his voracious sexual appetite, Livia was said to be the only woman who he cared for.

This is seen in the fact that the pair remained married even though Livia never produced any children with Augustus, which was seen as a wife's primary purpose.

In a sign of his respect, he also gave Livia power over her own finances, which was almost unheard of at the time. She became the most powerful woman in history.

Seemingly content to tolerate her husband's affairs, the major problem for Livia was that Augustus wanted to create, in essence, a hereditary monarchy.

That would exclude her sons from her first marriage, Tiberius and Drusus.

The rivals who stood in her way went down like ninepins, although historians are divided over whether all of their deaths were orchestrated by Livia.

Marcellus, Augustus's nephew and son-in-law through his marriage to Julia the Elder, was the first to go in 23 BC after being struck down with a fever.

Some historians have put the blame on Livia, claiming she was jealous that he had been tipped to succeed Augustus, although the Emperor himself disputed this.

Other accounts say he could have died of typhoid or the plague.

Following the death of her cousin Marcellus, Julia the Elder was married twice more: first to Augustus's trusted general and friend Agrippa then to her stepbrother Tiberius in 11 BC, following Agrippa's death the previous year.

Writing some 70 years later, Roman historian Suetonius suggested Tiberius was not impressed with Julia's character. By 6 BC the couple were divorced.

Scandal struck in 2 BC when Julia the Elder was accused of adultery and treason. Reluctant to execute her, Augustus exiled her to a rocky islet off the Italian coast.

Some claim Livia was behind this whole affair because she fed the puritanical Augustus stories of her daughter-in-law's wanton immorality.

Lucius and Gaius Caesar, Julia's sons and grandsons of Augustus, also died mysteriously abroad.

Tacitus, who wrote some 100 years after the events took place, suggest it was due to Livia's 'secret hand' but no other historians mention the rumour.

Postumus, Julia's youngest child and Augustus's biological grandson, was also murdered while unarmed shortly after Augustus' death in AD 14 on the islet to which his mother had been exiled.

Losing side: Liam Cunningham as Livius, Nadia Parkes as young Livia, Enzo Cilenti as Tiberius Claudius Nero in Domina

The identity of the killer is still open to debate, but some believe Livia to be behind the plot because it removed any potential remaining threats to Tiberius' claim to the Imperial throne.

Most famously, Livia has been assumed guilty of poisoning Augustus, wishing to hasten his death so she could see her own son Tiberius on the throne.

A near contemporary historian records Livia smearing poison on some figs and offering them to him with her own hand. However historians have debated the legitimacy of these records.

Regardless of whether Livia was responsible for Augustus' death, it certainly seems her husband did not suspect his wife of any foul play.

Historical figure: The part of Gaius is taken by Matthew McNulty, recently seen in the BBCs 19th-century horror-drama The Terror

In his will, he left one third of his property to Livia, and the other two thirds to Tiberius. He also adopted her into the Julian family and granted her the honorific title of Augusta.

These dispositions permitted Livia to maintain her status and power after her husband's death, under the new name of Julia Augusta.

Her son Tiberius went on to become Emperor of Rome and was succeeded by her grandson Claudius and great-grandson Caligula.

This goes far beyond the scope of Domina, which starts in 43 BC, the year after the assassination of Julius Caesar, and continues until the late 20s BC, by which point Gaius Octavius had been given the name Augustus, and he had laid the foundations of his supreme control.

'It is a political drama, but its told from the point of view of the wives, the daughters, the mothers, the sisters and the mistresses at a time when policy came to be made in the bedroom and not the Senate of Rome,' series writer and creator Simon Burke, told the Radio Times.

He was eager to get the historical facts correct, but admitted to some invention.

We were very authentic and very accurate because Sky Italia really wanted something based on fact,' he told BT.

'What happened and when it happened and where it happened and who did it, those things are written down in sources which we have and we were very faithful to those.'

'But in between you have the how and the why, and that was what we were just able to take a very different, invented fictional direction.

'Within the framework of stuff that really happened, we were able to invent new reasons for why it happened while staying faithful to history.'
An autistic mother has alleged that she was 'body shamed' and 'threatened' by a park manager and police officer over the length of her shorts at Frontier City, a Six Flags theme park in Oklahoma City.

Bailey Breedlove from Colorado shared a video of the altercation with the female officer about her 'too short' shorts on Facebook and TikTok, where it has gone viral, after visiting the park on April 30 with her 11-year-old daughter, who was brought to tears over the confrontation.

'My experience there was traumatizing,' the mom wrote in her post, explaining that she and her family were welcomed into the park at 5 p.m. without any issue until a few hours later.

Scary: Bailey Breedlove from Colorado visited Frontier City, a Six Flags theme park in Oklahoma City, on April 30, where she said she was confronted by police

Sharing her story: The mother shared a video of the altercation with the female officer about her outfit on Facebook and TikTok, where it has gone viral

Confrontation: In her post, she claimed that her 11-year-old daughter was 'yelled at by a park police officer' for rolling down a hill on wheeled sneakers

Hard to handle: She said the officer then 'grabbed her arm' and told her that her denim shorts were 'too short' before calling the park manager for backup

Breedlove claimed her daughter was 'yelled at by a park police officer' for rolling down a hill on her Heelys skate shoes. She said the same officer then 'grabbed her arm' and told her that her denim shorts were 'too short.'

'I committed no crime and proceeded to walk to my boyfriend as I am autistic and have a hard time talking to officers,' she recounted. '[The officer] followed me yelling and calling for backup.

'Then your incompetent manager showed up and began body shaming me. I was told I needed to go buy new shorts, which I am not obligated to purchase anything I don't want to.'

Breedlove claimed that when she agreed to buy new shorts so her family could 'enjoy their vacation,' she was 'threatened with criminal trespassing' and 'then pushed and escorted toward the entrance.'

Terrified: Breedlove's daughter was crying hysterically during the altercation, which the mom said was 'traumatizing'

Say what? Breedlove alleged that the manager 'began body shaming' her and told her she needed to 'buy new shorts'

Ruined day: The mom claimed she was 'threatened with criminal trespassing' before being 'pushed and escorted' out of the park

Treatment: Breedlove added that the officers refused to show her their badges and that she was 'terrified [she] was about to go to jail over a pair of shorts'

'I was then pushed and escorted toward the entrance. Accepting this, we were about to leave and were blocked by your female officer from leaving and she pulled out her cuffs and demanded my ID,' she added. 'When we asked for probable cause, their answer was "because they are the police."'

Breedlove said they started recording the altercation so they would have a video of the 'unlawful tactics.'

The clip she shared on social media shows her sitting down next to her daughter while the manager tells her she is being 'disorderly.' He and the officer both ask for her ID, so he can request a criminal trespass order.

'Look at this. Look at what you are doing to my daughter,' the mom says, pointing to her child, who is sobbing next to her.

'They wouldn't provide us with badge numbers and I was terrified I was about to go to jail over a pair of shorts,' she wrote in her post.

Done: Breedlove shared in her post that she has been banned from all Six Flags parks for five years, but she insisted she will never return

Here they are: Breedlove later shared photos of herself wearing the shorts in question on TikTok

Investigating: Breedlove claimed she's already spoken to the Oklahoma City police and was told it was not an Oklahoma City police officer who confronted her

'Your officers had my 11-year-old daughter crying hysterically thinking her mother was about to be arrested. Your policies are vague and confusing and the way you body shame and discriminate is unlawful.

'I paid a lot of money at your park for our family vacation and I believe I deserve a refund for the trauma caused to my family over a pair of shorts on a hot day,' she added. 'I will not be letting this go as this is 2021 and not middle school. The Oklahoma police department has been contacted as well as an attorney.

'I have a five-year ban now but will not be returning to any of your parks if this is how you treat [women] and law-abiding citizens and visitors. You should be ashamed with yourselves.'

Breedlove later shared an update, saying she has spoken to the Oklahoma Police Department captain and was told it was not an Oklahoma City police officer who had confronted her at the park.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Six Flags for comment.
Jenna Bush Hager has recalled how her father George W. Bush picked her up in his pickup truck on her wedding day as she and her husband Henry Hager celebrate their 13th anniversary.

The Today host said 'I do' at the Bush family's Prairie Chapel Ranch ranch near Crawford, Texas, on May 10, 2008, but before President Bush walked his daughter down the aisle, they shared a special moment together.

'My dad picked me up in a pick-up truck  in his pickup truck  and he said, "You look beautiful, baby." And then we both just wept,' Jenna, 39, shared on Monday morning's show.

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Looking back: Jenna Bush Hager, 39, opened up about her wedding day on the Today show Monday while celebrating 13 years of marriage with her husband Henry Hager

Memories: Jenna recalled how her father, President George W. Bush, picked her up in his pickup truck before the ceremony and told her, 'You look beautiful, baby'

Big day: Jenna and Henry said 'I do' at the family's Prairie Chapel Ranch ranch near Crawford, Texas, on May 10, 2008. They exchanged vows in front of a cross her dad helped build for them

'I remember seeing Henry clearly, standing there at this cross that my dad had helped build for us,' she added. 'Its still there, so we have our Christmas services there that we put together. Our kids have gotten to stand on it.'

After the sunset ceremony, the couple's 200 guests enjoyed dinner and dancing under tents on the property.

'The wedding was spectacular. It's all we could have hoped for ... It was just a special day and a wonderful day, and we're mighty blessed,' President Bush said at the time.

'Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy,' he told reporters before returning to Washington, D.C. after the wedding.

Jenna shared photos from her wedding album on her Instagram Stories on Monday, starting with a picture of Henry giving her a sweet kiss.

Sweet moments: Jennaa shared photos from her wedding on her Instagram Stories, including pictures of her and Henry (left) and her grandparents George H.W. and Barbara Bush (right)

Aww! In one sweet snapshot, Henry is pictured wiping tears from Jenna's eyes

Sisters: Another snapshot shows Jenna Hugging her fraternal twin sister Barbara Bush

Family: George W. and Laura Bush are pictured with their daughters at Jenna's wedding. The bride wore a custom Oscar de la Renta gown

The former first daughter donned a custom Oscar de la Renta gown for the ceremony while Henry wore a sharp navy suit and powder blue tie.

The mother of three posted snapshots of herself kissing her twin sister Barbara and Henry wiping her tears away at the altar.

She also included an image of her paternal grandparents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, who both passed away in 2018.

Jenna's anniversary followed a weekend of celebrations that included Henry's 43rd birthday and Mother's Day.

'We had a busy weekend but it was simple and fun,' she told her Today co-star Hoda Kotb. 'Of course, Henry tried to make it about me, which is so sweet. He's a good guy.'

What a weekend: Jenna also celebrated Henry's 43rd birthday and Mother's Day over the weekend. She made her husband a homemade cake, which she marked on Instagram

Fun times: The couple enjoyed a dance party with their three children: Mila, nine, Poppy, seven, and Hal, 21 months

Too cute: The family wore silly outfits and glasses while celebrating Henry's birthday

Hilarious: Jenna dubbed the family dance party 'toddler Burning Man'

Jenna made Henry a homemade cake for his birthday, and they enjoyed a dance party with their three children  Mila, nine, Poppy, seven, and Hal, 21 months  that she dubbed 'toddler Burning Man.'

She posted pictures of their celebration on Instagram, writing: 'Happy to share Mothers Day with this dude who makes being a mama so fun and joy-filled! Happy birthday Hank! Youll never see this but we loved celebrating you with a family dinner, homemade sheet cake and a toddler burning man.'

The mom revealed on Sunday that her nearly two-year-old son Hal said his first sentence on Mother's Day, which she managed to catch on video.

In the heartwarming clip, Hal says: 'I love mama.'

Amazing: Jenna revealed on Sunday that her nearly two-year-old son Hal said his first sentence on Mother's Day, which she managed to catch on video

Best gift ever? In the heartwarming clip, Hal says: 'I love mama'

Love: Jenna also paid tribute to her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, by sharing a throwback photo of her mom reading a book to her and her sister Barbara when they were kids

'Best Mothers Day gift: a first sentence from my latest love,' she wrote. 'Thinking of mamas who miss their moms today, like my own mama who lost her mom two years ago today.'

Jenna also paid tribute to her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, by sharing a throwback photo of her mom reading a book to her and her sister Barbara when they were children.

'Happy mamas day to mine and to all those who are or act as mamas,' she captioned the image. 'My mama taught me love naps cuddled with a cat and a great book.

'She taught me to appreciate the little and BIG things in nature (rafting and hiking the Grand Canyon for her 60th was one of my favorite trips!)

'Her calm and grace and Bob Marley records were the soundtrack of our house. Love you mama, @laurawbush!'
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Ivanka Trump's Mother's Day nearly ended in disaster when she took her three kids for a private surfing lesson in Miami - and ended up hitting her youngest child Theodore in the face with her board.

The 39-year-old was seen hitting the waves with her three children - Arabella, nine, Joseph, seven, and Theo, five - on Sunday, however it was far from smooth sailing for the former First Daughter, who suffered several tumbles during the session, as well as a scary collision with her younger son.

Thankfully, the youngster appeared unharmed, and proud mom Ivanka was later seen waving her hands, clapping, and flashing a thumbs up while watching her kids conquering the ocean on their own boards, all while under the watchful eye of several instructors.

Ivanka certainly looked the part when she made her way into the water at the start of her surf lesson, wearing skintight black leggings, a black vest, and a long-sleeved blue T-shirt with the words South Beach Surf Club plastered on the front. She was accompanied by a bearded surf instructor as she hauled her white-and-blue board down to the water, before attempting to catch some waves.

A Mother's Day disaster! Ivanka Trump took her three kids for a surfing lesson in Miami on Sunday - and ended up hitting youngest child Theodore in the face with her board

Oh no! The 39-year-old lost control at one point, and toppled off her board, which flipped upside down and crashed into five-year-old Theo

Ouch! The youngster looked as though he was knocked in the side of the head by the loose surfboard, while his mother took a tumble into the water

Surf's up! Thankfully the youngster appeared unharmed, and his family carried on with their lesson without any further issues

Going, going... Ivanka took several tumbles off her board during her lesson with instructors from South Beach Surf Club

Beginner: It is not known whether this was Ivanka's first attempt at surfing, however she put her full energy into mastering the skill, clambering back up onto her board again and again during the session

Up and down: Ivanka had a look of intense concentration on her face for much of the lesson as she grappled with the new skill

In exclusive images obtained by DailyMail.com, the mother-of-three is seen eagerly embodying the old phrase 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again', pulling herself up on her board again and again, even after being battered by several waves.

One series of photos shows Ivanka losing control and toppling over, while her lose board careened towards her youngest child Theo, who appears to have taken a knock to the face.

Ivanka looked horrified at her mistake, and was seem grimacing as her board headed towards her poor son, her arms up by her sides in an apparent attempt to slow herself down, while their instructor looked on open-mouthed.

Luckily, the accidental collision doesn't look to have dampened anyone's spirits however, and the proud mom was later pictured climbing back onto her board once again - while Theo was seen happily floating face-down on his board alongside an instructor and his siblings.

Ivanka also took several knocks herself; one snap captured her being almost entirely submerged by a wave while trying to stand up on her board, while others show her with her arms outstretched, trying to maintain her balance before falling down into the water.

Dressing the part: The former First Daughter wore black leggings, a black vest, and a blue South Beach Surf Club T-shirt for her lesson, while her blonde hair was pulled back into a loose braid

Woah! Ivana was seen yelling out as she tried to balance herself on her board

There she goes: Despite her best efforts, she couldn't avoid toppling off her board

Giving it everything: In exclusive images obtained by DailyMail.com, the mother-of-three is seen eagerly embodying the old phrase 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again'

Up and at 'em: Even after falling over, Ivanka clambered back up on her board again and again

Round she goes: Ivanka had some assistance from an instructor, who led her board into an oncoming wave

Take it easy! The instructor put Ivanka into the perfect position to catch a wave

On her own: Ivanka did try paddling herself into a wave, after getting help from one of her teachers

Solo: Her husband, Jared, 40, was nowhere to be seen - but his absence doesn't seem to have stopped Ivanka from having plenty of fun

Both Arabella and Joseph had a bit more luck on the waves than their mother and brother, and were seen mastering the skill with relative ease, cruising along on a small wave while standing up on their boards, while Ivanka watched on proudly, cheering as they completed their run.

At one point she had her hands up in the air, yelling out happily as one of her children stood up on their boards - proving their prowess at the water sport.

Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner, 40, was not seen with his family, although it is unclear whether he joined them later on for a Mother's Day celebration.

Still, his wife and kids managed to have plenty of fun without him - at least if the images of their smiling faces are anything to go by.

Ivanka's surf session also came just two days after she received her second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a CVS in Miami - an experience that she made sure to document on Instagram, while urging others to follow in her footsteps and 'protect themselves and one another' by getting a shot.

Blue crush: The mother-of-three did manage to catch several waves with the help of her instructors

Watchful eye: Ivanka and her kids were joined in the water by several instructors from the surf club, who helped to guide their boards through the waves

Effort: The proud mother looked incredibly invested in her surfing lesson

Helping hand: An instructor held onto Ivanka's board as she attempted to catch a wave

Crash: She was battered by one particularly aggressive wave, and took a large amount of salt water to the face

Gone! At one point, she was almost completely submerged, and ended up with seaweed covering her legs

'This afternoon, I gratefully received my second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,' she wrote on Wednesday while sharing an image of herself getting the shot on Instagram.

'Getting fully vaccinated is the best way to end this pandemic and protect ourselves and one another.'

It is unknown whether Ivanka suffered any side effects from the vaccine as others have reported, however by Sunday she certainly looked to be in full health as she battled crashing waves and some seaweed on her quest to become a surfing pro.

Even after getting knocked off her board by a particularly tough wave, Ivanka couldn't stop beaming happily - and when she finally made her way out of the water, she couldn't help but laugh and grin about her experience.

It did look as though the water workout had taken its toll however, and the tired mom was seen leaning over, seemingly left exhausted by her surfing session, having clearly got her money's worth from the experience.

According to its website, South Beach Surf Club - which was founded by surfer Chucky Luciano - offers lessons for surfers of all abilities, however beginners are advised to 'get an introductory hour-to-two hour lesson'.

Family fun: Poor Theo also had quite a rough go of things, and was pictured struggling to get back up on his board after toppling over into the water

They did it! Nine-year-old Arabella and seven-year-old Joseph seemed to master the skill fairly easily, and both managed to stand up at several points

Go mom! Joseph lay on his stomach on his board, while watching his mother try to stand up

Mmm: Theo's collision with his mom's board doesn't appear to have dampened his spirits, and he was later seen sticking his tongue out, apparently trying to taste the salty seawater

Taking it easy: All three kids looked relaxed and comfortable in the water, having apparently eased into their Miami lifestyle

Cheerleader: Proud mom Ivanka cheered and clapped as her kids stood up on their boards

Woo hoo! She happily cheered her kids on while standing alongside a surfing instructor

Although the website states that lessons are only available for people ages 10 and up, the club appears to have made an exception for Ivanka's children - who are all under that age limit.

Lesson prices start at $100 per person for the first hour, with fees of $50 per person per additional hour.

The surf club is located about 40 minutes' drive away from Ivanka and Jared's new apartment at Arte Surfside, which is situated about nine miles north of South Beach.

In the months since leaving the White House, in January, Ivanka and her family have been settling into Florida life.

They have bought a $32 million plot of land on Indian Creek Island, on which they plan to build a dream family home.

While construction takes place, they have been renting a luxury condo in the Arte building in Miami's exclusive Surfside neighborhood.

The pyramid-shaped Arte Surfside was designed by Italian architect Antonio Citterio. One its developers is Alex Sapir, whose organization teamed up with Donald Trump's firm to build the Trump Soho condo-hotel in New York City in 2008.

Exhausted! Despite her collision with Theo, Ivanka looked happy - albeit very tired - when she made her way out of the water

Done and dusted: The former First Daughter's clothing was soaked through as she walked up onto the beach and wrapped herself in a stripy yellow towel

Good times all round! Despite appearing somewhat exhausted, Ivanka couldn't stop laughing and smiling

Where it all began: At the start of the session, Ivanka was seen hauling her large white-and-blue board into the water

Guide: She was joined by a bearded surf instructor from the South Beach Surf Club, which is located 40 minutes' drive from the apartment she shares with husband Jared Kushner, who does not appear to have attended the surf lesson

No side effects here! Ivanka's surf lesson came four days after she received her second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine

The political power couple could well be considering a move north for the summer, following in Donald Trump's footsteps.

Former President Trump was pictured jetting off to spend summer in New Jersey on Sunday after earlier celebrating Mother's Day at Mar-a-Lago by enjoying a final brunch with son Barron and wife Melania.

The move north helps Trump escape the coming summer Florida heat and puts the former president close to New York's financial center and within helicopter distance of glitzy parties, where billionaires rub shoulders during the Hamptons summer season.

If Ivanka and Jared follow, it will put them close to not only the Trumps, but also the Kushners: Jared's parents still live in New Jersey, where he is originally from.

Jared and Ivanka's future career plans remain unknown, but they seem to appreciate being able to kick back with their children after four years of working as White House senior advisers.

The couple have taken the time to check out all of the nearby sights and tourist spots around their new home in recent months, while also enjoying several outdoor workouts together in the area near their apartment.
An Australian bar is set to serve up giant glasses of three-litre margarita cocktails.

Stanley's Bar in Darlinghurst will offer diners Sydney's biggest cocktail - dubbed the 'Megarita' - for two weeks only from Wednesday, May 12.

To celebrate World Cocktail Day, customers can expect a 'huge' cocktail experience with the enormous three-litre margarita, which serves six.

An Australian bar is set to craft giant glasses of three-litre margarita cocktails

Priced at $300 each, the cocktails must be shared between a group of six or more people and will be served by staff via a ladle when the glass hits the table to ensure compliance with Covid safe regulations.

With very limited spaces, bookings must be made to secure a mega margarita.

For those who can't make it to the bar but still want to enjoy a boozy night can create their own mega cocktails with the Master of Mixes range.

Stanley's Bar in Darlinghurst will offer diners Sydney's biggest cocktail - dubbed the 'Megarita' - for two weeks only from Wednesday, May 12

To celebrate World Cocktail Day, customers can expect a 'huge' cocktail experience with the enormous three-litre margarita, which serves up to six people

The mixers, which comes in a variety of flavours including espresso martini, bloody Mary and daiquiri, are sold at Dan Murphy's for just $12.99 for a one-litre bottle, which can make up to 10 cocktails.

With more Australians attempting to make cocktails at home, the mixers makes crafting amazing bar-quality cocktails in just seconds.

No need for fancy shakers or strainers, any household object can be used - and simply follow three simple steps: just mix ice, add mixer and the chosen spirit together, and you've got a delicious cocktail in less than 30 seconds.
McDonald's has delighted fans by offering 25 per cent off their whole menu today, while Costa will be offering drinks for just 50p this week.

Nando's have also shared their reopening menu while Krispy Kreme have revealed they'll be giving away a million free donuts to UK customers.

McDonald's fans will be able to redeem the deal with anything ordered between 6am and midnight today is included in the offer.

To redeem it, they'll need to use the MyMcDonalds app, meaning customers can enjoy the likes of a sharebox of Chicken McNuggets, a McFlurry or a Big Mac at a fraction of the price.

McDonald's has delighted fans by offering 25 per cent off their whole menu today. McDonald's fans will be able to redeem the deal with anything ordered between 6am and midnight today is included in the offer.

This means a Big Mac will cost just 3.60, down from 4.79, while a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal will be 4.35 - down from 5.79.

Elsewhere, the price of a share box of 20 McNuggets will be just 3.67, down from 4.89, saving customers 1.22.

McDonald's has reopened for outdoor dining for up to six customers at restaurants that have available outdoor seating  exclusively for those ordering via the My McDonald's App.

Meanwhile, fans of coffee can pick up an iced drink from Costa this week for just 50p.

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Meanwhile, fans of coffee can pick up an iced drink from Costa this week for just 50p.

To mark the start of summer and continue its birthday celebrations, Costa, is giving its customers another reason to enjoy the sunshine by offering any handcrafted Iced Coffee drink, excluding the Fruit Cooler & Frostino range, for just 50p.

Whether customers choose their favourite handcrafted Iced Latte, enjoy Costa Coffee's signature Cold Brew or takeaway the newest addition to the menu, the limited-edition Toffee Spiced Iced-Latte, this limited-time offer means customers will only pay 50p for their favourite drink.

Speaking to FEMAIL, a Costa Coffee spokesperson said: 'We are delighted to continue our 50th birthday celebrations by bringing Costa Coffee fans this amazing offer of ANY barista-made cold drink for just 50p.

'Whether you are meeting a friend in the park for a coffee and a catch up, or just want to pick up a handcrafted Iced-Latte, Costa Coffee has you covered!'

Meanwhile, those more keen on a sweet treat will be able to pick up one of the million free donuts Krispy Kreme are giving away this week.

Meanwhile, those more keen on a sweet treat will be able to pick up one of the million free donuts Krispy Kreme are giving away this week.

Starting today and running for a week, Krispy Kreme will spread miles of smiles across the nation and give away up to 1 million doughnuts.

In order to bag a free Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut all you have to do is come into a Krispy Kreme store and simply safely share how you have connected with someone that has made you smile and features #SmilesAsCurrency.

This can be anything from a social media post, a photo a message, a joke, or a post-it note.

And if you prefer PERi-PERi to donuts, there's more good news as Nando's have revealed their new menu for coming out of lockdown.

And if you prefer PERi-PERi to donuts, there's more good news as Nando's have revealed their new menu for coming out of lockdown.

After months of lockdown, Nando's is emerging with a new menu that has several new sides, salads, dips and wines as well as a new recipes for a couple of Nando's favourites, all available from Tuesday 11th May.

Stand-out additions include a refreshing new Rainbow Bowl, a crunchy Quinoa & Feta Salad, and the option to add new Nando's PERi-Plant Strips to your salad for an extra bit of PERi-PERi protein.

In addition, a number of Nando's fan-favourites have had a post-lockdown shake-up, with new and improved recipes for its selection of Burgers and Pittas. Burger fans can now look forward to some brand new PERi Ketchup and Lemon & Herb Mayo alongside lettuce and tomato while Pitta fans will enjoy Lemon & Herb mayo and crunchy slaw in a tangy mustard dressing.

Fans will also be able to add a brand new spice to their meals with the arrival of Garlic BBQ on the PERi-ometer  which will sit between Plain and Lemon & Herb, replacing XXHot  giving a kick of sweet and smoky garlic to your meal.

Not satisfied with shaking up the food menu, four new Southern African wines have also been added to the menu in select restaurants. Perfect for those looking to pair their PERi-PERi with a drop of wine from Nando's homeland. With a new South African Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabinet Sauvignon and fruity Rose all from the Spier vineyard in Cape Town there is something for every wine lover in your party.
BioNTech, Pfizer's German partner on its COVID-19 vaccine, says that the pair of companies are committed to delivering all 1.8 billion doses of vaccines in their order backlog, BioNTech said Monday.

The German firm added that there is no evidence the Covid vaccine made by Pfizer and partner BioNTech needs updating to protect against variants.

In its financial and company update report, the German firm said: 'To date, there is no evidence that an adaptation of BioNTech's current Covid-19 vaccine against key identified emerging variants is necessary.'

However, the company said it had developed a 'comprehensive strategy' to address any coronavirus variants in the future should the need arise.

Shares for BioNTech suged by 8.7 percent in premarket trading on the heels of its earnings report.

It comes after laboratory results and real-life data suggested the vaccine can protect against catching the Covid variants currently in circulation, although less effectively when it comes to some, such as the South African variant.

However, experts believe the jab can still protect against severe disease and hospital admission - a view echoed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca when looking at their own vaccine.

It's good news for Pfizer, but the firm is currently at odds with the Biden administration, which wants to waive intellectual property protections for its vaccine formula, which would mean that other countries would be able to make copycat versions of the shot without paying the firm and its partner.

BioNTech said on Monday that it and U.S. partner firm Pfizer will deliver the 1.8 billion doses of their vaccine across the world this year and the company is confident it won't need to update the formula to protect against the variants currently spreading around the globe

Pfizer's vaccine appears to be about 75 percent effective at preventing infection with the South African variant, according to the latest data on its rollout there, released last week.

That's well below the 95 percent efficacy it has against older strains, but the shot prevented nearly 100 percent of severe illnesses and deaths, and the 75 percent efficacy is still enough to stem the spread of coronavirus there, experts say.

Pfizer is nonetheless conducting a trial of a booster dose of its Covid vaccine, and the firm is in talks with regulators about developing an updated version of the vaccine designed to protect against the South African variant.

But while competitor Moderna has already published early trial results on its simultaneous tests of a third regular booster shot as well as one using a tweaked vaccine for variants, Pfizer and partne BioNTech see this as unnecessary - for now.

'While we have not seen any evidence that the circulating variants result in a loss of protection provided by our vaccine, we are taking multiple steps to act decisively and be ready in case a strain becomes resistant to the protection afforded by the vaccine,' said Pfizer CEO in February when the firm announced the booster trial.

BioNTech reported it and Pfizer have a shared backlog of 1.8 billion doses to deliver. Shares for the firm were up 8.7% after it revealed there is 'no evidence' that its shot needs updating yet

Data from Israel showed that the variant can 'breakthrough' in people who have been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, but the rate was not high enough to be a major cause for concern.

In the U.S., only about one percent of all COVID-19 cases are caused by the South African variant, with the highest rates in North Carolina (3.9 percent), Georgia and Maryland (2.5 percent each).

The variant was designated 'of concern' by the U.S. health authorities because it contains a number of mutations, including some that may make it harder for antibodies triggered by vaccines to stick to and neutralize the infectious spike protein.

It is also thought to be more infectious than older strains, raising worries the variant would spread faster than vaccines could suppress it.

But so far, rates of the strain, known as B1351, have remained very low in the U.S., and even in South Africa, where the variant has long been dominant, daily cases have fallen precipitously since the rollout began.

South Africa just received its first batch of Pfizer's vaccine last month. The nation is also using Johnson & Johnson's single-dose shot, which is about 64 percent effective against moderate to severe infection with the B1351 variant.

A deal for another 20 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine was signed by South Africa last month.

In the U.S., more than 138.6 million doses of the firm's vaccine have been administered, compared to almost 112 million doses of Moderna's shots and nearly nine million of Johnson & Johnson's.

The UK Government has ordered an extra 60 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine as part of its plans for a vaccination booster program this autumn.

Pfizer and BioNTech also began their application for full Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last week, which would make it the first fully approved shot.

And the company is expected to get U.S. emergency authorization for its shot to be given to children between ages 12 and 15 any day now.

The Big Pharma firm has become a global leader for having one of the most effective and widely distributed Covid vaccines in the world, despite its tricky shipping and storage and early stumbles.

But last week the Biden administration last week threw its support behind waiving intellectual property protections to allow other countries to make copycat versions of vaccines like Pfizer and BioNTech's.

These protections allow the formula for the vaccines to be exclusive to their makers, and also give the firm's leverage to license the shots and be paid for them, helping to recoup the astronomical costs of making vaccines.

South Africa co-led the push for intellectual property waivers with India, suggesting they would like to sidestep Pfizer's involvement to have its shot made by factories in their own hard-hit countries.

Bourla, Pfizer's CEO is adamantly against this move.

If other countries sign on, it could cut into the finances of vaccine-makers, but experts warn that patent waivers alone would not get shots to these countries any sooner, and Bourla warns it could result in 'unsafe' vaccines.
American adults who are not planning to get vaccinated against COVID-19 insist there is nothing that could make them change their minds, a new poll reveals.

Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed by The Economist/YouGov,said they've already gotten the vaccine, are in the process of doing so or are planning to get it.

However, about 20 percent of adults said they will not be immunized and, when asked if they could be convinced to get the jab, almost 80 percent said 'no.'

Prior studies have surveys have suggested that may vaccine hesitant people were taking a 'wait and see' approach to vaccines and might be more inclined to get them once more others had, without any major problems.

The new survey results suggest most who don't want the shots now are digging their heels in, and comes amid fears that the U.S. will never achieve true herd immunity against the virus due to vaccine hesitancy.

A new poll from The Economist/YouGov found 69% of U.S. adults have gotten vaccinated against COVID-19 or are planning to, but 18% will not get the shot

When asked those who won't get vaccinated were asked if there was anything that could change their minds and convince them to be immunized, 79% said 'no'

For the poll, 1,500 U.S. adult citizens were surveyed online between May 1 and May 4 on several issues, including vaccinations.

One question asked respondents how they would describe their 'personal situation' regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

About 42 percent said they were fully vaccinated, 14 percent said they have received one dose and 13 percent said they plan to be - for a total of 69 percent.

Among age groups, adults over age 65 were the most likely to be fully vaccinated with 67 percent said they had completed their series while just 27 percent of those aged 18 to 29 said the same thing.

Vaccinations status also differed among party lines with 87 percent of Democrats fully vaccinated or planning to be compared to 56 percent of Republicans.

Meanwhile, 18 percent of U.S. adults said they do not plan to be inoculated against the coronavirus.

Respondents who are between ages 45 and 64, make under $50,000 per year and identify as Republican were the most likely to say they won't get the vaccine.

When asked if anything could change their minds, 79 percent said nothing could do so.

Just five percent said 'yes' and 16 percent were unsure.

Now, several experts fear that herd immunity may not be feasible and that the U.S. may have to live with the virus forever.

They say this is because new variants, which are more contagious, are spreading more quickly and because the pace of vaccinations has slowed.

This could result in COVID-19 becoming an endemic disease, meaning it will always be present in the population, but circulating at low rates.

Dr David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told The New York Times that as more people achieve herd immunity through vaccination or infection, future outbreaks will be smaller.

However, he says there is no doubt that outbreaks will occur and, in some cases, will be deadly.

'This is the natural progression of many infections we have in humans, whether it is tuberculosis or HIV,' Heymann said.

'They have become endemic and we have learned to live with them and we learn how to do risk assessments and how to protect those we want to protect.'

The good news is that, even if COVID-19 does become an endemic disease, doctors say the U.S. may be turning a corner.

'This summer is going to seem so much closer to normal than we've had in a very long time,' Dr Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN on Sunday.

'The key statistic to think about is...what percentage of the adult population has received at least one vaccination.'

As of Monday morning, 58 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose and 43.8 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Reiner says the number of cases will rapidly decline once the number of adults given an initial shot has surpassed 60 percent.

'I expect during the month of May we will see daily cases drop dramatically and deaths finally drop to quite low numbers,' he said.
As warming spring temperatures encourage Americans to gather outside, the air can be particularly brutal for those who suffer from allergies.

Elevated pollen counts can cause a slew of symptoms including itching, watering eyes; runny noses; sneezing; and coughing.

Meteorologists and allergists say that, with climate change, allergies are getting worse and worse every year - with 2021 shaping up to be the worst year yet.

This means not only longer pollen seasons, but also more intense seasons.

Allergy seasons that typically started in April, are now beginning as early as the first week of March or last week of February, doctors reveal.

What's more, a recent report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America found that across the country - from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Richmond, Virginia to Wichita, Kansas - cities are reporting worsening seasonal allergies.

Meanwhile, most scientists have stopped the labor-intensive work of pollen counting, so there are very few researchers at the 90 counting stations across the country who are scrambling to discover if there is more pollen than usual in the air.

Experts say allergies are getting worse every year, especially due to pollen, with 8% of American adults suffering from hay fever as a result of pollen allergies. Pictured: Yellow pollen haze tints the sky yellow in Durham, North Carolina, April 2019

There fewer than 90 certified reporting stations in the U.S. from which allergists can count the amount of pollen in the air. Pictured: Dr Donald Dvorin, the Philadelphia region's only certified pollen counter, looks at pollen under a microscope courtesy of WHYY News

Allergies occur when the body's immune system views a substance as harmful and overreacts to it.

Reactions may be mildly annoying from sneezing and watery eyes to life-threatening such as anaphylactic shock, which is when blood pressure suddenly drops and airways narrow, preventing someone from breathing normally.

Having a pollen allergy means you experience an allergic reaction to a powder found on flowering plants.

Because pollen is microscopic in size - less than 0.007 inches - it can travel far distances and is easily inhaled, getting deep into the lungs.

Grass and tree pollen typically is released between April and May while pollen from weeds, like ragweed, comes in June and July.

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, about eight percent of U.S. adults aged 18 and over suffer from hay fever, which is the allergic reaction to pollen.

WHAT IS HAY FEVER? Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen, a fine powder which comes from plants. There is more pollen in the air in the spring and summer seasons, when plants are flowering. The reaction usually happens when pollen comes into contact with someone's eyes, nose, mouth or throat. Symptoms include: Coughing

Sneezing

Runny nose

Itchy, red or watery eyes

Headaches

Tiredness People suffering from the allergy can put take over-the-counter medication, wash clothes regularly, and vacuum and dust indoors. Avoiding grass, cut flowers and smoke can help reduce symptoms, as can drying clothes indoors where pollen is less likely to stick to them. Source: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Advertisement

However, scientists say there is no doubt that climate change has made pollen season longer and worse in the U.S.

This occurs in two ways. Firstly, as Americans burn more fossil fuels, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere increases.

'When CO2 goes up, plants tend to grow a little bigger,' Dr William Anderegg, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah, told Vox.

'They tend to put out more flowers as a fraction of their mass, and individual flowers tend to have actually more pollen on them.'

This leads to plants producing more pollen, resulting in more seeds that will mean more plants next season.

In addition, as the planet heats up due to more carbon dioxide, plants also heat up, which means winter temperatures are not as cold and spring comes earlier, reported Vox.

'As spring heats up, all of these life cycle events, including pollen seasons, tend to shift earlier,' Anderegg said.

But it's hard to tell how much pollen is in the air.

According to the National Allergy Bureau, there are fewer than 90 certified reporting stations in the U.S., well behind several countries including Japan, Germany and France.

'Pollen observations are sparse, sporadic, not standardized, often hard to come by,' Dr Fiona Lo, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington, told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

'Among the pollen researchers, it's well-known that the U.S. pollen data is insufficient.

Pollen counting currently requires volunteers spending hours collecting and analyzing samples, which can be tedious.

The labor-intensive process means many allergists abandon the practice to spend more time doing other duties, like teaching, reported The Inquirer.

'Very, very few allergists want to get into this because of the time factor,' Dr Donald Dvorin, the Philadelphia region's only certified pollen counter, told the newspaper.

A recent study found that the pollen season has increased by 20 days in North America and pollen concentration has risen by 21 percent from 1990 to 2018.

Lo said several in the allergy community want the way pollen is counted to improve but lack the resources to do so.
At the height of the initial Covid outbreak in March last year, Leilani Medel, a 41-year-old mum, posted a picture of herself and her 13-year-old daughter Carmina on her Facebook page with the caption: Dont ask me to stay home, Im a nurse! We fight when others cant any more.

Leilani, who lived in Bridgend, South Wales, was born in the Philippines and had worked in NHS hospitals and care homes for the past ten years.

She was described by colleagues as the kindest of souls  a passionate nurse who would do anything for her patients.

Three weeks after that Facebook post, the fit and active young mother was dead.

Shed caught Covid-19 working on a ward where there were infected patients, and died at 9pm on April 9, at the same time as her husband Johnny was fighting for his life in intensive care.

Leilani, who lived in Bridgend, South Wales, was born in the Philippines and had worked in NHS hospitals and care homes for the past ten years

With no close family locally, Carmina was taken into local authority care until her dad had recovered.

This devastatingly sad story captured in a heartbeat both the relentless march of the disease and  importantly  the personal risks for NHS staff caring for patients in hospitals where Covid was rampant.

Between March 9 and December 28 last year, 883 health and social care workers died of Covid caught while caring for infected patients in hospitals and care homes, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Its a shattering figure made all the more poignant by the knowledge that each individual continued to go into work despite the risks.

But what it doesnt show is that an unaccountably high proportion were nurses and healthcare workers from the Philippines who uprooted their lives, leaving homes, families and sometimes children to travel thousands of miles to work for the NHS and care for the sick and vulnerable.

In March last year, in their spare time, Professor Tim Cook, a critical care consultant, and Dr Simon Lennane, a GP in Herefordshire, began to analyse deaths among front-line workers reported in newspapers and on social media.

They found that of 106 health and social care staff who had died up until April 22, 63 per cent were from non-white ethnic groups.

And 19 were from the Philippines  more than from the next five countries combined. Thats 18 per cent of the deaths, despite Filipinos making up around just 1.5 per cent of the NHS workforce.

Dr Lennane, a GP for nearly 30 years, found himself near tears as he uncovered their stories. They were people whod left their own families behind in the Philippines to work for our NHS, often putting their patients before themselves, he says.

At the height of the initial Covid outbreak in March last year, Leilani Medel, a 41-year-old mum, posted a picture of herself and her 13-year-old daughter Carmina on her Facebook page with the caption: Dont ask me to stay home, Im a nurse! We fight when others cant any more.

It was incredibly upsetting and harrowing, but it felt important to record this information, both as a memorial to colleagues who have died  and to learn lessons. There seemed no obvious reasons for their deaths other than that they were pushed on to wards in dangerous circumstances.

Of all the deaths analysed, there were none  surprisingly  in the settings believed to pose the highest risks. Intensive care doctors and nurses, anaesthetists and physiotherapists, who are in close physical contact with the sickest patients, were absent from the data.

Our expectation was that anaesthetists and intensive care doctors would be hit hardest because their jobs involved most risk, says Dr Lennane. But its likely these groups of healthcare staff are used to being rigorous about use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other practices known to reduce transmission of infection, while those working in other areas, such as the general wards, were less protected.

At least 80 per cent of those we studied would have been exposed to the virus before April 2, 2020, when guidance was issued that all doctors and nurses should be wearing PPE to treat all patients.

While he acknowledges there are too many unknown factors to pinpoint a trend, he says: There were many anecdotal reports of nurses from ethnic groups being asked to expose themselves to more risk than their white colleagues  and for various reasons to do with their position, or worries about job security, they may not have felt able to say no to that request.

To ensure high standards, nurses from overseas must pass a lengthy and expensive exam process: without these, it isnt possible to progress past the lowest pay bands.

According to Professor Cook and Dr Lennanes data, its these lowest-paid nurses who were most vulnerable to catching Covid-19.

Tinig UK, an online news site for the UK Filipino community, confirms that after nurses, healthcare support workers were the largest group of Filipinos to die from Covid during the first wave, followed by carers.

In the U.S., the figures are even higher, with the largest nursing union reporting that 30 per cent of all Covid deaths among nurses during the first wave were Filipinos, despite them making up just 4 per cent of the nursing workforce.

Francis Fernando, head of nursing at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust and one of the founders of the Filipino Nurses Association UK (FNAUK), says many Filipino nurses felt an obligation to follow instructions from their employers even if it meant they were put in harms way.

It touches my heart because they came here to better their lives and help and they were taken advantage of and let down, he says.

Filipino workers contacted FNAUK saying they were not given PPE unless they asked for it.

They all said the same thing: that they were at the back of the queue for some reason, says Fernando.

I think they were taken advantage of by their managers and employers. They were afraid if they said something, they would be reprimanded and their visas not renewed.

Last June, Public Health England (PHE) published a damning report on Covid and people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, reporting clear evidence that belonging to certain ethnic minorities increased the likelihood of dying from Covid.

This was not related to genetic factors but discrimination may have contributed to riskier work environments and to a fear of speaking out (even when ill) about testing and PPE.

As lockdown is lifted, Leilanis aunt, Marisa Medenilla, 65 and also a nurse, is afraid that those who, like Leilani, paid the ultimate price for caring for others, will be forgotten.

Leilani should not have died, says Marisa. But she was so hardworking and so keen to help, she would not have said no to a superior, even if it meant compromising her own safety.

Marisa says Leilani had been working without adequate PPE on a ward where patients had Covid. She had a plastic apron but no mask or visor.

After her death, I spoke to one of her colleagues: he knew there were Covid cases on the ward and he questioned management over the lack of PPE, says Marisa, who works in care homes in Bristol.

He refused to work unless he was properly protected, so they sent Leilani to that unit instead.

Like Marisa, Leilani had two jobs, both night shifts. She worked as a nurse for hospitals within the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area, but on her days off took on extra shifts in hospitals and care homes via an agency.

Marisa says Leilani had been working without adequate PPE on a ward where patients had Covid. She had a plastic apron but no mask or visor

If the shortage of PPE in hospitals was desperate when the pandemic hit, in care homes it was even worse.

Leilani became unwell towards the end of March last year. She said the whole family had Covid, Marisa recalls. She sounded weak and said breathing was painful.

I made her promise she would go to hospital if she was struggling, but she told me that a doctor had advised her to stay at home. I tried and tried to speak to her again, but I could get no reply. Her brother told me she was getting worse but was still at home.

It was typical of Leilani not to want to bother anyone.

Marisa feels that Leilanis shift pattern made her particularly vulnerable. She worked nights so she could be there for Carmina in the day, she explains. She wanted to be a good mum and also send money home to her family.

We only found out after she had died how difficult her life was, Marisa says. She was exhausted. But most Filipinos dont want to speak about this. We work hard, and we dont complain.

Ive been in England for more than 30 years and Im only just learning how to speak out. We are brought up to respect our elders and anyone in authority. It is ingrained never to answer back.

There are an esimated 22,000 Filipinos working in the NHS in England, making up a substantial staff shortfall. Many feel pressure to earn enough not only to support themselves, but to give something back to their families.

As Marisa, one of six children, explains, her family were farmers and had to borrow to pay for their tuition and accommodation  so once we have a good job abroad, its our turn to help them.

Most Filipinos, she adds, are afraid to speak out about conditions at work because if they lose their job, they lose their ability to help their families, too.

Leilani trained as a nurse in the Philippines, where she met her husband. She came to England in the late 1990s, and he followed a few years later, Marisa recalls.

She supported him financially while he studied. She worked so hard and was so proud of being a nurse in England. Her life revolved around nursing and her daughter.

Marisa fell ill with Covid at the same time as Leilani, though with mild symptoms. She was infected again in December, after an outbreak at a care home where she works, when 12 residents died. She says nurses were simply told to wear double masks.

I was so, so frightened, because Leilani and so many of our colleagues had died, says Marisa.

Yet she went to work on Christmas Eve, after nursing a Covid-infected patient then running a high temperature, because no other nurses could come in.

I kept telling myself: be strong, you can do it . . . and I did until the morning, and then I collapsed.

Marisa was off work for the next three months with Covid.

In the third week, my chest was so painful, I didnt want to sleep in case I stopped breathing, she recalls. Paramedics urged her to go to hospital, but I thought if I did I would die, she says.

The Royal College of Nursing is concerned that since deaths are not recorded by ethnicity, there may be more Philippine nationals whove slipped under the radar. From the outset, we have called for accurate reporting of the numbers of deaths and infections among nursing staff, including their ethnicity, says Jude Diggins, director of nursing, policy and public affairs.

Despite the known increased risks, and a report by PHE, there is still not routine accurate collection of the ethnic background of staff who have died.

Yet its only through this accurate reporting that it will be possible to properly understand why Covid-19 has had such a disproportionate impact on those from minority ethnic backgrounds and take steps to prevent nursing staff being put at unnecessary risk.

Marisa is particularly upset by the story of Donald Suelto, 51, a nurse at Hammersmith Hospital in London, who died alone in his flat on April 7 after a patient with Covid coughed on him.

He rang 111 but couldnt get through. His body was found by police after his niece, Emelyne Suelto Robinson, also a nurse, raised the alarm when she hadnt heard from him.

In a moving tribute, Emelyne, who lives in Scotland, said her uncle was so proud of being part of the NHS for 18 years  that is what he would always say to me.

Hearing this story broke my heart because it summed up the position of so many Filipinos, says Marisa. Many live alone, without close family near.

At the end of April 2020, NHS England announced that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) healthcare workers should be routinely risk assessed  and given a chance to talk privately and in confidence about their concerns.

Marisa believes that had this been in place earlier, her niece, who only ever wanted to work and support her family, might still be at home with her husband and child.

Marisa hopes that the healthcare workers who died of Covid will be recognised in some way.

Dr Lennane says there must be another legacy: Covid-19 has shone a light on the effects of inequality. We need to recognise this and change, so that in future healthcare staff dont have to put themselves at risk to look after us.
U.S. regulators gave Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization for children ages 12 to 15, making it the first shot available to kids younger than 16, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Monday.

The shot was authorized for people ages 16 and up in December, and Pfizer has been in trials for teens since October of last year.

Expanding vaccine availability to younger teenagers will make about 13 million additional Americans eligible for vaccination, a step that some see as critical to reaching herd immunity and improving safety as children return to school.

Others, however, have questioned whether vaccinating children is worth the risk, considering that only 490 children under age 18 have died of COVID-19, accounting for 0.1 percent of all U.S. coronavirus fatalities.

U.S. regulators gave Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine authorization to be used in children as young as 12 on Monday

'Having a vaccine authorized for a younger population is a critical step in continuing to lessen the immense public health burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr Peter Marks, director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement accompanying the authorization.

'With science guiding our evaluation and decision-making process, the FDA can assure the public and medical community that the available data meet our rigorous standards to support the emergency use of this vaccine in the adolescent population 12 years of age and older.'

Agency officials pointed out that between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021, about 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 amog kids between ages 11 and 17 have been identified in the U.S.

In total, more than 3.1 million kids under 18 have had COVID-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

Perhaps more worrisome, kids are making up a growing share of Covid cases in the U.S.

Between April 22 and May 6, the nation saw a four percent increase in the children testing positive.

Last week alone, there were more than 72,000 new pediatric cases identified in the U.S.

And children now make up nearly a quarter - 24 percent - of new Covid cases in the U.S., according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

As older age groups have gotten their vaccines and children have returned to school, they've become one of the most vulnerable groups in America, although they rarely get severely ill.

Children (dark blue) now make up nearly a quarter - 24 percent - of new Covid cases in the U.S. as of last week, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Expanding eligibility could help pick up the pace of vaccinations, which has slowed in recent weeks.

Now, it will simply be a question of whether parents will want their children to get the shots.

'Todays action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic.,' said Acting FDA Commissioner Dr Janet Woodcock.

'Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorizations.'

The FDA also said Monday it will meet June 10 to discuss general considerations for the use of COVID-19 vaccines in children.

Regulators based their decision largely on the results of Pfizer's adolescent trial, announced on March 31.

The firm's study of 2,260 volunteers found it prevented 100 percent of severe illnesses and deaths from COVID-19 among the teenagers.

In fact, the children showed stronger immune responses to the shot than did the 16- to 25-year-old group Pfizer had previously tested its vaccine in.

A press release about the result makes no mention of concerning side effects among teenages, but regulators will comb over the data to be sure there are no red flags before okaying the shot for teens.

For some parents who were nervous about their kids returning to school, the shot can't come soon enough.

Nearly half of U.S. schools were back to fully in person learning by March 23, according to a Washington Post analysis.

But the CDC has stated in no uncertain terms that neither teachers nor students need to be vaccinated in order to return safely to school.

Despite that recommendation, the Biden administration has continued to urge states to prioritize vaccinating teachers, ahead of authorization for vaccinations to be administered to the majority of school-age children.
Aviva has backed calls for a Government crackdown on financial fraud after its brand was hijacked by criminals.

At least 27 fake websites were set up in Aviva's name to dupe unsuspecting victims into handing over cash.

The 16billion pension giant warned that shutting down the scammer websites is like playing 'whack-a-mole' under the current rules.

Finger on the pulse: Aviva is demanding internet companies be held to account as part of the forthcoming Online Safety Bill

It demanded internet companies be held to account as part of the forthcoming Online Safety Bill. There is widespread anger that financial fraud has been left out of the flagship legislation.

The Mail's Stamp Out Investment Fraud campaign, launched last week, demands web giants are made legally responsible for removing scams from their platforms.

Aviva UK financial crime risk director Paul Pisano said: 'We believe the Online Safety Bill presents an opportunity to protect financial services consumers.

'That would mean the online publisher would have to ensure that any financial promotion which they communicate has first been approved by an authorised person. Our concern is centred on the sharp practices employed by the advertisers, which can mislead consumers and put them at risk of financial harm.'

Last year Aviva's Peter Hazelwood told MPs that web giants were acting as both 'enablers' and 'accelerants' of online investment fraud.

Platforms profit from hosting ads while letting criminals 'slip through the net', he said, adding that it usually took three weeks to get scams removed.

'It is like a whack-a-mole approach,' Hazelwood told the Commons work and pensions committee.

Natwest has also backed the Mail's campaign. Retail banking chief David Lindberg said: 'Scammers commit crimes that impact across the UK.

'We need to bring a full range of tools to bear on them  including tougher legislation.'
Teletext Holidays could face legal action after failing to return more than 7million in refunds to customers, according to the competition watchdog.

The holiday firm has failed to address complaints from hundreds of customers who claim they have not received refunds on cancelled trips within 14 days as required by law, the Competition and Markets Authority said.

It said it wrote to Truly Holdings Ltd, which operates Teletext Holidays, in March, setting out its concerns and giving it 'an opportunity to address them'.

The regulator told the firm it could avoid potential court action by signing formal commitments to refund affected consumers and ensure compliance with package travel regulations.

Teletext Holidays has been told it faces legal action if it doesn't refund its customers soon

But the company has not agreed to provide undertakings 'that are sufficient to address the CMA's concerns', according to the regulator.

Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: 'There must be no more delays to Teletext refunding customers for holidays they could not take because of the pandemic.

'It is unacceptable that many have already waited months for the refunds they are legally entitled to.

'We take very seriously the ongoing failure of Teletext Holidays to meet its obligations.

'The firm must now comply with the law and commit to refunding its customers. If it does not do so, we will not hesitate to pursue this case in court.'

This is Money has been contacted by a number of frustrated Teletext Holiday customers who have been waiting over a year to get their money back.

One reader, Gary, said: 'We are owed 3,200 by Teletext Holidays and it's been 12 months now. I have telephoned and emailed them numerous times, to no avail.'

Another customer, Ian, added: 'In March last year I booked an all inclusive holiday with Teletext Holidays. This was cancelled due to Covid. Despite repeated calls and emails they still refuse to refund me.'

A number of Teletext Holidays customers told This is Money they were still waiting for refunds

Meanwhile, in February 2020, Jenni booked a short break to Ibiza for herself, her husband and a couple of friends.

It was cancelled in April of the same year, but she and her friends are still yet to receive a refund.

She said: 'I have found this whole situation very stressful, as I cannot afford to repay my friend for her flights until I have been paid back by Teletext Holidays.'

However, it seems these customers and many others are still waiting for their refunds.

Many frustrated consumers have taken to social media to voice their concern.

This Twitter user said they had been waiting for a response from Teletext for over 3 months

Another user said they had been waiting a year for a refund and have heard nothing

One customer said they have found it incredibly difficult to get through to Teletext Holidays

A spokesperson for Teletext Holidays has replied to the CMA's warning: 'Teletext Holidays have consistently stated our commitment to refund all customers as quickly and practically as possible.

'We have been in continuous dialogue with the CMA providing evidence of why the refund process has been delayed.

'We have also provided real-time plans on how and when we can refund all customers. Therefore, we are extremely disappointed with today's CMA announcement that seemingly ignores the reality of the challenges we face through no fault of our own.

'The business has already refunded the vast majority of customers and the proposals submitted to CMA detail when we can complete the remaining refunds due.

'We are absolutely committed to repaying all our customers whose holidays were cancelled due to the pandemic, we have committed to refunding all new customers within 14 days of any new booking, and we will continue to work with the CMA to seek support and agreement to complete this process.'

It added it would like to sincerely apologise to our customers for the delay in processing their refunds at this time.

Teletext is not the only firm to have faced criticism since the coronavirus pandemic, with many customers claiming it has taken them over a year to receive a refund from their holiday provider.

In February, lastminute.com paid out 1million to thousands of customers whose holidays were cancelled because of Covid-19, but only after being threatened with court action.

Go To Gate has also been called out for its slow refund process with many saying it was near impossible to get in touch with the company.
An upcoming satirical comedy that was due to mock the royal family has been delayed by the American broadcaster HBO Max following the death of Prince Philip.

The creators of the 5 million cartoon series The Prince, which was set to debut in late spring, have postponed the show's release after the Duke of Edinburgh's death on April 9 at the age of 99.

The animated series was created by Family Guy producer Gary Janetti and revolves around a fictional version of Prince George and his family.

However, following the Duke of Edinburgh's death, the network confirmed the upcoming series has been delayed, with a new date to be 'announced at a later time'.

The series has not announced whether the show will be aired by a UK broadcaster but head of HBO Max Global Andy Forssell last year said the American network was looking to expand to Europe during the second half of 2021.

The satirical comedy The Prince, which is centred around the royal family, has been delayed by the American broadcaster HBO Max

The network made the decision to delay the cartoon series following the death of Prince Philip in April

In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter HBO Max said: 'We were saddened to learn of Prince Philip's passing and will adjust plans for the series debut. A new date will be announced at a later time.'

It is unclear if the Duke of Edinburgh's character, which was voiced by actor Dan Stevens, will be redrawn before the show airs but a source told The Hollywood Reporter that the series did not paint Prince Philip and the Queen in the most flattering light.

Last year, creators of the animated series were accused of 'taking cheap shots' after a trailer of the upcoming show appeared to mock Prince George, with critics saying the young royal could be adversely affected by his portrayal in the eight-part series.

A producer for rival Disney Studios said: 'It's one thing for film-makers to play fast and loose with the truth in shows like The Crown but poking fun at a seven-year-old child seems cruel and unfair.

'Some things should be off-limits. It's morally wrong to use a child to get cheap laughs.'

While TV critic Katherine Singh said: 'It's important to remember George is still a child who has had no say in his lot in life.

'What we say about people, even those who seem untouchable like the Royals, can seriously and negatively affect people. Prince George is old enough to know what's going on.'

Clips from the cartoon showed Prince George sitting on a throne saying: 'Hey guys, it's me, Prince George I know self-isolating is difficult and we're all sick of being stuck in the same 775 rooms, or, you know, studio apartment, it's different for everyone.

'Stay positive and be nice to your serving staff. They're doing the best they can, even though lunch ******* sucked today.'

The animated series was created by Family Guy producer Gary Janetti who first began making jibes at the the royal family on his Instagram account

Earlier this year the show's creator said The Prince was 'coming soon' but the network has since confirmed that the show has been delayed

However Mr Janetti, who first began making jibes at the the royal family on his Instagram account, defended the show.

He said: 'I would hope that he would find it super funny and have a sense of humour about it, and obviously see that everything is meant with affection.'

Prior to the show's broadcast a synopsis by the show's creators read: 'Before George rules Britannia, he'll be laying down his own laws in Janetti's comedic take on the future King of England's childhood as seen from the prince's own point of view.

'Because his succession isn't coming any time soon, in each episode George will find his path in life as a young prince in modern times  from the 775 rooms of Buckingham Palace to his family's sea of corgis to primary school with commoners.

'The Prince also features notable characters in George's life such as his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, his fourth-in-line-for-the-throne little sister Charlotte, his modern Aunt Meghan and Uncle Harry, his great-granddad Philip, andwho can forgethis Gan Gan Elizabeth.'

The show will see Janetti as Prince George, actor Orlando Bloom as Prince Harry and American actress Condola Rashad as Meghan Markle.

Lucy Punch will voice Kate Middleton, Iwan Rheon will play the role of Prince William and Frances De La Tour will take on the role of Queen Elizabeth.
Australia must beef up its military capability in the country's north to be ready to respond to 'unpredictable' threats from countries such as China, a leading security expert has said.

Australia Strategic Policy Institute's Dr John Coyne claimed the army's presence in the north had reduced in recent years, adding a decision by the US to build its own infrastructure at Darwin was a 'vote of no confidence in Australia'.

China has a defence budget six times higher than Australia and boasts 42 times more soldiers, 55 times more tanks, 13 times more submarines and 16 times more fighter jets.

Across land, air and sea, China has Australia covered with 3.3 million troops in service compared to Australia's relatively feeble 80,000.

Dr Coyne said the government had also underinvested in some military bases, just as Australian national security leaders acknowledge the 'drums of war' are beating for free nations in the region who seek to resist China's quest for dominance.

A defence expert has warned Australia has been underinvesting in its military capability in the north of the country. Pictured, a file image of military personnel at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland

Shocking disparities between Australia and China's military power shows we would struggle in a war, amid fears that tensions both nations are nearing tipping point

'The threat is incredibly unpredictable now. We don't have a Cold War but we do have aggressive non-state actors, a resurgent Russia and an assertive China,' Dr Coyne told news.com.au

Last year's Defence Strategic Update warned Australia may not have 10 years to prepare for a major conflict as had been previously assumed.

Dr Coyne said little detail had been provided about 'what under 10 years warning means and where we should put people' but believed 'we need to increase capabilities in Darwin'.

Australia has a handful of air bases dotted around northern Australia along with three bare bases which are only activated when required, including RAAF Sherger near Weipa on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula.

'You have a bare base at Weipa and because Defence refuses to spend money on it, it has a dirt road leading up to it,' Dr Coyne said.

Most of Australia's military capability is concentrated in the country's south, thousands of kilometres away, while air bases sit on rural dirt roads.

The US announced last year it will spend $200million on constructing its own fuel reserves in Darwin, with Dr Coyne noting there had been 'a major problem in terms of fuel supply' that is now only being 'somewhat mitigated'.

RAAF Base Scherger (pictured) is a bare base located near Weipa on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula, which is accessed by a dirt track

The US sends thousands of marines to Darwin every year as part of an annual training rotation.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison late last month announced the Defence Force will receive a $747million funding boost to improve ADF training facilities, weapons training simulation, and firing ranges in the Northern Territory.

'Our focus is on pursuing peace, stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific, with a world order that favours freedom,' Mr Morrison said at the time.

'Working with the US, our allies and Indo-Pacific neighbours, we will continue advance Australia's interests by investing in the Australian Defence Force, particularly across Northern Australia.'

The location of RAAF bases, including bare bases, north of the 26th Parallel, a line which divides Australia from east to west

The government in September last year also announced work had started on a $1.1billion upgrade to RAAF Base Tindal, south of Katherine in the Northern Territory.

Dr Coyne said most of the funds announced 'had already been committed to updating those training grounds'.

He added there has 'not been a lot of change in terms of strategic forces and in the past few years the army presence in northern Australia has actually reduced'.

Last month a powerful national security leader warned the 'drums of war' are beating closer as tensions with China escalate, and declared Australia must do whatever it takes to protect 'our precious liberty'.

Australian Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo said in his Anzac Day message that while Australia should always search for peace, it must also be prepared to 'send off our warriors to fight the nation's wars'.

The federal government in September last year announced the start of a $1.1billion upgrade of RAAF Base Tindal (pictured)

He added free nations 'must remain armed, strong and ready for war, even as they lament the curse of war'.

'Today, as free nations again hear the beating drums and watch worryingly the militarisation of issues that we had, until recent years, thought unlikely to be catalysts for war, let us continue to search unceasingly for the chance for peace while bracing again, yet again, for the curse of war,' Mr Pezzullo said.

'By our resolve and our strength, by our preparedness of arms, and by our statecraft, let us get about reducing the likelihood of war  but not at the cost of our precious liberty.

A Chinese Community Party newspaper last week called for China to launch 'long-range strikes' on Australia if the country supported US military action in defending Taiwan . Pictured, file image of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

'War might well be folly, but the greater folly is to wish away the curse by refusing to give it thought and attention, as if in so doing, war might leave us be, forgetting us perhaps.'

Just last week a Chinese propaganda newspaper encouraged Beijing to bomb Australia if Canberra supports US military action in protecting Taiwan.

Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of The Global Times, which is seen as Beijing's mouthpiece on foreign policy to the world, said China should retaliate with 'long-range strikes' if Australia gets involved in a potential military conflict over Taiwan.

'I suggest China make a plan to impose retaliatory punishment against Australia once it militarily interferes in the cross-Straits situation,' he wrote in an opinion piece.

'The plan should include long-range strikes on the military facilities and relevant key facilities on Australian soil if it really sends its troops to China's offshore areas and combats against the PLA (People's Liberation Army).'

Mr Hu said it would be important for the Chinese government to send a strong message about the plan for retaliatory military action 'to deter the extreme forces of Australia' from 'committing irresponsible actions'.

Australia Strategic Policy Institute's Dr John Coyne said Australia should be increasing its military capabilities in Darwin. Pictured, a military training exercise at the Mt Bundey training area, south of Darwin

The Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin warned Australia 'they must know what disasters they would cause to their country' if the country's military join the US to 'interfere in the Taiwan question'. Pictured, file image of the Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers

He warned Australia 'they must know what disasters they would cause to their country' if they were 'bold enough to coordinate with the US to militarily interfere in the Taiwan question'.

Mr Hu also claimed while 'China loves peace' and would 'not take the initiative to pick a fight with faraway Australia', he was quick to point out the country has 'long-range missiles with conventional warheads' that could target Australian military objectives.

Turmoil surrounding Taiwan reached fever pitch in recent weeks after China repeatedly incurred on Taipei's airspace and maritime borders, sending 25 military aircraft into its defence 'identification zone'.

There are grave fears Beijing will militarily force Taiwan to reunify with mainland China under President-for-life Xi Jinping and the country's 'One China' policy.
The bible college disgraced NRL player Jarryd Hayne stayed at as a student while bailed for rape charges has hit back at claims teenagers on his course were not told he would be joining them until after he arrived.

The 33-year-old stayed at the Youth With A Mission college in Perth while charged with sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman in Newcastle on the night of the NRL Grand Final in September 2018.

The rugby league icon was granted a bail variation to attend the college as a live-in student in 2019 but had to report to police in Western Australia three times a week.

Hayne was on Thursday sentenced to five years and nine months behind bars after being found guilty of the rape in March.

An anonymous student who said they were at the college at the same time as Hayne claimed they were only told he was staying there two days after the course began.

Jarryd Hayne pictured at a McDonalds with others taking part on the Youth With A Mission bible course in Perth. The college has denied claims teenagers on his course were not told he would be joining them until after he arrived

'We werent told about Jarryd until about two days after DTS [discipleship training school] had started,' the student told The Sunday Times.

'The students were shocked because we didnt know about him beforehand.'

The school said it did everything it could to notify other course participants Hayne would be studying at YWAM as a live-in student.

Hayne outside Downing Centre District Court with his wife Amellia Bonnici in March. He was sentenced to five years and nine months behind bars after being found guilty of rape

Pictured: The Youth With A Mission college. The school said it did everything in 'our power' to inform students Hayne was attending

'We feel concern and empathy toward the victim and those impacted by Jarryd Haynes actions,' the school said.

'Before his arrival in July, 2019, we treated Mr Hayne the same way the law does  innocent until proven guilty.

'Prior to his commencement in the course, we did everything in our power to inform staff and students and gain their feedback regarding Mr Haynes participation in the course.'

Jarryd Hayne pictured arriving at Woy Way police station in February as part of his bail conditions

In a statement, the school said it did everything it could to notify other course participants Hayne would be studying at YWAM as a live-in student

The school's website advertises itself as a place for 'young people aged 17-25 who love Jesus' and want to 'pursue him to know him and to follow him with whole-hearted commitment'.

YWAM is a global evangelical Christian organisation and many of its Perth students were allowed into Australia on student visas.

An ex-staff member at the college has meanwhile hit out at the decision to allow Hayne to attend the school in an angry social media post.

'YWAM Perth has hundreds of people [many of them women] who give their money and time to volunteer for the organisation,' the staff member said.
Food delivery riders are causing 'total utter anarchy' for pedestrians and drivers on Sydney's roads, the chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia claims.

Harold Scruby is blaming a lack of law enforcement for cyclists and delivery riders causing havoc on major roads, even leading to a number of tragic deaths.

He referenced the death of an 89-year-old grandfather, Chengyi Shi, who died after he was hit by a rider who ran a red light on an electric bike in Kirribilli.

Mr Scruby feels so strongly about the problem that he has stepped down from a taskforce that attempts to protect food delivery riders through better regulation.

The lack of law enforcement is being blamed for the 'total, utter anarchy' of food delivery drivers

He claimed that the taskforce had been a failure since it was created by the NSW government following four delivery driver deaths.

'We have to have enforcement. It's total, utter anarchy, no one is enforcing the laws,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

Last year only seven riders were fined in NSW for riding on footpaths and 56 were fined for not dismounting at pedestrian crossings while just one was booked for speeding, according to statistics attained by the Pedestrian Council.

Harold Scruby said 'if riders followed the law, there'd be less crashes' as he referenced the death of an 89-year-old man after he was hit by a cyclist who ran a red light

Mr Scruby said he believes if the riders were following the laws there would be less accidents.

'We maintained the whole way through if riders followed the law, there'd be less crashes,' he said.

'It's anarchy and the worst offenders are the food delivery couriers on their electric bikes - many of which have been souped up.'

The Transport Workers Union have also pulled out of the taskforce with Unions NSW currently in the process of stepping away.
A female soldier stationed at Fort Bragg has been charged with murder in the shooting death of another soldier, according to police in North Carolina.

Fayetteville police announced the arrest of Tiara Nicole Vinson, 26, on Saturday.

Vinson is charged in connection with the death of 22-year-old Kelia Horton, who police said was found shot outside a Fayetteville home Friday afternoon.

It's unclear what prompted the shooting. Authorities also didn't reveal the nature of the relationship between the two women.

Fayetteville police announced the arrest of Tiara Nicole Vinson (left), 26, on Saturday. Vinson is charged in connection with the death of 22-year-old Kelia Horton (right), who police said was found shot outside a Fayetteville home Friday afternoon

Police said in a statement that officers were dispatched to a reported shooting along the 1400 block of Ferndell Drive (pictured)

Police said in a statement that officers were dispatched to a reported shooting along the 1400 block of Ferndell Drive.

Upon arrival, officers located an adult female who had been shot outside of a residence.

Authorities said a responding officer performed life-saving measures until she could be transported to a local hospital for her injuries.

The victim succumbed to her injuries, and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police Sgt Jeremy Glass said that no further details about the shooting were immediately available.

Vinson, who faces charges of first-degree murder and shooting a firearm into occupied property, was being held at the Cumberland County Jail without bond, police said.

Horton (pictured) was a motorpool clerk assigned to the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade. She joined the Army in 2017

Both women were active-duty soldiers stationed on Fort Bragg (file image), Col Joseph Buccino, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps said

It wasnt immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.

Both women were active-duty soldiers stationed on Fort Bragg, Col Joseph Buccino, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, told The Fayetteville Observer.

Buccino said Horton was a motorpool clerk assigned to the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade. Horton joined the Army in 2017.

Vinson, of Norfolk, Virginia, was a parachute rigger assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group. Vinson joined the Army in 2014.

'This is a tragic, senseless loss and a terrible moment, particularly for those here who knew Kelia,' Buccino told the newspaper.

'The command at the 525 Military Intelligence Brigade is organizing grief counseling for Kelias fellow soldiers and engaging with the family,' he added.
Australia Post has unveiled 26 new collectable coins all featuring classic Aussie icons such as an Akubra hat, a koala and a pavlova.

The rare $1 coins come as part of a joint partnership with the Royal Australian Mint with collectors urged to check their change after making a purchase at any post office.

Each coin features a different national icon and has been released as part of the popular Great Aussie Coin Hunt program.

Lucky Aussies may come across change featuring a cup of Milo, zinc sunscreen, a redback spider, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and even the beloved soap opera Home and Away.

Australia Post has unveiled 26 new collectable coins that all feature classic Aussie icons including an Akubra hat, a koala and a pavlova

Australia Post Executive General Manager Nicole Sheffield said the unveiling was the perfect way to connect families through the coin hunt.

'This year, we are releasing the full alphabet from the start of the hunt but they will be in limited supply, so we encourage those who want the full set to get in quickly to secure their collection of great Aussie memorabilia,' she said.

Royal Australian Mint CEO Leigh Gordon said a lot of research had gone into choosing what icons would star on each coin including some of the country's lesser known flora and fauna.

'There is definitely something for everyone in this coin series and we are delighted to be again working with Australia Post to create a unique and engaging way for all Australians to take a light-hearted look at our way of life,' Mr Gordon said.

Collectors have also been urged to keep an eye out for the special edition coloured coin featuring the world famous Great Barrier Reef.

The coins will be on offer from Monday with a full set available for purchase online.

They will be provided as change from Australian Post Offices.
As an American, I did not grow up celebrating either version of May Day.



I didn't celebrate the ancient pagan holiday honoring Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, which involves dancing around a maypole with bundles of wheat.

I also didn't celebrate International Workers' Day, the celebration of labor and the working class. It is a day of strikes, marches and rest for the middle class in countries that mark it as a statutory holiday.

May Day seemed so foreign in the capitalist empire, which is weird, because International Workers' Day actually began in the United States.

The first International Workers' Day was conceived by Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), to take place on May 1, 1890 in order to continue the fight for an eight-hour work day. Gompers chose that day because it was approximately the four-year anniversary of the Haymarket Massacre, the culmination of the authorities' brutal crackdown on striking workers from the McCormick Harvesting Machine plant.

The immigrants working at the Chicago plant, facing the brutal repression of barons who employed thugs against union members, demanded an eight-hour workday and set their deadline for May 1. They had already been harassed by the notorious private security mob known as the Pinkertons. The workers who had tried to form a union were locked out the factory and when they surrounded it on May 3, the police fired on them, killing at least two.

The bloodshed initiated by the police set the stage for an even larger rally the next day, and the police sent a much larger force to disperse the crowd. As the uniformed officers surrounded them, a bomb was thrown by someone in the crowd. It killed one officer on impact and six others from their wounds. The police responded by firing into the crowd, killing four and injuring more than 100 workers.

In the aftermath, there was hysteria against labor activists, radicals, and anarchists. August Spies, an anarchist newspaper editor who spoke at the rally, was arrested, despite having urged non-violence. Of the eight defendants accused of involvement in the bombing, half of them were not even present when the bomb was thrown.

Yet, all eight of them were convicted, with seven of them, including Spies, sentenced to death. In fact, the mass trial was so unjust that two Illinois governors pardoned three of the convicted. Spies, however, was one of the four who would end up being hanged. Before he died, he shouted, "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today."

And so it was. Previously disjointed groups of laborers "all got together for the first time on the political field in the summer following the Haymarket Affair," wrote historian Nathan Fine. The AFL voted to organize a strike on May 1, 1890, carrying on the fight and AFL President Samuel Gompers informed the Second International of his plans. Hence, the movement that began in a cold square on the banks of a great North American lake spread to the world.

For the first few years, Americans celebrated International Workers' Days and participated in massive labor activity. When Pullman rail workers went on strike in 1894 after massive layoffs and wage cuts in the middle of a recession, rail tycoons, who had previously resisted government regulation, begged the government to step in and help them. President Cleveland obliged, sending troops to Chicago, where they killed 30 strikers. President Cleveland then signed an order recognizing American Labor Day as an annual holiday taking place during the first week of September  so as to separate American labor from their international brethren.

Although most Americans simply ignore May Day, its status as Loyalty Day still remains the official law of the land. Even President Biden issued a proclamation on April 30 celebrating "Loyalty Day."

In his proclamation, Biden noted the significance of the day as also being International Workers' Day and took the space to "honor the workers whose service and sacrifice has helped turn the tide against the COVID-19 pandemic. On this day we show our gratitude to our essential workers..."

It might seem an illustration of how incoherent America's view of May Day is, that a president would praise labor during a holiday meant to undermine labor, but it is in keeping with the history of Americans' recognition of the day. That is, the American government and corporations reward the workers sacrificing their bodies with "gratitude," but not with increased wages or protections for their well-being.

These days, the labor movement in America is weak. The rate of unionization declined from a peak of around 30% in the late 1950s to 6.3% in the private sector in 2020. Tech companies continue to abuse loopholes in the rules surrounding the "gig economy" and refuse to pay workers fairly or provide required benefits, while burdening them with the risk of liability.

May Day may have gone through transformations since its conception, but the struggle remains the same.

Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
A critically injured delivery driver allegedly mowed down by a truck driver in a horror crash was working two jobs to support himself and his girlfriend in Australia, friends have revealed.

Alex Belyi, 25, remains in an induced coma after he was one of five pedestrians hit after a B double allegedly mounted the curb and struck a traffic light at a busy intersection in Melbourne's Southbank last Thursday night.

It's understood he was standing on a curb near his home, waiting to cross the street at the time.

Friends have rallied around Mr Belyi to remain a constant vigil at his hospital bedside as his family are 15,000 kilometres away in the Ukraine.

They have shared a distressing photo of Mr Belyi hooked up to tubes fighting for life in intensive care, where he remains in a critical but stable condition after undergoing his third surgery in as many days.

Alex Belyi (pictured fighting for life in hospital) has a long road to recovery ahead of him after he suffered extensive injuries

Alex Belyi (pictured) was working two jobs in Melbourne to support him and his girlfriend

His injuries include a crushed pelvis, broken arm and damaged bladder while half of his stomach had to be removed.

The full extent of his injuries won't be known until Mr Belyi wakes up.

'I still can't believe it to be honest. I'm shocked,' his friend Gene Zimmerman told Seven News.

'He's pretty much fighting for his life right now.'

'I'm not too certain how long it will take for him to get back on his feet.'

'Something like this should never have happened.'

Mr Belyi's family remain on the other side of the world, praying that he recovers.

'Hold on bro,' Kirill Belyi posted on his brother's Facebook page on Saturday.

Friends have rallied around delivery rider and online gaming enthusiast Alex Belyi (pictured)

Paramedics are seen swarming the scene on Thursday night (pictured) as they battled to save the group and rush them to hospital

With the family's permission, Mr Zimmerman has set up a GoFundMe page to help Mr Belyi with medical and rehabilitation cots until he gets back on his feet.

'Normally Alex works two jobs as a delivery man, however due to his current condition, it is unclear whether Alex will be able to return to workforce soon or at a later stage,' Mr Zimmerman wrote on the page.

'His delivery bike, which he built, was also crushed in the accident. The funds gathered on this page will go towards assisting Alex's recovery and rehabilitation, any medical and rent bills that may follow.

'Alex is a great guy, and a very big online-gamer, which some of you may know as 'GhillieFreak' on social media.'

The page has been inundated with donations and messages from well-wishers.

'Ghillie is such a great bloke. Hope he gets better soon,' one friend commented.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe page for Alex Belyi (pictured) to help support the Ukrainian until he gets back on his feet

Truck driver Frank Rogers, 64, was charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing injury over the crash.

He appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday, where he was granted bail to reappear in court on September 27.

Rogers' employer K&S Group said he 'maintains he was unaware of the incident'.

'Our thoughts are with the people and families of those involved,' K&S chief executive Paul Sarant said on Friday.

The Southbank Residents Association has called for upgrades to improve safety at the intersection of City Road and Powell Streets, including the installation of cameras.

Acting Premier James Merlino has confirmed a review is underway.
A chronic shortage of people to fill jobs in the Queensland tourism and hospitality industry had seen thousands of jobs vacancies go unanswered as the industry gets back on its feet after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 5000 jobs need to be filled immediately in the sector in Queensland as domestic tourists return to revive the industry.

'It's a serious problem,' Daniel Gschwind, CEO of Queensland Tourism Industry Council said. 'A lot of people migrated out of the industry during Covid, and we lost thousands of people who were on on working holidays visa and skilled migrants.'

Around 44,000 positions were lost in the Queensland industry between February 2020 and February 2021 due to the shutdowns and border closures caused by the virus.

There are around 5000 jobs requiring staff in Queensland's tourism and hospitality sector

Chefs, cooks and kitchen hands are in particularly short supply, with more than 1000 needed

'Our industry is accelerating again and we're struggling to fill the roles,' Gschwind said.

People needed for jobs in food preparation are in particular short supply, with 1300 chefs, cooks and kitchen hands needed in Queensland's hotels and restaurants.

'It's across Queensland, too,' Gschwind said. 'I was in the outback a couple of weeks ago where their tourist season is accelerating and they are desperately short.

'They'll grab just about anyone who can flip a burger at the moment.'

Gschwind's industry body plans a 'roadshow' across Queensland in coming weeks in an effort to entice both school leavers and mature-age people to consider a career in tourism or hospitality.

The disappearance of students, travellers and migrants had left the industry short of labour

Tourism operators called for skilled migrants to be allowed to enter Australia again

'It might be for part-time work or a career change but we want to highlight that it's not just about having a job,' Gschwind said. 'It's the prospect of a career that delivers not just an income but satisfaction in terms of dealing with people, sustainability and community benefits.

Gschwind said he and many tourism operators would like to see skilled migrants allowed to return to the country sooner rather than later to deal with the labour shortage, believing the recovery of the sector will be seriously hampered without them.

This move is unlikely, however, given Prime Minster Scott Morrison's announcement the other day that Australia's international borders would likely remain shut until the end of 2022.
Millions of Australians will be plunged into an early winter with dangerous winds of up to 102km/h, horizontal rain, and snow in some regions.

South Australians will feel the brunt of the cold snap with damaging gusts of more than 100km/h around the south-eastern parts of the state on Monday afternoon, where there is a severe weather warning in place.

Adelaide will be slammed by winds peaking over 70km/h in the morning with a wind-chill factor of 13C, but the strongest gusts will be felt on Kangaroo Island, Meningie, Robe, Millicent and Lucindale in the state's south.

Pictured: Clouds rolling over South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania on Monday morning

Pictured: Pedestrians walk across a main road holding umbrellas during wet weather in the centre of Sydney on May 7. The city will see at least three more days of rain this week

Weatherzone meteorologist Esteban Abellan told Daily Mail Australia a band of rain will stretch from blustery South Australia to south-west Victoria.

'There will be gusty showers and rain patches from the Flinders Ranges in the south-east of SA to the Victorian border,' he said.

Areas including Mt Gambier will see about 20mm of rain on Monday, but will ease during the afternoon.

Gusty northerly winds will strengthen across southwestern Victoria, potentially reaching over 50 km/h across the south, and Alpine areas later in the morning.

Weatherzone meteorologist Esteban Abellan told Daily Mail Australia a band of rain will stretch from blustery South Australia to south-west Victoria (pictured)

Showers also spread east across Victoria and Melbourne from the early hours of Monday.

The arctic winds will also blow over Tasmania at a speeds of up to 102km/h, with up to 5mm of snow on the island's highest peaks.

'In Tasmania there have been strong winds in the last 24 hours in places like Maatsuyker Island,' Mr Abellan said.

'Temperatures in Hobart dropped to 12C this morning, but cold air will arrive later on Monday.'

The southern parts of New South Wales, including Sydney, will see showers from Tuesday through to Thursday. Pictured: Rugged-up Sydneysiders

The southern parts of New South Wales, including Sydney, will see showers from Tuesday through to Thursday, but rain will hit the Riverina in the state's mid-west on Monday afternoon.

Mr Abellan said storms will be seen in north-east NSW and and south-east Queensland over Tuesday, Wednesday and part of Thursday.

Temperatures in Canberra will drop to 0C on Saturday with a maximum of 17C on Thursday.

The Northern Territory and Perth will see average temperatures throughout the week.
Rice, a staple in millions of Australian homes, may contain 'potentially dangerous' microplastics, according to scientists.

Researchers at the University of Queensland found Australians may consume up to 4mg of plastic in an average 100g serve of uncooked rice.

Boiling the rice to cook it is unlikely to get rid of the microplastics as it has no filtration system.

The world-first study also identified 13mg of plastics per 100g of instant or pre-cooked store-bought rice, a popular staple for busy families.

The Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences researchers found uncooked rice may have 3-4mg of plastic in 100g serve (pictured: stock image of microplastics)

The world-first study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials also identified 13mg of plastics per 100g of instant or pre-cooked store-bought rice (pictured: stock image of rice)

Lead author Dr Jake O'Brien told the Daily Mail the team can't determine how the microplastics managed to find its way into the rice.

'My best guess is that the plastic got into the rice in the production process, that would be the easiest place for cross contamination as there's a lot of handling and machinery,' he said.

Dr O'Brien said the method used in the research will soon be able to pinpoint the exact stage when the microplastics infiltrate the rice grains - either in the production or agricultural stages.

The research fellow said he didn't think people should 'be concerned, but I think people should be aware.'

'Currently there are many unknowns about how harmful consuming microplastics is to human health, but we do know exposure can cause an element of risk,' Dr O'Brien said.

The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found washing an average grain of rice measuring 8mm before cooking reduced the consumption of plastic by 20-40 per cent.

The simple trick can save Australians from consuming around 1g of microplastics a year.

The researchers also tested seven different plastics but found polyethylene - used for packaging, toys and fishing nets - was most frequently detected at 95 per cent.

The innovative method developed and used by the UQ research team is based on the plastic quantification technique used in their previous studies on plastics in seafood and sewage sludge.

Lead author Dr Jake O'Brien (pictured) said he didn't think people should be concerned on the findings but rather made 'aware' of the potentially dangerous plastics

Dr O'Brien said the microplastics in rice were relatively low but admitted it's 'really challenging to determine our exposure and exposure sources to these chemicals'.

'It is important to recognise that we are in the early stages of developing methods to measure plastic contamination of foods and at the moment we are limited to only a few plastic types,' he said.

'We hope this study encourages further research on where plastic contamination of rice is occurring, so we can reduce contamination and increase community awareness of where plastic exposure happens on a daily basis,' he said.

'In future studies, we aim to incorporate a measure of the plastic size, along with the concentration, because potential health impacts from microplastics are likely size dependent.'

Dr O'Brien said it 'potentially seems more than plausible' for microplastics to also appear in other grains - such as lentils or quinoa.

'If people are concerned, they just need to wash their grains,' he said.

Another senior research fellow Dr Thava Palanisami, found people were ingesting 2,000 tiny pieces of plastic every week - the size of a credit card.

The 2019 research project led the The University of Newcastle researcher to also raise the alarm on microplastics in rice.

Dr Palanisami said when the plastics are smaller in size they are generally more dangerous as they can move into the blood stream and organs.

Microplastics enter the waterways through a variety of means and finish suspended in the liquid. They can be transported long distances both in water and via the air, taking them to the furthest corners of the world
The severed head of a great white shark has been found with stab wounds on a popular beach, with wildlife authorities suspecting it was killed for its meat.

The grisly remains were discovered along the shoreline at Pilot Bay at Tauranga, on New Zealand's North Island, on Saturday.

Parts of its innards were found resting next to the detached head and pectoral fin.

White Shark Conservation Trust posted a photo to Facebook saying it appeared the juvenile shark had been killed for its meat.

A severed head of a great white shark has been found with stab wounds on a popular beach in New Zealand - with wildlife authorities suspecting it was killed for its meat

The grisly remains were discovered along the shoreline at Pilot Bay at Tauranga, on New Zealand's North Island, on Saturday

'This is a juvenile white shark that appears to have been killed to consume,' the post read.

'The shark has what appears to be stab wounds to the head indicating it was killed after it was brought to shore.'

The great white shark is a protected species under the Wildlife Act 1953.

It is illegal to hunt, kill or harm the protected species in New Zealand waters.

If a shark is accidentally caught in a fishing net it must be set free and if it is accidentally killed the incident must be reported to the Department of Conservation.

Anyone caught breaching the restrictions risks a $250,000 fine and two years in jail.

Department of Conservation's Clinton Duffy said the missing body indicated the juvenile shark had been deliberately killed.

'It looks like the rest of the body has been taken for meat,' he told NZ Herald.

Mr Duffy said great white sharks were considered to be a 'vulnerable' species.

A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman said the department was looking into the matter.

'We have not received a complaint about this, but are aware of the Facebook post and are looking into it.'
Australia will open its borders next year to allow vaccinated Aussies to go on holiday and much-needed foreign workers to enter the country.

Tuesday's federal budget will outline plans for when the borders, which have been closed since March 2020 due to Covid-19, can finally re-open.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the nation would implement a three-step plan to gradually remove the onerous restrictions.

It came after Prime Minster Scott Morrison said the borders would remain closed 'indefinitely', with 56 per cent of Daily Mail readers supporting his tough stance.

Australia will open its borders next year to allow vaccinated Aussies to go on holiday. Pictured: Tahiti in the south pacific

Danielle Blanch of the country fire service is vaccinated by nurse Maddie Duggin at the Adelaide Showgrounds Vaccination Centre in Adelaide

Poll Are you happy for Australia's borders to be closed indefinitely to retain our way of life amid the Covid-19 pandemic? Yes No Are you happy for Australia's borders to be closed indefinitely to retain our way of life amid the Covid-19 pandemic? Yes 1996 votes

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Firstly, the government will identify 'safe countries' with low levels of Covid-19 and set up travels bubbles similar to the current arrangement with New Zealand.

The second step is to offer the whole adult population a vaccine and the third step is to allow vaccinated Aussies to go on holiday.

'It's really built around the three principles of green lanes and opening up new bubbles with different safe countries, as we've done with New Zealand and as we'll do with others in the Pacific and in the region as they become progressively safer,' Mr Hunt said on Sunday.

'The second part of the road map is our own domestic vaccination strategy, protecting the nation.

'The third element, that's the capacity for greater travel for those who have been vaccinated.'

Mr Hunt said that vaccinated Aussies can travel earlier' and 'return with lesser restrictions'.

Earlier this month, Trade Minister Dan Tehan revealed the Government will take a 'systematic' approach to opening the borders which will see travel bubbles set up with individual nations.

'Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam have all been mentioned as potentials in that area,' he said, without giving any dates for when bubbles may start.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said opening the borders is crucial to the nation's economy.

The agriculture and hospitality industries, which rely on international labour, are struggling to find enough workers because non-citizens cannot enter the country.

People are seen waiting in a line for a Covid19 vaccination at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

'The borders will reopen when it's safe to do so, and when they do, net overseas migration will increase, including skilled workers,' Mr Frydenberg told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Last year the budget predicted a net immigration to be minus 72,000, meaning more people left the country than entered.

The Treasurer wants to get this figure back to where it was before the pandemic. In the year to June 2020, Australia's population grew by 194,400 people due to net overseas migration.

'I believe in a generous, sustainable immigration program that reflects the best of who we are, which is an open, tolerant, diverse country,' the Treasurer said.

But Scott Morrison has warned the borders will only open when it's safe.

'International borders will only open when it is safe to do so. We still have a long way to go and there are still many uncertainties ahead,' he wrote on Facebook.

Travel beyond Australia's border is expected to happen in stages as more travel bubbles open with safe countries, Health Minister Greg Hunt (pictured) said

On Sunday Mr Morrison warned international borders will remain closed indefinitely if it means protecting Australians from deadly outbreaks of mutant Covid-19 strains from overseas.

The Prime Minister warned that reopening the borders too soon would expose the country to another and more ruthless outbreak of Covid-19, like the ones experienced in the UK, India and Europe.

'We sit here as an island that's living like few countries in the world are at the moment,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.

'We have to be careful not to exchange that way of life for what everyone else has.'

Australians have been banned from leaving the country since March 2020 without special exemptions, and only citizens and permanent residents have been allowed to enter under some of the strictest Covid-19 border rules in the world.

But Mr Morrison denied adopting an 'elimination strategy' and said suppressing the virus remained the Government's primary focus.

'Australia's COVID suppression strategy has not changed to an 'elimination' strategy nor is 'zero cases' our goal,' he clarified on Sunday.

'There will always be cases as we return Australians home from overseas. As always, we will continue to listen to the medical advice and make decisions in the best health and economic interests of all Australians.'

Last year, the Government predicted international borders would be open in October 2021 after the adult population had been offered a vaccine.

However Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the date will be pushed back to some time in 2022 amid the slow vaccine rollout and uncertainty over the Covid-19 vaccine's ability to protect against mutating strains of the virus.

India is currently grappling with its deadliest outbreak of the virus with nearly 240,000 people dead.

The country has recorded more than 400,000 new cases of Covid-19 in three consecutive days and its hospitals are struggling with a shortage of oxygen supplies to treat severely infected residents who are having trouble breathing.

Mr Morrison said he will wait until 'clear evidence' proves the vaccines are effective against mutant strains before allowing vaccinated Australians to travel overseas again.

'The next big step that can be taken is that Australians who are vaccinated are able to travel and return to Australia without having to hotel quarantine, and ideally we only have to engage in some sort of home quarantine of a less restrictive nature,' he said.
Blocks have defective cavity barriers, so a blaze could rip through the building

Leaseholders were told application was rejecting because their cladding is safe

Homeowners facing bills of up to 100,000 each to fix fire-trap flats have been denied Government funding  because they have the wrong type of defects.

Two blocks, where more than 200 people live, are so dangerous a 24-hour fire patrol keeps residents safe.

They have defective cavity barriers, meaning a blaze could rip through the buildings in minutes.

But leaseholders have been told their application for funding was rejected because their cladding is safe.

Residents of Millennium Point in Salford Quays (above: Jake Brammer, Paul Cuffe and Beth Charles) who face bills of up to 100,000 to fix fire-trap flats have been denied funding

Some residents of Millennium Point and Millennium Tower in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, say they face bankruptcy and homelessness unless ministers help foot the estimated 16million repair bill.

Boris Johnson is coming under growing pressure to stump up funds to make all buildings safe after a fire last Friday at a London block with Grenfell-style cladding left 44 people needing treatment.

Terrified residents said it was unacceptable that work to remove the cladding had still not started four years after the Grenfell inferno killed 72 people in west London.

It came after ministers last month passed a law that leaves leaseholders liable for the costs of the crisis despite a rebellion by Tory MPs.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick earlier trebled the fund to fix dangerous cladding to 5billion after the Mail campaigned to end the scandal.

But there is no support for hundreds of sites with non-cladding related defects, such as defective cavity barriers.

Labour MP Clive Betts (pictured) said current Government proposals 'leave leaseholders in a position where they live in unsafe buildings that they can't possibly afford to put right'

Ministers have said in these cases leaseholders should recover costs from firms responsible for the buildings, which did not comply with rules at the time. But this is proving almost impossible at the two Salford blocks.

The developer, Millennium Estates, went into administration in 2009.

Leaseholders are in talks with the contractor, but have been told it may be too late to bring a claim.

Meanwhile the freeholder, Compton Group, has not said if it will help pay for costs. The firm refused to pay for the 'waking watch' fire patrol or the installation of new alarms, which cost leaseholders a total of more than 100,000.

The blocks were rejected by the Government's 30million waking watch fund because the cladding is safe.

Ministers say funding is limited to dangerous cladding because this poses the greatest risk to life. But other defects can leave homes unsellable unless they are fixed  and costs are often greater than fixing cladding.

The average cost of fixing non-cladding defects is 25,600 per leaseholder compared to 22,500 for cladding, according to experts.

Labour MP Clive Betts, of the Commons housing committee, said current Government proposals 'leave leaseholders in a position where they live in unsafe buildings that they can't possibly afford to put right'.

He added: 'It's completely unacceptable.'

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) earlier trebled the fund to fix dangerous cladding to 5billion after the Mail campaigned to end the scandal

Ministers have previously said defective cavity barriers would be covered by Government funds if they were part of the external cladding system  which is not the case at Millennium Point and Millennium Tower.

But part of the repair bill includes ripping off the cladding to access the cavity barriers and refitting it.

Resident Beth Charles, 47, of Millennium Point, insisted: 'These companies are not going to do the right thing if the Government doesn't legislate to make them pay.'

Flat owner Jake Brammer, 33, said he was 'staring down the barrel of bankruptcy and homelessness'.

A Government spokesman said: 'Building safety is the responsibility of the building owner and they should meet the costs of remediation without passing them on to leaseholders wherever possible.'
The Remember Me campaign for a national memorial for Covid victims received another stunning boost yesterday as entrepreneur Matt Moulding announced a 250,000 donation.

The pledge from Mr Mouldings firm The Hut Group (THG) meant the total raised so far has topped 1.3million  more than half the amount needed to build the memorial inside St Pauls Cathedral.

Mr Moulding, 49, said his company felt blessed to support the Daily Mails Remember Me campaign.

Mr Moulding said his firm wanted to support the campaign because of the devastating impact of the pandemic, including on the families of his workforce

The generous donation means more than 910,000 has been raised in just nine days since the Mail launched the drive.

Combined with the funds already collected by the cathedral itself, more than 1.3million has been pledged towards the 2.3million needed to complete the memorial.

Mr Moulding said his firm wanted to support the campaign because of the devastating impact of the pandemic, including on the families of his workforce.

He said: So many people have been affected as a result of Covid and weve sadly seen the terrible impact its had on some of the families of those at THG. THG is blessed to be able to contribute and everyone at the Group wants to help in any way they can.

We hope that this memorial marks a national place for communities across the UK to mourn loved ones.

Last month Mr Moulding announced he was giving 100million of shares in his company to charity, making him one of Britains most generous charity donors. His decision followed the successful flotation of THG and a conversation with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has given billions to charity.

Mr Moulding, the son of a road resurfacer in Colne, Lancashire, started THG in 2004 selling CDs online. The Manchester-based ecommerce firm now has more than 8,000 employees worldwide and has dozens of beauty and consumer brands.

The 250,000 pledge from THG came as letters and online donations continued to flood in from Mail readers.

The memorial will feature a grand oak portico inside St Pauls  the first major addition to the iconic London landmark in 150 years.

The portico will be engraved with the words Remember Me in several languages and a chapel inside will display screens showing the virtual book of remembrance.

The Remember Me book was launched in May last year and bears the names and photos of some 8,600 victims so far.

The 250,000 pledge from THG came as letters and online donations continued to flood in from Mail readers

Each persons story is dealt with individually by moderators from the St Pauls Remember Me team, who offer support to the bereaved as they complete their entry.

Prince Charles, the Prime Minister and religious groups across Britain have given their heartfelt backing to the fundraising drive.

Last week Apprentice star Lord Sugar and philanthropists Sir Michael Hintze and Sir Tom Hunter all stepped forward with major donations towards the campaign.

Daily Mail readers have given almost 185,000 and the total donated had passed 1.1million, before the THG pledge.

The first 5,000 to donate 25 or more online using the Limited Edition Candle from the Daily Mail button will receive a free memorial candle.

Hundreds of supporters chose to leave messages online. Patricia Forster said: Its important to remember all the beautiful souls who have died during this awful pandemic. They must never be forgotten.

St Pauls hopes to raise the 2.3million needed to build the memorial by mid-summer, so work can be completed in time for the second anniversary of the pandemic next March.
Rail passengers were last night facing at least another week of chaos after cracks were discovered under some trains.

Hundreds of long-distance services were partially or fully cancelled over the weekend.

The cracks were discovered during tests early on Saturday on the chassis area of some Hitachi Class 800 series trains.

A total of 182 were taken out of service that day with a number returned to the network by yesterday after being given the all-clear.

But last night Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris warned disruption was 'likely to continue for some time'.

Rail passengers were last night facing at least another week of chaos after cracks were discovered under some trains. Hundreds of long-distance services were partially or fully cancelled over the weekend. The cracks were discovered during tests early on Saturday on the chassis area of some Hitachi Class 800 series trains (pictured) [File photo]

Industry sources said it could last until at least the end of the week. Safety watchdog the Office of Rail and Road is overseeing the process.

Engineers were checking carriages at depots near London and Bristol last night.

Great Western Railway, which runs trains to South West England and South Wales, and London North Eastern Railways, which serves the East Midlands, the North and Scotland, were worst affected.

Mr Heaton-Harris said: 'Our focus is to ensure trains are returned to service as quickly as possible once they are fully approved as safe. I want to thank passengers for their patience during what could be a significant period of prolonged disruption likely to continue for some time.'

GWR had previously detected hairline cracks underneath a handful of Hitachi trains in late April.

It is thought this led to further cracks being discovered elsewhere, leading to the 182-strong fleet of Hitachi 800s being taken out of service.

Great Western Railway, which runs trains to South West England and South Wales, and London North Eastern Railways, which serves the East Midlands, the North and Scotland, were worst affected [File photo]

The new cracks, measuring millimetres, are understood to be on the mechanism used to jack-up carriages when they are being fixed.

It is not believed they pose an immediate danger.

Robert Nisbet, of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail firms, warned there may be a 'knock-on effect to some timetables into next week'.

Hitachi trains have speeds of 125mph and came into service in 2017.

Hitachi Rail said: 'Safety is our number one priority. We are working as quickly and safely as possible to investigate the issue.'
Boris Johnson was urged yesterday not to forget the South East as the Conservatives make gains in Labours former heartlands in the North.

Dan Humphreys, the Tory council leader in Worthing, West Sussex, warned that southern voters will be unhappy if investment is concentrated elsewhere.

The party only narrowly retained control of the council with a majority of just one as Labour increased its seats by five.

Boris Johnson has been urged not to forget the South East as the Conservatives make gains in the North

Mr Humphreys said: Down here in Sussex were being asked to build tens of thousands of houses in very challenging circumstances.

The levelling up agenda is very much focused on spending money in the North. So if youre a voter in the North of England thats all going to sound great.

But you cant be surprised that voters in the South East of England are going to hear were going to be spending all that money elsewhere and think, Im not so sure about that.

Dan Humphreys, the Tory council leader in Worthing, West Sussex (pictured), warned voters in the south will be unhappy if investment is concentrated elsewhere

Labour performed better in the South at last weeks elections, successfully getting mayors elected in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough that had all previously been Tory.

The party also gained a county council seat from the Conservatives in Chipping Norton, in the affluent Cotswolds area of Oxfordshire where former prime minister David Cameron lives.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday validated the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm for emergency use, a move widely welcomed by officials and experts worldwide and set to benefit the global fight against the pandemic.

This is a "great success and benefit for the world" because the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine validated by the WHO is proving very effective in countries including Pakistan where it is being administered, said Musarrat Amin, a Pakistani strategic security analyst.

The world right now is suffering due to COVID-19 and the Sinopharm vaccine is a blessing because of its easy storage requirements, which will make it a desirable vaccine for the low-income economies of the third world countries, Amin said.

"The Sinopharm vaccine being added into the WHO's COVAX program is a huge relief for the third world countries," she added.

COVAX is an initiative led by international partnerships and agencies, including the WHO, to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are distributed equitably.

The WHO's emergency approval of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine is "a step in the right direction" and is "a great attempt to help beat coronavirus in developing countries," Abbas Zaki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and Fatah's Commissioner General for the Arab and Chinese Affairs, told Xinhua.

Prior to the WHO's decision, the Chinese vaccine has already been used in dozens of developing countries, including Palestine, and "offers reassurance and comfort to developing countries as it is safe and effective," Zaki said.

Bangladesh is very pleased to learn about the WHO decision to include the Chinese-made vaccine in the Emergency Use Listing, which surely comes as "a big blessing for the whole world in the fight against the deadly disease," said Mushtuq Hossain, an advisor to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research under Bangladesh's Health Ministry, in an interview with Xinhua.

He said Bangladesh's drug regulator has already approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use in the country, and the decision of the WHO will further facilitate the vaccination of more Bangladeshis.

Brunei's health ministry on Saturday shared the information of the WHO's emergency use approval for Sinopharm vaccine with local media, asking for publication on respective platforms to let the public know that all vaccines used in the country have WHO endorsement and to encourage wider vaccination.

A report published recently on British journal Nature noted that such certification by the WHO could help "address the current shortfall in vaccines available through COVAX," and potentially opens the door to "wide distribution in lower-income nations through the COVAX initiative."

"For many countries, Chinese vaccines were the only accessible ones," it wrote, adding that researchers in other countries such as Brazil, Turkey and Chile are "beginning to see evidence of their effect in controlling the pandemic."

China has been fulfilling its commitment to making its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good "at a time when the vaccine shots are not available in many places or being nationalized," Amin said.
Sunrise co-host David Koch has described cryptocurrencies as a bad investment idea even though Dogecoin has surged by more than 19,000 per cent in just one year.

Sunrise co-host David Koch has described cryptocurrencies as a bad investment idea even though Dogecoin has surged by more than 19,000 per cent in just one year.

Dogecoin, co-created as a 'joke' by 26-year-old Australian Jackson Palmer, was in May 2020 worth just 0.38 of an Australian cent.

As of Monday morning, one unit of this social-media fuelled cryptocurrency was worth 73.23 cents, with its value multiplying by 191.7 times or 19,171 per cent compared with a year ago, and has continued soaring since last week.

The best-known cryptocurrency Bitcoin has multiplied in value by five times during the past year to be worth $74,085, with Tesla founder Elon Musk a key backer who accepts it as payment for his electric cars.

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Dogecoin during the past year multiplied by 191.7 times or 19,171 per cent since a year ago

Koch, a finance expert, said that despite their surge in value, cryptocurrencies in general were a bad investment idea.

'Frankly, I have no idea whether cryptocurrencies are the greatest investment ever or the greatest financial scam of a generation,' he said.

The Seven Network personality, who also runs small business advisory group Pinstripe Media with his wife Libby, pointed out cryptocurrencies weren't regulated like the share market, which means investors don't have recourse if they lose their money.

'Do I trust the people behind the investment? With cryptos, it's all anonymous,' he said.

'Is there any financial regulation to protect me from scams?

'Again , cryptocurrencies fall outside the financial system. So for me, cryptos are just a no go.'

The more well-known Bitcoin has multiplied in value by five times during the past year to be worth $74,085, with Tesla founder Elon Musk a key backer who accepts it as payment for his electric cars

Cryptocurrency surges Dogecoin: 73,23 cents, up 19,171 per cent in a year Bitcoin: $74,085, up 506 per cent in a year Ethereum: $5,022,91, up 1,558 per cent in a year Source: Australian dollar figures current as of May 10, 2021 Advertisement

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe in 2017 both previously described cryptocurrency as risky, speculative investments.

But in March, Dr Lowe suggested the central bank wanted to create its own digital currency.

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, the chairman of a parliamentary inquiry into financial technology, last month admitted lawmakers didn't know how to regulate cryptocurrencies.

'A driver of the problem is that blockchain is a new form of property right,' he said.

'It is not, of itself, a security, a share, a bond, personal property, or a contract.'

Finder co-founder Fred Schebesta, an enthusiastic investor in Bitcoin, has admitted it's a risky investment.

Nonetheless a Finder panel of cryptocurrency experts predicted Bitcoin would be worth $100,000 by the end of 2021 with its supply restricted to 21million units.

Bitcoin was created in 2008, by unknown founders, during the height of the Global Financial Crisis.

The decentralised blockchain platforms were initially favoured by the likes of drug dealers and weapons traders but it has now became more mainstream.

Leigh Travers, the executive director of Digital X, said youngers Australians were turning to cryptocurrency because they distrusted the banks and couldn't afford property.

'We're seeing traditional investments like banks really fall out of favour, property for millennials obviously is far out of reach,' he told Sunrise.
The winner of a $1.8million Lotto jackpot has admitted he 'wasn't excited' to discover his family had won because he was 'already convinced' they would take out the top prize.

The Adelaide couple held one of the 11 division one winning entries nationally in Saturday X Lotto draw 4153, drawn over the weekend.

Each entry takes home a division one prize worth $1,818,181.82.

Speaking with an official from The Lott on Monday morning, a man from Glenelg said he had discovered they were millionaires yesterday when he checked their ticket at home.

'I called my wife into the house and she didn't believe me. She just kept saying that it couldn't be right,' he said.

An Adelaide couple are the lucky winners of $1.8million after taking out a division one entry in Saturday X Lotto over the weekend (stock)

'It's crazy, because I had this feeling I was going to win! I had even been telling my family that I was going to win division one.

'So when I checked the ticket, I wasn't overly excited, because I knew It was going to happen. It really feels as though it was meant to be.'

The couple said they went out for lunch yesterday to celebrate their new-found fortune, but planned to have a big party at home to break the news to their family.

When asked how they planned to enjoy their million-dollar windfall, the contented winners thought of their family first.

'I am so happy we've had this win because it will make a big difference to our family's life. It will help them a lot,' the winning man continued.

'I am sure we will do something to spoil ourselves, but the majority of this prize is for our family.'

The winning 25-game QuickPick entry was purchased at Glenelg Community Pharmacy, Shop 3, 101-103 Partridge Street.

Glenelg Community Pharmacy owner Simon Bray said he could not be more thrilled for his winners.

'It's great news!' He declared.

'I can imagine how excited the winners were when they discovered this news, especially on Mother's Day!'

'We'd love to send our congratulations to our winners! We wish you all the very best.'

The Glenelg husband and wife said they plan to hold a party to break the news of the windfall to their family (stock)

The winning numbers in Saturday X Lotto draw 4153 on 10 May 2021 were 31, 4, 41, 2, 9 and 26, while the supplementary numbers were 18 and 25.

Across Australia, there were 11 division one winning entries in Saturday X Lotto draw 4117 - three in Western Australia, three in New South Wales, two in Victoria, two in Queensland and one in South Australia.

The Lott's division one winning tally has now reached 155 so far this financial year, including 18 won by SA Lotteries customers.

In 2020, Saturday X Lotto created 122 millionaires across Australia, with a total of 312 division one winning entries which collectively won more than $355.13 million.

There are more chances to win big with Tonights Oz Lotto offering $2 million, while Thursdays Powerball has $30 million up for grabs.

Tickets can be purchased at any licenced lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via The Lott mobile app.

In 2020, more than 111.6 million winners took home more than $3.33 billion in prize money from their favourite games at The Lott, including Saturday X Lotto, Monday & Wednesday X Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno, Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.

Last financial year, Australias Official Lotteries contributed more than $1.4 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education.
Boris Johnson is proposing to relax rules on planning so new homes can be built in the biggest shake-up of the system in 70 years.

The Prime Minister will put home ownership at the centre of the proposals to keep his new constituents in former Labour 'Red Wall' seats on side.

A planning bill, which is set to be included in tomorrow's Queen's Speech, will aim at expanding property ownership in areas where the Tories have recently won.

Boris Johnson is proposing to relax planning rules so homes can be built, making it difficult for homeowners to block new housing schemes, in the biggest shake-up in 70 years (stock image)

What you CAN expect from the Queen's Speech - Crime Bill to keep dangerous offenders in jail for longer and tackle knife crime by extending the use of stop and search - Online Harms Bill to tackle social media - Plans to tackle the backlog of NHS operations and cancer treatment due to Covid - Environment Bill, which will set legally binding emissions targets ahead of the UK-led Cop26 climate summit - Bill on skills and education to help young people find jobs and boost skills - Animal Welfare Bill to ensure animals are recognised as sentient beings, increase sentences for animal cruelty and ban trophy hunters importing endangered 'prizes' Advertisement

It will simplify the planning process, making it more difficult for homeowners to block new housing schemes, according to The Times.

It comes after a row last year over an algorithm that would have meant thousands of extra homes being built in rural Tory heartlands.

A new scheme to give discounts of at least 30 per cent to first-time buyers in their local area will be tested this year in Bolsover, Derbyshire  once a Labour town represented by veteran MP Dennis Skinner.

Priority will be given to key workers as well as armed forces veterans in the 'first homes' scheme.

Another missed chance to tackle social care crisis: Queen's Speech will NOT include relief for families with elderly relatives... two years after Boris Johnson vowed to deliver his plan

By Claire Ellicott, Political Correspondent for The Daily Mail

Ministers are set to miss another chance to tackle the social care crisis this week.

Detailed measures to fix the broken sector are not expected in tomorrow's Queen's Speech despite Boris Johnson earlier suggesting they would be.

Instead, the Government has vowed to set out plans in the coming 'weeks and months' but these may not come in front of Parliament before the end of the year.

Yesterday campaigners called for decisive action as a poll showed that voters want reform of the care sector.

The survey found that two-thirds think social care should be a top priority while nearly half do not believe that ministers care enough about older people and their needs.

Ministers are set to miss another chance to tackle the social care crisis this week. Detailed measures to fix the broken sector are not expected in tomorrow's Queen's Speech despite Boris Johnson earlier suggesting they would be. Instead, the Government has vowed to set out plans in the coming 'weeks and months' but these may not come in front of Parliament before the end of the year [Stock image]

Earlier this year, Mr Johnson said it was 'highly likely' that ministers would bring forward a clear plan to 'fix' the problems in the Queen's Speech.

But sources have now indicated there will be a reference to social care plans in the speech but they will not actually be set out, suggesting any measures are not ready.

Wrangling between No 10 and the Chancellor about the huge costs of reform  perhaps as high as 10billion a year  is said to have delayed progress.

Instead, new animal rights laws and the controversial policing Bill are likely to be included when the Queen sets out the Government's legislative programme in her speech in the House of Lords.

Asked yesterday if a plan would be announced tomorrow, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove indicated this was unlikely.

'We'll be saying more about social care in the weeks and months to come,' he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge show.

Asked why there was still no plan, Mr Gove said ministers had 'quite rightly' been concentrating on dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

'People will also expect, of course, a new plan for social care to be developed and that plan will be unveiled later this year,' he added.

In a later interview, Mr Gove said a reform plan will be 'heading for the statute books' by the end of the year.

'We're working to make sure we have an effective social care plan. That work is going on,' he told Times Radio.

'So, by the end of the year you will have a specific plan heading for the statute books. We want to make sure that we can get cross-party support.

'That's the point the Prime Minister has always made. The more support we can get for it, the quicker we can be.'

In March, Mr Johnson told the Commons liaison committee it was 'highly likely' social care reforms would be in the Queen's Speech.

He said a ten-year plan was needed to bridge 'the gulf between the NHS and social care into which so many fall'.

In his first speech as Prime Minister in July 2019, Mr Johnson had declared: 'We will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared.' However, little progress has been made.

Yesterday's poll on the issue was carried out for care charity MHA. Chief executive Sam Monaghan said: 'There have been green papers, white papers, commissions, reviews, yet still the system remains broken. What we now need is decisive action.'

Vic Rayner, chief executive of the National Care Forum, added: 'We need to move from rhetoric to action. Now is the time for long-term ambition not yet another quick fix.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'Improving the adult social care system remains a priority and we will bring forward proposals later this year.'
A Canadian church leader whose Easter confrontation with police last month went viral was arrested on Saturday for allegedly violating a mandatory ban on gatherings amid the pandemic.

Pastor Artur Pawlowski and his brother, Dawid Pawlowski, were arrested Saturday by officers from the Calgary Police Service for 'organizing an illegal in-person gathering'.

According to a statement from police, Pastor Pawlowski, who is the head of Calgarys Street Church in Alberta, held a service that was in violation of a new court order obtained by Alberta Health Services (AHS) in relation to mandatory compliance of public health orders for gatherings.

Police said the AHS on Thursday obtained a Court of Queens Bench Order that applies to gatherings including protests, demonstrations and rallies.

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Pastor Artur Pawlowski (pictured during the arrest), a Canadian church leader, whose Easter confrontation with police last month went viral, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly violating a mandatory compliance on gatherings amid the pandemic

Video from the arrest shows officers dragging Artur Pawlowski across a roadway and to a patrol car

His brother, Dawid Pawlowski (pictured), was also arrested on Saturday. They have been accused of 'organizing an illegal in-person gathering'

The order imposes new restrictions on organizers of protests and demonstrations requiring compliance with public health orders including masking, physical distancing and attendance limits.

Officers enforced the order by 'proactively serving an organizer of a church service with the court order in an effort to ensure that citizens attending the Saturday service were abiding by the current COVID-19 public health orders'.

Police said they did not enter the church during the service.

Authorities said Pawlowski 'acknowledged the injunction, but chose to ignore requirements for social distancing, mask wearing and reduced capacity limits for attendees, and continued with the event'.

As a result, the Pawlowskis were taken into custody and charged with organizing an illegal in-person gathering, including requesting, inciting or inviting others to attend an illegal public gathering, promoting and attending an illegal public gathering.

Video of the arrest was shared on YouTube and showed the brothers accusing the officers of being Nazis and Gestapo.

The men are then instructed to exit their vehicle as Artur Pawlowski is seen on his knees in the middle of a roadway as officers place him under arrest.

The pastor appears to refuse to stand to his feet and walk to their patrol cars so the officers end up dragging him across the road. Officers are then seen picking up Dawid and carrying him over to a patrol car after placing him in handcuffs.

Another man, who was with the brothers and recorded the incident, is heard in the background shouting at the officers and calling them names like 'cowards' and 'evil psychopaths'.

The incident comes just a month after the pastor went viral for his confrontation with Canadian police.

The arrests come just a month after Pastor Artur Pawlowski (pictured) shouted 'Nazis are not welcome here' and referred to officers as 'Gestapo' during a confrontation with police

In the footage, filmed by the pastor, several officers stand on the stairwell into the building while he orders them to 'get out of this property immediately'

This is how you handle police who enter a church without a warrant. Theyre lucky they only got a tongue-lashing: s. 176 of the Criminal Code makes it a crime to disturb a church service. Those @CalgaryPolice thugs were breaking the law (and knew it). pic.twitter.com/0XhAuwv0yg  Ezra Levant  (@ezralevant) April 4, 2021

Last month, Pawlowski was leading a Passover service at a building known as the Fortress (Cave) of Adullam, when officers and city officials arrived.

In the footage, filmed by the pastor, several officers stand on the stairwell into the building while he orders them to 'get out of this property immediately'.

'I don't want to hear anything... out immediately,' he shouts, as a female officer appears to try and explain their presence.

'I don't care what you have to say, Out!,' Pawlowski bawls, telling officers to leave 'until you come back with a warrant'.

'Out of this property, you Nazis,' the pastor shouts. 'Gestapo is not allowed here.'

The officers eventually exit the building with the pastor following behind.

'Nazis are not welcome here,' he shouts after the officers. 'And don't come out without a warrant.'

Pawlowski then turns the camera on himself for a lengthy rant, labelling officers 'sick psychopath's and accusing them of 'coming to intimidate Christians during the holiest festival'.

The pastor, who often engages in open-air preaching and is known for his staunch opposition to homosexuality, abortion and Sharia law, shared the video on Twitter, writing: 'Police came to disrupt Church gathering!

'Gestapo came again to intimidate the Church parishioners during the Passover Celebration!!! Unbelievable!'

'I don't care what you have to say, Out!,' Pawlowski bawls, telling officers and officials to leave 'until you come back with a warrant'. 'Out of this property, you Nazis,' the pastor shouts. 'Gestapo is not allowed here'

In a press release, Calgary Police Service said officers had been dispatched to ensure COVID-19 regulations were being followed.

'The concern was that the people in attendance were not adhering to the government's COVID-19 public health orders, which are in place to ensure everyone's safety,' police said in the release, noting 'the organizer of the gathering was uncooperative'.

No tickets were issued at the time but police said it was possible they might be in the future.

'It will be up to our partner agencies to determine subsequent enforcement activity in response to this situation.'

An AHS spokesperson told CTV News at the time that representatives attended the service to 'observe whether the organization was following' the province's COVID-19 guidelines but could not complete their work because of the confrontation.

'Our inspector was not granted access inside, so was unable to confirm if (Chief Medical Officer of Health) orders were being followed,' said Marni Kuhlmann, senior communication advisor with AHS, in an email to CTV News.

'Our inspectors have an important job to do and we ask that business owners and organizations treat them with respect. We stand by all of our public health inspectors who are doing an incredible job in trying and challenging circumstances,' she said.

'We expect that all places of worship across Alberta follow the CMOH restrictions and we thank everyone who continues to do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 this holiday weekend and throughout the pandemic.'

Local media reported that Pawlowski has been charged multiple times under Alberta's Public Health Act for breaching Covid-19 regulations.

Churches in the area can hold services but must keep attendance below 15 per cent and follow guidelines including wearing masks and social distancing.
Horrific footage has emerged of two men attacking each other with machetes on a residential street in Lancashire today.

Police officers were called to the scene in Morecambe at around 3.15pm on Sunday following reports of a fight involving two men carrying weapons.

Shocking footage later showed the two bloodied men thrashing their weapons at each other as members of the public screamed out in horror.

One of the men then went on to deliver a series of blows to his rival before he was joined by another person.

Two men, aged 31 and 26, both from Morecambe, have now been arrested on suspicion of assault, Lancashire Police confirmed.

The two men brandish their machetes at each other on a residential street in Morecambe, Lancashire

One of the men drips with blood as he runs towards another man on the residential street

Sgt James Pinder, of Lancashire Police said: 'We have launched an investigation following a serious assault involving two men.

'The incident has been recorded and uploaded to social media. For evidential purposes, I would urge people not to share it further at this time.

'Two men have been arrested by police in connection with the incident, but we know more people were in the area at the time of the offence and I would encourage witnesses to contact us.

'I realise this will have caused concern in Morecambe but incidents of this nature are rare and we want to reassure residents patrols have been increased in the area.

'If you have any information which could assist our enquiries or you witnessed the incident please come forward.'

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101 quoting log 0845 of May 9.

Police were called to the scene at around 3.15pm on Sunday following reports of a fight involving two men

One of the men delivers a series of blows to the other man before he is joined by another person

The scenes came just hours after police were also called to reports of an ongoing fight between a number of men with weapons in Blackburn at around 11.30am.

Lancashire Constabulary attended and found two men with injuries.

One man had suffered head injuries, with a second man suffering stab wounds to his arm, chest and back. Both have been taken to hospital for treatment.

An investigation is under way and enquiries ongoing but no arrests have yet been made.

Detectives are appealing for information and urging anyone who witnessed the incident and has any information to come forward.

Det Ch Insp Derry Crorken, of Blackburn Police, said: 'We have launched an investigation after two men were attacked in Corporation Park today.

'I understand this must have been very frightening and concerning for many people who were in the park at the time and I want to reassure residents we are doing everything possible to arrest those responsible.

'This is being treated as very much an isolated incident and patrols have been increased in the area.'

It is unclear if the two incidents are connected.
Health bosses are scrambling to find Sydney's 'missing link' Covid-19 case as they warn the virus is still being transmitted 'unrecognised' across the city.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said it was yet to be established how a man in his 50s from Sydney's east dubbed 'BBQ man' become infected with Covid.

Apollo Global Management managing director Tom Pizzey travelled across Sydney last weekend while unknowingly infected with Covid, visiting four separate barbecue stores over the space of a few hours.

He tested positive to the virus on Wednesday and his wife a day later.

Genomic testing has linked the man's case to that of a returned traveller from the US but how the virus was transmitted between them has stumped authorities.

'(The local case's) contact with the infectious person must have been very fleeting,' Dr Chant said on Monday.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant (pictured) said the missing link between a returned traveller from the US and a man from Sydney's east was yet to be found

She warned Covid could still be circulating in the community without people realising, adding 'we're not out of the risk period'.

'We are concerned there are chains of transmission in the community that are unrecognised,' she said.

Dr Chant revealed Monday's infection figures were 'not concerning', pointing to another day of zero transmission.

Official figures will be released at 11am.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said authorities had trawled through CCTV and spoke to 'lots of people' in their quest to find out how Mr Pizzey became infected.

'The concern is, if it's one or multiple people, who are those missing links it was a very fleeting meeting,' Ms Berejiklian said.

Tough new restrictions - including masks indoors and on public transport - were extended for a week on Sunday (Wynyard Station pictured)

A nurse collects Covid-19 test samples at the Bondi drive-through testing clinic on May 6, with a huge increase in testing numbers expected thanks to the two new cases

'That suggests there could be a high level of contagion.'

The window of transmission is likely between April 26, when the traveller arrived and quarantined at the Park Royal Hotel in Darling Harbour, and April 29, when they were moved to special health accommodation after testing positive on April 27.

The US traveller was staying in the Darling Harbour hotel, which is not one of the 14 suburbs listed in Mr Pizzey's extensive search for the perfect outdoor cooker on Saturday and Sunday.

Ms Berejiklian announced on Sunday restrictions introduced on Thursday and meant to end on Sunday night would be extended for a further week.

Household gatherings remain capped at 20 people, mask usage remains mandatory on public transport and indoor venues such as theatres and aged care homes, and singing and dancing remains mostly banned.

Hospitality patrons are still not permitted to drink while standing.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern continues to drip feed details of her wedding, revealing she'll marry partner Clarke Gayford in Gisborne.

Last week, Ms Ardern announced she'd finally set a date for the wedding, more than two years after Mr Gayford proposed.

She has yet to reveal the actual date, saying she wants guests to get a jump start on accommodation in the small city.

Jacinda Adern has announced she will be getting married to her fiance Clarke Gayford (pictured) in Gisborne, New Zealand

Jacinda Adern will be married in Gisborne (pictured) on New Zealand's north east coast

Mr Gayford proposed to Ms Adern at Easter two years ago at the nearby Mahia Peninsula

'I'm not sure that I want a situation where before I've invited people who really want to be there I just broadcast it out,' she told breakfast television program The AM Show.

'Accommodation is slightly limited in Gisborne.'

After being congratulated on picking the Tairawhiti for the wedding, she responded: 'Where else?'

Ms Ardern and Mr Gayford spend their summer holidays in the region, known for its laidback lifestyle, beautiful beaches and fine summer weather.

Jacinda Adern and her fiance of two years (pictured) are the parents of Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford

The wedding has been keenly anticipated since the pair were engaged at Easter two years ago.

Mr Gayford popped the question in the same region, on the nearby Mahia Peninsula.

Weddings featuring a current head of government are exceedingly rare: Australia has never had a sitting prime minister tie the knot.

Ms Adern said 'accommodation is slightly limited in Gisborne' (pictured)

Ms Ardern also became a first-time mother while in office when she gave birth to daughter Neve in June 2018.

A gift from the two-year-old featured on the prime minister's Instagram on Sunday for Mother's Day.

'Happy Mothers Day. I love you and going to the water park. Love Neve xxxxx,' the card read.
An emergency declaration has been issued for 18 states to keep fuel supply lines open after a cyberattack knocked out America's largest gasoline pipeline.

The hack of Colonial Pipeline, which supplies gasoline, diesel and jet fuel across 5,500 miles to the East Coast, on Friday night is believed to be the largest successful assault on US energy infrastructure in history.

Colonial Pipeline said it was forced to shut down all pipeline operations as a precaution after it became the victim of a ransomware cyberattack - a technique where the victim's computer systems are hacked and then payment is demanded to unlock them.

DarkSide, a Russian hacking outfit, is believed to be behind the attack, according to government sources. Colonial has not said whether it has paid or is negotiating a ransom.

The US government and Colonial are still working to secure the network as the shutdown to halt the ransomware cyberattack entered its fourth day on Monday.

It comes as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned that technological attacks such as these were 'here to stay.'

'This is what businesses now have to worry about,' she said. 'Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent... and we have to work in partnership with business to secure networks to defend ourselves.'

The Department of Transportation issued a regional emergency declaration on Sunday that relaxes hours-of-service regulations for drivers carrying gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

It lets them work extra or more flexible hours to make up for any fuel shortage related to the pipeline outage.

The states are: Alabama, Arkansas, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo had earlier warned Sunday: 'This is what businesses now have to worry about. 'Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent'

The Colonial Pipeline runs from Texas to New Jersey and carries 100 million gallons of fuel daily

DarkSide: The Russian hacking outfit linked to Colonial Pipeline that styles itself as a Robin Hood The cyberextortion attempt that has forced the shutdown of a vital US pipeline was carried out by a Russian criminal gang known as DarkSide, sources say. DarkSide cultivates a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity. The group, which first emerged in August 2020, are relatively new but very organized, experts say. Cybersecurity experts who have tracked DarkSide said it appears to be composed of veteran cybercriminals who are focused on squeezing out as much money as they can from their targets. 'They're very new but they're very organized,' Lior Div, the chief executive of Boston-based security firm Cybereason, said. 'It looks like someone who's been there, done that.' DarkSide is one of a number of increasingly professionalized groups of digital extortionists, with a mailing list, a press center and a victim hotline to help facilitate ransom payments. Experts say DarkSide was likely composed of ransomware veterans and that it came out of nowhere in the middle of last year and immediately unleashed a digital crimewave. 'It's as if someone turned on the switch,' said Div, who noted that more than 10 of his company's customers have fought off break-in attempts from the group in the past few months. According to data security firm Arete, DarkSide finds vulnerabilities in a network, gains access to administrator accounts and then harvests data from the victim's server and encrypts it. The software leaves a ransom note text file with demands. Ransoms average more than $6.5 million and the attacks lead to an average of five days of downtime for the business. Ransom software works by encrypting victims' data and typically hackers will then offer the victim a key in return for cryptocurrency payments that can run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. If the victim resists, hackers threaten to leak confidential data in a bid to pile on the pressure. DarkSide's site on the dark web hints at their hackers' past crimes with claims they previously made millions from extortion and that just because their software was new 'that does not mean that we have no experience and we came from nowhere'. The site also features a Hall of Shame-style gallery of leaked data from victims who haven't paid up. It advertises stolen documents from more than 80 companies across the US and Europe. One of the more recent victims featured on its list was Georgia-based rugmaker Dixie Group Inc, which publicly disclosed a digital shakedown attempt affecting 'portions of its information technology systems' last month. They are believed to be based out of Russia. Like many others DarkSide seems to spare Russian, Kazakh and Ukrainian-speaking companies, suggesting a link to the former Soviet republics. In Russia, hackers are essentially allowed to act without penalty. Cyber experts say Russia gives free reign to hackers who target Western countries. DarkSide has previously targeted Enterprise rental cars, Canadian real estate firm Brookfield Residential and an Office Depot subsidiary. They have publicly stated that they prefer not to attack hospitals, schools, non-profits, and governments. They instead go after big organizations that can afford to pay large ransoms and donates a portion of its take to charity Advertisement

Colonial said earlier Sunday that it had opened some smaller delivery lines, but the main system was not yet back up and running.

'While our mainlines remain offline, some smaller lateral lines between terminals and delivery points are now operational,' Colonial said in a statement, adding it would 'bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so.'

'We have remained in contact with law enforcement and other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy who is leading the Federal Government response,' it added.

'Maintaining the operational security of our pipeline, in addition to safely bringing our systems back online, remain our highest priorities.'

Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, said hackers took nearly 100 gigabytes of data out of Colonial's network on Thursday a day ahead of the pipeline shutdown before demanding a ransom.

Experts said that the incident should serve as a wake-up call to companies about the vulnerabilities they face. Sen. Bill Cassidy said: 'The implications for this, on our national security, cannot be overstated.'

A prolonged shutdown of the line, described as the 'jugular of infrastructure' by one analyst, would cause prices to spike at gasoline pumps ahead of peak summer driving season, a potential blow to U.S. consumers and the economy.

The hackers are likely a professional cybercriminal group, and a group dubbed 'DarkSide' was among the potential suspects, two U.S. government officials told Reuters.

DarkSide is known for deploying ransomware and extorting victims - while avoiding targets in post-Soviet states. It is believed to be based in Russia.

DarkSide first emerged in August 2020, and has used its ransomware on companies including CompuCom, an Office Depot subsidiary, as well as a Canadian division of rental car company Enterprise.

According to data security firm Arete, DarkSide finds vulnerabilities in a network, gains access to administrator accounts, and then harvests data from the victim's server and encrypts it.

The software leaves a ransom note text file with demands.

Ransoms average more than $6.5 million, Arete said, and the attacks lead to an average of five days of downtime for the business.

There are now fears of a major spike in gas, oil and diesel prices after the 'jugular' of the U.S. fuel pipeline system was forced to suspend operations.

The Colonial Pipeline is responsible for transporting more than 100 million gallons of fuel - 2.5 million barrels - daily through pipelines laid out between Texas and New Jersey.

It also serves some of the largest U.S. airports, including Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport, the world's busiest by passenger traffic.

One energy expert telling Politico it is 'the most significant and successful attack on energy infrastructure we know of in the United States.'

The Georgia-based company has hired an outside cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and scope of the attack and federal agencies have been called in to assist.

Other experts predict that a prolonged shutdown could cause a surge in the price of gas, oil and diesel - particularly across the eastern half of the country.

One told Newsweek that motorists should expect a price surge at the pump if the outage lasts five or more days, which would result in a shortage.

However, another energy analyst is pleading for calm at the present moment.

'The challenges brought on by the Colonial Pipeline shut down would likely not appear for several days or longer,' Patrick De Haan told the publication.

'My guess is they'll be able to restart the pipeline before any major issues develop.'

The price of diesel, gas and oil previously spiked in 2017, following a temporary shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline caused by a leak.

Colonial Pipeline is responsible for the largest spill in North Carolina's history and one of the largest in the country's history, when 1.2 million gallons flowed out in Huntersville in August 2020.

The only reason it was discovered was when two teenagers stumbled across the site and reported it.

There are fears of a major spike in gas, oil and diesel prices after the 'jugular' of the U.S. fuel pipeline system was forced to suspend operations following a sophisticated cybersecurity attack

One expert told Newsweek that motorists should expect a price surge at the pump if the outage lasts five or more days, which would result in a shortage

Average US price of gas jumps 6 cents per gallon to $3.02 The average US price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 6 cents over the past two weeks, to $3.02 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the increase came as the costs of crude oil and ethanol also rose. Ethanol must be blended by refiners into gasoline, per federal rules. The price at the pump is $1.05 higher than it was a year ago. The highest average price in the nation right now is $4.16 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lowest average is $2.55 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The average price of diesel is up 2 cents over the same period, to $3.16. Advertisement

However, this deliberate and nefarious attack has many alarmed at the security vulnerabilities of utility companies which provide essential services to the American people.

Mike Chapple, teaching professor of IT, analytics and operations at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and a former computer scientist with the National Security Agency, said systems that control pipelines should not be connected to the internet and vulnerable to cyber intrusions.

'The attacks were extremely sophisticated and they were able to defeat some pretty sophisticated security controls, or the right degree of security controls werent in place,' Chapple said.

Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration's deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity and emerging technology, said in an interview with The Associated Press back in April that the government was undertaking a new effort to help electric utilities, water districts and other critical industries protect against potentially damaging cyberattacks.

She said the goal was to ensure that control systems serving 50,000 or more Americans have the core technology to detect and block malicious cyber activity.

Since then, the White House has announced a 100-day initiative aimed at protecting the country's electricity system from cyberattacks by encouraging owners and operators of power plants and electric utilities to improve their capabilities for identifying cyber threats to their networks.

It includes concrete milestones for them to put technologies into use so they can spot and respond to intrusions in real time.

The Justice Department has also announced a new task force dedicated to countering ransomware attacks in which data is seized by hackers who demand payment from victims in order to release it.
The British cuppa is at grave risk from climate change, a report warns.

Kenya, which produces half the black tea drunk in Britain, faces more floods, droughts and rising temperatures, Christian Aid says.

Beyond ruining the lives of countless tea growers, the report says optimal conditions for Kenyan tea production will be slashed by 26 per cent by 2050.

The traditional British cup of tea is at risk because of climate change, according to a report

Richard Koskei, 72, a tea farmer from Kenyas Western Highlands, said: We cannot predict seasons anymore if this continues then it will make growing tea much harder.

Other major tea-producing countries including India, Sri Lanka and China, the world's largest producer whose green tea is growing in popularity in the UK, also face rising temperatures and new weather extremes, the report said.

A changing climate could hit the taste of tea, as increasing amounts of rain produce inferior quality leaves, and reduce the compounds that make the brew beneficial to health, the report warned.

Big British tea brands and the Fairtrade Foundation have also raised concerns about the impact climate change is having on tea growers and the future of production.

The warning comes as the UK prepares to host the G7 meeting of major economies next month - where Boris Johnson has said climate, and finance for poor countries to cope with global warming, will be centre stage - and key UN Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow in November.

Dr Kat Kramer, Christian Aid's climate policy lead, said: "This year the UK Government has a key role in overseeing the global response to the climate emergency.

Big British tea brands and the Fairtrade Foundation have also raised concerns about the impact climate change is having on tea growers

"As host of both the G7 in June and the Cop26 climate summit in November, the UK can ensure that countries on the front line of this crisis can adapt and respond to the impacts of climate change.

"With countries starting to announce improved climate plans, there is a unique opportunity to accelerate cuts in emissions and boost the finance needed to help countries adapt to the changing climate."

Fiachra Moloney, of PG Tips maker Unilever, said: "The climate crisis affects people all over the world.

"In East Africa, where so much of our tea comes from, climate change is putting the livelihoods of the people who grow tea for us at risk.

"As Unilever, we call on governments to bring forward ambitious climate targets, policies and plans ahead of Cop26 that will help us all work together to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5C."

Under the international Paris Agreement, countries have committed to action to try to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels because beyond that level climate impacts will become increasingly severe.
 Flash

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited the leaders of the devolved nations to a summit on how "Team UK" can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported Sunday.

The latest development came after Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Nicola Sturgeon on Saturday pledged to push for a second independence referendum as her party secured "historic and extraordinary" fourth consecutive victory in the Scottish parliamentary election.

Johnson's invitation came also after the main opposition Labour Party's win in the Welsh Parliament during Thursday's election.

After his reelection, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford called on Johnson to "reset relationships" with the devolved nations.

The prime minister congratulated Sturgeon and Drakeford on their re-elections and invited them to a meeting to discuss such shared challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic and how to overcome them, according to the BBC.

Johnson has telephoned Drakeford on Saturday and will later speak to Sturgeon, who has already confirmed she will attend the summit, said the BBC.

Johnson will be sending a similar letter to Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers, according to Sky News.

"I believe passionately that the interests of people across the UK... are best served when we work together," Johnson said.

Sturgeon has said the result of the election meant there was "no democratic justification whatsoever for Boris Johnson or anyone else seeking to block the right of the people of Scotland to choose our future."

She insisted that holding a referendum was now "the will of the country."

Johnson has told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that it would be "reckless and irresponsible" for Scotland to hold a referendum right now.

"I don't think this is anything like the time to have more constitutional wrangling, to be talking about ripping our country apart, when actually people want to heal our economy and bounce forward together. That's what people want," he said.
A group of women with loved ones locked up in jail have have vowed to support Jarryd Hayne's pregnant wife - telling her 'you're now one of us'.

The retired NRL star, 33, was on Friday jailed for at least three years and eight months after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman inside her home in Newcastle in September 2018.

Within minutes of him being led away from the packed courtroom, social media was alight with innuendo and jokes at his and his family's expense.

But the women of a Facebook group dedicated to offering support and help to the wives and family of prisoners placed a new blanket rule on members of the page - no nasty comments toward Hayne's wife, Amellia Bonnici.

Women within a prison support group have vowed to offer any help they can to Amellia Bonnici (pictured with Hayne)

They say Ms Bonnici, who is pregnant with Hayne's second child, is now 'one of them' as she prepares to raise the four-year-old daughter (pictured on Hayne's chest) she shares with Hayne alone

Instead, members have gone out of their way to make their community a 'safe space' for Ms Bonnici should she feel the need to turn to them for comfort and advice.

They are well versed in the challenges she is about to face. Many have loved ones locked away for years at a time or career criminal partners who can't seem to keep out of prison.

They say Ms Bonnici, who is pregnant with Hayne's second child, is now 'one of them' as she prepares to raise the four-year-old daughter, Beliviah Ivy, she shares with Hayne alone.

'His poor pregnant wife will be looking for support, not to be mocked,' one prison wife said.

'If she does come to this group or one of these groups, I hope she is treated with respect and not belittled because of who her partner is.'

Hayne's supporters were furious with the sentence, with one member of his group even spitting toward the victim as she was led out of the courtroom

Within minutes of him being led away from the packed courtroom, social media was alight with innuendo and jokes at his and his family's expense

Hayne will spend at least three years behind bars and away from his wife, daughter Beliviah (pictured) and new baby, who is yet to be born

Others vowed to do whatever they could to assist Ms Bonnici or any other members of Hayne's family should they need it.

'Spare a thought for how his pregnant wife and family are feeling... We've all been there. They must be so distressed.'

The consensus in the group was that attention on Ms Bonnici is unwarranted and that she, too, is an innocent party in the ordeal.

'[His wife and family] didn't do the crime, but they'll certainly do the time,' one person said.

Ms Bonnici stood by her husband amid the allegations and trial (pictured arriving at separate court cases together)

Group members have gone out of their way to make their community a 'safe space' for Ms Bonnici (pictured) should she feel the need to turn to them for comfort and advice

A group of women whose husbands, brothers and friends are imprisoned for various crimes have offered their support to Jarryd Hayne's pregnant wife

'Everyone on this page has loved one in jail so think about his poor pregnant wife she could be on here wanting support.'

The former sporting superstar spent his first night in jail alone in a medical clinic bed - so he couldn't be bashed by inmates.

Hayne now calls the Parklea Correctional Centre, in Sydney's north-west, home until officials figure out what to do with him.

Prison sources suggested Hayne will eventually be shifted to Cooma, a minimum security prison in southern NSW.

The ex-Parramatta fullback and two-time Dally M Medallist already lodged a notice of intention to appeal his jail term - and has always maintained his innocence.

The women of a Facebook group dedicated to offering support and help to the wives and family of prisoners placed a new blanket rule on members of the page - no nasty comments toward Hayne's wife, Amellia Bonnici
Experts are calling for crocodile hunting to be re-introduced in the Northern Territory as the deadly predator's population continues to rise.

Since crocodiles were protected in the 1970s from hunting, their numbers have exploded from a measly 3,000 to as many as 200,000 that now roam the Top End waters.

If those estimates are correct, crocodiles are getting close to the number of humans in the territory, which currently sits at 246,000.

Professor Graham Webb is calling for crocodile hunting to be legalised as the state could reap the economic benefits to 'get rid of a pest.'

Experts are calling for crocodile hunting to be reintroduced in the Northern Territory as the population has reached around 200,000

'In the old days around the world, crocs were not protected they were legally hunted and they were considered a pest species so it was a win-win situation,' he told the 7.30 report.

Mr Webb said hunting should be legalised in some form that makes the practice not too dangerous for the species' conservation.

'In this whole trophy hunting industry, I've always said if a land owner can get another $5,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 from the crocs on his property he'll have the incentive to look after them and that makes wise sense conservation-wise,' he said.

Professor Graham Webb (pictured) is calling for crocodile hunting to be legalised as the state could reap the economic benefits to 'get rid of a pest'

The croc-hunting industry reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s, when hunters went to the Northern Territory to shoot and sell their skins (pictured: tourists watch croc show in the NT)

The croc-hunting industry reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s, when droves of hunters made their way to the Northern Territory to score a quick buck.

The hunters would shoot the salt and fresh water crocodiles and sell their prized skins to prospective local and international buyers.

Poll Should crocodile hunting be re-introduced? Yes No Should crocodile hunting be re-introduced? Yes 56 votes

No 29 votes Now share your opinion





After a significant decline in population, the Northern Territory introduced hunting bans in 1964 and 1971 - ending a popular past time.

Marine Scientist Dr Keller Kopf said the increase in numbers since the ban has left tourists and locals shocked to find the reptiles inundate the community.

'The consequence of that increase now is that people are seeing them in places where they don't expect to see them because in many people's living memory it's not something that they're used to,' he said.

But Kakadu park ranger Desi Nadji said crocodiles have a special significance in her Bunity culture as they are her family's totem.

'We have to respect them and look after them as anybody would you know, you come into the waterways that's their environment,' she said.
NSW has recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid for the fourth day in a row.

But health bosses are concerned the virus is still being transmitted 'unrecognised' across Sydney as they scramble to find the city's 'missing link' Covid-19 case.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said it was yet to be established how a man in his 50s from Sydney's east dubbed 'BBQ man' become infected with the virus.

Apollo Global Management managing director Tom Pizzey travelled across Sydney last weekend while unknowingly infected with Covid, visiting four separate barbecue stores over the space of a few hours.

There is no suggestion by Daily Mail Australia Mr Pizzey broke any Covid restrictions during his visits to the Sydney venues.

He tested positive to the virus on Wednesday and his wife a day later. No other close contacts have become infected to date.

Genomic testing has linked the man's case to that of a returned traveller from the US but how the virus was transmitted between them has stumped authorities.

Authorities are concerned Mr Pizzey may have acquired the infection through brief contact with a currently unidentified person who was infectious in the community.

'We have tested everyone in close proximity to this gentleman (and) the contact with the infectious person must have been very fleeting,' Dr Chant said.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant (pictured) said the missing link between a returned traveller from the US and a man from Sydney's east was yet to be found

She warned Covid could still be circulating in the community without people realising, adding 'we're not out of the risk period'.

'We're still concerned that there may be chains of transmission in the community that are unrecognised,' she said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said authorities had trawled through CCTV and spoke to 'lots of people' in their quest to find out how Mr Pizzey became infected.

'The concern is, if it's one or multiple people, who are those missing links it was a very fleeting meeting,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'That suggests there could be a high level of contagion.'

The window of transmission is likely between April 26, when the traveller arrived and quarantined at the Park Royal Hotel in Darling Harbour, and April 29, when they were moved to special health accommodation after testing positive on April 27.

Tough new restrictions for Greater Sydney - including masks indoors and on public transport - were extended for a week on Sunday (Wynyard Station pictured)

A nurse collects Covid-19 test samples at the Bondi drive-through testing clinic on May 6, with a huge increase in testing numbers expected thanks to the two new cases

The US traveller was staying in the Darling Harbour hotel, which is not one of the 14 suburbs listed in Mr Pizzey's extensive search for the perfect outdoor cooker on Saturday and Sunday.

Restrictions introduced on Thursday in response to the couple's positive tests and meant to end on Sunday night have been extended for a further week, with Ms Berejiklian saying the measures would remain to 'prevent a super-spreading event'.

Household gatherings remain capped at 20 people, mask usage remains mandatory on public transport and indoor venues such as theatres and aged care homes, and singing and dancing remains mostly banned.

Hospitality patrons are still not permitted to drink while standing.

On Monday, NSW's first mass Covid-19 vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park, which will have the capacity to administer 30,000 Covid-19 jabs per week.

The NSW government expects the Homebush hub will have the capacity to It will be staffed by hundreds of medical personnel and operate six days a week from 8am to 8pm in a specially-fitted commercial building.

Ben Shepherd from the RFS is pictured receiving his Covid-19 vaccination at the Sydney Olympic Park Vaccination Centre on Monday

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left) and Health Minister Brad Hazzard (right) are pictured at the state's first mass Covid-19 vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park

For its first two weeks, the hub will be open to people in categories 1a and 1b before expanding to anyone over 50 from May 24.

Ms Berejiklian said she hopes the state can now give out 60,000 vaccines a week, helping to boost Australia's fledgling rollout.

'The mass vaccination centre will be able to administer up to 30,000 vaccines per week once it is up and running, that means around 5,000 vaccinations per day,' Ms Berejiklian said.

'The Centre, combined with the more than 100 NSW Health run clinics and hubs, means NSW Health can administer around 60,000 vaccines each week across the State.'
Louisville police documents in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid reveal internal disagreements about whether officers were justified in using deadly force, according to a newspaper report.

In a review of the fatal shooting from December, a Louisville police investigator wrote in a report that officers serving the narcotics warrant shouldn't have returned fire when Taylor's boyfriend shot at them because it put others in danger.

Sgt. Andrew Meyer of the department's Professional Standards Unit wrote the finding in a preliminary report on December 4, but he was ultimately overruled by police leadership, The Courier Journal reported, who said the shooting was justified.

Meyer's preliminary report findings were supported by his lieutenant, Jeff Artman, ABC reported.

Two investigators conducted an internal probe into the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville,Kentucky,apartment in March 2020

Professional Standards Unit determined the three officers should have held their fire after Taylors boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot

'They took a total of thirty-two shots, when the provided circumstances made it unsafe to take a single shot,' Meyer wrote. 'This is how the wrong person was shot and killed.'

The officers at Taylor's apartment had an 'obligation' to only use deadly force against the person who was presenting a deadly threat, which was Taylor's boyfriend, Meyer wrote.

Meyer said they could not safely do that because of the layout of the hallway in Taylor's apartment.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical worker, was fatally shot after officers entered her apartment with a battering ram on March 13, 2020.

Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove violated departments use-of-force policy when they ignored the risk of hitting someone

Officers fired a total of 32 shots during the home invasion in March 2020

A shattered glass window as pictured at the apartment complex of Breonna Taylor

Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was with her and fired a shot at the officers, later saying he thought an intruder was breaking in.

Walker's bullet struck Sgt. Johnathan Mattingly in the leg, and Mattingly returned fire. But even Mattingly violated department policy when he returned fire, Meyer wrote.

Mattingly 'should not have taken the shot' because his target wasn't isolated and there was a significant risk of hitting someone who didn't pose a threat, Meyer said.

Mattingly was cleared of violating department policy by police officials who overruled Meyer's findings.

Kentucky State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, pictured, determined that Cosgrove and Mattingly were justified in their use of deadly force because Walker fired the first shot. Due to that finding, prosecutors did not recommend homicide charges to the grand jury

Two other officers who fired their guns during the raid have been fired for violating use of force policies. Mattingly is retiring on June 1.

Kentucky State Attorney General Daniel Cameron also determined that Cosgrove and Mattingly were justified in their use of deadly force because Walker fired the first shot.

Due to that finding, Cameron said prosecutors did not recommend homicide charges to the grand jury.

Former Interim chief Yvette Gentry wrote in a December 27 letter to officers that Mattingly's actions should be viewed based on his understanding at the time 'after being shot himself.'

She wrote that Mattingly fired 'at the aggressor he identified.'

The documents were released this week to the newspaper after parts of the investigative file were withheld in April.

Breonna Taylor is pictured with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker
An eastern Sydney hotel which has attracted a series of high-profile guests over the past thirty years has sold for $180million.

The Intercontinental Hotel Double Bay, which was known as the Ritz Carlton in the 1990s, hosted Princess Diana in 1996 before INXS frontman Michael Hutchence was found dead in room 524 the following year.

Throughout the same decade, the popular guest house entertained celebrities like Madonna, Sir Elton John and Bill Clinton, and was the site where former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke married his longtime lover Blanche d'Alpuget in 1995.

The Intercontinental Hotel Double Bay (pictured) has sold for $180million to a Melbourne apartment developer

Princess Diana stayed at the hotel (pictured) during a trip to Australia in 1996 when the guest house was known as the Ritz Carlton

The prominent building was reportedly bought by Melbourne apartment developer Fridcorp on Friday, according to Real Commercial.

Several other well-known Sydney developers were reportedly interested in snatching up the plot, which sources say, given the price, must be being transformed into a development.

The iconic hotel was previously owned by Chinese private equity group Shanghai United who bought it in 2019 for $140million.

Steven Chen, the head of real estate firm The Agency, organised the sale of the 3670msq property on their behalf.

The landmark has tripled in price since it was bought for $60million as a vacant property in 2013 by Singapore's Royal Hotel group, who revamped the site, adding a pool and rooftop bar.

The Royal Hotel Group spent millions of dollars refurbishing the dilapidated property, which had sat unused for six years prior, before selling it to Shanhai United eight years later.

The hotel opened as the Ritz Carlton in 1991 before it was renamed the Sir Stamford Double Bay in 2001, which ran until 2009.

Five years later, the accommodation provider became the Intercontinental Sydney Double Bay.
A teenage boy has been arrested after he allegedly directed a laser pointer at a plane overnight.

Police went to a house on Stony Creek Road, in Bexley, where they arrested a 16-year-old boy who allegedly used the laser from his backyard.

It comes just five days after the NSW Police Force Aviation Command warned the public about the dangers associated with aiming lasers at a plane.

Police arrested a 16-year-old boy after he allegedly pointed a laser into the flight path of an aircraft landing at Sydney airport

The incident comes within a week of a NSW Police announcement saying they had received a spike in laser related incidents

The plane was arriving at Sydney Airport at about 7.40pm on Sunday night when the green laser was aimed into its flight path.

PolAir was also targeted by the laser when it arrived at the scene, affecting one officer.

The boy was taken to Kogarah police station and was later released.

NSW Police released a statement last week saying they had seen around 12 incidents where lasers had been aimed at aircraft flying above Sydney in recent weeks.

Aviation Commander Detective Superintendent Brad Monk warned the public about the dangers that arise when laser pointers are aimed inappropriately.

Last month a man from Toongabbie was arrested after he aimed a laser pointed towards a plane

'The laser beams can impair the eyesight of those on board and endanger the lives of the crew and the public,' Det Supt Monk said.

'At no distance and under no circumstance is it safe to point a laser at an aircraft.'

It is an offence to aim a laser at any aircraft and to use one in public without a reasonable excuse.

He warned that police are on the lookout for anyone aiming laser pointers towards the sky.

'Remember we have a birds-eye-view from the air and can easily identify where a laser beam is coming from,' he warned.

Superintendent Brad Monk warned that that Police can easily identify where laser pointers come from

'If you're caught breaking the law, we will find you and you'll be prosecuted.'

On April 21 PolAir were patrolling Sydney's west when a laser was pointed towards an aircraft on three separate occasions from a backyard in Toongabbie.

Police arrested a 45-year-old man and seized a laser pointer before he was taken to Parramatta Police Station where he was charged.

Wayne Wiggins attended Parramatta Local Court last week where he pleaded guilty to an act with intent to prejudice the safety of an aircraft.
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick says his state is being shortchanged in the federal budget for much smaller 'city-states' such as South Australia.

Queensland is reportedly due to be allocated $1.6billion in infrastructure funding in Tuesday night's federal budget.

SA is reportedly getting $2.6billion for infrastructure, while NSW and Victoria are each in line to receive $3billion.

Mr Dick says that doesn't make sense, because Queensland's population of 5.1 million is more than double SA's population of 1.77 million.

Treasurer Dick and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured, left, with deputy premier Steven Miles) have published a wish list of projects for which they would like to receive federal funding

'These are specific decisions the federal government's made to fund specific projects in specific states,' he told ABC Radio on Monday.

'And if we want to do it on a population and a state size basis, we are the most decentralised state in the nation.

'South Australia is a city-state effectively, so is Victoria, and I'm not saying they don't deserve funding but we deserve what's fair for us.'

Mr Dick said Queensland also deserved more funding because its population was growing much faster than other states.

In the 12 months to September 2020, the state's population grew by 68,200 to 5.18 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Queensland is reportedly due to be allocated $1.6billion in infrastructure funding in Tuesday night's federal budget - compared to $3billion for NSW (pictured, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian)

Queensland's population growth of 1.3 per cent was more than Western Australia's growth of 1.2 per cent, Victoria's of 0.7 per cent, NSW of 0.6 per cent and the national rate of 0.9 per cent.

SA's population grew by 0.7 per cent or 12,700 to 1.77 million in the same period.

The treasurer said the federal government was failing to help Queensland meet the growing demand for infrastructure.

'They are not effectively funding states where the population is growing, and that's a city the size of Gladstone that effectively moved to Queensland last year,' he said.

Mr Dick and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Sunday published a wish list of projects for which they would like to receive federal funding.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) has asked for a massive cash injection into the state for road building

The list includes almost $1.7million for major road upgrades and the waiving of housing-related debt worth $263.1 million, as has occurred in South Australia and Tasmania.

Queensland deputy opposition leader David Janetzki says Queenslanders are looking for a way forward from their government, not more complacency and blame directed at the Commonwealth.

'At the moment all the treasurer can do is blame others,' Mr Janetzki said on Monday.

'He should be looking to fast-track infrastructure and develop productivity measures that will drive the Queensland economy.

'The glossy brochure approach will just not work anymore.'

LNP MP Jarrod Bleijie echoed the deputy opposition leader's comments, saying many projects on Mr Dick's wish list are a state responsibility.

'Treasurer Dick and Annastacia Palaszczuk went out yesterday crying poor wanting the federal government to fund (the Mooloolah river interchange infrastructure project) 80 per cent to their 20 per cent,' he said.

'It is a state government responsibility... the reality is, the Mooloolah interchange is a state road.

'The federal LNP government, the federal LNP team, are having to come and save Queensland for the infrastructure projects that the state government are failing to deliver.'
Caitlyn Jenner, who is running for governor of California, said she believes undocumented immigrants should have an opportunity to become citizens.

The 71-year-old gold medal-winning Olympic athlete and reality TV star made the remarks during a Sunday interview with CNN's Dana Bash.

During the conversation, Bash says there are 1.75 million undocumented workers in California before asking Jenner if they should have a chance at citizenship.

'Absolutely, yeah. They should. I mean, there's a lot of people, but personally I have met some of the most wonderful people who are immigrants, who have come to this country and they are just model citizens. They are just great people and I would fight for them to be US citizens,' Jenner told Bash.

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Caitlyn Jenner on Sunday said she believes undocumented immigrants should have an opportunity to become citizens

During the conversation, CNN's Dana Bash tells Jenner that there are 1.75 million undocumented workers in California before asking her if they should have a chance at citizenship. 'Absolutely, yeah. They should,' Jenner says. Migrants pictured on April 21

'What's been happening on the border was honestly one of the reasons I decided to run for governor,' Jenner said. 'I was watching people dying come across the river, kids in cages -- whatever you want to call them.'

Jenner, who has never held political office, surprised many when she announced on April 23 that she was taking on embattled Democrat Gavin Newsom.

Last week Jenner told Sean Hannity that she was in favor of reforming the immigration system, but was opposed to sanctuary cities.

'I am pro-law enforcement, pro-Border Patrol, pro-ICE,' she said.

Jenner said that she would support resumption of the border wall with Mexico, describing it as a useful tool in stemming migration.

'I am all for the wall, I would secure the wall,' she said. 'We can't have a state, we can't have a country without a secure wall.

'You have two questions here. One is stopping people from coming in illegally into the state. And then the second question is, what do we do with the people that are here? We are a compassionate country, okay? We are a compassionate state.

'Some help, I mean, some people we're going to send back, okay, no question about that. But I have met some of the greatest immigrants into our country.'

Last week, Jenner spoke to Sean Hannity on Fox News to discuss the race for governor

Jenner spoke to Hannity on Wednesday night for her first interview about her candidacy

During her interview with Hannity, she also expressed her concern about Joe Biden, saying that the president 'scares me'.

'Biden, I don't think I've agreed with anything,' she said. 'I don't think, since he's been in there, he has done anything for the American worker, maybe other ones. So, it is a 180-degree turn in our country, going the other direction, and it scares me.'

Hannity asked what her political allegiance was, and Jenner said she saw herself not as a Republican but rather as 'a thoughtful disrupter'.

She said: 'I kind of played around with that term, and originally I started out as a compassionate disruptor, and then I was thinking the other day, I think I'm more of a thoughtful disruptor.

'I have common sense, I see what is going on. I have always been on the Republican side as I have conservative economic values. Socially I have been much more progressive all my life. I get it. People need help. But you can't have social programs without a strong economy,' Jenner said.

She added: 'I can get along with everyone. I don't care if you are a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, vegetarian.'

Newsom is facing a recall election, after the 1.495 million-signature threshold on a petition for his recall, launched in February 2020, was easily passed.

The 53-year-old has been governor of the most populous state in the country since January 2019.

Jenner described herself as 'a fighter' who wants the best for her state.

In a slick new campaign advert, Jenner described the race as 'perhaps my most important yet', and said she wanted to 'bring back the gold to the Golden State'.

'I want to take that same fight, that same spirit, go to Sacramento, surround myself with some of the smartest people out there - I am an outsider. I understand that - smartest people out there, because now I'm in a race for solutions.

'I need to find solutions to be able to turn this state around. I absolutely love this state. I'm a fighter. Always have been.'

She promised to bring 'compassion, honesty and leadership' to the role.


A software engineer who stabbed his parents to death wrote poems about suffering from 'Peter Pan Syndrome' and being 'stuck' living with his family well into adulthood.

David Reid, 48, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of his parents Diana, 71, and Graham, 75, at their Sutherland home where he had lived all his life.

He was sentenced to a minimum of five years behind bars after a court determined he was mentally impaired at the time of his parents' deaths.

Reid called emergency services himself after the gruesome act, telling a telephone operator he had unsuccessfully committed a murder suicide after he was unable to go through with taking his own life.

When later asked about whether he'd written a suicide note, he directed detectives to his social media accounts.

Dianna Reid and her husband Victor Graham Reid (pictured) were found dead in the family home in August, 2019

There, he'd shared poems, short stories and memos over several months detailing his struggles and gripes with his life.

One such document was titled 'Peter Pan Syndrome' and reportedly lamented Reid's self-diagnosis as a man who couldn't grow up.

Peter Pan Syndrome affects people who feel unable or unwilling to grow up, usually reserved for grown men who have the mentality, mannerisms and 'heart of a child'.

It's a colloquial term referring to a set of behaviours rather than an official diagnosis.

The musings relate to what Reid told a counsellor back in March 2019, months before he killed his parents.

The session notes from the counsellor indicated Reid appeared 'nervous or distracted' throughout the appointment, which he willingly attended because he 'felt like a failure'.

David Reid, 48, (pictured) killed his mother as she ate breakfast and his father as he lay in bed

Notes taken during the session revealed Reid had an underlying anger toward his parents, placing 'some blame on [them] for ''keeping him at home'''.

Reid also appeared to 'feel defeated' throughout the session and on another occasion said his mother was 'critical' of him.

He thought that his parents had 'given up on him', he revealed.

Reid and his parents would sometimes go 'days or weeks without talking' after heated discussions about when and how he would go about moving out and fending for himself.

But family said the Peter Pan description he painted for himself was relatively accurate, describing Reid as a 'man-child' who was catered on hand-and-foot by his doting parents.

His mother still took care of his dirty laundry, cleaned for him and cooked all his meals.

David Reid was sentenced to a minimum of five years behind bars after a court determined he was mentally impaired at the time of his parents' deaths

During one holiday when Reid was left at home alone, he stopped attending work and a police welfare check revealed the home was in disarray, with rotting food in the kitchen and a strong smell emanating through the front door.

Between June 3 2018 and August 6 2019, the day of his parents' deaths, Reid uploaded countless short written pieces and musings to his social media accounts and personal devices.

Some of their titles included 'the levels of suicide', 'where it went wrong for me', 'how I went wrong' and 'a need for friends'.

Throughout the musings, he often criticised his parents, a court heard.

Of particular significance to the court was a folder titled 'Why' uploaded to social media on August 5 and 6, 2019.

Some of these documents included pieces titled 'final notice', 'my suicide', 'adios', 'things are going bad', 'the absence of God' and, finally, 'Peter Pan syndrome'.

The contents of the documents were much the same, revealing self-destructive thoughts and feelings of despair.

There was also a graphic account of his thought process as he killed his parents on August 6 uploaded online.

The court heard the musings depicted a man who had not received the mental health support he so clearly needed.

Reid stabbed his mother as she ate breakfast before going into the bedroom and stabbing his father while he was in and then getting out of bed.

He then rang triple-zero saying 'I stabbed my parents and tried to commit suicide'.

'These terrible crimes were committed in tragic circumstances which ended the lives of the offender's parents,' Justice Peter Johnson in the NSW Supreme Court said on Friday.

The crown accepted the pleas to the lesser charges on the basis he was substantially impaired by an abnormality of the mind.

In jailing him for 10 years and six months with a non-parole period of five years and six months, the judge said there was 'no rational explanation for his homicidal attacks'.

Reid, who was described as a loner and a 'man child', had no prior criminal history or any history of violence.

On August 6, 2019, Reid stabbed his mother as she ate breakfast before going into the bedroom and stabbing his father while he was in and then getting out of bed. Crime scene pictured

But experts agreed he was significantly impaired at the time by severe depression and avoidant personality disorder for which he previously had received no treatment.

Reid called emergency services himself after the gruesome act, telling a telephone operator he had unsuccessfully committed a murder suicide after he was unable to go through with taking his own life

He had attacked his parents without any triggering event or argument, but had clearly been dwelling on his 'distorted and bleak perception' of them, the judge said.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Engineering degree, Reid had worked since 1998 as a software engineer for a company producing poker machines.

The quality of his work had been described as 'from very good to poor' and at one stage he was sleeping at his desk but improved after receiving warnings.

Reid told a psychologist he felt a failure, his job was meaningless and he felt defeated.

He felt his parents had given up on him, but the judge noted there was no evidence they ever neglected him and his feelings were based on his distorted perceptions.

His parents had cared for him and provided accommodation for him throughout his entire life.

There was no rational basis for him to have any grievance towards them, but he stabbed them in circumstances which must have been terrifying for each of them.

The bodies of his elderly parents Graham and Diana Reid, aged 71 and 75, were found with stab wounds

Reid's only sibling, Andrew, and his wife Milly provided victim impacts statements revealing the devastating consequences of the loss of the parents and, in a way, of his brother.

'The destructive effect of events such as this are magnified when the offender is a member of the family, so that the inexplicable nature of what has happened is confounding for (the relatives) who are left to grapple with the loss of a generation of the family,' the judge said.

It was up to the prison authorities, not the court, to decide whether Reid would be housed in a forensic hospital or somewhere else.

'What is clear, however, from the evidence is that ongoing assessment and treatment of the offender is important and should be undertaken,' the judge said.

'These steps are in the public interest and will operate to protect the community as well as assisting the offender.'
The former Lord Mayor for Melbourne has broken down in tears during a lengthy apology after he was found to have sexually harassed several women.

Robert Doyle, who is also a father-of-four, said he 'accepted' the pain he had caused and was not looking for forgiveness but felt the need to 'say sorry' to his victims and family.

Investigations found that Mr Doyle had behaved inappropriately and sexually harassed three women, including touching one's inner thigh and another's breast.

Breaking his silence to 3AW three years after the allegations surfaced, Mr Doyle struggled to fight back tears as he detailed the shame in his 'ugly and reprehensible' behaviour.

'I apologise, unreservedly, without qualification. I am sorry,' the 67-year-old said.

'I am not the victim here, and the consequences of my action is that other people have been hurt, and that has been a big cause of suffering and anguish.

Breaking his silence to 3AW three years after the allegations surfaced, Robert Doyle struggled to fight back tears as he detailed the shame in his 'ugly and reprehensible' behaviour

The distraught father-of-four said he 'accepted' the pain he had caused and was not looking for forgiveness but felt the need to 'say sorry' to his victims and family. Mr Doyle is pictured with model Jessica Hart (left) and ex-partner Emma Page-Campbell

'When you see the pain that you've caused, not just the people that we're talking about, but people close to me, my own family, when you see the pain that you've caused and the potential pain that I might cause to my children, to my grandchildren, it's ugly.'

Two months ago, the final report from an investigation found sexual misconduct allegations against Robert Doyle when he was chair of Melbourne Health were true.

Mr Doyle did not participate in the investigation, providing evidence that he had not been medically fit to be questioned.

He quit the post and his role as chairman of Melbourne Health after the allegations came to light.

He also stepped down from his position as lord mayor of the City of Melbourne in February 2018 after separate allegations of sexual harassment.

Victoria Police confirmed in June 2020 that a sexual crimes investigation into Mr Doyle had been completed and no charges would be laid.

Asked why he had taken so long to comment, he denied he had hidden behind mental health issues.

'I couldn't have done it before now,' he said.

Mr Doyle stepped down from his position as lord mayor of the City of Melbourne in February 2018 after separate allegations of sexual harassment

'I look back, I see arrogance, I see self-importance, I see the inability to see how your behaviours are affecting somebody else - ugly, ugly stuff.'

Mr Doyle said his poor behaviour went back to when he was a teacher, before he was in public office.

'That arrogance and self-importance goes back a long way ... I have no doubt I've hurt people I don't even know about and that's an awful thought,' he said.

He added alcohol had been part of the problem with his latest misbehaviour and he had sought help.

'Alcohol is not an excuse for a lack of respect and a lack of appropriate behaviour - I fully accept that,' he said.

In the interview, Mr Doyle was asked about the investigations into his behaviour.

Mr Doyle said he wasn't seeking forgiveness but needed to apologise to those he hurt

'I'm not here to try to justify them or argue against them or excuse myself,' he said.

Mr Doyle tearfully apologised to his family, saying he had hurt them as well.

Asked if his life had been in danger because of the state of his health, he said 'yes', but hopes that is not the case now.

He also said he did not seek forgiveness.

'I don't think our interview will change anybody's mind and that wasn't my object in doing it - I think people made up their minds a long time ago about Robert Doyle,' he said.

'It makes you reflect on your own soul, it makes you reflect on the darkness that is there and that is the ugly side of you,' he said.

'No-one likes to think ill of themselves or the worst of themselves, but when you're confronted with it, what can you do?'

The investigation run by Charles Scerri QC was established in 2018 by the Department of Health and Human Services after claims from a woman that Mr Doyle, while he was chair of Melbourne Health, groped her and made 'sleazy' comments at an awards ceremony in 2016.

It found some of Mr Doyle's behaviour was 'serious misconduct of a sexual nature'.

Unable to engage Mr Doyle's response to the allegations, despite 'extensive correspondence', Mr Scerri finalised the investigation and his report.

'Mr Scerri does not accept that Mr Doyle's solicitors are unable to discuss the allegations with Mr Doyle and obtain any instructions from him,' the summary said.

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Nigerian police have confirmed seven policemen were shot dead following gunmen attacks on police stations and checkpoints in the country's southern state of Rivers.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Saturday night, Nnamdi Omoni, a spokesman for the police in Rivers, described the attacks as "unprovoked and mindless" as a group of gunmen attacked a security checkpoint and two police stations in the state on Friday evening.

The gunmen in two Hilux vans launched a surprise attack on a police check point at a bridge in Port Harcourt, killing two policemen, and later they attacked a police station in Emohua local government area, killed two policemen on duty, said Omoni.

"A stiff resistance by other police officers prevented the hoodlums from gaining access into the police station," said the police spokesperson.

According to Omoni, the police also lost three officers during the third attack of the same gunmen at a police station on Igwuruta road in Port Harcourt.

"The attack was resisted by our officers during a serious fire engagement that resulted in the gunmen abandoning their bullet-riddled Hilux van," he said.

He said the gunmen fled in a snatched Sienna bus and with various gunshot wounds, and two of the assailants were killed during the exchange of gunfire with policemen.

He said none of the police posts was burnt by the gunmen and five assault rifles were lost during the three attacks.

The spokesperson added operatives had launched a manhunt for the perpetrators with a view to apprehending the culprits and bringing them to justice.
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Incredibles images of a saltwater crocodile floating in water with its claws raised above the surface has left Australians baffled as to the reason behind the bizarre position.

The crocodile was seen with its front and back legs stretched out in the water along Buffalo Creek, in the Northern Territory, on Friday.

Its claws were splayed and raised above the surface as the reptile remained perfectly still, a technique experts say allows it to sense any small movement in water around them.

A photo of the odd sighting was uploaded to Facebook where social media users were quick to note it was similar to a cheerleader's 'spirit fingers' pose.

A saltwater crocodile has been captured floating in water with its claws raised above the surface

The crocodile was seen with its front and back legs stretched out in the water along Buffalo Creek, in the Northern Territory

It also drew plenty of speculation as to why the crocodile was resting in the bizarre position.

'Yeah very common, just had its nails done,' one person commented.

Another person wrote: 'Pilates!'

Big Gecko crocodile specialist Adam Britton revealed crocodiles could sometimes be found resting in this position when they were hunting fish.

Special pressure points around their body, including on their hands, means they can detect the smallest movements in water around them - and then pounce on their prey.

'Crocodiles have little pressure receptors on their body, the side of their jaws, front legs and hands,' he said.

'These can detect pressure changes in the water. So what they do is float on the surface and stretch their front and back legs out like that.

'As the fish swim closer to the head, they can feel the pressure wave of the fish as it passes. When the crocodile feels that pressure wave it then snaps its head and eats the fish.'

Mr Britton said crocodiles typically used the posture when hunting large schools of fish.

Big Gecko crocodile specialist Adam Britton revealed crocodiles could sometimes be found resting in this odd position when hunting large schools of fish

The crocodiles spread their fingers out when hunting large schools of fish, as special receptors in their hands can detect movement in the water

'When there is a change in the tide in the river the crocodile knows there will be a large concentration of fish,' he said.

'But it can be difficult to chase after them because the fish are too quick. By going into this position, they use hardly any energy while waiting for the fish to swim to them.'

Mr Britton said the posture was first observed in the Spectacle Camen species in South America about 20 years ago.

'The first person to describe it called it the cross posture,' he said.

'If you look at it from above, it looks like the front and back legs are forming an X. Its almost like theyre skydiving. Thats what it looks like.'
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has flown into Afghanistan for a brief visit to discuss the withdrawal of Australian troops and hopes for ongoing peace in the war-torn country.

Senator Payne also discussed the handling of alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

She described the planned departure of Australian troops later this year as 'beginning a new chapter' in the relationship.

Marise Payne (pictured, left) is seen meeting with Afghan president Ghani over the weekend during a top secret visit to Kabul

Senator Payne (pictured at the G7 in London on May 5) also discussed the handling of alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani

'We will continue our close friendship, and support our shared aspiration of peace, stability and prosperity,' Senator Payne said in a statement on Monday.

'We will continue our development assistance program to work to preserve the significant gains made by the Afghan people, in particular advancing the rights of women and girls.'

Her confidential visit came after powerful explosions outside a high school in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 50 people and wounded scores more, many of them teenage girls leaving class.

Her confidential visit came after powerful explosions outside a high school in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 50 people (pictured, the mass funeral on Sunday)

Mr Ghani has blamed the bombings on Taliban insurgents.
Businesses are heading into the federal budget in an upbeat mood with both confidence and conditions reaching record highs in April.

Retail spending figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics also showed a solid 1.3 per cent increase in March, only a touch below the 1.4 per cent reported in earlier preliminary figures.

However, sales fell 0.5 per cent over the March quarter, following a 2.4 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Ben James from the ABS said the quarterly fall was driven by household spending patterns gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Shoppers in Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall as new figures show business confidence is at record highs (above)

Australia's retailers are happy with the way the economy is going (above, Melbourne's CBD on Monday)

The influential National Australia Bank monthly business survey showed confidence jumped nine points to a record 26 index points in April.

Conditions also rose eight points to 32 index points, surpassing the record peak seen in March.

'The April survey result is simply stunning,' NAB chief economist Alan Oster said.

All components of the conditions index - trading, profitability and employment - set new highs, while the strength of confidence points to ongoing strength in conditions in the near term.

'It looks like we have moved past the rebound phase of the recovery and are now seeing healthy growth in most of the economy,' Mr Oster said.

It will be music to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's ears as he pens his budget speech for Tuesday night.

A new study has found employment and hours worked have held steady despite the removal of key support measures that were in place during the heat of the pandemic.

Shoppers in Melbourne on Monday afternoon as business prospects remain good (above)

Both the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme and JobSeeker coronavirus supplements ended in March.

The survey of more than 3500 adults by the Australian National University found employment stayed at around 60 per cent of the population between January and April 2021.

Matthew Gray from the ANU said there had not been a dramatic decline in employment.

'This is even more impressive given our findings cover the period immediately following the cessation of the JobKeeper scheme and the JobSeeker supplement,' Professor Gray said.

'This is good news for many Australians, the economy and our economic activity, particularly as we look to rebuild in the wake of the COVID recession.'

Treasury had estimated that up to 150,000 people would lose their job as a result of the end of JobKeeper.

However, like the ANU survey, economists are growing confident these jobs can be absorbed by a surprisingly strong rebound in the market.
A gourmet gluten-free foodie drawn into being part of a "staggeringly sophisticated" multimillion-dollar tax scam to pay for a friend's luxury mansion has escaped jail.

Melinda Jane Trembath, 45, creator of food company Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies, apparently believed she was joining the lifelong family friend in researching cancer.

Instead, the mother of three became a vital cog in a $3.6 million bid to defraud the Australian Taxation Office through a fake research and development tax offset claim.

The family friend, who has been charged but is yet to face court, was described as the main instigator of the elaborate scam. She had lost her mother to cancer after she had previously taken part in clinical cancer research trials.

Melinda Jane Trembath, 45, creator of food company Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies (above)

The woman allegedly created two biotechnology companies, appointing Trembath to be a director.

In 2017, the companies lodged a tax offset claim of $3.6 million. When the ATO queried the claim, Trembath used her extensive business experience to forge a paper trail to justify the dodgy return.

The court was told Trembath created fake invoices and bank statements and was charged with four counts, including forging documents and attempting to influence a Commonwealth public official.

Trembath pleaded guilty to all four charges in the Brisbane District Court on Monday.

"Her role was by no means minor," the prosecution told the court.

"She agreed to be the director of two companies. She took active steps using her business skills to forge documents to perpetuate this fraud."

While the family friend allegedly devised the scheme, Trembath actively took steps to disguise the attempted fraud, the court was told.

"It was an act to defraud the Commonwealth and ultimately the taxpayer of over 3.6 million."

Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies is one of Australia's biggest gluten-free brands (above)

Defence barrister Daniel Caruana said Trembath knew what she was doing wrong but did not deserve to go to jail.

"It all boils down to the fact this has been a huge betrayal," Mr Caruana said.

"There was a document found ... and it's quite bizarre and shocking that instead of going toward important medical research, (the co-accused) was looking to buy a mansion for herself.

"That was a shock to my client - she felt terribly betrayed by someone she thought was a friend.

"It was a staggeringly sophisticated scheme."

In sentencing, Judge Orazio Rinaudo said the scheme relied on Trembath's expertise in business and went along with the fraud out of a "false sense of loyalty".

"The documents which you (Trembath) forged relied on your experience and background in business," he said.

"You now realise you have been betrayed."

Trembath was handed a suspended sentence of 18 months, and released on $2000 recognisance and immediately released.
A Range Rover driver has mocked a police officer for his meagre salary and boasted of owning two businesses after being pulled over for allegedly possessing stolen goods.

Footage shared to TikTok showed the motorist ridiculing the young New South Wales police officer and suggesting he was only stopped because of the colour of his skin and the clothes he was wearing.

'I feel sorry for you brother making $55,000 a year or something,' the driver said.

'It's not that,' the officer responded as he accused the man of being 'uneducated'.

The man behind the camera then raised his guess to '$65,000 a year', with the police officer's facial expression suggesting he was closer this time.

'At least I'm making something,' the officer said.

'Yeah well at least I'm earning two somethings,' the man being pulled over responded, indicating he was making twice as much as the officer.

'I've got two businesses brother.'

The officer replied by suggesting the man was running 'dodgy businesses'.

'That's what you think because I'm wearing Nautica or a bumbag,' the motorist said.

The indignant Range Rover driver then suggested the officer pulled him over because of his race.

'Why are you so argumentative?' The officer asked him.

A Range Rover driver has mocked a police officer for his meagre salary in a video shared to TikTok

'What have you stopped me for - stolen goods? Am I wearing a $100,000 watch or something,' the man replied.

'You're picking on me because of my skin colour.'

The officer then asked the driver how the traffic stop could be racist when he was white.

'You're white, I'm not white - you're white brother,' the man said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted New South Wales Police for comment.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke appears open to expanding Australia's refugee intake through more community sponsored refugee places.

Mr Hawke is weighing up a review into the relatively new community support program, which is based on a Canadian model where individuals, businesses or community groups cover the resettlement costs of refugees.

Canada has welcomed more than 300,000 refugees under the scheme since the 1970s.

The program was introduced in Australia in 2017 and has been reviewed by Alison Larkins, the Commonwealth coordinator-general for migrant services.

Canada has welcomed more than 300,000 refugees under the scheme since the 1970s, and it could bring more refugees to Australia

Poll SHOULD AUSTRALIA TAKE MORE REFUGEES? Yes - we have the space No - we need to take care of Australians SHOULD AUSTRALIA TAKE MORE REFUGEES? Yes - we have the space 76 votes

No - we need to take care of Australians 629 votes Now share your opinion





Mr Hawke said he was a strong supporter of the community support program.

'It is great to see the strong interest and commitment to community sponsorship approaches within the Australian community, and the positive settlement outcomes being achieved through these channels, both through our current program and internationally,' he said on Monday.

'I look forward to ensuring the program becomes a genuine, successful partnership between community, business and the government, to provide beneficial outcomes to our refugee and humanitarian arrivals in Australia.'

The minister said he would consider Ms Larkins' findings in detail and consider possible changes to strengthen the government's approach.

'I look forward to providing an update on my considerations in due course,' Mr Hawke said.

In 2015, Australia resettled 5,211 refugees compared to 52,583 in America and 10,236 in Canada.
A massive hive swarming with hundreds of bees has been discovered in the roof of a family home during renovations.

The shocked occupants called in professional beekeeper Paul Wood from Brisbane Backyard Bees to remove the unwelcome guests from the ceiling after they unearthed the terrifying discovery.

The job at a home in Logan south of the Brisbane last week was captured on video and later shared online.

Mr Wood can be heard commentating in the footage before climbing up into the hole for a closer inspection of the hive buzzing with hundreds of bees.

Paul Wood from Brisbane Backyard Bees was called in to remove hundreds of bees (pictured) which had inundated the roof of a Logan home

He believes the stinging insects made themselves at home inside the ceiling after the recent rain and commented that it would be a tricky job.

'It's a little bit tight up here,' Mr Wood explained.

'There's quite a bit of honey back there.'

'All the bees are at home as it's very wet outside.'

The video has gone viral since being uploaded online.

'That is going to be some expensive honey,' one viewer commented.

Another joked: 'I wanna rent this house!'

The shocked occupants unearthed the terrifying discovery (pictured) during renovations

The beekeeper can be heard commenting in the footage that it was be a tricky job removing the stinging insects (pictured)

Mr Wood insists bees are 'nice little creatures' and that homeowners shouldn't get scared or over-react when they find them buzzing around their property.

The number of callouts in regional centres and suburban areas has been dramatically increasing lately as more people take up beekeeping as a hobby.

'When they reproduce the hive splits in two and sometimes they go into ceilings and walls because we don't leave enough trees standing,' Mr Wood recently told Daily Mail Australia.

'They would normally go into a hollow tree now they go into homes because they are the next best thing.'

Some of the biggest calls Mr Wood has been called to in recent months have taken 'six hours or more'.
Three people are fighting for life and a blood-spattered man wearing a 'Sons of Anarchy' shirt has been arrested after a stabbing rampage inside a supermarket.

The horrific incident unfolded in the Countdown supermarket on Cumberland Street, Dunedin, New Zealand's South Island, on Monday afternoon, with customers desperately trying to intervene to stop the attack.

St John ambulance confirmed five people were rushed to hospital following the attack - three people have critical injuries and the others have moderate injuries.

Two of the injured are Countdown employees while the other three were customers who were inside the store at the time of the ferocious attack about 2:30pm local time.

A man wearing a 'Sons of Anarchy' shirt was handcuffed at the Countdown supermarket on Cumberland Street, Dunedin, New Zealand, on Monday afternoon after three people were left in a critical condition following a stabbing attack

A man who was injured in the stabbing rampage is taken from the scene by paramedics

Witnesses said a man carrying two knives had entered the store, which is located next to a police station and just metres from the iconic Dunedin Railway Station and the city's heart, the Octagon.

Police said the arrested man was put under police guard in hospital where he was receiving medical attention before being formally spoken to or charged.

Southern District Police Commander Superintendent Paul Basham said it was a 'fast-moving and extremely traumatic event for every person in that supermarket  the victims who were injured, those present who tried to intervene and those who had to flee to a place of safety'.

Supt Basham said while the investigation was still in its early stages, 'on the face of what we currently know, we believe this was a random attack'.

He said he had viewed CCTV footage of the attack 'which is quite traumatic'.

'What I can say is those that intervened, some of who became injured themselves, have acted selfless and great courage to prevent this man from hurting anybody else - and indeed they did just that,' he said.

Countdown employees embrace one another as a man with stab wounds is rushed to hospital

Police said in a statement that one person was arrested at the scene. He is being held under police guard in hospital

A witness told the Otago Daily Times: 'We just heard a scream and thought someone must've fallen, but it got louder and louder and more people were screaming'.

'I saw one red hand among the people; a bloody hand, and everybody started running towards the exits.'

Onlookers had reportedly tried to tackle the armed man to the ground before police arrived.

A witness told Stuff the attacker was 'quite a messy little fellow' with curly hair.

The supermarket has been closed for the remainder of Monday, with police saying the 'scene is currently locked down and will be the subject of an extensive scene examination'. It will stay closed on Tuesday.

Countdown staff could be seen embracing one another as the injured were stretchered from the supermarket by emergency services.

Countdown managing director Spencer Sonn said the 'priority right now is our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event'.

The horrific stabbing attack unfolded about 2:30pm (NZST) on Monday. Emergency services are pictured at the scene

The supermarket has been closed for the remainder of Monday and will remain closed on Tuesday. Pictured, emergency services outside the supermarket

'We have been concerned about the escalating violence towards our team, and this is something we have continued to talk and raise as an issue over the last year.

'Our amazing team comes to work to serve Kiwis every day, and our customers visit our stores knowing that they will be safe. We are heartbroken that this wasn't the case today.'

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said an early assessment by police indicated there was nothing to suggest a domestic terror event.

'Needless to say such an attack is hugely concerning and I do want to acknowledge the really early reports of courageous acts by bystanders who have taken action in order to protect those around them,' Ms Ardern said.

'Our thoughts are with all those who've been affected by this attack.'
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the guidance on wearing masks indoors should start to relax as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The nations top infectious disease expert was asked if he agreed with the idea that it was time to start relaxing the guidance regarding wearing the coverings inside.

Fauci told ABC News: 'I think so, and I think you're going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated.

'The C.D.C. will be, almost in real time, updating their recommendations and their guidelines. But, yes, we do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated.'

About 46 per cent of all Americans have received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot, according to the CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said fully vaccinated Americans can now safely go without masks outside in non crowded spaces.

As for inside, the CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people should still wear masks indoors in public settings.

Some health experts have questioned whether the CDC guidelines are too strict, and that removing the indoor mask mandate for fully vaccinated people could encourage confidence in the vaccines.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday the guidance on wearing masks indoors should start to relax as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19

The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people should still wear masks indoors in public settings

Fauci later told NBC that Americans may start wearing masks seasonally, adding: 'Weve had practically a non-existent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominately against COVID-19.

'So it is conceivable that as we go on, a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that youll spread these respiratory-borne diseases.'

Fauci said he hopes the US will be 'as close to back to normal as we can' by next Mother's Day, adding: 'I hope that next Mother's Day, we're going to see a dramatic difference than what we're seeing right now.

'I believe that we will be about as close to back to normal as we can.

'We've got to make sure that we get the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated. When that happens, the virus doesn't really have any place to go.'

Some health experts have questioned whether the CDC guidelines are too strict, and that removing the indoor mask mandate for fully vaccinated people could encourage confidence in the vaccines

There is mounting evidence that outdoor transmission of coronavirus is exceedingly rare, accounting for less than 10 percent of cases

Fauci later told NBC that Americans may start wearing masks seasonally

Former commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, told CBS: 'Certainly outdoors, we shouldn't be putting limits on gatherings anymore.

'The states where prevalence is low, vaccination rates are high, and we have good testing in place, we're identifying infections, I think we could start lifting these restrictions indoors as well, on a broad basis.'

There is mounting evidence that outdoor transmission of coronavirus is exceedingly rare, accounting for less than 10 percent of cases.

Those risks are mainly linked to crowded events that can turn into super-spreader events, or people who were in close range of one another.

However, in crowded places like concerts, parades or sporting events, even vaccinated people should still wear masks, the CDC's new guidance says.

Unvaccinated people can shed their masks too, if they are outside exercising or at small outdoor gatherings with vaccinated friends and families.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Sunday: 'I would say we are turning the corner.'

Former commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, pictured, told CBS: 'Certainly outdoors, we shouldn't be putting limits on gatherings anymore'

The task now is to continue building confidence in vaccines and get enough Americans vaccinated to mitigate the spread of the virus and its variants, he said.

U.S. health officials are aiming to meet President Joe Biden's goal of 70 per cent of American adults having at least one shot by the July 4 U.S. Independence Day.

Zients said reaching that goal could help the country reach a sustainable low level of infections.

About 46 per cent of all Americans have received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot, according to the CDC

Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said another surge in coronavirus infections would be unlikely if the Biden goal is met or exceeded.

'The larger proportion of the population that's vaccinated, the less likelihood that in a season like the coming fall or winter you're going to see a significant surge,' Fauci said on NBC' 'Meet the Press.'

'That's the reason why vaccinations are so important. That's the wild card that we have now that we didn't have last fall or the last winter.'

Zients defended the latest masking guidelines from the CDC, which recommends that fully vaccinated people should still wear masks at crowded outdoor events or when they go indoors in public settings with other people who may not be vaccinated.

Some health experts have questioned whether the CDC guidelines are too strict, and that removing the indoor mask mandate for fully vaccinated people could encourage confidence in the vaccines.

That move would not, however, protect unvaccinated people from contracting the virus from a carrier who has been vaccinated.

The CDC guidelines will over time allow more people to take off their masks, Zients said, while acknowledging Americans' mask fatigue.

'We're getting there,' Zients said. 'And the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter and brighter. Let's keep up our guard.'

Zients said about 58 per cent of American adults have received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot. The task now is to continue building confidence in vaccines and get enough Americans vaccinated to mitigate the spread of the virus and its variants, he said

U.S. health officials are aiming to meet President Joe Biden's goal of 70 per cent of American adults having at least one shot by the July 4 U.S. Independence Day

Fauci said the US, which has reported the world's worst overall Covid-19 death toll, has 'no doubt' been undercounting fatal cases

The country has officially lost over 581,000 people to the disease caused by COVID-19 - but a University of Washington study released on Thursday estimated deaths at more than 900,000

Fauci said the US, which has reported the world's worst overall Covid-19 death toll, has 'no doubt' been undercounting fatal cases.

The country has officially lost over 581,000 people to the disease caused by COVID-19 - but a University of Washington study released on Thursday estimated deaths at more than 900,000.

'That's a bit more than I would have thought the undercounting was,' Fauci told NBC's Meet The Press. 'But I think there's no doubt... that we are and have been undercounting.'

In cases where someone has not been tested, coroners are free to attribute a death to the more direct condition, and leave COVID-19 out entirely.

A report in January found that coroners in Trump-supporting areas were more likely to downplay COVID as a factor in death.
China ready to enhance cooperation with Suriname: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 11:04, May 10, 2021

A staff member (3rd R) introduces Suriname to visitors at the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Suriname to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Surinamese counterpart, Albert Ramdin, adding that the two countries should strengthen unity and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and safeguard multilateralism and the common interests of developing countries.

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Standing at a new historical starting point, China is ready to work with Suriname to carry forward traditional friendship, enhance policy alignment and political mutual trust, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

In a phone conversation with his Surinamese counterpart, Albert Ramdin, Wang noted that Suriname was one of the first Caribbean countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China, and the upcoming May 28 will mark the 45th anniversary of the China-Suriname diplomatic ties.

Over the past 45 years, the two countries have always understood and supported each other, setting an example of equal treatment and friendly relations between big and small countries, Wang said.

China appreciates Suriname for abiding by the one-China principle and always standing firmly with China on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns, he said.

Noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi have exchanged letters and messages, Wang said China is ready to maintain exchanges with Suriname at all levels and launch inter-foreign ministry consultations at an early date.

The two countries have signed a memorandum of understanding and a cooperation plan on jointly building the Belt and Road, Wang said, adding that both sides should deepen cooperation in infrastructure construction, communications and other fields, and actively explore energy development, so as to help promote Suriname's economic recovery and transformation.

China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Suriname to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said, adding that the two countries should strengthen unity and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and safeguard multilateralism and the common interests of developing countries.

Wang also expressed hope that the Surinamese side will make good use of the Consultative Mechanism between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean Countries Having Diplomatic Relations with China, the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum and other mechanisms, so as to promote the overall cooperation between China and the Caribbean countries.

For his part, Ramdin expressed warm congratulations on China's achievements in economic and social development, and stressed that the one-China principle will never be shaken as the cornerstone of Suriname-China relations.

Ramdin also extended gratitude to the Chinese side for its sincere help in fighting COVID-19, expressing hope to take the 45th anniversary of the diplomatic ties as an opportunity to push for new progress in bilateral relations.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
 Flash

Standing at a new historical starting point, China is ready to work with Suriname to carry forward traditional friendship, enhance policy alignment and political mutual trust, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

In a phone conversation with his Surinamese counterpart, Albert Ramdin, Wang noted that Suriname was one of the first Caribbean countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China, and the upcoming May 28 will mark the 45th anniversary of the China-Suriname diplomatic ties.

Over the past 45 years, the two countries have always understood and supported each other, setting an example of equal treatment and friendly relations between big and small countries, Wang said.

China appreciates Suriname for abiding by the one-China principle and always standing firmly with China on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns, he said.

Noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi have exchanged letters and messages, Wang said China is ready to maintain exchanges with Suriname at all levels and launch inter-foreign ministry consultations at an early date.

The two countries have signed a memorandum of understanding and a cooperation plan on jointly building the Belt and Road, Wang said, adding that both sides should deepen cooperation in infrastructure construction, communications and other fields, and actively explore energy development, so as to help promote Suriname's economic recovery and transformation.

China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Suriname to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said, adding that the two countries should strengthen unity and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and safeguard multilateralism and the common interests of developing countries.

Wang also expressed hope that the Surinamese side will make good use of the Consultative Mechanism between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Caribbean Countries Having Diplomatic Relations with China, the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum and other mechanisms, so as to promote the overall cooperation between China and the Caribbean countries.

For his part, Ramdin expressed warm congratulations on China's achievements in economic and social development, and stressed that the one-China principle will never be shaken as the cornerstone of Suriname-China relations.

Ramdin also extended gratitude to the Chinese side for its sincere help in fighting COVID-19, expressing hope to take the 45th anniversary of the diplomatic ties as an opportunity to push for new progress in bilateral relations.
Stunning natural swimming pools hidden above a waterfall and inside one of the Queensland's national parks have been revealed in a series of incredible photos.

Pictures of the waterholes, which sit above Rainbow Falls at Blackdown Tableland National Park in the state's central east, were shared on a popular travel Facebook page on Sunday.

The pools can be accessed via a 6km sealed but windy road that is not recommended for caravans or heavy trailers, Queensland's national parks website says.

Those keen to take a dip can drive two hours west of Rockhampton on the Capricorn Highway, before taking the turn off to Blackdown Tablelands National Park - which is in between Dingo and Bluff.

It is then another hour to drive to the Rainbow Falls car park, 8km after the Munall Campgrounds turn off, and from the car it's a 4km walk.

Impressive pictures showed Australian vanlife couple Sam, 27, and Jess, 26, relaxing in the three-metre-deep blue pools, surrounded by trees.

Pictured: Sam, 27, and Jess, 26 at Rainbow Falls inside Blackdown Tableland National Park

Pictured: Sam and Jess, who travel around Australia in a converted Ford. They pick apples in Queensland

Hopeful holidaymakers flocked to the comments section to ask how to find the picturesque spot.

'Where is it please need a holiday?,' one woman asked.

'Woah very beautiful. Where is it? I want to go there,' another added.

Someone else tagged their partner and wrote: 'A place for our bucket list, baby.'

Hopeful holidaymakers flocked to the comments section to ask how to find the picturesque spot (pictured)

Sam and Jess told Daily Mail Australia the waterhole is one of the nicest been to during their extensive trip around the country.

'We absolutely loved this place,' they said.

In a video shared on their Instagram page, Sam - who used to work Bunnings before he started picking apples in Queensland - dives into one of the pools to show how deep is it.

The destination is a nine-hour drive from Brisbane, and the couple said the photos don't do the site justice (pictured)

The destination is a nine-hour drive from Brisbane, and the couple said the photos don't do the site justice.

'When we drove out here on a long corrugated road to the middle of nowhere we werent sure what to expect,' they said.

'We were so surprised to find that this place looked exactly like (if not better than) the photos.'
Racing fans who bet on last week's Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit will still be able to keep their winnings, even if the horse is ultimately disqualified from the race.

But the trainer of the horse could be forced to repay the $1.86 million in winnings he received.

The horse racing world was rocked on Sunday night with news that the champion colt failed a drug test.

The horse is facing disqualification after the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone was detected to be over the legal limit in Kentucky racing.

But even if the horse is thrown out of the race and second place Mandaloun is ultimately declared the winner, gamblers who bet on Medina Spirit will still be allowed to keep their money, while those who backed Mandaloun will receive nothing.

Racing officials said Mandaloun (left) which finished second would be promoted to winner if the findings are upheld but those who bet on the colt would receive nothing

The horse Medina Spirit tested over the limit for the drug betamethasone, and now faces disqualification

Things are much worse for the owner, trainer and jockey who will have to return all their winnings should they lose an appeal.

Medina Spirit received $1.86 million in prize money with the jockey keeping a 10 per cent cut of the money.

Second place Mandaloun received $600,000 prize money with the jockey receiving a 5 per cent cut.

'To be clear, if the findings are upheld, Medina Spirit's results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner,' Churchill Downs said in a statement.

'Failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardizes the safety of the horses and jockeys, the integrity of our sport and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby and all who participate. Churchill Downs will not tolerate it,' the company said.

Baffert has been immediately suspended from entering any more horses at Churchill Downs. He may also be forced to repay $1.86million in winnings he received

'We will await the conclusion of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's investigation before taking further steps.'

Mandaloun, trained by Louisville native Brad Cox was the runner up in the Kentucky Derby.

Mandaloun had 15-to-1 odds to win the race, but if he is the winner it would give Cox his first Kentucky Derby win in his Derby debut.

If Mandaloun is going to be named the winner, it could be years down the line when various appeals are factored.

Bob Baffert, trainer of Medina Spirit, said he plans to investigate and fight the drug test, stating Medina Spirit 'has never been treated with betamethasone,' which is an anti-inflammatory drug.

'All I can tell you is that betamethasone, even though it's an allowed drug, a therapeutic medication, we did not give it, my veterinarian or anyone here,' Baffert said.

'Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone, (and) I cannot believe that I'm here before you guys. I never thought I'd be here. Yesterday I got the biggest gut punch I've had in racing, for something that I didn't do, and it's really disturbing - it's an injustice to the horse.

Medina Spirit had given 68-year-old Baffert a record seventh Kentucky Derby win.

'I don't know what's going on in racing right now, but something's not right. I don't feel embarrassed, I feel like I was robbed.

John Velazquez riding Medina Spirit leads Florent Geroux on Mandaloun, Flavien Prat riding Hot Rod Charlie and Luis Saez on Essential Quality to win the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Saturday, May 1, 2021, in Louisville

Racing has been stunned after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a drugs test

'We are going to do our own investigation - we are going to be transparent with the racing commission, like we have always been. We are going to show them everything - and one thing about California, everything is documented every day, what the horses get.

'This horse was never treated with that, and he's a great horse, he doesn't deserve this - he ran a gallant race.'

Baffert added: 'I'm going to fight it tooth and nail, because I owe it to the horse; I owe it to the owner and I owe it to our industry.

'I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I know everybody is not out to get me, but there is definitely something wrong. Why is it happening to me?'

Baffert added: 'We know we didn't do it, and that's the thing. We didn't have anything to do with it. I don't know how it got in his system, if it's in his system or was there a mistake - we are going to get to the bottom of it.'

Trainer Bob Baffert said he is 'totally shocked' by the findings, which he called a 'gut punch'

Ridden by John Velazquez, Medina Spirit made all in the Churchill Downs showpiece to beat Mandaloun by half a length.

Officials at Churchill Downs said Baffert would be suspended from making entries at the track and that, if the findings are upheld, Mandaloun would be promoted to first place.

A statement read: 'It is our understanding that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's post-race blood sample indicated a violation of the Commonwealth of Kentucky's equine medication protocols.

'The connections of Medina Spirit have the right to request a test of a split sample, and we understand they intend to do so. To be clear, if the findings are upheld, Medina Spirit's results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner.

Baffert (right) handing the Derby winners trophy to Medina Spirit jockey John Velazquez (left) who would also be forced to return his winnings should the horse be disqualified

'Failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardizes the safety of the horses and jockeys, the integrity of our sport and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby and all who participate.

The positive test was seized upon by US animal rights and welfare groups.

Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action, said: 'The latest doping scandal in U.S. horse racing underscores the need for swift implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act that will address inconsistencies in drug testing and create a uniform national standard of rules and regulations in the sport.

'If further investigation finds Medina Spirit legitimately tested positive for illegal drugs at the Kentucky Derby, then racing authorities should throw the book at those found guilty of violating the rules and punish them to the fullest extent of the law.

'American horse racing will be held to a higher standard - there's no excuse for rigging the 'fastest two minutes in sports,' especially at the expense of the horse's well-being.'

Medina Spirit, ridden by jockey John Velazquez had secured a half-length victory in the 19-horse Kentucky Derby on May 1

Trainer Bob Baffert said a post-race sample provided by Medina Spirit had tested positive for 21 picograms of the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone

Medina Spirit is expected to run in the Preakness on Saturday, barring some abrupt change in plans or a decision from officials at Pimlico or Marylands racing commission that would prevent him from entering the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

The only horse to be disqualified for medication after winning the Derby is Dancers Image in 1968.

Medina Spirit, ridden by jockey John Velazquez had secured a half-length victory in the 19-horse Kentucky Derby on May 1.

Baffert won a record-setting seventh Kentucky Derby with dark bay colt.

Betamethasone is the same drug that was found in the system of Gamine, another Baffert-trained horse who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks last September.

Gamine was eventually disqualified from that finish because of that test and Baffert was fined $1,500. Betamethasone is legal under Kentucky racing rules, though it must be cleared 14 days before a horse races.

Last month, Baffert successfully appealed against a 15-day suspension given to him by the Arkansas Racing Commission after two of his horses had tested positive for a banned substance.

Baffert said Medina Spirit had not yet been officially disqualified from the Derby and that he would launch his own investigation.

Baffert said Medina Spirit had not yet been officially disqualified from the Derby

In 2015, Baffert-trained American Pharoah became the first horse since 1978 to win U.S. thoroughbred racing's coveted Triple Crown. Baffert celebrated another Triple Crown in 2018 with Justify.

The failed drug test is just another in a long series of events shadowing the sport - and the Derby, its best known and most prestigious race - in recent years.

Maximum Security crossed the line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified by Churchill Downs stewards for interference in what was an unprecedented move. Country House, which crossed the line second in that race, is now considered the winner.

In March 2020, Jason Servis - who was Maximum Securitys trainer - was part of a sweeping indictment that involved trainers, veterinarians and pharmacists in a horse doping ring. Baffert faced the doping allegations in Arkansas and Kentucky last year, and now, this.

Horse racing in the United States has come under fire in recent years for the sport's widespread use of drugs, which has contributed to the high-profile deaths of horses at tracks around the country.

Animal rights group PETA said regulators should permanently ban Baffert, whose horses have failed five drug tests in a little more than a year.

'The time has long passed for regulators to stop protecting Bob Baffert with minimal fines and finally kick him out of racing,' said PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo.

Scrutiny of the sport led to the passage of the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act last year, which seeks to address inconsistencies in drug testing and create a uniform national standard of rules and regulations in the sport.

The law goes into effect in July of next year.
A sneaky robber crab has lived up to its name and snatched a lone black boot on a popular tourist beach.

Taiwan-based zoologist Hung-Chang Liu, spotted the crab scuttling along the sand on Dolly beach on Christmas Island - an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia.

Mr Liu regularly visits the island to study the migration of millions of red crabs from the forest to the ocean.

A sneaky robber crabs snatched lone block boot on popular tourist beach in Australia (pictured)

Taiwan-based zoologist found the crab scuttling on the sand with the black shoe in tow on Dolly beach on Christmas Island (pictured)

While there, he caught stunning footage of the robber crab diligently dragging a black boot along the sand with it's front pincers.

The persistent crustacean was determined to carry the shoe - which was almost as big as the crab - toward the sand dunes.

After the long journey, the crab settled between some debris, clutching the boot firmly between it's pincers.

The video that emerged online on March 15 showed another aspect of the crustacean life on Christmas Island, where the red crab migration has become a famous spectacle.

The migration is an annual event that sees the crabs emerge from the forest and make their way to the ocean - covering roads and beaches.

Migration starts with the first rainfall of the wet season - usually in October or November - where the female crabs release around 100,000 eggs into the ocean after making their way across the land.
A young couple travelling around Australia have showcased how they transformed their utility vehicle into a luxury touring mobile.

Amber Moran, 21, and Clark Russell, 25, from Sydney, are exploring Queensland after setting off on a cross-country trip at the beginning of this year.

The couple have been documenting their adventures along the state's coastline on social media as they cruise around the nation camping in their Mazda.

In one of their latest videos posted on TikTok, the duo unveiled the modifications they have made to turn the back of their ute into a 'mini home', including an iPad holder, adjustable cabin lights, a fan, and fly screen.

Amber Moran, 21, and Clark Russell, 25, (pictured) have spent the past five months travelling around Australia in their Mazda ute

The clip starts by panning across the inside of the canopy to show their 700mm foam mattress and blankets laid across the base of the tray to form a bed.

Next, the camera zooms in on a switchboard built into the inner wall - complete with auxiliary and USB ports- before Ms Moran flicks the cabin light switch to show how the colour and brightness can be adjusted.

In the corner of the cabin, a fan hooked up to the wall and there is a strap of velcro in the centre of the roof to connect an iPad so they can watch shows as they lie down.

There is a strip of lights lining the bonnet of the cabin door and exterior lights overlooking their kitchen table top, which is contained in a draw that slides out from the tray.

A small mirror, with velcro backing, is stuck to the interior wall, chains have been added to lock the rear door from inside, and a zippable fly screen has been erected at the entrance.

The canopy also has built in windows to allow for ventilation, with curtains fitted on a makeshift rod to blackout daylight.

Ms Moran posted a video on her TikTok page showcasing how the couple have decked out the back of their ute

They have added an iPad holder, adjustable cabin lights, a fan, a fly screen, inside locks, and an exterior kitchen table top (pictured)

The refurbishment has gone viral, rapidly racking up more than 59,700 reactions within a day, and leaving many social media users impressed.

One woman said the set up was 'sick' while another described the renovation as 'very inspiring'.

'Imagine travelling Australia in this!' another added.

'[This is] the only time I'd go camping haha,' a third said.

Ms Moran told Daily Mail Australia they were inspired to revamp their 4WD to minimise the time needed to pack down a campsite.

'We loved camping and the idea of having no set up or pack down and we knew it would make touring much easier,' she said.

'After going from a swag to the canopy we enjoy exploring so much more.'

The couple have been sharing their stunning travel photos over their Instagram page Dizzie_box.

They plan to head up to Cape York, in Far North Queensland, in June before heading back down to NSW's Snowy Mountains for the snow season in mid-July.
Controversial Victorian Liberal MP Bernie Finn is under fire for posting a meme about a Chinese rocket falling on the national broadcaster or his political rivals.

Mr Finn asked his Twitter followers: 'Where should the Chinese rocket land?', and suggested The Project host Waleed Aly, the ABC, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe.

Remnants of China's largest rocket, the Long March 5B, crashed into the Indian Ocean on Sunday.

'For the benefit of humourless left-wing tossers, this is a joke,' Mr Finn posted.

Victorian Liberal MP Bernie Finn has come under fire for this post where he asked his social media 'Where should the Chinese rocket land?' with images of The Project host Waleed Aly, the ABC, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe

ABC journalist Louise Milligan slammed Mr Finn for his post, saying: 'That you would *joke* about bombing my place of work... floors me'

But state government lower house leader Jacinta Allan was not seeing the funny side.

'This is outrageous behaviour, it's not acceptable anywhere and its certainly not acceptable from a member of parliament,' Ms Allan said.

Poll Do you find the meme offensive? Yes No Do you find the meme offensive? Yes 3 votes

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She suggested Mr Finn's behaviour has made him the subject of ridicule for much of his almost 30 years in parliament.

'(Opposition Leader) Michael O'Brien needs to put some steel in his spine and stand up and call out this sort of behaviour,' Ms Allan said.

But she claims this is unlikely to happen because Mr Finn is a strong supporter of the opposition leader.

ABC journalist Louise Milligan was also unimpressed with Mr Finn's post.

'We have on several occasions had very productive, professional discussions about autism - given your portfolio and our shared parenthood of ASD boys,' she wrote to him on Twitter.

Mr Finn (pictured) has a history of stoking online controversies, posting pro-Trump conspiracy theories on Facebook, and describing Daniel Andrews in an indecent position with a goat

'That you would *joke* about bombing my place of work, shared with hardworking, diligent, decent journalists, floors me.'

Mr Finn has a history of stoking online controversies, posting pro-Trump conspiracy theories on Facebook, and even describing Daniel Andrews in an indecent position with a goat.

In 2019, he refused to stand for parliament's acknowledgement of country, while in 2014 he said rape victims should not be allowed to have an abortion.

There have been reports of growing discontent within the Liberals at Mr Finn retaining top spot on the party's upper house ballot papers.

Mr Andrews remains on leave recovering from a back injury.
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An injured minke whale calf which became stranded in London's River Thames was put down on Monday after its condition deteriorated and hopes for its survival faded, hundreds of miles from its home.

The whale had been spotted by a Reuters photographer swimming upstream in the Thames after rescuers had refloated it to save its life, but it became stuck again.

Despite the efforts of rescuers from the Port of London Authority, Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), British Divers Marine Life Rescue, London Fire Brigade and the police, the whale was put down.

Julia Cable, the National Co-ordinator at British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said they were going to put the whale to sleep, adding: 'It's suffering quite badly, it has been for about the last 45 minutes.'

Ms Cable added the whale would be given an overdose of anaesthetic and wouldn't feel anything except the needle. She said: 'We're just trying to ease any suffering.'

The RNLI later confirmed the whale had been put down.

The injured minke whale calf which became stranded in London's River Thames was put down on Monday after its condition deteriorated and hopes for its survival faded, hundreds of miles from its home

Despite the efforts of rescuers from the Port of London Authority, Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), British Divers Marine Life Rescue, London Fire Brigade and the police, the whale was put down

Julia Cable, the National Co-ordinator at British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said the whale would be given an overdose of anaesthetic and wouldn't feel anything except the needle

Fears for the whale grew after the injured calf headed in the wrong direction - away from the sea - and it faced a struggle for survival in the Thames, where nutrition is much more meagre than it its natural habitat in the north Atlantic

A member of a team attending to the 13 foot minke whale calf lays flowers after it was put down on the banks of the River Thames

Fears for the whale grew after the injured calf headed in the wrong direction - away from the sea - and it faced a struggle for survival in the Thames, where nutrition is much more meagre than it its natural habitat in the north Atlantic.

Cable said the size of the whale, estimated at around 13 feet, suggested that it was still maternally dependent, or at least socially dependent, so they 'cannot put it back out'.

'It's nutritionally in a poor state. Either it's been separated from its mum too early, or something's happened ... it's run out of energy,' she said. 'It won't have been feeding well in the Thames ... It will be dehydrated, it's starved.'

The 13ft infant calf was refloated by rescuers after getting stuck on a concrete slipway at Richmond Lock last night but today appeared to have become tangled in weeds under a bridge at Teddington Lock - more than 60 miles from the estuary and hundreds more from its usual North Sea habitat.

In a statement posted on their Facebook page, BDMLR said: 'The juvenile minke whale in the River Thames at Teddington Weir has deteriorated rapidly over the last couple of hours monitoring by BDMLR medics and representatives from the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme - UK strandings, based at the Zoological Society of London.

'The animal is positioned against the river wall and the tide is now dropping quickly and it is expected the animal will be beached very soon. BDMLR medics will try to position themselves to prevent the whale entering deep water again where it is now having difficulty swimming as its strength reserves seem to be compromised.

'Once the whale is beached a veterinary team will be on stand by to euthanise the animal to end its suffering, in the meantime the team will continue to do what they can to care for the animal under these sad circumstances.'

An official for the organisation co-ordinating the rescue bid of the whale said earlier today the injured minke whale calf which got stranded in London's River Thames would be put down after its condition deteriorated and the prospects for its survival diminished

The whale was trapped even further inland for the second time in less than 24 hours as gloomy experts today admitted they may have to put the starving minke to sleep

The 13ft infant calf was refloated by rescuers after getting stuck on a concrete slipway at Richmond Lock last night but appeared today to have become tangled in weeds under a bridge at Teddington Lock - more than 60 miles from the estuary and hundreds more from its usual North Sea habitat

But hopes of saving the mammal were rapidly diminishing as experts fear the injured calf, which was showing signs of distress, was completely stationary in the water up against a wall.

Ms Cable previously said Minnie was 'as good as stranded'. 'It's not really going to come down to a rescue now,' she said. 'Its condition is deteriorating.

'It's not acting the way it did last night. It's basically lost any energy that it had left in it. It's also got another stranding injury which along with ones from yesterday all adds up really.

'We're just going to make it a little bit more comfortable and we're going to have a veterinarian come down and take another look at it, and then they'll make a decision. It's not looking like we'll be able to refloat the animal.'

Dan Jarvis, welfare development and field support officer at the BDMLR service, said that 'in all likelihood the animal would be put to sleep to prevent further suffering' after the veterinarian discovered last night that Minnie is in 'poor nutritional condition'.

Mr Jarvis said the rescuers work in conjunction with the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) which carries out post-mortem examinations. He said they are likely to need help from the Port of London Authority to make arrangements for the removal of the whale.

Port of London Authority spokesman Martin Garside compared the case to 'like seeing a camel at the North Pole', adding: 'We are in uncharted territory. This animal is very, very lost.'

He added: 'He's run out of river to be honest - he has got nowhere to go unless he turns back and swims the right way. 'That whale's life hangs in the balance: it is injured, it is very young and it is so far from home.

'This animal comes from the northern North Sea - so it is hundreds of miles where it should be. The whale is a hundred miles from the opening to the North Sea in the Thames Estuary. There is no obvious sign of his mother.'

The common minke whale is the smallest of all baleen whales, reaching 26-30 feet long. The whales prefer cooler temperatures and enjoy a varied diet of krill and schooling fish, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation group.

They do not usually appear in the Thames and it was not clear why the calf was so far from its normal feeding grounds.

Danny Groves of Whale and Dolphin Conservation told Reuters: 'This whale could have become lost whilst following prey, or could be ill or injured.

'Equally, many whales and dolphins get into difficulty because they may have been struck by a vessel at sea, injured in fishing nets, driven off course by loud underwater noise from seismic surveys for oil or gas, or loud underwater sonar from military exercises.

'This poor individual is way off course and still faces a struggle to get back out to sea.'

The common minke, which is the smallest of all baleen whales, do not usually appear in the Thames and it was not immediately clear why the calf was so far from its normal feeding grounds.

Hopes of saving the mammal rapidly diminished as experts fear the injured calf, which was showing signs of distress, was now completely stationary in the water up against a wall

Time was running out to save the injured baby whale dubbed Minnie which is swimming up the River Thames, as it was suggested that it was still maternally dependent, or at least socially dependent

A minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete was seen in the River Thames

The baby whale appeared to have become trapped and beached in weeds under a bridge at Teddington Lock, more than 60 miles from the Thames estuary and hundreds more from its normal North Sea habitat.

The tail of a juvenile Minke whale was seen as it swam near a bridge at Teddington after being freed from being stuck near Richmond Lock

A young minke whale swims down a narrow inlet amongst vegetation near Teddington Lock

RNLI volunteers tried to work out how to rescue the baby whale which appeared to have gotten trapped in weeds in Teddington Lock

People watched a three-metre minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete

A juvenile minke whale swims under a bridge at Teddington in south west London

Fin of a minke whale which was around 13 feet long at Teddington Lock, London

People look for a 13 foot minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete, at Teddington Lock, as they use their phones to snap pictures of the mammal

RNLI boat and crew at Teddington Lock get ready to assist a minke whale which was freed on Sunday after it became stuck on Richmond lock's boat rollers

A small whale which was freed after it became stranded along the River Thames was on the move again - but has been pictured at Teddington Lock sparking fears it is going the wrong way

Minke whales are the smallest of the great whales and are found all over the world Minke whales are the smallest of the great whales and can grow up to about 10 metres. Although they have been spotted in close proximity to each other especially near feeding grounds, they are usually solitary creatures. Relatively fast swimmers, they are not ones for showmanship and keep their acrobatic skills largely to themselves, only occasionally breaching and spyhopping. Common minke whales and are found in oceans all over the world. They prefer cooler temperatures and are frequently seen in coastal and inshore waters. During the winter they typically travel toward warmer waters to breed and in summer move closer to colder waters near the poles to feed. Source: Whale and Dolphin Conservation Advertisement

A large crowd of spectators gathered along the banks to watch RNLI volunteers help the mammal, which experts say would normally still be with its mother at its current age and was showing signs of injury and distress.

Videos showed the mammal being hosed down by a Port of London Authority staffer while a vet performed a check-up at the river's edge, before the RNLI arrived at the scene to the cheers of onlookers at 9pm yesterday.

Fire crews were also at the scene, along with the BDMLR service, before footage posted from the incident showing the whale finally being freed at about 1am.

But the whale was spotted near Teddington Lock at just after 10.20am today, heading downstream - away from the sea - towards Chiswick and back towards Richmond Lock and Weir.

The whales prefer cooler temperatures and enjoy a varied diet of krill and schooling fish, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation group.

A spokeswoman for the RNLI said: 'Chiswick's RNLI crew were tasked by London Coastguard at 8pm on Sunday May 9 and worked with the fire rescue service, police and British Divers Marine Life Rescue to try to free the whale.

'Together they managed to free it and were taking it to a deeper part of the river when it swam away.

'The whale was displaying concerning behaviours and experts in attendance were concerned that it may be unwell.'

London Fire Brigade station commander Glen Nicolaides, who was at the scene, said: 'This was a very rare and unusual incident. Crews assisted the Coastguard, RNLI and other marine agencies at the scene.

'Our crews were on stand-by while a marine biologist and vet assessed the condition of the whale. The mammal was removed for further assessment by marine specialists.'

The whale was thought to be injured and it was not known whether it would make it back to the sea.

The PLA said the teams freed the beached whale using an inflatable pontoon device and they towed it downstream before it swam free near Isleworth.

The spokesman said the whale, dubbed Minnie, was injured, stressed and tired and it was unknown whether it would make it back to the sea. It was unknown if the whale is male or female.

Footage posted from the scene showed the whale finally being freed at about 1am.

Earlier, a witness said that 'quite the crowd' watched as the attempted rescue took place.

Jake Manketo, 20, from Richmond, said: 'Everyone here is just hoping they get it out.

'We couldn't believe our eyes when we first saw the poor fella, not every day something like this happens in Richmond.'

It is believed the whale was first spotted at midday a few miles up the river near Barnes Bridge.

RNLI crews were believed to be out looking for the whale so they could check on its welfare

People look for a 13 foot minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete, at Teddington Lock

People look for a 13 foot minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete, at Teddington Lock, as they take their phones out to snap a picture

A juvenile minke whale swims by Teddington lock in south west London after swimming up the river Thames and became beached

People look for a 13 foot minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete, at Teddington Lock

People gather to watch a juvenile minke whale swimming under a bridge at Teddington in south west London

A boat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) looks for a 13-foot minke whale calf that had been found injured and beached on concrete in the River Thames in London

The whale was last spotted around Teddington lock after swimming free near Isleworth last night

A spokesman for the PLA, which owns and operates the lock, said: 'At around 7pm on Sunday, a small whale, approximately 3-4m long, believed to be a Minke whale, became stranded at Richmond Lock and Weir.

'PLA staff have attempted to assist the whale with water along with British Divers Marine Life Rescue.'

Minke whales are the smallest of the great whales, growing to about 10m. They can usually be found throughout the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Their range extends from the ice edge in the Arctic during the summer to near the equator during winter.

The lock is situated between Teddington and Richmond, comprising of three vertical steel gates suspended from a footbridge.

The desperate rescue operation got under way yesterday after the young whale was found stranded along the River Thames.

A team from the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) was joined by two fire crews and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue to help rescue the aquatic mammal which was first spotted in Richmond Lock at around 7.30pm.

Rescue teams arrived to Richmond Lock after the whale, which was believed to be a minke, was spotted

The RNLI were joined by two fire crews and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue

Rescue teams successfully moved the infant whale onto an inflatable dinghy used for marine animals just after 10pm and are now assessing its condition.

Hours earlier, crowds of concerned spectators gathered along the river as a vet checked the infant's vitals and another rescuer hosed the animal down with water after the creature became stuck on the lock's boat rollers.

The beached whale, which was around 10-13ft long, was spotted earlier in the day swimming a few miles up the river near Barnes Bridge before it became stranded in Richmond.

Spokesperson for the Port of London Authority, Martin Garside, told MailOnline: 'Rescue teams from the RNLI, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Fire Brigade stabilised the situation, with the rescue teams all working together.

'They have managed to successfully secure the whale inside the purpose-built piece of equipment for marine mammals and the last I heard is that the whale is alive.

'The advantage of that inflatable equipment is that it will take some of the weight of the animal off the concrete but also it will allow the medics to assess the animal's condition while they look at all options.

'It does appear to be a very young animal. Very juvenile.'

Mr Garside added: 'The lock belongs to the Port of London Authority but there's a real team effort going on now.

The whale was moved onto an inflatable piece of equipment used to assess marine mammals

'We've got PLA staff, British Divers and Marine Life Rescue, the London Fire Brigade, medics, the RNLI and the police assisting. The police are there as a matter of precaution, just to keep people away from the whale and from the river and the water's edge.

'There's quite a lot of activity right now. We're essentially trying to stabilise the situation with the whale so that the marine mammal experts can assess the whale. What is its health like? What is its condition?

'Until they're able to do that and get some light onto it, the situation is fairly unclear.

'In other words, we don't really know the health of the whale and the condition of the whale and the age. It's fairly small and almost certainly a minke.'

In a statement, the Port of London Authority added: 'At around 7pm on Sunday, a small whale, approximately 3-4m long, believed to be a minke whale, became stranded at Richmond Lock and Weir.

'PLA staff have attempted to assist the whale with water along with British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

'The whale is still alive and the Metropolitan Police are working to keep the public away from the water's edge.'

Members of staff from the Fire Brigade assist RNLI and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue

Spectators gathered near Richmond Lock after the small whale was left stranded in the waters

A man sprayed the baby whale with water after it was spotted stranded along the River Thames

Earlier yesterday, Richard Frank, who was at the scene in Richmond Lock, said: 'Seems to be a baby whale stuck by Richmond Lock Bridge... Poor thing. Being looked after by the lock keepers and waiting for experts to arrive.'

He added: 'Not moving a lot, but honestly no idea. At least someone has arrived who looks like they might know what they're doing health wise, but with low tide still to come it looks pretty tough to me.'

While another witness wrote on social media: 'This is one very very lost whale. It's gone through the whole of London to Richmond Lock.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'Police were called to Richmond Lock shortly before 8pm on Sunday, 9 May to reports of a large crowd gathering.

'Officers attended to assist with crowd control.'

Yesterday, footage showed the minke whale thrashing in the waters as rescue teams attempted to move it onto the purpose-built inflatable dinghy.

A spokesman for Chiswick's RNLI told MailOnline: 'Chiswick's RNLI crew were tasked by London Coastguard at 8pm on Sunday 9 May and worked with the fire rescue service, police, and British Divers Marine Life Rescue to try to free the whale.

Crowds of spectators gathered along the river in Richmond Lock after mammal was spotted

The mammal - which can usually be found throughout the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - was spotted floating in the lock yesterday

Rescuers tended to the infant whale while they waited for a team of marine experts to arrive

A woman tends to the baby mammal after it was found stranded in Richmond Lock

'Together they managed to free it and were taking it to a deeper part of the river when it swam away.

'The whale was displaying concerning behaviours and experts in attendance were concerned that it may be unwell.

'The Chiswick crew in attendance returned to the station by 4am this morning and the day crew are now on call.'

The animals, which are usually found in the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, often swim together in small feeding groups and prefer cooler temperatures.

In February last year, a team of rescuers were sent out to recover a sperm whale that died after getting caught in the Thames estuary.

A small team on a Forth Linesman boat set out to recover the creature as it lay washed up on the Spitend Marshes on the Isle of Sheppey in Swale, Kent.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue - who had been keeping a close eye on the creature - said it likely died of 'natural causes' brought on by starvation, after it appeared underweight and had scarring.

The whale was found stranded and dead just before midday on February 1, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue confirmed.

The whale had appeared confused and was changing direction regularly when swimming around mudflats in north Kent.

Its body was later secured for examination by the Cetacean Stranding Investigation Programme as they tried to establish why the ocean-going animal had come into the Thames estuary.

In 2019, a humpback whale, nicknamed Hessy, died in the Thames just 11 days after it was first sighted.

The juvenile female had been travelling back and forth over a stretch of five miles after it was first sighted near Dartford Bridge in Kent before it was found dead by rescuers.

Concerned social media users took to Twitter after the whale was found in the Thames

A detailed postmortem examination later found the mammal was 'nutritionally compromised' while experts found a heavy burden of parasites within the humpback's intestine.

Meanwhile in November 2019, a minke whale was found washed up underneath London's Battersea Bridge.

The carcass was found underneath the bridge by a Port of London Authority (PLA) patrol boat.

The PLA, who estimated that the whale measured around 26ft (eight metres) long, later moved the whale to one of its facilities in east London where a specialist team at ZSL London Zoo carried out a post-mortem to establish a cause of death.

Earlier that same year, Benny the beluga, who rose to national fame when he was spotted in 2018, was spotted in the River Thames at Gravesend, Kent.

Officials said the animal could have followed the fish which migrate out of the estuary early in the year.
Attorney General Bill Barr reportedly threatened to quit in the spring of 2020 over former president Donald Trump's attempt to fire FBI Director Chris Wray.

A source with knowledge of the matter told Business Insider that Barr was introduced to Bill Evanina during a meeting at the White House.

But when Barr realized that Evanina, a top counterintelligence official, was being suggested as a potential replacement for Wray, he walked out of the room.

The move was an apparent threat to leave the Trump administration if the former president gave Wray the boot.

Attorney General Bill Barr (left) reportedly threatened to quit in the spring of 2020 over former president Donald Trump's attempt to fire FBI Director Chris Wray (right)

At that point, it was the closest Wray had ever came to getting fired during the Trump administration.

Wray is currently the FBI director in the Biden administration. He assumed his position in 2017.

News that Trump was considering firing Wray made headlines after the election.

It was said at the time that Trump had grown increasingly frustrated with the FBI's handling of the Hunter Biden email scandal.

The Washington Post first reported the possibility, citing sources familiar with Trump's alleged discussions about Wray's uncertain future as the FBI director.

Trump had previously voiced his anger at Wray's public statements on issues like antifa, voting fraud and Russian election interference.

News that Trump was considering firing Wray made headlines after the election. It was said at the time that Trump had grown increasingly frustrated with the FBI's handling of the Hunter Biden email scandal

Trump had charged that emails found on Hunter's (pictured with his dad) laptop could implicate Biden in his son's dealings. Trump was disappointed that Wray hadn't given him a boost in the polls the same way James Comey did with the Hillary Clinton email scandal

That anger apparently grew, especially after Wray and Barr failed to announce an investigation into potential corruption by Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Trump and his allies had charged that emails discovered on Hunter's laptop could implicate Biden in his son's international business dealings.

DailyMail.com recently revealed contents of his abandoned laptop - including a cache of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails, more than 2,000 photos - that were verified by top forensics experts.

Meanwhile, the sources claimed that Trump was disappointed that Wray hadn't delivered him a pre-election boost in the polls the same way his predecessor James Comey did with the Hillary Clinton email scandal 11 days before the 2016 election.

But Wray had sought to defend the FBI's independence and its integrity even as it puts him at odds with Trump and his allies.

At the time, the FBI also tried to avoid confrontations where possible, making clear that it is striving to be responsive to Republican lawmakers on politically charged investigations.
The India travel ban legally could remain in force while government-run repatriation flights operate, a federal judge has been told.

Bangalore-based Melbourne man Gary Newman has asked the Federal Court to scrap the federal government's public health order that outlaws Australian citizens from arriving home from India.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison had said publicly the controversial ban will no longer be in effect on May 15 when repatriation flights begin.

The Prime Minister has said the travel ban with India will no longer be in effect on May 15

But it could legally co-exist with government-operated repatriation flights, barrister Christopher Ward SC said.

'That may not be what is intended ... but it would be a possible construction,' the lawyer for Mr Newman told the Federal Court on Monday.

Dr Ward had not been expressly told in any way the ban would not be renewed on May 15, he told Justice Tom Thawley.

The federal government is defending the legal challenge, saying Health Minister Greg Hunt acted appropriately before making it.

Australia's boarders could remain closed to flights from India while government-run repatriation flights operate (pictured, patients in Uttar Pradesh)

The order marked the first time the Biosecurity Act had been used to prevent Australian citizens and permanent residents entering Australia.

Dr Ward said his 73-year-old client was in a particularly vulnerable health demographic and wanted to return home as soon as possible.

Mr Newman has been in Bangalore, also known as Bengaluru, since early March 2020 having flown to see friends.

India continually suffers record case numbers forcing the PM to close the borders (pictured, hospital staff in Kolkata on May 9)

His solicitor told the court the Australian-born man didn't book a return flight until November 2020 on the understanding airlines were not operating regular, scheduled passenger flights. That flight home was cancelled a week later.

Mr Hunt was required to consider whether the ban was no more restrictive or intrusive than was required in the circumstances or what other 'less intrusive' measures were possible.

But there was 'no analysis whatsoever of the chilling effect' of criminalising Australians' return to home.

'(The ban is) the most restrictive and intrusive method that could have been adopted,' Dr Ward said.

Australians stuck in India have been unable to return home after the ban was put in place

While acknowledging the 'difficult position' Mr Hunt faced amid the new COVID-19 crisis in India, Dr Ward said that difficult decision and 'difficult parliamentary and political policies must still be governed in this country by the rule of law'.

Australians had an 'undoubted right to return' home under common law.

'In our submission, section 477.1 (of the Biosecurity Act) grants the minister undoubtedly broad, sweeping powers to respond to biosecurity emergency, but it does not grant the minister broad sweeping powers to abrogate fundamental common law rights,' Dr Ward said.

Craig Lenehan SC, for Mr Hunt, said the minister had properly considered advice from Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly and Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC before making the determination under the act.
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Hundreds of people have been hurt in fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces today, centered around a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.

More than 305 Palestinians were injured in clashes near the Al Aqsa Mosque including 205 who were taken to hospitals and clinics for treatment, Palestinian Red Crescent medics said, with five left in serious condition.

Some 21 police were hurt, including one in serious condition, Israeli security forces said.

In perhaps the most serious incident, CCTV captured the moment crowds of Palestinians pelted a car driving near Jerusalem's Old City with rocks before the Israeli driver accelerated on to the pavement - sending people flying.

People continued to pelt the driver after the car came to a halt, suspended on a nearby wall, before a gun-waving police officer arrived. The officer helped the man from the car, before he was again attacked by a pedestrian.

Police then cancelled a right-wing Israeli march that was due to pass through the Old City and its Muslim Quarter in an effort to calm tensions, but it was not enough to stop Hamas - the militant group which controls Gaza - from issuing a demand that all Israeli forces leave the mosque and the Old City 'by 6pm'.

'The leadership of the resistance gives the occupation until 6pm to withdraw its soldiers... from the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque and Sheikh Jarrah [in the Old City,' Hamas said. 'You have been warned.'

The spokesman added no further details, but the threat was enough to prompt Israel to divert flights away from Gaza, fearing rockets could be launched.

Train services, roads, lookout points and beaches near the strip were also closed amid fears they could be targeted in the attacks. Israel also called off a training exercise involving virtually all of the IDF taking place this week 'to focus on operational needs.'

Monday's clashes mark the fourth straight day of fighting between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, the most serious period of violence the city has seen since 2017.

Shocking CCTV has revealed the moment Palestinian protesters pelted an Israeli man's car with rocks during clashes near Jerusalem's Old City, before he drove into crowds

A gun-waving policeman eventually came to the man's aid as protesters continued throwing rocks, with hundreds of people injured in violence today

Moments later, the man was involved in a fist-fight with police just inches away amid the worst violence that Jerusalem has seen in recent years

Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester from the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City amid clashes with security forces that have seen hundreds hurt

Israeli police detain a protester near the compound that houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque during clashes today

Israeli police arrest a Palestinian man at the Lions' Gate, as clashes continue at the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem

Medics evacuate a protester who was injured near the Lions' Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City amid fresh violence on the streets today

Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians began during Ramadan, but dramatically escalated at the weekend with fighting around the Al-Aqsa mosque

Paramedics take the injured Palestinians after Israeli police moved into the Temple Mount compound - known to Muslims as Haram esh-Sharif - to clear demonstrators away

Medical workers evacuate a wounded protester from near the Dome of the Rock, Judaism's holiest site that sits just next to the Al Aqsa Mosque which has been at the centre of clashes

An injured man is helped to his feet by a passerby inside the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif compound in Jerusalem

A Palestinian man strikes an Israeli security officer amid bitter clashes around Jerusalem's Old City on Monday

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian protester amid clashes at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City amid some of the worst clashes in the city for years

Israeli security forces clash with Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound today

A member of Israeli police aims a weapon during clashes with Palestinians at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli riot police are seen forming a shield wall near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's Old City amid violent clashes with Palestinian protesters that have entered their third day

Israeli police confront a Palestinian man near the Lions' Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City amid a day of bitter clashes

Tensions between the two sides had been simmering since mid-April because Israeli forces had restricted access to the Al Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.

But the clashes suddenly escalated on Friday with violence in and around the mosque, which drew more people on to the streets. Protesters have also been angered by a long-running court battle between Jewish settlers and Palestinian homeowners in east Jerusalem, where the Old City is located.

A court that was due to rule on the issue today has postponed the date.

The leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, announced a visit Monday to the tense Sheikh Jarrah district which is at the centre of property disputes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel's response to the protests and rioting.

'We will uphold law and order - vigorously and responsibly,' Netanyahu said while vowing to 'guard freedom of worship for all faiths'.

Monday's clashes broke out after Palestinians gathered around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in anticipation of the arrival of the Jerusalem Day march, which is due to end at the nearby Dome of the Rock.

Israeli security forces said demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the mosque, and officers were sent in to clear them out. Rocks were thrown at police, who opened fire with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Witnesses said some of the tear gas grenades landed inside the mosque. The BBC also reported confrontations in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, and near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The scenes around Al-Aqsa Mosque mirror those which took place on Friday and have seen Israeli forces criticised for heavy-handed tactics.

All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel - Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan - have condemned the Jewish state.

In Jordan, the custodian of Jerusalem's holy Islamic and Christian sites, King Abdullah II condemned 'Israeli violations and escalatory practices at the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque'.

Jordan and Egypt both summoned Israeli envoys on Sunday to lodge protests.

Tunisia said the UN Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Monday, at its request, on the violence.

The Middle East quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations - and Pope Francis - have all called for calm.

'Israeli authorities must exercise maximum restraint and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly,' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters have been centered around the Asl-Aqsa Mosque. Today, at Lions' Gate, a car was filmed driving into protesters as they pelted it with rocks. Later today, a Jerusalem Day procession is due to pass through Damascus Gate and through the Muslim quarter of the city, amid fears it will spark more clashes

Israeli police detain a Palestinian man during clashes around the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man near Jerusalem's Old City, amid clashes that are the worst to have hit the city since at least 2017

Israeli police stand guard at one of the entrances to Jerusalem's Old City amid the worst clashes the city has seen since 2017

Paramedics take away an injured Palestinian while Israeli security forces look on amid clashes in Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester from the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, which has seen three days of violence

Palestinians who had gathered near the Al Aqsa Mosque are dispersed by Israeli security forces

Palestinians take cover as Israeli police open fire with tear gas and rubber bullets while medics rush to help the injured

A Palestinian man rushes to get rid of a tear gas grenade amid clashes with Israeli security forces near the Dome of the Rock

Medics treat a wounded man during clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City

A member of Israeli security forces runs amid clashes with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem's Old City

Israeli police detain a Palestinian during clashes at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount

Medics tend to a wounded Palestinian during clashes with Israeli police at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque

A Palestinian man is confronted by Israeli security forces in Jerusalem's Old City

An Israeli police officer carries a shattered riot shield through the Temple Mount compound surrounded by rocks following clashes with Palestinian protesters

The UN children's agency UNICEF said that over two days, 29 Palestinian children had been injured in east Jerusalem, including a one-year-old.

The unrest of past weeks in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital, has multiple causes.

Much of the recent violence stems from a long-running legal effort by Jewish settler groups to evict several Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.

A lower court ruling earlier this year backing the settlers' decades-old claim to the plots infuriated Palestinians.

A Supreme Court hearing on a Palestinian appeal had been set for Monday, but the justice ministry said Sunday that in light of 'all the circumstances' it would delay the hearing.

Old City shopkeeper Mohammad said Israeli police told him he must close Monday afternoon, when Israeli Jews plan to march with Israeli flags to mark Jerusalem's 'reunification'.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem following the 1967 takeover, a move not recognised by most of the international community.

The unrest has spread across the Palestinian territories, including demonstrations and clashes in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has expressed 'full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa'.

Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip have also voiced support for the Palestinian protesters and warned Israel of retribution if evictions proceed in Sheikh Jarrah.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh called Sunday for a united Arab and Muslim response against Israel's 'provocative desecration of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque'.

Four rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel on Sunday, the army said, as well as incendiary balloons that started 39 fires on Israeli territory, according to the fire services.

The Israeli military said late Sunday that 'tanks just struck Hamas terror targets in Gaza', without giving further details.

Jewish men wave Israeli flags as they gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, ahead of a planned Jerusalem Day march that was later re-routed

Jerusalem Day marks Israel's victory over Egypt, Jordan and Syria during the Six Day War of 1967 during which they seized control over the city. A parade, which forms part of the celebration, is due to take place today

Jewish men wearing the traditional Jewish prayer shawls known as Tallit gather near the Western Wall ahead of a Jerusalem Day march that could further inflame tensions in the city

Members of Israeli right-wing groups march next to the Damascus gate of Jerusalem's Old City, shortly before police changed the route of the march to take it away from the area

Members of Israeli right-wing groups marching next to Damascus gate of Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinians take part in a protest in solidarity with those caught up in clashes around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Gaza City

Palestinians wave banners and chant slogans in support of those involved in clashes with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem

Palestinians march in Gaza City to support those involved in clashes in Jerusalem, amid fears tensions within the city could spiral into a wider conflict
A wild brawl between parents broke out at an under-13s junior footy game, leaving one dad in hospital.

The shocking melee took place at the match between Wynnum Manly and Logan Brothers in Brisbane on Sunday.

An onlooker in the stands recorded the disturbing fight, which appeared to start between two people on the sidelines.

An onlooker in the stands recorded the disturbing fight, which appeared to start between two people on the sidelines

The incident then escalated when more than 20 other parents ran to the pitch and became involved.

At one stage of the melee, a man appeared to kick another man in the head while down on the ground.

Dozens of spectators ran over to the growing crowd of brawlers in a desperate attempt to break it up.

'They started that! Call the police, call the police,' one woman could be heard screaming.

Josh Jones, 35, sustained serious injuries in the brawl and was rushed to hospital where he underwent facial surgery.

Queensland Police are now searching for a 36-year-old man.

'A Logan spectator or supporter has had an altercation with people from Wynnum in grandstands, where there was an argument which has then turned physical and gone on into the field of play,' a police statement said.

'The person from Wynnum was then assaulted and taken away in an ambulance with significant injuries.

'We're treating the incident very seriously, we're concerned about the conduct of adults at a sporting event involving teenagers and we won't be tolerating this sort of behaviour.'
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Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against attempts to rewrite the history of Word War II as the country commemorated the 76th anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany on Sunday.

Lessons from history must be learned, but those who are "obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusivity" are trying again to use many aspects of the Nazi ideology, Putin said in a speech ahead of a grand military parade in central Moscow's Red Square.

"Each (Russian) family holds sacred memory of those who won the victory. And we will always be proud of their feat," he said.

Russia consistently defends international law, firmly protects its national interests, and ensures the security of its people, the president stressed.

"This is reliably guaranteed by the valiant Armed Forces of Russia, the heirs of the soldiers of victory (in World War II)," Putin said.
A mystery trespasser wandered onto train tracks in Sydney's west, bringing the rail network to a standstill during Monday evening's rush hour.

Heavy delays were caused after the man walked onto tracks between Westmead and Paramatta stations just after 4.30pm - leaving thousands of commuters stranded for more than an hour.

Footage showed the young man aimlessly stroll between the tracks, and at one point appeared to wave his arms in the air.

Sydney Trains advised commuters to allow for extra travel time due to the 'major delays' caused by the incident.

Footage showed the young man aimlessly stroll between the tracks, and at one point appeared to wave his arms in the air

Police arrived to the scene to 'attend to the issue' just before 5pm

Parramatta Station chaos as trains grind to a halt after a person walked on to the tracks at Westmead Station

All Western Line services - which run from the Blue Mountains to the North Shore - were affected by the delays

All Western Line services - which run from the Blue Mountains to the North Shore - were affected by the delays.

'Some trains may also be temporarily held,' Sydney Trains said in an announcement.

'There is a lot of congestion and services are currently not moving between Burwood and the Western Line towards Parramatta as trains have been stopped around Parramatta.'

Police arrived to the scene to 'attend to the issue' just before 5pm and cordoned off the area.

Frustrated commuters reported waiting for more than an hour on the train for services to resume.

'My train isn't even allowing people to get off the station platform to allow alternative travel plans,' one passenger said.

Frustrated commuters reported waiting for more than an hour on the train for services to resume

Delays of more than an hour were caused after the man walked on to tracks at Westmead Station, in Sydney's west, just after 4.30pm. Pictured: Wynyard station at about 5.30pm

Sydney Trains advised commuters to allow for extra travel time due to the 'major delays' caused by the incident

'We've been sitting here for nearly two hours at Harris park without being told what's happening. Now we're told we're going backwards to Granville to catch a bus,' said another.

One passenger said he was stuck on a train at Lidcomb for 50 minutes, while another said she had been waiting at Parramatta for over an hour.

Another commuter left Wynyard at 4pm and was still stranded at Lidcombe at 6.45pm.

North Shore Line services travelling away from the city were also experiencing delays due to the trespasser.
Unusual autumn thunderstorms are expected to hit much of the NSW coast, with hail, damaging winds and heavy rain possible in the state's northeast corner.

The Bureau of Meteorology is warning a trough of low pressure will move across NSW in the coming days, bringing with it the risk of severe thunderstorms in the state's east.

Heavy rainfall is forecast for the south coast on Tuesday, with small hail also possible.

Meanwhile, in the state's north east - from the Queensland border to the mid-north coast - large hail, damaging winds and significant downpours are expected.

The southern parts of New South Wales, including Sydney, will see showers from Tuesday through to Thursday. Pictured: Rugged-up Sydneysiders on May 7

Heavy rainfall is forecast for the south coast on Tuesday, with small hail also possible.

'Mid-May is a very unusual time of year to see severe storms in NSW,' forecaster Jake Phillips said.

'In this particular case it's due to the combination of having a relatively significant amount of humidity around for this time of year, and also a very powerful upper level system moving through,'

The storm activity will likely begin early in the morning, before peaking in the afternoon and petering out over Wednesday and Thursday.

Sydney and the Hunter region should be spared, but the BOM is urging all residents along the coast to be prepared for severe storms.

Sydney and the Hunter region should be spared, but the BOM is urging all residents along the coast to be prepared for severe storms in the coming week
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Vladimir Putin wrote Britain, the US and the rest of the Allies out of defeating the Nazis in the Second World War in his annual Red Square speech marking Victory Day - by changing a single word.

The Kremlin leader altered his prepared text as he addressed 12,000 troops on the most sacred day in the Russian calendar commemorating the German surrender.

His original text in the official Kremlin transcript described how the Soviet people were 'united' in the fight against Hitler.

But he changed 'united' to twice use the word 'alone', altering the meaning of the passage.

Vladimir Putin wrote Britain and the US out of defeating the Nazis in the Second World War in his annual Red Square speech marking Victory Day - by changing a single word

'Putin changed the wording during the speech, and it assumed a completely different meaning,' said Andrei Kolesnikov, head of Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions at the Carnegie Centre think tank in Moscow

Victory Day parade in Moscow, 2021. Putin told the massed ranks of his forces and watching foreign diplomats: 'We shall always remember that this noble feat (defeat of the Nazis) was committed precisely by the Soviet people'

Russian SU-25BM armored subsonic military attack aircraft perform a fly-by over the Kremlin towers during the Victory Day military parade in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia

Putin told the massed ranks of his forces and watching foreign diplomats: 'We shall always remember that this noble feat (defeat of the Nazis) was committed precisely by the Soviet people.

'At the most difficult time of war, in decisive battles which determined the outcome of the battle against Fascism, our people was alone - alone in the laborious, heroic and sacrificial path towards victory.'

The earlier version of his words used the word 'united' ('yedin') rather than 'alone' ('odin') .

The original text said: 'At the most difficult time of war, in decisive battles which determined the outcome of the battle against Fascism, our people was united in the laborious, heroic and sacrificial path towards victory.'

Some believe he misspoke but the word switch came amid the highest tension between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.

And he appeared to emphasize the word 'alone' by using it twice.

Victory Day parade in Moscow, 2021. Unusually, both Britain and the US were represented at the Moscow parade at deputy ambassador level amid strained relations

Vladimir Putin speaks at the Victory Day parade, 2021. His original text in the official Kremlin transcript described how the Soviet people were 'united' in the fight against Hitler

'Putin changed the wording during the speech, and it assumed a completely different meaning,' said Andrei Kolesnikov, head of Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions at the Carnegie Centre think tank in Moscow.

'The Soviet people were not alone,' he told Dozhd TV.

'It assumed the main blow, the main burden of this victory, but there was a second front, after all.

'There were Britain and the US, to say nothing of the partisan movements in Yugoslavia, Italy and other countries.

'So this is simply unfair, unjust and - most importantly - incorrect.'

Ahead of the Moscow parade, Russian space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin tweeted a Soviet propaganda image showing wartime leader Stalin striking Hitler, emphasizing that it was the USSR that provided the knockout blow to the Nazis.

Unusually, both Britain and the US were represented at the Moscow parade at deputy ambassador level amid strained relations.

Andrei Kolesnikov, the head of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions program at the Carnegie Moscow Center

Usually the wartime allies send ambassadors, or government ministers, to the annual event, and in the past Britain has been represented by royalty.

Most EU countries were represented at ambassadorial level, although ex-Soviet states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia all boycotted the military parade first established by Stalin in 1945.

BBC Monitoring reported: 'One word in the speech delivered by President Vladimir Putin at the Victory Day parade is different from the originally prepared script, significantly altering the meaning of one passage.'

Casualties in the war amounted to up to 27 million for the USSR, including military and civilian deaths plus those caused by famine and disease, eclipsing the toll suffered by the Soviet Union's allies against the Nazis.

By comparison, Britain lost around 450,700 and the US some 418,500.

Russia marked the 76th anniversary of its victory in World War II with an annual Victory Day Parade yesterday.

President Vladimir Putin vowed in a speech that Russia will 'firmly' defend national interests and denounced the return of 'Russophobia'.

He addressed thousands of soldiers and veterans at Red Square during the start of an annual parade that sees hundred of pieces of military hardware roll through the streets of Moscow.

Ceremonial soldiers parade during 76th anniversary of Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 9

Armored vehicles took part in the military parade during 76th anniversary of Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 9

President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed that Russia will 'firmly' defend national interests and denounced the return of 'Russophobia'

'The Soviet people kept their sacred oath, defended the homeland and freed the countries of Europe from the black plague,' Putin told the gathered crowd.

'Russia consistently defends international law. At the same time, we will firmly defend our national interests to ensure the safety of our people,' he said.

The Russian leader also denounced what he called a creeping return of ideologies of the time, when 'slogans of racial and national superiority, of anti-Semitism and Russophobia, became ever more cynical'.

He decried 'attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands lies the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people.

'Unfortunately, many of the ideologies of the Nazis, those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusiveness, are again trying to be put into service,' he said, without citing specifics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets veterans before a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 76th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow

Russian Sukhoi Su-34 all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber aircrafts, Su-30SM multirole fighter aircrafts and SU-35S air-defense fighters perform a fly-by

Ceremonial soldiers parade during 76th anniversary of Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow, Russia

The state-run RIA Novosti agency reported that more than 12,000 military personnel would take part in Sunday's parade in the Russian capital, as well as some 190 pieces of military equipment, ranging from the renowned WWII-era T-34 tank to the hulking eight-axle Yars mobile ICBM launchers.

Victory Day parades, which only became an annual event after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, also took place Sunday in dozens of cities across the nation.

During Putin's two decades in power, the public holiday has taken on increasing importance in projecting Russia's renewed military might.

On Sunday night, an enormous firework display lit up the skies of Moscow in reds, blues and yellows.

On Sunday night, an enormous fireworks display lit up the skies of Moscow in reds, blues and yellows

A fireworks display took place with the dramatic backdrop of the Novodevichy Convent on the Moskva river on Sunday night

Many former Soviet republics also celebrate the end of World War Two on 9 May. Pictured: Fireworks as part of Victory Day celebrations in Moscow

The anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat, which Russia calls Victory Day, is the country's most significant secular holiday

A survey this week by state-run pollster VTsIOM showing that 69 percent of Russians view it as the most important holiday on the calendar.

A third of respondents told VTsIOM they would take part in the celebrations, while a fifth said they would watch on television.

The commemorations of the 76th anniversary of the 1945 victory come as tensions with the West have reached near Cold War times in recent weeks.

Victory Day celebrations commemorate the Red Army's military feats and the vast suffering of civilians during World War II. Pictured: Guns fire a salute in St. Petersburg on Sunday

As well as a celebration of victory, May 9 is also a time for Russians to remember the around 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians estimated to have died in the war. Pictured: Guns fire a salute in St. Petersburg on Sunday evening

Many former Soviet republics also celebrate the end of World War Two on 9 May.

The anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat, which Russia calls Victory Day, is the country's most significant secular holiday, commemorating the Red Army's military feats and the vast suffering of civilians.

About 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians are estimated to have died in the war.

Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher takes part in the Victory Day military parade in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia

Russian servicewomen march in formation during the Victory Day military parade in the Red Square in Moscow

The screen shows Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking during the Victory Day military parade in the Red Square in Moscow

Russia has seen its diplomats expelled from a clutch of European countries over espionage scandals, as the United States and the European Union levied new sanctions on Moscow over the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and allegations of hacking and cyber attacks.

Moscow has stepped up military activity abroad, intervening on behalf of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's civil war. It is also widely seen as backing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions in the conflict, which erupted after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, have also soared in recent weeks.

Russian MSTA-S self-propelled artillery howitzers take part in the Victory Day military parade in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia

Armored vehicles take part in the military parade during 76th anniversary of t Victory Day in Red Square in Moscow, Russia

Russian Sukhoi Su-35S fighters fly over central Moscow during the Victory Day military parade on May 9

Clashes between the government and separatists have been intensifying since January in a conflict which has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Russia last month amassed 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and in Crimea, its biggest buildup since 2014, though it quickly announced a drawdown in what many saw as a test for new US President Joe Biden.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Kiev in a show of support for Ukraine against Russia, and before an expected summit between Putin and Biden next month.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled with European diplomats to the pro-Russian breakaway eastern region of Lugansk to commemorate the end of WWII.

Fireworks burst red over Moscow's University building on Sunday as Russia marks the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945

Fireworks explode over Poklonnaya Gora War Memorial Park in Moscow during Victory Day celebrations on Sunday

Fireworks over Moscow on Sunday where a huge Victory Day parade took place. The parade, which only became an annual event after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, also took place Sunday in dozens of cities across the nation
Don't hug too often, keep embraces short and avoid face-to-face contact, is the message from No10's cautious scientific advisers ahead of the next major relaxation of Covid rules.

Boris Johnson will announce England's next steps out of lockdown at a 5pm Downing Street press conference today, where he is expected to confirm that friends and can hug each other again from May 17.

Professor Cath Noakes, who sits on SAGE, has urged caution ahead of the relaxation, warning that too much hugging could 'perpetuate' Covid's spread.

She advised that if people are going to hug others, it should be restricted 'to very small numbers of close family who perhaps you really value a hug from' and suggested wearing masks to be safe.

'I think don't hug too frequently, keep it short, try and avoid being face-to-face, so perhaps turn your face away slightly, and even wearing a mask could help,' she told the BBC.

Ministers are meeting this morning to finalise the details but Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the Government wanted to see 'friendly contact' restored after more than a year of social curbs.

In a round of interviews today, health minister Nadine Dorries said she was hopeful people will be 'kissing again soon indoors'.

Professor Noakes, an expert in airborne infections at the University of Leeds, backed allowing vaccinated grandparents to hug their grandchildren, claiming that the risk of transmission was very low, even though it was not zero.

But she said it would worry her if 'we were advocating we could hug all of our friends every time we meet them again'. This would 'perpetuate an awful lot of additional close contact that could spread the virus', she added.

As part of the next relaxation on Monday, pubs, restaurants and cafes across England will be able to seat customers inside again.

Gatherings of up to six people or two households indoors will be allowed again, while hotels, B&Bs, cinemas, theatres and museums are to reopen.

Limits on funeral mourners will also be scrapped and some foreign holidays are set to be allowed.

Professor Cath Noakes, who sits on SAGE, has urged caution ahead of the relaxation on May 17, warning that too much hugging could 'perpetuate' Covid's spread

Boris Johnson is set to confirm the loosening at a Downing Street press conference tonight, after the vaccine rolllout and plunging infections led to huge pressure from Tory MPs to speed up his plans

Mr Johnson will gather his ministers this morning to approve moving to step three of the roadmap out of lockdown next Monday after the Government said the latest data confirmed its four tests for easing restrictions had been met.

Officials believe lifting the curbs is unlikely to risk a resurgence in virus infections now that one in three adults have been jabbed twice and more than half given one dose.

But Professor Noakes warned that, even after vaccination, someone could get infected and transmit it to others.

Bolton is revealed as UK hotspot for new Indian Covid strain as infection rates soar Public health officers in Bolton are going door-to-door in a bid to control the spread of the B16172 Indian coronavirus variant. Indian variant cases have soared over the last week and Public Health officials say almost half the cases are related to travel or contact with a traveller. The cases are spread across the country, however, the majority of the cases are in London and the North West, predominantly Bolton. Residents living in the Bolton boroughs of Rumworth, Deane and Great Lever are being told to expect a knock on the door. They will be told about new measures in place to stop the transmission of the variant. Dr Susan Hopkins, Covid-19 strategic response director at Public Health England (PHE) said: 'We are monitoring all of these variants extremely closely. 'We have taken the decision to classify this as a variant of concern because the indications are that this VOC-21APR-02 is a more transmissible variant.' Bolton has been revealed as the UK hotspot for the new Covid 19 strain detected in India which has been escalated to a 'variant of concern'. Urgent measures to contain the variant are in the works in the town including surge testing and a strengthened vaccination campaign urging people to get the jab. Areas within the BL3 postcode in Bolton, Greater Manchester, registered a small number of cases of the variant, leading to widespread testing. There are 520 confirmed cases of the strain in the country, up from 202 the previous week. Advertisement

'So that's why we still need to be a bit cautious for a while yet,' she said.

'We've come a long way with this. The virus, although it's now very low prevalence, hasn't gone away.'

At a press conference in Downing Street this evening, Mr Johnson will say: 'The data reflects what we already knew  we are not going to let this virus beat us.

'The roadmap remains on track, our successful vaccination programme continues  more than two thirds of adults in the UK have now had the first vaccine  and we can now look forward to unlocking cautiously but irreversibly.

'It's because of the British public's unwavering commitment that we are saving lives, protecting the NHS and controlling the virus.'

Meanwhile, health minister Nadine Dorries said the Government's main concern was now about the importation and spread of concerning variants.

She warned that while the UK is 'in the tail end of the pandemic', the world is 'still in the grips of this pandemic'.

Ms Dorries told BBC Breakfast: 'Our objective is to nail that virus, to make sure that we are never, as a country, in the position we were in last year again, and that we move out of this cautiously and safely.

'We do have variants of concern on one hand, on the other hand we have the capacity to lateral flow test everybody in the UK, we have the capacity to surge test in localised areas where we see those variants of concern and where we know problems may be rising.

'We have that in our armoury now which we never had before, but we still need to be cautious. We're incredibly aware that everybody wants to get together, that people want to hug each other, that people want to entertain in their own homes.'

Almost 15million adults in England now have 'maximum protection' against the virus, with two doses. Two in three adults  29.6million  have had at least one dose.

The Government said it was on track to offer all adults a first dose by the end of July.

Infection rates are at the lowest level since September and hospital admissions continue to fall, or plateau in some areas, with levels similar to those seen in July last year.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said of the jab success: 'This milestone is yet more evidence of the huge national vaccination effort we are in the middle of.

'I pay tribute to the huge team  NHS staff, councils and of course our wonderful volunteers who are working so hard to deliver vaccines in all parts of the United Kingdom.

'The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and tens of thousands of lives are being saved but the job is not yet done. I urge everyone, when the time comes, to get the jab.'

Professor Andrew Pollard, the chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, said: 'There is a future with no social distancing and no more masks, but from a global perspective we're still a long way from that.

'Here in the UK we've had remarkable success through the vaccine programme and that is getting closer to happening.'

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said it was 'the case that friendly contact, intimate contact, between friends and family is something we want to see restored'.
Rail commuters will be hit with weeks of disruption because of hairline cracks found in the undercarriages of high-speed trains.

Dozens of the Hitachi 800 Class trains remained off the tracks for a third day as inspectors carried out safety checks, leading to huge reduction in customer services.

Today Great Western Railway customers on the mainline were told 'not to travel' as there is 'no service or an extremely limited service' between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, Swansea, Penzance, Hereford and Cheltenham Spa.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has also had to reduce its service on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh via Peterborough, York and Newcastle.

But with questions over how long the disruption would last, the operator posted a message on Twitter stating the issue is 'likely to be going on for a number of weeks'.

The cracks in the trains' yaw dampers, the area where the suspension system attaches to the body, that led to the disruption were detected on May 8 during an inspection of a train at GWR's Stoke Gifford depot near Bristol.

Rail commuters will be hit with weeks of disruption because of hairline cracks found in the undercarriages of high-speed trains. The cracks were discovered during tests early on Saturday on the chassis area of some Hitachi Class 800 series trains (stock photo)

The cracks in the trains' yaw dampers, the area where the suspension system attaches to the body, that led to the disruption were detected on May 8 during an inspection of a train at GWR's Stoke Gifford depot near Bristol

However, the inspection had been prompted by the withdrawal of eight Hitachi 800s from service on April 28 when similar hairline cracks were found.

Hitachi confirmed to Rail Business UK that four of the six units stopped for inspection since been passed as 'all clear' and returned to service, while the two initially found with cracks were being repaired.

While a root cause has not yet been identified, initial reports suggested that the problem may be 'fatigue related'.

It comes weeks after a number of CAF trains operated by Northern Rail were taken out of service after the failure of a yaw damper mounting bracket.

Frustrated customers shared their woes on social media with some desperately seeking answers from operators about how to get across the country.

Charlie Hammans, a forest preservation worker tweeted: 'Hi all. Urgent hospital appointment tomorrow in London and stranded in Exeter. Can anyone help with a lift?'

Great Western Railway, which runs trains to South West England and South Wales, and London North Eastern Railways, which serves the East Midlands, the North and Scotland, were worst affected [File photo]

Fintan O'Regan asked GWR how he would be able to make the unenviable journey back to London from Penzance, 280 miles away, without the usual four-hour direct route.

'LNER had better fix these cracks in their trains before I travel,' commented Susan McLellan, adding: 'Engineering works have already cut my trip short by a day.'

Teacher Ben Fuller took a more light-hearted view, saying that while operators were checking the trains for safety 'perhaps they could take a bit longer and fit seats which are actually comfortable?'

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group said the operators were publishing the latest train timetable information on their websites.

Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris described the ongoing disruption was 'disappointing' as passengers had started to return to using the train network following coronavirus restrictions.

Frustrated customers shared their woes on social media with some desperately seeking answers from operators about how to get across the country

Asked how long the trains had been running with the cracks, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'These trains are relatively new in service, so this is something that the Hitachi engineers will be looking at and reporting back to the train operating companies.

'For us, as an industry, it's disappointing and it's dispiriting in a way to have this happen, because we were just starting to see passengers come back onto the network after a very difficult pandemic for the whole transport sector.'

The Department for Transport said Mr Heaton-Harris had called an urgent meeting with MPs on Sunday to keep them updated on progress, with representatives from Hitachi and the train operators also invited.

Robert Nisbet, regional director at the Railway Delivery Group, said that if the trains being inspected were found to have 'tiny cracks', they would need to be treated and replacement trains brought in.

Asked if he knew how long the disruption was likely to last, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'No, I can't put an exact time on it and that is purely because we are going through the process and taking it extremely seriously.

Several London North Eastern Railway (LNER) trains were seen arriving for checks in the service halls at Bounds Green Service Depot, which used by Hitachi

The new cracks, measuring millimetres deep, are understood to be on the mechanism used to jack up carriages when they are being fixed

Not the first time commuters have had trouble with Hitachi 800 trains Hailed as the 'smartest trains in the country' by then Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the long-awaited Intercity Express was meant to mark a new era of train travel across the country. However, its maiden voyage in 2017 saw a throwback to the age-old complaints - delays, no available seats, broken aircon and tickets costing 200. The first Hitachi 800 was due to leave Bristol Temple Meads for London Paddington at 6am but didn't depart until 6.25am for unspecified 'technical issues' - and arrived 41 minutes late. Passengers were still forced to stand, despite claims that capacity on the new trains was increased by 20 per cent, and one had their laptop damaged as water from the air conditioning poured into one of the carriages. There was further embarrassment when the maiden journey ground to a halt at Taplow, Buckinghamshire, all while Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was on board. The IETs eventually became faster, but ran at the same 1 hour 45 mins journey time from Bristol to London for a whole year while work to electrify the whole route took place. Advertisement

'If some of these trains that are being inspected for these tiny cracks are found to have them, then obviously those cracks need to be treated, in which case replacement trains may need to be brought in to fill those places on the timetable.'

A total of 182 were taken out of service that day with a number returned to the network by yesterday after being given the all-clear.

Industry sources said it could last until at least the end of the week. Safety watchdog the Office of Rail and Road is overseeing the process.

Engineers were checking carriages at depots near London and Bristol over the weekend.

GWR, who are worst affected, had previously detected hairline cracks underneath a handful of Hitachi trains in late April.

It is thought this led to further cracks being discovered elsewhere, leading to the 182-strong fleet of Hitachi 800s being taken out of service.

The new cracks, measuring millimetres deep, are understood to be on the mechanism used to jack up carriages when they are being fixed.

It is not believed they pose an immediate danger.

Hitachi trains have speeds of 125mph and came into service in 2017.

Hitachi Rail apologised on Saturday for the disruption after the cracks were spotted during routine checks, adding that by Saturday evening 'some trains' had been cleared to run as normal.

A spokesperson said: 'Safety is our number one priority and as a precaution, the decision was taken to halt the entry into service of our intercity fleets pending inspection.

'We understand the frustration caused and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers and operators.

'Having been cleared for service, some trains are now running again across the network.'

RMT rail union General Secretary Mick Lynch said: 'RMT is fully aware of the issues that have led to the cancellation of services on LNER today and that similar problems with cracks appearing in the fleet on Great Western are also emerging.

'Hitachi needs to ensure the highest safety standards and properly investigate and rectify the issues.

'This situation demonstrates once again that it is reckless for the rail companies and the DfT to move the industry to diluted, risk-based maintenance regimes which extends maintenance cycles on rolling stock or on the infrastructure, whether that be on the mainline railway or on the tube and metro services, to cut costs and strip out staff.

'The railway needs to be maintained rigorously and to the highest possible standards to protect the travelling public and the staff and that will remain RMT's key demand.'
A Royal Navy officer has been cleared of causing grievous bodily harm after being accused of breaking his girlfriend's ex-partner's foot.

Warrant Officer Darren Wearing MBE, 45, was accused of shoving Mark Brocklesby as the pair argued over child maintenance in the street in Gosport, Hampshire.

Mr Brocklesby, a former Navy Physical Training Instructor who now works as a security manager, claims he was left with a broken foot after he tumbled over a wall and 'rolled over his ankle'.

Warrant Officer Darren Wearing MBE has been cleared of GBH and alternative of occasioning actual bodily harm

Mr Brocklesby, a former Navy Physical Training Instructor who now works as a security manager, claims he was left with a broken foot after the incident

Wearing, a state ceremonial training officer who has served in the Navy for 29 years, and played a part in the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral last month, denied causing grievous bodily harm and claimed he acted in self-defence.

The court heard that Wearing, who was 'hand selected' for a key role in Prince Philip's funeral, had argued with Mr Brocklesby outside his then-fiancee's house in July 2019.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard that Mr Brocklesby had sent a court order to his ex-partner - who is now married to Wearing - saying he would be reducing the amount of money he provided for their teenage son.

Mr Brocklesby, who gave evidence via video link, told the court that when he turned back towards his car Wearing followed him out of the house to confront him.

Jurors were told Wearing shouted: 'Oi I want a f*****g word with you' before assaulting Mr Brocklesby.

He claimed Wearing accused him of being a 'f*****g liar' about his financial situation and said 'come on big man' in a 'raised and aggressive voice'.

As he drove away, he felt a 'burning sensation' in his foot which later swelled up, he said.

He then went to Gosport War Memorial Hospital where he received an X-Ray and fracture diagnosis.

Wearing is a state ceremonial training officer who has served in the Navy for 29 years and played a part in the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral last month

When asked in court if his manner had been aggressive, Wearing said: 'My tone would be what is was normally.

'Because of what I do, being a drill instructor, I'm generally louder than what I should be.'

He added that he did not feel his language was hostile and said: 'I get it's abusive language, but I think that's potentially the military coming out of me. I'm not saying it's right, but I think it's generally accepted.'

When asked if he would use that language when addressing members of the Royal Family, he said: 'Definitely not.'

Wearing, who served in the Gulf War and later in Afghanistan and Yemen, was involved in activating preparations for sailors who were arriving at HMS Collingwood in Fareham within one hour of Prince Philip's death on April 9.

Mr Brocklesby went to Gosport War Memorial Hospital where he received an X-Ray and fracture diagnosis

His term as lead ceremonial officer was extended in anticipation of the Queen's consort's passing.

Jurors heard that Wearing, who was made an MBE in October last year, believed he was 'going to be injured' and 'acted in self defence.'

'I didn't want to get hit or assaulted so my actions were to give some space so I pushed him,' he said.

Jurors deliberated for five hours before returning not guilty verdicts to charges including GBH and alternative of occasioning actual bodily harm.

Recorder Elisabeth Bussey-Jones told Wearing: 'You leave the dock with the same intact exemplary record you had previously.'
At least 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded after a bomb blew up a bus in Afghanistan in the latest deadly blast to hit the country.

The bombing comes just 72 hours before the Taliban said they will hold a three-day ceasefire for the religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The roadside bomb exploded on Sunday night in the southern province of Zabul, the provincial governor's spokesman Gul Islan Sial said, adding that women and children were among the 28 people wounded in the attack.

At least 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded after a bomb blew up a bus in Afghanistan in the latest deadly blast to hit the country

The roadside bomb exploded on Sunday night in the southern province of Zabil

At least 28 people have been injured in the attack on the bus. Pictured: An injured boy is pushed on a stretcher along a hospital corridor in Kandahar on Monday as he receives medical treatment after being hurt by the roadside bombing

Early on Monday, a blast hit a minibus in Parwan province, just north of Kabul, killing two people and wounding nine, the Interior Ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing. Taliban insurgents did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It comes as the Taliban said on Monday they would observe a three-day ceasefire this week.

The ceasefire will begin on either Wednesday or Thursday. The Muslim calendar follows lunar cycles and the Eid holiday depends on the sighting of the new moon.

The ceasefire declaration came two days after Saturday's bombings outside a school in the capital of Kabul where the death toll now stands at 85, most of them schoolgirls, according to CNN.

Danish Hedayat, head of media for the second Vice President of Afghanistan told the news outlet the death toll had risen as of Monday and another 147 people were wounded in the attack.

'Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are instructed to halt all offensive operations against the enemy countrywide from the first till the third day of Eid,' a statement released by the Taliban said.

'But if the enemy conducts any assault or attack against you during these days, stand ready to robustly protect and defend yourselves and your territory,' it added.

A pile of shoes, some stained with blood, recovered from the scene of the explosion which is thought to have killed 85 people outside a school near Kabul on Saturday

A notepad found at the scene spattered in blood. The attack took place outside of a school and many of the victims are pupils on Saturday

Afghan men try to identify the daed bodies at a hospital after a bomb explosion near a school west of Kabul

The bombing of the bus on Sunday night comes after 68 people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed at a school on Saturday

News of the ceasefire came after the government blamed the Taliban for Saturday's atrocity. Many of the victims were children aged between 11 and 15 years old after a bomb exploded near the school.

The Taliban condemned the attack, which took place on Saturday in a majority Shiite district of west Kabul, and denied any responsibility - claiming it could only 'Islamic State'.

Ambulances evacuated the wounded as relatives and residents screamed at authorities near the scene of the blast at Syed Al-Shahda school, in Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood.

The explosion went off as the girls were streaming out of the school at around 4.30pm local time.

On Sunday, relatives buried the dead at a hilltop site known as 'Martyrs Cemetery', where victims of attacks against the Hazara community are laid to rest.

Bodies in wooden coffins were lowered into graves one by one by mourners still in a state of shock and fear, an AFP photographer said.

On Sunday, relatives buried the dead at a hilltop site known as 'Martyrs Cemetery', where victims of attacks against the Hazara community are laid to rest

Bodies in wooden coffins were lowered into graves one by one by mourners still in a state of shock and fear

'I rushed to the scene (after the blasts) and found myself in the middle of bodies, their hands and heads cut off and bones smashed,' said Mohammad Taqi, a resident of Dasht-e-Barchi, whose two daughters were students at the school but escaped the attack.

'All of them were girls. Their bodies piled on top of each other.'

Books and school bags belonging to the victims still lay scattered at the site of the attack.

Attacks in the area are most often claimed by the Afghan Islamic State affiliate, but no group yet has claimed the attack on the school.

Washington blamed IS for a vicious attack last year in a maternity hospital in the same area that killed pregnant women and newborn babies.

The Taliban insist they have not carried out attacks in Kabul since February last year, when they signed a deal with Washington that paved the way for peace talks and withdrawal of the remaining US troops.

People stand at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan May 8, 2021. Residents in the area said the explosion was deafening

An Afghan school student is treated at a hospital. At one nearby hospital, Associated Press journalists saw at least 20 dead bodies lined up in hallways

An Afghan school student is treated at a hospital. The attack occurred just as the fasting day came to an end

But violence has been rising sharply in recent weeks in Afghanistan after the US and NATO announced it would withdraw all of their troops from the country by September 11.

The move marks 20 years since the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the US which sparked a US-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have clashed daily with Afghan forces in the rugged countryside even as the US military reduces its presence.

The United States was supposed to have pulled all forces out by May 1 as agreed with the Taliban last year, but Washington pushed back the date to September 11 - a move that angered the insurgents.

The leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, reiterated in a message released ahead of Eid that any delay in withdrawing the troops was a 'violation' of that deal.

'If America again fails to live up to its commitments, then the world must bear witness and hold America accountable for all the consequences,' Akhundzada warned in Sunday's message.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has declared a day of national mourning for Tuesday.

'This savage group does not have the power to confront security forces on the battlefield, and instead targets with brutality and barbarism public facilities and the girls' school,' he said in a statement.

Saturday's blasts drew widespread global condemnation. Pope Francis called it 'an inhumane action', while Iran blamed the jihadist Islamic State.

India, meanwhile, called for the dismantling of 'terrorist sanctuaries' and a ceasefire to boost peace efforts.
Tesco has today issued a recall of its own-brand breadsticks over fears they contain sesame and could be fatal for allergy sufferers.

Several batches of the 1.30 mini snacks do not list sesame seeds as an ingredient, which the supermarket giant blamed on a packaging error.

Tesco has called for anyone with an allergy who bought the sticks to immediately return them for a full refund.

The 1.30 Tesco own brand mini breadsticks have urgently been recalled by the supermarket giant

In a statement, the supermarket said: 'We have been made aware by our supplier that due to a manufacturing error, there is the possibility that packets of mini breadsticks which have a sesame coating may have been incorrectly packed into multi pack bags of Tesco Mini breadsticks, which means that sesame will not be declared on the packaging.

'Please do not eat if you have an allergy to sesame. Please return the affected products to store where a full refund will be given. No receipt is required.

'Tesco apologises to our customers for an inconvenience caused.'

Those with a severe intolerance to sesame seeds can suffer choking and in rare and extreme cases, it can cause suffers to die.

A spokesperson for a group that helps severe allergy sufferers, the Anaphylaxis Campaign said: 'Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction affecting more than one body system such as the airways, heart, circulation, gut and skin.

Tesco apologised to customers in a statement and urged anyone with a sesame allergy to return the product to store

'Symptoms can start within seconds or minutes of exposure to the food or substance you are allergic to and usually will progress rapidly.

'The common causes of anaphylaxis include foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, shellfish, fish, sesame seeds and kiwi fruit, although many other foods have been known to trigger anaphylaxis.

'There may be a dramatic fall in blood pressure - anaphylactic shock.

'The person may become weak and floppy and may have a sense of something terrible happening.

'This may lead to collapse, unconsciousness and - on rare occasions - death.'

Some of the six pack mini breadsticks accidentally contain sesame coated sticks that were meant for other packaging

The Food Standards Agency said: 'Sometimes there will be a problem with a food product that means it should not be sold.

'Then it might be 'withdrawn' - taken off the shelves - or 'recalled' - when customers are asked to return the product.

'Sometimes foods have to be withdrawn or recalled if there is a risk to consumers because the allergy labelling is missing or incorrect or if there is any other food allergy risk.'

The mis-labelled batches all have a best before date of October 2021 and come under codes U3032, U3033, U3041, U3042, U3043, U3051, U3052, U3053.
Nicola Sturgeon has laid down the gauntlet to Boris Johnson on a second Scottish independence referendum as she told the Prime Minister another vote is a matter of 'when - not if'.

Ms Sturgeon and the SNP fell short of winning an overall majority in Holyrood at the 'Super Thursday' elections.

But she has made clear she still intends to push for a re-run of the 2014 border poll to split from the rest of the UK.

Ms Sturgeon discussed her plans with Mr Johnson in a phone call last night as she said she will 'ensure that the people of Scotland can choose our own future when the [coronavirus] crisis is over'.

It came as Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, said Ms Sturgeon is yet to answer key questions about what an independent Scotland would actually look like.

He said the SNP leader has had 'years to think about' crunch issues like a post-independence currency and how a border with England could work but she is yet to spell out answers in detail.

Nicola Sturgeon has told Boris Johnson a second vote on Scottish independence is a matter of 'when - not if'

Mr Johnson has repeatedly batted away calls for another referendum, arguing the 2014 vote was a once in a generation event

Ms Sturgeon and the SNP fell one seat short of an overall Holyrood majority following the 'Super Thursday' elections

Ms Sturgeon fell one seat short of winning an overall SNP majority in Holyrood but thanks to the support of the Green Party's eight MSPs, she is able to retain control of the Scottish Parliament.

She wants to hold a second independence referendum during the new parliamentary term and has said the vote should take place after the coronavirus crisis has been dealt with.

But Mr Johnson has repeatedly poured cold water on the idea of holding another vote, arguing the 2014 edition was supposed to be a once in a generation event.

An official border poll can only take place if Mr Johnson agrees to it, although Ms Sturgeon could take the UK Government to court to challenge the PM's authority on the matter.

Ms Sturgeon told Mr Johnson last night that the pro-independence outcome of the elections, with the Scottish Green Party also standing on a ticket of breaking from the rest of the UK, meant a second referendum is now inevitable.

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said: 'The First Minister made clear that her immediate focus was on steering the country through Covid and into recovery, and that a newly elected Scottish government would work with the UK government as far as possible on that aim.

'The First Minister also reiterated her intention to ensure that the people of Scotland can choose our own future when the crisis is over, and made clear that the question of a referendum is now a matter of when  not if.'

Mr Johnson had tried to strike first after the election results by inviting Ms Sturgeon, along with the other devolved leaders, to a Union summit to discuss pulling together to propel a post-pandemic revival  an invitation the First Minister has accepted.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson finished his call with the SNP leader by 'emphasising the importance of focusing on Covid recovery at this time', as Number 10 looked to kick talk of a referendum into the long grass.

Michael Gove, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, signalled yesterday that the UK Government is not prepared to sanction a second border vote after the SNP failed to secure a majority.

Mr Gove said Ms Sturgeon falling short of a majority indicated it was 'not the case that the people of Scotland are agitating for a referendum'.

He instead urged the SNP to 'concentrate on recovery' from the coronavirus pandemic because 'a majority' of Scots 'voted for parties that were opposed to a referendum'.

Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, said Ms Sturgeon is yet to answer key questions about what an independent Scotland would actually look like

It came as Mr Brown urged Ms Sturgeon to answer questions on what independence for Scotland would actually mean.

'The big issue is not the referendum, the big issue is independence,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'I would challenge Nicola Sturgeon, she's had years to think about this, tell us what independence means  the benefits, tell us the costs, tell us about the pound, tell us about the pension, tell us about the border, tell us about quantitative easing.

'None of these questions have been answered and every time you ask her she says she is going to produce a plan some time. We actually should have answers to these questions by now.'
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Laurence Fox has accused Metropolitan Police 'thugs' of harassing him and making his children cry after officers visited his home yesterday for the second time in two months.

The actor, who lost his 10,000 deposit after coming sixth in the London mayoral elections at the weekend, told MailOnline that officers rocked up at his home over reports of a party.

Fox insisted he only had his father, actor James Fox, round for dinner outside, which is permissible under current lockdown laws. However, people from different households cannot meet indoors, unless a person lives on their own, until May 17, when further restrictions are lifted.

Scotland Yard said they received an online report alleging that a large gathering was taking place at Fox's home in south London, and that officers who attended the address were told all present were members of the same household. A spokesman added that no action was taken.

On Twitter, the anti-woke Reclaim Party leader branded the force 'thugs' and told Scotland Yard to 'stop harassing my house and my children yet AGAIN', adding: 'It makes them [his children] cry'.

Fox also swiped: 'Go solve knife crime' - a nod to what he described to MailOnline as the 'absolutely horrendous' epidemic of stabbings in London which has rocketed under Mayor Sadiq Khan's watch and sparked fears of further gang violence as the third national lockdown is eased.

He was previously visited by Met Police officers in March ahead of the City Hall elections, who warned him that his campaigning could be in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

Speaking to MailOnline, an exasperated Fox said: 'I find the fact that they came to my door pretty iffy. Being visited by police on the basis of an anonymous tip is a deeply troubling thing to happen in a democracy.

'I was having dinner with my father when police rolled up outside my house. They said they had received a report of a party, but I was just having dinner with my father.' He later said the gathering was outside.

'It upset my children a great deal, so I told them where to go and shut the door in their faces,' Fox continued.

'I had prepared a draft letter the last time I was visited to get the Met to own up to what they did. But I've had some much thrown at me and I've been in the media so much lately, that I just want to lie low for a while now.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'On Sunday, 9 May at 21:52hrs, police received an online report alleging that a large gathering was taking place at an address in Lambeth. Officers attended and spoke with those present who were all found to be part of the same household. No action was taken.'

Laurence Fox arrives for the results of the London mayoral election, at the City Hall in London

Laurence Fox said he was having dinner with his father James Fox (pictured together at the Riverside Studios, London in 2014)

The actor, who lost his 10,000 deposit after coming sixth in the London mayoral elections at the weekend, told MailOnline that Metropolitan Police officers rocked up at his home in south London over reports of a party

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that offences involving knives or sharp instruments rose from 47,388 to 50,019 in England and Wales

London's knife crime epidemic: How spate of revenge killings have sparked fears of bloody gang war as stabbings nation-wide rise In the past four months, 12 teenagers have been stabbed to death in the capital, and there are fears the killings could reignite the gang wars that have plagued the city during Sadiq Khan's term as London Mayor. Londoners cite crime as their No 1 concern but Khan's critics accuse him of being preoccupied with traffic-calming measures and crippling increases to the Congestion Charge. Since Khan came to office in May 2016, at least 114 teenagers have been murdered. Of those, ten were killed in Newham - including two last month. Last month, an 18-year-old was stabbed to death in broad daylight just a few feet from his front door in Coolfin Road, Canning Town. It emerged that the killing of Junior Jah came four years after his brother Ahmed Jah, 21, was also stabbed to death 150 yards from the scene in Freemasons Road as he went to buy a soft drink from a convenience store. It sparked revenge attacks that year that saw the murder of CJ Davis, 14, shot in the head beside a playground in north Newham, prompting fears that a bloody gang war could erupt. There were also a number of acid attacks by thugs who made their getaways on mopeds. Annual Home Office statistics show that between April 2019 and March 2020, police recorded 4,344 threats to kill with a knife - a 22 per cent increase on the previous year. The number of robberies also went up from 18,518 to 20,196, while there were 20,425 knife assaults with intent to cause serious harm - roughly the same as the previous year. The Times reported that the number of sexual assaults using knives increased from 156 to 196 but the number of rape offences involving knives fell eight per cent to 483 in the same period. The past six years have seen a rise in the number of recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument, following a previously downward trend. The year ending March 2020 was the highest number since the year ending March 2011, the earliest point for which comparable data are available. It comes as ONS figures showed the number of knife offences in July to September 2020 increased by 25 per cent to 12,120 offences. There was also a 13 per cent rise in 'threats to kill' offences involving a knife, up from 1,124 offences to 1,270, when compared with the same period last year. Police warned there could be a similar increase when the country comes out of lockdown, with a senior policing source telling the Telegraph: 'We expect to see crime across the board rise, knife crime, retail crime and public order will all do so as they did last time.' Barnardo's chief executive Javed Khan said the 25 per cent rise after the first lockdown gave 'an idea of what might erupt once restrictions are lifted and life begins to return to normal. 'Children and young people have spent months out of school and away from their support networks, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation and control by criminal gangs who have seized on the disruption,' he added. 'With rising unemployment and poor job prospects, some young people are finding it hard to believe in a positive future, and see no alternative but to turn to a dangerous way of making money, carrying knives to protect themselves.' Advertisement

In a video of the March exchange shared by Fox online, the police said he had been reported for breaking rules while campaigning.

However, they admitted that they had 'no evidence per se' to support the complaint.

Fox, who launched the anti-woke Reclaim party to fight the 'culture wars', slammed the Met's 'mild intimidation' and revealed he was taking legal advice.

Speaking to MailOnline, the actor accused the force of investigating a 'non-crime' and said he has 'lots of questions' for Scotland Yard.

'I actually felt quite sorry for the police officer I filmed,' Fox said. 'He clearly didn't know why he was there. No one did.

'The police have been put in an impossible position, enforcing these sorts of rules and investigating non-crimes reported by anonymous snitches.

'I am in the process of consulting legal advice on the incident. We have lots of questions for the Met over what happened and why.'

Fox called the incident 'a very worrying thing in a democratic society', adding: 'We do not live in North Korea or China. We live in Great Britain.'

The actor was dropped by his agent after he defended the British Press against charges of racism against Meghan Markle on Question Time last year.

'I'm quite used to being intimidated, but that's not my concern,' he said. 'I don't want anybody in London or the UK to be investigated for non-crimes.'

Yesterday Fox insisted that he will 'march on' after his London Mayoral defeat despite coming in sixth and racking up fewer votes than a YouTuber whose policies included 'shushing' Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The actor lost his 10,000 deposit after winning just 1.8 per cent of the vote, compared with Sadiq Khan's 55 per cent. He lost to YouTuber Niko Omilana, but beat mayoral rivals Count Binface and Piers Corbyn.

Despite his election defeat, a source close to Fox struck an optimistic note and told MailOnline last night the Lewis star would continue to 'march on' and 'stand up and speak common sense to nonsense'.

A senior source added: 'Reclaim is a long-term project, London was fun but it's a very different demographic to the rest of the country.'

Fox said on Twitter after the results were announced: 'Thank you so much to the 47,634 of you who voted for me. I am profoundly moved. Sleep well.'

Earlier, Fox was seen chatting to mayoral rival Count Binface, who received 24,775 votes and finished ninth, above Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers.

During the interaction shared on social media, Fox asked to touch his opponent's face and said he was feeling 'pretty chipper' about his prospects.

In his speech in front of the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square in London, he said: 'A year ago we lent our government our liberty for three short weeks to flatten the curve and now, a year on, they refuse to give back what never belonged to them in the first place.

'There is no reason we are being kept in lockdown, we have been manipulated, frightened and outright lied to by this government, who instead of trusting us to get on with our lives are now flirting with even more authoritarian measures.'

He criticised the Government for refusing to rule out vaccine passports, and pledged to 'take the politics out of policing'.

'Police will police streets and not tweets,' he said. Fox also pledged to build 250,000 new homes and conduct a 'full audit' of green belt land.

'Precious landscapes (will be) preserved for eternity and unattractive scrubland (will be) transformed into beautiful and affordable housing,' he said.

When asked how he was going to implement his policies of defunding schools and academies that teach critical social justice or race theory, he said: 'It's common sense.

'You take the politics out of education, you take the politics out of policing. You say to a teacher 'do your job, teach our children how to think, not what to think'.'

Reclaim has also promised free transport on all London bus and tube services for six months from the election, something critics said would bankrupt the network

Khan won a second term as mayor but with his majority hammered by Tory Shaun Bailey - and vowed to work to build bridges with Boris Johnson's government.

The Labour incumbent will serve a truncated new three-year term after winning the election that was postponed from last year due to the pandemic.

Khan polled 1,206,034 votes to Bailey's 977, 601, a majority of 228,433. With second preference votes included Khan won 55 per cent of the vote, down from 57 per cent in 2016.

In a sign that will please the Tories, Khan's lead over Bailey is narrower than the 14-point win he achieved over Tory Zac Goldsmith in 2016.

Fox was previously visited by Met Police officers in March ahead of the City Hall elections, who warned him that his campaigning could be in breach of coronavirus restrictions

Fox tweeted back in March: 'Bit of mild intimidation to start the day from the boys in blue'

Leader of the Reclaim Party, Laurence Fox, arriving at City Hall, London

However, it may raise questions about how well the Tories could have done if they had put more effort into supporting Bailey.

Boris Johnson and his most senior ministers were noticeable by their lack of appearances with him during his campaign, while making repeated visits to Hartlepool and other targets.

In a speech from City Hall, Bailey said: 'As I went through these, for me what was two years of campaigning, one feeling felt familiar to me, one challenge had always felt the same.

'And that was the feeling of being written off - by pollsters, by journalists, by fellow politicians. But it's no surprise to me that Londoners didn't write me off.'

Khan said he had been handed an 'overwhelming mandate'. He won around 40 per cent of first preference votes.

Bailey focused his campaign on the spiraling knife crime in the capital, trying to paint Khan as weak on law and order.

And congratulating the winner, Bailey told him: 'I hope you take this opportunity to focus on the fact that people who look like me are four times as likely to be murdered than people who look like you.'

Khan pledged to build a 'better and brighter future' for the capital following the coronavirus pandemic in his victory speech from City Hall.

Fox was seen chatting to mayoral rival Count Binface, who received 24,775 votes

(Left to right) UKIP's Peter Gammons, Leader of the Reclaim Party, Laurence Fox, Social Democratic Party's Simon Kelleher and Renew's Kam Balayev

'I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart,' he said.

'I am deeply humbled by the trust Londoners have placed in me to continue leading the greatest city on earth.

'I promise to strain every sinew, help build a better and brighter future for London, after the dark days of the pandemic and to create a greener, fairer and safer city for all Londoners, to get the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential.

'It's in this spirit that I promise to lead London over the next three years, building bridges between the different communities in our city, building bridges across cultural, social and class divides.

'Building bridges between London and the rest of the country to ensure London can play its part in a national recovery.

'And building bridges between City Hall and the Government.

'Because we must all work together to build a brighter, greener and more equal future for London, and for our entire country, after the pandemic.

'I am proud to have won an overwhelming mandate today.'

In a surprise result the Greens' Sian Berry came third ahead of the Liberal Democrats' Luisa Porritt. Only the top three candidates won enough votes to keep their deposit.

Sadiq Khan will serve a truncated new three-year term after winning the election that was postponed from last year due to the pandemic. But he was pushed all the way by Shaun Bailey, who had been given little hope of getting anywhere close to him

Those losing out include the Reform Party's Laurence Fox and Count Binface - who won more votes than Piers Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy.

Candidates need five per cent of first-preference votes to get back their deposits, which only three candidates surpassed.

Responding to the re-election of Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London, the leader of the London Assembly Labour group, Len Duvall, said: 'Covid has impacted on every element of Londoners' lives, and it's certainly had an impact on this year's elections.

'We've worked hard to respond to Londoners' needs, but we've really got to have our listening ears on going forward and regain the trust of some Londoners.

'We know Sadiq Khan has a good record, that is very clear. When it comes to cleaning up London's toxic air, providing social housing, and getting tough on violent crime and its causes, Sadiq has provided the leadership the capital needs.

'He will continue to produce practical solutions to the challenges we face.

'Covid has meant that the challenges will only grow. We need the Mayor to hit the ground running when it comes to London's recovery, delivering jobs, and making London safer. It'll be our job on the Assembly to hold him to account and ensure those pledges are delivered upon.'

Labour sources had earlier refused to become too optimistic given how close the race was amid a national picture in England which has seen the Tories make large gains.
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Spectacular photos have revealed the terrifying moment a WWII plane crashed into the sea just yards away from a heavily pregnant mother during a maternity photo shoot in Florida.

Mother-to-be Kristan Othersen, 22, was showing off her 30-week bump with her boyfriend, Kyle Johnson, 23, on busy Cocoa Beach, just south of Cape Canaveral, on April 17.

The TBM Avenger was taking part in a nearby airshow, so many beach-goers remained unfazed as it flew low across the water while people swam underneath.

But its engine had failed and Kristan's mother Amber, who was taking the maternity photos, quickly turned her camera on the plane as it crashed down into the sea.

Fortunately neither the pilot nor any people on the beach were injured.

Scroll down for video.

Expectant mother Kristan Othersen, 23, was showing off her 30-week bump on the Florida beach before the plane crashed on April 17

The plane is seen heading for the water at the busy Cocoa Beach in Florida last month, fortunately neither the pilot nor any swimmers were injured

The plane flies low over the water as people swim nearby. Just yards away on the beach a pregnant mother was cradling her baby bump for a maternity photo shoot

People watching assumed that the plane from the air show was performing a trick before it hit the water. The incredible images were captured by the mother of a pregnant woman taking part in a maternity shoot just yards away on the beach

The plane crash landed into the sea before stunned couple Kristan Othersen and Kyle Johnson while they were having a maternity shoot

Members of the public swam out to help the pilot after the plane crashed down just yards away from them

Mom to be, Kristan Othersen, 22 was showing off her 30 week bump with her partner, Kyle Johnson, 23

Amber said: 'My daughter Kristan wanted to take maternity photos at the beach. We were there for 10 minutes and my 14 year old Miya was in the water and pointed at a plane coming in really low.

'I started taking photos as the plane kept getting lower and lower. There were people everywhere.

'I just assumed there was going to be a trick and nobody moved. Next thing you know, he's going in the water, and thankfully he did not hit anyone.

'He managed to get around everyone, as the beachgoers were not moving.'

Amber, who was also with her husband Brian and her two daughters Miya, 14, and Madde, 13, captured the crash as it happened - and the look of shock on her pregnant daughter's face.

Amber said 'My 14 year old was in the water and pointed at a plane coming in really low. I started taking photos as the plane kept getting lower and lower'

In a statement after the accident, Cocoa Beach Air Show said: 'The TBM Avenger performing in the warbird parade had a mechanical issue and the pilot was able to bring the plane down close to the shore. Rescue Personnel were immediately on scene and the pilot is okay'

Water sprays up from the plane as it crashes into the sea on Florida's coast

A group of men swim out to the aircraft to check on the pilot

Amber Ditmer's daughter Madde, 14, as members of the public scramble to help the pilot

The pilot successfully crash landed the warplane without injury to himself or anyone on the beach

Swarms of people crowd around the pilot, relieved for his safety following the crash

Kristan Othersen poses for her maternity shoot shortly before the plane crash

The family were in shock as the pilot did not appear out of the wreckage immediately.

Amber said: 'It took a few minutes before he actually appeared. He had to keep his headset dry. Bystanders swam out to him and helped him out and then rescue units arrived.

'It was traumatizing because I thought there would be someone under the plane. '

Amber added: 'You can see the look of disbelief on my daughter's face in one of the pictures.

'The pilot was okay but the plane stayed in the water until it was pulled out with a crane a few days later.'

The plane skids across the water before stunned beach-goers on April 17

The TBM Avenger is an American torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. It entered service in 1942, with pilots flying the model taking part in the Battle of Midway.

Fortunately the pilot was able to free himself unharmed after bringing the plane down

The wreckage was hauled from the water a few days later

In a statement after the accident, Cocoa Beach Air Show said: 'The TBM Avenger performing in the warbird parade had a mechanical issue and the pilot was able to bring the plane down close to the shore. Rescue Personnel were immediately on scene and the pilot is okay.'

The TBM Avenger is an American torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

It entered service in 1942, with pilots flying the model taking part in the Battle of Midway.
But nursing posts account for 45 per cent of all vacancies in the health service

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in UK while application is considered

Refugee nurses are being recruited into the NHS on a fast-track scheme to help in the UK's fight against coronavirus.

In the first scheme of its kind, Liverpool John Moores University are offering refugees a four-week course to bring them on to the frontline of hospitals across the country.

At the moment nurses who have fled their home countries to settle in the UK are not allowed to practice, no matter their qualifications, while their application is being processed.

The new course helps those who have been given asylum to get back into work.

The pilot course is being run in partnership with a charity called Refuaid, with the first 14 refugees on it coming from countries including Ethiopia, Sudan, Iran, Philippines, Gambia, Honduras and Myanmar.

Refugee nurses are being recruited into the NHS on a fast-track scheme to help in the UK's fight against coronavirus. Among them is Walid Jarad (pictured), 31, a Palestinian national from Lebanon who fled persecution from the government

Among them is Walid Jarad, 31, a Palestinian national from Lebanon who fled persecution from the government.

Before leaving he had worked as a nurse in an intensive care unit for six years, but has been unable to work for the last year while applying for asylum.

'I have so much experience in exactly the area that was needed,' he told the BBC. 'I've worked with so many isolated patients in intensive care respiratory units. My experience is completely relevant and I just couldn't use it.'

Mr Jarad completed the four-week course, where there is an assessment instead of a pass or fail - and successfully applied for an assistant role at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.

He said it was 'totally amazing' to be back doing the job he loves, and will be fully registered as a nurse in six months time.

Mona Hamid (pictured right), a refugee from Sudan who qualified as a nurse in 2017, was also on the pilot because she had been unable to work in the UK

'In this new job even giving a patient a glass of water feels totally amazing after not being able to do it for so long,' he said.

Mona Hamid, a refugee from Sudan who qualified as a nurse in 2017, was also on the pilot because she had been unable to work in the UK.

She said: 'I want to bring all my skills to be a professional nurse in the NHS.

'Before I started this programme at LJMU, I felt homeless, I couldn't reach my goal but now I can dream about being a nurse in the UK.'

Dr Sean Mackay, an Associate Dean at Liverpool John Moores said: 'Our job is to assess their skills are suitable for our NHS, to teach them about nursing in this country and to get them work-ready.'

Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: 'I am delighted to welcome these healthcare workers into the NHS, and incredibly proud of the work they have done over recent weeks and months to prepare for the challenge' (stock photo)

Once approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the students can be employed by the three local hospitals.

RefuAid, which has been lobbying government to restrict bureaucracy on the employment status of refugees, says the project 'challenges negative rhetoric surrounding refugees'.

A spokesperson said: 'We have met so many incredibly determined people who with the right support, have flourished, become fully independent and no longer need to rely on aid or handouts.'

Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: 'I am delighted to welcome these healthcare workers into the NHS, and incredibly proud of the work they have done over recent weeks and months to prepare for the challenge.

'While the NHS will provide a safe and secure place to work, the public and patients will benefit from the skills and expertise these individuals can bring, and I hope this pilot cohort will build the way for hundreds more refugees to become part of our NHS family.'

Nursing continues to be the most significant workforce shortage area in the NHS.

The vacancy rate for registered nurses exceeded 10% in June. Registered nurses accounted for 45% of all vacancies in NHS hospital and community health settings in England.
Good Morning Britain viewers have been switching off this morning after being left frustrated by the temporary replacement for former host Piers Morgan.

Alastair Campbell, 63, will be guest presenting alongside Susanna Reid on ITV's morning show until Wednesday.

The temporary move comes during Mental Health Awareness Week, a cause that Mr Campbell has been a staunch advocate of in recent years, owing to his own mental health struggles.

GMB viewers were quick to share their frustration this morning with Mr Campbell's 'stiff and 'boring' style of presenting.

But Tony Blair's former right hand man has already brushed off speculation he will be a permanent replacement for Piers Morgan, who left the show over a spat with ITV bosses after the Sussex's bombshell Oprah interview in March.

Alastair Campbell, 63, cuts a serious figure as he makes his guest presenting debut on ITV's Good Morning Britain

The former Labour spin doctor was guest presenting alongside longtime host Susanna Reid

Many of those watching along this morning were quick to question the decision to put Mr Campbell in the hot seat following Piers Morgan's departure from the show.

The shake-up of presenters on the morning news programme has already seen Alex Beresford, Ben Shephard and Adil Ray attempt to fill the void left by Mr Morgan, 55.

But viewers were disappointed with this latest offering, with some left asking 'awful' Mr Campbell to speak up as they thought he was mumbling on his GMB debut.

Fiona Coulstock said: 'Alastair Campbell is just awful, he is muttering. Can hardly tell what he is saying - not good viewing.

'Susanna Reid is still brilliant, but give her a better co-presenter please!!!'

Celina Carney added: 'What are ITV thinking!? After losing Piers Morgan they are turning as stiff and boring as the BBC.

'As if Susanna isn't dull enough on her own, they bring in another stuffed suit. GMB has had a complete personality bypass.'

Others said they were so disenchanted by Mr Campbell's debut they were forced to switch over over to rival breakfast shows.

One viewer wrote: 'Well that's me done with GMB. I'm off to the dark side BBC.'

Viewers were less than impressed with the latest shake-up of presenters on GMB as viewing figures continue to fall in the wake of Piers Morgan's departure

Evelyn Erskine tweeted: 'Tuned in out of curiosity then turned over to Sky, boring, GMB has had its day I'm afraid.'

@BequilaGirl added: 'Just turned over to BBC. Can't possibly watch this programme anymore.'

While another user wrote: 'Really bad show. It has sunk to the lowest level thinkable. Time to take it off air.'

@viesvies1 said: 'Switched on for the morning news... Switched off immediately after seeing Alastair Campbell hosting.'

Piers Morgan, 55, left Good Morning Britain amid a furious row with bosses over his comments on Meghan Markle's Oprah interview in March. He was pictured storming off the show midair

The popular outspoken presenter (left) is seen clashing with ITV's weatherman Alex Beresford (right) after saying he 'didn't believe a word' of Meghan's bombshell Oprah interview

Speaking on his appointment last month, Mr Campbell insisted he was 'not the new Piers Morgan'.

Co-host Susanna Reid even revealed Mr Campbell was handed a list of banned words he wouldn't be able to use by Good Morning Britain's bosses before the show.

Mr Campbell is a prominent mental health campaigner who has spoken openly about his own struggles prior to his temporary appointment during Mental Health Awareness Week.

He previously worked as Tony Blair's spokesman and campaign director, then as Downing Street Press Secretary and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman.

He later became Downing Street Director of Communications and spokesman for the Labour Party.

Viewers slammed the decision to put Mr Campbell in GMB's hot seat this morning, with many warning they will turn to rival channels as they described his performance as 'stiff and boring'

The left-wing journalist stepped in after Mr Morgan left Good Morning Britain on March 9 amid a row over comments he made regarding Meghan Markle's Oprah interview.

Ofcom said it had launched an investigation into his comments, as it emerged Meghan had made a formal complaint to the broadcasting regulator.

Mr Morgan had said on-air that he 'didn't believe a word' of her interview with chat show host Oprah, when she laid bare claims of her struggles.

Those tuning in to GMB this morning were unimpressed with the 'awful' viewing and left amazed at ITV bosses' decision to turn to Mr Campbell as a guest presenter

His shock departure from GMB sparked outrage across the world, as stars such as Sharon Osbourne were quick to defend him and a petition to see him reinstated reached more than 360,000 signatures.

There is fierce competition for a permanent presenter to fill Mr Morgan's slot, with veteran host Richard Madeley recently touted as the favourite.

GMB was hemorrhaging viewers in the wake of Mr Morgan leaving the show - with ITV losing nearly 40 per cent of its audience in the weeks following his exit.

Tony Blair's former spin doctor tweeted his excitement at appearing alongside Susanna Reid on GMB this week

Speaking on his sacking, Mr Morgan tweeted at the time: 'On Monday, I said I didnt believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview.

'Ive had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still dont. If you did, OK.

'Freedom of speech is a hill Im happy to die on.

'Thanks for all the love, and hate. Im off to spend more time with my opinions.'

An ITV spokesperson responded: 'Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain.
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Keir Starmer grabbed coffee with deputy Angela Rayner today as they tried to paper over tensions including damaging allegations of snobbery after the elections meltdown.

The Labour leader and Ms Rayner were pictured in Parliament seemingly seeing the funny side of the bitter rows and botched reshuffle that followed the ballot box disaster.

The image emerged after Sir Keir used the first meeting of his overhauled shadow cabinet to praise Ms Rayner's 'big new role' - despite claims he only gave her a beefed-up role after she refused to be shifted to the health brief.

Other moves in the overhaul were also far more limited than heralded. In the biggest change, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds was demoted and replaced by Rachel Reeves.

Opposition chief whip Nick Brown and Commons leader Valerie Vaz were also removed from the shadow cabinet.

Sir Keir had to scale back his ambitions dramatically as he faced a furious backlash over the sacking of Ms Rayner as campaigns chief, with the hard-Left accusing him of 'cowardice' and openly threatening a coup to stop him ditching Corbynite policies.

Unusually there were no pictures released of the shadow cabinet meeting this afternoon, with aides blaming the fact that people were participating remotely.

But sources said Sir Keir told his team that the dire Super Thursday showing was evidence of the 'size of the journey we have to go'.

'To be clear, I take responsibility. Nobody else. I lead the Labour Party and it is entirely on me.'

There are claims that tensions have been running high with Ms Rayner for months - including a row over 'inappropriate dress' she wore for a visit to Hartlepool in March.

Photographs from the date show Ms Rayner in leopard-print trousers, heavy black boots and a hoodie. There are also swipes that Sir Keir's team views her as an 'oik'.

Worryingly for Sir Keir, the criticism has come from both wings of the party - with jibes that his closest aides are inept and act like they are in an episode of the West Wing.

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham complained that 'negative' coverage had overshadowed his result on Saturday, and the way Ms Rayner was treated was 'not right'.

Ms Rayner has tweeted to thank supporters for their 'solidarity'. And this morning she insisted that she will ensure Labour stays the 'party of workers'.

'I was born in Stockport but I was raised in the labour movement.' she said.

'As we build an economy fit for the future and develop policy for the future of work, trade unions will be absolutely at the heart of it. Labour is, and always will be, the party of workers.'

A picture has emerged of Keir Starmer and deputy Angela Rayner grabbing coffee at Parliament today as they tried to paper over tensions after the elections meltdown

Left to right, Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth and shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh at the Commons after Sir Keir gathered his new team today

There are claims that tensions have been running high between Angela Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer (right) for months, including a row over 'inappropriate dress' she wore for a visit to Hartlepool in March (left)

Ms Rayner has tweeted to thank supporters for their 'solidarity'. And this morning she insisted that she will ensure Labour stays the 'party of workers'

In a bold, but not entirely unsurprising move, the stumbling Labour leader demoted Anneliese Dodds (pictured right) from the important role of shadow chancellor. He replaced her with Oxford educated former Bank of England worker Rachel Revees (pictured left) - a key ally of Ed Miliband during his spell as Labour leader.

The key moves in Keir Starmer's make-or-break shadow cabinet reshuffle... Angela Rayner - shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster It is thought Sir Keir had wanted to shift Ms Rayner from party chair to health. But relieving her of the national campaigning role caused such a storm that he was forced to offer her another high-profile job. Seen as one of the most authentic northern voices on the front bench, Ms Rayner was a teenage mother who got her life back on track and rose to enter parliament. Rachel Reeves - new shadow chancellor The Leeds West MP was a rising star in the party before the Corbyn era saw her in the wilderness. Has earned plaudits shadowing Michael Gove, including attacking over the lobbying controversy. Strongly backed calls for Labour to move away from free movement rules. Worked at the Bank of England before entering politics, backed Jess Phillips for leader. Lucy Powell - shadow housing secretary An important promotion of another senior figure whose career was derailed by the Corbynite lurch to the hard-Left. A close ally of Ed Miliband, she is viewed as a good performer on television and a moderate voice. Representing a Manchester seat, she can also point to s stronger set of results in the Super Thursday elections. And those who did not do so well... Anneliese Dodds - demoted from shadow chancellor to party chair Nick Brown - sacked as party's chief whip Valerie Vaz - sacked as shadow Commons leader Advertisement

Sir Keir is unable to axe his deputy altogether as she was elected separately by members, but did take away her roles as party chairman and national campaign co-ordinator on Saturday night in the wake of Labour's catastrophic local election results.

However, following 24 hours of wrangling, she emerged with a new broad brief shadowing Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, as well as leading the party's focus on the future of work.

Allies of Ms Rayner last night triumphantly declared: 'Angela obviously comes out of this significantly more powerful both in terms of the party and policy. She will be much more visible now she isn't being held back.

'She will lead both party reform and the development of a policy agenda that is credible, radical and actually connects with the voters we need to win.'

In a sign Sir Keir and Ms Rayner have not managed to bury the hatchet, one party insider asked: 'Who would want to be national campaign co-ordinator in name only with no power when you're made the scapegoat for the failures of Keir's team?'

Another supporter of Ms Rayner said: 'On Friday Keir couldn't answer a simple question about what Labour's vision is, what our offer is and how we will win back the voters in our heartland seats.

'Angela can answer that question and is the best person to lead the fightback in the Red Wall.'

According to the Guardian, Oldham MP Jim McMahon, who ran the Hartlepool by-election campaign and is an ally of Sir Keir, complained to the leader's office that Ms Rayner had been 'dressed inappropriately' on a visit to the town on March 21.

Photographs from the date show Ms Rayner in leopard-print trousers, heavy black boots and a hoodie.

Ms Rayner's aides are said to have 'hit the roof ' when they heard about the comment, but kept it from her to avoid fuelling the problems even further.

Allies of Mr McMahon insisted he was simply unhappy about the pictures selected for a leaflet.

Sources also told the Guardian that Ms Rayner was seen by the leader's aides as a 'working-class oik and a bit thick' who doesn't fit their 'patronising Camden style'.

Another Labour source, without loyalties to Ms Rayner, told the paper: 'It's a clear mistake to fire someone who speaks like the people we need to talk to. It's a huge mistake from a bunch of snobs who don't like how she speaks.'

Mr Burham - who fuelled talk of leadership ambitions over the weekend when he said he was ready to pick up the phone if the party needed him - said this morning that Ms Rayner's treatment was not 'right'.

'I didn't like the way that was handled, I'll be honest, and I didn't see why we were getting a negative story on Saturday night when myself and Steve Rotheram and other people around the country had good victories to celebrate, so that wasn't right, but I don't think the way Angela was treated was right,' he said.

'But it's been resolved and we move on from this morning. There's a shadow cabinet in place now.

'I hope that they are getting on with the job in exactly the same way that I am getting on with the job.'

Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said Sir Keir had tried to make Mrs Rayner 'carry the can for the poor results at the weekend'.

'It does seem as if, certainly the people around him (Sir Keir Starmer), don't understand how the party works,' the former shadow home secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'They tried to sack Angela Rayner in order to make her carry the can for the poor results at the weekend.

'They didn't seem to realise that because she's an elected deputy leader, you can fiddle around with her title, but you can't sack her, she remains a senior person in the shadow cabinet.'

When asked if it was the view of deputy leader Ms Rayner that Sir Keir wanted to sack her, Ms Abbott said: 'Yes, that's what all the briefing was about.

Thangam Debbonaire (pictured left) has been moved to shadow Commons leader, replacing Valerie Vaz (pictured right)

In the most left-field move of the night, the Labour leader sacked veteran MP Nick Brown (pictured left) as the party's chief whip. And in a dramatic twist, Sir Keir reinstated Angela Rayner (pictured right) to his front bench, after earlier axing her from the important role of party chair.

According to the Guardian, Oldham MP Jim McMahon (pictured), who ran the Hartlepool by-election campaign, complained to the leader's office that Ms Rayner had been 'dressed inappropriately' on a visit to the town on March 21

New by-election woe for Keir Starmer after ex-Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin wins race to be West Yorkshire mayor Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer faces the potential of yet more by-election woe after one of his MPs last night secured a mayoral seat. MP Tracy Brabin made history by being elected as the first ever West Yorkshire mayor - and the first female metro mayor in England. But it means former Coronation Street star Ms Brabin, who also celebrates her 60th birthday today, will now have to step down from her Westminster seat of Batley and Spen. It will spark a fresh by-election in the marginal Labour constituency - which has now become a key Conservative target. The majority in Batley and Spen is even tighter than Hartlepool, although the voting demographics are seen as different. The seat has been held by Labour since 1997, including from 2014 by MP Jo Cox - who was murdered in 2015 by a far-right knifeman. Advertisement

'It was a foolish thing to even think about and he has had to walk it back  you can't sack an elected deputy leader.'

Ms Dodds, who as Shadow Chancellor had been accused of failing to land a blow on Rishi Sunak, has been moved to become party chairman and will lead Labour's policy review.

Her replacement, Ms Reeves, is one of Labour's high profile frontbenchers, although her promotion from shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is likely to annoy those on the Left of the party.

Shabana Mahmood has been appointed national campaign co-ordinator, Sir Alan Campbell made chief whip, and Thangam Debbonaire will be the new shadow Commons leader.

Senior frontbenchers whom the Labour leader had considered sacking  including Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy, Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds and health spokesman Jonathan Ashworth  were all spared.

In interviews this morning, Ms Mahmood admitted that Labour needs to 'earn the trust of voters again'.

She also admitted that the looming Batley and Spen by-election - triggered because sitting Labour MP Tracey Brabin is becoming West Yorks mayor - will be a 'big test'.

Ms Mahmood told BBC Breakfast: 'It is no doubt going to be a big test. It is an important by-election for us.

'We have just won in West Yorkshire and that is the base on which we have to build.

'I am in no doubt as to the amount of work that needs to be done.

'Part of my role is to get every part of our elections machine working effectively to put together a winning platform for Labour candidates all across the country.'

She said she will be heading to Batley and Spen to learn from the party on the ground and the local team, and also to 'learn the lessons we need to learn from the places where we have suffered defeat to earn the trust of voters again  that is the only show in town and that is the thing that the whole of our movement has to be focused on'.

Sir Keir last night said he believed Labour 'must be the party that embraces the demand for change across our country'.

'That will require bold ideas and a relentless focus on the priorities of the British people,' he added.

But Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP who quit the frontbench following the election results, criticised the party's identity.

Diane Abbott says Labour should fight for return of EU free movement rules Diane Abbott urged beleaguered Labour leader Keir Starmer to campaign to bring back freedom of movement between the UK and the EU today - after a weekend of humiliation at the hands of voters in the party's Brexit-backing former heartlands. The hard Left former shadow home secretary urged Sir Keir to return to promoting 10 'pledges' he made when running to replace Jeremy Corbyn early last year, as part of a 'winning strategy'. The pledges included one in which he vowed to 'defend free movement as we leave the EU', as well as increasing taxes on the top 5 per cent and abolishing Universal Credit benefits. Her comments are sure to raise eyebrows after a weekend in which Labour was mauled by voters in its former North East heartlands. Advertisement

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Mahmood said: 'We are seen as out of touch, a party captured by urban liberals, whose most vocal supporters are university graduates with woke politics straight from the world of Left-wing campus protests.'

'The other 50 per cent of society  aspirational and looking for better opportunities  does not think we have the answers.

'I fear that too much of my party's energy has gone into identity politics and niche culture wars.'

Ms Abbott urged beleaguered Sir Keir to campaign to bring back freedom of movement between the UK and the EU today despite the hammering in Leave areas.

She urged him to return to promoting 10 'pledges' he made when running to replace Jeremy Corbyn early last year, as part of a 'winning strategy'.

The pledges included one in which he vowed to 'defend free movement as we leave the EU', as well as increasing taxes on the top 5 per cent and abolishing Universal Credit benefits.

Her comments are sure to raise eyebrows after a weekend in which Labour was mauled by voters in its former North East heartlands.

Hartlepool, which voted 69.5 per cent in favour of Leave in 2016 - was taken by the Conservatives for the first time in half a century.

In addition, Tory Ben Houchen won a second term as Tees valley mayor with more than 70 per cent of the vote.

There were also Tory victories in Leave-backing Dudley, and for the West Midlands mayoralty, which was retained by Andy Street.

Grangela v Sir Keir: Row between the smooth-talking self-made London lawyer and the Mancunian former single mother that is threatening to tear Labour apart once again

He is the smooth-talking self-made London lawyer and Remain flagbearer whose socialist parents names him after Labour's founding hero.

She is a former Stockport teenage single mother and child carer who hauled herself up the political ladder through sheer hard work.

But the relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner is threatening to tear the party apart yet again as faultlines between the hard Left and moderate wings are re-exposed.

Sir Keir's attempt to quietly remove her as party chairman as a scapegoat for the electoral catastrophies in Hartlepool, the Tees valley and the West Midlands blew up at the weekend and arguably helped increase her power within the party.

Both have some things in common, coming from humble backgrounds and being relative newcomers in the Commons. They both entered the House in the 2015 election that saw Ed Miliband defeated by David Cameron to form the first full Tory government since 1997.

Here we examine their different journeys to the top of the Labour Party.

Sir Keir's attempt to quietly remove her as party chairman as a scapegoat for the electoral catastrophies in Hartlepool, the Tees valley and the West Midlands blew up at the weekend and arguably helped increase her power within the party.

The relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner is threatening to tear the party apart yet again as faultlines between the hard Left and moderate wings are re-exposed.

Sir Keir Starmer

Sir Kier Starmer was raised by socialist parents who named him after Keir Hardie, the Labour leader's founder and a colossus of the socialist movement.

He is married to Victoria, who works in the NHS, and they have two children.

In Who's Who he refers to his parents Rodney and Josephine Starmer as 'Rod and Jo'.

During his leadership campaign and afterwards he was at pains to describe his father as a toolmaker and Jo formerly a nurse before suffering from a physical disability.

As well as devoting themselves to rescuing donkeys, Rod and Jo had four children. Sir Keir's three siblings went to comprehensive school while he passed his 11-plus and went to Reigate Grammar School.

The shadow minister has said about his happy home life that 'whenever one of us left home, they were replaced with a donkey'.

He then went on to become the first member of his family to go to University. He studied law at Leeds and did a post-graduate degree at St Edmund Hall Oxford, before joining the Middle Temple chambers of Sir John Mortimer, the late barrister and novelist.

Up for the fight? Sir Keir faces a battle to hold Labour together

He went on to specialise in defending in human rights cases and became a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 2002.

Just six years later, and despite being a defence specialist, he was made director of public prosecutions (DPP), the head of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Cases he oversaw included the prosecution of then Lib Dem Cabinet minister Chris Huhne for perverting the course of justice.

He held the post until 2013 and was subsequently knighted in 2014 for his service in the role.

He held Holborn and St Pancras for Labour in 2015 after its MP, the late Frank Dobson, retired.

Under predecessor Jeremy Corbyn he was shadow Brexit secretary, but did not often appear to be onthe same wavelength as the party leader.

While Mr Corbyn was a Brexiteer of decades longstanding, Sir Keir was a vocal cheerleader for the majority Remain faction within Labour.

This led to many of the more leftwing figures within the party to accuse him of undermining the hard Left leader, by vocally championing the softest of Brexits, and a second referendum.

After Labour's humiliation in the 2019 General Election led to Mr Corbyn quitting, Sir Keir ran to replace him on a moderate, unifying platform. He comfortably beat Corbynite candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey to take charge in April.

He attempted to keep the Left onside by giving shadow Cabinet posts to Ms Long-Bailey and a few other survivors of the previous regime. But he is unable to remove Ms Rayner as the deputy leader is elected by party members just as he is.

Like Mr Corbyn, he is an Arsenal fan.

Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner's socialist credentials were forged by a tough upbringing as a carer to her bipolar mother aged just 10 before becoming pregnant with the first of her three children at the age of 16.

The flame-haired 41-year-old has drawn on her experience as a one-time struggling teenage mother throughout her political career.

She proudly welcomed her own granddaughter at the age of just 37 in 2017 with a tweet jokingly referring to herself as 'Grangela' after son Ryan Ryan became a father to baby Lilith Mae.

Ms Rayner was just 16 when she had Ryan, and has told how becoming pregnant so young 'saved' her.

She has two other sons aged under 10, Jimmy and Charlie, who was born at 23 weeks and is registered blind.

She says Charlie would not be alive today without the NHS.

Her teenage relationship with Ryan's father ended quickly and married Unison official Mark Rayner. But they split up last summer.

She also acted as a carer to her mother, Lynn Bowen, when just a child.

In 202 she opened up about her tough early life, revealing she once had to have her sectioned to prevent her from self-harming.

In a joint interview with ITV News, Ms Bowen credits her daughter with saving her, saying she would not have survived without her.

'I was in a very dark place, she used to bath me, look after me, feed me,' Ms Bowen said of her daughter.

'If it wasn't for her I don't think I'd be here today.'

Ms Rayner was only elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne for the first time in 2015 but she has swiftly risen up the ranks to national prominence.

It did not take long for her to be welcomed to the Labour frontbench under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn as she was made shadow education secretary in 2016.

She became one of Mr Corbyn's most vocal defenders, both in the House of Commons and on the airwaves, before the party sank to its disastrous general election defeat in December 2019.

She swiftly launched a bid for the party's deputy leadership in the aftermath of the car crash poll, standing on a so-called hard-left 'dream ticket' with Westminster housemate and former frontbencher Rebecca Long-Bailey who put herself forward for the top job.

However, unlike Ms Long-Bailey, who rated Mr Corbyn' leadership 10/10, she was unafraid to criticise him.

In February 2020 she said he failed as Labour leader because he 'didn't command respect' and had not been able to unite the party.

She also insisted she could succeed where Mr Corbyn had struggled because she 'resonates with people in the country in a way that Jeremy doesn't'.

While Ms Long-Bailey failed to become leader, Ms Rayner was elected as Sir Keir Starmer's deputy with an overwhelming mandate from party supporters.

It is this mandate that makes Sir Keir's attempt to pass blame for the election woes on to her attract so much vocal criticism.

Allies of the deputy leader believe she is much better places to woo-back disenchanted northern voters than a London lawyer.
The father of a London based woman murdered in Pakistan has begged for help catching her killer on TV as it emerged police are probing whether a hitman was hired to shoot her.

Mayra Zulfiquar's father, Mohammed, pleaded with Prime Minister Imran Khan saying that the 24-year-old law graduate dreamed of 'doing something for Pakistan' by opening a legal practice to help poor people.

'She was passionate to do something for Pakistan. I want justice, PM Imran Khan she was your daughter too,' Mr Zulfiquar said.

Ms Zulfiquar was found shot dead at an apartment in Lahore on May 3 with police identifying two prime suspects - Zahir Jadoon and Saad Butt, 28 - friends-turned-love-rivals who had allegedly both proposed to the London based woman.

Mayra Zulfiquar, 24 a law graduate, was shot dead in Pakistan on May 3 and police now believe she may have been killed by a hitman

Father Mohammed appeared on Pakistani TV today, pleading for 'justice' from Prime Minister Imran Khan - saying his daughter has been 'betrayed'

'She was called here [to Pakistan] and betrayed before being cruelly murdered,' as Mr Zulfiquar put it during his TV appearance.

Butt has since turned himself over to police and been arrested, but officers now say he has an alibi because he was captured at his home on CCTV at the tiishme Ms Zulfiquar's murder took place.

Investigators are still seeking to question Jadoon, but believe he was in Islamabad, some 170 miles to the south of Lahore, on the day of the murder.

That has led cops to question whether a third party was hired to carry out the killing.

'It's a cold-blooded murder but neither of the accused were present at the crime scene,' a police source told The Times.

Meanwhile two female friends of Jadoon and Butt alleged their group is 'psychotic' - connected to 'guns, drugs, alcohol' and virtually immune from prosecution because they are the children of politicians, business tycoons and army generals.

It is thought that Ms Zulfiquar was introduced to the group while visiting Pakistan for a wedding two months before she died, and their wild lifestyle may have played a role in convincing her to stay in the country.

Zahir Jadoon, one of the two main suspects, shows off with an AK-47 in a Facebook photo as friends allege he is involved with a 'psychotic' group of people

But one female friend told The Times that women who are ensnared by the group are routinely exposed to violence, saying a friend of hers escaped threats by Jadoon after rejecting his advances.

A second alleged that one male member of the group had fired bullets at another's house after finding out that he was dating his ex-girlfriend.

They say it is unlikely that both Butt and Jadoon had proposed to Ms Zulfiquar, as was previously reported, and said it is more likely that 'they just wanted her [sexually].'

Jadoon's Facebook profile gives a glimpse into his world, and shows him posing with expensive watches, cars, a horse, and an AK-47 assault rifle.

Police have previously revealed Jadoon was in a relationship with Ms Zulfiquar and had rented the house where she was killed so that they could spend time there away from her family.

Jadoon is reported to have been staying at the upper portion of the house, which was reportedly adjacent to Mahira's room, although an initial probe found he had not spent time with her during her time in Pakistan.

Superintendent Sayyed Ali of Punjab police, who is responsible for Lahore's up-market Defence district of Lahore where the house is located told MailOnline: 'From our initial enquiries Butt was romantically interested in Mayra even though she was involved with Zahir.

'He had rented a house so that they could spend time together and, in the weeks, leading up to the murder, were seen frequently with each other going out and about.'

Referring to Butt, Superintendent Ali added: 'Police have had previous dealings with him in the past and we are looking for him all over Lahore and across the rest of Pakistan because he could be anywhere.'

'But it is a mystery to us why Zahir has also absconded and we are also looking for him because he will be able to provide us with a lot of information as to what actually happened.

It is thought Ms Zulfiquar (left) got involved in a love triangle with Jadoon (pictured together left) and his friend Saad Butt (right) who has turned himself over to officers

'If he is innocent, then we don't understand why he has gone missing. But I can promise you, we will find both men.'

Mayra had been in Pakistan for just two months before she died. She had gone out for a cousin's wedding but decided to stay after the country was placed on the UK's Covid travel red list, a family member told Mail Online.

Police said they have opened a first information report (FIR) on the case after receiving a complaint from Ms Zulfiquar's uncle, Lahore resident Mohammad Nazeer.

The FIR said Mr Nazeer was aware of two men who had been acting aggressively towards Mayra and threatened her with 'dire consequences' if she refused them, and had vowed to speak with the pair.

But on Monday he got a call from Mayra's father in London to say she had been shot to death.

Police were informed of the attack by an anonymous tipster and rushed round to the apartment to find Mayra in a pool of blood.

It is thought they then informed Mayra's father, who made the call to her uncle.

Mayra's parents are thought to have flown from London to Lahore today to attend her funeral service which was held within 24 hours of her death in keeping with Islamic tradition, Sky News reports.

Ziaur Rehman, who runs a market stall in Feltham, told the site: 'Her father called me on Monday and asked me to come to his house.

'He was crying, I sensed there was something wrong, then I went there and the news was shocking.

'Her mother she is really struggling now, she is not well at all.'

Sayyed Ali, an operations superintendent at Punjab Police, told Pakistani newspaper Dawn that Mayra had been found in a pool of blood of the floor of her bedroom, with her mobile phone near her body.

'We are also after two suspects and will share further details at a later stage,' Mr Sayyed added. 'We have seized the mobile phone for forensic analysis.'

Mr Sayyed also said police are analysing footage from nearby CCTV cameras in the hope of finding suspects.

Another senior police source told the BBC that addresses in Islamabad and Lahore are being targeted in raids.

Ms Zulfiquar's parents are expected to arrive in Lahore from their home in London later this week.

Zahir Jadoon, had rented the house (above) where Ms Zulfiquar was killed so they could spend time there away from her family, police confirmed to MailOnline

In a statement, Duncan Blackett Law said Ms Zulfiqar had been briefly enrolled on its legal mentorship programme before it was postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and she was an 'excellent mentee who demonstrated a keen interest in commercial law'.

Gracie Duncan, of Duncan Blackett Law, told the Daily Mail: 'She was a lovely girl, very quietly spoken, very keen to learn and to get into the profession. I am very shocked to learn what has happened to her.'

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement: 'We are supporting the family of a woman who died in Pakistan and are urgently seeking more information from the local authorities.

'Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.'

According to a family source who spoke to Mail Online, Mayra had decided to stay in the country after Pakistan was placed on the UK's Covid red list of countries - meaning she would have to pay 1,750 for a stay in a quarantine hotel on her return.

Mayra had allegedly complained to relatives about the cost of the ten-day quarantine, saying she preferred to sit it out in Pakistan in the hope that it would be removed from the red list next month.

A family source said: 'She didn't want to come back and pay all that money to quarantine in Britain so decided to stay in Lahore, where she was living with her grandmother.

'She was angry that it was too much money for ten days in a grotty hotel. Instead, she thought she'd have more fun in Lahore and was having a lovely time after making a new group of friends.'

The family source also revealed that Mayra had made three complaints to local police about being harassed by Saad Ameer Butt, one of two men who have been arrested.

The source added: 'A local gangster who is closely connected to the police in Lahore took a shine to her but despite reporting him for harassment, they did nothing. The police are very corrupt over there and don't take crimes against women seriously.'

Her murder is believed to have taken place in a house rented by one of her friends in the Defence area shortly after 4am.

Ms Zulfiqar (pictured) is understood to have gone to Pakistan around two months ago to attend a cousin's wedding, but chose to stay in the country afterwards

Devout Muslim Mayra had just shared a meal with her pals before starting their Ramadan fast for the day.

Neighbours reported hearing screaming and at least two-gun shots before police arrived to find Mayra's body in an upstairs bedroom, which had also been trashed.

Mayra had ambitions to be a lawyer and start her own law firm. Prior to travelling to Pakistan for the wedding, she did an internship with a legal company in Dubai.

Her mother and father, Muhammad flew to Pakistan on Tuesday morning just hours after finding out about Mayra's death. They have three other sons who have remained at the family home and are being consoled by friends and relatives.

The family source said: 'As you can imagine, the family is devastated. Mayra was a beautiful, fun, intelligent girl and a dutiful daughter and sister.

'The parents had to go to Pakistan to make sure that the police find her killer because they felt helpless sitting in London while waiting for news.'

The brother of Ms Zulfiqar has announced that he is holding a fundraiser for his sister following her murder in Pakistan.

Faizan Muhammad said he feels 'obligated' to do so, with the fundraiser considered a Sadaqah Jariyah - defined as a charitable gift that benefits both the giver and receiver.

'I don't usually like doing this but I feel obligated to do it right now,' said Faizan Muhammad. We need justice for my beloved sister Mayra Zulfiqar who died abroad in Pakistan Lahore on Monday 3rd of May (May Allah grant her shahada).

'My only sister was taken away from us at only the age of 24 years old. She still had the rest of her life to live, see the world and had big plans and dreams for her future.

'It may seem like a lot but every little helps, even if you can donate just 1.00 in shaa Allah!'

Referencing Ramadan, which is set to end on 12 May, he added: 'I request that you make special Dua magafrat for my Mayra and that Allah grants me and my family sabr and strength.

'May Allah accept all your duas especially in the last 10 days of Ramadan.'

Mahira was murdered at her rented house in Lahore's Defence Housing colony of Punjab province, where she was staying with her friend, Iqra.

Iqra has shared a heartfelt message with a Jam Press reporter on the ground: 'She was full of life and being honest with her friends.

'Indeed, a helpful girl in many ways. We're broken to lose her too early.'
China will draw a 'separation line' atop Mount Everest to prevent the coronavirus from being spread by climbers ascending Nepal's side of the mountain, Chinese state media reported Monday.

A team of Tibetan mountaineering guides will set up the separation line at the peak before climbers attempt to reach the summit from the Chinese side, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

It was not clear what the separation line would be made of. The climbers ascending the north side of the mountain from China will be prohibited from crossing the line or coming into contact with anyone or any objects on the south, or Nepalese, side, it said.

It comes amid unconfirmed reports that there has been an outbreak of Covid-19 at Nepal's Mount Everest Base camp, with climbers taken by helicopter to a local hospital.

In this aerial photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Mount Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, base camp is seen on May 25, 2020. China will draw a 'separation line' atop Mount Everest to prevent the coronavirus from being spread by climbers ascending from Nepal's side of the mountain

Nepal's government and mountaineering officials did not immediately comment on the separation line.

Both countries suspended the climbing season on the world's highest mountain last year due to the pandemic. Nepal has issued permits allowing 408 foreigners to attempt climbs this year as it tries to boost tourism revenue.

China has issued permits to 38 people to climb on Mount Everest this year. Xinhua said 21 Chinese climbers were approved to attempt to reach the summit from the northern slope. A separate group of 17 climbers has also received permits to hike on the northern slope.

While China has mostly curbed domestic transmission of the virus, Nepal is experiencing a surging outbreak with record numbers of new infections and deaths in recent days. Most major cities and towns are under lockdown and all domestic and international flights are grounded.

Mount Everest is seen from the way to Kalapatthar in Nepal. China will draw a 'separation line' atop Mount Everest to prevent the coronavirus from being spread by climbers ascending Nepal's side of the mountain, Chinese state media reported Monday

Officials in Nepal have refused to speak about any Everest outbreak. One climber, a Norwegian, told The Associated Press last month he had developed COVID-19 and has since left the country after getting better.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, a mountaineering expert who has been in the mountaineering community for decades, said it was not possible to draw any kind of separation on the Everest summit.

The only point where climbers from both sides would even come close is the summit, which is a small space where climbers spend only a few minutes to take photographs and experience the 360-degree views.

Climbers would be wearing thick layers of clothing and gear and their faces would be covered with oxygen masks, glasses and protection from the freezing air.

'The idea that anyone with coronavirus could even reach the summit is impossible because climbers with any respiratory difficulties will just not be able to reach the altitude,' he said.

It comes amid unconfirmed claims that the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal has seen dozens of climbers evacuated from base camp.

A British climber who was flown to a Kathmandu hospital where he tested positive for Covid-19 has said that social distancing measures were not being properly enforced on the mountain.

Climber Steve Harris's planned two-month expedition was cut short when he was diagnosed with High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), a potentially fatal form of severe high-altitude illness, at Base Camp on April 20 and flown to the village of Namche Bazaar.

The Covid-19 outbreak at Mount Everest Base Camp has seen dozens of climbers evacuated from base camp, it has been claimed. The Base Camp is pictured above

British climber Steve Harris, pictured above, was flown to hospital in Kathmandu last week where he tested positive for Covid-19

Speaking to MailOnline, the mountaineer from York said: 'I was initially diagnosed with HAPE at Everest Base Camp and flown to Namche Bazaar to recover.

'I wasnt asked about or offered a Covid-19 test. After four days in Namche, I was medivac by helicopter to hospital in Kathmandu where I was tested and confirmed positive for Covid-19 and pneumonia and spent a week in intensive care.

'I have been released from hospital but am still having to isolate in a hotel as I am still positive for Covid.'

He added that prior to his evacuation there were 'rumours' of Covid-19 in camp but nothing had been confirmed.

'Social distancing and masks weren't really being enforced,' he said.
An 11-year-old boy jumped from a school bus, landed on top of a pick up truck, and was thrown onto the highway after he tried to escape bullies in Walton County, Georgia

The middle school student was left with a broken elbow and a concussion after making the daring leap onto the moving pick-up after the bus stopped in a left turn lane around 2:30pm on Wednesday.

His father claims he jumped to escape bullies because officials at Youth Middle School in Loganville, 30 miles east of Atlanta, had failed to step in.

An 11-year-old boy jumped from a school bus, landed on top of a pick up truck, and was thrown onto the highway while trying to escape bullies at traffic lights in Walton County, Georgia

The boy jumped to escape bullies because his Youth Middle School had failed to step in when he was repeatedly tormented by older students

The middle school student was left with a broken elbow and a concussion after making the daring leap onto the moving pick-up after the bus stopped in left turn lane around 2:30pm on Wednesday

Describing the incident on Wednesday, his father Dion Murphy said: 'one student jumped in his face, he was pushing him against the window...

'When he fell, the other student took his shoe and in a desperate attempt to escape it, he jumped out the window'.

Murphy added: 'I believe he was trying to escape the situation. At this moment he felt back was up against the wall'.





He was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta after the incident on Highway 81 near Youth Monroe Road.





Murphy said there were several videos showing his son being bullied on the bus all year. 'I recently saw a tape that a girl was hitting on him and there's another tape of him being dragged down the aisle,' Murphy told FOX5 Atlanta. 'There's more tapes and that's why I'm so upset because the school neglected the bullying act and did not do anything about it. They took it as horse-play, but my son could have lost his life', he said, adding that his son was no longer enrolled at the school.

His father Dion Murphy said there were several videos showing his son being bullied on the bus all year

The Youth Middle School (pictured) is yet to provide a statement on the disciplinary action it plans to take

Murphy met with school leaders in March to address the issues, but little had changed.

'This generation's kids are even killing themselves because they're being bullied,' he said. 'It broke my heart because this is something that shouldn't have ever happened, way before this matter happened'.

A representative for Walton County Schools said: 'Following a bus incident on May 5, a Walton County School District student sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries. The other students and driver on the bus were not injured.

'School and district officials are aware of the bullying allegations made in connection with this event. The Walton County School District does not tolerate bullying and harassment of any kind.

'The incident is being thoroughly investigated by school officials and any disciplinary issues that may arise will be handled appropriately at the school level.'

The school is yet to provide a statement on the disciplinary action it plans to take.
The family of a woman who took her own life after her benefit payments were cut have began legal proceedings against the government.

Phillippa Day was found collapsed in her home in Nottingham in August 2019 with a letter beside her rejecting her request for an at-home benefits assessment.

The 27-year-old single mother was taken to hospital but never regained consciousnesses and died after two months in a coma.

Leigh Day, who represents Ms Day's family, have sent a letter of claim on the family's behalf to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Capita, the company engaged to carry out the PIP assessment.

Phillippa Day, 27, was found collapsed in her home in Nottingham in August 2019 with a letter beside her rejecting her request for an at-home benefits assessment

The news comes amid calls for an enquiry into the way the DWP handles cases following the revelation that 144 internal reviews into similar cases have been carried out by the DWP between 2012 and 2019.

All the cases are incidents where people claiming benefits have died or come to serious harm and there is a 'suggestion' that the DWP's actions had a negative impact.

Following the inquest into Ms Day's death, the coroner submitted a Prevention of Future Death (PFD) report to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after finding that 28 errors were made in managing her case.

Coroners are required to issue these report if they believe action should be taken to prevent a future death.

Since 2015, four PFD reports have been issued to the DWP by coroners following inquests into the deaths of benefits claimants.

An investigation was launched following the death of Stephen Carre in 2010.

The 41-year-old, who lived in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, killed himself after he was ruled 'fit to work' by the DWP despite being diagnosed as clinically depressed and bipolar.

The single mother died after two months in a coma after taking a fatal overdose

At his inquest, the coroner ruled that the decision that he was fit for work had been the trigger of his death.

The BBC Shared Data Unit has reported that it has seen copies of internal reviews which started after July 2019, which suggests mistakes continued to be made.

The DWP will not reveal the cases subject to internal reviews, but the BBC has named 82 individuals who died after alleged DWP activity such as termination of benefits by looking through press reports.

Poor mental health was a contributing fact in 35 of those deaths.

It was found that many of those individuals died within days of being found fit to work by the Government's Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process.

Stephen Carre killed himself in 2010 after her was ruled 'fit to work' by the DWP despite being diagnosed as clinically depressed and bipolar

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey maintains the DWP 'does not have a duty of care or statutory safeguarding duty'.

Human rights specialist Tessa Gregory, partner at Leigh Day, said there was a 'dissonance' between the DWP's legal stance and its role in some instances providing the sole income for vulnerable people.

'When DWP decision making goes wrong it can, as we have seen in far too many cases have devastating and sometimes fatal consequences, so it is vital that decisions are taken with full regard to a person's disability,' she said.

'The case for reform is clear as we desperately need a benefits system which serves to support, rather than endanger, the lives of vulnerable individuals.'

Ken Butler, welfare rights adviser at the charity Disability Rights UK, said people had their benefits cut and suffered 'fear and anxiety' due to 'poor and inaccurate medical assessments'.

Debbie Abrahams MP said there should be an independent inquiry into the scale and number of deaths allegedly linked to DWP activity.

Debbie Abrahams MP, who previously read out the names of 29 individuals told the BBC there should be an independent inquiry into the scale and number of deaths allegedly linked to DWP activity.

'These deaths have definitely not received the attention they should have,' she said. 'I believe that the ones that you have collated are just the tip of the iceberg.

'That there has been such a lack of openness and transparency to enable us to properly examine reports on all deaths is a disgrace.

'There needs to be an independent inquiry investigating why these deaths are happening and the scale of the deaths needs to be properly understood.

'Then there needs to be an independent body set up to investigate any future deaths. It needs to be taken out of the hands of the DWP.'

A spokesperson for DWP said: 'We support millions of people a year and our priority is they get the benefits to which they are entitled promptly and receive a supportive and compassionate service.

'In the vast majority of cases this happens but when, sadly, there is a tragic case we take it very seriously.

'In those circumstances it's absolutely right we carry out an internal review to check if the correct processes were followed and identify any lessons learned to inform future policy and service.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or click here for details
A former Home and Away actor has been accused of being the mastermind behind an alleged drug syndicate supplying cocaine across Byron Bay.

Putu Winchester-Stanton, 44, was one of seven men arrested after police raided homes across the Byron Shire on Thursday April 22.

He was charged with 10 offences including supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and knowingly direct activities of criminal group.

The actor made headlines in September last year after saying Melburnians who had moved to Byron made his 'skin crawl' and were 'greedy and selfish'.

Former Home and Away actor Putu Winchester-Stanton (right) was arrested on April 22

Police allege Winchester-Stanton (right) was the mastermind of a cocaine supply ring in Byron

Winchester-Stanton played a surfer named Pogo in the soap Home and Away

Police conducted four search warrants at a Byron Bay business and homes in Byron Bay, Bangalow and Mullumbimby.

Officers seized 340 grams of cocaine, $25,000 worth of cash and proceeds of crime during the searches.

Winchester-Stanton was arrested along with Zain Papa, 30, Bodene Lee Robertson, 32 and Clayton MacDonald, 44, and three other men.

Papa, Robertson and Macdonald - who are facing a range of cocaine supply charges - had brief appearances at Byron Bay Local Court and were all formally refused bail by Magistrate Karen Stafford.

After the arrests, Detective Acting Superintendent Greg Thomas vowed to continue to 'disrupt the supply chain of cocaine' in the popular holiday region.

'The Far North Coast is continually becoming increasingly popular with domestic tourists, and it is our job to ensure locals and visitors feel safe in our holiday towns,' he said.

The Indonesian-born actor made his big break starring as a class clown in Heartbreak High

Police seized 340 grams of cocaine and $25,000 worth of cash after searching four houses in Byron and surrounding suburbs

Seven men were arrested over the alleged cocaine syndicate operating across Byron

Winchester-Stanton was born in Indonesia and made his big break starring in Heartbreak High.

He appeared in 75 episodes from 1997 to 1999 playing the character of a loveable class clown in the Australian TV drama series set in Sydney's inner-city.

Winchester-Stanton also had minor roles in soaps Home and Away - appearing in two episodes as a surfer named Pogo - and Water Rats in 2000.

The actor launched a scathing attack on tourists to Byron Bay in September last year.

'You can spot the Melbournians in a second,' he told the Herald Sun.

'They just reek of Melbourne. Puffer jackets and ironed jeans. I mean what's with that?'

He called the tourists 'greedy and selfish' for coming to the town during Melbourne's 112 day lockdown last year.

'The tasteless mediocrity that plagues the greedy and selfish just oozes from their ironed jeans,' he said.

'They are probably up here spending other people's money. If they are sneaky enough to get here during this pandemic then imagine what else they are up to. They make my skin crawl.'
A leopard remains on the loose in China after escaping from a safari park with two fellow big cats.

The leopard sparked a frenzy among web-users who have shared pictures and video of the spotted felines roaming tea plantations in the area.

Two of the leopards have already been captured, and are in good health, officials said.

Residents of the city of Hangzhou first reported seeing a leopard on the loose on Friday, with the safari park only acknowledging the escapes after the news went viral.

The park said it delayed making a public statement to avoid causing panic, but has been attacked online for allowing the animals to escape and endangering residents by not alerting the public in a timely fashion.

Workers take part in a search for a runaway leopard in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Sunday

This photo taken on May 9, shows a rescuer taking a powered parachute as he searches leopards which escaped from a wild park in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province

Pictures were later circulated purporting to show a recaptured cat back in its cage

Hangzhou is one of China's most popular tourist cities, famed for its tea plantations and the scenic West Lake.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the escape and have questioned the personnel in charge at the safari park.

The safari park said it was 'sincerely sorry' for not announcing the incident sooner, according to a statement.

As the young leopards were believed to be less aggressive, the park said it did not make the announcement to prevent causing panic among the public.

This photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows rescuers searching for leopards which escaped from a wild park in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province

The safari park has been temporarily closed while it reviews safety and management issues.

Local officials said Monday that five people associated with the attraction - including its general manager - had been detained and that police had launched an investigation into the incident.

Authorities in eastern China are still hunting for the last of three leopards that escaped from a safari park.

Chinese media reported that a search team was on the trail of the third leopard after paw prints believed to have been left by the cat were found on Sunday, deploying dogs and a powered parachute in the hunt for the feline.

The leopard was spotted by a drone early on Sunday, but fled when people attempted to approach it, according to the Global Times.

The park has also faced criticism for a video depicting the recapture of one of the escaped cats showing a pack of at least five dogs pinning it to the ground and biting its neck as the leopard clawed desperately at them.

A worker with a dog looks up on a path into the hillside as a search for a runaway leopard suspected to be in the area in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province Sunday, May 9

The zoo later released pictures purporting to show a recaptured cat back in its cage, but many social media users expressed doubt over whether the photos were authentic or when they were taken.

Chinese zoos and wildlife parks frequently face criticism over recurring revelations of horrific conditions for animals or deadly incidents blamed on lax management.

Chinese state media reported in 2017 that a tiger killed a visitor to a wildlife park in the eastern city of Ningbo after the man apparently entered its enclosure, and tigers at a Beijing park killed one woman and injured another the previous year after the pair left their vehicle.

The Hangzhou park has been temporarily closed.
Norwegian health regulators say Covid vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson should only be offered to people who volunteer for the shots.

The country's Institute for Public Health recommended neither should routinely be used because of 'serious side effects', with both jabs linked to a tiny risk of suffering serious blood clots.

But Norway's advisory committee claimed the vaccines should be made available for people willing to accept the risk. Government officials are set to make a final decision later today.

Data on clots has spooked health chiefs across Europe, with Denmark stopping the use of the jab completely and other nations restricting its use to older age groups.

Britain has already recommended all under-40s should be offered an alternative to the Oxford-made jab  but only because infection rates are so low.

UK health chiefs say the benefits of the two-dose jab for younger adults, who rarely get very ill with Covid, no longer clearly outweighs the risks.

Regulators say the risk of suffering a blood clot after the jab is vanishingly small, but is higher in younger age groups at an estimated one in 60,000. Clots are happening alongside low platelet levels, a condition named thrombocytopenia.

J&J's single-dose jab has also been linked to the same rare complication. However, it has yet to be approved for use in Britain.

Norwegian health authorities say the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines should only be offered to people willing to get the jabs

Norway says it will have enough Pfizer shots to inoculate its adult population of almost five million by the end of July. Britain is relying on AstraZeneca and Pfizer's vaccines to hit the same deadline

Norway suspended the roll out of AstraZeneca's vaccine on March 11, after health regulators spotted eight rare blood clots out of 130,000 people jabbed. Four of the affected recipients died.

This equated to a risk of about one in 20,000. For comparison, the chance of finding a four-leaf clover is around one in 10,000, according to Cambridge-based scientist and published author David Bradley.

J&J's Covid vaccine uses the same technology as AstraZeneca's, but the clot complication is likely even rarer. Studies in the US where it has already been dished out to millions, suggest the risk may be as low as one in 500,000.

The European Medicines Agency has approved both vaccines, but said they should carry warnings about the possibility of blood clots.

Norway says it will still be able to get a first dose to all its 4.3million adults by the end of July, without the J&J or AstraZeneca vaccines.

It has ordered 8.4million shots of the two-dose mRNA Pfizer vaccine  or enough for 4.2million people  and will also receive several thousand doses of Moderna's jab.

Lars Vorland, who chaired the committee, said situations where the AstraZeneca jab could be offered may include when an immigrant wants to travel to a country with high infection rates. Britain has already said under-40s should be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca shot (Right: Jonathan Van-Tam making the announcement)

GERMANY TO OFFER JOHNSON AND JOHNSON JAB TO ALL AGE GROUPS Germany is to make Johnson & Johnson's Covid vaccine available to all adults. The country's Health minister Jens Spahn announced the plans today, adding the shots will be offered on the advice of a doctor. Europe's drug regulator backed J&J's vaccine last month 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 move to offer the J&J single-dose vaccine widely follows the lifting of restrictions last week on the AstraZeneca vaccine. The AstraZeneca shot had been earmarked for people aged over 60 following similar reports of very rare but sometimes fatal clotting events in younger people, with women disproportionately affected. Advertisement

Lars Vorland, who chairs the country's vaccine advisory committee, told a press conference today that Norwegian regulators were split over how to dish out the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines.

'We have discussed examples such as an immigrant in Norway whose family is ill in a home country with rapid spread of the virus,' he said.

'If given good information, and the person still wishes to travel, then he or she may be given this vaccine outside of the general national vaccination programme.'

Dr Vorland revealed that four of the 11 scientists on the panel had voted for the jab to be given to anyone who is happy to take it.

Camilla Stoltenberg, the director of the NIPH, said it was clear the 'rare but serious' side effects of the AstraZeneca jab were also associated with J&J's shot.

'It is clear that the rare but serious side effects that we have seen with AstraZeneca also appear with the use of Janssen,' she said.

'There is great uncertainty as to the prevalence, and whether it occurs more often in some groups, such as according to age and gender.

'Nobody has been able to assure us it is easy to detect this side effect early enough to treat or prevent it, or secure that mortality would be lower than the high mortality that we have seen so far  though it varies in different datasets.'

The panel did not rule out revising this decision, should cases, hospitalisations and deaths from the virus spike in the country.

Experts are stumped as to why the adenovirus vaccines may be triggering blockages in very rare cases, but one explanation gaining ground is that it may be down to an over-reaction in the immune system.

In these cases it starts attacking its own platelets instead of the virus.

The body then starts to overproduce them to compensate for those being destroyed by the immune system.

This can then trigger clots with the platelets clumping together, before levels fall to cause thrombocytopaenia.

Norway has also vaccinated fewer citizens (27 per cent) than the UK (51 per cent). Britain's regulators say under-40s should get an alternative to the Oxford-made jab.

The recommendation was made after Norwegian health authorities found the risk of getting a blood clot after the jabs was one in 20,000, lower than that of finding a four-leaf clover. They have a higher infection rate (76.3) than the UK (31)

But Norway has faced a much lower death rate than Britain throughout the pandemic. Their rate per million people is 141 compared to 1,883 in the UK

Fears were sparked over AstraZeneca's jab in March after a swathe of EU countries went against EMA advice and suspended its roll-out over blood clot concerns.

France suspended the jab for under-55s and in Germany under-65s were told to get an alternative shot. The EMA has, however, recommended that the jab should be used by member states.

Norway has a higher infection rate (76.3 cases per 100,000 people) than the UK (31 per 100,00). It has also jabbed a smaller proportion of its population (27 per cent, compared to 51 per cent).

But it has faced a lower number of Covid deaths relative to its population (141 per million people since the outbreak began) compared to the UK (1,883 per million).

The country also says it will receive enough Pfizer doses to inoculate its entire population by the end of July.

It had ordered more than 2million doses of AstraZeneca's jab, and has already given 200,000 sitting in warehouses to Sweden and Iceland.

The UK has ordered more than 100million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is a lynchpin in the Government's roll-out as it aims to inoculate all adults by the end of July.

The UK has recorded 242 rare blood clots among 28million doses dished out up to April 28, and 49 people had died.

This equates to a risk of around one in 110,000, but regulators say the blockages are more likely to occur in younger age groups possibly at one in 60,000.

Norway has recorded a higher incidence for the clots, but experts point out 78 per cent of recipients were women working in the healthcare sector.

These individuals are likely to be younger than average, which may explain why the rate of blood clots is higher. There is no evidence that women are more likely than men to suffer a clot from the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Lindsey Shaw, who worked at prestigious Mill Hill School for 30 years, broke her wrist when she slipped on a wet floor

A housemistress at a 35,000-a-year boarding school who claims she was left disabled after breaking her wrist in a fall is being accused of faking a 1.8million compensation bid after she was secretly filmed throwing a ball for her dog.

Lindsey Shaw, who worked at prestigious Mill Hill School for 30 years, broke her wrist when she slipped on a wet floor outside the Old Millhillian Meeting Room, where she had been speaking to a parent and pupil.

After the accident, Mrs Shaw, 60, who earned up to 100,000 per year as head of boarding at the London school, needed surgery on her wrist and says she has since developed chronic pain in her right hand, arm, shoulder and back.

Following the surgery, her right hand and wrist were highly sensitive and she couldn't tolerate them being touched - even by bedding, she says, and claims her ongoing 'disability' has ruined her career.

The foundation which runs the school admits primary liability for the accident, but has accused the teacher of 'exaggerating' her symptoms to boost her compensation claim, after lawyers for the school produced secret video surveillance evidence allegedly showing her throwing a ball for her dog with her right hand.

The 214-year-old establishment, which counts war correspondent Richard Dimbleby, Dr Who actor Patrick Troughton and Sir Dennis Thatcher among its alumni, is defending a 1.8million lawsuit brought by Mrs Shaw over her fall.

Lawyers for the school told Central London County Court the video evidence also includes footage of Mrs Shaw driving a Land Rover with both hands on the wheel and carrying her shopping with both hands.

The 214-year-old establishment, which counts war correspondent Richard Dimbleby, Dr Who actor Patrick Troughton and Sir Dennis Thatcher among its alumni, is defending a 1.8million lawsuit brought by Mrs Shaw over her fall

Mrs Shaw stepped down from her job at Mill Hill after her accident, which she says caused her psychological damage as well as arm injuries, and effectively stalled her high-flying career.

She went on to develop chronic regional pain syndrome and depression, which blocked her future career path to becoming a head teacher or senior manager, her lawyers claim.

Although it admits primary liability for the slip, the school foundation disputes the amount of compensation claimed and says Mrs Shaw should have watched where she was putting her feet.

Robert O'Leary, the school's barrister, said the footage contradicted Mrs Shaw's claims that her right hand is still badly impacted by her June 2016 fall when she slipped on the floor and landed on her right side and wrist.

The surveillance was carried out 'over a long period on various occasions', he explained.

'We say the video evidence is of a lady going about her day-to-day affairs in a perfectly ordinary way with no evidence of any difficulty whatever using her right limb,' said Mr O'Leary.

The new evidence suggests Mrs Shaw has 'exaggerated the extent of her injuries', he told Judge Richard Roberts in Central London County Court, although her barrister, David White, flatly rejected the accusation.

There was 'no substance' to the video footage, which could add 200,000 to the trial's legal costs, said Mr White, adding that nothing said by Mrs Shaw is inconsistent with the new evidence.

Expert medical reports made clear her symptoms can fluctuate, said the barrister, and in her own evidence Mrs Shaw had explained that 'if she goes shopping she tries to use her right hand to carry light things'.

Mrs Shaw says she was at the peak of her career before her fall.

School marketing literature published online show that she taught English and was a housemistress at Mill Hill's Ridgeway House - before being promoted to director of boarding.

Former headmaster Dr Dominic Luckett said of her: 'Lindsey's prodigious work ethic helped make her not only an outstanding housemistress but also a superb director of boarding'.

Mrs Shaw's case has yet to come to trial but reached court as both sides' barristers clashed over whether the new video material should be allowed to form part of the evidence.

Judge Roberts ruled that the video footage can be deployed at trial.
A Melbourne media commentator is set to stand trial over the death of her baby daughter in a bathtub.

Fiori Giovanni pleaded not guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday to the child homicide of Illen Bellinger at Southbank in July 2020.

The 36-year-old mother was committed to stand trial in Victoria's Supreme Court.

She was accused of negligence amounting to manslaughter after allegedly leaving Illen unsupervised in the bath, the court was previously told.

Fiori Giovanni, 36, has plead not guilty to the homicide of her seven-month-old daughter Illen (pictured), who was found unresponsive at their Southbank home on July 18, 2020

It was also told Giovanni's two-and-a-half-year-old son was in the bath at the time but did not drown.

Giovanni remains on bail and is due to appear in the Supreme Court on May 26 for a directions hearing.

Ms Giovanni is a bestselling author and humans rights activist with a raft of accolades to her name.

She appears regularly on television as a guest panelist, attends corporate functions as a keynote speaker and has sold more than 30 books.

Her autobiography Defy your Destiny talks about the challenges she overcame to arrive in Australia and how she was able to become an entrepreneur.

She was born in Eritrea and was 12 years old when she convinced her parents to let her escape an arranged marriage to a 25-year-old man.

At the age of 14 she started a summer camp which she later realised was preparation for mandatory army service.

She later fled to neighbouring Sudan in search of a better life.

Giovanni set up 'My Mind Valley' which is an affirmation program designed around her 'unrelenting belief that people can change their world by changing the way they speak to themselves.'
Diane Abbott urged beleaguered Labour leader Keir Starmer to campaign to bring back freedom of movement between the UK and the EU today - after a weekend of humiliation at the hands of voters in the party's Brexit-backing former heartlands.

The hard Left former shadow home secretary urged Sir Keir to return to promoting 10 'pledges' he made when running to replace Jeremy Corbyn early last year, as part of a 'winning strategy'.

The pledges included one in which he vowed to 'defend free movement as we leave the EU', as well as increasing taxes on the top 5 per cent and abolishing Universal Credit benefits.

Her comments are sure to raise eyebrows after a weekend in which Labour was mauled by voters in its former North East heartlands.

Hartlepool, which voted 69.5 per cent in favour of Leave in 2016 - was taken by the Conservatives for the first time in half a century.

In addition, Tory Ben Houchen won a second term as Tees valley mayor with more than 70 per cent of the vote.

There were also Tory victories in Leave-backing Dudley, and for the West Midlands mayoralty, which was retained by Andy Street.

But appearing on the BBC's Today prgramme this morning, Ms Abbott said: 'What we want is a strategy for winning from this leadership.

The hard Left former shadow home secretary urged him to return to promoting 10 'pledges' Sir Keir made when running to replace Jeremy Corbyn early last year as part of a 'winning strategy'.

Her comments are sure to raise eyebrows after a weekend in which Labour was mauled by voters in its former North East heartlands, heaping pressure on party leader Sir Keir (pictured today)

'It's clear from what happened over the weekend, particularly from what happened in Hartlepool, there is a problem with the strategy.

I would like to see Keir Starmer return to the 10 policy pledges that he promised when he ran for the leadership, including abolishing universal credit, putting up taxes on the top 5 per cent.

'We want to unify the party and return to his 10 pledges.'

When it was pointed out that new shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves had demanded an end to freedom of movement as a 'red line' for Labour after the 2016 vote, Ms Abbott said: 'Keir did promise supporting freedom of movement when he ran for the leadership, so he needs to talk to Rachel Reeves.'

Ms Abbott also became the latest Left figure to lay into Keir Starmer over his botched weekend reshuffle.

The pledges included one in which he vowed to 'defend free movement as we leave the EU', as well as increasing taxes on the top 5 per cent and abolishing Universal Credit benefits.

The leader has suffered another major blow to his authority amid claims he wanted to shift his deputy Angela Rayner into the health brief after stripping her of responsibility for campaigns - but she refused.

In the end he was forced to give Ms Rayner a new job at the top of the party shadowing Michael Gove, with her allies boasting she is 'even more powerful'.

Other moves in the overhaul were also far more limited than heralded. In the biggest change, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds was demoted and replaced by Ms Reeves.

Opposition chief whip Nick Brown and Commons leader Valerie Vaz were also removed from the Shadow Cabinet.

'I don't want to be rude but this reshuffle hasn't been fantastically successful,' Ms Abbott said.

The leader has suffered another major blow to his authority amid claims he wanted to shift his deputy Angela Rayner (above) into the health brief after stripping her of responsibility for campaigns - but she refused.

'Apart from anything else, because it has been drawn out it took media attention away from our successes, like Tracey Brabin becoming the mayor for west Yorkshire, like the great result in Wales.'

Labour's leadership tried to make Ms Rayner 'carry the can for the poor results at the weekend', she added.

'It does seem as if, certainly the people around him (Sir Keir Starmer), don't understand how the party works.

'They tried to sack Angela Rayner in order to make her carry the can for the poor results at the weekend.

'They didn't seem to realise that because she's an elected deputy leader, you can fiddle around with her title, but you can't sack her, she remains a senior person in the shadow cabinet.'

When asked if it was the view of deputy leader Ms Rayner that Sir Keir wanted to sack her, Ms Abbott said: 'Yes, that's what all the briefing was about.

'It was a foolish thing to even think about and he has had to walk it back - you can't sack an elected deputy leader.'
The daughter of murdered PCSO Julia James has backed calls for a doorstep clap to recognise the 'hard work and dedication' of police as detectives continue enquiries.

Investigating officers continued their search of the 280,000 new-build property in Aylesham, Kent, house linked to the suspect for the third day running.

Police are still holding a British man in his 20s, who they arrested from Canterbury area at 9.30pm on Friday and have until tonight to either charge, release or to apply to a magistrates court for permission to hold him for longer.

Meanwhile Julia's daughter Bethan Coles, a serving officer herself, backed an idea put forward by locals who plan to take to their doorsteps for a minutes applause similar to the clap for our carers campaign during the pandemic.

They plan to hold the tribute at 7pm on Tuesday to thank the police.

On a Facebook post advertising the idea, Bethan said: 'This is a lovely way to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all the officers involved.

Police were at the street today still searching the property for the third day running

Forensic crew and officers could be seen going in and out of the property wearing protection

PCSO Julia James was murdered on April 27 as she walked her beloved dog Toby

'I am so thankful of everything they have done so far.'

The man arrested is linked to the property where officers have carried out bagged-up items over the weekend.

It is just a mile away from where the 53-year-old mother of two was discovered in Snowdown on April 27.

The National Crime Agency said it was still supporting the local force with officers from its Major Crime Investigative Support unit as well as giving them access to specialists.

Neighbours of Mrs James earlier said they are too scared to leave home alone amid fears the killer could be someone they know.

Women are frightened to walk their dogs on their own and the local running club has told members they should exercise in pairs.

Kira and Sam Mandon-Jones, who walked their rescue dog Mocha two weeks ago in the wood near where Mrs James' body was found, said they will no longer take that route.

And a woman called Annette now refuses to take her border terrier Sidney to the area by herself, saying she 'definitely wouldn't go over the fields'.

Meanwhile Mrs James' husband Paul broke his silence yesterday to write on Facebook 'I miss you so much Luvly xxx' under an image of the two.

Women are frightened to walk their dogs on their own and the local running club has told members to run in pairs after the 53-year-old (pictured) was killed in Snowdown, Kent,in April

Kira and Sam Mandon-Jones, who walked their rescue dog Mocha two weeks ago in the wood near where Mrs James' body was found, said they will no longer take that route.

Police this morning taped off the house in Aylesham as forensic officers conducted searches. Two officers stood outside the detached property on the new build housing estate on the outskirts of the village.

Officers with clipboards were going door to door speaking to people living in surrounding houses. A blue Suzuki Celerio was parked in the driveway by the side of the two-storey house.

Its curtains were drawn across the front downstairs and upstairs windows and photo frames could be seen on the downstairs front windowsill.

Estate agent, Annabel Pomeroy, 25, who lives across the road, said she woke up to the house taped off by police, before seeing people in white forensics suits arriving at 9am.

She said: 'I saw the officers and tape when I woke up. Then forensics came at about 9am and they were there for about five hours.'

But Eva Fan, 48, and Steve Cho, 51, who live across the road said they saw police outside the house at around 10.30pm on Friday.

They said officers showed them a photo of a man that Kent Police released yesterday, but they did not recognise him as living in the property.

A neighbour living further up the road, who asked to remain anonymous, said they first saw police tape around the house when they woke up this morning.

Kent Police said in a statement: 'A search at a property in Sunshine Corner Avenue, Aylesham is linked to enquiries being made in relation to the murder of Julia James. There is no further guidance at this stage.'

The update came after officers arrested the British man - who is in his 20s and from the Canterbury area - eight miles from the crime scene.

A police spokesman said: 'Officers investigating the death of Julia James have arrested a man in connection with her murder.

'A man in his 20s from the Canterbury area was arrested at 9.30pm on Friday 7 May 2021, and remains in custody.'

Forensics officers continued to remove evidence from an address in Aylesham, Kent following the arrest of a man in his 20s in connection with the murder of PCSO Julia James

Despite the arrest, police continue seek the assistance from members of the public who may have been in the Snowdown area between 1pm and 4.30pm on Tuesday, April 27

NSIOA Noel McHugh, from the NCA's Major Crime Investigative Support unit, added: 'The NCA is providing a significant amount of our niche capabilities in support of this high-priority investigation led by Kent Police. While we cannot go into any further detail in order to protect the investigation, I hope outlining the breadth of our work illustrates our commitment.'

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards said: 'We continue to urge anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, to contact us.

'If you were in the Snowdown area between 1pm and 4.30pm on Tuesday 27 April, please contact us.

'This includes anyone local who may have seen something out of place at the time, or who came across someone who made them feel uneasy - such as feeling compelled to cross the road or change the route they were walking.'

NSIOA Noel McHugh, from the NCA's Major Crime Investigative Support unit, added: 'The NCA is providing a significant amount of our niche capabilities in support of this high-priority investigation led by Kent Police.

'While we cannot go into any further detail in order to protect the investigation, I hope outlining the breadth of our work illustrates our commitment to seeking justice for Julia.

'MCIS officers are extremely experienced in supporting such investigations and, along with the wider NCA, work closely with police forces throughout the UK every day as part of our collective, whole system response to tackle serious crime.'

Officers with clipboards were going door to door, speaking to people living in surrounding houses. A blue Suzuki Celerio was parked in the driveway by the side of the two-storey house

A picture of the scene in Aylesham earlier today shows police officers from Kent Police conducting searches of the house near where her body was found

Masked police officers talk outside the house being searched by forensic officers today. It comes the morning after they arrested a suspect in the case

Police officers from Kent Constabulary are pictured holding clipboards as they stand outside the house being searched this morning

Police cars line a road in Kent in connection with the murder of Mrs James on Saturday morning. Searches were conducted near where her body was found in a field

Meanwhile Mrs James's neighbour Mrs Mandon-Jones said she had walked her and her husband Sam's rescue dog Mocha in the fields towards Akholt Wood near Aylesham two days before Mrs James was found.

The 29-year-old graphic designer told the Guardian: 'This is such a lovely route. We'll do it every week. But not now.' Her business analyst husband, 31, added: 'There's this kind of feeling that it could be anyone you know.'

Another local, Annette, said she no longer walks her border terrier Sidney in the area. She said: 'I don't want to go out on my own, and I definitely wouldn't go over the fields. She was just like me, walking her dog.'

And admin worker Elina Petrusevica, 31, revealed before Mrs James was bludgeoned to death she was already weary of walking on her own due to a number of dognappings nearby.

She said women in her running club are now always exercising with others and she only walks her chocolate labrador Oakley in the village unless she is with her partner.

Earlier yesterday, Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said he did not know who the killer was, if they were a man or woman, what weapon was used nor any motive. A post-mortem found she died from significant head injuries.

Mrs James' husband Paul, 57, changed his Facebook profile picture yesterday to he and Mrs James and wrote: 'I miss you so much Luvly xxx'. It is believed to be the first time Mr James has commented.

He also used a 'Help us find #justiceforjulia' frame around the picture - which Mrs James' son in law Chase Coles said more than 8,600 have added to help the family's appeal.

Kent Police this week expanded their search area around the small village and have been looking for clues at several locations, including the woodland.

And Crimestoppers was offering a reward of up to 10,000 for information leading to the conviction of Mrs James' killer.

Commenting on the reward on Facebook, Mr Coles wrote: 'Huge thank you to Crime Stoppers who are now offering a 10,000 reward for anyone with crucial information.

'Please, we have to keep sharing all we can! Someone knows something! Julia was taken from us in such a barbaric way. No family should have to endure this.

'We need to find the inhuman and absolute evil person responsible before it happens again! They cannot be allowed to walk among us!'

A officer speaks to another as he holds a serious crime scene log as forensics conducted their searches on Saturday morning

Paul James, 57, changed his Facebook profile picture to he and Mrs James and commented underneath it: 'I miss you so much Luvly xxx'

It is believed to be the first time Mr James has commented publicly since Mrs James, 53, was found bludgeoned to death in woodland with a 'severe traumatic injury' near her home in Snowdown, Kent, on Tuesday, April 27

Detectives 'do not know the motive of the attack' or if killer was a random stranger A number of key issues were raised at a press conference into the murder yesterday afternoon: 'Motiveless attack' Assistant Chief Constable of Kent Police Tom Richards said detectives investigating the murder of PCSO Julia James are still are not aware of a motive and have not made any arrests. Speaking eight days after the incident, he told a press conference he is keeping 'an open mind', adding: 'I do not know the motive of this attack. I do not know if it's somebody she knew. 'I do not know if it's a stranger attack, of course that possibility is particularly frightening to local residents.' Appeal for witnesses He said he wants to hear from people who were in the location on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. 'We're genuinely interested in any information. If anybody has got any concerns, any suspicions, we really want to hear about it,' he said. 'Most experienced investigators' working on the case ACC Tom Richards said the PCSO Julia James case is 'a hugely challenging investigation', adding: 'Of course in many, many such investigations we have a suspect right from the outset or very, very early on.' He said the 'most experienced investigators' are working on the case. 'It's why we're keeping that open mind and we're looking at every single possibility, but of course it's why I'm appealing today for as much assistance from the public as possible. 'I think the public are one of our most important assets in this investigation. 'They've been absolutely fantastic in their support, but I do need that to continue. 'I'm hoping the picture we've released today might just spark a memory in someone,' he said. Murder is 'number one priority' for force Kent Police is treating the case of murdered PCSO Julia James as its 'number one priority', the force's assistant chief constable Tom Richards has said. Speaking at Folkestone Police Station on Wednesday afternoon, he told reporters: 'I'm confident we're going to put absolutely every effort into it, we're meeting with the family, we're giving them those reassurances, this is the number one priority for Kent Police at the moment. 'This type of attack is incredibly rare, we're not linking it to any other offences which makes it a particularly difficult investigation. 'But we've got the very best staff working and every resource necessary dedicated to this inquiry.' Advertisement

A special 'Justice for Julia' Facebook page was also set up on Thursday in an attempt to 'Turn Facebook blue for Julia' to keep her at the forefront of people's minds.

While Kent Police said yesterday they did not know what the murder weapon was, Chief Constable Pughsley told BBC Radio Kent Mrs James was killed in the 'most brutal of circumstances'.

When asked whether the killer had struck before, Mr Pughsley said: 'I hope not.'

The chief constable said he has asked national police forces to help in their investigations to take the pressure of worn out Kent officers who are working '24 hours, seven days a week'.

He said the National Crime Agency was drafted in to investigate the 'style of the attack', as well as the killer's motive.

Other officers will help with door-to-door inquiries for the next four to six weeks, he added, while some work on the 'painstaking' inch-by-inch finger search of the scene where Mrs James' body was found.

He said: 'It's a massive case. As you would imagine we throw absolutely everything at every murder and this is a murder of Julia in the most brutal of circumstances on April 27.

'So pretty much since that time we've had hundreds and hundreds of officers and staff working 24 hours, seven days a week.'

He added: 'We're about to go to national police forces to ask for some help on that, that went out on my behalf yesterday.

'And as you would expect pretty much every single chief constable in the land is offering whatever assistance they can to help find the murderer.'

He said the force did not know the motive for Mrs James' murder, but said they have 'a really wide mind to why this has happened'.

Mr Pughsley added: 'We do not at this time have a focused suspect. We have lots of lines of inquiry, lots of people to think about, lots of work to do.

'But we need to just get that little bit of luck, little bit of public information, little bit of forensic examination to come back to identify this individual so we can capture him or her.'

When asked why he was reaching out to national forces, he replied: 'So there's probably three things.

'The style of the attack. We've got expertise from the national crime agency who have been really helpful with regards to motive and/or any other reason this person may have done that, so there's some specialism coming in from the NCA.

'We've got lots of detectives doing house to house and investigative work. But also, as much as they don't want to, they need a little bit of a rest every now and again.

'So we've got detectives coming in from other forces to help us for the next maybe four to six weeks. And then we've got the painstaking, but incredibly important, inch-by-inch finger search of the scene which as you know was a massive rural area.

'We are looking for that tiny piece of evidence whether it be on an exit route or an entry route or somewhere along the way to identify and again tie in the murderer. As for the suspect, we are not narrow on that.

'We are looking anywhere for the suspect, whether or not he or she travelled into the area, whether they're from the area, whether they're a Kent resident, whether they're further afield.

'It matters not to us. We are looking wide and broad for him or her.' He said the force is 'not 100 per cent sure' on what weapon was used to kill Mrs James.

He added: 'It was a severe traumatic injury to Julia but it would be wrong to talk about what style of weapon was used until we: One, have the suspect and two, have some more detail about the weapon that was used.'

Mrs James was found near her home in Snowdown, Kent, on April 27. Pictured: Police continuing their search around the Spinney Lane area on Thursday

Officer were seen to enter the former Snowdown Colliery at around 1pm on Thursday afternoon as part of their search

Police vans on Thursday parked outside a former colliery site near PCSO Mrs James' home as the police search for clues in relation to her death

Kent Police's Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards held a press briefing (pictured) yesterday

When asked if the killer had struck before he said: 'To be fair, I don't know. That's a brutally honest answer. I don't know.

'Because we don't know yet who the killer is. I hope not and we're going to do everything we can to try and capture this person as quickly as we possibly can.'

Appealing to the attacker, he said yesterday: 'You will never ever ever completely get away with this. You'll have to keep looking over your shoulder and at some stage we'll be there to get you and we will get you. The best thing you can do is hand yourself in.'

On Tuesday police patrols stopped a total of 449 cars and spoke to drivers and passengers who could have information.

The force on Thursday released a map of the local area, saying they remain keen to hear from anyone who was inside a red section of fields between 1pm and 4.30pm on the day Mrs James was murdered.

Mick Duthie, director of operations at charity Crimestoppers, announced a reward of up to 10,000 for any anonymous information that leads to the conviction of Mrs James' killer.

He said: 'The public, like our charity, have been horrified at this heart-breaking loss of such an innocent life. Our thoughts are very much with Julia's family and friends at this terrible time.

'Crimestoppers is here to help people who  for whatever reason  won't or can't speak directly to the police, but want to do the right thing. By contacting our charity with information, we guarantee that you will stay 100 per cent anonymous.

Search teams on Thursday expanded their perimeter and could be seen examining hedgerows and a field around a mile away from a white forensic tent where Mrs James' body was found

'We're not interested in who you are and will never ask for your details  all we want is information, however small, that might help find those behind this murder.

'Julia's life has mercilessly been taken away. If you know who was involved, please remember our charity's unique service guaranteeing your anonymity is here for you.

'Crimestoppers has been taking crime information since our charity began in the late 1980s. Every day over a thousand people contact us online and over the phone.

'By contacting us, you can help  anonymously  to have the person behind Julia's murder face up to the consequences of their violent actions and you may even prevent someone else from coming to harm.

'Our UK Contact Centre is open 24/7 on 0800 555 111 or you can use our simple and secure anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.'

Earlier this week, it emerged a driver spotted a car dangerously parked near the PCSO's home shortly before she was killed.

Sheila Tanton, 68, drives past Snowdown - the quiet hamlet near Dover where Mrs James was brutally murdered last week - from her home in Elvington every Tuesday and Thursday when visiting her mother in Canterbury.

She said she noticed a black estate car near the entrance of a disused coal mine - which was searched for the first time by police on Thursday - a few hours before the attack took place - between 3pm and 4pm.

Ms Tanton said: 'I didn't really pay much attention at the time but I know it was a black estate car. It looked pretty new as it was lovely and gleaming.

'It stuck in my memory because of how stupidly it was parked on a blind bend on double yellow lines. I thought someone might go into the back of it on the corner on the bridge over the railway line. It didn't have hazard lights on and there was no one in the car.

'It was 12.50pm on the Tuesday when I was driving to Canterbury. It's been playing on my mind and I've been racking my brains on what I saw when I passed here on the day she was killed. I will be reporting this to the police.'

Kent Police declined to comment on Ms Tanton's discovery, after detectives insisted they would not provide a 'running commentary' on the investigation.

The car was parked around 30 yards from an entrance into Snowdown, where Mrs James lived.

Detectives began searching the disused Snowdown Colliery, which is next to where the black estate car was allegedly parked and is 400 yards from Mrs James' home, for the first time on Thursday.

Officers were seen inside the old coal mine - which closed in 1987 - searching around the multiple derelict buildings.

Two marked Kent Police Land Rovers and a Ford Kuga from the Rural Task Force were parked in the entrance to the eerie setting. Two were seen peering inside the corrugated iron roof of an outbuilding for clues.

The red brick buildings, many of which are covered in graffiti and have windows smashed in, are surrounded by spiked fencing and razor wire.

Signs warn 'DANGEROUS BUILDINGS. KEEP OUT,' and 'These premises are protected by dog patrols,' with 24 hour CCTV in operation.

But the six-foot high, rusted entrance gate is easily jumpable and the private property is popular with urban explorers.

The report of a black car follows a police notice warning of a man in his 60s in a black BMW who approached two dog walkers down a quiet country lane in nearby Nonington on March 16.

He offered them cigarettes in exchange for their pooches and asked if they wanted rid of them anyway - leading police to warn of dog abductors and call for vigilance.

Meanwhile, it emerged this week detectives believe Mrs James left her home only around an hour before she was found bludgeoned to death.

She had taken her beloved Jack Russell Toby out for a walk when she was brutally attacked. Detectives hunting the killer tested the dog for forensic clues to try and track down her murderer.

Police had not previously revealed what time she left the house in the quiet hamlet near Dover, where she was working that afternoon, before her body was discovered at 4.08pm.

But a new appeal for information leaflet now suggests that Mrs James set off just after 3pm once she finished her shift.

It was only around 60 minutes later members of the public found her dead on a public bridle path on the edge of Ackholt Wood, and called the police.

The flyer being handed out locally read: 'Kent Police is keen to speak to anyone who is yet to come forward with information about the murder of PCSO Julia James.

'Julia was found next to Ackholt Wood, near to Aylesham Road, Snowdown, at around 4pm on Tuesday 27 April 2021. She had been out walking her dog having left her home in The Crescent nearby just after 3pm.'

It urged anyone who was in the remote area on Monday or Tuesday who may have seen anything unusual or suspicious to call Kent Police.

Police also released a picture of Mrs James with Toby wearing the same clothes she was in before she was bludgeoned to death on a remote country footpath.

Mrs James' nephews Ryan and Dan have said their aunt's 'smile and humour could light up the darkest of rooms'.

They wrote in a heartbreaking tribute on a bunch of flowers left in Aylesham's historic market square: 'Auntie Julia. We all miss you so very much.

'Your smile and humour could light up the darkest of rooms. Words can't describe how much we all miss you. The world is most certainly a better place for having you in it. All our love. Ryan and Dan.'

Another floral tribute had a card titled 'with fond memories of sister-in-law' which read: 'Words can't say how much we will miss you. A beautiful soul inside and out. Rest in peace. Robert and Sharon.'

Kent Police's East Kent Task Force Team also left a bunch of flowers. Their tribute read: 'PCSO Julia James. Thank you for your service. You are truly missed from your police family.'

It was accompanied with the #justiceforjulia hashtag which is being used on social media to help keep the murder in the public eye.

Another card read: 'With heartfelt condolences from the women of Reclaim These Streets Deal. R.I.P Julia.'
She proposed that a National Thank You Day should take place on July 4

matron at University Hospital Coventry said we 'don't say thank you enough'

The nurse who gave the world's first Covid-19 vaccination has proposed that a National Thank You Day should take place on July 4.

May Parsons inoculated 90-year-old Margaret Keenan with the first Pfizer/BioNTech jab at University Hospital Coventry on December 8.

Ms Parsons, a matron at the hospital, said she thought 'we just do not say thank you enough'.

May Parsons, the nurse who gave the world's first Covid-19 vaccination to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan (pictured together), has proposed that a National Thank You Day should take place on July 4

Ms Parsons, a matron at University Hospital Coventry, said she thought 'we just do not say thank you enough'

She told BBC Breakfast: 'I think it is important that we show appreciation to our colleagues who have turned up and stopped whatever they are doing just to help us.

'I think it is quite important and this is something I am passionate about as well.'

The campaign has been backed by the likes of actress Dame Judi Dench and astronaut Tim Peake, as well as dozens of organisations including the Scouts, Girlguiding, Royal Voluntary Service, the FA and the Together Coalition.

In a video to launch the campaign today, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, says that he wanted to thank his mother's carer 'who has been just so generous', while adventurer Bear Grylls said that he wanted to thank the Scout volunteers.

The campaign has been backed by the likes of actress Dame Judi Dench and astronaut Tim Peake, as well as dozens of organisations including the Scouts, Girlguiding, Royal Voluntary Service, the FA and the Together Coalition

Actor Michael Sheen thanked his one-year-old daughter, Lyra, who has spent most of her life in lockdown saying she had kept him 'busy, entertained and sleep-deprived'.

Ms Parsons, who also starred in the video, said : 'I want to thank my team. They lifted me up when I was tired or a bit low.

'I am also grateful for the volunteers who came into the hospital and teachers who worked through the height of the pandemic to keep the country going.'

Catherine Johnstone, chief executive at the Royal Voluntary Service, said: 'Across the country, people have come together to support their communities and these people deserve our heartfelt thanks.'

Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic theatre, said he is backing the campaign because it 'just felt beautiful'.

He said: 'This is a moment where we can say thank you to anyone who has helped, particularly over these last four years, I would say, where we have gone from one body blow to another.

'I think that, by the time we get to the end of this phase of the lockdown, we are desperately going to want to be close to people and say thank you.'

He added that he wanted to thank everyone who has supported theatre and the arts for 'just keeping the faith'.
A group of serving French soldiers have published a new open letter warning Emmanuel Macron that the 'survival' of France is at stake after the President made 'concessions' to Islamism.

The letter published in the right-wing magazine Valeurs Actuelles (Today's Values) late on Sunday echoes the tone of a similar letter printed in the same magazine last month which also warned a civil war was brewing and called for military action against 'Islamists'.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a close ally of Macron, slammed the letter as a 'crude maneouvre' and accused its anonymous signatories of lacking 'courage'.

The previous letter, signed by 1,000 people including serving officers and some 20 semi-retired generals, warned of the 'disintegration' of France because of radical Islamic 'hordes' living in the suburbs.

A group of serving French soldiers have published a new open letter warning Emmanuel Macron (pictured yesterday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg) that the 'survival' of France is at stake after the President made 'concessions' to Islamism

The explosive letter sparked a furore in France, with Prime Minister Jean Castex called the letter an unacceptable interference while France's top general vowed that those behind it would be punished for the 'absolutely revolting' letter.

It is not clear how many people are behind the current letter or what their ranks are - and their anonymity is likely to due to the backlash faced by the authors of the previous letter, with 18 officers who signed the letter facing disciplinary action.

In contrast to the previous letter, it is also open to be signed by the public, with Valeurs Actuelles saying more than 93,000 had done so by Monday morning.

'We are not talking about extending your mandates or conquering others. We are talking about the survival of our country, the survival of your country,' said the letter, which was addressed to Macron and his cabinet.

The authors described themselves as active-duty soldiers from the younger generation of the military, a so-called 'generation of fire' that had seen active service.

'They have offered up their lives to destroy the Islamism that you have made concessions to on our soil.'

Chief of France's Defence Staff General Francois Lecointre condemned those who signed the letter last month, calling it 'absolutely revolting' (Lecointre is pictured standing beside Emmanuel Macron in a car during Bastille Day ceremonies in July last year)

They claimed also to have served in the Sentinelle security operation within France launched after a wave of jihadist attacks in 2015.

They observed that for some religious communities 'France means nothing but an object of sarcasm, contempt or even hatred'.

It added: 'If a civil war breaks out, the military will maintain order on its own soil... civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well.'

The letter comes in a febrile political atmosphere ahead of 2022 elections, when Macron's main challenger is expected to again be the far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Analysts say Macron has tacked to the right in recent months to prevent Le Pen from exploiting a series of attacks in late 2020 blamed on Islamist extremists who recently immigrated to France.

'I believe that when you are in the military you don't do this kind of thing in hiding,' Darmanin told BFM television. 'These people are anonymous. Is this courage? To be anonymous?'

Prime Minister Jean Castex had labelled the rare intervention in politics by military figures in last month's letter 'an initiative against all of our republican principles, of honour and the duty of the army'

Former president Francois Hollande weighed in on the debate, expressing bewilderment that such sentiments could be expressed by serving soldiers.

'How can we suggest that the army today could have such feelings and a desire to question the very principles of the Republic?' he told France Inter radio.

Prime Minister Jean Castex had labelled the rare intervention in politics by military figures in last month's letter 'an initiative against all of our republican principles, of honour and the duty of the army'.

France's armed forces chief of staff, General Francois Lecointre, said those who signed it would face punishments ranging from forced full retirement to disciplinary action for the 'absolutely revolving letter'.

Lecointre said: 'These general officers will each pass before a higher military council. At the end of this procedure, it is the President of the Republic who signs a decree expelling them'.

They will lose their pay and privileges as members of the reserve of senior officers, and won't be able to use their rank.

And Florence Parly, the Defence Minister, said: 'This is unacceptable. There will be consequences, naturally.

The soldiers behind the letter were all said to be anti-immigration activists with racist views and strong ties to the far-Right Rassemblement National (National Rally).

The lead signatory was Christian Piquemal, 80, who commanded the French Foreign Legion before losing his privileges as a retired officer after being arrested while taking part in an anti-Islam demonstration in 2016.

Army Corps General Christian Piquemal, 80, was the lead signatory of the 20 retired generals who backed the letter. He is pictured at an anti-Islam rally in Calais in 2016.

Division General Emmanuel De Richoufftz during his visit to the central Ivory Coast area of Sakassou August 29, 2003. Gen. De Richoufftz was also among the 20 generals to sign the letter.

But a majority of French voters last month said they agree with the generals who threatened a coup if Macron cannot prevent the rise of radical Islam, according to a poll.

In signs of a deepening chasm between the president and the electorate, a poll published last month by news channel La Chaine Info has found that 58 per cent supported the letter, while 42 per cent were opposed.

Among respondents who vote for Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) party the proportion of those who supported the letter rose to 86 per cent.

Despite widespread condemnation, politicians on the right like Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th arrondissement, continue to throw their support behind the signatories, who included 20 retired generals.

'What is written in this letter is a reality,' Ms Dati told France Info radio last month. 'When you have a country plagued by urban guerrilla warfare, when you have a constant and high terrorist threat, when you have increasingly glaring and flagrant inequalities ... we cannot say that the country is doing well.'

Rachida Dati, mayor of Paris' 7th arrondissement, said that the concerns expressed in the letter to Emmanuel Macron were valid. Ms Dati told France Info radio: 'When you have a country plagued by urban guerrilla warfare, when you have a very regular and very high terrorist threat, when you have increasingly glaring and flagrant inequalities ... we cannot say that the country is doing well'

Marine Le Pen, the Rassemblement National leader, welcomed the letter, which was first published last week in Valeurs Actuelle (Current Values) magazine.

'I invite you to join us in taking part in the coming battle, which is the battle of France,' Le Pen wrote in a response to the letter.

Le Pen, who would become head of France's Armed Forces if she replaces Macron as president next year, was widely criticised by her opponents on both the Left and Right for her words.

France's current Fifth Republic has been threatened by military coups in the past, notably by far-Right activists who were eventually defeated as they tried to keep Algeria in the early 1960s.

There are some five million Muslims in France - the largest community of its kind in western Europe - and many have backgrounds in former colonies, such as Algeria.

The Rassemblement National used to be called the Front National (National Front), and was founded by Ms Le Pen's father, the convicted anti-Semite, racist and Islamophobe, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
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India's coronavirus variant could be more transmissible than Britain's dominant Kent strain, Professor Chris Whitty warned tonight amid growing fears over the mutated virus

India's coronavirus variant could be more transmissible than Britain's currently dominant Kent strain, Professor Chris Whitty warned tonight as fears continue to grow over the mutated virus.

Public Health England data show the variant of concern  scientifically called B.1.617.2  makes up between 40 per cent and half of all cases detected in London.

There is no evidence it will cause worse disease or make vaccines less effective. But addressing the nation in a Downing Street press conference tonight, England's chief medical officer warned it must be monitored in case it turns out to be more dangerous.

Professor Whitty said: 'What we know with all the variants is that things can come out of a blue sky  you're not expecting it and then something happens.

'That is what happened with B.1.1.7 (which is commonly called the Kent variant and is currently dominant in Britain) and that has happened to India with this variant as well.

'I think our view is that this is a highly transmissible variant, at least as transmissible as the B.1.1.7 variant. It is possible it is more transmissible but we'll have to see.' Data suggests the Kent variant is about 50 per cent more infectious than the original coronavirus type.

He added: 'At this point in time, our view is that it is less likely to be able to escape vaccination than some of the other variants, particularly the South African one. But the data are not properly in there, so I think we need to be cautious until we've seen clear data that gives us an answer one way or the other.'

Professor Whitty's comments came in the same televised briefing that Boris Johnson used to announce a major loosening of lockdown rules for next Monday.

The Prime Minister batted away calls for lockdown to be eased faster tonight as he talked up the latest relaxations, with pints inside the pub back from Monday, along with hugs for friends and family and staycations.

It came just an hour after it was revealed that England had recorded zero Covid deaths for the first time since July, despite growing fears about the Indian variant. Britain's outbreak overall remains flat, with another four fatalities and 2,357 cases posted today.

In a report last week PHE said B.1.617.2 'may have replaced B.1.1.7 to some extent'. Testing figures suggest that only 50.2 per cent of all positive cases in London were caused by the Kent variant in late April, down from over 90 per cent in March.

The other 49.8 per cent were caused by other strains of the virus. The most common one was the Indian variant (B.1.617). Data showed it made up at least 37.5 per cent of confirmed cases but the exact proportion is unknown because not all samples have been thoroughly analysed.

Professor Christina Pagel, a mathematician at University College London and member of Independent SAGE, said the other half was 'potentially all' the Indian variant. Despite the rapid spread, cases in London remain stable.

The variant has been divided into three types, with type .2 the most common, but only one in five cases of this in London were among returning travellers, showing it is spreading within the city.

In the North West only 16 per cent of people infected with the variant had been out of the country recently, but most other regions saw a third to a half of their cases linked directly to international travel, likely to India.

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University in London, said on Good Morning Britain: 'Cases of this new variant are doubling every week within the UK while other variants are dropping. Overall, cases have been dropping, which shows that even with current restrictions in place this variant is growing very, very quickly. In London, 50 per cent of cases now are no longer the so-called Kent variant.'

Documents released by SAGE today also warned of a 'significant recent increase in prevalence of the B.1.617.2 variant, including some community transmission'.

In a report, No10's scientific advisers said: 'PHE is currently prioritising case finding and containment for this variant. Early indications, including from international experience, are that this variant may be more transmissible than the B.1.1.7 variant (low confidence).'

Professor Christina Pagel, a mathematician at University College London and member of Independent SAGE, produced this graph using PHE data to show that the proportion of Covid cases being caused by the Indian variant type .2 has surged to almost 40 per cent in the most recent data

Public Health England figures reported on May 5, taken from tests up to around April 27, show that fewer than half of cases have been in international travellers in most areas, and that the proportion of cases caused by the Indian variant .2 is rising particularly in London and the North West

The Indian variant has had a meteoric rise since it was first spotted in the UK with cases surging to 790 across all three types, from just 77 a month ago on April 15.

The most cases of type .2, which is the fastest spreading and makes up 520 of the 790, have been in London, with 191.

There were 87 in the North West, 56 in East Anglia and 53 in the South East, with fewer than 50 in all other regions.

In London the variant is confirmed to have made up at least 37.5 per cent of all cases in the week ending April 27. In the North West it was 17.1 per cent.

Scientists are concerned it could be outcompeting the Kent variant, meaning it is becoming more widespread  either because it spreads faster or because it is better at reinfecting people who have been vaccinated or are immune from past infection.

But Professor Sharon Peacock, Cambridge expert and director of COG-UK, which is in charge of analysing new variants, said today: 'There isn't any evidence that this causes more severe disease. Theres just not enough data at the moment.'

Only half of infections run through lab analysis were confirmed to be the Kent strain (green line), compared to over 90 per cent in March. Other variants (purple line) now make up over 49 per cent of cases and the most common of them is the Indian strain  it's even possible it accounts for the full 49.8 per cent

The dominance of the Kent variant (green line) has been weakening in almost all regions, PHE figures show

One of scientists' biggest concerns about the Indian variant is that it has evolved  or will evolve further  in a way that makes vaccine immunity less effective against it.

Early tests by a lab run by Professor Ravi Gupta at the University of Cambridge suggested that the original version of the Indian variant (type .1) saw a slight dip in effectiveness of immunity, but not as bad as with the South African strain.

It suggested that levels of useful antibodies  virus-fighting proteins made by the immune system  were about six times lower than with the Wuhan variant. But for the South African strain they were 10 times lower in similar tests, the team said.

Professor Gupta said: 'Although at population level, with good vaccine coverage the mortality rate and severity will be very low in the post-vaccination era, there are people out there susceptible to this virus who cant be vaccinated.

HALF OF CASES IN SINGAPORE ARE INDIAN VARIANT  BUT IT'S ON TRAVEL GREEN LIST Half of coronavirus cases in Singapore are being caused by the Indian variant but the country will still be on Britain's travel green list from next Monday. According to variant tracking website GISAID, 51.9 per cent of analysed samples in the past four weeks were one of the Indian Covid variants, known under the B.1.617 umbrella name. However, the country has only recorded around 25 cases per day over recent weeks, compared to more than 2,000 per day in the UK. The risk of a traveller contracting the virus there, therefore, is tiny. In the UK the Indian variants accounted for five per cent of infections over the same time period, while in India it was 46 per cent. International travel will be legal from next Monday, May 17, but there will still be tough testing and quarantine restrictions for most destinations, as well as difficulties getting into countries still battling large outbreaks. Advertisement

'That fraction of people is larger than one may think because it includes people with diabetes and underlying conditions.

'Variants may increase the margin of getting around those defences and, if those defences are at lower levels, it increases the risk of severe illness.'

The Government revealed last week that scientists now think the variant  linked to an explosion of cases in India  is 'at least' as infectious as the current dominant Kent strain.

Cases have more than doubled in a week and there are clear hotspots in Bolton and London.

Health officials are confident vaccines currently being used should still work against the variant but are carrying out urgent tests to be certain.

Scientists have grouped the Indian variant into three separate sub-strains, with type 2 quickly spreading in the UK. It has been found in schools, care homes and places of worship, it was reported.

The other two are genetically similar strains  B1617.1 and B1617.3  and aren't currently considered variants of concern. But PHE said their status will be kept 'under constant review'.

Despite being more infectious, health chiefs don't believe the variant is deadlier than original coronavirus strains.

The move to make the Indian variant one 'of concern' means officials can now put in place tougher measures to contain the strain, including ordering door-to-door tests and boosting contact tracing. All residents living in areas where the variant is spreading in the community will be asked to get a test, even if they don't have symptoms.

The Department of Health announced it would start surge testing in Bolton in the BL3 postcode and has asked residents to book a test online or on the phone so they can go for one at a site or have one delivered to them at home. Surge testing in London has not yet been announced.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that tracking of the Indian variant will be 'absolutely ruthless'.

While celebrating local election victories last week, Mr Johnson told reporters: 'What we're doing there is making sure that we are absolutely ruthless in the surge testing, in the door-to-door tracking of any contacts.

'At the moment we're looking carefully at the way the Indian variant seems to function, we don't see any evidence that it is resistant to the vaccines or in any way more dangerous.'

But one expert warned the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown might be delayed because of outbreaks of the variant.

Dr Duncan Robinson, policy and strategy analytics academic at Loughborough University, said a 'political decision' may be taken to slow down easing restrictions because the strain could disproportionately affect areas where there are outbreaks.
A Missouri hunter shot a hiker after mistaking him for a turkey just before 12:30pm on Saturday.

The male hiker received one bullet to the chest and was airlifted to hospital where he is in a stable but critical condition.

He was walking the Lewis Trail loop at the August A. Busch Memorial and Weldon Spring Conservation Area on the penultimate day of the turkey hunting season in Missouri when the accident happened.

A Missouri hunter shot a hiker on the Lewis Trail (pictured) after mistaking him for a turkey just before 12:30pm on Saturday

Rescue teams and paramedics used a utility-task vehicle to reach the injured hiker, St. Charles County Ambulance District spokesman Kyle Gaines said.

The man was then put in a helicopter and transferred to a nearby hospital.



A witness told reporters she saw 'a hunter with a large rifle, dressed head to toe in camouflage clothes', and heard 'voices' before the shot rang out.

She said paramedics placed the injured hiker on a stretcher and covered him with yellow tarpaulin, leaving only his torso visible.

'He didn't have his shirt on and paramedics were working on him', she said, adding that a man dressed in camouflage was standing nearby.

Neither the hunter nor the victim have been identified by police.

The victim was walking the Lewis Trail loop at the August A. Busch Memorial and Weldon Spring Conservation Area when the accident happened

Nancy Phillips of St. Louis, who frequently hikes the Lewis Trail loop, said she believed it was a freak accident.

'I always purposely wear my bright colors, so no hunters mistake me for anything,' she said.

Sunday was the last day of the state's turkey hunting season. There were signs warning hikers the hunt was going on until 1 p.m. on Sunday at the entrance to the trail.

An investigation into the incident was opened by the Missouri Department of Conservation and is ongoing.
The doctor who oversaw the treatment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been found alive following a three-day search after he went missing on a hunting trip.

Dr Alexander Murakhovsky, 49, was found wandering out of a Siberian forest after vanishing on Friday from a hunting base, with some fearing he had been attacked by wild bears in the vicinity.

The doctor, who had been on a hunting trip in the remote Omsk region, had overseen Mr Navalny's initial treatment and had claimed he had not been poisoned with Novichok by the Kremlin.

His disappearance came after two other two medics who had also treated Navalny had died in mysterious circumstances earlier this year.

Dr Murakhovsky, who is the Health Minister of the Omsk region, was found after he wandered out of the forest near the village of Basly in the Bolsheukovsky district and asked locals for help, reports the RBC news website.

Dr Alexander Murakhovsky, 49, was found wandering out of a Siberian forest after vanishing on Friday from a hunting base amid fears he had been attacked by wild bears in the vicinity

Dr Murakhovsky, who is the Health Minister of the Omsk region, was found after he wandered out of the forest near the village of Basly in the Bolsheukovsky district and asked locals for help. Pictured: The boggy landscape of the Bolksheukovsky district

He appeared in the village on Monday, 32 kilometers from the hunting base where he had set off from on Friday.

The doctor was taken to a nearby hospital, the regional government's press service said.

Dr Murakhovsky's wife Nazezhda, 61, also a doctor, confirmed to broadcaster Dozhd that she has spoken to him on the phone, adding that he doesn't yet 'understand the scale of the search'.

She said: 'He is not a hunter. He has never shot an animal in his life. I believe he survived for three days only because of his will power.

'He is really strong. He didn't want to upset us. Sorry, I cannot speak anymore.'

It also emerged that a 'mysterious woman' on the 'hunting trip' was Dr Natalya Bloshkina, his former deputy at the same hospital where he treated Navalny, according to BAZA media. She has not yet commented.

Dr Murakhovsky's disappearance raised concerns following the deaths of the two other medics.

In February Dr Sergei Maksimishin, 55, another doctor who treated the activist, died in mysterious circumstances amid claims he had been 'liquidated'.

The following month a further medic Dr Rustam Agishev, 63, unexpectedly died after 'suffering a stroke', prompting claims the death was suspicious.

Omsk regional police had said over the weekend Dr Murakhovsky had not been seen since leaving a hunting base in the village of Pospelovo in an all-terrain vehicle and heading to the forest.

There was concern over the doctor's disappearance after two medics who had also treated Navalny had died in mysterious circumstances earlier this year. Pictured: Dr Sergei Maksimishin, 55, (left) who died in February amid claims he had been 'liquidated'; Dr Rustam Agishev, 63, (right) who unexpectedly died in March

His friends had searched for the doctor on Friday but later reported him as missing to the police.

Police officers, hunting inspectors and local residents continued their search efforts on Monday after they found Dr Murakhovsky's missing vehicle 6.5 from the hunting base on Sunday.

There were unconfirmed claims over the weekend that Dr Murakhovsky had contacted other hunters by radio to say that he would go on by foot - but was confused over which direction to go.

But officials from the Omsk region confirmed on Monday the doctor had been found.

The doctor was taken to a nearby hospital, the regional government's press service said

'The health minister Alexander Murakhnovsky walked to the people of Basly village by himself. He is in a normal condition, he is getting checks at the hospital of Bolshie Uki district,' they said a statement.

Meanwhile Andrey Kozachuk, a businessman who was with Dr Murakhovsky riding the all terrain vehicles when he went missing, said 'it was impossible to get lost there'.

He said: ' I can't explain what happened myself. It was impossible to get lost there.'

They took different paths but were less than a mile apart in boggy territory.

'I called his walkie-talkie, he said that he got stuck and left the vehicle, and that he was walking by foot.'

Dr Murakhovsky had treated Mr Navalny at a hospital after he had fallen ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow in August last year with suspected novichok poisoning.

Dr Murakhovsky had said at the time regarding Navalny that 'analyses of biological material carried out in three different laboratories did not find any signs of poisoning'.

The doctor was then controversially promoted to health minister of Omsk.

He was swiftly mocked on Twitter by Mr Navalny, 44, who said: 'You lie, fake test results, are ready to please the bosses in any way  you get an award and a promotion.'

Local health chiefs and doctors claimed they found no evidence of novichok in Navalny's (pictured) blood, and denied he had been poisoned

When Dr Sergei Maksimishin died in February his colleagues said his demise was 'very unexpected'.

It was denied he died from Covid-19, while there were also claims he had succumbed to a heart attack.

He had suffered extremely high blood pressure shortly before his death, said reports.

'The issue is not whether he was involved in the treatment of Alexei Navalny, but the reason for his liquidation was his readiness to share information about the treatment that he had access to,' said a post on a Telegram channel called General SVR.

The channel - which claims access to leaked secrets from the Russian elite - did not give any direct evidence for its claim.

Navalny, 44, fell acutely ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow last August.

The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, and Navalny was taken to the hospital headed by Dr Murakhovsky.

Local health chiefs and doctors claimed they found no evidence of novichok in Navalny's blood, and denied he had been poisoned.

But there were also claims that the hospital was full of agents of the security service FSB, which was later accused of poisoning Navalny.

He was then airlifted to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a military grade nerve agent.

Navalny returned to Russia and was immediately arrested.

He was jailed in February for parole violations, on what he says were politically motivated charges, and sent to a penal colony.

Navalny subsequently staged a hunger strike as tens of thousands protested across Russian demanding his release.
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Navy SEALs have been spotted fast roping onto a speedboat carried by a Chinook helicopter during awe-inspiring exercises featuring the secret Night Stalker unit in Virginia.

The SEALs were ferried into the mock warzone by Black Hawk, Chinook and Little Bird helicopters belonging to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR) - better known as the Night Stalkers - close to Virginia Beach last week.

One spectacular image showed Navy SEALs shimmying down ropes from a black-painted Chinook onto a stealthy combat boat which was slung underneath the helicopter as it flew above the waves.

SEALs were seen hanging out of heavily-modified Little Birds and Black Hawks as they prepared to disembark armed with M4-style rifles modified with 'simunition' kits, providing paintball-like bullets for force-on-force training.

There was also a massive airdrop of supplies and assault boats which were seen floating down on parachutes from Boeing C-17 transport jets.

Taking part in the exercises were SEAL Team Six working alongside the Night Stalkers and Special warfare combatant-craft crewmen (SWCC) who were transporting them, according to The Drive.

SEAL Team Six, the naval component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), is headquartered at Dam Neck in Virginia Beach.

The base is just 20 miles southeast of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, where other elite SEAL and US Marines Corps units are based.

One spectacular image showed Navy SEALs shimmying down ropes from a black-painted Chinook onto a stealthy combat boat which was slung underneath the helicopter as it flew above the waves. SEAL Team Six, the naval component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), is headquartered at Dam Neck in Virginia Beach. The base is just 20 miles southeast of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, where other elite SEAL and US Marines Corps units are based.

SEALS were seen hanging out of Little Birds and Black Hawks as they prepared to disembark armed with M4-style rifles modified with 'simunition' kits, providing paintball-like bullets for force-on-force training. Taking part in the exercises were SEAL Team Six working alongside the Night Stalkers and Special warfare combatant-craft crewmen (SWCC) who were transporting them

A black-painted Boeing CH-47 Chinook of the Night Stalkers flies over the sea with a speedboat carrying elite SEAL soldiers during the operation

Navy SEALs are seen on a stealthy speedboat preparing to disembark from the Chinook during operations off Virginia Beach

Troops are seen with modified M4-style assault rifles hanging from a MH-6 Little Bird, nicknamed Killer Egg, during the exercises off Virginia Beach

Troops are seen flying over the sea in a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter armed with a minigun. The Night Stalker's version of the Black Hawk features aerial refueling capability and improved navigation systems, including multi-mode radar for the harshest weather

The Chinook flying with the stealth craft before the SEALs disembarked onto the vessel

The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers, use a specially modified version of the Little Bird which is capable of firing missiles and operating as a light attack aircraft

The SOAR Black Hawk has a normal cruising air speed of 120 knots, a maximum dash speed of 178 knots and a normal mission range of 450 nautical miles, or around four-and-a-half hours. The Night Stalker's mottoes are 'Night Stalkers Don't Quit' and 'Death Waits in the Dark'

During the exercise there was also a massive airdrop of supplies and assault boats which were seen floating down on parachutes from Boeing C-17 transport jets. Also known as the Globemaster III, the aircraft are capable of hauling the 69-ton M1 Abrams main battle tank, with a maximum payload of 85 tons

SEALs are seen in the window of the Chinook and at the rear preparing to disembark during the operations off Virginia Beach

SEALs are seen hanging out of the Night Stalker's Black Hawk during the elite special forces training exercises off Virginia Beach

Troops are seen hanging out of one of the choppers during the naval exercises

Troops are seen hanging out of one of the choppers during the naval exercises
A paramedic and fit father-of-three died suddenly while working out a gym, leaving his grieving family struggling to pay the mortgage.

Steve Nguyen, 44, from Sydney's west had a heart attack and died after collapsing during interval training at an F45 gym in April this year.

Mr Nguyen's paramedic colleagues tried desperately to save his life when they were called to his gym, and he was rushed to the intensive care unit at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney.

Coworkers and his wife Carpe - an ICU nurse - looked after Mr Nguyen, but he died two weeks later after another cardiac arrest on May 2.

Hero paramedic and father of three Steve Nguyen (left) died suddenly while working out a gym

Steve Nguyen (pictured) saved thousands of lives during his career as a paramedic of 12 years

The paramedic had gotten onto a health-kick about 18 months before, and his friend and co-worker Asaeli Williams, 35, told 7NEWS he seemed very healthy.

'We would go to (heart attack cases) fairly often. If you look into people's history there's usually something there,' he said.

The death of Mr Nguyen has left his wife Carpe to pay for their mortgage with only half their income, as well as support their three children.

Mr Williams wrote on a Gofundme page that his friend was known for his 'incredible sense of humour' and said he had saved thousands of people's lives in his 12-year career at Fairfield Station and Bankstown Superstation.

'(Staff) always held Steve in high esteem, not only for his years of experience and knowledge but for his incredible sense of humour,' Mr Williams said.

'Steve always brought a smile to everyone when he entered a room. There wasn't a bad job or brutal night shift that Steve couldn't defuse with a well-timed joke and a sneaky smile.'

Mr Nguyen (pictured with a colleague) was known by friends by his dark sense of humour

The father of three (right) worked hard to provide his three children everything they wanted

Mr Williams said Mr Nguyen worked hard to provide his three children - 18-year-old Chelsea, 15-year-old Miranda and 12-year-old Winston - everything they wanted.

'He adored and loved (them) more than anything in the world. Conversations with Steve would always involve talking about how proud he was of his kids and their achievements,' he wrote.

'Steve would often talk about plans to take them overseas or make sure they all had the newest tech. It was clear to anyone who knew Steve, nothing was too good for his kids.'

The Gofundme page as raised over $47,000 to date.
Countdown star Rachel Riley was left unable to sleep and bombarded with abuse after Jeremy Corbyn's former aide claimed she said he 'deserves to be violently attacked because he is a Nazi', the High Court heard today.

William Bennett QC told Mr Justice Nicklin that the tweet posted by Laura Murray about two years ago caused serious harm to Ms Riley, 35, who appears in the Channel 4 show Countdown.

Ms Murray is disputing the libel claim. Mr Justice Nicklin began overseeing the trial at the High Court in London on Monday and it is due to end later this week.

Ms Riley had initially posted a screen-shot of a January 2019 tweet by Guardian columnist Owen Jones, about an attack on former British National Party leader Nick Griffin, in which Mr Jones had said: 'I think sound life advice is, if you don't want eggs thrown at you, don't be a Nazi.'

She had added, 'Good advice', with emojis of a red rose and an egg.

Later, Ms Murray had tweeted: 'Today Jeremy Corbyn went to his local mosque for Visit My Mosque Day, and was attacked by a Brexiteer. Rachel Riley tweets that Corbyn deserves to be violently attacked because he is a Nazi. This woman is as dangerous as she is stupid. Nobody should engage with her. Ever.'

Rachel Riley arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, for a libel case today

Ms Riley told the court through a statement today: 'I had not tweeted that Jeremy Corbyn deserved to be violently attacked,' she wrote in her witness statement.

'I was really affronted at being called 'dangerous and stupid' and that people were being told not to have anything to do with me 'ever'.

'I had made a sarcastic but in my opinion relevant and important comment in relation to Owen Jones and a few hours later the defendant was spreading it round on Twitter that I advocated violence against Jeremy Corbyn because in her words, I had said that he deserved to be attacked because he was a Nazi.

'I believe that I was targeted by the defendant because I had been critical of the Labour Party's handling of anti-Semitism.

'It was an attempt to shut me up or to stop people listening to what I was saying by telling people that I was encouraging people to commit violence against Jeremy Corbyn.

The case is over a tweet from Laura Murray, a former aide to ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is also pictured outside the Royal Courts of Justice today

'The allegations in the Tweet have made me feel vulnerable to physical attack which is naturally very worrying.

'The volume of abusive and threatening messages was all-consuming.

'I found it hard to focus on my work and suffered sleepless nights. Even now, the abuse has gone unchecked and my reputation is not vindicated.

'Every time I have to revisit the abuse I received for this case due to this incident, it is re-traumatising and upsetting and I experience the same physical and mental reactions which affect my sleep and wellbeing.

'The growth of antisemitism on the left of British politics led me to criticise the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn and certain of its supporters and sympathisers.

Ms Murray is a former aide to Jeremy Corbyn. They are pictured together in September 2015

'My view is that the Corbyn-led Labour Party was fostering antisemitism.

'I have spoken publicly to condemn this antisemitism in the Labour Party.

'I started to do so in September 2018. My main vehicle for commenting has been Twitter.

'This led to me becoming the target of a very great deal of abuse and many damaging falsehoods from people supportive of Jeremy Corbyn's politics and his stewardship of the Labour Party.

'Many on the far left refused to accept that antisemitism was a problem within the Labour Party and instead chose to promote the narrative that complaints about it were some sort of cynical attempt to stop Jeremy Corbyn being elected as prime minister.

'The abuse and lies directed at me have been spread across social media, most noticeably to me on Twitter, as I am directly contactable through this medium.'

Ms Riley also claimed to the court that Labour showed they 'don't care about jews' by appointing Ms Murray as the party's head of complaints the day after her allegedly libellous tweet.

She said: 'I don't understand how ordinary politics you do though more carefully. The timing of it, I just couldn't see any other... that's my most honest take on that position.

Ms Riley believes she was being targeted and discredited by the left who were avoiding accepting her criticisms of hypocrisy.

'She told people not to engage with me. What she was trying to do was have my voice quashed (corr), not heard.'

When it was suggested Ms Murray was tweeting her honest opinion, Mr Riley replied: 'I can't see how that is possible.'

Countdown presenter Rachel Riley claims she was libelled in a message posted on Twitter

Ms Riley has sued Ms Murray for libel.

She says the tweet contained 'defamatory statements of fact' about her.

'We do say that the tweet complained of did cause serious harm,' Mr Bennett told the judge.

'She was accused of risking inciting violence and told she was dangerous.'

He said the tweet had been published to a 'huge number of people'.

A barrister representing Ms Murray disagreed with the case put forward by Ms Riley.

William McCormick QC told the judge, in a written case outline, that Ms Murray's tweet was 'true'.

'The claimant (Ms Riley) chose to tweet to her 625,000-plus followers about a violent attack in a manner which was both stupid and dangerous,' he said.

'It was obvious that her tweet would provoke hostile reactions of the kind that did in fact emerge.

'What the defendant (Ms Murray) tweeted was true, reflected her honestly-held opinions and was a responsible exercise of her own rights of expression on a matter of real public importance.'

He said it was 'tolerably clear' that Ms Riley had 'wrongly regarded' the libel claim as part of a long-running dispute over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

Mr McCormick said it was an issue on which she 'feels strongly'.

But he said the case was not about anti-Semitism but about the 'need for restraint in public discourse'.

Mr Justice Nicklin had ruled at an earlier hearing that Ms Murray's tweet was defamatory.

The judge had concluded that the tweet meant that: Ms Riley had 'publicly stated' that Mr Corbyn had been attacked when visiting a mosque; that he 'deserved to be violently attacked'; by doing so, she had shown herself to be a 'dangerous and stupid person' who 'risked inciting unlawful violence'; and, that people should not 'engage with her'.

Mr Bennett said 'relevant issues' at the trial were: whether serious harm had been caused to Ms Riley's reputation, and, whether Ms Murray had a 'truth' defence, an 'honest opinion' defence, or a 'public interest' defence.

Ms Riley told the judge that she was being 'sarcastic' in her tweet.

'I wasn't directing it at Owen Jones,' she said. 'I was directing it at the left.'

She said Ms Murray 'must have known' that 'I didn't say those words'.
President Joe Biden is launching a new task force in an effort to combat politicization of science and tighten rules for how the scientific community and Washington co-mingle.

The new 46-person scientific integrity panel, which is made up of individuals from two dozen government agencies, will meet for the first time Friday.

Its mission is to examine areas where partisanship interfered with what were supposed to be decisions based on evidence and research from 2009 until present day. The probes are aimed at allowing the task force to come up with ways to keep politics out of government science in the future.

The effort was spurred by concerns from the left that the Trump administration had politicized science in ways that put lives at risk, eroded public trust and worsened climate change.

'We want people to be able to trust what the federal government is telling you, whether it's a weather forecast or information about vaccine safety or whatever,' Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said.

Last week, Republican legislators accused Biden of playing politics with science by removing climate scientist Betsy Wetherhead, who had been praised by atmospheric scientists, from heading the national climate assessment.

Lubchenco said it was normal for a new administration to bring in new people.

Joe Biden's new Scientific Integrity Task Force will meet for the first time on Friday to start the process in getting politics out of science. The 46-person panel includes Jane Lubchenco (pictured), the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

White House science office's Deputy Director for Science and Society Alondra Nelsaon said people need to know 'it's not by fiat, somebody's sort of knee-jerk opinion about something.'

Nelson and Lubchenco spoke to The Associated Press ahead of a Monday announcement about the task force's first meeting and part of its composition. It stems from a January 27 presidential memo from Biden requiring 'evidence-based policy-making.'

Scientists and critics said the Trump administration set aside scientific evidence and injected politics into issues like coronavirus, climate change and even whether Hurricane Dorian was a threat to Alabama in 2019.

Lubchenco, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Obama administration, pointed to an incident during the Trump years that became known as 'Sharpiegate' as a clear example of 'political interference with scientific information that was potentially extraordinarily dangerous.'

'Sharpiegate' was so dubbed after then-President Donald Trump claimed in 2019 that the state of Alabama was facing a direct threat from Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, despite the trajectory of the storm mostly affecting the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Florida and other East Coast states.

Some meteorologists were later reprimanded by NOAA for contradicting Trump in tweets where they claimed Alabama was not threatened by the hurricane.

The matter became known as Sharpiegate after someone in the White House used a black Sharpie to alter the official National Hurricane Center warning map to indicate Alabama could be in the path of the storm. Trump showed the sharpie-altered map during remarks from the Oval Office.

One key example of politicalization of science was when Trump's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reprimanded meteorologists for claiming Hurricane Dorian would not affect Alabama  in direct contrast to the then-president's claims it would

A 2020 inspector general report found the administration had violated scientific integrity rules.

The Sharpiegate case revealed flaws in the scientific integrity system set up in 2009 by President Barack Obama, Lubchenco said.

She added that there were no consequences when the agency violated the rules, nor were there any consequences for NOAA's parent Cabinet agency, the Commerce Department.

That's why Biden's administration is calling for scientific integrity rules throughout government and not just in science-oriented agencies, she said.

Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard University historian who has written about attacks on science in the book 'Merchants of Doubt,' said politicization of science undermines the nation's ability to address serious problems that affect Americans' health, their well-being and the economy.

'There's little doubt that the American death toll from covid-19 was far higher than it needed to be and that the administration's early unwillingness to take the issue seriously to listen to and act on the advice of experts and to communicate clearly contributed substantively to that death toll,' Oreskes said in an email.

Lubchenco said a reluctance to fight climate change in the last four years has delayed progress in cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases. 'That will inevitably result in the problem being worse than it needed to be,' she said.

'What we have seen in the last administration is that the suppression of science, the reassignment of scientists, the distortion of scientific information around climate change was not only destructive but counterproductive and really problematic,' Lubchenco said.

Kelvin Droegemeier, who served as Trumps science adviser, in an email repeated what he told Congress in his confirmation hearing: 'Integrity in science is everything,' and science should be allowed to be done 'in an honest way, full of integrity without being incumbered by political influence.'

Droegemeier said the White House science office, where Nelson and Lubchenco now work and where he used to be, is more about policy and does not have the authority to investigate or enforce rules.

Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said the Biden administration is trying hard but isn't approaching the task of restoring science quite right.

'Its impossible to keep politics out of science,' Brinkley said. 'But you can do your best to mitigate it.'

He said that only looking as far back as the Obama and Trump administrations will doom the task forces efforts not to be politicized itself and looked at in a partisan way.

Whats really needed, Brinkley said, is to 'get to the root of things' and look back as far as 1945. Both Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, and John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, elevated science efforts and tried to keep out the politics. But Brinkley said that with the onset of the environmental movement, the distraction of the Vietnam War and corporations seeing science as leading to too much regulation during the Reagan era, a unified public admiration for science fell apart.

Harvard's Oreskes said her research indicated Ronald Reagan was 'the first president in the modern era to exhibit disregard and at times even contempt for scientific evidence.'

The new task force will focus more on the future than the past, Nelson said.

'Every agency is being asked to really demonstrate that they are making decisions that are informed by the best available research evidence,' Nelson said.

One of the four task force co-chairs is Francesca Grifo, scientific integrity officer for the Environmental Protection Agency since 2013. She clashed with the Trump EPA, which would not allow her to testify at a 2019 congressional hearing about scientific integrity.

The others are Anne Ricciuti, deputy director for science at the Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences; Craig Robinson, director of the Office of Science Quality and Integrity at the U.S. Geological Survey; and Jerry Sheehan, deputy director of the National Library of Medicine.
A young tradesman has undergone painful surgery after a hot water bottle exploded in his lap and left him with horrific third-degree burns.

The 20-year-old from Coburg, in inner-city Melbourne, was playing Playstation last week when the faulty water bottle suddenly exploded.

The apprentice carpenter sustained serious burns to his chest, legs and hands as well as superficial burns on his neck and arms from the boiling hot liquid.

The young man's mother Maria Machera said her son's body was trembling with pain and told her 'Mum, I'm on fire'

His mother Maria Machera said she put her son in a cold shower until emergency services arrived and could give the tradesman a shot of morphine.

'His body went into shock and he was trembling  it was a horrific sight to see, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone,' Ms Machera told 9News.

'He said, "Mum I'm on fire" - so he was burning.'

The apprentice has spent the last week in the burns unit at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, undergoing a painful skin graft to heal his second and third degree burns.

The 20-year-old apprentice carpenter was forced to strip off and stand in a cold shower before emergency services arrived and gave him a shot of morphine

Dane Holden, a surgeon from the Alfred Hospital, said the young carpenter's case was 'extremely concerning' as his injuries were entirely preventable.

He explained that while a hot water bottle may look in perfect condition from the outside, it was the inside that could be of concern.

Mr Holden said the boiling liquid inside the hot water bottle can deteriorate the plastic seals over time, causing them to 'spontaneously rupture'.

He said hot water bottles are required to meet Australian Standard Design regulations to reduce the risk of injury.

The young tradesman received horrific second and third degree burns on his chest, legs, and arms and has undergone a painful skin graft as part of his recovery

Ms Machera has called for the item to be banned from retailers following her son's horrific injuries.

'I say get rid of your water bottle, we've all got one of them lying around in our homes and its a hazard waiting to happen,' she warned.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) have stated all hot water bottles made from PVC must be marked with warning labels.

A recall is currently in place for 'Koo 2L' hot water bottles sold at Spotlight stores between 19 May 2016 and 13 July 2020, over fears the stopper could leak or the plastic seams could split.
Villagers in the Solomon Islands have been left stunned after finding a frog the size of a human baby weighing almost a kilo.

Footage shows the amphibian - a Cornufer guppyi frog - propped up on a local villager's knee after it had been found in the nearby bush in April.

Another photo of the huge hopper - which usually will grow up to 10 inches long - shows the frog's full length as it covers half the body of a child from head to feet.

Timber mill owner Jimmy Hugo, 35, was hunting wild pig on the outskirts of Honiara, Solomon Islands, when he came across the enormous amphibian.

Footage shows the creature - a Cornufer guppyi frog - propped up on a local villager's knee after it had been found in the nearby bush in April. Another photo shows the frog's full length as it covers half the body of a child from head to his knees

Villagers in the Solomon Islands have been left stunned after finding a frog the size of a human baby weighing almost a kilo

Jimmy said: 'I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It is the biggest frog I have ever seen in my life. It was the same size as a human baby.

'We call them 'bush chicken' because some villages seem to like them more than chicken, but they're difficult to catch.

'A couple of dogs had caught this one and were playing with it in the bush, which is how I managed to get the photos of it.

A villager named Mostin is pictured holding up the huge frog, left. The huge hopper is pictured, right

Timber mill owner Jimmy Hugo, 35, was hunting for wild pig on the outskirts of Honiara, Solomon Islands, when he came across the enormous amphibian

The Cornufer guppyi is one of the largest frogs in the world and found from New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago to the Solomon Islands

'We did end up eating this one as it had already died but hopefully the next time we see one it will still be alive and we'll keep it that way.'

The Cornufer guppyi is one of the largest frogs in the world and found from New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago to the Solomon Islands.

The species' population has been on the decline in recent years, but more because of logging and community settlements expanding into their natural habitat than hunting for food.

Chemicals found in the detergents used by humans washing their clothes in nearby streams harms the frogs' sensitive skin.

The largest frog in the world is known as the Goliath frog. They are found in the tropical rainforest of central Africa, within the south western part of Cameroon and north of Equatorial Guinea.

Specimens can grow up to 32 centimetres in length, and weigh up to 3.25 kilograms.
Sir Keir Starmer's row with Angela Rayner exploded after the Labour leader's 'snobby' and 'sexist' top team complained about her wearing leopard-print trousers, stomper boots and a hoodie on a visit to Hartlepool before the crucial by-election, it was claimed today.

Sir Keir's leadership has been plunged into crisis as he faced a furious backlash over his sacking of deputy leader Ms Rayner, 41, whose supporters claim she has been written off as a 'working class oik and a bit thick' instead of an asset who connects with working class voters.

Ms Rayner's team is said to have 'hit the roof' over the complaints about her outfits, which have won some praise, especially her love of bovver boots such as Dr Martens, which she has worn regularly for official visits, party conferences and at the Commons' despatch box.

The straight-talking Mancunian, who was a teenage single mother, is also known to wear open-heeled studded mules with fishnets to show off the rose tattoo on her ankle and another floral one inked on her foot.

While the MP for Ashton under Lyne's long and loosely waved red hair with fashionable 'bangs' is also popular, so much so voters in her Greater Manchester constituency are said to have shown hairdressers her photo so they can have the same style.

But civil war has broken out over her sacking, with one of the sparks said to be her love of wearing high street fashion while out on party business. There were also raised eyebrows when she washed down chips and gravy with a pint while campaigning ahead of the local elections.

One source told The Guardian: 'It's a clear mistake to fire someone who speaks like the people we need to talk to. It's a huge mistake from a bunch of snobs who don't like how she speaks.' Another added that she was unpopular with Labour top brass who believe she is a 'working-class oik and a bit thick' because she doesn't put up with their 'patronising Camden style'. Others on social media said she is a victim of sexism.

Ms Rayner's team was furious after Jim McMahon, who ran the by-election campaign, complained about photographs used in a campaign leaflet, showing her in leopard-print trousers, heavy boots and a bright coloured hoodie in Hartlepool on March 21 (pictured)

Ms Rayner's team is said to have 'hit the roof' over the complaints about her clothing and shoes, which has won her some praise, especially her love of bovver boots and her hair, having shunned the long bob that many female politicians prefer

Ms Rayner, who became a mother at 16 and has a red rose tattoo on her ankle and another floral design on her foot, is a victim of a campaign by 'snobs' in Labour, her supporters claim

Throughout the last few months, Angela has been snapped showing off her bold fashion choices, with the MP regularly stepping out in clashing colorful outfits, striking punk patterns, and unusual shoes (pictured left, in a tartan pair of Dr Martens boots in January and right, wearing a pair of flatforms last month)

Angela Rayner was a major supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, whose own supporters insisted she was not right wing enough

Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, is rarely seen wearing anything but a suit

Angela Rayner at a Labour Party general election rally at the O2 Apollo Manchester in 2019

In 2015, Angela caused controversy after she became so incensed at missing out on a limited edition pair of Star Wars shoes she complained on Commons headed notepaper (pictured, Angela's choice of shoe)

Angela Rayner and Labour leader Keir Starmer at a coffee shop, in a photograph posted today by Paul Waugh, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Week In Westminster

Then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with Angela Rayner during a visit to Leyland in April 2017

Sir Keir is the London lawyer and Remain flagbearer whose socialist parents names him after Labour's founding hero.

Angela is a former Stockport teenage single mother and child carer who hauled herself up the political ladder through sheer hard work in her community, after caring for her mother from the age of 10 and having a baby six years later.

Angela Rayner's irregular shoe collection Even when wearing what could be seen as a more conventional outfit, Angela often adds a touch of her own flare with a pair of heels. When meeting campaigners, councillors and the relatives of care home residents in Nottingham last month, she opted for a blue knee-length coat, but added a clash of colour with her red polkadot heels. And when visiting Birmingham, she showcased a smart white coat with leather detailing with a pair of black leopard print sneakers with striking white laces. Angela recently wore a pair of red mid-heel peep-toes featuring polka-dot and cherry print during a visit to Nottingham last month Meanwhile she donned a similar pair of flatform shoes, which wouldn't have looked out of place in the 90s, during a visit to Manchester with Sir Keir Starmer last month The politician appears to have a love of bold and unusual shoes, regularly stepping out wearing flatforms and creepers, which tend to be popular with goth and punks. She has pairs in many different styles, including a black pair featuring a leopard print upper which she wore in April for a visit to Hartlepool College of Further Education. Meanwhile she donned a similar pair of flatform shoes, which wouldn't have looked out of place in the 90s, during a visit to Manchester with Sir Keir Starmer last month. The MP also owns a selection of Dr Marten boots, including a tartan pair which she wore in January with a vibrant red coat and white shirt. Last month Angela added a pop of colour to her monochrome footwear with a bright pink sock while visiting Birmingham Earlier this year, Angela opted for a pair of tartan Dr Martens while visiting a vaccination centre in Oldham In 2015, Angela caused controversy after she became so incensed at missing out on a limited edition pair of Star Wars shoes she complained on Commons headed notepaper. She believed her name had been on a pre-order list for the 192 Irregular Choice shoe, but wasn't notified when the shoes went on sale, so she wrote a letter of complaint to the head office on House of Commons notepaper. In the letter, which was later leaked, Angela wrote: 'I have only ever brought your shoes and I am loathed to do so again [sic]. 'I am writing to let you know that treating customers in that way will only cost you more in the long term.' The MP later tweeted about what happened, writing: Shame they sold my pair after I waited months on their list & been a customer 4 years. Poor customer service. Angela has pairs of 'creepers' in several different styles, including a black pair featuring a leopard print upper which she wore in April for a visit to Hartlepool College of Further Education Advertisement

Last July it emerged that Ms Rayner had split from husband Mark after a decade. She was 16 when she gave birth to Ryan, the eldest of their two children.

It is not known if she has found love again, but The Sun claimed she had become 'increasingly close' to former Labour campaign chief Sam Tarry, 38.

Yesterday Sir Keir Starmer removed his deputy from her roles as party chairman and national campaign co-ordinator following Labour's catastrophic local election results. But it backfired so badly that within hours she had been handed a new 24-word job title her team insisted amounted to a promotion.

The pair met for a cup of tea in public this afternoon but relations between Sir Keir and Angela are said to have been poor for up to a year but exploded on March 21 as Labour started its failed campaign to win in Hartlepool.

Amid growing acrimony, the Labour frontbencher who ran the by-election campaign that ended in humiliation on Thursday has now been forced to deny that he had made disparaging comments about Mrs Rayner's casual appearance during a visit.

An aide to shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said he had merely suggested a different photograph of her was used on a leaflet because he believed the one chosen was not flattering - but the Guardian claimed McMahon complained to the leadership team that the deputy leader had been 'dressed inappropriately'.

And in a further sign of the bitter war at the heart of the party, her opponents leaked details of Ms Rayner's use of first class rail tickets to the Sunday Times - with her allies hitting back to claim she only did so for safety reasons after the murder of Sarah Everard.

Labour sources claim it is because she is a working class woman who has never got on with Starmer's 'patronising' team after she backed her friend and flatmate Rebecca Long-Bailey for the Labour leadership.

Their backgrounds couldn't be more different.

The relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner is threatening to tear the party apart yet again as faultlines between the hard Left and moderate wings are re-exposed.

Sir Keir's attempt to quietly remove her as party chairman as a scapegoat for the electoral catastrophies in Hartlepool, the Tees valley and the West Midlands blew up at the weekend and arguably helped increase her power within the party.

Both have some things in common, coming from humble backgrounds and being relative newcomers in the Commons. They both entered the House in the 2015 election that saw Ed Miliband defeated by David Cameron to form the first full Tory government since 1997.

But they have since led very different career paths and their relationship has deteriorated over the past year, according to party insiders, with a furious briefing war taking place after the defeats at the weekend.

Sir Keir Starmer has told his shadow cabinet that he took full responsibility for Labour's defeat in the Hartlepool by-election.

The Labour leader met his reshuffled top team at Westminster on Monday for the first time following the party's losses in last week's election.

Sources said Sir Keir told them there was no escaping the scale of the defeats which said 'something profound about the size of the journey we have to go'.

He was said to have told the meeting: 'To be clear, I take responsibility. Nobody else. I lead the Labour Party and it is entirely on me.'

Sir Keir said that deputy leader Angela Rayner had 'a big, new role, taking the fight to the Tories'.

Allies of Jeremy Corbyn threatened to oust Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader last night as civil war broke out in the party.

His leadership was plunged into crisis as he faced a furious backlash over his sacking of Angela Rayner.

Sir Keir removed his deputy from her roles as party chairman and national campaign co-ordinator following Labour's catastrophic local election results.

But his decision prompted a fresh wave of infighting, with senior figures including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham warning him that it was 'wrong'.

The toxic row came after Labour received a drubbing, losing control of a host of councils and suffering defeat at the hands of the Conservatives in the Hartlepool by-election  the first time the North East constituency had gone blue since its inception in the 1970s.

The Labour leader was expected to carry out a reshuffle of his frontbench team last night, with shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds among those facing the axe. On Saturday afternoon, Sir Keir met Mrs Rayner to tell her she would be stripped of her role running the party's elections.

It is understood the pair have endured a difficult relationship behind closed doors in recent months, with the leader's inner circle believing she has been behind a series of poisonous briefings.

Those close to Sir Keir have voiced disappointment that she has not acted like a 'John Prescott figure'  Tony Blair's long-time deputy  as they hoped she would, and have accused her of sowing disunity during his 13 months as leader. After news of Mrs Rayner's sacking was made public on Saturday night, some Starmer supporters raised suspicions she had leaked the news to provoke a row that would boost her future leadership chances.

In an attempt to calm the row, the Labour leader's allies yesterday insisted she had not been sacked and had been offered another role.

Appearing on Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, the party's Scotland spokesman Ian Murray said: 'Angela Rayner has been offered a significant promotion to take her from the back office of the Labour party running elections to the front office where she is talking to the country.'

Pictured, wearing a bold pair of patent red boots with a more-conventional style workwear dress during the Labour Party Conference in 2019

Ms Rayner has previously told how having son Ryan (pictured together) so young 'saved' her, teaching her to be 'tough and motivated'. He has since become a dad, making her a grandmother at 36

The Labour leaders taking a knee for Black Lives Matter, including Ms Rayner in goth-inspired heavy boots.

Angela, with a rucksack and hooded coat complete with fur collar, speaks to Labour supporters in London in 2019

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in more casual clothes during a visit to National Farmers' Union president Minette Batters' farm in Wiltshire last October

Sir Keir in casual clothes wieh his wife Victoria as they join in with the 'Clap for Carers' applause outside their north London home in April 2020

Keir Starmer poses without a tie with London Mayor Sadiq Khan in Euston in June 2016

Keir Starmer when he was director of public prosecutions, in London in March 2013

Sir Keir is pictured wearing a shirt and tie in his younger years

But prominent figures in Labour continued to speak out against the decision to remove her as chairman.

Allies of Jeremy Corbyn threatened to oust Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader last night as civil war broke out in the party over attempts to remove Ms Rayner

Jon Trickett, an MP on the Left of the party who served in Mr Corbyn's frontbench team, said: 'I don't think we should rule out a leadership challenge.' Appearing on an online show hosted by political commentator Owen Jones, he claimed Sir Keir's leadership victory was based on 'deceit', as he had promised to keep policies drawn up under his predecessor.

Mr Trickett, who was chairman of rival Rebecca Long-Bailey's leadership campaign, said local constituency parties were talking about holding votes of no confidence.

Kim Johnson, who previously acted as a parliamentary aide to Mrs Rayner, told the same programme that Sir Keir had 'thrown her under the bus', despite saying he would take responsibility for the election result. 'I was just outraged', she said. 'I was disgusted in terms of how Keir treated her.'

John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, said he was 'not into leadership coups', but warned Sir Keir the party would block any attempt by him to move away from Mr Corbyn's legacy. He said: 'If we have to fight it, we'll fight it in every branch, in every trade union, in every meeting, at every conference.'

Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said the decision to sack Mrs Rayner was 'baffling' and 'puzzling'.

'We've not heard anywhere in the country people saying they didn't vote Labour because of Angela Rayner,' she told Sky News.

Grangela v Sir Keir: Row between the smooth-talking self-made London lawyer and the Mancunian former single mother Angela Raynor The relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner is threatening to tear the party apart yet again as faultlines between the hard Left and moderate wings are re-exposed. Angela Rayner's socialist credentials were forged by a tough upbringing as a carer to her bipolar mother aged just 10 before becoming pregnant with the first of her three children at the age of 16. The flame-haired 41-year-old has drawn on her experience as a one-time struggling teenage mother throughout her political career. She proudly welcomed her own granddaughter at the age of just 37 in 2017 with a tweet jokingly referring to herself as 'Grangela' after son Ryan Ryan became a father to baby Lilith Mae. Ms Rayner was just 16 when she had Ryan, and has told how becoming pregnant so young 'saved' her. She has two other sons aged under 10, Jimmy and Charlie, who was born at 23 weeks and is registered blind. She says Charlie would not be alive today without the NHS. Her teenage relationship with Ryan's father ended quickly and married Unison official Mark Rayner. But they split up last summer. She also acted as a carer to her mother, Lynn Bowen, when just a child. In 202 she opened up about her tough early life, revealing she once had to have her sectioned to prevent her from self-harming. In a joint interview with ITV News, Ms Bowen credits her daughter with saving her, saying she would not have survived without her. 'I was in a very dark place, she used to bath me, look after me, feed me,' Ms Bowen said of her daughter. 'If it wasn't for her I don't think I'd be here today.' Ms Rayner was only elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne for the first time in 2015 but she has swiftly risen up the ranks to national prominence. It did not take long for her to be welcomed to the Labour frontbench under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn as she was made shadow education secretary in 2016. She became one of Mr Corbyn's most vocal defenders, both in the House of Commons and on the airwaves, before the party sank to its disastrous general election defeat in December 2019. She swiftly launched a bid for the party's deputy leadership in the aftermath of the car crash poll, standing on a so-called hard-left 'dream ticket' with Westminster housemate and former frontbencher Rebecca Long-Bailey who put herself forward for the top job. However, unlike Ms Long-Bailey, who rated Mr Corbyn' leadership 10/10, she was unafraid to criticise him. In February 2020 she said he failed as Labour leader because he 'didn't command respect' and had not been able to unite the party. She also insisted she could succeed where Mr Corbyn had struggled because she 'resonates with people in the country in a way that Jeremy doesn't'. Sir Keir Starmer His downbeat wardrobe is in contrast with the colourful style of outfits preferred by his deputy Sir Keir Starmer was raised by socialist parents who named him after Keir Hardie, the Labour leader's founder and a colossus of the socialist movement. He is married to Victoria, who works in the NHS, and they have two children. In Who's Who he refers to his parents Rodney and Josephine Starmer as 'Rod and Jo'. During his leadership campaign and afterwards he was at pains to describe his father as a toolmaker and Jo formerly a nurse before suffering from a physical disability. As well as devoting themselves to rescuing donkeys, Rod and Jo had four children. Sir Keir's three siblings went to comprehensive school while he passed his 11-plus and went to Reigate Grammar School. The shadow minister has said about his happy home life that 'whenever one of us left home, they were replaced with a donkey'. He then went on to become the first member of his family to go to University. He studied law at Leeds and did a post-graduate degree at St Edmund Hall Oxford, before joining the Middle Temple chambers of Sir John Mortimer, the late barrister and novelist. He went on to specialise in defending in human rights cases and became a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 2002. Just six years later, and despite being a defence specialist, he was made director of public prosecutions (DPP), the head of the Crown Prosecution Service. Cases he oversaw included the prosecution of then Lib Dem Cabinet minister Chris Huhne for perverting the course of justice. He held the post until 2013 and was subsequently knighted in 2014 for his service in the role. He held Holborn and St Pancras for Labour in 2015 after its MP, the late Frank Dobson, retired. Under predecessor Jeremy Corbyn he was shadow Brexit secretary, but did not often appear to be onthe same wavelength as the party leader. While Mr Corbyn was a Brexiteer of decades longstanding, Sir Keir was a vocal cheerleader for the majority Remain faction within Labour. This led to many of the more leftwing figures within the party to accuse him of undermining the hard Left leader, by vocally championing the softest of Brexits, and a second referendum. After Labour's humiliation in the 2019 General Election led to Mr Corbyn quitting, Sir Keir ran to replace him on a moderate, unifying platform. He comfortably beat Corbynite candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey to take charge in April. He attempted to keep the Left onside by giving shadow Cabinet posts to Ms Long-Bailey and a few other survivors of the previous regime. But he is unable to remove Ms Rayner as the deputy leader is elected by party members just as he is. Like Mr Corbyn, he is an Arsenal fan. Advertisement

Pioneering political punk or not bovvered? Stylists give their verdict on Angela Rayner's very unique sense of style and love of clumpy boots

Angela Rayner's unique sense of style and love of clumpy boots show the politician's 'doesn't want to be seen as a typical middle-class politician' and her confidence in her own ability, stylists have revealed.

The Labour MP, 41, from Stockport, was sacked in her roles as by party chairman and national campaign co-ordinator over the weekend after a disappointing set of election results for Keir Starmer.

However reports have emerged the pair have been clashing for months, with The Guardian stating Oldham MP Jim McMahon, who ran the Hartlepool by-election campaign, complained to the leader's office that Angela had been 'dressed inappropriately' on a visit to the town on March 21.

Photographs from the date show the MP in leopard-print trousers, heavy black boots and a bright pink hoodie for the occasion.

And it's not the first time that Angela has been snapped showing off her bold fashion choices, with the MP regularly stepping out in clashing colorful outfits, striking punk patterns, and unusual shoes.

Experts told FEMAIL Angela has been 'showing off her personality' with the outfits and 'could still command authority' despite her unusual fashion choices.

Angela Rayner's unique sense of style and love of clompy boots show the politician's 'personality' and her confidence in her own ability, stylists have revealed (pictured, wearing an outfit reportedly deemed 'inappropriate' by Oldham MP Jim McMahon)

Celebrity stylist Rochelle White said the 41-year-old, who left school aged 16 whilst pregnant and without any qualifications, proved politicians don't have to opt for safe or traditional choices when it comes to their wardrobe.

She revealed: 'I think that Angela's style shows that she is comfortable in herself to rock her own fashion style.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, Angela said people 'underestimated her' and thought 'she was stupid' because she was a 'pretty young woman'.

She said: 'I'm not stupid and most people know that now, but I still like to be underestimated because it gives me an edge. It gives me a bit of stealth.'

Stylist Rochelle said the 41-year-old proved politicians don't have to opt for safe or traditional choices when it comes to their wardrobe (pictured, in a vibrant green jacket with a tartan skirt)

As she returned to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster last year on the first day that MPs return from recess, the MP wore a bright red sailor style dress which she coordinated with her phone cover

Rochelle said the rebellious attitude was reflected in her wardrobe, revealing: 'I don't feel that because she is a politician she needs to dress so seriously all the time in plain suits.'

'She can still command her authority in whatever she wears.'

Meanwhile Rochelle also revealed the MP's choice to wear the bold outfit while campaigning could have actually benefited her cause.

The politician, who once described herself as a 'gobby northern ginger lass, has ditched the stuffy grey suits or simple shift dresses, for a bolder style, with clashing colours, bright pink ankle socks and tartan skirts.

She said: 'I feel that her looks and fashion choices show her personality.'

'It makes her relatable to the general public and, in a way, makes her approachable in a way that people feel comfortable with her.

And her preference for vibrant colours and prints isn't anything new. In 2016, Angela wore a lime green jacket during a keynote speech at the Labour party conference

Angela regularly opts for monochrome outfits with a pop of vibrant red, a choice which would normally be associated with a punk or gothic style of dressing (Pictured, at the Labour Party Conference in 2018)

'I don't feel that she wants to be seen as a typical middle-class politician who is used to being seen in court shoes and shift dresses.'

And as her profile has risen at Westminster, she has been unafraid to tone down her outfit choices.

At the Labour party conference in 2016, she took to the stage in fluorescent lime green jacket.

And when she returned to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster last year on the first day that MPs return from recess, she wore a bright red sailor style dress which she coordinated with her phone cover.

Pictured, wearing a bold pair of patent red boots with a more-conventional style workwear dress during the Labour Party Conference in 2019

Rochelle suggested Angela's wardrobe choices indicated she 'doesn't want to be seen as a typical middle-class politician' in 'court shoes and shift dresses' (pictured left and right, on the campaign trail wearing leopard print creepers)

The 41-year-old was snapped in a bold black and white striped jumper dress while attending the House of Commons last year

Meanwhile she clashed the garment with a bold black-and-white checkered backpack.

Even when wearing what could be seen as a more conventional outfit, the politician often adds a touch of her own flare with a pair of heels.

When meeting campaigners, councillors and the relatives of care home residents in Nottingham last month, she opted for a blue knee-length coat, but added a clash of colour with her red polkadot heels.

And when visiting Birmingham, she showcased a smart white coat with leather detailing with a pair of black leopard print sneakers with striking white laces.

The politician appears to have a love of bold and unusual shoes, regularly stepping out wearing 'flatforms and creepers, which tend to be popular with goth and punks.

She has pairs in many different styles, including a black pair featuring a leopard print upper which she wore in April for a visit to Hartlepool College of Further Education.

Meanwhile she donned a similar pair of flatform shoes, which wouldn't have looked out of place in the 90s, during a visit to Manchester with Sir Keir Starmer last month.

The MP also owns a selection of Dr Marten boots, including a tartan pair which she wore in January with a vibrant red coat and white shirt.

Rather than stuffy grey suits or simple shift dresses, the politician opts for bolder style, with clashing colours, bright pink ankle socks and tartan skirts

In 2015, Angela caused controversy after she became so incensed at missing out on a limited edition pair of Star Wars shoes she complained on Commons headed notepaper.

She believed her name had been on a pre-order list for the Irregular Choice shoe, but wasn't notified when the shoes went on sale, so she wrote a letter of complaint to the head office on House of Commons notepaper.

In the letter, which was later leaked, Angela wrote: 'I have only ever brought your shoes and I am loathed to do so again [sic].

'I am writing to let you know that treating customers in that way will only cost you more in the long term.'

Even when wearing a more conventional outfit, the politician often adds a touch of her own flare with a pair of heels (pictured left, meeting with campaigners, councillors and the relatives of care home residents in Sandiacre near Nottingham, and right, visiting Birmingham)

The red mid-heel peep-toes featuring polka-dot and cherry prints sunk into the grass during her visit

Angela's aides were said to have 'hit the roof ' when they heard about the comment from MP McMahon, but kept it from her to avoid fuelling the problems even further.

Angela is far from the first politician to have been in the headlines over her unusual style choices.

During her time as Prime Minister, Theresa May would often attract attention due to her choice of bold and colourful kitten heels.

Her shoes had first made headlines at a party conference, when she wore a pair of 110 leopard-print heels

Russell & Bromley quickly sold out and May  later credited with the revival of kitten heels  became the shoe queen of British politics.
Two Oklahoma boys, eight and five, were removed from class for wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts after their mother was told politics is banned from schools since the George Floyd case.

Mother Jordan Herbert said her sons Bentlee and Rodney, who attend different schools in Ardmore, were both removed from class and made to sit in the school's offices for the rest of the day because of their t-shirts last Tuesday.

Her third child, 12-year-old Jaleon, a student at Ardmore Middle School, was the only one not asked to leave to class on account of his t-shirt.

Two Oklahoma boys, Bentlee (left) and Rodney (center), were removed from class for wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts after their mother was told politics is banned from schools since the George Floyd case. Their brother Jaleon (right) was not removed on account of his t-shirt

Mother Jordan Herbert (pictured) said her sons Bentlee and Rodney, who attend different schools in Ardmore, were both removed from class and made to sit in the school's offices for the rest of the day because of their t-shirts last Tuesday

Speaking to the New York Times, Herbert said her middle child, Bentlee, had worn a BLM shirt to Charles Evans Elementary on April 30 and been forced to turn it inside out because he was not permitted to wear a political message.

Herbert said she visited the school principal after the incident and queried which part of the dress code Bentlee had breached.

She was directed to Ardmore City Schools Superintendent Kim Holland who reportedly told her after 'the George Floyd case blew up, politics will not be allowed at school.'

When she pressed further, however, Holland told Herbert the school would not be able to take further action against her son if he continued to wear BLM-emblazoned clothes because it was not against official school policy.

The district's student handbook states clothes with 'sayings or logos' should be 'in good taste and school appropriate'.

The policy says 'clothing or apparel that disrupts the learning process is prohibited', but does not specifically ban clothes which are deemed political.

Instead, the handbook states the school principal has the final say in 'any question referring to the appropriateness of dress'.

Holland later told the Daily Ardmoreite: 'It's our interpretation of not creating a disturbance in school. I don't want my kids wearing MAGA hats or Trump shirts to school either because it just creates, in this emotionally charged environment, anxiety and issues that I don't want our kids to deal with'.

Mid-morning, she received a call from Rodney's school, Will Rogers Elementary (pictured), telling her the five-year-old would be removed from class unless she brought him another t-shirt

Herbert sent her three children to their schools wearing BLM t-shirts emblazoned with an image of a clenched fist on Tuesday

Herbert told the Times she repeatedly voiced concerns BLM shirts were considered political, telling the paper 'I told Mr Holland a Black Lives Matter t-shirt is not politics. I don't see it disrupting anything'.

On Tuesday, Herbert sent the trio to their schools wearing BLM t-shirts emblazoned with an image of a clenched fist.

Mid-morning, she received a call from Rodney's school, Will Rogers Elementary, telling her the five-year-old would be removed from class unless she brought him another t-shirt.

Herbert refused to allow Rodney to change shirts.

She later learned Bentlee had similarly been excluded from class for the day because he was wearing a BLM t-shirt.

The incident has sparked a backlash across Oklahoma and prompted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to pen a letter arguing barring BLM shirts from schools breaches student's First Amendment rights.
A formal investigation is underway into Boris Johnson's 2020 holiday to the Caribbean island of Mustique, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards confirmed today.

The watchdog's probe will seek to establish who paid for Mr Johnson and partner Carrie Symond's trip.

However, the watchdog does not appear to be investigating the PM over the so-called 'wallpaper-gate' row relating to the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.

Labour MPs had urged the standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, to examine the matter but it is not included in a new list of confirmed investigations.

Mr Johnson is being investigated over the holiday under paragraph 14 of the parliamentary code of conduct which states MPs 'shall always be open and frank in drawing attention to any relevant interest'.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards today confirmed a prove has been launched in Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds' trip to the island of Mustique in 2020. The PM and his partner are pictured in London last Thursday

The PM and Ms Symonds accepted accommodation for a private winter break in St Vincent and the Grenadines as a post-election victory escape. The island of Mustique is pictured

Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds are said to have stayed at Indigo Villa on the island of Mustique

The probe is in specific relation to 'visits outside the UK' in 2020. The rules state that any interest should be registered if it is 'over 300 if not wholly borne by Member or public funds'.

Should Mr Johnson be judged to have broken the code of conduct, the watchdog has the power to impose sanctions ranging from ordering him to apologise to the House of Commons or even suspending him from Parliament for a number of days.

Responding to the probe being confirmed, the Prime Ministers Official Spokesman said: I think the Prime Minister transparently declared the benefit in kind in the Commons register of interests so I would point you to that declaration and I dont have anything more to add to that.

Confirmation of the formal investigation into the trip comes more than a year after reports that the PM was facing a probe by the watchdog into the matter.

The PM and Ms Symonds accepted accommodation for a private winter break in St Vincent and the Grenadines as a post-election victory escape.

But confusion reigned after Mr Johnson declared in the register of MPs' interests that he had accepted 'accommodation for a private holiday for my partner and me, value 15,000', citing businessman David Ross as the provider.

A spokesman for Mr Ross then denied that the co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse had stumped up any money.

But the Conservative Party donor's spokesman later clarified his stance, agreeing it was a 'benefit in kind' to the PM and Ms Symonds during their private break to the island of Mustique.

The Observer reported last year that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had decided to pursue an official inquiry into Mr Johnson, and had requested information from the PM and Mr Ross.

Labour had called for an inquiry into how the PM came to enjoy the free provision of a five-figure villa.

In a letter to the commissioner sent last year, the then-shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said: 'The Code of Conduct requires members to provide the name of the person or organisation that actually funded a donation.

'The evidence now suggests it was not David Ross. The entry made by the Prime Minister therefore appears to be incorrect.'

The trip provided Mr Johnson with a break after the 2019 general election campaign, which produced a Conservative landslide for the first time since the 1980s.

Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds were said to have stayed at Indigo Villa on the island of Mustique in the Caribbean

Labour wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in February last year calling for a probe into the PM's trip

But he faced criticism for failing to cut the holiday over the New Year period short when international tensions rose after the US killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on January 3.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge last month urged the parliamentary watchdog to investigate the refurbishment of the PM's Downing Street flat.

Mr Johnson has said he 'personally' paid for the renovations but has refused to say whether he received an initial donation from the Conservative Party to cover the costs.

The refurbishment is already subject to an Electoral Commission investigation while Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Lord Geidt, the new Independent Adviser on Ministers Interests, are also conducting their own probes.
Health minister Nadine Dorries today said she would not support plans to force care home staff to be vaccinated against coronavirus.

The Government last month launched a consultation into whether mandatory jabs for carers would work and be ethical, with a final decision expected by July.

Ms Dorries' boss, Matt Hancock, has publicly endorsed the proposal, arguing that care home staff have a 'duty of care' to elderly residents most vulnerable to Covid.

Quizzed about the plans on LBC radio this morning, Ms Dorries said: 'Would I force people to be vaccinated? No I wouldn't force people to be vaccinated.'

Vaccine uptake has been particularly poor among social care staff, with about a fifth still to come forward for their appointment in England.

SAGE has advised an uptake rate of 80 per cent in staff and 90 per cent in residents in each individual care home is needed to protect against the virus.

NHS England figures released last month showed about 78.9 per cent of care home staff nationwide have had the jab. But in 17 local authority areas, fewer than 70 per cent had received a first dose.

Health minister Nadine Dorries today said she would not support forcing care home staff to be vaccinated against coronavirus

Boris Johnson is set to confirm the relaxation at a Downing Street press conference tomorrow, after the vaccine roll-out and plunging infections led to huge pressure from Tory MPs to speed up his plans

When the consultation was announced on April 14, Mr Hancock claimed care home bosses were united in their calls for a 'no jab, no job' policy. A final decision on whether to force staff to be vaccinated is expected by July.

Boris Johnson's official spokesman previously accepted it would be 'discriminatory' to force anyone to be vaccinated.

Quizzed about mandatory vaccines last November, the PM himself said: 'Thats not the way we do things in this country'.

The scheme will only apply to care homes for elderly people and does not include facilities housing younger disabled or vulnerable adults, if it goes ahead. NHS workers and home carers won't be subjected to the new rules either.

Hesitancy is thought to be high among care staff because many of them are from low income or less educated households or black or ethnic minority communities. All of those groups are known to be more likely to refuse a vaccine.

THIRD OF UK ADULTS FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST COVID A third of UK adults are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, latest figures have shown. A total of 17,669,379 people have received both jabs - the equivalent of 33.5 per cent of all people aged 18 and over. England and Northern Ireland are both estimated to have given two doses to 33.6 per cent of their adult population, slightly ahead of Wales (33.4 per cent) and Scotland (33.1 per cent). Responding to the figures for England, Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and medical director for primary care at NHS England, said: 'Yet another incredible NHS milestone has been reached as one in three adults in England have now had both doses of the Covid vaccine - meaning that they have maximum protection from the virus. 'Reaching this milestone is no accident - it is down to months of hard work and everyone in the NHS who has played a role in this is helping to protect millions of people from serious illness and saving lives.' Meanwhile, 35,371,669 people in the UK have now received a first dose of vaccine - the equivalent of 67.2 per cent of the adult population. Wales has given a first dose to 76.2% of its adult population, ahead of Northern Ireland (66.9 per cent), England (66.8 per cent) and Scotland (65.4 per cent). All figures are based on the latest data for vaccinations reported by the UK's health agencies. Advertisement

The five-week consultation will involve talking with industry leaders, staff and residents about whether the plan is practical and ethical.

It is believed workers who still refuse to get a jab will be redeployed to care homes for younger, less vulnerable residents.

But the Department of Health has not ruled out terminating contracts where moving them to another facility is not feasible

There are about 461,000 care home staff in England.

Staff in care homes in the UK have been able to come forward for a vaccine since the programme launched in December.

They were considered one of the highest priority groups due to their interactions with elderly and frail residents, who are most likely to die from Covid.

Meanwhile, during her round of interviews this morning, Ms Dorries said the Government's main concern was now about the importation and spread of concerning variants.

She warned that while the UK is 'in the tail end of the pandemic', the world is 'still in the grips of this pandemic'.

Ms Dorries told BBC Breakfast: 'Our objective is to nail that virus, to make sure that we are never, as a country, in the position we were in last year again, and that we move out of this cautiously and safely.

'We do have variants of concern on one hand, on the other hand we have the capacity to lateral flow test everybody in the UK, we have the capacity to surge test in localised areas where we see those variants of concern and where we know problems may be rising.

'We have that in our armoury now which we never had before, but we still need to be cautious. We're incredibly aware that everybody wants to get together, that people want to hug each other, that people want to entertain in their own homes.'

It comes as Boris Johnson prepares to announce England's next steps out of lockdown at a 5pm Downing Street press conference today, where he is expected to confirm that friends and can hug each other again from May 17.

As part of the next relaxation on Monday, pubs, restaurants and cafes across England will be able to seat customers inside again.

Gatherings of up to six people or two households indoors will be allowed again, while hotels, B&Bs, cinemas, theatres and museums are to reopen.

Limits on funeral mourners will also be scrapped and some foreign holidays are set to be allowed.

Ministers are meeting today to finalise the details but Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the Government wanted to see 'friendly contact' restored after more than a year of social curbs.

But No10's cautious scientists have warned that too much hugging could 'perpetuate' Covid's spread.

Professor Cath Noakes, who sits on SAGE, advised that if people are going to hug others, it should be restricted 'to very small numbers of close family who perhaps you really value a hug from' and suggested wearing masks to be safe.

'I think don't hug too frequently, keep it short, try and avoid being face-to-face, so perhaps turn your face away slightly, and even wearing a mask could help,' she told the BBC.

Professor Noakes, an expert in airborne infections at the University of Leeds, backed allowing vaccinated grandparents to hug their grandchildren, claiming that the risk of transmission was very low, even though it was not zero.

But she said it would worry her if 'we were advocating we could hug all of our friends every time we meet them again'. This would 'perpetuate an awful lot of additional close contact that could spread the virus', she added.
Police are searching for a schoolboy who went missing from his home nine days ago.

David Mayo, 15, was last seen on May 1, and police are urgently appealing for information amid concern for his welfare.

Gwent Police say the teenager from Cwmbran, south Wales is white, 5ft 9 tall, of thin build and has short brown hair.

The teenager, aged 15, has been missing from his home in Cwmbran for nine days

He was last seen wearing a white, red and blue Nike jumper, dark jogging bottoms and a black coat.

Police have said the teen has links to Chepstow, Didcot, Ipswich and London.

Anyone with information relating to his whereabouts should contact Gwent Police on 101 quoting 2100152556.

Direct messages can also be sent to the Gwent Police Facebook and Twitter pages.
A girl who can't swim but immersed herself in water for a social media prank had to be rescued by emergency services.

The teenager went into the water at the Alfred Dock in Liverpool yesterday evening, holding a bottle of alcohol.

She and a male friend had planned for the boy to swim out to her, drink the contents of the bottle and then rescue her in a bid to gain likes for social media.

But the prank failed and a rescue team had to pull the girl out of the water after the boy swam to safety, with police, paramedics and fire crew all attending the scene.

The failed stunt has prompted officials to issue a warning to others not to do the same.

The teenager went into the water at the Alfred Dock in Liverpool yesterday evening but had to be rescued

Ben Hambling for HM Coastguard said: 'Please don't get involved in pranks for social media involving swimming and alcohol.

'For a few seconds on social media, you risk losing your life. Every year, the coastguard deals with fatal incidents, where alcohol is a causal factor.

'Please don't drink and drown.'

Another spokesman at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: 'Earlier this evening a girl and boy were recovered from the water at Alfred Dock, Seacombe.

'The girl, a non-swimmer, had gone into the water with a bottle of alcohol.

'The boy intended to swim out to her, drink the bottle, and then attempt to rescue her. The prank was being filmed by another friend for social media.

'As the prank started to go horribly wrong, the police received a 999 call.

'The police then contacted the Coastguard who sent the New Brighton and Crosby Coastguard Rescue Teams and the New Brighton RNLI Inshore Lifeboat.

'Mersey Fire and Rescue, Mersey Police and the North West Ambulance Service also attended.

'The male self recovered and police threw a line to the female and recovered her from the water.'

The prank was condemned by people on social media.

Jeannette Mackay said: 'Although no actual laws were (probably?) broken, community service washing the RNLI boatyards etc would give these utter plonkers something to do that their mate could film.

'If they have any sense of responsibility they should fundraise to recoup some of the costs incurred of rescue.'

Jan Barnes said: 'Why? Just why? For goodness sake, are these idiots really walking the streets? Set them to fundraising and cleaning equipment for the emergency services.'
A 20-year-old man has been charged with the murder of mother-of-two Maria Rawlings.

The body of the 45-year-old grandmother was found in bushes in Little Heath, Romford, east London, on Tuesday, May 4.

Police believe she was attacked after leaving the King George Hospital in Goodmayes, Ilford, the previous evening.

She was walking to Barley Lane in the direction of the A12 when, according to police, she was grabbed off the street and forced into bushes.

Valentin Lazar from Barking has tonight been charged with Ms Rawlings' murder.

Maria Jane Rawlings (pictured above), 45, from Chelmsford, Essex, was found dead in Little Heath, Romford, by a man who was walking his dog at around 2pm on Tuesday

Mrs Rawlings was last seen in King George Hospital in Goodmayes, Ilford, on Monday evening. She left hospital and made her way on foot to Barley Lane in the direction of the A12

He is due to appear in custody at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

A post-mortem examination found that Ms Rawlings had been strangled and had suffered head injuries.

Detective Chief Inspector David Hillier, who is leading the murder investigation, said: 'My thoughts remain with Maria's family at this incredibly difficult time.'

Ms Rawlings lived 20-miles away from Little Heath in Chelmsford, Essex.

Her devastated family have left flowers by the bush where her body was found, with a message attached to one bouquet reading: 'Mummy. I love you now, forever and always.

Detectives believe someone may have approached her after she left the hospital

Flowers left at Little Health in Romford, east London, where Ms Rawlings was found dead. A message attached to one bouquet read: 'Mummy. I love you now, forever and always'

'In this s*** world you made things brighter. Forever my angel. Your Big Baby.'

Another note read: 'I can't believe this has happened. I love you so much, please be at rest.'

And a touching message from her grandsons read: 'Nanny, we love you soo much, we will never forget you. Your boys.'

Those with information can contact the incident room on 020 8345 3865 or by calling 101 or tweeting @MetCC, and quoting the reference CAD3551/4May.
Michel Fourniret, 78, (pictured) has slipped into a coma and is on the verge of death

The French serial killer who murdered British student Joanna Parrish and dozens more has slipped into a coma and is on the verge of death, it emerged today.

Michel Fourniret  the 79-year-old known as the 'Beast of the Ardennes'  was rushed to a secure unit at the Pitie Salpetriere in Paris on Saturday 'suffering from respiratory problems'.

'He is suffering with heart problems and mental degeneration, has been placed in a coma, and doctors consider he cannot be resuscitated,' a source told Le Parisien newspaper on Monday.

Fourniret has admitted kidnapping, raping and murdering nine girls and young women over a 14-year period from 1987, and is thought to be behind up to 21 more killings.

They included Joanna, a 20-year-old Leeds University language student who was killed in Burgundy countryside in eastern France in May 1990.

In 2018, Fourniret told examining magistrates that he ended the lives of both Joanna and Marie-Ange Domece, a mentally handicapped teenager who disappeared in 1988, aged 19.

Joanna's body was found naked in the River Yonne in Auxerre, the day after she was reported missing.

Fourniret was the prime suspect in Joanna's case for years, and was finally arrested in 2005 with his wife Monique Olivier in connection with the death.

Michel Fourniret, known as the Beast of the Ardennes, was jailed for life without the possibility of parole in May 2008 after admitting the kidnap, rape and murder of seven young women over a 14-year period from 1987 including Estelle Mouzin (left) and Joanna Parrish (right)

Olivier was also jailed for complicity after it was revealed she would pick up victims for him as she drove in their car around the wooden Ardennes area with their baby son in the backseat.

Last year, analysts found forensic traces of two other Fourniret victims - nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin and 18-year-old Celine Saison - on a mattress belonging to the murderer's sister.

Then advanced testing led to links with 12 other people, whose identities could be revealed thanks to advanced testing.

Corinne Herrmann, a barrister representing presumed victims, said at the time: 'We want the DNA of all victims and disappeared girls that we represent to be compared with those found on the mattress, and with all evidence under seal seized at Michel Fourniret's home.'

Pictured: An excavator digs a two hectares parcel of the forest near the village of Issancourt-et-Rumel on the third day of the search operations for the remains of nine-year-old girl Estelle Mouzin on April 29

Ms Herrmann added: 'It is inconceivable that Fourniret did not kill other victims.'

Fourniret was in the high-security Fresnes prison in Paris until being rushed to the Pitie Salpetriere.

Le Parisien reported that he 'had already been hospitalized in emergency on several occasions.'

Didier Seban, another lawyer for the families of his victims, said: 'His condition and his memory have been deteriorating for several months and we suspect that he will never be tried' for many of his crimes.

Mr Seban added: 'This situation is obviously hard to live with for the families who will be deprived of the main accused in the event of a trial.'

Michel Fourniret  the 79-year-old known as the 'Beast of the Ardennes'  was rushed to a secure unit at the Pitie Salpetriere in Paris (file photo) on Saturday 'suffering from respiratory problems'

Monique Olivier has told a fellow prisoner that her ex-husband's victims 'greatly exceeded 30', according to investigating sources who have monitored her in Rennes prison.

Genetic traces have linked him with at least 21 unsolved cases of murders or disappearances across France.

This list exclusively concerns girls or young women, aged 10 to 39, who mysteriously disappeared or were murdered between 1987 and 2003 in 17 departments, the French equivalent of counties.

Fourniret was convicted of seven murders in May 2008, and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Olivier, his ex-wife, was given life with a minimum term of 28 years in prison, for complicity in multiple murders.
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Body camera footage shows the moment a heroic cop rushed to save a four-year-old girl and get her to safety after shots rang out in Times Square on Saturday afternoon.

Police Officer Alyssa Vogel is seen rushing to respond after another officer tending to the wounded tells her: 'I think there's a baby down that way.'

'A baby?' she replies, before immediately running down the sidewalk of the tourist hotspot, pushing some people out of the way to get to four-year-old Skye Martinez.

The youngster was wounded in the calf when gunman Farrakhan Muhammed, 31, opened fire, in the latest in a string of violent crimes that are threatening the city's tourism and amid calls to bolster the police force.

Vogel immediately applied a tourniquet to Skye's leg, and scooped her up in her arms, running to take the child to an ambulance.

Body camera footage shows NYPD Officer Alyssa Vogel (pictured) running through Times Square to reach a four-year-old who was shot in the calf when a gunman opened fire on Saturday night. She applied a tourniquet to the girl's leg and carried her as she ran towards a nearby ambulance

Cop Alyssa Vogel was filmed running from the tourist hotspot with four-year-old Skye Martinez in her arms on Saturday after gunman Farrakhan Muhammed, 31, opened fire (right). On Monday, Vogel said she was just doing her job

'I wanted to get her the help that she needed,' Vogel said later.

'I treated her as if she's my own child - to help her as quickly as I possibly can, to get her the best help she deserved,' Vogel told DailyMail.com.

Skye had been waiting in line with her mother at a toy store when Muhammed, who sells CDs in the area, started shooting around 5 pm.

He was believed to have been targeting his brother, who he'd just gotten into an argument with, when he opened fire. He missed his brother but wounded Skye and two others; 23-year-old Wendy Magrinat, who was also shot in the leg, and another woman who was shot in the foot.

Skye's mother was also there and she ran along behind Vogel after the cop scooped Skye up. Muhammed fled the scene and remains on the run.

'I think any officer that would've responded to a job just like that would've done the exact same thing,' Vogel said.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Vogel said she thought any police officer in that situation would have done the same thing

The incident came amid criticism from the Sergeants Benevolent Association and mayoral candidates who said Saturday's shooting was proof of the need of more funding for the NYPD, who had their budget slashed by $1billion last summer by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Violent crime has skyrocketed in New York City over the last several years and shootings are at their most frequent since 1998.

'Live from Times Square Disney in NYC the center of the world and the 'Happiest Place on Earth' where 4 year old girls are shot in broad day light, only feet away from a police precinct,' the SBA tweeted about the incident that night, including a photo of the Times Square Mickey Mouse.

'Tourists avoid NYC dont become a victim, please go to the real Disney in Florida.'

Tourists were just starting to come back to the Big Apple following a decimating 18-month break in travel thanks to COVID-19, mayoral front-runner Andrew Yang said, and the city 'cannot afford to defund the police.'

'When I talk to New Yorkers, I get a very different message every single day. Nothing works in our city without public safety, and for public safety we need the police.

'My message to the NYPD is this: New York needs you, your city needs you. We need you to do your jobs professionally, responsibly and justly. I will have your back.'

Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain who etched ahead of Yang in a recent poll, slammed him for only now picking up on the rise in crime, which he said has been prevalent in poorer neighborhoods for years.

Scroll down for video

A large police presence remained at Times Square Monday following the shooting on Saturday

The police were on high alert after the alleged shooter, Farrakhan Muhammad, fled on foot. He remained at large on Monday

'You know what, Andrew? These shootings have been happening blocks from my house for years and blocks from the houses of poorer New Yorkers for years.

'It is time for us to recognize it when it is in every square block of our city. Shame on you for not realizing that,' he said.

Police are searching for Muhammad, 31, who allegedly tried to shoot his brother when he fired bullets into a crowd, hitting two women and a young child

One of Adams' campaign promises is to reinstate the disbanded NYPD anti-crime unit which de Blasio canceled last year amid criticism of its violent tactics.

Vogel, the cop who saved the four-year-old on Saturday, wasn't asked about rising crime when she appeared on GMA Monday morning, but she did talk about her fellow officers.

Im very grateful that people are taking it in that aspect, that I am a hero. Every officer on scene is a hero.

'There were multiple victims. Everyone did a phenomenal job. As a mom, my motherly instincts just went to I need to help her,' she said.

She said she was stunned that the little girl didn't cry despite having been shot, and that the only time she was uncomfortable was when she and another cop tightened a tourniquet when she was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.

'This little girl is the strongest person I have ever seen for somebody just been shot, she was just standing there obviously scared but she wasnt crying or anything. She only yelled when we tightened the tourniquet.

'She was very calm for someone who was in a very traumatic situation,' she said.

Vogel previously told The New York Post: 'I kept telling her [the child's mom] to breathe, that I know what she's going through because I have a baby myself. It was very difficult for her, very traumatic. She saw her daughter just get shot.

'I kept telling her to breathe and that her daughter was going to be OK. I kept trying to calm her down because she was obviously very scared.

Former school teacher Vogel joined the NYPD four years ago. Her father, husband and brother are also cops.

'I just wanted to join the police department and help people.'

Magrinat says onlookers began filming her with their mobile phones rather than help in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

One of the victims, Wendy Magrinat, 23, from Rhode Island, told how onlookers began filming as she pleaded for help after being shot in the leg. She is also expected to survive

Shootings in New York City are now at their highest levels since 1998. The NYPD has blamed the uptick on Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio cutting their budget and letting thousands of criminals out of jail early

She was on a sightseeing trip from Rhode Island when she was shot in the leg while standing with her husband Yoel, their two-year-old daughter Elise, and her mother, stepfather and eight-year-old sister.

Magrinat said she started screaming: 'I don't want to die, please help me! The pain was too much, and I dropped to the floor.

'I understand people get in shock. But if you're in shock, you shouldn't be recording. But that's how people are right now.'

Detectives made the connection to suspect Muhammad after they approached a man on West 31st St in Manhattan on Sunday believing that he looked like him, The Post reported.

'I'm his brother,' the man told the detectives.

Police have since released Muhammad's mugshot and are appealing for help in locating him. Muhammad was arrested last year on suspicion of assault.

He allegedly opened fire in the crowded tourist zone in midtown Manhattan after getting into a heated argument with his brother, sending hundreds of people fleeing for their lives.

The shooting occurred in front of the theater that hosts the hit musical Lion King, which is currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Victims have since been describing the scenes of panic and confusion as they tried to evade the gunfire.

The shooting occurred in front of the theater that hosts the hit musical Lion King (seen in the background above as police lock down the scene

New York City police officers stand guard after Saturday's shooting in Times Square

Three innocent bystanders, including a mother and her four-year-old girl, were struck by stray bullets in Times Square in broad daylight

NYC Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang has pledged to establish a new 'anti-violence plain clothes unit to reduce guns and gun violence'. 'The police will be key to our recovery,' he said.

NYPD officers responded to the shooting at 4.55pm on Saturday near the intersection of West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan

TOURIST STABBED ON SUBWAY WITH SCREWDRIVER A 43-year-old Ecuadorian tourist was stabbed on the subway on Sunday night with a screwdriver in a random attack. The victim has not been named. According to The New York Post, he was on the subway with his wife, near Chambers Street subway stop in downtown Manhattan, on Sunday at 7.50pm when a 26-year-old man stabbed him in the chest and arm. They were able to flag down transit officers who arrested the suspect at the subway station. It is the latest in a spate of violent crimes, which there have been an increase in in recent years. Shootings are particularly prevalent and are at their highest since 1999. Advertisement

Danae Romero, 16, said she was waiting in the queue at the same store with her four-year-old niece Skye when the shooting began.

Romero said the pair ran for their lives - but described how Skye was struck by a stray bullet.

'She didn't feel anything. Even when we noticed when we were at the corner, she wasn't crying,' Romero told the Post.

Romero said Skye, who is from Brooklyn, had managed to stay calm throughout the ordeal, and was in a stable condition in hospital.

'She's pretty tough, I guess,' Romero told the Post. 'She's always been happy. There aren't many times when she cries and stuff,' she said.

She said her sister, Skye's mother, was in a state of shock after the shooting. She called on police to arrest the gunman quickly.

'What if he ends up hurting some more people? 'Cause if he's able to do it in a place where there's so much people like Times Square and not care, what's going to stop him from doing it again?' she said in an interview with the Post.

A third victim, New Jersey woman, 43-year-old Marcela Aldana, was shot in the foot. All victims are expected to recover.

The NYPD released pictures of the man suspected of carrying out the shooting.

Addressing the Times Square shooting, NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang said public safety was 'paramount' and promised to establish a new 'anti-violence plain clothes unit to reduce guns and gun violence'.

'The police will be key to our recovery,' he said.

The public is asked to avoid the area at this time and expect traffic delays and road closures. Part of Times Square is pictured cordoned off by police in the wake of Saturday's shooting

NYPD officers canvas the scene for evidence after the shooting on Saturday in Times Square

On Saturday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said none of the victims were related or known to each other.

Shea said Magrinet and her family had traveled from Rhode Island to Manhattan to visit the Statue of Liberty, but finding the ferry closed decided to visit Times Square instead.

A traffic camera on the scene caught the moment that the crowd of tourists fled in terror as the shots rang out.

NYPD investigators recovered three shell casings at the scene, which appear to be .25 caliber, Commissioner Shea said.

The shooting unfolded after two to four men got into a dispute, and at least one of the men pulled out a gun and began firing, Shea said.

He said that none of the victims who were shot were involved in the dispute, and that they all appeared to be innocent bystanders.

Mayor Bill de Blasio reacted to the shooting on Twitter, saying he was glad the victims were in stable condition.

'The perpetrators of this senseless violence are being tracked down and the NYPD will bring them to justice,' he tweeted. 'The flood of illegal guns into our city must stop.'

De Blasio, who was celebrating his 60th birthday on Saturday, did not join the police commissioner for a press conference at the shooting scene.

Asked about de Blasio's remarks, Commissioner Shea said that his officers have been taking guns off the streets at an 'alarming rate over the past two years.'

'It's time now that we have consequences for those,' he added, seeming to refer to bail reform policies that see many suspects, including those caught with illegal firearms, walk free without posting cash bond.

'How many more kids do we need to be shot before we realize that bad policies have consequences?' said Shea. 'We need action, and we need policies regarding laws to have consequences.'
Extinction Rebellion protestors allegedly requested Sun owner Rupert Murdoch be brought to a protest at a newspaper print works, a police officer told the court following disruption to the XR trial as an activist glued himself to the dock.

Six of the protestors accused of taking part in the unlawful protest went on trial at St Albans Magistrates' Court on Monday, accused of the wilful obstruction of the road outside the News Print plant in Broxbourne, Herts, where the Sun is printed.

The first witness in the case to give evidence was PC Josh Wilson, who claimed that protestors asked him to get the Sun owner Rupert Murdoch down to the scene.

It comes as the trial of six extinction rebellion protestors was thrown into disruption this morning when one of the defendants glued his hand to a table in the courtroom.

PC Wilson, who arrived on the scene outside the plant gates on the night of September 4 last year at around 11.30pm, said the road outside the gates was blocked.

Protesters outside St Albans Magistrates' Court, where XR activists who were arrested during blockade of News Corp printing works in Hertfordshire on September 4 2020 are due in court

He told the court that it was his job to talk to members of Extinction Rebellion and try and persuade them to move out of the road.

During the protest, the group which numbered 50, with 30 of their supporters looking on, had erected two massive bamboo structures as a blockade outside the main gates to the plant in Hertfordshire.

From each a protestor was hanging while underneath others were laying on the ground, while two vans were being used by the protestors to stop traffic going in and out of the print work.

Protestors were lying on the ground underneath the vehicles and sitting on the roofs.

While being cross-examined by Mr Raj Chada, who represents four of the protestors, PC Wilson said he found out that night that the protest was about the 'control of the media'.

The officer said he and his colleagues repeatedly pointed out to the protestors they were in breach of the law and asked them to move out of the road.

Mr Chada put it to the officer: 'Five crooks in control of our news?'

PC Wilson answered: 'That's correct.'

A man believed to be Liam Norton is led from St Albans Magistrates Court this morning

Mr Chada asked the officer: 'People were talking about one particular owner? That was Rupert Murdoch?'

'That was correct,' said the officer.

Asked if there were any specific requests from the group, the officer said: 'A request to get Mr Murdoch down to the location.'

PC Wilson said he relayed the request to his senior officers.

Tim Speer, 25, one of the six who is on trial and who is defending himself, cross examined PC Wilson and put it to him that Rupert Murdoch was promoting hate speech.

'I just don't know why you haven't arrested him,' he told the officer.

He then went on to question the officer about his understanding of the 'climate situation'.

Inspector Matthew Barton, who attended the protest, agreed that the protest that night was about the group's concerns about the ownership of the media and the way the climate crisis was being reported.

PC Wilson also told the court that the effect of the blockade meant that nothing could leave the plant or enter, and workers who had finished their shift were trapped and the transportation of newspapers away from the plant was threatened.

PC Wilson said members of the group told him they had been training for the protest and that he shouldn't touch the two bamboo structures because they were 'load bearing' and could topple over.

His comments come after the trial of six accused was thrown into disruption at the start of the trial this morning when one of the defendants glued his hand to a table in the courtroom.

The case had just been called on and the judge had taken her seat when accused, Liam Norton, got to his feet to rant in court, yelling out 'I would like to make clear what is going on in this court is obvious and complete criminality.'

He went on: 'Judge, what you are going is illegal.'

On Monday, six of the protestors accused of taking part in the unlawful protest went on trial at St Albans Magistrates' Court, including Morgan Trowland, 38, of Hackney, London (pictured)

All six are charged with the wilful obstruction of the highway. Pictured: James Ozden, 35, from Tottenham, London

With the palm of his left hand on a table, he continued: 'What we have seen over decades is organised criminality in this country and unfortunately the only thing to do, as I have showed, is contempt, as you have.'

Norton, whose eyes were hidden behind a mask, then revealed to security staff who entered the courtroom at St Albans Magistrates Court, that in fact his flat hand on the table, had been glued to the surface.

As he continued his rant against the government, cheering, singing and clapping broke out from his supporters in the public gallery.

He told his supporters and others in court: 'I am left with no option but to disobey and show contempt.'

District Judge Sally Fudge then left courtroom number six and the gallery was cleared as security staff dealt with the situation.

It took two hours to free Mr Norton and he was arrested and removed from the court building and taken to Hatfield Police Station.

The trial then got underway against the other five and Mr Norton in his absence.

The defendants were all protesting that night because of what they say is the mis-reporting of the climate change crisis.

The six due to stand trial, who were alleged to have been part of an Extinction Rebellion protest which blockaded a newspaper print works preventing the distribution of three and a half million papers, are: Liam Norton, 36, from Scarborough, Eleanor Davidson, 33, from Streatham, London, James Ozden, 35, from Tottenham, London, Tim Speers, 25, from Waltham Forest, Morgan Trowland, 38, of Hackney, London and Eleanor Bujak, 28, of Finsbury Park, London.

All are charged with the wilful obstruction of the highway.

The court was told the effect of the blockade meant that nothing could leave the plant or enter. Pictured: Tim Speers, 25, from Waltham Forest

XR action saw protesters targeting Newsprinters printing works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, blocking the day's newspapers from leaving the depots

In all, 51 people were charged with obstructing the highway following the blockade of the Newsprinters printworks in Great Eastern Road, Waltham Cross.

During the protest last September, activists used vehicles and bamboo lock-ons to block roads near Newsprinters' Broxbourne site.

A second blockade of the company's printing works in Knowsley, near Liverpool, took place on the same day.

The Newsprinters presses publish the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp's titles including the Sun, Times, Sun On Sunday and Sunday Times, as well as the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday, and the London Evening Standard.

It meant readers were delayed in receiving, or did not receive their copies of their respective newspapers.

Extinction Rebellion claimed at the time the demonstration was in response to the newspapers' failure to report on the climate and ecological emergency.

In his impromptu speech in the courtroom, Mr Norton said 'Society is on the brink of collapse and the Crown Prosecution Service continue to criminalise protests.

'Corruption is flowing through the highest levels of our system, yet our system continues to criminalise us.'

The case is proceeding.
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The parents of one of two American men jailed for life for murdering a newlywed police officer in Rome say his sentence is 'too harsh' because their son is a 'gentle soul' with 'mental health issues'.

Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, were sentenced to life in prison last week for the July 2019 stabbing of Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, with Elder's mother Leah branding the sentence disproportionate on Monday.

The two Californian men were teenagers at the time. They bought what they thought was cocaine from a drug dealer after being introduced to him by middleman Sergio Brugiatelli. When the teens realized what they'd actually bought was crushed aspirin, they stole Brugiatelli's backpack.

Brugiatelli called the cops and it was Rega who responded with his partner, in plain clothes. They arranged to meet the teenagers and Rega, newly married, was stabbed to death by Finnegan while Gabriel watched.

Finnegan has always claimed he did not know Rega was a cop, and thought instead he was another member of the drug gang.

He says he was acting in self-defense, in fear of his life, and that is why he stabbed him 11 times with a 7-inch combat knife.

On Monday, Finnegan's parents insisted to Good Morning America that he had been mischaracterized by the Italian judicial system and that he is in fact 'sweet and gentle'.

Finnegan's uncle last week said that he had been paranoid ever since he started taking drugs in school. The teenager took a 7-inch knife with him on the trip to Rome in 2019.

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Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, (right) and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, (left) were sentenced to life in prison last week for the July 2019 death of Mario Cerciello Rega, 35. They are shown in court in April, with Elder's now parents blasting his 'harsh' sentence

Leah and Ethan, who live in California, said on Monday morning their son doesn't deserve the life sentence and that he is a 'gentle soul'

Parents of an American found guilty of murder in Italy speak out. Ethan and Leah Elder say their son Finnegan has been deeply mischaracterized after being sentenced to life in prison for the fatal stabbing of an Italian police officer. @arobach reports. https://t.co/lR97rAk15s pic.twitter.com/pW3DtMJBv9  Good Morning America (@GMA) May 10, 2021

Finnegan stabbed Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, 11 times, according to prosecutors, in a drug deal gone wrong in July 2019

Elder's parents said it wasn't fair for him to receive Italy's most severe prison term, and that his sentence instead ought to reflect his 'mental health issues'.

'There's a lot of things in Finn's reality now in prison that I just cant think about it's too hard it's too painful.

'He feels like he has been sentenced to something worse than the death penalty,' Leah Elder said.

'Finnegan, first and foremost, has an incredibly kind and very gentle soul. He is honest to the point of, I used to say that when he was younger, he vomits the truth.

'He does not see a reason to lie.

'He's incredibly kind, sensitive and painfully honest,' his mother continued.

She added: 'I understand that a man's life was lost that night.

'I understand that Finnegan should serve some time.

'I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence that is proportionate and at least have something that acknowledges his mental health issues.'

The mom did not comment further on what type of prison sentence she would deem appropriate for the murder.

His father Ethan said: 'Watching your son mature in prison is very hard.

'This tragedy that happened, it's changed us all.'

Finnegan speaking with his parents through bars last week, while the jury was deliberating. He looked shaken after being convicted and sentenced to life behind bars

Finnegan's mom Leah said on Monday that while she 'understands' her son murdered someone, he shouldn't spend the rest of his life in prison. His father Ethan said: 'This tragedy that happened, it's changed us all'

The family's attorney, Craig Peters, added: 'They gave him a sentence that is befitting of a mafia boss who...kills innocent people.

'How could these two boys possibly be in that same league?'

Last week, Elder's uncle Sean Elder told The Washington Post that his nephew was 'very paranoid, and the reasons for that I am not exactly sure of.'

Sean Elder said his brother's son had battled drug issues through high school and beyond. He said his brother and sister-in-law had Elder him to travel to Europe during summer 2019 for what they hoped would be a 'maturing' experience.

Lawyer Francesco Petrelli, who was defending Natale-Hjorth, said last week that the sentence is 'technically flawed'.

'Both in fact and in law, which cannot be confirmed at appeal, but which has left us shocked,' he said.

They say they are appealing, with the jury set to explain their reasons for their choice of sentence within 90 das of the verdict.

Neither Cerciello Rega nor his fellow plainclothes partner Andrea Varriale brought their service pistols on their assignment the night Rega was killed.

Elder (left) and Natale-Hjorth (right) were on vacation together without their families when the killing happened

Elder, 20, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 19, (right) were charged with stabbing Deputy Brigadier Rega to death in Rome. The pair are pictured here in a photo released by Italian Carabinieri as they were arrested

Prosecutors allege that the police officer was stabbed 11 times with this knife, whose blade measures seven inches long

The two California students were found guilty on Wednesday of the 2019 killing of Italian police officer Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, (pictured with his wife on their wedding day a month before his murder) in a drug deal gone bad.

Rega's widow Rosa Maria Esilio, who held a photo of her dead husband while waiting for the verdict, sobbed as she left after the court decision following a deliberation of more than 12 hours

A top Carabinieri official has said it was unknown why Cerciello Rega left his pistol in his locker.

Varriale, who scuffled with Natale-Hjorth, offered various versions, eventually testifying that he, too, didn't bring his weapon.

Varriale claimed the two officers showed their police badges while the Americans said they didn't and that they thought the Italians were drug dealers or mafiosi.

Not infrequently, Italian appeals courts either throw out earlier convictions or significantly reduce the sentences.

One noted example of that involved an American student, Amanda Knox, and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.

In that case, Italy's top criminal Cassation court scathingly faulted prosecutors for presenting a flawed and hastily constructed case. It threw out their lower court convictions for the 2007 murder of her British roommate in Italy.

Had they lost their final appeal, Knox would have faced 28 years in an Italian prison; the Italian, 25 years.

At the Italian appeals level, Peters said, 'hopefully we will have more sophisticated, more experienced, more reasonable and rational judges who will actually do the hard work of trying to make sense of all this and then fairly apportion justice.'
Kevin McCarthy on Monday sent a letter to Republican colleagues officially scheduling the GOP Conference vote to oust chairman Liz Cheney from party leadership for Wednesday.

'It had been my hope that our driving focus would be taking back the House in 2022 and implementing our Commitment to America. Despite the mainstream media working overtime against us, I believe we still have a great chance to do so,' McCarthy said in the letter to House GOP colleagues, according to The Hill. 'Unfortunately, each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future,'

'This is no time to take our eye off the ball,' the Republican House minority leader continued in the letter. 'If we are to succeed in stopping the radical Democrat agenda from destroying our country, these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team.'

'Having heard from so many of you in recent days, it's clear that we need to make a change. As such, you should anticipate a vote on recalling the Conference Chair this Wednesday.'

He added: 'We are a big tent party. We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.

'All members are elected to represent their constituents as they see fit, but our leadership team cannot afford to be distracted from the important work we were elected to do and the shared goals we home to achieve. The stakes are too high to come up short.'

Republicans in the lower chamber are preparing to vote out Wyoming Rep. Cheney from her No. 3 post after she doubled down on her criticism of former President Donald Trump in the months following the January 6 Capitol attack.

Cheney was one of the 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump after the riot. She also publicly increased her rhetoric against him in a fiery op/ed last week and a tweet where she responded to a statement from the former president about her.

New York Representative Elise Stefanik appears to be the likely replacement for Cheney after several party leaders, including McCarthy and Trump, endorsed her for the position.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sent a memo to Republican colleagues Monday officially scheduling a vote to oust Liz Cheney on Wednesday

'The House GOP has a massive opportunity to upgrade this week from warmonger Liz Cheney to gifted communicator Elise Stefanik,' Trump wrote in a Monday statement, which was a repeat of his endorsement last week.

'Elise has intelligence, an endorsement from American Patriot Brandon Judd and the National Border Patrol Council, she has an A+ from the NRA, and she loves our Veterans,' the former president continued. 'We need someone in Leadership who has experience flipping districts from Blue to Red as we approach the important 2022 midterms, and that's Elise! She knows how to win, which is what we need!'

The House is currently out of session, but will return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday after a three week break. On Wednesday the House GOP will convene to decide the future of the party in the lower chamber.

'To defeat Nancy Pelosi and the socialist agenda, we need to be united. And that starts with leadership,' McCarthy told 'Fox News Sunday' in formally and publicly breaking with Cheney and backing Stefanik.

'That's why we will have a vote next week,' he continued. 'And we want to be united in looking, moving forward. And I think that's what will take place.'

'As conference chair, you have one of the most critical jobs as the messenger of going forward. Are we talking about what the Democrats are doing on the border? Are we talking about all the missed jobs [in the] report that we just had? Are we building an economy?'

The House Republican Conference is preparing for a vote Wednesday to oust Representative Liz Cheney as chairwoman

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) reaffirmed he will support New York Rep. Elise Stefanik (right) to replace Cheney  a big change from the February vote to remove Cheney that failed with his support for the Wyoming lawmaker

Trump sent a statement as a follow up from last week's endorsement of Stefanik where he defended why she should replace Cheney in House GOP leadership

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has also endorsed Stefanik for the post.

While Stefanik has a less conservative voting record than Cheney, she does win in one area  she is a defender of former President Trump. She even was one of the lawmakers who objected to the joint session vote certifying the election for Joe Biden earlier this year.

Cheney survived a February vote attempting to oust her, but since then has not backed down on attacking Trump for continuing to push claims the 2020 election was 'rigged.'

She has argued that the Republican Party needs to move on from Trump, which has not resonated with the majority of lawmakers.

Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Jim Banks said Sunday that Cheney has 'failed' the party by becoming a divisive figure rather than a uniting one.

'One of my jobs is to hold my Republican leadership accountable for being focused on the Republican ideals that we stand for and the single mission that we have to win back the majority,' the Indiana Representative told ' Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace.

'She's failed in her mission as the chief spokesperson of our party,' he continued.

'We shouldn't be talking about Liz Cheney, we should be talking about pushing back against the radical Biden agenda, and this is all a distraction from our ability to do that.'

Cheney sealed her fate after doubling down on her criticism of Trump in the months after becoming the highest-ranking Republican to vote for his second impeachment.

Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Jim Banks said Sunday that GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney has 'failed' the party in her leadership role

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) on why they're trying to push Liz Cheney out of leadership:



"One of my jobs is to hold my Republican leadership accountable for being focused on the Republican ideals and single mission we have to win back the majority ... She has failed in her mission..." pic.twitter.com/ZNMfjHaZm2  The Recount (@therecount) May 9, 2021

Of the 212 Republican in the House of Representatives, 153 of them are members of the GOP Study Committee  making it the largest conservative caucus in Congress.

'Republicans are almost completely unified,' Chairman Banks said of the effort 'to oppose the radical Biden agenda.'

'We are almost entirely unified on this issue, except for Liz Cheney,' he clarified

'Any leader who is not focused on that,' Banks said, 'at this point needs to be replaced.'

On Wednesday, the GOP caucus will meet to decide the fate of Cheney in her elected role after top leadership, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have publicly turned against her.

During Banks' interview with Fox on Sunday morning, he told Wallace that he stands by his decision to vote to challenge the results. While reasserting that President Joe Biden is the legitimate president, Banks also continued to question how the election was conducted.

'I stand by my vote to object on January 6 and stand by the Texas lawsuit,' he said. 'I have serious concerns about how the election in November was carried out.'

'That is where most Republicans in the GOP conference are unified around that single mission and goal and anything that distracts from it will hold us back from doing that,' he said, bringing it back to Cheney's future in the party.

Earlier this year, Cheney survived a secret ballot leadership vote 145-61 with the help of McCarthy.

McCarthy has questioned ever since then her ability to carry on as Conference chairwoman, claiming her message seems so departed from the rest of the party.

Ahead of an interview with Fox & Friends last week, McCarthy was caught on hot mic telling co-host Steve Doocey he's lost confidence in Cheney.

'I think she's got real problems,' he said. 'I've had it with.

'You know, I've lost confidence,' McCarthy continued in the hot mic moment. 'Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.'

Then during his interview, McCarthy told Fox: 'I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair - to carry out the message.'

'We all need to be working as one if we're able to win the majority,' he added. 'Remember, majorities are not given; they are earned. And that's about the message about going forward.'

A key McCarthy ally revealed in comments to The Hill last week: 'There is no way that Liz will be conference chair by month's end. 'When there is a vote, it won't be a long conference; it will be fast. Everyone knows the outcome.'

Reports indicate thus far that Cheney isn't trying too hard or attempting to whip up support for her to hold onto her leadership role.

Top leadership is paving the way for Stefanik to replace Cheney in House GOP leadership, despite the New York Republican having a less conservative voting record than Cheney

Support for Stefanik also comes as Donald Trump endorsed her to take Cheney's post

The daughter of Former Vice President Dick Cheney, however, cast the battle as one far bigger than her own political career in an op/ed in the Washington Post on Wednesday.

'The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution,' she wrote.

'In the immediate wake of the violence of Jan. 6, almost all of us knew the gravity and the cause of what had just happened  we had witnessed it firsthand,' she said bringing up the Capitol riot that preceded her vote to impeach Trump.

'The question before us now is whether we will join Trump's crusade to delegitimize and undo the legal outcome of the 2020 election, with all the consequences that might have. I have worked overseas in nations where changes in leadership come only with violence, where democracy takes hold only until the next violent upheaval. America is exceptional because our constitutional system guards against that. At the heart of our republic is a commitment to the peaceful transfer of power among political rivals in accordance with law. President Ronald Reagan as our American 'miracle.'

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, No. 2 in House leadership, also expressed his public support for Stefanik in breaking with the No. 3 leader

THOSE VYING FOR CHENEY'S WYOMING HOUSE SEAT IN 2022 DECLARED CANDIDATES Anthony Bouchard  Wyoming State Senator for 6th District since 2017 Chuck Gray  Wyoming State Rep. for 57th district since 2017 Marissa Selvig  Former mayor of Pavillion, Wyoming, which as of 2010 had a population of 231 Bryan Keller  No immediate information on the candidate POTENTIAL CANDIDATES Darin Smith  Trump is encouraging him to run. He also launched a bid for the seat in 2016 and came in fourth. Ed Buchanan  Trump is encouraging him to run. Currently serves as Wyoming's Secretary of State. Unlikely to give up current post to launch a bid *Liz Cheney has not yet officially declared that she is running for reelection in 2022 Advertisement

Scalise publicly voiced his support for ousting Cheney  while he and other leadership make clear their choice to replace her is New York Representative Elise Stefanik.

'House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden's radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair,' Scalise's spokesperson Lauren Fine said.

Stefanik, not a favorite of some more far-right factions of the party, was a vocal and public defender of Trump during his impeachment hearings.

Wyoming Republicans are also looking to oust Cheney from Congress completely, as the party gears up for 2022 and Trump prepares to issue an endorsement for a challenger for her at-large seat.

Several right-leaning polls show a majority of Wyomingites have turned on Cheney, their at-large congresswoman in the U.S. House since 2017, while support for former President Donald Trump has only grown since he left office.

There are already four Republicans registered to run against Cheney for her House seat in 2022  State Senator Anthony Bouchard, State Representative Chuck Gray, former Pavillion, Wyoming Mayor Marissa Selvig and Bryan Keller.

Trump, along with his allies and circle, have taken a strong interest in the race, as well.

The GOP in Wyoming is also increasingly looking to oust Cheney from Congress altogether. There are already four Republicans running for Cheney's Wyoming House seat in 2022, including State Senator Anthony Bouchard (left) and State Representative Chuck Gray (right)

Marissa Selvig is also running, she previously served as mayor in Pavillion, Wyoming

A report last week revealed the Trump team has two other preferred candidates the former president is trying to recruit to join the race  attorney Darin Smith, who ran for the seat in 2016 and came in fourth, and Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan.

'I think anybody who's a decent Republican is going to get behind whoever Donald Trump eventually endorses,' Smith told Politico.

'He's gonna look under every rock and look over the lay of the land, and he's going to determine who that person that he's going to get behind is.'

It's unlikely both Smith and Buchanan would enter the race, and people close to Buchanan say he is leaning against running, instead opting to keep his seat as secretary of state.

An endorsement from Trump in the race could help clarify the already crowded field, which if it gets too large could result in Cheney winning with a plurality. In 2016 she won with 40 per cent of the vote against eight other candidates.

The Club for Growth found in a poll conducted in Wyoming in late April that 52 per cent of voters there would not back Cheney in another reelection campaign, while only 14 per cent said they would support her under any circumstance.

Fundraising shows a bit of a different story.

In the first quarter of 2021, Cheney raised $1.54 million, which is more than she reported in any other quarter in her past three elections.

Bouchard seems the favorite in the race so far to take on Cheney. He has raised $330,000 since entering and after Cheney's vote to impeach Trump in January.
Missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew and her husband were under 'financial strain' with family problems leaving her 'scared' on the last day she was seen alive, her sister claims.

Melinda Moorman said she believed Suzanne, 49, and her husband Barry - now charged with his missing wife's murder - had been struggling financially.

The couple shared a $1.62 million home in Salida, Colorado, with Suzanne last seen alive on May 8 2020, and reported missing by her teenage daughters two days later.

Moorman told CBS Denver that money worries were straining Suzanne and 53 year-old Barry's 26 year marriage around the time of her disappearance.

She said: 'I think pressures and stresses in life, I think financial pressure bears in on people very heavily.

'It creates an atmosphere of discontent and strife and sometimes living beyond your means is a very hard thing to do.

'Learning to be content with what you have is a very powerful thing in this life, and it brings great peace, and I don't think Barry and Suzanne had gotten there yet, and that's what I think kinda happened and I can't really say more than that.'

'I think pressures and stresses in life, I think financial pressure bears in on people very heavily,' Suzanne Morphew's sister Melinda Moorman, pictured, said

Moorman did not comment further on the alleged financial issues. Suzanne ran a non-profit while Barry ran a landscaping business, and worked as a part-time firefighter.

The couple previously lived in Arcadia, Indiana, before moving to Colorado in 2018. Suzanne claimed to have sold their house shortly before the move on Facebook, although property records seen by Heavy claim the $895,000 home did not sell.

The Morphew's Colorado property sold for $1.62 million in March, with Barry moving into a smaller condo afterwards. He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder last Wednesday, having repeatedly denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance.

Moorman also told Inside Edition, how Suzanne 'lengthy, powerful' text the Friday before Mother's Day that was 'very revealing.'

'The Friday before Mother's Day, my sister had sent me a text message that morning. It was very lengthy. It was very powerful. It was very revealing,' Melinda said. 'She had been ready to share some things close to her chest. She said she was scared.'

That message - whose exact contents Moorman did not share - would have been sent on the last day Suzanne was seen alive, May 8 2020.

She was reported missing on May 10 2020 - Mother's Day - after going for a bike ride from the luxurious wood-framed home she shared from Barry, it was reported.

A week later, Barry made a video, pleading for someone took her to return her safely 'no questions asked,' safe return. He also offered a $200,000 reward for information.

But Moorman said her family were instantly suspicious of Barry.

Suzanne Morphew, pictured, is said to have left the Colorado home she shared with husband, Barry, and their two teenage daughters on Mother's Day 2020

The Morphews' former $1.62 million family home in Salidas, Colorado. Barry Morphew had sold it and moved into a smaller condo before being arrested

The Morphew family home, pictured, was sold six months after Suzanne disappeared, with Barry living in a smaller condo at the time of his arrest

Suzanne is pictured with her teenage daughters Macy and Mallory. The girls were on a camping trip to Idaho when their mom vanished

This was a picture from a vacation from several years ago

Suzanne's husband of 26 years, Barry Morphew, 53, is pictured after his arrest last Wednesday, which saw him charged with first-degree murder

Morphew appeared in court for the first time last Thursday. Investigators do not have a body, but say they have information about an unspecified 'incident' which happened around the time of the mom's disappearance

Moorman pleaded with Barry (middle) to confess to killing Suzanne and 'save us all the heartache' of a lengthy trial the morning after his Thursday appearance in court

Barry and Suzanne are pictured on vacation before she vanished. The missing woman's family have blamed Barry for the disappearance, and urged him to tell investigators what he knows

Throughout the investigation and last Wednesday's arrest, Barry maintains his innocence.

He claims Denver for a volunteer firefighter training session when his wife vanished.

DailyMail.com later reporting the hotel room he'd stayed in had reeked of bleach the next day - even though the hotel said it did not use such products to sanitize its rooms.

Investigators discounted a theory that Suzanne had been attacked by an animal, and said they found a personal item - believed to be a bicycle helmet - while searching along a road around 20 miles from her home.

Prosecutors and law enforcement haven't said what led to the landscaping boss's arrest, and even though Suzanne's body was never found, prosecutors are sure she's dead.

Barry Morphew's arrest came after over 135 searches across Colorado and interviews of over 400 people in multiple states as part of an ongoing investigation, Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze said, according to Fox News.

Barry was charged with first-degree homicide, tampering with evidence and attempting to influence a public servant.

He made his first court appearance last Thursday where his two young daughters mouthed 'I love you' as he was ordered into custody until his next court date.

Macy and Mallory Morphew have continued to stand by their father.

Less than 24 hours after Barry was in court, Melinda Moorman told Good Morning America, 'If he has any kind of sense at all and if he loves his girls at all, I hope he'll do the right thing and confess and save us all the heartache.

In Barry's public appeal video that he made a week after his wife's disappearance, he appeared as a loving husband saying, 'We'll do whatever it takes to bring you back.'

'We love you, we miss you, your girls need you. No questions asked, however much they want  I will do whatever it takes to get you back. Honey, I love you, I want you back so bad,' he continued.

Barry appeared distressed and on the verge of tears during the recorded statement.

But Patti Wood, a body language specialist, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that, on closer inspection, Barry displayed some troubling tics.

Suzanne and Barry Morphew on vacation several years ago

They were married for 26 years before Suzanne disappeared on Mother's Day 2020

The Morphews' daughters Macy and Mallory have continued to stand by Barry Morphew, and mouthed 'I love you' during his first court appearance last week

Prosecutors have not found Suzanne's body, and have not shared how they were able to charge Barry Morphew, but mentioned evidence of an alleged 'incident' shortly before Suzanne's apparent death

Barry Morphew shared an emotional video begging for information on Suzanne's whereabouts days after she disappeared, and offered a $200,000 reward for information

'He shakes his head [as if to say no] subconsciously to all the messages that might not be true or are not what he wants,' Wood told DailyMail.com.

'He starts shaking his head when he says 'If anyone is out there' and 'I will do whatever it takes',' she explained.

Wood also noted that while Barry looks anguished, his face does not change at all.

'We see pain in his face, but notice it doesn't move across his face and change as he speaks, but seems set like a mask which reveals that he put on or faked the pained expressions,' she theorized.

Wood concluded that she found the video 'unsettling to watch, because Barry's nonverbal delivery is so off from what would be normal baseline behaviors for someone whose wife is missing'.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is the victim of 'cancel culture,' Bob Baffert said of his colt's positive drug test, but the embattled trainer still plans on racing his three-year-old in Saturday's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

'Well I haven't heard anything officially,' Baffert told Fox News on Monday. 'They haven't told me anything.

'I know when Churchill Downs came out with that statement, that was pretty harsh,' Baffert continued, referring to the Kentucky race track's decision to suspend him on Saturday after one of Medina Spirit's blood samples was found to contain a prohibited amount of the anti-inflammatory drug, betamethasone.

'With all the noise going out, we live in a different world now. This America is different. It was like a cancel culture kind of a thing. So they're reviewing it. I haven't been told anything. We're prepared to run [in Baltimore on Saturday].'

A split sample has been sent to an independent laboratory, and if it comes back negative, Median Spirit's victory will be upheld. However, if the first test's findings are confirmed, Medina Spirit will be disqualified, Baffert and the horse's owners will be denied the $1.86 million winner's purse, and the victory will be given to Mandaloun, which placed second in the May 1 race in Louisville.

Medina Spirit is currently a 7-2 favorite in the Preakness as Mandaloun and several other top competitors will not be running in Baltimore. Baffert said Monday that he will not attend the second leg of the Triple Crown to avoid being a distraction.

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Bob Baffert, trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, stands next to assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, near the track at Churchill Downs in Louisville on April 28. Medina Spirit is the victim of 'cancel culture,' Baffert said of his colt's positive drug test, but the embattled trainer still plans on racing his three-year-old in Saturday's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

Medina Spirit is expected to run in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, where it stands as the favorite

Racing has been stunned after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a drugs test

'Yesterday I got the biggest gut punch in racing for something I that didn't do,' Baffert told reporters on Sunday. 'This is really disturbing, it's an injustice to the horse. I feel like, here you win a race and you're still not, to me, I don't know what's going on in racing right now, but something isn't right. I don't feel embarrassed. I feel like I was wronged.'

Medina Spirit is Baffert's fifth horse known to have failed a drug test in just over a year, but the California-based trainer is insisting that he and his horse are the victims of an 'injustice.'

'How do I move forward from this, knowing that something can happen?' Baffert asked. 'It's a complete injustice, but I'm going to fight it tooth and nail, because I owe it to the horse, I owe it to the owner, and to our industry.

'We're going to do a complete investigation, our own investigation, we're going to be transparent with the racing commission, like we've always been.'

Baffert's barn received word Saturday that Medina Spirit had tested positive for an excessive amount of the steroid betamethasone, which is sometimes used to treat pain and inflammation in horses.

In his defense, Baffert claims to have records proving that Medina Spirit was never treated with that particular anti-inflammatory drug.

'One thing about it, in California, everything is documented every day, what the horses get,' he said. 'This horse was never treated with that. He's a great horse. He doesn't deserve this. He ran a gallant race.'

Baffert (right) handing the Derby winners trophy to Medina Spirit jockey John Velazquez (left) who would also be forced to return his winnings should the horse be disqualified

Flanked by his attorney Craig Robertson, Baffert said his barn was told that Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of betamethasone  slightly more than double what the trainer said was the allowable amount  in a postrace sample.

'We know for certain that we did not give him that,' Baffert said in a clip aired on ABC's Good Morning America on Monday. 'We're talking picograms, and a picogram, is like a grain of salt in an Olympic-sized pool.'

Betamethasone is the same drug that was found in the system of Gamine, another Baffert-trained horse who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks last September. Gamine was eventually disqualified from that finish because of that test and Baffert was fined $1,500. Betamethasone is legal under Kentucky racing rules, though it must be cleared 14 days before a horse races.

John Velazquez riding Medina Spirit acknowledges spectators after winning the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, May 1, 2021, in Louisville

Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Baffert suggested that Medina Spirit is the victim of a nefarious plot.

'There's something wrong right now,' Baffert said. 'I've been talking about it, nothing seems to be done about it, but these contamination levels  and I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I know everybody's not out to get me, but there's definitely something wrong. Why is it happening to me? There's problems in racing, but it's not Bob Baffert. I just want to get that across to you guys.'

When asked to specify his allegations, Baffert declined to go into further detail.

'I'm not going to speculate,' he said. 'I have no idea where it came from. We don't know. We can't believe it's in there. The process has to start. We're going to investigate it thoroughly. That's all I can tell you on that?'

The track said failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardizes the safety of horses and jockeys, the sport's integrity and the Derby's reputation.

'Churchill Downs will not tolerate it,' the statement read. 'Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering any horses at Churchill Downs Racetrack.'

John Velazquez riding Medina Spirit leads Florent Geroux on Mandaloun, Flavien Prat riding Hot Rod Charlie and Luis Saez on Essential Quality to win the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Saturday, May 1, 2021, in Louisville

The Kentucky Derby winner tests positive for a banned substance. Medina Spirit is in jeopardy of losing its winning crown after the animal tested positive for a steroid after the race, according to the Kentucky Racing Commission. @tjholmes has the details. https://t.co/Ol14EFGTrb pic.twitter.com/hwyCIQOLm8  Good Morning America (@GMA) May 10, 2021

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Medina Spirit is currently a s7-2 favorite in the Preakness as Mandaloun and several other top competitors will not be running in Baltimore

Medina Spirit is expected to run in the Preakness on Saturday, barring some abrupt change in plans or a decision from officials at Pimlico or Maryland's racing commission that would prevent him from entering the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

Baffert has been immediately suspended from entering any more horses at Churchill Downs. He may also be forced to repay $1.86million in winnings he received

Officials from 1/ST Racing, a branding arm of the Stronach Group that owns and operates Pimlico, and the Maryland Jockey Club said Sunday they would consult with state authorities and that 'any decision regarding the entry of Medina Spirit in the 146th Preakness Stakes will be made after review of the facts.' Officials rescheduled the post position draw for Tuesday afternoon, moving it back a day in light of the uncertainty.

If Medina Spirit is disqualified, his connections will not receive the $1.86 million winner's share of the Derby purse money. But for bettors, anything that happens next won't matter  those who cashed in on Medina Spirit still win, those who didn't still lose and those who backed Mandaloun missed out on a winning ticket that would have returned more than $50 on a $2 wager.

Baffert was planning to saddle Medina Spirit and Concert Tour in the Preakness, going for a record eighth victory in that race. Except for 2020 when the races were run out of order due to the coronavirus pandemic, Baffert is undefeated with a Derby winner in the Preakness.

Last month, Baffert won an appeals case before the Arkansas Racing Commission after he had been suspended by Oaklawn Park stewards for 15 days for a pair of positive drug tests involving two of his horses that won at the track on May 2, 2020. The horses tested positive for the painkiller lidocaine, which Baffert said they were exposed to inadvertently.

Medina Spirit #8, ridden by jockey John Velazquez, (R) crosses the finish line to win the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby ahead of Mandaloun #7, ridden by Florent Geroux, and Hot Rod Charlie #9 ridden by Flavien Prat ,at Churchill Downs

But as Baffert insisted that horse racing can do better preventing doping, he also acknowledged the spotlight.

'I know I'm the most scrutinized trainer and have millions of eyes on me. But you know what? I don't have a problem with that,' Baffert said. 'The last thing I want to do is do something that would jeopardize the greatest 2 minutes in sports.'

Animal Wellness Action executive director Marty Irby said in a statement that racing authorities 'should throw the book' at those found guilty of violations.

The failed drug test is just another in a long series of events shadowing the sport  and the Derby, its best known and most prestigious race  in recent years.

Maximum Security crossed the line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified by Churchill Downs stewards for interference in what was an unprecedented move. Country House, which crossed the line second in that race, is now considered the winner.

In March 2020, Jason Servis  who was Maximum Security's trainer  was part of a sweeping indictment that involved trainers, veterinarians and pharmacists in a horse doping ring. Baffert faced the doping allegations in Arkansas and Kentucky last year with Gamine, and now this.

'I'm worried about our sport,' Baffert said. 'Our sport, we've taken a lot of hits as a sport. These are pretty serious accusations here, but we're going to get to the bottom of it and find out. We know we didn't do it.'

Jockey John Velazquez (left) aboard Medina Spirit leads coming out of the final turn
Nearly half of Republicans approve of the job Joe Biden is doing in handling the coronavirus pandemic, a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Monday shows.

The survey shows 71 per cent of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the pandemic, including 47 per cent of Republican respondents.

The president has steady support among most Americans with an overall approval rating of 63 per cent  mostly increased by the public's perception of his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The poll, conducted among 1,842 adults, also shows an uptick in Americans' overall optimism about the state of the country. The survey was taken April 29 - May 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Fifty-four percent say the U.S. is on the right track  higher than at any point in AP-NORC polls conducted since 2017  while 44 per cent think the nation is on the wrong track.

A new poll shows 63% of American adults approve of the job Joe Biden is doing as president

The AP-NORC survey also shows that 71% approve of how Biden handled the coronavirus pandemic  including 47% of Republican respondents

The numbers come on the heels of some major accomplishments in Biden's first 100 days in office, including securing the passage of a sweeping $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package and a successful vaccine rollout where more than 200 million shots were administered in the first few months in office.

The U.S., which has suffered the most virus deaths of any nation, is now viewed enviably by much of the rest of the world for its speedy vaccination program and robust supplies of the shots.

'We are turning a corner,' White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said.

Public worries about the pandemic are at their lowest level since February 2020, according to the poll, when the virus was first reaching the U.S.

About half of Americans say they are at least somewhat worried that they or a relative could be infected with the virus, down from about 7 in 10 just last month.

As has been the case throughout the pandemic, there is a wide partisan gap in Americans' views of pandemic risks. Among Democrats, 69 per cent say they remain at least somewhat worried about being infected with the virus, compared with just 33 per cent of Republicans.

Despite the overall positive assessments of Americans, Biden's advisers are well aware that the next phase of his presidency is potentially trickier. Vaccination rates have slowed, and the administration is grappling with how to persuade those who are reluctant to get the shots about their safety and efficacy.

Biden's approval rating is buoyed by his response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Biden's legislative agenda for the rest of this year also faces obstacles on Capitol Hill. Republicans are resisting his calls for passing a sweeping infrastructure package, and there's insufficient support among Democrats for overhauling Senate rules in a way that would allow the party to tackle changes to immigration policy, gun laws and voting rights on its own.

There are also potential warning signs emerging on the economy after a strong start to the year. A new government report out Friday showed employers added just 266,000 jobs in April, sharply lower than in March and far fewer than economists had expected.

The slowdown was attributed to a multitude of factors, including nearly 3 million people reluctant to look for work because they fear catching the virus. Some businesses - and Republican lawmakers - also argue that a $300-a-week jobless benefit, paid for by the federal government, is discouraging some of the unemployed from taking new jobs.

Biden, however, argued that the report is an indication that more federal spending is needed to help bolster the economy. He's pitched to Congress a $4 trillion package for spending on infrastructure, education and children, a measure many liberal Democrats say should be bigger and most Republicans argue is far too large.

'We never thought that after the first 50 or 60 days everything would be fine,' Biden said after Friday's job report was released. 'Theres more evidence our economy is moving in the right direction. But its clear we have a long way to go.'

What's unclear is whether the employment slowdown will continue or how it will impact Americans' views of Biden's handling of the economy. Ahead of Friday's new jobs numbers, his approval rating on the economy stood at a solid 57 per cent.

Also in the poll, 54% said the U.S. is on the right track, which is a higher figure than at any point in AP-NORC polls conducted since 2017

Compared with Biden's approval ratings on the pandemic, there is a starker partisan divide in views of his handling of the economy. Nearly all Democrats, 91 per cent, back his economic stewardship, while just 19 per cent of GOP voters do.

While the pandemic and the economy have dominated Biden's early months in office, other significant issues loom.

Immigration in particular has become a growing concern for the White House as it grapples with an increase in migration, including by unaccompanied minors, at the U.S. border with Mexico. Republicans have tried to tie the uptick to Biden's rollback of more stringent border policies enacted by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Immigration is also among Biden's lowest-rated issues in the AP-NORC survey. Overall, 43 per cent approve of his handling of the issue, while 54 per cent disapprove.

The president also receives lower marks on gun policy, which has catapulted back to the forefront of the national debate following a string of mass shootings across the country. Americans are largely split over Biden's approach to the issue, with 48 per cent approving and 49 per cent disapproving.

The next phase of Biden's presidency is also likely to include more action on foreign policy. He announced that all U.S. troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by September, and American negotiators have resumed discussions with Iran on a new nuclear agreement. The White House has also signaled that Biden may hold his first in-person meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this summer.

Thus far, a slim majority of Americans, 54 per cent, say they approve of Biden's foreign policy.
A rare 2,000 year-old statue is being returned to Libya after it was found during an attempt to smuggle it through Heathrow Airport.

Border Force officials seized the sculpture in 2013, which experts discovered was illegally dug up from a tomb.

A court ruled in 2015 that the marble statue - which depicts Greek goddess Persephone - belonged to Libya after using evidence from British Museum experts.

Since the court case, the statue has been stored for safekeeping at the British Museum while HMRC works alongside the Libyan Embassy to return the statue to its home country.

The one metre-high statue is now expected to make the 2,250 mile journey back to Libya in the coming weeks.

The incredibly rare statue of a Greek goddess is being returned to Libya after an attempted smuggle in 2013

Lybian Embassy First Secretary Enas Kaal stands behind the statue in the Libyan Embassy in London, where it will remain until it goes back to Libya in the coming weeks

British Museum staff Peter John Higgs (l), Head of Greece and Rome Department and Hannah Boulton (r) were pictured with the statue at the Libyan Embassy, central London

The sculpture is believed to have come from the region of Cyrenica in Libya, which was once colonised by Ancient Greeks.

It was easily identifiable to experts because only a handful of these sculptural types are found in museums or private collections outside of Libya.

The statue gives a distinctive depiction of the Greek goddess with snake bracelets and holding a small doll.

Some scholars believe that these type of statues, said to be immensely rare, were purposely built without legs so they could not escape, ensuring forever protection for the body buried in the tomb beneath.

Museum Director Hartwig Fisher said: 'An important part of the Museum's work on cultural heritage involves our close partnership with law enforcement agencies concerned with illicit trafficking.

'This case is another good example of the benefits of all parties working together to combat looting and protect cultural heritage'.

Curator Peter Higgs claims he knew exactly where the statue was from, the moment he saw it.

Some scholars believe that these type of tomb statues, were purposely built without legs so they could not escape, ensuring forever protection for the body buried beneath

Describing the piece as 'stunning' he said: 'It is a beautiful, three-quarter-length statue, very well preserved with just a few fingers missing.

'It is technically brilliant in the way it has been carved, with very sharp details, and the face is very well preserved considering many Greek statues have lost noses.'

Caroline Dinenage, UK Minister for Culture, added: 'The UK is a world leader in the protection of cultural heritage both at home and abroad, and our work in tackling the illicit trade of artefacts is a key part of this.

'Thanks to the combined efforts of HMRC and the British Museum, we are able to return this important statue to Libya where it belongs.'

Mohamed Elkoni (r), the Charge d'Affaires of the Libyan embassy, stands alongside the statue with British Museum's Peter John Higgs (l)

The British Museum collaborated with HMRC and the Libyan government to ensure the stolen statue would be returned

In Greek mythology, Persephone was the wife of Hades, the God of the underworld.

She spent half the year with her husband and half with her mother, Demeter, the Goddess of nature and agriculture.

The myth was believed by Ancient Greeks to be the explanation for seasons as Persephone's mother became cold with grief when parted from her daughter in the winter months.

The British Museum said in a statement that they worked closely with the Society for Libyan Studies throughout the case.

The museum has helped repatriate thousands of antiquities in the past twelve years, including over 100 cuneiform tablets looted from Iraq, which would have fetched tens of thousands of pounds on the black market.

A spokesperson for the British Museum said: 'Since 2009 we have helped to repatriate over 2300 antiquities, to Afghanistan, to Uzbekistan, and to Iraq.

'The present case is one in a long line of successes involving many agencies and individuals, and again illustrates the value and importance of these long-term relationships.'
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Border Force officials have detained around 180 migrants trying to cross the Channel in the last three days as people smugglers take advantage of good weather to make the treacherous 21-mile crossing from France.

Around 50 migrants are thought to have been caught by officers today, meaning more than 2,500 people have been prevented from making the journey across the Straits of Dover so far this year.

Yesterday, Border Force intercepted 81 migrants on three inflatable dinghies while French authorities caught 70 in two boats. On Saturday, UK officials detained 49 migrants in three small boats.

All those captured by Border Force were brought into Dover harbour where they were handed over to immigration officers as nearly 200 migrants were intercepted by UK officials last week.

According to official figures, at least 2,515 migrants have been detained this year with 831 detained in March and 746 in April alone. Last year, 8,410 migrants were detained making the crossing compared to 1,850 in 2019.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, told MailOnline: 'Until it's made beyond doubt that such arrivals will not be granted asylum, numbers will go on increasing. That's as clear as day.'

According to official figures at least 2,515 migrants have been detained already this year with 831 detained in March and 746 in April alone. In 2020 8,410 migrants were detained making the crossing compared to 1,850 in 2019

Border Force officials have detained around 180 migrants trying to cross the Channel in the last three days. Pictured earlier this month

Around 50 migrants are thought to have been caught by officers today, meaning more than 2,500 people have been prevented from making the journey across the Straits of Dover so far this year. Pictured earlier this month

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are working closely with our partners in France to stop these unnecessary journeys and the ruthless criminal gangs behind them.

'As a result more than 2,500 people have been prevented from making the dangerous crossing so far this year, and we have also secured 65 small boat related prosecutions since the start of 2020.

'There is more work to be done and our New Plan for Immigration will fix the asylum system, cracking down on the business model of people smugglers who put lives at risk by facilitating dangerous journeys into the UK.'

In March, Priti Patel announced plans to overhaul Britain's immigration regime by giving border guards patrolling the Channel greater powers to turn back migrant boats.

The crackdown will be dependent on France and other countries accepting the return of migrants.

The planned shake-up includes other controversial steps such as stripping failed asylum seekers of support and accommodation.

Foreign nationals could also be refused UK visas if their governments do not accept deportations of their own immigration rule-breakers from Britain.

France struck a deal with the UK in November to tackle illegal Channel crossings but has so far resisted the idea of having dinghies sent back to its northern beaches.

The Government's new plan for immigration, published in full on March 24, revealed the bill for the asylum system is set to rise to more than 1.3billion this year, from just under 1billion in 2019-20.

According to official figures at least 2,515 migrants have been detained already this year with 831 detained in March and 746 in April alone. Pictured earlier this month

Border Force officials were seen helping one woman off the boat after she was picked up making the crossing earlier this month

The previous daily record for attempted migrant crossings this year had been 183 on March 23.

There were 1,850 migrants detained recorded for the entire year in 2019.

In 2020 there were a record 8,410 migrants detained reaching the UK across the Channel in small boats compared to 2019.

But the latest figures have heightened fears that this total will be surpassed this year despite the increase in funding and resources to tackle the problem.

The National Crime Agency has issued an alert to the UK maritime industry, warning them that organised crime groups may target them to obtain small boats for people smugglers.

The alert warns that since global Covid-19 lockdown measures were imposed in March 2020 the number of migrants attempting to enter the UK using small boats has rocketed.

The NCA says UK law enforcement detected in excess of eight thousand migrant arrivals throughout 2020 and that this has led to a rise in demand for vessels to aid migrant Channel crossings, with demand likely to continue as weather conditions improve through spring and summer.

It says organised crime groups are known to target legitimate sellers of vessels and equipment such as outboard motors and life jackets, both in person and online.

There are also incidents recorded of boats and equipment being stolen.

The NCA has conducted a number of operations targeting those who supply boats to people smugglers, but the agency is asking those in the industry to report concerns or suspicious activity relating to the purchase of boat equipment.
A man who visited an IGA supermarket to find a present for Mother's Day ended up chasing an alleged robber out of the store with a machete in his hand.

The shopper was inside the Hackham IGA in Adelaide when he noticed another man was allegedly refusing to pay for his goods and abusing staff on Sunday afternoon.

Security footage captured the moment he confronted the alleged thief before losing his shirt in a scuffle and then picking up a nearby knife and chasing him outside.

A shopper has had a violent scuffle with a man allegedly attempting to rob an IGA (pictured)

Police allege the attempted robbery occurred after the man - dressed in all black - walked into the shop, collected goods and then started to yell at staff.

Shop owner Baggio Wang told 9 News a 15-year-old staff member started crying after the man started to abuse workers.

'He was screaming, yelling, abusing all the staff,' Mr Wang said.

The customer approached the alleged burglar and the two men fought in front of the fruit and vegetable aisle.

The shirtless shopper then grabbed the knife - which was used by staff to cut up fruit - from a back room and chased the alleged robber out of the shop.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted South Australia Police.
Iconic American fast food chain Wendy's is returning to the UK this summer, more than two decades after shutting its last British branch.

Wendy's, the world's third largest burger business with more than 6,700 branches across 30 countries, will return to the UK from next month.

The US fast food giant will return to British shores at the start of the summer and hopes to create more than 11,000 jobs across the country in the coming years.

Wendy's will open its Reading outlet on June 2 - a tentative step in a long plan to build a 400-strong branch presence across the United Kingdom.

Wendy's is set to open it's first UK branch in Reading, 21 years after the popular American fast food chain closed all of its doors on British shores

Concept images show the new designs for the Wendy's Reading restaurant, including a feature wall and a pick-up area, which is set to open on June 2

Steven Derwoed, vice president, global design and construction for Wendy's told The Mirror: 'We're very proud of our restaurant design in Reading, and I'm confident that we've built a place that our customers will love to go and our employees will love to work.

'The interior has a cool vibe with a focus on natural wood, dark contrasts, comfortable seating and fun art making it feel fresh and current.'

Branches will also be opened in Stratford and Oxford in the second half of 2021, alongside three others, but dates and locations are yet to be confirmed.

Wendy's last had a restaurant in the UK in 1999, but returned to its American roots over cost complaints and amid a fierce battle with McDonald's and Burger King.

The company, which claimed to have 'de-throned' Burger King to become the second biggest US hamburger chain last year, hopes the new venture will 'spearhead a European-wide expansion' according to an official statement.

Abigail Pringle, head of Wendy's international operations, said the company will look to compete with its largest UK market rivals, McDonald's and Burger King.

Wendy's has not revealed exactly what will be on its UK menu but the US menu includes a selection of burgers, chicken nuggets and fries (pictured)

A Wendy's spokesperson also confirmed they were 'exploring additional opportunities' in London.

They continued: 'The brand is excited to enter the UK with company owned and operated restaurants this year, and we are looking for franchisees to grow with us across the UK.'

Wendy's says it won't be offering zero-hour contracts and it will partner with Uber Eats to offer a delivery option.

What's on the Wendy's menu? Wendy's haven't revealed exactly what will be on their UK menu, but their US menu includes the following: - Jalapeno Popper Sandwich: Breaded chicken breast, jalapeno cream cheese, shredded pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese sauce Pretzel bacon cheeseburger: A quarter-pound beef patty, soft pretzel bun, warm beer cheese sauce, Applewood smoked bacon, smoky honey mustard, crispy fried onions, pickles, muenster cheese Spicy Chicken Nuggets: 100% white-meat chicken breaded and marinated in a unique, fiery blend of peppers and spices. Served with your choice of six dipping sauces including Buttermilk Ranch, Creamy Sriracha, BBQ, Sweet & Sour, Honey Mustard Baconator: A half-pound beef patty, American cheese, six pieces of crispy Applewood smoked bacon, ketchup, mayo Dave's Triple: Three quarter-pound beef patties, toasted bun, American cheese, crisp lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mayo, onion Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich: Wild caught Alaskan pollock fillet, crunchy panko breading, topped with creamy dill tartar sauce, pickles, lettuce, and American cheese. Bacon, Egg & Swiss Croissant: A fresh-cracked grade A egg and Applewood smoked bacon covered in creamy swiss cheese sauce on a flaky croissant bun. Breakfast basics worth waking up early for. Advertisement

The Wendy's menu includes the likes of a Bacon Double Stack burger (left) and a Crispy Chicken BLT (right)

Go large! They also offer the Triple Bacon Jalapeno Cheeseburger, which is a whopping 1330 calories, although it's not known if the US-sized portions will make it across the Atlantic

The last two decades has seen soaring success for US fast food joints in the UK.

Five Guys, which first opened in the UK in 2013, now has 95 restaurants with three more set to open this year.

Shake Shack also opened it's first restaurant in London in 2013 and now has 19 locations in the UK.

Wendy's was founded by Dave Thomas in Ohio, 1969 and has a market value of approximately 3.6billion.
Facebook's Oversight Board co-chair said Sunday that Donald Trump's rhetoric and social media posts 'egged on' rioters during the Capitol attack on January 6.

'On January 6, President Trump issued those statements as a mob was rampaging through the Capitol, as members of Congress were cowering in fear, as the rioters were threatening Vice President Pence's life,' oversight panel co-chair Michael McConnell told 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace.

'And at that time, he issued these statements which were just egging on  with perfunctory asking for peace, but mostly he was just egging them on  to continue,' he added.

McConnell says it's clear the posts were 'in plain violation of Facebook's rules against praising dangerous individuals and organizations at a time of violence.'

Facebook's independent review board decided Wednesday to extend the ban on Trump's accounts for another six months while CEO Mark Zuckerberg gets his 'house in order.' The panel will not issue a permanent decision on Trump's account, instead claiming that will be up to Facebook when the six months is up and they have fixed issues related to their content moderation processes.

'Mr. Trump is subject to the same rules on Facebook as everyone else,' he asserted.

Facebook Oversight Board co-Chair Michael McConnell said Sunday Facebook was justified in suspending Trump because his posts violated the platform's policy

He told Fox that Trump 'egged on' rioters during the January 6 Capitol attack in his rhetoric and social media posts

'He put himself in this bed and he can sleep in it,' McConnell said, adding Trump 'bears responsibility for his own situation.'

Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram  and most other social media sites like Twitter and YouTube  after the January 6 attack for which Democrats claim the former president was responsible for inciting.

The events, and Trump's actions leading up to them, ultimately led to the second impeachment trial against him, which like the first did not result in conviction.

Also while speaking to Fox on Sunday morning, McConnell said Facebook's rules are in 'shambles'.

McConnell is the co-chair of the board assigned to look at the platform's content moderation decisions.

He told 'Fox News Sunday': 'We gave them [Facebook] a certain amount of time to get their house in order. They needed some time because their rules are a shambles.'

'They are not transparent, they are unclear, they are internally inconsistent,' McConnell said of the platform's rules.

'So we made a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent,' he added. 'And the hope is that they will use the next few months to do that and then when they come back and look at this they will be able to apply those rules in a straightforward way.'

McConnell told Fox host Chirs Wallace: 'They needed some time because their rules are a shambles. They are not transparent, they are unclear, they are internally inconsistent'

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McConnell said the board found in its review that Facebook is justified in suspending Trump's account, but was not justified in taking the former president's statements down indefinitely.

'They did not provide any reasons for that, that is not a provision in their rules, that was wrong,' he said.

Conservatives insist they are unfairly targeted, censored and banned online by social media sites with left-leaning values and CEOs.

On Wednesday, the board released its decision to uphold the ban on Trump's account for the next six months, in which time it will be reevaluated by Zuckerberg's team.

McConnell said Wednesday that Facebook's content moderators will ultimately have to decide whether to restore Trump's account, permanently restrict it or give a set amount of time for a suspension.

Keeping him in limbo or relying on the panel to make a decision is not an option McConnell laid out.

'Facebook must make its decision and be held accountable for what it decides,' the oversight panel co-chair said.

McConnell, 65, is a constitutional law scholar who was a Republican-appointed judge for the Tenth Circuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Since ending his tenure with the court in 2009, he has been a professor and Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School.

In May 2020, he was appointed to Facebook's content oversight board.

Trump released a statement Wednesday claiming the decision by the board to uphold its ban on his accounts is a 'total disgrace' and claimed Big Tech will pay a 'political price' for taking away his free speech.

'What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country,' Trump fumed in a statement Wednesday.

'Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before,' he added.

'The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process.'

In a Thursday statement, Trump said Big Tech companies banning him are just another way to dismiss and stifles his claims of widespread voter fraud and a 'rigged' 2020 election.

The Facebook and Twitter ban on Trump earlier this year  while he was still president  was an unprecedented move of censorship on a world leader. The move sparked a global debate over how much control social media and big tech should have over free speech online.

Facebook's oversight board, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured above) called its 'Supreme Court', decided Wednesday to uphold the ban on Trump for six months

The Facebook Oversight Board was set up by the platform as an apparent self-check mechanism amid growing calls for it to be split up because it is too powerful.

The board is funded by Facebook, and all of its 20 left-leaning members are paid six figures for approximately 15 hours of work a week.

The sole purpose of the oversight board is to rule on issues that are too big for Facebook or to make decisions it simply doesn't want to make.

But in their decision on Wednesday, the five deciding board members refused to rule either way, instead upholding Facebook's ban and telling the site it would need to decide for itself whether to ban the former president.

Republicans  and even many Democrats  have said the ban on Trump proves Big Tech has too much power.

Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren said Wednesday the move exhibits Big Tech needs to be broken up.

'I'm glad that Donald Trump is not going to be on Facebook,' the Massachusetts senator clarified to Yahoo Finance. 'Suits me.'

'But part two is that this is just further demonstration that these giant tech companies are way, way, way too powerful,' Warren asserted.

'They need to be broken up in order to keep commerce flourishing,' she said, echoing her calls made during her 2020 bid to be the Democratic nominee for president.

Of Zuckerberg calling the Oversight Board the 'Supreme Court' of Facebook, Warren said: 'Listen to the arrogance of it.'

'The name of the group that made the decision is called the Supreme Court,' the Democrat congresswoman bemoaned. 'I missed the part where those people had hearings in front of Congress, and were voted on before they were made decision makers with this kind of authority.'
Edgar Harrell had been assigned to guard the components of the atomic bomb aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis before it sank in July 1945

The last surviving Marine who was on board the USS Indianapolis when it was torpedoed in World War II has died at the age of 96.

Edgar Harrell, survived for five days in the ocean after the heavy cruiser sank in July 1945, and later told his horror story of watching other survivors being eaten by sharks while they waited for rescue.

The crew were fresh off a top-secret mission to deliver uranium for the first atomic bombs to the island of Tinian, 500 miles east of the Philippines, when the ship was attacked by a Japanese submarine.

Harrell, who had been assigned to guard the components of the atomic bomb, passed away on Saturday, according to the official Facebook page for the naval ship.

'Ed was beloved among the group and traveled the world sharing the story of his ship and shipmates,' a post on the page reads. 'He joined the crew as a sea-going marine in 1944, meaning he was one of the best of the best.'

'Of course, we'll miss his passionate telling of the rescue story, and how he felt the Lord's comfort throughout the ordeal.'

Scroll down for video

Harrell has traveled around the country telling how he survived the ship's sinking and four days at sea before he was finally rescued. He is pictured speaking at a Spectrum Investment Advisors meeting in Mequon, Wisconsin in 2019

The U.S.S. Indianapolis was struck by two Japanese torpedoes in July 1945

There were 1,196 men on board the ship when it was attacked

The USS Indianapolis had departed San Francisco on July 16, 1945, on a mission to deliver parts for the Little Boy atomic bomb that would help end World War II.

It delivered the nuclear cargo to the island of Tinian on July 26, and after a crew rotation at Guam it set sail for the Philippines on July 28.

The ship was spotted on July 30 by the Japanese submarine I-58, which fired six torpedoes - two of them striking the Indianapolis. One blew the bow off of the ship, and the second hit the powder magazine.

The resulting explosion literally split the ship in half, knocking out all of its power and causing the ship to sink in just 12 minutes, according to the National World War II Museum.

It sank so quickly that no distress signal could be sent and no lifeboats were deployed.

Around 300 men of the 1,195 crew on board did not survive the initial attack.

The rest spent four days and five nights swimming aimlessly through shark-infested waters.

Harrell would later tell how many of the men perished while waiting for rescue.

Some drank the salt water and became sick, while others died of hypothermia.

Some were eaten by sharks, despite the group's efforts to form 'shark watches' and keep their men together.

'You'd hear a blood-curdling scream, and a life jacket would go under and then pop back up to the surface,' Harrell told The Leaf-Chronicle in 2011.

The ordeal became the inspiration for many Hollywood movies, most notably 'Jaws.'

'It's difficult to swim four-and-a-half days,' Harrell said in an interview posted on YouTube. 'It's much easier to die than it is to live.'

The Indianapolis was on a top-secret mission to deliver uranium for an atomic bomb

Some of the 300 survivors are pictured here enroute to a hospital following their rescue

Deep sea explorers used a drone to located the wreck of the USS Indianapolis on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean 72 years after it sunk

Incredible footage shows how the warship's guns were still locked and loaded after it was discovered on the seabed

The Navy was unaware that the Indianapolis had been lost for four days, until the survivors were spotted by a U.S. Navy aircraft on routine patrol.

The pilot aboard the aircraft radioed that there were 'many men in the water,' according to the National World War II Museum, which alerted a PBY flying boat, that in turn alerted a nearby destroyer, the USS Cecil Doyle.

Of the 890 men who survived the initial sinking just 316 were able to be rescued from the water.

The sinking was the greatest single loss of life at sea from a single ship in the history of the US Navy.

Harrell said he was able to survive due to his faith.

'There's times when you pray and there's times when you pray, and I'm pleading with the Lord, 'I don't want to die,' he recounted to the Deseret News last year. 'I have a certain brunette back home, mom and dad, six young brothers, an older and younger sister, I don't want to die.'

He returned home to Tennessee and married the brunette, Ola Mae Cathey. She died in 2019 at the age of 71.

Harrell, fourth from right, stood with his family after receiving an honorary promotion to the rank of sergeant at his family's church in Tennessee in 2018

Harrell, center, was the last surviving Marine from the U.S.S. Indianapolis attack. He died on Saturday at the age of 96

Harrell was able to carve out a life for himself after the war in the window and glass business, but struggled for many years with the memories of what he had endured.

'Even at 95 years old, I can tell the story and I can see it and I can feel it. The story is real, it's still with me,' he said in a speech last year.

'But I look up and just thank the Lord that he saw fit to allow me to survive to tell the story of the greatest tragedy at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.'

He has traveled the world telling his story, and wrote about it in a 2005 book, 'Out of the Depths: An Unforgettable WWII Story of Survival, Courage, and the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis.'

In 2018, Harrell was officially promoted to Sergeant in a small ceremony.

In 2020, he and seven other surviving members of the attack received the Congressional Gold Medal on the 75th anniversary of the ship sinking.

The Montgomery County Commission also named a Tennessee road in Harrell's honor in 2018, but Harrell said at the time, 'I want to pass on this honor to 880 of my shipmates that were not as fortunate.'

There are now only five living survivors of the USS Indianapolis sinking that are still alive, according to the U.S.S. Indianapolis Facebook page. 'Let's all do what we can to keep their legacies alive,' it posted.
Two climate change protestors who glued themselves to the security gates of a coal mining company saw their appeals against conviction thrown out by a judge.

Shulamit Morris Evans, 24, and Angela Ditchfield, 42, launched the three hour protest during Global Coal Managements (GCM) annual general meeting in Cavendish Square, central London, on December 28, 2018.

Police were able to remove the glue from the Extinction Rebellion protestors hands, but their actions resulted in a 2,152 clean up bill.

Trainee rabbi Morris-Evans and Ditchfield said they were motivated to perform the protest by GCMs plans to build a coalmine in Bangladesh, which will cause loss of life and contribute to the climate crisis.

The pair were convicted of criminal damage, given conditional discharges and ordered to pay court costs and victim surcharges totalling 370 each at City of London Magistrates Court in October 2019.

But they appealed against their convictions at Southwark Crown Court on the grounds that they hadnt intended to cause the damage.

Shulamit Morris-Evans (centre) and Angela Ditchfield (left) glued hands to gates where Global Coal Management was hosting its annual general meeting, causing 2,152 worth of damage

They argued the damage they caused did not meet the legal definition of criminal damage after a judge said their appeal was based upon a fundamental misconception of the law.

His remarks came a fortnight after six Extinction Rebellion protesters were cleared of criminal damage despite a jury being told by the judge there was no defence in law for their actions.

Activists had targeted Shells London HQ, claiming the oil firm was directly contributing to climate change.

Judge Gregory Perrins told Morris-Evans and Ditchfield: Damage is not defined in the Criminal Damage Act 1971. Whether something constitutes damage is therefore a matter of fact and degree.

As such it is a matter for us, applying our common sense, to decide whether any damage was in fact caused to the speed gates.

That damage need not be permanent or even long-lasting.

Pictured: Extinction Rebellion protesters Shulamit Morris-Evans (L) and Angela Ditchfield (R) pictured with Amy Pritchard standing outside London Magistrates' Court at an earlier hearing

Morris-Evans pictured with other XR protesters alongside her during an XR demonstration

It is argued on behalf of Miss Ditchfield - an argument adopted by Miss Morris-Evans - that even if we are satisfied that the appellants left behind the marks on the gates we should not find that those marks constitute damage for the purposes of this offence.

It is submitted that where someone is exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of protest under the ECHR - as these appellants clearly were - we should interpret damage restrictively so as to exclude anything which might be said to be minimal, temporary, or transient.

There is in fact no direct authority in support of this proposition.

The next question is whether the prosecution have proved that the defendants intended to cause damage to the speed gates or were reckless as to whether such damage be caused.

Having heard both appellants give evidence and having listened to closing submissions there appears to have been a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of the appellants as the test that must be applied.

This risk is not that permanent damage might be cause, simply that some damage be caused.

The primary school teacher who glued herself to offices used by a coal firm justified her actions in court because fossil fuels 'passes a death sentence on many people', she claimed

This is not a case where we necessarily question the integrity of the account given by either appellant. However, we do take the view that this appeal is based upon a fundamental misconception of the law.

We find that the application of glue to speeds gates is capable of constituting damage.

We further find that both appellants were aware of the risk of such damage being caused, however temporary in nature.

Accordingly, these appeals are rejected.

Former teacher Morris-Evans said: I wouldnt have persisted, and come here today to take up the time of many learned men at significant financial risk, if I didnt strongly believe that, given that the criteria for criminal damage require at least an awareness of a risk of damage, and given that that I had sound reasons to believe there was no risk and therefore do not meet those legal criteria, I should be found innocent of criminal damage in the eyes of the law.

Will Durrands, for Ditchfield, said: These women were exercising their convention rights through their protest.

I do not imagine it is in dispute that this was a protest, those involved were exercising their rights of freedom of assembly and expression - and that they were doing so in a peaceful way.

This is highly relevant in the context of temporary or minimal damage - in that for a period, there was glue on the surfaces that had to be cleaned off - and could be cleaned off easily.

It was their intention to disrupt 33 Cavendish Square until and unless the AGM was cancelled, it was then their plan to detach, clean up and leave. The plan was never to damage.

In their mind was GCMs imminent plan to construct the Phulbari Coal mine in agreement with Chinese companies.

In their mind was the immediate human and natural cost of this project on the hundreds of thousands of people who live in the Phulbari region.

For these reasons, I invite you to allow this appeal and quash these convictions.

Morris-Evans, of Kentish Town, north London, and Ditchfield, of Cambridge, were both ordered to pay prosecution costs of 300.
A pregnant woman has won 14,000 after she revealed she was having a baby to her boss - who replied 'I'm too busy for this'.

Yuliia Khimicheva was sacked by a 'discourteous' letter which used her initial rather than first full name, an employment tribunal held in Ashford, Kent was told.

She had been forced to take time off work as a magazine finisher at Key Promotions Ltd, a company involved in packing books and magazines, due to an illness related to her pregnancy, and her manager said 'this isn't working for us'.

Ms Khimicheva claimed that when she was fired her manager told her 'we are not a charity who pay people who don't work'.

The tribunal heard she joined the business in March 2019 and was still on her probationary period when she discovered she was pregnant.

Her manager, Caroline Edwards, was told by Ms Khimicheva on 9 July that she would be having a baby and would therefore need some time off.

The tribunal heard that Mrs Edwards responded by saying 'I'm too busy for this'.

Mrs Edwards claimed she already had concerns about Ms Khimicheva's performance at work and that she was also absent, with an illness related to her pregnancy, on numerous occasions.

Yuliia Khimicheva was sacked by a 'discourteous' letter which used her initial rather than first full name, an employment tribunal held in Ashford, Kent was told. She had been forced to take time off work as a magazine finisher at Key Promotions Ltd

A few weeks later on 26 July Mrs Edwards spoke to Ms Khimicheva and informed her that the decision had been made and she was to be dismissed.

She wrote a letter briefly outlining her reasons for doing so but also 'discourteously' referred to her simply by the initial of her first name.

The letter read: 'Dear Y Khimicheva

'Following our discussion regarding your production and attendance of late....

'As your production was lower than it should be after such time your attendance started to fall behind. As a result being very busy with work and your continued absence I have decided this job is not working for you or for the company.'

In her witness statement at the tribunal, Ms Khimicheva said: 'I returned to work and was immediately called to the manager - Caroline Edwards, she said about a decision to dismiss me because of my absence.

'I said that they cannot count days of absence because of sickness related to pregnancy with other absence days and it cannot be a reason for dismissal the main reason of dismissal became poor performance at last days.

'When I tried to explain that my condition (did not) affect my performance all that I heard as an answer (was) - ''We are not a charity organisation to pay for not enough work''.'

Employment Judge Street found that 'Mrs Edwards knew of the pregnancy before the date she decided to dismiss Ms Khimicheva.

The judge added: 'That would point to the pregnancy being a factor in her thinking.'

Judge Street concluded: 'The dismissal letter [was also] inadequate. It is discourteous to dismiss someone with whom you have had recent and quite personal conversations addressing them as 'Dear Y Khimicheva'.

'As a pregnant woman under dismissal, Ms Khimicheva is entitled to a statement of reasons for dismissal and the reasons are mentioned only briefly and in the most general terms.'

Ms Khimicheva was found to have been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against because of her pregnancy.

The company was ordered to pay her a total of 14,820.
A Thai woman was found dead after she was electrocuted while playing on a new smartphone as it charged.

Yooyen Saenprasert, 54, was on the bed with the charger cable resting on her arm while it was plugged into the mobile device and the mains at the home in Udon Thani province, northeastern Thailand on May 6.

Saenprasert loved playing games on the smartphone while relaxing in bed in the evening, according to her husband.

Yooyen Saenprasert, 54, was found dead after she was electrocuted while playing on a new smartphone as it charged

Her husband Praiwan Saenprasert, 54, left her alone in the evening to visit their fishpond but he found his wife unconscious with burn marks on her hands when he returned later that night.

Paramedics arrived to try and revive Yooyen but she is believed to have been dead for more than four hours since her body was found.

Devastated husband Prasit said he bought the smartphone for her as a birthday gift two days before the incident so he could not believe that this happened to his wife.

He said: 'My wife did not move up when I tried to wake her up. I knew there was something seriously wrong.

'We only had each other. We did not have a child. I bought that phone two days ago for her so I could not believe this happened.'

Prasit added that his wife loved playing mobile games while she was relaxing on the bed but they did not know that it could be dangerous to do it while the phone was charging.

He said: 'She liked to play games on her smartphone in the evening. We did not know that it was dangerous.'

Paramedics arrived to try and revive Yooyen but she is believed to have been dead for more than four hours since her body was found

The police found bruises on the woman's right hand which were believed to have been sustained from an electric shock.

One of the officers said that the family did not believe there were suspicious circumstances in the woman's death but they still took the body to a hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Lieutenant Colonel Mangkorn Chomkot said: 'We took the body to the police hospital for them to confirm the cause of death. The funeral will be organised by the family later.'
Britain is in a 'very good position' against coronavirus variants, researchers insisted today as Pfizer claimed there is no proof its current jab needs to be updated to fight mutant strains.

Public Health England data shows variant cases have remained low in recent weeks, despite a spike in infections triggered by the Indian B.1.617.2 strain.

But Professor Sharon Peacock, who leads the UK's variant tracking programme, said there was no evidence to suggest it triggered more severe disease.

And another Cambridge expert added early studies indicated it was still susceptible to the current crop of vaccines being deployed in Britain.

BioNTech, the German firm partnering with Pfizer to make the coronavirus jab, today said in its latest financial report there was no evidence that its current jab needed to be tweaked to fight off variants.

But it said it was still monitoring the situation, in case a variant did appear that could get around vaccine-triggered immunity.

It comes after official data revealed almost half of all cases in London are now down to the Indian variants.

Professor Sharon Peacock, who heads up the UK's variant tracking, (right) said there was no evidence the Indian variants caused more severe disease compared to the Kent variant. Professor Ravi Gupta, also from Cambridge, (left), said early results indicated vaccine-triggered immunity was no less effective against the strains

BioNTech said in their latest financial reports that the jab would block infections from variants in most cases, and almost all hospitalisations and deaths

DOES PFIZER'S VACCINE WORK AGAINST VARIANTS? There is no evidence that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine needs to be updated to fight off variants, its developer said today. BioNTech made the statement in its latest financial report, but said it was still monitoring variants. Their mRNA based vaccine was found to be more than 90 per cent effective at blocking Covid infections in clinical trials, and 100 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths. But recent studies have suggested the jab also sparked significant protection against variants. It was 75 per cent effective at blocking infections with the South African and Kent variant, studies in Israel and Qatar showed. And almost 100 per cent effective at stopping hospitalisation and death. Further studies found it was also effective against the Brazilian variant. although these were carried out on a small number of individuals. Early results also suggest it sparks protection against the Indian variant. But scientists say clinical studies are ongoing with results not expected for more than a week. Advertisement

Speaking at a press conference for health journalists today, Professor Peacock said: 'I think that, for me, looking at the overall landscape, Im still very delighted that vaccines are working, that, you know, whatever is out there, vaccines are working, and disease rates are falling, so were in a very good position.

'As scientists we just have to keep our eye on this so that we just maintain that trajectory.'

She added that simple moves such as washing hands and social distancing were still the best defences against the virus and its variants.

Discussing the Indian variant, she added: 'I think the point to note is that this isnt a special variant of concern thats going to get around washing your hands and distancing and wearing a mask, and being in a well-ventilated place  I think thats the key thing.

'So, for me, the message is we just keep doing those things but were in a better position now because we have falling rates, and a good vaccination programme, which I would anticipate will just continue to increasingly protect our population.'

Professor Ravi Gupta, a microbiologist at Cambridge University, claimed that early laboratory analysis suggests vaccines will still protect against severe disease from the three Indian variants.

Cases of the three genetically similar Indian variants, particularly B.1.617.2, have risen rapidly since it was first spotted in the UK last month.

They accounted for more than 30 per cent of all Covid cases on May 9, according to variant tracker GISAID, up from five per cent a week ago.

But this is in the context of cases continuing to fall across the country amid a successful vaccine roll-out that has jabbed two in three adults  or 35million people.

BioNTech wrote in its latest report: 'To date, there is no evidence that an adaptation of BioNTech's current Covid vaccine against key identified emerging variants is necessary.'

The firm added that there was a 'comprehensive strategy to address these variants should the need arise in the future'.

It came after the CEO Ugur Sahin said the company was still monitoring mutant strains to ensure it could react quickly if any troublesome ones appeared.

Scientists are spooked by variants because they carry key mutations that change the shape of their spike protein, which antibodies bind to to stop infections.

Lab studies already suggest fewer antibodies are made in response to some variants, raising fears that a variant could beat vaccine-triggered immunity.

But experts have stressed these studies exclude other parts of the immune system  such as T-cells  which also play a key role in fighting off viruses.

Professor Christina Pagel, a mathematician at University College London and member of Independent SAGE, produced this graph using PHE data to show that the proportion of Covid cases being caused by the Indian variant type .2 has surged to almost 40 per cent

Public Health England figures reported on May 5, taken from tests up to around April 27, show that fewer than half of cases have been in international travellers in most areas

Studies in Israel and Qatar where most residents have been jabbed found Pfizer's shot was up to 75 per cent effective at blocking infections with the South African variant (B.1.351), and also warded off most cases with the Kent variant (B.1.1.7).

It was more than 97 per cent effective at blocking hospitalisations and deaths in infections with either variant.

This is a slight drop from the 95 per cent figure from trials, but still far above levels for many jabs such as the flu shot which is often less than 50 per cent effective.

Numerous studies have also suggested Pfizer's jab protects against the Brazilian strain (P.1).

There is currently no evidence that the Belgian-made jab is less effective against either of the three Indian variants.

The Pfizer vaccine was 100 per cent effective at stopping hospitalisation or death from Covid during trials, and 95 per cent effective at blocking infections.

It is based on mRNA technology, which uses the body to produce harmless Covid spike proteins.

These trigger an immune reaction against the virus, ensuring the body has defences should the real virus come along.

Britain expanded its order of Pfizer jabs by another 60million in February to provide booster shots for the country this Autumn.

This brings the total to 100million doses, the same as for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
A paper-mache box Boris Yeltsin gave to former Commons Speaker Baroness Betty Boothroyd has sold for nearly 50 times its estimate at auction.

The 91-year-old flogged around 70 decorative items she was presented with during her eight years in charge at the House of Commons.

The 20th century ornamental box from the late Russian president sold for 2,400 - a whopping 48 times its 50 estimate.

The former MP, who is the only woman to have been elected Speaker of the Commons, said: 'I entertained President Yeltsin during a trip to London.

An ornamental box Boris Yeltsin gave to former Commons Speaker Baroness Betty Boothroyd has sold for nearly 50 times its estimate at auction

'He kissed my hand and gratefully presented me with the little box, which has a note inside from him.

'That would have been during the time I was Speaker between 1992 and 2000.'

Baroness Boothroyd auctioned off decorative items that tell the story of her colourful working life.

The former West Bromwich MP consigned around 70 items to Hansons London on April 24, and most sold well above their estimate.

A large fine china limited edition figure of Lawrence of Arabia riding a camel sold for 1,250 - more than three times the 250-350 guide price.

One of six ever made, it was given to the baroness when she was president of the All-Party Defence Group.

The 20th century ornamental box from the late Russian president sold for 2,400 - a whopping 48 times its 50 estimate

Other treasures included costume jewellery and ornaments as well as political mementos, while two art glass birds by Finnish designer Oiva Toikka fetched 190.

A ships glass decanter and glasses presented to her by the British Navy in St Petersburg, Russia, made 110 having been expected to fetch 30.

An inscribed pewter beer jug handed to her by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group sold for 130, more than twice its estimate of 50.

Baroness Boothroyd parted with the gifts after downsizing from her London home to a small cottage in South Cambridgeshire which is too small to accommodate them.

The former MP said the items auctioned by Hansons London were her 'life story'.

She said: 'It was very hard for me to part with some of the treasures I had built up over my lifetime and political career but, due to the need to downsize, I simply hadnt got room for everything anymore.

'Ive cherished every single thing but I had to let go. They were a reminder of a colourful life.

The former West Bromwich MP entertained President Yeltsin (pictured) during a trip to London and he 'kissed her hand and gratefully presented her with the little box, which has a note inside from him'

She added: 'It's an awful thing but that's the way it is, and there's no alternative. I am moving to a country cottage in South Cambridgeshire.

'It's a lovely old place with beams but it hasn't got the deep windowsills or space I would need to display all the items I have in London.

'It's taken me a long time to go through everything. I am parting with lovely things I've collected over the years, or which were given to me as gifts during my public life.

'These little mementos, some bought during my travels to colourful countries like Cuba, mean so much. They're my life story.'
Michel Fourniret, 78, (pictured) has slipped into a coma and is on the verge of death

The French serial killer who murdered up to 30 young women and girls including British student Joanna Parrish died in a hospital intensive care ward at the age of 79 today.

Michel Fourniret, who was known as the 'Beast of the Ardennes', died at the Pitie Salpetriere hospital in Paris at 3pm local time, the Paris' chief prosecutor Remy Heitz said.

He had been rushed from Fresnes prison to a secure unit at the hospital on Saturday after 'suffering from respiratory problems'.

An investigation has been opened into his death, Heitz said.

Fourniret, who was serving two life sentences for murdering eight people, had slipped into a coma and was on the verge of death, it emerged earlier today.

'He is suffering with heart problems and mental degeneration, has been placed in a coma, and doctors consider he cannot be resuscitated,' a source told Le Parisien newspaper early Monday.

Fourniret has admitted kidnapping, raping and murdering 11 girls and young women over a 14-year period from 1987, and is thought to be behind up to 21 more killings.

They included Joanna, a 20-year-old Leeds University language student who was killed in Burgundy countryside in eastern France in May 1990.

In 2018, Fourniret told examining magistrates that he ended the lives of both Joanna and Marie-Ange Domece, a mentally handicapped teenager who disappeared in 1988, aged 19.

Joanna's body was found naked in the River Yonne in Auxerre, the day after she was reported missing.

Fourniret was the prime suspect in Joanna's case for years, and was finally arrested in 2005 with his wife Monique Olivier in connection with the death.

Michel Fourniret, known as the Beast of the Ardennes, was jailed for life without the possibility of parole in May 2008 after admitting the kidnap, rape and murder of seven young women over a 14-year period from 1987 including Estelle Mouzin (left) and Joanna Parrish (right)

Olivier was also jailed for complicity after it was revealed she would pick up victims for him as she drove in their car around the wooden Ardennes area with their baby son in the backseat.

Last year, analysts found forensic traces of two other Fourniret victims - nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin and 18-year-old Celine Saison - on a mattress belonging to the murderer's sister.

Then advanced testing led to links with 12 other people, whose identities could be revealed thanks to advanced testing.

Corinne Herrmann, a barrister representing presumed victims, said at the time: 'We want the DNA of all victims and disappeared girls that we represent to be compared with those found on the mattress, and with all evidence under seal seized at Michel Fourniret's home.'

Pictured: An excavator digs a two hectares parcel of the forest near the village of Issancourt-et-Rumel on the third day of the search operations for the remains of nine-year-old girl Estelle Mouzin on April 29

Ms Herrmann added: 'It is inconceivable that Fourniret did not kill other victims.'

Fourniret was in the high-security Fresnes prison in Paris until being rushed to the Pitie Salpetriere.

Le Parisien reported that he 'had already been hospitalized in emergency on several occasions.'

Didier Seban, another lawyer for the families of his victims, said: 'His condition and his memory have been deteriorating for several months and we suspect that he will never be tried' for many of his crimes.

Mr Seban added: 'This situation is obviously hard to live with for the families who will be deprived of the main accused in the event of a trial.'

Michel Fourniret  the 79-year-old known as the 'Beast of the Ardennes'  was rushed to a secure unit at the Pitie Salpetriere in Paris (file photo) on Saturday 'suffering from respiratory problems'

Monique Olivier has told a fellow prisoner that her ex-husband's victims 'greatly exceeded 30', according to investigating sources who have monitored her in Rennes prison.

Genetic traces have linked him with at least 21 unsolved cases of murders or disappearances across France.

This list exclusively concerns girls or young women, aged 10 to 39, who mysteriously disappeared or were murdered between 1987 and 2003 in 17 departments, the French equivalent of counties.

Fourniret was convicted of seven murders in May 2008 committed between 1987 and 2001, and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Meanwhile Olivier, his ex-wife, was given life with a minimum term of 28 years in prison, for complicity in five of the murders.

In 2018, the couple were tried for the 1988 murder of Farida Hammiche. Fourniret was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder while Olivier was sentenced to a further twenty years for complicity in the murder.

While Fourniret has confessed to 11 murders, he was only convicted for eight. He was indicted for the murder of Estelle Mouzin in 2019 and later confessed to her murder in 2020. He was also charged with the death of Domece and Joanna Parrish.
Donna Ganson who was moved into emergency accommodation after reporting neighbour to police

A mother-of-two has revealed how she was forced out of her home amid threats she would be stabbed - after she told police she saw her neighbour spitting at a child.

Donna Ganson, 34, witnessed a physical altercation involving a woman, a man and a child in East Craigs, Edinburgh.

She saw the youngster was crying and dialled 999, but while the case went to court she was faced with daily abuse and had to install CCTV for fear of retribution.

In March the woman pleaded guilty to engaging in a physical altercation with a man and a child and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner by acting aggressively towards them.

She was initially charged with assaulting and spitting at the child, seizing them by the body and placing them in a headlock - but a not guilty plea was accepted by prosecutors.

The woman also admitted assaulting the man and spitting at him.

Her sentence has been deferred.

Ms Ganson is now living in emergency housing and said the hostility has impacted her two sons, who both have autism.

She said: 'It's been nearly a year of them all going past and sneering and saying things like ''you're a grass'' and a ''dirty snake.''

'I haven't done anything wrong.

'Since then my life on that street has been a living hell. It's just been horrendous.

Pictured: Video grab from CCTV footage of Donna Ganson (pictured) allegedly being threatened

'There have been points where we have not wanted to be here and felt trapped and felt I can not protect my family from other people's actions.

'It's taken a heavy toll on my mental health. We were prisoners in our own home and did not feel safe, even when the doors were locked.

'I could not even go out my door without being shouted at with ''your day is coming'' and ''you are getting stabbed.''

'It was happening daily and had been getting worse since the court date.'

In one incident last month, Ms Ganson claimed police took two hours to respond to a 999 call despite them having an at risk 'marker' on her address in their computer system.

Pictured: CCTV footage from outside Ms Ganson's house

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'We are fully aware of the ongoing situation and are, along with partners, working to address the concerns being raised.

'We are also acutely aware of issues which can affect the peace and wellbeing of our local communities and when concerns are reported to us we will endeavour to tackle them head on.

'Our aim is to ensure that no-one has to endure behaviour which can affect the quality of life of those living in any community.'

Councillor Kate Campbell, the housing, homelessness and fair work convener, said: 'We take the safety and wellbeing of our residents very seriously, particularly in circumstances where people are in vulnerable situations or need specialist care and help.

'We work closely with key partners to respond swiftly and responsively to support our citizens in a number of ways including the provision of temporary accommodation, housing options and support services where there is a particular need or welfare issue.'

A Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association spokesperson said they were fully aware of the situation but would not comment on an individual's circumstances.
Dartmouth College has accused 17 medical students of cheating in remote exams after tracking their online activity without their knowledge.

The prestigious Ivy League college used its Canvas learning management system to conduct an audit of students' electronic devices after receiving a complaint of possible cheating from a faculty member.

Canvas is an online platform for teaching and learning used by several Ivy League colleges including Princeton, Harvard and Yale.

School officials accused the students of looking up answers to exams on the internet.

But the accusations have been slammed by students on campus, who say the software is prone to errors and is an example of inappropriate school surveillance during the pandemic.

The New Hampshire school has since dismissed charges against seven of the students, after they claimed the software used to monitor cheating was inaccurate.

Some students at the College's Geisel School of Medicine who claim to be innocent of the cheating allegations say they were advised by the College to plead guilty and ask for a reduced punishment, the New York Times reports.

The Geisel School's Dean Duane A. Compton has denied this.

17 students at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine have been accused of cheating in remote exams after requiring them to install controversial tracking software on their computers.

Of the 10 still facing charges, several face expulsion, others are threatened with suspension, and the remainder may be required to repeat the year, at a cost of $79,000 for tuition and board.

The accusations of cheating have prompted on-campus protests and complaints about the college's use of an expanded surveillance system to monitor remote learning during the pandemic.

'If other schools follow the precedent that Dartmouth is setting here, any student can be accused based on the flimsiest technical evidence,' Cooper Quntin, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the Times.

Universities have used anti-plagiarism software to monitor cheating in the past.

But new measures employed to track remote learning include forcing students to download software that can use a webcam or even take over a computer.

It's led to a major reckoning over privacy on some college campuses, with some under fire universities saying they will no longer use the technology.

One cybersecurity expert, Shaanan Cohney, a senior lecturer with the University of Melbourne in Australia, told The Times universities that lack the expertise to use the complex technology could run into 'significant trouble'.

Students say they are so terrified of being falsely accused of cheating that they are trying to force the college to offer in-person exams.

As well as Canvas, Dartmouth requires students to use a tool known as ExamSoft that stops them looking up exam answers. It also requires students to have a second backup device nearby.

The accusations against students were sparked by a complaint by a faculty member, who suggested that a student may have used their backup device to cheat.

The College then reviewed 3,000 exams taken by first and second year medical students in the fall of 2020.

It detected a pattern whereby students check a Canvas webpage - such as a course material or practice quiz - on material closely related to the exam they were sitting.

The audit showed up 38 possible cheating examples, which were soon reduced to 17.

A screenshot of a Canvas dashboard. Students have denied accessing the remote learning platform to cheat during exams

Duane A Compton, Dean of Geisel School, said defended its use of the Canvas software to track exam cheats

The College emailed the 17 students with their methodology showing they had looked up Canvas pages during the exams.

Several students complained that they had pages open in Canvas, but had not accessed the pages, alleging the audit had mixed up automated web activity with human activity.

Seven students were able to overturn the charges.

One of the accused students, Sirey Zhang, a first-year student at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, told the Times he had received an email from Dartmouth accusing him of cheating while on spring break in March.

Dartmouth told Zhang that after a review of his online activity on Canvas, it had shown that he had cheated by looking up websites relating to the exams he was sitting on three separate occasions.

Zhang denied he had cheated, but told the Times he had been pressured into admitting wrongdoing and asking for clemency.

He is facing suspension and says that the permanent black mark on his academic record might prevent him from pursuing a career as a pediatrician.

More than 100 furious students penned an open letter to the College accusing them of conducting a 'flawed' investigation and using undue pressure on the students.

'Students felt that they were choosing between admitting guilt and their future as a physician,' the letter, obtained by DailyMail.com, read.

'Confused and vulnerable, many students accepted the advice from Student Affairs leadership and apologized for the alleged infractions. These are not valid admissions of guilt and should be disregarded.

'As a result of this investigation, many accused students shared their experiences of suicidal ideation, panic attacks, and inability to eat or sleep through the now-deleted Instagram account, @concernedstudent1797,' a reference to the year the Geisel School of Medicine was founded.

On April 21, students picketed the college campus over the cheating scandal, waving sign such as 'your students are hurting' and 'due process for all'.

Dartmouth College did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DailyMail.com.

But in an interview with the Times, Duane A. Compton, the dean of the Geisel School, defended its use of the Canvas system to track exam cheats.

He denied that innocent students had been encouraged to plead guilty.

'We wouldnt want people to be able to be eligible for a medical license without really having the appropriate training,' he told the Times.

Canvas could not be reached for comment.
DarkSide is believed to be based out of Russia and made up of veteran cybercriminals. In a statement (above) following the Colonial attack, the group denied being political and said their only goal was to 'make money'

The cyberextortion attack that forced the shutdown of America's largest fuel pipeline was carried out by a criminal gang known as DarkSide that is believed to based out of Russia where they are given free rein to target Western countries.

DarkSide is made up of veteran cybercriminals but insists it is not political. Like many others, however, DarkSide seems to spare Russian, Kazakh and Ukrainian-speaking companies, which does suggest a link to Russia.

Ransomware rackets are now dominated by Russian-speaking cybercriminals who are shielded - and sometimes employed - by Russian intelligence agencies, according to US officials.

Cyber experts say Russia gives free rein to hackers who target the US and European countries.

DarkSide has already boasted that it has been paid millions of dollars in ransom from 80 companies across the US and Europe.

'Whether they work for the state or not is increasingly irrelevant, given Russia's obvious policy of harboring and tolerating cybercrime,' Dmitri Alperovitch, a co-founder of CrowdStrike, told NBC News of DarkSide's recent hacking.

The FBI on Monday confirmed that DarkSide was responsible for the attack on Colonial Pipeline that has experts fearing widespread gas shortages and significant price hikes.

The agency has been tracking the group since at least October and are investigating whether they have ties to the Russian government.

The US last month slapped sanctions on Russia for malign activities including state-backed hacking. The Treasury Department said Russian intelligence has enabled ransomware attacks by cultivating and co-opting criminal hackers and giving them safe harbor.

While there is no evidence the Kremlin benefits financially from ransomware, US officials believe President Putin savors the mayhem it wreaks in adversaries' economies.

The FBI on Monday confirmed that DarkSide was responsible for the attack on Colonial Pipeline (above) that has experts fearing gas shortages and significant prices hikes

DarkSide finds vulnerabilities in a network, gains access to administrator accounts and then harvests data from the victim's server and encrypts it. The software leaves a ransom note text file with demands (pictured above)

DarkSide, which cultivates a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity, said in a statement posted on the dark web that their only goal was to 'make money' and not create problems for society.

'We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics,' the statement read. 'Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society.'

DarkSide seemed to suggest that an affiliate may have been responsible for the attack.

'From today we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future,' the statement said.

Colonial, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, has not yet said whether it has paid or is negotiating a ransom with the hackers.

The White House declined to weigh in on Monday on whether companies that are hacked like Colonial should pay ransom to their attackers.

President Biden acknowledged there was evidence DarkSide was based in Russia but said US intelligence hasn't discovered any ties between the attack and the Russian government.

Despite only emerging in August last year, DarkSide appears to be very organized, according to cybersecurity experts.

Those who have tracked DarkSide said it appears to be composed of veteran cybercriminals who are focused on squeezing out as much money as they can from their targets.

'They're very new but they're very organized,' Lior Div, the chief executive of Boston-based security firm Cybereason, said.

'It looks like someone who's been there, done that.'

DarkSide is one of a number of increasingly professionalized groups of digital extortionists, with a mailing list, a press center and a victim hotline to help facilitate ransom payments.

DarkSide cultivates a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity. Pictured above is a statement posted on the dark web in October last year detailing some of their donations

The group has posted receipts from donations it claims it has made to US charities in the wake of ransom attacks

The hackers cultivate a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity. Pictured is a receipt the group claims shows they donate a cut of their ransoms to charity

Experts say DarkSide was likely composed of ransomware veterans and that it came out of nowhere in the middle of last year and immediately unleashed a digital crimewave.

'It's as if someone turned on the switch,' said Div, who noted that more than 10 of his company's customers have fought off break-in attempts from the group in the past few months.

DarkSide's site on the dark web hints at their hackers' past crimes with claims they previously made millions from extortion and that just because their software was new 'that does not mean that we have no experience and we came from nowhere'.

The site also features a Hall of Shame-style gallery of leaked data from victims who haven't paid up.

It advertises stolen documents from more than 80 companies across the US and Europe.

One of the more recent victims featured on its list was Georgia-based rugmaker Dixie Group Inc, which publicly disclosed a digital shakedown attempt affecting 'portions of its information technology systems' last month.

DarkSide has previously targeted Enterprise rental cars, Canadian real estate firm Brookfield Residential and an Office Depot subsidiary called CompuCom.

The group has a supposed code of conduct intended to spin the group as reliable, if ruthless, business partners.

They have publicly stated that they prefer not to attack hospitals, schools, non-profits, and governments.

They instead go after big organizations that can afford to pay large ransoms and claims to donates a portion of its take to charity.

'Before any attack, we carefully analyze your accountancy and determine how much you can pay based on your net income,' the group has previously said.

The group has posted receipts from donations it claims it has made to US charities in the wake of ransom attacks.

According to data security firm Arete, DarkSide finds vulnerabilities in a network, gains access to administrator accounts and then harvests data from the victim's server and encrypts it.

The software leaves a ransom note text file with demands.

Sources told Bloomberg News that hackers stole nearly 100 gigabytes of data out of Colonial's network on Thursday before demanding a ransom. Colonial, which is based in Georgia, has not yet said whether it has paid or is negotiating a ransom with the hackers

The attack on Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Texas to New Jersey and transports 45 percent of the East Coast's fuel supply, is the largest assault on US energy infrastructure in history and has sent shockwaves across the industry

Ransoms average more than $6.5 million and the attacks lead to an average of five days of downtime for the business.

Sometimes stolen data is more valuable to ransomware criminals than the leverage they gain by crippling a network because some victims are loath to see sensitive information of theirs dumped online.

Ransom software works by encrypting victims' data and typically hackers will then offer the victim a key in return for cryptocurrency payments that can run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

If the victim resists, hackers threaten to leak confidential data in a bid to pile on the pressure.

According to some experts, DarkSide's code is standard ransomware but Div said that what does set them apart is the intelligence work they carry out against their targets beforehand.

Typically 'they know who is the manager, they know who they're speaking with, they know where the money is, they know who is the decision maker,' Div said.

In that respect, Div said that the targeting of Colonial Pipeline, with its potentially massive knock-on consequences for Americans up and down the Eastern seaboard - may have been a miscalculation.

'It's not good for business for them when the US government becomes involved, when the FBI becomes involved,' he said.

'It's the last thing they need.'

Law enforcement has been largely powerless to stop the global epidemic of ransomware because experts say the cybercriminals are largely shielded by Russia.

'Like almost any major industry in Russia, (cybercriminals) work kind of with the tacit consent and sometimes explicit consent of the security services,' Michael van Landingham, a former CIA analyst who runs the consultancy Active Measures LLC, told The Associated Press.

Karen Kazaryan, CEO of the software industry-supported Internet Research Institute in Moscow, told the outlet that Russian authorities have a simple rule.

'Just don't ever work against your country and businesses in this country. If you steal something from Americans, that's fine,' she said.

The nation's top security agencies, including the FBI and the Pentagon, were rocked by an unprecedented breach when it emerged SolarWinds had been hacked in December.

US officials have said the attackers were likely from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service.
Council leaders have urged Boris Johnson to finally fulfil his pledge to 'fix' the nation's social care crisis at tomorrow's Queen's Speech.

The Local Government Association, which represents authorities across England and Wales, said the Queen's Speech and the spending review later this year are 'key opportunities' for the Prime Minister to make good on his promise.

The LGA warned a failure to act now on long-promised social care reform would be a 'bitter blow' for care staff and the millions they help.

Mr Johnson said in his first speech as Prime Minister on July 24, 2019 that 'we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve'.

However, no plan has yet been brought forward by the Government, with Mr Johnson under fire for failing to act on his pledge.

Boris Johnson has been urged by council bosses to fulfil his pledge to 'fix' the nation's social care system

Mr Johnson said in his first speech as Prime Minister on July 24, 2019 that 'we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all' but he is yet to publish plans. Stock image

Care groups, charities and politicians have long been calling for a major overhaul of the sector amid concerns the current system is unsustainable.

Health Minister Nadine Dorries said this morning that there would be a mention of social care in the Queen's Speech as the Government sets out its legislative plans for the next year, but that she was unable to give further details.

When asked about the issue last week the PM did not guarantee that proposals will be detailed in the speech, instead saying plans would be brought forward in the 'next few months'.

The LGA has sent a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak as well as ministers for health, care and housing, in which it states that one-off grants and the social care council tax precept are only 'sticking plaster solutions' and a long-term remedy is needed.

The LGA is calling for three things in order for the PM to 'make good' on his promise.

These are investment to deliver a preventative approach enabling people to be supported in their own homes; an end to 'sticking plaster solutions' and a long-term funding solution which could include increases in national taxation and/or a social care premium.

The LGA polled 102 MPs and 94 peers between November and February and found that 83 per cent are in favour of increased funding for councils' social care budgets.

Councillor James Jamieson, LGA chairman, said: 'The decisions on social care funding and reform in the coming weeks will potentially impact both the millions of people who draw on or work in care and support now, and the many millions more who will do so in the decades ahead.

'Our latest poll of MPs demonstrates the broad support across Parliament for additional funding for councils' social care budgets.

'All of us in local government, across the political divide, want to see the Queen's Speech finally set out the plans we have been waiting for and make good on the Prime Minister's promise to "fix social care", once and for all.

'This is about an investment in people, in all of us. A failure to act will be a bitter blow to everyone connected to social care.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'Improving the adult social care system remains a priority for this government and we will bring forward proposals later this year to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

'Throughout the pandemic we have provided almost 1.8billion in specific funding for adult social care including infection prevention and control measures.

'We've also provided free personal protective equipment and additional testing and prioritised health and care workers for the vaccine.'
A teenage boy who attends a $33,000-per-year elite Melbourne private school was bashed after one of his friends called people of colour the N-word.

The Carey Baptist Grammar students were on their way to a school friend's 16th birthday party in Kew when the altercation broke out.

The two boys came across two people of colour while walking along High St in Kew, in Melbourne's inner suburbs.

One of the students referred to the pair as the N-word, which resulted in his friend being assaulted.

A teenage boy who attends the exclusive Carey Baptist Grammar (pictured) was bashed after one of his friends called people of colour the N-word

Carey Baptist Grammar Principal Jonathan Walter said the school is aware of the incident where 'one of the students used inappropriate and racist language toward another young person'

The 16-year-old boy, who didn't use the slur, was taken to hospital by paramedics with facial injuries.

Principal Jonathan Walter said the school is aware of the incident where 'one of the students used inappropriate and racist language toward another young person'.

'This type of language and behaviour is not tolerated by Carey which has a proud history of welcoming diversity in enrolment and promoting an environment of inclusivity and acceptance,' he said in a statement to The Herald Sun.

Police are investigating and said four males were involved involved in the altercation at about 7.10pm.

Naomi Oakley, whose security company was working at the party, said her staff were told about the racial slur at the party.

Ms Oakley wrote a letter to Mr Walter, saying she has 'sadly seen an increase in the use of this word' at youth events over the last few years.

'From time to time, I advise relevant secondary schools of certain situations that involve students,' she wrote.

She said despite the risk of losing clients, it was her duty to 'call people out' for racist behaviour.

Mr Walter responded to Ms Oakley saying the school is 'continually working to educate' its students about respectful relationships and language.
It is alleged he told a probation officer he fantasised about killing prostitutes

He was acquitted of killing Ms Class weeks before assaulting two sex workers

A man accused of two murders 21 years apart told a probation officer that he fantasised about hurting and killing sex workers, a court has heard.

Gary Allen, 47, is currently standing trial accused of the murders of Samantha Class in 1997 in Hull and Alena Grlakova in 2018.

Jurors at Sheffield Crown Court heard Allen had a 'strong dislike of sex workers', and both women had worked in the sex industry at the time of their deaths.

Samantha's body was found by schoolchildren on the banks of the River Humber near North Ferriby. She had been beaten, strangled and run over.

Allen was later arrested and stood trial for her murder but was found not guilty.

Just a month later in Plymouth, where he was living at the time, he attacked two sex workers.

A court has heard Gary Allen, 47, who is accused of murdering two sex workers 21 years apart, told a probation officer that he fantasised about hurting and killing sex workers

After he was convicted for the attacks, Allen was seen by two probation workers, to whom he is said to have made a series of worrying comments.

Allen was seen by probation officer, Darren Fisher, in two meetings on December 17 and 18, 2003.

During the interviews, Mr Fisher says Allen claimed he fantasised about harming sex workers.

As he gave evidence from the witness box at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday, Mr Fisher said Allen told him he had these fantasies 'on a weekly basis.'

He said: 'He said he fantasised about restraining a woman he fantasised was a prostitute and says to her "I'm going to kill you, and hurt you. No one is ever going to see you".

'He fantasised about repeatedly beating the victim with a bat. That [his victims were prostitutes] was a persistent theme in his fantasies.

Gary Allen, 47, is currently standing trial accused of the murders of Samantha Class in 1997 in Hull and Alena Grlakova in 2018

'He told me that he had for many years had prostitutes in his abusive fantasies and when he came across them he immediately developed a fantasy of "what he'd do to them".'

The comments came soon after another probation worker claims Allen described sex workers as 'scum' and 'the lowest of the low' to her.

Rosemary Parks says she saw Allen in a series of meetings in October 2002. She says he admitted to her that he planned and committed the attacks on the sex workers in Plymouth. She said that he targets sex workers as 'they go with anybody.'

Mr Fisher was cross-examined by Katherine Goddard who asked whether Mr Fisher had suggested the fantasies to Allen based on material he may have had from his interviews with Ms Parks.

She said: 'I have to suggest to you that during your meetings with him you made it clear to him that if he didn't co-operate with your meetings than he would likely be returned to prison for breaching his licence.'

Jurors at Sheffield Crown Court were told Allen was seen by two probation workers, following his conviction. During the interviews, probation officer Darren Fisher says Allen claimed he fantasised about harming sex workers 'on a weekly basis' and 'immediately developed a fantasy of "what he'd do to them".' Allen denies the charges

Mr Fisher dismissed the suggestion.

Ms Goddard added: 'You have told the jury that in discussion with him he told you some specific things and he said that in his fantasies he restrained a woman who was naked and he fantasised she was a prostitute and that he said he was going to kill and hurt them and that no one was going to see them again.

'What I suggest to you is that you were making these suggestions to him and he was simply going along with them.'

Mr Fisher said: 'My questions to him were based on material that I had and the offences he had committed as a man who had expressed violence.'

The officer said the things that were discussed had been disclosed to him by Allen.

The court heard that Allen told Mr Fisher he had committed the offences in Plymouth 'because he wanted to.'

Mr Fisher said these were the words that 'came out of his mouth'.

He added: 'The reason this is important is because sometimes people say their offending is down to alcohol or other people's actions.

'This is a man who said "This is my choice". The person is saying they have a responsibility for this offence.'

Allen denies murdering Ms Class in 1997 and Ms Grlakova in 2018.
California firefighters were caught on camera being mobbed by a large crowd who ripped gear off the firetruck and hung off the side of a fire engine.

Bystander footage shows dozens of people surrounding fire trucks from the Turlock Fire Department in Sacramento on Friday, May 7, at an intersection where the crowd had been attending a 'sideshow' exhibit, where people perform stunts in their cars.

The truck can be seen in the footage posted to Instagram with with its emergency lights and sirens on as its slowly tries to move through the crowd.

The mob is seen climbing and hanging off the side of the truck while several onlookers laugh and record the incident on their cellphones.

Footage captures a Turlock Fire Department fire engine being mobbed by a large crowd (pictured)

The unruly crowd (pictured) ripped gear off the Turlock Fire Department firetruck and hung off the side of a fire engine

While no one was hurt in the incident, the fire engine was temporarily blocked and the fire hose was loosened, the Turlock Police Department said in a statement.

Police said the fire engine was able to escape the crowd and found a safe location to pull over and quickly secure the loose fire hose.

The fire engine was out of service for less than one minute, police said.

A spokesperson for the Turlock Fire Department told CBS Sacramento that the fire engine that was vandalized is already back up and running, responding to calls less than 24 hours later.

Firefighters were responding to an area near where a sideshow was taking place.

Police were on the scene shortly after the incident and the crowd had already started to disperse.

Police said the fire engine (pictured) was able to escape the crowd and found a safe location to pull over and quickly secure the loose fire hose

Firefighters from the Turlock Fire Department (pictured) were mobbed last week on an intersection by sideshow attendees after responding to a fire in the area

Sideshows are an informal gathering of young people that feature car stunts and are often held in vacant lots or intersections at nighttime.

The social car exhibition event originated in the Oakland area in the 1980's

Police confirmed the area was full of tire tracks and burnout marks, CBS Sacramento reported.

Police said that as the weather gets warmer massive sideshows tend to become a more frequent problem in the area.

Turlock Police are currently investigating this incident, but have not confirmed if any arrest have been made.
France has banned schools from using 'gender neutral' spellings, saying they are a threat to the French language.

The country's education ministry issued the ruling last week after a push to include full stops in the middle of written words - dubbed 'midpoints' - which allow both male and female forms to be represented simultaneously.

But the Academie Francaise, which is responsible for guarding the French language, said the move is 'harmful to the practice and understanding of [French.]'

France has banned schools from teaching 'gender neutral' spellings that place full stops in the middle of words because it is 'a threat to the language'

In French grammar, nouns take on the gender of the subject to which they refer, with male perferred over female in mixed settings.

Therefore, a group of friends with four women and one man is referred to using the masculine 'amis' - causing controversy among gender equality advocates

With midpoints included, the written world becomes 'ami.e.s', including the feminine 'e' ending - though it would still be pronounced the same when spoken.

Advocates say the midpoints make French 'more inclusive' but critics say it creates differences between written and spoke French which make the language harder to learn and threaten its entire existence.

Nathalie Elimas, the State Secretary for Priority Education, said the drive to make French 'gender neutral' will not increase it popularity, but will instead drive more people to learn English which does not gender its nouns.

'With the spread of inclusive writing, the English language - already quasi-hegemonic across the world - would certainly and perhaps forever defeat the French language,' she said as the ban was issued.

Youth minister Jean-Michel Blanquer (left, tody with Emmanuel Macron) said the words risk causing confusion among pupils with dyslexia and other learning difficulties

Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's education minister, told Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche the use of dots in the middle of words also 'present a barrier' for people with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.

In response, the left-wing SUD - one of France's largest teaching unions - issued its own statement calling on teachers to ignore the ruling.

Blanquer should 'stop trying to impose his backwardness on the education community,' the statement said.

But the Academie's decree did include some concessions to equality campaigners, recommending that certain job titles should change forms when the person holding the role is female.

For example, a female president would be referred to as 'presidente'.

Job application forms should also include both male and female titles to encourage more women to apply, the decree added.

Research has claimed that women sometimes feel put off from applying for roles when only male forms are used on the application.
A growing number of current and recovered Covid-19 patients in India are contracting a deadly and rare fungal infection, doctors revealed on Monday.

Mucormycosis, dubbed 'black fungus' by medics, is usually most aggressive in patients whose immune systems are weakened by other infections.

'The cases of mucormycosis infection in Covid-19 patients post-recovery is nearly four to five times than those reported before the pandemic,' Ahmedabad-based infectious diseases specialist Atul Patel, a member of the state's Covid-19 taskforce, told AFP.

Health workers wearing protective gear stand next to a Covid-19 coronavirus patient inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a Covid care centre in Delhi on Monday

The health ministry recorded another 366,161 infections and 3,754 deaths on Monday - both figures are almost certainly undercounts as the country looks set to reach the grim milestone of 250,000 fatalities

WHAT IS MUCORMYCOSIS? Mucormycosis is a rare, fungal infection that occurs after inhaling spores from the air or entering the skin through a cut or scrape. These mucor mould organisms can be found in soil, leaves, compost, decaying fruit or vegetables or rotting wood. The fungus does not always cause ill effects in healthy adults, but can wreak havoc on people with compromised immune systems. Symptoms first manifest as a sinus infection, fever, and headache. However, if the infection spreads, it can cause tissue loss in the palate, septum, nose, and eye. If it spreads to the lungs or brain, it can result in seizures, paralysis, pneumonia, and even death. It does not spread between people. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the infection occurs in 1.7 per 1,000,000 people. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical, with treatment usually consisting of anti-fungal medications and surgery. Advertisement

It comes amid surging infections across the country, with 366,161 cases and 3,754 deaths reported today - both figures are almost certainly undercounts as the country looks set to reach the grim milestone of 250,000 fatalities.

The health ministry yesterday released a new advisory on how to treat the black fungus.

In the western state of Maharashtra, home to India's financial hub Mumbai, up to 300 cases have been detected, said Khusrav Bajan, a consultant at Mumbai's P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and a member of the state's Covid-19 taskforce.

Some 300 cases have been reported so far in four cities in Gujarat, including its largest Ahmedabad, according to data from state-run hospitals.

The western state ordered government hospitals to set up separate treatment wards for patients infected with 'black fungus' amid the rise in cases.

'Mucormycosis - if uncared for - may turn fatal,' the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the scientific agency leading the government's response, said in a treatment chart released on Twitter.

Covid-19 sufferers more susceptible to contracting the fungal infection include those with uncontrolled diabetes, those who used steroids during their virus treatment, and those who had prolonged stays in hospital ICUs, the ICMR added.

Treatment involves surgically removing all dead and infected tissue and administering a course of anti-fungal therapy.

But Yogesh Dabholkar, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Mumbai's DY Patil Hospital, told AFP that the drugs used to treat those infected with the fungus were expensive.

A woman covers her nose as smoke and fumes rise from the burning funeral pyres of the patients who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus from her house near a makeshift crematorium in Delhi

One of the treatment drugs was also running short in government hospitals due to the sudden spike, he added.

'The mortality rate is very high... Even the few that recover, only recover with extensive and aggressive surgery,' Bajan said.

'This is a fast-moving infection. It can grow within two weeks... It's a Catch-22, coming out of a virus and getting into a fungal infection. It's really bad.'
Melinda Gates pointedly posed with her three children and hailed mothers' 'resilience' in her first Twitter message since announcing her divorce from Microsoft boss husband Bill.

The 56-year-old mother of three - daughters Phoebe, 18, and Jennifer, 25, and son Rory, 21 - posted the inspirational message and photo of her surrounded by her children at younger ages.

'I love being their mother. Whatever Mother's Day means to youa day to celebrate a mom, honor a memory, or reflect on your own resilienceI hope your day is a meaningful one,' she tweeted.

Melinda and Bill announced their divorce last Monday with dual tweets. Melinda began consulting divorce lawyers in October 2019, according to a report.

She did so around the same time as her Bill's friendship with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein hit the headlines. There is no suggestion that Bill did anything wrong.

Melinda Gates tweeted a Mother's Day message about resiliency and added a photo where she's surrounded by her children

Melinda Gates has reportedly been consulting divorce lawyers since October 2019

Melinda's first tweet since announcing her divorce did not feature a photo of her husband Bill. The couple are pictured together in New York in September 2018

Melinda said in 2019 that her marriage was 'irretrievably broken' and had been working with lawyers since then to prepare to dissolve it, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bill flew with Epstein on Epstein's jet from New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, as far back as 2013 - four years after Epstein had served time behind bars for soliciting a minor under the age of 18 for sex.

Melinda had been concerned with her husband's relationship with the pedophile, who killed himself in his New York jail cell in 2019, since 2013, the Journal reported.

Her concerns apparently came to a head several years later: She had been talking to New York divorce lawyer Robert Stephan Cohen as far back as October 2019.

It was that same month that the New York Times reported that Bill had met with Epstein several times, and once stayed late at his townhouse in New York.

DailyMail.com at the time also reported the flight, citing flight records.

A spokeswoman for Gates said at the time that the meetings had focused on philanthropy.

New York-based star divorce attorney Robert Stephan Cohen, left, has been assisting Melinda in her ongoing divorce from Bill Gates, right

Lawyer Cohen has represented Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kravis and Ivana Trump in their divorces.

Bill has been speaking to lawyers including Ronald Olson, a partner at the firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, who has represented Mark Zuckerberg and is a board member at Berkshire Hathaway, where he sat alongside Gates and Warren Buffett, a close friend of Bill.

Bill and Melinda Gates had met Epstein in 2013, and Melinda reportedly told Bill that she found him creepy and did not think they should be associated with him.

Epstein had by that point already served time in a Florida prison, being sentenced to 18 months on sex crimes charges in a 2008 plea deal.

In was in 2013 that the Microsoft founder also flew on Epstein's private jet, dubbed the 'Lolita Express', from New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, according to flight records.

Despite Melinda's concerns, Gates and some staff from their Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation maintained ties with Epstein. The predator killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, where he was awaiting further serious sex charges.

After the initial expose of his meetings, Gates in September 2019 told The Wall Street Journal: 'I met him. I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him.'

The divorce filing was signed on May 3 this year- she signed her divorce petition in Bellevue, Washington, near the family home and the foundation's headquarters.

He signed the papers from Palm Desert, California.

The pair - one of the world's richest couples, with a fortune of $130 billion - waited until their youngest child, Phoebe, turned 18 in September to formally announce the split, according to a report.

The three children will inherit $10 million each, their parents had previously announced - all the rest will be given to charity, under The Giving Pledge.

There doesn't appear to be a specific incident that triggered their split, which a source told PEOPLE was the result of a 'combo of things.'

The timing of the divorce, meanwhile, seems to relate to their youngest daughter, Phoebe, turning 18 years old back in September.

'It's absolutely because their youngest child is graduating from high school, and the idea was that they stayed together through that,' the source said.

'They limped through until their kids were out of school, like a lot of people.'

Their other two children are older, with daughter Jennifer 25 years old and son Rory 21 years old.

Jennifer has said their family is going through a 'challenging stretch of time'.

'I won't personally comment further on anything around the separation, but please know that your kind words and support mean the world to me,' she wrote on Instagram.

The two were married in Hawaii back in 1994, several years after they met

Jennifer is engaged to Egyptian show jumper Nayel Nassar.

The source told PEOPLE that they do not think the split is going to get more contentious in public.

'Nobody is going to want to invite more scrutiny because it'll hurt their credibility,' the source said.

'I don't think they're so angry that anybody wants to take each other down, like you sometimes see. [Melinda is] not incentivized for that.'

Melinda pulled the trigger on the divorce on Monday, revealing in the process that a separation agreement was in place.

She said as far back as 2019 that the marriage was 'irretrievably broken,' but was not now looking for spousal support or child support.

The two still plan on working together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and are trying to avoid public acrimony.

'They were really interested in trying to win a Nobel Prize,' says the PEOPLE source.

'So one thing that was part of this is, if it gets worse, then it ends that. It seems as if that was on the agenda, and that's for both of them.'

In a joint statement posted to their Twitter accounts on Monday, the former couple said their work with their foundation will continue but their marriage will not.

'After a great deal of thought and a lot of work, we have made the decision to end our marriage.

'Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.

'We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue to work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.'

Bill, 65, and Melinda, 56, met in 1987 while she was working at Microsoft, the company he founded.

That same year, Bill became the world's youngest billionaire at the age of 31.

The couple married in Hawaii in 1994 and would go on to establish the world's largest charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000.

Since then, it has contributed more than $50 billion to causes including eradicating polio and malaria. The foundation has also been a major investor in coronavirus treatments.

The reason behind their split remains a mystery but Melinda has previously suggested her husband struggled balancing work and family.
Americans set a record for pandemic-era air travel on Friday, then broke it again two days later, in another sign consumer confidence is bouncing back strongly following the successful rollout of the vaccination program.

The Transportation Security Administration said that slightly more than 1.7 million people were screened at airport checkpoints on Sunday, the highest number since March 2020, when travel was collapsing because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sunday's mark was about 4,500 more than the previous record, set just two days earlier.

However, those crowds were still far smaller than before the pandemic. Sunday's TSA count was down 29% from the comparable Sunday two years ago, according to TSA.

Air travel has been rising slowly for more than a year since hitting bottom in mid-April 2020.

The numbers had leveled off recently, but with the busy weekend, the 7-day moving average of U.S. air travelers surpassed the period around the Easter holiday and also set a pandemic-era high.

Airlines say most of the people on flights now are leisure travelers going to destinations within the United States.

Figures

In this Wednesday from March 17, 2021, travelers walk through the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City. Mother's Day weekend meant bigger crowds at U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration said its agents screened slightly more than 1.7 million people on Sunday, May 9 the highest number since March 2020

Joyous reunions among vaccinated parents and children across the country marked this year's Mother's Day, the second one celebrated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Jean Codianni of Los Angeles flew to New Jersey to surprise her 74-year-old mother, now that both have been vaccinated against the disease that has stolen uncountable hugs and kisses around the world.

'You forget how your mom smells, how she looks. It's like, she never looks as beautiful as the last time you saw her,' Codianni told the Associated Press.

'We understand how privileged we are, how lucky we are. Hundreds of thousands of people don't get to celebrate Mother's Day, or are celebrating it under a veil of grief.'

International travelers entering the US are required to show proof of a negative test for COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said recently travelers can meet that requirement with federally approved home-testing kits, potentially making international travel a little easier.

Jean Codianni flew from her home in Los Angeles to New Jersey to surprise her mother 74-year-old mother Lois on Mother's Day

The CDC said 152 million Americans had received at least one does of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sunday.

Airlines started to see an increase in bookings around mid-February, and the TSA has screened at least 1 million people every day since March 11.

Vacation destinations have been most popular - business travel, which is more profitable for airlines, remains drastically reduced.

Government restrictions are also sharply limiting international travel, another lucrative piece of the airline business.

Nearly 50 US and UK travel-industry groups urged President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to lift restrictions on travel between the two countries.

The groups said in a letter last week that it would be ideal if the two leaders would announce 'the full reopening of the US-UK air travel market for both US and UK citizens' before the G7 meeting in early June.

The United States since March 2020 has barred nearly all non-US citizens who have recently been in the UK from the United States.

'The return of Transatlantic flying would not only have a significantly positive impact on our respective economies but will also reunite those who have been separated from their loved ones for over a year,' said the letter, signed by the US Chamber of Commerce, Airlines for America, Global Business Travel Association, Air Line Pilots Association, Virgin Atlantic, Association of UK Airlines, Aerospace Industries Association and others.

'Safely reopening borders between the US and UK is essential for both countries' economic recovery from COVID-19.'

India, Brazil, China, Iran, South Africa, Ireland and 26 other countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders are also covered by the severe travel restrictions that prevent most non-US citizens from entering the United States if they have been within one of those countries within the last 14 days.

And average daily deaths fell to a nine-month low of 666 on Sunday, with 238 recorded that day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University
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Israel launched deadly air strikes on Gaza Monday in response to a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas and other Palestinian militants, amid spiralling violence sparked by unrest at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

At least 20 people were killed, including nine children and a senior Hamas commander, and 65 others wounded, Gaza authorities said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hamas had crossed a 'red line' by directing missiles towards Jerusalem and that the Jewish state would 'respond with force'.

'We will not tolerate attacks on our territory, our capital, our citizens and our soldiers. Those who attack us will pay a heavy price.'

Israel's army said 150 rockets had been launched from Gaza, dozens of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defence System, with no casualties reported.

The Israeli military said it had targeted 'two rocket launchers, two military posts', a tunnel and eight Hamas operatives in Gaza.

Hamas sources confirmed that one of their commanders, Mohammed Fayyad, had been killed

Mr Netanyahu added on Monday: 'Whoever attacks us will pay a heavy price,' he said, warning that the fighting could 'continue for a while.'

Hamas, a militant group which controls the Gaza Strip, had earlier issued a 6pm ultimatum for Israel to withdraw security forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem. The rockets were fired after the deadline lapsed.

It follows days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces around the mosque that began on Friday and have continued since. Fighting today saw at least 700 Palestinians hurt, including 500 taken to hospital.

Some 21 police were hurt, including one seriously, the Israeli security services said.

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Israel launched deadly air strikes on Gaza Monday in response to a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas and other Palestinian militants, amid spiralling violence sparked by unrest at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Pictured: Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards the country

At least 20 people were killed, including nine children and a senior Hamas commander, and 65 others wounded, Gaza authorities said

Israel's army said 150 rockets had been launched from Gaza, dozens of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defence System, with no casualties reported. Pictured: One of the rockets being fired from Gaza City towards Israel

At least three exhaust trails were seen in the skies over Gaza City as explosions were heard, though was not immediately clear whether the rockets hit anything or were shot down

Fighting today saw at least 305 Palestinians hurt, including 205 taken to hospital, five in serious condition. Some 21 police were hurt, including one seriously, the Israeli security services said

Speaking of the Israeli response to Hamas's rocket attacks, army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Monday evening: 'We have started, and I repeat started, to attack military targets in Gaza.

'We have made preparations for various scenarios, including high intensity ones... Hamas will get the message.'

Diplomatic sources told AFP that Egypt and Qatar, who have mediated past Israeli-Hamas conflicts, were attempting to calm tensions

In perhaps the most serious incident of clashes today, CCTV captured the moment crowds of Palestinians pelted a car driving near Jerusalem's Old City with rocks before the Israeli driver accelerated on to the pavement - sending people flying.

People continued to pelt the driver after the car came to a halt, suspended on a nearby wall, before a gun-waving police officer arrived. The officer helped the man from the car, before he was again attacked by a pedestrian.

Police then cancelled a right-wing Israeli march that was due to pass through the Old City and its Muslim Quarter in an effort to calm tensions.

The fighting has drawn calls for de-escalation from the international community and sharp rebukes from across the Muslim world.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration, including President Joe Biden himself, was monitoring the violence.

'We have serious concerns about the situation, including violent confrontations that we've seen over the last few days,' she told reporters. The U.S. Embassy in Israel said the rocket fire was 'unacceptable.'

The Israeli military said well over 50 rockets were fired into Israel throughout the evening, most of them aimed at southern Israeli towns near the border.

Lieutenant Colonel Conricus said six rockets were aimed at Jerusalem, some 60 miles (100 kilometers) away. It was believed to be the first rocket attack on the city since a 2014 war.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, explosions could be heard in Jerusalem. One rocket fell on the western outskirts of the city, lightly damaging a home and causing a brush fire. The Israeli army said one rocket was intercepted and the others fell in open areas.

Israel then responded with airstrikes on Hamas targets throughout Gaza.

Fire billows from an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas

Hamas, a militant group which controls the Gaza Strip, had earlier issued a 6pm ultimatum for Israel to withdraw security forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem. The rockets were fired after the deadline lapsed. Pictured: Rockets are seen being fired from Gaza

The Israeli military said it had targeted 'two rocket launchers, two military posts', a tunnel and eight Hamas operatives in Gaza

An Israeli military vehicle is seen firing tear gas canisters towards Palestinians during Monday's protests

An ISraeli police officer walks past burning debris during an anti-Israel protest by Palestinians over tension in Jerusalem, in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank

Israeli border police members take position near burning barricades during the violent protests on Monday evening

The fighting has drawn calls for de-escalation from the international community and sharp rebukes from across the Muslim world

This boy was pictured being treated in hospital after he was injured following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza strip on Monday

Israeli troops are seen during clashes with Palestinian protesters in the city center of the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday

Rescue teams inspect the damage to Palestinian homes in the town of Beit Hanoun caused by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Twenty Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Monday. They were launched after Hamas fired rockets towards Jerusalem

Protesters chant slogans and wave flags outside the Israeli Consulate during a protest against Israel on Monday in Istanbul, Turkey

A Palestinian man pushes a bloody stretcher after wounded residents were treated in hospital following the Israeli airstrikes

Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops at in the city center of the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday evening

Israel's Lieutenant Colonel Conricus said six rockets were aimed at Jerusalem, some 60 miles (100 kilometers) away. It was believed to be the first rocket attack on the city since a 2014 war. Pictured: A Palestinian protester on Monday

Israeli security forces clash with Palestinian protesters at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank

Hamas has fired several rockets towards Israel in recent days, some intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system

Demonstrators light flares during a protest against Israel near the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday

Palestinians burn tires after Israeli police used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to quell violent protests in the Nablus province of the West Bank

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas' military wing, said the attack on Jerusalem was a response to what he called Israeli 'crimes and aggression' in the city. 'This is a message the enemy has to understand well,' he said

Seven members of a family, including three children, were killed in a blast in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. It was not immediately clear if the blast was caused by an airstrike or errant rocket.

Ashraf al-Masri, a member of the family, said there was an explosion outside the house.

'We don't know where it came from,' he said. 'We are trying to get the children for burial but the situation is difficult in Beit Hanoun and we are afraid to leave our houses.'

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas' military wing, said the attack on Jerusalem was a response to what he called Israeli 'crimes and aggression' in the city. 'This is a message the enemy has to understand well,' he said.

He threatened more attacks if Israeli forces re-enter the sacred Al-Aqsa Mosque compound or carry out planned evictions of Palestinian families from an east Jerusalem neighbourhood.

Fears of further chaos in the Old City had eased somewhat today when Israeli organisers cancelled a march to celebrate the Jewish state's 1967 capture of east Jerusalem that was due to pass through the Old City.

But then came the Hamas warning, followed shortly after by the rockets.

'An alarm has just been sounded in Jerusalem. Police forces have begun evacuating hundreds of people' gathered at the Wailing Wall to safer locations, police said in a brief statement.

Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, above the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, on Monday

A streak of light is seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel

Israelis run for shelter in Jerusalem as bomb sirens sound after Hamas fired rockets from Gaza towards the Jewish state

An Israeli man carries his son towards a bomb shelter in Jerusalem after Hamas launched rockets at Israel from Gaza

Shocking CCTV has revealed the moment Palestinian protesters pelted an Israeli man's car with rocks during clashes near Jerusalem's Old City, before he drove into crowds

A gun-waving policeman eventually came to the man's aid as protesters continued throwing rocks, with hundreds of people injured in violence today

Moments later, the man was involved in a fist-fight with police just inches away amid the worst violence that Jerusalem has seen in recent years

Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester from the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City amid clashes with security forces that have seen hundreds hurt

Israeli police detain a protester near the compound that houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque during clashes today

Israeli police arrest a Palestinian man at the Lions' Gate, as clashes continue at the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem

Medics evacuate a protester who was injured near the Lions' Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City amid fresh violence on the streets today

Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians began during Ramadan, but dramatically escalated at the weekend with fighting around the Al-Aqsa mosque

Paramedics take the injured Palestinians after Israeli police moved into the Temple Mount compound - known to Muslims as Haram esh-Sharif - to clear demonstrators away

On Monday evening, Palestinians continued gathering outside the Al-Aqsa Compound, in East Jerusalem

Israeli Police officers clash with Palestinians at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's old city during Israel's 'Jerusalem Day'

Hamas has fired several rockets towards Israel in recent days, some intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, while militants in Gaza have deployed incendiary balloons that have sparked dozens of fires in Israeli territory.

Israel's army earlier announced widespread road closures in communities near the Gaza border, following a 'situational assessment', and two municipalities near Gaza, Ashkelon and Kyriat Malachi, confirmed that they had opened their bomb shelters.

Monday's clashes mark the fourth straight day of fighting between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, the most serious period of violence the city has seen since 2017.

Tensions between the two sides had been simmering since mid-April because Israeli forces had restricted access to the Al Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.

But the clashes suddenly escalated on Friday with violence in and around the mosque, which drew more people on to the streets. Protesters have also been angered by a long-running court battle between Jewish settlers and Palestinian homeowners in east Jerusalem, where the Old City is located.

A court that was due to rule on the issue today has postponed the date.

Medical workers evacuate a wounded protester from near the Dome of the Rock, Judaism's holiest site that sits just next to the Al Aqsa Mosque which has been at the centre of clashes

An injured man is helped to his feet by a passerby inside the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif compound in Jerusalem

A Palestinian man strikes an Israeli security officer amid bitter clashes around Jerusalem's Old City on Monday

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian protester amid clashes at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City amid some of the worst clashes in the city for years

Israeli security forces clash with Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound today

A member of Israeli police aims a weapon during clashes with Palestinians at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli riot police are seen forming a shield wall near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's Old City amid violent clashes with Palestinian protesters that have entered their third day

Israeli police confront a Palestinian man near the Lions' Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City amid a day of bitter clashe

The leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, announced a visit Monday to the tense Sheikh Jarrah district which is at the centre of property disputes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel's response to the protests and rioting.

'We will uphold law and order - vigorously and responsibly,' Netanyahu said while vowing to 'guard freedom of worship for all faiths'.

Monday's clashes broke out after Palestinians gathered around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in anticipation of the arrival of the Jerusalem Day march, which is due to end at the nearby Dome of the Rock.

Israeli security forces said demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the mosque, and officers were sent in to clear them out. Rocks were thrown at police, who opened fire with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Witnesses said some of the tear gas grenades landed inside the mosque. The BBC also reported confrontations in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, and near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The scenes around Al-Aqsa Mosque mirror those which took place on Friday and have seen Israeli forces criticised for heavy-handed tactics.

All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel - Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan - have condemned the Jewish state.

In Jordan, the custodian of Jerusalem's holy Islamic and Christian sites, King Abdullah II condemned 'Israeli violations and escalatory practices at the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque'.

Jordan and Egypt both summoned Israeli envoys on Sunday to lodge protests.

Tunisia said the UN Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Monday, at its request, on the violence.

The Middle East quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations - and Pope Francis - have all called for calm.

'Israeli authorities must exercise maximum restraint and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly,' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters have been centered around the Asl-Aqsa Mosque. Today, at Lions' Gate, a car was filmed driving into protesters as they pelted it with rocks. Later today, a Jerusalem Day procession is due to pass through Damascus Gate and through the Muslim quarter of the city, amid fears it will spark more clashes

Israeli police detain a Palestinian man during clashes around the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man near Jerusalem's Old City, amid clashes that are the worst to have hit the city since at least 2017

Israeli police stand guard at one of the entrances to Jerusalem's Old City amid the worst clashes the city has seen since 2017

Paramedics take away an injured Palestinian while Israeli security forces look on amid clashes in Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester from the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, which has seen three days of violence

Palestinians who had gathered near the Al Aqsa Mosque are dispersed by Israeli security forces

Palestinians take cover as Israeli police open fire with tear gas and rubber bullets while medics rush to help the injured

A Palestinian man rushes to get rid of a tear gas grenade amid clashes with Israeli security forces near the Dome of the Rock

Medics treat a wounded man during clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound

The UN children's agency UNICEF said that over two days, 29 Palestinian children had been injured in east Jerusalem, including a one-year-old.

The unrest of past weeks in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital, has multiple causes.

Much of the recent violence stems from a long-running legal effort by Jewish settler groups to evict several Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.

A lower court ruling earlier this year backing the settlers' decades-old claim to the plots infuriated Palestinians.

A Supreme Court hearing on a Palestinian appeal had been set for Monday, but the justice ministry said Sunday that in light of 'all the circumstances' it would delay the hearing.

Old City shopkeeper Mohammad said Israeli police told him he must close Monday afternoon, when Israeli Jews plan to march with Israeli flags to mark Jerusalem's 'reunification'.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem following the 1967 takeover, a move not recognised by most of the international community.

The unrest has spread across the Palestinian territories, including demonstrations and clashes in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has expressed 'full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa'.

Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip have also voiced support for the Palestinian protesters and warned Israel of retribution if evictions proceed in Sheikh Jarrah.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh called Sunday for a united Arab and Muslim response against Israel's 'provocative desecration of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque'.

Four rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel on Sunday, the army said, as well as incendiary balloons that started 39 fires on Israeli territory, according to the fire services.

The Israeli military said late Sunday that 'tanks just struck Hamas terror targets in Gaza', without giving further details.

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City

A member of Israeli security forces runs amid clashes with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem's Old City

Israeli police detain a Palestinian during clashes at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount

Medics tend to a wounded Palestinian during clashes with Israeli police at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque

A Palestinian man is confronted by Israeli security forces in Jerusalem's Old City

An Israeli police officer carries a shattered riot shield through the Temple Mount compound surrounded by rocks following clashes with Palestinian protesters
A time capsule dating back to 1876 which contained coins showing a young Queen Victoria has incredibly been unearthed in the foundations of a primary school.

Headteacher Sue Taylor said the frosted glass jar was found by accident while builders were digging up a chapel at Barrow URC Primary School in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

The 'remarkable' artefact had been placed inside one of the chapel's foundation stones, which was built in 1876, according to the local council.

A time capsule (above) dating back to 1876 and containing coins showing a young Queen Victoria was found in the foundations of Barrow URC Primary School in Clitheroe, Lancashire

Mrs Taylor added: 'It is pretty incredible. It's brought the history of the school alive. And it's made our kids so intrigued about our area's history.

'It came as a total shock and they found it by complete surprise, but I think it feels like our history has come full circle.'

A demolition team made the incredible discovery back in April while they were tearing down the chapel as part of a project to expand the 155-pupil school.

Mrs Taylor said a rolled-up newspaper and ten coins, most of which showed a young Queen Victoria, were found inside the 145-year-old time capsule.

The time capsule has been handed over to a Lancashire conservation team, who will unroll the newspaper and attempt to restore and research the coins' history.

Just last summer, pupils at the school, which is believed to be the only United Reformed Church (URC) school in the world, also buried their very own time capsule for later generations to discover.

Headteacher Sue Taylor said the frosted glass jar (above) had been found by accident while builders were digging up a chapel at the United Reformed Church (URC) school

The 'remarkable' artefact had been placed inside one of the chapel's foundation stones (pictured), which was built in 1876, according to the local council

In the capsule, they left a few prayers, information about the school and the surrounding areas, maps and a couple of photographs for inquisitive minds to find in the future.

Mrs Taylor, who has been head teacher at the school for two years, said that the surprisingly discovery feels like history has 'come full circle'.

She added: 'It's remarkable because our children had only just put their own time capsule under the foundations of the new building so it's just pure coincidence that we found one that people had left for us back in the 1800s.'

Barrow URC Primary School is a growing school which follows a skills-based curriculum and has a modest intake of up to 30 children each September, according to the school's website.

The United Reformed Church is a Protestant Christian church in the UK with approximately 46,500 members.
Alberto Quattrini Li, a computer science professor at Dartmouth College, has been cleared of sexual harassment claims

A Dartmouth professor has been cleared of sexually harassing a first-year graduate student who accused him of touching himself during private meetings.

Maha Hasan Alshawi went on a hunger strike last July to encourage school officials to hire an independent investigator to review her claims against Computer Science Professor Alberto Quattrini Li.

But investigators found did Li not act inappropriately with Alshawi - and noted that he had been abroad on one of the times Alshawi accused him of sexual harassment.

Attorneys from Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O'Conner - which was hired to carry out the independent review - also noted that Alshawi had previously made similar claims about a professor at the American University in Cairo.

'We find that there is insufficient evidence to support a finding that [Li] engaged in any conduct that would constitute sexual or gender-based harassment or retaliation,' the attorneys wrote in their eight-page executive summary.

Alshawi had claimed last year that Li touched himself inappropriately in front of her in two separate meeting, and had retaliated against her for speaking out about the alleged sexual harassment by not inviting her on a research trip and letting another student access her office.

Li was first-year graduate student Maha Hasan Alshawi's supervisor, and was accused of touching himself inappropriately

The school (pictured) hired an independent investigator to examine the claims after Alshawi went on a month-long hunger strike

She said she met with him in November and December 2019, at which time he would grab his genitals while looking at her in a 'challenging' and 'What are you going to do about it?' way, according to the report.

Alshawi claimed she spent three weeks in her room crying following the December incident.

Li denied ever touching himself in front of her and provided travel receipts showing he was in Washington D.C. and then China during the time period Alshawi alleged the first meeting took place.

He also told the investigators that Alshawi shared an office with another student and said he only opened the door to the office briefly to let the other student pick up a robot the two were working on.

He said he did not invite her on the 2019/20 winter semester trip to Barbados because she had not completed the necessary research and 'would not have benefitted from the opportunity to conduct field experiments.'

Li also said he partially decided not to include Alshawi on the trip because she told him she was considering dropping out of the program.

The investigators said they found no evidence to support Alshawi's claims that Li acted aggressively toward her, made her uncomfortable and discouraged her from interacting with her peers.

Li 'took extraordinary steps to support Maha and to assist her in continuing to access Dartmouth's education program,' the investigators wrote, noting that the school's Title IX response to these claims were 'reasonable in light of the information available to them at the time.'

Students at Dartmouth stood in solidarity with Alshawi as she continued her hunger strike

They held a protest outside Dartmouth President Philip Hanlon's house demanding an investigation into the claims

Alshawi first reported the alleged sexual harassment in February 2020, when she sent a letter to the school's Title IX office.

'I am writing to shed light on the harassment and discrimination I endured from several professors in the Computer Science Department, the retaliation I faced in this same department when I dared to speak up, and the complete lack of support I received from the Dartmouth administration that was supposed to protect me,' she wrote.

'The whole process, from the instances of harassment to the futility of the office's reporting systems was a huge emotional ordeal.'

She said she feared for her safety 'whenever I was in his presence, depriving me of the opportunity take full advantage of the resources and advice he, as my supervisor, was supposed to offer,' and alleged the school's Title IX coordinator told her two instances of alleged groping was not enough for them to take action.

In July, Alshawi announced that she would stop eating in an effort to pressure the college to change a low grade she alleged she received in retaliation to making the claims against Li, according to the Valley News.

'I started this hunger strike to stop this injustice and because I wanted to be treated equally,' she posted on Facebook at the time.

'This hunger strike will cause a permanent disorder to my health, especially to my internal organs and my brain cells, and I will have to live with these disorders through my whole life if I didn't die,' she wrote.

'The responsibility of these permanent disorders and probably my death lie on the Title IX office coordinators and Dartmouth administration because they can stop this injustice but they decided not to.'

Alshawi posted her thanks to the protesters in July, as she was continuing her hunger strike

She refused to eat for nearly a month, updating supporters as she lost weight and announced on August 3 that she would also stop drinking water, as other students protested for the administration to investigate her claims.

'I don't know why it took Dartmouth so long to open the investigation while they know that my life is on the line,' she posted at the time.

'They seemed very happy letting me starve while claiming they care about my health. They also didn't reply to any of my questions in regards to how the investigation will be conducted and the standard procedure that will be followed during the investigation.'

But just a few days later, she said she gave up the hunger and water strike, as Dartmouth hired an external investigator into the case.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Alshawi and her attorney, Wendy Meryl Rogovin, for further comment.

The report released Friday is the only one that will address Alshawi's claims against Li, but school officials said more reports will be published about her allegations over the school's handling of the case.

'The number of reports that will be issued is to be determined,' Dartmouth spokeswoman Diana Lawrence told the Valley News, adding that reports will be released on a rolling basis.

Alshawi is no longer enrolled at Dartmouth.
A librarian at Cornell University has claimed libraries are 'fraught with racism' - and highlighted their book classification system as evidence of this bigotry.

Reanna Esmail, an outreach and engagement librarian at Cornell's Olin Library, spoke during a discussion last Friday aimed at combatting anti-Asian racism.

She said: 'As a librarian, I see the ways in which my profession has the capacity to confront bias and misinformation in ways we approach and teach information and digital literacy.

'Libraries are predominantly white fields, and Cornell is no exception in this regard. Libraries themselves also have a fraught history of being complicit in racism, and in some cases, upholding and disseminating racist ideas.'

Esmail made the comment during a virtual school event on Confronting Anti-Asian Racism on Friday. The librarian said she believes libraries should be held accountable for reinforcing white supremacy, even if it's inadvertent, The Cornell Daily Sun reported.

Esmail used the example of the the Dewey Decimal System to illustrate her point.

Reanna Esmail, an outreach and engagement librarian at Cornell's Olin Library, said libraries have a 'fraught history of being complicit in racism, and in some cases, upholding and disseminating racist ideas'

Libraries, like those on Cornell University campus, pictured, have a history rooted in racism starting with the creator of the Dewey Decimal Classification

Esmail made her remarks during a virtual discussion on stopping anti-Asian American hatred. Cornell's quad is pictured, with its Olin Library just to the right of the large tree

Protesters take to the streets of Washington DC to demonstrate against Anti-Asian racism in Washington DC on March 21, with libraries now in the spotlight

The system, also known as DDC, was devised my American librarian Melvil Dewey in 1876. It is used to classify books by assigning them all into 10 broad sections. They are then further subdivided further within these individual sections. Decimal points are then used to subdivide sections further - 974 is used for New England, with 974.1 then given to Maine, 974.2 used for New Hampshire, and so on.

Esmail accused the DDC of using 'outdated' language to refer to Asian people. She did not elaborate further, but the system gives individual sections to many western nationalities, then refers to Thai people as 'Tai,' and puts them into the same 'miscellaneous' section as people from Vietnam.

Similarly, the entire continent of Africa appears under a single section in the 'people' category of the DDC, which also includes people from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

DDC has faced similar criticism for the uneven focus on languages.

Jane Behre, a library research scientist explained her issue with the DDC in a June 2020 post on hacklibraryschool.com.

English, German, and Greek each have eight individual numbered sections dedicated to them, while French, Italian, Spanish and Latin have seven sections dedicated to each language.

These split those languages into topics as varied as etymology, grammar, dictionaries and historic variations.

But nine 'other languages,' including those of east and southeast Asia, as well as African languages, have just one classification code each.

The number 495 is given to classify books on Languages on East and Southeast Asia - their only mention in the system. And the number 496 is the only one dedicated to African languages, despite the continent being home to 54 countries, and an estimated 2,000 languages.

'Western European languages have highly specific classifications, while the majority of non-white and non-western European languages are all lumped together; even if they span an entire continent,' Behre wrote.

'A similar pattern exists when looking at the Library of Congress classifications for languages,' she said.

Similar criticisms have been made over the Dewey System's representation of religion, with 89 sections devoted to Christianity, but just one assigned to Islam, and another for Judaism.

Groups are standing up to racism, which is forcing many institutions, including libraries, to look inward

Homosexuality initially appeared in the DDC in the sections numbered 132 and 159.9 - devoted to mental derangements and abnormal psychology.

It has since been moved to section 306.7, which covers sexual relations. The classification system was also branded sexist, after previously putting its section on women close to its 'etiquette' section.
A fourteen-year-old boy has been charged with murdering a 13-year-old Florida cheerleader whose body was found in woods on Sunday night, less than 12 hours after she was reported missing.

Aiden Fucci, 14, has been named by police as the suspect in the killing of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey. On Sunday night, he took a selfie in the back of a cop car which he then posted on Snapchat with the caption 'Hey guys has inybody (sic) seen Tristyn lately'.

He is believed to have taken it before her body was found but after she died. He had his phone on him because at the time, he hadn't been charged.

Police confirmed to News Jax, a local site in Jacksonville, that the selfie was part of their investigation.

He has been taken into custody on second-degree murder charges but prosecutors have not yet decided if he will be charged as a juvenile or adult. Tristyn's body was found in woods near Fucci's home on Sunday night, less than 12 hours after her family reported her missing.

It's unclear how she died but police say her body was found fully clothed - she was wearing a dark top and white cheer skirt.

Aiden Fucci, 14, has been named by police as the suspect in the killing of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey (pictured) whose body was found on Monday

NewsJax, a local site, cites police sources who say this selfie which Fucci took in the back of a squad car is part of the investigation. He posted it on Snapchat after her death

She was last seen at 1.12am on Sunday, and was reported missing at 10am. She and Aiden were classmates at Patriot Oaks Academy.

'We have arrested a suspect by the name of Aiden Fucci, 14 year old. He is currently in custody charged with second degree murder.

'This is a long process, we're in the very early stages of this.

'The suspect is in custody - there are no further threats to this case,' St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said at a press conference on Monday morning.

Police have not shared any more information about the kids, including what they were doing on Saturday night before Tristyn vanished.

After she was reported missing, dozens of local volunteers joined in the search for her.

The man who found her body was one of them - police say he'd seen on the news that she was missing and went out to look for her.

Tristyn's family reported her missing on Sunday at 10am. She was last seen at midnight by them, and cops say she was last accounted for at around 1.15am. By 6pm on Sunday, her body had been found

She was last seen at the Durbin Amenity Center in St John's at 1.15am. It's unclear what she was doing there or if Aiden was with her.

The center has an outdoor pool and tennis courts. It is next to a lake and there are woods nearby.

In a statement on Monday afternoon, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office said: 'As Sheriff Hardwick stated in his press conference today, our office will continue to investigate the case to determine both the appropriate charges going forward, and whether or not (Fucci) will be charged as an adult.'

She was last seen at the Durbin Amenity Center in St John's at 1.15am. It's unclear what she was doing there or if Aiden was with her
A stroke patient 'died after being sexually assaulted' as she lay ill in a hospital bed, an inquest heard.

Valerie Kneale had been admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital following a stroke and had later broken her leg when falling from a chair.

The 75-year-old's condition deteriorated and she died four days later.

A police investigation was launched after a post mortem concluded she died from a non-medical-related internal injury.

Stroke patient Valerie Kneale, 75, (pictured), died from a haemorrhage caused by a non-medical related internal injury

A male hospital worker was arrested on suspicion of murder, rape and sexual assault and has since been bailed pending further inquiries.

Opening the inquest, coroner for Blackpool and Fylde Alan Wilson said: 'Concerns had been raised about a potential injury around the genital area.

'This prompted a police investigation by Lancashire Constabulary.'

The autopsy revealed that although Mrs Kneale did have a significant stroke, the pathologist did not think it was the cause of death.

Mr Wilson said: 'She said that was due to an internal and external haemorrhage which was in turn due to a vaginal laceration or tear.'

The pathologists' report believed it was caused by a sexual assault after she was admitted to hospital.

Mrs Kneale died on November 16, 2018.

Valerie Kneale had been admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital after suffering a stroke. A male hospital worker has been arrested and suspended

Police were made aware of allegations of mistreatment and neglect on Blackpool Victoria Hosptial's stroke unit, in Lancs, later that month.

Several post mortems were carried on several patients, including Mrs Kneale.

A murder inquiry was launched and information relating to other allegations of serious sexual assaults against two patients were received, in addition to the sexual assault of a health care professional working on the stroke unit.

The worker arrested has been suspended by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The arrest is not linked to the ongoing investigation into allegations of poisoning and neglect.

Mr Wilson adjourned the hearing for five months while police continue investigations.

Mrs Kneales' family, who did not attend, has been informed.

Mr Wilson said: 'It is clearly necessary for this court to further adjourn the investigation into Mrs Kneales' death in order to allow the police to continue with their investigations.

'We ought not to hold an inquest while the police are actively pursuing their own investigation.'
At least five people, including two minors, have been shot dead by an armed gang at a restaurant in western Mexico.

Witnesses told police that four men walked inside El Memo, in Jocotepec, Jalisco, on Sunday afternoon and opened fire on the customers without saying a word to their targets.

The suspects fled the scene by the time agents from the Jocotepec Municipal Police arrived.

The Jalisco State Attorney Generals Office said its agents were working to identify the victims.

Paramedics treated two other people who were injured in the brazen attack.

Five customers, including two boys, were executed by an armed gang at a restaurant on Sunday in Jocotepec, a city in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. Two patrons were also injured in the shooting. Authorities had not announced any arrests as of Monday afternoon

Paramedics and members of the National Guard stand outside El Memo, a restaurant in Jalisco, Mexico, where five customers, including two children, were shot dead Sunday

Local channel Milenio TV reported that a boy between the age of 12 and 13 and a 16-year-old boy were among the customers who were assassinated.

No arrests had been reported as of Monday afternoon.

The bodies were transferred to the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy as required by the law.

The restaurant murders were among 10 killings reported this weekend in Jalisco, including three siblings, whose bodies were located on the side of a road in San Cristobal de la Barranca on Sunday.

Paramedics, members of the Jocotepec Municipal Police, and the National Guard stand outside the entrance of a restaurant in the western Mexico municipality of Jocotepec where five people were assassinated Sunday

Alberto Gonzalez, Luis Angel Gonzalez and Ana Karen Gonzalez were abducted from their home Friday evening by an armed group.

The Jalisco state prosecutors office confirmed their identities Monday morning.

Milenio TV reported that the state has become engulfed by daily attacks carried out by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel against its rivals, Nueva Plaza Cartel and Joaquin El Chapo Guzmans old Sinaloa Cartel, which is now under the direction of his three sons and Ismael El Mayo Zambada, the organizations co-founder.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is led by Nemesio El Mencho, Oseguera, the most wanted drug trafficker in Mexico. The United States government is offering a $10 million bounty for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of El Mencho.
Two senators are demanding airlines refund billions of dollars to passengers forced to cancel flights during the coronavirus pandemic  or at least abolish expiration dates for credits.

Democrats Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal have written to 10 major airlines asking them to protect customers who fear they will lose money if their flight credits expire and may feel pressured into traveling before it is safe.

'Americans need cash in their pockets to pay for food, housing, and prescriptions during this emergency,' they said in a joint statement. 'It is unconscionable that airlines are largely refusing to return customers' money even as the industry sits on more than $10 billion in unused travel credits.

'However, even as we continue to push for these cash refunds, it is imperative that, at a minimum, your company does not subject pandemic-related flight credits to an expiration date.'

Senators Richard Blumenthal (left) and Ed Markey have written to 10 major airlines demanding they refund billions of dollars to passengers for flights canceled during the coronavirus pandemic or at least abolish expiration dates on credits

The pandemic brought air travel to a sudden halt.

Airlines canceled flights as traveler numbers dropped. Passengers were forced to cancel trips as they were warned against all non-essential travel.

Several tranches of federal support added up to more than $50 billion in taxpayer aid for the industry.

Even so, airlines have been reluctant to refund cash to disappointed passengers and have instead offered credits for future flights.

In their letters, the senators said airlines had adopted a confusing 'patchwork' of different regulations around credits. Single airlines were offering different types of flight credits with different restrictions and expiration dates.

Airline terminals are slowly beginning to refill after months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This June 2020 file photo shows a traveler at a near deserted Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago

They say the money tied up in the credits effectively amounts to an interest-free loan for the industry and gave airlines until May 28 to explain whether they would offer full cash refunds.

'In light of the ongoing pandemic and looming expiration dates for flight credits, we fear that countless consumers will be unable to redeem their flight credits or will redeem them at a loss,' they write.

'Worse, without removing expiration dates, your company may be encouraging travelers to fly before they feel safe boarding a plane, lest they lose tickets that they have already purchased with hard-earned dollars.'
A female Fort Bragg soldier shot and killed another servicewoman after discovering the victim was dating her ex-boyfriend, it is alleged.

Victim Kelia Horton's cousin Jadaiah Farris told DailyMail.com that suspected killer Tara Nicole Vinson, 26, drove up to her ex's house in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Friday - then opened fire. Horton - a single mother of two young children stationed at the nearby Fort Bragg US Army base - was struck and killed.

Farris revealed in a phone interview on Monday that after repeatedly shooting Horton, Vinson was allegedly overheard saying that the bullets were meant for her ex-boyfriend, who was not home at the time.

Farris said that while Vinson and Horton both served at Fort Bragg, they hardly knew one another and 'never argued' prior to the deadly confrontation.

She added: 'They weren't friends or enemies.'

Fayetteville police announced the arrest of Tiara Nicole Vinson (left), 26, on Saturday. Vinson is charged in connection with the death of 22-year-old Kelia Horton (right), who police said was found shot outside a Fayetteville home Friday afternoon

Horton is survived by her toddler daughter and 7-month-old son, pictured above

Farris, who described her cousin as 'the most loving person' and a doting mother to her two children, ages 2 years and 7 months old, said that Horton had recently started dating Vinson's ex-boyfriend.

She said the boyfriend - who has not been named - had broken up with Vinson because he said their relationship was 'toxic.'

Farris added that she has heard unverified claims that Vinson was pregnant, and that her ex-boyfriend, who was now dating Horton, was the father of her unborn baby.

'She was the sweetest person,' Farris said of her slain relative. 'She would literally give the shirt off her back.'

Horton's two young children are now staying with their biological fathers. Farris said it would have broken her cousin's heart because she never wanted her children to be separated.

Police said in a statement that officers were dispatched to a reported shooting along the 1400 block of Ferndell Drive (pictured)

Police said in a statement that officers were dispatched to a reported shooting along the 1400 block of Ferndell Drive.

Upon arrival, officers located an adult female who had been shot outside of a residence.

Horton's cousin said, based on a neighbor's account, that Vinson initially walked up to Horton, shot her and left, then returned and shot her a second time.

Authorities said a responding officer performed life-saving measures until she could be transported to a local hospital for her injuries.

Horton succumbed to her injuries, and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police Sgt Jeremy Glass said that no further details about the shooting were immediately available.

Vinson, who faces charges of first-degree murder and shooting a firearm into occupied property, was being held at the Cumberland County Jail without bond, police said.

Horton (pictured) was a motorpool clerk assigned to the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade. She joined the Army in 2017. Horton is pictured right with cousin Jadaiah Farris

Both women were active-duty soldiers stationed on Fort Bragg (file image), Col Joseph Buccino, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps said

It wasnt immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.

Both women were active-duty soldiers stationed on Fort Bragg, Col Joseph Buccino, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, told The Fayetteville Observer.

Buccino said Horton was a motorpool clerk assigned to the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade. Horton joined the Army in 2017.

Vinson, of Norfolk, Virginia, was a parachute rigger assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group. Vinson joined the Army in 2014.

'This is a tragic, senseless loss and a terrible moment, particularly for those here who knew Kelia,' Buccino told the newspaper.

'The command at the 525 Military Intelligence Brigade is organizing grief counseling for Kelias fellow soldiers and engaging with the family,' he added.
Police were wrong to block prominent preacher Louis Farrakhan who once called Jews 'termites' from giving a speech at an event in a London park because they breached his human rights, a High Court has ruled.

Members of the Nation of Islam had applied to Lambeth Council for a permit to hold an event in Kennington Park, south London in August 2017.

As part of the event, called the 4th Africa International Day of Action, organisers had planned for the head of the group Louis Farrakhan to make a remote broadcast from the US.

But when concerns were raised by the council's community safety team and the Metropolitan Police, conditions were placed on the permit preventing Mr Farrakhan from addressing the event in any way.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was hoped to speak at the event in August 2017

What is the Nation of Islam? The Nation of Islam, founded in Chicago in 1930, combines the religious aspects of Islam with the ideas of both black power and black nationalism. It teaches that black people are the rulers of earth, who were created first, and who every other race descends from. Malcolm X was perhaps the most famous Nation of Islam follower, and he convinced Muhammad Ali to join. Malcolm grew disillusioned with the group, however, and left in 1964: members of the Nation murdered him a year later. Martin Luther King was among those who criticized the Nation, describing it as racist. Followers supported the idea of a separate state for African Americans in which they could rely on themselves to provide solutions to their own problems. Unlike King, who promoted peaceful protest, the leaders of the Nation of Islam thought that violence was justified in self-defence. Farrakhan, 87, is a known anti-Semite whose remarks on race and religion have sparked controversy in the past. He was outspoken against Barack Obama, and embraced Donald Trump - to the embarrassment of some of the Trump team. Most recently, Farrakhan told followers not to get the COVID vaccine. His supporters are seen by critics as black supremacists, and the Southern Poverty Law Center categorizes the organization as a hate group. The founder of Nation, Wallace Fard, taught that Christianity was the white man's religion, and said that Islam was more akin to traditional African beliefs. Fard said there would be an apocalyptic overthrow of white domination, insisting that the dominion of evil was to end with God's appearance on earth in the person of Fard. His followers carried out military-style drills, in readiness for the coming battle. Fard was succeeded by Elijah Muhammad, who died in 1975 and was succeeded three years later by Farrakhan. Advertisement

Abdul Hakeem Muhammad, the UK representative of the Nation of Islam, and 33 other attendees brought a claim against the force and council due to the restrictions.

On Monday, Martin Forde QC for the claimants, told the court: 'Those objections were purportedly based on concerns relating to public order, specifically disorder by those not associated with the event seeking to disrupt it.'

Mr Forde outlined Mr Farrakhan's speech was going to be about reparations, adding: 'This discourse has been ongoing and it was thought that he could contribute to it.'

In written arguments, Mr Forde also said: 'All of the claimants in this case are of black African descent, as were most of the audience.

'Therefore, the topic of reparations is of considerable importance to many if not most of those who attended the event and more generally one of international consequence.'

The High Court heard Mr Farrakhan was barred from speaking at the event due to the risk of counter-protesters, which the Metropolitan Police later accepted they had failed to balance.

Mr Forde told the court: 'It is right to say that he is a person who has attracted a degree of historic controversy.'

Louis Farrkhan, who has led the Nation of Islam since the late 1970s, has a long history of making controversial statements and espousing anti-Semitic rhetoric.

He has described Adolf Hitler as 'a great man' and repeatedly referred to Jewish people as 'Satanic'.

In 2018 Mr Farrakhan compared Jews to termites tweeting: 'I'm not an anti- Semite. I'm anti-Termite.'

In 2019, Mr Farrakhan was one of several figures banned from Facebook for violating its policy on hate and violence.

The barrister added that Mr Farrakhan's current image has been 'misrepresented in a very sensationalised way in the media'.

The claimants, police and council came to an agreement before trial, with the public bodies accepting they had breached the group's right to freedom of expression and freedom of thought and religion.

Ranjit Bhose QC, for Lambeth Council, said: 'Its case was, and remains, that the conditions and restrictions preventing Louis Farrakhan from speaking had nothing to do with the topic.'

James Berry, for the Metropolitan Police, added: 'The Metropolitan Police Service has no desire to stifle speech on reparations.'

In written arguments, Mr Berry said that the force's assessment of the risk from potential counter-protesters was not about the speech but 'extreme views' expressed by Mr Farrakhan.

Mr Justice Garnham made a declaration stating that Scotland Yard and the council had both 'unlawfully infringed' on the claimants' rights under the Human Rights Act.

He said: 'The rights protected by articles nine and 10 are of fundamental importance.

The High Court heard Mr Farrakhan was barred from speaking at the 4th Africa International Day of Action

'The fact that the fundamental rights are potentially subject to restrictions places a heavy burden on those charged with such matters,' he continued.

The bodies were ordered to pay a combined 92,250 in damages, and the council faces a bill of 175,000 in legal costs.

Hours after the decision was made, the leader of Lambeth Council - Jack Hopkins - stood down from his position, although a formal reason was not given.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has once again defied the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic by leading a large motorbike rally on Sunday as he continued to fight the criticism over his management of the crisis.

Bolsonaro, who was sickened with the coronavirus in July 2020, led hundreds of bikers through the streets in the capital of Brasilia in celebration of Mother's Day on Sunday.

The hardline president was heavily guarded by security guards and led the motorcade for a one-hour trip around the center of the town before he addressed his throng of supporters.

It came as Brazil remained second in the world for daily cases and deaths from Coronavirus, behind crisis-hit India.

Brazil suffered 38,911 new cases of Coronavirus on Sunday, and 1,024 new deaths, according to data from John Hopkins University.

By comparison, the United States in third place had 21,392 new cases and 238 deaths.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (left) led a motorcade through Brasilia with supporters representing the motorcycle clubs in honor of Mother's Day on Sunday

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (front right) joined supporters for a ride through the South American nation's country despite the COVID-19 pandemic

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters ride motorcycles to celebrate the National Mother's Day

But Bolsonaro insisted that the country is recovering.

'We had a very serious problem last year, something that no-one expected: the pandemic. But bit by bit we're winning,' he said.

He also reassured followers that he would not deploy the Army to enforce lockdowns.

He said: 'Rest assured, as supreme commander of the Armed Forces, my army will never go into the streets to keep you in your homes.'

Brazil is one of the worst hit countries in the world by the pandemic.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro was at the center of a motorcade Sunday in Brasilia to celebrate Mother's Day and once again defend himself against criticism of how he has handled the COVID-19 pandemic

Overall, the South American nation had registered 422,340 confirmed deaths - second behind the United States - as of Monday.

Bolsonaro, a fierce critic of social lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus, concluded the rally by posing for photographs and shaking hands with supporters, many of whom, like him, were not wearing face masks.

'I'm taking part in the event to support everything (the government) has done these last few years to save Brazil,' said protester Carlos Toledo, 61.

People visit the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery on Mothers Day, in Manaus, Brazil. Cemeteries in Brazil opened this weekend for the first time for the general public since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro was all smiles as he and his supporters rode motorcycles to celebrate the Mother's Day, in Brasilia, the South American nation's capital

Although the number of new coronavirus cases has dropped in recent weeks, Brazil has the highest fatality rate in the Americas and the southern hemisphere.

Bolsonaro supporters also took to the streets in several major cities such as Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro during Labor Day celebrations just over a week ago.

On Wednesday, the far-right leader suggested that China created the coronavirus 'to spark a chemical warfare.'

'It's a new virus. Nobody knows whether it was born in a laboratory or because a human ate some animal they shouldn't have,' Bolsonaro.

'But it is there. The military knows what chemical, bacteriological and radiological warfare. Are we not facing a new war? Which country has grown its GDP the most? I will not tell you.'

People with permanent disabilities received the COVID-19 vaccine at an immunization center in Teresina, a city in the northeastern Brazilian state of Piaui, on Saturday

A child with a disability receives a dose of a coronavirus vaccine at an immunization center in Piaui, Brazil, on Saturday

The comments were made as the Senate began an investigation into the government's management of the pandemic.

Testifying to the Senate on Tuesday, former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was removed in April 2020 for promoting social distancing, said he had 'systematically' warned Bolsonaro about the 'very serious consequences' of his lax approach to tackling the pandemic.

Mandetta said he was called to a meeting in the presidential palace where he saw a draft of the decree on the table aimed at expanding chloroquine's use to include COVID-19 treatment. He said the president of Brazil's health regulator also was present and refused to get behind the decree.

'The only guidance on chloroquine that came from the (health) ministry was for compassionate use, when there was no other resource for critical patients,' said Mandetta, who was fired by Bolsonaro in April 2020. 'Our guidance was based on science. He (Bolsonaro) had parallel counseling.'

Mandetta's successor Nelson Teich said last week he resigned over pressure from Bolsonaro to promote malaria drug chloroquine as a remedy for Covid-19 despite experts' insistence that it is ineffective and even potentially harmful.

The government's insistent promotion of chloroquine and a less toxic version, hydroxychloroquine, is expected to be among the lawmakers' key lines of investigation.
A Florida man said he was high on crystal meth, claimed he was in the CIA and appealed to the 'Illuminati' for help after he allegedly stole two patrol vehicles and led police on a 60-mile high-speed chase.

The wild incident took place in Volusia County last Thursday and was caught on police helicopter video. Dramatic footage showed the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Xavier Cummings, crashing one police vehicle in the tree line off the road, jumping out of the wreckage and speeding away in another patrol vehicle.

Cummings was ultimately apprehended after officers deployed stop sticks that punctured the tires on the second stolen vehicle, a Ford SUV.

Police chopper video shows suspect Xavier Cummings fleeing in the stolen Cocoa Police Department cruiser (left) after allegedly stealing it on May 6

A pursuing vehicle disabled the stolen cruiser on northbound I-95 in Volusia County - the first of two Cummings is said to have pilfered

The cruiser careened into the woods and got stuck there, but it was not the end of the chase...

According to an arrest affidavit, Cummings made a 'full confession' to stealing both vehicles, one of which contained service weapons belonging to a K-9 handler.

Cummings, 33,is accused of stealing two police cars while allegedly high on crystal meth

Cummings was booked into the county jail on a slew of charges, including two counts each grand theft of a motor vehicle and grand theft of a firearm, armed burglary of a conveyance, escape, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and driving while license suspended.

The case began unfolding at around 4.15pm on May 6, when Volusia County deputies were alerted to a vehicle that had been stolen from the Cocoa Police Department entering the county on Interstate 95.

A pursuing police officer was able to successfully deploy stop sticks, which forced the stolen cruiser off the highway and into the woods, where it crashed and became stuck.

Officers surrounded the disabled cruiser, but Cummings armed himself with a pepper spray can and jumped out of the wreck

Cummings made his way toward a K-9 officer's vehicle and get behind the wheel of a second police car, as a scream of 'No, get the door!' rang out

An officer deplyed a Taser against Cummings, but that had no effect on him - and he sped off in the SUV moments later

Officers surrounded the car and ordered Cummings to exit, but according to the affidavit, he grabbed a can of pepper spray, jumped out of the mangled cruiser and ran straight toward a K-9 officer's vehicle, which was parked on the highway, unlocked, unoccupied and with keys in the ignition.

One of the officers on the scene pursued the suspect on foot and Tasered him as he sat in the driver's seat of the second cruiser, but that did not stop him from putting the vehicle in drive and fleeing. One could be heard shouting 'No, get the door!' moments before Cummings allegedly stole the car.

A second chase ensued, which came to an end when an officer deployed another set of stop sticks at mile marker 256 on northbound I-95, which punctured three of the stolen cruiser's tires.

As helicopter video shows, the vehicle came to a stop in the median and was surrounded by armed officers, who were then able to apprehended Cummings without incident.

Cummings fled in the second vehicle, which carried several firearms. He drove off at high speed

Smoke poured from the stolen SUV after stop sticks were used to slash three of its tires

The 60-mile, two-part chase came to an end after the vehicle came to a stop in the grassy median

Police were able to apprehend Cummings, who shouted: 'Im FBI. Im CIA, Im Secret Service agency.' He later told cops he believed he had permission to take one of the vehicles by 'mental telepathy' and admitted to using crystal meth

Cummings had an outburst in court after a judge ordered him jailed without bail

Body camera video from the scene shows the man shouting 'Im FBI. Im CIA, Im Secret Service agency,' as he is being handcuffed, reported ClickOrlando.

Cummings later told investigators he believed he had permission to take one of the vehicles by 'mental telepathy,' reported NBC Miami.

He also allegedly admitted to using crystal meth earlier in the day and said he had not slept for about 24 hours.

During a court hearing on Friday, Cummings became enraged after a judge ordered him held without bond. He began ranting incoherently at the judge and shouted 'Illuminati, help!' as he was being led out of the courtroom, reported WFTV9.
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It is probably the most famous fighter aircraft in history, its sleek shape familiar to millions after it helped to defeat the German air assault during the Battle of Britain.

So it may come as a shock to see a Spitfire bearing the Soviet red star on its fuselage and wings instead of the usual RAF roundels.

But that is how this warplane appeared  unfamiliar markings and all  until it crashed in 1945, and was abandoned on the tundra in a remote part of Russia.

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX, serial number PT879, was one of 1,328 British fighters supplied to the Red Army from 1942 to 1945 under an often forgotten 'lend-lease' scheme by the Allies to help Joseph Stalin's forces fight the Nazis on the Eastern Front.

After a restoration project costing more than 2million, it is now the only flying example of a 'Russian Spitfire' in existence.

It is pictured being flown by its British owner Peter Teichman over Grafham Water reservoir near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX, serial number PT879, was one of 1,328 British fighters supplied to the Red Army from 1942 to 1945 under an often forgotten 'lend-lease' scheme by the Allies

After a restoration project costing more than 2million, it is now the only flying example of a 'Russian Spitfire' in existence. Pictured: Parts of the plane are seen in 1998 after it recently arrived back in the UK. The plane crashed in a remote part of Russia in 1945

Built at the Vickers-Armstrongs factory at Castle Bromwich, on the edge of Birmingham, PT879 was shipped to Murmansk in Russia's far north in October 1944.

It joined a Russian squadron, but crashed on May 18, 1945, on the nearby Kola Peninsula.

Official reports say PT879 had completed a total of 18hrs 29mins of flying time before the crash during dogfight training when another Spitfire hit it with its wing, cutting off its tail, according to historian Peter Arnold.

PT879's pilot Lieutenant Grigoriy Vasilievich Semyonov bailed out safely.

It is pictured being flown by its British owner Peter Teichman over Grafham Water reservoir near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire

Russian aircrew are seen preparing to clamber into their British Spitfire's in an image taken during the Second World War

Russian aircrew are pictured leaning against a Spitfire which had been converted into a two-seater

Supermarine Spitfires are seen being prepared for delivery to the Soviet Union at Abadan, Iran in 1943

Mr Arnold said Spitfires, with their delicate undercarriage and high performance at high altitude, were 'not a particular favourite' of Russian pilots who preferred 'more rugged' aircraft for the intermediate height combats on the Eastern Front.

After its recovery by a Russian farmer in 1997, PT879 was sold to a UK buyer.

Six years later, it was bought by Mr Teichman, who runs The Hangar 11 Collection in North Weald, Essex.

A licensed display pilot in his 60s, he provides planes for airshows, corporate events, films and weddings and has restored several wartime machines.

His collection includes a more familiar looking Spitfire Mark XI and an American P51D Mustang.

Despite PT879's remains being badly damaged, Mr Teichman (pictured) was able to harvest thousands of parts including its wings, fuselage, cannon and machine guns

Built at the Vickers-Armstrongs factory at Castle Bromwich, on the edge of Birmingham, PT879 was shipped to Murmansk in Russia's far north in October 1944

Official reports say PT879 had completed a total of 18hrs 29mins of flying time before the crash during dogfight training when another Spitfire hit it with its wing, cutting off its tail, according to historian Peter Arnold

Mr Arnold said Spitfires, with their delicate undercarriage and high performance at high altitude, were 'not a particular favourite' of Russian pilots who preferred 'more rugged' aircraft for the intermediate height combats on the Eastern Front

Despite PT879's remains being badly damaged, Mr Teichman was able to harvest thousands of parts including its wings, fuselage, cannon and machine guns.

The Arctic tundra had even preserved some of the Spitfire's paintwork.

A replacement Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 engine was sourced from Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar in Kent, where the restoration was completed.

It was even fitted with 250lb bombs  as Spitfires often were late in the war  although these are fibreglass replicas.

PT879 made its first test flight post-restoration last October and has a Civil Aviation Authority permit to be flown at displays.

A replacement Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 engine was sourced from Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar in Kent, where the restoration was completed. It was even fitted with 250lb bombs  as Spitfires often were late in the war  although these are fibreglass replicas

Parts of the original aircraft are seen above. Mr Teichman was able to incorporate parts of the original plane into his restoration project

Mr Teichman said he had been supported by his wife Karen during the project, adding: 'It's been a labour of love for both of us

Mr Teichman said of his wife: 'Karen likes flying too, but as it's only a one-seater I can't take her with me unless she was strapped to the wing  and she's not keen on that!'

Out of the more than 20,000 Spitfires built from 1938 to 1948, around 60 are still airworthy.

Mr Teichman said he had been supported by his wife Karen during the project, adding: 'It's been a labour of love for both of us.

'Karen likes flying too, but as it's only a one-seater I can't take her with me unless she was strapped to the wing  and she's not keen on that!'
Travel chiefs said figures proved it was safe for ministers to expand the safe list

But Portugal was the only hotspot to make the quarantine-free travel 'green list'

The figure for Spain was 0.7 per cent, Italy 0.4 per cent and Portugal 0.6 per cent

Less than 1% of arrivals from European holiday locations test postive for Covid

A host of Caribbean islands are likely to be added to the Government's quarantine-free 'green list' next month.

The nations that could be added in June are the 'near misses' for Friday's list of just 12 countries and territories, the Telegraph reported.

Islands in the Caribbean such as Antigua, Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis are reporting close to zero infection rates.

Another territory likely to be added to the updated list is the British Virgin Islands, which has had just 216 infections and one death since the pandemic began.

It comes as figures showed less than 1 per cent of arrivals from European holiday hotspots such as Greece, Spain and Italy are testing positive for Covid.

Analysis of NHS Test and Trace data by the Mail reveals around 0.8 per cent of arrivals from Greece over the latest four-week period tested positive for the virus.

The figure for Spain was 0.7 per cent, Italy 0.4 per cent and Portugal 0.6 per cent.

But despite the similar rates, Portugal was the only major European hotspot to make the Government's quarantine-free travel 'green list' last week.

Travel chiefs last night said the figures proved it was safe for ministers to expand the list to include more of Europe when foreign holidays restart next Monday.

A host of Caribbean islands are likely to be added to the Government's quarantine-free 'green list' next month. It comes as figures showed less than 1 per cent of arrivals from European holiday hotspots such as Greece , Spain and Italy are testing positive for Covid, NHS data shows. Pictured: Costa Paradiso Beach, Sardinia

Thanks to their low infection and variant rates, Fiji, the Cayman Islands, Grenada, Finland and Malta are also said to have been on a shortlist for inclusion on Friday's 'green list'.

The news that just 12 destinations were ranked green when the list was unveiled on Friday sparked a backlash from industry bosses.

Foreign tourism ministers have also expressed their dismay.

Greek tourism minister Harry Theocharis said: 'We consider Greece is at a very good status regarding the epidemic at the moment and every week it is getting better and better. This is what the data shows.'

He also hit out at UK ministers for not treating Greece's islands, where vaccination rates are higher, differently to the mainland, adding: 'Britain could have taken a different approach for those islands.'

Rodi Kratsa, governor of the Ionian islands region, which includes holiday hotspots Corfu and Zante, said: 'The decision of Great Britain not to include Greece in the announced green list and to enforce quarantine to travellers returning to England is unjustifiable.

'Greece has proven credibility and efficacy in managing the pandemic crisis, and so has the region of Ionian islands, a region that is loved by British travellers.

'I am sure Britain will very soon change this decision.'

Since February, anyone returning from abroad has been required to take two tests after arrival on days two and eight, while quarantining at home or in a hotel for ten days.

Travel chiefs said the figures proved it was safe for Government (pictured: Boris Johnson) to expand the list to include more of Europe when foreign holidays restart next Monday

The NHS Test and Trace data shows that of 3,823 people who took tests on day two after arriving from Spain between March 26 and April 22, the latest period available, just 26 tested positive.

Of 3,036 people who travelled from Italy, 13 tested positive, while five of 635 arrivals from Greece had the virus.

Of 501 arrivals from Portugal, three tested positive.

The data provides a snapshot into the risk of importing infection from each country, which also have similar vaccination rates.

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: 'We do not believe the Government's decision to limit the green list to so few countries is justified and this evidence from the Mail shows that, even at times of high Covid in Europe, travel was a source of relatively few cases.

'With the huge success of the vaccination programme which is being used to open up the domestic economy, there is no reason why Britons should be denied the right to travel to their holiday favourites this summer.'

The criticism came as it emerged that free NHS lateral flow tests may not be approved for holidaymakers to take abroad with them.

Figures showed less than 1 per cent of arrivals from European holiday hotspots such as Greece, Spain and Italy are testing positive for Covid

It would mean travellers having to shell out for a pre-departure test before returning to the UK.

Ministers had proposed giving travellers rapid tests to take with them to cut the hassle and cost of arranging one in a foreign country.

But sources said there were concerns about validating the tests and their accuracy.

A Government spokesman said last night: 'We have taken a cautious approach to our green travel list to protect the country and our vaccination campaign from the threat of Covid-19 variants.

'The decision to add countries to the red, amber or green lists is made jointly by ministers, informed by the latest scientific data and public health advice and taking into account a range of factors.'
Counter-surveillance officers were diverted from monitoring growing crowds around the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to investigate the discovery of pipe bombs, contributing to intelligence failures that allowed a mob to invade the building, according to a federal watchdog.

U.S. Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton told members of Congress on Monday that the force needed a standalone counter-surveillance unit if it was to prevent a repeat in future.

The force has almost 2,000 officers  more than the Atlanta Police Department  yet could not prevent demonstrators overrunning what should be one of the most secure buildings in the country.

Inspector General Michael Bolton said counter-surveillance officers were diverted away from their main task by the discovery of pipe bombs in the neighborhood, as he offered his third report into police failings on January 6

Police were overwhelmed by protesters who invaded the US Capitol on January 6. The Capitol's three most senior security officials resigned in the aftermath and a series of intelligence failing have since been exposed by Bolton

The Capitol's three top security officials resigned in the aftermath, including the U.S. Capitol's Police chief.

Congressional leaders are considering setting up a commission to investigate what went wrong.

Bolton gave his report during the first of three House hearings this week on the matter.

He said that vague guidance contributed to officers missing warning signs.

'Additionally, a lack of clear and detailed communication procedures could have increased inefficiencies with processes as well as led to critical counter-surveillance information not being appropriately communicated throughout the department,' he told the House Administration Committee.

The department also did not properly document or analyze reports of suspicious activities, he continued.

'A stand-alone entity, with a defined mission dedicated to counter-surveillance activities in support of protecting the congressional community, would improve the department's ability to identify and disrupt individuals or groups intent on engaging in illegal activity directed at the community and its legislative process,' he said.

No one has been caught despite a $100,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for leaving pipe bombs at two locations in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington D.C.

He said the shortcomings were clear on January 6, when 13 counter-surveillance officers were deployed to monitor the growing crowds.

Most were diverted to other duties when pipe bombs were discovered close to the Democratic National Committee Headquarters and Republican National Committee Headquarters.

'When we had the pipe bombs, three of the teams went to those pipe bombs and because they are doing double duty they start doing an investigation,' he said.

'That left one team to cover the Capitol complex.

'So in other words, if those pipe bombs were intended to be a diversion, frankly speaking it worked.'

An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021.

A dedicated counter-surveillance unit would not have been diverted away from its main task, he added.

The Capitol Police issued a statement ahead of Bolton's appearance, saying it had already begun to act on his findings.

'The USCP agrees a standalone counter-surveillance unit would be valuable,' it said. 'However, in order to fully implement this recommendation, the department would require additional resources for new employees, training, and vehicles as well as approval from congressional stakeholders.'

It also said there had been a 107 percent increase in threats against members of Congress this year compared with 2020.
Victor Hugo Cuevas, age 28, is on bail for the 2017 murder of a man outside a sushi restaurant in Richmond, west of Houston

The owner of an escaped pet tiger which was filmed roaming through a Houston neighborhood on Sunday night is facing separate charges for first-degree murder, police sources have revealed.

Victor Hugo Cuevas, 28, is on bail awaiting trial for the 2017 murder of a man outside the Bella Terra shopping mall in Richmond, west of Houston, ABC7.com reported.

Police are trying to locate Cuevas and his pet Bengal tiger after the big cat was filmed wandering through Ivy Wall Drive in West Houston on Saturday night .

Cuevas bundled the tiger into a white Jeep Cherokee and fled the scene when officers arrived on Sunday evening.

In a 54-second clip posted to social media, terrified residents filmed the big cat roaming freely around the quiet suburban neighborhood.

In the video, an off duty Waller County Sheriff's deputy who lives in the neighborhood is seen pointing his gun at the tiger as it stalks towards him.

The deputy backs up a few paces as the tiger gets within a few feet of where he is standing.

The owner - later confirmed by police to be Cuevas - then drags the tiger back inside a house.

He later fled with the animal in his Jeep when cops arrived. Police pursued the vehicle but soon lost sight of it.

Cuevas is now facing charges of evading police, according to Commander Ronald Borza, of the Houston Police Departments Major Offenders Division, said

A tiger was on the loose in the quiet residential neighborhood of Ivy Wall Drive in West Houston on Sunday night

The tiger, identified by a neighbor as a Bengal, approaches a man with a weapon trained upon it in menacing fashion

The big cat stalks around a home in West Houston before a man who appears to be its owner appeared on the scene

Commander Borza said: 'My main concern right now is finding him and finding the tiger. What I don't want him to do is harm the tiger.

'We have plenty of places we can take that tiger and keep it safe, and give it a home for the rest of its life. A lot of times people get desperate and they do silly things.'

He added: 'If you see a Cherokee with a big tiger in it, it would be good to call us.'

While the state of Texas has very relaxed laws on ownership of dangerous animals, is illegal to keep a tiger in the city of Houston.

Officers were called to the address around 8pm on Sunday night after receiving reports of a tiger roaming the neighborhood.

Video footage, posted online on Sunday evening, shows several pickup trucks and other vehicles appear to be trying to block the tiger in to prevent it from escaping.

'There is a freaking Bengal tiger roaming in this yard and this dude needs to be careful,' a woman is heard saying on the video.

'What the heck? Why is there a tiger?'

An eyewitness capturing the footage, Maria Torres, can be heard shouting: 'It has a collar. It is somebody's pet.'

The person capturing the footage, which has been viewed nearly 750,000 times by Monday morning, makes a run for it when the tiger gets too close.

Eventually, a person who appears to be the tiger's owner emerges from a house and can be heard saying: 'I'll get him, I'll get him.'

The man grabs the animal by the collar and takes it back into a house.

'Get the f** back inside. F**k you and your f**king tiger,' another man can be heard yelling at him.

According to news reports, Cuevas was arrested on July 28 2017 in connection with the murder of Oseikhuemen Omobhude, 20, who was shot in the parking lot of the popular Sushi Hana restaurant on July 14 that year.

Omobhude was approached by two men on motorcycles and shot several times in his car. He was able to drive a few hundred yards to seek help at a nearby Buffalo Wings Restaurant, but later died at Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital.

Cuevas was arrested after sheriff's received an anonymous tip and held on a $750,000 bond in the Fort Bend County Jail before being released.

He was charged with first-degree murder in 2020 and is currently out on a $125,000 bond, ABC7.com reported. He is due in court in July.

The armed man gestures to residents to stay back as the tiger gets within a few feet of his position

A man grabs the animal by the collar and takes it back into a house

A man who appears to be the tiger's owner appears and takes the animal back into a house

The tiger is reportedly not the only exotic animal which has been spotted at Cuevas' rented property.

Neighbor Jose Ramos later told ABC13 that he had seen a capuchin monkey at the residence before.

'I figured, 'OK, this is a small animal. It could be domesticated.' But I never thought they would hold a tiger in their house.'

A person named Rob Wormald posted video of the encounter between the tiger and the deputy on his Twitter account.

'Apparently there's a tiger loose on my parents' West Houston street?' he writes.

Texas has some of the most lenient pet ownership rules in the country, however it is illegal to own a dangerous animal in the Houston city limits.

The neighborhood where the tiger was filmed is about 18 miles west of downtown Houston and still within its city limits.

Animal welfare activists estimate there could be between 2,000 and 5,000 privately-owned tigers in the Lone Star State - making it second only to India in tiger population.
China, Sudan pledge joint protection of legitimate rights of developing countries

Xinhua) 11:09, May 10, 2021

Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Ma Xinmin (4th L, front) and Sudanese officials pose for a group photo while receiving the Chinese vaccines at the Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, March 26, 2021.(Xinhua/Ma Yichong)

The two countries will work together to safeguard each other's legitimate interests as well as the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China and Sudan have agreed to deepen their cooperation on various fields and work together to safeguard each other's legitimate interests and the legitimate rights of developing countries.

In a telephone conversation on Saturday between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Sudanese counterpart Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, Mariam thanked China for its strong support in Sudan's fight against COVID-19, saying that the two countries share a long friendship and a relationship founded on mutual respect, and that China has played a great role and made important contributions to Sudan's economic and social development.

Sudan hopes to strengthen strategic coordination with China, continuously expand bilateral cooperation in such fields as economy, culture, education and sports, deepen cooperation on infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative and push for greater development of bilateral relations, she said.

The Sudanese foreign minister also elaborated on Sudan's stance on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue and briefed Wang on the upcoming international conference on supporting Sudan's transition to be held in Paris.

Medical supplies are unloaded from a plane at the Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, March 26, 2021.(Xinhua/Ma Yichong)

Wang congratulated Mariam on her assuming office as foreign minister.

Currently, the political transition in Sudan is progressing steadily and external obstacles to development are gradually being removed, Wang said.

China has always viewed and developed its relations with Sudan from a long-term perspective and will remain committed to developing their strategic partnership, he said.

China will firmly support the Sudanese people in exploring a development path in line with its own national conditions, bolster up Sudan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, oppose any external forces' interference in Sudan's internal affairs, and continue to speak out for Sudanese friends on international occasions, Wang said.

The Chinese foreign minister also appreciated Sudan's unequivocal support for China on major issues related to China's Xinjiang, Hong Kong and human rights.

The two countries will work together to safeguard each other's legitimate interests as well as the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, Wang said.

China encourages and supports competent Chinese enterprises to invest and start business in Sudan and supports Sudan in actively participating in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, so as to open up new prospects for bilateral cooperation, Wang said.

China will send delegates to attend the International Conference on Supporting Sudan's Transition to be held in Paris, France, and stands ready to continue to help and support Sudan in thoroughly defeating COVID-19, he said.

Regarding the GERD issue, Wang said that dialogue and consultation is the best choice to find a solution, adding that China supports the three countries involved in finding a mutually beneficial solution through friendly consultation and stands ready to continue to play a constructive role in this respect.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Anthony Mundine has made the ridiculous suggestion Australians should not roll up their sleeves for the coronavirus vaccine because 'it's blatant genocide'.

The outspoken retired sportsman urged everyone to 'do some research' in a bizarre social media rant that was not backed up with any scientific or medical evidence.

'You take the shot then you will have serious health problems even death!' the anti-vaxxer told his 89, 500 Facebook followers.

Anthony Mundine (pictured in March) is back in the headlines after making outrageous claims about the coronavirus vaccine

'Their evil plans are to depopulate the world to 1 billion people, we are at 7-8 billion now ...this is blatant genocide on the human race with a virus that has 99.7% recovery rate!'

The recently retired boxer then claimed the vaccine 'paralysed the immune system' and that he would let his system do the work for him.

'Don't take it! Do your research!' the post ended.

More than 2.65 million Australians have been jabbed since the nation's biggest ever vaccination program began in February.

Around 6.6 Australians per 1000 doses have reported adverse reactions, according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Of the five cases in Australia who developed blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, four have now been discharged from hospital and are either at home or have returned to work.

More than 200,000 Australians have provided feedback after receiving either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines.

While just over half (51.9 per cent) reported some sort of adverse reactions, only 1.2 per cent said there were serious enough to get medical attention.

Around 1.3billion jabs have been issued worldwide.

Around a million New South Wales residents aged 40-49 will be able to get their first Pfizer jab within weeks, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Monday following the opening of a new purpose-built vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park.

Pictured: Gold Coast nurse Zoe Park (left) getting the Pfizer vaccine

Mundine's rant sparked a divided response.

'What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it, one man commented.

Another added: 'We will see who laughs last. Its people like you that will keep the virus spreading in our country. I had mine, because its the right thing to do to stop this virus spreading.

But Mundine also had a flood support in his corner as many agreed they also won't be getting jab.

'Absolutely wont be having the shot! So many people laughed when you first warned them, I dont see so many laughing now!' one woman commented.

Anthony Mundine warned Australians that those who get the vaccine will end up with serious health problems in a bizarre Facebook rant (pictured)

It's not the first time in recent days Mundine has publicly slammed the vaccine.

'To all my Aboriginal people dont get that poison they wanna give you over this hoax of a virus!' he posted on Facebook last week.

'They coming for our people first ! The plan is to kill as many as they can to depopulate the world !! So black white brown or brindle dont let them shoot something harmful into your blood system ! Please do your research on what is in the shot & what it does !! We got to resist! Stand up , wake up ! Long live freedom!'
A grammar schoolgirl died from sepsis after 'history fanatic' teachers dragged her around New York's top attractions having ignored her pleas to see a doctor and rest in her hotel, her mother has told an inquest.

Ana Uglow, 17, a student at Bristol Grammar School, was seen 'retching' over a bin in the Empire State Building on the day before she was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West hospital in December 2019.

Miss Uglow had also asked to see a doctor, suffered coughing fits and back pain before she died while on a dream school trip to Washington, Philadelphia and New York, an inquest was told.

Her mother Natalia said her daughter had complained that her teachers were 'history fanatics' who she had asked to slow down as they walked around New York seeing tourist attractions and monuments.

Her parents David and Natalia said Ana told teachers she thought she had a chest infection and asked to see a doctor two days before her death, but this was 'refused'.

Mrs Uglow said she rang the trip's emergency phone number before texting it: 'Why did you not take Ana to the doctor when she asked???'

She told the inquest at Avon Coroner's Court: 'I was very furious with those teachers who neglected Ana's request to see a doctor on Tuesday morning and after she had been sick overnight, nothing was done to save her life.'

However, a teacher told the inquest yesterday that Ana had only complained of feeling tired and having a blocked nose, and did not directly ask to see a doctor.

Ana Uglow, 17, a student at Bristol Grammar School, was seen 'retching' over a bin in the Empire State Building on the day before she was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West hospital in December 2019

Her parents David and Natalia said Ana told teachers she thought she had a chest infection and asked to see a doctor two days before her death, but this was 'refused'

The inquest, due to last for five days, heard Ana collapsed in her hotel room on the morning of December 19 and was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.

A report by the chief medical examiner of the city of New York concluded that Ana, of Redland, Bristol, had died from Bronchopneumonia and sepsis complicating an influenza upper respiratory infection.

In a statement read to the inquest, Ana's mother Natalia Uglow described how she was a 'conscientious' student who was very active in the school and was a senior prefect.

Ana had been off school with a cold-like symptoms for two days before the trip but felt better and set off to Washington from Bristol early on December 14.

The following day, Ana told her mother that she was 'exhausted' and had done a walking tour of Washington with fellow students and teachers Rory Hambly and Ellice Clare.

On December 16, Ana 'described that she had no energy to walk' and had asked to stay at the hotel while the group went to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

They travelled by train from Washington to Philadelphia on December 17 and Ana called her mother several times during the journey.

'Ana said that she was worried she had a chest infection, that she felt much worse and had a fever and a cough,' Mrs Uglow said.

'She said that the teachers had really annoyed her as she was out of breath and exhausted and could not keep up with their walking but that they just ignored her and carried on.

'She said that they were 'real history fanatics and all they cared about is chasing those sites and were very excited about them'.

Ana Uglow (pictured), 17, a student at Bristol Grammar School, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West hospital in December 2019

Avon Coroner's Court heard she was on a school trip to Washington, Philadelphia and New York at the time. Pictured: Bristol Grammar School

'I was concerned about her and said to Ana to speak to the teachers and ask them to see a doctor and phone me back. I told her to exaggerate her symptoms if necessary to get the result and say that her parents were concerned.

'I also offered to speak to them myself. I believe Ana spoke to Mr Hambly as she reported back that Mr Hambly had told her that she would have had a higher temperature if she had a chest infection and advised her to take paracetamol.

'I was also told he had also suggested that they go to a pharmacist in Philadelphia to get some stronger drugs and that if she felt worse in New York they would take her to a doctor.'

Later that day, Ana sent her mother a text message to say she was feeling 'a bit better'.

Mrs Uglow told the inquest: 'She was concerned, she was worried and to my dying day I will never forgive myself for not following through my request for her to see a doctor and not phoning the teachers myself and putting pressure on them.'

She said her daughter 'respected' both Mr Hambly and Ms Clare and would not have wanted to 'nag' them.

On December 18, Ana told her mother she had not slept as she was sick and had asked the teachers if she could stay in her hotel room that day but they had 'forced her to go on a walking tour as they could not leave her alone'.

The following day, Dr Uglow received a phone call from the school's headteacher stating that Ana was in a critical condition in hospital.

Mrs Uglow said she rang the trip's emergency phone number before texting it: 'Why did you not take Ana to the doctor when she asked???'

She told the inquest: 'I was very furious with those teachers who neglected Ana's request to see a doctor on Tuesday morning and after she had been sick overnight, nothing was done to save her life'.

Dr Uglow described receiving a phone call from the headteacher informing him that Ana was in hospital.

'I told the headmaster that the teachers had been treating Ana terribly,' Dr Uglow said.

Giving evidence, Mr Hambly said Ana complained of feeling tired and having a blocked nose in the days before her death.

On the train journey, she asked 'about if she was feeling worse in New York what would the situation be about getting to a doctor' but did not directly ask to see one, he said.

A report by the chief medical examiner of the city of New York concluded that Ana, of Redland, Bristol, had died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York from Bronchopneumonia and sepsis complicating an influenza upper respiratory infection

Mr Hambly insisted he had told Ana they could see a doctor if she that was the case and suggested she take paracetamol, after which she appeared 'much brighter'.

He later advised her to buy decongestant and cough syrup from a pharmacy in New York.

On December 18, Ana came on the walking tour before shopping with a friend but that evening she had a 'coughing fit' and 'lent over a bin and retched' during a tour of the Empire State Building, he said.

Mr Hambly was awoken by Ana knocking on his door complaining of feeling unwell, her heart racing and a sore back at about 6.30am on December 19.

He said Ana was walking and talking 'normally' and returned to her hotel room but about an hour later, her friend came and said she was unwell.

'Not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what the next few minutes were going to bring,' Mr Hambly said.

Ana collapsed in the room shortly after Mr Hambly arrived. He called the emergency services and she was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10am.

The inquest continues.
Boris Johnson vowed last night to inject 'rocket fuel' into his pledge to level up Britain, with the introduction of new laws to boost education opportunities for those who have not been to university.

Speaking ahead of today's Queen's Speech, the Prime Minister revealed plans for legislation that will give every adult the right to access cheap, flexible loans to fund college courses and training later in life.

The move will enshrine in law Mr Johnson's proposal to introduce a 'lifetime skills guarantee' designed to enable anyone to upgrade their qualifications, regardless of their background.

It is one of several measures in today's legislative programme aimed at the 'levelling up' agenda that helped the Tories win victories in Labour's former heartlands in the Midlands and the North last week.

Boris Johnson vowed last night to inject 'rocket fuel' into his pledge to level up Britain, with the introduction of new laws to boost education opportunities for those who have not been to university

Others include reforms to state aid to make it easier for the Government to subsidise industries facing unfair competition, new light-touch freeports and a shake-up of the planning regime to accelerate the rollout of new housing and infrastructure.

In a move that raised eyebrows in Westminster last night, Tory sources confirmed that the programme will also clear the way for a potential early election by scrapping the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.

Repeal of the controversial legislation would allow the PM to order an election at the time of his choosing.

Some Tory MPs believe this could be just two years away and the grassroots Tory website Conservative Home yesterday urged activists to 'be ready for a general election in the spring of 2023'.

But ministers played down the prospect of an election before 2024, saying that the pandemic had left the Government behind schedule on delivering its manifesto.

Today's State Opening of Parliament will lack some of the traditional pomp and ceremony.

Speaking ahead of today's Queen's Speech, the Prime Minister revealed plans for legislation that will give every adult the right to access cheap, flexible loans to fund college courses and training later in life

Only a number of peers and MPs are likely to be present in person to hear the Queen.

All those attending will have to take Covid tests.

Last night the Prime Minister underlined the importance of the education reforms, which will focus on the 50 per cent of people who do not go to university.

Mr Johnson said: 'These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all.

'I'm revolutionising the system so we can move past the outdated notion that there is only one route up the career ladder, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to retrain or upskill at any point in their lives.'

A Government source said the PM believes those who do not go to university had been 'historically deprived of the chance to find their vocation and develop a fulfilling, well-paid career'.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will have more powers to intervene in colleges that fail to meet the needs of the local economy

Under the new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, set to be published next week, ministers will shake up the student loans system to open it up to all adults seeking higher-level education or training later in life.

Everyone will have access to the equivalent of four years' worth of student loans, which will be accessible throughout their career.

Employers will also be given a statutory role in planning publicly funded training programmes to try and ensure colleges are teaching the skills needed.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will have more powers to intervene in colleges that fail to meet the needs of the local economy.

Today's Queen's Speech will contain a wide range of measures to get the Government's agenda back on track after more than a year spent grappling with the pandemic.

These include plans to tackle the backlog of NHS operations and cancer treatments and a new law setting ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions.

However, ministers are facing a backlash over plans to make it compulsory for voters to prove their identity at the polling station.

Former Tory cabinet minister David Davis said it was an 'illiberal solution for a non-existent problem'.

Mr Johnson last night dismissed the criticism as 'complete nonsense', saying it was 'not unreasonable' to ask people to show ID to help cut voter fraud.
A Florida man who allegedly robbed a bank last week has been arrested after he used a taxi as his getaway car.

Authorities arrested Elijah Shelton, 24, of Niceville, who has been accused of robbing the Synovus Bank on Navarre Parkway.

Deputies from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office responded to the bank around 9.15am on Friday after receiving a report about a bank robbery in progress.

Though Shelton had already fled the scene with about $8,300 before police arrived, it didn't take long for authorities to find him.

Police arrested Elijah Shelton, 24, of Florida for allegedly robbing a Synovus Bank. Authorities said they were able to arrest him quickly because he used a taxi as his getaway car

Authorities said a taxi picked Shelton up from his home and drove him to the Synovus Bank (pictured) on Navarre Parkway. The unknowing taxi driver waited for Shelton outside the bank before driving him back home after the alleged robbery

During a press conference on Monday, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson explained that Shelton ordered a taxi from the Johnny on the Spot Taxi service.

'Usually when you talk about a bank robbery, it's not lighthearted. It's a violent crime that kind of thing. We got a great story for you on this one,' Johnson began.

Pointing to Shelton's mugshot, Johnson said: 'This guy Elijah Shelton who after this will be referred to as the "genius" decides he wants to rob a bank in Santa Rosa County.

'Normally, you'd get a fast car so you can get away. He calls a cab to his house. Cab picks him up, takes him to the bank [and] waits in the parking lot. He robs the bank, comes back to the cab, cab takes him home,' Johnson said.

Because Shelton took a cab back home, Johnson said deputies were able to apprehend him pretty quickly.

When asked if the cab driver had any idea about what was going on, Johnson said the driver 'had no clue'.

During a press conference on Monday, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said Shelton has been charged with robbery, grand theft and drug possession

Johnson also said Shelton never displayed a weapon during the robbery and only demanded that the money be put in a bag.

The money has not been recovered.

Shelton is currently being held in Okaloosa County Jail pending extradition to Santa Rosa County.

He has been charged with robbery, grand theft and drug possession.
Russia's infamous foreign intelligence agency may be behind a series of strange sonic attacks on U.S. government officials - one of which was even reported while an official walked across the White House lawn - according to a new report on Monday.

Three current and former officials told Politico that the finger of blame was being pointed with increasing conviction towards Russia's GRU.

William Burns, the CIA Director, is now receiving daily briefings on the attacks, the site reported, in a sign of the level of concern at the highest levels of government.

CIA Director William Burns is now receiving daily briefings on the sonic attacks worldwide

The GRU, overseen ultimately by Vladimir Putin, is suspected of carrying out the attacks

The attacks, which began in Havana in 2016, have been reported by U.S. officials and troops in Syria, Europe and the United States.

Effects include residual headaches, loss of balance and hearing, ringing and pressure in the ears, and sometimes long-term brain damage.

In Cuba as many as 50 people reported the symptoms, and a report commissioned by the State Department and released in December pointed to 'directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy' as the most probable cause.

Last year, Politico reported, a senior National Security Council official reported suddenly feeling the symptoms while walking to his car from the south lawn of the White House known as the Ellipse.

Also last year, in Miami, 'several' federal employees reported symptoms.

In 2019, in Alexandria, Virginia, another member of the NSC felt the effects while out walking a dog.

'It looks, smells and feels like the GRU,' said one former national security official involved in the investigation.

'When you are looking at the landscape, there are very few people who are willing, capable and have the technology. It's pretty simple forensics.'

The GRU headquarters in Moscow. Officials believe the GRU is involved in the sonic attacks

A current official briefed on the probe told Politico that GRU agents 'are the only ones [we] know have the capability to attack our people like that on our soil.'

What is DarkSide? DarkSide is a group of hackers which first emerged in August 2020, with a press release declaring their formation. Since then, they have become known for their professional operations and large ransoms. The group has a phone number and even a help desk to facilitate negotiations with victims. Believed to be based in Russia, they have targeted Enterprise rental cars, Canadian real estate firm Brookfield Residential, and an Office Depot subsidiary. They have publicly stated that they prefer not to attack hospitals, schools, non-profits, and governments, but rather big organizations that can afford to pay large ransoms. 'Before any attack, we carefully analyze your accountancy and determine how much you can pay based on your net income,' the press release reads. They avoid targets in former Soviet states. Advertisement

Israel and China may also have the technology, but neither country operates in all of the locations where the incidents were reported, or has shown the desire to attack Americans in this way, another former national security official said.

The news comes amid concern from the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, running from Texas to New Jersey, which was held to ransom from Friday until Monday. A group named DarkSide, believed to be based in Russia, is thought to have been involved.

President Joe Biden on Monday said there was no evidence that official Russian agencies were involved, but if the ransomware was in Russia 'they have some responsibility'.

Investigations into the sonic attacks are being carried out by multiple U.S. federal agencies and organizations.

Late last year, then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller spoke to a combat veteran who suspected he had been attacked and was seeking medical attention.

Miller told that the suspected attacks amount to 'an act of war.'

Two Pentagon officials briefed members of the House Armed Services Committee about the suspected attacks in a classified setting in April.

In a statement last month, the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee praised Burns for giving a 'renewed focus' on the incidents, known as 'directed-energy attacks'.

Burns has only been in the role since March.

Members of Congress are asking top Biden administration officials to disclose more information to the public.
The tax rebate for low and middle income earners is set to be extended in Tuesday's budget - meaning Australian couples would be $2,160 better off in the coming year.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expected to extend the low and middle-income tax offset when he delivers the budget at 7.30pm.

The move would benefit Australians with a taxable income up to $126,000 and is worth up to $1,080 for singles and $2,160 for couples.

Australian couples will be $2,160 better off in the coming year as part of changes expected to be announced in Tuesday's federal budget Pictured: Gold Coast couple Gary Yeh and Sara Godwin

The bonus, which was available for the past three income years, had originally been scheduled to run out in June.

Mr Frydenberg though is expected to extend it for another year at a cost of about $7billion.

'The Coalition is always the party of lower taxes,' Mr Frydenberg told reporters in Perth after news of the extension leaked to the media.

'That's our record and that will continue to be the message and the policies we deliver going forward.'

The offset is claimable when Australians submit their tax returns.

Workers don't need to complete a section in their tax return to get these tax offsets as the ATO does it automatically.

Mr Frydenberg's Tuesday announcement - which will unveil his second budget in seven months - is aimed at rebuilding the economy after the coronavirus pandemic.

A worker at a chocolate counter in Sydney. Australians with a taxable income up to $126,000 will benefit from the expected changes, with singles receiving a windfall of up to $1,080

How much do you stand to benefit from the low and middle-income tax offset? The above table shows how much Australians will get back from the government in their tax returns depending on their icnome

Single parents who want to buy a home, school leavers and retirees who want to boost their super accounts are all set to be big winners.

Mr Frydenberg has already promised more big spending next financial year, with Deloitte predicting a budget deficit of $87 billion, a figure well below this year's estimated $167 billion shortfall.

'We won't be undertaking any sharp pivots towards austerity. We want more people in jobs and in better paying jobs. This is what our fiscal strategy is designed to achieve,' he said.

The budget will contain tax cuts for average earners, huge changes to the child care system, a big boost for the aged care sector and a $110billion infrastructure drive with projects set to generate thousands of jobs.
Jack de Belin signed a fresh contract with St George Illawarra worth about $3million in the middle of his rape trial but the details were kept confidential while he remained in front of the courts.

A jury found the suspended Dragons forward, 30, not guilty of a sexual assault charge - but failed to reach a verdict on five further counts.

Judge Nicole Noman discharged the Sydney jury after they failed to break a deadlock on the remaining charges just before 3pm on Monday afternoon.

That means de Belin and his friend Callan Sinclair, 24, face the prospect of a possible third criminal trial.

De Belin and St George Illawarra agreed on a four-year contract back in September last year, meaning the 30-year-old could potentially compete in the NRL up until 2024, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The saga's not over: De Belin was wordless as he left Downing Centre District Court after a second jury failed to reach a majority or unanimous decision about five of the six charges against him. A jury at a separate trial likewise failed to reach a verdict

But the NRL won't permit him to take to the field unless he is found not guilty of all sexual assault allegations or the charges against him are dropped.

The Dragons will terminate the contract if de Belin is found guilty.

The new contract came after de Belin was chased by the New Zealand Warriors with a four-year deal worth about $800,000 a season.

St George Illawarra then presented de Belin with more cash than his earlier contract in a ploy to keep him at the club.

Callan Sinclair leaves the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney on Monday

De Belin and Sinclair have always insisted they had a 'consensual' threesome with a 19-year-old woman at a North Wollongong unit following a dance floor rendezvous in December 2018.

But prosecutors alleged the pair 'took turns' in assaulting the crying young woman that evening.

Monday's less-than-decisive outcome could result in yet another retrial for de Belin - who has been suspended by the NRL under its no-fault stand down policy since March 2019 - and Sinclair. A jury in the pair's first criminal trial last November likewise failed to reach a verdict.

The charges could also be withdrawn altogether, depending upon whether the Director of Public Prosecutions elects to pursue the matter.

The jury did find both men not guilty of a single charge of sexual assault in company, beyond all reasonable doubt.

That charge was that De Belin had allegedly penetrated the woman's anus without consent that night, in company with Sinclair.

The St George Illawarra forward, 30, has been benched while facing the charges in court

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES JACK DE BELIN AND CALLAN SINCLAIR FACED? Charge one: De Belin is accused of inflicting bodily harm on the 19-year-old woman during an alleged sexual assault Charge two: Sinclair is accused of being part of a joint criminal enterprise when De Belin assault the woman Charges three, four and five: Sexual intercourse without consent in company charges, relating to vaginal and oral sex acts allegedly committed by the men Charge six: De Belin anally raped the woman in company while Sinclair was in another room Advertisement

The trial heard Sinclair was in the shower at the time of the alleged incident.

De Belin described the anal penetration as accidental and apologised at trial.

While the jury rejected that charge they were split on five further offences.

They couldn't break the deadlock, even when the judge granted them the power to deliver an 11-1 majority verdict.

The charges still outstanding are: that De Belin allegedly inflicted bodily harm on the woman during a sexual assault.

That Sinclair was part of a joint criminal enterprise when de Belin allegedly assaulted the woman.

And there are three further charges of sexual assault in company relating to vaginal and oral sex acts committed by the men when they 'took turns'.

The court heard on Monday afternoon that each juror was 'resolute and firm' in their positions and the deadlock was unlikely to be broken with more time.

The hung jury was dismissed at 3pm by Judge Nicole Noman.

The trial featured 13 days of evidence and almost six full days of deliberations.

The case will return to court on May 28.
Maryland's governor posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state dating between 1854 and 1933, saying they were denied legal due process against the allegations they faced.

It was a first-of-its-kind pardon by a governor of a U.S. state.

Governor Larry Hogan signed the order at an event Saturday honoring Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old who was dragged from a jailhouse and hanged from a tree by a mob of white men in 1885 before his attorneys could file an appeal of a rape conviction that an all-white jury reached within minutes.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan holds up a pardon he signed during an event held by The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project at the old Baltimore County Jail in Towson, Maryland

A Black Lives Matter sign is held while Maryland Governor Larry Hogan speaks during an event held by The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project at the old Baltimore County Jail where Howard Cooper was lynched

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, far right, Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski and Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones stand next to a new historic marker on Saturday that memorializes Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old who was dragged from a jailhouse and hanged from a tree by a mob of white men in 1885

A member of the crowd becomes emotional as the story of the Howard Cooper lynching is retold during an event held over the weekend

'My hope is that this action will at least in some way help to right these horrific wrongs and perhaps bring a measure of peace to the memories of these individuals and to their descendants and their loved ones,' Hogan said.

Hogan and other state officials attended a ceremony in Towson, Maryland, next to the former jailhouse where Cooper was held.

A historic marker was unveiled at the site in a partnership with the Baltimore County Coalition of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, the Equal Justice Initiative and Baltimore County.

A July 13, 1885 Baltimore Sun newspaper clipping about the lynching of Howard Cooper, 15 years old. His was one of more than 40 racial terror lynchings in Maryland between 1854 and 1933

Maryland State Troopers in charge of the campaign to apprehend a group of lynchers work out a plan of attack in Salisbury, Maryland in November 1933

Before signing the pardons, Hogan read the names of Cooper and the other victims including David Thomas, Jim Wilson, Isaac Moore, Jim Quinn, Thomas Jurick, John Jones, John Henry Scott, John Simms, Michael Green, James Carroll, George Peck, John Diggs, George Briscoe, Townsend Cook, Charles Whitley, Benjamin Hance, John Biggus, Asbury Green, James Taylor, Isaac Kemp, Stephen Williams, Jacob Henson, James Bowens, Sidney Randolph, William Andrews, Garfield King, Wright Smith, Lewis Harris, Henry Davis, William Burns, King Johnson and George Armwood.

Newspaper article about William Burns, who was lynched in 1907 in Cumberland in Allegany County, Maryland

House Speaker Adrienne Jones, the state's first Black and first female House speaker, described it as an important day when the governor, Attorney General Brian Frosh and Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski - all white men - came together to 'say that this was wrong ... in order to move forward into the next chapter.'

'Memorializing the site where Howard Cooper was lynched gives us the opportunity to courageously confront the injustices of our past,' Jones said.

Earlier this year, the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project and students at Loch Raven Technical Academy petitioned Hogan to issue the pardon for Cooper.

After receiving the request, the Republican governor directed his chief legal counsel to review all of the available documentation of racial lynchings in Maryland.

In December 1931, Matthew Williams, a well-liked black laborer, was meeting with his employer, D.J. Elliott, when gunfire erupted, killing Elliott, wounding his son, James Elliott, and severely injuring Williams. Accounts varied over who shot whom, but blame fell on Williams. A mob that swelled to 2,000 people removed Williams - his eyes covered in bandages - from the hospital 'Negro ward,' dragged him behind a car and hanged him beside the Wicomico County courthouse

The sign unveiled Saturday said Cooper's body was left hanging from a sycamore tree 'so angry white residents and local train passengers could see his corpse.'

'Later, pieces of the rope were given away as souvenirs,' the sign says. 'Howard's mother, Henrietta, collected her child's remains and buried him in an unmarked grave in Ruxton. No one was ever held accountable for her son's lynching.'

The ceremony is part of a continuing effort by the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, a group of 13 county chapters that is working to document the history of lynching in the state.

In 2019, a marker in Annapolis, the state capital, commemorated the five known Black men who were hanged or fatally shot without trial in Maryland's Anne Arundel County.

The Equal Justice Initiative has documented more than 6,500 racial lynchings in the country.

Will Schwarz, who is president of the memorial project, described the posthumous pardons as a powerful moment in acknowledging the truth - a critical step toward reconciliation.

He said the history of racial terror lynching in the United States has been ignored for so long that most people don't know the scale of the problem.

'We have a responsibility to try and dismantle that machine of white supremacy and this is a big piece of it, acknowledging the violation of civil rights and of due process that were a part of these awful lynchings,' Schwarz said.

There have been 40 documented lynching cases in Maryland, Schwarz said. In some of those cases, the victims were not yet arrested, so they were not part of the legal system and not eligible for the posthumous clemency approved Saturday by Hogan.

Two years ago, state lawmakers created the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is the first of its kind in the nation.

The commission was formed to research lynchings and include its findings in a report.

In 1933, George Armwood, a man with a cognitive disability, was lynched in Princess Anne, the county seat of Somerset County. Armwood's death is the last known reported lynching in the state of Maryland
The US Coast Guard fired 30 warning shots after 13 Iranian armed speedboats came within yards of seven American military vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the Iranian fast boats came as close as 150 yards of six U.S. military vessels escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia.

It was the second time in two weeks that a U.S. ship has opened fire to warn vessels of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

'They were acting very aggressively,' Kirby said of the Iranian boats.

The Coast Guard cutter fired the warning shots from a .50 caliber machine gun before the Iranian vessels left, he added.

Asked whether it appeared the Revolutionary Guard are trying to pick a fight with the U.S. Navy, Kirby declined to comment on the Iranians intentions.

'Sadly, harassment by the IRGC Navy is not a new phenomenon. It is something that all of our commanding officers and the crews of our vessels are trained to for,' Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon.

'This activity is the kind of activity that could lead to somebody getting hurt and could lead to a real miscalculation there in the region, and that doesn't serve anybody's interests.'

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The US Coast Guard fired 30 warning shots after 13 Iranian armed speedboats came within yards of seven American military vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Monday

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the Iranian fast boats came as close as 150 yards of six U.S. military vessels escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) fast in-shore attack craft (FIAC), a type of speedboat armed with machine guns, speeds near U.S. naval vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Monday

In the latest incident, Kirby said 13 Iranian vessels maneuvered at high speed toward six Navy ships escorting the USS Georgia; the sub was sailing on the surface.

The six Navy escort ships included the guided missile cruiser USS Monterey.

A day earlier, the Monterey had intercepted an arms shipment aboard a dhow in the Arabian Sea apparently headed for Yemen, whose Houthi rebels are supported by Iran.

At one point, two of the Iranian boats broke away from the others and positioned themselves on the other side of the U.S. ship formation.

The two then sped toward some of the U.S. ships.

In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, U.S. crews issued multiple warnings to both groups of Iranian boats, including repeated bridge-to-bridge verbal warnings, said Navy Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a Navy 5th Fleet spokesperson.

After the two Iranian boats failed to respond to the multiple warnings and closed to within 300 yards, the Coast Guard cutter Maui fired a volley of warning shots from its .50-caliber machine gun.

It fired another volley when the Iranian boats got within 150 yards.

The two Iranian boats then 'altered course and increased their distance from the U.S. forces,' Rebarich said.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: 'They were acting very aggressively,' said of the Iranian boats. The coast guard cutter fired the warning shots from a .50 caliber machine gun before the Iranian vessels left, he added

It was the second time in two weeks that a U.S. ship has opened fire to warn vessels of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard

In the latest incident, Kirby said 13 Iranian vessels maneuvered at high speed toward six Navy ships escorting the USS Georgia; the sub was sailing on the surface

At one point, two of the Iranian boats broke away from the others and positioned themselves on the other side of the U.S. ship formation. The two then sped toward some of the U.S. ships

U.S. sailors aboard the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) prepare to pull into port to exchange personnel during a scheduled deployment in Diego Garcia, Aug. 13 2013

Asked if the US vessels are allowed to fire directly on the Iranian boats and sink them, Kirby declined to describe their rules of engagement.

However, he added: 'They have the right of self defense and they know how to use that.'

Kirby pointed out that the Iranian actions took place in the Strait of Hormuz, where ships have little room to move.

'It's an international waterway and of course when you're in the strait, there are certain limits to your ability to maneuver,' he said.

'It is a choke point in the region. So it's not insignificant that this kind of dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional behavior occurred there.'

The image above shows a photo released by the US Navy claiming to be an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Vessel cutting in front of the US Coast Guard ship USCGC Monomoy in the Persian Gulf on April 2

Iranian ship Harth 55 is seen cutting across the bow of the USCGC Wrangell in the Persian Gulf on April 2, the first such encounter in nearly a year

On April 26, an American warship fired warning shots when vessels of Irans Revolutionary Guard came too close to a patrol in the Persian Gulf.

That was the first such shooting in nearly four years.

The Navy released black-and-white footage of that encounter in international waters of the northern reaches of the Persian Gulf near Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The encounters come as the United States and Iran are in indirect talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the United States left in 2018.

The incidents at sea almost always involve the Revolutionary Guard, which reports only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured in April 2020)

In early April four Revolutionary Guard vessels, three fast attack craft and a large Harth 55 catamaran similarly came close to two US Coast Guard patrol ships, crossing their bows while ignoring warnings.

No shots were fired in that encounter.

The incidents at sea almost always involve the Revolutionary Guard, which reports only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Some analysts believe the incidents are meant in part to squeeze moderate President Hassan Rouhanis administration after the 2015 nuclear deal.

They include a 2016 incident in which Iranian forces captured and held overnight 10 US sailors who strayed into the Islamic Republic's territorial waters.

The incident comes as Iran negotiates with world powers in Vienna over Tehran and Washington returning to the 2015 nuclear deal.

It also follows a series of incidents across the Middle East attributed to a shadow war between Iran and Israel, which includes attacks on regional shipping and sabotage at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.
Sergeant Major Glenn Haughton, 48, said years of abuse from online trolls had left him 'suffering poor mental health'

The Armed Forces' 'mental fitness champion' has quit Twitter after years of abuse by online trolls, many believed to be fellow soldiers.

Sergeant Major Glenn Haughton, 48, said the experience had left him 'suffering poor mental health'.

Announcing his decision on the social network as Mental Health Awareness Week began yesterday, he wrote: 'I have witnessed and been on the receiving end of some shocking behaviour from people that should know better.'

Most of the abuse directed at Sgt Maj Haughton, a friend of Prince Harry who worked to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues, is understood to have originated within the military community.

The Ministry of Defence said last night it was investigating in an attempt to identify any serving personnel involved.

Sgt Maj Haughton, who had 32,900 followers on Twitter, became the Armed Forces' first mental fitness champion in 2019.

The married father of two urged Twitter users to 'look at your own online behaviour and reflect on whether you may have added to someone else's poor mental health'.

The MoD said last night it 'will look into this as a matter of urgency'.

He took on this challenging role at a time when campaigners say the suicide rate among serving and retired personnel has risen sharply.

Announcing his decision on Twitter as Mental Health Awareness Week began yesterday, Sgt Maj Haughton wrote: 'I have witnessed and been on the receiving end of some shocking behaviour from people that should know better'

Sgt Maj Haughton, who rose through the ranks after joining the Army as a private soldier in 1988, is also a senior advisor to top brass and responsible for raising issues on behalf of junior troops.

These roles placed him in the firing line with thousands of squaddies, who complain bitterly and often crudely on social media about poor housing, appalling food and low pay.

Sgt Maj Haughton deployed to the first Gulf War on New Year's Eve 1990 when aged just 18 and later served as Regimental Sergeant Major of the Grenadier Guards in Afghanistan.

He also vigorously defended the Duke of Sussex following his decision to step back as a senior royal.

Most of the abuse directed at Sgt Maj Haughton, a friend of Prince Harry (pictured with Haughton in 2016) who worked to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues, is understood to have originated within the military community

Sgt Maj Haughton and the Duke of Sussex had previously worked together on military mental health events. They were also photographed together at the Invictus Games for wounded troops.

Speaking after being appointed the Armed Forces' first mental fitness champion in 2019, he said: 'I have faced my own battles with mental health. I know how to stay strong and pull together in the most challenging of times.'

Last night an MOD spokesman said: 'We take the mental health of our personnel extremely seriously and will look into this as a matter of urgency.

'We encourage anyone who is struggling to come forward and access the wide range of support available. This includes a 24-hour mental health helpline, resilience training before deployment and, from this year, mandatory mental health training for all.'
The time to strike is now for healthy coral reefs worldwide as a new study by James Cook University highlights the threat posed by carbon dioxide emissions.

New research by JCU indicates there is a small window of opportunity to reduce the impact emissions cause, and shows how warmer waters and ocean acidification can stunt the growth of coral reefs.

The research examines how interactions between diverse communities of organisms responsible for maintaining present day coral reefs will likely change reef structures in the future.

Research by James Cook University has found reefs are under severe threat from carbon dioxide emissions (pictured Great Barrier Reef)

The study was calculated under three different climate change carbon dioxide scenarios - low, medium and worst-case.

Findings suggest that under a medium emissions scenario, some reefs may keep pace with sea-level rise by growing - but only for a short while.

The projections show that even under the low-impact case, reefs will suffer severely reduced growth, or accretion rates.

Co-author, Professor Morgan Pratchett says significant action is required to reduce the impact carbon dioxide emissions have.

'The threat posed to coral reefs by climate change is already very apparent, based on recurrent episodes of mass coral bleaching,' Prof Pratchett said.

'But changing environmental conditions will have other far-reaching consequences.

'Saving coral reefs requires immediate and drastic reductions in global carbon emissions.'

Professor Morgan Pratchett says significant action is required to reduce the impact carbon dioxide emissions have (Great Barrier Reef is seen pictured)

The research found warmer waters and ocean acidification can stunt reef growth

His colleague Dr Scott Smithers says that by the year 2100 reefs worldwide could face crippling scenarios under intermediate impact projections.

'All reefs around the world will be eroding by the end of the century under the intermediate scenario,' Dr Smithers said.

'This will obviously have serious implications for reefs, reef islands, as well as the people and other organisms depending upon coral reefs.'

The study by JCU gives broader projections of ocean warming and acidification, including their interactions on the carbonate production of coral reefs.

The effect of warming oceans brings more marine heatwaves which then cause mass coral bleaching.

Ocean acidification affects the ability of calcifying corals to form their calcium carbonate skeletons, with warming waters also reducing calcification.

Data from the study came from the world's largest oceans and was measured from 233 locations across 183 distinct reefs.

The data was then modelled against three climate change emissions scenarios for low, medium and high-impact outcomes on ocean warming and acidification for 2050 and 2100.
A grey whale is swimming thousands of miles from its normal migrate and experts say global warming is to blame.

Dubbed Wally, the two-year-old whale is said to be lost in the Mediterranean after a warming world opened northern routes in the Arctic.

Biologists are working tirelessly to help relocate Wally over fears he cannot find the invertebrates that are his normal food source in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

'We are very worried about his future, as his fat, which is his fuel to travel, has gone down a lot,' said Eric Hansen, head of the state biodiversity agency in southern France.

'He is exhausted and just skin over bones. We have not seen him eat since we started tracking him.'

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An Arctic grey whale is swimming thousands of miles from its normal migrate and experts say global warming is to blame. Dubbed Wally, the two-year-old whale is said to be lost in the Mediterranean after a warming world has opened northern routes in the Arctic

Global warming is increase temperatures worldwide, but the Arctic is feeling the brunt and losing much of its treasured sea ice.

As ice disappears, passages open for marine animals to travel between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean.

However, some marine animals, like Wally, are become confused and taking the wrong route when it is time to migrate.

Wally is believed to have taken the Gibraltar Strait to the Mediterranean and followed the Moroccan coast before traveling across Italian shores and landing in France where Hansen and his team spotted him.

The grey whale has traveled thousands of miles from its normal migrate. Wally is believed to have taken the Gibraltar Strait to the Mediterranean and followed the Moroccan coast before traveling across Italian shores and landing in France

Biologists are working tirelessly to help relocate Wally over fears he cannot find the invertebrates that are his normal food source in the depths of the Pacific Ocean

The whale is swimming 50 to 60 miles per day and is quickly approaching the Spanish coast, which could spell more trouble for the young mammal.

'It is trying to enter harbors, as if to find a way out. Its strategy should work and we hope it can make its way back to Gibraltar in about a week,' Hansen said.

He has already been captured in a fishing net off the Camargue coast, but managed to free himself.

It is only the second time biologists have observed a grey whale in the Mediterranean. The last time was in 2010.

'We will probably see this more often because of climate change, which not only opened the northern route but is also changing ocean currents because of the melting of the ice caps,' Hansen said.

The grey whale that ventured into the Mediterranean more than 10 years ago was a 33-foot long mammal that was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel

Wally is believed to have taken the Gibraltar Strait to the Mediterranean and followed the Moroccan coast before traveling across Italian shores and landing in France

The whale is swimming 50 to 60 miles per day and is quickly approaching the Spanish coast, which could spell more trouble for the young mammal

Biologists fear the young whale may not be so lucky if he travels through the heavy ship traffic in the Gibraltar Strait.

Dr Aviad Scheinin, chairman of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Centre which identified the creature, told AFP: 'It's an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale sightings ever.'

'Here you have an animal that is supposed to live in the Pacific and because the ice in the Arctic is melting, it managed to get through this corridor near the Bering Strait,' he said.

The theory is that it was part of a group heading north toward Alaska as they migrated from Baja California. Then as a result of the decreasing ice cover which means the North-West Passage is opening up it kept on going before heading south into the Atlantic.
Humans have become so dependent on smartphones in our every day lives that they are 'becoming our homes,' according to a new study into their use and impact.

Anthropologists from UCL documented smartphone use in older adults around the world, from Ireland to Italy, over the course of a year.

The landmark study found that rather than being something to play with to pass the time, people treat their smartphones like their home, a place where they live.

Professor Daniel Miller, study lead author, said smartphone use was leading to the 'death of proximity' and an end to face-to-face interaction among all age groups.

This is because people 'go home' into a device, whether it be over a meal, meeting or other shared activity, adding the person can 'just disappear' into their smartphone.

The team say there is no specific cause, but suspect it is due to messaging apps such as WhatsApp allowing families and friends to stay in touch from a distance.

Humans have become so dependant on smartphones in our every day lives that they are 'becoming our homes,' according to a new study into their use and impact. Stock image

WHAT IS SMARTPHONE ADDICTION? The term 'smartphone addiction' has often been criticised in the scientific literature. Some experts argue the lack of severe negative consequences compared to other forms of addiction make the name misleading. Some say the issue isn't with the smartphone, but it is merely a medium to access social media and the internet. Alternative terms such as 'problematic smartphone use' and concepts have been proposed instead. Despite the controversy on the term 'smartphone addiction', as described above, it is still the prevailing term in the scientific world. Additionally, the psychometric instruments used in many studies explicitly refer to the concept of 'smartphone addiction'. In the upcoming years, a shift away from the term 'smartphone addiction' towards more appropriate terms, as discussed above, might be seen. Advertisement

Study authors have been exploring the use of smartphones and their impact on interaction in nine countries around the world for this extensive study of humanity.

They say that focusing on older adults (people who describe themselves as neither young nor elderly) removed demographic niche from the equation.

The project involved 11 researchers each spending 16 months studying ageing, smartphone use and the potential of smartphones for health.

'Users of smartphones are focused upon tasks rather than individual apps,' explained Miller, adding 'they simply combine bits of different apps to achieve their goals.'

'Taking the example of health, we can see that bespoke apps for health are usually less important to users than combining generic apps such as WhatsApp with googling,' he added in a report called 'The Global Smartphone'.

Apps such as LINE, WeChat and WhatsApp have become the 'centre piece' of most smartphones, the team discovered.

In fact, they believe they 'may become so dominant that users view smartphones essentially as devices for gaining access to these platforms.'

The team found that these apps are transforming family relationships, helping with the function of community and making sociability more scalable.

'These apps are the platforms where siblings come together to take care of elderly parents, proud parents send out endless photographs of their babies, and migrants reconnect with families,' the team explained in their report.

They added that 'they are the means by which you can still be a grandparent even if living in another country,' a phenomenon known as care over distance.

However, Miller says these devices have led to us becoming 'snails carrying our homes in our pockets,' causing us to ignore family and friends when in person.

The 'Death of Distance' has been followed by the 'Death of Proximity,' said Miller.

The landmark study found that rather than being something to play with to pass the time, people treat their smartphones like their home, a place where they live. Stock image

Toddlers who spend a lot of time using touchscreens have shorter attention spans Toddlers who spend a lot of time playing with touchscreen devices are more easily distracted, a new study suggests. Using eye tracking technology, UK experts found infants with high daily touchscreen use were quicker to look at other objects when they appeared within their line of sight on a computer screen. They were also less able to resist distraction compared to toddlers with no or low touchscreen use, experiments found. The findings fuel the growing debate around the role of screen time on infant development and increased levels of screen time during the current pandemic. 'The use of smartphones and tablets by babies and toddlers has accelerated rapidly in recent years,' said study author Professor Tim Smith from the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London. 'The first few years of life are critical for children to learn how to control their attention and ignore distraction, early skills that are known to be important for later academic achievement. 'There has been growing concern that toddler touchscreen use may negatively impact their developing attention but previously there was no empirical evidence to support this.' Advertisement

'This behaviour, and the frustration, disappointment or even offence it can cause, is what we're calling the "death of proximity",' he explained.

'We are learning to live with the jeopardy that even when we are physically together, we can be socially, emotionally or professionally alone.'

Smartphones now feel like an integral part of a person, assuming every unpleasant characteristic of our humanity from bullying to addiction, the team found.

'The rise of the Covid-19 pandemic clarified a key contradiction,' said Miller, that smartphones 'considerably extend the possibilities of surveillance, but are simultaneously a means for providing care over a distance.

'The smartphone is perhaps the first object to challenge the house itself in terms of the amount of time we dwell in it while awake,' the team explained.

'We have become human snails carrying our home in our pockets.'

They don't assume that always being 'home' is a good thing, particularly when the 'home' is with you everywhere, saying that 'home' isn't always a place of refuge.

'Employees may now be expected to remain in contact with their work, for instance, even after leaving the workplace. A child bullied by other pupils at school now finds little or no respite through coming back to her or his home.'

However, as seen during Covid-19 lockdown, smartphones can keep people in touch over a distance, and help families stay in touch when living far apart.

Miller and colleagues describe our views of the smartphone in our lives as contradictory, with complaints about addiction and intrusion set against the benefits such as long-distance communication and instant access to services.

'Older people talk incessantly about the harm smartphones cause young people, claiming they are addicted to their screens; they have become anti-social, disconnected from the real world and superficial as a result,' they report.

Yet at the same time people wax lyrical about the wonderful things they can do with specific apps within the smartphone, according to the team.

'Couples no longer shout at each other in the car when the non-driver has lost their place in the street atlas they are holding; now they can swear at their GPS instead.

'Grandparents feel blessed that the grandchildren in Australia can be their incredibly cute selves on webcam. An older woman with dodgy knees does not have to wait in the rain, since an app tells her when the next bus will arrive.

People 'go home' into a device, whether it be over a meal, meeting or other shared activity, adding the person can 'just disappear' into their smartphone. Stock image

'Everywhere the smartphone is simultaneously a blessing and a curse,' said Miller.

'The smartphone is helping us create and recreate a vast range of helpful behaviours, from re-establishing extended families to creating new spaces for healthcare and political debate,' Miller said.

'It is only by looking at the vastly different uses and contexts that we can fully understand the consequences of smartphones for people's lives around the world.'

The findings have been published in a report by UCL Press.
A stunning photo shows the moment the glow of bioluminescent organisms turns the shore of New Zealand's Hibiscus Coast an eerie shade of electric blue.

Auckland resident Matthew Davison snapped the effect  which he dubs 'blue gold'  at 9pm local time Sunday at Tindalls Beach, on the Whangaparaoa peninsula.

This gorgeous phenomena is caused by microscopic organisms dubbed 'sea sparkle' that glow when they are disturbed, such as by the action of the waves.

A stunning photo shows the moment the glow of bioluminescent organisms turns the shore of New Zealand's Hibiscus Coast an eerie shade of electric blue (pictured)

'It's just amazing to see it,' Mr Davison told the New Zealand Herald.

'I was in my shoes and as you start walking along the beach, you leave blue footprints which is just amazing to see.

'And sometimes you also see fish swimming around and they leave an incredible blue trail as they swim through the waves.

'One out of 20 trips or so you strike gold and it puts on the most incredible show you've ever seen and last night was one of those.'

Mr Davison belongs to a group of self-described 'bio hunters' who spend their time searching the shores of the Hibiscus Coast looking for bioluminescent displays.

He was alerted to Sunday's light show on social media and drove one hour from his home in the Auckland suburb of Mission Bay  arriving just in time to catch the 'blue gold' as the ocean reached its high tide.

Around 30 people in total gathered on the shoreline to watch the phenomenon.

Auckland resident Matthew Davison snapped the effect  which he dubs 'blue gold'  at 9pm local time Sunday at Tindalls Beach, on the Whangaparaoa peninsula, pictured

BIOLUMINESCENCE ELSEWHERE Pictured: A pair of dolphins 'glowing' as they swim through bioluminescent algae off of Newport Beach on the coast of California Pictured: bioluminescent algae glow as they crash against the shoreline at Plantation Point, Jervis Bay, on Australia's east coast Pictured: bioluminescent algae lighting up the water near a beach at Plantation Point, Jervis Bay, on Australia's east coast Advertisement

Mr Davison and his fellow 'bio hunters' believe that it is the shape of the shoreline that makes the Hibiscus Coast such a hot-spot for bioluminescence.

'As these algae blooms happen out in the ocean, these tides and winds bring them in and the peninsula captures it and concentrates it,' Mr Davison told the Herald.

'That's why we think it's a renowned spot in New Zealand and why it's the best place to go and view bioluminescence in the ocean.'

It is unusual to see bioluminescence in the area in the (antipodean) autumn, Mr Davison added, explaining that the phenomenon is normally seen in the evening of hot days that followed from a spell of rainy weather.

The last time Mr Davison managed to see the light show, he said, was back in January on Big Manly beach, which is just west of Tindalls Beach.
White-tailed eagles are to be reintroduced to Norfolk, in the latest efforts to bring back the birds nicknamed 'flying barndoors' to England, it has been announced.

Government conservation agency Natural England has given the go-ahead for a scheme to release up to 60 juvenile white-tailed eagles over 10 years at Wild Ken Hill in west Norfolk, the team behind the project have said.

The huge birds of prey, whose huge wing span of up to 8ft (2.4 metres) gives them their nickname, became extinct in Britain by the early 20th century due to persecution.

It was reintroduced to Scotland from the 1970s and the first reintroduction in England, where it was once widespread in southern and eastern areas, took place on the Isle of Wight in 2019, with the young birds ranging widely since.

The reintroduction of young birds to west Norfolk is the next stage in bringing back Britain's biggest bird of prey.

White-tailed eagles are to be reintroduced to Norfolk, in the latest efforts to bring back the birds nicknamed 'flying barndoors' to England, it has been announced

WHITE-TAILED EAGLES The white-tailed eagle is the largest UK bird of prey. It has brown body plumage with a conspicuously pale head and neck which can be almost white in older birds, and the tail feathers of adults are white. In flight it has massive long, broad wings with 'fingered' ends. Its head protrudes and it has a short, wedge-shaped tail. This species went extinct in the UK during the early 20th century, due to illegal killing, and the present population is descended from reintroduced birds. Source: RSPB Advertisement

A licence has been granted to conservation organisation, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, and Wild Ken Hill, a rewilding, conservation and sustainable farming project on the west Norfolk coast, for the scheme.

The team said they were given the go-ahead after a detailed feasibility study and a public consultation which showed high public support, with 91 per cent backing the scheme, and 63 per cent of farmers indicating support for the proposals.

Concerns have been raised in the past about the impact on livestock such as lambs from the birds, which are also known as sea eagles and largely feed on fish as well as various birds, rabbits, hares and carrion.

The team said no issues with conservation sites or farms have been recorded with any of the 13 birds released on the Isle of Wight, in a scheme being run by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England.

The young birds being released in west Norfolk would be translocated from a healthy population in Poland.

As a result of the current Covid-19 situation's impact on international travel, the first birds are likely to be introduced in 2022.

The huge birds of prey, whose huge wing span of up to 8ft (2.4 metres) gives them their nickname, became extinct in Britain by the early 20th century due to persecution

Dominic Buscall, manager at Wild Ken Hill, said: 'We are delighted to have the go ahead to bring back white-tailed eagles to Eastern England, and overwhelmed by the support we have received from all sectors.

'We have also carefully been listening to concerns where they have arisen, and we are now committed to delivering this important conservation project and working with all of our stakeholders to ensure its success.'

Six of the birds released on the Isle of Wight have spent time in Norfolk in the past year, but conservationists say it would take a long time for the species to increase its population and recolonise East Anglia without help.

The aim is to establish a small breeding population of about six to 10 pairs, which will take some time to become established as white-tailed eagles do not usually breed until they are five years old, the conservationists said.

Government conservation agency Natural England has given the go-ahead for a scheme to release up to 60 juvenile white-tailed eagles over 10 years at Wild Ken Hill in west Norfolk (pictured)

Roy Dennis said: 'The breeding biology of white-tailed eagles means that although young birds range extensively in their early years, they usually return to their natal area to breed.

'However, if, in the future, young birds from other populations encounter a small breeding population of white-tailed eagles in East Anglia, they may be encouraged to stay,' he said.

Dave Slater, director for wildlife licensing at Natural England, said: 'Our experts have carefully assessed the project against guidelines for the reintroduction of species, as well as the potential environmental, social and economic impacts. And we are satisfied that there are no significant risks associated with it.

'We're content that the applicants' experience, as well as our expertise and licensing process, ensures the project will be carried out in a responsible, well-managed way that takes account of concerns and makes a positive contribution to both people and wildlife.'
A butterfly that could be almost 400 years old has been discovered pressed between the pages of an ancient library book at Cambridge University.

The perfectly preserved specimen, thought to be a small tortoiseshell, was found inside a copy of England's earliest insect book, Theatre of Insects, published in 1634.

The butterfly could be as old as the volume itself, according to experts at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, which has had the book in its collection since 1996.

The beautiful specimen is as 'colourful as the day it was pressed between the book's pages', right next to its accompanying illustration, Trinity Hall revealed.

Although examples of plant specimens being pressed into books are fairly common, it is rare to find a pressed insect.

The book's true title is a bit of a mouthful: Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum

The discovery was made by Trinity Hall's head librarian Jenni Lecky-Thompson.

'I was looking at some of the fantastic animal books we have and I was going through the pages of the wonderful Theatre of Insects, or Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum to give it its true title,' she said.

'While looking through our copy I chanced upon a butterfly, a small tortoiseshell I think, next to its accompanying image.

'There is a striking similarity between the woodcut and butterfly, which of course was the intention so that the various species could be identified by the amateur insect enthusiast.

'It is relatively common to find botanical specimens inside old books, but unusual to find an insect specimen.'

Trinity College said the butterfly 'is as colourful as the day it was pressed between the book's pages'

The amazingly preserved butterfly is thought to be roughly as old as the volume, according to boffins at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University where it was unearthed

Head librarian Jenni Lecky-Thompson made the discovery in the title called Theatre of Insects

No one can know for sure exactly when, or by whom, this butterfly was pressed in the folds of the book, nestled next to the black inked 17th century woodcut image of itself.

But it's certain to have been there before it became part of the Trinity Hall collection.

'This one could have been put there by the first owner back in the 17th century, and if so it is amazing that it has survived there for so long,' said Lecky-Thompson.

'I've had some discussion with rare books experts and they think it most likely that the butterfly has been inside the book for centuries.

'It definitely wasn't placed there by anyone since its arrival at Trinity Hall. As it is a valuable rare book it is kept securely locked away in a bookcase!'

Although examples of plant specimens being pressed into books are fairly common, it is rare to find a pressed insect

Will Beharrell, librarian of the Linnean Society, a historic British organisation devoted to natural history, called the finding 'amazing'.

'We see this all the time with plant specimens... but insect samples are much less common (probably for practical reasons!)'

One exception was British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (a colleague of Charles Darwin), who used to affix insect samples to book pages 'with a sort of paste', Beharrell added.

Lecky-Thompson has found some contemporaneous advice on how to preserve insects, showing that the practice has been carried out for centuries.

In Musei Petiveriani (1695), London apothecary James Petiver wrote: 'Butterflies must be put into your Pocket-Book or any other small printed book as soon as caught after the same manner as you dry plants.'

The book was donated to the College by the family of former Trinity Hall undergraduate Lawrence Strangman who died in 1980

The Insectorum Sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum (Theatre of Insects) published in 1634, is the first book published in England which is exclusively about insects

Theatre of Insects is the first book published in England exclusively covering insects, their appearance, habits and habitats, as well as arachnids and worms.

This particular copy was donated to Trinity Hall by the family of former college undergrad Lawrence Strangman, a passionate book collector, who died in 1980.

Strangman's eclectic collection was presented to the college in 1996 by Lawrence Strangman's niece, Geraldine Essayan, in his memory.

But Strangman himself was almost certainly unaware of the butterfly, according to Lecky-Thompson.

'Although the book came to the library in the 1990s, the previous owner [Strangman] was an antiquarian book collector,' she said.

'Pressing insects inside books is not something most collectors would do,' Lecky-Thompson said.

'Collectors are preservationists, but of books  not of foreign objects which might affect the books.'

The buttery, believed to be a small tortoiseshell was inserted right next to its accompanying image in the historic copy

The simple act of inserting the specimen between the pages would allow insects to be preserved for hundreds of years
In a rare example of something that is, in fact, a laughing matter, experts have found that at least 65 animals  including seals and cows  can chuckle just like humans.

Researchers from California combed through past studies of animal behaviour, looking for records of vocal play signals that might represent a version of laughter.

The findings, they said, may help us better understand the form and function of human laughter, alongside its role the evolution of social behaviour.

In a rare example of something that is, in fact, a laughing matter, experts have found that at least 65 animals  including seals (pictured) and cows  can chuckle just like humans

TEE HEE HEE  OTHER ANIMALS THAT LAUGH According to the experts, the following animals are among those that they determined engage in play-based vocalisations: Australian magpies

Cows

Dogs

Foxes

Mongooses

Seals

Parakeets

Various primates Advertisement

The study was undertaken by anthropologist Sasha Winkler and communication researcher Greg Bryant of the University of California Los Angeles.

'This work lays out nicely how a phenomenon once thought to be particularly human turns out to be closely tied to behaviour shared with species separated from humans by tens of millions of years,' Professor Bryant said.

In their study, the duo looked for information on whether recorded vocalisations were loud or quiet, short or long, high-pitched or low-pitched, noisy or tonal and formed of a single call or a rhythmic pattern.

They then set out to determine if these matched known features of play sounds.

Such vocalisations are thought to help emphasise the non-aggressive nature of play  a necessary function in the animal kingdom in which much play takes the form of rough-and tumble activities and simulated fighting.

According to the team, much has been documented in scientific literature about other features of play behaviour in animals, including aspects of body language such as the 'play bows' made by dogs and 'play faces' seen in primates.

'When we laugh, we are often providing information to others that we are having fun and also inviting others to join,' Winkler said.

'Some scholars have suggested that this kind of vocal behaviour is shared across many animals who play.

'As such, laughter is our human version of an evolutionarily old vocal play signal.'

The team have said that further studies looking at play vocalisations in the wild would be of benefit.

Researchers combed through studies of animal behaviour, looking for records of vocal play signals that might represent a version of laughter  finding such in dogs (left) and foxes (right)

However, they warned, such recordings can be difficult to make, especially for those species whose vocalisations tend to be on the quieter side.

'Paying attention to other species in this way sheds light on the form and function of human laughter', the researchers wrote.

Such findings, they added, also help us 'to better understand the evolution of human social behaviour.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Bioacoustics.
NASA's Voyager-1 spacecraft, travelling outside the solar system, has sent back new data revealing a 'hum' given off by interstellar gas 14 billion miles from the Earth.

The spacecraft, currently further away from the Earth than any human-made object before it, launched 44 years ago to study the gas giants of the outer solar system.

Its instruments have now recorded the 'constant drone' of plasma - the fourth state of matter that makes up 99.9 per cent of the universe - while in interstellar space.

The very faint and monotone sound has been sent back to Earth by Voyager-1 in a 'narrow frequency bandwidth'.

Cornell University astronomers, who carried out the analysis of the interstellar hum, say the signal carrying the data was so weak it isn't audible without manipulation.

It's hoped that the discovery of a constant hum will help astronomers understand more about how the medium interacts with the very edges of the Sun's solar winds.

NASA's Voyager-1 spacecraft, travelling outside the solar system, has sent back new data revealing a 'hum' given off by interstellar gas 14 billion miles from the Earth

INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM: SPACE BETWEEN STAR SYSTEMS The interstellar medium is the matter and radiation existing in space between star systems in a galaxy. It includes gases found in atomic and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays from nearby stars. The Interstellar Medium fills interstellar space and blends smoothly into the surrounding intergalactic space. In the solar system the Medium begins at the edge of the heliopause, the point where the Sun's winds reach equilibrium with the medium. Recent studies have shown the medium has a low, persistent hum, picked up by Voyager-1. It is an important state in astrophysics as has an intermediate role between stellar and galactic scales. The densest regions of the interstellar medium can support star formation. Through stellar winds and supernovae the stars replenish the matter in the interstellar medium. Advertisement

Examining data slowly sent back from more than 14 billion miles away, Stella Koch Ocker, a Cornell doctoral student in astronomy, uncovered the emission.

'It's very faint and monotone, because it is in a narrow frequency bandwidth,' Ocker said. 'We're detecting the faint, persistent hum of interstellar gas.'

Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in August 2012 - and is continuing to collect data. No manmade object has travelled further than NASA's iconic spacecraft.

It carries a copy of the Golden Record - a 'message to aliens' compiled by legendary astronomer Carl Sagan.

There are greetings in 55 languages, pictures of people and places on Earth and music ranging from Beethoven to Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode.'

Crossing into interstellar space involved going through the heliopause - the theoretical boundary where the Sun's solar wind meets the interstellar medium.

The study published in Nature Astronomy shows how the heliosphere is shape and modified, say the New York team.

After entering interstellar space in 2012, Voyager's Plasma Wave System detected gas bursts caused by our own sun, with a steady, persistent signature from the tenuous near-vacuum of space between the bursts.

Senior author Professor James Cordes said: 'The interstellar medium is like a quiet or gentle rain,' adding that when there is a solar outburst it is like detecting a lightning burst in a thunderstorm, then going back to gentle rain.

Ocker believes there is more low-level activity in the interstellar gas than scientists had previously thought, which allows researchers to track the spatial distribution of plasma - that is, when it's not being perturbed by solar flares.

Co-author Shami Chatterjee said: 'We've never had a chance to evaluate it. Now we know we don't need a fortuitous event related to the sun to measure interstellar plasma. Regardless of what the sun is doing, Voyager is sending back detail.

'The craft is saying, "Here's the density I'm swimming through right now. And here it is now. And here it is now. And here it is now."

'Voyager is quite distant and will be doing this continuously,' said Chatterjee, or at least until it runs out of power required to send data back to the Earth.

Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in August 2012 - and is continuing to collect data. No manmade object has travelled further than NASA's iconic spacecraft

The spacecraft, currently further away from the Earth than any human-made object before it, launched 44 years ago to study the gas giants of the outer solar system

NASA reveals plans to send an Interstellar Probe to the edge of the heliosphere NASA plans to send a probe where no probe has been before, flying to the edge of the heliosphere by the early 2030s to understand how the solar system formed. The heliosphere is the bubble of space surrounding the sun and enclosing all the planets, from Mercury to Neptune and is affected by solar winds. So far Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched in 1977, are the only probes to venture outside the heliosphere, currently 14 and 11 billion miles from Earth respectively. Currently dubbed the Interstellar Probe, NASA wants to send the spacecraft out to 1,000 AU (astronomical units) in the 2030s. Along the way to that 1,000 AU, marking the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, a 100,000 AU stretch of ancient comets and icy rocks, it will examine the heliosphere, planets and more. Advertisement

The extremely weak, narrowband plasma wave emission the team detected seemed to continue for about 10 AU (929 million miles) of interstellar space.

The emission appears to be distinct from shock-generated plasma oscillations, that is those created by strong solar winds, that were previously used to measure the local density of plasma outside the heliopause.

Study authors predict the 'hum' may be generated by thermally or suprathermally excited plasma oscillations - very energetic particles.

The persistence of the emission through the most recent data published from Voyager-1 suggests that it may continue to be detectable by Voyager-1.

'This future work will improve our understanding of the large-scale structure of the VLISM (Very Local Interstellar Medium) and may reveal the extent of the Suns role mediating interstellar turbulence,' the authors wrote.

Launched in September 1977, Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter in 1979 and then Saturn in late 1980. Travelling at about 38,000 mph, it crossed the heliopause in August 2012.

While it will continue on its voyage even after its power runs out due to momentum, by 2025 the spacecraft will no longer be able to send signals back to Earth.

So the scientists involved in the mission are taking every opportunity to study the data, learn more about interstellar space and prepare for the next mission.

The findings have been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
With NASA aiming to get humans to Mars by 2030, the idea of a long-term settlement on the Red Planet is getting closer to reality and scientists are working on innovated ways to power these habitats.

Researchers in the Netherlands propose using massive kites to harness high Martian winds that would transformed into energy for colonists.

The kite is attached by cable to a spindle. As the kite sails higher, the cable unspools, rotating the spindle around and around and generating energy.

Similar kites are being developed to harness wind power on Earth, but these would be much larger, with a surface area of 530 square feet.

Wind turbines and batteries are too heavy to bring to Mars via rocket, and the planet doesn't get enough sunlight to consider solar power.

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Researchers at the Delft University of Technology propose using a giant kite (pictured) to harness Mars high winds. The kite would be attached by cable to a spindle, and the rotation of the spindle would generate power for astronauts at a base camp

Shipping fossil fuel to Mars would be prohibitive and the planet gets less than half the sunlight of Earth, making solar power ineffective.

In response to a competition hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA), researchers Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands devised a giant light-weight kite that could harness Martian winds as a power source.

'Generating renewable energy on Mars is technologically challenging,' they wrote in a proposal posted on the open-source online journal arXiv.

'Firstly, because compared to Earth, key energy resources such as solar and wind are weak as a result of very low atmospheric pressure and low solar irradiation.'

Surface winds move faster on Mars, about 10 to 20 miles an hour on average, though the Viking Landers measured speeds of up to 70 miles per hour during dust storms. Pictured: NASA's Sojourner rover exploring the surface of Mars in 1997

'Secondly, because of the harsh environmental conditions, the required high degree of automation and the exceptional effort and costs to transport material to the planet,' they added.

The kite would be attached to a cable spooled around a spindleas the robotic system released the kite higher and higher, the rotation of the spindle would generate energy.

Some energy would be spent reeling the kite back in and launching it again, New Scientist reported, but the end result would be a net energy gain.

To address energy fluctuations and balance seasonal changes, additional energy would come from 750 square feet of solar cells, along with lithium-sulfur batteries and by releasing compressed gas taken from Mars' atmosphere.

The total power supply would be reliable enough for everyday use throughout the Martian year, the team claims, generating some 127 megawatt-hours of energy annually, equal to roughly 75 barrels of oil.

That might not seem like a lot, but a base camp on Mars is only about the size of one household, or 'four to five astronauts with a small lab,' Roland Schmehl, an engineering professor at the university, told New Scientist.

Shipping fossil fuel to Mars would be prohibitive and the planet gets less than half the sunlight of Earth, making solar power far less effective

The proposed system would power about 20 households in the Netherlands, Schmehl said, or about five households in the US.

Surface winds move faster on Mars than on Earth, about 10 to 20 miles an hour on average, though the Viking Landers measured speeds of up to 70 miles per hour during dust storms.

On Earth, that would be considered an 'extreme threat to life and property' according to the National Weather Service.

'The higher wind speeds and lower density to some degree balance out, but not fully, so we also need to increase the surface area of the kite quite drastically,' Schmehl said.

'We have seen something similar with the Ingenuity helicopter that is now flying on Mars  this helicopter has much bigger rotor blades than the small drones that you see here on Earth.'

The surface of the kite, or 'membrane wing' would be about 540 square feet and the weight of the entire system, including the control unit and ground station, is 640 pounds.

The team predicts the cost of the system, excluding transportation, would be about 8.95 million Euro, or roughly $10.87 million.

But using kites to harness wind energy is no sure thing: In 2020 Alphabet, Google's parent company, shut down work on Makani, its experimental project to generate power using wind turbines attached to kites.

Makani successfully developed a prototype model capable of generating 600 kilowatts in 2019, The Verge reported.

But that same year, Alphabets' 'Other Bets' division, which Makani was part of, lost $4.8 billion.

Makani CEO Fort Felker lamented 'the road to commercialization is longer and riskier than hoped.'
Social distancing would be almost impossible when pubs fully reopen, a new study suggests.

According to researchers at the University of Illinois strangers who consume alcohol together may keep their distance initially, but draw physically closer as they become intoxicated.

The researchers compared the effects of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on distancing between friends and strangers.

In a lab setting, alcohol caused the strangers to draw significantly closer to each other during social exchange, reducing physical proximity at a rate with 'potentially important implications for public health'.

The study suggests trying to implement any form of social distancing in British pubs once they open properly would be a lost cause.

In England, pubs will open for customers indoors on May 17, while all forms of social distancing  including in pubs  is set to be scrapped from June 21.

Strangers and alcohol is a potentially hazardous mix as far as social distancing is concerned, according to the US study. The combination reduces physical proximity at a rate with 'potentially important implications for public health', the authors say

No previous studies have tested the effects of alcohol consumption on social distancing, according to the researchers  in fact, they say there's been a complete lack of evidence regarding alcohol's effects.

Alcohol's ability to break down social conventions between strangers is well-known  often leading to friendly (and unfriendly) physical contact.

'Of the restrictions enacted during Covid-19, among the more controversial surround alcohol,' the scientists say in their paper.

'Health officials warn that alcohol consumption may lead to decreased adherence to physical distancing guidelines.

'Alcohol might act to overcome a natural caution people feel towards strangers and thus promote virus transmission between previously unconnected social groups.'

Customers enjoy drinks at tables outside the bars in the Soho area of London, on April 12, 2021. The public will finally be permitted to drink indoors from May 17

What are the current rules on social distancing in England? The start of the pandemic saw the Government impose a broad two metre social distancing rule which applied across all of society. But that rule was amended when Boris Johnson ended the first lockdown last year on July 4. The government continued to advise people who are not from the same household to stay two metres apart. But it also introduced a new 'one metre plus' rule for circumstances where a two-metre distance could not be stuck to. The 'plus' represents taking a precautionary measure such as wearing a face mask or sitting side-by-side rather than face-to-face. Both rules are still in effect today but the PM has said he is hoping to be able to scrap the measures from June 21, the final stage in his lockdown exit roadmap. Advertisement

To test how social familiarity influences drinking behavior, the researchers asked study subjects to each bring a friend also participated in the study.

The 212 young, healthy social drinkers in total were assigned to different experimental conditions.

'In half of the cases, participants drank with a friend,' said Catharine Fairbairn, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who led the research.

'In the other half, they drank with the friend of another participant  a stranger.'

The pairs were assigned to consume either alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages.

The team gave those in the experimental condition enough alcohol to bring their blood-alcohol to levels associated with intoxication.

Beverages were administered in three equal parts over 36 minutes, during which time participants' behaviours were videotaped

'We measured distance between the individuals via machine-learning methods that detect hands, arms, legs and head position for each person in the video,' said study co-author Nigel Bosch, a professor of information sciences and of educational psychology at the university.

'We used a bit of geometry to turn the pixel coordinates of people detected in the video into real-world distances based on objects of known size visible in the video.'

Friends tended to draw close to one another whether or not they consumed alcohol, the researchers found.

But participants interacting with a stranger only moved closer to that individual if they were intoxicated.

Computer-vision algorithms recognised the relative position of participants bodies from video footage

'The physical distance between these pairs decreased by about 1 centimetre [0.4-inch] per three-minute interval,' Fairbairn said.

Those who drank nonalcoholic beverages with strangers did not draw significantly closer to one another during the experiment, the team also found.

'This study shows that over time, alcohol reduces physical distance between people who are not previously acquainted,' said study author Laura Gurrieri.

'This finding is particularly important in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic because it suggests that alcohol might facilitate virus transmission and impede the following of social distancing guidelines.'

What's potentially worrying was the lab-based conditions of the experiments, which were less confined than many pubs and bars.

The study was conducted in a quiet, spacious laboratory, rather than a bar, and participants' ability to move closer to one another was constrained, as they sat across from one another at a table.

'Folks would likely draw even closer to one another in a crowded bar with loud music when compared with our laboratory environment,' Fairbairn said.

'That would have to be the subject of another study.'

The new research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Yawning helps to cool the brain and does not function to oxygenate our blood, according to scientists, who also found vertebrates with larger brains yawn longer.

Researchers from Utrecht University collected over 1,250 yawns from more than 100 species of mammals and birds by visiting zoos with cameras and waiting.

They found a direct link between the size or activity levels of the brain and the length of the yawn, suggesting we need to yawn to cool down our brain and stay alert.

'If someone is yawning he might not be bored, he might be trying to keep his attention at the perfect level for the story you are telling,' said author Jorg Massen.

Yawning helps to cool the brain and does not function to oxygenate our blood, according to scientists, who also found vertebrates with larger brains yawn longer

They found a direct link between the size or activity levels of the brain and the length of the yawn, suggesting we need to yawn to cool down our brain and stay alert

WHAT IS A YAWN? A yawn is a reflex involving the simultaneous inhalation of air and stretching of the eardrums, following by the exhalation of the air. It is most commonly associated with being tired and happens before and after sleep, although tedious activities can trigger a yawn, as can a yawn. Most vertebrates have been known to yawn, with a contagious yawn demonstrates in humans, chimps, dogs, cats, birds and reptiles, even between different species. There have been multiple explanations for why we yawn and why they seem to be contagius. A recent study suggests that longer yawns are linked to larger and more active brains that get hotter. This led the team to suggest that we yawn to cool our brains down. Rather than tiredness or inattentiveness we are cooling our minds and preparing for the next activity. Another study suggests that contagious yawning evolved as a mechanism to keep animals, particularly prey animals, alert. Advertisement

We yawn about 5 to 10 times per day, but not only humans exhibit this peculiar behaviour, with yawning reported across vertebrate species including birds.

Research by behavioural biologists Jorg Massen, Andrew Gallup, and colleagues now provides a strong indication that the duration of yawning is linked to brain size.

'If our brain overheats, we actually have a mechanism that allows us to cool that brain by yawning,' said Massen, adding that 'if the brain is larger or more active it requires more cooling.

'We found that be it in birds or mammals, the larger the brain of a species is, the longer the yawn of that species is.

'These findings provide us with information about how the brain functions and how it deals with fluctuations in temperature. It helps us to bring our brain back to a temperature where it functions best,' according to the team behind the study.

Despite popular beliefs, yawning does not function to oxygenate our blood. Instead, recent discoveries by the same team show that yawning acts to cool the brain.

'Through the simultaneous inhalation of cool air and the stretching of the muscles surrounding the oral cavities, yawning increases the flow of cooler blood to the brain, and thus has a thermoregulatory function,' according to Gallup.

Several studies have supported that idea. For example, they showed that the temperature of the brain drops rapidly after yawning, and that the ambient temperature determines how often yawning occurs.

In addition, they found that people rarely yawn when they hold a cool pack to their head or neck, or do other things that cool the brain.

The team say that the larger or more active the brain, the more cooling it needs.

Previous small studies on mammals, conducted by both Gallup and Massen, already suggested that animals with larger brains yawn longer.

'In this new study, we wanted to see how universal that theory is, and especially whether it holds true for birds,' says Massen.

So the team embarked on the enormous task of collecting more than 1,250 yawns from 55 mammal species and 46 bird species.

'We went to several zoos with a camera and waited by the animal enclosures for the animals to yawn,' says Massen. 'That was a pretty long haul.'

'If someone is yawning he might not be bored, he might be trying to keep his attention at the perfect level for the story you are telling,' said author Jorg Massen

The study authors then linked the durations of these yawns to brain and neuronal data provided by the team of Pavel Nemec of the Charles University in Prague.

This allowed them to conclude that, independent of body size, the duration of yawning across species increases with the size and number of neurons in the brain.

Additionally, the research team discovered that mammals appear to yawn longer than birds, due in part to the higher core temperature in the body of birds.

The difference between the core temperature of birds and the surrounding air is greater than in mammals. As a result, a bird's blood cools more quickly to the ambient air, so a shorter yawn is sufficient.

'We went to several zoos with a camera and waited by the animal enclosures for the animals to yawn,' says Massen. 'That was a pretty long haul'

Researchers from Utrecht University collected over 1,250 yawns from more than 100 species of mammals and birds by visiting zoos with cameras and waiting

Brains function best at an optimal temperature. If the brain temperature, by whatever reason, increases too much, we are less alert and attentive.

It now seems that both mammals and birds evolved a behavioural mechanism to counteract this, a mechanism known as yawning.

Massen therefore notes that 'we should maybe stop considering yawning as rude, and instead appreciate that the individual is trying to stay attentive.'

The findings have been published in the journal Communications Biology.
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Linus Morton had a knife in his belt by the time he was seven or eight. Today, he wields it deftly as he cuts selected mushrooms, brushes away the soil, and gently places them respectfully in his wicker basket.

My husband Ron and I are in Northumberland's Kielder Water and Forest Park to join Linus, a foraging guide and chef, for a half-day of what's called 'Wild Food Foray'.

We travel from our base at Battlesteads Hotel, near Hexham, after a day spent admiring red squirrels and walking a stretch of the 26-mile Lakeside Way. For outdoor enthusiasts, there's no better Northumberland destination, with such an extensive choice of activities including water sports, mountain biking and running.

The Kielder Water and Forest Park is full of red squirrels and has a 26-mile walking trail

It's at Kielder Village Campsite where we meet Linus, who founded 'Northern Wilds' with Louise Hepworth. They live together and share a passion for sustainable living and environmental issues.

We speedily suss out that Linus is an expert. He skillfully navigates the mossy forest floor, identifying mushrooms using more than 20 years' experience of picking wild ones. His six-year-old son is following in his foraging footsteps - he already has a knife and learns how to use it from this bushcrafter.

We follow Linus, but I struggle at times to keep up. A hazel stick helps me steady myself, as he shares his beloved world, one he visits daily to collect seasonal produce such as mushrooms, seeds, plants, herbs, berries and nuts.

For outdoor enthusiasts, there's no better Northumberland destination than Kielder Water and Forest Park, declares Louise

Linus Morton, who led the tour, with some foraged produce and Louise's husband, Ron

'Foragers tend to look after the forest. It's a special place,' he says. Which seems an understatement.

We learn that to eat mushrooms you must be certain on identification, including concave or convex, colour and texture; also whether they're smooth, shiny, furry or velvety and if they have folds or gills.

Linus demonstrates this when identifying a Bay Bolete, by looking at the pores and pressing it until it stays blue. We move through the woods and he spots restaurant-quality Chanterelles, confirming one is real -its gills 'splay like a river delta'.

Inexperienced foragers need to beware as there are poisonous lookalikes. Thankfully, we don't meet any venomous adders. But it's still a scary time. Linus identifies a striking Panther Cap (same family as The Death Cap, and The Destroying Angel), a Beechwood Sickener and a Purple Stocking Webcap. All poisonous. 'Don't munch on a hunch,' he says.

Next to a Western Hemlock tree, Linus suggests we taste its tender, yellow, needle leaf tips.

Hemlock? Isn't that the stuff of Shakespeare's poison potions? However, we trust our guide implicitly, so savour the lemony flavoured tips.

He collects nettle seeds, a superfood, to toast for bread-making; also angelica - the roots flavour home-made bitters. We taste peppery chickweed, and wood sorrel (like Haribo Tangfastics).

Towards the end of the foray, there's sheer joy as Linus spots Porcini, also known as 'the king of mushrooms', which has bloomed after late summer rainfall.

Linus tells us it's bad form for a forager to tell another where produce is, saying: 'I'll give them precise information to end up in a bog!'

Back home, Ron's alerted by radio news about Fantastic Fungi, a renowned documentary which is available in the UK in cinemas (virtually) and On Demand.

Our fungi radar's activated we're in mushroom mode after our foraging session. We think about Linus, who loves and lives the forest, and what he's collecting for dinner.
Glenn Close has hit back after being called a loser for never taking home an Academy Award after eight nominations over her stellar career, by declaring: 'I'm not a loser.'

This all started when the Los Angeles Times published an article about the acclaimed stage and film actress and how she 'is now tied (with Peter O'Toole) as the most nominated actor without a win.'

The article has since prompted some backlash, including a tweet from an annoyed Sarah Paulson who said she wished this loser conversation 'would cease.'

'I'm not a loser': Glenn Close, 74, reacted to an article that focused on her eight Oscar losses: First of all, I don't think I'm a loser'

'She's brilliant and continues to have an extraordinary and enviable career. Nighty night to this click bait convo to nowheresville,' Paulson, who recently starred in the series Ratched, tweeted.

In a video interview with The Associated Press, Close, 74, said she didn't see the article or Paulson's tweet, but she quickly responded and said: 'First of all, I don't think I'm a loser.'

'Who in that category is a loser? the Connecticut native rhetorically asked the interviewer before highlighting a silver lining to being nominated.

All winners: 'Who in that category is a loser? the Connecticut native rhetorically asked the interviewer in a video interview with the Associated Press

Acclaimed: Close was most recently nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film, Hillbilly Elegy

'You're there, you're five people honored for the work that you've done by your peers. What's better than that?' she explained.

'And I honestly feel that the press likes to have winners and losers. And then they say, "Who is the worst dressed?" And, you know, "Who made the worst speech?" Forget it. It's not what it's about.'

Looking directly in the camera, she passionately ended with: 'I say, (expletive) them!'

Close has been nominated for Best Actress four times and she competed for her fourth Best Supporting Actress honor at last month's Academy Awards

Her illustrious career includes wins at mostly ever major awards show. She is a three-time winner at the Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Awards.

She's earned three Grammy nominations and competed at the Oscars with the films like The World According To Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984), Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Albert Nobbs (2011), The Wife (2017) and Hillbilly Elegy (2020).

Silver lining: 'You're there, you're five people honored for the work that you've done by your peers. What's better than that?' Close explained; she is pictured at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles

Legendary: Close has been nominated for Best Actress four times and she competed for her fourth Best Supporting Actress honor at last month's Academy Awards

During the pandemic she was able to film Swan Song in Canada alongside Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali.

So far, the Apple TV+ film does not have a release date.

'If it's half as beautiful as the experience of making it, it's going to be a fantastic movie for people to see,' she gushed with pride.

'I noticed when I was up there, the whole crew was always like this,' Close revealed as she put hand over nose and mouth.

'You never saw somebody's whole face. You just saw their eyes,' she said in a reference to wearing face masks.

'And I as an actor, I hang on people's eyes, right. So I thought, "Oh, the eyes are the most important thing." But when I would go and I'd say, "OK, I'm six feet away, can I just see your face for five seconds?" And it would be a revelation every single time.'

She went on to add that she the rest of the crew had no idea what that person really looked like, most of the time.

'And I really feel that we need our whole faces. And I'm so happy that now we can get into a situation where we could see our faces in real time. That means a lot to me.'
Married At First Sight star Jake Edwards recently announced he got his new girlfriend Sophie Guidolin's name tattooed across his stomach.

And on Saturday, the Melbourne-based charity CEO, 33, revealed his plans to permanently relocate to Queensland to live with the mother of four, 32.

'I've just some things to tie up in Melbourne and in the next few months I'll be becoming a resident for sure,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

EXCLUSIVE: Married At First Sight's Jake Edwards (left) is relocating to Queensland to live with his girlfriend Sophie Guidolin (right) - after getting her name tattooed on his body

Jake and Sophie confirmed their romance when they were spotted holidaying in Noosa while his doomed 'marriage' to Beck Zemek was still unravelling on TV.

'I'm very happy at the moment, I couldn't have asked for a better result in terms of my love life,' Jake said of his new relationship.

'Sophie has been my rock, she's been my strength, and has been there for me, and vice versa, ever since we met,' he added.

Smitten: 'I've just some things to tie up in Melbourne and in the next few months I'll be becoming a resident for sure,' the charity CEO, 33, told Daily Mail Australia on Saturday

Speaking of his whirlwind romance, Jake continued: 'It's been an incredible journey so far, and we look forward to a future together, and moving forward that's what we are both focusing on right now.

'We just want to continue our lives together and focus on work.'

It comes just weeks after Jake shared new details about his whirlwind romance with the personal trainer and nutritionist.

Smitten: 'It's been an incredible journey so far, and we look forward to a future together, and moving forward that's what we are both focusing on right now,' he added

Speaking on her podcast Flourish & Fulfilled last month, Sophie told listeners Jake had surprised her by getting her name tattooed on his body.

'My favourite birthday gift was a tattoo on Jake of my name, which is across him, which is really beautiful,' she said.

'For me, it wasn't an issue at all,' Jake said of getting Sophie's name inked.

Lasting love: Speaking on her podcast Flourish & Fulfilled last month, Sophie told listeners Jake had surprised her by getting her name tattooed on his body. Pictured in April

'I've always said I'll never get a woman's name tattooed on me,' he added, before revealing Sophie was soon able to change that.

Jake and Sophie confirmed their romance when they were spotted enjoying a romantic Noosa getaway while MAFS was still airing on Nine.

At the time, Sophie also confirmed she was in a new relationship by sharing a photo of herself cuddling a man whose upper-arm tattoos matched Jake's.
Sunrise weatherman and mental health advocate Sam Mac has revealed he often receives messages on social media from people in crisis contemplating suicide.

The Seven presenter, 38, told the TV Blackbox podcast last week it can sometimes be 'overwhelming' when so many people contact him asking for help.

Sam said he has to 'brace [himself] for a couple of hundred personal messages on Facebook' whenever he talks about depression or suicide on Sunrise.

'Overwhelming': Sunrise weatherman and mental health advocate Sam Mac has revealed he often receives messages on social media from people in crisis contemplating suicide

'That's heavy. A woman wrote to me and said she was planning to hang herself. It doesn't get much heavier than that,' he added.

'You need to take that very seriously, which I do.

'I'm very upfront. I'm not a professional, I'm not a psychiatrist and I'm not going to be your counsellor, but I can definitely give you some thoughts and hopefully guide you in the direction of getting help.'

Sam believes people going through difficult times often feel a strong connection with breakfast TV because mornings can be the most challenging part of their day.

And due to the light-hearted nature of his segments, he finds that many people struggling to get out of bed because of depression rely on him to lift their spirits.

'A woman wrote to me and said she was planning to hang herself': The Seven presenter, 38, said it can sometimes be 'overwhelming' when so many people contact him asking for help

For example, a former Victoria Police officer with post-traumatic stress disorder once told Sam his 'silly jokes' on Sunrise were a lifeline.

Sam explained: 'He came down and met me at one of my crosses in Geelong, and he said, "I want to shake your hand and thank you... You've had a really positive influence in my life and now I have the confidence to apply for other jobs again."

'That's so rewarding for me. I love those experiences.'

'There's something extremely powerful about that time of day because there's an intimacy that comes with breakfast TV and breakfast radio,' Sam continued.

'People watching breaky TV... it's the first face they [see] at the start of the day, so there's an element of trust that comes with that and, in time, there's a very powerful connection.'

Important: Sam has dedicated a chapter to mental health in his new autobiography, Accidental Weatherman, and said it was 'the hardest chapter to write, but the most important'

Sam has dedicated a chapter to mental health in his new autobiography, Accidental Weatherman, and said it was 'the hardest chapter to write, but the most important'.

He concluded: 'I love that I can use my platform, whether it's social media or Sunrise, to encourage more men to have these conversations... about mental health.'

In May 2020, Sam revealed how he'd helped save a suicidal viewer's life the previous year with a simple yet powerful gesture.

A female fan had reached out to him during a very dark moment in their life, and the TV funnyman took time out of his day to listen to them.

'You helped me not hang myself': In May 2020, Sam revealed how he'd helped save a suicidal viewer's life the previous year with a simple yet powerful gesture

Sam shared a screenshot of a text he'd received from the woman, who wanted to thank him for being a sympathetic ear in her time of need.

'I think you are great and are helping many people. I'm so glad you have a partner now,' the viewer wrote, referencing Sam's then-girlfriend Elle Whittaker. (He is now dating stylist Rebecca James.)

They added: 'I know you get lots of messages and too many to read, but last year I told you how you helped me not hang myself.

'I kept thinking about what you said about your friend and how it affects everyone left behind, so I got the courage to tell my husband and got help from there.'

Sympathetic ear: A female fan had reached out to him during a very dark moment in their life, and the TV funnyman took time out of his day to listen to them

Simple act of kindness: Sam shared a screenshot of a text he'd received from the woman, who wanted to thank him for being a sympathetic ear in her time of need

Sam explained that he remembered their conversation, which took place in 2019, and that he was proud of the woman for sharing their experience.

'It's confronting, but particularly given what's happening in the world at the moment these conversations are more important than ever,' he wrote in the caption.

'There is always someone to talk to. Your friend, your partner, your family, or a professional... The smallest conversation can be life changing.'
Paul Hogan is trapped in a living nightmare as his neighbourhood in Los Angeles suffers a wave of crime and homelessness.

The Crocodile Dundee star, 81, lives in the once-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where a vast increase in homelessness has seen hundreds of tents line the beach's famous boardwalk and resulted in a sharp increase in crime.

Paul is now reportedly holed up inside his 'fortress-like' $4.5million mansion with his musician son Chance, 23, eagerly waiting for the day he can finally return home to Australia.

'Hell on earth': Paul Hogan, 81, is trapped in a living nightmare as his neighbourhood Venice, Los Angeles, suffers a wave of crime and homelessness

'Where Paul lives in hell on earth,' Paul's neighbour Tyler Proctor, a local politician, told Woman's Day magazine.

'His house is like a fortress and it needs to be. I can see why [he] wants to move out,' Mr Proctor added.

Paul moved to the United States permanently in 2005, after growing up in Granville in Sydney's western suburbs.

Crisis: Venice has seen a vast increase in crime and homelessness, with hundreds of tents now lining the beach's famous boardwalk (pictured)

However, the comedian revealed last year that he was itching to leave the U.S. as soon as the coronavirus pandemic is over.

'I can't wait for this stupid disease to go away so I can get out,' Paul revealed in the News Corp podcast Evenin' Viewers with Paul Hogan.

'I'm like a kangaroo in a Russian zoo - I don't belong here.'

Fears: Paul is reportedly holed up inside his 'fortress-like' $4.5million mansion with his musician son Chance, 23, eagerly waiting for the day he can finally return home to Australia

Despite yearning to come back to Australia, Paul said he would remain living in Venice to be a part of his son's life.

Paul shares Chance with Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski, whom he married in 1991 before divorcing in 2014.

'I'm here out of paternal duty because my kid is an American,' he said.

'I can't wait for this stupid disease to go away so I can get out': The comedian revealed last year that he was itching to leave the U.S. as soon as the coronavirus pandemic is over

'My kid is a "Yaussie", a yank Aussie, he went to school here, his friends are here, his band is here.'

Paul added that if Chance was prepared to move with him to Australia, Paul would be 'out of here in a flash'.

It comes as residents of Venice say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community unbearable.

'I'm here out of paternal duty': Despite yearning to come back to Australia, Paul said he would remain living in Venice to be a part of his son Chance's life. Pictured in December 2016

Terrifying situation: It comes as residents of Venice say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community unbearable

Business owners say they are being forced to close their doors and longterm residents are afraid to leave their homes after dark after being subjected to violent attacks and intimidation.

The world-famous beach community, 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles, has traditionally been a major tourism drawcard for the Californian city.

However, now the palm trees and promenade are blighted by hundreds of tents.

Tent city: The world-famous beach community, 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles, has traditionally been a major tourism drawcard for the Californian city. However, now the palm trees and promenade are blighted by hundreds of tents

Police patrol the Venice Beach Boardwalk on April 20, which has seen an explosion in homeless numbers during COVID lockdowns

Venice Family Clinic's Director of Homeless Services Dr. Coley King, left, treats Kenard Durr, center, at the world-famous beach. A homeless encampment at the beach has exploded during COVID lockdown (April 20)

Venice Neighbourhood Council member Soledad Ursua said the homeless encampments had exploded during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

She said residents were afraid to be out after dark, and there were fights several times a day and shootings and stabbings on a weekly basis.

'It's just a very dangerous time to be a Venice resident right now,' she said.

Rubbish and waste litter the golden sands of Venice Beach. Anti-social elements have made it dangerous to go out after dark, residents say

Fights occur several times a day, while shootings and stabbings are common, say residents of Venice Beach, who are fearful of increased crime rates since the homeless encampments became permanent

According to figures from the Los Angeles Police Department provided to the Venice Neighbourhood Council, the violent robberies in the neighbourhood are up 177 per cent from last year.

The same period has also seen a 162 per cent increase in cases of assault with a deadly weapon involving a homeless person.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents have put their signatures to a letter pleading for help from city and county officials.

'Venice's world famous beach and boardwalk are crippled,' it says.

'Local children are refusing to come to the beach because they're frightened by what they've witnessed. Seniors who live on or near the boardwalk are terrified of walking in their own neighbourhoods.'

'Venice's world famous beach and boardwalk are crippled,' a letter to city and county officials from residents says
She welcomed her daughter and second child with Michael Jackson back in 1998.

And Debbie Rowe got a sweet Mother's Day tribute from her 23-year-old daughter Paris Jackson on Sunday.

The 62-year-old ex-wife of Jackson was featured in a cute selfie snapped by her daughter, along with a vintage photo of her from years earlier that Paris shared with her 3.7 million followers.

Sweet: Paris Jackson, 23, paid tribute to Debbie Rowe, 62, for Mother's Day on Sunday with a cute selfie of the two

Paris appeared to be wearing an orange dress as part of her hippy chic style, while Debbie was decked out in grayblue.

Both beamed widely while snuggling up close, and Paris added a 'Happy Mother's Day' design with flowers to accompany her photo.

The picture was presumably not recent, as Paris wore a septum piercing she hasn't sported in recent months.

Paris followed her post up with a second snapshot of her mother, this one likely taken sometime in the 1970s or early '80s.

Old school: Paris followed her post up with a second snapshot of her mother that was likely taken sometime in the 1970s or early '80s and highlighted her feathered blond hair

Tumultuous relationship: She was married to Jackson from 1996 until finalizing their divorce in 1999. She terminated her parental rights in 2001 but regained visitation after Jackson's child abuse charges; seen in 1997

Debbie showed a considerable resemblance to her daughter in the photo, which featured her form the waist up and highlighted her feathered blond hair.

Paris captioned the post 'Mom' and included a heart design.

In addition to Paris, Debbie also shared her older son Michael 'Prince' Joseph Jackson Jr., 24, with the King of Pop.

She was married to Jackson from 1996 until finalizing their divorce in 1999.

She has had a tumultuous relationship with the two, as she terminated her parental rights in 2001, though she later fought to regain supervised visits with her children after Jackson was charged with multiple counts of child abuse in 2004.

Debbie first met the pop superstar while working as an assistant in his dermatologist's office.

Family: She and Paris appear to have a stronger relationship than ever in recent years. Back in September, Paris posted a cute image of Debbie grinning during a FaceTime chat and captioned it, 'My mom thinks I'm awesome'

In it together: Debbie was also on hand supporting her daughter in 2019, when she put on public performances with her duo The Soundflowers with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Glenn

She and Paris appear to have a stronger relationship than ever in recent years.

Back in September, Paris posted a cute image of Debbie grinning during a FaceTime chat and captioned it, 'My mom thinks I'm awesome.'

Debbie was also on hand supporting her daughter in 2019, when she put on public performances with her duo The Soundflowers with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Glenn.

Old friends: Late last month, Paris stepped out on Oscar's night to attend Joan Collins' party with her good friend Cara Delevingne, whom she was seen kissing in March 2018

Late last month, Paris stepped out on Oscar's night to attend Joan Collins' party with her good friend Cara Delevingne.

The musician was dressed to the nines in a white Monique Lhuillier gown as she linked arms with her model pal in shots shared on Instagram.

The two complemented each other, as Cara wore a skimpy tuxedo-inspired top and black leather gloves.

The two also revealed matching rose tattoos on Instagram prior to going out.

After spending time at the Dynasty star's party, Paris and Cara were also seen getting cozy at an Oscar's after-party, though it's unclear if they're in any kind of relationship.

They were previously spotted kissing in March 2018 after the MTV Video Music Awards, just months after they first met.
Tom Cruise has reportedly had to call security to deal with trespassers breaking into the huge Mission: Impossible 7 set in Yorkshire.

The movie has been filming in the village of Stoney Middleton in Derbyshire, with the movie using Darlton Quarry for some of the stunt scenes.

A source has now told The Sun that because the area is so large, it has been difficult to seal it off and stop daredevil's from trying to climb the production's equipment.

Want to do some stunts? Tom Cruise (pictured during filming) has reportedly had to call security to deal with trespassers breaking into the huge Mission: Impossible 7 set in Yorkshire

They explained: 'So trespassers have been getting in and attempting to scale the rigs and equipment set up for the stunts.

'Police were called to one incident last week and then Tom was forced to take action when it happened again.

'Extra security might have to be drafted in Along with it being a safety nightmare, Tom and the team don't want any delays to filming.'

The second incident mentioned by the source reportedly involved two intruders 'clambering' all over the set, however security were on site to get them off.

MailOnline has contacted Tom Cruise's representative for further comment.

On location: The movie has been filming in the village of Stoney Middleton in Derbyshire, with the movie using Darlton Quarry for some of the stunt scenes (pictured one of the sets)

Last month, the cast and crew of Mission: Impossible 7 were seen prepping an action sequence with a moving train - however it was almost derailed by angry locals.

Tom was spotted squaring off in an epic fight atop a moving train with the sequel's villain, played by Esai Morales, while filming in North Yorkshire.

For the scene, the team have reportedly built a track which stops over the old quarry, with the train said to go hurtling off the tracks and fall 160 feet into a water tank, while Cruise's Ethan Hunt and Morales' unnamed villain fight atop the locomotive.

However, The Sun reported that the production team received complaints from a local couple who claimed the shoot would 'shatter the tranquility' of the area.

A source claimed: 'Trespassers have been getting in and attempting to scale the rigs and equipment set up for the stunts' (pictured, a train track at a quarry near Stoney Middleton)

The filming application was objected by retired couple, Elizabeth Longbottom, 80, a former health visitor, and her husband Robin, 76, a retired surveyor.

'This is an area of beauty and tranquility  and that's going to be shattered when Mr Cruise and his team turn up. He means nothing to me, it's 46 years since my husband and I went to the cinema,' Elizabeth said.

Robin added: 'I assume the film company are paying handsomely for the privilege of disrupting everyone's lives.'

The couple's objection also added that they felt the scene, 'could be done more economically and with less disturbance by being digitally generated.'

Working hard: Last month, Tom was spotted squaring off in an epic fight atop a moving train with the sequel's villain, played by Esai Morales, while filming in North Yorkshire

Set: The film's dramatic scene is said to involve a train plunging into a 70-meter water tank after falling off the tracks and into the quarry

While there were others that objected to the shoot, the Peak District National Park Authority approved the application, while the production company Jupiter Springs promised to keep the disruption to a minimum.

Mission: Impossible 7 filming has been hit with several set backs and delays amid the Covid pandemic, with it shooting on location in Italy, the UK and Norway.

And in December it was reported that five crew members had 'quit after Tom launched into two rants.

The actor was said to have given staff a dressing down after he caught them breaking UK Covid rules at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire.

A source claimed after news of the first outburst was made public, there was 'more anger' at the already 'tense' production.

Staying positive: Mission: Impossible 7 filming has been hit with several set backs and delays amid the Covid pandemic, however Tom appeared to be in good spirits while filming in April

An insider said: 'Tension has been building for months and this was the final straw. Since it became public there has been more anger and several staff have walked.

'But Tom just can't take any more after all the lengths they have gone to just to keep filming at all. He's upset others aren't taking it as seriously as him.'

They added that it was Tom who feels responsible for the production after putting so much time and money into ensuring precautions are in place so the team can film.

It was previously reported that the Hollywood star scolded workers who flouted social distancing rules while filming at Warner Bros. Studios.

MailOnline contacted Tom's representatives for further comment at the time.

Mission: Impossible 7 is currently slated for release on May 27, 2022, with Mission: Impossible 8 expected to follow on July 7, 2023.
The Hemsworth clan made headlines this month by throwing a star-studded 'white party' in trendy Byron Bay.

And new details are now emerging about the much-talked-about 'do, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting on Monday that the bash was actually a send-off for American TV personality and former model Michele Merkin, 45.

Michele is the wife of Ted Waitt, 58, - a billionaire businessman who once dated British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell following her split from the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

If those walls could talk! The Hemsworths' lavish white party 'was a send-off for American TV personality Michele Merkin'. Pictured at the 'white party': Far left is personal trainer Luke Zocchi, second right is Matt Damon, far right is Chris Hemsworth, front centre is Michele Merkin

Connection: Michele (left) is the wife of Ted Waitt (right)- a billionaire businessman who once dated British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell following her split from the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

Waitt dated Maxwell from around 2005 to 2011, according to Forbes.

In 2010, Maxwell famously attended Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea's wedding as Waitt's guest.

She also helped Waitt purchase and renovate a luxury yacht called Plan B prior to their breakup.

Glamazon: Michele (pictured) worked as a model for 15 years, appearing in magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire and Vogue

Fun-loving couple: Ted and Michele enjoy dressing up and posing for quirky Instagram photos together

History: Maxwell was arrested in July last year on charges of aiding Epstein in the sexual abuse of teenage girls for over a decade, starting in 1994. Pictured: Epstein and Maxwell in 2005

Maxwell was arrested in July last year on charges of aiding Epstein in the sexual abuse of teenage girls for over a decade, starting in 1994.

She is accused of grooming and trafficking women for Epstein, who killed himself while incarcerated in 2019 while awaiting trail on sex trafficking charges.

Daily Mail Australia is are not suggesting that Waitt had any knowledge of, or involvement in, the criminal allegations made against Maxwell or Epstein.

Accused: Maxwell is accused of grooming and trafficking women for Epstein, who killed himself while incarcerated in 2019 while awaiting trail on sex trafficking charges

The colourful life of Waitt's ex would surely have made for for an interesting discussion among those lucky enough to attend the Hemsworth family's 'white party'.

Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky sparked envy among fans as they shared a series of photos and videos of themselves dancing and posing in all-white outfits.

The couple were joined by Chris' brothers Liam and Luke, as well as their respective partners, Gabriella Brooks and Samantha Hemsworth.

Famous friends: Michele and Ted are long-time friends with the Hemsworth family. Pictured L-R: Liam Hemsworth, Michele Merkin, Luke Hemsworth, Samantha Hemsworth and Ted Waitt in 2018

Opening up the ex-files: Michele is also a friend of Liam Hemsworht's ex Miley Cyrus. The pair are pictured together in 2017

Also attending the bash was Hollywood star Matt Damon, his wife Luciana Barroso, TV personality Lauren Phillips, Chris' personal trainer Luke Zocchi, and Chris' stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton.

The lavish, marble-floored venue was festooned with white decor, including large balloon garlands, candles, ottomans and faux trees covered in white flowers.

Even the drinks were coloured to fit the theme, with guests sipping cloudy white beverages as they mingled.

At the back of the room were large, white marquee letters that spelled the word 'MAYDAY' - presumably referencing the fact the party took place at the start of May.

Partying up a storm! Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky sparked envy among fans as they shared a series of photos and videos of themselves dancing and posing in all-white outfits

A-list crowd: A slew of celebrities were in attendance including Chris' brothers Liam and Luke, Hollywood star Matt Damon and Chris' personal trainer Luke Zocchi
Married At First Sight's Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson have revealed they are considering legal action over their 'negative portrayals' on the show.

The couple, both 31, told New Idea they were left feeling 'broken' by their edit, while Melissa confessed to feeling 'not suicidal, but headed down that path'.

'I've had several lawyers approach me to take them on,' Bryce told the publication.

'Not backing down': Married At First Sight's Bryce Ruthven (left) and Melissa Rawson (right) have revealed they are considering legal action over their 'negative portrayals' on the show

'I feel enticed when lawyers are making contact - the show ruined my life, my mental health. There's never been a couple like us who look so putrid to Australians,' he said.

A frustrated Mel added: 'People are claiming our relationship has triggered victims of domestic violence, but then Channel Nine says they've done their due diligence by us, but viewers are still interpreting it like such. Something has clearly gone wrong.'

The Melbourne-based workplace trainer said the serious claims being made about her and Bryce mean they have no choice but to take things further.

Not happy: The couple, both 31, told New Idea they were left feeling 'broken' by their edit, while Melissa confessed to feeling 'not suicidal, but headed down that path'

Bryce was widely criticised by MAFS viewers for appearing to gaslight and manipulate his 'wife' on the show, but the pair insist they have a healthy relationship.

Viewers also claimed Melissa's insecurities and trauma from past relationships were exploited by producers for ratings at the expense of her mental health.

It comes after Channel Nine refused to apologise for airing controversial scenes involving Bryce and Melissa, despite critics claiming their relationship depicts domestic abuse.

Controversy: Bryce was widely criticised by MAFS viewers for appearing to gaslight and manipulate his 'wife' on the show, but the pair insist they have a healthy relationship

The network issued a response following several complaints to media watchdog ACMA, and after more than 12,000 viewers signed a Change.org petition calling for Nine to apologise for airing 'triggering' scenes involving the couple.

In a lengthy letter to complainants obtained by The Wash, Nine apologised for the way the reality show made some viewers feel, but didn't admit to any wrongdoing.

'We sincerely apologise for any concern or distress which may have been raised by your viewing of the program,' Nine's compliance department wrote.

The network stated the views of the show's participants did not reflect Nine as a whole, and that everyone on the show has access to psychological support.

Problematic: It comes after Channel Nine refused to apologise for airing controversial scenes involving Bryce and Melissa, despite more than 12,000 viewers signing a Change.org petition calling for Nine to apologise for airing 'triggering' scenes depicting domestic violence

Nine also acknowledged that 'bullying and conflict' are 'serious issues', but insisted Married At First Sight did not breach any broadcast standards.

The eighth season of Married At First Sight Australia was the most complained-about season in the show's history.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) received more than 50 official complaints - a record number for the watchdog.
Bella Hadid celebrated her heroes for Mother's Day 2021 with lovely Instagram tributes to both her mother Yolanda Hadid and her older sister Gigi Hadid.

Bella, 24, honored her mother in a post featuring some adorable snaps of her as a baby and beyond with the 57-year-old Dutch model.

She also saluted Gigi, 26, for helping to raise her when they were younger and welcoming her own daughter Khai back in September.

Family: Bella Hadid, 24, honored her mother Yolanda Hadid, 57, with a touching Mother's Day post on Sunday, while also saluting her sister Gigi Hadid, 26, and her grandmothers

Bella shared a post to her main Instagram page featuring a lovely image of Yolanda sleeping with baby Bella nuzzled up against her face.

'Happy Mothers Day to my favorite person in this world,' she began her caption.

'Thank you for bringing me and my beautiful baby brother and big sister into the universe with so much love. I know how much youve been through and I will forever be here to stand beside you. I love you to the moon!' she wrote, before tagging her mother.

Another photo showed Bella a few years older as she wore a pink tutu and pink-and-purple fairy wings with her mother supporting her.

She also referenced her history as an Olympic-level equestrian with a snap of herself on a pony as a child with Yolanda holding the reins.

Old school: 'Happy Mothers Day to my favorite person in this world,' she wrote while sharing photos from her childhood.

Sweet: 'Thank you for bringing me and my beautiful baby brother and big sister into the universe with so much love. I know how much youve been through and I will forever be here to stand beside you. I love you to the moon!' she wrote

Horse girl: She also referenced her history as an Olympic-level equestrian with old-school snaps of herself and her siblings on horses with Yolanda

Her mother Bella, Gigi and their young brother Anwar Hadid on a ride with a larger horse in a picture taken later that showed them on a beach.

The catwalk star and her mother were both dressed in white, with Bella wearing an American flag scarf tied around her neck, in a vintage photo that appeared to have been taken on the Fourth of July.

The model looked older in another closeup of her showing off a soft smile while her mother beamed.

Patriotic: The catwalk star and her mother were both dressed in white, with Bella wearing an American flag scarf tied around her neck, in a vintage photo that appeared to have been taken on the Fourth of July

Childhood: The model looked older in another closeup of her showing off a soft smile while her mother beamed

Updated: She also included a more recent image of herself posing next to Yolanda

She also included a more recent image of herself posing next to Yolanda.

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star held a bucket full of tulips in a more recent photo, though it wasn't clear if it was taken for Mother's Day.

Bella highlighted her mother's beauty with a modeling photo taken from her prime featuring her in a lustrous lavender bodysuit and and a tan jacket.

Special day: The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star held a bucket full of tulips in a more recent photo, though it wasn't clear if it was taken for Mother's Day

Stunner: Bella highlighted her mother's beauty with a modeling photo taken from her prime featuring her in a lustrous lavender bodysuit and and a tan jacket

In her Instagram Stories, Bella posted a black-and-white set of photo boothstyle pictures of her grinning with her mother, sister and brother.

'I love my f***inn family,' she captioned it while tagging her mom and siblings.

She called Yolanda her 'queen' in a follow-up of the older model holding Bella while both were in swimsuits.

Close: 'I love my f***inn family,' she captioned photo boothstyle photos of her mother, Gigi and brother Anwar

Bow down: She called Yolanda her 'queen' in a follow-up of the older model holding Bella while both were in swimsuits

Her older sister Gigi featured in a cute picture of her holding baby Bella at the hospital while her parents Mohamed and Yolanda stood around her.

'@gigihadid u helped raise me now you've got a baby of your own,' she captioned The two photos were a few years older in a pictured of them wrapping their arms around each other while wearing voluminous dresses and flower headbands.

'I can't wait til Baby Khai is this big,' Bella wrote of Gigi's first daughter, whom she shares with her partner Zayn Malik.

She also looked back a generation by reposting a photo her father Mohamed posted of both her grandmothers.

'My Oma and my Teta. I miss them so much,' she wrote. 'I cry for them, I can't wait to see you both in my dreams tonight.'

In it together: Her older sister Gigi featured in a cute picture of her holding baby Bella at the hospital while her parents Mohamed and Yolanda stood around her

New aunt: 'I can't wait til Baby Khai is this big,' Bella wrote of Gigi's first daughter, whom she shares with her partner Zayn Malik

Missing them: She also looked back a generation by reposting a photo her father Mohamed posted of both her grandmothers

Bella capped off her Mother's Day tributes to those who are sometimes forgotten on the holiday.

She reposted an illustration titled 'Think Of You' in honor of 'Mothers who have lost children,' 'Those who have lost mothers,' 'Those with strained mother relationships,' 'Mothers with strained child relationships,' 'Those who have chosen not to be mothers,' and 'Those yearning to be mothers.'

'I'm think of you EVERYDAY,' she added in her caption.

Stream brand new The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on hayu in Australia from May 20, or begin at the beginning with every episode ever - only on hayu in Australia.
They are tipped to get engaged sooner rather than later.

And Bachelor couple Locky Gilbert and Irena Srbinovska sent tongues wagging over the weekend when they attended a friend's wedding.

Irena was an absolute knockout as she posed in a slinky nude frock by designer Shona Joy in several photos shared to Instagram.

Their turn next! Former Bachelor Locky Gilbert and girlfriend Irena Srbinovska delighted fans over the weekend as they attended a wedding together

The glamorous nurse paired the frock with a gold Cartier bracelet.

The beauty styled her hair in an elegant up-style and allowed a wavy fringe to frame the delicate features of her face.

Locky looked strapping in a black shirt and pants, which he paired with a black tie.

The former Australian Survivor star finished his outfit with low-shine boots.

Sensational: Irena was an absolute knockout as she posed in a slinky nude frock by designer Shona Joy in several photos shared to Instagram

Videos posted on Instagram showed the couple partying alongside the bride, Stephanie Srbinovska, who is a relative of Irena's.

Stephanie and her new husband were seen sharing their first dance together in a grand ballroom as guests cheered them on.

In March, Irena revealed she 'can't wait' to settle down with Locky.

Family: Irena was thrilled to be able to spend time with her boyfriend and her family (pictured). Locky had been unable to meet them in person on the Bachelor due to Covid border closures

In an Instagram Q&A, a fan asked: 'Have you and Locky talked about having kids and getting married?'

'Yes we have. Locky is my forever love, I can't wait to be his wife and to have some babies with him,' she responded.

'But we are not engaged yet and don't worry I won't be able to keep it a secret for long when it does happen,' she added.

Traditions: The bride, Stephanie Srbinovska, and her husband shared their first dance together in a grand ballroom as guests cheered. Locky documented the festivities on Instagram

Locky and Irena have been inseparable since The Bachelor finale aired in September last year.

They have been travelling all over Australia after the Covid pandemic blocked Locky from travelling to and from his other home in Bali.

Locky memorably chose Irena to be his girlfriend after dumping runner-up Bella Varelis - despite telling both women he was falling in love with them.
Seth Rogen hinted that his personal and professional relationship with James Franco is at a crossroad amid Franco's ongoing sexual misconduct scandal.

The 39-year-old actor, speaking with The Sunday Times, distanced himself from his longtime friend and collaborator when asked about the validity of the charges.

'What I can say is that I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that,' Rogen said, adding that it was 'not a coincidence' he hasn't worked with Franco in recent years, as he faced sexual misconduct accusations in 2014 and again in 2018.

The latest: Seth Rogen, 39, hinted that his personal and professional relationship with James Franco, 43, is at a crossroad amid Franco's ongoing sexual misconduct scandal

He added, 'However, I do look back at a joke I made on Saturday Night Live in 2014 and I very much regret making that joke. It was a terrible joke, honestly.'

The Vancouver native's joke was in reference to accusations a 17-year-old girl made against Franco that he had reached out to her on Instagram to meet up.

Rogen said in the monologue: 'I decided to prank James Franco. I posed as a girl on Instagram, told him I was way young. He seemed unfazed. I have a date to meet him at the Ace Hotel.'

In the interview with the newspaper Sunday, Rogen said his stance has shifted on continuing to collaborate with Franco.

Background: Rogen, seen last year in a charity event, said that he was filled with regret but acknowledged his situation was 'not as painful and difficult as it is for a lot of other people involved,' adding, 'I have no pity for myself in this situation'

Flashback: Among the projects Rogen and Franco worked together on included The Interview in 2014

'I also look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now,' he said. 'I dont know if I can define that [our friendship] right now during this interview.

'I can say it, um, you know, it has changed many things in our relationship and our dynamic.'

Rogen said that he was filled with regret but acknowledged his situation was 'not as painful and difficult as it is for a lot of other people involved,' adding, 'I have no pity for myself in this situation.'

Among the projects Rogen and Franco worked together on included the NBC Cult classic Freaks and Geeks and films such as Pineapple Express, This Is the End, The Disaster Artist, and The Interview.

Franco earlier this year settled a suit with two women who were students of his former acting school Studio 4, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who accused him of misconduct in their interactions.

Franco said of the allegations on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018: 'The things that I heard that were on Twitter are not accurate, but I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn't have a voice for so long. So, I don't want to shut them down in any way. It's a good thing and I support it.'
Dan Single was spotted in Byron Bay over the weekend, almost a year after he quietly relocated from to the celebrity enclave from Sydney.

Looking every inch the bohemian Byron local, the 43-year-old fashion designer was spotted sipping kombucha and chatting on the phone outside a trendy shopping complex on Saturday.

Dan, who dated activewear mogul Pip Edwards in the early 2000s and has a son called Justice with the P.E Nation designer, dressed for comfort in a lilac hoodie, black Adidas sweatpants and white sneakers.

Living the good life: Pip Edwards' rarely seen ex Dan Single, 43, (pictured) surfaced in Byron Bay on Saturday as he sat outside a shopping precinct sipping kombucha and chatting on the phone

The father-of-one looked relaxed as he chatted on FaceTime while perched on a public wooden bench.

At one stage, the peroxide blond DJ pulled out a yellow microfibre rag and began polishing his phone, before later using the fabric as a makeshift seat-cover.

He appeared to be joined by a fellow Byron Bay local, who sat next to him while eating take-away meal.

Low-key outfit: The father-of-one dressed for comfort in a lilac hoodie, black Adidas sweatpants and white sneakers

Spick and span: At one stage, the peroxide blond DJ pulled out a yellow microfibre rag and began polishing his phone, before later using the fabric as a makeshift seat-cover

The Ksubi designer confirmed he was moving to Byron Bay in August last year, telling The Daily Telegraph that 'all kinds of exciting, feel-good things' were happening for him.

The publication also reported that Dan had recently split from girlfriend-of-two years, model Sybil Sweet.

Dan made headlines back in 2017 after he suffered a horrific accident at Paris' Grand Hotel Amour following a fall from his hotel room balcony.

Sea-change: The Ksubi designer confirmed he was moving to Byron Bay in August last year, telling The Daily Telegraph that 'all kinds of exciting, feel-good things' were happening for him

Over: The publication reported that Dan had recently split from girlfriend-of-two-years, model Sybil Sweet (pictured)

As a result, he was put in an induced coma with his then-wife model Stephanie 'Bambi' Northwood Blyth by his side.

A month later, previously supportive fans turned on him, labelling him 'pathetic' for using fundraising website GoFundMe to ask for $250,000 to cover hospital bills.

It was later claimed Bambi was 'mortified' about Dan's decision to ask for money, and reports subsequently emerged speculating the pair had split.

Horror fall: Dan made headlines back in 2017 after he suffered a horrific accident at Paris' Grand Hotel Amour following a fall from his hotel room balcony. As a result, he was put in an induced coma with his then-wife model Stephanie 'Bambi' Northwood Blyth (right) by his side

Dan has since denied that the end of the relationship had anything to do with a GoFundMe page.

He confirmed his split from Bambi in March 2018, writing to fans on Instagram: 'When I fell, my hips and pelvis broke in half, and with that our D&B co-dependent relationship broke too.'

'We were no longer joined at the hip. Two people cannot live as one, it's not healthy, you can try but you're really living half a life,' he added.

Famous exes: Pip and Dan were once the Australian fashion industry's 'It' couple, with Dan co-founding denim label Ksubi, while Pip worked as head designer for General Pants. The exes split in 2008 and share a 14-year-old son named Justice Maximus

Prior to Bambi, Dan was in a relationship with P.E. Nation designer Pip Edwards.

Pip and Dan were once the Australian fashion industry's 'It' couple, with Dan co-founding denim label Ksubi, while Pip worked as head designer for General Pants.

The exes split in 2008 and share a 14-year-old son named Justice Maximus.

Fancy that! In a bizarre twist of fate, Pip has recently been spotted getting close to Dan's long-time friend Cameron Northway (pictured), who attended his wedding to Bambi in 2014

In a bizarre twist of fate, Pip has recently been spotted getting close to Dan's long-time friend Cameron Northway, who attended his wedding to Bambi in 2014.

Posting to Instagram at the time, Cameron uploaded a photo of two large 'D' and 'B' letters erected next to a swimming pool ahead of the ceremony.

'Calm before the storm. Dan&Bambi's wedding,' he wrote in the caption.
Karolina Kurkova shared the happy news that she had welcomed her third child on Sunday.

The CzechAmerican model posted a loving image of her first daughter Luna Grace sleeping on one of her son's chest.

Karolina, 37, already shares two sons with her husband Archie Drury: 11-year-old Tobin and five-year-old Noah.

New love: Karolina Kurkova, 37, announced Sunday that she and her husband Archie Drury had welcomed their third child and first daughter, Luna Grace

The catwalk star's closeup photo of her daughter was snapped from behind and didn't feature the baby's face.

She was dressed in an adorable white textured onesie with white angel wings sewn on her back.

'Welcome LunaGrace, our little angel, born on the pink supermoon. We are so in love,' she wrote, while adding a hashtag for '#mothersday.'

The caption indicated that Luna was born late in April, as the pink supermoon happened on April 26.

Overjoyed: 'Welcome LunaGrace, our little angel, born on the pink supermoon. We are so in love,' she wrote, while adding a hashtag for '#mothersday'; seen in 2019 in NYC

Last month: The caption indicated that Luna was born late in April, as the pink supermoon happened on April 26

Just the day before, Karolina had shared a gorgeous photo of herself in black lingerie while sitting on a marble floor, though the image was shared after she'd already given birth.

In her Instagram Stories, the blond beauty included photos taken from the night of Luna's birth.

'The night she came was so special... first baby girl, LunaGrace on the pink @supermoon!' she captioned an image from the beachside spot where she gave birth.

She followed it up with a photo collage showing her pregnant during her water birth.

'The energy bringing her into the world was so meaningful,' she wrote. 'I'll never forget these moments.'

Perfect timing: In her Instagram Stories, the blond beauty included photos taken from the night of Luna's birth

Unforgettable: She followed it up with a photo collage showing her pregnant during her water birth. 'The energy bringing her into the world was so meaningful,' she wrote. 'I'll never forget these moments'

Helping out: She showed that her husband Archie was intimately involved in the birthing process as he inflated the pool she would give birth in

She showed that her husband Archie was intimately involved in the birthing process as he inflated the pool she would give birth in.

'I could feel she was coming, so dad got everything ready. The level of excitement was high,' she captioned the photo.

Her whole family was excited to welcome little Luna, and Karolina included a picture of her son Noah smiling as his baby sister slept on his chest.

'The boys are thrilled and can't get enough of baby LunaGrace,' she captioned it.

Karolina announced that she and her husband were expecting their third child back in December.

She and Archie were engaged shortly beforehand during a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, though the couple got married before their son Tobin arrived.

Cute: Her whole family was excited to welcome little Luna, and Karolina included a picture of her son Noah smiling as his baby sister slept on his chest

The boys: Another photo showed their eldest, Tobin, helping his dad arrange Luna Grace's soft crib, which rested in a rocking stand

Another photo showed their eldest helping his dad arrange Luna Grace's soft crib, which rested in a rocking stand.

'Her arrival makes for a very special Mother's Day,' the model wrote. 'She is so lucky to have all these boys protecting her:).'

She also took the opportunity to serenade her mother Eva Kurkova with sweet photos of the lookalikes, including one of them beaming side-by-side in a theater.
She recently starred with her youngest daughter Stella Banderas in a campaign for Bulgari.

And on Friday night, Melanie Griffith looked perennially youthful as she headed to dinner at celebrity hotspot Craig's in West Hollywood.

The actress, 63, looked casually stylish in a beige thumb hole jacket left unfastened and a pair of low-rise blue jeans.

Night out: Melanie Griffith's, 63, looked casually stylish as she headed to dinner Friday night in West Hollywood wearing a beige thumb hole jacket and a pair of low-rise blue jeans

Griffith wore a cream crew-neck top under her jacket and stepped out in embellished heels.

Her long blonde hair was loose and she had on a black face mask.

The Working Girl star completed her ensemble with a small purse.

Casually stylish: The actress wore a cream crew-neck top under her jacket and stepped out in embellished heels. The Working Girl star completed her ensemble with a small purse

Griffith, the daughter of famous Hitchcock actress Tippi Hedren, is a mom to Fifty Shades actress Dakota Johnson, 31, whom she shares with ex-husband Don Johnson, and Alexander Bauer, 35, from her second marriage to Steven Bauer.

Daughter Stella, 24, is from her third marriage to Spanish actor Antonio Banderas which ended in 2015.

Last month, she posted a photo of herself and Stella posing in an ad for Italian luxury brand Bulgari.

in the image, Griffith is seen with her arms wrapped around Stella as the two touch heads and stare slightly sideways on at the camera.

In the Instagram caption, Griffith wrote: 'To be a strong woman with an open heart who can back up what she says she can do. That, I hope, is the legacy I have inspired in Stella.'

Beautiful: Last month, Griffith shared an image from her campaign for Bulgari which she did with the youngest of her three children, daughter Stella Banderas, 24
Sunday marked the first Mother's Day since Kelly Preston passed away from breast cancer at age 57.

And her widower John Travolta posted a poignant tribute to her on his Instagram.

Sharing photos of himself and Kelly with their children, the Hollywood star wrote: 'Dearest Kelly, you brought into my life three of the most wonderful children I have ever known. Thank you. We love and miss you. Happy Mothers Day.'

John Travolta posted a poignant tribute to his late wife Kelly Preston on Sunday, the first Mother's Day following her death last July. He shared photos of himself and Kelly with daughter Ella, son Benjamin and their late son Jett who died in 2009 at age 16

In the first of two photos Travolta, 67, shared, he and Kelly are seen with daughter Ella Bleu, now 21, and newborn son Benjamin, now 10.

A second photo showed the couple with their firstborn son Jett, who died in January 2009 at 16.

Jett had autism and had suffered seizures since he was young.

Travolta and Preston had married in 1991 after meeting in 1987 on the set of the movie The Experts, which was released in 1989.

Kelly passed away on July 12, 2020, after a secret two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57. The couple, pictured in June 2018, met on a film set in 1987 and married in 1991

'I have learned that mourning someone, mourning, is personal,' Travolta shared with Esquire Spain. 'Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing'

In an interview for the May issue of Esquire Spain, The Saturday Night Fever and Grease star spoke about his experiences of grief and loss.

'I have learned that mourning someone, mourning, is personal,' he shared. 'Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing.'

He explained: 'The most important thing you can do to help another when they are in mourning is to allow them to live it and not complicate it with yours. That's my experience.'

Travolta added: 'Life is movement and a journey; what you leave behind in people, I guess that's your legacy.'

As for his role as dad to Ella and Benjamin, the actor shared: 'I will ensure the future of my children, help them with what they want to do with their lives.

'It is what I do with Ella now with her films and teaching her to work in the profession,' he said. 'Ben is barely ten-years-old. I want to help him evolve because he has his whole life ahead of him.'

Travolta is now raising Ella, 21, and Benjamin, 10, as a single dad and told Esquire Spain's May issue: 'I will ensure the future of my children, help them with what they want to do with their lives'
Kate Richie celebrated Mother's Day with daughter Mae on Sunday.

The 42-year-old shared two adorable photos with the six-year-old, including one on which Mae wrapped her arms around mum's waist.

Another rare selfie shows Kate and Mae grinning for the camera.

Her everything: Kathe Richie celebrated Mother's Day with daughter Mae on Sunday

Kate captioned the first post, 'Mumma and her bubba.. With full tummies and fuller hearts..'.

In the other, the Home & Away alum wrote, 'Im so glad she chose me. Because this.. Her.. Its everything..'

Ritchie juggles motherhood with a radio gig on Nova FM.

Sweet: Kate captioned the first post, 'Mumma and her bubba.. With full tummies and fuller hearts..'

Kate shares Mae with her estranged husband, retired NRL player Stuart Webb.

The former couple tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in Launceston, Tasmania, in 2010. They welcomed their daughter in August 2014.

New Idea reported last year the pair had been attending counselling to resolve their issues, but they weren't able to save their marriage.

Family: Kate shares Mae with her estranged husband, retired NRL player Stuart Webb. Pictured together on January 11, 2019, in Sydney

Kate reportedly moved out of their marital home in Randwick in late 2019 after police took out an interim AVO on her behalf against Stuart, following an incident at the property.

She has since moved on with a younger man: 25-year-old businessman John Bell.

The pair recently enjoyed a trip to Byron Bay together.
They were Married At First Sight's famously hot-and-cold couple this season.

And Jason Engler has sworn he will 'never' get back together with Alana Lister following a series of break-ups and make-ups.

During an Instagram Q&A on Monday, one fan asked the 35-year-old construction estimator: 'When are you and Alana getting back together?!'

Bold claim: Married At First Sight's Jason Engler has sworn he will 'never' get back together with Alana Lister following a series of break-ups and make-ups

Jason's answer was a blunt: 'Short and long answer is never.'

The reality star took part in the Q&A at the airport after his flight was delayed.

He was also asked if he would follow the lead of many of his fellow reality TV stars and set up an OnlyFans account.

Jason answered sarcastically: 'Umm of course, that's the only reason people go on MAFS, right? Plus I need a new car so get subscribing!'

He cheekily signed off with an eggplant emoji.

AMA: The construction estimator took part in the Q&A at the airport during a flight delay, and even responded to a question about joining subscription-based adult website OnlyFans

Fire and ice: Jason and Alana (right) were Married At First Sight's famously hot-and-cold couple this season

Guess who: Meanwhile, Jason's ex Alana shared some rare pre-surgery pics to her Instagram account on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Jason's ex Alana shared some rare pre-surgery pics to her Instagram account on Wednesday.

The former MAFS star displayed a noticeably flatter chest in the throwback pictures.

The bombshell became known for her raunchy antics with 'husband' Jason on the most recent season of the relationship experiment.

And Alana gave her Instagram followers an eyeful over the weekend as she celebrated her 31st birthday on the Gold Coast.

Now and then: While she's been open about her surgically enhanced curves, she shared some rare pre-surgery pics to her Instagram account on Wednesday

The former reality star slipped her curves into a figure-hugging blue dress, which featured a plunging neckline and daring cut-outs.

Alana seemed quite pleased with her outfit choice as she did a little wiggle in front of the mirror.

The stunning frock highlighted her surgically enhanced cleavage and trim pins.

Beauty: Alana opted for a glossy makeup palette, and wore her caramel tresses in loose waves

She paired the outfit with nude heels, opted for a glossy makeup palette, and wore her caramel tresses in loose waves.

It comes after Alana answered one of the questions she gets asked the most: what exactly is her ethnicity?

She revealed during an Instagram Q&A on Thursday that she is Sino-Mauritian, or a Mauritian of Chinese descent.

Statuesque: Alana seemed quite pleased with her outfit choice as she did a little wiggle in front of the mirror

Alana explained her father is Chinese and her mother is South African, and that she was born in Mauritius before moving to Australia as a child.

Mauritius is an island nation about 2,000 kilometres east of Africa in the Indian Ocean.

'This one gets asked all the time. My mum is South African and my dad is Chinese, but my family is from Mauritius,' Alana told fans.

Background: Alana revealed during an Instagram Q&A on Thursday that she is Sino-Mauritian, or a Mauritian of Chinese descent

'So we grew up in Mauritius. That's where my mum and dad met, because South Africa is really close to Mauritius.

'My older sister, she started primary school there, and then we all moved over to Australia. So we are Sino-Mauritian.'

Alana was born Sinead Chong and went by this name throughout primary and high school, Daily Mail Australia revealed in February.

Family: Alana (seen on her second birthday) explained her father is Chinese and her mother is South African, and that she was born in Mauritius before moving to Australia as a child

She changed her name to Alana Lister after graduating in 2009, and began to overhaul her appearance with cosmetic enhancements around this time.

Alana's name change was supposedly inspired by Brisbane street artist Anthony Lister, whose work she admired.

Some friends noticed her name could be shortened to 'A. Lister' and joked that she may have been planning to become famous.
He welcomed a daughter Raddix with wife Cameron Diaz in December 2019.

And on Sunday, Benji Madden paid tribute tot he former Hollywood star as he marked Mother's Day on Instagram.

Sharing an image of an abstract painting, the musician wrote: 'My Religion is family, and Mother is GOD. @camerondiaz You care for us and nurture us. Everything around you grows and flourishes in your light.'

Mother of his child: He welcomed daughter Raddix with wife Cameron Diaz in December 2019. And on Sunday, Benji Madden paid tribute to the former Hollywood star as he marked Mother's Day on Instagram. The couple are pictured in 2016

Madden went on: 'Our little one and me get to live our life being loved by you and we are grateful. We love you forever Mommy - thank you for all you do.'

Madden, 42, and Diaz, 48, married in 2015 after being introduced by Nicole Richie, who married Benji's twin Joel Madden in 2010.

The celebrity couple are fiercely protective of their daughter and have not publicly shared any pictures of her.

Gushed: 'Our little one and me get to live our life being loved by you and we are grateful. We love you forever Mommy - thank you for all you do,' Madden, 42, posted on Instagram

Good Charlotte rocker Madden also gave shout-out to sister-in-law Nicole and to his mom Robin.

'Also wish a Blessed day for my mom, my sisters, my friends and colleagues who are also selfless incredible mothers, and to all the mothers out there who may not get to hear these words from someone today much love from our family. U r All Gods!!!!!!' he posted on Instagram.

Mother: Diaz, 48, who married her rocker husband in 2015, welcomed her daughter in December 2019 and has said she feels 'blessed' to be able to focus on being a mom

Since meeting Madden, Diaz called time on her Hollywood career. The star of My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary hasn't made a movie since 2014's Annie.

Back In February, Diaz made an appearance on SiriusXM's Quarantined with Bruce radio show and explained she 'couldn't imagine' leaving her daughter to return to a movie set.

She said motherhood and marriage 'have been most fulfilling part of my life so far. It's just like so important. I just feel like it's, it's everything that, you know.'

She added: 'I just feel so blessed that I get to be here now with my child and, you know, get to be the mother that I get to be.

'It's such a blessing, it's completely privileged and I'm just really, really grateful.'

A-lister: Diaz was a top star in Hollywood for many years with roles in The Mask, There's Something About Mary (pictured), My Best Friend's Wedding, Vanilla Sky and Charlie's Angels
Hannah Gadsby has revealed her latest stand-up show will be called Body of Work.

The 43-year-old comedian made the announcement on Instagram on Monday, and also shared details about her upcoming tour.

The Nanette star will only be performing in Australia and New Zealand, as the Covid-19 pandemic has limited travel and mass gatherings in other countries.

Upcoming: Hannah Gadsby has revealed her next stand-up show will be called Body of Work

'I'll be visiting all sorts of places across Australia and New Zealand,' she said.

'Im not traditionally an excitable person but...yep...Im back on a real live stage. Its nice. Tickets on sale this week so...get amongst it...if you want!'

'Sydney...obviously I'll also be coming your way. Stay tuned for extra special news just for you,' she concluded the post.

The reveal comes after Hannah surprised fans on Instagram last month by introducing them to her wife Jenney Shamash.

'We got married in January and we are very chuffed about it,' she wrote.

Surprise! The 43-year-old comedian (left) surprised her Instagram followers last month by introducing them to her wife Jenney Shamash (right)

The bombshell announcement was accompanied by a photo of Hannah and Jenney eating ice cream at a cafe in Australia.

The Emmy Award-winning comic, from Tasmania, captioned the post: 'I would like to introduce all y'all to Jenney Shamash.

'She is a producer extraordinaire. She is very funny and is really talented at reciting facts. It is a joy to behold.

'We got married in January and we are very chuffed about it. For the record: this is me gushing.

'I am full of very positive feelings. This is a nice story. My heart felt thanks to everybody who voted for marriage equality.'

Bombshell: The couple secretly married in January but didn't announce it at the time. Hannah is pictured at the Sydney premiere of the musical Hamilton on March 27

Hannah's reference to 'voting for marriage equality' suggests she and Jenney wed in Australia, which legalised same-sex marriage in December 2017 after citizens voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion in a postal survey.

Jenney was a producer on Gadsby's comedy special Douglas, the follow-up to her breakout Netflix hit Nanette.

The show, which is named after one of Hannah's beloved dogs, was filmed in Los Angeles in February.

According to the synopsis of the show, Hannah took Douglas 'for a walk across the planet, finishing up in Los Angeles, and recorded her second stand-up special'.

Douglas was nominated for two Primetime Emmys in 2020.

Hannah won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special and a prestigious Peabody award, both for Nanette, in 2019.
Joe Jonas paid tribute to his wife Sophie Turner on her first U.S. Mother's Day since giving birth to their nine-month-old daughter Willa last summer.

In the never-before-seen throwback of the 25-year-old Game of Thrones star, she can be seen cradling her baby bump as she rocked a figure-hugging dress with a black and white flannel down the front and on the sleeves.

'Happy Mothers Day to all the amazing mothers out there and to these two Mums,' he captioned a snap of the actress, while she was heavily pregnant with their little girl, and one of him sitting side-by-side at lunch with his mother, Denise.

Never-before-seen photo: Joe Jonas paid tribute to his wife Sophie Turner on her first U.S. Mother's Day since giving birth to their nine-month-old daughter Willa last summer

The Emmy Award winner married musician Joe in 2019, exchanging vows first in Las Vegas on May 1 and then for a second time in a lavish ceremony in France on June 29.

The couple welcomed their daughter this past July.

She previously spoke of motherhood on the U.K. Mother's Day, which is celebrated in March.

'Happy Mothers Day to all the amazing mothers out there and to these two Mums,' he captioned a snap of the actress, while she was heavily pregnant with their little girl, and one of him sitting side-by-side at lunch with his mother, Denise (pictured in 2019)

'Im so grateful to the two loves of my life for making me a mama. @JoeJonas and my beautiful baby girl,' gushed Turner on her Instagram Story.

She continued: 'Its my favourite job I've ever had.'

Turner first referenced being a mother one month after giving birth on her husband's birthday in August.

Doting son: Jonas wished also called his mother, Denise, an 'amazing' mom in his sweet post

Opening up: Turner first referenced being a mother one month after giving birth on her husband's birthday

'Happy birthday to my love/bub/baby daddy,' she captioned a black and white picture of them looking up from their menus at a restaurant.

Late last year, Us Weekly reported that Sophie and Joe are already serious about trying for a second child.

A source told the magazine that the young stars reportedly want to have a 'large family together.'

Growing family: Late last year, Us Weekly reported that Sophie and Joe are already serious about trying for a second child; seen in 2019

'Joe and Sophie are already trying to have another baby,' a source dished to the outlet.

Joe is certainly comfortable in a big family unit as he is the second oldest of four boys - older brother Kevin Jonas, 33, and two younger brothers, Nick, 28, and Frankie, 20.

Sophie, meanwhile, is the youngest of three with two older brothers.
Vanessa Bryant celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday at Disneyland in Anaheim, California with her daughters, and family friends Ciara and Russell Wilson.

Vanessa, 39, shared pieces of her day at the amusement park on Instagram.

Vanessa posed with daughters Natalia, 18, Bianka, four, and Capri, one, writing, 'My babies~ Mothers Day,' about 15 months removed from the January 2020 helicopter crash in which her husband Kobe Bryant, 41, and daughter Gigi, 13, died with seven others.

The latest: Vanessa Bryant, 39, celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday at Disneyland in Anaheim, California with her daughters Natalia, 18, Bianka, four, and Capri, one, and family friends Ciara and Russell Wilson

Vanessa donned a wooly grey coat over a teal Disneyland top with black leggings and light blue sneakers on the spring day.

She had her long brown locks pulled in a ponytail, with hoop earrings and wore a black evolvetogether face mask on the public outing.

Natalia donned a black tank top with a grey coat tied around her waist, blue jeans and white sneakers. She wore a black face mask and purple mouse ears at the theme park.

Bianka and Capri relaxed in a double stroller amid the miles-long trek throughout the park.

Besties: Vanessa posed with close friend Ciara at the amusement park

Fun day: Vanessa flashed a peace sign as she posed in a selfie with her eldest daughter

Glam: She had her long brown locks pulled in a ponytail, with hoop earrings and wore a black face mask on the public outing

Ciara donned a Minnie Mouse ears with a red polka dot bow with a black T-shirt and grey shorts with black boots, and her braided locks down on the holiday.

In an Instagram Stories clip she rode the ride Splash Mountain, writing, 'Splash Mountain @nataliabryant #windshield I [love] u!'

Earlier Sunday, Vanessa shared a post showing multiple flowers and beverages her oldest daughter bought her.

Main Street: Ciara donned a Minnie Mouse ears with a red polka dot bow with a black T-shirt and grey shorts with black boots, and her braided locks down on the holiday

Happy days: Vanessa and Bianka posed with Ciara and her son Future, six

Wish upon a star: Natalia wore her hoodie to deal with the splashes on the ride

'Thank you for my flowers from you and your sisters @nataliabryant (thx for the red roses and the lineup of drinks from daddy, too) I love you!' she said. 'Happy Mothers Day to all the mamas!!!!'

Kobe and Gigi died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020. Also killed in the crash were pilot Ara Zobayan, 50, Payton Chester, 13, Sarah Chester, 46, Alyssa Altobelli, 14, Keri Altobelli, 46, John Altobelli, 56, and Christina Mauser, 38.

Grateful: Vanessa wished her mom a happy Mother's Day on the special occasion

Magic Kingdom: Ciara's husband Russell Wilson shared a shot of Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Close couple: Kobe and Vanessa were seen in November of 2019 in LA, less than three months before his death in a helicopter crash
She is the proud mother to four children whom she shares with her ex-husband Seal.

And on Sunday, Heidi Klum was joined by her eldest daughter Leni and husband Tom Kaulitz along with other family on the occasion of Mothers Day.

The group was spotted out for a celebratory meal at hotspot eatery Nobu in Malibu, California.

Seen in Malibu: On Sunday, Heidi Klum was joined by her eldest daughter Leni along with other family on the occasion of Mothers Day

Chic: The German-American supermodel, 47, was gorgeous in a black knit cardigan jacket, worn over an all-black ensemble consisting of a low-cut top and long slacks

The German-American supermodel, 47, was gorgeous in a black knit cardigan jacket, worn over an all-black ensemble consisting of a low-cut top and long slacks.

She wore black wedge sandals with crisscross openings along the front.

Heidi had a small black purse hanging from her forearm, with a gold chain handle.

She layered several chunky necklaces on her bare chest, and covered up with a disposable black face mask.

Her manicure was white, and she let her gorgeous blonde locks hang down against her shoulders.

Leni, which is short for Helene, was fabulous in her own black ensemble, which featured an off-the-shoulder top and tailored pants.

Behind Tom Kaulitz in the center: Leni, which is short for Helene, was fabulous in her own black ensemble, which featured an off-the-shoulder top and tailored pants

The young model recently turned 17 years old.

Heidis husband Tom, 31, complimented her in dark colored garments as well.

He wore blue Converse sneakers.

Other family looked to be in attendance, including Toms brother Bill.

Heidi and her posse: Other family looked to be in attendance, including Toms brother Bill

Heidi also took to Instagram on Sunday, with a heartfelt message to those celebrating the holiday dedicated to mothers everywhere.

'Happy Mothers Day,' she wrote in the caption next to a picture of pancakes with a chocolate heart design, a cup of coffee, and some beautifully decorated stones.

'To my Mther Erna,' Heidi continued with a kiss face emoji.

'soon to be Mthers , longing to be Mthers , Mther figures and I send my LOVE to anybody for whom today is especially hard ,' she concluded.
It's been almost one year since a chorus of Lea Michele's former Glee co-stars made bombshell allegations about her 'nightmare' behaviour.

But the actress' alleged mistreatment of colleagues and industry pals has also been called out far beyond the Glee set.

Former Elle Australia magazine editor Justine Cullen is now the latest to detail a supposed 'violent on-set outburst' she encountered with the American star, then 26, for the publication's December 2013 cover shoot.

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Not MORE bombshell claims?! A former Elle Australia editor has claimed Glee star Lea Michele (pictured) KICKED A SHOE at a fashion assistant on set Down Under and made her cry during 'violent outburst'

Many of the previously-shared allegations of Michele's horror interactions with others have stemmed from her time as Rachel Berry on Glee from 2009 until 2015.

In Cullen's memoir, titled SEMI-GLOSS: Magazines, motherhood and misadventures, the journalist labels working with Lea 'unpleasant'.

In an excerpt published by News.com.au, Cullen wrote: 'Its the next tier down who always surprise you, like Lea Michele from Glee, who  in just one of many on-set "moments"  kicked a shoe at my fashion director and made her cry. She was unpleasant.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Lea Michele's management for comment, however a source who was present at the shoot - which took place for the US version of the publication - shut down Cullen's claims, insisting that the day went off without 'any drama or upset'.

In fact, the insider revealed that the atmosphere on the shoot was all the more kind and gentle because it was Lea's first time back in front of the camera after the death of her boyfriend and Glee co-star Cory Monteith.

'It was her first shoot after Cory's death, and everyone was being incredibly kind, because they knew how Lea must be feeling,' the source told DailyMail.com. 'It was a big deal for Lea, and it was actually a very positive experience for everyone involved.'

Not singing praises: In an excerpt published by News.com.au, Cullen (pictured) claimed Lea was a 'lower tier' celebrity that surprised her with an 'unpleasant' attitude at the time

Flashback! The American star, then 26, posed for the publication's December 2013 cover shoot when Cullen was the editor

Cancel culture: Last year, Lea (left) was on the receiving end of backlash over her alleged on-set behavior, ranging from claims of racial discrimination to other forms of unprovoked cruelty. Pictured on Glee with late actress Naya Rivera

Last year, Lea was on the receiving end of backlash over her alleged on-set behavior, including accusations of unprovoked cruelty and bullying, which began with actress Samantha Ware, who appeared as Jane Hayward on the show's sixth season in 2015, saying that Lea had made her first TV gig 'a living hell'.

Although some suggested that Michele's treatment of Samantha was discriminatory, on-set sources quickly shut this down - noting that the actress treated everyone in the same manner.

Other co-stars including Heather Morris and Amber Riley spoke out against Michele for her behaviour on set along with multiple other guest stars who were on Glee.

Michele, who was pregnant with her first child to husband Zandy Reich at the time, apologised for her behavior in an official statement, and said she had 'never judged others by their background or colour of their skin'.

'This is her past and she wants to handle things responsibly': In June, some friends and former co-workers of Michele's told The Post that the Glee alum 'had a real wake-up call' and wanted to 'responsibly' right her wrongs after the backlash

She also insisted she would learn from her mistakes to 'be a real role model' for her child - son Ever Leo, born several weeks later on August 20, 2020.

'I apologize for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused. We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.'

In June, some friends and former co-workers of Michele's told The Post that the Glee alum 'had a real wake-up call' and wanted to 'responsibly' right her wrongs.

'She is listening, she hears what everyone says and wants to apologize. This is her past and she wants to handle things responsibly,' claimed one insider.

They added: 'It's never easy to hear people speak about you this way. It's a total shock.'

'I apologize for my behaviour and for any pain which I have caused': Michele, who was pregnant with her first child to husband Zandy Reich at the time, apologised for her behavior in an official statement, and said she wanted to become a 'real role model' for her son

'[Lea] may not be the nicest person, but she's not racist, sexist or transphobic,' concluded the source.

Speaking to Us Weekly at the time, another unnamed source said she didn't 'discriminate' because her treatment of everyone was the same.

'She's fiery and she has more of an aggressive personality where most people would play weak or vulnerable or ask for sympathy and Lea does not do that.'
She was eliminated in week two of her 2020 season of SAS Australia.

But Schapelle Corby clearly still feels a connection to her reality TV co-stars, with the convicted drug smuggler catching up with several of the women from the show and sharing a picture of the outing on social media.

Erin McNaught, Shayna Jack and Ali Oetjen also met with ex-Special Forces soldier Mark 'Billy' Billingham.

Catch up! Schapelle Corby clearly still feels a connection to her reality TV co-stars, with the convicted drug smuggler catching up with several of the women recently. L-R Ali Oetjen, Corby, Mark 'Billy' Billingham, Erin McNaught and Shayna Jack

Schapelle, 43, wore a floral-print blouse for the night out.

The outing occurred after the controversial star took to social media to hit back at nasty trolls.

In an Instagram post last month, Schapelle shared photos of herself happily frolicking on Sydney's Bondi Beach.

Flower power! Schapelle, 43, wore a floral-print blouse for the night out

Standing up to the hate: Last month, Schapelle urged fans to 'live your truth' as she defiantly hit back at nasty online trolls

In the caption, she wrote: 'F** online bullying. If you've got your health, live your truth. Get out there and live.

'Don't let other people's opinions affect the way you live your life and take a few photos while you're at it,' the brunette beauty cheekily added.

She then asked her followers if they've ever experienced online bullying and how they've dealt with it - likely as a way to learn and share positive methods of coping with backlash.

'Get out there and live': She wrote: 'F** online bullying... Don't let other people's opinions affect the way you live your life and take a few photos while you're at it'

Sharing advice: She then asked her followers if they've ever experienced online bullying and how they've dealt with it

Schapelle's defiant message to trolls comes after she recently joined Dancing With The Stars: All Stars as a wildcard contestant.

She appeared on three episodes before she and her professional dance partner Shae Mountain were sent home.

During her time on the show, there was online fury over her casting with many arguing that a 'convicted criminal' shouldn't be classed as a celebrity.

Schapelle and the stars: Her defiant message to the trolls comes after she recently joined Dancing With The Stars: All Stars as a wildcard contestant

Short lived stint: She appeared on three episodes before she and her professional dance partner Shae Mountain were sent home

'What was she doing on this show?!' During her time on the show, there was online fury over her casting with many arguing that a 'convicted criminal' shouldn't be classed as a celebrity

Winning praise: Fortunately, there were fans who praised Schapelle for her 'cracking effort'

A critic wrote: 'What was she doing on this show?! Or any show for that matter. Heads up - she most definitely is NOT a star.'

Fortunately, there were fans who praised Schapelle for her 'cracking effort'.

Prior to DWTS, Schapelle was on cast in the first season of SAS: Australia but voluntarily withdrew in episode two.

TV debut: Schapelle made a brief appearance on the first season of SAS Australia last year

In October 2004, Schapelle became a household name when she was arrested at Bali airport with 4.2kg of cannabis wrapped in plastic inside her boogie board bag.

The world watched in May 2005 as she broke down in the Denpasar courtroom after being sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in Kerobokan Prison.

Following a series of sentence reductions, Schapelle was released on parole in February 2014, having served nine years behind bars.
Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth are without a doubt the most famous couple to live in Byron Bay.

And on Monday, speculation emerged that the Spanish actress, 44, may be slowly moving her family Down Under as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on overseas.

In his column for the Sydney Morning Herald, journalist Andrew Hornery wrote about the couple's 'white party' held last week, claiming the family aren't living 'in the same world as the rest of us' as they danced alongside their Hollywood pals.

Is Elsa Pataky moving her whole family over Down Under? On Monday, speculation emerged that the Spanish actress, 44, might be slowly moving her family to Australia as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on overseas. Pictured with mother Cristina Pataky Medianu (left)

'Add to that the Spanish flavour the lady of the (Hemsworth) manor, Elsa Pataky, has created, including bringing her extended family to live there, and the scene gets even more exotic,' he added.

While it's not clear which members of the clan he was referring to, Elsa's youthful mother Cristina Pataky Medianu is often seen with her daughter in the popular coastal town.

The duo were last pictured together enjoying a day out at Sydney's Luna Park in January 2021 with Elsa and Chris' children; daughter India Rose, eight, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, six.

Like mother, like daughter: While it's not clear which members of the clan he was referring to, Elsa's youthful mother Cristina Pataky Medianu is often seen with her daughter in the popular coastal town

She's most likely shacked up at Elsa and Chris' $30million mansion, which the family have lived in since 2014.

Meanwhile, Elsa's younger half-brother Cristian Prieto Medianu already lives just five minutes down the road from the Hemsworth clan in a $1.5 million home.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Cristian and his wife, nurse Silvia Serra, live in a property in Suffolk Park - adding even more star power to the town.

Before making the big move, he and Silvia often stayed with Chris and Elsa in their home in Byron Bay.

Hollywood by the sea! Elsa Pataky's half-brother Cristian Prieto Medianu (left) and his wife Silvia Serra (right) moved to Byron in 2019

Celebrity pals: Elsa posing at the party alongside her half-brother Cristian (far left) and his wife (centre)

Both he and Silvia were spotted having the time of their lives at the lavish event last week, which was actually a send-off for American TV personality and former model Michele Merkin, 45.

Meanwhile, Elsa recently gushed about her mother in an interview with Marie Claire Australia.

Elsa said her Romanian-born mother married young, before relocating to Spain to be with her husband.

She said the marriage didn't last though and her mother soon had to pick up the pieces of her life.

'Mum always supported me to be whoever I wanted to be,' Elsa said, saying her mother told her to do whatever makes her 'happy' in life.

'The best advice she gave me was to fight for everything you want and to never give up,' Elsa said.
She courted divorce rumors in March when she was spotted on a farm with her children without her wedding ring on.

But Tori Spelling continued a recent string of sightings with her husband Dean McDermott, 54, on Sunday when they enjoyed a day at the pool at Pasea Hotel & Spa in Orange County's Huntington Beach with their five children along for the ride.

The 47-year-old Beverly Hills, 90210 star also shared a sweet Instagram post celebrating Mother's Day and her children, though her husband was nowhere to be seen in it.

Family time: Tori Spelling, 47, and her husband Dean McDermott, 54, reunited on Sunday for a Mother's Day celebration at pool in Huntington Beach with their five children

Tori sizzled in her dark red one-piece suit, which had a halter top that highlighted her prominent cleavage.

The suit was strapped around her midriff, and she stayed modest with a sheer black skirt.

Tori had her platinum blonde locks parted down the middle and tied back into a thick low-slung ponytail.

She added some extra sparkle to be poolside look with dangling gold necklaces, including a personalized 'Mama' necklace from Soufeel.

Woman in red: Tori sizzled in her dark red one-piece suit, which had a halter top that highlighted her prominent cleavage. The suit was strapped around her midriff, and she stayed modest with a sheer black skirt

Platinum: Tori had her blonde locks parted down the middle and tied back into a thick low-slung ponytail. She stayed close to her oldest daughter Stella, 12, who wore a black suit

Tori was seen staying close to her oldest daughter, 12-year-old Stella, who wore a black tube top and matching high-waisted bottoms.

The actress' husband Dean sported shaggy hair and showed off his tattoos while wearing low-key gray swim trunks.

The daughter of Aaron Spelling was spotted spending time with her eldest daughter and also getting cozy with her husband, as they kissed and hugged throughout the day at the pool.

She was also seen getting a relaxing massage.

Dean has been missing in action in recent months while he had reportedly been up in his native Canada filming the police series Lady Dicks, though fans of the couple have worried that his recent absences signaled that the couple was on the rocks.

He wasn't part of a family trip to a farm in March, when Tori appeared to be missing her wedding ring.

Casual: The actress' husband Dean sported shaggy hair and showed off his tattoos while wearing low-key gray swim trunks

MIA: Dean has been missing in recent months while he had reportedly been up in his native Canada filming the police series Lady Dicks, though fans of the couple worried his absences signaled that the couple was on the rocks

Suspicious: He wasn't part of a family trip to a farm in March, when Tori appeared to be missing her wedding ring

Glaring absence: The actor was also absent from the family Christmas card that Tori sent out around Thanksgiving time in November

History: Dean previously admitted in 2014 during the filming of the documentary series True Tori that he had been unfaithful to his wife

The actor was also absent from the family Christmas card that Tori sent out around Thanksgiving time in November.

Dean previously admitted in 2014 during the filming of the documentary series True Tori that he had been unfaithful to his wife.

The series followed the aftermath of their marital turmoil, but the Tori admitted on Roxy Manning and Tammin Sursok's podcast Women On Top that her children were 'really upset' after learning of the infidelity by reading recaps of the show.

'My kids have not seen clips, but they've seen something out there online and my daughter saw something,' she explained.

'It really upset her, and she said, "Daddy I saw something online that said you cheated on Mommy."'

Tori admitted at the time that the children were still young enough for them to lie and say the headlines were made up while claiming they were just having marital issues, though she said they would have to be more forthcoming as the children grew up.

Bed of lies: Tori admitted at the time that the children were still young enough for them to lie and say the headlines were made up while claiming they were just having marital issues

Going well? Despite Dean's absences, the two seemed cozy and were spotted kissing and hugging during the Mother's Day celebration

Dean's last appearance on her Instagram appears to date back to July 2020.

Recently, Tori deleted the word 'wife' from her Instagram bio, leaving it at: 'Actress/Mother/Writer/DIYer.'

In addition to Stella, Tori and Dean share four other children: sons Liam, 14, Finn, eight, and Beau, four, and daughter and Hattie, nine.

After her pool party with the children, Tori posted a Mother's Day post to Instagram, but Dean was notably absent from every photo, despite spending the day with the family.

Whiplash: But Dean was once again nowhere to be seen in a Mother's Day Instagram post Tori shared that appeared to have been taken on the same day

Sweet: She posed with various combinations of her five children while saying she was 'grateful for my babies'

The Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? actress posted a sweet photo featuring all of her children, as well as others with individual kids.

She also included a mouthwatering array of crab legs and some Veuve Cliquot champagne.

'We so enjoyed going poolside with the best ocean views. Plus... the brunch was unbelievable. This hotel is the perfect blend of kid friendly and adult chic! They have everything! Its our goto.

'Grateful for my babies,' she continued. 'Being a mother is a privilege not a right. And, I appreciate my kiddos everyday for being given this role of guide for them during this journey. I love my step baby and all my belly babies... and, fur and flock babies! Happy #mothersday to all the unbelievable mothers out there! xoxo.'
She's the former reality star who now prefers to shy away from the spotlight.

But Bachelor alum Louise Pillidge made a rare social media appearance on Sunday, to wish her mum Patricia a happy Mother's Day.

The 31-year-old brunette looked a far cry from her time as a blonde bombshell on Blake Garvey's season of the hit series.

New look: Bachelor alum Louise Pillidge [R] made a rare social media appearance on Sunday, to wish her mum Patricia [L] a happy Mother's Day

Louise looked radiant in a floral dress, as she posed in a restaurant with her gorgeous blonde mother.

She captioned the post, 'Happy Mothers Day to the most beautiful, kind and caring woman I know Love you #mothersday'.

Back in March, Louise, who appeared on the Channel Ten dating show in 2014, flaunted her dramatic makeover.

Taking to Instagram, the former blonde showcased her newly brunette tresses and overall more toned-down look.

Who's that girl? Blake Garvey's ex looked worlds away from her time on the hit reality show in an Instagram photo in March

She smiled at the camera as she flaunted her sophisticated brows, matte red lipstick and dewy complexion.

Louise wore a stunning white, purple and lavender floral dress.

The beauty appeared to have just visited the hairdresser with her tagging in stylist, Luke Davis.

Throwback! Louise was a breakout star on the Bachelor series in 2014. She recently resurfaced on Instagram after keeping a low profile following her split from Blake Garvey in 2016

'Yesterday with the best!' she wrote, tagging his new space Bleach Sunday in the photo as well.

The former reality star rarely posts on Instagram these days, and in May, she shared a photo of herself for the first time in seven months.

In the picture, Louise wore a black crop top and pulled her brunette hair back into a tight ponytail as she prepared for a workout.

Who's that girl? Louise looked unrecognisable as she flaunted her petite waist in a jumpsuit in Broadbeach Waters on the Gold Coast last year

In October 2019, she shared a photo of herself in a floral chiffon dress and white pointy-toe stilettos at her brother's wedding in Ireland.

'Such a perfect day! Congratulations to my brother Simon and his beautiful wife Clare,' she captioned the post.

Before her brother's wedding, her last post had been in July. The one before that had been five months earlier, on her birthday.

She's back! In May last year, she shared a photo of herself for the first time in seven months, posing in a black crop top before a workout

Louise appeared on season two of The Bachelor, starring Perth-based auctioneer Blake Garvey.

She placed third in the competition, but resumed her relationship with Blake after he controversially dumped the show's winner, Sam Frost.

The pair went on to date for 18 months before breaking up in April 2016. Blake has also since retreated from the spotlight.
While some children may be embarrassed by their parents, Bec Judd is no doubt one of the most glamorous mothers at the gates of her kid's' school.

The queen bee WAG put on a very stylish display as she picked up her brood from their classes this week.

The 38-year-old shared her 'Melbourne school pick up' look on her Instagram page on Monday.

The chicest mum at the school gates! Bec Judd wears stylish black activewear from her own line Jaggad and a $8,390 Chanel handbag to pick her children up from their classes

The mother-of-four was clad in head-to-toe activewear from her own Jaggad line and some very expensive accessories.

Bec sported $8,390 Chanel Boy black leather quilted handbag and shaded her eyes with designer sunglasses.

Rounding out her look was her diamond jewellery, including her large diamond engagement and wedding rings, her pear-shaped diamond push present and diamond stud earrings,

Hot mama! Bec also shaded her eyes with a pair of black designer sunglasses

Bec is a proud mother of four. She has son Oscar, nine, daughter Billie, six, and four-year-old twins Tom and Darcy with husband Chris Judd.

And last Tuesday, she shared with fans the hilarious Mother's Day questionnaire filled out by her twin sons at school.

Bec posted the forms on her Instagram Stories, sharing the answers written by her boys which included wild guesses about her age and embarrassing admissions about how much she loves wine and watching 'grown-up movies'.

'Mummy loves wine and watching grown-up movies': Rebecca was left mortified last Tuesday by her twin sons' answers to a Mother's Day questionnaire at school

Darcy said his mother's favourite drink is 'wine', but Bec scribbled out his answer and said she prefers tequila.

Darcy also said his mum is 55 years old, when she is in fact two years shy of 40.

Tom, meanwhile, guessed his mother's age as 10.

Too cute! Darcy said his mother's favourite drink is 'wine', but Bec scribbled out his answer and said she prefers tequila. The little boy also said his mum is 55 years old, when she's actually 38

Hilarious: Tom, meanwhile, guessed his mother's age as 10. He also said his mum likes to watch 'grown-up movies'

Tom also said his mum likes to watch 'grown-up movies'.

Rebecca was amused by her sons' answers, but was a little confused by the reference to 'grown-up movies'.

'Close, Darcy,' she wrote, before adding: 'Nice try, Tom.'

Hmm! Rebecca was amused by her sons' answers, but was a little confused by the reference to 'grown-up movies'

On Tuesday, Bec shared a sweet video of herself getting a manicure courtesy of her twin sons.

In the Instagram post, the makeover quickly goes pear-shaped when the twins got blue nail polish all over the WAG's fingers.

'Just try and stay on the nail, not the skin,' Bec could be heard saying, as son Darcy rubbed blue polish all over the top third of her pinky.

Quality time: On Tuesday, Bec shared a sweet video of herself getting a manicure courtesy of her twin sons

'Maybe you could wipe off the blue that is on the skin?' suggested Darcy.

In her caption, the wife of AFL star Chris Judd revealed the makeover was part of an ELC (Early Learning Centre) Mother's Day celebration.

In her caption, the former TV host revealed: 'The twins start Prep next year so this was my final one but I will forever cherish the manicures, massages, singing, handmade gifts and precious playtime with my babes.'

'Now, who would like to treat themselves to a Darcy Judd manicure?' she suggested cheekily.

Adorable: In the Instagram post, the makeover quickly goes pear-shaped when the twins got blue nail polish all over the 38-year-old WAG's fingers

While the WAG has enjoyed being a working mother, she believes women can have it all, albeit with a caveat.

Bec told Stellar this week: 'I think you can have it all, but not all at once. You have to be fluid and move with what's important at the time.

She added: 'Our priorities have changed a lot this year, and there's such a focus on family and being at home and less scheduling things in for the kids.

'The biggest learning of last year was that my children thrive from having me around and being able to be home and play with one another.

'So I'm focusing on that. Who knows what the future will hold? But I'm not rushing into anything right now.'
Channel Seven star Elle Georgiou has welcomed her first child with her husband Themo - a baby boy.

Elle, who appears on 7News Perth, made the announcement on Instagram on Saturday, just in time for Mother's Day.

She also revealed her bundle of joy's very traditional name - Nicholas.

Baby joy! Channel Seven star Elle Georgiou has welcomed her first child with husband Themo - a baby boy called Nicholas

'Nicholas, our whole world,' she wrote.

'Thanks to our extraordinary OB Dr Love and the amazing team we can take our perfect little man home just in time for Mother's Day.'

Elle, a rising star on Western Australian television, revealed that her son was the first grandchild on her mother's side.

Mum: 'Nicholas, our whole world,' she wrote. 'Thanks to our extraordinary OB Dr Love and the amazing team we can take our perfect little man home just in time for Mother's Day'

Former Today show star Tracey Vo sent her well-wishes by writing: 'Beautiful! Congratulations lovely.'

Meanwhile, Rebecca Johns wrote: 'Oh guys !!! Huge congrats to you both!! Welcome to the wild ride of parenthood.'

Other fans simply wrote: 'Awwww Congratulations!'

Parenthood: Former Today show star Tracey Vo wrote: 'Beautiful! Congratulations lovely.' While Rebecca Johns wrote: 'Oh guys !!! Huge congrats to you both!!'

Elle announced she was expecting her first child back in December while speaking to Perth Now.

'This will be the first grandchild on my side of the family and the first time my parents will be grandparents,' she told The West Australian.

'So it was very special to tell them our news.'

Elle and Themo were married in Kastellorizo back in 2015. They hope to return to the Greek Island for the baby's christening.
Chicago Med's Torrey DeVitto revealed she is 'madly' in love with her boyfriend David Ross with a heartwarming black and white selfie of herself kissing him on the cheek.

Just months after the Chicago Cubs manager, 44, finalized his divorce from his wife of 15 years Hyla Ross in February, he looked smitten with the 36-year-old actress as she made their relationship Instagram official.

'Love him madly,' the Pretty Little Liars alum gushed, just one week after posting a slideshow of a recent trip to Cincinnati, which included attending a Cubs game.

Happier than ever: Chicago Med's Torrey DeVitto revealed she is 'madly' in love with her boyfriend David Ross with a heartwarming black and white selfie of herself kissing him on the cheek

Additionally, she shared a candid of him at a Cubs game from behind with a heart drawn around him.

While it is unclear how long they have been dating, she was last romantically linked to Blue Bloods star Will Estes last year after ending her nine-month relationship with Chicago P.D. star Jesse Lee Soffer in May 2019.

They have since deleted any posts with each other after quietly parting ways.

Subtle clues: 'Love him madly,' the Pretty Little Liars alum gushed, just one week after posting a slideshow of a recent trip to Cincinnati, which included a Cubs game

'What am I looking for? A best friend, somebody to travel with, a partner, somebody who has the same values as me,' DeVitto told Us Weekly in November 2019.

She continued: 'You know? A family unit, traveling, just fun. But in the meantime, I'm having so much fun with my friends, and traveling and working.'

The Write Before Christmas actress previously dated Nobodies actor Rick Glassman and DWTS hoofer Artem Chigvintsev after ending her two-year marriage to Vampire Diaries castmate Paul Wesley in 2013.

New romance: Just months after the Chicago Cubs manager, 44, finalized his divorce from his wife of 15 years Hyla Ross in February, he looked smitten with the 36-year-old actress as she made their relationship Instagram official

On a side note, Torrey's father is former Billy Joel drummer Liberty DeVitto and her mother Mary Torrey is one of Stevie Knicks' oldest friends.

This is Ross' first public relationship since splitting from his high school sweetheart, who he wed in 2005 and shares daughters Landri and Harper as well as son Cole.

The retired MLB player, who has won two World Series and competed on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he and his ex-wife 'decided to amicably split' and 'will continue to remain good friends.'
Iskra Lawrence has posed for an incredible new shoot to help raise awareness for the use of photo retouching and airbrushing.

The British beauty, 30, looked nothing short of sensational in the Botticelli-esque shoot as she cradled her son, 13 months, in the image which was taken over Zoom and then reworked by photographer Linda Blacker digitally.

In a lengthy caption, Iskra explained that the image was created on the computer however she and Linda wanted to show that photoshopping is not limited to changing the model's image but can enhance the surroundings.

Amazing: Iskra Lawrence has posed for an incredible new shoot to help raise awareness for the use of photo retouching and airbrushing

Iskra looked incredible in the images, in which she cradled her son, who she shares with songwriter Philip Payne, while swathed in red silk and surrounded by doves with her hair worn in cascading blonde curls covering her modesty.

The image was artistically created by photographer, set designer and creative designer Linda, and harked back to the 16th century work of Sandro Botticelli, such as The Birth of Venus.

In the lengthy caption, Iskra shed light on the background and aim of the project, as she penned: 'Reborn as a Mother. A creator. A life giver. A vessel...

'This gift God bestowed on me I will be grateful for every single day. You are my purpose and motivation to be a better human and contribute to making the world a more accepting and loving place...

Amazing: In a lengthy caption, Iskra explained that the image was created on the computer however she and Linda wanted to show that photoshopping is not limited to changing the model's image but can enhance the surroundings

'I cannot thank you enough Linda Blacker for capturing this powerful moment between me and my baby. It means so much to have art created to cherish my journey of motherhood and the growth of my child...

'Ill be sharing more of the process of how Linda Blacker created this digital art via zoom. I got in touch with her to highlight the misconceptions of photoshop, retouching and airbrushing...

'Clearly this image has been edited in computer programs with layers of images added, light and colours. But there has been no retouching of my skin, shape and body...

'This was super important for us to distinguish that not all photoshop contributes to toxic beauty ideas / body ideals because it can help create images like this without changing what the subject looks like...

Stunner: Iskra is a long-time body confidence advocate and works tirelessly to help boost confidence of fans and show her natural image

'(Im also wearing a wig and a tiny bit of makeup but nothing about what I looked like on the day of the shoot has been edited)

'I knew there maybe a risk sharing this image because people may assume that Ive been airbrushed but feel free to zoom in and also check out the rest of her images I love how she creates and that she is inclusive, its been an honour to work with you my love'.

Iskra is a long-time body confidence advocate and works tirelessly to help boost confidence of fans and show her natural image.

Linda detailed: 'In short - I direct over zoom to capture a technically simple image of Iskra & baby against a wall in her home - and then I go away and bring the scene to life through imagery I take & piece it all together in Photoshop (which took around 7 hours!)

Family first: The body confidence advocate welcomed her baby boy with Philip Payne last April (pictured together)

'Editing is such a key part of my work, especially for a shoot like this and yet I hope this image, and lots of my work in general, can show how editing doesnt automatically mean airbrushing / changing body shapes or smoothing skin texture...

'Iskra has not been 'airbrushed' at all, but that doesn't mean the image isn't edited stylistically. For me, editing is an incredible tool to bring to life an idea you have in your mind and create art. :)

'Im truly proud of this piece and so so happy to have captured Iskra and her baby, thank you for reaching out and trusting in me and my idea for this image...

'Its not always the easiest to do a shoot virtually but I am so excited I have discovered this new way of creating so that I can continue to work with amazing people like Iskra, around the globe.'
Jack Whitehall's girlfriend Roxy Horner has revealed that she is in hospital as she lamented autoimmune diseases.

The model, 29, took to Instagram on Sunday as she admitted she didn't know whether to 'laugh or cry every five minutes'.

Posting a stunning throwback snap from a photoshoot, Roxy penned: 'Ever stare life right in the face like really???

Worrying: Jack Whitehall's girlfriend Roxy Horner has revealed that she is in hospital as she lamented autoimmune diseases

Candid: The model, 29, took to Instagram on Sunday as she admitted she didn't know whether to 'laugh or cry every five minutes'

'Currently sitting in hospital not knowing to laugh or cry every 5 mins but Im going to choose to try and laugh because life is too damn short.'

Roxy, who has been dating Jack since early 2020, signed off her post with: 'Screw auto immune diseases though!'

Autoimmune diseases can cause either low or over activity of the immune system. The immune system can mistake body parts, such as skin, joints or organs, as bacteria or viruses so attacks them and healthy cells.

The model also took to her Instagram Story to share a short video of herself in a hospital bed and gown with a cannula in her arm.

Scary: Roxy, who has been dating Jack since early 2020, signed off her post with: 'Screw auto immune diseases though!' (pictured with Jack last year)

What are autoimmune diseases? Autoimmune diseases can cause either low or over activity of the immune system. The immune system can mistake body parts, such as skin, joints or organs, as bacteria or viruses so attacks them and healthy cells. It is not known exactly what causes the immune system to attack healthy cells. Symptoms can range from mild to severe. Advertisement

Roxy said: 'Guess I'm here another night!'

MailOnline has contacted Roxy's representative for further comment.

Roxy's 180K followers were quick to share their concern and well-wishes for the model after her post.

One person said: 'Sending you much love and positive vibes .'

Another fan put: 'Sorry to hear that, Roxy. Hope you feel better soon.'

Sweet: Roxy later shared a sweet message to Jack as she praised him for being her 'biggest support'

Well-wishes: Roxy's 180K followers were quick to share their concern and well-wishes for the model after her post

A different follower commented: 'I hope you feel better soon. .'

While another account added: 'Get better soon. .'

Since the first lockdown Roxy has been dating comedian Jack, 32, after the pair met during a trip to Australia, with the model moving into his London home after just a few weeks of dating.

Jack previously admitted although the decision 'accelerated' their relationship, they did miss out on doing ordinary things like restaurant and cinema dates.

Speaking on the Couples Quarantine podcast, he said: 'Weirdly that was quite nice because we spent a lot of time together and it accelerates the relationship in a way.

'Then when lockdown ended, there's a lot of things we realised. We'd never gone to see a film together. We'd never been to a restaurant in England because we met in Australia.'

Jack dated actress Gemma Chan, 38, between 2011 and 2017, and he previously said that he regretted not marrying her.

Speaking to his mother Hilary in an episode of his Netflix series, Travels With My Father, he said: 'I f****d up my chance of that. I did. I could have got married but I messed it up.'

In the episode, which was filmed before Jack began dating Roxy, he apologised to his mother for being the only single member of their immediate family as it meant he had to attend his sister Molly's wedding alone.

He added: 'I'm sorry I'll be attending the wedding alone and I'm sorry you have two children who have model relationships and one who is going to be there on his own trying to sh*g a bridesmaid.'
Former Hollyoaks actress Jessica Ellis is engaged to her partner Michael Shaw.

The star, 34, - who played Tegan Lomax in the Channel 4 soap from 2013 to 2018 - revealed her boyfriend of three and a half years popped the question on Sunday.

Michael got down on one knee as the pair where enjoying a romantic date at a swanky rooftop bar in London.

Happy news: Former Hollyoaks actress Jessica Ellis is engaged to her partner Michael Shaw

Sweet: Sharing the happy news she wrote on Instagram: 'Well yesterday was a bit of alright thanks to my fiance @mtshaw91'

Sharing the happy news she wrote on Instagram: 'Well yesterday was a bit of alright thanks to my fiance @mtshaw91'.

Alongside the caption she posted a sweet picture of her with Michael as she excitedly pointed at the pretty ring on her finger while he beamed beside her.

In another picture the couple posed for a selfie as Jessica showed off the ring, before sharing another snap of the piece of jewellery close up to show off its colourful design.

Meanwhile sharing the same snap, Michael wrote on his Instagram: 'She said YES!'

Exciting: The star, 34, - who portrayed Tegan Lomax in the Channel 4 soap from 2013 to 2018 - revealed her boyfriend of three and a half years popped the question on Sunday

Following the proposal, Jessica's former Hollyoaks co-stars and real-life couple Daisy Wood-Davis and Luke Jerdy - who are also engaged - joined the pair to celebrate.

The two couples enjoyed champagne at the rooftop bar and shared snaps posing together after the proposal.

Daisy - who played Kim Butterfield in the Channel 4 soap from 2014 to 2018 - wrote on her Instagram: 'Had the most special day yesterday, surprising our best friend after her proposal!!! CONGRATULATIONS @jellis1987 & @mtshaw91!!

Stunning: In her engagement post the actress showed off a close up picture of the ring which had a colourful design

'Is there anything better than seeing your friends SO happy?! I can't wait for the most wild, crazy, unique, hilarious and special wedding we've got in store for us here (trust me, the initial plans made a woman on the table next to us interrupt to ask if she could be invited).

'Wishing a lifetime of happiness, trips to Wales, visits to Flamingoland and boozy nights (all with Bob & Rita in tow) to the MR & MRS ELLIS / SHAW to be!! Love you sooooo much! (sic)'

Jess admitted Daisy's heartfelt post made her emotional.

Pals: Following the proposal, Jessica's former Hollyoaks co-stars and real-life couple Daisy Wood-Davis and Luke Jerdy - who are also engaged - joined the pair to celebrate

Fun: Daisy - who played Kim Butterfield in the Channel 4 soap from 2014 to 2018 - wrote on her Instagram: 'Had the most special day yesterday, surprising our best friend after her proposal!!!'

She commented: 'I'm crying!!!! Thanks for the best day EVER!'

Several other soap stars congratulated the happy couple on their engagement news.

Jennifer Metcalfe who played Mercedes McQueen wrote: 'Congratulations. your ring is beautiful.'

Amanda Clapham who starred as Holly Cunningham shared: 'Congratulations !! Beautiful ring xXx.'

Happy for her: Daisy also shared this sweet picture of the couple kissing after the proposal

Ross Adams - who played Scott Drinkwell - posted: 'AWWWW MASSIVE CONGRATS to both of you. Lovely news.'

The couple have been together for just over three and a half years and often share loved-up selfies together to their Instagrams.

Jessica left Hollyoaks in 2018 and revealed at the time that she had to keep her shock exit a secret for six months.

Close: The couple have been together for just over three and a half years and often share loved-up selfies together to their Instagrams

Loved-up: The pair have been together for over three years and celebrated their latest anniversary last October

Her character Tegan was crushed by a falling tree after a storm and ended up in hospital.

She told The Sun at the time: 'I'm so sad. It was really sad because we're actually really good friends and they have become my family.

'I've known about six months. I had to keep it a secret but obviously my family knew.'

Sad: Jessica left Hollyoaks in 2018 after her character Tegan was crushed by a falling tree after a storm and ended up in hospital

Speaking about her final scenes: 'A lot of it was genuine tears. It was heartbreaking.

'My mum and dad came in to watch filming and I didn't know it was that day, it was just because I had a full day filming and they spent the entire day watching me die.'

She added: 'I don't really like change. I like routine and being in a place and I'm going to miss that.'
She recently moved her young family from Dubai to Los Angeles, making her visit to a sixth new country since the start of the UK's lockdown.

And Tamara Ecclestone was sweetly surprised by her husband Jay Rutland and her two daughters on Sunday as they celebrated Mother's Day for a second time.

The Formula One heiress, 36, originally marked the day, which was celebrated in the UK on March 14, during their trip to Dubai, and decided to enjoy it again during their visit to LA, California, as the US honoured the day on May 9.

Lovely: Tamara Ecclestone was sweetly surprised by her husband Jay Rutland and her two daughters on Sunday as they celebrated Mother's Day for a second time

Taking to Instagram, Jay, 40, joked that he had been 'convinced' into having a Mother's Day for Tamara as he shared a collection of sweet snaps.

In the photos, Tamara looked radiant in a peach floral mini dress as she posed with her two daughters Sophia, seven, and Serena, nine months, on an outdoor sofa.

Jay also shared a picture of his surprise which included a silver balloon saying 'mumma' and a stunning floral design.

He joked: 'Somehow I got convinced into @tamaraecclestoneofficial having a second Mother's Day' followed by a crying laughing emoji.

Second time! The Formula One heiress, 36, originally marked the day, which was celebrated in the UK on March 14, during their trip to Dubai, and decided to enjoy it again during their visit to LA, California, as the US honoured the day on May 9

Family: The couple also enjoyed lunch with Tamara's sister Petra Ecclestone and her fiance Sam Palmer as they posed for a fun picture

Jay sweetly added: 'But I guess she does deserve it,' followed by a heart emoji.

The couple also enjoyed lunch with Tamara's sister Petra Ecclestone and her fiance Sam Palmer as they posed for a fun picture.

Ever the doting husband, Jay also surprised Tamara for the UK date of Mother's Day in March where he decorated their Dubai accommodation with flowers and another 'mumma' silver balloon.

He penned at the time: 'Happy Mothers Day to our [crown emoji] and Supermum. Your girls both love you very much @tamaraecclestoneofficial x.'

In March: Ever the doting husband, Jay also surprised Tamara for the UK date of Mother's Day in March where he decorated their Dubai accommodation with flowers and another 'mumma' silver balloon

It comes after Tamara enjoyed some quality time with her two daughters Sophia and Serena as she went on a shopping trip in LA over the weekend.

The Formula One heiress opted for a casual look for the outing, sporting a black T-shirt with a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms while visiting Westfield Century City.

Earlier this month, Tamara and her husband Jay Rutland made the most of their trip as they reunited with friends at Sam Palmer's 38th birthday bash.

Sam is the fiance of Tamara's sister Petra, who was also in attendance at the party.

Happy days: Tamara and her husband Jay posed as part of a group photo as they joined friends and family to celebrate Petra's fiance Sam Palmer's 38th birthday earlier this month

Tamara and Jay posed as part of a group photo during the birthday celebrations that the property developer posted on his Instagram.

Sam also shared snaps and videos from the day as well, posting an adorable selfie with fiancee Petra, 32.

The businessman later gushed about his wife-to-be in an Insagram post, writing: 'Yesterday was the best day because I got to spend it with you '.

Loved-up: Sam enthusiastically shared snaps and videos from the day to Instagram, posting an adorable selfie with his fiancee Petra, 32

His birthday party took place in took place in Brentwood, Los Angeles, and included an extravagant table setting of coloured potted plants, a cotton candy machine and a West Ham united birthday cake.

Tamara and Jay arrived in Los Angles last month, in time to spend Easter with Petra and Sam.

They escaped the UK when travel was still permitted and have spent time in a host of locations, including various trips and a prolonged stay in Dubai.

After a lengthy stay in the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, the Ecclestone-Rutland clan upped sticks to enjoy an extremely lavish stay in Beverly Hills.

Good times: Tamara and her family shared photos from Disneyland on Saturday

The couple have rented out swanky new digs in LA for their stay at a 9,508 square feet, five bedroom, seven and a half bathroom mansion with a rental price tag of an eye-popping $90k (65k) a month.

The house, which was built in 1987, boasts incredible interior choices including vast marble adornments, contemporary art, custom oak floor, a sprawling pool area and state-of-the-art appliances.

The family have been to six countries since the start of lockdown; Croatia, Switzerland, the U.K, Dubai, The Maldives and now America.
He's one of the toughest guys on TV, but Ant Middleton has admitted he finds it hard to go to the pub.

In an interview with Triple M's Moonman In The Morning on Monday, the 40-year-old SAS Australia instructor was asked if 'guys have a go at you' at the pub.

Ant admitted it was something that happened all too often, and said he was regularly confronted by drunk men.

Challenges: He's one of the toughest guys on TV, but Ant Middleton [pictured] has admitted he finds it hard to go to the pub

'Yeah, there's the old classic. You're there for a couple of hours, the beers start flowing...' he explained.

'You know, you go to walk to the toilet, and there's "Ayyy! You've got to get past me! You know, SAS!" And I'm like, "Don't make me, mate."'

He added jokingly: 'Jab him in the throat so he can't talk, and then I'll kick him in the face, and then I'll have the Old Bill (police) knocking at the door the next morning. But we won't go into that.'

Target: In an interview with Triple M's Moonman In The Morning on Monday, the 40-year-old SAS Australia instructor was asked if 'guys have a go at you' at the pub

Ant - who appears on SAS Australia as the show's chief instructor - previously served a four-month prison stint after assaulting two police officers outside a nightclub.

In 2013, he was involved in a physical altercation with officers PC Katherine Alison and PC Christopher Brooksbank outside an Essex nightclub.

He was sentenced to 14 months in prison for the attack, of which he served four months due to good behaviour.

'You know, you go to walk to the toilet, and there's "Ayyy! You've got to get past me! You know, SAS!" And I'm like, "Don't make me, mate,"' he said

The former SAS soldier was convicted of unlawfully wounding Brooksbank and common assault upon Alison.

A remorseful Ant later told The Sun that the incident was sparked when a row broke out between his friends and another group of men.

'It was alcohol-fuelled. Once I realised what I'd done, I thought, "Oh my God,"' he recounted.

Trouble: Ant - who appears on SAS Australia as the show's chief instructor - previously served a four-month prison stint after assaulting two police officers outside a nightclub. Pictured with fellow instructors (L-R) Jason Fox, Mark Billingham and Matthew Ollerton

'It really hit home. That night was a turning point in my life, but did not ruin my life. It was a clash of authority. I just lost my temper.

'A little conflict happened, which turned physical. I've regretted it ever since. It's one of the biggest regrets I've had in my life.'

While behind bars, he worked three jobs: as a floor mopper, gym orderly and teaching English to illiterate prisoners.
She debuted her relationship with her new boyfriend Matt Poole late last year.

And on Monday, Tammy Hembrow cosied up to her beau as they enjoyed a night out in Queensland.

The fitness mogul, 26, shared a passionate kiss with her man while they spent quality time together.

Things are heating up! Tammy Hembrow shared a passionate kiss with her boyfriend Matt Poole during a romantic date night on Monday

In one picture shared to Instagram, Tammy leant in close to Matt as they looked into each other's eyes.

In another photo, the Instagram model wrapped her arms around her man as they shared a kiss.

Tammy and her surfer beau went public with their romance in September during a trip to the Whitsundays.

Look of love: In one picture shared to Instagram, Tammy leant in close to Matt as they looked into each other's eyes

That month, Matt also made his debut on his girlfriend's YouTube channel, admitting in a Q&A video that he'd been the first to say 'I love you'.

'I did. I am obsessed,' Matt said, before Tammy explained how he had confessed his feelings after they'd 'had a little fight' on holiday.

'We had a little fight over nothing, and then when he was trying to make up with me and apologise, he told me he loved me,' she said with a smile.

Getting serious: Tammy and her surfer beau went public with their romance in September last year. He seems to be getting on wonderfully with Tammy's children, Wolf and Saskia, whom she shares with her ex-partner Reece Hawkins

Matt also seems to be getting on wonderfully with Tammy's two children, Wolf and Saskia, whom she shares with her ex-partner Reece Hawkins.

He runs a popular restaurant on the Gold Coast called Maman Bar and Kitchen.

Meanwhile, Tammy's ex Reece and his wife London Goheen welcomed their newborn son Stone on March 7.
She has been busy filming scenes for the forthcoming BBC series The Offenders in Bristol.

And Eleanor Tomlinson, best known for her role as Demelza in raunchy period romp Poldark, exuded glamour on set on Monday as she transformed into her aristocrat character.

The actress, 28, looked elegant in a high-neck gold blouse and green checked trousers as she got to work shooting scenes on a boat on the harbourside.

Stylish: Eleanor Tomlinson exuded glamour on the set of upcoming BBC series The Offenders in Bristol on Monday as she transformed into her aristocrat character

She accessorised with a belt to cinch her in at the waist and carried a stylish black leather bag with her as she smiled for the camera.

The drama, written by The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant, follows seven criminals carrying out community service sentences.

Eleanor plays Gabby, an 'aristocratic celebutante whose glamour and life of leisure masks deep-rooted problems', according to the makers.

Radiant: The actress, 28, looked elegant in a high-neck gold blouse and green checked trousers as she got to work shooting scenes on a boat on the harbourside

Actress: She accessorised with a belt to cinch her in at the waist and carried a stylish black leather bag with her as she pouted for the camera

Eleanor - who wore her raven tresses in a sleek fringe and opted for a slick of red lip - looked in high spirits on set where she was filmed making a phone call.

In between takes she wrapped up warm in a cosy grey dressing gown and held a hot water bottle.

In a recent interview, she said of her character: 'Gabby is a social-media influencer with a drink and drug problem.

New role: The drama, written by The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant, follows seven criminals carrying out community service sentences

Star: Eleanor plays Gabby, an 'aristocratic celebutante whose glamour and life of leisure masks deep-rooted problems', according to the makers

'She is wild and uncontrollable and, without being unkind, blissfully unaware of the lives of others around her, which makes her outrageously funny to play.'

The series also stars Christopher Walken, 78, as Frank, 'an inveterate scoundrel trying to reconnect with his family'.

Filming began last year but was postponed because of Covid.

Beauty: Eleanor - who wore her raven tresses in a sleek fringe and opted for a slick of red lip - looked in high spirits on set where she was filmed making a phone call

Complicated: In a recent interview, she said of her character: 'Gabby is a social-media influencer with a drink and drug problem'

Trendy: She looked incredible in the gold shirt which she wore tucked into some baggy green an black checked trousers

Last month, Eleanor revealed her frustration at some Covid restrictions, saying that she 'yearns for the day when we don't have to wear masks' and that she misses hugging people.

Discussing his forthcoming series, Merchant - who comes from Bristol, where the show is based - admitted production was initially hampered by the spread of coronavirus in 2020.

He told The Sun: 'Like so many other productions, we'd just begun filming when COVID-19 struck and we had to shut-down.

Chilly: In between takes she wrapped up warm in a cosy grey dressing gown and held a hot water bottle

'I'm delighted that we're now finally able to resume filming with this incredible cast and finish this long-standing passion project.

'This is the first series I've made in my hometown of Bristol and I'm so excited to showcase the city and utilise the amazing local talent.'

Filming ground to a halt after just 12 days due to health concerns, but work has since continued in earnest as Britain's third national lockdown starts to ease.

Glam: She added a touch of elegance to her ensemble with a slick of red lip stick as she stood in between takes

Success: It's understood that the BBC has already commissioned a second series of the show - - before the first has even finished post-production

Precautions: Filming began last year but was postponed because of Covid

Cold: She made sure to keep protected from the chilly Bristol weather as she wrapped up in between scenes

On board: Filming for this section of the series took place on a boat on harbourside in Bristol

New look: Eleanor's character Gabby has a fringe, a look which the actress won't be used to

It's understood that the BBC has already commissioned a second series of the show - - before the first has even finished post-production.

The broadcaster's demand means both series' one and two are being filmed back-to-back in Merchant's native Somerset, with award winning production company Big Talk charged with putting it together.

Reflecting on the BBC's unorthodox decision to commission a second series before gauging the popularity of the first, Big Talk boss Kenton Allen told Deadline: 'We said, 'We'll write Season 2 if you commission Season 2'.

Up and running: Filming ground to a halt after just 12 days due to health concerns, but work has since continued in earnest as Britain's third national lockdown starts to ease

All smiles: Eleanor beamed as she filmed her scenes on board the huge boat on Monday

On screen: Eleanor looked glamorous in a gold blouse and green trousers while filming her scenes for the Stephen Merchant written drama

'We were able to rewrite Season 1 to reflect what we know is going to happen to the characters in Season 2.

'We were able to deepen it and layer it.'

The new show will also star Darren Boyd, Gamba Cole, Rhianne Barreto and Clare Perkins.

Team: The star was joined by an extensive film crew on board the coat who were capturing the shots

Phone call: Eleanor was busy chatting away to someone as she filmed certain scenes
Coronation Street's Seb Franklin star Harry Visinoni has said that his girlfriend Ellie Isaacs had to act as a body double for his onscreen mother Abi in his final scenes.

Soap watchers were left heartbroken after the character died on Friday night's episode following a hate crime attack after Seb and his girlfriend Nina Lucas were targeted by thugs due to Nina's goth identity.



Talking about the hard-hitting storyline and his final scenes on Monday's Lorraine, Harry, 21, said that due to the Covid pandemic, his girlfriend Ellie was used as a body double for his onscreen mother Abi (Sally Carman) for the emotional hospital scenes.

Body double: Coronation Street's Seb Franklin star Harry Visinoni has said that his girlfriend Ellie Isaacs had to act as a body double for his onscreen mother Abi in his final scenes

The actor said that Ellie's hand was used instead of Abi's and it was nice that his girlfriend could be a part of his final ever scene on Coronation Street.

He said: 'It was quite funny, quite a good moment, they asked me to bring in my girlfriend to play Abi's hand. So in the scenes aired on Friday, this hand here, this is my girlfriend's hand.

'Very funny, it was really nice, she got to see what I do before I left. She features in my last ever scene on the Street. It is big stuff.

Harry added that his girlfriend actually found the scenes difficult as he had to lay in a hospital bed and wearing serious make-up following his character Seb's injuries. He said: 'Yeah, she was quite distressed!'

Soap debut: Soap watchers were left heartbroken after the character died on Friday night's episode following a hate crime attack after Seb and his girlfriend Nina Lucas were targeted by thugs due to Nina's goth identity (Harry's girlfriend hand - pretending to be Abi's)

Emotional: Talking about the hard-hitting storyline and his final scenes on Monday's Lorraine, Harry, 21, said that due to the Covid pandemic, his girlfriend Ellie was used as a body double for his onscreen mother Abi (Sally Carman) for the emotional hospital scenes

In February, Harry and Ellie, who is a motivational speaker, celebrated their one-year anniversary, with the actor sharing a sweep snap looking lovingly into each other's eyes.

Talking about the hard-hitting storyline, the actor said that he had a meeting with producer Iain MacLeod and connected with the difficult scenes.

He said: 'I think you know, it's quite emotional because I have become quite attached to him, I have grown up with him [Seb] - boys to men together.

'I had a meeting with Iain MacLeod the show's producer for potential avenues for Seb, this came up as an option, I connected with the storyline, something I wanted to be part of.

Final scenes: The actor said that Ellie's hand was used instead of Abi's (pictured) and it was nice that his girlfriend could be a part of his final ever scene on Coronation Street

'I just thought it was a very worthy ending for Seb, I thought: "Yeah, this is right, very emotional obviously."'

The storyline has many similarities to what happened to Sophie Lancaster, who was murdered in a Lancashire park in 2007, and the soap has worked with a foundation set up by the late 20-year-old's mother Dr Sylvia Lancaster OBE.

Talking about the importance of the emotional scenes, Harry said: 'For me, it was just about being as truthful as possible with it.

'The difference with this storyline to other storylines typically on a soap, this is based off something that actually happened. It is very important to get it right.

Murdered for dressing differently: Sophie Lancaster was just 20-years-old when she was murdered by a group of teenage boys in a park in Lancashire on 11 August 2007

Important: Talking about the hard-hitting storyline, the actor said that he had a meeting with producer Iain MacLeod and connected with the difficult scenes

Talking about what he planned to do next in his career, Harry said: 'I think, at some point, I'd love to do some theatre.

'I haven't set foot on stage since school, I really fell in love with it. The last five years [on Coronation Street], it's been the best.'

Coronation Street fans were left heartbroken after Seb died on Friday night's episode following a hate crime attack.

The builder - who is played by actor Harry in the ITV soap - passed away after suffering injuries from the attack on him and his girlfriend Nina.

Powerful: 'The difference with this storyline to other storylines typically on a soap, this is based off something that actually happened. It is very important to get it right'

The pair were targeted by a gang of thugs who shouted abuse about Nina's goth identity.

The storyline has many similarities to what happened to Sophie Lancaster, who was murdered in a Lancashire park in 2007, and the soap has worked with a foundation set up by the late 20-year-old's mother Dr Sylvia Lancaster OBE.

Nina woke up from her coma after the shock incident but Seb's brain function was severely damaged.

In the emotional episode, Seb's mum Abi was left heartbroken and in tears as she sat by his bedside after being told his brain was no longer functioning.

Upset: Coronation Street fans were left heartbroken after Seb died on Friday night's episode following a hate crime attack

The doctor told her: 'Sebastian failed the brain stem tests.

'His brain is no longer sending messages to his body. We were increasing the amount of organ support for Seb but I'm afraid it wasn't working and his body has shut down.

'There was nothing more we could do and his heart has stopped. I'm so very sorry, he has died.'

Also on Friday's programme Abi was questioned by police officers who asked if Seb and Nina had ever taken drugs.

Elsewhere, as Nina woke up she appeared to mumble that she had seen Corey Brent just before the attack.

Attack: Nina (pictured) woke up from her coma after the shock incident but Seb's brain function was severely damaged

Taking to Twitter after the episode to say goodbye to the show actor Harry wrote: 'Goodbye Coronation Street. It's been a wild 5 years on the cobbles, and I've loved every second. I've made memories that I will cherish forever and have worked with the most amazing people.

'I couldn't have dreamt of a better way to spend these years of my life. Thank you so much for all the support Seb has received throughout his turbulent time on the street, and thank you so much for the amazing response to this immensely important and relevant storyline.

'There couldn't have been a more worthy end for Seb. It was an honour to be trusted to tell this harrowing story and I hope that we have been able to make a difference and raise awareness.'

He signed off by saying: 'It's been an honour and a privilege. Lots of love, Harry x'

Opening up about his final scenes recently, Harry said that he had found them 'very emotional' and even 'welled' up when the director called it a wrap.

Devastated: Abi fell to the floor after she was told by the doctors that he had sadly passed away

He told The Mirror: 'At the end it was like, 'It's a wrap for Harry!' kind of thing and got a clap and all that. I was welling up! Which is a rare thing for me, really.'

On Friday fans took to Twitter to share their heartbreak over the storyline.

One wrote: 'Omg just caught up on tonight's #corrie and I am a sobbing mess!!!! Such a heartbreaking story and acted so beautifully by all. Incredibly moving scenes. Rip seb @itvcorrie'.

Another fan wrote: 'That scene of abi finding out about seb...no words. sally carman is exceptional, as is this entire storyline. #Corrie

Another said: 'Actually speechless at tonight's @itvcorrie. Heart-breaking, devastating and upsetting. Can't believe they killed Seb off, just wow.'

End of an era: Taking to Twitter after the episode to say goodbye to the show Harry wrote: 'Goodbye Coronation Street. It's been a wild 5 years on the cobbles'

A third said: 'Oh man wasn't expecting that in corrie.'

Another added: 'Seb can't be dead, this can't be real. I'm in tears!'

Harry has recently told how he was happy for his character to be killed off as he hadn't meant to stay in the soap 'forever'.

He said: 'I had a meeting with Iain MacLeod, the producer of the show, just to discuss potential avenues for Seb going forward and this storyline got mentioned as an option and I thought, well, it's an end for the character and it's a storyline I'd love to be a part of and it's the perfect way for me to wave goodbye to Seb.

'The thing is, I never intended to stay in the show forever and while I was there it was always a goal of mine to play a major part in a story that's as big as this for the show. So yeah, when it came through the door it wasn't something that I could pass up, really.'

Hard: The pair were attacked by a gang of thugs who shouted abuse about Nina's goth identity (pictured: Abi reacts to the news of his death)

On Wednesday, Mollie Gallagher, who plays Nina, discussed the hard-hitting storyline ahead of the episode, admitting she 'wanted to cry' after seeing her character's injuries in make-up.

The actress added that she hopes to do the important scenes 'justice' and that it 'breaks her heart' knowing this has happened and does happen in real life.

Speaking to The Sun, Mollie said: 'I remember the first time I had the make-up done, I hadn't filmed any scenes yet and I'd just been rehearsing it in my mirror at home by myself. As soon as the makeup was done, I just wanted to cry.

'I remember looking at my reflection and thinking: 'Wow'. I already knew it was awful but when you're actually in it, I thought I could cry.

'It was a really strange feeling. I kept thinking about all the scenes and what was coming up. It did help in a way as I was able to hold that feeling when we filmed the scenes. It was a massive help.'

Strong reaction: On Friday fans took to Twitter to share their heartbreak over the storyline

Mollie added to the Mirror: 'Because this stuff has happened it's such an important story to tell. I felt a lot of emotions. I am really privileged to be given such an important storyline but I am also nervous because I want to do the story justice.

'I have really put my all into it and hopefully it shows. You see the human effect this has on someone who you would say is strong. Knowing this has happened and does happen breaks my heart.'

Mollie said that she worked closely with the late Sophie Lancaster's mother Dr Sylvia Lancaster OBE to make sure she was as 'accurate' as possible during the storyline.

Sylvia told the publication it was 'lovely' to speak to Mollie and that people are 'looking behind' her character Nina's clothes and image.

She added: 'It so important to get the message out there, intolerance and prejudice, we have to get it out of society. Alternative people like other minorities deserve to walk down the street without being abused physically or emotionally.'

Important: The plot saw Nina and her boyfriend Seb (pictured together) get attacked by a gang

Sylvia also appeared on Wednesday's This Morning where she praised Coronation Street for handling the storyline 'sensitively'.

She said: 'You can tell, they sort of live and breathe the work they're doing, and you know they're going to do things with sensitivity and the best they can, and you can't ask any more than that.'

Sylvia said that due to Covid her foundation has not been able to go into schools or festivals but they have still 'kept busy' by 'working in a different way'.

She added: 'Sometimes it only takes a couple of seconds stand back and think about and see what we can do and make a difference to people's lives.'

Sophie and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, then 21, were set upon and beaten in a park simply because of the way they looked on 11 August in 2007.

Awful: On Wednesday, Mollie Gallagher, who plays Nina, discussed the hard-hitting storyline, admitting she 'wanted to cry' after seeing her character's injuries (pictured in soap still)

Sophie's injuries were so severe, she died in hospital 13 days later, aged 20. Ryan Herbert and Brendan Harris, then both 15, were sentenced to life in prison.

Her mum, Sylvia, set up the Sophie Lancaster Foundation in her daughter's memory to focus on creating respect and understanding of subcultures in communities.

When the storyline was first discussed producers and the research team approached Sylvia who was delighted to be able to work with them to help highlight the issue.

Sophie's mother Sylvia said that the soap covering a story about the abuse alternative people face 'means such a huge amount' to her.

She said: 'I know first-hand the abuse, harassment and violence that alternative people suffer.

Hard-hitting: The actress added that she hopes to do the important scenes 'justice' and that it 'breaks her heart' knowing this has happened and does happen in real life

'Hate crime is usually directed at already stigmatised and minority groups and Sophie was assaulted three times before that final, sustained and brutal attack that took her life - but she never reported the earlier assaults.

'Coronation Street covering this issue means such a huge amount to me. We want alternative people to know that they shouldn't be putting up with this prejudice and intolerance, and they should report it.

'We want the wider community to really appreciate the horror of this violence and understand that difference in itself, is not frightening, it just makes us all who we are.

'We will also use this platform to continue raising awareness of Sophie's case with the police and judiciary to make sure that hate crime against alternative people is recognised and treated with the degree of severity that it deserves.'

On the importance of tackling this storyline Coronation Street, producer Iain MacLeod said: 'The issue of intolerance and hatred towards people from different cultures and subcultures is arguably more relevant now than it's ever been.

'This incredibly hard-hitting storyline, which centres on a senseless act of violence, will draw in characters from all corners of our narrative universe and will, we hope, leave the audience with a clear message: everyone, regardless of how they look, how they dress or any aspect of how they live their life, should be treated with tolerance and respect.

'The story will run across the rest of the year and beyond, with many twists and turns, and will be heartbreaking and dramatic in equal measure. In the end, the story will see an optimistic outcome emerge from the traumatic attack.'
She has been on the promo trail with her latest make-up line.

And Victoria Beckham was pulling it out of the bag once more as she snapped a selfie holding one of the products and sporting a sizzling ensembles.

The Spice Girls star, 47, sported a deeply plunging black top which showed off her cleavage and pulled her signature sultry stare for the camera.

Wow! Victoria Beckham was pulling it out of the bag once more as she snapped a selfie holding one of the products and sporting a sizzling ensembles

Victoria looked sensational in her latest sizzling promo snap, this time to plug a bronzing block from the eponymous collection.

She had shared a stunning video plugging the collection on the beauty page, however she layered a tuxedo jacket over the top.

It comes after Victoria revealed the Spice Girls influenced Beyonce to become the iconic artist she is today. She revealed the band's message of Girl Power really resonated with Beyonce, 39, who told her about the impact they'd had.

Victoria said: 'I met Beyonce a few years ago, and she actually said to me, "It was the Spice Girls that inspired me and made me want to do what I do and made me proud to be a girl and proud to be who I am"'.

A vision: She had shared a stunning video plugging the collection on the beauty page, however she layered a tuxedo jacket over the top

She added on Dear Medias Breaking Beauty podcast: 'And when someone like Beyonce, who is so iconic and was such a strong woman, says that she was inspired by the Spice Girls, I think thats quite something.'

The Spice Girls shot to fame in 1996, they split up in 2000 after Geri (Ginger Spice) decided to leave in 1998, but they have briefly reunited over the years. Victoria decided to not join the foursome for their most recent tour Spice World in 2019.

Victoria recently insisted that she doesn't cringe over her past make-up looks during the Spice Girls as it was all a 'journey' and she 'didn't care' at the time.

Iconic: Last week, Victoria (pictured left in 1997) has revealed the Spice Girls influenced Beyonce to become the iconic artist she is today

Talking about her time in the girl band, the fashion designer even joked that her four children often comment on how 'cool' she used to be - to which she quipped: 'Oh, wow. Does that mean I'm not now?'

Talking on Dear Media's Breaking Beauty podcast alongside Sarah Creal, co-founder of Victoria Beckham Beauty, Victoria reflected: 'You know, I've been so lucky to work with the best makeup artists in the industry, which has just been so, so great.

'And I look back at pictures and people always say, "Oh, do you cringe at any of the pictures?" You know. Do I cringe at that heavy lip liner? No, it was, it was a journey.

'Do I cringe at those skinny eyebrows? No, it was a journey and way too much blush, you know, we were working so hard and we were so exhausted.

'There was a time where we were in a different country every few days. And the more and more tired that we got, the more and more blusher that we put on.'
Emily Andre has admitted that being stuck indoors was 'wearing a little thin' after her family was forced to isolate for 10 days following Peter's son Junior's Covid battle.

The family has had to quarantine three times in the past year and the frontline NHS doctor, 31, said it has made her feel empathy for her patients and colleagues.

Emily wrote about their recent 10 days of isolation in her column for OK! magazine, which ended over the weekend, and admitted it was 'unlucky' as they are so careful.

'Being inside is wearing a little thin': Emily Andre has admitted that being stuck indoors was 'wearing a little thin' after her family was forced to isolate for 10 days following Peter's son Junior's Covid battle

The doctor admitted that her two children - Amelia, seven, and Theodore, four, who she shares with Peter, as well as his two other kids - Junior, 15, and Princess, 13, who he shares with ex-wife Katie Price, were 'bored' during the isolation.

In an honest account of how they balanced homeschooling and lockdown as a family-of-six, Emily admitted that the four children all had more screen time than normal.

She penned: 'At the time of writing this, we still have a few days left in self-isolation after Junior tested positive for Covid-19. It feels unlucky as we're so careful and there are hardly any cases in our areas.'

Talking about how the children were coping at the time, Emily added: 'Unsurprisingly they've been bored but they've actually been really good.'

Positive: Peter's eldest son Junior, 15, (pictured in October) revealed he had tested positive for Covid on 29 April

The doctor also praised their neighbours for supporting them through isolation and bringing them food.

Talking about Junior's symptoms, Emily said he had not been himself or eating properly but acknowledged he had been 'brave'.

'I reminded him that now he's had the virus it means he's got some antibodies for a while at least,' she added.

Emily said that despite being stuck inside the same house together, none of the other family members had experienced any symptoms.

'Unlucky': The family has had to quarantine three times in the past year and the frontline NHS doctor, 31, pictured during their recent lockdown, said it has made her feel empathy for her patients and colleagues

It comes after the doctor's husband Peter shared a video of the 'screaming and madness' in their house during 10 'crazy' days of isolation over the weekend.

In a YouTube clip shared on Friday, the Mysterious Girl hitmaker, 48, gave a candid insight into lockdown with his doctor wife Emily and four children. The family's quarantine has since ended.

It comes after Junior told fans that he 'doesn't want to die' while sharing a dramatic update on how he's feeling amid his coronavirus battle last week. He first revealed he had tested positive on 29 April.

'Bored': The doctor admitted that her two children - Amelia, seven, and Theodore, four, pictured during isolation, who she shares with Peter, as well as his two other kids - Junior, 15, and Princess, 13, who he shares with ex-wife Katie Price, were 'bored' during the isolation

The teen detailed how his symptoms have been changing, explaining that he's now suffering from a 'sore throat' but originally had a banging head and achey body.

The son of Peter and Katie also reassured fans that although not feeling 100 per cent, it is 'not severe, just annoying'.

During the Live video chat, filmed while he was in isolation with his family at his dad's house, some of Junior's followers asked if he was worried.

Staying positive, Junior replied: 'Don't manifest it. Listen, if it happens it happens. But I know God wants me to live my life to the finish, so I'm not gonna die from Covid and if I do, I do. I don't wanna die.'

Isolation: It comes after the doctor's husband Peter shared a video of the 'screaming and madness' in their house during 10 'crazy' days of isolation over the weekend

Junior then detailed how his 'severe... just annoying' symptoms have changed since he started feeling poorly, before admitting that he's a little baffled as to why he's been getting them as a young person.

He said: 'The first few days, my head was the worst. My head was banging so much. I don't know how I got symptoms, because I'm a child, I'm 15. But my head was banging, my body was aching, my throat was fine.

'And then all of a sudden my body's sort of stopped aching... my head still bangs but not as much... but my throat is so sore. It's killing me.

'It's not part of the symptoms I don't think, but maybe I've got something else with Covid. Yeah, I have Covid.'

Junior also detailed how feeling achey and having a 'bad backache' has meant he's had trouble staying occupied as he can't play his PlayStation 5.

Changes: It comes after Junior told fans that he 'doesn't want to die' while sharing a dramatic update on how he's feeling amid his coronavirus battle last week

Announcement: The eldest child of Peter Andre, 48 and Katie Price, 42 shared a message with his followers that read: 'I have tested positive for COVID' in April

He explained that looking at his phone or the TV screen while playing his games can make his 'head hurt' so he 'doesn't actually know what to do'.

He then continued that although he does have Covid and is showing a series of symptoms: 'It's not severe it's just annoying.'

Junior's sister Princess also gave fans an insight into their time in isolation as she shared a video to Instagram last week.

The teenager filmed herself while she was waiting for dad Peter to prepare the family's lunch, admitting that she was 'so bored'.

Trying to pass the time: Junior's sister Princess also gave fans an insight into their time in isolation as she shared a video to Instagram last week

Showing their close bond, Princess and her doting dad bantered about making cups of tea each evening before having an 'opera-off' and him belting out 'Figero'.

Princess also received a call from her mum Katie while she was on live with her 410 Instagram followers, but declined the call saying it was probably her sister Bunny.

Junior announced he has tested positive for COVID-19 in an Instagram post in April. He shared a message with his followers that read: 'I have tested positive for COVID.'

In the message, which was posted on a black background, the teenager also included anguished and fuming emojis.

Third time: It marks Junior's third brush with the virus. In March 2020, Junior revealed that he was showing symptoms of coronavirus (pictured with mum Katie last year)

It marks Junior's third brush with the virus. In March 2020, Junior revealed that he was showing symptoms of coronavirus, just hours after his father expressed fears over his children contracting it.

Taking to Instagram Stories, Junior said that while he has not been diagnosed, he was making sure he was staying safe.

Junior said: 'These aren't easy times as we know. I am videoing this to tell you I am showing symptoms of the coronavirus. It is not me saying I have it , I am showing symptoms. Everyone please stay safe these aren't easy times like I said.'

In November, Junior was forced to isolate again due to a coronavirus outbreak at his school. According to his dad, Junior was annoyed he still had to complete his lessons at home but luckily didn't have any symptoms.

The teenager splits his time between his father and mother's homes, as does his sister Princess Andre, 13, who Peter 48, also shares with Katie, 42.

Peter split from the former glamour model in 2009 after four years of marriage and went on to welcome Amelia, seven, and Theo, four, with his current wife Emily, 31.

Katie is mum to Harvey, 18, from her relationship with Dwight Yorke. While she welcomed Bunny, six, and Jett, seven, with ex Kieran Hayler.

Peter also tested positive for Covid in December, while his wife Emily - who has been working as a frontline NHS doctor during the pandemic - tested positive in June.

As for Junior's mum Katie, she received her first vaccine in April alongside her beau Carl Woods, with both falling sick with a fever and nausea afterwards.

Katie's eldest son Harvey has now been fully vaccinated against the virus. The teen was rushed to hospital in February after his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine caused his temperature to sky-rocket.

He has allegedly suffered little reaction to his second dose.
Damian Lewis was seen for the first time since the death of his wife Helen McCrory from cancer aged 52 on April 16.

The actor, 50, emerged in London for a dog walk with a friend on Sunday, weeks after his shock announcement that the actress and philanthropist had passed at home 'peacefully' surrounded by family.

Damian walked along before stopping to chat with a friend, in the wake of his wife's cancer battle, in which he said she had shown 'no fear, no bitterness, no self-pity' and had only told to close friends and family members about the diagnosis.

Helen, who was awarded the OBE for services to drama in the 2017 New Years Honours, was best known for playing the matriarch Polly in Peaky Blinders and Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

His love: Damian Lewis was seen for the first time since the death of his wife Helen McCrory from cancer aged 52 on April 16

Damian cut a low-key figure as he stepped out and walked the streets.

Last month, Damian revealed Helen urged him to find love again two weeks before her death. In The Sunday Times, Damian said Helen told him, their daughter Manon, 14, and son Gulliver, 13, that she wanted 'Daddy to have lots of girlfriends'.

He wrote: 'She has been utterly heroic in her illness. Funny, of course  generous, brave, uncomplaining, constantly reminding us all of how lucky weve been, how blessed we are.

'Her generosity has extended to encouraging us three to live. Live fully, take opportunities, have adventures.

Sorrow: The actor, 50, emerged in London for a dog walk with a friend on Sunday, weeks after his shock announcement that the actress and philanthropist had passed at home 'peacefully' surrounded by family (the couple pictured in February last year)

Saddened: Damian, walking with a friend, said his wife had shown 'no fear, no bitterness, no self-pity' and had only told to close friends and family members about the diagnosis

'Only a couple of weeks ago she said to us from her bed, 'I want Daddy to have girlfriends, lots of them, you must all love again, love isnt possessive, but you know, Damian, try at least to get though the funeral without snogging someone.'

Damian also wrote of his heartbreak that Helen had left their children 'too early' but they have been prepared for life as she taught them to be 'courageous'.

The actor also wrote that Helen had told her children not to be sad by her passing because she had lived the wife she wanted to.

He stood by the actress' side during her illness, with Helen brushing off her hoarse voice in her final TV appearance in March to selflessly talk about their charity work.

Chatting away: Damian was putting a brave face on as he stepped out for some fresh air

Secret: Helen, who was awarded the OBE for services to drama in the 2017 New Years Honours, was best known for playing the matriarch Polly in Peaky Blinders and Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter films

Love: The couple's devotion to one another shone brightly for all to see, with Damian saying the actress died peacefully at home surrounded by 'peace and love' and their children

The couple's devotion to one another shone brightly for all to see, with Damian saying the actress died peacefully at home surrounded by 'peace and love' and their children.

It comes after Helen's friend Carrie Cracknell revealed those close to the Peaky Blinders star 'were sworn to secrecy' when it came to her cancer battle.

Discussing her friend's tragic passing, Carrie, 41 - who is a theatre director - told BBC Radio Four's Today: 'Helen wanted to be very private about her illness. Very few people knew. We were sworn to secrecy.'

Stepping out: He was chatting to his companion while walking along

Heartbroken: The Peaky Blinders star passed away after a 'heroic' battle with cancer, Damian announced on Friday night

Touching upon Helen's resilience, Carrie continued: 'She faced up to cancer with a level of bravery and humour that was extraordinary.'

Carrie also said the only reason she had been made aware of the star's diagnoses was because they were planning a Broadway show.

She said: 'Very few people knew, and I only did because we were planning to transfer a show to Broadway and had to cancel that because she was having treatment.

'We were sworn to secrecy.'

Carrie went on: 'Helen wanted to be very private about her illness and I understand why. When you live in the public spotlight you have to find space to protect the things that are just for you.'

Out and about: The acting world were left heartbroken by the news

Tragic: Discussing her friend's passing on Saturday, Carrie - who is a theatre director - told BBC Radio Four's Today: 'Helen wanted to be very private about her illness'

She added: 'Her need to be fully alive and be committed and to take things incredibly seriously, such as her family and charity work, defined her last few years for her as much as ever.'

In his first announcement of the news, Homeland star Damian tweeted: 'I'm heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from friends and family.

'She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives.

Stepping out: Damian penned an emotional tribute to his wife after her death

'She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you.'

Her movie roles included playing MP Clair Dowar in Skyfall and Cherie Blair in The Queen and The Special Relationship.

On television, she appeared in Doctor Who, Inside No 9 and His Dark Materials, and last year appeared in the Hugh Laurie drama Roadkill on the BBC and ITV's Quiz.

She also had an accomplished stage career, winning plaudits for National Theatre roles in productions of Medea and Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea.

Helen was also was nominated for an Olivier for her role as Rosalind in As You Like It in at London's Wyndham's theatre in 2006.

Pained: Her husband led tributes to the star tonight along with JK Rowling, Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton, Cillian Murphy and Kate Beckinsale

Her husband led tributes to the star tonight along with JK Rowling, Michael Sheen, Taron Egerton, Cillian Murphy and Kate Beckinsale.

The couple were last seen during an appearance on Good Morning Britain in March, where they appeared to speak about their charity work for the Prince's Trust and the Prince's Trust Awards.

Helen and Damian led fundraising efforts to provide hot meals for NHS staff during the pandemic.

Their work led to almost 1million in donations to the Feed NHS scheme, and partnerships with chains including Leon and Wasabi.

Shock: Helen and Damian led fundraising efforts to provide hot meals for NHS staff during the pandemic
Matt Baker was left stunned on Sunday's episode of Countryfile after a guest on the show told him to 'get on with it' as they took a tour of a maze together.

The presenter, 43, laughed nervously after being scolded by maze expert Adrian Fisher as they filmed a segment in Dorset.

The pair were preparing to walk the route of the maze but as Matt hesitated slightly before setting off, Adrian appeared to snap at him to get moving.

Awkward: Matt Baker was left stunned on Sunday's episode of Countryfile after a guest on the show told him to 'get on with it' as they took a tour of a maze together

Matt and Adrian were exploring Cranborne Chase which covers 380 square miles of protected countryside.

Adrian started by introducing the background of the maze saying: 'As a relic of its past, perched high on the hill and hidden amongst these woodlands  it's a turf maze.

'But not just any maze, this is known as a mizmaze. It is one of only two that survived in the UK, it's a protected monument and no one is usually allowed to walk on it, but we're lucky enough to have been given special permission today.'

Told off: The presenter, 43, laughed nervously after being scolded by maze expert Adrian Fisher (left) as they filmed a segment in Dorset

Speaking to Adrian about the maze's past, Matt asked of the structure: 'What exactly is it then?'

He replied: 'It's the world's oldest mizmaze. This one goes back at least 800 or 900 years. 11 paths which go to the edge from the middle.'

Adrian continued: 'So when the monks down in Avon Valley had their monastery. They would have come up and created this.

'Legend has it they would come up here as a penance and move around the entire route and we're talking about hundreds of yards worth of length on their knees before breakfast.'

Whoops: The pair were preparing to walk to the route of the maze but as Matt hesitated slightly before setting off, Adrian appeared to snap at him to get moving

As Matt got ready to show how the monks would have walked the maze, the expert became visibly irritated by how slowly he was preparing to tackle it.

Adrian then snapped: 'Come on get on with it, don't take five or nine months!'

Matt then started laughing and replied saying: 'This is a difficult labour!'

It comes after last month Matt admitted he had a very abrupt goodbye to his former The One Show colleagues when he left the series last year.

Tour: Matt and Adrian were exploring Cranborne Chase which covers 380 square miles of protected countryside

The star had hosted the BBC chat show for nine years alongside Alex Jones before he quit in March 2020, having since focused on his family farm.

With the UK in lockdown when he left, Matt admitted there were no goodbye parties or big send offs for him and instead he simply shut his laptop and was done.

Appearing on This Morning, host Phillip Schofield said: 'There was no party, no big goodbye, you just said goodbye on your laptop, shut the laptop and were gone?'

Matt replied: 'Yeah I did. It was propped up on an ironing board, it is a year to the day that I left, strangely [my new] show going out exactly a year later. I said goodbye on my laptop, that was it.'

Honest: Last month Matt admitted he had a very abrupt goodbye to his former The One Show colleagues when he left the series last year

The presenter has since worked on his family's farm which is documented on the new Channel 4 four part series Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales.

Asked if he misses The One Show, Matt replied: 'Everybody's lives have turned on their head completely. Coming out of a hibernation stage, this is my life, I love it, it makes me who I am.

'This is me and this is my life. I think people will accept the way that I am when they watch it.'

Matt moved with his wife Nicola and their children Luke, 12, and Molly, 10, back to the Durham Dales after his mother injured her leg while tending sheep and he has been helping to run the farm ever since.

Co-hosts: The TV presenter, 43, had hosted the BBC chat show for nine years alongside Alex Jones before he quit in March 2020, having since focused on his family farm

He explained: 'It was quite an eventful few months - this programme, I never pitched it just evolved into the situation we found ourselves in because of my mum's accident.

'At heart, it's not a farming programme, it's the moment your life table's turn and you start looking after parents the way they looked after you.'

It wasn't the biggest of changes for Matt who told how he always juggled farming work with his job on The One Show.

Goobye! Matt had his last day on The One Show from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic

He said: 'I would be doing The One Show, cleaning muck off, then going into George Clooney or people like that.'

Asked what his future plans are, the star said: 'Keep doing country farm and presenting, time freed up from The One Show I want to spend in production and programmes.

Addressing This Morning co-host Holly Willoughby, he added: 'I am passionate about that. You know Holly back in day, children's TV, all there. It is a passion that I want to keep doing.'
Russian bombshell Irina Shayk bared her belly in a white crop-top beneath a colorful denim top and matching jeans in Manhattan on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Lions Model was wearing Palace X Moschino FW/21 collection co-ords, which dropped back on November 15.

Irina paired her Jeremy Scott gear with an orange purse, white sneakers, and $15 Barriere 'Wavy Print' face mask - even though Americans no longer have to wear masks outside.

Moschino mama: Russian bombshell Irina Shayk bared her belly in a white crop-top beneath a colorful denim top and matching jeans in Manhattan on Sunday

She finished off her look by adding a beaded necklace from Ian Charms.

New York City is reportedly experiencing its lowest COVID-19 positivity rate in six months, falling to 2.41% - according to city's health department.

Last Friday, Shayk (born Shaykhlislamova) stripped down to star in the launch of skincare company, Alo Wellness.

To promote the launch, the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 catwalker revealed how her four-year-old daughter Lea De Seine takes part in her beauty routine.

Skateboard inspired: The 35-year-old Lions Model was wearing Palace X Moschino FW/21 collection co-ords, which dropped back on November 15.

Safety first: Irina paired her Jeremy Scott gear with an orange purse, white sneakers, a $15 Barriere 'Wavy Print' face mask, and a beaded necklace from Ian Charms

'Keep your glow going': Last Friday, Shayk (born Shaykhlislamova) stripped down to star in the launch of skincare company, Alo Wellness

'She scrubs masks off my face and plays with my favorite creams': To promote the launch, the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 catwalker revealed how her four-year-old daughter Lea De Seine takes part in her beauty routine

'Now that my daughter is older, we have fun together with beauty rituals. She loves to participate in my beauty routine - from scrubbing masks off my face to playing with my favorite creams,' Irina told Harper's BAZAAR on Saturday.

'[I always instruct her] less is more. Be happy in your own skin and be kind to other people...Beauty comes from inside. A happy and kind woman is always beautiful.'

Shayk shares 50/50 joint legal and physical custody of Lea with her ex-fiancee - eight-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper - whom she split from in June 2019 after four years.

'I always instruct her less is more': Shayk shares 50/50 joint legal and physical custody of Lea with her ex-fiancee - eight-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper - whom she split from in June 2019 after four years (pictured last Wednesday)

'Photo by daddy!' On April 21, little Lea made her Instagram debut in a picture with the former VS/SI Swimsuit stunner, which was taken by the Philadelphia-born 46-year-old

On April 21, little Lea made her Instagram debut in a picture with the former VS/SI Swimsuit stunner, which was taken by the Philadelphia-born 46-year-old.

Bradley will next play a film director in Paul Thomas Andersons untitled coming-of-age film, which United Artists will release on November 26 - according to IndieWire.

The seventies San Fernando Valley-set flick formerly known as 'Soggy Bottom' also stars Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, and Benny Safdie.
Darren Day has said that Gemma Collins joked that he 'helped pay' for her 1.35m 'dream' home in Essex.

The TOWIE star, 40, has found great success since appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 with the actor, 52, after her remark 'I'm claustrophobic Darren' was turned into a viral meme and even clothing line.

During the time, Gemma ranted at fellow housemate Darren that she was too 'claustrophobic' to take part in a task on the now-axed Channel 5 series.

'I'm claustrophobic Darren!' Darren Day has said that Gemma Collins joked that he 'helped pay' for her 1.35m 'dream' home in Essex

Speaking in a new interview, Darren claimed that Gemma sent him a video of her new 1.35m 'dream' home in Essex and said: 'You bought this for me Da!'

Talking to The Sun, Darren added: 'She is making a f**king fortune out of my name. I am now an Easter egg, Im a Covid mask. Im a handbag. Im a f***ing scarf. Im a jacket.

'I was even a Christmas f**king bauble. Christmas bauble and now a f**king Easter egg. I mean, I never thought I would be, but I am.'

Darren continued: 'She has just moved into a new house, bought a new house, she sent me a video a couple of weeks ago showing me all around the grounds and she went "You f***ing bought this for me Da". I thought, "I bet I f***ing did."'

Success: The TOWIE star, 40, has found great success since appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 with the actor, 52, after her remark 'I'm claustrophobic Darren' (pictured) was turned into a viral meme and even clothing line

Meme Queen: During the time, Gemma ranted at fellow housemate Darren that she was too 'claustrophobic' to take part in a task on the now-axed Channel 5 series - it is now available on a collection of clothing (pictured)

The TV personality admitted that it was 'weird' that the remark from 2016 had suddenly become famous again, adding that people shout 'I'm claustrophobic Darren' to him in the streets in Brentwood, Essex.

Darren even joked that despite a successful career, where he has played at the London Palladium, he is now best known as 'claustrophobic Darren'.

Gemma spawned a slew of memes during her stint on 2016's Celebrity Big Brother with her 'claustrophobic' catchphrase put on a line of clothing from In The Style recently, which was even worn by Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall.

Thanks, hun! Speaking in a new interview, Darren claimed that Gemma sent him a video of her new 1.35m 'dream' home in Essex (pictured January) and said: 'You bought this for me Da!'

Diary room debrief: The TV personality admitted that it was 'weird' that the remark from 2016 had suddenly become famous again, adding that people shout 'I'm claustrophobic Darren' to him in the streets in Brentwood, Essex (Darren pictured on CBB at the time)

MailOnline has contacted Gemma's representative for further comment.

In February, it was revealed that Gemma had relocated to a sprawling 1.35 million home in Essex after gushing she'd finally bought her 'dream' house.

The TOWIE star has set up home in a vast five-bedroom property converted from a barn, complete with around an acre of land and four en suite bathrooms.

Big fan: Gemma spawned a slew of memes during her stint on 2016's Celebrity Big Brother with her 'claustrophobic' catchphrase put on a line of clothing from In The Style recently, which was even worn by Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall (pictured centre)

It came after Gemma revealed she had purchased a life-size glittery horse for her new pad, telling fans she was hoping to buy a real one in the future.

In January, Gemma gushed to fans she'd finally picked up the keys to her 'dream' home and took to Instagram to share her exciting new venture with her fans.

Gemma's journey to land her new house hasn't been easy, as she broke down in tears last year when her sale fell through, later deciding to move in with her brother for the remainder of the pandemic.
They've been dating for six years.

And in a new interview, Kelly Brook, 41, admitted that she would like beau Jeremy Parisi, 36, to propose, laughing as she added: 'Not hinting or anything!'

The glamour model also branded herself 'a bit of a nag' while giving an insight into their home life together during lockdown.

Not hinting!? In a new interview, Kelly Brook, 41, admitted that she would like beau Jeremy Parisi, 36, to propose, laughing as she added: 'Not hinting or anything!' (Pictured in 2020)

Speaking to OK! Online, Kelly said of their future plans: 'At the moment there are no wedding plans or engagement plans. I think we've just had quite a massive year as a couple.'

She explained that they had 'kept each other going' amid the coronavirus pandemic and joked they'd focused of 'trying not to kill each other' but insisted they were stronger than ever and happy as they are, at the moment.

The radio host continued: 'I'm all up for women proposing to their partners, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, however, I would ideally like Jeremy to propose to me if he wanted to... Of course that'd be lovely... Not hinting or anything Jeremy,' added the star, with a giggle.

Kelly also described herself as being 'a bit of a nag' at home, which she put down to being a 'clean freak.'

Not yet! Speaking to OK! Online , Kelly said of their future plans: 'At the moment there are no wedding plans or engagement plans'

Real talk: 'I would ideally like Jeremy to propose to me if he wanted to... Of course that'd be lovely... Not hinting or anything Jeremy' laughed Kelly (Pictured in 2020)

The Heart Radio presenter revealed that Jeremy has become a better cook during lockdown and praised him for having sumptuous meals ready for her to come home to.

She also revealed that she longs for more time back on her Kent farm, confessing: 'I've been living in London for the past two years and that's starting to take its toll. City life is way too fast paced,' adding that she feels 'time poor' at the moment.

Kelly admitted she always thought she would retire from showbusiness aged 30 because models didn't have a long shelf-life.

Honest! Kelly also described herself as being 'a bit of a nag' at home, which she put down to being a 'clean freak'

Grateful: The presenter revealed that Jeremy has become a better cook during lockdown and praised him for having sumptuous meals ready for her to come home to (Pictured in 2020)

The interview comes after Kelly revealed she was considered proposing to boyfriend of six-years Jeremy 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 presenter had a plan in place if she isn't engaged by then, as she'll take matters into her own hands.

Speaking to Hello! magazine in April 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!'

Longterm love: Kelly has been with model Jeremy since April 2015, and although would love to get married and have children with him, recently admitted neither are 'high on her list' of priorities (picture in 2019)

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 Kelly revealing: 'I wear the ring on that finger because it's the only one that fits!'

Kelly has been in a relationship with model Jeremy 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.
Chris Rock has been having 'lots of therapy' during lockdown.

The 56-year-old comic sees a counsellor for seven hours a week, which stemmed from being diagnosed with non-verbal learning disorder  which is described as having 'strengths in verbal abilities contrasted with deficits in visual-spatial abilities.'

And the comedian admitted he had a lot of childhood 'trauma' to work through.

Hard days: Chris Rock has been having 'lots of therapy' during lockdown. Seen in 2019

Hard start: The 56-year-old comic sees a counsellor for seven hours a week, which stemmed from being diagnosed with non-verbal learning disorder  which is described as having 'strengths in verbal abilities contrasted with deficits in visual-spatial abilities'  and admitted he had a lot of childhood 'trauma' to work through; pictured right

Asked if his experiences of childhood racism still have an impact, he said: 'Yeah, it's weird. I've been doing therapy. That's what I did during Covid: lots of therapy.

'Success does not erase trauma. It just doesn't. So I definitely had to go back through therapy and really go through my childhood...' he shared.

The Fargo actor has 'forgiven' anyone who has done wrong in the past and doesn't see the benefit of calling people out now for things they did decades ago.

He told Telegraph magazine: 'The key thing is, I forgive everybody that was involved.

In 1990! Here Chris is seen 31 years ago at the Saturday Night Live party in 1990 at Tavern On The Green in New York City

Struggle: 'Success does not erase trauma. It just doesn't. So I definitely had to go back through therapy and really go through my childhood...' he shared. Seen in 1993

'I don't want to criticize the culture of whatever, but what happened to me happened 30 years ago. I could out everybody that called me a n***** and everybody that hit me, and put their faces on Instagram, and say their names and all that stuff, right? And they would never work again.

'Their lives would be absolutely destroyed.'

Rock added, 'So I'm gonna pray that they learnt their lesson I got kids going to college  wouldn't that suck if some kid couldn't go to college because their dad called me a n***** in 1979? So I'm not gonna do that.

His next film: A criminal mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw

'I'm gonna take the very high road.'

Chris  who has two daughters, Lola, 19, and Zahra, 16, with ex-wife Malaak Compton-Rock  rarely drinks these days and has stopped taking 'sleep aids' after finding the medication had begun to have a debilitating effect on his daily life.

He said: 'I was on an Ambien/Melatonin-every-night thing. And I had really bad brain fog. I was a functional Ambien addict, which affected everything  it affected my ability to concentrate, honestly.'
Billie Piper has said that looking at her own mental health has helped improve her work, making it more 'honest and authentic'.

The actress, 38, whose directorial debut Rare Beasts is set for release in May, also detailed how she's found it 'hard to have a creative thought' during lockdown and while home-schooling her three children.

She told The Radio Times: 'I'm questioning my own mental health and have been I suppose it's been quite a focus study of mine for the last seven years.'

'I think the work is better for it': Billie Piper has said that looking at her own mental health has helped improve her work, making it more 'honest and authentic'

'There's a level of honesty and personal authenticity that I don't think I have been able to touch in the past. And I think the work is better for it.'

Billie has been very candid about her struggle past eating disorders, anxiety and going to therapy in previous years.

Elsewhere in her interview, which happened in March, Billie spoke about home-schooling during the UK's lockdown, saying: 'I'm so solidly with children, which has been wonderful in many ways, but it's not conducive to musing.

'If I'm honest, it's hard to have a creative thought during lockdown. Some people have been wildly creative. I'm brain-dead at the moment!'

On screen: The actress, 38, whose directorial debut Rare Beasts (pictured in the film) is set for release in May, also detailed how she's found it 'hard to have a creative thought' in lockdown

Billie is mum to Winston, 12, and Eugene, nine, who she shares with ex Laurence Fox, and two-year-old daughter Tallulah, who she shares with beau Johnny Lloyd.

She will next be seen in movie Rare Beasts, which she directed and stars in as single mum Mandy who is navigating her failed love story with Pete [Leo Bill].

The star's character is said to be a modern woman in a crisis who is also trying to raise her son, Larch [Toby Woolf] in the midst of a female revolution.

Mandy is also seen mining the pain of her parents' separation when she falls upon a troubled man, Pete, who is searching for belonging and 'restored' male identity.

Rare Beasts was written back in 2012 when Billie was pregnant with her second son, Eugene, who she shares with her ex husband Laurence Fox.

Changes: Billie explained how her thoughts towards Rare Beasts have changed since she first worked on it, saying she now sees it as being about 'what it costs to be a woman' (pictured with on-screen son Larch [Toby Woolf] in the trailer)

And although the 'anti-romantic comedy' premiering at the Venice Film Festival back in 2019, it has only now been given a release date of May 21.

Billie explained how her thoughts towards the film have changed since she first worked on it, saying she now sees it as being about 'what it costs to be a woman' as well as feeling a bit like 'a mental health journey'.

Read more: Billie's interview appears in this week's edition of Radio Times

Billie has also starred in the 2019 indie film Eternal Beauty, playing the sister to Sally Hawkins's schizophrenic, and in the jet-black Sky Atlantic comedy drama I Hate Suzie.

Turning turning her attention to getting back to work as lockdown restrictions ease, Billie admitted that she's 'terrified' of trying to write the second series of I Hate Suzie.

It comes after Billie said boozy nights with Chris Evans helped her to overcome her teenage eating disorder.

The star, who topped the charts at 15, said the anorexia she had at the time 'was a reaction to the chaos' of fame and a punishing schedule of working up to 19 hours a day.

But she told Sunday's Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 that she found 'love and support' with Mr Evans, who is 17 years her senior, and they enjoyed partying.

'People looked upon that as me rebelling and falling apart. I'd stopped caring about how I looked, I'd put on loads of weight and was in pubs all the time,' she said.

'But that wasn't my experience. My experience of that time was I needed that. That felt like my sort of formative uni years. I felt loved and supported and we had a great time.'

Family: Billie has spent lockdown with sons Winston, 12, and Eugene, nine, who she shares with ex Laurence Fox, and two-year-old daughter Tallulah, who she shares with beau Johnny Lloyd (pictured together)

Candid: It comes after Billie said boozy nights with Chris Evans helped her to overcome her teenage eating disorder (pictured together in 2001)

The couple, who married in 2001 and divorced six years later, remain friends.

And although the mother-of-three may be one of the UK's most in-demand actresses, she said: 'I think fame is my least favourite thing about what I do. I really just find it quite repellent.'

She said she quit her initial stint as Rose Tyler in Dr Who in 2006 due to the pressure of being back in the public eye, adding: 'It was great in many ways

'But it made me really famous again in that sort of mainstream fame way that I find really uncomfortable. I loved that show. I loved Rose Tyler I didn't like the responsibility of being a sort of role model.'

Watch I Hate Suzie on Stan in Australia.
Their pregnancy pact came true this year.

And Lala Kent was on hand for a Mother's Day brunch with a few of her Vanderpump Rules co-stars in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 30-year-old reality star safely secured her daughter, Ocean, in a Nuna car seat after enjoying some time with old friends at Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's house in the San Fernando Valley.

Mom mode: Lala Kent was on hand for a Mother's Day brunch with a few of her Vanderpump Rules co-stars in Los Angeles on Saturday

Lala kept covered up in a cozy black hooded sweatshirt paired with denim shorts and black slides for the familial soiree.

She hid her platinum blonde hair underneath an Adidas hat and sported a pair of circular frames.

Kent welcomed her baby girl into the world in March with fiance Randall Emmett by her side.

Stassi Schroeder stopped by the VPR affair with her little one, Hartford, attached to her hip.

Party time: The 30-year-old reality star safely secured her daughter, Ocean, in a Nuna car seat after enjoying some time with old friends at Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright's house in the San Fernando Valley

Mommy and me: Stassi Schroeder stopped by the VPR affair with her little one, Hartford, attached to her hip

The Next Level Basic author rocked a short white linen dress with kitten heels for the backyard barbecue at her exes house.

Stassi's husband, Beau Clark, showed off an impressive amount of tattoos on his back as he went shirtless.

Katie Maloney sported a black T-shirt dress and white Vans sneakers as she stopped by her neighbor's house.

Fashion forward: The Next Level Basic author rocked a short white linen dress with kitten heels for the backyard barbecue at her exes house

Dad: Stassi's husband, Beau Clark, showed off an impressive amount of tattoos on his back as he went shirtless

Classic: Katie Maloney sported a black T-shirt dress and white Vans sneakers as she stopped by her neighbor's house

Jax was having the time of his life as he tooled around on his beer cooler go kart while wearing his now signature 'Dad' hat.

Brittany rocked an all-black ensemble while posing with the former SUR staff and newborn baby Cruz at her home.

Cartwright, Schroeder and Kent were a part of a pregnancy pact with Maloney, with the women hoping to create their own little community of VPR babies.

Bravo confirmed the resurgence of the popular reality show on Instagram last month with a snap of restaurateur and the show's namesake, Lisa Vanderpump, after a massive cast shake-up following the end of season eight which aired in June 2020 from footage the year before.

Tinker time: Jax was having the time of his life as he tooled around on his beer cooler go kart while wearing his now signature 'Dad' hat

Family forever: Brittany rocked an all-black ensemble while posing with the former SUR staff and newborn baby Cruz at her home

Mamas: Brittany and Lala later celebrated Mother's Day at Moonshadows in Malibu

Sweet: She gave birth to baby Cruz Michael Cauchi on April 12

Stassi and Kristen Doute were famously fired last year after racially motivated incident that resurfaced where they reported Black co-star Faith Stowers to the police in 2018 for a crime she did not commit.

While Brittany and Jax released his-and-hers statements about leaving the popular Bravo program in December, Variety reported they were fired following the fall out from racial accusations waged by Jax's former love interest, Faith Stowers, against co-stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute.

Brittany and Jax  who's real name is Jason Michael Cauchi  announced their big VPR news with matching posts highlighting a few of their favorite moments from the show which detailed many of their highs and lows throughout their relationship.

During an Instagram live in October, the former self-proclaimed 'No. 1 guy of the group' appeared to be waiting to resume his role on the show amid the COVID-19 pandemic when he answered: 'Vanderpump Rules is supposed to go back to filming. In fact, we are supposed to go back to filming this month. I think  that's the last I heard.'
Amelia and Delilah Hamlin were spotted in Los Angeles on Monday morning.

The daughters of RHOBH star Lisa Rinna and LA Law actor Harry Hamlin appeared to be making the most of the cool springtime weather as they took a stroll after spending time together at breakfast.

The sisters are widely known for their efforts in the modeling world, and the younger of the two has been in the public eye as of late as a result of her high-profile relationship with Scott Disick.

Sister's outing: Amelia and Delilah Hamlin were spotted taking a stroll after stepping out for breakfast in Los Angeles on Monday

Delilah was bra-free as she was dressed in a cropped white t-shirt that exposed her toned tummy and sculpted arms, and she kept a pair of sunglasses dangling from its collar.

The 22-year-old contrasted her top with pairs of light blue jeans and black Converse sneakers that she left untied during her outing.

The social media personality kept her beautiful blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and mostly covered underneath a beige cap.

She also carried a leather jacket and a Gucci purse while spending time with her younger sister, who opted to wear a pair of loose-fitting yellow sweat pants underneath a much lighter button-up jacket.

Covering up: The younger Hamlin sister opted to wear a button-up jacket and slightly loose-fitting sweat pants during the outing

Comfy clothing: Delilah opted to wear a cropped white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans while spending time with her sister

The 19-year-old younger Hamlin sister also wore a pair of stylish light yellow sandals and kept her typically free-flowing brunette hair tied back in a bun during her time with her sibling.

The two are well known for their work in the fashion industry and often share photos from their shoots to their respective Instagram accounts.

On Friday, Delilah shared a trio of shots to her outlet that showed her posing in front of a white wall while promoting items from the clothing company Alo Yoga.

She was pictured wearing a denim jacket on top of a cropped white t-shirt and a pair of matching sweat-shorts from the athleisure brand.

The model also included a short message in the post's caption that read: 'giving you my mediocre side eye.'

High-profile siblings: The Hamlin sisters are well known for their presence on social media and for their efforts in the modeling world

Doing her thing: On Friday, Delilah shared a trio of snaps to her Instagram account as a promotion for the athleisure company Alo Yoga

Although Amelia is well known for her modeling efforts as well, her recent exposure in the public eye has been from her relationship with Disick.

Hamlin and the 37-year-old reality television personality were first spotted together in October of last year and developed a connection over the next few months.

The social media figure's parents were reportedly worried about their daughter, given the noticeable age gap between the two, although she appears to have brushed their concerns off.

After the couple went Instagram official in November, they began to occasionally pop up on each other's feeds and were seen in public much more often than before.

In recent weeks, Disick has been entertaining the idea of moving in with Hamlin, who is supportive of her boyfriend's close relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Kourtney Kardashian.
Radio host Kyle Sandilands sensationally threatened to quit his top-rating breakfast show on Tuesday over a disagreement with KIIS FM management.

He started the broadcast at 6am in a filthy mood after discovering senior managers had removed the much-hyped Most Beautiful Penis Pageant from the podcast edition of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

Sandilands, 49, claimed he'd been 'lied to by station management' who allegedly told him the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant would be included uncensored on The Kyle and Jackie O podcast - which is one of the most popular in Australia.

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Ropeable: Radio host Kyle Sandilands sensationally threatened to quit his top-rating breakfast show on Tuesday over a disagreement with KIIS FM management

When he woke up to discover the segment - which he'd been trying to get on air for months - had been edited out of the podcast, he was ropeable.

He offered a stern warning to station management and vowed to find out which executive was responsible for the decision.

'You don't go up against me or you'll be finished,' he said. 'I wish I could name a name but I don't know a name yet.'

Sandilands' co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson, 46, was less outraged by the podcast snub but was nonetheless confused as to why it was edited out.

Where did it go? He started the broadcast at 6am in a filthy mood after discovering senior managers had removed the much-hyped Most Beautiful Penis Pageant from the podcast edition of The Kyle and Jackie O Show

'The Penis Pageant is happening on our show; we've just got to make sure it's on our podcast. I don't understand. If it can be heard here...' she said.

'[On other] podcasts people are saying so much worse. There's a lot of freedom of speech on there. [On] podcasts they're saying anything they want to.'

Sandilands added: 'I don't think our company understands audio. Get a grip. One more lie from this management and you'll never see me again.'

He then backed down on his threat slightly by making a joke about having 'to rob banks to survive' without his radio salary.

Dispute: Sandilands, 49, claimed he'd been 'lied to by station management' who allegedly told him the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant would be included uncensored on The Kyle and Jackie O podcast - which is one of the most popular in Australia

But jokes aside, he seemed genuinely angry and upset that management had gone behind his back by removing his beloved Penis Pageant from the podcast.

He concluded: 'Anyway, the witch hunt will continue behind the scenes, and when I find out the culprit, they will be exposed for the lying dog they are.

'Tricking and lying and ducking and weaving. How embarrassing. It's embarrassing.'

It's not uncommon for content broadcast on live radio to be removed when a show is uploaded as a podcast on Apple, Spotify or other audio streaming platforms.

This is typically done to cover up gaffes, but sometimes it's due to legal concerns.

Legally problematic content broadcast on live radio often doesn't result in any consequences for stations because live radio is considered an ephemeral medium - in other words, it is aired once then 'disappears' and is forgotten.

But when the content is uploaded to the Internet, it becomes more permanent and searchable on Google, which can result in complaints down the track.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted KIIS FM for comment.

'If it can be heard here...' Sandilands' co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson, 46, was less outraged by the podcast snub but was nonetheless confused as to why it was edited out

The radio duo announced last week they would be holding their long-awaited Most Beautiful Penis Pageant, after months of negotiations with management and lawyers at KIIS FM.

Sandilands was particularly enthusiastic about the concept, which he first proposed on air last year, declaring: 'This is the greatest day of my life.'

Network bosses had previously expressed concerns about the ethics and legality of such a contest, and were especially worried about minors sending in explicit photos.

The pageant itself will be held on May 17, when five men will strip down in the studio.

However, entrants must describe their genitals rather than submit photos.

Official: The radio duo announced last week they would be holding their long-awaited Most Beautiful Penis Pageant, after months of negotiations with management and KIIS FM lawyers

'Because we can't receive actual pictures, because it could be pictures of someone else or revenge porn... what you do is you describe your penis and why it's so beautiful,' Henderson said.

Questions on the entry form include 'Why do you deserve to be in the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant?' and 'What alias you would like to use on air to conceal your identity?'

Further explaining the rules, Henderson said: 'Apparently you've got to put them in some unitard where everything's covered except for a hole for the penis.

'So we're not distracted by the beauty of someone.'

'Or the grossness,' added Sandilands. 'We are only judging by penis and penis alone.'

The winner will get $1,000 and a sash 'which will drape around your penis declaring you as the most beautiful penis in the world,' said Sandilands.

They will also receive a 'little crown that fits right on the end of your penis'.

He did it! Sandilands was particularly enthusiastic about the concept, which he first proposed on air last year, declaring: 'This is the greatest day of my life'

Meanwhile, the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant has been the subject of much behind-the-scenes legal wrangling at KIIS FM.

Sandilands risked getting himself in trouble with his own lawyer on Friday after reading a confidential legal letter live on air.

The letter outlined how senior KIIS FM staffers must sign a waiver before male listeners are permitted to strip down in the studio in front of them.

Sandilands found the formal wording of the letter amusing and so decided to read it aloud, but there was an awkward moment when he reached the part of the letter that stated its contents were supposed to be strictly confidential.

'I'm going to read my letter,' the shock jock began.

Over the line: Meanwhile, the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant has been the subject of much behind-the-scenes legal wrangling at KIIS FM

'"Dear Kyle, I refer to the document which was submitted to us Wednesday, May 5, from ARN" - which is Australian Radio Network - "deed of consent for Kyle and Jackie O's Most Beautiful Penis Pageant.

'"Following is the advice, which is confidential and not for publica..." Oh, not for publication.'

Despite the fact the letter expressly stated the contents were confidential, Kyle continued anyway.

Reading the letter, he went on: '"Whilst I'm comfortable with you signing what essentially amounts to a waiver for the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant, it's important that I explain what this entails.

'"Clause three states that you" - me, right? - "accept all risk associated with the Most Beautiful Penis Pageant. These risks include, but are not limited to, 1) Being exposed to full-frontal male nudity" - that's fine - "2) Being exposed to unsolicited images of penises, scrotums and potentially anuses..." Imagine the poor person writing this letter! Some poor paralegal sitting there typing this up.'

Sandilands continued: '"We know that if you were to be traumatised through the exposure to nudity etc. or physically injured that you have no legal recourse in recouping any damages through the Australian Radio Network."'

Henderson added: 'I don't think we have to worry about that, do we?'

'Some poor paralegal sitting there typing this up...' Sandilands risked getting himself in trouble with his own lawyer on Friday after reading a confidential legal letter about the pageant live on air. The letter outlined how senior KIIS FM staffers must sign a waiver before male listeners are permitted to strip down in the studio in front of them

Sandilands went on, quoting the letter: '"It is important to acknowledge that any physical or psychological harm that would stem from being host, judge and creator of Most Beautiful Penis Pageant are solely your responsibility.

'"While this type of activity may appear to be fun, there are real-life consequences with much to be considered from partaking in this type of activity.'"

KIIS FM newsreader Brooklyn Ross then asked: 'So are you going to sign the waiver?'

'Yeah, I'm going to sign the waiver,' Kyle responded. 'It just means I can't sue if someone comes in here and stabs me to death during it.'

Sandilands found it baffling that anybody could be traumatised by a penis pageant, and asked his producers if they'd already signed the waiver.

They all said they had signed except for Jackie, who admitted she hadn't yet but intended to once her manager had read over it.
Caitlyn Jenner was snapped in Malibu on Monday amid gubernatorial run in her home state of California, amid a new report that her son is Brody 'embarrassed' by her political aspirations to supplant Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The Olympian, 71, donned a red V-neck sweater with dark blue jeans and grey trainers and a black leather purse, she clutched a pair of Starbucks beverages while running errands.

She had her brown locks parted and down in the luxe Southern California community, wearing a medical face mask amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Monday Monday: Caitlyn Jenner, 71, was snapped in Malibu on Monday amid her gubernatorial run in her home state of California, amid a new report that her son is Brody 'embarrassed' by her political aspirations to supplant Gov. Gavin Newsom

The I Am Cait star was seen after a new report from Page Six quoted a source who said Brody, 37, thought Caitlyn's nationally-televised chat with Sean Hannity on Fox News last week was 'embarrassing.'

Caitlyn was panned on social media for being tone-deaf in the chat, at one point complaining about her state's burgeoning homelessness rates amid an anecdote about how she owns a private airplane hangar.

She told Hannity in the chat: 'My friends are leaving California. My hangar, the guy right across, he was packing up his hangar. And I said, "Where are you going?" And he says, "I'm moving to Sedona, Arizona. I cant take it anymore. I cant walk down the streets and see the homeless."'

She added: 'I dont want to leave: Either I stay and fight, or I get out of here.'

Staying safe: She had her brown locks parted and down in the luxe Southern California community, wearing a medical face mask amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic

The latest: The I Am Cait star was seen after a new report from Page Six quoted a source who said Brody thought Caitlyn's nationally-televised chat with Sean Hannity on Fox News last week was 'embarrassing'

Caitlyn on Monday continued her campaign on Twitter, as she said her views on immigration align with former President Donald Trump's.

'I am for LEGAL immigration,' she said. 'I strongly support the wall and I oppose open borders. As Gov, I will end CA being a sanctuary state and I would see violent criminals deported immediately.

'Once our border is secure, we need to fix our broken immigration system to address those who are working and living their lives in CA. Legal immigration makes us stronger.'

She also continued her criticism of Newsom, writing, 'Our California leadership is so broken. In Gavin Newsoms California it is easier to get Fentanyl than a plastic straw. #BrokenWokeness.'

Caitlyn on Monday continued her campaign on Twitter, as she said her views on immigration align with former President Donald Trump's

In the meantime, Brody has been 'avoiding situations where he may be asked about' Caitlyn's political campaign as he promotes The Hills: New Beginnings with castmates.

One such occurrence was last week when Brody didn't do a cast interview on Good Morning America about the show's upcoming season.

The source said that 'had he got asked a question during GMA, that would have been all anyone talked about,' and that Brody was supported by costars Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, Audrina Patridge and Frankie Delgado in his decision to sit out the interview.

Jenner announced her candidacy via Twitter last month, writing, 'Im in,' in declaring her intent to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall election.

Laying low: In the meantime, Brody has been 'avoiding situations where he may be asked about' Caitlyn's political campaign as he promotes The Hills: New Beginnings with castmates

Miscue: Caitlyn was panned on social media for being tone-deaf in the chat with Sean Hannity, at one point complaining about her state's burgeoning homelessness rates amid an anecdote about how she owns a private airplane hangar

Jenner announced her candidacy for the election via Twitter last month

In a statement she issued, Jenner said she was focused on issues such as boosting the economy, tax breaks and a position against the state's left-leaning policies.

The 1976 Summer Olympics decathlon winner said in a statement she's the only potential candidate 'who can put an end to Gavin Newsoms disastrous time as governor.'

Competition Jenner faces within the Republican party include businessman John Cox, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Rep. Doug Ose.
Bindi Irwin celebrated her first Mother's Day on Sunday.

And on Monday, the wildlife warrior, 22, shared a heart-warming Instagram photo of the three generations of women in her family.

Bindi posted a lovely photo of herself with her mother, Terri Irwin, 56, and her six-week-old daughter, Grace Warrior.

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Three generations of Irwin women in one photo: Bindi, 22, beamed alongside her mother, Terri, 56, and her six-week-old daughter, Grace Warrior, at Australia Zoo on Monday

Bindi and her husband, Chandler Powell, welcomed their daughter on March 25, which happened to be the couple's first wedding anniversary.

Out of their usual Australia Zoo khaki uniforms, Bindi and her mother were dressed casually for a special moment with the youngster.

New mother Bindi cradled her little girl, who wore a polka-dot onesie, as grandmother Terri huddled in for the sweet photo.

Bindi paid tribute to her mother over the weekend, writing on Instagram: 'Thank you for showing me the infinite power of a mamas love. You are the real life Wonder Woman. I love you beyond description.'

'We decided that shes going to be called Bunny': The Irwins are choosing to refer to Terri as 'Bunny' instead of 'grandma' as little Grace grows up

'It means fun uncle. I love it!' Bindi and her husband, Chandler Powell, joked that her younger brother, Robert (right), had decided to upgrade his title from 'uncle' to 'funcle'

However, it appears the Irwins are choosing to reject the 'grandma' title for Terri, instead opting for 'Bunny'.

'We spent a long time searching for grandma names that also had an animal link,' Bindi told The Bump of Terri's nickname.

'We decided that shes going to be called "Bunny". When she was growing up in Oregon her neighbour down the street was always called "Bunny",' she confirmed.

Bindi and Chandler also joked that her younger brother, Robert, 17, had decided to upgrade his title from 'uncle' to 'funcle', meaning a 'fun uncle'.

Close-knit family: Bindi, Chandler (left) and the Irwin family all live and work together at Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast

The couple announced they were expecting their first child together in August last year, and revealed a month later they were having a girl.

Bindi and Chandler share a close relationship with her family, and they all live and work together at Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

After giving birth to her daughter, Bindi was reportedly 'so struck' by her baby girl's appearance because she had her late father Steve Irwin's nose.

Steve, known to millions around the world as 'the Crocodile Hunter', died on September 4, 2006, at the age of 44 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland.
They were regularly spotted together on the London social circuit towards the end of the Noughties.

And David Walliams reunited with his model ex Keeley Hazell, 34, on Monday as they they enjoyed a cosy dinner together at Harry's Bar in Mayfair, London.

The Britain's Got Talent judge, 49, cut a dapper figure in a double breasted suit while the former page 3 girl, who was recently linked to actor Jason Sudeikis, 45, also put on a stylish display in a blazer and trousers.

Catching up? David Walliams reunited with his model ex Keeley Hazell, 34, on Monday as they enjoyed a cosy dinner together at Harry's Bar in Mayfair, London

David appeared to be in good spirits while chatting to Keeley across the table and as they strolled along the street with his dog.

He looked suave in his tailored suit which he styled with a light blue shirt and smart navy tie.

Keeley showcased her impeccable sense of style in an all-black ensemble of wide-leg trousers, a blazer and high-neck jumper.

The blonde beauty, who wore her glossy locks down, toted a small leather handbag and accessorised with a selection of gold necklaces.

Dinner out: The Britain's Got Talent judge, 49, and former page 3 model, 34, appeared to be in good spirits as they chatted across the table

The duo were last seen enjoying dinner together at private members' club George in Mayfair last November.

A source told The Sun at the time: 'David and Keeley really seemed to enjoy each other's company, and were very tactile in the restaurant.

'Once they left, she cuddled up to him as she braved the cold depths of a November night.'

While in July it was reported David had moved Keeley into his London home for nine months after she returned from the US.

Style: Keeley, who was recently linked to actor Jason Sudeikis, 45, also put on a stylish display in a blazer and trousers

Heading out: While David looked suave in his tailored suit which he styled with a light blue shirt and smart navy tie

Although they reportedly share a 'special chemistry', it was believed that David and Keeley are just close pals and share a long-standing friendship.

A source told The Sun: 'David and Keeley go way back and have kept in touch since she attempted to break into acting in the US.

'He has a big empty home and was grateful for the company so it suited both parties. During her glamour modelling days, David was known as a keen admirer but now sees her very much as a close pal.

'Keeley also used David's pad as a base while renovating her new home in London She moved out just before lockdown.'

MailOnline contacted David's representative for comment at the time.

Off they go: Keeley jumped into the large black car as David said a few final words to someone

Last year, Keeley revealed she was looking for a new man in her life, as well as a new line of work as she told her followers: 'Looking for a job and a boyfriend. Not sure where I'm going wrong.'

And in March the former page 3 model was linked to Olivia Wilde's ex Jason Sudeikis after they were seen leaving her London flat.

The pair had even been been sharing a wardrobe, as Keeley was pictured wearing the colourful hoodie that Jason, 45, wore to pick up a Golden Globe Award.

The American actor raised eyebrows with his casual attire when he accepted the gong for Best Actor  Television Series Musical or Comedy via video link, sitting in what later was proven to be Keeley's living room.

London lockdown: Jason and Keeley first sparked claims they were living together in London after the actor appeared on the Golden Globes in a room later proven to be her flat (pictured)

Look familiar? Keeley appeared to post a snap to Instagram Stories from the same living room, after Jason journeyed to the UK to film the second season of Ted Lasso

Shortly after he recorded his video acceptance speech in the front room, Keeley snapped a selfie in the space - suggesting they have been locked down together or formed a support bubble between them to comply with Covid lockdown rules.

While it was reported last summer that David had set his sights on a romance with Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts. According to The Sun, he was believed to have split from celebrity make-up artist, Lou Teasdale, in 2020 following a brief romance.

The children's author's most high-profile relationship to date was with Dutch model Lara Stone, with whom he shares son Alfred, seven. The former couple wed in May 2010 after just one year of dating, and split in October 2015.

David, who previously revealed he 'wouldn't rule out' a same-sex relationship in the future, also dated Made In Chelsea's Ashley James shortly after his divorce.
Monday marked 31 years of sobriety for six-time Golden Globe nominee Rob Lowe, who began drinking heavily as a teenager before finding fame.

'Today I have 31 years drug and alcohol free,' the 57-year-old Brat Packer - who boasts 3.2M Instagram/Twitter followers - announced.

'I want to give thanks to everyone walking this path with me, and welcome anyone thinking about joining us; the free and the happy.'

'The free and the happy': Monday marked 31 years of sobriety for six-time Golden Globe nominee Rob Lowe, who began drinking heavily as a teenager before finding fame

Rob made sure to thank his wife Sheryl and their sons Matthew, 27; and John, 25; for 'putting up with me.'

Lowe's Instagram post received supportive (and sarcastic) comments from four-time Grammy nominee Jewel, his son John, and his younger brother Chad.

The ex hard-partying womanizer got sober and went to rehab in 1990 - two years after getting caught originating the concept of the celebrity sex tape.

Rob met the 59-year-old jewelry designer on a blind date in 1983 but didn't wed her until he got sober, and they'll impressively celebrate 30 years of marriage on July 22.

'Big hug!' The 57-year-old Brat Packer made sure to thank his wife Sheryl and their sons Matthew, 27; and John, 25; for 'putting up with me' (pictured November 26)

'So proud of you, dad!' Rob's Instagram post received supportive (and sarcastic) comments from four-time Grammy nominee Jewel, his son John, and his younger brother Chad

Ex hard-partying womanizer: Lowe got sober and went to rehab in 1990 (pictured) - two years after getting caught originating the concept of the celebrity sex tape

Impressive! The Literally podcaster met the 59-year-old jewelry designer (R, pictured March 17) on a blind date in 1983 but didn't wed her until he got sober, and they'll celebrate 30 years of marriage on July 22

Lowe executive produces and stars as Austin firefighter Owen Strand in the second season of 9-1-1 spin-off Lone Star, which airs Mondays on Fox.

And it's a family affair considering the Literally podcaster's son John Owen works as a Lone Star staff writer and his brother Chad directed the May 3 episode.

Rob will also host the second season of Fox trivia game show Mental Samurai - premiering May 25 - where contestants are catapulted around the set in a 360-degree turning capsule.

'The Big Heat': Rob executive produces and stars as Austin firefighter Owen Strand in the second season of 9-1-1 spin-off Lone Star, which airs Mondays on Fox
They shot to fame on the 2020 series of Winter Love Island.

And twins Jess and Eve Gale looked glamorous as they stepped out in London on Monday.

The blonde beauties, 22, showcased their curves as they slipped into skintight outfits for their night out.

Love Islanders: Jess and Eve Gale looked glamorous as they stepped out in London on Monday

Jess displayed her pert derriere and trim waist in a powder blue and black striped jumpsuit, teamed with nude heels.

Her blonde tresses were styled in soft waves while a rich palette of make-up enhanced her pretty features.

Eve put on a busty display in a chocolate woollen dress which drew the eye to her endless bronzed legs.

She layered up in a tan blazer for her night out.

Strut: Jess displayed her pert derriere and trim waist in a powder blue and black striped jumpsuit, teamed with nude heels

Pals: The stars held hands with one of their glamorous pals as they stepped out

Glow: Eve looked sensational in her nude and very leggy ensemble

Eve and Jess recently returned to the UK following their 'work' trip to the UAE.

The TV twins were just two of many celebrities who jetted to Dubai throughout the pandemic.

They joined many other Love Islanders including Joanna Chimonides, Hayley Hughes and Francesca Allen.

After Dubai joined UK's travel ban list, celebrities then began flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it established itself as the next COVID getaway destination.

Many stars insisted their trips were for 'work purposes' after criticism from Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Several influencers were forced to hit back at fans after they were criticised for jetting off on holiday during the global pandemic.

Jess and Eve rose to fame on the first ever series of winter Love Island back in 2020.

While Eve was booted off after less than a week, Jess made it to the final with Ched Uzor - with the pair going their separate ways shortly afterwards.
Laverne Cox is replacing Giuliana Rancic as E!'s main red carpet host, and will be taking over when covering Hollywood's biggest nights including the Oscars.

The news was announced Monday that Cox, 48, will be taking over from Rancic, 46, who has been doing the job for 20 years, as the host of their flagship red carpet program Live from E!

'Laverne Cox is a risk-taker, groundbreaking pioneer and a fashion tour de force,' a statement from NBCUniversals Jen Neal read.

Sashay away! Laverne Cox to replace Giuliana Rancic as E!'s red carpet host and will cover Hollywood's biggest nights (both pictured in 2020)

'As we continue to evolve the way we cover Hollywoods biggest nights, Lavernes passion for, and extensive knowledge of, the fashion community resonates with our audience and we look forward to seeing her shine on the other side of the velvet rope.'

Cox released her own statement saying: 'I'm so excited and deeply humbled to be hosting E!'s iconic red carpet coverage. For many years I would wake up early on awards show days, get my snacks in place and watch E!'s coverage all day long.'

She added: 'I dreamed of walking red carpets  I can't wait to get started while hopefully serving up fashion fantasies for the ages, honey.'

Swan song: Last week, Rancic announced her exit from the top red carpet job after 20 years

Last week, Rancic announced her early retirement from the show in an Instagram post saying: 'After 20 fabulous years hosting E!'s red carpet, I have decided to step out of my red carpet heels into a new pair of shoes.'

'One of my passions is great storytelling and I am thrilled to announce a new development deal with E!'s parent company NBCUniversal where I will be producing and bringing stories to life.'

She concluded: 'To my E! family, thank you for allowing me to make my red carpet dreams come true for the past two decades. It has truly been a highlight of my career and life. '
Paul Hogan has spoken for the first time about his miserable life in crime-ravaged Los Angeles.

The Crocodile Dundee star, 81, revealed on Sunrise on Tuesday he was 'desperate' to return to Australia and leave his life in America behind.

'I am desperately homesick,' he told hosts David 'Kochie' Koch and Natalie Barr during a video chat from his $4.5million LA mansion.

'Am I homesick? You bet your life': Paul Hogan admitted on Sunrise he's 'desperately homesick' and can't wait to leave his life in crime-ravaged Venice, Los Angeles, behind

Paul lives in the once-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where a vast increase in homelessness has seen hundreds of tents line the beach's famous boardwalk and resulted in a sharp increase in crime.

'You're living in the country, alongside New Zealand, that's the light of the world,' Paul told the presenters.

'And I'm living in LA County, which is 10 million people and half of them have got Covid. So am I homesick? You bet your life,' he complained.

'My son [Chance] would have to be with me, we'd strangle each other': The movie star went on to say he 'wouldn't survive' Australia's mandatory 14-day quarantine

'Hell on earth': Paul lives in the once-elite beachside suburb of Venice, where a vast increase in homelessness has seen hundreds of tents line the beach's famous boardwalk and resulted in a sharp increase in crime

When asked how he was coping with Los Angeles' recent crime wave, Paul simply said he 'doesn't go anywhere'.

'[I'm] bored in lockdown, and the minute I can get on the plane without being locked in a hotel for two weeks, I'm back,' he said.

The movie star went on to explain he 'wouldn't survive' Australia's mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.

Fears: Paul is holed up inside his 'fortress-like' $4.5million mansion with his son Chance, 23

'My son [Chance] would have to be with me... we'd strangle each other,' he said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Paul said he was sick of anti-vaxxers in America, calling them 'brainless cowards'.

'They don't care about anyone else. [They say], "I'm brave, I like freedom." What about your grandma? You killed her. All of that gets on top of you, and I want to escape it for a while,' he said.

Locked in: When asked how he was coping with Los Angeles' recent crime wave, Paul simply said he 'doesn't go anywhere'

Paul is currently holed up inside his 'fortress-like' $4.5million mansion with his son Chance, 23, according to reports.

'Where Paul lives in hell on earth,' Paul's neighbour Tyler Proctor, a local politician, told Woman's Day on Monday.

'His house is like a fortress and it needs to be. I can see why [he] wants to move out,' Mr Proctor added.

'I can't wait for this stupid disease to go away so I can get out': The comedian revealed last year that he was itching to leave the U.S. as soon as the coronavirus pandemic is over

Paul moved to the United States permanently in 2005, after growing up in Granville in Sydney's western suburbs.

However, the comedian revealed last year that he was itching to leave the U.S. as soon as the coronavirus pandemic is over.

'I can't wait for this stupid disease to go away so I can get out,' Paul revealed in the News Corp podcast Evenin' Viewers with Paul Hogan.

'I'm here out of paternal duty': Despite yearning to come back to Australia, Paul said he would remain living in Venice to be a part of his son Chance's life. Pictured in December 2016

'I'm like a kangaroo in a Russian zoo - I don't belong here.'

Despite yearning to come back to Australia, Paul said he would remain living in Venice to be a part of his son's life.

Paul shares Chance with his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski, whom he married in 1991 before divorcing in 2014.

Terrifying situation: It comes as residents of Venice say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community unbearable

'I'm here out of paternal duty because my kid is an American,' he said.

'My kid is a "Yaussie", a yank Aussie, he went to school here, his friends are here, his band is here.'

Paul added that if Chance was prepared to move with him to Australia, Paul would be 'out of here in a flash'.

Tent city: The world-famous beach community, 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles, has traditionally been a major tourism drawcard for the Californian city. However, now the palm trees and promenade are blighted by hundreds of tents

Police patrol the Venice Beach Boardwalk on April 20, which has seen an explosion in homeless numbers during COVID lockdowns

It comes as residents of Venice say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community unbearable.

Business owners say they are being forced to close their doors and longterm residents are afraid to leave their homes after dark after being subjected to violent attacks and intimidation.

The world-famous beach community, 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles, has traditionally been a major tourism drawcard for the Californian city.

Venice Family Clinic's Director of Homeless Services Dr. Coley King, left, treats Kenard Durr, center, at the world-famous beach. A homeless encampment at the beach has exploded during COVID lockdown (April 20)

However, now the palm trees and promenade are blighted by hundreds of tents.

Venice Neighbourhood Council member Soledad Ursua said the homeless encampments had exploded during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

She said residents were afraid to be out after dark, and there were fights several times a day and shootings and stabbings on a weekly basis.

Rubbish and waste litter the golden sands of Venice Beach. Anti-social elements have made it dangerous to go out after dark, residents say

Fights occur several times a day, while shootings and stabbings are common, say residents of Venice Beach, who are fearful of increased crime rates since the homeless encampments became permanent

'It's just a very dangerous time to be a Venice resident right now,' she said.

According to figures from the Los Angeles Police Department provided to the Venice Neighbourhood Council, the violent robberies in the neighbourhood are up 177 per cent from last year.

The same period has also seen a 162 per cent increase in cases of assault with a deadly weapon involving a homeless person.

'Venice's world famous beach and boardwalk are crippled,' a letter to city and county officials from residents says

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents have put their signatures to a letter pleading for help from city and county officials.

'Venice's world famous beach and boardwalk are crippled,' it says.

'Local children are refusing to come to the beach because they're frightened by what they've witnessed. Seniors who live on or near the boardwalk are terrified of walking in their own neighbourhoods.'
Canadian police arrested Pastor Artur Pawlowski on Saturday for allegedly violating proposed public health rules concerning in-house church gatherings.

According to The Blaze, both Artur and his brother Dawid Pawlowski were detained for violating the Queen's Bench Order by conducting Saturday's church service.

Their arrest came after the Alberta Health Services won a Court of Queen's Bench Order on Thursday that prohibits all public health meetings, marches, and demonstrations during the coronavirus pandemic. The order introduces additional coronavirus-related meeting limitations, including the usage of facial masks, social distancing, and participation limits.

Pawlowski, who gained international acclaim last month for throwing Canadian police and a health official out of his church while referring to them as and "gestapo," organized a church service in Alberta on Saturday, where "dozens congregated without masks and with no physical distancing," reports Calgary Herald.

As per the official statement released by Calgary Police, the brothers face charges of organizing an illegal in-person meeting, which includes demanding, inciting, or inviting people to join, as well as supporting and attending an illegal public gathering.

The statement said further that the Pawlowski brothers were presented with a new court order prior to Saturday's church service, but they were arrested because they "choose to disregard the conditions." A Canadian court recently ordered Alberta Health Services to put an end to numerous protests and marches that violate public health directives throughout the province.

Pastor Artur was arrested by the police less than an hour after the church service. He notoriously referred to them as "Nazis" the last time they and health authorities came to his church to issue him court papers. At least six patrol cars stopped the car Artur drove on his way home. Because of Saturday's church service, Calgary Police told Artur and his brother Dawid that they were being arrested for breaking public health orders for assemblies.

According Rebel News, the Fortress (Cave) of Adullam pastor was apprehended by a SWAT squad and forced to kneel in the center of a busy highway yesterday.

"It was clear from the moment of his arrest that this had nothing to do with a virus, and everything to do with political control," comments the outlet that's following through Pastor Artur's arrest.

Some witnesses also called out the police for doing something that wasn't normally done in free Canada.

"Shame on you guys, this is not Communist China. Don't you have family and kids? Whatever happened to 'Canada, God keep our land glorious and free?" an onlooker shouted at police as they arrested Pastor Artur.

For five minutes, reporter Adam Soos was able to talk with Pastor Artur. Based on their call recording, the pastor, who's currently in jail, was unaware of the worldwide outpouring of help for him, and still unaware that his three-person law team had been attempting to communicate with him nonstop, but that police had declined to forward their calls to him.

"This was an interesting interview for a number of reasons. But the fact that police were abusing him, and stopping him from getting legal counsel is outrageous - and shows that this has never been about a pandemic," states the political and social commentary media.

In April 2020, the Christian pastor was one of the first Canadians to receive a lockdown ticket for the 'crime' of feeding the homeless in downtown Calgary.

About a half-dozen police officers reportedly approached him and slapped him with a $1,200 fine.

But Pastor Artur is not alone; several other Canadian pastors are still able to step up and struggle for their religious rights, including Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, who received a similar health injunction before being sentenced to 35 days in prison for failing to comply, and who remains on trial to this day for failing to comply with government COVID-19 health laws.

Pastor Coates's church moved to a new site after police erected a barrier around it to keep protesters away. The fence was subsequently broken down by protesters.

Soos started a crowdfunding campaign meant to raise funds to cover Pastor Artur Pawlowski's legal fees. All proceeds will go to The Democracy Fund, a registered Canadian charity helping the "Fight The Fines" project. Those who want to donate to Pastor Artur's cause can donate here.
One of the world's largest corporations is the latest to push critical race theory onto their millions of employees across America.

Newly leaked documents show how Disney is promoting critical race theory amongst its employees through a new "diversity and inclusion" program called "Reimagine Tomorrow," which serves as an "anti-racism discussion guide" and an "allyship for race consciousness." The leaked documents encourage Disney employees to inquire, "What can I do about racism?" in its mission to go full woke.

The Disney internal documents were obtained by City-Journal's Christopher Rufo, who reports that Disney is pushing critical race theory onto its employees by encouraging them to recognize their "white privilege" through a "white privilege checklist" and acknowledge that America was founded on "systemic racism."

Rufo reported that according to Disney staff who wish to remain anonymous, the full woke program of the company has "become deeply politicized and engulfed parts of the company in racial conflict."

At the center of the racial program is a commitment to become allies for race consciousness, a call to action that encourages white employees to "take ownership of educating [themselves] about structural anti-Black racism" and refrain from relying on their Black colleagues for insights because it is "emotionally taxing."

The leaked documents from Disney insist that America has a "long history of systemic racism and transphobia" and that white employees, specifically, should "challenge colorblind ideologies and rhetoric." The New York Post reported that Disney's new woke program also instructs employees to reject "equality" and instead push for "equity."

More shockingly is how an employee confessed about the chaos that the new woke Disney program had caused. An employee said that Disney has become "completely ideologically one-sided" and that they have "actively [discouraged] Christian and or conservative workers from speaking their mind."

Ironically, Disney's full woke anti-racism program has also racially segregated "affinity groups" for minority employees, The Blaze reported. These groups were built to share "culturally-authentic insights." Documents showed that there were three major groups: "Hola" for Latinos, "Compass" for Asians, and "Wakanda" for African-Americans.

Rufo told FOX News' Tucker Carlson that the Disney's full woke critical race theory program is a "great irony" because the company is led by some of the "richest and most powerful and privileged white males in the history of humanity" who are together "pushing this divisive, critical race theory based ideology as corporate dogma." Rufo called it "self-hatred."

The bigger question is why does a company like Disney, who owns Marvel, Pixar, ESPN, Lucasfilm, and more, insist on critical race theory and forces white employees to repent for the "systemic racism" committed by one's ancestors?

"Disney is dividing the country it once helped to inspire, inviting entirely justified blowback from the vast number of Americans it now derogates, disregards, and caricatures," Ethics and Public Policy Center senior fellow Stanley Kurtz told The Federalist. "As Disney and other woke corporations plunge America into the bitterest cultural conflict in memory, they deserve to feel shame, not pride."

A Disney spokesperson told the NYPost that the leaked documents are being "deliberately distorted as reflective of company policy."
DJ Khaleds Khaled Khaled has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart.

According to Nielsen MRC Data, the album moved 93,000 equivalent units including 14,000 actual sales and 76,000 streaming equivalents (from just under 107 million plays).

The album is doing better on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music than on sites like iTunes, which speaks to the listening habits of the DJs fans, according to Forbes.com.

This is the third time at number one on the Billboard 200 chart for DJ Khaled. He previously hit the mark with Grateful and Major Key and has been getting praises for his marketing efforts from industry players for this latest project.

P. Diddy in congratulating Khaled on his marketing plan said,  I aint gon lie I never seen nuttn like this I have done a bunch of crazy roll outs that have always been my strength. The way that you roll this sh*t out I need to knowsometimes you think you know it all.. I am a believer. I dont know that there is another album that can get my time right now because of the energy you put out

The energy talked about by P. Diddy includes an elaborate visit to Jamaica to record music and shoot music videos. He started promoting the album last year but things became interesting after the Jamaica visit last month.

Khaled and his family stayed at the exclusive Rio Chico resort owned by Sandals Caribbean, which he calls The Holy Mountain.

Adam Stewart, Chairman of the Sandals group in an Instagram Live with Khaled said he is blown away by the way Khaled carries himself.

This is such a treat for us here in Jamaica because the relationship you have with Jamaica I have come to learn by walking closely with you is unusualEven the leadership in our government is blown away and humbled by the way you carried everyone around from Jamaica and the Caribbean. From your days in fully loaded its fascinating to watch you.

Khaled responded to Adam by saying, Jamaica is home for me and its part of my story.

DJ Khaled went to extreme lengths to promote Khaled Khaled and by all indications it has paid off. The video for Sorry Not Sorry featuring Jay Z and Nas has been top trending on YouTube since the day it was released.

The album is the number one Hip Hop album on iTunes which categorized even the Reggae singles as Hip Hop on the charts.

Khaled Khaled has 14 tracks ranging from Pop, Hip Hop, Reggae and R&B and features 30 artists. Among them are: Cardi B, Lil baby, Lil Wayne, Drake, Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Barrington Levy, Capleton and others.

Khaled has dropped music videos for a number of the songs on the album and Every Chance I Get music video featuring Lil Baby and Lil Dirk is the top trending song in the United States this week onYouTube.

Email: worldmusicviews@gmail.com
Enjoying Chengdu in musical Wuhou

11:13, May 10, 2021 By Wei Deng ( People's Daily Online

Wuhou in Chengdu, the capital of the ancient Shu State of China, boasts the unique charm of the Ba-Shu culture. At the end of 2020, British lad Scott Draper watched a performance at Chengdu City Concert Hall at the invitation of his friend, famous violinist Weizhi Wang. With the theme of Enjoying Chengdu in Musical Wuhou", the third episode of the docuseries Viewing China from Afar China" Season III produced by People's Daily Online West USA Inc. showcased Scott's journey in Chengdu where he observed full resumption of work and production at the turning of the year 2020.

The City Concert Hall is located in the Wuhou District of Chengdu. Scott, accompanied by Wang, enjoyed the perfect combination of a modern concert hall and the ancient Bashu culture while being immersed in the charming culture of Chengdu. Whether in the subway station bustling with pedestrians or in the tavern when night falls, even the traditional Chengdu dessert Sandapao (a.k.a. "Three Cannons") are full of music elements.

"People say that China is developing very fast, but in fact, it has never forgotten to integrate its ancient culture with the modernized culture and art," said Scott.

As Wang told Scott, the unique features of an environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants. Chengdu nurtures people's perception of music and art. While exploring the value of foreign elements, Wuhou District also maintains its unique cultural connotation, behaving like a "giant sponge" to constantly explore multiple values of the other places while maintaining local characteristics.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The family of detained human rights lawyer Chang Weiping accused Chinese authorities of torturing him and gathering information from his colleagues to build a case against him.

A torture complaint from the family of detained rights lawyer Chang Weiping has been rejected by Chinese officials in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, where he is being held. Chang is under investigation for alleged "subversion of state power" charge, following his participation in a December 2019 gathering of protesters in Xiamen City.

Chang's wife, Chen Zijuan expressed her family's concern over Chang being tortured during his incommunicado detention or "residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL)" and the way Chinese authorities have been interviewing people close to him to build a case against him.

The detained rights lawyer's wife told Radio Free Asia that she had an "altercation with the staff of the Shaanxi provincial state prosecutor's office" and that staff had left the reception area and shut the door, leaving her alone. Chen recounted how Chinese authorities claimed they had "no control over the way that police investigate cases."

She was later directed to a supervisory committee, but her lawyer advised her against meeting with them, as torture investigations were managed by the procuratorate team. Chinese authorities had also rejected Chen and other rights lawyers Bao Longjun and Ren Quanniu, who attempted to file an official complaint at the Baoji municipal police department.

The detained rights lawyer was captured once again in October 2020 after he declared that he was tortured by Chinese authorities. He had already been detained for attending a gathering of human rights lawyers and advocates in Xiamen in December 2019.

Chinese authorities have now locked him up for "subversion of state power" charges, which has a more severe punishment, from his initial charge of "incitement to subvert state power" that has a maximum jail term of up to 15 years. He is now being held at the Fengxian Detention Center outside Baoji City.

In December 2020, Voice Of America reported how the detained rights lawyer's father shared his pain over seeing his son captured by Chinese authorities. Cheng's family had been warned by police to remain silent about his detention. Chang Shuanming, the father of the detained rights lawyer, described the last moment he saw his son, saying that he looked "fragile and tired with red eyes, "speaking intermittently...as if he was reciting something."

"His voice was so shrill and filled with horror that it instantly broke my heart into pieces," Shuanming recalled. He vowed, "My son, please stay in faith. I will never give up fighting for you."

Chang is an advocate for human rights, taking on cases for victims of workplace discrimination over HIV/AIDS and had also taken on cases involving defective vaccines. He also represented rights activists before Chinese authorities stripped him of his license.

Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group director general Du Song called for the investigation of Cheng's torture under international treaties, arguing that "China has no mechanism for monitoring [torture allegations], and no department is authorized to be the first port of call."
At Pullur toll plaza at Kurnool, the Telangana police stopped an ambulance carrying a Coronavirus infected patient from Kadapa to Hyderabad even as the patient attendants informed them that they got allotment of a bed in a private hospital in Hyderabad. (Representational Image/PTI)

Vijayawada: High tension prevailed on the inter-state border as Telangana state police refused entry to ambulances from Andhra Pradesh carrying Covid-19 patients to hospitals in Hyderabad, starting Sunday night. Only those with beds booked in Hyderabad hospitals were allowed to proceed.

The Telangana state government is learnt to have issued directions to the police to not allow ambulances carrying infected patients from AP to cross the border and reach Hyderabad for medical treatment. Accordingly, from 8 pm on Sunday, the police along the borders started stopping all ambulances from AP seeking entry to TS.

Source said that the Telangana state government was aware that infected patients who are critically ill in AP are opting to reach Hyderabad for better medical care in top corporate hospitals. However, those among them who fail to get a bed allocation in Hyderabad hospitals are moving from one hospital to another seeking admission and finally lose their lives.

The Telangana government is not ready to accept blame for this, and hence blocked such incursions via the border to the state, TS reasoned.

The Telangana police stopped nearly 30 ambulances from AP heading for Hyderabad at the Ramapuram Crossroad checkpost at Kodada mandal on Monday, and turned away patients who failed to produce proof or phone numbers relating to booking of beds in any Hyderabad hospital.

A local police officer said, We are not asking for any letter from hospitals. We are asking for at least a telephone number of a doctor or a hospital in Hyderabad in their possession to confirm the availability of bed. If the hospital confirms it can admit the patient, we allow them to proceed. The patient can also show any message about confirmation of bed availability in a hospital in Hyderabad on their phones. Else, we tell them to go back. We have no issue with other vehicles coming in from AP to Telangana.
Hyderabad: The Medical Superintendent of King Koti District Hospital refuted reports appeared in some sections of the media that several deaths took place in the hospital due to lack of oxygen. In a release issued here on Monday, he said the King Koti Hospital had adequate stock of oxygen supplies, and 13 KL liquid oxygen tank of oxygen storage which can supply for two days.

King Koti Hospital is a designated Covid-19 facility and critical cases are referred to here. The three patients who died in the hospital were in critical condition and were on assisted ventilation. The prognosis was explained to the patients attendants at the time of admission, he said.

The Medical Superintendent said the reports attributing the deaths to the lack of oxygen were not true. It would tarnish the image of the hospital which was serving Covid-19 cases for the past 14 months, he said and added that the hospital had been serving thousands of patients and that there was no need to panic.

However, there was no explanation as to why many attendants rushed to get oxygen cylinders for their patients in the hospital on Sunday, and continued to do so on Monday.
Officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the absence of heatwave was due to continuous presence of western disturbances in the area. (Photo: PTI File)

Hyderabad: In what is being called an unusually cool summer, this year, the state which falls in the core heatwave zone has witnessed no heatwave warnings till date.

The highest number of alerts were issued in 2010, which saw 46 heat waves across the state in the months of April, May and June. It was followed by 2019, with 44 heatwaves. They had claimed the lives of 11 and 64 people respectively. However, the highest number of deaths was registered in 2015, with 541 dead in the state.

Officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the absence of heatwave was due to continuous presence of western disturbances in the area. There were four disturbances which subdued the heat which is mostly felt in the months of April and May, IMD director K Naga Ratna told this newspaper.

According to a report by IMD, heatwave conditions in April 2021 were occasional and also for shorter periods over very smaller pockets. The major cause was wet spells regularly observed over the western Himalayan region and adjoining plains of northwest India and adjoining central parts of India in the month in many days due to movement of western disturbances (WDs) at regular intervals as deep amplitude trough in middle and upper tropospheric westerly. Also, due to the presence of lower-level wind convergence on many days in the month, Maharashtra and adjoining parts of Peninsular India, experienced rainfall and thunderstorm activities at regular intervals. However, a few occasional shorter duration spells of the heatwave were reported at isolated pockets of a few meteorological subdivisions of the country.

It goes on to add that the month of April witnessed very heavy and heavy rainfall over South Peninsular India, which could have abated the heat.
Kolkata: Two first-time BJP MPs, who also contested and won the Assembly election in West Bengal, have not taken their oath as MLAs apparently in fear of losing their berths in the Lok Sabha. They are Nishith Pramanik and Jagannath Sarkar.

Their unexpected move, that has raised eyebrows within the BJP, came at a time chief minister Mamata Banerjees protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari has emerged as a strong contender for the post of the Leader of the Opposition, racing ahead of another frontrunner, Mukul Roy, the national vice-president of the party.

While Mr Pramanik is an MP of Cooch Behar in North Bengal, Mr Sarkar is an MP of Ranaghat in Nadia. Fielded along with three other MPs  Babul Supriyo, a Union minister, Locket Chatterjee and Swapan Dasgupta  by their party in the Assembly polls, Mr Pramanik won from Dinhata in the district and Mr Sarkar was elected at Santipur while the other three lost.

They were, however, conspicuous by their absence at the oath-taking ceremony for MLAs in the Assembly on May 7, unlike most of the 77 winning candidates of their party. This immediately fuelled speculation about their intentions. Sources said the two have requested the partys leadership to allow them to continue as Lok Sabha MPs than as MLAs.

The party has not taken a final decision on them yet, as both have six months time to choose one of the two posts. If Mr Pramanik and Mr Sarkar opt to stay as MPs, the BJPs tally of MLAs will go down to 75 from 77, with byelections being held for their Assembly seats.

Similarly, if they choose to take the oath as MLAs later, the BJPs tally of MPs in the state will decrease from 18 to 16, with their Lok Sabha seats up for byelections too.

Mr Suvendu Adhikari, meanwhile, appears to be the BJPs favourite face as Leader of the Opposition to take on the Trinamul Congress supremo in the Assembly. The biggest advantage that has put Mr Adhikari ahead of Mr Roy in the competition for the post is his success as a giant killer in defeating the TMC chief at Nandigram, although by a narrow margin.

Known for his fierce speech, Mr Adhikari also has been credited with more years of experience in serving as an MLA, at least twice, than Mr Roy, who has become an MLA for the first time in his life by winning from Krishnanagar North in Nadia. Besides, his past links with the RSS in school life and the support of at least 50 BJP MLAs for him are seen as his plus points, according to sources.

On the other hand, Mr Roy, who was initially considered a suitable face for the post with the support of a section of BJP central leaders, met a senior TMC leader in the Assembly on May 7 but skipped the first meeting of the newly elected MLAs in the Assembly and claimed that he would make his stand clear later.

This instantly triggered speculation about his possible return to the TMC. Mr Roy however tweeted on Saturday: My fight would continue as a soldier of BJP to restore democracy in our state. I would request everyone to put the concoctions and conjectures to rest. I am resolute in my political path.

Judging the situation, the BJP parliamentary board has appointed two central observers  Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav  for the election of Leader of the Opposition in the state.
The emphatic and anxious messaging emerging out of the Eatala camp now emphasized that Eatala has decided to not resign from his Legislative position or the party. (Photo: Facebook @Eatala Rajendar)

Hyderabad: It took all of a week for Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and TRS supremo to win the battle of wits and to prove who calls the political shots in Telangana. Barely a week after his dismissal from cabinet, former minister and the imagined focal and rallying point of all opposition to the TRS big boss, Eatala Rajender has decided to waive a white handkerchief and declare he has no intention of going to war against his leader.

Speculation has been rife all these days that Eatala could go on a warpath against the TRS, and at some point, step it up by forcing yet another bye-election in the state. It has been the hope of many in the opposition, be it the BJP or the Congress, both nursing their wounds of electoral defeats in the two graduate MLC polls and Nagarjunsagar Assembly bye-poll, and others that such a confrontation could snowball into a big gamechanger, with all those opposed to K. Chandrashekar Raos leadership could forge a bond together and give a lethal blow.

Not to be. The emphatic and anxious messaging emerging out of the Eatala camp now emphasized that Eatala has decided to not resign from his Legislative position or the party, not only because he is unsure of the verdict of the bye-elections, but also because there has been no widespread support from either within the party or the opposition space matching his anticipations. The number of dissents within TRS that Eatala had hoped would reach out to him has clearly not happened, which has rankled the former health minister.

From the start of his co-journey with the TRS, Eatala Rajendar knew about how Mr Rao could deal with any potential dissenter, overt or covert. Mr Rajendar has also witnessed the quiet burials of political careers of those who might have had any thoughts of upstaging the leader.

Mr Eatala Rajendar, quite clearly overestimating both his own strength, and the purported anti-TRS emotions amongst the people, and buoyed by the unsustainable performance of the BJP in rapid succession at Dubbak and GHMC, bit more than he could chew. He began to a give a sporadic statement, timed for maximum impact, to showcase himself as the outsider-within and the rebel with a cause.

The TRS sources, closely aware of the minutest developments on la affair Eatala, said, the party is now filled with josh after the MLC and Nagarjuna Sagar polls. When a veteran like Jana Reddy was forced to bite the dust, what chance does Eatala have? A week away from the government must have helped wisdom dawn on him. He dare not fight a by poll against the TRS, which still enjoys widespread popular support. Across Telangana, there is confidence in KCRs rule, his schemes are popular and his handling of Coronavirus has been better than any other CM in India.

TRS sources revealed that Pragathi Bhavan was aware and keeping a track of how Eatala Rajendar has steadfastly worked on maintaining a good rapport with the BJP high command and Delhi leaders, and was working to launch a political party with its backing if BJP had won in West Bengal.

The reason, as well as timing for the sacking of Eatala Rajendar, was that the TRS supremo was waiting for the Bengal elections. The moment it became clear the BJP was losing in Bengal, he was axed from the Cabinet, with his portfolio removed prior to set the ball rolling. BJPs performance led to the Central leaders abandoning the idea of supporting Eatala for now, they said.

Eatala realised that without BJP support, it was nearly impossible for him to start and build a new regional party. History of Telangana dissenters breaking away from powerful parties to establish new parties must have helped Eatala realise the futility of this misadventure.

As most politically aware can recall, TDP leader and former home minister T. Devender Goud episode, who launched a Nava Telangana party only to merge it shortly afterwards with Tollywood megastars Praja Rajyam party, which itself got defeated in Assembly election in 2009 and merged into Congress subsequently was exemplar enough.

Not wishing to turn a Quixote, Eatala, a careful politician and a meticulous businessman, conducted a survey on his chances if he pressed for a bye-poll in Huzurabad. The results he got, according to sources in his camp, were shocking for him.

Most people gave a thumbs up for the TRS party, and few declared an intent to vote for Eatala, including a large number of those who sympathised with him, revealed his associate and former market committee chairman of Karimnagar district.

The Election Commission of India too seems to have decided against conducting any by-poll until the Covid pandemic situation is fully under control. According to Eatalas followers, since there is no chance for an actual by-poll to be conducted within the next six months or more, there is little point for him to resign from his MLA post.

Being in the middle of an ongoing investigation, and a larger pandemic and economic crisis, Eatala is unsure of how to raise financial resources needed to run a party if he were to exercise the option, or even fight the bye-poll when it happens against the might of the TRS.

Confirming the beginning of the end of the saga, senior TRS leaders revealed that Eatala had sent enough signals with his small wish list to end the confrontation. He would continue in the party as an MLA if the party chief called him back and sought an explanation about the land grabbing allegations. He is not even insisting on an impractical demand like getting back his cabinet post.

The best he can get is the equivalent of former deputy chief minister Rajaiah, who lost his cabinet in TRSs first government 2014 and stayed on despite being side-lined. Having to choose between a Devender Goud and a Rajaiah, it seems Eatala has chosen to eat humble pie and surrender, they said.

Revenue officers, when contacted by Deccan Chronicle, said that the probe committee also slowed down its work after High Court directives on the urgency of the matter.

Sources also revealed that two key leaders and a very close aide of the Chief Minister were collectively trying to convince him over the next action in the Eatala Rajendar episode. Having convinced the Chief Minister that Eatala had surrendered, they are requesting him to allow truce a chance.

All leaders, including opposition parties, are also waiting for the next move of the Chief Minister in the Eatala episode.
An Indiana Court has sided with a Catholic school in a case brought about a teacher who was fired for entering a same-sex union.

A trial court in Indiana has upheld a Catholic school's right to religious freedom after a former teacher who was dismissed for entering a same-sex union filed a case against the educational institution.

Joshua Payne-Elliott, a gay man and world language and social studies teacher at Cathedral High School worked at the Catholic school since 2006 and was fired in June 2019. His same-sex partner, Layton Payne-Elliott was a teacher at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. Both have been embroiled in an argument between their schools and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, which directed the schools to dismiss the teachers.

According to the Indy Star, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School did not dismiss Layton, forcing the Archdiocese to remove the school's Catholic status. The school appealed and is still waiting for a final decision.

Meanwhile, Joshua Payne-Elliott was fired by Cathedral for fear that they too would be stripped of their Catholic status. Payne-Elliott accused the Archdiocese of illegally interfering with his contractual and employment relationship with Cathedral, causing them to dismiss him, as indicated in a lawsuit that was filed in August 2019 in Marion County.

The lawsuit also recounted how Cathedral renewed Payne-Elliott's annual teaching contract in May 2019 and just one month later, was told that the Archdiocese "directed" Cathedral to terminate his employment. Kathleen DeLaney, a lawyer representing Payne-Elliott, explained that the Archdiocese "instructed" the Catholic school to "terminate the employment of highly-respected and long-serving teacher because of who he is and who he loves."

"Cathedral caved to that pressure and terminated him. That's what the case is about," DeLaney explained. The Archdiocese countered that the lawsuit was prohibited under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. But Luke Goodrich of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the Archdiocese, believes otherwise.

"The government can't punish the Catholic Church for asking Catholic educators to support Catholic teaching," Goodrich argued. "The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the freedom of religious schools to choose teachers who support their religious faith."

According to the Daily Caller, the trial court had at first decided to let the case proceed, but the Indiana Supreme Court sent the lawsuit back to the trial court for reconsideration. On Friday, the Indiana Marion Superior Court threw out the case, thereby ensuring that the Catholic school that fired its teacher for entering a same-ex union can continue to uphold its religious freedom.

"Every Catholic school teacher in the Archdiocese signs an agreement to uphold the Church's teachings in word and deed. The teacher here was dismissed after he entered a same-sex union in knowing violation of this agreement and of millennia of Catholic teaching," Goodrich said, as per the Catholic Telegraph.

"It is important that courts consistently uphold the right of religious groups to operate by their religious principles. Choosing who teaches in a religious school is a religious decision. Today's order ensures that those decisions will be made by churches, not governments."
Economy Minister Diane Dodds has urged people to holiday at home this year and said this will provide a much-needed boost to Northern Irelands tourism industry.

Tourism NIs new A small step to a giant adventure campaign is encouraging people across Northern Ireland to plan staycations ahead of the indicative reopening date for the hospitality sector of 24 May.

Minister Dodds said: There is so much beautiful nature, scenic surroundings and epic adventures right on our doorsteps in Northern Ireland.

People can sleep under the stars in County Fermanagh, trek in the relatively untouched Sperrin Mountains in County Tyrone, walk beside the waves in Causeway Coast and Glens or take in the tastes and sounds of Belfast city centre.

There are plenty of experiences for the entire family to enjoy which will also provide vital support to our much valued local tourism industry.

John McGrillen, chief executive of Tourism NI, said: 'We are all excited at the prospect of enjoying all that Northern Ireland has to offer this summer.

We are so proud of our tourism industry and the people who help make Northern Ireland such a special place. They have been central to our journey to becoming a global destination and we cannot wait to support them as their doors begin to reopen.

Our tourism industry will be ready and very keen to welcome the public back when it is safe to do so.

The Tourism NI campaign is running across TV, radio, outdoor, press, PR, social and digital.

Minister Dodds recently released further details on the Holiday at Home Voucher Scheme which will be launched in the autumn to drive demand after the summer season. It will allow Northern Ireland households to claim back 50% off a stay of two nights or more in certified accommodation, up to the value of 100.

Vouchers will also be issued, offering 50% off visits to attractions or tourism experience providers, up to the value of 20.

Vouchers will be allocated on a first come first served basis and each household can apply for one of each type of voucher.

The Were Good to Go mark is Northern Irelands industry standard for tourism and hospitality businesses which are committed to operating safely.
The Church of England is embarking on a new journey to erase parts of its racist history as part of its Black Lives Matter-inspired agenda.

The centuries-old church, which traces its roots back to the third to sixth century, is now considering a review of thousands of monuments across its churches and cathedrals in the country that contain historical references to the slave trade and British colonialism. The church has issued guidance this week that encourages its 12,500 parishes and 42 cathedrals to rethink its monuments, buildings, and grounds for any indication of "problematic" ideologies.

According to Breitbart, any monuments or plaques with contested heritage may be "contextualised, altered, relocated, or even removed." The guidance also instructed that any action concerning such monuments and plaques will be made at a local level. Additional contextual information may be added to some, while others may not need any change at all.

The "woke" guidance is a result of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby's review of the Church of England's built heritage after he observed the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol. He then pursued a BLM-inspired agenda by putting up an anti-racism task force with the Archbishop of York.

"While history should not be hidden, we also do not want to unconditionally celebrate or commemorate people who contributed to or benefitted from the tragedy that was the slave trade," the Church of England's new "woke" anti-racism task force declared, as per Daily Mail.

Following their declaration, several changes have already been done to comply with the church's new BLM-inspired agenda.

Bristol Cathedral, which dates back to 1140, has already removed a window dedicated to Colston, who was also a beloved philanthropist, while St. Margaret's Church in Rottingdean, which dates back to the 13th century, has relocated two headstones in its graveyard that contained racial slurs. St. Peter's Church in Dorchester, which dates back to the 15th century, has also censored a plaque that honors a plantation owner who shunned the slave rebellion.

According to The Guardian, the Church of England's director of churches and cathedrals Becky Clark argued that because the buildings and cathedrals are the "most visible part" of the church and is a "Christian presence in every community," it is their "responsibility to ensure they include, welcome and provide safe spaces for all."

She added that the BLM-inspired agenda is a "vitally important part of addressing the way historic racism and slavery still impacts people today."

Clark argued that these "woke" changes are meant to "empower rather than shut down conversation" about the Church of England's history. She argued, "It doesn't make political statements, except to say the history of racism and slavery is undeniable, as is the fact that racism and the legacy of slavery are still part of many people's lives today."

"Responding to those in the right way is a Christian duty," Clark said of the "woke" movement to contextualize the Church of England's racist history. "Doing nothing is not an option."
A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of an RUC officers in Derry's city centre in 1993.

Constable Michael Ferguson, from Omagh, was shot twice, at close range, in the back of the head by an IRA gunman in Shipquay Street on January 23, 1993.

The 21-year-old Catholic policeman was on duty at the time and was taken to Altnagevlin Hospital but died from his injuries.

One man was jailed in 2015 in connection with the murder.

The PSNI today said that detectives from the PSNI's Legacy Investigation Branch arrested a 64-year-old man in Derry on Monday.

He is being held under the Terrorism Act and has been taken to Musgrave Police Station for questioning.
The family of Sinn Fein MLA Martina Anderson have criticised the decision to make her stand down as part of a review of Sinn Fein operations in Derry.

It was revealed earlier this month that Ms Anderson and fellow Foyle Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan had been asked by the party to consider their positions.

This followed a review of Sinn Fein operations in Derry after a number of poor local election results.

Both Ms Anderson and Ms Mullan last week announced that they would not be standing in the next Assembly elections which are due to take place next year.

It is also understood that several leading members of the Sinn Fein management team in Derry have also been asked to step down as part of the review process.

However, Ms Anderson's family have this evening criticised how the veteran Sinn Fein politician and former republican prisoner has been treated by the party.

In a strongly-message on her Facebook page on behalf of her family, Ms Anderson's sister, Sharon Burke, said Ms Anderson had been treated in a 'brutal way' and 'publicly humiliated' by a party 'she loves and helped to build'.

Martina asked all of us to stay away from social media and not to comment on the events that have crushed her, Mrs Burke wrote.

As a family we have done as she has asked and we have maintained our silence and our dignity.

I do not believe that speaking out like I am here on behalf of our wider family is undermining our republican integrity.

We have been and remain a very proud, staunch republican family, despite feeling very hurt.

We are proud of all that has been achieved to take us closer to our goal of Irish reunification.

We come from a city that has stood up against injustice and a place that has tried hard to right the wrongs that were done to it and its people.

As a family, despite our sister not wanting us to go public, we as sisters decided to call out this wrong that is being done to our Martina.

We do not want to cause further stress to our sister and we are sorry but we cannot keep quiet any longer and we have to be allowed to speak our minds.

Mrs Burke's message said they believed Ms Anderson and Ms Mullan are being 'sacrificed' by Sinn Fein and 'castigated in an attempt to win back support'.

Those who thought up that strategy could well see it backfire as the people of Derry do not like to see injustices being inflicted on anyone and as a family we do not believe that using a life long Republican as a sacrificial lamb will win back the hearts and minds of republicans in Derry.

We Andersons believe if Martin Mc Guinness had been alive he would never have allowed this disgraceful tactic to be deployed. Martina had the privilege of being his junior minister. He knew her well and valued her worth.

As Sinn Fein MLAs Karen Mullan and our Martina, two Republican women have worked their hearts out to build up the support that SF lost over the last two elections. A loss of SF support that happened when our Martina was knocking her pan out in Europe to stop partition being reinforced by BREXIT.

Her family's message described Ms Anderson as a 'workhorse' for the republican 'struggle'.

Indeed, our Martina gave everything to the Irish Republican struggle, including her biological clock. She is married to an ex prisoner who served over 18 years in prison, mainly in English jails. Both of them are not allowed to foster or adopt children.

Our Martina gave all of that with a heart and a half, wearing with pride who she is and what she represents.

This SF National leadership Review that was done in Derry resulted in a massive miscarriage of justice: they came into Derry to fix problems and left creating more.

We believe that Derry peoples rightful outrage at what has happened has backfired on SF and has the potential of damaging our struggle in Derry and beyond, as people are rightly disgusted at seeing a life long dedicated republican being thrown under a bus for problems that she had neither art nor part in.

The Anderson Family is calling on our wider republican family in Derry and indeed beyond to reject the way this SF leadership has publicly humiliating our sister Martina and Karen.

The British could not do to our Martina what her comrades and friends have done.

We the Anderson family are crying out for help; we are asking people not to use our appeal as an opportunity to bash SF but to help us correct what we believe is a massive miscarriage of justice.

We are SF members and as republicans we must demonstrate that we live by our values of equality, respect and integrity  qualities that it pains us to say have been lacking in the treatment of our sister Martina and Karen Mullan.
Ahead Of Radhe Shyams Release, Prabhas Fans Re-Watch His Romantic Films From A Decade Ago

Prabhas, over the years, has done a lot of varied roles across various genres. For the last decade, he has been at the centre of action genre with stellar Baahubali series but fans still can't get over his romantic avatar which he last played more than a decade ago. His fans have now been treating themselves with his romantic flicks again, re-watching him in that lover boy avatar. His followers have been watching movies like Darling, Mirchi and Varsham. It's safe to say people are absolutely awestruck and in frenzy over his portrayal of romantic characters.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Prabhas (@actorprabhas)

Here are a few reactions from fans after re-watching his old romantic classics-- One fan wrote: If @actorprabhas being romantic in Varsham, Mirchi & Darling is so attractive, I can only imagine him as #Vikramaditya in #RadheShyam.. cannot wait!! Meanwhile, another shared, I just watched @actorprabhas in #Darling today and I feel so smitten!! Cannot wait to see him romance more in #RadheShyam now. One went on to state, Watching #Mirchi with English subtitles and @actorprabhas is so adorable in his whole romantic avatar! Now im even more eager for #RadheShyam with @hegdepooja.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vikramaditya (@prabhas_ka_universe)

Watching @actorprabhas in a romantic film is like watching a fairy-tale! I was watching #Varsham and he is so mesmerizing in his loving character that I'm sure #RadheShyam is going to be a major treat



RT if you're excited for Radhe Shyam! @PrabhasRajupic.twitter.com/KBdU1TzoBs  PRABHAS (@UniversePrabhas) May 8, 2021

His fans adore him in the romantic space as they can't get enough of him ahead of the release of Radhe Shyam. The movie marks Prabhas' return to the genre after a decade and his fans are over the moon with joy to see him with Pooja Hegde. The film, set in the 70s in Europe, is all set to release on 30th July. Apart from this, Prabhas has multiple projects in his pocket which include Adipurush, Salaar and a film with Deepika Padukone.
Nikki Tamboli Pens A Heartbreaking Note On Her Brothers Sudden Demise; Misses BFF Rubina Dilaik

Bigg Boss 14 fame Nikki Tambolis brother breathed his last on May 4th after a long battle with health issues including coronavirus, tuberculosis and pneumonia. In her latest post on social media, Nikki shared how much she misses her brother and revealed that she is crying herself to sleep almost every night. She stated that some days she doesnt see the point of life going on and feels completely lost. Nikki wrote: Depression is unseen, unheard. It is the pain that is too much to cope with, too hard to deal with & never understood. It is something you can't escape, no matter how hard you try it always swallow you again.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nikki Tamboli (@nikki_tamboli)

Nikki, who is in Cape Town, went on to share that she tries to behave normal when she is around people but there is no meaning to it because these thoughts are constantly crossing her mind. The actress is currently busy gearing up for Khatron Ke Khiladi season 11, which was her brothers dream for her. Well, the stunt reality show has reunited Nikki with her BB14 housemates Rahul Vaidya and Abhinav Shukla. However, it is her BFF Rubina Dilaik who is missing! In a sweet post featuring her and Abhinav, Nikki wrote: The people who make you smile from just seeing them,those are my favourite people @ashukla09 miss you @rubinadilaik.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nikki Tamboli (@nikki_tamboli)

Well, we wish Nikki all the best for the show and hope she finds the strength to deal with the heartbreaking loss. May her brother Jatin find peace. We are also sure Nikki will give the stunt reality show all that shes got to win the trophy and fulfill her brothers dream. Good luck!
Khatron Ke Khiladi 11: Vishal Aditya Singh Has Promised Himself That He Wont Abort Any Tasks

Television actor Vishal Aditya Singh won our hearts with his strong and charming personality when he participated in dance reality show Nach Baliye 9 and Salman Khans Bigg Boss 13, alongside his ex girlfriend Madhurima Tuli. The couple grabbed a lot of headlines with their on and off relationship and constant bickering. Well, Vishal is now all set to compete in Rohit Shettys stunt reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 and this time he will be coming alone.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vishal Aditya Singh (@vishalsingh713)

The actor recently jetted off to Cape Town with the rest of the contestants and will soon begin shoot. In a chat with ETimes ahead of the show, Vishal shared, I know I will have a good time on KKK. I am not scared of snakes, creepies, and crawlies, but I dont know my limits yet. I have promised myself that I wont abort any task without attempting and giving it my all. During co-star Rahul Vaidyas live chat, Vishal mentioned that he is a little worried about water tasks.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Varun Sood (@varunsood12)

When asked what he would do if his ex girlfriend Madhurima were to join the stunt reality show mid-way, like she did in Bigg Boss 13, Vishal replied, That chapter is closed. So, I dont want to think about any possibility. I am going on the show because I want to do it and I dont care who joins it. Well, we cant wait to see him embark on this exciting and adventurous journey soon!
Its no secret that many emerging markets suffer from a digital inclusion gap, but building a business case around correcting this can be challenging. We caught up with Elisabeth Medou Badang, Senior VP of Orange Middle East and Africa, to discuss the operator groups Digital Centres and how a strategy focused on the benefits of connectivity is key to driving demand.

Could you provide an overview of Oranges activities in Africa and the Middle East?

We operate in 18 countries across Africa and the Middle East, and we have around 128 million customers. We provide telecommunication services and financial services via Orange Money, which at the end of December last year had around 58 million accounts open. Of these, 40% are used on a monthly basis. Apart from this financial service offering, we have moved from more traditional telco services to become a more multi-service provider, with equipment such as solar kits to improve access to electricity. This is available in just under half of the countries in Sub Saharan Africa.

What is Orange doing to address digital inclusion in the Africa/Middle East region?

We try to leverage our networks in the continent, including digital transformation opportunities to improve access to basic and essential services, whether this is voice, data, financial services, agriculture or education, which we consider to be paramount to digital transformation. We have projects around this area; connectivity is obviously the foundation on which we build everything, and then in the service layer we have mobile money, education, and other services  but for people to take advantage of this, they need the right device, and this is the aim of what were doing. Were pushing in all these areas to make sure that digital inclusion can become a reality, and to make sure that this applies to people living in both urban and rural areas. We try to make our approach as inclusive as possible because we consider this the best way to make this a driver for socio-economic growth in this part of the world.

Whats driving the advancement in these regions?

We have seen strong improvement in terms of connectivity; according to GSMA statistics, more than 70% of the population in MEA have access to mobile broadband. This is an average, but its the same in our footprint, and we have some countries like Senegal where access is more around the 90% mark. There has been a strong increase, especially given that 3G was launched not that long ago. Development has been impressive in terms of connectivity, but having said that the number of antennas is growing but around 40% of the population in connected areas is still not using the internet. One of the barriers we see is access to the right device  these must also be affordable; again, according to the GSMA, the average cost of an entry-level smartphone is around 60% of the average monthly income of people in these regions. This is a big challenge, and we try to address this via partnerships  the latest one was with Google.

If customers have the device and the connectivity, they need to find the right service  one that can provide real value. We therefore try hard to develop innovative ecosystems with new services around agriculture, health and education. Most of the content is not produced on the continent, so access to international content is still a strong driver of internet usage. There are a lot of projects going on around subsea cable, and we try to be part of these. Theres also the challenge of connectivity within the continent; sometimes the limitations are around regulations between countries but even so theres a lot of development around these areas.

As far as operators are concerned, it doesnt make sense to provide coverage in areas without demand, but this can create a vicious circle. Does it come down to digital inclusion initiatives to demonstrate demand and drive connectivity?

We have seen from our own experiences that these initiatives pay off  if you look at the increase in internet penetration, five years ago it was around 20% in our footprint and its now double that. With Covid and its effect, we have seen acceleration of mobile and fixed broadband in the past two years  growth has been much faster even than for mobile broadband. The demand is there; its up to operators to find the right value proposition that is meaningful and affordable for people, but that also makes economic sense. The need is there  theres a lack of infrastructure and access, but the potential of growth is huge, we just need to make it economically viable for both the customer and the provider.

How do your ventures deliver in this regard?

Our Digital Centres address one of the main challenges that the continent is facing; it has a fast-growing and young population  almost half of the population of SSA is under 20  which means theres a lot of potential provided you are able to educate them and create enough employment for them. The Digital Centres are trying to address these two challenges. We must make sure that people are trained so that they can use and eventually create services, developing their own businesses, so Digital Centres are a way of contributing to this. We have the fab lab where people can prototype their ideas using equipment such as 3D printers that would otherwise be inaccessible. We provide them with ICT-related training, but we also accelerate start-ups and even provide funding in their early stages with Orange Ventures Africa, which is dedicated to providing support for new businesses. The centres are aimed at enhancing the digital employability of young people across Africa and the Middle East, and the concept is even being deployed in more developed countries. There are successful centres in Tunisia, Senegal and Cameroon, and there is a lot of enthusiasm for the initiatives which is very promising.

How do you see digital inclusion unfolding in the near future, and what do you think it will enable?

If we look at the existing trend, I am optimistic that the situation will continue to improve. At the same time, there are some specific challenges as you try to reach the last billion and these are more around finding the right business model. Were seeing more partnerships develop around areas such as rural coverage; even five years ago, there were very few operator partnerships around infrastructure sharing  you did it all yourself. Now theres a lot more sharing with the rise of towercos in Africa, and we see more cooperation, with conversations around national roaming. Mindsets are changing, new technologies are entering the picture, and most operators and governments are realizing the need to reduce the digital gap. Theres a willingness to explore new ways of operating, and to invest in this  Orange is investing US$1 billion every year, and there isnt a slowdown in investment from other players. Theres an appetite among newcomers, and regulators are trying to facilitate access because governments have realised that if you dont improve digital inclusion, it widens the gap in terms of education  and if people remain excluded, their situation will be a lot worse than it is currently. There are a lot of challenges but increasingly there is a will to join forces to address these and make digital transformation beneficial to the socio-economic growth of the continent.
Kuwait telecommunications company STC Kuwait has announced the commercial launch of its 5G Stand Alone (5G SA) services.

The operator has also claimed the widest scale 5G deployment coverage on sub-3GHz and 2.1GHz bands amongst mobile service providers in the MENA region. Besides these two achievements, STC said it enhanced its infrastructure with the deployment of a new Business Support System.

In a statement released by the Company, STC indicated that it has been progressing with major 5G SA developments to advance its 5G network architecture, enabling the radical transformation of the telecom industry into an as-a-Service model in line with Kuwaits 2035 vision.

5G SA technology will enable STC's subscribers to enjoy higher uplink bandwidth, especially catering to specialized use scenarios, such as enterprise applications where uplink throughput is equally important as downlink, it said.

"Additionally, the technology will lower user-traffic latency to address key issues related to interruptions in the gaming experience, while kicking off-market interest in new rich forms of gaming technology like Virtual Reality (VR). 5G SA will also feature higher levels of security that utilize the best industry know-how to provide robustness to telecom networks," the press release pointed out.

Further empowering Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) deployment, 5G SA will enable STC to become not only Cloud Native, but Edge Native as well, it said.
The Republican-commissioned recount of the 2020 Presidential Election results is well underway and state officials involved in it are dismissing the Department of Justice's claims that the Arizona election audit may not be in compliance with federal laws.

The Justice Department under President Joe Biden has aired its concerns through the DOJ's Civil Rights Division principal deputy assistant attorney general Pamela Karlan, who wrote a letter saying that two actions upheld by the recount may be violating federal laws.

According to NPR, Karlan pointed out in the letter that election materials such as ballots and voting systems are not in the custody of election officials, which means that they may be violating federal law that requires otherwise. These election materials have been subpoenaed by Republican senators twice, in December and January. When the Senate's subpoena authority was upheld by a judge, the election materials were turned over by Senate President Karen Fann to a Florida-based cybersecurity company, which critics believe are not in the position to perform the Arizona election audit.

In April, former President Donald Trump said through his new microblog "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump, "BIG victory today in Arizona. A highly respected Judge has just ruled that the Forensic Audit being done by the Arizona State Senate can and will continue. Over 100 Democrat lawyers were sent to fight against this audit."

Karlan added in the DOJ letter that the audit's plans to interview voters and ask them if they did cast their ballots in November last year could also be a violation of federal laws that ban voter intimidation. But former Arizona secretary of state Ken Bennett, who serves as the audit's spokesman, fired back.

According to the Washington Post, Bennett said that the company tasked to perform the Arizona election audit has not interviewed voters yet and has committed to abide by federal laws that prohibit voter intimidation. He condemned the DOJ's claims, saying, "This is a matter between the Arizona Senate and Maricopa County. We don't see any grounds for anyone else to intervene."

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, speaking of the Democrats' efforts to press legal charges against the audit on the odd claim that signature verification will "intimidate voters and suppress the vote," pointed out the absurdity of such a claim in an op-ed for The Stream.

"I don't understand what that means: the ballots were already cast six months ago, so they're not going to be suppressed," Huckabee wrote.

The former governor also condemned the DOJ's arguments of "hypothetical violations of federal law" as they attempt to interfere with the Arizona election audit, his op-ed at The Stream read. Huckabee insists that it is Dominion Voting that should be put to the test, accusing them of "defying a Senate subpoena" and "refusing to hand over router information as ordered by a judge, claiming it would endanger law enforcement and threaten citizens' privacy."

Huckabee echoed blogger Don Surber's sentiments that "taking back America is not going to be easy" in a separate op-ed for The Stream. He believes that "Democrats will use every dirty trick and every advantage of a politicized Deep State, plus lawsuits to challenge redistricting and election integrity laws and more."

Former President Trump said last week that the Arizona election audit won't be the last, encouraging other states to do the same. Trump warned, "The Democrats are 'swarming' the Great State of Arizona trying to get the Forensic Election Audit stopped, because only they know exactly what they've done, and they understand Voter Fraud far better than anyone."
Sony's PlayStation 5 console has remained out of stock, for the most part, this year too. While a lot of people have managed to get a taste of the console in markets like the US, it's been fiendishly difficult to get one in places like India. The PS5 restock was a mess in 2020, and it has gotten even harder to buy one this year.

It turns out, things are going to remain more or less the same throughout this year and the next one. According to Sony, the shortage of console units isn't going to end unless the demand declines. And the demand, as we all know, isn't showing any signs of slowing down. We're pretty sure a lot of you reading this article are desperate to buy the console.

Speaking to investors, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki confirmed that it has been challenging to keep up with strong demand. He noted that in addition to the global semiconductor shortage, there are "other factors" contributing to the scarcity. Totoki didn't dive deep into the details about these other factors that are in play, but we are assuming one of them may be the global shipping crisis right now due to the pandemic.

That being said, Sony is still trying to achieve more sales figures for the PS5 than it did with the PS4.

"As I said earlier, were aiming for more sales volume than the PS4, but can we drastically increase the supply? No, thats not likely. The shortage of semiconductors is one factor, but there are other factors that will impact the production volume. So, at present, wed like to aim at second-year sales of 14.8 million, which was the second year of PS4," Totoki said.

So, what does this mean for an average consumer looking to buy the PS5? Well, it's going to be very difficult to grab a PS5 this year and most likely in 2022 as well. Sony has left the door open for the supply to increase in 2022, but it's best to assume that the PlayStation 5 won't be readily available to pick up from stores until 2023.

The demand is only going to increase as more PS5 exclusive games drop on the market that can't be played even on the PS4. Sony may have to eventually tap 6nm AMD chips as per the rumours, but let's not speculate just yet and hope for the best.
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MEXICO CITY (AP)  With tourism shattered by the pandemic, critics say yet another cruise ship dock is the last thing that Mexicos Caribbean island of Cozumel needs.

Cozumel already has three such docks, and before the pandemic it ranked as the worlds busiest port of call for cruise ships.





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Doctors in Sweden have been reported to stop the use of cross-sex hormones--otherwise known as puberty blockers--due to its serious health risks

The Christian Post reported that doctors from the Karolinska University Hospital of Sweden have announced they will stop prescribing drugs or hormones that "suppress puberty" for children confused about their gender or are suffering from gender dysphoria.

According to the Christian Post, the hospital released a statement last March regarding the matter. The statement defines the changes in the hospital's policy, which they explained to a local press last May 5 was due to the "increased scrutiny" they faced for the increasing treatments given to the young.

"These treatments are potentially fraught with extensive and irreversible adverse consequences such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, infertility, increased cancer risk, and thrombosis," the statement said.

"This makes it challenging to assess the risk/benefit for the individual patient, and even more challenging for the minors and their guardians to be in a position of an informed stance regarding these treatments," it added.

As per the statement, the change in policies took effect April 1 and clarified that it does not affect current treatment given to patients under 18 years of age in so far as psychological and psychiatric care is concerned.

The statement also pointed out that patients already undergoing cross-sex hormones or puberty blocker treatments must carefully assess their situation whether their "treatment should be stopped or continued" based on consultations with their treating provider.

The statement stressed the need to "present appropriate information bout the uncertainty in the state of evidence regarding long-term effects and potential risks of treatment" so that the patient, their guardian, or their parents could make "well-informed decisions" on the matter.

The Christian Post added that those who wish to continue with the treatment must have court approval first prior to the administration of the puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

The Christian Post also reported that the Society of Evidence-Based Gender Medicine welcomed the change in the Swedish policy, saying it is the first time a country departed from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's guidance. The Society pointed out that Sweden's new policy parallels with Finland's that focus on providing psychological interventions instead of medical ones.

"WPATH has long positioned itself as the world authority in transgender health. However, in recent months, several countries' health authorities have conducted their own reviews of the evidence and found the evidence insufficient to justify early medical interventions promoted by WPATH's guidelines," the Christian Post quoted the Society of Evidence-Based Gender Medicine in saying.

"Sweden's new policy is consistent with Finland's recently revised guidelines, which were changed to prioritize psychological interventions and support rather than medical interventions, particularly for youth with no childhood history of gender dysphoria (presently the most common presentation)," the Society pointed out.

In its website, the Society of Evidence-Based Gender Medicine cited the same trend is happening in North America where laws are already being implemented to ban hormonal interventions of gender-confused youths.

"As the global awareness of the low quality of evidence of the benefits, and the potential harm of the 'affirmative' medical interventions in gender-dysphoric minors grows, non-invasive alternatives for ameliorating the minors' distress, such as the provision of ethical psychological treatments and support, are expected to come into focus," the Society revealed.
To mark the much-anticipated return of the Allianz Leagues for 2021, Allianz is offering GAA fans in Louth access to exclusive offers on car and home insurance as well as the chance to win 5,000 for their nominated GAA club.

Through this offer, all new and existing customers will not only receive a great discount on their direct car or home insurance, but Allianz will also support their passion for the GAA by donating 10 for each policy purchased to their nominated GAA club.

In addition to this exclusive offer being open to all Louth GAA fans, Allianz are investing a further 20,000 into clubs across the country. All customers availing of the offer will automatically be entered into a draw to win 5,000 for their nominated club, with one winner selected per province.

With a grand total of 20,000 up for grabs, and more through the offer, Allianz has expanded its investment into, and support of, grassroots Gaelic Games which includes the Allianz Cumann na mBunscol competitions.

CEO of Allianz Ireland, Sean McGrath said: Allianz is looking forward to building on the GAA offer scheme this year allowing us to give back in a significant way to clubs at a grassroots level. We know that many of our customers are passionate about the GAA and supporting their passions and the communities where they live and work is central to how we want to use our partnerships.

Allianz had sponsored the Allianz Leagues for 29 years and the competition for national schools, Allianz Cumann na mBunscol, since 1993 making them one of the longest running supporters of Gaelic Games in the country. Allianz is also the insurer of over 2,200 GAA clubs across Ireland.

For full details or to avail of this exclusive Allianz offer, get a quote now at www.allianz.ie/gaa
Self-professed Marxist Patrisse Cullors, who co-founded Black Lives Matter, proudly says in a report that she's proud to be compared to China's Mao Zedong.

According to The Federalist, Cullors described herself as a "trained Marxist" while ironically living a millionaire's life in high-end neighborhoods that are actually "a product of white supremacy" and is, together with her Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a "woke capitalist".

The Federalist said Cullors celebrated the comparison to Chinese communist dictator Mao Zedong who orchestrated the "deadly Chinese Cultural Revolution," where at least 45 million people were estimated to have died, in a 2010 video "unearthed" by The National Pulse.

In the said video Cullors recounted an instance where a young activist said a book she was promoting, "The 7 Components of Transformative Organizing Theory" by Eric Mann, was similar to the book written by Mao, thr "Little Red Book." Cullors shared the story during a 2010 forum on "Transformative Organizing Theory."

"He grabbed the book and he said 'it's like Mao's red book.' I was like, 'man that's what I was thinking,' and it was just really cool to hear him make that connection," Cullors said.

Cullors then narrated that she suggested to the activist to buy 10 to 15 copies of Mann's book so he could form a group and discuss the ideas presented in it, and also share the ideas in the book with others as well.

Per The National Pulse, Cullors said the "young person from Arizona" was "trying to fight SB 1070." Arizona Senate Bill 1070 is known as the country's strictest anti-illegal immigration law at the time, requiring aliens to always bring with them a certificate of alien registration, to be presented to law enforcement whenever demanded.

Further, the law also considers it a criminal offense for a person to "conceal, harbor or shield or attempt to conceal, harbor or shield an alien from detection in any place" in Arizona, whether it's inside a structure such as a house or a vehicle such as a car or a truck, if the person being hidden from law enforcement has illegally come into the country.

Cullors said she appreciated the young person, who was fighting against the immigration law, for making the connection to Mao's Red book and suggested that the young person "really try to engage this."

"I think I have a really important role in speaking to youth. Maybe it's because I came in the movement at 17-and-a-half, so I have just a knack for knowing how to organize young people into this organization," Cullors said in the video.

Communist indoctrination in a nation

The "Little Red Book" is a collection of Mao's quotes used to engineer the mid-20th century cultural revolution in China. It contains information regarding communism, Marxism, socialism, and class. It was first produced in 1964 with 200 quotes from Mao by the People's Liberation Army. It became a mandatory reading material for children in school and was distributed to every citizen in China by their Ministry of Culture.

The National Pulse pointed out that young revolutionaries in China used Mao's book to justify "purges" done to anyone who do not show complete devotion to the Chinese Communist Party, which is what the current "sinicization" campaign by Xi Jinping is doing.

In line with this, The National Pulse highlighted that "history appears to be repeating itself" because BLM has "embedded its messages within public school curricula alongside ideological counterparts including the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory."
House Democrats continue to ignore science by claiming, as per a report, that reproduction "is for every body" and not just for "women" and "mothers."

According to the Christian Headlines, the Democratic Party and their supporters unleashed a campaign in social media over the weekend using the terms "birthing people" to refer to "women" and "mothers." The Christian Headlines said "birthing people" is a term supported by some of the LGBTQ community members.

The House Oversight Committee used the said phrase during its "America's Black Maternal Health Crisis" and that the language used became a separate issue in social media afterwards. An example of a Democrat using the term was New York Representative Carolyn Maloney who is chairman of the said committee.

"How does one of the most medically advanced nations in the world continue to fail Black birthing people at such high rates?" Maloney was quoted to have said during the opening statement of the hearing.

The Christian Headlines cited a tweet of the Oversight Committee on Friday with Maloney's opening statement video where she was quoted using the same language.

"Chair @RepMaloney was clear: Health equity for Black birthing people is attainable," the Oversight Committee said.

In the same post, the Committee referred to the hearing as a "landmark" on the "crisis" of Black maternal health. The hearing, it said, is meant to "address the racial disparities that hold Black birthing people from the health equity they deserve."

Missouri Representative Cori Bush, the Christian Headlines pointed out, was another Democrat who used the term during her testimony.

"Every day, Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors don't believe our pain. My children almost became a statistic. I almost became a statistic. I testified about my experience @OversightDems today. Hear us. Believe us. Because for so long, nobody has," Bush tweeted on Friday with a video of her testimony.

This move of the Democrats to use such language in the House of Representatives isn't actually new. Last January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi banned the use of "gendered" terms in Congress such as "father," "mother," "son," and "daughter" as part of her new "future-focused" 48-paged house rules.

Pelosi said the new ruling is to ensure "inclusivity" in the language used in Congress, but clarified that this is in the application of texts only and not in how each one of the members of Congress are to address each other.

Many legislators reacted negatively to the new house rules such as former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard who said the use of such language is contrary to women's rights as it denies "the very biological existence of women" and goes against Title IX.

Despite the clamor against the use of such terms, Pelosi's house rules became a precedent to other government offices to follow suit such as the National Institutes of Health that canceled the use of "women" to "pregnant and lactating people" in a media advisory released in February.
Tower of Refuge walk to take place this month

The Tower of Refuge walk will take place on Friday, May 28.

The walk is in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Douglas Town Centre Manager Oliver Cheshire said: This year the Tower of Refuge walk falls on the Spring bank holiday weekend, so is the ideal opportunity to support the event by walking out to this famous landmark and raise funds for the RNLI.

In 2020 we had to cancel the walk because of Covid, so were anticipating even greater interest this year. In celebration that the walk will hopefully be going ahead this year  and in a nod to current travel restrictions  theres a Hawaiian getaway to a Covid-free destination theme to the walk, so itll be a great excuse for some truly tropical-looking shirts to wear with the wellies.

The walk is open to all ages, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Suitable clothing and footwear must be worn and instructions from the coastguards and stewards followed at all times.

Subject to weather and tidal conditions the walk will start around 6.30pm. Access to the beach will be via either the steps at the Bottleneck car park or any steps north of Broadway.
The Department of Homeland Security is determined to prevent incidents like the January 6th Capitol riot, and it's betting that social media will help it spot signs of trouble in advance. NBC News claims that Homeland Security is launching a warning system that looks for signs of domestic terrorist threats in public social network posts.

While it's not clear just what techniques Homeland Security would use, unnamed officials told NBC that they were looking for overall trends based on "emerging narratives and grievances" rather than tracking down individuals. The system relies on human analysts rather than algorithms, the officials said. Ideally, authorities could catch brewing plans for violence and thwart would-be perpetrators through investigations and defensive measures.

There are reasons to believe this might work. Numerous Capitol rioters and their sympathizers freely discussed their lawbreaking intentions in advance on Facebook, Twitter and public forums  the right analysis might have caught this and led to arrests or improved security for politicians.

The warning system might not thrill free speech advocates, however. The ACLU's Hugh Handeyside noted that people tend to "self-censor" when they know the government is watching. Homeland Security's plans could discourage people from sharing political dissent online regardless of how peaceful it may be. It could also drive terrorists underground that would previously have left a conspicuous trail.

There are also concerns that internet speech hasn't historically been a reliable indicator of impending violence, according to Handeyside.

It's difficult to see Homeland Security backing down given the events of January 6th. If nothing else, the warning system is an acknowledgment that terrorism sometimes has a public presence online, even if committed extremists often turn to private conversations.
It's been a couple of years since Sony released its excellent WF-1000XM3 true wireless earbuds, so it's about time for a refresh. The next model could be on the way in the near future, and if a leak is anything to go by, the upcoming buds will look vastly different.

Images obtained by The Walkman Blog (via The Verge) indicate that although the WF-1000XM4 buds will have a similar color scheme, they'll ditch the flatter design for a rounded outer shape, akin to rivals like the Galaxy Buds Pro.

Sony/The Walkman Blog

The charging case appears to support wireless charging this time around. Sony has bumped up the charging output as well, so the case could charge your earbuds faster over a wired connection.

It might not be too long until Sony officially shows off the WF-1000XM4. The Walkman Blog suggests Sony could unveil the earbuds as soon as next month, based on Federal Communications Commission confidentiality requests. It's unlikely that Sony will spill any details on the specs (including whether this model will have water and sweat resistance) before then, but at least we have a clearer idea of what the buds look like.
With President Biden's vote of confidence, the Space Force proved it was more than just a Trump-era moonshot. Away from Capitol Hill, the military's sixth branch is slowly developing into its fully-fledged form by recruiting and training personnel as part of its goal to reach 6,500 active-duty members by the end of fiscal 2021. In the latest sign of its progress, the first flight unit comprised entirely of Space Force Guardians graduated from Air Force basic military training last week.

The boot camp saw the 35 recruits undergo seven and a half weeks of drills including a tailor-made curriculum. Guardians had to complete an additional 21 hours of specific training with a heavy emphasis on "emotional intelligence." They also received unclassified military doctrine briefings from senior Space Force leaders.

The flight, comprised of 31 men and four women, will next take part in technical training including space systems operations, intelligence and cyber and communications at one of three bases: Vandenberg AFB, California; Goodfellow AFB, Texas; or Keesler AFB, Mississippi.

Having conducted its first mission last Spring, the Space Force's latest milestone should help to further entrench the fledgling military branch, which is making progress despite persistent skepticism over its raison d'etre.
Saddleback Church went against the norm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) when it ordained some female pastors for the first time, a surprising development that elated some and saddened others.

Calling it a "historic night," the congregation announced the ordination of three women ministers on May 8.

"We ordained our first three women pastors, Liz Puffer, Cynthia Petty, and Katie Edwards! We commissioned three new elders, Anthony Miller, Jeremiah Goley, and Jason Williams! And we appointed Pastor Johnny Baker as the new global leader of Celebrate Recovery!" the church shared on Facebook.

As of writing, the post has already received more than 1,600 reactions and a number of comments.

The Christian Post (CP) noted a sharp criticism from Owen Strachan, a professor of theology. He described the move as "unbiblical," citing 1 Timothy 2:9-15. He also urged Saddleback members to leave the congregation, suggesting a couple of churches to transfer to.

"You have options, praise God. Now is the time to leave and find a sound congregation. Do not delay. There is no spirit of competition in what I write here; what Saddleback is doing grieves me, and I have no doubt grieves many in the congregation. How sad! Nonetheless, God is graciously giving you an opportunity to leave an unsound flock, and to place yourself under the care of faithful shepherds who obey the Bible," he continued.

He added that assigning women in such position is not aligned with the Word of God.

"Churches that affirm women pastors are opposing the Word of God, and opposing the Word of God means opposing God himself," the theologian said.

"The time to leave is NOW," he further stated.

According to The Roys Report, the newly ordained women pastors have been serving in the church ministries for over two decades.

Petty has been serving Saddleback's children's ministry since 1998, Puffer in pastoral care since 1994 and Edwards in youth ministry since the late nineties.

Speaking to Live Good, Petty described the change as "revolutionary" and claimed that she "was honored and felt extremely humbled" with the new post.

She said that the role of women in the church has evolved in the last decade, adding that women have gifts that can be used, alongside their male counterparts.

Moreover, the new woman minister stated that she never pursued her current title. But the latest development on affirming women in pastoral leadership "greatly enhanced" young women's "desire to lead and be used to the fullest extent."

"This is a new day for women in ministry and I am honored and blessed to help carry the mantle of being a Pastor and have the title as NextGen Ministries Pastor at Saddleback Church!" Petty declared.

CP mentioned that in 2020, SBC pastors opposed the guesting of Hosanna Wong, a teaching pastor at EastLake Church in California, in the denomination's Pastor's Conference.

The SBC believes that women should be excluded from holding pastoral duties, established through its Resolution on Ordination and the Role of Women in Ministry, citing Paul's example.
Elon Musk is following up his Saturday Night Live stint with another, more practical pitch for Dogecoin. Canadian engineering firm Geometric Energy Corporation has struck a deal with SpaceX to launch its DOGE-1 cubesat to the Moon in the first quarter of 2022. As the name implies, it's funded entirely by Dogecoin  the first commercial lunar payload paid for with the cryptocurrency, Geometric Energy said.

The mission will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The 88-pound cubesat will collect "lunar-spatial intelligence" through a combination of cameras and sensors, according to the company. And yes, SpaceX is fully aware of the significance of the launch. Commercial sales VP Tom Ochinero said the mission would demonstrate the viability of crypto beyond Earth and establish a "foundation for interplanetary commerce."

Future lunar missions will also rely on Dogecoin, Geometric Energy added.

There's little doubt both sides see the chance for publicity here  DOGE-1 is one large tech trend mashup. It does hint at how private spaceflight could change, though, and it's a reminder that SpaceX's interest in the Moon extends beyond government contracts and tourism.

The timing is apt. Hours earlier, SpaceX broke one of its internal records by launching and landing a particular Falcon 9 rocket for the 10th time  the most reuse any booster has had at the company. While reusable rockets are clearly nothing new at the company by this point, the news suggests that these vessels could be in use for a long while before they need to retire.
It's not just online and big-box retailers that are exploring deliveries by drone. Following in the footsteps of the Swiss Post, the UK's Royal Mail is the latest postal service to trial drone flights. The company has announced a landmark project to deliver packages  including personal protective equipment, COVID testing kits and assorted mail  to a UK island using an autonomous Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV).

As part of the government-backed project, a large drone will take off from the mainland and fly to the Scilly Isles (a remote archipelago off the Cornish coast in southwest England). The twin-engine UAV can carry up to 100kg of mail of all shapes and sizes, which the Royal Mail said is equivalent to a typical delivery round. Thereafter, a smaller vertical take-off and landing drone will be used to fly parcels between the islands to recipients.

According to the Royal Mail, the drones will be flown out of sight of any operator during the entire 70-mile journey. The month-long trial is being conducted with a group of partners including the University of Southampton and drone companies Windracers, Skyports and Consortiq, among others.

The Royal Mail made its first drone delivery last December by sending a package to a lighthouse on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. It's planning to consult with residents in rural communities on the use of UAVs to deliver mail. If the latest experiment is a success, Royal Mail said it would consider using drones to transport parcels to remote areas across the UK.

Any failures could prove costly, however. Just ask Russia, which saw an inaugural postal drone flight crash into the side of a building back in 2018. The UAV reportedly cost about $20,000.
Josh Duggar's former neighbor spoke up against the disgraced TV star and claimed that he will never change.

Duggar surely left a bad impression on the people around him that the people who know him proclaimed that his alleged crimes did not shock them at all.

Sources from Arkansas told Fox News that Duggar's deeds were long expected to occur.

"They're absolutely not a shock to me and honestly it makes me angry because if the parents had done something about this before, who knows how many children would have been saved," the former neighbor said.

The source added that Washington County's residents have been weighing in on the "19 Kids and Counting" star's arrest. Although everyone feels disgusted about the news, everyone expected it to happen.

Most of the residents expressed their concern over Duggar's release from jail. They suggested that the reality star poses a great threat to everyone - especially kids - that he should not have been released.

"Child molesters, I feel, deserve capital punishment. I think he should go to jail for the rest of his life. He's sick. People like him don't change," the source added.

Meanwhile, another source revealed that Duggar's alleged crimes gave Washington County, Arkansas a bad reputation.

What Happened to Josh Duggar?

As early as his past 2015 molestation scandal, the disgraced star kept on getting involved in such sickening acts.

During that year, a bombshell report revealed that he molested his own sisters and one other woman. His parents admitted their son's actions and apologized.

In addition, he personally apologized for pornography addiction and how he cheated on his wife.

This time, he might face charges for downloading and keeping child pornography videos. While waiting for his trial, he will be placed with third-party custodians Maria and Lacount Reber.

READ ALSO: Was Jake Ehlinger's Cause of Death Suspicious? Did He Die of Drug Overdose or Suicide? [Details]

He was forced to stay in a different residence since US Attorney's Office believes that Duggar needs to be in a residence without a minor if he were to be freed on bond. Though he pleaded not guilty to federal charges of receiving and collecting child pornography videos, he might harm other people as well.

This decision prevented him from residing with his wife, Anna, and six minor children in Arkansas.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Erin l Wiedemann detailed that the third-party custodian is a must to ensure compliance with conditions of bond.

READ MORE: Bill and Melinda Gates Still Have One Ambitious Goal Amid Sudden Divorce

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Elon Musk revealed one of his well-kept secrets during his stay on "Saturday Night Live" (SNL).

On the recent episode of SNL, Musk shared a heartbreaking story although the series is all about comedy sketches.

According to the 49-year-old tech mogul, he became the first person with Asperger's to ever host the series. In response to his confession, the crowd began cheering around him.

"I don't always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak... which I'm told makes for great comedy," he said. "I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host SNL."

Asperger's syndrome affects the patient's social interaction and nonverbal communication. The neurodevelopmental disorder also restricts a person's behavior by making the patient repetitively do something.

According to Dr. Dan Brennan of WebMD, people with Asperger's can be smart but find trouble with social skills. They are also too focused on one topic on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, BBC assumed that it was the first time Musk ever spoke about his health condition in public. However, people online debunked his claim and said that comedian Dan Aykroyd was the first artist with Asperger's to host SNL.

The "Ghostbusters" actor first told Daily Mail that he was diagnosed with the disorder in the 1980s. Akroyd also received a diagnosis for Tourette's syndrome when he was 12.

Elon Musk on SNL: What the SpaceX Head Revealed

Apart from talking about his health condition, Musk also took his time to talk about several things about himself.

During his SNL appearance, the billionaire shared details about his son's unusual name. "X  A-12."

He joked that the name is pronounced "cat running across keyboard." But the Tesla founder once confirmed on "The Joe Rogan Experience" the correct pronunciation of the child's name.

"I mean it's just X, the letter X, um, and the '' is pronounced, 'Ash,' and then, A-12 is my contribution." He went on to say that A-12 stood for "Archangel 12, the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane ever," he said, as quoted by CNET.

READ ALSO: Bill and Melinda Gates Still Have One Ambitious Goal Amid Sudden Divorce

Musk also showed his words' power by talking about the cryptocurrency Dogecoin and immediately affecting its value following his SNL stint.

Initially, he described the currency as the key that will take over the world. His previous statement caused the dogecoin's value to increase by 50 percent. But after calling it a hustle on Saturday, the value immediately plunged.

READ MORE: Was Jake Ehlinger's Cause of Death Suspicious? Did He Die of Drug Overdose or Suicide? [Details]

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Kim Kardashian is celebrating Mother's Day as a single mom for the first time in years.

The 40-year-old "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star shares four kids with her soon-to-be ex-husband Kanye West - North (7), Saint (5), Chicago (3), and Psalm (2).

But despite her divorce, which she filed last Feb., she is said to be "very very happy" in the days that led up to her very first Mother's Day celebration.

And according to an insider who spoke to Hollywood Life, Kim Kardashian seems to be doing just fine.

They also revealed what the KKW Beauty mogul is expecting from her Grammy-winning artist ex.

"Kim has no expectations when it comes to Kanye's Mother's Day plans involving her," they said.

"She's okay whether he does something for her or not and she will not be upset either way."

The insider further revealed that she's content with whatever there is as she celebrates with her kids and her mom, Kris Jenner.

Currently, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are said to be "barely speaking" so she isn't expecting that there would be a grandeur surprise waiting for her at her home.

Kim Kardashian's 'New Normal'

Since Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West, neither of them has been publicly seen together. With that, the SKIMS creator seems to not have any hard feelings.

In fact, she's reportedly feeling "very, very happy." The same insider revealed that most of the time, Kim Kardashian has her kids with her. Additionally, "She finally is turning a corner and getting to a better place with her new normal."

The insider also said how the mom-of-four is "over the moon" because she's "finally free to enjoy herself and the world is opening up and she doesn't have to worry about him."

READ ALSO: Kanye West Faces Another Embarassing Lawsuit Alone Amid Divorce From Kim Kardashian [Report]

Kanye West Wanted Out First

In April, another source revealed to Hollywood Life that Kanye West was the first to want to end their marriage a year ago, despite it was the KUWTK star who first filed the divorce papers.

According to the source, "It was him saying for a year that they have nothing in common except the kids and he wanted out."

But it was Kim Kardashian who reportedly "pulled all the stops" just to save their crumbling marriage.

Despite reports for the former power couple not seeing each other, one way or another the pair would be working to celebrate the second birthday of their youngest child, Psalm.

Kim and Kanye are co-parenting and will continue to do so with joint custody, one of the terms in their divorce.

READ MORE: Josh Duggar: Authorities Uncover Another Shocking Detail Amid Child Porn Claims [UPDATE]

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Tom Cruise has been in the UK the past couple of months to film for his upcoming movie "Mission Impossible 7" and though it is ongoing, production is experiencing a couple of hitches along the way.

It's expected that the heartthrob doing dangerous stunts for the movie has invited a crowd of thrill-seekers to watch the 58-year-old doing what he does best.

The Ethan Hunt star always throws himself into his craft ever since production restarted early this year, but the streak of bad luck didn't stop just there.

The Sun recently reported that Cruise was forced to call security on the "Mission Impossible 7" set after a couple of gate crashers found their way inside.

It got too much for him that the spectators went immediately asked to get off the set.

An insider revealed to the outlet, "The set is so large and open that it has been impossible to close it all off."

"So trespassers have been getting in and attempting to scale the rigs and equipment set up for the stunts," they added.

Not only is Tom Cruise pissed off, but the insider thinks it's a "health-and-safety nightmare" as this was the second time intruders entered the production set to watch the entire shebang.

"Mission Impossible 7" cast members saw two intruders climbing up the set and reported them to security who immediately asked them to go down.

Now, filming for the movie has somehow become a nightmare for Cruise that his main concern is to have the movie wrapped as quickly as possible.

READ ALSO: Are Seth Rogen and James Franco Still Friends?

Tom Cruise Outbursts on Set

The report of intruders entering the "Mission Impossible 7" shoot location comes after reports of Tom Cruise's several outbursts on the set.

In April, the 58-year-old went on a furious rant after becoming irritated over tree branches that continued to bang on the roof of his trailer where he and other cast members were trying to relax.

Another insider told The Sun, "There isn't much Tom can't put up with. So imagine how baffled everyone was when there was such a fuss made over a tree."

The matter was immediately dealt with after production staff hired two people to cut down the "offending" branches.

In December, the "Knight and Day" actor expressed his frustration over the production crew who were allegedly breaking COVID-19 guidelines.

In an audio obtained by the outlet, the movie star could be heard yelling at the production crew, "If I see you do it again you're f------ gone," after seeing them standing close to each other.

"We are creating thousands of jobs, you mother-------. I don't ever want to see it again. Ever!"

"Mission Impossible 7" release date is pushed back to 2022 because of the pandemic.

READ MORE: Chris Martin a Thief? 'Coldplay' Frontman Accused of Stealing Several Things Over The Years-DETAILS

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Gal Gadot finally opened up her experience on working with Director Joss Whedon.

The actress was recently interviewed on the Israeli News Channel N12 on Saturday. Among the topics discussed during her appearnce was the details behind her working experience with Whedon after she previously hinted that working with the director "wasn't the best one".

In her interview, which was translated from Hebrew to English, Gadot stated "What I had with Joss, basically, is that he kind of threatened my career and told me that if I did something, he would ensure that my career would be miserable," (Watch the portion of the interview below)

The heated tention between the actress and the director reportedly started when Whedon pushed Gadot to record lines that she didn't like, the alleged argument made the director threatened the actress' career and "disparged" the work of "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins.

A witness from the production revealed to The Hollywood Reporter what transpired in the set "Joss was bragging that he's had it out with Gal. He told her he's the writer and she's going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie."

READ NOW: Josh Duggar's Family Speaks Out After Child Pornography Charges

Other celebrities speaking out against the director

This is not the first time Whedon was in the spotlight for having an alleged toxic work environment on set.

Among the celebrities who spoke out in the past was Ray Fisher, another "Justice League" star who took to Twitter last year to give an update about Warner Media's investigation on the alleged unhealthy environment on set.

According to the Twitter thread, the media giant confirmed that the investigation was complete and they appreciate Fisher for having the courage to come forward about the serious allegations.

Charisma Carpenter also released a statement earlier this year to speak against the director. The "Buffy" actress claims that Weadon verbally abuse and mistreated her while she was six months pregnant.

Whedon's ex-wife, Kai Cole, has also addressed the director's attitude in 2017 by saying the director has a different persona behind close doors. Cole also accused the director for being a "hypocrite preaching feminist ideals" as well as having "secret affairs" throughout their marriage.

Whedon has not yet released a statement after Gadot's interview.

READ ALSO: Meghan Markle's VAX Live Dress, Jewelry Collection Cost This MUCH! Guess the Most Expensive Piece

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
New research on the growth rates of coral reefs shows there is still a window of opportunity to save the world's coral reefs--but time is running out.

The international study was initiated at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE), which is headquartered at James Cook University (JCU).

Co-author Professor Morgan Pratchett from Coral CoE at JCU said the results show that unless carbon dioxide emissions are drastically reduced the growth of coral reefs will be stunted.

"The threat posed by climate change to coral reefs is already very apparent based on recurrent episodes of mass coral bleaching," Prof Pratchett said. "But changing environmental conditions will have other far-reaching consequences."

Co-author Professor Ryan Lowe, from Coral CoE at The University of Western Australia (UWA), said modern coral reef structures reflect a balance between a wide range of organisms that build reefs, not just corals. This includes coralline algae--a rock-hard alga that bind reefs together.

"While the responses of individual reef organisms to climate change are increasingly clear, this study uniquely examines how the complex interactions between diverse communities of organisms responsible for maintaining present day coral reefs will likely change reef structures in the future," Prof Lowe said.

The joint lead authors, Dr Christopher Cornwall and Dr Steeve Comeau (who are now at Victoria University of Wellington and Sorbonne Universite CNRS Laboratoire d'Oceanographie de Villefranche sur Mer, respectively) calculated how coral reef growth is likely to react to ocean acidification and warming under three different climate-change carbon dioxide scenarios: low, medium and worst-case.

The findings suggest that under an intermediate emissions scenario, some reefs may even keep pace with sea-level rise by growing--but only for a short while.

"All reefs around the world will be eroding by the end of the century under the intermediate scenario," said co-author Dr Scott Smithers, from JCU. "This will obviously have serious implications for reefs, reef islands, as well as the people and other organisms depending upon coral reefs."

The study gives broader projections of ocean warming and acidification--and their interaction--on the net carbonate production of coral reefs.

Warming oceans bring more marine heatwaves, which cause mass coral bleaching. Ocean acidification affects the ability of calcifying corals to form their calcium carbonate skeletons, a process called 'calcification'. Warming waters also reduce calcification.

The data in the study include net calcification, bioerosion and sediment dissolution rates measured or collated from 233 locations across 183 distinct reefs. 49% of the reefs were in the Atlantic Ocean, 39% in the Indian Ocean and 11% in the Pacific Ocean.

These were then modelled against three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emissions scenarios for low, medium and high-impact outcomes on ocean warming and acidification for 2050 and 2100.

The projections show that even under the low-impact case, reefs will suffer severely reduced growth, or accretion, rates.

"While 63% of reefs are projected to continue to accrete by 2100 under the low-impact pathway, 94% will be eroding by 2050 under the worse-case scenario," Dr Cornwall said. "And no reef will continue to accrete at rates matching projected sea-level rise under the medium and high-impact scenarios by 2100."

"Our study shows changing environmental conditions challenge the growth of reef-building corals and other calcifying organisms, which are important in maintaining the structure of reef systems," Prof Pratchett said.

"Saving coral reefs requires immediate and drastic reductions in global carbon emissions."

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PAPER

Cornwall C, Comeau S, Korndere N, Perry C, Van Hooidon R, DeCarlo T, Pratchett M, Anderson K, Browne N, Carpenter R, Diaz-Pulidoo G, D'Olivo J, Doo S, Figueiredo J, Fortunato S, Kennedy E, Lantz C, McCulloch M, Gonzalez-Rivero M, Schoepf V, Smithers S, Lowe R. 2021. 'Global declines in coral reef calcium carbonate production under ocean acidification and warming'. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015265118

CONTACTS

Morgan Pratchett (AEST, Townsville, Australia)

P: +61 (0)488 112 295

E: morgan.pratchett@jcu.edu.au

Ryan Lowe (AWST, Perth, Australia)

P: +61 (0)466 492 719

E: Ryan.Lowe@uwa.edu.au

Scott Smithers (AEST, Townsville, Australia)

P: +61 (0)428 752 433

E: scott.smithers@jcu.edu.au

Chris Cornwall (NZST, Wellington, New Zealand)

E: christopher.cornwall@vuw.ac.nz

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Melissa Lyne / Coral CoE (AEST, Sydney, Australia)

P: +61 (0) 415 514 328

E: melissa.lyne@jcu.edu.au
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 10, 2021) -- The Gulf of Guinea islands harbor an abundance of species found nowhere else on Earth. But for over 100 years, scientists have wondered whether or not a population of limbless, burrowing amphibians--known as caecilians--found on one of the islands is a single or multiple species. Now, a team of researchers from the California Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has contributed the strongest evidence to date that there is not one, but two different species of caecilians on Sao Tome island. Their findings, published today in Molecular Ecology, also suggest that volcanic activity may have led to the divergence of the species.

"To judge whether one species is in fact composed of multiple lineages, scientists have to build a case," says senior author and Academy Curator of Herpetology Rayna Bell. "By conducting a population level genomic study of these amphibians across the entire island, we are adding a crucial line of evidence that the Sao Tome caecilian is actually two unique species."

Initially described by Portuguese scientists during colonial times, the Sao Tome caecilians were later split into two distinct species based on their variation in color and location on the island--solid lemon yellow in the north and yellow with brown splotches to the south. Since then, subsequent research has bounced back and forth, grouping the species together then separating them out again, based on the best available evidence.

Then, in 2014, a study by former Academy Curator of Herpetology Robert Drewes and graduate student Ricka Stoelting using mitochondrial DNA indicated that not only were there likely two unique species, but they might be interbreeding. Bell and her colleagues build upon those previous findings by sampling 85 caecilians from 21 locations across the island for genome-wide genetic markers that more accurately confirm the presence--and interbreeding--of the two species.

"That earlier study was the first clue towards unraveling the mystery of the Sao Tome caecilians," Bell says. "Our study provides further proof of the presence of two separate, interbreeding species and quantifies how much overlap--or hybridization--is occurring between them."

Once the research team confirmed the existence of two different but interbreeding species, they started to work backward through time to try to determine how the species diverged.

"It's pretty remarkable that there are two unique species on such a small island," says Academy collections manager and study co-author Lauren Scheinberg. "It really makes you wonder how natural selection is acting to drive speciation."

Through their analysis, the researchers found that the two species diverged around 300,000 years ago, a time period that coincides with a burst of volcanic activity on the island. The researchers suggest that lava flows during this period may have led to the speciation of the caecilians by dividing the island into a patchwork of smaller habitats with unique environmental pressures. As the lava flows eroded, resulting in suitable habitat for caecilians, the two species came back into contact and started to hybridize, obscuring the evidence of their separation.

"These findings are an important reminder that islands are not static," Bell says. "Even though they can be small and isolated, they are dynamic systems that are actively accumulating new species. It's also an important consideration for the conservation of Sao Tome caecilians to know that we have two, genetically and morphologically unique species."

Though the picture of their past is becoming clearer, there is still much to learn about these enigmatic amphibians. For example, while most caecilians spend a majority of their time underground, the Sao Tome caecilians can be readily found on the forest floor, raising questions about how the bright yellow amphibians avoid predation.

While one century-long mystery is nearing a resolution, it seems more are taking its place. But Bell is looking forward to the challenge. "These are perhaps the most well-studied caecilians on Earth because of their accessibility and how long ago they were described to science. Yet there is still so much to learn about them, from their mating behavior to how they deter predators," Bell says. "For a biologist, what could be more exciting than that?"

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About Research at the California Academy of Sciences

The Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences is at the forefront of efforts to understand two of the most important topics of our time: the nature and sustainability of life on Earth. Based in San Francisco, the Institute is home to more than 100 world-class scientists, state-of-the-art facilities, and nearly 46 million scientific specimens from around the world. The Institute also leverages the expertise and efforts of more than 100 international Associates and 450 distinguished Fellows. Through expeditions around the globe, investigations in the lab, and analysis of vast biological datasets, the Institute's scientists work to understand the evolution and interconnectedness of organisms and ecosystems, the threats they face around the world, and the most effective strategies for sustaining them into the future. Through innovative partnerships and public engagement initiatives, they also guide critical sustainability and conservation decisions worldwide, inspire and mentor the next generation of scientists, and foster responsible stewardship of our planet.
A school in the state of Washington moved to introduce transgenderism to children when a first grade teacher was discovered to have read a book to her students, promoting the advocacy, a move that angered parents.

Jennifer Miller of Geneva Elementary School in Bellingham, Washington read the "I am Jazz" children's book to her students. The information about the incident was forwarded to Young America's Foundation (YAF), a conservative youth advocacy organization.

The book tells about a two-year old boy in his transition process to look more like a girl, with his parents' approval. The story was based on the real-life story of Jazz Jennings, a transgender reality TV star and a spokesperson for transkids. It was written by Jessica Herthel, an LGBT activist, and Jennings himself.

In an email, a concerned parent confirmed that Miller did read the book to little children.

"As a district we are working hard to support all members of our school community and promote inclusion through understanding and compassion," the teacher also said.

Speaking to The Christian Post, YAF Spokeswoman Kara Zupkus revealed that the concerned parent was "very angry" and frustrated for failure of the school board to address the issue. She also stated that the argument led to the parent's pulling of his child from Miller's class.

"When the parent reached out to the school board president, she just responded with a very standard form response, such as, 'We have received your response, thank you for your inquiry.' And beyond that, she never returned the parent's email," Zupkus further said.

YAF's investigation then showed that the school board president, Jennifer Mason, owns an adult toy shop. The organization said that her role in children's education should be questioned and that parents "should make their voices heard."

The YAF spokeswoman mentioned that the concerned parent also coordinated with Greg Baker, the Bellingham Public School superintendent, to address the issue. But Baker requested to tackle the concern over the phone instead of email. The conversation did not push through after he declined to have it recorded.

Zupkus said that the young students' exposure to transgender advocacy is a "sad state of affairs for public education," an incident which would inspire other students and parents "to push for school choice." She declared that things such as this should not be allowed "to keep happening in [the country's] public schools."

"It's insanity. They're really pushing a leftist agenda with no apologies. And parents need to hold their school board members accountable. They need to hold their teachers accountable, the superintendent, everyone needs to be held accountable. So it really is up to the parents when it involves children this young to get involved," Zupkus further stated.

Other books have also came out, advocating progressive ideologies in children. These include "Woke Baby," "A is for Activist" and "The GayBCs."

To counter this "progressive literature craze," Lauren Southern wrote "The ABC's of Morality," a book that aims "to combat the woke takeover of children's literature with wholesomeness instead."
Analysis of The Autopsy, Toxicological, and Psychiatric Reports of Portugal's First Major Forensic Case: Part III https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 20961790. 2021. 1898079

Announcing a new article publication for Forensic Sciences Research journal. In this review article the author Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira of the University Institute of Health Sciences (IUCS)-CESPU, Gandra, Portugal continues a three-part investigation of the "Crime of Flores Street" one of the most famous cases of poisoning which occurred in Portugal in the late 19th century. The case demonstrated the weaknesses of the Portuguese medicolegal system and attests to the importance of toxicological analysis. The first article retold the case which gave birth to forensic toxicology studies in Portugal and informed present day Portuguese medicolegal procedures. The second article analysed all the relevant and contradictory testimonial evidence of the prosecution and defence witnesses.

In this latest publication the author analyses the forensic evidence, particularly from the autopsy, toxicological, and psychiatric forensic reports. Today, it would be easy to perform irrefutable toxicological analysis, but in those times, the circumstantially produced evidence, together with the toxicological expert reports, allowed the court to produce a damning judgment. The author suggests, that with current knowledge, it is now possible to add further insights if the burial location of at least one victim could be identified. In late 2020 one of the victims was finally located. Permission for a new autopsy for samples collection was obtained and has been performed more than 130 years after the first major autopsy was executed in Portugal. Future research will include correlation of the identity of the victim by DNA analysis and comparison with relatives and toxicological analyses.

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Related Publications

Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira, Portugal's first major forensic case and the genesis of forensic toxicology: 10 years of research to reconstruct the event, Forensic Sciences Research, 2018, ISSN 2471-1411, https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 20961790. 2018. 1534538

Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira, Analysis of the testimonial evidence of Portugal's first major forensic case: part II, Forensic Sciences Research, 2019, ISSN 2471-1411, https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 20961790. 2019. 1682218

Author Biography

Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira University Institute of Health Sciences (IUCS)-CESPU, and Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto, Portugal. Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2003, doctorate in Toxicology, 2007, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Portugal. Member of Pedagogical, Scientific and Management Councils of the IUCS, member of the Installing Committee of the accreditation process of the Integrated Master in Medicine of IUCS and member of the Monitoring Committee of the 2nd and 3rd Cycles of Studies in Forensic Sciences of the University of Porto. Research interests include Toxicology and Forensic Medicine, namely in additive behaviors, fatal intoxications of pharmacological origin and others and driving under the influence of psychoactive substances. Member of Editorial Boards of several International Scientific Journals in the area of Health and Life Sciences. Author of more than 155 journal articles, 35 book chapters, 4 books and 4 national and 3 international patents. Founder and current President of the Portuguese Association of Forensic Sciences (APCF) and former Vice President of the Portuguese Society for the Study of Abuse and Neglect (SPEAN).

Article reference: Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira, Analysis of the autopsy, toxicological, and psychiatric reports of Portugal's first major forensic case: part III, Forensic Sciences Research, 2021, ISSN 2471-1411, https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 20961790. 2021. 1898079

Keywords: Forensic reports; alkaloids; history of legal medicine; Flores Street; Vicente Urbino de Freitas; Jose Antonio de Sampaio Junior; Mario Guilherme Augusto de Sampaio

The Journal of the Academy of Forensic Science (AFS), Shanghai, P.R. China.

Forensic Sciences Research is a quarterly peer reviewed open access, English language journal publishing international research on forensic sciences, including forensic pathology, clinical forensic medicine, criminalistics and crime scene investigation. It aims to promote forensic sciences through quality research articles, reviews, case reports, and letters to editors.

For more information, please visit https:/ / www. tandfonline. com/ toc/ tfsr20/ current

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Forensic Sciences Research is available on Taylor & Francis Online (https:/ / www. tandfonline. com/ action/ showAxaArticles?journalCode= tfsr20 ).

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Announcing a new article publication for BIO Integration journal. In this review the authors Yuheng Bao, Jifan Chen, Pintong Huang and Weijun Tong from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China discuss the synergistic effects of acoustics-based therapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatment.

Cancer immunotherapy to enhance the autogenous immune response to cancer tissue is reported to be a promising method for cancer treatment. After the release of damage-associated molecular patterns, dendritic cells mature and recruit activated T cells to induce immune response.

To trigger the release of cancer associated antigens, cancer acoustics-based therapy has various prominent advantages and has been reported in various research. In this article, the authors classify acoustics-based therapy into sonopyrolysis-, sonoporation-, and sonoluminescence-based therapy.

Detailed mechanisms of each therapy are discussed to demonstrate the status of cancer immunotherapy induced by acoustics-based therapy and to posit future research directions.

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Article reference: Yuheng Bao, Jifan Chen, Pintong Huang and Weijun Tong, Synergistic Effects of Acoustics-based Therapy and Immunotherapy in Cancer Treatment. BIO Integration, 2021, https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 15212/ bioi-2021-0007

BIO Integration is fully open access journal which will allow for the rapid dissemination of multidisciplinary views driving the progress of modern medicine.

As part of its mandate to help bring interesting work and knowledge from around the world to a wider audience, BIOI will actively support authors through open access publishing and through waiving author fees in its first years. Also, publication support for authors whose first language is not English will be offered in areas such as manuscript development, English language editing and artwork assistance.

BIOI is now open for submissions; articles can be submitted online at:

https:/ / mc04. manuscriptcentral. com/ bioi

Please visit http://www. bio-integration. org to learn more about the journal.

Editorial Board: https:/ / bio-integration. org/ editorial-board/

Please visit http://www. bio-integration. org to learn more about the journal.

Editorial Board: https:/ / bio-integration. org/ editorial-board/

BIOI is available on the IngentaConnect platform (https:/ / www. ingentaconnect. com/ content/ cscript/ bioi ) and at the BIO Integration website (http://www. bio-integration. org ).

Submissions may be made using ScholarOne (https:/ / mc04. manuscriptcentral. com/ bioi ).

There are no author submission or article processing fees.

Follow BIOI on Twitter @JournalBio; Facebook (https:/ / www. facebook. com/ BIO-Integration-Journal-108140854107716/ ) and LinkedIn (https:/ / www. linkedin. com/ company/ bio-integration-journal/ ).

ISSN 2712-0074

eISSN 2712-0082

Keywords: Acoustics-based therapy, cancer treatment, immune response activation, immunotherapy.

Synergistic Effects of Acoustics-based Therapy and Immunotherapy in Cancer Treatment
ATLANTA--Gestures--such as pointing or waving--go hand in hand with a child's first words, and twins lag behind single children in producing and using those gestures, two studies from Georgia State University psychology researchers show.

Twins produce fewer gestures and gesture to fewer objects than other children, said principal researcher Seyda Ozcaliskan, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology. Language use also lags for twins, and language--but not gesture--is also affected by sex, with girls performing better than boys, Ozcaliskan said.

"The implications are fascinating," said Ozcaliskan. "It shows that gesture and speech go hand in hand in early development in twins. When one is lagging behind so does the other."

The research found that a lag in gesture can reliably predict a lag in speech. At the same time, lots of gesturing suggests speech is on the way. Parents can help speed their child's acquisition of language by naming the objects they gesture to.

The lag in gesture among twins may be due to lower parental input, Ozcaliskan said, for parents of single children used a greater amount and diversity of gestures than parents of twins. It's likely, Ozcaliskan said, that parents caring for twins engage in shorter conversations with their children, including gesturing less, because their attention is divided and their labor is doubled.

The studies were conducted by Ozcaliskan and her psychology doctoral students Ebru Pinar and Sumeyra Ozturk, along with her collaborator Dr. Nihan Ketrez in Istanbul. The paper Parental Speech and Gesture Input to Girls Versus Boys in Singletons and Twins was published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior and Effect of Sex and Dyad Composition on Speech and Gesture Development of Singleton and Twin Children was published in the Journal of Child Language. The two studies analyzed video data from Turkish families and included three groups of fraternal twins--males, females and mixed sex twins, as well as two groups of single boys and girls, along with their parents.

Ozcaliskan said she had grown curious about gesture because it had not yet been studied among twins, while language acquisition has been thoroughly researched.

"We've known for a long time that children's early vocabulary shows sex differences," said Ozcaliskan, "with boys having smaller vocabularies than girls their age."

Girls age 2-3 also produce longer, more complex sentences than boys. Twins are initially at a disadvantage where language is concerned, using fewer words than their singleton peers and forming complete sentences later than singletons. Boys lag the most, with girl-girl twins developing larger vocabularies and more complex sentences than boy-boy twins of comparable age.

Most of the time, these lags are within the normal range of differences, and nothing to worry about. Almost all children will catch up to each other by around age three and a half.

But what about gesture?

"There was close to nothing in research on gesturing among twins in any language," Ozcaliskan said.

Infants start using pointing around 10 months, a few months before they produce their first words. In other words, they point at a dog a few months before they actually say the word "dog." Gesture helps them convey what they can't yet communicate in speech and paves the way for children's early words.

Though the lag in gesture and language among twins may be mostly due to reduced parental input, Ozcaliskan said twins sometimes develop their own systems of communication, even their own "twin language," which has been shown to delay language acquisition. "Perhaps it also delays the use of gestures," she said.

On most occasions, a lag in gesture may mean a lag in the next linguistic milestone.

"However, in the event that you see the lag in gesture go on for a long time, it may be a marker of a potential developmental or language delay," said Ozcaliskan. On the other hand, if a child doesn't talk much at an early age, but frequently uses gesture, a parent can be reassured that "language is on its way," she said.

The more a parent engages with a child, using gesture and speech, the better the child's acquisition of both. Gesture and speech together form a closely integrated system in a child's development, and a child's first gestures often precede their first attempts at speech.

For parents who are intrigued by these connections, Ozcaliskan suggested naming objects when children point to them, as in: Yes, that's a bottle, do you want your bottle? Naming helps children learn new words earlier. Parents can also make a point of gesturing to objects themselves when naming.

"Gesture is a very powerful tool," Ozcaliskan said. "Pay attention to your child's gestures, and then provide verbal descriptions to help their language development."

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80% of all SARS-CoV-2 proteins produced in the laboratory -- protocols available for worldwide research - Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, forms the hub of research network from 17 countries

FRANKFURT. When the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates, this initially only means that there is a change in its genetic blueprint. The mutation may lead, for example, to an amino acid being exchanged at a particular site in a viral protein. In order to quickly assess the effect of this change, a three-dimensional image of the viral protein is extremely helpful. This is because it shows whether the switch in amino acid has consequences for the function of the protein - or for the interaction with a potential drug or antibody.

Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt and TU Darmstadt began networking internationally from the very start of the pandemic. Their goal: to describe the three-dimensional structures of SARS-CoV-2 molecules using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). In NMR spectroscopy, molecules are first labelled with special types of atoms (isotopes) and then exposed to a strong magnetic field. NMR can then be used to look in detail and with high throughput at how potentially active compounds bind to viral proteins. This is done at the Centre for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ) at Goethe University and other locations. However, the basic prerequisite is to produce large quantities of the proteins in high purity and stability, and with their correct folding, for the large amount of tests.

The network, coordinated by Professor Harald Schwalbe from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Goethe University, spans the globe. The elaboration of laboratory protocols for the production of proteins is already the second milestone. In addition to proteins, the virus consists of RNA, and the consortium already made all important RNA fragments of SARS-CoV-2 accessible last year. With the expertise of 129 colleagues, it has now been possible to produce and purify 23 of the total of almost 30 proteins of SARS-CoV-2 completely or as relevant fragments "in the test tube", and in large amounts.

For this purpose, the genetic information for these proteins was incorporated into small, ring-shaped pieces of DNA (plasmids). These plasmids were then introduced into bacteria for protein production. Some special proteins were also produced in cell-free systems. Whether these proteins were still correctly folded after their isolation and enrichment was confirmed, among other things, by NMR spectroscopy.

Dr Martin Hengesbach from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Goethe University explains: "We have isolated functional units of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins in such a way that their structure, function and interactions can now be characterised by ourselves and others. In doing so, our large consortium provides working protocols that will allow laboratories around the world to work quickly and reproducibly on SARS-CoV-2 proteins and also the mutants to come. Distributing this work from the beginning was one of our most important priorities. In addition to the protocols, we are also making the plasmids freely available."

Dr Andreas Schlundt from the Institute for Molecular Biosciences at Goethe University says: "With our work, we are speeding up the global search for active agents: Scientific laboratories equipped for this work do not have to first spend several months establishing and optimising systems for the production and investigation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, but can now start their research work within two weeks thanks to our elaborated protocols. Given the numerous mutations of SARS-CoV-2 to come, it is particularly important to have access to reliable, rapid and well-established methods for studying the virus in the laboratory. This will, for example, also facilitate research on the so-called helper proteins of SARS-CoV-2, which have remained under-investigated, but which also play a role in the occurrence of mutations."

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In the meantime, the work in the NMR consortium continues: Currently, the researchers are working hard to find out whether viral proteins can bind to potential drugs.

The research work was funded by the German Research Foundation and the Goethe Coronavirus Fund. The high logistical effort and constant communication of research results was supported by Signals, a spin-off company of Goethe University.

Partners: Brazil

- National Center of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (CNRMN, CENABIO), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Institute of Medical Biochemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Multidisciplinary Center for Research in Biology (NUMPEX), Campus Duque de Caxias, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, Brazil - Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation (CMIB), Department of Physics, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil - Laboratory of Toxicology, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

France

- Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry (MMSB), UMR 5086, CNRS/Lyon University, France - Universite Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, IBS, Grenoble, France Germany - Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany - Center of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany - Institute for Molecular Biosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany - Institute for Biochemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany - Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany - Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany - BMWZ and Institute of Organic Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany - Group of NMR-based Structural Chemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany - Structural Genomics Consortium, Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (BMLS), Germany - Signals GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena, Germany - IBG-4, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany - Department of Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany - Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Charles Tanford Protein Centre, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale, Germany.

Greece

- Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, Greece

Italy

- Structural Biology and Biophysics Unit, Fondazione Ri.MED, Palermo, Italy - Magnetic Resonance Centre (CERM), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy - Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

Latvia

- Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia - Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Riga, Latvia

Switzerland

- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Spain - "Rocasolano" Institute for Physical Chemistry (IQFR), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Serrano, Spain

USA
What has fluid physics to do with the spreading of the Corona virus? Whirlpools and pandemics seem to be rather different things, certainly in terms of comfort. Yet, newest findings about epidemic spreading come from Physics professor Bjorn Hof and his research group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), who specialize in fluids and turbulent flows. When early last year Bjorn Hof had to cancel his scheduled visit to Wuhan, his wife's hometown, his focus abruptly shifted to epidemic spreading.

"My group normally investigates turbulent flows in pipes and channels", he explains, "Over the last 10 years we have shown that the onset of turbulence is described by statistical models that are equally used to describe forest fires and epidemics." Given this experience, programming an epidemic model was a straightforward exercise for Burak Budanur, the group's theorist and computational expert. The epidemic curve does not flatten, it collapses

Standard epidemic models suggest that the level of mitigation has a continuous effect on the height of the epidemic peak. "The expectation is that the curve flattens in proportion to the level of social distancing", says Davide Scarselli, main author of the paper. However, when he first simulated epidemics taking limits in testing and contact tracing into account, the picture was a very different one. The maximum of infected people initially decreased as expected but then suddenly collapsed to almost zero as the mitigation level reached a certain threshold. In one limit, approximately half of the people got infected during the epidemic. In the other one only three percent caught the disease. Surprisingly, it was impossible to obtain a result in between these two outcomes: Either there is an outbreak of considerable size, or there is almost none whatsoever. Failure yields faster than exponential growth

Testing of known contacts (not testing per se) is one of the most powerful ways to slow down an epidemic. However, the number of cases that can be traced every day is limited and so is the number of tests that can be administered. As the researchers found out that exceeding these limits at one point during the epidemic has far-reaching consequences. "If this happens", says Timme, "the disease begins to spread faster in the unchecked areas and this unavoidably causes a super-exponential increase in infections." Already, exponential growth is immense. It means doubling infections every few days. Super-exponential though signifies that even the rate of doubling becomes faster and faster.

As long as this acceleration can be avoided, epidemic curves collapse to a comparably low case level. Interestingly, it matters relatively little whether contact tracing is protected by a small or a large safety margin. The numbers remain comparatively low. If on the other hand the limit is only surpassed by a single case the super-exponential growth causes the total case numbers to jump to a tenfold level. Marginal differences and disproportionate effects

"Like most nations, Austria didnt react early against the second wave. Once not all contacts could be traced anymore during last September, it wasn't difficult to predict that case numbers would soon surge at a faster than exponential rate", says Scarselli. While over the last year it has become apparent that an early and decisive response is essential when facing exponential growth, the team's study shows that test limits make timing even more crucial. The difference between success and failure of a lockdown is marginal, or as Budanur puts it: "A policy that would have worked yesterday will not only take much longer to take effect, but it may fail entirely if it is implemented a single day too late." Hof adds: "Most European countries only reacted when health capacity limits became threatened. Actually, policy makers should have paid attention to their contact tracing teams and locked down before this protective shield fell apart."

More recently the team has looked into optimal strategies, where lockdowns are used as a preventive tool rather than an emergency brake. A manuscript that outlines the optimal strategy, which minimizes both, the number of infected people and the required lockdown time, is currently in progress.

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Researchers at Linkoping University, Sweden, have made several discoveries on the functioning mechanisms of the inner hair cells of the ear, which convert sounds into nerve signals that are processed in the brain. The results, presented in the scientific journal Nature Communications, challenge the current picture of the anatomical organisation and workings of the hearing organ, which has prevailed for decades. A deeper understanding of how the hair cells are stimulated by sound is important for such matters as the optimisation of hearing aids and cochlear implants for people with hearing loss.

In order to hear sounds, we must convert sound waves, which are compressions and decompressions of air, into electrical nerve signals that are transmitted to the brain. This conversion takes place in the part of the inner ear known as the cochlea, due to its shape, which is reminiscent of a snail shell. The cochlear duct houses the hearing organ, with many hair cells that are divided into outer and inner hair cells. The outer hair cells amplify sound vibrations, which enables us to hear faint sounds and perceive the various frequencies in human speech better. The inner hair cells convert the sound vibrations into nerve signals. In the current study, the researchers have investigated how the conversion takes place. It is, namely, still unclear how the inner hair cells are stimulated by sound vibrations in order to produce nerve signals.

It has long been known that the outer hair cells are connected to a membrane that rests on top of them. The outer hair cells have hair-like protrusions known as stereocilia that are bent and activated when sound causes the membrane and the hearing organ to vibrate. However, the current view is that the stereocilia of the inner hair cells are not in contact with this membrane, which is known as the tectorial membrane, and that they are stimulated by sounds by a completely different mechanism. It is this model that the new study challenges.

The relationship between the hair cells and the tectorial membrane has been studied in detail by electron microscopy since the 1950s. But it is extremely difficult to investigate how this gelatinous membrane functions, since it shrinks as soon as it is removed from the ear. This makes it extremely difficult to preserve the relationship between the inner hair cells and the tectorial membrane. In addition, this membrane is transparent, and has therefore been essentially invisible. Until now. The LiU researchers noticed that the tectorial membrane reflected green light. This discovery made it possible to visualise the tectorial membrane by microscope.

"We cannot see any gap between the tectorial membrane and the hair cells. In contrast, the stereocilia on both outer and inner hair cells are completely embedded in the tectorial membrane. Our results are incompatible with the generally accepted idea that only the outer hair cells are in contact with the tectorial membrane", says Pierre Hakizimana, principal research engineer at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at Linkoping University, and principal author of the article.

Pierre Hakizimana and his colleagues have studied the inner ear of guinea pigs, which is very similar to that of humans. When the researchers investigated the relationship between the membrane and the hair cells in more detail, they made a further discovery.

"We found calcium ducts with an appearance that we've never seen before. These calcium ducts span the tectorial membrane and connect to the stereocilia of both the inner and the outer hair cells", says Pierre Hakizimana.

The research group, led by Professor Anders Fridberger, has previously discovered that the tectorial membrane functions as a reservoir for calcium ions, which are needed for the hair cells to convert the sound-evoked vibrations into nerve signals. The researchers followed the motion of the calcium ions in the ducts, and their results suggest that the calcium ions flow through the ducts to the hair cells. This may explain how the hair cells obtain the large amounts of calcium ions needed for their function. The study has also shown that the stereocilia on the inner and outer hair cells are bent by the tectorial membrane in similar ways. The next step of the research will be to understand in more detail how the calcium ions are transported, and identify the protein or proteins that make up the newly discovered calcium ducts.

"Our results allow us to describe a mechanism for how hearing functions, that is incompatible with the model that has been accepted for more than fifty years. The classic illustrations in the textbooks showing the hearing organ and how it functions must be updated. The mathematical models used in research to study hearing should also be updated to include these new findings", says Pierre Hakizimana.

New information about how our hearing functions may in the long term be important for the development of cochlear implants. These are hearing aids that are inserted into the cochlea and which use electrical stimulation to make it possible for children and adults with hearing loss to perceive sounds.

"Cochlear implants are an amazing solution for treating hearing loss, but they can be improved. A deeper understanding of how the inner hair cells are stimulated by sounds is important to optimise how cochlear implants stimulate the auditory nerve", says Pierre Hakizimana.

###

The study has received financial support from the Tysta Skolan Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and the National Institutes of Health in the US.
New study is the first to explore empirically the readership and the reading rewards underlying the current large-scale cultural phenomenon of erotic novels

Soon after E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey appeared in 2015, the book market was inundated with a flood of erotic bestsellers. People from all corners began wondering what this type of novel's secret of success could be. Now, a research team at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, has taken a closer look at the readership of erotic novels and investigated the causes of this literary predilection.

In the media as well as the academy, contemporary erotica is typically dismissed as being of low literary value. Critics and scholars tend to classify its readers as having mediocre to poor taste, without, however, examining their motivations and experiences in more detail. Against this background, the MPIEA team conducted an online study to investigate who actually reads erotic novels and why. The findings have just been published as an Open Access article in the journal Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

The study included data sets from around 420 female participants. The majority of respondents were heterosexual women in stable relationships with an above-average level of education. They described themselves as being enthusiastic frequent readers who enjoyed sharing their reading experiences with others. Most of the study participants were between 20 and 40 years old.

The majority of respondents indicated that they read erotic novels as a diversion, and feelings of ease and relaxation were frequently named as a motivating factor. The sexual explicitness of the novels and their potential to provide orientation in readers' own lives also played a role for the participants, although this role was less significant than had been assumed in previous studies. Readers' opinions about erotic novels also came as a surprise, by contrast with more general critical ideas about contemporary erotica.

"Many of the study participants saw erotic novels - at least in part - as being emancipated, feminist, and progressive. We attribute this finding primarily to the respondents' more traditional views of male and female gender roles," explains lead author Maria Kraxenberger.

This study is the first to investigate empirically the readership and motivations for reading that underlie a major contemporary cultural phenomenon. Although readers of erotica have a significant impact on the international book market, the mainstream conversation about literature and reading is still reserved for "serious" readers of "good," if less popular, kinds of books. The study's findings underscore the need for more research that explores reading experiences outside the canon of serious literature.

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Original Publication:

Kraxenberger, M., Knoop, C. A., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). Who reads contemporary erotic novels and why? Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8, Article 96.

Published: 28 April 2021
Twenty dollars a month might not seem like a lot to pay for health insurance. But for people getting by on $15,000 a year, it's enough to make some drop their coverage - especially if they're healthy, a new study of Medicaid expansion participants in Michigan finds.

That could keep them from getting preventive or timely care, and could leave their insurance company with a sicker pool of patients than before, say the researchers from the University of Michigan and University of Illinois Chicago. They have published their findings as a working paper through the National Bureau of Economic Research, ahead of publication in the American Journal of Health Economics.

The study has implications for other states that require low-income people to pay for their Medicaid coverage, or may be considering such a requirement if they expand Medicaid. It also has importance for the plans sold on the national and state Marketplaces to people who buy their coverage directly.

Impact of monthly fees

The new findings come from Michigan's Medicaid expansion program, called the Healthy Michigan Plan, which was one of the first in the nation to require some low-income participants to pay monthly fees and most participants to pay co-pays for services they receive. Nearly 906,000 Michiganders get their health coverage through the program.

Fees, formerly called contributions and similar to the monthly premiums that people with other forms of insurance pay, are only charged to those have a household income above the federal poverty level. The program is open to adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level, a cap of about $17,700 for a single-person household in 2021.

The analysis was done by a team from the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, which has conducted a formal evaluation of the program for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Betsy Q. Cliff, Ph.D., now at the University of Illinois Chicago, led the analysis during her doctoral training at the U-M School of Public Health.

While people leave Medicaid for a number of reasons, the study found a 2.3 percentage point jump in disenrollment at the federal poverty level, which the researchers attribute to the imposition of premiums.

Given a baseline disenrollment of about 20% over 6 months of the program, the study finds 12% more participants dropped off the Healthy Michigan Plan after they began owing monthly fees. The amount someone had to pay also mattered: Disenrollment rose by nearly 1 percentage point for every dollar charged monthly. The study used data from the inception of the program in March 2014 and followed participants through September 2016.

Michigan's cost-sharing requirements for people in the Healthy Michigan Plan kick in after a person has been in the program for six months. An individual on the program with an income just above the poverty level - around $12,900 a year in 2021 - might be charged about $20 a month, though this amount can be reduced by engaging in a discussion with their physician about healthy behaviors. The monthly amount goes up as income increases.

"Disruptions in Medicaid coverage -- also known as churn -- can lead to worse quality care, higher administrative costs and less chance for the population to receive needed but non-urgent preventive services," says Cliff, now an assistant professor at UIC's School of Public Health.

Indeed, previous work by the IHPI team to survey past participants in the Healthy Michigan Plan showed that 81% had access to no other form of insurance before they joined the program, and that 55% went uninsured for the three months after they left it.

Signs of "adverse selection"

When the researchers looked closer at who was leaving the plan, they found that it was mainly people who were relatively healthy: Those who hadn't had any care related to a chronic illness, and that had below-median health spending.

By contrast, the study did not find an increase in disenrollment among those who had gotten care for a chronic condition or had above-median health care spending during the first months after enrollment, before they received a cost-sharing invoice.

In participants who had no care related to a chronic disease in the six months before cost-sharing kicked in, or who had below-median overall spending, facing a premium increased the chance of disenrollment by about 3 percentage points. Every dollar of monthly fees cost raised disenrollment by 0.8 percentage points. But monthly fees didn't change the disenrollment chances of less-healthy enrollees who had chronic disease care or higher-than-median health spending.

When the researchers adjusted for demographic differences, they found that the people who disenrolled had medical spending in the first six months of enrollment that was 40% lower than the spending for those who stayed in.

Being billed for co-pays did not seem to alter the chance that people of any health status would leave the program. In general, co-pays for people receiving certain health care services under the Healthy Michigan Plan are $1 to $8 for a prescription up to $100 for an inpatient hospital stay, depending on income.

Enrollees are not required to leave the program for non-payment of monthly fees or co-pays; people must actively disenroll or fail to complete yearly renewal paperwork.

Implications for other states and plans

In addition to the disruption for individuals and the private plans that cover them, the authors say the findings have implications for how the state and federal governments plan for spending on Medicaid, and how they adjust payments to insurers and providers based on patients' health risk.

States that are considering implementing or continuing cost-sharing requirements under Medicaid expansion should consider this, the authors say.

Cost-sharing is seen as a way to promote personal responsibility and encourage participants to make better decisions about health care and have been used as a way to achieve bipartisan support for Medicaid expansion in Michigan and other states.

But as the study shows, this may limit access to coverage and cause Medicaid to experience adverse selection, that can disrupt the health insurance market.

###

The paper's senior author is Richard Hirth, Ph.D., the S.J. Axelrod Collegiate Professor of Health Management and Policy at the U-M School of Public Health. IHPI director John Z. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., who leads the institute's evaluation of the Healthy Michigan Plan and is the Alice Hamilton Distinguished University Professor of Medicine and Healthcare Policy at the Medical School with joint appointments at SPH and the Ford School of Public Policy, is a co-author. In addition to Cliff, Hirth and Ayanian, the study's authors are Sarah Miller of the U-M Ross School of Business, and Jeffrey Kullgren of the U-M Medical School.
It happens during and after birth

Hamilton, ON (May 10, 2021) - It is well known that each person's gut bacteria is vital for digestion and overall health, but when does that gut microbiome start?

New research led by scientists from McMaster University and Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany has found it happens during and after birth, and not before.

McMaster researchers Deborah Sloboda and Katherine Kennedy examined prenatal stool (meconium) samples collected from 20 babies during breech Cesarean delivery.

"The key takeaway from our study is we are not colonized before birth. Rather, our relationship with our gut bacteria emerges after birth and during infancy," said Kennedy, first author of the study and a PhD student, whose findings are published in Nature Microbiology.

Recent studies have sparked controversy by claiming that we are colonized by gut bacteria before birth. But, Kennedy said, studies such as these have been criticized for the ways they control for contamination.

"By including only breech caesarean deliveries in healthy pregnant women we were able to avoid the transmission of bacteria that occurs naturally during a vaginal birth," said Thorsten Braun, co-senior author and lead obstetric consultant and deputy director of the Department of 'Experimental Obstetrics' at Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin.

Kennedy said recent data suggest that a person's relationship with their own gut bacteria is most important in early life, during critical stages of immunological and physiological development.

Sloboda, co-senior author, agrees.

"The fact that colonization of infants' guts occurs during and after their births, means that not only is it vulnerable to early environmental influences, but could also offers a window of potential intervention," said Sloboda, professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster and the Canada Research Chair in perinatal programming.

"While many of the exact mechanisms surrounding gut bacteria and their role in our early development is unclear, discovering when and how we are colonized is a key first step."

###

External funding for the study came from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Editors:

A photo of the first author of the study PhD student Katherine Kennedy (left) and PhD student Patrycja Jazwiec is attached.

The paper is available at https:/ / go. nature. com/ 3tDd5ky

For information, please contact:

Veronica McGuire

Media Relations

Faculty of Health Sciences

McMaster University

289-776-6952

vmcguir@mcmaster.ca
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Brandon J. Henderson, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, has been awarded a Research Project Grant (R01), one of the most competitive grants issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Henderson was awarded the $1.86 million five-year grant (R01DA050717) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the neurobiological and neurophysiological changes that occur due to vaping nicotine in flavored products. Henderson's research team is working to better understand how electronic nicotine delivery systems, or vaping, alter neurobiology to trigger nicotine addiction in adolescents.

"Dr. Henderson's R01 award represents a critical milestone in our efforts to expand Marshall's research impact. He is exemplary of medical school faculty who are working diligently to develop innovative, exciting research to improve the lives of West Virginians," said Joseph I. Shapiro, M.D., vice president and dean of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. "Addiction poses a unique challenge to our community and Dr. Henderson's research holds promise in creating new opportunities to fight this evolving problem."

Nicotine addiction remains the number one cause of preventable death with an estimated 480,000 tobacco-related deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaping products are unique given the high concentration of nicotine, different nicotine formulations and flavor additives that may exacerbate addiction and increase risks for nicotine-related diseases and disorders.

"Our previous work that led to this award shows that some flavors by themselves may be addictive. Therefore, it is critical that we understand how flavors and nicotine, independent of each other or combined, change the brain and contribute to addiction," Henderson said.

The study will implement an adolescent mouse model system that examines nicotine reward and reinforcement translatable to human vaping. The team will then use modern-day neuroscience tools to determine specific changes in the regions of the brain most impacted by addiction using fluorescence microscopes and electrophysiology.

Since joining Marshall's faculty in 2017, Henderson has authored or co-authored 15 papers in peer-reviewed journals, presented his work nationally in 20 invited talks and has previously received R00 and R21 grants from the NIH. Henderson has been involved in nicotine-related research since starting his graduate studies at The Ohio State University and continued this throughout his postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology. Many of the techniques used for studying nicotine addiction in his lab were obtained through NIH-funded training at Yale University. In addition, Henderson also serves as co-chair of the Basic Science Network in the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

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The R01 is the original and historically oldest grant mechanism used by NIH. The R01 provides support for health-related research and development based on the mission of the NIH.
Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC), a highly oppressed house church in southwestern China's Sichuan province, has had a preacher jailed for "allegedly disturbing public order" by officiating a member's funeral.

Per the ERCC's prayer request picked by the U.S.-based persecution monitor International Christian Concern, Preacher Wu Wuqing was detained by officers from Damian Police Station in Chengdu city's Longquanyi District on Friday afternoon, hours after the funeral service.

Wu, who had already been persecuted, was released late at night.

ICC reports further that authorities have repeatedly shut off services at his house, and Chengdu police have vowed to escalate their crackdown and surveillance of his movements if he chooses to work at ERCC.

Authorities locked down the 5,000-member congregation, tore down the doors of church members and leaders' houses, and jailed more than 100 individuals more than two years ago.

According to a report from the U.S.-based group ChinaAid, police are incessant in their threats and monitoring of ERCC representatives.

Gina Goh, ICC's regional manager for Southeast Asia, said: "House churches across China are seeing an increased harassment from church raid, crackdown on their activities, to the detention of their leaders."

"Beijing seeks to intimidate the leaders in hopes that the churches will dissolve due to fear. Their plot will not succeed, thanks to the resiliency of the Chinese house church. They survived the Cultural Revolution, and they will survive Xi's era as well," she added.

Elder Zhang Chunlei of the Guiyang Ren'ai Reformed Church, preacher Zhang Peihong of Shanghai Lancun Zhongyue Church, and preachers Qie Jiafu and Huang Chunzi of Beijing's Zion Church were among those assaulted and criminalized by authorities in April. They've both been caught up in the new crackdown.

Last month, the Public Security Bureau detained many members of the ERCC for engaging in an "online Easter worship service on Zoom" and told them to stop all religious practice.

According to a Christian who did not want her name mentioned, police called in ERCC officials in control of church events and internet programs over the weekend and insisted that they suspend all activities.

"Since 8:30 a.m., some security officials have entered these Christian families' homes and pretended to be chatting with them casually," an ERCC supporter wrote on Twitter.

"At 9:30 a.m., the worship began, and they were also invited to participate. Once they realized that the sermon was from ERCC's imprisoned pastor Wang Yi, they immediately shut it down," the supported added.

After its closure in 2018, ERCC, headed by pastor Wang Yi, has been unable to meet in person, and its pastor and other representatives have been jailed. Pastor Wang was then convicted of subversion of authority and unlawful business practices and sentenced to nine years in jail.

As new increasingly stringent regulatory measures on religious workers went into force last week, authorities in China continued their attack on Christianity by banning Bible Apps and Christian WeChat public accounts.

Father Francis Liu of the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness tweeted that some Christian WeChat pages, including "Gospel League" and "Life Quarterly," were no longer accessible online.

According to the recently published report by ChinaAid, religious oppression in China increased in 2020, with thousands of Christians impacted by church closures and other human rights violations.
Recurrent, metastatic breast cancer resists treatment and is usually fatal.

These tumors often have low numbers of immune cells in them, which renders immune therapies less effective for the disease.

This preclinical study suggests that drugs called CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitors may make immune-cell therapies an effective option for treating recurrent ER-positive metastatic breast cancer.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A class of drugs that inhibits breast cancer progression when used with hormonal therapy might also boost the effectiveness of immune therapy in cases of recurrent, metastatic breast cancer, according to a new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James).

Published in the journal Cell Reports, the findings of the animal study suggest that drugs called CDK4 and CDK6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors might improve the effectiveness of immune therapies for metastatic, estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer.

"We know that CDK4/6 inhibitors effectively slow the progression of newly diagnosed breast cancer, but they don't kill cancer cells," says principal investigator Anna Vilgelm, MD, a member of the OSUCCC - James Translational Therapeutics Program and assistant professor at the Ohio State College of Medicine. "Consequently, the disease often recurs, and then it is usually fatal because we have no effective therapies for recurrent disease.

"Our findings suggest that combining CDK4/6 inhibitors with immunotherapy might offer an effective treatment for recurrent, metastatic ER+ breast cancer," Vilgelm says.

Specifically, the study shows that CDK4/6 inhibitors can improve the efficacy of T-cell-based therapies such as adoptive T-cell transfer or T-cell-activating antibodies in animal models of breast cancer.

Immune therapies are proving to be effective treatments for a variety of cancers but not for advanced breast cancer. One problem is that breast tumors often have low numbers of cancer-killing T lymphocytes within the tumor. Such tumors tend to respond poorly to immune therapies.

"In addition, breast cancer patients with low numbers of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes often have worse survival compared to patients with high numbers of infiltrating lymphocytes in their tumors," says Vilgelm.

The new study shows that CDK4/6 inhibitors cause breast tumors to secrete small proteins called chemokines that attract T cells. This can help to improve patients' response to cancer immunotherapies.

For this study, Vilgelm and her colleagues used the oral CDK inhibitor palbociclib, mouse models, breast cancer cell lines and analyses of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to study the influence of CDK4/6 inhibitors and chemokine production in the tumor immune microenvironment and on patient outcomes.

Key findings include:

Pre-treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor improves recruitment of T cells into tumors and improved the outcome of adoptive cell therapy in animal models;

CDK4/6 inhibitor-treated human breast cancer cells produce T-cell-recruiting chemokines;

TCGA analysis showed that chemokine expression is a favorable prognostic factor in breast cancer patients;

mTOR-regulated metabolic activity is required for chemokine induction by CDK4/6 inhibition;

T-cell-recruiting chemokines may be useful prognostic markers for stratifying patients for immunotherapy treatment.

"Overall," Vilgelm says, "our findings suggest that CDK4/6 inhibitors may offer a therapeutic strategy that can attract T cells into breast cancer tumors, which mayincrease their sensitivity to immune therapies."

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This study was supported by grants from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (CA098131, CA233770-01, CA116021, CA116021-S1, CA68485, CA16672) and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Other researchers involved in this study were Roman V. Uzhachenko, Vijaya Bharti, Zhufeng Ouyang, Chengli Shen, The Ohio State University; Ashlyn Blevins, Stacey Mont, Nabil Saleh, Hunter A. Lawrence, Sheau-Chiann Chen, Gregory D Ayers, Vanderbilt University; David G. DeNardo, Washington University, St. Louis; Carlos Arteaga, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Ann Richmond, Department of Veterans Affairs, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and Vanderbilt University.

About the OSUCCC - James

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 51 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only a few centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials on novel anticancer drugs provided by the NCI. As the cancer program's 356-bed adult patient-care component, The James is one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report and has achieved Magnet designation, the highest honor an organization can receive for quality patient care and professional nursing practice. With 21 floors and more than 1.1 million square feet, The James is a transformational facility that fosters collaboration and integration of cancer research and clinical cancer care.
Porcupines are frequently traded across Asia, and Indonesia, home to five species, is no exception. They are targeted for a number of reasons: their meat as an alternative source of protein, their bezoars consumed as traditional medicine, and their quills used as talismans and for decorative purposes.

A new study examining seizure data of porcupines, their parts and derivatives in Indonesia found a total of 39 incidents from January 2013 to June 2020 involving an estimated 452 porcupines. The research was published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Nature Conservation.

There are no harvest quotas for any porcupine species in Indonesia, which makes all hunting and trade in porcupines illegal. Of the five species found in the country, only the Sunda porcupine (Hystrix javanica) is currently protected, with its protected status only introduced in 2018. Interestingly, prior to 2018, the Malayan porcupine (H. brachyura) was the only protected porcupine species in Indonesia, but then it was removed from the updated species protection list and replaced with the Sunda porcupine.

"The reasons for this are unclear, but certainly unwarranted, considering that the Malayan porcupine is the species most frequently identified as confiscated, and one can only assume the reason for its removal is due to its commercial value," says Lalita Gomez, author of the study and Programme Officer of Monitor Conservation Research Society.

What clearly emerges from this study is that porcupines are being illegally hunted and exploited throughout their range in Indonesia for local subsistence and commercial trade. Porcupines are reportedly in decline in Indonesia, yet there seems to be little control or monitoring on uptake and trade. This is particularly concerning because four of the five porcupine species in Indonesia have a restricted range, and three of them are island endemics - the Sumatran porcupine (H. sumatrae), Sunda porcupine, and Thick-spined porcupine (H. crassispinis).

Illegal hunting and trade of porcupines in Indonesia is facilitated by poor enforcement and legislative weakness, and it is imperative that effective conservation measures are taken sooner rather than later to prevent further depletion of these species.

Gomez recommends that all porcupines be categorised as protected species under Indonesian wildlife laws and listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This would require any international trade to take place through a supervisory system, which would allow for regulation and make it easier to track and analyse trends, thus providing an early warning system in case wild populations begin to decline.

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Original source:
Cerebral aneurysms are malformations caused by abnormalities on the walls of blood vessels in the brain. When these blood vessels rupture, about 30% of the sufferers die on the spot, giving these the rightful label of 'ticking bombs in the head'. Recently, a research team at POSTECH has come up with a new treatment that can disassemble these time bombs by filling the aneurysm in blood with a new method.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of coil embolization, POSTECH's joint research team (Professor Joonwon Kim and Dr. Jongkyeong Lim of the Department of Mechanical Engineering with Professor Hyung Joon Cha and Ph.D. candidate Geunho Choi of the Department of Chemical Engineering) has developed a new structurally stable, biocompatible embolization material that does not decompose in the human body. In addition, a new concept of cerebral aneurysm therapy (treatment device) capable of stably forming and controlling the material in the form of microfibers in the intravascular environment was presented. These research findings were published as the outside back cover paper of Advanced Materials on April 8, 2021.

Early detection of cerebral aneurysms is increasing due to periodic health examinations. The current treatment method uses coil embolization, which lowers the direction and pressure of internal blood flow by filling the aneurysm with a platinum coil before it ruptures. However, coil embolization surgery is a financial burden since it requires many platinum coils (KRW 600,000 (USD 550) per coil) commensurate to the aneurysm size. Moreover, due to the coil's fine spring structure, the aneurysm may burst during surgery or the inside of the aneurysm may not be completely filled. There are also other problems in which the coil may be detached from the affected area due to recompression caused by the low filling rate after operation.

Hydrogels, which respond to various stimuli such as temperature, pH, and light, and exhibit soft mechanical strength, have attracted great attention as an embolic material that can fill an aneurysm at a high rate. Among them, photocrosslinkable hydrogels are considered to be most suitable for embolization thanks to their easy spatiotemporal control. But their practical usage is limited. In addition, materials being developed for aneurysm embolization currently use high concentrations of biologically inactive synthetic hydrogels that are toxic and not biocompatible. These can also cause severe swelling in the body - often leading to ruptures - and have thwarted their commercialization. In addition, conventional surgical methods could not be applied to clinical applications because it was impossible to produce and control hydrogels using light in an intravascular environment, which has a tortuous geometric structure and high absorbance.

The research team led by Professor Hyung Joon Cha of the Department of Chemical Engineering proposed an alginate-based hydrogel derived from algae that can be double-crosslinked as a new material for aneurysm embolization. This new embolic material exhibits excellent biocompatibility and uses the synergistic effect of rapid covalent crosslinking by irradiation with the harmless visible light and ionic crosslinking using calcium ions present in the blood. In addition, since no degrading enzymes exist in the human body, it does not degrade and exhibits outstanding structural stability without swelling. This can safely and effectively fill the aneurysm and successfully prevent rupture. Since it is possible to mount a contrast medium, it exhibits radiopacity so that the embolic material applied through CT or MRI can be monitored continuously for a long time.

The research team led by Professor Joonwon Kim of the Department of Mechanical Engineering developed a microfluidic device with an integrated optical fiber. This device is a new concept surgical device that can stably produce and control photocrosslinkable hydrogels in the form of microfibers in an extreme intravascular environment, which has a tortuous geometric structure and high absorbance.

Double-crosslinked alginate-based hydrogel microfibers produced and controlled in these microfluidic devices can safely and evenly fill the aneurysms. During this stage, the microfibers intertwine with each other to form a lump to block the flow of fluid from entering the aneurysm and maintain the structural shape and constant mechanical strength without dissociation even in the pulsating environment after surgery. This minimizes a resurge of the pressure inside the aneurysm or its rupture.

"This research is the first in the world to develop a new material for embolization that may be biocompatible without side effects and be stably maintained in the human body for a long time," remarked Professor Hyung Joon Cha. "We plan to deliberate on commercialization through a technology transfer."

Professor Joonwon Kim explained, "This research is the first in the world to develop a method that can be used to treat aneurysms by microfibrillating a photocrosslinkable hydrogel microfiber in blood vessels." He added, "It is anticipated these materials will be effectively applicable to many vascular diseases requiring embolization."

"The new concept of embolization method developed in this study was verified using the Advanced Dynamic Angio Model (ADAM) simulator implemented by the new deep coating technology and 3D vascular replica production technology using liquid embolic materials previously developed by the research team. The ADAM simulator is a system that provides a virtual environment that is very similar to the surgical environment of a real patient, and can be used for simulation of various vascular diseases," explained Professor Kim.

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This research was conducted with the support from the research-centered hospital nurturing R&D project supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, and the Mid-career Research Program and the Nano-New Materials Core Technology Development Program funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
HOUSTON - (May 10, 2021) - Rice University neurobiologist Rosa Uribe will be hitting the books for her latest study of the digestive system, but some of the pages in her books are a billion years old.

Uribe, an assistant professor of biosciences, has won a five-year, $2 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how the enteric nervous system forms.

If you didn't realize you had an enteric nervous system, you're not alone.

"Most people don't realize they have it until there's something wrong with it, and they have to go to the gastroenterologist," Uribe said. "It is basically the nervous system that resides within your entire gut. It is separate from your spinal cord, and it is separate from your brain. Meaning, it can function on its own to help move the food that you digest from one end of the gut the other in a healthy way."

Uribe, who was recruited to Rice in 2017 with a CPRIT Scholar grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, specializes in studying the development of the enteric nervous system. When that development goes awry, it can lead to chronic and sometimes life-threatening illnesses, including neuroblastoma, a common pediatric cancer, and Hirschsprung disease, a congenital condition that frequently causes chronic intestinal obstructions and severe constipation.

"We know an embarrassingly small amount of information about how the enteric nervous system forms," Uribe said. "We have a long way to go to understand the fundamental mechanisms of how it forms, and that's the major goal of this R01."

It is impossible to directly study the development of the enteric nervous system in humans. For ethical reasons, human embryos cannot be studied beyond the 14th day after fertilization, which is well before most of the development of the enteric nervous system takes place. Instead, Uribe and her students use zebrafish, small egg-laying fish whose translucent embryos develop outside the female's body. Using a variety of microscopes and genetic tools, Uribe and her students can peer directly inside the embryos and make detailed observations of the neural crest cells, the embryonic stem cells that give rise to the enteric nervous system.

During enteric nervous system development, neural crest cells migrate down the gut. At each step in their journey, they're prompted with biochemical cues that tell them whether to keep moving or stop, and what cells to become when they stop. The transformation from a malleable neural crest stem cell into a working neuron or one of the many other cell types in the enteric nervous system is a multistep process, and deciphering the mechanisms of this process is the main aim of the project.

The five-year study builds upon a major breakthrough Uribe's lab achieved in February with a new tool called single-cell transcriptomics, which allowed them to build the first open catalog of activated genes in neural crest cells at many stages on the enteric development path.

"It really is like a library, where you have both books and a catalog of what's in those books," Uribe said. "And when you open a book, you see the content and information within that book. But here in our situation, a book is a cell."

Single-cell transcriptomics creates the books in Uribe's library by measuring messenger RNA in a way that allows biologists to see which genes are activated in individual cells in a sample. In Uribe's case, the samples are surgically removed portions of zebrafish embryos in which neural crest cells are developing. Thanks to a proprietary process that dissociates, isolates and individually bar-codes each cell, Uribe's team was able to catch neural crest cells in the act becoming neurons or glial cells.

"We did this for about 100 embryos," Uribe said. "All of the cells were grouped in one single-cell suspension, and all of the data was mapped back to the zebrafish genome. We ended up with massive lists of genes that were either expressed or not expressed in those cells, and that has helped us start to see the bigger picture, because we're not looking at just one or two cells, we're looking at thousands of cells. And with the power of thousands of cells, you can pull out potentially interesting patterns about gene expression and how, in our case, a developing embryo forms itself."

The results were published in the journal eLife, and Uribe said the work will continue during the R01.

"We will continue to leverage this for various questions for subpopulations of cells at different stages of development," she said. "For example, you can take an embryo and expose it to some type of experiment, like a pharmacological reagent or a genetic alteration, and then you can see what those changes do. Using the single-cell transcriptomic method, you can compare it to the books in your library and see how you're editing the story with those changes. What pages are different and how? And does it change the number and type of books in the library?"

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Links and resources:

R01 grant information: https:/ / bit. ly/ 3gGUXDw

Read the eLife paper at: https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 7554/ eLife. 60005

VIDEO is available at:

https:/ / youtu. be/ 8dz39hxJlbo

High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 05/ 0510_CREST-ru24-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Neurodevelopmental biologist Rosa Uribe is a CPRIT Scholar and assistant professor of biosciences at Rice University. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 05/ 0510_CREST-jmru1-lg. jpg

CAPTION: Rice University graduate student Joshua Moore examines zebrafish embryos with a microscope in the lab of Rice neurodevelopmental biologist Rosa Uribe (right). Uribe's lab recently won an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study enteric nervous system development in zebrafish. (Photo by Brandon Martin/Rice University)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 05/ 0510_CREST-scope-lg. jpg

CAPTION: A microscope image of the entire embryonic zebrafish gut with enteric nervous system cells highlighted in blue and green. (Photo by Akshaya Venkatesh/Rice University)

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,978 undergraduates and 3,192 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 1 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
HOUSTON - (May 10, 2021) - The prospects for life on a given planet depend not only on where it forms but also how, according to Rice University scientists.

Planets like Earth that orbit within a solar system's Goldilocks zone, with conditions supporting liquid water and a rich atmosphere, are more likely to harbor life. As it turns out, how that planet came together also determines whether it captured and retained certain volatile elements and compounds, including nitrogen, carbon and water, that give rise to life.

In a study published in Nature Geoscience, Rice graduate student and lead author Damanveer Grewal and Professor Rajdeep Dasgupta show the competition between the time it takes for material to accrete into a protoplanet and the time the protoplanet takes to separate into its distinct layers -- a metallic core, a shell of silicate mantle and an atmospheric envelope in a process called planetary differentiation -- is critical in determining what volatile elements the rocky planet retains.

Using nitrogen as proxy for volatiles, the researchers showed most of the nitrogen escapes into the atmosphere of protoplanets during differentiation. This nitrogen is subsequently lost to space as the protoplanet either cools down or collides with other protoplanets or cosmic bodies during the next stage of its growth.

This process depletes nitrogen in the atmosphere and mantle of rocky planets, but if the metallic core retains enough, it could still be a significant source of nitrogen during the formation of Earth-like planets.

Dasgupta's high-pressure lab at Rice captured protoplanetary differentiation in action to show the affinity of nitrogen toward metallic cores.

"We simulated high pressure-temperature conditions by subjecting a mixture of nitrogen-bearing metal and silicate powders to nearly 30,000 times the atmospheric pressure and heating them beyond their melting points," Grewal said. "Small metallic blobs embedded in the silicate glasses of the recovered samples were the respective analogs of protoplanetary cores and mantles."

Using this experimental data, the researchers modeled the thermodynamic relationships to show how nitrogen distributes between the atmosphere, molten silicate and core.

"We realized that fractionation of nitrogen between all these reservoirs is very sensitive to the size of the body," Grewal said. "Using this idea, we could calculate how nitrogen would have separated between different reservoirs of protoplanetary bodies through time to finally build a habitable planet like Earth."

Their theory suggests that feedstock materials for Earth grew quickly to around moon- and Mars-sized planetary embryos before they completed the process of differentiating into the familiar metal-silicate-gas vapor arrangement.

In general, they estimate the embryos formed within 1-2 million years of the beginning of the solar system, far sooner than the time it took for them to completely differentiate. If the rate of differentiation was faster than the rate of accretion for these embryos, the rocky planets forming from them could not have accreted enough nitrogen, and likely other volatiles, critical to developing conditions that support life.

"Our calculations show that forming an Earth-size planet via planetary embryos that grew extremely quickly before undergoing metal-silicate differentiation sets a unique pathway to satisfy Earth's nitrogen budget," said Dasgupta, the principal investigator of CLEVER Planets, a NASA-funded collaborative project exploring how life-essential elements might have come together on rocky planets in our solar system or on distant, rocky exoplanets.

"This work shows there's much greater affinity of nitrogen toward core-forming metallic liquid than previously thought," he said.

The study follows earlier works, one showing how the impact by a moon-forming body could have given Earth much of its volatile content, and another suggesting that the planet gained more of its nitrogen from local sources in the solar system than once believed.

In the latter study, Grewal said, "We showed that protoplanets growing in both inner and outer regions of the solar system accreted nitrogen, and Earth sourced its nitrogen by accreting protoplanets from both of these regions. However, it was unknown as to how the nitrogen budget of Earth was established."

"We are making a big claim that will go beyond just the topic of the origin of volatile elements and nitrogen, and will impact a cross-section of the scientific community interested in planet formation and growth," Dasgupta said.

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Rice undergraduate intern Taylor Hough and research intern Alexandra Farnell, then a student at St. John's School in Houston and now an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, are co-authors of the study.

NASA grants, including one via the FINESST program, and a Lodieska Stockbridge Vaughn Fellowship at Rice supported the research.

Read the paper at https:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1038/ s41561-021-00733-0 .

This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

Much of Earth's nitrogen was locally sourced: http://news. rice. edu/ 2021/ 01/ 21/ much-of-earths-nitrogen-was-locally-sourced/

Planetary collision that formed the moon made life possible on Earth: https:/ / news. rice. edu/ 2019/ 01/ 23/ planetary-collision-that-formed-the-moon-made-life-possible-on-earth-2/

What recipes produce a habitable planet? http://news. rice. edu/ 2018/ 09/ 17/ what-recipes-produce-a-habitable-planet-2/

Breathing? Thank volcanoes, tectonics and bacteria: http://news. rice. edu/ 2019/ 12/ 02/ breathing-thank-volcanoes-tectonics-and-bacteria/

ExPeRT: Experimental Petrology Rice Team (Dasgupta group): https:/ / www. dasgupta. rice. edu/ expert/ people/

CLEVER Planets: http://cleverplanets. org

Rice Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences: https:/ / earthscience. rice. edu

Wiess School of Natural Sciences: https:/ / www. rice. edu

Images for download:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 04/ 0405_NITRO-5-WEB. jpg

Nitrogen-bearing, Earth-like planets can be formed if their feedstock material grows quickly to around moon- and Mars-sized planetary embryos before separating into core-mantle-crust-atmosphere, according to Rice University scientists. If metal-silicate differentiation is faster than the growth of planetary embryo-sized bodies, then solid reservoirs fail to retain much nitrogen and planets growing from such feedstock become extremely nitrogen-poor. (Credit: Illustration by Amrita P. Vyas/Rice University)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 03/ 0329_NITROGEN-1-WEB. jpg

Rice University geochemists analyzed experimental samples of coexisting metals and silicates to learn how they would chemically interact when placed under pressures and temperatures similar to those experienced by differentiating protoplanets. Using nitrogen as a proxy, they theorize that how a planet comes together has implications for whether it captures and retains volatile elements essential to life. (Credit: Tommy LaVergne/Rice University)

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 04/ 0405_NITRO-4-WEB. jpg

Rice University graduate student Damanveer Grewal, left, and geochemist Rajdeep Dasgupta discuss their experiments in the lab, where they compress complex mixtures of elements to simulate conditions deep in protoplanets and planets. In a new study, they determined that how a planet comes together has implications for whether it captures and retains the volatile elements, including nitrogen, carbon and water, essential to life. (Credit: Tommy LaVergne/Rice University)

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,978 undergraduates and 3,192 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 1 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

Jeff Falk

713-348-6775

jfalk@rice.edu

Mike Williams

713-348-6728

mikewilliams@rice.edu
Modeling shows fluctuating soil microbial populations impact how much carbon is released from soil

As humans, the weather where we live influences our energy consumption. In climates where weather shifts from hot summers to very cold winters, humans consume more energy since the body has to work harder to maintain temperature.

In much the same way, weather influences microbes such as bacteria and fungi in the soil. Seasonal fluctuations in soil temperature and moisture impact microbial activities that in turn impact soil carbon emissions and nutrient cycles.

Microbes consume carbon as the source of energy. As microbes increase in quantity and activities, they consume more carbon which results in more carbon emissions and vice versa.

In a modeling study published in Global Change Biology on May 10, San Diego State University ecologists found that this microbial seasonality has a significant impact on global carbon emissions and acts as a fundamental mechanism that regulates terrestrial-climate interactions and below ground soil biogeochemistry.

"When microbial colonies in the soil are in a productive phase, increasing in numbers and size, they will need more carbon to fuel their growth," said Xiaofeng Xu, global change ecologist and lead author. "When we manipulated the quantities and activities of soil microbes in simulations and observed the reciprocal changes in soil carbon, we found that when seasonal variation was removed, microbial respiratory rates went down."

By keeping the microbial population at a constant average level, carbon emissions can be reduced.

Stewards of the land could look at reducing fluctuation in soil microbial population by reducing tillage and other management practices in order to reduce soil carbon emissions, the researchers said. It can also help agricultural scientists and growers to sustain soil fertility

Using a microbial modeling framework -- CLM-Microbe (Community Land Model) -- developed in the Ecological Modeling and Integration Lab at SDSU where he studies how climate change impacts the terrestrial carbon cycle -- Xu and colleagues deployed the model on an SDSU supercomputer to reach this conclusion.

"We know soil microbes drive carbon flux -- the amount of carbon exchanged between land, ocean and atmosphere -- by producing enzymes that impact carbon flux," Xu said. "Soil carbon completes its cycle with the help of these microbes which have a hand in ultimate control of the carbon."

Different soil microbial groups play distinct roles in the carbon cycle.

"The model's ability to simulate bacterial and fungal dynamics improves our understanding of the soil microbial community's impact on the carbon cycle," said Liyuan He, first author and doctoral student at SDSU.

The finding advances soil microbial ecology and shows the ecological significance of microbial seasonality and our understanding of soil carbon storage under changing climate conditions.

The authors modeled and validated carbon fluxes observed at an individual plot scale in nine natural biomes including tropical/subtropical forest, temperate coniferous forest, temperate broadleaf forest, boreal forest, shrubland, grassland, desert, tundra, and wetland.

"This study demonstrates the need to incorporate microbial seasonality in earth system models so we can better predict climate-carbon interactions," said Chun-Ta Lai, co-author and an ecosystem ecologist at SDSU.

Next, the researchers will explore microbial seasonality and its impact on global carbon balance, given the dynamics of land use change around the world.

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The SDSU researchers also collaborated with senior staff scientist Melanie Mayes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, and meteorologist Shohei Murayama with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan.

Funding sources for the study included the U.S Department of Energy Biological and Environmental Research Program and the CSU Program for Education & Research in Biotechnology.
Every year the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the SIOP Foundation present numerous awards recognizing excellence in professional and student work. For 2021, seven SIOP members were honored with distinguished awards.

SIOP Distinguished Awards are given in recognition of either a lifetime of outstanding contributions or distinguished early career contributions to the practice or science of industrial and organizational psychology; sustained, significant, and outstanding service to SIOP; a sustained record of excellence in the teaching of I-O psychology; and sustained, significant, and outstanding humanitarian contributions related to I-O psychology.

Douglas H. Reynolds, DDI, Distinguished Professional Contributions Award

Dr. Doug Reynolds, whose technology-driven assessment work has helped fill critical leadership roles across industries, exemplifies the scientist-practitioner ideal. He has published and presented widely on cutting-edge assessment techniques and has provided impactful service to the profession through SIOP leadership roles and his support of graduate students and early-career professionals.

Herman Aguinis, George Washington University, Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award

Dr. Herman Aguinis' theoretical and empirical innovativeness can be seen in many important areas, including corporate social responsibility, star performers and the distribution of performance, test bias and fairness, methodological best-practice recommendations, and state-of-the-science contributions. His 180 journal articles and nine books have changed the conversation in many I-O psychology domains.

Deirdre J. Knapp, HumRRO, Distinguished Service Contributions Award

Dr. Deirdre J. Knapp has provided distinguished service to SIOP and the profession, exhibiting leadership and initiative in advancing four major areas: governance, advocacy, ethics, and elevating the influence of I-O psychology. Through years of dedicated mentoring, she has also helped other I-Os achieve roles of leadership and service.

Kristin L. Cullen-Lester, University of Mississippi, Distinguished Early Career Contributions Award - Practice

Dr. Kristin Cullen-Lester has crafted a career that allows her to advance scientific thinking and affords her opportunities to impact practice directly. Highlights of her career include pioneering a network-based leadership development practice, co-creating the Leader Network Diagnostic tool and certification, and educating managers and practitioners about the power of networks.

Allison S. Gabriel, University of Arizona, Distinguished Early Career Contributions Award - Science

Dr. Allison Gabriel's research has made important contributions to the understanding of emotions and employee well-being, in addition to making contributions specific to the advancement of research methods. She has published an average seven journal articles each year, received numerous grants and awards, and been featured in prominent popular press.

David Costanza, George Washington University, Distinguished Teaching Contributions Award

Dr. David Costanza's deep passion for teaching, which emphasizes relevance and applicability, can be seen in the creation of a new undergraduate major at The George Washington University, in his development and management of an intense study abroad course, and the impact he has had on students at all levels.

Stuart Carr, Massey University, SIOP Humanitarian Award

Dr. Stuart Carr, co-founder of Humanitarian Work Psychology, made significant contributions to the I-O field through his theories and publications. A SIOP, Royal Society of New Zealand, and New Zealand Psychological Society Fellow, he has been an invited speaker at the United Nations and worked tirelessly on living wage projects.

SIOP's distinguished award recipients were honored during the opening plenary of the 36th SIOP Annual Conference, held virtually April 14-17.

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A complete list of 2021 award winners is available at http://www. siop. org/ Foundation/ Awards .

About SIOP

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is an international professional organization with an annual membership of nearly 10,000 industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists. SIOP's mission is to enhance human well-being and performance in organizational and work settings by promoting the science, practice, and teaching of I-O psychology.
According to the International Whaling Commission, whale-watching tourism generates more than $2.5 billion a year. After the COVID-19 pandemic, this relatively safe outdoor activity is expected to rebound. Two new studies funded by a collaborative initiative between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and Arizona State University (ASU) show how science can contribute to whale watching practices that ensure the conservation and safety of whales and dolphins.

"The Smithsonian's role is to provide scientific advice to policy makers as they pioneer management strategies to promote whale conservation," said STRI marine biologist, Hector Guzman, whose previous work led the International Maritime Organization to establish shipping corridors in the Pacific to prevent container ships from colliding with whales along their migration routes. "Now we have methods to measure how whale behavior changes as a result of whale-watching practices. These two papers were published in a special volume of Frontiers in Marine Science dedicated to studies of whale-watching practices worldwide."

Whale watching is on the rise around the world and is part of sustainable tourism-development projects in countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Nicaragua and Panama. But critics say that jobs and increased income for tour operators and coastal residents cannot be justified if whales are harmed.

Whale-watching regulations in Panama first established with Guzman's help in 2005, and modified in 2017 and 2020, prohibit activities that cause whales to change their behavior. The aim of the first study was to discover if the presence of tourism boats caused the whales to change their behavior during the breeding season.

Researchers monitored humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) during their August-September breeding season within Panama's Las Perlas Archipelago protected area. From a high vantage point on Contadora Island and from whale-watching vessels, they recorded the number of tourist boats and whales present and activity, including changes in direction, breaching, slapping the water, dives and spy-hops (raising the head above the water surface) on 47 occasions.

They discovered that whale-watching vessels frequently disregarded legal guidelines designed to protect the whales: deliberately chasing whales, getting too close to adult whales and calves, and forcing whales to change their behavior. Other notable observations included:

Tourist boats chased groups that included calves more often than groups of adults.

Groups that included a calf changed direction more often than did other group types.

Whales changed direction more often when more than two to three tourist boats were present.

Roughly 1,000 whale watchers visit the Las Perlas islands each year, and that number is growing. In the second study, researchers interviewed tourists waiting to return to the mainland at the Contadora airport to better understand the whale watching experience. They interviewed every third person waiting in line.

Ninety-nine percent of the tourists who saw whales reported seeing at least one behavior while whale watching, and 68% reported that their experience met or exceeded their expectations. 30% said that they did not observe a whale. Half reported that they had observed either their boat or other nearby boats chasing whales at high speed, or that they had gotten closer to the whales than the distance permitted by law.

Breeding whales are threatened by marine pollution, ship strikes, climate change, noise and disturbances while they are resting, socializing and feeding. In the future, researchers hope to measure the amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) in whale fecal samples to find out if the animals are under stress, use better technology (e.g., theodolites--instruments that measure angles) to measure the distance between boats and whales, use drones with cameras to document interactions and continue to survey tourists to better understand whale watching and inform management strategies to keep these magnificent animals safe.

"I wanted to do a study with practical outcomes for conservation, not just another paper that sits on a shelf," said Katie Surrey, doctoral candidate at ASU and co-author of both papers. "In Las Perlas, where whales come to breed, we observed harassing behavior, like ten tourist boats surrounding a single mother and calf. But we also talked to tourists and operators who learned a significant amount about whales and champion better whale-watching practices and conservation efforts as a result. For my dissertation I plan to find out more about what motivates both the tourists and the operators, so that we can suggest ways to both improve their experience and safeguard the whales."

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The morphological compatibility between flowers and insects was given in the famous textbook example of Darwin's orchids and hawkmoths. As in this example, many studies have shown that geographical variations in flower size match the size of insects in each region. In other words, studies have shown "flower-sized regional adaptation" in which large flowers evolve in areas pollinated by large insects and small flowers evolve in areas pollinated by small insects.

However, when examining the genetic similarity between populations, are plants in each region more similar, or are plants with large (or small) flower sizes across nearing regions more similar? This has remained unknown until this study led by doctoral candidate Tsubasa Toji of Shinshu University's Professor Takao Itino lab. The team used white nettle to show this classic flower-insect size agreement, and by combining population genetic analysis, examined the actual evolution of flower size.

The flower traits of white dead-nettle (Lamium album var. barbatum) were clearly correlated with bee size. On the other hand, the genetic structure was similar between plants of each region. In other words, the flower size was independently large and small in each mountain area or a parallel evolution of flower size developed independently between mountain areas.

This study was conducted very simply, combining two methods: field research and population genetic analysis. Field studies showed geographical variation in flower size, showing that flower size was clearly correlated with the bee size visited in the population. Genetic analysis showed that there is an overarching genetic structure or genetic divergence between mountains.

When the two results are combined, the flower size of each population is independent of the genetic structure, and the flower size differs greatly even between genetically similar populations, or groups belonging to the same mountain range. In some cases, flower sizes were similar even between populations that were genetically distant, or species belonging to different mountain areas. This suggests that flower size evolved independently in each mountain area.

The group is in the process of confirming the parallel evolution of flower traits between mountainous areas for other plant species using the same approach. They are also trying to find out about other plant species and are exploring the possibility that the parallel evolution of this flower trait between mountains is a fairly common phenomenon. Ultimately, by extending the trait comparison between mountain areas to organisms of other taxa other than plants and combining it with population genetic analysis, they hope to elucidate the actual state of evolution of various species occurring in mountain regions.

### Acknowledgements: We thank the Chubu District Forest Office (Forestry Agency), the Chubu Regional Office for Nature Conservation (Ministry of the Environment), and the Matsumoto Regional Office (Nagano Prefectural Government) for permission to work in the area. This study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT) (15H02641, 19H03300, 19J22443) and the fund of Nagano Prefecture to promote scientifc activity.

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A group of UK academics are calling for targets for mental health in order to meet the healthcare challenges of the next decade.

Published today in Journal of Mental Health researchers set out four overarching goals that will speed up implementation of mental health research and give a clear direction for researchers and funders to focus their efforts when it comes to better understanding the treatment of mental health.

The treatment of mental illness currently brings substantial costs to not only the NHS, but also to the individual and wider society, and the need for innovation to promote good mental health has never been greater. In an effort to catalyse this innovation, the researchers have set out four ambitious targets:

1. Halve the number of children and young people experiencing persistent mental health problems 2. Improve our understanding of the links between physical and mental health, and eliminate the mortality gap 3. Increase the number of new and improved treatments, interventions and supports for mental health problems 4. Improve the availability of choices and access to mental health care, treatment and support in hospital and community settings

The number of goals was limited to four in an effort to easily promote cross-sector partnerships, and to track their impacts.

Professor Dame Til Wykes, Corresponding author from King's College London's Institute for Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) said "While there is a wealth of research taking place to better understand the treatment of mental illness, we must have a clear idea in our heads where we are heading. Without clear targets and goals for mental health we will be amassing information without any clear trajectory, or worse, no clear understanding of achievements or the expected timescale.

"The four goals that we have set out are in response to this problem, providing a roadmap forwards for all researchers, funders, and policymakers. We have undoubtedly set ourselves a high bar, but they have been designed to give us all a clear sense of purpose."

The research comes at a particularly pertinent time. At least 1 in 6 adults in the UK are likely to experience mental health difficulties in any given week, and the British Medical Association has recently warned that the mental health consequences of covid will be "considerable". The research has been welcomed by several sector voices, including funders, researchers, and NHS Trusts.

Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer and co-lead of the National Institute for Health Research, said: "Few could disagree that mental health research is crucial in driving innovation in current mental health care and in bringing hope for the future. Working with clinicians, academics, major mental health research funders, mental health research charities and representatives from service users groups, as well as representatives from Public Health England and NHS England has been key to identifying those areas of most concern and transforming them into four distinct research goals which the mental health community can sign up to."

Professor Elaine Fox of the University of Oxford said that "National high-level goals that focus our research efforts are an important part of ensuring that good will and good intentions are translated into genuine innovations and impact."

Professor Peter Jones of the University of Cambridge said, "It's been a pleasure supporting the development of these important mental health research goals. Involving a wide range of stakeholders, they provide us all with focus, direction and challenge. The goals will galvanise mental health science while holding it to account."

Lea Milligan, CEO of MQ Mental Health Research said "MQ's vision is to create a world where mental illnesses are understood, effectively treated and one day preventable. The research goals that came from an extensive consultation are an opportunity for us bring the mental health research community together in a united and impactful way like never before."

Dr Nev Jones of One Mind, as US-based non-profit organisation, said "the paper sets the stage for organizations to "all pull in the same direction". Collaboration has been a cornerstone of One Mind's strategy to accelerate research, and this framework will be helpful moving forward."

Professor Dame Til Wykes said, "The pandemic has and will produce a double whammy - the effects of lockdown and the effects of economic slowdown that exacerbate existing socio-economic inequalities.

"With so many people facing an increased risk, it's vital that we act now to proactively meet the challenges of the next 10 to 20 years head on."

"The spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated that widespread changes can be implemented rapidly when everyone is working to the same goal. If we can emulate our response to the pandemic in the care of mental illness, we would see positive impacts very quickly."

The four goals were produced following a consultation process that was organised by the Department of Health and Social Care and convened by the Chief Medical Officer. The views of service users and service user organisations supported this activity, as well as research support from the National Institute for Health Research's Clinical Research Network.

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Mentorship at Chinese clinic propels Namibian woman to pursue medical career

Xinhua) 13:10, May 10, 2021

Kaarina Nangolo (L), an intern medical doctor, works with Dr. Wang Peng, founder of the African Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic, in Windhoek, Namibia, April 22, 2021. Professional training offered at a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic in Windhoek, Namibia's capital, has propelled the medical expertise and career of a young Namibian in the field. (Photo by Ndalimpinga Iita/Xinhua)

WINDHOEK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Professional training offered at a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic in Windhoek, Namibia's capital, has propelled the medical expertise and career of a young Namibian in the field.

At the African Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic in central Windhoek, Kaarina Nangolo, an intern medical doctor, administered acupuncture treatment to a patient.

"I have to regularly monitor the patient to track progress within the prescribed time. In less than a year, I know much more about TCM now than before," said the 25-year-old woman.

There, she undergoes extensive professional mentorship in TCM by Dr Wang Peng, founder of the clinic. The clinic, which opened in 2018, provides patients with different traditional Chinese medicine treatments, including cupping, acupuncture and tuina.

"Dr Wang has been a big influence in my career. He teaches me about the tactics and tenets of TCM. It is central to my work here," Nangolo said.

For Wang, grooming young talent and contributing to the country's immense skills resource pool is central to his passion for teaching TCM.

Moreover, according to the Chinese doctor, his goal is to contribute to the professional development of young people across Namibia in TCM.

"With the growing interest of TCM in the country, I hope to train more people in this field to ensure that more people have access and attain their wish of better health," he said.

His aspiration and plans are informed by his wealth of experience gained during his 10-year tenure at the Affiliated Hospital of the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University of China and working as a medical volunteer at the Katutura State Hospital Chinese Acupuncture Department in Windhoek between 2014 and 2016.

Meanwhile, Nangolo has grown professionally since joining the company. Today, she lends on Western medicine and TCM to resolve patients' complex health conditions.

What is more, her service has been instrumental to the effective functioning of the clinic.

"Kaarina is a driven and passionate person who serves in her work with humility, which is evident in her work and output of improved health for patients," said Wang.

Nangolo's current work builds on her academic qualifications in clinical medicine from the Dalian Medical University in China and experience as a TCM assistant in the Asian country during her studies completed through a Chinese government scholarship.

"I have been drawn to TCM since. It is so fulfilling to help someone. This is passion," Nangolo said.

According to Nangolo, her professionalism and etiquette are also greatly influenced by the Chinese culture, particularly the Chinese people's hard-working spirit and approach.

"I learned a lot. China has a special place in my heart," she added.

According to Wang, sometimes the clinic receives patients who are conversant in local languages. "Kaarina relates very well to the patients through translation," he said.

Intrinsically, working at the Chinese clinic is more than just offering a service. She is fluent in mandarin and thus also serves as a conduit between patients and the doctor.

It is the results and testimonies of better health by patients that motivates her to do better.

"It is passion, a love for people, and I strive to make a difference and to do the best," she added.

Meanwhile, working at the clinic enables her to live up to the childhood dream of pursuing a vocation where she would help the needy.

"From as young as the age of seven, I always wanted to help those who could not help themselves. Here, I can do just that, help restore health and wellness," Nangolo said.

In the meantime, Nangolo has bigger plans for the future, adding that the skills gained while working with Chinese doctor would go a long way in career progression.

"My key goal is to specialise in TCM, bring health to more people; seeing its benefits," she concluded.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Much of Christendom is expecting a golden future for this world, fulfilling their wildest dreams. If you're one of them, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for youthe Lord's been revealing something much different to me.

Ask the average Christian to describe, in one word, what the future holds, and you'll likely hear one or more of the following words: "Prosperity!" "Promises!" "Purpose!" "Fulfilment!" "Fullness!" "My cup will run over!"

Now, are these things unbiblical? No, not necessarily. But they aren't the whole story of what's comingto think so is to believe in a futuristic fairy tale of your own making.

Un-fabled

This product of people's imaginations has come from the preaching and acceptance of what the scripture calls 'fables'. This phenomenon was prophesied long ago:

'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers; having itching ears; And they shall turn their ears away from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.' (2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 3)

Fables and fairy tales have one thing in common: they're not true. While they often contain elements of earthly realities which make them relatable and engaging, the presence of the fantastical puts them in the same category as myths. They sound wonderful, are creative, exciting, seem supernatural and otherworldly, and even contain a moral, but they're still not true.

Conspiracy by desire

Many preachers and their congregations have colludedwhether intentionally or notto accept and espouse unbiblical fables masquerading as spiritual teaching.

All this deception has sprung from a spurious belief that weHis peopleare the centre of the spiritual universe, and our desires trump any other consideration or reality.

The opposite is true: Christ and His Kingdom, and our obedience, worship and service, should be the centre of all spiritual and present concern. This involves sacrifice and an acceptance that while we're in this world, we must expect to experience trouble and hardship.

The Spirit of God testifies of this fact in the Bible. He's also done this through the ages through the prophetic. The Lord knows that this life often isn't easy, so He gives partial revelations of the future in order to prepare and strengthen our faith.

The coming storm

Many Christians, including myself, have been shown part of the prophetic picture for what's coming. I've received many dreams through the years of a coming storm, and even visions of future worldwide tribulation. As the years have progressed, the storm in my dreams has become worse and worse.

So what will this 'storm' entail you ask?

In short: war, persecution, global terrorism, asteroid appearances and impacts, a massive tsunami, nuclear warfare, an unidentified flying object deception, and an ending to the worldwide political and geographic game of thrones (AKA the Antichrist system).

I'm not the only Christian who's received such revelations from what the Bible calls 'the Valley of Vision'. There are many who have been given similar information from the Lord. This becomes evident from even a quick Internet search.

This is part of the reality of what will soon occur, and, sorry to say folks, this will be far from a fairy tale.

The silver lining

Don't get me wrong hereit's not all bad news. God has also shown me that intercessory prayer can stopor if not entirely stoplessen or delay some of these things. He's also revealed to me that an unbelievable outpouring of His Spirit is on the way.

And we don't approach a future without hope. God will still keep, lead and be with us. He'll fulfil His plans and promises, use us for His glory, and fill His people with the nourishment and contentment of His Spirit.

Reality check

However, and this is a big 'however'the future will be no fable. Even if you don't believe my prophetic report, the signs of the times speak for themselves.

Russia and China are expanding their influence on the world, and growing increasingly hostile toward the West.

In recent times, Russia has invaded part of Ukraine, overtaken Crimea, and exerted its significantly upgraded military might in Syria. It's been frequently buzzing American fighter planes and aircraft carriers, expanding its naval presence across the world, and building up its armed forces along bordering NATO countries.

China has also been flexing its muscles, and continues to create and militarise new island territory in the South China Sea.

North Korea is conducting large nuclear tests, increasingly testing its long-range missile capabilities and ratcheting up its threatening rhetoric towards America. Its various other provocations seem to indicate that it actually wants to start a war.

Terrorism has also become a force to be reckoned with, as the expansion and growing influence of ISIS continues to strike terror in the hearts and lives of people all over the world. Even European countries are beginning to feel the wrath of Islamic extremism.

Christ our life and shield

All these things are the signs of a storm which has already begun to crest the horizon of the future. But none of these things should surprise us. Jesus told us to 'watch' the signs of the times because He knew the approaching end of the age would bring increasingly severe trouble and tribulation.

Even if you don't believe the events I mentioned are signs of things to come, we must still accept the reality that in this life and in our futures, we will have tribulationalthough even this is not without hope. Jesus told his disciples that the reason he spoke about coming events of suffering was to bring them peace:

'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.' (John chapter 16, verse 33).

We don't need to believe in fables to be of good cheer when we think of future tribulation. This life is no fairy tale, but it's also not without hope or joy. Jesus' power and His life will be all we need in the coming time, and He Himself will be our peace, shield, and great reward.
Ophthalmologists at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai have created a new technique to evaluate patients with sickle cell retinopathy and assess the disease before it progresses and leads to permanent vision loss.

Using optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography--an advanced imaging system that captures the motion of red blood cells in blood vessels non-invasively--the researchers discovered that sequential imaging of affected retinal blood flow in sickle cell patients can help assess how the disease is progressing and how effective their treatment is for reducing focal vascular strokes. Their study was published in the May issue of Biomedical Optics Express.

"We have added a new dimension to ocular imaging technology that no one has thought of before. For the first time, we have shown that by doing rapid, repeated retinal imaging of sickle cell patients, you can see microscopic changes in blood vessels and blood flow. The more the blood flow fluctuates across images, the more at risk patients are for a permanent blockage, which severely damage their eyesight," says lead investigator Toco Chui, PhD, Director of the Marrus Adaptive Optics Laboratory at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. "Using this approach, we can non-invasively monitor the retina over time and see how a patient is doing before or after initiation of therapy."

Sickle cell disease is an inherited red blood cell disorder caused by a mutation in hemoglobin. The hemoglobin folds abnormally and distorts red blood cells into a sickle shape; the sickle-shaped cells clump together and can block blood flow. This causes repeated damage to capillaries, which become inflamed and sticky, resulting in permanent blockages that can affect vision in the retina, and in some cases, major bleeding and retinal detachment.

"Our work can be a game-changer for sickle cell patients, especially for those who have no symptoms of retinopathy. It can lead to earlier diagnosis of retinal issues and prevention of irreversible blindness. Without this technology, it's impossible to judge their eye condition until patients report vision loss, when it's too late," says co-author Richard Rosen, MD, Belinda Bingham Pierce and Gerald G. Pierce, MD Distinguished Chair of Ophthalmology, and Chief of Retina Services for the Mount Sinai Health System.

The researchers analyzed 27 participants. Thirteen had sickle cell disease with retinopathy of varying severity levels; some were on standard therapy (hydroxyurea) and others were not on treatment. The remaining 14 were controls, with no sickle cell disease or retinopathy. The team used OCT angiography to image all subjects 10 times in a row over a 10-minute span. An hour later they repeated the imaging procedure. They analyzed the blood vessels that repeatedly opened and closed--a trait of sickle cell disease. When this happens, blood cannot flow freely and these blood vessels are at risk of permanent closure which can lead to blindness. For patients without sickle cell disease, scans showed that the blood vessels for the most part remained open, providing continuous blood flow.

For each patient, researchers stacked their groups of ten scans together and counted the blood vessels that "flickered." Healthy blood vessels remain white on all scans with no flickering, indicating consistent blood flow in the vessels. On all scans, the untreated sickle cell patients had substantially more flickering (more intermittent blood flow) than patients on treatment, indicating that treatment was effective. Patients with no sickle cell disease had no or very minimal blood flow fluctuations. Investigators used measurements of flicker frequency and locations of flickering to develop a computer algorithm for assessing risk of retinal blood blockages in sickle cell patients.

"For the first time ever in sickle cell disease, we have too many good drugs and we don't know well enough who should be on what, and what combinations work best. What we hope is that OCT angiography and this new algorithm can be used to solve this problem. Instead of following lab tests and waiting for horrible things to happen to the patient, for the first time we can use this technology to measure the number of vaso-occlusive events that are occurring on a new treatment regimen to find out if it is best for the patient," says Jeffery Glassberg, MD, Director of the Director of Mount Sinai's Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program.

Davis B. Zhou, a medical student from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, played an integral role in creating the algorithm for the study during his extended research elective in the Einhorn Center for Clinical Research at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

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About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality care--from prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty and our physicians in the top 1% of all physicians nationally by U.S. News & World Report.
Imaging technology has come a long way since the beginning of photography in the mid-19th century. Now, many state-of-the-art cameras for demanding applications rely on mechanisms that are considerably different from those in consumer-oriented devices. One of these cameras employs what is known as "single-photon imaging," which can produce vastly superior results in dark conditions and fast dynamic scenes. But how does single-photon imaging differ from conventional imaging?

When taking a picture with a regular CMOS camera, like the ones on smartphones, the camera sensor is open to a large influx of photons during a predefined exposure time. Each pixel in the sensor grid outputs an analog value that depends on the number of photons that hit that pixel during exposure. However, this type of imaging has few ways to deal with moving objects; the movement of the object has to be much slower than the exposure time to avoid blurring. In contrast, single-photon cameras capture a rapid burst of consecutive frames with very short individual exposure times. These frames are binary--a grid of 1s and 0s that respectively indicate whether one photon arrived at each pixel or not during exposure. To reconstruct an actual picture from these binary frames (or bit planes), many of them have to be processed into a single non-binary image. This can be achieved by assigning different levels of brightness to all the pixels in the grid, depending on how many of the bit planes had a "1" for each pixel.

Besides its higher speed, the completely digital nature of single-photon imaging allows for designing clever image reconstruction algorithms that can make up for technical limitations or difficult scenarios. At Tokyo University of Science, Japan, Professor Takayuki Hamamoto has been leading a research team focused on taking the capabilities of single-photon imaging further. In the latest study by Prof. Hamamoto and his team, which was published in IEEE Access, they developed a highly effective algorithm to fix the blurring caused by motion in the imaged objects, as well as common blurring of the entire image such as that caused by the shaking of the camera.

Their approach addresses many limitations of existing deblurring techniques for single-photon imaging, which produce low-quality pictures when multiple objects in the scene are moving at different speeds and dynamically overlapping each other. Instead of adjusting the entire image according to the estimated motion of a single object or on the basis of spatial regions where the object is considered to be moving, the proposed method employs a more versatile strategy.

First, a motion estimation algorithm tracks the movement of individual pixels through statistical evaluations on how bit values change over time (over different bit planes). In this way, as demonstrated experimentally by the researchers, the motion of individual objects can be accurately estimated. "Our tests show that the proposed motion estimation technique produced results with errors of less than one pixel, even in dark conditions with few incident photons," remarks Prof. Hamamoto.

The team then developed a deblurring algorithm that uses the results of the motion estimation step. This second algorithm groups pixels with a similar motion together, thereby identifying in each bit plane separate objects moving at different speeds. This allows for deblurring each region of the image independently according to the motions of objects that pass through it. Using simulations, the researchers showed that their strategy produced very crisp and high-quality images, even in low-light dynamic scenes crowded with objects coursing at disparate velocities.

Overall, the results of this study aptly showcase how greatly single-photon imaging can be improved if one gets down to developing effective image processing techniques. "Methods for obtaining crisp images in photon-limited situations would be useful in several fields, including medicine, security, and science. Our approach will hopefully lead to new technology for high-quality imaging in dark environments, like outer space, and super-slow recording that will far exceed the capabilities of today's fastest cameras," says Prof. Hamamoto. He also states that even consumer-level cameras might timely benefit from progress in single-photon imaging.

We are certainly getting closer to a new era in digital photography, and studies like this one are crucial for paving the wave towards that future!

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About The Tokyo University of Science

Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan's development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.

With a mission of "Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society", TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today's most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.

Website: https:/ / www. tus. ac. jp/ en/ mediarelations/

About Professor Takayuki Hamamoto from Tokyo University of Science

Takayuki Hamamoto received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Tokyo University of Science in 1992 and 1994, respectively. He proceeded to get a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from The University of Tokyo in 1997. He is currently a Professor at Tokyo University of Science and leads the Hamamoto Lab, which focuses on image processing and coding, imaging sensors, and very-large-scale integration. He has over 300 papers to his name and received multiple "best paper" and "best poster" awards from various workshops and symposiums. Prof. Hamamoto is also a member of the IEEE.

Funding information

This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI under Grant JP19K12025 and Grant 20K19829.
A 2.3million study is investigating the effects that chemical pollutants from coastal landfill waste may be having on UK seabirds' health, reproduction and survival.

While the varied negative impacts of climate change on the health and mortality of species are well established, the effects of chemicals on UK seabird populations are less well known.

The three-year project, led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and the University of York, and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will inform waste and chemical management policies in coastal regions across the UK.

The waste that humans produce and send to landfill sites contains a cocktail of chemicals, including unused medicines, pesticides, flame retardants, metals and plastics, many of which are toxic to organisms in the environment.

There are more than 2,000 known former and operational coastal landfill sites in the UK. There is a particular problem with so-called 'legacy waste' from older sites that were poorly constructed and managed, with no strategies in place to prevent pollutants entering the environment.

The deterioration of these former landfill sites, exacerbated by coastal erosion, could result in a mixture of toxic pollutants entering ecosystems. Such sites may act as a hotspot source, adding to other pollutants from mining, coal gasification and fly-ash spoil sites, as well as wastewater.

Dr Francis Daunt of UKCEH, who is leading the project, says: "Populations of many species of UK seabirds such as shags, kittiwakes and guillemots are struggling due to climate change, including reduced prey availability due to warming sea temperatures and fatalities caused by more severe storms. Therefore, it is particularly important to understand the impacts of the additional threat posed by contaminants from waste.

"Persistent toxic chemicals can transfer and accumulate through the aquatic food web, and there is particular concern for the wellbeing of seabirds as top predators. They can also ingest pollutants in water or sediment directly while foraging for prey."

The Firth of Forth has been chosen for the focus of the study because the area has many major sources of pollutants while being home to important populations of protected seabirds. There are more than 100 operational and disused waste sites, as well as significant industrial and domestic wastewater discharges.

The researchers will look at the impact on European shags specifically because they may have a high exposure to pollutants from disused waste sites. They feed in coastal areas and eat fish that live at the bottom of the sea, where many of these pollutants accumulate.

The researchers will compare the health and survival rates of shags on both the Isle of May and Inchkeith island. The Isle of May is farther from the main sources of pollutants than Inchkeith, so its seabird populations are expected to be less exposed to chemicals from waste.

They will also compare results between birds that spend the whole year in the Firth of Forth with those that migrate to other locations in winter and may experience different levels of exposure to contaminants.

Professor Alistair Boxall of the University of York, part of the project team, explains: "Wildlife and ecosystems in the Firth of Forth are exposed to a complex mixture of chemicals originating from waste, produced by the large number of people living close to the coast. We will develop a risk assessment framework to inform future policies on managing waste in coastal regions."

The researchers will test their framework by studying the effects of chemicals on seabirds. This will be done by comparing the concentrations of different pollutants in each bird with its condition and survival, as well as that of its offspring.

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Media enquiries

For interviews and information, please contact Simon Williams, Media Relations Officer at UKCEH, via simwil@ceh.ac.uk or +44 (0)7920 295384. Images are available on request.

About the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is a centre for excellence in environmental science across water, land and air. Our 500 scientists work to understand the environment, how it sustains life and the human impact on it - so that together, people and nature can prosper.

We have a long history of investigating, monitoring and modelling environmental change, and our science makes a positive difference in the world. The issues our science addresses include: air pollution, biodiversity, biosecurity, chemical risks, extreme weather events, droughts, floods, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, soil health, sustainable agriculture, sustainable ecosystems, sustainable macronutrient use, and water resources management.

The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is a strategic delivery partner for the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
Global wind currents have shaped the genetic diversity of our planet's forests and could either help or hinder tree populations in the race to adapt to a changing climate

Berkeley -- Forests' ability to survive and adapt to the disruptions wrought by climate change may depend, in part, on the eddies and swirls of global wind currents, suggests a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

Unlike animals, the trees that make up our planet's forests can't uproot and find new terrain if conditions get tough. Instead, many trees produce seeds and pollen that are designed to be carried away by the wind, an adaptation that helps them colonize new territories and maximize how far they can spread their genes.

The new study compared global wind patterns with previously published genetic data of nearly 100 tree and shrub species collected from forests around the world, finding significant correlations between wind speed and direction and genetic diversity throughout our planet's forests. The findings are the first to show that wind may not only influence the spread of an individual tree or species' genes, but it can also help shape genetic diversity and direct the flow of gene variants across entire forests and landscapes.

Understanding how genetic variants move throughout a species range will become increasingly important as climate change alters the conditions of local habitats, the researchers say.

"How trees move and how plants move, in general, is a big area of uncertainty in plant ecology because it's hard to study plant movements directly -- they happen as a result small, rare movements of seeds and pollen," said study lead author Matthew Kling, a postdoctoral researcher in integrative biology at UC Berkeley. "However, to predict how species distributions, and plant ecology, in general, will respond to climate change, we need to understand how these species are going to be able to move long distances to track the movement of natural resources and climate conditions over time."

While animals, birds and insects can also disperse pollen and seeds, wind's strong directionality makes it particularly important for understanding how different tree species will respond to climate change, said study senior author David Ackerly, a professor and dean of UC Berkeley's Rausser College of Natural Resources.

"As the world warms, many plants and animals will need to move to places with suitable habitat in the future to survive," Ackerly said. "Wind dispersal has a particularly interesting connection to climate change because wind can either push the genes or organisms in the right direction, toward more suitable habitat, or in the opposite direction. It may be the only terrestrial dispersal vector that can be aligned with or against the direction of climate change."

Any way the wind blows

Despite the fickle nature of daily weather conditions, large-scale global wind patterns are largely determined by Earth's shape, rotation and the locations of the continents, and are believed to be relatively stable over millennial time-scales. These wind patterns are also unlikely to be dramatically altered by climate change, Kling said.

To examine whether these global prevailing winds have shaped the genetic diversity of modern-day forests, Kling compared current planetary wind models -- compiled from 30 years of global wind data -- with genetic data from 72 publications covering 97 tree and shrub species and 1,940 plant populations worldwide.

Kling's analysis revealed three key ways that global wind patterns are shaping forests' genetic diversity. First, tree populations that are connected by stronger wind currents tend to be more genetically similar than tree populations that are not as connected. Second, tree populations that are more downwind, or farther in the direction that the wind blows, tend to have more genetic diversity in general. Finally, genetic variants are more likely to disperse in the direction of the wind.

Though these patterns can only be statistically validated by looking at many populations of trees throughout the world, they can sometimes be evident when examining the genetic diversity of a single tree species across its habitat range, Kling said.

For example, the island scrub oak, or Quercus pacifica, is native to the Channel Islands in Southern California, where prevailing winds tend to blow to the southeast. Kling's analysis showed that scrub oak populations on islands that are connected by higher wind speeds are more genetically similar to each other. Genetic variants also appear to have dispersed more frequently to the islands in the southward and eastward directions than the reverse, leading to greater genetic diversity to the south and east.

Kling hopes that recognizing these patterns will help conservationists and ecologists better understand how well tree and plant species in different regions of the globe will adapt to a warming world.

"Populations in different portions of a species range have evolved over time to be well-adapted to the climate in that specific part of the range, and as climate changes, they can become out of sync with those conditions," Kling said. "Understanding how quickly genetic variants from elsewhere in the species range can get where they are needed is important for understanding how quickly the species will respond to climate change, and how vulnerable, versus resilient, a given population might be."

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This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
New research demonstrates that African and Asian leopards are more genetically differentiated from one another than polar bears and brown bears. Indeed, leopards are so different that they ought to be treated as two separate species, according to a team of researchers, among them, scientists from the University of Copenhagen. This new knowledge has important implications for better conserving this big and beautiful, yet widely endangered cat.

No one has any doubts about polar bears and brown bears being distinct species. Leopards, on the other hand, are considered one and the same, a single species, whether of African or Asian origin. But perhaps that shouldn't be the case. In a surprising new research result, to which the University of Copenhagen has contributed, it has been made clear that the intercontinental cat cousins are more genetically different than the two species of bear.

"If one sticks with the traditional concept of speciation, the genetic difference is so great that African and Asian leopards shouldn't belong to the same species at all. As leopards are known to roam far and wide, we had expected to come across a much greater mix of genes among them. So, the result came as a surprise," says postdoc and study co-author Rasmus W. Havmller of the University of Copenhagen's Natural History Museum of Denmark.

The genomes of 26 leopards were mapped by the researchers and account for eight of nine living leopard subspecies. Some of the genetic material used for the study was sourced from leopards in the Natural History Museum's collection. The findings have just been published in the journal Current Biology.

Current subspeciation doesn't hold water

Genome analysis indicates that current differentiations in leopard subspecies just don't hold water. While nine leopard subspecies have been officially identified, the study shows that in example Indian and Sri Lankan leopards are so closely related that they could be considered as a unified evolutionary significant unit.

According to Rasmus W. Havmller, subspeciation is a central concept when it comes to the conservation of the iconic but endangered feline, whose overall distribution has shrunk by 75% - and locally, by as much as 98% - over the past 250 years.

"When planning leopard conservation efforts, one orients around different subspecies, which might each have their own conservation status. Therefore, this new knowledge can be useful if we are to develop better conservation strategies for leopards. I hope that these results spur debate about the role of genomics in subspeciation," says Rasmus W. Havmller.

He adds that the results can hopefully be used as a tool to determine which animals are able to be intermixed across geographic regions, so as to maintain high genetic diversity, and whether leopard populations can be merged, as is frequently discussed:

"The answer must now be a resounding no when it comes to African and Asian populations. There is a risk of reducing genetic diversity when crossing a leopard that specialises in living in hot deserts, for example, with another that has adapted to frigid mountain conditions. You are likely to create offspring that are not well adapted to either habitat. On the other hand, our results demonstrate that there might be a solid foundation for interbreeding some of the more genetically similar Asian subspecies."

Emigrated from Africa in one go

Throughout history, leopards have dispersed over a vast area, from Siberia to South Africa. The new research also sheds light on when leopards spread from the African continent, their original home. Here too, the new results surprise - indicating that leopard migration from Africa occurred in a single 'dispersal event' some 500-600,000 years ago. Since then, there has been virtually no contact between leopards on the two continents.

"Until now, it was thought that the colonization of Asia by leopards occurred in several waves and not at once, as our results suggest. The timeframe accords with the concentration of ice at the poles, which precipitated low water levels between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. This is what made it possible for leopards to cross the sea," explains Rasmus W. Havmller.

The next step is to find out how the substantial genetic differences in African and Asian leopards are expressed - something that the current body of study does not reveal.

Rasmus W. Havmller's cautious guess is that the differences are mainly expressed in characteristics linked to how leopards adapt locally.

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FACTS:
But in a surprising finding, pediatricians are far more apt to act if parents independently express concerns

Since it debuted in 2011, the Get SET Early program, which provides pediatricians and parents with a relatively simple process to screen for indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children as young as age 1, has steadily grown in use and validation. Early screening and identification of ASD has been linked to more effective treatment.

A new study, published in the April 26, 2021 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, further bolsters these findings.

Led by Karen Pierce, PhD, a professor in the Department of Neurosciences who with colleagues created the Get SET Early program, researchers at the UC San Diego Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) assembled a network of 203 pediatricians in the San Diego region who conducted systematic screenings of 59,411 infants or toddlers at their 12-, 18- and 24-month check-ups.

Parents completed a validated questionnaire about their child's use of eye contact, words, gestures and other forms of age-appropriate communication, using either a paper form or an iPad. The final question on the screening tool: "Do you have any concerns about your child's development?" (Yes or No).

Digital screens automatically scored patients as pass or fail. Pediatricians were asked to indicate whether they were referring toddlers who failed a screening for further evaluation and if not, why not.

Overall, 897 children failed the initial screening and received further evaluation at ACE. Within this cohort, 403 received a subsequent diagnosis of ASD. Approximately 60 percent of these children were assessed at their 12-month well baby visits, and received a comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis and treatment referral by age 15 months.

"There is extensive evidence that early therapy can have a positive impact on the developing brain," said Pierce, who is co-director of ACE. "The opportunity to diagnose and thus begin treatment for autism around a child's first birthday has enormous potential to change outcomes for children affected with the disorder. These toddlers, as part of the Get SET Early program began treatment roughly three years earlier than the national average of 52 months."

But the study also revealed some surprising findings: Participating pediatricians referred only 39 percent of toddlers who had failed a screening for additional evaluation.

"Data from the iPads indicated the lack of referral follow-through was because pediatricians thought that the results of the screen were wrong," said Pierce. "But if a parent noted that they were concerned by checking 'yes' on the last question, the referral rate increased to 70 percent.

"These findings underscore the importance of parent participation and input when seeking to detect the earliest signs of ASD or other development delays in young children. If you are a parent and have even minor concerns about how your child is developing, you must speak up. Don't wait. Your voice carries weight."

ASD is now estimated to affect one in every 54 children born in the United States. Multiple studies, including research conducted by Pierce and colleagues have found that simple parent checklists performed as early as a child's first birthday can identify symptoms of ASD. Early diagnoses have been found to be highly stable as early as 14 months.

Pierce said the Get SET Early program, which has expanded to other cities and states with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, can be adopted by any pediatric office, at virtually no cost.

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Co-authors include: Vahid Gazestani, Lizabeth Bacon, Eric Courchesne, Amanda Cheng, Cynthia Carter Barnes, Srinivasa Nalabolu, Debra Cha, Steven Arias, Linda Lopez and Christie Pham, all at UC San Diego; Kim Gaines, Gohar Gyurjyan, Terri Cook-Clark and Kathy Karins, all at San Diego Regional Center.

Full study: https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)00392-9/fulltext
Computer scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a more accurate navigation system that will allow robots to better negotiate busy clinical environments in general and emergency departments more specifically. The researchers have also developed a dataset of open source videos to help train robotic navigation systems in the future.

The team, led by Professor Laurel Riek and Ph.D. student Angelique Taylor, detail their findings in a paper for the International Conference on Robotics and Automation taking place May 30 to June 5 in Xi'an, China.

The project stemmed from conversations with clinicians over several years. The consensus was that robots would best help physicians, nurses and staff in the emergency department by delivering supplies and materials. But this means robots have to know how to avoid situations where clinicians are busy tending to a patient in critical or serious condition.

"To perform these tasks, robots must understand the context of complex hospital environments and the people working around them," said Riek, who holds appointments both in computer science and emergency medicine at UC San Diego.

Taylor and colleagues built the navigation system, the Safety Critical Deep Q-Network (SafeDQN), around an algorithm that takes into account how many people are clustered together in a space and how quickly and abruptly these people are moving. This is based on observations of clinicians' behavior in the emergency department. When a patient's condition worsens, a team immediately gathers around them to render aid. Clinicians' movements are quick, alert and precise. The navigation system directs the robots to move around these clustered groups of people, staying out of the way.

"Our system was designed to deal with the worst case scenarios that can happen in the ED," said Taylor, who is part of Riek's Healthcare Robotics lab at the UC San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

The team trained the algorithm on videos from YouTube, mostly coming from documentaries and reality shows, such as "Trauma: Life in the ER" and "Boston EMS." The set of more than 700 videos is available for other research teams to train other algorithms and robots.

Researchers tested their algorithm in a simulation environment, and compared its performance to other state-of-the-art robotic navigation systems. The SafeDQN system generated the most efficient and safest paths in all cases.

Next steps include testing the system on a physical robot in a realistic environment. Riek and colleagues plan to partner with UC San Diego Health researchers who operate the campus' healthcare training and simulation center.

The algorithms could also be used outside of the emergency department, for example during search and rescue missions.

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Ph.D. student Sachiko Matsumoto and undergraduate student Wesley Xiao also contributed to the paper.

Social Navigation for Mobile Robots in the Emergency Department

Angelique M. Taylor, Sachiko Mastumoto, Wesley Xiao and Laurel Riek, University of California San Diego
The UCF-developed propulsion system could allow for flight speeds of Mach 6 to 17 and would have applications in air and space travel

ORLANDO, May 10, 2021 -University of Central Florida researchers are building on their technology that could pave the way for hypersonic flight, such as travel from New York to Los Angeles in under 30 minutes.

In their latest research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers discovered a way to stabilize the detonation needed for hypersonic propulsion by creating a special hypersonic reaction chamber for jet engines.

"There is an intensifying international effort to develop robust propulsion systems for hypersonic and supersonic flight that would allow flight through our atmosphere at very high speeds and also allow efficient entry and exit from planetary atmospheres," says study co-author Kareem Ahmed, an associate professor in UCF's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. "The discovery of stabilizing a detonation -- the most powerful form of intense reaction and energy release -- has the potential to revolutionize hypersonic propulsion and energy systems."

The system could allow for air travel at speeds of Mach 6 to 17, which is more than 4,600 to 13,000 miles per hour. The technology harnesses the power of an oblique detonation wave, which they formed by using an angled ramp inside the reaction chamber to create a detonation-inducing shock wave for propulsion.

Unlike rotating detonation waves that spin, oblique detonation waves are stationary and stabilized.

The technology improves jet propulsion engine efficiency so that more power is generated while using less fuel than traditional propulsion engines, thus lightening the fuel load and reducing costs and emissions.

In addition to faster air travel, the technology could also be used in rockets for space missions to make them lighter by requiring less fuel, travel farther and burn more cleanly.

Detonation propulsion systems have been studied for more than half a century but had not been successful due to the chemical propellants used or the ways they were mixed. Previous work by Ahmed's group overcame this problem by carefully balancing the rate of the propellants hydrogen and oxygen released into the engine to create the first experimental evidence of a rotating detonation.

However, the short duration of the detonation, often occurring for only micro or milliseconds, makes them difficult to study and impractical for use.

In the new study, however, the UCF researchers were able to sustain the duration of a detonation wave for three seconds by creating a new hypersonic reaction chamber, known as a hypersonic high-enthalpy reaction, or HyperREACT, facility. The facility contains a chamber with a 30-degree angle ramp near the propellent mixing chamber that stabilizes the oblique detonation wave.

"This is the first time a detonation has been shown to be stabilized experimentally," Ahmed says. "We are finally able to hold the detonation in space in oblique detonation form. It's almost like freezing an intense explosion in physical space."

Gabriel Goodwin, an aerospace engineer with the Naval Research Laboratory's Naval Center for Space Technology and study co-author, says their research is helping to answer many of the fundamental questions that surround oblique detonation wave engines.

Goodwin's role in the study was to use the Naval Research Laboratory's computational fluid dynamics codes to simulate the experiments performed by Ahmed's group.

"Studies such as this one are crucial to advancing our understanding of these complex phenomena and bringing us closer to developing engineering-scale systems," Goodwin says.

"This work is exciting and pushing the boundaries of both simulation and experiment," Goodwin says. "I'm honored to be a part of it."

The study's lead author is Daniel Rosato '19 '20MS, a graduate research assistant and a recipient of UCF's Presidential Doctoral Fellowship.

Rosato has been working on the project since he was an aerospace engineering undergraduate student and is responsible for experiment design, fabrication, and operation, as well as data analysis, with assistance from Mason Thorton, a study co-author and an undergraduate research assistant.

Rosato says the next steps for the research are the addition of new diagnostics and measurement tools to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomena they are studying.

"After that, we will continue exploring more experimental configurations to determine in more detail the criteria with which an oblique detonation wave can be stabilized," Rosato says.

If successful in advancing this technology, detonation-based hypersonic propulsion could be implemented into human atmospheric and space travel in the coming decades, the researchers say.

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The study was funded by the long-term support of the Energy, Combustion and Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics Portfolio of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in the area of detonation via grants 16RT0673/FA9550-16-1-0441 and 19RT0258/FA9550-19-0322 (Program Manager: Chiping Li), the National Science Foundation and the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium.

Co-authors of the study included Jonathan Sosa '15 '18 '19PhD, a postdoctoral research scientist with UCF's Propulsion and Energy Research Laboratory and currently an aerospace engineer at U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and Christian Bachman, an aerospace engineer at U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

Ahmed is an associate professor in UCF's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, part of UCF's College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is also a faculty member of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research and the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion. He served more than three years as a senior aero/thermo engineer at Pratt & Whitney military engines working on advanced engine programs and technologies. He also served as a faculty member at Old Dominion University and Florida State University. At UCF, he is leading research in propulsion and energy with applications for power generation and gas-turbine engines, propulsion-jet engines, hypersonics and fire safety, as well as research related to supernova science and COVID-19 transmission control. He earned his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics associate fellow and a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research faculty fellow.

CONTACT: Robert H. Wells, Office of Research, robert.wells@ucf.edu
UK landowners and conservationists welcome wider-spread use of Gene Conservation Units (GCUs) to help protect some of the rarest plants and insects, research at the University of York has shown.

In particular the Great Yellow Bumblebee and the Mountain Ringlet Butterfly, which are at risk of further population decline, would benefit from Gene Conservation Units, currently only employed for forest trees and agricultural species or their relatives.

Genetic diversity in these species is essential if they are to adapt to new, and often challenging, environmental conditions. Gene Conservation Units are areas of land managed to allow the recovery of species, and maintain evolutionary processes to enable them to adapt to environmental change.

For tree species, this means promoting natural regeneration, and for others, it means ensuring that the breeding population is large enough, and diverse enough, to be able to weather the changes ahead. Habitat management may achieve this, as well as population monitoring to ensure a large population is sustained.

PhD researcher Melissa Minter, from the Department of Biology at the University of York, said: "In investigating whether landowners would be interested in adopting a system of GCUs, we looked at the potential benefits these might bring to some species of insects and plants.

"We have shown that the genetic diversity of cold-adapted butterflies, such as the Mountain Ringlet, is at high risk of local extinction in a warming climate and so conservation measures are needed to secure the survival of threatened populations.

"Similarly, the Great Yellow Bumblebee now only survives on a few Scottish islands and the northern tip of mainland Scotland, which means that any changes in our climate could negatively impact their already depleted population.

"We wanted to know if GCUs could provide a solution to some of these issues and whether this concept could be applied to other species, in addition to forest trees."

The research involved a survey questionnaire of conservationists and land managers to gather opinions on adopting a system of GCUs to protect biodiversity. The survey results showed that if GCUs could be co-developed with stakeholders, then a GCU approach is more likely to appeal to land managers.

Specifically, landowners would benefit from setting-up GCUs on their land as recognition of best practice in conserving species and genetic diversity, and supporting evolutionary processes to help species cope with environmental change. A working group has now been established to look at how the first non-tree GCU could be developed.

NatureScot's Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve (NNR) was registered as the UK's first GCU in recognition of its ancient Caledonian pine forest in 2019. Since then, the Woodland Trust have registered several more sites across the UK, including three more in Scotland, for six tree species.

NatureScot Woodlands Officer and research co-author Jeanette Hall said: "We have seen first-hand how successful the Gene Conservation Unit approach can be with the registration of our Beinn Eighe NNR and this research shows the exciting potential for working with land managers to expand this work to cover many more plant, animals and wild species.

"Conserving genetic diversity remains an international biodiversity priority so in what will be an important year for nature and tackling climate change, it's great to see partnership working across the UK leading the way in this field."

Genetic diversity was the focus of one of the international Aichi 2020 biodiversity targets. This year new global targets to improve nature will be agreed at a Conference of the Parties in Kunming, China (COP15), followed by the COP26 on climate change in Glasgow.

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The research team is now looking at establishing two GCUs in Scotland and will monitor the success of GCUs in supporting at-risk species.

The study, published in the journal, Ecological Solutions and Evidence, is supported by NatureScot, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), University of York, Forest Research, and the University of Edinburgh.
DALLAS - May 10, 2021 - Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts. The findings, published in Science, could offer insights into how other bacteria are able to survive inside cells, knowledge that could lead to new treatments for a wide variety of infections.

"Many infectious bacteria, from listeria to chlamydia to salmonella, use systems that allow them to dwell within their host's cells," says study leader Vincent Tagliabracci, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular biology at UTSW and member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Better understanding the tools they use to make this happen is teaching us some interesting biochemistry and could eventually lead to new targets for therapy."

Tagliabracci's lab studies atypical kinases, unusual forms of enzymes that transfer chemical groups called phosphates onto proteins or lipids, changing their function. Research here and elsewhere has shown that Legionella, the genus of bacteria that cause Legionnaires' disease, is a particularly rich source of these noncanonical kinases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 10,000 cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported in the U.S. in 2018, though the true incidence is believed to be higher.

After identifying a new Legionella atypical kinase named MavQ, Tagliabracci and his colleagues used a live-cell imaging technique combined with a relatively new molecular tagging method to see where MavQ is found in infected human cells, a clue to its function. Rather than residing in a specific location, the researchers were surprised to see that the protein oscillated back and forth between the endoplasmic reticulum - a network of membranes important for protein and lipid synthesis - and bubble- or tube-shaped structures within the cell.

Further research suggests that MavQ, along with a partner molecule called SidP, remodels the endoplasmic reticulum so that Legionella can steal parts of the membrane to help create and sustain the vacuole, a structure that houses the parasite inside cells and protects it from immune attack.

Tagliabracci, a Michael L. Rosenberg Scholar in Medical Research and a Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar, says that he suspects other bacterial pathogens may use similar mechanisms to co-opt existing host cell structures to create their own protective dwellings.

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UTSW scientists who contributed to this study include Ting-Sung Hsieh, Victor A. Lopez, Miles H. Black, Adam Osinski, Krzysztof Pawlowski, Diana R. Tomchick, and Jen Liou, a Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research.

This work was funded by NIH grants DP2GM137419, R01GM113079, T32GM008203-29, F30HL143859-01, Welch Foundation grants I-1911, I-1789, CPRIT grant RP170674, and Polish National Agency for Scientific Exchange scholarship PPN/BEK/2018/1/00431.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,800 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 117,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 3 million outpatient visits a year.
Since the beginning of time, humanity has always yearned to be free. Despite this common sentiment, not everyone in history has been afforded this God-given right. In fact, there are individuals, even entire communities, who have been deprived of freedom, and have been forced to fight for certain rights that we in modern society now take for granted.

An uphill battle

The film, Son of the South, presides over this very issue, set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Though one might think that the hero of the story would be Rosa Parks or Dr. Ralph Abernathy, it is actually someone who you might least expect - a Caucasian college senior by the name of Bob Zellner who always happens to be in the midst of trouble.

Interestingly, Bob finds himself rebelling against the wishes of his grandfather, and the college he attends; eventually getting expelled for his antics and despised by his friends and close confidants.

However, his crime is not what one might easily attribute to an individual of his standing, in fact, it is due to his family background, and his own personal values which prevent him from being on the side of his loved ones. It is because Bobs family actually has a history of being a part of the KKK.

Finding the higher ground

I recall reminiscing on the Civil Rights movement during my high school days and wondering what it would have been like to walk in the shoes of those who were infamously known as the Freedom Riders. These brave souls rode in buses across the Deep South in America and were abused, ridiculed, and even bore beatings and bruises until they finally got what they so desperately needed; their right to freedom.

A few years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing one of the original Freedom Riders, a gentleman by the name of Jim Zwerg, who was actually a Caucasian man who was brutally beaten for upholding the cause of the African-American sit-ins. As I heard his story, he always pointed to the fact that, despite later accolades and fame, he knew that the real heroes were those who shouldered the everyday burden of being rejected, and who ultimately convinced him to join the fight for freedom.

Gain through loss

The same can be said of Bob Zellner, who was actually inspired by Jim Zwergs courage and countless others in the Civil Rights Movement to take a stand against segregation in the South.

Despite being from a Caucasian family, he realised his capacity for change, as shown in the film when his father, himself a Klansman, had journeyed abroad and realised his own prejudices against African-Americans, eventually giving up his family tradition and instead, becoming a minister of a Methodist church. Bob knew that he had to make a choice by walking the walk, not just talking the talk; literally.

In a pivotal scene in the film, Bob walks shoulder to shoulder with his African-American companions across a bridge during a peaceful protest, only shortly thereafter to be pinned down and punched several times before being dragged to a nearby field to be hanged.

The ringleader who almost succeeds in convincing the mob to go ahead with the lynching turns out to be a former college roommate who fails to share Bobs convictions and goes against his better judgement to stop Bob in his tracks.

Bob realises a key lesson that we all also must face - that knowing your right to freedom is a choice that others must also have the right to choose. The defining moment in Bobs life was understanding that our differences are never meant to divide us, but rather, are supposed to unite us.

For Bob, this meant disregarding his own dreams for the future to ensure that the dream of freedom could be achieved together with others who had not yet been made free.

Realising whats right

Bobs realisation reminds me of the Apostle Pauls reality in which he also realised that his own personal ambitions could never match the amazing future God has already planned for him.

But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ - Philippians 3:7-8 (NIV)

In essence, he knew that his own achievements were actually a stumbling block to his personal growth, and were preventing him from being what he was meant to be in Gods eyes.

For each of us, we all have our own lessons that we learn from in life, but we should be able to stop and consider that whatever we may have missed out on in the past does not define our legacy that we leave behind.

Like Bob, our own struggles can ultimately be the path to our collective freedom.
Antibiotic resistance in E. coli has been steadily increasing since the early 2000s despite attempts to control it, a new study suggests. In the biggest genomic survey of E. coli to date, that took more than 16 years in Norway, researchers have successfully tracked the spread of antibiotic resistant genes and have shown that these genes are being transferred between E. coli strains.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Oslo have tracked multidrug resistance in Norway and compared this to a previous study from the UK. They found that resistant strains developed around the same time, but increased more rapidly in the UK population.

The results, published today (10th May) in The Lancet Microbe show that tracking these resistant strains is important in the surveillance and control of drug resistant E. coli, which poses a significant issue in hospitals where it can cause severe infection and mortality. In addition, understanding how these genes are transferred between strains, and what has caused them to acquire drug resistance can help prevent the growth of antibiotic resistance strains.

The bacterium, Escherichia coli is a common cause of bloodstream infections world-wide*, which seem to be increasing over the last decade. E. coli is commonly found in the gut, where it does not cause harm, but if it gets into the bloodstream due to a weakened immune system it can cause severe and life threatening infections. As an added challenge for health care providers, multi-drug resistance (MDR) has become a frequent feature of such infections, and in a worrying number of cases the available treatment options are becoming limited.

In the largest study of its kind, and only the second systematic longitudinal genomic study of bacteremia E. coli, researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Oslo processed a nation-wide catalogue of samples from more than 3,200 patients to track antibiotic resistance over 16 years. By harnessing the power of large-scale DNA sequencing, they tracked the emergence of drug resistance and compared this to a similar study conducted in the UK**.

The team found that MDR started to increase and show in more strains in the early 2000s due to antibiotic pressure, and now multiple MDR E. coli strains are present in Norway. However, MDR E. coli seems to be more widely present in the UK, despite similar policies in place around antibiotic use. The UK population however is considerably larger than Norway which could explain some of the differences. Further research is needed to allow for closer comparison and to identify the exact factors that cause rapid spread in some locations compared to others.

MDR is relatively rare in bacteria. However, this new study has identified that lineages that previously were not thought to have MDR have acquired drug-resistance genes, showing the increased ability of E. coli to share MDR genes that move horizontally between strains.

Professor Jukka Corander, co-author and Associate Faculty member at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "The high number of samples from the Norwegian population and the level of genomic detail on the strains of bacteria enabled us to make much more far-reaching conclusions than were ever possible before. This study demonstrates the power arising from a systematic national surveillance of resistant organisms, which both collects and makes the data available for in-depth analyses. Without these in place, it would have been impossible to approach the central research questions formulated in the study and find answers to them."

The researchers hope to conduct similar research in the UK to build on previous studies and gain a full data set of 16 years in the UK in order to more closely track MDR resistant E. coli.

Dr Rebecca Gladstone, lead author of the study and Bioinformatician at the University of Oslo, Norway, said: "Being able to estimate the expansion timelines of the MDR clones of E. coli and to identify multiple occasions of novel acquisition of resistance genes is particularly exciting as this is the first time that this has been possible. Understanding and tracking the movement of these drug resistance genes and the strains that carry them are necessary for controlling the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, which is a huge issue in healthcare."

Professor Julian Parkhill, co-author and Professor in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at University of Cambridge, said: "Long-term studies such as this one provide in-depth understanding about the complex epidemiology underlying bloodstream infections. The next step would be further research to detail the factors determining the success of emerging pathogenic clones of these bacteria, to help find a way to control and possibly minimise the spread of multidrug resistance."

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*Kern WV, Rieg S. (2020) Burden of bacterial bloodstream infection - A brief update on epidemiology and significance of multidrug-resistant pathogens. Clin Microbiol Infect; 26: 151-7.

** Teemu Kallonen, et al. (2017) Systematic longitudinal survey of invasive Escherichia coli in England demonstrates a stable population structure only transiently disturbed by the emergence of ST131. Genome Research. DOI 10.1101/gr.216606.116

Further information on the data collection: In Norway, there is a national de-centralized database where blood isolates of bacteria grown from patient samples are stored permanently, which started in 2001. There are in total >30,000 isolates in that database and this research took a systematic sample from each year, which resulted in the 3,200+ genomes. In addition the database contains results of phenotypic antibiotic resistance tests for all important classes of antibiotics, making it possible to compare genomic predictions from a subset to the whole database.
WHAT GOES up must come down. That was certainly true of dogecoin, a cryptocurrency enthusiastically promoted by Elon Musk. It surged before the weekend after Mr Musks latest tweet about it, but slumped after he jokingly called it a hustle on Saturday Night Live (SNL), a fixture of American TV comedy, which he hosted on May 9th. More gracefully, on May 5th a prototype version of SpaceXs massive Starship rocketdesigned to be the biggest since the Saturn V that took the Apollo astronauts to the moonflew 10km above Boca Chica in Texas, before flying itself back to its launchpad and settling down gently on the ground. It was not Starships first high-altitude test flight. But it was the first that had ended without a fireball.

It was the latest piece of good news for SpaceX, a rocketry firm founded in 2002 by Mr Musk, who is perhaps better known as the founder of Tesla, an electric-car pioneer. Like Tesla, SpaceX has taken an unloved technology and made drastic improvements, shaking up a complacent industry. While Teslas missionaccelerate the worlds transition to sustainable energyis grand, SpaceXs is even grander. Mr Musk used his appearance on SNL to reaffirm his plans to use its cheap rockets to make humanity a multi-planetary space-faring civilisation by establishing a colony on Mars. And like Tesla, SpaceXs valuation has soared. According to Pitchbook, a data-analysis firm, SpaceXs latest funding round, completed in April, valued it at $74bn, up from $44bn in August 2020. CB Insights, a firm of analysts, ranks SpaceX the third most valuable startup in the world (see chart).

It may seem odd to describe a 19-year-old firm as a startup. But most of SpaceXs swelling valuation comes not from the business it already does but, again like Tesla, its investors hopes for its future. To pay for its Martian ambitions, SpaceX plans to transform itself into a globe-straddling telecoms giant. It hopes to repeat Mr Musks signature trick of making big improvements to existing technologies. Its Starlink service, currently open to testers in countries including America, Britain and Germany, is building the biggest satellite network ever, in order to beam fast internet access to every corner of the planet.

Big rocket man

SpaceXs advances in rocketry provide the launch pad. Its craft are unusual in that they are reusable, rather than disposable. After launch, the first stage of its Falcon 9 can fly itself back to Earth under its own power and after a refurbishment lasting a few weeks it can fly again. Along with a focus on cost-cutting and a willingness to experiment and take risks, that has allowed SpaceX to undercut its competitors drastically.

As with Tesla, complacent incumbents have been trying to respond. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two aerospace giants, has cut jobs and trimmed costs. In November Tory Bruno, its boss, said prices for its Atlas V rocket were down from $225m per launch to just over $100m. ArianeSpace, a European firm, has also cut prices for its Ariane 5, which is thought to cost around 175m ($213m) per flight. It hopes the Ariane 6, due to make its first flight next year, will be 40% cheaper than its predecessor. SpaceX charges $62m for a fresh rocket, or $50m for a used one.

Low prices, a focus on cost control, and a willingness to take risks and iterate rapidly (another signature Musk trait) have helped SpaceX win contracts with everyone from Iridium and Intelsat, established satellite firms, to startups such as Planet and governments, including those of America, Germany and South Korea. On April 16th NASA awarded SpaceX $2.9bn to develop a lunar lander as part of Americas plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 (though the contract was suspended on April 30th; a government agency is reviewing rival firms complaints). On September 15th it plans to fly four tourists on a three-day orbital jolly. Morgan Stanley, a bank, describes SpaceX as mission control for the fast-growing emerging space sectorwhich, estimates Seraphim Capital, a venture-capital company, attracted $8.7bn of venture investment in the year to March, up by 95% from the year before.

And it is not standing still. Starship has a carrying capacity more than six times that of the Falcon 9. Despite its vast size, it is designed to be fully reusable, and is intended to be far cheaper than SpaceXs current rockets. Mr Musk hopes Starship could end up costing less than $2m per launch.

But however nifty SpaceXs technology gets, the launch market, at around $6bn in 2019, is relatively small, says Simon Potter of BryceTech, a firm of analysts and engineers. Many players are shielded from full competition by governments worried about national security. That will limit SpaceXs market share. Instead, says Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, SpaceX sees launch as an enabling technology for its other plans. The firms next target is the telecoms business. Starlink aims to provide internet access worldwide, including places where other forms of connectivity are poor or non-existent.

This is a much bigger market, at least on paper. The International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency, reckons 48% of the worlds population was offline in 2019. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceXs chief operating officer, said in 2019 that the worldwide internet-access market was worth perhaps $1trn a year. SpaceX, Mr Musk has said, might aim to capture around 3% of that. Even that sliver would have brought in $30bn two years ago. Satellite internet is not a new idea. But it is another technology that Mr Musk thinks he can improve. Existing internet satellites fly at high altitude, to maximise coverage. The drawback is that many customers must share a single satellite, limiting capacity. And the time taken for radio signals to travel to high-flying satellites adds unavoidable, and irritating, delays. At the moment satellite internet is usually a last-resort option when nothing better is availablein remote rural areas or ships at sea, for instance.

Tomorrow the stars

Starlink hopes to fix those problems by using its cheap rockets to put thousands of small, cheap satellites in low orbits. In the first quarter of 2021, SpaceX launched more objects, measured by mass, into orbit than every other rocket operator combined, says Mr Potter. Starlinks 1,500-odd existing satellites already account for around a quarter of all those in orbit. SpaceX has firm plans for over 10,000 more, and has filed paperwork for up to 42,000more than four times as many satellites as have been launched since the start of the space age.

The prototype service is undergoing testing by thousands of people. Most seem pleased, reporting fast and responsive connections. But the satellite-internet business has a poor record. Iridium went bankrupt in 1999, the year after its launch (it was eventually bailed out by the American government). Intelsat and Speedcast, two established companies, filed for bankruptcy last year, as did OneWeb, a startup with a similar business model to Starlinks. Intelsat is currently restructuring and SpeedCast is doing business again under new owners. But the fragility of the business makes assigning a future value to SpaceX tricky. Morgan Stanleys attempt spans two orders of magnitude, from $5bn to $200bn, with different assumptions about the viability of Starlink accounting for almost all of the difference.

Even with low launch costs, at least two big challenges remain, says Rasmus Flytkjaer of London Economics, a consultancy. One is that most of Starlinks potential customers are people ill-served by terrestrial internet firms. They tend to live in relatively poor rural areas. Starlinks price of $99 per month is not cheap even for rich-country users. The other is the cost of the high-tech satellite dishes needed to make the system work: 23-inch antennas that attach to roofs or walls. Since Starlinks satellites are in low orbits, they zip quickly across the sky. The aerials must be able to track satellites as they move, and switch seamlessly from one to the next as they disappear below the horizon.

Ms Shotwell said in April that the dishes, which SpaceX sells for $499, cost around $1,500 to produce, down from about $3,000 two years ago. SpaceX hopes that economies of scale will eventually drive manufacturing costs down to a few hundred dollars. Part of Iridiums problem, says Mr Flytkjaer, was meeting the capital cost of building up its network before it could attract paying customers. Mr Musks deep pockets, he says, should mean SpaceX is less likely to run out of cash than its predecessor two decades ago. Such challenges may explain Mr Musks uncharacteristic lack of bombast when talking about Starlink. Tesla sells cars with features like Ludicrous Mode and Bioweapon Defense Mode. Starlink, by contrast, calls its public-test programme the Better Than Nothing Beta Test. At a space conference last year Mr Musk said Starlinks goal, for now, was simply not to go bankrupt. He has repeatedly tried to assure existing telecoms firms that Starlink is not a threat, pointing out that the service is ill-suited to serving large numbers of customers in densely populated cities.

Starlinks test programme is currently available in only a handful of rich countries. Yet the firm said on May 5th that it had collected half a million pre-orders. It has requested regulatory permission for up to 5m users in America alone. In December SpaceX won $886m from Americas government to provide broadband in rural areas; it is reportedly in similar talks in Britain. Not all governments will be as accommodating, since the internet access offered by Starlink could prove tricky for the authorities to censor. In poorer countries, says Mr Flytkjaer, Starlinks satellites could be used to connect rural mobile-phone masts to the internet, spreading the connection cost among many users. SpaceX is running tests with Americas armed forces, which are keen on the idea of having internet connectivity on any battlefield. In 2019 the firm demonstrated its ability to provide high-speed, in-flight internet to a military jet.

Despite its unpromising history, Mr Musk is not the only billionaire who thinks satellite internet is an idea whose time has come. After its bankruptcy OneWeb was rescued by the British government and Bharti Enterprises, an Indian conglomerate whose founder, Sunil Mittal, is one of Indias wealthiest men. Jeff Bezos, Amazons founder, is every bit as rich as Mr Muskand just as much of a space cadet, bankrolling Blue Origin, his own private rocket firm. Amazon itself is planning a low-flying satellite-internet similar to Starlink, called Kuiper. The car industry increasingly dances to Mr Musks tune. The space industry is going the same way.

: economist.com
GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Heads Higher as Confidence in UK Economy Grows

The Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate edged higher today as confidence continues to grow in the UK economy and Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirms that the lockdown roadmap remains on track. At the time of writing, the pairing is fluctuating around AU$179.

Sterling strengthened against the Aussie today ahead of Johnsons further announcement of the timetable for lifting lockdown restrictions across England.

UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told BBC Ones Andrew Marr Show:

As we move into stage three of our roadmap it will be the case that we will see people capable of meeting indoors. And without prejudice to a broader review of social distancing, it is also the case that friendly contact, intimate contact, between friends and family is something we want to see restored.

UK markets are becoming more confident about the economy. 17 May will see the availability of indoor drinks and meals being allowed for two households or groups of up to six.

Cinemas, galleries, and the hospitality sector will also reopen.

Britians Covid-19 infection rates still remain relatively low, with daily cases currently at 1,770 and deaths in single figures at 2  down by -12 versus last week.

In UK economic news, today saw the release of the Halifax house prices figure for April, which beat forecasts and rose by 1.4%.

GBP investors are becoming more optimistic about the outlook for the UK economy as house prices have hit a record high for their second month in a row.

Australian Dollar (AUD) Struggles on Souring Chinese-Australian Relations

The Australian Dollar (AUD) struggled this morning as growing concerns over Chinese-Australian relations has dented the appeal of the risk-sensitive Aussie.

Beijing has moved to suspend its economic accord with Australia, souring relations between the two countries, and dampening the outlook for Australias economy.

China is Australias largest trading partner, so any signs of tensions between the two countries weigh on the Australian Dollar.

Song Luzheng, an international relations researcher at Fudan University, commented:

Halting the economic and strategic dialogue means that bilateral conflicts have reached an irreconcilable point. China is nearing the end of its inventory of economic cards, and the next steps are to move to using the diplomatic cards.

In Australian economic data, today saw the release of the latest Australian retail sales figure for March, which fell slightly below forecasts at 1.3%.

National Australia Bank (NAB) chief economist Alan Oster commented:

The April survey result is simply stunning  with many variables reaching survey highs. The strength in capacity utilisation points to an expansion in business investment and ongoing hiring, even as we pass the rebound phase in the economy and move through the JobKeeper hurdle.

Pound Australian Dollar Forecast

Pound (GBP) traders will be awaiting tomorrows speech from the Bank of Englands (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey.

However, Sterling could continue to head higher if Bailey maintains his hawkish outlook for the British economy.

Any further comments from Prime Minister Boris Johnson about his commitment to further ease lockdown restrictions this month would also be GBP-positive.

The Pound Australian Dollar could also head higher if tensions between China and Australia continue to escalate. As a result, the risk-sensitive Aussie would suffer, buoying the GBP/AUD exchange rate.
From: Fred Litwin - Author of On the Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison--The Great Accuser For Immediate Release: Dateline: Ottawa , Ontario Monday, May 10, 2021

There are some people who love to tell stories, and there are some people who love to believe stories. A conspiracy theorist was anxious for a good story, and Joseph Newbrough, an investigator for Guy Banister in the early 1960s, obliged. You can buy this 1979 picture of Joseph Newbrough here. Note the wig. We start with a tantalizing excerpt from James DiEugenio's book, Destiny Betrayed: (page 209) "Another witness who clearly connected Shaw and Banister was Joe Newbrough. Newbrough was one of the men in the office who Banister would use to do any of the private eye work that popped in. He told author William Davy that he recalled an instance with Ferrie being in Banister's office. Banister then called out to Newbrough and asked him to get Clay Shaw on the phone for him. So he called the Trade Mart and got through to Shaw. When he did, Banister told him to give the phone to Ferrie." Davy interviewed Newbrough in 1995. Might Newbrough have been weaving a story for Davy? He never mentioned this story before - and Newbrough was interviewed by Garrison's investigators, by the HSCA, and by PBS Frontline for their documentary on Lee Harvey Oswald. Newbrough only told that story to Davy. Here is Newbrough's December 1966 statement to Jim Garrison: Garrison writes on the top of page one that Newbrough should be interviewed again for more information. Here is his notation on the top right: His notation reads: "Get more info re automotive heavy equipment Newbrough was photographing for shipment to Cuba .... When? (confirmed by Oster).. - Any Cubans at all around." Some comments about this memo: It was written in the very early part of Garrison's investigation. There is no mention of Clay Shaw. I'm not even sure they asked. He never met Lee Harvey Oswald and he didn't believe that Ferrie had either. So, clearly he never saw Oswald in Banister's office. He says he has no faith in anything Jack Martin says. You gotta love his stories on how David Ferrie lost his hair (he suffered from alopecia). I don't know if Garrison's investigators spoke to Joseph Newbrough again, but, if they did, I doubt he had much to say. Had he told them about any phone call between Shaw and Ferrie, it would have been mentioned in a memo somewhere, and they certainly would have wanted Newbrough to testify at Shaw's trial. But, he disappears from the investigation. He's not even mentioned in Garrison's book, On The Trail of The Assassins. The House Select Committee also talked to Joseph Newbrough. Here is their outside contact report from March, 1978: Some comments: He couldn't remember the name of the bank where he had put "photographs and some negatives" in a safety deposit box. He wasn't even sure what city the bank was in. He said he "believed 'Oswald' was an agent for C.I.A. and was acting under orders." This is just his belief. He said that Jim Garrison was an "egotistical maniac." Newbrough was next interviewed in April. 1978: Some comments: Once again, Newbrough said he never saw Oswald. He believed that Banister had a file on Oswald, but he never saw it. He corroborates the police report that Banister pistol-whipped Jack Martin over phone calls. Please check this blog post for more on that incident. He says he doesn't know how Jack Martin knew about Ferrie being in Texas on the day of the assassination; but Ferrie left for Texas on the evening of November 22, 1963. Martin found out about the trip from Hardy Davis who had heard it from G. Wray Gill. In September 1978, Newbrough called the HSCA with some additional information: Joseph Newbrough was interviewed for the PBS Frontline documentary on Lee Harvey Oswald: Now this is interesting because Newbrough confirmed that the entrance to 544 Camp Street did not lead to Guy Banister's office at 531 Lafayette. One last thing about Joseph Newbrough. It comes from an FBI report discussing information from informant 1309-C, Joseph Oster, who also worked in Guy Banister's office. Mr. Oster regarded Joseph Newbrough as a "mental case." And yet, a story from Newbrough, that he told to no one else, was good enough for DiEugenio and Davy. But wait, there's more! Joan Mellen, author of A Farewell to Justice, writes that Joseph Newbrough was a CIA agent (see pages xxiii, 35, and 68). Her source is an HSCA outside contact report with Jack Martin. Here is that contact report in full: There you have it - on page six - Jack Martin says that Joseph Newbrough, and others, were CIA agents. And that is enough proof for Joan Mellen. Here is a video of Joseph Newbrough: By the way, James DiEugenio and Joan Mellen do not mention in their respective books that Joseph Newbrough was always clear that he never saw Lee Harvey Oswald in Banister's office.


Scottsdale, ArizonaKenneth James Moore, author of the bestselling novel Pieces of Wood, was recently interviewed by Mark Bishop on Tucson Business RadioX. His first novel, following the non-fiction The Hunt for the Life of Riley, is based on actual Japanese World War II atrocities discovered while researching the first book. Mark Bishop, who "loves interviewing fascinating people from all professional walks of life," went straight to the point by asking what Moore wants the public to get from the book?

After explaining to Bishop that award winning Pieces of Wood is an international crime thriller and giving him a quick idea of the characters and plot lines, the talk turned to his primary motivation and his belief the pubic have been denied vital info about Japanese atrocities in World War II. He told Mark Bishop this: "Well, we have all grown up with the fanaticism of the Nazi era. But frankly the other side of the World War II equation, war in the Pacific against the Japanese, was far more brutal. I like to say the Nazi were fanatics, but the Imperial Japanese were barbarianstheir level of barbarism, their level of cannibalism, was literally something out of the Dark Ages; it was of epic proportions. The Imperial Japanese referred to women, which they targeted, as 'Pieces of Wood,' just something to be used and disposed of." The phrase "Pieces of Wood" was found in captured Japanese war documents.

The interview then turned to how and why Moore came to know of the Japanese conduct which forms the central premise of the new book. Moore made a childhood promise to his mother he intended to keep. The promise was to find her younger brother, Lt. Billy Weber, who was declared Missing in Action when the B-29 he was piloting, The Life of Riley, disappeared in March 1945 flying over the Mariana Archipelago in the western North Pacific. Moore kept searching, even after a four-year break to recover from a major car crash, through research and trips to islands like Saipan and Tinian. One day, hacking through the jungle, he discovered crematoriums constructed from refractory brick, used by the Japanese to burn their captivesboth women and childrenalive. All the revelations of genocide based on Japanese cultural beliefs are chronicled in Pieces of Wood.

Moore wanted to shed light on something seldom discussed in the West and overshadowed by the European Holocaust. Japanese actions were monstrous beyond belief and portions of it were covered up for political reasons.

Listen to Kenneth James Moore Interviewed by Mark Bishop

"When one is seeking answers regarding World War II in the Pacific, it is virtually impossible to avoid uncovering Imperial Japanese atrocities," says Moore. "I was looking for data regarding my uncle's plane. I initially had no intention of writing a novel focused on violence against women. Though that subject has haunted me the vast majority of my adult life, it wasn't until happening upon the 'crematoriums' that the need to write such a work imploded across every measure of my being."

In this, the age of women, Pieces of Wood kicks open the international door behind which the abuse of women has lingered for far too long. It is a book both timely and necessary, opening our eyes to the cyclical nature of violence and how revealing lost pieces of history can keep us from repeating the mistakes of the past.

"A world-class story from a world-class author and adventurer."Lt. General Frank Sackton, former WWII Pacific Troop Commander and Professor of Public Administration at Arizona State University, 5-stars

"Pieces of Wood is a superb novel and a call to actionone of the year's most imposing new works."Grady Harp, Top 50 Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer, 5-stars

Pieces of Wood Book Trailer

About the Author:

Kenneth James Moore was born in 1949 in Tacoma, Washington. He graduated from Arizona State University and continued his education as a graduate student at Georgetown University. Political science and international relations were his calling.

Mentored by a former professor who was a Cold War counter-intelligence officer, Ken spent a year long stint as a volunteer alongside Admiral Bobby Inman, the Director of the National Security Agency during its reconstruction phase. Ken and his wife Patricia moved to Southern California, where Ken worked at Beverly Hills Securities as a commercial loan officer. He quickly moved to the investment banking side of the house and was able to retire at 45.

In 1994, Ken was the victim of a horrific automobile accident. Rehabilitation consumed every moment of the next four years as he relearned how to talk, walk, and swallow solid foods.

Ken was haunted by a promise he had made to his mother at age eight, pledging to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of her youngest brother during WWII, Lt. Billy Weber, a B-29 Bomber pilot. His journey to the Pacific theater lead him to write the books The Hunt for the Life of Riley and Pieces of Wood. Learn more about Ken at kennethjamesmoore.com. Watch the book trailer here: https://bit.ly/BookTrailerPiecesOfWood

Pieces of Wood is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L1J1GZR/ in Kindle and Paperback by MFG Books, October 2020, 418 pages, ASIN : B08L1J1GZR.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Pieces of Wood or to arrange an interview with Kenneth James Moore, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist
Amazons first-quarter sales hit $108 billion this year and generated record profits, which means one thing: its business is ripe for disruption.

A record number of consumers visited the so-called Everything Store during the COVID-19 pandemic. Huge selection, low prices and quick delivery have made Amazon one of the largest corporations in the world. But Amazon is a lot less popular with the companies that must give 20 percent of revenues to sell on its marketplace.

Amazon is more than an online shopping mall. In addition to hosting brands, the Internet giant also collects data. Too frequently, when a brand is successful, Amazon will launch its own, similar product at a lower price.

Small companies are left with a dilemma. Keep selling on Amazon, but watch profits wither as competition mounts, or go it alone and lose the customers Amazon delivers.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: Texas retailers must upgrade to survive the coronavirus

While members of Congress and the Biden administration consider whether Amazon is violating antitrust laws, a Houston-based start-up is offering brands a helping hand. Cart.com helps companies create an effective alternative sales channel to Amazon.

E-commerce is a lot harder than just having a website, right? You have to be optimizing the entire end-to-end customer journey, said CEO Omair Tariq. We always knew that the world needed the best parts of Amazon and the best parts of Shopify and did not need the parts that were unfriendly for these brands.

Cart.com offers a fully integrated suite of software, services and infrastructure to run the backend, marketing and fulfillment operations for companies with little or no e-commerce expertise. Companies can choose from a menu of services to meet their needs.

Tariq was an early hire at Blinds.com and became its chief operating officer before Home Depot bought it in 2014. He then worked his way up at his new employer, boosting the home improvement stores online sales to $20 billion a year.

Tariq co-founded Cart.com in September with Jim Jacobsen, former CEO of RTIC Outdoors. Last month they closed a $25 million Series A round of financing, led by venture capital firms Mercury Fund and Arsenal Growth. Thats in addition to an initial $20 million seed funding by Bearing Ventures.

Cart.com has since then acquired five companies and is hiring. In January, the company bought Beaumont-based AmeriCommerce, which provides online store services to nearly 3,000 customers, Tariq said. He expects to announce several more acquisitions soon.

What sets Cart.com apart is how it ensures the different back-end systems work together, and most importantly, Cart.com does not get between a brand and its customers the way Amazon and other platforms do.

We can do your marketing and your website and your logistics and your customer service, Tariq said. Were enabling access to their end consumers directly.

Most of Cart.coms customers are small merchants who hire the company to operate online stores. But Tariq wants to help direct-to-consumer brands, such as ProjectorScreen.com, grow their operations. As the name implies, the company does one thing.

Our online store revenue now blows away the revenue we get from Amazon, and we have control over the messaging, control over our customer interactions and control over the entire experience, Brian Gluck, owner of ProjectorScreen.com, said.

Most people would look at Amazon, a global corporation with a $1.75 trillion market cap, and assume it is invincible. But remember, Amazon was once the little guy taking on the big retailers using a new thing called the internet.

Innovative companies, however, can only make fat margins for so long. Outsized profits are evidence of an opportunity for a smaller start-up to undercut a big company by finding efficiencies and offering a better or less expensive service.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: Amazon is becoming too pervasive, anti-competitive

No brand or retailer in its right mind wants to depend on Amazon for all sales. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos expects too big a cut, controls access to customers and will knock off your product in a heartbeat.

Neither does Tariq suggest a brand can abandon Amazon. But for long-term success, every company needs a good, direct relationship with customers if it wants to thrive.

Look, retail is about having an omnichannel presence, and both brick and mortar and online, he told me. It is very important for these brands to have a direct relationship with these customers.

As for myself, the more I have learned about Amazons business practices over the years, the more Ive used the site as a showroom to find products. Then I go to the brands website to make my purchase, even if it means waiting a little longer for the delivery. Im just not interested in making Bezos any richer.

Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.

twitter.com/cltomlinson

chris.tomlinson@chron.com
Southside Hoodlum may not be a fixture in Billboard magazine, but the San Antonio rapper has seen his name on billboards across his hometown.

The colorful signs are located off Broadway near the Westfort Historic District and over Interstate 10 near Woodlawn Avenue. They feature a cartoon kid drooling over a box of Hoodlum cereal with a caricature of the 26-year-old rapper with his chunky dreadlocks and pencil-thin mustache overlooking a San Antonio skyline.

The billboards are promoting Hoodlums new album, Lord Knows, a Southern rap spin through the rappers South Side roots delivered with laid-back beats and a whispered croak.

Lord Knows is the first release as part of his three-record option deal with Empire, an independent San Francisco-based music distributor and label with an eye for spotting young talent and the brand behind the Hoodlum billboards. Empire was the first to distribute music by future superstars Migos, and it has released work by major hip-hop names such as Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar.

The deal is the latest sign that the San Antonio rapper may be on the verge of something big.

Best-selling writer Shea Serrano, a fellow San Antonio native and author of the forthcoming Hip-Hop (And Other Things), praised Hoodlums 2018 release Korner Store. And last September, Pitchfork called his track Breathe the must-hear rap song of the day, noting that no rapper in Texas at the time had a better beat selection.

On ExpressNews.com: The right thing to do: San Antonio rapper to donate 10K cans of his water to local charities

Now with more than 10 million views of his videos on YouTube, more than 30,000 followers on Instagram and billboards also planned for Los Angeles and New York City, the soft-spoken Hoodlum looks poised to make even more noise beyond his namesake South Side.

Im just relating everything, what it is growing up around this side of town, said Hoodlum, who declined to give his real name.

Hoodlum grew up in the Southwest San Antonio neighborhood of Indian Creek, which hes been rapping about since his teens.

Hes just talking about what he sees, said longtime friend and Lord Knows producer John Michael Villanueva. Sometimes youre going to see some stuff thats a little more raw and a little bit different.

Consider the video for Hoodlums 2019 breakout single OJ, directed by another childhood friend, Ace the Shooter. The rapper brandishes an assault rifle while delivering the line AK my buddy.

Then theres RIP X, the opening track to Lord Knows. The song starts with the voicemail of a young friend Hoodlum said died at 16 while driving drunk.

Just a product of our environment, he said.

Jerry Lara /Staff photographer

Even the cartoony Lord Knows album art has an edge. Designed by Texas illustrator Here Comes the Art (@herecomestheart on Instagram), the seemingly innocent image of a kids cereal box actually includes several nude women soaking in a bowl of milk, a sight you dont see on the billboard, much less a box of Capn Crunch.

Lord Knows is named after a song on Tupac Shakurs 1995 album Me Against the World, a dark track from the late hip-hop legend about gang death and contemplating suicide. The song title also is tattooed on Hoodlums face.

Tupac love aside, Hoodlum said his musical influences lean more toward Southern rappers such as Lil Wayne and Houstons Scarface and Z-Ro, with a dash of R&B standouts like Erykah Badu and Curtis Mayfield.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio musician on mission to share his faith through hip-hop beats and helping local artists

Before the pandemic, Hoodlum played live events such as the 2019 Mala Luna Music Festival in San Antonio and tour stops in Dallas and the Alamo City with hip-hop artists Shoreline Mafia.

Villanueva describes Lord Knows as music to ride around to. Yet even with 19 tracks, thats somewhat of a short ride. Hoodlums songs typically clock in at around 2 minutes, yet seem longer given his sleepy drawl.

You aint going to sit there and listen to a 4 minute song, Hoodlum said. And nowadays everybodys attention span is so (expletive) up.

Villanueva sees that brevity as just part of his childhood buddys personality.

Hes always been a real quiet person, he said. Hes not really loud. And honestly, his music is a lot like that, too.

Up next for Hoodlum is a compilation mixtape promotion with Houston clothing brand Slumped Boyz, plus more videos with Ace the Shooter. Meanwhile, Villanueva said he and Hoodlum are looking to start a nonprofit this summer to raise money to get laptops for students in need at Southwest High School.

Everything thats happening is really a blessing, Hoodlum said. It feels crazy, but its not there yet. I feel like 5 percent of what I could be.

Editors note: This story was updated to clarify a quote about where Southside Hoodlum grew up.

rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz
Updated 4:50 p.m.

A 23-year-old man has been charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting death of a 6-year-old girl during a car club meetup Sunday night on the West Side, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said during a news conference Monday.

McManus said Andrew Rey Elizondo was arrested at around 2:30 p.m. Monday. According to the chief, the man is an acquaintance of the victim's mother and it was not a domestic violence situation.

The police chief said the shooting happened during an altercation during the car club meetup.

Update 3:35 p.m.

San Antonio police said they have made an arrest in connection with the shooting death of a 6-year-old girl during a car club meetup Sunday night on the West Side. The Police Department did not release the name of the person who was arrested but is having a news conference at 4:45 p.m. Monday to discuss details of the case.

Original story:

A dispute at a car club meetup ended in the shooting death of a 6-year-old girl Sunday night on the West Side, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the girl as Saryah Perez.

Before 11 p.m., someone at the meetup of classic vehicles near the intersection of 24th and Commerce streets opened fire and shot the girl in the chest, police said. Saryah was in her car seat at the time of the shooting, according to police.

The medical examiners office said she died from a gunshot wound to her torso.

On ExpressNews.Com: Couple suing mom who accused them of kidnapping - and the Bexar County sheriff

Her mother, who has been identified by her uncle as Kassandra Mendoza, was grazed in the back by a bullet and drove to a nearby gas station to ask for help, police said. The child was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said they detained a possible suspect  a man in his 20s or 30s  but did not divulge details. It is unclear if the person has been charged.

Roy Alderete, 35, was standing outside the gas station when he heard a couple of gun shots.

He looked over to see a car club gathered in front of a strip mall parking lot across the street dispersing.

Next thing you know theres just cars flying everywhere, he said.

A red car pulled in front of the gas station, he said.

Two women and a man got out of the car as loud music blared from within, Alderete recalled.

They were in their own world, Alderete said until one woman checked on the girl, who police identified as Saryah, sitting in the back seat.

It just went from laughing and music to yelling and crying, Alderete said.

He saw a woman pull Saryah from the car and into the ground. The woman was cradling Saryah in her arms, he said.

It looked as though Saryah had lost a lot of blood, Alderete said.

It was just chaos after that, he said, recalling the moments police and EMS arrived.

Last year, video and reports of car takeovers made several headlines, showing large groups of drivers who occupied and blocked intersections while engaging in destructive behavior.

Between Sept. 16 and May 5, San Antonio police recorded 24 separate encounters with such groups.

Chief William McManus assembled an ad hoc task force to address the groups, which has made 116 arrests for both felony and misdemeanor crimes in that same period.

Mariah Medina, a San Antonio police spokeswoman, said the shooting death of Saryah occurred during a car meet, during which people had met at a location to hang out, and was not a car takeover.

The group that met Sunday night was not on the departments radar prior to yesterday evening, she said.
Slavery was an underlying cause of the states battle for independence, according to scholars, but a bill before the Texas House seeks to downplay its role in Alamo history.

Legislation from State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, would focus the causes of the Texas Revolution solely on those listed in the states declaration of independence.

Religious freedom, the right to bear arms and local representation in government were all included in the declaration signed by delegates in East Texas on March 2, 1836. Slavery was not mentioned, but scholars note the practice still was institutionalized in the constitution of the Republic of Texas.

Biedermann is the primary author of the proposed legislation. Dubbed the Texas Heroes Act, the legislation outlines how the 1835-1836 Texas Revolution should be portrayed at the Alamo.

Biedermann said the House could vote on the bill as early as Tuesday.

When he filed the legislation, Biedermann issued a news release accusing the city of San Antonio of historical revisionism.

This bill is designed to combat the concerted effort to dishonor the moral character of our brave Alamo defenders, he said in the release.

But Biedermann said Monday the bill, supported by Republican legislators, doesnt restrict San Antonio and the Texas General Land Office from including slavery as part of its storytelling at the mission, battle site and planned future museum.

This bill is just to basically make sure that the telling of the story of why we fought the battle of independence for Texas is as clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence, said Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg. And it doesnt negate any other story. It doesnt negate anything that happened before, during or after. Its just the grievances and the reasons for why we fought.

San Antonios public officials have emphasized their intent to give the complete history of the Alamo as a $450 million renovation project moves forward.

The parties remain committed to tell the in-depth story of the mission but recognize that the battle of 1836 is the most widely recognized event that occurred at the site, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston said about the bill.

On ExpressNews.com: Trinity professor sees third way to talk about slavery in Texas

Carey Latimore, a Trinity University professor specializing in African American studies, has said slavery cannot be dismissed as a factor in the birth of an independent Texas, followed by U.S. statehood a decade later. He discussed the causes of the revolution in a recent lecture.

We often find that people dont enter revolutions for one reason. Its a lot of things that lead people to revolution, said Latimore, who serves on a 30-member Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee providing input on a public-private Alamo renovation project.

After Texas won its independence, the number of slaves in the republic and state shot up from 5,000 in 1835 to about 30,000 in 1845, 60,000 in 1850, and well over 100,000 in 1860. Many lived in East Texas, although some worked in southern Bexar County and neighboring Wilson County, Latimore said.

Biedermanns bill originally sought to ensure the Alamo and any future museum focuses on the 1836 battle telling the history of why Texians and Tejanos fought  solely as described in the Texas Declaration of Independence.

The bills wording has since been softened. The latest version directs the Land Office to ensure exhibits at the Alamo and a planned museum prominently feature the story of the 1836 battle, the history of the Texians and Tejanos who fought there, and the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence.

By contrast, the nine-page vision and guiding principles document of the Alamo project being pursued by the city, Land Office and Alamo Trust mentions slavery six times. It calls for the influences of slavery to be explained in San Antonios origins as well as the Texas Revolution, U.S. annexation and statehood.

On ExpressNews.com: Phil Collins collection to finally get home at Alamo

Biedermann denied hes trying to prevent inclusion of slavery as a topic of discussion and interpretation at the Alamo. During his presentation Tuesday on the bill, he planned to reference a man at the Alamo known only to historians as Joe  a slave owned by Alamo commander William Barret Travis.

Jim Bowie, the popular commander of volunteers at the Alamo, was a slave trader whose family owned slaves at a plantation in southern Louisiana. But David Crockett, the Alamos most famous defender, was not known to have owned slaves.

People arent perfect  theres no doubt about it, Biedermann said. We just want to make sure that we have a black-and-white document, the Texas Declaration of Independence, of why we fought. But in no way does this negate telling the whole story before, during or after.

shuddleston@express-news.net
A pair of young progressives could push the San Antonio City Council further left and form a left-wing coalition on the council  should they win in the June runoff elections.

Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Teri Castillo surged to the front of crowded fields in races May 1 to represent the East Side and near West Side, respectively. Both have drawn the backing of the Democratic Socialists of Americas San Antonio chapter and the Texas Organizing Project, a grassroots organization that heavily funded the recently failed Proposition B campaign to strip collective bargaining from the police union.

They each face candidates considered more moderate in the June 5 runoffs. In District 2, McKee-Rodriguez will go head to head with his former boss, first-term incumbent Jada Andrews-Sullivan. In District 5, Castillo is up against Rudy Lopez, a retired city employee, for the open seat.

The candidates hail from parts of town with high poverty and poor public infrastructure, the result of decades of discriminatory policies that discouraged investment in Black and Hispanic areas. The candidates areas also now face rising property values owing to the ongoing revitalization of nearby downtown.

Castillo and McKee-Rodriguez feel frustration toward a council that leans left but that they see as insufficiently aggressive when it comes to protecting the citys poorest and most vulnerable residents.

I believe that I represent a wave that the local government has ignored, said Castillo, a 29-year-old substitute teacher at San Antonio Independent School District. I think its just folks hearing their sentiments echoed, and folks are ready to push that forward.

To Castillo and McKee-Rodriguez, that means pressuring the council to go bold on a progressive agenda: reforming police, plugging more city funds into affordable housing, boosting protections for renters and forcing city-owned CPS Energy to close its coal-fired Spruce power plant, among other ideas.

Theyre going to really push the council, political consultant Demonte Alexander said.

Should both prevail, they aim to create a firm coalition of progressive council votes.

This is an opportunity for us to create a true progressive bloc on the dais, said McKee-Rodriguez, who teaches math at Madison High School.

More division?

But some worry their presence would introduce more division into a nonpartisan council.

Though the majority of sitting council members lean left, its unusual to form ideological coalitions. Often, members find common ground with one another even if they fall on opposite sides of the political spectrum.

Courtesy Photo /

Serving on the council requires some degree of give-and-take, outgoing District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said.

We need six votes, but it doesnt mean that it necessarily comes from a bloc, Gonzales said.

Castillo dismissed the notion that she couldnt work with other council members if elected.

Definitely, I have the skill and ability to collaborate with folks in every council district, Castillo said.

Both candidates contend their ideas arent outlandish. Take one proposal thats taken hold among progressives: buying a hotel to house the homeless  as city officials in Austin and state leaders in Oregon and California have done.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, San Antonio has leased hotel space to shelter those without a home so they can social distance from others and lower their risk of contracting the coronavirus.

Homeless advocates want the city to go a step further and to do so even without a pandemic, an idea City Manager Erik Walsh floated this year.

The policies that were asking for, its not like were coming out of the woodwork with, McKee-Rodriguez said.

Progressives recent performance

Unclear is how McKee-Rodriguez and Castillo will be received in a runoff. In reliably blue San Antonio, progressive candidates and ideas have lately received a somewhat mixed reception.

Voters showed an appetite for more severe punishment for police officers accused of misconduct in the May 1 vote on Proposition B, but the measure failed by a narrow margin.

Robin Jerstad, San Antonio Express-News

District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, the councils lone conservative, easily fended off a pair of progressive challengers in a race for the Northeast Side seat.

In races for the San Antonio Independent School District board, the districts largest employee union put up a slate of four candidates, dubbed the Schools Our Students Deserve coalition. Only one prevailed: Sarah Sorensen.

District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino, possibly the councils most vocal progressive, has been forced into a runoff as he seeks a fourth and final term representing the citys urban core. But he faces a fairly progressive opponent in environmentalist Mario Bravo.

Its likely the Texas Organizing Project will deploy its army of block-walkers to get out the vote for Castillo and McKee-Rodriguez. But they wont have Prop B, which both supported, on the ballot to drive turnout from younger voters, said Alexander, the political consultant.

West Side

In District 5, Castillo faces Lopez, whos expected to take a more middle-of-the road approach thats friendly to economic development. Lopez has already gained the backing of Gonzales, who has reached her term limits.

Some on the West Side have fretted about major developments coming their way. The planned $230 million expansion of the University of Texas at San Antonio Downtown Campus, which is on District 5s eastern edge, has already begun to drive up property values in nearby neighborhoods. So has the long troubled but recently revived redevelopment of the former Lone Star Brewery into a sprawling mixed-use complex.

Gonzales warns that a hostile posture to development could force that growth to other parts of town.

My sense in supporting my district all these years is that people really want to see investment, Gonzales said.

Castillo, a member of the Historic Westside Residents Association, wants the district to see more private investment but not at the expense of existing residents and businesses.

Castillo opposed a plan to demolish the Alazan Courts, the citys oldest and largest public housing complex, and replace it with a mixed-income housing development. She has been a critic of city tax breaks to developers to build housing thats out of reach for poorer families.

The city should instead pump more money into programs that repair existing homes, Castillo said. Many homeowners cant afford the costs for repairs that will help keep them in their homes  and retain the West Sides character as nearby development ramps up.

To be frank, its not a position of being anti-development, Castillo said. Its ensuring that we have neighborhood stabilization. That way, we can enjoy the development as well.

Her opponent, Lopez, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

East Side

In District 2, McKee-Rodriguez benefits from different circumstances perhaps incidental to his political views, observers say, though not his ground game. He far outspent everyone in the race, including Andrews-Sullivan.

An overwhelming majority of East Side voters cast ballots against Andrews-Sullivan and for her 11 challengers  the result, observers say, of what they see as her lack of responsiveness.

You have to call four or five times, said Dee Smith, former president of the Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association. Sometimes Ive emailed her and never gotten any response.

Nonetheless, Andrews-Sullivan came in second and made the runoff against McKee-Rodriguez.

Whether the young candidates progressive bona fides will hurt him in the runoff remains to be seen.

To Akeem Brown, an East Side community developer and VIA Metropolitan Transit board member, the East Side is primed for that kind of representation.

There have been so many comments in my opinion that have been negative that this is not a real progressive district, this is the Bible Belt of San Antonio, you have so many Black churches and Black ministers that just wouldnt support a Black gay man, Brown said. I just think all of that is wrong. The East Side of San Antonio is progressive.

But the East Side district has seen relentless turnover. In less than a decade, five people have held the District 2 seat, a phenomenon that many agree has prevented the district from truly advocating for itself in big council votes.

Andrews-Sullivan is betting that District 2 voters have grown tired of the trend.

Weve seen the revolving door, Andrews-Sullivan said. Weve seen what happens when we dont have consistency.

To McKee-Rodriguez, hes merely harnessing anger and frustration felt within the district.

We want to see a disruption, we want to see bold, progressive change, McKee-Rodriguez said. Even if not everyone wants progressive change, people want bold change.
WASHINGTON  Texas is set to receive $15.8 billion in new coronavirus relief aid, with billions more headed to its cities and counties as the Biden administration on Monday rolled out the latest round of stimulus funding meant to help them bounce back from the pandemics economic punch, which led local governments in the U.S. to cut over a million jobs.

The new round of funding  which includes a combined $1.5 billion for Houston and Harris County and $716 million for San Antonio and Bexar County  comes as state and local leaders are piecing together budgets after a year of financial woes.

PURITY OF THE BALLOT BOX: An echo of Jim Crow, stricken from Texas voting bill

The money comes with fewer strings than previous batches of state and local COVID aid and will go directly to smaller cities for the first time. It can be used to plug revenue holes; hire public sector workers including teachers, police and firefighters; and fund housing, mental health, small business and other assistance programs. It can also go toward some infrastructure projects, such as expanding broadband, among other things.

The Biden administration said the funding is key to a more equitable recovery that was a central aim of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that Congress passed in March.

Gene Sperling, the White House aide overseeing the stimulus spending, said the new round of funding is aimed at making sure these states and governments do not cut back on the very things that are important for equity, but in fact have the resources to keep people in their homes, to help young kids catch up with learning loss, and to allow more workers and students to get the college, the training, the opportunities they need to bounce back from this difficult period for the economy, and obviously for our whole society.

But the funding is also aimed at getting people back to work, Sperling said. It comes after a disappointing national jobs report released last week  showing only 266,000 new jobs added in April  had President Joe Biden defending some aspects of the stimulus package, including a $300-a-week boost in unemployment benefits that Republicans have said encourage people to stay unemployed.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, called the jobs numbers a stunning economic setback, and unequivocal proof that President Biden is sabotaging our jobs recovery with promises of higher taxes and regulation on local businesses that discourage hiring and drive jobs overseas.

Sperling said about 1.3 million state and local government jobs have been lost since the pandemics onset, most of which were in education, public safety and other frontline fields.

So much about this is getting our economy back, our society back to normal, but also to get people back to work. Theres no question that a place we still need more progress is at the state and local side, Sperling said. This is also part of the strategy to have a recovery that is getting Americans back to work, whether theyre working in the private sector or working for these vital public services that we, our children, our loved ones, all rely on.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

That is likely to be the case in Houston, where Mayor Sylvester Turner is expected to lay out a budget proposal this week that he has said will use some of the stimulus money to increase the size of the police department and give firefighters a long-awaited pay raise.

The nearly $608 million the city is slated to receive amounts to nearly a quarter of the citys $2.5 billion general fund budget that covers most core services, such as public safety, trash pickup, libraries and parks.

But for these dollars, it would have been very, very difficult to balance this upcoming budget, Turner said in March.

The nearly $327 million headed to San Antonio and $389 million going to Bexar County will strengthen key services for the greater San Antonio area and reinforce recovery efforts from our local champions, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio, said.

The rescue plan rises to the tremendous needs of this moment, not only delivering direct help to families, schools, and businesses, but also calling in the cavalry to back up our local governments that have been shouldering so much of the burden of leadership, Doggett said.

For the first time, the funding will also go directly to smaller cities that had to rely on states to dole out local funding from previous stimulus packages.

These small cities  their tax base is gone and they really need the help, U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Houston Democrat, said when Congress passed the stimulus package in March. They have been waiting with bated breath for some help.

ben.wermund@chron.com
MIDDLETOWN  Police say they have made an arrest in last weekends shooting near downtown where a man was wounded several times in the leg.

Antwan Rufus, 32, of Main Street, who is charged in the William Street incident, was located in the area of Green and Main streets on Wednesday, authorities said.

Police said he was arrested in connection with the Saturday incident on a warrant for criminal attempt at first-degree assault, second-degree assault, unlawful discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and commission of a Class A, B, C felony with a firearm.

Rufus is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

Rufus has a number of pending cases at Superior Court in Middletown, including marijuana possession, possession of drugs in a school zone, sale of hallucinogenics and various traffic violations, according to judicial records. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Rufus was found guilty of first-degree assault/discharge of a firearm, criminal possession of a revolver and violation of probation stemming from a September 2017 arrest. He was released on a $25,000 surety bond and is due back in court May 18 for sentencing.

He was also charged with the alleged sale of a hallucinogenic substance, disobeying an officer, possession of marijuana and related offenses May 2, records show. Rufus was released on a $150,000 bond and is due back in court May 18.

Police are also investigation a shooting that occurred April 28 around 10:45 p.m. on Maplewood Terrace. Police said no one was hit by the gunfire and have not identified suspects.

It is known that the parties involved know each other, so there is no direct threat to the community, officials said Monday in a press release.

The investigations are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Dan Spedding 860-638-4153.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking applicants for three citizen advisory boards: State Trails Advisory Committee, Snowmobile Advisory Committee and the Off-Highway Advisory Committee.

FWP advisory boards are tasked with advising FWP on the allocation of grant funds annually for FWP-managed recreation grant programs. Member involvement includes the review of grant applications, scoring and providing recommendations to the department for the allocation of available funding. The citizen committees typically meet twice annually.

State Trails Advisory Committee (STAC)The 10-member STAC advises FWP on the disbursement of approximately $1.5 million in federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funds each year. The program supports a diversity of trail opportunities statewide. A federal requirement of the program is that 30% of available funding must be committed to motorized projects, 30% to non-motorized projects and 40% to diversified (mixed) trail-use projects.

Committee members serve a three-year term. At the end of the term, members may renew for a second term.

Seven STAC advisory positions are open: four motorized and three non-motorized. Interested citizen applicants should have broad interest in all public trail opportunities, not just a specific use, area, or recreation type.

Snowmobile Advisory Committee (SAC)Montana has a robust and well-managed snowmobile program, in no small part due to the dedicated volunteers who perform the winter grooming activities in their local communities. The five-member citizen SAC advises the department on the allocation of approximately $420,000 in grooming funds to 25 clubs annually. Additionally, funding is available to replace equipment in the grooming fleet. The SAC advises the department on the expenditure of $400,000-$600,000 in snowmobile equipment funding each biennium.

The SAC typically meets twice yearly to discuss funding allocations and related issues concerning Montanas snowmobile program, such as groomer operator training, avalanche education efforts and similar common issues. Committee members serve a three-year term. At the end of the term, members may renew for a second term.

Two SAC advisory positions are open.

Off-Highway Advisory Committee (OHVAC)The OHVAC is a five-member citizen advisory group that is involved with the disbursement of grant funds that primarily benefit motorized recreational users statewide. There are two state-funded motorized grant programs: the conventional OHV program, which typically accepts applications for and allocates up to $210,000 annually, and the Summer Motorized Recreation Trails Grant Program. Funding for this new program is anticipated to be approximately $235,000 annually.

The OHVAC typically meets annually to review grant applications received and provide funding recommends to the department. Committee members serve a three-year term. At the end of the term, members may renew for a second term.

Two OHVAC advisory positions are open.

To apply

Interested applicants must send a letter of interest for the specific advisory committee opening. Letters of interest are required to include:

Name, address, telephone number and email address.

The advisory committee that you are interested in serving on.

A description of the types of trail-related activities you participate in, keeping in mind that were seeking individuals with broad recreational backgrounds and interests, representation from all parts of Montana, and similar factors.

The names of any recreational organizations to which you belong.

Any other experience, perspectives, interests or similar factors you may wish offer that will benefit decisions concerning the disbursement of these recreational grant funds annually.

Interested citizens should have a strong interest in diversified recreation throughout Montana and the improvements possible via these grant opportunities.

For more information, contact Colleen Furthmyre at 406-444-3750. Letters of interest should be emailed to Furthmyre at CFurthmyre@mt.gov.

The deadline for letters of interest is Friday, June 4, 2021.
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.
Dutch politicians have raised concerns about Rotterdam's floating dairy farm experiment after two cows recently fell into the harbour.

The urban farm project, which started producing dairy in 2019, has been labelled 'madness' by politicians from the PvdD party following the incidents.

Dozens of cows are situated on the farm as part of efforts to find new ways to feed a growing population despite decreasing amounts of space to grow food.

The companies behind the project want to establish whether it's possible for a city to become self-reliant in terms of food production, waste and power.

Each cow has around 160 square feet of space while being contained within a space 3050 times smaller.

Currently, the floating farm produces various kinds of milk and yogurt from its location docked in the port of Rotterdam.

But two cows fell into the water last week, leading rescuers to winch the animals back to safety.

Ruud van der Velden, a councillor and head of the local branch of the PvdD, told DutchNews.nl that the project was a 'sorry sight'.

He had called for a debate in the city's council to withdraw the farm's permit, but the motion did not get a majority.

"It is dangerous when cows leave the pontoon for the gangway to go to the waterside and this is the second time that a cow has ended up in the water: the last was in December.

"On Tuesday there was another accident with a cow falling into the water, an animal of 600 to 800 kilos.

"The emergency services were called and it took them more than an hour to get it out of the water," he said.

The companies behind the project are Beladon, a firm that specialises in waterborne architecture, and architecture studio Goldsmith.

Peter van Wingerden, chief executive of Beladon, told DutchNews.nl that the cows were 'doing great' and that animal welfare was important for them.

"We are one of the animal friendliest farms in The Netherlands, and maybe even Europe," he said.
A UK-first project will soon be launched to provide the livestock sector with real time data on heat stress in cows.

Currently, there is limited data form the UK that is available on the impact of heat stress in indoor and outdoor herds.

Looking to change this are Lallemand Animal Nutrition and Chalcombe Ltd, whose project will support farmers with new data.

Mark McFarland, of Lallemand said: "The biggest issue facing UK farmers when it comes to heat stress is that our cows arent adapted for higher temperatures.

"Because of this, and the fact that most of the data we have comes from hot countries, the threshold could be significantly lower than what we currently think.

This could mean that cows in the UK could experience heat stress at lower temperatures and humidity levels than cows in Argentina or Spain, for example.

Consequently, the correlated drop in fertility and milk production could be happening much sooner than expected.

In this trial, unique monitors will be fitted to a network of dairy farms in south England with the data being relayed to Lallemands website.

This data will be streamed live so that farmers will be able to see the current level of heat stress risk, rather than basing management decisions on last years data.

Temperature and humidity will be recorded inside and outside the shed, which will be translated into updated graphs reflecting changing conditions and challenges, helping indoor and grazing herds.

Tom Chamberlain, of Chalcombe said: Most farmers graze their cows in the summer and there isnt much known about the risks of heat stress at grass.

"We will be using work from Australia to help assess the live risk to UK grazing herds, and this information will be reported on the Lallemand website alongside the results for housed cows."

As reported by the Met Office earlier this year, heat stress in cattle is likely to become a bigger problem in England and northern Europe due to global warming.

On top of this, as dairy cow yields increase, they become more prone to heat stress.

But Mr Chamberlain said the new project would be the first to measure and report heat stress risks in real time.

"This will allow farmers to take timely actions to reduce the impact of heat stress," he added.
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2021 / Viva Gold Corp. (TSX-V:VAU)(OTCQB:VAUCF) (the "Company" or "Viva") announces that it has received a requisition (the "Requisition") from a dissident shareholder group led by Humewood Ventures Corp. and Dumont Capital Corp., holding approximately 5.35% of the Company's outstanding voting shares, for a meeting of its shareholders pursuant to section 167 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Act"). The shareholders who made the Requisition request that a special meeting of Viva's shareholders be called to consider the approval of special resolutions pursuant to s. 128(3) of the Act to remove Christopher Herald, James Hesketh, Edward Mahoney and David Whittle as directors of the Company; and to consider the approval of an ordinary resolutions to reduce the number of directors of the Board of Directors to three, and to appoint Geoff Goodall and Jim Mustard, both of Vancouver, BC, to the Board. The Board of Directors will review the requisition and provide an update in due course. Neither Humewood Ventures nor Dumont Capital have participated in any equity financings of Viva since before the Company become active on the TSX Venture Exchange in November 2017. Dumont Capital is represented by Ms. Kathrine (Kelly) MacDonald, sister to Mr. Gary MacDonald, Viva's longest serving director. Humewood Ventures is represented by Mr. Robert Baker.

About Viva Gold

Viva Gold is a gold exploration and project development company with a focus on Nevada. Viva holds 100% of the advanced Tonopah Gold Project, a large land position of approximately 8,800 acres with demonstrated high-grade measured, indicated and inferred gold resources, located on the prolific Walker Lane gold trend in Nevada, about 30 kilometers south-east of the Round Mountain mine of Kinross Gold and 20 kilometers north from the Town of Tonopah. Viva's management team has extensive experience in mining exploration, development and production and are supported by a Board of Directors and advisors who are proven mine finders, deal makers and financiers. Viva trades on the TSX-V as "VAU", on the OTCQB in the US as "VAUCF" and on the Frankfurt exchange under "7PB". For additional information on Viva Gold and the Tonopah Gold Project, please visit our website: www.vivagoldcorp.com.

For further information please contact:

James Hesketh, President & CEO

(720) 291-1775

jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com

Valerie Kimball, Director Investor Relations

(720) 933-1150

vkimball@vivagoldcorp.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

SOURCE: Viva Gold Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/645945/Viva-Gold-Corp-Receives-Shareholder-Meeting-Requisition
MELBOURNE, Australia, May 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today announces it has been granted Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval and received Clinical Trial Notification (CTN) clearance by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to commence a Phase III clinical trial of the Company's PSMA1 targeted prostate cancer therapy candidate TLX591 (177Lu-DOTA-rosopatamab), in patients with advanced metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).



The Phase III "ProstACT" trial is an international, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial (RCT) in patients with PSMA-expressing mCRPC, experiencing disease progression following prior treatment with a novel androgen axis drug (NAAD). The ProstACT trial will enrol approximately 390 patients and incorporates patient selection using 68Ga-PSMA imaging with TLX591-CDx (Illuccix). The trial will compare standard of care therapy alone versus standard of care therapy plus TLX591, with a primary endpoint of radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS). Trial secondary endpoints will include overall survival and quality-of-life assessment. Telix has commenced the initiation of Australian ProstACT trial sites and will add global sites progressively during the second half of 2021, subject to the requisite approvals.

Telix Chief Executive Officer Dr. Christian Behrenbruch stated, "The commencement of the ProstACT Phase III study for TLX591 marks a major corporate milestone for Telix that brings the Company a step closer to delivering on a major unmet medical need for treatment options in this patient population. ProstACT builds on a significant body of clinical data for TLX5912, which to date has been studied in over 200 patients with advanced prostate cancer, across five previous studies. TLX591 has demonstrated promising and competitive clinical potential that we believe warrants further confirmation in this second-line disease setting. It is also noteworthy that Telix's differentiated approach to integrating molecular imaging with PET alongside therapy, enables a comparatively streamlined study that we believe will support efficient patient enrolment and study execution."

About Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after skin cancer and worldwide 1.4 million men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020. Despite advances in treatment, prostate cancer still accounts for a large number of deaths and in 2020 more than 375,000 men died from their disease. Rates of diagnosis are increasing, and the highest incidences of prostate cancer are found in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.3

About TLX591

TLX591 (177Lu-DOTA-rosopatamab) is an antibody-based radioimmunoconjugate (molecularly-targeted radiotherapy or "MTR") targeting PSMA, a cancer target highly expressed in men with metastatic prostate cancer.

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Telix is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products using Molecularly Targeted Radiationand follow Telix on Twitter.

Telix's lead investigational product, Illuccix (TLX591-CDx) for prostate cancer imaging, has been accepted for filing by the U.S. FDA,4 and is under priority evaluation by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).5 Telix is also progressing marketing authorisation applications for Illuccix in the European Union6 and Canada.7 None of Telix's products, including TLX591 and TLX591-CDx, have received a marketing authorisation in any jurisdiction.

Telix Corporate Contact Telix Corporate Communications Dr. Christian Behrenbruch Dr. Stewart Holmstrom Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Managing Director and CEO Director of Corporate Communications Email: chris.behrenbruch@telixpharma.com (mailto:chris.behrenbruch@telixpharma.com) Email: stewart.holmstrom@telixpharma.com (mailto:stewart.holmstrom@telixpharma.com)

___________________________

1 Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)

2 Tagawa S et al. Cancer 2019.

3 GLOBOCAN 2020.

4 ASX disclosure 24/11/20.

5 ASX disclosure 14/04/21.

6 ASX disclosure 1/05/20.

7 ASX disclosure 16/12/20.
Good morning,

Please find below the press release issued today.

Best regards,

____________________________________________________________________

Marishka Martins

Group PR Consultant

Capgemini India | Mumbai

www.capgemini.com

Tel.: +91 9930835325

Email: marishka.martins@capgemini.com

_____________________________

Capgemini to acquire Multibook's SAP services business in Japan and South East Asia

The acquisition of Multibook's SAP arm will enable Capgemini to help more clients in Japan and beyond accelerate their business transformation to the cloud. It supports the Group's growth ambition in the Asia-Pacific region

Paris, Tokyo, May 10, 2021 - Today Capgemini announced that it has signed an agreement for the acquisition of Multibook's SAP global services line. The acquisition will enable Capgemini to further build its SAP capabilities and enrich its client portfolio of business services in Japan and South East Asia.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Multibook has developed an 80+ people strong business delivering global SAP rollouts for its clients. Its SAP business operates in Japan and across Asia-Pacific and a subsidiary in the USA. It has established a strong relationship with industry leading brands in Japan and beyond, as part of the global SAP model.

This acquisition will reinforce Capgemini's partnership with SAP in Japan. As a result of its global delivery model, it will also allow Capgemini to onboard SAP professionals to further serve clients across South East Asia. With small operations in Thailand, this acquisition opens a new chapter for Capgemini in the country, where it will be able to work with clients on rolling out locally their global transformation programs.



"By pairing Capgemini's global expertise with the talent and insight of Multibook's SAP business, which works exclusively with SAP related technologies in Japan and South East Asia, this acquisition will strengthen our ability to help clients accelerate their transformation to run their entire business in the cloud with the next generation Intelligent SAP Solutions," said Olaf Pietschner, CEO of Capgemini in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and member of the Group Executive Committee. "Their extensive expertise and knowledge will further deepen our networks and capabilities to meet the anticipated growth in demand for SAP and cloud services in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand, and we are delighted to welcome them to the team."

"Joining Capgemini marks an exciting new step for me and my team and is a recognition of the value we have created with SAP for our clients," said Tadaaki Murayama, Chief Executive Officer of Multibook, who will join Capgemini as part of the transaction. "Being part of Capgemini, will enable us to offer our clients the appropriate scale to transform globally, as well as new growth and career opportunities for our people."

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and conditions precedents and is due to close in the coming weeks.

About Capgemini

Capgemini is a global leader in partnering with companies to transform and manage their business by harnessing the power of technology. The Group is guided everyday by its purpose of unleashing human energy through technology for an inclusive and sustainable future. It is a responsible and diverse organization of 270,000 team members in nearly 50 countries. With its strong 50 year heritage and deep industry expertise, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to address the entire breadth of their business needs, from strategy and design to operations, fueled by the fast evolving and innovative world of cloud, data, AI, connectivity, software, digital engineering and platforms. The Group reported in 2020 global revenues of 16 billion.

Get the Future You Want | www.capgemini.com

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VIENNA, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) has signed a US$15 million loan in favor of NMB Bank Limited in Nepal for the purpose of financing micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and renewable energy projects. The loan represents the OPEC Fund's first financial institution transaction in the country.

MSMEs currently constitute more than one-third of NMB Bank's total loan portfolio (approximately 4,800 borrowers) and the bank is working toward increasing its MSME base. NMB is also already one of the leading finance providers for local renewable energy providers in Nepal. Its renewable energy portfolio consists primarily of hydro projects (over 90 percent of its renewable energy portfolio) and total committed limits for renewable energy stand at approximately 17 percent of its total loan outstanding book.

"There is a significant gap between the MSME sector's supply of finance and the demand for credit," says the OPEC Fund's Assistant Director-General, Private Sector and Trade Finance Operations Tareq Alnassar. "Also, the current lack of access to reliable, grid-supplied electricity and the reliance on power imports are constraining economic growth and poverty reduction in Nepal.

"The OPEC Fund is excited to be working with NMB to support such integral sectors," continued Alnassar. "This transaction - our first of this nature in Nepal - aligns with our support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and with SDGs 1, 7 and 8 on ending poverty, providing affordable and clean energy, and supporting decent work and economic growth, in particular."

Sunil KC, Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, said: "The financing from the OPEC Fund will allow us to support the real economy in Nepal by strengthening employment and renewable energy generation, for which Nepal has tremendous potential. In turn, this makes us less reliant on imports and helps us become more self-sufficient and sustainable.

"Our belief in 'banking on values' means NMB does business in a way that makes us accountable to society and more focused on developmental impact," KC continued. "This is in line with the OPEC Fund's values and this common approach defines our partnership."

NMB Bank was established in 1996 as a merchant bank and in 2008 expanded into commercial banking. In 2015, it underwent a merger with four other financial institutions to create its current form as a universal bank. NMB is now Nepal's 7th largest commercial bank in terms of asset size.

The OPEC Fund has supported development in Nepal since the organization's inception in 1976. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$224 million to the country via public sector financing.

About the OPEC Fund

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The OPEC Fund was established by the member countries of OPEC in 1976 with a distinct purpose: to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people. Our work is people-centered, focusing on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$22 billion to development projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total project cost of US$187 billion. Our vision is a world where sustainable development is a reality for all.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1505697/Opec_Fund_NMB_Bank.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1428246/OPEC_Fund_Logo.jpg
STOCKHOLM, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stena RoRo is leading the project for the construction of the Global Mercy, the world's largest civilian hospital ship. After several years of construction at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in northern China, the final test, the official sea trial, has now been completed with good results. The shipyard will present the ship for delivery this summer and the vessel will then sail to Antwerp in Belgium on its maiden voyage, where some members of the crew will board and the medical equipment supplemented. This will be followed by a visit to Rotterdam, and after this theGlobal Mercy will beready for its first important mission in West Africa.

Stena RoRo is building the Global Mercy on behalf of the international charity organization Mercy Ships, which provides free life-changing healthcare to people in some of the world's poorest countries. The project began in 2013 and Stena RoRo is responsible for design, contracting and execution. The construction project is unique in its kind and places major and specific demands on both design and layout, dependent on the special needs that hospital operations entail. On board are operating theatres and hospital wards, and everything needed for both patients and those working on board, including schools and preschools for the children of the volunteers. Sea trialThe sea trial, which the Global Mercy has just completed, means that the ship's systems and functions - such as engine performance and fuel consumption, navigation and radio equipment, maneuverability and safety systems - are tested for several days at sea.

"The purpose of a sea trial is to ensure that the ship's systems are working properly during operation and that the requirements of the specifications and applicable standards are met," says Per Westling, CEO Stena RoRo. "The hospital services to be provided on the Global Mercy entail increased requirements for good ventilation and minimization of vibrations, for example. This was also checked and she was approved on all counts."

Global project under Swedish management

The Global Mercy is the result of a global collaborative project with the participation of a number of subcontractors from around the world. Swedish Stena RoRo is leading the project and Finnish Deltamarin is conducting work with design. A French shipbroker, Barry Rogliano Salles, (BRS Group), assisted in preparing the contract and the ship is being built at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in northern China. The vessel, that is classified by the Lloyd's Register in the United Kingdom, will sail under the Maltese flag and operate along the coast of Africa.

Stena RoRo has based the project on a concept for passenger and cargo ships for international travel in the RoPax class. The concept has been modified to a purely passenger ship design with hospital activities. The Global Mercy will have six operating theatres, 200 hospital beds, a laboratory, a patient clinic and an eye and dental clinic. In total, she will be able to accommodate 950 people, of which 641 are crew.

"For a few years now, our team has consisted of up to 16 members, stationed at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard," says project leader and site manager Rikard Olsson, who has been in China with his family almost continuously since 2016. "The team has mixed nationalities and part of the job has been to reconcile the different cultures. An important task has been to ensure that the ship is built according to the specifications. For this shipyard, this is the first time this kind of ship, which can be compared to a cruise ship, has been built. We have worked hard to meet the required standard and everything has gone very well. We are very pleased with the collaboration with the shipyard."

In addition to providing free medical and dental care, Mercy Ships contributes to building up local healthcare infrastructure by training local healthcare staff. This is why the Global Mercy is equipped with first-class training facilities, including equipment for virtual reality training and other simulations of care and methods for use in environments with limited resources.

"The Global Mercy is a special project that we are proud to be a part of. Mercy Ships is doing a fantastic job and with the new ship, their capacity to provide free medical care to many extremely vulnerable people will be more than twice as large," says Per Westling, who in 2017 visited the sister ship Africa Mercy when it was based in Madagascar.

This summer the Global Mercy will be delivered from the shipyard. The maiden voyage will be to Antwerp in Belgium where some members of the crew will board and the last medical equipment installed, which will take a few months. After that, there will be two weeks in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where festivities will be held in presenting the ship to sponsors, potential volunteers and other interested parties.

Big difference for many people

The first mission will be during 2022, when the Global Mercy is expected to call at Dakar in Senegal. There will then be more than six hundred volunteers aboard from all over the world and from a variety of professional categories, who will make it all possible through their contributions of skills and time.

More than 93 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to safe surgical care *. The already very fragile medical care systems are at risk of being further degraded by the corona pandemic, and the need for basic but vital care is greater than ever in many poor countries. The Global Mercy will make a big difference for many people in southern and western Africa.

* According to the Lancet Global Surgery 2030 Report

About the Global Mercy:

Length: 174 meters

Breadth: 28.6 meters

Draught: 6.15 meters

Gross weight: 37,000 tonnes

Deadweight: 4,500 tonnes

Total area: 30,000 square meters

For more information about Stena RoRo / Global Mercy www.stenaroro.com

Link to interview with CEO Per Westling, Stena RoRo, long version https://vimeo.com/546015410

Link to interview with CEO Per Westling, Stena RoRo, short version https://vimeo.com/546010008

Mercy Ships B'roll of the sea trial here: https://vimeo.com/540774984/cfccb272e9

General Mercy Ships B'roll here: mercyships.box.com/generalbroll

For more information about www.mercyships.se

Photos: (Stena RoRo)

1. Global Mercy during the sea trial

2. Crew dental clinic, Global Mercy

3. Family cabin, Global Mercy

4. Site team in Tianjin China

For more information, please contact

Per Westling, CEO, Stena RoRo AB

Tel: +46 31 855154, +46 704 85 51 54

Email: per.westling@stena.com

Since 1977, Stena RoRo has led the development of new marine RoRo, cargo and passenger concepts. We specialize in custom-built vessels, as well as standardized RoRo and RoPax vessels. The company leases about fifteen vessels to operators worldwide, both to other Stena companies and third parties. Stena RoRo specializes above all in applying its technical expertise to the design and production of new ships and the conversion of existing ships for delivering tailored transport solutions to its customers. We call this "Stenability". Since 2013, we have been responsible for the design and completion of Mercy Ships' new hospital vessel the Global Mercy - the world's largest civilian hospital ship.

www.stenaroro.com

About Mercy Ships

Through its hospital vessels, Mercy Ships provides free high-quality healthcare, building up healthcare capacity and providing sustainable development to those with the least resources. Mercy Ships was founded by Don and Deyon Stephens in 1978 and has since operated in more than 55 developing countries, contributing care and development worth more than SEK 17 billion and treating more than 2.8 million people. Ships' crews consist of approximately 1,200 volunteers each year from more than 60 countries. They are surgeons, dentists, nurses, nursing educators, teachers, chefs, sailors, engineers and agricultural experts who volunteer their time and skills. With offices in 16 countries and an African center, Mercy Ships strives to make a difference for individuals and to assist nations.www.mercyships.se

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/stena-roro/r/sea-trial-completed-for-hospital-ship-global-mercy,c3343607

The following files are available for download:
Omne Possibile launchedto harness transformative power of XNA in healthcare, information technology and smart materials

A pioneering, global technological leader in XNAcreating customizable structures to outperform current DNA and RNA technologies

XNA is at the forefront of the synthetic biology revolution, forecast to transform medicine, agriculture, energy, consumer products and IT with a $4 trillion annual economic impact

Founded by leading European synthetic biologists

Leuven, Belgium, and Basel, Switzerland- 10May2021: Omne Possibile ("the Company"), a global synthetic biology company pioneering the XNA revolution, has been launched today to harness the power of XNA (xeno nucleic acids) to transform medicine, agriculture, energy, consumer products and information technology. XNA is at the forefront of the synthetic biology revolution, designed to overcome the constraints of the chemical structures of DNA and RNA technologies. It is forecast to have a $4 trillion annual economic impact over the next 10 to 20 years, greater than that of the internet.1

Patrice Garnier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Omne Possibile, said: "Synthetic biology has been called the fifth industrial revolution. We believe XNA will be the dominant technology of the 21st century, with a profound impact on all aspects of our daily lives including healthcare, information technology, energy, transport and consumer goods. Omne Possibile unites leading European experts in the critical building blocks of synthetic biology and the key disciplines of XNA development. Our ambition is to convert Europe's advances in XNA technology into a global company that will lead the revolution in synthetic genetics."

"Xenobiology will be to biology what astronautics has been to astronomy." adds Philippe Marliere, Chairman of the Board of Omne Possibile. "Through the diversification of the base alphabet and backbone motifs of DNA and RNA analogs, our company will provide the industry with a plethora of customized genetic polymers. Having brought together the most forward-thinking scientists and industrialists in the field, including two Nobel laureates, Omne Possibile is set to bring genetic polymers to market."

Omne Possibile was co-founded by Patrice Garnier, an entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience leading high-tech companies, Alexandre Mouradian, a seasoned and visionary investor, and by three of Europe's leading synthetic biologists: Philippe Marliere, Scientific Director at ISSB Evry; Piet Herdewijn, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at KU Leuven; Sven Panke, Professor of Bioprocess Engineering at ETH Zurich.

The Company will initially focus on development of XNA polymers for information storage and XNA building blocks for improved messenger therapeutics:

Storage XNA ( sXNA ) are seen as ideal candidates to manage the exponential growth of data in the coming decades, offering benefits in terms of capacity, energy use, space requirements and cost.

are seen as ideal candidates to manage the exponential growth of data in the coming decades, offering benefits in terms of capacity, energy use, space requirements and cost. Messenger XNA (mXNA) is designed to overcome the limitations of mRNA, the backbone of modern vaccine technologies in areas like viral infections and cancer. They also play key roles in genetic treatments and in agricultural pest control. mXNA offers the potential for greatly improved chemical functionality and biological stability, opening up significant new opportunities in healthcare and other fields.

Omne Possibile combines the key disciplines of XNA development, including chemical synthesis, genetics, directed evolution of enzymes and genomes, automated design of molecules, and bioproduction pathways. It has established an R&D innovation center in Leuven, Belgium, to focus on XNA chemistry, and a second R&D hub in Basel, Switzerland, dedicated to XNA genetics. It intends to grow rapidly through a combination of in-house development and industrial collaborations.

A scientific advisory board of leading industrialists and globally renowned scientists will be announced in the next few weeks to guide the Company's strategy.

-End-

About Omne Possibile

Omne Possibile is a pioneering, global technological leader in XNA, creating customizable structures to outperform current DNA and RNA technologies. Its goal is to harness the transformative power of XNA in areas including healthcare, information technology and smart materials. The Company's initial focus is on development of XNA polymers for information storage and XNA building blocks for improved messenger therapeutics. Omne Possibile has R&D hubs in Leuven, Belgium, and Basel, Switzerland. It was founded by leading European synthetic biologists and is supported by a world class scientific advisory board. For more information, please visit www.omnepossibile.com

Contact

Omne Possibile

Patrice Garnier, Chief Executive Officer

info@omnepossibile.com

Consilium Strategic Communications

Amber Fennell, Jonathan Birt, Melissa Gardiner, Carina Jurs

+44

1 How the Bio Revolution could transform the competitive landscape, Michael Chui, Matthias Evers, Alice Zheng, McKinsey Quarterly, May 2020
Paris, France - 10 May 2021 - Atos today announces that it has signed a contract with Orange Bank, the 100% mobile bank of the telco operator Orange, to manage and secure the digital workplace of all its employees worldwide. Atos' cloud-based Advanced Digital Workplace solution provides Orange Bank employees with a new unified work experience, regardless of their location or device. The entire solution is secured by Atos' Security Operations Center (SOC), which meets the requirements of Orange Bank and the banking industry.

Orange Bank has made sure that its employees are able to work from any device, at any time and in any place. The new work approach allows for homeworking and collaborative approaches, and ensures a continuity of activity and service essential to a digital bank.

In order to meet this transformation challenge, Atos offered a collaborative approach based entirely in the cloud. This includes the deployment of new Dell computers for Orange Bank's 1,200 workstations, all equipped with Microsoft 365, as well as a support plan to help employees manage the new tools and familiarize themselves with the new work environment. Atos provides Orange Bank with an innovative, end-to-end solution focused on the employee experience which incorporates the latest technologies for secure and flexible workstations.

As a security pillar, the SOC orchestrated by Atos is equipped with a dedicated investigation tool: Endpoint Detection Response (EDR). Installed on the various terminals, it collects and analyzes in real-time the actions performed on the different devices in order to detect abnormal behavior which could potentially be linked to an attack. With this monitoring, new intrusion techniques are immediately detected - enabling a rapid response to threats.

 The work environment of our employees is now more than ever one of our priorities. We needed a trusted partner to support us in this major transformation. Atos' teams were able to provide us with end-to-end solutions that foster collaboration and productivity within our organization  said Emmanuel Yoo, Chief Information Officer at Orange Bank.

"We are delighted to partner with Orange Bank and bring our expertise in creating a safe working environment." said Jean-Philippe Poirault, EVP, Telecom, Media and Technology at Atos. "All employees will now benefit from modern tools that encourage sharing and working together, with smoother interactions, the decompartmentalization of processes, an improved user experience and controlled costs for the organization."

Orange Bank employees will receive personalized support from Atos teams through a support service as well as a training plan for the installation of their laptops and to use Microsoft 365. All solutions are expected to be deployed in the first half of 2021.

Atos is a global leader in managed workplace services, recognized by Nelson Hall in its NEAT report for the second year in a row. Atos is also a top European player in Managed Security Services and the third largest globally , according to the latest Gartner Market Share report.

***

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 105,000 employees and annual revenue of over  11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 71 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos operates under the brands Atos and Atos|Syntel. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Press Contact:

Lucie Duchateau - lucie.duchateau@atos.net - +33 (0)7 62 85 35 10





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BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks held steady on Monday as investors awaited details on the next phase of lockdown easing in England. A stronger pound kept gains in check after results from U.K. local and regional elections showed support for the ruling Conservative Party. Conservatives won the parliamentary seat for Hartlepool, which has been held by Labour since its creation in 1974. The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 2 points at 7,132 after rising 0.8 percent on Friday. Provident Financial slumped nearly 6 percent. The consumer finance company announced it is withdrawing from doorstep lending after 140 years. Victrex jumped 8 percent. After posting a fall in first-half profit, the supplier of high performance polymer solutions said it remains comfortable with current full year expectations. Bakery chain Greggs soared 11 percent after saying it believes it could get back to normal profits this year. Travel-related stocks were declining after only 12 countries have made the initial 'green list' where people can holiday abroad without having to quarantine on return to the U.K. British Airways-owner IAG dropped 1.7 percent, easyJet tumbled 2.6 percent and Wizz Air Holdings lost 3.3 percent. In economic releases, U.K. house prices reached a record high in April as stamp duty holiday continued to provide impetus to the property market, data from Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed on Monday. House prices grew 1.4 percent month-on-month in April, following a 1.1 percent rise in March. The average property was valued at GBP 258,204. On a yearly basis, house prices growth accelerated to 8.2 percent from 6.5 percent a month ago. This was the highest annual rate in five years. 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.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Lithoquest Resources Inc. (TSX.V:LDI) ("Lithoquest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Option Agreement with Landore Resources Canada Inc. ("Landore") to acquire a 100% interest in two gold projects located in northwest Ontario: the 5,494 ha Miminiska Gold Project ("Miminiska") and the 12,482 ha Keezhik Gold Project ("Keezhik").

The projects are situated within the Miminiska-Fort Hope greenstone belt and host drill-confirmed gold mineralization that is similar in style to the nearby Musselwhite gold mine. Extensive historical data suggests that there is potential on both projects to expand the known zones of gold mineralization as well as to make new discoveries.

Miminiska and Keezhik are located approximately 40 km from the Eabametoong First Nation community of Fort Hope, 70 km north of the all-weather Ogoki forestry road and 250km northwest of Geraldton (see Figure 1).

"Large land packages with extensive gold mineralization, a significant historical database and excellent discovery potential are rarely available," commented Bruce Counts, President and CEO of Lithoquest Resources Inc. "The Company has assessed many gold projects in the last 12 months and these properties stood out as an exceptional opportunity to add value for investors. Lithoquest intends to immediately evaluate the existing data prior to conducting field work on both projects in the summer of 2021. The field work will provide a foundation for a drill program in early 2022."

Highlights

Option to earn a 100% interest in two large land packages covering more than 50km of prospective greenstone geology. The projects are located 115 km east of the past-producing Pickle Crow Mine and 150 km southeast of Newmont Corporation's Musselwhite Mine.

Drill-Confirmed Gold Mineralization: Miminiska: gold mineralization identified over 14km (e.g., 5.75 g/t over 20.8m* - See Table 1 and Figure 2) Keezhik: several historic gold occurrences (e.g., 16 g/t over 2m** - See Table 2 and Figure 3)

Includes an extensive exploration database with more than 40,000 metres of historical drilling results.

Historical work indicates that gold is hosted in mineralized banded iron formation and associated shear zones similar to the Meliadine Mine, the Musselwhite Mine, and the past-producing Lupin Mine

The properties are underexplored, with only minor work completed over the past 16 years

In addition to the known showings, historical data suggests there are multiple untested sites favourable for gold mineralization

This acquisition is part of the Company's ongoing process to actively review mineral properties with the objective of securing projects that offer significant discovery potential. Taken together with the Company's recently staked Attwood Project, Lithoquest now has a commanding land position in the Fort Hope Greenstone Belt with projects that range from grassroots to early discovery.

Figure 1: Lithoquest Project Locations

Miminiska

Geologically, Miminiska lies within the Miminiska - Fort Hope greenstone belt, approximately 115 km east of the town of Pickle Lake and 180km southeast of Newmont Corporation's Musselwhite Mine. Gold mineralization occurs over 14 km and is primarily associated with iron-formations and east-west striking shear zones. Table 1 presents select historical drill intercepts from the Miminiska and Frond mineralized showings.

Table 1: Select Historical Miminiska Drill Results*

Area Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Miminiska 0603-8 51.94 72.78 20.84 5.75 0604-32 235.78 241.10 5.32 13.95 88C-10 54.59 69.34 14.75 3.74 0603-18 120.57 131.75 11.18 4.49 0603-17 43.48 61.22 17.74 2.49 Frond 148C 27.74 31.46 3.72 12.54 11 16.76 19.81 3.05 13.36 65 91.62 97.72 6.10 6.68 39 19.42 21.52 2.10 18.64 47C 34.47 37.80 3.32 8.85

*Historical results have not been independently verified by Lithoquest; and, there is no guarantee that the Company can reproduce the results in whole or in part. Potential investors should not rely on these historical results when making an investment decision.

The project is located in northwest Ontario, approximately 40 km west of the Eabametoong First Nation community of Fort Hope and 350 km north of the city of Thunder Bay. Miminiska comprises 52 patented mineral claims and 278 mineral claim cells covering 5,494 ha (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Miminiska Property - Simplified Geology

Keezhik

Keezhik lies within the Miminiska-Fort Hope greenstone belt and is adjacent to the North-Caribou - Totogan Shear Zone which hosts Newmont Corporation's Musselwhite Gold mine, approximately 150 kilometres to the northwest. Historical work has identified several zones of gold mineralization on the property. Select results from previous exploration campaigns are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Select Historical Keezhik Exploration Results**

Zone Sample Type Interval (m) Au (g/t) KL-12 Drill Core 2.0 16.2 KL-12A Drill Core 0.6 47.7 KL-12B Drill Core 1.3 25.8 KL-18 Drill Core 3.0 9.8 KL-27 Drill Core 1.4 13.3 KL-31 Drill Core 1.5 4.4 Hansen Channel 1.8 11.7

** Historical results have not been independently verified by Lithoquest; and, there is no guarantee that the Company can reproduce the results in whole or in part. Potential investors should not rely on these historical results when making an investment decision.

The project is located in northwestern Ontario, approximately 50km northwest of the Eabametoong First Nation community of Fort Hope and 380 km north of the city of Thunder Bay. The project comprises 570 mineral claim cells covering 12,482 ha (See Figure 3).

Figure 3: Keezhik Property - Simplified Geology

Next Steps

Lithoquest intends to advance the projects by completing the following work over the next three quarters:

Compilation and review of existing data to develop an initial 3D model of the mineralized showings. The model will assess the geometry of mineralization, its possible controls, and determine the potential for expansion.

Detailed airborne magnetic and LiDAR surveys to identify new targets within the projects and improve the deposit model.

A field program of rock and soil sampling, geological mapping and prospecting to strengthen the deposit model and verify new target areas.

Integration of historical and new field data to develop an effective drill plan that will maximize chances of drilling success.

First Nations

Lithoquest acknowledges the Miminiska and Keezhik Projects are located within the traditional territory of the Eabametoong First Nations. Lithoquest is committed to engaging with the Eabametoong in constructive dialogue to ensure that the community benefits from and participates in the advancement of these two projects.

Transaction

The Option Agreement contemplates Lithoquest earning a 100% interest in the Miminiska and Keezhik properties by making the scheduled payments defined in Table 3 to Landore. The Option Agreement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance

Table 3: Option Payments for 100% interest in Miminiska and Keezhik Properties

Payment Date Cash Convertible Cash On signing of the Option Agreement $25,000 Nil 10 days after Effective Date $100,000 Nil 6 months after Effective Date $250,000 $400,000 12 months after the Effective Date $250,000 $500,000 18 months after the Effective Date $250,000 $750,000 24 months after the Effective Date $500,000 $1,000,000 Total $1,375,000 $2,650,000

The "Effective Date" is defined as the date the Option Agreement receives TSX Venture Exchange acceptance

Lithoquest can elect to make Convertible Cash payments in cash or Lithoquest shares. If shares are issued as payment, the share price will be defined by the 30-day volume weighted average prior to the date of election.

Landore will retain a 2% Net Smelter Royalty on both projects. Lithoquest can buy back 1% of the NSR by paying Landore $1,000,000 at any time

Qualified Person

The technical contents of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Bruce Counts, P. Geo., President, CEO and a Director of Lithoquest Resources Inc. and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

About Lithoquest Resources Inc.

Lithoquest is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and development of economic precious and base metal deposits on three district-scale projects in the Fort Hope greenstone belt in northwest Ontario: Miminiska, Keezhik and Attwood.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the Company's strategic plans, future operations, future work programs and objectives. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. 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, except as required by law.

For further information, please contact:

Lithoquest Resources Inc.

+1 (604) 506-2804

info@lithoquest.com

SOURCE: Lithoquest Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/645951/Lithoquest-Acquires-Two-District-Scale-Projects-with-High-Grade-Gold-Mineralization-in-NW-Ontario
Expanded footprint in Waste Handling Solutions. Consolidating leadership in the region, shaping the strongest player in Waste Handling Solutions.

ALPHEN AAN DEN RIJN, Netherlands, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyva, a global leader in loading and unloading hydraulic solutions serving the commercial vehicle and environmental services industries, has recently completed buying 75% equity of Usimeca, a leader in Waste Handling Solutions in Latin America, with its headquarters in Brazil.

Hyva is the undisputed market leader in Front-End Tipping Solutions in the world as well as South America and through its two plants in Brazil, is producing cylinders, wetkits, and articulated cranes. This acquisition enables the company to take the leadership in Waste Handling in the South American market too.

Alex Tan, CEO of Hyva, commented: "Usimeca, with the strongest footprint in Waste Handling Solutions across Latin America, is appreciated for its quality products and the application of proven technologies to accomplish cleaner and healthier towns. I'm proud this company is now part of our Hyva family, providing us with the best Waste Handling Solutions platform to grow in the region."

Cesar Moreira, current CEO and 25% shareholder of Usimeca will continue as CEO of the company following the acquisition. He said: "We have about 35% of the Waste Handling market in Brazil and through the acquisition of Hyva, we can reach the scale to meet the terrific growth opportunity across Latin America".

Rogerio De Antoni, Vice President Americas of Hyva commented, "By increasing our product offering, we are now able to meet the demand in the fast-growing industry of environmental services. The initial feedback from the market is encouraging, so we expect our presence in Latin America to be further increased."

The Waste Management business is expected to reach around 485 billion USD globally by 2025 (source: ReportBuyer). Hyva's Waste Handling Solutions business is expected to grow double digit annually in the next few years.

Products designed by Usimeca will be exported to other parts of the world. Hyva's Waste Handling and Container Handling Solutions will be made available in Latin America. Hyva and Usimeca will share best practices in manufacturing processes.

Hyva provides solutions to more than 20,000 customers through four lines of business: Tipping Solutions, Cranes, Container Handling Solutions and Waste Handling Solutions. It is the world leader in front-end tipping cylinders with over 40% global market share. The company operates in more than 110 countries with over 3,500 employees. The Group encompasses more than 30 subsidiaries across Europe, Asia, Americas and MEA, with a vast sales and service coverage and a well-equipped manufacturing base of 12 production facilities in Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Italy. Hyva Brazil has an extensive after sales network in the 26 Brazilian states with over 100 service points.

Founded in 1920 in Brazil, Usimeca has four facilities in Latin America - in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. The company manufactures urban cleaning equipment, providing quality solutions for solid waste transportation and mechanized street sweeping.

Visit: www.hyva.com



For further information:

global: Marcello Laugelli, marcello.laugelli@omnicomprgroup.com, +393358438856

local markets: Fleishman-Hillard (reference)

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1505716/Usimeca_Brutus.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1504296/HYVA_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1505717/Usimeca_Logo.jpg
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (OTCQB:CLSH)(CSE:CLSH), the 'Company' or 'CLS', a diversified cannabis company operating as Cannabis Life Sciences, today announced its participation at the 2021 Canaccord Genuity Virtual Cannabis Conference. The Company will be presenting on May 11, 2021, at 3:30pm EST.

"We've had an amazing start to 2021, and we can't wait to share our successes at the Canaccord Genuity Virtual Cannabis Conference. Between multiple new product releases at City Trees, new sales records set at all subsidiaries, and our recent agreement to expand our brand into New Mexico, we've had a significant amount of development in the last few months. We're honored and excited to present where CLS is today, and to show how our best days are most certainly in front of us." -Andrew Glashow, President/COO.

CLS Holdings USA, Inc. President/COO Andrew Glashow

About CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (CLSH) is a diversified cannabis company that acts as an integrated cannabis producer and retailer through its Oasis Cannabis subsidiaries in Nevada and plans to expand to other states. CLS stands for "Cannabis Life Sciences," in recognition of the Company's patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency. The Company's business model includes licensing operations, processing operations, processing facilities, sale of products, brand creation and consulting services. http://www.clsholdingsinc.com.

Twitter: @CLSHusa

Oasis Cannabis has operated a cannabis dispensary in the Las Vegas market since dispensaries first opened in Nevada in 2015 and has been recognized as one of the top marijuana retailers in the state. Its location within walking distance to the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas in combination with its delivery service to residents allows it to efficiently serve both locals and tourists in the Las Vegas area. In February 2019, it was named "Best Dispensary for Pot Pros" by Desert Companion Magazine. In August 2017, the company commenced wholesale offerings of cannabis in Nevada with the launch of its City Trees brand of cannabis concentrates and cannabis-infused products. http://oasiscannabis.com

Photo: Oasis Cannabis Dispensary. Las Vegas, NV

Founded in 2017, City Trees is a Nevada-based cannabis cultivation, production and distribution company. Offering a wide variety of products with consistent results, City Trees products are available in numerous dispensaries throughout the state of Nevada. https://citytrees.com.

Photo: City Trees production facility, Las Vegas, NV

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and 'forward-looking statements' as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, the 'forward-looking statements'). These statements relate to, among other things, the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our business, the results of our initiatives to retain our employees and strengthen our relationships with our customers and community during the pandemic, the effect of our initiatives to expand market share and achieve growth during and following the pandemic, results of operations and financial performance, anticipated future events, and the effectiveness of our business practices during the pandemic. The continued spread of COVID-19 could have, and in some cases already has had, an adverse impact on our business, operations and financial results, including through disruptions in our cultivation and processing activities, supply chains and sales channels, and retail dispensary operations as well as a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession. Due to the uncertainties associated with the continued spread of COVID-19 and the timing of vaccinations, it is not possible to estimate its impact on our business, operations or financial results; however, the impact could be material. In some cases, you can identify forward looking statements by terminology such as 'may,' 'might,' 'will,' 'should,' 'intends,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'goals,' 'projects,' 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'predicts,' 'potential,' or 'continue' or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions, are uncertain and involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, levels of activity or performance to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity or performance expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity or performance. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered together with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. See CLS Holdings USA filings with the SEC and on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com for additional details.

Contact Information:

Corporate:

Chairman and CEO

Jeff Binder

President and COO

Andrew Glashow

888-438-9132

Investor Relations:

investors@clsholdingsinc.com

SOURCE: CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/645698/CLS-Holdings-USA-Inc-to-Present-at-the-Canaccord-Genuity-2021-Virtual-Cannabis-Conference
Focus on Exploration Discoveries plus Continued Definition of Existing Mineral Resources

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Rockhaven Resources Ltd. (TSXV:RK) ("Rockhaven") is pleased to announce the 2021 exploration plans for its 100%-owned and road accessible Klaza Project , located in the Dawson Range Gold Belt of southern Yukon. The Klaza Project hosts high-grade epithermal gold and silver mineral resources with positive economics illustrated by the Preliminary Economic Assessment completed in 2020 (See PEA Press Release dated July 13, 2020).

"The 2021 work program combines the hunt for new, large-scale discoveries with continued de-risking of the Klaza Project through focused infill drilling, metallurgical test work and engineering studies," stated Matt Turner, Rockhaven's CEO. "This program is intended to advance the known deposits in support of a planned preliminary feasibility study while simultaneously evaluating the potential for new areas of mineralization extending from the porphyry core to the adjacent high grade gold-silver epithermal vein field, which currently has an impressive 15 km2 extent."

The planned 2021 exploration program is fully funded and is scheduled to begin in early June. It will utilize two diamond drills and include 5,000 m of drilling focused on the continued conversion of resources from inferred to indicated and 7,000 m designed to expand the scope of the project by testing high priority exploration targets outside the current mineral resources.

Exploration Drilling

Priority exploration targets include bulk tonnage copper-gold-molybdenum-silver porphyry targets that are likely the main driver for mineralization in the Klaza district and yet are relatively under explored. Porphyry-style targets to be tested in 2021 are:

Kelly Porphyry Target - Porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum-silver mineralization identified by widely spaced drilling over a 4 km 2 area will be the focus of two fences of holes testing chargeability high/resistivity low IP anomalies that coincide with magnetic lows and strong copper, molybdenum and gold soil geochemical anomalies. This target lies immediately to the southeast of the vein system hosting the Klaza Deposit and has lithogeochemical and alteration signatures consistent with bulk tonnage porphyry-style mineralization.

Etzel/Cyprus Porphyry Target - This second lightly explored, bulk-tonnage target is located in a valley bottom, southeast of the Kelly Porphyry. It hosts gold and copper-gold mineralization spread over a 4 km2 area that will be tested by four holes.

Rockhaven also plans to continue to explore for extensions to known higher grade gold-silver vein systems, including the high-grade Western BRX and newly discovered Rusk vein complex:

Rusk - This vein complex is located 3 km south of the Klaza deposit and was discovered in 2020 when drilling intersected several zones of gold-silver-lead-zinc mineralization over thicknesses of 1-10 m. The 2021 drilling will evaluate the strike extent and grade continuity of the strongest veins, with initial step out holes planned to test near surface mineralization over a 400 m strike length.

Western BRX Extension - The Western BRX Zone is the highest grade gold zone identified on the property to date and is only lightly explored to the west of the current mineral resource. The 2021 drilling will test for strike extensions of the vein to the west, where coincident magnetic and VLF-EM anomalies have been defined which are similar to those that mark the main mineralized structures at Klaza, including the Western BRX vein.

Western Chevron - This vein is located south of the Western BRX Zone in the same fault block. This promising target has only been tested by two holes and one trench over a 500 m inferred strike length, all of which produced strong gold-silver intercepts.

Specifics relating to the targets that will be tested by the 2021 drill program are provided in the following sections of this news release. Detailed maps showing the planned drill hole locations can be viewed on the Rockhaven website at www.rockhavenresources.com.

Klaza Deposit Infill Drilling

Infill drilling of the Klaza Deposit will focus on upgrading inferred resources into indicated resources. At present, 60% of the total mineral resources at Klaza are classified as indicated and 40% as inferred. A total of 5,000 m in 33 holes is planned for 2021, which follows up on the previous infill diamond drilling program where upgrading was done at a low cost ($4/ounce) and resulted in an increase in total contained gold, with the indicated mineral resources having higher average gold grades than the corresponding area previously classified as inferred mineral resources. This drilling will also support additional metallurgical test work and engineering studies as the Klaza project continues towards Pre-Feasibility.

Exploration Target Descriptions

The following sections provide additional details concerning the exploration targets prioritized for drilling in 2021.

Rusk Target

The Rusk Target is located 3 km south of the Klaza Deposit and is outlined by a 2.6 km2, highly elevated arsenic-in-soil anomaly, which is adjacent to the largest placer gold mine in the Mount Nansen Gold Camp. Drilling in 2020 discovered numerous structures hosting mineralized veins and breccias. The widest structure was cut 25 m below surface in KL-20-470,and averaged 1.42 g/t gold, 30.7 g/t silver, 0.48% lead and 0.60% zinc over 9.80 m. A second, 150 m deeper hit on what is believed to be the same structure in KL-20-471, returned 2.05 g/t gold, 129 g/t silver, 2.29% lead and 4.67% zinc over 5.65 m. The thicknesses encountered in both holes are very encouraging and this structure will be the main focus of 2021 follow-up work, with five diamond drill holes proposed to test 400 m of its strike extent. An additional hole is planned to the north to evaluate a number of other veins in the footwall of the main structure, which roughly coincide with a VLF-EM conductor.

Kelly Porphyry Target

The Klaza mineralized system comprises a zoned epithermal vein complex superimposed on two different but probably related porphyry systems, the Kelly and Etzel/Cyprus Porphyry Targets. The porphyry potential of these areas has been lightly explored intermittently since 1971, with locally encouraging results. Recent geological studies confirm the presence of intrusive rocks within the Kelly and Etzel/Cyprus areas, which represent a protracted magmatic history spanning 15 million years and are contemporaneous with intrusions associated with other large mineralized hydrothermal systems within the Dawson Gold Belt, including the very large Casino copper-gold porphyry deposit located 100 km northwest of Klaza. The intrusive suites analyzed at Klaza have lithogeochemical and alteration signatures prospective for porphyry copper-gold mineralization. This year's program will be the first comprehensive test of the Kelly Porphyry target.

The Kelly Porphyry target area is defined by a very large copper-molybdenum-gold soil geochemical anomaly with coincident magnetic lows, chargeability highs (>70 ms) and resistivity lows (<100 ohm-m). To test these targets, thirteen drill holes are planned in 2021, with most of these holes along two section lines across the Kelly Porphyry Target. The drill holes are designed to test two trends that host most of the known mineralization in the belt, as well as geophysical features and structural orientations observed in nearby trenches.

Etzel/Cyprus Porphyry Target

The Etzel Zone, located only 1 km east of the Kelly Porphyry, is defined by gold, arsenic and silver-in-soil anomalies. The Cyprus Porphyry, located 2 km southeast of Etzel, is a second porphyry system where historical drilling returned promising results, including 56.39 m of 0.17% copper and 0.02% molybdenum.

Drilling at the Etzel Zone in 2020 identified both high-grade structures, which included 9.69 g/t gold, 82.74 g/t silver and 2.62% copper across 1.50 m (KL-20-483) and 838 g/t silver over 1.50 m (KL-20-484) as well as broader sections of bulk tonnage style mineralization averaging 0.25 g/t gold and 17.21 g/t silver over 81.63 m (KL-20-484) and 0.15 g/t gold and 0.7 g/t silver across 162.51 m (KL-20-489). There is a trend toward higher grade gold within the Etzel Zone as it approaches the Cyprus Porphyry target. Testing this trend and determining the relationship between the Etzel Zone and Cyprus Porphyry will be the purpose of four holes in 2021.

Western BRX Extension

Although the Western BRX Zone is the most richest vein discovered to date at Klaza and is one of the main economic drivers in the Klaza Project PEA (estimated payable production of 419,000 oz gold and 6.7 Moz silver coming from the Western BRX alone), very little work has been done to follow the mineralized structure along trend towards the west. A seven hole drill fence is planned to test areas with geophysical signatures that are similar to those seen at the Western BRX Zone (magnetic lows and coincident VLF-EM conductors).

Western Chevron

The Western Chevron target lies 700 m to the south of the Western BRX Zone, within the same fault block, which suggests it could have been deposited in a similar hydrothermal environment. The target has only been tested by one trench and two diamond drill holes. Results from drilling returned 3.09 g/t gold, 78.6 g/t silver, 1.93% lead and 1.04% zinc over 3.38 m (KL-12-108) and 3.97 g/t gold, 94 g/t silver, 1.35% lead and 1.44% zinc over 1.26 m (KL-12-130). The only trench that cut this same structure averaged 3.79 g/t gold, 190.4 g/t silver, and 1.35% lead over 9.2 m, including 6.24 g/t gold, 319 g/t silver and 1.85% lead over 2.61 m (true width). A total of five holes are proposed to test the structure over an approximate 500 m strike length.

COVID-19 Protocols

In order to safely carry out the 2021 exploration program, Rockhaven has instituted extensive COVID-19 protocols designed to protect the workers at Klaza and the citizens of nearby communities. Rockhaven will continue to follow all recommendations from Yukon's Chief Medical Officer.

Qualified Persons

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Matthew R. Dumala, P.Eng., a geological engineer with Archer, Cathro & Associates (1981) Limited and qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101.

About Rockhaven

Rockhaven Resources Ltd. is a well-funded explorer focused on the exploration and development of its 100%-owned, camp-scale Klaza Property, which hosts the Klaza Deposit and numerous lightly explored exploration targets. The Klaza Deposit has indicated mineral resources of 4.5 Mt containing 686,000 oz gold and 14.1 million oz silver at grades of 4.8 g/t gold and 98 g/t silver, and inferred mineral resources of 5.7 Mt containing 507,000 oz gold and 13.9 million oz silver at grades of 2.8 g/t gold and 76 g/t silver. An updated Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Klaza deposit completed in 2020 returned a Post-Tax NPV(5%) of CAD$378 million and an IRR of 37%, using US$1450/oz gold and US$17/oz silver (see Klaza Property Technical Report with an effective date of July 10, 2020 and titled, "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment Update for the Klaza Property, Yukon, Canada." which can be viewed at www.sedar.com under the Rockhaven profile or on the Rockhaven website at www.rockhavenresources.com.).

Matthew Turner

President, CEO and Director

Rockhaven Resources Ltd.

T:604-687-2522

mturner@rockhavenresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Information contained in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Rockhaven cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the control of Rockhaven. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development, the ability of Rockhaven to obtain additional financing, the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations, fluctuations in the prices of commodities, operating hazards and risks, competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Rockhaven's financial statements available under the Rockhaven profile at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Rockhaven undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Rockhaven Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/645864/Rockhaven-Announces-12000-m-Diamond-Drill-Program-at-Its-Klaza-Gold-Silver-Project-Yukon
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / International Millennium Mining Corp. (TSXV:IMI) ("IMMC"), with its wholly owned Nevada subsidiary, International Millennium Mining Inc. ("IMMI") (together the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has finalized a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") with Altair Resources Inc. ("Altair"), in which Altair may acquire up to 65% ownership interest in the Company's Simon Property, located in Nevada, USA (the "Transaction").

Under the terms of the LOI, Altair may acquire a 65% ownership interest in the Simon Property by issuing to the Company an aggregate of five hundred thousand (500,000) common shares in the capital of Altair upon execution of an earn-in option agreement between the Altair and the Company (the "Agreement") and receiving TSX Venture Exchange approval ("TSXV") of the Transaction; making cash payments of US$2,000 per month, beginning August 15, 2021; completing US$85,000 in exploration expenditures on the Simon Property by the first anniversary of the Agreement; and, incurring an aggregate of US$2,115,000 in additional exploration expenditures and issuing an aggregate of two million (2,000,000) additional common shares in the capital of Altair to the Company, over a period of six years from the date of the Agreement. Subject to dilution of interest terms and conditions, the Company would retain a two percent (2%) net smelter return royalty on all future metal production from the Simon Property.

IMMC also announces it has entered an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") to acquire certain mineral claims covering two thousand four hundred (2,400) hectares in three claim groups situated northeast of King's Point on the western side of Notre Dame Bay, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Of particular interest to the Company, are the potential silver/lead/zinc and gold/copper showings within the Green Bay Fault system. Under the terms of the Option Agreement, IMMC has agreed to pay C$6,240 (the "Cash Consideration") and issue three hundred thousand (300,000) common shares in the capital stock of IMMC to the Optionor, subject to receiving TSXV approval. Pursuant to the Option Agreement, the Optionor shall also be entitled to receive a royalty on production equal to one quarter of one percent (0.25%) NSR, of which 100% interest of the NSR can be purchased by IMMC for C$50,000.

The transactions are subject to the necessary approvals from the TSXV. Any securities issued in connection with the transactions will be subject to applicable statutory hold periods for a period of four months from the date of issuance.

John A. Versfelt, Company President, states, "As a result of these transactions, the Company has secured the exploration of its polymetallic Simon Property, Nevada, USA, project, and acquired a position in the Newfoundland Green Bay Fault, gold/copper/silver/zinc belt, adjacent to Vulcan Mineral's Colchester/Springdale gold and copper property." Mr. Versfelt concludes, "These are exciting times for the exploration and mining community, with renewed interest in base and precious metal investment driving exploration in both Canada and the United States. We are pleased to acquire a position in Newfoundland, which is becoming one of North America's more desirable, safe, mining friendly districts, with significant potential for mineral deposits."

International Millennium Mining Corp. (TSXV:IMI) is focused on the exploration and development of its Silver Peak silver-gold project in southwest Nevada. The Company's common shares trade on the Exchange under the symbol: IMI.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"John A. Versfelt"

John A. Versfelt

President and CEO

Further information about the Company can be found on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), the Company's website (www.immc.ca) or by contacting Mr. John Versfelt, President & CEO of the Company at 604-527-8135.

* * * * * * *

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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs and other business transactions timing. 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.

SOURCE: International Millennium Mining Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/645880/International-Millennium-Mining-Corp-Announces-Property-Option-Agreements
VICTORIA, SEYCHELLES / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Self-hosted wallet solution Cash Tech aims to change the way that people interact with cryptocurrency technology. As detailed in their recently released whitepaper, Cash Tech intends to be "the leading wallet solution for cryptocurrency veterans and newcomers alike".

Cash Tech encompasses a wallet, a decentralized exchange, a merchant payment gateway, and a DeFi services aggregator within one application. The Cash Tech team has been working towards bringing a more versatile and intuitive wallet solution to all categories of cryptocurrency users.

The team has emphasized creating a "frictionless user experience". Few incumbent wallet solutions offer carefully designed UI/UX, imposing a difficult navigational experience upon users. Cash Tech aims to lead their field when it comes to the user friendliness of their UX.

Moreover, Cash Tech has ambitions of being unmatched in the versatility of their offerings. The primary features of the application include:

Securely store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies for multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polkadot, Near, Celo, and Solano

Store and display NFT assets

Exchange between currencies and tokens of the supported blockchains via cross chain swap technology

Receive and settle cryptocurrency payments as a merchant or freelancer

Spend your cryptocurrency in a network of merchants

Access to third-party DeFi applications and services

Cash Tech is positioning itself to be a leading wallet solution by fulfilling users' growing demand for self-hosted storage while also providing access to broader functionality. Incumbent wallet solutions are severely restricted in their offerings, despite data demonstrating that cryptocurrency users want more comprehensive solutions. Cash Tech addresses this with their versatile offering while also ensuring a secure and user friendly experience.

Media Contact

Company: Cash Tech

Contact: Alex Shin, CMO

E-Mail: contact@cash.tech

Telephone: +248 / 4456 3790

Website: https://cash.tech/

SOURCE: Cash Tech

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/646117/Cash-Tech-to-Release-Innovative-Wallet-Solution-with-Versatile-Functionality-and-Multi-Chain-Support
MOSCOW, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces positive results achieved by San Marino in the fight against coronavirus thanks to the Russian Sputnik V vaccine with infection rate having fallen to zero level. This has enabled the authorities to start lifting COVID restrictions, restore economic activity and return to normal life.

San Marino was able to roll out the most successful vaccination campaign in Europe thanks to Sputnik V: average 7-day infection rate per 1 mn people (May 3-9) is more than 40 times lower than that in the EU countries. Positive results of the vaccination campaign with Sputnik V were obtained only two months after it started with the median daily COVID cases dropping by 250 times from a highest point in early April to zero level and no cases of infection registered since May 4th.

In San Marino 74% of population of 16+ have been vaccinated with the first dose of a COVID vaccine whereas 90% of those vaccinations were conducted using Sputnik V. Vaccination in San Marino has also helped to eliminate death cases caused by COVID. San Marino closed its hospital ward for treatment of patients infected with coronavirus.

The profound results prove Sputnik V's effectiveness against the British strain that is currently spreading across Europe, including in neighboring Italy.

RDIF is ready to provide additional batches of Sputnik V to San Marino to arrange vaccine tourism based on positive vaccination results in the country which demonstrated a sharp decrease of the infection rate to zero.

Post-vaccination studies in a number of countries, including Argentina, Mexico and Hungary, have demonstrated that Sputnik V is the safest and most effective vaccine against coronavirus. Sputnik V is registered in 64 countries around the world with total population of over 3.2 billion people. Sputnik V ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.

Sputnik V has been approved in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San-Marino, Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Guyana, Egypt, Honduras, Guatemala, Moldova, Slovakia, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Laos, Iraq, North Macedonia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan, Namibia, Azerbaijan, Philippines, Cameroon, Seychelles, Mauritius, Vietnam, Antigua and Barbuda, Mali, Panama, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Turkey and Albania.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:

"Daily statistics on the number of cases demonstrate that the successful vaccination campaign with Sputnik V allowed San Marino to reduce the level of coronavirus infection to zero and become one of the first European states to begin lifting coronavirus restrictions. The country is returning to normal life and restoring the economic activity. Based on the successful vaccination campaign RDIF is ready to provide additional supplies of the vaccine to arrange vaccination tourism.

San Marino's success in protecting its population was due to lack of political bias in decision making, including in its choice of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, approved for use in 64 countries.

Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:

Efficacy of Sputnik V is 97.6% based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020 to March 31, 2021 ;

The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.

Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.

There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.

The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.

The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1506718/RDIF_Infographic.jpg
NOIDA, India, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A comprehensive overview of the Matcha Powder Market is recently added by UnivDatos Market Insights to its humongous database. Matcha Powder Market report has been aggregated by collecting informative data of various dynamics such as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. This innovative report makes use of several analyses to get a closer outlook on the Matcha Powder Market. Matcha Powder Market report offers a detailed analysis of the latest industry developments and trending factors in the market that are influencing the market growth. Furthermore, this statistical market research repository examines and estimates the matcha powder market at the global and regional levels. Global Matcha Powder Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% from 2021-2027 to reach USD 6.5 billion by 2027.

Market Overview

Matcha Powder Market is experiencing significant growth on account of increasing patient pool and higher mortality rate due to chronic diseases (heart diseases, cancer, and diabetes worldwide) due to which people are inclining towards adoption of a healthy lifestyle. According to World Health Organization, the prevalence of chronic diseases is anticipated to rise by 57% in 2020 and 71% of all deaths are due to non-communicable diseases. 8.89 million deaths due to ischemic heart disease and about 6.19 million deaths because of stroke in 2019. Furthermore, in 2020, there were an anticipated 19.3 million new cancer cases (18.1 million excluding NMSC, except basal cell carcinoma) and 10 million cancer mortality cases (9.9 million excluding NMSC, except basal cell carcinoma) worldwide.

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Furthermore, an increasing Innovation in the field of food and technology is contributing to the emergence of innovative variants and products using matcha powder. In addition to this, the expansion of the scope of matcha powder applications in the confectionary and personal care industry further augments the growth of the matcha powder market. The overall demand is being propelled by a paradigm change away from other non-alcoholic beverages towards Nutrient-rich beverages.

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Matcha Powder Market report is studied thoroughly with several aspects that would help stakeholders in making their decisions more curated.

By Grade, the market is primarily fragmented into

Classic

Ceremonial

Culinary

Classic segment dominated the by grade of the global Matcha Powder market and will grow at XX% CAGR to reach US$ XX billion by the year 2027.

By Application, the market is primarily segmented into

Regular Tea

Food

Matcha Beverages

Personal Care

Amongst application types, Regular tea accounted for the largest share in 2020 and is expected to grow at XX% CAGR during the forecast period 2021-2027 owing to the increased consumption of green tea regularly due to numerous health benefits associated with it.

Matcha Powder Market Geographical Segmentation Includes:

North America ( United States , Canada , and Rest of North America )

( , , and Rest of ) Europe ( Germany , United Kingdom , Italy , France , Spain , and Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , and Rest of ) Asia-Pacific ( China , Japan , India , Australia , and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

( , , , , and Rest of ) Rest of the World

Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region dominated the Matcha Powder market with almost US$ XX billion revenue in 2020 as China and Japan are the major non-fermented tea producers. For instance, China produced nearly, 1.77 million metric tons of green tea in 2019.

Ask for Report Customization @ https://univdatos.com/report/matcha-powder-market-current-analysis-and-forecast-2021-2027

The major players targeting the market includes

AOI seicha

Aiya America Inc.

DoMatcha

Nestle

Unilever

ITO en

Marushichi seicha

ShaoXing Royal tea

tea Yanoen

MaruKyu Koyamaen

Competitive Landscape

The degree of competition among prominent global companies has been elaborated by analyzing several leading key players operating worldwide. The specialist team of research analysts sheds light on various traits such as global market competition, market share, most recent industry advancements, innovative product launches, partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions by leading companies in the Matcha Powder Market. The major players have been analyzed by using research methodologies for getting insight views on global competition.

Key questions resolved through this analytical market research report include:

What are the latest trends, new patterns, and technological advancements in the Matcha Powder Market?

Which factors are influencing the Matcha Powder Market over the forecast period?

What are the global challenges, threats, and risks in the Matcha Powder Market?

Which factors are propelling and restraining the Matcha Powder Market?

What are the demanding global regions of the Matcha Powder Market?

What will be the global market size in the upcoming years?

What are the crucial market acquisition strategies and policies applied by global companies?

We understand the requirement of different businesses, regions, and countries, we offer customized reports as per your requirements of business nature and geography. Please let us know If you have any custom needs.

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About UnivDatos Market Insights

UnivDatos Market Insights (UMI) is a passionate market research firm and a subsidiary of Universal Data Solutions. We believe in delivering insights through Market Intelligence Reports, Customized Business Research, and Primary Research. Our research studies are spread across topics across the world, we cover markets in over 100 countries using smart research techniques and agile methodologies. We offer in-depth studies, detailed analysis, and customized reports that help shape winning business strategies for our clients.

Contact

UnivDatos Market Insights

Pawnendra Pawan

Client Development Lead

Ph: +91-7838604911

Email: pawnendra@univdatos.com

Website: https://univdatos.com/

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Graphex Group has also obtained the new symbol "GRFXY" on the OTCQX

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Graphex Group Ltd. (the "Company") ("Graphex Group") (OTCQX:GRFXY); (HKEX:6128), formerly known as Earthasia International Holdings Ltd., is pleased to announce that it has completed the process to officially change its name to Graphex Group Ltd. The process was initiated in February of this year and received Board approval on April 8.

As part of the corporate rebranding, the company has also changed its ticker symbol for its American Depository Receipts (ADRs) on the OTCQX from ETIHY to GRFXY. The stock ticker symbol on the Hong Kong Exchange is unchanged.



The name change and new ticker symbol complete the company-wide rebrand undertaken to better reflect the Company's primary business focus on graphene research, manufacturing, and development.

"The Company is now primarily focused on, and dedicated to, the renewable energy industries. The Board and the senior executive team thought it imperative that this be reflected in our name and overall corporate identity" said Dan Nye, Chief Strategy Officer, Graphex Group. "The process was detailed and demanding, and it is a testament to the efforts of our team that we were able to get it completed so quickly without losing focus on our business objectives."

Since the acquisition of its graphene products business in 2019, the Company has solidified its focus on the development of technologies and processes for the enrichment and manufacturing of spherical graphite and graphene, key components for electric vehicle batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and advanced solar energy products, among other uses. The Company's current annual production capacity for spherical graphite is 10,000 metric tons.

In March of this year, Graphex Group announced its plan to invest in and develop a new production facility for spherical graphite through newly formed subsidiary HLJ Province Graphex, with a planned annual additional production capacity of up to 30,000 metric tons, that will come into operation in phases over the next 3 years.

Also in March, Graphex Group entered into a Letter of Intent with an exclusive negotiating period to acquire a majority stake in Shenzhen KYSS Technology Co., Limited ("KYSS"), a China-based producer of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cells and replaceable battery modules for mopeds and scooters.

Separately through its eco-design division, the Company is working with eight major Chinese cities to design Recharge Parks, combining landscaped green spaces with mobile device and electric vehicle charging points. The Company expects that the parks would be partially powered by onsite renewable energy. The concept is to electrically recharge machines and devices while mentally recharging the people who use them by providing an architecturally superior park space.

Strategically located near the largest supply source of high-quality natural graphite in the world, the Company has strong and long-standing relationships with multiple major graphite suppliers and holds 25 patents in areas including products, production methods, machinery design, and environmental protection.

About Graphex Group Ltd.

Graphex Group Ltd. is a publicly traded company, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the OTCQX Best Market. Based in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and strategically located near the largest supply source of high quality natural graphite anywhere in the world, the Company is a leading supplier of graphene products. The Company owns 25 patents in the PRC, including products, production methods, machinery design, and environmental protection. The Company's spherical graphite is an essential anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

Media Contact:

Gavin Davidson

investrel@graphexgroup.com

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding our prospective performance and strategies 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. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are including this statement for purposes of said safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies, and expectations of our company, are generally identified by use of words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "seek," "strive," "try," or future or conditional verbs such as "could," "may," "should," "will," "would," or similar expressions. The Company's ability to predict results or the actual effects of its plans or strategies is inherently uncertain and based, in part, on third party market research which the Company's assumed to be accurate. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. Some of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ from its expectations or beliefs include, without limitation, the risks of its businesses, the assumed significant growth of graphene related products and spherical graphite products. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statements were made.

SOURCE: Graphex Group Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/646083/Earthasia-International-Holdings-Ltd-Completes-Corporate-Rebranding-as-Name-Change-to-Graphex-Group-Ltd-Comes-Into-Effect
Appointments of Jean-Michel Neyret as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Gabriel Fossorier as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors

Regulatory News:

ALCHIMIE (Paris:ALCHI) (FR0014000JX7 ALCHI Eligible for PEA-PME equity savings plans), an OTT (over the top) subscription video on demand (SVoD) platform featuring original and exclusive thematic channels published jointly with media groups and talents, announces the appointments of Jean-Michel Neyret (as Deputy Chief Executive Officer) and Gabriel Fossorier (as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors) following the unavailability of Nicolas d'Hueppe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, for health reasons.

The members of the Company's Board of Directors meeting today, with the exception of Mr. Nicolas d'Hueppe, who is unavailable, wished to strengthen the Company's management during his recovery.

The Board of Directors, after discussion, decided to unanimously approve the following appointments:

Jean-Michel Neyret is appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Company;

Gabriel Fossorier, currently a member of the Board of Directors, is appointed Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and will represent the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the duration of his unavailability.

Since July 2019 as Chief Operating Officer, Jean-Michel Neyret has been supporting Alchimie's management on strategy, organization and operational implementation issues. In particular, he has worked on the prioritization of the Product Roadmap, the development of the scaling plan for the "Talents" channels activity and the support of the implementation of the Distribution plan.

As such, he participates in Alchimie's Management Committee, as well as in all the major operational governance bodies of the Company.

Jean-Michel Neyret, a graduate of ICN Business School, has solid experience in marketing and executive management in the retail and telecom sectors. He notably managed the re-launch of the first low-cost mobile operator (Debitel). After the sale of this operator's activities to La Poste Telecom, he created Full Booster in 2008, one of the first start-up incubators.

In 2013, Jean-Michel became CEO of the SPIR Group and its 3500 employees, where he developed the digital pure players Lacentrale.fr and Logic-immo.com, while managing the decline of the historical media activities. He then joined Fullsix, the leading independent digital agency in Europe, to support the acquisition by Havas and the organization of its integration into the group. Following this integration, he became COO/CMO of Vivendi Content, the newly created structure in charge of developing and scaling new content projects in terms of both formats and media.

Gabriel Fossorier, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, comments: We wish Nicolas a speedy recovery. While waiting for his return, we will be able to count on Jean-Michel's experience to manage the Company and we are fully confident in the continuation of Alchimie's development plan.

About Alchimie

Alchimie is a channel factory: a unique video platform in partnership with talents and media to co-publish their own thematic channel. Alchimie has a catalog of more than 60,000 hours of content from more than 300 renowned partners (Arte, France TV distribution, ZDF Entreprises or Zed). Alchimie partners with 70+ talents (celebrities, influencers), brands and media groups to create new channels (Cultivons-Nous, The Big Issue, Army Stories, Jacques Attali, Poisson Fecond, Vaughan, Michael Rowe, Spektrum der Wissenschaft) which are then distributed on more than 60 distribution platforms (TVPlayer, Amazon, Orange, Movistar, Samsung, Huawei, etc.) constantly expanding its audience and consequently its revenues. In 2019, Alchimie acquired TVPlayer, the largest independent OTT platform in the UK. With offices in France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Australia, Alchimie employs 125 people and is ranked 48th in FW500 (ranking of French technology companies).

For more information: www.alchimie-finance.com www.alchimie.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005797/en/

Contacts:

Alchimie

Stephane Taillefer

CFO

investors@alchimie.com



NewCap

Thomas Grojean/Louis-Victor Delouvrier

Investor Relations

alchimie@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94



NewCap

Nicolas Merigeau

Media Relations

alchimie@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 98
Berwyn, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2021) - Annovis Bio Inc. (NYSE American: ANVS), a clinical-stage drug platform company addressing Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurodegenerative diseases, is pleased to announce that its CEO Maria Maccecchini, Ph.D. will ring The Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, May 10, to celebrate the recent reporting of positive interim data from its ongoing Phase 2a trial in AD and PD.

"We are honored to ring the Closing Bell, and we want to thank our investors for their continued support," said Dr. Maccecchini. "Considering the positive initial interim data we reported in March, we believe Annovis is entering a very exciting period of corporate development. Our two ongoing Phase 2a trials are nearing completion, and we look forward to sharing additional data in the coming months that should set the stage for pivotal trials."

The New York Stock Exchange will stream the Closing Bell ringing on its website: https://www.nyse.com/bell. The bell ringing is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET. A video of the bell ringing will also be archived on the same page after livestream.

About Annovis Bio

Headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Annovis Bio, Inc. (Annovis) is a clinical-stage, drug platform company addressing neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's in Down Syndrome (AD-DS). We believe that we are the only company developing a drug for AD, PD and AD-DS that inhibits more than one neurotoxic protein and, thereby, improves the information highway of the nerve cell, known as axonal transport. When this information flow is impaired, the nerve cell gets sick and dies. We expect our treatment to improve memory loss and dementia associated with AD and AD-DS, as well as body and brain function in PD. We have two ongoing Phase 2a studies: one in AD patients and one in both AD and PD patients. For more information on Annovis, please visit the company's website: www.annovisbio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release contain "forward-looking statements" that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "believe," "will," "may," "should," "estimate," "project," "outlook," "forecast" or other similar words, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the timing, effectiveness and anticipated results of ANVS401 clinical trials. Forward-looking statements are based on Annovis Bio, Inc.'s current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate, including that clinical trials may be delayed. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Annovis Bio, Inc. undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

Investor Relations:

Dave Gentry, CEO

RedChip Companies Inc.

407-491-4498

Dave@redchip.com

SOURCE: Annovis Bio, Inc.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/83476
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Fortitude Gold (OTCQB:FTCO) (the "Company") today announced the timing of its first quarter 2021 earnings conference call scheduled for Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Fortitude Gold is a gold producer, developer, and explorer with operations in Nevada, U.S.A.

Conference Call

Fortitude Gold's CEO Mr. Jason Reid will host the conference call Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Topics of discussion will include first quarter results and an update on current operations. The conference call will be recorded and posted to the Company's website.

Q&A

Following Mr. Reid's opening remarks, the Company will host a question and answer (Q&A) session.

Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM Eastern (9:00 AM Mountain)

There are two ways to join the conference call:

To join the conference via webcast, please click on the following link: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2640/41269.

To join the call via telephone please use one of the following dial-in details:

Toll Free: 877-407-8031

International: 201-689-8031

Please connect to the conference call at least 10 minutes prior to the start time using one of the connection options listed above.

About Fortitude Gold Corp.

Fortitude Gold is a U.S. based gold producer targeting projects with low operating costs, high margins, and strong returns on capital. The Company's strategy is to grow organically, remain debt-free and distribute substantial future dividends. The Company's Nevada Mining Unit consists of five high-grade gold properties located in the Walker Lane Mineral Belt, with the Isabella Pearl gold mine in current production. Nevada, U.S.A. is among the world's premier mining friendly jurisdictions.

Cautionary Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. If you are risk-averse you should NOT buy shares in Fortitude Gold Corp. The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are 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. When used in this press release, the words "plan", "target", "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the statements regarding the Company's strategy, future plans for production, future expenses and costs, future liquidity and capital resources, and estimates of mineralized material are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to the Company on the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release. In particular, the scope, duration, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mining operations, Company employees, and supply chains as well as the scope, duration and impact of government action aimed at mitigating the pandemic may cause future actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. Also, there can be no assurance that production will continue at any specific rate.

Contact:

Greg Patterson

719-717-9825

greg.patterson@fortitudegold.com

www.Fortitudegold.com

SOURCE: Fortitude Gold Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/646279/Fortitude-Gold-Announces-First-Quarter-Conference-Call
Increases Next Dividend Payment by 67%

HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Evolution Petroleum (NYSE American:EPM) ("Evolution" or the "Company") announced today financial results and operating highlights for its fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2021 (the "current quarter").

Highlights for the Quarter:

Paid the 30th consecutive quarterly cash dividend on common shares on March 31, 2021

Declared a $0.05 per share dividend for the 4 th fiscal quarter payable on June 30, 2021, representing a 67% increase from the prior quarter.

fiscal quarter payable on June 30, 2021, representing a 67% increase from the prior quarter. Closed on substantially all of the previously announced acquisition of non-operated oil and gas assets in the Barnett Shale for $18.2 million, net of preliminary purchase price adjustments, on May 7, 2021.

Increased total revenues 32% over the prior quarter to $7.6 million.

Generated cash flow in excess of quarterly dividend and ended the quarter with $17.0 million in cash and no debt, net of the $2.3 million acquisition purchase price deposit.

Completed the Spring redetermination of the credit facility and increased the borrowing base to $30 million, excluding Tokyo Gas acquisition impacts.

Management Comments on Results

"We are pleased to substantially raise our dividend as we continue to execute on our acquisition strategy geared toward supporting our long-standing dividend policy. The recent purchase of additional long-life assets combined with improved pricing conditions and the return of operational investment by our operating partners provides us with additional diversity and sustainability," said Jason Brown, President and CEO. "We are excited to have found a substantial low-decline asset to add to our unique portfolio and put our cash reserves to work while maintaining a strong balance sheet in support of our dividend. We also welcome the return of conformance capital investment in Delhi, which continues to rebound from its lows last year. Substantially all of the wells in Hamilton Dome that were shut-in last year have been returned to production, which combined with a stabilized differential has added to our increased cash flow. We are focused on continuing to deliver shareholder value as we look for additional acquisition opportunities that will provide stable cash flow in support for our dividend strategy."

Financial and Operational Results

Evolution reported total revenues for the quarter of $7.6 million compared to $5.8 million in the prior quarter, a 32% increase primarily driven by a 38% increase in the average realized oil price of $53.52 per barrel compared to $38.83 in the prior quarter.

Total net production in barrels of oil equivalent ("BOE") per day ("BOEPD") decreased 5% to 1,708 BOEPD in the current quarter compared to 1,797 BOEPD in the prior quarter. This decrease is primarily attributable to the severe winter storm in Louisiana in February 2021 negatively affecting the daily average production for the quarter by approximately 60 BOEPD. Reactivations of wells at Hamilton Dome slightly offset lost volumes due to downtime at Delhi.

Lease operating costs were $3.6 million in the current quarter, an increase of 20% from $3.0 million in the prior quarter. This increase is primarily due to the inclusion of $0.4 million of purchased CO2. which represents a full quarter of CO2 purchases at Delhi as purchases resumed in late October 2020 after the pipeline repair. Also contributing to this increase in purchased CO2 cost was the higher realized oil price in the Delhi field that drives the CO2 unit cost. The remaining increase in lease operating costs of $0.2M was primarily due to an increase in the amount of workover activity by the operators in the current quarter.

Total depletion, depreciation, and amortization ("DD&A) expense decreased $0.3 million, or 21% from the prior quarter, primarily as a result of a 16% decrease in the depletion rate from $7.91 per BOE to $6.64 per BOE, as well as the 7% decrease in equivalent volumes in the current quarter. The decrease on a per unit basis is primarily due to the $15.2 million impairment charge recorded by the Company at December 31, 2020.

At March 31, 2021, the ceiling test value of the Company's reserves was calculated based on the first-day-of-the-month average for the 12-months ended March 31, 2021 of the West Texas Intermediate ("WTI") crude oil spot price of $39.95 per barrel, adjusted by market differentials by field. The net price per barrel of natural gas liquids ("NGLs") was $8.39, which does not have any single comparable reference index price. The NGL price was based on historical prices received. Using these prices, the Company's net book value of oil and natural gas properties at March 31, 2021 did not exceed the current ceiling. In the prior quarter, the Company recorded a $15.2 million impairment charge primarily as a result of the extremely low oil prices realized in March through May of 2020. The prices used at December 31, 2020 were $39.54 per barrel of oil and $8.30 per BOE of natural gas liquids.

The Company incurred an impairment in the amount of $0.1 million in technology rights in Well Lift, Inc. (WLI), and recorded no net loss on derivative contracts compared to a $0.3 million in the last quarter.

General and administrative ('G&A') expenses remained flat at $1.8 million as increases in acquisition-related legal and tax expenses in the current quarter were offset by decreases from certain one-time consulting and legal expenses associated with the Company's CFO search and transition costs and yearly administrative and legal expenses associated with the annual shareholder meeting and equity plan incurred in the prior quarter.

The Company recorded an income tax benefit of $0.2 million in the current quarter compared to a benefit of $3.2 million in the prior quarter resulting in a 93% decrease, or $3.0 million. This decrease is primarily attributable to the pre-tax loss of $15.9 million in the prior quarter compared to pre-tax income of $1.0 million in the current quarter. The current quarter benefit of $0.2 million was primarily driven by the impact of a higher estimated annual tax rate recorded at March 31, 2021.

Net income for the quarter was $1.2 million or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $12.7 million (including $15.2 million pre-tax / $11.1 million after-tax of a non-cash impairment), or ($0.38) per diluted share, in the previous quarter. The increase of $13.9 million is primarily due to the non-cash impairment recorded by the Company in the previous quarter due to the extremely low prices realized in March through May 2020 along with an improving overall market environment and commodity pricing.

Capital Spending

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, Evolution incurred $0.1 million for Delhi field capital maintenance and plugging activities. Based on discussions with the Delhi and Hamilton Dome operators, the Company expects to resume conformance workover projects and will likely incur additional maintenance capital expenditures as oil prices continue to recover. The Hamilton Dome operator has restored the majority of volumes shut-in during the low oil price conditions during calendar 2020; future reactivations will be considered based on commodity prices. Such amounts for workover projects at the two fields are not known or approved but are expected to be in the range of $0.25 million to $0.5 million for the remaining three months of fiscal 2021. For fiscal 2022, based on discussions with the operators, the Company's capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $1.25 million to $2.0 million, primarily consisting of conformance workover and maintenance capital projects.

Evolution's proved undeveloped reserves at June 30, 2020 included 1.86 MMBOE of reserves and approximately $8.6 million of future development costs associated with Phase V development in the eastern portion of the Delhi field. Such development requires participation by both the operator and the Company, and is also dependent, in part, on the field operator's available funds, capital spending plans, and priorities within its portfolio of properties. In light of the current oil price volatility, the Delhi field operator has decided to delay the Phase V development project for twelve to twenty-four months. Evolution believes Phase V is economic at today's prices and continue to include it in proved undeveloped reserves. The Company plans to continue discussions with the operator and look forward to the development of Phase V now expected to begin in calendar year 2022 or 2023.

Liquidity and Outlook

Working capital decreased $1.5 million from the prior quarter to $20.1 million compared to $21.6 at December 31, 2020. This decrease is primarily attributable to the $2.325 million deposit the Company made on the acquisition of certain non-operated oil and gas assets in the Barnett Shale, which was applied to the closing price of $18.2 million, on May 7, 2021. The Company ended the quarter with $17.0 million in cash after paying out $1.0 million in dividends, no debt, and an undrawn reserve-based credit facility.

Operations Update

The WTI average price for the current quarter increased to $58.14 per barrel of oil ("Bbl") from $42.70 per Bbl in the prior quarter. The Company expects the price of crude oil to continue to be volatile and cannot predict the duration of such volatility nor the current supply-demand imbalance, but must be prepared for the potential effects on the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Production volumes for Delhi decreased 9% to 118,558 BOE from 130,520 BOE in the prior quarter. The natural decline of the Delhi field was temporarily increased by the shut-in of the CO2 supply pipeline from late February 2020 through the end of October 2020, as well as a suspension of field conformance capital expenditures. CO2 is purchased, recycled, and injected to maintain reservoir pressure and therefore achieve optimal field performance and production. The shut-in of the pipeline for purchased CO2 volumes resulted in a decline in reservoir pressure and temporarily exacerbated the natural production decline of the field. The resumption of CO2 purchases during the previous quarter together with increased CO2 volumes purchased are expected to gradually restore reservoir pressure and lead to a gradual increase in oil production rates over the coming quarters. The severe winter storm and subsequent downtime at Delhi in February 2021 also negatively impacted production volumes for the quarter; however, if these winter storm days are excluded, daily production rates remained as expected for the field.

Purchased CO2 volumes in Delhi averaged 64.5 million cubic feet of natural gas ("MMcf") per day ("MMcf/d") in the current quarter compared to 51.4 MMcf/d, an increase of 13.1 MMcf/d or 26%. This increase is due to the inclusion of a full quarter of purchased CO2 in the current quarter as purchases resumed in November 2020 as well as larger volume nominations. Based on information regarding planned CO2 volume nominations shared by the operator, Evolution expects purchased CO2 volumes to remain at these levels through the end of the Company's fiscal year.

Hamilton Dome production volumes increased 1% to 35,179 Bbls in the current quarter compared to 34,889 Bbls in the prior quarter. This increase was primarily attributable to the continued oil price recovery seen in recent months that allowed shut-in wells to be brought back online during the quarter; the increase was partially offset by natural decline. Per the operator, the majority of volumes shut-in during the low commodity price environment seen in calendar 2020 have been restored. Future reactivations will be based on commodity prices. Throughout the quarter, both of the Company's operators at Delhi and Hamilton Dome performed several workover and conformance projects with encouraging results. Evolution expects this uptick in field activity to continue as commodity prices stabilize.

Barnett Shale Acquisition

On May 7, 2021, the Company closed on substantially all of the previously announced acquisition of non-operated oil and gas assets in the Barnett Shale. A portion of the non-operated dry gas working interests were excluded from the transaction due to potential title defects that the seller was unable to timely cure. Upon resolution of the potential title defects, Evolution may elect to purchase those interests at a mutually agreed upon price.

The acquired Barnett Shale properties consist of approximately 50 Bcf of natural gas and 5 MMBls of liquids proved developed producing reserves based on the seller's December 31, 2020 Netherland Sewell reserve report using weighted average prices of $51.41/Bbl for oil and $2.74/Mcf for natural gas. The asset has estimated current net production of approximately 17 MMcf/d of natural gas and 1.3 MBbls/d of liquids.

Cash Dividend on Common Stock

In conjunction with the closing of the acquisition of the non-operated oil and gas assets in the Barnett Shale and the continuing improvement in commodity prices, the Board of Directors declared an increased quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share of common stock, which represents a 67% increase from the prior quarter rate of $0.03 per share of common stock. The increased dividend will be paid on June 30, 2021 to common stockholders of record on June 16, 2021. This will be the 31st consecutive quarterly cash dividend on the common stock, which has been paid since the quarter ended December 31, 2013. To date, the Company has paid over $71 million, or $2.21 per share, back to stockholders as cash dividends. Maintaining and ultimately growing the common stock dividend remains a Company priority.

Quarterly Conference Call

Evolution Petroleum Corporation will host its earnings conference call for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern (1:00 p.m. Central). The call will be hosted by Jason Brown, President & Chief Executive Officer and Ryan Stash, Chief Financial Officer. Details for the conference call are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern

Call: 888-506-0062 (Toll Free United States & Canada)

973-528-0011 (International)

Code: 456420

To listen live via webcast over the internet, click the link https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2188/41144 or go to our website at http://www.evolutionpetroleum.com/. A replay will be available two hours after the end of the conference call through August 11, 2021 and will be accessible by calling 877-481-4010 (Toll Free United States & Canada); 919-882-2331 (International) with the replay pin number of 41144.

About Evolution Petroleum

Evolution Petroleum Corporation is an oil and gas company focused on delivering a sustainable dividend yield to its shareholders through the ownership, management, and development of producing oil and gas properties onshore in the United States. The Company's long-term goal is to build a diversified portfolio of oil and gas assets primarily through acquisition, while seeking opportunities to maintain and increase production through selective development, production enhancement and other exploitation efforts on its properties. Our largest assets are our interest in a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in Louisiana's Delhi field and our interest in a secondary recovery project in Wyoming's Hamilton Dome field. Additional information, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, is available on its website at http://www.EvolutionPetroleum.com.

Cautionary Statement

All forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding current expectations, potential results and future plans and objectives of the Company involve a wide range of risks and uncertainties. Statements herein using words such as "believe," "expect," "plans," "outlook," "should," "will," and words of similar meaning are forward-looking statements. Although our expectations are based on business, engineering, geological, financial, and operating assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and we can give no assurance that our goals will be achieved. These factors and others are detailed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our periodic documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

Company Contacts:

Jason Brown, President & CEO

Ryan Stash, SVP & CFO

(713) 935-0122

JBrown@evolutionpetroleum.com

RStash@evolutionpetroleum.com

Evolution Petroleum Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended March 31, Nine Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 2021 2020 Revenues Crude oil $ 7,076,965 $ 7,461,823 $ 17,918,909 $ 25,281,564 Natural gas liquids 558,642 250,476 1,079,868 963,054 Natural gas 141 320 499 1,831 Total revenues 7,635,748 7,712,619 18,999,276 26,246,449 Operating costs Lease operating costs 3,606,511 3,895,544 9,009,848 11,220,238 Depreciation, depletion, and amortization 1,070,967 1,399,481 3,840,023 4,310,284 Impairment of proved property - - 24,792,079 - Impairment of Well Lift Inc. - related assets 146,051 - 146,051 - Net loss on derivative contracts - - 614,645 - General and administrative expenses * 1,831,614 1,465,780 4,956,011 4,240,330 Total operating costs 6,655,143 6,760,805 43,358,657 19,770,852 Income (loss) from operations 980,605 951,814 (24,359,381 ) 6,475,597 Other Interest and other income 9,223 41,186 34,866 160,256 Interest expense (18,686 ) (29,067 ) (60,340 ) (87,757 ) Income (loss) before income taxes 971,142 963,933 (24,384,855 ) 6,548,096 Income tax provision (benefit) (219,859 ) (2,746,226 ) (5,730,701 ) (1,719,801 ) Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ 1,191,001 $ 3,710,159 $ (18,654,154 ) $ 8,267,897 Earnings (loss) per common share Basic $ 0.04 $ 0.11 $ (0.56 ) $ 0.25 Diluted $ 0.04 $ 0.11 $ (0.56 ) $ 0.25 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding Basic 33,496,372 33,052,162 33,184,041 33,055,861 Diluted 33,496,372 33,052,162 33,184,041 33,058,446

* For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2019, non-cash stock-based compensation expenses were $320,236 and $358,591, respectively. For the six months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, non-cash stock-based compensation expenses were $938,093and $926,794, respectively.

Evolution Petroleum Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)

March 31,

2021 June 30,

2020 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 17,039,538 $ 19,662,528 Receivables from oil and gas sales 3,505,593 1,919,213 Receivables of federal and state income taxes 3,107,638 3,243,271 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 488,697 491,686 Total current assets 24,141,466 25,316,698 Oil and natural gas properties, net-full-cost method of accounting, of which none were excluded from amortization 38,306,30 66,512,281 Other property and equipment, net 12,209 17,639 Total property and equipment, net 38,318,510 66,529,920 Other assets, net 2,408,801 291,618 Total assets $ 64,868,777 $ 92,138,236 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 2,557,087 $ 1,471,679 Accrued liabilities and other 766,814 716,648 Derivative contract liabilities - 1,911,343 State and federal income taxes payable 750,550 179,189 Total current liabilities 4,074,451 4,278,859 Long term liabilities Deferred income taxes 4,354,135 11,061,023 Asset retirement obligations 2,669,382 2,588,894 Operating lease liability 36,070 84,978 Total liabilities 11,134,038 18,013,754 Commitments and contingencies (Note 14) Stockholders' equity Common stock; par value $0.001; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 34,490,550 and 32,956,469 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 33,507 32,956 Additional paid-in capital 42,221,640 41,291,446 Retained earnings 11,479,592 32,800,080 Total stockholders' equity 53,734,739 74,124,482 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 64,868,777 $ 92,138,236

Evolution Petroleum Corporation and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Condensed Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

Nine Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Cash flows from operating activities Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (18,654,154 ) $ 8,267,897 Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation, depletion, and amortization 3,840,023 4,310,284 Impairment of proved property 24,792,079 - Impairment of Well Lift Inc. - related assets 146,051 - Stock-based compensation 938,093 926,794 Settlement of asset retirement obligations (101,311 ) (76,833 ) Deferred income taxes (6,706,888 ) 268,938 Net loss on derivative contracts 614,645 - Payments made for derivative settlements (2,791,176 ) - Other 11,337 35,966 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Receivables (1,450,747 ) (2,054,097 ) Prepaid expenses and other current assets 2,989 154,903 Net operating loss carryback - - Accounts payable and accrued expenses 1,347,080 256,112 State and federal income taxes payable 571,361 143,500 Net cash provided by operating activities 2,559,382 12,233,464 Cash flows from investing activities Acquisition of oil and natural gas properties - (9,337,716 ) Capital expenditures for oil and natural gas properties (183,690 ) (1,354,849 ) Acquisition deposit (2,325,000 ) - Net cash used in investing activities (2,508,690 ) (10,692,565 ) Cash flows from financing activities Common stock dividends paid (2,666,334 ) (9,916,841 ) Common share repurchases, including shares surrendered for tax withholding (7,348 ) (2,483,357 ) Other - - Net cash used in financing activities (2,673,682 ) (12,400,198 ) Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (2,622,990 ) (10,859,299 ) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 19,662,528 31,552,533 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 17,039,538 $ 20,693,234

Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information: Nine Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Income taxes paid$ 667,618 $ 1,150,000 Income tax refunds received 135,633 - Non-cash transactions: (Decrease) increase in accrued purchases of property and equipment 510 (42,371 ) Oil and natural gas property costs attributable to the recognition of asset retirement obligations 91,430 871,076

Supplemental Information on Oil and Natural Gas Operations (Unaudited)

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 December 31, 2020 Variance Variance % Oil and gas production Crude oil revenues $ 7,076,965 $ 5,462,783 $ 1,614,182 29.5 % NGL revenues 558,642 305,200 253,442 83.0 % Natural gas revenues 141 169 (28 ) (16.6 )% Total revenues $ 7,635,748 $ 5,768,152 $ 1,867,596 32.4 % Crude oil volumes (Bbl) 132,230 140,700 (8,470 ) (6.0 )% NGL volumes (Bbl) 21,497 24,695 (3,198 ) (12.9 )% Natural gas volumes (Mcf) 60 85 (25 ) (29.4 )% Equivalent volumes (BOE) 153,737 165,409 (11,672 ) (7.1 )% Crude oil (BOPD, net) 1,469 1,529 (60 ) (3.9 )% NGLs (BOEPD, net) 239 268 (29 ) (10.8 )% Natural gas (BOEPD, net) - - - n.m. Equivalent volumes (BOEPD, net) 1,708 1,797 (89 ) (5.0 )% Crude oil price per Bbl $ 53.52 $ 38.83 $ 14.69 37.8 % NGL price per Bbl 25.99 12.36 13.63 110.3 % Natural gas price per Mcf 2.35 1.99 0.36 n.m. Equivalent price per BOE $ 49.67 $ 34.87 $ 14.80 42.4 % CO2 costs $ 985,931 $ 619,887 $ 366,044 59.1 % Other lease operating costs 2,620,580 2,385,526 235,054 9.9 % Total lease operating costs $ 3,606,511 $ 3,005,413 $ 601,098 20.0 % CO2 costs per BOE $ 6.41 $ 3.75 $ 2.66 70.9 % All other lease operating costs per BOE 17.05 14.42 2.63 18.2 % Lease operating costs per BOE $ 23.46 $ 18.17 $ 5.29 29.1 % CO2 costs per mcf $ 0.71 $ 0.55 $ 0.16 29.1 % CO2 volumes (MMcf per day, gross) 64.5 51.4 13.1 25.5 % DD&A of proved oil and gas properties $ 1,020,810 $ 1,308,716 $ (287,906 ) (22.0 )% Depreciation of other property and equipment 1,810 1,810 - - % Amortization of intangibles 3,391 3,391 - - % Accretion of asset retirement obligations 44,956 44,251 705 1.6 % Total DD&A $ 1,070,967 $ 1,358,168 $ (287,201 ) (21.1 )% Oil and gas DD&A rate per BOE $ 6.64 $ 7.91 $ (1.27 ) (16.1 )%

n.m. Not meaningful.

Supplemental Information on Oil and Natural Gas Operations (Unaudited)

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Variance Variance % Oil and gas production Crude oil revenues $ 7,076,965 $ 7,461,823 $ (384,858 ) (5.2 )% NGL revenues 558,642 250,476 308,166 123.0 % Natural gas revenues 141 320 (179 ) (55.9 )% Total revenues $ 7,635,748 $ 7,712,619 $ (76,871 ) (1.0 )% Crude oil volumes (Bbl) 132,230 172,901 (40,671 ) (23.5 )% NGL volumes (Bbl) 21,497 26,206 (4,709 ) (18.0 )% Natural gas volumes (Mcf) 60 223 (163 ) (73.1 )% Equivalent volumes (BOE) 153,737 199,144 (45,407 ) (22.8 )% Crude oil (BOPD, net) 1,469 1,879 (410 ) (21.8 )% NGLs (BOEPD, net) 239 285 (46 ) (16.1 )% Natural gas (BOEPD, net) - - - n.m. Equivalent volumes (BOEPD, net) 1,708 2,164 (456 ) (21.1 )% Crude oil price per Bbl $ 53.52 $ 43.16 $ 10.36 24.0 % NGL price per Bbl 25.99 9.56 16.43 171.9 % Natural gas price per Mcf 2.35 1.43 0.92 n.m. Equivalent price per BOE $ 49.67 $ 38.73 $ 10.94 28.2 % CO2 costs $ 985,931 $ 806,527 $ 179,404 22.2 % Other lease operating costs 2,620,580 3,089,017 (468,437 ) (15.2 )% Total lease operating costs $ 3,606,511 $ 3,895,544 $ (289,033 ) (7.4 )% CO2 costs per BOE $ 6.41 $ 4.05 $ 2.36 58.3 % All other lease operating costs per BOE 17.05 15.51 1.54 9.9 % Lease operating costs per BOE $ 23.46 $ 19.56 $ 3.90 19.9 % CO2 costs per mcf $ 0.71 $ 0.69 $ 0.02 2.9 % CO2 volumes (MMcf per day, gross) 64.5 53.9 10.6 19.7 % DD&A of proved oil and gas properties $ 1,020,810 $ 1,352,203 $ (331,393 ) (24.5 )% Depreciation of other property and equipment 1,810 2,465 (655 ) (26.6 )% Amortization of intangibles 3,391 3,391 - - % Accretion of asset retirement obligations 44,956 41,422 3,534 8.5 % Total DD&A $ 1,070,967 $ 1,399,481 $ (328,514 ) (23.5 )% Oil and gas DD&A rate per BOE $ 6.64 $ 6.79 $ (0.15 ) (2.2 )%

Supplemental Information on Oil and Natural Gas Operations (Unaudited)

Nine Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Variance Variance % Oil and gas production Crude oil revenues $ 17,918,909 $ 25,281,564 $ (7,362,655 ) (29.1 )% NGL revenues 1,079,868 963,054 116,814 12.1 % Natural gas revenues 499 1,831 (1,332 ) (72.7 )% Total revenues $ 18,999,276 $ 26,246,449 $ (7,247,173 ) (27.6 )% Crude oil volumes (Bbl) 418,587 490,125 (71,538 ) (14.6 )% NGL volumes (Bbl) 69,916 79,982 (10,066 ) (12.6 )% Natural gas volumes (Mcf) 275 935 (660 ) (70.6 )% Equivalent volumes (BOE) 488,549 570,263 (81,714 ) (14.3 )% Crude oil (BOPD, net) 1,528 1,782 (254 ) (14.3 )% NGLs (BOEPD, net) 255 291 (36 ) (12.4 )% Natural gas (BOEPD, net) - 1 (1 ) n.m. Equivalent volumes (BOEPD, net) 1,783 2,074 (291 ) (14.0 )% Crude oil price per Bbl $ 42.81 $ 51.58 $ (8.77 ) (17.0 )% NGL price per Bbl 15.45 12.04 3.41 28.3 % Natural gas price per Mcf 1.81 1.96 (0.15 ) (7.7 )% Equivalent price per BOE $ 38.89 $ 46.03 $ (7.14 ) (15.5 )% CO2 costs $ 1,605,818 $ 3,501,507 $ (1,895,689 ) (54.1 )% Other lease operating costs 7,404,030 7,718,731 (314,701 ) (4.1 )% Total lease operating costs $ 9,009,848 $ 11,220,238 $ (2,210,390 ) (19.7 )% CO2 costs per BOE $ 3.29 $ 6.14 $ (2.85 ) (46.4 )% All other lease operating costs per BOE 15.15 13.54 1.61 11.9 % Lease operating costs per BOE $ 18.44 $ 19.68 $ (1.24 ) (6.3 )% CO2 costs per mcf $ 0.64 $ 0.77 $ (0.13 ) (16.9 )% CO2 volumes (MMcf per day, gross) 38.3 69.1 (30.8 ) (44.6 )% DD&A of proved oil and gas properties $ 3,691,611 $ 4,189,290 $ (497,679 ) (11.9 )% Depreciation of other property and equipment 5,430 6,969 (1,539 ) (22.1 )% Amortization of intangibles 10,173 10,173 - - % Accretion of asset retirement obligations 132,809 103,852 28,957 27.9 % Total DD&A $ 3,840,023 $ 4,310,284 $ (470,261 ) (10.9 )% Oil and gas DD&A rate per BOE $ 7.56 $ 7.35 $ 0.21 2.9 %

SOURCE: Evolution Petroleum Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/646290/Evolution-Petroleum-Announces-Results-for-the-Fiscal-2021-Third-Quarter-Ended-March-31-2021-and-Declares-Quarterly-Stock-Dividend
TORONTO, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mandalay Resources Corporation ("Mandalay" or "the Company") (TSX: MND, OTCQB: MNDJF) announces that its first quarter 2021 financial results will be released after market close on May 12, 2021, followed by a conference call with Dominic Duffy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mandalay, for investors and analysts on May 13, 2021, at 8:00 AM (Toronto time).



Analysts and interested investors are invited to participate using the following dial-in numbers:

Participant Number: (201) 689-8341 Participant Number (Toll free): (877) 407-8289 Conference ID: 13719805

A replay of the conference call will be available until 11:59 PM (Toronto time), May 27, 2021, and can be accessed using the following dial-in number:

Encore Toll Free Dial-in Number: (877) 660-6853 Encore ID: 13719805

For Further Information:

Dominic Duffy

President and Chief Executive Officer

Edison Nguyen

Manager, Analytics and Investor Relations

Contact:

(647) 260-1566

About Mandalay Resources Corporation:

Mandalay Resources is a Canadian-based natural resource company with producing assets in Australia (Costerfield gold-antimony mine) and Sweden (Bjorkdal gold mine), with projects in Chile and Canada under care and maintenance or development statuses. The Company is focused on growing its production and reducing costs to generate significant positive cashflow.

Mandalay's mission is to create shareholder value through the profitable operation of both its Costerfield and Bjorkdal mines. Currently, the Company's main objective is to continue mining the high-grade Youle vein at Costerfield, which continues to supply high-grade ore, and also focus on extending Youle's Mineral Reserves at depth. At Bjorkdal, the Company will aim to increase production from the Aurora zone in the coming years to maximize profit margins from the mine.
All amounts in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.



BROOKFIELD NEWS, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX: BAM.A; NYSE: BAM) announces the following redemption price of the notes described below (the "Notes") (per $1,000 of principal amount) which are to be redeemed on May 13, 2021:

$600,000,000 principal amount 4.54% Notes due March 31, 2023 (CUSIP No. 11257ZAC3)

Redemption price: $1,067.08

Accrued and unpaid interest: $5.42

Total redemption price and accrued and unpaid interest: $1,072.50

$600 million principal amount of the Notes are to be redeemed. The redemption is more fully described in the Company's news release of April 12, 2021. Additional terms and conditions are contained in the notice of redemption that was provided to the registered holder of the Notes (CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc.) ("CDS")).

Non-registered holders (banks, brokerage firms or other financial institutions) who maintain their interests in the Notes through CDS should contact their CDS customer service representatives with any questions about the redemption. Beneficial holders with any questions about the redemption should contact their respective brokerage firm or financial institution, which holds interests in the Notes on their behalf.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a leading global alternative asset manager with over US$600 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit. Brookfield owns and operates long-life assets and businesses, many of which form the backbone of the global economy. Utilizing its global reach, access to large-scale capital and operational expertise, Brookfield offers a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world-including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors. Brookfield Asset Management is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbols BAM and BAM.A, respectively.

For more information, please contact:
Vaughan, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2021) - Spyder Cannabis Inc. (TSXV: SPDR) ("Spyder" or the "Company"), an established Canadian cannabis and vape retailer, announced today the appointment of Cameron Wickham as a Director, Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company and Ankit Gosain as Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective May 7, 2021.

Daniel Pelchovitz, the Company's former Chief Executive Officer, will continue with Spyder as a Director of the Company and as Chief Executive Officer of Spyder Cannabis Subco Inc., the Company's Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)-licensed, wholly-owned subsidiary that currently operates a cannabis dispensary in Niagara Falls, Ontario and has submitted two additional Retail Store Authorizations to the AGCO, and The Green Spyder Inc., the Company's Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC)-licensed, wholly-owned subsidiary that currently operates a cannabis dispensary in Calgary, Alberta.

Mark Pelchovitz, the Company's former Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, will continue with Spyder as a Director of the Company.

The board of directors of the Company (the "Board") has also appointed Mark Pelchovitz as Executive Chair of the Board and Cameron Wickham as Executive Vice Chair of the Board. Furthermore, the Board has also appointed Steven Glaser, Mark Pelchovitz and Cameron Wickham to serve as members of the Audit Committee of the Board, with Steven Glaser to serve as Chair of the Audit Committee.

Cameron Wickham, Executive Vice Chair and CEO of Spyder, commented "I am excited to lead Spyder through its next phase of growth and leverage the strength of our recent 180 Smoke acquisition and its 26 retail locations across Ontario. This acquisition has given Spyder access to an iconic brand name, local customer base and a talented management team." He continued, "The Company is now in a strong position to increase its current run rate revenue of $18.8 million both organically and through accretive acquisitions in both our cannabis and vape business divisions. Additionally, we look forward to immediately converting some of 180 Smoke's existing vape retail locations to licensed cannabis dispensaries."

Cameron Wickham has over nine years of experience in public company management and has been involved in a number of going public transactions in Canada and the United States in the cannabis, consumer finance and other regulated sectors. He specializes in navigating early-stage financing structures, M&A and ongoing management of public companies having significant experience in managing corporate finance, audit and legal teams. Mr. Wickham began his career in investment banking after obtaining his Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University. He currently serves as a director and Chief Executive Officer of Prime City One Capital Corp., as Chief Financial Officer of Baymount Incorporated, both non-operating listed issuers, and as an advisor to a number of public companies.

Ankit Gosain has over eight years of experience in providing business advisory, accounting and corporate strategy services to a variety of industries including cannabis, technology, pharmaceutical, real estate and natural resources. Mr. Gosain has helped numerous public companies in resolving complex accounting issues and implementing systems to address corporate governance, regulatory and reporting requirements. Mr. Gosain has assisted companies in going public transactions through CPCs and reverse takeovers. Mr. Gosain obtained his CPA, CA designation after graduating from Western University and has experience working in national and international accounting firms in Canada. Mr. Gosain currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of KMT-Hansa Corp., a non-operating listed issuer, and provides advisory services to a number of private and public companies.

The number of Directors on the Company's Board is four following these changes. The appointment of Mr. Wickham and Mr. Gosain remain subject to review and approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Spyder Cannabis Inc.

Spyder is an established cannabis and vape retailer that owns and operates two licensed-dispensaries under the brand SPDR Cannabis in Ontario and Alberta and the vape retail brands 180 Smoke and Spyder Vape. 180 Smoke is a leading omni-channel Canadian vape retailer with 26 locations across Ontario and a strong e-commerce presence with over 95,000 registered customers. 180 Smoke and Spyder Vape retail stores sell vape and nicotine-related products, herbal vaporizers and accessories, and other smoking cessation products. Spyder's vape brands are committed to help adult smokers who seek alternatives to traditional combustible tobacco products.

Cautionary Statements

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance of the Company. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the Company increasing its revenue run rate, completing acquisitions in the cannabis and vape sectors, and converting vape retail locations to cannabis dispensaries. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the parties. The material factors and assumptions include that the Company's management possesses the skills and competencies necessary to increase the revenue generated by the 180 Smoke business, that the Company's management will be able to identify acquisition targets in the cannabis and vape sectors that will increase the Company's revenue on terms that are satisfactory to the Company, regulatory and other third-party approvals, and licensing. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and factors include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company's management is unable to increase revenue generated from the 180 Smoke business organically, that the Company's management fails to identify acquisition targets in the cannabis and vape sectors on terms satisfactory to the Company, and that the Company is unable to obtain licensing and other regulatory approvals necessary to convert the vape retail locations to cannabis dispensaries. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

For further information, please contact:

Spyder Cannabis Inc.

Cameron Wickham

Executive Vice Chair & CEO

T: (905) 330-1602

E: corporate@spydercannabis.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/83516
Cleveland, OH-based Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute closed a $1m seed funding round.

Cathy McPhillips

The round was led by Blue Cypress, a family of purpose-driven companies founded by technology entrepreneur Amith Nagarajan. The Institute is also supported by corporate sponsorship deals with Drift, Persado, HubSpot, MarketMuse and other leading AI technology companies.

Led by Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO, Marketing AI Institute is an online education and conference business that makes AI approachable and actionable to marketing leaders around the world. The Institute hosts the annual Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON) in Cleveland, Ohio, and runs the AI Academy for Marketers online education platform and community.

The company has also appointed Cathy McPhillips to chief growth officer. McPhillips will drive revenue growth, community building, and internal alignment of marketing, sales, service and operations. She is initially focused on expanding access to AI education through the Marketing AI Conference (MAICON), which will be held virtually Sept. 13  14, and AI Academy for Marketers, the Institutes online learning platform. McPhillips brings more than 20 years of experience, including the last nine years in which she served as Content Marketing Institutes vice president of marketing.

McPhillips joins Marketing AI Institute as the organization looks to accelerate its growth on the heels of raising a $1m seed round.

FinSMEs

10/05/2021
Sixty8 Capital, an Indianapolis-based, seed-stage venture capital firm supporting Black, Latinx, women and LGBTQ+ led startups, held the first close of its new $20m fund.

Investors include The Indiana Next Level Fund, 50 South Capital, Bank of America, Eli Lilly and Company, First Internet Bank and the Central Indiana Community Foundation.

Led by Managing Director Kelli Jones, Sixty8 Capital is actively seeking interest from Black, Latinx, women and LGBTQ+ founders, with an emphasis on startups in the Midwest. The firm is powered by Allos Ventures, one of Indianas most active VC firms, with Allos Paul Ehlinger serving as venture partner.

Sixty8 Capital will seek to invest in 25 to 30 pre-seed and seed-stage companies with initial equity checks of $250k to $500k per company, reserving additional funds for follow-on rounds.

The firm has already identified one of its first investments: Qualifi, an Indianapolis-based SaaS platform that helps recruiters improve their hiring efficiency and effectiveness.

FinSMEs

10/05/2021
Transferring data between Android and your PC or Mac can sometimes be a pain point for many reasons, such as not having a cable, Bluetooth is simply too slow, or the file size is too large. OnePlus has now come with a solution with an app called Clipt that makes use of your Google Drive cloud storage as a means of transferring files.

Clipt is available on Android as an app and for the Google Chrome browser on Mac and PC as an extension. The way it works is quite simple, by using your own Google Drive cloud storage. Once you connect your Google account on whatever device you want to transfer between, you can upload any text, photo, video, document or file to Clipt, and you can download it from any other connected device.

OnePlus claims that the app will not read your entire Google Drive storage, instead it will only communicate a way to identify the data that has been uploaded. Since the Clipt app itself is siloed, it cannot download other data.

There is a file number limit of 10, after which Clipt will automatically begin deleting files to make sure you do not fill up your cloud storage. Along with general file transfer, Clipt can also allow users to sync their clipboard, which is neat.

OnePlus Clipt is available for free on the Play Store for Android and the Chrome Web Store for the Google Chrome Browser.
The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!



Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Remote Position (U.S. Only)

Hello! We are HakJak Studios, a small team based out of Boise, Idaho, USA. We build ridiculous physics games and were looking for an experienced, well-rounded Unity developer to join our team! See details below to get an idea of what were looking for.

Current Project: Pigeon Simulator

So, you have a few years of experience working on 3D games in Unity. Youre a solid C# programmer thats excited to be tasked with things you havent done before. You know how to ship things, you can dive into code bases youre not familiar with, and youre comfortable tackling new challenges and not being task-managed.

Ready to hit the ground running and work on something new, weird, wonderful and exciting?!?

If that sounds like you, then lets talk!

Enjoy a collaborative development environment where your input matters. From beloved IPs, to home-grown concepts, you can help us build awesome games that will be played around the world!

What youll do...

As part of a small team, youll work on a wide assortment of tasks. Plug in where needed, working on core systems one day and implementing VFX the next.

Write maintainable code with an eye (or two, or three) on performance.

Focus on reusable and designer friendly architecture.

Demonstrate proficiency in debugging and performance profiling.

Create Unity editor scripts/tools to improve production workflows.

Contribute to game/programming design and planning conversations.

Work with the rest of the team to add/update new features, content and gameplay in 3D physics-based games.

What youll need...

Strong working knowledge of 3D projects in Unity.

Proficiency with C#.

Comfortable working with new APIs and concepts in this always-changing industry.

The ability to adapt to challenges through self-driven education and experimentation.

Time management, assisting in the planning of projects through task estimation.

Good communication skills and fluent English.

Passion for games!

BONUS POINTS

Youve finished a game, game jam, or experimental project we can play.

Experience working with Unitys Scriptable Render Pipeline (URP, in particular).

HLSL and/or Shader Graph experience.

You dabble in the dark and mysterious Technical Arts. Maybe you know how to make wicked cool shaders / particle systems / VFX Graphs, or do some cool procedurally generated stuff.

College Degree in a related field (computer science, mathematics, etc.)

SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT!

Links to any Unity projects youve worked on, and what you contributed.

Videos, GIFs, JPEGs of your best, juiciest work.

Links/media of projects you did just for fun / learning (Itch.io page, a downloadable build, etc).

OUR OFFER

A competitive salary

Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO

Working with some really cool people (and Jed) on really cool games that will be seen and played around the world!

APPLYING FOR A JOB DURING A PANDEMIC

HakJak Studios is a new and growing company, backed by the fine folks at tinyBuild .

tinyBuild Well help you set up your perfect workspace at home; your gamedev haven.

Work remotely for as long as you like! Although the core team is based in Boise, Idaho, were all working remotely right now and wouldnt expect you to change your work arrangements if we set up a physical office in the future.

Recruitment Process

Apply! Apply directly here on Gamasutra, or s end your Resume/CV directly to [email protected] You'll get a reply from us to acknowledge receipt and another one later to let you know if you've made it to Stage 2.

Stage 2 will be a simple screener interview with 1-2 people from the company to meet you/video chat, get some context on your experience and goals, and whether our needs align.

Stage 3 might be a fun programming test, if we think it makes sense. We'll give you plenty of notice, and we'll compensate you for your time if you choose to take it!

Stage 4 will be a deeper, more technical interview and an opportunity to meet more of the team and get to know each other better. After this, you'll either get a job offer or some feedback from us to help you apply successfully in the future

Interested? Apply now.

About the Gamasutra Job Board

Whether you're just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what's out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.



Gamasutra's Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.



Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Krispy Kreme is giving away one million free donuts to celebrate the end of the lockdown for the next six days. Visit a store to claim your free celebratory donut today!

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Krispy Kreme has been doing their bit to make life a little sweeter for everyone. In the UK, they've been giving away donuts to everyone who has had a lockdown birthday and in the US, anyone who has taken their jab is privy to a free delicious treat. This week, to mark the end of lockdown in the UK, Krispy Kreme is giving away ONE MILLION of their Original Glazed donuts for free.

Spreading the cheer

Krispy Kreme UK and Irelands Head of Marketing & Sustainability, Nadine Singler said:

We are known the world over for our Original Glazed doughnut and we love seeing people smile and connect whilst they enjoy their doughnuts.

So, we want to celebrate all of those little things that make you smile by giving away up to 1 million doughnuts in a week to those that connect and smile from cheek to cheek! Come on Britain, get connecting.

How can you claim your donut?

Getting a free donut could not be easier with Krispy Kreme. All you need to do is visit your local Krispy Kreme store and show them your message of connection. What is that? Its a simple social media post, message, or card that you have received from someone with #SmilesAsCurrency written on it. Exchange these messages with a friend or loved one, write them a note and have them give you one in return. Once you show this message to your store, you will receive a yummy treat.

Remember, youve just got until 16 May to take advantage of this delicious opportunity. And don't try to get a free donut delivered to your home because this offer is only available to those who personally visit a Krispy Kreme store.
New film pays tribute to Chinese peacekeeping police

Xinhua) 13:13, May 10, 2021

A Chinese peacekeeper hugs his wife upon his arrival at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 27, 2018, after conducting a one-year mission in South Sudan. The sixth team of Chinese peacekeeping police to South Sudan, with seven members all selected from Zhejiang, arrived in Hangzhou that evening. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Filming recently wrapped for "Formed Police Unit," a movie spotlighting Chinese police units on overseas United Nations peacekeeping missions.

The film's executive producer is Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, the helmsman of the 2019 disaster blockbuster "The Captain," and it stars Huang Jingyu, Wang Yibo and Zhong Chuxi.

Lau says "Formed Police Unit" shows how Chinese people treasure and love peace, and it pays tribute to all the peacekeepers.

A release date has not yet been announced, but a Thursday post via the film's social media says it will hit theaters in 2022.

2020 marked the 20th year of Chinese police participation in UN peacekeeping missions. China's police forces have sent over 2,600 peacekeeping officers on the missions over the past 20 years, according to data released in January.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Summary of Major Findings

Fine and Forfeiture Revenue Data

Interpreting the Data

Whats Included

Whats Not Included

More Information

All throughout the country, select cities and towns generate substantial fines and other court revenues that fund sizable portions of their budgets. Some are known for issuing lots of speeding tickets. Others raise revenues from parking citations, municipal ordinance violations or traffic cameras.Five years ago, the issue of excessive fines and fees gained national attention following the civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and reports that many St. Louis area municipalities prioritized generating revenues from their courts. No reliable national data quantifying fine revenues for individual governments exists, however.To better understand the extent to which local governments rely on fines,conducted the largest analysis of fine revenues to date, constructing a database from thousands of annual financial audits and reports filed to state agencies. We found that for hundreds of mostly small cities and towns, fines are a critical source of funding, at times accounting for more than half of all general revenues.Court revenues make up only a small portion of funding for the vast majority of governments. For the cities and towns relying heavily on fines, though, multiple headwinds could pose problems. Mounting legal and political movements are targeting cuts to fines and court fees. The eventual proliferation of autonomous vehicles and improvements in driver technology could further one day drastically reduce traffic fines. For these and other reasons, its an open question as to whether the financial viability of governments most dependent on fines could be threatened over the long term.Our analysis of financial statements found the following for all cities, towns and counties reporting fines and other court revenues of at least $100,000:Fines and forfeitures account for more than 10 percent of general fund revenues for nearly 600 jurisdictions. In at least 284 of those, the share exceeded 20 percent, the threshold set by Missouri in its post-Ferguson reforms. Another 80 governments reported even higher fines accounting for more than half of general revenues.: When fine and forfeiture revenues in all governmental funds are considered, more than 720 localities reported annual revenues exceeding $100 for every adult resident, while 363 exceeded $200 per adult.A select group of states are home to the majority of localities with relatively high fine revenues, while they're mostly absent elsewhere. We found they're most common in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. ( See state totals .)Laws in a few states limit revenues that localities generate from fines. But we found some governments still exceeded revenues caps in Georgia and Missouri.Jurisdictions relying more on fines to fund their budgets have often sustained decades of economic decline, leaving them with weak tax bases. Those where fines and forfeitures accounted for more than 20 percent of general fund revenues recorded a median household income of only $39,594. Research suggests police favor local residents when writing traffic tickets. At least 124 jurisdictions we reviewed recorded annual fine revenues exceeding $500 per capita, suggesting out-of-towners are likely funding much of the budgets.Theres no national standard for fine revenues, and states with revenue limits set varying caps for their local governments. One common metric is fines as a percentage of total general fund revenues, which excludes utility services and other activities unrelated to general operations. Some governments allocate fines outside their general funds, often into separate police or court funds. To account for this, we also consider per capita fine revenues.The following map shows 840 jurisdictions with relatively high fine or court revenues compared to other localities. Each government met at least one of two criteria: fines and court revenues accounted for more than 10 percent of general revenues, or revenues exceeded $100 per adult resident. Most governments shown met both criteria.Governments report fine revenues differently and, while similar, are not always comparable across jurisdictions. Some include fees and other court expenses, while others do not. Fine revenues shown in the map are listed as they are defined in each governments financial statement. In some cases, governments may report fine revenue collected but not actually retained by the government. Cities may count portions of fines or fees remitted to state agencies, for instance, without subtracting them out in their financial statements. We attempted to note governments where revenues are likely reported this way, but financial statements generally make no distinction. (See note for each locality.)It's helpful to consider both the general revenue share and per capita rate when assessing a government's court revenues. Some not relying much on fines recorded relatively high rates of fines per adult resident because of their very small populations, for instance. Also, note that the presented data is not intended to approximate numbers of traffic tickets or other citations issued. In California and other states, most money collected from fines and fees is routed to the state government rather than to the locality, for example. ( Read methodology .)We compiled financial data for cities, towns, counties and other general-purpose governments in every state. Information was recorded from the most recently completed annual financial audit or financial statement filed to state agencies as of this summer, typically FY 2018 or FY 2017. While our data should reflect the vast majority of all governments reporting at least $100,000 in fines that meet our revenue thresholds for reporting, they do not include all governments.Our primary revenue measure is defined to include fines, punitive fees, other court revenues and forfeitures. The majority of governments simply report fines or fines and forfeitures line items in their financial statements. Others report line items that appear to be broader, such as court revenues. Non-punitive fees and charges for services were excluded.Governments reporting less than $100,000 in fines or other court revenues were excluded from our analysis. Revenue data for some governments was unavailable as their financial statements didnt report line items for fines or court revenues, or aggregated them with unrelated revenues. A number of additional governments without financial audits posted online did not respond to requests for information, including many in Alabama, Kentucky and Texas. For these reasons, our numbers of governments represent underestimates.
A couple of months ago, in a congressional primary in Southern California, voters were treated to a truly unusual argument. Brian Forde, a former Obama White House aide, received almost $200,000 in donations in the form of cryptocurrencies. One of his opponents, Dave Min, a former enforcement lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission, savaged him for relying on bitcoin speculators that oppose cracking down on drug deals and human trafficking.In a flash, the race pulled political campaigning into uncharted -- and bizarre -- territory. Min painted Forde as a candidate sidling up to an industry that almost no one really understands. Forde countered that his familiarity with bitcoin placed him on the cutting edge of new and exciting developments. The voters ultimately decided not to embrace either claim, and went with another Democrat, Katie Porter. But there was a sense that the contest signaled the beginning of a role for the new digital currencies that will reach all through the American political system.Bitcoin, the most familiar cryptocurrency, was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, who might -- or might not -- be a real-life person. Cryptocurrencies exist only as bits in an electronic ledger, and they have only the value that those trading them agree on. Transactions are made through the internet, theyre encrypted (hence the crypto part of the name) and theyre not issued by any government.The mystery of this new form of money is part of its allure. So, too, for many players, is the fact it has been, so far, largely free of government regulation. Bitcoin has been irresistible to get-rich-quick speculators, some of whom made enormous amounts of money in 2017 as the currencys value almost quadrupled. It has become the stuff of television drama, with characters secretly passing billions to each other on flash drives.All of this has made cryptocurrencies irresistible to crooks. In early June, hackers burrowed into a South Korean cryptomarket -- which, after all, is just an online accounting system -- and stole some bitcoin, pushing the currencys value down 10 percent over a single weekend. Since digital currencies are only worth what people are willing to pay for them, their value has fluctuated wildly. In just the first six months of 2018, bitcoins value fell two-thirds from its record high of $20,000 a share in December.Even without the presence of hackers, cryptocurrencies would have a shady reputation. In their earliest days, online drug dealers used them to transfer their proceeds without leaving an easy trail for investigators to follow. That came to an end when the feds busted the multimillion dollar Silk Road drug market, created by a kingpin who called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts after a character in the 1987 movieCryptocurrencies pride themselves on standing apart from government, but that hasnt stopped some states and localities from trying to crack down, at least on illicit dealings that range from drug smuggling to bribery to fraud. The Chinese government has banned the use of cryptocurrencies to fund startup companies. But in the U.S., the federal government has stayed away from regulation, in part because its not clear even to regulators exactly what these digital currencies are and who would be responsible for regulating them. Are they a security, like a bond, and thus under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission? Or are they a commodity, like gold, to be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission?The debate over regulation isnt just about protecting citizens. Its also about maneuvering for position in what states see as an emerging market with lots of potential economic growth. Most states are sitting back right now to figure out where this is going. Others are jumping in, trying to gain an advantage either by protecting taxpayers or encouraging investment.Washington state, for example, has been wary about cryptocash flooding in to make tech deals. To protect investors from fraud, the state requires cryptocurrency exchanges to create a cash reserve, equal to the volume of transactions, so theres real backup for the deals. New York state, determined to retain its place as the nations financial hub, has fostered the creation of a fully licensed digital currency exchange.Wyoming, on the other hand, has made a play for the Wild West side of the business. Hoping that a free market would help boost jobs, the legislature exempted cryptocurrencies from the states financial and securities regulations, as long as the currencies werent being sold as investments. The state effectively decided that the new money was neither a commodity nor a security.Weve been here before: big battles throughout the nations history among bankers, federal regulators and entrepreneurs who want the freedom to go their own way. This time, the feds are on the sidelines and states are jockeying for advantage in a global marketplace that none of them can control and few of them fully grasp. The pace of change is so fast that any state advantage could be gone in a heartbeat, and the damage from any misstep could be huge.
There's a perception among many that mayors don't hold much sway over the higher-education system or the quality of the workforce it produces for their communities. I beg to differ. Not only do our cities' leaders have strong motivation for improving the talent pipeline through college and into the workplace, but they also have the authority to spur meaningful change.Every mayor knows that ensuring that both existing employers and potential new ones have access to the talent they need to run their businesses is critical to a community's prosperity. Likewise, in my experience mayors are all about getting things done. In the early 1990s, for example, many mayors got involved in the reform of K-12 education after they decided they could no longer tolerate poor high-school graduation rates. Their involvement made a huge difference.Today, communities face another education challenge: Too few students who enroll in postsecondary programs complete them, and too many who do graduate come out with skills that don't mesh with the needs of employers. The result is a high level of unemployment and underemployment among recent college graduates.Here are five ways that mayors can work to improve the talent pipeline in their communities:Municipal leaders need to understand their workforce needs; to do that, they need to find out from employers just what they're looking for. Then mayors should go to their local community colleges and regional college campuses and ask them how they are addressing those local workforce needs. Mayors should ask for specific information about who is graduating, what programs they are graduating from, and how they know that their graduates are actually ready to live and work successfully in their communities.I once asked a mayor, "Do you know that you have about $30 million to spend on job training, and do you know how it's being used?" He said he had no idea and asked who controlled the money. I told him that it was controlled by a workforce board. He asked me who appointed the members of the board. I told him that he did. Mayorshave resources to address the skills gap. They need to ensure that they are appointing people who have the best interests of their communities at heart in bringing employers and educators together.Change is unlikely without the commitment of a mayor or someone on the mayor's staff. Mayors need to have people in their offices who wake up every day concerned about whether the community is developing the talent needed to keep its residents employed and ensuring that its employers are able to attract the talent that they need.Nearly every community has a nonprofit organization that is working to help those who begin life with significant disadvantages benefit from education, or help those who have fallen off the path through education to career success get back on track. The most meaningful experience that at-risk youth or disconnected young adults can have is to be exposed to the world of work as part of an education or training program. At USA Funds, we support several organizations engaged in this work, such as Jobs for America's Graduates, LeadersUp and the National Urban League's Project Ready STEM.Many mayors may be aware of the federal College Scorecard , but they may not be aware of a national movement, focused at the state level, to provide better information to consumers, policymakers and educators for postsecondary education and workforce policies and program decisions. If communities are going to do a better job of lining up the skills and talents of their citizens with the jobs of today and the future, their citizens need to know which education and training programs are generating the greatest success for their graduates. Mayors can learn more about this national movement on USA Funds' College Value website Many communities already are pursuing one or more of the five action items I've suggested. To recognize excellence in mayor-led college- and career-readiness initiatives and to disseminate those best practices to other communities, USA Funds and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have teamed up to sponsor a competitive grants program. During USCM's recent annual meeting, I had the honor of recognizing three mayors -- Luke Bronin of Hartford, Conn., Buddy Dyer of Orlando, Fla., and Greg Fischer of Louisville, Ky. -- for exceptional programs they have developed.These exemplary leaders are not alone. Many mayors are coming to recognize that they have a pivotal role in creating a key ingredient of economic vitality: a better-educated, better-trained citizenry.
It will be "a long time" before many of Red Bull's new engine department recruits can start work.

That is the word from Toto Wolff, as Mercedes reels from the loss of at least 15 members of its ultra-successful F1 engine operations at Brixworth.

"Some of them cannot to go the new company, Red Bull Powertrains, before the end of 2023 - so a long time," the Mercedes team boss told Sky Deutschland.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said earlier in Barcelona that Mercedes will struggle to replace many of the defectors because about 10 of them are "managers".

However, Wolff insists: "The majority were not performance people, they were production people."

And the Mercedes team chief suggested he is also planning to step up the new engine 'battlefield' with Red Bull.

"We knew that Red Bull was taking this seriously, but so do we," said Wolff. "Let's see what we can think of."

(GMM)
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Concrete fiber Market - Market Overview

Concrete fiber also known as fiber reinforced concrete. It is concrete containing fibrous material which increases its structural integrity. It contains short discrete fibers that are uniformly distributed and randomly oriented. It is made up from concrete, steel fibers, glass fibers and natural fibers. For many applications, it is becoming increasingly popular to reinforce the concrete with small, randomly distributed fibers. Their main purpose is to increase the energy absorption capacity and toughness of the material, but also increase tensile and flexural strength of concrete.

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Concrete reinforced with fibres which are usually steel, glass or plastic fibres is less expensive than hand-tied rebar, while still increasing the tensile strength many times. Shape, dimension and length of fibre is important. Fibres are usually used in concrete to control plastic shrinkage cracking and drying shrinkage cracking. They also lower the permeability of concrete and thus reduce bleeding of water. Some types of fibres produce greater impact, abrasion and shatter resistance in concrete. Generally fibres do not increase the flexural strength of concrete, so it cannot replace moment resisting or structural steel reinforcement. Some fibres reduce the strength of concrete. Whereas, major manufacturers based in this region are experiencing various challenges such as, competition from new & existing players, pressure from environmental agencies, demand for substitute and eco-friendly products, and calculating the cost efficiency of the final product.

Accrediting the colossal growth the Concrete fiber market is witnessing currently and the potential the market is demonstrating to accrue pervasively further in the years to come; the Market Research Future has recently published a meticulous study report giving out the complete market insight up till 2023. According to which, continuing with the same trends the global Concrete fiber market is projected to perceive an outstanding growth by 2023 registering a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2017  2023).

Concrete fiber Market  Competitive Analysis

Concrete fiber market appears to be highly fragmented and competitive owning to the presence of numerous large and small players active in regional market. The key strategies traced from the analysis of recent developments of the key players include product launch, agreement & partnership, acquisition and expansion. Strategic partnerships between key players support the growth and expansion plans of the key players during the forecast period. On the product and sales side, companies are investing in innovation/R&D, brand building, and fostering strong relationships with customers to support their competitive position.

Manufacturers operating in the market strive to deliver innovative solutions that improve the design and manufacturing processes of business around the world. Focusing upon the competitive edge, manufacturers strive to develop products that can deliver optimal adhesion, convenience and reliability. Utilizing their international and regional presence, these manufacturers assure their customers with the consistency in product & service quality. Manufacturers strive to develop their product portfolio with a wide range of products for flat steels for every application.

Industry Overview:

Increasing demand from developing economies, such as China and India for concrete fibers, and growing population of concrete fibers as compared to other composites are factors that drive the concrete fiber market in the Asia Pacific region. In contrast to this, high operating costs and lack of required R&D investments and technical knowledge are the key restraining factors hampering the market growth.

Concrete fiber Market - Segments

For the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; The Concrete fiber Market is segmented in to 3key dynamics

Segmentation by Type: Synthetic Fiber, Steel Fibers, Glass Fibers and others

Segmentation by Application: Construction, Industrial, Road industry and other

Segmentation by Regions : Comprises Geographical regions - North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.

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Concrete fiber Market - Regional Analysis

The global Concrete fiber market by region has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the world. This market has seen a substantial growth over the past few years and it has been experienced that the market will remain on the same growth level till forecast period. Among the regions covered, Asia-Pacific has accounted the largest market for Concrete fiber market followed by Europe and North America. China leads the concrete fiber market, rise in construction activities due to an increase in population has aided China and other developing economies.
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Today the market for any given product is governed by the awareness among the consumers. An average buyer concentrates on the personal priorities and needs, apart from the overall notoriety of the product. These factors often administer the commodities of personal hygiene like diapers to a great extent. The modern day parents analyse the products for the infants more soberly than ever before. The material, costing, comfortable level are significant factor for making a diaper brand popular. Thus research and development are imminent part of baby diapers manufacturing. Also, the market for baby diapers is rising at an enormous pace, following rise in global demand.

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In recent years, the demand for baby diapers has grown fixedly in various nations of East Africa.



The report provides a thorough acument into the key market dynamics, emerging trends, recent design innovations, and competitive landscape. The study offers a detailed statistical analysis related to the market share and size of segments and analyzes the key factors configuring the competitive acts. Recent attempts by governments of various countries and private players in East Africa are highlighted and their impact on the costing strategies of vendors are evaluated.



This report gives you approach to definitive data such as: Market growth drivers, Factors hindering market growth, Current market trends and Market extensions for the coming decade.

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Key highlights of this report



Overview of key market forces propelling and forbiddingmarket growth

Up-to-date analysis of market trends and technological advancements

Pin-point analysis of market competition dynamics to offer you a competitive edge

An analysis of strategies of major competitors

An array of graphics and SWOT analysis of major industry segments

Detailed analyses of industry trends

A well-defined technological growth map with an impact-analysis

Offers a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and key product segments.



East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Trends and Opportunities



The East Africa baby diapers market is principally driven by a continuous slump in the toddler mortality rate in developing nations, an upswing in urban population with significant expendable incomes, and increasing awareness related to the hygiene of infants. Coupled with this, in-depth and persistent efforts made by several governmental and non-governmental organizations to create awareness among rural population have led to an increasing use of baby diapers to promote the healthy growth of infants.



Increasing shift toward the use of eco-friendly and viable materials in manufacturing baby diapers has resulted in various product innovations. The onset of ultra-soft and hypoallergenic diapers made without the use of any supplements is expected to shoot the market over the forecast period. However, the growing run of parents embracing longer in-between changing times of diapers has resulted in skin rashes and bugs among babies. Various study reiterating the role of disposable diapers in causing testicular cancer among males are likely to hinder the growth of the market to an extent.



East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Provincial Vision



The major countries considered in the research report are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Kenya becomes top lucarative market for baby diapers in East Africa. The dramatic demand for baby diapers in Kenya is driven by the significant rise in birth rate included a substantial decline in the infant mortality rate as compared to other developing nations of East Africa. After Kenya,Tanzania is the second largest revenue contributing country in the East Africa diapers market. Other Countries Involved are Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

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East Africa Baby Diapers Market: Companies Involved



Leading players are also establishing feasible products made with biodegradable materials to entice parents who are vigilant of the environmental brunt of adapting diapers. Major manufacturers are making product modernization and operating boosting their distribution channels to centralize their presence across major countries. Key players accomplishing in this market include Johnson and Johnson, INDEVCO Group Procter and Gamble, Unicharm Corporation, SCA Hygiene Products GmbH, Mega Soft (Fujian) Hygiene Products Co. Ltd., and Interconsumer Products Ltd.
Supported by a $50,000-grant from the Colorado Energy Office, 16 low-income workers in Durango, Colorado will receive e-bikes through a pilot program of the 4 Corners Office of Resource Efficiency (4CORE). The nonprofit received the grant funding from the states Can Do Colorado Community Challenge.

The bikes, manufactured by Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes, were procured for the program through the help of Roll, a local e-bike rental company. The bikes are Class II e-bikesi.e., pedal-assist with a throttle. The e-bikes have a top speed of 20 mph. Recipients will also receive helmets, LED lights, locks, panniers and training.

The bikes come with removable battery packs, which workers can take off and recharge when they go into work or get home. The only requirement of participants is they chart their travels on an app, which is being developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) earlier partnered with the Colorado Energy Office to assess the travel-behavior impacts of providing low-income essential workers with e-bikes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis results indicated that, among participants during the study period, e-bikes were the dominant travel mode for 30% of trips, followed by shared rides at 29% and single-occupancy-vehicle trips at just 20%.

Launched in fall 2020, the Colorado Energy Offices Can Do Colorado eBike mini-pilot was designed to encourage energy-efficient transportation during the pandemic and demonstrate that e-bikes are a safe, healthy, and convenient way to make essential trips, including commuting to work.

Pedal-assist e-bikes use an electric motor and battery to help power the bike. The motor amplifies the power behind each pedal stroke, augmenting the energy the rider puts into the bike.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced car travel, resulting in improved air quality and an opportunity to preview a cleaner mobility future. Here at NREL, we wanted to determine how giving front-line workers an e-bike mobility option would affect their travel behavior, possibly contributing to a longer-term shift away from car dependence. NRELs Andy Duvall, a transportation behavior analyst

The initial three-month pilot program provided e-bikes to 13 low-income essential workers in the Denver area. The insights garnered from this small-scale pilotdetailed in the resulting NREL technical reportare informing the design of the full-scale, two-year pilot slated to begin this summer in locations across Colorado.

Collecting and Assessing the Data. The data collection and integrated analysis elements of this project leveraged a smart-phone platforme-missiondeveloped by K. Shankari, a directors fellow in NRELs Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences. Used to instrument human mobility, the free, open-source platform enables people to track their travel modes and measure their associated energy use and carbon footprint. Shankari customized the platform for the e-bike program, adding a gamification functionality to the collection of long-term travel-behavior data.

Our analysis results indicate that the use of e-bikes corresponded to reduced travel time and increased productivity. Such end-to-end travel using a relatively fast yet inexpensive mode of transportation is very attractive. E-bikes also provide a very affordable entry into the burgeoning electric vehicle marketplace. The e-bike program offers an important solution for affordable, efficient transportation. Such programs can go a long way toward supporting both equity and sustainability. K. Shankari

Micromobility. Micromobility options, such as manual and electric-assisted human-powered vehicles, are often presented as a solution for reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency for short-distance trips, especially in urban areas. Although transportation researchers have studied shared micromobility usage extensively, they have been unable to assess ownership micromobility characteristics due to the lack of relevant data. The data set generated via this project helps fill the gap while also informing the micromobility work that Duvall leads for the US Department of Energys Systems and Modeling for Accelerated Research in Transportation Mobility Project.

As far as I know, this is the only ownership model e-bike data-collection effort to date. The new data set reflects a longitudinal view of ownership micromobility, e-bike usage patterns, trip purpose, and the travel modes that the e-bike trips replaced. Unlike shared micromobilitywhere a third of the trips are used for accessing transitownership micromobility seems to be used more for end-to-end trips, like how cars are used. Andy Duvall

The pilot provided a baseline for understanding e-bike behavior, particularly as it pertains to personal ownership.

The analysis results, based on the subset of trips with user-reported labels (68%), indicate that the e-bike was the dominant commute mode share (31%), in sharp contrast to the census bicycle commute mode share (<1%). E-bike trips primarily replaced single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips (28%), followed closely by walking (24%) and regular bike (20%). The nonmotorized mode replacement corresponds to lower travel time and increased productivity enabled by the program. The emissions impact analysis of the program, computed using trip-level energy intensity factors, indicates savings of 1,367 lbs. of CO 2 . Although the results are strongly positive, the narrow demographic profile of study participants, their limited mobility alternatives, and nonuniform labeling indicate caution in broader interpretation. These preliminary results do suggest that such programs, supported by real-time education and support from program managers, can simultaneously meet equity and sustainability goals. The planned full pilot, addressing the data collection challenges and broadening the geographic scope, will provide additional insights into the generality of this approach. Shankari et al.

Resources
German steel companies thyssenkrupp Steel and HKM and the Port of Rotterdam will jointly investigate setting up international supply chains for hydrogen. In the course of their transformation paths towards climate-neutral steel making, thyssenkrupp Steel and HKM will require large and increasing quantities of hydrogen to produce steel without coal.

For decades, both companies have been importing coal, iron ore and other raw materials via their own terminal in Rotterdam, using inland barges as well as rail to transport it to their blast furnaces in Duisburg.

Together, the partners will explore hydrogen import opportunities via Rotterdam as well as a possible pipeline corridor between Rotterdam and thyssenkrupp Steels and HKMs steel sites in Duisburg. The partnership may serve as a framework for additional initiatives and aims at supporting existing initiatives and projects in which the partners are involved.

The Port of Rotterdam is already investigating the import of hydrogen from a large number of countries and regions all over the world. Green hydrogen is a sustainable alternative to coal, oil and natural gas. Vast imports of hydrogen will be necessary if Europe and Germany want to reduce CO 2 emissions and become climate-neutral by 2050, while maintaining its strong industrial backbone.

Rotterdam is also setting up a carbon transport and storage system, Porthos, which is also being considered as a CO 2 storage site for the production of blue hydrogen by the H2morrow steel project, which includes thyssenkrupp Steel as partner as well.

The three partners agree that new, cross-border infrastructure is required to support the energy transition, especially additional pipeline structure is needed. A concrete and significant demand for hydrogen from the steel industry as an alternative to coal as well as the options to store CO 2 can work as a stimulus for the realization of this infrastructure.

The cooperation between Rotterdam as Europes largest port and Duisburg as Europes largest steel site can have a signaling effect to establish supply chains for the energy transition, building an important sustainable European industry and logistics cluster.

The aim of the Port of Rotterdam Authority is to strengthen the competitive position of the port of Rotterdam as a logistics hub and a world-class industrial complex in terms of both size and quality. The Port Authority is focusing on accelerating sustainability in the port and it is a partner in the digitalization of the port and logistics chains.

The Port Authoritys core tasks are the sustainable development, management and operation of the port, the maintenance of the smooth and safe handling of shipping and supporting the future-resilience of the port of Rotterdam.

The Huttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) is based in the south of Duisburg and is a subsidiary of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, Salzgitter Mannesmann GmbH and Vallourec Tubes S.A.S. HKM is producing about four to five million tons of steel in a year, with a share of 12% of the steel production in Germany. The focus is on the production of slabs and round bars, which are further processed within the parent companies.

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe is one of the worlds leading suppliers of carbon steel flat products. With a production volume of approximately 11 million tonnes of crude steel annually, thyssenkrupp Steel is the largest flat steel producer in Germany.
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US (10-05-2021) In the present scenario, most men and women are suffering from hearing loss and several brain-related problems. Tinnitus has become the biggest concern of numerous individuals around the world because tinnitus is the only problem that arises several sounds in the ears, like ringing, buzzing, clicking, and much more. All the sounds are quite irritated and can ruin every single day. A majority of people think that only old age individuals experience this problem, but actually, this problem can target anybody. Usually, old age individuals experience various kinds of sounds because of brain damage. There are many individuals who are troubled with tinnitus only because of brain inflammation. Brain inflammation can be the reason behind several other problems, for example, poor mental health, lower brain memory, lower focus, poor vision, and much more. Due to brain inflammation, the brain doesnt work effectively and produces several sounds repeatedly.



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/ File / Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

GREENWICH  As the COVID-19 crisis begins to ease, the Greenwich Audubon Center is looking to expand its facilities and programming this year with new outdoor accommodations.

The nonprofit environmental and conservation organization is seeking permission from the town Planning and Zoning Commission to install a large tent  measuring 15 by 25 meters  over an existing lawn area at its Riversville Road site.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Kristine Bowman, Michigan State University

(THE CONVERSATION) With the first COVID-19 vaccine now authorized for adolescents, ages 12 and up, a big question looms: Will students be required to get the vaccine before returning to their classrooms in the fall?

As a professor of education policy and law and a former attorney for school districts, I regularly think about this sort of question.

In the United States, school vaccination requirements are established by states rather than the federal government. The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows states to make regulations protecting public health.

Every state currently requires K-12 students to be vaccinated against some diseases, although the requirements  including which shots are deemed necessary and the reasons students can opt out  vary from one state to another.

Who can opt out of school shots?

No state yet requires students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but how states manage other vaccines and exemptions, and how the rules can change during outbreaks, can help us think about how a COVID-19 vaccine requirement might work.

For example, students in all states can be exempt from vaccination requirements if they have a valid medical reason, such as a weakened immune system or allergic reaction to a vaccine.

In 44 states, students also can opt out of vaccination requirements for religious reasons, though most major religions do not prohibit vaccines. Some states are considering rescinding religious exemptions because of concern about declining levels of vaccinations and local outbreaks of diseases such as measles. Connecticut rescinded its religious exemption in April 2021.

Fifteen states permit philosophical exemptions based on moral or ethical concerns. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 2.5% of U.S. kindergartners used an exemption last year, the same as the previous year, and most were for religious or philosophical reasons.

Of particular importance right now is that states also take different approaches to exemptions during an outbreak. Thirty-two states ban unvaccinated students from attending school during an outbreak. A handful of states do not allow vaccine exemptions during an outbreak.

What the courts say about mandatory vaccines

The U.S. Supreme Court has supported states authority to make these decisions for over a century.

In May 1901, a smallpox epidemic began in Boston. Now-familiar disease prevention measures were put into place: Sick patients were quarantined for treatment, and the city began a free, voluntary vaccination program. By December of that same year, the city had not contained the epidemic, so a local health commission required all adult residents to be vaccinated under the authority granted by the state.

The local government fined those who refused to be vaccinated, and one man disputed this fine by suing the state of Massachusetts. In 1905, the Supreme Court heard his case and held that a state can require vaccination in the interest of public health.

Today, some health law experts think vaccination requirements are important enough that they can still trump claims including individual religious liberty, while others are more skeptical.

The COVID-19 vaccines have one key difference  they have only emergency use authorization at this point, not full FDA approval. The FDAs emergency use statute says people receiving the drug must be informed of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product but also of the consequences, if any, of refusing. How a lack of full approval would affect state decisions about school vaccine mandates and how the courts might view those decisions remains to be seen.

In another context, military service members can be required to receive vaccines but are allowed under federal law to opt out of vaccines that have only emergency use authorization, unless the president waives that provision.

Pfizer  the drugmaker whose vaccine received emergency use authorization for adolescents on May 10, 2021, and was recommended for that age range by the CDC on May 12  has started the review process for full FDA approval for use in ages 16 and older. The same review for adolescents will start later. Vaccine testing is still underway for younger children.

Can individual schools issue their own requirements?

Because states enact vaccine requirements to protect public health, school vaccine requirements generally apply to public and private K-12 schools, and also to daycare facilities. Only a handful of states require college and university students to be vaccinated, so in practice, determining and enforcing vaccine requirements is usually up to individual higher education institutions.

A growing number of colleges and universities have announced that they will require all students who plan to be on campus to receive the COVID vaccine. Other institutions are requiring the vaccine only for students who want to live in dorms. However, at least one state legislature  Michigans  is considering barring state universities from requiring vaccines as a condition of taking in-person classes, contending a vaccine requirement would infringe on matters of individual choice.

This raises the interesting question of whether an individual school district, like an individual college or university, could require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

When school vaccine requirements began in the late 19th century, the goal was to prevent the spread of smallpox. By 1915, 15 states and Washington, D.C., required students to receive the smallpox vaccine, and 21 other states allowed local governments such as school districts and county health departments to impose such a requirement.

School vaccination requirements have proliferated over the past century, in response to both specific outbreaks and the growing acceptance of vaccine mandates as public health policy. Although most vaccination requirements have been issued at the state level in recent decades, whether school districts can add to the list of required vaccines remains an open question, and may vary by state.

It is also a question that courts will likely soon engage. In January 2021, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it plans to require its students to receive the COVID vaccine once a vaccine is approved and available. Los Angeles Unified is the nations largest school district. As fall nears  and assuming clinical trials continue to demonstrate both efficacy and safety  we may see more districts pursue this option.

[Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.]

This article was updated with the CDCs endorsement.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/can-schools-require-covid-19-vaccines-for-students-now-that-pfizers-shot-is-authorized-for-kids-12-and-up-158385.
Apple brought CPU and GPU development in-house and rumors have been swirling since at least 2019 that it wants to design its own 5G modems. Back then it was believed that the first own silicon modems will appear in 2022 iPhones, but the latest investors note by Ming-Chi Kuo revises that to 2023 at the earliest.

This lines up with an earlier report by a team of analysts at Barclays who also point to 2023. The modem will support both sub-6 and mmWave 5G.

Apple first officially confirmed that it has started work on a modem in December 2020. A couple of months ago it announced a 1 billion investment years to build a new R&D facility in Munich, Germany. Its main goals will be developing 5G and future wireless technologies, but it will also explore other technologies.

Apple's facility in Munich will develop 5G and other wireless technogies

Besides Apples desire to control the whole hardware and software stack for its products, the modem business proved quite contentious  a patent dispute caused Apple to drop its long-term modem supplier, Qualcomm, and switch to inferior Intel designs back in 2018. However, Intels modem division struggled to make a profit so the company exited that market and sold its division to Apple for $1 billion in 2019.

This serves as Apples basis for developing its own 5G modems. But for now the company has gone back to Qualcomm  court documents revealed that the iPhone 12 series uses the X55 5G modem and that theres a deal in place through 2023 to use a mixture of X65 and X70 modems for the iPhone 13 and 14 generations.

This means that Apple has a fallback plan in case its own 5G modem isnt ready for launch in 2023. But if it is, Qualcomm will lose millions of orders  Apples business bolstered the chip giants sales to impressive levels last year. Either way, the writing is on the wall.

Kuo believes this will force Qualcomm to push 5G designs harder into the mid-range and even entry-level segments to make up the lost sales. Another upcoming issue is that the current chip shortage gives the company a lot of bargaining power right now, but that will ease up eventually and Qualcomm (and even MediaTek) will feel the pressure to lower prices.

Source
The Samsung Galaxy F52 5G is expected later this month, but one Weibo user already had a close encounter with the phone and provided a few photos of it along with price. The phone will reportedly cost CNY 2,000, which is around $310/255. This is a good deal less than the Galaxy A52 5G, which goes for CNY 3,000 in China and 430 in Europe.

Interestingly, this phone (model number SM-E5260) has a punch hole selfie camera in the upper right corner rather than the center like current Galaxy models. Around the back there is a quad camera with an LED flash in the upper left corner, just as we saw in the photos from TENAA.

The Chinese regulator reveals that the F52 will have 16MP selfie camera and a 64MP main camera on the back. Further details include a 6.57 LCD with 1080p+ resolution, 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage and a microSD slot.



Samsung Galaxy F52 5G spy shots

As you can see in the photos, theres a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom, next to the USB-C port. The 4,350mAh battery will support 25W fast charging (according to 3C data). The phone recently passed through the Google Play Console, which listed a Snapdragon 750G chipset and Android 11.

This means that the Galaxy F52 5G will use the same chip as the A52 5G, though it targets a lower price point. Whether it will be available globally is an open question.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
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The recent market study published by FMI Allergy Diagnostic Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022 -- consists of a comprehensive assessment of the most important market dynamics. On conducting a thorough research on the historic as well as current growth parameters of the Allergy Diagnostic market, growth prospects of the market were obtained with maximum precision. The report features unique and salient factors that may make a huge impact on the development of the Allergy Diagnostic market during the forecast period.

It can help market players modify their manufacturing and marketing strategies to envisage maximum growth in the Allergy Diagnostic market in the upcoming years. The report provides detailed information about the current and future growth prospects of the Allergy Diagnostic market in the most comprehensive way to provide a better understanding to the readers.

Request a Sample of this Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4959

Chapter 1  Executive Summary

The report commences with the executive summary of the Allergy Diagnostic market report, which includes the summary of key findings and key statistics of the market. It also includes the market value (US$ million) estimates of the leading segments of the Allergy Diagnostic market.

Chapter 2  Market Overview

Readers can find detailed taxonomy and the definition of the Allergy Diagnostic market in this chapter. This will help readers to understand the basic information about Allergy Diagnostic market dynamics, supply chain, cost structure, pricing analysis, list of key distributors and suppliers and list of key market participants included in the report.

Chapter 3  Global Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis (2012-2016) & Opportunity Assessment (2017-2022), By Product Type

Based on product type, the Allergy Diagnostic market has been segmented into fungal Allergy Diagnostic and neutral lactase enzymes. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments taking place in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on product type, instruments, consumables and allergy testing services. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments taking place in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on the product type for each region.

Chapter 4  Global Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022, By End User

Based on End User, the Allergy Diagnostic market is segmented into diagnostic laboratories, hospitals, academic research institutes and other end users. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on End User. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on End Users for each region.

Chapter 5  Global Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022, By Allergen Type

Based on the Allergen Type, the Allergy Diagnostic market is segmented into Inhaled Allergens, Food Allergens, Drug Allergens and Other Allergens. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on Allergen Type. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on the Allergen Type for each region.

Chapter 6  Global Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022, By Test Type

Based on the Test Type, the Allergy Diagnostic market is segmented into In-vivo allergy tests & In-vivo allergy tests. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on Test Type. In this chapter, readers can find information about key trends and developments in the Allergy Diagnostic market and market attractive analysis based on the Test Type for each region.

Chapter 7  Global Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022, By Region

This chapter explains how the Allergy Diagnostic market will grow across various geographic regions, such as North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East & Africa (MEA).

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Chapter 9  North America Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022

This chapter includes detailed analysis of the growth of the North America Allergy Diagnostic market along with country-wise assessment, including the U.S. and Canada. Readers can also find information on regional trends, regulations and market growth based on product type, allergen type, test type and country of Allergy Diagnostic in the North American region.

Chapter 10  Latin America Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022

Readers can find detailed information about factors, such as pricing analysis and regional trends, impacting the growth of the Latin America Allergy Diagnostic market. This chapter also discusses the growth prospects of the Allergy Diagnostic market in leading LATAM countries, such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and rest of the Latin America region.

Chapter 11  Europe Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022

Important growth prospects for the Allergy Diagnostic market based on product types, form and application in several European countries, such as EU4, UK, BENELUX, Nordic and Eastern Europe, have been included in this chapter.

Chapter 14  APEJ Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022

Great China, India, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand are the leading countries in the APEJ region and their growth prospects have been discussed in this chapter. Readers can find thorough information about growth parameters in the APEJ Allergy Diagnostic market during 2016-2022.

Chapter 13  Japan Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022

Readers will find information on important factors that will have a huge impact on the growth of the Allergy Diagnostic market in Japan during the forecast period. This chapter provides an overview of regulations, drivers, restraints and trends in the Japan Allergy Diagnostic market.

Chapter 15  MEA Allergy Diagnostic Market Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2022

This chapter provides information on how the Allergy Diagnostic market will grow in the major countries of MEA region, such as GCC Countries, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and South Africa, during the period 2013-2028.

Request for Report Ask A Question @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-4959

Chapter 16  Competition Landscape, Company Share and Company Profiles

In this chapter, readers can find a comprehensive list of all the leading stakeholders in the Allergy Diagnostic market along with detailed information about each company, including company overview, revenue share, strategic overview and recent company developments. Market players featured in the report include Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Siemens Healthineers, Danaher Corporation, HOB Biotech Group Co, bioMerieux, Hycor Biomedical Inc. Stallergenes Greer, R-Biopharm AG, and Lincoln Diagnostics, Inc.

Chapter 17  Assumptions and Acronyms

This chapter includes a list of acronyms and assumptions that provide a base to the information and statistics included in the report.

Chapter 18  Research Methodology

This chapter will help readers to understand the research methodology followed to obtain various conclusions, important qualitative information and quantitative information about the Allergy Diagnostic market.
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Irish whiskey industry generated $4.26 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach $7.67 billion by 2027, witnessing a CAGR of 9.2% from 2021 to 2027.

Experimentation and innovation in manufacturing, taste and preference, and innovative packaging of the bottles drive the growth of the global Irish whiskey market. However, huge taxation on alcoholic beverages and impact of Brexit on Irish whiskey market hinder the market growth. On the other hand, advent of e-commerce and growth in demand for premium drinks in developing countries present new opportunities in the coming years.

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Covid-19 Scenario

The outbreak of the pandemic led to close the bars, clubs, and restaurant, thereby affecting the sales of Irish whiskey globally.

The manufacturing processes was suspended and supply chain was interrupted during the first phase of the lockdown, which further impacted the market.

However, as the restrictions are getting eased off in certain regions, the market is expected to recoup soon.



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Based on pricing, the premium segment accounted for the lions share in 2019, contributing to around three-fifths of the global Irish whiskey market, and is expected to maintain its leadership status by 2027. In addition, the segment is also projected to manifest the largest CAGR of 9.7% from 2021 to 2027.

Based on sales channel, the off-trade segment dominated the market with the highest revenue share, holding more than half of the global Irish whiskey market in 2019, and will continue its dominance throughout the forecast period. Additionally, the segment is anticipated to maintain the highest CAGR of 9.5% from 2020 to 2027.

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Based on region, the market is studied across numerous regions including Asia-Pacific, Europe, LAMEA, and North America. The North America region held the highest share in terms of revenue in 2019, with around half of the global Irish whiskey market, and will maintain its lead position by 2027. Nevertheless, Asia-Pacific is estimated to manifest the fastest CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period.

Leading market players profiled in the report include Beam Suntory Inc., Jameson Irish whiskey, Teeling Distillery, The Old Bushmills Distillery Co., Brown-Forman, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, William Grant & Sons, West Cork Distillers, and Knappogue Castle Whiskey.




Haiti - FLASH : Visa applications for Haitian students, approved by the Dominican authorities





The Ambassador of Haiti in the Dominican Republic Smith Augustin informs Haitian students in the Dominican Republic that their student visa application has been approved by the Dominican authorities as part of an agreement agreed on May 3, 2021 between the Haitian authorities and Dominicans establishing a special process to regularize their migratory status.



Following the established procedure, students who have been duly registered on the Santo Domingo list of applicants can begin, as of Monday, May 10, 2021, to deposit their passport at the Embassy.



However, given the quantity of visas that will be issued weekly by the Dominican Authorities : 100 through the Embassy and 150 through the Consulate General of Haiti in Santiago only 100 students (all university and professional centers combined), can be received daily at the Embassy from Monday to Thursday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm in the following order:



Calendar :

From May 10 to 14, 2021 A, B, C and D (First letter of the last name)

From May 17 to 21, 2021 E, F, G and H

From May 24 to 28, 2021 I, J, K and L

From May 31 to June 4, 2021 M, N, O and P

From June 7 to 11, 2021 Q, R, S and T

June 14-18, 1021 U, V and W

From June 21 to 25 X, Y and Z



The Embassy asks students to strictly adhere to the established schedule in order to help the process run smoothly.



Note that visas will be issued free of charge. No costs of any kind can be claimed by anyone from the beneficiaries.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33662-haiti-flash-a-special-visa-for-haitian-university-students-in-the-dominican-republic.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Security : Divisional Inspector Gabo Desire was shot dead





The General Directorate of the National Police of Haiti (DG-PNH) informs that the divisional inspector Gabo Desire was shot dead on Saturday May 8, 2021 at Latramblay 12, Croix des Bouquets, by heavily armed men while he was trying to thwart the kidnapping of a person in this area.



The police officer who was assigned to the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) office in Delmas 34 was fatally shot in crossfire with these criminals who were armed with large caliber weapons. Several bandits have also been hit according to some residents.



While offering its condolences to the family of the victim, the Directorate General of the PNH salutes the premature departure of this guardian of the city who heroically sacrificed himself. The Central Directorate of the Judicial Police is already instructed to investigate this case so that the culprits can respond of their acts.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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Warns of tech censorship, mussel fees

Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci spoke at a meeting of the North Central Pachyderm Club to discuss the 2020-2021 Legislative Session, spending a fair amount of time at the meeting attacking Havre Daily News.

The issue of "tech censorship" was the primary subject of discussion.

Over the past year, and especially in the months since the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building Jan. 6, many social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter have been removing or factchecking misinformation and false conspiracy theories that flooded their platforms in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 General Election.

These platforms have also begun to be more proactive in removing posts containing hate speech such as racism, misogyny, queerphobia and more.

Many prominent conservatives across the U.S. have said this is, or is a cover for, an effort to censor Republicans.

Pinocci compared the recent efforts of these platforms to laws preventing African-Americans from sitting where they wanted on public transit during the days of Jim Crow in the American south.

"I regulate taxi cab services," Pinocci said. "If I got a phone call from a taxi cab saying 'I didn't give a guy a ride to the Trump campaign because he's a Republican,' I would stomp his brains out."

He claimed that he himself has been shadowbanned by Facebook and posts announcing this meeting were not visible to many people who follow him on the platform, though he said he had no proof of this.

He also implied that Christians' speech was being suppressed but provided no evidence to back this claim.

To address this issue, he said, he supported a bill that would allow social media to be regulated as a public utility, which he said is justified because many represent effective monopolies in their industries.

He said he hoped this legislation, which failed in the Montana House of Representatives by one vote, would create a cascade effect and cause other states to introduce similar legislation.

"I'm trying to create policy for the whole country," he said.

He said that under his bill complaints against or by social media companies could be handled by the commission and if the media companies don't like the decision they can take it to court, where they will be responsible for the court fees of both sides.

He said the companies would also pay for the staff necessary to regulate them as a utility.

Pinocci said Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas agrees with his contention that social media should be regulated as a utility due to their status as effective monopolies.

"This is above and beyond the call of duty for a public service commissioner," he said, "but I want you to see that."

He said efforts to rein in social media companies and stop censorship should be a priority in the next session assuming it isn't already too late to do anything.

Pinocci also said he's disappointed in fellow commissioner and friend Brad Johnson, who recently announced his interest in running for Montana's new seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, for not supporting his bill.

The Havre Daily News and HB 411

A substantial part of the meeting was spent addressing a story published in the Havre Daily News in 2019 about House Bill 411 of that year's legislative session.

The bill, which passed, revised the laws related to the aquatic invasive species program and created a fee for all hydroelectric dams to help fund the program. The state implemented the program to detect and prevent the spread of aquatic invasive mussels, first detected in the state in 2016.

Pinocci said money for such a thing should come out of the state's general fund and it is a slippery slope to bills that attempt the same thing for other causes.

He said he also supported a bill this session that would have effectively repealed HB 411.

"Pinocci was committed to stoping this," Pinocci said.

He criticized Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in general, saying it has too much power and money, and implied that the funds they received to combat these invasive species was not used properly.

How many of you actually think they're spending that money on zebra mussles? he asked.

Pinocci also criticized FWP for buying land, which he considered evidence of having too much money while asking for more funds to combat invasive species, and for some of their facilities not having long enough hours of operation.

"Put this in the paper, this is your government and you get the government you deserve," he said.

FWP uses funds specifically designated for purchase of easements and land, primarily through Habitat Montana. The Legislature set up the habitat program in the 1980s using hunting license fees, primarily from nonresident hunting licenses. Those funds cannot be used for other purposes.

He said bills like this negatively affect senior citizens by effectively putting a tax on their electric bills and the press is not covering the matter sufficiently.

"The press is failing to tell you what is going on," he said. "You seniors are getting ripped off."

The bill allowed a fee to be charged to hydroelectric facilities to help pay for preventing aquatic invasive species, like invasive mussels detected in Lake Elwell south of Chester in 2018, from coming into the state.

Mussels in other parts of the country cause significant damage including to hydroelectric facilities and causes billions in expenses.

Entities including NorthWestern Energy lobbied for the fee, saying mussels coming into the state could damage the hydroelectric facilities.

In the 2019 meeting where he discussed the bill, Pinocci said the Legislature raised rates for NorthWestern Energy customers.

NorthWestern said at the time that it was not a rate increase for the company, but a fee on all hydroelectric facilities that would be passed on to the companies buying the power. NorthWestern is not the only company buying that power, although the cost of the fee would be passed on to customers.

Friday, Pinocci took issue with Havre Daily printing a response from then-Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, about Pinocci calling at the 2019 meeting to vote lawmakers, specifying Bachmeier, out of office for voting for the bill.

He specifically took issue with a Bachmeier calling him incompetent, which he said is incorrect and should not have been printed, at least not without consulting him for a rebuttal.

Bachmeier said in the article that PSC oversees rate changes proposed by NorthWestern Energy and could deny rate increases proposed due to the fee, and that his comments show he does not seem to understand his own job.

"Randy Pinocci is incompetent and fundamentally misunderstands his job as a Public Service Commissioner," Bachmeier said. "The core purpose of Randy Pinocci's job on the PSC is to regulate NorthWestern Energy, and approve or deny their requests to increase rates on utility payers."

Pinocci said Friday that Havre Daily News does not apply its standard for who is entitled to a rebuttal evenly, claiming his opponents are afforded the opportunity while he is not, and specifically accused Havre Daily News Editor Tim Leeds of misleading him by saying he would get a chance to respond to his opponents.

When he ran for commissioner, his primary opponent Rob Cook spoke in Havre and listed his goals and qualifications for the position. His only comment on Pinocci was referring to Pinocci's using the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes Water Compact as a campaign issue. Cook said the Montana Supreme Court had ruled the compact was constitutional and cited benefits he said it would bring.

When Pinocci spoke in Havre later, he spent much of his time attacking Cook and the water compact, and Havre Daily offered Cook a chance to respond.

The Havre Daily ran responses Pinocci made to Cook's claims.

Pinocci also claimed the story says that NorthWestern Energy was making record profit, and he, his staff, and legal team, demanded a retraction, but the story says no such thing.

The story cites Bachmeier as saying NorthWestern netted $197 million in profits in 2018 and he has no sympathy for any proposed rate increases. The story does not say NorthWestern made record profits.

Pinocci said the story reports muscles could cause billions of dollars in damages, which he said was an exaggeration, but the story only points out that billions of dollars in damages have occurred in the Great Lakes states due to the animals, not Montana.

Montana has not had reports of invasive mussels in its waterways outside of the larvae detected in 2018. No mussels have been confirmed in Montana since then.

The programs the state has put in place are intended to prevent mussels from coming in and causing damage.

Montana's official aquatic invasive species site, http://cleandraindry.mt.gov, reports that expenses associated with ecological damage and control of invasive species across the country is estimated at $137 billion per year and increasing.

"In the United States, congressional researchers estimated invasive mussels cost the power industry $3.1 billion in the 1993-1999 period, with its impact on industries, businesses, and communities over $5 billion. ... In Canada, Ontario Hydro has reported zebra mussel impacts of $376,000 annually per generating station," the site says.

It adds that costs to power companies due to aquatic invasive species would be passed on to the companies' customers.

Pinocci chastised the paper for not actively supporting his efforts to fight House Bill 411.

As a result of this article he said the Havre Daily News has been banned from receiving stories from the commission, but also criticized the paper for not covering his work on the anti-tech-censorship bill.

"The newspaper comes off of a roll, just like toilet paper and it's the paper's responsibility to make sure (expletive) not on it," he said quoting his communications director.

Havre Daily continues to receive press releases from PSC.

Conspiracy theories and fake news

During the meeting Pinocci passed out articles from the Montana Daily Gazette, a conservative blog that has been criticized as faux news, as well as the Epoch Times, a far-right publication that has pushed a number of widely-discredited conspiracy theories and has been banned from most social media platforms for that reason. He touted the former as a more honest account of his work.

An attendee at the meeting also touted Infowars, another far-right, conspiracy, and fake news website and media company, and received no push-back.

The man also received no pushback when expressing the idea that the 2020 General Election was stolen, which has been proven false.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a statement after the election, said it was the most secure election in U.S. history; more than 60 lawsuits filed by the President Trump's campaign and his allies were thrown out due to a lack of merit, and no evidence has been presented of significant voter-fraud that would have changed the outcome of the election.

The commission and its authority

Pinocci also talked about McCone Electric Co-op and the companies which supply them power to provide to Circle Montana.

He said they turned off the power in the town so they could sell it to Texas during the severe winter storm that hit the state which was unable to supply power to residents leading to the death of over 100 residents.

He said this is the reason the commission's authority should be expanded to regulate co-ops and the companies that supply to them so he can, in his words, "stomp their brains out."

McCone Electric Co-op General Manager Michael Hoy said the decision to shut off power was not the co-op's at all, nor was the motive profit.

Hoy said Western Area Power Administration, from which the co-op gets the bulk of their power, were asked to reduce their load so the Southwest Power Pool, which extends from Canada to northern Texas, could be stabilized and avoid a full blackout during the extreme conditions and the company told the co-op that their power would go off for a half an hour.

Pinocci also said the commission should be authorized to reactivate dormant power plants, to prevent events like the storm in Texas from happening again and that the state should have more commissioners because their regions are too big to keep track of effectively.

The next time, he said, he wants to talk about high-efficiency power lines that he wants to see installed in the state, which he said waste far less power will pay for themselves in three years and will allow him to lower Montanans' rates.

Havre City Council Member and Hill County Republican Central Committee Chair Andrew Brekke, who introduced Pinocci at the meeting, said Public Service Commissioner Brad Johnson will speak to the club in two weeks, and Rep. Ed Hill R-Havre and other legislators will have their turn over the next month.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Market Research Future Published a Half-Cooked Research Report on Global Microcrystalline Cellulose Market.

Market Definition:

Microcrystalline cellulose is a partially depolymerized, naturally occurring cellulose form wood pulp. It has properties such as anti-caking, bulking, and texturizing that are majorly required for keeping processed food fresh. The unique properties such as powder porosity, moisture sorption, and swelling capacity. Being a chemically inert substance, it has very less absorption capacity and does not dissolute during digestion. Due to this reason, it is highly used in excipient production in pharmaceuticals and is the major driver of the global microcrystalline cellulose market. The other driver for the global market growth is it being a fat substitute, primarily used in low-fat processed food.

Market Scenario:

The increasing demand for pharmaceuticals with the growing population consumes a major quantity of microcrystalline cellulose followed by food and beverage industry. The global Microcrystalline Cellulose Market Size growth is also driven by the cosmetic and personal care industry. The unique properties of extender, binder, and texturizer are extensively used in personal care products. The growing demand for personal care products with the concerned grooming and self-care population is expected to increase the market growth.

Competitive Analysis

Some of the prominent players of the microcrystalline cellulose are: FMC Corporation (the U.S), Mingtai Chemical Co. Ltd. (Canada), DFE Pharma (Germany), Dupont (the U.S.), Avantor (the U.S.), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Japan), Asahi Kasei Corporation (Japan), Blanver (Brazil), JRS PHARMA (the U.S.), FrieslandCampina (the Netherlands), Accent Microcell Pvt. Ltd (India), Sigachi Industries Pvt. Ltd. (India), Libraw Pharma (India), Huzhou City Linghu Xinwang Chemical Co., Ltd (China) and Shandong Xinda Biotechnology Co., Ltd (China) among others.

Market Segmentation

The global microcrystalline cellulose market is segmented as per the raw material, end-user, and region.

There are only two raw material sources available, namely wood based and non-wood based. Out of these, the non-wood based raw material source is likely to dominate the market due to the excessive demand for synthetically produced and cheap products.

Based on end-user, the market is segmented into pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, cosmetic & personal care, and others.

Regional Analysis

The global microcrystalline cellulose market is segmented into five key regions namely North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. North America is the major contributor to the market growth due to the increasing food & beverage industries. The increasing number of pharmaceutical and food & beverage industries in this region in expected to fuel the market growth in near future. The regulatory association named the U.S Pharmacopeial Convention has identified microcrystalline cellulose as an excellent excipient, which has propelled the market growth. The U.S contributes significantly to the market share in terms of revenue followed by Canada. Europe is another substantial region contributing to the market growth owing to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries in this region. Asia Pacific is expected to hold a considerable share of the market in coming years. Countries such as China are concentrated to the production of microcrystalline cellulose due to the low raw material and labor cost. The U.S is the major producer of microcrystalline cellulose followed by China.

In Latin America & Africa, the growing medical support and availability of pharmaceutical at ease is expected to fuel the market growth during the forecast period. However, poor health and safety standards may hinder the market growth in this region.

BROWSE RELATED REPORT @

https://www.abnewswire.com/pressreleases/fiber-optic-sensor-market-size-and-global-trends-2020-covid19-business-impact-industry-analysis-sales-revenue-opportunities-top-leaders-and-regional-forecast-to-2022_505731.html

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/fiber-optic-sensor-market-size-and-global-trends-2020-covid-19-business-impact-industry-analysis-sales-revenue-opportunities-top-leaders-and-regional-forecast-to-2022-2020-09-07

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4797814

https://www.wboc.com/story/42598499/fiber-optic-sensor-market-size-and-global-trends-2020-covid19-business-impact-industry-analysis-sales-revenue-opportunities-top-leaders-and-regional-forecast-to-2022
Havre Police Department

Kathleen Deanna Jett of Havre, 30, was arrested on a vehicle theft charge after a local business' delivery van was reported Friday at 6:07 a.m. seen headed toward Spokane, Washington.

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An officer went to the hospital to assist with a blood draw Friday at 8:25 a.m.

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Lesley Anne Hanson of Havre, 41, was issued a summons on charges of dog at large and vicious dog after a First Avenue caller reported at 10:18 a.m. Friday being attacked by a dog.

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Officer investigated a sexual or violent offender registry complaint made Friday at 12:44 p.m. at the police station.

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Mariah Paige Doney of Malta, 29, was arrested on a charge of obstructing a peace officer or other public servant and on a Justice or City court warrant after a caller reported a woman loitering at a First Street West business Friday at 2:43 p.m.

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Colette Cecelia La Point was arrested on trespassing charges after a caller at a First Street business reported a woman trespassing on the property Friday at 4:31 p.m.

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Darrin Dean Longfox of Havre, 24, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge and a Justice or City court warrant, Shawn Edward Adamson of Havre, 32, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge, and Stevi Danielle Henry of Havre, 23, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, resisting arrest and assault on a peace or judicial officer and on a Justice or City court warrant after a fight was reported at a First Street establishment Friday at 11:20 p.m.

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A 17-year-old was issued a summons on charges of minor in possession, disorderly conduct, and juvenile curfew violations after a caller on First Street Northeast reported a girl passed out on the stairs Saturday at 1:58 a.m.

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Officers assisted Tulare County California Sheriff's Department after a request for assistance at 9:07 a.m. Saturday.

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Martin Duane Flying Jr. of Havre, 28, was arrested on a partner or family member assault charge after a Fifth Avenue caller said Saturday at 8:57 p.m. that they might need assistance.

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Justin Radim Jezek of Havre, 38, was issued a summons on a disorderly conduct charge after a caller Third Avenue reported Sunday at 5:36 p.m. that a vehicle had been egged.

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Carson Norskog of Stanford, 22, was issued a summons on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license after a vehicle stop on 10th Avenue Sunday at 9:48 p.m.

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A Washington Avenue caller reported at 12:34 a.m. today that a wallet had been stolen about an hour earlier.

Hill County Sheriff's Office

Deputies assisted a Friday 4:25 p.m. caller at Hill County Detention Center.

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Siddora Danae Johnson of Havre, 19, was issued a summons on a reckless driving charge after a caller at a U.S. Highway 2 West business reported a complaint Friday at 5:08 p.m.

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David Perez of Havre, 45, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant served Friday at 5:25 p.m. at U.S. Highway 2 West business.

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A vehicle theft was reported from a U.S. Highway 87 establishment in Box Elder Friday at 7:26 p.m.

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Haylee Lee Demontiney of Box Elder, 58, was issued a summons on a trespass to property charge and Jasmin Shay Demontiney of Box Elder, 25, was issued a summons on charges of trespass to property and criminal mischief vandalism after trespassers were reported by a caller at a U.S. Highway 2 West business Saturday at 6:09 p.m.

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An arrest was made when a warrant was served on 18th Street Sunday at 4:22 p.m., but no details on charges were listed.

Havre Fire Department

Emergency medical personnel responded to one call Friday, three calls Saturday, two calls Sunday and one call early this morning.

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Firefighters responded to a report of a gas leak at 2:39 p.m. Friday on the 1600 Block of Pine Drive. A gas odor was detected in a furnace vent and the scene was turned over to a NorthWestern Energy crew.

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Firefighters responded to a 5:45 p.m. Friday fire alarm at multi-family dwelling on the 800 Block of Fourth Street, but the alarm was set off by burnt food.

Havre Animal Shelter

The shelter this morning held two 5-week-old kittens of unknown gender, five female cats and two male cats.

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The shelter also held a male St. Bernard-mix dog, a female mixed breed dog, a female collie dog, a female 9-month-old mixed-breed puppy and a male 17-week-old mixed-breed puppy.

Births

A boy was born Thursday, May 6, 2021, to Irish Dupris and Logan Stiffarm of Harlem.
Press release

Citizens Climate Education/Lobby Montana is hosting a free online event called Conserving Our Future: The What and Why of Weird Weather Thursday, May 20, at 7 p.m., where panelists will address questions Montanans are asking like, asking, How will it affect me, my family and my town? Also, can we do anything about it, and are there solutions we all can agree on that will conserve our forests, agriculture, rivers, and air for future generations?

The panelists will show how effective solutions can bring real opportunities for a healthier and more prosperous America.

The featured speaker is Scott Denning, Ph.D., from Colorado State University, wholl explain weird weather in a way that makes sense in his talk, Simple. Serious. Solvable. He also will be open to any questions.

Denning is author of more than 100 papers in the professional climate literature, hes served on advisory panels for the US Department of Energy, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation. As a young man he was a geologist working in the oil industry in Montana and North Dakota. He has presented to a variety of groups, including the Heartland Institute.

Attendees also will hear perspectives from retired Billings pediatrician Marian Kummer, Clearwater Credit Unions Paul Herendeen, and Logan Mannix from Mannix Grassfed Beef on how these trends impact health, pocketbooks and food.

Attendees will come away with a more solid understanding of the changing Montana weather and effective solutions.

The event is presented by the Montana chapters of Citizens Climate Education/Lobby, a nonpartisan, volunteer-driven nonprofit building support for bipartisan climate solutions.

People can register for the online Zoom event at bit.ly/ConservingOurFuture .

Contact: [email protected]

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1988613964621719 .
Frady honored for guiding city's orderly growth

Susan Frady accepts the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award from state Sen. Chuck Edwards.

Susan Frady, who retired from the city of Hendersonville as the Development Assistance Director, was presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by state Sen. Chuck Edwards.

Frady has dedicated 33 years of service to the City of Hendersonville, starting as an office assistant and working her way up to assistant zoning administrator, zoning administrator and finally development assistance director.

Known for providing excellent customer service, Frady has dedicated her career to serving the citizens of Hendersonville. She has also served as an adviser in professional organizations in the following capacities: Regional Director of the North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers 2010-2012, Treasurer of the North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers 2012  present; and Regional Director of the North Carolina Association of Housing Code Officials.

During her tenure, the number of Hendersonville residents more than doubled from 6,862 to 14,157, while the city boundaries increased to 4,643 acres, much of which it attributable to Fradys work on several major annexations. Her work has led to smart growth for residential development and the furtherance of Hendersonvilles brand as a charming, affordable small town where citizens enjoy an attractive quality of life.
Experts host virtual roundtable on preserving family memoirs

The State Archives of North Carolina will host a virtual roundtable, Preservation Pointers for the Public, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 12.

May is Preservation Month and State Archives staff want to help you preserve family memorabilia. Staff members with expertise in documents, photographs, audio-visual recordings, and electronic records (including social media) will present brief overviews of how to keep those types of materials safe for years to come. They will also answer preservation questions.

Register in advance at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zR9dMp7AQQy9ukQRAQ_MNw. Questions may be submitted in advance to Adrienne Berney, adrienne.berney@ncdcr.gov, or asked during the discussion.
New products, emerging industries shine at Hainan expo

Xinhua) 13:20, May 10, 2021

Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows a domestically produced translator on display in the Provinces, Municipalities, Autonomous Regions of China Exhibition Hall during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

HAIKOU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the world economy continuing to drag, the first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) has offered a stage on which enterprises can release new products and services in diverse areas, while tapping the development potential of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) and the whole Chinese market.

The four-day event opened on Thursday in China's southern island province of Hainan, attracting the participation of 648 enterprises from 69 countries and regions.

NEW DESTINATION

"The Hainan FTP is a unique place to pursue your dream, and the ongoing consumer products expo provides a precious opportunity to gather global dream-seekers," said Yu Lina, with Ernst &Young China, an exhibitor at the expo.

In 2018, China proposed the establishment of a free trade zone in Hainan, with construction of the Hainan FTP starting last year. A package of favorable policies has been introduced to further facilitate free trade, investment and cross-border capital flows.

Ernst &Young, a multinational professional services network with headquarters in London, captured the trend and opened its office in Hainan in 2018.

"The Hainan FTP has unique advantages and favorable policies in offshore duty-free, visa-free entry, and free imports. We have seen a growing number of enterprises settle down in Hainan, seeking development opportunities in the new investment destination," said Yu.

According to the provincial government, direct foreign investment in Hainan grew from 340 million U.S. dollars in 2017 to 3.03 billion in 2020, and the number of new foreign-invested companies expanded to nearly three times the number in 2019.

With a total population of over 1.4 billion and more than 400 million middle-income residents, China has become the world's most promising consumer market. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, consumer goods imports into China grew 8.2 percent in 2020, reaching 1.57 trillion yuan (about 242 billion U.S. dollars).

"The expo is an ideal platform for global high-end brands to enter both Hainan and the whole Chinese market," said Sung Hae Lee, chief representative of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, at the expo.

From 2025, the entire island of Hainan will become duty-free and emerge as a paradise for the duty-free and tourism retail industry. "Global brands are preparing for their future opportunities in the Hainan FTP," said Han Shengjian, director of the Hainan bureau of international economic development.

Aerial photo taken on April 3, 2020 shows a view of Hainan's Boao Lecheng pilot zone of international medical tourism in south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

NEW INDUSTRY

At one exhibition booth, Huang Song, a staffer at the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, was busy discussing cooperation with exhibitors in the medical and tourism consumption sectors.

"Many companies make a special trip to discuss cooperation on medical tourism with us. The expo offers us a chance to promote medical tourism among more enterprises from home and abroad," said Huang.

The medical tourism pilot zone was established with the approval of the State Council in 2013, to develop those industries related to international medical tourism, such as licensed medical treatment, health management, care rehabilitation, medical cosmetology and anti-aging.

As an emerging international medical tourism destination, a cutting-edge medical R&D and transformation base, as well as a gathering place for new Chinese medical institutions, the pilot zone is positioned as the leading area for the construction of the Hainan FTP.

"For domestic patients, we will provide medical resources that are not available in the Chinese mainland market at present. For overseas patients, we will combine the traditional Chinese medicine and other medical fields with Chinese characteristics, along with the nature tourism and recuperation resources that are endemic to Hainan," said Huang.

"The Hainan FTP offers us a huge space to develop the emerging industry of medical tourism," said Huang. "We hope to use the expo as a platform to popularize medical tourism and explore the global market of medical tourism."

Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows domestically produced keyboards on display in the Provinces, Municipalities, Autonomous Regions of China Exhibition Hall during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

NEW FASHION

Also in the spotlight at the expo are the latest fashion trends and eye-catching products, such as bonded warehouses, intelligent manufacturing, fashion education and cross-border livestreaming.

Secoo Holding, Ltd., a cross-border e-commerce platform headquartered in Beijing and selling lifestyle products and services, joined the expo with a series of smart beauty products.

"We are launching skin-testing services using artificial intelligence technology for visitors during the expo," said Jia Zhu, head of the company's public relations department.

Jia added that Secoo has benefited from the favorable policies implemented due to the construction of the Hainan FTP, and the company plans to build fashion schools in Hainan to train high-end talent for the fashion industry.

Cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Secoo have created an important platform for brands from home and abroad to release their latest products and fashion ideas before they reach the customers.

On Friday, over 100 brands signed strategic agreements with Tmall Global, an online marketplace of Alibaba Group, with the aim of selling their new products on display at the expo via Tmall in the coming year, making use of the booming demand from Chinese customers.

With an increasing number of foreign brands and firms attracted to the resort island, along with their new products, Hainan is expected to see more innovative development in more areas through cross-border cooperation.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
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Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Breath Fresheners (Non-Confectionery) (Oral Hygiene) Market in Saudi Arabia - Outlook to 2025; Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics under Consumer Goods Market in Saudi Arabia category. The Breath Fresheners (Non-Confectionery) (Oral Hygiene) Market in Saudi Arabia is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports.

Breath Fresheners (Non-Confectionery) (Oral Hygiene) Market in Saudi Arabia - Outlook to 2025; Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics is a broad level market review of Breath Fresheners Market in Saudi Arabia.

Breath Fresheners (non-confectionery) - all spray breath fresheners and fresh breath strips. Excludes tongue cleaners and other such devices.

Breath Fresheners (non-confectionery) market in Saudi Arabia registered a positive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.79% during the period 2015 to 2020 with a sales value of SAR 42.12 Million in 2020, an increase of 2.51% over 2019. The market achieved its strongest performance in 2018, when it grew by 9.49% over its previous year and its weakest performance in 2020, when it increased by 2.51% over 2019.

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The research handbook provides up-to-date market size data for period 2015-2020 and illustrative forecast to 2025 premised on Covid-19 hit, covering key market aspects like Sales Value and Volume for Breath Fresheners (non-confectionery) and its variants .

Furthermore, the research handbook details out overall market sales by Distribution Channel (Dollar Stores, Variety Store & General Merchandise Retailers, Cash & Carries and Warehouse Clubs, Convenience Stores & Gas Stations, Department Stores, Drug Stores & Pharmacies, Chemists/Pharmacies, Parapharmacies/Drugstores, eRetailers, Food & Drinks Specialists, Health & Beauty Stores, Hypermarkets & Supermarkets, Direct Sellers, Others, On Trade, Vending Machines, Other Specialist Retailers, Tobacco Specialists) where ever applicable.

Due to on going large scale uncertainties in the market due to COVID-19 pandemic, the research handbook acts as an essential tool for companies active or planning to venture in to Saudi Arabia's Breath Fresheners (non-confectionery) (Oral Hygiene) market. The comprehensive statistics within the research handbook provides insight into the operating environment of the market and also ensures right business decision making based on historical trends and industry model based forecasting.

Sales Values in the handbook are depicted in USD ($) and local currency of country and Volumes are represented in M Units.

*Note: Certain content / sections in the research handbook may be removed or altered based on the availability and relevance of data.

Scope

- Overall Breath Fresheners (non-confectionery) (Oral Hygiene) market value and volume analytics with growth analysis from 2015 to 2025.

- Distribution channel sales analytics from 2017-2020.

Reasons to Buy

- Get access to authoritative and granular data on the Breath Fresheners (non-confectionery) (Oral Hygiene) market and fill in the gaps in understanding of trends and the components of change behind them.

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- Analyze the components of change in the market by looking at historic and future growth patterns.

- Use the data to understand future patterns of the market trends from winners and losers to category dynamics and thereby quickly and easily identify the key areas in which you want to compete in the future.

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Biobanking Market Size, Trends and Growth Analysis By Product & Services (Equipment, Consumables, and Services), Sample Type (Blood Products), Storage Type (Manual Storage), Application (Regenerative Medicine) and End-User (Hospitals, Others), Forecast to 2023

Biobanking Market Overview:

The global report on the biobanking market reveals that the biobanking market size in 2017 was of USD 950 million and is expected to profit in the coming years with a 7.6% CAGR during the forecast period of 2018 to 2023. Market Research Future (MRFR) includes several factors that will influence the biobanking market growth.

The global biobanking market share is witnessing growth due to its rising inclusion in genomic studies, easy acceptance of top-end technologies, integration of the process in various departments of life sciences, surging investment in research and development projects, increasing government support, and others.

But the market may suffer from the high cost of automation. In developing and under-developed countries, this will be a problem.

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Biobanking Market Segmentation:

The global study of the biobanking market has been conducted by MRFR experts on the basis of a segmentation that includes sample type, storage type, products and services, end-user, and application. This analysis also provides in-depth knowledge about how the market is reacting to influencers.

By products and services, the biobanking market report has been segmented into consumables, services, equipment, and software. The equipment segment has coverage of sample analysis equipment, storage equipment, sample transport equipment, sample processing equipment, and others. The consumables segment gets further segmented into analysis consumables, storage consumables, collection consumables, processing consumables, and others. The services segment includes processing services, transport services, storage services, and supply services.

By sample type, the global report on the biobanking market has been segmented into human tissues, blood products, nucleic acids, biological fluids, cell lines, and others.

By storage type, the study of the biobanking market includes manual storage and automated storage.

By application, the global biobanking market report encompasses an understanding of segments like life science research, regenerative medicine, and clinical research.

By end-user, the report on the global biobanking market comprises research centers, diagnostic laboratories, hospitals, and others.

Biobanking Market Regional Analysis:

The global market on biobanking needs a proper zone-wise assessment as this would help in exploring various growth pockets and increase the profit margin. In North America, the market would gain more as the hike in structural support, better funding, ability to invest more, research activities, the presence of major companies, and others are expected to boost the regional market. The US and Canada would influence the market more. In Europe, the region would benefit from the healthcare sectors of Italy, France, the UK, Germany, and others. In Asia Pacific, opportunities for growth are substantial due to the massive population, Eminent market players are trying to explore this opportunity by charting route plans in the region.

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Biobanking Market Competitive Landscape:

Promega Corporation, Hamilton Company, Greiner Holding AG, Merck KGaA, VWR Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Tecan Trading AG, Qiagen N.V., Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd., Inc., Chart Industries, Inc., Brooks Automation, and others are some of the major companies to influence the global market. These companies rely on trends to initiate business models and their response to the market often spans across methods like merger, acquisition, innovation, collaboration, research funding, and others. MRFR listed all these recent moves to understand biobanking market trends and emerging trendsetters.
Market Overview:

Diseases such as schistosomiasis, ascariasis, whipworm infection, and other intestinal infections have become prevalent globally which induces high demand for antihelminthics drugs. As per the reports of the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1.5 Billion people were found tobe infected with soil-transmitted helminthes in 2014 on a global scale. Also, a recent report by WHO suggests that more than 880 million children require treatment for parasitic diseases.

Antihelminthics are a group of antiparasitic drugs that are prescribed to kill parasites (helminthes) in common parasitic infestations such as fasciolasis, filariasis, angiostrongylosis, and others. The global Antihelminthics Market is likely to capture a CAGR of 5.3% and reach high growth figures over the forecast period of 2017-2027, projects Market Research Future (MRFR) in an exclusive study.

Parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis, whipworm infection, ascariasis, and other intestinal infections are most prevalent in East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and India. Parasitic diseases occur in unhygienic conditions in the developing countries where a majority of the population suffering from such diseases induce high demand for antihelminthics and boost the growth of the global antihelminthics market.

In the last few years, extensive research programs have been initiated which has resulted in thedevelopment and modification of existing drugs. The pharmaceuticalindustry has been able to produce a wide spectrum of highly effective antihelminthics which has been a plus for the growth of the global antihelminthics market.

Other factors spurring the growth of the global anthelminthic market include growing geriatric population and rapidly expanding healthcare sector, especially in developing economies.

On the other hand, the growth of the global antihelminthics market might be impeded by the side effects associated with antihelminthics. Also, overuse of antihelminthics leads to the emergence of resistant microbes which might affect the efficacy of antihelminthics.

Competitive Landscape:

Sanofi (US),Merck & Co., Inc. (US),GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (US),AstraZeneca (UK),Bayer AG (Germany),Sanofi (France),ALLERGAN (Ireland),Mentis Pharma Ltd. (India),Abbott (US),ZEISS International (Germany),AstellasPharma Inc. (Japan),Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (US),Novartis AG (Switzerland), and Pfizer Inc. (US).

Segmentation:

The global antihelminthics market has been segmented based on type, application, and end user.

By type, the global antihelminthics market has been segmented into benzimidazoles, abamectin, salicylanilides, praziquantel,and others.

The Benzimidazoles segment has been further segmented into benzimidazoles, albendazole, mebendazole, thiabendazole, and others. The benzimidazoles segment accounts for the largest share of the market owing to their long history and efficiency. Additionally, they are easily availed in the market which drives the segment growth further.

The Salicylanilides segment has been further segmented into niclosamide, oxyclozanide, rafoxanide, and others.

By application, the global antihelminthics market has been segmented into schistosomiasis, fasciolasis, filariasis, angiostrongylosis, ascariasis, giardiasis,and others.

By end user, the global antihelminthics market has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, and others.

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Regional Analysis:

By region, the global antihelminthics market has been segmented into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). The Americas dominate the global antihelminthics market. High prevalence of parasitic diseases and presence of a vast base of geriatric population boosts the growth of the antihelminthics market in the Americas. Government support in the form of R&D funds and developed pharmaceutical industry too augur the growth of the market.

Europe follows the Americas closely and accounts for the second largest share of the market. Extensive R&D efforts and increasing geriatric population drive the market in Europe.

APAC is likely to be the fastest growing market for antihelminthics. The developing economies in the region present a myriad of opportunities for the growth of the antihelminthics market. Surging prevalence of parasitic and digestive disorders in theregion, rapid economic growth and expanding healthcare sector stimulates the growth of the antihelminthics market in APAC.
A shooting at a birthday party in Colorado Springs records seven fatalities, including the suspect. Family, friends, and children gathered to celebrate a birthday on Sunday. At 12:20 AM, authorities responded to a shooting in a trailer at the Colorado Springs' Canterbury Mobile Home Park.

Colorado Birthday Party Turns Tragic

According to the police, the gunman took his own life. Police officers discovered the victims and gunman with gunshot injuries.

The suspect spared the children who were present within the trailer at the mobile home park. They were placed with relatives. According to a statement released by the Colorado Springs Police Department, "The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life," reported Reuters.

The police stated the birthday party was for one of the individuals killed. They had not released the identities of the gunman or victims.

The suspected shooter walked inside the trailer and started shooting before killing himself. Police remarked in an initial report that the shooter knew the victims, reported USA Today.

The six adults died on the spot, and a man with severe injuries passed away later at a hospital. A motive was not immediately released.

According to Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski, he could not put into words to describe the tragedy that transpired. Lt. Jim Sokolik, a Colorado Springs Police Department spokesperson, said officers located multiple deceased parties.

Read Also: Sixth Grade Girl Shoots 3 at Idaho Middle School, Police Baffled Where Gun Came From

According to Niski, "From the officers who responded to the shooting to the investigators still on scene, we are all left incredibly shaken. This is something you hope never happens in your own community, in the place that you call home," reported ABC 7.

The investigation is underway. Niski stated his pledge to the community and the families who have lost their loved ones that his department will do everything they could to help them find the answers they deserve and unwaveringly support them.

The mass shooting that happened around 70 miles (110 km) south of Denver is the most recent resurgence of mass shootings in the United States after such incidents appeared to recede during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Among the incidents this 2021 was the one in Boulder, Colorado, wherein one man had been charged with ten counts of murder for a gunning spree at a supermarket around 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Denver.

Niski added that he is sympathetic to the families who have lost someone and the children who have lost their parents. According to Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Springs shooting is devastating. This is especially as several of us are spending the day commemorating the women in their lives who have made us the individuals they are today.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers remarked that they are mourning the lives lost. They are praying solemnly for injured individuals and those who lost family members in a nonsensical act of brutality on Sunday.

Related Article: Wisconsin Bar Shooting: 1 Person Arrested, 3 Killed, 3 Injured

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In a recently published article in The Economic Times, Elon Musk announced through his social media account that its SpaceX would be funded by the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. It will be the first commercial lunar payload in history.

According to a published article in PRNewswire, in the first quarter of 2022, the 40-kilogram cubesat will be deployed as rideshare on a Falcon 9 lunar payload flight.

SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales, Tom Ochinero, said, "This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce. We're excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon," as reported by MarketWatch.

Read Also: 60 New SpaceX Starlink Satellites Aboard Into Orbit as Over 500,000 People Order Internet Service

Effect of the Announcement of SpaceX

The announcement of Elon Musk and SpaceX that its mission will be funded by the cryptocurrency Dogecoin will have a significant effect on the trading. According to a recently published article in Engadget, its price is expected to spike in the coming days.

Despite its rising success, Dogecoin's trade plummeted after Musk referred to the cryptocurrency as "hustle" moments after referring to it as "an unstoppable financial vehicle that's going to take over the world" throughout his time hosting the Saturday Night Live.

Dogecoin was quoted as low as $0.416 on cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Sunday, down from about $0.65 before Musk's remarks during Saturday night's display. However, the announcement of Elon Musk and SpaceX today will have a huge impact on the trading.

Cryptocurrencies Have Been Widely Used as Payments

Cryptocurrencies are gradually being adopted as payment methods by both public and private institutions. Bitcoin, the most common blockchain, which surpassed a $1 trillion market cap in February, is embraced by several major corporations, including Microsoft, Home Depot, and Starbucks.

Governments are also interested in cryptocurrencies, with Miami establishing a committee to research cryptocurrency for municipal services.

In February, Mayor Francis Suarez said that he had been a crypto guy since the beginning, and he believes in the sort of underpinnings of it, the mathematics behind it. He added that he is fascinated by the way that it came about.

Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that began as a joke built on the "doge" meme and was once traded at a fraction of a penny per token on cryptocurrency exchanges, has soared in popularity due to its viral appeal. Musk, the founder and chief designer of SpaceX, has been a vocal supporter of Dogecoin, referring to it as "the people's crypto."

Geometric Energy Corporation

Geometric Energy's Chief Executive Officer Samuel Reid said that having officially transacted with DOGE for a deal of this magnitude, Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX have solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector.

It is the first time that Doge, a token created in 2013 as a joke, would be used for anything other than tipping and collecting small sums of money.

Related Article: Elon Musk, Mark Cuban Tweets Spark Dogecoin Surge, Will Crypto Become a Bubble?

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Market Research Future has just added another market concentrate to its broad research portfolio, titled Healthcare IT Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023. The report offers shrewd bits of knowledge and utilizations careful examination of market components to measure advertise size and advancement.

Market Scenario

The global healthcare IT market is presumed to expand at 15% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2023) owing to the growing need to curtail healthcare costs, asserts Market Research Future (MRFR). Healthcare information technology or Healthcare IT is a vast field that applies IT to create, design, use, and maintain the data systems in healthcare. It enables the exchange of health-related information electronically among different organizations. Wireless technologies available in the market are WLAN, ZigBee technology, Bluetooth, WWAN, WMAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and others.

Potential and Pitfalls

With the growing need to curtail healthcare costs and manage regulatory compliance through healthcare IT solutions, the global healthcare IT market is considered to expand at a rapid pace. Also, high return on investment for healthcare IT solution and government support for healthcare IT solutions are further anticipated to stimulate the global market. Moreover, the ever-increasing population and urbanization are fueling the demand for automated procedures, thereby driving the global market. A steady rise in prominence of big data analytics in the digital healthcare sector is considered to fuel the market growth in the coming years. With the growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular ailments, blood pressure, and kidney disorders, the global market for healthcare IT is likely to flourish.

On the flip side, reluctance among the medical professionals to adopt advanced IT tools related to healthcare and high cost of deployment are some of the major factors considered to impede the market growth in the coming years.

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Competitive Dashboard

The major players operating the global market are Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), Kronos Incorporated (U.S.), Oracle Corporation (U.S.), United Healthcare Group (U.S.), Cerner Corporation (U.S.), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (The Netherlands), Wolters Kluwer (Netherland), CSI Healthcare IT (U.S.), Infor Inc. (U.S.), Anthelio Healthcare Solutions Inc. (U.S.), GE Healthcare (UK), Dell Technologies (U.S.), Spok Inc. (U.S.), Epic Systems Corporation (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), CTS (U.S.), athenahealth Inc. (U.S.), Orion Health (New Zealand), IBM (U.S.), Syntel Inc. (U.S.), Lexmark Healthcare (U.S.), Conifer Health Solutions (U.S.), 3M Health Information Systems (U.S.), and others.

Global Healthcare IT Market: Segmental Analysis

The healthcare IT market has been segmented on the basis of component, products and services, end-users, and region.

By mode of products and services, the global healthcare IT market has been segmented into healthcare payer solutions, healthcare provider solutions, HCIT outsourcing services, and others.

On the basis of component, the healthcare IT market has been segmented into software, services, and hardware.

By mode of end-user, the global healthcare IT market has been segmented into healthcare payers, healthcare providers, third-party administrators, research centers, and government institutions. Among all the regions, hospitals are considered to form the largest end-user segment of the global healthcare IT market. The growth is due to the high demand for various healthcare IT solutions among hospitals to manage the increasing load of patient information generated in the hospitals. Also, the growing need to improve the healthcare quality while improving operational efficiencies within the organizations is likely to fuel the segment growth.

Regional Insights

Geographically, the healthcare IT market span across regions namely, Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Among all the regions, America is considered to hold the largest share in the market and is presumed to maintain its dominance in the coming years. The growth is attributed to the presence of high-quality healthcare systems along with modern medical technology in this region.

Europe registers the second position in the global market as healthcare providers in this region are extensively adopting social media technologies. The Asia Pacific region is considered to register the fastest growth due to the accelerated economic growth of the countries. Also, the growing need to control the soaring healthcare costs are responsible for the emerging trends toward the digitization of patient records.

Industry Updates

November 01, 2018: National Health Service Scotland has recently signed a new agreement with Microsoft in order to deploy Office 365 and migrate all systems to Windows 10 E5. This effort has been made to mitigate any potential threats and boost cyber resilience.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Chapter 5. Market Factor Analysis

Chapter 6. Global Healthcare IT Market, By Product & Services

Chapter 7. Global Healthcare IT Market, By Component

Chapter 8. Global Healthcare IT Market, By End-User

Chapter 9 Global Healthcare IT Market, By Region

Chapter 10 Company Landscape

Chapter 11 Company Profiles

Chapter 12. MRFR Conclusion

Chapter 13 Appendix

Continued!

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Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.
Michael McConnell, a former federal judge and the Board Co-Chair of Facebook's Oversight Committee, said on Sunday that Facebook exercised too much power for imposing an indefinite ban on former Pres. Donald Trump from using Facebook, according to a published article on Fox News.

McConnell said they needed some time because their rules are in shambles. They are not transparent; they are unclear and are internally inconsistent, he said, adding that they made a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent.

Facebook's Oversight Committee is an independent body whose members are not connected to Facebook. They are the ones who are given the authority to decide either to ban or to allow Trump to use Facebook again.

Read Also: Facebook Removes Video Interview With Trump

Facebook Violated Its Own Rule

In a recently published article in Bloomberg, McConnell said, "Mr. Trump is subject to the same rules on Facebook as everyone else, and the Oversight Board held that this was, in fact, a violation and thus Facebook was justified in taking them down."

The former federal judge also added that Facebook's decision to suspend him on social media indefinitely was not well justified. He also explained that Facebook did not give any reason for it, and it was not on their provision.

According to a published report in Forbes, they are attempting to incorporate some of the most fundamental concepts of the First Amendment and free speech legislation around the world into this process. Facebook wields far too much strength. They are capricious. They are indecisive. And it is the Oversight Board's responsibility to try to apply some discipline to the operation.

Trump is Responsible, but Facebook's Action is Inappropriate

McConnell also said that Trump is responsible for what transpired during the Capitol siege since he issued inflammatory posts that triggered his supporters to attack the Capitol.

However, On Wednesday, Facebook's Oversight Board upheld Trump's removal from Facebook and Instagram but said it was "inappropriate" to enforce the "indeterminate and standardless punishment of permanent suspension."

"On January 7, 2021, the Board upheld Facebook's decision to limit then-President Donald Trump's access to uploading material on his Facebook profile and Instagram account," the board said in a statement.

Members of the Board of the Oversight Committee said that they are giving Facebook six months to review its decision to ban Trump on Facebook indefinitely. They also noted that Facebook violated its own rule.

Other Important Information

McConnell explained that it is, of course, up to Congress to decide what the antitrust laws are going to be, adding that it is not a First Amendment issue. He also said that no judge in the country would hold that Trump's free speech rights were violated.

Trump's Facebook account has millions of followers, and it has been his primary source in giving updates during his administration.

Related Article: Report: Parler Offers Trump Company 40% Ownership of the App, To Make It His Go-To Social Media

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The Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan on Monday for this week's Eid al-Fitr holiday. The declaration came two days after the government blamed the rebels for bombings outside a school that recorded initial 50 civilians deaths, mainly young girls.

Ceasefire for the Eid al-Fitr holiday

"From the first to the third day of Eid, Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are ordered to cease all offensive operations against the enemy countrywide," the Taliban said in a statement, as per AFP via MSN. The holiday of Eid al-Fitr commemorates the culmination of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and it starts with the sighting of the new moon.

The government blamed the Taliban for an attack outside a girls' school in Dasht-e-Barchi, a capital suburb dominated by the Shiite Hazara group, often attacked by radical Sunni Islamist militants. The Taliban denied involvement in the bombing, which is the country's worst in over a year. Despite crumbling peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government to end a decades-long insurgency, the US continues to withdraw its last 2,500 troops from the violence-wracked country.

Fraidoon Khwazoon, a spokesman for Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation chairman, which oversees the peace process, said the organization supported the Taliban's ceasefire declaration. President Ashraf Ghani's spokesmen were unable to comment about whether the ceasefire would be observed.

Peace talks between the warring sides started last year in Doha, Qatar's capital. But have made minor gains, and conflict has increased. Since Washington declared plans last month to withdraw all US troops by September 11, Kabul has been on high alert. Afghan officials reported that the Taliban increased attacks across the country due to the decision.

Read Also: Explosion in Afghan Capital, Near Girl's School, Kills 30

Death rose to 68 in connection with the Afghan school bomb attack

Officials said on Sunday that the death toll from a bomb attack outside a school in Kabul, Afghan's capital, has risen to 68, with doctors battling to care for 165 injured patients and families looking urgently for their children. Explosions rocked the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood on Saturday evening, home to a significant population of Shi'ites from the Hazara ethnic minority who the Islamic State has previously attacked, a Sunni militant group.

As students ran out in terror, a car bomb exploded in front of the Sayed Al-Shuhada campus, followed by two more explosions. The majority of those killed, according to officials, were schoolgirls. Some parents were also looking for their children in hospitals.

"The first explosion was strong and occurred so close to the children that some of them were not found," said an Afghan official who did not want to be identified. According to Reuters, all of the victims were schoolgirls returning home after finishing their studies.

On Sunday, residents and police officers gathered books and school bags strewn around a blood-streaked road now clogged with shoppers in preparation for the Eid al-Fitr holidays next week. President Ashraf Ghani blamed rebels for the attack on Saturday, but a Taliban spokesman denied responsibility and condemned all violence on Afghan civilians.

In comments to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Sunday, Pope Francis dubbed the attack the "inhuman act." The attack was also condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who extended his condolences to the families of the victims and the Afghan government and citizens.

Victims' families criticized the government and Western powers for failing to stop the terrorism and the continuing conflict. As the first burials took place in the city's west, bodies were also recovered from morgues. Several families gathered outside hospitals to read names written on the walls and visit morgues searching for missing relatives, NY Post reported.

Read Article: North Korea Claims COVID-19 Could Enter Via South's Propaganda Leaflets Sent Through Balloons

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The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management said a brush fire that started east of Phoenix on Friday has spread to 2,560 acres. According to the department's Twitter account, the Copper Canyon Fire was around 20 percent contained as of Sunday.

Copper Canyon fire spread to 2,560 acres

The fire information system InciWeb stated that the departments are emphasizing their efforts on the blaze's southern and western sides. Fire intensity has decreased dramatically. But gusts of up to 30 mph are forecast in the area on Sunday afternoon, officials said, CNN reported.

On Saturday, the fire's hazard to structures and other properties had diminished dramatically. Although no evacuations were requested on Sunday, people were advised to be prepared if the situation altered.

According to fire authorities, US Highway 60, which was blocked in both directions in Gila County on Friday, was also closed. The fire broke out about 3 miles northeast of Globe, Arizona, about 90 miles east of Phoenix, fueled by hot, dry weather and wind. The cause of the fire is now being investigated.

The Arizona State Forestry Department said the Copper Canyon Fire had slowed considerably, forcing the closing of US 60 in Gila County near Globe. Firefighters' actions overnight have significantly reduced the fire's activity.

The fire started three miles northeast of Globe and had spread to 2,400 acres. Authorities have not recommended any pre-evacuations. The vulnerability to buildings and land, according to the department, has dramatically decreased.

While the blaze has spread away from the highway, officials have announced that US 60 will stay closed due to broken guardrails. "Hot, dry, and windy conditions ignited the fire on Friday, making suppression challenging," the department said, as per 12News. The Arizona Department of Transportation will provide highway alerts.

Read Also: Tornadoes Cause Devastation in Mississippi, Georgia; More Than 100 Million People at Risk of Severe Weather

Mandatory evacuations implemented in some areas of Arizona

Per AZCentral, Horsethief Basin, and Minnehaha, Fort Misery has all been ordered to evacuate, and Crown King has been put on high alert due to the Tussock Fire. According to Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Mariela Castaneda, the fire is situated just south of Prescott National Forest and has crossed into the national forest.

According to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, Crown King was closed to non-residents, and the Senator Highway (Forest Road 52) between Hooper Saddle (Forest Road 362) and Crown King (Forest Road 259) will be closed to traffic. Castaneda said there had been no containment reports and that efforts were centered on the north and northeast sides of the fire as the winds moved the fire in that direction.

The Arizona Department of Transportation said the fire, which began on May 8, has spread to the point that smoke from the fire could be seen from Interstate 17 near Table Mesa Road. A total of nearly 2,500 acres have been burnt. The smoke may affect I-17, said the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. According to a Yavapai County evacuation alert, Mayer High School is the appointed evacuation shelter.

Related Article: 2-Year-Old Dies and 3 Others After Small Plane Crashes Into Their Mississippi Home

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On June 3, former Vice President Mike Pence will attend the Hillsborough County GOP's annual Lincoln Reagan awards dinner in New Hampshire. A Republican Party fundraiser and dinner will be held in New Hampshire, the nation's first presidential primary state since the 2020 election campaign began.

Ex-VP Mike Pence to attend GOP dinner

Stephen Stepanek, the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, was ecstatic about Pence's visit, adding, "Obviously it telegraphs that he will have concern as 2024 approaches," referring to the presidential race in 2024. According to NBC affiliate NECN, Stepanek said that Pence has supporters in New Hampshire.

Pence flew to South Carolina to give his first speech since Donald Trump's presidency ended on January 20. In his message, he said, "We have to guard our values... by delivering a constructive agenda to the American people, anchored in our highest ideals. I'll have plenty to think about all of that in the coming months," Fox News reported.

According to NECN, the former vice president said that he would strike back on the liberal agenda of President Joe Biden's government, which he believes is damaging to the country. Pence has not said whether he intends to run for president in 2020, although his office has stated that he is arranging more visits to Texas, Michigan, and California.

During his first speech since taking office, Pence glossed over Donald Trump's snub to his vice president and slammed Joe Biden's progressive first 100 days, The Sun reported. The 61-year-old former vice president declined to mention Donald Trump's apparent snub after naming Ron DeSantis as a potential vice presidential candidate in 2024.

During an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Trump indicated that he would run alongside the Florida Governor for a third term. He was then asked if he would consider running alongside DeSantis, with whom Trump has had a long-standing friendship. He outlined a series of right-wing Republican policies that he said will "win back America," putting himself in the running for president in 2024.

Read Also: Pence Unveils Plans for 2024 Presidential Run Following Reports He's Not Included as Trump's Pick

Mike Pence sparks rumors of joining the 2024 presidential race

Pence has been sparking rumors that he would run for president when he stayed in the D.C. metro area after leaving office and gradually reentering the public eye. The former vice president flew to South Carolina before the forthcoming fundraiser was announced, while the state came in third in the GOP nomination contest behind Iowa and New Hampshire.

Pence flew to Austin, Texas Friday, to speak at the Texas Victory Committee Donor Appreciation Conference, organized by former George W. Bush's political adviser and current Republican strategist Karl Rove. The former Trump administration's No. 2 spoke at the Susan B. Anthony List's Pro-Life Leaders Summit in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier that week.

In addition to Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also considering a presidential race, spoke at the event. Pence sent a video message to the crowd.

Rather than moving to their home in Indiana after leaving office, Mike Pence and his former second lady Karen Pence migrated to a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. As a visiting fellow, he joined the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Pence began reentering the spotlight shortly after the transfer, writing op-eds and attending speaking engagements. He has made no formal statement or taken any official steps toward the 2024 presidential race, but his acts point to him preparing for an announcement, as per Daily Mail.

Related Article: Former Vice President Mike Pence Set to Release Memoir in 2023, What Should We Expect?



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During remarks on the anniversary of World War II's end in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Nazi beliefs remain strong.

Vladimir Putin claims 'Nazi beliefs' persist

Putin condemned attempts to rewrite history, to defend traitors and terrorists, on whose hands rests the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, during the annual military parade at Moscow's Red Square. He claimed that Nazi ideologies are resurfacing, claiming that they were obsessed with the delusional theory.

According to The Associated Press, Putin said, "Unfortunately, many of the Nazi ideologies, especially those obsessed with the delusory theory of their exclusiveness, are attempting to be resurrected." However, he did not have any specifics.

According to the wire service, more than 190 military vehicles moved through the square, including a World War II-era T-34 tank and eight-axle Yars mobile ICBM launchers. The commemoration of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, named Victory Day in Russia, is the most important secular holiday. The war claimed the lives of nearly 27 million Soviet troops and civilians.

As the country commemorated the 76th anniversary of World War II victory, Putin pledged to protect Russia's national interests vehemently and condemned the resurgence of "Russophobia." Putin's address to tens of thousands of troops and veterans at Moscow's Red Square came amid renewed disputes with the West over the Ukraine crisis and a slew of European spy scandals.

"Slogans of ethnic and national domination, of anti-semitism and Russophobia grew even more pessimistic," the Russian leader said, referring to a creeping return of ideologies from the period, NZ Herald reported. Putin also cautioned that Nazism is still alive.

The parade on Sunday included over 12,000 military personnel, 190 pieces of military equipment, and 76 fighter jets and helicopters.

Victory Day parades, which only became an annual tradition after the Cold War ended in 1991 and have grown in significance in projecting Russia's reborn military strength during Putin's two decades in office, were held in dozens of cities around the country on Sunday.

Read Also: Putin Responds to Biden's 'Killer' Comments, Remarks Reflect US Past

Russia's annual victory day parade has been increasingly significant

Per Daily Mail, the public holiday has been increasingly crucial in projecting Russia's revived military strength during Putin's two decades in office. A huge firework show lit up Moscow's sky in reds, blues, and yellows on Sunday night.

According to a poll conducted this week by the state-run pollster VTsIOM, 69 percent of Russians consider it to be the most important holiday on the calendar. A third of those polled said they would attend the celebrations, while a fifth said they would watch them on tv.

The 76th anniversary of the 1945 victory comes when relations with the West have approached Cold War levels in recent weeks.

Russia's diplomats have been recalled from several European countries over spying cases. At the same time, the US and the EU impose fresh sanctions on Moscow in response to the treatment of imprisoned Kremlin activist Alexei Navalny and accusations of hacking and cyber-attacks. Moscow has increased its military presence overseas, interfering in Syria's civil war on behalf of Bashar al-Assad's regime. It's also commonly assumed that it backs pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's east.

Russia amassed 100,000 soldiers along Ukraine's borders and in Crimea last month, the most significant increase since 2014. Though, in what many saw as a challenge for new US President Joe Biden, it soon declared a drawdown.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Kiev earlier this week to show solidarity for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and ahead of a planned summit between Putin and Biden next month. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the pro-Russian breakaway eastern territory of Lugansk with European diplomats to commemorate the end of WWII.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin Tests Joe Biden by Massing Troops Along Ukraine's Border, Former US Ambassador Warns

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The European Union (EU) did not renew its contract with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for its COVID-19 vaccine. This is following the bloc's accusation against it last month of failing to deliver on its initial agreement.

According to European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, they did not renew the order following June, and they will "see what happens."

No Renewal of AstraZeneca Vaccines by EU

The commissioner also stated he expected the costs of the EU's latest order for more shots of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines would be higher than the previous versions. Last month, he launched legal action against AstraZeneca for not respecting its contract to supply novel coronavirus vaccines and not have a dependable plan to assure timely deliveries.

Breton added AstraZeneca is a "very good vaccine." He affirmed the bloc was not closing its doors from the British-Swedish company, reported DW.

Concerns have increased on probable side effects of the Anglo-Swedish coronavirus vaccine. According to Europe's medicines regulator on Friday, it evaluates reports of a rare nerve-degenerating disorder in individuals who have been administered the doses. This move comes after it found that the vaccine could have caused sporadic blood clotting cases, reported RTE.

The EU declaration arrives one day following its cementing of support for Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine by agreeing to a large contract extension for a potential 1.8 billion shots through 2023. The AstraZeneca vaccine had been at the center of Europe's vaccination campaign and a linchpin in the worldwide strategy to disseminate vaccines to poorer countries.

This is because it is cheaper and more convenient to use than the Pfizer vaccine. However, the slow pace of deliveries has frustrated the Europeans, and they have held the company accountable for partly delaying their vaccine dissemination, reported Hindustan Times.

Read Also: Sinopharm Efficacy Rate: China's COVID-19 Vaccine Gets WHO Approval for Adult Emergency Use

The United Kingdom has made the AstraZeneca vaccine the focal point of its successful inoculation campaign. The EU declaration also comes during months of tension between the European bloc and AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca twice remarked it would not be distributing the number of vaccines to the EU that it was expecting.

For the lawsuit, as mentioned earlier, AstraZeneca indicated in a statement that it rejected the lawsuit's claim. It argued the company was about to disseminate nearly 50 million doses to European nations by the end of April, in line with their forecast.

According to Breton, an increase in prices for second-generation vaccines may be justified by the additional research required and probable alterations to industrial equipment. The EU's new contract with Pfizer-Biotech also made a negotiation involving donations and reselling of doses and covering booster shots, stated the European Commission on Friday.

Rare blood clots also appear with low platelets (which help to clot) in the blood. Britain's medicines safety regulator on Friday stated most adults under the age of 40 would be provided an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the association with blood clots.

Related Article: Reused COVID-19 Nasal Swab Tests Puts 9,000 Indonesian People at Risk, Firm Staff Fired

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Over 1,000 migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday, while an NGO warned that hundreds more were stranded in the waters off Malta.

The arrivals prompted calls for immediate action from far-right lawmakers amid new tensions between Italian authorities and rescue boats operating in the central Mediterranean.

According to BBC News, nearly 400 people of various nationalities were on board a single boat intercepted off the coast of Lampedusa, including 24 women and six children. Another boat transported 325 sailors, and hundreds more arrived on smaller vessels.

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, denounced the arrivals, according to a report by Alarabiya News. Salvini is on trial in Sicily for refusing to allow migrants to disembark when he was interior minister in August 2019. He demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Mario Draghi, saying, "With millions of Italians in difficulty, we cannot think of thousands of illegal immigrants,"

Meanwhile, Alarm Phone, a rescue organization, has requested assistance in locating three boats in Maltese waters, claiming that one rescue operation could save a total of about 231 people from drowning.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than half a million people have arrived on Italian shores since early 2015. The waterway connecting Sicily and North Africa is also one of the world's most dangerous migration routes.

According to the IOM, 8,604 people arrived in Italy and another 65 in Malta between January 1 and April 21 of this year, with 359 deaths. Several NGO ships are stationed in the city, attempting to rescue those who have become stranded in the water after crossing in overcrowded or leaky vessels. Some protestors accuse authorities of allowing people to drown.

On the other hand, the NGOs have been accused of working with Libyan migrant smugglers to carry people to safety on European shores, which they categorically refute.

According to Alarabiya News, Sicilian judicial authorities restored a detention order against the Sea-Watch 4 vessel, operated by Germany's Sea-Watch organization, kept in Palermo for six months until March of this year.

Read Also: Illegal Immigrants to Be Sent $4.38 Billion Stimulus Checks

Immigration in Italy by the Numbers

In recent years, illegal immigration to Italy has decreased. In 2019, 11.5 thousand migrants arrived in Italy by sea, compared to 181,000 in 2016, according to a report by Reuters. In 2020, however, there will be a considerable rise in the number of immigrants arriving by sea on Italian shores.

Despite the overall decrease, anti-immigrant parties in Italy continue to campaign for tighter border controls, more deportations of migrants already in the country, and reforms to asylum laws.

Even though Salvini's attempt to put his League party to power in August 2019 failed, his anti-immigrant agenda continues to gain ground in regional elections.

One example is the League-backed election of Donatella Tesei in Umbria in October 2019. More recently, in Emilia-Romagna, the League came dangerously close to deposing a seven-decade-old center-left regional government.

Even though the center-left gained a majority, the League is just two percentage points behind the center-left as votes are distributed across parties.

Out of more than 2.2 million votes cast, the League nominee was defeated by around 100,000 votes. The key plan of their candidate's agenda was anti-immigrant policies.

Immigration in Times of COVID-19

In addition to domestic concerns, anti-immigrant groups profit from foreign events. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, 60 million Italians have only recently been released from government-imposed quarantine, isolation, and travel bans.

The pandemic was centered around the northern economic hubs of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna, with Italy having one of the highest case counts in Europe. The economic consequences for Italy have been severe and are still being felt.

Furthermore, Salvini and other anti-immigrant anti-EU politicians have used the pandemic to push for stronger border controls and blame the virus on refugees and foreign visitors.

Related Article: Stimulus Bill May Be Delayed Over Fury That Undocumented Immigrants Will Receive $1400 Checks







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A Myanmar poet, Khet Thi, died in detention, and his family said his body was returned with missing organs, Reuters reports.

Armed soldiers and police arrested and detained both Khet Thi and his wife, Chaw Su, on Saturday in the central town of Shwebo, in the Sagaing area.

Sagaing is a hotbed of resistance to the coup that deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi - for questioning, according to Khet Thi's wife.

Thi never returned home, even though Su did. On Sunday, his body was returned to his family.

The junta's spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment on Khet Thi's death, who wrote the line "They shoot in the head, but they don't know the revolution is in the heart."

Su shared to BBC Burmese language news in a report by the Insider, "They called me in the morning and told me to meet him at the hospital in Monywa. I thought it was just for a broken arm or something ... But when I arrived here, he was at the morgue, and his internal organs were taken out."

They were taken in the Sagaing region's central town of Shwebo. Protests against a military coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi erupted in the area in February.

According to Reuters, Su was told at the hospital that his husband died of a heart attack. However, she didn't bother reading the death certificate because she knew it wasn't real, Chaw Su said.

According to Chaw Su, the army had intended to bury him, but she pleaded with them to keep him alive. Su didn't mention how she found out her husband's organs were missing.

Read Also: Myanmar Post-Coup Protests Records Over 700 Fatalities

Poets are Dying Since February Coup

Since the February 1 coup, Khet Thi was at least the third poet to die in protests. Khet Thi was a classmate of K Za Win, a poet killed in Monywa during a protest in early March.

Thi worked as an engineer before leaving in 2012 to pursue his passion for poetry and support himself by making and selling ice cream and cakes.

He wrote two weeks after the coup, "I don't want to be a hero, I don't want to be a martyr, I don't want to be a weakling, I don't want to be a fool," Thi adds, "I don't want to support injustice. If I have only a minute to live, I want my conscience to be clean for that minute."

"My people are being shot, and I can only throw back poems," he wrote. "But when you are sure your voice is not enough, then you need to choose a gun carefully. I will shoot."

According to the advocacy organization Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Thi "died at the hospital after being tortured in the detention center."

This is the third poet to perish during the coup protests.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that 780 civilians had been killed and 4,899 detained since the coup began.

Despite the killings and thousands of arrests, cultural leaders and celebrities have been vocal supporters of the coup. Protests are held daily in various parts of the Southeast Asian nation.

Related Article: Death of Detained Myanmar Official Raises Fear

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A man on an organized turkey hunt allegedly mistook another man hiking a Missouri trail for a turkey and reportedly shot him. The injured person has yet to be identified by authorities, and his current state is also uncertain.

According to The Kansas City Star, St. Charles County police were alerted and immediately responded to the Lewis and Clark Trail at about 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The man was removed from the wooded area using a utility task vehicle before being flown to a hospital with "severe, life-threatening injuries," according to Kyle Gaines, spokesperson for the St. Charles County Ambulance District. The authorities are currently investigating the incident.

Rescue workers used a utility-task vehicle to reach the wounded man, who was airlifted to an area trauma center in critical condition.

Another man, according to Brown, was dressed in full camouflage from head to toe nearby. According to the newspaper, she noticed that he was quiet and wielded a long weapon.

"It may have been an accident," Brown argued. However, she added that it is seemingly unforgivable to encourage people to hunt with guns and weapons on a Mother's Day weekend, especially on one of the most heavily traveled trails.

Brown told the Post-Dispatch, "It's so sad," that she saw first responders tending to a man on a stretcher who seemed to be unresponsive.

Nancy Phillips of St. Louis, according to a news report by Yahoo, told KSDK that she hikes in the area where the man was shot on a regular basis and dressed brightly so "no hunters mistake me for something."

On the last two days of the spring turkey season, the shooting took place. The Missouri Department of Conservation stated that the weapons season lasted from April 19 to May 9, from a half-hour before sunrise to 1 p.m.

According to KSDK, the man was shot during a turkey hunt organized by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The injured hiker has yet to be identified by authorities.

Read Also: Wisconsin Bar Shooting: 1 Person Arrested, 3 Killed, 3 Injured

Gun Shooting Mistakes Over the Years

According to Aftermath, Specialists in Trauma Cleaning & Biohazard Removal, accidental firearms fatalities in 2018 made up 1% (458) of all gun-related deaths in the United States (39,740).

About 220 children had unintentionally shot each other so far in 2020. There have been 92 deaths and 135 injuries as a result of this.

During the coronavirus pandemic, shelter-in-place orders resulted in a significant increase in accidental shootings by children at home. As compared to the same months the previous two years, fatal accidental shootings increased by 43% in March and April. Around 77% of unintentional gun deaths occur at home.

According to Injury Epidemiology, firearm fatalities common scenarios include playing with the gun (28.3% of incidents), assuming the gun was unloaded (17.2%), and hunting. (13.8%).

In nearly a quarter of the deaths, the victim is surmised of having consumed alcohol, and in 46.8% of deaths for those aged 20-29, the victim is suspected of having consumed alcohol.

Related Article: At Least 8 People Dead Including Suspect in Massive Shooting at Indianapolis FedEx Facility

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Press Release

10 May 2021

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee, and MILWAUKEE - The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index rose 3.2% in April to a level of 5,297. Year to date through the first four months of 2021, the stock index was up 15.8%.

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"Hotel stock prices increased in April, but they were relative underperformers on a monthly basis for the third time this year," said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird. "The broader reopening trade has lost some momentum recently as investors continue to rotate into more defensive and value-oriented sectors despite the progress that is being made on the vaccination front and the sequential monthly improvement in hotel fundamentals being realized. The Hotel REITs have outperformed the Hotel Brand stocks each month this year."

"The first quarter of the year produced stronger room demand than expected as American consumers, emboldened by ongoing vaccinations and plenty of savings, are buying the experiences they had to forego for the last year," said Amanda Hite, STR president. "This translated directly to higher occupancies, especially on weekends. Luxury hotels actually showed a higher March ADR than in March of 2019, pointing to the resilience of the offerings at the highest end of the market. STR and Tourism Economics will likely revise our new forecast upward, not because demand will exceed expectations for the remainder of 2021, but because of the strength of the first quarter."

Photo: STR

In April, the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index fell behind both the S&P 500 (+5.2%) and the MSCI US REIT Index (+7.9%).

The Hotel Brand sub-index increased 2.8% from March to 9,060, while the Hotel REIT sub-index grew 4.4% to 1,362.

About the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index and Sub-Indices

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was set to equal 1,000 on 1 January 2000. Last cycle, the Index peaked at 3,178 on 5 July 2007. The Index's low point occurred on 6 March 2009 when it dropped to 573.

The Hotel Brand sub-index was set to equal 1,000 on 1 January 2000. Last cycle, the sub-index peaked at 3,407 on 5 July 2007. The sub-index's low point occurred on 6 March 2009 when it dropped to 722.

The Hotel REIT sub-index was set to equal 1,000 on 1 January 2000. Last cycle, the sub-index peaked at 2,555 on 2 February 2007. The sub-index's low point occurred on 5 March 2009 when it dropped to 298.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index and sub-indices are available exclusively on Hotel News Now. The indices are cobranded and were created by Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and STR. The market-cap-weighted, price-only indices comprise 20 of the largest market-capitalization hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange and attempt to characterize the performance of hotel stocks. The Index and sub-indices are maintained by Baird and hosted on Hotel News Now, are not actively managed, and no direct investment can be made in them.

As of 30 April 2021, the companies that comprised the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index included: Apple Hospitality REIT, Chatham Lodging Trust, Choice Hotels International, DiamondRock Hospitality Company, Extended Stay America, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hilton Inc., Host Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Park Hotels & Resorts, Inc., Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, Ryman Hospitality Properties, Service Properties Trust, Summit Hotel Properties, Sunstone Hotel Investors, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Xenia Hotels & Resorts.

This communication is not a call to action to engage in a securities transaction and has not been individually tailored to a specific client or targeted group of clients. Research reports on the companies identified in this communication are provided by Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, and are available to clients through their Baird Financial Advisor. This communication does not provide recipients with information or advice that is sufficient on which to base an investment decision. This communication does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation or need of any particular client and may not be suitable for all types of investors. Recipients should consider the contents of this communication as a single factor in making an investment decision. Additional fundamental and other analyses would be required to make an investment decision about any individual security identified in this release.

About Baird

Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has approximately 4,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and more than $305 billion in client assets as of June 30, 2020. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 13 on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 2020  its 17th consecutive year on the list. Baird is the marketing name of Baird Financial Group. Baird's principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird's investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird's website at www.rwbaird.com.
Press Release

10 May 2021

Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted all comparisons are to March 2019, which followed a normal demand pattern.

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Total demand for air travel in March 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 67.2% compared to March 2019. That was an improvement over the 74.9% decline recorded in February 2021 versus February 2019. The better performance was driven by gains in domestic markets, particularly China. International traffic remained largely restricted.

International passenger demand in March was 87.8% below March 2019, a very small improvement from the 89.0% decline recorded in February 2021 versus two years ago.

Total domestic demand was down 32.3% versus pre-crisis levels (March 2019), greatly improved over February 2021, when domestic traffic was down 51.2% versus the 2019 period. All markets except Brazil and India showed improvement compared to February 2021, with China being the key contributor, as already noted.

"The positive momentum we saw in some key domestic markets in March is an indication of the strong recovery we are anticipating in international markets as travel restrictions are lifted. People want and need to fly. And we can be optimistic that they will do so when restrictions are removed," said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General.

Photo: IATA

1) % of industry RPKs in 2020 2) Change in load factor vs. the same month in 2019 3) Load Factor Level

International Passenger Markets

Asia-Pacific airlines' March international traffic was down 94.8% compared to March 2019, barely better than the 95.4% decline registered in February 2021 versus February 2019. The region continued to suffer from the steepest traffic declines for a ninth consecutive month. Capacity was down 87.0% and the load factor sank 48.6 percentage points to 31.9%, the lowest among regions.

European carriers

recorded an 88.3% decline in traffic in March versus March 2019, just slightly ahead of the 89.1% decline in February compared to the same month in 2019. Capacity fell 80.0% and load factor fell by 35.0 percentage points to 49.4%.

Middle Eastern airlines'

demand fell 81.6% in March compared to March 2019, improved over an 83.1% demand drop in February, versus the same month in 2019. Capacity fell 67.2%, and load factor declined 32.3 percentage points to 41.3%.

North American carriers

saw March traffic sink 80.9% compared to the 2019 period, a gain compared to the 83.4% decline in February compared to two years ago. Capacity sagged 62.6%, and load factor dropped 41.0 percentage points to 42.9%.

Latin American airlines

experienced an 82.4% demand drop in March, compared to the same month in 2019, a slight improvement compared to the 83.7% decline in February compared to February 2019. March capacity was down 77.4% compared to March 2019 and load factor dropped 18.1 percentage points to 63.6%, highest among the regions for a sixth straight month.

African airlines'

traffic sank 73.7% in March versus March two years ago, marking a deterioration compared to a 72.3% decline recorded in February compared to February 2019. March capacity contracted 61.8% versus March 2019, and load factor fell 22.3 percentage points to 49.0%.

Domestic Passenger Markets

Photo: IATA

1) % of industry RPKs in 2020 2) Change in load factor vs. the same month in 2019 3) Load Factor Level

Brazil's

domestic traffic was down 54.0% in March compared to March 2019, as the authorities tightened restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases. This was drastically worse than the 34.9% decline in February over February 2019.

Japan's

domestic traffic declined 58.3% in March versus the same month in 2019, much improved from the 73.2% decline in February compared to two years ago.

The Bottom Line

"The emergence of new COVID-19 variants and rising cases in some countries are behind governments' reluctance to lift travel restrictions and quarantine. However, we are beginning to see positive developments, such as the recent announcement by European Commission President von der Leyen that vaccinated travelers from the US will be allowed to enter the EU. At least 24 countries have already said they will welcome vaccinated travelers. We expect this to continue and gather momentum as vaccination numbers rise. However, governments should not rely only on vaccinations, as it risks discriminating against those individuals who are unable to get a vaccine for medical or other reasons, or who lack access to vaccinesa common situation in much of the world today. Affordable, timely and effective testing must be available as an alternative to vaccines in facilitating travel," said Walsh.

"Furthermore, for as long as these health measures are required, governments need to accept digital COVID-19 test and vaccination certificates and to follow global standards for issuing their own vaccination certificates and test results. We are already seeing intolerable waits at some airports, as airlines, passengers and border control authorities are having to rely on paper processes at a time when airports are no longer designed to accommodate them. The IATA Travel Pass addresses this challenge by enabling travelers to control and share their digital vaccination certificate or test results with airlines and border authorities, easing facilitation and reducing the risk of fraudulent documents," said Walsh.
Press Release

10 May 2021

Hilton has been recognized for its commitment to diversity and inclusion by DiversityInc, placing #1 on the 2021 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. This award marks the company's seventh consecutive year on the list, which highlights the nation's top companies that hire, develop, retain and promote a broadly diverse workforce. Hilton also placed as a Top Company on a record 12 Specialty lists, including: Latino Executives (#2), Mentoring (#3), Philanthropy (#3), Native American/Pacific Islander Executives (#3), Executive Diversity Councils (#5), People with Disabilities (#6), Board of Directors (#6), Sponsorship (#7), Employee Resource Groups (#8), Veterans (#10), Asian American Executives (#12), and ESG (no ranking provided).

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"Conrad Hilton founded this company on the belief that travel could be a bridge to world peace," said Chris Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton. "Today's recognition is evidence that our hospitality has the ability to create greater understanding and unite communities, and I'm so proud of the inclusive workplace our Team Members have built together."

Hilton recently announced its plans to increase gender and ethnic diversity in leadership roles, with a focus on the future as the pace of hiring within the industry picks up. The hospitality leader has committed to achieve global gender parity and 25 percent ethnic diversity at its corporate leadership levels in the U.S. by 2027. Additionally, it has established region-specific diversity goals for hotel leadership.

"We are incredibly proud and honored to receive this recognition from DiversityInc," said Laura Fuentes, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, Hilton. "Our progress on this journey is thanks to our Team Members and the community they have helped us build. They have embraced the power of inclusion and make Hilton a great place to work for all. We're so humbled by this honor, which means more than ever this year, and we look forward to continuing this work together."

While Hilton has been actively focused on creating programs and initiatives to advance diversity and inclusion for more than a decade, the company has taken additional actions during the past year to advance its inclusive culture, including:

Expanding the scope of its eight Team Member Resource Groups as a place for building community and allyship, while also serving as an important source of insights and perspectives for the business.

Launching Courageous Conversations, a global conversation series featuring internal and external thought leaders to explore elements of allyship, equity and inclusion.

Partnering with minority-focused organizations and HBCUs to build a diverse pipeline of talent.

Creating new leadership development programs designed to develop diverse leaders at both the corporate and hotel levels of the organization.

In 2021, Hilton has been named the #1 Best Big Company to Work For in the U.S. and #3 Best Company to Work For in the U.S. as well as achieved top rankings in Argentina (#1), Canada (#1), China (#1), Turkey (#1), United Kingdom (#1), Peru (#2), Italy (#5), Saudi Arabia (#5), Colombia (#6), and Spain (#7) by Great Place to Work. The Human Rights Campaign scored the company a rating of 100% for the eighth year. The company has also been recognized by Latina Style and Military Friendly, among others, for its diversity and inclusion efforts this year.

For more information on Hilton's commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, visit jobs.hilton.com/diversity.
Press Release

10 May 2021

Recent announcement will delay the recovery and the restoration of millions of jobs

UK government should take advantage of its effective vaccination rollout and restart international travel to benefit its economy

148 billion lost to the UK economy due to the lack of Travel & Tourism

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Gloria Guevera, President & CEO of World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said: "We welcome this first initial step by the UK government to begin opening the door to international travel with the announcement of today's 'traffic light' system.

"However, airlines and the wider Travel & Tourism sector will be hugely disappointed that the U.S., which has a similar vaccination success rate has not been included on the 'green list' as it would have enabled the resumption of transatlantic travel, which would have thrown a vital lifeline to the sector in two of the biggest Travel & Tourism markets in the world.

"The UK is the fourth biggest G20 economy in terms of international Travel & Tourism spend from business travel, which amounted to 7.5 billion in 2019, before the pandemic ripped through the heart of the sector.

"While we understand that protecting public health should be the priority, these measures have put the UK in a competitive disadvantage compared to other destinations across Europe and the globe. Unfortunately, they are not benefiting from their successful vaccination roll-out to allow the significant resumption of international travel.

"We are also disappointed that UK travellers are expected to pay for expensive PCR tests, even when traveling from countries on the green list. This will make foreign holidays totally unaffordable for many families.

"We urge the UK government to work with its providers to offer more cost-effective tests for UK travellers, or accept the more affordable yet rapid and effective, antigen tests.

"After suffering the biggest fall in contribution towards GDP from Travel & Tourism of the 10 most important global markets - by a staggering 62.5% and a total of 148 billion lost to its economy - the UK can ill-afford to be this cautious."
Press Release

10 May 2021

The new lifestyle properties boast vibrant contemporary designs and offer an inspiring experience to modern travelers

- CUE Podgorica is the first hotel opened under CUE Hotels in January 2021

- The second CUE property is expected to launch in Abu Dhabi in Q1 2022

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STORY Hospitality, an integrated and innovative hospitality management platform based in Abu Dhabi, announced the launch of its contemporary 4-star lifestyle brand, CUE Hotels. The hotels under the CUE brand represent a modern, chic and urban ambience that provides an u nforgettable and exciting experience to its guests. CentreVille Hotel & Experience is the first hotel that was opened under the CUE brand in January 2021 and rebranded as CUE Podgorica. The second CUE hotel is expected to open in Abu Dhabi by the end of Q1 2022.

The CUE Hotels bring a distinctive touch to STORY Hospitality with its fresh approach to today's hotel landscape. Conceived to transport and transform, CUE Hotels stands for happy chic. The brand claim says it all: 'Unplug & Play' and extends an invitation to step into a sensory wonderland with the aim to invite guests to disconnect from the virtual realm and dive into reality where visceral memories are made, and human connections are ignited.

Commenting on the launch Claudio Capaccioli, CEO, STORY Hospitality said: "We are pleased to announce the launch of CUE Hotels, a perfect sensory wonderland for today's aspirational traveler. Our endeavour is to provide our guests with a more close, personal and authentic service that will leave them feeling refreshed and recharged. Today's explorers crave places with a personality that embraces their surroundings or tells a story, our CUE Hotels offer a unique experience and inspiration that are as rich as the location destination itself and will always be a reference in the cities where they are present."

The first hotel rebranded under CUE Hotels is CUE Podgorica, located at The Capital Plaza complex in the heart of Montenegro's capital city Podgorica. Since its opening, the hotel became a key reference in the city, featuring six floors,122 comfortable rooms, grandly furnished apartments, conference halls, a gallery space and a unique Roof Top Penthouse Suite and terrace for private events and celebrations providing a stunning view of the city and mountains. The hotel houses the city's leading dining hub and lounge aptly named The Living Room, the beating heart of CUE Podgorica. As described by mos t of the guests it's 'the place to see and be seen in Podgorica', offering an eclectic mix of dining options ranging from breakfast, coffee options on the terrace, business lunch in the parlour to its famous aperitif during a live concert at night. With a lively atmosphere, vibrant decor and a fun-loving, glam gathering, The Living Room is a must-visit restaurant in Podgorica for an unforgettable experience.

"The launch of CUE Hotels is to address our guests needs in the upscale sector; enhanced and more personalised service, seamless technology and authentic experience in the best locations around the world. The concept behind this brand is to create a playful environment, a colourful stay and stimulate social interaction intended for today's travelers seeking a unique and authentic experience in a place where new things are happening around all the time" added Capaccioli.

In the UAE, STORY Hospitality will open its second property under CUE Hotels in Abu Dhabi. CUE Abu Dhabi will offer a new world of hospitality imbued with the splendidness of casual elegance and is expected to open by end of Q3 2021.

For more information, visit https://story-hospitality.com/cue-hotels/
Seattle has the Pike Place Market. San Francisco has the Ferry Building. New York has Chelsea Market.

And Houston? Todd Mason, founding partner of the investment company MLB Capital Partners, hopes that the Houston Farmers Market, a 18-acre open-air affair dating back to 1942, will soon be the same for Bayou City. He envisions it as more than a place with a devoted regional following for its fresh fruits, nuts and spices, but also a destination. A place where Houstonians take out-of-town family and the citys chambers of commerce show off as they make the case for businesses to relocate to the city.

I want this to be such an iconic thing that everyone comes to see it, Mason said.

The newly revamped Houston Farmers Market, in the northeastern corner of the Heights at 2520 Airline Dr., completed construction in April, roughly doubling its amount of retail market space. Vendors, who spent the months the market was under construction operating out of tent, have already moved in, and high-profile restaurants, including Crawfish and Noodles and a casual concept by James Beard award-winning chef Chris Shepherd, are set to open this fall in newly constructed buildings flanking the open breezeway where produce and plants are being sold.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Crawfish & Noodles to open new restaurant at Houston Farmers Market

The passage channels a gentle wind through the space when there is one, while giant overhead fans cool the space when there is not. The heavy sweetness of mangoes and warmth of cinnamon and chiles waft up from the stalls.

On a recent Monday, shoppers wound their way through the food stalls that had already opened.

I love it, said Zuli Diaz of the changes as she purchased avocados, chiles de arbol, poblanos and spiced chickpeas to bring home with her to New Orleans. She started coming to the Houston Farmers Market two decades ago when she lived here; now, she visits whenever shes in town. She appreciated that the new structures provided shelter from the weather. If it was raining before, it was just a tarp.

Augustine Ayala, who has been buying nuts and Texas watermelons at the market for 30 years, was still on the fence. He said the new market was well designed, but so big that he didnt know how he could carry a watermelon to his car if he was parked on the far end. Ill wait and see, he said when asked if the market would become part of his regular routine once more.

The 18-wheeler trucks that once pulled up wherever there was space and sold produce out of their trailers have been relegated to a side lot where the public does not have access; now the back of the property now opens up to a lawn where the market will hold classes with chefs and small concerts. Next to it, patio seating leads the way to Wild Oats, a full-service restaurant by Nick Fine, culinary director of Shepherds restaurant group, Underbelly Hospitality (of which Mason is a co-managing member). The restaurant and other tenants spaces that need to be built out are expected to open in the fall.

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Mason first encountered the market as an 11 year-old in 1975, when the enormous watermelons, fresh sugar cane and nopales made a lasting impression on him  I had never seen that, he recalled. Starting in 2004, he tried to help the Metropolitan Transit Authority find a way to better connect it to public transportation; though the market was never connected to the citys light rail, he began imagining what the market could be. And when the market, privately owned by the families of the farmers who first started it, had a change in leadership, he lobbied for two years for a meeting to discuss a purchase. He believes the corporation chose to sell it to him because he was the only buyer who would keep it a farmers market.

Its hard to believe, finally, that its here, Mason said about the project.

So far, 70 percent of the market has been leased. While inquiries about space, which paused at the start of the pandemic, have rebounded, Mason said he was being intentional about curating a roster of tenants that would sell foods from cultures from around the world.

This is Houston, he said. We want something for everybody.

A general store in front will be able to sell local goods, such as honey and jams, from businesses without the staff to run a both of their own. A local butcher, RC Ranch, and local egg farmer, the Egg House, are moving into storefronts, and Mason said hed love to be able to find a bakery or fishmonger to round out the offerings.

Many of the vendors at the market are longtime tenants, though the market's most famous tenant, Canino's, closed in early 2020 after declining sales. Ada Orellana, whose family runs a farm that grows the produce she sells, said she liked the new market, but noted that rents had risen. During the three years when the market was under construction, rents were heavily discounted. That discount has disappeared now that construction is over, and rents have increased to market rates that are higher than they were before construction because of the improved facilities and added services.

Property values throughout the area, just north of Woodland Heights, are on the rise, in a sign of how quickly the community has been changing. Around the market, townhomes are fast being built, with one gated community advertising prices starting in the $300,000s. In 2019, according to Census estimates, the median value in the neighborhood for a home with a mortgage was $405,700, up 35 percent from two years before.

A few blocks away from the renovated Houston Farmers Market, Maria Rosales, who has lived in her home for 26 years, said she appreciated some of the changes more than others.

The new farmers market, she said, is for the better  she likes that it is more sheltered from the elements and believed that would help keep the food more fresh. Aside from the townhomes, she thinks recent investments in the neighborhood have improved its appearance.

But of course, she added, if it looks better, the property values are going to be higher and higher. She counted herself among the lucky  since shes over 65 years old, she qualifies for a senior exemption that limits the impact on her finances.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com;

twitter.com/raschuetz
Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer

Progress on Iranian nuclear talks and demand indicators from a trifecta of monthly market reports this week should influence the price of oil in the coming days, analysts said.



Last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that demand for all petroleum products averaged 19.8 million barrels per day over the last four-week period, nearing pre-pandemic levels of about 20.5 million barrels per day. Friday's disappointing jobs report, however, raised questions about the strength of the economic recovery and rebound on energy demand.

The U.S. economy created 266,000 jobs in April, far less than the 1 million that analysts forecast. Oil markets, however, shrugged it off. Crude rose slightly on Friday ended the week up about 2 percent, settling at $64.90 a barrel.



Tamas Varga, an analyst at London oil broker PVM, said the upcoming monthly market reports from the U.S. Energy Department, OPEC and the International Energy IEA should be mined closely for demand signals.



All three agencies revised their demand outlook higher last month, but noted their forecasts were clouded by uncertainties stemming from the pandemic. The devastating spread of COVID-19 in India, one of the largest oil consumers in the world, could overshadow growth elsewhere in the world and limit gains in the price of oil.



The second factor to watch, Varga said, is Iran and negotiations over the international nuclear pact, which, if successful, could lift U.S. sanctions and allow Iran again to sell oil into global markets.
A $22 million combination of grants and low-interest loans will help fund two important flood mitigation projects in northeast Houston.

The Texas Water Development Board awarded the city of Houston about $10.1 million for drainage improvements in Kingwoods Taylor Gully and more than $12 million for upgrades in Wynnewood Acres, a northeast Houston subdivision located near Greens Bayou, on May 6.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Feds send $15 billion to Texas for economic relief

The funding could help nearly 400 Kingwood homes and businesses receive protection as Taylor Gully is widened and deepened to prevent flooding during a 100-year rain storm. The gully can currently handle a 10-year rain event.

The proposed channel improvements include the construction of a concrete rectangular channel and maintenance on side slopes.

The recommendation aims to minimize channel slope impacts and maintain existing channel banks with proposed improvements, according to a statement from Houston City Councilmember Dave Martin. The project will allow capturing increased sheet flow from Montgomery County at the upstream end of Taylor Gully.

Design work, engineering and permitting will begin once the city receives the funds, Martins office said. The city hopes to complete the project, which was budgeted at $21 million in the Kingwood Drainage Analysis, within four years. It will be jointly funded by the city of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District.

Taylor Gully is credited with exacerbating flooding in Kingwood subdivision Elm Grove, which inundated twice within a six month span during Tropical Storm Imelda and in May 2019. The HCFCD has implemented other flood control measures, such as purchasing the housing development Woodridge Village with the intent of turning it into a drainage basin.

Improving Taylor Gully will also provide flood relief to several Kingwood neighborhoods, including Rusting Elms, Mills Branch and Woodstream Village, according to the Kingwood Drainage Analysis.

Improving Greens Bayou

In Wynnewood Acres, the city will construct a combined system of roadside ditches and in-line stormwater lines, install culverts and lower the roadway crown. The project will help protect the neighborhood from a 100-year storm event.

The updated system will consist of storm pipes and box culverts to mitigate the 10-year and 100-year storm events, according to the TWDB meeting agenda. The proposed stormwater drains will range in size from 18-inch reinforced concrete pipe to 10x5-feet reinforced concrete boxes. The boxes and stormwater drains will serve as both conveyance and in-line detention. The combined system improvements will provide 27 acre-feet of inline detention.

The TWDB was able to fund the projects through the state's 2020 Flood Infrastructure Fund cycle. It was created with Senate Bill 7 in the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019. The city will receive about $18.68 million in low-interest loans and more than $3.67 million in grants.

chris.shelton@chron.com
Not all superheroes wear capes, but on occasion they do.

Katy Independent School District prepares roughly 50,000 meals for students each school day, many who would likely go unfed otherwise. The school kitchen staffs make it happen.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Deadline to seek federal assistance for winter storm damages is May 20.

National School Lunch Hero Day was Friday, May 7. The district provided a special surprise for the kitchen crew at Ursula Stephens Elementary, a representation of more than 700 people serving in the Katy ISD nutrition and food service department.

The staff was busily preparing lunch when district and school administration paraded in and greeted them with colorful superhero capes and masks to proudly wear for students later in the day. They were all smiles and laughter but were curious about what was going on as the group entered the kitchen.

Donna Pittenger, executive director of Katy ISD nutrition and food service, said the capes are a cute way to remind young students of the people who feed them throughout the school year.

The schools kitchen team was chosen for the special kudos because they had performed well during an administrative review. They prepare around 250 breakfasts and 400 lunches each day, as well as around 50 after-school snacks for students in the YMCA program.

Stephens Elementary Principal Michael Schwartz said in a typical year, about 75 percent of the schools students eat free or reduced meals and depend on the food. This year though due to the pandemic, the Texas Department of Agriculture has provided breakfasts and lunches for all students.

On HoustonChronicle.com: 102-year-old Katy WWII veteran looks back on her life, service in Women's Army Corps

Schwartz said children having full bellies during their school day is critical to their education.

If their brains are not fed, theyre not going to be learning everything that they need to learn, he said.

Lunch for the day was chicken drumsticks, rolls, corn, celery sticks and muffin tops. The smell of yeast baking filled the kitchen. Students also have access to fruits and vegetables.

The kitchen crew arrives by 6:30 a.m. each morning to have breakfast ready by 8 a.m. Schwartz said the team quickly adapts to changing needs on campus and is always ready to fill requests so students can be nourished and equipped to learn. This year, the school had to spread out students in the cafeteria and stagger meal periods for COVID-19 precautions.

Pittenger said this year has been particularly challenging, from providing meals curbside, offering meals for virtual learners and children in the community 18 years and younger, and serving fewer students on campuses due to virtual learning.

As students return to in-person learning in the fall, she plans to hire more staff members to accommodate for preparing more meals.

This is my 32nd year here in the district, and feeding kids is one of the most rewarding things you can do, she said. We know that hungry kids cant learn, so we are here to support our students to help them learn, to help their brains and their bodies be ready to be successful in the classroom.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Katy family's salsa business expands with new products, Walmart shelf space

Katy ISD is due to return to normal operations beginning Tuesday, June 1, which means facial coverings for staff and students will no longer be required. Pittenger looks forward to students being able to see her teams smiles next year.

The district has had around 29 percent of its students eating free and reduced meals in past years, Pittenger said.

The free meals for all students are scheduled to continue in the 2021-22 school year. Pittenger explained that some families financial situations have changed this year and said she is excited to be able to offer free meals for all students again.

No Kid Hungry Texas, a campaign to end hunger and poverty across the state, recognized the district for its efforts to feed students on Thursday, May 6. The kitchen staff at Cinco Ranch High School received a certificate.

This summer, families may pick up curbside meals for students and children under 18 years at two sites once a week on Tuesdays. Pittenger said the site locations will be released soon.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
On Jan. 13, 1995, a young Beaumont second-grade teacher arrived home from school after a long week, walked her dog, and then poured a glass of wine and settled in for the evening. She called her boyfriend.

The phone call was likely the last one she ever made.

When Mary Catherine Edwards friends and former students think of her, they remember the woman who greeted them with hugs every day. They remember the teacher who watched out for them, who bought snacks with her own money for homeroom parties, who lit up their day with beaming smiles.

Now, decades later, they still choke up recalling the 31-year-old womans murder, a case that went cold until late last month, until investigators used DNA testing and genealogy websites to home in on a suspect.

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On April 29, cold case investigators from the Beaumont Police Department and the Texas Rangers flew to Columbus, where they arrested a 61-year-old man they say raped and killed Edwards.

A caring teacher

At the time of her murder, Edwards  who went by her middle name  was an elementary school teacher, a member of Leadership Beaumont, and had been attending a Bible studies class at First Baptist Church.

A petite, 5-foot Beaumont native, she taught at Price Elementary School in Beaumonts Pear Orchard neighborhood.

Her twin sister, Allison Brocato, also worked in Beaumont ISD  as a kindergarten teacher at Amelia Elementary.

Every year, Edwards warned her new students that she had a sister, according to a Beaumont Enterprise profile on the pair written in 1993.

If you see another one of me walking around somewhere and she doesnt speak to you, dont get your feelings hurt, shed tell them. Its probably my sister.

Edwards threw her heart into the job, said former Price principal Floyd Broussard, recalling warning the young teacher not to work too late.

She cared about the kids so much, he said. She was never one to hurry up and leave the building.

Beaumont Enterprise archive

She was the type of teacher students sought for refuge.

When she was a student at Price, LaToyya Twine-Ozanes life was upended when her parents divorced.

School officials transferred Twine-Ozane out of Edwards class into a gifted-and-talented program, but every day at lunchtime she would sneak back to Edwards room to get a hug from her favorite teacher.

She loved on us, Twine-Ozane said. Youd feel comfortable and safe with her, she was just one of those teachers. Her smile made my day.

Another student, Cory Crenshaw, remembered a homeroom party where parents had forgotten to bring money for snacks for the class.

Catherine went to the store and bought them out of her own pocket, he said, his voice catching. She was sweet, kind and beautiful, but also generous.

The murder

When Edwards didnt return calls on Jan. 14, 1995, her parents drove to the house to check on her. Lum Edwards, her father, walked into the house about 2 p.m. and went upstairs.

In the bedroom, the sheets and comforter had been ripped off the bed. In the bathroom, the shower rod had been knocked from its mount and the curtain hung askew.

Catherines wet, partially naked body lay on the floor, her arms handcuffed behind her back.

A CHANGING DEPARTMENT: How 'things are different now' for Houston's Muslim police officers during Ramadan

She had 36 wounds across her body, an autopsy later determined.

Someone had entered the house, raped her, and then drowned her in the tub.

The case left Beaumont  and Edwards students and friends  reeling, Broussard recalled.

It was particularly difficult for her second-graders, especially when they saw her twin sister, Allison, at the funeral.

When she walked in, the reality hit students really hard, he said.

The investigation

At first, investigators thought they might solve the case quickly. Edwards life revolved around school, church and the gym. Shed been in a happy relationship with her boyfriend.

This cant be real, nobody is this nice, Steven Thrower recalled thinking. But she was. Thrower, who was a criminal investigator from the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office, worked on the case from 1995 until his retirement in 2009.

Edwards didnt engage in risky behavior, meaning there would presumably be fewer suspects to sift through. And there was no shortage of evidence at her home.

But every line of inquiry came up blank.

The crime sparked a lengthy investigation by the Beaumont Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the DAs Office. Beaumont police did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In the early years of DNA technology, the investigators spent $10,000 sending evidence from the crime scene to a lab in Maryland for testing. They entered the information in CODIS, law enforcements primary criminal DNA database.

Police hoped that over time they might find a match through the system.

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Detectives looked through sex offender registries. They researched her associations at the gym. They talked to members of her church. Because the killer used Smith & Wesson handcuffs  favored by law enforcement  they took DNA samples from about 20 police officers and correctional officers.

After reading about a similar murder in North Texas, Thrower drove to Tarrant County to interview investigators whod worked the case.

But the trail stayed cold. The case loomed in his mind, keeping him up at night.

It screamed in my head, Find him! he said.

Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Eventually, the murder was classified as a cold case.

The Department of Public Safety offered a reward for information. Nothing turned up.

About two years ago, newly elected Jefferson County DA Bob Wortham was discussing cold cases that Texas Ranger Brandon Bess and Beaumont Police Detective Aaron Lewallen were working on. He asked them to take a fresh look at the Edwards murder.

The Department of Public Safety doubled its reward for information about the case.

Investigators pored back over more than a dozen boxes of evidence.

They enlisted the help of Othram Inc., a private forensic lab based in The Woodlands that does specialized DNA testing for law enforcement.

Traditional DNA testing entered in CODIS searches a profile consisting of 20 markers (sequences of DNA that indicate traits that can be used to identify a person). The testing at the Othram lab can map 10,000 to 100,000 markers, allowing investigators to discover connections that CODIS might miss.

In the Edwards murder, the DNA was fairly degraded, CEO David Mittelman said. His scientists tested a small piece of bedspread and other items investigators still had and managed to extract a small sample of DNA  less than a nanogram. A typical mouth swab used in a standard DNA test frequently holds 750 to 1,000 nanograms of DNA.

A boost from genealogy

Then, investigators turned to genealogy.

Over the past few years, some 20 million people have had their DNA tested by companies such as 23andMe, connecting long-lost relatives or helping families gain insight into their origin and history.

Detectives from agencies around the country have also started harnessing the databases to try to crack cases by tracing criminal suspects family trees.

The technique gained international attention in 2018, when investigators used the method to help identify the Golden State Killer, a former police officer who murdered at least 13 people and raped 50 women between 1973 and 1986.

The technique has also sparked controversy. Civil rights activists and genealogists warn of privacy violations and say law enforcement is using the technology without any oversight, and in some cases working with genealogy testing websites in ways that violated users terms of service.

In the subsequent backlash, some sites barred law enforcement or excluded users data from law enforcement searches unless they explicitly agreed to opt in.

Police and their supporters counter that the technology has helped close dozens of murders or missing-persons cases.

Paul Holes, one of the investigators who tracked down the Golden State Killer, said that law enforcement traditionally uses DNA technology to try to catch people they assume have already struck elsewhere.

But genealogy testing isnt predicated on the repeat offender, he said.

It just points to a small group of individuals that fit as suspects, he said. Its something that takes the control out of the hands of the offender.

Closing in

After Mittelmans team obtained the DNA sample from the crime scene, genealogists uploaded the data into a website called GEDmatch.com, which is widely used by police; its terms of service specify that it can be used by law enforcement to search for perpetrators of violent crime.

The database didnt identify a specific individual but did help investigators determine the person was likely a Cajun man, and pointed toward some of his distant relatives.

From there, Bess and other detectives working the case sought DNA evidence from more than 30 distant relatives to build the killers family tree and weed out suspects.

Bess said everyone he approached donated genetic material.

Everybody was on board, he said. Everybody loves a true crime story, and they want to be involved.

Over several months, the list dwindled to a pair of brothers from Beaumont. One of the men had no criminal record. The other, Clayton Foreman, caught their attention, court records show.

Foreman, 61, had gone to Forest Park High School at the same time as Edwards  and she had been a bridesmaid at his first wedding, Wortham, the district attorney, told the Beaumont Enterprise.

Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

In 1981, hed been accused of raping a woman at knifepoint. Court records showed that police said he had driven into a gas station and found a woman stranded there. Foreman told the woman he was a police officer and offered her a ride. Once he got her in the car, he drove away, stopped the vehicle, tied her hands behind her back, held a knife to her throat and raped her. Foreman pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to three years probation, officials said.

When police made the identification, Foreman was living in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Investigators contacted the Franklin County Sheriffs Office, whose officers surreptitiously took items from Foremans trash and sent them back for DNA testing at DPS Houston lab.

On April 28, Bess and his peers got the result: DNA from Foremans garbage matched that of semen taken from Edwards body 26 years before.

The next morning, Bess flew to Ohio to interview Foreman, an unemployed bill collector working as an Uber driver. By 4 p.m., he was in cuffs. Hes charged with capital murder. Police are seeking to extradite him to Texas.

After Bess interviewed Foreman, he picked up his phone and called Edwards surviving relatives  her sister and brother-in-law.

The news quickly spread from there, throughout Beaumont and to the many people who had known the young schoolteacher.

I pray her sister finally gets justice, Twine-Ozane said.

Correction: Investigators flew to Columbus to arrest Foreman, not Cleveland.

st.john.smith@chron.com

twitter.com/stjbs
Metro Video Services

Police are looking for a driver accused of fatally hitting a motorcyclist in south Houston and then leaving the crash site.

The driver, possibly of a pickup truck or SUV, ran a red light around 9:30 p.m. along the Texas 288 feeder road and struck the motorcyclist, who was heading west on at Holly Hall Street, police said.
Martha Lebby could see the chaos unfolding at her north Harris County apartment complex  a man with a gun and another returning fire.

But Lebby did not hear the wayward gunshot that shattered the window of her familys car. She is deaf.

Lebby turned around in the car and saw her 4-year-old daughter, Helena, slumped over in the car seat, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.

She bolted for her husband, also deaf. The girl was airlifted to a hospital.

The exchange of gunfire in the apartment complex parking lot on April 26 left one man dead, but Helena survived after spending more than a week in critical condition.

She remained hospitalized Sunday  her birthday  after regaining the strength to eat on her own over the weekend. Her father, Frederick Lane, said they were planning that afternoon to bring her a bouquet of balloons adorned with rainbows and ballerinas  her favorite.

Just to show my daughter we love her, he said by phone through a sign language interpreter.

The shooting around 7:30 p.m. involved at least two men  maybe more, Lebby said. Authorities believe the 26-year-old suspect, Dornell Jenkins, had been targeting the slain man, 31-year-old Denovist Hall. What prompted the exchange of gunfire was not known. Jenkins was arrested Friday and charged with murder in Halls death, court records show.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said last month that the child was an innocent bystander. Charges connected to her injuries had not yet been filed.

The shooting shattered the familys sense of relief in moving into the Palms at Cypress Station apartment complex, with the Salvation Armys help, earlier that month, Lane said. The family of five  including three young children  had stayed at a hotel after a stint without a home.

We were so happy and then this happened, Lane said. I liked the place but with this now  people with guns around  obviously we chose the wrong place.

He remains concerned for his two other children, who are struggling to comprehend what happened to their sister.

This is a scarring event, he said.

A GoFundMe page has since raised more than $64,000 to help the family find a new home, as well as a car to replace their blood-stained vehicle.

Members of the Harris County Sheriffs Office Warrants Division arrested Jenkins during a traffic stop in southwest Houston. He was ordered held Sunday on a $100,00 bond.

At the time of the shooting, court records show, Jenkins had been out on bond since March 2020 on an assault charge stemming from an alleged attack on his girlfriend months earlier. The assault, reported in November 2019, prompted prosecutors then to request that he be held without bond to protect the woman, whom he had been dating for about four months.

She had accused Jenkins of selling drugs and not working and kicked him out of her apartment, according to charging papers.

The probable cause hearing officer in that earlier case set bail at $10,000 after his arrest and approved a personal bond. Jenkins did not have a criminal history in Harris County at the time of the allegation.

nicole.hensley@chron.com
A tiger escape in a west Houston neighborhood Sunday night has raised questions on local rules and regulations over wild animal ownership.

An off-duty Waller County sheriffs deputy who happened to be nearby came face-to-face with the predator when it paced toward him crossing the street near the home in the Energy Corridor area. No one was harmed, but the caretaker rushed the animal away in a car as police arrived.

The owner's home is in city limits, where wild animal ownership is mostly prohibited, according to city code. Some exceptions include animal hospitals, public zoos, or shelters where the animal is being kept for the purpose of being transferred to a refuge or sanctuary.

BARC animal control officers are assisting with the investigation, said Lara Cottingham, Chief of Staff & Chief Sustainability Officer of the city's Administration & Regulatory Affairs Department.

"In the event any such animals are found, Animal Control Officers will impound the animals and transport them to a secure location  either BARC, another shelter, or regional wildlife facility  to protect the safety of the public as well as the animals health," Cottingham said.

Rules are more expansive in unincorporated Harris County, where people are allowed to own some unconventional animals  with restrictions, according to the countys Dangerous Wild Animal Regulations.

The animals cant be kept within 1,000 feet of a school or child care facility, and owners need a certificate of registration, the county rules state.

The county also requires secure enclosures. In the case of an escape, owners must notify Harris County Public Health and a law enforcement agency immediately.

In unincorporated Harris County, violations of the wild animal regulations classify as Class C misdemeanors, according to the rules. Some of those violations include failing to register an animal and failing to keep them in a primary enclosure.

Animal activists have long advocated to ban the possession of big cats. Lauren Loney, Texas state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said her organization is working on a bill in Congress.



Yet another dangerous wild animal was apparently on the loose this weekend in Houston," she said. "This inhumane treatment of animals and the public safety risks created by the surplus of tigers in Texas  must end."

Noelle Almrud, the director of the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, said raising tigers from cubs isn't enough to keep owners safe, as some would expect.

"I cannot imagine a situation in which it would appropriate for a tiger to live in a residential home," Almrud said. "Somebody could get seriously hurt and I dont want that to be the catalyst that causes us to limit or ban ownership."

The ranch currently houses Loki, a tiger which was found inside a 4-by-8 wire cage in a small east Houston home in 2019.
The murder defendant who fled a west Houston neighborhood with a loose tiger was arrested Monday evening at a Fort Bend County home on a felony charge of evading arrest, his attorney told the Houston Chronicle.

Victor Hugo Cuevas, 26, was identified by authorities as the man who on Sunday evening captured a tiger roaming the 1100 block of Ivy Wall. He fled with the exotic animal in an SUV, leading police on a chase before officers lost sight of him, authorities said.

Cuevas was arrested 15 minutes before he had planned to turn himself in on the charge, said his attorney Michael Elliott. He was taken to the Fort Bend County Jail. Elliott added that his client did not have possession of the tiger at the time of his arrest, but that he planned to lead authorities to the tiger and its owner.

Police said they were still searching for the tiger on Monday night.

"The last we know of, the tiger was very safe and unharmed," Elliott said, adding that he could not elaborate on his client's connection to the tiger.

Earlier in the day, Elliott said Cuevas "was the one who captured the tiger and that's all we know right now."

Elliott is representing Cuevas in a murder case in Fort Bend County, for which Cuevas has been out on bond. He was accused of fatally shooting Osiekhuemen Omobhude outside a popular sushi restaurant in 2017.

Cuevas has repeatedly maintained his innocence, stating in court documents that he shot the victim in self-defense after Omobhude pointed a gun at him.

According to witnesses, two men on motorcycles approached Omobhude in July 2017 as he was getting in his vehicle in the restaurant's parking lot. Witnesses said they heard shots fired, and that two assailants then covered their faces with masks and drove off. Omobhude later died from his injuries.

Cuevas was arrested that month and posted a bond of $125,000. Since then, his bond has been revoked at least four times for repeated violations of his release conditions, including a failure to charge his GPS ankle monitor and remain in Fort Bend, records say.

Despite orders to stay away from weapons and ammunition, he traveled on New Years Eve 2017 to a shooting range in Katy, records say. In November 2020, while he was still out on bond, he led Sealy police officers on a chase while driving a four-wheeler on a public roadway, according to court records. He was arrested after the vehicle got stuck in mud, records say.

His bond was reset after each revocation, records show. His bond most recently was set at $125,000, which he posted in December.

TIGER RULES: Are tigers allowed in Houston? Here's what you need to know

"There's a lot of technical issues that happen while people are on bond, but he has taken care of all of these alleged violations and he is in good standing with the court," Elliott said.

Fort Bend County prosecutors have filed a motion to revoke his bond again. He is due back in court on July 12.

julian.gill@chron.com
In the majority

Regarding Republican leaders out of step with Texans on permitless carry bill, (A3, May 2): I am among the majority of Texans mentioned in Erica Grieders piece who do not support permitless carry. I was angered to see first the state House and this week the Senate pass a proposal against the majority. Even law enforcement advocates who argue this move will make us less safe. If we are going to have permitless carry in Texas then we also need universal background checks.

I am a gun owner. I am married to a gun owner. A background check is not an infringement on our rights, it is a safety mechanism. The Midland-Odessa shooting is the most recent, high-profile example of how the current system does not work. The shooter, who failed an initial background check previously, used a loophole in the system to obtain a weapon through a private sale. Its time our lawmakers honored those lost and passed a universal background law to close this loophole. Texas lawmakers who supported permitless carry argued they want to keep Texans safe.

If you want to help keep Texans safe, then we must pass federal universal background checks. Research findings show that state gun laws requiring universal background checks resulted in 15 percent lower homicide rates than states without such laws. Please contact Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to let them know you support H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, which is waiting to be heard in the Senate. Let them know to vote with you not against you.

Shannon Flores, Katy

Cancel culture

Regarding Partnership fails, (A12, May 6): On Tuesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo canceled the annual address to the Greater Houston Partnership. In doing so they abandoned a vital, longstanding tradition with some of Houstons most community-minded and business growth-minded economic leaders. Falling in line with their cancel culture peers, Turner and Hidalgo replaced this crucial meeting with a partisan, televised political press conference and unfounded political pressure on the GHP to oppose Texas House Bill 6 and Senate Bill 7.

Tying these bills to Jim Crow-era laws, Turner and Hidalgo publicly disparaged this partnership and falsely stated they were being silent on the issue. Then they canceled this annual address when the GHP would not comply with their demands  once again falling in line with todays cancel culture that so many voters of all ages, races, political parties and creeds have now tired of.

Turner and Hidalgo know these bills are not an extension of Jim Crow-era laws. They are being introduced to create organization, order and accountability in Texas elections  not to suppress, intimidate or deny citizens the right to vote. I hope in the future Turner and Hidalgo will support the true election integrity the above-mentioned bills will promote, and hope they will stop strong-arming vital Houston partnerships such as the GHP to support their own partisan agenda.

Rebecca Trahan, Katy
Could todays version of America have been able to win World War II? It hardly seems possible.

That victory required national cohesion, voluntary sacrifice for the common good and trust in institutions and each other. Americas response to COVID-19 suggests that we no longer have sufficient quantities of any of those things.

In 2020 Americans failed to socially distance and test for the coronavirus and suffered among the highest infection and death rates in the developed world. Millions decided that wearing a mask infringed their individual liberty.

This week my Times colleague Apoorva Mandavilli reported that experts now believe that America will not achieve herd immunity anytime soon. Instead of largely beating this disease it could linger, as a more manageable threat, for generations. A major reason is that about 30 percent of the U.S. population is reluctant to get vaccinated.

Were not asking you to storm the beaches of Iwo Jima; were asking you to walk into a damn CVS.

Americans have always been an individualistic people who dont like being told what to do. But in times of crisis, they have historically still had the capacity to form what Alexis de Tocqueville called a social body, a coherent community capable of collective action. During World War I, for example, millions served at home and abroad to win a faraway war, responding to recruiting posters that read I Want You and Americans All.

That basic sense of peoplehood, of belonging to a common enterprise with a shared destiny, is exactly whats lacking today. Researchers and reporters who talk to the vaccine-hesitant find that the levels of distrust, suspicion and alienation that have marred politics are now thwarting the vaccination process. They find people who doubt the competence of the medical establishment or any establishment, who assume as a matter of course that their fellow countrymen are out to con, deceive and harm them.

This the only person you can trust is yourself mentality has a tendency to cause people to conceive of themselves as individuals and not as citizens. Derek Thompson of The Atlantic recently contacted more than a dozen people who were refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. They often used an argument youve probably heard, too: Im not especially vulnerable. I may have already gotten the virus. If I get it in the future it wont be that bad. Why should I take a risk on an experimental vaccine?

They are reasoning mostly on a personal basis. They are thinking about whats right for them as individuals more than whats right for the nation and the most vulnerable people in it.

The causes of this isolation and distrust are as plentiful as there are stars in the heavens. But there are a few things we can say. Most of the time distrust is earned distrust. Marginalized groups tend to be the most distrustful, for good reasons  theyve been betrayed.

The other thing to say is that once it is established, distrust tends to accelerate. If you distrust the people around you because you think they have bad values or are out to hurt you, then you are going to be slow to reach out to solve common problems.

A lot of Americans have seceded from the cultural, political and social institutions of national life. As a result, the nation finds it hard to perform collective action. Our pathetic COVID response may not be the last or worst consequence of this condition.

How do you rebuild trust? At the local level you recruit diverse people to complete tangible tasks together, like building a park. At the national level you demonstrate to people in concrete ways that they are not forgotten, that someone is coming through for them.

Which brings us to Joe Biden. The Biden agenda would pour trillions of dollars into precisely those populations who have been left out and are most distrustful  the people who used to work in manufacturing and who might now get infrastructure jobs, or the ones who care for the elderly. This money would not only ease their financial stress, but it would also be a material display that someone sees them, that we are in this together. These measures, if passed, would be extraordinary tangible steps to reduce the sense of menace and threat that undergirds this whole psychology.

The New Deal was an act of social solidarity that created the national cohesion we needed to win World War II. I am not in the habit of supporting massive federal spending proposals. But in this specific context  in the midst of a distrust doom loop  this is our best shot of reversing the decline.

Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.
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The Spot on Tyler Street has not only weathered the pandemic, its owners are planning to open a second location on North Street.

Pittsfield Smoothie Shop Opening 2nd Location on North Street



The Spot also sells Bear Butter, a nut spread. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Spot brought acai bowls  a super fruit smoothie that is topped with fruit, nuts, and other delights  to Pittsfield in 2018 and is now expanding with a second location on North Street.

The downtown branch will crank out juices and smoothies at 48 North St., the former Brooklyn's Best Italian Eatery. It is a 650-square-foot space that owner Jonathan Vella said he has always loved because "it is that tiny perfect little hole in the wall."

Vella hopes to open the second location in a few weeks, just in time for warm weather and for people looking for refreshing, healthy ways to nourish themselves.

Having a location on North Street feels like being with the "big dogs," he said and will allow him to offer products to a whole new customer base.

"My sister, Jess [Ruffo], owns Dottie's and I used to work there for quite a bit of time, and when we opened [on Tyler] I expected there to be a lot of overlap because it's the same demographic," he said.

"I found that there wasn't really much at all, and I think a lot of it is that those people were downtown North-Streeters, or downtown Pittsfielders, that's where they all resided."

Vella and fellow entrepreneur Craig Hopkins opened The Spot at 381 Tyler St., a building that was soon painted bright green and adorned with graffiti art to match their vibe. The shop sells smoothies, acai bowls, house-pressed juices, and seasonal oatmeals as well as branded apparel and creations from local artists.

The Spot also created and manufactures Bear Butter: a nut spread made of almonds, cacao, coconut, goji berries, hemp seed, flaxseed, and vegan vanilla protein.

The original location on Tyler Street will be the "flagship" shop, Vella said and will be the primary home of the additional merchandise they sell while the North Street shop will be focused on the juice and smoothie side of the business.

Vella returned to the Berkshires at the start of the pandemic when his juice bar location in Bellaire Bluffs, Fla., closed. He was originally looking to build a mobile food cart until April when he found the space for rent on North Street.

"I saw the sign on the door and, you know, it all starts with a phone call," He said.

The Spot was able to sustain itself by offering curbside pickup during the thick of the pandemic. Having a small crew and not a lot of overhead reportedly also helped.

"We were lucky enough to be in a good position to sustain and, I guess, bunker down," Vella added.

The shop currently operates with three employees and when the second location opens, Vella plans to have around seven employees.

The Spot on North Street will be open Monday through Friday from 7 to 3. The Tyler Street location is open Monday through Friday 8 to 5:30 and Saturday 9 to 4.
The BRPC answered the U.S. Census request for feedback with critiques of several proposed criteria changes.

Regional Planning Commission Gives Feedback on 2020 Census Change

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has submitted a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau opposing several proposed criteria changes for urban areas.

BRPC's Executive Committee unanimously approved the document on Thursday, which includes concerns for proposals that will eliminate Great Barrington and Lee/Lenox as urban clusters and reclassify the urban area of Pittsfield.

Out of the six critiques, two were positive.

"We have concerns regarding several of the criteria," the letter reads. "Berkshire County, located in western Massachusetts, currently has one urban area and three urban clusters. Based upon our analysis of the new criteria using 2010 data, the new criteria will result in the region reduced to two urban areas of less than 50,000."

An urbanized area is a densely populated area that is defined by advanced geographic information systems (GIS) modeling. The Berkshire's current urbanized area is most of Pittsfield and Dalton, little bits of Hinsdale, Lenox, Richmond, and Lanesborough, a corridor that goes through Cheshire, and most of Adams. This is usually called the Pittsfield Metro Area.

BRPC opposes the minimum qualification for urban areas being increased from 2,500 people to 10,000 people or 4,000 housing units because it will eliminate two urban areas from the region: Great Barrington Urban Cluster and the Lee/Lenox Urban Cluster.

Both areas are urban with "thriving downtowns and dense residential development," members said.

This proposed change concerns the commission because the areas have large seasonal populations that push them over the 10,000 people limit and also have seen an influx of migration due to COVID-19 and so-called "climate refugees."

The proposed Census change will reportedly result in 29 miles of roads throughout four communities no longer being eligible for federal aid and cause a significant financial impact on the communities.

"I appreciated the comment about Great Barrington and Lee/Lenox cluster and I'm thinking that these kinds of clusters are probably pretty common in New England, and also in areas of the Midwest and the South," member Roger Bolton said. "So I wouldn't be surprised if the sentiments expressed in your letter are one of many, many letters from regional planning agencies and local government officials that the Census Bureau will get, that's my sense."

The proposed decrease will reduce the current metro areas of Pittsfield from 59,211 people to 45,555 people by eliminating Adams and Cheshire. BRPC "strongly opposes" this because the single change will reportedly cost the region over $2.4 million a year in direct funds from federal agencies because of the reclassification of the Pittsfield Urban Area from an area with greater than 50,000 people to an area with less than 50,000 people.

In addition, the commission opposed the exclusion of low-density territory located within indentations and low-density hop or jump "corridors" in urban areas. Excluding these corridors would allegedly result in one large urban area and more than 30 small urban islands for the Pittsfield Urban area.

"BRPC believes urban areas should be contiguous areas and not a core with multiple islands," the agency wrote.

"This change seems to be a purely statistical change and not based on how an area is used or considered by its residents."

On the other hand, BRPC supports the proposed switch to a housing unit density threshold for qualification of census blocks from a population basis. This may benefit the county because it has a lower population per household than the nation.

It also supports the change to stop differentiating types of urban areas.

The commission began drafting these comments in March for the May 20 due date. The Census Bureau in February put out a notice outlining the proposed criteria for defining urban areas based on the results of the 2020 Decennial Census with a request for public comment on the proposed criteria.

Data from the 2020 Census will be coming out in late September or early October and the new version of the "urbanized" Berkshire County will be released in the winter.

The Census Bureau defines urban areas after each decennial census by applying specified criteria to the Census and other data. Since the 1950 Census, the bureau has reviewed and revised the criteria as necessary to improve the classification of urban areas by taking advantage of newly available data and advancements in geographic information processing technology.

Following this meeting, the BRPC Finance Committee reviewed the fiscal 2022 proposed budget of $4,493,869. This is $1,059,797 higher than the FY21 budget, which is primarily due to several new grants for economic development, education, and public health programs.

The Finance Committee made a positive recommendation on the budget but made no amendments. The full commission will act on the budget on May 20.
The Board of Health had hoped the state Department of Health would participate in a hearing about EMF health concerns.

Pittsfield Health Board Sets Cell Tower Forum Without DPH Aid

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Local health officials are "disappointed" with the state Department of Health for backing out of an investigation of health concerns related to a Verizon cell tower at 877 South St.

On Wednesday, the Board of Health approved an alternative action plan to procure a firm that specializes in the measurement of radio frequency radiation to determine if the tower is in compliance with 47 CFR 1.1310  or federal radio frequency radiation exposure limits  and will be advocating for the affected neighborhood to Gov. Charlie Baker and the Legislature.

The Environmental Toxicology Program at Mass DPH offered its assistance i n listening to residents' concerns after the Board of Health said it doesn't have the expertise to investigate on its own. Mass DPH has since broken the agreement, according to board members.

"We were incredibly disappointed with the lack of options that the Massachusetts Department of Health could provide for the neighborhood and for the Health Department and the Board of Health in this situation," Director of Public Health Gina Armstrong said.

"We want to assure the community that although Mass DPH is not going to be one of the presenters, that we will pursue that information session because we do feel that it is very important to learn more about the research that has been done nationally, and as well as other areas as referenced by some of our experts here tonight."

The board will hold the information session at its meeting on June 2. It will either be the only item on the agenda or one of two items, as the members feel it is important to assign a good amount of time to the neighborhood's concerns.

In February, the City Council voted to have the Health Department investigate health concerns related to the tower. This petition was brought forward by Ward 4 Councilor Chris Connell and Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, whose wards are in proximity to the tower.

The council had been hearing of these symptoms primarily from Alma Street resident Courtney Gilardi every two weeks during public comment since the tower was turned on in August. Gilardi said she and her family will move if the tower is not turned off.

Gilardi also has had her 12-year-old daughter Amelia call into the meetings to speak about the symptoms she is experiencing such as nausea and sleep disturbances.

Armstrong said the information the BOH has gathered from residents and the health impact they believe is related to the cell tower emissions can be included in the letter of support that the board plans to send to state legislators, the governor's office, and Mass DPH.

This letter supports Senate Bill 2418 and requests the formation of a special commission to research the impact of EMF and radio frequency radiation on consumer protection, public health, and technology in the commonwealth.

Board member Brad Gordon said he doesn't want to give folks "false hope" that the board or city has the authority to get the tower shut off, as it can only be referred to the Federal Communications Commission for action if the emissions are above federal guidelines.

"I think I just think it will be difficult for us as a local municipality, or even a state necessary to address that," he said. "That doesn't mean that we shouldn't bring it to everyone's attention and that we shouldn't learn that we shouldn't work together to see what changes we can make through advocacy."

Board member Kimberly Loring identified two connected issues within this situation: the fact that the tower is federally regulated and the possibility of this happening again.

"How do we prevent this from happening again, adjust zoning or permitting or so that there's an appropriate setback or education for the community and things like that?" she queried.

"I feel like there's the future thing, and then there's the thing that's happening right now."
Greylock and Credit Union of the Berkshires Agree to Merger

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Greylock Federal Credit Union and Credit Union of the Berkshires (CUB), both of Pittsfield, have reached a definitive merger agreement subject to the approval of the CUB membership and regulatory agencies.

"We are pleased that Greylock and Credit Union of the Berkshires have reached this merger agreement," said Greylock President and CEO John L. Bissell. "We know that the credit union difference remains strong in Berkshire County. We look forward to completing the merger and

combining the resources of CUB and Greylock to help the community thrive."

With final approval of the merger, Greylock will assume CUB's nearly $23 million in assets.

"Credit Union of the Berkshires has taken great pride in serving our community and our membership for over 80 years. We are confident our members will receive the highest quality of service they are accustomed to and deserve at Greylock. Greylock's mission and core values align perfectly with Credit Union of the Berkshires and that's why we have chosen Greylock as our merger partner," said CUB CEO Melissa Morin.

CUB has approximately 2,000 members and operates one branch on Williams Street in Pittsfield.

"Upon completion of the merger, CUB members will enjoy full use of Greylock's 12 public branches (one is currently closed due to the pandemic) and 21 local ATM locations. Greylock also offers 60,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide, access to over 5,800 shared branch locations nationwide, a 24/7 member contact center, significant online and mobile banking services, and all of the resources of the Community Empowerment Center on Kellogg Street in Pittsfield. CUB members will also enjoy access to business banking services, investment services, and insurance products," added Bissell in a press release.

Having negotiated a definitive merger agreement, both credit unions will now seek regulatory approval from the National Credit Union Administration, Massachusetts Division of Banks, and Massachusetts Credit Union Share Insurance Corporation. CUB will also seek approval from their membership. The merger is expected to be completed in late fall of 2021.
Italy seeks new opportunities at Hainan Expo

Xinhua) 13:24, May 10, 2021

HAIKOU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) is underway in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, with Italy among the key participants.

Last June, China released a master plan to build the island into a globally influential and high-level free-trade port by the middle of the century.

Slated for May 7 to 10, the CICPE has attracted 648 overseas companies and more than 1,300 brands from 69 countries and regions.

As an important country participating the Hainan expo, Italy has more than 50 brands taking part, including big names like Armani, Valentino, Sergio Rossi, ETRO, Guidi and Tod's.

Francesco Freschi, general manager of ETRO, said the world is amazed by the strong resilience and vitality of China's economy, and his company is looking forward to developing relationships and cooperating with participants at the expo.

A yacht show opened at the expo on Friday, with 107 boats put on display, covering 58 brands from 12 countries and regions, including Italy, Poland and Germany.

According to policies implemented earlier by the Hainan government, enterprises engaged in transportation and tourism can import vehicles and yachts with no tariffs.

One yacht from Italian company Azimut Yacht sold for 6.6 million yuan (about 1.03 million U.S. dollars) during the show.

Tina Woo, general manager of Moon Ocean (Hainan) Holdings, Ltd. said the purchase price of the yacht was reduced by 38 percent, with savings of nearly 2 million yuan in taxes and fees for the customer.

"The free-trade port policy will accelerate the development of the local yacht industry. More people are considering buying yachts in Hainan, and more yacht companies will register in Hainan," said Fabiomassimo Discoli, sales director of Ferretti Group Asia Pacific.

On Saturday, the first Hainan Design Week was announced, to be held in November, featuring Italy as the first partner country, with the launch ceremony taking place during the first CICPE.

Lucia Pasqualini, consul general of Italy in Guangzhou, said the CICPE is a great success and the launch of the Hainan Design Week at the expo is a significant event.

"I believe that Hainan Design Week will give Italian enterprises a platform to build a better business environment with Hainan," she added.

The design week is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors to Haikou.

Through the Hainan Design Week, the creative design and design education exchanges between Haikou and Italy, especially Milan, will be promoted, according to the event's organizer.

Paolo Bazzoni, chairman of the Italy Chamber of Commerce said Hainan is becoming the number-one location for quality retail travel. "We are here to interact with the local government in order to be more present and to give more opportunities to our companies in Hainan," he said.

"The expo is useful to let the world understand that China is moving on. And this is an opportunity for Italy to catch up," Bazzoni added.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
France threatens UK on financial services in fisheries dispute

by Tara Patel

May 10,2021 | Source: Bloomberg

Frances junior minister for European affairs threatened the U.K. on financial services if Britain failed to grant licenses to French fishermen.



Clement Beane said France would retaliate in sectors like banking in the European Union to which the U.K. wants access, according to an interview published Sunday in the Journal du Dimanche.



French fishermen are still owed 40 permits to catch in U.K. waters, the minister was quoted as saying. He also demanded the lifting of additional conditions imposed by the British island of Jersey for access to its waters.



The fight between the U.K. and France over post-Brexit fishing rights has grown increasingly bitter this past week, even drawing in the countries navies. The governments in Paris and London deployed their military ships to keep the peace after dozens of French fishing boats mounted a protest in the waters off Jersey.



In comments to the weekly newspaper, Beaune said the U.K. is constantly testing the resolve of France and the EU in an attempt to show that Brexit was liberating. Britain is trying to reopen discussions on parts of the post-Brexit trade accord in which it had to make concessions, he said.



We wont let them do this, he said, adding that France will be firm on fisheries, while remaining open to dialog. On Saturday, Jersey fishermen started giving away their lobster hauls for free on the island after France banned the off-loading of their catch at some French ports, the Daily Mail reported, citing fishermen and local authorities.

 2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture.
Libya warns Italians against illegal fishing

May 10,2021 | Source: AFP

Libyas coastguard on Sunday warned against illegal fishing in its waters, denying Italian claims it had wounded a fisherman as it fired shots during an operation against four boats from Sicily.



Citing repeated, documented violations, the coastguard said that on Thursday morning it had received reports that four Italian fishing vessels were heading from southern Italy into Libyan waters.



The coastguard despatched a patrol to intercept and inspect the boats to ensure they were not carrying out suspicious activities or smuggling, it said.



But instead of cooperating, the boats fled, it added, sparking a three-hour chase in which warning shots were fired in the air.



It said one of the boats was finally caught and inspected, and that a crew member had been injured when he hit the window of the boat.



This is not the first time Italian fishing vessels have carried out such actions and violations, the coastguard said, warning that fishing in Libyan waters without authorisation was illegal.



Libyas preservation of the sovereignty of its waters is a legitimate right, it added.

 2021, Dawn

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
Taiwan watchdog urges action on human rights of flag-of-convenience boat crew members

by Chen Chun-hua and Joseph Yeh

May 10,2021 | Source: CNA

The Control Yuan on Monday called on the Cabinet and several government agencies to address the issue of human rights violations on Taiwanese fishing vessels flying a flag of convenience (FOC).



In making the call, the Control Yuan, the watchdog arm of the government, noted that there have been several international reports about violence and exploitation of migrant crew members on Taiwanese FOC vessels.



These include Greenpeace reports and the U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, Control Yuan member Wang Mei-yu said at a press conference.



Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA), Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) and the Fisheries Agency (FA) have all promised to address the problem of human rights violations on Taiwanese FOC boats but have not done so, Wang said.



FOC is a business practice whereby merchant ship owners register their vessels in a country other than their own to reduce operating costs, avoid higher taxes, and bypass laws that protect the wages and working conditions of the crews.



According to Fisheries Agency statistics, Taiwan currently has 1,100 deep sea fishing boats, 241 of which are listed as FOC vessels.



At Monday's press conference, Wang cited cases of human rights violations last year against migrant crew members on two Taiwanese FOC fishing boats, The Da Wang and Chin Chun No. 12, both operated by Taiwanese and registered in Vanuatu.



While Taiwan had already closed its borders to almost all foreign nationals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had not issued any quarantine guidelines for the crews of FOC vessels, Wang said.



The migrant crew members on the Da Wang and Chin Chun No. 12 were unable to obtain entry permits when the vessels returned to Kaohsiung Harbor in southern Taiwan in March and April 2020, respectively, she said.



Three Filipinos working on the Da Wang and Chin Chun No. 12 were confined to their dormitories in Kaohsiung, while two of the three were later held at the city's airport for 20 days, she said.



The two Filipinos held at the airport were deemed by the NIA to have entered Taiwan illegally, and they were released only after the Legal Aid Foundation intervened, Wang said.



Those incidents exposed a major failure on the part of the Taiwan government to properly manage the FOC issue and prevent human rights violations, she said.



The Control Yuan, therefore, is calling on the NIA, OAC, FA, and the Cabinet to institute corrective measures to protect the rights of migrant fishermen on FOC vessels, Wang said.

 Focus Taiwan

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
Name: Christopher Nardecchia

Company: Rockwell Automation

Job title: SVP & Chief Information and Digital Officer

Date started current role: November 2017

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Chris Nardecchia is senior vice president and Chief Information and Digital Officer at Rockwell Automation. Nardecchia most recently served as senior vice president, Information Technology where he was responsible for strategic vision, operational excellence and change leadership for the development and implementation of information technology initiatives and architecture across the company. Previously, Nardecchia was vice president and CIO, Global Operations and Supply Chain, at Amgen, Inc. With over 30 years of professional experience, he also held leadership roles at Pfizer and Warner Lambert, which was acquired by Pfizer. At these companies he led IT-enabled business and digital strategy and accelerated growth through technology and data analytics.

What was your first job? Technically, it was newspaper delivery where I learned early on the importance of customer satisfaction, growing the business, and balancing the books. However, my first professional role was a project engineer for a division of a large engineering company. We provided a decontamination and remediation service to the nuclear industry (power plants and government development centers). I led teams that built equipment and provided the service to customers. I had a lot of independence and responsibility early in my career and learned a lot about building relationships, assembling, and managing diverse teams and critical path project management. This role really shaped the rest of my career - giving me confidence to learn quickly, deal with ambiguity, be creative, adaptable and bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds, skills, and competencies to achieve a common goal.

Did you always want to work in IT? No, I did not. Early in my career I wanted to leverage my chemical engineering background to build production facilities and optimise processes. I eventually got engaged with Operations Technology (OT) by programming PLCs and DCSs to control production processes for pharmaceutical products, and this led to moving data from the factory floor operations throughout the IT network. I also deployed global ERP and other enterprise systems throughout manufacturing facilities, and this work ultimately led to me to managing both IT and OT teams, converging these two domains. After this point, I spent the remainder of my career managing IT and OT teams, leveraging technology to scale processes and operations and grow revenues. This led to my role as a CIO in a company that brings the connected enterprise (i.e. IT/OT convergence) to life.

What was your education? Do you hold any certifications? What are they? I hold bachelors degree in chemical engineering from State University of New York at Buffalo and a M.B.A. from The Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University. But no certifications.

Explain your career path. Did you take any detours? If so, discuss. I started my career outside of IT, designing and constructing manufacturing facilities, processes, and products. I designed processes for nuclear system decontamination, production of nuclear fuel and continuous chemical production of various polymer products. I also scaled up processes and products from bench-top to pilot plant to commercial production of pharmaceuticals  designing equipment, processes, and controls to globally manufacture. I helped launch several blockbuster therapeutics (designing processes equipment and controls) and scaled global manufacturing and supply chain capabilities to rapidly grow production capacity and revenues. I transitioned from process, project and production engineering roles to computer controls and OT systems management to IT and enterprise systems management. I spent the bulk of my career at the interface of IT and OT managing teams within manufacturing and supply chain. This led to my current role as the CIO at Rockwell Automation where I partner with my peers, the Rockwell Automation Board of Directors and external stakeholders to drive the corporate information technology, digital and cybersecurity strategy.

Yes, I took many detours and always took on opportunities with high change and learning agility components that were focused on transforming the company either in terms of significant growth and scale or defining new products and business models.

The first big pivot was from engineering-centric roles to computer controls in manufacturing operations to deployment of enterprise class applications within global manufacturing operations. As I began to manage the systems and teams within both the IT and OT domains, I increasingly got engaged with integrating data from these domains and leveraging it to create insights through advanced analytics. Ultimately, this led to my role as CIO with a company whose strategy is to bring the connected enterprise to life to improve productivity and profitability for the companies we serve. The connected enterprise is all about IT/OT convergence. While performing in my CIO role, engaging with customers on their digital journeys and our Rockwell on Rockwell program (internal adoption of ours and our partners technologies in our own manufacturing facilities), it became apparent that to support customers at scale and transition a larger portion of our revenue to annual recurring revenue and subscription-based services would require a new business operating model.

This resulted in a formal digital transformation initiative and evolution of the CIO role to a CIDO role. This eventually pivoted to leading a software and control business unit on an interim basis in addition to the CIDO role. So yes, a lot of twists and turn!

What business or technology initiatives will be most significant in driving IT investments in your organisation in the coming year? Underlying cloud operations, software defined networking transformations and investments in digitising the employee and customer experience will be the most significant initiatives. Furthermore, our enterprise transformation effort to deploy a new business operating model focused on annual recurring revenue and subscription-based offerings will require a great deal of investment in people, processes, and technology. So, we expect to see a lot of data management, process improvement, customer experience, data/analytics and telemetry focused initiatives all designed to accelerate profitable growth in the form of annual recurring revenue.

What are the CEO's top priorities for you in the coming year? How do you plan to support the business with IT? Evolve our culture, accelerate profitable growth, add more value through software and increase ARR and deliver differentiated profitability.

All IT objectives are aligned to our companys strategic framework, and the portfolio of investments are governed by IT to ensure priorities are aligned to company objectives. We have specific integrated objectives and metrics to measure progress, and our initiatives are aligned to these strategic objectives which include business model transformation, network and cloud transformations and high priority security initiatives.

Does the conventional CIO role include responsibilities it should not hold? Should the role have additional responsibilities it does not currently include? The role of the CIO has been changing and can vary greatly between companies. In the near term, I see the conventional activities (datacentre, cloud, productivity tools, network, help desk, business application management, device management, etc.) remaining under the CIO. As these capabilities mature and move to aaS, then many of these fundamental / back-office capabilities could move to an administrative function. The technical and traditional aspects of Information Security / CISO are probably best positioned under the CIO at most companies. In many product and service companies, security needs to be managed holistically. Nonetheless, the traditional aspects of information security are best served within IT.

Organisational structures and responsibilities vary greatly for the role of the CIO and need to align to a companys digital maturity and strategy. For the most progressive companies, to maximise investments from technology and maintain alignment across global companies, I believe it is most effective to have a CIO that can manage and drive the digital transformation and data analytics agenda. The most progressive are using digital transformation to create new products and get better connected with customers. The trend once most prevalent with retailers is now a driving most industries: personalisation of the customer experience. I cannot think of a role that is better positioned to engage in these activities to drive companies forward in the digital / Industry 4.0 era. A transformational CIO can align the C-suite on digital strategy, facilitate change across the enterprise, and use emerging and proven technologies to innovate and drive agility.

Are you leading a digital transformation? If so, does it emphasise customer experience and revenue growth or operational efficiency? If both, how do you balance the two? Yes, however, it is a very cross-functional effort, and my peers are actively engaged and leading specific work streams and deliverables. We have a centralised Enterprise Transformation Office (ExO) that orchestrates the digital agenda toward an aligned roadmap. It sets the targets, decides on investment priorities, and measures the result.

We are both applying our own, and partner technologies in our own manufacturing facilities to bring the connected enterprise to life and improve productivity in our manufacturing and supply chain operations. In addition, we are transforming our go to market business model towards ARR and subscriptions to accelerate profitable growth. It is focused outside in versus inside out  meaning working from the customer backward toward product and service design. Nearly every organisation is a technology organisation these days. CIOs must keep operations running and hit revenue and growth targets, as well. Every organisation needs to be data driven and, while many companies are data rich, they are lacking insights from that data. Our company specialises in using information to expand human possibilities. We do it for our customers, and we do it for ourselves. Our work to connect the imaginations of people with the potential of machines helps us, and our customers, become more intelligent, connected, and productive. While some thought digital transformation would have the greatest influence on the outside  for customers  there is just as much change, value, and benefit for employees.

The pandemic has accelerated the migration to the cloud at scale, and people are looking to connect their enterprise and leverage data to develop insights that drive decisions around growth and profitability as well as sustainability and energy management. While CIOs and CEOs are at the centre of transformation, this is a cross-functional initiative that requires a different mindset for senior leaders and across the company. The conversation around the Connected Enterprise has moved from manufacturing and supply chain to the C-suite for connectivity and consistency of data so you can scale to realise the benefits. Digital transformation was a priority before the pandemic; it is even more so now. The CIO will be the visionary and the primary driver; the person who will spearhead the implementation and the engagement throughout the organisation. As a transformational CIO, your peers and your people will look to you to collaborate on digital transformation strategies, lead the change for the organisation, drive agile and flexible practices, and be at the forefront of emerging technologies. Improving the employee experience will reduce internal and external friction, which translates to improved customer experience.

We work on both simultaneously and prioritise based on alignment to annual strategic priorities and investment planning to achieve our integrated business objectives.

Describe the maturity of your digital business. For example, do you have KPIs to quantify the value of IT? We have a strong and well-aligned strategy that is tightly linked to company growth and new business operating models. I think it could be best described as somewhere between emerging (channel-centric) and connected (tech-centric) on the way towards multi-moment (true data driven marketing). We are in full execution mode and adding more connected capabilities on a quarterly basis.

Yes, we have metrics related to growing the percentage of company revenue from ARR and the revenue generated from IT data/analytics/ML developed solutions or products. We also have a quarterly dashboard to track milestones on our digital journey.

What does good culture fit look like in your organisation? How do you cultivate it? At the highest level, a 1) commitment to integrity, diversity and inclusion, 2) be willing to compare ourselves to the best, 3) speed of decision making - empowerment, 4) steady stream of fresh ideas  innovation. We seek an agile and growth mindset with high learning and change agility while treating operational excellence as a foundational capability.
An Iraqi journalist was left seriously wounded after being shot in the head outside his home on 10 May. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Iraqi Journalist Syndicate (IJS) in condemning the shooting and calling for a prompt investigation into the attack.

Reporter Ahmed Hassan, who works for Al Forat TV was shot in the head and in the shoulder while he sat in in his car in front of his house early on 10 May. A security cameras' video of the shooting was published on Al Forat's web site.

The shooting comes one day after the killing of prominent activist Jawad al-Wazni, who was shot dead on 9 May outside his home by unknown assailants. His death has sparked protests in the region.

Ahmed Hassan was transferred to the intensive care department of a hospital in Baghdad where he underwent emergency treatment for a head injury but his health remains critical, according to his employer.

Since the US led invasion in 2003, over 470 journalists and media workers have been killed in Iraq, according to IJS, many of them having been assassinated. There are no records of the Iraqi authorities bringing those responsible to justice.

The IFJ and the IJS have called on the authorities in Iraq to investigate the circumstances of the incident and bring the killers to court.
Israeli police are assaulting, beating, and firing stun grenades at Palestinian media workers reporting on recent clashes between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli authorities in Jerusalem. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) condemn the extreme violence against journalists and call on the United Nations to provide urgent field protection for media workers reporting on the ground.

The PJS reported at least nineteen journalists were injured by the Israeli forces while covering the clashes. Twelve of them were injured while covering the Israeli military storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Bab Al-Amoud, and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Three journalists suffered attacks while covering events at Camp Salem, located north of Jenin, and four others were targeted while covering events In the town of Aqraba, south of Nablus.

Many of these aggressions were recorded and denounced on social media.

The PJS praised the efforts made by Palestinian and Arab journalists to cover the events in the Palestinian territories despite the high risks they take by reporting in the field.

The PJS renews its call to the United Nations to provide urgent field protection for journalists, to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 2222, which calls for providing protection for journalists, and to subject Israel to international law, and not to allow these crimes to go unpunished, the IFJ affiliate said in a statement.

According to the Red Crescent, hundreds of people were wounded on Monday 10 in renewed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. More than 153 people, including four in a critical condition were transferred to hospitals.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on Israel to exercise maximum restraint and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and urged the Israeli authorities to to cease demolitions and evictions in Palestinian territories.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: The IFJ joins the United Nations in condemning the systematic Israeli violence towards Palestinian civilians and media workers. We urge the international community to take action to stop and punish the crimes against Palestinian journalists.
China has attempted to play down the so-called leaked documents which have been used to suggest that its scientists discussed the weaponisation of coronavirus five years before the Covid-19 pandemic began.

While officials are yet to issue a statement on the matter, the state-run Global Times newspaper lashed out at The Australian for their report calling it an embarrassing article that smears China over the origins of Covid-19.

Earlier on Friday, The Australian published a news report based on a leaked document titled The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons.

Written by Chinese scientists and health officials in 2015, the paper reportedly argued that coronaviruses are a new era of genetic weapons that could be artificially manipulated into an emerging human-disease virus, then weaponised and unleashed in a way never seen before.

The document was originally obtained by the US State Department during its probe into the origins of Covid-19 and is reported to be a part of an upcoming investigative book What Really Happened in Wuhan by Australian journalist Sharri Markson.

But a report in the Global Times argued that the leaked document mentioned by The Australian was in fact a book, pointing to an item under the same title published by military doctor Xu Dezhong and listed sale on Amazon, though currently out of stock.

The Chinese state outlet quoted Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, as saying that while the book is an academic enquiry into bioterrorism and possibilities of viruses being used in warfare, The Australian deliberately misinterpreted it.

The main thrust of the book, according to the Global Times, is in fact that the 2002 and 2004 SARS epidemics in China originated from biological weapon labs abroad.

Conspiracies cannot be ruled out that terrorists abroad were developing contemporary genetic weapons to fight against China, said the paper, citing excerpts from the book.

Australia is among the list of countries that have pushed for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic which was first reported in December 2019.

The WHO, which is still investigating the source of the virus, in its March report had said it was extremely unlikely that the virus was leaked from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
A leopard continues to be missing from a safari park in China after three of the big cats escaped last week, the authorities said, sparking a backlash over the apparent cover-up.

The Hangzhou Safari Park had issued an apology on Saturday on its official account on the Weibo microblogging site, sparking criticism over the delay in issuing the information, while the three leopards roamed the streets during the busy May Day holiday.

The safari park said it was sincerely sorry for not announcing the incident sooner. However, earlier it had dismissed claims of an escape as inaccurate.

The local authorities have said that out of the three leopards, two have been captured, however, one remains missing. The efforts to capture the last leopard continued on Monday, according to authorities, as teams were sent to find the wild cat on foot and with drones.

The park has come under heavy criticism for not revealing that the leopards had escaped and thereby putting people at risk, even as they were spotted by villagers as early as 1 May, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.

The leopards roamed around the city during the busy Labour Day holidays when crowds of visitors gathered in the city of Hangzhou, a popular tourist city.

Video footage of leopards roaming in a tea plantation went viral on social media with more than four million people viewing it online, according to the South China Morning Post, while another clip showed a leopard in a residential area.

Authorities say the two captured leopards are in good health. It has not been revealed how the they managed to escape in the first place.

The third leopard was spotted by a drone early on Sunday, but ran away when people attempted to approach, according to the Global Times.
Hundreds of doctors working on the front line during the Covid pandemic have been told they wont have jobs in the NHS training scheme from August, despite the health service being dependent on them to tackle surgical backlogs.

Almost 700 anaesthetists  who had key roles caring for critically ill patients struggling to breathe during the Covid surges  have been dropped from the NHS training scheme and are unable to progress in their careers because of a shortage in places.

One junior doctor listed 40 jobs across the country that he would have considered moving to, but had been rejected for every single one, despite ranking in the top third of candidates nationally.

He told The Independent that the news was a slap in the face after the past year and that he felt let down after giving so much during the pandemic.

Amid a lack of training places, a record level of applicants as a result of curriculum changes, and the absence of opportunities to train abroad, given the pandemic, a record 697 doctors, who have all done at least four years training already, now face a scramble to find non-training jobs in NHS hospitals.

These positions, often on older contracts, are likely to pay substantially less and will not be part of the official NHS training scheme producing the next generation of consultants. The doctors may have to wait until 2024 to restart their training.

A registrar on the national junior doctor contract can expect to earn approximately 50,000, but a doctor employed at a trust on the older terms and conditions earns just under 39,000.

The Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCOA) said the number of training places in the NHS was not keeping pace with demand, with widespread vacancies for anaesthetists across the health service a serious risk to patient safety. It called on the government and Health Education England (HEE), which funds training places, to increase the numbers.

In total, 1,056 doctors applied to continue their training as anaesthetists after their initial four years in the NHS. But with only 359 posts available, 697 were not successful. Some may still be able to get a place before August if other doctors dont accept their offers, but the majority will not and the number of places is fixed.

One of the doctors affected told The Independent the past year had been immensely difficult, proper war zone stuff, adding: Months and months of training have been taken away from me. We had to do it, but also the NHS asked us to do it and now its like, Thanks very much, you dont get a job. Its like a real slap in the face.

The doctor, who worked across several London hospitals during the Covid surges, described working without the usual supervision on punishing rotas of mixed days and night shifts that disrupted his body clock and left him unable to sleep properly.

I remember going into work and having to make critical decisions on just one hours sleep.

The doctor warned that many of his colleagues could quit over the way theyve been treated: I feel like they cant keep taking from us. Ive lost all that time training, months and months of revision, and Im not going to get that back; my wife isnt going to get that back. It's just constantly taking the best years of our life and I feel theyve not held up their end of the bargain.

I love my job, but it feels like the bodies that govern and support us as trainees are doing everything they can to take that love away by putting us in positions like this.

As well as the shortage of training places, the pandemic has meant doctors are unable to leave the UK to work in countries such as Australia before applying to continue training as a registrar.

In addition, from next year, the RCOA is also adding an extra year before registrar training starts  which has worsened the bottleneck this year as doctors tried to avoid the change.

Dr Helgi Johannsson, from the RCOA, said the number of doctors being trained was not enough to meet the demands of the NHS.

He said: These people have already been through one extremely competitive recruitment round and then to be rejected at the second one is going to be psychologically crushing, especially in a year where their training has been disrupted enormously by Covid.

These are doctors whove been absolutely frontline in the fight against coronavirus. This could dissuade some trainees from pursuing their career in anaesthesia, which would be a great tragedy.

Dr Johannsson said hospitals across the country have set up their own non-training posts to ensure safe staffing, adequate rest and that rotas are kept legal.

He added: The number of anaesthetists being trained does not match the capacity need at the moment and certainly not in the near future while we try and get the elective operating capacity back up, to provide the public with the surgical and anaesthetic service they need.

In its latest workforce census, the RCOA found that 90 per cent of departments across England had at least one consultant vacancy, equivalent to 1,410 anaesthetists or 1 million patient operations a year that might be delayed.

There are now a record 4.7 million patients waiting for routine hospital treatment, including more than 350,000 who have waited more than a year.

Dr Johannsson added: The Royal College of Anaesthetists has been having honest, open and frank conversations with Health Education England and the government about workforce for several years, but clearly these need to continue and intensify if the anaesthetic supply line is going to be managed effectively in the next few years.

There has been massive funding pressure on the NHS, and a lot of that pressure has been on education and training which is absolutely vital for the continued supply of doctors. To try and cut costs in education and training is a very short-sighted strategy, which is coming to a head at the moment.

Due to shortages for anaesthetists, many hospitals have now opted to fund their own non-training posts to ensure gaps are filled and the safety of patients is maintained. Most training posts are funded by HEE, but it has had its budget held flat since 2015.

HEE data shows it reduced the number of anaesthesia training posts for registrars from 315 in 2017 to 256 this year. In intensive care medicine, posts increased from 139 to 171 over the same period.

Professor Wendy Reid, medical director for HEE, said the 697 figure was speculation, despite the fact the final number of places available will not change.

She added: The number of posts available is in line with previous years and, as always at this stage of recruitment, there remain those who do not have posts yet. We recognise this year is unique, which is why we are supporting trainees as much as possible in finding the right roles across all professions, including additional recruitment rounds and more flexibility for applicants.
A climate campaigner facing jail for breaking an embargo on Heathrow airport court ruling has said prison would be a tiny price to pay to get the truth out

Tim Crosland, the director of environmental campaigning organisation Plan B Earth, is facing an application from the attorney general to the Supreme Court to be held in contempt of court, which is punishable by up to two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

In December the lawyer broke an embargo on a Supreme Court ruling over the governments plans to build a third runway at Heathrow by tweeting the judgement a day before it was due to be published.

Arriving on Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of his contempt hearing, Mr Crosland, said his tweet was an act of civil disobedience and he had "no choice but to protest the deep immorality of the courts ruling.

He had brought a small suitcase and packed his toothbrush when arriving at the court, he said, because he was fully prepared to be jailed.

The government knew the consequences of breaching that limit would be devastating for all our young people, for the global south, and they kept that information away from public view in order to smooth the progress of the 14-billion project to expand Heathrow Airport, and so I decided to blow the whistle."

The case last December was an appeal by the government against an earlier Court of Appeal ruling that ministers had ignored their own climate commitments when they approved the third runway scheme.

The Supreme Court ultimately overturned this judgement, clearing the way for the third runway to go ahead, but circulated their ruling a day in advance to those involved in the case, including Mr Crosland.

He said that when he read the judgement, he concluded the justices had compounded the governments original suppression of evidence about whether expanding Heathrow was incompatible with the UKs pledges under the Paris climate agreement.

He decided to release the ruling early as an act of protest, despite knowing it broke a legally binding embargo.

Speaking as his hearing before three Supreme Court judges for contempt of court got underway, Mr Crosland said: The attorney general prosecutes me for highlighting the Governments dishonesty and climate hypocrisy in the year of COP26.

"Its the classic case of retribution against the whistleblower by those attempting to conceal their own guilt.

I believed that Heathrow expansion would breach the Paris temperature limit of 1.5C, he told the court. The antidote to that suppression was the spotlight of publicity that would follow from breaking the embargo.

Opening the case on behalf of the attorney general, Aidan Eardley said Mr Croslands tweets ensured the Supreme Court judgement spread like wildfire. Despite being asked to take down his post, he refused.

The environmental campaigner has "remained entirely unapologetic" since, Mr Eardley added, and had shown "wilful defiance to the authority of the court".

Mr Crosland asked the judges to "consider the consequences" of allowing Heathrow expansion, saying it would cause "the loss of life, the betrayal of the younger generation, the betrayal of the international community".

Mr Crosland added that "to all sensible people, to all people of conscience, and to all faithful public servants", revealing the courts decision was "trivial by comparison".

It is not yet known when the three judges will make their decision.
A murder investigation has been launched after the discovery of a mother-of-twos body in shrubbery in east London.

Maria Jane Rawlings was found dead in Romford on Tuesday afternoon.

The body of the 45-year-old, who has two daughters, was discovered by a man walking his dog in Little Heath in the east London town, according to police.

The Metropolitan Police said preliminary findings from a post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as neck compression and possible blunt force head trauma.

Police said homicide detectives are investigating the case.

There had been no arrests as of Friday morning.

Ms Rawlings, who lived in the Chelmsford area in Essex, had visited Kings Georges Hospital in Ilford, east London, on Monday evening.

After leaving the hospital, she made her way on foot to Barley Lane in the direction of the A12.

Police said they believe someone may have approached Ms Rawlings while she was walking on this road.

Her body was found the next day in shrubbery in Little Heath and reported to the police around 2pm.

Detective Chief Inspector David Hillier, who is leading the investigation, said: My team and I are working around the clock, following a number of enquiries in our work to establish what happened to Maria.

Her family are understandably distraught and we are doing all we can to help them as they begin to come to terms with their loss.

In an appeal to the public, he said: I want to hear from anyone who knew Maria and knows about where she had been and who she had been associating with. Have you seen her in the area in the company of another person? Had you recently heard or seen a disturbance or struggle in the area but did not think it significant at the time?

He said residents in the area may have dash cam or doorbell footage that could have captured her and to get in touch with police if they can help.

Chief Superintendent Stephen Clayman, Basic Command Unit Commander for Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge, said: I understand the concerns around safety that will arise from this, particularly from women, and we have increased patrols in the area from our local policing teams.
Police have warned that terrorists capabilities and intention to commit attacks in the UK have not changed during the coronavirus pandemic, as potential targets become more crowded after lockdown.

Four plots, two classified as Islamist and two extreme right-wing, have been foiled since March 2020.

They bring the total number of thwarted attacks in the past four years to 29, with 18 Islamist, 10 extreme right-wing and one classified as left-wing, anarchist or single-issue terrorism.

A senior counter-terror officer appealed to the public to remain vigilant as restrictions ease.

During the pandemic and the various lockdowns weve seen, the terrorist intent and capability has remained unchanged and people are becoming increasingly radicalised online, said Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Matt Twist.

What has been missing to date is the opportunity for some of those terrorists to transact whatever they might wish to do, because there have been far fewer crowded places  terrorists have not stopped planning attacks or radicalising vulnerable people online, and now we are easing out of lockdown.

The most recent terror attack in the UK, the Reading stabbing on 20 June, saw a knifeman target groups of friends meeting in a popular park.

Khairi Saadallah, a Libyan asylum seeker with multiple criminal convictions, was given a whole-life prison term for murdering three victims in January.

The UKs current terror threat level stands at substantial, meaning further attacks are deemed likely.

It was raised to severe in November because terror attacks had hit France and Austria on the eve of national lockdowns, and there were fears that extremists would take their last opportunity before the streets were cleared with incoming restrictions in England.

Asked whether coronavirus had changed the tactics terrorists planned to use, Mr Twist said the bulk of the threat was still focused on crowded spaces and creating mass casualties.

 Three people killed in Reading stabbing attack

We havent seen a significant shift away from that, he added. In lockdown there are far fewer venues with a lot of people.

Official figures show that the number of terror arrests made in the UK has dropped to the lowest level in a decade over the past year.

The number of reports to the anti-terrorist hotline and the number of people referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme have also fallen significantly.

Of 185 terrorism-related arrests in 2020, 55 per cent of suspects were believed to be jihadists, 23 per cent far right and 22 per cent other or unclassified.

A rising proportion of suspects were children as young as 14, with 19 under-18s arrested in the year - and 14 of those classed as extreme right-wing.

Mr Twist said Islamist-inspired terrorism was still judged to pose the greatest threat to the UK, but the number of far right cases continues to grow.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend Tom Maddick / SWNS UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters

He told a press conference on Monday that security officials were concerned that coronavirus had created an environment where extremists find it easier to identify, target and potentially radicalise vulnerable people.

Mr Twist said the pandemic had exacerbated grievances that extremists prey on, such as economic inequality, stoked distrust in authority and inspired conspiracy theories.

He called on the public to use the ACT Early website and Prevent advice line to seek support for loved ones who may be being radicalised online.

Police are also calling for hospitality venues and businesses to conduct risk assessments on indoor areas and outdoor spaces.
Boris Johnsons multimillion pound plan to introduce mandatory voter ID at elections has been criticised as an illiberal solution in pursuit of a non-existent problem by a former Tory cabinet minister.

As the prime minister prepares to set out his legislative agenda for the coming year at the Queens Speech, the senior MP David Davis told The Independent the unnecessary and pointless proposals should be abandoned by the government.

Civil liberties groups and race equality campaigners also sounded the alarm over plans, reiterating concerns that barriers could be erected for millions of eligible voters who lack photo identification, which they said were disproportionately from ethnic minority and working-class backgrounds.

Mr Johnsons government first committed to introduce ID checks at polling stations in October 2019  for both parliamentary elections in Great Britain and local elections in England  but the plans failed to materialise during the last Parliament.

It is now expected requirements for ID will be included in an Elections Integrity Bill  forming one of around two dozen pieces of legislation that will be unveiled on Tuesday during the State Opening of Parliament.

Its yet another unnecessary ID card approach from the government, the former cabinet minister Mr Davis said. Theres no evidence that Im aware of that there is a problem with voter fraud at polling stations.

Its actually quite difficult to do, he stressed. Somebody else might turn up, they might have voted already. Its addressing a problem that is not there and its impinging on peoples privacy and convenience.

Its illiberal. Its an illiberal solution in pursuit of a non-existent problem. If youve got an ID card, youre putting a barrier in the way of people to exercise their own democratic rights, which is not necessary and shouldnt be there.

Pressed on whether the government should abandon the proposals, the former cabinet minister replied: Yes. It should never have taken it up in the first place.

Its pointless, its a waste of time, its a waste ministerial effort and as I say its an illiberal solution in pursuit of a non-existent problem. And it will be expensive for nothing.

According to most recent data from the Electoral Commission, 595 cases of alleged voter fraud were investigated by police in 2019, with just four leading to a conviction and two individuals given a police caution. The electoral watchdog concluded in the same year that the UK has low levels of proven electoral fraud and that there remains no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud.

Critics of the plans have also argued that the legislation is disproportionate when compared to recent trials of voter ID schemes in England, with hundreds being turned away from polling stations for failing to bring along the correct identification.

Alba Kapoor, a policy officer at the race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, told The Independent: One in five people in the UK electorate do not have any form of photo ID. These people are disproportionately BME and working class, who will effectively become disenfranchised as a result of this legislation.

Focus should be on the fact that voter registration numbers are far lower among the BME electorate, instead of unnecessary Voter ID legislation.

In October, the government attempted to allay some of these concerns, confirming plans for a new free-of-charge local electoral identity document for those without passports or driving licence to be made available to those that apply.

Cat Smith, the shadow minister for young people and democracy, however, echoed Mr Davis views, describing the government proposals as a solution looking for a problem that doesnt exist.

Referring to voter ID requirements in some American states, she told The Independent: To be very blunt about it, I think it sends the message that the Conservative party in the UK is taking lessons on democracy from the Republican playbook on voter suppression from the US.

We dont have a massive issue with voter impersonations at polling stations in Britain, and its therefore not a problem that needs to be addressed. By doing so it will make it more difficult for literally millions of legitimate voters to cast their ballots.

The Electoral Reform Society that has been pushing against the ID plans since they were first floated by Mr Johnsons administration, insisted: Voting is safe and secure in the UK, so rather than inventing problems, the government should focus on the real issue in politics  including 9 million people missing on the electoral roll, and the glaring loopholes in our lobbying laws.

Dr Jess Garland, the director of policy at the organisation, added: At a cost of up to 20m per election, mandatory ID is an expensive distraction and the wrong priority right now. These proposals should be dropped before they damage political equality in the UK.

A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said: Showing identification to vote is a reasonable approach to combat the inexcusable potential for voter fraud in our current system and strengthen its integrity.

Evidence shows that voter identification does not impact turnout and it has been operating in Northern Ireland with ease for decades. A broad range of photographic documents will be accepted, not just limited to passports and drivers licences. We have also been clear that a free voter card will be available if needed.

Other measures expected in the legislation are expected to tackle different forms of voters fraud, including tighter rules for absent voting and steps to prevent intimidation, including people being coerced or intimidated into giving up control of their vote, the government said on Monday.

Minister for the constitution and devolution, Chloe Smith, added: Stealing someones vote is stealing their voice. Fraud, and the intent to intimidate or coerce a voter, are crimes. So this government is stamping out the space for such damage to take place in our elections.
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has challenged Boris Johnson to change course and bring in major reforms to prevent the SNP boosting support for Scottish independence.

Mr Brown urged Mr Johnson to set up a constitutional inquiry, create a new forum for leaders of the four devolved nations, and consider greater powers for the Scottish government.

Launching a new campaign appealing to middle Scotland, the former PM claimed most Scots were focused on greater cooperation between Scotland and the UK right now, rather than another referendum on independence.

Can you make the United Kingdom work better? We need a review of the whole constitution, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. Boris Johnson has got to change. [You need] better relations between the nations.

Mr Brown claimed middle Scotland was certainly more Scottish than British, certainly prefer Nicola Sturgeon to Boris Johnson, [but] they actually want cooperation between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

It comes as new Survation poll showed that only 12 per cent of Scots believe the incoming SNP government should prioritise another referendum in the short-term.

Nicola Sturgeons new government intends to hold an independence referendum before the end of 2023, SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said on Monday, after the for SNP and Scottish Greens won a small majority in the Scottish parliament.

The intention to have that referendum in the first half of this parliament, he told the Today programme.

The SNP deputy leader also claimed the UK government would not dare attempt to block any referendum legislation passed by the Scottish parliament by taking the matter to the Supreme Court.

From what I saw yesterday when I was in the studios with Michael Gove, the UK government has no intention of taking legal action, he said. It would have been absurd for it to have done so.

He added: There are people in the Conservative party, whether in Edinburgh or Westminster, that know perfectly well its going to happen. Lets agree it going to happen at the appropriate time.

Asked by the BBC on Sunday if the UK government would block referendum legislation, Mr Gove initially answered no. But he later made clear it thought it was too early to consider such issues. Were not even going there at the moment.

 Michael Gove repeatedly dodges questions over government blocking Scottish referendum in court

The 2014 independence referendum was agreed when the UK government granted a section 30 order (a provision in the Scotland Act of 1998) so the Scottish government could legally stage a vote on separation.

Any attempt to pass an independence referendum bill in the Scottish parliament would likely spark a legal challenge from Mr Johnsons government.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said on Sunday that Ms Sturgeons most senior legal adviser, the Lord Advocate, should block any indyref2 legislation  claiming it was not in the power of Scottish government to hold a vote on separation.

Mr Brown also challenged Ms Sturgeon to publish all the legal advice on a referendum bid from the Lord Advocate and her senior law officers. The former Labour PM predicted the advice would tell her shes in danger of having a Catalonia-style wildcat referendum.

Mr Brown also urged Ms Sturgeon to answer questions on what independence for Scotland means on big issues like border arrangements. The big issue is not the referendum, the big issue is independence, he said.

I would challenge Nicola Sturgeon, shes had years to think about this, tell us what independence means  the benefits, tell us the costs, tell us about the pound, tell us about the pension, tell us about the border, tell us about quantitative easing.

None of these questions have been answered and every time you ask her she says she is going to produce a plan some time. We actually should have answers to these questions by now.

On Sunday the SNPs deputy leader said Ms Sturgeon would put forward a detailed white paper on independence in due course. However, Mr Brown conceded that the contents of the document doesnt necessarily mean thats what will happen in an independent Scotland.
Boris Johnson is to push ahead with controversial planning reforms in a new bill to be unveiled in tomorrow's Queen's speech.

Cabinet ministers believe that home ownership in the north and midlands is driving Tory gains in the regions seen at local elections last week, The Times newspaper reports.

Under plans previously consulted on by the government it would become harder for existing residents to block new homes  with some areas marked as fit for development by default.

But the PM faces a fight with Tory councils and MPs, some of whom believe the plans will benefit developers while doing little to build more homes.

Others oppose mass housebuilding in their areas and claim there is no need  despite rising prices and the government failing to meet its target of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

Theresa May led opposition to the government's planned reforms last year, attacking them as "ill-conceived" and "mechanistic".

The briefing to the Times about the link between home ownership and Tory gains appears to be a push to convince Conservatives that it in their long-term electoral interests to build more homes.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend Tom Maddick / SWNS UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters

Housing tenure is one of the most reliable predictors of voting intention, with the Conservatives having strong support among homeowners and Labour leading among private renters and social tenants.

Under the plans, zones would be identified as protected, growth, or somewhere in between  with weaker restrictions on building in areas with more demand.

Developer contributions - known as "section 106" - would also be replaced with a national tariff system.
The parents of one of two Americans who were convicted and sentenced to life in prison after an Italian police officer was fatally stabbed have spoken out for the first time since their sons verdict.

Ethan and Leah Elder, the parents of Finnegan Elder, described their sons mental state as perilous after he was sentenced to life in prison last week.

We just want Finn to be able to survive this, Leah Elder told ABC News Good Morning America on Monday. He has a noted history of attempted suicide, and were really worried and really concerned. He was utterly devastated by the verdict, just devastated. It was completely unexpected for him.

Mrs Elder testified in court last December about her sons mental fitness, which included details on his past suicide attempts while living in San Francisco.

He struggles with anxiety and depression, and his current situation is really perilous, she added.

Finnegan Elder, 21, and Gabriel Christina Natale-Hjorth, 20, were found guilty last week of murder, assault, killing a public official, and extortion for stealing a backpack from a drug pusher and demanding money or drugs in exchange.

Separately, Elder was found guilty of carrying a military-grade knife, which was a prohibited weapon in Italy.

The pair received Italys harshest sentence, life in prison, for their crimes.

In July 2019, Elder, then 19, and Natale-Hjorth, then 18, of California attacked two members of Italys storied Carabinieri paramilitary police force on a street corner in Rome, Italy, in the early morning hours.

Police said the teenagers, who were former classmates from the San Francisco area, tried to buy cocaine but were sold a fake substance. In response to being sold the fake substance, the teenagers allegedly robbed a drug dealer of a backpack and demanded he pay 100 euros and the promised cocaine for them to return it.

They scheduled to meet the drug dealer on a street corner but, unbeknownst to the teenagers, the person also called local authorities about the situation.

Elder and Natale-Hojorth encountered two plainclothes police officers at 3am on 26 July, 2019.

The two Carabinieri officers, Mario Cerciello Rega and Andrea Varriale, approached the teenagers without any service weapons or handcuffs. It was not known if they had their badges on them.

Mr Varriale said they identified themselves as police officers in Italian, but the teenagers thought the two men were drug dealers, according to testimony from Elder.

Mr Cerciello Rega, 35, entered into a physical altercation with Elder, who then stabbed the police officer 11 times with a knife he purchased while in Europe. Elder has not denied the incident but claimed he was acting in self-defence because he feared he was being strangled.

The other police officer fought Natale-Hjorth and was punched several times by the teenager.

In the blink of an eye, they turned around and rushed us without saying a single word, Elder said in his testimony. Im truly sorry and deeply saddened for the loss of Mr Cerciello.

Elders parents described him as incredibly kind and painfully honest when speaking on Good Morning America.

He does not see a reason to lie, Mrs Elder said. From the moment Finn was detained, he has not changed his version of that night one iota.

The parents thought their sons sentencing was too harsh given Elders mental state, his age, and the crime he committed. Next steps for the family would be to appeal the verdict.

I understand that a mans life was lost that night, I understand that Finnegan should serve some time, Mrs Elder said. I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence thats proportionate and something that helps at least acknowledge his mental health issues.
Coffee retailer Starbucks is reportedly considering leaving Facebook after the company faced a deluge of negative comments on the company's posts supporting social justice causes.

BuzzFeed News originally reported the company's potential departure from one of the world's largest social media platforms.

The outlet cites internal discussions among Facebook employees who handle the site's relationship with the company.

Starbucks is in the process of evaluating their organic presence on FB, and whether they should continue to have a presence on the platform at all, a Facebook employee told BuzzFeed News.

The employee said that the company regularly faces harsh backlash anytime it makes a post concerning social or environmental justice issues.

Anytime they post (organically) in regards to social issues or their mission & values work (e.g. BLM, LGBTQ, sustainability/climate change, etc.) they are overwhelmed by negative/insensitive, hate speech related comments on their posts, the employee said.

Starbucks would not confirm to BuzzFeed that it was considering leaving the social media platform, but did say it was "against hate speech."

While some changes have been implemented, we believe more can be done to create welcoming and inclusive online communities, the spokesperson told BuzzFeed about Facebook.

Like most companies, Starbucks primarily uses social media to post about its products and advertise promotions. However, the coffee company also regularly posts about societal issues that include climate change, anti-Asian violence in the US and the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd.

If Starbucks leaves Facebook, it would be the largest company to ever pull its presence off the platform. However, it would not be the first notable company to do so, as Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX pages were pulled from the site in 2018 during the #DeleteFacebook campaign.

Starbucks pulled its advertising from Facebook last year during the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign, which was aimed at pressuring Facebook to take a harder stance against hateful and extremist content.

Facebook told BuzzFeed that it had implemented technologies to combat hateful content.

We dont want hate on our platform and neither do our partners, the spokesperson said. We have invested in technologies to take down hate speech, and we proactively detect 97 percent of what we remove. We also offer tools to limit this content from appearing on partners pages including ways for brands to control those who can comment on their posts.
The obsession with Donald Trump among the GOP is comparable to the slow sinking of the Titanic, according to congressman Adam Kinzinger.

In an interview with CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday, the Illinois congressman warned that the future of the GOP was not good if it continued obsessing over the former president.

In fact, the current situation was on par with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, Mr Kinzinger claimed, with Mr Trump accused of being among the first to board a lifeboat.

Right now its basically the Titanic. Were...in the middle of this slow sink, the congressman told CBS. We have a band playing on the deck telling everybody its fine.

Meanwhile, Donald Trumps running around trying to find womens clothing and get on the first lifeboat, Mr Kinzinger told CBS, in reference to the film. I think theres a few of us that are just saying, Guys, this is not good  not just for the future of the party, but this is not good for the future of this country.

Mr Kinzinger, a frequent critic of Mr Trump, referenced the Titanic tragedy amid a falling-out between two warring factions of the GOP  with conference chair Liz Cheney facing threats of removal.

Accusing GOP minority leader Kevin McCarthy of flip-flopping on his criticism of Mr Trump for Januarys Capitol insurrection, Mr Kinzinger continued: Liz Cheney is saying exactly what Kevin McCarthy said the day of the insurrection.

She's just consistently been saying it. And a few weeks later, Kevin McCarthy changed to attacking other people, Mr Kinzinger alleged  adding the GOP still needed to review the insurrection, carried out by supporters of Mr Trump, in full.

Mr Kinzinger was one of 10 GOP House members to vote to impeach Mr Trump for inciting insurrection in January.
Former president Donald Trump has reinforced his support for the congresswoman vying to take over Rep Liz Cheney s leadership position in the House GOP.

The House GOP has a massive opportunity to upgrade this week from warmonger Liz Cheney to gifted communicator Elise Stefanik , Mr Trump said in a statement on Monday.

We need someone in Leadership who has experience flipping districts from Blue to Red as we approach the important 2022 midterms, and thats Elise! he went on. She knows how to win, which is what we need!

Mr Trump had already voiced his support for Ms Stefanik last week, offering his COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. With his additional statement on Monday, he appeared to be giving an extra push to help the House GOP install her this week.

Ms Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, has fallen out of favor with House Republicans in recent weeks as she has pushed back against Mr Trumps lies regarding the 2020 election and the 6 January Capitol riot. Ms Stefanik, a rising star in the partys pro-Trump wing, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Ms Cheney as the No 3 House Republican.

Rep Kevin McCarthy, leader of the House GOP, confirmed on Sunday that he is supporting Ms Stefanik for the leadership position as well.

On Monday Mr Trump reiterated his support, citing a list of Ms Stefaniks conservative policy bonafides.

Elise has intelligence, an endorsement from American Patriot Brandon Judd and the National Border Patrol Council, she has an A+ from the NRA, and she loves our Veterans, the ex-president wrote.

In fact, Ms Cheney is more conservative than Ms Stefanik on some issues. What she lacks is Ms Stefaniks main selling point for House Republicans: her unwavering support for Mr Trump. Ms Stefanik was a forceful defender of the former president during his first impeachment, and voted against certifying the election victory of President Joe Biden.

Ms Cheney, meanwhile, has become a vocal critic of Mr Trump since 6 January, and voted to impeach him in 2020.

We Republicans need to stand for genuinely conservative principles, and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality, she wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post last week.
The White House has refused to say if Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom over the DarkSide hacking demand.

The FBI says that the hacking group was behind the ransomwear attack on the company, which was forced over the weekend to shut down its 5,500-mile pipeline that runs between Texas and New York.

The Biden administration said at a Monday briefing that it was up to the private company to address if it had paid the DarkSide ransom after the attack.

Officials say that the FBI has been investigating the DarkSide variant since last October, and described it as a service variant where criminal affiliates conduct attacks and share proceeds with ransomwear developers.

Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber & Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger told reporters that Colonial had not asked for cyber support from the federal government following the attack.

Ms Neuberger said that the government was aggressively investigating the incident and its culprits.

But when she was asked about Colonial paying a ransom she refused to confirm anything.

We recognise that victims of cyber attacks often face a difficult situation and have to balance the cost benefit when they have no choice but to pay a ransom. We will defer the decision on paying a ransom to them, she said.

Typically that is a private sector decision and the administration has not offered further advice at this time.

The Independent has reached out to Colonial for comment.

And Ms Neuberger added that at this stage it appeared that the attack was a criminal one, and not linked to a nation state.

DarkSide is a new and very troubling variant where it is provided as a service and the proceeds are split. That is something that we are particularly troubled by, she said.

We currently assess it as a criminal actor but of course our intelligence communities are looking for any ties to any nation state actors and if we find that we will look into it further.

Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor, Dr Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, told the briefing that the pipeline had suffered no damage and that Colonial would be bringing it back online relatively quickly.

She also said that there was currently no supply shortages caused by the shutdown and that the federal government was working to ensure that continued to be the case.
Andrew Yang has been called out on social media after swearing during a campaign event in a Brooklyn church.

The New York City mayoral candidate has been accused of being disrespectful for saying s*** in a house of worship.

Mr Yang was reminiscing about moving to the city during a campaign stop at St Anns Church and The Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights on Saturday night.

I moved here as a 21-year-old law student at Columbia. I didnt know s***, he told a couple of dozen voters at the event inside the church, adding: You know, its like when you show up as a 21-year-old.

I have the kind of life and career that I could never have even imagined as a 21-year-old, and every single good thing that has happened to me personally and professionally was made possible by New York City.

Despite the context, some were unimpressed with Mr Yangs choice of words.

[Call] me old fashioned, but regardless of your feelings about religion, dont disrespect a church like this, tweeted one person.

So disrespectful the way you cussed in church. Youre definitely not mature enough to run the city, said another.

I dont have to be religious to say that him cussing in a church is wrong, read a further post.

Many though defended the tech entrepreneur and former Democratic primary candidate for president, noting that while the remark was made inside a church building, it was not made at a religious service.

In A CHURCH, not IN CHURCH. There was no congregation and no service being held. Its HUGELY different, tweeted one person.

A spokesperson for the Yang campaign reiterated that the event was a campaign town hall, not a religious service.

Andrew was having a good time with the audience at todays town hall, laughing and sharing stories, said Jake Sporn. As everyone there knew, he has incredible respect for the church and this wasnt a service.

Others online noted the positive message the candidate was conveying about bringing the city back to life after the pandemic.

Mr Yang referred to the city that he would like to run as the most fundamental activator and transformer of human potential in the history of the world. That is what is at stake. And that does not happen over Zoom.

One person sarcastically pointed out that the cursing incident showed: Dude's getting more New York by the day.

Mr Yang is running in a particularly crowded field of two dozen candidates to secure the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City.

With new ranked-choice voting and good name recognition off the back of his unsuccessful presidential run, Mr Yang is thought to have the edge on many of the other candidates.

He has led all polls until the most recent when he slipped behind Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams, with 18 per cent to Mr Adams 21 per cent in a survey of 500 likely Democratic voters.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer followed on 15 per cent. No other candidate polled in double digits in the race to replace outgoing mayor Bill de Blasio.

Competing to appear on the ballot for the Republican Party are Fernando Mateo, founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, and Curtis Silwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and a radio talk show host.

Both the Democratic and Republican primaries are scheduled for 22 June.
Thousands of holidaymakers were forced to scramble back to the UK after Portugal was downgraded from green to amber in the latest traffic light review.

The Atlantic country was one of the initial green countries, for which quarantine is not required, when international travel was given the official nod on 17 May. It joined countries including Israel, Iceland and Gibraltar.

Airlines and tour operators piled on capacity to Portugal to take advantage of a bump in demand, as holidaymakers explored its golden beaches, cobbled streets and historic cities.

Follow live: No new countries to go green, reports say

However, the country fell from green to amber in the latest traffic light review on 3 June.

All amber arrivals must self-isolate for 10 days at home and take two post-arrival PCR tests.

With the change in colour band, what are the rules on travelling to Portugal this summer?

Heres everything you need to know.

Will British holidaymakers be allowed to travel to Portugal this summer?

A vintage tram in Lisbon, Portugal (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Yes, there is nothing to stop holidaymakers from travelling to Portugal, despite its place on the amber list. Travel is discouraged, but not illegal.

The Portuguese foreign ministry confirmed that UK holidaymakers would be welcome from Monday 17 May.

A statement read: The options are wide for the British Tourists to visit Portugal, from any point. People from the United Kingdom have visited Portugal and celebrated our culture, traditions, landmarks, history, and enjoyed our warm hospitality for decades.

We look forward to welcome all travellers coming from the UK.

Will I need to take a Covid test before travel?

A beach near Lagos in Portugals Algarve region (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Yes. Visitors must present a negative Covid PCR test taken within 72 hours of the departure of the flight. They will not need to quarantine unless they test positive for Covid-19.

Tourism minister Rita Marques recently said the country would try at all costs to avoid quarantines and additional Covid-19 tests for tourists, reports MailOnline.

She added that Brexit should not be an obstacle to British holidaymakers, saying: Portugal is still identifying many issues that need special care due to Brexit but the Portugal brand is strong, particularly among the British.

Will I need to have been vaccinated to visit Portugal?

Visitors to Portugal do not need to have been vaccinated to enter the country, but they must present a negative Covid PCR test taken within 72 hours of the departure of the flight.

Fully vaccinated visitors to Madeira, a Portuguese island in the Atlantic, need not present a negative PCR test.

What rules and restrictions are in place in Portugal?

The Dom Luis bridge in Porto, Portugal (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Measures remain in place throughout Portugal to control the spread of the virus. You are required to observe the following rules on social distancing when in public:

Keep a social distance of two metres

Use a face covering in enclosed spaces, and outdoors where a distance of 2m cannot be maintained

Wash your hands regularly

Your temperature can be taken on access to enclosed spaces, as determined by the health authorities.

In mainland Portugal, you must wear a mask while walking along promenades and in restaurants and cafes until you are seated. The use of a mask is also obligatory on entry and exit from beaches and while using shower and changing facilities. You must maintain a social distance of 1.5m from other groups on the beach and follow the access signs.

You can be fined up to 1000 (860) if you breach the regulations.

Shops and other commercial premises, restaurants and cafes may have shorter trading hours. Leisure and cultural activities may be banned or limited to smaller groups.

In Madeira and Porto Santo, a curfew remains in place from 11pm until 5am, including weekends.

Bars and restaurants will close at 10pm. Most supermarkets, shops and cultural events will open at 50 per cent capacity.

In the Azores, measures remain in place to minimise the spread of the virus, with areas categorised on five levels of risk. The majority of areas fall under the very low risk category, with only the parish of Rabo de Peixe categorised as high risk.

Will I need to self-isolate on return?

Yes, all travellers will need to self-isolate for 10 days on return to the UK, as well as take two post-arrival PCR tests.
Scroll down to listen to todays podcast.

For 19 weeks, international leisure travel (which includes visiting loved ones) has been illegal. Now, as adventures and reconnections open up, the race to the sun is on. But a journey overseas has the look of a constantly evolving obstacle course about it  with go directly to quarantine the square no-one wants to land on.

Travellers venturing abroad must contend with unprecedented complexity: identifying the requirements of their destination, assessing Foreign Office advice and the effect that may have on travel insurance cover and organising the complex series of tests and documentation required to return to the UK  even from a green list country.

The travel industry, and many travellers, are aghast with the brevity of the green list: it has only a dozen countries on it (72 per cent fewer than the red list), and most of them are either inaccessible or impractical.

Will quarantine-free status be bestowed on more countries? What are travellers rights? And how to the laws of the four nations of the UK interact?

At a time when the rules of the travel game are changing daily, The Independent has created a new daily podcast on the top travel issues of the day.

Each day Ill bring you the latest news and give you my analysis in 10 minutest or less.

Listen to todays full episode.

Listen on Spotify.

Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Listen on Pocket Casts.

Listen on Acast.

Tune in every day for the inside track on all the latest travel stories.
What do you call something that feels inevitable but which has lost its momentum? Why, the Scottish independence movement, of course. Its a noble crusade with its roots deep in Scotlands sense of national identity, and the feelings of injustice that fuels it can only grow in the years to come. And yet, just now, it has come so quickly off the boil that maybe we havent quite noticed. Time for a quick reality check.

First off, were so used to seeing Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon as the absolute antithesis of one another that weve failed to recognise the emergence of their current consensus view  no independence referendum until the pandemic is over.

And when will that be? When will the economy have fully recovered, the threat receded and life returned completely to normal? Again, there is an apparent consensus  a couple of years at any rate. Anything could happen in that time. If the Conservatives are as silly as they have been historically, they will continue to treat Scotland as a cross between a colony and a laboratory, and the contempt will fuel Scottish indignation.

However, what if some of the shrewder voices within Tory circles prevail, and the existing machinery of cooperation is revived, Sturgeon and Drakeford are treated with respect for a change, and maybe some reforms to devolution proposed by Gordon Brown are taken up to appease the independence movement and take the edge off the SNPs claims? What if Number 10 started to treat Bute House as an equal partner, more like a dual monarchy than a subordinate executive?

Well, it might work. Boris Johnson and Michael Gove may have their principles about the integrity of the UK, but, as Groucho Marx once said, if you dont like them, they have others. Theyll do anything to save the Union  a negotiating position Sturgeon can make the most of if she doesnt push her claims too far.

Nor would she want to. Everything weve seen about her impressive time as first minister confirms her essential caution, born of a lawyerly training and a cool temperament. She does not want, surely, to be the SNP leader who loses the second referendum and thus consigns independence to the dustbin of history for, well, lets say a generation.

The lessons of Quebec and Catalonia, where the separatists overreached themselves, must weigh heavily with her. She wont, and oughtnt, even think about agitating for a new referendum or holding one unless there is a 6 at the beginning of the opinion poll rating for independence consistently for months, if not years. Lately, support for leaving the UK has slipped back to nearer 50 per cent  far too big a gamble for Sturgeon. Really overwhelming support for independence, in truth, might not actually ever happen.

Nor is Sturgeons mandate quite as muscular as she makes out. The SNP didnt get its overall majority in the Scottish parliament, let alone the kind of supermajority that some prominent nationalists, such as the decidedly graceless Alex Salmond, declared was both as necessary to the cause as it was imminent to arrive. The SNP just failed to win its overall majority, true, which means we shouldnt quibble, and has its Green allies to press the case; but the Greens are not part of the government, and she has, painfully, failed to secure the clear mandate win by Alex Salmond in the record breaking Scottish election of 2011, which forced David Cameron to grant the referendum of 2014. If the British constitution runs on precedent, the 2011 threshold has not been clearly met.

Those who framed the 1998 Scotland Act  the likes of Tony Blair and Donald Dewar  knew well what they were doing, and ensured that no party could easily get an overall majority. The rise of the SNP, and Labours historic failure, has since almost confounded their plans, but not entirely. Who is to say that the SNP, with or without the Greens, will be in power indefinitely?

The other reason why the independence argument is losing force is Brexit  a test case for an unhappy divorce. Just as with Brexit, the terms of Scottish independence  crucial stuff  are unclear and cannot be determined by Scotland alone. Indeed, ironically enough for a party built on the nation of the right of self-determination, issues such as the currency, the border with England, the free movement of peoples and so on will also be the subject of talks between London and Brussels, with Edinburgh being the piggy in the middle.

The more, in other words, about the certainties and the uncertainties of Scottish nationhood become clear, the more difficult the argument for independence becomes. It might happen one day, but maybe everyone was right in 2014, and it wont arrive for a generation.
Petrol and diesel prices hit record highs all over India after rates rose for the fifth time in a week as per PTI. Now, Maharashtra has joined Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the league of states where it is over Rs 100-a-litre mark.

Petrol price increased by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 33 paise per litre, as per a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers.

IE

It propelled petrol and diesel prices to the highest level ever. Delhi saw petrol at Rs 91.53 per litre and diesel is Rs 82.06 per litre.

While petrol prices had gone over the Rs 100-mark in some places in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh some days ago, Maharashtras Parbhani joined the league on Monday.

TNN

Petrol in Parbhani was Rs 100.20 per litre. In Bhopal it was Rs 99.55 a litre.


While COVID patients continue to gasp for oxygen and scramble for life-saving drugs on social media, an inter-state gang is found to be supplying spurious Remdesivir injections in Madhya Pradesh.

The racket supplied at least 1,200 fake Remdesivir injections, which contained glucose water and salt, in Madhya Pradesh in the last one month, the state police said.

These injections were sold as genuine Remdesivir, which is in high demand for treating COVID-19 patients, at exorbitant rates, a probe has revealed.

Reuters

The Gujarat Police recently busted this racket in Surat and arrested six persons, Indore's Vijay Nagar police station inspector Tahjib Kaji told PTI.

"Investigation revealed that the gang with the help of one Sunil Mishra had supplied 1,200 fake Remdesivir injections in Madhya Pradesh in the last month," he said.

Inspector Kaji said Kaushal Vora, who was among the six persons arrested in Gujarat, had delivered a consignment of 700 fake injections to Mishra in Indore.

Mishra later went to Surat and brought a consignment of another 500 spurious injections, the police officer said.

BCCL

"Of these 1,200 fake injections, 200 were sent to adjoining Dewas district from Indore, while 500 others were delivered to one Sapan Jain in Jabalpur," he added.

Five accomplices were arrested in Indore.

The gang was charging anywhere between Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 per injection.

Police have seized seven such injections, manufactured in Gujarat, with the same batch numbers in Indore.
7 COVID patients at the King Koti Hospital in Hyderabad died after an oxygen tanker lost its way while trying to get to the hospital, as per India Today.

The delay resulted in an issue in the supply of oxygen seven patients admitted to the ICU died after the pressure of oxygen went down.

PTI

The oxygen tank was showing low pressure from the afternoon and the authorities looked to refill it.

However, the tanker got lost on the way.

The Hindu

The Naryanguda police traced the tanker and helped it reach its destination, but seven patients had already succumbed to the lack of oxygen.

But officials are not commenting on what happened as questions are raised as to whether the tanker did not get a green corridor resulting in the tragedy.


Elon Musk has announced that his private spaceflight company SpaceX will now accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment to launch the DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon in the first quarter of 2022.

SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year



 Mission paid for in Doge

 1st crypto in space

 1st meme in space



To the mooooonnn!!https://t.co/xXfjGZVeUW  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2021

This comes even as the token crashed over 30 per cent, wiping out $30 billion of Dogecoins market value, after Musk the Dogefather, said that the cryptocurrency was a hustle during a segment of his "Saturday Night Live" debut.

Elon Musk is the highest profile supporter of the digital currency, which was founded in 2013 as a joke on social media. That goofy meme holds quite a value today--its the world's fourth-biggest cryptocurrency--thanks to the technology billionaire who has been pushing up the price of the cryptocurrency in the past few months with his tweets.

According to cryptocurrency data tracker CoinGecko.com, its price has soared by more than 800 per cent over the last month, with its total market value rising above $70 billion.

OI

Doge enthusiasts like to talk about sending Dogecoins value to the Moon--a catchphrase thats intended to drive the value of the cryptocurrency to one dollar. Last month, Musk tweeted that SpaceX was going to put a "literal Dogecoin on the literal moon".

SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2021

Dogecoin flies to moon

Geometric Energy Corporation announced the dogecoin-funded mission on Sunday and said that it will collaborate with SpaceX to launch a 40kg miniature satellite called a cubesat on a Falcon 9 lunar payload mission early next year.

The payload will obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board with integrated communications and computational systems.

Reddit

"This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce", SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero said in a statement.

Earlier in February, Elon Musk, the Technoking of Tesla, announced that the electric car maker company has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and would accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles.

Representative Visual | Indiatimes

Last month, Tesla reported its seventh consecutive quarter of profits and generated $101 million in income from the sale of 10 per cent of its bitcoin holdings--also helping the worlds largest cryptocurrency (by market cap) recover from a five-day slump.
Chernobyl -- the radioactive wasteland that caused catastrophic damage to human and animal life in the area is now seeing endangered animal population thrive.

Unspalsh

Also Read: Instagrammers Are Crowding Chernobyl After The Show, But Is It Safe To Visit For Everyone?

The radioactive disaster at Chernobyl has to be the worst things to have happened to this planet, causing an evacuation of a total of 350,000 people 35 years ago. And while this location wont be fit for humans for another 24,000 years, natural life is thriving here without human intervention.



This is according to researchers from the University of Portsmouth(reported first by EuroNews & AFP). When the radioactive calamity occurred, it resulted in the killing of pine trees of over 400 hectares in the immediate aftermath. However, in the last three decades, authorities have witnessed rare species of animals like the lynx and the European bison thrive in population.

In the exclusion zone in the Belarussian part, researchers have seen a considerable increase in the population of boar, elk and roe deer, especially the decade after the disaster. Wold population grew sevenfold.

According to James Smith, one of the lead researchers of the study, Wold numbers are seven times higher, likely due to much lower hunting pressure in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Our camera trap surveys in Ukraine have photographed Eurasian lynx, brown bear, black storks, and European Bison. Ukrainian and Belarussian researchers have recorded hundreds of plant and animal species in the zone including more than 60 rare species.

Also Read: France Tested Nukes In Sahara Desert, That Radioactive Dust Is Polluting France Now

Getty Images

Species include the rare and endangered horse Prezwalski, native to Central Asia. It is however crucial to note that researchers dont have an idea of how healthy these animals truly are.



Researchers feel that these species could be suffering negatively due to radiation poisoning and sadly, collecting data to monitor this situation is nearly impossible.

What researchers have been able to do is look at the effect of the disasters on plants like wheat, rye, oats and barley grown in the area, only to find that the area is still contaminated, according to a study by the University of Exeter and the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology.
Starship landing nominal! Elon Musk tweeted on May 5, after SpaceX sent the latest prototype of its spacecraft roaring into the skies, achieving what the previous five tests could not: a successful landing.

The first two prototypes soared to high altitudes, slammed onto the launching pad and burst into flames immediately; another exploded midair; while the SN10 prototype did perform a successful landing in March but blew up 10 minutes later.

ALSO READ: Why Exploding Rockets Couldn't Stop Elon Musk's Genius In 2020

Even as they kept falling from the sky, SpaceX engineers were busy working on newer prototypes. For Musk, its about moving fast, learning through trial and error, and getting closer and closer to the right design by developing novel engineering methods on the fly.

Twitter/Elon Musk

This successful fifth test was a product of this trial and error method and seemingly the most important as it came a month after SpaceX won a highly-coveted contract from NASA to use this mega-spaceship to land humans on the moon as soon as 2024.

It all started with a crazy dream

Elon Musk's private spaceflight company SpaceX, founded over two decades ago, aims to make humanity a multi-planet species and is partly motivated by existential threats such as an asteroid collision big enough to wipe out humanity.

ALSO READ: SpaceX's Starship Makes 1st Successful Landing, As Elon Musk Gets Closer To Mars

If something goes wrong with planet Earth, thats it, he said. Its game over.

He believes that Starship is the vessel that could make that happen and this smooth landing of SN15 is a big step closer to making it a fully reusable transport system capable of carrying up to 100 people to the Red Planet.

SpaceX Starship

Eventually, SpaceX wants to launch a 1,000 Starship fleet that would take a million people to Mars every time their planetary orbits sync, or every 26 months--an average of three Starship rocket launches a day.

ALSO READ: Humans Will Be On Mars In Just Over Five Years, Says Elon Musk

Musk refers to a million people as the golden number that would be needed to make life sustainable on Mars. And he first shared his idea of a spaceship that would ferry people to deep space in 2016 at an international conference in Mexico.

Starship: the reusable deep-space vessel

The spacecraft sits atop a rocket called Super Heavy and is designed to carry humans and cargo into low-Earth orbit, to the moon, and Mars, then return to Earth to do it all over again.

SpaceX

The combined system, which is referred to as Starship, will be the worlds most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit--even greater than SpaceXs Falcon Heavy which is already twice as strong as the worlds next best rocket and can lift 63 million tons into Space.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk's Mom Reveals How Her Son Was Brilliant From A Young Age

Lets start with the Super Heavy Booster, or as Musk would say, the Big F******g Rocket, or BFR for short. Its big, alright. Standing at 25-storeys (70m) high. I mean, look at this guy standing on the lift. And while you gape at the sheer enormity of this booster, imagine another 20-storeys (50m) for the Starship spacecraft which would sit right on top of it.

First Super Heavy Booster pic.twitter.com/0K5QPsEbbt  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2021

This next-generation launch system will be filled with 3,400 tons of sub-cooled liquid methane and liquid oxygen (CH4/LOX) propellants, which will power 28 Raptor engines. It has a gross liftoff mass of over 3 million kg, which means that it can lift a stack of 1,800 SUVs or 16 Boeing 747 aircraft.



This gigantic booster sends Starship into space, separates in the upper stage and flips over while falling back towards Earth. The Super Heavy will deploy six steel structures called "grid fins", from the sides of the booster, that help the rocket land back on the launch pad for another flight.

The spacecraft, which is made of stainless steel and resembles those from the golden-age of science fiction, will continue its journey onward. Starship will enter Mars atmosphere at 7.5 kmps and decelerate aerodynamically. SpaceX says the vehicles heat shield is designed to withstand multiple entries.

SpaceX

Its equipped with six Raptor engines which will presumably create enough power to lift off from the surface of the moon and Mars, where gravity is weaker than that on Earth. And as shown by the prototype, the craft will begin its descent into the Earths atmosphere, positioned horizontally to slow its momentum, before reorienting itself and making a controlled, nose-up landing.

The Raptor engines of the SN15 prototype shut down one by one as the rocket approached its peak altitude and its descent were guided by two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle for re-entry. Finally, the three engines relit to flip and slow the vehicle before relying on just a single engine to land.

SpaceX

Starship goes to the moon

The Starships first journey is to the moon and back. Japanese online retail billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has already booked tickets for himself and eight others for a weeklong Starship flight around the moon in 2023.

Starship will also fly on two missions for NASA. The first one will be a test flight and the second to carry two astronauts to the lunar surface in 2024 as part of the Artemis mission.

SpaceX

But the trip to the Red Planet is right on course. Elon Musk said that hes highly confident that SpaceX will launch an un-crewed Starship to Mars in 2024, followed by a crewed mission a couple of years later. And to think all of this began with one man's dream is nothing short of fantasy!
Swagatam | Trailer | Malhar Thakar | Upcoming Movie | Coming soon On ShemarooMe. It is a story about a madhouse which has some weird secrets and trail of insanity which runs in the blood. Manavs innocent looking family has a secret habit of killing the over-aged lonely men who have nothing 
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after touring a Covid-19 vaccination site at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland on April 29, 2021. The welfare of India is critically important to the U.S.," Harris said in her pre-recorded message played at an Indian American event hosted by the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs May 7. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
A tornado that struck Virginias Northumberland County near the Chesapeake Bay destroyed one home and severely damaged a few others. But no one was injured, according to weather service officials.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Jeff Orrock said the tornado struck near the town of Callao on Monday afternoon. Northumberland County is on the bays western shore.

The tornado tracked for about five miles and carried winds of up to 120 mph. Orrock said that the storm started to intensify and spin once it passed the Rappahannock River, which is south of Callao and Northumberland County.

Orrock said the tornado was part of a lone thunderstorm that did not appear to be part of a larger storm system.

Neada Corbin, 65, rummaged through the debris of her home of 40 years after the tornado ripped it from its foundation.

You dont want everybody to see you cry, she told WWBT-TV.

Corbin was at a store when the storm hit. She returned to a neighborhood with about a dozen damaged homes, but she was the only one with no home still standing. She lost everything she owns inside the home.

I got myself together and its OK. I got all my friends here and you know, God has a plan and its OK, Corbin said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm
A security firm that employed a man accused of killing a woman at the company headquarters of Timberland in New Hampshire said it bears no responsibility for her death.

Securitas Security Services USA said in court documents Wednesday that it appears the blame should be placed on Robert Pavao, whos been charged with first- and second-degree murder, Seacoastonline.com reported. Securitas responded to a federal lawsuit filed against it by Michael Cormier, the husband of Catherine Cassie Heppner.

Robert Pavao, 21, formerly of Berwick, Maine, is accused of killing Heppner, Timberlands marketing director, in February 2020. The first-degree murder charge alleges Pavao stabbed her before, after or while engaged in the commission of, or attempting to commit felonious sexual assault. The second-degree charge accuses him of recklessly causing her death. Pavao pleaded not guilty; hes being held without bail.

Authorities say Pavao worked as a security guard at Timberland in Stratham, New Hampshire, for four months. They said he had no relationship to Heppner.

The lawsuit said Securitas negligently hired Pavao despite alleged red flags about his psychological state. It said he allegedly used marijuana and psychedelic drugs at work, and allegedly had mental breakdowns at work that went unreported by a supervisor.

Securitas said it didnt cut any corners in hiring Pavao, and that it didnt receive any reports concerning him and alleged drug use. Securitas also said no employee reported any troubling information about Pavao.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is in talks to buy a portfolio of assets from Aon Plc and Willis Towers Watson Plc for about $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

An agreement could be reached in the coming weeks, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isnt public. Assets in Germany, Spain, France, and the Netherlands as well as Willis Towers reinsurance business will be part of the package deal, the people said. No final decision has been made, the structure could still change and discussions could fall through, they said.

The deal is part of the approval process for Aons $30 billion agreement last year to combine with Willis Towers, they said. That deal, which will create the largest global insurance brokerage, has been under review by European regulators, which had flagged concerns that the transaction could hurt competition. Aon and Willis Towers recently offered concessions to the European Commission.

Representatives for Arthur J. Gallagher, Aon and Willis Towers declined to comment. Representatives for the European Commission didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brokerages, which help to connect businesses looking for coverage with insurers, have been merging to diversify, boost commissions and serve customers who want to bypass intermediaries.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Mergers Agencies Aon A.J. Gallagher
In an apparent industry first, the global insurance company AXA said Thursday it will stop writing cyber-insurance policies in France that reimburse customers for extortion payments made to ransomware criminals.

AXA, among Europes top five insurers, said it was suspending the option in response to concerns aired by French justice and cybersecurity officials during a Senate roundtable in Paris last month about the devastating global epidemic of ransomware.

The word to get out today is that, regarding ransomware, we dont pay and we wont pay, cybercrime prosecutor Johanna Brousse said at the hearing. Only the U.S. surpassed France last year in damage from ransomware to businesses, hospitals, schools and local governments, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, estimating Frances related overall losses at more than $5.5 billion.

The suspension only applies to France and does not affect existing policies, said Christine Weirsky, a spokeswoman for the U.S. AXA subsidiary, a leading underwriter of cyber-insurance in the United States. She said it also does not affect coverage for responding and recovering from ransomware attacks, in which criminals based in safe havens including Russia break into networks, seed malware and cripple them by scrambling data.

Only after ransoms are paid do the criminals provide software keys to decode the data. And last year, many began stealing sensitive data before encrypting networks and threatening to dump it online unless victims paid up. That helped drive ransom payments up nearly threefold to an average of more than $300,000. The average recover time from a ransomware attack is three weeks.

The insurance industry has come under considerable criticism for reimbursing ransom payments. Cybersecurity expert Josephine Wolff of Tufts University said it has come to be built into organizations risk-management practices as one of the costs of doing business. And I think thats really worrisome because that is what fuels the continued ransomware business _ people keep paying ransom.

An 81-page urgent action plan delivered to the White House last week by a public-private task force noted that enriching ransomware criminals only fuels more global crime, including terrorism. But the authors stopped short of advocating a ban on ransom payments, saying paying up can sometimes be the only way for an afflicted business to avoid bankruptcy. U.S. officials call ransomware a national security threat, and some lawmakers are calling for immediate financial relief for stricken local authorities short on IT resources and running vulnerable systems.

Often, ransomware criminals have gathered intelligence about potential targets in advance and know when a victim carries insurance that covers ransom payments. Sometimes they even know a policys payment ceiling.

Emsisoft analyst Brett Callow called AXAs decision smart, noting that some organizations seem more inclined to pay ransom if the money isnt coming from their own pockets. The only way to break this vicious cycle is to cut off the flow of cash _ and ceasing to reimburse ransom demands may well do that.

AP reporter Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Carriers Cyber Fraud AXA XL France
Markus Braun, the former chief executive officer of scandal-ridden Wirecard AG who has been in jail for almost a year, sued insurance giant Chubb Ltd. to make it pick up his legal bills, people familiar with the case said.

Braun, who is being investigated over Wirecards demise, won an initial ruling in January in a Frankfurt court ordering Chubb to cover the costs under so called D&O insurance that his now-defunct employer had bought for top managers, said the people who asked not to be named because they arent authorized to speak about the matter.

That ruling was appealed and the outcome of the case is still pending, according the people.

A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt Regional Court confirmed the ruling but declined to name the insurance company. In recent weeks Braun won two additional cases against the company over the issue, she said.

Chubb declined to comment. A spokesman for Braun said he cant comment on ongoing litigation.

Wirecard collapsed in June last year after saying that 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in cash listed on its accounts probably never existed, sparking a host of probes and a parliamentary inquiry into the countrys biggest-ever corporate scandals. Munich prosecutors are investigating Braun and other former executives for accounting fraud. The former CEO is also being sued by Wirecard investors.

Braun has hired some of Germanys most expensive lawyers, both on the criminal and the civil side. According to German legal magazine Juve hes retaining five law firms. He is also asking Chubb to take over fees for a public relations expert he hired as part of his defense strategy.

Top photograph: The Wirecard logo is displayed at the headquarters of the payment service provider in Aschheim, Germany, in this photo taken on June 24, 2020. Photo credit: Sven Hoppe/picture-alliance/dpa via AP, file.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Lawsuits Chubb Directors Officers
A jury has awarded nearly $96,000 in damages to a northwest Indiana girl who was injured in 2018 while playing in a bounce house at a local YMCA.

After a four-day trial in the civil case against Valparaiso Family YMCA, the Porter County jury on May 6 awarded the girl $95,833 in compensatory damages.

The Valparaiso girl was 2 years old when she was injured in August 2018 while playing in an inflatable bounce house at the YMCA in the city about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Gary, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

A lawsuit filed on her behalf alleged she suffered permanent and severe injuries that resulted in medical expenses, and alleged negligence and wanton conduct by the YMCA.

In their verdict, the jurors found ordinary negligence by the YMCA and decided that its actions did not amount to gross negligence, said Jennifer Diane Norris, an attorney for the YMCA.

Norris said the YMCA admitted being responsible for the injuries the girl had suffered, so the case turned on the question of the nature and extent of those damages as a result of her injuries.

She said the YMCA believes the jurys decision was fair and wishes the girl the best in the future.

Attorney Kenneth J. Allen, whose office filed the lawsuit, said he and the girls family believe the jurys verdict will result in changes being made, and for that both the family and I are gratified.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Indiana
A federal judge in Sherman, Texas on May 5 ruled against an insurer that sought to dismiss a $500 million COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit by the nations third-largest chain of movie theaters.

The decision broke a months-long losing streak for policyholders seeking cover for income lost because of pandemic-related restrictions.

U.S. District Court Judge Amos L. Mazzant found that Cinemark Holdings had aptly pleaded that the coronavirus was actually present on its properties and caused damages, noting that more than 1,700 of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

Mazzant said in his opinion that the facts were very different in another COVID-19 claim that was dismissed by the Eastern District of Texas in March, where property owner Selery Fulfillment made no allegation that the virus was actually present.

Cinemarks policy is much broader than the one in Selery and expressly covers loss and damage caused by communicable disease,' Mazzant wrote. Both parties agree communicable disease encompasses COVID-19. At this stage of the proceedings, Selery is distinguishable.

The plaintiffs attorney, partner Michael S. Levine with Hunton Andrews Kurth in Washington, D.C., said in an email that there would be more favorable rulings for property owners if more judges followed the rules of federal civil procedure. He said Mazzant considered Cinemarks actual allegations and the specific policy wording.

Too many courts are overlooking this fundamental duty at the carriers urging to simply follow decisions, which happen to be factually and materially distinguishable, he said.

Mazzants ruling was the first of any state or federal judge since March 31 that rejected in whole an insurers motion to dismiss a COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuit, according to a litigation tracker maintained by the University of Pennsylvanias Carey Law School. During that time, two judges granted partial dismissal and 48 judges fully dismissed COVID-19 lawsuits or granted summary judgment for the insurer.

Cinemark, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 332 theaters with 4,522 screens in 42 states and an additional 200 theaters in 17 other countries, according to its civil complaint. The chain purchased a policy from FM Global that covered up to $500 million in damages from all risks of physical loss or damage except perils specifically excluded. Communicable diseases were a covered cause of loss.

Given the number of theaters affected, you can reasonably assume the damages will exceed policy limits, Levine said.

Cinemark had to shut down its theaters worldwide because of the virus. It notified FM Global that it was suffering losses because of those shutdowns on April, 20, 2020. The insurer requested more information about the scope of those losses but did not acknowledge that any coverage applied. The movie chain filed a lawsuit in January.

FM Global filed a motion for summary judgment against Cinemark on March 30. The insurer says that the policy expressly excludes damages caused by contamination. While the specific inclusion of coverage for communicable diseases may create an exception to the exclusion, a sublimit in the policy limits coverage to $1 million, according to the dismissal motion.

Perhaps more importantly, FM Global argued that Cinemark had failed to show that there was any direct physical loss to its property. Actual structural alteration is required to constitute physical loss, the carrier said.

District courts in Texas have repeatedly and unanimously held that the presence of COVID-19  whether present at a specific insured property or supposedly omnipresent in a general area  is not physical loss or damage to property, FM Global said in its motion.

The Carey Law School litigation tracker doesnt quite bear out that assertion. A state judge in Dallas and a federal judge for the Western District of Texas denied insurer motions to dismiss, but 16 federal judges did rule in favor of the insurance carrier.

Hopefully, courts will take heed of Judge Mazzants analysis and base future COVID-19 business interruption decisions on the actual facts alleged and the actual insurance wording before the court, as the rules and interpretive case law require, Levine said. When they do, the tide will shift substantially.

Cinemarks attorney, Thomas H. Cook Jr. of the Zelle law firm in Dallas, did not respond Wednesday to an email seeking comment.

Topics COVID-19 Lawsuits Texas Legislation
Alabama lawmakers overcame years of resistance and gave final passage to medical marijuana legislation on Thursday, capping a long and emotional debate in which key Republican lawmakers described switching sides in favor of the proposal.

The House of Representatives voted 68-34 to pass the bill, which would allow people with a qualifying medical condition to purchase medical marijuana with the recommendation of a doctor. The Alabama Senate late Thursday voted to accept House changes and sent the legislation to Gov. Kay Ivey.

The state Senate had already approved the bill last February by a 21-8 vote after just 15 minutes of debate. But the House of Representatives had traditionally been more skeptical of medical marijuana proposals and sent the bill through two committees before it reached the House floor.

Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said the governors office would review the bill.

We appreciate the debate from the Legislature on the topic. This is certainly an emotional issue. We are sensitive to that and will give it the diligence it deserves, Maiola said late Thursday night.

The approval came eight years after a medical marijuana bill in 2013 won that years so-called Shroud Award for the deadest bill of the year in the House of Representatives.

But Republican Rep. Mike Ball, who shepherded the bill through the House, said hearts and minds were slowly changed on the issue.

Ball, a former state trooper and state investigator, said he also switched his stance on medical marijuana, becoming emotional at times.

Every year that we delay getting help to people who need it, there are more people and more people who are suffering because of it. Weve still got another year or so before this gets set up and cranked up, but at least we have hope now, Ball said.

More than a dozen conditions, including cancer, a terminal illness, depression, epilepsy, panic disorder and chronic pain would allow a person to qualify. The bill would allow the marijuana in forms such as pills, skin patches and creams but not in smoking or vaping products.

Representatives voted to name the bill after the son of a state Democratic representative, Laura Hall. She had first introduced a medical marijuana bill over a decade ago after her son Wesley `Ato Hall had died of AIDS.

Representatives debated the bill for nearly 10 hours Tuesday until lawmakers adjourned shortly before midnight without a vote. House lawmakers did not meet Wednesday and representatives approved the bill Thursday after two hours of debate, before the Senate gave final approval.

The lengthy House debate brought impassioned discussion that included lawmakers expressing fervent opposition. Others spoke, however, of changing their minds on the issue after witnessing the illnesses of family members.

This can change the quality of life for the people that we love, said Republican Rep. Allen Farley, a former police officer.

The bill had faced an earlier filibuster from opposed Republicans, who worried that it could be a gateway to recreational use or that medical marijuana could end up in the hands of teens.

What makes us think we know more than the FDA. My other thought is what if were wrong. What if we approve and pass this bill and it is a gateway like it has been for Colorado, Republican Rep. Rich Wingo of Tuscaloosa said Tuesday.

A medical marijuana bill in 2013 won the Shroud Award for the deadest bill in the House.

They laughed at me, former Democratic state Rep. Patricia Todd, the sponsor of the 2013 bill said Thursday of the reaction she got from some Republicans at the time.

Im glad to see it passed. Its long overdue, Todd said.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cannabis Alabama
An insurance company alleges in a federal lawsuit that a company run by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his adult children owes $166,000 for workers compensation and employers liability coverage claims.

Starr Indemnity & Liability Company said in the suit filed Tuesday that Justice Family Group LLC failed and refused to pay deductibles for policies that covered its liabilities between June 2018 and June 2020, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports.

The lawsuit says the compensation and liability policies have per accident deductibles of $1 million when an injury happens unintentionally and per employee deductibles of $1 million when an injury occurs due to disease, according to the newspaper.

Justice Family Group falls within the sector of company and enterprise management, according to the West Virginia Secretary of States Office. The suit lists Gov. Justice, his son James C. Justice III and his daughter Jillean L. Justice as the companys members.

The secretary of states office says the governors children manage the company. Justice said he would put his children in charge of its operations when he became governor in 2017, the Gazette-Mail reports.

Justices office couldnt be reached for comment.

This lawsuit isnt the only one thats been filed against businesses operated by the Justice family recently. Four retired miners and the United Mine Workers of America said in an April court filing that its coal companies were failing to cover prescription drugs for retired workers despite agreeing to do so, according to the newspaper.

A few weeks before that, a federal judge in Delaware ruled that Justice and a family-owned company had to pay $6.8 million for breaching a contract with a coal exporter.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers Virginia West Virginia
The chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court said the court system did not receive a ransom demand or any direct message from those involved in a cybersecurity attack last week that resulted in the system disconnecting its online services.

So we feel fortunate that we caught this attack at an early stage, Chief Justice Joel Bolger told The Associated Press in an interview.

The court system, in a news release Saturday, said it had disconnected online services to remove malware from its servers and was working with a cybersecurity company to respond to the incident and prevent any further system breaches.

The disruption affected the publics ability to email court email addresses, including for filing documents; view cases online; or participate in hearings via videoconference, according to the court system.

Bolger said it was unclear when services would be back online but said it probably will be several days and that an announcement would be made when online services are set to resume.

He said court hearings and trials were taking place but if they were scheduled for a videoconference, for example, they were moving to teleconference or in-person proceedings.

As far as I know, the courts are scrambling a bit but theyre trying to just continue with business as they can do it without the internet, he said.

Bolger said the motive behind the attack was unclear. He said it was first detected April 29, when there were indications that there was someone who was attacking our system and trying to assert control.

He declined to go into detail, citing an ongoing review, but said it was enough to concern the technology department and prompt it to engage a security contractor.

No personal data was stolen or compromised as far as we know, Bolger said.

He said relevant state and federal agencies have been notified of the incident.

The Alaska Supreme Court extended until Tuesday deadlines for filings and for fines payable through the court system that were due between May 3 and May 10 unless a judge or court overseeing a matter sets an earlier deadline.

The Supreme Court, in a recent order, also said Bolger could relax and suspend court rules as necessary to respond to these circumstances.

Bolger said he was sorry this was causing a temporary inconvenience for the public but that we will not connect to the internet again until we can be assured that its safe to do so.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cyber Alaska
It is no secret that Apple is working on developing its own 5G modem. However, it has been unclear how quickly the company can design its own modem and start using it inside its devices. As per Apple analyst Kuo, the 2023 iPhones will start using a 5G modem designed by the company.

Apple is currently sourcing 5G modem from Qualcomm for its products, including the iPhone 12 series. Apple was previously working closely with Intel on the development of its 5G modem.

However after the latter missed various deadlines, the company had to resolve all its disputes with Qualcomm in a multi-billion dollar settlement as it wanted to ship the iPhone 12 series with 5G. Soon after the settlement, Intel exited the modem business which was acquired by Apple to further boost its in-house modem development efforts.

We predict that the iPhone will adopt Apples own design 5G baseband chips in 2023 at the earliest. As Android sales in the high-end 5G phone market are sluggish, Qualcomm will be forced to compete for more orders in the low-end market to compensate for Apples order loss. When the supply constraints improve, MediaTek and Qualcomm will have less bargaining power over brands, resulting in significantly higher competitive pressure in the mid-to low- end market.

Until Apples own 5G modem is ready for use, the company is expected to secure the supply of 5G modem from Qualcomm for iPhones and iPads. A multi-year agreement has been signed between both companies, with the possibility of further extending it.

This is not the first time that reports are emerging of Apple using its own 5G modem in 2023 iPhones. Barclays analysts have also previously claimed that 2023 iPhones would feature Apples in-house 5G modem.

[Via MacRumors
Burma Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to go on Trial at Special Court in Naypyitaw

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in September 2020. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be tried in person at a special court in Naypyitaw, according to one of her lawyers.

At a hearing on Monday the presiding judge declared that by the instructions of the Union Supreme Court the cases against her were to be heard in person, and not virtually via video conferencing, after the next adjournment.

The Zabuthiri township judge will sit in a special courtroom for Daw Aung San Suu Kyis next hearing on May 24. It will be set up in Myanan Bonthe Street, Zayar Theikdi Ward, near the ousted State Counselors Naypyitaw residence.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest since the juntas coup on Feb. 1, and all her previous court appearances have been via video conferencing. So far, she has been denied the chance to meet her lawyers in person.

The military regime has filed five legal cases against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw. They include possession of imported walkie talkies and breaching COVID-19 regulations, among others. The junta has also filed another case against her in Yangon under the State Secrets Act.

On Monday, hearings for detained President U Win Myint and Naypyitaw Council Chairman Dr Myo Aung were also conducted via video. Both men will be tried at the special court alongside Suu Kyi.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Declares National Unity Government, CRPH, Defense Forces as Terrorist Groups

Regime accuses the political and armed resistance organizations of incitement; those guilty of affiliation with them face 10 years to life in prison.

The Myanmar military regime has branded the parallel National Unity Government (NUG), its parliamentary committee and their offshoot civilian defense forces as terrorist groups for alleged acts of incitement against the junta.

The declaration means that anyone arrested on suspicion of affiliation with the groups would face 10 years to life imprisonment if convicted, according to the countrys Counterterrorism Law.

In its announcement Saturday, the regime said the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and the NUG constantly incited Civil Disobedience Movement participants to commit violent acts. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is Myanmars Union Parliament.

They perpetrated bombing, arson, manslaughter and intimidation to disrupt the state administrative machinery due to the influence of the leaders of the CRPH and NUG, the statement reads.

The regime outlawed both the NUG and CRPH prior to their designation as terrorist groups.

The junta on Saturday also declared as terrorist groups the NUGs recently formed Peoples Defense Forces (PDF)established as the forerunner of a planned Federal Democratic Armed Forces, commonly known as the Federal Army. The NUG is trying to form the collective army with the countrys ethnic armed groups, who have been warring against the regime for decades.

Civilians in many parts of the country have founded local resistance forces to fight against the regime. They have fought back against the juntas forces with improvised explosives and homemade guns, and have succeeded in inflicting some casualties on the regime. In recent shootouts in upcountry areas of Sagaing Region, 16 soldiers were killed.

Many regional resistance forces have declared their loyalty to the PDF. They were also branded as terrorist groups on Saturday for violent acts committed in the name of regional defense forces instigated by the NUG and PDF, the regime said.

The NUGs defense minister, U Ye Mon, declined to comment on the issue.

The previous version of the story incorrectly stated the day of the declaration of terrorist groups. The story has been updated.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Forces Detain Rakhine Chief Ministers Daughter

Daw Moe Hsan Suu Kyi

Myanmars junta forces detained Daw Moe Hsan Suu Kyi, the daughter of ousted Rakhine State chief minister U Nyi Pu, from her apartment in Hledan in Yangons Kamayut Township on Sunday evening, according to her family.

She was arrested. Junta forces came to her door at around 9pm yesterday in Hledan, a family member told The Irrawaddy.

Daw Moe Hsan Suu Kyi is a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD)s central committee for youth affairs and is from Gwa Township in Rakhine State.

NLD members in Gwa Township also confirmed her arrest and expressed concern as her whereabouts are unknown.

Rakhine State NLD vice chairman U Soe Lay and two other party members were detained in Yangon on Saturday. Junta forces have since apparently discovered a clue as to the whereabouts of some NLD members, said party members.

The NLD leadership was largely detained during the military coup on Feb. 1. Several state-level NLD leaders in Rakhine, including U Nyi Pu, were also detained and prosecuted for sedition.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Forces Scour Forests in Search of Civilian Resistance

Villagers burn the dead body of villager who was killed during shootouts with junta forces near Kin Village in Kani Township on May 6.

About 23 villagers, including 14 civilian resistance force members, were arrested Monday after the juntas troops scoured the forests in Sagaing Regions Kani Township.

Among several townships in Sagaing, Magwe regions and Chin states resisting against the military regime, Kani has been one of the most prominent.

Civilians there have conducted a series of defense actions against the juntas forces since April 2, taking up homemade percussion lock firearms to do battle. Percussion lock firearms use technology dating back to the early 19th century.

On Thursday and Friday, about eight shootouts occurred across the township when civilian resistance forces attacked the juntas troops travelling through the area both on land and on the Chindwin River.

In the shootouts, an estimated 16 military troops were killed. Nearly 13,000 villagers from at least two-dozen villages in the township have been hiding in nearby forests in fear of raids by the juntas troops.

After facing the growing civilian resistance, the reinforced junta troops have been conducting not only raids on villages but have also been scouring the forests, using drones and forced guides to uncover the civilian resistance forces.

On Monday morning, about 80 military troops arrested about nine villagers from Thaminchan, Aung Mingalar and Minma villages who had been hiding in the nearby forests, according to a member of Kanis civilian resistance force.

After forcing arrested villagers to act as a guide, the troops also raided the forest of Hman Taung Mountain and arrested 14 members of civilian resistance forces who had been hiding.

Monday afternoon, all of those who had been detained were sent to Monywa of Sagaing Region, according to local residents.

A member of townships resistance force said that about 17 military vehicles loaded with junta troops from Monywa and river boats carrying 100 junta troops from upper Sagaing Region were on their way to Kani on Monday afternoon to conduct further crackdowns on the civilian resistance forces.

The main thing we need is proper firearms and ammunitions. Our percussion lock firearms do not work well in the shootouts, said the member of the civilian assistance forces.

In the Friday shootouts, military troops used heavy explosives, making use of drones to locate the civilian forces in the forests. In a Friday shootout at Kyauklonegyi Mountain in Kani, about eight military troops were killed and several were wounded, while seven villagers fighting against them were killed.

In a press conference on Friday concerning the armed resistance in Chin State and Sagaing Region, the military regime said that it will not tolerate any armed resistance.

On that day, the National Unity Government, its parliamentary committee and their offshoot civilian defense forces were branded as terrorist groups by the military regime, which accused them of incitement against the junta.



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Burma Regime Abducts Ten Civilians in Myanmars Jade Town

Ma Mone village / CJ

Junta forces abducted ten civilians from Ma Mone village in Myanmars jade town Hpakant in Kachin State around 5 am on Monday for allegedly opposing the military regime.

Ten trucks full of military personnel and police raided three houses, arrested their residents and also looted items from those houses, witnesses said.

One of the three houses is a pawn shop. Security forces came for the pawn shop owner U Kyaw Lin, but arrested his wife and daughter instead after they could not find him. And they also arrested the residents of two other houses. Security forces went straight to those houses after informants reported them. A total of ten people were arrested and they all are now being held at Hpakant police station, said a villager.

A police officer told The Irrawaddy that they have only arrested those engaged in drug dealing, people who have committed crimes, incited unrest, opposed the military council and who support the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow government formed to rival the military regime.

Since Feb. 7, local people in Hpakant have staged daily protests against the junta, both in urban areas and in rural parts of Myanmars jade-mining hub.

The rallies have featured hundreds of people who oppose the military regime and who want to show their support for the NUG and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has been fighting the Myanmar military since March in Kachin State.

Even after the Monday morning house raids, Hpakant residents staged guerilla-style protests.



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Burma Three More People Killed by Myanmar Junta Troops in Sagaing, Yangon

Sixteen people were taken away by junta troops in a raid on the Star City housing complex on Sunday (left). Rescue workers prepare to remove the body of the medic who fell to his death from an apartment during the raid (right).

Three more people including a striking poet and a doctor were killed by junta troops during shootings and raids, and under torture in Sagaing and Yangon regions on Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, a medic died after falling from an apartment at the Star City housing complex in Thanlyin Township of Yangon Region when the juntas forces raided three apartments in the complex.

In the raid, 16 people, including two women and some minors, were arrested by junta forces. Prior to the raid, there were some nighttime protests against the regime at the complex, according to residents.

On Sunday morning, Ko Zaw Tun, a poet using the pen name Khet Thi was tortured to death by the juntas forces after being taken from his house in Sagaing Regions Shwebo Township on Saturday night.

The poet was arrested along with his wife and another family member after being accused of planning a bomb attack, his younger sister told The Irrawaddy on Sunday.

His family members were told on Sunday to go and have a look at him by security forces at Monywa Hospital.

I thought he had been injured during interrogation. But I found him at the mortuary. His organs had been taken out, his wife told the BBC.

Khet Thi actively participated in anti-regime protests in Shwebo. Inspired by the protests and reacting to the regimes crackdowns on protesters, he penned several poems during that time. One outstanding poem included the line They shot [protesters] in the heads / They dont know revolution lies in the heart.

One protester was killed and about four were injured when junta forces opened fire on anti-regime protesters in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday afternoon, according to local residents.

The juntas troops opened fire on anti-regime protesters who were demanding the release of two detained protesters arrested that morning while they were gathering in a street to stage a demonstration.

A social organization based in Myinmu told The Irrawaddy that an anti-regime protester died after being hit in his upper body with a live bullet.

Amid condemnation from the international community and demands from ASEAN to end the violence, the Myanmar military regime has continued its deadly crackdowns, raids and torture of people opposing its rule.

As of Sunday, about 780 people had been killed by the juntas forces during their raids, crackdowns, interrogations, arrests and random shootings, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).



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Specials Myanmars Long History of Informants

From left Salai Tin Maung Oo, Bo Min Yaung and Saya San.

Since the military coup on Feb. 1 people have been furious about the violence committed by the juntas police and soldiers. But their civilian accomplices and informants caused just as much anger.

They are among the people, closely monitoring anti-regime activists and informing on their activities to the junta. Thanks to their tip-offs, the regime detained activists in their homes and hideouts, enabling the junta to quash grassroots anti-regime activities.

Most of the collaborators accept the coup and have led to hundreds of arrests and forced others into hiding. Suspicions grow about who was passing on the information.

Through history, many resistance fighters against British colonial rule and military dictatorship have fallen victim to collaborators.

After the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-53), a villager took British troops to the base of renowned revolutionary leader Bo Myat Tun who Governor-General of India Lord Dalhousie described as a good man and good soldier.

Bo Myat Tun, who had fought the colonial government for some six years, managed to escape but his uprising failed.

Another revolutionary, Bo Min Yaung, was a cousin of the grandmother of independence hero General Aung San. He was one of the leading resistance fighters against colonial rule during the Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885).

He was arrested and executed after spies informed the colonial government about his whereabouts while he was hiding near Natmauk in todays Magwe Region as his troops were overpowered by the British forces.

Other revolutionary leaders were killed or forced into hiding after village chiefs told the British about their whereabouts.

Twenty-two years after Bo Min Yaungs death, Maung Thant, a farmer turned folk hero who many hoped would restore the monarchy, led a rebellion against British rule. The rebellion was quashed and Maung Thant was arrested at Yangon Central Railway Station. However, the British found it difficult to prosecute him as no one could identify him. However, a villager picked Maung Thant out and he was hanged.

An armed peasant rebellion broke out in 1930. Saya San led thousands of farmers to fight British troops and met the same fate. He was hanged after a collaborator took British troops to his hideout in Shan State.

The 25-year-old student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo was hanged in Insein Prison in Yangon in 1976. He was a well-known opposition figure who actively participated in student movements and labor strikes against the dictatorial rule of General Ne Win. He is the only student recorded as being hanged in the countrys history.

Salai Tin Maung Oo was plotting to stage an anti-government protest to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing, a father figure in the anti-colonial movement. The student was arrested by military intelligence in Yangon (then Rangoon) after a fellow student told the junta where he was hiding.

Many democracy activists were arrested during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and throughout military rule due to tip-offs by collaborators. Many died in prison and numerous families were shattered.

Today, collaborators continue to play their role to help the military regime function but some have faced rough justice after being identified as informants.



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Talk for the fourth stimulus check payment amounting to $2,000 per eligible individual has been a hot topic due to the Biden Administration's financial support to affected families amid the pandemic. However, a fact check on the topic shows that Congress has not approved this fourth round of stimulus payments.

Currently, millions of Americans continue to keep an eye on their bank accounts or mailboxes for the arrival of the third stimulus check payments. This year, the congress passed the coronavirus relief package movement amounting to $1.9 trillion that was broken down to $1,400 per eligible individual. In addition, Usa Today reported that the IRS is currently sending out another 1.1 million payments by paper check or direct deposit this week.

If you haven't received yours, then your stimulus check payment might be coming out this week!

Stimulus Check Payments

For reference, the IRS releases the stimulus check payments in different waves with different eligibility policies. For the first stimulus check, an amount of $1,200 was released, and $600 for the second wave. Some Americans are still waiting out on the third stimulus check amounting to $1,400. Now, news has been spreading about an incoming fourth stimulus check amounting to $2,000.

Read Also: Fourth Stimulus Check Tracker: Possible $2000 Payment, Timeline and More Details

Claims for the Fourth Stimulus Check

On March 2, 21 senators wrote a letter urging the Biden Administration to approve the fourth wave of monetary support to the Americans. Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted on her account a proposal of $2,000 monthly payments until the pandemic is over.

Usa Today, meanwhile, reported that on May 5, a Facebook post was made about the "4th stimulus payment arriving by the Memorial Day weekend worth $2,000 per person and the child tax credit of $300 - $500 would run through the month of July to December." The post went viral and was shared on the social media platform around 250 times.

The congress, however, has not yet approved any proposals for a fourth stimulus check. The White House remains silent when asked about the topic. Until today, while the topic remains a hot debate, there has been no official support for a fourth stimulus check wave.

Yahoo! Finance added that the Americans have called for the approval through an online petition, "calling on Congress to support families with a $2,000 payment for adults and a $1,000 payment for kids immediately, and continuing regular checks for the duration of the crisis."

President Joe Biden and his administration have been clear with their intent to provide monetary support for families in need. Stimulus checks are continuously being delivered to American houses despite some of its delays. However, the President and his administration have not indicated any favor of approving a fourth stimulus check.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tweeted in her account that America has worked its way through the worse of the pandemic and is currently on the path of recovery. Her statement brings doubts if a fourth stimulus check would truly be approved.

Democrats promised & delivered a rescue package for Americas working families, and our economy is turning a corner as a result.



Looking ahead to recovery, Pres. Bidens bold plan to create millions of good-paying jobs will fix and modernize our infrastructure. #BuildBackBetter pic.twitter.com/16qsWFDrVV  Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) April 17, 2021



Related Article: IRS Stimuus Check Letter, Notice 1444-C Not a Scam: Where to Check If You Have Not Received It
Andrea M. Robel, President & CEO, Vistanet Telecommunications Joins ITEXPO 2021 #TECHSUPERSHOW

Shelton, CT  5/10/2021  TMC today announced Andrea M. Robel, President & CEO, Vistanet Telecommunications will present a conference session at ITEXPO being held June 22-25, 2021 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Florida.

Through interactive sessions, quality keynotes, exciting networking experiences and a recently expanded exhibit floor, ITEXPO connects businesses with the solutions, partners and education they need to drive digital transformation. As one of the only vendor neutral shows in the marketplace, thousands of Resellers, enterprises, service providers, media, manufacturers and developers come to ITEXPO year after year to make their purchasing decisions and select new partners.

Here are the details for Andrea M. Robels Presentation:

Conference Track: Service Providers Solutions

Session title: Adding White Label Cloud Voice To Your Existing Portfolio / What To Look For In A White Label Partner

Date: 6/24/2021

Time: 3:00  3:55pm

View all keynotes, speakers, special events, exhibitors and the entire ITEXPO conference program here.

For more information or to register for ITEXPO, contact events@tmcnet.com . Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages for ITEXPO should contact TMC's Joe Fabiano at 203-852-6800 x132 or Maureen Gambino at 203-852-6800 x109.

For the latest ITEXPO news, updates and information follow the event on Facebook and Twitter at @ITEXPO.

About TMC

Through education, industry news, live events and social influence, global buyers rely on TMC's content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. As a result, leading technology vendors turn to TMC for unparalleled branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities. Our in-person and online events deliver unmatched visibility and sales prospects for all participants. Through our custom lead generation programs, we provide clients with an ongoing stream of leads that turn into sales opportunities and build databases. Additionally, we bolster brand reputations with the millions of impressions from display advertising on our news sites and newsletters. Making TMC a 360-degree marketing solution, we offer comprehensive event and road show management services and custom content creation with expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts. For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, @tmcnet .

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Instaclustr and the University of Canberra have entered into a partnership to help boost Australias job ready skills in the IT sector, with a new professional course launched to create Instaclustr-certified developers for Apache Kafka, along with free entry pathway available for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student.

Instaclustr. Originally founded in Canberra, Australia, in 2013, but now a global business with offices in California, Boston, the UK and Australia, bills itself as "delivering reliability at scale through fully managed open source data technologies," has partnered with the University of Canberra.

Both organisations have announced that they will be entering into a partnership for open-source software training, certification, and research and development, to boost Australias job ready skills in the IT sector..

Through the partnership, both organisations will collaborate on the development and delivery of professional courses designed to advance Australias software engineering skills.

Commencing on 25 May 2021, we're told the first online course to be delivered through the partnership, titled Developer Training and Certification for Apache Kafka, will help budding software engineers, developers and system administrators acquire the fundamental skills required to develop and operate one of the worlds most advanced and influential technologies, Apache Kafka.

Course content will include hands-on workshops, webinars, online forums, self-paced assignments and assessments. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to take an optional exam to become an Instaclustr certified developer for Apache Kafka.

Peter Lilley, CEO at Instaclustr said technology jobs will be in high demand in Australia over the next few years, with some reports suggesting that 156,000 more digital technology workers will be needed by 2025.

There is a significant skills gap that needs to be filled when it comes to technology and digital literacy skills in Australia. Many businesses are only just starting to recognise the benefits of open source technologies despite over 80 per cent of Fortune 100 companies using Apache Kafka in their organisation.

We are therefore delighted to be partnering with the University of Canberra to address this issue with the launch of our first online course that will pave the way for further open-source software training, certification, research and development.

At Instaclustr, we recognise just how important developing these skills will be not only to Australia's future success and position as a global IT leader, but also to providing young Aussies with the job ready skills that are so highly sought after.

Were also thrilled to be able to offer a free entry pathway to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student, to help increase diversity and representation in the tech industry more broadly.

Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of Canberra, Professor Paddy Nixon, said partnerships with industry give students a competitive edge when entering the workforce.

We are committed to working with industry partners in an effort to improve the employability outcomes for our students, said Professor Nixon.

Partnering with an industry leader like Instaclustr provides students with access to expertise, practical workforce skills with academic oversight that will give our graduates a competitive edge when they enter the workforce.

Applications are open and the course fee is $AUD 2,000. Full course details can be found here.

About the course

Start date: 25 May AEST

Time commitment: 6 weeks (8 hours per week)

Delivery: 100% online

Cost: AUD $2,000

Payment in international currency is accepted at check out. Please check the current conversion rates.

Learning outcomes:
Australian Computer Societys 2021 Digital Pulse report highlights the importance of the technology sector to Australias economic growth. Its key findings revealed that the technology workforce is booming, but it poses a challenge: theres a gap between the demand for workers and degree graduates, and a gender imbalance threatens to hold back the Australian economy.

The 2021 edition of the Australian Computer Societys (ACS) Digital Pulse report tracks the key trends in the nations technology workforce and its potential growth over the next five years.

Key findings in this years report include:

Despite the pandemic, Australias technology workforce numbers jumped 33,400 to 805,525, a 4.3% increase led by those sectors experiencing rapid digitisation including finance, utilities, construction and retail.

Over the next five years, the technology workforce is forecast to exceed 1.1m Australians, four times bigger and faster than the broader labour force numbers.

Young Australians are recognising the value of digital skills with IT being the fastest growing field of education for domestic enrolments with over 41,000 in 2019.

Nevertheless, current trends indicate an impending gap between the need for extra 60,000 technology workers each year and just 7,000 domestic IT degree graduates. Boosting reskilling and restarting migration will be essential to meet Australias ICT needs.

The Australian ICT sectors gender imbalance threatens to hold the economy back. Achieving parity in the industry would boost employment by 5,000 new workers a year in the first 20 years.

The top software programming skills demanded by employers include SQL (requested in 14% of job postings), Java (10%) and DevOps (9%).

The report, available at ACS, found that the IT sector is one of the nations major drivers for jobs growth with the industrys workforce growing 5.4% on average per year to a total of 1.1 million workers by 2026, more than four times the expected growth rate of the broader labour force.

Published after last weeks release of the Federal Governments Digital Economy Strategy and ahead of tomorrows budget, the report highlights the importance of the technology sector to Australias continued economic growth.

Australias healthcare and education sectors had the largest growth in both overall employment and in technology occupations in 2020, together creating over 3,000 technology roles. These industries experienced higher demand, yet also faced risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus in the course of their work, necessitating a shift to online modes of working where possible.

However, its not the same for all sectors. The Australian mining and agriculture industries experienced growth in overall industry employment, yet the number of technology workers dropped by 200 and 400 workers respectively compared to the previous year. This drop in technology workers during the crisis may represent a lost opportunity for these industries and goes against the widely-accepted narrative that the pandemic is accelerating digital transformation across the economy.

Dr Ian Oppermann, ACS president, notes: The projections in this years Digital Pulse illustrate the importance of the ICT sector, with technology becoming increasingly important to business, government and society. This was clearly shown during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

As emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and smart cities become commonplace, the demand for suitably skilled workers will continue to grow. We must start working today to meet the digital skill needs of tomorrow.

John OMahony, Deloitte Access Economics partner, adds: Digital technology saved Australia from the worst consequences of the COVID-19 recession and promises to be a major opportunity to strengthen the economy and create jobs as we move into the recovery phase.

However, the ICT sectors growth will provide challenges to the economy. The report identifies a gap between the 60,000 technology workers a year needed and the current domestic completions of IT degrees. The future of the technology workforce will substantially rely on reskilling from other industries. Meanwhile, the lack of female representation could cost the economy $11 billion over the next two decades unless Australia achieves gender parity.

This years Digital Pulse identifies five areas where Australia could address its ICT weaknesses:

o Promote ICT education

o Deepen digital skills across industries

o Boost female participation in ICT

o Re-energise digital transformation programs

o Identify IT contractors capabilities

Rupert Grayston, ACS CEO, adds: The 2021 Digital Pulse Report lays out a comprehensive picture of Australias ICT industry and the opportunities we have over the next five years.

In key growth areas, such as Artificial Intelligence, its estimated that Australia will require an AI specialist workforce of between 32,000 and 161,000.

He suggests: If the Government wants to meet its new target of under 5% unemployment, reskilling and upskilling the workforce for technology roles is a vital part of the solution.

We hope all sectors of industry, education and government will find this years report a vital roadmap for building Australias post-COVID economy, he concludes.
A number of Chinese smartphone brands, which dominate the Indian market, may take a sharp hit due to the COVID-19 crisis that has engulfed the world's second largest phone market.

A report in the South China Morning Post said Xiaomi, realme, OPPO and vivo, all of which have been increasing sales in India in recent years, could be the worst affected.

India had to lock down last year and the smartphone market was beginning to show signs of a recovery when the latest surge in coronavirus infections occurred.

In 2020, India experienced a fall of 26% year-on-year during the first six months, before recording a 19% year-on-year increase in the second half of the year.

The first quarter of 2021of 23% year-on-year to reach 38 million units, with the growth attributed to product launches, promotions, financial schemes and pent-up demand from the previous year.

But that has changed since April. The SCMP quoted an IDC analyst, Kiranjeet Kaur, as saying that things had taken an U-turn since the middle of April.

People are not venturing outside their home unless they absolutely need to, she said. [Online retailers] are only providing essentials, and smartphones are not considered an essential.

The report cited figures from Bloomberg Intelligence as saying that shipments could fall by as much as 25% in the second quarter, which would mean nine million fewer units shipped.

Xiaomi was the top brand in India in 2020, shipping 41 million units, and the COVID-19 crisis could see the company lose 3% of its anticipated quarterly revenue, the Bloomberg figures showed.

There were no figures given for Samsung, the second best performing brand in 2020.

The four Chinese brands have also started making phones in India to serve their growing markets. However, fears of a loss of production due to COVID-19 were played down by Tarun Pathak, the research director of technology analyst firm, Counterpoint Research.

There might be a temporary cut down in production, but at the same time, these companies are also making sure not to cut down on [their] workforce and may even drive vaccination awareness," he was quoted as saying.
Three days after it suffered a Windows ransomware attack, the Colonial Pipeline Company, which is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, appears to be slowly limping back to resuming operations, though many systems still remain shut.

The company is believed to have been hit by the DarkSide ransomware, a recent addition to the swarms of ransomware that attack Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Colonial is the biggest American refined products pipeline system and can carry more than three million barrels of petrol, diesel and jet fuel between the US Gulf Coast and the New York Harbour area, according to Wikipedia.

The company was founded in 1961 and construction of the pipeline began in 1962.

Inissued on Sunday evening, the company said it was developing a system restart plan.

"While our mainlines (Lines 1, 2, 3 and 4) remain offline, some smaller lateral lines between terminals and delivery points are now operational," Colonial said.

"We are in the process of restoring service to other laterals and will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations."

The operators of the DarkSide ransomware have made no mention of the attack on their website where the last listing was on 23 April.

But if the company pays whatever ransom is demanded, then there will be no listing.

Andrew Rubin, chief executive and co-founder, micro-segmentation provider Illumio, said: "This could be the most impactful ransomware attack in history, a cyber disaster turning into a real-world catastrophe.

"It's an absolute nightmare, and it's a recurring nightmare. Organisations continue to rely and invest entirely on detection as if they can stop all breaches from happening.

"But this approach misses attacks over and over again. Before the next inevitable breach, the president and Congress need to take action on our broken security model. This begins (but does not end) with the adoption of a Zero Trust strategy.

"But instead of talking about and doing the hard work we need to do, we'll watch the financial markets on Monday reward the entire security industry for failing to stop modern attacks from spreading into a disaster."

Marty Edwards, vice-president of Operational Technology Security at security firm Tenable and the longest-serving director of ICS-CERT, commented: "Cyber attacks are a real and present danger to critical infrastructure around the world and, by extension, every single consumer.

"If reports are accurate, the Colonial Pipeline incident has all of the markings of a possible ransomware attack that began in the IT environment and, out of precaution, forced the operator to shut down operations.

"Ransomware has been a favoured attack vector of cyber criminals because of its effectiveness and return-on-investment. That's precisely why bad actors have recently set their sights on critical infrastructure. Shutting down operational technology environments can cost hundreds of millions of dollars which forces providers to outweigh the costs.

"We should not under-estimate these groups. Many of them now have help-desks, technical support, payroll processing and subcontractors. They are essentially full-fledged criminal corporations operating in the digital world. While it's unknown how this attack played out, it's yet another reminder of the increasing threats to critical infrastructure we all rely on."

Ransomware expert Brett Callow, who works for the New Zealand-headquartered security outfit Emsisoft, had a sharper response. "Nero fiddled as Rome burned; governments dithered as the ransomware problem steadily worsened," he said. "Incidents such as this are the result of that dithering."
Laith Shahin, CEO Secolve, one of four NSW cybersecurity businesses including Emergence, Gridware & DCEncompass partnering with Western Sydney University

The Federal Government has announced $745,920 in new funding for Western Sydney University to establish the Cybersecurity Aid Centre to train and support small business with Cyber Incident Response.

Funded through the Cyber Security Business Connect and Protect Grants Program, the centre will be located in Parramatta and led by Western Sydney University in partnership with four leading New South Wales cybersecurity businesses: Secolve, Emergence, Gridware and DCEncompass.

The training centre will provide Cyber Incident Response support for small businesses experiencing data breach, ransomware or email business compromise, and will host training seminars throughout NSW.

The project will enhance cybersecurity resources through the development of a Cyber Suite and Toolkit for Small Businesses  a hotline for assistance with cybersecurity incidents, and will integrate applied support with learning and skills development for Western Sydney University students.

Liberal Senator for Western Sydney, Marise Payne, commended Western Sydney University on its collaborative approach to supporting businesses to recognise cyber risks and opportunities.

The Cybersecurity Aid Centre will enhance business security and cyber capabilities, which will help ensure western Sydneys strong economic prosperity and development continues as we come back from the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Payne said.

This latest investment is part of the Australian Governments Cyber Security Strategy 2020 and complements our $1.2 billion Digital Economy Strategy, which will be part of this years Federal Budget 2021-22.

Project lead Professor Alana Maurushat, from the Universitys School of Social Sciences and School of Computer, Data and Mathematical Sciences, said the centre would deliver new programs to upskill small and medium enterprises and students with the latest skills in the technology and psychology of cybercrime.

Tackling cybercrime is a high priority. Businesses need a resource centre that will help them when a cybersecurity crisis arises, as well as help to build resilience and awareness around cybercrime and the kinds of behaviours, technologies and change management practices they need to adopt to protect themselves, Professor Maurushat said.

The Centre will enhance cybersecurity knowledge and capacity across western Sydney, and will provide a robust hub for industry and students to connect and learn from each other.

Cyber security expert and Secolve CEO Laith Shahin said the initiative was an example of industry successfully partnering with the education sector to support local businesses.

Using industry expertise to upskill students is one of the most effective methods of combatting the growing incidence of cybercrime, and to raise awareness among business of the resources available to assist them in mitigating and preventing cyberattacks, Shahin said.
ANALYSIS Norwegian firm Volue Technology has demonstrated to the rest of the world how a ransomware attack should be handled after it was hit by the Windows Ryuk strain on 5 May.

The company has set up a Web page with information about the attack and also links to frequent updates about the status of its systems.

There was no obfuscation about the attack, none at all. The company said: "The ransomware attack on Volue Technology ('Powel') was caused by Ryuk, a type of malware usually known for targeting large, public-entity Microsoft Windows systems."

Really well done crisis communication from a company hit by Ryuk ransomware. Respect. https://t.co/1dpFoFOIOw  @mikko (@mikko) May 10, 2021

What is even more remarkable about this page is that it has provided the telephone number and email address of its chief executive, Trond Straume, and asked for anyone who needs additional information to contact him. Not some underling.

The company, which has offices all over Europe, says it "is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green transition".

After the initial announcement, Volue has issued regular updates, with no jargon and providing as much detail as can be released, without harming the recovery process.

"The ransomware attack employed encryption to some of Volue Technologys files, databases and applications. We were able to identify the threat and have stopped the spreading across networks for now," the company has said.

"The attack impacted some of our front-end customer platforms. All systems impacted by the ransomware attack have been actively shut off for further security assessments."

The last time any company was so open about a ransomware attack it was again a Norwegian company, Norsk Hydro, which was hit by another Windows ransomware strain, LockerGoga, in March 2019.

The last reports from Norsk Hydro said it was slowly recovering from the attack.

Apart from what news of what it is doing to rectify the situation, Volue has provided links to information about the Ryuk ransomware and statistics about the attacks carried out by this strain.

Regular webcasts are being held, in Norwegian and English, to keep the media and any others who are interested up-to-date on the incident.
The fight for 5G supremacy continues apace, with Samsung and Ericsson joining forces with an agreement that includes global patent cross license of cellular technologies, including 5G, while ending all ongoing patent related legal disputes between the two companies.

Ericsson and Samsung have reached a multi-year agreement on global patent licenses between the two companies, including patents relating to all cellular technologies. The cross-license agreement covers sales of network infrastructure and handsets from January 1, 2021.

Furthermore, Ericsson and Samsung state they have "agreed on technology cooperation projects to advance the mobile industry in open standardisation and create valuable solutions for consumers and enterprises."

This settlement ends complaints filed by both companies before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) as well as the ongoing lawsuits in several countries and confirms the value of the strong patent portfolios of both companies.

We're told the details of the agreement "are confidential and will not be disclosed," but presumably various analyst firms will engage is as much education speculation as possible.

Ericsson says its "IPR licensing revenues continue to be affected by several factors, mainly expired patent license agreements pending renewal, geopolitical impact on the handset market, technology shift from 4G to 5G, and possible currency effects going forward."

In the second quarter 2021, IPR licensing revenues, including the new agreement covering sales from January 1, 2021, are expected to be SEK 2.0 b to 2.5 billion - around $250 to $300 million USD.

Christina Petersson, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson says: We are delighted to sign a mutually beneficial agreement with Samsung. This important deal confirms the value of our patent portfolio and further illustrates Ericssons commitment to FRAND principles.

Over several decades, Ericsson reminds us it has made "significant investments in R&D and in developing global mobile standards and is committed to licensing its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for the benefit of consumers and enterprises everywhere.

"The FRAND system allows access to technology and intellectual property, developed by inventors like Ericsson, and also rewards those inventors for their major up-front investment in R&D in each mobile generation.

"The value of Ericssons IP portfolio extends to more than 57,000 granted patents and is strengthened by annual investment in R&D of approx. SEK 40 b. With a leading global position in 5G, the company is confident of growing its IPR revenues long term, thereby further maximising the value of the overall patent portfolio."
Today

Partly cloudy skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 67F. WNW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 20 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 67F. WNW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 20 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy skies. High 97F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
RTHK: Malaysia tightens virus curbs ahead of Eid holiday

Muslim-majority Malaysia will tighten coronavirus curbs across the whole country ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday as cases spiral, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Monday.

The move comes after authorities declared a slew of curbs limiting movement and social events in many places across Malaysia recently, including a partial lockdown in the capital.

The Southeast Asian nation has been battling a fresh Covid-19 outbreak since early this year, seeing thousands of new infections as the government declared a state of emergency to slow the spread of the virus.

Controls were slowly eased as infection rates fell, but case numbers regularly spiked past 4,000 a day as schools and special markets during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan were allowed to open.

The new curbs, Muhyiddin said, will kick in on Wednesday, a day before the country celebrates Eid al-Fitr, and remain until June 7.

While all sectors of the economy are allowed to carry on, social events such as feasts, house visits and wedding receptions will be banned during this time.

People will not be allowed to cross state or district borders, and not more than 50 will be allowed inside large mosques (or more than 20 for smaller ones) for special Eid prayers.

Schools and universities will be closed, except for those sitting for international exams, though childcare centres and kindergartens will be allowed to open.

Malaysia has seen a less severe outbreak compared to other countries, recording a total of more than 444,000 infections and 1,700 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

But the regular spike in infections, and the arrival of virus variants such as from South Africa and India, has worried health officials as the number of available beds and ventilators start to run out. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
First batch of RCSC-donated oxygen concentrators, ventilators arrive in India

Xinhua) 13:31, May 10, 2021

The first batch of anti-epidemic supplies donated by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) arrives in Bangalore, India, on May 9, 2021. (Photo credit: a tweet by Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong)

Anti-epidemic supplies including 100 oxygen concentrators and 40 ventilators donated by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) arrived in India, and the RCSC has also decided to provide 1 million U.S. dollars to help India fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong said.

NEW DELHI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Anti-epidemic supplies including 100 oxygen concentrators and 40 ventilators donated by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) arrived in India on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong said in a tweet.

The shipment by a Chinese cargo flight from China's southwestern city of Chengdu was the first batch of anti-epidemic supplies donated by the RCSC to India, according to the ambassador.

Sun also said the RCSC has also decided to provide 1 million U.S. dollars in cash in assistance to the Indian Red Cross Society through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to help India fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Nothing in the world is more precious than people's lives. The rights to subsistence and development are the basic human rights of paramount importance," Sun said. "Actions of RCSC shine the humanitarian spirit and highlight the purpose of dedication and protection of human life and health."

India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 22-million mark on Sunday, reaching 22,296,414 with 403,738 new confirmed cases registered in the past 24 hours, and the death toll rose to 242,362 including 4,092 new deaths, the Indian health ministry has reported.

The first batch of anti-epidemic supplies donated by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) arrives in Bangalore, India, on May 9, 2021. (Photo credit: a tweet by Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong)

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
Mike has reported on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's wildlife, wildlands and the agencies that manage them since 2012. A native Minnesotan, he arrived in the West to study environmental journalism at the University of Colorado.
Page Content

Accelerated service delivery campaign gains momentum in Region F







The City of Johannesburgs Region F is moving with speed in executing the 120 days Accelerated Service Delivery Programme.

One of the objectives of the programme is to fast-track service delivery challenges in targeted areas and service delivery hotspots around the city.



The programme was launched by the Executive Mayor, Cllr Geoff Makhubo, on 13 April 2021 in Ivory Park, Midrand, in Region A.





The 120 Days Accelerated Service Delivery Programme focuses on integrated and multidisciplinary operations that have direct and immediate impact on the quality of lives for residents in different wards.





City entities such as the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA), City Power, Pikitup, City Parks and every single department that is at the forefront of service delivery in the City are deployed with appropriate and adequate resources to ensure that work is community centred and promotes active citizenry.





Last week (29-30 April) the campaign focused on Hillbrow, Ward 62, where the JRA repaired more than 15 potholes at Bruce & Quartz and Caroline & Twist streets.

Pikitup undertook street sweeping, cleared illegal dumping and collected waste at Bruce, Caroline, Twist and Clarendon streets and Joburg Water replaced water meter covers at Banket and Pretoria streets in Hillbrow.





Environmental Health department issued a number of notices to business including supermarkets, butcheries, liquor outlets and hair salons which were found to be contravening health and safety regulations.





Social Development engaged with nine homeless people found in Goldreich & Claim, Bruce & Goldreich, Goldreich & Pretoria, and Van Der Merwe & Goldreich streets.





This week's programme, 3-5 May, continued in Ward 124, Turffontein, where City Power disconnected business found to have illegally connected electricity in Donnelly Street, Joburg Water replaced missing valve covers in a number of streets, and fixed leaking water meters in Stanton, Ferreira and Van Hulstein streets and Pikitup collected waste and cleared illegal dumping sites.





Public education and awareness is always part of the programme to ensure that continuous education takes place and is conducted by Citizen Relationship and Urban Management and other entities.





The programme is gaining momentum and is swiftly moving from ward to ward in the region," said Region F Acting Regional Director Roger Ganhes. "We are happy with the progress so far and promise to expand our efforts and cover more hotspots," he concluded.

















Written by Dudu Lushaba
State, local, territorial, and tribal governments will have flexibility to apply Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to meet their own needs, Treasury revealed Monday.

Treasury released details on how governments can use the $350 billion in emergency funds established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2. The funds are designed to be used to respond to acute pandemic response needs, fill revenue shortfalls among state and local governments, and support the communities and populations hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Eligible governments will be able to access funding directly from Treasury, which provided a list of individual government allocations. The full interim final rule describing the implementation has been posted on Treasurys website.

In addition to allowing for flexible spending up to the level of their revenue loss, the rules are designed to permit recipients to use funds to:

Support public health expenditures by funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral health care, and certain public health and safety staff;

Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector;

Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic;

Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have borne and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors; and

Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.

The funding allocates $195.3 billion to the states and the District of Columbia; $65.1 billion to counties; $45.6 billion to metropolitan cities; $20 billion to tribal governments; $4.5 billion to territories; and $19.5 billion to nonentitlement units of local government.

For local governments, half of the funding is expected to be delivered this month, with the remainder delivered 12 months later. States that have experienced a net increase in their unemployment rate of more than two percentage points from February 2020 to the latest available data as of the date of certification will receive their full allocation of funds in a single payment. Other states will receive funds in two equal payments.

Governments of U.S. territories will receive a single payment, and tribal governments will receive two payments, with the first payment available in May and the second payment, based on employment data, to be delivered in June 2021.

Treasurys interim final rule identifies many ineligible uses, including funding debt service, legal settlements or judgments, and deposits to rainy day funds or financial reserves. More information is available in a fact sheet posted on Treasurys website.

 Ken Tysiac (Kenneth.Tysiac@aicpa-cima.com) is the JofAs editorial director.
Automakers should expect more chips in the second half of the year but the overall squeeze on supply is likely to continue into 2022, according to one of the industrys largest suppliers Infineon.

However, the Munich-headquartered company said it would only start to make up lost volume in 2022 and blamed supplier issues for not expanding chipmaking capacity fast enough.

We predict that the imbalance between supply and demand will continue for a few quarters yet, with the risk that it lasts into 2022, said Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss in a virtual press conference.

Most carmakers have been forced to pause production at some point this year due to a lack of semiconductors. The shortage was caused by soaring demand for silicon-powered consumer electronics during the pandemic, while automakers cancelled orders for parts due to slumping sales. When car orders picked up at the end of 2020, manufacturers found themselves at the back of the queue with chip suppliers.

Infineon marketing director Helmut Gassel said that the chip shortage affected the production of around 2.5 million cars in the first quarter of 2021. Last week Ford said the shortage could cost the US automaker $2.5bn this year.



Infineon, which earns 45% of its revenue from selling chips to carmakers, pointed to bottlenecks from the companies it outsources chip manufacturing to.

Most chips are based on the designs of companies such as Infineon or Arm but physically manufactured at foundries owned by other companies. Most of these are located in Taiwan, South Korea, the US and to a lesser extent China.

The global chip shortage was further compounded by a factory fire at Renesas in Japan  another key automotive chip supplier  and a cold snap closing Samsung and Infineon fabs in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.

Executives from other key chip players such as Intel, Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have warned of a squeeze lasting into 2022 and possibly 2023.

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While carmakers and consumer electronics companies are not competing for the same semiconductors, they are fighting over manufacturing capacity. Cars tend to use older microprocessors while smartphones and other personal devices use more advanced chips. According to GlobalData automotive analysts, modern vehicles are as reliant on computer chips as they are on their engines and chassis.

Everyone is jostling to get more of them, whether it is for personal computers, mobile phones, automobiles, or what have you, said Ploss. Were fighting for every wafer.

In response to the crisis, chipmakers have pumped billions into expanding capacity, while chip designers are investing in their own manufacturing plants to become less dependent on chip contractors. Infineon plans to finish constructing a chip production site in Austria later this year.

Last week Intel announced a $3.5bn upgrade to its New Mexico plant and earlier this year said it would create a new business dedicated to making chips based on other companys designs.

Such is the demand for chips that TSMC is reportedly planning the construction of up to five additional fabs in Arizona, per Reuters sources. Last month the chipmaking juggernaut said it would invest $100bn over the next three years to increase production capacity.

In June 2019 Infineon acquired Cypress Semiconductor for $10.1bn, giving it a 13% share of the automotive chip market.

A Verdict analysis of recently published government figures showed that UK-based carmakers forced to halt or reduce production in recent months have been placing workers on Covid-19 furlough and claiming their wages from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, raising the question of whether their struggles were directly attributable to the pandemic or due to the semiconductor shortage.
StoreDot and the Israeli Electric Company (IEC) have been approved by NASA to conduct the first space-based research and development programme into new battery materials.

As part of the Israel Space Agency and The Ramon Foundations RAKIA mission to the International Space Station in February, 2022, StoreDots XFC technology will undergo two weeks of testing in zero gravity conditions.

The results are expected to pave the way for a new generation of lithium-ion batteries and accelerate the time to market of StoreDots 5-minute charge battery by bringing energy density and cycle life into line with the requirements of EV OEMs.

Coin cells of StoreDots silicon-dominant anode XFC battery will undergo hundreds of charge and discharge cycles, with the results collected by means of a computer contained within the enclosed unit.

Once the experiment, which was designed in collaboration with and funded by the IEC, is returned to earth, StoreDots team of scientists will undertake analysis of the data, as well as examine the battery itself to note any physical or chemical changes that have taken place during the experiment.

In particular, StoreDot will use the experiment to gain new insights into the chemical reactions that cause silicon to expand during the fast-charging process. This will be achieved by using zero gravity conditions to identify irregularities in the silicon surface of the anode.



Findings from the research will be incorporated into the first engineering samples of StoreDots silicon-dominant anode XFC battery for EVs, which will be available for testing by the end of 2022.

StoreDot remains steadfast on pushing the boundaries of battery materials research and development and this project marks the next exciting stage in that journey, said Storedot CEO, Doron Myersdorf. This will be the first time XFC has been tested in the zero gravity conditions of space and we believe the results could be absolutely game-changing. Not only in terms of advancing XFC technology, but also, potentially, by opening up entirely new avenues in materials research that will have implications that extend far beyond the battery industry.

Jointly funded by the Israel Space Agency and The Ramon Foundation, the RAKIA (meaning sky in Hebrew) programme is Israels contribution to Ax-1, the worlds first private mission to the ISS. As part of the event, astronaut Eytan Stibbe will travel to the ISS on the SpaceX Dragon capsule, becoming only the second Israeli astronaut to journey into low earth atmosphere.

While on board, he will undertake 200 hours of scientific projects and educational outreach, which will include transmitting a series of live lessons for Israeli schoolchildren.

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In order to stimulate Israeli business interest in the space industry, the RAKIA programme invited technology providers to submit proposals for space-based experiments.

StoreDot is one of two companies chosen by the IEC to participate in the programme. In total, more than 40 experiments will be undertaken during the mission spanning areas such as chemistry, astrophysics, optics, radiation, genetic research immunology, agritech and more.

As this is something that has never done before its difficult to know exactly what we will discover, but the methodology of analysing reactions in space has huge potential and will enable us discover things that simply would not be possible on earth, added Myersdorf.

It is incredible to think this experiment conducted some 200 miles above earth could have significant implications for improving the quality of life on its surface. Not only by helping to accelerate the transition to clean electric mobility through the development of advanced lithium-ion batteries, but also potentially opening up entirely new avenues for material research that can support the development of other transformative industries  from healthcare and renewable energy to utilities and chemicals.

StoreDots XFC FlashBattery technology works with the chemistry of conventional lithium-ion batteries, taking EV charging times from hours to minutes, says the company. This is achieved primarily by replacing graphite in the cells anode with metalloid nano-particles, such as silicon, to overcome major issues in safety, cycle life and cell swelling during the charging process.

In 2019, the company, whose investors include BP, Daimler, TDK and Samsung Ventures, used a small cell design of its XFC technology to demonstrate a full live charge of a two-wheeled EV in five minutes.

StoreDot launched engineering samples of the small form factor battery in January, 2021.
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Calidad Pascual, the Spain-based dairy business, has joined the ranks of major food manufacturers that have set up an in-house venture arm.

The family-owned business has formed Pascual Innoventures to work with and invest in start-ups doing business in areas including the circular economy, personalisation and health.

Pascual Innoventures, which is run by the third generation of Pascual family, is already working with Spain-based start-up Venvirotech on turning waste into bioplastics.

The company said it is also working on seven other products that try to respond and provide solutions to some of the current great challenges in the agri-food sector, such as food safety, health, well-being or the circular economy.

Sejal Ravji, the director of Pascual Innoventures, told just-food in a statement: Pascual Innoventures has the main objective of investigating and identifying projects of all kinds, provided that they have a high potential added-value for the agri-food sector.



Ravji said Calidad Pascual could also look to start up its own businesses depending on the area on which the vehicle was working.

Pascual Innoventures was born with the corporate-venturing model and with the spirit of weaving an ecosystem of start-ups in the agri-food sector based on collaborative innovation, so it will invest in start-ups in the early stage to promote their development and grow together. Pascual Innoventures is not only an investment vehicle, but is constituted as the accelerating partner that will accompany all these start-ups throughout the process, from the development of the idea or the business to the search for investors, Ravji said.

And it will not only invest in start-ups already created, but it will also identify new needs for the agri-food sector and create other start-ups from scratch. The way in which Pascual Innoventures works with these start-ups will always depend on the type of project, as well as the trends and priorities identified in the market. There is no defined formula since we intend to establish collaboration with numerous projects of very diverse types, and we will have to adapt to the fit that best allows us to achieve the objectives of each initiative.

Ravji, a former GBFoods and Nestle who joined the dairy business in 2018 as director of open innovation, is leading the new unit with Gabriel Torres Pascual, Calidad Pascuals director of innovation.

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Ravji added: We are aware that it is necessary to keep our eyes open, investigate, create networks with the food-tech community, with accelerators, incubators, start-ups, other corporations and innovation hubs; as well as with the technology centres.

Asked if Pascual Innoventures is looking to invest in early-stage companies already selling branded products to consumers, a spokesperson said: Pascual Innoventures has started with the minimum capital necessary to be able to launch the project in a solvent manner. As we carry out interesting initiatives and ideas for the development of the territories in which we work, we will provide it with all the relevant and necessary resources and investments.

The tie-up with Venvirotech will see Calidad Pascual work with the start-up on converting wastewater generated at the dairy companys factory in the Catalan town of Gurb into biodegradable material. Calidad Pascual refused to be drawn on whether it had invested in the business.

Noelia Marquez, co-founder and CEO of Venvirotech, said: With our process, we will be able to produce large amounts of bioplastic from what is a priori waste. We are very happy to be able to carry out this project with Pascual Innoventures since they have been very involved from the beginning and have shown the same desire as us when it comes to implementing our process in the groups factories.

Read Big Foods stake in the future  in-house venture-capital funds
Myanmars military seized power on February 1, ousting the civilian government and arresting its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The 100 days that have followed have seen mass street protests, bloody crackdowns by the junta, economic turmoil and growing international concern.

A recap of events:

 Back to the old days 

The generals stage a coup on February 1, detaining Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi and her top allies in pre-dawn raids.

It ends Myanmars decade-long experiment with democracy after close to half a century of military rule.

The generals claim fraud in Novembers elections, which Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide.

The putsch draws global condemnation, from Pope Francis to US President Joe Biden.

 Walkie-talkies 

Two days later 75-year-old Suu Kyi is charged with an obscure offence over unregistered walkie-talkies at her home.

 Internet blocked 

Resistance to the coup begins with people banging pots and pans  a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil spirits.

The junta tries to block social media platforms including Facebook, which is hugely popular in Myanmar. Nightly internet blackouts are later imposed.

 Bold defiance 

Popular dissent surges over the weekend of February 6 and 7, with tens of thousands of people gathering on the streets calling for the release of Suu Kyi.

Workers begin a nationwide strike on February 8.

 Police fire on protesters 

A young woman, Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, is shot in the head and another person is wounded after police fire on crowds in Naypyidaw on February 9.

 International sanctions 

The next day Washington announces sanctions against several military officials, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief now in charge.

More rounds of sanctions follow in the subsequent weeks from the United States, Britain and the European Union.

 New Suu Kyi charge 

On February 16 Suu Kyis lawyer says she has been hit with a second charge, this time under the natural disaster management law.

 First protester dies 

Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, the woman shot 10 days earlier, dies on February 19, becoming a symbol of opposition to the junta.

 More charges 

Suu Kyi is hit with two new criminal charges on March 1. Her lawyer says she is now accused of inciting unrest and breaking telecommunications laws.

Ten days later the military accuses her of accepting illegal payments of cash and gold.

 Atrocities alleged 

On March 11 rights group Amnesty International says it has documented atrocities by the junta including the use of battlefield weapons on unarmed protesters.

A day later a UN rights expert on Myanmar accuses the military of crimes against humanity.

 Junta defends coup 

The junta defends seizing power on March 25 and says it will not tolerate anarchy wrought by protesters.

 Bloodiest day 

Armed Forces Day on March 27, the militarys annual show of strength, turns into a bloodbath with more than 100 civilians killed in protest crackdowns  the deadliest single day since the coup.

 Civil war warning 

Violence escalates in border areas between the military and Myanmars numerous ethnic rebel armies  several of which have declared their support for the protest movement.

On March 31 a UN envoy calls for Security Council action to stop the country spiralling into civil war.

 Secrets charge 

On April 2, Suu Kyis lawyer announces the most serious charge laid against her  of breaching the official secrets act.

 Shadow government 

Ousted civilian lawmakers, forced into hiding, announce the formation of a shadow National Unity Government.

 ASEAN summit 

Leaders from regional bloc ASEAN hold a summit on the Myanmar crisis in Jakarta, and invite junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

They agree a five-point statement calling for dialogue, an end to violence and the appointment of an envoy.

But state media report days later the blocs suggestions will only be considered when the situation returns to stability in Myanmar.

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Reactions poured in from around the world after days of unrest in Jerusalem, with hundreds wounded in fresh clashes Monday between Palestinians and Israeli police at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Here are reactions from around the world:

 Turkey 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to mobilise the world to stop Israeli terror, in phone calls Monday to Palestinian leaders.

In the calls to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Erdogan denounced Israels actions and extended support.

The Turkish leader pledged to do everything in his power to mobilise the world, starting with the Islamic world, to stop Israels terror and occupation, his office said.

 Iran 

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took to Twitter to blame Israel for stealing peoples land & homes and creating an Apartheid regime.

He also accused Israel of refusing to vaccinate citizens under illegal occupation and accused Israeli police of shooting innocent worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.

On Saturday, a foreign ministry spokesman called on the United Nations to condemn the Israeli police action in the mosque compound, saying it amounted to a war crime.

 Egypt 

Egypts Foreign Ministry said in a statement it firmly condemned the new incursion of Israeli forces into the al-Aqsa mosque.

Egypts assistant minister of foreign affairs, Nazih Al-Najari met Monday with the Israeli ambassador in Cairo, Amira Oron, to say Egypt rejected and denounced Israels action.

 UN 

The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting Monday over the violence, but issued no immediate statement.

Negotiations were continuing among the 15 nations on the Security Council on a text that could be watered down from an initial draft proposed by Norway.

But diplomats said the United States believed public comments would be counterproductive.

 Middle East Quartet 

The four members of the Middle East Quartet  the US, Russia, the EU and the UN  on Saturday expressed deep concern over violence in Jerusalem, a day after clashes wounded more than 200 people.

 Pope Francis 

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to the violence, saying he was following with particular concern the events that are happening in Jerusalem.

I pray so that this might be a place of encounter and not violent clashes, a place of prayer and of peace, he said.

Violence only generates violence. Lets stop these clashes.

 Germany 

Speaking after an EU meeting in Brussels, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday the bloc had been exerting influence for a long time and that he had spoken to contacts in the US, Jordan and Israel in recent days.

We can only call on all sides to deescalate this truly explosive situation. both sides can contribute to this, he told reporters in Brussels.

 France 

Ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israels capture of Jerusalem in 1967  later scrapped  a French foreign ministry spokeswoman warned of the risk of a large scale escalation.

France calls on all concerned to show the greatest restraint and refrain from any provocation to allow a return to calm as swiftly as possible, the spokeswoman said Monday.
Reactions poured in from around the world on Monday after violence sparked by days of unrest at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque compound, with Israel launching air strikes on Gaza in response to rockets fired by the Islamist movement Hamas.

Here are reactions from around the world:

 US 

US State Department spokesman Ned Price condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas as an unacceptable escalation and renewed calls for calm in Jerusalem.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the barrage of rocket attacks fired into Israel in recent hours, he told reporters on Monday.

We also recognise Israels legitimate right to defend itself and to defend its people and its territory.

 UK 

Britains Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned the rocket attacks, saying the ongoing violence in Jerusalem and Gaza must stop.

We need an immediate de-escalation on all sides, and an end to targeting of civilian populations, he tweeted.

 Turkey 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to mobilise the world to stop Israeli terror, in phone calls Monday to Palestinian leaders.

In the calls to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Erdogan denounced Israels actions and extended support.

The Turkish leader pledged to do everything in his power to mobilise the world, starting with the Islamic world, to stop Israels terror and occupation, his office said.

 Iran 

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took to Twitter to blame Israel for stealing peoples land & homes and creating an Apartheid regime.

He also accused Israel of refusing to vaccinate citizens under illegal occupation and accused Israeli police of shooting innocent worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.

On Saturday, a foreign ministry spokesman called on the United Nations to condemn the Israeli police action in the mosque compound, saying it amounted to a war crime.

 Egypt 

Egypts foreign ministry said in a statement it firmly condemned the new incursion of Israeli forces into the al-Aqsa mosque.

Egypts assistant minister of foreign affairs, Nazih Al-Najari met Monday with the Israeli ambassador in Cairo, Amira Oron, to say Egypt rejected and denounced Israels action.

 UN 

The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting Monday over the violence, but issued no immediate statement.

Negotiations were continuing among the 15 nations on the Security Council on a text that could be watered down from an initial draft proposed by Norway.

But diplomats said the United States believed public comments would be counterproductive.

 Middle East Quartet 

The four members of the Middle East Quartet  the US, Russia, the EU and the UN  on Saturday expressed deep concern over the violence in Jerusalem.

 EU 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was deeply concerned over the recent clashes.

It was important that everything possible will be done to avoid fuelling tensions, he added.

He described the evictions of Palestinians as a matter of serious concern and said such actions are illegal under international humanitarian law.

He welcomed the decision to stop Jewish worshippers from accessing the esplanade as a positive one that can calm the situation.

 France 

Ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israels capture of Jerusalem in 1967  later scrapped  a French foreign ministry spokeswoman warned Monday of the risk of a large-scale escalation.

France calls on all concerned to show the greatest restraint and refrain from any provocation to allow a return to calm as swiftly as possible, the spokeswoman said.

 Pope Francis 

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to the violence, saying he was following with particular concern the events that are happening in Jerusalem.

I pray so that this might be a place of encounter and not violent clashes, a place of prayer and of peace, he said.

Violence only generates violence. Lets stop these clashes.
The U.S. Department of Justice will waive the death penalty The Craig Lang case, An army veteran who fought with a right-wing paramilitary unit in Ukraine, the authorities have accused him of killing a married couple in southwest Florida in April 2018.

U.S. officials and experts studying far-right extremism are paying close attention to the case. They are increasingly worried that the Americans will go to Ukraine to train and gain combat experience with the far-right armed groups.

At a state hearing held on Monday through Zoom in Myers, the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Florida, Jesus Casas, told the court that the government has decided to abandon the death penalty in order to expedite the transfer from Kiev. (Kyiv) The act of extradition Lang (Kyiv). Live in limited house arrest.

Ukraine is very sensitive to the issue of the death penalty, which was abolished in 2000. Lang and his lawyers participated in the European Court of Human Rights ruling. The European Court of Justice ordered the suspension of Langs extradition until it could review his case. An ECHR spokesperson did not disclose when the review will be completed.

In a hearing on Monday, Casas said that the US government will still sentence Langs accomplice, Alex Zwiefelhofer, to death. The latter is a senior Army colleague who also Fight with extreme right-wing extremists in eastern Ukraine and have been detained in the United States since 2019.

Lang, 30 and 23-year-old Zwiefelhofer are accused of using false characters to induce Serafin Danny Lorenzo and Deana Lorenzo to attend a night party in a commercial complex in the town of Estero. The couple hope to buy guns from there. Resell them for huge profits. Instead, Lang and Zwiefelhofer allegedly shot and killed Lorenzos in a dramatic scene attack, Let them die, and stole $3,000.

The authorities said that after killing the couple, the former soldiers planned to use the money to flee to South America on a yacht, where they wanted to participate in the armed conflict against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and kill communists. However, the escape did not proceed as planned. Zwiefelhofer was later arrested in his hometown of Wisconsin and transferred to Florida, where he awaited trial in December.Lang managed to return to Ukraine but was eventually detained Published by the Ukrainian authorities in August 2019, After returning to Moldova from a short trip. The border guard stopped him after seeing that Interpol had issued an arrest warrant.

Dmytro Morhun, Langs chief lawyer in Ukraine, declined to comment on Mondays new developments in a text message.

A relative of Lorenzos told BuzzFeed News on Monday that they are satisfied with the development. In April, relatives who requested anonymity for security reasons said they did not want Lang to be sentenced to death. They just want him to return to Florida for trial. Relatives said: We just want him to pay.

Langs lawyer, Bjorn Brunvand, appointed by the U.S. court, told judge Sheri Polster Chappell that he inquired Langs possible extradition, but he still didnt know. When Lang was detained by the United States.

Given the uncertainty of Langs identity, Casas told Judge Chappell that the government is pursuing the Zwiefelhofer case in a different way.

Government lawyers Lang and Zwiefelhofer agreed that the pandemic has slowed their progress in gathering what they need to prepare for the trial. Zwiefelhofers lawyer D. Todd Doss said he needs more time to meet with witnesses and collect documents for his defenders.

Lang and Zwiefelhofer met for the first time in Ukraine and joined the right-wing extremist organization Right Sector in 2016.Notorious Neo-Nazi membership and alleged human rights violationsIt originated from the coalition of right-wing militant organizations formed during the Euromaidan uprising in Ukraine in 2014. After Russia annexed Crimea and launched a war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the Right Sector was later renamed as a volunteer combat camp.

Other Americans fighting in Ukraine Tell BuzzFeed News In an interview, during Lang and Zwiefelhofers stay in the country, their far-right views and behaviors became more and more radical.

The two left Ukraine in 2017 after the fighting eased, and then tried their luck in South Sudan. They never did. Instead, they were detained and deported back to the United States. The authorities claimed that they would eventually regroup and plan an attack on the Lorenzos to fund more foreign combat adventures.

Since then, Lang has been in detention or some form of house arrest in Ukraine. He currently lives in Kiev with his fiance and their fiance and must wear an ankle monitor. He said at a court hearing attended by BuzzFeed News in February that he taught English courses for Ukrainians online to support his family.

In the same court hearing, Lang claimed that the US government would also prosecute him because he was suspected of committing war crimes on the battlefield in Ukraine.

He told the Ukrainian court: Any separatist or Russian soldier I kill is murder. Any soldier who understands that I might be captured will be kidnapped.
Members of the House of Commons Heritage Committee today agreed to suspend detailed review of the Federal Governments Broadcasting Act, while the Department of Justice will investigate whether the recent amendment violates the right to freedom of expression of social media users.

Members of the Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc and New Democracy Party all voted for the Charter Statement calling for amendments to the C-10 Bill. The Attorney General issued such a statement to study the potential impact of the new law on the rights of Canadians from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The bill also requires Attorney General David Lametti, Canadian Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbert, and a panel of experts to attend the committee to discuss the meaning of the recent amendments to the bill and ask questions to committee members.

Todays vote broke the deadlock of the committee that lasted for several weeks and was a loss to the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party hopes that while the Ministry of Justice is preparing an updated charter statement, it will continue to review the legislation article by article.

On the contrary, while the committee was waiting to review the charter statement and listen to the opinions of ministers and experts, the review was put on hold.

Free speech turmoil

Guilbeault proposed the C-10 bill, which aims to bring digital streaming media services into the jurisdiction of the Broadcasting Law. This will enable Canadas radio and television regulator, the Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to require them to contribute to the creation, production and promotion of Canadian content, similar to how the CRTC now regulates radio and television content.

The bill came under fire after the committee deleted a clause that would exclude user-generated content posted on social media sites from CRTC supervision.

The government stated that this exclusion will save YouTube from following the reporting requirements and obligations applicable to streaming media sites such as Spotify, Netflix and Amazon, thereby contributing to the development of Canadian culture.

But legal experts believe that these changes give the CRTC the right to regulate the posts that millions of Canadians upload to platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube every day, which they believe violates the right to the Charter of Freedom of Expression.

Liberals proposed amendments to the bill last week to clarify the role of CRTC. The amendment proposes to allow CRTC to require these sites to make Canadian content more visible to Canadian users.

The amendment failed to quell critics.

Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa said: Gilbert and the government promised to remove CRTCs regulation of user-generated content. On the contrary it effectively confirmed that the denial of the impact of the bill was inaccurate and left behind Regulatory framework. The professor and chair of Canadian Studies on Internet Law recently wrote on his blog.

Conservative MP Rachael Harder accused the Liberal Party of trying to censor users of social media platforms during a question in the House of Commons. (Canada Press)

Although Gilbert insisted that CRTC regulations only apply to professional content posted on platforms that act as broadcasters, he was covered in water on weekends.

In an interview with CTV Interrogation period, Gilbert (Guilbeault) seems to suggest that C-10 will allow the CRTC to implement discoverability regulations for individuals who have a large number of online fans or who generate substantial revenue from their online content. Gilberts office later went back and stated that individuals who used social media would never be considered broadcasters.

In todays press conference, Liberal Party Member Julie Dabrusin reiterated the Liberal Partys position that any obligations imposed by the CRTC only apply to the platform. Da Bruson said that such obligations include:

Allow CRTC to request foreign companies to provide information about their income in Canada.

Force them to pay funds to support Canadian musicians, writers and artists.

Ask them to make Canadian content more visible on their platform.

Dabrusin accused the Conservative Party of delaying committee work in the past two weeks.

Conservative MPs are particularly opposed to the current C-10, saying it will lead to government censorship of the Internet.

During the questioning period in the House of Commons today, MP Rachael Harder, a digital government critic of the Conservative Party, accused the Liberal Party of launching attacks on YouTubers to censor content posted on social media.

Gilbert (Guilbeault) responded that the bill is not about what Canadians can or cannot post online. He said the bill would ensure that large streaming media companies pay their due share and make Canadian content easier to discover on their platforms.
Russia announced a plan last year to transfer its diplomatic and trade relations eastward from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region.

But experts say that the plan, which is called the hub to Asia, has encountered difficulties and criticism.

Russias threat stance against Ukraine in recent months has attracted widespread attention from the international community, but so far, the hub to Asia has received less attention.

At the end of last year, the Washington, DC-based Jamestown Foundation summarized the obstacles to the hub seen by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

During his first appointment as Prime Minister of the Russian Far East, Mishustin discovered that the local port of Magadan had insufficient infrastructure support for international trade.

The limitations of ports on the Sea of ??Okhotsk hinder the economic development and international influence of the surrounding areas.

Russias hub for Asia is not a new idea. Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov laid the foundation for this policy in the late 1990s.

This policy proposes to transfer Russias economic ties from the European Union eastward to the Asia-Pacific region.

This will make Siberia and the Russian Far East a national priority for the 21st century in the countryYingshi century. 

However, according to the Jamestown report, due to system and cultural barriers, the strategy is in trouble by 2019.

The report written by Sergey Sukhankin quoted experts as saying that Russia faces four challenges in trying to implement a hub.

Negative public perception

The first is that Russia lacks a comprehensive approach to overcome the social and economic difficulties faced by its least developed regions, Siberia and the countrys Far East.

In addition, the government failed to improve the negative opinion of the Russians on the region. Settlers and businessmen regard Siberia and the Far East as extremely unattractive places to live or work. According to some people, these areas are located in the land of nothingness.

Second, the main pillar of the Asia Hub was originally premised on strengthening economic ties with China. But now, according to an expert from the US-based Eurasian Group, many Russian experts and intellectuals are aware of the limitations of this method.

Although Russia is a source of raw materials, it only plays a marginal role in Chinas foreign trade and economic relations.

Attempts to achieve diversified cooperation through contacts with India, Japan and South Korea, but with little success.

Third, despite the impressive diplomatic and political achievements, Russia has not been able to translate them into sustainable economic benefits.

A Russian expert at the Pacific National University in Khabarovsk said that two years ago, Asian countries did not see Russia as a place to attract foreign investment.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Russias share in the Asia-Pacific economy is limited.

Fourth, according to the Jamestown report, residents of the Far East regard the hub to Asia as a project created artificially by Moscow, without fully assessing the local reality, nor inviting local residents to participate or invest in it. .

It said: In addition, in Siberia, despite the cumbersome rhetoric, peoples dissatisfaction is actually ruled out.

Incompetent metropolis

In other words, the Federal Center cannot explain to the locals how it plans to improve the standard of living in the area.

Sergey Karaganov was a former adviser to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and a major supporter of the Perspective Asia strategy.

In an article co-authored with Russian scholar Anastasia Likhacheva, the two said that the strategy may lose momentum in the past year and a half.

They believe that one of the main problems hindering progress is that the Russian Far East and Siberia pay insufficient attention to human capital.

Human capital refers to the reference of people who should be the driving force of the pivot. But according to Karaganov and Likhacheva, they ultimately regarded Moscow as an incompetent metropolis.

Russias economy has long relied heavily on oil and gas exports. But in recent years, arms sales have also become a major source of income.

For example, Vietnam is almost entirely dependent on Russian military equipment, although experts say Vietnam is now trying to diversify its sources.

According to experts from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, from 2014 to 2019, China accounted for about half of Myanmars main arms imports, including warships, fighter jets, armed drones, armored vehicles and air defense systems.

During the same period, Russia provided 17% of Myanmars military imports, mainly in the form of fighter jets.

According to the Japanese website, the head of the military government, Min Aung Hlaing, overthrew Myanmars civil administration on February 1. He has established ties with the Russian military in the past decade. Nikkei Asia.

he made it Nikkei Asia He said that in order to avoid relying on China, Myanmars major neighbors and the country that has long been its largest supplier of weapons.

Asian diplomats told Nikkei Asia Min Aung Hlaing (Min Aung Hlaing) still remembers reports that China used to serve as Chinas weapons supply line and a stronghold occupied by national rebels entering the eastern border of Myanmar.

A few days before the military coup against the civilian government, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Myanmar to complete a deal for a new surface-to-air missile system, reconnaissance drones and radar equipment.

Russian weapons in the hands of the military government

The coup prevented Aung San Suu Kyis popular National League for Democracy from being re-elected for a second term after winning an overwhelming election in November last year.

After the coup, Russian-made tanks and other armored vehicles were seen on the streets of the densely populated city of Yangon. Yangon is the largest city in Myanmar and was formerly known as Yangon.

The United States and several other Western countries condemned the coup and condemned the militarys use of violence against unarmed demonstrators.

In early April, Hannah Beech New York Times A monitoring team was quoted as saying that 540 people were killed by soldiers or police on the streets and in houses.

According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, at least 40 of the dead were children under the age of 18. era Rely on medical testimony, funeral details and household accounts.

According to a local organization called the Political Prisoners Assistance Association, as of February 1, as of May 9, the total number of deaths has reached 780.

The military government stated that this number was exaggerated and claimed in late April that the actual number was 240.

Although Min Aung Hlaing, a senior general who has reportedly visited Russia six times over the years, said that Russia has proven to be a loyal friend, Russia may not have won widespread attention among ordinary people in Myanmar.

Amy Searight, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), recently stated on the Myanmar issue: Moscow seems to be seeking a military gap that no other country can fill. Even China is more cautious than Moscow. .

She mentioned that on the Myanmar Armed Forces Day in late March, Russia sent its Deputy Minister of Defense to participate in the parade. There were not only tanks and other military equipment in the parade, but also several Russian-made military aircraft flying overhead.

The parade was held in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar.

However, Searight is skeptical of Russias fulcrum for Asia, both to a certain degree in the past and new focus today, at least when it comes to Southeast Asia.

She said: I think they have never really gained much attraction in their past efforts.

She expressed her opinions in discussions organized by the Kennan Institute and Project Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., to discuss Russias role in Southeast Asia.

Dan Southerland is the founding executive editor of RFA.
BARRY Morphew looked fearful as he appeared in court charged with murder over Suzannes disappearance, an expert has claimed.

Suzanne, 49, was reported missing by her neighbor on Mothers Day last May 10 after she allegedly vanished after going on a bike ride.

Chaffee County Sheriffs Office and the 11th Judicial District Attorneys Office announced they arrested Barry and charged him with the death of his wife. They have said no other arrests will be made.

Patti Wood, a body language guru who has been quoted in countless print articles and appeared on news shows, gave her assessment of Barrys public appeals last year and his appearance at a court in Colorado.

Morphew released a public appeal on May 10, 2020, just days after she vanished as he pleaded for his wifes safe return.

He appeared extremely distressed in the clip and on the verge of tears as he appeared in the clip along with a tip line for the FBI.

Wood viewed the clip and said she found it unsettling to watch as she dissected the footage, reports DailyMail.com.

She said: We see pain in his face, but notice it doesnt move across his face and change as he speaks, but seems set like a mask which reveals that he put on or faked the pained expressions.

Wood also looked at Morphews first court appearance after he was arrested and charged with the alleged murder of Suzanne  and said he looked fearful.

Read our Suzanne Morphew live blog below for the very latest news and updates on the missing mother
The mayor said Monday morning that after a community of about 1,200 people was flooded during the weekends seasonal ice crash, the mayor said Monday morning that an estimated 700 people have been displaced from their houses.

Mayor Sean Whelly told CBC Radio pioneer.

They are on the highway, some of them have RVs, camps-they have established jungle camps and things like that.

He said other residents have stayed with relatives or friends.

The final evacuation order was issued at Fort Simpson around 3 pm on Sunday. Huili said that about 60 people remained in the community after the evacuation, but most people left after the power outage.

He said that the height of the river on Monday morning was about 15 meters, which was the threshold for general evacuation and was about the same level as Sunday night. He said the roads in the community were underwater and some houses were submerged by water.

Watch | Residents fled as the mighty Mackenzie River threatened flooding:

After the water level of the Mackenzie River rose to dangerous levels during the spring rupture, the town of Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories is receiving an evacuation order. (Dave Meyer) 0:52

Hyeri said: Some places have been severely damaged.

Those houses in low-lying areas, if not, some of them are completely surrounded by water, and there are two feet and three feet of water on the walls of their houses.

He said on Monday morning that he could look down at the papal ruins in the town (named after the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1987) and see the outbuildings floating around.

He said: They are on the concrete floor. These are not only small outbuildings, but also quite sturdy buildings. They are floating intermittently.

A flooded road in Fort Simpson on Saturday. (Submitted by Val Nahanni)

Huili said that he visited some residents in the camping area of ??the town on Sunday night. They were doing well and doing their best to accept the situation. He said that despite this, they still long to see how high the river is.

Fort Simpson is located at the confluence of the Liard and McKenzie rivers. By Monday morning, only the ice on the Liard River had given way. Huili said that his community is looking anxiously at McKinseys ice.

He said that officials went upstream to see Liard and McKenzie and knew what would happen.

Hyeri said, It looks like there is still a lot of ice.

He said: We hope McKinsey will not appear now. Because if we do, then we must have a lot of problems.

I dont know what we are going to do here

houses Jean Marie River was also destroyed The person in charge of the community said the Mackenzie River was contaminated with water and fuel after it flooded the community of about 75 people last weekend.

Stanley Sanguez, the head of the aboriginal people of Jean Marie River, told the CBC that the band office and the school-located in the lower part of the city center-were also affected.

In his speech on Monday morning, Sangers became emotional as he looked around.

He said: I dont know what we are going to do here. We tried to crack it as much as possible I think it makes me sad.

Sanguez said earlier that early Sunday afternoon, Jean Marie Rivers battery service had been restored, but they still had no electricity because the power plant was also damaged by water and fuel.

Doug Prendergast, communications manager for the Northwest Territories Power Company (NTPC), said that the communitys power was deliberately shut down on Friday night.

Sangers said: If the water drops, then I hope we can regain momentum.
India's daily Covid-19 death toll surpassed 4,000 for the first time on Saturday, with Tamil Nadu becoming the latest state to announce a complete lockdown to curb surging infections.

The country's health ministry reported a record 4,187 fatalities for the previous 24 hours, as well as more than 400,000 new infections for the third day in a row. India has now reported more than 21 million cases and 238,000 related deaths since the pandemic began.

The spiraling crisis is stretching India's health care system beyond breaking point. Beds, oxygen and medical workers are in short supply. Some Covid patients are dying in waiting rooms or outside overwhelmed clinics, before they have even been seen by a doctor.

In Tamil Nadu, officials announced a two-week lockdown -- a day after the southern state saw its biggest daily spike in infections, with 26,465 cases reported on Friday.

Starting Monday, all non-essential shops in the state -- including state-owned liquor stores -- will be closed. Restaurants can only provide takeout, while grocery stores will open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Food delivery services will also be limited.

A number of Indian states have imposed complete lockdowns this week, from the northwestern state of Rajasthan to Karnataka in the south, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's earlier warning the measure should only be considered as a last resort.

"In today's situation, we have to save the country from lockdown. I would request states to use a lockdown as their last option. We have to try hard to avoid lockdowns and focus only on micro containment zones," Modi said in late April.

m

India imposed one of the world's largest and harshest lockdowns in March last year, when the country of 1.36 billion people had reported little more than 500 coronavirus cases and 10 related deaths.

The nationwide measure was announced with less than four hours' notice and little planning, triggering a migrant crisis. It also brought the country's economic activity to a virtual standstill, and with businesses, factories and construction sites ground to a halt, its economy contracted by 24% from April to June -- India's worst slump since records began in 1996.

The EU plans to provide additional support to India, the European Council President Charles Michel tweeted on Saturday.

The statement came as part of an announcement made by Michel on an alliance with Modi, which will start "a new chapter in the European Union and India strategic partnership."

Additional oxygen cylinders, ventilators, and vials of the antiviral drug Remdesivir arrived in India from around the globe on Saturday, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

Bagchi praised the "international cooperation" after Austria sent 1,900 oxygen cannulas and 396 oxygen cylinders and the Czech Republic sent 500 oxygen cylinders.

Canada also sent a shipment of 50 ventilators and 25,000 vials of Remdesivir. Additionally, Japan sent 100 oxygen concentrators.
She stands with open arms atop a mountain ridge on the continental divide overlooking Butte, Montana.

"Our Lady of the Rockies," the fourth tallest statue in the United States, began as one man's desperate prayer. It's now a shrine to mothers everywhere.

For the love of a mother

In 1979, Bob O'Bill's beloved spouse Joyce was deathly ill. The Butte resident vowed to build a statue in the likeness of Mary, mother of Jesus, if his wife -- and mother of his two children -- recovered, according to Joyce.

"He at first was going to make a small statue, a five-foot-high statue" Joyce O'Bill told CNN. "He was worried about raising our daughters by himself, and... well he was worried about me."

When Joyce made a full recovery, her overjoyed husband set out to show his appreciation in a much bigger way.

"And then his friends got involved and more people got involved," Joyce said. "They all got behind him and built it. I think each one of the guys and the people working on it felt that individual love for their mothers and their family. They all poured their love into her."

Six years later, Bob's team had built a road to the mountain top, poured a 400-ton concrete base and erected the statue. A helicopter lowered the final piece into place in December 1985.

Bob O'Bill passed away in 2016, but his 90-foot steel statue continues to inspire.

Though visitors have left hundreds of rosaries dangling from its interior beams, the caretakers of Our Lady of the Rockies point out that she is a non-denominational symbol to "recognize the dignity of motherhood and the sacrificial love a mother has for her child."

The makeshift shrine of personal mementos inside the statue pays tribute to mothers, regardless of religion or belief. Stuffed animals, plaques, candles and handwritten notes to individual mothers all echo a common sentiment: Thank you.

"When visitors come here, they think about their mom," Mike Cerise, president of the Our Lady of the Rockies board, told CNN. "And many want to leave something to show their feelings."

A lasting memorial for women

In 2001, volunteers started a Women's Memorial wall at the chapel and observatory next to the statue. When they made dedication forms available online, names poured in from around the world. The growing memorial now covers all the walls of the building, with over 15,000 name tiles.

Cerise said that many visitors have made pilgrimages to the site to find the name tiles of the mothers they love.

"Some make the trip, even from far away, to just see the name on the wall." Cerise said. "We have tried to create a place here where you can take some time."

The grounds of the statue offer many spots for reflection. And at an elevation of 8,510 feet, visitors are surrounded with quiet solitude and serene mountain vistas.

The high placement of the statue also makes her visible for miles, especially at night when the lights come on and reflect off her gleaming white surface. Dedications for the nightly lighting, called Our Lady Lights, are placed in the local paper, the Montana Standard.

"I am glad we got her up there to watch over us," Joyce said. "People in Butte appreciate it I think. They decided to dedicate her to all mothers and that's love."
CENTRAL POINT, Ore.  Fire Season officially begins May 12 in Jackson and Josephine counties, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced Monday. The change means the beginning of fire danger restrictions and closures on ODF-protected lands in southwest Oregon.

At the outset, the fire danger level will be "Low" (green) with the Industrial Fire Precaution Level at level one. These regulations apply to 1.8 million acres of state, private, county, city, and federal forestlands in Jackson and Josephine counties.

"Since the beginning of March, the district has responded to more than 50 fires, totaling more than 100 acres; warm temperatures, windy conditions and a lack of spring rain are among the contributing factors that increased fire starts and growth," ODF said. "Fuels across the region are also much drier than normal, reflecting late June-like conditions in mid-May. For these reasons, fire season is being declared in Jackson and Josephine counties."

Starting Wednesday, debris pile burning and use of burn barrels will be prohibited in Jackson and Josephine counties. ODF pointed to multiple escaped debris burns that crews have responded to over the past several weeks. Landowners are asked to check previous burn piles to confirm that they are completely extinguished.

In low fire danger, the following activities are prohibited:

No debris burning, including piles and debris burned in burn barrels.

No fireworks on or within 1/8 of a mile of forestland.

Exploding targets and tracer ammunition, or any bullet with a pyrotechnic charge in its base, are prohibited.

Campfires are allowed in designated campgrounds, and on private land with the landowners permission. Portable stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels may be used as well.

Smoking while traveling will only be allowed in enclosed vehicles on improved roads, in boats on the water and other specifically designated locations.

Any electric fence controllers must be approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories Inc., or be certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services, and be installed and used in compliance with the fence controllers instructions for fire safe operation.

Under IFPL I (one)  fire season requirements are in effect. In addition to the following:

A Firewatch is required at this and all higher levels unless otherwise waived.

ODF is set to follow suit in Klamath and Lake counties on Saturday, May 15  officially beginning Fire Season regulations in those areas. For Klamath and Lake, the fire danger level will begin at Moderate (blue) with IFPL at level one.

Where we are at with fuel conditions, lack of spring rains, extreme and exceptional drought, and continuous fire activity in Klamath County, Lake County, and around the state, Klamath-Lake District will be declaring fire season on Saturday, May 15th at 12:01 a.m. said Randall Baley, Protection Unit Forester with ODF. The total package of conditions all adds up to make the public aware of the situation and minimize the potential for human-caused fires.
MEDFORD, Ore.  A Rogue Valley veteran and Purple Heart recipient has been chosen as one of the nation's 2021 "Purple Heart Patriot Project" honorees, which includes a pilgrimage to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in West Point, New York.

U.S. Army Captain Lawrence "Larry" Rupp served two tours in Vietnam, receiving shrapnel wounds in January 1969 during a pair of attacks just two days apart. In May of that year, Rupp also suffered a gunshot wound while he was pursuing a Vietcong carrier.

Rupp was awarded the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, in addition to a number of other medals and commendations during his service.

Larry and his fellow Patriot Project honorees are true American heroes, said Richie Lay, a Purple Heart recipient and chairman of the National Purple Heart Honor Mission. Americas Purple Heart veterans have given so much to defend freedom and that sacrifice must always be remembered. We are privileged to be able to provide this unique salute to service for our Purple Heart heroes.

After leaving the service and returning home to Oregon, Rupp served as an officer with the Oregon State Police for 35 years. He is also a Life Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, where he has served in Chapter and Department leadership, including as Department of Oregon State Commander from 2016 to 2020.

As part of the Purple Heart Patriot Project, Rupp will serve as Oregon's representative during a multi-day tribute to the courage and sacrifice of America's combat wounded. The all-expenses-paid trip includes visits to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a tour of the newly-renovated National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, and other tributes to service.

Our Purple Heart recipients have made enormous sacrifices for America and this is our opportunity to say thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. For some, this will be like the homecoming they never had. We received hundreds of nominations from across the country and we look forward to honoring Larry for his sacrifice and lifelong service to his community, said Col. Russ Vernon (Ret.), executive director for the National Purple Heart Honor Mission.
MEDFORD, Ore.  The Rogue Valley International Medford Airport is now host to new routes from a new airline. Avelo Airlines, the first new U.S. mainline airline in almost 15 years, starts service between Medford and the Los Angeles area this week.

Avelo boasts "one-way fares starting at $19," and will offer nonstop flights between MFR and the Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR). The airline is using 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route, which Avelo says is one of the most fuel-efficient planes in the world.

"We are excited to bring our lower fares and caring convenient service to Medford and make it easier than ever to travel between Southern California and the heart of Southern Oregon," said Avelo Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy. "We will bring more choice and affordability to customers who want to explore the Rogue Valley wine region, Crater Lake, and the Table Rocks. And for those considering Southern California for their next getaway, BUR is the ultra-convenient gateway to Greater LA."

The route offers flights from Burbank at 4:20 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, arriving in Medford at 6:10 p.m. Flights from Medford to Burbank depart at 6:50 p.m. and arrive at 8:50 p.m. On Sundays, the flights depart Burbank at 11:10 a.m. and arrive in Medford at 1 p.m., then depart Medford at 1:40 p.m. and arrive in Burbank at 3:40 p.m.

"We are overwhelmed with excitement that Medford is one of Avelo's first choices for its new services," said MFR director Jerry Brienza. "Southern Oregon has become a favorite for adventurous vacationers as well as those who just want to enjoy its serenity; and Burbank provides direct access to California's hottest attractions. Avelo Airlines has great leadership and will no doubt be a strong competitor for years to come."

MFR plans to celebrate the new airline's arrival with a ceremony at the airport on Tuesday evening, with airport fire trucks creating a "traditional water arch" to welcome the arriving Avelo plane.
Young people line up for COVID-19 vaccines at Downsview Arena in Toronto on Monday, May 10, 2021. Ontario has just opened up vaccines for 18+ in high risk areas. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
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My whole world has changed, but my workplaces expectations havent. I am paying twice as much for childcare and caring for my childrens mental health needs on top of my normal job. This has been going on for a year, but expectations for my performance in the workplace havent changed..

I was watching an old home movie of my sons baptism with my seven-year-old when he turned to me in horror, saying, OMG, you let that person (the minister) kiss me?

Is it a bad sign if my two-year-old automatically points to the desk by the door every time we go out asking mask?'

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed enormous stresses on women in the workplace and maybe jeopardizing the future of women in leadership. 11.5 million women were lost from the workplace between February and May 2020 and another 865,000 left between August and September, four times the number of men during that same period.

According to Medscape, burnout is on the rise for women physicians. More than half of all women physicians report being burned out (51 percent compared with a steady rate of 36 percent of men). You can see from the quotes above, COVID-19 amplified the pre-existing condition of burnout.

Burnout and leaky pipelines have been on the rise for decades. An analysis by McKinzie & Company concludes: If organizations dont make the needed changes  far fewer women will be on track to be future leaders.

Burnout is, at least in part, attributed to a decrease in connection. Belonging and collaborative relationships are basic human needs. In primitive times, belonging to a group increased our chances of survival. The advent of 15-minute patient appointment times and mind-numbing click-throughs in electronic medical records were already distancing physicians from patients. The COVID-19 pandemic also took away casual coffee gatherings and hallway conversations.

Our brains are intensely social. People with strong social supports live longer and healthier lives. We live in a world with an unending thirst for connection.

This year, in the midst of COVID-19, the women in our specialty area created a mastermind group. We arranged to meet just one time. The connection we experienced was so restorative; we agreed to meet for another five months. This past month we committed to meeting indefinitely. If you are also thirsting for the connections that inspire, challenge and support you, this piece shares evidence and resources for starting your own mastermind group.

Mastermind groups, also known as learning communities, circles of trust and communities of practice, dating back to ancient times. The term mastermind group was coined by Napoleon Hill in 1925 for a behavior that he found common among successful professionals including Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, and Charles Schwab.

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs would take camping trips together in a group they called the Vagabonds so that they could learn from each other. Hill describes mastermind groups as The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony. Harvard Business Review author Etienne Wegner calls this a community of practice who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

The prestigious Executive Leadership for Academic Medicine (ELAM) program, recognized for training national leaders in academic medicine, has utilized learning communities for over three decades. These communities are so valued by participants that many continue for years.

Numerous websites and readings describe how to start a mastermind group. Here are the basic ingredients:

The group: Between 5-12 peers who share a commitment to the domain (e.g., womens leadership, career stage, clinical specialty, book club, etc.), value learning from each other, and are committed to engaging in joint activities and mutual support.

The process: Determine frequency, time, modality, ground rules etc. One of the most important things to do early is to create a safe space; agree that any confidential disclosures will stay in the group. Virtual meetings can help optimize timing around family and professional obligations.

General format  5-step meeting process:

1. Pre-meeting probe. We circulate a probe ahead of the meeting so individuals can bring contributions & reflections (e.g., time management hacks, book/ conference learnings, 30-day challenge, stay interviews, etc.)

2. Check-ins and updates.

3. Topic of the day

4. Wrap up and plan for next session

5. Capture  sending a few bullet points after the meeting can allow others who missed to join the discussion and add resources

Our mastermind group brought eleven of us together and initiated and deepened our healing bonds. We share in each others victories and struggles, we help each other, and most importantly, we know we are not alone. That positive energy is contagious.

In just six short months, we were able to celebrate when two women in our group have already ascended to their dream leadership positions. People have commented that things seem to be more transparent. We are more likely to talk about professional issues when we observe them and to problem-solve together.

We do simple acts of kindness that make a huge difference  being genuinely excited to see one another, coming early to allow someone to go home, amplifying messages, or publicly praising someones professional actions so that person knows they are valued. As doctors, we are good at caring for our patients when they are most vulnerable. The mastermind group allows us to focus that skill on each other and to reap the benefits of both giving and accepting care.

According to General Martin Dempsey, The most important responsibility of leaders, no matter how busy they are and how many priorities demand their attention, is to make their people feel like they belong. As physicians and scientists, we can apply the evidence from neuroscience and business and intentionally create this sense of belonging. Mastermind groups can be an important step in that direction.

Jeanne-Marie Guise is an obstetrician-gynecologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
EUGENE, Ore. --- Local residents reacted to whether or not a full FDA approval on the Pfizer vaccine would help improve vaccine hesitancy.

KEZI spoke to several Eugene residents who have received the vaccine about whether they were concerned no vaccines have been fully approved by the FDA at this time.

"It didn't really concern me to be fair," William Steele said. "I'd rather get sick or get some kind of issue than risk getting COVID and spreading it to others."

However, Steele also said if the FDA does not end up approving the vaccine, he might end up regretting his decision. But as of now, he said he's confident that the scientists know what they're doing and he believes getting vaccinated was the right choice.

KEZI also spoke to Eugene resident Katie Jensen.

"Even if it wasn't FDA approved, the majority of people had said that it was safe and were willing to protect the people around them and I was willing to hop on the train," Jensen said.

Earlier this week, officials at Pfizer announced they're beginning to seek full FDA approval for their COVID-19 vaccine.

RELATED: PFIZER/BIONTECH SEEK FULL FDA APPROVAL FOR THEIR COVID-19 VACCINE

Throughout the past week, the United State's vaccination rate fell to about two million doses administered each day. That's around a 20 percent decrease from the previous week.

The White House said they expect to vaccinate around 70% of the population by the 4th of July.
LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- Restaurants are seeing a dip in employment rates as the state fluctuates between risk levels.

While some places are making adjustments to cater to new hires, or recapture previous ones, Emily Chappell, the co-owner of Old Nick's Pub in Eugene, said her formula for retaining her employees is simple.

"I try to take care of them I try to create a respectful workplace. The way that I speak to them is a very respectful way," Chappell said. "I value them. I wanted to look at their wage scale and make sure that the wage scale reflected that."

Toward the beginning of the pandemic, Chappell laid off nearly all of her staff, but was able to bring most of them back once the restrictions loosened.

"We didn't have anyone that said I'm not coming back," Chappell said.

That is not the case for everyone in the state though.

KEZI 9 News asked Facebook users if any business owners were struggling to retain employees. The post received over 200 comments.

Users expressed mixed feelings. Some said government benefits are incentivizing workers to stay home.

"Employers aren't losing their employees... employees are quitting/getting fired cause they make basically the same amount or more while on unemployment," Casey Lee Aden said.

User Jolene Diane added.

"Who wants to work when they get paid more not to?" Diane said.

However, other users said that most business owners are trying their best to accomodate their employees.

"People sure seem to think that all business owners are money hungry and that we neglect employees. I would love to be able to pay my employees $20+ an hour with benefits but there is no way to do that. Wed have to raise prices so much to cover the cost that it would drive people away and theyd just shop on Amazon because its cheaper. Its a tough balancing act for sure!" Jennifer Aldermann said.

Gabby Pelayo is the manager at Chula's Restaurant and Cantina in Eugene.

Pelayo said she's thankful because she hasn't lost any of her employees to this point. However, she said hiring new people has been very difficult but she's not sure why.

"It could be unemployment [benefits] it could be that people are afraid to get out," Pelayo said,"We are in contact with hundreds of people throughout the day."

Many industries across the country are experiencing slow job growth.

According to a recent jobs report, over one million jobs were expected to be added nationwide during the month of April, but only about 266,000 jobs were added.
By Prossy Kisakye

A section of religious leaders has asked President Museveni to urgently assent to the National Health Insurance Scheme Bill that was passed by parliament recently saying it offers timely services to the majority of Ugandas population who cannot afford to pay cash.

In a joint statement issued after a dialogue at Lweza Training and Conference Center, read by Father Constantine Mbonabingi, religious leaders say although government tries to provide free health care services, a big proportion of health expenditure is met by individuals who pay cash to the health providers when they seek health care.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Bill, seeks to provide universal healthcare to all Ugandans.

According to Daily Monitor, data from the Ministry of Health indicates that the total annual health expenditure stands at Shs7.5 trillion.

Of this, 15 per cent is from government funding, 42 per cent from donors, 41 per cent from individuals (out of pocket) when they fall sick and only two per cent from pre-payment mechanisms.
By Juliet Nalwooga

The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) has explained that the deployment at former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyis residence is for his own good.

With just a day to the presidents swear-in ceremony, there have been growing concerns among sections of the general public about the increased security deployment at the homes of some political leaders including the NUP party leader in Magere, Wakiso District.

Addressing journalists at the police headquarters in Naguru this morning, UPDF deputy spokesperson Col. Deo Akiiki said they accord security to individuals based on their weight and prominence in society and Kyagulanyi is no doubt a distinguished Ugandan.

Meanwhile, security chiefs will later at 8pm address the nation about preparations for the 12th May swear-in ceremony.
By Benjamin Jumbe

The National Environment Management Authority is developing National air quality standards for the country.

According to the Authoritys executive director Dr Tom Okurut , 4 sets of air quality standards are expected to be concluded and ready by June.

Meanwhile, the Authoritys executive Director Dr Tom Okurut says although the government introduced a 50% environmental levy, it has not helped deter Ugandans from importing old cars of between 8 and 15 yrs.

He says the government should thus scrap the environmental levy and instead ensure only newer cars are imported for the safety of the environment and health of citizens.

Parliament in 2018 banned importation of cars older than fifteen years following the enactment of the Traffic and Road Safety (Amendment) Act 2018.
By Ritah Kemigisa

The alliance for Finance Monitoring, ACFIM in its secrets Known publication has revealed that the NRM party cashed out shs 20 million as a take home package to each of the 243 MPs elect who attended the recent three-week retreat at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi.

The alliance executive director Henry Muguzi says they have established that during the separate meetings held between President Museveni who also doubles as NRM party chairman and the new MPs-elect grouped based on sub-regions at Kyankwanzi. Some of the MPs took advantage of the meetings to inform the party chairman how elections left most of them financially crippled with some battling court cases that required money.

Muguzi is now calling upon the NRM party to desist from degenerating into a cash and carry party that makes its self-attractive members because of the amounts of money it expends on them.

NRM must be among the frontiers of ideologically oriented politics. Its imperative to note that if money continues to be the motivating factor of political participation in Uganda then democracy will not have a chance to flourish in Uganda.

However the NRM deputy secretary general Richard Todwong has refuted this report as false saying the MPs elect were only given shs 1million as fuel refund.

 I am not aware about that, I didnt see anybody giving anyone money, only shs 1million was given to the MPS for fuel to return to their constituencies, says Mr Todwong.
By Damali Mukhaye

Parliament has rejected the proposal by its committee on human rights to grant children of refugees Ugandan Citizenship.

The committee Vice Chairperson, also Bugiri Woman MP, Agnes Ttaka in her report proposed that the children of refugees born in Uganda should be granted citizenship and be registered at birth as Ugandans.

Ttaka also proposes that refugees be encouraged to engage in productive activities to reduce the economic pressure they exert on host communities.

However, Mukono South Member of Parliament Johnson Muyanja Seyonga was the first to oppose the proposal saying if refugees are allowed to become citizens they will also get the right to purchase land, which may render many Ugandans landless.

Other MPs including the Busia Municipalitys Geoffrey Macho and Bunyole Wests James Waluswaka also opposed the move saying this will turn Uganda into an open market for citizens from other countries.
Systemic leftist indoctrination of America's next generation

By Mark Alexander



The socialist Democrat Party's short-term strategy to establish perennial majorities in the executive and legislative branches could be achieved most directly by House Resolution 1 , which bears a laughably contrarian name  the "For the People Act." Having passed in the House in March on a near-party-line vote, this scheme to legalize the Demos' bulk-mail ballot fraud nationwide is now before the Senate (S1).

This corrupt assault on our Constitution could become law if Majority Leader Chuck Schumer can pull together sufficient bribes to get the pivotal vote of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). That would split the Senate vote 50-50 and Veep Kamala Harris would step in to cast the tiebreaker.

The Left's bulk-mail ballot strategy is the most perilous legislative threat to the future of American Liberty now under active consideration.

But there is a much more insidious cultural threat now looming on the horizon.

Democrats know the future of their political fortunes and statist objectives rest on the institutionalization of ignorance and subservience, and to achieve that objective, they relentlessly inject government schools with leftist curricula.

The model for their Marxist indoctrination strategy is simple  as socialist protagonist Vladimir Lenin declared, "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted." Unable to exercise Vlady's total dictatorial control over the education of the young, for decades the Left has instead been incrementally infusing America's young minds with increasing levels of leftist indoctrination, preparing them to become the core cadres of useful idiots in the next generation.

But the seeds they are now sowing will produce much more invasive weeds  the Kudzu Effect.

The unifying characteristic of this emerging generation of misinformed leftist lemmings  Western apologists for Marxist-Leninist-Maoist collectivism and the statist political and economic agendas to perpetuate it  is that they exhibit a mosaic of leftist pathologies rendering them dependent on statism and the false promise of " equity ," which is most assuredly not equality .

The current manifestations of these Demo dependencies are the so-called " antifa movement " of self-styled "anti-fascist" fascists and, of much more significance, the Marxist so-called " Black Lives Matter " radicals.

These young leftists fear Liberty and loathe those who defend it. They are supported by emotionally incontinent white-privilege Democrats , many of whom are themselves the effluent of wealthy leftists .

But the next generation of these socialists, a generation that will be far more consequential than the current malcontents, are being indoctrinated now.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day."

So how best to erode such enlightenment in order to advance statist tyranny and oppression?

Under the banner of "equity," the most insidious curriculum being implemented by the Left in K-12 classrooms is " Critical Race Theory " (CRT), being served up with a side of the New York Times's revisionist 1619 Project , which is replacing our nation's genuine founding history with a fake racist narrative .

Leading the CRT reeducation charge are, of course, Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona .

Ostensibly, as part of his effort to eradicate the mythical " systemic racism " monster, Biden and his race-hustlers are endeavoring to force-feed elementary, middle, and high schools their racist CRT curricula by promoting them as " civics education ."

Part of the Biden agenda is to offset the growing conservative effort to reintroduce genuine civics classes that promote a historically factual understanding of American history  which, as I noted previously, would be antithetical to the Left's statist control agenda.

Fact is, the most consequential "systemic racism" in America is the institutionalization of Democrat social policies, which have enslaved poor black citizens on Demo-controlled urban poverty plantations for generations. The Democrat Party platform has, by design, kept poor people in bondage to the welfare state and is, consequently, the most enduring monument to racial exploitation in America.

To that end, Cardona is implementing "education grants" to schools that must then teach about "systemic marginalization, biases, inequities, and discriminatory policy and practice in American history" and "support the creation of learning environments that validate and reflect the diversity, identities, and experiences of all students; and contribute to inclusive, supportive, and identity-safe learning environments."

That is all code for CRT and the 1619 propaganda being pushed as a " civics curriculum "  which is rightly generating pushback from an increasing number of Republicans.

Articulating the GOP objections, Sen. Mitch McConnell and 39 GOP senators wrote a letter to Cardona exposing the 1619 curriculum for what it is  "divisive nonsense."

Accordingly, they declared: "This campaign to 'reframe the country's history, understanding 1619 as our true founding' has become infamous for putting ill-informed advocacy ahead of historical accuracy. Actual, trained, credentialed historians with diverse political views have debunked the project's many factual and historical errors. ... Americans do not need or want their tax dollars diverted from promoting the principles that unite our nation toward promoting radical ideologies meant to divide us. This trend is already sweeping through K-12 schools nationwide in absurd ways. ... Families did not ask for this divisive nonsense. Voters did not vote for it. Americans never decided our children should be taught that our country is inherently evil. ... Young Americans deserve a rigorous understanding of civics and American history. They need to understand both our successes and our failures. Our nation's youth do not need activist indoctrination that fixates solely on past flaws and splits our nation into divided camps."

In the House, Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Jeff Duncan (R-SC) advised Cardona: "It is counterproductive and even dangerous to allow our vulnerable school children to be taught the falsehoods prevalent in the 1619 Project. ... Moreover, the 1619 Project is a racially divisive revisionist account of history. ... We should never prioritize educational grants for schools that promote attacks on the principles enshrined in our Constitution."

There is also substantial pushback emerging at the state level and the courts.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation effectively banning CRT from classrooms  a good model for other states. Another Florida bill will empower students to challenge professors promoting CRT and other "woke" garbage.

In Texas, parents are taking charge , voting to expel CRT from their schools .

And there are legal challenges to CRT being prepared in other states.

There are good, succinct resources for better understanding what CRT is and the indoctrination objectives of embedding such spurious curricula in our schools.

On our site, read " Critical Race Theory: What It Is and How to Fight It ." Additionally, see our Primer on Critical Race Theory , a summation of civil rights attorney Peter Kirsanow's assessment of CRT, and " Systemic Racism Is a Conspiracy Theory Cult " by Daniel Greenfield.

Another excellent resource is a five-minute video from PragerU, " What Is Critical Race Theory ?"

In addition, American Enterprise Institute's Peter Wallison has a concise editorial on CRT: " The enemy of reason, evidence, and open debate ."

To better understand how insidious the "equity" catch-all is, go straight to the source  The Equity Collaborative , a firm that monetizes CRT programs. Local school systems are dishing out millions of taxpayer dollars for these indoctrination curricula.

Finally, last week I featured a letter from Andrew Gutmann , father of a student at Manhattan's elite Brearley girls school and one of a growing number of parents rejecting CRT in their children's school  a letter that parents of any child in any school, public or private, should read.

This week I draw your attention to another letter, this one from a now-former teacher , Paul Rossi, who went public with his letter regarding the CRT curriculum in his school. Again, every parent should read Rossi's letter, " I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated ."

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
The late Nuala Deasy

The death has occurred of Nuala Deasy (Marble Crest, Kilkenny and formerly of Limerick City) May 8, peacefully, at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, after a short illness. Nuala, beloved sister of Angela, John and Loretta, sadly missed by her loving family, brother-in-law John (Flynn), nieces Irene, Geraldine, Sarah and Emer, nephews Brian and Colm, grandnieces and grandnephews, extended family, neighbours and friends.

In accordance with current Government/HSE guidelines, a private funeral for family and close friends will take place for Nuala (max of 50 people). For those unable to attend due to restrictions, you may view the Requiem Mass online at 11am on Wednesday, May 12, at the following link www.stpatricksparishkilkenny.com. Funeral afterwards to Mount Jerome Crematorium, Dublin. House private please.

The late Jim Dowling

The death has occurred of Jim Dowling, Glenthorn Drive, Dublin Hill, Cork / Kilkenny. On May 7, unexpectedly at home. Jim beloved husband of Joan (nee Cotter), loving father of Carol, Brendan and Gary, dear brother of Mary and the late John, adored grandad of Mia, Ellie, Lisa, Sadie and James. Sadly missed by his loving family, daughters-in-law Jane and Orla, son-in-law Derek, relatives, neighbours and friends.

In accordance with current government guidelines, the funeral will be private. Jims Requiem Mass will be streamed at noon on Tuesday on www.blackpoolparish.com/st-olivers-live-stream/

The late Thomas Molloy

The death has occurred of Thomas Molloy, Hillside View, Castlecomer, Kilkenny. Suddenly at his home. Pre-deceased by his Father Martin. Thomas will be sadly missed by his loving Mother Angela, sisters Sharon, Giena, Aine, and Katie, brother-in-law Kenny, Michael (Giena's partner), nephew Eoghan, nieces Aoife and Abbie, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and friends. Thomas's funeral cortege will arrive at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Castlecomer on Monday evening at 7.30pm for reception prayers. Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday morning at 11am followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. (50 permitted in Church) Requiem Mass can be viewed on the parish webcam: castlecomerparish.ie/

Those who would have liked to attend the funeral but cannot do so, are invited to offer their sympathy in the condolence section at RIP. This will be greatly appreciated by the family who would like to thank you for your sympathy and support at this difficult time.

The late Milo Burke

The death has occurred of Milo Burke, Cappass, Cannafahy, Callan, Kilkenny / Cuffesgrange, Kilkenny. Peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, May 8 at The Mater Hospital, Dublin. Pre-deceased by his parents Michael and Mary. Deeply regretted and sadly missed by his sorrowing family, his wife Ann, sons Ramie, Keith and Mick, daughter Adie, grandchildren Cormac, Caoimhe, Tara, Sarah Jane, Ben, Tom, Jessica, Harper and Eden, daughters-in-law Sinead, Linda and Melissa, son-in-law Alan, brothers Seamus and Noel, sisters Mary, Claire and Caroline, aunts, uncles, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and a large circle of friends.

Due to the current HSE and Government restrictions regarding public gatherings, Milos funeral will take place privately (For 50 mourners only). Requiem Mass will take place on Tuesday, May 11 at 11am in The Church of the Holy Cross, Cuffesgrange. Burial will take place afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. The funeral Mass can be viewed live on Facebook (Danesfort Parish Kilkenny). The family would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their understanding and support at this difficult time. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Family flowers only please, donations if desired to The RNLI.
Throughout 2021, while it waits to reopen its doors to audiences for live performances, the Watergate Theatre will support artistic work in development through a number of residencies, commissions and bursaries.

The Watergates 2021 Artistic Programme will build on existing relationships and embark on new ones.

The primary focus will be on supporting the work of professional Kilkenny and non-Kilkenny based arts sector workers. Through collaboration and partnership, the Watergate looks forward to participating in the presentation of this work to its valued audience.

This work is made possible with funding from Kilkenny County Council and The Arts Council of Ireland.

Monkeyshine Theatre Company in residence

The Watergate Theatre is delighted to support Callan based theatre company Monkeyshine through a residency in 2021 as part of the development of a new piece of interactive work which will be shared online and safely in person.

Monkeyshine are artists and makers dedicated to cultivating creativity and connection. The company is on a mission to shift the paradigm towards a more conscious, kind and playful world; one where our interdependent relationship with the earth is recognised, sacred and celebrated.

During 2021, Monkeyshine artists Kareen Pennefather and James Jobson will be working with musicians Kate Powell and Nico Brown, deep nature connection specialist Maura Brennan and artist Mollie Anna King as they explore the question: What story is the earth telling you?



Gare St Lazare Ireland - Remote Rehearsal Residency

Gare St Lazare Ireland is an Irish theatre company which has toured internationally with a repertory of 19 Samuel Beckett titles, a solo adaptation of Moby Dick and performances of new plays by Michael Harding and Will Eno.

The Watergate Theatre is delighted to support world renowned Beckett specialists Gare St Lazare Ireland through a remote rehearsal residency in 2021 as part of the development of the third and final part of a staging of Samuel Becketts novel How It Is.

This remote residency allows the company to focus specifically on the creation of an original music score by composer/sound designer Mel Mercier who will work with an international group of Irish and Irish-based musicians.

A full staging of all three parts of How It Is is planned for an Irish venue later this year, designed and directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett and featuring actors Conor Lovett and Stephen Dillane. The 6-hour, three-part production of How It Is is scheduled to stream live to Irish and global audiences.

The production has been in creative development since 2015 with productions of part 1 and 2 featuring strongly at The Irish Times Theatre Awards in 2019 and 2020.

For more see Visit watergatetheatre.com for regular updates .
As capacity on public transport increases to 50% from tomorrow as part of the phased reopening of the country, Bus Eireann is advising its Kilkenny customers to travel outside of peak times, to book a guaranteed seat for inter-regional Expressway travel and to be prepared for greater demand on some services, especially during periods of fine weather, at weekends and morning/evening commute times.

It is very welcome that public transport will now be operating at a capacity of 50% and we look forward to playing our part in the safe reopening of society.

"For Bus Eireann that means carrying between 20 and 30 passengers on board, depending on vehicle size, said Allen Parker, chief customer officer.

As restrictions begin to ease across the country we anticipate there may be capacity pressures on certain routes at certain times of the day.

"Therefore we are encouraging our customers to ensure their journeys are carefully planned, to pre-book a guaranteed Expressway seats online and to travel off-peak  that is, after 9am and avoiding 4-6pm where possible. Fine weather increases demand especially for routes to the coast, and people should keep this in mind too.

A significant investment in technology since last summer means that guaranteed seat booking is now available for all Expressway interregional routes at expressway.ie, including for holders of free travel passes.

"We strongly urge customers to make use of this new facility to ensure they have a guaranteed seat for their journey, as walk up seats may not be available at all, said Mr Parker.

Another difference we are very aware of is that with the vaccination programme well underway, we are looking forward to welcoming back people who may have been cocooning since March 2020.People who may not have used Bus Eireann services in the past year will notice some changes, many for the better.

- Bus Eireann has introduced new services and schedules, so if you havent travelled for some time, check buseireann.ie and expressway.ie to plan your trip.

- Be sure to book your outbound and return journeys on Expressway.ie so as to guarantee your seat  a new facility not previously available.

- The 50% capacity limit relates to seated and standing passengers. Passengers are asked not to sit in the marked-off aisle seats and to leave two rows behind the driver vacant. The 50% capacity limit is clearly marked on board.

- The law requires people to wear face masks throughout their journey. Drivers wear a face mask while passengers are boarding and alighting. Face masks are available at vending machines in stations.

- Hand sanitising units are available on board and in stations.

- Bus Eireanns vehicles are cleaner than ever, with touchpoint cleaning during the day and deep cleaning overnight.

- Waiting areas have been reduced in stations so please do not arrive for your journey more than 15 minutes in advance, you may have to wait outside the station.

We ask our passengers for their continued understanding and respect for all our frontline employees as we work together to protect everyone and support the safe reopening of the country.

"We are delighted to be able to connect people once again, and encourage people to monitor the @buseireann and @ExpresswayIRE Twitter feeds for service updates, added Mr Parker.

Bus Eireann encourages customers to use Leap Cards, Automatic Ticket Machines and online ticket purchase to minimise the use of cash. Tickets can be purchased at www.buseireann.ie

Longford man raises over 20k for Ewings Sarcoma A Longford man has raised over 26,000 for Ewings Sarcoma Research thanks to over a thousand generous people donating to his Shave or Dye fundraiser.
Irish-owned grocery and restaurant delivery company whatsfordinner.ie has launched in the Kilkenny area, with the creation of 10 full time delivery driver positions.

The Galway based and Irish-owned company who are official delivery partners for the Spar Grocery brand have also partnered with local Kilkenny gems such as Namo's, Kafe Katz, Mizzoni's and The Burger Factory to name but a few.

So, whether its a hot chicken roll from the Spar Deli, a bottle of wine from the Spar off-licence or delicious fast food from a Kilkenny Gem, whatsfordinner.ie are open seven days from 9am until 10pm. They even deliver from the McDonalds breakfast menu too.

Download the app or visit them at www.whatsfordinner.ie.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A former Anoka theater teacher who was an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ students is charged with 10 felony counts of sexually abusing minors.

Forty-seven-year-old Jefferson Fietek taught arts theater at Anoka Middle School and created the non-profit group Young Artists Initiative that operated out of a St. Paul church.

According to court documents, the five male victims are either former middle school students of participants in the theater non-profit. Fietek's attorney, Jack Rice, says they deny all allegations and look forward to the trial that will be coming in the future.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP)  Gov. Kim Reynolds has removed the chief executive of the states nursing home for veterans and their spouses, months after praising his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reynolds' spokesman, Pat Garrett, said Monday that Timon Oujiri was relieved of his duties as commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown last week.

He offered no additional information on the leadership change at the facility, which is Iowas largest nursing home.

Reynolds appointed Oujiri as commandant in 2017.

He oversaw one of the nation's largest state-owned nursing homes for veterans, with around 500 residents and 900 employees.

In December, Reynolds said the commandant and his staff have done such an outstanding job battling COVID-19.
When a little corruption in Mexico goes too far



By Duggan Flanakin





Corruption is not a disagreeable characteristic of the Mexican political system, Gabriel Zaid observed in La economia presidencial . It is the system.



It is widely known, Mexican journalist Ricardo Ravelo wrote in June 2018, how the General Administration of Customs  operates a network of officials linked to large-scale smuggling in the countrys 49 customs offices. Under previous central administrators Aristotle Nunez Sanchez and Osvaldo Santin Quiroz, Mexicos Tax Administration Service (SAT) became known for unleashing smuggling throughout the country.



Smuggling, said Ravelo, is a business that operates in Mexico without a containment dam, under the protection of senior officials at the SAT. Those close to the SAT high command, he added, rake in millions in cash distributed by large international smugglers, importers of Chinese fabrics and other goods.



Ravelo further revealed that the SATs top people and the Ministry of Finance are well aware that organized crime controls arms, drugs and money trafficking through Customs. Moreover, they protect and shield corrupt officials like Guillermo Peredo Rivera, Central Administrator of Customs Operations at the SAT, whose story, Ravelo asserted, has always been linked to corruption scandals.



Peredo Rivera, who has been described as a violent, explosive and authoritarian man, has been spared despite a criminal complaint of abuse of power and his role in covering up alleged sexual abuse by another Customs employee. He even earned the nickname The Chocolate Master for his role in signing documents without the proper credentials.



Peredo Rivera has also long protected his proteges, including Edmundo Almaguer Contreras, who was accused of abusing his authority as a Customs official. Contreras wife just happened to work in the Central Administration of Customs Operation under Peredo Rivera. Recently, two more names can be added to the list: Juan Carlos Madero Larios, a prominent advisor at the Tax Administration Service, and his supervisor, Luis Alfonso Lino Munoz.



In a recent article in U.S. News & World Report, Arcadia Foundation CEO Robert Carmona-Borjas called Madero Larios a major contributor to multiple crimes against Mexicos government and its environment. For example, he suggests, Madero Larios 



* allowed the illegal export of large quantities of lumber to China, thus contributing to the ongoing and massive deforestation in the Mexican state of Chiapas;



* contributed to the near-extinction of the endangered Mexican sea cucumber by allowing the animals unabated illegal export (again likely to China , where the animal is considered a delicacy); and



* authorized the illegal discharge of 70,000 barrels of hydrocarbons by mislabeling diesel pipes as light oil, an action that robbed Mexico of tax revenues.



Others have reported that Madero Larios and Lino Munoz have operatives in one or more of the 32 Naval Maritime Search, Rescue and Surveillance Stations (SEMAR) who provide cover for smuggling operations. Lino Munoz has been called Madero Larios godfather and is the Foreign Trade Assistant for Federal Tax Audits at Mexicos Tax Administration Service.



Mexico has a long history of mordida, greasing palms and operating under a system of functional corruption to get things done. In a 2013 article in The Atlantic, Mexico-based business consultant Lawrence Weiner flatly stated that modern Mexico has never functioned without corruption, and its current system would either collapse or change beyond recognition if it tried to do so.



Weiner noted that few private Mexican fortunes have been made without colmillo (fang or cunning) - the owners ability to cultivate ties to the right officials and master the art of mutually convenient relationships. The system, he asserts, is built on mutual distrust outside the family.



The result is that much of Mexicos economy depends on monopolies and oligarchic cartels.



But what happens if corruption has become destructive to Mexican society, even to its natural beauty? What can be done to turn things around?



As Jude Webber reported in the Financial Times last year, the average bribe per person to public officials (including police and civil servants), as compiled by Mexicos National Statistical and Geographical Information System (INEGI), rose from 2,273 pesos in 2017 to 3,822 in 2019  equivalent to the monthly salary of 40 percent of Mexicans.



Corrupt public officials and their criminal patrons are today negatively impacting two of Mexicos greatest treasures: tourism and the natural resources that make Mexico so attractive.



And so we must ask ourselves, Has Mexico moved beyond functional corruption into chaos?



The typical war against public corruption in Mexico has been one group of corrupt officials discrediting their equally corrupt predecessors, with little if any reduction in theft. Thus, for Mexico to gain the worlds trust in its pursuit of effective anti-corruption strategies, the country must weed out corruption from within, without slowing its economy in the process.



The widely reported, and even more widely speculated, crimes at the Tax Administration Service should have already provided leadership with the golden opportunity needed to highlight and root out public corruption by current Mexican officials.



Yet, Madero Larios remains in his position, as do his protectors. In March, he represented the Tax Administration Service at an event announcing the Joint Railway Dispatch that is expected to expedite trains crossing the U.S.-Mexico border between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras.



Opening up an investigation into the alleged and proven wrongdoings by public officials at the Tax Administration Service would shine light on major areas of public corruption. It would also send a signal to foreign governments and corporations that Mexico is finally getting tough on crime.



Duggan Flanakin is a policy analyst with four decades of experience with nongovernmental organizations, including projects with multiple Mexico-based NGOs. Home
KASSON, Minn. - With more people getting vaccinated and normalcy slowly returning, new releases are starting to hit cinemas again. Although it's been allowed to operate for a while, one Southeastern Minnesota movie theater is still trying to bounce back from the pandemic.

Kasson State Theatre reopened for film showings in late March after COVID-19 forced them to be temporarily suspended. Darin Steffl bought the cinema in March 2020 prior to pandemic shutdowns hitting Minnesota. Growing up, he would go there to watch movies and wanted to keep it open when the previous owners were selling it. He was only able to operate it for a few weeks before it had to close.

As restrictions are lifting and life slowly returns to normal, his theater is trying to make a comeback.

"It's a slow comeback in the movie industry," said Steffl. "They are waiting for good movies, people to get vaccinated, and to be comfortable going out inside businesses again."

Although he saw a good turnout for Godzilla vs Kong", crowds have been attending in single-digit numbers for movies.

"It's been a little slower since then with some smaller unknown movies that weren't very popular," Steffl tells KIMT News 3. "We're hoping this summer and into the fall, there are more new release movies coming out that will really help increase business at the theater."

He's predicting though a high turnout for upcoming films like Disney's "Cruella" and "Those Who Wish Me Dead."
MASON CITY, Iowa - A Mason City woman is facing charges for allegedly voiding orders from Burger King and taking the cash at the end of the night.

Stacy Anderson is facing charges of ongoing criminal conduct and second-degree theft.

Authorities said she was a manager at Burger King when she voided multiple orders after customers had paid with cash.

At the end of the night, she would take the money from the voided orders and put it in her pocket. She's accused of doing this from Feb. 1 to May 5 of this year.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Minnesota health officials are trying various strategies in an attempt to get people vaccinated and slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Volunteer physicians are working with a brewery in St. Paul on a pop-up event that rewards those who get shots with a free beer. Vaccinations are being offered in the downtown bus depot in Duluth. An Elk River clinic is offering shots to patients who are seeking help for other health care needs. Officials are hoping the creativity pays off.

The Star Tribune reports that since early April, the statewide average for first doses administered has fallen from about 40,000 per day to fewer than 14,000 at the end of last week.
AUSTIN, Minn.  Three guilty pleas have now been entered over a Mower County drug bust involving marijuana, methamphetamine, and over $29,000 in cash.

The Austin Police Department says it arrested Allison Mae Hoban, 23 of Austin, and Brian Torres, 20 of Blooming Prairie, after a search of their vehicle on August 14, 2020, found 454.10 grams of marijuana and .49 grams of cocaine.

The discovery of the drugs led to a search of a home in the 700 block of 2nd Avenue NE in Austin. Donald Brian Hoban, 55 of Austin, was arrested and police say a search of the home turned up 47.74 grams of meth, 7.78 pounds of marijuana, $29,454 in cash, THC vax and THC edibles, a marijuana plant in the back yard, and drug paraphernalia.

Donald Hoban has pleaded guilty to second-degree drug possession. His sentencing is set for July 1.

Allison Hoban entered a guilty plea to fifth-degree drug possession. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 27.

Brian Torres pleaded guilty to fifth-degree drug possession. His sentencing is set for June 3.
Moroccos battle against Islamic jihadi terrorism By Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah

Jihadist terrorist cells have found fertile ground in Morocco in which they grow and develop into not only a real threat to the stability of the kingdom but also as a significant provider of manpower to the various radical Islamic movements in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Their presence in Morocco is evident in the terrorist attacks carried out from time to time against major targets in the Sherifian [descendent of Mohammad] Kingdom. The May 16, 2003, terrorist attack in Casablanca, which killed more than 45 victims, represents the starting point of the confrontation between the kingdom and the Islamic terrorist organizations in Morocco, occurring two years after the brutal attack against the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, which symbolized the mounting Islamic radicalism throughout the globe. Facing this threat since then, Morocco has adopted a ruthless and merciless war against jihadist organizations while beefing up its defenses around strategic targets and institutions. However, in recent years, the counter-terrorism agencies in Morocco have scored gains and setbacks alternatively without succeeding in eradicating those jihadist organizations rooted deeply in Moroccan society. According to the former Moroccan Head of External Intelligence (DGED  Direction Generale des Etudes et de la Documentation), Mohammad Yassine el-Mansouri, the anti-terrorist agencies succeeded until October 2014 to foil 119 attacks with explosives, 109 assassination attempts, seven attempts to kidnap hostages, and 41 armed robberies. However, a more up-to-date figure on anti-terrorism activities carried out by the agencies in Morocco was provided by Mohamed Nifaoui, Head of Division at the Moroccan FBI agency  Bureau Central dInvestigation Judiciaire (BCIJ) during a symposium on terrorism in February 2021. According to Nifaoui, Morocco succeeded since 2003 to dismantle more than 2,000 terrorist cells, apprehending 3535 terrorists, and foiling more than 500 terrorist operations  thwarting on average 111 terrorist cells per year. Almost 10 per month! Still, by March 2021, some 982 assassinations were perpetrated in the Sahel region bordering Moroccos southern frontiers, representing almost 40% of the crimes carried out in the area, and attributed to terrorist networks. Out of the thousands who volunteered for jihadi organizations, 5,000 fighters originated from North African countries, with 1,654 Moroccans (women and children included). Around 270 came back from Iraq and Syria, and 137 cases were addressed by the BCIJ and prosecuted, out of which 115 were active in Syria-Iraq, 14 in Libya. In addition, eight other fighters were brought back to Morocco with the assistance of the United States in 2019. Among the 288 women who left the country, 99 have returned, while 82 out of 391 children returned to Morocco.

Ibrahim Benchekroun, a Moroccan who led the fighting in Syria, initially fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1999. He was captured and spent four years in Guantanamo. He was sent to Morocco, where he was sentenced to six years. When released, he traveled to Latakia, Syria, and led the Moroccan battalion. According to the former Moroccan Head of External Intelligence, some of the Moroccan militants held senior positions in the Islamic State: some of them were ministers  Emirs (Justice, Finance, Interior), as well as a military Emir (military chief), and even the governor of a geographical region (the Turkman Mountain). However, it seems that the bulk of the Moroccan jihadists were rank and file members in the Islamic State. Seventy-five percent of them were Inghimasiyyine, an Islamic State terminology for an undercover operative responsible for protecting convoys and serving in the second wave of an attack when an offensive, targeted attack is carried out. During the first days of the civil war in Syria, the North Africans were organized in brigades, one of which was named Harakat Sham al-Islam and headed by a Moroccan, Ibrahim Benchekroun, alias Abu Ahmad al-Maghribi. Some even nicknamed the brigade as the Liwa al-Faransiyoun (the French Brigade) since the combatants communicated among themselves in French; some of its members were French nationals, primarily of North African origins, who were integrated into the North African French-speaking brigade. The ill-fated brigade active in the Latakia region was almost annihilated by the Syrian army loyal to Bashar Assad. The remaining members were scattered in different units subsequently created by the Islamic State. Battle-Tested Jihadists from Morocco Morocco considers all those returnees to have joined terrorist organizations and, as such, are potential and suspected terrorists. The Moroccan legal provisions apply to both women and men. If an arrest warrant is issued because of implied terrorist activities, the suspect is immediately arrested upon entry to Morocco and brought to the relevant public prosecution, in this case, the Rabat Court of Appeal. Since the military defeat of IS in the battle of Mosul, Iraq, in 2017, Moroccan jihadists have chosen to concentrate their efforts and activities in the Sahel belt, a greenhouse for the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and other Afro-Islamic jihadist organizations. The region is an area of utmost importance for Morocco, which has increased its efforts and cooperation with the African states to its south and southeast as an extension of its national security and strategic economic partnership. According to the new director of the BCIJ, Cherkaoui Habboub, more than 100 members of the POLISARIO (fighting Morocco on the issue of the Western Sahara annexed to the kingdom in 1976) are part of al-Qaeda, and their camps are situated in Tindouf (on the Algerian-Moroccan southern border). These are centers for recruitment and training, which enjoy Algerias sponsorship as it refuses to cooperate with Morocco on jihadi terrorism. Islamic networks are still busy in Morocco recruiting jihadists, mainly in the Casablanca suburbs and in the northern city of Ceuta. Those networks also concentrate on Spanish residents of the Moroccan expat community in Spain. Since 2013, the anti-terrorist agencies in Spain, in cooperation with their Moroccan counterparts, have dismantled more than 40 terrorist cells and incarcerated around 150 jihadists. More than 83% of the jihadists are men, and their average age is 32 compared to 23 for the women; two-thirds of the men are married, having graduated from high school with approximate knowledge of Islam! In its efforts to combat terrorism, Morocco has struck partnerships with other leading powers in the fight against terror. Morocco has signed 80 conventions dealing with security and judicial cooperation relating to terrorism. A special relationship has developed with the United States with rumors that the United States is interested in establishing a military base in the Sahara. This relation is characterized by the Moroccans as strategic since it is intended to provide Morocco with essential and pre-emptive intelligence concerning the activities of the Jihadist and other terrorist organizations posing a threat to the kingdom. Since 2016, Morocco is part of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), the multi-national force initiated by the United States and dedicated to combating jihadists in the Sahel belt and Africa. Morocco Cooperation with U.S. and European Armed Forces Morocco has also developed its cooperation with France, Spain, and Portugal in the framework of G4 security. Belgium has also been approached in this matter. Moreover, Morocco has re-organized its anti-terrorist agencies and deepened the cooperation between the different security and legal organizations, a situation that allows the Moroccan apparatus (agencies related to the ministry of interior, police, gendarmerie, DGST  and others) to conduct precise and coordinated operations against terrorist targets with the full cooperation of the Rapid Intervention Group (Groupe dIntervention Rapide  GIR). The BCIJ, the local Moroccan FBI, has his headquarters in Sale, next to the Capital Rabat, located in the heart of the triangle of death, as it is nicknamed by the local inhabitants. The BCIJ offices are behind the walls of the Zaki prison and a few steps from Sales anti-terrorism court. The BCIJ represents in fact the legal arm of the Direction Generale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST), the internal security agency. Suspects arrested and interrogated are sent to the Attorney General responsible for the prosecution, whose offices are just opposite the ones of the BCIJ. The BCIJ has even been given permission to investigate terrorist acts committed outside the Moroccan borders. In parallel, the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces (FAR), together with the ministry of interior, have deployed a security network called Hazr ( Arabic for vigilance) meant to beef up the border posts in the airports and the train stations. The kingdom has also revised its laws concerning terrorist activities to include even penalizing the intent of individuals to join terrorist cells and fighters outside Moroccos borders. In summary, Morocco has been plagued for almost two decades with changing patterns of jihadi-terrorism. After having suffered severe blows at the beginning of the century, Morocco has put in place a system that has succeeded in foiling numerous terrorist activities. This, of course, demands constant effort, efficient organization, and ingenuity. No doubt that jihadi-terrorism in Morocco is linked with the wider context of Islamic radicalism prevalent nowadays and is specifically influenced by the ongoing jihadi activities in the Sahel area and Europe. Morocco has built an amazingly effective response to that terrorism. Still, it has not succeeded in eradicating the causes that are behind the existence of those extremist movements. Like other countries in the area, Morocco suffers from a political virus emerging from failed states like Libya and unstable regimes in the Sahel belt. The future of those jihadist organizations relies on the concerted efforts of all concerned to fight this phenomenon at its very roots. Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a special analyst for the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence. Home
Each hospital in Boone County will provide a daily report of either green status, yellow status or red status.
COLUMBIA- The Columbia Public School Board of Education will discuss the possible changes in attendance areas at Monday night's meeting.

According to CPS spokesperson Michelle Baumstark, the district works hand and hand with Cooperative Strategies, a company that specializes in redistricting.

Right now, the focus is on Parkade Elementary. The vote has been postponed two times due to the pandemic.

"Tonights vote is only about Phase 1  provided relief for Parkade Elementary School which is overcapacity. The change to Parkades attendance area would go into effect this coming school year," Baumstark said. "The overcapacity that you're seeing at Parkade Elementary School affects between 80 and 100 families and that particular change will go into effect for this fall."

The board will also listen to recommendations and look at guiding principles for all other attendance areas. There are four possible scenarios, and each brings its own changes to the current zoning.

"The board is continuing to gather feedback from the community on the rest of the possible attendance area changes. It wont vote until June [9] regarding those changes, which also wont go into effect until the '22-23 school year," Baumstark said.

Many factors and principles go into making this decision according to the CPS website, including:

The anticipation of future growth of neighborhoods,

Accessibility for families is important (volunteering and attending school functions are easier when the school is near),

Consider time students spend on a bus and the distance traveled to and from school,

Consider attendance areas boundary lines that follow natural/manmade boundaries,

Consider a transfer policy that allows 8th and 12th graders to remain at their previous school and policies that allow siblings to remain.

One CPS parent voiced feedback to the district regarding the possible rezoning.

"I'm really hopeful that this change won't affect us. It makes a lot of sense for our neighborhood to stay at Fairview. Our homes are within walking and biking distance to Fairview," Shannon Young said.

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Young wants to prioritize this for her daughter.

"Walking and biking is a priority for our neighborhood. I'm hopeful that they won't come to that and that they will see that it makes sense for us to stay at Fairview," Young said.

According to Baumstark, the district tries their best to be cognizant of not impacting the same neighborhood multiple times, but the community is constantly growing.

"We really do try to be cognizant of not impacting the same neighborhoods over and over again. The district has been very mindful and thoughtful of that and and while it is difficult, you're experiencing significant growth in our community and and have been for over a decade now," Baumstark said.

The school board will also discuss the potential recordings in IEP (Individualized Education Programs) classrooms. The district calls it the KKB policy and it currently prohibits audio or visual recordings on district property, unless authorized.

IEP meetings happen at least once annually for parents, teachers, district faculty and staff, and specialists. Missouri is the only one-party consent state where school districts have banned parents and guardians, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.

According to Baumstark, no other schools in Missouri currently allow this, and it comes down to policy.

"The Board of Education would determine if they would like to broaden what their policy currently allows to allow families to do recordings or if they would like to continue with how it is," Baumstark said.

Some families currently if the parent or guardian has a disability can be allowed to record those meetings if they request to do so, Baumstark said.

House Bill 228 passed unanimously in March, which would allow parent to record IEP and 504 meetings and bans districts from prohibiting those recordings.

CPS parents were at the State Capitol Wednesday, lobbying for the bill to pass in the Senate.

HAPPENING RIGHT NOW: Columbia Public Schools parents are advocating for the passage of a senate bill that would allow recordings of IEP meetings in schools. Right now, parents have to ask permission to record meetings with teachers regarding their kids. @KOMUnews pic.twitter.com/JssC2SQC5l  Isabella Ledonne (@IsabellaLedonne) May 10, 2021

KOMU 8 will stream the meeting in the above media player, at 6:30 p.m.
MDC will only allow one harvest for each hunter during the hunting season this October, or about 40 bears.
Third parties in Canada  updated to 2021 (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski

Interestingly enough, some of the most significant third parties have existed in Quebec. A major Quebec-nationalist (but also Catholic-traditionalist) party that flourished on the provincial level in Quebec before 1960 was the Union Nationale. The party and the province was led for decades by Maurice Duplessis  a figure somewhat similar to U.S. strongman Huey Long  who was called Le Chef. Duplessis had (in 1948) given Quebec its distinctive, traditional-looking flag  the blue cross with the Bourbon lilies. Duplessis support for the Diefenbaker Conservatives in the 1958 federal election led to Diefenbaker winning one of the largest majorities in Canadian history  but Diefenbaker was simply unable to make the support from Quebec more permanent. There was also the death of a promising young leader of the Union Nationale in a car-accident  who could have perhaps eventually become Canadas first French-Canadian conservative Prime Minister. The Union Nationale largely disintegrated after his death, and the triumphant Quebec Liberals subsequently enacted the so-called Quiet Revolution  a widespread secularization of Quebec life. The Ralliement creditiste, which existed in various embodiments at the federal and provincial levels in Quebec, was sometimes together with, and sometimes apart from, the Social Credit Party of Canada. The Ralliements main leader was Real Caouette. In the 1962 federal election, the Ralliement won 26 seats in Quebec, while the Social Credit Party won only four seats in English-speaking Canada. The unwillingness of the English-Canadian leadership of the Social Credit Party to allow Real Caouette to lead the whole party, resulted in a split in 1963. Although some years later, Real Caouette became the leader of the whole party, by that time it had lost all of its federal seats in English-speaking Canada. There have been as well the separatists (or sovereigntists) in Quebec -- called the Parti Quebecois (PQ) in the province, and the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) in the federal Parliament. The PQ has frequently formed the government of Quebec  and has been able to shepherd through two referendums on sovereignty, in 1980 (strictly-speaking, a referendum on sovereignty-association) and in 1995. The 1995 referendum came very close to success. The Bloc Quebecois had largely won most of the Quebec vote (obviously, they ran candidates only in Quebec) in the federal elections of 1993 to 2008. However, in the 2011 federal election, they were routed by the NDP  winning only 4 seats. The Quebec triumph of the NDP in the 2011 federal election (winning 59 of 75 seats)  especially in regard to the victories of some very young and inexperienced candidates  is difficult to adequately explain. In the 2015 federal election in the province of Quebec, NDP support was greatly reduced, and the Bloc Quebecois was able to win 10 seats. However, in the 2019 federal election, the Bloc Quebecois enjoyed a resurgence, winning 32 seats. In recent years, there was also a somewhat more conservative provincial party in the province of Quebec called the Action democratique du Quebec (ADQ) (although it virtually collapsed in the 2008 Quebec provincial election)  which had tended to support the Conservatives federally. There has now arisen a centre/centre-right third party in Quebec, the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) into which the ADQ has folded itself. In the October 1, 2018 provincial election, the CAQ was able to win a strong majority of 74 of 125 seats, while the Liberals were reduced to 32 seats, and the very left-wing Quebec solidaire won 10 seats, ahead of the Parti Quebecois, which was reduced to 9 seats. This was a truly historic election. The Conservatives/Progressive Conservatives had disappeared from provincial politics in Quebec many decades ago. At the federal level, the support of Quebec voters for the Conservatives/Progressive Conservatives was fitful and sporadic. In the enormously important federal elections from 1963 to 1980, the Progressive Conservatives were usually barely able to win one or two seats in Quebec. The Liberal majority in the federal Parliament, especially under Trudeau, was heavily based on holding nearly every seat from Quebec. One of Brian Mulroneys great successes was the huge support the Progressive Conservatives received from Quebec voters in the 1984 and 1988 federal elections. It was a success, however, that did not last into the 1993 federal election. There is also now a very left-wing party in Quebec, called Quebec solidaire, which holds ten seats in the Quebec legislature. Between 1989-1994, the Equality Party held four seats in the Quebec legislature. They were representatives of the provinces Anglophones (i.e., the English-speaking minority, which is mostly centered in West Montreal and the so-called Eastern Townships (which are actually in the western part of the province of Quebec). The latter term is derived from the fact that these were the eastern-most areas of British-demarcated administrative units (townships). The Equality Party also drew support from the so-called Allophones  the minorities in Quebec whose first language is neither English nor French. One of the most enduring joke-parties in Canada, the Rhinoceros Party, was centered largely in Quebec. In earlier decades, it was snidely said of the NDP and its prospects in Quebec, that some of its candidates in Quebec ridings in federal elections, actually got fewer votes than the Rhinos. (And the profile of the earlier CCF in Quebec had actually been even lower.) The Rhinoceros Party has never elected a member of a legislature. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
China launches 300 new rural tourist routes

Xinhua) 13:34, May 10, 2021

A woman walks among peach blossoms in Ridang Village of Baisong Town in Derong County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2021. Peach blossoms are in full bloom in Derong County. In recent years, the local government has taken advantage of the natural resources to develop rural tourism and help increase villagers' income. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China has recently launched a total of 300 rural tour routes, allowing tourists to take a closer look at the country's poverty battle achievements and aid rural vitalization, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The new routes are among China's efforts to enrich rural tourism services and prepare for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China.

Featuring a combination of revolutionary history and lush ecological environments, the routes will provide a glimpse into China's poverty eradication and rural vitalization achievements.

A tour route in Xiadang Township of Ningde City, east China's Fujian Province, will take visitors through the remote hilly area that now welcomes an annual total of 200,000 tourists.

The first quarter of 2021 saw China's rural tourist sites receive a total of 984 million visitors, up by 5.2 percent compared with the same period in 2019, according to estimations from a rural tourism monitoring center.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Researchers from the University of Exeter found three factors that were particularly important in explaining who would support lifting restrictions for the vaccinated.

People in France, Germany, and Sweden split over the lifting of restrictions for vaccinated citizens, study shows

Coronavirus restrictions should be lifted for those vaccinated, 30 to 40 per cent of people in France, Germany and Sweden have said.

A recent survey shows people in European nations are split on the next steps. In Germany, around 38 percent would support lifting restrictions for the vaccinated, around 36 percent would oppose, and another 26 percent are uncertain. The research team found relatively similar results in all three nations.

Researchers from the University of Exeter found three factors that were particularly important in explaining who would support lifting restrictions for the vaccinated. Those who are already vaccinated were more supportive; vaccine hesitancy is associated with opposition to lifting restrictions for the vaccinated and people's general tolerance of risk was also associated with their opinions on allowing more freedoms for the vaccinated. Those who are more risk averse are more likely to oppose lifting restrictions for the vaccinated.

Dr Sabrina Stockli said: Support for the lifting of restrictions is likely to grow as the share of vaccinated individuals increases.

Dr Florian Stoeckel said: What is striking in our data is that we do not see a large effect for political attachment in our analysis after accounting for vaccine status, vaccine beliefs, and general risk orientation. While any issue can become politicized, at this point in time divisions in public opinion do not occur along partisan lines. Beliefs about vaccines appear to be a key dividing point. These kinds of policies are seen critically by those who are vaccine hesitant, which makes sense as these individuals will have to do something that concerns them (getting vaccinated) in order to experience greater freedoms that other people would get to enjoy in the near term.

The online survey was conducted in three countries in April 2021. There were 1,759 respondents in Germany, 1,753 in France, and 1,756 in Sweden. Respondents were recruited from an online survey panel maintained by Dynata. The respondents reflect the population with regard to the following characteristics: age, gender, education, and regional origin. The study was funded by the European Research Council.

The research team was Joseph Phillips, Jason Reifler, Anna Katharina Spalti, Sabrina Stockli, and Florian Stoeckel from the University of Exeter, Benjamin Lyons from the University of Utah, Vittorio Merola from SUNY Stony Brook, and Paula Szewach from the University of Essex.
The Korle Bu Police, Ghana are investigating a case involving the contamination of a medical doctors drinking water with HIV-infected blood by another colleague.

The act is suspected to have been carried out by another doctor following a disagreement between the two.

Both doctors (names withheld) work at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

Checks by Graphic Online at the Korle Bu District Police Command indicated that at about 11:30 a.m. on May 6, 2021, a medical doctor, accompanied by the lawyer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Mr Kwame Gyamfi, filed a complaint at the charge office of the police station regarding an attempt to poison the doctors drinking water.

The medical doctor told the police that he was on a 24-hour duty with six other doctors at the Labour Ward One of the hospital.

At the end of the 24-hour shift, the medical doctor allegedly returned to his consulting room and detected that his drinking water which he kept in a water bottle in the room was contaminated.

Suspicion

The doctor suspected that his water had been contaminated after he found a reddish substance which appeared like blood in the water.

Based on the doctors suspicion, the water in the bottle was clinically tested and it was found that the substance was blood.

HIV test

When the blood was later tested, it came out positive for HIV.

The medical doctor told the police that he suspected one of his colleagues and gave his name to the police.

He claimed that the two of them had some disagreement while they were on duty at the labour ward.

When the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mrs Effia Tenge, was contacted by Graphic Online, she confirmed that the Korle Bu Police had received such information and that it was under investigation.
ROME, MAY 10 - A 43-year-old teacher was given a suspended one-year jail term at the end of a fast-track trial on Monday for culpable homicide in relation to the case of a five-year-old boy who fell to his death down a stairwell at Milan's Pirelli school in October 2019. The court also accepted a plea bargain of a two-year term for a female janitor, who failed to do her job of monitoring the area where the fatal accident occurred after the child asked to leave class to go to the toilet. Another teacher, who opted for an ordinary process rather than a fast-track one, was sent to trial over the death. Both teachers had allowed the child to leave class. (ANSA).
GENOA, MAY 10 - Three people were cited Monday on suspicion of attacking a drunk African migrant with an iron pipe and a stick in Ventimiglia close to Italy's border with France on Sunday afternoon, local sources said Monday. The three were cited for grievous bodily harm using blunt objects, police said. They are all resident in Ventimiglia, police said. One of them has a criminal record. Police are weighing the position of a fourth person who appears in the video at the end of the attack, judicial sources said. The migrant, who has not been named, was allegedly attacked outside a supermarket after he argued with a couple inside it. The man, who was drunk, allegedly started bothering the couple with pleas for money and a row ensued. (ANSA).
Actresses Lee Bo-young, left, and Kim Seo-hyung pose for pictures during the media conference for tvN's new series "Mine," Friday. Courtesy of tvN



By Lee Gyu-lee



TvN's new series "Mine" took off to a positive start, Saturday, scoring the network's sixth-highest viewership rating for a series premiere.



The series' first episode saw a 6.6 percent rating nationwide and a 7.9 percent in the Seoul metropolitan area.



Directed by Lee Na-jeong, whose works include KBS's "Fight for My Way" and Netflix's "Love Alarm," the drama revolves around two daughters-in-law  Seo-hyun (Kim Seo-hyung) and Hee-soo (Lee Bo-young)  of a high-profile conglomerate owner family. Amid the lying and cheating behind the family's front of an affluent lifestyle, the two battle against prejudice to find their own identities.



The series is penned by writer Baek Mi-kyung, who is known for the TV series "Strong Girl Bong-soon" and "The Lady in Dignity."



Kim who plays the wife of the family's first son said the series resonated with her from the start. "I came across Mine at the time when I personally had thoughts about what it means to find my own way in life," she said during the online media conference of the series, Friday.



"I decided to take part because I was curious about how the director and writer would draw my character's journey to self-realization."



Mentioning her previous mega-hit series "SKY Castle," which also followed the story of privileged families, she compared her roles in the two series. "In the previous series, I was a tutor of wealthy privileged students. So with this role, I was put in this environment as part of those families, which felt really awkward at first," she said. "I tried to make the right look that fits with and gets me into the role."





Scenes from the series / Courtesy of tvN
VENEZIA, MAY 10 - A 38-year-old Italian parachuting instructor died and a 25-year-old American soldier was seriously hurt after an accident in which their parachutes became twisted a few metres from the ground at Thiene airport near Vicenza on Sunday. The victim was named as Emiliano Basile, originally from Argentina and resident at Schio near Vicenza. The injured soldier was named as Aaron Waller, who is posted to the Ederle barracks at the US air base in Vicenza. The accident happened about 20-30 metres from the ground when Waller's parachute veered into Basile's and the two got entangled, plunging the pair to the ground. The soldier suffered multiple injuries and compound fractures and was rushed to hospital in serious condition. (ANSA).
ROME, MAY 10 - Two youths were arrested Monday for allegedly beating a man so severely that he suffered a broken skull and a brain haemorrhage at Sezze near Latina south of Rome on March 30, police said. The pair are a 17-year-old boy from Priverno and a 20-year-old man from Sezze. The boy was taken to a youth detention centre and the man to a prison. The boy allegedly slapped the victim, a Romanian citizen, and the man, an amateur boxer, punched him in the jaw so hard he suffered a fracture skull and a brain haemorrhage when he hit the ground. Police said the pair attacked the man for kicks. They allegedly saw him as an easy target because he was drunk, police said. Police complained that no one had been willing to come forward and testify against the youths even though the attack, in the historic centre of the town, had many witnesses. But they said they were now sure they had the right suspects. The pair have been charged with attempted murder. (ANSA).
ROME, MAY 10 - Health Undersecretary Pierpaolo Sileri said Monday that it should be possible to remove the obligation for people to wear facemasks outdoors once 30 million people, approximately half of the Italian population, are vaccinated for COVID-19. "I agree with the hypothesis (of removing the obligation to wear facemasks outdoors) when 30 million people are vaccinated with at least one dose of a vaccine," Sileri said. "I think it is sensible to put the facemask in your pocket in the open air where there are no crowds of people and to put it back on your face when there are gatherings and a risk". He added that he as in favour of allowing Italy's shopping malls to reopen at weekends. "Having protected the most vulnerable parts of the population with vaccinations, it is clear that the shopping centres should resume activity, with rules that must be respected," he said. (ANSA).
President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



Experts advise gov't to drop 'blind optimism'



By Lee Min-hyung



President Moon Jae-in vowed Monday that he will try his best to alleviate virus-induced economic inequality during his remaining year in office.



"We will do everything possible to recover jobs and narrow the gap and inequalities caused by COVID-19," he said in a nationally televised press conference. "We will ensure that rapid economic recovery will lead to the restoration of livelihoods."



President Moon also said the economy is on a solid track towards recovery and pledged to achieve a stronger post-coronavirus rebound. The South Korean leader targeted 4 percent economic growth this year.



"I will mobilize all government capabilities to boost the vitality of the local private sector as well as achieve a growth rate of over 4 percent for the first time in 11 years," Moon said. The President added that his economic team is set to lead the economic recovery through "active" and "expansionary fiscal policies."



The domestic economy saw a 1 percent contraction in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But starting this year, the economy is showing signs of bouncing back thanks to growing exports in semiconductors and other components, in which the country excels. First-quarter GDP growth reached 1.6 percent from a quarter earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.



Regarding South Korea's role in the semiconductor industry, Moon also stressed that he will strengthen Korea's leadership in the chip industry, as the continued global shortage of chips sees a realignment of the global supply chain. South Korea is home to the world's two largest memory chip manufacturers, Samsung and SK. Chips are rising as "strategic items" due to the shortage. Moon is set to discuss issues related to the global semiconductor shortage during his scheduled summit with U.S. President Joe Biden later this month in Washington.



Moon also stated that the government will continue to support companies' investment growth proactively.



"We will ensure that aggressive expansionary fiscal spending spearheads the economic recovery. We will prepare bold measures to boost consumption and domestic demand in step with how our epidemic prevention and control situation stabilizes," he said. "We will actively support preemptive corporate investments and, in particular, will do everything possible to obtain the best export figures ever."






COVID variant cases have risen in Florida after spring break, with more than 10,000 variant cases reported.

Variant cases from three strains such as the B.1.1.7, the P.1, and the B. 1.3.5.1. have accounted for a total of 753 variant cases on March 14, according to the variant infection data.

Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health does not disclose variant cases on its public dashboard, according to an ABC News Go report.

On April 15, cases have increased to 5,177 cases from five types of different variants. This then jumped to 9,248 on April 27.

READ MORE: Florida Woman Who Coughed On a Cancer Patient Gets 30-Day Jail Time

COVID Variants in Florida

Scientists in Florida said they are observing closely whether the P.1.1 COVID variant sticks around and how infectious it becomes.

"We have just two cases in Florida that have the extra mutation, and what that means remains to be seen," Marco Salemi of the University of Florida's Emerging Pathogens Institute, was quoted in a South Florida Sun-Sentinel report.

Salemi added that if cases increase to 500, it will be concerning.

He also noted that they do not know if the new mutations are going to make current variants more or less aggressive.

Dr. Michael Teng, a virologist at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said that it is hard to come up with an explanation for why Florida is the leading state for variants.

Teng contributed the surge to Florida's large international airports, as well as high volume of visitors from Latin American and European countries.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Olayemi Osiyemi said that among the COVID variants that they worry about is the Brazilian strain and the Indian strain.

Palm Beach County is noting the fourth highest number of variant cases with more than 600 reported.

In addition, it was observed that cases in the county were spiking around 82 percent among people five to 54-years-old, according to a CBS 12 News report.

David Scott, lead researcher at the Palm Beach Research Center, said that his main question is whether the unfortunate deaths of patients to variants and whether or not they had taken and received the vaccine.

COVID Vaccines

COVID vaccines are still under scrutiny about how effective they are against varinats.

Chinese-developed, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca have shown promising effectiveness in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Moderna has earlier announced its development on its booster shot for the COVID vaccine, with a promising immune response against the South African and Brazilian variants.

Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, noted that nothing is 100 percent in this world.

Gronvall furthered that it is possible more variants might emerge that are not covered by the vaccine, which is why it is important that these cases are investigated.

Jacques Ravel, associate director for genomics at the University of Maryland Institute for Genome Sciences, echoed Gronvall's sentiments.

Ravel said that they are not 100 percent sure that even if people are vaccinated, they actually had mounted an immune response, according to a Voice of America News report.

READ NEXT: 2 Spring Breakers Arrested for Drugging, Raping a Woman Who Later Died

WATCH: Florida Surpasses 2 Million Covid Cases -from NBC Nightly News




Seven were dead after a man fired shots at and then killed himself at a birthday party in Colorado Springs. Friends, family, and children were present at the gathering, New York Daily News reported.

The shooting became one of the worst mass shootings in the history of Colorado state, following an incident where a gunman also opened fire inside a King Soopers supermarket, that killed about 10 people including a police officer and grocery workers in the scene.

READ NEXT: Colorado Shooting Leaves 10 Dead, Including a Police Officer

Victims of the Colorado Springs Shooting

KKTV reported that the recent shooting in Colorado Springs happened inside the Canterbury Manufactured Home Community on the east side of the city. Authorities responded at the scene around 12:18 a.m., May 9, following a report of the incident in the 2800 block of Preakness Way.

Upon the arrival of the law enforcement officers, six adult deceased victims were discovered, as well as a man with serious injuries, Colorado Springs Police reported. The injured man was transported to a local hospital. However, he died due to the injuries he sustained. Meanwhile, the children that were present at the birthday party were unharmed and placed with their relatives.

The names of the victims and the suspect were not yet released by the authorities since an official identification and cause of death are still pending.

"Today we find ourselves mourning the loss of lives and praying solemnly for those who were injured and those who lost family members," said Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers labeling the incident as a "senseless act of violence on Sunday morning." Suthers also sought the public's patience and the media's sensitivity while the authorities complete a "thorough" investigation.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski noted that there is nothing that can be done to repair "what was lost" or replace those who died, when events like the shooting, happens. Niski also added that their department will do everything to provide answers to the families of the victims.

Suspect on Colorado Springs Shooting

Colorado Springs Police noted that the suspect behind the heinous crime is the boyfriend of one of the victims. The suspect was reported to have driven to the residence where the birthday party was held, walked inside the party, and began shooting people. The suspect was also reported to take his own life after shooting people in the event.

A resident of the neighborhood shared that she was awakened by the sound of the gunshots in the middle of the night. The resident also noted that she heard crying outside her home, as two children were placed at the back of the patrol car.

The authorities are still finding out why the suspect started shooting the partygoers in the event. However, the Colorado Springs Police believed that the suspect and the victims in the birthday party know each other.

READ MORE: 17-Year-Old Suspect Arrested for Mass Shooting That Killed 5 People, Including Pregnant Woman

WATCH: Multiple victims dead, shooting at mobile home community - from NewsChannel 13
Democratic officials from southern border states were pointing the blame to U.S. President Joe Biden for failing to address the migrant surge, causing the border crisis.

Both Democratic senators from Arizona have supported Republican Gov. Doug Ducey's decision to deploy National Guard soldiers.

Ducey earlier released 500 members of the National Guard for security purposes at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Sen. Krysten Sinema said that the state's resources are not enough to handle the rising number of people illegally crossing in the Tucson and Yuma regions of the state, according to a Washington Examiner report.

Sinema said that it is clear that not enough is being done.

Sinema said that Arizona bears a huge part of the crisis due to the federal government's failure to respond to the issues over the last three decades.

READ MORE: Mexico Suggests U.S. Citizenship For Planting Trees

Border Crisis

Sinema has introduced a bill with Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn to address the situation at the border.

The bill would seek the Biden administration to create regional processing centers along the border.

This is part of their effort to ensure that migrants are treated humanely while protecting border town from the strain on resources, according to a Fox 10 Phoenix report.

Meanwhile, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway disregard that there is a crisis at the border.

Hathaway said in late April that there is no migrant crisis at the border, but there is a significant increase in the number going on.

Meanwhile, Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly wanted to reimburse the cost of deploying the National Guard, which is at $25 million.

Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was reported to have promised to address the issues around the Arizona border communities, according to Sinema.

Biden on Thursday told reporters that Congress should take action on immigration issues.

In Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Laredo, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar said that he is upset with how the Biden administration is portraying the border crisis.

In March, a congresswoman who visited the Donna border facility said that it was housing way over its 250-person capacity.

The congressman noted that there were 5,700 people inside the facility.

Cuellar noted that all they are doing is transferring one kid from one tent to another.

Cuellar was known to be supportive of Biden. However, he said that the administration is not addressing the matter at the border.

Meanwhile, Biden blamed the Trump administration for the ongoing problems at the U.S.-Mexico border.

He noted the failure to cooperate and share important information during the presidential transition period, according to an NBC News report.

Biden said the two departments did not give them access to migration and Defense Department.

Biden had also declined to call the migrant increase at the border a crisis.

The president has recently raised the refugee cap from 15,000 to 62,500 after criticisms from progressives and refugee agencies.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a "historically low" 15,000 refugee cap during his presidency.

ALSO READ: Kamala Harris Purposely Avoiding a Visit to U.S.-Mexico Border, Border Patrol Union Chief Says

WATCH: McConnell Blasts Biden Administration for Blaming Border Crisis on Trump - from Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
An Oregon pastor declined to close his church following a COVID outbreak that occurred in the said congregation. The decision of senior pastor Scott Erickson was announced during his Mother's Day sermon, ABC News reported.

READ NEXT: Pregnant Mom Escorted Out of Texas Church by Cops for Not Wearing Mask

Oregon Pastor Refuses to Close Church following COVID Outbreak

Pastor Erickson announced his decision to keep the doors of his church open to those who attended the service and those who are watching the church's live stream online broadcast. Erickson noted that "voices" in their community and region want to close the place of worship.

"Not us, not here, not now. That's not what we're doing," said Erickson in his sermon. Erickson also argued that his decision is anchored on his opinion and is not an "act of defiance."

Erickson argued that they remain "cautious at peoples Church arguing that "they continue to provide a safe and anointed environment" for people who want to experience God's presence. The Oregon pastor also noted that the church is the only hope for their community, region, and state. The Sunday sermon of the pastor marked his return to in-person service after he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Associated Press reported that Erickson, his wife, and 72 others in the congregation tested positive for COVID-19. The COVID outbreak in the church prompted an investigation on April 6. The probe was announced by the Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, an assistant pastor from the People's church announced that the Oregon pastor and his wife contracted the notorious virus. The assistant pastor also announced that the pastor developed pneumonia in his left lung.

"First time in 48 years of ministry that I had to call in sick," said Erickson adding that it was strange for him to miss three Sunday worships in a row. The pastor did not also further on the details of the COVID-19 that he and his wife endured.

Erickson's disagreement in the church's closure comes as the Oregon Health Authority reported 833 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. The department also announced at least seven more deaths in the state that is related to COVID-19 over the past seven days.

Oregon Pastor vs. Oregon State

The church of the Oregon pastor is one of the ten churches in the state that filed a lawsuit to issue a temporary restraining order against the "Stay Home, Save Lives" order of Governor Kate Brown last year, Salem Reporter reported. The outlet furthered that at that time, the governor's order limited the capacity of gatherings, including religious services, to 25 people.

Church spokesman Brent Kintz told Associated Press in an email that they are concerned about the COVID-19 surge in the state, adding that the "state-wide increase" affected their region and church family.

The current guidelines of Oregon's state allow indoor church services. Wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces are needed to be done.

However, Salem Reporter noted that the April services of the church where the Oregon pastor serves showed attendees and church personnel not wearing masks. Because of this, the church was one of the state's largest newly reported COVID outbreaks.

READ MORE: Court Finds Mexican Priest Guilty Of Killing a Church Deacon

WATCH: Coronavirus: The Local Church's Response to COVID-19 - from Life.Church
Brazil Supreme Court wants to review its last year's ruling banning police raids into Rio de Janeiro favelas after the recent police raid, which took the lives of 25 people.

Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurelio Mello said that the May 6 police raid should be investigated. However, he did not say if it violated the earlier ruling, according to an Associated Press News report.

He added that the decision came from the assumption that the ruling would be temporary. Three other justices from the court backed Mello on his view that the ruling should be reviewed.

READ MORE: In Brazil, Police Shoot Civilians Without Restraints, Killed 1,814 in 2019 Alone

Recent Police Raid

At least 25 people were reported to have been killed during a police raid that then led to a shootout in Rio de Janeiro.

One police officer was killed during the shootout, who was Inspector Andre Leonardo de Mello Frias.

Police decided to launch the operation after they receive tips and reports that drug traffickers were trying to recruit children to join their criminal organization, according to a BBC News report.

Police Chief Ronaldo Oliviera said that the raid reported the largest number of deaths in a police operation in Rio de Janeiro.

Local reports showed some of the suspects were trying to escape from the police through rooftops of the favelas.

Meanwhile, residents caught in the police raid said that some suspects who wanted to surrender were killed.

Residents also claimed that police had entered homes without a warrant, according to another BBC News report.

This had prompted a reaction from the United Nations human rights office due to allegations of abuse and extrajudicial executions.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, was calling for the prosecutor to conduct a separate and thorough investigation into the case based on international standards.

Colville noted that the use of force should only be used as a last option, according to an NPR report.

However, police denied the allegations, noting that the troops acted in self-defense.

Court Ruling on Police Operations

Last year, the Supreme Court had prohibited all kinds of police raids in Rio de Janeiro's favelas during the pandemic.

This was part of their efforts to alleviate the suffering of the poor, particularly those who were disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic.

Andre Dread, a member of activist group Frente CDD, said that the court ruling had allowed them to distribute help to those in need who do not receive much of the aid.

Dread added this was particularly due to police operations done frequently done around the area, according to a Reuters report.

In the court ruling, police were mandated not to enter favelas in Rio except in "absolutely exceptional cases" until the end of the pandemic.

The law enforcement officials acknowledge that the ban led to a decline in killings by police.

However, they also expressed concerns that the lack of presence of officers in favelas had allowed drug-trafficking gangs to gather their strength during the pandemic.

One of the most violent states in Brazil is Rio de Janeiro due to being under the control of criminal groups.

READ NEXT: President Bolsonaro Sends National Troops to Control Nationwide Police Strikes

WATCH: Brazil: At Least 25 dead in police raid in Rio de Janeiro | Shootout | World News | English News - from WION






After 50 years, a California woman met her biological mother, who turned out to be a TV actress. Identified as Lisa Wright, the woman discovered that her biological mother was in her favorite sitcom she used to watch when she was a child, New York Post reported.

Today reported that Wright knew that she was adopted. However, she never searched for her biological mother, who gave birth to her at 18 years old. She also never knew her biological relatives.

READ NEXT: Tawny Kitaen, 80s Music Video Star, Says Goodbye at 59

California Woman is a Long-Lost Daughter of a TV Actress

Wright noted that her adoptive parents always told her that her biological mother loves her. Wright furthered that her adoptive parents also explained that her biological mother was young and unable to take care of her when she was born.

Wright's search for her biological mother was only prompted when she was 54 years old, as her son urged her to take a DNA test. The test will reveal the woman's genetic heritage. After the test, Wright matched with her uncle, whom she eventually had a conversation with. The uncle revealed that her mother is TV actress Lynne Moody, adding that their whole family was looking for her.

The California woman expressed that the conversation with her mother was the "most indescribable feeling."

"I grew up watching my mother and didn't even know it," said Wright in Today. Moody acted in a Television show entitled "That's My Mama," which happened to be the favorite show of Wright's adoptive family. The show ran for two seasons in the mid-1970s.

Wright noted that her adoptive family would sit down and tune in to the show without knowing that Moody was her biological mother.

TV Actress on Meeting Her Daughter

TV actress Lynne Moody compared the first encounter between her and Wright to a moment when she was giving birth. Moody noted that she was on a floor in a fetal position while screaming and crying. The TV actress also noted that she never had any other children apart from Wright, and she always hoped that she would reunite with her daughter.

Moody also noted in Today that when Wright was born, Moody's face was covered, but she can still hear her cry. "All I could say is I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Baby, I'm sorry." The TV Actress also noted that she tried to learn how to live without her daughter during the 50 years they were apart.

Lynne Moody is an American TV actress and is still active in the industry. Her recent acting role was in "The Heights of a Perfect Reunion," where she played the role of principal Marilyn Bryant. Both women happened to live in Los Angeles, California, as they try to look for each other. It was confirmed by Wright's uncle when she talked to him over the phone.

Moody noted that she was not expecting the sudden turn of events. Meanwhile, the adoptive parents of the California woman passed away before she met her TV actress mother.

READ MORE: Marilyn Manson's Ex Ashley Smithline Details the Horrific Abuse She Endured While Dating Him

WATCH: 50+ Years Later, A Daughter And Birth Mother Reunite With Help From DNA Tests
The family of a Northern California teen is desperate to find him after he went missing during a trip to Mexico.

Based on the last information about the teen before he disappeared, the 19-year-old Manuel Reyes arrived in Lagos de Moreno in Jalisco in early April to visit his sister. Reyes went out on a Sunday night and never returned.

According to NBC Los Angeles, his sister, who preferred to remain anonymous, stated that they were supposed to hang out that day. She also mentioned that she called him and asked what time the California teen is going to arrive. Reyes said that he was already on his way, and just made a stop to buy something to eat.

Moreover, Reyes's mother, who lives in Hayward, a northern city of California, stated that the last time they spoke, the missing teen told her that he would be back soon. The mother mentioned that Reyes told her not to worry as he will be leaving soon and he will arrive on Thursday.

The heavily affected mother shared she does not want to enter Reyes' room at all. She added that she does not want to see his clothes or anything that Reyes owns because it reminds her of him going out.

ALSO READ: Indiana Mom Charged After 4-Year-Old Daughter Nearly Died From Severe Lice Infestation

"Missing in Mexico"

Meanwhile, the residents of Lagos de Moreno confirmed that many individuals went missing in the region. They also added that most of those missing persons are individuals aging between 13 and 22 years old.

Also, the president of the Citizens Committee for Public Safety in Tijuana, Genaro de la Torre, which is one of the most violent cities in Mexico, stated that tourists have to take precautionary measures when visiting the country. He also reminded the tourists not to bring too much cash and try only to bring the least.

De la Torre also added that he does not recommend tourists visit some places at night as it is dangerous. He also advised them to go to places where there is more movement as it is safer there.

Furthermore, Diana Delgadino, the head of the Social Communication of Tepatiplan, which is a city next to Lagos de Moreno, stated that when an individual was reported missing, all alerts are activated. Delgadino also shared that they are communicating between police stations to close the circles and check the area to find the clues.

On the other hand, since Reyes is a United States citizen, the U.S. authorities are currently putting pressure on the police department of Lagos de Moreno to find him.

'Identifying Features'

Fernanda Valadez, a Mexican film-maker, debuted her piercing feature that explores her country's crisis with missing persons. Based on the information, in the past 15 years, around 70,000 individuals have disappeared in Mexico, KENS 5 reported.

Valadez captured the stories of individuals who were still questioning if their loved ones were still alive, The Guardian reported.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden Admin to Reunite Whole Families Not Just Parents With Border Kids

WATCH: Missing in Mexico - FROM The San Diego Union-Tribune
Shelly Harmon had confessed to the Prescott murder that took place in 1988. She was long suspected of killing her roommate Pamela Pitts. However, she was not charged for Pitts's death until 30 years later, according to an ABC 15 News report.

Harmon has already been sentenced to 20 years prison time for the death of her ex-boyfriend when she pleaded guilty in March for the fatal incident with Pitts.

Pitts's case went cold after investigators could not establish the evidence. They needed to capture the suspect responsible for the victim's death. In addition, tips on the case did not add up.

READ NEXT: District Attorney Chad Salsman Pleads Guilty to Pressuring 5 Female Clients For Sex

Suspicions on Harmon

Harmon and Pitts had been roommates before the murder took place. Three years after Pitts's death, Harmon was then arrested for murdering her boyfriend, according to an Arizona Central report.

In 1993, the Prescott murder suspect was convicted. She was then sentenced to 20 years. Detectives said that they had their suspicions on Harmon for Pitts's death through the years. However, new evidence only surfaced years after. They did not specify the evidence until court proceedings are held.

As Harmon's sentence for killing her boyfriend nears its end, police started observing Harmon's phone calls, according to an Associated Press report.

Harmon's ex-boyfriend, Raymond F. Clerx, had wanted to end the relationship. Aside from that, he was reportedly going to take their dogs. Harmon then shot him in a burst of anger as he lay on the roof of a car. The suspect then dumped his body in a mineshaft.

Meanwhile, Harmon's story about Pitts's death changed over the years, now claiming that Clerx was her alibi. She also claimed that another roommate strangled Pitts.

Prosecutors claim that the fight between Harmon and Pitts started over money. The victim had reportedly wanted to move out. Pitts had also shared news of Harmon's pregnancy, which angered the suspect.

In a court document, Harmon was said to have driven around Prescott looking for Pitts.

Pitts started to go missing on Sept. 16, 1988.

Harmon also claimed to have known how to conceal a killing, detailing burning a body or dumping it down a mineshaft.

Pitts's Killing

Harmon added that she was upset with Pitts. She said that the victim was late on rent and had overdrawn a joint bank account. Harmon said she "lost it" due to those incidents.

Harmon confessed she had hit Pitts against the ground until she was no longer moving.

Pitts's family, however, does not buy Harmon's recount of the story. Paul Pitts Jr., Pamela's brother, said he did not believe Harmon, adding that it was just her way to get away with a prison sentence.

Meanwhile, Harmon is now back in Nevada and is now 50 years old. One friend, Mary Burgoon, said she had shared a few meals with Harmon and her husband. Burgoon went on to say that she believes Harmon was unjustly jailed and only pleaded guilty to avoid a jail sentence.

READ MORE: Florida Man, Who Stabbed Classmate at Least 40 Times in 2004, Dies in Prison

WATCH: Crime Rates in Phoenix Arizona 2019 - from Living in Arizona Now




An internal investigation found that police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor should not have fired their guns.

The internal probe's findings were contradicted by senior officials in the Louisville Metro Police Department, according to an ABC News Go report.

Sgt. Andrew Meyer concluded on his preliminary report on December 4 that the three officers involved in the shooting should have held their fire after Taylor's boyfriend shot one of them. He further wrote that the police officers took thirty-two shots.

Meyer was a member of the police department's Professional Standards Unit.

According to Meyer, the deadly force should only have been used against Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend.

This was supported by Meyer's lieutenant, Jeff Artman.

However, former interim LMPD Chief Yvette Gentry disagreed with the Professional Standard Unit's report, saying that the officers reasonably believed that the use of fatal force was allowed in that particular incident.

Gentry had given up her post as interim chief in January, according to a New York Daily News report.

Former officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, and Louisville police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly allegedly violated the department's policy on the use of force.

Meyer also claimed that they ignored the policy and had posed a huge risk of hitting someone who is not threatening, according to a KMJNOW report.

READ MORE: Breonna Taylor Documentary Debuts on Courier-Journal and ABC News

Breonna Taylor's Killing

Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police officers during a March 2020 raid in her apartment. She was 26 years old and was a medical worker. Her death had triggered a series of protests over policing practices and racial injustices across the country.

Hankinson was indicted by a grand jury in September, wherein he pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, no charges were filed over two officers who fired shots. No one was also charged for causing Taylor's death, according to The New York Times report. Cosgrove and Detective Joshua Jaynes were terminated in late December. They were officially out of the force on January 5.

Last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that Justice Department will probe whether the Louisville, Kentucky police have a pattern of civil rights violations and other practiced abuses.

Among the parts that will investigate are the use of unreasonable force and unconstitutional stops, searches, and seizures. The department will also investigate the police department whether participated in racial discrimination or if they failed to give public services that follow the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a Buzzfeed News report.

Garland said that the investigation will be done to ensure that policing practices are lawful and in line with the constitutional rights of every individual.

The attorney general noted that the Department of Justice had already briefed the mayor and police chief before announcing the developments publicly. He said that both the mayor and police chief have already backed the movement and promised cooperation.

The civil probe into policing in the Louisville police is separate from a federal criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Taylor's family's lawyer, Sam Aguiar, said that the family was pleased to hear about the investigation.

READ NEXT: Breonna Taylor Grand Jury Audio Reveals Police Knocked Before Forcing Entry



WATCH: Justice Department opens probe of Louisville police after Breonna Taylor death - from Los Angeles Times




A home in Albuquerque, New Mexico once again became the victim of a thief, who has an unorthodox modus operandi - stealing plants. The perpetrator has been labeled as the 'green-thumbed thief'.

For the second time on Saturday morning, Steven Saavedra woke up to see his potted plants missing. He mentioned that he noticed that there was a blank spot on one of his stands, so he asked his fiance if he took one of his flowers inside. However, his fiance said that she did not, so they started looking around and noticed that there were a couple of plants missing.

After this, he checked his security cameras and was shocked to see a familiar figure going through his plants like in a flower shop, KOB4 reported.

Plant Bandit's First Hit

The 'green-thumbed thief' first hit on the neighborhood on Tuesday morning. Saavedra's camera security cameras also showed bandit stealing the potted plants from his yard that day.

In a statement, Saavedra said that the footage from his cameras showed that the woman looked like she uprooted something from the yard of a neighbor. The video also shows the plant bandit digging through Saavedra's planter while her other hand holds what looks like a plant.

The video of the 'green-thumbed thief' trended in social media and has been viewed by thousands of users.

According to Saavedra, he felt violated to see someone just taking the plants he has worked very hard to grow. He added that the 'green-thumbed thief' even looked at the camera at one point and still continued to fish through his yard. He also mentioned that it was very discouraging to see, Emnetra reported.

ALSO READ: Indiana Mom Charged After 4-Year-Old Daughter Nearly Died From Severe Lice Infestation

Moreover, Saavedra mentioned that displaying his plants is more than just a hobby, he said that it was his way to help beautify his neighborhood. He said that he will not let the plant bandit uproot his passion.

In addition, Saavedra said that he feels like he needs to put chains in his plants to avoid the same thing from happening, which he said is very counterproductive. He mentioned that he posted the video to raise awareness and possibly reach out to the 'green-thumbed thief', or her friends and family in order to get her the help she needs.

The plant owner also said that he intends to file a police report against the 'green-thumbed thief'.

Saavedra also said that he is hoping that somebody identifies the thief and would tell her to stop stealing his plants.

During her second strike, the plant bandit came wearing a hoodie and a facemask. However, Saavedra said that he believes that it is the same woman because of the same car she was driving. He also added that the video showed the thief throwing a plant onto the sidewalk while loading other plants in the trunk.

Saavedra also said that several neighbors also agreed that while the 'green-thumbed thief' only took plants, most of them do not feel safe thinking that she can do anything in the neighborhood at this point.

RELATED ARTICLE: California Teen Goes Missing While Buying Food in Mexico Visit

WATCH: Green-thumbed thief caught on camera stealing plants from garden - 100.3 The Peak
A debate on whether to adopt the "vaccination passport," a certificate confirming a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, has sparked hopes and worries at the same time. gettyimagesbank



By Jun Ji-hye



Many countries are under active discussion on whether to adopt the so-called "vaccination passport," and Korea is no exception. People here are showing mixed reactions, with some expressing hopes for it to expedite economic recovery, while others worrying about possible discrimination against those who do not hold such a passport.



The vaccination passport refers to a certificate confirming that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19.



Those who show this certificate may receive several benefits, such as being allowed to travel more freely or enjoy leisure activities that have been largely closed off during the prolonged public health crisis.



Some countries have already introduced similar programs and some others are planning to do so. Korea hasn't adopted any such vaccination passport yet, but, starting May 5, the country has been allowing fully vaccinated people to be exempted from the mandatory 14-day isolation period following return from any overseas trip or having any close contact with a virus patient. It is also considering allowing vaccinated people to show a mobile app to prove they have received the shot, when visiting facilities frequented by many people, such as restaurants and senior citizen community centers.



Supporters say that introducing a vaccine passport will help invigorate the economy.



In a poll of 838 adults, issued by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a major business lobbying group, Sunday, 67.4 percent of the respondents believe that the use of a vaccine passport will help revitalize the economy, while only 11.7 percent said that they think it will not be that helpful.



When asked about what they want to do most if the passport is introduced, 36.4 percent said they want to go on trips overseas, followed by 24 percent who want to go on domestic trips more freely, and 19.3 percent who want to engage in cultural activities, such as attending concerts or movies.



"Koreans believe that the adoption of a vaccine passport will help the nation's economy," said Kim Bong-man, director of international cooperation at FKI. "The government should step up its efforts to hold discussions with other countries with regard to cross-border movement, in addition to the procurement of vaccines."





Lee Pil-soo, the president of the Korea Medical Association, receives the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a public health center in Yongsan, Seoul, May 3. Yonhap
Student nurses and midwives are set to receive a backdated promised Pandemic Placement Grant of 100 per week by 1 June, according to Senator Fiona OLoughlin.

The payment applies for weeks when the students in question were on placement in health care settings during the pandemic, and was recommended in a review by Professor Tom Collins.

Senator OLoughlin who represents the Kildare South constituency which covers Portarlington in Laois, praised the students for overcoming unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19 during their studies.

She confirmed that that the payment for the relevant placement weeks would be backdated to September of last year.

A longer-term review of supports in place for nursing and midwifery supernumerary student clinical placements is being conducted by Sean McHugh and will include an examination of the levels of pay for the final year internship, and the travel and accommodation allowances, she said.

Recommendations are due by 30 June and it is hoped that the new arrangements will be in place for the next academic year.

The government has also pledged that all of this year's nursing and midwifery graduates will be offered permanent contracts in the public health system.
Instead of working off farm to bring home a sufficient income, Laois farmers are being reminded about the possiblilites of diversifying to make a living from their land in other ways.

ifac, Irelands farming, food and agribusiness professional services firm has suggested a range of alternatives from farm shops to campsites and solar farms.

The recent Farm Report from firm, found that 56% of Irish farmers have a positive outlook for their sector. However, 71% havent identified a successor with 1 in 3 citing their farm is not viable enough. With future viability a worry for many farmers, diversification can be a good way to create new opportunities and generate additional revenue.

Billy Holland is Partner at ifac's Portlaoise office.

"While many Irish farms rely on off-farm income to remain viable, working for others is not the only way to generate additional revenue. Farm assets can sometimes be used to diversify into new activities that complement your existing business, improve your work/life balance and benefit the bottom line.

Before deciding to diversify, it is important to assess the business case. This is because some activities that you might diversify into could involve a substantial outlay before any returns are realized, and certain activities could impact your eligibility for important tax incentives when transferring your business to the next generation.

Switching farm assets from agriculture to tourism, for example, could affect your ability to claim agricultural relief. So, its a good idea to get advice from professionals with expertise in the farming sector who understand the pitfalls and help you make the right decisions.

IFAC suggests the following.

Farm shops: Farmers markets, mobile shops, and selling farm produce online.

Tourism: Starting a B&B, providing self-catering accommodation, or converting fields for use as a campsite.

Leisure activities: Offering facilities for leisure activities such as horse riding, livery stables, private fishing.

Conservation: Grants are available under the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) for the conservation of traditional farm buildings and structures.

Leasing: Farmers who want to expand often find it difficult to purchase land so if you have land to lease, this can be a good way to boost your income. Subject to satisfying certain conditions, you may be able to claim income tax relief on the income you generate.

Renewables: In regions with suitable wind patterns, farmers can achieve a good long-term return on investment from wind energy, while revenue streams in the region of 7001,300 per acre are being discussed between farmers and solar development companies.

Forestry: Research carried out for ifac last year found that around four in ten farmers would consider planting more trees on their land. Tax incentives are available for forestry investments operated on a commercial basis to realise a profit.

Other tips from ifac include:

Conduct thorough market research  you need to get a firm handle on demand so that you can have confidence when investing in your new venture. Seek assistance from your contacts and take advantage of relevant incentives. For example, the Teagasc Options Programme is designed to help farm families examine ways to generate additional income and stimulate new ways of thinking.

Work with your business advisor and accountant to develop a credible business plan with realistic financial projections, a clear roadmap for growth and strategies to address potential risks on the path ahead.

Branding is one of the components that should not be overlooked. Creating a brand that resonates with the consumer can be difficult and is often the difference between successful and unsuccessful projects. Good communication and effective use of social media will help you develop a community around your brand.

Keep in mind that there are plenty of supports for start-up businesses including the LEADER programme which provides grant aid for projects that help develop local areas. Local Enterprise Offices and Enterprise Ireland also provide support for eligible businesses. Grants are available for market research, product development, financial planning, capital investment, and much more.

By improving income on rural Irish farms, diversification supports viability, resilience and can help overcome succession difficulties. However, as is always the case, it is important to examine the business case before making any decisions. For more information and/or advice, they invite farmers to contact Portlaoise ifac office.
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has confirmed at Covid-19 outbreak at one of Portlaoise's sister jails in Dublin.

The IPS says prisoners and staff at Mountjoy Prison have tested positive for Covid-19 in a jail where there were 699 inmates on Friday, May 7 last.

"The Irish Prison Service can confirm there are (19) positive cases amongst the prisoner population to date. The Service is working closely with Public Health and the CHO testing team in the HSE and contact tracing is ongoing.

"The positive staff cases are currently confined to specific areas within the prison. Following engagement with Public health, HSE the testing of all staff and prisoners for Mountjoy and Dochas Prisons is ongoing," said the statement.

In a message to families, the IPS said the Mountjoy Prison Outbreak Control Team (OCT) continues to oversee the appropriate actions to be taken to mitigate against the further possible spread of the disease within the prisons.

The service said it is working closely with Public Health, HSE with regard to the management of the current outbreak including making arrangements for the mass testing of staff and prisoners in the Mountjoy and Dochas Prisons.

To help prevent the spread of infection, the IPS has introduced a strict regime that may impact on access to video visits and phone calls in the short terms for prisoners in precautionary isolation however we are working to ensure that we can continue to facilitate family contact as far as possible.

Further information for families and friends is available here.
A translator of the Romanian language is being recruited to work with doctors, nurses, solicitors, judges and others in Laois.

Translation.ie is inviting applicants to work as a freelance Romanian Interpreter for ongoing assignments involving legal and medical matters in Co. Laois and the surrounding area.

The company says the position requires short consecutive / community interpreting duties in medical and legal settings.

The pay is 15 - 25 per hour
The rollout of the long awaited national broadband network has begun for Laois, and it promises to give rural isolated premises better broadband than that in towns.

Two areas on the border of Laois are now seeing fibre cables being installed for a 500mb speedy service.

However it will be six years before all of rural Laois and Ireland are connected to the Government's heavily subsidised high speed internet service.

National Broadband Ireland (NBI) gave Laois County Council their latest update this Monday May 10, and the locations and dates for where is first in Laois to get connected.

Covid-19 put a delay on works, Pat O'Toole told councillors in a special meeting.

"We are in year two, Covid did cause us some problems but we are confident that we will recover that time and we hope to reel it in more," he said.

The first areas being connected in Laois by the end of this year, are the rural areas nearest new data hubs in neighbouring Carlow and Kilkenny.

This includes areas like Graiguecullen, Tolerton, Monavea, Rossmore, Bilbao and Johnstown.

NBI's contract is to bring broadband to the door of every single rural premises that commercial companies decided were not viable for connections. That includes farms, businesses and homes.

Next in line for Laois will be the Portlaoise area, radiating out as far north to Mountmellick and south to Abbeyleix. Along with the Roscrea hub which will stretch into west Laois areas, they are expected to be installed by April 2022.

There are 12,510 premises in Laois that have no high speed broadband, 31% of premises in the county, NBI say.

To tide areas over till they are connected, NBI have free broadband hubs in five Laois, in Donaghmore, Emo, Vicarstown, Rossmore and shortly Shanganamore in east Laois.

They are also supplying 16 rural Laois primary schools with high speed broadband, with three already live.

Anyone can now log on to www.NBI.ie and put in their eircode to see if they are in the 'intervention zone' and when they can expect to be connnected.

The broadband infrastructure will cost each premises 100 for a connection fee to their doors, and after that they will pay their chosen commercial provider monthly for the service, estimated to cost 50 to 60.
gettyimagesbank



By Lee Hyo-jin



The number of crimes related to cryptocurrencies, such as online fraud and hacking, is on the rise amid a virtual currency boom in the country, the National Police Agency said Sunday.



There were 32 cases of cybercrimes involving fraudulent cryptocurrency websites over the last three months alone, a surge from a total of 41 cases that were reported in all of 2020, according to data released by the agency and the Ministry of Science and ICT.



Such fraudulent websites lure cryptocurrency users to log in mainly by sending URL addresses via text messages, and then steal their personal information if they follow the link.






The death has occurred of Theresa Reynolds (nee Walsh)

Celbridge, Kildare



REYNOLDS (St. Patricks Park and formerly of Temple Mills, Celbridge, Co. Kildare) May 6th, 2021 (suddenly), Theresa, beloved wife of the late Vincent and dear mother of Vincent, Terry and Theresa. Sadly missed by her loving sons, daughter, son-in-law Doron, granddaughters Julie, Eireann, Megan, Lolly and Izzy, great-granddaughters Georgia and Skylar, brothers Paddy, Noel and Vincent, sisters Maureen, Phyllis and Dolores, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

R.I.P.

Due to Government advice and restrictions regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place. Theresas Funeral Mass may be viewed by following the link below on Wednesday morning (12th May 2021) at 11.00am https://www.celstra.ie/live-feed/.

Those who would have liked to attend the funeral; but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave your personal message by selecting Condolences below or alternatively leaving a message at www.cunninghamsfunerals.com.

Family flowers only, please. Donations, if desired, to Celbridge Community Centre.

Theresas feisty spirit will be alive in her childrens hearts.

She is dancing with the Angels now.

The death has occurred of Mary (Molly) McGrath (nee Mulhall)

The Bleach Cottages, Athy, Kildare



Peacefully, in the loving care of the staff at St. Vincent's Hospital, Athy. Deeply regretted by her loving nieces and nephews, relatives and friends.

Rest in Peace

Due to government restrictions a private family Requiem Mass will take place at 11am on Tuesday morning (11th May) in St. Michael's Parish Church, Athy, limited to 50 people. The Mass will be livestreamed, see www.parishofathy.ie. Burial afterwards in St. Michael's New Cemetery, Athy.

Those who would have liked to attend the funeral but cannot due to current restrictions may leave a message in the 'Condolences' section below.

The death has occurred of Gret (Mary Ann) Moran (nee Bagnall)

Courthouse, Robertstown, Kildare



Peacefully at Tallaght Hospital surrounded by her loving family.

Sadly missed by her loving husband Patrick (Ducks), children Sham, Johnny, Tina, Paddy, Trisha, Rosanna, Nicola and Michael, sons and daughters in law, grandchildren, great grandchildren, sister-in-law Maureen, extended family, neighbours and friends.

May Gret rest in peace.

In line with Government advice regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below.

Removal on Wednesday morning to arrive at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Allen for Requiem Mass at 11o'clock. Burial afterwards in Allen Cemetery. Gret's funeral Mass will be live-streamed on the Farewell friends Facebook page www.facebook.com/farewellfriendslivestreaming/

The death has occurred of Peter RIORDAN (Comdt.)

Kill, Kildare / Naas, Kildare



Aged 90, Late of Kill, Naas and Clane, Co. Kildare.

Peacefully after a short illness at Naas General Hospital. Beloved husband to Terry Healy Riordan. Sadly missed by his loving sister Peg, children and step-son, Martin, Deirdre, Paul, Laura, Shane, Michael, Fergal, Ronan and Justin; Edward, sons-in-law, daughters in-law, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, extended family, neighbours and a wide circle of friends. Predeceased by his wife Eithne (2006), and sons Stephen (1978) and Bernard (2019).

Due to current Government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place. The funeral cortege will leave The George Mullins Funeral Home, Kilcullen Road, Naas on Wednesday 12th May at 10.15am, passing by his former home in Meadow Court, Naas, to arrive at the St. Brigids Catholic Church, Kill for Funeral Mass at 11am. Those who would like to join the private funeral service remotely by webcam can do so by clicking on https://tinyurl.com/peterriordan. Peter will be laid to rest at Clane Friary Graveyard.

Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions can not, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below.

The death has occurred of PJ Carroll

Leixlip, Kildare



Carroll, PJ (Castletown, Leixlip) May 7th 2021, (peacefully), at St. Brigids Hospice, The Curragh, beloved husband of Mairead and dear father of Alan, Graham, Audrey and Sinead. Sadly missed by his loving family, brother Michael, sister Breda, eleven grandchildren, daughter-in-law, sons-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives and friends.

R.I.P.

Due to Government advice and restrictions regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place.

PJs funeral Mass may be viewed by following the link below on Tuesday afternoon 11th May at 12.30 pm. Our Lady's Nativity Live Webcam Stream | iTech Media Live Streaming Leixlip (churchmedia.tv)

The cremation service may also be viewed by following the link below on Tuesday afternoon at approx. 2:20pm https://www.dctrust.ie/location/newlands-cross/chapel-webstream.html

PJs funeral cortege will leave his home on Tuesday 11th May at 12noon approx. for friends and family to pay their respects.

Those who would have liked to attend the funeral; but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave your personal message by selecting Condolences below or alternatively leaving a message at www.cunninghamsfunerals.com

The death has occurred of Thomas Mason

Mountbrown, Old Connell, Newbridge, Kildare



Formerly of Kinneagh, Kilcullen and Beauford, Killorglin, Co. Kerry. Peacefully at Suncroft Lodge Nursing Home. Sadly missed by his loving sons Karl and Tomas, daughters Sheila and Nora, grandchildren, great grandchildren, sons-in-law, daughters in law, sisters Ena and Kathleen, stepdaughters, nieces and nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends.

May Thomas rest in peace.

Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Removal on Tuesday to arrive at St. Conleth's Parish Church, Newbridge, for Requiem Mass at 2pm. Burial afterwards in St. Conleth's Cemetery, Newbridge. Thomas's Funeral Mass will be live-streamed on the Newbridge Parish website:https://www.newbridgeparish.ie/parish-church
A man who sold the details to his bank account which was then used to launder 10,000 has avoided a jail term after spending the weekend in custody.

Noah Abdurahmanov (25), who is originally from Chechnya, sold his details for 200 which he used to pay for flights back to there.

Abdurahmanov with an address at Mayfield Park, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the proceeds of criminal conduct within the state on July 12, 2018. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan heard evidence last Thursday and had remanded Abdurahmanov in custody until Monday's date.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Nolan said he had remanded Abdurahmanov in custody to think about and experience what prison was like because that is his future if he reoffends.

He said money laundering was not a victimless crime, third parties were stolen from and serious criminals profited to a great degree. He said Abdurahmanov had helped for little reward for himself.

Judge Nolan sentenced Abdurahmanov to two years imprisonment which he suspended in full.

During the previous sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Kevin Bowen told Noel Devitt BL, prosecuting, that a woman made payment of 10,000 on behalf of a construction company to a tiling company for work they had done.

Det Gda Bowen said this woman was later contacted by the tiling company who said they had not been paid. The money had in fact been transferred to the bank account of the accused man.

The detective said the email address of the tiling company had been compromised.

In interview with gardai, Abdurahmanov said he had sold a bank card and bank details to a person he had met on Snapchat. He said he knew what he was doing was wrong.

The court heard that the money was immediately withdrawn from the account via ATMs and that it was also electronically transferred to three other accounts. The money has not been recovered.

Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said his client received 200 for selling his card and bank details. He said family issues propelled him to return to Chechnya to live with his uncle and he did not have the means to pay to go back.

Mr Kelly said his client used the money to buy flights back to Chechnya. He said his client, who originally came to this country in 2009 and became a citizen in 2020, has since returned and lives with his mother.

Counsel said his client accepts he was entirely reckless in what he did.

Judge Nolan said he had no doubt Abdurahmanov knew when he gave his card details that they would be used in such a fashion. He said the accused therefore had a level of culpability in that he involved himself in this crime.
Hair and beauty businesses are excited to be welcoming back customers today, Monday 10th May, as they reopen for business after the easing of government restrictions. The Hair and Beauty Industry Confederation (HABIC) is delighted to see its members being able to finally open their doors again after being shut for all of 2021.

Margaret O'Rourke Doherty, CEO of HABIC, spoke ahead of the opening of the industry: "We are delighted that the long wait for our members is finally over with hair and beauty salons opening their doors for appointments. We can now recommence to provide the essential personal care services we carry out across Ireland. As the first few weeks will be hectic, we would like to thank customers for their support and patience. We would also strongly encourage customers to support us against the potential of no shows. If they are unable to attend their appointment for any reason, it is essential that they cancel or reschedule their appointment, as the impact of clients not arriving for appointments is very damaging for businesses. It means other customers cannot be accommodated, thus causing a massive loss in sales at a point when salons are already struggling."

HABIC would like to encourage customers who cannot attend their appointments to inform the hair or beauty business they booked with and cancel their appointments as early as possible. In 2020 no-shows had a hugely negative impact on the industry. According to Phorest Salon Software a massive 519,000 in revenue was lost per day by clients not arriving for appointments. This left many salons with no option but to introduce booking deposits. Informing salons of cancellations will help support businesses at this challenging time.

Customers attending appointments are encouraged and reminded to follow all guidelines in place. HABIC has produced updated guidelines for its members across the country to help them prepare to welcome back their customers safely. The guidelines are made up of a combination of the Government's Work Safely Protocol and implementing learnings from the first two lockdowns.

The industry prides itself on the high standards of care it gives its customers. As salons reopen, they will be staying in line with public health advice to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Salon operators have been extremely busy while closed as salons were prepared and teams were trained in properly responding to public health advice in the workplace. This will ensure the best experience for all our customers as they return.

HABIC is a non-profit, national organisation designed to support and enhance the sustainable development of the Irish Hair and Beauty industry. It is a progressive and transformative organisation working on behalf of its members to deliver a comprehensive action plan that ensures the industry's voice and needs are recognised by all stakeholders. www.habic.ie
Animal charities across Ireland are posting the same urgent appeals regarding a new social media trend that poses danger to baby ducks.

The charities are asking parents not to buy their children baby ducks that they see for sale on social media.

Several posts advertising baby ducks for sale have appeared on different social media platforms and people are being warned that ducklings should never be separated from their parents and that the sellers should be reported.

If your child approaches you about buying a baby duck that they have seen online please get in contact with your local animal welfare organisation.

If your child has already bought a baby duckling from one of these postings then likewise please get in contact with your local animal aid charity as baby ducks struggle to survive away from their mothers.

Also read: 85 hair and beauty salons in Leitrim set to reopen this week
Independent councillor, Felim Gurn has put forward a proposal that the Government develop a funding scheme through local authorities to allow local groups to negotiate with banks to purchase defunct properties.

Referring specifically to the situation in Manorhamilton and Drumshanbo where Bank of Ireland intends to close branches in September this year, Cllr Gurn said that many groups in these areas possess the experience and drive to develop this buildings for the benefit of the community, but funding the purchase of these properties remains an issue.

In a motion before the May Council meeting, Cllr Gurn asked the Minister for Community and Rural Development Heather Humphreys and the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar to consider a funding scheme through local authorities to allow groups to purchase and develop bank branches due to close in September 2021 into rural working office hubs and also maintain ATM services in our towns.

He said not only would this allow on-street ATM services to remain in towns it would also stop such buildings falling into disrepair.

His motion was seconded by Cllr Justin Warnock who said that the sale of these properties presented a great opportunity for communities to buy the building and turn them into remote working hubs".

Cllr Enda McGloin also backed the motion noting that the Bank of Ireland will possibly offer the branches closing in September this year as early as the first quarter of 2022.

"May Leitrim County Council could do a survey of people working from home to see if they would like to avail of more community hub spaces," he suggested, adding that if demand could be shown this would add even more support to the idea.

He said a feasibility study could also be carried out on the idea noting that "the purchase of these buildings and their development into a hub will be expensive but has huge potential for a community.

Cllr Des Guckian said that banks like Bank of Ireland, must be compelled to hand over their old buildings to the community.

However Cllr Felim Gurn said this "will never happen because banks have shareholders". Cllr Enda McGloin said that the idea that banks would just hand over a property was not realistic.




By Lee Hyo-jin







Calls are growing for strong punishment of a man in his 20s who allegedly assaulted a taxi driver in his 60s in Gwanak District, Seoul.







Police said the suspect, surnamed Park, acted out of anger against the taxi driver who expressed discontent after Park who was drunk vomited in the vehicle.







The incident took place outside the taxi in the district around 10 p.m., May 5, according to Gwanak Police Station.







After both of them got out of the car following an argument over Park's vomiting, Park pushed the driver to the ground and punched him in the face multiple times. He continued to assault the victim even after police officers, who received reports from witnesses, came to the site.







The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Park, Friday, on charges of assault and obstruction of police officers' duties.







The victim suffered several broken teeth and injuries to the back of his head for which he required surgery. He is currently recovering after receiving medical treatment in an intensive care unit.







Police said they will question the victim once he fully recovers, while proceeding with additional investigation through the dash cam in the taxi to determine whether the assault also took place in the car.







Park's brutal act raised public fury as video footage of the incident, supposedly filmed by pedestrians nearby, spread online rapidly via social media. A public petition was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Friday, calling for strong punishment. It has garnered over 135,000 signatures as of Monday morning.







In addition, his personal information including name, occupation and address, along with his photo captured from his social media accounts, has been shared online.






Eoin Sheehan, TV Chef & Food Entrepreneur, has teamed up with Clares Wish Foundation for his very first virtual event, as official brand ambassador of the charity!

Eoins cooking demo will kick off on Thursday, May 20 at 6pm virtually. The 24-year-old cook and business owner, from Limerick. Launching his meal preparation service, Country Munch at the age of 18, Eoin has grown the business to produce over 500 meals a week, to a range of customers, teams and contracts. Eoin is known for showcasing simple, healthy meals on his social media platforms and has gone on to become a resident chef on Virgin Media Ones Six OClock Show, a demo chef in the Hook & Ladder cookery school in Limerick city.

Tickets are available at www.idonate.ie/EoinSheehanCookingDemo and 100% of the sales will be going towards Clares Wish Foundation.
The death has occurred of Michael (Mickey) Finucane Clounleharde, Ballyhahill, Limerick. Michael (Mickey) Finucane, Predeceased by his parents Patrick & Margaret, sister Bridie and his adored grandson Liam.

Sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his wife Mary, son Hawlie, daughter Elaine, grandchildren Rachel, Ewyon and Bowie, daughter in law Breda, son in law Paudie, nephew, sister in law Kathleen and her husband Jim and family, relatives, neighbours and many friends. May he rest in peace.

A private family funeral will take place for immediate family due to government advice and H.S.E. guidelines regarding public gatherings.

Requiem mass will take place for Michael in Our Lady of the Visitation church, Ballyhahill on Wednesday at 12 o'clock. followed by burial afterwards in Ahavoher cemetery, Moyvane.

For those who wish to form a guard of honour the funeral cortege will depart from his son's residence in Clounleharde on Wednesday at 11.15. am. approx. on route to the church or leave a message of sympathy on the condolence book below.

Family flowers only. Donations in lieu to the Cancer Research, UHL or c/o Finucane Funeral Directors, Moyvane. House strictly private please.

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The death has occurred of Charles (Charlie) Hersey Donegal Road, Ballyshannon, Donegal / Limerick May 10 2021, in his 93 year. Peacefully at home surrounded by his daughters Maureen (Seamus Connolly), Frances (Manus Daly), devoted granddad to Rachel, Tom, Oisin, Saoirse, brother John, sister Jean (Gerard Tierney) (predeceased by his sister Helen McMahon and sister-in-law Veronica (Curtin)), nieces, nephews and extended family circle. Lord grant rest on his soul.

Reposing privately at his family home. In accordance with current government guidelines and in the hope of keeping our family and friends safe Charlie's Funeral Mass will take place privately on Wednesday morning at 11.am in Saint Patrick's Church, Ballyshannon maximum 50 people permitted which can be viewed online : IE /tv/saint Patrick's Ballyshannon followed by Interment in St Joseph's Cemetery, The Rock. Messages of condolence can left below or p.mccauley@btopenworld.com.

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The death has occurred of Sr. Ann McNamara Salesian Sisters, Ard Mhuire, Caherdavin, Limerick May 9th, 2021 at Ard Mhuire, Caherdavin. Predeceased by her parents Patrick and Hanora and her brothers and sisters. Deeply regretted by her nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, her Salesian Sisters and her relatives, neighbours and friends. May She Rest in Peace

Sr. Ann's Requiem Mass will take place at 11am on Wednesday (May 12th) in St. John's Cathedral. Mass will be streamed live Funeral afterwards to Shannon Crematorium, Shannon, Co. Clare.

In compliance with the current HSE guidelines, the funeral will be limited to fifty people. Please ensure social distancing and public health advice is adhered.

Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the condolence section below or cards and letters of sympathy can be sent to Cross' Funeral Directors, Lower Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick.

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The death has occurred of Helen O'Regan (nee Flynn) Kilbreedy, Bruree, Limerick. Peacefully at home in the presence of her loving family, beloved wife of John and dear mother of Anne Maria, Richard and Donal. Deeply regretted by her loving husband, sons, daughter, sister Enda, brothers Henry and John, sisters-in-law Philomena,Teresa and Mary, brothers-in- law Brendan and Bob, son-in-law James, daughters-in-law Cherry and Clodagh, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, extended family, neighbours and many friends. May she rest in peace

Reception into St Munchin's Church, Rockhill on Wednesday for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. Funeral afterwards to Dromin Cemetery. Family flowers only. Donations in lieu to Milford Care Centre, Limerick / The Irish Cancer Society. In keeping with H.S.E. guidelines Helen's funeral will be for family. Those who wish may leave a personal message in the section below marked condolences.

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The death has occurred of Mick Fox HARNETT Knockadireen, Abbeyfeale, Limerick who passed away peacefully at his home on Sunday, May 9th 2021, surrounded by his family. Mick is very sadly missed by his loving wife Kate, sons Maurice and Michael, daughters Helen and Mary, daughters-in-law Irene and Maire, Helens partner Ger, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, neighbours and friends. Rest In Peace

A Private Family Funeral will take place for immediate family due to Government advice and HSE guidelines regarding public gatherings.

Funeral cortege will depart Micks home on Wednesday at 10.00 a.m. on route to Church of the Assumption Abbeyfeale to arrive for Requiem Mass at 11.00 a.m. Requiem Mass will then be live streamed on the following: www.churchservices.tv/abbeyfealeparish

No flowers please. If you wish to make a donation to The Irish Cancer Society in memory of Mick, please click on this link. Burial afterwards in St. Marys Cemetery.

Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the Condolence Book at the bottom of this page or send Mass cards and letters of sympathy by post C/O Harnetts Funeral Home, The Square, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick. You may also send your condolences by email to: harnettsfuneralhome@gmail.com.

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The death has occurred of Catherine (Kitty) Molloy (nee Coughlan) Moylish Road, Ballynanty, Limerick late of Smith O'Brien Avenue, Kileely. Catherine (Kitty) died Peacefully, at Milford Care Centre.

Very deeply regretted by her loving husband Michael, children Kieran, Martina and Fergal and their partners, grandchildren, sister Gertie, nephews, nieces, other relatives and friends. May She Rest in Peace

Kitty's Requiem Mass will take place at 11am on Wednesday (May 12th) in St. Munchin's Church, Clancy Strand. Mass will be streamed live. Funeral afterwards to Mount St. Oliver Cemetery. In compliance with the current HSE guidelines, the funeral will be limited to fifty people. Please ensure social distancing and public health advice is adhered.

Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the condolence section below or cards and letters of sympathy can be sent to Cross' Funeral Directors, Lower Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick.

House private, please. Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, to Milford Care Centre

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The death has occurred of Joseph (Joe) Smyth Deegerty, Askeaton, Limerick 9th May 2021, peacefully. Beloved husband of the late Linda. Dearly loved father of Kenneth and Victor. Much loved brother of the late Joan (Millar). Sadly missed by his loving daughter-in-law Gillian, sisters Susan, Dorothy and Evelyn, nieces, his special friend Caroline, extended family and a large circle of friends. Late of IVETA Vintage Club.

A Funeral Service for family will take place in the Church of Ireland, Castletown, Kilcornan, on Thursday (13th May) at 1.00pm followed by burial in St. Marys Church of Ireland Cemetery, Askeaton.

Family flowers only, donations, if desired, to the Parkinsons Association of Ireland.

The funeral service will be lived streamed. In the interests of public health, attendance at the Service will be restricted to accord with government guidelines and in line with social distancing protocols. Cards and messages of sympathy can be sent to Thompsons, Thomas Street, Limerick.

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Condolences here:
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Pandemic-born initiative Female Film Club (FFC) is expanding its global membership with a new campaign.

The organization will encourage media and social media users to share an insta reel with the hashtag #FFCWORLDWIDE which explains the campaign. The aim is to reach every filmmaker in every country and give them an opportunity to get their voice heard and their story told.

The initiative has members in 19 countries, and is hoping to recruit from the 172 countries it doesnt. From every country that is not yet represented, the FFC will give away a free year-long membership and five free two-month memberships. Those interested need to send an email to info@femalefilmclub.com with their CV or IMDb profile, and nationality. Operating on a first-come-first-serve basis, potential members qualify if they have a short film that has done a film festival run or a feature film.

FFC was founded by Nicole Lieberman and Liza van der Smissen who met at the BFI London Film Festival in 2017 and discovered a shared passion for films that display the female gaze. They co-produced the short Neext!, directed by Leoni Tenius, which won prizes at the Independent Shorts Awards and the London Independent Film Festival in 2020.

FFC was born during the 2020 lockdown, out of a need to stay connected, albeit remotely. The body offers film recommendations and streaming links from films made by a female director, female writer, or a film shown from the female gaze; connections with international female and non-binary filmmakers; and masterclasses, Q&As, film festival meet-ups, goal setting and inspiration sessions.

Coming up to its first anniversary, FFC has hosted Q&As with directors from around the world such as Keren Ben Rafael, Anne Fontaine, Mina Shum and Lisa Ohlin.

Filmmakers can also benefit from FFCs partnership with Herflix, the online VOD platform that showcases films by, for and about women, for global digital distribution. The partnership has already helped seven filmmakers find distribution.

We want all filmmakers around the world to be able to create their lifes work and develop their skill, mindset and network, says van der Smissen. When you join the FFC you become part of a global community of powerful woman who believe in getting further together.

There are so many incredible stories out there that dont get recognition or have international reach, we want to hear them and spread the word, says Lieberman. In the FFC we believe that films have the power to change perception and open our minds.

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Captain Marvel actor Gemma Chan, Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding and Doctor Strange actor Benedict Wong are throwing their support behind an initiative to help the U.K.s East and South East Asian (ESEA) community amid a rise in hate crimes following the COVID-19 crisis.

The launch comes after a U.S. initiative from GoFundMe raised more than $6 million. The U.K. Stop Asian Hate campaign is raising funds for grants that will be issued, via GoFundMe, to organizations working with the ESEA community across the U.K.

Statistics from besea.n  a grassroots movement born from six ESEA women, created to shine a light on Britains East and South East Asians  show a 179% increase in hate crime in London around the start of the U.K. lockdown compared to the same period in the previous year.

Announcing the fund on Instagram, Chan acknowledged that though the primary focus of anti-Asian attacks has been in the U.S., the problem is global, and encompasses a disturbing rise in hate crimes against people of ESEA appearance in the U.K. in the last year.

Like many others, I worry for family members every time they leave the house or use public transport. My mum has worked for the NHS [National Health Service] for most of her life  she and my dad have been followed and subjected to a number of verbal assaults since the beginning of the pandemic, continued Chan.

Whilst Im relieved that these attacks didnt become physical, unfortunately that is often not the case, such as the unprovoked attack on a 26-year-old woman in Edinburgh last week which ended in her hospitalization, the vicious beating of a university lecturer who was out jogging in Southampton and the physical assault of Singaporean student Jonathan Mok on Oxford Street, amongst many others.

Whats even more concerning is that the recorded figures are likely an underestimation because many incidents go unreported, both to the police and in the media, said Chan. There is an urgent need for increased awareness and support so I am proud to help launch this fund, which will provide grants to grassroots organisations supporting ESEA and broader communities.

GoFundMe CMO Musa Tariq said: The recent rise in hate crimes against the ESEA community is horrifying. We need to ensure communities in the U.K. are protected, as we know violence against the community is not limited to the U.S. and is getting worse. Lockdown is lifting, which makes this all the more urgent.

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Yonhap



The state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) has again come under fire for controversial property speculation, as a civic group alleged Monday that nearly 1,400 LH employees have earned a huge profit over the past decade through their dubious purchases of public housing units intended for low-income non-homeowners.



The civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), citing data from an opposition lawmaker, said 1,379 LH employees have bought 1,621 public housing units in the last 10 years, logging at least 333.9 billion won (US$300 million) in net property price increases.



Each of the public housing units, sold to LH employees for 220 million won on average over the past decade, was worth 460 million won apiece as of the end of April, marking a net profit margin of 240 million won per unit, the civic group said.



In South Korea, public housing units have been built on government-provided land by LH and other government-contracted companies to supply affordable housing to low-income non-homeowners, people of national merit, the disabled, newlyweds, multi-child families and other underprivileged households.



The biggest profit gains were reported from a southern Seoul apartment complex named Segok Prugio, where five LH employees each bought public housing units for 300 million won in 2011 and their market prices soared to 1.5 billion won apiece this year.



A total of 15 LH employees bought public housing units at the five most profitable apartment complexes nationwide and gained an average price increase of 1.08 billion won, the PSPD asserted.



LH workers' public housing purchases mostly occurred in a new administrative new town in Jinju, 435 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where the LH headquarters are located. About 450 LH employees are believed to have logged housing price gains worth 69.3 billion won after buying LH-built public housing apartments in Jinju, PSPD alleged.



The civic group then called for a thorough investigation into all public housing purchases involving LH employees to see if any illegality was committed, while LH argued that its employees have signed all contracts legitimately after securing valid qualifications to move into public housing units.



Some LH employees' controversial purchases of public housing came to light after the PSPD and other civic groups accused 14 LH employees two months ago of purchasing land in the capital area based on insider information.



So far, one LH employee has been arrested for using insider information to buy land ahead of its development and several dozens of other employees suspected of being involved in illicit land purchases are under probe.



The scandal has also spilled into other public agencies, with hundreds of public servants, including several sitting lawmakers, under investigation for speculative real estate transactions using classified information. (Yonhap)


By the last count, only 16 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Laredo  about 6% of the number who were in the hospital during the pandemics peak in January.

And yet, local hospitals are again at capacity, this time with patients suffering more quotidian illnesses such as heart attack, stroke, trauma and infection. Due to a lack of staffing, hospitals are having to resort to the same practices as five months ago  placing patients in holding in the emergency room, sometimes for up to 24 hours, while they wait for a room.

Its basically the same thing. We had a large amount of COVID patients in holding in the emergency room before because of the lack of nursing personnel. Now its non-COVID patients who are in holding, said Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino. ... We shouldnt hold people, who need to be admitted, in the emergency room because theyre not getting their adequate treatment. The emergency room is for emergencies.

On Thursday morning, 19 patients were in holding in Laredo Medical Centers ER, according to Trevino. Hospital staff scrounge around for rooms to place them in, then the next day its the same thing.

Trevino informed City Council last week that many of Laredos nurses and technicians were transferred to other COVID hot spots during the pandemic.

Hes seen only about 10-15% of them return, leaving a dearth of health care personnel in an already medically-underserved community. The 70 remaining nurses, physicians and techs who were sent to Laredo by the state are due to be demobilized next week, although City Council is asking the Department of State Health Services to reconsider. Emergency requests for more personnel are being denied.

The state was able to lure health care staff to work for them during the pandemic by paying about three times more than they were making at the hospitals, Trevino said.

Sixty-six registered nurses left Laredo Medical Center in 2020, an 8.5% increase over 2019, according to a spokesperson for the hospital.

The hospitals CEO Jorge Leal said in a statement to LMT that they are actively recruiting new and former staff in all specialties for full-time, part-time and per diem work.

Laredo Medical Center offers a comprehensive compensation package for RNs in addition to other incentives for recruitment, including tuition reimbursement, a loan repayment program and sign-on bonuses. In return for receiving a sign-on bonus, the nurse commits to a minimum length of employment based on the bonus amount, Leal said.

Doctors Hospital did not return requests for comment.

Its hard to say when Laredos nurses and technicians will return, Trevino said, because the pandemic has caused tremendous burnout in the profession. Some nurses got sick, some transferred to work in home health or to hospitals in other cities.

The amount of stress weve endured for over a year is tremendous, Trevino said. A lot of people dont want to sacrifice that much or sacrifice their families, not being with them. ... People are changing their way of thinking and a lot of reasons play into this.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
Earlier this week, Facebooks oversight board concluded that former President Donald Trumps ban could be upheld if the reasons were justified. A local communications professor and the Webb County party chairs expressed varying opinions on the decision to LMT.

Its so complicated, because on one hand a lot of people would say that its a private company, Texas A&M International University assistant professor of communications Arthur Soto-Vasquez said. So they can do what they wish on their platform because they have rules and they say if you follow these rules you can be on them, and if you dont then we reserve the right to kick you off the platform. They can choose what they will.

But, on the other hand, we have to recognize that for a lack of a better alternative, these private companies have essentially become our kind of public square as this is where we go talk about politics, where we learn about the news, where we receive information, and these companies kind of want to have it both ways at times saying we are a private company and others stating that they want to let folks speak it out and that they do not want to step in and regulate speech.

Soto-Vasquez considers this an imperfect situation in which these companies have become beacons of free speech but can also step in and regulate what they choose. He believes temporarily banning Trump is the right move due to the belief his words helped incite the violent insurrection Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol building, but he does not support a permanent ban.

The two local party chairs have firmer views on the decision.

The decision to block the former president of the United States from using Facebook screams of totalitarianism, Webb County Republican Party Chair Tyler Kraus said. Facebook apparently does not believe in freedom of speech. It was wrong for them to ban President Trump from Facebook then, and it is wrong for them to be upholding that ban now. The Constitution of the United States protects freedom of speech, so I dont know how this is even allowed to happen. However, I have heard that President Trump is going to be creating his own social media platform soon, so this will no longer be an issue.

Webb County Democratic Party Chairman Sylvia Bruni said upholding the ban was the correct decision due to continued safety concerns.

As complex as the question might have been to ban or not to ban, to reinstate or not to reinstate, freedom of speech certainly at the center of the question, I absolutely do believe that the oversight boards decision to uphold the ban was the right one, Bruni said. Americans are blessed with this priceless right to freedom of speech, but it comes with equally undeniable civic responsibilities. It is not free of personal responsibility for any of us, even the POTUS Donald Trump, to use the Facebook platform to spread the lie that he had actually won the election, this in spite of multiple audits that proved without a shadow of a doubt that the election had been fairly won.

Bruni said Trumps comments on the pandemic are another reason he should be kept from social media.

Perhaps even more tragic, his constant propaganda designed to denigrate the COVID response by the CDC, his false claims regarding the uselessness of the face masks, his insistence that it was just a passing fancy, Bruni said. Hundreds of thousands are dead today because of his very public reluctant support for pandemic relief, loudly broadcast via Facebook and other social media venues.

Kraus called Trumps ban a form of censorship, but Soto-Vasquez disagreed saying Trump still can use media such as Fox News to be heard whenever he wishes.

One point both party chairs agree on is some individuals or groups should be banned from social media if they are using it to spread hate.

This is a slippery slope, Kraus said. I do agree that some people and groups should be blocked from social media. For example, extremists like the KKK, Neo-Nazis, ANTIFA and other hate-groups. However, when does it stop? When do we say, okay, lets draw the line here and we wont ban anyone else for their beliefs. Thats the issue. Pretty soon they will be banning anyone they disagree with from social media. Anyone who says this is an exaggeration clearly has not studied history very well.

Bruni believes pepole should only be banned if they are inciting hatred toward others.

I do not believe that anyone should be blocked from social media, certainly not without cause, Bruni said. The use of any medium to state our views is just as precious an opportunity as the message we impart. When we misuse that right, when we incite rebellion, when our words lead to insurrection and death, then we should lose the right to continue doing harm.

Soto-Vasquez believes the solution is to establish a standard for what can get somebody blocked.

Soto-Vasquez said Trump creating his own social media website is one of many signs that people are going to gradually veer away from large social media outlets.

I think that one of the main reasons why the former president is upset about losing his access to social media is less for his right to speech, as that is what he is saying, but mostly it is because of his access to be able to fundraise, Soto-Vasquez said. So, any social media company that he does start I guess it will be geared towards getting more money from his followers for whatever future purpose it might be. I do think we are also going to start seeing many more smaller websites like Club House and TikTok as the big era of the social media platform might already be coming to an end, and there might never be another Facebook.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
A self-proclaimed leader of the Cartel Del Noreste threatened migrants inside a detention center in La Salle County and directed human smuggling operations while in custody as a witness for another case, according to an arrest affidavit.

Authorities identified the suspect as Juan Bautista-Lopez. He was charged with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport migrants.

On May 4, Homeland Security Investigations special agents obtained evidence that led to the arrest of Bautista-Lopez. The case, however, dates back to Jan. 14. At about 7:10 a.m., special agents responded to a possible human smuggling attempt at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. 59 southwest of Freer. Special agents launched an investigation that resulted in the arrest of Daniel Delgado Davila.

Bautista-Lopez, a Mexican citizen, was found hidden in a compartment on the underside of the flatbed trailer pulled by a truck driven by Davila. Bautista-Lopez claimed he paid a human smuggling organization $2,000 to transport him to Dallas, states the affidavit.

Authorities held Bautista-Lopez as a witness in the case against Davila.

On March 19, the U.S. Marshals called HSI special agents regarding some concerning written statements made by migrants held at the material witness detention center in La Salle County.

The migrants claimed Bautista-Lopez made threats against them and told them he is a leader of a human smuggling organization known as Cartel Del Noreste that smuggles people into the United States, authorities said.

These individuals stated Bautista-Lopez communicates with his wife over the phone at the detention center and he directs his wife on the operations of the (human smuggling organization), states the affidavit.

Special agents obtained recordings of Bautista-Lopezs phone calls from the detention center.

On these phone calls, Bautista-Lopez is heard directing the transportation of people, money, and paying drivers with his wife and unknown individuals in Mexico. These directions are sometimes made using code words and phrases known from (special agents) experience to be consistent with human smuggling, states the affidavit. Bautista-Lopez discusses with his wife about building compartments in vehicles, which cannot be seen when the doors are opened by CHEMAS. CHEMAS is often used by smugglers to describe law enforcement officers at checkpoints.
TAMIU Police Chief Fructoso San Miguel is facing allegations of recklessly firing shots at an opossum in the backyard of his Lakeside home, according to an arrest affidavit.

San Miguel, 60, turned himself in to the Webb County Sheriffs Office on Friday morning to be served with an arrest warrant for discharge of a firearm in certain municipalities, a Class A misdemeanor punishable with up to one year in jail or a $4,000 fine or both.

Webb County Jail records show San Miguel is out on bond.

Our University Chief of Police has cooperated fully with authorities and presented himself to them (on Friday morning). No additional comment is possible at this time as this is now a legal matter, the university said in a statement.

The Gonzalez Druker Law Firm is representing San Miguel and released a statement on his behalf.

It is unfortunate that Chief San Miguel was arrested under these circumstances. We look forward to clearing his name as this case progresses and the evidence unfolds, said Attorney Uriel Druker.

Shots fired

The case unravelled at about 11:20 p.m. April 18, when a Laredo Police Department officer responded to a shots fired call in the 400 block of Lake Nakuru Court. The officer rang the doorbell of the residence A man later identified as San Miguel opened the door. The officer told San Miguel that a shots fired call was reported at his residence.

Fructoso (San Miguel) told (the officer) he was trying to shoot and kill an opossum in his backyard. Fructoso (San Miguel) stated he was a retired chief from Laredo PD and he is currently the Chief of Police at TAMIU (Texas A&M International University), states the affidavit.

San Miguel had used his Laredo police retirement pistol, a SIG Sauer, according to the affidavit. San Miguel allegedly told the officer he had only fired three shots because the gun jammed. The officer asked San Miguel where the firearm was. San Miguel escorted the officer to the dining room where the .45 caliber SIG Sauer P220 was on top of the dining room table.

Police said the gun had a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson casing jammed in the barrel. The officer contacted the Webb County District Attorneys Office hotline to speak to an assistant district attorney. After learning the facts and circumstances about the case, the assistant district attorney told the officer not to arrest but to file a report for discharge of a firearm in a municipality, states the affidavit.

A forensic identification services investigator responded to the scene. The investigators recovered the firearm, spent casings and ammo. Police also recovered three .45 caliber Winchester spent casings from the backyard of the residence. All items seized were placed in the LPD property room as evidence.

On April 22, A detective spoke with one of the callers who reported the shots fired. He stated he was getting ready for bed at about 11 p.m. when he heard shots fired coming from the back left of his backyard. The residence located in that area is San Miguels.

Opossum problem

That same day, the detective spoke to San Miguel in a telephone interview.

Fructoso explained that he had used his former service weapon, a SIG Sauer pistol which was awarded to him for retirement from the Laredo Police Department. Fructoso told (the detective) that he had an opossum problem in his backyard, states the affidavit. Fructoso (San Miguel) conducted some research on killing opossums and found the best way to kill them was to cut off their head or shoot them in their head.

San Miguel stated he thought about getting a cage to trap the opossums but did not want to inadvertently poison his cats with the bait used in the cage, according to court documents. San Miguel further stated that he did not shoot recklessly into the air. He told the detective that he shot down into the ground and not up because opossums do not fly, states the affidavit.

San Miguel explained to police that he did not shoot when the opossum passed by the back door to his residence, by his swimming pool or by the brick wall that bordered with his neighbor, states the affidavit.

Fructoso (San Miguel) explained that he discharged his firearm in a safe manner (aware of the backstop) and made sure he was firing into the dirt. Fructoso fired his weapon four times before his weapon jammed, stats the affidavit. Fructoso then grabbed a pitch fork and stabbed the opossum. The opossum was observed with (the officers) body worn camera. The opossum was impaled with the pitchfork. The opossum managed to escape after being impaled with the pitchfork while officers were on scene.

On April 30, the District Attorneys Office accepted the case for prosecution because the home did not appear to have sufficient or adequate light for someone to safely shoot at a moving opossum, states the affidavit.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Shoppers and staff at a New Zealand supermarket were being praised for their bravery Monday after authorities said they managed to stop a frenzied man from hurting others after he stabbed four people in a random attack, severely wounding three of them.

New Zealand Police Superintendent Paul Basham said he'd watched CCTV footage of the attack at a Countdown supermarket in the city of Dunedin and the actions of the bystanders in detaining the man until police arrived was nothing short of heroic.

What I can say is that those that intervened, some of whom became injured themselves, I think have acted selflessly and with great courage to prevent this man from hurting anybody else, Basham said.

Two of those wounded were supermarket staff members.

On Tuesday, authorities said three of the injured had improved to a serious but stable condition, while the fourth person was in a moderate condition.

Police said they'd charged a 42-year-old man with four counts of attempted murder. The man, who authorities didn't immediately name, was due to make his first court appearance later Tuesday.

The suspect was also injured in the attack and was initially treated for his wounds under police guard before being transferred to a jail.

People in the store at the time told local media that it was a chaotic scene as some people began screaming and running toward the exits while others rushed to help.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the motivation for the attack had not been established but police didn't have any evidence to suggest it was domestic terrorism.

Needless to say that such an attack is hugely concerning, and I do want to acknowledge the really early reports of courageous acts by bystanders who have taken action in order to protect those around them, Ardern said. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this attack..

Ardern said five people had been taken to Dunedin Hospital with stab wounds or related injuries.

Health authorities said three of the wounded had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Dunedin Hospital.

We are shocked and devastated by the events in our Dunedin Central Store this afternoon, Countdown said in a statement. Our priority right now is our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event. We are deeply upset that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured.

Dunedin is home to about 130,000 people, including a large number of students who attend the University of Otago.
Early on March 6, Juanisha C. Brooks was driving home on the Capital Beltway when she saw the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle behind her. At first she thought it was an ambulance and she steered to the shoulder of an exit ramp to let it pass.

Brooks soon realized she was being pulled over, drove from the ramp to the first side street and stopped.

There, Brooks repeatedly asked Virginia State Police Trooper Robert G. Hindenlang why he had pulled her over, and Hindenlang repeatedly refused to say, dashboard-camera video from the trooper's car shows. He did not tell her he had noticed her taillights were out as she drove. Instead, he told Brooks that if she would step outside, he would show her why she had been stopped. Brooks told the trooper she didn't want to get out.

Hindenlang then unlocked Brooks's door and dragged her out of the car, while Brooks loudly pleaded with him to stop, the video shows. The trooper spun her against the car and handcuffed her. When Brooks refused to take a sobriety test, after telling the trooper she had had one drink, Hindenlang told her, "You're under arrest for driving under the influence."

"Why were your eyes so watery when I pulled up?" Hindenlang asked her.

"Why were my eyes watering?" Brooks answered the trooper. "Because people are being shot by the police, I'm freaking nervous."

Washington Post photo by Katherine Frey

At the Fairfax County jail, Brooks and her attorney said, she twice took a breathalyzer test. The results: a 0.0 blood alcohol level. So Hindenlang charged her with resisting arrest, eluding police, failing to have headlights on and reckless driving.

Brooks said she had forgotten to turn her headlights on that night and hadn't noticed on the brightly lit Beltway. The Virginia General Assembly banned pulling people over for dark taillights, effective March 1, because it led to the type of pretextual traffic stops that can cause unnecessary conflict and consequences for otherwise law-abiding citizens.

After Brooks's attorney, Patrick M. Blanch, provided the video to prosecutors, Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano dismissed all charges and called for state police to conduct an internal investigation. In a letter to police, he said "the stop was without proper legal basis," given the recent change in the law, and the "dashcam footage does not provide a factual basis to support the warrants."

Corinne Geller, the spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said the stop and arrest were proper. She said Hindenlang observed Brooks driving "without any headlights or taillights, tailgating other vehicles and making unsafe lane changes, which are indicators of an impaired driver and provided reasonable suspicion for the trooper to initiate a traffic stop." Geller said Brooks was taken into custody "due to her persistent refusal to comply with the trooper's requests" and because of the trooper's suspicion that Brooks might have been driving under the influence.

Traffic stops are one of the most common places for citizens to interact with police. But because they have the potential to quickly turn confrontational, such as during the stop that led to the recent police killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota, many jurisdictions are considering limits on what police may treat as a cause for stops or searches. Virginia lawmakers recently prohibited police from making stops for dark taillights, the smell of marijuana, or something dangling from a rear view mirror. The D.C. Police Reform Commission has found that even in areas of the District where White residents are the majority, Black people make up a majority of police stops. Last week, the Minnesota legislature debated a bill limiting pretextual stops by police over minor infractions.

"Officers who conduct stops about traffic safety," said Lauren Bonds, legal director of the National Police Accountability Project, "are trained to convert them into investigative stops, looking for drugs, looking for a reason that would justify more of a search. . . . I think it really undermines public confidence in the police. If I was Ms. Brooks, I don't think I would ever want to stop for the police again."

Brooks, a Defense Department employee with a top-secret clearance, said the encounter left her fearing for her life and later her job.

"I'm nervous because I've seen so many of these interactions," Brooks said in an interview. "I was having a panic attack. . . . I felt to get out, I would be putting myself in danger."

Brooks has worked for the Defense Department for eight years, currently as a senior video producer. With top secret clearance, "My whole livelihood was on the line," Brooks said. "You can't have any charges when you have a clearance." The Defense Department questioned her about the arrest, she said.

Hindenlang, 49, has been a state trooper for 24 years, Geller said. He does not have a voice mail or answering machine on the phone number listed for him, and he did not respond to an email seeking comment. The state police said they are conducting an internal investigation of the incident.

Brooks's ordeal didn't end with being charged, though. Hindenlang had ordered her car towed, and left her wallet and phone inside the car. After Brooks was released on a signature bond, she said she asked Hindenlang where her car was, and he gave her a Post-it note with the name of the tow lot in Lorton, but nothing else. Brooks said Hindenlang told her that her mother was waiting in the lobby and could help her. Brooks's mother is deceased.

"Oh," Hindenlang said, then shut the door on her and walked out, Brooks said.

A bondsman tried to help her contact friends, and eventually the magistrate in the jail sympathized with Brooks and drove her to the Vienna Metro station and gave her $20, Brooks said. The station wasn't yet open, so she stood outside in the frigid darkness for an hour. It took a train ride, two bus trips and a cab ride for Brooks to reach the tow lot, where she said she was charged $240 to extricate her car. She arrived home around noon, almost 10 hours after Hindenlang stopped her.

"Would he have done that to a White woman? No," Brooks said. "He didn't see me as a human being. . . . This has to stop. It's racism at its core, and it should be seen as such."

Geller denied any racial component to the stop. "At no time during the traffic stop," Geller said, "did any Virginia State Police personnel make a direct or indirect reference to Ms. Brooks's race, ethnicity, nationality or gender." She said Brooks' phone and wallet were placed in her car to decrease the chance of their being lost while she was being taken to jail, and that "a trooper is only required to transport an individual in custody, not personal possessions." Once Ms. Brooks was released from the jail, she was no longer in police custody, Geller said. "State police does not provide individuals rides home from jail," she said.

Jordan Blair Woods, a professor at the University of Arkansas law school and author of a recent law review article titled "Traffic Without the Police," watched the video of Brooks's traffic stop. "It's disturbing," Woods said. "If a driver doesn't immediately pull over, even if they're in the middle of a dark highway and confused, the first hunch an officer has is the driver has something to hide or is involved in criminality. That's an assumption that, unfortunately, is engrained in the law."

"This traffic stop," said Claire Gastanaga, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, "is a perfect illustration of why the General Assembly made it illegal for police to do a traffic stop for no taillights as a primary offense as of March 1, five days before this stop took place. The trooper unnecessarily escalated this situation in a circumstance in which a contributing factor clearly was the trooper's own failure to show any empathy for why a Black woman might be afraid to stop for police late at night."

Brooks said she had bruising on both arms and pain for weeks, but also, "I went through emotional trauma. I haven't slept a full night since. Three hours here, four hours there. Every single day I think about it."

Brooks is a native of Portsmouth, Va., a graduate of Virginia Tech and serves on the board of directors of the university's alumni association. Brooks's sister was visiting from Portsmouth and the pair met for about two hours late on March 5 into March 6. She said she had one cocktail around midnight. Hindenlang wrote in his report that he detected "a fruity smell coming from her person," suspecting it might be alcohol. Brooks said it was her perfume.

Brooks was heading to her home in the Kingstowne area of Fairfax County, driving west on the inner loop of the Beltway, shortly after 2 a.m. Hindenlang and a trainee trooper were parked on the on-ramp from Telegraph Road when they spotted the car with no taillights go past, the video shows. The audio was not on as Hindenlang pulled out, and within 40 seconds he reached Brooks's Honda Accord and followed it.

Georgetown University law professor Paul Butler recently told an interviewer for NPR that he brings a police officer into his classes who invites students to ride with him to witness his power. "He tells the students, 'Pick any car you want on the street and I'll stop it,'" Butler said. "He's a good cop. He waits until he finds a legal reason, but he says that he can follow any car for four or five minutes and he'll find a reason. There's so many traffic infractions that any time you drive, you commit one. And that gives police an extraordinary amount of power, and we know that they selectively use this power against Black and Brown people."

Though Geller said that Hindenlang "observed the Honda traveling on I-495 without any headlights or tail lights," Hindenlang's written report does not mention Brooks's car failing to have headlights on, nor does he mention that in the video. The Accord did have front running lights on. Hindenlang wrote that Brooks's car was, on two occasions, "following the other vehicle at two car lengths" and that in one instance where Brooks's lane ended she merged "without signaling."

After two minutes, Hindenlang decided to pull Brooks over. Brooks said initially she thought the flashing lights were an ambulance and slowed down on the Van Dorn Street exit ramp to let it pass. When she realized it was a police car, not an ambulance, Brooks said she drove to a nearby street with which she was familiar and stopped.

Some police departments, including in Fairfax County, require their officers to identify themselves and state the reason for a stop. The Virginia State Police does not require this. The video shows that Hindenlang asked Brooks whether she had a license and registration, which she said she did, and to get out of the car, but he ignored her questions about why she was stopped. He said that if she got out, he would show her the reason, but Geller said the real reason for the request was to stop Brooks from driving away again.

Police have the legal authority to order a driver out of a car to protect themselves. The U.S. Supreme Court said in 1977 that "what is, at most, a mere inconvenience cannot prevail when balanced against legitimate concerns for the officer's safety."

Brooks said she thinks that if she were White, the trooper would have asked her about her taillights and suggest she get them fixed, as she said happened with a White colleague recently. She tried to begin recording the encounter on her phone, but instead the trooper "grabs me by left hand and yanks me out of the car," causing her phone to fall to the ground, Brooks said.

"I've seen how these situations play out," Brooks said. "I was in fear for my life, that I would be shot." The elapsed time from when Hindenlang first signaled Brooks to pull over to when she was handcuffed was less than five minutes. Hindenlang then questioned Brooks about whether she'd been drinking.

"The trooper afforded her the opportunity to complete field sobriety tests to confirm her sobriety," Geller said, "but she refused." Brooks said she declined the tests because she didn't believe they would be fairly administered.

"My global impression of the stop," said Bonds, of the National Police Accountability Project, is "there were just an escalating number of pretextual reasons that the officer was upset that he wasn't getting enough deference from Ms. Brooks."

Descano, the Fairfax prosecutor, said in a statement: "It's sickening and unacceptable that any member of our community fears for their safety during a routine traffic stop. That's why I will not rest until we bring about the day when this is no longer the case."
Danny Zaragoza, Staff Photographer / Laredo Morning Times

The Streets of Historic Downtown Laredo will come to life with Laredos only certified Farmers Market reopening. Laredo Main Street announced El Centro de Laredo Farmers Market is returning bigger and better on Saturday, May 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Laredos only certified Farmers Market provides a family- and pet-friendly event that is free for the community. The community will benefit from the health-conscious products from different local vendors that will be participating at the market. The market will have free activities for the entire family including board games, live jazz music, chef demonstrations and meet and greets with Little Ms. Laredo and little Ms. Junior Southwest Texas along with other pageant sisters.
A suspect driving a stolen ambulance crashed into a Texas Department of Public Safety unit in La Salle County, according to authorities.

At about 12:34 p.m. Friday, Texas DPS received a call from the Webb County Sheriffs Office regarding an Angel Care Ambulance Service unit that was stolen from the tourist center on mile marker 18 of Interstate 35.

An Encinal Police Department officer observed the stolen ambulance traveling north on Interstate 35 and attempted to stop the vehicle. A pursuit ensued after the driver refused to stop.

Several law enforcement agencies assisted in the pursuit. The suspect tried to avoid an attempt by authorities to stop the vehicle when he intentionally collided into a DPS trooper in his marked unit at the intersection of I-35 and FM 133 in La Salle, according to Encinal police.

DPS said the trooper had no serious injuries but was still taken to a hospital in San Antonio via air. The driver was arrested and taken to the hospital as well. DPS said they are only handling the crash investigation.

Local, county, state and Federal agencies came together in the best, most effective way possible in this incident. The Encinal Police Department sends our best wishes and prayers for the DPS Trooper involved, Encinal police said in a statement.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  The Republican Party of Virginia announced late Sunday that state Del. Jason Miyares has won its nomination for attorney general, as the party works to tabulate the votes for several state offices cast by tens of thousands of Virginia Republicans.

Hand-counting of the ballots began earlier Sunday with several dozen people managing the effort, which started with the attorney general contest, John March, a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia said.

Voters cast their ballots a day earlier in the party's nominating contest for governor and other statewide offices.

March said the governor's race would be counted second, followed by the lieutenant governors race.

Officials have warned it may take multiple days to finish the counting, which was complicated by the ranked-choice voting method used, as well as a proportional representation system awarded each city and county.

The GOP opted, after a bitter, drawn-out fight, to hold what it called an unassembled convention on Saturday. Because pandemic restrictions ban mass gatherings, delegates cast ballots Saturday at nearly 40 polling sites statewide.

Miyares won out against three other candidates: Leslie Haley, a law firm partner and elected official in Chesterfield County; Chuck Smith, a former U.S. Navy JAG commander; and Jack White, a minister, Army veteran and former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr.

I want to congratulate Jason on his victory this evening, said state party chairman Rich Anderson in a statement. Running for Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia is no easy task, and this is a critical first step.

Democrats will choose their nominees for statewide offices in a primary June 8. In that party's nominating contest for attorney general, state Del. Jay Jones is challenging incumbent Mark Herring.

The Washington Post reported that the start of Sunday's vote-counting was briefly delayed after a housekeeper entered the ballroom where the ballots were stored and snapped tamper-proof tape that had been used to seal the room. That set off a frenzy to investigate and review video to make sure nothing was amiss, according to the newspaper.
Click the image above to view slideshow

Examining the Mahurangi River catchment map, from left, Shelley Hackett, Adam Schelhammer, Colin Harvey (MERRA) and Leo Van de Wijdeven (landowner).

Managers of a project designed to stop thousands of tonnes of sediment flowing into the Mahurangi River each year outlined how they planned to achieve that goal at a public launch event at the Mahurangi West Hall last month.

Late last year, the Ministry of the Environment contributed $5 million to the Mahurangi East Land Restoration project (MELR) to stop the flow of sediment. MELR is managed by Auckland Council and the Ngati Manuhiri Settlement Trust.

The project is designed to complement dredging of the Mahurangi River, ensuring that the river does not simply refill with silt once it has been dredged.

Project managers Adam Schelhammer and Shelley Hackett told the gathering of around 100 landholders and environmentalists that the MELR would build on the work of the Rodney Local Board and previous efforts by Auckland Regional Council and Rodney District Council to contain sediment.

The managers said to do this, MELR would focus on four problem areas  rural land use, forestry, small construction sites and unsealed roads.

Mr Schelhammer said the MELR would provide funding to landowners to stop sediment running off their properties.

Do you have a piece of land with a stream that needs to be fenced or re-planted?

Do you maybe need to do wetland reconstruction? Do you have a stretch of unsealed road that you are aware is dumping sediment into a waterway? We can help with that, he said.

On forestry, the project managers said they would provide landowners with information on low-impact harvesting techniques and regulatory requirements. They would also seek to protect landowners from cowboy contractors, who offer cash for trees but then quickly depart after removing them, leaving an environmental mess behind.

On unsealed roads, MELR would pilot maintenance techniques to reduce sediment loss from dirt and gravel roads.

Mr Schelhammer said sealing was not always the answer. Often it was more important to address underlying drainage issues.

On construction sites, managers said MELR would engage with construction crews and developers to advise on regulatory requirements and the best way to contain sediment.

Mr Schelhammer said MELR would aim for voluntary compliance, but could levy penalties on developers who broke the rules.

Shelley Hackett said the Mahurangi River catchment covered about 13,500ha and included 206km of rivers and streams.

An estimated 21,000 tonnes of sediment was being washed into the river each year. Around 55 per cent came from bank erosion, 17 per cent from pasture land and 22 per cent from native open space and forestry.

She said about 70 per cent of the catchment was farmland, hence MELR was making a big effort to engage with farmers and support their efforts to contain sediment.

She said currently valuable topsoil was being lost from farms and its presence in waterways was creating a hostile environment for marine life.

Info: Shelley.Hackett@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
President Moon Jae-in speaks during a media conference at the Chunchugwan press room of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, May 10. Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in on Monday agreed to modify some of his real estate policies, calling them a main reason for voters' "severe punishment" for his party in recent local by-elections.



"(My government) has failed to achieve the aim of stabilizing property prices and (the party) received a severe punishment for that," Moon said during a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae held to mark the fourth anniversary of his inauguration.



He picked the real estate problem when asked by a reporter what was the most "most regrettable" policy failure in the past four years.



Moon's policy failures to curb runaway housing prices have been blamed for the ruling Democratic Party's crushing defeat in the April 7 Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections, a key barometer of voter sentiment ahead of next year's presidential election.



Furthermore, he pointed out a corruption scandal erupted involving officials at the state housing developer, Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH).



The president likened the election rout with being hit with "bamboo clappers" like a whipping.



He said the government needs to modify some property-related policy measures, including mortgage regulations and tax hikes, in order to help those without houses or single home owners, a matter to be discussed in detail among the Democratic Party, the government and Cheong Wa Dae.



He, however, dismissed the possibility of changing the underlying drive of curbing real estate speculation and

expanding home supply.

Asked about a call for granting a special presidential pardon to Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, jailed over a bribery case, Moon said he would make a decision after listening enough to public opinions.



"It is a clear fact that we need to further enhance the competitiveness of our semiconductor industry, with global competition on chips intensifying," he said. But he said he also should consider fairness, related precedents and public consensus.



He also maintained a prudent stance on whether to give two former imprisoned presidents -- Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye -- special pardons.



Moon clarified his view on another politically sensitive issue of the so-called text message bombs directed at politicians taking issue with Moon's policies. Some hardline supporters of Moon are accused of sending smartphone messages, often including abusive language and slander, to critics of the president or those seen as uncooperative.



A number of observers say such acts have hampered free and democratic discussions inside the ruling party and led to falling public support for it.



Moon said it's natural for people to express their opinions via text messages in the social networking service era.



Nonetheless, he requested that supporters of him voice their opinions in a more "polite and persuasive" manner, saying it would be hard to win support or sympathy through "rough and rude" messages.



The president defended his controversial nominations of three officials to lead the science, oceans and land ministries.



The National Assembly held confirmation hearings on them last week, but the opposition is demanding that Moon withdraw the nominations amid reports of alleged ethical lapses.



Moon said he chose them in consideration of their ability and expertise and added that he would wait another day for related discussions at the parliamentary before deciding whether to appoint them.



Delivering a special address earlier in the day, meanwhile, Moon pledged all-out efforts for speedier COVID-19 vaccinations and economic recovery.



"All government capabilities will be mobilized and private-sector vitality will be enhanced so that our economy will grow at more than 4 percent for the first time in 11 years," he said.



He also declared a push for creating herd immunity here earlier than originally scheduled.



"The administering of the first dose to everyone in the population who is eligible will be completed by the end of September, ensuring that herd immunity is achieved before our original target of sometime in November," Moon stated.



On the stalled Korea peace process, Moon reaffirmed a commitment to close cooperation with U.S. President Joe Biden. He cited a plan for his first in-person summit talks with Biden to be held at the White House in late May.



"The ROK-U.S. alliance will be solidified through the bilateral summit scheduled in late May," he said, referring to South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. "We will restore dialogue between the two Koreas and between the United States and North Korea and find a way to step once again toward peaceful cooperation by more closely coordinating policies toward North Korea."



With only a year to go in office, he made clear that, "I will not be pressed by time or become impatient during the remainder of my term."



He added that if there is an opportunity to restart the clock of peace and advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, "I will do everything I can." (Yonhap)
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

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

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

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

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

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

Vote

View Results
The Regional Hospital Mullingars emergency department and hospital continues to be extremely busy and are seeing a lot of seriously ill patients, many of which are over 75 years of age with a variety of complex healthcare needs.

A spokesperson for Ireland East Hospital Group said this Monday morning, "We apologise for the distress or inconvenience caused to patients or their loved ones who are experiencing long wait times.

"The Full Capacity Protocol has been implemented our consultants are doing additional ward rounds to facilitate discharges and we are working with the community to discharge patients where it is appropriate to the community.

"The hospital is asking that people think about all their care and treatment options, the length of time you may be waiting in ED should you not require urgent care and we would ask that people keep our ED services for the patients who need them most.

"However, if you are seriously injured or ill the ED will assess and treat you as a priority. We ask the public to please adhere to all Public Health Guidance and wear a face covering and keep socially distanced, wash your hands frequently and to wash your hands frequently."
Senator Carrigy called on the Minister today in the Seanad to prioritise funding for the Attic House under the 2021 Community Development Pilot Programm

Senator Carrigy went on to say Attic has a proven track record of Community work in Longford and is ideally located to pilot this community development initiative. This superb facility has a state-of-the-art campus ideally located in the heart of the most marginalised communities in Longford. The existing project has been supported by many agencies to address the needs of young people in the community but now it is time to further develop on what has been built and offer Attic House as a community development project for Longford Town.

"Attic House has developed an integration programme to ensure inclusivity of people from our migrant community. Many of these communities live independent from each other which can lead to a divided population which in turn can lead to conflict. Attic has engaged with high number from these communities very successfully.

"The Youth Cafe was established in 2006. Following consultation identifying the lack of services and supports available for youth and family support services, the need for a dedicated centre was raised. Then in 2015 Attic House was established as a volunteer managed youth and community project which has now become a central hub in Longford for youth and for other agencies to work together to provide opportunities for all in our county. Funding to develop the facility was sourced from Leader, Longford County Council, LEO however over 500,000 was raised locally.

"This gives the community of Longford a sense of ownership and pride in its achievements so far. It is governed by a management committee of members drawn from a broad section of the community bringing a wide skill set to the governance of the facility and the project itself.

Senator Carrigy concluded Minister that in my opinion is a Community Development Programme which has been financed and run by volunteers so far. What could it achieve if given the resources to allow it to expand with a full-time project manager? Its unique position with an existing state of the art facility adds considerable value for money to any project investment.

"It is an organisation with experience, embedded in the community and can hit the ground running allowing it to reach more people in our community.
Two experienced guidance counsellors have developed a range of career camps for second level students to help inform them about subject choices, what different careers involve and the various paths to achieving your dream job or career.



Faustina McLoughlin from Rooskey (daughter of Neil Moran and Loretta Mulligan) and Breda Ann de'Courcey from Cleggan, Connemara, both teach in secondary schools in Dublin but have identified a need for one-to-one mentoring and better research skills for teenagers who may be unsure what course or career to pursue.



While young people are resilient, Faustina feels they can be under pressure with schoolwork and, at times, bombarded by information on a wide range of career options.



They may not have access to guidance classes in the same manner that they have for mainstream subjects. They may lack the knowledge and skills to compare a course and a college, to discover an alternative pathway, to find what is the right fit for them, says Faustina who has over 15 years' teaching experience.



Breda-Ann adds: Most students don't understand what a career is or how to select a path to take. They think of engineers as building bridges, pharmacists as working in a pharmacy, but those qualifications open so many other doors and opportunities. What students dont always understand is that constant learning and development is a journey.



Together, we want to teach students the tools to understand that and to research the options they have to grasp what it is to work in a field. Very few people work in the same job for 40 years anymore and we want to facilitate that understanding.

The camps are about students taking ownership of key decisions about their future.



The focus of our camps is not just on skills and knowledge development but also an understanding on how to use them. Students will leave our camps with better research skills, better decision-making skills and better awareness of learning opportunities and available to them, explains Breda-Ann.



Participants will learn, discover and achieve. Our sessions are prepared and delivered with the learner in mind, allowing them to interact and engage in a supportive environment. We use video case studies, stories and carefully designed worksheets to enable participants to become active participants on all of our camps. We embrace ICT tools such as Mentimeter, Padlet and Kahoot, adds Faustina.



Both ladies are members of the Teaching Council and of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors and are garda vetted. They also take a holistic approach to students' development encouraging them to get involved in extra curricular activities at school and college.



The Covid-19 pandemic and extended periods of remote learning may have restricted some students' access to career guidance, says Faustina.



"Our career guidance camps will make students more aware of all the options available to them. They will learn how to research the different pathways into their desired course/career from Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses, to apprenticeships to courses on the National Framework Of Qualifications (Levels 6-9).



Breda-Ann says subject choice is important. Its important that senior cycle students pick their subjects carefully as subject choice can have unintended negative consequences that may not become apparent until sixth year when students realise that they dont meet the subject matriculation requirements for entry to a course they wish to pursue.



"In our experience, we find that students might discredit certain science disciplines for example, without knowing what the career or course content is actually really about. We show them how to explore course content and understand the benefits and outcomes from specific course choices," she explains.



You can book your place and find out more information at www.mycareerguidance

camp.ie

Parents and teens can follow the ladies on instagram @mycareerguidancecamp to get notifications about upcoming events, CAO, UCAS & EU application updates and all that is career guidance related, as well as competitions for free places.
A Longford man with over 120 previous convictions has been sentenced to three months behind bars after stealing and cashing a fraudulent cheque from a Department of Social Protection official.

Twenty-eight-year-old Scott Duffy, 91 Gleann Riada, Longford pleaded guilty to taking the cheque from a community welfare officer at the Department of Employment and Social Protection, Ballinalee Road, Longford on June 7 2018.

The court heard how Mr Duffy had attended a meeting with the welfare officer on the day of the incident.

Sgt Enda Daly, for the State, said the official had temporarily stepped outside to take a phone call and it was during this timeframe that tthe accused stole a cheque from the state official's chequebook.

He said CCTV footage was obtained showing Mr Duffy entering a business on the main Dublin Road and cashing the cheque for 300.

That resulted in Mr Duffy being charged with the theft of a blank cheque and subsequently cashing it for the aforemention sum under Sections 4 and 6 of the Criminal Justice Act.

In defence, solicitor John Quinn termed both offences as legacy charges in light of the fact they took place almost three years ago.

When asked by Judge Seamus Hughes as to why the case had taken so long to come before the judiciary, Garda Anthony Scanlon said a mix of bureacratic red tape allied to the accused man's whereabouts were to blame.

Another garda got promoted and the file was passed onto me, he said.

Mr Duffy had left Longford at that stage and proved difficult to find.

Judge Hughes was likewise informed Mr Duffy was currently serving out a 15 month sentence in relation to a separate matter, a term which meant the accused was not expected to be released from prison until April next year.

Sitting in the dock, wearing an army top and dark trousers, Mr Duffy explained the reason why gardai had difficulty in securing his arrest was because he had moved to England for a number of months to work as a binman.

He doesn't want to evade these matters, said Mr Quinn.

He moved to England to try and get work, but unfortunately his past caught up with him.

Judge Hughes was also told Mr Duffy was a father of five children with 126 previous convictions to his name.

Judge Hughes sentenced Mr Duffy to a three month concurrent term for the fraudulent cheque charge.
TCM can help halve COVID-19 death rate: report

Xinhua) 13:54, May 10, 2021

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A recent study has shown that Qingfei Paidu soup, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) widely used to treat COVID-19, can help reduce the rate of death among hospitalized patients by half, China Daily reported Monday.

The study, led by researchers from Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, examined more than 8,900 hospitalized COVID-19 cases in Hubei Province, the hardest-hit region during the epidemic, from January to May last year.

Nearly 30 percent of the patients had taken Qingfei Paidu as part of their therapies. Results suggest that the mortality rate for those undergoing the TCM treatment stands at 1.2 percent, while the rate for other patients is 4.8 percent, said the report.

The study concluded that the use of Qingfei Paidu is associated with a 50 percent reduction of mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, without amplifying the risk of developing acute liver or kidney injuries.

The newspaper cited Li Jing, head of the research team, as saying that based on the national diagnosis and treatment guidelines for COVID-19, Qingfei Paidu is the only prescription that is recommended for treating all patients ranging from mild to critical cases.

Qingfei Paidu is a concoction made of dozens of TCM herbs and roots such as ephedra, licorice root and bitter almond.

The study is by far the largest clinical research on Qingfei Paidu and its findings have provided strong evidence proving its marked efficacy in saving the lives of COVID-19 patients, according to the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
President Moon Jae-in points at a journalist to take a question during a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae after a speech to mark his fourth anniversary of inauguration, Monday. Yonhap



President confident of 'November herd immunity' goal



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the new North Korea policy developed by President Joe Biden's administration was "another chance" for Pyongyang to begin dialogue, pledging he will do his utmost to facilitate talks between the two Koreas and the U.S.



"The U.S. consulted with the South Korean government on the policy from the beginning, in the belief that the prolonged breakdown in talks with the North is inappropriate," Moon said during a press conference marking his fourth anniversary in office.



"Though the new U.S. administration's North Korea policy has not been fully revealed, it is on the same page as our government."



Moon's remarks came amid the prolonged stalemate in the President's efforts to revive the "peace mood" on the Korean Peninsula after the failed Hanoi summit in 2019 between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



Following the inauguration of the Biden government, North Korea has tested the U.S. and South Korea by launching short-range missiles in March, and engaging in verbal threats while severing all contact with Seoul.



Against this backdrop, Washington has dropped hints about its policy toward the North, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying it will be a "calibrated, practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy."



"This is the result of close consultation with us," Moon said during a speech before the press conference. "We welcome the direction of the Biden administration's North Korea policy that aims to achieve the primary goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy, with a flexible, gradual and practical approach built upon the foundations of the Singapore Declaration."



Regarding the current stalemate, Moon said he believes Pyongyang is not refusing to engage in talks, and that the Kim Jong-un regime will make a last-minute decision because the new U.S. policy is providing the reclusive state with an additional chance.









"As the North Korea now has an additional chance to sit down for negotiations, I expect it to give a positive response," Moon said. "During the upcoming summit with the U.S., I will explore various ways that can entice the North to come forward for talks," said Moon, who is scheduled to have his first in-person meeting with Biden in Washington, D.C., May 21.



During the speech, Moon stressed that his government will "strictly enforce the laws" against activities that "dampen inter-Korean relations by violating inter-Korean agreements and current laws," referring to the recent case of a North Korean defectors' organization flying anti-Kim regime leaflets over the border into the North.



The government has criminalized such acts, saying this was to protect residents in border areas. However, the move drew criticism from U.S. lawmakers and international human rights groups that stated the law banning the anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns limited South Korea's freedom of speech.





Citizens watch a television at Seoul Station, Monday, airing a speech by President Moon Jae-in to mark the fourth anniversary of his inauguration. Yonhap
LANSING  With the recent confirmation of Deb Haaland to lead the Department of the Interior, the nation has its first Native American cabinet member.

The position has significant influence on Native American affairs, and tribal representatives in Michigan say theyre optimistic about what Biden administrations policies and Haalands position mean for Native representation.

Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, is a former U.S. representative from New Mexico and now runs the department with the most responsibility for Native American affairs, including relationships between the federal government and tribes. The department includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education.

Michigan is home to 12 of the 574 tribes recognized federally.

Amber Morseau, the director of Northern Michigan Universitys Center for Native American Studies, said some past Interior Department policies and practices have been abusive.

Its supposed to honor the nations trust and responsibilities and its commitments to Native American people, and to really help them prosper, she said of the department.

However, with former administrations, this has really been a conflict with the mission of the department by taking sponsorships and other incentives from different companies that profit off of marginalizing Native American territories, Morseau said.

Haaland at the helm creates a totally different dynamic than what were used to seeing from that office, she said.

Morseau continued, Were already starting to create a more equitable environment for our people to become politicians and be at the table. We now have a seat at the table, and thats whats important.

David Arroyo, who chairs the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, agreed, saying, Im confident that shell do a great job for all the citizens of our country, but I think she has, probably more so than anyone else, the understanding of our people.

Morseau and Arroyo said inequality and climate protection are two areas where they expect Haaland to focus.

Arroyo said, From an Indigenous standpoint, I hope that we are given equal footing and equal consideration and treatment, as is written in treaties and different policies. So I hope, moving forward, we can finally move the false and sometimes misleading narrative of how things really arent.

On climate change, he said, Its scary to think that if we dont have a planet to live on, then we dont have much of a life. I hope were able to correct some things and make sure that the generations after us can enjoy what we currently do.

Morseau singled out the Line 5 project, a controversial oil and gas pipeline operating under the Straits of Mackinac, which is a target of criticism from environmental groups, tribes and the Whitmer administration.

There are serious environmental concerns that are happening in the state of Michigan, concerning the Straits of Mackinac and that are going to have a broader impact than just the water, she said.

In the Great Lakes region, she said, Anishinaabe folks live and breathe by the water that surrounds this state. And so with that in mind, I know that this is going to be a part of (Haalands) agenda.

Jay Sam, the director of the Historic Preservation Department of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, said Line 5 is a fairly large issue for the tribes, and hopefully therell be a more receptive chance to negotiate and consult with the federal government in reviewing some of the state policies.

Sam said that he also wants a change in the overall framing of government-to-government relations between tribes and the federal government, including more of a partnership that exchanges information and consults on projects.
This is the last in a series of articles to highlight the possible effects of, and concerns over, Japan's decision to discharge radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.  ED.



'Double, double toil and trouble': 'Macbeth' by Shakespeare



By Christine Loh



Treating complex problems as technical matters seldom works. There is no one clear answer as technical information is understood and questioned from different perspectives.





Christine Loh, chief development strategist at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's Institute for the Environment

At issue is how Japan should deal with the 1.25 million tons of wastewater contaminated by the meltdown of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, wrecked by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.



Japan's proposed solution, announced on April 13, is to gradually release the water into the Pacific Ocean. The release could start in two years and might take 30 to 40 years to complete. Japan said the wastewater will have been treated and thus not harmful.



Is the release of the treated wastewater safe? A simple question, but the answer is not straightforward.



The nuclear industry view is that it is technically feasible and could be done according to international best practices, since there are standard procedures for nuclear plants all over the world to release wastewater from time to time.



The complication is that the multi-filtration treatment system to be constructed, called the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), does not remove all radionuclides, and there will still be trace amounts, including tritium, in the water.



Japan's plan includes the dilution of the filtrated wastewater before release. In the case of tritium, dilution would reduce its concentration to one 40th of what Japan allows in its drinking water. In other words, the remaining radionuclides should be at a safe level when sufficiently diluted.



This view is supported by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA).



However, special rapporteurs  independent U.N. experts  on toxic substances, food, human rights and the environment have expressed concerns about the marine environment and the rights of others.



Their views are similar to those of environmental scientists, green groups and fishermen.



Scientists who look at environmental impacts more broadly say trace radionuclides do not all behave in the same way. Once in the ocean, some are more readily incorporated into marine life that could eventually affect humans.



Experts also say there are gaps in understanding about the radioactive hazards of radionuclides, such as tritium, and their risks may have been underestimated. They call for a further evaluation, as tests have so far only been carried out on small volumes of water over short periods of time.



Fishermen have already suffered greatly from the meltdown of the nuclear reactors, which devastated the regional fishing industry for years.





The Pacific Ocean looks over nuclear reactor units of No. 3, left, and 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma town, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, in this Feb. 27 photo. AP-Yonhap
A Dorchester woman on Sunday missed a Mothers Day call from her son, but shell have a message from his boss to look forward to.

Hey mom, its Joe Biden, the president announced into the speakerphone on the Resolute Desk alongside Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, the former mayor of Boston. Im standing in the Oval Office with a guy who says that hes your son. Hes the secretary of labor, Im just calling to check whether thats true.

The president shared a short video of the call to Mary Walsh  which also featured an off-camera Hi, Mom! from Vice President Kamala Harris  on social media Sunday night. Dont forget to call your moms today, folks, the official @POTUS account tweeted.

When the call went to voicemail, Walsh could be seen digging in his pockets, perhaps in an effort to text his mom, but he rolls with it as Biden starts speaking.

Dont forget to call your moms today, folks. pic.twitter.com/2oQ9mAo3Uh  President Biden (@POTUS) May 9, 2021

After Biden gestures toward Walsh and says, Say hi to your mom, man, Walsh exclaims, Hi, Ma, how are ya?

The former mayor, reportedly close with his mother, said last year that he missed Mary most of all during the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic forced the pair to cancel their frequent visits, which had been hard for her, and it breaks my heart, Walsh told Boston Magazine.

The president offered a few kind words to make Mary Walsh proud.

Sorry we missed you, mom ... we just wanted to say hi. Anyway, it wont surprise you, hes doing a hell of a job, but Ill deny having said that, Biden said. Ill catch you when youre home. Love you, see you, bye bye.

Walsh then cracked up the Oval Office by suggesting, Shes probably sitting there not answering the phone.

Related Content:
SPRINGFIELD  City and health officials said Monday the number of new COVID-19 cases dropped by 37.6% last week among residents, but Springfield continued to be among communities in Massachusetts deemed at highest risk of transmission.

There were 265 new coronavirus infections reported among resident last week, May 2-8, as compared to 425 cases the week before (April 23 to May 1), a reduction of 160 cases in one week.

And that is good news, said Helen R. Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of health and human services during the weekly COVID-19 update at City Hall. While we are still in the red, it is important that we are heading in the right direction.

It marked the third consecutive weekly decline for new COVID-19 cases in Springfield, as vaccinations continue to climb locally, statewide and nationwide.

I do want to say thank you to Springfield residents who are taking this extremely seriously and doing the mitigation efforts that weve asked, Caulton-Harris said.

Caulton-Harris, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Baystate Health President and CEO Dr. Mark Keroack, all urged residents to get vaccinated and to encourage others to get the vaccines.

Since the pandemic began, 22,078 Springfield residents have been infected with COVID-19, and there have been 265 deaths, Caulton-Harris said. There were no new deaths reported in Springfield last week.

Keroack said the number of patients being cared for at Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center declined slightly, continuing a trend from recent weeks.

There were 52 patients with COVID-19 at Baystate Health hospitals in the region, as of Monday, with 14 in critical care, as compared to 54 patients the prior week and 78 patients two weeks ago.

Statistics provided by Mercy Medical Center showed there were 11 patients as of Monday, as compared to 12 the week before.

Keroack said that city and health officials are working to encourage more people to get vaccinated, a key to returning to more normal times.

Keroack said people not getting vaccinations appear to vary including those who want more information, those not wanting the hassle of appointments, those not thinking its a big deal, those rolling the dice, some mistrusting experts and science, and those simply not willing to change their minds,

The city and hospitals are expanding education and outreach efforts, and it is now easier to get appointments or walk in, city officials said.

Keroack urged residents who have gotten the vaccine to become ambassadors and persuaders to those who are opting not to get vaccines.

In addition, the message needs to focus on showing the seriousness of not getting the vaccine to those individuals, their families and others and the community, Keroack said. The effort should also continue to make the process of getting vaccines ridiculously easy, he said.

Caulton-Harris and Sarno said the city continues to expand the number of neighborhood sites for vaccines. The mass vaccination site at the Eastfield Mall on Boston Road now offers walk-in vaccinations.

Of those getting COVID-19 in the past week, those residents ages 50 and under represent 83% of the cases, including those ages 30 and under being 64% of the new cases, Caulton-Harris said.

Those of you who are under the age of 30, please see yourself as a high risk group because you have become a high risk group based on the numbers, Caulton Harris said. As it has been said many times, its not just you that you should be concerned about, its certainly those who live in your environment, your household, your parents, your grandparents.

In Springfield, those who are fully vaccinated amount to 22.7%, as compared to 39% statewide, city officials said.

Those getting at least one vaccine shot amounted to 34.9% of residents in Springfield, as compared to 56.1% in the state, official said.
Walk-in appointments are now being accepted at six of Massachusetts super coronavirus vaccination sites.

Large-scale COVID-19 vaccination sites that are offering walk-up appointments are the former Circuit City in Dartmouth, the DoubleTree Hotel in Danvers, the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, the Hynes Convention Center and the Reggie Lewis Center, both in Boston, and the Natick Mall.

The only super vaccination site in Massachusetts thats not accepting walk-ins is the one at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker made the announcement last week that the six large-scale locations would be offering walk-up appointments after visiting the COVID-19 vaccination site set up at the Encore Boston Harbor in Everett. For weeks, public officials and advocates have been calling for walk-in options for Bay State residents.

Last Wednesday, the governor said some of the sites, which are overseen by the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services but run by private vendors, may already be offering walk-ins.

The governors announcement about the availability of walk-up appointments at the super vaccination sites comes as the state begins to ramp down the administration of shots at these large-scale locations.

With millions of people already vaccinated in Massachusetts, the demand at the super vaccination sites will gradually decline and shots will be distributed more widely across communities at various other locations, including hospitals, mobile sites, pharmacies and regional collaboratives.

Bakers administration will gradually close four of the states seven large-scale vaccination locations by the end of June, including the sites at the DoubleTree in Danvers, Gillette Stadiums, the Hynes Convention Center and the Natick Mall.

Still, the super vaccination sites have served a crucial role in Massachusetts rollout of the vaccine, and Baker expects 4.1 million residents to be vaccinated by the beginning of June.

Mass vaccination sites have played a critical role in the commonwealths vaccination process in a very short period of time, Bakers office said in a statement on May 3. At the mass vaccination sites, the commonwealth has administered 1.2 million doses and fully vaccinated 470,000 people since the first site opened at Gillette Stadium on January 18th.

Appointments for some vaccination sites are available at VaxFinder.mass.gov or by calling 211.

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On Mothers Day, Grace Kinstler and the rest of the American Idol top 7 contestants will be performing songs and mentored by Coldplay. The fans favorites will then make it to the top 5.

The fan vote has always been a large part of the show. But like previous seasons, the first few episodes of American Idol were set by the judges.

Now its Americas turn.

Kinstler, a Berklee College of Music student, is one of two women left in the competition and is the only contestant in the shows top 7 that has Massachusetts ties.

Voting beings at the start of the East Coast broadcast, which is at 8 p.m. Voting then lasts until the shows last commercial break.

Fans can vote up to 30 total times. This includes 10 votes per voting method.

Voting is allowed through online, text messages and the American Idol app. For those voting through text, the number of the contestant can be texted to 21523. For Kinstler, that number is 10, which is changed from previous weeks.

American Idols Twitter account will also help keep fans updated on ways to vote.

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Three American Idol contestants shared their own original songs with fans on Sunday during the Mothers Day part of the show.

Hunter Metts, Chayce Beckham and Caleb Kennedy all used Sunday night as an opportunity to sing songs they had written. Typically, contestants sing songs written by other famous artists.

The judges were impressed by all three performances, telling them to make a record with those songs immediately.

Put that song out, judge Lionel Richie told Kennedy. Thats a smash record for you.

Both Kennedy and Beckham continued to the top 5. Metts was voted off the show Sunday night alongside Arthur Gunn.

Listen to all three songs below.

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SPRINGFIELD  Dr. Paul Pirraglia, a Baystate Health internal medicine and public health specialist, has been part of a group meeting remotely since last March to identify those whose economic and social resources made them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19

The group includes other Baystate representatives, as well as members from the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts and Caring Health Center, and plans to continue its work even as COVID-19 cases have dropped regionally and across the state along with hospitalizations and deaths from complications of the respiratory disease.

There is no vision to stop, Pirraglia said. It will continue in some form as multiple different partners pull together around overlapping and complex issues.

He said the committee has not been a fixed-goal group.

We keep shifting as the situation shifts, said Pirraglia who sees patients at Baystates Mason Square Neighborhood Health Center. I am hopeful that good comes out of a terrible thing and that it helps us be better at making sure there is fairness and rightness in the care we provide.

He added, We want to continue to have a means of driving the system to address inequities in whatever fashion that we can.

One need Pirraglia would like addressed is the digital divide that he said became apparent as we pivoted toward doing more telehealth, particularly video telehealth during the pandemic to minimize exposure to the respiratory virus.

Lack of access to a wireless connection and devices that allow for more than just audio communication, he said, make it harder for patients to be given and receive care remotely and equally.

At the beginning of March last year, we were doing almost no telehealth, Pirraglia said. Within three weeks of the first surge we were doing 80 percent of our work by telehealth. To see a large organization pivot that rapidly tells you how necessary it was.

He sees telehealth as a here-to-stay option across patient populations and one particularly helpful for individuals and families with challenges around transportation, work and daycare and their providers.

What we noticed is our no-show rate went from fairly high, something common with community health centers, to single digits, Pirraglia said. That was an extraordinary swing. We continue to have much improved no-show rates with telehealth.

He added, A great example is when I was in clinic the other day and a patient who called for a same-day concern was scheduled for a face-to-face visit with me but could not make it in.

My medical assistant was able to contact her and ask if she would at least want to talk by phone and she said yes and we were able to address the concern to a large extent, Pirraglia said. Perfectly, no, but to a large extent.

He said that by being able to switch to telehealth it did not become, Oh, well, we will have to reschedule so you can get in soon.

The ability to meet patients where they are has helped with access and that is critically important, Pirraglia said. I think telehealth is here to stay. We have to figure out how to do it better and do it right in terms of what is appropriate for telephone, what is appropriate for video, what is appropriate for face-to-face.

Pirraglia, who oversees medical students at Baystates clinics, said contextual drivers put certain patient populations at risk for COVID-19 along with the fact that testing was very limited at the start of the pandemic 14 months ago.

A lot of people with front-line jobs that they had to do to feed themselves and their families were put at substantial risk, Pirraglia said. Early on when personal protective equipment was hard to acquire that was a major concern. Once spread starts it is hard to stop it.

Pirraglia did his fellowship in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical Schools largest teaching hospital, and holds a masters degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He heads Baystates general medicine and community health division and is an associate professor for the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate.

Baystate officials warned early on about the importance of adhering to emergency public health mandates and guidelines around COVID-19. The number of cases in Hampden County show a curve that dipped initially before fluctuating between surges and reaching a high in January. Death rates started high as tracking of such cases began and fatalities mounted in nursing homes where staff and residents lacked PPE against the new virus.

The pandemic snapped into sharp focus the inequities that have been occurring, Pirraglia noted.

The mitigation group, whose members also numbered Dr. Sarah Perez-McAdoo of the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate, worked on what Pirraglia called an intentional and systemic approach to some of the more functional aspects of inequity.

Patient populations involved included those served by Baystates three neighborhood health clinics - Brightwood, Mason Square, and High Street - as well as others served by the BeHealthy Partnership, an Accountable Care Organization that includes Caring and Health New England as well as Baystates clinics.

We have a close relationship with Caring and a lot of the work we do around equity concerns bridges over with them, Pirraglia said. We knew based on members of our ACO and based on the populations of our health centers that these were going to be the same people with inequity issues in coming forward with COVID.

The working group looked at such aspects as low-income housing, where cases were occurring and where ACO members lived as well as access to pharmacies that deliver, how food gets to people, and transportation issues.

Pirraglia described this as figuring out the needs of the populations at risk and communicating with them in a way that was meaningful.

What we first did was to reach out to community leaders and influencers about what they thought were important ways people were getting their COVID information, and what their worries were, Pirraglia said. We used this working with our community health workers to create a culturally, linguistically-attuned needs assessment that these workers started doing on our lists of patients who by condition and location folks we wanted to reach out to.

Initially, Pirraglia said the group targeted ways to protect people who were at risk, trying to catch people who had not been infected and keep them from getting infected.

The effort pivoted during the search to try to identify who were infected and make sure those around them had protection, Pirraglia said. As the surge has eased and vaccinations came to the forefront, we pivoted toward more vaccine delivery, education and community outreach.

A grant from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Pirraglia said, enabled the community health workers to supply material such as facial masks, finger-worn devices to monitor levels of oxygen in the blood and room dividers and air mattresses so families could quarantine within their own living spaces.

We tried to get materials and services to people who needed it, Pirraglia said.

Vaccination across the most vulnerable groups has been a challenge in a state where early allocations from the federal government were deemed insufficient to supply both mass vaccination sites and smaller providers. The rollout in which appointments were made through a state registration site put those without access to the internet as well as transportation to such sites at a disadvantage.

What was set in place was deeply biased against people who had transportation issues, people who had digital access issues. We knew this was going to make it very difficult for our patient population to get vaccinated, Pirraglia said.

We started to vaccinate our 75 and older patients from the health centers in February in lockstep with the states phased rollout. We had people calling these patients and inviting them to get vaccinated. We were able to deliver 650 people vaccinations over the course of six weeks. These were people who would have had a great deal of difficulty to getting any of those green dot (mass vaccination) sites or other public-facing sites.

Pirraglia said Baystate used a supply that was being used for employees and others to start vaccinating these clinic patients.

We have continued to do that to this day, he said. We are close to running in-reach style clinics five-days-a-week where we are contacting our patients and getting them in and getting them vaccinated. We have vaccinated a couple thousand people at this point.

Dr. Paul Pirraglia is a Baystate Health internal medicine and public health specialist.

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The Seoul Capital Area Landfill in the Baekseok area of Incheon's Seo District, November 2020 / Courtesy of the Incheon City Government





By Ko Dong-hwan







The governments of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province on Monday began their second search for a new landfill after they failed to obtain the approval of any municipality in their prospective areas, despite offering many incentives to the community that hosts the dumpsite.







The search became inevitable after the Incheon City Government announced in November 2020 that it would stop accepting waste coming from the entire Seoul Metropolitan area  which includes nearly 26 million people living in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon  by the end of 2025.







Seoul Capital Area Landfill Site Management, a state-owned company under the Ministry of Environment, runs the existing landfill in Incheon's Seo District, is overseeing the selection process for a new site after being commissioned by the three regional governments.







The three regions and the management company had been searching for a new site from January until April 14, offering incentives, including direct financial support. But so far, no municipality has stepped up to offer a site.







Seoul Capital Area Landfill Site Management has opened the second application process for prospective municipalities to be selected for 90 days until July 9, and they have also lowered the eligibility requirements to encourage more municipalities to apply.







For example, the original requirements stated that the "overall area" of the proposed site was required to be at least 2.2 million square meters in size in order for a municipality to be eligible to apply. But that requirement has now been reduced to 1.3 million. The actual area for landfill use has also been lowered to 1 million square meters from 1.7 million.







Additionally, interested municipality authorities are required to acquire the consent of 50 percent of the residents living within 2 kilometers of the proposed site. The previous requirement was the consent of at least 70 percent of the residents.







Moreover, a prospective site is no longer required to be equipped with a waste sorting facility and capable of treating 4,000 tons or more per day. However, having a domestic waste treatment facility, with a capacity of 2,000 tons or more per day, and a waste-to-energy transition facility capable of handling 1,000 tons or more per day, are still required.







According to the original selection requirements, the new dump site can also not be built on any site that has been designated by the government for protection, including: protected water supplies and streams, preserved ecological areas, cultural heritage sites, parks, and zones that are off-limits for military purposes.







The municipality where the new dump site is to be located will receive various incentives for its residents. Seoul Capital Area Landfill Site Management will allow the authorities in the selected municipality to used 20 percent of the landfill construction budget to build a new social welfare facility for local residents. The government of the selected municipality is also permitted to receive annually 20 percent of the total fees collected from dump trucks that use the landfill and spend them on raising the quality of life of residents living near the landfill site.







Seoul Capital Area Landfill Site Management will also provide to the selected municipality a special incentive of 250 billion won ($224 million), in addition to annual financial support amounting to 50 percent of the total fees collected from dump trucks that use the landfill. The local municipality can then invest these funds in order to improve the environment surrounding the dump site.







The environment ministry said Monday that they and the governments of the three regions expect a high turnout this time, as the eco-friendly nature of the new landfill project should minimize environmental problems in the surrounding areas and the incentives will help any interested municipality.


AMHERST  The school committee has reopened discussions on whether children in 6th grade should remain in the three elementary school in town, or move to the regional middle school that currently includes grades 7 and 8.

Superintendent Michael Morris presented information on the matter last week at the regional school board meeting and it is on agenda for the May 11 remote-access Amherst School Committee meeting scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Board Chair Allison McDonald took to Facebook on Sunday urging parents and the community to share their thoughts, submit public comment and ask questions about the idea, saying that, at Tuesday nights meeting, the committee will discuss the possibility of moving 6th grade to the Middle School.

Interwoven with whatever decision might be made on any change to where 6th graders attend is the ongoing effort related to building a new elementary school in town  and the towns hope that Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will pay for more than half of the costs.

Back in 2019, Amherst school officials said consensus was reached on need to construct a new school, that would replace Fort River and Wildwood elementary schools  with an estimated enrollment of 600 pupils in one building.

Following this, the school committee voted to send the idea to Amherst Town Council, which endorsed it.

The consensus the officials described in consolidating the two aging schools into a new one did not specify if a proposed new building would house grades K-6 or grades K-5  with this option meaning grade six would move to middle school.

As 2019 drew to a close, the officials said that in 2020 there would be public forums to hash this out; however, with the COVID-19 state of emergency declared in March 2020, the K-6 versus K-5 discussion was overtaken by other pressing matters.

Meanwhile, the MSBA invited the district into the multi-step, many-years process, which is ongoing.

During a January 2021 school board meeting, the officials said they were recently informed by the MSBA that they have two enrollment-based options to consider, as a condition to remain in the process, with the goal: to become eligible for state funding to potentially build a new elementary school.

One MSBA option the district is now reviewing is a 320-pupil, kindergarten through grade 6 building that would replace Fort River Elementary School.

The other is a 575-pupil kindergarten through grade 5 building that would combine Fort River and Wildwood Elementary School -- meaning sixth graders become part of the middle school, that is currently for grades 7 and 8.

The MSBA funds a percentage  generally about 60%, sometimes more  of public school capital projects that meet the agencys eligibility criteria.

During the Jan. 5 school committee meeting, McDonald said that discussion would be begin involving parents and caregivers and the community on pros and cons of the two options  including potentially transferring grade 6 to the middle school, should the community decide on the consolidated plan.

Morris said the district has two worthwhile options to consider and make a decision about.

The superintendent said he made a commitment that a new school would include an enrollment capacity of up to 600 students.

During the January meeting, he said that if it should turn out that the two MSBA options are not what the community wants, the alternative would be to withdraw from the current MSBA process and submit another application to the state.

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UPDATE: The launch of the NASA rocket was postponed to 8:02 p.m. Friday, May 14, according to the Wallops Flight Facility.

Massachusetts residents eagerly waiting to watch a rocket launch the past few days may have to continue their wait.

The liftoff of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration rocket from a Virginia launching site Friday night was postponed three days in a row to Monday night due to weather issues. The mission aims to study Northern Lights-style atmospheric reactions.

LAUNCH SCRUBBED, NASAs Wallops Flight Facility wrote in a tweet. Tonights Black Brant XII sounding rocket carrying the KiNET-X payload has been postponed to no earlier than Monday, May 10, at 8:04 p.m. The launch has been postponed due to upper level winds not being within the required limits for a safe launch.

LAUNCH SCRUBBED  Tonight's Black Brant XII sounding rocket carrying the KiNET-X payload has been postponed to no earlier than Monday, May 10, at 8:04 p.m. The launch has been postponed due to upper level winds not being within the required limits for a safe launch.  NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) May 10, 2021

As part of its mission, called the KiNETic-scale energy and momentum transport eXperiment, NASA will deploy a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket, which will then release a payload of barium vapor clouds north of Bermuda roughly 9 and half to 10 minutes after liftoff. The goal is to cause a magnetic disturbance, energize electrons and study energy movement in space.

Last month, NASA released an image showing when the rocket is expected be able to be seen after launching from the facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Throughout southern New England, including in Massachusetts, the liftoff will be able to be viewed 30 to 60 seconds after liftoff.

As far west as Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, the rocket will show up in the sky 90 to 120 seconds after it launches, according to NASAs image.

The KiNet-X mission was initially scheduled to start Friday night, but Wallops postponed liftoff to Saturday, as camera stations were looking for clear skies preferably at both the Virginia launching site and Bermuda to view the vapor tracers.

The launch was later rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday due to upper level winds not being within the required limits for a safe launch, Wallops wrote in another tweet.

As NASA staff waited for better weather conditions Sunday, they postponed the liftoff to 8:04 p.m. Monday, again because of the upper level winds. Live coverage of the mission will be available on the Wallops IBM video site. Status updates can be found on the facilitys Facebook and Twitter accounts. The launch window will run until 8:43 p.m.

The four-stage rocket will release the barium vapor at an altitude of 217 to 249 over the Atlantic Ocean and 540 to 560 miles downrange from Wallops and just north of Bermuda. The vapors will form two green-violet clouds that may be visible for roughly 30 seconds. The particles arent harmful to the environment or public health, NASA said.

Scientists use vapor tracers mainly to study winds in the upper atmosphere. When released after liftoff, the tracers allows NASA staff to observe the winds directly, according to Wallops.

In general, the human eye does not see violet colors very well in darkness, the Virginia facility said. The KiNET-X clouds will therefore be more difficult for the casual observer to see than some of the previous vapor missions launched from Wallops.

The administrations goal with the mission is to study a very fundamental problem in space plasmas, namely, how energy and momentum transported between different regions of space are magnetically connected, NASA explained.

Examples of these atmospheric energy movements are auroras, also known as the Northern Lights. These phenomena occur when electrons collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules in Earths upper atmosphere near space.

The electrons in Earths space environment and in the solar wind have relatively low energies. Yet the aurora is generated by very high energy electrons, said Peter Delamere, KiNET-X principal investigator from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. What is the energization mechanism?

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Eager to turn the page on the Trump years, the Biden White House is launching an effort to unearth past problems with the politicization of science within government and to tighten scientific integrity rules for the future.

A new 46-person federal scientific integrity task force with members from more than two dozen government agencies will meet for the first time on Friday. Its mission is to look back through 2009 for areas where partisanship interfered with what were supposed to be decisions based on evidence and research and to come up with ways to keep politics out of government science in the future.

The effort was spurred by concerns that the Trump administration had politicized science in ways that put lives at risk, eroded public trust and worsened climate change.

We want people to be able to trust what the federal government is telling you, whether its a weather forecast or information about vaccine safety or whatever, said Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

People need to know its not by fiat, somebodys sort of knee-jerk opinion about something, added Alondra Nelson, the science offices deputy director for science and society. Nelson and Lubchenco spoke to The Associated Press ahead of a Monday announcement about the task forces first meeting and part of its composition. It stems from a Jan. 27 presidential memo requiring evidence-based policy-making.

Scientists and others have accused the Trump administration of setting aside scientific evidence and injecting politics into issues including the coronavirus, climate change and even whether Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama in 2019.

Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard University historian who has written about attacks on science in the book Merchants of Doubt, said politicization of science undermines the nations ability to address serious problems that affect Americans health, their well-being and the economy.

Theres little doubt that the American death toll from covid-19 was far higher than it needed to be and that the administrations early unwillingness to take the issue seriously to listen to and act on the advice of experts and to communicate clearly contributed substantively to that death toll, Oreskes said in an email.

Lubchenco, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Obama administration, pointed to an incident during the Trump years that became known as Sharpiegate as a clear example of political interference with scientific information that was potentially extraordinarily dangerous.

During Sharpiegate, the NOAA reprimanded some meteorologists for tweeting that Alabama was not threatened by the hurricane, contradicting President Donald Trump, who said Alabama was in danger. The matter became known as Sharpiegate after someone in the White House used a black Sharpie  a favorite pen of Trumps  to alter the official National Hurricane Center warning map to indicate Alabama could be in the path of the storm. A 2020 inspector general report found the administration had violated scientific integrity rules.

The Sharpiegate case revealed flaws in the scientific integrity system set up in 2009 by President Barack Obama, Lubchenco said. There were no consequences when the agency violated the rules, Lubchenco said. Nor were there consequences for NOAAs parent Cabinet agency, the Commerce Department. Thats why President Joe Bidens administration is calling for scientific integrity rules throughout government and not just in science-oriented agencies, she said.

Lubchenco said a reluctance to fight climate change in the last four years has delayed progress in cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases. That will inevitably result in the problem being worse than it needed to be, she said.

What we have seen in the last administration is that the suppression of science, the reassignment of scientists, the distortion of scientific information around climate change was not only destructive but counterproductive and really problematic, Lubchenco said.

Kelvin Droegemeier, who served as Trumps science adviser, in an email repeated what he told Congress in his confirmation hearing: Integrity in science is everything, and science should be allowed to be done in an honest way, full of integrity without being incumbered by political influence.

Droegemeier said the White House science office, where Nelson and Lubchenco now work and where he used to be, is more about policy and does not have the authority to investigate or enforce rules.

Last week, Republican legislators accused the Biden White House of playing politics with science when it removed climate scientist Betsy Wetherhead, who had been praised by atmospheric scientists, from heading the national climate assessment. Lubchenco said it was normal for a new administration to bring in new people.

Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said the Biden administration is trying hard but isnt approaching the task of restoring science quite right.

Its impossible to keep politics out of science, Brinkley said. But you can do your best to mitigate it.

He said that only looking as far back as the Obama and Trump administrations will doom the task forces efforts not to be politicized itself and looked at in a partisan way.

Whats really needed, Brinkley said, is to get to the root of things and look back as far as 1945. Both Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, and John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, elevated science efforts and tried to keep out the politics. But Brinkley said that with the onset of the environmental movement, the distraction of the Vietnam War and corporations seeing science as leading to too much regulation during the Reagan era, a unified public admiration for science fell apart.

Harvards Oreskes said her research indicated Ronald Reagan was the first president in the modern era to exhibit disregard and at times even contempt for scientific evidence.

The new task force will focus more on the future than the past, Nelson said.

Every agency is being asked to really demonstrate that they are making decisions that are informed by the best available research evidence, Nelson said.

One of the four task force co-chairs is Francesca Grifo, scientific integrity officer for the Environmental Protection Agency since 2013. She clashed with the Trump EPA, which would not allow her to testify at a 2019 congressional hearing about scientific integrity.

The others are Anne Ricciuti, deputy director for science at the Education Departments Institute of Education Sciences; Craig Robinson, director of the Office of Science Quality and Integrity at the U.S. Geological Survey; and Jerry Sheehan, deputy director of the National Library of Medicine.
The man who rammed a vehicle into the Leicester police station Sunday morning and was then fatally shot by police was identified by authorities as a 24-year-old resident of the town.

The Worcester District Attorneys Office identified the man as Zachary Richardson. He lives in the Cherry Valley section of Leicester, MassLive learned.

Richardsons family declined to speak to a reporter Monday morning.

Authorities said Richardson drove an SUV up the handicap ramp outside the Leicester police station just before 6:15 a.m. Sunday and repeatedly rammed the doors with the SUV he was driving.

Once police arrived on the scene, Richardson popped out of the SUV and immediately shouldered what appeared to be a rifle and aimed it at the police officers, Early said.

Two Leicester officers who responded to the scene shot at Richardson, who was fatally wounded.

The incident unfolded before the eyes of a dispatcher at a regional communications center in Worcester watching on surveillance video. The dispatcher saw the SUV drive up to the station located at 90 South Main St. and then slam the Toyota FJ Cruiser into the doors.

He repeatedly rammed those doors until he gained entry with his vehicle into the building, Early said during a press conference Sunday.

Leicester Police Chief Kenneth Antanavica said, Almost the entire vehicle was into the lobby.

Station 10 to ambulance personnel and company-wide, be advised theres a vehicle in the lobby, the dispatcher said on police scanner audio MassLive reviewed. A few moments later, she added, the vehicle attempted to get out of the lobby and then just came back in again, noting, its going to damage the building or people.

The dispatcher called Leicester officers who were on duty. When the officers arrived, they found the vehicle in front of the doors. Richardson pulled out what appeared to be a rifle and aimed it at the officers, Early said.

Suspects down, can be heard on the scanner audio.

The dispatcher later radios out that, we have a male party down on the ground, and the ambulance crew reports that the suspect suffered a gunshot wound.

Early declined to say if the rifle was a working firearm or something else like a BB gun.

It appeared to be a real gun when he was pointing it at the officers, Early said.

The two officers gave Richardson first aid after he was shot. Richardson was taken by ambulance to Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester where he was pronounced dead.

No officers were injured, and authorities did not say how many people, if any, were in the police station at the time.

Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to Earlys office continue to investigate the police-involved shooting. Authorities reviewed surveillance footage of the incident captured at the station.

The two officers who fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave per department policy.
In the pre-dawn hours of May 8, Sincere and Tristan Cruz of Worcester lost their only living parent to gun violence.

Carlos Cruz, remembered as a dedicated and loving father of four sons, was shot around 1:30 a.m. near the Paku Lounge at 215 Chandler St. in Worcester. Officers gave him medical aid until an ambulance took him to the hospital, where he later died. He was 44 years old, according to police.

Although police have yet to publicly identify Cruz as the victim of the fatal shooting, he was identified on a GoFundMe page set up to support his two youngest sons in the darkest days of their short lives, the mans family said. As of Monday morning, the page has raised more than $6,500 of its $50,000 goal.

The Worcester man was raising his children as a widowed father. He lost his partner, Maria A. Collazo, the mother of the two youngest sons, to a brain aneurysm three years ago, according to the GoFundMe page. The two oldest sons, Juan and Carlos Cruz Jr., are in their 20s.

That was Carloss heart: his children and his family, a spokesperson for the Cruz family told MassLive.

At the time he died, Cruz had finished training as a personal care assistant and was working at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester in environmental services, according to the family spokesperson, who declined to be identified.

The father of four was in the process of buying a home outside of the city for his sons, as their safety, their security and their well-being was always his first priority, according to the Cruz family.

Carlos worked tirelessly through the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the family wrote on the GoFundMe page. Even though he worked long hours in brutal conditions, he always took time to shower his sons with love and create lifetime memories with them.

Cruzs youngest sons are surrounded by loved ones and members of the community. However, they need help as they grow up without either parent, according to the GoFundMe page.

The family described Cruz as a cherished son, brother, cousin, father and friend, who lived his life with bravery and courage.

He loved deeply despite the circumstances and situations that he faced, the GoFundMe page said. Carlos dreamed as big as his laugh. There are so many dreams that he never realized because his life was taken from him. He wanted to own a food truck to share his amazing pernil and pinchon with others. He wanted to own a home and life a quiet life with his sons.

The spokesperson for the family noted Cruzs death highlights the far-reaching problem of gun violence in Worcester.

Over the weekend, look at the number of gun violence issues that were reported in the city, the spokesperson said. This is a problem. Its a problem, and its not just affecting the Hispanic-American community. Its affecting everyone.

Related Content:
Edgar Bowser, the man who killed Shrewsbury Police Officer James Lonchiadis nearly 50 years ago, died in a prison hospital last week, roughly three months after he was granted medical parole by the state.

The 61-year-old man had metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare throat cancer, and his condition took a turn for the worse when he contracted coronavirus late last year, according to his attorney, Rebecca Rose.

His lungs never recovered from COVID, she said.

He died last Friday night in a correctional unit at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, according to the Somerville-based attorney. The facility provides health care to inmates from more than two dozen state and county prison facilities across Massachusetts.

I must say, from all reports, staff at the Shattuck treated him respectfully and with dignity, Rose noted. As he got close to death, the Shattuck staff was quite responsive.

Bowser was granted medical parole on Feb. 8 by Massachusetts Department of Correction Commissioner Carol Mici. Despite his attorneys requests that he be transferred to the care of his family and doctors at Boston Medical Center, he remained in prison until his death, Rose explained.

He was granted medical parole, but there was never a release plan approved, so he remained in the prisons custody until his death, she said. So, the request was effectively denied. Nobody responded to it.

In the wake of Micis decision to grant Bowser medical parol, the DOC head penned a letter in which she detailed how the inmate didnt have long to live, according to Rose.

Rose told MassLive in early February that her clients cancer had spread to his bones and that he remained unresponsive. This is the reason why he was granted medical parole in the first place, she said. His health worsened after he caught COVID-19, and he was attached to a ventilator for months.

The attorney, who has represented Bowser for roughly five years, first submitted a first petition for medical parole for him in August. It was denied in November, and she reapplied Jan. 8. The request was finally granted after he caught the viral respiratory infection, Rose noted.

Her client catching coronavirus was preventable had he been released from prison earlier, Rose argued. However, she pointed out, the state doesnt grant medical parole solely because someone has medical conditions that put them at higher risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID-19. They have to have actually contracted the virus, according to her.

Mr. Bowsers illness was entirely predictable and entirely avoidable, Rose said in February. He got COVID in the prison system, and now hes dying from it, even though they knew hes vulnerable.

The decision to grant Bowser medical parole Bowser didnt go without controversy. The inmate has gone to the parole board numerous times in the past several decades and was even released from prison in 2007 before he was arrested again only three years later.

Each time Bowsers case has gone to the parole board, Lonchiadis family has been forced to argue against the prisoner being released, a gut-wrenching process, Shrewsbury Police Chief Kevin E. Anderson noted. In February, the police chief told MassLive he opposed the inmate being granted medical parole and was against the statute that allowed him to be released.

On March 5, 1975, Bowser, shot and killed Lonchiadis with a .32 caliber handgun. The officer was 28 years old when he was murdered, and had a wife and two children, including Lt. James Lonchiadis, who has also served in the Shrewsbury Police Department as well as the Massachusetts Army National Guard.

In the moments before he was fatally shot, the elder Lonchiadis pleaded for his life, telling Bowser, who was 16 years old at the time, that he was married and had kids, according to records from the Massachusetts Parole Board.

Dont shoot, Lonchiadis said, according to the records. I want to go home tonight.

Before killing Lonchiadis, Bowser, his sister and his brother-in-law were attempting to steal a Corvette from a gas station parking lot on Route 9 in Shrewsbury. They had also locked an attendant in the trunk of another car, according to the court documents.

Lonchiadiss murder went unsolved for 20 months after Bowser stole the officers gun to jack a car and escape from authorities. He was eventually arrested in October 1976 and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery charges three years later, the records said. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Related Content:
By Arthur I. Cyr





President Joe Biden has just completed the first 100 days in the White House and marked the occasion by addressing a joint session of Congress on April 28.



President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first to emphasize this length of time, and create a benchmark for future chief executives. FDR launched an enormous whirlwind of policy and political activity immediately after his inauguration as president on March 4, 1933.



This included the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which moved the inaugurations of the president and vice president from March up to Jan. 20. Under that amendment as well, members of Congress assume office on Jan. 3 rather than the later month.



The nation then was gripped by the Great Depression, with unemployment above 20 percent, vast stretches of industry idled, and the financial system in collapse. FDR's rhetoric reflected this.



The most cited phrase of this inaugural is the ringing Roosevelt declaration that "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Polio's scourge left the president's legs paralyzed, which makes at least equally notable that he went on to describe "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts"



Less often quoted, this unusually historic speech includes the pointed declaration that if the legislative branch failed to cooperate in tackling the Depression, "I shall ask the Congress for  broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."



The next day, Sunday March 5, FDR convened his cabinet and reached agreement on radical financial measures. He declared a three-day "Bank Holiday" to try to calm the public and asked Congress to reconvene March 9 in a special session. Extensive economic reform legislations followed.



His Democratic Party had overwhelming majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The era of Republican Party dominance, which began during the Civil War, came crashing down along with the national economy.



Preempting the stage, moving fast, Roosevelt also held his first press conference on March 8. His press meetings were dramatically informal, involving open give and take not seen since his relative Theodore Roosevelt had occupied the White House.



The Biden administration quickly secured Congressional passage of extensive financial aid legislation, in reaction to the ongoing, pervasively publicized Coronavirus public health problem. The stimulus package, passed with only Democratic support, expands federal economic involvement, along with spending and debt levels. The price tag of approximately $2 trillion surpasses even the costly financial measures implemented during the last administration.



The administration also has a very ambitious overall legislative agenda. During the serious financial crisis and recession of a decade ago, President Barack Obama and others in politics as well as the media described the situation as the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.



In stark contrast, while our economy has experienced disruption, overall growth continues. This reflects radical fiscal and monetary policies, dwarfing the Great Depression and other previous deficits.



Senator Tim Scott presented the Republican response to President Biden's speech. He is a relatively young and exceptionally articulate member of the U.S. Senate who is also an African-American.



Senator Scott represents South Carolina, a secessionist stronghold historically, a leader in racist segregationist policies into the 1960s.



Follow Senator Scott, conscientiously.



Learn More: Jonathan Alter, "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope"





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen distinguished professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War" (NYU Press and Macmillan).


By Deauwand Myers





The terms of Korean presidents are an oddity in advanced democracies. To curb the faux-presidential dictatorships of past presidents  like Park Chung-hee  the Korean Constitution only allows for one five-year fixed term.



Now that President Moon Jae-in is near the end of his tenure, his administration still faces the challenges of an ascendant China and an aggressive North Korea.



Being the strongest ally to Korea, the United States' role in dealing with both countries is paramount, and oddly, we still don't know how President Joe Biden will deal with North Korea.



Biden has made it pretty clear how he feels about the Chinese government. Biden has already taken executive actions to change and secure supply lines and enhance security for sensitive and advanced technologies originating from the United States.



His executive call to President Xi Jinping was long and tense, wherein Biden expressed the American government's displeasure with China's flagrant abuse of human rights, not least of which is the cultural genocide of the minority Muslim population (Uighurs) in the northwest of China (Xinjiang) and the crushing of free speech in Hong Kong.



Previously, I have written about the unenviable position facing President Moon and the geopolitics of North Korea and China. Biden faces those same challenges, but with different tools at his disposal.



All roads do lead to China, as it is the biggest benefactor to the Kim Jong-un regime in North Korea. But unlike past American presidential administrations, Biden faces a North Korea greatly crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic. This may lead to negotiations with the Kim regime about its nuclear proliferation.



Biden could at least put a pause on North Korea's nuclear arsenal research and development. Maybe. It depends on the mood of Kim and the governmental elite within his country.



President Moon, now in the twilight of his career, has a legacy to burnish. When he does have a summit with President Biden, he should convey the importance of engaging North Korea in a fashion that is conducive to tangible outcomes, not the ridiculous displays of the Trump administration.



President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both have foreign policy experience, having served in the U.S. Senate. Obviously, having been a senior senator for decades and vice president for eight years, Biden has a lot of knowledge on geopolitical affairs, more so than Harris. Unfortunately, not all of Biden's foreign policy decisions have been correct.



Biden had a hand in launching former President George W. Bush's Iraq War, a disastrous affair costing trillions of dollars and thousands of Iraqi and American lives, and with no link to terrorism or an active weapons of mass destruction program found within the Saddam Hussein regime upon the war's conclusion to show for it.



President Biden was also against the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden, a policy President Barack Obama executed anyway, which proved to be successful, perhaps the most successful foreign policy achievement during the Obama-Biden administration.



Biden and President Obama were in sync, as far as analysts can tell, in the more liberal use of drone strikes, which many on the left of the Democratic Party consider a war crime. Why?



The collateral damage from these strikes killed and maimed innocent civilians, many of them women and children, and there has never been full congressional oversight or an accurate accounting of the number of deaths and veracity of these drone strikes, not to mention the moral and legal implications therein.



But President Biden's foreign policy is not xenophobic, pro-totalitarian, and seeks multilateral consensus, from rejoining the Paris Accords on climate change to strengthening the United Nations and NATO, the polar of opposite of former President Donald Trump. This means his administration will seek cooperation on dealing with North Korea from China, and dealing with China from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.



Speaking of the dragon in the room, China presents the Biden-Harris administration with the most implacable of enemies. Besides all the aforementioned challenges with China, the Chinese Communist Party has increased the nation's military by factors of 10 over the last 20 years, and has been modernizing its military at an increased pace under President Xi.



President Xi has already said in speeches that Taiwan's existence as a democratic country is an intolerable affront to the stability and geographic "homogeny" in the region, and wants to bring it into China's domain, at whatever cost.



Taiwan has a good military, and it would definitely be a costly and bloody conflict for China to pursue, but even with help from the United States (which is required by law to defend Taiwan in the case of an attack) American military simulations have shown America may not fair too well in a hot war over Taiwan. In fact, America lost that engagement each time the simulation was ran.



As COVID-19 dissipates from the Biden-Harris agenda, here's hoping they start to keep that pivot to Asia on a firm footing.





Deauwand Myers (deauwand@hotmail.com) holds a master's degree in English literature and literary theory, and is an English professor outside Seoul. The views expressed in the above article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.




By Kim Jae-heun





GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem
President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong during a meeting with business leader in this undated photo. Korea Times file



By Yi Whan-woo



President Moon Jae-in left the door open, Monday, to the possibility of granting a pardon to imprisoned Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong amid growing calls to release him to cope with the global battle over semiconductor leadership.



The President said he will sufficiently take into account people's opinions before making a decision, adding that a pardon "is not something a president can decide easily according to his own thoughts."



"The global competition for semiconductors is intensifying and it is true that we need to enhance competiveness in the chip industry," Moon told reporters during a Q&A session at Cheong Wa Dae following his special address to mark his four years in office.



He noted Cheong Wa Dae has been receiving petitions from not only the business community but also from others.



He, however, stressed that "fairness, precedents and public sentiment must be considered at the same time."



The world's top semiconductor maker, Samsung Electronics faces daunting tasks of dealing with a global chip shortage by expanding its investments, while avoiding being caught in the crossfire in the U.S.-China battle for tech supremacy.



The related projects require highly developed business acumen and huge sums of money.



However, the global tech giant has been left to handle them without its chief who was sentenced to two and a half years in jail over a high-profile bribery case involving impeached President Park Geun-hye. Park is also serving a jail term.



The petition to pardon Lee was accordingly brought up to ruling and opposition lawmakers, Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, Prime Minister-nominee Kim Boo-kyum as well as Cheong Wa Dae officials before Moon, Monday.









The petitioners were mainly business leaders in the beginning but later included religious leaders and civic activists.



But whether to pardon Lee has been a politically complicated issue, as it is related to whether to also pardon Park and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak who is behind bars as well on a separate corruption charge.



The justice minister and Cheong Wa Dae officials both said freeing Lee is not in the government's plans, while the prime minster-nominee said he will discuss the matter with the President if he is officially appointed.





People watch President Moon Jae-in delivering a special speech on television at a community center in Mapo District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap


By Kim Hyun-bin



To better fuel Philip Morris International's (PMI) corporate vision of creating a smoke-free future, the company has newly appointed Jacek Olczak as CEO to lead the change.



Olczak is well-known for his efforts to lead the company's shift to smoke-free cigarettes, since the company announced the initiatives in 2016.



Newly appointed Philip Morris International CEO Jacek Olczak / Courtesy of Phillip Morris
Afghan people gather at the scene of a bomb explosion that targeted a school in the west of Kabul, May 9. EPA-Yonhap



Explosions caused by a car bomb and mortars outside a school in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least 55 people and wounded over 150, mostly female students, officials said, in an attack President Ashraf Ghani blamed on Taliban insurgents.



A senior security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that most of the casualties were students coming out of the Sayed ul Shuhada school, and many were badly wounded in hospital.



Footage on TV channel ToloNews showed chaotic scenes, with books and school bags strewn across a bloodstained road, and residents rushing to help victims.



"It was a car bomb blast that occurred in front of the school entrance," an eyewitness told Reuters, asking not to be named. He said all but seven or eight of the victims were schoolgirls going home after finishing their studies.



At the Sayed ul Shuhada high school, girls and boys study in three shifts, the second of which is for female students, Najiba Arian, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education, told Reuters. The wounded were mostly female students, she said.



A spokesman for the interior ministry, Tariq Arian, said the death toll was at least 30 with 52 injured.





Relatives mourn the victims of the explosion during a mass funeral ceremony in Kabul, May 9. Reuters-Yonhap



Sons and daughters



At a nearby hospital, staff wheeled in injured students while dozens of distressed relatives searched for their sons and daughters, according to a Reuters witness.









"I do not know what country we are in ... We want peace and security," a grieving relative of one of the victims told Reuters.



Kabul has been on high alert since Washington announced plans last month to pull out all U.S. troops by Sept. 11, with Afghan officials saying the Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country following the announcement.



No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the group was involved and condemned the incident.



Although Ghani blamed the Taliban, Saturday's explosions were in a heavily Shi'ite Muslim neighborhood that has faced brutal attacks by Islamic State militants over the years, including one on a maternity ward almost exactly a year ago.



Ghani said: "The Taliban, by escalating their illegitimate war and violence, have once again shown that they are not only reluctant to resolve the current crisis peacefully and fundamentally, but are complicating the situation."





People put flowers outside the school after a deadly attack in Kabul, May 9. AP-Yonhap
In Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital at Asarwa, 19 patients are undergoing treatment at the two wards, with 60 beds each, which have been created for treating mucormycosis patients.Earlier, on April 22, at a press conference organised by the state's task force of medical experts in Gandhinagar, Dr VN Shah, the director at Zydus Hospital in Ahmedabad, had said within a span of two days the hospital had seen nearly 10 patients of mucormycosis and, overall, the private hospital was seeing an alarmingly high number of mucormycosis cases.Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani on Saturday also wrote to the chief minister requesting that sufficient stock of the Amphotericin-B injections be replenished at hospitals as shortages are being reported at several places.Treatment can also include surgical intervention and control over diabetes, with the latter especially aimed at avoiding a relapse of the infection.Symptoms can include one-sided facial swelling, headache, nasal or sinus congestion, fever, and black lesions on the nasal bridge or upper inside of the mouth that can quickly become more severe.It may also lead to eye pain and ultimately result in loss of vision if not treated immediately. If in the lung, symptoms may include fever, cough, chest pain and shortness of breath.Skin mucormycosis can look like blisters or ulcers and the infected area may turn black. Gastrointestinal mucormycosis may be indicated by abdominal pain, vomiting and gastrointestinal bleeding, doctors said.Experts warned against excessive use of steroids, especially in those with uncontrolled diabetes.Cancer patients, organ transplant patients, long-term steroid users, or those inhaling moist oxygen, malnourished or underdeveloped infants, and those who have had stem cell or bone marrow transplant are at increased risk of infection.Dr Prachi Desai, said currently there have been cases where patients without a medical history of diabetes or long-term steroid usage were being detected with mucormycosis."It is suspected that Remdesivir could be causing an imbalance in sugar levels, which may then lead to this.Recently, I had to operate and partially remove the lower jaw of a 60-year-old patient who was exhibiting all symptoms of mucormycosis but his biopsy and KOH microscopic examination  the only two tests to clinically detect mucormycosis  came negative. We operated going by the symptoms.When this jaw section that was removed was sent for a biopsy, the report came as positive for mucormycosis... We will be reconstructing the lower jaw with fibula (calf bone) and are hopeful that since it is the lower jaw, there won't be any further spread."The medical superintendent of Vadodara's SSG, Dr Ranjan Aiyer, said, "Until now, the disease has been particularly prevalent in patients with uncontrolled diabetes.Patients are now given steroids during Covid-19 treatment, which is a life-saving drug. But some essential drugs also indirectly affect the body's immunity.Mucormycosis spreads from the nose and the surrounding area to other places through the eye. So far, we have performed three orbital exenteration (extraction of the eyeball) on patients, whose eyes were severely affected due to the fungal infection."According to Dr Tatyarao Lahane, Directorate of Medical Education & Research, cases of mucormycosis, which is caused by a fungus named mucor & found on wet surfaces, are on the rise.Eight COVID-19 survivors have died due to mucormycosis during treatment in Maharashtra, a senior official said on Saturday, adding the total 200 such patients are being treated.Niti Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul on Friday said mucormycosis is caused by a fungus named mucor, which is found on wet surfaces.When the same COVID-19 patient is put on oxygen support, which has a humidifier containing water, the chances of him or her getting the fungal infection increase."In such a scenario, the black fungus infects the patient easily and spreads. If the fungus reaches the brain of the infected person, it can prove fatal. In one such case, one of the eyes of a patient had to be removed permanently to save his life," he said."Though this fungus is present in the environment, people with suppressed immunity as well as who have received steroids during COVID-19 treatment are more susceptible to it.COVID-19 patients with co-morbidities are also vulnerable and can catch the infection early," he explained.Source: Medindia
A 34-year-old Indian American Sikh doctor has returned home and is helping India contain the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harmandeep Singh Boparai was working as a frontline worker in New York, United States but is now treating COVID patients in his home town Amritsar.



After this, he will start to treat covid patients at a 1000 bed hospital in Mumbai where he has been roped in by Doctors without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization. He is all set to serve the hospital for the next few weeks.

 BCCL

Dr. Harman is a specialist in anaesthesiology and critical care. He completed his MBBS in Amritsar Government Medical College before moving to New York in 2011. He has also imparted training to many doctors and nurses in the city. He returned to India this year to help people fight back the virus.



Harman said, As soon as I came back to India, though the cases were not so high at the time, I started talking to the doctors here on how we can build capacity in case cases surge, apart from strengthening the infrastructure to handle any kind of crisis. Soon enough, we saw a catastrophic rises in the cases in India. I have been able to build a capacity for intensive care at Dukh Niwaran Hospital, besides imparting training to the nurses and doctors regarding the Covid protocol that I learnt in New York during the first wave.

 BCCL

Talking about Indias COVID situation, We have not been able to contain the spread of the virus for various reasons here, even though we had time to prepare for the bad waves as were seen across the world earlier. We could have vaccinated many more people so far. But, due to issues in the system, help couldnt reach many in time.



 BCCL

He said, Doctors in the health department, especially in Punjab, have been working so hard in order to save lives. We must continue to support them and give them our best wishes and solidarity, for this is not an easy job.



What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
Empty vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine are seen at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Canada, Jan. 4. Reuters-Yonhap



BioNTech plans to set up a regional centre and a new factory in Singapore for its vaccines, it said on Monday, boosting its presence in Asia as a debate over patents rages and pressure grows on drugmakers to raise output of COVID-19 shots.



Governments are looking to build up local vaccine production to secure access to supplies after manufacturing setbacks have slowed the rollout of COVID-19 doses in some countries.



The Singapore facility will "address potential pandemic threats" in southeast Asia and will increase BioNTech's global supply capacity of product candidates - also beyond vaccines - based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, BionTech said.



MRNA vaccines, like BionTech and Pfizer's COVID-19 shot, prompt the human body to make a protein that is part of the virus, triggering an immune response.



The German biotech company said the Singapore factory will have an estimated annual capacity of several hundred million doses of its mRNA vaccines depending on the specific type, once it is operational in 2023.

"Having multiple nodes in our production network is an important strategic step in building out our global footprint and capabilities," said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech.

He told a press conference that the investment amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, declining to be more specific.

BioNTech Chief Strategy Officer Ryan Richardson said there were ongoing discussions with countries around the world about more production sites but added the Singapore decision was exceptional.



"We made a unique long-term commitment to Singapore," following more than a year of talks with the country, he added.



China venture



Leading vaccine makers have come under growing pressure to free up their COVID-19 vaccine patents to aid poor countries. BioNTech and other vaccine makers have said they were already transferring vital production knowledge to other parts of the world.



BioNTech and Pfizer are jointly commercializing the vaccine worldwide, excluding China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which are covered by BioNTech's collaboration with Fosun Pharma.



BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have done clinical trials in China but Fosun had not started producing the vaccine, which has yet to be granted approval there.



Fosun said on Sunday it would provide a factory with an annual capacity to make up to 1 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine under a joint venture with BioNTech.



This marks a step closer for China to have localized manufacturing capability for the German firm's vaccine. Five domestically-developed COVID-19 vaccines are being used in the country, while no foreign ones have gained regulatory approval.



BioNTech plans to open the Singapore office in 2021 and expects the manufacturing site to be operational by 2023, creating up to 80 jobs in Singapore.



The establishment of a southeast Asia regional hub, which is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, comes after BioNTech, based in Mainz, Germany, set up a U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2020.



BioNTech has said it and Pfizer would have capacity to produce up to 3 billion doses in 2021. Pfizer said last week the pair was targeting production of 4 billion doses next year, mostly for low- and middle-income countries.



(Reuters)




Several lots of about 27,000-32,000 tonnes were booked in Northern Europe, Italy, Spain and Poland at 1,200 ($1,460) per tonne delivered, two sources said. Transport and additional costs in Europe have been estimated at about 50 per tonne. The material will be exported by various Chinese suppliers. It will be shipped in August and delivered to Europe in October.One Italian source estimated that Chinese suppliers had sold about 30,000-50,000 tonnes of CRC to the Europe.The price was $1,050-1,100 per tonne cfr plus anti-dumping duty. The most important mills sold, he added.Offers are around 1,180 per tonne cif, duty paid from Shougang and Ansteel, another Italian distributor said.

At the end of last week,...
MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Malaysian authorities have captured eight suspected Abu Sayyaf militants who may have been planning ransom kidnappings in Malaysia, Philippine military officials said Monday, adding that they provided information that helped lead to the arrests.

The Filipino militants were arrested Saturday in Sabah state on Borneo island, were they fled in March due to military assaults on their jungle bases in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, Philippine marine brigade commander Col. Hernanie Songano said.

It is highly possible that they intend to make Sabah their staging point for their kidnapping activities, Songano said in a statement. They know that it will be very difficult for them to launch atrocities in Sulu due to the persistent military operations in the area.

The suspected militants may have been helping arrange the travel of foreign militants to the southern Philippines, Songano said, without providing further details.

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have collaborated for years on fighting kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf militants of Malaysians in Sabah and several Indonesian crewmen on cargo vessels along their vast sea border.

Philippine military officials said the suspected militants were led by Abu Sayyaf commanders Sansibar Bensio and Mabar Binda, who were involved in past clashes with the Philippine military, including 2011 fighting in Sulu where a marine officer was beheaded.

The two were allegedly involved in the kidnappings of Swiss citizen Lorenzo Vinciguerra and Dutch national Ewold Horn in the southernmost Philippine province of Tawi Tawi in 2012. The two kidnap victims were taken to nearby Sulu, where Vinciguerra fought with and escaped from his captors in December 2014. Horn was killed while trying to escape during a military assault in May 2019.

The Philippines and the United States both consider the Abu Sayyaf a terrorist organization for bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings. The militants have been weakened considerably by battle defeats, surrenders and infighting but remain a national security threat.
Interview: CPC works for serving Chinese people, says Syrian party official

Xinhua) 14:03, May 10, 2021

DAMASCUS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) is a popular party working for the interests of the Chinese people, a leading member of Syria's ruling al-Baath party told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"The CPC is one of the most popular political forces in the world, not only because it has a large number of members, but also it tries to change the reality of the Chinese nation and stands against the international imperialism and racism," said Mahdi Dakhlallah, who used to be a Syrian diplomat and information minister.

The successful way China has dealt with COVID-19 also proves that the CPC is a popular party, which strives for the interests of China, Dakhlallah said, adding that the CPC continues to develop without any stops.

He said that he has noticed the big developments in the CPC's governing notions during his previous visits to China and follows up on the conferences of the CPC.

For example, the notion of "putting the people first" has pushed China forward, he said.

The Syrian party official said that as China is an economic, political and human power with the most population in the world, it is able to link between internal developments and global developments.

He also mentioned that China has jumped to the stage of the fourth industrial revolution, which means that it has entered the electronic revolution.

"This giant leap in the electronic revolution will benefit the entire world," he said.

He noted that as China has realized its economic and scientific independence, Syria should also defend its own independence.

China has always supported Syria, not only economically but also technologically, he said.

He stressed that the horizons between Syria and China to achieve mutual developments are wide despite the Western sanctions imposed on Syria.

"We need to cooperate with China in all fields, particularly after the systematic destruction that has befallen our technological fields. We need China to help our reconstruction process," he said.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, left, Myanmar's commander-in-chief, shakes hands with National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi before their meeting in Hlaing's office at Naypyitaw on December 2, 2015. REUTERS-Yonhap



A judge on Monday ordered Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to appear in person in court for the first time on May 24, her lawyer said, after weeks of delays in her case.



The Nobel laureate has not been publicly seen since she was detained in a February 1 coup, when the military ousted her from power and re-installed its rule.



She was subsequently hit with a series of charges, and her legal team has faced an uphill battle to get a private audience with their client.



Multiple court hearings in the capital Naypyidaw have seen Suu Kyi  who attended via video conferencing from under house arrest  express frustration at the pace of the proceedings.



During the latest hearing Monday, a judge ordered for her cases to be heard with her present in a special courtroom near her residence.



"She will appear in person in court on May 24," lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told AFP.



However, he cautioned that the outstanding issue of not being able to meet privately with her still remains.



"The problem is not solved yet because the police did not answer on whether they can arrange our meeting," he said, adding that private counsel is "the right of the defendant".



The 75-year-old former leader has been charged six times since her arrest.



The charges include flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.



The most serious charge alleges that she violated the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act  a case that is pending in a court in commercial hub Yangon.



The junta has also accused her of corruption  though no charges have been filed  alleging that she received bribes of gold bars and cash.



The junta has continuously justified her arrest and the coup as a way to defend democracy, alleging electoral fraud by her National League for Democracy Party, which swept November's elections in a landslide.



Coupmaker Min Aung Hlaing, the army's commander-in-chief, is now leading the junta, and holds legislative, executive and judicial powers in Myanmar.



Mass protests have continued since the coup, with hundreds of thousands defying junta rule to demand a return to democracy and the release of Suu Kyi.



They have been met with live ammunition from security forces  at least 780 civilians have been killed in brutal crackdowns, said a local monitoring group. (AFP)


DEARBORN, Mich. (AP)  A traveling exhibit about the legendary puppeteer Jim Henson is coming to Michigan starting next month.

The exhibit called The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited will open at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn from June 5 to September 6.

The interactive display will delve into his work on The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Labyrinth. It'll feature puppets, scripts, storyboard and costumes. Henson died in 1990.

This exhibition explores Hensons unique contributions to the moving image, and how he and a talented team of designers, performers, and writers created an unparalleled body of work that continues to delight and inspire people of all ages, said a news release from the museum.
BOSTON (AP)  Large event venues including TD Garden, Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium will be allowed to double their current capacities starting on Monday, and amusement parks will be permitted to reopen at half capacity as the state relaxes its COVID-19 restrictions.

The state is scheduled to move to the next step in its reopening plan, allowing large indoor and outdoor venues to increase capacity from 12% to 25%. Gov. Charlie Baker announced the shift last month, saying the state's coronavirus cases had fallen 20% since March.

Amusement parks and water parks will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity after submitting safety plans to state health officials, and road races will be permitted with staggered starts.

The next step in reopening is scheduled for May 29, subject to continued progress in case rates and vaccinations. That shift would expand gathering limits to 200 people for indoor events and 250 people outside. Street festivals and parades would be permitted at half their previous capacity, and certain restaurant rules would be lifted, including a requirement saying alcohol can only be served alongside food.

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MAINE

Large vaccination clinics are beginning to slow down and close in Maine, but businesses aim to incentivize more vaccinations.

Employers can legally dismiss an employee if they can prove that an unvaccinated staff member would be a significant threat to others, but most are simply encouraging employees to get vaccinated.

And some are offering cold, hard cash to employees to get vaccinated.

In Portland, the owner of El Corazon is adding four hours to employees time cards  giving them four hours of extra pay  for getting vaccinated, WGME-TV reported. Across town at Flatbread Company, theyre paying employees a $100 wellness bonus if they get the shot. And Bangor Savings Bank is giving $500 to fully vaccinated workers.

The last thing we want is for another lockdown, El Corazon Restaurante Owner Joseph Urtuzuastegui said.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration is offering low- and moderate-income homeowners the chance to apply for property tax relief as the economic recovery continues from the impact of COVID-19.

The department is accepting applications for its Low and Moderate Income Homeowners Property Tax Relief program through June 30.

The department distributed more than $866,700 through the program last year, and nearly $45 million in total since the program launched in 2002.

Although the COVID-19 situation has improved from this time last year, we understand that many face financial challenges, Lindsey Stepp, department commissioner, said in a statement Friday. We will work with qualified individuals to make sure they have the option to apply for tax relief.
WOODLAWN, Md. (AP)  A Maryland man who neighbors said had a long history of aggression went on a rampage over the weekend, shooting or stabbing three people to death and setting his home on fire before responding officers fatally shot him, police said Sunday.

A news release from the Baltimore County Police Department identified the victims and offered the clearest picture so far of what the department said unfolded on a residential street in suburban Baltimore early Saturday morning.

According to police, a preliminary investigation indicates 56-year-old Everton Brown forced his way into a neighboring house, where he stabbed and shot Ismael Quintanilla, 41.

As Sara Alacote, 37, ran from that home in an attempt to escape, Brown chased her outside, fatally shooting her several times, the news release said. When two neighbors emerged from their home, Brown shot them as well, according to police.

One of those two, 24-year-old Sagar Ghimire, was later pronounced dead, the news release said. The other gunshot victim, who was not identified, is recovering from his injuries.

At some point during the course of events, Brown also set fire to his residence, police said. The scene was a charred mess  a fire official said Saturday that the building where the fire started, as well as one adjacent to it, collapsed and a third dwelling was heavily damaged.

Police received numerous calls reporting both the fire and an active shooter. Responding officers who were wearing body cameras encountered Brown in the parking lot, police said.

Four fired shots at him until they were able to take him into custody, according to the news release. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators later found several homemade explosive devices in one of Browns two vehicles, police said. They also recovered a handgun and large knife.

Police have not provided a motive or details about what preceded the attack. They said Sunday they were still conducting interviews and processing the scene.

Gail Watts, a longtime resident of the neighborhood who said she witnessed the attack unfolding, told The Associated Press on Saturday that many in the neighborhood thought Brown was mentally ill. She said he was aggressive toward women and often accused neighbors of surveilling him.

Other neighbors who spoke with the Baltimore Sun, which had written about Brown in 2008, described similar threatening, erratic behavior.

Detola Laditan, whose parents have lived nearby since 2005, told the newspaper Brown had been terrorizing the residents on the street as long as theyve lived there.

Everybody knew something was going to happen, Laditan said. "Everybody lived in fear.

Brown unsuccessfully sued the Department of Justice in federal court in 2012, the newspaper reported, alleging the agency had been running surveillance on him for more than five years and had unlawfully denied a public records request seeking records of said surveillance.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit, writing in his decision that Browns videos of purported aerial surveillance by the FBI generally show only stars or other celestial bodies," the newspaper reported.
The head of the Vaticans doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Roman Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights.

The strong words of caution came in a letter from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed to Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB will convene for a national meeting June 16, with plans to vote on drafting a document on the Communion issue

There is division among the bishops, with some pressing for Biden and other Catholic public figures to be excluded from Communion over their abortion stance, and other bishops warning that such a move would be politically polarizing.

Ladaria, in his letter, said any new policy requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions.

Even then, Ladaria advised, the bishops should seek unanimous support within their ranks for any national policy, lest it become a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church in the United States.

Ladaria made several other points that could complicate the plans of bishops pressing for tough action:

 He said any new statement should not be limited to Catholic political leaders but broadened to encompass all churchgoing Catholics in regard to their worthiness to receive Communion.

 He questioned the USCCB policy identifying abortion as the preeminent moral issue, saying it would be misleading if any new document "were to give the impression that abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest accountability on the part of Catholics.

 He said that if the U.S. bishops pursue a new policy, they should confer with bishops conferences in other countries both to learn from one another and to preserve unity in the universal church.

 He said any new policy could not override the authority of individual bishops to make decisions on who can receive Communion in their dioceses. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., has made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches in the archdiocese.

Among the leaders of the campaign to rebuke Biden is Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who recently issued a pastoral letter arguing that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should not receive Communion. A few days later, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego published an essay saying such an initiative will bring tremendously destructive consequences.

Ladaria's letter was dated May 7. It was first reported Monday by Catholic News Service and the Jesuit magazine America.

___

Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Connecticut health providers are preparing to inoculate 12- to-15 year-olds for COVID-19 this week, immediately after final authorization of the Pfizer vaccine by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which declared it safe for that age group late Monday.

An FDA committee is expected to give final authorization Wednesday and providers in Connecticut would not delay in administering the inoculations.

Gov. Lamont said Monday that school officials will roll out notifications to parents when the vaccines will be available.

The vaccines are working, Lamont said, adding that 57 percent of the 3.5 million people in the state have been vaccinated. Weve got to still keep our pedal to the metal on this, Lamont said.

Each health care provider administering vaccines to young teens would be responsible for setting its own policy on how to assure parental consent, and on whether parents would need to be present for the inoculations.

Dr. Ohm Deshpande, vice president for population health at Yale New Haven Health, said Monday night that health professionals will be flexible in getting informed decisions from parents.

We will basically navigate how kids show up, he said. Usually, parents accompany kids, but we can do verbal consent on FaceTime or if school groups come in, we can take written permission slips. We want to minimize obstacles.

Charlene Russell-Tucker, acting state education commissioner, said that local school officials working with the state Departrment of Public Health will help sort out the issues of parental permission and she looks forward to the positive peer pressure kids can use to encourage that their classmates seek inoculations.

So were very excited about that, in order to make sure we have the approval necessary, she said.

Were certainly prepared to have families come to us at the vaccine sites, said Leslie Gianelli, spokeswoman for Community Health Center Inc., which adminiters vaccines at mass drive-through sites in Stamford, Danbury, Middletown and East Hartford, at nine clinics and through traveling vans.

Giannelli said CHCs policy is to strongly encourage parents of all youths under 18 to be present for the incuculation, but we dont require it. We understand that in some cases the parent cannot be present. In those cases, the health center will require written permission.

Connecticuts 7-day COVID infection rate remained below 2 percent, Lamont said Monday. The state recorded 17 fatalities over the weekend, for a total of 8,154 in the pandemic. There was a net reduction of 29 patients in hospitals with the illness for a total of 280  the lowest in more than seven months.

The numbers continue to be very good and continue to trend in the right direction, Lamont said.

Connecticut continues to rank among the top states in the country for vaccinating those who are eligible. Lamont made his remarks during his regular, live-streamed coronavirus update from the Capitol, which finished minutes before the FDA announcement.

Seventy-one percent of those 18 and older have been vaccinated. Eighty percent of those 45 and above, and 92 percent of the people 65 and above have gotten the shot.

Among 16- and 17-year-olds, 50 percent have received at least one dose, Lamont said. That maybes a harbinger of good things to come when it comes to the next round, which we anticipate from the FDA.

The 2-doze Pfizer vaccine, developed with BioNTech, a German pharma company, is approved in most countries for youths as young as 16. It has been approved for children as young as 12 in Canada.

The Moderna vaccine, also two doses, is approved for people age 18 and older. The company said it will soon report positive results for youths ages 12 to 17, the Associated Press reported.
NEW MILFORD  While Alyssa Milczarski isnt allowed to attend senior prom Saturday night, she still plans to go out for a fun time  and wear her prom dress.

For the past two weeks, Milczarski and other New Milford High School seniors have been quarantining at home and taking classes remotely because they came into contact with another student who tested positive for COVID-19.

The school says we were exposed last Thursday when we were at school, at lunch outside with our friends. Then we got called down to the nurses office that following Monday and they said we were contact traced and we had to quarantine for 14 days, said Milczarski, 18.

Saturday marks the last day of quarantining for Milczarski and the other students who were exposed.

Even though we tested negative for COVID, they told us we still have to quarantine and cant attend prom nor consider moving the prom date, said Milczarski, adding there is a total of about 20 students who cant attend prom.

Milczarski said she and her friends are upset since students who were exposed meet the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

CDC guidelines say quarantine times can be reduced to seven days after receiving a negative COVID test on or after the five-day mark.

In a letter to the New Milford school community on Thursday, Superintendent Alisha DiCorpo reminded parents that the district follows the 10-day quarantine guidance for people known to be close contacts of cases of COVID-19.

After seven days, persons need to continue to take the measures needed to prevent COVID-19, including but not limited to: wearing a mask when out in public and avoiding gatherings with people who are not in your immediate household, according to the CDC guidance that DiCorpo included in the memo to parents.

The districts medical advisor and the local health director support the school districts decision to continue utilizing the 10-day quarantine period guidance, DiCorpo wrote in her letter.

She also wrote that students who were deemed a close contact, meaning they were within 3 to 6 feet for more than 15 minutes or 15 minutes over the course of the day to someone who tested positive, cannot test out of the 10-day required quarantine.

DiCorpos letter said the only exceptions were if students had COVID-19 in the prior 90 days or 14 days have elapsed since they received their final vaccine shot.

DiCorpo and New Milfords principal did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

Milczarski said she is scheduled to receive her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine dose on Wednesday.

Milczarski said she and her friends who were exposed are planning to continue remote learning until two weeks after they have been vaccinated. She said they dont want to miss the remaining senior activities because of quarantine rules.

Last week, New Milford High School students started a petition on change.org called Prom 2021, requesting the prom date be pushed back to allow for more students to attend. More than 200 people have signed, and there were more than 20 comments posted in support.

Not being allowed to attend prom is not stopping Milczarski and her friends from enjoying a night on the town.

About four or five of us are going out anyway, in our prom dresses, she said. We figured its prom night and we should do something.

Their evening plans include a Japanese restaurant and a local recreation center, according to Milczarski, who purchased an aqua-colored prom dress.

We will hang out in our dresses, she said. We figured we might as well wear them since we cant wear them to prom.


Voter support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government hit the lowest level since he took office last year, with a majority of the public unhappy with his handling of the pandemic, a survey by public broadcaster NHK showed on Monday.





Japan is struggling with a fourth wave of the pandemic, and the government last week extended a state of emergency for Tokyo and three other prefectures until the end of May - less than two months before the scheduled start of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23.





In the NHK survey, conducted May 7-9, 35% of respondents said they supported Suga's government, down nine percentage points from last month. In comparison, 43% of those polled said they did not support the government.





Nearly two-thirds of those polled said they did not evaluate the government's coronavirus response positively much or at all, with 82% of respondents said progress in the vaccination campaign had been slow.





Suga aims to complete vaccinating the nation's elderly population of 36 million people by the end of July, with most people in younger age brackets to receive shots after that.





But as of last week Japan had administered vaccination shots to only 2.2% of its population, mostly health care workers and the elderly, the slowest vaccination rate among wealthy countries.





(Reuters)


RAVENNA, Italy (AP)  Maestro Riccardo Muti has once again reopened the Italian musical season in his adopted hometown of Ravenna after another  and if all goes well perhaps final  round of pandemic closures.

With a purposeful nod and flick of his baton, the 79-year-old conductor on Sunday ended what has been an unexpectedly long silence in Italian theaters, enrapturing a socially distanced and masked audience with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras first live performances since the fall  back-to-back evening concerts of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms.

The concerts launched a three-stop Italian tour by the Vienna Philharmonic to celebrate 50 years of ties with the conductor and served as a precursor to the summertime Ravenna Festival, this year celebrating the 700th anniversary of Dantes death.

The emotion is above all one of rebirth, which is a positive word, but it means that something died before. So, within the positivity, there is the regret over something lost. And we, for a year, lost the possibility of life, in the complete sense of the word, Muti told The Associated Press before the concert.

This fact, that in nearly the whole world, theaters have remained empty, orchestras were reduced to silence, is something that has never been seen before.

After World War II, Muti said, U.S. soldiers made it a priority to reopen the San Carlo Theater in his native Naples, and in Milan city fathers rebuilt La Scala, destroyed bombs, reopening it on May 11, 1946 with a concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

La Scala reopened to the public on Monday after a six-month COVID-19 closure, with Riccardo Chailly conducting Verdi and Wagner for the 75th anniversary of the reconstruction. The orchestra performed from risers built over the platea, while the chorus was spaced on stage.

During this year, Muti has been unable to return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he has been music director for a decade. His last European performance, the traditional Vienna New Years Day concert, was a triumph but was performed to an empty concert hall. In his closing remarks, he urged governments to fund culture, as a salve to mental health that suffered during the pandemic closures. Music helps, he said.

Nearly a year ago, Muti reopened the European musical season after Italys draconian spring 2020 lockdown with an outdoor concert of the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra he founded. Then, the hope was that the summer music festivals would flow smoothly into the fall concert calendar, and cultural life would resume. The fall virus spike and variants doomed that trajectory. Musicians around the world have been deprived of playing for an audience, not to mention income, and audiences the comfort of a live performance.

Muti called the experience of the past year an unnatural global experiment that had stunned the world.

If we truly took into account how we are living, we would all go crazy. We try to maintain the illusion that we are living a normal life. It is the only way to reach the end of this absurd path, he said.

Muti is plunging back into concert life. He is conducting his much-curtailed 50th anniversary tour with the Vienna Philharmonic in Florence on Monday and at Milans La Scala on Tuesday, before returning to Ravenna to prepare for festival appearances of his Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and for the debut of a piece of music written for the Dante anniversary based on the Divine Comedy's Purgatory canticle.

The world premiere of Purgatory by Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian will be held in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on July 4, part of Mutis series of Paths of Friendship concerts in their 25th year in cities recovering from war, hatred and conflicts. It will be repeated in Ravenna for the 700th anniversary celebrations of Dantes death in September. It is one of three, along with Inferno and Paradise, commissioned for this years festival.

Muti plans to be back in Chicago by the fall.

The Ravenna Festival, founded 30 years ago by Mutis wife, Cristina Mazzavillani, reopens June 2 with an ambitious program of 120 musical, dance and theatrical performances and runs through July 31, despite uncertainty in the pace of reopening and the return of tourism. Optimistically, the program calls for 9:30 p.m. curtain times, even though a 10 p.m. curfew remains in place nationwide.

It is a return of hope, said general manager Antonio De Rosa. We want to restore dignity to audiences with the possibility of listening live.

With a regime of daily virus testing, the Vienna Philharmonic played without masks, spaced at least a meter a part. The audience was spread out across the four tiers of balconies, and every other row was removed from the floor seats, with government rules limiting seating in the 800-seat theater to 250 people.

In between the shows, orchestra members in their gray pinstriped stage garb wandered over to see Dantes tomb across the street, or to sit at an outdoor cafe next to the Alighieri Theater, named for the famed poet who died in Ravenna on Sept. 13, 1321.

Starting again to make music means starting to live again. Starting to live again means starting to be together again, Muti said. What has not been able to happen for a year, has been a real tragedy.

Muti has appealed to Italys culture minister to fund more orchestras, encouraged by the commitment he saw working in cities like Turin and Palermo this pandemic year bound largely to Italy, after decades spent mostly conducting abroad if not with his youth orchestra. Their response was excellent, and this gives me hope, he said.

The city of Tokyo, where Muti just spent a few weeks with his Italian opera academy, has 17 orchestras, he noted. Italy, the birthplace of lyric opera, has fewer than 30.

A cultural life, he said, is essential for healing from the pandemic year, especially for young people whose social contacts have been dramatically limited at a critical age.

What future will they have? Will they overcome this trauma? They can overcome this shock only with trust in life, which comes through socializing, living together and sharing above all culture, Muti said. I have said it before, and I will say it again. It still seems that culture is not at the top of the priority list, but at nearly the bottom.
David Santiago/AP

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  Publix pharmacies are now accepting walk-ins for the COVID-19 vaccine at all of their locations across seven states.

The Lakeland-based supermarket chain said on its website that customers have the choice of the two-dose Moderna vaccine, or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, subject to availability.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Fla., May 9. AP-Yonhap



SpaceX will launch a satellite to the Moon next year funded entirely with the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, Canadian company Geometric Energy Corporation, which will lead the lunar mission, announced Sunday.



The satellite, dubbed DOGE-1, will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of 2022, the Calgary-based company said in a statement.



The cubic satellite, weighing 88 pounds (40 kilograms), will aim to obtain "lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board," according to the statement.



The "DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon" will be "the first-ever commercial lunar payload in history paid entirely with" Dogecoin, Geometric Energy Corporation said, without specifying how much the project cost.






After investigations into at least two fatal Marine accidents unveiled troubling warning signs that ultimately contributed to the deaths of 15 service members, the Marine Corps has unveiled a new safety tool so leaders "get it right" when planning dangerous training events and operations.

Access to a new Marine Corps Mishap Library has been granted to the entire force. The library, according to a new servicewide message, will provide easily accessible vignettes for leaders to review "what wrong looks like." It was signed by Lt. Gen. Lewis Craparotta, the head of Training and Education Command.

"Being a Marine is a dangerous line of work, and it requires the careful study of past errors in decision making, judgment, and risk management," Craparotta wrote.

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All Marines are encouraged to access the new library, which is available on MarineNet, the service's distance-learning network. It includes lessons for the entire force and aviation and ground communities.

The goal, Craparotta wrote, is to help "leaders at all levels to learn from past mistakes."

The tool was unveiled the same day top Marine Corps and Navy leaders were called to testify about safety on Capitol Hill following the July 2020 amphibious assault vehicle accident that killed eight Marines and one sailor. The investigation found a host of failures led the nearly 40-year-old vehicle to sink off California's coast on its way back to a nearby ship.

Leaders determined the accident was preventable. Mechanical, training and leadership problems were overlooked, setting the scene for a host of safety checks being skipped.

The vehicle was not in working shape, letting water seep in while it was in the open ocean. The Marines inside didn't have the proper safety training to know how to exit a sinking vehicle and were left to use their own cell phones for light inside the dark vehicle as it sank, since the emergency lights that should have illuminated escape hatches were not working.

"Every time I review the details of this tragedy, I'm struck by its senselessness," Maj. Gen. Gregg Olson, assistant deputy commandant of Marine Corps Plans, Policies and Operations, told lawmakers last week.

Assistant Commandant Gen. Gary Thomas said some of the actions taken leading up to and during the accident were reckless. Olson also said he "was surprised at how cavalier some of the actions were."

"I would say that some of them rose to recklessness," he said.

An investigation into a midair collision that happened off the coast of Japan less than two years earlier also found signs of training and readiness shortfalls that were overlooked by leaders. That collision led to the deaths of six Marines -- one in an F/A-18D Hornet and five in a KC-130J Hercules.

Despite the readiness shortfalls, the Marines were sent into the air to perform a dangerous nighttime midair refueling exercise.

The Marine Corps has reprimanded several senior leaders in the wake of the accidents, though probes into the AAV sinking remain ongoing. Some families who lost loved ones in the accidents and lawmakers on Capitol Hill say the punishments haven't gone far enough.

"I trace all of these issues back to just a lack of concern about safety -- it's not there," Rep. John Garamendi, a California Democrat, said in April. "That is not built into the Marine Corps' readiness."

A Marine Corps safety expert told Military.com he was troubled by many of the shortfalls leading up to the 2020 AAV accident and the 2018 midair collision.

"This is not what right looks like on the most basic level," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigations' findings freely.

Marines are good at managing risks in tactical situations, he said, but the investigations into fatal training accidents show signs of lapses outside of combat situations.

"We can't relax and go into an administrative mindset and wind up not accounting for a situation where significant hazards are starting to accumulate," he said.

It's crucial that all Marines access the new mishap library, he added, because it's not only vital that leaders understand past errors, but for rank-and-file troops -- corporals, sergeants and lieutenants -- to know how to spot warning signs, too.

Publishing the mishap library is just the first phase in a three-part effort to improve Marine Corps safety, Craparotta wrote in his message. The lessons will also be linked to training and readiness events, he added, and videos will soon be available.

Marines are being asked to share any relevant mishap findings that could benefit the entire fleet with contacts in the ground- and aviation-support branches.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: Marines Vow Safety Improvements After Fatal AAV Accident Reveals Serious Flaws
More than a year after its landing gear collapsed on the flight line at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, an F-22 Raptor took to the skies for the first time last month thanks to Virginia Air National Guard maintainers.

Airmen from the 192nd Maintenance Group were able to get the fifth-generation jet, tail number 85, up and running for its first flight back April 9, according to a news release.

On Jan. 16, 2020, the base announced that there had been an incident involving an F-22 following a routine training flight. Though the pilot was taken to the Langley Air Force Base Hospital for evaluation, there were no injuries.

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According to the recent release, the Raptor skidded across the runway on landing. Maintenance airmen reported hearing an "unnerving sound as it came to a screeching stop on its right wing that day," it states.

"As soon as it touched down and collapsed, I was in shock," Master Sgt. Christopher Plath, flight chief in the 192nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, said in the release. "We kind of just stood there staring at it, praying the canopy is going to open up and the pilot is going to get out."

Active-duty maintainers from the 1st Fighter Wing began the repair mission, until they were called for a deployment, the release states. The jet was then turned over to Plath and members of the 192nd in December 2020 to oversee the rebuild, which included a new landing gear, flight control surface for the right wing and a new wing tip.

Plath and his team ordered parts and assembled experts to get the F-22 operational again.

The Guardsmen consulted with engineers from Lockheed Martin, the jet's maker; listened for rattling or any type of drag on the brakes while it taxied on the runway; and brought it to the base's "Hush House," a specialized soundproof facility where fighter engines can operate at full throttle indoors to "induce any possible points of failure," the release states.

The team included Staff Sgt. Drevonte Swain and Senior Airman Ethan Martin, who were in charge of repairing the low-observable outer stealth coating; Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Carpenter and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Potter, who inspected and ensured the main weapons-bay door was operational; Staff Sgt. Lauren Hayes, who checked over the aircraft's integrated systems; and Tech. Sgt. Eric Talman and Staff Sgt. James Sheaves Jr., who, along with Plath, were in charge of the overall maintenance and repairs as crew chiefs, the Air Force said.

Maj. Daniel "Honcho" Thompson, an F-22 pilot from the 149th Fighter Squadron, flew the aircraft and was able to land it safely.

Officials did not disclose why it took more than 15 months to complete the F-22's repairs.

In one case, an F-22 was shelved in 2012 when it needed costly upgrades; Air Force officials made the decision to put it in storage before returning it to service in 2018.

Delaying maintenance for years underscores the unwieldy cost of U.S. 5th-generation fighters, even as the military may be considering a successor to the F-22 and even the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, two of the most advanced jet fighters in the American inventory. The unit cost for the F-22 was around $150 million in 2009, but some estimates put the per-plane cost at closer to $250 million in current dollars.

It's not the only time there has been an issue with the F-22's landing gear. Earlier this year, a jet from the 325th Fighter Wing, assigned to Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base, experienced an "in-flight emergency," landing at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, where it ended up nose down on its belly.

The cause of that mishap is under investigation.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

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More than seven months after the official launch of the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, nearly half of female soldiers are still falling short, with enlisted women struggling the most, Military.com has learned. The data again raises questions about whether the Army's attempt to create a fitter force is creating more barriers to success for women.

Internal Army figures from April show 44% of women failed the ACFT, compared to 7% of men since Oct. 1. "Female soldiers continue to lag male soldier scores in all events," according to a United States Army Forces Command briefing obtained by Military.com.

FORSCOM data includes the results of 106,000 ACFTs taken in the first half of fiscal 2021. This amounts to 27% of women and 36% of men in the force who also have scores logged into the Army's database, meaning the data could potentially be incomplete. FORSCOM tracks 3,400 new fitness tests per week on average.

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The Army remains in a beta phase for the ACFT. Until March 2022, scores on the test will not affect soldiers' careers; officials have said they may implement additional changes before then, including gender-specific standards.

The most difficult event for both male and female soldiers is the two-mile run, with 5% and 22% failing, respectively. The run must be completed within 21 minutes.

While the previous Army fitness test's two-mile run actually had a more challenging minimum passing time for most age groups, the ACFT's run takes place after five physically draining events, adding another level of difficulty.

Failure rate by event for men:

Deadlift: Less than 1%

Standing Power Throw: Less than 1%

Hand-Release Push-Ups: Less than 1%

Sprint-Drag-Carry: Less than 1%

Leg Tucks: 2%

Two-Mile Run: 5%

Failure rate by event for women:

Deadlift: 6%

Standing Power Throw: 15%

Hand-Release Push-Ups: 2%

Sprint-Drag-Carry: 12%

Leg Tucks: 22%

Two-Mile Run: 22%

The pass rate for women is up 12% from last year, yet enlisted women continue to struggle the most, with a 53% fail rate. Female officers have only a 23% fail rate, but that's still significantly higher than the fail rate for men, enlisted or officer.

The data attributed most of that progress to a change in late March that added a two-minute plank as an alternative to leg tucks. FORSCOM found 22% of women failed the plank, a substantial decrease from the average 41% fail rate for the leg tuck. The pass rate for men went up by 1%.

Average Scores (360 needed to pass, 600 is the max)

Women

Enlisted: Pass Rate 47%, Average Score 343

Noncommissioned Officers: Pass Rate 65%, Average Score 363

Officers: Pass Rate 77%, Average Score 389

Warrant Officers: Pass Rate 71%, Average Score 370

Men

Enlisted: Pass Rate 90%, Average Score 461

Noncommissioned Officers: Pass Rate 95%, Average Score 478

Officers: Pass Rate 97%, Average Score 500

Warrant Officers: Pass Rate 96%, Average Score 454

"The ACFT -- as part of the Army's overall physical readiness program -- continues to evolve, reduce injuries and empower Soldiers to perform basic Soldier tasks," a FORSCOM spokesman told Military.com in a statement Monday. "The ACFT is in a transitional period. Data already shows that the ACFT is a better measure of a Soldier's ability to successfully complete combat-related warrior tasks and battle drills."

It's difficult to overstate how crucial fitness scores in the Army are, particularly in combat arms units such as the infantry and cavalry. High and perfect fitness scores can open opportunities for schools such as Air Assault and Ranger school, which greatly improve the odds of promotion. Good physical fitness scores can quickly snowball into career progression.

While the majority of women are passing the test, very few of them can get perfect scores. Only 66 female soldiers scored 500 points or higher, compared to 31,978 males. A score of 600 is the max.

The ACFT's impact on women has caught the attention of lawmakers. Last year, Congress passed a measure halting the implementation of the test until an assessment independent of the Pentagon is complete on its impact on recruiting and retention.

Until March 2022, when the Army still plans to make ACFT scores official, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston is urging as many soldiers as possible to take the test and log scores into the Army's database so leaders can make final adjustments.

The 7th Infantry Division and 101st Airborne have the most recorded tests, with 77% and 75% of troops, respectively, having results logged in the system. The 1st Cavalry Division and 3rd Infantry Division have the smallest proportion of soldiers with recorded scores, 41% and 38% respectively. Both of those divisions, however, have had recent rotations abroad.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Army Approves Fitness Test Exception for E-4s to Keep Up Promotion Potential
The 18th Airborne Corps is investigating various misconduct allegations aimed at the leadership of the 101st Airborne Division's Combat Aviation Brigade, which recently came under scrutiny after soldiers on an official trip visited a Polish strip club where a senior battalion officer went missing.

Other problems reported include bullying and instances of suicidal thoughts at the brigade's headquarters company, documents provided to Stars and Stripes show.

The Fort Bragg, N.C.-based corps is dispatching a senior officer to Fort Campbell, Ky., to investigate the allegations, which they declined to disclose because of the ongoing probe.

Lt. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, leader of the 18th Airborne Corps and former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, ordered the investigation.

"As a result of allegations made involving the command at the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Aviation Brigade, the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps has initiated a formal investigation led by a Colonel from outside of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)," 18th Airborne Corps spokesman Col. Joseph Buccino said in the statement.

Col. Travis Habhab, who leads the 101st CAB, on Friday briefed his battalion commanders, senior noncommissioned officers and other leaders that an outside review was being launched, a soldier who attended the meeting said.

Some of the allegations under review were determined to be unfounded during an earlier probe, said an Army official familiar with the situation, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

The probe suggests that issues within the brigade extend beyond the notorious "No Mercy" 1st Battalion staff ride last year in Poland that ended with numerous officers facing the possible end of their military careers.

Revelations emerged last month about the battalion trip, which was approved as a tour of World War II sites, according to an Army investigation report obtained by Stars and Stripes.

On the first night of the trip, soldiers drank heavily and went to the off-limits Club Obsession in the seaside city of Gdansk. The battalion's executive officer went missing for a day after he was likely drugged and was charged thousands of dollars on his credit card, the investigation report said.

The battalion commander who organized the September staff ride was issued a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand and will retire, while the executive officer faces separation, Army officials said last month. Other members of the unit also were punished.

The brigade returned to Fort Campbell in April after completing a nine-month rotation in Europe as part of Atlantic Resolve, the U.S. campaign to deter Russian aggression along NATO's eastern flank. During the rotation, there were signs that the 101st was struggling with a morale problem.

A command climate survey of the brigade's headquarters company conducted during the Europe deployment found that 44% of those polled "reported knowledge" of suicidal thoughts and 25% reported some type of bullying behavior in the unit.

"Soldiers overwhelmingly don't like their job," stated the command climate review, which was provided to Stars and Stripes.
It has been 10 years since May 2, 2011, the night a top-secret SEAL raid took out notorious terrorist and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. You may think you know the story of bin Laden and the ten-year manhunt that ended in his death, but you've probably seen it like this before. In Revealed: The Hunt for Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 Museum and the History Channel team up to present never-before-seen interviews and previously classified material. Film co-producers Clifford Chanin and Jessica Chen join Left of Boom to explain why every American should know this story.

Subscribe to the Left of Boom podcast:

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Mentioned in this episode:

Osama bin Laden

Sept. 11, 2001 Attacks

Operation Neptune Spear

Navy SEALs

Afghanistan War

Zero Dark Thirty

The following is an edited transcript of this episode of Left of Boom:

Hope Hodge Seck 0:00

Welcome back to Left of Boom. I'm your host, Military.com managing editor Hope Hodge Seck. Today's episode is a treat. We'll be talking to Clifford Chanin and Jessica Chen, executive producer and co-producer of Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Ladin, a brand-new documentary premiering now on the History Channel. It's the 10-year anniversary of Operation Neptune spear, the May 2, 2011 SEAL raid that ended the life of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. This new project includes interviews with past U.S. presidents, senior decision-making officials and the SEALs themselves to present a new picture of events that changed American history forever. After hearing this episode, I promise you'll want to check it out for yourself. So without further ado, let's get into it. Cliff and Jess, welcome to the show.

Clifford Chanin 0:56

Great to be here. Thanks, Hope.

Jessica Chen 0:57

Thank you.

Hope Hodge Seck 0:59

It's hard to believe it has been 10 years since the bin Laden raid. The operation itself was one of the earlier world events to be live-tweeted. I remember there was a guy near Abbottabad who heard helicopters and started tweeting about what he was hearing and seeing. And since then reporting on what happened there has been abundant. You've got everything from Zero Dark 30 to the man who ostensibly fired the kill shot at bin Laden, who has accumulated some fame in his own right. But this project goes a whole lot deeper than all of that. How did it come about?

Clifford Chanin 1:35

Well, it was more than five years ago in fact that we first started talking about this as an exhibition. We have a special exhibitions gallery in the museum. And we have done a couple of shows prior to this. But certainly the raid and the end of bin Laden's life is also the end of a major chapter in the 9/11 story. It's not the end of the threat. It's not the end of the 9/11 story itself. But it certainly is an important moment in that overall story. And so we began developing this as an exhibition. And in the course of that development, the relationships we had with the military and the intelligence folks had really developed through a set of other programs at the museum. And so we were getting access to people and to objects that could be shown in the exhibition that actually went far beyond what we'd originally imagined. It was hard to imagine this originally, because everything was still classified, essentially. So we didn't even know what we were asking for in most cases. But as we began to get access to people, including some still active in the intelligence community, people who were part of the hunt, who were there for the conclusion of the hunt. We put together for the exhibition, I think it was a very, very powerful narrative in the context of an exhibition that was only a tiny fraction of what we had gathered through the interview process. And so we decided that for the 10th anniversary of the raid, it would be a very powerful film. We added even after the exhibition opened, a number of very important interviews that fleshed out the story beyond what the exhibition could tell. And so it was a bit of a rush, and doing things under COVID is, as everybody knows, at least very different, if not crazy, but we did manage and get it to completion. And here we are Sunday night, May 2, History Channel, I'm doing the plug ... And that's the short version of the story.

Hope Hodge Seck 3:44

Where do you start? What are the first phone calls that you make to kind of open the doors to as you said, to this previously undisclosed information?

Clifford Chanin 3:52

I'll let Jess tell about these programs that I mentioned before, because they turn out to be absolutely critical in establishing a level of confidence and trust between the museum and these broader agencies. So I think Jess should pick up the beginnings of the story. And then we can talk about, you know, how we actually tried to figure out what the story should be.

Jessica Chen 4:13

Sure, thanks, Cliff. So at the museum, the museum opened in 2014. But even before that, it really benefited from a really strong relationship with a lot of the agencies that not only responded immediately after 9/11, but kind of took up the work after 9/11 to combat terrorism and also to do the work that continues to keep this nation safe. And so those groups not only provided assets for the exhibition, but have continued to come to the museum, especially with new recruits and with new staffers who are interested in understanding how 9/11 fits into their institutional history. These visits have actually become very cool programs that we offer to what we call professional groups. And these are groups that are comprised of intelligence agencies, ;aw enforcement agencies, military and government professionals who are really kind of diving into their museum experience with a very personal connection, but also a mission-oriented sense of the story for us at the museum, not only in the museum work that we do, but also thinking about this film. It's largely stemming from these relationships that have been built over time, not only with the people who were part of making the museum happen, but also the people who continue to bring new people through the museum.

Hope Hodge Seck 5:29

It's incredible. What do you think are the biggest misconceptions most Americans have about the story of Osama bin Laden in the way that his narrative intertwines with the United States?

Clifford Chanin 5:45

Well, you know, it's a really interesting question. It came to such a definitive conclusion on May 2, 2011, people could get the impression that there was kind of a straight-line outcome here, that this was all forordained, and this was just how it was going to turn out. And I would say, that's anything but the truth. The first issue is what our focus on bin Laden was before 9/11, which wasn't widely concentrated across the national security community. Obviously, there were people who were focused on al-Qaida and understood the threat and understood that in 1996 and 1998, when bin Laden issues fatwas justifying attacks against the United States, against American civilians in the second fatwa, that, you know, that is an important threat. But there were other things going on in the world. And even those earlier attacks and the embassies in Africa in 1998, the Cole in 2000, as tragic and impactful as they were, it did not really transform the sense of the threat. And that, of course, was what happened on 9/11. And so, to me, the interesting part, and I think we present this in some fascinating detail, how do you hunt for someone who's hiding from you who could be anywhere in the world? And who's actually quite good at hiding? I was talking about this one of the intelligence analysts at one point, and she said, Well, you know, Ted Kaczynski was hiding in the United States, our own country, I think it was 17 years, and we couldn't find him. So you know, why would it have been easier to find Osama bin Laden, and then even when the lead gets us pointed at that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where ultimately he was found, there's never any assurance, it's no more than a circumstantial case, that this may be somewhat important, but there's no guarantee it's Osama bin Laden. And so every step of the way has risk. Every step of the way has a calculation about, Is this real? And if we act as though it's real, and it turns out not to be real, what are the consequences of that going to be? I mean, just imagine everything that happens on that raid happens exactly the same way. And it's not Osama bin Laden. You know, it's some drug dealer, we're not going to invade Pakistani territory for a drug dealer. So how do we deal with that? And so one thing after another, which in retrospect, seemed like a very logical progression, none of it, none of it was except, and it's a remarkable credit to their work. But the intelligence professionals who drove this hunt, said, Yes, we can't give you a written guarantee. But this is what the conclusion leads us to determine.

Jessica Chen 8:38

I'm gonna add to what Cliff just said, and kind of characterize it in my own personal experience. I was starting eighth grade on 9/11. And then I was in New York, having just graduated from college, when the raid, the successful operation was announced. And I think for a lot of people who are my age, and who kind of, these two moments kind of form the bookends of our adulthood or growing up into adulthood, I think that it's hard to kind of link the first moment to this moment. The film itself kind of traces these bookmarks. You know, it starts with intelligence, it goes to policy, and then it goes to the military raid. And I think we forget just how committed many people were after 9/11 to finding this person that was that was really hard to find. And I think what the film does is, it helps people to understand that the motivation and the drive to bring justice did not go away, even though they couldn't find him, and that there were real personal sacrifices made along the way. I'm really hopeful that for my peers to watch this film, and to understand just how committed everybody was to seeing this through.

Hope Hodge Seck 9:49

I really resonate with that. I think we're of a very similar age. I think I was also in eighth grade when the attacks happened. I think that really puts it in context. They were key moments. Guess I'll just ask you both to expand on that. So when you have this wealth of information and all these exhibits, and all of this documentation, how do you then make decisions for how to organize it to tell and frame a story, especially when you've got the constraints of time?

Clifford Chanin 10:19

So it was shaped a little bit by the exhibition, although the film is very different than the exhibition. And I do want to say, again, just a brief plug, the exhibition itself, the museum is open, the 9/11 museum is open, we've just reopened the bin Laden special exhibition. So I hope people who are thinking of traveling to New York might consider coming to see it if they can. We're offering online virtual tours of the museum and the exhibition as well. So 911 memorial.org, our website is the place to go looking for that. Sorry for diverging from your question. But the most powerful factor in shaping this, from the very beginning, we alluded to this before, but it's very unusual, curatorially speaking, we never had a sense in advance of what objects and which people we would have available to us to tell the story. So we would make requests based on these relationships that just described earlier, of these intelligence agencies initially, just to say, look, were planning to do this exhibition, we'd like to be able to talk to you about what might be available for us. And those agencies are bound by the classification rules, obviously. And even though, you know, many of the key public figures who were involved in this had spoken about the raid and wrote wrote about the raid, technically it was still classified. So anything that they were going to make available to us had to go through an internal process within each of these agencies, and the agencies have different processes with different considerations. And on top of which we never knew how long it would take, or what the criteria for decision would be, as to whether or not we could get something. So that was, that was curious. But we did manage to get these meetings that particularly on the intelligence side, where we go in, and we'd say, Well, here's the point in the story that we're trying to make, we're trying to tell, for example, that, you know, there was this massive effort to find as much intelligence as you could by partnering the intelligence agencies on the battlefield with the military, just do these raids and sweeps and process all this intelligence in real time. So you can really make it actionable as soon as possible. Okay. That's a good point, right? What could demonstrate that. So we are museum curators who don't know what the objects are, and the people were asking our intelligence professionals who don't know what museum curators need. So, you know, we would really try to be very specific in their requests. And inevitably, what happened was, we'd be in these meetings, you know, in these secret bunkers. And you know, you have to be screened to get in with a pass and an escort and you're never, you're never alone. And we'd be sitting in these rooms. And we'd make a point, this is what this is the kind of thing we want. And you could see, they began looking at each other. And you could see the eyes communicating there, maybe a little smile here and there. But they wouldn't say anything in front of us. Because what they were thinking of offering us was still classified. And so the question was, A, is this really the answer to the question of what they're looking for? Well, we can't ask them. And B, if it is the answer to the question of what they're looking for, can we get it cleared and give it to them? So the process was very elaborate. Internally, the only thing I will add is, it's very clear to me and we became, you know, friends with some of the folks in the agencies who became our internal advocates. So there were people who, for a variety of reasons thought, this story should be told the 9/11 Museum is the place to tell it, and I, Person X, who have access to the process, who understand what's being asked for, who know the people who are involved in making these decisions, I am going to be the internal advocate for this project inside my agency. I don't think this happens, really, if we don't have a handful of those key people. I can't thank them personally, well, I thank them personally, but I can't thank them publicly, for exactly the same reasons that I've described in the beginning of this story. But that really is the key doing this, because they all are knit into this story together. They know one another, they trust one another. They work together. And they would vouch for us with some of the other folks who may have retired or whatever it was, Would you be willing to sit down for an interview with them? And that's how the process really unfolded.

Jessica Chen 14:45

To pick up where Cliff leaves off. You know, now you have all these relationships, all of these advocates and what sometimes feels like a landslide of connections of details, of stories to tell. I think Cliff and I both have kind of threads in the story that we felt very personally convicted to bring to light. You know, there, there are some things that are explained that that I think I'd leave it to Cliff to kind of flesh out in more detail that have never been kind of discussed publicly before. But I think for me, you know, something that was incredibly important when evaluating how to take all of this material and put it in a film, which, although it's, it's a full-length film, felt a little short at the end, because we're trying to stuff so much stuff into it. For me, it was really understanding how can we convey the humanity and the human cost at every step in the story. So the film opens, really, with an understanding of 9/11, and the human loss on 9/11. And then you go through a hunt that is marked by people who are incredibly human. I hope we've captured them, kind of their frustration, but also their commitment, and even their human sacrifice in terms of seeing this through policymakers, when they're discussing the hunt, the odds that Cliff described earlier, really thinking about the people who are going to be doing this and what they're putting, those people in that situation that they're asking them to expose themselves to, and then the military members who take on kind of the risk and see the mission through. And so I think, because of all the interviews with so many generous, unseen individuals, we're able to kind of get a sense of the people that the real people who kind of were involved in the story, and I hope we've done a good job and kind of lending some some of their personalities to tell the story.

Hope Hodge Seck 16:31

Man, I can't wait to see it. What sorts of things are easier to understand and analyze and contextualize, with the benefit of 10 years of hindsight?

Clifford Chanin 16:44

Well, I do think there was an awareness in the community at large, that one of the failures of 9/11 was the lack of communication across agencies, and between the intelligence and the military world. And they tried to fix that right away. And because of, you know, tradition and culture, and just the different approaches, that wasn't an easy fix. But once we were fighting in Afghanistan, and then in Iraq, it was something they realized, you just had to do it, because you were losing service members on the battlefield there. And there was always a sense that al-Qaida was still out there, bin Laden was still out there, and didn't know what they were planning. But you knew they were planning something, and so you know, that prospect of another catastrophe, or simply not doing enough to protect American military personnel on the battlefield, that really broke down a lot of barriers. And it's a remarkable story, because, you know, the techniques, the practices that were sort of implemented over years before the raid in Pakistan, were the very same techniques and practices that were applied to solve this problem of what's going on in that compound. And so even though it was from the distance factor, and from the political factor of going into an allied sovereign nation without their permission, and conducting a military operation, in the heart of a populated area, the people who knew how to do this, were confident that they could do it, and they had done things like this enough and work together enough that, you know, it was more complicated, certainly, and more risky because of the factors involved. But you know, as one of the SEALs says in one of the interviews, that a raid is a raid is a raid. You know, we know how to do this. It's really, you know, a remarkable piece. And the aviation piece of this is also something that -- the whole mission was about four hours. Forty minutes of that mission, were on the ground, which means more than three hours, the operators were basically passengers on what one of the SEALs called a ginormous bus. And so the success of the mission is in the hands of the pilots, and how they conduct themselves and how they're prepared for this and what they know about the conditions that they're flying in all of this interaction. And all of the key actors had worked with one another on other missions before they knew one another, they trusted one another. And so again, that period, through war, of really developing expertise and trust, I think it was key to what would ultimately happen and what the U.S. military has learned about how to conduct these kinds of operations.

Hope Hodge Seck 19:41

To build on that, are there indicators that events would play out differently if they happen today? You talked about the need to communicate better. I know that's not a problem that probably will ever be fully solved.

Clifford Chanin 19:57

You know, the thing that The experts always say is that the threat changes. And so 9/11 was a product of al-Qaida, which was at that point, a structured administrated centralized organization, with, for a terrorist group, you know, reasonably efficient command and control. The years since have seen that central structure come under enormous pressure and break in many ways. But the threat has splintered into other groups that may be connected with al-Qaida or not, may have been inspired by al-Qaida may have said al-Qaida didn't go far enough, as the Islamic State did. Or that you might have these so called "lone actor" terrorists who radicalize online or through personal contacts with people and decide on their own as some ideologists of the Jihad have urged them, just to attack people where you can. I mean, we don't want to have a centralized structure anymore, or we can't sustain a centralized structure anymore. But it doesn't change what the mission needs to be. That threat changes. Therefore, how we study it, how we understand it has to change, and how we respond to it has to change.

Hope Hodge Seck 21:09

One aspect of the way the story is told, and you've already referred to this, is there are these educational materials for high schoolers to discuss 911 and the hunt for bin Laden and Operation Neptune Spear. Today's high schoolers obviously have no memory of 9/11, which is a little bit shocking for older Millennials like me to contemplate. And in fact, there are even soldiers and Marines and service members who have deployed to Afghanistan with no memory of 9/11, which is the nexus for the start of this war. Why was it so important to provide an entry point for high schoolers into this material?

Jessica Chen 21:51

For me, I think so much of and I'm also speaking from an older Millennial perspective, but our department or my department in the museum is focused on education. And I lean on my colleagues and their expertise to work specifically with students. But I think all of us on the education team feel really strongly that the world that we live in today is shaped so much by the events of 9/11 and the events that followed, I think it's important to contextualize it because we understand that the leadership lessons, the incredible stories of courage and of commitment, that they have resonances with what is going on in the world today. And I think that trying to engage students, and trying to kind of connect them with the importance of understanding our shared history is just so, so important and so central, as they think about, you know, where they're going to be in the next 10 years.

Clifford Chanin 22:43

You know, this is the 10th anniversary of the bin Laden raid, but it's also the 20th anniversary, this September, of 9/11. Twenty years is the span of a generation. Think about it. I mean, nobody who's in high school was even born when 9/11 happened. And if you're in college, you may have been born, but you were a year or two old and you're not going to remember it. And so it's a funny thing that happens with history and a museum like ours. When we started this project, and I go way back to, I wasn't in junior high school when this happened. So the thought was, well, everybody knows this story. So you know, what's going to make our presentation of the story compelling? Well, 20 years pass, and that assumption is completely out the window. Not everybody knows this story. In fact, every day, more people don't know this story. And so the challenge for the museum of telling this story, and as Jess says, explaining just how significant this moment in history was, and continues to be. Now that becomes, I think, frankly, more than we imagined it 15 years ago, that becomes central to the mission of our current-day museum and will only grow in importance every day. I mean, think about, it's not just the attack and the vulnerability. It's the response of this country. I mean, I don't know if you guys remember. But, you know, this country came together across all divides, across all barriers, I mean, all the things we're struggling with as a society today, were wiped away by the common solidarity and feeling that service was spontaneously the outcome of Americans reactions to 9/11. Not just Americans, people around the world. If we're thinking about where we are today, look back and ask the question, what was it that gave us this kind of resilience and solidarity 20 years ago? What's missing? What can we do about it now? Because it's better to be like that than it is to be at each other's throats. And so, you know, that's how the mission of the museum evolves. It's always rooted in 9/11 and telling that story, but there's no fixed point where you can say Hey, okay, this is over, let's turn the page. It just doesn't happen like that.

Hope Hodge Seck 25:04

I have one final question that I hope that both of you will answer in your own way. What larger story do you think all the events that you cover in this documentary, and the accompanying presentation, tell us about America?

Jessica Chen 25:19

I think, you know, going back to personal experience again, and also I was on the West Coast when 9/11 happened, and now have spent most of my adult life on the East Coast. So I consider myself a New Yorker. But I think the breadth of characters of people who undertake this work is pretty remarkable, you know, something that I can say without necessarily speaking to specific identities, but the number of women who are involved in this work and who take on, you know, risk and responsibility. I'm hopeful that, that when people watch this film, that they're going to see something in it that reminds them of themselves and where they are in life and how they can contribute to society, but can also just recognize the importance of working together. And this is just to kind of pick up on what Cliff was just saying, that almost everybody who we interviewed for this film, mentioned, at some point in their interview, just looking back and thinking how remarkable it is when everybody learns how to place trust in one another when everyone works together, when everyone is committed to a common purpose. And I think that obviously can be applied into situations that are not exactly like this, but even the environments that all of us work in and live in. That's kind of that that's where I where I land on the film.

Clifford Chanin 26:34

Yeah, I agree. You know, as we've gotten to know some of the folks involved, it's very obvious that they disagree about things, they don't all see the world the same way. And yet, when they were required to do something for the common good, the only factor was how to succeed in doing that task. Everything else was secondary. And it's been my good fortune to see some of those relationships in action, to see how they relate to one another, in spite of whatever other differences that are much, much smaller in importance than the things they have in common. But in spite of their differences, there is a sense of mutual recognition in the idea that they went through this together, they took the risks together, they understood that the most important thing in these circumstances is to be able to count on the other person you're working with, regardless of anything else. And every one of them came through for everybody else when they needed to. That's just a remarkable story. And it is really what it is to offer the best of your service on behalf of your country. And really on behalf of the common humanity that you know, you share with everyone else who's involved in this. And of course, for the families of the 9/11 victims, for the victims themselves who were killed. I mean, that focal point of the mission, never faltered through the hunt, when they weren't finding anybody when they didn't know where to look. All of that drove them onward to this, you know, remarkable, remarkable success story.

Hope Hodge Seck 28:21

Well, thank you both so much for being here today. This documentary, as you said, comes out May 2, what are the different ways that people can watch?

Clifford Chanin 28:29

Well, the History Channel is going to be premiering it through your cable provider. As of May 3, it's available through histories, website and digital platforms. And you have to sign on with your cable login information. And it's also available for sale through various streaming partners that provide History Channel broadcasts

Hope Hodge Seck 28:54

Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time.

Clifford Chanin 28:57

Thanks, Hope.

Jessica Chen 28:58

Thank you.

Hope Hodge Seck 29:08

Thanks for joining us for this special episode of Left of Boom. I'd love to hear your thoughts on "The Hunt for Bin Laden." Send me an email at podcast@military.com and let me know what you think of the documentary and presentation. You can also pitch me ideas for future shows while you're at it. If you're not subscribed to the podcast, please go ahead and do it now so you don't miss a future episode. And leave us a rating and review to so other people can find us. And remember that you can get all the news and information you need about your military community every day at Military.com.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Hope Hodge Seck 0:00

Welcome back to Left of Boom. I'm your host, Military.com managing editor Hope Hodge Seck. Today's episode is a treat. We'll be talking to Clifford Chanin and Jessica Chen, executive producer and co-producer of Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Ladin, a brand-new documentary premiering now on the History Channel. It's the 10-year anniversary of Operation Neptune spear, the May 2, 2011 SEAL raid that ended the life of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. This new project includes interviews with past U.S. presidents, senior decision-making officials and the SEALs themselves to present a new picture of events that changed American history forever. After hearing this episode, I promise you'll want to check it out for yourself. So without further ado, let's get into it. Cliff and Jess, welcome to the show.

Clifford Chanin 0:56

Great to be here. Thanks, Hope.

Jessica Chen 0:57

Thank you.

Hope Hodge Seck 0:59

It's hard to believe it has been 10 years since the bin Laden raid. The operation itself was one of the earlier world events to be live-tweeted. I remember there was a guy near Abbottabad who heard helicopters and started tweeting about what he was hearing and seeing. And since then reporting on what happened there has been abundant. You've got everything from Zero Dark 30 to the man who ostensibly fired the kill shot at bin Laden, who has accumulated some fame in his own right. But this project goes a whole lot deeper than all of that. How did it come about?

Clifford Chanin 1:35

Well, it was more than five years ago in fact that we first started talking about this as an exhibition. We have a special exhibitions gallery in the museum. And we have done a couple of shows prior to this. But certainly the raid and the end of bin Laden's life isn also the end of a major chapter in the 9/11 story. It's not the end of the threat. It's not the end of the 9/11 story itself. But it certainly is an important moment in that overall story. And so we began developing this as an exhibition. And in the course of that development, the relationships we had with the military and the intelligence folks had really developed through a set of other programs at the museum. And so we were getting access to people and to objects that could be shown in the exhibition that actually went far beyond what we'd originally imagined. It was hard to imagine this originally, because everything was still classified, essentially. So we didn't even know what we were asking for in most cases. But as we began to get access to people, including some still active in the intelligence community, people who were part of the hunt, who were there for the conclusion of the hunt. We put together for the exhibition, I think it was a very, very powerful narrative in the context of an exhibition that was only a tiny fraction of what we had gathered through the interview process. And so we decided that for the 10th anniversary of the raid, it would be a very powerful film. We added even after the exhibition opened, a number of very important interviews that fleshed out the story beyond what the exhibition could tell. And so it was a bit of a rush, and doing things under COVID is, as everybody knows, at least very different, if not crazy, but we did manage and get it to completion. And here we are Sunday night, May 2, History Channel, I'm doing the plug ... And that's the short version of the story.

Hope Hodge Seck 3:44

Where do you start? What are the first phone calls that you make to kind of open the doors to as you said, to this previously undisclosed information?

Clifford Chanin 3:52

I'll let Jess tell about these programs that I mentioned before, because they turn out to be absolutely critical in establishing a level of confidence and trust between the museum and these broader agencies. So I think Jess should pick up the beginnings of the story. And then we can talk about, you know, how we actually tried to figure out what the what the story should be.

Jessica Chen 4:13

Sure, thanks, Cliff. So at the museum, the museum opened in 2014. But even before that, it really benefited from a really strong relationship with a lot of the agencies that not only responded immediately after 9/11, but kind of took up the work after 9/11 to combat terrorism and also to do the work that continues to keep this nation safe. And so those groups not only provided assets for the exhibition, but have continued to come to the museum, especially with new recruits and with new staffers who are interested in understanding how 9/11 fits into their institutional history. These visits have actually become very cool programs that we offer to what we call professional groups. And these are groups that are comprised of intelligence agencies, ;aw enforcement agencies, military and government professionals who are really kind of diving into their museum experience with a very personal connection, but also a mission-oriented sense of the story for us at the museum, not only in the museum work that we do, but also thinking about this film. It's largely stemming from these relationships that have been built over time, not only with the people who were part of making the museum happen, but also the people who continue to bring new people through the museum.

Hope Hodge Seck 5:29

It's incredible. What do you think are the biggest misconceptions most Americans have about the story of Osama bin Laden in the way that his narrative intertwines with the United States?

Clifford Chanin 5:45

Well, you know, it's a really interesting question. It came to such a definitive conclusion on May 2, 2011, people could get the impression that there was kind of a straight-line outcome here, that this was all forordained, and this was just how it was going to turn out. And I would say, that's anything but the truth. The first issue is what our focus on bin Laden was before 9/11, which wasn't widely concentrated across the national security community. Obviously, there were people who were focused on al-Qaida and understood the threat and understood that in 1996 and 1998, when bin Laden issues fatwas justifying attacks against the United States, against American civilians in the second fatwa, that, you know, that is an important threat. But there were other things going on in the world. And even those earlier attacks and the embassies in Africa in 1998, the Cole in 2000, as tragic and impactful as they were, it did not really transform the sense of the threat. And that, of course, was what happened on 9/11. And so, to me, the interesting part, and I think we present this in some fascinating detail, how do you hunt for someone who's hiding from you who could be anywhere in the world? And who's actually quite good at hiding? I was talking about this one of the intelligence analysts at one point, and she said, Well, you know, Ted Kaczynski was hiding in the United States, our own country, I think it was 17 years, and we couldn't find him. So you know, why would it have been easier to find Osama bin Laden, and then even when the lead gets us pointed at that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where ultimately he was found, there's never any assurance, it's no more than a circumstantial case, that this may be somewhat important, but there's no guarantee it's Osama bin Laden. And so every step of the way has risk. Every step of the way has a calculation about, Is this real? And if we act as though it's real, and it turns out not to be real, what are the consequences of that going to be? I mean, just imagine everything that happens on that raid happens exactly the same way. And it's not Osama bin Laden. You know, it's some drug dealer, we're not going to invade Pakistani territory for a drug dealer. So how do we deal with that? And so one thing after another, which in retrospect, seemed like a very logical progression, none of it, none of it was except, and it's a remarkable credit to their work. But the intelligence professionals who drove this hunt, said, Yes, we can't give you a written guarantee. But this is what the conclusion leads us to determine.

Jessica Chen 8:38

I'm gonna add to what Cliff just said, and kind of characterize it in my own personal experience. I was starting eighth grade on 9/11. And then I was in New York, having just graduated from college, when the raid, the successful operation was announced. And I think for a lot of people who are my age, and who kind of, these two moments kind of form the bookends of our adulthood or growing up into adulthood, I think that it's hard to kind of link the first moment to this moment. The film itself kind of traces these bookmarks. You know, it starts with intelligence, it goes to policy, and then it goes to the military raid. And I think we forget just how committed many people were after 9/11 to finding this person that was that was really hard to find. And I think what the film does is, it helps people to understand that the motivation and the drive to bring justice did not go away, even though they couldn't find him, and that there were real personal sacrifices made along the way. I'm really hopeful that for my peers to watch this film, and to understand just how committed everybody was to seeing this through.

Hope Hodge Seck 9:49

I really resonate with that. I think we're of a very similar age. I think I was also in eighth grade when the attacks happened. I think that really puts it in context. They were key moments. Guess I'll just ask you both to expand on that. So when you have this wealth of information and all these exhibits, and all of this documentation, how do you then make decisions for how to organize it to tell and frame a story, especially when you've got the constraints of time?

Clifford Chanin 10:19

So it was shaped a little bit by the exhibition, although the film is very different than the exhibition. And I do want to say, again, just a brief plug, the exhibition itself, the museum is open, the 9/11 museum is open, we've just reopened the bin Laden special exhibition. So I hope people who are thinking of traveling to New York might consider coming to see it if they can. We're offering online virtual tours of the museum and the exhibition as well. So 911 memorial.org, our website is the place to go looking for that. Sorry for diverging from your question. But the most powerful factor in shaping this, from the very beginning, we alluded to this before, but it's very unusual, curatorially speaking, we never had a sense in advance of what objects and which people we would have available to us to tell the story. So we would make requests based on these relationships that just described earlier, of these intelligence agencies initially, just to say, look, were planning to do this exhibition, we'd like to be able to talk to you about what might be available for us. And those agencies are bound by the classification rules, obviously. And even though, you know, many of the key public figures who were involved in this had spoken about the raid and wrote wrote about the raid, technically it was still classified. So anything that they were going to make available to us had to go through an internal process within each of these agencies, and the agencies have different processes with different considerations. And on top of which we never knew how long it would take, or what the criteria for decision would be, as to whether or not we could get something. So that was, that was curious. But we did manage to get these meetings that particularly on the intelligence side, where we go in, and we'd say, Well, here's the point in the story that we're trying to make, we're trying to tell, for example, that, you know, there was this massive effort to find as much intelligence as you could by partnering the intelligence agencies on the battlefield with the military, just do these raids and sweeps and process all this intelligence in real time. So you can really make it actionable as soon as possible. Okay. That's a good point, right? What could demonstrate that. So we are museum curators who don't know what the objects are, and the people were asking our intelligence professionals who don't know what museum curators need. So, you know, we would really try to be very specific in their requests. And inevitably, what happened was, we'd be in these meetings, you know, in these secret bunkers. And you know, you have to be screened to get in with a pass and an escort and you're never, you're never alone. And we'd be sitting in these rooms. And we'd make a point, this is what this is the kind of thing we want. And you could see, they began looking at each other. And you could see the eyes communicating there, maybe a little smile here and there. But they wouldn't say anything in front of us. Because what they were thinking of offering us was still classified. And so the question was, A, is this really the answer to the question of what they're looking for? Well, we can't ask them. And B, if it is the answer to the question of what they're looking for, can we get it cleared and give it to them? So the process was very elaborate. Internally, the only thing I will add is, it's very clear to me and we became, you know, friends with some of the folks in the agencies who became our internal advocates. So there were people who, for a variety of reasons thought, this story should be told the 9/11 Museum is the place to tell it, and I, Person X, who have access to the process, who understand what's being asked for, who know the people who are involved in making these decisions, I am going to be the internal advocate for this project inside my agency. I don't think this happens, really, if we don't have a handful of those key people. I can't thank them personally, well, I thank them personally, but I can't thank them publicly, for exactly the same reasons that I've described in the beginning of this story. But that really is the key doing this, because they all are knit into this story together. They know one another, they trust one another. They work together. And they would vouch for us with some of the other folks who may have retired or whatever it was, Would you be willing to sit down for an interview with them? And that's how the process really unfolded.

Jessica Chen 14:45

To pick up where Cliff leaves off. You know, now you have all these relationships, all of these advocates and what sometimes feels like a landslide of connections of details, of stories to tell. I think Cliff and I both have kind of threads in the story that we felt very personally convicted to bring to light. You know, there, there are some things that are explained that that I think I'd leave it to Cliff to kind of flesh out in more detail that have never been kind of discussed publicly before. But I think for me, you know, something that was incredibly important when evaluating how to take all of this material and put it in a film, which, although it's, it's a full-length film, felt a little short at the end, because we're trying to stuff so much stuff into it. For me, it was really understanding how can we convey the humanity and the human cost at every step in the story. So the film opens, really, with an understanding of 9/11, and the human loss on 9/11. And then you go through a hunt that is marked by people who are incredibly human. I hope we've captured them, kind of their frustration, but also their commitment, and even their human sacrifice in terms of seeing this through policymakers, when they're discussing the hunt, the odds that Cliff described earlier, really thinking about the people who are going to be doing this and what they're putting, those people in that situation that they're asking them to expose themselves to, and then the military members who take on kind of the risk and see the mission through. And so I think, because of all the interviews with so many generous, unseen individuals, we're able to kind of get a sense of the people that the real people who kind of were involved in the story, and I hope we've done a good job and kind of lending some some of their personalities to tell the story.

Hope Hodge Seck 16:31

Man, I can't wait to see it. What sorts of things are easier to understand and analyze and contextualize, with the benefit of 10 years of hindsight?

Clifford Chanin 16:44

Well, I do think there was an awareness in the community at large, that one of the failures of 9/11 was the lack of communication across agencies, and between the intelligence and the military world. And they tried to fix that right away. And because of, you know, tradition and culture, and just the different approaches, that wasn't an easy fix. But once we were fighting in Afghanistan, and then in Iraq, it was something they realized, you just had to do it, because you were losing service members on the battlefield there. And there was always a sense that al-Qaida was still out there, bin Laden was still out there, and didn't know what they were planning. But you knew they were planning something, and so you know, that prospect of another catastrophe, or simply not doing enough to protect American military personnel on the battlefield, that really broke down a lot of barriers. And it's a remarkable story, because, you know, the techniques, the practices that were sort of implemented over years before the raid in Pakistan, were the very same techniques and practices that were applied to solve this problem of what's going on in that compound. And so even though it was from the distance factor, and from the political factor of going into an allied sovereign nation without their permission, and conducting a military operation, in the heart of a populated area, the people who knew how to do this, were confident that they could do it, and they had done things like this enough and work together enough that, you know, it was more complicated, certainly, and more risky because of the factors involved. But you know, as one of the SEALs says in one of the interviews, that a raid is a raid is a raid. You know, we know how to do this. It's really, you know, a remarkable piece. And the aviation piece of this is also something that -- the whole mission was about four hours. Forty minutes of that mission, were on the ground, which means more than three hours, the operators were basically passengers on what one of the SEALs called a ginormous bus. And so the success of the mission is in the hands of the pilots, and how they conduct themselves and how they're prepared for this and what they know about the conditions that they're flying in all of this interaction. And all of the key actors had worked with one another on other missions before they knew one another, they trusted one another. And so again, that period, through war, of really developing expertise and trust, I think it was key to what would ultimately happen and what the U.S. military has learned about how to conduct these kinds of operations.

Hope Hodge Seck 19:41

To build on that, are there indicators that events would play out differently if they happen today? You talked about the need to communicate better. I know that's not a problem that probably will ever be fully solved.

Clifford Chanin 19:57

You know, the thing that The experts always say is that the threat changes. And so 9/11 was a product of al-Qaida, which was at that point, a structured administrated centralized organization, with, for a terrorist group, you know, reasonably efficient command and control. The years since have seen that central structure come under enormous pressure and break in many ways. But the threat has splintered into other groups that may be connected with al-Qaida or not, may have been inspired by al-Qaida may have said al-Qaida didn't go far enough, as the Islamic State did. Or that you might have these so called "lone actor" terrorists who radicalize online or through personal contacts with people and decide on their own as some ideologists of the Jihad have urged them, just to attack people where you can. I mean, we don't want to have a centralized structure anymore, or we can't sustain a centralized structure anymore. But it doesn't change what the mission needs to be. That threat changes. Therefore, how we study it, how we understand it has to change, and how we respond to it has to change.

Hope Hodge Seck 21:09

One aspect of the way the story is told, and you've already referred to this, is there are these educational materials for high schoolers to discuss 911 and the hunt for bin Laden and Operation Neptune Spear. Today's high schoolers obviously have no memory of 9/11, which is a little bit shocking for older Millennials like me to contemplate. And in fact, there are even soldiers and Marines and service members who have deployed to Afghanistan with no memory of 9/11, which is the nexus for the start of this war. Why was it so important to provide an entry point for high schoolers into this material?

Jessica Chen 21:51

For me, I think so much of and I'm also speaking from an older Millennial perspective, but our department or my department in the museum is focused on education. And I lean on my colleagues and their expertise to work specifically with students. But I think all of us on the education team feel really strongly that the world that we live in today is shaped so much by the events of 9/11 and the events that followed, I think it's important to contextualize it because we understand that the leadership lessons, the incredible stories of courage and of commitment, that they have resonances with what is going on in the world today. And I think that trying to engage students, and trying to kind of connect them with the importance of understanding our shared history is just so, so important and so central, as they think about, you know, where they're going to be in the next 10 years.

Clifford Chanin 22:43

You know, this is the 10th anniversary of the bin Laden raid, but it's also the 20th anniversary, this September, of 9/11. Twenty years is the span of a generation. Think about it. I mean, nobody who's in high school was even born when 9/11 happened. And if you're in college, you may have been born, but you were a year or two old and you're not going to remember it. And so it's a funny thing that happens with history and a museum like ours. When we started this project, and I go way back to, I wasn't in junior high school when this happened. So the thought was, well, everybody knows this story. So you know, what's going to make our presentation of the story compelling? Well, 20 years pass, and that assumption is completely out the window. Not everybody knows this story. In fact, every day, more people don't know this story. And so the challenge for the museum of telling this story, and as Jess says, explaining just how significant this moment in history was, and continues to be. Now that becomes, I think, frankly, more than we imagined it 15 years ago, that becomes central to the mission of our current-day museum and will only grow in importance every day. I mean, think about, it's not just the attack and the vulnerability. It's the response of this country. I mean, I don't know if you guys remember. But, you know, this country came together across all divides, across all barriers, I mean, all the things we're struggling with as a society today, were wiped away by the common solidarity and feeling that service was spontaneously the outcome of Americans reactions to 9/11. Not just Americans, people around the world. If we're thinking about where we are today, look back and ask the question, what was it that gave us this kind of resilience and solidarity 20 years ago? What's missing? What can we do about it now? Because it's better to be like that than it is to be at each other's throats. And so, you know, that's how the mission of the museum evolves. It's always rooted in 9/11 and telling that story, but there's no fixed point where you can say Hey, okay, this is over, let's turn the page. It just doesn't happen like that.

Hope Hodge Seck 25:04

I have one final question that I hope that both of you will answer in your own way. What larger story do you think all the events that you cover in this documentary, and the accompanying presentation, tell us about America?

Jessica Chen 25:19

I think, you know, going back to personal experience again, and also I was on the West Coast when 9/11 happened, and now have spent most of my adult life on the East Coast. So I consider myself a New Yorker. But I think the breadth of characters of people who undertake this work is pretty remarkable, you know, something that I can say without necessarily speaking to specific identities, but the the number of women who are involved in this work and who take on, you know, risk and responsibility. I'm hopeful that, that when people watch this film, that they're going to see something in it that reminds them of themselves and where they they are in life and how they can contribute to society, but can also just recognize the importance of working together. And this is just to kind of pick up on what Cliff was just saying, that almost everybody who we interviewed for this film, mentioned, at some point in their interview, just looking back and thinking how remarkable it is when everybody learns how to place trust in one another when everyone works together, when everyone is committed to a common purpose. And I think that obviously can be applied into situations that are not exactly like this, but even the environments that all of us work in and live in. That's kind of that that's where I where I land on the film.

Clifford Chanin 26:34

Yeah, I agree. You know, as we've gotten to know some of the folks involved, it's very obvious that they disagree about things, they don't all see the world the same way. And yet, when they were required to do something for the common good, the only factor was how to succeed in doing that task. Everything else was secondary. And it's been my good fortune to see some of those relationships in action, to see how they relate to one another, in spite of whatever other differences that are much, much smaller in importance than the things they have in common. But in spite of their differences, there is a sense of mutual recognition in the idea that they went through this together, they took the risks together, they understood that the most important thing in these circumstances is to be able to count on the other person you're working with, regardless of anything else. And every one of them came through for everybody else when they needed to. That's just a remarkable story. And it is really what it is to offer the best of your service on behalf of your country. And really on behalf of the common humanity that you know, you share with everyone else who's involved in this. And of course, for the families of the 9/11 victims, for the victims themselves who were killed. I mean, that focal point of the mission, never faltered through the hunt, when they weren't finding anybody when they didn't know where to look. All of that drove them onward to this, you know, remarkable, remarkable success story.

Hope Hodge Seck 28:21

Well, thank you both so much for being here today. This documentary, as you said, comes out May 2, what are the different ways that people can watch?

Clifford Chanin 28:29

Well, the History Channel is going to be premiering it through their your cable provider. As of May 3, it's available through histories, website and digital platforms. And you have to sign on with your cable login information. And it's also available for sale through various streaming partners that provide History Channel broadcasts

Hope Hodge Seck 28:54

Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time.

Clifford Chanin 28:57

Thanks, Hope.

Jessica Chen 28:58

Thank you.

Hope Hodge Seck 29:08

Thanks for joining us for this special episode of Left of Boom. I'd love to hear your thoughts on "The Hunt for Bin Laden." Send me an email at podcast@military.com and let me know what you think of the documentary and presentation. You can also pitch me ideas for future shows while you're at it. If you're not subscribed to the podcast, please go ahead and do it now so you don't miss a future episode. And leave us a rating and review to so other people can find us. And remember that you can get all the news and information you need about your military community every day at Military.com.
Family and friends of the victims, who died in a shooting, comfort each other near the crime scene in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 9. AP-Yonhap



A man fatally shot six people including his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself early on Sunday at a birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but did not fire on traumatized children who were present inside a trailer at a mobile home park.



Police arrived to find six people dead plus a seventh who was seriously wounded and died after being taken to a hospital, a police statement said.



"The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life," said the statement released by the Colorado Springs Police Department.



"Friends, family, and children were gathered inside the trailer to celebrate when the shooting occurred," the statement said.



A motive has yet to be determined.



The shooting happened within the Canterbury Manufactured Home Community, a mobile home park of some 470 trailers and largely Latino residents on the southeast side of town, near the Colorado Springs airport, about 70 miles (110 km) south of Denver.



Police blocked off the area, where a mobile crime lab was parked near the home. A small group of adults stood nearby, some of them audibly sobbing, along with a small child.



Freddie Marquez, 33, said his mother-in-law was one of the victims and that he was at the party but left around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.



Some time after midnight, he received a call from the son of one of the women at the party, who was crying on the phone.



"Somebody came in and shot everybody," Marquez said, relating what he had been told on the phone.



The Denver Post quoted neighbor Yenifer Reyes as saying she was awakened by the sound of gunfire.



"I thought it was a thunderstorm. Then I started hearing sirens," Reyes told the newspaper.



She said she saw police take children out of the trailer and put them into a squad car.



"They were crying hysterically," Reyes said.





A police officer is seen near the place, where the shooting occurred, in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 9. AP-Yonhap
DRUMMOND ISLAND, MI  Three Michigan eighth grade students recently battled 15 mph headwinds, choppy wake from 1,000-foot freighters, rain, sleet and hail to raise money for the Great Lakes.

The students from Cherryland Middle School in Elk Rapids, Owen Werner, Max Ward and Jamie Peters, used standup paddleboards to travel 46.24 miles from just below the Soo Locks to Drummond Island on the St. Marys River as part of the challenge.

In total, the trio raised $21,000 for Stand Up for Great Lakes, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the Great Lakes Basin. They were greeted along the way by well-wishers, cheerleaders and residents who encouraged them on their journey.

The trio paddled with Kwin Morris, their science teacher, and Joe Lorenz who are co-founders of Stand Up for Great Lakes. Morris and Lorenz have paddled 4 of the 5 Great Lakes with fellow co-founder Jeff Guy.

To help with the send-off, five paddlers from Birds Eye Outfitters of Sault Ste. Marie accompanied the group for a few miles as a show of support. The group was escorted by a safety boat with an EMT on board along with a parent and each paddler was outfitted in dry suits and PFDs (personal flotation devices).

The safety boat provided a haven during their trip when the paddlers were forced to take shelter when hit with heavy rain which turned to sleet and finally hail stones.

Its the first time in all of our paddles where we had to shelter in the safety boat, Morris said. Getting hit by hail was no fun.

The young men set a goal to raise $5,000 and that was accomplished before they placed their frost laden paddleboards in the river at 7 a.m. on May 1. Then at launch they surpassed $10,000 and by the time they finished on Drummond Island they hit $16,000.

One of the coolest things was that the Drummond Island Elementary School had a penny drive and raised $1,260, Morris said. That really kept us motivated through the entire journey.

Each of the students were asked why they wanted to raise money for the Great Lakes.

The lakes represent 84% of North Americas fresh water supply, Werner said. My concern is that plastic particles as small as a pin head are getting into fish and damaging the habitat as well. Over 20 million pounds of plastic ends up in the lakes each year, and those numbers will only continue to grow.

I fish these waters with my buddies, swim, boat, ski in them and much more, Peters said. They are a big part of my life and the lives of thousands and thousands more.

My goal is to inspire people around the Great Lakes to stand up for them, Ward said. The Great Lakes are crucial to the lives of every living thing in and around the lakes.

Stand Up for Great Lakes has raised more than $80,000 to help raise awareness of the issues facing the Great Lakes. To donate visit, https://standupforgreatlakes.com/ and click donate.
GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI  Police have identified a Michigan man who allegedly hijacked a bus and caused a vehicle crash in Northern Michigan.

Kyle Stephan Willobee, 24, of Luzerne, has been charged with carjacking, assault with a dangerous Weapon, reckless driving and habitual offender third offense. He was arraigned on Monday in the 86th District Court in Grand Traverse County. His bond was set at $25,000.

According to the Michigan State Police, Willobee boarded the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) bus in the Northland Foods Grocery Store parking lot in Kingsley at approximately 7:40 a.m. on Tuesday, May 4.

He immediately attempted to take the fire extinguisher out of its holder, police said. The bus driver, fearing Willobee was going to strike him or spray him with the fire extinguisher, radioed for help and exited the bus.

Willobee then allegedly stole the bus and attempted to turn east on M-113 when it was struck by a westbound vehicle driven by a 29-year-old Manton woman.

There were no passengers on the BATA bus at the time of the crash. The Manton woman suffered apparent minor injuries and is seeking her own medical treatment.

Willobee was uninjured and lodged in the Grand Traverse County Jail, police said.

Troopers were assisted at the scene by deputies from the Grand Traverse County Sheriffs Office and the Kingsley Fire Department.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Shortly after arriving home from another trip to his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Scott Ellsworth explains his two roles involving the historical documentation of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

The first is as an author on the verge of releasing his second published book on the subject titled The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice, which already has earned praise from everyone from Oprah Winfrey, who hailed it as one of the 20 of the Best Books to Pick Up This May, to Beto ORourke, who called it heartbreaking and inspiring.

The other is as chairman of the physical investigation committee for the city of Tulsa, teaming up with archaeologists and forensic scientists to oversee the search for unmarked graves of massacre victims. An excavation last July didnt turn up anything, Ellsworth said, but another in October led to the discovery of 12 pine-box coffins in an area nobody is supposed to be buried.

Ellsworth, of Ann Arbor, and the team will exhume the site, where they believe victims are buried, beginning on the centennial of the massacre on May 31 and June 1, Ellsworth said.

Thats going to take several weeks, but the idea will be that we will hopefully extract DNA and see if its possible to actually identify who some of these people were, he said.

The Tulsa Race Massacre took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, with an eruption of violence against Blacks in the citys predominantly African American Greenwood District. White rioters looted and nearly destroyed the entire Greenwood district, with more than 800 people treated for injuries. Historians believe as many as 300 people may have died.

Ellsworth, 67, had heard stories about the massacre as a child but couldnt find out much about them, leading him to research the topic in college for his senior thesis in 1975. He turned that research into the 1982 comprehensive history titled Death in a Promised Land.

Ellsworths continued commitment to unearthing more stories from the massacre was stoked again in 1997 when he was asked to serve as a lead scholar for the Tulsa Race Riot Commission and another three years of starting the search for the unmarked graves of massacre victims.

Although that work was shut down after it got caught up in politics, Ellsworth said it was resurrected two years ago when Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum asked him to restart the search.

The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice comes out on May 18 and tells the story of how the massacre was covered up by revealing the survivors who kept the story alive. The book is being released via Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

A New York Times bestselling author for his 2016 book The Secret Game, Ellsworth has written about American history for The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times and is formerly a historian with the Smithsonian Institution.

Ellsworth has lived in Ann Arbor for 14 years as a lecturer at the University of Michigan. He spoke with MLive/The Ann Arbor News about his new book, his work to uncover the truth about the Tulsa Race Massacre and his thoughts on the the surge in interest on the topic, with the help of popular culture.

The Ann Arbor News: The story of the Tulsa Race Massacre has seemed to really pick up traction in the past couple of years, in particular, when you look at peoples overall awareness of it and the references to it in popular culture. What do you make of the increased interest?

Ellsworth: Thats something Ive heard for decades. You still hear today, Why? Oh my God, I cant believe Ive never heard this. I would say getting the story out has been a very long process. As late as the early 1970s, there was a researcher who had his life threatened for wanting to research this, so over the years people have had their careers threatened and thats something I write about in the book. Its been a building process, especially since 1996 - the 75th anniversary of the massacre - where we ended up getting the Today show (to do) a story about it, that brought other press in, so its been a long process.

I think things like Watchmen are great. I remember I watched the first episode and I was just sort of amazed at what a great job they had done of reconstructing what the Greenwood community looked like. I just thought of those old survivors that I knew back in the 70s and 80s who are long gone, and how happy they would have been to see that. Now, that being said, there are of course, dramatic licenses taken and there were some silly things. In Lovecraft Country, which Ive just seen one episode of, Greenwood is much larger and more palatial than it was in reality. So theres going to be a lot of dramatic license taken with this, but I but I think its a good thing. I think the fact that these shows are out there is great.

AAN: Could you give me an idea of how you went about identifying people to speak with about this event?

Ellsworth: That first summer when Im this 21-year-old college student at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, I come back home (to Tulsa) and I just cant find anything. Records are missing, official documents are gone. I can find these very sort of sugar-coated, brief references to the massacre in various history books and stuff like that. But I couldnt find photographs of the massacre those days at all. But Id run into one that showed Greenwood after the destruction and it just looked like Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and I couldnt figure out how you went from this seemingly innocent event in an elevator in downtown Tulsa to this racial holocaust.

I got lucky. I told a friend of a friend, who was sort of an amateur historian who was interested in studying the massacre and she said, Oh, you ought to go see Mr. Williams, and I said, Whos Mr Williams. It turns out this was a gentleman named W.D. Williams, and he was 16 at the time (of the massacre) and an African American. His family had owned the Dreamland Theater, they had owned an office building they owned automobile garage. They lost everything, but W.D. Williams had been everywhere - the right place at the right time - and it was because of him and then other survivors he introduced me to, which is really the reason we know how this thing took place and how it happened. So I cant speak highly these elderly Black men and women who took a chance and would speak with me.

AAN: Could you explain some of the differences between your latest book, The Ground Breaking and some of its differences from the work you did on Death in a Promised Land.

Ellsworth: Death in the Promised Land was a young mans book. I wrote it when I was 25 or 26. Its a slender book. Its been in print now for 39 years. It tells about the times, the era, race relations. It shows everything that led up to the massacre happening, it talks about the massacre and talks about the aftermath. So its a slim history, but a comprehensive one of what happened.

The Ground Breaking tells briefly the story of the massacre and the aftermath, but it also focuses on how that history was intentionally buried for more than a half century. Again, official records were destroyed. Both of Tulsas white daily newspapers, went out of their way to ridiculous lengths, not to ever write about it - I mean for decades. People were told this is something we dont discuss. It wasnt taught to students and things like that. Ironically, it wasnt talked about publicly in the citys African American community either. The way to think about that is a couple things. First is a lot of these survivors I knew as late as the late 1990s, who still suffered from PTSD. Others, like Holocaust survivors, were reluctant. They didnt want to revisit these stories of things that had happened to them when they were young and burden their children or grandchildren with those memories. I know a descendant whos my age, whose grand grandparents lost their home and their business in 1921, and she didnt learn about it until she was in her 40s or something like that. It just wasnt talked about for a long time.

Then it tells about how we were able to finally break through the story. It talks about these courageous survivors and descendants who kept the story alive. It talks about the fight for reparations, which is still going on right now. It talks about the rebirth of the community. So, theres kind of a larger story, but also one that I think fits into our current era. I like to say that we live in the age of re-evaluation. Statues are being torn down, buildings are being renamed. Were trying to figure out in America who our heroes are and who they werent. Whats going on in Tulsa after having so many things covered up for so long, now the city is very much in a process of trying to try to move ahead and figure that out. So this is unprecedented work thats going on in Tulsa. Never before has a unit of American government gone out to locate and recover and rebury with honor the remains of historic victims of racial racial violence.

AAN: Can you describe what it means to you to have the mayor of Tulsa supporting this work?

Ellsworth: The families of these people who lost their lives have wanted to know forever because their loved ones were buried while the rest of the community was all being held in under armed guard and detention camp. So, these are people that never found out what happened to their father, their brother or uncle. Thats always been a deep, deep dark mystery.

When I started the search 20 years ago, it was the survivors who told me to do it. So, its been great, but I have to give a lot of credit to the current mayor, G.T. Bynum. Oklahoma is a Republican state and hes a Republican mayor. Hes also a devout Catholic and when he learned about these burials, I think that disturbed him deeply. Even when he was a city councilor, he tried to get the then-mayor of Tulsa to reopen the investigation. That did not happen. When he was elected he opted to reopen it himself. The city has been great with this. Theyve supported us fully. Theyve spent a lot of money on this already, so I really have to credit the mayor for making this happen.

AAN: When youre not working in Tulsa, youre in Ann Arbor. Can you give some background on what brought you here?

Ellsworth: Weve been here for 14 years or something like that. I teach in the Afro-American and African Studies (at the University of Michigan). My department has always been supportive of this. All of work on (the Tulsa Race Massacre) is unpaid on this - its volunteer work for the city. My colleagues have certainly encouraged me to keep up this work.

I have a somewhat unusual career. Ive spent most of my career outside of academia. Ive only really been a college professor in the last dozen years or so. I was very fortunate. When we moved to town I ended up getting asked to speak at the university and that eventually led to a part time job that very quickly became a full time job. So Im a lecturer at the university. I teach courses on the history of American race relations, the Civil Rights movement and things like that. The Tulsa massacre is sort of in line with my specialty.

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WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  Maps showing where Washtenaw County residents have been vaccinated for COVID-19 reveal the progress made, as well as the disparities that still remain.

The Washtenaw County Health Department has released census tract maps showing vaccination rates in the county. The data sheds light on where theres been success in vaccinating residents, but also shows there are still areas that lag behind, officials said.

In most census tracts, at least 50% of residents age 16 and older have already received one dose of vaccine. However, 18 tracts in Washtenaw County are still under that mark.

In Ann Arbor, these areas include the citys west side and near the University of Michigan campus in tracts numbered 4042, 4002, 4003, 4005, 4008, 4022 on the map.

In Pittsfield Township, the areas include census tracts 4140, 4143 and 4152. In Ypsilanti, less than 50% of residents living in census tracts 4101, 4110, 4112, 4132, 4130, 4123 and 4120 have been vaccinated. In Superior Township, census tract 4074 fits this designation, as does the 4202 tract in Augusta Township.

Collaboration helps with COVID vaccination outreach with Black, Latino residents in Washtenaw County

The census tract information can be found on the health departments vaccine data page, and the maps are being updated weekly. Census tract maps are developed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the University of Michigan.

Using census tract data helps us ensure were reaching all areas of the county in our vaccine distribution, Washtenaw County Health Officer Jimena Loveluck said. Were continually working to remove barriers to vaccination and make COVID-19 vaccines as accessible as possible.

As of May 4, more than 60% of county residents age 16 and older overall have received at least one vaccine dose and 47% have completed a full vaccine series.

The health department continues to provide vaccination opportunities through community pop-up clinics throughout the county, as well as mass vaccination sites in Ypsilanti and Chelsea and Nurse on the Run home visits.

Appointments can be scheduled here and walk-ups are welcome as supplies allow. Areas with lower vaccination rates are prioritized for vaccine pop-up clinics and outreach efforts.

Pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics coming to Washtenaw County schools

Health officials are encouraging anyone who has not yet received a vaccine to do so. COVID-19 vaccines do make it safer for people to start doing things they stopped doing because of the pandemic, health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have confirmed vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in many situations and do not need to quarantine or get tested after possible exposure, as long as they do not have symptoms.

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MONROE COUNTY, MI  A Monroe County man was killed and a woman was injured Saturday in a suspected drunk driving head-on crash, police said.

Police were called at 1:52 a.m. May 8, to S. Telegraph Road, north of Mix Road in Erie Township for a report of a crash involving four vehicles, according to the Monroe County Sheriffs Office.

Investigators discovered a Ford Fusion going north on S. Telegraph Road was struck head on by a Ford Mustang going south and attempting to pass a Ford Freestyle also going south, police said.

After the initial head-on crash, the Ford Freestyle and another vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, crashed into the Ford Fusion, police said.

The driver of the Ford Fusion, identified as Tyler White, 23, of Erie, suffered critical injures in the crash and was taken to an area hospital for treatment, police said. He succumbed to his injuries later that afternoon and died, police said.

The 26-year-old woman driving the Ford Mustang also suffered critical injuries in the crash and was taken for treatment, police said. She is currently listed in fair condition, police said.

The drivers of the Ford Freestyle and Jeep Cherokee were not injured in the crash, police said.

Excessive speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash which remains under investigation, police said.

Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to call the Monroe County Sheriffs Office at 734-240-7557.

Monroe Community Ambulance, Bedford Township Fire Department and Erie Township Fire Department assisted at the scene.

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UPDATE: At least for now, Genesee County wont fly Thin Blue Line flag

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The county Board of Commissioners is considering a resolution to declare May as Police Appreciation Month, and some members are defending a request to fly the Thin Blue Line flag at all county buildings despite the symbol having been banned elsewhere.

Three of the nine commissioners promoted the actions at a news conference Monday, May 10, two days before a vote on the resolution is scheduled.

Genesee Countys fallen officers will never be forgotten, nor will their services to their respective communities, the resolution says in part. By choosing to commit themselves to law enforcement, these brave individuals answered the call for service and willingly put their lives in jeopardy.

The resolution comes two weeks after a divided commission approved a resolution 7-2 to fly the rainbow flag symbolizing LGBTQ pride at county buildings every June.

Commissioner Shaun Shumaker, R-Fenton Twp., proposed the law enforcement resolution and said the Thin Blue Line flag represents the difference between (societal) organization when you have the police and chaos when that line is erased.

Weve taken a lot of flack for doing so and a lot of people have worked in nefarious ways to make sure this did not happen, Shumaker said.

Commissioner Domonique Clemons, D-Flint Twp., said he will ask that the resolution be sent to a committee before any yes or no vote on it, but said hes taken no hard position against declaring a Police Appreciation Month.

I think theres a lot of factors that need to be considered, Clemons said. I really think it should have been considered in a committee meeting first.

The Thin Blue Line flag resembles a U.S. flag but has a blue stripe. It is considered a sign of support for police but has also been criticized as a symbol of white supremacy.

In January, the University of Wisconsin-Madisons police chief banned officers from using Thin Blue Line imagery while on duty. Just three days ago, the chief judge of Maryland District Courts banned court employees from wearing face masks showing the law enforcement symbol, according to the Associated Press.

Thin Blue Line flags were also among those displayed by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to overturn the election defeat of former President Donald Trump, the AP has reported. Five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, died in the riot.

Commissioner Debra Newman, D-Swartz Creek, a retired deputy with the Genesee County Sheriffs Office, said the flag is not meant to offend anyone.

Thats not our intent, said Newman, who appeared with Shumaker; Commissioner Meredith Davis, R-Flushing Twp.; and county Clerk-Register John Gleason at Mondays press conference. I understand (the symbol) has been hijacked by some organized, racist organizations, but that cannot give them the power to stop us from doing what is right and flying this flag. Period.

Gleason called criticism of the resolution way outside the mainstream, and Davis said its simply designed to honor officers killed in the line of duty.

This should be a slam dunk -- an automatic, Gleason said of the vote Wednesday, May 12. (People are) trying to stop a flag from being flown for those who have given their all for our society.

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CASCO TOWNSHIP, MI -- Police are asking for help locating an 84-year-old St. Clair County woman they say is missing and endangered.

Nadine Moses, 84, left her residence in St. Clair Countys Casco Township on May 4, driving her 2011 dark blue Ford Edge, according to a Monday, May 10 Michigan State Police Endangered Missing Advisory.

Moses family has been unable to contact her, the advisory states. Her phone is off and she suffers from memory loss.

Moss is 5-foot-2 inches tall and weighs 128 pounds, according to police. She has a Michigan handicapped license plate, with plate number C8932.

Anyone with information on Moses whereabouts is asked to call 911 or St. Clair County Central Dispatch at 810-985-8115.

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JACKSON, MI - A $1.1-million gift to Lumen Christi Catholic School will help establish an endowed fund for Jackson Catholic Schools to attract and retain teachers at all four of its schools.

The gift came courtesy of a donation from the late Donna Ambs, a lifetime Jackson Catholic Schools educator. Ambs was a 1958 graduate of St. Mary Star of the Sea School, Jackson Community College and Michigan State University.

As a former Jackson Catholic Schools teacher, Donna was happy to give back to the very place that helped enrich her life for so many years, school officials said in a news release. She believed the role of teacher was one of the noblest and most relevant professions in the world, and that it is vital that institutions like Jackson Catholic Schools be a welcome place for educators to build their careers and influence young lives.

After college, Ambs moved back to the Jackson area to become a high school business teacher. When it opened in the fall of 1968, Ambs was among the founding group of teachers at Lumen Christi High School, teaching shorthand, secretarial block and typing classes.

During her time as an educator, Ambs was known for her refined disposition and high standards when it came to dress code, conduct, and personal standards with students, school officials noted, Ambs retired in 1997. She died in 2019 at age 78.

Gifts such as this by Donna Ambs are crucial to our ability to accomplish our mission and continue to support familys desire to educate their children in a school that promotes Catholic learning and academic excellence, school officials said.

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JACKSON COUNTY, MI  When the first tenants moved into Andys Place apartments in December 2020, they found a Christmas surprise -- everything on their wish list.

Local drug recovery advocate Mike Hirst said it was a great way to welcome people to the long-term housing program for substance abuse treatment that has been in the works since 2018.

Hirsts son, Andrew, died in 2010 of a heroin overdose at 24 years old. Since then, Hirst has fought the issue, starting the nonprofit Andys Angels to educate others about opioid addiction and support those suffering from it.

Just about six months into the new housing program, Hirst already has plans to build a third space with 11 more units just for pregnant women.

The space at 2388 W. Michigan Ave. in Blackman Township has two buildings that began construction in early 2020. The first 42,000-square-foot building has 39 single-bedroom units, along with a resource center, exercise equipment and other community space. The second building has 11 two-bedroom family units.

Tenants come from the Michigan drug court system. Instead of leaving jail and heading to rehab or probation, they can interview for housing that provides wrap-around resources on site. They have meetings daily  whether that be sobriety group meetings or lectures about how to apply for jobs or get good credit.

Hirst believes the housing model is one of the best ways to help people break the physical dependencies from opioid addiction because it addresses life and skill development while ensuring people are sober while their brain recovers from addiction, noting that relapse rates from rehabilitation programs can be as high as 80%.

Say you had cancer, and you needed 12 chemotherapy treatments but were only going to give you a three, he said. Your cancer is going to come back. Its the same thing with this, you got to get past that. People think its just a behavior problem. Its far beyond a behavior problem.

The apartments are based on the low-income housing model, meaning tenants rent is based on their income. Rent is as low as $50 if you dont have a job, Hirst said.

The $13-million project was funded through public and private partnerships. Hirsts foundation, Andys Angels, contributed its own funding and federal low-income tax credits helped finance the beginning stages of the project, he said.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle have helped the project come to fruition because its such a widespread problem, Hirst said. The third buildings plans are already in place, including funding help from U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton.

Related: Opioid rehab apartments in Jackson get state funding restored after governors veto

They hope to break ground on the units for pregnant women by 2022.

We want people to enjoy life for what its worth and theres all kinds of things to enjoy about life but you can enjoy any of it if youre suffering from substance abuse, Hirst said. We want to get on the bright side of life here.

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MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  The family of an inmate whose death at the Muskegon County Jail led to manslaughter charges against four deputies and a nurse has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the county, court records show.

The family of Paul Bulthouse, 39, contended that authorities covered up the circumstances of his April 4, 2019, death.

Muskegon County Board of Commissioners has not been presented with a proposed settlement, County Administrator Mark Eisenbarth said.

Commissioners would have to review and approve any settlement.

Bulthouse suffered multiple seizures, triggered by withdrawal of prescription medication, that were ignored, the lawsuit said. He died of natural causes in a detoxification cell, an autopsy showed.

The lawsuit said that authorities witnessed Bulthouse suffer numerous and continuous seizures both in person and viewing on camera (or ignoring the video surveillance of same over a long period of time); and simply not offering medical attention to his emergency medical needs ultimately causing his death.

Following this senseless tragedy, Defendant Muskegon County and Defendant Wellpath, embarked on an effort to cover up the circumstances surrounding the death of Paul Bulthouse, the lawsuit said.

The investigation was closed May 22, 2019, but soon re-opened after Sheriff Michael Poulin learned of reports that a deputy may have witnessed one of Bulthouses seizures and failed to act.

State Attorney General Dana Nessels criminal division last month brought charges of involuntary manslaughter against Sgt. David VanderLaan, deputies Jeffery Patterson, Crystal Greve and Jamal Lane, and Aubrey Schotts, a registered nurse.

The defendants face June 10 preliminary examinations in Muskegon County District Court to determine if they should stand trial in Circuit Court on the 15-year felony charge.

Bulthouses estate sued Muskegon County and Wellpath, formerly known as Correct Care Solutions, and workers for both agencies, in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Daniel Ryan, a mediator, said in court documents that the estate and Muskegon County had agreed to a settlement. Attorneys for the parties did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Settlement papers have not been filed.

On the day he died, Bulthouse suffered 15 seizures, starting at 2 a.m., before he died shortly after 5:30 a.m. The seizures were recorded on jail cameras but apparently missed by deputies during regular checks, according to documents obtained by MLive/Muskegon Chronicle in Freedom of Information request.

Bulthouse was jailed on March 22, 2019, for a parole violation. He had pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in October 2018.

Bulthouse had long taken a psychotropic medication, a benzodiazepine, to treat anxiety disorders and other conditions. An abrupt stop or reduction in the medication led to withdrawal symptoms, the lawsuit said.

A doctor reported that Bulthouse was faking symptoms, which led staff to ignore him, the lawsuit said.

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A Siberian doctor who treated Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after he collapsed on a flight in Russia last year has gone missing, Russian police said on Sunday.







Police in the Omsk region, about 2,200 km (1,370 miles) east of Moscow, said physician Alexander Murakhovsky had left a hunting base in a forest on an all-terrain vehicle on Friday and had not been seen since.







It said that emergency services, drones, a helicopter and volunteers on the ground had joined the search effort.







Murakhovsky was the head doctor at the hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk that treated Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic. Murakhovsky was subsequently promoted to the post of regional health minister.







After tense negotiations with the authorities, Navalny was airlifted to Germany from Omsk for further treatment.







Laboratory tests in three European countries, confirmed by the global chemical weapons watchdog, established that Navalny had been poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent.







The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected any suggestion that Russian authorities tried to kill Navalny. He was jailed in February on what he said were trumped up charges. (Reuters)


MUSKEGON, MI  Development of a new 214-acre park on Lake Michigan in Norton Shores is moving forward with final approval of $5 million in state funding.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has given her approval of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant that was approved by the Legislature last month.

The money will allow for the purchase from Nugent Sand of 214 acres of property off Lincoln Street that includes an inland lake. The county will open the first phase of the park, called Dune Harbor Park, later this year.

A sale closing on the property is expected in late summer after which the county will have 90 days to open the park to the public.

Related: $5M grant sought to expand Muskegon Countys planned park on Lake Michigan

The property is between Winnetaska and Seminole roads and includes 400 feet of Lake Michigan frontage. Winnetaska separates the parcel from a second, 162-acre parcel that the county also is hoping to buy for a second phase of Dune Harbor Park.

It has applied for a second $5 million grant from the same trust fund for that property, which also includes an inland lake as well as 2,000 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline. That northern piece also is owned by Nugent Sand.

Both properties were used for sand mining operations that left the two large lakes.

The initial plan for the southern portion that was announced earlier is to leave it in a mostly natural state. Motorized boats would not be allowed on the inland lake and trails would be developed to provide passive recreational opportunities.

A recommendation for first phase funding was made in December 2020, when it was announced the Dune Harbor Park project had the highest ranking among 37 applications for land acquisition.

A $2.5 million donation of land value from Nugent Sand owner Bob Chandonnet and $33,900 grant from the Land Conservancy will be used as a 33 percent local match to the grant.

A recommendation on the second phase funding is expected this December. A funding plan involving landowner and Land Conservancy contributions is planned for that phase as well.

An update on the park project will be provided by Muskegon County officials via Zoom at 6 p.m. May 17. A link to the meeting will be posted on the countys website, www.co.muskegon.mi.us.

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Detroit Police Chief James Craig is retiring, he announced at a press conference Monday, and is leaving the door open for a possible gubernatorial run.

I have not made that decision. Im not ruling it out, said Craig, who said he has identified as a conservative and a Republican for at least a decade.

Related: Detroit police chief to announce retirement, run for governor: reports

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is running for another term, and a number of Republicans are vying to challenge her for the seat.

Craig said he was humbled and flattered by the messages of support hes gotten about speculation that he could run for governor as a Republican.

He spoke fondly of his time at the department and his near-44 years in policing, though he said 2020 had been the most challenging year of his time in law enforcement.

Im leaving in a good place, I love this city and I love this state, Craig said.

He is staying on until June 1. Until his final day in office, he said, his focus is to serve the department and work closely with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan as the department transitions leadership.

Duggan praised Craig for bringing professionalism to the department and increasing neighborhood policing.

I tried to convince him to change his mind and stay, even up until last night, Duggan said.

He said under the city charter he would appoint an interim chief very familiar with the department while a search for a permanent replacement is conducted by a professional firm.

But when it comes down to a candidate for governor, Duggan said Whitmer had been a good partner to the city, and I will be supporting her.

If he got into the race, Craig could be the first candidate with statewide name recognition from a previous office to enter.

Republican candidates who have filed campaign finance paperwork to run are Kalamazoo Chiropractor Garret Soldano, Allendale Township planning commissioner Ryan Kelley, Austin Chenge, Ralph Rebandt and Bob Scott. Other filings hint at a potential run from conservative media personality Tudor Dixon, as well.

There has been widespread speculation about big names who might jump in, including former U.S. Senate Candidate John James, former congressional candidate Lena Epstein, attorney Matthew Schneider and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.

Craig has served as Chief of Police in Michigans largest city since 2013, when he was appointed by then-Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. Originally from Detroit, he started his policing career in the city in 1977, according to his biography on the citys website, but worked elsewhere and served as chief in Cincinnati, Ohio and Portland, Maine before returning home.

Craig came under criticism last summer for the way police handled Black Lives Matter protests in the aftermath of George Floyds death in Minneapolis. Police made arrests and used tear gas in some instances, generating excessive force complaints.

Craig has had a very public role, speaking frankly with the media about the department and its handling of various incidents.

He made headlines for some of his stances, including arguing guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens could deter crime early in his tenure.

He also was among more than 200 Detroit Police officers to battle COVID-19 last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Michigan has fined another batch of workplaces for violating COVID-19 protocols, many of which were spurred by employee complaints.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited 51 workplaces, per the latest update to its online dashboard. So far, 280 workplaces have been hit with a citation or fine.

Of the 280 citations, 27 are under appeal. No workplace that has appealed its violation has won its case, yet.

The latest batch includes fines at four hospitals: Childrens Hospital of Michigan, Henry Ford Hospital, Sinai Grace Hospital and Detroit Receiving Hospital. Their fines all stem from workers dying of COVID-19 in 2020.

Other businesses on the list include Buddys Pizza, a pair of marijuana retailers, Ollies Bargain Outlet, Joann Fabrics and a Speedway gas station.

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If employers fix the problems and agree not to appeal, they only have to pay 50% of the fine. Workplaces have 15 working days to appeal the MIOSHA citations.

Employers and employees with questions about COVID-19 workplace policies can call the MIOSHA hotline at 855-723-3219. To file a complaint against a workplace, go to Michigan.gov/MIOSHAcomplaint.

Here are the latest workplaces to be fined by MIOSHA. Click the employer name to read the full citation.

Location: Troy

Fine: None

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan available. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Linden

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Not conducting a daily self-screening protocol for employees, not notifying the local health department or co-workers when a known positive COVID-19 case was detected at the workplace and not maintaining a record of employee COVID-19 training or daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Wyoming

Fine: $8,000, but only $2,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a COVID-19 supervisor on-site. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Marquette

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not installing physical barriers at checkout stations, failing to conduct the daily health screening including a questionnaire and failing to train employees on COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Berkley

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan; not conducting daily entry self-screening protocols for all employees or contractors entering the workplace; not providing training on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19; and not placing posters in the languages common in the employee population that encourage staying away from the workplace when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette and proper hand hygiene practices. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Mount Morris

Fine: $4,100, but only $2,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not ensuring that employees in frequent or prolonged close contact with known or suspected cases of COVID-19 were provided with and wore, at a minimum, an N95 respirator; and not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan with an employee exposure determination required by Rule 3 of MIOSHA Emergency Rules. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Marysville

Fine: $9,800, but only $3,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Failure to designate one or more worksite COVID-19 safety coordinators at independent home locations; failure to ensure that employees, who provided care for residents that tested positive for COVID-19, were provided with and wore, at a minimum, an N95 respirator; and failure to include an employee exposure determination from Rule 3 of the Emergency Rule, required personal protective equipment, and training in their corporate plan for COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Brown City

Fine: $7,500, but only $2,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not categorizing job task into risk categories, the lack of a preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 and failing to conduct the daily health screening including a questionnaire. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Shelby Township

Fine: $6,300

Reasons: The lack of a preparedness and response plan, not isolating employees known or suspected to have COVID-19 and failing to train employees on coronavirus precautions. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Cheboygan

Fine: None

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan and for not documenting daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Imlay City

Fine: $2,500

Reasons: Failure to require face coverings when social distancing could not be maintained, failing to maintain social distancing on the plant floor, and not installing physical barriers or using signs, tape marks or other visual cues to indicate where to stand when physical barriers are not possible. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Madison Heights

Fine: $1,800, but only $1,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not providing training to employees on SARS-Cov-2 and COVID-19, and not categorizing job tasks and procedures into risk categories as required. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Detroit

Fine: $4,000

Reasons: The lack of a preparedness and response plan and failing to train employees on COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to a report of a fatality.

Location: Dearborn

Fine: $8,000, but only $4,000 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not conducting an exposure determination, failure to require face coverings when social distancing could not be maintained, failing to maintain or retain documentation for training and not using an EPA-approved disinfectant for cleaning related to COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Auburn Hills

Fine: $2,100, but only $900 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not enforcing the requirement for face coverings when employees cannot consistently maintain 6 feet of separation from other individuals in the workplace. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Brooklyn

Fine: $1,000, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not developing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, and not maintaining records of employee COVID-19 training or daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Bay City

Fine: $1,400, but only $500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written preparedness and response plan and not having employees maintain 6 feet of distance where possible. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Ada

Fine: $4,300, but only $2,800 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Lack of a written preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 control strategies, lack of social distancing and lack of face coverings when workers could not consistently maintain 6 feet of social distancing. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Detroit

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: The lack of a preparedness and response plan and failing to train employees on COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to a report of a fatality.

Location: Niles

Fine: $3,900, but only $1,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Failing to require face coverings when social distancing could not be maintained. The inspection was initiated as a planned programmed inspection.

Location: Riverview

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: Not ensuring work stations and break areas allowed employees to maintain 6 feet of social distancing, not implementing a respiratory protection program for use of N95 respirators and not maintaining records related to COVID-19 training. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Romulus

Fine: $400

Reasons: Not requiring face coverings to be worn and no physical barriers installed. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Clio

Fine: $500

Reasons: Lack of a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, not contacting the local health department when a known positive COVID-19 case was detected at the workplace, not installing physical barriers in the reception area, not placing posters that encourage staying away from the workplace when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette, or proper hand hygiene for employees onsite and not maintaining records of employee daily health screenings or notification to the local health department of known COVID-19 cases at the workplace. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Walled Lake

Fine: None

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan; not having posters in the languages common in the employee population that encourage staying away from the workplace when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette and proper hand hygiene practices; and not posting signs at store entrances instructing customers to wear a face covering when inside the store. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Detroit

Fine: $12,600, but only $6,300 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Failure to use airborne precautions or respiratory protection. The inspection was initiated in response to a report of a fatality.

Location: Columbia Station, Ohio

Fine: $400, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan available. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Mount Clemens

Fine: $2,000

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, not conducting daily entry self-screening protocols for all employees or contractors entering the workplace, not keeping everyone on the worksite premises at least 6 feet from one another to the maximum extent possible, not requiring face coverings to be worn when employees cannot consistently maintain 6 feet of separation from other individuals in the workplace and not placing posters in the languages common in the employee population that encourage staying away from the workplace when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette and proper hand hygiene practices. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Bloomfield Hills

Fine: $400, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan available. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Shelby Township

Fine: $6,300

Reasons: The lack of a preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19 and failing to routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Algonac

Fine: $800, but only $400 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not requiring a daily self-screening protocol for all employees entering the workplace. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Detroit

Fine: $5,500

Reasons: Not ensuring an effective procedure for increasing facility cleaning and disinfection, not physically isolating suspected cases of COVID-19, and not recording positive workplace COVID-19 exposures. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Flint

Fine: None

Reasons: Not having their COVID-19 preparedness and response plan readily available to employees. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Flint

Fine: $1,600

Reasons: Not placing posters that encourage staying away from the workplace when sick, cough and sneeze etiquette, or proper hand hygiene for employees onsite and not maintaining records of employee COVID-19 training or daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Macomb

Fine: $2,600, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness available. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Shelby Township

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: Not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan; not conducting daily entry self-screening protocols for all employees or contractors entering the workplace; and not installing physical barriers at the checkouts or other service points that require close interaction, including plexiglass barriers, tape markers or tables. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Olsen Construction

Location: Gaylord

Fine: None

Reasons: Not available.

Location: Dearborn

Fine: $500

Reasons: Not conducting daily entry self-screenings, and no preparedness and response plan developed. The inspection was initiated in response to a complaint.

Location: Mount Pleasant

Fine: $7,000, but only $3,500 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Failure to require face coverings in shared spaces and during in-person meetings; failure to ensure that employees in frequent or prolonged close contact with known or suspected cases of COVID-19 were provided with and wore, at a minimum, an N95 respirator; and not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan including an employee exposure determination required by Rule 3 of MIOSHA Emergency Rules. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Livonia

Fine: $900, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not conducting an exposure determination, failing to detail the measures the employer will implement to prevent employee exposure in their COVID-19 preparedness and response plan and failing to maintain or retain documentation for training. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Richmond

Fine: $7,000

Reasons: Failing to train employees on COVID-19 and failing to keep customers informed about symptoms of COVID-19 by posting signs about COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Saginaw

Fine: None

Reasons: Failing to create a policy for in person work. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Detroit

Fine: $4,000

Reasons: The lack of a preparedness and response plan and failing to train employees on COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to a report of a fatality.

Location: Romulus

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: Allowing employees who were sick to report to work, and no increased facility cleaning and disinfection on high-touch surfaces. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: St. Johns

Fine: $6,300

Reasons: Failure to assure that employee pre-work health was evaluated through the administration of either a daily in-person or virtual health check and failure to assure that measures were in place to prevent or limit close contact between employees and mask-less customers. The inspection was initiated as part of the COVID-19 Retail State Emphasis Program.

Location: Bingham Farms

Fine: $3,900, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not conducting a daily health screening. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Flint

Fine: $1,500

Reasons: Failing to evaluate anticipated tasks to determine employee exposure to COVID-19, the lack of a preparedness and response plan, failing to train employees on COVID-19, failing to conduct the daily health screening including a questionnaire, failing to designate one or more worksite COVID-19 safety coordinators, failing to post signs instructing customers to wear face coverings and failing to maintain or retain documentation for training, entry screening and contact tracing. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Petoskey

Fine: $1,200, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan and for not documenting daily health screenings. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Shelby Township

Fine: $400, but no fines for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not having a written COVID-19 preparedness available. The inspection was initiated as a planned-programmed inspection.

Location: Walled Lake

Fine: $1,100, but only $700 for COVID-19 violations

Reasons: Not evaluating routine and reasonably anticipated tasks and procedures to determine whether there is actual or reasonably anticipated employee exposure to SARS-CoV-2, not developing and implementing a written COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, not using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved disinfectants, not conducting a daily entry self-screening protocol for all employees or contractors entering the workplace, not keeping everyone on the worksite premises at least 6 feet from one another to the maximum extent possible and to reduce congestion, not requiring face coverings to be worn when employees cannot consistently maintain 6 feet of separation from other individuals in the workplace, not posting signs at all entrances instructing customers to wear a face covering when inside the facility, not posting signs at all entrances informing customers not to enter if they are or have recently been sick and not providing training to employees on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Belleville

Fine: $500

Reasons: Failing to conduct the daily health screening including a questionnaire. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

Location: Canton

Fine: $3,500

Reasons: Not implementing their COVID-19 preparedness and response plan and not requiring face coverings. The inspection was initiated in response to an employee complaint.

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Michigan residents donated hundreds of toys, clothes and other items to unaccompanied migrant children being housed in the state under a federal program.

A donation drive organized by state Rep. Mari Manoogian, D-Birmingham, and Fems for Democracy, a nonprofit political advocacy group, resulted in an outpouring of generosity from residents across the state. Volunteers said theyre trying to make life a little more comfortable for children who traveled thousands of miles without their parents.

These are unaccompanied children sent here to find a better life, said Gina Keller, a board member with Fems for Democracy. I would just hope that if I was in their shoes, somebody on the receiving end would show kindness and support to my children. These children are caught up in the system through no fault of their own, so we just want to make sure they have everything they need here.

The Biden Administration opened several emergency shelters across the country to address a rising number of unaccompanied children coming to the southern border this year. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 18,890 unaccompanied minors were encountered in March 2021, a 100% increase from February.

Unaccompanied children make up the largest demographic group at CBP facilities. A total of 22,264 migrant children are being housed in 200 facilities across 22 states, according to a release from the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security partnered with Starr Commonwealth, a nonprofit family service agency in Albion, to temporarily house unaccompanied migrants. There were 166 children at the Albion facility as of May 3.

Starr Commonwealth is providing shelter for boys between the ages 5 to 17 years old while the federal government works to unify the children with family members or American sponsors. A press release from Starr Commonwealth states DHHS expects each child will stay 30 days or less. The Albion facility opened on April 11.

Unaccompanied children are often trying to meet with family members in the United States, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Most unaccompanied children traveled from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, according to a press release.

Starr Commonwealth, founded in 1913, historically provided residential programs and behavioral health services for at-risk boys from its 350-acre campus located between Marshall and Jackson. The campus has 17 cottages, a gymnasium, cafeteria, school buildings, chapel, ball fields, track and a lakeside park.

Volunteers who organized the donation drive said they coordinated with FEMA to transport donations to the Albion facility. FEMA will continue accepting toys and clothing, though items must be new and unused.

Carloads upon carloads of donated items quickly poured in when the call went out in the Oakland County area, Keller said. She estimated several hundred items were gifted, which filled a few personal garages and the basement of Birmingham High School.

Fems for Democracy founder Lori Goldman said used donations will be sent to groups working with people experiencing homelessness. Goldman said she hopes the donation drive also brings more awareness to displaced adults and children in Michigan.

If we had had more woman-power, and we had more time, we could take care of a million people, Goldman said. Im not being bombastic, Im being totally real. If theres the infrastructure in the community to help, we can cover every need. I think something like this has to happen outside of government.

Not much has been publicly said about conditions at the Albion facility.

U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, toured the building in early April but did not respond to a request for comment. McClain said she was appalled by the arrangement and criticized President Joe Bidens immigration policies in a statement after her visit.

Once these kids get to the border, your tax dollars are footing the bill for not only housing these children, but also transporting them anywhere in the United States to family members, McClain said in a statement. We need policies to be put in place to stop this crisis that is overwhelming our country.

Manoogian, the Democratic state representative, said constituents expressed a strong desire to help children who are probably experiencing the worst time in their lives. She said McClains comments are the antithesis of who we are as Michiganders.

The people of Michigan are generous and giving, Manoogian said. When they see children who are in need, were a hospitable people, thats just who we are.

U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, led a House subcommittee hearing last week about the situation at the southern border. Meijer called the surge in migrants a border crisis caused by a complicated mix of factors like the Biden administrations policies, systemic corruption and a lack of economic opportunity in Central America.

Meijer said the situation has a significant impact on local communities across the country.

Michigan is always willing to help those who are vulnerable and in need, but make no mistake: unaccompanied migrant children have been flown thousands of miles because our federal government had no plan from the beginning and has failed to address this crisis, Meijer said.

The subcommittee heard testimony from Calhoun County Sheriff Steve Hinkley, who expressed concerns about providing local security to the Albion facility.

Questions about conditions at the Albion facility were referred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A fact sheet provided by the department lists amenities including clean and comfortable sleeping quarters, meals, toiletries, laundry, access to medical services and recreational activities.

All children are tested for COVID-19 before being transported to Albion and receive additional tests every three days, according to the release. CDC is onsite monitoring and providing guidance on COVID-19 protocols.

Children who have health conditions that cant be treated at the facility will be taken to local hospitals, according to the government. Bilingual caregivers with a background in child welfare or development are also on site.

Potential sponsors are screened for criminal history and sex offender status.

If a parent is trying to contact their child in ORR care, the parent can call the ORR National Call Center, (800) 203-7001, or email information@ORRNCC.com for assistance.

They came here with no one; they were sent alone and they journeyed from the southern border to Michigan alone. Now theyre in this facility alone without friends and family, Keller said. If everyone can just see it in their hearts to help provide an item or two that could provide comfort to them while theyre here, we would really appreciate that.

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Ottawa has been Michigans fastest-growing county over the past decade, while Ontonogon in the western Upper Peninsula has had the biggest population loss since 2010, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The latest numbers are not part of the 2020 Census; those numbers will be released later this year. These numbers are the annual population estimates based on birth, death and migration data.

Michigans population remains just shy of 10 million residents, according to this dataset. The state had 9,966,555 residents on July 1, 2020, the Bureau estimates. Thats up slightly from a count of 9,883,640 in the 2010 Census.

While Detroit has lost population since 2010, the metro Detroit area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties grew very slightly thanks to population increases in Oakland and Macomb, which each grew by 4%. That offset the 4% drop in Wayne Countys population. The tri-county area continues to have about 39% of the states population, almost 3.9 million people.

West Michigan continues to be the areas fastest-growing region.

Kent County, home of Grand Rapids, and Ottawa County, which is adjacent to Kent, rank Nos. 2 and 1 as the fastest-growing counties in state since 2010. Together, the two counties gained almost 87,000 residents, a 10% increase, and now have more than 950,000 residents.

Ottawa, which includes Grand Haven and Holland, has overtaken Ingham as Michigans seventh most-populated county.

The Upper Peninsula lost 5% of its population, and all 15 U.P. counties lost population. The U.P.s population went from about 311,000 to about 296,000.

Ontonogan, home of Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, lost 17% of its population over the past decade. Its now Michigans second least-populated county; only Keweenaw, which is at the tip of the U.P.s Keweenaw Peninsula, is smaller.

In all, 26 counties gained population over the past decade and 57 saw a decline between 2010 and 2020.

Below is a map showing the change in Michigans population between 2010 and 2020. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data. If you cant see the map, click here.

Next is a map showing the states 2020 population. If you cant see the map, click here.

And heres a database that allows you to look up any county to see the numbers. If you cant see the chart, click here.

Below are some ranking of counties and communities based on the latest numbers.

10 fastest-growing counties 2010-20

Many of these counties mainly represent the boom among urban/suburban counties. Livingston County is commuting distance to Lansing, Ann Arbor and Oakland County; Clinton is part of metro Lansing, and Allegan and Barry are between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

Grand Traverse and Kalkaska reflect the boom in and around Traverse City, which is attracting a growing number of retirees.

Ottawa: Up 12%, from 263,801 to 294,635, a gain of 30,834

Kent: Up 9%, from 602,622 to 658,708, a gain of 56,086

Grand Traverse : Up 8%, from 86,986 to 93,592, a gain of 6,606.

Allegan: Up 7%, from 11,408 to 118,927, a gain of 7,519.

Washtenaw, Up 6%, from 344,791 to 366,473, a gain of 21,682.

Livingston: Up 6%, from 180,967 to 192,335, a gain of 11,368.

Kalamazoo: Up 6%, from 250,331 to 265,988 a gain of 15,657.

Clinton: Up 6%, from 75,382 to 79,753, a gain of 4,317.

Kalkaska: Up 5%, from 17,153 to 18,003 a gain of 850.

Barry: Up 5%, from 59,173 to 62,061, a gain of 2,888.

10 counties with the biggest loss between 2010-20

Seven of the 10 counties on this list are in the Upper Peninsula, including the first four. Two of the remaining counties are in the Thumb and Arenac is in the northeast quadrant of the Lower Peninsula.

Ontonagon: -17%, from 6,780 to 5,656, a loss of -1,124.

Gogebic : -16%, from 16,427 to 13,842, a loss of -2,585.

Baraga: -8%, from 8,860 to 8,164, a loss of -696.

Luce: -8%, from 6,631 to 6,126, a loss of -505.

Huron: -6%, from 33,118 to 30,653, a loss of -2,465.

Iron: -6%, from 11,817 to 11,066, a loss of -751.

Tuscola: -6%, from 55,729 to 52,289, a loss of -3,440,

Alger: -6%, from 9,601 to 9,015, a loss of 586.

Arenac : -6%, from 15,899 to 14,953, a loss of -946.

Menominee: -5%, from 24,029 to 22,605, a loss of -1,421.

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The political branches of government have an interest in how courts interpret and apply the law. Thus, it was no surprise that the issue of how to interpret the constitution took centre stage during the recently concluded recruitment of the 15th chief justice of the Republic of Kenya.

The process ended with the nomination of Lady Justice Martha Koome . Should Parliament approve her nomination, she will become the country's first woman chief justice .

Justice Koome was one among 10 candidates who applied for the post. Kenya's Judicial Service Commission interviewed the 10 candidates. The commission is composed of 11 members. It has two representatives from the Law Society of Kenya, and one representative each from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and the Magistrates' Courts. It also has one representative from the Public Service Commission, which is the principal government recruiter. The commission also includes the Attorney General and two members of the public who are appointed by the president.

It became apparent during the course of the interviews that some commissioners were opposed to the prospect of a chief justice who espoused judicial activism. Specifically, those representing the interests of the executive branch of government.

Judicial activism is defined as a philosophy of judicial decision-making whereby judges allow their personal views about public policy to guide their legal decisions.

Drawing on my expertise in the area of constitutional and administrative law, I will unpack how judicial activism fits within Kenya's constitutional framework. I will also explain why some members of the Judicial Service Commission expressed concerns about judges who espouse judicial activism.

Understanding judicial activism

It has been suggested that adherents of judicial activism tend to look for and find constitutional violations.

Activist judges are more willing than others to ignore precedent. They are also more willing to invalidate laws and administrative actions as unconstitutional. Critics contend that this undermines stability and predictability of the law.

This is in contrast to  judicial restraint . Judicial restraint is a philosophy of decision-making whereby judges avoid indulging their personal beliefs. Judges who espouse judicial restraint generally tend to uphold the constitutionality of contentious laws and administrative actions.

Judicial activism lies at the most liberal extreme of judicial decision-making. And judicial restraint lies at the opposite, most conservative extreme.

Putting activism concerns in context

The issue of whether Kenyan judges should practice judicial activism or judicial restraint has been debated for decades. There are many perspectives on the issue. The predominant school of thought applies the norms of United States jurisprudence to the Kenyan legal system.

The American view is that because judges are unelected they should confine themselves to applying the law. The view discourages judges from filtering the law through their own personal beliefs. It holds that unelected judges should leave the creation of public policy to the political branches of government  the executive and the legislature.

Indeed, the country's Supreme Court has pronounced that judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be.

In this context, the issue of whether judges should exercise judicial activism or judicial restraint revolves around the doctrine of separation of powers. And the proper remit of judicial power in a democracy.

Read more: A decades-old assault on the separation of powers has left Kenya a fractious legacy

In Kenya, the Judicial Service Commission's apparent resistance to judicial activism lies in the unique history and evolution of the judiciary before and after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution .

Prior to 2010, Kenyan judges invariably pandered to the executive branch of government. They adopted an unprincipled, ultraconservative and pedantic approach to constitutional and legal interpretation.

This approach was especially dominant in cases revolving around human rights, democracy, the rule of law, constitutionalism and separation of powers. The pre-2010 approach to constitutional and legal interpretation contributed to the rise of  the imperial presidency .

Within that dispensation, the president exercised overwhelming power, influence and control over all branches of government and agencies of the state. This led to the breakdown of the rule of law in Kenya because the president had final say on legal matters, and the courts bent to his will.

The result was impunity at the top tiers of government, gross human rights violations, erosion of constitutional safeguards against the abuse of state power, and diminished public confidence in the judiciary as an honest arbiter of disputes between the state and its citizens.

New dispensation

The 2010 Constitution is  transformative  in character. This means that it seeks to bring large-scale egalitarian socioeconomic and political change in Kenya. Its agenda goes beyond the typical constitutional mandate to establish and demarcate the responsibilities of the key organs of state.

It was enacted to effect fundamental change in how Kenya is governed, and to ensure that all citizens are treated equally and fairly. This transformative agenda can only be achieved by a value-centric  as opposed to a legal-centric or process-centric  approach to the interpretation and implementation of the law. This would be radically different from the unprincipled, ultraconservative and pedantic approach of the pre-2010 years.

Three broad examples of this transformative agenda can be given.

First, the 2010 Constitution requires the courts to adopt an interpretive approach that grants appropriate relief to victims of human rights violations. The courts are required to be progressive and value centric. They must also commit to the development of the law and promote good governance.

Secondly, it requires the courts to ensure that the law is always speaking. This means that they must interpret it in accordance with the changing realities of society. And thirdly, it requires the courts to construe pre-existing laws with reference to the ethos of the current supreme law.

It follows, therefore, that the 2010 Constitution expressly permits judicial activism. And the courts have responded by declaring more than one hundred legal provisions unconstitutional since the year 2010.

The courts have also emphatically affirmed the need to depart from the unprincipled, ultraconservative and pedantic approach to constitutional and legal interpretation of the pre-2010 years.

Not going back

The 2010 Constitution's express sanction for activist or ultraliberal approaches to constitutional and legal interpretation has resulted in a backlash from the political branches of government.

Thus, the apprehensions of some Judicial Service Commission members about judicial activism should be seen as a yearning to return to the imperial presidency wherein the judiciary was pliant to the whims of the executive branch of government.

This should never be allowed to happen.

Muthomi Thiankolu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Muthomi Thiankolu, Lecturer, School of Law, University of Nairobi
I would humbly want to start by being thankful to all Mothers in Ghana especially my beautiful mom. What could we have become if not for your timely checks on us? Even though, you struggled during our birth, you still held us in high esteem. What at all didn't you do just to ensure we wore a smile. You went hungry for us to be good looking. You took our shame, just so that we will be outstanding. Indeed, i can't possibly find the right appellations to bestow on you on the occasion of Mothers' Day.

There is always something about Mothers in Ghana that makes me long for them. Their encouragement and sense of judgement will forever be remembered.

What could we have possibly done without mothers on our side? Undoubtedly, here comes a genius, friend, mentor, tutor and a role model. Who is this individual with these qualities that could be likened to the Virgin Mary in the Bible? They are none other than the Ghanaian mothers.

To these fine ladies whose smile light up a dark room. They are a paradigm of selflessness, love & zest. They've demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubts that, they are sui generis. Their exceptional humility is surely one of the levers that will push them to even more opportunities.

They've lived a life worthy of emulation, appreciation and encouragement. They've touched and blessed all whose paths they have crossed and that earns the affinity, reverence, appellations, endorsement, administration and respect they now comfortably enjoy.

Please, Mothers in Ghana, Keep actuating these enviable deeds and greatness shall be your province.

As you celebrate this Mothers' Day with this article of mine, may God's blessings upon your lives be made visible to the blind and audible to the deaf.

I can't possibly live without your care, love & encouragement, Ghanaian Mothers. Our Mothers kept a beautiful scenery. And I will be doing myself a disservice if I fail to let the world know.

This is the scenery;

A scenery where love, care and wisdom abound. A scenery where they grew and watered our character, behaviour and confidence. That made us ready to start the journey of life. They made it possible for us to shine and excelled among our contemporaries.

They made us a positive force to reckon with and turned us to the bright sunshine full of abilities. And encouraged us to be vision oriented. Fostering and nurturing the seed of self-esteem which propelled us to greater heights in life. This, they did to instill in us the spirit of bravery so that, when the winds and rains of life came, We were protected enough.

However, this cushion, wasn't too much because they knew we'd need to stand up strong and tough. Their constant inspirations and exemplary qualities were the motivation behind not giving up. They always taught us right from wrong. When we fell off from bicycles at our tender ages, our wounds were gently treated. Awwww, how can we ever forget our Ghanaian Mothers? We will forever write your names across our hearts.

I pray for grace, longevity, success, prosperity, good health, fulfillment and a double portion of the unction to function.

Wishing all Mothers a Special Mothers' Day Celebration coupled with God's blessings especially to Mrs Patricia Wiafe, Mrs. Margaret Donkor, Mrs, Christiana Atunah Mrs Gifty, Apetslor Bessey, Mrs, Susuana Boakye - Danquah. May the good Lord bless you.

The author, Stephen Bernard Donkor won the Communication Students' Awards (CSAs-2021) Best Student in Online Journalism, TV Host of the Year and a Student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ)
Abiba Asoma, GRASAG Gender Commissioner UEW

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As we celebrate mothers day today, it is important that we remind ourselves of the ordeal most women go through in their marital homes and seek ways to address this menace which has consistently been on the increase despite all interventions by various agencies over the last two decades.

Gender based violence is in two fold, but women most often fall prey to this social misconduct. Violence against women comes in various forms including; social violence, physical violence, psychological violence, economic violence and sexual violence. Report from the Ghana statistical service indicates that psychological violence has the highest percentage in Ghana.

This has been attributed to the fact that society and culture bestows a low status on womanhood, and more to men.

It is estimated that one in every three women in Ghana are likely to experience gender based violence and it is more prevalent in rural areas of the country.

Also, Statistics from the Accra Regional Office of the Domestic Violence and Victim support Unit (DOVVSU) revealed that 31.9% of Ghanaian women faced at least one form of domestic violence in 2020. This figure could be more as most women are afraid to report abuse meted out to them by their partners.

Several interventions have been initiated by various state agencies to address violence against women in the society. In 1998, the Ghana police service established the Women and Juvenile Unit which was later changed to Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit in 2005.

The Government of Ghana on its part passed the Domestic violence act in 2007 to criminalize the act. The Commission of Human right and administrative Justice has been popular in fighting crimes against women in Ghana.

Other non-state organizations such as ; United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Federation of women lawyers, The Ark Foundation among others, have also contributed immensely to fight violence against women in the Ghanaian Society.

While all the effort by the state and related agencies are doing their best to bring an end to gender based violence in Ghana, the reports over the years suggest these interventions are inadequate.

I strongly believe that ending gender based violence is a responsibility for every member in our society.

Members of the every community in Ghana need to receive enough education about violence against women and every community should have a representative to whom case can be reported to .

Also Religious and traditional leaders should be given center roles to advocate against violence against women

By Abiba Asoma, GRASAG Gender Commissioner UEW
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called for a collaborative effort in addressing the Economic challenges facing the country.

Responding to the #FixTheCountry Campaign, the Minister acknowledged the Economic challenges confronting Ghana.

He said Ghana like many other countries around the world was facing Economic challenges in the wake of the coronavirus.

However, he stated that there was the need for all Ghanaians to come together to fix the nation.

He introduced his own hashtag: #FixThisTogether.

He said Government was fast-tracking the program for the creation of $200 million jobs programme through private sector partnerships.

*GIPC Is working to attract Amazon to Ghana*

Touching on efforts aimed creating jobs and promoting Economic activities in Ghana, the Minister said the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), was working to bringing e-commerce giant, Amazon to Ghana.

The minister revealed how prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Government was introducing several socio-economic initiatives.

The $200 million programme for Economic Development, jobs and skills development, he said, started planning three years ago by Government and the World Bank.

He said the program was nearing implementation.

Meanwhile, the Minister urged everyone to realize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation and the world.

He said the President is clear about the protection of each citizens life and cushioning the economy.

He stated that government will continue to rebuild the economy and protect lives without relenting.

To be updated

DGN online


A Siberian doctor who treated poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last year reappeared on Monday after being reported missing while on a hunting trip, Russian news agencies cited the regional government as saying.





A search was launched in the forests of the Omsk region, about 2,200 km (1,370 miles) east of Moscow, after physician Alexander Murakhovsky left a forest hunting base in an all-terrain vehicle on Friday.





Murakhovsky exited the forest himself and made contact with residents of the village of Basly, RIA news agency quoted the Omsk regional government as saying.





He was in "normal condition" though was being examined at Bolsheukovsky District Hospital as a precaution, RIA cited the authorities as saying.





Murakhovsky was head doctor at the hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk that treated Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, after he collapsed on a flight last year.





After tense negotiations with the authorities, Navalny was airlifted to Germany from Omsk for further treatment.





Laboratory tests in three European countries, confirmed by the global chemical weapons watchdog, established that Navalny had been poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent.





The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected any suggestion that Russian authorities tried to kill Navalny. Upon his return to Russia in February, he was jailed on what he said were trumped up charges.







(Reuters)






Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has downplayed assertions that the Akufo-Addo administrations recent touting of economic progress is in response to the #FixTheCountry protests.

This is not a government working in reflex, Mr. Ofori-Atta said during a rare appearance before the press on Sunday afternoon which was on rebuilding the Ghanaian economy.

His press conference also comes after Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia released a progress report of 70 items in response to the #FixTheCountry protests on social media which started a week ago.

Answering a question on these concerns, Mr. Ofori-Atta referenced the governments programmes for economic transformation like the GHS100 billion Ghana CARES programme which were pre-thought of.

Certainly this is a government that has always had a clarity on the plan that we have for the nation, and we can see the strength of the economy from 2017 to 2020.

He further suggested that the current angst about the standard of living has been influenced by the coronavirus pandemic.

The minister admitted that because of the pandemic, the Akufo-Addo administration had been stretched to the seams.

He however said he had met with some of the protestors to appreciate and empathise with the situation whilst impressing on them to realise that we are not just sitting back.

We cant pretend that it [the coronavirus pandemic] has not occurred. We have to be clear on how we had to readjust our economic programmes to be able to save lives first because the sanctity of life of any citizen cannot be compromised, Mr. Ofori-Atta said.

The #FixTheCountry protestors have been demanding government action on a number of challenges including unemployment, erratic power supply, the infrastructure deficit among others.

Mr. Ofori-Atta assured that the government will move swiftly to address some of the issues that the #FixTheCountry group has raised.

As an example, he said the government was fast-tracking the implementation of the GHS200 million jobs and skills programme and economic transformation programme to enhance job creation.

citinewsroom
Chad's military junta on Sunday declared victory after a month-long operation against rebels in the northwest of the Sahel country, parading 156 prisoners before the press in the capital N'Djamena.

Fighting erupted on April 11, the day of a presidential election that returned the long-serving incumbent Idriss Deby Itno to power.

Deby was killed days later in fighting with the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a large armed group with a rear base in Libya.

That led to the formation of a military junta led by his son Mahamat Idriss Deby.

"War came and we were able to bring the situation under control... The situation is back to normal," said army chief of staff Abakar Abdelkerim Daoud. "It's all over, the national territory has been secured."

Map of Chad. By Patricio ARANA (AFP)

Several hundred army vehicles including tanks paraded in N'Djamena, and the army presented 156 FACT prisoners to the press along with many seized vehicles, an AFP reporter saw.

A prisoner identified as FACT's chief of military operations, Bechir Mahadi, called for the Chadian authorities to respect the rights of prisoners of war.

Mahadi also called on "those who are still in the rebellion outside the country (in Libya) to return to legality and contribute to the building of a democratic country".

Since the start of the offensive, the army has claimed to have killed several hundred FACT rebels.

The new military junta in the former French colony has promised democratic elections within 18 months.
Mr. Makafui Wanyah

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A warrant to arrest the Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been issued on Wednesday, 5th May 2021, by the Aflao District Court.

The accused, Mr. Makafui Kofi Wanyah has failed to register his establishment into the Social Security Scheme thereby liable to a fine and/or imprisonment under Section 83 (1) (a) (g) of the National Pensions Act, 2008.

He failed to appear before the court after been summoned on two occasions, 28th April and 6th May 2021.

Since failing to register his establishment, he has allegedly not paid his workers contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

Several efforts to register these establishments by SSNIT officials proved futile.

Mr. Makafui Wanyah owns a radio station and a number of gas filling stations.
The past year has been very challenging, from the stress of living through a global pandemic to the various lockdown restrictions that have kept us indoors.

But, amidst this tough phase, we have also witnessed moments worth celebrating. In the past few months, we saw Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala become both the first woman as well as the first African to serve as WTOs director-general. Whilst in Tanzania, we saw Samia Suluhu Hassan being sworn in as the African states first female president. Across the continent, we are seeing more women leading movements for inclusivity, equality and justice  reshaping Africas legacy.

While change has been incremental, we still need a breakthrough. Our recent IBM IBV Study suggests that more programmes havent translated to more progress. With the impact of COVID-19, women will be our biggest casualties as progress for women at work could be back to 2017 levels by the end of 2021. While a small group is leading the effort to close the prevailing gender gap across the continent, there is a growing need to go beyond whats being done now; actively build women in the workforce and create supportive cultures even when the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us.

My work affords me the privilege of meeting and listening to some very inspiring women who are helping bring about significant changes using technology. As I interact with them and watch them, I realize that we all need to be intentional about promoting women at the workplace. That is an important start, but for full and effective participation we first have to make sure our young women develop a keen interest in technology and science-related subjects at an early age.

Cultivating an interest in science and technology

Research shows that unless we change various cultural and behavioural drivers within organizations, the matter is unlikely to be resolved any time soon. In South Africa, the proportion of females to males who graduate with STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degrees is out of kilter. Developer Advocate at IBM in South Africa and Scrum Master for Student Experience within IBM Z, Phila Phungula is aware of this disparity and comments that the lack of women in final year classes is a continued sight in the universities she interacts with.

As an IBM Z technical specialist, Phila represents one of the 30% of professionals in the technology industry in sub-Saharan Africa. Today she leads the charge to expose students to IBM technologies  giving them insights into emerging technologies such as blockchain and Microservices, helping them develop coding skills. She understands the need for community and has built a meetup page with over 600 members (most of them industry developers) across South Africa, Egypt and even Saudi Arabia. The hackathons she hosts are designed to give students an entry into technology  cultivating and nurturing the interest that led her on this career path and closing the gap between women and men in exploring careers in technology. In fact, she will also be speaking at the Women in Tech World Series.

The future of Africa relies on a solid pipeline of women in STEM

The lack of women in our classrooms also impacts on the number of women in our boardrooms. An IBM study shows that only 1 in 4 global organizations have made gender equity a business priority  and there are now fewer women in the pipeline to fill senior executive roles than there were in 2019.

Globally, women make up less than 30% of the worlds researchers and these numbers are perhaps lower when we consider minority women. If we are to ever increase the number of women in leadership in STEM and tech-related fields to reflect the population of the world (almost 50-50 men-women) then, it also means we have to increase the pipeline of women and especially minorities that enter STEM fields, pursue advanced degrees, and eventually pursue careers in it.

In Kenya, our research champion, Charity Wayua and her team are taking in computer science interns who are interested in research giving them firsthand experience in publication writing, mentorship and supporting them with daily interactions with researchers. The objective is to make them strong candidates for a competitive and changing environment. By the time they apply for a PhD program, they will have several publications and patents under their belt, along with on-the-job experience. Such programmes help many individuals, especially women, overcome any STEM career barriers.

Women are leveraging new age technology to solve the continents unsolvable problems

As new technologies are introduced at a rapid pace, the dynamics will change. We could expose young women and those in the workplace to new technologies  sending them down the rabbit hole of discovering technology and science and changing the course of our economy now and far into the future.

For Amira Abbas, a Research scientist at the IBM Research Lab in Johannesburg, new technologies such as quantum are actually driving diversity and collaboration. She comments that the quantum community is still very young and diverse with a good number of female colleagues. She sees an exponential interest in quantum, driven by an increasingly open and collaborative environment.

While gender stereotypes often deter women from careers in technology, Amira is part of a growing number of researchers who are women at IBM Research Africa. Her work is about tackling what we might have seen as previously unsolvable problems and exploring capabilities and use cases of quantum on the continent. Amira is part of the new breed in our science and research community, focused on progressing the continents development agenda through exponential technology. She has set out to create better models in machine learning  work, which when applied to the power of quantum computing can help us create new medicine and even financial models.

Aisha Walcott-Bryant, also a member of our Africa Lab based in Nairobi, recently worked on a project introducing the Worldwide Non-pharmaceutical Interventions Tracker for COVID-19 (WNTRAC)  a comprehensive dataset consisting of more than 6,000 NPIs across 261 countries and territories, now publicly available for free, for non-commercial use and frequently updated to ensure the most up-to-date information. She hopes that the dataset is valuable for policymakers, public health leaders, and researchers in modeling and analysis efforts for helping control the spread of COVID-19. The project was recently published in Nature  Scientific Data.

This move, away from the traditional and conservative ways of doing tasks, is what will push the continent into a better future  led by exceptional women who are committed to reshaping Africas legacy in a post-COVID-19 world.

If our goal is to empower the whole of Africa and contribute to equity and inclusive development as we build a digital future, we need to make sure that women are not left behind in the continents story of growth.

Source: Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh - Regional General Manager for IBM North, East and West Africa
Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah

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Last week I took the huge risk of presenting another side of the story as it is against the Ghanaian situation being pushed by the #FixTheCountry campaigners.

While some agreed with the piece, it wasn't all hearts and flowers. Let me state that my motivation to write that piece was not to slander all celebrities in general nor persons involved in the campaign but to bring to the fore some salient indicators with regards to where we are as a country, and to correct some serious negative phenomenon within the Ghanaian celebrity front.

I have taken a second look at the write-up and although nothing that I wrote is an untruth, I admit that perhaps I was too harsh in some of my conclusions and choice of words. This shouldn't have been the case and I apologise to all those who may have been hurt by the piece. I'm sorry. I, therefore, retract the strong and uncomplimentary language used in the write-up. Maybe the issues that I was so much concerned about will not have been glossed over had I not engaged in some early conclusions.

But let's accept the fact that this whole fix the country protest is a well-orchestrated agenda by some faceless politicians who are more interested in vile propaganda to suit their political whims and caprices. Their action plan is to attack certain frontline government officials and denigrate them for their own hiding agenda.

President Akufo-Addo is doing exactly what the people elected him to do. He was sworn into office a few months ago to begin his second term and every right-thinking Ghanaian can attest to the fact that leadership approach to issues has been phenomenal with his Presidency.

The president promised to run a transparent and accountable government. Many challenges still confront us as people but he is definitely fixing a lot of broken stuff necessary to attain the objective of a transformed industrialized nation. He appreciates the fact that for any country to develop it must begin with brains of the citizenry, hence the introduction of free secondary education to get as many people as possible educated.

This is the man who stood on the international arena and declared a year of return for all the African Americans to return to their roots to contribute their quota. And this exercise single-handedly resulted in a massive $2billion revenue into the Ghanaian economy.

In any case, this agitation is a positive signal that Ghanaians believe in the leadership of President Akufo-Addo and that he's the only leader capable of redeeming Ghana and fixing our situation.

It is all about fixing the economy, our health care, road network, railway system, education, and general living condition. And Akufo-Addo is delivering and will deliver on his mandate.

But then, while the president is at it fixing the country, let's us all fix our attitudes, and give the president a chance to do his job.

The celebrities too must play their role. They must resist the urge to place themselves in the hands of faceless politicians to be used as pawns.

There's more to being a celebrity than getting involved in twerking or publishing profanity. No one is interested in glorifying half-baked entertainers who want to dictate the pace of our development agenda and yet can't even fix their own lives.

Elsewhere in civilized countries, celebrities are using the power of social media for the good of their societies and helping fix the underprivileged.

Let's look at Kylie Jenner. The reality TV star sold 51% of Kylie Cosmetics to publicly traded Coty, Inc. in January 2019 for $600 million; she pocketed $540 million, pretax.

Kylie Cosmetics, which had a 2019 revenue of $200 million, was built on the back of a social media following that reaches more than 175 million people.

This is what real celebrities are doing- using social media to impact their lives and the lives of others.

If the ones here in Ghana want the likes of us to appreciate their worth, let them put their social media following to a good cause and we shall certainly support them.

Don't get me wrong, there is quite a chunk of well-intentioned celebrities here in Ghana and their impact in real life and even on social media is worth commending. There are others too that simply don't get it and they are the ones I described as so-called celebrities.

If the media personalities and other commentators who have taken it upon themselves to take me to the cleaners should look into their microscopic lenses and analyse the issues I raised, they will get the right perspective.

I, Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah is not against any free-thinking Ghanaian involved in any legitimate exercise to get the government accountable to the people but I will be the first to call out the deception of the nucleus of the current social media politicking by these so-called celebrities and their media collaborators.

Enough said!
The Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency, Mrs. Imane Ouaadil, has hosted a special Iftar for Ghanas clerics of the World's three major religions at her residence in Accra.

The Ramadan Iftar was attended by a representative of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Archbishop Msgr Henryk Mieczysaw Jagodzinski, and the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Ghana, Yisroel Noah Majesky.

The three clerics spoke about their various beliefs and eulogized one anothers virtues - calling for the strengthening of interfaith dialogue among the three Abrahamic faiths.

The interfaith clerics welcomed one another- each sitting on the dining table to break the fast with their Muslim brothers.

They shared pleasantries as they discussed global peace and the virtues of fasting in the Holy month of Ramadan.

In her address, the Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Ouaadil said Ramadan is a period Muslims around the world recommit to their faith and eschew all vices following days of discipline with nights of gratitude for the gifts that Allah bestows.

She add that Ramadan, with its attributes of fasting, prayer and alms giving, is also a month for strengthening the spiritual bonds that Muslims, Christians and Jews share.

On his part, Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim, President of the Ghana branch of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulemas stated that Islam , Judaism and Christianity are religions that are recognized by one another.

Ramadan he said, is an important month in Islam and a month which the Holy Qur'an was revealed.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Archbishop Msgr Henryk Mieczysaw Jagodzinski and the Rabbi of the Jewish community in Ghana, Yisroel Noah Majesky all thanked the Moroccan ambassador and called for the strengthening of the bond and engagement between the major religions.

Other clerics expressed gratitude to Mrs Imane Ouaadil for bringing them together on one table for the Iftar dinner.

The Iftar dinner was also attended by dignitaries and officials from the Ghana branch of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulemas, some members of the media and other invited guests.
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A Syrian businessman based in Accra, Yasser Alia, has described himself as a victim of circumstances following what he says is his wrongful arrest during the recent raid by security operatives at the Kotoka International Airport.

According to him, he was at the wrong place at the right time.

Mr. Yasser Alia is the CEO of Hardford Motors Automobile Servicing Company and not the owner of the Airport facility Warehouse at NacCharter Cargo and Freight Company.

That facility is owned by one Freight Forwarder called Kojo, a Ghanaian.

One Alhaji Mohammed who was also arrested during the operation is just a business partner of Mr. Yasser Alia.

According to Mr. Yasser, on that day of the arrest, he had gone to the Marina Mall and unexpectedly saw Alhaji Mohammed.

Mr. Yasser told him he was looking for a cargo plane to import an engine urgently needed for one of his clients who came to Hardford Motors to service his car.

This was because all the land borders of Ghana have been closed to entry and movements.

Alhaji Mohammed then mentioned the name of one Kojo at the Aviance Cargo Village and assured Mr. Yasser that Kojo can help him bring the engine for his client.

They went and met Kojo at the facility where Kojo told both Alhaji Mohammed and Mr. Yasser Alia to wait for him while he attended to some few things.

It was during this waiting period that security operatives raided the warehouse in a Rambo style and arrested all persons at the facility at that point including innocent people who had no links to the operations at the warehouse.

A friend of Alhaji Mohammed, Alhaji Ahmed Bandoh of Bahmed Travel and Tour, upon receiving a distress call from Alhaji Mohammed followed up to the National Security office.

Mr. Yasser Alia believes in the competence and professionalism of the National Security officials and has declared his full support for all investigations.

The philanthropist has for the past ten years been doing charity works helping the poor and doing his normal business.

No record and no one has ever come out to accuse him in any way ever since he started doing business.

---KasapafmOnline
The University Relation Officer (URO) at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Mr. Daniel Noris Bekoe has urged the students in the school to observe the social protocols of the coronavirus pandemic coming this 2020/2021 second semester which will start from 10th May 2021 to help to prevent the disease in the campus.

According to Mr. Bekoe, the school management are prepare themselves to prevent the covid-19 pandemic in the school coming this semester so the students should also observe the social protocols.

He said although the school recorded some positive cases of the coronavirus disease in the last semester but Glory be to God, no one lost his or her life on campus.

He, therefore, applauds the Zoomlion Company Limited led by Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyapong for their effort to prevent the spreading of this pandemic in the country by their disinfection and fumigation exercises across the country.

He also lauds the pressmen for their education towards this coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Addressing the press during the disinfection exercise by the Zoomlion Company Limited, this is what he said.

Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Manager for Zoomlion Company Limited, Mr. Philip Asante Yeboah also said, this exercise will help to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on campus coming this semester.

He also urged Ghanaians to observe the social protocols of the coronavirus pandemic to reduce the spreading of the disease in the country.
The Minister of Information, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for the Ofoase-Ayirebi Constituency, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has reiterated the resolve of the Akufo-Addo administration to deepening the frontiers of free speech and the independence of the media.

This he said was evident in the passage of the Right to Information Bill into law, the opening of the Office for the Coordinated Mechanisms for the Safety of Journalists, recruitment of RTI Officers inter alia.

Interacting with journalists of the Savannah Region at Damongo as part of his duty tour of the five regions in the North, the minister acknowledged the fact that the media plays a critical role in ensuring our democracy functions and function very well.

He observed that the culture of silence so trumpeted by some people as the order of the day in Ghana under the current dispensation is neither here nor there.

"Now, I want to reiterate this because, we are in times when because of media polarization, sometimes you also find people casting narrative that is difficult to go home with.

There is a conversation going on that there is a culture of silence in this country. And I want to assure you that you can feel free to go about your work because the evidence shows clearly the various layers that we are adding to ensure that freedoms are deepened. There are those who can't stand it when they speak or criticize the government and somebody disagrees with them," he noted.

The legislator cum minister recognised the fact that the times that we are in now, are not ordinary times, but times that call for extraordinary and collective responsibilities from citizens.

The COVID-19 pandemic he pointed out, has gravely affected the nation, especially on the economic front constraining the government from pursuing the desired economic development.

Economic growth he noted had dwindled to about 7% with the country hitting about 11% deficit and national revenues are not coming in as expected coupled with ballooning expenditures which means borrowing has to go up a little.

He admonished journalist in the infant Savannah Region to direct their energies, microphones, and cameras towards promoting the vast tourism potentials in the region, adding that" the way of journalism is not to tell the most saddest or gory stories in your area, but to hold duty bearers accountable and expose the ills of society, whilst promoting your community and your country so as to attract potentials, investors".

The minister was accompanied by the Savannah Regional Minister, Saaed Muhazu Jibreal, the Savannah Regional Chairman of the NPP, Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana (Kalimonia), the Savannah Regional Youth Organizer, Raphael Mahama Akati, the Regional Communications Officer, Issah Mohammed among others.
Britain on Monday was set to announce a further easing of its coronavirus lockdown, joining several European nations in gradually reopening their economies, but India remained in the grip of a devastating outbreak.

Rapid vaccination programmes have allowed a number of wealthy nations to start taking steps towards normality, but the virus is still surging in many countries and concerns are growing about global vaccine inequality.

The pandemic has claimed close to 3.3 million lives worldwide and Britain has the highest death toll in Europe, but its successful vaccination programme has allowed the authorities to start relaxing curbs.

Spain has lifted a coronavirus state of emergency, allowing people to travel between regions. By Josep LAGO (AFP)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to announce the latest measures -- effective May 17 -- in a press conference on Monday, including the reopening of indoor seating in pubs and restaurants.

When asked during a BBC interview Sunday if hugging would be allowed, senior minister Michael Gove said: "Without prejudice to a broader review of social distancing... friendly contact, intimate contact between friends and family is something that we want to see restored."

Cinemas are also expected to reopen, as well as some large indoor venues after the government held several pilot events -- including a rock concert -- to test safety measures.

Germany has eased restrictions for those fully vaccinated against Covid-19. By Ina FASSBENDER (AFP)

This follows Spain's lifting of a state of emergency in place since October, allowing people to travel between regions.

"It's like New Year's," said 28-year-old Oriol Corbella in Barcelona, where the end of the curfew was met with shouts, applause and music.

In Germany, people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 were exempt from many restrictions from Sunday after the government passed new legislation.

And Cyprus on Monday will exit a third partial lockdown with a new coronavirus "safety pass" system to allow people to move freely.

India variant worries

India, suffering from one of the worst outbreaks in the world, reported nearly 370,000 fresh infections and more than 3,700 new deaths on Monday.

India is suffering from one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world. By Sanjay KANOJIA (AFP)

The devastating wave has overwhelmed India's healthcare system, and experts have said the official figures for cases and fatalities are much lower than the actual numbers.

The situation in India has been worsened by a new variant, which is more contagious and there are fears it could potentially dodge some vaccine protections, the World Health Organization's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told AFP on Saturday.

The Indian outbreak has spread to some of its neighbours, with Nepal reeling from a worrying spike in cases.

Because of the outbreak in the Himalayan nation, China will set up a "separation line" on the summit of Mount Everest -- which straddles the China-Nepal border -- to avoid possible infections by climbers from Nepal, state media reported.

Dozens have been taken ill from the Everest base camp in recent weeks.

'What about the poor?'

The United States remains the worst-hit nation in the world, with the highest number of known fatalities and infections.

There is 'no doubt' the US has been undercounting its Covid death toll, top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci told NBC's Meet The Press. By SAUL LOEB (AFP/File)

But its actual death toll may be higher than the official figure of 581,000, with a University of Washington study released last week estimating deaths at more than 900,000.

"I think there's no doubt... that we are and have been undercounting," top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci told NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday.

The United States was battered by the pandemic but since January, new infections have come down as more than 114 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Some travellers from hard-hit Latin America are flying in to get jabbed.

Dozens lined up at a pop-up vaccination booth in Florida's Miami Beach to get a free, single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot -- with no proof of residence required.

"In my country, (Covid-19) is getting out of hand and there's not much chance we'll have access to the vaccine soon," said 40-year-old accountant Maria Bonilla, who arrived Saturday from Honduras.

Some people from hard-hit Latin America are travelling to the United States to get vaccinated. By Eva Marie UZCATEGUI (AFP)

But Miami Beach city commissioner David Richardson, who oversees the facility, told AFP he has mixed feelings about the vaccine tourists and urged the US government to send doses overseas.

"My only concern is that it seems that the people who can afford to buy an airfare can come to the United States and get a vaccine now," he said.

"What about the poor people in South America?"

burs-qan/rma
On Sunday, May 9, The Korean Brand Research Institute released their girl group brand reputation rankings for the month of May. Want to know who the most popular girl groups in South Korea are right now? Then keep on reading!

What are the Brand Reputation Rankings?

The brand reputation ranking is an index made through big data brand analysis. The index is used to unearth the consumers' online habits and discover what affects brand consumption. The brand reputation index also measures the positive and negative influence of a girl group, the media's interest in the group, the consumers' interest in the group, and the band's communication volume.

From Apr. 9 to May 9, The Korean Brand Research Institute analyzed 30,596,886 pieces of big data to determine a girl group's participation index, media index, communication index, and community index. Compared to the 38,956,768 pieces of big data in Apr. 2021, the number decreased by 21.46%.

Brave Girls is the Most Popular Girl Group for May 2021

Taking the throne this month is Brave Girls (Eunji, Yujeong, Minyoung, and Yuna) with a brand reputation index of 3,711,562. Brave Girls has a participation index of 914,196, a media index of 839,569, a community index of 1,324,258, and a communication index of 633,539. Compared to their brand reputation index of 5,363,544 in Apr., their index fell by 30.80%.

BLACKPINK is the Second Most Popular Girl Group for May 2021

Coming in second place is BLACKPINK (Jennie, Jisoo, Rose, and Lisa), with a brand reputation index of 3,521,993. BLACKPINK has a participation index of 232,628, a media index of 750,155, a community index of 1,282,528, and a communication index of 1,245,682. Compared to their brand reputation index of 4,582,891 in Apr., their index fell by 23.15%.

Oh My Girl is the Third Most Popular Girl Group for May 2021

Third place goes to Oh My Girl (Hyojung, Mimi, YooA, Seunghee, Jiho, Binnie, and Arin) with a brand reputation index of 1,920,338. Oh My Girl has a participation index of 204,476, a media index of 310,048, a communication index of 942,818, and a communication index of 462,996. Compared to their brand reputation index of 2,079,474 in Apr., their index fell by 7.65%.

TWICE is the Fourth Most Popular Girl Group for May 2021

TWICE (Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu) ranked in fourth place with a brand reputation index of 1,658,272. TWICE has a participation index of 196,724, a media index of 567,841, a community index of 727,020, and a communication index of 291,181. Compared to their brand reputation index of 2,029,597 in Apr., their index fell by 7.23%.

STAYC is the Fifth Most Popular Girl Group for May 2021

STAYC (Sumin, Sieun, Isa, Seeun, Yoon, and J) took the fifth-place spot with a brand reputation index of 1,658,766. STAYC has a participation index of 335,512, a media index of 353,014, a media index of 681,257, and a communication index of 306,710. Compared to their brand reputation index of 524,666 in Apr., their index rose by 216.07%.

There are the Top 50 Most Popular Girl Group for May 2021

1. Brave Girls

2. BLACKPINK

3. Oh My Girl

4. TWICE

5. STAYC

6. Red Velvet

7. ITZY

8. GFRIEND

9. MAMAMOO

10. WJSN

11. HOT ISSUE

12. Lovelyz

13. Apink

14. Girls' Generation

15. (G)I-DLE

16. Weeekly

17. LOONA

18. aespa

19. Dreamcatcher

20. cignature

21. fromis_9

22. DIA

23. EXID

24. LUNASOLA

25. Laboum

26. ELRIS

27. Weki Meki

28. Rocket Punch

29. woo!ah!

30. MOMOLAND

31. PURPLE KISS

32. Girls' Day

33. PIXY

34. After School

35. Camilla

36. f(x)

37. CLC

38. PRISTIN

39. Cherry Bullet

40. Ladies' Code

41. BESTie

42. Brown Eyed Girls

43. Hello Venus

44. Secret Number

45. MAJORS

46. GWSN

47. TWEETY

48. TR.IBE

49. ICU

50. Hey Girls

Did your favorite K-pop girl group make this month's top 50? Tell us in the comments below!

For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Alexa Lewis
The leadership of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), will this week resume dialogue with the Transport Ministry and other stakeholders on possible upward adjustment of transport fares.

The union says the previous dialogue ended inconclusively because of the unstable pump prices of fuel.

The dialogue commenced after transport operators proposed an upward adjustment of transport fares between twenty and forty percent.

Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of GPRTU, Mr. Godwin Abulbire said, they will honour Tuesday's engagement with an open mind.

According to him, the group is expectant of an increment that will cover up margins in the fuel price increment.

What made us not to conclude the dialogue last Wednesday was that the fuel margins that are currently at 9 pesewas must even come down, so obviously we couldnt have arrived at a particular figure that we were pushing. Initially, our target was a 20% increment but it seems the price of the fuel is coming down. So that is why we decided not to propose any figure again since the next coming Tuesday, we will get the actual margins to increase our fares.

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union had stated that transport fares could go up by as much as 20%.

The group had indicated its resolve in announcing the new fares on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, but the government called them to the negotiation table.

We are looking to increase the fares because our argument doesn't rely on the increase or decrease of fuel prices alone. Before the budget was laid before the government, we were advocating for an increase in transport fares and after the budget was read we were told to wait for its approval. So, tomorrow's meeting will determine whether we will do a 10, 15, or 20% adjustment to the fare, GPRTUs General Secretary said.

The GPRTU and the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC) had asked commercial drivers not to increase fares until the negotiations are completed on the matter.

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Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is urging Ghanaians to join government in fixing the challenges facing the country together.

A group of Ghanaians who are unhappy with what they call the economic challenges in the country have taken to social media to express their grievances.

Using the hashtag #FixTheCountry on social media, members of the movement had expressed displeasure over successive governments failure to improve the living standards of Ghanaians.

The campaigners have largely decried the country's inadequate or non-existent amenities, deplorable infrastructure, poor sanitary conditions, a housing deficit accompanied by exorbitant rent, general high cost of living, and high levels of unemployment with its attendant problems.

But Mr. Ofori-Atta, in outlining the government's action in response to the campaign, said Ghanaians must rise up and fix the country together.

In the coming days, we will move swiftly to address the issues that #FixTheCountry have raised. First, I am working with the Minister for Water and Sanitation to immediately ensure potable water to areas of critical need. Secondly, I am working with the Ministers of Roads and Highways, Transport and Interior to address congestion along the major highways. Thirdly, we are fast-tracking the implementation of the $200 million jobs and skills programme and economic transformation programme to enhance job creation significantly.

Fourth, starting this month, we are rolling out over eight additional interventions under the GhanaCARES Obatanpa programme and these will be in the health, agriculture, trade, tourism, digitisation, science and technology, housing and financial service sectors. Fifth, by the end of July, we will have a new development bank capitalised with over $500 million that will provide long term whole financing and not retail, as happened in the past, to the private sector through commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions such as venture capital companies for SMEs, to ensure financing to the youth. So let us rise up and build together and let us #FIXTOGETHER.

The #FixTheCountry campaign has been trending online since it started on Twitter over a week ago.

It has since become more organised, with its members attempting to hold a demonstration on May 9.

The planned demonstration was however stifled by the state after the Ghana Police Service secured an injunction against it.

The court ruled that the planned protest would not be able to come off until the restriction on public gatherings is lifted.

Conveners of the protest have now moved to challenge the injunction.

While at it, they held an online protest yesterday, May 9, 2021.

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Two persons have died after a taxi cab ran into a drinking spot at Kyirapatre in the Asokwa municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The driver who was learning how to drive allegedly lost control of the steering wheel and the taxi cab veered into the drinking spot.

Three persons were on the spot when the incident happened at about 6:30 pm on Sunday, May 9, 2021.

One person reportedly escaped unhurt while two persons were rushed to the Kumasi South Hospital.

The two victims identified as 70-year-old Mary Amoah and 51-year-old Sampson were later pronounced dead.

Assembly Member for the Kyirapatre Electoral area, Bismarck Osei Tutu confirmed the incident to Citi News.

One of my community members called me that there has been an accident, and so I rushed to the scene. When I came, I realized two victims have been admitted to the hospital. I called the Asokwa District Commander, and he ordered his men to come. So I went to the police station, and I was told the two are dead. Per the background I received, the crash occurred because the driver was learning how to drive in the night.

Meanwhile, the body of Mary Amoah has been deposited at the Pramso Hospital morgue while efforts are being made to contact relatives of the other deceased.

Police at the Asokwa District Command have picked up the driver and one other person in connection with the incident.

The taxi cab has also been towed to the police station.

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Doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have bemoaned data that suggests that about 30 children between the ages of two and 14 years with kidney diseases are left to die annually because of financial constraints.

At the Paediatric Nephrology Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), an average of 150 kidney disease patients are admitted on a yearly basis.

Health officials have raised concerns regarding the huge cost of treating kidney disease for the average Ghanaian.

Out of about 1000 outpatients who visit the paediatric nephrology unit annually, only a few of them return to access health care due to the cost involved.

The doctors are therefore urging the government to ensure that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) captures the treatment of End-stage Kidney Disease.

They say 25 children with End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) on average die each year as a result of the lack of a paediatric hemodialysis unit compounded with the lack of kidney transplant facilities in Ghana.

Dr. Animah Sarfo, a Paediatric Nephrologist at KATH in a Citi News interview said the situation is not only worrying but disturbing because such patients are left to their fate.

Since the establishment of the unit, in collecting data from the year 2014 on end-stage renal disease which requires renal replacement therapy [dialysis or transplant], we found out that, averagely, 25 children come to our unit who require dialysis and transplant, unfortunately, there is no availability of paediatric hemodialysis unit at KATH.

Transport facilities are also not available in the country. So these 25 children average in a year are counselled to go home and die or some of them die in the hospital. For acute patients, those who suddenly have a reduction in their renal function, we are able to do peritoneal dialysis for them and since 2012, we have been able to do that for 225 patients, Dr. Animah Sarfo said.

She added that these deaths are avoidable if the government adds the treatment of such diseases to the list of treatments on the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Our aim as a unit is to be able to help these children to be able to save their lives through chronic hemodialysis which later leads to transplant. Although transplant is expensive [with three-month medication], you will need about $40,000 to achieve that.

These children are among the many whose parents and guardians are unable to take care of the financial obligations associated with their treatment.

Without any special or divine intervention, these children will end up being part of the 25 people who are advised to go home and die annually.

Some parents whose wards are suffering from various stages of Kidney diseases say they are helpless.

They are thus appealing for the governments support.


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Regarding the enormous task on the plate of the Police Administration as scanty, will be pretentious. That pointed out, we shall also not play down the activities of rogue cops in the Service. Let the administration devise fresh means of identifying such officers and disciplining them and where necessary, dismissing them. Their image denting activities do not stop at the doorsteps of the Inspector General only but casts a slur on the government in the minds of persons who hardly understand how the complex machinery of the state works.

Such persons would clearly avoid holding the Police Administration at the head of which is the Inspector General Of Police responsible for the rogue conduct of the bad nuts in uniform but rather point at the government.

Even as we doff our hats for some outstanding senior officers and others in the Other Ranks bracket the rogues are undoing their good performance.

Imagine police officers, junior ranks of course engaged in most likely unauthorised snap checks in the streets stopping a top of the range car in Accra. The motorist surrenders himself for a check and not finding anything incriminating they resort to a flimsy charge of 'you are carrying too much money in your car'.

For this reason they want to inconvenience him by dragging him to the police station. At the station they would definitely if he is faint-hearted extort money from him.

If they were armed he would have been risking his life for querying their action. We are not questioning the legitimacy of a police officer's authority to challenge a person when they suspect criminality but this should be done within the law. Blimey! It is not within the powers of a police officer to determine how much a person carries on him while driving in the streets of Accra.

When bad police officers need money they don the uniform and undertake unauthorised operations on the blind side of their superiors. In a country where many have less confidence in their complaints dealt with, such infractions are not reported. That of course is not a fact because when cases are reported to the appropriate quarters with evidence defaulting officers are disciplined and there are evidences to that effect anyway.

The case of a court in Accra granting bail to a suspect in a case only for the police to resort to a trickery to deny it, a wanton contempt, occurred last week, one of many. It is done with such finesse that it is invisible to the uninitiated to the crude ways of bad cops.

The suspect is not let go off the hook of the police and the officers in charge put off their phones. Such a subtle way of denying the bail granted by the court is outrageous.

What we are stressing is that such tricks are contemptuous of the court and we are saddened that police officers, part of the justice administration system, would be involved in it.

A few months ago, some police officers while in a Service vehicle stopped a foreign gold dealer and dispossessed him of a whopping amount of money. The two cops were arrested although Ghanaians are yet to be informed about the outcome of the investigations.

We cannot continue witnessing these infractions especially since they do not make for the good image of both the government and the country as a whole.

We are aware that there are cases of indiscipline on the part of defaulting police officers being dealt with at the Police Headquarters, these notwithstanding, we expect them to do more towards stemming the activities of rogue cops.
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The immediate past Greater Accra Nasara Coordinator, Alhaji Aminu Abu has offered free advice to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nasara Wing and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Zongo Caucus to come out with a joint press statement to express their dissatisfaction over the endorsement by the Christian Council of Ghana and Ghana Catholic Bishop's Conference on the Wesley Girls' High School deviance.

Alhaji Aminu Abu gave the advice on Hajj Media Voice a popular WhatsApp platform that addresses challenges and the way forward for Muslim Communities in Ghana and the World.

He said the time has come for the two political parties to come together and fight in the interest of Muslims.

According to him, the two political parties claim that they have the welfare of Muslims at heart yet did little on the raging brouhaha.

He said the NPP over the years claimed to have provided Muslims with a Vice President whiles the NDC also claims to have also given Muslims a public holiday.

He stated that it is the responsibility of the NPP Nasara wing and the NDC Zongo Caucus to prove to Muslims in matters of this nature to the entire world.

He stressed the need for Abdul Aziz Futa to organise all regional executives of the Nasara Wing as well as the NDC Zongo Caucus to do same and organise a joint meeting.

According to him, a joint press statement issued by the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Bishop's Conference is a clear disrespect to the National Chief Imam of Ghana, despite the love, respect and good relationship the Chief Imam has shown to the Christian Community and its leadership.

Alhaji Aminu Abu further calls on the leadership of the major political parties to take a cue from other African countries like Nigeria, Niger, Mali and among others where there is unending conflicts between Muslims and Christians not as a result of politics but a misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians.

"We dont want Ghana to also go through such phase. Upon all the love, care and the unconditional support the National Chief Imam gives to the Christians yet they always find a way to criticize or create problems between Islam and Christianity as a whole," he noted.

He urges all Muslim leaders regardless of the political party to come out and make their position known to the world and preach peace and nothing else.

This he called on the two political party's representatives to address the issue with the necessary attention it deserves before things get out of control.

"Peace is all we need as a country," the immediate past Greater Accra regional Nasara coordinator emphasised.
Dr. Francis Kyei, NPP National Communication Team Member has reassured Ghanaians that Ghana will work again under the watch of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

He said government remained committed to sustaining the nations macro economic stability.

According to him, government will adopt modern agriculture practices to boost the reintroduced planting for food and jobs program.

He said jobs creation remained governments major priority and that could be feasible in an atmosphere of peace and unity.

He called on Ghanaians to pray for Nana Addos government to succeed in implementing the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2020 campaign promises.

One legacy project Nana Akufo Addo wants to leave at the end of his tenure of office is the construction of major roads throughout the county.

"It will increase accessibility of goods and services across the length and breadth of Ghana and we are hoping to accomplish this project.

Nana Akufo Addos agenda is a transformational agenda, an ambitious agenda that we should all support, he stressed.
Minister of information and Member of Parliament for Ofoase - Ayeribi constituency, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on Saturday May 8, 2021 engaged journalists in the Savannah Region as part of the duty tour of the Ministry of Information to the five Northern Regions.

The tour the minister disclosed was part of the Government's arm of communication ( Information Ministry's ) quest to further strengthen the relationship between the "fourth estate of the realm" ( media ) and the government.

He added that it will afford government the opportunity to engage with state-owned media houses in the five Regions to examine their status as part of plans to reorganize and transform the state-owned media houses.

The sector minister indicated that government is committed to ensuring that journalists go about their duties in an atmosphere of peace, tranquillity and free from any form of intimidation.

He further asserted that the immense contribution of the media towards the growth of Ghana's Democracy over the past years has been widely applauded across the globe regardless of the many reports of assaults on journalists.

Touching on the rights and freedoms of the media, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah averred that the NPP administration over the years have made tremendous strides in deepening the freedoms of journalists as provided in chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution highlighting the revocation of the criminal libel law by the Kufour administration as one of the many efforts.

"The Kufour administration revoked the criminal libel law which meant that even if you were libelous of somebody, a criminal option will not be occasioned and beyond that, the same administration provided the International press center to support the work of journalists ".

On what the current administration led by President Akufo-Addo has done to further enhance the everyday activities of journalists devoid of harassment, he said, " upon the assumption of office by Akufo-Addo as president, we have gone a step further to pass the Right to Information Bill which ensures that you as a journalist can get access to information from public offices not at the whims and caprices of any public official as a matter of right by law ".

On the safety of journalists, he said an office has been opened for journalists to make official complaints when they feel unsafe or threatened in the line of their duties. "In Accra last work, we opened the office for the coordinated mechanism for the safety of journalists. A single place where journalists can make a report if they feel threatened, attacked or intimidated in any line of their work and this is yet another layer of President Akuffo Addo's commitment to ensuring the safety of journalists in our part of the world".

He charge journalists in his final remarks to endeavor to report on the Region's potential and issues that will bring accelerated development to the infant Savannah Region.

Veteran media practitioner and Savannah Regional correspondent for JoyNews, a subsidiary of Multimedia Ghana, Mr. Isaac Nonya on behalf of the journalists in the Region, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to engage with the Minister and assured the minister of the readiness of the journalists to contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of the country.
Africa is watching aghast as India struggles with coronavirus, fearing a long-running shortfall in the Indian-made vaccines that it needs to help shield its people.

Often dubbed the "world's pharmacy", India is one of the biggest suppliers of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax programme to help immunisation in poorer countries.

But India has been hammered by an explosive growth in infections -- accelerated, say scientists, by a new variant.

The country has recorded 22 million cases out of a population of 1.3 billion, inflicting a death toll of nearly a quarter of a million.

After sending more than 60 million doses abroad, India announced at the end of March that it was delaying overseas supplies as it works to meet its own needs.

Health workers have been among the first to be vaccinated in South Africa. By Phill Magakoe (AFP)

African Union (AU) health ministers held emergency talks online on Saturday to discuss the vaccine gap.

"The vaccines situation is extremely complex now because of the situation in India," said Cameroonian virologist John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the AU's health watchdog.

"We are hoping that there will be a continuous supply of vaccines through Covax from India, but we are watching in total horror and disbelief what is going on in India and we don't expect that vaccines will be shipped out of India anytime soon."

Of all the continents, Africa has been relatively spared the worst of the pandemic so far with just over 124,000 deaths officially recorded for 4.6 million cases.

India has seen an explosive growth in Covid infections, with 22 million cases in a population of 1.3 billion and a death toll of nearly a quarter of a million. The photo shows a market in Virar last month. By Vinamra ACHAREKAR (AFP/File)

On the other hand, Africa has overcrowded cities, with slums that are a breeding ground for the virus, and a fragile health infrastructure -- risk factors that also feature prominently in India's tragic experience.

The continent has administered 19.6 million doses, or just two percent of the global total -- according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80 percent of doses have been administered in wealthier countries.

Lacking the means to manufacture their own vaccine in bulk, African countries have so far had to turn to the open market or the Covax scheme.

The AU's African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) hopes to acquire vaccines through its own programme by the end of July or early August, and Nkengasong said that while he hoped that date could be brought forward he could make no guarantees.

Maintain guard

Nkengasong said he did not expect the vaccine market to open up again until the third quarter, and urged African leaders to adjust their strategy accordingly.

The virus variant wreaking havoc in India has already been detected in several African countries, notably Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

Nkengasong pushed for a three-pronged strategy -- step up testing; improve prevention through awareness programmes; and boost supplies of vaccines and oxygen.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pleaded with African countries to maintain the utmost vigilance until the vaccine crunch is resolved.

"What's happening now in many other parts of the world can happen in our Africa if we let down our guard," he told the AU meeting.

"In many countries, the emergence of rapidly spreading variants, combined with premature easing of public health and social measures and the inequitable distribution of vaccines is having tragic consequences."

South Africa has the cold storage facilities for the vaccines; now it needs adequate supplies. By SIPHIWE SIBEKO (POOL/AFP/File)

The AU ministerial meeting in the meantime urged strict respect of social distancing guidelines in a continent where there is some resistance to vaccines.

The Democratic Republic of Congo announced at the end of April that it had "redeployed" 1.3 million "surplus" AstraZeneca vaccines to five neighbouring countries.

The health ministry admitted that some sections of the population had simply refused to have the jab.

In some rich countries, the problem of vaccine under-supply is starting to switch to one of a surplus of vaccines that are least popular with the public.

"The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage. It's also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating," Tedros said scathingly.
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The King of Igbo community in Ghana Eze Dr. Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu says 90 percent of Ghanaians living in Nigeria without documents but most Nigerians are legal residents in Ghana.

He said Nigeria may not be enforcing its laws on residential permits for foreigners hence a lot of undocumented Ghanaians residing there.

He said unlike Nigeria, it is wrong for any Ghanaian to suggest that Nigerians living in Ghana do not have the right documentation.

Speaking on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Monday, 10 May 2021 the King of the Igbo community in Ghana told show host Kwame Appiah Kubi that: The issue of immigration is totally wrong. It is 100 percent wrong to say Nigerians come into Ghana with documentation.

A Nigerian will have an ECOWAS passport, ECOWAS ID card that can bring him into the country for 90 days and after that, you have to go and return again but if you want to live in that ECOWAS country you have to have your working permit to live there or residence permit to live there.

So if Nigerians are coming here without documentation it is wrong they must obtain their documentation

Comparing Ghana and Nigeria Dr. Ihenetu noted: I dont want to have a comparison of the two nations but Im telling you that 90 percent of Ghanaians living in Nigeria have no documents. I am telling you because I am the patron of the Ghana Community Association in Igbo state (Nigeria) and many have been living there for years, only God knows how long. Many of them are working in our ministries and all that and in Nigeria we welcome them.

Nigeria might not enforce their law, that is not the concern of Ghana, but Ghana is enforcing their laws and I like that because every country without laws is an empty country. So what Im saying is if Nigerians are coming here without documents that is wrong

Dr. Ihenetu advised Nigerians living in Ghana to register with the Nigerian Embassy so that the embassy may come to their aid when they are in any form of distress while living in Ghana.

He also supported the idea that any Nigerian that flouts the laws of Ghana be dealt with according to the laws of the country.

---classfm
The rising queens of K-pop, ITZY, dominates quickly following the release of their highly-anticipated album, "Guess Who."

Featuring six all new tracks, "Guess Who" has already made waves even before its April 30 release. It has surpassed 260,000 pre-orders recorded on April 28, making this their best-selling release since "Not Shy" and its 200,000 copies last August 2020.

The album is led by the single "In The Morning," a powerful hip-hop track that perfectly showcases the girl group's fierceness in a concept that highlights tension and suspense.

In fact, shortly after its release, the song generated controversy since its full title translates to "Mafia in the Morning," which some fans believed to be romanticizing the Sicilian Mafia.

ITZY member Ryujin clarified the matter afterward, explaining that the Mafia refers to the popular game also known as "Werewolf."

With "In The Morning," ITZY also managed to secure its soonest music show win, taking home the honor from Mnet's music program "M Countdown!" only six days after their album release.

Furthermore, South Korea's music monitor, Hanteo Chart, reported that "Guess Who" has already garnered sales of 200,130 equivalent copies in its first week of release, covering the week dated April 30 to May 6.

ALSO READ: ITZY Hits New Highest Ranking on the Spotify Global Top 200 Chart With 'Mafia in the Morning'

About ITZY

Shortly after they debuted in February 12, 2019, ITZY has become one of the largest acts for K-pop across the globe, as shown in their massive social media reach of over 15 million followers across different platforms.

Also, the five-member group - Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna - has already made various appearances in international publications such as TIME, ELLE, Harper's Bazaar, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and more.

They first rose to prominence shortly after they released their debut single-album "IT'z DIFFERENT," with the lead single "DALLA DALLA." Their debut track managed to rise up to the third spot of the Billboard World Digital Song Sales charts.

It also pulled in more than 17.1 million "day-of" music video views on YouTube, setting a new record for the most viewed K-pop debut music video, as well as being the fastest debut MV to cross the 100 million view mark on the video streaming platform.

This upward trajectory continued with their next single, "WANNABE," which peaked on the World Digital Song Sales Chart. It was also a global success: ranking 2nd in the Kpop Hot 100, topping both the Singapore RIAS Charts and the Malaysian RIM charts, and reaching the sixth spot of the Gaon singles charts.

Stream ITZY's "Guess Who" below:

RELATED ARTICLE: ITZY Joins BLACKPINK, TWICE, & IZ*ONE as the Only Girl Group to Set This First-Week Album Sales Record
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The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has commenced investigations into over 50 schools in the Ashanti Region believed to be engaged in corruption in the implementation of the School Feeding Programme under the Free Senior High School Policy.

While not much information has been provided, it is understood that officials of some schools have in the past been involved in acts of exchanging food for cash.

Bent on getting to the bottom of the alleged corruption, the CID has written to notify the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ashanti Region directorate of the ongoing investigations.

It will be appreciated if your office could cooperate and collaborate fully with the CID in carrying out the investigations, part of a letter signed by the Deputy Director-General of the GES, Mr. Anthony Boateng to the Ashanti Region Directorate reads.

Meanwhile, all District directors of education have been asked to release headmasters, headmistresses, assistant heads, domestic bursars, accountants, and storekeepers who may be required to assist in the investigations.

Find below the list of schools alleged to be involved in the Free SHS feeding corruption.
The King of the Igbo community in Ghana, Eze Dr Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu, has debunked the perception that Nigerians living in Ghana are corrupt and responsible for the crimes in the country.

There is an assertion in Ghana that Nigerians are responsible for most of the countrys criminal activities such as prostitution, cybercrime and armed robbery.

However, speaking on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Monday, 10 May 2021, the Igbo king told show host Kwame Appiah Kubi that: Nigerians are not crime committers, adding: That impression that people create that Nigerians are crime committers, I will always disagree on that.

In every 12, there must be a Judas. Ghanaians are not 100 per cent holy and the same as Nigerians. Even America being the most developed nation in the world, there are lots of corrupt people there also, so, everywhere in the world, there is corruption.

[In] a country of over 200 million people, do you expect everyone not to be corrupt? he quizzed.

Dr Ihenetu explained that Nigerians only work hard to make more money and that has been misunderstood as corruption.

The way we work hard intimidates people, so, people will say Nigerians are crime committers. No. In every 12, there must be Judas, he noted.

Also, whenever somebody is working hard ahead of someone else around him, the other person will never feel happy, he will look at you and wonder This guy, where is he making money from? This guy, we started selling pure water with him; how come he now has about 20 bags and mine is still two bags?

The skills I implemented may not be the same you implemented, the ideas I implemented might not be the one you implemented, the way I packaged might not be the same way you packaged yours, so, Im telling you Nigerians are not corrupt, the king insisted.

If Nigerians pay their way out, Ghanaians also pay their way out and Americans also pay their way out and governments also pay their way out, he underscored.

To him, it is the same way we also pay our way out not only with money but negotiations.

Life is all about negotiations, so, when you say Nigerians are corrupt, that word particularly gives me headache, I dont want to hear that Nigerians are corrupt. No, Nigerians are not corrupt.

---classfm
Chad's new leader, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, on Monday made his first visit to Niger, a fellow Sahel country fighting jihadist insurgents, since coming to power at the head of a military junta after the shock death of his father last month.

The junta took charge on April 20 after President Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's 30-year leader, died fighting rebels.

After arriving in Niamey, the Niger capital, the 37-year-old general held talks with newly elected President Mohamed Bazoum, an aide to Bazoum said.

He was then scheduled to head to the west of the country to meet Chadian troops deployed under a regional anti-jihadist mission.

Deby "came to see his troops (who are deployed) in Tera, and he used the occasion to hold talks" with Bazoum, the source said, without giving further details.

Chad's army is one of Africa's most effective. By - (AFP/File)

Chad has 1,200 troops in western Niger under a five-nation initiative, the G5 Sahel, aimed at pooling military resources to fight an expanding jihadist insurgency in the region.

The Chadian military has high standing in the region as a relatively well-equipped and -trained force.

Deby, in brief remarks to the Nigerien media, said, "We came here to affirm our friendship... to thank President Bazoum for all his support since the death of Field Marshal (Deby). We also came to show our support for our forces in Tera."

Niger. By (AFP)

Thousands of people have been killed and more than a million have fled their homes since a jihadist revolt began in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Burkina Faso and Niger in 2015.

Niger, the poorest country in the world by the yardstick of the UN's Human Development Index, is also struggling with jihadist attacks in its southeast, coming from neighbouring Nigeria.

Deby died, according to the authorities, on April 19 after suffering mortal wounds fighting the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a large armed group with a rear base in Libya.

The new junta appointed a transitional civilian government and promised to hold elections within 18 months.

The Chadian military on Sunday presented a group of captured rebels together with their confiscated weapons and vehicles. By Djimet WICHE (AFP)

On Sunday, the junta declared victory over the rebels, staging a parade with several hundred army vehicles, including tanks, and 156 captives that they described as FACT prisoners.

Bazoum last month was named by the G5 Sahel as a "facilitator" between the new Chadian authorities and FACT.
Schools and stores reopened in several parts of Europe on Monday as the continent eased out of months of Covid-19 lockdowns, but India remained in the grip of a devastating outbreak.

Rapid vaccination programmes have allowed a number of wealthy nations to start taking steps towards normality, but the virus is still surging in many countries and concerns are growing about global vaccine inequality.

The pandemic has killed close to 3.3 million people worldwide since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019, upending normal life and causing global economic havoc.

Ireland on Monday lifted domestic travel restrictions and began a phased reopening of non-essential retailers, while Greece opened nursery, elementary and middle schools.

Britain, which has the highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe, was set to announce the reopening of indoor seating in pubs and restaurants and allowing "intimate contact between friends and family," the latest easing of restrictions following a successful vaccination campaign.

Spain has lifted a coronavirus state of emergency, allowing people to travel between regions. By Josep LAGO (AFP)

Cinemas are also expected to reopen, as well as some large indoor venues after the government held several pilot events -- including a rock concert -- to test safety measures.

Ahead of the announcement, the city of London launched a campaign to bring tourists back to one of the most visited European capitals.

Act 'responsibly'

Spain, which at the weekend lifted a six-month state of emergency and allowed travel between regions, sounded a note of caution after joyful crowds celebrated in the streets mask-less and without observing social distancing.

Spread of the coronavirus. By Simon MALFATTO (AFP)

"The end of the state of emergency does not mean the end of restrictions. Far from it. The virus threat still exists," Justice Minister Juan Carlos Campo wrote in an opinion piece in El Pais, urging Spaniards to behave "responsibly."

Cyprus on Monday was to exit a third partial lockdown with a new coronavirus "safety pass" system to allow people to move freely.

And in Germany, people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 were exempt from many restrictions from Sunday after the government passed new legislation.

Germany also opened access to the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to all adults on Monday, lifting a priority system.

But in Norway, an expert government committee recommended that the country drop the Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca jabs over the risks of rare but serious side effects.

Germany has eased restrictions for those fully vaccinated against Covid-19. By Ina FASSBENDER (AFP)

Meanwhile, German firm BionTech, which developed a vaccine with US pharma giant Pfizer, announced a $200 million joint venture with China's Shanghai Fosum Pharmaceutical to produce up to one billion jabs a year and said it was building its own Southeast Asia manufacturing site in Singapore.

India variant worries

India, suffering from one of the worst outbreaks in the world, reported nearly 370,000 fresh infections and more than 3,700 new deaths on Monday.

India is suffering from one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world. By Sanjay KANOJIA (AFP)

The devastating wave has overwhelmed India's healthcare system, and experts have said official figures for cases and fatalities are much lower than the actual numbers.

Africa is closely following the outbreak in India, as the country is one of the biggest suppliers of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax programme aimed to help immunisation in poorer nations.

India is one of the biggest suppliers of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Africa under the Covax programme. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

The situation in India has been worsened by a new more contagious variant and there are fears it could potentially dodge some vaccine protections, World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told AFP on Saturday.

BionTech sought to ally such fears on Monday, saying that "to date, there is no evidence" the jab needed adapting against the emerging variants.

Underscoring the gravity of the Indian outbreak, an Australian court on Monday kept in place a contentious ban on citizens returning home from the country.

Dozens have recently been taken ill at Everest base camp. By PRAKASH MATHEMA (AFP/File)

The Indian outbreak has spread to some of its neighbours, including Nepal.

And China plans to set up a "separation line" on the summit of Mount Everest -- which straddles the China-Nepal border -- to avoid possible infections by climbers from Nepal, where dozens have been taken ill at base camp, state media reported.

Glimpse of the future?

The world got a glimpse of post-pandemic life as Tokyo hosted a test event ahead of the Summer Olympic Games.

Athletes ran to an eerily empty stadium at a test event in Tokyo ahead of the Summer Olympics. By Charly TRIBALLEAU (AFP)

The sound of pounding feet echoed in an eerily empty stadium as track and field athletes ran to recorded crowd noises.

"It's weird running in a stadium with no fans," US sprinter Justin Gatlin said after winning the men's 100m.

Meanwhile International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach was forced to postpone a visit to Japan, organisers said Monday, after a coronavirus state of emergency was extended less than three months before the Tokyo Games.

The United States remains the worst-hit nation in the world, with the highest number of known fatalities and infections.

But its actual death toll may be higher than the official figure of 581,000, with a University of Washington study released last week estimating deaths at more than 900,000.

The United States was battered by the pandemic, but since January new infections have come down as more than 114 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Some travellers from hard-hit Latin America have been flying in to get jabbed.

burs-yad/txw
David Naboare, President of Ghana National Association of Community Mental Health Officers on Monday said about 20 percent of the Ghanaian population have various forms of mental illnesses.

He also said one out of every five pregnant women was likely to suffer from mental illness during or after delivery.

Mr Naboare disclosed this in his Maternal Mental Health Day message copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The theme for this year's celebration, which is celebrated on May 5, every year is "let's invest, call to action for investment and equity in maternal mental health care in Ghana."

Mr Naboare who is also the Chief Executive Officer of David Naboare Foundation, therefore, called on Mental Health professionals and mental health advocates to tackle these issues and help create awareness in the country.

He also appealed to them to include maternal mental health education during the ante and postnatal clinics.

Mr Naboare said assessment for signs and symptoms of mental health problems should be conducted at those sessions to identify pregnant women and nursing mothers with mental health problems.

He said HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and sexually transmitted infections among others during pregnancy could have mental effects on pregnant women.

The President said pregnant women needed financial capacity and mental health stability to be able to go through nine months of their pregnancy and mothering.

He appealed to Midwives and Community Health Nurses at various levels to always educate pregnant women on the need to engage in mental health activities.

Mr Naboare mentioned some of the activities as attending ante and postnatal clinics, accepting the gender of newborn babies, good nutrition, reporting any danger signs during pregnancy, and avoiding taking alcohol or any substance that was likely to harm the unborn baby.

He appealed to individuals and organizations to invest in maternal mental health as the government alone could not do it.

Mr. Samuel Atidzah, Executive Director of GOSANET Foundation, a Health NGO in the Adaklu district in an interview with the GNA said as everybody was at risk of a mental problem more publicity and education should be given attention.

He said it was necessary for one to regularly check his or her mental status.

---GNA
The 10 persons standing trial over charges of high treason for allegedly attempting plot coup to destabilize the country are still in police custody, two weeks after they were granted bail.

Eight of them were granted bail to the tune of GHS2 million each with two sureties to be justified while ACP Benjamin Agordzo and Colonel Samuel Kojo Gameli were granted bail to the tune of GHS1 million each with two sureties to be justified.

The ten were re-arrested and slapped with the new charges on April 25, 2021, after the state filed a Nolle Prosequi in the previous charges of treason felony.

Sources close to the issue disclosed the latest development to Citi News complaining that it has been frustrating justifying the bail bond.

All the accused persons are said to belong to a group called Take Action Ghana.

In June 2018, security agencies picked up intelligence of the group's alleged plan to overthrow the government and usurp executive powers.

---citinewsroom
Pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) says the ongoing #FixTheCountry campaign is without merit and must not be given the needed attention.

The group in a statement said it believes that the campaign is politically motivated and being pushed by unseen hands who are seeking to mislead the public.

It is worrying to wake up overnight in a non-dictatorial regime to initiate a disguised action with strong political undertone in the name of #FixTheCountry. The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) considers it an action in bad faith by a few disgruntled persons hiding behind a non-political colouration yet attempting to mislead the public into thinking their actions were spontaneous. We consider this movement politically motivated and not out of a vacuum, it said.

AFAG, which was very active and protested vigorously over corruption and other social ills during the John Mahama administration said the lead campaigners of the #FixTheCountry movement have failed to make suggestions on how best to improve the things it is campaigning against.

AFAG indicated that the campaigners failed to take into consideration the work the government has already done in fixing the economy, the health sector among others.

Indeed, can the organisers discount the billions of Ghana cedis which had to be paid to customers including corporate institutions because of the near-collapse of banks in Ghana? That was a mess under a previous regime which was fixed by a new government. Can the organisers justify why the NDC took over an economic growth rate of over 8% of GDP in 2008 and shrunk it at its worst to 3.4% in 2016 for the new governments sound economic management measures to move it to about 6.5% in 2019? Can there be money in the pockets (microeconomy) if there are no aggressive macroeconomic gains? Which government fixed the economy for IMF to exit its programme that was blocking off even public sector recruitment in Ghana? AFAG quizzed.

Read AFAGs full statement below:

#FIX THE COUNTRY MAKES NO SENSE- AFAG

It is worrying to wake up overnight in a non-dictatorial regime to initiate a disguised action with strong political undertone in the name of # fix the country.

The Alliance for accountable governance (AFAG) considers it an action in bad faith by a few disgruntled persons hiding behind a non-political colouration yet attempting to mislead the public into thinking their actions were spontaneous. We consider this movement politically motivated and not out of a vacuum.

This action is very political in a sense that the organisers have failed to bring suggestions to an otherwise resilient economy which was on a strong path of economic development( economic growth, structural transformation & equitable distribution of resources ) but ruined overnight by COVID-19 and its attendant effect.

FIXING BANKS TO FIX ECONOMY;

Indeed, can the organisers discount the billions of Ghana cedis which had to be paid to customers including corporate institutions because of the near-collapse of banks in Ghana? That was a mess under a previous regime which was fixed by a new government. Can the organisers justify why the NDC took over an economic growth rate of over 8% of GDP in 2008 and shrunk it at its worst to 3.4% in 2016 for the new government sound economic management measures to move it to about 6.5% in 2019? Can there be money in the pockets (microeconomy) if there are no aggressive macroeconomic gains ? Which government fixed the economy for IMF to exit its programme that was blocking off even public sector recruitment in Ghana?

FIXING TOILETS TO REDUCE CHOLERA;

Indeed, can the organisers justify why government had to fix toilets in houses along the coast or in selected areas in Accra as a national program in other to stop open defecation & the number of lives lost during the cholera outbreak in 2014 that claimed 127 lives with 14,411 cases?

Among others;

FIXING THE NMS HOSPITAL PROJECT

Can the organisers justify why former minister Seth Tekpe refused to renew the LCs for the NMS project in August 2016 after a whopping 85% of the monies were released to contractors but about 50% of hospitals were done under the NMS projects? This had to be fixed just in 2021 after its back & forth of how to raise monies to complete a few including European hospital at Takoradi etc.

FIXING COMMUNITY ROADS:

Can the organisers help government fix the poor roads in our neighbourhoods by advocating for government to raise the toll booth levy to competitive levels as in Europe/ USA etc so as to complete community roads leading to our homes? One a kind we could all hold the government accountable to justify how much it raised from a current toll booth levy of 1ghs to say a minimum of GHS10 ($6) so our community roads are fixed?

FIXING HOUSING:

Without justifying why Kufours affordable houses which were well completed and set to be moved in were abandoned by the NDC government. Can the organisers say same about the salagmi project which looks completed on the outside but cannot be inhabited because of drains, plumbing works etc not been completed? However monies meant to fix 5000 housing units were used to fix a little over 1000 housing units even with that, it looks good on the outside but remains uninhabitable. May be the time to fix the issue is to get Hon Collins Dauda arrested and prosecuted for varying parliamentary approval and causing financial loss.

FIXING LIVES BY FIXING VACCINES;

How do we fix this now when government is looking for money to fix your lives, and lives of all by pushing most disposable funds into the COVID-19 fight & vaccine purchases. These vaccines are to be administered free. Currently, the average fob per dose is about $20. Meaning our already financially challenged government due to COVID-19 will pay $40( 240ghs) per Ghanaian. Can the organisers help with ideas so as to get these excruciating COVID-19 vaccine prices on the low so government can fix our lives first?

Even so sad to say again is the fact that, with money in hand, developing countries are struggling to get vaccine to desperately save the lives of their citizens because those who manufacture in the western world need them too and we (Ghana) remain helpless. Can the organisers help government fix the country by finding reliable sources by getting any businessman they know regardless of their political association or not to augment government efforts to bring in vaccines to fix the lives of citizens because people matter?

TEMPORARY DUMSOR TO FIX OUR NATIONAL GRID. BEST MAINTENANCE CULTURE;

Fellow countrymen, we all attest to the poor maintenance culture in Ghana and how national assets wear & tear over a short period of time. What is there to fix if a government had decided to expand its power transmission capacity, replace non-performing transformers? Relocate power badges to the middle belt all within 5 to 6 months, so Ghanaians can all enjoy continuous & uninterrupted supply of power. Who will allow his father or relative to work on power transmission lines without shutting that transmission line down? Meaning certain parts of the country at that or any point will have to bear with government or for that matter the energy ministry so as to get at least some works done. Can the organisers fix the national grid maintenance with engineers who are able to work while there is power still flowing in the high tension cables?

FIXING A DEBATE TO GET TO UNDERSTAND # FIX THE COUNTRY ORGANISERS POSITION;

Finally, AFAG challenges the organisers to a debate on debt stock, debt servicing, sudden increase in debt/GDP ratio to about 76% from 67%(due to freebies, PPE purchases and high expenditures on saving Ghanaians because of COVID-19), gains in the fight against COVID-19, domestic revenue mobilisation under COVID-19 times & borrowing. If indeed there is one solution that fixes it all then that #fixthecountry will win their pursuits but for now a little understanding of the toxic mix situation we find ourselves in will do.

---citinewsroom
A French court on Monday dismissed the case of Tran To Nga, a 78-year-old French-Vietnamese woman, against 14 chemical multinationals over the use of the Agent Orange defoliant by the US military during the Vietnam War.

The trial opened on 25 January before the court of justice in the southern Paris suburb of Evry.

After more than three months of deliberation, the court reportedly ruled on that it did not have the jurisdiction to judge a case involving the wartime actions of the US government.

Tran To Nga, a former journalist born in 1942 in what was then French Indochina, accused the chemical firms - including Monsanto and Dow Chemical - of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling Agent Orange defoliant to the US government, which used it to devastating effect during the war.

She also accused them of causing damage to the environment.

Acting on orders

Dismissing the case, the court said that the companies were acting "on the orders" of the US government which was engaged in a "sovereign act".

NGOs estimate that four million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were exposed to the 76 million litres of Agent Orange sprayed by US forces to destroy ground cover and food sources in its battle with Communist North Vietnamese troops between 1962 and 1971.

Vietnam 'Agent Orange' trial against chemical companies opens in France

Tran To Nga suffers from typical Agent Orange effects, including type 2 diabetes and an extremely rare insulin allergy.

One of her daughters died of a malformation of the heart.

The multinationals have long argued that they could not be held responsible for the use the American military made of their product.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's decision, announced in April, to indefinitely postpone elections could rekindle tensions between his secular Fatah movement and Hamas Islamists, piling pressure on Abbas to set a new timeline for the first Palestinian elections in 15 years.

In late April, Abbas declared that legislative and presidential polls set for May and July respectively, should not be held until Israel guarantees voting can take place in annexed east Jerusalem.

But even before the Palestinian president announced the delay, Abbas' critics forecast that he might use the complex Jerusalem issue as a pretext to put off a vote in which Fatah risks losing ground.

Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey research, says the 85-year-old Palestinian president had now confirmed those suspicions.

"It is clear that this delay is more about the expectation of the outcomes of the elections rather than the issue of Jerusalem."

Shikaki described Abbas's unilateral decision to postpone the votes as destructive.

"It is not Israel who defeated the Palestinians, it is Abbas. He is the one making this decision," Shikaki says.

Failed attempt to bring Fatah and Hamas closer

Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority based in the occupied West Bank, called the polls as part of a push to mend ties with its long-term rival Hamas, which runs Gaza.

But as the election approached, Hamas was seen as better organised than Fatah, which also faced challenges from splinter groups backed by powerful former insiders.

All Palestinian factions insist that voting must be allowed in east Jerusalem, home to some 300,000 Palestinians,

Hamas and other Abbas critics have said that hinging elections on whether Israel allows voting in Jerusalem gives the Jewish state an unacceptable veto over the Palestinian right to vote.

Following the postponement, Hamas accused Abbas of perpetrating a "coup" against their partnership.
Listen to article

The 2020 flag bearer of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Rev Christian Kwabena Adu, popularly called Osofo Kyiriabosom, has called on the #FixTheCountry campaigners to desist from demonstrating.

He is asking them to rather vote against the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the biggest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 polls, since, in his view, their demonstrations will not change the status quo.

According to Osofo Kyiriabosom, Ghanaians have been demonstrating since the beginning of the fourth republic but such manifestations and protests have not changed anything in the country.

He noted that if the youth are hungry for development, then they must kick against the NPP and the NDC in the next election.

#FixTheCountry campaigners, mostly made up of angry Ghanaian youth, have been protesting against myriad national problems on social media.

The group planned a march on Sunday, May 9 but the police secured a court injunction against it.

Reacting to these developments on 12LIVE on Class91.3FM on Monday, 10 May 2021, Osofo Kyiriabosom told Blessed Sogah in an interview that for these campaigns, I dont think they will go anywhere.

You campaign, you go out, you demonstrate, it will never reach anywhere. The only thing we need to do is to just keep our fingers crossed and wait for the time to come for us to vote NPP out or NDC out for new people to come and take over, the founder of the Ghana Union Movement said.

He added: We can demonstrate from hair to toe, nothing will happen.

Demonstrations have been ongoing in this country for so long and it has not changed anything, he observed.

Talking and talking on radio, interviews and etc., we have done all these since time immemorial and nothing has come out.

So, me, Ill not join them [#FixTheCountry campaigners], they can go on and do it but Im waiting for 2024 and Ill campaign to remove the government.

In response to the intended demonstration, the government says it has started addressing some of the concerns expressed by the campaigners.

---classfm
The Christian Council of Ghana has expressed disappointment in a comment made by the Spokesperson of the National Chief Imam Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu to the effect that religious tolerance in Ghana is a facade.

General Secretary of the Christian Council, Rev. Dr. Cyril Fayose told TV3s Emmanuel Samani on the Mid Day news on TV3 Monday May 10 that the religious tolerance among Christians and Muslims in Ghana is not a facade but one that has been the envy of many around the world hence, no need to make utterances that have the propensity of jeopardizing this relationship.

Sheik Areyemaw Shaibu had indicated that big Christian churches are ganging up against Muslims in Ghana.

He said this on TV3s Key Point on Saturday May 8 after the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and the Christian Council of Ghana have issued a communique throwing support for the Methodist Church-Ghana as regards the prevention of some students at Wesley Girls Senior High School to fast during Ramadan.

The Bishops had said in the communique issued after an annual joint meeting of the two Christian bodies at the St James Catholic Church, Osu in Accra on Wednesday, May 5 that We have discussed the issue prayerfully and have studied the various press statements that some stakeholders have released on the matter.

We wish to endorse the position of the Methodist Church Ghana, which they succinctly outlined in their May 4, 2021 press release, and reiterate that the decision of the Wesley Girls Senior High School authorities on fasting is purely in the interest of the students.

The two bodies also used the opportunity to hold an ecumenical service to pray for Christian unity, the well-being of the government and the people of Ghana and reflected on how to abide in Christ as a nation in order to have sustainability of strength and not wither away.

The leadership of the two bodies said in their discussion of issues of national interest, they took a strong exception to the directive of the Ghana Education Service (GES) issued on Saturday, May 1 to Wesley Girls High School as regards fasting rules for its students.

They explained that mission schools have been guided by religious traditions of the respective churches from their inception in the country.

Even in the more advanced democracies in the world , such a space is granted the various churches in the running of their respective mission schools.

Therefore, we respectfully wish to state that the Ministry of Education , GES or any other stakeholder must not undermine the Codes of Conduct of the various mission schools, which have ensured their discipline and high academic standards for almost two centuries in Ghana.

Commenting on this development Sheik Aremeyaw Shaibu told host of the Key Points Abena Tabi that In Presbyterian Boys Secondary School (PRESEC) which is one of the best schools in this country, we have Muslim students there, they have a patron in the school who caters for their needs in matters of discipline. They pray in school, they fast and do everything.

These practices have never reduced the academic ranking of PRESEC. My worry is the ganging up by these big Christian organizations, the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and the Christian Council not taking a step back to look at this dispassionately but rather endorsing this.

Reacting to Sheikh Aremyaws utterances, Cyril Fayose said that I am a bit disappointed because we have an issue at stake that we are trying to deal with.

It is something that is new in the terrain that we are working in, we have had various responses but to draw up very sweeping generalization and conclusions based on a communique that was issued by the Christian Council and the Catholic Bishops, to say the least, is unfortunate.

I believe that we have a very good relationship that is the envy of many in the world , among Christians and Muslims in Ghana. Even in marriages, usually there are some difficulties and problems so in this marital relationship between us and the Muslims there will be hitches and hitch ups every now and then. If we are trying to resolve it and somebody describes everything we are doing as a facade, it is quite unfortunate. It is a statement that I think my good friend Sheik Aremeyaw should apologize for and withdraw if possible.

---3news.com
Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Writes: Setting The Records Straight -

Last week I took the huge risk of presenting another side of the story as it is against the Ghanaian situation being pushed by the #FixTheCountry campaigners.

While some agreed with the piece, it wasn't all hearts and flowers.

Let me state that my motivation to write that piece was not to slander all celebrities in general nor persons involved in the campaign but to bring to the fore some salient indicators with regards to where we are as a country, and to correct some serious negative phenomenon within the Ghanaian celebrity front.

I have taken a second look at the write up and although nothing that I wrote is an untruth, I admit that perhaps I was too harsh in some of my conclusions and choice of words.

This shouldn't have been the case and I apologise to all those who may have been hurt by the piece.

I'm sorry.

I therefore retract the strong and uncomplimentary language used in the write up. Maybe the issues that I was so much concerned about will not have been glossed over had I not engaged in some early conclusions.

But let's accept the fact that this whole fix the country protest is a well-orchestrated agenda by some faceless politicians who are more interested in a vile propaganda to suit their political whimps and caprices.

Their action plan is to attack certain frontline government officials and denigrate them for their own hiding agenda.

President Akufo-Addo is doing exactly what the people elected him to do.

He was sworn into office a few months ago to begin his second term and every right-thinking Ghanaian can attest to the fact that leadership approach to issues has been phenomenal with his Presidency.

The president promised to run a transparent and accountable government.

Many challenges still confront us as people but he is definitely fixing a lot of broken stuff necessary to attain the objective of a transformed industrialized nation.

He appreciates the fact that for any country to develop it must begin with brains of the citizenry, hence the introduction of free secondary education to get as many people as possible educated.

This is the man who stood on the international arena and declared a year of return for all the African Americans to return to their roots to contribute their quota.

And this exercise single-handedly resulted in a massive $2billion revenue into the Ghanaian economy.

In any case, this agitation is a positive signal that Ghanaians believes in the leadership of President Akufo-Addo and that he's the only leader capable of redeeming Ghana and fixing our situation.

It is all about fixing the economy, our health care, road network, railway system, education, and general living condition. And Akufo-Addo is delivering and will deliver on his mandate.

But then, while the president is at it fixing the country, let's us all fix our attitudes, and give the president a chance to do his job.

The celebrities too must play their role.

They must resist the urge to place themselves in the hands of faceless politicians to be used as pawns.

There's more to being a celebrity than getting involved in twerking or publishing profanity.

No one is interested in glorifying half-baked entertainers who want to dictate the pace of our development agenda and yet can't even fix their own lives.

Elsewhere in Developed countries, celebrities are using the power of social media for the good of their societies and helping fix the underprivileged.

Let's look at Kylie Jenner.

The reality TV star sold 51% of Kylie Cosmetics to publicly traded Coty, Inc. in January 2019 for $600 million; she pocketed $540 million, pretax.

Kylie Cosmetics, which had 2019 revenue of $200 million, was built on the back of a social media following that reaches more than 175 million people.

This is what real celebrities are doing- using social media to impact their lives and the lives of others.

If the ones here in Ghana want the likes of us to appreciate their worth, let them put their social media following to a good cause and we shall certainly support them.

Don't get me wrong, there is quite a chunk of well-intentioned celebrities here in Ghana and their impact in real life and even on social media is worth commending.

There are others too that simply don't get it and they are the ones I described as so-called celebrities.

If the media personalities and other commentators who have taken it upon themselves to take me to the cleaners should look into their microscopic lenses and analyse the issues I raised, they will get the right perspective.

I, Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah is not against any free-thinking Ghanaian involved in any legitimate exercise to get government accountable to the people but I will be the first to call out the deception of the nucleus of the current social media politicking by these so-called celebrities and their media collaborators.

Enough said.
A former Vice Chair of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Kwame Jantuah believe President Akufo-Addo should address the nation regarding the concerns raised by conveners of the #FixTheCountry Movement.

He told TV3s Emmanuel Samani on the Mid Day news on Monday, May 10 that governing the country is the responsibility of the President and not the Finance Minister therefore, Mr Akufo-Addo must address the country.

He was commenting on the press conference addressed by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta on Sunday, May 9 responding to the call on the government to address the economic challenges facing the country.

Mr Jantuah said It is time to listen. For me, it is the president I want to hear speak not the finance minister. Fixing the economy is the presidents take, not the finance minister.

He further asked the government to gather all stakeholders around the table to dialogue on how the issues confronting the country can be solved.

The government must say come let us sit down and lets talk that these are the challenges. Every sector minister today engage with the youth.

Mr Ofori Atta had said at the press conference in reaction to the #Fixthe economy movement that I acknowledge that these are challenging times for many of us, and we, like almost all the countries in the world , are living through rough weather.

A time that has put a burden on the necessities of lives and livelihoods never like before in recent history. Unfortunately, these external shocks have heightened Ghanas perennial problems, which we are committed to address.

In extraordinary times, you should expect exceptional leadership from your Government. I truly believe we cannot ensure exceptional leadership without a collective effort. So, I commend the youth for calling on Government and leaders to be at their best.

This shows the patriotism of the Ghanaian youth, echoing the Presidents call to Be a Citizen, Not a Spectator. You have elected us to solve the problems that face this country. We will continue to work with you and other stakeholders to do just that.

He further listed a number of initiatives put out by the government to fix the economy.

He said First, I am working with the Minister for Water and Sanitation to immediately ensure potable water to areas with felt need, especially in the most urban areas. Second, I am working with the Ministers of Roads and Highways, Transport and Interior to address congestion along the major highways.

Third, we are fast-tracking the implementation of the US$200million Jobs and Skills Programme to enhance job creation significantly. This intervention is designed to facilitate new and expanded private sector businesses to employ a lot more people.

This we believe is a more sustainable way to rebuild this economy instead of expanding Government employment schemes. Fourth, starting this month, we are rolling over 8 additional interventions under the GhanaCARES Obataanpa programme. These will be in the Health , Agriculture, Tourism, Trade, Digitization, Science and technology, Housing and financial services.

Fifth, by the end of July, we will have a new Development Bank that will provide long-term wholesale financing to the private sector through Commercial banks.

He added: The good people of Ghana have given us a mandate to get things done. For us as a Government, this is a clarion call for a national conversation on the shared burden to renew the social contract of our democracy.

At its minimum, we should ensure social justice and social mobility for most Ghanaians. At our best, we should open for all Ghanaians, an economic system under which each citizen shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best in him or her. As I always have, I will commit to working to fix those structures that will set Ghana on this path.

---3news.com
Many Ghanaians yesterday Sunday 9th May, 2021 Joined the world in the observance of the Mother's day celebration in a different style.

Some held family parties for their mothers, whilst other's spend time in churches giving thanks to God for the lives of their mothers.

On the part of the Leader and Chairperson of the Convention People's Party (NPP), Nana Akosua Sarpong Kumakuma and her entourage observed the day at the Gnani Witches Camp in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region where they dine and spend the entire day with the alleged Witches and Wizards at the camp.

As part of her celebration at the camp, the Chairperson and leader of the opposition party presented clothes, soft drinks, rice, biscuits and sanitisers to the alleged Witches who are numbered one hundred and seventy (170) inhabitants.

A well-designed Cake with Mother's Day inscription at the top was cut and share among the accused person's and their children as a sign of the Mother's day celebration.

The Chairperson couldn't control her tears during her interaction with the accused persons after critically observing the challenges and the current condition of the alleged witches.

In an interview with Journalists after the day-long celebration, Nana Akosua condemned the manner in which they were rejected by their family members.

According to her, the celebration of Mother's Day at the Gnani Witches Camp aims to put smiles on the faces of the alleged witches, and for them to also feel like mother's.

She noted that the place should not be named a witches camp, but an abode for the accused person's to be free from mob attack.

She however bemoaned the devastation at the camp and therefore appealed to the public to change their belief system by putting an end to superstitious accusations.

She further advised the public especially families to stop levelling witchcraft accusations against their grandparents over lack of progress and misfortunes in life.

The spokesperson for the Chief Priest of Gnani and caretaker of the alleged witches Camp, Mr. Yahaya Abu mentioned the basic amenities the witch camp lacks which includes a place of convenience (KVIP), water, school and a Heath centre.

According to him, due to lack of a place of convenience the entire Gnani Community practice open defecation.

He therefore called on government and private organizations to come to the aid of the community and the witches Camp as well.

Some of the alleged witches who spoke to the news team commended the CPP Chairperson for remembering them as the world celebrates mothers.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day the CPP Chairperson visited the Gbewaa Palace where she paid a courtesy call on the overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abubakar Mahama II.

She was accompanied by some Regional Executives of the party.
The Kaneshie District Court, on Monday refused to remand or grant bail to 11 alleged armed self-acclaimed operatives of National Security picked up for undertaking illegal mining in the Eastern Region.

The court presided over by Ms Ama Adomako Kwakye, ruled that the State had not provided before it, any written consent from the Attorney General's office to prosecute the case.

In the court's view, there was no case before it and, therefore, could not consider the issue of bail or remand.

The court said that the Criminal and Other offences Act 1960, (Act 29) Section 192, held that a person held under subsection one, needed a written consent from the Attorney General before prosecution is done on the charge of possession of firearms and ammunitions without lawful excuse.

The eleven accused persons were then sent back to Police custody under a P olice escort.

Meanwhile, 21 more self-acclaimed operatives of National Security allegedly engaged in illegal mining are said to be in the custody of the National Intelligence Bureau.

Appearing before the court, Mr Theophilus Donkor, counsel for nine of the accused prayed the court to admit his clients to bail under the Criminal and other offences Act.

Mr Donkor said the section under, which the accused persons had been brought had a condition precedent, which had not been met by the police.

According to Mr Donkor, the court could not start trial without a written consent of the AG.

The defense counsel said as a result of that, the charge preferred against the accused persons had been rendered bad in law and same is misplaced.

Since that requirement is not before you, My Lord, you are clothed to admit the accused persons to bail. I, therefore, pray the court to exercise its discretion by admitting them to bail, he argued.

Mr Donkor said Since AG's written Consent is not before you there is no proper charge before you.

He contended that the accused persons had fixed places of abode, they were gainfully employed and they were not going to interfere with Police investigations.

The counsel said his clients were arrested seven days ago in the Eastern Region and that the Police had only brought them before the court to endorse an illegality.

I, therefore, pray the court not endorse any illegality perpetrated by the prosecution.

Mr Donkor said a look at the charges showed that six alleged explosives were found on the accused persons, adding that, It look as if all the 32 accused persons have been held for possessing the six explosives.

Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Sylvester Asare, opposed to the bail application saying the District Court, was not the appropriate court to determine the grant of bail to the accused persons.

According to ASP Asare, investigators were working around the clock and that the Police could not keep the accused persons forever.

We are here to fulfil a Constitutional duty and this is a first degree felony. Article 14 (2) did not say that we needed the written consent of the AG. The constitution requires that we appear before a court of competent jurisdiction. It is premature for you to say that we need the written consent of the AG, Mr Asare said.

The eleven accused persons have been charged with six counts of possession of firearms without lawful authority at Osinase in the Eastern Region.

In all, 32 persons were nabbed following intelligence gathered by security operatives that some persons who carried themselves as operatives of National Security, and armed, were undertaking illegal mining in the name of National Security and harassing the natives of villages in the Eastern Region.

The accused persons who appeared before the District Court are: Adam Dakurugu, Kwame Isaac, Joe Acquah, Emmanuel Arhin, Samuel Asiedu Gyanfra, David Akakpo, Ebenezer Boateng, Jospeh Kwaku Gyamfi, Fuseini Alhasssan, Alhassan Asibi and Gabriel Dormate.

GNA
Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, 2020 Vice Presidential Candidate (VC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Monday urged Muslims to use the holy month of Ramadan to pray for peace and tranquility in the Country.

All Ghanaians should also contribute their quota towards peace to aid nation-building.

She made the remarks when she donated assorted food items to Muslims in the Central Region especially the less privileged and the vulnerable, to mark this year's holy month of Ramadan.

Accompanied by Mr Samuel Okujeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Prof Opoku-Agyemang made her first stop at Komenda her hometown, before moving to Elmina Zongo Mosque where she made similar donations.

At the Central Mosque in Cape Coast, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was joined by Mr. George Kweku Ricketts Hagan, Cape Coast South Constituency MP, Dr Kwamina Mintah, MP for Cape Coast North and Mr Samuel Atta Mills MP for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA), and other party executives.

In this holy month of fasting and prayers, we know you pray for the nation and everybody and this donation is to make your fasting worthwhile, she added.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang called for peace, tranquility, and selflessness, which she described as tools for nation-building, and urged all to ensure a violence-free future that the Citizenry would be proud of.

She extended greetings from former President, John Dramani Mahama to the Muslim Community and called for more prayers for a better Ghana.

Receiving the items, the Regional Chief Imam, Alhaji Yusif Mohammed Kamagatha expressed gratitude for the kind gesture.

There are some who could not have enjoyed this year but for this kind gesture ..., Allah would be faithful to you and would not leave you halfway he prayed.

GNA
As part of efforts to fight COVID-19 in Ghana, the Universal Friends Organisation (UFO) together with Gold Star Airlines have distributed about thousand (1000) face shields to trotro drivers and passengers at various lorry stations in the Greater-Accra Region.

According to the Organisation, the move is to sensitize Ghanaians the need to observe the various protocols to prevent a surge in COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The Organisation visited about four lorry stations in the Greater-Accra region such as Circle VIP station, Odawna Taxi station and others.

Face shields were given to passengers, drivers, station masters, hawkers and other various lorry stations. The Team also spent time with the people educating them on ways to observe the covid-19 safety protocols to stay safe.

The Executive Director who also doubles as Journalist Mr. Samuel Adobah said the organization have selected eight districts in the greater Accra to educate them on the importance of the covd19 vaccine.

He advises the general public to partake in the exercise as the second batch of vaccines is being deployed.

The Co-Executive Director Rev. Johnson also caution the market women, hawkers and trotro drivers to continue to wear nose marks, adding that the fight is a shared responsibility.

On his part, the CEO of Goldstar Air Mr. Eric Bannerman emphasises that, his outfit is ready to support UFO in the fight against the Covd19 pandemic.
Mr Wonder Ahiadzro, a driver of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Customs Division, who stole and sold a Toyota Land Cruiser at the cost of GH20,000.00, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by the Kaneshie District Court.

The original price of the vehicle, property of GRA, Customs Division, is stated at GH65.075.

Ahiadzro charged with stealing and forgery of documents, pleaded not guilty.

The Court presided over by Ms Ama Adomako Kwakye, however, found Ahiadzro guilty and sentenced him accordingly.

The convict sold the vehicle to one Pastor Solomon Fiabi of the lighthouse Chapel, who was charged with dishonestly receiving.

He was sentenced to a fine of GH2,400.00.

The Pastor pleaded guilty to the charge, saying Ahiadzro informed him that he bought the vehicle after it had been auctioned at his work place.

Prosecuting, Sergeant Apeweh Achana, said the complainant was the GRA and that Ahiadzro was a Custom Officer recruited as driver and stationed with Post Clearance Audit Unit.

Pastor Fiabi is a Minister of God and one of the pastors with Lighthouse Chapel also known as The Mega Church in Ghana.

Sergeant Achana said Ahiadzro used to be the driver in charge of Toyota land Cruiser (PRADO) with registration number GN 2904 Y.

Prosecution said during the first quarter of the year 2019, the convict allegedly fell sick and stopped coming to work.

He said in the month of August 2019, Ahiadzro came to GRA head office compound and drove the said Land Cruiser out.

The prosecution said the vehicle was not brought back to the GRA compound by the convict and that on September 17, 2019, Ahiadzro was invited to the office and questioned about the whereabouts of the vehicle and he denied knowing where the vehicle was.

Mr Achana said investigations revealed that Ahiadzro stole the vehicle from the GRA head Office and sold same to Pastor Fiabi at the cost of GH20,000.00 at Kasoa in the Central Region in August 2019.

Sergeant Achana said Pastor Fiabi was traced to a Pastors Conference at Kasoa where he was asked to bring the vehicle to the Customs head office.

Prosecution said Fiabi brought the vehicle and told investigators that Ahiadzro sold the vehicle to him and that he told him that the vehicle was auctioned to him from the office because it had an accident.

The prosecution said Ahiadzro said he told Fiabi that the payment of the vehicle was done in installment for three years.

He said Ahiadzro went ahead to forge documents of the vehicle such as the DVLA form C and the Customs declaration form.

According to the Prosecution, Ahiadzro also changed the vehicle registration number from GN 2904 Y to GE 8052 Z.

It said further checks at the DVLA office at 37 revealed that the documents prepared by Ahiadzro and given to Fiabi were forged.

GNA
Paying heed to agitating resident doctors in four medical colleges, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has decided to release their stipend arrears since May 2020. A senior official from the BMC said that order have been issued as per the desire (of resident doctors) and the issue now stands resolved.

In a circular issued on 7 May 2021, Dr Mohan Joshi, dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital (LTMGH), says, "...the regular monthly stipend of resident doctors in municipal medical and dental colleges is increased by Rs10,000 from 1 May 2020. This is besides the increment given to resident doctors during COVID pandemic. All deans and their accounts officers are requested to calculate the arrears by 14 May 2021 and clear the payments by coming week end. This should be treated as most urgent."

Resident doctors from four BMC -run medical colleges had started a #hashtag campaign on Friday about their pending demand of Rs1.2 lakh stipend arrears for their Covid duty. Resident doctors from Sion Hospital, KEM Hospital, and Nair Hospital protested on Twitter with a hashtag of #BMCBetrayedUs and #BetrayedStillWorking.

Resident doctors from KEM Hospital say, "Due to this unfair decision every resident (doctor) of BMC colleges will loss Rs70,000 to Rs80, 000. Resident doctors have worked and continue to work relentlessly throughout the Pandemic. The Administration should stand by that has been promised."

#BMCbetrayedus#BetrayedStillWorking

Maharashtra Government GR states that resident doctors will get a hike in pay from May 2020 ( ???? ????? ???????? ????? 1015/???.???.262/15/??????-2,)

BMC Administration has denied the hike of stipend from May 2020 as per the GR. pic.twitter.com/JsyEI1Nehs  Resident Doctors KEM Hospital (@DoctorsKem) May 7, 2021

Last year in May, the Maharashtra government had issued a government resolution (GR) that state that resident doctors will get a hike in pay from May 2020. However, the resident doctors alleged that the BMC administration had denied them the hike in stipend from May 2020 as per the GR.

Earlier this week, the BMC issued an order to increase stipend of resident doctors from College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) to Rs54,000 from Rs15,000 for next three months (or the duration of Covid hardship).
May 10, 2021

Escalation In Palestine

The already tense situations in Palestine escalated today:

Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations that threatened to push the contested city toward wider conflict. In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by ultranationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The marchers were ordered to avoid the area and sent on a different route circumventing the Muslim Quarter on their way to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray. But tensions remained high after Monday mornings violence. More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque [video], one of Islams holiest sites, as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the iconic golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets. More than 305 Palestinians were hurt, including 228 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Seven of the injured were in serious condition.



At the al-Aqsa mosque, Palestinian youth gathered sponge rounds,

tear gas canisters, and stun grenades that Israeli forces fired at them today and

created a model of the Dome of the Rock.

At the top, they wrote,   -- "You will not pass."

bigger

This afternoon the Al-Qassem brigade in Gaza gave an ultimatum to the Israeli occupiers to leave the al-Aqsa compound and to release prisoners. An hour later missiles were fired from Gaza towards Jerusalem. Additionally an anti-tank missile was fired against an Israeli army jeep (vid) near the Gaza border. Later on more missile volleys were fired by other resistance groups against targets near Gaza.

The Israeli army canceled the start of a large scale maneuver it had planned to run the next 30 days. That maneuver was seen as a preparation for an all out attack on Hezbullah in Lebanon. Yesterday Hezbullah had announced a general mobilization of its forces to deter a potential surprise attack. The Israeli troops are now on alarm for a potential escalation within Israel and Gaza.

After four elections Israel still has no new government. Prime Minister Netanyahoo is on trial for corruption. A larger war that can be spun into a victory could help him to avoid a judgment and gain votes for the likely soon coming next election.

Posted by b on May 10, 2021 at 15:56 UTC | Permalink

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Cadbury have been nailing the collaborations as it was announced that they have released not one, but two limited edition Crunchie donuts!

One of the donuts is filled with a delicious honeycomb inner and the other is a classic donut that is dipped in crunchie pieces, delicious.
One third of world's population has received at least one form of TCM-related treatment

People's Daily Online) 14:26, May 10, 2021

Owing to the growing popularity of traditional Chinese medicine (TMC) in 196 countries and regions across the globe, over one third of the world's total population has now undergone at least one form of TCM-related treatment in the past, including acupuncture and massage therapies, according to the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM).

A health professional prepares to give acupuncture treatment to a recovered COVID-19 patient at a clinic in Dhaka, Bangladesh, May 1, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua)

World Health Organization (WHO) statistics indicate that a total of 113 WHO member states have approved the use of acupuncture, of which 29 have established relevant laws and regulations, while 20 have incorporated acupuncture into their medical insurance system.

China has sent medical assistance teams to more than 70 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and almost every medical team has TCM-related personnel, accounting for about 10 percent of their total medical staff, said the NATCM.

Since 2015, China has promoted the construction of 59 demonstration bases for TCM-related foreign exchange and cooperation within the country, and has engaged in the construction of 30 high-quality overseas TCM centers in countries located along the Belt and Road.

In the future, China will further step up its experience sharing in the field of TCM management, introduce TCM services and products in entering the global market, and create a good environment at home and abroad for the overseas development of TCM, explained the NATCM.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Elon Musk ended up not being much of a wild card on "Saturday Night Live," despite his initial warning to us all.

Tesla CEO, Technoking, the Dogefather, mega-billionaire, new Texan, and now an "SNL" host, the Musk of many titles sparked a lot of conversation when the show announced he would take the stage on May 8.

Musk is the first person to host "SNL" who is not an athlete or entertainer since former President Donald Trump hosted in 2015 (and we all know how that turned out). It's a notable moment for "Saturday Night Live" as they embrace a figure as controversial as Musk  reactions from the internet were largely negative, and cast members Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang made posts on their social media accounts that seemingly pointed toward their displeasure at Musk's casting.

SPACE WINE: A bottle of space-aged Chateau Petrus 2000 is being sold for $1 million

But "SNL" and Musk pressed on.

Musk appeared as a variety of characters, including a doctor at "Gen Z Hospital," a cowboy, a cryptocurrency expert, himself in a Mars-based Space X sketch and Wario (with his girlfriend and musician Grimes as Princess Peach, seriously).

And ultimately, it was fine. It was whatever. I cringed a lot. It seemed like a fairly normal (albeit not very funny) episode of "SNL."

But "SNL" shied away from all the controversy that surrounds Musk, not bothering to nail him or even mention some of his most questionable moves of the past few years except for all his exploding rockets.

In one of the earlier sketches of the show, Musk plays a party-goer struggling to get through a conversation post-quarantine. In response to a question about his fictional wife, Musk's character gives an answer about working from home and seeing her more before his inner monologue says, "We're getting divorced and I'm losing my job."

Musk has sown skepticism on the COVID-19 pandemic, ranted about "fascist" quarantine lockdowns, very publicly questioned the vaccine and basically moved to Texas in protest of California lockdowns. So watching one of the richest people in the world cosplay on TV as a regular guy who struggled through the pandemic is... strange.

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Not to mention Musk has earned a reputation on Twitter as a meme-stealer, something you would think wouldn't vibe with the spirit of "SNL."

There were some human moments. Musk's mother made an appearance, and he disclosed he has Asperger's syndrome in his opening monologue.

But so much of the show seemed to hinge on promoting Musk as a "cool billionaire," relying on jokes about Teslas, rockets, Dogecoin (the meme cryptocurrency Musk has been pushing) and Elon Musk just being Elon Musk, that I truly did start questioning if Musk had just written Lorne Michaels a fat check so he could host. And while I know "SNL" doesn't exist to make fun of its hosts, so much of the controversy surrounding Musk is in plain sight that it rings weirdly false to never address those things in an episode that also pokes at "disgraced former fast-food spokesperson," "white nationalist" and former "SNL" host Donald Trump.

In one of the riskiest choices "SNL" could make for a host, they ultimately played it so safe that you could almost believe the only criticisms against Musk are his 4/20 jokes and that he smoked weed on The Joe Rogan Experience.

TRUE STORY: Tesla CEO Elon Musk stole my meme

And after all that, Dogecoin didn't even hit a dollar. At the time of publishing, Dogecoin is worth 56 cents a share. Not quite to the moon.
The Air Force reversed its decision to dismiss hundreds of reserve officer training cadets and restored nearly 130 scholarships, officials said, after a lobbying effort assailed the decision as a punishment for many qualified cadets that would create catastrophic financial problems.

The pandemic's wave of economic and social uncertainty triggered the initial decision, officials said. The natural cycle of departing officers creating room for the younger ranks has been disrupted, and service members, wary of leaving jobs and health care, are staying at the highest rate in two decades.

To rebalance the numbers, the Air Force rejected far more cadets than in past years. The cuts were so drastic that they swallowed up cadets with excellent grades and high fitness marks, according to current and former Air Force officials, sending scores of families into financial panic after scholarships vanished.

Kaili Glasser, a 20-year-old studying mechanical engineering at MIT, said she has flawless grades and rows for the crew team. But her future career and scholarship imploded on a Zoom phone call with her commander on Apr. 20 when she learned of her rejection.

"It was heartbreaking to feel I wasn't wanted after I put so much in," she told The Washington Post.

Congressional representatives, retired officers and a wave of parents and students pressed the Air Force behind closed doors to re-examine decisions to reject 1,000 cadets, an Air Force official said. Policy officials relented Thursday evening, reinstating 400 cadets, about 130 of whom won back scholarships.

"We cut too deep," said Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokesperson. "We recognized that the planned reductions to meet end strength requirements were going to cause unanticipated hardships for many well-qualified cadets."

Air Force officials acknowledged that cuts this year were far outside the norm. Historically, the Air Force dismisses about 25 percent of second-year cadets who don't meet fitness, academic and leadership standards. This year, it cut nearly half of 2,300 cadets in the crucial lead up to junior year, when cadets begin field training.

Reinstating hundreds of cadets puts the rejection rate back into historical norms, Stefanek said. ROTC cadets attend civilian schools rather than service academies. Air Force cadets who stay for the full program commit to at least four years of service.

The reversal relieved stress that families have absorbed in recent weeks. Parents who have been relieved to forgo tuition were beset with panic about costs that in some cases would surpass $100,000.

Timing also compounded worries. The decision in late April fell well beyond transfer and scholarship application deadlines, leaving students marooned if they could not afford the changes.

Officials who oversee the ROTC program realized the gravity of the decision after hearing about the emotional and potential financial turmoil students and parents were put through, an Air Force official said.

The move was celebrated across the country. At Detachment 365 - which serves Harvard, MIT, Wellesley and Tufts - 10 out of nearly two dozen sophomores were cast out, including Glasser, she said. They learned of their dismissal together on a brief and surreal video call.

Glasser went into a tailspin, she said. Her father's death when she was 14 was a catalyst to take more responsibility and find a way to pay for school. She carved a path to a full scholarship with the Air Force after embracing its culture and values, earning a NASA internship along the way.

She kept news of the rejection secret from her mother until Thursday, when she learned she was reinstated, scholarship and all. She was hit by a wave of relief, but the episode shook Detachment 365 into a more clear-eyed view of military bureaucracy, she said.

"Until now, I had very full trust in the Air Force," she said. "It wasn't until this past month that I realized that's not always how it's going to be."

The detachment saw eight total candidates reinstated, bringing a flash of joy tempered with disappointment in Air Force leaders. "Integrity is essential," wrote one cadet in a group chat discussing the episode, reciting cadet core values they felt were breached.

"This should have never happened," said one reinstated cadet, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for consequences. "The only thing that got them to reverse their decision was attention from outside."

The detachment, loaded with STEM-focused students at elite colleges, was also shaken over who was initially dismissed from its ranks - five women and five minorities. The military, which has struggled to elevate minority officers into senior commands, has pledged to do better.

The Air Force typically does a better job than other branches at marshaling women into service, said Katherine Kuzminski, a military policy expert at Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.

"Cutting off the flow of high-performing women is misguided," she said. "The lack of intention is the issue."

There are some ways to reduce the number of officers in uniform who may be stagnant or at retirement, she said, like offering buyouts, or even putting them into undesirable duties to accelerate their exit.

But most solutions are at the entry point, rather than the exit, she said. Air Force officials said to account for the reinstated cadets they may reduce future slots for officer candidate school, which is a separate program.

Cadets now back on track for training have resolved to take leadership lessons from the episode.

"You can grow and develop while the Air Force does the same," Glasser said. "In 20 years, we shouldn't be the ones making the same mistake made this year."
PARIS (AP)  A French activist for Black rights went on trial in Paris on Monday for defacing a statue of a historical figure from Frances colonial, slave-trading past, calling the protest a political act to denounce deep-seated racism.

Franco Lollia said that rather than vandalize the statue, he improved it by spraying state Negrophobia in red paint on its pedestal.

The statue outside parliament honors Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a 17th-century royal minister who helped author rules governing slaves in Frances overseas colonies. Among other cruelties, Colbert's notorious Black Code allowed for slaves to be branded, have their ears cut off and be executed for escape attempts.

Lollia told the court that, in his view, Colbert committed crimes against humanity. He said celebrating Colbert with a statue outside the National Assembly shows that the French state is viscerally Negrophobic even today and that the statues presence is spitting in the face of all people who look like me.

Lollia, who is Black, called the trial an insult.

I am sad to see that history seems to be repeating itself and our voices are still not heard, he said. I am really disappointed that the justice system is still so blind.

The trial coincided with Frances annual commemoration of the abolition of slavery. Lollia noted that the day isnt marked with a national holiday, dismissing it as a bone for a dog that fails to adequately commemorate the horrors inflicted on millions of slaves. French President Emmanuel Macron marked the day of remembrance with a wreath-laying and a minute of silence at a Paris monument symbolizing broken chains.

Inside the courtroom, Lollia's defense team put France on trial, detailing and denouncing centuries of colonial atrocities. They argued that in the wake of the worldwide wave of fury galvanized by the killing a month earlier of George Floyd, Lollia shone a necessary light on slavery and Colbert's role.

Calling slavery the greatest injustice in the history of humanity, defense lawyer Guy Florentin said the paint on the statue represented the blood of victims demanding reparations.

There was no degradation, it was just a bit of paint, he said. I would have left it as it was.

The sweat-top and face mask that Lollia wore to the trial both had the words Anti-Negrophobia Brigade printed on them. The back of his T-shirt described Negrophobia as a weapon of mass destruction that doesnt admit its name and said: Lets arm ourselves to the hilt to fight it.

The judge said video footage of the graffiti attack showed him hurling paint at the statue and spray-painting its base.

It was a political act, Lollia said. It wasnt a degradation. It was a contribution. It was even an improvement.

The charge of defacing property is punishable by a fine or community service. The prosecutor asked for a fine of 800 euros ($970). The judge said she would deliver her verdict on June 28.

Lollia's lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense. His attorney Georges-Emmanuel Germany said the judge should consider Frances past behavior as a criminal state in weighing Lollias act.

You are not only the judge of the accused, the attorney said. You are also the judge of the behavior of the victim  meaning the French state.

Speaking outside the courtroom, Lollia said Frances colonial past is still feeding racial discrimination.

Colbert is a major figure of this colonial past, this past where Black people were not recognized as human beings, he said.

The system itself is Negrophobic from the moment it doesnt put into question the history, he said. France is capable of healing from its Negrophobia and from its state racism in general, but the French state must learn to face its history, and not only part of the history it likes.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greece reopened primary schools and junior highs for in-person classes Monday for the first time in months, as the country eases coronavirus restrictions even as daily infections and deaths remain stubbornly high.

Greek courts also restarted many activities, with civil courts reopening to all cases and criminal courts now hearing cases involving defendants in custody and any cases reaching the statute of limitations next year.

Long lines developed outside the courthouse in the northern city of Thessaloniki as lawyers, witnesses, defendants and court staff arrived. Limits have been placed on the number of people inside each courtroom, forcing authorities to adapt.

Greece has been under coronavirus-related restrictions since early November, but has gradually begun easing the measures as it gears up for the vital summer tourist season. Restaurants, bars and cafes opened last week for outdoor service for the first time since November, while retail stores have also reopened on an appointment basis.

The gradual reopening comes despite new infections and COVID-19 deaths remaining high, straining Greeces health system and putting intensive care units near capacity. The country of nearly 11 million people has seen over 11,000 deaths, and 60 new deaths were announced Monday.

Domestic travel between regions will restart at the end of this week, when museums will also reopen, while open-air movie theaters reopen next week.

On May 14, an extremely important step will be taken, both for society and for the economy, with the opening of the tourism sector and the resumption of domestic regional travel, government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni said Monday.

The tourism industry is a major revenue source for Greece, and the government is hoping international visitors will help bolster an economy still suffering after a decade-long financial crisis that saw the countrys gross domestic product shrink by a quarter.

All school grades are now open in Greece. Students and teachers are required to carry out home COVID-19 tests twice a week and upload the results to be allowed to attend classes in person. The tests are provided free of charge and the same requirement has been extended to workers in several sectors that have reopened.

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Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Srdjan Nedeljkovic and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

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Follow more of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
When Ward Five residents call Mary Watts, shes going to answer.

If it means that much to them to pick up the phone and call, they must really have a passion, it must really mean something to them, Watts said. So I will listen. I dont necessarily want to take it as a complaint, but lets bring it up, bring it out, talk about it, and find a way to address it.

The 39-year-old Watts is one of three newly elected first-time Jacksonville aldermen. She will attend her first City Council meeting as Ward Five alderman today.

I am here to represent the people in Ward Five. I represent the whole community of course, but if you have a problem in your neighborhood, what else do you do? Watts said. So I hope that I can find some solutions to some of these things that people are talking about. Because sometimes its just a matter of people not knowing where to turn.

The April 6 municipal election was Watts first foray into politics but it was not her first community involvement. She had been active with community groups and resources during her former career with Jacksonville School District 117 and had been a member of a local commission on disabilities and human relations.

I was excited when this Ward Five opportunity came around because I wanted to stay involved, Watts said. I campaigned, the election came and went, and here we are.

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Watts went door to door throughout the Fifth Ward during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She wore a mask, knocked on each door, and then stepped back to maintain social distancing. Watts said some people were a bit standoffish but most seemed pleased to make her acquaintance and were not shy about sharing their concerns.

Property taxes, property taxes, property taxes, that was the major concern, Watts said. Then there were some smaller things. One person had a concern about the speed of traffic through her neighborhood.

I got a whole lesson from a couple of different people on how the water and sewer system works in their neighborhood, where things go, and the condition of the streets, Watts said. People are especially in tune with what is happening in their own neighborhood.

Months of campaigning led up to election day, with Watts on the ballot against incumbent Steve Warmowski. Watts anxiously awaited the results on election night.

I didnt really know if my stomach could handle it. I had to have a few Rolaids and chew a few fingernails, it was very stressful, Watts said. Then when the results came in I wondered is this real, is this official? If my race ended up in a card draw (like the Kent Hannant-Brandon Adams Ward Three race) I would have been like, never mind, Im done. I cant do this.

Watts said that Steve and Tiffany Warmowski have offered their support as she begins her city council career and she acknowledged that she has big shoes to fill in matching Steve Warmowskis legacy of service to the Fifth Ward.

Watts watched many city council meetings on-line to prepare herself for the campaign and the election and was surprised that theres not as much drama, its not like on TV. Its very businesslike, Watts said.

I am looking forward to the city council orientation process. I have had other council members reach out and say I could contact them if theres anything I need, Watts said. Right now, being the newbie, I would love to learn and get into any of the council committees, whatever I can do to help. I may bring in some new ideas and a different opinion.

Watts, whose maiden name is Mary Pollock, was born Scott County and in eighth grade moved with her family to Alexander. Following high school Watts moved to Jacksonville to attend Illinois College, where she earned a degree in business administration with an emphasis on finance and economics. She worked at Farmers State Bank and Trust Company through college and a few years afterwards.

Watts returned to school, this time at MacMurray College, to pursue a degree in special education. Before attaining that degree she got a job at Early Years, the Jacksonville School District 117 preschool, and became a parent educator, teaching parents about child development, community resources and parent-child activities. Watts was with District 117 for 12 years, and this past year she went to work for Ware Brands in Jacksonville as their office manager.

Watts has been married for 11 years to husband Brian, who works at Golden Eagle Illinois, a Budweiser distributorship. Her son Owen graduated from Jacksonville High School, Lincoln Land Community College and the University of Georgia with a degree in criminal justice.

Watts is a Republican and feels the Jacksonville community has a lot going for it right now. She cited the I3 Broadband project, recreational opportunities, the repurposing of the former MacMurray College campus, and the active efforts to draw new business and industry as positives for the city.

I hate to hear people say youve got to get out of Jacksonville, theres nothing here. There is so much good stuff going on, Watts said. I think there is a place for everyone and everything and our community has so much to offer.

Watts philosophy as the incoming Fifth Ward alderman can be summed up in one word: Solutions.

So often you get people saying this is a problem and this is a problem, but then what are you going to do about it? Watts said. I want to keep things rolling without complaints or negativity. Everything is a teachable moment, learn from all that happens and just do better next time.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli police faced off with Palestinian protesters Sunday in another night of clashes in east Jerusalem, a day before Israeli nationalists planned to parade through the Old City in an annual flag-waving display meant to cement Israeli claims to the contested area.

The late-night skirmishes raised the likelihood of further clashes Monday during the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations. Israeli police gave the go-ahead to the parade Sunday, despite days of unrest and soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions at a flashpoint holy site and in a nearby Arab neighborhood where Jewish settlers are trying to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes.

Addressing a special Cabinet meeting ahead of Jerusalem Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will not allow any extremists to destabilize the calm in Jerusalem. We will enforce law and order decisively and responsibly.

We will continue to maintain freedom of worship for all faiths, but we will not allow violent disturbances, he said. At the same time, he said, We emphatically reject the pressures not to build in Jerusalem.

The United States again expressed its serious concerns about the situation in Jerusalem, including clashes between Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem's Old City, home to sites sacred by Muslims and Jews, and Israeli police, as well as the expected expulsion of Palestinian families.

Washington made its concerns during a phone call between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart. Sullivan urged Israel to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations," according to a statement by National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne.

Jerusalem Day is meant to celebrate Israels capture of east Jerusalem, home to the Old City and its sensitive holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war. But the annual event is widely perceived as provocative, as hardline nationalist Israelis, guarded by police, march through the Damascus Gate of the Old City and through the Muslim Quarter to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

This year the march coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of heightened religious sensitivities, and follows weeks of clashes. That, combined with Palestinian anger over the eviction plan in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, could set the stage for an especially volatile day.

Amos Gilad, a former senior defense official, told Army Radio that the parade should be canceled or at least kept away from Damascus Gate, saying the powder keg is burning and can explode at any time. Israels public broadcaster Kan said the final route of the parade had not yet been decided.

In recent days, dozens of Palestinians have been wounded in clashes near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City. The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It has been a tinderbox for serious violence in the past.

The occupier plays with fire, and tampering with Jerusalem is very dangerous, Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official, told the militant groups Al-Aqsa TV station.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.

The violence, along with the planned evictions in east Jerusalem, have drawn condemnations from Israels Arab allies and expressions of concern from the United States, Europe and the United Nations.

In Sunday nights clashes, Palestinian protesters shouted at police and pelted them with rocks and bottles, while police fired stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse the crowds. Palestinian medics said at least 14 protesters were injured.

The clashes were less intense than the previous two nights. Police said over 20 police officers had been injured in recent days.

But there were signs the violence was beginning to spread.

Late Sunday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired four rockets toward Israel, setting off air raid sirens in southern city of Ashkelon and nearby areas, the Israeli military said. It said one rocket was intercepted, while two others exploded inside Gaza. Early Monday, Israeli tanks and artillery struck several Hamas posts near the border in retaliation for the rocket fire. There were no reports of injuries.

Earlier in the day, Israel carried out an airstrike on a Hamas post in response to another rocket attack. Gazan protesters affiliated with Hamas militant group also launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel during the day, causing dozens of fires.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, Israeli police also clashed with hundreds of Arab students at Israels Hebrew University, using stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Police said 15 people were arrested at another protest in the northern city of Haifa.

Jordan and Egypt, the first two countries to strike peace deals with Israel, both summoned senior Israeli diplomats to condemn the Israeli actions.

Jordans King Abdullah II, who acts as custodian of Jerusalems Muslim holy sites, condemned what he called Israeli violations and escalating practices and urged Israel to halt its provocations against Jerusalemites.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was following the events in Jerusalem with worry and called for an end to the clashes.

Violence only generates violence, he told the public gathered at St. Peters Square.

With tensions high, the Israeli Supreme Court postponed a decision on the possible evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. The decision had been expected for Monday, but was pushed back by up to 30 days in light of circumstances, the court said

Palestinians and international rights groups portray the planned evictions as a part of a campaign by Israel to drive Palestinians from traditionally Arab neighborhoods, especially in the heart of Jerusalem. Israel has cast the evictions case as a real estate dispute.

The flare-up in hostilities comes at a crucial point in Israels political crisis after longtime leader Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition. His opponents are now working to build an alternate government. If they succeed, Netanyahu would be pushed to the opposition for the first time in 12 years.
HONOLULU (AP)  Comments on social media about a 16-year-old boy shot and killed by Honolulu police have been so hateful that a Catholic priest, who hails from the same small Pacific island as the teens family, hesitates to repeat them.

It is really bad and I dont want to say it as a priest, said the Rev. Romple Emwalu, parochial vicar at a parish outside Honolulu who was born in Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. But, like, Micronesians are dirt.

Some in the Micronesian community say the April 5 shooting of Iremamber Sykap highlights the racism they face in Hawaii, a place they expected to be more welcoming to fellow islanders.

Police say Sykap was driving a stolen car when he led officers on a chase through oncoming traffic after a series of crimes including an armed robbery and purse-snatching.

Sykaps family is from Chuuk, but he was born in Guam, a U.S. territory, said his mother, Yovita Sykap.

Hes American, she said.

Of Hawaii's 1.5 million residents, 38% are Asian  mostly Japanese and Filipino  26% are white, 2% are Black, and many people are multiple ethnicities, according to U.S. census figures. Native Hawaiians account for about 20% of the population.

There are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Micronesians in Hawaii, who began migrating here in bigger numbers in the 1990s in search of economic and educational opportunities, said Josie Howard of We are Oceania, which advocates for the Micronesian community.

The Compact of Free Association allows citizens from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau to live and work freely in the United States in exchange for allowing the U.S. military to control strategic land and water areas in the region.

Located about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii, the Federated States of Micronesia consists of 607 islands with a population of about 107,000.

The relationship with the U.S. seems to make people in Hawaii incorrectly believe that Micronesians are a drain on social benefits, said Sha Merirei Ongelungel, a Honolulu resident.

A Palauan born and raised in Oregon, Ongelungel came to Hawaii because all I wanted to do was to fit in and be around Pacific Islanders and know what it was like to not stand out like a sore thumb.

When she first got here, a cousin advised her to tell potential employers she was from Oregon. If you tell them you're Micronesian, you won't get a job, she said her cousin told her.

She wasn't prepared for the racism in Hawaii, and so she left after a year.

Ongelungel said she felt equipped to deal with the racism on the U.S. mainland against those who are not white. I didn't have training to fight people who looked like my actual blood relatives," she said.

She returned to Hawaii nearly 15 years later.

What might be difficult for a priest to repeat, Ongelungel doesn't hesitate to describe: People talking about killing cockroaches, calling for a purge on Micronesians, calling to have us  even those of us who are U.S. citizens who are born in the United States  calling for us to be deported, calling for the parents of minors to be incarcerated, you name it.

She said that whenever there's a crime in the news involving someone who is Micronesian, there's an uptick in hateful comments, but they never fully go away."

After the shooting, some local media outlets reported about Sykap's criminal history as a juvenile.

I want to press people on why his past matters when he's a child, Ongelungel said.

The police department has offered little information on the shooting. The department won't release body camera footage because there were other minors in the car with Sykap.

A little more than a week after the shooting, Honolulu police shot and killed a Black man who had entered a home that wasn't his, sat down and took off his shoes, prompting a frightened occupant to call 911. Chief Susan Ballard said race wasn't a factor in that incident.

In response to protests in other parts of the country decrying police brutality against minorities, Ballard, who is white, has said that in general, that degree of racism doesn't exist here.

Officers are extensively trained to respond to the individuals behavior and actions, not race, said police spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Eric Seitz, an attorney not involved in the Sykap case who represents families of others who have been killed by police, says Honolulu police have similar issues with race as other U.S. cities.

More and more people are coming to realize that Hawaii is not different and that just as they release video footage in all of these other cities for all of these other incidents, it should be obligatory as a matter of public responsibility to release the similar information here, Seitz said.

Nothing in the law prevents police from blurring out faces of the other juveniles in the car with Sykap, he said.

Jacquie Esser, a state deputy public defender, said police will often stop Micronesians for no reason or call them cockroaches. It's so blatant," she said.

Esser believes the department leaked Sykap's sealed records to the media to demonize him and now are relying on juvenile confidentiality to keep the footage from becoming public.

The department denies doing so. Juvenile arrest records are generally confidential, and department policy prohibits the release of a suspects prior arrest history, Yu said.

Ann Hansen befriended Sykap's family in 2008 and became godmother to him and four of his siblings after noticing they walked 3 miles (5 kilometers) each way to get to the Cathedral of St. Andrew, an Episcopal church in downtown Honolulu.

People called him Baby because he was the youngest of eight, she said. Hansen said she used to drive him to ukulele lessons.

There has also been an outpouring of support for the slain teen, including a memorial for Sykap at a street corner near where the shooting took place. Some people have kept round-the-clock vigil at the site, decorated with floral bouquets, balloons, candles and a stuffed bear.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Capitol Police force was hobbled by inadequate intelligence gathering ahead of the Jan. 6 siege, the department's watchdog told Congress on Monday, alarming lawmakers who are concerned for their own safety amid rising threats against members of Congress.

Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton testified in the first of three House hearings this week on what went wrong during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Lawmakers are investigating the riots as they contemplate overhauling security, and Bolton has recommended that the Capitol Police create a new stand-alone division that would gather intelligence about threats and protect members similar to the way the U.S. Secret Service protects the president.

Many lawmakers are receiving threats and worry for their safety after the U.S. Capitol was so easily breached on Jan. 6 by supporters of then-President Donald Trump who wanted to overturn the election. The rioters were hunting for lawmakers, calling out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence by name as they roamed the building and members fled the House and Senate. In a statement Friday, the Capitol Police said that there has been a 107% increase in threats against members of Congress this year compared to 2020 and provided the unique threat environment we currently live in, the Department is confident the number of cases will continue to increase.

A new inspector general report, one of several Bolton is preparing in response to the insurrection, said the department has experienced issues because of the increase in threats over the last five years and recommended the force hire more agents who are dedicated to assessing threats.

Bolton said there were multiple deficiencies that led to a lack of communication and guidance ahead of the siege. He said the department's guidance on counterintelligence was outdated or vague  some so ancient that it referred to Blackberry communication devices, which are now rarely used.

A stand-alone entity, with a defined mission dedicated to countersurveillance activities in support of protecting the Congressional Community, would improve the Departments ability to identify and disrupt individuals or groups intent on engaging in illegal activity directed at the Congressional Community and its legislative process, the report says, according to a summary released by the House Administration Committee ahead of the hearing. Bolton has not released the full report.

Bolton told the panel that the Capitol Police is in the process of opening up two regional offices so it can better protect lawmakers at home. The department confirmed that on Monday, saying they will be opening up offices in San Francisco and Tampa, Florida.

Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the committee, said he hopes they open up more offices around the country and prosecute more people who are making the threats. He noted that he has received threats himself  a man was arrested in 2019 for threatening to shoot him.

So I know firsthand that these threats are real, and that the people making these threats intend to act on them," Davis said. I do believe a truly more aggressive enforcement stance, more arrests and more prosecutions of those who make violent threats and intend to carry them out would be a very strong deterrent.

In Fridays statement, the Capitol Police said they have already taken significant steps to improve counterintelligence and agreed that a stand-alone intelligence division would be helpful, but said theyd need more money to achieve it. The statement said the Capitol Police have about 30 agents and analysts doing the same job as more than 100 in the Secret Service, while the Capitol Police had 9,000 cases in 2020 and the Secret Service had 8,000.

The House is also scheduled to hear this week from former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who will testify about his role in approving National Guard troops during the insurrection. The troops did not arrive until several hours after the riots began, a subject that has attracted intense interest in Congress.

Miller is expected to appear Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee alongside former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and District of Columbia Police Chief Robert Contee III. All three were part of frantic meetings that day as Capitol Police begged for backup.

Army and Pentagon leaders have repeatedly denied any efforts to delay the Guard response. Miller denied in a Vice News interview in March that the response was unduly slow, saying, It comes back to understanding how the military works. He said this isnt a video game, adding its not Black Ops Call of Duty.

In a statement ahead of the hearing, House Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said Congress and the American people still have many unanswered questions about why more wasn't done about threats of violence from right-wing extremists before the attack.

Our hearing will provide the American people the first opportunity to hear from top Trump Administration officials about the catastrophic intelligence and security failures that enabled this unprecedented terrorist attack on our nations Capitol, Maloney said in a statement.

The House Administration Committee will also hear this week from Christopher Failla, the inspector general for the architect of the Capitol, who is one of three officials sitting on a board that oversees the Capitol Police.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said last week that a $2 billion supplemental spending bill that the House is expected to take up soon will have a focus on increased training, intelligence analysis and capabilities for the police force.

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Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.
The FDA recently announced it is working toward banning menthol cigarettes and flavored mass-produced cigars.

The reaction to the menthol ban broke down along familiar lines. Some people are in favor, believing the ban will improve health outcomes of certain groups who tend to use these products. According to the Center for Disease Control, 85% of menthol brand users are Black and, therefore, the ban is a form of social justice.

Other people with a more libertarian bent believe the ban restricts the free market and will unfairly cost shop owners a lot of money by being unable to sell products people freely choose to buy. Still, others feel that banning menthol  the past permissible flavor in cigarettes  will dissuade new smokers, for whom menthol helps begin and retain the habit.

But the critical issue is whether bans  on cigarettes, alcohol or anything else  actually work?

In a superb 2013 essay on the topic, human psychology expert Scott Berkun argues banning things actually makes them powerful.

For 13 long years, alcohol was illegal in the U.S. But even in the early days of Prohibition, it was clear the law wasnt having the intended effects. Alcohol became more powerful in many ways, and since the mechanisms by which people obtained it were illegal, some of the cultural problems Prohibition was expected to solve got worse.

And, Berkun observes, free PR for all of the people who are probably interested in the thing being banned who might not have heard of it if the ban didnt happen.

My mother once told me about the lengths she went to as a teenager in Montreal to get her hands on the then-banned novel, Peyton Place, which later became a wildly popular TV series. In the 1964-1965 television season, the show had a huge 25.1 rating in its first season, thanks in part to the veneer of scandal that lingered from the novels notoriety.

Where bans are generally ineffectual at best, what does work is a sin tax. A sin tax is a usually quite heavy tax on something people use that is deemed to be against the public good. Its not banned but instead, the government says, Hey  go ahead and use this thing we have determined to be harmful to society if you want to  but its going to cost you. According to a powerful 2018 series of papers in The Lancet, sin taxes are an effective way to deal with the consumption of things that are harmful to us.

Having lived in Sweden, a land with a massive sin tax on alcohol, I have seen the effect first-hand. The high cost of alcohol, especially when acquired outside of the state-run liquor store  the Systembolaget  acts as a deterrent to excessive consumption for many people.

As a result of high prices, most Swedes who do drink only do so from Friday to Sunday  leaving the other days completely dry. And without a ban.

Part of what a ban does is also expand the legal liability envelope around banned products.

Joshua P. Geist, a partner in the law firm Goodrich & Geist, P.C., argues that from a legal perspective, banning menthol cigarettes highlights their inherently dangerous nature.

When a product is banned, it speaks to how dangerous regulatory bodies see that product to be today. That can absolutely have an impact upon how courts will see the industrys history of selling this product to people across the nation who have been injured by using it.

The fundamental flaw in most bans is that they are a form of societal laziness. Simply declaring something illegal is much easier than addressing the root cause of problems, or acknowledging that the bad behavior is never going to simply go away.

If we put the same energy we invest into banning bad behavior into developing better public policy, people might be more willing to embrace the behaviors we are trying to achieve by making things illegal to do, use, think, or believe.

Aron Solomon is the senior digital strategist for NextLevel.com and an adjunct professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Politicians lie to get elected.

Thats hardly startling. And in a state like Illinois, with its long and sordid history of corruption, that observation is about as newsworthy as the pyramids are old and big.

Still, one cant help but be disappointed when politicians back away from their word.

A case in point is Gov. J.B. Pritzker who ran for office on a platform of reforming the states redistricting process.

During the last gubernatorial election, Springfield reporter Rich Miller surveyed every candidate seeking their partys respective nomination.

He asked each candidate if they would veto any redistricting measure not created by an independent commission.

Here is how Pritzker responded:

Yes, I will pledge to veto. We should amend the constitution to create an independent commission to draw legislative maps, but in the meantime, I would urge Democrats and Republicans to agree to an independent commission to handle creating a new legislative map. That designated body should reflect the gender, racial, and geographic diversity of the state and look to preserve the Voting Rights Act decisions to ensure racial and language minorities are fully represented in the electoral process.

This wasnt one of those off-the-cuff remarks. Pritzker responded in writing to the question after having some time to think about it.

But today he is backtracking from that commitment.

Here is what he is saying now:

Well, as I said, I will veto an unfair map. I have also said that in order for us to have an independent commission, we needed to have a constitutional amendment, something that would actually change the way the process operates today in the Constitution. That did not happen. So now, as we reach the end of this session and I look to the legislature for their proposal for a redistricting map, Ill be looking to it for its fairness. And thats something thats vitally important for our state, as an effect on the next 10 years and representation throughout the state.

Baloney.

The governors original pledge wasnt predicated on a constitutional amendment. An independent commission can be formed by legislation or even a joint resolution.

And, hey, he sure hasnt been banging the drum for a constitutional amendment since he entered office. The voters were hoodwinked.

Instead, Pritzker is kowtowing to Democratic leaders in the Legislature. The current process allows lawmakers to choose their voters rather than voters choosing their lawmakers.

I dont think he realized, when he made the statement, just how important this is to legislators, said longtime statehouse observer Mike Lawrence. He wants to get his proposals through the legislature and that isnt going to happen if he angers them by vetoing their map.

Illinoisans became far too familiar with this sort of mendacity under governors Bruce Rauner and Rod Blagojevich. Its disappointing that Pritzker has joined their ranks.

Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh did not respond to requests seeking an explanation for the governors change of heart.

Politicians distort and stretch their districts into strange shapes for two reasons: To get more seats for their political party and to get re-elected without having to run a substantial campaign.

Potential candidates dont run because they look at how a district has been drawn and know they cant possibly win.

Just consider: a 2014 study by Ballotpedia found that only 40 percent of Illinois lawmakers even had an opponent in the preceding election.

By comparison, during the same election cycle 100 percent of Michigan legislators had contested races. And California and Minnesota had competitive races in more than 90 percent of their legislative districts.

Worse yet, in at least half of the contested legislative races in Illinois, the incumbent only faces nominal opposition.

As for Pritzkers pledge to veto any unfair map approved by lawmakers, Lawrence said the odds of a partisan body such as the General Assembly approving a neutral, fair map are slim to none.

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin was more blunt: It will happen when hell freezes over.

That said, I have no doubt that if the Republicans controlled the process in Springfield they would be behaving in the same manner that Pritzker and Democrats in the legislature are.

Voters deserve to have choices when they vote and a governor who keeps his commitments.

Scott Reeder is a veteran statehouse journalist and can be reached at Scottreeder1965@gmail.com.
Man shot to death at Vancouvers airport in gang incident View Photo

RICHMOND, British Columbia (AP)  A 28-year-old man was fatally shot Sunday at the Vancouver International Airport in what Canadian authorities said was a gang-related slaying. Police were later fired on while pursuing the suspects.

The man was shot near the departure terminal at the airport, which is in neighboring Richmond, British Columbia. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Frank Jang said the victim was known to police and the incident was related to a gang conflict the region has seen lately.

This generation of gangsters is taking things to a new level with no regard to community safety, Richmond Chief Supt. Will Ng said. They will stop at nothing to target rivals even if its at an international airport in broad daylight on Mothers Day. And they shot at a police officer.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers intercepted the suspected getaway car shortly after the 3 p.m. shooting and were shot at from the car. At least two suspects escaped in the SUV, and no officers were injured.

Police said the officer did not return fire as there were bystanders. Police later found a burning car about 28 kilometers (17 miles) away.

At the airport, traffic cones blocked off a section of the international and domestic departure areas and police erected tall, white screens in front of an entrance, blocking views of the shooting scene. Most of the shops in the area were shut down.

Police asked for witnesses and those with video to come forward.

The Vancouver Airport Authority referred questions about the shooting to police. It said the airport remained open.

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in a statement on Twitter that the shooting was disturbing.

My thoughts are with the communities in the Lower Mainland who have been impacted by gun and gang violence far too often, particularly over the last week, Blair said.

There has been a string of shootings in the Vancouver area over the last several days, including two separate daytime shooting deaths in busy shopping malls. Police said both were targeted killings. One of the victims was a prison corrections officer.

Were tired of seeing the violence that has been taking place on our streets, Jang said. There comes a time where there are no further words.  Its falling on deaf ears.

___

AP writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
LONDON (AP)  A British lawyer and climate campaigner was fined 5,000 pounds ($7,070) on Monday after being convicted of contempt of court for a tweet which broke an embargo on a U.K. Supreme Court judgment over Heathrow Airports expansion.

Tim Crosland, a director of an environmental campaign group, revealed on social media the court ruling on Heathrow Airports proposed third runway a day before it was made public in December. He was among involved parties to receive a draft of the appeal judgment, and has said that he broke the embargo deliberately as an act of civil disobedience to protest the deep immorality of the courts ruling.

The court had ruled that a planned third runway at Heathrow was legal. The case was at the center of a long-running controversy and environmentalists had argued for years that the climate impact far outweighed the economic benefits of expanding the airport.

Crosland said the proposed 14 billion-pound ($19.8 billion) expansion of Heathrow, one of the worlds busiest, would breach Britains commitments to the Paris climate agreement.

He argued that the government deliberately suppressed information about the effect that the airports expansion would have on the climate crisis, and said the publicity gained over breaking the embargo would act as an antidote to that.

Addressing the court, Crosland said: If complicity in the mass loss of life that makes the planet uninhabitable is not a crime, then nothing is a crime.

Three Supreme Court justices found Crosland in contempt of court for his deliberate and calculated breaches of the embargo and fined him 5,000 pounds.

The judges said he wanted to demonstrate his deliberate defiance of the prohibition and to bring this to the attention of as large an audience as possible.

Crosland had brought a small suitcase to Mondays hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in case he was given immediate jail time.

The maximum sentence had been up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine.
Sacramento, CAGovernor Gavin Newsom has expanded on the drought state of emergency including both Calaveras and Tuolumne counties with 37 more. The California Governor explained the need for this by saying

With the reality of climate change abundantly clear in California, were taking urgent action to address acute water supply shortfalls in northern and central California while also building our water resilience to safeguard communities in the decades ahead, Were working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water.

Todays drought emergency proclamation adds the following 39 counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba counties.

This action allows the Governor to direct the State Water Board to consider changing requirements for reservoir releases and diversion limitations to conserve water upstream later in the year to maintain water supply, improve water quality and protect cold water pools for salmon and steelhead. This also allows water to be moved via voluntary transfers from one water right holder to another with less red tape and makes the process faster and enabling water to flow where it is needed most.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Protesters set fire to trailers belonging to Irans consulate in Karbala on Sunday amid widespread anger over the killing of a prominent activist in the Iraqi city.

Ehab Wazni, who was active in the organization of anti-government protests that swept Iraq in October 2019, was shot overnight outside his home by unknown assailants.

His death sparked daylong protests in Karbala that saw demonstrators block roads and bridges with burning tires. Then Sunday night, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Iranian consulate, burning tires in front of the building and setting fire to several trailers parked outside, according to police officials and videos posted online.

Similar scenes played out in November 2019 during protests in Baghdad and Iraqs majority-Shiite provinces in the south, with protesters on at least one occasion scaling concrete barriers ringing the Iranian consulate in Karbala to bring down Irans flag and replace it with the Iraqi flag.

The popular protests that began in October 2019 and lasted for months were directed at a postwar political system and a class of elite leaders that Iraqis accuse of pillaging Iraqs wealth while the country grows poorer. But protesters have also directed their rage at neighboring Iran and the powerful Iraqi Shiite militias tied to it.

The protests in Karbala, Baghdad and cities across southern Iraq often turned violent, with security forces opening fire and protesters torching government buildings and headquarters of Iran-backed militias. Hundreds were killed, including the assassination of activists.

The protests have been largely dormant since the coronavirus pandemic.
Most of her students never knew that Winia was Mrs. Roy Lippert's given name. But in the 22 years since her death, the name Lippert among court reporting circles has taken an almost mythical status.

Examples can be found on Depoman.com, an online forum for court reporters. A contributor in one string on Lippert compared her to Charlie Brown's teacher, a character that is never seen and rarely heard.

But for generations of court reporters, she remains a powerful presence.

Karen Morris of Amarillo had this to say about Lippert in that forum: "She and her husband labored tirelessly for their students. They never had children, but all of their students were considered their children and family.

"When I attended their school (in around 1976), tuition was $75 a month," Morris wrote. "I understand that set tuition lasted into the '80s. If you couldn't pay, you stayed anyway. No one was ever turned down. You didn't have to pay her back. The Lipperts placed court reporters all over the world. Students traveled from all over the United States to attend their school.

"Ms. Lippert is probably the kindest human being I have ever known. She was a true southern belle and loved our profession," she continued. "Oh, those were the good old days."

Lippert was the subject of a 1986 feature by Gordon Zeigler who wrote that Lippert's business school made its local debut in 1925, with court reporting added in 1935.

"The first student I ever trained, Brentz Norman, was the official reporter for the Billie Sol Estes case in Amarillo," she told Zeigler. "There were people there from all over the globe."

She and her husband, Roy Lippert, moved to Plainview in 1923. He had been injured in World War I and was told the weather in West Texas would be good for his health.

"I could do stenography and typing and, in Plainview then, that was a must for the lawyers and judges," she recalled about her first years here. "So I just pioneered court reporting out here."

Early on, their school was misunderstood.

"They used to ask me, How are you going to get the newspapers to hire all these reporters?' "

Initially, she said, court reporters used old shorthand methods to transcribe testimony during court and other legal proceedings. Then they tried the stenotype, which she said was not very efficient. Then in 1950 came the stenograph - a machine that looks like a scaled-down typewriter on stilts.

Lippert went to Chicago in 1936 to learn shorthand from Dr. John Gregg, who invented the Gregg shorthand method. After she graduated with honors from one of his first classes, Gregg give Lippert an autographed picture, an item she treasured for the rest of her life.

One of her students in 1986 pointed out that all of America's court reporters and court reporting schools trace their history directly to either Lippert or another person who began teaching the trade about the same time in different parts of the country.

Lippert's own experience in court reporting included work for courts across West Texas during the 1930s through 1950s. Her most memorable trial was a then-rare child-abuse case in Floydada.

"It brought in cowboys from the range," she recalled. "They were all standing there between me and the judge and had their guns strapped on."

In the 1950s, the Stenograph company came to her for consultations as they developed a machine that became the standard of the industry. By 1986, most court reporters were still using the Stenograph although a then-new computerized version was gaining popularity, she said. It kept the transcribed court records on both tape as well as paper, and could be plugged into a computer to spew out a laser-printed transcript in minutes.

But she said the newer methods had not replaced the traditional process, which called for a special interpretation of phonetic characters appearing on a long roll of steno paper. "Each time 25 lines goes through the machine," she said, "it's $4.50 you make. You might sell 50 copies of the same sheet."

And her students were always in high demand. "Just recently," she said, "I received a request for 15 students in one day. I don't have to go looking for jobs for these students, the jobs come to me."

For many years the National Shorthand Reporters Association set up an exclusive banquet for Lippert's students during its annual convention. In 1986, her class included students from Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Colorado, California and Texas.

In 1987, Lippert was honored by Soroptimist International of Plainview as its first Woman of Distinction.

"In honoring our first Woman of Distinction, Mrs. Lippert was a unanimous choice," said president Sandi Miller. "Her dedication to providing a quality program to students of all economic levels has been outstanding. Graduates of Lippert's are in demand everywhere and Mrs. Lippert's reputation is unequaled."

A few months earlier, in November 1986, she sold Lippert Court Reporting College to Raul and Yolanda Hernandez. They continued to operate it in Plainview for another three years before relocating to Lubbock in June 1989. In continued for several more years in Lubbock's Briercroft Office Park before eventually fading from the scene.

Before its move to Lubbock, Lippert's offered courting reporting, a secretarial program, including administrative secretarial skills, computer processing, defensive driving and a paralegal program.

Hernandez told the Herald that the school's move to Lubbock came about for the convenience of its 100-odd students, which included 60 from Lubbock. He said the average student took 17-20 months to complete their program, and spent about $4,500 for tuition. The college used four instructors.

Even after selling her school to the Hernandezes, Lippert taught there two more years until shortly before her death in 1988 at age 92. Her husband died in 1975.

Born in Hill County, she grew up in Woodbury and lived in Ranger before her marriage in 1921.

To comment:

dmcdonough@hearstnp.com

806.296.1350
Help is on its way for tenants and landlords that have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the Department of Housing, the state of Connecticut has developed the UniteCT program which will provide rental and utility payment assistance to those who qualify.

In order to help stabilize the housing markets, UniteCT is using $235 million to assist with rental and utility payments for households that have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for up to six months.

To qualify, you must be a Connecticut resident, qualify for unemployment, have experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19. For more information or to apply go to https://portal.ct.gov/DOH/DOH/Programs/UniteCT

Several agencies in Meriden have partnered to assist with the application process. These include New Opportunities Inc., the Women and Families Center and Casa Boricua. They will be providing electronic and hands-on support. Those looking to apply may also go to the Meriden Public Library, 105 Miller St., to fill out an online application.

There has been a moratorium on evictions since the COVID-19 protocols began, and a lot of people have fallen behind on their rent due to a number of circumstances. A lot of people lost their jobs, Women and Families Center CEO Wayne Valaitis said.

Workforce Alliance will soon be hiring temporary rental assistance specialists at the Women and Families Center to assist with the UniteCT application process. The rental assistance specialist positions will be paid $15 an hour.

In order to apply for financial assistance through the program, tenants must make landlords aware of the application to provide supporting documents on both ends. Tenants and landlords will work together to ensure their sections of the application are completed.

The portal to access the application is compatible with any smartphone or computer. Individuals must follow the step-by-step directions given on the page.

UniteCT will also have a mobile bus schedule for those who need additional assistance. The bus will travel throughout various cities in Connecticut and was in Meriden on Friday. The schedule can be located on the UniteCT portal.

The program will provide financial assistance to households earning up to 80% of the area median income. In Meriden, thats $54,950 for a single person, $62,800 for a household of two and $70,650 for a household of three.

Assistance will depend on the continued availability of funds in the program but is expected to go through Sept. 30.

Casa Boricua Executive Director Anabel Beltran Roman, will be helping those who need assistance apply for the UniteCT program.

There are people that I know can benefit from this, she said. We will be starting, hopefully, this week if the client qualifies since there are guidelines that have to be met. Considering so many people lost their jobs because of COVID-19, I think it would be very helpful to help people get back on their feet. Not only the clients but the homeowners too.

Anyone needing assistance filling out an application, can contact Casa Boricua at 203-235-1082.

jdiaz@record-journal.com203-317-2386Twitter: @jarelizz
Jimmy Fallon showed up big for a South Side San Antonio mom this Mother's Day.

Sandra Arguello Cardona got a cheery drop-in from "The Tonight Show" host who had a Samsung gift bundle in tow and a $25,000 check to celebrate moms who go above and beyond.

Fallon spent last week highlighting women ahead of Mother's Day. Cardona was the final "Super Mom Surprise" on the show for the week. She knew her daughter, Crystal Martinez, nominated her a few weeks ago. Reading the nomination alone left her in tears, but she was not expecting any kind of national recognition.

Last week, her daughter called to ask if she'd like to go to dinner. Cardona was surprised by the early Mother's Day plans, but agreed. When she showed up at her daughter's home, a laptop was set up. Martinez told her mom the Jimmy Fallon show wanted them to watch a few videos before they left for dinner.

READ MORE FROM MADALYN: Raising babies and restaurants with rave reviews, San Antonio mom and chef does it all

Martinez was in on the ruse. Martinez and Cardona went through a series of backstage interviews with the show's producers, but she was growing hungrier and more impatient by the second.

"I said 'Hijole, I'm hungry already, I haven't eaten in all day,'" she joked.

Then, the star comedian appeared. He applauded Cardona for her work as an H-E-B manager, working throughout the pandemic to keep San Antonio's South Side community safe. She also showed up at the Military Drive location during the winter snow storm and cooked for her coworkers. Cardona also cares for her grandchildren and her husband, who is blind and on dialysis.

"Thank you for not only being a mom, but being a super mom. I love your story," Fallon told her. "I love that you are there during this whole pandemic, that you still worked and made sure everyone was taken care of. You worry about other people and put other people ahead of you and that's pretty courageous and cool."

RELATED: Larami Serrano, sons featured in shoe brands Mothers Day campaign

What came next was a surprise to both mother and daughter. Fallon pulled out a bundle of Samsung gadgets for Cardona followed by the check.

"What in tarnation," Cardona said. "I've never seen so many zeroes in my life."

Cardona is planning on investing some of the money for her grandkids and buying a few acres of property for them to run around.

She said her daughter's nomination meant the most to her. The gifts are a nice pat on the back for a woman who has been working to support her family nearly all of her life.

"My sister said 'Sandra, they just talked about know about one year, they don't know you've been working since you were 16, struggling and living check to check, working three jobs," Cardona said. "Can you imagine if they'd go back all of the years?"
My dreams of going to the dashingly dangerous yet beautiful Jacob's Well in Wimberley were dashed this week after I perused their reservation website and learned reservations were almost completely booked.

In defeat, I texted the friend I had planned to go with that we'd have to find somewhere else to cool off this weekend.

I had imagined a serene day drive up north, passing Longhorns, baby goats, and jerky barns, and maybe a lunch stop for Tex-Mex and margaritas. But gone are the days where one could pack up towels and sunscreen on a whim and simply go take a relaxing dip.

As a transplant to Texas from Ohio, land of corn fields and man-made lakes, one of the great perks I hoped to enjoy after moving here was the serene, pool-blue natural swimming holes throughout the state.

RELATED: Lazy rivers, lagoons, and epic pools promise ultimate San Antonio getaway

I patiently waited through my first Texas summer, one filled with COVID restrictions and lockdowns, knowing in 2021 I would get to swim more, dipping my head under water to forgot the woes of our world a la Ben Affleck at the beach.

But now that summer is around the corner and the sun is yet again blazing, I'm realizing it's going to be harder than I thought.

After already experiencing beautiful natural spots here like Colorado Bend State Park and Barton Springs (which also recently went to reservations only), my dreams were dashed and divided as I dug through online reservation sites and COVID-19 rules pages, work itself that made me feel like I was on the clock.

If you, like me, wanted to visit Jacob's Well, forget about going during a weekend. Reservations are completely booked until September.

READ MORE: City opens 6 pools with new capacity limits

But what about the iconic Blue Hole swim spot also in Wimberley? Only six days are left open for reservations in May, and they're filling up fast.

Wrought with struggle is the quest to find a perfect Texas watering hole nearby San Antonio in the days of COVID-19 restrictions and required reservations.

Although acting through a lens of safety, even local city pools are requiring San Antonians to go through the process of creating online accounts and reserving limited swim times at city pools.

So where can San Antonians go? We found at least a few spots.

Springfield Pool

Getty

Landa Park aquatic complex in New Braunfels boasts an Olympic-sized lap pool, the historic Springfed Pool, and a pool for tots. As of May 1, all facilities are open for public swims on the weekend during specific hours. Starting May 31, all pools will be open daily to beat the heat. No reservations are required, but please follow the rules.

Devil's Watering Hole

jennifer m. ramos/Getty Images

Buckle in for a drive if you want to make it to Devil's Watering Hole. Its location in Ink's Lake State Park is a little over of a two-hour drive northeast of San Antonio near Burnett, and availability for day passes is open. Perks here are natural rock formations surrounding your swim spot, opportunities to kayak, and up to 40-foot peaks near the water.

Concan Swimming Hole

Getty

Here, you'll be able to play sand volleyball or sun yourself like a turtle on a large rock formation on the Frio River. Concan Swimming Hole, west of San Antonio, is open during weekends from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., no reservations needed. Weekday reservations can be secured by calling their number at 830-834-9560.
Texas' worst hail storms hit the northern part of the state but South Texas has its own hail horror stories thanks in part to the Gulf of Mexico.

The state is more likely to see severe thunderstorms due to its unique conditions. Moisture comes in from the Gulf and dry air moves west during the springtime, which can cause different weather events including freakish hail.

On May 31, 1960 near Odessa, the largest piece of hail ever recorded in the state fell at 8 inches in diameter, about the size of a volleyball, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

RELATED: 10 inventive tips to battle hail ahead of San Antonio, South Central Texas storms

Grapefruit-sized hail was seen in the San Antonio area during the April 12, 2016 hailstorm, but relax because that was considered a rare event.

Scroll to see 10 facts that explain the hail danger in Texas.
Update 3:50 p.m.:

The thunderstorm watch has been updated to include Bexar, Kendall, and Atascosa counties. The watch is in effect through 10 p.m. Monday. Meanwhile, areas north and east of San Antonio, including the Hill Country, can expect to see scattered thunderstorms, per the National Weather Service.

Heavy, isolated thunderstorms could carry on through Tuesday.

Update 1:10 p.m.:

An update from the National Weather Service reveals that the risk for severe thunderstorms has increased for areas west of Kerrville and Hondo, including Carrizo Springs, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Rocksprings and Uvalde. There is a chance of flooding in these areas given the potential severity of the storms.

The increase in the risk for areas west of San Antonio also includes a greater chance of large hail, which could measure two inches or more in diameter.

Residents in San Antonio and west of the Alamo City can expect to see the severe weather between 2 p.m. Monday and midnight.

On Tuesday, a chance of large hail remains low, though excessive rainfall is possible.

Original story:

San Antonio residents may have to face less-than-desirable weather after a weekend of fun in the sun.

Residents in San Antonio, Boerne and cities west of the Alamo City may see severe storms Monday afternoon. According to the latest update from the National Weather Service, there is a slight risk for severe storms that could bring one to two inches of rain in areas west of Highway 281. These storms could include large hail, up to two inches in diameter, and damaging winds up to 60 mph.

READ MORE: Lazy rivers, lagoons, and epic pools promise ultimate San Antonio getaway

Experts predict that San Antonio could see the change in weather between 5 p.m. Monday and midnight. There is a low chance for a tornado on Monday, but the National Weather Service maintains that hail is a bigger threat to local residents.

Areas east of Highway 281 have a lower, marginal risk for severe storms.

For Tuesday, the National Weather Service says there is a low chance that large hail will accompany excessive rainfall.
ADDISON, Texas - Key elements of the baseless assertion that the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump took shape in an airplane hangar here two years earlier, promoted by a Republican businessman who has sold many things, from Tex-Mex food in London to a wellness technology that beams light into the human bloodstream.

At meetings beginning late in 2018, as Republicans were smarting from midterm losses in Texas and across the country, Russell Ramsland and his associates delivered alarming presentations on electronic voting to a procession of conservative lawmakers, activists and donors.

Briefings in the hangar had a clandestine air. Guests were asked to leave their cellphones outside before assembling in a windowless room. A member of Ramsland's team purporting to be a "white-hat hacker" identified himself only by a code name.

Ramsland, a former congressional candidate with a Harvard University MBA, pitched a claim that seemed rooted in evidence: Voting-machine audit logs - lines of codes and time stamps that document the machines' activities - contained indications of vote manipulation. In the retrofitted hangar that served as his company's offices at the edge of a municipal airstrip outside Dallas, Ramsland attempted to persuade Republican candidates to challenge their election results and force the release of additional data that might prove manipulation.

"We had to find the right candidate," said Laura Pressley, a former Ramsland ally whose own claim that audit logs showed fraud had been rejected in court two years earlier. "We had to find one who knew they won."

3 1 of 3 Washington Post photo by Aaron C. Davis Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Photo for The Washington Post by Sarah Silbiger Show More Show Less 3 of 3





He made the pitch to Don Huffines, a state senator in Texas. Huffines declined.

He tried to persuade Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas. Sessions declined.

No candidate agreed to bring a challenge, and the idea of widespread vote manipulation remained on the political fringe - until 2020, when Ramsland's assertions were seized upon by influential allies of Trump. The president himself accelerated the spread of those claims into the GOP mainstream as he latched onto an array of baseless ideas to explain his loss in November.

The enduring myth that the 2020 election was rigged was not one claim by one person. It was many claims stacked one atop the other, repeated by a phalanx of Trump allies. This is the previously unreported origin story of a core set of those claims, ideas that were advanced not by renowned experts or by insiders who had knowledge of flawed voting systems but by Ramsland and fellow conservative activists as they pushed a fledgling company, Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG), into a quixotic attempt to find evidence of widespread fraud where none existed.

To assemble a picture of the company's role, The Washington Post obtained emails and company documents and interviewed 12 people with direct knowledge of ASOG's efforts, as well as former federal officials and aides from the Trump White House. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters or out of fear of retribution. Three individuals who were present in the hangar for those 2018 meetings spoke about the gatherings publicly for the first time.

By late 2019, ASOG's examination had moved beyond audit logs. Among other claims, Ramsland was repeating the ominous idea that election software used in the United States originated in Venezuela and saying nefarious actors could surreptitiously manipulate votes on a massive scale. As the 2020 election approached, he privately briefed GOP lawmakers in Washington and met with officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), documents and interviews show.

ASOG's examination by last summer had cost more than $1 million, according to a document the company gave government officials that was obtained by The Post. Ramsland had sought funding from Republican donors whose fortunes were made in the oil, gas and fracking industries, Pressley said.

After the Nov. 3 election, to an extent not widely recognized, Ramsland and others associated with ASOG played key roles in spreading the claims of fraud, The Post found. They were circulated by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, a staunch Trump ally who had been briefed by ASOG. And Ramsland's assertions were incorporated in the "kraken" lawsuits filed by conservative lawyer Sidney Powell - who The Post learned had also been briefed two years earlier by ASOG - and aired publicly by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney at the time, as they tried to overturn Joe Biden's victories in key states.

During that period, Trump was hyper-focused on making the case that the election had been rigged, former White House aides said. He would listen to "literally anyone" who had a theory about it, in the words of one former senior administration official.

Among those voices were the people in Ramsland's network.

In the aftermath of the election, Trump was surrounded by those repeating claims Ramsland had made, and in seeking to overturn the election, Trump embraced some of those ideas.

The idea that the election was stolen took root and remains persuasive to millions of Americans. Although the DHS during the Trump administration called the election the "most secure in American history," polls have consistently shown that about one-third of Americans - including a majority of Republicans - believe that Trump lost because of fraud. An internal poll by the National Republican Senatorial Committee in March found that among Republicans who believed the election was stolen, nearly half said hacked machines were partly to blame and an additional 8% said they were the main source of fraud.

The fraud claims have undermined faith in the electoral process, have been cited as a motivation for legislation to curtail access to polls in dozens of states and have spurred the companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic to file billion-dollar lawsuits. Ultimately, the conspiracy-mongering helped inspire the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In an email exchange with The Post, Ramsland, 68, confirmed that ASOG provided research for Powell and Giuliani but said that he had never spoken to Trump himself and that the company was "one of many voices" that expressed concerns about election-system vulnerabilities. He noted that election security has been a long-standing concern across the political spectrum and said many others had "reached similar conclusions regarding irregularities in the election system."

Through an attorney, Powell confirmed that she had met Pressley, but she did not respond to questions about where or about her work with Ramsland. Giuliani and his attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment. Gohmert declined to comment on his interactions with Ramsland.

Through a spokesman, Trump declined to be interviewed.

Pressley, 58, said she and Ramsland had a falling out in part over his use of her analysis of election data and her suspicions that his motives were financial or partisan. She said he has not provided evidence for his claims about the 2020 election and fears those claims could undercut legitimate questions about the integrity of U.S. voting. "I'm heartbroken by it," Pressley said recently, speaking in detail about ASOG for the first time, during a three-hour interview near Austin.

In emails to The Post, Ramsland called Pressley "unreliable" and said ASOG ceased doing business with her "because of her lack of technical experience and complete inability to understand electronic investigative work." He said Pressley had a limited view of the work performed by ASOG, adding that "our cyber team had already gone far beyond the simple audit log data and analysis she had initially brought to ASOG."

Many people and organizations claimed after the election to have evidence casting doubt on Biden's victory. But Ramsland and ASOG's role was unique, said Matt Masterson, a former senior U.S. cybersecurity official who led a team tracking the integrity of the 2020 election for the DHS.

Repeatedly and at key moments, Masterson said, ASOG was the source of morsels of inaccurate information that shaped public perception. Some of the ideas it pushed had circulated previously, he said, but they were supercharged by the influence and connections of Ramsland and the people around him - and by the air of authority the company provided.

"It wasn't just that the president would tweet about their stuff. It was all these little nuggets and grist that they provided or that were cited to them in testimony or in the 'kraken' cases. It provided the appearance of substance and fact to something that had no substance or fact," said Masterson, who has not previously discussed ASOG publicly. "It was like: 'Look, these are professionals. . . . They have former military experience. And look at what they found.' They gave those who wanted to push and believe in the lie something to hold on to."

- - -

The nation's embrace of electronic voting grew out of the debacle of 2000, when hanging chads and other hard-to-interpret paper ballots muddled the outcome of the presidential race, souring many Americans on the analog technology the country had used for decades.

Two years later, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, dedicating billions of dollars to modernize U.S. elections. It encouraged jurisdictions across the country to replace their old voting machines with new digital systems.

The result was a massive investment in paperless touch-screen voting machines, also known as direct-recording electronic voting machines, or DREs, which states came to view as simpler, cheaper and more accessible to people with disabilities.

"There were some electronic voting machines before that, but this was the thing that opened the floodgates to them," said Matt Blaze, a professor of law and computer science at Georgetown University who researches election technology and security.

Blaze and other experts warned that DREs introduced new security risks: Without a reliable paper trail, there was no way to check whether the machines had accurately recorded voters' intentions.

As concern about this vulnerability mounted, a growing number of states and localities began requiring voting machines to leave a paper trail. Today, most voters mark paper ballots by hand, and they are then scanned and tabulated by a machine. Some use touch-screen machines that produce a printed copy of the voter's selections. A few still vote on paperless machines.

There has never been a documented case of a U.S. election being stolen through hacking, according to Blaze and other experts.

Still, concerns about the security of electronic voting continue to simmer, including among experts. It does not help, they say, that some machines contain modems to simplify the reporting of results and that those machines have sometimes been left connected to the Internet for extended periods.

It was DREs, and the built-in inability to verify their results, that helped persuade Pressley that her race for a seat on Austin's nonpartisan City Council in 2014 had been stolen.

As a candidate, Pressley told voters that she had grown up outside Dallas, the daughter of a cattle auctioneer. She said she arrived in Austin two decades earlier as a poor single mother and succeeded against the odds. She earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, worked for 17 years in the semiconductor industry and owned a company that sold bottled rainwater.

The campaign foundered amid revelations she had previously appeared on Infowars, the right-wing website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and on another occasion had said data showed that military-grade explosives were planted inside the twin towers on 9/11. That comment prompted the Austin American-Statesman to retract its endorsement of her. (Pressley told The Post that she had "no opinion" on whether planes brought down the World Trade Center.)

The race was not close: Her opponent, a community organizer, defeated her by a margin of almost 30 points.

Pressley could not believe it.

"I knew in my heart that I had won," she recently told a gathering of law enforcement officers outside Houston, one of hundreds of speeches she has given about the case, "and I became convinced there was fraud."

A recount confirmed her loss. But nearly all the ballots had been cast on DREs, and Pressley remained skeptical.

She took the case to court.

Among other evidence, Pressley cited an audit log that contained nine instances in which a machine made by the company Hart InterCivic recorded an event as "Invalid/Corrupt." She argued that those and other alleged irregularities meant the true outcome of the election was impossible to determine.

A state judge threw out the case before trial and fined her and her attorney for bringing a frivolous lawsuit. Pressley appealed, and in 2016 a three-judge panel upheld the lower-court ruling.

"Pressley produced no evidence that the 'Invalid/Corrupt' error messages resulted in any legal votes not being counted, resulted in any illegal votes being counted, or otherwise materially affected the outcome of the election," the Texas Court of Appeals panel found, adding that Pressley's own expert witness testified that it was "not known" what the nine error messages meant.

"This type of expert testimony is based on uncertainty and mere speculation and is therefore unreliable and irrelevant," the panel said.

Pressley would go on to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, which said it was too late to take up her underlying fraud allegations but found that they were not frivolous and dropped the fines. Her expert witness had testified that corrupted memory sticks that contain ballot data "could" damage the credibility of vote counting, the court wrote. To avoid fines, it wrote, "Pressley needs only to have some factual basis for her claim . . . not evidence that is ultimately admissible."

Hart InterCivic told The Post that the error messages did not affect the tally and that "the election results were accurately recorded and reported." The company said the error messages indicate a failed connection between memory sticks and the devices that read them - a hiccup resolved by simply reconnecting and trying again.

By 2018, Pressley had become an outspoken critic of electronic voting systems that lack a paper trail. She founded True Texas Elections and recruited poll-watchers in more than a dozen counties to look for evidence of fraud in the state's March primary that year. Afterward, she filed a complaint with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, saying Democratic votes might have been undercounted.

On election night in November 2018, the volunteer poll-watchers obtained audit logs generated by the central tabulation machines in Dallas County as they tallied votes, some of which had been cast on DREs manufactured by the largest voting-machine company in the nation, Election Systems and Software, or ES&S. Such logs record an array of activity and can be difficult to interpret for anyone unfamiliar with the software involved.

In a statement, ES&S said that its voting equipment has been through thousands of hours of independent testing and that its accuracy has been verified through audits and other examinations.

But as Pressley pored over the logs, she fixated on specific words. "Downloaded," "cleared," "replaced," the audit logs said, over and over.

Soon, she came to suspect that those audit logs, too, were a window into surreptitious vote-switching.

- - -

Allied Special Operations Group, as the firm was first named, was initially envisioned as a one-stop shop for government and corporate clients seeking cybersecurity, physical protection and sophisticated open-source intelligence services, Ramsland and former employees told The Post.

The company was formed in June 2017 by Adam Kraft, a former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Kraft was the company's chief executive, and it was based at his house in a subdivision north of Fort Worth. Kraft declined to comment for this report.

An early promotional video described ASOG as "a group of highly trained professionals who have seen it all," and it emphasized the intelligence backgrounds of some team members. "When someone says, 'I know a guy,' he's talking about ASOG," said the narrator, who said ASOG personnel had taken part in the types of missions "that many of us only see in the movies."

Months after Kraft filed papers to establish the company, he was joined by a trio of other men, state records show.

Alvan "Locke" Neely, a retired Secret Service agent who first served in the Ford administration, became ASOG's chief operations officer.

Keet Lewis was named ASOG's vice president of strategy. Lewis served on the executive committee of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a Washington-based organization that for decades has been a networking hub for powerful conservative activists and donors.

According to his biography in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Lewis consulted on international energy projects and had helped develop the Skimmer Basket Buddy, a patented maintenance tool for swimming pools. He did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Ramsland, who was also then a member of the CNP, joined as ASOG's chief financial officer. The son and grandson of West Texas oilmen lived with his wife in the Preston Hollow section of Dallas, home to former president George W. Bush and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Ramsland had charted an unusual career path, including investment banking, consulting on a proposed cattle ranch in the South Pacific and working with NASA on a venture aimed at growing crystals in space. He also owned oil and gas interests in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, records show.

According to business filings in Florida, Lewis and Ramsland later served together on the board of Photonx, a company that according to its website uses variable wavelengths of light "to treat specific pathogenic and chronic diseases." (Ramsland told The Post that in its current form Photonx's device "expressly doesn't purport to treat disease.")

Photonx now has office space inside the Addison hangar, according to a mailbox outside and a sign visible to visitors at the front door.

Ramsland was a "numbers and models" man, said Gene Street, who partnered with him in the 1990s on the London restaurant that Ramsland's resume, obtained by The Post, says was "Europe's highest-grossing Tex-Mex restaurant."

"If you ever needed to know where a single penny went, he was the guy that could tell you," Street said.

Ramsland had donated to the campaigns of numerous Republicans, including Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, campaign finance filings show. He had also run for office himself, challenging Rep. Pete Sessions in the 2016 Republican primary as a part of the tea party, the fiscally conservative movement that had formed in opposition to President Barack Obama's agenda. A campaign ad showed Ramsland wearing a cowboy hat and shooting a rifle at cardboard boxes labeled "open borders" and "Obamacare." Ramsland lost by nearly 38 points.

Weeks before he joined ASOG, Ramsland spoke to a conservative association, delivering remarks rife with outlandish claims, according to video reviewed by The Post. Ramsland called the deadly 2012 attack on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, a "deep-state operation," and he traced the origin of the "deep state" to a World War II-era collaboration involving Prescott Bush, the father of former president George H.W. Bush; the Muslim Brotherhood; and liberal financier George Soros - who was born in 1930 and was not yet an adult.

ASOG's early work included hunting for intelligence about a group of Chinese nationals for an exiled Chinese billionaire, an associate of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and providing VIP protection details in the United States and abroad, a specialty Neely brought from the Secret Service.

In the fall of 2018, influential Texas Republican fundraiser JoAnn Fleming urged Ramsland and Pressley to join forces, Pressley told The Post. Ramsland soon shifted ASOG's attention to election security. Fleming did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Neely said he left his position with the company when resources moved toward election security.

"My focus was and has always been protection and investigations," he said in a brief interview outside his home in suburban Dallas. "They were going a totally different direction, and it was just not - they were pouring all their resources into that, and it was just not my gig."

The relationship between Ramsland and Kraft also grew strained, according to three people who worked for or with the company at the time. Kraft eventually departed under pressure, the people said.

- - -

In November 2018, Texas Republicans were reeling from a battering at the polls. Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke had lost narrowly to Cruz, and strong Democratic turnout had cost Sessions his longtime seat representing a swath of Dallas and its fast-growing suburbs as the party picked up seats in both chambers of the state legislature. Some Republicans were looking for explanations beyond the apparent purpling of Dallas.

Soon, Pressley was in the hangar, briefing Ramsland on her election-fraud theories. "Russ got really excited. They all did," Pressley said. "I think they saw this as their next big thing."

ASOG and Pressley began looking for a losing candidate who would challenge the election outcome and force Dallas County and ES&S to lift the hood on their technology to show whether votes had been manipulated, according to Pressley and to emails and other documents provided by her attorney.

They alighted on state Sen. Don Huffines, a wealthy Republican real estate developer whose bid for a second term in the Texas legislature had just ended in defeat, handing his district to a Democrat for the first time in almost four decades.

Within weeks of the election, Pressley said, Huffines was in the hangar with James "Trey" Trainor, who had been nominated by Trump to serve on the Federal Election Commission but was not yet Senate-confirmed. Trainor was advising Huffines at the time.

Pressley presented her analysis of the audit logs and their mysterious "replaced" and "cleared" messages, she said. Ramsland told Huffines that he was "horrified" by signs of fraud, she said. Challenging the result and forcing officials to turn over voting-machine data could prove that the vote was manipulated, they said.

Pressley said she and Ramsland waited impatiently for Huffines to decide. In early December, he told them that he would not challenge his loss.

"We were all ready to go. We had someone who was going to fund the challenge and everything," she said. "It was devastating."

Huffines did not respond to requests seeking comment.

In an interview, Trainor confirmed the hangar meeting with Ramsland and said he advised Huffines not to bring a challenge. Under Texas law, contested state Senate races are decided by a Senate vote rather than by a judge.

"We were never going to convince senators that something nefarious had gone on, whether it did or didn't," Trainor said, noting that some Republicans might not have backed a challenge that risked embarrassing the GOP secretary of state.

ASOG briefed a number of people during this period, including Powell and Gohmert, according to Pressley and a former ASOG employee named Joshua Merritt. Pressley said Powell approached her after one briefing in the hangar, gave her a business card and called the audit-log analysis proof of fraud.

Ramsland and Lewis were also working to coax another losing candidate to bring a challenge: Sessions, the ousted congressman.

Lewis called a Sessions donor and left a voice message suggesting that the congressman's race had been stolen. The donor forwarded the message to Carolyn Malenick, a volunteer for Sessions. Within days, Sessions was on a plane from Washington to Texas for a trip to the hangar, according to Malenick, who joined him there.

A calendar invitation for the Dec. 14, 2018, meeting shows that Ramsland, Lewis and Pressley were among those expected, as was Fleming, the conservative fundraiser who Pressley said had connected her and Ramsland.

Also in attendance, Malenick said, was conservative talk-show host Kevin Freeman.

Pressley said she gave a PowerPoint presentation that began with a picture of Joseph Stalin and a quote attributed to the Russian dictator: "I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this - who will count the votes and how."

Ramsland followed, accompanied by the purported white-hat hacker, who would not provide his name to the audience, Malenick said. The two presented a $4 million plan that included ASOG standing up an "operations" center to search for voting irregularities, Malenick and Pressley said.

Malenick, a longtime Republican fundraiser, told The Post that she eventually came to believe Ramsland was misleading donors.

Ramsland told The Post that the center was Kraft's idea and that election investigations are costly. He said Malenick had "problems with truthfulness," citing an FEC case from the 1990s that ended with her paying a $5,000 fine.

With a certification deadline fast approaching, Sessions, too, decided against formally challenging his election result, according to his brother and attorney, Lewis Sessions.

Privately, Pete Sessions did not drop the matter. He filed a confidential complaint with Paxton, the Texas attorney general, alleging "a variety of legally questionable conduct" in Dallas County voting. The complaint, provided to The Post by Lewis Sessions, included an affidavit from Pressley in which she said her poll-watchers reported that they had been treated with hostility and had seen an elections worker using an Internet-connected laptop. She also enumerated audit-log messages - including "replaced" and "time stamp mismatch" - she considered suspicious.

On Jan. 31, 2019, Pressley presented her findings to Paxton in a meeting in an Austin office used by Ramsland, she said. Emails between her and Ramsland show preparations for the meeting.

But again, nothing came of the effort.

Ramsland has said in media appearances that ASOG brought information to Paxton's office and urged further examination. It is unclear whether he was referring to the Pete Sessions complaint and Pressley's briefing or to a separate complaint, and Ramsland did not respond to messages seeking clarification. He told The Post that he now believes Paxton's office lacks the financial resources and the "level of technical expertise and sophistication" necessary for a meaningful investigation.

In a statement, Paxton's office said: "We take every credible allegation of fraud seriously. In this case, after a thorough investigation by our office with the assistance of election systems experts, cybersecurity experts, and the FBI, we found the claims in this case were unverifiable, and an audit of the voting records confirmed the outcome of the election."

Legally, the allegations of fraud in Dallas in 2018 had all but reached a dead end, Pressley said.

With Pressley in tow, Ramsland launched a fundraising blitz, traveling to the ranches and mansions of some of Texas's wealthiest conservative funders. Ramsland told potential funders that their money would support legal challenges to ensure election integrity before the 2020 election, Pressley said. "The hook was always Trump - that their guy could lose," Pressley said.

Pressley said that early in February 2019, she accompanied Ramsland to present her audit-log analysis in Midland to Charles Richard "Dick" Saulsbury, who had made a fortune in engineering work in oil and gas. In Cisco, they met with Farris and Jo Ann Wilks, whose wealth stemmed from the sale of a family fracking business.

Pressley said pledges as high as $700,000 were discussed. The Post obtained correspondence in which Ramsland named Saulsbury as a potential funder and in which Pressley referred to a "Wilks investor meeting."

Saulsbury, through a spokeswoman, did not respond to questions. Reached briefly by phone, Farris Wilks said he had no memory of providing money to Ramsland, then hung up.

Ramsland said neither the Wilkses nor the Saulsburys were donors. Malenick and a former ASOG employee said the company had sought to raise capital at the time by selling ownership shares. Ramsland did not respond to a follow-up question about whether the Wilkses or the Saulsburys were investors.

Pressley, a Republican who has donated to candidates from both major political parties, said she began to grow suspicious that Ramsland's motives were political or financial, or both, particularly in February 2019 when he took her research to the District of Columbia to meet with Washington insiders but excluded her.

"I don't think he wanted me there and hearing what he was saying," Pressley said. "Everything he was doing . . . became about getting to Trump. He had this idea it had to get to Trump."

Pressley's company, True Texas Elections, sought a consulting contract from ASOG in February 2019, but it never materialized. As their relationship deteriorated, Pressley sent a cease-and-desist letter to ASOG late that month, demanding that Ramsland stop presenting her research without authorization, according to their correspondence.

Ramsland denied to Pressley that he had tried to exclude her from the meetings in Washington and challenged her allegation that he had co-opted her audit-log analysis. She had shown her presentation to dozens of people without any confidentiality agreement or copyright markings, he wrote. "We frankly do not understand how a project to save Texas and our country has turned into this," he wrote in a letter reviewed by The Post. "This isn't just your project. This has been a team effort from the beginning."

- - -

As 2019 progressed, Ramsland decided to take his case to the public through "Economic War Room," the online television show hosted by Freeman.

Like Ramsland and Keet Lewis, Freeman was a member of the Council for National Policy, according to membership directories posted online by the watchdog group Documented.

"We finally decided that if we couldn't get the government to pay attention without public opinion and public pressure, the best guy to go to would be Kevin," Ramsland later recalled in a panel discussion, a recording of which is posted online.

Asked whether CNP had supported Ramsland's efforts, the group's executive director, former congressman Bob McEwen, R-Ohio, said: "CNP is a convening organization of several organizations and individual members. And that's what it does. It doesn't sponsor legislation or oppose legislation. It is an opportunity for people, patriotic citizens, to gather together to share their concerns and interests in our nation's security."

In emails exchanged over the course of a week, Freeman said he was unavailable to answer questions about his presence at the meeting and his involvement with Ramsland.

Ramsland appeared on the show multiple times in 2019 and 2020, at least once with another ASOG employee who appeared with his face in shadow and voice disguised. The employee's identity was kept secret on the show, with Freeman referring to him as Jekyll, a "white-hat hacker." It was the same purported hacker who had accompanied Ramsland during meetings in the hangar with Sessions and others, according to Pressley and Malenick.

The Post has reported that Jekyll is Merritt, a former Army mechanic who studied network security administration after leaving the military. In December, The Post reported that affidavits in Powell's lawsuits from a purported "military intelligence expert" using the pseudonym "Spider" were actually written by Merritt.

Merritt, who told The Post in December that he had briefed Powell and Gohmert, declined to comment for this report.

Together, Ramsland and Merritt painted a picture of an entirely porous voting system, wide open and hackable. Ramsland made a range of specific claims, including that hackers or rogue operators could direct vote data to a remote location, change it and then "re-inject" it, or they could unleash "some sort of a bot" to change the results without anyone noticing. He said there were indications that vote manipulation was already happening and said all major U.S. voting-machine companies were vulnerable.

Among his claims was that source code initially written by the company Smartmatic formed the basis of much of the election software used in the United States. Ramsland often pointed out, as other critics had, that Smartmatic's founders were Venezuelan.

Representatives of ES&S, Dominion and Hart InterCivic, the nation's three largest voting-machine companies, told The Post that they do not use or license Smartmatic software. They all said their companies' software code is not in any way based on Smartmatic code, and Smartmatic said its code is not incorporated into other companies' software.

Ramsland told The Post that "many cyber groups" have reported that different companies share software code similarities. He did not respond to questions asking that he name any cyber groups that support his claims about Smartmatic code.

In his media appearances, Ramsland also resurfaced an old claim about Scytl, a Spain-based election technology firm that he described as a "somewhat disturbing company" in one appearance on Freeman's show. "They're housing all of our votes, and they're doing it in an insecure fashion," he said in a September appearance.

The following month, Ramsland added a twist, claiming on an online talk show hosted by conservative Debbie Georgatos that American votes were "being held on a server in Frankfurt, Germany."

Scytl has said that it has no servers in Frankfurt and that its systems are not used to count or "house" votes in U.S. elections. Ramsland told The Post in an email that "any 8th grader with a reasonable background in white hat cyber investigation tools" could trace votes to a Scytl server in Frankfurt.

One of Scytl's products is a platform used by some counties to publicly display unofficial vote tallies online on election night, according to the company. After polls close, as results begin trickling in, they are published online by media outlets and state and local governments. Those unofficial election-night reports depend on tallies that are transmitted by local officials to a publishing system. In some counties, that publishing system is made by Scytl.

Ramsland claimed to The Post that Dallas County's use of such a Scytl platform showed that votes were sent overseas.

Harri Hursti, a data-security expert who has spent years highlighting vulnerabilities in electronic voting technology, said Ramsland's claims about vote-fixing overseas were nonsensical. Even if a hacker could manipulate the numbers that are posted online, the underlying votes would not be affected, Hursti said. Those are kept separately, sequestered from the Internet, and they are - once tallied and checked for discrepancies - the official results of any election.

ASOG paid Hursti's company, Nordic Innovation Labs, $2,500 in November for an 18-page memo explaining the history of Dominion, its business acquisitions and the many systems and machines Dominion now supports, according to Nordic's managing partner, Dan Webber.

Hursti said ASOG ignored information he provided, in an effort to shape a sensational narrative about election fraud. Such baseless claims are now distracting time and attention from actual election-security problems, he said.

"This is counterproductive," he said. "There is so much that needs to be fixed."

Over this same period, in 2019 and 2020, Ramsland was attempting to win the attention of Washington insiders, an effort Gohmert was also engaged in.

Gohmert has said that a year before the election he gave Trump information from a group of "former intelligence people that were monitoring the election in Dallas County" - a description that closely resembles the way ASOG portrays itself - and that the president considered it "a real problem." Speaking on a podcast in November, Gohmert said his own reaction to the information was, "Holy cow."

In July 2020, ASOG gave a two-hour briefing to seven members of the House Freedom Caucus, Ramsland told MyPillow founder Mike Lindell for his movie about alleged election fraud. Ramsland said members were "horrified" at what ASOG presented.

ASOG also reached out that summer to the Senate Homeland Security Committee and was referred to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), part of the DHS. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reviewed a packet of information from ASOG that included the document saying the cost of the company's investigation had surpassed $1 million. Also included was an affidavit from Pressley and over 40 pages dedicated to her and her poll-watchers' observations of the vote in Dallas County in 2018. The Post obtained the documents.

Ramsland said that DHS officials in Texas found ASOG's information compelling but that Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency officials in Washington were "too busy to take a briefing" and agreed to only a short call.

In a statement, the DHS confirmed that its officials had spoken with Ramsland and his associates, "reviewed the information provided and determined that it was speculative and not actionable."

- - -

Hours after the final votes were cast on Nov. 3, Trump doubled down on the claims that he had been making for months. "This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country," Trump said. "We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election."

Over the next several weeks, Ramsland and others tied to ASOG played key roles in the full-court press to persuade Americans that the 2020 election had been rigged.

Ramsland and Lewis appeared on Lou Dobbs's show on Fox Business Network, claiming there was evidence of widespread fraud. The claim that all U.S. voting machines secretly harbored Venezuelan software was repeated by Giuliani and Powell in numerous media appearances. The claim that Scytl servers in Frankfurt could be used to flip votes went viral on the right after it was repeated by Gohmert.

On Nov. 12, Gohmert said he had told Trump that data on these servers was critical to getting to the bottom of the fraud.

"I had suggested that the president might get information from Scytl," Gohmert said on Newsmax, "and I sent him specifics that he needed to get that would show a lot of fraud."

The next day, Gohmert told a virtual prayer group that the Scytl data would show "how many votes were switched from Republican to Democrat," claiming that he had learned all this from "some of our former intel people."

Scytl denied the allegations. In a statement, the company said that its products were not used to tally votes in U.S. elections and that it "does not even have offices in Frankfurt and does not have servers or computers in the German city."

But Trump fanned the theory, according to archives of his deleted tweets. Late on Nov. 15, he retweeted to his millions of online followers a video clip of Ramsland saying in a pre-election interview that votes from 29 states were routed through "a server in Frankfurt, Germany" and that Scytl "controls and reports your vote."

Ramsland also contributed material to Powell's lawsuits and to one brought by Lin Wood, another pro-Trump lawyer, seeking to overturn Biden's victory. On Nov. 18, a nine-page affidavit from Ramsland filed to a federal court in Wood's Georgia case made an explosive allegation: Multiple precincts in Michigan had recorded more votes for president than what he said was the estimated number of voters.

Ramsland's claim was amplified the following day by Giuliani and Powell at a news conference at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee. Like Ramsland, Powell said excess votes in some jurisdictions were as high as 350%.

The claim in Ramsland's affidavit soon collapsed under scrutiny. The precincts he cited were actually in Minnesota, a mistake Ramsland blamed on "my guys" in his exchanges with The Post. Ramsland said the Minnesota numbers also showed excess votes, a claim contradicted by official results.

In an interview, Wood said he did not know Ramsland and referred The Post to the lawyer who represented him in the case, Ray Smith, who noted that a corrected affidavit had been filed to the court. He declined to comment further.

Another of Ramsland's affidavits claimed a 139% voter turnout in Detroit - meaning the number of votes cast exceeded the number of voters. Detroit's official election results show that about 258,000 of its 506,000 registered voters cast ballots - a turnout of just under 51%. Ramsland later filed an affidavit saying his original figures were based on data that was online but that "no longer exists [f]or some unexplained reason."

Two Ramsland affidavits filed in Arizona purported to expose more than 100,000 illegal votes in the state, again based on high turnout rates, and suggested forensic testing to determine whether batches of fake ballots had been cast for Biden. Ramsland attached the resumes of six "key team members" he said had been involved in the preparation of his material. The only one identified by name was a former ASOG computer scientist who had died a year earlier.

Ramsland and one of his associates also played starring roles in the election-integrity "hearings" that Giuliani and GOP state legislators held in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The events were intended to persuade legislators to wrest control of the election certification process and demand further investigation.

Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel who specialized in psychological operations and is now chief executive of a cybersecurity firm, appeared as a witness at each of those hearings. He said he was working with ASOG to examine the 2020 election.

"Your vote is not as secure as your Venmo account," Waldron concluded in a hotel ballroom in Phoenix on Nov. 30, provoking murmurs from the audience.

"Pardon me? Say that one more time," Giuliani said.

Waldron obliged. A video clip of the exchange was posted to Trump's official YouTube page.

Waldron declined to comment for this report.

By December, Ramsland was opening doors for people seeking to challenge the election results. He connected Patrick Byrne, the billionaire former chief executive of the online retailer Overstock, with Powell, and Powell connected Byrne with Giuliani, Byrne told The Post.

Byrne was bankrolling a group of what he described as cyber experts - his "bad news bears" - to investigate election fraud. "They were the ones really getting their fingernails dirty, so to speak, hacking and cracking," Byrne said in an email exchange with The Post. He said Ramsland, who had come to Washington for the effort, "acted as the conduit and synthesizer for a lot of research that was being done by other parties and technologists in our network."

On Dec. 18, Trump hosted a now-infamous hours-long meeting at the White House during which Byrne, Powell and her client Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, sought to persuade the president to appoint Powell special counsel to investigate the election, including by examining voting machines in key swing-state counties.

Trump ultimately did not appoint a special counsel.

During this period, some White House lawyers heard Trump make claims that made no sense or seemed "bat---- insane," one former senior administration official said, later learning that they came from a network that The Post found included Byrne, Powell and Ramsland.

According to a document obtained by The Post, skeptical Trump advisers developed a list of questions aimed at determining whether there was evidence for the claims, many of which by then revolved around Dominion. The evidence never surfaced, the people close to the former president said.

Byrne told The Post that White House officials "refused to look" seriously at the claims and that he and his allies will ultimately be vindicated.

- - -

Of all the ways in which Ramsland pushed the stolen-election narrative, arguably the most damaging was an ASOG report on Dominion machines in Michigan's rural Antrim County, said Masterson, the senior cybersecurity adviser who was then focusing on elections at the DHS.

Antrim County became ground zero for baseless claims about Dominion voting machines when, early on Nov. 4, county officials posted unofficial results showing Biden winning by about 3,000 votes - a seeming impossibility in a reliably conservative region. Election officials quickly acknowledged the mistake and called it human error, saying a clerk's failure to correctly update software had led to inaccurate vote totals. Final results showed that Trump had won by more than 3,000 votes.

Trump allies seized on the mistake as evidence of rigged or at least faulty voting machines. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel claimed at a news conference that a "major software issue in Antrim County" could mean results were wrong in other counties using similar technology. Trump tweeted a Breitbart article that sought to tie Dominion software to the error that made Antrim "flip blue in favor of Joe Biden" and to Election Day "glitches" that delayed voting in two Georgia counties.

The following day on Fox News, Powell said computer glitches were "where the fraud took place, where they were flipping votes in the computer system or adding votes that did not exist." She called for an audit "of all of the computer systems that . . . played any role in this fraud whatsoever."

Powell's wish for an examination of voting machines was granted after local real estate agent William Bailey filed a lawsuit in Antrim County on Nov. 23, alleging that the election had been marred by "material fraud or error." Four days later, an ASOG team working for Bailey showed up at the offices of three Antrim townships and requested Dominion voting-machine records.

On Dec. 4, Judge Kevin Elsenheimer, a former Republican leader in the Michigan legislature, ordered that the ASOG team be given further access to the county's voting equipment for a forensic examination. The decision, which offered a rare opportunity for election skeptics to examine Dominion machines, was celebrated by Trump's campaign.

"BIG WIN FOR HONEST ELECTIONS," Giuliani said on Twitter.

Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to Trump, referred to the ASOG examiners as "our team" on Fox News. Ellis did not respond to requests to clarify the Trump campaign's relationship with ASOG.

The ASOG team returned to Antrim on Dec. 6 to examine county election equipment. ASOG's Dec. 13 report, signed by Ramsland, made sweeping allegations about a conspiracy to fix the election. It claimed that Dominion's systems were "intentionally and purposefully designed" to generate ballot errors and to shunt those ballots to electronic adjudication, where administrators could change votes at will, with no oversight.

The judge allowed the release of a redacted version on Dec. 14, the day members of the electoral college met to make Biden's win official. Trump tweeted about ASOG's report several times, claiming it exposed a "massive fraud" that cost him the election and saying Elsenheimer "should get a medal" for releasing it.

ASOG's report claimed that audit logs for Dominion machines showed an alarming 68% "error rate."

That alleged error rate - which ASOG calculated by dividing the number of perceived error messages by the total numbers of lines in the audit log - was "meaningless," according to an analysis by Alex Halderman, a University of Michigan professor of computer science and engineering. Halderman, who as part of the lawsuit examined the Antrim results and the ASOG report at the request of the Michigan secretary of state and attorney general, wrote that audit logs record multiple lines for each ballot scanned and that many of those lines are "benign warnings or errors" that have no bearing on the accuracy of the machines' count.

For example, he said, ASOG appeared to count the "ballot has been reversed" warning as an error that showed that votes had been tampered with. But that entry means that a voter attempted to feed his ballot into the machine and the machine balked and spit it out - just as a vending machine often balks at a wrinkled dollar bill. That happens all the time, Halderman wrote.

Of ASOG's claim that many ballots were sent to electronic "adjudication," where they were manipulated, Halderman said his examination showed that Antrim County did not perform electronic adjudication of ballots at all. Halderman said ASOG had correctly identified some security weaknesses in the county's election system, but there was no evidence that anyone had exploited those weaknesses.

"The report contains an extraordinary number of false, inaccurate, or unsubstantiated statements and conclusions," he wrote.

County and state officials, as well as Dominion, also said key claims in ASOG's report were baseless.

Ramsland told The Post that ASOG had six days to do its report and that Halderman's analysis contradicted 12 of ASOG's 29 "core observations."

Three days after the court released the report, a hand recount of the county's ballots showed that the presidential election results were correct, off from the previously reported results by 12 votes out of about 16,000 cast. Dominion's machines had counted accurately.

"The tabulators did what they were supposed to do, and they did it very accurately, and there's absolutely no evidence that there was some reverse cyberattack that manipulated them," said Michigan state Sen. Ed McBroom, a Republican who led a Senate investigation of fraud claims. The ASOG report, he said, was "probably more harmful to the discussion" than anything else happening in Michigan at the time.

"I don't see how anybody can take Mr. Ramsland and his group seriously as genuine purveyors of fact," he said. "It's very clear they're beyond mistaken and misrepresenting what actually happened, either out of carelessness or with some sort of purpose."

At his "Save America" rally in Washington on Jan. 6, Trump made reference to Antrim County and "the troubling matter of Dominion Voting Systems" as an example of how he had been wronged.

"In one Michigan county alone, 6,000 votes were switched from Trump to Biden," he said. He also repeated Ramsland's claim that there were more votes than voters in Detroit. "In Detroit, turnout was 139% of registered voters," he said. "Think of that."

He called the Nov. 3 vote "the most corrupt election in the history, maybe, of the world," then urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. By the thousands, they complied.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites, Kayla Ruble and Scott Clement contributed to this report.
A member of the Miller family is firing up plans for a new 8-story residential tower in downtown San Antonio. Douglas Miller, part of the Bill Miller Bar-B-Q legacy, has submitted a proposal for 503 Urban Loop, a property he acquired in 2020 near UTSA's downtown campus. The San Antonio Business Journal was the first to report the news.

According to documents filed with the City of San Antonio's Historic and Design Review Commission on May 5, Miller and local architect Jonathan Card are proposing construction of "an 8-story, residential development having approximately 200 units." Douglas Miller, who was described as "heir apparent" to the Bill Miller empire in a 2017 San Antonio Express-News article, also manages DPMiller Investments LLC, according to SABJ, which purchased the property in April 2020.

There's just one obstacle with Miller's new plan  it requires demolishing a historic 137-year-old building.

READ MORE: I actually worked at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q. Here's what it's really like.

According to documents filed with the HDRC, the Spanish Eclectic style building currently on the Urban Loop property was constructed for Aurelia Dashiell in 1883. Later additions occurred in the early twentieth century.

By 1897, records show it was operating as a "boarding house" (read: brothel), run by none other than Fannie Porter herself. Its location was in the heart of San Antonio's Sporting District, then the largest red-light district in Texas and the third largest in the U.S.

While Porter was running her, ahem, boarding house, it was a favorite stop of the Wild Bunch gang headed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was such a hot spot, the commission notes, that Porter even threw a goodbye party for the gang in 1901, just before the Wild Bunch disbanded forever.

Though the building became an orphanage in 1914 after being purchased by the Bishop of San Antonio the year before, the neighborhood remained home to nearly four dozen brothels, along with "gambling halls, dancehalls, and vaudeville theaters, as well as businesses like restaurants and hotels that didnt specifically cater to the vice district," according to the Office of Preservation. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who apparently disliked fun, closed the district in 1941 while he was at Fort Sam Houston.

RELATED: San Antonio's Sporting District was once the largest red-light district in Texas

In its review of the application, HDRC did not recommend removal of the building and recommended a full archaeological survey. The committee also asked for additional information to prove "unreasonable economic hardship" on the property owner to keep the building.

According to SABJ, Card submitted documents countering the committee's findings, arguing that the building "is too hidden and minimal to represent the red-light district as described by the [Office of Historic Preservation]." The architect also said it would cost $2.25 million to convert the original structure into "leasable shell space."
Scientists Have Studied the Mysterious Behavior of Cats Sitting on Squares Vice (JD).

Bunny, the dog that can talk, starts asking existential questions Salon (DL).

Kentucky Derby winner under scrutiny after positive post-race test Racing Post (Re Silc).

How America Became the Money Laundering Capital of the World The New Republic.

The threat of a prison sentence is much more persuasive than the threat of a large money penalty, Jim Richards, a former antimoney laundering director at Wells Fargo and other big banks who now runs Regtech Consulting, told me. Its pretty simple: Anything that can be fixed with money isnt a problem to a large bank, its simply an expense.

The Truth Turns Out to Be Ugly: How Paul, Weiss Tried to Thwart Reporting on The Caesars Palace Collapse Vanity Fair

Jonathan P. Baird: Chevrons kill shot against Attorney Steven Donziger Concord Monitor. From April, still germane.

Regional emergency declaration issued over pipeline shut down after cyberattack The Hill

#COVID19

How science has been corrupted Unherd

China?

Myanmar

The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions (PDF) IEA

India

India, Indonesia benefit as Chinas ban on Australian coal reshapes trade flows Hellenic Shipping News

Syraqistan

UK/EU

Chavezs Excesses Venezuelanalysis

New Cold War

Biden Administration

Pushback stalls tribal sovereignty proposal Indian Country

Republican Funhouse

The making of a myth WaPo. At meetings beginning late in 2018, as Republicans were smarting from midterm losses in Texas and across the country, Russell J. Ramsland Jr. and his associates delivered alarming presentations on electronic voting to a procession of conservative lawmakers, activists and donors. Ramsland, a failed congressional candidate with a Harvard MBA, pitched a claim that seemed rooted in evidence: Voting-machine audit logs  lines of codes and time stamps that document the machines activities  contained indications of vote manipulation. WaPo on Trump, so take with a dose of salts. That said, its always entertaining to watch particularly seamy political operatives in action; weve had too little of that with Axelrove out of action. And that said, the way Republicans have fastened upon a real problem  that electronic ballot marking devices are inherently not auditable  and so polluted the careful work of voting machine activists over many years with stupid arguments, idiotic claims, and yarn diagrams really makes me pound my head on my desk so that I dont focus on the pain that grinding my teeth is causing me. People ought to be alarmed about electronic voting. So why, oh why, dont the Republicans sue to see source code for the devices? Why are we focusing on bamboo shreds in ballot paper? Trumps Big Lie Devoured the G.O.P. and Now Eyes Our Democracy Thomas Friedman, NYT. Ol Dean wheeling out the big guns, I see.

Police State Watch

Border Police Wants a Bite of Burgeoning Anti-Drone Industry The Intercept

LAffaire Joffrey Epstein

Melinda Gates met with divorce lawyers in 2019 amid Epstein revelations Axios

Gunz

Armed Doesnt Mean Dangerous WaPo. The deck: Black gun owners are often portrayed negatively. One photographer set out to change that. Have I mentioned woke hegemony in the PMC?

Class Warfare

We have housed them far away from where we can see them Welcome to Hell World. Our normalization strategy. Scroll to She walked out of a crashing plane into the air and pulled the parachute.

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus antidote:

VIDEO: Feline Eid: Dressing Malaysias cats for the Muslim holidays. A rising number of Malaysian cat lovers are dressing up their house pets with traditional outfits as the country prepares to usher in the Muslim holiday of Eid pic.twitter.com/0G9DUN2Peg  AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 10, 2021

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Lambert here: Good news! Leave the stuff in the ground. Oh, and thanks, Obama!

By Sharon Kelly, an attorney and freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She has reported for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, National Wildlife, Earth Island Journal, and a variety of other publications. Originally published at DeSmogBlog.

Five environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in a Montana federal court alleging that the way that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues permits for oil and gas pipelines nationwide violates some of the countrys cornerstone environmental laws.

This new lawsuit, filed May 3, is the most recent round in a nearly decade-long battle, sparked under the Obama administration, over how regulators approach the environmental impacts from oil and gas pipelines and the extent to which the public gets a say in the permitting process.

That battle centers on whether pipeline builders should be allowed to use a generic permit, known to regulators as Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12), when pipelines cross rivers, streams and wetlands.

Critics say authorizing pipelines with NWP 12 lets builders off the hook when it comes to the environmental scrutiny that would otherwise be required and eliminates a chance for the public to weigh in before construction begins. They say that the way the Corps has used NWP 12 for oil and gas pipelines, approaching each small water crossing separately instead of looking at the cumulative effects from an entire pipeline, has put both drinking water supplies and threatened and endangered wildlife like Florida manatees and whooping cranes at greater risk.

Nationwide Permit 12 is a tool for corporate polluters to fast-track climate-destroying oil and gas pipelines and exempt them from critical environmental reviews and consultations, said Doug Hayes, an attorney for the Sierra Club, which joined the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Montana Environmental Information Center in filing the lawsuit. Theres no time to waste in eliminating this process, which only serves to bolster the oil and gas industrys bottom lines.

Oil and Water

Builders are already backing away from using NWP 12, with executives from natural gas pipeline company Equitrans saying on May 4 that they would seek individual permits for the Mountain Valley Pipelines water crossings, and adding that the additional delays will push the projects completion date back to the summer of 2022.

A representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that the Corps does not comment on pending litigation.

Representatives for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of American, a trade organization advocating for the natural gas pipeline industry, did not respond to a request for comment. Presidents on both sides of the aisle have used the program, John Stoody, vice president of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, told the Associated Press. Not until the modern era  when we have activists trying to use pipelines for their climate goals  has there been any controversy.

Tens of thousands of permits for water-crossings are on the line. The Corps has estimated that NWP 12 would be used to permit more than 40,000 water crossings over the next five years  including small projects as well as massive interstate pipelines carrying fossil fuels and the raw materials for plastic and petrochemical manufacturing.

Part of the problem, the lawsuit alleges, is that the Corps use of NWP 12 short-circuits the environmental scrutiny required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), allowing major transmission pipelines that never actually underwent a full environmental review to be approved.

The Corps allows oil and gas pipelines to use NWP 12 repeatedly for each water crossing along a projects length, with no limit to the number of times a pipeline can use NWP 12 or the total number of acres of wetlands that a project can impact, the plaintiffs wrote. NWP 12 thereby allows the Corps to artificially treat large interstate pipeline projects as hundreds or even thousands of separate single and complete projects to avoid the more transparent and thorough individual permit process required by the Clean Water Act and other federal laws.

From Obama-era Keystone XL to Trump Era

The Clean Water Act gives federal regulators power over any construction and development that takes place near rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and other bodies of water. If a construction project involves, say, dredging a river or adding fill material like dirt into a wetland or stream, a builder has to get a Clean Water Act permit beforehand  a process that can take years in some cases.

But, of course, theres a lot of construction in the U.S. and there are also a lot of rivers, streams, and wetlands. To make the permit process easier, especially when a given project isnt really likely to have major impacts on a body of water, the Army Corps has created dozens of Nationwide Permits  permits that can be used at multiple sites  that builders can apply to use for many common projects, letting them step under the umbrella of that existing Nationwide Permit instead of having to get a new permit thats specifically issued for their site.

President Obamas administration first used NWP 12 for a major oil and gas pipeline when it greenlit the Keystone XL pipeline in 2012  and ever since, using NWP 12 for pipelines has drawn outrage from activists who say that the generic permit process was meant for small local projects, like adding a boat ramp to a lake, not for building oil and gas pipelines carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day across drinking water supplies.

In April 2020, a federal judge in Montana found that the Corps use of NWP 12 on Keystone XL was illegal and violated the Endangered Species Act in a ruling that not only tossed out Keystone XLs permits but also vacated NWP 12 entirely. Soon after, that court amended its ruling to allow NWP 12 to still be used for things that arent oil and gas pipelines, like electrical power lines  but then, in July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and temporarily revived NWP 12 for all pipelines except Keystone XL.

Next, in mid-January  one week after the failed January 6 insurrection at the Capitol and one week before leaving office  the Trump administration published a new version of NWP 12, a version the lawsuit asserts still falls short of the standards required by federal law. That version went into effect in March.

We are extremely disappointed that the Biden administration has allowed the Nationwide Permits to go into effect, Hallie Templeton, deputy legal director for plaintiff Friends of the Earth, said in a statement.

Mountain Valley Pipeline Delayed

The legal uncertainty clouding NWP 12 has already affected pipeline construction projects.

In an earnings call Tuesday, May 4, Equitrans Midstream executives revealed that the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which was originally slated to start carrying 2 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas in 2018, would be delayed until the summer of 2022. Costs for the 303-mile project will rise to $6.2 billion, executives said, up from an original budget of $3.7 billion.

MVP will no longer rely on NWP 12, executives said, but will instead apply for new permits for most of MVPs water crossings from state regulators in Virginia and West Virginia and will be turning to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permits in cases where it plans to drill under rivers, streams, or wetlands.

We do support and expect that the Army Corps will grant additional review time [for the state of Virginia permitting process] and as a result we do not believe that we will receive the necessary approvals during the third quarter of 2021 which we previously expected, Diana Charletta, an Equitrans executive, said during the earnings call.

The company has said that about half of MVPs roughly 1,000 waterbody crossings have not yet been finished.

MVP has faced strong grassroots opposition. In March, police arrested two activists and ended the Yellow Finch tree-sit, a long-running blockade by activists who had occupied MVPs path for 932 days. Last week, two other protesters were charged with felonies after briefly blocking a truck carrying pipe for MVP in Virginia.

Despite arrests on the ground yesterday, the new tree-sit protest continues in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. We stand with you!! Read a post from the tree sitters @stopthemvp: https://t.co/pWLyZaxlDu#NoACP #NoMVP pic.twitter.com/g7yuFfAndf  Chesapeake Climate (@CCAN) March 29, 2018



Scrutiny on Falcon Intensifies

Another project that has used NWP 12 for water crossings, Shells Falcon pipeline which would carry raw materials to Shells plastics manufacturing plant in western Pennsylvania, faced renewed calls this week for federal scrutiny following the recent public revelation of concerns raised by a whistleblower. The whistleblower first came to light in public records revealed by the FracTracker Alliance this March and in which Pennsylvania officials described credible information that sections of Shells Falcon Pipeline project in western PA, developed for the transportation of ethane liquid, may have been constructed with defective corrosion coating protection.

FracTracker Alliance and other environmental groups called for a full investigation from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and for Falcons construction to be suspended.

On May 4, Tristan Brown, acting administrator of PHMSA wrote to FracTracker Alliance, providing new details about specific concerns that had been raised in a July 2019 safety complaint, including concerns that related to places where Falcon crosses waterways.

PHMSA has not identified actionable non-compliance or safety concerns specifically related to the July 2019 allegations, Brown wrote, but our safety oversight is an ongoing process.

PHMSA is aware of at least one individual indicating that he or she had been fired by Shell Pipeline Company while working on this project, the letter notes, adding that another federal agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has jurisdiction over retaliation against whistleblowers.

A Shell spokesperson said the company is cooperating with all government and regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over Falcon. Our commitment to the safe construction and operation of the Falcon pipeline is unwavering, Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith told DeSmog. The robust design and installation of Falcon has been supported by numerous inspections and the pipeline meets or exceeds all safety standards and regulatory requirements. We look forward to the day its fully operational.

Smith pointed to an OSHA whistleblower matter involving the Falcon project that was dismissed in March, though that case involved an employee of a Falcon contractor, not Shell Pipeline Company.

Were grateful for this information but sadly still have a lot of concerns and questions, Erica Jackson, an organizer with FracTracker Alliance, said during a call organized by Appalachian regional groups to discuss the Falcon pipeline. She addded that PHMSAs response appeared to rely in part on data supplied by Shell, rather than independent inspections. It appears that theyre relying maybe on self-reported data, which is concerning.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit challenging the use of NWP 12 is bringing pipeline permits back into the spotlight. Plaintiffs in the case are seeking to vacate NWP 12 and asking the federal court in Montana for a declaration that the Corps use violated the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, NEPA, and the Administrative Procedures Act.

The Corps failure to comply with bedrock environmental laws requires immediate attention, Jared Margolis, a Center for Biological Diversity attorney, said in a statement. Theres simply no justification for allowing destructive and dangerous pipelines to avoid rigorous environmental review, and its disheartening to see the Corps continue to flaunt its obligation to protect our nations waters and imperiled wildlife.


Digital Design Engineer Austin , Texas , United States Hardware Summary

Posted: May 7, 2021 Role Number: 200245728 Join our team at Apple developing custom mixed-signal integrated circuits for Apple's existing and future product lines! We've already shipped hundreds of millions of chips into several Apple product lines, including new products launched this year! As a member of our mixed-signal ASIC team, you will be responsible for crafting sophisticated digital IPs for Apple power conversion and management IC's. You will work with the system architects, product teams, verification engineers, and analog designers, creating block level specifications and implementing the designs. You will own the creation of the blocks, and take them through the concept, implementation, and validation phases, and then into mass production. Learn and use state of the art digital and mixed-signal tools and development flows to implement your designs. We supply silicon to most of Apple's industry leading hardware development teams. We have a close-knit, robust team in need of experience digital design engineers to lead the development of new IPs and mentor junior engineers entering the mixed signal ASIC development field. Join us in building Apple's next generation products. Do you want to be a part of building the "surprise and delight" in Apple's future products? Key Qualifications Ten or more years developing digital IP's for SoC's or mixed signal IC's.

Experience mentoring or leading junior design or verification engineers.

Proven track record shipping quality designs on schedule.

Experience with synthesis and static timing tools.

Expertise in Clock Domain Crossing design and verification techniques.

Experience with power estimation tools and techniques.

Familiarity with silicon development milestones and project resource management.

Solid understanding of low power design techniques, including clock and power gating.

Familiarity with UPF based power intent specification and power verification.

Some familiarity with mix-signal ASIC design and asynchronous analog / digital interfaces is helpful, but not required. Description Deliver complex digital control blocks, meeting schedule, area, power, and performance targets. Collaborate in developing precise design specifications for digital control blocks. Implement FSM's and other control logic in System Verilog. Collaborate with managers and program managers to track progress and gauge tapeout readiness. Work with DV teams to create verification plans. Work with silicon validation team in developing lab validation and qualification plans. Work with test team in developing implementation plans for ATE test programs. Education & Experience BSEE/MSEE preferred.


As readers know, I have long urged, following the science, that Covid is airborne, and that its main mode of transmission is via aerosols. (I was initially persuaded by an epidemiological study, now consigned to link rot, that showed a seat diagram on a Chinese bus with the index case and how many were infected. It seemed clear that neither fomites nor hacked up droplets could be the cause, since the seats were widely separated. Many more such studies followed. No such studies followed for fomites or droplets.) On April 30  after enormous efforts from aerosol scientists  WHO changed its guidance to reflect that Covid is airborne. On May 7, CDC followed. So, after more than a year, we have finally agreed Covids mode of transmission. It is to be hoped that science-based mitigation measures  especially ventilation  follow.

In this post, I will first look at what WHO and CDC actually said. Then I will look at helpful materials produced by the aerosol scientists and their allies during their battle (which may prove helpful in further battles to come, especially in schools and workplaces). Turning to institututional slash political factors, I will look at why WHO and CDC delayed so long, and how the Biden administration seems oblivious to the paradigm shift from droplets to aerosols (going to far as to push useless, even dangerous, plexiglass shields).

What WHO and CDC Actually Said

First, WHO. From Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted?:

The virus can spread from an infected persons mouth or nose in small liquid particles when they cough, sneeze, speak, sing or breathe. These particles range from larger respiratory droplets to smaller aerosols [1]. Current evidence suggests that the virus spreads mainly between people who are in close contact with each other[2] typically within 1 metre (short-range). A person can be infected when aerosols or droplets containing the virus are inhaled or come directly into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth.

The virus can also spread in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor settings, where people tend to spend longer periods of time. This is because aerosols remain suspended in the air [3] or travel farther than 1 metre (long-range). People may also become infected by touching surfaces[4] that have been contaminated by the virus when touching their eyes, nose or mouth without cleaning their hands. Further research is ongoing to better understand the spread of the virus and which settings are most risky and why.

Some notes: [1] The word aerosol actually appears. Good! [2] The close contact frame does not take superspreading  as on the Chinese bus  into account. [3] Here, superspreading is implicit, but not stated. [4] Dogma. Covid rarely spreads through fomites.

Now, CDC. From Scientific Brief: SARS-CoV-2 Transmission:

The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is through exposure to respiratory fluids[1] carrying infectious virus. Exposure occurs in three principal ways: (1) inhalation of very fine respiratory droplets and aerosol [2] particles, (2) deposition of respiratory droplets and particles on exposed mucous membranes in the mouth, nose, or eye by direct splashes and sprays[3], and (3) touching mucous membranes with hands that have been soiled either directly by virus-containing respiratory fluids or indirectly by touching surfaces with virus on them[4].

Some notes: [1] Needless to say, this is a highly political document. CDC seems to need to think of aerosols as respiratory fluids, bless their hearts. [2] The word aerosol actually appears. Good! [3] Droplet dogma. [4] Fomite dogma. Note that CDC carefully does not say which mode is the primary mode.

And CDC again, for the layperson, in How COVID-19 Spreads:

COVID-19 spreads when an infected person breathes out droplets and very small particles[1] that contain the virus. These droplets and particles can be breathed in by other people or land on their eyes, noses, or mouth. In some circumstances, they may contaminate surfaces they touch[2]. People who are closer than 6 feet from the infected person are most likely to get infected.

Some notes: [1] The word aerosol is suppressed. [2] Fomite dogma.

Since this is CDC, we expect the deliverable to be sloppy and half-assed, and so it proves. From the University of Maryland School of Public Health, Statement of Scientists in Response to CDCs May 7th Announcement Recognizing Inhalation Exposure:

[The How COVID-19 Spreads document] will lead people to continue to think that maintaining distance is sufficient to prevent transmission. We know that transmission at distances beyond 6 feet occurs because of superspreader events, careful studies of smaller outbreaks, and the physics of aerosols. It can easily happen indoors in a poorly ventilated environment, when people are not wearing masks.. There is clear consensus among aerosol scientists and epidemiologists that inhalation of small aerosol particles, including at distances of greater than six feet, is a major driver of the COVID-19 pandemic. To slow transmission and save lives, it is crucial that CDC update its guidance and recommendations to address and highlight the importance of improved ventilation and using NIOSH approved respirators, especially in indoor locations where the virus may accumulate in the air. . Moreover, OSHA must issue an Emergency Temporary Standard to control workplace exposures, including inhalation exposure, as soon as possible in order to protect workers and reopen the economy safely.

Nevertheless, CDC did speak the unspeakable word  aerosols!  so that is a victory.

Helpful Materials for Air Breathers

I cannot summarize the history and politics of the battle to recognize aerosol transmission because I was not in those rooms.[1] However, I can highlight the literature that I found most illuminating along the way. (As Mr. Rogers says: Look for the helpers.). The literature falls into two buckets: Scientific Communications, and Scientific Papers.

Scientific Communications

First, University of Colorado aerosol scientist masterfully circumvented the United States press with this article in the English language version of El Pais: A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air. Its one of those mobile-friendly interactive pages, but it is still worth a read even today. Here is a classroom situation:

I saw this paper cited many times in discussions of school reopenings on the Twitter, so at least some parents may have been able to protect their children from CDCs miserably inadequate school reopening guidance, which did not consider aerosol transmission in the United States, not even in its scientific references.

Second, this wonderful article in the Lancet, Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Here are two of the 10 points. Recall that neither droplets nor fomites can give an account of superspreading events:

First, superspreading events account for substantial SARS-CoV-2 transmission; indeed, such events may be the pandemics primary drivers. Detailed analyses of human behaviours and interactions, room sizes, ventilation, and other variables in choir concerts, cruise ships, slaughterhouses, care homes, and correctional facilities, among other settings, have shown patternseg, long-range transmission and overdispersion of the basic reproduction number (R0), discussed belowconsistent with airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2 that cannot be adequately explained by droplets or fomites. The high incidence of such events strongly suggests the dominance of aerosol transmission. Sixth, viable SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in the air. In laboratory experiments, SARS-CoV-2 stayed infectious in the air for up to 3 h with a half-life of 11 h.12 Viable SARS-CoV-2 was identified in air samples from rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients in the absence of aerosol-generating health-care procedures13 and in air samples from an infected persons car. Although other studies have failed to capture viable SARS-CoV-2 in air samples, this is to be expected. Sampling of airborne virus is technically challenging for several reasons, including limited effectiveness of some sampling methods for collecting fine particles, viral dehydration during collection, viral damage due to impact forces (leading to loss of viability), reaerosolisation of virus during collection, and viral retention in the sampling equipment. Measles and tuberculosis, two primarily airborne diseases, have never been cultivated from room air.

Third, this handy chart from the British Medical Journal, Two metres or one: what is the evidence for physical distancing in covid-19?:

(Tricia Greenhalgh has aggregated translations of this chart here.) I like this chart first, because its small (as opposed to that ludicrously ginormous CDC chart I printed the other day) and second because its simple: Actions (singing, breathing, masking, not masking) on the vertical axis, built environment on the horizontal. The famous Skagit County choir practice superspreading event, for example, is at bottom right (red, unsafe). Singing, no masks, prolonged contact, high occupancy, poorly ventilated. A silent walk with your friend in the park, both masked, would be top left (green, safe)

Scientific Papers

We have all linked to many, many papers on aerosols, but this paper (I hope) is extraordinary: Indicators for Risk of Airborne Transmission in Shared Indoor Environments and their application to COVID-19 Outbreaks. (I say I hope because the math is over my head; I hope some maven in the readership will give it a go.) In essence, the authors have devised a formula for calculating the risk of indoor transmission, based on a set of parameters. They then aggregated and tabulated a large number of aerosol studies and threw them against the formula, with parameter values taken from real events as documented by epidemiological studies. From the body of the paper:

An important advantage of the simplified risk parameters is that their values can be calculated for outbreaks that are documented in the scientific literature. Values for documented COVID-19 outbreaks are shown in Table 1 (rE and rB are estimated based on the likely types of activities in each case (33, 37, 44), see Table SI-2 for typical values). Also included are values for outbreaks documented in the literature for tuberculosis and measles, which are widely accepted to transmit through the air, and an influenza outbreak that was clearly due to airborne transmission.

The authors then took the formula and turned it into a calculator:

12/ If you want to calculate the risk parameter for your situation, you can do so with the COVID-19 Aerosol Transmission Estimator, freely available online. (Modify sheet "Master-choir"  will transplant to the others)https://t.co/t9qPriPMYX pic.twitter.com/twCY1XzbtT  Jose-Luis Jimenez (@jljcolorado) May 2, 2021

Here is the calculator. It made me scream and run; the calculator needs to be made usable by, say, an HVAC person in a school (and not a high-priced consultant). But thats what software is for, so this is a mere implementation detail.

The Disgraceful Response of the CDC (and WHO)

Here I can do no better than to quote a great slab of Zeynep Tufeckis Why Did It Take So Long to Accept the Facts About Covid? in the New York Times, which you should read in full:

Why did it take so long to understand all this? One reason is that our institutions werent necessarily set up to deal with what we faced. For example, the W.H.O.s Infection Prevention and Control (I.P.C.) global unit primarily concentrates on health care facilities. Many of the experts they enlisted to form the Covid-19 I.P.C. Guidance Development Group were hospital-focused, and some of them specialized in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections that can spread wildly in health care facilities when medical personnel fail to regularly wash their hands. Further, in some countries like the United States, they tend to have extensive engineering controls to dampen infections, involving aggressive air-exchange standards, almost like being outdoors. This is the opposite of modern office and even residential buildings, which tend to be more sealed for energy efficiency. In such a medical environment, hand hygiene is a more important consideration, since ventilation is taken care of. Another dynamic weve seen is something that is not unheard-of in the history of science: setting a higher standard of proof for theories that challenge conventional wisdom than for those that support it. As part of its assessment of the viruss spread, the W.H.O. asked a group of scientists last fall to review the evidence on transmission of the coronavirus. When reviewing airborne transmission, the group focused mostly on studies of air samples, especially if live virus was captured from the air, which, as mentioned above, is extremely hard. By that criterion, airborne transmission of the measles virus, which is undisputed, would not be accepted because no one has cultivated that pathogen from room air. Thats also true of tuberculosis. And while scientists, despite the difficulties, had managed to capture viable SARS-CoV-2 in three studies that Im aware of, the review noted that the virus was detected only intermittently in general, disputed whether the captured live virus was infective enough and ultimately said it could not reach firm conclusions over airborne transmission. The lead author and another senior member of the research group previously said they believed transmission was driven by droplets. The skepticism about airborne transmission is at odds with the acceptance of droplet transmission. Dr. Marr and Joseph Allen, the director of the Healthy Buildings program and an associate professor at Harvards T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told me that droplet transmission has never been directly demonstrated. Since Dr. Chapin, close-distance transmission has been seen as proof of droplets unless disproved through much effort, as was finally done for tuberculosis. Another key problem is that, understandably, we find it harder to walk things back. It is easier to keep adding exceptions and justifications to a belief than to admit that a challenger has a better explanation. [T]he initial public health report on the [Skagit County] Mount Vernon choir case said that it may have been caused by people sitting close to one another, sharing snacks and stacking chairs at the end of the practice, even though almost 90 percent of the people there developed symptoms of Covid-19. Shelly Miller, an aerosol expert at the University of Colorado Boulder, was so struck by the incident that she initiated a study with a team of scientists, documenting that the space was less full than usual, allowing for increased distance, that nobody reported touching anyone else, that hand sanitizer was used and that only three people who had arrived early arranged the chairs. There was no spatial pattern to the transmission, implicating airflows, and there was nobody within nine feet in front of the first known case, who had mild symptoms.

The Biden Administration Stumbles

Finally, we come to the Biden administration, which seems completely unaware that a paradigm shift in our understanding of Covids mode of transmission is occurring. I presented this video once, but it still frosts me, so Im going to present it again:

President Biden: "You guys are impressive."@POTUS and @FLOTUS visit an elementary school in Virginia pic.twitter.com/Ohs38tcBW6  The Hill (@thehill) May 3, 2021

First, as should now be obvious, plexiglass screens dont protect school children from aerosols, because the aerosols, just as cigarette smoke would, go around the barriers.

Second, plexiglass screens may actually increase the danger of Covid transmission. Here is a handy chart from Science, Household COVID-19 risk and in-person schooling:

Here is a video from one of those helpful aerosol scientists explaining why:

I have been lots of questions about plexiglass barriersthis is the best visualization that I have seen. They are designed to block big droplets produced in sneezes and coughs. Aerosols float right around them and can actually concentrate near a person sitting on the other side. https://t.co/0jKd0fk32s  Kimberly Prather, Ph.D. (@kprather88) December 17, 2020

And we have a real-life example. From medRvix: Weekly SARS-CoV-2 screening of asymptomatic students and staff to guide and evaluate strategies for safer in-person learning, the Conclusion:

In this school district with layered mitigation measures, in-school transmission was rare. The program identified a cluster with in-school staff-to-staff transmission and spurred enhancement of safety strategies.

And here are some of those enhancements:

First, review of heating, ventilation, and air conditioner (HVAC) systems, including assessment of airflow in the main office using smoke, suggested airflow impedance in the main office area attributed to plexiglass dividers with sidewalls; these structures were rearranged .

As I read the study, then, plexiglass dividers actually contributed to an outbreak.

When I see that [family blogging] Biden video, I want to ask Who did this? The room is poorly ventilated. Plexiglass dividers are at best useless, at worst dangerous. Its a dangerous place for students to be! And yet we have a President modeling behavior, as we say, based on an obsolete paradigm for transmission. So all over the country school districts are going to be buying plexiglass barriers instead of fixing their ventilation systems! Ron Klain, Bidens chief of staff, was sold to us as a pandemic expert based on his Ebola Czardom. Was Klain asleep? Not paying attention? Advised by some droplet goon at Walenskys CDC? Fondling his West Wing box set? Who knows. What a debacle!

Piling debacle upon debacle, we know have this idiotic statement by Fauci. From CNN:

Sunday on ABC News, Fauci was asked whether its time to start relaxing indoor masks requirements. Fauci replied, I think so, and I think youre going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated.

Madness, because as aerosol theory predicts, and fomite and droplet theories do not, indoors spaces are the most dangerous spaces (see Greenhalghs helpful chart above). We dont know, for any given space, how many people within in will be vaccinated. We also do not know how many have been vaccinated and are still capable of asymptomatic spread  and hence, in a closed space, of becoming superspreaders. Fauci should be focusing on ventilation, which actually makes people safer, instead of playing Philosopher King and using some peoples desire to unmask to manipulate them into getting vaccinated.

Conclusion

Concluding, the intellectual victory needs to be fought out on the ground of mitigation (which, above, both Biden and Fauci butchered). From the Toronto Globe and Mail:

A transition to an airborne approach revolves around a simple and powerful concept: COVID spreads by breathing shared air, and infectious air accumulates indoors. Primary mitigation strategies shift from two metres distancing and handwashing to ventilation and high-quality masks. Monitor ventilation using portable carbon dioxide monitors, open windows and emphasize improvements in ventilation or air filtration when ventilation systems are poor. Distancing remains important but high-quality respirators should always be worn while indoors. All breaks and meals where masks will be removed must be moved outdoors or, when outdoors is not possible, in large well-ventilated rooms with maximal distancing and small numbers of people. While airborne transmission is now acknowledged, changes to infection prevention strategies and efforts to increase public awareness are lacking. These changes will reduce onward transmission in high-risk settings and provide opportunities for a return to normalcy in some spheres: outdoor activities (where aerosols are rapidly dispersed) and even some indoor spaces with guidance on how to eliminate aerosol combined with proper masking. Shifting to an airborne prevention approach will be life-saving for people working in high-risk essential jobs, and for the families to whom they bring home the infection. It will also impact overall epidemic control and help guide a safer more sustainable economic reopening.

One of the nice things, of course, about mitigation strategies like this is that  unlike todays vaccines  theyll work when the next airborne pandemic comes along. We sure dodged a bullet that Covid wasnt as contagious as measles. Eh?

NOTES

[1] I can say that the aerosol advocates reminded me very much of MMT advocates. It may be that the pleasant group dynamics gave both thought collectives some leverage to effect their desired paradigmatic shifts.
(Natural News) Amazon, the worlds biggest online retailer, expanded its warehouses in Southern California last year due to the demand for online shopping amid the coronavirus pandemic. But a new report raised concerns regarding the impact of pollution from those warehouses on low-income communities of color in the region.

The report, prepared by nonprofit group Peoples Collective for Environmental Justice (PC4EJ) in collaboration with the University of Redlands, showed how warehouses have proliferated in the Inland Empire in Southern California. The Inland Empire, also known as I.E., is an industrial region east of Los Angeles.

The report also shows that warehouses, which bring severe air pollution to surrounding communities, are correlated with poor air quality and health problems associated with air pollution. These health problems disproportionately affect people of color, which make up a huge chunk of the population in the area.

Warehouses linked to health hazards

Even without taking warehouses into account, many low-income communities of color in the I.E. already suffer from extremely high rates of toxic emissions and some of the worst traffic problems in the United States. So the emergence of warehouses from massive corporations only compounds existing environmental problems.

That said, the rapid expansion of Amazon warehouses in the area is a major cause for concern. According to the report, the online retailer made record profits in the last decade. Those profits came largely at the cost of residents in the I.E., many of whom have seen large fulfillment centers built right next to their backyards.

Andrea Vidaurre, a PCEJ policy analyst who lives in the I.E., said she was used to seeing new warehouses appear near schools. She said she also grew up alongside kids who were sometimes forced to leave school because of asthma attacks, which were triggered and exacerbated by poor air quality.

Nonetheless, she said she was shocked to learn how frequently the warehouses were located so close to schools. I didnt realize there were so many. It almost feels endemic.

Interestingly, the report found a huge disconnect between warehouse locations and online sales. In other words, people who order the least online experience more pollution and are subject to the health hazards brought by the warehouses simply by living near or right next to those facilities.

Furthermore, the report showed that the top 10 communities with the most warehouses also experienced pollution from other facilities, such as gas plants and oil refineries.

There are several other sources contributing to severe air pollution in the I.E., such as rail yards and air traffic. But this new report suggests that the recent warehouse boom and related truck emissions are a big factor as well.

And although the expansion of warehouses in the I.E. has brought thousands of jobs to the area, experts point out that the jobs are sometimes hazardous or exploitative and that the environmental consequences of the expansion outweigh its meager benefits. (Related: Amazon warehouse workers attempt to commit suicide on the job due to atrocious slave-like work conditions.)

Put simply, Amazon is tripling its profits at the cost of people living nearby, said Ivette Torres, a researcher and analyst with the PC4EJ who contributed to the report.

Torres and her colleagues hope that their report will serve as an advocacy tool to raise awareness about warehouse expansion in Southern California and its impacts on the regions air pollution problems.

The report may also help bolster the need to pass the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule as soon as possible. This rule would require both new and existing warehouses to reduce their emissions every year.

Follow Environ.news for more articles about Amazons impact on the environment.

Sources include:

EcoWatch.com

EarthJustice.org

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) Australias main drug regulatory body reported its first death from blood clotting that is likely linked to AstraZenecas Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

This was announced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on Friday, April 16, after it met to investigate the link between the vaccine and the patients death. According to the TGA, the person who died was Genene Norris, a 48-year-old woman from the Central Coast region of the state of New South Wales.

Norris received her dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on April 9. She was rushed to the hospital the following day after developing blood clots. She was then placed on dialysis and in an intensive care unit. She never recovered, and she died on April 14.

This is the third reported case of thrombosis, or blood clots in the arteries and veins, linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia. Norris and the other two patients also presented to the hospital with thrombocytopenia or low platelet counts.

The previous two cases were treated at hospitals and recovered soon after. (Related: Scottish woman develops severe and painful rashes all over her body immediately after getting AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.)

The TGA said it was in the process of reviewing Norriss case, but this investigation is being complicated by her extensive medical history and underlying health conditions such as diabetes.

Furthermore, experts on the TGAs Vaccine Safety Investigation Group (VSIG) did not find any COVID-19 antibodies in her system. Despite this, the VSIG said health authorities and the public should assume a causative link to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

As of press time, the TGA said it was still waiting for the results on some laboratory tests, and that an autopsy was set to take place afterward.

Given this is an atypical presentation, should the test results and/or the autopsy provide an alternative causation, VSIG would review their decision, said the TGA on Friday.

The Sanitarium Health Food Company, a food company that markets cereals and vegetarian products, confirmed that Norris was one of its 800 employees in their New South Wales factory.

The company is saddened by the loss of a much loved employee, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and workmates, said a Sanitarium spokesperson when pressed for comment by the Daily Mail Australia.

Australian government pushing ahead with vaccinations

The TGA announced the preliminary results of its investigation into Norris death on the same day that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) and the federal government of Australia announced that it no longer recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine for individuals under 50. It would instead prefer it if health authorities gave the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech for that demographic.

Around 885,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered since the Australian mass vaccination campaign began. The TGA said the three known blood clotting cases give the country a rate of one in 295,000 jabs that could potentially result in these life-threatening complications.

Symptoms of the clotting complications include severe headaches, blurred vision, pain, leg swelling, shortness of breath and bruising of a part of the body away from the injection site.

Health authorities in Australia have advised anyone experiencing any of these symptoms after getting vaccinated to seek medical attention immediately.

Despite the dangers of getting vaccinated, the state government of New South Wales is not going to stop vaccinating its residents. When pressed for comment, the states Ministry of Health (NSW Health) said it did not discuss individual cases.

Any death is a tragedy and NSW Health extends its condolences to the loved ones of the person who passed away, it said.

NSW Health is working closely with the TGA and the Commonwealth Department of Health, and will continue to operate within ATAGI guidelines.

Learn more about the dangers associated with the coronavirus injections by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

ABC.net.au
(Natural News) U.S.-based drugmaker Moderna Inc. said on April 16 that it will deliver fewer coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines than planned to countries outside the U.S., citing issues with its European supply chain.

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology company said the shortfall in doses affects expected deliveries for the second quarter in a number of countries but didnt specify others beyond Canada and the U.K. The manufacturing problems wont affect U.S. supplies.

In addition to the U.S., U.K. and Canada, Moderna has signed supply contracts with the European Union (EU), Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Switzerland, Colombia, Israel, Taiwan, Qatar and Singapore. A Moderna spokeswoman in Europe said EU and Swiss deliveries in the second quarter are still expected to come in within expected ranges.

Moderna attributed the reduction in deliveries to a slower-than-expected ramp-up of production capacity. The company is working with Swiss partner Lonza Group AG to make the shots in Europe. Lonza is under pressure to begin operations at three new facilities where it makes active ingredients for Modernas COVID-19 vaccine.

Modernas reduced deliveries will further limit global vaccine supply

The reduced deliveries to other countries will further limit global vaccine supplies, with COVID-19 shots from Johnson & Johnson on hold across much of the world due to concerns about a link to rare but dangerous blood clots  an issue that has also prompted restrictions on the use of AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine in Europe. (Related: More people develop blood clots after receiving the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.)

The trajectory of vaccine manufacturing ramp-up is not linear, and despite best efforts, there is a shortfall in previously estimated doses, Moderna said in a statement. Vaccine manufacturing is a highly complex process and a number of elements, including human and material resources, have factored into this volatility.

U.K. shipments of Modernas COVID-19 vaccine will be reduced starting this month, just days after it was rolled out in Britain. The U.K. has purchased 17 million doses of the Moderna shot, the smallest contract in its vaccine portfolio.

Almost half of the U.K.s population is now vaccinated with at least one dose, but the pace is expected to slow down over the coming weeks due to the delays in shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine from India and the reduced deliveries from Moderna.

The U.K. government said its vaccination campaign is on track to meet the target of offering a jab to all adults by the end of July. Our vaccination program continues to make phenomenal progress  with over 41 million vaccines administered so far, a government health spokeswoman said.

Canada concerned about the delays and production challenges around Moderna

Canada, which has witnessed a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections in the past week, is expected to feel the effects of the cutbacks in Modernas vaccine supply.

We are concerned about the delays and production challenges around Moderna, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday at a press conference.

The timing of the Moderna cutback couldnt be worse for Canada. The countrys seven-day average of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million has exceeded the U.S. level for six days in a row. Regional authorities across Canada have also canceled vaccination appointments, citing a lack of supply.

According to Canadas Procurement Minister Anita Anand, Moderna has told the Canadian government that it will cut its expected deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines this month.

Canada will now receive 650,000 doses by the end of April, instead of the originally planned 1.2 million. Moreover, as many as 2 million of the 12.3 million doses scheduled to arrive by the end of June will instead arrive by the end of September.

We are disappointed, Anand said. Our government will continue to press Moderna to fulfill its commitments.

Canada has distributed 2.82 million doses of the Moderna vaccine as of April 14 and 12.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in total. Pfizer, in partnership with BioNTech, is Canadas largest COVID-19 vaccine supplier, accounting for roughly 60 percent of doses distributed.

To offset the cutbacks from Moderna, Canada struck another deal with Pfizer to acquire an additional 8 million doses. Modernas and Pfizers vaccines are given in two doses, three or four weeks apart.

Moderna ramps up COVID-19 vaccine production for the U.S.

Moderna is having no trouble in manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines for the U.S. at its plant outside Boston. The companys contract manufacturing partner Lonza also makes ingredients of the vaccine at a plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Other partners handle vial-filling and packaging at U.S. sites. (Related: New docs: NIH owns half of Moderna vaccine.)

The company has been ramping up its COVID-19 vaccine production for the U.S. and expects to deliver a total of 300 million doses by the end of July. So far, it has delivered more than 117 million doses.

Outside the U.S., Moderna has delivered about 15 million doses from a separate supply chain, which includes production at Lonzas plant in Switzerland. Partner facilities elsewhere handle vial-filling and packaging.

Moderna said Friday that in response to high global demand, the company and its manufacturing partner Lonza are trying to deliver a sustained supply in the shortest time frame possible.

The company said it is making investments and exploring other potential collaboration opportunities to support increase in production globally. It recently enlisted Spanish pharmaceutical firm Rovi to build new ingredient production facilities in Granada, Spain in a bid to lift European output.

Moderna is expecting to make 700 million to 1 billion doses globally this year and more than 2 billion doses next year.

Follow Immunization.news for more news and information related to coronavirus vaccines.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

WSJ.com

Reuters.com
(Natural News) Norways health agency has recommended that the country permanently abort using the AstraZeneca Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. The recommendation came after Norwegian scientists found that the vaccine, made in partnership with the University of Oxford, did cause blood clots. The agencys advice went contrary to guidance from other health authorities and regulators insisting on the vaccines safety.

Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) Director Geir Bukholm said in an April 15 statement: There is now significantly more knowledge about the connection between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the rare and serious incidents of low platelets, blood clots and bleeding, he remarked. Bukholm added that based on this knowledge, we have arrived at a recommendation that the AstraZeneca vaccine be removed from the coronary vaccination program in Norway.

The Scandinavian country suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout after some people who received the shot experienced blood clots and a reduced platelet count. Since there are few  who die from COVID-19 in Norway, the risk of dying after vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine would be higher than the risk of dying from the disease, particularly for younger people, Bukholm remarked.

Researchers from the Oslo University Hospital conducted an investigation into the instances of adverse reactions that happened in the country, which involved healthcare workers under the age of 50. The hospitals chief physician Dr. Pal Andre Holme told Norwegian newspaper VG that he is confident that his team identified antibodies responsible for the blood clots  which the vaccine triggered.

Our theory is that this is a strong immune response that most likely comes after the vaccine. There is no other thing than the vaccine that can explain this immune response. Im pretty sure its the antibodies thats the cause [of the clotting], Holme said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the British pharmaceutical firm told The Epoch Times that it is up to individual countries to decide based on local conditions if the COVID-19 vaccine will be used. They added: We will continue to collaborate with  regulators and local authorities in order to provide all available data to inform their decisions.

Norway follows Denmark in banning AstraZeneca

Norway appeared to follow its Scandinavian neighbor Denmark in permanently suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Danish health authorities imposed a total ban on the vaccine on April 15. Danish Health Authority (SST) Director-General Sren Brostrm said in a statement: Overall, we must say that  there is a real and serious side effect signal in the vaccine from AstraZeneca. Based on an overall consideration, we have therefore chosen to continue the vaccination program for all target groups without this vaccine. (Related: Denmark permanently bans Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca over deadly blood clots.)

However, Brostrm clarified that the decision to drop the vaccine should solely be seen in a Danish context. I understand very well why other countries will use it, he remarked. Copenhagen first suspended the use of AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine in March after two people suffered from severe blood clots following inoculation with the shot.

According to the SST director, joint studies based on Danish and Norwegian health data estimate that one in 40,000 people immunized with the AstraZeneca vaccine is at risk for this side effect  regardless of age and gender. Brostrm continued: In the midst of an epidemic, it has been a really difficult decision to continue our vaccination program without an effective and readily available vaccine against COVID-19. However, we have other vaccines at our disposal.

Nevertheless, health authorities have insisted the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe to use. (Related: 20+ countries suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine, but regulators insist benefits outweigh risks.)

European Medicines Agency (EMA) Director Emer Cooke previously defended the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying that there is no indication that vaccination has caused these [serious] conditions. She added: A situation like this is not unexpected when you vaccinate millions of people. World Health Organization (WHO) officials also shared the EMA directors sentiments.

During a March 15 press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global health body is reviewing available safety data. He added that the adverse reactions linked to AstraZenecas vaccine shows that the [vaccine] surveillance system works and effective controls are in place. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan remarked in the same press conference that it is best for countries to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Visit VaccineDamage.news to read more about the risks linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

BusinessToday.in

SST.dk

MSN.com

NDTV.com
(Natural News) An Israeli organization made up of health experts has published a report outlining how the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injection from Pfizer causes damage to nearly every system in the human body.

The Israeli People Committee (IPC) says that Pfizers Chinese Virus jab is causing catastrophic damage to peoples bodies  so much so, in fact, that there are more people dying from it in Israel than there are people in all of Europe who are dying from the AstraZeneca jab.

You know things are bad when the bar has been so lowered that it is now considered a privilege to have a jab that causes just a wee-bit fewer deaths than the one your own government is mandating.

According to IPC, there has never been a vaccine that has harmed as many people as the Pfizer vaccine has. The group published a full report detailing its eye-opening findings.

We received 288 death reports in proximity to vaccination (90% up to 10 days after the vaccination), one part of the report explains. 64% of those were men.

Meanwhile, Israels official Ministry of Health is claiming that only 45 deaths in Israel were vaccine related.

Assuming these figures are accurate, the Israeli government is blatantly lying about the number of Israelis who are being injured or killed by the Pfizer injection, which appears to be the jab of choice for the Israeli people.

All Covid-19 injections are dangerous and deadly

All of this is even more concerning when considering the fact that the only jabs governments around the world have been focusing on as dangerous are the ones from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

Both of these just so happen to be the only two that are not loaded with DNA-reprogramming mRNA chemicals. The J&J and AstraZeneca injections are considered to be more traditional in terms of the technology used.

Meanwhile, Pfizers jab is killing people left and right in Israel, and Modernas is not much better, and we have not heard so much as a peep from the government about pausing either of those.

In Europe, where AstraZenecas injection is being widely used, numerous countries have suspended its use entirely, citing a pandemic of deadly blood clots and other adverse effects.

German scientists recently discovered the two-step process by which AstraZeneca injections cause blood clots in recipients. There is a series of events that must first take place inside the body before the blood clots form.

Still, AstraZenecas injection is reportedly causing far fewer deaths than Pfizers, and yet neither Israel nor the United States has hit the pause button on its administration.

Not only that, but the J&J jab, which causes deadly blood clots just like AstraZenecas jab, is now being actively recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in American patients, albeit with a tiny safety warning on the package.

According to Central Bureau of Statistics data during January-February 2021, at the peak of the Israeli mass vaccination campaign, there was a 22% increase in overall mortality in Israel compared with the previous year, the Israeli report further explains about what is happening over there.

In fact, January-February 2021 have been the deadliest months in the last decade, with the highest overall mortality rates compared to corresponding months in the last 10 years.

The most dramatic increases in death are occurring among Israelis between the ages of 20 and 29. This group has seen an overall increase in mortality of 32 percent ever since the Pfizer vaccine was introduced.

According to this estimate, it is possible to estimate the number of deaths in Israel in proximity of the vaccine, as of today, at about 1000-1100 people.

The latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

GreatGameIndia.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Many U.S. states and cities are seeing an increase in the amount of unused Wuhan coronavirus doses. Data has shown that one in three doses remain unused in some jurisdictions, alongside a dwindling number of people signing up for vaccination appointments. Nevertheless, the rise in unused doses and reduction in vaccine appointments in some areas have not impacted the countrys overall COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

A Bloomberg News analysis looked at vaccination figures in the state of Virginia. Based on current data, the state has used up 83 percent of vaccines supplied to it. But the number of people getting the jabs differ in each of the cities in The Old Dominion. The analysis focused on the cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg  an hour away from each other  to illustrate this disparity.

Vaccine appointments in the northern Virginian city of Charlottesville are difficult to book despite the presence of two mass clinics there. On the other hand, residents in the southern Virginian city of Lynchburg have an easier time booking COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Because of this, northern Virginians go down south to get their shots.

Based on data from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), about 45 percent of Charlottesvilles population of 47,200 have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Meanwhile, only about 29 percent of Lynchburgs residents have received at least one vaccine dose. The ease of booking appointments in Lynchburg reflects the city running out of residents willing to get inoculated.

Central Virginia Health District Director Kerry Gateley said: At first, we didnt have enough vaccine and now that we have a pretty good supply, the demand isnt there. Lynchburg is part of the health district under Gateleys purview.

Neighboring West Virginia also faces the same predicament of unused doses accumulating. The Mountain State was initially lauded for its earlier vaccine rollout that focusing on older residents. Back in mid-February, the state used up all but a tiny percentage of its vaccine supply. This has subsequently risen to 26 percent, amounting to a daily average of more than 350,000 unused doses as of the week of April 4.

West Virginias COVID-19 czar Dr. Clay Marsh remarked that the states vaccination drive has focused on teenage up to middle-age residents, where most new cases are emerging. Were seeing more incidents of more people needing more convincing or needing more time to make their decision. Were right on that interface of having more vaccine [doses] than arms to put them in, he said.

Reports of post-vaccination adverse reactions contribute to vaccine rejection in certain areas

Setting aside the difficulties in the two states, demand for COVID-19 jabs remains strong. The U.S. still leads the way in vaccinations, with 37 percent of Americans getting at least one dose. Despite this lead, some states are still having difficulties in areas with low vaccine uptake.

University of Virginia Health Epidemiology Director Costi Sifri warned against vaccine hesitancy in certain locations, saying that these have the opportunity to undo hard-earned gains in fighting the Wuhan coronavirus. Experts believe that unvaccinated pockets in the country sufficient room for the pathogen to spread and even evolve into more infectious variants.

Sifri commented: Were going to have this same type of challenge played out in every state in the country. How do we close the vaccine gaps that are going to occur geographically?

Adverse reactions are one of many reasons why people are having doubts about getting the COVID-19 shots. Many people experienced various reactions after they were immunized using the different vaccine candidates available. Some even passed away as a consequence of these serious reactions.

The use of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate manufactured by Johnson & Johnson was recently halted following reports of blood clots. Even the Department of Defense (DoD) suspended the use of the one-dose jab upon the advice of authorities. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby confirmed the DoDs suspension in an April 13 statement.

At the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the [DoD] is immediately pausing the use of the J&J vaccine. The safety of our force and their families is a top priority. We are communicating this pause to our military health facilities, and are reviewing our global vaccine distribution to address this issue, Kirbys statement said.

Another vaccine candidate by British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca was also suspended in various European countries in March after reports that it caused blood clots. Childrens Health Defense said some Nordic countries  Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland  banned the vaccine following reports of clots in Denmark and Norway. Some countries in Western Europe  France, Germany and the Netherlands  also followed suit with the suspension.

Some of these nations eventually resumed use of the AstraZeneca vaccine save for Denmark, which permanently banned it.

Visit Pandemic.news to read more reports about COVID-19 vaccination drives across the country.

Sources include:

MSN.com

TheEpochTimes.com

ChildrensHealthDefense.org


Nick walks 300,000 steps for Christian Aid Week Nick walks 300,000 steps for Christian Aid Week

Rev Nick Garrard is walking 300,000 steps in May to raise money for Christian Aid, and help communities impacted by climate change.

Julian Bryant, Christian Aids Church Engagement Officer for Norfolk, explains: This devastating climate crisis robs people of the water and food they need to live. They tell us that at times it even robs them of their children. Thats why it is so important that we, as the Church and individuals in the UK, make a difference to our global neighbours.



You can sponsor Nick via his Facebook fundraising page here .



Alongside this challenge, Wells next the Sea group has organised a Sunrise to Sunset sponsored walk on Tuesday May 11 along the North Norfolk Coastal Path. You can support them here .



And meanwhile, Norwich Cathedral is holding an innovative quiz trail in the evening of Monday 17 May. Tickets must be booked in advance and are on this link .



Julian continues: Other churches and groups are making and selling cookery books, setting up JustGiving pages, using our e-envelope, running tabletop and plant sales and so much more. Some are simply giving via our website. I am so inspired that even in this year, they realise that their fundraising and campaigning is needed so much more for our brothers and sisters in this crisis.



To see what resources are available for Chrisitan Aid Week, or make an online donation, please go to: www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/key-appeals/christian-aid-week



Pictured above is Nick Garrard



Eldred Willey, 10/05/2021
By PTI

MUMBAI: Singaporean lender DBS, which operates a wholly-owned subsidiary in the country, on Monday said it is pumping COVID relief aid worth over Rs 10 crore into India including three cryogenic oxygen cylinder tanks.

Foreign banks operate in India either as a wholly-owned subsidiary or through branch model.

DBS has tied up with Singapore High Commission in India and High Commission of India based in Singapore to import three cryogenic oxygen tanks having capacity of 20,000 litres each to support the ongoing relief efforts, an official statement said.

The tanks will be donated via the Singapore Red Cross to India and will be deployed for use through the Ministry of Health, India, the statement said.

It has partnered with 'Doctors For You' to support the setting-up of a 300-bed oxygen equipped facility in Mumbai, along with the installation of mini oxygen plants, procurement of oxygen concentrators, and provision of medical personnel, the bank said.

Similarly, a tie-up with 'United Way Mumbai' is aimed at facilitating ICU unit beds and equipment, oxygen concentrator devices and other medical supplies to enhance existing capacity at public healthcare facilities in Mumbai and Pune, it said.

Additionally, its employees across Asia have started a fundraising initiative to donate funds towards healthcare support and vaccination for the underprivileged through GiveIndia, the statement said, adding that the bank will make a matching contribution.

"As India battles the current wave of the pandemic, public-private partnerships are more critical than ever.

Access to emergency healthcare equipment is of utmost importance.

"We hope that our multiple engagements with NGOs and authorities to mobilise the necessary resources will help those who need them the most," DBS Bank India's chief executive and managing director Surojit Shome said.

For its staff, the bank has partnered with 'Connect and Heal' to facilitate vaccination for its employees, and is also helping to arrange oxygen concentrators for them to reduce the pressure on hospital beds.
Bansy Kalappa By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Thirty lines. 30 employees. 20,000+ calls per day. No wonder the COVID-19 helpline 1912 has been of little help to the distressed public of Bengaluru. Those who have tried and tested this emergency response line swear that it is almost always engaged, and if you do get your call in edgeways and get connected to your BBMP zone, you could wait forever for a response.

Or your call could drop. 1912 is the most important number for those on a hospital bed hunt, but four weeks into the second wave with its sharp spurt of cases, the number of lines has fallen woefully short. It has also come to light that this has been the only number for information on everything from hospital accommodation, oxygen beds, ICU to ventilators, and it is only now that the calls are hived off to BBMP zones.

Swamped with calls, BBMP increased the number to 60 lines just ten days ago, and again added 50 more lines. It is now planning to increase the number of lines to 250 and hire call centre staffers to man them. As one angry Bengalurean questioned, "Did it need scores of people to die to wake up the system, why was it not done a month ago? Is Bengaluru Development portfolio not with the CM?"

N Raghavendra, a volunteer, declared the number "useless". "In two cases, this lethargy and delay has resulted in the death of patients. One was 45-year-old Srinath whose relatives dialled this number to get a bed when his oxygen saturation level was around 80, and got a call about 48 hours later from Victoria, he said.

"Just 30 minutes after they admitted him, they got information that he had died. Another patient, 32-year-old Shabari needed a ventilator bed, but the call centre delayed a call back, and he passed away. How can this qualify as an emergency response service?" he asked

In another case, call centre officials took details and called back 24 hours later. Dr Sunil, a private medical practitioner, told The New Indian Express, "I dialled this number around 1.30 am, seeking a bed for a seriously-ill patient, aged about 60. Three hospitals refused him and he got a bed after nine hours."

"There should have been about 100 lines from the beginning. These are signs of a flailing state," said retired IAS officer TR Raghunandan.

Advocate KV Dhananjay, who has been crusading against corruption, said, "Those who have suffered can sue the government. I will take it up as a legal issue. There are around 250 hospitals, and each hospital needs two numbers, so there should be 500 lines."
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal on Sunday urged the Cente to allow states to develop a separate mobile application and mechanism for effective and smooth Covid vaccination drive. Kejriwals suggestion assumes significance amid reports of glitches being reported in the Co-WIN app. Flagging the shortage of Covid vaccination in the national capital, in a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, the CM said, Delhi has around 92 lakh people in the 18-45 age group.

I urge you to direct Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to increase their monthly supplies to Delhi to 60 lakh doses per month during May to July 2021We have already developed infrastructure required. We are already vaccinating roughly one lakh people every day. We are increasing this capacity to roughly three lakh per day in the next few days.

Therefore, we will have the capacity to administer 90 lakh doses per month, says his communique. Kejriwal also sought uniform pricing of the vaccine being distributed among private and government hospitals. Conveying his displeasure over short supply of Covid vaccines, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that instead of fulfilling local demands, the Centre allowed export of the vaccine.

If other countries such as Canada and the US gathered enough vaccines and prioritised vaccinating their citizens first, then why did India fall behind? No other nation, except for France, exported vaccines to other countries before fully vaccinating its own people. France only exported one lakh doses internationally after it accumulated doses for itself, said Sisodia addressing a digital briefing. Sisodia said that while scientists in the country had developed two types of vaccine, we had still not been able to vaccinate our citizens in a swift manner, which is distressing.

The Central Government is busy in exporting 6.5 crore doses of vaccines to 93 nations, so they can continue to maintain their image, so the world can appreciate the Central Government while it continues to pay lip service to its own people, its own citizens.

What was hoped from the Central Government was to manage the crisis in India, but they were too busy in their image management instead, said the deputy CM. H e added that the Central government should learn from the international fraternity and vaccinate its citizens on priority. Prioritise vaccinating all Indian citizens and make vaccines accessible for all. Once the vaccine is accessible to all, Delhi will ensure all citizens are vaccinated within three months, he added.
Shibu BS By

Express News Service

KOCHI: With the increasing number of complaints against alleged "favouritism" by private hospital authorities, and some elected representatives in giving vaccination, the state-appointed district vaccination team has decided to take stringent action against those found guilty.

The team members, including a nodal officer, assistant nodal officer and other officers concerned, will make sure that the vaccination in both government and private hospitals are carried out as per the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) guidelines issued by the health department.

Recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vjayan himself directed the district collectors and police to take strict action against private hospitals flouting vaccination norms to vaccinate their relatives and friends first.

"We have given clear instruction based on the SOP. The ward wise beneficiaries list should be prepared in advance by the ward member/Asha workers/field staff/health volunteer/ palliative nurse, and all the listed beneficiaries should be contacted prior to the vaccination drive," said Dr MG Sivadas, vaccination nodal officer, Ernakulam.

He said that a four-member team comprising medical officer, mayor or chairperson, Health Standing Committee chairman and ward member or councillor concerned should ensure that the vaccination process is conducted as per the priority list and no exemption shall be made on the same.

Meanwhile, a councillor denied 'favouritism' by the elected representatives. "The allegations are baseless. The people who received the first dose are tensed that they wont get the second dose and therefore approach us. We cannot deny them the second dose, especially if they are over 45 years of age. Also, the availability of vaccine is the key issue," said opposition leader of Kochi corporation, Antony Kuriethara.

"People from neighbouring municipalities might come to a particular vaccination centre in an area. That person might have received the slot at the centre when he/she booked online for vaccination, and not because that is someone we know. It is true that because of them people in the given municipality might not get the jab but we cant deny them the vaccine as well," he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Sivadas said those who fall in the priority group and have taken the first dose at private hospitals on or before April 30 are eligible for the second dose at government facilities free of cost.

"Each day, four private hospitals will be allowed to carry out 200 vaccinations in a two hour time slot. As many as 50 jabs will be allowed in each of these hospitals and the authorities will be instructed to mobilise the beneficiaries for second dose in their dedicated slot. The time slot for each private hospital will be informed from the nodal officers office," he said.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Monday said he has always been low key about his philanthropic actions, but chose to pen a detailed account of some of the charitable work he had done amid the coronavirus pandemic to respond to those who criticise celebrities for not helping people.

The 78-year-old actor took to his blog to jot down a lengthy list of contributions towards initiatives other than COVID-19 relief, hours after Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, tweeted that the veteran star had donated Rs 2 crore to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur COVID Care Centre at New Delhi's Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib to combat the ongoing health crisis in the national capital.

In the post, the "Gulabo Sitabo" star said he has extended help to as many people as possible since last year when the pandemic hit the nation.

Responding to a section of social media users, who have been critical of film personalities for not using their social capital and reach enough towards COVID-19 crisis, Bachchan said it is "embarrassing" to publicise about charity work that one does.

"Yes I do charity, but have ever believed it to be done, than spoken of..it is embarrassing, in too great a self consciousness ...of one that has ever felt shy of public presence despite the profession - one that has to find its usp in public domains is relevant today for me (sic)," he wrote.

Bachchan said he also provided masks and PPE (personal protection equipment) units to frontline warriors from his personal funds, along with setting up a 250-450 bed care centre with donation at the Rakabganj Sahib Gurudwara and procured oxygen concentrators from overseas to be donated in Delhi and Mumbai.

"A 250 to 450 bed care center set up with further donation at the Rakabganj Sahib Gurudwara today in Delhi and soon to procure for them O2 ( Oxygen ) concentrators, not in stock or easily available , from overseas limited stock to be donated to Delhi where the need is immense and some to Mumbai..

"Coming in within the week ...50 of them coming in from Poland by 15th and the rest around 150 from perhaps the US ...orders placed , some have arrived and given to the Hospital in need .." he added.

The actor said, as the virus spread, he donated an entire diagnostic centre opened at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara in Delhi through the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, to honour his mother and social activist Teji Bachchan and her parents.

"...set up in the premises of the gurudwara for medical help for the poor and needy ...an MRI machine and other Sonographic and Scan equipments of expenses beyond my means, but set up inspite ..in the memory of my Nana , Naani and my Mother ..(sic)" The actor said he and his family never felt pressured by the "every day abuse filth" on the Internet and rather quietly continued to help people.

"The pressure though ..the every day abuse and the filth of distasteful comment has never been of attention to me or to the family.

"..we have seen it from time immemorial..happens..some are ridden with the wisdom that it shall happen..so all the efforts continued in the quiet..no divulge to the information agencies..no talk of it either..only the receiver knew and that was the end," he added.

Bachchan then detailed some of his charity work, including providing financial aid to over 1,500 farmers, whose bank loans were paid off from his personal funds thereby preventing them from suicide.

The actor shared that he had also extended help to the families of the 40 CRPF personnel who died in the February 14, 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

"The martyrs at Pulwama after the terrible terrorist attack, their families spread all over the land contacted and brought to Janak (one of Bachchan's bungalows here) and given succour at the hands of Abhishek and Shweta (children)," he added.

Talking about his contribution towards the country's COVID-19 crisis, Bachchan said last year he provided food to over 400,000 daily wage earners in the country for a month and fed almost 5,000 people in the city every day.

According to the Hindi cinema veteran, he also helped several migrants to travel back home to UP and Bihar in buses, supplied them food and water, besides arranging flights for some migrants to UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir.

He also said he contributed funds to set up a hospital care centre with 25 to 50 bed capacity in suburban Juhu with all facilities, which should be up by May 12, besides donating machines helpful in "the detection of CoviD" to Nanavati Hospital here.

Bachchan said he has taken the responsibility of raising young children orphaned by the sudden death of the parents and have adopted two who shall be put in an orphanage in Hyderabad.

He also has been feeding about a 1,000 people in the slums in the city, he added.

"AGRANDISEMENT..!! NO ..let it be emulated..if each were to put in not the above but even a small drop of assistance, the severity of the situation would begin to ease .." It is painful to see the misery around and the inability to be able to do something for the people, he said.

"BUT we shall fight and more than that ..shall ..WIN ! So help me God ...!!" Bachchan ended his post.
Gopinath Rajendran By

Express News Service

Success begets success, it seems. Kamal Haasan was fresh out of Kuruthipunal, Indias official entry for the 68th Academy Awards. Shankar was aiming for a hat-trick after successive hits in Gentleman (1993) and Kadhalan (1994). Producer AM Rathnam, after success in Telugu cinema, was looking to make a statement in Tamil cinema. AR Rahmans earlier release, Love Birds, was full of chartbusters.

Editors B Lenin and VT Vijayan had previously worked on Shankars first two films and were keen to replicate the success. With such a rich repository of artists, all on the cusp of great fame, Indian came out to great critical acclaim and was chosen as Indias official entry for the Academy Awards in 1996.

Furthermore, it became the highest grosser of the time, beating Baashha, and remained so for almost a decade until Chandramukhi. The film also won three National Film Awards, and with the film now completing 25 years, here is editor VT Vijayan remembering this very important film.

VT Vijayan

Indian origins

As we had done Shankar sirs first two films, we were roped in for Indian too. Even while working on Kadhalan, Shankar sir had already decided to do Indian with producer KT Kunjumon (who had produced Shankars first two films), but they had a misunderstanding and parted ways. Rathnam sir had released the dubbed versions of both Shankar films in Telugu and seen success. So, he got on board, and made it his Tamil debut. We all knew the entire story before we began shooting.

The hero and the villain

With a lot of VFX in it, Indian was a huge experiment for us. The film also gave us the opportunity to learn complex editing patterns like composing multiple layers. Rathnam sir spent thrice as much as a regular producer did then for such films. He would often speak with me about the films progress, since he didnt want to disturb the director. I remember him being worried about the number of days the film needed to run, if it had to recoup the investment.

I assured him that the film would comfortably earn both profits and plaudits. What I predicted happened. I remember editing one of the Indian thatha scenes and telling Shankar that I would be happy even if this film would be the last one I worked on. I was elated. An esteemed director, at the time, told me that the flashback portions felt like a documentary and that it was bizarre that Kamal was both the hero and the villain. I told him to watch out for the films success and was vindicated.

The magic of double action

CG was in its nascent form then. For double action, we would take multiple layers and place them together. For example, in the Pachai Kiligal track, we found overlaps between both Kamal characters. We had to be cautious about maintaining the timing and pace, while shooting on blue screen. The graphics

work was done by designer Venky who went to Hong Kong to work on the double layers.

Penguins and post-production

We had announced the release date in advance, but CG work took longer than we anticipated. We had to make sure that the foreign prints left three days before the release; at the time, CG work would happen until the last minute. In Mudhalvan, for example, the CG work got so delayed that the Mudhalvane song, with all those CG snakes, was added at the very end.

Only after the 2000s did this process become easier. The fact that all of this can now be done on a mobile phone speaks of how advanced the technology has become. While shooting for the Telephone Manipol track, Shankar sir asked for both Manisha Koirala and Kamal sirs faces to be transposed on the dancing penguins. Due to time constraints, Venky couldnt make it happen. Shankar sir knew that such things could happen, and so, had already shot scenes of the lead characters playing with penguins. Thats what we ended up using.

Freedom for the crew

Shankar sir shoots only those scenes that are needed for the script. If he isnt happy, he insists on shooting it over and over again till he is. Thats the reason for his success. He also gave us editors plenty of freedom. Sometimes, I have tweaked scenes even after his approval. I worked with Shankar sir till Anniyan and remember details like how Rajini sir was approached for Mudhalvan. I watched the preview show of the film along with him and Mrs. YG Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy, a relative of Rajini sir. She said that he should have done this film and that it would have taken him straight to the chair discussed in the film. I am looking forward to Indian 2, though I dont know its story.

How editing has changed

The change to digital filmmaking caused huge ripples in the field of editing. It turned advantageous for everyone involved. The cinematographers then had to shoot in negative, expose it, develop it in a lab, take it as a print and then play it in a theatre to see the final outcome. Even if something as small as loading a camera magazine gets messed up, the final product would become useless.

We also spotted costume issues and continuity errors only at the end of the shoot, then. My first film as an editor was Panneer Pushpangal that was shot across 20,000 ft of film! The problem today is that the scene isnt completely in the hands of the director. Actors sometimes ask for another shot as they feel they dont look their best. Thats why there are many multiple takes today.

Double duty

Panneer Pushpangal happened because of Lenin sir. Despite working as a duo, he allows me plenty of freedom. During the editing of Kozhi Koovuthu (1982), for instance, he had to go out of town and asked me to do rough cuts on the Etho Mogam Etho Dhagam song. I used montages that were already shot and finished the whole song. Lenin sir liked it a lot and Ilaiyarajaa sir, who saw it later, liked it too.

Lenin sir was gracious in telling him that I had worked on it. Karunananidhi sir was a great influence on my career too. He even apologised to me for making me wait during the preview screening of Pen Singam, which was written by him and edited by me. He was a great person, and his influence helped artists like me create great cinema.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The deaths of at least 16 serving and 18 retired teachers, besides other staff of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), due to Covid-19 in the past 18 days have triggered an alarm, with the Vice-Chancellor on Sunday urging the ICMR to study the infection variant on the campus.

In a letter to the ICMR, Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor said a particular variant may be circulating in areas around the AMU campus and surrounding localities, which has led to these deaths.

The latest to fall to the virus was the dean of the AMUs law faculty, Prof Shakeel Samdani, who died at Aligarhs Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College on Friday.

Mansoor said the microbiology lab at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College would send samples to the Institute of Genomic and Integrated Biology, New Delhi, for genome sequencing of the variants detected in the town.

Meanwhile, the medical college Principal Shahid Ali Siddiqui told media that 25 doctors at the hospital had tested positive for the infection in the past fortnight.

According to the V-C, three doctors were under treatment, while others had recovered.

Meanwhile, the college principal claimed the hospital was battling oxygen shortage and was dependent on its three plants.

The hospital has not received a single oxygen cylinder from outside in the past 12 days despite continuous efforts, he said.

AMU V-Cs brother among faculty Covid fatalities

According to the V-C only three doctors are under treatment, while others have recovered. However, sources said at least 16 people, including faculty members, were currently under treatment in the Covid ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.

The first death of a professor of AMU was recorded on April 20 when the former proctor and dean student welfare professor Jamshed Ali Siddiqui passed away.

Earlier, Medical Department Chairman Professor Shadab Ahmed Khan (58) and Computer Department Professor Rafiqul Zaman Khan (55) also succumbed to Covid-19.

Umar Farooq, brother of Vice-Chancellor Mansoor also died of Covid-19. Farooq was a former member of the University Court and a member of the Mohammedan Educational Conference.

The university is deeply concerned with the death of its faculty members, including retired teachers and other employees, Omar Peerzada, Public Relations Officer of the university told TNIE.

However, Peerzada said that the list of deceased being circulated on social media includes the names of several faculty members were residing outside Aligarh.

Non-Covid deaths are also included on this list. Our healthcare staff and frontline workers, along with the administration, are working day in and day out to combat the pandemic. These are challenging times for everyone but we will win, Peerzada said.

According to the list being circulated on social media, 43 professors from AMU have succumbed to the infection in the last few days.

TNIE could not independently verify the list.

Meanwhile, Professor Feza Tabassum Azmi of the Department of Business Administration at AMU said, We have lost a number of colleagues during the past few days. It is indeed distressing. Only God knows what has really happened but what we know is that not everyone died in the medical college. Some staff members died at home while some were not even in Aligarh. It would be wrong to put the blame on the medical college.

The team of doctors did a commendable job during the first wave, too. Perhaps the sheer number of cases in the second wave has been overwhelming. Our medical college is catering to not just the university but the entire Aligarh district, she said.

43 dead, claim social media

The university PRO said a list of deceased being circulated on social media includes the names of faculty members residing outside Aligarh.

The list claims 43 AMU profs have succumbed
By PTI

LUCKNOW: A 750-bed hospital set up by the DRDO for COVID-19 patients on Banaras Hindu University's campus in Varanasi opened on Monday, an official statement said here.

Currently, a 250-bed ICU facility is functional and the capacity of the Pandit Rajan Mishra Covid Hospital will gradually be expanded to 750 beds with anticipated patient inflow.

All beds at this temporary facility set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be provided with oxygen as the hospital is well-equipped with 40 KL of oxygen stored in three tanks, the statement said.

Medicines and food will be provided free of charge to all patients.

There will be no direct walk-in admissions to the hospital and all admissions will be managed through referrals by the Integrates Command and Control Centre, Varanasi under the State administration.

ALSO READ | Weavers in Varanasi facing huge loss due to COVID-19 lockdown in UP

The armed forces are providing specialists, doctors, nursing and other medical staff who are moved from across the country on a war footing to run the hospital in coordination with Banaras Hindu University and the civil administration, the statement said.

The medical staff has been trained in COVID protocols and all equipment has been checked for serviceability and quality control, it said.

The state government has facilitated all major functions such as supply of essential amenities to run the hospital, including oxygen, dedicated power supply, bio-medical and other waste management system and patient management system.

"Amid the ongoing second wave of COVID-19, the Ministry of Defence has come forward to support the fight against the pandemic by setting up and manning the operations in various Covid Hospitals across the country," the statement said.

After Delhi, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the Varanasi hospital was made functional, it further said.
By PTI

GUWAHATI: New Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Monday said controlling the "alarming" COVID-19 situation in the state is his first priority and his aim will be to make the state one of the top five in the ccountry in the next five years.

Sarma, who was addressing the press after being sworn in, appealed to all insurgent groups of Assam, specially ULFA (I) to lay down arms and join the mainstream to sort out their issues and establish lasting peace in the state.

He said the first cabinet meeting of the second BJP government in the state will be held on Tuesday to discuss the prevailing situation vis a vis the COVID-19 pandemic and decide on measures to contain it.

Sarma, who is also the convenor of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance, said his other objectives will be to fulfill all poll promises like providing one lakh jobs every year, waiving off microfinance loans and to make the state free from the perennial floods.

"My aim will be to make Assam one of the top five Indian states in the next five years. We want to take development to newer heights and bring peace among all castes, creeds and communities. We will start working from tomorrow to fulfill this aim," he asserted.

ALSO READ | Himanta Biswa Sarma: Man of the Match of the Assam elections

On the "alarming" COVID-19 situation in the Assam, he said unless the pandemic is controlled in the state, the cases due to it will not go down in the rest of the north east states.

"The COVID-19 situation in Assam is alarming and my first job will be to control it. Our daily cases have crossed 5,000 mark. In our cabinet meeting tomorrow, we will discuss it from all perspectives. We will take measures to contain the cases. The new government will take every possible measure to contain the spread (of coronavirus)," Sarma said.

Sarma took oath on Monday after he was unanimously elected the leader of BJP Legislature Party and the NDA Legislature Party on Sunday, ending the week-long speculations about who would lead the only non-Congress government to return to power for the second successive term in Assam.

On ending insurgency in the state, he said "I request Paresh Barua (the commander-in-chief of the banned ULFA(I)) to abjure armed struggle and join talks to solve the problems.

Kidnappings and killings complicate problems, not solve them.

I hope we will be able to bring back the underground insurgents to the mainstream in the next five years," he added.

The outfit has been repsonsible for many killings and kidnappings, the latest being that of three ONGC employees from the pubblic sector company's Lakwa oil rig in Sivasagar district along the Assam-Nagaland border in April this year.

Following this security forces had ramped up its counter- insurgency operations and killed a top ULFA(I) commander and arrested one of his aides.

Asked to comment on the contentious National Register of Citizens (NRC), the new chief minister said his government wants reverification of 20 per cent names in the border districts of Assam, and 10 per cent in the rest of the districts.

"If very negligible error is found, then we can go with the existing NRC.

But if huge anomalies are found in reverification, then I hope the court will take note of this and do the needful with a new perspective," he said without elaborating.

Sarma said that the government will also try to solve the controversies surrounding the definition of indigenous people in respect to NRC and citizenship issues by talking to all segments of the society in the next five years.

On BJP's promise of bringing in a law against 'love jehad', he said "Each promise made is meant to be implemented. Every promise is solemn for us. We will do everything possible to fulfill them."

He said his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal led the state in the path of peace and development during the last five years and the new government will take forward the same with "renewed pace".

Asked about giving ST status to six tribes as promised by BJP in 2016, Sarma said "We will see to it that there is no impact on the existing communities.

We will discuss this with all stakeholders and proceed accordingly."

About the state's financial condition, Sarma, who was the finance minister of the Sarbananda Sonowal cabinet, said that there is Rs 7,000 crore in the treasury and all developmental works will continue in the coming period.

"We have one of the best fiscal situations. I want to tell everyone that there is absolutely no cause of concern on the financial condition of Assam," Sarma said.

The Assam government will ensure protection of women and punish those harming their dignity.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: All the newly elected 77 BJP MLAs in West Bengal are being provided security cover by central paramilitary forces in view of potential threats to them, official sources said on Monday.

They said the Members of the Legislative Assembly will be secured by armed commandos of the CISF and the CRPF.

The Union Home Ministry has approved the cover after taking into cognisance a report prepared by central security agencies and the inputs of a high-level fact finding team of officers that was sent to the state by the ministry in the wake of post-poll violence in the state, including that against the workers of the BJP, they said.

Sixty-one MLAs out of the 77 will be covered under the lowest 'X' category and the commandos will be drawn from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), as per fresh orders of the MHA, they said.

The rest are either enjoying the central security cover or will be covered under the next higher category of 'Y'.

Fifty-year-old Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari is already a 'Z' category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), they said.

"These persons face potential threat in the wake of post polls scenario in the state and hence they need to be secured," a senior officer said.

A number of other candidates, including some turncoats, who contested the assembly polls from the BJP ticket will also continue to have the central security cover for some more time, they said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the main opposition party in the state, winning 77 seats in the 294-member house in the recently concluded polls where the TMC led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee formed the government.

While there can be 3-4 armed commandos under the 'X' category, the configuration increases to 6-7 under the 'Y' cover and the 'Z' category brings in about 6-9 commandos for the protectee.

Both the CISF and the CRPF have specialised VIP security units in their establishment and they collectively provide security to over 140 personalities, ranging from central ministers, MPs and senior bureaucrats.
By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Despite repeated assurances of Uttar Pradesh government that it was taking all efforts to contain the Covid pandemic in the BJP-ruled state, some Parliament members of the ruling party have been flagging the scathing issues faced by the public in their constituencies.

On Sunday Union minister and eight-time BJP MP from Bareilly constituency, Santosh Gangwar wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, highlighting the problems faced by Covid patients and their families.

The veteran politician of the ruling party has also suggested some measures to improve the healthcare facilities in the district as well as the state.

Gangwar has alleged that senior officers of the state medical department in Bareilly district were not attending phone calls of patients and attendants.

The union minister also raised the issue of people storing oxygen cylinders in their house as a precautionary measure, which was adding to the scarcity of medical oxygen in the district.

There is an urgent need for identifying such people who are unnecessarily storing oxygen or are even black-marketing the cylinders, the MP said.

He also raised the issue of patients being forced to run from one hospital to another in the name of referral letter. He suggested the UP CM to set up oxygen plants in Bareilly to ease in dealing with the increased demand of oxygen in the state.

While pointing fingers at black-marketing of essential medical equipment used in hospitals, Gangwar suggested the chief minister that prices of medical equipment should be capped, while private hospitals registered under MSME should be given fiscal support.

Just two days ago, BJPs Lok Sabha member from Kanpur, Satyadev Pachauri had written a letter to the UP CM, mentioning that Covid-19 patients werent getting good treatment and many of them were losing lives outside their homes, outside hospitals or even in ambulances in Kanpur in want of adequate life-saving treatment.

Pachauri had also suggested that the UP government should make all possible preparations now for combating the expected third wave of the fatal viral infection.

Prior to it, Kaushal Kishor, BJP MP from Mohanlalganj in Lucknow district, too had written to the CM raising concern over shortage of medical oxygen, life-saving medicines and other necessary hospital equipment in Lucknow district.

Meanwhile, Opposition Congress and Samajwadi Party on Sunday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of making false claims about controlling the COVID-19 situation in the state and "manipulating data".

They alleged that the administrative machinery and health services in the state are "completely paralysed" and the pandemic is spreading fast in villages as migrants returning home are not being tested.

For days now, Uttar Pradesh has figured among the 10 biggest contributors to India's COVID-19 tally.

According to an official statement, the state recorded 23,333 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday that pushed its tally to 15,03,490 while 296 more fatalities took the death toll to 15,464.

Every day, hundreds of COVID-19 deaths are being reported in Uttar Pradesh and most of them are due to the shortage of oxygen or medicines, state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said in a statement.

This is frightening, but more frightening is the "manipulation of figures" by the government.

But those who are losing their near and dear ones are exposing the government's claims, he said.

The state government is trying to act like an ostrich by burying its head in the sand, he added.

Citing official data, Lallu said in the week starting April 24, 66 COVID-19 deaths were reported from Kanpur but according to data collected from crematoria, 462 people were cremated.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said statements made by the Uttar Pradesh government claiming that coronavirus has been controlled in the state can prove to be more fatal than the pandemic.

Coronavirus is spreading fast in villages.

Labourers reaching their villages are not being tested.

The administrative machinery and health services are "completely paralysed", he claimed.

Yadav further claimed that BJP MLAs and MPs are now openly expressing their "anger" over the functioning of the state government.

"In Bareilly, Union minister, MP and MLAs have conveyed the reality to the chief minister," he said.

The "bitter truth" is that the state is drowning in gloom due to deaths while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is busy undertaking air trips, he added.

Union minister Santosh Gangwar has complained to Adityanath about COVID-19 management in Bareilly, saying officials don't take calls and government health centres send back patients for "referrals" from the district hospital.

The Union Labour minister, in a letter that was handed over to Adityanath during his visit to Bareilly on Saturday, has also complained about the "big shortage" of empty oxygen cylinders and the high prices of medical equipment in his Lok Sabha constituency.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh surged to 15,03,490 on Sunday as 23,333 more people tested positive for the disease while 296 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 15,464.

This is the second consecutive day when daily deaths have remained below the 300-mark.

On Saturday, the state had recorded 298 COVID-19 deaths.

Lucknow reported the highest number of fresh cases at 1,436, followed by 1,425 in Meerut and 1,042 in Saharanpur, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement issued here.

Of the 296 deaths, 26 each were reported from Lucknow and Kanpur, 15 from Jhansi, 13 from Bahraich, 11 from Ghazipur and 10 from Gautam Buddh Nagar, it said.

As many as 34,636 COVID-19 patients were discharged in a day after they recovered from the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 12,54,045, the statement said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 2,33,981, it stated.

More than 2.29 lakh samples were tested in the state the previous day.

With this, over 4.29 crore samples have been tested so far, it said.

(With PTI Inputs)
Harpreeet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Western Command of the Army on Monday operationalised a 100-bedded Covid hospital in Chandigarh for civilian patients. Two other such hospitals built in Faridabad and Patiala will be open for the public on May 11 and 12 respectively under 'Operation Namaste'.

The 100-bed hospital in Chandigarh is located at Panjab Universitys Sector 25 campus. The hospital was inaugurated by Punjab Governor and Administrator of Chandigarh, VP Singh Badnore.

The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen RP Singh highlighted the efforts put in by both the Army as well as the civil administration for the early operationalisation of the Hospital. He assured the governments of Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh of continued support of the

Armed Forces in the fight against Covid.

The three Covid care facilities, which will treat patients with mild to moderate symptoms, have been built on a war footing in coordination with the civil administration of respective states and Union Territory. The Army has temporarily relocated its field hospitals for the purpose, he said.

ALSO READ | Chinese scientists discussed weaponising coronavirus in 2015: Media report

Lt Gen Singh added that the Army has deployed its doctors, nursing officers, and paramedics for the holistic treatment of patients as per the ICMR guidelines, provided service ambulances, and trained personnel for administration and management of the hospitals.

The civil administration, on the other hand, is facilitating amenities, service management, uninterrupted oxygen supply, patient admission and discharge processes, and ambulance services at these hospitals.

The admission to these hospitals is open for all Covid-affected citizens and coordinated by the chief medical officers of the respective districts.

Upon admission, ISO numbers will be issued to patients by the respective hospital managements and the discharge will be done on the recommendation of the Army medical officer treating the patients. The patients requiring higher grades of treatment will be shifted to other hospitals, coordinated by the CMO as per availability of ICU facilities.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: In his maiden media briefing as the Chief Minister of Assam on Monday, Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to Paresh Baruah, the self-styled "commander-in-chief" of the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to come forward for peace talks.

"A dialogue with the ULFA is a two-way traffic. Paresh Baruah has to come forward. Similarly, we have to go to him. If both sides have the will, communication won't be difficult," Sarma said.

He said peace returned to Bodoland Territorial Region and Karbi Anglong after the Centre signed peace pacts with the various insurgent groups.

"Over the past five years (under the BJP government), people saw a process of peace and development in Assam. Peace returned to Bodo areas and Karbi Anglong. Our efforts now will be to bring the remaining rebel groups to the talks table for the establishment of permanent peace in the state," the CM said.

Appealing to Baruah and other ULFA members to join the peace process, he said killings and abductions will not solve problems. He was optimistic that the government will be able to bring all groups, still wielding the gun, to the mainstream within the next five years.

ALSO READ | Once blue-eyed boy of Tarun Gogoi, Himanta Sarma gets reward for expanding BJP in Northeast

Sarma said the first priority of his government will be to contain the Covid pandemic, stating that the situation in the state was alarming.

The first meeting of the state Cabinet will be held on Tuesday and the CM said the government will try to fulfil all pre-poll promises, which include making Assam flood-free.

On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said the government will favour 20% re-verification of documents in the districts that share a border with Bangladesh and 10% re-verification elsewhere.

"If the old draft of the NRC is found to be flawless during the re-verification process, we will go ahead with it. But if anomalies are detected, we will want the Supreme Court to see to it," he said.

The NRC of 1951 was updated in Assam under the direct monitoring of the apex court. Over 19 lakh people were left out of the draft.

Asked if his government will bring in a law against "love jihad" and "land jihad" (a way to force people sell off their lands), Sarma said, "The poll promises are solemn for us. We will implement each one of them."

Stating that the state government has Rs 7000 crore in the treasury, he said Assam was one of the best fiscally-managed states in the country and there was absolutely no cause of concern.

Earlier in the day, Governor Jagdish Mukhi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sarma. Thirteen others were also sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.

Three of them belong to two BJP allies. They are Asom Gana Parishad president Atul Bora, its working president Keshab Mahanta and former Rajya Sabha member UG Brahma of the United People's Party Liberal.

The BJP ministers are partys state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Parimal Suklabaidya, Chandra Mohan Patowary, Ajanta Neog, Ranoj Pegu, Sanjay Kishan, Jogen Mohan, Ashok Singhal, Pijush Hazarika and Bimal Bora.

Brahma (UPPL), Pegu, Singhal and Bora are first-time ministers.

Neog, the only woman in the ministry, had defected to the BJP from the Congress in December last year.

Some CMs of northeastern states were among dignitaries who attended the swearing-in ceremony. Before taking the oath, Sarma had visited the Kamakhya and a few other temples.


By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Sunday said it had zero tolerance towards violence against women amidst reports that a woman activist from West Bengal on her way to join the farmers protest was assaulted and subsequently died of COVID-19 related complications.

In a statement, the outfit said, the incident of sexual harassment and assault against the woman has been reported on social media sites, and the farmers group wanted to make it clear that strict action has been taken against those found guilty.

"The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) makes it abundantly clear that it stands with the struggle for justice for our deceased woman colleague. SKM has already taken strict action against the accused in this case and we are committed to take this fight for justice to its logical conclusion," it said.

The farmers group said the case concerns the 26-year-old woman who came from West Bengal along with some persons posing to be "Kisan Social Army" members.

"She was assaulted by some of these persons on the way to Delhi and after reaching Tikri border. A week later, she developed high fever and was found COVID-19 positive. She was admitted to a private hospital in Bahadurgah. Sadly, on April 30, she passed away due to COVID-19."

"When this came to the notice of the SKM, we decided to take strictest possible action. Four days ago, the Tikri committee of SKM had already removed the tents and banners of the so called 'Kisan Social Army'.

"The accused were also barred from participating in the movement and public appeal was issued for their social boycott," the statement stated.

The SKM added that the Kisan Social Army was never the authorised social media voice of the farmers group and none of its handles have anything to do with the movement.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Police on Sunday formed a special investigation team after the woman's father alleged she was raped when she had gone to the border point with some members of an outfit supporting the protest against the Centre's new farm laws.

Six people, including the two prime accused, have been named in an FIR registered in the case following a complaint from the father on Saturday, an official said.

Several farmers are protesting against the farm laws at border points of Delhi, including Tikri and Singhu, since November last year.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: A video purportedly showing a Covid-19 victims body being dumped into the bank of the Saura river in Bihars Katihar district has gone viral on social media.

Katihars District Magistrate Udayan Mishra has verified the video clip and found it to be true. The incident took place on May 7.

Soon after we have learnt about the incident, an inquiry panel headed by citys Magistrate, SDO and SDPO of the area, was constituted who later visited the Bheria Rahika village on Sunday. During the investigation, it was found that the person died of Covid on May 6, Mishra told this newspaper.

As per the statement of the deceaseds brother, his family did not have enough money to cremate the body. Moreover, the villagers told the family members that the cremation of the Covid victim could be hazardous to health for others. Hence, they had dug an 8 feet deep pit in their own land to bury the body, Mishra said.

After the patient, a wage labourer, had succumbed to Covid in Sadar hospital, the hospital administration then sent the body in an ambulance to the village on May 7. During the process of burial, some onlookers filmed it and made it viral on social networking platforms, Mishra said.

The DM denied that the body was dumped by the ambulance driver Vishnu Jha and other staff of the hospital.

When we spoke to the victims son, he admitted that the family was unaware that the government pays for the last rites of a Covid-19 patient and thats why they had decided to bury the body, the DM said.

He added that the body was not exhumed as per the consent of family members and the Covid-19 guidelines. He said the family will get compensation of Rs 4 lakh as announced by the state government for Covid-19 victims.

Seventy more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Bihar raising the states death toll on Sunday to reach 3,282 though a drop in the positivity rate also caused the active caseload to decrease and the recovery rate to improve.

According to the state health department, 11,259 fresh cases were reported compared with the recent past when the number of people testing positive, on an average, stood between 13,000 and 15,000 on a daily basis.

The number of active cases now stood at 1,10,804, a fall of nearly 5,000 in the past few days.

The recovery rate, which remained under 80 per cent for a couple of weeks, has also reached 80.71 per cent.

Altogether 5.91 lakh people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar ever since the pandemic struck in March last year.

Out of them, 4.77 lakh have recovered.

The day also saw vaccination for those aged between 18 and 44 years of age getting underway.

Although it was scheduled to begin on May 1, a delay in supply of vials caused the process to be deferred by a week.

The department could not provide the number of people in the aforesaid age-group who received jabs on the inaugural day.

The number of people aged above 45 and those in professions like healthcare, who have been vaccinated in the state, has crossed 80 lakhs.

Video goes viral on social media

A video of the body being dumped into the bank of the Saura river in Bihars Katihar district had gone viral on social media.

As per the statement of the deceaseds brother, his family did not have enough money to cremate the body. The villagers told the family that the cremation of the Covid victim could be hazardous to health for others. Hence, they had dug an 8 feet deep pit to bury the body, the DM said.

(With PTI Inputs)
Rajesh Kumar Thakur And Anuraag Singh By

Express News Service

PATNA: Dozens of bodies, in various stages of decay, of suspected Covid-19 victims were spotted in the Ganges at Chausa block of Bihars Buxar district on Monday morning, sparking a scare.

While the locals said such sights were frequent ever since officials started dumping bodies into the river after running out of firewood at the crematoriums, authorities claimed they had flowed into the state from upstream Uttar Pradesh, where similar sightings at a border village in Ghazipur district were reported.

However, there was no clear word on the origin of the bodies. After the bodies were retrieved, Buxar DM Aman Samir ordered an inquest.

While the locals claimed that 40-45 bodies were spotted, the DM pegged the number at 30-35.

These bodies are not of the people from Buxar. It has come from upstream Ganges, Samir told media.

Confirming a similar sighting on the UP side of the Ganges, Ghazipur DM M P Singh told TNIE: Buxar officials are coordinating with us. We spotted one body in the river in Ghazipurs Bara village.

However, Singhs claim was contested in Gahmar, a village adjoining Bara, where locals claimed that not one, but several bodies were seen in the river.

They concurred with Chausa villagers that the sudden shortage of firewood owing to a jump in cost was responsible for the disposal of the bodies on the Ganges.

The river separates Bihar from UP, with Bara and Gahmar in Ghazipur on one bank and Chausa on the other.

Locals in Chausa said that spotting carrion birds and stray dogs eating half-burnt, bloated bodies had become common.

Everyday bodies of Covid patients, either half-burnt or wrapped in plastic, are dumped into the river as there is a shortage of firewood, a local said.

However, the authorities refuted the allegations, saying the local crematoriums had abundant stock of firewood and bodies were being cremated as per prescribed guidelines at Chausa ghats.

Buxar SDO KK Upadhayay later told the media that the bodies had flowed into the state from faraway places.

ALSO READ | As death toll crosses two lakh mark, data manipulation lets down India's COVID fight

Meanwhile, health experts like Dr Rajiv Ranjan and Dr Madhusudan from Patna said such unceremonious disposal of bodies of Covid-19 victims may lead to the spread of infection among humans and animals, too.

Meanwhile, the newly elected gram pradhan of Saurabh village in Karanda block of Ghazipur, Sima Jaiswal, wrote to the DM, alleging that 16 deaths, possibly due Covid, have occurred in the village in a month.

In every house of the village, there are people suffering from cough-cold and fever. There have been instances, where people died within 3-4 days of the symptoms emerging.

There are such patients not only in Saurabh, but also in neighbouring Chandipur and Chochakpur villages, too.

Meanwhile, Ghazipur DM said mobile teams for collecting samples and distributing medical kits have been increased from four to 64.

We have identified 400 villages.

Cases surged from 16 to 1,216 in one month

As per official estimates, Buxar has registered a huge uptick in the number of Covid patients during the second wave. The number of positive cases was 16 on March 31 and it jumped to 1,216 on May 8. It registered 26 deaths in the period.

Chausa and Chitravans in the Buxar district have two popular cremations grounds where dead bodies are consigned to flame day and night.

"We were alerted by the local chowkidar that many bodies have been spotted floating from upstream. We have so far recovered 15 of these. None of the deceased happens to be a resident of the district," Chausa BDO Ashok Kumar said over the phone.

He said "many Uttar Pradesh districts are situated right across the river and the bodies may have been dumped in the Ganges for reasons not known to us. We cannot confirm whether the deceased were indeed Covid positive. The bodies have started decomposing. But we are taking all precautions while ensuring that these are disposed of in a decent manner".

Some news channels claimed the number of bodies to be as high as 100, which the BDO dismissed as "highly exaggerated".

As per official figures, Buxar registered a big surge in the number of Covid cases -- from 16 as of March 31 to 1,216 as of May 8 with 26 deaths.

When contacted, Buxar DM Aman Samir confirmed only 30 to 35 unidentified dead bodies were spotted at Chausa.

He denied that bodies in the river were from Buxars villages. Bodies are not of Buxar. It is coming from upstream of Ganga, DM Buxar Aman Samir said.

(With agency inputs)
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Over one crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs, which will receive over 9 lakh additional doses within the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

The Centre has so far provided nearly 18 crore vaccine doses (17,93,57,860) to states and UTs free of cost.

Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 16,89,27,797 doses, the ministry said.

"More than 1 crore COVID vaccine doses (1,04,30,063) are still available with the states and UTs to be administered. States with negative balance are showing more consumption (including wastage) than vaccine supplied as they have not reconciled the vaccine they have supplied to armed forces."

"Furthermore, more than 9 lakh (9,24,910) vaccine doses will be received in addition by the states and UTs within the next three days," the ministry said.

Vaccination forms an integral component of the five point strategy of the Government of India of containment and management of the pandemic (including Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour), the ministry said.

Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi are among 10 states that account for 73.

91 per cent of the 3,66,161 new COVID-19 cases registered in a day, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Haryana are the other states in the list of 10.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 48,401.

It is followed by Karnataka with 47,930 while Kerala reported 35,801 new cases.

India's total COVID-19 active caseload has reached 37,45,237 and now comprises 16.53 per cent of the country's total infections.

A net increase of 8,589 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh cumulatively account for 82.89 per cent of India's total active cases, the ministry said.

"The National Mortality Rate has been falling and currently stands at 1.09 per cemt," the ministry said.

Besides, 3,754 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours.

Ten states account for 72.86 per cent of the new deaths.

Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (572).

Karnataka follows with 490 daily deaths.

India's cumulative recoveries have surged to 1,86,71,222 with 3,53,818 people recuperating in a span of 24 hours.

Ten states also account for 74.38 per cent of the new recoveries.

"Average daily recovery of more than 3.28 lakh cases has been recorded in last 10 days," the ministry said.

The ministry also said that 6,738 oxygen concentrators, 3,856 oxygen cylinders, 16 oxygen generation plants, 4,668 ventilators/ Bi PAP/ C PAP and more than 3L Remdesivir vials received as part of global aid to India have been delivered or dispatched to states and UTs to augment and supplement their infrastructure.

The Centre is ensuring that the global aid is being expeditiously delivered to states and UTs through fast custom clearances, and use of air and road transport.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: More medical supplies for Covid patients are on their way with Indian Naval Ship (INS) Airavat, INS Trikand reaching Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively and INS Kolkata approaching New Mangalore Karnataka to deliver the supplies under Operation Samudra Setu-II.

Commander Vivek Madhwal, Spokesperson, Indian Navy, said, "Three Indian Naval warships together will deliver supplies including four 27-MT oxygen-filled containers, eight 20 T cryogenic oxygen tanks (empty), 900 filled oxygen cylinders, 3,150 oxygen cylinders (empty), 10,000 Rapid Antigen Test kits, 54 oxygen concentrators and 450 PPE kits from Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore.

Carrying the largest consignment, INS Airavat reached Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in the morning with eight 20 T cryogenic oxygen tanks (empty) 3,898 oxygen cylinders (empty), 500 filled oxygen cylinders, seven oxygen concentrators, 10,000 Rapid Antigen Test kits and 450 PPE kits from Singapore. The ship departed Singapore on May 5 with oxygen tanks and cylinders sourced through various agencies in coordination with the High Commission of India.

ALSO READ | HC grants bail to anti-CAA activist Natasha Narwal to perform last rites of father who died of Covid

Around the same time, INS Trikand reached Mumbai, Maharashtra with two 27-MT oxygen-filled containers from Qatar.

INS Kolkata is arriving in New Mangalore, Karnataka with two 27 MT oxygen-filled containers, 400 oxygen cylinders and 47 oxygen concentrators from Qatar and Kuwait.

The navy has deployed its nine warships under Operation Samudra Setu-II.

The deployed ships - INS Talwar, INS Kolkata, INS Airavat, INS Kochi, INS Tabar, INS Trikand, INS Jalashwa and INS Shardul - will ferry oxygen containers/cylinders/concentrators and related equipment from friendly foreign countries. INS Talwar was the first to deliver oxygen at New Mangalore on May 5.

Bahrain, Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore are some of the friendly countries that made the supplies available.

As per the Indian Navy, the loading of oxygen containers and other medical supplies has also been planned on INS Tarkash, INS Shardul and INS Jalashwa from Doha, Kuwait and Muara, Brunei respectively in the coming days.

ALSO READ | Unseen, unsung heroes of war against Corona

The Indian Navy launched Operation Samudra Setu-II to assist in the Covid fight on May 3.

Operation Samudra Setu had been launched last year by the Navy to rescue Indian citizens stranded in neighbouring countries amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Around 4,000 stranded citizens were successfully brought back to India.


By PTI

AHMEDABAD: Police have busted a fake call centre being operated from Ahmedabad and targeting US citizens on the pretext of providing them quick loans, and arrested three persons in this connection, officials said on Monday.

Based on a specific tip-off, a cyber crime team raided the call centre located in Jagatpur area on Sunday and nabbed the trio, identified as Bharatsinh Mandola (35), Akhilesh Nair (23) and Ajay Sonavane (28), all residents of Ahmedabad.

The accused used to call unsuspecting Americans by identifying themselves as representatives of the 'USA Speedy Cash Loan Centre' and lure people by offering them quick loans, a release by the cyber crime branch said.

To win the trust of people and project their firm as genuine, they used to make calls using a specialised software, and persons on the other side would see a US telecom number on their phone screen rather than an Indian number, it said.

Once the victims expressed willingness to take loan, the accused would tell them that the loan could not be disbursed because of less credit score.

They would tell the victims to first deposit a transaction fees to increase their credit score and get the loan, the release said.

For the payment of transaction fees, they used to ask the victims to share the 16 digit number of gift cards of various e-commerce companies and then encash those gift cards from India, it said.

The police came to know that Mandola had roped-in the other two accused and started the illegal call centre at his residence in Jagatpur area of the city.

The three accused were booked on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, the police said.
Sumi Sukanya Dutta By

Express News Service

Dr Lahariya is a medical doctor, epidemiologist, vaccines and health systems expert based in New Delhi. He has more than 17 years of experience in outbreak, epidemics and pandemics and one of the Indian experts involved in the 2009, H1N1 pandemic preparedness and response. He is the co-author of 'Till We Win: India's Fight Against The COVID-19 Pandemic".



1. The second Covid wave has taken the country by storm and led to a near-collapse of the healthcare system in many states, the starkest case being that of the national capital. Who do you think the buck stops with?

A: The health systems challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic were widely acknowledged. The health systems weaknesses were fully detailed in a situation analysis document released as part of Indias third national health policy in March 2017. However, the type of effort which should have been made since then and till now is suboptimal. The NHP 2017 proposed to increase government funding for health to 2.5% of GDP by 2025, from 1.15% in 2015-16. Five years since then, the country is not on track to achieve the target it set for itself. We know, government funding for health and a well-functioning health system are essential to minimize the impact of any health emergency including epidemic and pandemic. We also know that health systems can not be strengthened overnight. And that is why experts have always kept repeating for the last two decades to invest in health services. India has landed in this situation because the successive elected governments, both national and state levels, and elected leaders did not follow up on the policies they approved and promises they made. The buck stops with governments and elected leaders at all levels. I believe it will change only when citizens start holding the elected leaders accountable for health services in their areas and when health will become an agenda which will determine their voting decision, in every single election.

2. How and why did we miss anticipating such a massive wave of infections?

A: There was no reason to believe, if anyone did, that India would not face a second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The search for answers in universal BCG vaccination and high rate of underlying infection and thus heightened immune system quickly transcended to a narrative of Indian exceptionalism. What was forgotten the viruses do not respect boundaries and on any other ground. We know that 1918 -20 influenza pandemic four waves over a period of two years and the second wave was the one which was most severe and caused the highest mortality, in nearly all parts of the world. In the last year nearly every country, except China, has faced a second or third wave. All those should have alerted us to prepare for the next wave. It is clear that those signals were not fully followed. Much of the Indian response to the first wave was doing what was needed to tackle the COVID-19 such as ventilator beds, PPE, and improved testing. Though there were many discussions on strengthening health systems, I am not sure if it was actually done. If only the promises made to strengthen the health system, made by both union and state governments, would have been followed, India's handling of the second wave would have been very different.

3. In your estimation what could be the level of undercounting of deaths which are largely due to lack of access to adequate and timely treatment, rather than the disease itselfin India in the second wave thus far?

A: It is very likely that deaths due to COVID-19 in India are being undercounted, as of now. This is not going to be a problem in India but also in all countries with poor registration of deaths. The rush at crematoriums and burial grounds clearly show the excess deaths. This situation at crematoriums is not in just one city or state but across many states of India. What it points to is the excess deaths in India than the pre-pandemic period. The confirmed COVID-19 deaths would not have increased this rush. We know that there is increased mortality and many of rural India and even cities are not being tested for COVID-19. Those deaths are not counted as confirmed deaths. It is not possible to predict at this stage whether those number Whether that number would be two or four folds is not possible to say. However, India has a relatively better performing death registration system, where nearly 70% of all deaths are registered. Therefore, I am sure that in the time ahead, we will definitely get a clear picture of this in the time ahead. However, for me more important is that India needs to revise the approach to certification of COVID-19 deaths and need to make it broad-based. India also needs to increase testing and treatment services in rural parts, to ensure the timely identification and case management, which would help in reducing the deaths.

4. At one point of time, many epidemiologists believed that at least the metropolitan cities may have seen the worst of the Covid pandemic already last year. Do you think the high seroprevalence in these cities, as shown in the serosurvey, lulled policy makers and people into a false sense of security?

A: We know that sero-surveillance is one of the tools in pandemic and they have their limitations. Alongside, the unknowns about the SARS CoV2 virus and COVID-19 have been far too many. Back then, there was limited clarity how long the immunity lasts after natural infection and what is the protective level of antibodies. It is also true that with every serosurvey, many started arguing that herd immunity results in the end of the pandemic. Though, even the threshold of herd immunity was not fully understood. And the experts at the global level were divided in their opinion. The core point that in such novel pathogens, herd immunity only through the natural infection was unlikely to be achieved. Attempting that would have had a very high human cost in the form of illness and deaths. Herd immunity through vaccination would be the right approach. However, it is not about responding to the pandemic only. The weak health systems and world still being in mid of the pandemic, should have been reasons enough to continue to work upon strengthening everything which was needed to respond to the virus and pandemic. However, in my opinion, it is the traditional low priority given to health, which resulted in a lull and false sense of security. In fact, the belief that India could tackle the first wave with whatever health system it has, sort of, was taken as the system does not need anything additional.

5. Battling a fierce wave of infections, the country is also facing an acute shortage of Covid vaccines. What do you think of the countrys vaccination policy so far and would you say the government did not plan well?

A: One of the key approaches in any public health programmes has to be simplicity in design and assured provision of supply before promising delivery. Thats exactly what most countries have done. The countries have used age criteria to open the vaccination (except for health workers), the vaccination has been opened in phased manner and the availability of vaccines has been secured before started vaccinating. Nearly all countries are providing vaccines free of cost to the citizens. India had advantage of a robust universal immunization program platform, on which COVID-19 vaccination is being implemented. The way Indias COVID-19 vaccination strategy has been developed, I am not sure if it is a technical decision or political decision. Sometimes politics should be kept away from some health decisions and especially so in the pandemic. COVID-19 vaccination is one such area. I think there is still an opportunity in India to simplify the process. The vaccine supply is unlikely to increase drastically; however, if the government revisits some vaccination decisions and put a few on hold, that can streamline the vaccination drive, which is so very vital for pandemic response today.

6. Do you think a third wave of the pandemic is possible in the coming months? Going forward, what do you think could be Indias approach to the crisis?

A: We know that SARS CoV2 is unlikely to disappear and will be with humanity for years and decades to come. It is also sure that the second wave would decline in coming weeks and the epidemic curve would be flattened one more time (I think starting mid to late June 2021). However, we should also know that the number of new daily new cases is not going to be as low as we had seen in February 2021. I am also confident with increased vaccination coverage, there would be a slow but sustained downward trend. However it is very likely that with the susceptible population increasing, people dropping their guard one more time, there would be fresh waves of cases. There will be a third wave at national level, which is more likely due to surge in cases at select states. No one can say, which states would those be. Irrespective of everything, when and to what extent of third of subsequent wave of COVID-19 in India would be, will be determined by the actions taken by union and state governments, the vaccination coverage, mutations in the virus and potential immune escape, and the adherence of COVID appropriate behavior by public. See, there are so many unknowns. Therefore, how many waves India will have will be determined by our actions together but also what we learn what Indian states learn from the experience of other states.

7. Given the situation, as of now, do you support the idea of a nationwide lockdown?

A: Much of India is already under various forms of restrictions. However, there is limited value in nationwide lockdown. We know that in India there are states and districts which have a different number of daily new cases and test positivity rate. The nationwide lockdown has always been said to be a blunt instrument. A year later with better understanding of the virus and so many technical experts, there is no value in use of a blunt instrument. The approach to pandemic response to be calibrated, factoring in local epidemiology. There are international experts who have also advised for national nationwide lockdown. However, what they miss is that India is a country of 1.38 billion people and where every state has a population size equivalent to a nation in other settings. Therefore, the restriction has to be purpose-specific and not uniform. Second and most important, all the restrictions for COVID-19 should be, no matter which state or setting they are, should always be supplemented by social security measures and cash transfer for a large proportion of population, without the unnecessary burden of proof to get those benefits. The nationwide lockdown is not the right option for India in this wave.
By PTI

SHAHJAHANPUR: Uttar Pradesh Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna on Sunday said that people who test positive for COVID-19 are spreading fear of the disease and that is also causing many deaths.

It is everyone's responsibility not to spread fear, he told reporters after visiting the medical college here.

Khanna also visited the hospital's ICU ward.

"After testing positive for COVID-19, people are spreading fear of the disease from inside their homes to outside. Deaths are also taking place due to this fear. In such a scenario, it is our responsibility not to spread fear of COVID," Khanna said.

For days now, Uttar Pradesh has figured among the biggest contributors to India's COVID-19 tally, according to Union health ministry data.

According to an official statement, the state recorded 23,333 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday that pushed its tally to 15,03,490 while 296 more fatalities took the death toll to 15,464.

On his visit to the medical college, Khanna said COVID-19 patients admitted in the hospital are satisfied with the treatment being given to them.

He claimed that there has been a decline in the number of patients due to the government's proactiveness.

The number of patients has dropped to 78,000 from 3.10 lakh on April 30.

Khanna also claimed that there is no shortage of oxygen or hospitals beds in Shahjahanpur.

"You can bring your patients, we will admit them," he said.
Chinese girl volunteers to teach in world's underprivileged communities for four years

People's Daily Online) 15:12, May 10, 2021

Photo shows Cheng Lijin, a 24-year-old youth from Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, along with a group of her students. (Photo/yangtse.com)

Stories of a compassionate Chinese youth making full use of her summer and winter vacations to volunteer and provide educational assistance to local children in less affluent communities in countries abroad over the past four years, including in Tanzania, Kenya, Thailand and India, have recently touched the heartstrings of many netizens.

Cheng Lijin, a 24-year-old youth from Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, came up with the idea of volunteering as a teacher in 2016 based on the influence of a movie entitled Desert Flower.

"My undergraduate major was related to film. After watching Desert Flower, I wanted to see what Africa looked like with my own eyes," recalled the young woman, who is now a postgraduate student in the U.K.

In December 2016, Cheng was finally provided with a four-month opportunity to volunteer in Mwanza, Tanzanias second-largest city, along with Nairobi, the capital and largest city in Kenya, having received a monthly subsidy of 8,500 yuan ($1,315).

Teaching English, science and technology as well as fine arts classes for fourth and sixth graders at a primary school in Mwanza, Cheng not only brought hope to her impoverished students, but also befriended many outstanding young people during the course of her volunteer work.

When Cheng arrived in Africa for the first time, she still continued to use chopsticks when eating food rather than using her bare hands as the locals did. However, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, she decided to set aside the dining habits she grew up with in her own country and instead got accustomed to the traditional local way of eating. "All that the others knew about me was that I came from China, so I wanted to do my best to be a good ambassador for Chinese youth," said the young woman.

In addition to the language barrier, the most challenging part of local life for Cheng was not having access to a hot shower. "Since there was no tap water available, I couldn't access a hot shower at all. Only on special occasions was I able to take a long trip to the downtown areas of the city and purchase running water for a bath," Cheng recalled.

In the face of an unfamiliar environment and difficult circumstances, many quit their post, including a volunteer teacher who chose to return back home during just the second week after arriving. Nevertheless, Cheng continued to hang on. "I also thought about giving up, but I believed this was not a good idea, since I had made a promise to the local children. If I chose to leave so suddenly, that would have been totally irresponsible," she explained.

In March 2017, when Cheng arrived at an orphanage in a Nairobi slum, she was shocked by the deep level of poverty the local children were subjected to, especially in one instance when she discovered that there were seven children sharing only one pencil stub. Responding to what she saw, Cheng launched a fundraising campaign in an attempt to raise money to purchase daily necessities and study materials for the orphans.

Thanks to her relentless efforts, Cheng successfully raised more than 20,000 yuan within three days.

"When I was leaving the school at the end of the program, all the kids in my class were crying next to the doorsteps," Cheng said. The innocence and lovely nature of the children left an indelible impression on Cheng, while the gratitude they showed made her more determined than ever to organize and participate in additional volunteer activities in the future.

After Cheng's volunteering stories went viral on the Internet, a few netizens doubted her intentions. "Why didn't you be a volunteer teacher at home?" one questioned.

In her retort, Cheng explained that international communication is also of great importance. She would like to become a kind of messenger to show the outside world the excellent spirit of Chinese youth. Moreover, during the process of engaging with and seeing the wider world, the love she has for her motherland has also become all the more deeper over time.

After graduating in the U.K. from her postgraduate program in October this year, Cheng planned to return back to her native Guangxi and become a teacher there. "I want to continue to teach what I have learned, as there are many poor and backward areas around my hometown in Guangxi and many young children who have a thirst for knowledge," the young woman disclosed.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress Working Committee on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying he must "atone for his mistakes" and serve the people instead of carrying on with his "personal agenda" oblivious to the sufferings all around.

The CWC, the Congress' highest decision-making body, in a resolution also questioned the government data on coronavirus cases and fatalities, and alleged non-reporting of deaths.

The solution lies in facing challenge, not in concealing the truth, it said.

The CWC also expressed deep concern over the government's coronavirus vaccination strategy, alleging the supply was grossly insufficient and the pricing policy opaque and discriminatory.

ALSO READ | Need to take note of serious setbacks in state polls, draw lessons: Sonia Gandhi in CWC meet

Congress leaders K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said the CWC is of the firm belief that this is a time for showing an unwavering sense of national unity, purpose and resolve.

"In order that it may become a reality, the Prime Minister must atone for his mistakes and commit to serving the people instead of carrying on with personal agenda, oblivious to the suffering all around," the CWC resolution said.

The two leaders said the CWC noted with concern that the government data on Covid-19 deaths is "horribly wrong and afflicted by a massive non-reporting of deaths".

"The solution lies in facing the challenge and stopping the casualties from Covid-19 and not in concealing the truth by burying the data on deaths and infections," the CWC said.

The CWC said the second Covid-19 wave is nothing short of a grave calamity and is a direct consequence of the Modi government's "indifference, insensitivity and incompetence".

ALSO READ | Elections for Congress party president further postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic

On other issues in the resolution, the two leaders said that a committee proposed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for assessing the party's losses in the recently concluded state polls would be set up within 48 hours and it would give its report very soon.

Surjewala said the Congress Working Committee also expressed its revulsion at the "shocking expenditure" priorities of the Modi government.

At a time when the nation's resources should be devoted to ensuring expansion of vaccination drive and the supply of essential medicines and oxygen, the Modi government is indulging in a "criminal waste of money" by continuing with the "personal vanity" project of the Prime Minister in the national capital, the CWC said, referring to the Central Vista revamp exercise.

"This is the height of callousness and insensitivity, as also an insult to the people of the country," the CWC said.
Anuraag Singh By

Express News Service

VARANASI: A week after a 31-year-old Covid-positive Thai woman passed away at a hospital in Lucknow, her death has triggered a political controversy in Uttar Pradesh.

On the basis of local media reports alleging that the Thai woman was 'call girl' called to Lucknow by BJP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Seth's son, the opposition Samajwadi Party's national spokesperson IP Singh has demanded a CBI probe into the entire matter. The socialist politician has also shared on twitter a picture of Sanjay Seth with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, a call girl was called from Thailand, who died later due to COVID. Has the UP Police got the guts to investigate and act in the matter. I demand a CBI investigation into the Thai girl's death in Lucknow," the SP leader wrote in a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday.

Sanjay Seth (also a prominent builder in Lucknow), who was earlier with the SP, has, meanwhile, written a letter to the Lucknow Police Commissioner DK Thakur, demanding a thorough investigation into the matter and also demanded action against those who are maligning his family "by spreading rumours over social media."

ALSO READ | COVID crisis: Present tense for Bhopal twins as parents fall victim to deadly second wave

The Thai woman, who reportedly came to Delhi on a three-month tourist visa in March 2020, later arrived in Lucknow. She was admitted to a hospital in the UP capital on April 28 and subsequently tested Covid positive, before her death on May 3.

With no one claiming the Thai woman's body, her mortal remains were cremated under police supervision by following necessary Covid protocol in Lucknow, after getting clearance from the Thailand Embassy in New Delhi.

According to Lucknow Police Commissioner DK Thakur, a probe has been ordered into the entire matter. "The probe is being headed by DCP (Lucknow East) Sanjiv Suman."

Meanwhile, the DCP Sanjiv Suman, who has been tasked by the citys police commissioner to probe the entire matter, said on Monday, "Primary probe has revealed that the Thai woman was a certified therapist, who has been coming to Lucknow in the past also and working with a spa center O2 Thai Spa in Lucknow. She was working with the same spa, which is owned by Rakesh Sharma and managed by one Salman."

"It was Salman only who had got the woman admitted at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow last month and also undertook her body's cremation earlier this month. We've already questioned Salman in the matter and will also quiz the spa owner Rakesh Sharma and others," the DCP said.

"Serious allegations have been leveled against a public representative and respectable citizen. If during our probe nothing incriminating is found, then action will be taken against those from whom the messages have originated on social media. We appeal to all those who've been circulating such messages on social media to furnish evidence in support of their allegations to the police for further probe," he added.
The Telangana government believes there is no need for a total lockdown as the Covid-19 scourge is fully under its control. Interestingly, it is the only state in India where there is neither a total nor partial lockdown except for a night curfew. But the Telangana High Court is not so gung-ho about its newfound optimism that it can tame the demon. It suggested at least a weekend lockdown but the state is not in favour of that either. The government maintains there is no empirical evidence that a lockdown would curb virus spread. Instead, it argues a shutdown would cripple the states economy besides killing livelihoods.

But the figures paint a different picture. Telangana stands at the 23rd position in terms of the percentage of the population vaccinated with at least one dose. Of the 3.76 crore people, only 11% have received at least one dose and only 2% both the doses. The positivity rate for the last one week was 8.5%, which is 3.5% more than the WHO threshold. The positivity rate should be less than 5% for two weeks in a row to arrive at the conclusion that the infection is plateauing. There is no disputing that 8.5% on May 9 is less given the high rates of positivity in states like Goa (47.9%), Uttarakhand (37.3%) and so on. But it is still a cause for concern.

There is also an argument that the relatively small positivity rate is due to low testing. The number of those tested came down to as few as 55,358 on May 9 even when the High Court has been insisting on one lakh tests per day. The contention may be that the positivity rate will remain constant regardless of how many tests are done. But as we are dealing with an exponentially increasing Covid-19 infection, the argument might not hold water.

On the flip side, the state has made some right moves. It has been stocking up enough oxygen in hospitals and is also providing the poor five kg of rice per head free of cost for two months. The chief ministers decision to appoint on ad hoc basis a large number of doctors from among 50,000 students who have completed their MBBS courses is another positive. The fight against the pandemic will be long drawn and the government will have to stay the course.
Gayathri Mani By

Express News Service

Pawan Kumar stands with a bunch of colleagues who work as sevadaar, also called dom, at a crematorium in the national capital. Humare pas mask nahi hai. Gloves, sanitiser nahi hai. Joote nahi hain or hume koi darr bhi nahi hai (Neither we been provided with mask, gloves, shoes or sanitiser nor we have any fear). I dont have any problem with the civic authority or government. The only thing that breaks our heart is that despite working day and night, directly dealing with the bodies of corona victims and Covid-positive relatives and risking our lives, we are not considered corona warriors or frontline workers.

For the last one month, most of us have not visited their home or met anyone in our family. Those who are going home isolate themselves in a room. They enter the house from the backdoor. Some get their food from the balcony tied up in a rope or just visit home to listen to the voice of their wife, parents and children. We are performing free last rites of unattended bodies and helping families in need but what is the government doing for us, says the 31-year-old.

Like Kumar, there are at least 3,500-4,000 unsung heroes in the national capitals cremation grounds, qabristan (burial ground) and graveyards who are silently working while risking their lives and exposing themselves to the deadly virus without any recognition, compensation or any health care facility. There are around 28 crematoriums, cemeteries and qabristans in the national capital. 15-20 crematorium workers have lost their lives to Covid-19 so far with the last rites of many of them performed at these ghats and graveyards.

Workers help unload bodies of Covid-19 victims

from ambulances | shekhar yadav

Sadly, these unrecognised Covid warriors are neither included in the AAP governments `1 crore compensation scheme nor are they being provided any health insurance, compensation and healthcare facilities by the municipal corporations and government.

While the government and civic authorities are claiming full health safety and security being provided to the workers at shamshan ghats and graveyards, the ground reality shows a different picture.

During a visit to the cremation grounds like Nigam Bodh Ghat, Lodhi Road, Kalkaji, Sarai Kale Khan Cremation ground and ITO qabristan, The Morning Standard found that not a single worker had a surgical or N95 mask, PPE kit, hand gloves and sanitisers.

Suman Gupta, who heads the Badi Panchayat Vaishya Beese Agarwal Committee, an NGO which manages the Nigam Bodh Ghat, said, We are providing masks, safety kits, PPE kits to workers and vaccinations have been done.

However, the reporter saw that from sevadaars to Karam Kandi pandits, many were not wearing proper masks. Most had covered their face with a scarf or a handkerchief. Most of these workers are not vaccinated and requested priority in vaccinations. Some did not want to talk on record fearing for their job.

Nigam Bodh Ghat is one of the biggest cremation grounds in Delhi, located in Kashmiri Gate with six electric furnaces (three reserved for Covid victims), about 120 funeral platforms for funerals of Covid and non-Covid deaths. There are about 150 workers including pandits, labourers at the ghat. Two pandits at this ghat have died of Covid -19.

The workers say that they see at least 100-150 deaths a day. The numbers have crossed 200 in recent days and all the bodies from the nearby hospitals come here for final rites.

Monu, 36, who is working at the Nigam Bodh Ghat since childhood, says, People are scared to even think of crematoriums but for me this place was home. I played here, swan here. Every day we learnt a lesson about life. But for the first time, I am scared for my life and family because there are lives solely dependent on me. Things are different now. I have never seen bodies queuing up for funerals like this.

Monu, who is a sevadaar, says, Watching so many deaths daily is tough. I am depressed and mentally tired. I have not seen my daughter and wife for a month. I dont have a smartphone, so I cannot even talk to them via a video call. I am risking my life working here but the government cannot even give us credit and compensation. What will happen to my family if I am gone?

Shriram, a pandit, says, We are not only performing last rites but also helping people in performing last rites for free. But our families are being discriminated against by neighbours as I work here. The Dhabas outside have stopped selling food to us and asked us not to go near their stall.

Volunteers help with the cremation of Covid-19 victims at an electric crematorium

in New Delhi | Shekhar YAdaV

The shoes I am wearing were given to me by a family who came here for last rites of a relative, he says.

Shriram lives in Haryana and says he will visit his home once things get normal. I cannot put my family at risk. I am staying here. Food and water are being provided by NGOs and volunteers give us gur-chana which we eat in the night. A 46-year-old sevadaar, who did not wish to be named, said, I live in Bhalaswa. There are seven members in my family. I go home daily to escape the noise of crying relatives and the crowd. But, I cant sleep peacefully without having alcohol. Most workers here are from scheduled castes and have been doing this job for generations. We face caste discrimination at ghats and in our society. We dont want this life for our children. Many workers suffer from TB, lung-related diseases. This coronavirus is another trauma for us.

I have two requests. One for the people at least after this pandemic stop the caste discrimination and respect everyone as we sevadaars are carrying bodies, lighting pyres, performing last rites and immersing ashes in the Yamuna in these difficult times. Secondly, I request CM Arvind Kejriwal to include us in the Rs 1 crore compensation scheme, provide us some health insurance and schemes for our children and family as we too are risking our lives in the frontline, he says.

Mohammad Shamin, the caretaker at the Ahle-Islam Qabristan at ITO one of the biggest Muslim graveyard, has not met his family since April 13. His family lives in a staff quarter near the graveyard. He and two other staff members have created a makeshift/temporary jhuggi and are living there since April.

For the last one month, I have not seen my daughters. Chahe main kitna bhi koshish karlu himmat se rehne ki, lekin jab meri betiyan phone kar ke poochhti hain ki Abbu ghar kab aaoge, meri rooh kaamp jaati hai (While I try to stay strong, my heart just breaks when my daughters call and ask when will you come home).

A worker cleans the premises at Nigam Bodh

Ghat crematorium | shekhar yadav

I miss their smiles and giggles. I have to lie every day to them to console them because they dont want me to work during these times. They fear that I will also get Covid and die, says a tearful Shamin.

Many workers who used to work here left fearing Covid. People who come for final rites dont even want to touch the body. They say take the money and do all the rites. We sometimes open the PPE kit to show their face for one last time, we read namaz and recite prayers. We touch the body risking our lives. We also help the poor perform the last rites for free. We are not earning anything in these times. Some people give money, some dont, he adds.

He says, The hardest part is despite our hard work people dont respect us. They say you work here so you have to do what we say, lift the body, do this and that without thinking that we are also human. I have buried hundreds of Covid victims in the past month and have been working for the last year. So, I request people to respect us. We also ask people to take this disease seriously. Many are saying Covid is nothing but ask us who are fighting death and life daily.

When asked about safety measures, he says that as the ITO cemetery is always in the eyes of the media, we are being provided with all kits, masks, PPE kits from Waqf Board and NGOs. He also wants the government to include them in its compensation scheme as they are also frontline workers risking their lives. He adds that every time he raises this matter the authorities warn him saying he will be replaced and will be fired from his job.

Shamin adds that the ITO cemetery has seen fewer bodies in recent days as burial grounds for Covid bodies have been created in other places like Okhla, Madanpur Khadar, Seelampur. At the Lodhi Road Crematorium. Om Dev, who cremates at least 50-60 bodies a day, is facing similar issues. He feels broken mentally and wants to meet his family, hug his daughters and hold his newborn boy. For the three months, he has not visited his home or met his family who live in Uttar Pradesh.

I have been working here for over a decade now and cremated hundreds of bodies without fear, but this time it is haunting me. Now, I just want to go home and hug my wife, daughter and newborn baby boy before anything bad happens to me. I just want to hold them because I dont know whether I will live or not, he says.

Dev was about to visit his family in April but he could not get leave as his boss, the senior pandit at the crematorium, died of Covid-19. We have been working here since childhood but have never seen a situation like this with bodies piling up for last rites. I am distraught, haunted, mentally broken and physically tired seeing 40-50 bodies a day, says Dev.

Another pandit at Kalkaji Crematorium says, I go home twice a day to get food. I stand downstairs as my wife sends down the Tiffin tied to a rope via the balcony from the third floor. I cant even visit my ailing father who is in a hospital, says Bharat Sharma. Why many crematoriums have been given to NGOs? They eat money and the staffs risk their lives and get nothing. People are complaining that pandits are asking huge money for antim sanskars. We dont get salaries and are risking our lives. We too have a family. Sharma lives in a joint family with about 15 members in the Govindpuri area.

More than a dozen people working in the cremation grounds have lost their lives to Covid-19. What have the government done for us? Where is the `1 crore compensation? We are not being even provided masks, sanitisers and kits from the MCD. After the pandemic, I am going to file a case in court seeking justice for the workers who lost their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With Covid death count rising, the crematorium workers across the city are working tirelessly risking their lives on the frontlines. However, they are still unrecognised, underpaid, uninsured and unvaccinated, reports Gayathri Mani
By Express News Service

TIRUPATI: Eleven patients died and the condition of at least five others was critical after oxygen supply was disrupted for some time at the SVR Ruia Government Hospital here Monday night.

According to Chittoor District Collector M Hari Narayanan, an oxygen tanker coming to the hospital from Chennai in Tamil Nadu was delayed. The authorities in the meantime used bulk cylinders to supply oxygen to patients who were on ventilators in the ICU.

"The incident occurred around 8-8.30 p.m. Due to oxygen pressure issues, 11 patients who were on ventilator support lost their lives. This happened in a span of five minutes. The oxygen tanker arrived and the situation was quickly brought under control," the collector told the media.

#Chittoor collector Harinarayan says a bigger tragedy was averted; 30 doctors are working now to stabilize patients; among dead are 9 #Covid patients; CM @ysjagan orders probe @NewIndianXpress #OxygenCrisis #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/TPQp99FdCn

 TNIE Andhra Pradesh (@xpressandhra) May 10, 2021

Around 30 doctors were working to stabilise the other patients following the incident. The collector, who rushed to the hospital, assured everyone that the problem was solved and there was enough oxygen now. Further, another tanker is scheduled to arrive in the morning with additional oxygen supply.

Hari Narayanan said a bigger tragedy was averted as the oxygen tanker arrived in the nick of time. "There is no issue now and there is no need to worry. Everyone is safe," he said and clarified it was not a technical issue.

At least eleven #COVID19 patients died & the condition of several others is critical after #oxygensupply was disrupted for some time at the SVR Ruia Government Hospital in Tirupati.@xpressandhra @Kalyan_TNIE

Read more: https://t.co/WNk5WbmBVf pic.twitter.com/aqlT5ajLBE

 The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) May 10, 2021

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed profound grief over the death of 11 patients and ordered an inquiry into the incident. He directed the officials to ensure that this kind of tragedies does not recur. He instructed them to monitor the oxygen supply situation at every hospital in the State round-the-clock and take technical help from the experts. He stressed that the focus should also be on maintenance and not merely on oxygen transportation and supply.

ALSO WATCH:

There are 700 oxygen beds in the hospital. The oxygen supply was disrupted or rather the pressure went down in one of the wards when the authorities were trying to supply oxygen using bulk cylinders. Anxious relatives of patients argued with the authorities and chaotic scenes were witnessed with some enraged kin throwing medicines and bottles inside the hospital.

#BREAKING 11 dead, 5 critical after #Oxygen supply 'slows down' at Ruia Hospital in #Tirupati Collector Hari Narayanan says oxygen pressure went down for 5 minutes leading to the tragedy @NewIndianXpress @gsvasu_TNIE #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/SIGubpBZIt

 TNIE Andhra Pradesh (@xpressandhra) May 10, 2021

Amid the pandemonium, doctors made frantic efforts to save lives. The situation was brought under control soon after the oxygen supply was restored. Additional police personnel were rushed to the hospital to prevent any untoward incidents.

Deputy Chief Minister (Health) Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas spoke to the hospital superintendent Dr Bharathi and inquired about the incident. He was informed that the condition of five patients was serious. Three of the dead were non-Covid patients. Outside the hospital, heart-rending scenes unfolded with relatives breaking down upon receiving the news of the death of their loved ones.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The Centre has finally agreed to the request of the Andhra Pradesh government to complete vaccination of people aged above 45 before taking up inoculation of 18 plus category. A communication to this effect was received from the Centre on Sunday. Disclosing this to mediapersons during daily briefing on Covid updates in the State, Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal said when the Centre asked the States to procure vaccine from the manufacturers and use it to vaccinate people in the age group of 18-45, the AP government had requested it to permit it to first complete the 45+ age group before taking up vaccination of 18+ category.

However, the Centre did not permit the State to do so initially. The issue was discussed at length in the State Cabinet meeting held in the first week of May. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, resolved that vaccines allocated by the Centre and vaccines procured by the State on its own will be first used for vaccinating the 45+ age group. There is an estimated 1.3 crore population in the State aged above 45 years.

We communicated the Cabinets decision to complete the vaccination of 45+ age group first and requested modifications in CoWIN application accordingly. I spoke to the Secretary, Ministry of Health. Today, we received a communication giving permission to the State to go ahead with its plan. However, they said it would take two days to complete the modifications in CoWIN application, Singhal explained.

According to Singhal, the State has procured 3.5 lakh doses of Covishield from Serum Institute of India and 1.42 lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech. The doses will be used for vaccination of 45+ once the CoWIN application is modified. The Principal Secretary said the government which is determined to vaccinate the entire population, is going in a systematic manner to achieve the target.

As those who got the first dose should take the second dose before the stipulated time, it is imperative that they should be vaccinated. Hence, we have prioritised the second jab. The first jab has been halted temporarily. We request the people to be patient and wait for their turn as the government is doing it all to get as many vaccine doses as possible to vaccinate all, he said.

On Saturday evening in a video conference, all the district collectors were asked to streamline the second dose vaccination in view of reports of overcrowding at vaccination centres. We have told them there should not be any crowds at vaccination centres. Physical distance should be maintained at any cost. Only those who are scheduled for the second jab, are allowed at vaccination centres. They have to be informed of the time and place of vaccination through SMS. Tents, seating and drinking water facilities should be made at vaccination centres before commencing vaccination for the day, he said.

On the availability of oxygen in the State, Singhal said the supply has been streamlined. Compared to 330 MT of oxygen supplied last week, the supply has been improving steadily. In the last 24 hours, 561 MT of liquid oxygen was lifted and distributed to government and private hospitals across the State. Oxygen allocation to the State has also been enhanced to 590 MT, he said.

Meanwhile, the government which had roped in both Navy and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to strengthen oxygen supply network, now has the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) extending help in installation of 42 oxygen plants in the State. According Commissioner of Health Katamaneni Bhaskar, the NHAI is initially executing works at four sites -- Amalapuram in East Godavari (500 LPM), Madanapalle in Chittoor (500 LPM), Tadepalligudem in West Godavari (1,000 LPM) and Hindupur in Anantapur (1,000 LPM). Vendors for 38 other sites have been finalised, but works will commence only after getting permission from the NHAI headquarters, he said.

Admitting that availability of oxygen and ICU beds in major towns has become a problem with the increasing number of Covid cases, he said efforts are being made to accommodate more people and permit more hospitals to treat Covid cases. As of Sunday afternoon, 6,323 of the total 6,870 ICU beds in 637 hospitals were occupied. At places like Anantapur, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Guntur, there were no vacant ICU beds. Out of the total 23,259 oxygen beds, 22,265 were occupied.

One good thing is the number of patients opting for Covid Care Centres is increasing. A total of 15,100 people are currently being treated in Covid Care Centres. In Chittoor, 3,417 patients are being treated at 10 centres. As many as 2,956 patients are getting treatment at five centres in Kurnool. In other districts also, the number of patients undergoing treatment in Covid Care Centres is steadily increasing, he said. Singhal said Remdesivir stock position is also better in the State. In all, 24,861 doses are available in government hospitals and 13,461 doses in private hospitals. The number of calls to the 104 call centre is also increasing and since April 16, a total of 2,08,528 calls were attended, he added.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Dr B Prasada Rao, former DGP of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh breathed his last in the USA in the early hours of Monday.

He complained of chest pain and wanted to be taken to hospital. But by the time the ambulance reached the hospital, he was no more. We are deeply saddened and shocked with his untimely demise. May his soul rest in peace, a source close to the family said.

He is survived by wife Sowmini, son Vikas,daughter in law Soumya and a grandson.

A post-graduate in Physics from IIT Madras, Prasada Rao joined the service in 1979 and was allotted the AP cadre. He has served as SP of Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts and also as SP Vigilance cell, SP Intelligence and commandant of the Central Industrial Security Force at Visakhapatnam and Bhopal. He was also the DIG of Eluru and Kurnool ranges and the additional director of the Anti Corruption Bureau and DIG of the Security Wing of Intelligence.

He won the Indian Police Medal for meritorious service in 1997 and the President's Police Medal for distinguished service in 2006. Prasada Rao also served as the Commissioner of Hyderabad and Cyberabad police units.

After bifurcation, he was allotted Andhra Pradesh, where he served as Principal Secretary to Government. An expert in physics, he was awarded a PhD for his research on Wave-Particle Duality of Light by Sri Krishnadevaraya University in 2014

After retirement, he continued his passion for Physics and worked as a visiting faculty of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, JNTU, Kakinada and Hyderabad, Sri Krishnadevaraya University to teach the subject.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has mourned the death of former united AP State DGP Dr B Prasada Rao and conveyed his condolences to his bereaved family.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Tension prevailed at Andhra's border checkposts with Telangana in Krishna and Kurnool districts after the Telangana police barred the passage of ambulances with Covid patients.

Around 15 ambulances en route to Hyderabad were stopped at the Pullur toll plaza on NH 44.

Kurnool police immediately spoke to their counterparts in Gadwal in Telangana and got them to allow the ambulances. However, a few minutes later, they were stopped again.

At Ramapuram and other entry points to Telangana in Krishna district too, the Telangana police refused to allow any ambulance with Covid patients.

Repeated requests by relatives of the patients were to no avail, and most of the ambulances returned to the nearest hospitals in AP to avoid losing precious time.

When contacted, district police chiefs of both Kurnool and Krishna districts said they had not received communication of any restrictions imposed by the Telangana government.

The Telangana police officials on being asked said while they did not have any written orders from the top to stop ambulances from entering the state, they had received oral orders to ensure this. The reason they had been given was to avoid added pressure on hospitals in Hyderabad in light of the increasing demand for beds.

People in Andhra Pradesh roundly criticised the decision. AP Police, for their part, requested members of the public to carry necessary documents pertaining to hospital admission while heading towards Hyderabad.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: There is a serious shortage of oxygen and one of the reasons for this is people hoarding limited supplies of oxygen cylinders at their homes. The state government is now thinking of taking action against these hoarders for contributing to the shortage. "The hoarding should stop as it is making the situation worse," warned a senior government official.

Three senior officials of a high-level committee met on Saturday to discuss ways to deal with shortage of oxygen. They said that once all planned CCCs and other facilities become operational, they will start cracking down on those resorting to panic buying of cylinders.

Meanwhile, Mandya MP Sumalatha has been criticised for claiming that she was getting oxygen to the district by paying from her own pocket. They alleged that the MP had only redirected what was supplied by the State Government.

But on Saturday evening, Sumalatha denied these charges and sent a photo of the cash bill to TNIE, showing that 56+2 oxygen cylinders had been bought from Padaki Air Products at Rs 23,000 per consignment.
By ANI

BENGALURU: Amid a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state, the Karnataka government on Sunday issued new guidelines for hospital admission, discharge, and transfer of COVID-19 patients.

A circular issued by Karnataka's Department of Health and Family Welfare read, "In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases in the State, for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital beds are a valuable resource and hence, shall be used judiciously for those patients who are clinically in need of these beds. In this context, the guidelines are reiterated for hospital admission, discharge, and transfer of COVID-19 patients."

As per the order, in government COVID-19 hospitals, the patient shall be admitted as per the existing state protocol. However, following their recovery and clinically stable condition, based on the assessment and advise of treating physician such patients shall be transferred to a stepdown facility attached to the hospital or to a CCC as deemed fit, it said.

The order further said that whenever, a patient is discharged, discharge protocol of the state shall be followed.

As far as private COVID-19 hospitals are concerned, for those admitted under SAST (Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust-Government referred patients), the patient shall be admitted as per the existing state protocol, mentioned the circular.

However, following their recovery and clinically stable condition, based on the assessment and advise of treating physician such patients shall be transferred to a stepdown facility attached to the private hospital at their own cost or to a Govt CCC as deemed fit, said the order.

As per the order, discharge protocol of the state shall be followed for the discharge of patients from private hospitals too.

"Those admitted in private beds at their own expense (private patients) - The patient shall be admitted as per the existing state protocol. However, following their recovery and clinically stable condition, based on the assessment and advise of treating physician such patients shall be transferred to stepdown facility attached to the hospital at their own," read the order.
By Express News Service

CHIKKAMAGALURU: A Covid-infected retired deputy tahsildar allegedly shot himself dead fearing that he might infect his family members.

The deceased has been identified as Soma Naik (70). He allegedly shot himself on his head inside his car by using a licensed weapon. The incident happened at Belenahalli Lambani Tanda in Tarikere taluk.

A death note, which was found in the car, claimed that he himself was responsible for his death. The Tarikere police said that Naik had tested positive and was deeply upset. He had poured out his anguish in the death note.

ALSO READ | Karnataka issues fresh guidelines for hospitalisation, transfer, discharge of COVID-19 patients

The police said that on Monday morning, he went to his farm in the car and killed himself. SP MH Akshay said Naik had shot himself with a licensed weapon.

In the alleged death note, Naik said that he had become old and if anything bad happens to his children, he would not be able to bear the pain. Hence I have taken this extreme decision. I am responsible for my death. I ask for forgiveness from my children, my wife Prema, daughter Ashwini and son-in-law Venkatesh. I have selected my farm to commit suicide and cremate my body here only.

He has asked his son Pratap to look after his wife and children. This is a deadly disease and nobody should get this, he allegedly said in the note. After the postmortem, Muslim Jamaat members carried out the last rites on the farm.

(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call AASRA's 24x7 Helpline: +91-9820466726 for assistance.)
By Express News Service

BENGALURU : Whether you are going to your neighbourhood shops to buy groceries or the nearest drinking water dispenser plant to pick up a can of water, leave your vehicles behind from Monday onwards for 14 days.

As part of the 14-day partial lockdown announced in Karnataka, vehicles are prohibited to ply and police have been given the authority to seize vehicles plying on roads. Vehicles will be allowed only in case of a medical emergency or to commute to hospitals or healthcare centres for vaccination but with proof.

Right from Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, DG & IGP of police Praveen Sood to City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant, all have appealed to citizens to not venture out. "Pl take lockdown seriously in the overall interest of everyones safety.... or be ready to get your vehicle seized for next two weeks. Choice is yours (sic)," said a tweet from the Karnataka DGP's official Twitter handle on Sunday.

Pl take lockdown seriously in the overall interest of everyones safety.... or be ready to get your vehicle seized for next two weeks. Choice is yours. https://t.co/ReF50cXpcw  DGP KARNATAKA (@DgpKarnataka) May 8, 2021

Police in various places have already started cracking down on commuters every day. "Details of the vehicles seized for violation of #COVID19 guidelines: As of May 9: from 10 AM to 8 PM 2-wheelers: 1984 3-wheelers: 99 4-wheelers: 144 Total - 2227 ------------ Cases booked under NDMA: 23 (sic)," tweeted the city police commissioner.

Details of the vehicles seized for violation of #COVID19 guidelines:



As of May 9: from 10 AM to 8 PM



2-wheelers: 1984

3-wheelers: 99

4-wheelers: 144



Total - 2227

------------

Cases booked under NDMA: 23  Kamal Pant, IPS (@CPBlr) May 9, 2021

For the next 14-days the government has put in place stringent measures to curb the movement of people.

While in the original order, the cap on the number of people at weddings was 50, in an addendum released on Saturday evening, the state government said the cap was 40 for weddings. A total of 40 passes will be issued for weddings by the zonal BBMP officials or tahsildar.

Only those people who have these passes will be allowed to commute. These measures come at a time when Karnataka is consistently seeing a massive increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Those with pre-booked appointments, SMS confirmation can go for vaccination

BENGALURU: With the state gearing up to face another 14-day partial lockdown starting Monday, the state government on Sunday evening issued fresh amendments to the orders. While the previous order had allowed movement of people to get COVID-19 vaccination, the new order has now been amended to allow only those with pre-booked slots and an SMS confirmation.

This essentially means that movement of vehicles will not be allowed for walk-in vaccinations starting Monday. Patients and their caretakers, in case of emergencies, will be allowed to commute by vehicles. Movement for testing will be allowed with minimal proof, the order said without specifying what can qualify as proof.

The addendum also states that defense PSUs, banks, RBI, insurance offices etc will be allowed to function at 50 per cent capacity. No such cap was placed in the earlier order. An amendment has been made for e-commerce deliveries as well.

While the earlier guidelines allowed e-commerce deliveries, the addendum allows delivery of only essentials items via e-commerce.
Amiya Meethal By

Express News Service

KOZHIKODE: In the wake of COVID second wave and lockdown, the state government is planning to open 36,061 camps to shelter an anticipated 2,06,808 migrant workers across the state. The labour department will set up camps based on the number of migrant workers in each district.

Maximum number of camps are being planned in Kannur district - 14,674. Food grains required per person for two weeks have also been estimated. Already many migrant workers have left the state since the start of the second wave and many are leaving now.

Four types of camps are being envisioned as of now - those supervised by the district administration, run by employer/contractor, the rental quarters of migrant workers being converted into camps and those staying in scattered camps but do not wish to shift.

Except the second type, LSG bodies should distribute food for the workers using their own fund in all the other three categories. The employer should provide food in the second category. The local bodies should commence community kitchens to prepare food like last year.

A joint effort of civil supplies, police, LSG, health department, district administration and railways is sought to deal with the issues of migrant workers. Arrangements will be made to facilitate the return of workers by train.
P Ramdas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Lauding the government for capping the treatment charges in private hospitals in the state, the Kerala High Court on Monday held that the order fixing treatment charges in private hospitals should be strictly implemented forthwith and the new rates will be applicable for all hospital admissions since the official notification of the order.

As regards the stipulation that 50 per cent of beds should be reserved for Covid patients, the court ordered that all private hospitals would be bound to offer treatment to patients strictly as per the order and any violation thereof will be strictly dealt with by the authority. The government should make sure that the grievance redressal mechanism is implemented soon, the high court said.

The State Attorney K V Sohan informed the court that rates per day in general wards of National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers-accredited hospitals (NABH hospitals) and non-NABH hospital rates has fixed at Rs 2910/day and Rs 2645/day respectively. This would be inclusive of oxygen, medicine and drugs, nursing and boarding charges, pathology and radiology tests, etc.

A division bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Kauser Edappagath, taking up public interest litigation seeking to regulate the medical bills by private hospitals for Covid treatment, held that the Incident Commanders appointed by the government under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act should ensure that the terms and conditions of the government order are implemented in letter and spirit by all private hospitals. If there is any violation, it should be brought to the notice of the District Medical Officer or such other competent authority without any delay.

As stipulated in the order, every private hospital in the state should display the rates of the services to be given to the public and in particular, to the COVID patients, the court said. The hospitals should also publish the price lists of drugs required for the treatment. These should be done forthwith. The government should consider setting up a toll-free number for the entire state of Kerala so that a citizen in distress can access that number and obtain the best available option for treatment. The government should consider adding hospital beds to the existing availability from time to time depending upon the number of COVID patients reported. For this purpose, the government could consider taking over suitable auditoriums, halls, hotels, hostels and other suitable places so that the burden of a citizen to go to private hospitals can be attenuated. "If any private establishments are running any FLTC, they would be bound to follow strictly as per the rate in the government's order. No violation of this will be permitted by any authority," the court said.

The court observed that every patient and his or her bystanders inform the private hospitals to which they are admitted that the patient is either below the poverty line or unable to afford the rates mentioned in the government order. In which event, the hospital is obligated to bring notice of the District Program and Supporting Unit. The appropriate Unit can decide whether the patient can be either considered as a government referred one or to be brought under Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP). This shall be done after strictly verifying the credentials and eligibility, the court said.

The court made it clear that no private hospitals shall be entitled to charge on consumables and PPE kits, essential instruments like Oximeter more than the cost price at which it was procured by them. The Incident Commanders and the DMO should constantly watch this by verifying the purchase bills and the expenses charges on to the patients. As regards the consumables like PPE kits, the hospitals only entitled to charge the actuals on pro-rata sharing and nothing more.

Shortage of medical Oxygen and ICU beds

The petitioners informed the court that Kerala has only 2857 ICU beds and the occupancy as of Monday is 2528. The court said that the number of ICU beds may run out soon going by the number of active cases. The government should exhort the private hospitals to increase the beds. The state attorney Sohan submitted that the government is doing everything to persuade the private hospitals to do so.

The state further added that the present allocation of medicine oxygen should be increased to 400 MT from the present 219 MT. The active cases are now more than 4.25 lakhs in Kerala and continuously rising. Unless the oxygen supply is enhanced, the situation faced by various other states earlier would befall in Kerala.

'Kanji' at RS 1,300/bowl shocks High Court

The court also expressed its concern over the exorbitant charges being collected by private hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients and observed that the hospitals were looting ordinary citizens by charging high rates for treatment. It pointed out that those PPE kits were priced at Rs. 22,000 and even Kanji (rice gruel) was charged at Rs. 1,300/bowl by some private hospitals. "If the Kanji is charged like this, we may find it difficult to swallow it," observed Justice Devam Ramachandran.

The court also said that some private hospitals also charging Rs 20 to Rs 30 for Dolo paracetamol. The court urged the private hospitals not to indulge in profiteering and stand with the government during the pandemic.


By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha continued to report over 10,000 cases a day for the fourth consecutive day, a distinct failure to increase testing, particularly in the western districts where the test positivity rate (TPR) is alarmingly high, has posed a serious concern.

The number of new cases dropped from 11,807 to 10,635 in last 24 hours as testing dipped across the districts. The State had conducted 48,757 tests including 17,946 through RT-PCR during the period against 50,864 including 20,365 RT-PCR tests on Saturday. The TPR, however, stood at 21.8 per cent (pc) as compared to 23.2 pc a day before.

Ten districts have higher TPR than the State average with Sambalpur topping the chart with 50.7 pc followed by Kalahandi at 43.8 pc, Bargarh at 32 pc, Angul at 34.7 pc, Sundargarh at 29 pc, Puri at 27.8 pc, Jharsuguda at 26.5 pc and Cuttack at 24.3 pc. As per the weekly positivity rate from May 2 to 8, the TPR in 18 districts of the State is above 20 pc.

The high positivity rate in many districts, notwithstanding, the State government has failed to ramp up testing as recommended by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). While the Ministry has been insisting on increasing RT-PCR level up to 70 pc of the overall testing, the ICMR has suggested to introduce mobile systems to augment RT-PCR testing and accelerate rapid antigen tests.

Recommending measures to optimise RT-PCR testing, the ICMR has asked not to repeat the test in any individual already found positive. It has directed to set up dedicated RAT booths in cities, towns and villages and introduce drive-through RAT testing facilities. The booths to be set up at multiple locations including healthcare facilities, housing complexes, offices, schools, colleges, community centres and other available vacant spaces will be operational on a 24X7 basis to improve access and availability of testing.

Additional Chief Secretary of Health PK Mohapatra said the decision has been taken to ramp up testing up to 75,000 a day with around 40 pc RT-PCR tests. We are unable to conduct more RATs due to shortage of kits. We have urged the Centre to make provisions for more testing kits, he said.

Of the 10,635 new cases, 6,012 were in quarantine and the rest detected during contact tracing. Khurda district recorded the highest 1,564 cases followed by Sundargarh (943) and Cuttack (887). The disease has claimed 19 lives including three each from Khurda and Kalahandi, one each from Angul, Balangir, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh districts. Of the 5,34,842 cases, 4,47,863 have recovered and 2,180 succumbed. The active cases stood at 84,746.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu recorded 232 Covid-19 deaths and 28,978 cases, according to the latest state health bulletin on Monday. Among those who died, 174 had comorbidities.

The total cases are now at 14,09,237 while the toll stands at 15,880.

The active cases currently stand at 1,52,389. People who have been discharged are at 12,40,968 with 20,904 more people being discharged.

Chennai reported 7149 fresh cases and 67 deaths, with active cases in the city at 35,153.

Chengalpet reported 2181 new cases, Coimbatore 2781 cases, and Tiruvallur 1008 cases.

Meanwhile, 1,46,233 people were tested for Covid-19 with total tests now at 2,37,03,499.

The numbers come on a day when Tamil Nadu went into a two-week lockdown.

Chief Minister MK Stalin had allotted ministers for every district to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 containment measures.

Speaking at the first cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat, the CM had insisted that "the ministers should ensure full implementation of the lockdown. Oxygen is being supplied to both government and private hospitals under challenging circumstances. Ministers should see to it that the life-saver is used in a proper manner and not sold in black market at the hospitals."

He also told the ministers to do all they can to ensure that not even a single patient dies because of Covid-19.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: After a three-hour-long discussion held at the AIADMK headquarters here, former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has been elected as the AIADMK legislature party leader. He will eventually become the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

An AIADMK release here said Palaniswami has been elected unanimously by the new MLAs. However, perhaps for the first time, the leader of the AIADMK legislature party has been announced after much opposition within the party and after prolonged discussions. The first meeting of the AIADMK legislature party ended without electing the leader on May 7.

The party is yet to announce its deputy leader and Whip in the State Assembly.

Senior leaders of the AIADMK - KA Sengottaiyan, Dindigul C Sreenivasan, KP Munusamy, P Thangamani, SP Velumani, R Kamaraj, Sellur K Raju, KP Anbazhagan and others rushed to the Assembly secretariat and handed over a letter to Assembly Secretary K Srinivasan informing about the election of Edappadi K Palaniswami as the AIADMK legislature party leader.

Earlier, there were hectic parleys within the AIADMK MLAs meeting. At one point of time, party coordinator Panneerselvam was said to have proposed the name of former Speaker P Dhanapal as leader of the legislature party.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday urged the Centre to allocate at least 20,000 Remdesivir vials per day to Tamil Nadu to meet the requirements of government and private hospitals in the State and that the present allocation of 7,000 vials per day is insufficient.

The Chief Minister conveyed this while talking to Railways and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal over the telephone. During the interaction, Stalin said Tamil Nadu had so far received 2.05 lakh Remdesivir vials, i.e. around 7,000 vials per day, and this is insufficient to meet the requirements of the State.

ALSO READ | Day before lockdown, COVID patients' kin in Madurai get fumed over Sunday ban on Remdesivir sale

Stalin urged the Union Minister to immediately enhance this allocation and the latter has agreed to consider this request.

At present, 1.45 lakh persons are being treated for coronavirus infection in Tamil Nadu and efforts are being taken to procure sufficient quantum of Remdesivir medicine for treating those with lung infection, Stalin explained.

This medicine is being distributed in all important government and private hospitals in six important cities and towns in the State.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: TVS Motor Company, along with Sundaram-Clayton Limited, through their social arm, Srinivasan Services Trust, donated 500 oxygen concentrators to the Tamil Nadu government on Monday.

Chief Minister MK Stalin received the oxygen concentrators and other Covid-19 relief materials from Swaran Singh, former bureaucrat and chairman of Srinivasan Services Trust and Sethuraman A, Vice President, TVS Motors, according to a release.

ALSO READ | Stalin urges Centre to provide at least 20,000 Remdesivir vials per day to Tamil Nadu

Srinivasan Services Trust will donate additional 1,100 oxygen concentrators in the next couple of weeks.

The Chief Minister flagged off the Covid-19 relief materials and oxygen concentrators to the government hospitals in the presence of Ministers, the Chief Secretary, and other government officials, the release added.
By Associated Press

NEW YORK: Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said Monday that it blocked more than 10 billion suspected phony listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold.

The numbers were released in Amazons first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technologies in 2019. The number of blocked phony listings last year was up about 67% from the year before.

The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth said the number of counterfeiters attempting to sell on the site rose as scammers tried to take advantage of shoppers who were buying more online during the pandemic.

Amazon has been wrestling with counterfeits for years. But since 2019, it has warned investors in government filings that the sale of phony goods poses a risk to the company and its image. Brands may not want to sell their items on the site if they know there are fake versions being offered. And knock-offs could cause shoppers to lose their trust in Amazon.

Counterfeiters try to get their products on Amazon through its third-party marketplace, where sellers can list their items directly on the site. The company destroyed 2 million counterfeit products sent to its warehouses last year before they could be sold. And it said fewer than 0.01% of all items bought on the site received counterfeit complaints from shoppers.

ALSO READ | From Amazon to Tata, Reliance to Vedanta, industry steps up to combat coronavirus

Amazon said it can stop counterfeiters before they can sell anything thanks to machine-learning technology, which automatically scans listings to remove suspected counterfeits. The company also gives brands a way to remove fake items from the site themselves, rather than reporting them to Amazon and waiting for it to do something.

The company's efforts comes as lawmakers are looking at ways to reduce counterfeits online. Two senators, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Dick Durbin of Illinois, both Democrats, re-introduced a bill this year known as the INFORM Consumers Act. It would require third-party sellers to be verified and to disclose their name and address to shoppers. The bill was introduced last year, but wasn't voted on.

Amazon and smaller online stores, such as eBay and Etsy, oppose the bill for reasons including concerns it could discourage people from starting a small business and selling online. But groups that represent big-box physical retailers, such as Home Depot and Lowe's, support it because they say it levels the playing field, since physical retailers already make sure their shelves are free of fakes.

Amazon said it spent more than $700 million last year on its anti-counterfeiting efforts and has 10,000 people working on it. The company has also been filing joint lawsuits with brands, including one earlier this year with Salvatore Ferragamo against counterfeiters who were selling knock-offs of the high-end brand's belts on the site.
By PTI

BEIJING: Chinese military scientists allegedly investigated weaponising coronaviruses five years before the COVID-19 pandemic and may have predicted a World War III fought with biological weapons, according to media reports referring to documents obtained by the US State Department.

According to 'The Sun' newspaper in the UK, quoting reports first released by 'The Australian', the "bombshell" documents obtained by the US State Department reportedly show the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) commanders making the sinister prediction.

US officials allegedly obtained the papers which were written by military scientists and senior Chinese public health officials in 2015 as part of their own investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Chinese scientists described SARS coronaviruses, of which COVID is one example, as presenting a "new era of genetic weapons".

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, several of which cause respiratory diseases in humans  ranging from a common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The PLA papers referenced seem to fantasise that a bioweapon attack could cause the "enemy's medical system to collapse".

It references work by US Air Force colonel Michael J. Ainscough, who predicted World War III may be fought with bioweapons.

The paper also includes musing that SARS "which hit China in 2003" could have been a man-made bioweapon deliberately unleashed by "terrorists".

They reportedly boasted the viruses could be "artificially manipulated into an emerging human disease virus, then weaponised and unleashed in a way never seen before".

The document lists some of China's top public health figures among the authors and has been revealed in an upcoming book on the origins of COVID, titled 'What Really Happened In Wuhan'.

China reported the first COVID-19 case in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic, affecting more than 157,789,300 people and causing over 3,285,200 deaths worldwide.

Tom Tugendhat MP and Australian politician James Paterson said the document raises major concerns about China's transparency on the origins of COVID-19.

Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was quoted in The Sun' as saying: "China's evident interest in bioweapons is extremely concerning.

Even under the tightest controls these weapons are dangerous.

"This document raises major concerns about the ambitions of some of those who advise the top party leadership."

Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), told news. com. au that the document is as close to a "smoking gun" as we've got.

"I think this is significant because it clearly shows that Chinese scientists were thinking about military application for different strains of the coronavirus and thinking about how it could be deployed," said Jennings.

"It begins to firm up the possibility that what we have here is the accidental release of a pathogen for military use," added Jennings.

He also said that the document may explain why China has been so reluctant for outside investigations into the origins of COVID-19.

"If this was a case of transmission from a wet market it would be in China's interest to co-operate, we've had the opposite of that."

Among the 18 listed authors of the document are People's Liberation Army scientists and weapons experts.

Robert Potter, a cyber security specialist who analyses leaked Chinese government documents was asked by The Australian to verify the paper.

He says the document definitely is not fake.

"We reached a high confidence conclusion that it was genuine. It's not fake but it's up to someone else to interpret how serious it is," Potter told news. com.au.

"It emerged in the last few years, they (China) will almost certainly try to remove it now it's been covered."

Questions remain over the origins of the deadly virus after a much derided World Health Organisation (WHO) probe earlier this year, with the organisation ordering a further investigation which factors in the possibly of a lab leak.

Most scientists have said there is no evidence that COVID-19 is manmade, but questions remain whether it may have escaped from a secretive biolab in Wuhan, from where the pandemic originated.

China is known to have been carrying out high risk "gain of function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which is near the outbreak's ground zero at the Huanan Seafood Market.

There is no evidence so far to suggest it was intentionally released by China.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, the state-run Global Times newspaper slammed The Australian for publishing the article to smear China.

An academic book that explores bioterrorism and possibilities of viruses being used in warfare was interpreted as a conspiracy theory by The Australian, which deliberately and malignantly intends to invent pretexts to smear China, Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the newspaper.

"It is a shame for anti-China forces in Australia to back their own ideology against China at the expense of basic professional journalistic ethics, conspiring to twist the real meaning of the book," Chen said.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Getting people vaccinated is the only long-term solution to the current COVID-19 crisis in India, America's top public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday as he called for scaling up manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines both domestically and globally to fight the deadly pandemic.

"The endgame of this all is going to be to get people vaccinated. India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. They've got to get their resources, not only from within, but also from without," Fauci, who is the Chief Medical Adviser to US President Joe Biden, told the ABC News in an interview.

"That's the reason why other countries need to chip in to be able to get either supplies to the Indians to make their own vaccines or to get vaccines donated. One of the ways to do that is to have the big companies that have the capability of making vaccines to really scale up in a great way to get literally hundreds of millions of doses to be able to get to them," he said.

Responding to a question, Dr Fauci said that India needs to immediately build makeshift field hospitals like what China did a year ago.

"You've got to get that. You can't have people out in the street not having a hospital bed. The oxygen situation is something that was really critical. I mean, to have people not have oxygen is really tragic, what's going on over there," he said.

ALSO READ | India's US envoy meets Dr Anthony Fauci, discusses COVID-19 crisis, new strains and variants

The 80-year-old physician and immunologist, who serves as the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said there is an immediate problem of hospital beds, oxygen, PPE and other supplies.

"Then there's the problem of looking forward to how are you going to shut this down, how are you going to turn it around, how are you going to break the chain of transmission?" he said, underlining the need for a countrywide lockdown to arrest the spread of the virus.

"Vaccines is one of them but there are other ways too, like shutting down the government. I have advised them in the past that you really need to do that. You've got to shut down. I believe several of the Indian states have already done that, but you need to break the chain of transmission. And one of the ways to do that is to shut down," the top American doctor said.

Fauci, in an exclusive interview to PTI last week, had termed the situation in India "very desperate" and suggested that the government marshal all its resources, including the armed forces, to immediately build makeshift field hospitals, and urged other countries to help with not only materials but also personnel.

He called for a nationwide lockdown, not necessarily for six months but "for a few weeks" to break the "continuity and transmission of infection."

He also recommended mass vaccination to arrest the current spread of the deadly disease across India.

India is struggling with an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 4,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days.

China reported the first COVID-19 case in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic, affecting more than 157,789,300 people and over 3,285,200 deaths worldwide.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: India on Monday thanked Qatar Airways for facilitating British Oxygen Company shipment of 1350 oxygen cylinders as part of COVID-19 assistance for India's fight against the surging coronavirus cases.

"Thank Qatar Airways for facilitating this shipment from the UK," tweeted Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs.

"Grateful to British Oxygen Company for gift of another 1350 oxygen cylinders that arrived from the UK. This is part of their generous contribution of 5000 oxygen cylinders," he added.

Earlier, a total of three oxygen generators and 1,000 ventilators arrived from the United Kingdom on Sunday.

British High Commission (BHC) had said that the Indian Red Cross will help transfer the UK aid to the hospitals. This support, previously announced, is in addition to 200 ventilators and 495 oxygen concentrators, which the UK sent to India in late April, said the High Commission.

The High Commission said that the latest assistance package has been sourced by the Department of Health and Social Care and is fully funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had said that, "The UK is sending surplus oxygen generators from Northern Ireland to India. This life-saving equipment will support the country's hospitals as they care for vulnerable Covid patients."

India is currently dealing with a second COVID-19 wave that has swept through the nation, straining the country's health infrastructure and overburdening frontline medical workers.
By PTI

KATHMANDU: A 29-year-old Nepalese man has been arrested for carrying 17.5 lakhs of Indian currency in cash without any legal document to support its source, police said on Monday.

Gopal Chaudhary was arrested from the Tikarpur Municipality in Kailali district of far-west Nepal when the police recovered the huge amount of Indian currency for which he was not able produce any document of source.

"Gopal Chaudhary has been arrested as he was carrying the Indian bank notes without any supporting document," a senior police official said.

He was arrested along with a motorbike by a team of security personnel while conducting regular security check.

"It is illegal to carry Indian bank notes exceeding Rs.25,000 without having any legal source. The police have also recovered a laptop, a mobile and a simcard from Chaudhary," the official, who was not named, said.

He said Chaudhary has handed over him to the Revenue Investigation Department to carry out further investigation in the matter.
By Associated Press

WELLINGTON: Shoppers and staff at a New Zealand supermarket were being praised for their bravery Monday after authorities said they managed to stop a frenzied man from hurting others after he stabbed four people in a random attack, critically wounding three of them.

New Zealand Police Superintendent Paul Basham said he'd watched CCTV footage of the attack at a Countdown supermarket in the city of Dunedin and the actions of the bystanders in detaining the man until police arrived was nothing short of heroic.

What I can say is that those that intervened, some of whom became injured themselves, I think have acted selflessly and with great courage to prevent this man from hurting anybody else, Basham said.

Two of those wounded were supermarket staff members.

Police said the suspect was also injured and was being treated for his wounds under police guard. Police expected to charge him later Monday.

People in the store at the time told local media that it was a chaotic scene as some people began screaming and running toward the exits while others rushed to help.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the motivation for the attack had not been established but police didn't have any evidence to suggest it was domestic terrorism.

Needless to say that such an attack is hugely concerning, and I do want to acknowledge the really early reports of courageous acts by bystanders who have taken action in order to protect those around them, Ardern said. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this attack..

Ardern said five people had been taken to Dunedin Hospital with stab wounds or related injuries.

Health authorities said three of the wounded had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Dunedin Hospital.

We are shocked and devastated by the events in our Dunedin Central Store this afternoon, Countdown said in a statement. Our priority right now is our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event. We are deeply upset that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured.

Dunedin is home to about 130,000 people, including a large number of students who attend the University of Otago.
By PTI

BEIJING: China on Monday termed as "outright lies" the media reports that its military scientists investigated weaponising coronaviruses five years before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and said it is an attempt by the US to smear the country.

The US State Department reportedly obtained the "bombshell" documents, which were written by Chinese military scientists and senior public health officials in 2015 as part of their own investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

According to media reports, which referred to the documents obtained by the US officials, scientists of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) allegedly investigated weaponising coronaviruses five years before the COVID-19 pandemic and may have predicted a World War III fought with biological weapons.

"I have seen the relevant report. Some in the US have been playing up so-called internal documents to smear China.

"But eventually, facts proved that they are either making malicious interpretations out of context or spreading outright lies," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here when asked about the reports first released by 'The Australian'.

ALSO WATCH:

Quoting 'The Australian', UK-based The Sun newspaper reported that Chinese scientists described SARS coronaviruses -- of which COVID is one example -- as presenting a "new era of genetic weapons".

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, several of which cause respiratory diseases in humans -- ranging from a common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Hua referred to a report published by state-run Global Times, which stated that what the US State Department referred to is not an internal document of the PLA but a publicly issued academic book.

The book cited former US Air Force colonel Michael J Ainscough stating that the next generation biological weapons are part of the US programme to deal with weapons of mass destruction, she said.

"So this is the US who is undertaking the research in biological war," she said and accused Washington of maintaining hundreds of bio labs abroad to conduct research.

"China always fulfils its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). We do not develop biological weapons. We have established a sound legal framework with a whole set of measures to ensure safety of bio labs," Hua said.

The PLA papers referenced seem to fantasise that a bioweapon attack could cause the "enemy's medical system to collapse", The Sun report said.

It references work by Ainscough, who predicted World War III may be fought with bioweapons.

The paper also includes musing that SARS -- which hit China in 2003 -- could have been a man-made bioweapon deliberately unleashed by "terrorists", the report said.

They reportedly boasted the viruses could be "artificially manipulated into an emerging human disease virus, then weaponised and unleashed in a way never seen before".

The document lists some of China's top public health figures among the authors and has been revealed in an upcoming book on the origins of COVID, titled 'What Really Happened In Wuhan'.

China reported the first COVID-19 case in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic, affecting more than 158,400,700 people and causing over 3,294,655 deaths worldwide.

China claims that COVID-19 has been caused by separate outbreaks in multiple places in the world but it is the first to report when it emerged in Wuhan in December 2019.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, keen to exit from the grey list of the FATF, is set to introduce new rules relating to anti-money laundering cases and change the prosecution process to meet its remaining tough conditions, a media report said on Monday.

Pakistan was put on the grey list by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog for money laundering and terror financing in June 2018 and the country has been struggling to come out of it.

The Dawn newspaper reported that the changes being made also include the transfer of investigations and prosecution of anti-money laundering (AML) cases from police, provincial anti-corruption establishments (ACEs) and other similar agencies to specialised agencies.

This is part of two sets of rules including the AML (Forfeited Properties Management) Rules 2021 and the AML (Referral) Rules 2021 under the National Policy Statement on Follow the Money approved by the federal Cabinet meeting a few days ago, the report said.

These rules and related notifications for certain changes in the existing schedule of Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 (AMLA) would come into force immediately to be followed by the appointment of administrators and special public prosecutors for implementation.

Based on these measures, the FATF would conclude if Pakistan has complied with three outstanding benchmarks, out of 27, that blocked its exit from the grey list in February this year.

Several review meetings of the FATF are scheduled to begin in the second week of June, culminating in the next FATF plenary on June 21-25.

The three outstanding action points (out of a total of 27) include (i) demonstrating that terrorist financing (TF) investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the directive of the designated persons or entities.

Demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions; and (iii) demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all designated terrorists, particularly those acting for them or on their behalf.

Now, the government has decided to appoint dozens of administrators with the powers to confiscate, receive, manage, rent out, auction, transfer or dispose of or take all other measures to preserve the value of the properties and perishable or non-perishable assets to be confiscated under the AML 2010 rules or court orders.

The AML (Forfeited Properties Management) Rules 2021 specify how the inventories would be measured, described or defined, protected, and evaluated for auction and how to complete all processes, the report said.

The Anti-Money Laundering (Referral) Rules, 2021 are being introduced to enable transfer of the cases from one set of investigation agencies to another.

The Cabinet was explained that based on the outcomes of the mutual evaluation, Pakistan was placed by Asia Pacific Group (APG) in the (Expedited) Enhanced Follow Up process which requires the country to submit its follow up report almost every quarter to the APG to provide it with an update on the progress made.

These follow up reports (FURs) provide Pakistan a chance to request an upgrade in ratings of recommendations which have been earlier rated as 'partially compliant' and 'non-compliant' and where subsequently significant progress has since been made.

So far, Pakistan has submitted three FURs in February and October 2020 and February 2021.

Of these FURs, only one report had been adopted by the APG in which Pakistan was re-rated in Recommendation No 29 (Financial Intelligence Unit) from 'partially compliant' to 'compliant'.

In the remaining two FURs, Pakistan had requested for re-rating in 27 recommendations, analysis of which is being conducted by the APG and the same will be adopted within this month.

Pakistan also has to issue a 'National Policy Statement on Follow the Money (NPSFM)', the report said.

Because of this statement and rules, Pakistan's compliance with FATF recommendations in Post Observation Period Report (POPR) would further improve with corresponding enhancement in the ratings or effectiveness of the FATF's relevant Immediate Outcomes, it said.

Pakistan's POPR would be reviewed by the FATF's Asia-Pacific Joint Group (A-PJG), and based on the report of this group, the FATF would decide further course of action on Pakistan's progress on the POPR in its plenary scheduled during June 21-25, it added.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: A man opened fire Sunday at a birthday party in Colorado, killing six people before taking his own life, US police said. Colorado Springs police responded to an emergency call in the morning at a mobile home park, where they found six adults shot dead and one adult male who was seriously injured.

He was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. Preliminary investigations revealed that families had gathered for a birthday party inside one of the trailers when the shooting occurred.

"The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life. We are still investigating to determine a motive," the police said in a statement.

None of the children at the party were injured in the attack, according to the police, and they were being cared for by family members. The victims have not been publicly identified. "From the officers who responded to the shooting to the investigators still on scene, we are all left incredibly shaken. This is something you hope never happens in your own community," said Colorado Springs police chief Vince Niski.

Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers said the "senseless act of violence" had sent the community into mourning, and called for prayers for the victims, their families and the first responders. State governor Jared Polis called the shooting "devastating" in a statement.

It was the third mass shooting in Colorado Springs since October 2015, including a random Halloween massacre and an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in November that same year, local media said.

The United States has suffered a spate of mass shootings in recent weeks, including at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, an office building in California, a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado and at several spas in Atlanta.

US President Joe Biden last month branded US gun violence an "epidemic" and an "international embarrassment." There were more than 43,000 gun-related deaths in the United States last year, including suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
By PTI

KARACHI: Unidentified armed men opened fire on a security check-post in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, killing at least three paramilitary soldiers, an official said.

The attack took place on Sunday in the Marat area of the Bolan district.

A top government official said, unidentified armed men had attacked the check-post in the calming area of Marat late Sunday which is some 70 kilometers from Quetta.

"During the attack three Frontier Corps soldiers were killed and one injured. Although the soldiers at the check-post returned the fire but the attackers managed to escape in darkness," the official said.

The soldiers then cordoned off the area after the incident and launched a search operation in the nearby mountainous areas.

However, no arrest has been made till now.

The bodies and the injured soldier were brought to a hospital. The attack on the soldiers comes just four days after militants from across the border in Afghanistan opened fire and killed four soldiers in the border area in Zhob district in the province.

Balochistan has been battling an insurgency for more than a decade by separatists demanding complete autonomy or a larger share of the province's gas and mineral resources.
By PTI

LONDON: The UK's parliamentary watchdog is investigating the funding of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's holiday to the Caribbean island of Mustique in 2019 which was declared as a benefit in kind last year, it emerged on Monday.

Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who oversees the Code of Conduct for members of Parliament, is listed as looking into the trip he took with fiancee Carrie Symonds following his general election win in December 2019.

"Registration of interest under Category 4 of the Guide to the rules [visits outside the UK] in 2020," reads the listing next to the UK Prime Minister's name, related to all current under-investigation cases under the House of Commons Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules.

Johnson has previously declared he received accommodation worth 15,000 pounds, covered by businessman David Ross, and Downing Street maintained that all transparency requirements were met.

ALSO READ | UK lowers COVID-19 alert level from 'rising exponentially' to 'general circulation'

Johnson's official spokesperson said on Monday that the UK Prime Minister "transparently declared the benefit in kind in the Commons register of interests" and followed the rules "throughout".

Ross, a donor to Johnson's Conservative Party and co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse business, had triggered some confusion when he said he did not pay for the trip to the private island, which is part of St.

Vincent and the Grenadines archipelago.

He later clarified that he had "facilitated" the accommodation for Johnson and therefore it covers the benefit in kind declaration.

The Opposition Labour Party reacted to the news of the watchdog's investigation to level further allegations of "sleaze" against the ruling party.

"The public have a right to know who paid for Boris Johnson's luxury Caribbean holiday and the renovation of his flat," said Deputy Leader Angela Rayner.

"Most importantly, we need to know what these donors were promised or expected in return for their generosity," she said.

The latest development comes as the Electoral Commission recently launched a formal investigation into the funding of Johnson's Downing Street flat refurbishments, which have also been at the centre of a row over whether donations to the ruling Conservative Party were involved in it.

Johnson has maintained he has paid for the refurbishments himself and there is no controversy.
DETROIT (AP)  The U.S. government's auto safety agency is investigating multiple complaints about steering failures that could affect more than 1.1 million Honda Accord sedans.

In documents posted Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it received 31 complaints about the problem and Honda has 77 more. Owners complained about a loss of steering control and the cars veering from their intended travel path. Two crashes and two injuries were reported.

The probe covers Accords from the 2013 through 2015 model years. The agency opened the probe after getting a petition from an owner in October of last year. It will investigate how often the problem happens, how many vehicles are affected, and the safety consequences of the problem. The probe could lead to a recall.

Honda said it's cooperating with NHTSA and is doing its own review of the case. The company says that any owner with a steering problem should take the car to a Honda dealership to see if repairs are needed.

In a December 2018 complaint to NHTSA, an owner from San Bruno, California, wrote that they were driving a 2013 Accord down a small hill when it suddenly veered to the left. The owner wrote that they couldn't control the car, and in a panic, couldn't stop before crossing several lanes of traffic and hitting a building. The driver and passenger were injured, wrote the owner, whose name was redacted from the complaint.

The person who petitioned for the investigation, whose name also was redacted, wrote that their 2013 Accord suddenly turns to the left or right without warning. The person tested the car in a deserted parking lot. My vehicle repeatedly turned 90 degrees of its own volition, the person wrote. This behavior was replicated by Honda dealership mechanics.

Mechanics couldn't find a digital trouble code for the problem, so the car was not covered under a 2015 extended warranty agreement for power steering column failures, the petitioner wrote.

Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said people need to know the government is moving quickly when lives could be in danger. With over 100 complaints into an incredibly scary situation  suddenly losing the ability to steer your car while driving  we are glad to see NHTSA undertake a complete analysis of this hazardous situation to determine if a recall is necessary, he said Monday.
Things are looking good for the Champaign County Fair, the reopening of Li'l Porgy's, tours of the Solon House, a campus Sycamore that someone was concerned about and the market for assistant basketball coaches.
A study of more than 173,000 women in Denmark, presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, suggests that girls with a higher body mass index (BMI) during childhood are less likely than their peers with a lower BMI to develop breast cancer as adults, both before and after the menopause.

The findings contrast with those for adult BMI, which indicate that women who gain weight after menopause have an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. While the authors are unsure why children with a higher BMI appear to be protected against breast cancer, they caution that having overweight or obesity can have many adverse impacts on general health.

Our results suggest that having a higher BMI during childhood may lower your risk of breast cancer both before and after the menopause. But we must be really clear that weight gain should not be considered as a way of preventing breast cancer. There are so many health risks linked with having overweight or obesity, it is vital for women to maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives." Dr Dorthe Pedersen, Study Lead Author, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with around 55,000 women diagnosed every year in the UK alone, and almost 1 in 5 cases developing in those under the age of 50. Previous research has established a link between increased BMI in adult women and a lower risk of breast cancer before the menopause, but an increased risk after menopause.

Although a high childhood BMI may be protective against the risk of overall breast cancer, past studies had not been large enough to investigate the link by type menopausal status.

To provide more evidence, Danish researchers analyzed data for 173,373 women from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register born between 1930 and 1996 (aged 25 to 91 years now) who had information on height and weight measured at annual school health examinations from ages 7 to 13 years. Cases of breast cancer were identified by linking with the Danish Cancer Registry.

During an average of 33 years of follow-up, 4,051 women were diagnosed with breast cancer before the menopause (at 55 years of age or younger), and 5,942 women after the menopause (after age 55 years).

The analyses suggest "inverse associations" between childhood BMI and breast cancer risk before and after the menopause, which means that breast cancer risks decreased as BMI increased.

For example, when comparing two 7 year-old girls with an average height and one z-score difference in BMI (equivalent to 2.4 kg), the girl with the highest BMI had a 7% lower risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer and a 10% lower risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer than the girl with the lower BMI.

The authors say that further studies are needed to uncover the mechanisms underlying these associations. They acknowledge that the findings are associations only, so no conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and point to several limitations, including that the study used BMI as a marker of fat mass, but children with the same BMI can have different body fat distributions and overall levels of body fat.
Kai Humphrey, 9, has been learning from home for more than a year. He badly misses his Washington, D.C., elementary school, along with his friends and the bustle of the classroom.

I will be the first person ever to have every single person in the world as my friend, he said on a recent Zoom call, his sandy-brown hair hanging down to his shoulder blades. From Kai, this kind of proclamation doesnt feel like bragging, more like exuberant kindness.

But when Kais school recently invited him back, he refused. Thats because his worry list is long, topped by his fear of getting covid-19 and giving it to his 2-year-old sister, Alaina. She was born with a heart condition, Down syndrome and a fragile immune system. To her, the disease poses a mortal threat, and he is her protector, the only one who can make her giggle breathlessly.

Kai also worries about being separated from his mom, Rashida Humphrey-Wall. His biological father died in 2014, and she remains his rock, his mama bear and occasional taekwondo partner. He sometimes visits her bedside, in the middle of the night, just to check on her.

This pandemic has been stressful for millions of children like Kai. Some have lost a loved one to covid, and many families have lost jobs, their homes and even reliable access to food. If that stress isnt buffered by caring adults, it can have lifelong consequences.

Kids have had extended exposure to chaos, crisis and uncertainty, said Dr. Matt Biel, a child psychiatrist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

But theres some good news for kids like Kai: Educators across the country say their top priority right now isnt doubling down on math or reading  its helping students manage pandemic-driven stress.

If kids dont return to school and get a lot of attention paid to security, safety, predictability and reestablishing of strong, secure relationships, [they] are not gonna be able to make up ground academically, Biel said.

Promoting mental wellness in the classroom

To reestablish relationships in the classroom  and help kids cope with the stress and trauma of the past year  mental health experts say educators can start by building in time every day, for every student, in every classroom to share their feelings and learn the basics of naming and managing their emotions. Think morning circle time or, for older students, homeroom.

At Irene C. Hernandez Middle School in Chicago, teacher Lilian Sackett starts off each day by checking in with students, then diving into a short lesson on mindfulness and other social-emotional skills.

The school is in a predominantly Latino area that was hit hard by the pandemic, Sackett said. She teaches English as a second language, and she learned that many of her students families were dealing with a lot of stress related to job losses and illness  thats on top of any trauma that may have predated the pandemic.

We need to allow the students to share their experiences with the pandemic and to give them that safe space [to] talk about it, Sackett said.

Whats more, she said, children can benefit a lot from just a few minutes each day of classwide calm. When she found out her students love Bob Ross and his tranquil, televised painting lessons from the 1980s and 90s, Sackett decided to work him into their morning routine.

We watch five minutes of Bob Ross, and we watch the whole painting session within one week, she explained. When theyre having fun, theyre so excited  theyll learn anything you throw at them.

Sackett said her approach was informed by a virtual training, provided by Chicagos Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital, that focused on the impacts of trauma on children.

They mentioned a bad grade is never about a lazy kid, she said. If a child is struggling academically, they may be dealing with really tough circumstances at home. Sackett learned that teachers can help by creating a supportive environment that fosters resilience.

Sheyla Ramirez, an eighth grader at Sacketts school, has benefited a lot from daily check-ins with her teacher. Last fall, her family came down with covid, and her baby sister ended up hospitalized before she recovered. Sheylas uncle had died after testing positive for the virus months earlier. She said it was a really stressful time, especially for her sister in third grade.

My sister was like, Oh, I dont want to die,' Sheyla remembered. I didnt know what to tell her because I was in shock, too.

School staff members routinely checked in to see if she or her family needed anything, and they offered to connect Sheyla with a school counselor. But Sheyla said the short daily lessons in mindfulness at the start of each school day  and being able to share her feelings and concerns with her teacher  were enough to help her get through.

Theyve been doing an excellent job, said Sheylas mom, Amparo Ramirez. Ive been telling them, Im thankful for you being here.'

When more serious help is needed

For many kids, a little morning circle time with a caring teacher, or an occasional chat with a school counselor is all they need. And the more schools invest in promoting mental health and equipping children with social-emotional skills, the fewer children will go on to develop more serious problems, said child psychiatrist Biel.

But there will always be children who need more intensive interventions, which could involve school social workers and psychologists, when available, or a referral to a mental health professional beyond the school.

Kai has been talking regularly with a therapist through his elementary school. And he said she has helped him come up with strategies to manage his stress at home.

I would go in my room, lay on my bed, and either watch TV or play with my toys or do something like that, Kai said. And then Ill come back out when Im more calm and happy.

As a solo parent, Kais mom, Humphrey-Wall, has also had a tough year. She admitted that looking after two kids, in addition to taking on a new job, during a pandemic has been stressful. In the beginning, I think I had depression, anxiety  anything you can think of, I probably had it.

Biel said that kind of stress can trickle down to children.

All of the best evidence-based practices in the world are not going to have the desired effect if that child is living in a family thats overwhelmed by stress, he explained.

One of the best ways to address that is to also help caregivers, like Humphrey-Wall. And thats exactly what Kais school has done. Through a partnership with MedStar Georgetown Center for Wellbeing in School Environments, Kais school arranged for Humphrey-Wall to meet with a clinical psychologist once a week for what they call parent wellbeing sessions.

Without it, she said, I dont know what I would have done, really.

Partnerships between schools and mental health care providers can be expensive for districts and may not be an option in rural or under-resourced areas where there simply arent enough child-focused services.

Biel said hes hopeful the rise in telehealth will help. But whatever the solution, he said, schools need support as they explore their options.

Schools cant beg, borrow and steal from what they already have to do this, Biel said. We need to support schools and school systems with more resources to make this possible.

Federal help for schools

For districts that want to do more, the latest covid relief package could be a big help. The American Rescue Plan contains roughly $122 billion for K-12 schools, some of which can be used to hire more counselors, social workers and psychologists. And one U.S. senator has been pushing the Biden administration to emphasize mental health as it guides districts on how to spend that money.

Not all schools and districts are equipped to work on these complex mental and behavioral health issues and meet the unique needs of todays students, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto wrote in a letter to the secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Many suffer from drastic shortages of counselors, social workers, and psychologists to work with students even under normal circumstances. They will need robust assistance from community-based service providers and the health care community.

Cortez Masto said a recent spate of student suicides in one county in her state, Nevada, underscores just how urgent the needs are.

This is a unique situation were in, hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, she said. We dont know the impact its going to have long term [on] our kids. But we know the short term. Ive seen it here in southern Nevada and its devastating consequence here. So weve got to change that dynamic.

In the U.S., where access to health care  especially for childrens mental health  is inequitable and inconsistent, the difficult work of identifying and tending to the mental and emotional health of this pandemic generation will fall largely on the shoulders of educators.

Programs like the one at Kais school, in Washington, D.C., could play a critical role in helping change that dynamic. Cortez Masto hopes the flood of federal relief dollars will help other districts create similar partnerships with child mental health providers, or find other solutions.

In the meantime, Kai and his mom are trying to figure out when Kai will return to in-person school. Humphrey-Wall said it would be good for her son to get out of the house, but Kai still fears bringing covid home. Hes talking it through with his school-based therapist, doing his best to give those worries a roundhouse kick:

We all need to be free from this quarantine. Im going crazy. I want to be free! Kai shouted. Hes eager to get back to the business of making friends with the entire world.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en espanol: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: dial 711, then 1-800-273-8255) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes NPR, Illinois Public Media and Kaiser Health News.
Researchers have successfully developed a new Strep A human challenge model, paving the way to test vaccines against the common deadly bacteria that causes sore throats, scarlet fever and skin sores.

The collaborative research effort, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in The Lancet Microbe, found the model, which deliberately infected healthy adult volunteers with the bacteria in a controlled environment, was safe and would now be used to trial Strep A candidate vaccines.

Strep A infections affect about 750 million people and kill more than 500,000 globally every year - more than influenza, typhoid or whooping cough. Strep A can also cause severe life-threatening infections like toxic shock syndrome and flesh eating disease and post-infectious illnesses such as acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and kidney disease.

Strep A infections disproportionately affect young children, the elderly, pregnant women and Indigenous Australians. There is currently no vaccine available to prevent Strep A and can only potentially be treated with antibiotics.

MCRI'S Dr Josh Osowicki said given Strep A only naturally infected humans, researchers were limited in what they could learn in the lab and using animal models.

Human challenge models can be used to test vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tests, as well as driving all sorts of wonderful scientific collaborations to understand more about how diseases work and how to stop them." Dr Josh Osowicki, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI)

"We have developed the only current Strep A controlled human infection model, ready to be used as a platform to evaluate new vaccine candidates and therapeutics."

Dr Osowicki said the research team tested a Strep A strain they believed would cause a strep throat and was unlikely to cause acute or chronic health problems.

The study involved 25 volunteers, aged 18-40 years who stayed at Nucleus Network, a phase 1 clinical trials unit based in Melbourne for up to six days with blood tests and saliva and throat swabs collected regularly.

Dr Osowicki said 85 per cent of participants developed a convincing case of strep throat, well up on the at least 60 per cent anticipated.

"Starting at one-tenth of the dose used in old 1970s studies, we applied our special Strep A strain on the back of each participant's throat," he said. "To our surprise, from the very first participant at the low starting dose, our strain caused strep throat in most participants."

The volunteers developed mild to moderate symptoms including a sore throat, sweats, fever and headache. All quickly recovered and were followed up for six months after they were sent home, according to the study.

Melbourne resident Tania O'Meara's daughter Eden was just 11 months old when she almost lost her leg to a flesh-eating bacterial infection caused by Strep A.

"We put our daughter to bed with what seemed like a cold but the next morning she woke up with a fever and was very pale, limp and dehydrated," she said.

"We took her to the hospital but the doctor couldn't get the IV drip in because Eden was so dehydrated and they were forced to drill it into her leg. They also noticed that the skin on her leg looked like it was turning a different color."

Ms O'Meara said Eden required surgery on her right calf to remove the dead flesh.

"We were told that she could die and we braced ourselves so it was a miracle that they were able to save her leg and even her calf muscle," she said.

Eden, now three, needed three more surgeries and has since made a full recovery.

Ms O'Meara said she was relieved that a vaccine for Step A may not be too far away.

"I don't want any other family to experience what we went through. It is an absolute tragedy that this bacteria is cutting so many lives short," she said.

MCRI Professor Andrew Steer said the team expected to start testing candidate Strep A vaccines developed by researchers in Australia and overseas before the end of the year.

The trials, to be conducted in Melbourne, would involve about 50 participants receiving a candidate vaccine or placebo and having the Strep A challenge strain applied on their throats.

"The global burden of Strep A is an unmet public health challenge. We hope this research will accelerate the development of a vaccine and move things forward to bigger field trials," Professor Steer said.

"A vaccine for Strep A will save hundreds of thousands of lives every year and prevent millions of infections that send children and adults to the hospital or doctor."
Seroprevalence studies have proved their worth in estimating the size and directionality of an outbreak of infectious disease, especially the current pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A new study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server describes the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in five representative regions of Germany.

Seroprevalence is the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology (blood serum) specimens.

German estimates of the number of infections in its population are based mainly on the number of mandatorily reported infections, derived from local healthcare authorities. Once the first case was reported in January 2020, initially, the strategy centered on case studies, tracing contacts, and finding hotspots of infection.

Screening by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2 genetic material was carried out for certain groups, such as healthcare workers.

As a result, estimates of viral transmission excluded asymptomatic or mild infections as they do not reach medical attention. The current study seeks to use population-based data on immunoglobulin (Ig)G titers specific to the viral spike antigen to calculate the number of people exposed and the infection fatality rate for each age group.

This would help monitor how well various interventions are working at the population level and how to prevent a further rise in incidence and shape vaccination policies.

MuSPAD sampling time per site compared with reported cases Source @RKI in Germany, July 2020-February 2021, Data for rural area and city Osnabruck and Freiburg aggregated.

Earlier studies

The researchers found 30 studies from Germany and discovered that the seroprevalence reported was mostly low, below 5%, and primarily from hotspots or group-specific screening. They considered only a single study, called the Corona sub-study of the Rhineland study, as fitting their criteria. This study calculated a low seroprevalence below 1%, which would mean that Germany remained almost completely vulnerable to the virus.

The current study is based on MuSPAD (Multilocal and Serial Prevalence Study of Antibodies against SARS-2 Coronavirus in Germany) data. MuSPAD is a multi-locality study established by the researchers to understand the community prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and allow comparisons with other European countries.

It addresses seroprevalence by region, time points, social and demographic data, and comorbidities. The researchers randomly tested over 13,000 and 6,000 adults in two rounds of testing in five German counties with Spike S1-specific IgG ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). The first set of participants were tested twice to monitor changes in seroprevalence with time.

About 40% of participants in both stages had no history of symptomatic COVID-19-like illness since February 2020. About 10% had been exposed to a confirmed case.

About 20% had household members who had tested for the virus by PCR. Less than 20% had been tested themselves. In the second stage, the proportion was about a third, in both categories. In one county, Reutlingen, 8% of household members were tested in the first stage, but 45% in the second.

Less than 1%, and just over 2%, of first- and second-stage participants had tested positive at any time.

Underestimation of infections

Seroprevalence was low until the end of 2020 due to many cases being unreported. Seropositivity was almost four-fold higher among those who had two or more COVID-19-like symptoms, such as loss of smell, cough, breathing distress, fever, or tiredness.

The seroprevalence for the first stage, in June 2020, was 2.4% for Reutlingen; 1.5% for Freiburg; and 2.3% for Aachen. These values rose to 2.9% for Reutlingen in October 2020, stage 2; 2.5% for Freiburg; 5.4% for Aachen; and 1.3% for Osnabrueck, with 2.4% for Magdeburg, both in November-December 2020.

Based on these results, about 2.5-4.5 more cases were present than reported to health authorities, called the surveillance detection ratio (SDR). This was lowest among people aged 80 years or above, who had the highest seroprevalence. Detected age-specific differences of SDR should be taken into account in modeling and forecasting COVID-19 morbidity.

With the second wave (November 2020 to February 2021), another 2-5% of the population was infected.

They also found that with efficient isolation and contact tracing, the number of people who needed to quarantine to prevent one infection was 8.2.

Infection fatality risks

Infection fatality estimates fell between 0.2-2.4%, increasing with age.

Risk factors

The odds of seroprevalence were 80% more likely with lower education. Conversely, smoking was linked to only half the odds of being seropositive. However, there is much evidence that the disease is much more serious in those with damaged lungs due to smoking,

This is the first accurately traced population-level seroprevalence study of SARS-CoV-2 in multiple regions in Germany. The two rounds of sampling helped to follow up seroprevalence variations in these representative regions.

However, seroprevalence could not be measured at all locations simultaneously, which meant that antibody levels would have waned more significantly in those that were last to be tested. At the same time, the second wave was setting in towards the end of the second stage of testing, which is reflected in the test results.

What are the implications?

The five conclusions they reached were:

The pooled seroprevalence of 1.3% indicates that the prevalence was under-reported, with only 20 - 40% of cases being notified in the first wave, but 40-50% in the second wave.

Seroprevalence remained low until the middle of December 2020, in all regions. This was due to the receding first wave in most regions, but for Magdeburg, it represented the onset of the second wave.

The SDR is twofold higher for those aged 80 years or more in the first wave, and the difference hovers between 25% to 50% for different cities. The more efficient detection of older people by notification should help improve predictions and risk assessment models and thus shape focused preventive interventions.

The low infection fatality rate seen in Magdeburg is attributed to the researchers capturing the initial period of the second wave, where the study ended before the fatality records were complete. For instance, they included 15 deaths by November 15, 2020, whereas there were almost 50 by the end of the year.

The study also shows that contact tracing was highly efficient, with only 8 people requiring to be quarantined to avert one infection.

Finally, the risk posed to viral containment by limited education was also observed, probably because it is associated with lower socioeconomic status and shifts in employment, raising barriers to self-isolation at home.

We recommend that forecasting efforts use regional age-specific underreporting ratios if available to predict severe courses of disease as well as deaths more in detail. We also recommend that testing and tracing efforts be targeted in particular to those younger and middle-aged adult groups that seem to be prone to highest underreporting in our study.

*Important Notice

medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
(Newser)  The US on Sunday declared a state of emergency in 17 states and the District of Columbia in response to the cyberattack that shut down a major East Coast pipeline on Friday. The Department of Transportation's regional emergency declaration allows fuel to be transported via road, the BBC reports. As the Hill explains, that means restrictions on motor carriers and drivers that are helping areas suffering shortages of "gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products" have been lifted. Experts say the ransomware attack highlights the growing danger such attacks pose to not just businesses but infrastructure. This is "the most significant, successful attack on energy infrastructure we know of in the United States," one tells Politico.

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A ransomware gang known as DarkSide is responsible for the attack, sources tell the AP, which describes the organization as having "a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity." Per NBC News, it's a Russian group, but early indications are that the attack is criminal in origin, rather than organized by a nation-state. Experts say if Colonial Pipeline is up and running as usual within a few days, gasoline prices should not be affected, but if the shutdown continues for a week or more, prices could start going up. Pipeline operators said Sunday they were in the process of restoring some IT systems and coming up with a "system restart" plan, and that some smaller lateral lines were now operational though the main lines are still shut down. (Read more cyberattack stories.)
(Newser)  Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber-coated bullets clashed with Palestinian stone-throwers at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations pushing the contested city to the brink of eruption. More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site and the holiest site in Judaism, said an AP photographer at the scene. At least 215 Palestinians were hurt in the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including 153 who were hospitalized, per Palestinian medics. Four of the injured were in serious condition. Police said nine officers were hurt, including one who was hospitalized. Monday's clash was the latest in the sacred compound after days of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional ground zero of the conflict. Hundreds of Palestinians and about two dozen cops have been hurt over the past few days.

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The compound has been the trigger for rounds of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the past. A rep for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a tweet that "extremist Palestinians planned well in advance to carry out riots" at the holy site. Israel has come under growing international criticism for its heavy-handed actions at the site, particularly during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Violence has occurred almost nightly throughout Ramadan, beginning when Israel blocked off a popular spot where Muslims traditionally gather each night at the end of their daylong fast. Israel later removed the restrictions, but clashes quickly resumed amid tensions over an eviction plan in the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Per a White House statement, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urged calm and expressed the US' "serious concerns" about the ongoing violence and planned evictions.

(Read more Israel and Palestinians stories.)
(Newser)  The operators of the biggest US fuel pipeline were scrambling Monday to resume operations after a cyberattack forced a shutdown on Friday. The Wall Street Journal reports that because of existing gasoline inventories, the impact shouldn't be too dire if Colonial can confine the outage to less than five days. If it goes longer than that, however, people filling up their tanks on the East Coast in particular will likely see higher prices. An outage of one to three weeks could translate into a 20-cent spike, one industry analyst tells the AP. Essentially, Colonial needs to be back in business by Wednesday to limit the pain. Coverage:

The pipeline: It's a huge source of gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet fuel from Texas to the Northeast. In fact, Colonial delivers about 45% of fuel consumed on the East Coast. The 5,500-mile pipeline also provides fuel for airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, and elsewhere, reports CNBC.

It's a huge source of gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet fuel from Texas to the Northeast. In fact, Colonial delivers about 45% of fuel consumed on the East Coast. The 5,500-mile pipeline also provides fuel for airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, and elsewhere, reports CNBC. The hack: Hackers deployed a ransomware attack on the company's IT systems, reports Bloomberg, though details are scarce. A Russian group identified as the DarkSide has been identified as the perpetrators. "They're very new but they're very organized," Lior Div of the security firm Cybereason tells Reuters. DarkSide is motivated by profit, not geopolitical interests, and it boasts of giving some of its collected ransom to charities. Colonial hasn't said whether a ransom has been demanded or whether it would pay, if so. For now, it appears that the hack was confined to Colonial's information systems and didn't reach the more critical control systems.

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One view: "Whether we should feel comforted that it was a regular criminal ransomware attack that has managed to disrupt gasoline and jet fuel supplies to the East Coast of the United Statesrather than the work of a concerted effort by a state-sponsored hacking groupis debatable," writes renowned cybersecurity expert Graham Cluley.

"Whether we should feel comforted that it was a regular criminal ransomware attack that has managed to disrupt gasoline and jet fuel supplies to the East Coast of the United Statesrather than the work of a concerted effort by a state-sponsored hacking groupis debatable," writes renowned cybersecurity expert Graham Cluley. Bigger issue: The aging infrastructure of US energy systems is extremely vulnerable to such attacks. "Many companies have older, vulnerable Windows platforms still embedded within energy facilities, and efforts to implement cybersecurity measures rarely move beyond the pilot-program stage," the Journal notes, based on its conversation with one expert. The systems were long thought to be safe because they weren't connected to the internet, but hackers have found ways to penetrate them anyway. The US has 2.5 million miles of pipelines, and the valves, sensors, and other devices that control them all are vulnerable.

The aging infrastructure of US energy systems is extremely vulnerable to such attacks. "Many companies have older, vulnerable Windows platforms still embedded within energy facilities, and efforts to implement cybersecurity measures rarely move beyond the pilot-program stage," the Journal notes, based on its conversation with one expert. The systems were long thought to be safe because they weren't connected to the internet, but hackers have found ways to penetrate them anyway. The US has 2.5 million miles of pipelines, and the valves, sensors, and other devices that control them all are vulnerable. Remedies: The US government is temporarily relaxing fuel transportation rules as part of an "all-hands-on-deck" initiative, says Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Longer term, the White House may roll out an executive order to required beefed-up security at utilities, notes the New York Times. But making such upgrades is much easier said than done, with the Journal noting that some operational protocols in use predate the internet. Expect the issue to become a point of contention in President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan.

The US government is temporarily relaxing fuel transportation rules as part of an "all-hands-on-deck" initiative, says Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Longer term, the White House may roll out an executive order to required beefed-up security at utilities, notes the New York Times. But making such upgrades is much easier said than done, with the Journal noting that some operational protocols in use predate the internet. Expect the issue to become a point of contention in President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan. On the rise: Don't expect this to be the last such attack in the near future. US officials "note that the frequency and sophistication of ransomware attacks has soared in recent months, targeting police departments, hospitals, and manufacturers," per the Times. Last year, hackers took down an unnamed natural gas facility for two days.

(Read more cyberattack stories.)
(Newser)  She would have been the first Vietnamese civilian to win a judgment against the chemical companies that produced Agent Orange, notes the Washington Post. But a court in France on Monday dismissed the case brought by Tran To Nga against companies including Dow Chemical and Monsanto, now owned by Bayer. The court said it did not have the jurisdiction to rule on actions taken by the US military during the Vietnam War, reports AFP. The 79-year-old Tran, who worked as a journalist during the war, says she will appeal in what has been described as a landmark case, per the AP. Tran says she was exposed to the defoliant and blames it for the death of a daughter from a heart defect, for the skin and blood conditions of two surviving daughters, as well as for her own diabetes and an unspecified cancer. She moved to France after the war.

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"I'm not fighting for myself, but for my children and the millions of victims," she said of the lawsuit she filed in 2014. In a statement after the court's decision, Bayer declared that "it has been well-established by courts for many years that wartime contractors ... operating at the behest of the US government, are not responsible for the alleged damage claims associated with the governments use of such product during wartime." Tran's legal team called that an "obsolete definition of the principle of immunity" and demanded the release of all communication between the companies and the US government. While military veterans from the US and other nations have won compensation over health issues linked to Agent Orange, no Vietnamese civilian has successfully sued. (The secret spraying in Laos is "one of the last untold stories" of the war.)
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(Newser)  Police in Houston are looking for a man who claimed to be "with the zoo" after a tiger apparently escaped from his residence and roamed the neighborhood. The tigerwhich was wearing a collarwas confronted by an armed off-duty Waller County Sheriff's Office deputy who was nearby when neighbors reported the big cat, the Houston Chronicle reports. The deputy yelled "Get your tiger back inside," along with a few swear words, at a man who emerged from the residence. The man brought the tiger back inside the residence without shots being fired. Minutes later, he put the animal in a white Jeep Cherokee and took off before police arrived. Police say they pursued the man but lost sight of him as he sped away.

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Jose Ramos tells KHOU11 that he saw the tiger walking around and lying in grass across the street from his home around 8pm Sunday. He says he posted on a warning on a neighborhood forum, which apparently alerted the off-duty deputy, and called 911. Other neighbors say they had previously seen what appeared to be a monkey in a window at the home, but had no idea a tiger was being kept there. The homeowner says people who live in the rental property moved in last yearand didn't mention owning any animals, or pay a pet deposit. Houston residents are not allowed to keep tigers as pets. (In 2019, a pot smoker found a tiger in an abandoned Houston home.)
(Newser)  The FAA has had enough of unruly passengers. In early 2021, the agency announced a zero-tolerance policy, and in a press release last week they explained just what they mean. No more warnings and no more counselingthe maskless and unruly are facing stiff fines. The FAA isnt naming names, but it isnt holding back on descriptions. One woman flying from the Dominican Republic to New York allegedly refused to wear a mask, hurled obscenities, food, and an empty liquor bottle, and drank some booze that hadnt been served to her. Shes looking at a $32,750 fine. A man flying from Chicago to Sacramento also refused to wear a mask and used language the FAA describes only as offensiveexcept for one word. He called two flight attendants pathetic and allegedly hit one of them with his bags. The FAA is going after him for $16,500.

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More enforcement actions are coming, the New York Times reports. The press release describes two other incidents, including $9,000 each for a woman who wanted to get off the plane during takeoff, and a man whose refusal to wear a mask led to the pilot turning the plane around and dropping him off at the gate. The maximum fine is $35,000. Air travel is still well below pre-pandemic load, but reports of unruly passengers are sky high, CNN reports. Instead of a few a week, there are several per day, even though there are 40% fewer passengers in the air. So far this year, the FAA has pulled 260 potential violations out of a string of reports, and its only May. In 2019, before flight attendants were tasked with enforcing mask policies, there were 142 enforcement actions and 159 in 2018, according to the Times. (Read more FAA stories.)
(Newser)  Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Monday, setting off air raid sirens throughout the city, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city. The early-evening attack drastically escalated what already are heightened tensions throughout the region following weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem. Shortly after the sirens sounded, explosions could be heard in Jerusalem. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The Israeli Army said there was an initial burst of seven rockets, one was intercepted, and rocket fire was continuing, the AP reports.

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Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas military wing, said the rocket attack was a response to what he called Israeli "crimes and aggression" in Jerusalem. "This is a message the enemy has to understand well," he said. He threatened more attacks if Israel again invades the sacred Al-Aqsa compound or carries out evictions of Palestinian families in a neighborhood of east Jerusalem. Earlier, Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at the iconic compound. In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by ultranationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.

(Read more Israel and Palestinians stories.)
(Newser)  Quintin Philippe Jones is scheduled to be executed in Texas on May 19, and writer Suleika Jaouad makes a plea to save his life in a New York Times essay. The 41-year-old Jones was convicted of murdering his great-aunt in 1999 to buy money for drugs, and Jaouad isn't making the case that he's innocent. Jones admits to the crime. But "during his 21 years on death row, Quin has been the epitome of a prison success story," she writes. Through "prayer, sobriety, reconciliation with his family, and longstanding correspondence with pen pals, he has found a way to lead a meaningful life, and even to enhance the lives of others." Jaouad, in fact, counts herself among those "pen pals" he has touched. Jones first reached out to her when she wrote publicly of her battle with cancer several years ago.

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I know that our situations are different, but the threat of death lurks in both of our shadows, Quin wrote at the time. Try to stay as positive and as hopeful as possible, even though a lot of days that may be easier said than done." Jaouad runs through other relationships Jones has developed with people around the world. She also notes that his victim's familywhich is his own family, toohas forgiven him, and she calls attention to his "brutal childhood mired in poverty, violence, neglect, abuse, and addiction." Jaouad is asking Gov. Greg Abbott to commute his sentence to life without the possibility of parole. "We make examples of people all the time," she writes. "But the greatest example that can be made of Quintin Phillippe Jones is that human beings are capable of redemption and reconciliation, deserving of mercy and grace." Read her full essay. (Read more death penalty stories.)
(Newser)  India's difficulty dealing with all of its bodies may have led to this: dozens of "bloated" and "partially burnt" bodies of suspected COVID victims washed up on the banks of the Ganges. The BBC reports it confirmed the presence of the bodies near the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border, and says locals put the number at a minimum of 40, though local media suggests the count could be more than twice that high. One theory as to the bodies' source is tied to Uttar Pradesh, where coronavirus victims are sometimes cremated along the river. The AFP spoke to locals who speculated the bodies were intentionally disposed of in the river because cremation sites were full or relatives could not afford the cost of wood for funeral pyres.

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The Times of India called it an "apocalyptic" scene in the village of Chausa in Bihar. One local there spoke with reporters while covering his face with a cloth. He put the count of bodies as high as 150. "The bodies are of people infected with COVID-19. From the time I am here since morning, I have seen 30-35 bodies. Some people immersed the bodies in the river, while others disposed of half- burnt bodies in the water," he said. Officials say the bodies will be cremated or buried. The AP reports the country reported 360,000 new cases in the past 24 hours Monday, and another 3,700 deaths. (Read more India stories.)
(Newser)  The twisted remains of several all-terrain vehicles leaned precariously inside Baba Mirs scrap yard, alongside smashed shards that were once generators, tank tracks that have been dismantled into chunks of metal, and mountains of tents reduced to sliced up fabric. Its all US military equipment, per the AP. The Americans are dismantling their portion of nearby Bagram Air Base, their largest remaining outpost in Afghanistan, and anything that is not being taken home or given to the Afghan military is being destroyed as completely as possible, even small outposts are being dismantled or reduced to rubble. They do so as a security measure, to ensure equipment doesnt fall into the hands of militants. But Mir and the dozens of other scrap sellers around Bagram see it as an infuriating waste. Like they have destroyed this vehicle, they have destroyed us, he said.

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As the last US and NATO troops leave, ending their 20-year war in Afghanistan, they are packing up bases around the country. They leave behind a population where many are frustrated and angry. The Afghans feel abandoned to a legacy they blame at least in part on the Americansa deeply corrupt US-backed government and growing instability that could burst into brutal new phase of civil war. At Bagram, northwest of the capital of Kabul, and other bases, US forces are taking stock of equipment to be returned to America. Most of what is being shipped home is sensitive equipment never intended to be left behind. Sadat, another junk dealer in Bagram who gave only one name, says other scrap yards around the country are crammed with ruined US equipment. They left us nothing, he said. They have destroyed our country. They are giving us only destruction. (Read more Afghanistan war stories.)
(Newser)  After 40 years in the movie industry, Tom Cruise is still doing his own stuntsand he says a death-defying motorcycle jump in Mission: Impossible 7 was the most dangerous one yet. Cruise, 58, tells Empire that a lot of thoughts were going through his head as he prepared to ride a motorcycle off a cliff on the first day of filming in September last year. "If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp," he says, and the helicopter filming the stunt was a problem because "I didnt want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone." After jumping off the huge ramp on a Norwegian mountain, Cruise parachuted to the ground while the bike fell.

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"I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I dont want to get tangled in the bike," Cruise says. "If I do, thats not going to end well." But Cruise says the biggest emotion he was feeling that day wasn't fearit was relief that filming had begun and thousands of jobs had been saved following concerns that the pandemic would cause the production to be canceled. "I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that wed started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief," he says. "It was very emotional, I gotta tell you." The movie is scheduled to open in theaters Nov. 19, EW.com reports. (Read more Tom Cruise stories.)
(Newser)  A Canadian woman is accused of kidnapping a newborn after overpowering a family with bear spray. Police say the accused met the new mom on Facebook and brought over a gift on Friday. She returned to her Ottawa home Sunday afternoon with bear spray, CTV News reports. According to police, Nicole Shanks, 32, of Quebec, forced her way past the family, grabbed the 8-day-old baby, and ran. Neighbors heard the very un-Canadian commotion and rushed over to help, holding the alleged kidnapper until police arrived. The infant is fine, the CBC reports.

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Paramedics treated the other family members, none of whom were seriously injured. Staff Sgt. Martin Groulx of the Ottawa police said Shanks got the victims address via Facebook. Her Friday visit was under the pretext that the new mom had won a prize. Ottawa police arent sure whether the accused has been in contact with other new moms, nor what her motives were, and are encouraging anyone with information to reach out. Groulx says police recommend that people meeting strangers from the Internet should do so in a public place instead of their homes, Global News reports. " You never know who is on the other side of the screen," he says. (Read more weird crimes stories.)
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain yesterday voiced its strong rejection of the police aggression against Palestinians at Al Aqsa mosque, expressing alarm at the potential eviction of Palestinians from their homes.

The Kingdoms Foreign Ministry, in a statement, called on the Israeli government to stop provocations and urged to prevent its forces from attacking worshipers in this holy month. The statement condemned the Israeli plan to evict citizens of Jerusalem from their homes, condemning it as a move to impose Israeli sovereignty over them.

Israeli actions violate the resolutions of international legitimacy and undermine the chances of resuming the peace process to achieve security and stability in the region, Bahrain said. The response came as more than 160 people were wounded after Israeli riot police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades towards Palestinian youth at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound late Friday.

Calls for calm and restraint also came from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, Jordan, the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union. Saudi Arabia, in a statement, called the move unilateral and said it undermines the resumption of the peace process. Saudi also reiterated its support to the Palestinian people for their efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution.

The US said that some Palestinian families targeted for eviction have lived in their home for generations. Washington was deeply concerned about the heightened tensions in Jerusalem, said the US State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter. Meanwhile, Israel said it was beefing up security forces yesterday in anticipation of more confrontations with Palestinian protesters.

Thousands of Palestinians were expected to return to Al-Aqsa Mosque after dark fell for the sacred Muslim night of Laylat al-Qadr. Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai said more officers were being deployed in Jerusalem on Saturday.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Public Prosecution has launched its investigations into the incident in which a boat rammed into the marine patrol, leading to the death of one of the patrol members, and the injury of other onboard the Coast Guard vessel. This was confirmed by the Muharraq Prosecution Chief.

As soon it received the notification on May 6, the Public Prosecution viewed the body of the dead policeman and ordered investigations to arrest the perpetrators of the incident.

The Coast Guard Command identified several suspects and the boat used in the crash. To date, investigations revealed that the suspects, who are Asians, sailed on board the boat based on its owners request to catch shrimps, in violation of the ministerial edict on banning shrimping during this period.

They were arrested on board at the Shahrakan beach. As soon as they saw the marine patrol, the fishermen tried to flee, but their vessel collided with the police boat, causing it to capsize, and resulting in the death of a policeman and the injury of several others on board, the investigators found.

The Public Prosecution examined the police boat and that of the fishermen interrogated the suspects and found that they have a history of fishing-related violations and non-compliance with Coast Guard orders.

It ordered the fishermen and their boat owner to be remanded in custody pending investigation. In order to ascertain the cause of the death, the Public Prosecution instructed the forensic expert to examine the body of the fallen policeman and the injured policemen.

It also instructed experts from the Ports and Maritime Affairs at the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications to inspect the boats, and determine the circumstances of the incident.

It also requested all incident-related notification records and information about the police boats movement. It also demanded the examination of data on the suspects boats Au
NEW MILFORD The town celebrated the opening day of its farmers market Saturday, with locals showing up to buy and sell goods on the green.

Come on down and check out the market! Mayor Pete Bass wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.

The market, which typically runs from May through November, is a weekend staple in New Milford, operating from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. This year, officials decided against the annual winter market, opting instead for online ordering with pick-up on Saturdays.

At least 15 local farms and sellers have been slotted for spots on the town green, including Goatboy Soap, Fort Hill Farm, Mountain View Farm, and others, according to the markets website. New COVID-19 guidelines, including the option for pre-order or online payment, as well as social distancing areas for customers, are new additions to some of the stands.

The market focuses on homegrown goods. All agricultural products that are sold at the market have to originate in-state, or produced on the vendors land, property, or kitchen in Connecticut. This year, applications for becoming a vendor at the market were closed in mid-February, and new vendors were voted upon by the governing association, The Market Association.

The website notes that Snap benefits can be used at the market, with $10 in green coins equalling about $20 in fruits and vegetables.
HONOLULU (AP)  A U.S. judge is allowing a former Honolulu police chief convicted in a corruption case to meet with family and friends in Washington state before he begins serving a seven-year prison sentence in Oregon.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright on Monday approved Louis Kealoha's travel request. Kealoha will travel to the Seattle area on May 29 and then drive to the federal correctional facility in Sheridan, Oregon, where he will begin his sentence on June 1, said his attorney Rustam Barbee.
First batch of companies sign up for 2nd China consumer products expo

Xinhua) 15:54, May 10, 2021

HAIKOU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of companies from home and abroad have signed up for the second China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) on Monday.

A total of 42 enterprises, including U.S. luxury fashion company Tapestry, Italian luxury brand ETRO and international consulting firm Deloitte, have signed up to participate in the second CICPE, with the dates for the event to be announced at a later time.

The companies that have signed up are from sectors including fashion life services, travel services, service consumption, food and health products and jewelry, according to the organizer.

Running from May 7 to 10, the inaugural CICPE in Haikou, capital of the southern island province of Hainan, is China's first national expo focusing on consumer products.

Covering 80,000 square meters of exhibition space, the first CICPE featured 648 overseas companies and 1,365 brands from 69 countries and regions.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Authorities are hoping to solve a 16-year-old Hartford cold case murder by using new genetic genealogy testing made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Edward Bell was shot multiple times on the night of May 6, 2005 and died at a hospital. A $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for killing the 34-year-old father of three has remained unclaimed.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  As India's government scrambles for supplies of oxygen and other emergency aid to control the raging coronavirus outbreak, donors around the world have come to the rescue  including a Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates.

On Monday, volunteers from the country's Hindu community gathered at the Jebel Ali Port, here at the northern end of Dubai, to haul hundreds of cylinders of liquid oxygen and massive containers of compressed oxygen onto a ship, where it will head to crisis-wracked India. The organizers, Indian owners of a Dubai helium factory, shifted production to oxygen when the latest surge in virus cases hit India.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Idaho will receive $1.1 billion in the latest round of coronavirus relief money in two separate payments, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Monday, with state officials saying the money could be used to substantially bolster the states water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

The $350 billion program is part of President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that became law in March. Administration officials say payments could begin going out in the coming days.

In addition to the money coming to the state, Idahos nine largest cities will get a total of $124 million, while 190 cities with populations of typically less than 50,000 will get $108 million. Counties will get another $314 million. The distribution is based on population.

Alex Adams, Republican Gov. Brad Little's budget chief, said his initial take on the announcement and a 150-page document outlining how the money can be spent contained two surprises.

First, Adams said, is that the plan allows the money to be allocated by December 2024, with the projects complete by the end of 2026. Adams said the governor's office sought the longer window for the projects through U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican.

Thats a huge benefit for a rural state like ours where it's going to take years for some of these large sewer, water and broadband projects to come to fruition," Adams said.

The second surprise is that Idaho is getting about $90 million less than expected, apparently the result of Idahos economy improving, as a portion of the federal money distribution is based on Idahos unemployment rate. Idaho was already expected to get about $250 million less than it would have because the state is doing better economically than other states.

Of the $350 billion total, state governments and the District of Columbia will receive $195.3 billion. That's broken down to $500 million each for $25.5 billion. The remaining $170 billion is being divided with various factors in play. Idaho is getting about $594 million, accounting for the $1.1 billion coming to state government. California state government is getting $27 billion.

Also, of the $350 billion, counties are getting $65 billion, cities $45.6 billion and tribal governments and territories $24.5 billion.

The money in most cases is going from the federal government to those entities. But in the case of smaller cities, Idaho state government will act as a pass-through entity to distribute the money.

Little has already worked with lawmakers on spending the federal money. The Legislature allocated $50 million for potential and undetermined needs resulting from the pandemic. The rest of the $1.1 billion will go through the Legislature's budgetary process during the 2022 session that starts in January.

Adams said the latest information from the Treasury Department also clarified that an ongoing tax cut of $163 million and a one-time sales tax and income tax rebate of $220 million passed by the Legislature last week is well within the rules.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  A judge on Monday refused to put on hold his ruling last month that Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature illegally hired private taxpayer-funded attorneys to represent them in anticipation of legal challenges over redistricting.

Republicans wanted to put the ruling on hold while they pursue an appeal so the contracts they entered into with the attorneys would not be immediately voided. Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke, in a ruling from the bench, declined to stay his order. Republicans were expected to appeal that to the state court of appeals.
NORWALK  Officials on Sunday identified a man who died last week after they say he appeared to be traveling between Metro-North train cars.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police identified the man as 45-year-old Stamford resident Dontay J. Taylor.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said Sunday police are investigating what led to Taylors death. Donovan said they are waiting for results from the medical examiners review.

The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. Thursday when the New York-bound train was traveling between the Westport and East Norwalk train stations, Donovan said.

Passengers on that train  which had been scheduled to reach Grand Central by 12:50 p.m.  were shifted to another one, Donovan said.

Metro-North has said the death of a person riding between train cars is considered rare.
Niti Aayog denies the reports that states, Mucormycosis, a black fungal infection is a big outbreak in the nation. It is a fungal infection that is common amongst COVID-19 patients who are suffering from diabetes

Niti Aayog denies the reports that states, Mucormycosis, a black fungal infection is a big outbreak in the nation. It is a fungal infection that is common amongst COVID-19 patients who are suffering from diabetes, but be assured its no big concern, as per Niti Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul.

He added that the Union Health Ministry is monitoring the situation and a treatment is also available for the same. The fungal infection called mucormycosis is being found in patients of COVID-19 disease. It is caused by a fungus named mucor, which is found on wet surfaces. It, to a large extent, is happening to people who have diabetes. It is very uncommon in those who are not diabetic. There is no big outbreak and we are monitoring it, said V K Paul in a press conference on Friday.

According to Dr Paul mucor attacks those people who have uncontrolled sugar. If a person with diabetes is on immune suppressive medicines, steroids or has cancer, then there is a greater impact of the fungus on that individual. If the patients are in contact with the wet surfaces, then his chances of getting it increases too.

He further claimed that when a patient is on oxygen support, which has a humidifier containing water, increases their chances of getting the fungal infection. It must be ensured that the water does not leak from the humidifier; keeping patients hygiene in mind. He said that Tocilizumab and Itolizumab is being used to treat COVID-19, may also lead to mucormycosis in diabetic patients. These should be given only when necessary and not irrationally, as it can be dangerous.

Cases of mucormycosis are majorly found in Ahmedabad. In Maharashtra also at least eight Covid patients died due to the black fungal infection.
The role of China in plunging the world into a crisis is again hitting the headlines. In a recent development, the debate over biological warfare has ensued after Chinese documents have reportedly revealed that Chinese military scientists had discussed the weaponisation of SARS coronavirus, way back in 2015. Accessed by US state department, the documents include the writings of Chinese public health officials along with Chinese military scientists and find the mention of an ominous a third world war to be fought with biological weapons.

According to Tom Tugendhat MP and Australian politician James Paterson, the paper poses serious questions about Chinas openness about Covid-19s roots. Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that Chinas apparent involvement in the bioweapons is highly worrying. These weapons are dangerous even under the most stringent controls. Pulitzer prize winner American Journalist Barton Gellman had once said, In the field of biological weapons, there is almost no prospect of detecting a pathogen until it has been used in an attack.

Read More: #WheresTheAid: Centre presents data on foreign Covid aid; Time to focus on optimum use now?

Though China had earlier lashed out at Australian Media before when it questioned China about its handling of the virus, the exposed documents are sure to have some ramifications on how the debate unfolds. The finding of documents also coincides with Chinas panicked response to rising cases of Covid-19 in Nepal. In a bid to secure its country from Covid infections, China will apparently create a line of separation at the summit of Mount Everest to prevent climbers from COVID-affected Nepal from mixing with those ascending from the Tibetan side, according to Chinese state media.

The surfacing of the documents has again posed some serious questions on the origin of Covid-19, a question that China has always demurred to answer. China always functions in mysterious ways. Though, the countrys aspiration in global politics is not a mystery because it exudes the insidious ambition of a country that has always preferred keeping its eerie internal functioning unknown to the world. China was also recently called out for touting Indias purchase of COVID relief from China as a grant from the Chinese side.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Taliban on Monday announced a three-day cease-fire for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan this week. But hours later, a roadside bombing killed 11 passengers on a bus in eastern Afghanistan  the latest in relentless violence that has gripped the country.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Responding to the cease-fire announcement, the government in Kabul  which has faced rising attacks as U.S. and NATO troops pull out of Afghanistan  called for a permanent truce. A statement from the presidential palace chastised the Taliban for the increasing violence but said the government would also observe the holiday cease-fire.

The Taliban said the cease-fire would begin on either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the sighting of the new moon that determines the start of the holiday.

The announcement comes amid heightened violence in the country and follows a brutal attack on a girls school on Saturday in Kabul that killed as many 60 people, most of them students between 11 and 15 years old. The death toll from the attack still continues to climb.

The Taliban have denied responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a mostly Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi in western Kabul, where past attacks have been carried out by the Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan. Attacks in the area are most often claimed by the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, but no group yet has claimed the attack on the school.

Just hours after the Taliban announcement, a bus in southern Zabul province struck a roadside bomb, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. The explosion killed 11 and at least 24 more people on the bus were wounded. Improvised explosive devices litter the countryside and have been used extensively by the Taliban.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Taliban fighters have been ordered to stop all offensives, to provide a peaceful and secure atmosphere to our compatriots ... so that they may celebrate this joyous occasion with a greater peace of mind.

The U.S. and NATO are withdrawing the last of their military forces from Afghanistan. The final 2,500-3,500 American soldiers and roughly 7,000 allied NATO forces will leave by Sept. 11 at the latest.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, was in Kabul on Monday although no details of his visit were immediately available.

Pakistan has been key to getting the Taliban to enter into peace talks with the Afghan government, as well as a deal that the insurgents signed with the U.S. last year under former President Donald Trump. However, the Taliban-Afghan government negotiations have been in a stalemate for moths now, even as the U.S. has sought to accelerate the pace of the talks.

However, the Afghan government has also complained about the presence of the Taliban leadership in southwestern Pakistan while Islamabad has expressed deep concern about the presence in Afghanistan of another violent militant group, the Pakistani Taliban, which is anti-Pakistan.

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Gannon reported from Islamabad.
The dispensation from the obligation to attend weekend Masses will expire, Archbishop Leonard P. Blair said Monday.

The obligation will be reinstated beginning May 22 in the Archdiocese of Hartford, as well as the Dioceses of Bridgeport and Norwich.

We have lived through an extraordinary year filled with personal challenges, fears, and sufferings caused by the pandemic, the three bishops wrote, in a pastoral letter. At the same time we have been encouraged by the heroism of health care workers and first responders, the creativity of our pastors, and the kindness of neighbors and friends who by their love and service peeled back the darkness which at times threatened to overwhelm us.

Now that there are clear signs the pandemic is loosening its grip on our lives, we come to you in confidence to take the next step in reestablishing our ecclesial life as a community of faith.  In light of these positive developments, we believe the time has come to review the importance that full participation at Mass has for the spiritual life of all believers and offer a heartfelt appeal for all Catholics to return to the Sunday celebration of Mass in person.

The letter was signed by Blair, Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, Norwich Bishop Michael R. Cote and Hartford Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt.

The dispensation was implemented March 16, 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was extended several times. May 23 is the feast of Pentecost, often considered the birth of the church.

Not everyone is ready to go back to church, however. Ann Tramontana-Veno of New Haven, who has attended St. Joseph Church in New Haven and St. Rita Church in Hamden, said she still believes there is too much risk in lifting the attendance and social-distancing restrictions.

My feeling is, churches are old buildings and their ventilation system is not good, she said. I guess I dont trust other people. I have spoken to fan awul lot of people who dont intend to get vaccinated at all, and theres no way to tell whether someone sitting nearby has been vaccinated.

I would not want to be in a congregation where someone is actually singing next to me, Tramonatana-Veno said. Its just close quarters. ... Its an obligation, but there is in there the exception for somebody whose health is compromised or is homebound and such. I dont need to go into the building to practice my faith. I practice my faith every day and I dont need to be around others from my faith community to do that.

Harriet Hyde of Hamden, who is coordinator of St. Ritas food pantry, also said she doesnt believe its time to lift the dispensation from attending weekly Mass.

I think that they should extend it for a little bit longer. Were still not out of the woods yet as far as Im concerned, she said. The churches ... will be very crowded if people are going back to church and I still think they should still do social distancing in the churches.

Emily Clark, a member of St. Theresa Parish in Trumbull, said her family returned to church when it was reopened and has felt safe and comfortable.

I think the bishop was very welcoming and reassuring and encouraging in his message, she said. I think we have to start going back to living again, which for Catholics means returning to Mass.

I just feel like the churches are filling up again, Clark said. Easter was wonderful. It felt as normal as it could be.

The Rev. Martin Curtin, pastor at St. Pius X Church in Middletown, said he agrees its time to let the dispensation expire.

Were doing things to make ourselves ready, he said. Were doing some stepping down in terms of restriction so we can accommodate folks. ... Even as we loosen it up, were still maintaining the atmosphere that inspires confidence.

Curtin said there still would be no congregational singing at St. Pius X and that the choir is in a loft. Singing is one of the most explosive things to do as far as aerosol stuff, which is hard because singing is a wonderful way of praying, he said.

The Rev. Jeffrey Gubbiotti, pastor of Church of the Assumption in Ansonia, said, Im certainly excited to welcome people back to Mass. He said more had been coming, especially since Easter. It feels like a reunion after a long time of being able to come back together.

But he added, theres definitely different levels of comfort within our parishes and a wide variety of people with their comfort levels, and each person has to make their own risk assessment. I dont think everybody will be ready to come back right away.

In-person weekday Masses were allowed as of June 8, 2020 in the Archdiocese of Hartford and weekend Masses on July 4-5, with social distancing and other guidelines. At first, churches could be filled to 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever was smaller. However, Catholics were not required to attend.

The Diocese of Norwich also allowed weekday Masses in person as of June 8, 2020 and weekend Masses July 4-5. The Diocese of Bridgeport allowed indoor worship July 13-14.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Catholics have an obligation to attend Mass each Sunday and holy day of obligation, except when age or health prevent it. The vigil Mass on Saturday afternoon is considered part of the Sunday obligation. The letter excused those with COVID or other illnesses, those who have preexisting conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID, being in quarantine or being a caregiver of someone who is ill.

Also, restrictions on attendance in church and celebration of Mass will be lifted, including allowing 100 percent capacity. Those coming to church still will be expected to to wear masks and continue precautions when taking Communion, Blair announced. Congregational and choir singing will be allowed and pew barriers and taped marking may be removed.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382
BEIJING (AP)  Chinas government defended its handling of a rocket booster that burned up over the Indian Ocean and said Monday it was unfairly being held to different standards than the U.S. and other space programs.

The administrator of the American space agency and others accused Beijing of acting recklessly by allowing its rocket to fall to Earth seemingly uncontrolled Sunday after carrying a space station into orbit.

The Chinese space agency said most of the 30-meter (100-foot) -long main stage of the Long March 5B rocket burned up above the Maldives.

China has been closely tracking its trajectory and issued statements on the re-entry situation in advance, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. There has been no report of harm on the ground. China also shares the results of re-entry predictions through international cooperation mechanisms.

The rocket carried the main section of the Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, space station into orbit on April 29. China plans 10 more launches to complete construction of the station.

Booster rockets usually fall back to Earth soon after takeoff. Chinas space agency hasnt said why the Long March was sent temporarily into orbit.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson accused China in a statement of failing to meet responsible standards" in handling space debris.

Hua, the Chinese spokesperson, complained that Beijing was being treated unfairly. She pointed to the reaction to debris from a rocket launched by U.S. aerospace company SpaceX that fell to Earth in Washington and on the Oregon coast in March.

American media used romantic rhetoric like shooting stars lighting up the night sky, she said. But when it comes to the Chinese side, its a completely different approach.

We are willing to work with other countries including the United States to strengthen cooperation in the use of outer space, but we also oppose double standards on this issue," Hua said.
LEWES, Del. (AP)  A Delaware teenager accused of crashing a car while under the influence then assaulting two state police troopers has been charged with several felonies, according to authorities.

The 17-year-old from Milton was taken into custody Friday afternoon after he allegedly ran away from the scene of a car crash, resisted arrest and attacked two responding Delaware State Police troopers, the agency said in a statement Saturday.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana legislators nullified on Monday any local COVID-19 restrictions tougher than those issued statewide with their vote to override the governors veto of a bill giving local elected officials power over such public health orders issued during emergencies.

It is the second time in less than a month that the Republican-dominated Legislature has rejected GOP Gov. Eric Holcombs veto on measures limiting the broad authority that he and local health officials have used to impose restrictions around the state during the coronavirus pandemic.

The new law approved Monday requires elected county commissioners or city councils to vote on approving any local health orders that are more stringent than those issued by Holcomb in order for them to go back into effect. That would include mask mandates that were in place for cities including Indianapolis, South Bend, Elkhart and Bloomington since Holcomb rescinded the statewide mask order in early April.

The Senate voted 36-10 and the House 59-30 to easily achieve the simple majorities needed to override the veto issued last week by Holcomb and make the new law effective immediately.

Republican legislators say the proposal is meant to provide a check and balance protecting the rights of business owners following complaints about COVID-19 orders closing or limiting businesses over the past year.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said local officials have had plenty of time to anticipate the new step.

To the extent they want to keep some policy in place that they would need to meet and approve, I think most of them are probably ready to do that or at least they should be at this point, Bray said.

Holcomb said in his veto message that he didnt want to jeopardize the flexibility of local health officials as work continues to vaccinate more people against COVID-19. Indiana has one of the countrys lowest vaccination rates against the disease that health officials say has killed more than 13,500 in the state and largely was to blame for an increase of at least 16% in statewide deaths during 2020 from the year before.

Holcombs coronavirus-related executive orders over the past year have allowed local officials to establish tougher regulations  an authority he frequently cited in defending his decisions lifting various statewide travel, crowd size and business restrictions.

I would have hoped that such sweeping change could wait until we gathered all the relevant experts and stakeholders to strike the right balance regarding local health authority during emergencies and avoid discouraging laudable service in the field of public health, Holcomb said in a statement after Monday's votes.

The Indianapolis City-County Council was expected to vote Monday night on extending the city's mask mandate and capacity limits on restaurants and bars, a council spokeswoman said. But county commissioners in northern Indianas Elkhart County have said they dont intend to endorse the tougher rules ordered by the county health officer.

Legislative Republicans voted last month to override Holcombs veto of another bill giving themselves more authority to intervene during statewide emergencies declared by the governor. Holcomb has filed a lawsuit against the Legislature, arguing that new law violates the state constitution.

Democrats argued that Republicans were responding to a vocal minority complaining about actions taken to stem the coronavirus spread.

This is politics, this is a Republican civil war and I reject that this is something we need to be down here doing today, said Democratic Sen. Jean Breaux of Indianapolis.

Several medical and health organizations opposed the limits on county health orders, arguing against shifting authority away from public health professionals to local elected officials who largely dont have such experience. Supporters of the new law say it doesn't apply to orders issued against businesses or residents over matters such as health code violations.

The new law also gives local elected officials  rather than appointed local health boards  hiring authority over county health officers and creates a procedure allowing the public to appeal enforcement actions such as fines or an order to close a business to an elected county or city board.

Republican Sen. Mike Gaskill of Pendleton argued that no one in government should have unchecked authority.

Were not taking away local control but were involving more people in the decisions, Gaskill said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Lafayette Square, the park across from the White House, reopened Monday to the public nearly a year after federal authorities fenced off the area at the height of nationwide protests over policing following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The square, which offers perhaps the best view of the White House to the public, was closed after U.S. Park Police officers last June forcefully dispersed protesters who had gathered near the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is so determined to stop a sweeping elections overhaul pushed by congressional Democrats that he will personally argue against it, armed with a stack of amendments at a Senate hearing this week as Democrats advance the bill toward a vote.

Its a rare role for a party leader but shows the extent to which Republicans are prepared to fight the Democratic priority. The legislation would be the largest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation and touches on almost every aspect of the electoral process, changes that Democrats argue are even more important now as states impose new voting restrictions after the divisive 2020 election.

Whats typically an hourslong legislative slog could drag into a dayslong showdown starting Tuesday at the Senate Rules Committee, a surprising new venue in the nations broader debate over voting rules.

The action in Congress comes as states including Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Texas are pushing new voting rules, spurred by former President Donald Trumps false claims about election fraud after his 2020 loss. Democrats are on defense, having been unable to halt the onslaught of new state rules that will take months or years to litigate in court. Republicans argue the new state rules are needed to clamp down on mail ballots and other methods that became popular during the pandemic, but critics warn the states are seeking to reduce voter access, particularly for Black voters, ushering in a new Jim Crow era for the 21st century.

There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Trumps claims were rejected by Republican and Democratic election officials in state after state, by U.S. cybersecurity officials and by courts up to the U.S. Supreme Court. And his attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of fraud that could change the election outcome.

McConnell is expected to be an active participant in Tuesdays session to debate and amend the voting bill, his office said. Stopping the bill is his priority, as Republicans argue the legislation represents a Democratic power grab and federal overreach into state administration of elections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is also expected to stop in at the Rules panel meeting to add his weight to the debate.

On Monday, Schumer asked whether Republicans would act in good faith or further the spread of Trump's big lie about the 2020 election.

Will they participate in improving our democracy, or in helping, aiding and abetting the big lie and a giant step backward? he said during a speech on the Senate floor.

The legislation, known as the For the People Act, was given top billing on the Democratic agenda, but the path ahead is unclear. Despite the showing from McConnell, who has cultivated a reputation for turning the Senate into a legislative graveyard, moderate members of the Democratic caucus also pose a sizable obstacle to the bill becoming law.

Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have both said they oppose making changes to the Senates filibuster rules, which would be needed in order to maneuver the bill past Republican opposition and pass it with a simple majority in a 50-50 Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris delivering the tiebreaking 51st vote.

Manchin has called for any elections overhaul to be done on a bipartisan basis.

Other Democrats want to pare back the bill to core voting protections to try to put Republicans on the spot.

House resolution H.R. 1, and its companion, S. 1, in the Senate have been in the works for several years. As passed by the House in March, the legislation would create automatic voter registration nationwide, require states to offer 15 days of early voting, require more disclosure from political donors and restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, among other changes. It would also compel states to offer no-excuse absentee voting.

In particular, it would force the disclosure of donors to dark money political groups, which are a magnet for wealthy interests looking to influence the political process while remaining anonymous.

McConnell has spent a career fighting for the free flow of campaign cash as a constitutionally protected right to free speech.

One Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation candidly said they are planning to try to strike out full sections of the bill and introduce other changes.

Democrats have been making their own changes to the bill to draw support. Manchin has not yet signed on, and his backing will be crucial.

In the latest version of the legislation, states would have more time and flexibility to put new federal rules in place. Some election officials had complained of unrealistic timelines, increased costs and onerous requirements.

States would have more time to launch same-day voter registration at polling places and to comply with new voting system requirements. They would also be able to apply for an extension if they were unable to meet the deadline for automatic voter registration. Officials have said these are complex processes that require equipment changes or upgrades that will take time to get in place.

Democrats are also dropping a requirement that local election offices provide self-sealing envelopes with mail ballots and cover the costs of return postage. Instead, they plan to require the U.S. Postal Service to carry mail ballots and ballot request forms free of charge, with the federal government picking up the tab.

Manchin told reporters Monday that he hadn't yet reviewed the changes but remained open to supporting the bill.

We are looking at everything. We hope theres a pathway there," he said.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi legislators are not in session now, so it could be months before they start deciding how to spend $1.8 billion in the latest round of pandemic relief from the federal government.

Mississippi will receive part of the money this year and the rest next year.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday released details about how much money state and local governments are receiving under the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden, and how the money may be spent.

I think it's going to take some time to fully inspect and understand what's included, Mississippi Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Briggs Hopson told The Associated Press on Monday.

The Treasury Department said state and local governments may use the federal money for public health, including efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. They may use it to address economic problems that the pandemic has caused for workers, households, small businesses, industries and government. They also may use some of the money to replace tax revenue that was lost because of the pandemic and to provide extra pay for essential workers.

Other acceptable uses are for improvements to water and sewer systems and expansion of broadband access, the Treasury Department said.

States are not allowed to use the money to cut taxes, shore up pension funds or rainy day funds, make payments on long-term debt or pay off legal settlements, under the Treasury rules.

Some states can receive their full share of federal relief money this year and others will receive it in two payments a year apart. The 20 states receiving the full share this year have unemployment rates at least 2 percentage points higher now than in February 2020. Mississippi is among the 30 states with an unemployment rate that has not climbed to that level, so it will receive its money over two years.

Mississippi legislators' next regular session begins in January. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves could call them into special session, if he wants, to decide how to spend the federal money.

Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said Monday that he does not know whether the governor will call a special session.

Payments to cities and counties will be split into two batches  some this year and some next year.

In addition to the $1.8 billion that is going to Mississippi state government, Mississippi is receiving $268 million that will be split among cities and towns with fewer than 50,000 residents. During their 2021 session, legislators created a state fund where this money will be sent. The state will distribute the money to those communities.

The federal government on Monday also released information about money going to larger Mississippi cities. Jackson will receive $42.1 million; Gulfport, $19.5 million; Hattiesburg, $12.9 million; Biloxi, $11.1 million; Southaven, $7.6 million; Pascagoula, $5.2 million; and Moss Point, $2.7 million.

Counties are receiving money based on population. Mississippis largest county, Hinds, is receiving $45 million. The only Mississippi counties receiving less than $1 million are both sparsely populated. Issaquena will receive $257,754 and Sharkey, $839,304.

____

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP)  Nepals prime minister lost a vote of confidence in parliament Monday, ending his attempt to show he has enough support to remain in office.

Only 93 lawmakers backed Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, while 124 voted against him. A new rival faction within his governing party abstained.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is expected to ask Oli to lead a caretaker government while parties in parliament seek to form a new government.

There was no immediate comment from Oli.

Olis Nepal Communist Party won elections in late 2017 and he was chosen prime minister by parliament in early 2018. An earlier split in his party in March had already weakened him, forcing him to lead a minority government, and a new split emerged this week.

Oli sought a vote of confidence on Monday in an attempt to demonstrate he had enough support to stay in power.

He has been criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with the Himalayan nation reporting its largest number of new cases and deaths in the past few days.

Authorities have imposed a lockdown in most parts of the country since last month and are likely to extend it as hospitals report running out of beds, oxygen and medication.

Oli became prime minister after his party merged with another communist party composed of former Maoist rebels, creating a strong united party that won elections three years ago.

He became involved in a power struggle, however, with the leader of the former rebels, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also co-chair of the party. Oli has refused to allow Dahal to succeed him as prime minister or lead the party, despite an earlier agreement to do so, causing divisions within the party.

Oli directed the dissolution of parliament in December and announced new elections this year.

The Supreme Court, however, reinstated parliament and canceled the new elections.
NEW HAVEN  Those in need of a COVID-19 vaccine can head to the Shubert Theatre Wednesday or Thursday.

The Shubert will act as host for walk-up vaccination clinics from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 13, Director of Marketing & Community Relations Anthony Lupinacci said in an email.
ORANGE  Prime 16 is famous for its gourmet burgers topped with creative ingredients such as smoked Gouda, maple bacon bourbon aioli, tobacco fried onions and sauces made from scratch.

But the gastropub is banking on a new international chicken sandwich line  as well as a brighter look  to help fuel success in the pandemic world when they reopen the Orange location May 17.

Fried chicken sandwiches are a big thing right now, owner/founder Robert Potter said, so instead of just throwing a few pickles on the chicken sandwich, theyve developed a Chicken Little sandwich line with names such as The Bavarian Sandwich,  a buttered, toasted and salted pretzel roll with craft beer cheese, sauerkraut and whole grain French mustard.

The eatery/bar located at 464 Boston Post Road in a strip shopping center closed for five months because of a change in managing partnership. When the place reopens it will have a new, brighter look , with lots of greenery: liquor bottles over the bar were replaced by plants - new lighting, including a huge rustic lighted chandelier, new flooring, new paint and a lounge-like seating area in front.

Most of the kitchen equipment will be new and as part of the chicken-fueled renaissance, there is a $25,000 pressure fryer for the new sandwich line.

In this pandemic era, they have also added high extensions at every booth, one to separate the bar from diners and clear plastic hangings between barstools.

It used to look like a dark beer bar, Potter said.

I think its going to be great. We softened it up a little, Potter said. Its a new look, we have a good menu. I think its going to be busier, especially with the chicken sandwich. Weve had good success with it in New Haven.

Potters new managing partner in Orange is Joseph G. Hamboussi, who is also culinary and operations director for both the New Haven and Orange Prime 16 sites, and a culinary consultant for a franchised Prime 16 in Pelham, N.Y.

I really love the space  its beautiful, said Hamboussi, who has been with Prime 16 for three years, starting as a consultant. We wanted to save it.

It was Hamboussi, an expert in international tastes, who developed the chicken line during the pandemic in the search for other revenue streams, as they were hit hard financially just like everyone else. Hamboussi, a former successful Manhattan restaurant owner and student of Chefs Patricio Sandoval, Vinnie Scotto, Kevin Fay and Bobby Flay  said before they knew it, they were selling as many chicken sandwiches as burgers. The sandwiches were so successful, they created a separate Chicken Little online business.

I saw what I was able to accomplish in New Haven and decided to do it here, Hamboussi said.

While there are changes, the eatery still has an earthy feel of muted tones, its famous burger combinations will return, as well as its popular happy hour drink and food selections. Happy hour hours will be changed to 3 to 6 p.m.

Hamboussis international flair comes more from his family background than all that mentoring by great chefs and that hes been working in restaurants since age 14 while in high school. He grew up in New York City.

His mother, Maria, is from Mexico and his father, George from Egypt and he learned a lot about spices and techniques during trips to those locations through the years, beginning in childhood, he said.

For instance, he learned Egyptians toast cumin to get all the oils out and in Mexico they cook with leaves and flowers, he said.

Hamboussi said he also makes regular trips to Europe to visit his son, 8, delving into the flavors and food scene there as well.

In 2007, Potter opened the first Prime 16 in New Haven and opened the Orange location in 2013. There is a third Prime 16 in Pelham, New York that is a franchise and Hamboussi is also a culinary consultant there.

Potter, a seasoned restaurateur, owned C.O. Jones Tequila Bar/Mexican eatery in New Haven and Meatball House before opening Prime 16.

In opening Prime 16 he went for a burger place in part because of Louis Lunch in the New Haven  where no condiments like ketchup are allowed  and he liked the contrast of a burger place with all kinds of toppings and homemade sauces.

Potter, who said he has the utmost respect for Louis Lunch and its place in history, said he eats the tasty burgers there, but doesnt identify himself as the owner of Prime 16. He is full of awe for having met Louis Lassen at an event years ago.

Louis is the birthplace of the burger and we wanted to take it the polar opposite, Potter said.

Prime 16 is scratch kitchen, he said, where all the sauces are made in-house with fresh ingredients. He likes that they not only offer ketchup , but take it to the extreme with smoked ketchup.

Hamboussi , who lives in Norwalk, joined Potter 14 years ago, at first as a consultant. Although he worked in restaurants from ages 14 to 18, he went to college for international business administration and had a job with Enron until it collapsed.

Of becoming a managing partner in Orange, Hamboussi said, Ive been best supporting actor in everyone elses businesses, but I want to have something for myself, my son.

Hamboussi said hes the kind of manager who will roll up his sleeves and do whatever is necessary in the kitchen to help staff, but he will also go front of house when possible to talk to customers, as hospitality is the top priority.

Im not going to be at the end of the bar drinking a martini, he said.

Hamboussi said he loves the kitchen  is happy to don a chefs jacket any time  and thinks about recipes in his sleep.

I get lucky, he said, referring to recipes. I get lucky and people like it.
CATAWBA, S.C. (AP)  A South Carolina cardboard factory has found itself in the middle of a stinky situation as environmental regulators order it to lower emissions after receiving thousands of complaints relating to a noxious, rotten egg-like smell coming from the plant.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control ordered the New-Indy Containerboard factory in Catawba to check its regulations and equipment and decrease emissions of what the agency called a noxious air contaminant by mid-May, The State reported.
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

EUGENE, Ore. (AP)  The University of Oregon and Western Oregon University say students this fall will be required to get COVID-19 vaccines, joining other colleges in the Northwest that have made the same announcement.

The requirement will help us to reach the highest level of protection possible, reduce infections and protect the health and safety of our university community and the communities we serve. Individuals will be able to request exemptions for medical and non-medical reasons, University of Oregon said in a tweet Monday.
Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, on Monday inaugurated an 11-member investigative panel to probe the Nigerian Ports Authority (NP...





Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, on Monday inaugurated an 11-member investigative panel to probe the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over all contracts awarded since 2016 when Hadiza Bala Usman became managing director.





On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Bala Usman as managing director of NPA and approved the setting up of a panel of inquiry based on Amaechis recommendation.

Denying the allegation of non- remittance, Bala Usman insisted that the purported failure of the NPA to remit an outstanding balance of N165.32 billion from 2017 to 2018 was a misrepresentation of facts.

She said that contrary to the figures given by the budget office as outstanding operating surplus, the NPA had remitted all that was due to the consolidated revenue fund (CFR) as stipulated in the fiscal responsibility act of 2007.





Only Bala Usman, who had been having a cold battle with Amaechi, was asked to step aside, effectively suggesting that she, and not the management, is the target of the investigation.

She was nominated as NPA MD in 2016 by Amaechi. At the time, she was serving as the chief of staff to the Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state.

Amaechi tasked the members of the panel to accurately examine procurement processes in the NPA from 2016 to date.





The terms of reference of the panel include examining and investigating the administrative policies and strategies adopted by the managing director of NPA and confirming compliance with extant laws and rules from 2016 to date.

Examine and investigate issues leading to the termination of pilotage and other contracts of Nigerian Ports Authority and confirm compliance with the terms of the respective contracts, court rulings and presidential directives, the transportation minister added.

Examine and investigate compliance with the communication channel as obtained in the public service.

Examine and investigate the procurement of contracts from 2016 to date. Come up with suggestions and advice that would strengthen the operations of Nigerian Ports Authority and forestall such occurrences in future.





The panel, which is headed by Auwal Suleiman, director of maritime services, transportation ministry, has six members from the office of the head of the civil service of the federation (OHCSF) and the remaining five from the ministry of transportation.
Four persons suspected to be kidnappers have been arrested in Akure, the Ondo State capital. The kidnappers were apprehended by operatives o...





Four persons suspected to be kidnappers have been arrested in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The kidnappers were apprehended by operatives of the State Security Network Agency also known as Amotekun Corps.

The security outfit said the suspects who operated within the Pelepe axis of Oda road during the weekend kidnapped three victims.

It was gathered that the kidnappers who missed their target, a businessman living within Oda road, decided to abduct the three victims who were taking shelter from the rain at a bus stop in the area.

When two of the victims were rescued, the kidnappers reportedly changed location and held on to the remaining victim demanding a ransom

It was in the course of collecting ransom that one Usman Garuba was arrested by Amotekun operatives after which he led the Corps to his gangs hideout where the remaining members were arrested.

Disclosing how he was introduced to the kidnapping, Usman said a man he called his master was the one who lured him after promising to give him a job.

We miss our target. They told us the person has money and described the house but we didnt meet the target. It was on our way back that we kidnapped these people. I came to Akure for a job.

I was introduced to one man who I followed to the first kidnap job. We kidnapped the man and three of us realized N100,000 from the job.

The Commander of Amotekun in the state, Adetunji Adeleye disclosed that the suspects took advantage of the rainfall to execute the crime.

While stressing that the suspects will be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution, Adeleye stated the victims were rescued unhurt.
A 39-year-old woman died and her 14-year-old daughter was seriously injured on Sunday in Bergen County when they were hit by a car while crossing a street, authorities said.

The crash occurred about 7:30 a.m. near the intersection of Engle Street and Hillside Avenue in Tenafly, according to borough police Capt. Michael deMoncada.

Police said the 82-year-old driver was headed east on Hillside Avenue, stopped at the stop sign, then tried to turn left onto Engle Street, where she struck the mother and daughter as they crossed the street, deMoncada said.

The mother sustained multiple, serious injuries and CPR was immediately initiated by officers, deMoncada said. The daughter suffered injuries to her lower extremities but was expected to survive, he said.

Both victims were taken to a local hospital, where the mother died. Her name was not released. (This was a) very sad Mothers Day for all, deMoncada said.

The driver remained at the scene and approached nearby residents and asked them to call for help. She was not immediately charged. However, deMoncada said police expect to ticket the driver for failing to yield to the pedestrians.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call police at 201-568-5100.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
More than a year after travelers learned most airlines would not give refunds if trips were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, two senators are demanding the airlines refund money or at the very least make sure travel credit vouchers have no expiration date.

The airlines are sitting on more than $10 billion in unused travel credits, most of which expire in two years or less, the lawmakers said in letters to the companies. This comes after the airlines received billions of dollars in bailout money from different stimulus programs.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said the airlines should have the same refund of credit policy no matter who  the customer or the airline  canceled the trip.

The senators called the airlines decisions not to refund money unconscionable, noting that the credit policies can be confusing. In limited circumstances, some airlines issued refunds, but the vast majority offered vouchers.

Across the airline industry, current policies governing flight credit expiration are complex and can differ considerably from company to company, they wrote. This patchwork creates significant confusion for consumers, some of whom are discovering their credits have already expired or will expire before they feel safe traveling again.

They said some airlines have multiple types of flight credits with different restrictions and expiration dates, leading to consumer confusion and causing them to be at risk of losing the billions of dollars they were effectively forced to loan to the airline industry interest-free.

When the airlines started issuing credits during the pandemic, consumer complaints soared. The Department of Transportation received 107,000 complaints since March 2020, and nearly 90% of those were about refunds.

The letters from the senators went to Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines.

In response, Delta said it is giving customers more time to plan and rebook a trip than any other U.S. airline with a travel credit that extends through Dec. 31, 2022.

Meanwhile, Delta continues to provide full refunds to eligible passengers requesting them when we have cancelled a flight or made a significant schedule change. Last year, we processed more 6.7 million refunds, totaling over $3 billion, the company said.

United said it extended its voucher expiration dates for tickets purchased between May 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021 until March 31, 2022. Tickets purchased April 1, 2021 and after have a 12-month expiration date from the date of purchase, it said, but it did not specially address the senators letter.

Southwest, American and JetBlue directed questions to their industry association, Airlines for America (A4A), which said many carriers have bolstered their commitment to consumers by offering voucher and credit opportunities exceeding the Department of Transportations guidelines.

It said throughout the pandemic, airlines have updated travel policies to offer increased flexibility for customers.

In 2020, U.S. passenger airlines issued $12.84 billion in cash refunds to customers  up 72 percent year over year  in addition to issuing billions of dollars of travel credits, spokeswoman Katherine Estep said. For A4A carriers, cash refunds issued in 2020 equated to nearly 20% of operating revenues, compared to 4% in 2019.

The other airlines didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
New Jersey has released two new maps that will show you how many people in your town have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday as his latest coronavirus briefing.

By going to the maps, you can click on a municipality and a white box will appear, showing the vaccination data for total residents, residents over 18 and residents over 65. (In some cases, you may need to click on the words At Least One Dose or Vaccine Courses Complete within the white box before the data appears.) One map shows the percentage of population that received at least one dose, and the second shows how many residents have received two doses.

Remember this mapping tool is not meant to create competitions among any communities, nor is it meant to shame any communities, Murphy said. But, through this data we hope that you will not only have access to the same data that we do, but that you can see why we will be deploying resources, for instance, to certain communities as opposed to others.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said her department will continue to examine the data to see how the state is meeting its goals.

Persichilli said the state will have to give 280,000 first doses each week during May and 220,000 second doses each week through June to meet its goal of vaccinating 70% of the states adult population.

More than 3.46 million people have been fully vaccinated in New Jersey as of Monday. The states goal is to have 70% of the states eligible population  about 4.7 million people  fully vaccinated by the end of June. More than 4.46 million residents have received at least one dose. There have been 7.65 million doses administered overall in the state.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, Persichilli said.

Reaching our 70 percent goal by June 30 is a key benchmark for us, and we know there are hard-to-reach neighborhoods where we will have to push a little more or maybe a lot more and to bring the resources in, Murphy added.

Murphy said progress has also been made among the 16 municipalities he noted last week that had lower than 40 percent of their adult populations vaccinated.

New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, and Trenton each increased their vaccinated totals by six points, Murphy said. And, seven municipalities, Bridgeton, Fairview, Garfield, Newark, Orange, Passaic, and Plainfield have each now crested 40 percent.

Over the past week we have seen marked increases across the board, and while this is a very good thing, no one should rest on any laurels as there is still much work to be done, he said.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
New Jersey on Monday reported another 459 confirmed coronavirus cases and an additional 10 confirmed deaths, as daily new cases continue to decline sharply and statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen to their lowest point since late October, with more than 5 in 10 adults in the state having now been vaccinated.

Gov. Phil Murphy provided the update during his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton, saying the Garden State is in the final push and the final decisive weeks and months of this pandemic. But he also asked residents to remain vigilant to save more lives.

Lets all keep at it, folks, Murphy said. Lets keep getting vaccinated.

More than 3.46 million people have been fully vaccinated in New Jersey as of Monday. That includes nearly 80,000 out-of-state residents who were vaccinated here. Another 162,000 New Jersey residents have been vaccinated out of state.

In all, roughly more than 50% of New Jerseys adult population has been vaccinated. The states goal is to have 70% of the states eligible population  about 4.7 million people  vaccinated by the end of June.

More than 4.46 million residents have received at least one dose. There have been more than 7.65 million doses administered overall in the state.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said about 280,000 first doses will have to be given each week during May and 220,000 second doses each week through June to reach the 70% goal.

Were gonna have to scrap to get there. Almost certainly, Murphy said.

Asked what happens if the state does meet that mark, the governor said: Do we declare victory? No. Well continue to try to vaccinate as many people as possible.

RELATED: How many people are vaccinated in your town? N.J. releases new map.

New Jerseys seven-day average for new confirmed positive COVID-19 tests has fallen to 1,080, down 31% from a week ago and 66% from a month ago. Monday marked the 11th consecutive day the state has reported fewer than 2,000 new cases and the second straight day below 1,000 confirmed positive tests.

Tuesday marks the fewest number of deaths state officials have reported in one day since Nov. 8, when there were four deaths announced.

There were 1,079 COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the state as of Sunday night. Thats the lowest number since Oct. 29, and down 72% since the states second-wave peak of 3,873 patients on Dec. 22.

The states transmission rate increased to 0.94 from 0.81 the day before. Any number under 1 indicates the outbreak is slowing and each new case is leading to less than one additional case. The number has been below 1 for weeks, but has fluctuated widely in recent days. State officials have attributed those swings to a recent revision to total cases to remove more than 10,000 duplicates.

The positivity rate for tests conducted on Thursday, the most recent day available, was 3.55% based on 35,060 tests. The positivity rate was below 4% from Monday to Thursday last week.

New Jersey, an early coronavirus epicenter, has now reported 880,635 confirmed cases out of more than 13.8 million PCR tests in the more than 14 months since the state reported its first case March 4, 2020.

Thats only 75 more total cases than the states total from Sunday. The state Health Department said the slight increase, despite the 459 positive tests reported Monday, is because the state removed 384 past positive tests that were deemed during a routine data cleaning to to be duplicates or from out of state.

There have also been 127,411 positive antigen tests during the outbreak. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.

The state of 9.2 million people has reported 25,810 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  including 23,170 confirmed deaths and 2,640 fatalities considered probable.

New Jersey has the most coronavirus deaths per capita among American states, largely driven by the early days of the pandemic, when the virus spread rapidly through the region.

Murphy has been loosening health restrictions as numbers improve and vaccinations increase. The biggest steps so far happen May 19, when the state will remove fixed, percentage-based indoor capacity limits on restaurants, stores, personal services, churches, and other businesses, while also removing all outdoor gathering caps. But indoor masking and social distancing rules will remain, with facilities required to keep groups at least 6 feet apart or construct partitions between them. That may prevent full capacity at restaurants and other businesses.

RELATED: Murphy says chances pretty good for full MetLife Stadium by Week 1

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 1,079 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys hospitals as of Sunday night  33 fewer than the previous night, according to state data.

That included 250 in critical or intensive care (15 fewer than the night before), with 165 on ventilators (10 fewer).

There were 114 COVID-19 patients discharged Sunday.

By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020 and more than 3,800 during the second wave in December.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 263 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,157 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 (22.5%), 18-29 (19.9%), 65-79 (10.1%), 5-17 (9.9%), 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 (45.9%), followed by those 65-79 (33.6%), 50-64 (16.1%), 30-49 (4%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0%).

At least 8,037 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 199 facilities, resulting in 2,290 active cases among residents and 3,014 among staffers. Those numbers have slowed as vaccinations continue at the facilities.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of early Monday afternoon, there have been more than 158 million positive COVID-19 tests across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 3.29 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 32.7 million, and the most deaths, at more than 581,700.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
In the history of wax figures, there have been some pretty awful outcomes.

Fans cried foul when Beyonce's wax figure was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in 2017, adding to a series of unfortunate depictions of the megastar.

Prince William and New Jerseys own Meryl Streep and the Jonas Brothers have also been victimized by cringey wax figures.

But not Wendy Williams! In fact, after the talk show host presented her Madame Tussauds wax figure on The Wendy Williams Show Monday, people had to do a double take to see who was who.

The figure is a remarkable likeness of Williams, 56, who grew up in Ocean Township and formerly resided in Livingston.

A representative for London-based Madame Tussauds told Williams that it took 20 artists 800 hours to craft the figure, including more than five weeks alone for the hair. People in the audience (limited due to COVID-19) gasped upon the reveal.

The wax Wendy Williams is seated in a cushioned chair identical to the one Williams uses on the show. The figure wears her jewelry, including the W necklace that was a gift from the shows distributor, Debmar-Mercury. A watch on the wax Wendys wrist is set to 10 a.m.  the start time for The Wendy Williams Show.

LEGIT wasnt sure which was the real woman in the first photo WOW  steph  (@taytaytay0515) May 10, 2021

Oh my gosh, Williams said. They got copies of all my bracelets and stuff.

As the talk show host pressed her head to the wax figure  instant meme  it was hard not to marvel at the resemblance. The details popped as Williams traced over each hand and put her arm around the figure.

I think its wonderful, she said. Williams glam squad worked with Madame Tussauds to get the makeup and hair just right.

Wendy Williams: The Movie premiering directly before the documentary, Wendy Williams: What a Mess pic.twitter.com/Odj7m6M7YO  spena (@speeeena) May 10, 2021

Youve got the rounds of my breasts, Williams said, cheerily touching the figures chest.

The Wendy Williams wax figure is now on display at Madame Tussauds New York, where fan can pose for pictures with the likeness.

Two Lifetime programs dedicated to Williams aired in January: Wendy Williams: The Movie, a dramatization of her life and career, and the documentary Wendy Williams: What a Mess!

Me and my inner saboteur pic.twitter.com/zm8Hr8w031  wes / kathryn hahn stan (@fatstaryu) May 10, 2021

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
UPDATE: The infant was located safely, according to the New Jersey State Police. Authorities did not release more information. Damion Payne was taken into custody, an East Orange city spokeswoman said.

Authorities on Monday issued an Amber Alert for an infant who was abducted in East Orange.

Police were searching for Chinna Payne and a suspect identified as 27-year-old Damion Payne, according to the alert posted on the New Jersey State Police website.

Damion Payne was last seen driving a 2016 white Nissan Altima with a Virginia license plate of UPF6043, the alert said.

East Orange police were investigating a confirmed child abduction that occurred around 12:45 p.m. Monday on Lindsley Place in the city, according to the Amber Alert.

Damion Payne is considered armed and dangerous, the alert said.

More information on the incident was not immediately released. Anyone who spotted the infant or suspect was urged to call 9-1-1.

READ MORE: What does an Amber Alert mean?

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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.
Raheeq Ibrahim said she felt like a freshman all over again Monday, trying to find her classes with just weeks left in senior year at McNair Academic High School.

The 18-year-old said returning in person felt almost unnatural after 14 months of remote learning because of the coronavirus pandemic. Add into the mix teachers responding simultaneously to students online and in the classroom, and it made for a strange, unsettling day.

You dont get that same feeling in class, Ibrahim said of her classmates who remained in virtual learning. You cant turn to anybody and start laughing at a joke or anything. Its just you and the teacher, you cant even do anything besides work.

Jersey City public schools opened their doors Monday to allow fourth-graders through high school seniors back into the classroom for the first time since the pandemic closed the classrooms in March 2020.

At the Coles Street school, the return of in-person learning was a little lonelier than the seniors had expected. Eager to reunite with friends, some found themselves the only student in the class, or one of just a handful.

Mohamed Brahim, 17, who was the lone student in his Language Arts class, said there were only six seniors in the entire building Monday.

One class I was just by myself with the teacher, Brahim said. I would prefer if more people came. I thought there would be a few more people, but I guess I was wrong.

The districts hybrid plan to reopen schools for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic called for returning students to be split into two groups, attending on alternate weeks and learning virtually when they are not in school.

Brahim says if he learned anything Monday, its that the school should combine the cohorts.

Senior Emily Chauhan, 18, was excited and nervous to return to school. Little did she know she would find herself alone with the teachers in most of her classes while her classmates decided to continue logging on from home.

I was a little bit concerned, I thought there would be more kids actually, Chauhan said. " I am a little glad theyre not, just for safety reasons. I would like to have at least one or two other people in the classroom, but I would rather be safe than have like a million people there.

The district reopened on April 29 for the Pre-K through third grade after Superintendent Franklin Walker scrapped, then re-instituted the back-to-school plan. Based on parent surveys, the school district expects about 20% of its 30,000 students to return for in-person learning.

McNair Academic Principal Thomas Macagnano said only 57 of the schools 757 students came back Monday. Still, he said, it was an amazing day.

It is a different feeling ... when you can see the students, you can interact with them, it just brings life back to the building, Macagnano said. I expect not to have any incidents and to see if more and more students want to come back with me now.

As a reward for returning to school, there was free ice cream after dismissal.

Ibrahim, Brahim and Chauhan are hopeful that their senior years can end with a sense of normalcy and tradition.

We hope we have an outdoor graduation or some sort of like closure of high school, Ibrahim said. That is what we are hoping for right now.
Two New Jersey men manufactured and sold 12 guns last winter, including several machine guns, authorities said.

David Bibler, 55, of Haddon Heights built the weapons while Francis Hillsee, 36, of Mt. Laurel, priced and sold the guns, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement.

The pair sold 12 firearms, including two fully automatic pistols, one fully automatic rifle and one silencer to an undercover federal agent, prosecutors allege.

Bibler had eight firearms, including rifles and pistols as well as firearm manufacturing equipment, explosive powder and ammunition in his home when he was arrested, authorities said.

Both are charged with conspiring to manufacture and distribute firearms without a license and possession of a machine gun. Hillsee was also charged with unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon.

Hillsee sold the undercover agent four guns for $4,800 when they met up on Dec. 28, 2020 in Runnemede, according to court papers.

Eight days later in Runnemede, the agent gave Hillsee $5,000 in exchange for two automatic firearms and a silencer, charging documents said. At the meeting, Hillsee described his associate David as a U.S military veteran.

At a Jan. 28 meeting in Cherry Hill, Hillsee sold six boxes of .223 caliber ammunition. The undercover agent also bought an AR-style automatic pistol for $3,000.

Then on Feb. 26, five privately made firearms and one privately made automatic pistol were sold to Hillsee for $8,000. On that day undercover agents saw Hillsee drive from a Days Inn in Runnemede to Biblers house to pick up the guns, according to court documents.

Bibler made a first appearance in federal court in Camden on Thursday and was ordered held by a federal judge. Hillsee was already in custody on unrelated charges.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
A Jersey-style fight that federal and state legislators threatened against New York Citys congestion pricing plan  that could charge drivers a fee up to $3,000 in addition to tolls to drive in lower Manhattan  looks like its on.

Three state lawmakers fired back Monday, vowing to introduce legislation that would tax out-of-state drivers entering New Jersey on Port Authority bridges and tunnels. That money would fund rebates to Jersey drivers who had to pay a congestion pricing fee, if that plan is implemented.

Under legislation proposed by state Sen. Joseph Lagana and Assembly members Lisa Swain and Chris Tully, all D-Bergen, New Jersey sales tax would be imposed on out-of-state drivers paying tolls at the Port Authoritys Hudson River crossings to New York.

We must prepare for the worst, Tully said at a Monday morning press conference in Paramus. Our tax paying residents shouldnt be used to bail out NYC and the MTA. This is no time to penalize Northern New Jersey drivers for simply going to work. New Jersey is not New Yorks piggy bank.

Their main concern is that George Washington Bridge commuters could face an additional $3,000 annually in a congestion fee to drive south of 60th street, said U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., who said he plans to write to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Monday, asking him to delay approval of the plan, until a review is done of its economic impact.

On March 30, New York City received approval to move ahead on an environmental assessment for the long-delayed plan from the Federal Highway Administration. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials confirmed in a Nov. 24 financial filing that implementation of the plan might not happen until 2023.

New York Citys third version of congestion pricing was proposed as a way to raise $1 billion annually to fund major projects on the citys subway and bus system. A study that proposed the latest plan recommended giving drivers who use the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels credit for their tolls toward the congestion fee, which hasnt been set.

No such credit has been proposed for George Washington Bridge commuters. Gottheimer estimated that could add $3,000 annually to the cost of commuting for workers using that span.

The proposal also has a very powerful supporter in state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, who praised Gottheimer and Lagana for looking out for the needs, and the wallets, of their constituents with the bill.

New Jersey has enjoyed a strong relationship with New York for years, Sweeney said in a statement. But congestion pricing runs completely counter to our record of working together. We will take any action needed to fight the double standard being imposed on our residents by this unfair policy.

Gottheimer also pushed back on comments made by Interim NYC Transit President Sarah Feinberg last month to CBS News that New Jersey commuters concerned about paying tolls and a congestion fee could ride New Jersey Transit.

Commuters coming from (parts of) Bergen, Sussex and Warren to NYC have limited mass transit options, Gottheimer said. They have no other choice but to hop in their car and commute across the bridge.

NJ Transit and PATH would not receive congestion pricing funds to handle the additional passengers that the plan could put on those systems, Gottheimer said. A 2018 congestion pricing report said the funds would solely go to the MTA.

An email asking for a response from New York Mayor Bill DiBlasio and how New Jerseys concerns were being handled was not immediately answered. The plans supporters said New Jersey residents who use the subway for commuting and recreation would benefit from improvements.

Dont think for a second we wont protect our own. We have no choice but to fight back, Jersey style, Gottheimer said, echoing the words of a vow made in 2019 in the shadow of the bridge.

Lawmakers were quick to condemn what they called one more tax that could be imposed on New Jersey workers who already support the city with income tax and spending.

Dubbing it the Manhattan Moocher tax, Gottheimer questioned how an additional fee would prompt employees now working from home to return to Manhattan offices and tourists to go to NYC attractions.

This is double and triple tax on our commuters who contribute with their employment and tolls, Lagana said. Congestion price is a bridge too far and an insult to our close working relationship with New York.

The solution offered was Jersey straight forward: drop the plan or at least address New Jerseys concerns and the legislation wont be proposed.

Its my sincere hope it doesnt come down to this, Lagana said.

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The veteran cop lied.

Cpl. Charles King, who served 34 years in the Long Branch Police Department, fudged the report on a car crash on July 21, 2008, to favor his friend, according to court records.
The 1911 pistol is one of Timmy Ohs favorite guns.

Oh has experimented on firearms since he was a teenager, looking for ways to make them safer, and he said he was drawn to how the 1911s beautiful design once changed the industry. When the gun was introduced more than a century ago, its improved durability made it a U.S. military mainstay.

We should always encourage innovation, said Oh, founder of the New York-based Vara Safety, which sells mountable holsters you unlock with a fingerprint. Theres no reason the firearm industry cant advance.

What that innovation looks like in New Jersey will partially be up to Oh, who was one of several recent appointees to a new state commission tasked with approving so-called smart guns, firearms that only work for authorized users.

The appointments come nearly two decades after New Jersey tried to largely ban traditional handguns once smart guns became a reality, and many blame the dearth of smart guns today on that looming prohibition. One national headline called it the New Jersey Law Thats Kept Smart Guns Off Shelves.

Lawmakers changed course in 2019. Now state statute only requires sellers to stock smart guns once they meet performance standards.

What those standards are will be up to the seven people on the Personalized Handgun Authorization Commission, and several members told NJ Advance Media theyll begin searching soon for what technology exists and what still needs to be developed.

At the same time, leaders in the small smart gun industry said they were likely a few years away from having guns widely available for consumers, and many gun owners and the National Rifle Association remain deeply skeptical of what has become a polarizing idea.

A smart gun can theoretically recognize its owner, through traits like how a hand grips the weapon, fingerprints or via radio signals sent by something you wear, like a special watch.

The appeal can be summed up in one James Bond scene from Skyfall: Bad Guy steals Bonds gun. Bad Guy tries to shoot Bond. Gun wont fire because gun only works for Bond. Bad Guy eaten by Komodo Dragon. (That last bit is less relevant.)

Personalized handgun technology has the potential to save lives and prevent needless lives from being lost to accidents or gun violence, Gov. Phil Murphy said last month when he made the appointments.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has long advocated for more investment. A 2018 report faulted the firearms industry for not funding more safety features and called on governments to invest in smart gun entrepreneurs.

Hopefully this commission will be able to move the needle, said Nicola Bocour, Giffords government affairs director and one of New Jerseys appointees.

Advances could be especially helpful for children, said Jennifer Chuang, another commission member and section chief for adolescent medicine at St. Josephs University Medical Center. Kids with depression or mental illness will be less able to hurt themselves if nearby guns didnt function, she said.

Life or death situations make it a trickier equation.

If youre using a firearm for self-defense, the most important thing is when you pull the trigger, it goes boom, said Robert Nixon, the governors fourth appointee and the government affairs director for the Policemans Benevolent Association.

Smart guns by definition increase the number of things that have to happen before a bullet can leave a barrel.

If triggers require fingerprints, what happens if your hand is sweaty? If the gun recognizes your hand, could stress change how you hold it?

Police were exempt from New Jerseys original law, and cops are likely a long way from embracing smart guns, Nixon said.

Nationally, some departments are testing the waters. Law enforcement leaders from Illinois and Michigan are part of the Gun Safety Consortium, which advocates for ways to make guns harder to steal or misuse. The group issued a letter late last month asking for new products they can evaluate.

Yet a true James Bond smart gun may never be viable, said Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs.

Putting sensitive electronics on a device designed to contain a small explosion is an idea destined to fail, he said.

Several companies are working to change his mind.

Biofire advertises fingerprint readers. A video from iGun Technology Corp demonstrates a ring that unlocks a shotguns trigger.

LodeStar also started with radio signals, but it now plans to include multiple ways users can access guns, which will also sync with phones.

Its the future, CEO Gareth Glaser said in an interview. Everything else in your life has technology in it  I mean my coffee pot has more technology than my firearm.

The company hopes to have a $795 handgun ready for sale sometime next year, he added.

In some ways, smart gun designers are hoping to repeat Teslas success in the car industry by pioneering technology often ignored by major manufacturers.

And just as Tesla is haunted by reports of vehicles allegedly bursting into flame, the smart gun industry continues to contend with a German companys controversial introduction several years ago of the Armatix iP1 pistol.

The gun was expensive. Its security features were reportedly easily overcome. One Maryland store owner backed off plans to sell it after he said he received death threats.

Proponents say a lot has changed since.

The technology has dramatically improved, said Margot Hirsch, head of the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, which invests in gun safety research.

Potential demand has also risen. A surging number of residents are applying to buy firearms, including some for the first time. I dont think weve seen numbers this high ever, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Wednesday during a public hearing.

Within a year, New Jerseys commission is supposed to define the features locally sold smart guns will need, according to the law. Any model should be reasonably resistant to being fired by anyone other than the handguns authorized user with technology that cant be removed.

Theres no timeline on when they must test and approve a gun for sale.

However, giving any firearm the green light starts a 60-day timer for gun stores.

By the end, every seller in the state is required to stock at least one approved smart gun. If they sell out, theyve got 21 days to order more. Violating the law triggers fines.

Many gun companies implicitly criticize rules like these, including some groups that arent even directly affected.

We believe our technology should be a consumer choice and not a requirement by the government, reads the homepage for Machine Inc., which makes an add-on letting you unlock a handgun with your phone.

Commission members serve four-year terms, but they wont step down until replacements are found. Theyre not paid, although expenses can be reimbursed.

Three other members are appointed by the health department, the State Police and the attorney generals office. Deputy Attorney General Kirstin Krueger will represent the latter, according to an office spokesman, but the other two agencies have not yet announced appointments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The power has been out in a unit at New Jerseys womens prison since Saturday, causing great concern among advocates and families of prisoners.

Around 200 women have been housed without power since Saturday afternoon in the Stowe Unit at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, leaving the prisoners without heat or air conditioning, hot water or a working kitchen, according to multiple parents and advocates who have been receiving reports of the outage.

Its sad. It is a feeling of hopelessness, one mother, who asked not be identified out of fear for her daughters safety, told NJ Advance Media. We are just asking for proper treatment while they are doing time.

The woman said her daughter told her that the prison was able to power on some lights in the unit with generators.

Gov. Phil Murphy said at an unrelated press conference Monday that he was aware of outage and said PSE&G was at the prison trying to restore the power. He said he is unsure of when it will be back up.

They are on it and we need them to be on it, Murphy said.

Liz Velez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections (DOC), said Monday afternoon that the department has secured back-up generators, which should be operational shortly and will restore full power to the whole facility.

A number of parents have been reaching out to Bonnie Kerness, program director for the nonprofit American Friends Service Committees prison program, as they learn about the ongoing situation. One concern is that without heat or air conditioning on there is no ventilation in the unit since the windows do not open. Women have also not been able to shower since Saturday, multiple parents said.

On Mothers Day, the prisoners were served lettuce and bread as a meal, Kerness said.

Parents are understandably hysterical, she added. ... The women are miserable.

Velez said the women in Stowe who have been unable to shower are being provided access to hot showers in other units.

Another mother said her daughter told her that tensions are high in the unit.

I feel like anything can happen under these conditions and my daughter has been through enough, the mother said.

The power outage is the latest issue to arise from the states only womens prison where 10 officers have been charged in an ongoing investigation into the beating of prisoners in January and the Department of Justice released a report last year detailing rampant sexual abuse at the prison. The DOC recently entered into a nearly $21 million settlement agreement with sexual abuse victims from the prison.

Kerness said the prolonged power outage is the latest example of officials showing next to no concern about the lives and quality of life of those women.

What else are these women going to go through? she asked.

Velez said standard operations, like health care, mental health services, social services, education, religious services, food service and family visits have continued without interruption.

This story has been updated with comment from a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

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Battery operated trains are being tested by the Long Island Rail Road as an alternative to the high cost of electrifying rail lines and NJ Transit has a plan to study the same type of project  if it can find the money to do it.

If battery powered trains are studied and adapted, they could deliver the advantages of converting a rail line to electric power without the billions of dollars of cost to build infrastructure. They also could satisfy the request of environmentalists who want diesel locomotives replaced.

Last Month, LIRR officials announced the railroad would work with Alstom to test batteries that could be installed in a two-car electric powered train after an eight-month analysis. Plans call for testing that train on the 13-mile long Oyster Bay branch, where third rail electric service ends at Williston.
Your phone starts buzzing and tells you that an Amber alert has been issued. Or you see signs on the highway that bring one to your attention. In New Jersey, one went out on Monday afternoon after an infant was abducted from her East Orange home.

Police were searching for Chinna Payne and a suspect identified as 27-year-old Damion Payne, according to the alert posted on the New Jersey State Police website.

What are Amber alerts?

Amber alerts, also known as child abduction emergency alerts, are messages distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public to help find abducted children.

How did they come into effect?

Officially, AMBER is an acronym for Americas Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but it was originally named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old from Texas who was murdered after being abducted in 1996.

How do Amber alerts work

Amber alerts are distributed by commercial and public radio stations, internet radio, satellite radio, TV stations, text messages and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio. Emails, electric traffic signs, commercial billboards and SMS text message alerts are used as well.

Police organizations that investigate child abductions decide if an Amber alert will be declared. The alert typically features the name and description of the abductee, a description of the suspected abductor and a description and license plate number for the abductors vehicle if available.

The latest New Jersey Amber alert came on the afternoon of Monday, May 10, starting around 2:40 p.m. The alert said that Damion Payne was last seen driving a 2016 white Nissan Altima with a Virginia license plate of UPF6043. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said.

Anyone who spotted the infant or suspect was urged to call 9-1-1.

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Regional

Docs in Arunachal call off protest after assurance from minister

Arunachal doctors during a press conference (East Mojo).

ITANAGAR, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): | Publish Date: 5/9/2021 1:22:27 PM IST

The Indian Medical Association-Arunachal Pradesh (IMA-AP) has called off their ongoing protest against the alleged physical assault on a doctor in Naharlagun recently, following a written assurance by the states health minister to address their grievances.

The IMA-AP and the Arunachal Pradesh Doctors Association (APDA) had, on Wednesday, announced a two-day statewide strike on May 7 and 8 in protest against the alleged act of violence against a doctor and vandalism at the Samaritan Hormin Hospital in Naharlagun.

The incident took place on Monday, following the death of a female patient who had undergone minor knee surgery.

The states medical fraternity had, however, later announced they would curtail the strike to a day.

The IMA-AP had again on Friday announced to carry on with the protest. They also threatened to launch the second phase of agitation in a more intensified manner if the culprits arent arrested within the next 10 days.

Addressing media persons on Saturday, IMA-AP president Lobsang Tsetim said: We (doctors) are constantly trying to upgrade our services, and we being humans as well, mistakes are bound to happen. We are no God, and we also sympathise and empathise with our patients.

Dr Tsetim said in case of medical negligence people, can take legal action, however, physically assaulting the doctors or vandalising hospitals are not signs of a civilised society.

IMA-AP general secretary Jego Ori said that they received a written assurance from the state government, wherein it assured to book the person(s) involved in the incident.

We will closely monitor the assurance given by the state government and will decide on the future course of action accordingly. As of now, all the services of government and private medical establishments within the Itanagar Capital Region will resume as normal in the public interest, he added.

Dr Ori also informed that a notification was served to the entire medical fraternity falling under the aegis of the IMA-AP to resume their respective responsibilities.

Health Minister Alo Libang appealed to the doctors to resume their duties. The state government was committed to providing a safe and conducive atmosphere to medical professionals at their workplace where they can discharge their duties without any fear or duress, said Libang in a letter.

The law enforcing agencies would book the culprits under appropriate sections of the Arunachal Pradesh Medical Professional and Medical Institution Protection Act 2019, and justice would be delivered at the earliest, Libang added in his letter.
A 78-year-old woman was killed and two other people were hurt when a car and a minivan collided in Brick on Sunday, authorities said.

The crash took place at about 9:45 a.m. on Lanes Mill Road between Greenwood Loop Road and Kirk Lane, Brick police said in a statement.

Nancy Penrod, of Brick, was not breathing when emergency responders arrived, police said. She was brought to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A 78-year-old man driving the minivan and a 30-year-old woman driving the other vehicle  both Brick residents  were treated for injuries at local hospitals.

Police didnt describe how the crash occurred.

Penrod was a parishioner at St. Pauls United Methodist Church in Brick, which posted a noted on a social media page offering condolences to her family.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has other information is asked to call Brick police officer David Thergesen at 732-262-1140 or email trafficsafety@brickpd.com.

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Dr. Sandra Steingrabers life mission is to wage war against toxic trespassers, to use her term. It began at age 20, when she and other family members contracted bladder cancer -- which couldnt have been genetic, because she was adopted. So she suspected environmental contaminants in her rural Illinois town, and her research found dry cleaning fluids in the water wells that suggested the link.

Since then, she has been a champion in the environmental human rights movement by applying scrupulous science and relentless civil disobedience.

The author of four books and the subject of two documentaries, Steingraber is best known for leading the grassroots fight to end fracking in New York State. That made her our first choice to solicit another lesson in methane -- the main component of natural gas -- which was back in the news when the US Senate restored stronger limits to its emissions last week.

Dave DAlessandro of the Star-Ledger Editorial Board recently spoke with Steingraber, who will soon leave Ithaca College to become lead scientist with the Science and Environmental Health Network.

Q. The Senate just threw out the Trump EPA rollback on methane emissions. Can you explain how potent methane is, and what we need to be aware of?

A. Methane is actually a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Over a 20-year time frame, it can hold 86 times more heat in the atmosphere. Its more short-lived than CO2, which can live for 100 years; methane lasts about a decade until it falls apart. But its potency wasnt understood for a long time: The exclusive focus during the early days of the climate movement was on carbon dioxide, but they were partners in crime, and we ignored the more dangerous one.

And as for health impacts, methane is a precursor for smog, also known as ground-level ozone, which is a killer. Its been linked to stroke, increased heart attack risk, pre-term birth, childhood asthma.

Q. Where do the methane leaks occur during fracking?

A. Theyre not just plumbing problems, as you might think. Methane leaks from every stage of the extraction, distribution and transportation process of fossil fuels. It begins right when the drill bit goes into the ground and makes a connection between the geological strata holding the gas and the atmosphere.

Some leaks are by design, baked into the engineering, and emissions continue throughout the process. You have to control the pressure at extraction sites, so you dont blow up your workers, so for that, flare stacks vent methane. Then compressor stations push the gas through the pipelines: Eventually they gunk up and need to be cleaned, so they do what are called blowdowns, intentional releases of massive plumes of methane. And then, the old wells are leaking methane -- more than new wells, according to some data.

So while Im an oil-and-gas abolitionist, any regulation is good. If fossil fuel companies are forced to remediate some of it, it makes renewables comparably cheaper and helps hasten the transition that we need.

Q. As the fracking boom began, we were told that natural gas would be better fuel for our power plants than coal because of reduced carbon emissions. We converted two big coal plants to natural gas here in Jersey. Wasnt that a responsible tradeoff for the time?

A. Now we realize that nothing was gained, and that we may have gone from the frying pan into the fire. If you look at all the upstream leaks as well as the amount of CO2 and methane released at the site of the plant, we know that natural gas is at least as bad if not worse than coal. We learned that as early as 2011, when the first data showed it was a lateral move, not a forward move. That study was from a Cornell team led by Dr. Robert Howarth, and the data since then shows that gas is worse than coal from a climate perspective.

Q. That seems counterintuitive.

A. I know. When we think of coal, we think of black, sooty stuff, while gas is this invisible thing. But weve all been propagandized by years of advertising from the oil and gas industry that shows blue skies and invisibility, so we cant see the damage. But the science has gotten so much better, to the point where we can actually fingerprint the methane thats in the atmosphere and tell you whether it comes from a so-called thermogenic source or a biogenic source.

Q. You mean power plants as opposed to cow belches?

A. Yes, we can actually separate the two, and identify the sources. Fracking methane has a different signature than conventional drilling, which has a different signature from agriculture. Thats why were able to say how much of the methane surge weve seen since 2007 is from oil and gas extraction operations as opposed to agriculture or forest fires, the so-called biogenic sources.

Q. Suddenly Im reminded of that line from Bill McKibben, who said switching from coal-fired plants to fracked gas was like kicking your Oxycontin habit by taking up heroin.

A. Bill has a way with metaphors. I just say that the widely-touted claim that the fracking boom has contributed to recent declines in carbon dioxide emissions has been invalidated by research showing that almost all of the reductions in CO2 emissions between 2007 and 2009 were the result of economic recession rather than coal-to-gas fuel switching. Fracking is incompatible with climate stability and the goal of rapid decarbonization that it requires.

Q. So why did the fossil fuel lobby reverse its longtime opposition to methane regulations? The Shell president even calls natural gas a transitional fuel to renewables. Did they find religion?

A. Their public stance belies what they do behind the scenes. An article in E&E (Energy & Environment News), which was based on leaked documents, showed how oil and gas companies discuss the need to whip up fear in the minds of the public about power outages, just so consumers dont swap their gas-fired furnace for electrified stuff. Its hard to be warm and fuzzy over your furnace, but have you ever seen those influencers on Instagram -- foodies talking about how they can never leave their gas stove because of culinary advantages? Some are being paid by the gas industry.

Q. As we speak, the UN is about to release a report going after methane emissions. What do you expect to see in it?

A. I think its going to be damning, and Im pleased that the UN is catching up to the new science, which shows that in the amount of time available to solve the climate crisis, we cannot wait to apprehend methane as we go after CO2. The whole idea of a bridge fuel might have been reasonable in 1970, but we dont have that time anymore. So bridging is not a workable model.

Q. Seriously, how many times has methane played a role in getting you arrested?

A. Ive been arrested about 10 times, and nine of them were about fossil fuels. My first arrest was as a student journalist at the Michigan Daily. It was after we had written a series on the deputization of campus police, which caused a lot of student anger, but four reporters were the only ones arrested at a protest. I went to jail for 12 days for disturbing the peace. I unsuccessfully defended myself in court the same week I successfully defended my PhD, so it was a big week for me. It was fairly traumatizing at the time  I was a cancer patient, and after being thrown down by the cops, a picture of my unconscious body went out over the AP wire. But the settlement helped pay off my student loans, so it worked out pretty well.

Q. Did it help you realize that science and activism are natural partners?

A. It made me a little braver. As a scientist I realize data alone is not sufficient to stop the climate crisis. Im happy when the data can speak  you know Im pretty nerdy about it all  but the law doesnt always align itself with the science.

When we banned fracking in New York, I heard my own words being read back to me on C-SPAN. But I also understand that wouldnt have happened if speaking about data is all that happened. Scientists had to be part of a larger social movement, and the governor had to feel like his political base was against fracking. So 3,000 people pledged themselves to civil disobedience if even one well were drilled in New York State, which created a political crisis So thats how I see science and activism working together. And being a mom with kids who need a future, I am willing to trade freedom if thats what it takes for the message to get heard.

BIG NEWS FROM MY WORLD: On June 1 my new day job is senior scientist at the Science and Environmental Health Network.



Concerned Health Professionals NY is joining forces with @SEHNetwork to serve frontline communities fighting #fracking.



press release:https://t.co/k5MIXoSGWN pic.twitter.com/YCOGfDqAQ8  Dr. Sandra Steingraber (@ssteingraber1) May 3, 2021

Q. This is your first print interview since you announced that youre leaving academia. What is at the top of your agenda as you become top scientist for the Science and Environmental Health Network?

A. Im 61, and Ive been in school every year of my life since age 5, so to leave academia feels huge. And theres sort of a grief around it, because for all of my activism, I like nothing more than to be in a classroom with chalk in my hand being asked to explain stuff. Now Im moving into a wonderful think tank, which is made up of scientists, physicians and attorneys who are working on the climate crisis from an environmental justice point of view.

The little shop I co-found to provide the science for the anti-fracking movement here in New York is still going, because everyone wanted our annual compendium of findings. Concerned Health Professionals of New York has been a big unfunded project that we do as a labor of love. But moving it into SEHN gives it a lot more capacity. My partner, Carmi Orenstein, is a public health professional, and together well be working on providing really good science to front-line communities fighting oil and gas extraction. And partnering with SEHN provides the legal tools. So its going to be a powerful operation  science for the public good, right?

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Im always impressed by innovation. By innovation, I dont always mean the type of technological innovation that we see with devices and platforms, but relatively small changes in programs and bureaucracies that lead to greater opportunities for people to succeed.

The Cumberland County campus of Rowan College of South Jersey has gotten creative with payment plans. Im also thinking about approaches taken by Valencia College in Orlando, Florida.

It is fair to ask what a community college in Florida has to do with one in South Jersey. The answer is, probably not much, but the problems they face are fairly common and well known, so that new solutions implemented at one community college might be worth a try at another. At least that was my reaction after listening to a story on NPR radios Morning Edition by Elissa Nadworny on how Valencia College was handling the gut punch known as COVID-19.

I dont know the specific numbers for Rowan College and particularly its Cumberland County campus, but if its like community colleges nationwide, enrollment is down some 10% or more from what it was before the pandemic hit. Its no surprise that the biggest impact is felt by lower-income students, many of whom start their higher education at community colleges. As of January, the number of students at New Jerseys community colleges was down by a collective 13 percent.

We dont yet know what the long-term consequences will be from the pandemic, but I imagine there is a big Covid-sized hole that blew up the plans of an untold number of students of these colleges, whether they had just graduated from high school or are working adults trying to gain a foothold in an economy that increasingly demands specialization and credentials just to get in the door.

Maybe it wont be that obvious because all these affected lives will just melt into the daily grind, but I cant help thinking of them as I do past generations, like those born between 1917 and 1923, who reached young adulthood just in time for World War II. Their plans got cut short in unimaginable ways. This pandemic will have its own unique impacts, but it will play out over a lifetime.

Thats why I was impressed with what some of these colleges are doing, even if it was partly in the name of self-preservation. For example, Valencia College waived all application fees for new students. Students who were already enrolled in a course of study and interrupted by the pandemic were allowed to retake classes for free. That might not sound like much, but when youre working your way through college a class or two at a time, it is simply not that easy to pay for the same course twice.

Its likely that many students failed or abandoned classes during this time for a variety of reasons. They may have struggled with internet access, distractions at home while trying to take virtual classes, or the stress of losing a job, fighting illness or caring for a sick family member. One or any combination of these takes its toll. With these things in mind, Valencia College gave any student who failed an online class a $500 scholarship to take another class.

Considering the demographics of Cumberland County, community college is the starting place for significant numbers of students of all ages. Weigh that with our our unemployment rate, underemployment, poverty and everything else that conspires against people trying for a better standard of living, and small innovations can have a very positive impact.

I give much credit to Rowans Cumberland campus for launching the Cumberland Hero Campaign Emergency Assistance Fund. Because so many are struggling with getting textbooks, accessing WiFi and other necessities to remain plugged in during the pandemic, the hero program raises money to help students facing unforeseeable hardships. If youre inclined to give, know the value of this type of help cant be overestimated.

If nothing else, this pandemic has reminded us that we might have to rethink how we do things, because it has exposed existing weaknesses and blind spots. Our responses dont always have to consist of big changes, but small, targeted ones like a free do over, an automatic small scholarship, or a fund to help students facing unforeseeable hardships, will keep the Classes of 2020 and 2021 from being a lost generation.

Albert B. Kelly is mayor of Bridgeton. Contact him by phone at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200.

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By KerriAnn Mattaliano

Looking at todays headlines about the $1.7 trillion student loan crisis, I cannot help noting I am part of that shocking statistic. It seems like yesterday I was choosing where to go to college and thinking, I only need a $1,000 loan to cover the difference from my grant package.

Yet over the next four years, that $1,000 snowballed and over the next 20 years that snowball became an avalanche. I and many others will still be digging out for another 20 years without the help of loan forgiveness. But can loan forgiveness stop the avalanche from happening again?

While loan forgiveness would have enormous benefits for current student borrowers, it would not prevent future generations from becoming trapped in the same cycle of debt or cure wealth disparity. The impact is greatest on African American and women borrowers who struggle to pay off student debt, build savings and grow generational wealth while facing persistent income and wage gaps.

African American families with a college-educated head of household typically have less wealth than white families whose heads of household did not obtain a high school diploma, leading them to borrow higher amounts. There are similar statistics for women with college degrees working full-time who make 26% less than their male counterparts. On average, within four years of graduation, they pay off 31% of their student loan debt compared to 38% paid off by male borrowers.

The path to todays student debt crisis began with a complex history of policymaking that expanded access to higher education. The 1944 G.I. Bill, originally intended to support returning veterans while they sought employment, also featured limited funding for postsecondary education. This established a precedent that the federal government could, or even should, support peoples higher education.

The Cold War led Americans to equate national defense with scientific dominance. President Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA), creating the first significant federal student loan program, allowing students to borrow up to $1,000 per year. And with that, student debt, albeit modest, was born.

School loans entered a new phase with the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Money for school loans was initially modest, $15 million, compared to the $70 million for scholarships and $45 million allotted for work-study. The difference was that while the federal government fully funded NDEA loans, HEA established guaranteed student loans financed by banks and lenders. The government paid only the loans interest while students were in school. What seemed like a money-saving idea on the part of the government rapidly grew out of control. While HEAs scholarships and the work-study program made college accessible to diverse, lower-income students, loans made college widely accessible to an expanding middle class.

The student loan industry became even more complex in 1972 with the creation of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae). Banks would lend money to students and then sell their loans to Sallie Mae. In turn, Sallie Mae would sell bundles of student loans to investors as long-term investments.

Guaranteed student loans became too accessible and debt expanded too rapidly. Massive cuts to financial aid under the Reagan administration made the problem worse, shifting the federal governments priorities even further from grants and toward loans. Reduced spending on higher education slashed funding for Pell Grants and work-study programs, leaving more than 1 million students who relied on grants to obtain loans to cover tuition costs.

With more student borrowers, rising tuition costs and the growing share of students with loans, it became inevitable that the number and size of defaults would increase. After all, guaranteed student loans meant precisely that  the federal government was on the hook if students failed to repay them, triggering a shift in focus in the mid-1970s to safeguarding student loan debt collection. One safeguard included adjusting loan terms to allow for smaller initial payments but higher interest long-term. More devastating was the progressive exemption of loans from bankruptcy proceedings, culminating in 1998 with an amendment to the HEA that made student loan debt non-dischargeable through bankruptcy, shifting the hook from the government to the student for life.

Massive loan forgiveness may wipe the slate clean for myself and many others, but it will not solve the need for a fundamental restructuring of college financing and government funding. The demand for higher education is here to stay, but crippling student debt shouldnt have to be. A commitment to increased funding for higher education to provide more financial aid, stable tuition costs and repayment and forgiveness options that prioritize students over profits could help us break the student loan debt cycle that loan forgiveness alone will not.

KerriAnn Mattaliano is a student at Rutgers University-New Brunswick who is studying for a Master of Education degree in education, culture and society.

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International

German churches plan to bless same-sex couples

Representational image

BERLIN, MAY 9 (IANS): | Publish Date: 5/9/2021 1:14:36 PM IST

Churches across Germany are planning services to bless same-sex couples this week, in defiance of a Vatican decree clarifying that such blessings are banned in the Catholic Church.

The Church of St Benedict in Munich is holding one of just four planned blessing Masses in the majority-Catholic state of Bavaria on Sunday, reports dpa news agency.

It was not so easy to find a church, said Renate Spannig, spokesperson for the reform initiative Maria 2.0, which is co-organising the service.

Maria 2.0 is a grass-roots reform initiative, which among other things campaigns for greater roles for women in the Catholic Church. The other three are set to take place in Wuerzburg.

Burkhard Hose, chaplain for the Catholic community of Wuerzburg Universities, began collecting signatures from people in the church shortly after the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration in March that the Catholic Church does not have the authority to bless homosexual couples.

By signing, the roughly 2,600 signatories declared their willingness to continue blessing same-sex couples.

Under the motto liebege winnt (love wins), a number of events are now planned around the main day of action on Monday, one week before the International Day against Homophobia.

Blessings are expected to take place in many cities and towns, including Munich, Wuerzburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen and Berlin.

There is a clear focus on the north and west of the country.

Catholic priests in Germany have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Vatican ban and have said they want to bless all loving couples, whether gay or straight.

Lay members of the church have also expressed their opposition to the Vaticans stance.

President of the German Catholic Bishops Conference, Georg Baetzing, criticized the action, saying it was not a way forward.

Blessing services have their own theological dignity and pastoral significance. They are not suitable as instruments for ecclesiastical political manifestations or protest actions, he said.
Louisiana food can spark envy in people living elsewhere. So can the states easy access to COVID-19 vaccine.

The latest push to encourage more people to join the fight against the pandemic combines the two with free crawfish on offer to the public at a Thursday vaccination event in New Orleans.

People who show up for the free vaccine at 4035 Washington Ave. on May 13, from 4-7 p.m., will get a free pound of boiled crawfish.

1 SHOT FOR 1 POUND OF CRAWFISH! Thats right, @cmjayhbanks is teaming up with @GoPropeller & partners to provide vaccinations & FREE lbs of hot Cajun Seafood crawfish on May 13th at Propeller. Health officials will be administering both vaccines on-site. See details below  pic.twitter.com/gaYDeJxtbS  NOLACityCouncil (@NOLACityCouncil) May 6, 2021

The effort is a partnership between local business incubator Propeller, which is hosting the event at its headquarters with City Councilman Jay Banks, the city health department and Cajun Seafood, a longtime local seafood market with a location just down the street from Propeller.

Health workers will distribute both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The pros from Cajun Seafood will handle the boil. Adding a little more to the pot, the first 30 people in line for the vaccine will get free gift cards.

The vaccine is free and no identification or health insurance is required to receive it.

Using crawfish to get attention is part of the shifting tactics to get more people out to receive the free vaccine. A string of bars, and even a Bourbon Street strip club, have hosted vaccination drives while dishing out free shots of liquor to people getting the jab.

The inducements underline an increasingly urgent plea across the community to increase vaccination rates.

Despite wide availability, statewide only 32% of Louisiana residents have begun the vaccination process, compared to a national rate of 45%. Only Mississippi has a lower rate in the U.S.

Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Rates are better in New Orleans, which by late April reported roughly 43% of city residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

+2 A million COVID shots are sitting on shelves as Louisiana slips in vaccination rankings When Louisiana began its coronavirus vaccine rollout in December, state officials and hospital leaders moved fast to get shots into arms.

Health experts say that a vaccination rate of at least 75%, and potentially higher, is needed to reach herd immunity.

In New Orleans, the press to get the vaccine has moved from wait lists of people desperate to get a shot to creative initiatives to spur more participation, from churches to bars to outdoor tables under the Pontchartrain Expressway where medical teams work to vaccinate homeless people encamped there.

Vaccination events are happening all across the city day to day. Two other vaccination events are scheduled the same day as the Propeller/Cajun Seafood event  one at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (Hall J, 1300 Convention Center Blvd.) from 7 a.m. and another at the New Zion Baptist Church (2391 Third St.) in Central City from 2 p.m.

Free crawfish vaccination event

Where: Propeller, 4035 Washington Ave.

When: Thursday, May 13, 4-7 p.m.

Get more information about vaccinations in New Orleans at ready.nola.gov/vaccine.
Do a little poking around on the internet, and youll find references to the National Astronomical Observatory in Bogota, Colombia  built in 1803  as the first celestial observatory constructed in the Americas.

Elsewhere, youll find mention of the observatory at Castle Frederick in Nova Scotia, established in 1765, as the first.

So which claim is correct? Well, neither. New Orleans beat them both to the punch, and by a considerable time.

The man responsible: French scientist and engineer Pierre Baron, who embarked for Louisiana in 1728. Technically, he was to serve as the crowns chief engineer in New Orleans, but, armed with a telescope, he would also give the city one of its first tastes of the era of scientific discovery known as the Enlightenment.

He had been preceded in New Orleans by Jesuit priest Antoine de Laval, the founder of the first observatory in Marseille, who was sent by the king to Louisiana in 1720 chiefly to calculate longitudes for mapping of the colony, according to French historian Gilles-Antoine Langlois.

Baron was determined to do Laval one better by establishing the first proper heavenly observatory in a colonial city.

By day, Baron was enlisted by then-Gov. Etienne de Perier with various construction projects. Among other things, Baron had a hand in the design of the French prison that sat on the current site of the Cabildo, a barracks building, and a never-completed moat around the city intended to protect it from raids by Native Americans.

At night, he would turn his gaze skyward from a pair of terraces designed into the two-story building he built at the corner of Dumaine and Chartres streets.

An elevation drawing made in December 1731 by his draftsman Alexandre de Batz shows that Barons property consisted of two buildings flanking a central courtyard and anchored by a monolithic central gate on the complexs Dumaine Street side.

To the gates southeast side, on the end of the property closer to the river, was a one-story service building. A floor plan also drawn by de Batz showed it contained a kitchen, an office and a lavatory, with a pigeonniere, or a structure for domesticated pigeons, on the roof.

The main house, built in the brick-between-post style typical of French colonial architecture, was situated on the gates northwest side, directly on Dumaine and Chartres. It contained living areas including a salon and bedrooms.

It was from that buildings second floor that Baron recorded a total lunar eclipse on Aug. 8, 1729, as well as the emergence of the moon Io from Jupiters shadow on March 12, 1731, which helped him establish the location of New Orleans in relation to Paris.

Ultimately, however, it was Barons day job  those engineering and architectural duties  that would be his downfall in New Orleans.

His predecessors, which included Adrien de Pauger and Ignace-Francois Broutin, had quickly realized that the brutal humidity of New Orleans wreaked havoc on the porous bricks  often made of mud  used in brick-between-post construction of the time. Consequently, they were usually covered with boards or plaster.

Plans for buildings Baron designed, however, suggest he preferred to leave the bricks and timbers uncovered, and thus unprotected, destined to crumble.

That, combined with no small amount of politics, put an end to his relatively short time in New Orleans.

In 1733, Perier was recalled as governor, to be replaced by the man whom he had succeeded, Bienville. With that, Baron was replaced as the colonys engineer by the man whom he had also succeeded in the position, Broutin.

Not long after, Baron and his celestial equipment were on a ship back to France. He would not return to Louisiana, Langlois wrote.

As for Barons observatory, it didnt outlast him by much, succumbing to the unforgiving elements of south Louisiana soon after his departure.

According to Historic New Orleans Collection records, the property  at what is today 838 Chartres St.  would later become a public market. After the market burned in the Great Fire of 1788, the Salles des Grand Bals, a ballroom, was built on the site in 1792.

In 1828, almost exactly 100 years after Baron built his observatory, local architects Lemoine and Lambert built one of a series of six three-story row houses on the site. It and two others were built for Simon Cucullu, with the others being built for Mssers. Roffignac and de la Croix.

Known collectively as Cucullu Row, the row houses still stand today, recognized as the oldest intact row houses in the French Quarter.

A plaque affixed to the front of 838 Chartres recognizes it as the site of Pierre Barons observatory.

Know of a New Orleans building worth profiling in this column, or just curious about one? Contact Mike Scott at moviegoermike@gmail.com.

Sources: French National Archives; Deux Foundations Scientifiques a la Nouvelle-Orleans (1728-30): La Connaissance a lEpreuve de la Realite Coloniale, by Gilles-Antoine Langlois; Bienvilles New Orleans, by Samuel Wilson Jr.; the Historic New Orleans Collections Collins B. Diboll Vieux Carre Digital Survey
In the mid- to late-1970s, some seminal punk bands put their citys scenes on the map. The Sex Pistols and The Clash exploded out of London. The Ramones represented New York, and Dead Kennedys emerged from San Francisco.

Washington, D.C., had its own tight-knit scene, and Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Henry Rollins came out of it. The scene became known for things including slam dancing and straight-edge punks who didnt drink, but it also accrued some unflattering nicknames, like teenie punk.

Directors James June Schneider and Paul Bishows documentary Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement, explores the formation of the D.C. punk scene from 1976 through 1984 in a film full of great footage from the era and interviews with Ian MacKaye, Rollins, members of Bad Brains and many more.

The film is grounded in the insiders view of many members of early bands that built the scene. There is great footage of Bad Brains performing in the graffiti-covered walls of Madams Organ in D.C.s Adams Morgan neighborhood. Theres also clips of sweaty and shirtless MacKaye performing with Minor Threat as fans crawl on stage and dive back into the crowd. But there are many more interviews with members of early bands such as the Slickee Boys, Untouchables, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs, and even a clip from the Enzymes. The film also gets perspective from other contributors to the scene, from record store owners, zine makers and the founders of the D.C. punk scenes most important label, Dischord Records.

In many ways, the project looks like a yearbook or scrapbook. Many people in the community kept their photos, zines, posters, fliers, tapes and all the other byproducts of time spent in local bands.

The growth of a punk scene in D.C. did and didnt make sense. The town wasnt particularly well known for music outside of its signature go-go music and a bluegrass scene. The city was better known for its mild-mannered bureaucrats, and it wasnt uncommon for teens joining punk bands to have parents working in the federal government. While some bands raged against the political machine, others stuck to singing about girls and cars, Rollins says. At first, the only club that would book punk shows was a place called the Keg, though soon, the 9:30 Club opened and became a beacon for the D.C. music scene.

Regardless of where punk went, it looks tame in hindsight. There are some short spiky haircuts and skateboards, and Dischord co-founder Jeff Nelson apparently liked to light things on fire. But many of the scenesters wore leather jackets over preppy clothes. There were a lot of young musicians, and some bands broke up when members decamped to college. Howard Wuelfing, a bassist for the Slickee Boys, Half Japanese and other bands, says the scene was full of sweet, intelligent  collector nerds.

The film pays attention to both the people who became more influential, like MacKaye and Rollins, and those whose names are less commonly known outside of D.C. Its portrait of the scene includes the jostling of groups, including punks intersection with the pro-marijuana legalization Yippie movement. This chapter of the punk story ends after media coverage of the scene started to attract more and more kids from the suburbs and skinheads to the scene, and before MacKayes Fugazi launched. There are fast and furious one-minute punk songs and plenty of grainy old film footage, but the documentary is a great look at the organic ways a music scene can come together as a bunch of creative and driven people try to make something new.

Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement premieres virtually this week and is available via a link at zeitgeistnola.org on May 14.
For Fry and Pie owners Nick and Kristin Gile, taking fresh-cut french fries and loading them with creative flavors mined from 20 years of traveling together is nothing short of love on a plate. That love story  their own, the love for their adopted city, their customers and their staff  has been tested this year, well beyond the rigors of moving from the Hi-Ho Lounge on St. Claude Avenue to 7007 St. Claude Ave. in Arabi in the middle of a pandemic.

Besides coping with the pandemic, Nick is battling cancer, but theyve persevered to get the new place open.

As much as the pandemic sucks, cancer sucks more, says Kristin, who often speaks on Nicks behalf because his voice has suffered during treatment. After it initially had gone into remission two years ago, hes currently fighting it with immunotherapy.

He says, If I cant eat or be a smart-ass, Im not doing it, Kristen says. We are hoping for the best. People might question why we push forward with the restaurant after three cancer diagnoses, but when youre passionate about something, you figure out a way, without regrets. This is our dream.

Theyve been together 20 years, a romance fueled by a shared love of food and travel. Nicks background is in fine dining. Hes classically trained in French and Italian cuisines and was the executive chef at The Bombay Club for years. Originally from Portland, Maine, he came to New Orleans in the mid 90s. Kristin, an artist by trade, arrived from Chicago in 2000. The pair met when she bartended at a spot across from The Bombay Club.

From their home base in Holy Cross, the couple started Fry and Pie at the Hi-Ho Lounge in 2015. The chef had the idea to make upgraded, globally accented comfort food using classic techniques in a way that would be accessible and fun. French fries are popular everywhere you go, she says. We figured the potato is so versatile, why not make it more of a meal?

Fry and Pie proved very popular from the beginning. The menu includes the best-selling Backyard Boil, which tops Cajun-spiced fries with crawfish tails, andouille sausage, melted mozzarella and crawfish cream sauce. Turkey Time features elements of a traditional turkey dinner.

Although cream sauce, melted cheese and potatoes arent for everyone, the Giles arent trying to feed everyone. Its a splurge food, Nick says.

T. Cole Newton talks about his new book 'Cocktail Dive Bar' 'Cocktail Dive Bar' includes classic, original and exotic drinks, observations on running a high-end cocktail program, some bar science and what bars can do to keep patrons safe.

Many dishes get inspiration from places the couple has visited. The Thai Fighter has Thai-spiced chicken and peanut sauce under mozzarella, and the Seoul Train features Korean-style barbecued beef and kimchi.

We traveled together for at least three weeks every summer at the height of hurricane season to places like Korea, Iceland and Thailand, Kristin says. Everywhere we went, wed go to markets and eat street food. It became so clear that wonderful food is wonderful whether its served on fine porcelain or on a paper plate at a street-food stand.

Fry and Pie portions are large and most items are priced around $11. The creative menu also features many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes. The chefs five dipping sauces include spicy chipotle ketchup and herb aioli made with herbs grown behind the restaurant.

Nicks individual pie servings also have been a hit. Priced at $5, a rotating seasonal menu might include the Burnt Out Elvis, with peanut butter cream crowned with bruleed bananas and fresh whipped cream on a graham cracker and ginger snap crust. Eves Apple combines spiced Granny Smith and Fiji apples with salted caramel and brown sugar butter in a traditional crust, topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

Torshi serves Epyptian food on Frenchmen Street Rafik Abohattab doesnt serve Middle Eastern food at Torshi, his new restaurant on Frenchmen Street. In fact, he avoids even saying what he 

The new space is an eye-popping homage to Nicks love of sci-fi and corny horror flicks. The walls are bright with color and local art, all curated by Kristin, who also created the restaurants funky logo.

While they miss the late-night customers fueling up after catching a music or burlesque show in the Marigny, their new location broadens the access and appeal to locals and families. We wanted to do both (spaces), but between the pandemic and Nicks treatment, it just wasnt feasible, Kritin says.

Even during aggressive treatment, Nick continued making the pies and doing prep work for the savory menu by day, but hes stayed away from the public because of the risk of Covid. Kristin and a dedicated staff, including sous chef Aubin Leroy, have kept the restaurant going. Their neighbors Kitchen Table Cafe close Sunday and Monday, so the two businesses coordinated to keep dining options open for the locals.

Owning this business has taught us the true meaning of service at its core, Kristin says. We feel like we make a safe place for people to create loving memories with their friends and loved ones while enjoying delicious food. Providing that is a powerful thing for us and were grateful.

The plan has always been to open another location, cater festivals and have a food truck.

For now, were just taking things one day at a time, Kristin says.

Fry and Pie

7007 St. Claude Ave., Arabi, (504) 766-0076

5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Monday

Takeout, delivery, dine-in and outdoor seating available
Though hes one of New Orleans most senior and recognizable Black Masking Indians, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux is quick to point out that he sings all sorts of music. His latest album makes that clear, as its split between reggae and blues. Half of the album was recorded six years ago in Kingston, Jamaica, and last summer Boudreaux went into Tab Benoits studio to record new music and finish the album.

Tab doesnt like reggae, Boudreaux says. He likes blues. We were deciding whether he was gonna mess with that. I told him, Look, lets do half reggae and half blues. Ill do the blues with you.

The result is Bloodstains & Teardrops, which will be released May 21 on Benoit and Reuben Williams Whiskey Bayou Records. Boudreaux celebrates the album Friday, May 14, with a show at Zony Mash Beer Project, and Johnny Sansone and Waylon Thibodeaux will perform.

Boudreaux says he was introduced to Bob Marley in the 1970s and bought all of his records. Boudreaux included reggae sounds on his 2007 album Mr. Stranger Man, which also featured contributions from Benoit.

The start of making Bloodstains & Teardrops was a week-long visit to Jamaica. Boudreaux toured the island and visited Marleys home. He then went into the studio with guitarist Damon Fowler, who had traveled with him, and the Jamaican rhythm section of bassist Jason Welsh Bass Welsh and drummer Wayne Unga Barunga Thompson, who together form Notis.

Reggae beats drive several tunes including the title track, on which Boudreaux sings about the tragedy of young people harmed by street violence. The song also features Ali Meek, who adds background toasting vocals, a Caribbean DJ style of talking over the beat. Theres also a reggae vibe to the more whimsical Mr. Okra Man, about New Orleans produce vendors driving through neighborhoods calling out their stock of bananas, mangos and more.

Boudreaux says he composed the albums lyrics in the studio.

Thats how I record, he says. A lot of the time, somethings in your head and you just wait for the time for it to come out. If I go in the studio, I know what I am going in there for. Once the music starts rolling, you got to roll with it.

He says he waited awhile to do Shouldve Been a Preacher Man, a breezy, blues song augmented by Sansones accordion playing. The title comes from something his mother used to say to him.

She used to say that all the time, Boudreaux says. I was always trying to help people out and tell them whats wrong and whats right.

The album features many of the musicians Boudreaux joined in the Voice of the Wetlands All-stars. Benoit recruited musicians from across the musical spectrum in south Louisiana to perform and raise awareness about the loss of coastal Louisiana wetlands. The group has included Boudreaux, George Porter Jr., Anders Osborne, Sansone, Thibodeaux, Dr. John and others. Boudreaux has worked with Benoit, Osborne, Sansone and others on albums since Mr. Stranger Man. And BeauSoleils Michael Doucet lends his fiddle to several tracks on the new album.

Bloodstains & Teardrops gets a strong infusion of blues sounds from Benoit, who adds guitar, keyboards and drums, and Sansone on harmonica. Choo Choo is a raucous stomp with a chugging beat, organ riffs and Sansones wailing harmonica. Despite the upbeat sound, its about escaping a bad relationship.

Yeah, I had to leave the women, Boudreaux says with a laugh. Get out of town, go anywhere.

Other songs are more serious in tone and message. The track Kick Me Down is about learning about false friends. Indian Blues is steeped in Mississippi hill country blues styles, and Boudreauxs lyrics reflect on life: See me walking / With tears in my eyes / You might not understand / But Im a happy man.

The blues helped get Boudreaux interested in music while growing up in New Orleans. He lived near future R&B guitarist Ernie Vincent, whose father used to sing.

His dad would come out every evening when he came home from work and sit on the step with his guitar and play the blues, Boudreaux says. I used to sit out and listen to him. There was another old man called Old Man Mo who used to walk down to the grocery store singing the blues, and I used to follow him around. He said, If youre going to follow me, you can go to the store for me.

Now Boudreaux is helping younger musicians. His grandson JWan Boudreaux has performed with the Indian funk band Cha Wa, and Monk is looking to record music with him. Its part of musical tradition, he says.

I went to college, Boudreaux says. I went to the elders and they taught me everything I know.

'Punk the Capital' chronicles the early D.C. punk scene that produced Bad Brains and Henry Rollins The film pays attention to both the people who became more influential, like Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins, and those whose names are less commonly known outside of D.C.
Regional

Mlaya govt authorities refute rumours on issuance of fake negative report

NONGPOH, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): | Publish Date: 5/9/2021 1:28:40 PM IST

Meghalaya Principal Health Secretary Sampath Kumar on Sunday rubbished the rumours on Fake Negative Results being provided by the staff manning the COVID-19 Screening Check Point in Umling, Ri Bhoi.

Terming the report, that has been doing its round on social media, as fake, Kumar said, We do only testing at entry point. No negative report is accepted and everyone has to be tested again when they enter. The Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi district RM Kurbah also termed the report as fake news and said that those who are spreading the news must come forward and prove it publicly.

According to the report, the procurement of fake negative COVID-19 test reports are being provided by some officials who were manning the COVID-19 screening checkpoint at Umling. It further added that even tourist cab drivers are facilitating this process.

This is false news which has been spread by some people who want to tarnish the prestige of the district administration and the health department who has been working round the clock to contain the spread of the disease, Kurbah said.

Anyone who is spreading such fake news, are welcome to rectify it and also make it publicly. If needed they can also ask for an independent enquiry so that such false news would not be entertained, the DC added.

Kurbah further stated that the COVID-19 screening check point has been mandated only to test people entering the state through RT-PCR test and the samples are sent to the authorities in Shillong to provide the results.
A significant chapter in Civil Rights history was written 60 years ago this week, when the Freedom Riders arrived in New Orleans. The group of 13 people  seven who were Black and six white  included college students and a future Congressman, John Lewis. The young people belonged to the group known as CORE, or the Congress of Racial Equality. They planned to ride buses from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, making stops in Southern cities along the way. They were testing the 1960 Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia, which declared unconstitutional the segregation of interstate transportation facilities such as bus stations.

They left Washington on May 4, 1961. Their plan was to reach New Orleans on May 17 to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregating public schools.

The group traveled through Virginia and North Carolina without incident but encountered violent resistance in South Carolina, where Lewis, Albert Bigelow and Genevieve Hughes were viciously attacked after entering a whites only waiting room.

When the group got to Anniston, Alabama, a mob of 50 white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members firebombed the bus. The Freedom Riders escaped, only to be beaten by the mob. Members on a second bus met a similar fate in Birmingham.

Their next destination was Montgomery, but bus drivers refused to take them there. The group took a plane to New Orleans, arriving here on May 15, 1961.

Many locals were afraid to house them for fear of another attack. CORE members and Xavier University students Rudy Lombard and Vincent Roux convinced Dr. Norman C. Francis, Xaviers dean of male students, to allow the group to stay in a dormitory on the schools campus.

While here, they also appeared at a peaceful rally at New Zion Baptist Church, whose pastor was Rev. A.L. Davis, who later became New Orleans first Black city councilman.

A new group of Freedom Riders would later resume the historic trek in Alabama, where the original trip ended. In all, some 400 Freedom Riders staged similar protests across the South throughout the summer and fall of 1961.
Hey Blake,

What can you tell me about how and why NOPSI, the citys old utility company, became Entergy New Orleans?

Jacques

Dear Jacques,

New Orleans Public Service Inc., commonly known as NOPSI, was founded in 1922. It succeeded the insolvent New Orleans Railway and Light Company, which had been the citys gas and electricity provider since its founding in 1905.

NOPSI subsequently merged into the Electric Bond and Share Company of New York, known as EBASCO. That company, a subsidiary of General Electric, created the Electric Power and Light Corp. Among its holdings were NOPSI and Louisiana Power and Light Co. (LP&L), which served customers outside of Orleans Parish.

EBASCO was dissolved in 1949 and a new company, Middle South Utilities, Inc., succeeded it. Along with overseeing NOPSI, its holdings included LP&L, Arkansas Power and Light and Mississippi Power and Light.

In addition to providing electricity and natural gas, NOPSI also operated New Orleans streetcars and buses. In 1983, that responsibility was transferred to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, a public agency created by the state Legislature.

In 1989, Middle South Utilities changed its name to Entergy Corp. The name was an amalgam of enterprise, energy and synergy. In 1994, NOPSI was reorganized and renamed Entergy New Orleans Inc. It is regulated by the New Orleans City Council. The Louisiana Public Service Commission regulates Entergy Louisiana (the successor to LP&L), which provides electricity to many (but not all) parishes outside New Orleans.

Blakeview: The Freedom Riders arrived in New Orleans 60 years ago this week CORE members and Xavier University students Rudy Lombard and Vincent Roux convinced Dr. Norman C. Francis to allow the group to stay in a dormitory on the schools campus.
Next year. The momentum is there!

Maybe in 3-4 years. There's always some problem.

Not until it's already legal in Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi

Somehow, the legislature will criminalize weed for eternity

Vote

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The United Way of Southeast Louisiana has reopened its housing assistance fund to help people struggling to pay bills due to the effect of the pandemic on the economy.

The organization has also revived a program that matches the savings of people trying to buy a home or launch a business.

The revivals come four months after both assistance programs closed due to lack of funds. They are coming back because of philanthropist Mackenzie Scott's $10 million donation to the local United Way late last year, the largest single gift in the organization's history.

United Way, Dillard University receive $15M from Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott has donated a total of $15 million to the United Way of Southeast Louisiana and Dillard University to help erad

With Scott's help, "United Way is demonstrating our commitment to supporting our neighbors in need to ensure they survive this financial crisis, and are more stable to weather the next," United Way board chair Cathy McRae said.

The United Way's rental and mortgage aid fund provides a one-time grant to families who earn less than $51,000 a year and who have lost income due to COVID-19.

The one-time payment is equal to an applicant's normal rent amount.

Though the program originally only covered residents in New Orleans, Scott's gift has enabled its expansion to applicants in Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.

Meanwhile, the organization's individual development account program provides a four to one savings match toward the purchase of a new home, home maintenance, a new car, a small business, or post-secondary education.

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To be eligible for that program, people must earn no more than $25,760 for a one-person household, or $53,000 for a four-person household. Others receiving certain federal support also qualify.

To get the full match, participants must deposit at least $25 every month and remain in the program for at least six months. They must also attend financial education classes.

For $1,500 saved toward the purchase of a home or small business, recipients will receive $6,000, for a maximum total of $7,500.

For $1,000 saved toward the purchase of a new car or for school tuition, recipients will get $4,000, for a maximum of $5,000.

And for $500 saved toward home maintenance, people can get $2,000, for a maximum of $2,500.

Scott, who divorced Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos in 2019 after a 25-year marriage, pledged to give $17 billion, over half her wealth, to address societal problems.

She did so through the Giving Pledge, which was created by Bill and Melinda Gates to encourage the ultra wealthy to donate the majority of their resources as philanthropic gifts during their lifetimes.

Scott has donated to institutions that focus on gender equity, economic mobility, public health, climate change and empathy. She has also given to historically black colleges and universities.

People interested in the match program can call 504-827-6862. Those interested in the housing assistance program can visit https://www.unitedwaysela.org/rentmortgage.
A video that went viral this week shows a confrontation between a woman who obstructed traffic with her car during a block party on North Dorgenois Street in the 7th Ward and a neighbor. The unsettling social media post became a lightning rod for comments about race, gentrification, economic inequity and limits to behavior in 21st century New Orleans.

The video, posted on Instagram, includes a barrage of expletive-laced insults, an unexpected mooning and the arrival of police. The recording by neighborhood activist Byron S. Cole, who ran for mayor in 2017, taps into the anger and anxiety of the era from multiple perspectives.

In the video, Cole is recording a woman named Janna Perry-Holloway, who offers to share margaritas and tacos with him, perhaps to appease his outrage over the street blockage.

I dont want any margaritas. I dont want any tacos, Cole says. What I want is to be considered. As Perry-Holloway walks away, Cole continues. Where are you from? How long have you been here? Where you can just come and shut my street down and dont tell me youre having a party or nothing?

Perry-Holloway turns to Cole and says: This is my home, and I would love to 

This aint your home, Cole interrupts, sprinkling his phrases with the F-word. Youre not from this street. I live in my great-grandmothers house. You lie. Where are you really from?

Perry-Holloway says she came from Arkansas.

Thank you, Cole says. Now we can begin a basis of communication. I dont know where it will go, but Ill calm down now.

But the calm evaporates as the conversation continues. Why werent we notified you were going to shut our street down? Cole asks. I pay more property tax than anybody here. I cant get through here. It's a one-way, sweetie.

Pointing to a cross street, the Perry-Holloway suggests Cole go around, arguing that she, too, has been forced to avoid "your parties."

Cole counters that any parties he might have had didnt block the street.

As spectators gather, someone can be heard asking, How can we help? Cole replies, We can help by not creating the gentrification, referring to the process whereby long-term neighborhood residents are priced out of the housing market by wealthier newcomers.

As Perry-Holloway departs, she says Cole was apparently carrying a gun, although one is not seen in the video. I carry a gun everywhere I go, Cole says. I havent said anything to you about a gun, and Ive been recording the whole time.

Cole informs Perry-Holloway that hes called the Police Department then declares that he and she are now at war.

As another woman attempts to intercede, Cole shouts, Look, this is my neighborhood. Born and raised, grandfathered.

At this point Perry-Holloway heads off to move her car, explaining that shed blocked the street because she didnt want her kids to get run over.

Get a permit, Cole, a Black man, cries, to Perry-Holloway, who is White. You dont have no White privilege here, Arkansas bitch. My elderly neighbors are calling me saying they cant get through.

The tension in the video takes a strange turn when suddenly Perry-Holloway faces away from Coles camera, lifts her skirt, bends over and exposes her buttocks, bare except for thong underwear.

A few moments later, a partier dressed as a Native American and another dressed as a Roman centurion appear before Coles lens as he marches toward the block party, where - judging from the video images - the attendees seem to be predominately White.

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When someone tells Cole to go home, he counters: I am at home. Thats my point.

As music from the party picks up in the background, a police cruiser appears and Cole states his case to the officer. They had no permit, they blocked the street with their personal car. I want them cited, he says.

Were going to cut this double standard bull---t out, Cole says as he walks away from the scene. They would have had all them Black people in jail, if wed have had a block party in front of their house and shut down their street with no authority.

In the aftermath, thousands of social media comments cascaded. Contacted by telephone Friday, Cole said most viewers' opinions seem to favor his point of view, but hes had to suffer some backlash as well.

Cole acknowledged that he was carrying a gun during the incident. He said he is a private investigator and that the gun is legal.

He said that if he was able to change anything about his actions that day, hed bring along a couple of friends to provide other video views of the scene, which would better explain some of what was said.

Cole comes by his flinty activism naturally. He is the son of Dyan French Mama D Cole, a fierce champion of civil rights from the 1960s to the post-Katrina recovery era. She died in 2017.

On Friday, Cole said he views the block party confrontation as a classic example of the detriment of gentrification, which he considers the elephant in the room of current New Orleans culture. I want to coexist with everyone, but not as second-class citizenry, he said.

In a telephone conversation Friday, Perry-Holloway said she set out to have an outdoor, Jazz Fest-style party for anyone who cared to come. She said shed invited friends via Facebook but hoped the neighbors, too, would be drawn to the music.

Im sad, because it was well intended, she said. Im sorry people felt left out.

Perry-Holloway said she's sorry she didn't get a permit for the party. Shes also contrite about blocking the street with her car. She didnt intend to keep anyone away from the party, she said, but just wanted to slow the traffic while kids were flooding the street.

I wasnt trying to exert entitlement or White privilege, she said, adding that It feels awful being seen as the '7th Ward Karen.

"That's not who I want to be," she said.

Perry-Holloway said she found the presence of Cole's weapon a bit "scary." And, she said, Cole carried matters too far when he began referring to her as a "bitch" and a "ho."

What he did was misogyny and verbal assault, she said.

Mooning Cole was an emotional impulse, she said, and she said she regrets having done it. Though, she said, it was prompted by his female slurs. Ive had it with misogyny and sexist remarks, she said, By doing what I did, I said, This is my body, and I can do what I want.
Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams isn't the only elected official slicing big chunks off the property taxes of the city's big commercial property owners.

The city's 2021 property tax appeal report shows that the City Council  including some of the most vocal critics of Williams' decision last year to cut valuations for hotels, restaurants and other businesses  voted to approve cuts to commercial property valuations that translate to millions of dollars in lower property taxes.

Political insider: Moreno gets council backup in feud with assessor The New Orleans City Council approved a resolution this week urging Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams to review properties that should n

The cuts were approved through the city's property assessment appeal process, which allows property owners to petition the City Council if they aren't happy with the assessor's valuation. After a series of steps, including the issuance of a consultant's report analyzing the property's value, the council gets the final say on whether to approve the lower valuations.

Last October, the City Council approved appeals to about 3,000 valuations, totaling cuts of about $217 million in assessed value, for the 2021 tax year. Most were residential properties, but 361 were commercial properties. Of the commercial properties, Williams is appealing 31 of them totaling $80 million to the Louisiana Tax Commission.

The council's ten largest commercial property valuation cuts alone accounted for $45 million in lower valuations. They include properties owned by big out-of-state companies like Extra Space Storage, a $20 billion publicly-listed Salt Lake City-based corporation, and The Lightstone Group, a multi-billion-dollar investment fund whose subsidiary owns the Hyatt Place hotel near the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Others who benefited from some of the biggest cuts were local developers, including Gordon Kolb and Darryl Berger.

None of the owners of the properties responded to requests for comment about why they sought and received lower assessments, which in several instances exceeded 90% of the valuation Williams had put on it, according to the appeals report.

Williams said he wanted to highlight those cuts in response to the sharp criticism from councilmembers and other residents for his decision in October to make across-the-board valuation cuts on commercial property tax assessments for Orleans Parish businesses.

Orleans Parish assessor's budget, methods questioned by nonpartisan research group Property tax assessments in Orleans Parish have come a long way from the days when seven assessors with a mishmash of policies determined the 

His cuts, Williams argued, were required by a Louisiana state law and came as businesses were suffering mightily amid the pandemic. They included valuation cuts of as much as 57% for hotels, cuts of nearly one-third for shopping centers and a 5% reduction for supermarkets, among other reductions.

Criticism was particularly vocal from City Councilmembers Helena Moreno and Jay Banks, both of whom wrote to the Louisiana Tax Commission saying that Williams' cuts were unfair and asking that they be reversed.

"The City of New Orleans cannot afford to grant massive tax breaks based on inaccurate assessments," Banks wrote to the commission in January.

Moreno's letter to the commission in December echoed criticisms made a month prior by five advocacy groups, including Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance and the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center. Both Moreno and the advocacy groups accused Williams of valuing commercial properties way too low, which they said would result in millions of dollars in lost tax revenue for the city.

New Orleans City Council wants nonprofits to pay more in taxes, but obstacles are many The New Orleans City Council is looking for ways to get nonprofits to contribute more to the citys bottom line  the latest in a long string 

"Assessor Erroll G. Williams has overstepped his role in assessing property by arbitrarily deciding the 'winners' and 'losers' in New Orleans real estate market and at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted everyones livelihood and budgets," Moreno wrote.

In January, the chairman of the state tax commission, Lawrence Chehardy, effectively dismissed their criticisms by referring their complaints back to Williams. Chehardy said Williams had made his assessments as required by law.

At the end of March, the Southern Poverty Law Center sued Williams' office, arguing the cuts were made unfairly and benefited big out-of-state corporations, and asked the court to reverse them. The case is still pending in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

Stephanie Grace: Who'll get blamed for New Orleans' property tax spikes? 'He went that-a-way' Theres an image that pops into my head whenever the topic turns to the steep spike in property assessments in many New Orleans neighborhoods,

Williams said he is fed up with the attacks, which he argued are aimed at deflecting from the City Council's own responsibility.

He noted that apart from the millage rates, the City Council has the power to change property tax rates through its ability to grant exemptions, or in its role as the review board with oversight on appeals brought by property owners. He said it was hypocritical of council members to attack his legally-mandated cuts while they approved substantial tax cuts for businesses at roughly the same time.

"It's absolutely fair to question the extent to which property taxes are equitable, [but] anything else is just political showmanship with no real substance," Williams said.

Assessed property values are used to determine the amount of property taxes paid by a property owner. By cutting them for commercial properties, Williams and the council effectively slashed the tax bills for many of the city's commercial properties.

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Property taxes account for around 45% of the city's revenue, and cutting them for commercial properties shifts the property tax burden to residential property owners, who have to pick up a larger percentage of the tab for police, fire, public schools and other government services.

Moreno, who Williams noted in his letter to the tax commission didn't attend when the council met to approve the cuts, declined to comment.

Banks, who along with the rest of the councilmembers in attendance voted to approve the cuts, said that the council relies heavily on an outside consultant to make a detailed assessment of appeals. They typically approve the consultants' findings unless any specific cases are brought to individual council members' attention.

Other council members didn't respond to requests for comment on the vote.

Banks said it wasn't his intention to direct criticism at Williams' office so much as it was to highlight inequities in the system itself.

"This is not political in that I've got a problem with Erroll, it's with the system," Banks said. "I'm one of those who believe the system is broken."

Williams was elected to his current office in 2010 as the first parish-wide property tax assessor, when the former fragmented system was consolidated into one in order to combat widespread abuses.

Jaye Calhoun, a tax lawyer at Kean Miller and professor in tax law at Loyola University, said: "When I first started there were seven assessors [for Orleans Parish] and everyone knew that you could go in and talk to them and chit chat over a cup of coffee and they'd shave some off and you'd get a lower bill."

But in trying to address some of the issues, particularly the undervaluation of residential properties in areas dealing with gentrification and higher home prices, Williams stirred up a hornets' nest of controversy.

While the big increases in residential property taxes have been the most contentious issue in the last few years, the pandemic-related cuts for businesses has rekindled long-smoldering resentments about the equity of property taxes in New Orleans as a whole.

For example, thousands of properties representing billions of dollars of value are owned by non-profits that don't pay any tax.

+3 After years of rising New Orleans property taxes, this plan aims to slow the surge After several years of skyrocketing property tax assessments in New Orleans, a state lawmaker is proposing to put a 10% cap on the amount an o

Stacy Head, who was president of the City Council for five years until 2017, said that focusing the blame on the assessor's office is wrongheaded.

"To blame the assessor is absolutely ridiculous," Head said, describing his role as "ministerial," meaning he has to operate within strict rules. It is up to the politicians to change the law if they think the tax system is unfair, she said.

Resentment is also caused by a fundamental difference in the way residential and commercial properties are valued.

Williams' office tried to take into account the economic effect of the pandemic on broad classes of businesses like hotels or restaurants, but it was done by broad category and didn't differentiate by individual circumstances. Meanwhile, residential property owners don't get that kind of consideration. Their valuations are set based on how much the assessor thinks their property is worth, regardless of their income.

"It is patently wrong to only factor in economic realities on the commercial side," said Banks, who notes that a house on his street recently sold to someone who could afford to pay $450,000, which might push up property taxes for a neighbor even if his wages haven't changed.

Calhoun, the tax law professor, noted that it is notoriously difficult to fix issues with property taxes, pointing to the long-running battle in California, where they voted in the late 1970s to cap ad valorem property tax and limit the yearly increases. But it stymied the housing market and has led to dozens of amendments and challenges.

New Orleans property tax breaks unfairly benefit out-of-state corporations over residents, SPLC says The Southern Poverty Law Center is suing Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams after his office cut property assessments  and therefore tax

For his part, Williams said that his job is to be as fair and transparent as he can be within the rules set by the state.

"Whether a system reliant on property taxes is fair or not is a legislative responsibility," he said. "I'm happy to work in good faith with anyone towards building a more just system of taxation."
World War II pilot Jim Siracuse recently celebrated turning 101 years old surrounded by people who love him and the good food and generosity of his two favorite Mandeville eateries.

LaLou's Restaurant hosted the small birthday gathering, and Leonardo's Trattoria also helped provide celebratory food.

"Capt. Siracuse represents an America that we all desire to have again," said family friend Lisa Maggio, who emceed the intimate birthday event. "(His) heroic actions as a pilot made a significant difference for our soldiers who were about to storm the beaches of Normandy. After completing his mission and blowing up the ammunitions train that was to supply artillery for the Germans in anticipation of D-Day, Capt. Siracuse was shot down."

Indeed, Siracuse was a young Army Air Corps pilot flying an A-20 attack bomber when shot down over occupied France. Captured by the Germans, Siracuse endured more than a four hundred days as a POW, first in Stalag Luft III in Poland and then the Moosburg camp in Germany, as well as a forced, 53-mile long march between the two in below-zero weather that claimed the lives of many American soldiers.

Siracuse was awarded the Purple Heart, the POW Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous other medals.

His wife of 53 years, Mary Hazel Hill Siracuse, died several years ago. He has a daughter, Karen Arnold, who lives out of state, and for the last 10 years, Siracuse has lived in Mandeville with his son, also named Jim.
In Louisiana, 45,897 more doses of COVID vaccines have been administered, according to a noon update from the Louisiana Department of Health.

There are 1,349,231 people who are fully vaccinated and 1,543,569 people who have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

The total number of administered doses is now 2,796,183. Most of those shots are part of the two-dose regimen recommended for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which is why the total number of people who have received at least one dose is lower than the total number of doses.

CDC: Fully vaccinated adults 65 and older are 94% less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 Adults 65 years and older who are fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are 94% less likely to be hospitalized

Out of Louisiana's entire estimated population, 33.2% of people have received at least one dose and 29.02 of people are fully vaccinated.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported 730 more confirmed coronavirus cases and two more confirmed deaths in its noon update Monday.

The number of hospitalizations decreased by seven, and the number of patients in need of ventilators decreased by two.

There are now a total of 392,487 confirmed coronavirus cases and 70,381 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard.

Louisiana now offering utility bill assistance to renters facing COVID-19 financial hardships Louisiana is adding utility payment assistance to its state-administered, federally funded program established to help renters and landlords i

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These are another few key statewide statistics as of Monday:

Total confirmed cases: 392,487

Total "probable" cases: 70,381

Total confirmed deaths: 9,493

Hospitalized: 324

On ventilators: 34

Vaccine series initiated: 1,543,569 (updated twice weekly)

Vaccine series completed: 1,349,231

Note: The Advocate and The Times-Picayune staff calculates daily case count and confirmed death increases based on the difference between today's total and yesterday's total of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. The Louisiana Department of Health releases a daily case count on its dashboard that includes probable cases as indicated by a positive antigen test. That case count can be different than the one listed here.

Can't see chart below? Click here.

Can't see chart below? Click here.

Louisiana began reopening for Phase 1 on May 15-16 then moved to Phase 2 on June 5. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards extended Louisiana's Phase 2 restrictions twice in August before moving the state to Phase 3 on Sept. 11. The governor then moved the state back to a modified Phase 2 near the end of November before putting Louisiana back in a modified Phase 3 on March 2, 2021.

This is a developing story. More details and analysis to come.
A Loyola University law school student pleaded not guilty last week to aggravated arson for allegedly setting fire to her apartment complex hours after receiving an eviction notice.

Jaz'Lynn Major, 26, entered the plea in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court on May 5, after the District Attorneys Office formally charged her on April 12 in connection with the blaze that killed a dog and displaced more than two dozen neighbors.

Investigators said that Major was overdue on two months rent totaling $1,700 on Aug. 31 when her landlord obtained an eviction order giving her 24 hours to vacate. That night, it is alleged that she set fire to the two-story complex where she lived in the 1600 block of Washington Avenue in Uptown New Orleans.

The three-alarm blaze sent smoke billowing into the neighborhood and prompted a massive response from the New Orleans Fire Department. It was one of the most dramatic early examples of rising tensions between tenants and landlords last year amid the economic disruption of the coronavirus pandemic.

The blaze was preceded by weeks of dispute between Major and her landlord over living conditions in the Amies Paradise apartments and her rent, state arson investigators said. According to authorities, Major had sent her landlord one message calling her a slumlord, while another read, Dont be an idiot, before you lose everything.

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+2 Evicted woman accused of torching apartment building returned to New Orleans to face arson counts The Loyola University law student accused of torching a Central City apartment building after her landlord evicted her has been transferred fr

Major, a native of Huntsville, Texas, had lived in the building for only a few months, according to her landlord. The day after the fire, the federal government announced an eviction moratorium.

Majors sister painted a different picture of her in an online fundraiser. The student often drove from New Orleans to Huntsville to care for family members during their mothers illness, the sister said.

Major is currently on leave from law school. Court records show that she had been living with her family in Texas while out on bail. Her attorney, Rachel Conner, declined comment.
Educators with Bricolage Academy, the popular elementary school on Esplanade Avenue, will vote on whether or not to have a union in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board later this month.

"We have been working towards this for years, and now we will all finally have the chance to cast our vote," Ashley Clay, a second-grade teacher, said in a news release. "This is our chance to work together."

The vote is set for May 28, according to the release issued by United Teachers of New Orleans, a citywide union and local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers that has helped the charter school educators organize.

Bricolage Academy Educators, collectively known as BAE-United, spent weeks petitioning the school's governing charter board to voluntarily recognize their union.

Bricolage organizers have said 80% of eligible teachers and staff signed a petition in favor of organizing, and they submitted the request to the school's board of directors in late February.

But, according to the release, the board never responded to requests to meet. So they filed a petition to hold an election.

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Last month, Troave Profice, the CEO of Bricolage, said in a statement that administrators "aren't convinced that there is a constructive need for a union" at the school.

"Our perspective currently is that we provide an environment that already offers a great deal of what the union says that they will bring to the table," Profice said. She told The Lens for story this week that a union "is not in the best interests" of students and staff.

Yvette Jones, the chair of Bricolage's Board of Directors, said the board already has "unwavering commitment to our teachers and staff."

If successful, Bricolage, a B-rated school that has about 700 students in PreK through 8th grade, will be one of only four New Orleans charter schools to have an active union. There are roughly 80 charters in the parish.

Ahead of the vote, one teacher urged the school's CEO and board not to get in the way.

"The decision to form a union must be left up to the staff. We ask the administration to not interfere in this process, or attempt to influence staff before we vote," said Jackie James, a seventh-grade English teacher.
According to a recent MIT report, the biological pump is currently depicted in climate models with considerable uncertainty.

The "gold standard" calculation used to measure the pump's power has a greater margin of uncertainty than previously assumed, and estimates of how much atmospheric pollution the ocean would pump down to varying depths could be off by 10 to 15 parts per million, according to the researchers.

Carbon Emission

Given that the planet already emits approximately 2.5 parts per million of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year, the team predicts that the latest ambiguity leads to a five-year error in climate target forecasts.

Algae and Carbon Absorption

Even in the most promising examples, most of the world's coral reef populations - be in Australia, the Maldives, or the Caribbean - would have vanished or been in grave danger by the end of the century. Because of global warming, ocean temperatures increase beyond the tolerance of single-cell algae, which are corals' strongest allies.

These algae provide corals with vital nutrients supplied by photosynthesis in exchange for living within coral tissue for protection. Since algae possess a number of pigments that give coral reefs their distinctive colors when they are removed, the corals become white, a phenomenon is known as coral bleaching. Despite the real challenge posed by global warming, corals in the Red Sea seem to be on track to maintain their vivid color.

"We also knew that corals in the Gulf of Aqaba, near the Red Sea's northernmost tip, were especially immune to higher temperatures. However, Romain Savary, a postdoc at EPFL's Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry, says, "We needed to research the complete molecular mechanism behind this resistance."

Related Article: Water Temperature Continues to Rise with Ocean Fever; Climate Change Worsens the Situation



Studying Corals and Heat Emissions

To perform their study, the scientists exposed corals in the Gulf of Aqaba to various heat stresses, including those that are expected to occur in the coming decades.

The results show how these heat-resistant corals react at the most basic level - gene expression. This is the first time scientists have done a genetic study of coral samples on such a large scale.

Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton, microscopic organisms that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they rise, are the start of the marine processes that lead to the ocean's biological pump. Phytoplankton collectively falls into the water column as "marine snow" when they die, taking carbon.

Microbes absorb the particles at different depths, converting the organic carbon and respiring it back into the deep ocean in an inorganic, mineral form, a mechanism known as remineralization.

Remineralizeng Carbon

Researchers collected underwater snow in the tropical Pacific in the 1980s at various places and depths. They developed a basic power law mathematical relationship - the Martin curve, after team member John Martin - to explain the intensity of the biological pump and how much carbon the ocean would remineralize and sequester at different depths based on these observations.

Also Read: Increasing Marine Species Find Equator to be Unlivable 'Death Traps'

For more Environmental News, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Metairie's red, white and blue likely won't be mixed with green and gold this year.

Organizers of the Metairie St. Patrick's Day Parade, who had been stopped before they even got started for the last two St. Patrick's days, were hoping to roll down Metairie Road on July 4. Eager to get the green light from the parish, they've been warning that they need time plan it out.

But Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng says that despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions around the state, a July 4 parade would divert parish attention from the ongoing vaccination efforts.

"We are in vaccination mode," she said Friday. "This is where our focus should be."

Lee Sheng noted that the state has not produced any guidelines related to parades and that crowd control at parades is a particular challenge.

"This is not like a game or a concert where you know where people are goin to be seated," she said. "This is miles of crowds."

Lee Sheng indicated that it may be next year before parish government is ready to support parades again.

"Coronavirus has taught us to go slow and be cautious," she said.

Many Jefferson Parish parading krewes have agitated for a return to the streets at some point this year, noting that parades are essential for their financial health and good for many local businesses. A plan earlier this year to have parades on Memorial Day weekend was shelved by the parish council, though it left open the possibility of parades later in the year. At least one krewe, the Krewe of Kings, is planning to roll in Harahan over the Memorial Day weekend.

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Jefferson Parish drops May Mardi Gras plan, leaves door open for parades if coronavirus subsides The Jefferson Parish Council on Wednesday dropped a measure that would have allowed Mardi Gras parades to roll in May, but left the door open 

Friday, Lee Sheng distanced herself from the effort, noting that the parade route is entirely within the limits of Harahan and will not require parish employees.

Dan Civello, one of the organizers of the Metairie St. Patrick's Day Parade, said he understood Lee Sheng's perspective.

"She's in a tough position," he said. The group had hoped that the Governor's decision to relax most restrictions and end the statewide mask mandate last month would put parades back on the calendar. But as days passed and the group didn't get an official word from the parish, their optimism dimmed.

By now, Civello said, it would be difficult to plan a July 4 parade even if permission was granted. The next parade will be the organization's 50th, and he hopes it possibly be held the weekend before Labor Day.

"At least with Labor Day, we are three months out," he said. "At some point, we have to get on with the other parts of life."

Meanwhile, Krewe of Kings Captain Mac Cantrell said last week that Krewe of Kings' plans in Harahan are full steam ahead.

"The planning is pretty much finished," he said. "Everybody's excited to have some normality."
Juliet has appeared almost every morning for the past two decades. She swoops into the enclosure where other blue-and-yellow macaws are housed at the Rio de Janeiro city zoo. She joins in a grooming activity that resembles conjugal canoodling across the fence.

Last Wild Macaw

Juliet is thought to be the last wild bird of her kind in a Brazilian city where the birds once flew freely.

Juliet, a blue-and-yellow macaw that lives to be 35 years old, is no spring chicken. Years before, Juliet should have sought a life partner.

Reintroduction to the Wild

Other macaws of her species could be reintroduced into the wild as part of a recent zoo project, allowing Juliet the opportunity to travel with friends and maybe find love.

"They're social birds, which means they don't want to live alone, whether in the wild or in captivity," says the author. They need company," said Guedes, who is also the project coordinator for a macaw testing project in urban areas. Juliet "very likely feels alone and goes to the enclosure to chat and bond as a result."

Blue and Yellow Macaw

According to Marcelo Rheingantz, a scientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the last sighting of a blue-and-yellow macaw flying free in Rio was in 1818 by an Austrian naturalist. (The Spix's macaws featured in the 2011 animation film "Rio" are endemic to a separate part of Brazil and may be extinct in the wild.)

Macaws' bright plumage aids them in finding each other in dense woodland, but it also makes them easier prey for predators and animal smugglers. They've been seen in other Brazilian states and in the Amazon, and Juliet is said to have survived captivity.

Related Article: Researchers Use Drones to Reveal How Turbulent Tidal Flows Affect Seabirds' Foraging Behaviors



Juliet Visiting the Zoo

BioParque biologists aren't sure if Juliet's nuzzling is limited to only one caged Romeo or a few. Juliet's gender is unknown; macaw gender is difficult to ascertain by sight and involves genetic testing of feathers or hair and examination of the sex organs.

Within the enclosure, biologist Angelita Capobianco said that doing either only to appease human interest would be intrusion with no scientific intent. Juliet, who soars above and is well fed, will not be confined to naturalists.

Letting Her Do Her Business

"We don't want to project individual emotions into the screen. "When I look at the animal, I see an animal at ease," Capobianco said, adding that Juliet has never shown signs of distress, such as pecking at the gate.

Macaws Flying in Brazil

The attraction of traveling without restrictions is apparent to humanity after more than a year of COVID-19 quarantine and travel bans. Macaws are used to traveling over 20 miles a day, according to Guedes.

BioParque's macaws were given more habitat last year, with a 10,700-square-foot aviary where they ride alongside green parrots and golden parakeets to create an aerial, technicolor swirl. It's a huge improvement on the previous enclosures, which were just about 100 square feet. After almost 17 months of repairs and the privatization of Rio's dilapidated zoo, BioParque reopened to the public in March.

Also Read: Parrot and Puppy's Adorable Friendship Catches the Heart of Many

For more animal news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
So you forgot to buy flowers for Mothers Day. Boy oh boy, do you have some serious making up to do. Buying a belated bouquet isnt going to cut it, not when it comes to showing your appreciation for the woman who gave you life. Because (lets face it) were all guilty to some extent of taking our mothers for granted on a daily basis, forgetting the one day thats dedicated to them is tantamount to high treason in the maternal universe. Time to open those wallets, kids. Here are some horological flowers that will give you golden child status for the next decade. Lets see your siblings try and beat you this time.

Roses - Piaget Altiplano Rose

If you dont know what your mother likes (or rather, you have the kind of mother who says she likes anything and doesnt mind going anywhere for dinner and then expects you to read her mind), this is the watch for you. Guaranteed to please 99.9% of mums in the world, featuring the Yves Piaget rose executed in marquetry on its dial, the child-forgiving qualities imparted by the Piaget Altiplano Rose cannot be denied.

Piaget Altiplano Rose  Piaget

Lilies of the Valley - Van Cleef & Arpels Charms Extraordinaire Muguet

Traditionalist mothers will eat this up. Ive never understood why lilies of the valley are customarily gifted on Mothers Day. Dont you know theyre poisonous, under all that beauty? A fine way to reward someone for giving you life  presenting them with deadly flowers. However, the air of good luck surrounding the Van Cleef & Arpels Charms Extraordinaire Muguet should be enough to shield both giver and receiver, impressing upon your mother how fortunate she is to have a thoughtful (if forgetful) child like you.

Van Cleef & Arpels Charms Extraordinaire Muguet  Van Cleef & Arpels

Peonies - Chopard L.U.C. XP Esprit de Fleurier Peony

If youre looking for extravagance and effusive beauty, look no further than the Chopard L.U.C. XP Esprit de Fleurier Peony. These luxurious flowers are meant to symbolise compassion and prosperity, two attributes you definitely want your mother to possess if youve messed up on Mothers Day. The best thing about it is, even if she is unsympathetic and impoverished, giving her this watch is a surefire way to change that.

Chopard L.U.C. XP Esprit de Fleurier Peony  Chopard

Arums - Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Precious Flowers

You need to turn that towering maternal rage into blossoming parental love. Flip the script! Reverse that mood! The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Precious Flowers is here to rescue you from the ninth circle of hell (according to Dante reserved for the ungrateful and treacherous) and elevate you to cherub level. Get this if you need to pull off one of the biggest plot twists in the history of Mothers Day screw-ups.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso One Precious Flowers  Jaeger-LeCoultre

Daisies - Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami

Your mother is cool. Shes got a great sense of humour  riotous and kind of dark. She thinks its funny that you forgot Mothers Day. She could totally (and justifiably) kick your ass, but she wont, because shes cool. For all those reasons, you should get her the Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami. Bonus: shell probably let you wear it whenever you want. Because shes cool.

Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami  Hublot

Camellias - Chanel Premiere Camellia Skeleton

Mothers arent idiots. They can see right through your totally transparent tactics to try and pathetically crawl back into their shining good graces. But because theyre mothers, theyre also big enough to accept and validate your efforts at repentance. Did you say big, shining and transparent? I think what you really mean to say is: Chanel Premiere Camellia Skeleton. Youre welcome.

Chanel Premiere Camellia Skeleton  Chanel

Lotuses - Jaquet Droz Magic Lotus Automaton

Not only did you forget to buy flowers, you got drunk the night before, spent the whole day in a toxic hungover haze, missed the family dinner and didnt even call because you left your phone in some random bar after your fifth shot of tequila. Theres only one watch that will save you from immediate and irrevocable exile from the maternal household  the Jaquet Droz Magic Lotus Automaton. Time heals all wounds, they say, and this watch accelerates that process, depicting the procession of all the four seasons within a single cycle of dial animation. Lotuses are also supposed to be calming flowers, associated with Zen Buddhism. In Greek mythology, the lotus-eaters existed in a state of constant and beatific languor. Feed your mother this watch and sit back as its effects magically wash away all your sins.


Animal "mystery boxes" led to indignation in China after some mistreated 160 dying puppies and kittens were discovered in the back of a Chinese delivery truck.

The Mystery Boxes

In Chengdu, a city in the southwestern Sichuan province, volunteers stopped a delivery truck and found around 160 crates carrying cats and dogs, as stated by the Weibo account of the Chinese animal-rescue group Chengdu Aizhijia Rescue Center. The center is convinced that the boxes of animals were heading to customers who had bought puppy and kitten "mystery boxes" for a special promotion amount of $1.50 or 9.90 yuan."This is wickedness. The pets are struggling to breathe," a volunteer in a video discloses.

The center said in a Weibo post that the crates did not have food or water in them and that some animals had died during conveyance. The organization also made an estimation that majority of the cats and dogs found were about 1 to 3 months old and hardly weaned.

Also Read: Animals Cut Open Without Anesthesia: Leaked Footage Shows Brutal Animal Testing at Spanish Lab

Recovery of the Animals

ZTO, the courier company responsible for the stopped shipment, on Weibo posted a notice of apology for the incident that took place, disclosing that the manager responsible for courier services in the Sichuan region had been well disciplined.The company also said that it would make improvements on training procedures and tackle how to "safeguard animals" but did not disclose whether it would totally prohibit the transportation of living animals.

The Chengdu Aizhijia Animal Rescue Center as of Thursday said it had conveyed majority of the animals back to its home, where it says it will discover homes that will be suitable for the animals. The group also made an announcement that about 38 animals were taken to vets so that they can be properly treated, as volunteers felt they may have contracted diseases or been injured during the course of transit.

Tracking of the Shipment

As the main listing has been deleted, it is uncertain where the Chengdu-based seller got the animals from - but the rights group was able to track the shipment after sighting the 9.90-yuan-per-mystery-box advertisement on Taobao - a shopping platform just like Amazon.

In January, a report made by the local news outlet Zhejiang Zaixian noted that in late 2020 the Chinese postal service started preventing animal mystery boxes when web users noticed a sudden rush in the number of animal mystery boxes e-commerce platforms sold.

An animal-rights group in Beijing known as Protecting the Voices of Asian Animals revealed to Insider it had noted an increase this year in listings for animal mystery boxes on e-commerce platforms. Liu Zexin, the group's representative told insider: "It began with mystery boxes for items like beauty products and shampoo, but animal breeders began to employ it as a means to sell more animals for a cheap price."

Related Articles: 205 China Dogs, Meant for Meat Trade, Rescued to Arrive in US for Adoption

For more news, updates about animal welfare and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
ZIMBABWES lax security at ports of entry and airports has come under spotlight again after Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) president Henrietta Rushwayas ex-aide was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa while attempting to smuggle gold worth over US$780 000.

The suspect, Tashinga Nyasha Masinire (33), was yesterday granted R100 000 bail coupled with stringent reporting conditions by a Kempton Park regional magistrate in Gauteng province.

He was ordered to surrender his passport, not to leave South Africa before the finalisation of the matter and to report at the nearest police station three times a week.

The matter was remanded to July 1, 2021.

The case has opened a Pandoras box with South Africas Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation team seeking to uncover the source of the 23 gold bars worth R11 million found in Masinires hand luggage, as well as establish how he evaded security checks at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare.

Preliminary investigations by the Hawks, authorities said, revealed that the suspect travelled from Harare to Johannesburg.

Rushwaya, who in October last year was nabbed under similar circumstances after being found in possession of 6kg of gold worth US$366 000 at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, yesterday distanced herself from Masinire saying he resigned from ZMF last year.

For the record, he stopped working for the Zimbabwe Miners Federation as a driver in August 2020 and for people now to be seen or wanting to associate him with the federation or myself in particular is a bit unfortunate, Rushwaya, whose case is still before the courts, said.

He tendered his resignation and it will be folly for people to want to attach him to this organisation or to my persona as the president. As the federation president, I clearly and categorically state that Tashinga was no longer an employee and neither was he still my driver, and so any action to be taken against him should not be in any way associated with us, she added.

According to a report by a global research group, Zimbabwe is losing at least $1,5 billion a year through smuggling of the yellow metal, mainly to traders in Dubai.

Smuggling is attractive for many gold dealers in Zimbabwe because of uncompetitive gold prices offered by the governments sole gold buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe subsidiary pays US$44 000 for a kilogramme of gold, whereas private buyers  who smuggle the gold out of the country  pay up to US$60 000 per kilogramme.

Newsday
ZIMBABWE is set to join Zambia and Botswana in the Kazungula Bridge project after the late former President Robert Mugabes government snubbed the project due to donor influence.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday joined his other Sadc colleagues as a guest during the official opening of the bridge although government officials claimed Harare co-owned the bridge together with Botswana and Zambia.

Zambian and Botswana leaders Edgar Lungu and Mokgweetsi Masisi, respectively, officiated at the event, with speeches by the two governments mum on Zimbabwes role on the project.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, however, said the project was snubbed by the Mugabe administration due to donor influence.

The Kazungula Bridge had to curve after the first republic in Zimbabwe objected to the project because of donor influence. With agreement, the bridge would have been a lot shorter, he said.

Charamba added that Zimbabwe re-joined the tri-national Kazungula Bridge project after the second republic and was expected to meet a third of the total cost of the facility to back up its stake.

Negotiations are currently underway, and will entail development of a border facility on the Zimbabwean side, as well as the widening of the Kasane-Victoria Falls City Road. Victoria Falls city is a key destination for the area.

The project is meant to facilitate trade through reducing transit time for freight and passengers and a reduction in time-based trade and transport costs and improvement in border management operations arising from the new one-stop border facility.

Speaking at the official opening of the Kazungula Bridge in Zambia, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe is committed to be part of the massive project.

This is a milestone achievement in our SADC region. I wish to thank sincerely my brothers, President Masisi and President Lungu, who in 2018 invited Zimbabwe to be part of this project, indeed in the fullness of time, Zimbabwe will be part of this project.

I reiterate Zimbabwes commitment to be part of this project for the benefit of our SADC region, he said.
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Soli Sorabjee was 18 when he walked into a record store in Bombay, as Mumbai was then called, and asked for a recording of the Hungarian Dances by Brahms. At home, he took a listen.

I found it nothing like Brahms at all, he told a television interviewer. So many different sounds. But he liked the tune on the presumably unlabeled or mislabeled record and played it again, and then a third time. It happened to be Tiger Rag by the Benny Goodman Trio, he said. The bug had bitten.

Mr. Sorabjee became a passionate and lifelong jazz fan  as well as one of Indias leading jurists, a two-time attorney general, a constitutional expert and a champion of free speech.
Millions of cars are recalled each year, and roughly eight million already have been in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Getting a notice from the automaker that your vehicle is among them and has a safety deficiency is not only alarming, it can also lead to a flood of questions.

What must I do next? How do I get this taken care of? Is this going to cost me anything?

Even more pressing is how urgent it is to get the problem remedied. The answer is that while minor maintenance can slide a bit without causing major trouble, the safety concerns addressed by a recall are not a footnote for the maybe someday section of your to-do list. Recalls vary in urgency, and sometimes repairs cannot be done by the dealer immediately because replacement parts are not available; it can take months until they are. But as a recent South Carolina case makes clear, procrastination can be deadly.

In January, the driver of a 2002 Honda Accord died as a result of a crash in which the cars airbag deployed. As the 19th death in the United States caused by shrapnel from a ruptured Takata airbag inflater, it was hardly unprecedented. But this time there was a twist: Honda, which recalled the car in 2011, said it had tried more than 100 times to reach the cars owner by mail, phone and by in-person visits. The faulty inflaters had never been replaced.

The Takata recall, the largest in history, involves 100 million inflaters, including 67 million in the United States. And these recalls are not all a decade old. As recently as March, Ford recalled 2.6 million cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles to replace Takata driver-side airbag components.
On Monday, CBS This Morning will air a longer interview between Gayle King and the former first lady Michelle Obama. In a portion already released, Ms. Obama discussed the statement that she and former President Barack Obama issued after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd.

As Ms. Obama put it, We cant sort of say, Great, that happened. Lets move on. She continued:

I know that people in the Black community dont feel that way because many of us still live in fear, as we go to the grocery store or worry about walking our dogs or allowing our children to get a license.

As I often say, this is a constant fear of Black people and Black parents  that assumptions are made in seconds, that when they pull a gun, you cant pull a resume. In the moment of fear and violence, your individuality is meaningless. When youre at the wrong end of a gun barrel, you cant achieve your way out of that moment.

But there is something more important and natural happening in the lives of the Obamas out of office, beyond Donald Trump and in an era in which racial justice is a pressing part of the national conversation: They have been liberated in their Blackness. Theyre now able to discuss racism with a candor and frankness that their time in the White House in many ways prohibited.

In The Hill, Niall Stanage wrote an article published on Saturday with the headline The Memo: The Obamas Unbound, on Race. They were at one time bound because they were Black, but also because they were first.
WASHINGTON  Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, on Sunday officially endorsed Representative Elise Stefanik in her bid to oust the No. 3 House Republican, Representative Liz Cheney, who has hemorrhaged support over her repudiation of former President Donald J. Trumps lies about election fraud.

Yes, I do, Mr. McCarthy told the Fox News host Maria Bartiromo when she asked whether he supported Ms. Stefaniks push to become the Republican conference chairwoman.

We need to be united, and that starts with leadership, Mr. McCarthy said. Thats why we will have a vote next week.

The endorsement from Mr. McCarthy  who had been working behind the scenes on Ms. Stefaniks behalf for days  came after Mr. Trump and Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican, endorsed Ms. Stefanik.
CARIGNANO, Italy  Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, the son of the last king of Italy, gave his granddaughter a big 16th birthday present.

In a formal 2019 decree, the Duke of Savoy, Prince of Naples and by the grace of God direct heir to Head of the Royal House of Savoy, amended a medieval law that for centuries had restricted succession in his royal line to male heirs.

He bumped our beloved granddaughter Vittoria Cristina Chiara Adelaide Maria up the royal food chain, making her the first woman in 1,000 years to be invested with the authority to eventually lead the family and stake a claim to the defunct monarchy.

It was the best gift he could give me, Vittoria, now 17 and a burgeoning Instagram influencer, said from her Paris home.
Only two countries have fully vaccinated more than half of their populations, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford. They are Israel and the East African nation of the Seychelles, an archipelago with a population of fewer than 100,000. And just a handful of other countries have at least partially vaccinated nearly 50 percent or more, including Britain, tiny Bhutan, and the United States.

Less than 10 percent of Indias vast population is at least partly vaccinated, offering little check to its onslaught of infections.

In Africa, the figure is slightly more than 1 percent.

Still, public health experts say a relatively small number of countries, mostly island nations, have largely kept the virus under control and could continue keeping it at bay after vaccinating enough people.

New Zealand, through stringent lockdowns and border closures, has all but eliminated the virus. Dr. Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago who helped devise the countrys coronavirus response, said New Zealand would likely achieve herd immunity by immunizing its population, but it has a long way to go with only about 4.4 percent of New Zealanders at least partially vaccinated.

All of the surveys show there is a degree of vaccine hesitancy in New Zealand, but also a lot of people are very enthusiastic, Dr. Baker said. So I think we will probably get there in the end.

While new daily cases have remained at near-world record levels, the number of deaths has dropped from a peak in February, going against the normal pattern of high cases followed eventually by high deaths. If that trendline continues, it could offer a glimmer of hope for a future scenario that scientists are rooting for: Even as the virus spreads and seems to be hurtling toward becoming endemic, it could become a less lethal threat that can be managed with vaccines that are updated periodically to protect against variants.

It may be endemic, but not in a life-threatening way, Dr. Michael Merson, a professor of global health at Duke University and New York University, and a former director of the World Health Organizations Global Program on AIDS, said. It may be more like what we see with young kids, a common cold like disease.

Madeleine Ngo contributed reporting.
The following conversation, conducted in German, has been translated, edited and condensed.

Is it a challenge to bring traditional houses like the Vienna State Opera and La Scala into the 21st century?

I dont see it that way. The problem for many opera houses is that they can be quite self-referential. But people remain very faithful.

In Vienna, we installed a streaming system and tablets with subtitles. I was heavily criticized at the time. Now, one is happy to broadcast an opera every evening during this period.

This summer, we will install cameras not just in the auditorium but in the foyers because performances also take place there. I didnt do this in Vienna and very much regretted it. We want to stream the whole program: operas, ballets and many concerts.

Tell us more about your first season at La Scala.

You cant come to a house like La Scala and criticize everything. If you do, then you are the foreign body.

The first thing we had to do was a kind of screening or X-ray of the house. The second was to mobilize the young [employees].
A Plumtree woman appeared in court Friday for allegedly stealing a motor vehicle she had not imported, by clearing and paying duty fees for it at the border towns Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) offices.

Sharmaine Mlambo (33) a car dealer from the border town, was arrested and charged with theft of a motor vehicle.

The stolen vehicle belongs to Marita Mangani (36) from Bulawayos Burnside suburb, who found her car gone after travelling to Plumtree to clear it. Mangani bought the vehicle from Car Max Africa, a private company based in Durban, South Africa.

She requested that that car be ferried to Botswana, while she sorted the funds to pay for duty.

The state represented by Willbrought Muleya, alleges Mlambo obtained a proforma invoice pertaining to Manganas car from the same company, yet it was not supposed to be used as proof of payment of the motor vehicle.

Mlambo went ahead and fixed the imported pre-clearance of the vehicle at ZIMRA Plumtree Border Post and paid duty in that regard, the prosecutor said.

Muleya added that when Manganis car arrived at Plumtree Border Post, which was under her name, as per the Customs and Exercise cargo manifest, Mlambo altered the name and entered hers.

Mlambo proceeded to process the final clearance before taking the car into her possession without Manganis consent, the prosecutor added. Mlambo, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, was however freed on ZWL$5 000 bail.

Plumtree Magistrate, Tayengwa Chibanda, said as part of the bail conditions, ordered Mlambo to surrender her passport to the police and to reside at her home in George Silundika in the border town.

Mlambo was also ordered not to interfere with state witnesses. In her bail application, Mlambos legal representative, Tutu Ncube, pleaded with the court to unconditionally release his client as it was her constitutional right.

My client is not a flight risk, when the police summoned her to the police station yesterday (Thursday) she gladly availed herself. This in its own essence, Your Worship, is a sign that she has every intention to stand trial. She even provided her residential address so that should the police need anything from her, they can easily access her, said the lawyer.

Denying her bail right now would be trampling on her constitutional right. The state, as we speak has not provided us with any witnesses statements, so there is no need to worry about interference, as we do not even know whom they intend to call as their witnesses.

In laying charges, Muleya said the complainant -Mangana purchased her vehicle on March 1 2021, and on March 20, Mlambo obtained a proforma invoice of the same vehicle, which she used to commit the alleged offence.

On March 23, 2021 Mlambo did an import pre-clearance of the vehicle at ZIMRA Plumtree Border Post and paid duty in that regard. On March 30, 2021 Manganis car arrived at Plumtree Border Post under her name according to the Customs and Exercise cargo manifest and (somehow) was altered by Mlambo into her name. She went on to process the final clearance and took the car into her possession without Manganis consent, Muleya said.

On April 30, Manganis import waiver was approved by ZIMRA Plumtree Border Post and was given green light to import her car and that was when she discovered the offence. On May 3, 2021 Director of Car Max Africa, Junaid Bhatti, issued an affidavit statement indicating that Mangani was the sole owner of the car and was not aware how Mlambo had obtained the proforma invoice.

The value of the vehicle was US$1 400 and nothing was recovered, said Muleya. Cite.org.zw
Violence grows between Palestinians and Israelis

On Monday morning, Israeli officers entered the Aqsa Mosque compound, one of Islams holiest sites, and fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians, sending hundreds of people to the hospital by the afternoon. The crowds had been throwing stones at the officers.

Shortly after 6 p.m., militants in Gaza fired rockets toward Jerusalem, and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes. It was a sudden crescendo of violence in the region after months of relative calm, leaving residents of both Israel and Gaza expecting more violence.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the rockets, saying that it had acted in response to the police raid on the mosque compound. Unrest was expected on Monday, when far-right Israelis were scheduled to make a Jerusalem Day march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.

Context: Tensions were high amid the looming expulsions of Palestinian families from the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, which the Israeli Supreme Court delayed on Sunday, in part to defuse tension. Palestinians have been protesting daily since April.
Hoping to attract more employees, Chipotle said on Monday that it was increasing its wages to an average of $15 an hour by the end of June.

The fast-food chain, which is looking to hire 20,000 employees for its peak season and to staff the more than 200 restaurants it plans to open this year, said the wage increase would result in hourly workers making between $11 and $18 an hour.

Chipotle is the latest restaurant chain to raise wages or offer incentives as it struggles to staff its restaurants. As coronavirus vaccinations have increased and government restrictions eased, the restaurant industry, which laid off or furloughed millions of employees during the pandemic, suddenly went on a hiring spree, as did several other service-related industries.

That sudden high demand for restaurant workers has been tough to meet. Some potential employees, whether concerned about the safety of serving customers dining indoors or buoyed by government stimulus checks, are wary of returning to work.
As companies make plans to fully reopen their offices across the United States, they face a delicate decision. Many would like all employees to be vaccinated when they return, but in the face of legal and P.R. risks, few employers have gone so far as to require it.

Instead, they are hoping that encouragement and incentives will suffice, Gillian Friedman and Lauren Hirsch report for The New York Times.

Legally, companies seem largely in the clear. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidance in December stating that employers are permitted to require employees to be vaccinated. But employers are still worried about litigation, in part because several states have proposed laws that would limit their ability to require vaccines.

It would seem to me that employers are going to find themselves in a fairly strong position legally, said Eric Feldman, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, but that doesnt mean theyre not going to get sued.
The Biden administration is weighing how to respond. The White House had already been planning an executive order to create new digital safety standards for federal agencies and contractors, as well as new disclosure rules. Government officials have conceded that the order as currently planned wouldnt stop the most skilled hackers from infiltrating computer networks, though they say it might have helped prevent hacks like the Colonial incident. In the meantime, the Department of Transportation passed an emergency order yesterday relaxing rules on transporting fuel via road in some states.

This latest attack highlights the vulnerability of infrastructure to cyber attacks. President Bidens $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan doesnt have a lot to say about cybersecurity specifically, so how to protect these projects from attacks could become yet another point of contention in the already heated debate over the bill.

Image

HERES WHATS HAPPENING

New warnings about how the coronavirus spreads. U.S. officials acknowledged that the virus is airborne and can reach people more than six feet away, raising questions about how employers can redesign offices to reduce the spread. Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was open to relaxing indoor mask mandates  so long as Americans continue to get vaccinated.

1MDB sues JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. The failed Malaysian sovereign fund sued 25 individuals and nine entities, a list that includes the two Western lenders, Bloomberg reports. Its the latest fallout from a bribery scandal in which Goldman Sachs admitted last year to a role in abetting crimes.

The fight over unemployment benefits heats up. Fridays disappointing jobs report stoked debate over whether the Biden administrations policies are working. Republicans (and some Democrats) argue that the $300 weekly supplement is discouraging people from finding work; others say any clogs in the labor market are temporary.

Investors rebel against executive pay. Shareholder votes in favor of U.S. executives compensation have fallen to their lowest level  an average of 88 percent  since 2011, the year that say on pay votes became mandatory, The Financial Times reports. So far this year, six S&P 500 companies have failed to win a majority of support for pay packages.

An online cheating scandal is roiling Dartmouth. The school accused 17 medical students of cheating on remote exams. The allegations have caused an uproar at the university  several students say the software was at fault  and highlighted issues around the tracking of students without their consent.
Macys Outlines Ambitious Plan for Herald Square

Macys proposes an ambitious redevelopment project for Herald Square. Macys wants to build an office tower atop its Herald Square location. Credit... FXCollaborative Macys is proposing the construction of a commercial office tower on top of its flagship Herald Square store in New York as part of a broader redevelopment plan that would aim to improve the surrounding area and its subway stations. The retailer said in a statement on Monday that it would commit $235 million to help improve the Herald Square subway stations and to transform Herald Square and Broadway Plaza into a modern, car-free pedestrian-friendly urban space for New Yorkers and visitors, according to a website it created for the proposed project. Before Macys proposal can move ahead, the area needs to be rezoned to allow the new structure to be built atop the retailers iconic Herald Square store, which opened more than 100 years ago and would remain open during any new construction. The project would also need to go through an approval process with the city. Macys added that it was eager to begin a public review process on the project and that it would work closely with local officials, Manhattan Community Board 5, the 34th Street Partnership and other community stakeholders on final designs. Macys, which released renderings of the proposed building and pedestrian area, said that it supported the construction of the office space as part of an expected boom in new office jobs in New York this year. The beleaguered retailer added that the city was expecting a return to prepandemic office employment levels by the fourth quarter, and it estimated that its proposal would generate more than $250 million in new tax revenue for the city while supporting nearly 16,300 jobs.

Pipeline that was hit by a cyberattack hopes to restore most operations by end of the week. Colonial Pipeline fuel tanks in Maryland. The company operates the largest petroleum pipeline between Texas and New York. Credit... Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA, via Shutterstock An oil and gas pipeline system that was forced to shut down on Friday after a ransomware attack is not expected to be substantially restored until the end of the week, its operator, Colonial Pipeline, said on Monday. While this situation remains fluid and continues to evolve, the Colonial operations team is executing a plan that involves an incremental process that will facilitate a return to service in a phased approach, the company said in a statement posted on its website. This plan is based on a number of factors with safety and compliance driving our operational decisions, and the goal of substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week. The company said it was monitoring its customers supplies and was working with shippers to move fuel. Oil and gas prices, which had jumped earlier on Monday, came off their highs of the day after Colonials statement. The sudden shut down of 5,500 miles of pipeline, which the company says carries nearly half of the East Coasts fuel supplies, has been a troubling sign of vulnerabilities in the nations energy infrastructure and raised concerns about fuel supplies to large portions of the country. Experts said several airports that depend on the pipeline for jet fuel, including those in Nashville, Baltimore-Washington and Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., could have a hard time later in the week. Airports generally store enough jet fuel for three to five days of operations. The F.B.I. said on Monday that the attack was the work of a hacking group called DarkSide.

The confirmation of the hack comes as the Biden administration in the coming days is expected to announce an executive order to strengthen Americas cyberdefense infrastructure. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said Monday that the government believes DarkSide is a criminal actor but is looking for any ties the group may have to nation-states. She added that Colonial has not sought cyber support from the government, and could not confirm if the company, a private corporation, has paid any ransom.

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Robloxs sales more than double even as losses grow. Roblox went public in March with a $45 billion valuation. Credit... Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters Roblox, the online gaming site popular among children, said on Monday in its first earnings report as a public company that its revenue more than doubled while its losses widened. The companys revenue rose to $387 million for the first three months of the year, up 140 percent from the same period a year earlier, which was mostly before the pandemic. An average of 42 million people visited Roblox each day in the quarter, up 79 percent from a year ago. The increased activity on the site mirrored a larger boom for the gaming industry as people stuck indoors searched for online entertainment. But Robloxs losses widened to $134 million in the first quarter from $74 million a year ago. The company spent on hiring and improved safety and moderation tools, and also upped the share of money it gives to the independent developers who create games on the site, said David Baszucki, Robloxs co-founder and chief executive. Roblox, which allows players to create avatars and explore millions of unique worlds and play games with their friends, went public in March with a $45 billion valuation. The company faces risks as the pandemic subsides. It could see playing time begin to slow down as vaccines become more widespread and daily life starts returning to prepandemic norms. This month, Newzoo, a gaming analytics firm, projected for the first time ever that gaming industry spending would shrink in 2021, by 1 percent, as the turbocharged pandemic growth decelerates. Mr. Baszucki said some people are spending fewer hours on Roblox as restrictions ease. But he said the fact that more people are logging in for at least some amount of time each day has him feeling optimistic. As we have had this burst in daily active users, that number has shown to be quite sticky going forward, he said. Even in countries where the pandemic is slowing down, he said, Robloxs numbers show a lot of persistent strength.

Dozens of state prosecutors tell Facebook to stop its plans for a childrens version of Instagram. Credit... Amr Alfiky/Associated Press Attorneys general for 44 states and jurisdictions called on Facebook to halt plans to create a version of Instagram for young children, citing concerns over mental and emotional well-being, exposure to online predators and cyberbullying. In a letter on Monday to Facebooks chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, the prosecutors warned that social media can be harmful to children and that the company had a poor record of protecting children online. Facebook, which bought the photo-sharing app Instagram in 2012, currently has a minimum age requirement of 13 to use its products. According to federal childrens privacy rules, companies must ask parents for permission to collect data on users younger than 13. The law enforcement officials pointed to research showing how the use of social media, including Instagram, has led to an increase in mental distress, body image concerns and even suicidal thoughts. A childrens version of Instagram doesnt fill a need beyond the companys commercial ambitions, the officials said in the letter. Without a doubt, this is a dangerous idea that risks the safety of our children and puts them directly in harms way, Letitia James, New Yorks attorney general, said in a statement. There are too many concerns to let Facebook move forward with this ill-conceived idea, which is why we are calling on the company to abandon its launch of Instagram Kids. Facebook defended its plans, saying its development of a childrens version of Instagram would have safety and privacy in mind. It wouldnt show ads on the app, the company vowed. As every parent knows, kids are already online, Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesman, said in a statement. We want to improve this situation by delivering experiences that give parents visibility and control over what their kids are doing.

Tech companies pull markets lower. Stocks fell sharply Monday afternoon, as shares of major tech companies stumbled. The S&P 500 fell 1 percent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.6 percent. Tesla, one of the biggest companies in both indexes, was one of the worst-performing stocks of the day, with a 6.4 percent drop the first trading day after Elon Musk, its chief executive, hosted Saturday Night Live. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet all fell more than 2 percent and as much as 4 percent. Gasoline and oil prices Energy prices came well off their highs on Monday afternoon, after the operator of a major petroleum pipeline in the United States said it hoped to have it substantially restored by the end of the week. The pipeline, which supplies oil and gas to much of the Eastern United States, had been shut down over the weekend because of a cyberattack, and concerns about the supply of gasoline had lifted prices by as much as 4.2 percent earlier in the day and at their highest level since late 2018. But gasoline futures were unchanged by the end of the day, and futures on West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, ended the day just 2 cents higher to $64.92. British local elections The British pound rose more than 1 percent against the U.S. dollar and the euro after the results of Thursdays local elections were confirmed. The Scottish National Party, which is pushing for a second independence referendum, fell one seat short of gaining an outright majority in its Parliament. But it will still govern with the support of another pro-independence party.

The pounds gains on Monday were as much about the weak dollar as the election results, Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale, wrote in a note. I dont know anyone who thinks the risk of a second Scottish referendum has gone away. The pound can rise against the dollar because the U.S. currency remains under pressure from global economic optimism, he added.

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Chipotle, looking to attract workers, will raise its average wage to $15 an hour. Chipotle is looking to hire 20,000 employees to staff the more than 200 restaurants it plans to open this year. Credit... Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Hoping to attract more employees, Chipotle said on Monday that it was increasing its wages to an average of $15 an hour by the end of June. The fast-food chain, which is looking to hire 20,000 employees for its peak season and to staff the more than 200 restaurants it plans to open this year, said the wage increase would result in hourly workers making between $11 and $18 an hour. Chipotle is the latest restaurant chain to raise wages or offer incentives as it struggles to staff its restaurants. As coronavirus vaccinations have increased and government restrictions eased, the restaurant industry, which laid off or furloughed millions of employees during the pandemic, suddenly went on a hiring spree, as did several other service-related industries. That sudden high demand for restaurant workers has been tough to meet. Some potential employees, whether concerned about the safety of serving customers dining indoors or buoyed by government stimulus checks, are wary of returning to work. The April jobs report released last week showed a significant jump in the number of workers hired in the restaurant and bar sector, but employment levels at full-service restaurants in February remain 20 percent lower than a year ago, according to the National Restaurant Association. Thats the equivalent of 1.1 million jobs. Employment at fast-food and fast-casual restaurants was down 6 percent over the same period. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour has been one of the items on the agenda of President Biden. An attempt to add the provision to the pandemic relief bill signed in March failed after Congress removed it from the package. At the time, the restaurant industry had argued that a wage increase would imperil the recovery for the industry because it would result in higher prices and mean not as many workers could be hired. Now, struggling to attract candidates, Chipotle is not only raising its hourly wages, it is offering referral bonuses for crew members and managers.

A Fed gauge of inflation expectations ticks higher, but only in the near-term. Consumer expectations for price inflation are ticking higher  but only when it comes to the near term, a fact that might make the move up less alarming for economic officials who are closely monitoring such measures. Americans year-ahead inflation expectations rose to 3.4 percent in April, the Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks Survey of Consumer Expectations found, the highest level since 2013 and up from 3.2 percent in the March survey. At the same time, the outlook for inflation over the next three years held steady at 3.1 percent. That discrepancy between the short- and longer-term outlook is roughly in line with what economists and central bank officials expect. Price gains are expected to pop this year, both for technical reasons as they lap very-low readings from last year and thanks to the economys reopening. Shortages are cropping up in many places as businesses try to readjust, temporarily pushing prices higher. But those increases are expected to fade with time. Fed officials have been clear that they plan to look past short-lived increases and maintain cheap-money policies. Even so, higher 2021 inflation readings  including a consumer price inflation report set for release on Wednesday, which economists in a Bloomberg survey expect will show a big 3.6 percent gain from last year  are likely to keep attention focused on the incoming price data. Inflation expectations are particularly important, because many economists believe that their stability at low levels has kept price gains contained in recent decades. When consumers expect only gradual increases, they may be less willing to accept big business price jumps. Some market-based inflation expectation measures are also increasing. So far, central bank officials have suggested that they arent worried, especially after years in which expectations drifted lower and price gains came in shy of the central banks goal of 2 percent annual gains. If we see inflation moving materially above 2 percent in a persistent way  that risks inflation expectations drifting up  then we will use our tools to guide inflation and expectations back down to 2 percent, Jerome H. Powell, the Feds chair, said during a recent news conference. This is not what we expect, but no one should doubt that in the event, we will be prepared to use our tools.

Teen Vogue has a new top editor. Versha Sharma is leaving NowThis to be the next editor in chief of Teen Vogue. Credit... Brandon ONeal The last person hired as the top editor of Teen Vogue resigned before her start date. Now, the wide-ranging Conde Nast online publication is trying again, with the announcement on Monday that Versha Sharma, a managing editor at the news website NowThis, will be its next editor in chief. Versha is a natural leader with a global perspective and deep understanding of local trends and issues  from politics and activism to culture and fashion  and their importance to our audience, Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue and the chief content officer of Conde Nast, said in a statement. Ms. Sharma, 34, was in charge of news and cultural coverage at NowThis, a site owned by Group Nine Media, the publisher of Thrillist, The Dodo, Seeker and PopSugar. She was part of a team that received an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2018 for a documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. She was named to the job nearly two months after Alexi McCammond, a former Axios journalist, resigned after more than 20 Teen Vogue staff members publicly condemned tweets she had posted a decade earlier. Ms. McCammonds old tweets included derogatory stereotypes about Asians and slurs for gay people. She had apologized for the tweets in 2019 and deleted them. She apologized again after they were resurfaced in March and resigned from the Teen Vogue job before her first scheduled day. Asked about the furor, Ms. Sharma said in an interview: I dont really feel its my place to comment on that. All I can say is I share the values of the Teen Vogue staff and audience, and Im very excited to work with them and work together moving forward. She added that Teen Vogue does a good job of showing how interconnected everything is, whether its fashion or politics or culture. Danielle Kwateng, Teen Vogues executive editor, published a note to readers in April acknowledging the pain and frustration caused by resurfaced social media posts. She added that the staff of the publication, which is known as much for its progressive stances and essays on social issues as its fashion and beauty coverage, would evolve with our readers, because we cant be the young persons guide to saving the world without you. Ms. Sharma is on the board of the Online News Association and previously worked for TalkingPointsMemo, MSNBC.com and Vocativ. Her start date at Teen Vogue is May 24.

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Readers weigh in on the workplace vaccination debate. A pop-up vaccination site in Miami Beach, Fla. Companies are debating vaccine mandates for their workers. Credit... Eva Marie Uzcategui/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images Last week, the DealBook newsletter wrote about one of the most vexing issues facing boardrooms: Should companies mandate that employees get vaccinated before returning to the workplace? Many readers shared opinions, personal experiences and suggestions for handling this complex issue. Here is a small selection, edited for clarity: The way were doing it at our company is, if you submit a reason from your doctor or you have a religious belief or some other valid reason not to get the vaccination yet, you are required to be tested weekly and submit the results to H.R.  Patricia Ripley, New York City

We dont know the long-term dangers of these vaccines. They may be bad or good. No one knows. Our employers should not be able to simply ignore any of our worries and concerns.  Brandon Atchison, Verbena, Ala. I strongly support employer mandates. A few well-publicized firings will end the hesitancy, but the firings must be backed up by classifying them as for cause. That means no severance for executives and no unemployment for staff who refuse.  Paul Levy, Carolina Beach, N.C. Individual rights are the cornerstone of American democracy  trampling them for the vaccine rollout is a dangerous precedent. People seem to forget that these temporary changes end up as permanent, with the result that your employer can now compel greater access to your personal decision-making.  Anonymous

An unvaccinated person exposes everyone in the office, including visiting customers and clients, to the virus. Why should everyone else be jeopardized because of one person? Simply let unvaccinated people continue to work at home and suffer any consequences to their career paths that may result.  Joseph Carlucci, White Plains, N.Y.

Catch up: NBC will not air the Golden Globes in 2022. NBCUniversal announced Monday that it would not broadcast the 2022 Golden Globes, an abrupt blow to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that puts on the film and television awards show and that has been under intense scrutiny for its record on diversity, among other things. We continue to believe that the H.F.P.A. is committed to meaningful reform. However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the H.F.P.A. needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.

Norwegian Cruise Line is threatening to keep its ships out of Florida ports after the state enacted legislation that prohibits businesses from requiring proof of vaccination against the coronavirus in exchange for services. The company, which plans to have its first cruises available to the Caribbean and Europe this summer and fall, will offer trips with limited capacity and require all guests and crew members to be vaccinated on bookings through at least the end of October. The operator of the largest petroleum pipeline between Texas and New York, which was shut down on Friday after a ransomware attack, would not give a timeline on Sunday on when it would reopen the pipeline. Colonial Pipeline, the pipeline operator, said on Sunday afternoon that it was developing a system restart plan and would restore service to some small lines between terminals and delivery points but will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so.

Today in On Tech: Stay safe from app tracking. Video Credit Credit... By Derrick Schultz Today in the On Tech newsletter, Shira Ovide talks to Wirecutters Thorin Klosowski about what we can learn from Apples privacy labels, and how we can better protect our information.

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He also argued that uggs used to be generic in the United States, with numerous entrepreneurs selling them across the country before they were trademarked, and that the term warranted similar protection in Australia to the French Champagne and Greek feta.

In 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found in favor of Deckers, ruling that while ugg may be a generic term in Australia, it had no such meaning in the United States. It also ruled that the term was not subject to the doctrine of foreign equivalents, a legal guideline in the United States that says foreign words for categories of items cannot be trademarked, and that Mr. Oygur had willfully infringed on Deckerss trademark. Mr. Oygur was ordered to pay $450,000.

Mr. Oygur challenged the decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In court documents filed ahead of the appeal, his lawyers argued that the U.S. District Court had used the wrong standards to judge whether something was generic. In its own documents, Deckers countered that the judge had used the right test and cited survey evidence that most U.S. consumers recognized Ugg as a brand.

On Friday, the court affirmed the original courts decision. It did not give any reasons.

Tom Garcia, the chief administrative officer of Deckers, said in a statement before the verdict that the company believed there was no merit to the appeal.

Deckers welcomes fair competition, he said. However, this case was about protecting American consumers from being deceived into buying counterfeit product that was being offered for sale and sold online into the U.S.

Dean Wilkie, a senior lecturer in branding and marketing at the University of Adelaide, said: In the Australia market, a regular person on the street, if you go up to them and say do you think its right that this American brand is stopping people using ugg on sheepskin boots, most of us would be outraged because it doesnt feel right. It doesnt feel moral.
Banana skins have been trendy among vegans since at least 2019, when online recipes began circulating for treating the peels like bacon. At around the same time, the pulled not-pork had its first brush with internet fame, courtesy of the Canadian blogger Melissa Copeland, who published an explainer  and recipe  on her site the Stingy Vegan along with a video on Facebook. Shed developed it after learning that vegans in Venezuela use bananas outer jackets for an alternative to carne mechada (shredded beef), and in Brazil a similar swap is popular in a dish known as carne louca (or crazy meat). Ms. Copelands pulled peels made it onto the menus of several restaurants in places as far away as Hawaii, Malta and New Zealand thanks to this recipe! she wrote in an update to her original article a few months after posting it.

For the American author Lindsay-Jean Hard, the appeal of cooking with banana peels extends beyond interests in veganism. She has spent the last 11 years learning as much as possible about utilizing the jettisoned parts of her produce. Her 2018 cookbook Cooking With Scraps includes a recipe for her grandmothers banana cake layered with brown sugar frosting, and one notable change: She substituted the fruit with its peels, softening them with a simmer, then pureeing them with some of their cooking liquid. (She has subsequently realized that freezing them in advance takes care of the softening.) She applies the same technique to banana bread, utilizing the whole fruit  casing and flesh  for even more banana flavor.
In 2019, Dr. Richard Leiter, a palliative care specialist, met a patient and the mans wife in the intensive care unit at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. The patient, in his 70s, had heart disease and kidney problems. But he had been living at home and doing reasonably well until sepsis, a life-threatening bloodstream infection, sent him to an emergency room.

He had already spent several days on a ventilator, requiring drugs to keep his blood pressure from plummeting. Now, his kidneys were no longer working and he wasnt waking up at all, Dr. Leiter recalled, adding, We were very worried that he wasnt going to survive.

When the kidney palliative care team  including a nurse-practitioner and a social worker, as well as a consulting nephrologist  met with the mans wife to discuss treatment, it proposed what is known as a time-limited trial, in which life-sustaining treatment continues for an agreed-on period to see how the patient responds.

Dr. Leiter explained that the team could try continuous dialysis, which might do what the mans kidneys no longer could: clear toxins and fluid from his body so that he could regain consciousness. But we werent sure dialysis would help, Dr. Leiter recalled telling her. The team was not optimistic.
Covid-19: Global Cases Fall but the Virus Is Surging in Countries That Lack Vaccines The W.H.O. says a coronavirus variant first found in India is a variant of concern. The F.D.A. authorizes the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.

As the virus threatens Southeast Asia, the spread of new variants continues to be a danger everywhere. Buddhist monks were tested at a temple in Bangkok after a monk there died of Covid-19. Credit... Rungroj Yongrit/EPA, via Shutterstock After a devastating year with wave after wave of coronavirus infections around the world, new cases and deaths are falling in many of the Western nations that were once among the hardest hit. But while the virus recedes in wealthy nations with robust vaccination campaigns, it is pummeling India and threatening to swamp Southeast Asian countries that until now had largely kept the virus at bay. Taken together, the opposing regional trends add up to a leveling of global daily new cases at an unacceptably high plateau that leaves the world in continuing danger, the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday. In Southeast Asia, Dr. Tedros noted that cases and deaths are still increasing rapidly. Cambodia and Thailand, which kept the virus under control throughout 2020, have lately recorded sharp increases in infections. Malaysia announced a new nationwide lockdown on Monday, two days after recording its highest daily case total since January. Scientists warn that if the virus is allowed to spread unchecked in parts of the world with lower vaccine coverage, dangerous variants will continue to evolve, threatening all countries. Globally, we are still in a perilous situation, Dr. Tedros said. About 772,000 new cases are reported on average each day globally, nearly half in India, where a virus variant, B.1.617, has been spreading. The W.H.O. deemed B.1.617 a variant of concern on Monday. Other variants of concern include B.1.1.7, first identified in Britain and now dominant in the United States, and P.1, originally detected in Brazil. In the United States, Britain and parts of Western Europe where vaccines have been widely deployed, the virus is subsiding, and people are flocking back to restaurants and other attractions. Vaccines could soon be available to even more Americans now that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for 12- to 15-year-olds. Dr. Robert Schooley, chief of the infectious disease division at the University of California San Diego, said that the global rate of cases remains quite volatile. Were going to see a bit of a Whac-a-Mole situation for some time to come, as local and regional outbreaks flare up and burn out, Dr. Schooley said. This will continue to be the case, he said, as long as a substantial part of the global population remains unvaccinated. While new virus variants make a difference, said Dr. Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand who helped devise the countrys coronavirus response, the major factors shaping the rise and fall of the pandemic are the behavior of governments and their responses to the pandemic. Dr. Baker noted that more than one-fifth of the worlds population lives in countries that have essentially stamped out the virus, including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand, and some wealthy nations are vaccinating their people rapidly enough to bring transmission rates down substantially. However, many low- and middle-income countries have far less access to vaccine and other control measures, so are continuing to experience poorly controlled epidemics, he said. Saskia Popescu, an infectious-disease epidemiologist who is an assistant professor at George Mason University, said that Americans should not be lulled into thinking the virus is defeated, because we have to see the crisis in India as a wake-up call for global vaccine equity. She added, Covid-19 isnt gone anywhere until its gone everywhere.

The F.D.A. authorizes the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 12 to 15. Receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a mass vaccination site in East Hartford, Conn., last month. Credit... Jessica Hill/Associated Press The Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, a crucial step in the nations steady recovery from the pandemic and a boon to tens of millions of American families eager for a return to normalcy. The authorization caps weeks of anticipation among parents, who have been grappling with how to conduct their lives when only the adults in a household are immunized. It removes an obstacle to school reopenings by reducing the threat of transmission in classrooms, and affords millions of adolescents the opportunity to attend summer camps, sleepovers and get-togethers with friends. This is great news, said Dr. Kristin Oliver, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. It feels like weve been waiting a long time to start protecting children in this age group. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is already available to anyone over 16. The F.D.A.s go-ahead is not the final hurdle. An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to meet shortly to review the data and make recommendations for the vaccines use in 12- to 15-year-olds. If the committee endorses the vaccine for that age group, as expected, immunizations in theory could begin immediately. Clinical trials have shown that these children may safely receive the dose already available for adults. In a clinical trial, Pfizer and BioNTech enrolled 2,260 participants ages 12 and 15 and gave them either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo three weeks apart. The researchers recorded 18 cases of symptomatic coronavirus infection in the placebo group, and none among the children who received the vaccine, indicating that it was highly effective at preventing symptomatic illness. The vaccine also appeared to be safe for these children, with side effects comparable to those seen in trial participants who are 16 to 25 years old. Fevers were slightly more common among inoculated 12- to 15-year-olds; about 20 percent of them had fevers, compared with 17 percent in the older age group. The trend toward more fevers at younger ages was consistent with observations in an earlier trial, said Dr. Bill Gruber, a senior vice president at Pfizer and a pediatrician. The trial results were a trifecta of good news, Dr. Gruber added: We have safety, we got the immune response we wanted  it was actually better than what we saw in the 16- to 25-year-old population  and we had outright demonstration of efficacy. The company is still gathering information on potential asymptomatic infections by continuing to test the trial participants for the coronavirus every two weeks and checking them for antibodies produced in response to a natural infection, according to Dr. Gruber. The push to immunize children may run into the same problems with hesitancy that have plagued attempts to inoculate adults. In one recent poll, just over half of parents said they were likely to have their children get a vaccine as soon as one was authorized. Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, said she had zero safety concerns about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, noting that hundreds of millions of people worldwide have received it. Her 12-year-old daughter is eager to be vaccinated, and her 9-year-old son will be immunized as soon as he is eligible, she said. The risk of your child catching Covid and getting really sick is low, but its not zero, she said. And the risk of them getting sick or hospitalized or worse with Covid or with the post-Covid multi-inflammatory syndrome is higher than the risk of something bad from this vaccine. Vaccinating children shields others in the community from the virus, she noted, including people who are not protected by the vaccine, such as organ transplant recipients, cancer patients and those with impaired immune responses. It also protects all of us from the virus continuing to spread and mutating further, Dr. Ranney said. Thats the thing that Im most scared of right now. Pfizer and BioNTech began testing the vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 in March and extended the trial to even younger children, ages 2 to 5, last month. The companies next plan to test children who are 6 months to 2 years old. Assuming trial results are encouraging, the companies expect to apply to the F.D.A. in September for emergency authorization to administer the vaccine to children ages 2 to 11. Results from trials of Modernas vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds are expected in the next few weeks. Findings from another trial of the companys vaccine in children 6 months to 12 years old should be available in the second half of this year. AstraZeneca is testing its vaccine in children 6 months and older. Johnson & Johnson plans to wait for results from trials in participants older than 12 before testing its vaccine in younger children. Jan Hoffman contributed reporting.

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Calls for a national lockdown mount as India struggles to bring outbreak under control. Stranded migrant workers in India waited to board a train to return to their home regions on Monday after a lockdown was imposed in Chennai. Credit... Agence France-Presse  Getty Images Amid a deepening crisis in India, growing numbers of medical experts are adding their voices to a chorus of condemnation of the governments response and calling for nationwide restrictions to try to limit the horrifying death toll. Although the official figures are already staggering  more than 350,000 new infections daily this month and nearly 250,000 total deaths  some experts say that the numbers are a vast undercount and estimate that India is on pace to suffer more than one million deaths by August. Over the weekend, the Indian Medical Association said in a statement it was time for a complete, well-planned, pre-announced lockdown to replace the scattershot regional restrictions currently in place across the nation of 1.4 billion. The association said it was astonished to see the extreme lethargy and inappropriate actions from the Ministry of Health in combating the agonizing crisis born out of the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several states havent waited for a national lockdown. As of Monday Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Rajasthan had begun lockdowns that will last for two weeks. Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh extended their lockdowns until next Monday. Much of the criticism has been directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, which allowed hundreds of thousands to gather at a large religious festival and held campaign rallies even as the virus surged. An editorial published on Saturday in The Lancet, a medical journal, said that Mr. Modi seemed more intent on removing criticism on social media than trying to control the pandemic. India squandered its early successes in controlling Covid-19, the editorial said. The medical journal also cited an estimate by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that projected that India would witness a total of more than a million coronavirus deaths by August  far higher than government figures would suggest. On May 2, for example, the institute said that total deaths were actually about 642,000, about three times higher than the governments own number for that date, just over 217,000. Referring to the possibility that there may actually be a million victims by August, the Lancet editorial said, If that outcome were to happen, Modis government would be responsible for presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe. On Monday, India recorded more than 365,000 new cases and 3,754 deaths, according to data from the Health Ministry. Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, wrote in a tweet on Sunday that it was likely that between two to five million people were being infected every day and that Indias true coronavirus death toll was closer to 25,000 deaths each day. He based his own calculations, he wrote, on the number of cremations taking place in the country.

New York will offer vaccines at some subway stops through a pilot program. Commuters left the West 4th Street subway station in New York in February. Credit... Amr Alfiky/The New York Times Officials in New York are trying to boost a flagging vaccination campaign by setting up temporary walk-in vaccination sites at eight subway and train stations this week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday. From May 12 to May 16, the walk-in sites will be open at various times at subway stations including the ones at 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens, and at Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sites at the Long Island Rail Road station in Hempstead and a Metro-North Railroad station in Ossining will be open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. A site will be open at Penn Station in Manhattan from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and at Grand Central Terminal from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. People vaccinated at the rail and subway locations can get a free seven-day MetroCard or two free one-way tickets for the Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North. Officials will use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the stations, Mr. Cuomo said. The program is a pilot and may be extended, he said. You are walking into the subway station anyway, you are walking past the vaccination site, its a one-shot vaccination, stop, take a few minutes, get the vaccine, he said. The pop-up sites at the stations  and the free tickets  are part of a broader, nationwide push to offer creative incentives to get people vaccinated. New Jersey, for example, is offering a shot and a beer for residents who get their first vaccine dose in May and visit participating breweries in the state. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday a plan to give free tickets to events and attractions like the New York Aquarium, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden or professional soccer games to people who get vaccinated. Vaccinations so far have helped drive down positivity rates and hospitalizations across New York State, Mr. Cuomo said. He said on Monday that the number of hospitalizations statewide was 2,016, the lowest since Nov. 15. The statewide seven-day average rate of positive test results announced by the state on Sunday  1.45 percent  was the lowest since Oct. 28. Still, Mr. Cuomo said the pace of vaccinations was tapering off, both in New York and nationwide, potentially allowing the coronavirus to linger. Younger people and people who question the vaccines safety and doubt the trustworthiness of the government in particular were not getting vaccines, he said. Mr. Cuomo said that half the seats at home games for the New York Islanders during the National Hockey League playoffs, which begin this month, will be reserved for people who are vaccinated. They will have to stay three feet apart, he said. The other half will be available to unvaccinated people who must remain six feet apart, he said. Everyone will be required to wear a mask. In New York City, officials said they were making plans to provide the Pfizer vaccine to children ages 12 to 15, which the Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday evening that it had authorized. We want to immediately get to work vaccinating young people, Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference on Monday morning. The health commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi, said the city would begin administering the vaccine to those adolescents at its existing network of vaccination sites. The city has also been working with pediatricians to prepare them to answer questions about the vaccine and eventually administer it in their offices, and it would distribute information about vaccination at city schools to try and reach a broad audience of eligible teenagers. The governor also said that New York had waived its residency requirements for vaccines and would encourage visitors from out of state to get shots in New York, with the hope of reinforcing the citys struggling tourism industry. If youre a tourist and you come to New York, well give you a vaccine, Mr. Cuomo said. Michael Gold and Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

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State and city universities in N.Y. will require vaccinations once the shots have full approval. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York spoke at a news conference on Monday about requiring students on public college campuses in New York to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Credit... Pool photo by Mary Altaffer The State University of New York and the City University of New York plan to require that all students attending in-person instruction in the fall be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Monday. He said the requirement would be contingent on the federal government granting full approval to the vaccines now in use. So far, three vaccines have been given emergency use authorization in the United States, but none have full approval yet. Pfizer and BioNTech jointly applied for full approval for their vaccine last week, and Moderna has said it plans to apply sometime in May. The approval process can take months. The New York colleges and universities join a growing list of higher-education institutions that will require students to be vaccinated in the fall. In April, the University of California and California State University announced plans to require all students, faculty and staff on their campuses be vaccinated, once a vaccine receives full approval. That policy will affect more than one million people associated with the sprawling state campuses across California. Many private colleges and universities have announced similar requirements for their students, including Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Morehouse and Notre Dame. According to a tracker maintained by The Chronicle of Higher Education, at least 319 campuses have announced vaccination mandates of some form for the fall. At the end of April, the University of Maryland system announced that it would require students and staff to be vaccinated. The chancellor, Jay A. Perman, said the university was doing so to prepare for more infectious, more harmful variants that we think could be circulating on our campuses come fall. Colleges and universities have been among the more closely watched institutions during the pandemic, in part because many students travel long distances to attend them and could unknowingly spur outbreaks in the surrounding communities. Iowa City, for example, which is home to the University of Iowa, experienced a surge when students returned to campus in the fall of 2020. At the time, The New York Times reviewed 203 counties in the United States where students make up at least 10 percent of the population, and found that about half were experiencing significant increases in infections. Mihir Zaveri and

The world may need to learn to live with the virus. Health care workers administered coronavirus tests in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday. Credit... Ishara S. Kodikara/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images Early in the pandemic, there was hope that the world would one day achieve herd immunity, the point when the coronavirus lacks enough hosts to spread easily. But over a year later, the virus is crushing India with a fearsome second wave and surging in countries from Asia to Latin America. Experts now say it is changing too quickly, new more contagious variants are spreading too easily and vaccinations are happening too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon. That means if the virus continues to run rampant through much of the world, it is well on its way to becoming endemic, an ever-present threat. Virus variants are tearing through places where people gather in large numbers with few or no pandemic protocols, like wearing masks and distancing, according to Dr. David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. While the outbreak in India is capturing the most attention, Dr. Heymann said the pervasive reach of the virus means that the likelihood is growing that it will persist in most parts of the world. As more people contract the virus, developing some level of immunity, and the pace of vaccinations accelerates, future outbreaks wont be on the scale of those devastating India and Brazil, Dr. Heymann said. Smaller outbreaks that are less deadly but a constant threat should be expected, Dr. Heymann said. This is the natural progression of many infections we have in humans, whether it is tuberculosis or H.I.V., said Dr. Heymann, a former member of the Epidemiology Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a former senior official at the World Health Organization. They have become endemic and we have learned to live with them and we learn how to do risk assessments and how to protect those we want to protect. Vaccines that are highly effective against Covid were developed rapidly, but global distribution has been plodding and unequal. As rich countries hoard vaccine doses, poorer countries face big logistical challenges to distributing the doses they manage to get and vaccine hesitancy is an issue everywhere. And experts warn the world is getting vaccinated too slowly for there to be much hope of ever eliminating the virus. Only two countries have fully vaccinated more than half of their populations, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford. They are Israel and the East African nation of the Seychelles, an archipelago with a population of fewer than 100,000. And just a handful of other countries have at least partially vaccinated nearly 50 percent or more, including Britain, tiny Bhutan, and the United States. Less than 10 percent of Indias vast population is at least partly vaccinated, offering little check to its onslaught of infections. In Africa, the figure is slightly more than 1 percent. Still, public health experts say a relatively small number of countries, mostly island nations, have largely kept the virus under control and could continue keeping it at bay after vaccinating enough people. New Zealand, through stringent lockdowns and border closures, has all but eliminated the virus. Dr. Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago who helped devise the countrys coronavirus response, said New Zealand would likely achieve herd immunity by immunizing its population, but it has a long way to go with only about 4.4 percent of New Zealanders at least partially vaccinated. All of the surveys show there is a degree of vaccine hesitancy in New Zealand, but also a lot of people are very enthusiastic, Dr. Baker said. So I think we will probably get there in the end. While new daily cases have remained at near-world record levels, the number of deaths has dropped from a peak in February, going against the normal pattern of high cases followed eventually by high deaths. If that trendline continues, it could offer a glimmer of hope for a future scenario that scientists are rooting for: Even as the virus spreads and seems to be hurtling toward becoming endemic, it could become a less lethal threat that can be managed with vaccines that are updated periodically to protect against variants. It may be endemic, but not in a life-threatening way, Dr. Michael Merson, a professor of global health at Duke University and New York University, and a former director of the World Health Organizations Global Program on AIDS, said. It may be more like what we see with young kids, a common cold like disease. Madeleine Ngo contributed reporting.

People in England will soon be allowed to officially hug and kiss again. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:41 - 0:00 transcript England Eases More Coronavirus Restrictions British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that England would move into its next reopening phase May 17, loosening limits on businesses and gatherings, and allowing people to make their own decisions about close contact, like hugging. The data now support moving to Step 3 in England from next Monday, the 17th of May. This means the Rule of 6 for two households that is applied outdoors will now apply indoors, and the limit for outdoor meetings will increase to 30 from next Monday. Youll be able to sit inside a pub and inside a restaurant. Youll be able to go to the cinema and children will be able to use indoor play areas. Were reopening hostels, hotels, B&Bs; well reopen the doors to our theaters, concert halls and business conference centers. Well, unlock the turnstiles of our sports stadia, subject to capacity limits, and from next week, everyone will be able to travel within Britain and stay overnight. Were updating the guidance on close contact between friends and family, setting out the risks for everyone to make their own choices. This doesnt mean, we can suddenly throw caution to the winds. In fact, more than a year into this pandemic, we all know that close contact, such as hugging, is a direct way of transmitting this disease. So I urge you to think about the vulnerability of your loved ones, whether theyve had a vaccine, one or two doses, and whether there has been time for that vaccine to take effect. Remember, outdoors is always safer than indoors, and if youre meeting indoors, remember to open a window and let in the fresh air. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that England would move into its next reopening phase May 17, loosening limits on businesses and gatherings, and allowing people to make their own decisions about close contact, like hugging. Credit Credit... Dylan Martinez/Reuters One-armed, two-armed, side-armed: once an unceremonious greeting, hugging became a far from casual move during the deadly coronavirus pandemic  replaced by waves, nods and the fist or elbow bump. But in England, hugging friends and family will be government-approved starting next Monday as the government loosens more restrictions, part of a gradual reopening of society and the economy that began this spring after months of national restrictions. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the changes Monday evening. Mr. Johnson said that England was taking the single biggest step on its road out of lockdown, adding that the public should protect these gains by being cautious and using common sense. On Monday, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland reported zero coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period. There were four deaths in Wales. In this new stage, outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people will be allowed and indoor gatherings will be allowed for up to six people or two households. Indoor dining, movie theaters and museums will also be able to resume operations, among other places. Hostels, hotels and bed and breakfasts will reopen. Mr. Johnson said people would be allowed to make their own decisions about close contact  such as hugs  with family and friends, though he urged social distancing in places like offices, pubs, restaurants and other settings. After a year where many people abstained from physical contact for fear of infecting themselves or others, news the embrace would be legal was welcomed, though with some mirth. Some joked that they had forgotten entirely how to execute the move. Others took issue with the fact that the government had tried to stop people from hugging at all, or worried that it was too soon to allow such close contact. Im a hugger , said the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to reporters on Monday, adding that many Londoners were looking forward to relaxation of the ban. I enjoy peoples company and I know people are ready for me to be hugging again. The first person Im going to hug is my mum. And there were hints that hugs, among other types of physical touch, had already made a comeback. Still, some experts warned that those wanting to hug their friends with wild abandon should save those arms for their favorite friends. It would worry me if we were advocating we can hug all of our friends every time we meet them again, said Catherine Noakes, a professor from the University of Leeds and member of a government advisory body, to the BBC. Hugging should not be too frequently, she advised. Keep it short, try and avoid being face to face, so perhaps turn your face away slightly, and even wearing a mask could help. Mr. Johnson seemed to agree, saying, I urge you to think about the vulnerability of your loved ones. That impulse control may be too much for writer and actor Stephen Fry, who joked on Twitter that while he had largely abided by the rules this past year, he may have a hard time showing restraint. If you see me in the street  run for it, he wrote.

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GLOBAL ROUNDUP Saudi Arabia says pilgrimage to Mecca will be allowed, but the rules remain unclear. Saying evening prayers around the Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Credit... Abdulghani Essa/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it would hold the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that in normal times draws millions of Muslims to the kingdom, but did not say how many pilgrims would be allowed to come, which countries would be allowed to send them or what coronavirus precautions they would have to take. The hajj, the ritual all Muslims are supposed to complete at least once, was also held last summer, but under tightly controlled conditions. Only about 1,000 Muslims from Saudi Arabia, including Saudis and foreign nationals living in the kingdom, were able to take part, down from about 2.5 million pilgrims in 2019; the rituals were performed at social distance, with masks, and the pilgrims were not allowed to kiss the Kaaba, the holy shrine at the center of Mecca that pilgrims are supposed to circle as they complete the hajj. For the first time in living memory  the hajj had not been canceled since Saudi Arabias founding in 1932, though it has been restricted at various points in history during plagues, wars and political disputes  the holiest mosque in Islam was nearly empty, with a few carefully spaced circles of pilgrims dressed in white rather than the throngs who normally crowd the Grand Mosque. The near-cancellation came as a spiritual and emotional blow to Muslims who had been hoping (and saving up) to participate, in many cases for years. Because of the demand, it is normally difficult to secure a hajj visa even in normal times. It is unclear whether Saudi Arabia, which is balancing the much-needed tourism revenue it stands to gain from the hajj with the public health requirements of the coronavirus pandemic, will again restrict the hajj so tightly. Fahad Nazer, a spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, said only that details would be announced at a later date, though he noted on Twitter that there would be preventative & precautionary measures that ensure the health & safety of pilgrims. In other news from around the world: Doctors in India are concerned about an increasing number of potentially fatal fungal infections affecting either people who have Covid-19 or those who have recently recovered from the disease. The condition, known as mucormycosis, has a high mortality rate and was present in India before the pandemic.

European soccers governing body is holding talks with Britains government on Monday to discuss moving this months Champions League final to London or another city because of travel restrictions. Those rules have made it almost impossible for English fans of the finalists  the Premier League rivals Manchester City and Chelsea  to attend the match, set for May 29 in Istanbul. A decision will most likely be announced within 48 hours.

China said on Sunday that it had taken steps to prevent coronavirus cases from entering the country  over the top of the worlds tallest mountain  including the installation of a dividing line on the summit to prevent climbers from the Chinese side and the Nepal side from coming into contact.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa called for the worlds wealthiest nations to waive patents on Covid-19 vaccines, Reuters reported. He added that the world risked having a vaccine apartheid if poor nations continue to lack access to shots while wealthier ones vaccinate large portions of their people.

The Czech Republic began easing restrictions as new infections fell to the lowest level since August, The Associated Press reported. Last year, the government removed them too quickly, leading to a surge in deaths. Shops opened in Prague, the capital, and outdoor mask restrictions were lifted on Monday. Children also headed back to schools Monday. Mujib Mashal , Abby Goodnough , Austin Ramzy and Tariq Panja contributed reporting.
Bruce Gyory, a Democratic strategist who is not working for anyone in the race, said Mr. Yang could try to boost Asian-American turnout in the primary to more than 10 percent. He compared his situation to Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, who was Italian-American and Jewish and who won in 1933 with those voters support at a time when Italians and Jews together represented a third of New Yorks population.

His prospects depend upon that being the fact, just as it did for La Guardia among Italian voters in 1933, he said.

The League of Asian Americans of New York, an organization that has hosted forums in recent months with some mayoral candidates, has not yet made an endorsement. Many of the groups members are Chinese-Americans who became politically engaged in recent years in order to oppose the elimination of admissions tests for New Yorks specialized public high schools.

David Lee, a leading member of the organization, said that the two most important issues for the group were public safety and education.

Mr. Lee, a retired financial analyst and registered Republican, said that he liked Mr. Yangs personality and approachability, and believed it was important to have an Asian-American mayor. But Mr. Adams was much stronger in supporting specialized testing and law enforcement, Mr. Lee said, noting that Asian-American shop owners have raised concerns about enforcement for shoplifting and violent crimes.

Hes a former police officer. That really says it all, Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Adams has hammered Mr. Yang for his decision to leave New York City during the pandemic and for not being a native New Yorker  Mr. Yang grew up in Schenectady, N.Y., and Westchester County, and has lived in the city for more than two decades since attending Columbia Law School.
Last month, after Ms. James said she would open a separate investigation into whether Mr. Cuomo used state resources to write his pandemic memoir, a senior adviser to the governor said that Ms. James did so to further political self-interest, citing her apparent interest in running for governor. (As attorney general, Mr. Cuomo investigated Gov. Eliot Spitzers administrations handling of State Police travel records, and conducted initial reviews into two matters concerning Gov. David Paterson.)

Last week, Mr. Cuomo cautioned against having faith in anything that Ms. Jamess independent lawyers might uncover related to the sexual harassment claims, weeks after he had initially praised Ms. James as a very competent investigator and urged voters to wait for the facts.

Even his recent blanket denial of any wrongdoing was a subtle departure from an apology two months ago, in which he acknowledged that his behavior may have made women feel uncomfortable.

When youre faced with these kinds of allegations and you believe, as he believes, that theyre unfair, said Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic Party and one of Mr. Cuomos staunchest allies, you have to make a determination that youre going to fight them, which is what he did.

The allegations began in late February when Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development official, accused Mr. Cuomo of giving her an unsolicited kiss on the lips. A few days later, Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former aide, told The Times that Mr. Cuomo, 63, made sexual overtures, asking her whether she had sex with older men. In April, an unnamed female aide accused Mr. Cuomo of groping her after being summoned to the Executive Mansion.

The accusations prompted the states most prominent Democrats, including a bevy of state lawmakers and most of the congressional delegation, including Senator Chuck Schumer, to press Mr. Cuomo to resign. They also sparked a broad impeachment investigation in the Assembly, which is also looking at Mr. Cuomos handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic, as are federal prosecutors.
There are just over six weeks left until the New York City mayoral primary election, and the race for the Democratic nomination is very much in flux.

One poll, released last week, showed Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, in the lead for the first time. Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller, continues to face questions over allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, has responded to concerns about his record as a nonprofit leader and his ties to Bradley Tusk, a wealthy lobbyist.

The coming weeks could see further movement as candidates roll out their first ads, appear in the first major debate on Thursday and try to raise their profile with plans to address  and celebrate  the citys post-pandemic re-emergence.
The unions make up an essential part of the coalition that is still standing with Mr. Stringer before the Democratic primary in June. But their continued support for the candidate amounts to a very risky political bet for the U.F.T. in particular, which has failed to back a winning candidate for mayor since 1989.

The union has significant power over key education decisions, but its influence in the citys electoral politics could be weakened considerably if it once again bets on the wrong candidate.

That has not deterred Randi Weingarten, the president of the A.F.T. and one of the most powerful union leaders in the country, from defending Mr. Stringer. On Sunday, she stood with the candidate and Representative Jerrold Nadler on Mr. Stringers home turf, the Upper West Side, to praise his record as a longtime local politician.

Im very proud of that endorsement because of what Scott has done and what he will do, said Ms. Weingarten, the former president of the U.F.T. I think hell be a great mayor.
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

SRINAGAR, Kashmir  He was 22 when Indian authorities sent him to prison for the first time, for publicly denouncing the detention of local leaders in Kashmir, the mountainous, predominantly Muslim region that has long chafed under Indias rule.

What kind of democracy cages free speech and people who speak the truth? Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai asked when he addressed a crowd in March 1965, after the detentions. He quickly received word that the police were looking for him, and he hid in a school. He was arrested the next day  which, he would later say, changed him forever.

Mr. Sehrai became one of the leading voices of separatist politics in Kashmir (India recently revoked its semiautonomous status). He served for more than 50 years as a close aide to the most powerful Kashmiri separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and replaced him two years ago as head of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a group that seeks a referendum on Kashmirs status.
This is the sound of one of natures craziest insects, the periodical cicada. This summer, the cicadas of Brood IX emerged, after incubating underground for 17 years, opening their tiny bug eyes to find The number of dead from the coronavirus is well nationwide anger dangerous flooding and life-threatening, so-called murder hornets and the worst wildfire season that we have seen thus far. thousand One American dead and 90,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Oh, right, and an election. This means that the last time Brood IX saw the light of day was 2003, a simpler time when these were cell phones and these were pants. 2003 gave us Finding Nemo, and Crazy in Love, and the softest shoes known to man. But wait a second. 2003 also gave us some real bummers too. early stages of military operations A president, who lost the popular vote, responsible for catastrophic loss of life. Millions of Americans protesting in the streets. The highest unemployment rate in a decade. A devastating hurricane. Record-breaking wildfires. Rampant political misinformation. A pandemic. A mysterious respiratory illness The parallels between 2003 and 2020 are so undeniable. Its creepy. Since the coronaviruses as Right down to the widespread popularity of sweatpants. But why? Well, there are only two possible explanations. The first is that periodical cicada Brood IX did it. They cursed 2003 and came back to curse 2020. Kind of checks out. The second possible conclusion is that bad years act just like the cicadas do. That the actions, policies, and people from 2003 laid the eggs for what were dealing with now, just below a thin layer of nutrient dense soil where the issues lie growing, morphing, until they resurface 17 years down the line, louder than they were before. Imagine how things would have been different if we had spent the last 17 years confronting climate change with the urgency it deserved instead of continuing to spend billions of dollars every year subsidizing the fossil fuel industry. If we had practiced appointing competent and qualified leaders to head our disaster relief efforts. And Brownie, youre doing a heck of a job. Imagine if after the SARS pandemic in 2003, airlines and megacorporations had been mandated to take out pandemic insurance instead of knowing they could come back to beg for billions of taxpayer dollars time and time again. Police brutality and systemic racism these are only 2020 issues for those who havent had to pay attention until now. We dont agree that theres systemic racism in the police department. We joke about canceling 2020 and look forward to the day our lives go back to normal. But the problems of 2020 have been incubating for years, feeding on disbelief in science, political nepotism, and policies catering to the interests of the wealthy elite, maturing into the perfect train wreck of a year. So its our choice to blame 2020 on the cicadas or to acknowledge that, in the same way the decisions from 2003 are affecting us today, the leaders we vote for and what we choose to ignore or accept as normal are shaping our reality 17 years down the line. And if we do it right, maybe the next batch of cicadas will have a better world to wake up to and so will your kids.
Caring for others runs in the Williams family. Danielle Williams, 52, and her daughter, Brittany, 35, have spent their entire adult lives caring for others: doing the unpaid labor of tending to family members and looking after older and disabled adults in their jobs as home care workers.

Their workdays are largely similar. Both mother and daughter rise early and make a lengthy commute  up to one hour by car for Danielle and up to two hours by bus for Brittany. They make their clients meals. They shop for groceries and clothes, pick up medicine, run to the post office. They care for pets. They dress and undress, change diapers and give baths. They assist with medication. They dust, vacuum and do the laundry. They talk and listen to the stories of their clients lives, often for hours.

But the similarities end there. Brittany makes nearly $20 an hour, usually working five days a week. But without child care for her 8-year-old son during the pandemic, shes been working no more than four. She has paid time off, medical and dental insurance, a retirement plan and many other benefits. Danielle works seven days a week making half Brittanys wage. She has no benefits through her job, qualifies for Medicaid and is barely able to survive.

These differences come down to where Brittany and Danielle live. Brittany lives in Washington State and belongs to a union of long-term-care workers, S.E.I.U. Local 775, that has worked with the state for better pay and working conditions. Danielle lives in Arkansas, where she has none of that. Across the nation, this pattern repeats itself: Home care aides in states where the work force has unionized and won the right to collectively bargain with the state have living wages and benefits, while those in states without unions have lower wages and minimal benefits  if any at all.
To the Editor:

Is an Adviser Necessary to Help Elevate Science? (Science Times, May 4) reported concerns that elevating the science adviser to the cabinet level could be more symbolic than substantive. For the sake of the countrys response to societal challenges, and its economic future and national security, lets make sure that its substantive.

To get there, we need to support the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which the science adviser leads, beyond its pre-cabinet budget of $5.5 million a year. By comparison, other cabinet officials control billions.

The science adviser needs financial resources commensurate with the scale of the science and technology challenges the country must address, from ending the pandemic and preventing future ones, to curbing climate disruption, ensuring food and water security, and creating novel ways to produce and store energy.

Congress should appropriate funding for cross-agency projects that enable the cross-disciplinary approaches that are needed. Coordination and collaboration are essential for delivering science and technology solutions to some of our most vexing dilemmas.
After more than two years of sightseeing at an asteroid, a NASA spacecraft is now heading home. Scientists cannot wait to get their hands on the souvenirs it is bringing back.

Beginning at about 4 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, the OSIRIS-REX spacecraft, about 180 million miles away, fired its thrusters for seven minutes to push itself away from Bennu, an asteroid that is a bit wider than the Empire State Building is tall.

The burn was right down the middle, said Jason Dworkin, the missions project scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. It looks perfect.

Dante Lauretta, a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona who serves as the principal investigator, said he had mixed feelings about the end of this part of the mission.
This image is a screenshot of the prominent message that viewers saw when trying to access the online Alaska Court System, which was the target of a cybersecurity attack earlier this month. News-Miner screenshot.
While the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Medina Spirit spent most of Monday in a van headed to Baltimore, his defiant Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert blitzed the airwaves to deny that he was a cheater and warn that he was willing to go to court if his horse was barred from running in the Preakness Stakes this weekend.

The white-haired Baffert, the face of American horse racing, usually makes the national media rounds after signature victories, like his record-breaking seven Derbys. For nearly 25 years, his California cool and quick-with-a-quip personality have charmed morning show hosts and the public alike.

On Monday, however, Baffert was sober and defiant about his colts positive drug test for betamethasone, a corticosteroid injected into joints to reduce pain and swelling.

We did not cheat to win the Kentucky Derby, said Baffert in an interview on Fox & Friends.

Baffert said neither he nor anyone else on his team had administered the drug to Medina Spirit. He insisted the colt had never been treated with it and, in a series of network and radio interviews, floated scenarios ranging from contamination to vague conspiracies to cancel culture to explain the controversy.
Its no surprise that Black consumers  who, according to Nielsen, were responsible for over 85 percent of the spending in the American ethnic hair and beauty aids market in 2019, almost $55 million in total  want brands that feel familiar and inspire trust, especially when it comes to something as personal as hair. And while a number of large Black hair care companies, including Shea Moisture, Cantu and now Carols Daughter (which was bought by LOreal in 2014), are operated by white-owned corporations, the majority of the brands that make up the new wave of natural hair care lines are Black-owned.

Last year, when the actress Gabrielle Union relaunched her hair care line, Flawless by Gabrielle Union, with her business partner, Larry Sims, a celebrity stylist and her best friend of two decades, we wanted to keep it FUBU top to bottom, she told me on a recent Zoom call from Los Angeles, using the acronym for for us, by us. An earlier iteration of the brand, which she founded in 2017, was rooted in a business arrangement, Union said, whereby she was an owner in name only and afforded little creative control. After reclaiming her company, she felt she could fully direct her energies toward creating products for Black people in need of hair regrowth and repair (she had experienced significant thinning herself in 2017 after multiple rounds of IVF). On the day we spoke, Union wore her hair in a high bun  in preparation for a wedding scene for a movie she was shooting later that day  that Sims, her stylist for the production, had set with Flawlesss Three-Minute Restoring Conditioner and Repairing Edge Control. We are doing outreach to HBCUs, to Black scientists and Black chemists, Union explained, to try to create a pipeline, not just for us, but for the hair care industry at large.

Some beauty founders, though, believe that the notion that only Black-owned brands should create products for Black customers helps perpetuate the marginalization of natural hair care. True inclusivity, they say, would mean that every hair company, regardless of its owner, would offer products for a range of different types and textures. Nancy Twine, the founder of the clean beauty brand Briogeo, believes that until diversity, inclusion and equity are the status quo, she and other leaders will have to keep pressuring the industrys gatekeepers, many of them non-Black, to make representation ubiquitous. Still, a Black hair care company could have a white founder, she told me. I am all about for us by us. I think that is beautiful and excellent. But if we really want equity, the ones who dont look like us or dont have our hair texture and are in power, she continued, will also need to bridge the gap.

For Vernon Francois, a celebrity hair stylist and the founder of an eponymous hair care line, the need for representation has felt especially acute since he became a father. Encouraging hair love and acceptance, genuinely knowing that what you were born with is good enough, Francois wrote in an email, all these things are gifts that directly affect your self-confidence, which is linked to achieving greatness and happiness in life. He has imparted the knowledge he began acquiring at 14  when he first started working in a salon, in London  to his 3-year-old daughter, who can now detangle her own hair and loves seeing her fathers products in Sally Beauty. But Francois wants to expand inclusivity in other ways, too. Everyone has a hair journey, he said. The stories of male and nonbinary hair journeys exist too, they are out there, but often there is a divide in what is spoken about in the mainstream beauty space.
Attorneys general for 44 states and jurisdictions called on Facebook to halt plans to create a version of Instagram for young children, citing concerns over mental and emotional well-being, exposure to online predators and cyberbullying.

In a letter on Monday to Facebooks chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, the prosecutors warned that social media can be harmful to children and that the company had a poor record of protecting children online. Facebook, which bought the photo-sharing app Instagram in 2012, currently has a minimum age requirement of 13 to use its products. According to federal childrens privacy rules, companies must ask parents for permission to collect data on users younger than 13.

The law enforcement officials pointed to research showing how the use of social media, including Instagram, has led to an increase in mental distress, body image concerns and even suicidal thoughts. A childrens version of Instagram doesnt fill a need beyond the companys commercial ambitions, the officials said in the letter.

Without a doubt, this is a dangerous idea that risks the safety of our children and puts them directly in harms way, Letitia James, New Yorks attorney general, said in a statement. There are too many concerns to let Facebook move forward with this ill-conceived idea, which is why we are calling on the company to abandon its launch of Instagram Kids.
About halfway through Breathe, a new musical created by the best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult and the veteran playwright Timothy Allen McDonald, a fed-up, locked-down father of three sums up the challenges of the pandemic in a two-word refrain: Its brutal!

Adam, played by Colin Donnell, is lamenting the challenge of shoehorning virtual kindergarten alongside two demanding careers  Donnells partner-in-exhaustion is his real-life wife, Patti Murin  but he speaks for all of us who have been crowded and alone, enraged and bereft, at various points this year.

Before we get to the logistics of writing, staging and filming a musical in the midst of a pandemic, lets address the elephant in the Zoom: Why would anyone want to watch a 90-minute theatrical production about Covid-19  especially one with scenes named after symptoms many of us have experienced firsthand? (They are: Fever, Aches, Swelling & Irritation, Fatigue and Shortness of Breath.)

I know there are going to be people who arent ready for this and maybe never will be, said Picoult in a phone interview from her home in New Hampshire. That said, I think there are some very funny moments in Breathe. You laugh more than you might expect to.
Four people are facing nearly $70,000 in civil fines for clashing with airline crews over mask requirements and other safety instructions on recent flights, part of what the Federal Aviation Administration called a disturbing increase in the number of unruly passengers who have returned to the skies with the easing of pandemic restrictions.

The latest round of proposed fines, which passengers have 30 days to contest, came just days after the F.A.A. said that it had received more than 1,300 unruly-passenger reports from airlines since February. In the previous decade, the agency said, it took enforcement actions against 1,300 passengers total.

We will not tolerate interfering with a flight crew and the performance of their safety duties, Stephen Dickson, the administrator of the F.A.A., said on Twitter on May 3. Period.

None of the passengers now facing fines were identified by the F.A.A., which this year imposed a zero-tolerance policy for interfering with or assaulting flight attendants that carries a fine of up to $35,000 and possible jail time.
In the House this term, deaths have already affected the parties close margins. Three members  Ron Wright of Texas and Representative-elect Luke Letlow of Louisiana, both Republicans; and the Democrat Alcee Hastings of Florida  have died, the most in a Congress in its first three months since the early 1980s. (Mr. Wright and Mr. Letlow died from Covid-19.)

Health problems have also dogged the Senate. Patrick Leahy, 81, Democrat of Vermont, was briefly hospitalized in January. Thom Tillis, 60, a North Carolina Republican, underwent cancer treatment. Questions have been raised about the health of Dianne Feinstein, 87, a Democrat who has represented California since 1992. Vermonts other senator, Bernie Sanders, 79, had a heart attack in 2019.

In the most extreme case, deaths could end Democrats ability to pass legislation without Republican support  or even flip control of either chamber. Thats more likely in the evenly divided Senate, where a single Democratic vacancy could hand Republicans committee gavels and the power to schedule votes until a Democratic successor was appointed or elected.

A serious illness could also upset the partys delicate legislative arithmetic. Schumer needs all 50 votes, said Mr. Fallon, now the executive director of Demand Justice, a progressive advocacy group focused on the federal judiciary. If somebody is laid up or is hospitalized for a long period of time and their votes not there, then having the majority is somewhat meaningless.

Its also possible that a special election or governors appointment could shift Senate control more lastingly. Several states require governors to fill vacancies with a temporary replacement of the same political party as the departed senator. But nine senators in the Democratic caucus represent states with Republican governors who can appoint anyone they choose. That could let a Republican governor name a Republican replacement, giving Republicans the majority, even if it may be temporary. (Six Republican senators represent states with Democratic governors who have similar authority.)

House vacancies are filled by special election, and relatively few seats are competitive, lowering the chances that deaths could alter partisan control. No special election to Congress so far this year has flipped a seat.

But special elections take time to organize; delays could further shrink Democrats single-digit margin for error. Though House control has never changed mid-session, Republicans could push to elect a new speaker and take over committees if vacancies forced Democrats below a majority of seats, said Sarah Binder, a George Washington University political scientist who has studied congressional deaths.
Some 62,270 people have died of Covid-19 in California. Immigration policies that were already restrictive became even more so amid global lockdowns, resulting in what state officials estimated was a loss of 100,000 residents and roughly 53,000 fewer international students.

To be sure, migration to other states is a significant part of the story, as well. But as an analysis of census data by the Public Policy Institute of California found, the people who headed for another state largely havent been the wealthy, educated tech workers whose departures for Miami or Austin have been the cause of much hand-wringing.

Rather, the people moving into California tend to be more educated and wealthier than the people leaving, according to the analysis: From 2015 to 2019, California gained 74,500 working-age adults with a bachelors degree or more  and lost 465,500 working-age adults with less than a bachelors degree. Over the past decade, California actually gained almost 114,000 high-income (defined as making more than $138,750 a year) working-age adults.

And while some former Californians have loudly proclaimed that theyre taking their families and dollars elsewhere out of distaste for the states liberal politics, almost half of the adults who left California in the 2010s said they left primarily for jobs, and nearly a quarter said their primary reason for leaving was housing.

Of course, a combination of many factors influence any given familys decisions. And the net losses to other states should serve as a warning, experts say.

But determining what kind of action these signals should prompt is, as always, the challenge.

Which raises the eternal  if increasingly urgent  question: If Californias population is contracting because thousands of people cant afford to live here, then what kind of communities will be left? Who is California for?
When we say all are welcome, we mean all are welcome, Bishop Eaton said. We believe that the Spirit has given each of us gifts in order to build up the body of Christ.

Pastor Rohrer, who uses the pronouns they and them, currently serves as the pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco. They earned a Master of Divinity and completed postgraduate course work in Christian education at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif., according to their profile on the churchs website.

I want to be the kind of bishop that moves whatever stumbling blocks might have been placed before you, who roots for you, and worships with you, Pastor Rohrer said before the vote on Saturday.

After the vote, Pastor Rohrer said they were humbled and honored.

My hope is that your grandkids will call you, and your kids will call you, and your friends will call you, and ask you about your faith, they said. And when they call, tell them how much you love Jesus and why Jesuss faith in you meant why you could have faith in me.

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said on Monday that Pastor Rohrers election was groundbreaking and would be a source of inspiration and hope for many.
McCarthy Sets Wednesday Vote on Ouster of Liz Cheney The top House Republican portrays the partys purge of a powerful critic of Donald Trump as the forward-looking move of a big tent party. President Biden defends federal unemployment benefits but says workers must accept suitable offers. Follow our live coverage of the Biden administration and Washington news here.

As McCarthy sets Wednesday vote to oust Cheney, he insists Republicans are a big tent party. Representative Elise Stefanik of New York is seeking to become the No. 3 House Republican. Credit... Erik S Lesser/EPA, via Shutterstock Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the top House Republican, on Monday defended his move to oust Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming as the partys No. 3 leader, portraying the purge of the most powerful Republican critic of Donald J. Trump as the forward-looking move of a big tent party. In a letter to colleagues announcing a Wednesday vote to recall Ms. Cheney, Mr. McCarthy said her ouster was necessary to overcome internal divisions that could derail the partys efforts to reclaim the House majority in 2022. Even as he argued for getting rid of Ms. Cheney, who has angered others in the G.O.P. with her refusal to stay silent in the face of Mr. Trumps election lies, Mr. McCarthy insisted that Republicans embrace free thought and debate. Each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future, Mr. McCarthy wrote. If we are to succeed in stopping the radical Democrat agenda from destroying our country, these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts on our collective team. The statement was an attempt to pre-emptively deflect criticism of a messy intraparty conflict that Mr. McCarthy is well aware could alienate some voters who are eager to move past Mr. Trump and his false election claims. It also threatens to undermine the partys efforts to avoid talking about the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by a mob inspired by the myth of a stolen election. The letter came a day after Mr. McCarthy officially endorsed Representative Elise Stefanik of New York to replace Ms. Cheney. Despite initially running for Congress as a mainstream Republican moderate, Ms. Stefanik became one of Mr. Trumps most vociferous defenders in the House, and in recent months has revived his false election claims, which have become a central element of her campaign to replace Ms. Cheney. While Ms. Stefanik has emerged as a favorite of party leaders to serve in the No. 3 post, there were signs on Monday that hard-right Republican lawmakers might not be willing to go along. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has promoted Mr. Trumps false charges of a stolen election and said before the riot that Jan. 6 was a 1776 moment, wrote on Twitter that Republicans should take a break before we vote on a replacement. Options are good and so are conservative votes, wrote Ms. Greene, who elevated violent conspiracy theories before she was elected to Congress. She echoed the concerns of some members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who have privately groused that Ms. Stefanik only recently became a Trump acolyte. But Mr. McCarthy was working to paper over the rifts. We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day, he wrote. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate. Image Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, endorsed Ms. Stefaniks bid to oust Representative Liz Cheney from the Republican leadership ranks. Credit... Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times Ms. Cheney does not plan to contest the recall vote, but she has promised to sharpen her argument that fealty to Mr. Trump will ultimately drag down the Republican Party. A small but outspoken coterie of Republicans is providing backup. Expelling Liz Cheney from leadership wont gain the GOP one additional voter, but it will cost us quite a few, Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah and the partys 2012 nominee for president, warned on Twitter. Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois, pointed out that Mr. McCarthy had initially said Mr. Trump bore responsibility for the Capitol riot  only to later insist that others stop talking about it. She is being run out for one thing: her consistency, Mr. Kinzinger said of Ms. Cheney during a National Press Club event on Monday. You cannot unite with lies. Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, suggested that House Republicans were trying to silence Ms. Cheney for her beliefs. Its OK to go ahead and express what you feel is right, she told reporters at the Capitol. Cancel culture is cancel culture, no matter how you look at it. Nicholas Fandos, Catie Edmondson and

Biden vows to disrupt and prosecute DarkSide hackers as the F.B.I. puts the U.S. energy sector on alert. Holding tanks operate by Colonial Pipeline in Woodbine, Md., on Monday. The company said it hoped to have a pipeline that carries petroleum from the Texas Gulf Coast to New York Harbor running again by the end of this week. Credit... Drone Base, via Reuters President Biden said on Monday that the United States would disrupt and prosecute a criminal gang of hackers called DarkSide, which the F.B.I. formally blamed for a huge ransomware attack that has disrupted the flow of nearly half of the gasoline and jet fuel supplies to the East Coast. The F.B.I., clearly concerned that the ransomware effort could spread, issued an emergency alert to electric utilities, gas suppliers and other pipeline operators to be on the lookout for code like the kind that locked up Colonial Pipelines, a private firm that controls the major pipeline carrying gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from the Texas Gulf Coast to New York Harbor. The pipeline remained offline for a fourth day on Monday as a pre-emptive measure to keep the malware that infected the companys computer networks from spreading to the control systems that run the pipeline. So far, the effects on gasoline and other energy supplies seem minimal, and Colonial said it hoped to have the pipeline running again by the end of this week. According to intelligence officials, all of the indications are that the episode was simply an act of extortion by the group, which first began to deploy such ransomware last August, and is believed to operate from Eastern Europe, possibly Russia. Mr. Biden, who is expected to announce an executive order in the coming days to strengthen Americas cyberdefenses, said he planned to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia soon and he suggested Moscow bore some responsibility because DarkSide is believed to have roots in Russia and the country provides a haven for cybercriminals. Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin are expected to hold their first summit next month. On Monday, DarkSide argued it was not operating on behalf of a nation state, perhaps in an effort to distance itself from Russia. We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for our motives, said a statement posted on DarkSides website. Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society. Colonials pipelines feed large storage tanks up and down the East Coast, and supplies seem plentiful, in part because of reduced traffic during the pandemic. Colonial issued a statement on Monday saying its goal was to substantially resume service by the end of the week, but the company cautioned that the process would take time. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Mr. Bidens homeland security adviser and a former deputy secretary of energy in the Obama administration, said that the Energy Department was leading the federal response and had convened the oil and natural gas and electric sector utility partners to share details about the ransomware attack and discuss recommended measures to mitigate further incidents across the industry. David E. Sanger and

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The F.D.A. authorizes the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 12 to 15. Receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a mass vaccination site in East Hartford, Conn., last month. Credit... Jessica Hill/Associated Press The Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, a crucial step in the nations steady recovery from the pandemic and a boon to tens of millions of American families eager for a return to normalcy. The authorization caps weeks of anticipation among parents, who have been grappling with how to conduct their lives when only the adults in a household are immunized. It removes an obstacle to school reopenings by reducing the threat of transmission in classrooms, and affords millions of adolescents the opportunity to attend summer camps, sleepovers and get-togethers with friends. This is great news, said Dr. Kristin Oliver, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. It feels like weve been waiting a long time to start protecting children in this age group. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is already available to anyone over 16. The F.D.A.s go-ahead is not the final hurdle. An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to meet shortly to review the data and make recommendations for the vaccines use in 12- to 15-year-olds. If the committee endorses the vaccine for that age group, as expected, immunizations in theory could begin immediately. Clinical trials have shown that these children may safely receive the dose already available for adults. In a clinical trial, Pfizer and BioNTech enrolled 2,260 participants ages 12 and 15 and gave them either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo three weeks apart. The researchers recorded 18 cases of symptomatic coronavirus infection in the placebo group, and none among the children who received the vaccine, indicating that it was highly effective at preventing symptomatic illness. The vaccine also appeared to be safe for these children, with side effects comparable to those seen in trial participants who are 16 to 25 years old. Fevers were slightly more common among inoculated 12- to 15-year-olds; about 20 percent of them had fevers, compared with 17 percent in the older age group. The trend toward more fevers at younger ages was consistent with observations in an earlier trial, said Dr. Bill Gruber, a senior vice president at Pfizer and a pediatrician. The trial results were a trifecta of good news, Dr. Gruber added: We have safety, we got the immune response we wanted  it was actually better than what we saw in the 16- to 25-year-old population  and we had outright demonstration of efficacy. The company is still gathering information on potential asymptomatic infections by continuing to test the trial participants for the coronavirus every two weeks and checking them for antibodies produced in response to a natural infection, according to Dr. Gruber. The push to immunize children may run into the same problems with hesitancy that have plagued attempts to inoculate adults. In one recent poll, just over half of parents said they were likely to have their children get a vaccine as soon as one was authorized. Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, said she had zero safety concerns about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, noting that hundreds of millions of people worldwide have received it. Her 12-year-old daughter is eager to be vaccinated, and her 9-year-old son will be immunized as soon as he is eligible, she said. The risk of your child catching Covid and getting really sick is low, but its not zero, she said. And the risk of them getting sick or hospitalized or worse with Covid or with the post-Covid multi-inflammatory syndrome is higher than the risk of something bad from this vaccine. Vaccinating children shields others in the community from the virus, she noted, including people who are not protected by the vaccine, such as organ transplant recipients, cancer patients and those with impaired immune responses. It also protects all of us from the virus continuing to spread and mutating further, Dr. Ranney said. Thats the thing that Im most scared of right now. Pfizer and BioNTech began testing the vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 in March and extended the trial to even younger children, ages 2 to 5, last month. The companies next plan to test children who are 6 months to 2 years old. Assuming trial results are encouraging, the companies expect to apply to the F.D.A. in September for emergency authorization to administer the vaccine to children ages 2 to 11. Results from trials of Modernas vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds are expected in the next few weeks. Findings from another trial of the companys vaccine in children 6 months to 12 years old should be available in the second half of this year. AstraZeneca is testing its vaccine in children 6 months and older. Johnson & Johnson plans to wait for results from trials in participants older than 12 before testing its vaccine in younger children. Jan Hoffman contributed reporting.

Newsom, facing a $75.5 billion budget surplus and a recall vote, plans a tax rebate for Californians. Gov. Gavin Newsom at a news conference on Monday. If his plan for a state tax rebate is approved, it would be the largest in U.S. history. Credit... Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group, via Associated Press Riding a breathtaking and exquisitely timed $75.7 billion surplus, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday proposed putting $600 in the pockets of two-thirds of California taxpayers in a state rebate that if approved would be the largest in U.S. history. The proposal, one in a series the governor plans to make this week in his annual budget revision, takes advantage of a remarkable turnaround in the states financial picture that comes not only as California emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, but also as Mr. Newsom works to defuse an expected recall election. Mr. Newsoms motivation is not entirely political: Rebate payments are required by May 2023 under the provisions of a 1979 state spending limit. That law, passed by voters as part of a tax revolt that swept the state, calls for a taxpayer rebate if per capita spending, adjusted to account for growth, exceeds a certain level for two consecutive years. In less than a year, the states financial picture has swung from bust to boom, thanks largely to Californias tax system, which relies heavily on the kind of higher-income workers who were able to work from home and thus keep their jobs during the pandemic. The state cashed in not only on income taxes but on taxes on capital gains from the booming stock market as investments made affluent Californians wealthier and as a number of California-based start-ups went public. That rebound, along with a $26 billion infusion of federal stimulus money, sent the state budget soaring. California is not just back  California is roaring back, Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said on Monday in a news conference in Oakland, where he appeared with the chairs of the state budget committees and ignored questions about the recall. California was among many states that initially predicted that the pandemic would be catastrophic for budgets, but many of those projections have become less dire in recent months. A report by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that more than 30 states have revised their revenue forecasts upward from the start of the pandemic, allowing some to revisit cuts they previously made. A handful, including Idaho, have proposed their own form of stimulus or tax relief, but none approximating the scope and scale of Mr. Newsoms plan. Shawn Hubler, Conor Dougherty and

Biden defends federal unemployment benefits, provided that workers accept job offers. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:01 - 0:00 transcript Moving in the Right Direction, Biden Says of Economic Growth On Monday, President Biden gave an update on the economic outlook for the country after a disappointing monthly jobs report on Friday. The president maintained in his speech that economic growth was continuing, despite pandemic losses. As we learned Friday, the economy created 266,000 jobs in April. In fact, altogether, since the time we took office, weve created more than 1.5 million jobs in the country. Its the most jobs created in the first 100 days of any president on record. Were moving in the right direction. So lets be clear: Our economic plan is working. I never said, and no serious analyst ever suggested, that climbing out of the deep, deep hole our economy was in would be simple, easy, immediate or perfectly steady. Remember, 22 million Americans lost their jobs in this pandemic. So some months will exceed expectations, others will fall short. The question is: What is the trend line? Are we headed in the right direction? Are we taking the right steps to keep it going? And the answer clearly is yes. On Monday, President Biden gave an update on the economic outlook for the country after a disappointing monthly jobs report on Friday. The president maintained in his speech that economic growth was continuing, despite pandemic losses. Credit Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times President Biden ordered the Labor Department on Monday to ensure that unemployed Americans cannot draw enhanced federal jobless benefits if they turn down a suitable job offer, even as he rejected claims by Republicans that his weekly unemployment bonus is undermining efforts to get millions of Americans back to work. Stung from a weekend of criticism over a disappointing April jobs report, Mr. Biden struck a defiant tone, seeking to make clear that he expects workers to return to jobs if they are available, while defending his signature economic policy effort thus far and blaming corporate America, in part, for not doing more to entice people to go back to work. The president told reporters at the White House that child care constraints, school closures and fears of contracting the coronavirus had hindered job creation last month, and he challenged companies to help workers gain access to vaccines and to raise their pay. The last Congress, before I became president, gave businesses over $1.4 trillion in Covid relief, Mr. Biden said. Congress may have approved that money, but lets be clear: The money came from the American people, and it went from the American people to American businesses, many of them big businesses, to help them get through this pandemic and keep their doors open. He added, My expectation is that, as our economy comes back, these companies will provide fair wages and safe work environments. He said that if they did, theyll find plenty of workers, and were all going to come out of this together better than before. Mr. Biden also promised more relief was working its way into the economy through measures created by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that the president signed into law in March. That includes help for child care providers and aid for state and local governments that Treasury Department officials began to make available on Monday. Mr. Biden is trying to win support for even more federal spending, including a $2.3 trillion jobs proposal centered on physical infrastructure. Republicans have criticized Mr. Biden for the disappointing jobs numbers. In particular, they blamed a provision in his rescue plan that extended a $300-per-week federal supplement for unemployed Americans for discouraging Americans from returning to work. Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, said on Monday that Mr. Biden was all over the place on the issue. He wants to go after folks who are gaming the system, but hes denying the reality that his policies are making the situation worse, so hes trying to make struggling businesses the boogeymen, Mr. Sasse said in a news release. Heres the deal: Bad federal policy is making unemployment pay more than work, and millions of jobs arent getting filled.

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Reversing a Trump-era policy, H.H.S. prohibits health care discrimination against transgender people. Supporters of L.G.B.T.Q. rights protested outside the White House in 2017. Credit... Justin Gilliland/The New York Times The Biden administration announced on Monday that health care providers could not discriminate against gay and transgender individuals, the latest step in President Bidens efforts to restore civil rights protections for L.G.B.T.Q. people that were eliminated by his predecessor. Under the new policy, the Department of Health and Human Services will once again prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity by health care organizations that receive federal funding. The move will begiin to reverse a policy adopted by the department under President Donald J. Trump that said anti-discrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 did not apply to transgender people. That change had been hailed by social conservatives and harshly criticized by gay rights supporters. Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences, Xavier Becerra, Mr. Bidens health secretary, said in a statement. It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone  including L.G.B.T.Q. people  should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period. The shift is part of a broader effort by the president to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning people  and particularly transgender individuals  in protections against discrimination. In his first address to a joint session of Congress last month, Mr. Biden pledged his support for the Equality Act, which would expand civil rights laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity. To all transgender Americans watching at home, especially the young people: Youre so brave, Mr. Biden said in his speech. I want you to know your president has your back. Administration officials said the new policy was required by a Supreme Court ruling last summer that said civil rights laws protect L.G.B.T.Q. workers from employment discrimination. But Mondays action does not fully reverse the Trump administrations interpretation of the law. It encourages people who believe they have been discriminated against to bring complaints to the federal government. Biden administration officials said they were working to write more complete new regulations on the civil rights provision of the law, known as Section 1557, that will specify which health care institutions are subject to the rules and what sorts of services they will be required to provide. It is really difficult and challenging with these state laws that are targeting trans youth, said Dr. Rachel Levine, the assistant health secretary and the Biden administrations highest-ranking transgender official. There is a disconnect between these laws and our interpretation of 1557 in terms of preventing discrimination against these kids. There will need to be legal analysis about that inconsistency. Michael D. Shear and

Most Americans say things are going right in the country, an A.P./NORC poll finds. Image Image Credit... Associated Press/NORC President Biden enjoys widespread job approval, as Americans optimism about the future continues to climb, according to a poll released Monday by The Associated Press and NORC. Sixty-three percent of Americans said they approved of the work Biden was doing as president, while just 36 percent disapproved. That spread of 27 percentage points represents the widest approval margin in an A.P./NORC poll since Mr. Biden took office. The president continued to receive broadly positive marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with seven in 10 respondents expressing approval. His approach to health care policy got a thumbs-up from 62 percent of Americans, and 54 percent approved of his work on foreign policy. Fifty-seven percent of Americans said they approved of the job he was doing on the economy, while just 42 percent disapproved  although the poll was conducted from April 29 to May 3, before the administration released a disappointing April jobs report showing that the country was missing its targets on employment. With migrants continuing to arrive at the southern border in high numbers, the poll found that just 43 percent of Americans approved of Mr. Bidens handling of immigration. Fifty-four percent disapproved. But for the first time in A.P./NORC polling going back four years, a majority of Americans said that the country was headed in the right direction  possibly driven in part by the decline in coronavirus cases nationwide. Fifty-four percent of respondents said things were going right in the country, while 44 percent said things were on the wrong track. That shift is being fed by a rise in optimism among political independents: Nearly half of them said that things were moving in the right direction, according to the poll. Since January, the A.P./NORC poll has consistently found at least six in 10 Americans approving of the presidents job performance, putting it on the more Biden-friendly end of the polling spectrum. (NORC polls are conducted using its probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, with most respondents completing the survey online and a small number contacted by phone.) But polling averages consistently show Mr. Bidens approval rating over 50 percent.

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WASHINGTON  The Biden administration announced on Monday that health care providers cannot discriminate against gay and transgender individuals, the latest step in President Bidens efforts to restore civil rights protections for L.G.B.T.Q. people that were eliminated by his predecessor.

Under the new policy, the Department of Health and Human Services will once again prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity by health care organizations that receive federal funding.

The move will begin to reverse a policy adopted by the department under President Donald J. Trump that said anti-discrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 did not apply to transgender people. That change had been hailed by social conservatives and harshly criticized by supporters of transgender rights.

Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences, Xavier Becerra, Mr. Bidens health secretary, said in a statement. It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone  including L.G.B.T.Q. people  should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.
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Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said Monday afternoon that the government believed DarkSide was a criminal actor but was looking for any ties the group might have to nation-states.

She added that Colonial had not sought cyber support from the government, and said that she could not confirm if the company, a private corporation, had paid any ransom.

Mr. Biden also said on Monday that, so far, there was no evidence from U.S. intelligence officials that Russia was involved, but he added: There is evidence that the actors ransomware is in Russia. They have some responsibility to deal with this.

Colonials pipeline transports 2.5 million barrels each day, taking refined gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast up to New York Harbor and New Yorks major airports. Most of that goes into large storage tanks, and with energy use depressed by the coronavirus pandemic, the attack was unlikely to cause any immediate disruptions.

Late Friday, Colonial said in a vaguely worded statement that it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which it said carried 45 percent of the East Coasts fuel supplies, in an effort to contain the breach. Earlier in the day, there had been disruptions along the pipeline, but it was not clear at the time whether that was a direct result of the attack or of the companys moves to proactively halt it.
Portions of Lafayette Square, the park in the shadow of the White House, reopened on Monday, more than 11 months after violent clashes there between protesters and law enforcement.

The park, which sits on the north side of the White House, had been fenced off to the public in June, days after William P. Barr, then the attorney general, ordered officials to clear the park of people protesting the police killings of George Floyd and other Black men. Shortly after the authorities used riot-control methods to disperse the protesters, President Donald J. Trump strode across Lafayette Square to pose in front of a church that had been damaged by fire the evening before.

In the months after the conflict, black metal fencing that had been quickly erected around the park became an impromptu memorial and art space.

On Monday, the Secret Service did not say why the park had been opened to pedestrians and bicyclists.
AUSTIN  Texas is one of the last major battleground states in the throes of a contentious battle over a Republican-led overhaul of voting laws.

Around 3 a.m. on Friday, the states House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill that would introduce a host of new voting restrictions in the state, sending the legislation to the State Senate.

With the late-night passage came lots of twists, turns and political drama, setting up a contentious last few weeks of the legislative season here in Austin.

Where the bill stands

The bill passed in the House mostly along party lines, in an initial vote and a ceremonial final vote hours later. Now the legislation, called S.B. 7, has arrived at the Senate, loaded with some new amendments that have softened some of the original restrictions.
But the officials unwelcome gaze settled also on Ms. Dawuts 11-year-old daughter, she said. One cadre, a 19-year-old man who was assigned to watch the child, would sometimes call Ms. Dawut and suggest taking her daughter to his home. She was able to rebuff him with excuses that the child was sick, she said.

Other women reported having to fend off advances even in the company of their husbands.

Ms. Sedik, the Uzbek teacher, was still recovering from a sterilization procedure when her relative  her husbands boss  showed up.

She was expected to cook, clean and entertain him even though she was in pain from the operation. Worse, he would ask to hold her hand or to kiss and hug her, she said.

Mostly, Ms. Sedik agreed to his requests, terrified that if she refused, he would tell the government that she was an extremist. She rejected him only once: when he asked to sleep with her.

It went on like this every month or so for two years  until she left the country.

He would say, Dont you like me? Dont you love me? she recalled. If you refuse me, you are refusing the government.
The safari park and the government were vague at first about when the leopards escaped, but Hangzhou officials said at a news conference on Monday that they had fled on April 19 when two caretakers cleaning their enclosure violated operational rules  apparently by leaving doors open.

The parks explanation for keeping the news to itself while it secretly searched: It did not want to frighten the neighbors.

Taking into account that the escaped young leopards were not very aggressive, and worried that disclosing the matter would trigger panic, we did not promptly disclose the news, the safari park said in a statement on Saturday after the local government confirmed the escape and warned residents to be on guard.

The Chinese internet has been agog with updates and discussion about the missing leopards. Many people were not impressed by the parks explanation and had questions about the governments actions, the frantic search and the well-being of the leopards that were hunted down. Leopards are an endangered species, and are found in the wild across remnant patches of western China.

The leopard hiding affair has exposed gaps in management that warrant more scrutiny and reflection, Chinese Central Television News opined in an online article.
TAIPEI, Taiwan  Sun Moon Lake was once a popular tourist spot in Taiwan. But now the bottom of the lake is Instagram-famous for a grim reason: one of the worst droughts to hit the island in decades.

The parched lake bed  cracks snaking across the ground as far as the eye can see  has drawn the attention of influencers, who have trekked to the site to take visually arresting photos of the terrain and post them online.

But the situation is dire. Residents have prayed to the god Matsu for rain after a monthslong drought dried up the islands reservoirs. Some parts of the lake have begun to grow grass, and jetties that normally float are sitting on dry mud. Tour boats sit idle.

Our business is 90 percent less than last year, said Wang Ying-shen, chairman of a group for businesspeople who rent boats to visitors.
LONDON  Sober, cerebral and with the poise of the top-shelf lawyer he once was, Keir Starmer promised competence rather than charisma when he became leader of Britains opposition Labour Party last year, following its crushing general election defeat in 2019.

But his panicky response to last weeks poor local election results and a clumsy reshuffle of his top team have left his party in turmoil, diminishing his authority and raising doubts about whether Labour has a credible path back to power.

Mr. Starmer found himself embroiled in fierce recriminations over local election results that, with smoother communication, could have been explained away as disappointing, but instead pointed to a deeper crisis.

The one thing Keir Starmer was supposed to be was competent, said Steven Fielding, a professor of political history at the University of Nottingham. The election results were not good, but they werent as bad as some people liked to present them. He completely messed up his reaction, and that highlights concerns about his ability to communicate.
BAGHDAD  Lockheed Martin said on Monday that it was withdrawing its maintenance teams for Iraqs F-16 fighter jets for security reasons, as the Iraqi government struggles to end rocket attacks by militias suspected of being backed by Iran.

The departure by the U.S. weapons manufacturer from Balad air base, 40 miles north of Baghdad, highlights the Iraqi governments inability to rein in the militias, which are thought to be behind attacks on U.S. interests. It comes a year after the Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, took power pledging to reduce Iranian influence in the country.

The decision by Lockheed Martin is expected to ground the few remaining F-16s from Iraqs fleet that were still operational. That is casting doubt on Iraqs ability to fight Islamic State militants without substantial U.S. help, at a time when Mr. Kadhimi is under pressure to negotiate a withdrawal of all American forces.

In coordination with the U.S. government and with employee safety as our top priority, Lockheed Martin is relocating our Iraq-based F-16 team, Joseph LaMarca Jr., a company vice president for communications, said in a statement.
A U.S. Air Force Airman assigned to the 354th Maintenance Group inspects a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon intake for ice build up prior to launch for an elephant walk on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Dec. 18, 2020. More than 30 aircraft were quickly generated and prepared to launch in an effort demonstrating the readiness capabilities of the 354th Fighter Wing and the 168th Wing.
JERUSALEM  Weeks of simmering tensions in Jerusalem between Palestinian protesters, the police and right-wing Israelis suddenly veered into military conflict on Monday, as a local skirmish in the decades-long battle for control of the city escalated into rocket fire and airstrikes in Gaza.

After a raid by the Israeli police on the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem left hundreds of Palestinians and a score of police officers wounded, militants in Gaza responded by firing a barrage of rockets at Jerusalem, drawing Israeli airstrikes in return.

The catalyst for the escalation was the conflict over recent Israeli efforts to remove Palestinians from strategic parts of the city. The issue became a rallying cry for Palestinians, who saw the moves as ethnic cleansing and illegal, and right-wing Israeli Jews, who said they were fighting for their property as landowners while also attempting to ensure Jewish control over East Jerusalem.

The dispute, focused on a single Jerusalem neighborhood, has exploded into a major flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gaining world attention after a period in which the Palestinian cause had been largely marginalized  by the United States under President Donald J. Trump, by the Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel, and by Israel, ruled by a right-wing government for more than a decade.
Which wound cuts deeper: the loss of an only child or loss of a spouse? A new study led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and Fudan University suggests that Chinese parents find the loss of an only child to be approximately 1.3 times as psychologically distressing than the loss of a spouse. The findings are published in the journal Aging & Mental Health.

Older adults in China rely heavily on family support, particularly from their adult children. Filial pietythe Confucian idea describing a respect for ones parents and responsibility for adult children to care for their parents as they ageis a central value in traditional Chinese culture.

In the 1970s, China introduced a one-child policy to slow the population growth, resulting in hundreds of millions of families with only children. While the policy ended in 2016, its consequences will be felt for decades, particularly for families who experience the loss of a child.

The death of a child has been recognized as one of the most challenging and traumatic events for a parent, said Bei Wu, PhD, Dean's Professor in Global Health at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and co-director of the NYU Aging Incubator , as well as the studys senior author. Within the cultural context of China, the death of an only child is devastating not only due to the emotional loss, but also the loss of financial and instrumental support that is critical to older adults.

The death of a spouse is also recognized as a distressing life event, forcing older adults to navigate both the emotional loss and the shattering of a married couples social and economic circumstances. In this study, Wu and her colleagues wanted to examine whether the loss of a spouse had a similar impact on psychological well-being as the loss of an only child, and whether the presence of one mitigated the absence of the other.

The researchers analyzed data from a 2013 survey conducted in Shanghai involving more than 1,100 adults, including 128 parents who lost their only child. The survey evaluated the impact of the loss of a spouse or child on participants psychological well-being, including depression, loneliness, and life satisfaction.

They found that adults who lost their only child but have a living spouse had more psychological distress than those who lost their spouse but have a living child. This effect appeared to be stronger in women than in men.

Losing an only child resulted in 1.37 times the level of loneliness and 1.51 times the level depression as losing a spouse, and life satisfaction was 1.14 times worse for those who lost an only child vs. their spouse. Adults whose children and spouse were both alive had better psychological well-being than those who experienced loss.

Our findings demonstrate that the loss of an only child carries more psychological weight than the loss of a spouse in Chinese culture, said Wu.

Wu and her colleagues recommend increasing access to professional mental health services for adults who experience loss, as well as developing culturally relevant interventions to address social isolation and loneliness among older Chinese adults.

Wu collaborated on this study with Yan Liang and Hong Liang of Fudan University, Hanzhang Xu of Duke University, and Feinian Chen of the University of Maryland.
Bugatti, a company known for its exclusive sport cars, recently unveiled a $300,000 luxury pool table that relies on highly advanced gyroscopic technology to remain perfectly level in any conditions, making it usable on yachts.

There are a few things in this world that money cant buy, and until now, playing pool at sea was one of them. Try as they might, engineers could not design a table to negate the rocking of the boat and remain level. Until now, that is, because Bugatti apparently managed to create a self-leveling pool table that will allow the rich and powerful to enjoy a game of billiards on their expensive yachts.

An optional servo-driven system deploys a gyroscopic sensor to level the table  in case of installation on board a yacht, A Bugatti press release reads. Each leg can move to compensate for the movement of a ship and remain perfectly level. The system can adjust in just 5 milliseconds, and the movement is completed in total silence with vibration-free adjustment.

Part of the companys Lifestyle Collection, the limited-collection pool table was created in partnership with IXO, a company that specializes in carbon fiber product construction. As youve probably already guessed, the table has an all carbon-fiber finish, while the frame is built out of machined aluminum and titanium.

Each of the 30 tables Bugatti plans to make comes with carbon fiber pool cues, a wall-mounted cue support with a 13-inch touchscreen for users to keep score on, a dimmable LED ceiling light, as well as other accessories. Also included in the eye-watering $300,000 price tag is a USB drive with photos and videos taken during the production process.



Because making probably the worlds most expensive pool table is a laborious process, only five Bugatti pool tables will be ready by the end of 2021. According to Mail Online, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emir of Abu Dhabi, is thought to have expressed an interest in buying one for his half a billion dollar yacht, Azzam. So hurry up and order yours before they run out
Egor Onopko, an up-and-coming blogger from Vladivostok, Russia, managed to attract a lot of media attention and make some nice pocket money by turning the right side of his neck into advertising space for interested individuals and businesses. No one really believed Onopko, who goes by onokonda on social media, would go through with the idea when he first announced it on Instagram, but last week, he posted visual proof that he had gone through with it, adding that he made around 1 million rubbles ($13,500) from the 10 sold advertising spots.

Photo: onokonda/Instagram

Onokonda told his fans that he was inspired to turn himself into a walking billboard by digital creator Jan Stashkevich, who specializes in making bloggers stand out, and who was the first to purchase ad space on Egors neck. He was also the one who suggested that he search nine other interested clients as well. Stashkevichs handle isnt etched alongside the other nine, so maybe its on the other side?

Apparently, the young blogger announcement raised a lot of interest from businesses and individuals both in Russian and neighboring countries, who wanted to have their social media handles forever etched into his skin. In the end he ended up selling the nine available spots to businesses and influencers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by   |  (@onokonda)

To have their Instagram moniker permanently tattooed onto onokondas neck, interested parties had to pay a fee of 100,000 rubles ($1,350), which, you have to admit, is a reasonable amount for life-long advertising. The young blogger told Russian media that there was a lot of interest in the unique real-estate, and he had to turn down many offers.

To make everything legit, Egor and his clients signed a contract which specifies that the tattoos on his neck will remain visible for the rest of his life, and that he is forbidden from having them erased or covered up with other tattoos.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by   |  (@onokonda)

Egor Onopko isnt the first person to turn themselves into an advertising billboard, but he is the first one to have Instagram tattoos inked, instead of company names or logos. In the past, we featured a guy who tattooed his favorite brand logos on his body for free, and even a Japanese company that wanted to lease womens armpits as advertising space.
Kekst CNC handles Extraction Oil & Gas as it combines with Bonanza Creek Energy in what the Colorado companies bill as a merger of equals.

The combined company called Civitas Resources Inc. will be owned 50/50 by Extraction and Bonanza shareholders and be valued in the $2.6B range.

The Wall Street Journal notes the deal is the latest example of consolidation in the US oil & gas sector as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Extraction CEO Tom Tyree said the merger will create one of the most durable, profitable and progressive producers in Colorados Denver-Julesburg Basin.

Civitas will be the states first net-zero oil & gas producers through the continuing reduction in operational emissions coupled with a multi-year investment in certified emissions offsets, said Tyree.

The deal is expected to close during the third quarter.

Kekst CNC has Daniel Yunger, Jon Morgan, Simone Leung, Hallie Wolff and JM Shekian working the Extraction merger.
imre adds outdoor apparel brand icebreaker. The announcement marks imres expanded role with VF Corporation, owner of another imre client, Dickies. imre will work with icebreaker to define and manage the development of the brands overall PR narrative, which will then be used to support future product launches through earned media storytelling, a product seeding program and execution of initiatives that will position icebreaker as a leader in sustainability and supply chain transparency. Through the RFP process, imre demonstrated a strong understanding of our vision and were excited about the expertise theyll bring in building out our program, said icebreaker director of North American marketing Rachel Winkel.

Carolyn Izzo Integrated Communications scoops up Jove Wellness to its roster of food & beverage clients. CIIC will work the launch of the companys new alkaline water, Jove, with a campaign including media outreach, consumer activations, events and promotions, influencer partnerships and product sampling. The kick-off will begin with the "Greatest. Summer. Ever!" campaign, which consists of a summer hydration challenge, a 7-day wellness initiative, social media messaging, contests and giveaways. Additionally, the campaign will feature a #DrinkJove Hydration Truck activation. It was important for us to partner with an agency that not only had experience in the beverage industry and with new product launches, but was equally passionate about our mission and commitment to elevate the true benefits of water for improved wellbeing, said Jove Wellness CEO Tammy Hobbs.

Blaze Public Relations picks up Bluetooth speaker producer Soundboks to its roster of challenger brands. The agency will execute media outreach, targeting opportunities to build buzz and increase awareness of the brand to overland, RV, boating and audiophile channels. Campaign activations throughout 2021 will include brand growth and product launches. BLAZE really gets us and understands where the Soundboks brand is headed and how to get us there," said Soundboks US brand experience and partnerships lead Marissa Buyck.
Irish Water has been given the green light for a project to support growth and development in Rhode, Co Offaly.

They are working with Offaly County Council on the project which has seen Rhode wastewater treatment plant selected for upgrade as part of the Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme.

"This investment in the local wastewater infrastructure will provide additional capacity for the development of new homes, while ensuring that wastewater continues to be treated to an appropriate standard," Irish Water said.

Details of other towns and villages to be included in the programme, if any, will be announced in the coming months.

Elaine Heneghan, Irish Waters Regional Forward Planning Specialist, said: We are pleased to confirm that this important project to improve wastewater treatment capacity in Rhode has been given the green light. This will bring big benefits to the area by ensuring the infrastructure is in place to meet the needs of the village Rhode as it continues to grow.

The purpose of the Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme is to support growth in smaller towns and villages. Rhode was selected following detailed consultation with the Local Authority to identify and prioritise areas for investment.

The project will now continue through the next stages including design, detailed planning, procurement and approvals. Further updates on the budget and timelines for delivery will be provided in due course.

"Irish Water is responsible for public water and wastewater infrastructure and is committed to providing a safe and reliable water supply, protecting the environment and supporting the growth of homes and businesses. The building, repair and upgrading of Irish Waters water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, water and sewer network will require a multi-billion euro investment programme over many years. Irish Water is investing 5.2 billion in the period from 2020-2024 in drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity and new infrastructure."

The Draft Capital Investment Plan is subject to consultation and final determination by Irish Waters regulator, the Commission of the Regulation of Utilities (CRU). This process is ongoing.

Following its completion and with the approval of the CRU, updated details of the planned investments in each county will be outlined over the coming months.
A Polish national who gardai have alleged is a serious flight risk due to seizure of 325,000 in drugs and 85,000 in cash at his home in Laois is set to be released on bail.

A judge made the decision because she said he may not stand trial for at least two years due to long delays of processing for forensic evidence and a shortage of judge needed to clear the Covid-19 backlog.

Judge Catherine Staines reached the conclusion on Saturday, May 8 that she must set bail conditions in Portlaoise District Court at a special sitting where a couple appeared on drug charges arising from raids and an investigation that involved the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Ireneusz Kiwak,(36) with an address at Stonehaven, Portarlington appeared before a special sitting of the court separately from his wife Malgorzata Wojciechowska (41) who resides at the same address. They were detained on Thursday, May 6 after a garda raid on their home in the Laois Offaly town.

Kiwak was represented by Mr Donough Molloy. Prior to the court hearing evidence of the circumstances of the arrest and charges from Gardai, the solicitor initially made a submission to the court that his client was held in custody unlawfully.

He claimed that if somebody is charged after 5pm the accused needs to be brought to court as soon as is practical or before 12 noon if a sitting has to be arranged. Judge Staines examined the legislation under which Mr Molloy claimed that his client should not have been in custody. She said this would only apply if there was a scheduled sitting in Portlaoise. She said no judge was due to sit in Portlaoise on Saturday and it was a special sitting.

Mr Molloy contended that the accused could have been brought to the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. However, Judge Staines pointed out that Dublin Courts are very busy with hundreds of cases every day and there was a likelihood that the accused would not have had his case heard.

Garda Detective Patrick O'Connell told the court that Gardai were objecting Mr Kiwak's release on bail due the nature and seriousness of the offence with which he is charged and the length of sentence faced.

The Tullamore stationed garda told the court the accused was arrested under two alleged offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1997. The garda told the court that this relates to a seizure at his home at Stonehaven on May 6 this year.

Det O'Connell said 4.5 kgs of cocaine was found with a market value of 315,000 and 500 grams of cannabis worth 10,000. The garda told the court that this carries a prison sentence of 14 years.

Det O'Connell gave evidence that drugs were located in several areas of the family home where the accused lived with his wife and children. Gardai showed pictures which they also claimes showed equipment required for drug mixing and distribution.

The garda also said in excess of 85,000 in cash was found in the house. The court also heard that a large amount of cocaine was also found in an Audi car.

Det O'Connell said Mr Kiwak was present with his family when garda entered the property on May 6. He claimed Mr Kiwak made admissions to Gardai.

He said on the basis of the charges faced gardai believe the accused is a flight risk and should be remanded in custody until trial. The garda told the court that the Mr Kiwak has the means to leave the country and has associates in other jurisdictions.

Mr Kiwak's solicitor said the special sitting was not the day for the hearing of the case. He asked if the gardai had any evidence associates with other juristictions. Garda O'Donnell replied that his direct evidence the accused had associates who are in prison in a foreign jurisdiction with whom he has associated within Ireland.

Mr Molloy said his client had lived in Ireland for over 15 years and contended that has significant ties to Ireland including a child. He also highlighted that the existence of the European arrest warrant system and added that the accused had handed his passport to gardai.

Det O'Connell said however that the accused has family back in Poland. He added that Mr Kiwak could flee to any country. He said no bail conditions would satisfy gardai.

Mr Molloy also asked the garda about when he believed the case against his client would conclude.

Det O'Connell said the garda would have completed its element of the prosecution file within eight weeks but that he and his colleagues were relying on outside agencies for forensic reports. He could not give an estimate as to how long this would take to complete. Mr Molloy contended that realistically it would take two years.

In a further submission to the court, Mr Molloy there are two key factors when deciding on bail one of which was whether the defendant was likely to stand trial and secondly the risk that witnesses would be interfered with.

He said there is no reference in the garda's evidence of interference with witnesses. He further argued that there is no evidence 'whatsoever' that his client would not stand trial. He said the court should not rely on a 'bland assertion' that due to the seriousness of the charges, Mr Kiwak would leave the country.

Mr Molloy said his client would comply with any conditions imposed by the court. He argued that when this is added to the likely timeframe of two years before the case is heard, he said that bail should be granted.

Judge Staines granted bail because of delays in analysing drugs and the backlog in cases caused by Covid-19 and a related shortage of judges to clear the lists.

In reaching her decision she acknowledged that the accused is before the court on 'extremely serious charges' but she said the constitution gives him a presumption of innocence. She added that he had no previous record. She agreed with Mr Molloy about the length of time it would take for the case to come to court.

"The reality is that because of the delay in the forensic science laboratory in issuing certificates, there are huge delays in the gardai getting DPP directions," she said.

The judge said the DPP will not direct in drugs cases until the evidence has been analysed. She said delays have emerged n her experienced in Laois and she believe the similar issue is arising across the country.

She said trial dates will also have to be fixed and there are huge delays in trials and there is clearly a need for extra judges to clear that backlog.

"The reality is that Mr Kiwak could be custody for up to two years in a situation where he does have a presumption of innocence," she said.

She said stringent bail would be fixed. He was required to lodge 20,000 of independent surety or cash in lieu, surrender passport, provide a phone number to be contactable at all times. He must sign on daily at Portlaoise Garda Station between 9am and 9pm with a curfew of 10pm to 8am.

Judge Staines conceded to a request from Garda Inspector Barry Collins that Gardai be allowed to investigate the providence of the 20,000 if cash is lodge as part of meeting the conditions of bail.

Judge Staines remanded the accused to Cloverhill Prison to appear in Cloverhill District Court on Thursday, May 13 because Mr Molloy said his client would not be in a position to meet the requirements on the day of the hearing.

An interpreter was not required.

In the case of Ms Wojciechowska, Det O'Connell told the court that he arrested her on Friday, May 7 on four charges. The alleged offences relate to possession and supply of cannabis and cocaine. She made no reply when cautioned.

Gardai consented to the conditions of bail as agreed with the woman through her solicitor Aisling Maloney. A surety was not requested.

The judge fixed bail on the condition that the accused reside at Stonehaven, Portarlington and sign on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Tullamore Garda Station between the hours of 9am and 1pm. She was required to provide a contact number to Det O'Connell and be contactable 24 hours a day. A curfew of 10pm to 6pm was also imposed.

Insp Collins confirmed that Ms Wojciechowska has surrendered her passport. The judge ordered that she not apply for a new passport.

Judge Staines adjourned the matter to July 15 due to the delay in obtaining forensic certificates.

The judge delayed the granting of free legal aid to Ms Wojciechowska. Judge Staines agreed with Det O'Connell said the appropriate documentation should be presented to the court that the accused is on a weekly PUP payment of 203 a week.

Judge Staines told Ms Moran that she wanted statutory evidence that her client was telling the truth. If this is provided she said she would backdate the legal aid.
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Mid-Day 11 May 2021

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Uefa is set to decide by Wednesday whether to switch the Champions League final to Wembley from Istanbul because of travel restrictions.
Police in Colorado Springs were searching for a motive Monday after a gunman opened fire at a birthday party, killing six people then himself.


A 23-year-old woman in Tuscany remains under observation after she was mistakenly given an entire vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine - equivalent to six doses.
It was first unveiled in the seventies with a now-iconic design incorporating sensual lines, a cambered case, and asymmetrical lugs. Almost half a century later and the Limelight Gala continues to turn heads with its perfectly integrated gold case and bracelet, and lugs adorned with exquisite gemstones.

The name of the collection was inspired by the Piaget Society and its fabulous parties with film stars, artists, clients, and friends of the Maison who shared a certain art de vivre. Celebrities such as Salvador Dali, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol, Cary Grant, and Sami Davis Jr., would join Piaget for these unforgettable moments together. In a tribute to the Limelight Gala and its illustrious history, Piaget is presenting six new limited editions for Watches & Wonders 2021.

Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow  Piaget

Limelight Gala Precious Limited Editions

Three delightful new coloured Limelight Gala Precious timepieces are being presented in blue, yellow, and pink. The three colours follow the course of the sun throughout the day, with blue for the morning sky, yellow representing the sun at its zenith, and pink depicting the glow of the setting sun.

Each model is adorned with a flowing gradient of coloured sapphires and diamonds that start in intense hues around the bezel and gently lighten as they reach the tips of the lugs.



Finding the exact shade and size of sapphire is an art in itself as Piagets gemmologists sift through countless stones to be able to create a seamless swirl of colour with the perfect transition from gemstone to gemstone. Each model is powered by the automatic movement, Piagets Calibre 501P1.

Limelight Gala Precious Sunrise

The Limelight Gala Precious Sunrise comes in a 32mm 18K white gold case and bezel set with 32 brilliant-cut blue sapphires (approx. 4.70 cts.) and 10 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.90 ct.) that evoke the bright blue colour of a sunny morning sky. The dial is created with a snow setting of diamonds (289 in total, with approx. 1.76 cts.) that magnifies the reflections and refractions of light thanks to a glorious mix of different-sized gemstones.

Limelight Gala Precious Sunrise  Piaget

Limelight Gala Precious Zenith

Housed in a 32mm 18K white gold case, a gradient of sunny yellow gemstones circles the bezel with 32 brilliant-cut yellow sapphires (approx. 4.70 cts.) transitioning to 10 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.90 ct.), starting with the deepest yellow in the centre and radiating out along the lugs.

The dial features a snow setting of diamonds for maximum sparkle (289 in total, with approx. 1.76 cts.) and a high-jewellery bracelet continues the colour scheme in a river of diamonds and yellow sapphires that are set in such a way that the bracelet feels like a second skin on the wrist. The bracelet includes 124 brilliant-cut yellow sapphires (approx. 4.58 cts.) and 276 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 9.95 cts.).

Limelight Gala Precious Zenith  Piaget

Limelight Gala Precious Sunset

Completing this trilogy of colours, the Limelight Gala Precious Sunset glows in shades of warm pink in celebration of the sun as it sets in the evening sky.



The timepiece is housed in a 32mm 18K rose gold case with a bezel of 32 brilliant-cut pink sapphires (approx. 4.70 cts.) transitioning to 10 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.90 cts.). This array of pink gemstones swirls around an elegant white mother-of-pearl dial whose pearl effect shimmers in the light. The Limelight Gala Precious Sunset is fitted with a white satin strap and an 18K rose gold ardillon buckle that is set with 15 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.06 ct.).

Limelight Gala Precious Sunset  Piaget

Limelight Gala High Jewellery Black Opal

Piagets Limelight Gala High Jewellery Black Opal has to be seen to be believed! This exquisite high-jewellery wristwatch features a rare black opal dial from Australia.

One of Yves Piagets favourite ornamental stones, the black opal offers a unique crystallographic pattern creating glorious blue and green hues that change with the light and vividly illustrate the richness of the earth.

Limelight Gala High Jewellery  Piaget

The sensual curves of the Limelight Gala are accentuated by a row of 91 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 5.28 cts.) that circle the bezel, lugs, and bracelet. Piaget has added a spectacular row of 83 marquise-cut emeralds (approx. TBC) to this line of sparkling diamonds, creating a sense of movement across the timepiece, and bringing out the deep green hues of the opal dial. The marquise cut was named after the French Marquise de Pompadour for whom Louis XV had created a specific gem-cut in the shape of her lips.

Since the 1960s, Piaget has often worked with this feminine and sensual cut to accentuate the femininity of its creations. Each marquise-cut gemstone is held in place by a delicate claw-setting that testifies to Piagets extraordinary high-jewellery expertise. The timepiece is powered by the Maisons 56P quartz movement.

Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow

For the very first time in its history, Piaget has created a rainbow setting with a spectacular array of green tsavorites and coloured sapphires that range from red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo and violet, taking centre stage around the bezel and on the lugs.



Sourcing progressively-sized, coloured gemstones of this calibre is extremely challenging. Piagets gemmologists searched long and hard for the exact colours, carat, cut, and clarity, explaining why the series is numbered and limited.

Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow  Piaget

The setting of this piece also demanded particular patience and expertise from the Maisons gem-setters who needed to create the perfect colour and size transition from one gemstone to the next using an intricate technique called Sertie Descendu that magnifies the brilliance of each gemstone.



The automatic Limelight Gala 18K rose gold comes in a 32mm case, with a matching dial and the bracelet that have both been decorated with Piagets signature Palace decoration. This timepiece is the perfect fusion of the Maisons expertise in watchmaking, goldsmithing and gem-setting.

Limelight Gala Mother-of-Pearl Palace

The Limelight Gala Mother-of-Pearl Palace timepiece is housed in a 26 mm 18K rose gold case adorned with the finest quality diamonds and features a mother-of-pearl dial that has been delicately engraved with the same Palace Decor motifs. As the engraving is done by hand, each dial is unique. This Limelight Gala model is limited to 300 pieces and comes on a white alligator strap.
The holy city, which contains sacred sites for Jews, Muslims and Christians, has been rocked by violence over the past three days. Hamas has launched a rocket attack at the city in the latest escalation of tensions.
Eurasia Review 29 May 2021

By Michael Eisenstadt*



Since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has distinguished itself (along with..
The militant group said the rockets were in response to an Israeli police crackdown on Muslim worshippers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the rocket fire in Israel, but local media reported that a house in the Jerusalem hills had been damaged, in the most serious outbreak of hostilities with Hamas in months
Scotland's separatist parties won a majority of seats at last Thursday's election, meaning leaving the United Kingdom is once again being talked about.
Eurasia Review 25 May 2021

As Senator, Vice President, and now President, your self-promoted/displayed empathy has a problem. You cant seem to connect the..
NBC said it hopes the Hollywood Foreign Press Association can fix major issues, including lack of racial representation, and be back on air in 2023.


Amid new waves of COVID-19 in India, four states (West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam) and one Union Territory (Puducherry)..

Eurasia Review 04 May 2021
Deutsche Welle 10 May 2021

The US navy has used gunfire to chase off Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf for the second time in a few weeks. It took two..
Caitlyn Jenner, who wants to be Californias next governor, said undocumented immigrants should have a chance to become citizens  but the bad ones have to leave.
A retired U.S. Army colonel from California says he will challenge Liz Cheney in next year's Republican U.S. House primary in Wyoming.Denton Knapp, of Trabuco Canyon, California, said he plans to move back to Gillette...
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle did not hold back going after Hamas after the terrorist group launched rockets at Jerusalem Monday evening as the city was celebrating Jerusalem Day.
The unrest in Jerusalem has prompted Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn to introduce "The Hezbollah Money Laundering Prevention Act of 2021" to try and choke off the financial flow into the terrorist group
More than 300 people were wounded Monday in renewed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, as an Israeli celebration of its 1967 takeover of Jerusalem risked inflaming tensions. Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli officers in riot gear who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas, an AFP correspondent []
Rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel Monday after the Islamist movement Hamas had warned the Jewish state to pull out its security forces from the violence-torn Al-Aqsa mosque compound and a flashpoint city district. You have been warned, said a spokesman for the movement that controls the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip, also demanding the release []
The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting Monday on unrest in Jerusalem but issued no immediate statement, with diplomats saying the United States believed public comments would be counterproductive. Negotiations were continuing among the 15 nations on the Security Council on a text that could be watered down from an initial draft proposed by []
Four patients died in one day when oxygen ran out at the small hospital, in what it labelled a "never-ending nightmare".
When American police raided a Louisville, Kentucky, home last year, searching for evidence in a drug case, a 26-year-old woman was killed. The plain-clothes police officers were searching for the ex-boyfriend of the victim, Breonna Taylor, but instead found her with a new boyfriend and feared they were being attacked. The new...
Al Jazeera STUDIO 24 May 2021

The incident comes as a fragile ceasefire holds in besieged Gaza, days after the end of a 11-day Israeli bombing campaign.
Eurasia Review 17 May 2021

Israel pummeled Gaza with airstrikes early Monday morning as violence in the region entered its second week.



The attack..
Rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel Monday after the Islamist movement Hamas had warned the Jewish state to pull out its..

Digital Journal 10 May 2021
Teaser Trailer 10 May 2021

VENOM LET THERE BE CARNAGE Movie Trailer HD - We missed you so much. Sink your teeth into the new #Venom: Let There Be..
Opalesque Industry Update - The Strategic Funds, an alternative investments and private equity manager, has launched a new cryptocurrency fund. The new Fund will offer accredited investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of crypto assets, beyond just Bitcoin. By deploying a balanced allocation to the top 10 crypto tokens by market cap along with a quant-driven hedging algorithm for dynamic adjustments, as well as crypto asset and cash-based lending strategies, the Fund seeks the primary objective of delivering long-term capital growth at moderate levels of volatility relative to the asset class. Expanding The Strategic Funds' offerings into crypto assets reflects the firm's belief in the future of the crypto market and that this asset class will continue to evolve rapidly, moving out of the shadows and into the mainstream. The new Fund's operational strategy will tap into the formulating frameworks, improved transparency and risk controls surrounding this market with the long-term perspective that it is on the precipice of developing in a significant way. "At Strategic Funds, we have always focused on identifying opportunities around the edges ahead of the herd, and we see the crypto market as one of those opportunities," said Robb Rill, chairman of The Strategic Funds. "We developed this solution based on our ability to harness volatility via effective risk management and to offer a foothold in this fast-moving space. We believe in the future of the crypto market, particularly decentralized finance, and that investors can meaningfully invest in this asset for the long-term." The Fund will utilize an active trading strategy with a weekly rebalancing policy curated through data science techniques. It will be sub-advised by Invictus Capital Financial Technologies, which has built a specialty in the token-based crypto-asset trading space.

About The Strategic Funds

The Strategic Group PR (TSG), founded in 2013 and based in Puerto Rico, is a diversified asset management holding company that engages in alternative investment strategies and proprietary investments in private equity including through Strategic Funding, LLC (SFI). Press release

Bg Article source - Opalesque is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
San Francisco, CA (May 05, 2021)  THATCHERS GOURMET POPCORN WHITE CHEDDAR TRUFFLE has won the New Product Award in the salty snack category as part of the Specialty Food Associations (SFA) 2021 sofi Awards, a top honor in the $158 billion specialty food industry. White Cheddar Truffle was one of 130 winners selected from nearly 1,500 entries across 49 product categories. Products are judged in an anonymous sampling for 
Cyber Intelligence 4U, Inc. (CIU) is proud to announce an innovative incentive-aligned program for cybersecurity professionals to finance their continuing education using Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs) in partnership with ISA Plus and Meratas. Cyber Intelligence 4U (CIU) is a cybersecurity workforce acceleration partner that uses hands-on training to educate and provide real world, clinical experience. CIU is the global leader in cybersecurity education with over 4,000 graduates of their 
Tracy K. Smith, former poet Laureate, has a wonderful way with strange and haunting images, that still manage to tell a resonant story. I think of the old story she tells here  how future generations must contend with the grand absence that comes with the passing of time. Yet, there is hope, there is hope in art, in song, and one imagines, in this poem. An Old Story is a beautiful anthem to the singing.

An Old Story

By Tracy K. Smith

We were made to understand it would be

Terrible. Every small want, every niggling urge,

Every hate swollen to a kind of epic wind,

Livid, the land, and ravaged, like a rageful

Dream. The worst in us having taken over

And broken the rest utterly down.

A long age

Passed. When at last we knew how little

Would survive us  how little we had mended

Or built that was not now lost  something

Large and old awoke. And then our singing

Brought on a different manner of weather.

Then animals long believed gone crept down

From trees. We took new stock of one another.

We wept to be reminded of such color.

***

We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2018 by Tracy K. Smith, An Old Story from Wade in the Water, (Graywolf Press, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Permissions Company, LLC and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2021 by The Poetry Foundation. The introductions author, Kwame Dawes, is George W. Holmes Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner at the University of Nebraska.
In early 2020, Screen Door owners Nicole and David Mouton took chef Dan Grill and general manager Sarah Peters Grill on a research trip to New Orleans. The idea? Eat great food, soak in the culture and bring back inspiration from the Moutons native Louisiana for Screen Doors upcoming Pearl District location, which they expected to open last summer.

Of course, the pandemic had other plans. Now, nearly a year after originally planned, Screen Door Pearl is set to open on Wednesday, May 12, in a 4,000-square-foot section of a former P.F. Changs.

We wanted people to feel at home right away, so all of the old favorites and classics, Nicole Mouton said. But we will have some new things on the menu that is the rest of the story we never tell because of limited space on the east side, like our chicken-fried steak, more seafood, including a seafood jambalaya and an oyster broil. We have a spin on praline ribs bringing some influence from New Orleans. And yeah, were just having a lot of fun.

Those praline ribs are an offshoot of that Screen Door (and New Orleans) staple, praline bacon. Here, spare riblets are given a salt-and-pepper rub, roasted until tender, dipped in the fryer and tossed in a brown sugar and cayenne glaze with toasted little pecan pieces added for texture. Even with the opening delay, that recipe was still being tweaked, with Dan Grill adding a little more cayenne to the glaze Monday morning until the ribs were table-slapping good.

The Moutons, who opened Screen Door in 2006, have been contemplating expansion since 2013. The old P.F. Changs, most recently an unlikely outpost of the glitzy Las Vegas burger barn Holsteins, might seem like an odd fit, especially with oversized Pearl District restaurants closing left and right. But the location one block from Powells City of Books was tempting, and after the landlord agreed to split the space, they were sold.

It wont take much to fill the new dining room: Oregons current COVID-19 restrictions for Multnomah County mean Screen Door Pearl will be able to seat only 25 people indoors, with room for an additional 40 seats outdoors.

A third location at the Portland International Airport also has been delayed. Expect that Screen Door to open next to a Good Coffee cafe on PDXs redesigned Concourse B sometime in 2022.

Screen Door Pearl opens for brunch and dinner on Wednesday, May 12, at 1131 N.W. Couch St., screendoorpdx.com

-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell
Matt and Amy Roloff have divorced, some of their children are no longer participating in the show, but Little People, Big World just keeps going. The TLC series, about the Roloffs and their family farm in Oregons Helvetia area, first aired in 2006. And despite off-camera issues (including the allegation made last year by Jacob Roloff that, as a child, he had been molested by a producer on the show), Little People, Big World will return for another season, on Tuesday, May 11.

According to a press release from TLC, the new season of Little People, Big World finds members of the Roloff family dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Matt Roloff is reportedly figuring out how to run the family farm, now that he and Amy are divorced, and she has moved out.

(No cable? Livestream Little People, Big World on Philo, which offers a free trial; and on fuboTV, which also offers a free trial)

Amy Roloff, meanwhile, will be looking forward to her future with her fiance, Chris Marek, though they apparently have different ideas about what their wedding should be like.

One of the couples offspring, Zach Roloff, is busy raising his own children with his wife, Tori. Apparently, drama is in store when it comes to the fate of the farm. As the press release says, Zach contemplates co-owning and running the farm with his dad. Is he ready to handle all that would come with living and working with his father?

The title, Little People, Big World, refers to the fact that Matt, Amy, and their son, Zach, have dwarfism. The couples other children, Jeremy, Molly and Jacob, dont have dwarfism.

In other serious news for the family, Tori Roloff revealed in March that she had suffered a miscarriage. And while Jacob Roloff remains uninvolved with the show, Matt Roloff posted on Instagram in early April that he and his girlfriend, Caryn Chandler, had visited Jacob and his wife, Isabel, in Bend.

Little People, Big World returns at 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 11 on TLC.

Subscribe to our free weekly What to Watch newsletter. Email:



-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
Bethenia Owens-Adair overcame a wave of hardships early in her life to earn a medical degree and become one of Oregons first practicing women doctors. She was a heroine of the states womens-rights movement as well, with one newspaper in 1906 calling her a central figure in the making of Oregon history.

In the years that followed that effusive praise, she would extend her influence into public-health policymaking.

Thats where her legacy takes a dark turn.

Owens-Adair, who died in 1926 at 86, led the charge for a state sterilization law, based on her belief in eugenics, a scientific theory about heredity that is now considered racially biased and unethical.

She produced a widely distributed campaign pamphlet that heralded her as Author of The Famous HUMAN STERILIZATION BILL of Oregon.

Dr. Bethenia Owens-Adair.

Owens-Adair called human sterilization simply a remedy for degeneracy. Heredity, to my belief, is the directing force of all life. The purity of this source makes for good; impurity makes for evil.

The well-known doctor, whose life The Oregon Journal insisted was a tale of heroic courage, admitted that she faced many rebukes for her views on eugenics. She said, without acknowledging any irony, that these scoldings came from men who called on her to embrace intellectual modesty as something every woman should wear.

But she would not keep quiet on such an important issue, she declared.

More than eighteen hundred years ago we were told that The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children, aye, even to the third and fourth generation, she wrote, quoting the Bible. Had we but heeded that warning, and studied the solution of the problem, we should not today require the use of jails, penitentiaries and insane asylums.

Theodore Roosevelt, seen here during his Rough Rider days, held some beliefs that tracked with eugenics thought.

Owens-Adair trumpeted the thousands of scientific men and women in the field devoting their earnest and faithful lives to the great work of elevating and purifying the race.

And there were indeed thousands.

Eugenics had been born in the late 1800s from a sloppy reading of the work of pioneering evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin, The New Yorker magazine has pointed out. It became a prevalent sloppiness.

President Theodore Roosevelt, industrialist John D. Rockefeller Jr., Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and many other prominent early 20th-century Americans embraced aspects of eugenics -- as did, later, the Nazi regime in Germany.

Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce, Roosevelt once stated.

Dr. Owens-Adair was a prolific eugenics pamphleteer.

Eugenics had the makings of science, but it truly thrived in the political realm. The natural expression of traits could be used to justify colonialism, segregation, even low wages. It explained, some proponents said, why wealthy white Americans were successful and recent immigrants remained poor.

In the early 1900s, more than two dozen U.S. states saw significant eugenics-driven legislation. A 1927 U.S. Supreme Court decision, written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., upheld a states right to prevent the manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.

Oregon, thanks to Owens-Adairs efforts, was one of the leaders in this push. After some setbacks, due to the states referendum system and the courts, a sterilization law passed the legislature in 1917. The bills title: To Prevent Procreation of Certain Classes in Oregon.

During the next 60 years, the state would force sterilization on more than 2,600 Oregonians.

The policy targeted the feebleminded -- with diagnoses sometimes achieved through faulty intelligence tests and the identification of supposed symptoms such as an overactive sex drive and drug addiction. Sterilizations were performed on the mentally ill, convicted criminals, people suffering from epilepsy, orphans and others.

The Oregon law established a Board of Eugenics -- comprised of the superintendents of the state correctional and psychiatric institutions, along with state Board of Health members -- which oversaw the process that could end with a person being sterilized.

After World War II, eugenics fell into disrepute -- and periodic encomiums to the late Dr. Owens-Adair began to leave out the work for which she had been best known.

In 1950, when The Oregonian produced a photo essay celebrating the foremost women in Oregon history, the caption for Owens-Adairs image said only that she learned ABCs over washboard, went on to teaching, medical degree, local fame as temperance, suffrage leader.

The birth-control proponent Margaret Sanger.

Oregons state policy that had been inspired by her now-controversial beliefs quietly continued, however.

In 1967, the Board of Eugenics was renamed the Board of Social Protection. With the name change came professionalization and expansion of the board, and as a result there were some snarls with state hospital administrators who wanted us to sort of rubber-stamp their list of people to be sterilized, longtime board member Jean Schreiber said in a 1980 interview.

Schreiber added:

Before, the superintendents of the institutions just met and agreed among themselves. The prisoners often did not even know the proceedings were taking place. For some, sterilization was a condition of release or parole, or was even used as a punitive measure for acting out.

Now, those who faced sterilization would come before the board to answer questions and offer their views on the procedure. Most of the prisoners and patients who agreed to be sterilized gave the same reason: they wanted to go home.

The increased oversight -- and changing societal attitudes -- ultimately led to a dramatic drop in state sterilization requests. The board didnt meet for more than four years in the 1970s, until a lawsuit forced it to take up a case. The last state sterilization took place in 1981; the panel disbanded two years later.

In 2002, then-Gov. John Kitzhaber publicly apologized for Oregons defunct eugenics-related practices, declaring that this official expression of remorse was the right thing to do, the just thing to do.

-- Douglas Perry

dperry@oregonian.com

@douglasmperry
On one of their first dates together, Vanessa Krueger took James Miner to her favorite thrift store.

It was 2016, and shed met Miner while they were both working for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington D.C.

One of my favorite things to do is go thrift shopping, Krueger said. So, I took him to my secret thrift shopping location.

Krueger picked out a few vintage, hardback suitcases to add to her collection.

Since we were courting, James was a gentleman and paid for my thrifted suitcases, she said.

Once back at home, Krueger lifted the inside flap of a gray American Tourister suitcase and discovered a valuables deposit envelope dated from 1983.

Inside, she found a diamond ring.

I looked at it and thought, is this a sign? she said.

Vanessa Krueger holds the wedding ring she found inside a thrift store suitcase on one of the first dates with her future husband.Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian

She slipped the ring on her finger and took a photo. After debating whether it would be seen as creepy so early in their relationship, she sent the picture to Miner, who didnt find it creepy at all.

She told me I found a diamond ring in one of the suitcases, and thats just a really exciting thing to hear, Miner said. And then it sort of clicked, were dating, and I found a ring, and all the fun suggestions around getting married with that. It was just a fun, happy discovery.

And, it turns out, it was a sign.

Krueger and Miner are now married and living in Portland. The couple welcomed their first child, Zinnia, last year.

After leaving his work as a financial analyst, Miner started a completely new career as a tattoo artist. Wolfsbane Tattoo Collective, Miners tattoo shop at 3640 S.E. Belmont St., has been furnished with many of the couples vintage finds from the same D.C. thrift store where he purchased the suitcase.

They appreciate reusing found and thrifted objects, which is why, before their wedding in 2019, Krueger considered repurposing the rings diamond into her own wedding band.

But the idea didnt feel right, and eventually, she decided the ring should go home.

Of course, she didnt know where home was. She only knew the name of its owner, written on the outside of the deposit envelope, was Mae Warner.

I have a really sweet feeling about this person I know nothing about, Krueger said.

Mae Warners ring sat in her jewelry box until February 2020, when Krueger read one of my stories in The Oregonian/OregonLive about reuniting someone with a lost wedding ring.

My ring, some day, I hope goes to my daughter, and if I lose it, I just really hope someone would hang on to it and not pull it apart for their own purposes, she said.

She asked for my help, and the hunt for Mae Warner began.

Vanessa Krueger, James Miner and their daughter Zinnia outside their home in Southeast Portland on May 9, 2021. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

I had two other names and a few additional clues to work with. The suitcase had been purchased in the D.C. suburb of Silver Springs, Maryland. A name tag on the outside of the suitcase read Robert Roland. And the ring was inside a deposit envelope that had been signed by someone named Carolyn Danek or Danik. There was no business name on the envelope, but I initially thought it might have come from a bank.

Mae was the obvious person to start with, but I didnt get far. I tried various public records and online searches, but there are so many Mae Warners who have lived in Maryland, Virginia or the D.C. area that I didnt know where to begin.

I also tracked down and reached out to several of the many Robert Rolands living on the East Coast, but none were a match.

After several fruitless weeks searching Maes and Roberts, I reconsidered my approach and focused on finding the woman with the uncommon last name who had signed for the rings deposit. If Ms. Danek or Danik were still around, its doubtful she would remember this particular ring, but she might be able to offer clues about where it had come from.

Turns out there was only one Carolyn Danek who had lived in the area, and she had died tragically in a car crash in Virginia in 1985. She was only 38.

It seemed like a dead end, until I read her death certificate, which listed her occupation.

Danek was a social services director for a nursing home.

Thats it.

Mae Warner must have deposited her wedding ring when checking into a nursing home.

Daneks death certificate didnt list the name of the facility where she worked, but she lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, and I guessed she likely worked in a nursing home nearby. So, I narrowed my search on Ancestry.com to Mae Warners who had an address in Loudoun County and would have been at least 65 years old in 1983.

And I got a hit  Mae S. Warner, who died in Virginia in 1989 at age 93.

Virginia death certificates also list an informant, the person who provides the information about the deceased. In this case, Maes death certificate informant had been Jeanne A. Roland.

I searched for more information on Jeanne and learned she was married to Robert Roland  which answered the mystery of the third name. Jeanne was Maes daughter, and Robert was Maes son-in-law.

Both Rolands had died, but I found Roberts obituary in the Washington Post, which listed his surviving children.

And thats when I called Suzi Larkins of Clayton, North Carolina, to tell her the whole strange story of why I had her grandmothers wedding ring.

The ring and the envelope in which Vanessa Krueger found it, which was tucked inside a suitcase.Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian

By the time I had figured out the rings owner in March 2020, two big things had happened. First, Krueger gave birth to her first child, and the family was taking some much-needed time to themselves.

And secondly, there was a pandemic.

So, it was almost a year before I was able to sit down with Krueger and Miner, and get them on the phone with Larkins, to share the full story and return the ring.

Stella Mae Spencer and Harry Warner married in North Dakota in 1917. Larkins said her grandparents spent most of their lives in Fargo.

He read water meters for the gas company and she was a housewife, Larkins said. When they could no longer live alone, they came down to Virginia to live with my parents.

After Harry died, and as Mae required more specialized care due to dementia, she went to live at a nursing home.

Its possible Maes ring sat inside a suitcase pocket for decades after her death, lost or forgotten.

Then Robert Roland died in 2010, followed by Jeanne Roland in 2013.

A few years after their parents deaths, Larkins and her siblings cleaned out some of their belongings. Her sister remembers taking some of her parents old suitcases to a thrift store  where it ended up being purchased by Krueger and Miner.

Im using that suitcase now to store my scrap fabric and yarn, Krueger told Larkins.

Oh, she absolutely would approve of that, Larkins said of her grandmother. She made all her clothes, she made all my dolls.

Before mailing the ring to Larkins, I took it to Margulis Jewelers in downtown Portland to have it cleaned and appraised. Owner David Margulis is a member of the American Society of Jewelry Historians and continues to operate the store his father opened 89 years ago.

My father was one of the first people in Portland to sell estate and vintage jewelry, so I grew up being shown the jewelry, working in the store, Margulis said. Ive been here nearly 50 years.

Margulis quickly determined the ring wasnt as old as we had thought. He said the center diamond was likely cut in the 1910s but it was reset, along with two smaller diamonds, in a manner and style from the 1960s.

Its an old European cut diamond that you can date by the facet pattern, he said, referring to the flat sections of a diamond that make up its geometric shape. It looks like she wore this every day. A gold ring from 1917 worn every day could last 30 years, 40 years, but its really a stretch to make it to 50.

He estimated the modest diamond was possibly a quarter of a carat. As a used ring, it might sell for $500 to $600 today.

But its not the value of the gold or diamonds that make a ring special. Thats certainly not why I spent so much time trying to find its owner.

One of the things thats so important to people when they inherit a piece, or its a family jewel, is that they can remember their father wearing it, or their mother wearing it, or their grandmother wearing it, Margulis said. Its that enduring connection.

Larkins said she didnt expect the ring to be particularly valuable, as her grandparents never had much money, but it was a sentimental piece of history for her.

I personally wear a ring that was my mothers and a ring that was my mother-in-laws, she said. Well keep it in the family, for sure.

The ring arrived in the mail earlier this year, its journey from North Dakota, to Virginia, to Maryland, to Oregon, to Larkins finger in North Carolina finally complete.

This is the 10th ring we have returned in whats become an occasional series. Have you found a wedding or class ring? We may be able to find its owner. Email me at sswindler@oregonian.com

-- Samantha Swindler, sswindler@oregonian.com, @editorswindler
Destroy white supremacy, not each other.

Thats the message plastered on several new billboards across the Portland area. The provocative message is displayed between a large gold-colored bullet that includes a superimposed image of a slave ship.

At a Monday unveiling of one of the new billboards, the artist behind the image -- Portland native Elijah Hasan -- said the bullet, like a slave ship, is a vessel of trauma for Black people.

It is my intention to remind the Black minds inside these Black bodies that they may think that these bullets fly because someone snitched or even killed a loved one, said Hasan. But I am suggesting that this is not the reason youre shooting. But instead, its a symptom of the environment you find yourself in.

Motivated by Portlands recent homicide rate increase, community organizations and anti-gun violence advocates -- including the No Hate Zone, the Portland Rotary Peace Builders Committee, Love is Stronger, and Books Not Bars Oregon -- came together to create the billboards. Their goal is to directly connect the issue of Black-on-Black gun violence to the self-hate that is procreated by racism.

The organizers hope to reveal the impact that anti-Black trauma has had on the psyche of Portlands Black community, said Sam Sachs, founder of The No Hate Zone, a Portland racial justice organization. The billboard campaign is done out of love and compassion, with the intent to bring awareness, action and solutions to the overwhelming number of shootings that impact communities of color, but more specifically Black men in Portland.

Portland Police Bureau data as of May 10 shows 30 homicides this year, which includes 22 deaths from gunshots, including one fatal shooting by a police officer. There have been about 370 shooting incidents, and 118 people injured in shootings.

Sachs said the rise in gun violence in Portland is not a new trend, especially for young men of color. He cited that in 2013, for example, nonwhite men under the age of 40 accounted for 70% of the citys homicides by firearm. In other years, that number ranged from 20% to 67%, he said.

Sachs asked S. Renee Mitchell, a former Oregonian columnist and 2019-2020 Spirit of Portland winner, to craft the billboards messaging. Mitchell has completed years of research on the effects of racial trauma and is the visionary for a national award-winning, youth-development organization, called I Am M.O.R.E. (Making Ourselves Resilient Everyday).

These billboards are directed to the Black community because we cannot depend on folks outside of our community to solve issues, Mitchell said. This requires an internal shift  in order to understand why were participating in a system that was designed to work against us.

Mitchells captions for the billboards also include Racism + Self-hate = Gun Violence with the taglines Reject the oppression or Do the math.

This, Mitchell said, pointing to the new billboard of Northeast Fremont Street and Sandy Boulevard. This billboard is a message for Black people. So we will not apologize for that. We are not trying to appease everyone and suit everyones thoughts about this issue, we are trying to reach our community.

Three other billboards in Portland can be found at:

Southwest 11th Avenue and Jefferson Street

Southeast Stark Street and 122nd Avenue

Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard and Holly Avenue

Three more locations have not yet been decided, but the billboards should be up this month, Sachs said.

--Savannah Eadens; seadens@oregonianlive.com; 503-221-6651
UPDATE 2:20 P.M.: OHSU officials say they also will close their drive-thru mass vaccination sites at Portland International Airport and Hillsboro Stadium in June.

The operators of three of the states largest COVID-19 mass vaccination sites announced Monday that they plan to close in June due to shrinking demand.

The Oregon Convention Center inoculation site will shutter June 19, and the drive-thru sites at Portland International Airports Red Economy parking lot and Hillsboro Stadium will cease operations June 25.

Based on the volume of walk-ins and appointments scheduled the last several days, its clear demand is waning, the convention center sites organizers said in a statement.

The convention centers vaccination site opened in January to intense demand from health care workers, teachers and others who were eligible in the early waves of the vaccination rollout. The site has been responsible for administering nearly 465,000 doses, or about one in seven shots given in Oregon.

The airport site, which opened Jan. 21, has dealt in smaller numbers but still administered a sizable volume of shots -- about 202,000 to date. Hillsboro Stadium, which opened Jan. 9, has administered 39,000 doses.

But demand has been slowing since all Oregonians 16 and older became eligible April 19. Last week, the convention center began allowing people to walk in without appointments because many available slots had been going unfilled, and the clinic at the airport last weekend also started allowing Oregonians to show up for the first time without appointments.

The increase in vaccine supply has led to shots becoming abundant in many more locations, among them pharmacies. And the statewide vaccination effort is shifting gears to offer shots in community-based settings, such as small clinics and medical offices.

The convention center site will continue giving first doses until May 27. After that, only second doses will be offered until June 19.

Until then we ... strongly encourage people who havent yet been vaccinated to take advantage of the convenient, efficient OCC (Oregon Convention Center) experience, said the All4Oregon organizers, a group of health care providers that includes Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Health, Providence Health & Services and Oregon Health & Science University.

The Portland International Airport and Hillsboro Stadium sites will administer first doses through June 4, and second doses through June 25. The sites are run by OHSU, which will continue to operate smaller clinics in Scappoose and in Southeast and Southwest Portland.

No plans have been announced for the mass vaccination site at the state fairgrounds in Salem. A representative couldnt provide answers Monday.

Across the country, the daily pace of vaccinations has been slowing considerably -- in Oregon, from a peak average of about 43,000 shots administered per a day in the first part of April to about 34,000 shots per day in early May. Nearly 2 million Oregonians are partially or fully vaccinated.

Many experts have pegged herd immunity -- the point the virus is largely stamped out because it can no longer spread easily -- at between 70% and 85% of people fully vaccinated or immune through their own bouts with the disease. But some say the United States might not ever reach that point.

One nationwide survey found 64% of people nationwide want to get vaccinated or already have, 15% say they want to wait and see before deciding whether to get inoculated and 19% saying theyll never do it or will do so only if required.

About 51% of Multnomah County residents, 48% of Washington County residents and 44% of Clackamas County residents are at least partially vaccinated with one dose. The statewide average is almost 47%.

Nearly 35% of Oregonians are fully vaccinated by completing their one-dose course of Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two-dose courses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Local officials say theyve entered a new phase of the rollout, where getting people inoculated means making the vaccines more convenient and accessible. It also encompasses convincing wait and see residents not to delay because doing so will give the virus more chances to mutate and surge once again.

Despite their looming closures, the convention center, airport and Hillsboro Stadium are expected to serve as options for a new wave of Oregonians -- ages 12 to 15 -- when they become eligible for Pfizer vaccinations as early as this week. The Food and Drug Administration gave the nod Monday and the move still needs approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before inoculations could begin possibly on Wednesday.

Parents elated about the news showed up with their children Monday afternoon at the convention center, hoping to get shots, said Debbie Karman, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente, which helps run the site. Karman said they left without doses for their children because the site wont be able to administer any shots to 12- to 15-year-olds even after the CDC grants approval. The Oregon Health Authority first must give the green light, Karman said. Officials in Oregon plan to make an announcement when COVID-19 immunizations of this group can begin.

Meanwhile, appointments for people 16 and older can be made here or here. Walk-ins are available during open hours at all three sites.

People who have received a first dose elsewhere can get their second dose at any of the three sites as long as they show their vaccination card marked with their first-dose information.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
A man who was shot and killed at a large party in the Lents neighborhood over the weekend was identified Monday by police.

Jemare Lowell Manns, 21, died of a gunshot wound, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner determined.

Officers responded to reports of gunfire at a house in the 8500 block of Southeast Harney Street just before 1 a.m. Sunday, police said in a statement.

Officers found a large crowd and a chaotic scene, with what appeared to be a house party underway, according to police.

Manns was found unconscious, and though Portland Fire & Rescue and American Medical Response paramedics responded and attempted life-saving measures, he died at the scene, according to police.

Police asked anyone who has information about the incident to contact either Detective Brian Sims at Brian.Sims@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-2079, or Detective Scott Broughton at Scott.Broughton@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-3774.

Manns death marks the 29th homicide in Portland this year.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale
Linfield University normally doesnt make big news. But in the past month, the private school has attracted the attention of the NAACP, Anti Defamation League, Oregon Board of Rabbis and national news outlets.

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, cops and courts reporter Maxine Bernstein discusses the still unfolding situation at Linfield, where a tenured Shakespeare scholar was fired last month.

The school now faces criticism that it fired a whistleblower who was drawing attention to sexual misconduct allegations against multiple school trustees. Its embattled president said the professor was fired for cause.

We talked about the controversy, how its played out on campus and how the university is handling it.

Heres the full episode:

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

Subscribe to Beat Check on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Lewis & Clark College President Wim Wiewel told students, faculty and staff on Monday that he plans to retire from the post next year.

Wiewel, 71, has led the private South Portland school since 2017. Lewis & Clark recruited him for its top job shortly after he announced his retirement from leading the much larger Portland State University.

In his message to the campus, Wiewel touted accomplishments including the launch of a fundraising campaign and the adoption of a new strategic plan.

I turn 72 next year, and it is time to step back after 43 years employed in higher education, he said. I feel confident in doing so because the institution is well positioned for future success.

Wiewels last day will be July 1, 2022, he said.

Lewis & Clark  which has a full-time enrollment of just over 2,500 undergraduate, graduate and law students  said its board would form a committee of representatives from across the institution to assist in its search for a new president.

-- Elliot Njus
Customers of Portland online banker Simple lost access to their accounts over the weekend as its parent company bungled Simples planned shutdown. Many customers were still without access to their money Monday afternoon, two days after Simple closed for good, and said they were repeatedly disconnected when they called the bank for assistance.

This has not been a good conversion experience for many of you, parent bank BBVA wrote on Twitter on Sunday. We know this, and we sincerely apologize.

Founded in 2009, Simple was among the most prominent of a generation of Portland tech startups that emerged in the aftermath of the Great Recession. It pioneered a no-fee, mobile banking service customized for smartphones and won a devoted following among clients who enjoyed its straightforward approach and tools to encourage people to build their savings.

Simple never gained widespread popularity, though, and suffered a series of operational problems while many larger banks adopted the banking tools similar to Simples innovations. Simple sold to Spanish banker BBVA in 2014 for $117 million but didnt fit neatly into BBVAs portfolio.

In January, BBVA announced it would shut down the Portland banker and eliminate the bulk of its 220 jobs, transferring bank accounts from Simple to BBVA. It called the shutdown a strategic decision. Neither Simple nor BBVA disclosed how many clients Simple had.

That shutdown took place on schedule Saturday, but BBVA botched the account transfers  leaving many customers without access to their accounts.

West Linn resident Nick Welch is in the final stages of buying a new house in Portland with his wife, but when he woke up Saturday found he could not access his money after his Simple account transferred to BBVA. Welch said BBVAs systems just kept reporting a system error, and when he called for help he was repeatedly disconnected.

With his home purchase due to close Wednesday, Welch became increasingly alarmed. He was able to establish an online BBVA account in his wifes name, because they held their Simple account jointly, but then Welch saw that the accounts routing numbers had changed, and it had a monthly limit of $7,500 for wire transfers. Thats far too little for the scheduled payment on his new home.

Because BBVA doesnt have any branches in Portland, Welch called one near San Francisco and asked if he could access his money in person there. Bankers there assured him he could wire it if he came in personally, so Welch booked an 8 a.m. flight for Tuesday.

I couldnt wait for BBVA to get their stuff together because I need that money by Wednesday, Welch said. So Im biting the bullet, taking the day off work and flying on down.

CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE US A TIMELINE OF WHEN YOU ALL WILL UNLOCK ALL ACCOUNTS? You say to call but you dont answer. We need access to our accounts TODAY! You all need to email out an action plan. Such a trash bank, @BBVA_USA  Sarafina Kankam (@skankam12) May 10, 2021

BBVA said debit cards, ATMs and scheduled transactions were performing normally  but it acknowledged other problems were continuing.

The bank said it hadnt anticipated how quickly former Simple customers would try to enroll in online and mobile banking services after the transition.

There were technical difficulties with the enrollment process, leading to high call volume in our call centers, which overwhelmed the system, and created longer than normal wait times, BBVA said in a statement Monday.

We know this conversion process was not smooth for our incoming Simple customers and we sincerely apologize to them, the bank said. We are working to make it right, with people working around the clock, and taking actions like extending hours in our call center and adding staff to handle the incoming calls.

4/4: Needless to say, this is not how we wanted your conversion and first experience with BBVA to go and we are sincerely sorry. You are telling us it is unacceptable, and you are right. We are doing everything we can to make this situation right.  BBVA in the USA (@BBVA_USA) May 9, 2021

Simples customers roasted BBVA online.

It has been a horrible transition so far, one client wrote on Twitter. I cant access my money at the moment.

Many others reported they couldnt get through to BBVAs phone lines to seek help, or that the banks customer service personnel put them on hold for long periods  and then hung up.

We know not having online and mobile access to your account is unacceptable, and we will continue to do all we can to make this right, BBVA tweeted Sunday. The bank said its phone lines were overwhelmed.

The disarray was especially jarring to Simple customers, who had become accustomed to the Portland bankers highly personalized and customer service, which sought to differentiate Simple from larger banks by being especially responsive.

Can you please give us a timeline on when you will unlock all our accounts? one client wrote on Twitter Monday morning. You say to call but you dont answer. We need access to our accounts today.

@BBVA_USA Thanks for reminding me of how terrible banking was before I was a @simple customer. It's been a while since I had the pleasure of being on hold for an hour.  John Olinda (@johnolinda) May 10, 2021

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway
They share Roman Catholicism as a faith and California as their home base. Yet theres a deep gulf between Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego in the high-stakes debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion.

Cordileone, who has long established himself as a forceful anti-abortion campaigner, recently has made clear his view that such political figures  whose ranks include President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  should not receive Communion because of their stance on the issue. The archbishop issued a pastoral letter on the topic May 1 and reinforced the message in an hourlong interview Friday with the Catholic television network EWTN.

To those who are advocating for abortion, I would say, This is killing. Please stop the killing. Youre in position to do something about it, he told the interviewer.

In neither the letter nor the interview did Cordileone mention Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, by name. But he has criticized her in the past for stances on abortion that directly contradict Catholic teaching.

McElroy, in a statement published Wednesday by the Jesuit magazine America, assailed the campaign to exclude Biden and other like-minded Catholic officials from Communion.

It will bring tremendously destructive consequences, McElroy wrote. The Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare. This must not happen.

The polarized viewpoints of the two prelates illustrate how divisive this issue could be if, as expected, it comes before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at its national assembly starting June 16. There are plans for the bishops to vote on whether the USCCB's Committee on Doctrine should draft a document saying Biden and other Catholic public figures with similar views on abortion should refrain from Communion.

In accordance with existing USCCB policy, any such document is likely to leave decisions on withholding Communion up to individual bishops.

Biden, the second Catholic U.S. president, attends Mass regularly, worshipping at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and in Washington.

The archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, has made it clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches he oversees. Bishop William Koenig, appointed April 30 to head the Wilmington diocese, said he would gladly speak with Biden about his views on abortion but did not say whether he would allow him to continue receiving Communion, as Koenig's predecessor had done.

Its considered unlikely that Biden would heed any call to forgo Communion, but a USCCB document urging him to do so would be a remarkable rebuke nonetheless.

Cordileone, in his pastoral letter, wrote that its the responsibility of Catholic clergy to correct Catholics who erroneously, and sometimes stubbornly, promote abortion.

Initially, this rebuke should come in private conversations between the erring Catholic and his or her priest or bishop, wrote Cordileone, who then noted that such conversations are often fruitless.

Because we are dealing with public figures and public examples of cooperation in moral evil, this correction can also take the public form of exclusion from the reception of Holy Communion, he wrote. This is a bitter medicine, but the gravity of the evil of abortion can sometimes warrant it.

In the 2020 presidential election, Catholic voters split their votes almost evenly between Biden and Republican Donald Trump. National polls have consistently shown that a majority of U.S. Catholics believe abortion should be legal in at least some cases.

Were Biden to be excluded from Communion, McElroy wrote, fully half the Catholics in the United States will see this action as partisan in nature, and it will bring the terrible partisan divisions that have plagued our nation into the very act of worship that is intended by God to cause and signify our oneness.

McElroy also questioned why abortion was the overarching focus of some bishops, while the sin of racism has not been prominent in their comments.

It will be impossible to convince large numbers of Catholics in our nation that this omission does not spring from a desire to limit the impact of exclusion to Democratic public leaders, McElroy wrote.

Toward the close of his statement, McElroy quoted Pope Francis as saying Communion is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

Cordileone, in an addendum to his pastoral letter, sought to explain its timing.

I have been working on this Pastoral Letter for a long time, but did not want to publish it during the election year, precisely to avoid further confusion among those who would misperceive this as politicizing the issue, he wrote. Regardless of which political party is in power at a given moment, we all need to review some basic truths and moral principles.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Members of the Alma College chapter of the Business Professionals of America (BPA) competed in the virtual State Leadership Conference for Michigan event in March. The five Scots in attendance brought home nine awards, finishing in the top-three of every event they entered.

In May, the students will gather again, this time with others from across the country, to showcase their business skills at the 2021 National Leadership Conference, which will also be held virtually. Both the state and national conferences offer opportunities for each chapter to network and interact with students and professionals from other institutions.

"It felt really good to see how many people won awards at the state competition, particularly for first place," said Kasidey Easlick of Gladwin, president of the student organization. "To represent Alma College at the state level is great and to do well is even better. I'm very proud of the group and looking forward to representing Alma again at nationals."

Easlick, a double major in new media studies and computer science, said it felt good to simply compete in the event, following the cancellation of last year's national event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This year was a lot different than events we've competed in previously, because it was spaced out through a week and held virtually, rather than taking place in person over a weekend," Easlick said. "Our team competed more 1-on-1, similar to a test, rather than together, in front of judges. We were scheduling the events around practice times and classes. It was interesting."

Alma College students placed in events including C++ programming, digital media production, small business management, banking and finance, administrative support concepts, business law and ethics, financial math and analysis concepts, graphic design promotion and parliamentary procedure concepts.

Easlick said the awards won by students are particularly impressive, considering the Alma College BPA chapter was only recently started during the 2017-18 school year.

"We've been able to have sustained success, which hopefully means this organization will continue to grow and do well on campus," she said.

In addition to Easlick, Brianna Sharpsteen, also of Gladwin, was an award winner at the Michigan conference.
New York, US (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and senior UN officials have expressed their deep concern over confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, particularly those which began on Friday evening, and continued into Sunday night
This morning Apple announced that it is awarding $45 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Corning Incorporated, a supplier of precision glass for iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. The funding will expand Cornings manufacturing capacity in the US and drive research and development into innovative new technologies that support durability and long-lasting product life, building on both Apple and Cornings deep commitment to protecting the environment.

Corning has already received $450 million from Apples $5 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund over the last four years. Apples investment helps support more than 1,000 jobs across Cornings US operations in Kentucky and other facilities. The investment has also helped facilitate research and development into state-of-the-art glass processes, which led to the creation of Ceramic Shield, a new material that is tougher than any smartphone glass.

Apple and Corning have a long history of working together to accomplish the impossible, said Jeff Williams, Apples chief operating officer. From the very first iPhone glass, to the revolutionary Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 12 lineup, our collaboration has changed the landscape of smartphone cover design and durability. Ceramic Shield is a prime example of the technologies that are possible when deep innovation meets the power of American manufacturing. Were so proud to work alongside Corning, whose 170-year-old legacy is a testament to the ingenuity of the US workforce.







With support from Apples Advanced Manufacturing Fund, experts at both companies worked together to develop a new glass-ceramic, which gets its strength from nano-ceramic crystals, produced in Cornings plant in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, the facility where every generation of iPhone glass has been made.

The new material was enabled by a high-temperature crystallization step which forms nano-crystals within the glass matrix. Those specialized crystals are kept small enough that the material is transparent. The resulting material makes up the revolutionary Ceramic Shield, which Apple used to fashion the new front cover featured on iPhone in the iPhone 12 lineup. Prior to Ceramic Shield, embedded crystals have traditionally affected the materials transparency, a crucial factor for the front cover of iPhone because so many features, including the display, the camera, and sensors for Face ID, need optical clarity to function.

We are incredibly proud of our collaboration with Apple on Ceramic Shield, made possible in part through the Advanced Manufacturing Fund and the hard work and dedication of hundreds of individuals at Corning and Apple, said Wendell P. Weeks, Cornings chairman and chief executive officer. We thank Apple for our longstanding product-development partnership and for their continued commitment to supporting the American workforce. The deep investment theyve provided for new manufacturing technology in our Harrodsburg, Kentucky, facility is not only fueling life-changing innovation, its also helping us sustain vital communities where we live and work  a fundamental objective at both of our companies. Together, were developing a world-class workforce, engaging them in new technologies, and creating opportunities for learning and training.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

Skilled technicians in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, are part of the more than 1,000 jobs Apples investment supports across Cornings US operations.

The glass for every generation of iPhone has been made at Cornings plant in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

For more on the investment in Corning, read Apple's full press release.

Last Wednesday Apple announced that it awarded an additional $410 million to its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to II-VI, an optoelectronic components leader.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

The $410 million award to II-VI from Apples Advanced Manufacturing Fund will create additional capacity and accelerate production of future components for iPhone, supporting more than 700 jobs in Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.

Apple's award builds on their initial $390 million awarded from Apples Advanced Manufacturing Fund in 2017. The expansion of the companys long-standing relationship with II-VI will create additional capacity and accelerate delivery of future components for iPhone, with 700 jobs in Sherman, Texas; Warren, New Jersey; Easton, Pennsylvania; and Champaign, Illinois.

II-VI manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that help power Face ID, Memoji, Animoji, and Portrait mode selfies. Apple also works with II-VI to manufacture lasers used in the LiDAR Scanner  technology that helps deliver faster, more realistic augmented reality experiences and improves autofocus in low-light scenes in photos and videos.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

Apples collaboration with II-VI supports more than 700 jobs, including technicians in Easton, Pennsylvania.

For more on Apple's investment in II-VI, read Apple's full press release.
The Vodafone Ghana Foundation has climaxed its 4-Kindred projects with the commissioning of a Computer Laboratory for the Ofankor M/A 3 JHS pupils at Ofankor in the Greater Accra Region.



The Computer Laboratory project was the fourth and final of the Vodafone Kindred initiative to aid pupils of Ofankor M/A 3in the study of Information Communication Technology (ICT).



Speaking at the handing-over of the project to the school, Head of Vodafone Ghana Foundation Amaris Nana Perbi said it was gratifying to able to complete these projects to help these communities.



Vodafone Ghana Foundation came up with the Kindred Month initiative as part of its impactful journey to improve the livelihoods of individuals and communities across the country. Through this initiative, we have rehabilitated the Akyem Achiase Health Centre Labour Ward, in the Eastern Region; making it safer for pregnant women and health workers. We have furnished the Okorase Community Clinic, also in the Eastern Region, with clinical equipment and furniture.



Additionally, we have constructed and handed over an Information Communication Technology (ICT) lab to the Adaklu Ahunda Kpodzi Basic School in the Volta Region, to facilitate ICT teaching and learning in the community. Similarly, we have upgraded the computer lab at the Ofankor M/A 3 Primary and Junior High School (JHS), in the Greater Accra Region.



I also want to use this opportunity to appreciate the project leads Mr. Benjamin Fio, Bright Aheto, Carlos Asare- Okoh, and Mrs. Juliana Ametorwogo. I again thank the CEOs Office and Human Resource function, the External and Legal Affairs and Corporate Business Unit functions, the Vodafone and Technology Business functions, and the DTCOPS and Finance functions for these amazing projects. I say thank you to all Vodafone staff volunteers and the district offices. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to the Chiefs and Leaders of these communities for supporting these projects. Kindred Month has come to stay and we will launch 4 projects every year to support communities, he added.



On her part, Headmistress of Ofankor M/A 3 Basic School, Mrs Kate Osei Owusu Afriyie, thanked Vodafone Ghana Foundation for the kind gesture.



When teaching computing, we had to draw the mouse, and the others on the board and the children had to imagine practising what was being taught. This process made teaching ICT difficult and was time-consuming. I believe this lab will make ICT teaching easier and less time-consuming.



Apart from the lab, they have also changed the blackboards to whiteboards. And we are also very excited about their promise to paint the school to enable it to be a friendly environment for the children. We cant thank Vodafone enough for what they have done for us. They have really done well

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has assured that the government will swiftly address some five concerns raised by the #fixthecountry campaign.



Addressing a press briefing today in Accra, Mr Ofori-Atta said the government will in the coming days address concerns of the #fixthecountry campaign including; unemployment, water shortage and congestion on major highways in the country.



He also acknowledged the concerns of the protest movement, calling for a collaboration "to solve the problems that face this country".



"Ladies and Gentlemen, In the coming days, we will move swiftly to address some of the issues that the #Fixtheeconomy have raised. First, I am working with the Minister for Water and Sanitation to immediately ensure potable water to areas with felt need, especially in the most urban areas," Mr Ofori-Atta said.



"Second, I am working with the Ministers of Roads and Highways, Transport and Interior to address congestion along the major highways.



"Third, we are fast-tracking the implementation of the US$200million Jobs and Skills Programme to enhance job creation significantly. This intervention is designed to facilitate new and expanded private sector businesses to employ a lot more people. This we believe is a more sustainable way to rebuild this economy instead of expanding Government employment schemes".



He also stated that the government will be rolling out eight interventions under the Ghana Cares "Obaatanpa" programme.



"These will be in the Health, Agriculture, Tourism, Trade, Digitization, Science and technology, Housing and financial services.



"Fifth, by the end of July, we will have a new Development Bank that will provide long-term wholesale financing to the private sector through Commercial banks".



What is #fixthecountry?



The #fixthecountry hashtag was started by popular Ghanaian Twitter influencer, KalyJay (whose real name is Joshua Boye-Doe) in reaction to push the concerns of citizens and demand accountability from the government.



Some celebrities and political activists later joined the campaign and the hashtag and its variants including #fixthecountrynow, #nameandshame, #fixitnow, #fixmotherghana have been at the top of the Twitter trends for over a week.



The tweets have expressed displeasure over successive governments failure to improve the living standards of Ghanaians. Among the concerns include dumsor, unemployment, galamsey, and poor healthcare systems which they cite as proof of successive governments mismanagement of the country.



The conveners intended to gather supporters for a demonstration at the Black Star Square in Accra on May 9, 2021 but had to alter their plans after the Ghana Police Service secured an injunction against it.



The conveners are at the Supreme Court challenging the injunction with the hearing scheduled for June 8, 2021.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Movement for Truth and Accountability has called on GRA, FIC and EOCO to make public the details of their investigations on fighting corruption in the country.



According to a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, it is encumbered with GRA to make sure that companies do not reap off State monies needed for development.



Joseph Bediako, convener for the Movement for Truth and Accountability, indicated that the group has been investigating some companies they suspect are involved in money laundering, under-invoicing and tax evasion by the Bank of Ghana monitoring department, Ministry of Finance and other anti-corruption agencies.



When we uncovered an alleged involvement of about 1,200 companies (both local and foreign) in money laundering, under-invoicing and tax evasion.



Our priority is to see Ghana recoup every penny deprived the state and we will see to it that it happens, portion of the statement read.



Read full statement below:



PRESS CONFERENCE FROM MOVEMENT FOR TRUTH AND ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE CONTINUOUS FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THIS COUNTRY



Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, Members of the Movement for Truth and Accountability, its partners, welcome you all and appreciate your prompt response to this invitation.



For those of you who may not know me. my name is Joseph Bediako, convener for this Movement for Truth and Accountability and i am here with my other executive members including .... and other members.



This press conference is a follow up to a press conferece we held on April 8, this year when we uncovered an alleged involvement of about 1,200 companies (both local and foreign) in money laundering, under-invoicing and tax evasion.



Todays Press Conference has been necessitated by a press release issued by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in response to our earlier press conference that the subject matter was being investigated.



We want the GRA ,FIC, AND EOCO to make public , the details of their investigations if they are indeed keen on fighting corruption and making sure that companies do not reap off the state monies needed for development.



BRIEF BACKGROUND



To refresh our minds, Movement for Truth and Accountability has been investigating some companies we suspect are involved in money laundering, under-invoicing and tax evasion by the Bank of Ghana monitoring department, Ministry of Finance and other anti-corruption agencies.



what we may not be aware is that, the underlisted companies upon getting their request for Import Declaration Form approved to bring in goods to the amount requested ended up importing much less than they requested.



This means that huge amount of money transferred to other jurisdictions solely for import purposes cannot be traced because the companies allegedly under-invoiced, are involved in money laundering or refused paying the required taxes which are considered criminal under Ghana Laws.



The Anti-Money Laundering Act, Act 798 as amended by Amendment Act, 2014 (Act 874) states that a person commits an offence of money laundering if the person knows and/or ought to have known that property is and/or forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity and the person; converts, conceals, disguises or transfers the property; conceals or disguises the unlawful origin, disposition, movement or ownership of rights with respect to the property; or acquires, uses or takes possession of the property



ACTION TAKEN



As part of our investigations, we wrote several letters to the GRA, Financial Intelligence Centre, and other state agencies involved in the matter, a year ago, calling for a thorough investigations to be conducted.



The group was expecting these investigating agencies to have completed their investigations by now and the monies retrieved back to the state for developmental purposes.



it is worth to note that the amount involved is over 1.8 billion dollars, an amount which could have supported various developmental projects that could benefit the ordinary Ghanaian.



The movement received a respose to our request written to these agencies , that the subject matter was beng investigated.



For instance on 4th December 2020 ,we petitioned the Financial Intelligence Centre to investigate the list of companies we presented to them for allegedly being involved in money laundering.



On 14th December 2020, we received a response signed by Kweku Dua, the Chief Executive Officer , that the subject matter already exist in their database and that the matter was being given the necessary attention.



Sadly its been several months and nothing has been done about the issue.



Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, the movement was forced to come out with the issue early last month since we believe that , fighting corruption in this country is a collective effort.



We spent money, resources and time to investigate this matter and would not allow it to die down just like that.



GRA RESPONSE



After our press conference, GRA issued a statement confirming our allegation.



They eeven indcated that the companies involved were about 2000.



in their own words , they said and i qoute "In 2020, In 2020, it came to the attention of the Authority that multiple Import Declaration Forms (IDFs) issued to importers have been wrongly used for other purposes. IDFs are issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and indicate the type, quantity and cost of goods to aid commercial banks to transfer funds and is a regulatory requirement for reconciliation with Customs Documents.



A multi-agency team was formed in the third quarter of 2020 with members drawn from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance, GRA, Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) & the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to carry out investigations into the issue. The teams initial analysis of data on record from the Commercial Banks against Customs data for the calendar year 2019 uncovered approximately 10,000 unreconciled documents from over 2,000 companies with fund transferred in the region of $1.8bn."



Ladies and Gentlemen, sadly, GRA decline to indicate how far they have gone with their investigations, the amount of money they have been able to recover from these companies and how many are going to be prosecuted..



As stated , the last time, we are reliably informed that some of the foreign companies were being left off the hook , but we want them to know that our eagle eyes are widely opened watching their every move.



We are also reliably informed that some individuals are allegedly being compromised , and other information , we would not want to put in public for now. what we want them to know is that ,we know their every move and will expose them till the right thing is done for the state to recover these monies.



In fact, we want the said investigating team to make THEIR FINDINGS PUBLIC.



Honorable Ken Ofori Attah, our Finance Minister is in need of the money to pay workers, for other development. He is in fact tired of getting loan from foreign bodies and we as a Movement are willing to help in retrieving the 1.8 billion allegedly quoted by GRA from these defaulting companies.



You will all agree with me the enormous benefit this country will get if this amount is recovered for government.



Ladies and Gentlemen, let me emphasise that we are going to write to the finance minister to expose some, fraudulent and criminal elements undertaking their criminal activites at GRA.



the movement sees this as a a call to duty, a call to put Ghana first and most importantly, a final opportunity for all involved to save their images by doing the right thing and atone for their wrongs within the appropriate quarters while keeping their businesses in positive light.



This is the most charitable we can be as an organisation and this is the last time such an opportunity is going to be served.



Our priority is to see Ghana recoup every penny deprived the state and we will see to it that it happens.



BELOW ARE SOME OF THE COMPANIES ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN THE SAID CRIME AND AMOUNT



1. WE2 Sea Foods - $15.733.954.00



2. Three Hills - $16,178.875.00



3. Greensam Enterprise- $ 34,595,671.00



4. Alltrade Enterprise - $ 14,369,183.00



5. Bestmind Ventures- $ 2,523,561.00



6. WW360- 5,070,053.00



7. Crestmond Ventures -$12 , 616,753.00



8. Carmel Ventures- $ 3,359,421.00



9. Ayax Company -$ 15,866,720.00



10. Give always Enterprise- $ 2,796,400.00



11. Westco Investment Limited - $19,925,255.00



12. Trust Link Ventures - $32,732,347.00



17. Stackpro Enterprise - $19,989,558.00



18. Nariox Multi Trading - $2,748,916.00



19. Daricom 2000 Enterprise - $9,978,003.00



20. Masswest Ventures - $2,240,300.00



21. MM Lines Enterprise - $7,234,738.00



NB: the list is very tall, but we shall release the names in batches for the public to know how we are being reap off by these companies.



thanks you for your attention. we shall stop here for your questions .



Thank you all.



Yours faithfully,





JOSEPH BEDIAKO



CONVENER (MFTA)



(0244102258)



KWAME AMPOFUL (0247213394)



SECRETARY



SAMUEL BEDIAKO (0558182486)





COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Featured Video
The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, has urged the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to consider setting up a Department of Health within its operations as part of an ongoing restructuring of the service.

That, he said, would position GIS strategically to achieve maximum results, particularly at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.



The minister gave the advice last Friday when he addressed the opening of a three-day conference of GIS Regional Commanders at the Eastern regional capital, Koforidua.



The event was dubbed: "Responding to the Evolving National Security Threats in the Era of COVID-19", and was also attended by commanders of sister security services and the management of the GIS.



Among other things, it aimed at exchanging information, sharing ideas, experiences and promoting best strategies in migration management and security in the country.



It was also to find ways of dealing with undesirable foreign elements staying illegally in the country, and to prevent irregular migration along Ghana's borders.



According to Mr Dery, it was increasingly clear in the context of the COVID-19 experiences that health officers within the Border Management Department would save Ghana a great deal.



Infectious diseases



The minister asked officers of the GIS to prevent the importation of infectious diseases through humans, plants and animals into the country, urging that special training and structures to detect such diseases at the borders must be put in place.



The government, Mr Dery indicated, was therefore, committed to providing the needed support to ensure immigration officers worked more effectively and efficiently in that respect.



He added that the needed equipment and logistics to enable the officers to secure the borders and provide security in collaboration with other sister security services would be provided.



He urged the immigration officers to continue to play their part in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and other immigration issues in Ghana.



Collaboration



The Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mr Kwame Asuah Takyi, said there was the need for the GIS and its sister security agencies to work as a team, stressing that the strength of border protection could be measured in ways such as resilience, information sharing and collaboration to enhance capacity building in border management, especially within the context of COVID-19.



He said it was in that direction that strategies had to be adopted to detect, deter and prevent foreign criminal elements and illegal movements at the various borders of the country.



To achieve that, he stressed that there was the need for the GIS to be adequately resourced to enable its officers to work effectively.



Mr Takyi, who expressed appreciation for the work of immigration officers, also expressed worry about some of the officers leaving their duty posts without permission, and said such attitude did not augur well for effective management, particularly at the regional level.



He explained that it was his objective to see to the amendment of the Immigration Service Act 908 and its Legislative Instrument to meet the pension needs of officers when they retired, adding that the current situation where certain categories of officers retired "just like that" left much to be desired.



Illegal immigrants



The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong, whose speech was read on his behalf by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for New Juaben South, Mr Isaac Appaw-Gyasi, appealed to the GIS to expedite action on the processing of illegal immigrants for deportation since their continuous stay in the country remained a burden on the country's resources.



He also asked management of the GIS to prioritise standard training for its officers at every level to enhance their knowledge in order for them to be able to deal with situations that might confront them.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Featured Video
Recently, several Chinese news outlets reported that China has exported a batch of 500 kilograms of cocoa beans worth about $3,600 to Belgium.

For years the Chinese have researched into 500 cocoa germplasm resources from 28 countries, including Ghana.





They cultivated their first and new cocoa variety known as Reyin 4, which has been patented. Other cocoa varieties with code names, such as ZYP6-8 and Xiangke 1, have been developed and evaluated by international organisations and found to be of high quality with unique flavour. Chinas cocoa is grown in the Hainan Province located in the South China Sea.



Pattern



In an article published in the Daily Graphic on April 21, 2021, the public relations officer (PRO) of COCOBOD was reported to have said that China did not have the weather pattern suitable for cocoa production.



On the contrary, Hainan has a climate that varies from subtropical to fully tropical. In the hottest months of July and August, temperatures range from 25 to 29 C.





Hainan lies within the cocoa belt that is defined as the narrow band 20 degrees on either side of the equator.



The temperature, rainfall and humidity are good for field cultivation of cocoa and other tropical cash crops such as coconuts, palm oil, pepper, coffee, tea, cashew and sugar cane, as well as pineapple.



Typical of a tropical climate, mosquitoes are also very common. Hainan's GDP stood at US$85.6 billion in 2020.





Wrong



Ghanas cocoa is said to be of superior flavour so we are told not be concerned about China. Wrong!





Our cocoa is gradually losing this quality because a lot of farmers in their hurry to sell the cocoa beans are fermenting the fresh beans for less than five days and also sun drying them for less than the average of seven days thus risking the special flavour.



It was also said in the article quoted above that Hainan is a little island and so even if they use the whole island to produce, it cannot meet Ghanas production.



Ghana with an area of 239,535 sq. kilometres has presently about 1.3 million hectares (13, 000 sq.km) under cocoa cultivation.



Hainan island has an area of 33, 920 sq.km and can easily match Ghana in terms of area under cultivation.



China can also extend cultivation to other provinces, such as Guangxi or Guangdong that abut the cocoa belt.



Monopoly



Ghana does not have monopoly on cocoa production. Our closeness to Cote dIvoire may have given us a false sense of security and importance. Indonesia is almost at par with Ghana as far as production is concerned.



In 1885, when our country made its first cocoa export of 500kg, just like the Chinese are doing now, Ecuador was the biggest exporter of cocoa, with an output of 37,000 tonnes.



This dropped to 15,000 tonnes due to two deadly cocoa fungal diseases, the Monilia Pod Rot and the Witchbroom disease.



China is entering the market at a time when Ghanas cocoa production has dropped mainly due to the effect of cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD). At 700,000 tonnes, Ghana missed its production target of one million tonnes in 2020.



Admittedly, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is taking the CSSVD threat seriously. The combination of interventions consisting of rehabilitation of moribund cocoa farms, supply of seedlings, mass pruning of farms, subsidised fertiliser, hand pollination, mass spraying and irrigation are yielding results. However, a lot remains to be done.



Threats



Apart from the threat from Mainland China, Taiwan and Australia have also started growing cocoa. In Taiwan, cocoa is grown in Pingtung, the southernmost city and surrounding areas that were previously known for areca nuts, chewed for their stimulant effect but blamed for causing some of Taiwan's leading cancers.



Since the early 2000s, Taiwanese farmers have replaced areca nuts with cocoa. About 300 farmers have 200-250 hectares of cocoa farms and produced about 4,000 tonnes of cocoa pods, or 250 tonnes of dry beans, in 2019, almost double 2014's haul.



In Australia, cocoa production is in Queensland along the wet tropical coast from the Daintree region to south of Tully.



Although current production is on a small scale, the expectation is that with technology it will expand rapidly and compete with the big producers.



These are serious threats to West Africa and Ghana specifically. Finally, there is palpable absence of modern technology in the production of cocoa.



It appears very little has changed since Tetteh Quarshie. It may not be too early to think about competition, and/or a Ghana Beyond Cocoa.





Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Dr Gideon Boako, the Spokesperson for the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the Akufo-Addo government appreciate the concerns raised by Ghanaians to fix the country.



According to him, the sentiments shared by Ghanaians is helping the Akufo-Addo government to know where it is failing, thus the response of the Vice President is not to challenge Ghanaians but rather to show that they are right to voice out their grievances.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Dr Gideon Boako reiterated that the Akufo-Addo government acknowledges that the expectations of Ghanaians have not been met but mentioned that the government is making every effort to ensure that the plight of the citizen is resolved.



It is out of this outburst of Ghanaians that helps the Akufo-Addo government to know where it is failing, and that is how the government see the concerns expressed by Ghanaians recently, he said.



In the attempt by the Akufo-Addo government to resolve the hardship in the country, Dr Gideon Boako indicated that the government gave the instruction to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to reduce fuel prices after the complaints from Ghanaians.



He was of the view that inasmuch as the Akufo-Addo government has not solved all the problems of Ghanaians in the first term, Ghanaians can admit that since President Akufo-Addo came to power he has made some efforts demonstrating his good faith and determination to better the lives of Ghanaians.



He added that the Akufo-Addo government inherited some problems from the previous government which he managed to resolve and made the economy robust enough to start some developmental project until the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.



This government inherited some problems from the previous government; Dumsor derailed the progress of this country for 5 years as some businesses had to fold up and many Ghanaians lost their jobs and the IMF conditionality made it difficult for the government to employ people, but President Akufo-Addo did well to alleviate the hardship on Ghanaians a bit by introducing the Free SHS Policy, he mentioned.



He stressed that, President Akufo-Addo restored the allowances of teacher-trainees and nursing-trainees which were cancelled by the previous government and took the cost of the B.E.C.E registration and even reduced the electricity tariffs for Ghanaians as well as the removal of 17% taxes.



"So, if you critically assess the performance of the Akufo-Addo government, even though we cannot say that all the problems of Ghanaians have been resolved from 2017 to 2019, the government has demonstrated its commitment and determination to relief Ghanaians of their hardships, he averred.



He further stated that Ghanaians can attest to the fact that the economy of the country had a good foundation to take off developmental projects after breaking away from the claws of the IMF conditionality and the resolved energy crisis.



Even with the outbreak of the Covid-19, the government supplied Ghanaians with freebies in the midst of the economic challenge as a result of the pandemic, he stressed.



Watch video below





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com









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Featured Video
Charles Owusu, Head of Monitoring Unit of the Forestry Commission, has asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to quickly form his government.



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Charles Owusu wondered why till date the President hasn't finished appointing his Deputy Ministers and DCEs for Parliament's approval.



To him, this is one of the reasons why there is a delay in things, hence Ghanaians agitating about the bad performance of President Akufo-Addo's administration.



"The formation of your government in this second term has delayed far too long, because in your first term, I'm not sure we saw this kind of delay. This is the fourth month and we're soon getting in the fifth month; up to date the Deputy Ministers haven't gone for vetting, not to talk about even the DCEs yet to be appointed," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.



Charles Owusu advised the President to stop the delay stressing ''things are delaying. The government must quicken herself and do things quickly".







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Mr Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, and six others, accused of procurement breaches in respect of an ambulance acquisition have been acquitted and discharged by an Accra High Court.



Ayariga and six others were freed after the court upheld a submission of no case filed by lawyers of the accused persons.



The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central and six others were charged by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) breaching the procurement Act .



Accused persons case, is one of the cases filed by the OSP before the court presided over by Justice Mrs Afia Serwa Asare- Botwe.



Accused persons were being held on seven counts of conspiracy, abetment, contravention of the procedure for request for quotation, using public office for profit and transfer of foreign exchange from Ghana through an unauthorised dealer.



The seven accused persons denied all the charges and were admitted to bail.



The seven were accused of acting together to import an ambulance without following due processes under the procurement Act.



Mr. Ayariga was standing trial together with Hajia Hawa Ninchema, Sumaila Ewuntomah Abudu, Alex Vadze, Alhaji Abdul-Mumuni Jesewunde, Mary Stella Adapesa and Mumuni Yakubu Nambe.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Coalition of National Youth Organizers, an association of Youth Organizers of four political parties has called on Government to admit the challenges of the country to be able to fix them.



The political parties involved are; the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Peoples National Convention (PNC), All Progressive Congress (APC), and the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP).



In a press statement released to the GNA in Cape Coast, Mr Jude Balma for GCPP said he was particularly pained about the unemployment rate among the youth who he described as the fulcrum for developing any serious country because they had the energy and zeal to push the future of the country.



Unstable lighting system is killing investors' confidence and the President must fix it, galamsey is killing our mining sector and government must fix it, the high unemployment rate is a national security threat and the government must act swiftly to fix this broken country.



Mr King Hassan of the APC complained about increases in fuel prices and quizzed why a government that admitted difficulties in the financial sector, would want to tax its people unreservedly to their discomfort.



Sharing his sentiments, he questioned Government's commitment to fighting the unregulated and illegal small-scale mining: "if operation galamstop, couldn't stop the galamsey then the government cannot and will not fight galamsey.



For his part, Mr. Mark Arkoh the National Youth Organizer for the PNC underscored the need for the Government to as a matter of emergency admit the deficiencies in the power sector and tackle it head-on as it could have serious implications on the country's economy.



Government is slow to admit the wrongs affecting us as a people and particularly, the lack of willingness on its part to further invest in other renewable energy resources to lessen the plight of local industries", Mr Osei Kofi of PPP, added.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The African Union (AU) has appointed former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama as its High Representative to Somalia, to help mediate between stakeholders towards a mutually acceptable compromise for the holding of elections in the country.



The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat made the announcement in a statement on Saturday (May 9, 2021), saying Mr Mahama will work with Somali stakeholders to reach a mutually acceptable compromise. The stakeholders have failed to agree on an electoral calendar and on who should manage the polls.



In fulfilling his mandate, Mahama will be supported by the peacekeepers serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) to ensure mediation efforts and the peace support operation work together seamlessly, he said.



Mr Mahamat further urged the Somali stakeholders to negotiate in good faith and to make the interests of Somalia and the well-being of the Somali people above all else in the search for an inclusive settlement to the electoral crisis.



This should usher in a democratically elected government with the legitimacy and mandate to resolve the remaining outstanding political and constitutional issues that are posing a threat to the stability of the country and the region as a whole. He added.



Mr Mahama was the President of Ghana from July 24, 2012, to January 7, 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012 and took office as president on 24 July 2012 following the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. Mr Mahama lost the 2020 Presidential Election to the incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.







Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The upcoming primary elections on May 18 will feature several statewide races and ballot measures, but those are only some of the important questions for voters in Lebanon County.

Elections are being held on May 18 from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. The deadline to register to vote in the election has passed, and the deadline for no-excuse mail-in or absentee ballots is rapidly approaching on May 11. If you have a mail-in ballot that hasnt been submitted yet, to ensure your ballots arrival by the deadline, they will need to be dropped off in person rather than mailed.

This is a municipal year, so its all basically local races, said Michael Anderson, director of elections in Lebanon County. But he added that on the county level, we have district attorney, we have sheriff, and we have register of wills and clerk of the orphans court.

Another major county-wide election is also one of the most hotly contested: the people of Lebanon County, along with voters from portions of Dauphin and York counties, will take part in a special election for the state senate representative from the 48th district.

That was vacated with the death of Senator Arnold, Anderson said. So that is on all of our ballots here in our county. There are four candidates running for that special election for that seat to fill out the remaining, basically, just about two years of that term.

The candidates for the Pennsylvania State Senate 48th district seat are:

Calvin Doc Clements, Democrat

Christopher Gebhard, Republican

Tim McMaster, Libertarian

Ed Krebs, Independent

Due to this being a special election to fill an empty seat, anyone in the 48th district can vote regardless of party, unlike the other primary elections being held.

Other statewide offices with upcoming primary elections include several races for judges. For Justice of the State Supreme Court, three Republicans are vying for a primary win along with one Democrat:

Maria McLaughlin, Democrat

Paula Patrick, Republican

Kevin Brobson, Republican

Patrician A. McCullough, Republican

For Judge of the Superior Court, four Democrats are competing alongside a single Republican:

Jill Beck, Democrat

Timika Lane, Democrat

Bryan Neft, Democrat

Megan Sullivan, Republican

And these are the candidates for Justice of the Commonwealth Court:

David Lee Spurgeon, Democrat

Lori A. Dumas, Democrat

Sierra Street, Democrat

Amanda Green Hawkins, Democrat

Drew Crompton, Republican

Stacy Marie Wallace, Republican

Voters need not rack their brains over some county-wide races in Lebanon this month: several have candidates that are running unopposed from their own party, and some races even have no opposition from the opposing party.

READ MORE: Whos running in Lebanon County? The list of 2021 primary election candidates

Pier Hess Graf, who was appointed to replace the district attorney - which was Arnold - she is now running for the full term, Anderson said. And shes running unopposed. Brian Craig is currently the register of wills and hes running again. He does not have any Republican candidates against him. And then our sheriff is actually retiring, and there are two [candidates] running as Republican for that [Kirk Juliani and Jeffrie Marley Jr.], but theres no Democrat running in that race. So, pretty quiet on those fronts for the county-wide races.

Many races, such as those for Magisterial District Judges for districts 52-2-01 and 52-3-04, or the several races for School Director at Large of the various regions in the county, have candidates that have cross-filed for both major parties.

Theres been a lot of advertisements that were seeing or hearing about where that whole ability to cross-file is being questioned, Anderson said. Which is absolutely allowed by the election code. An M.D.J. candidate may cross-file and a school board candidate may cross file, because theyre considered non political offices. [But the races] are being very political, especially in Palmyra, maybe a little bit in ELCO, which is Eastern Lebanon County School District.

Local races are also being held for offices of mayor and city council. For mayor of the city of Lebanon:

Cesar B. Liriano, Democrat

Sherry Capello, Republican

Two races for Lebanon City Council are being held. The first will ask voters to select two of the following:

Christopher Norwood, Democrat

Karen Haitos, Republican

Joe Morales, Republican

The other will have them select one of the following:

W.P. Eckenroth, II, Republican

Brian Martin, Republican

Many additional elections are taking place for local municipalities, such as mayors or council members for boroughs, township commissioners, tax collectors, constables and judges and inspectors of elections - many of them running unopposed. The 60 local precincts can lead to quite lengthy ballots, Anderson said, so becoming familiar with them before election day can be very helpful.

We do have printed sample ballots - anybody who ever wants a sample ballot, they can always stop in and we can give them one. We try to throw that out there, and try to put as much information on our website as possible. And we do, here in our county, have a box that they can return their ballot if they dont want to mail it, but it is only available during business hours, 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday.

Anderson reiterated that anyone requesting an absentee ballot, or looking to submit one, needs to act quickly to meet the deadline.

The deadline for requesting the mail-in or absentee ballot is next Tuesday [May 11] at 5 p.m. And I can tell you that if you wait until the deadline, there is not enough time for us to mail you your ballot and for you to mail it back. So at some point, youd have to bring it to us - either the application or the ballot. Right now Pennsylvania does allow people to come to their local election office and vote. If they have not already requested a ballot, they can come in here and fill out the application, and we can give them a ballot and have been right here in our office. Thats available up until Tuesday at 5 p.m. as well.

More information on the elections in Lebanon County, including sample ballots for each voting precinct, can be found on the countys official website.
Phillip Baxter studied winemaking at UC Davis before spending a six-month internship at a winery in Burgundy, France. While there, he contributed to wines from 33 different vineyards  from village to grand cru wines  ranging from Pommard to Gevrey-Chambertin.

Those lessons were complemented by what he has taken away from working with his father, Phil, who grew up in the Central Valley and then moved to the Napa Valley in the late 1960s, where he began his career under the tutelage of Bill Bonetti at the Charles Krug Winery. In the years to follow, his father would oversee the winemaking at labels such as Rutherford Hill Winery, Domaine-Michel, and Philippe-Lorraine.

In 2003, father and son would create the Baxter label focusing on premium vineyards and Old World techniques, including little or no new oak elevage for Pinot Noir.

Influenced by the flavors of Burgundy, especially the Northern Rhone and Cote Roti, Phillip said in an interview with mendowine.com that he lets the wines make themselves as much as possible. For the most part, he ferments the grapes on their natural yeasts and leaves the wines unfined and unfiltered. He says that he wants to take advantage of the grapes from each vineyard and let nature do its thing, allowing the individual fruit characteristics to shine.

Per the Baxter website, Phillip met his English wife, Claire, when they were both studying for a year abroad at the University of Grenoble, France. They married in 2010, and Claire joined the business. They live on the rural ridge top at Baxter Winery and have two young children.

Claire runs the business alongside Phillip, and that includes overseeing the wine club and tasting room, which is located at 8660 Highway 128 in Philo, a little more than 120 miles northwest of San Francisco.

Phillip also makes the wine for Fathers + Daughters Cellars, which you can read about in this PennLive story from November 2020.

We sent some questions his way about his winery and philosophy and got back these answers. Thanking him for his time and perspective.

Q, For someone not familiar with Baxter Wines, how would you describe the product and what you aim for?

A, Premium hand-crafted Pinot Noirs from Coastal Northern California. We guide the fruit from each vineyard into bottle with a gentle touch from our experienced winemaker. The result is pure, bright fruit flavors and each wine in our range is unique, displaying characteristics from the specific vineyard it hails from.

Q, Whats the biggest thing you learned from your dad that you brought into winemaking, and what couldnt he have taught you that youve learned for yourself since?

A, My dad has always been incredibly handy - having solved many a technical issue alongside him has taught me skills critical for running a small winery on a remote coastal ridge top. When [not if!] a machine breaks the bottling machine the pressure washer the pump I know how to work on the machines methodically myself without the need for a three-hour round trip into town.

As far as something that cant be taught there is no substitute for experience under your belt of having gone through numerous harvests and seen for yourself how the resulting wine develops in bottle. Thats something I have learned for myself over my 20 years in the industry.

Says Phillip Baxter of what he has learned during his years in the business: '... there is no substitute for experience under your belt of having gone through numerous harvests and seen for yourself how the resulting wine develops in bottle.'

Q, You have a long relationship with Pinot Noir, a grape that we dont see much on this coast, for obvious reasons. What are a couple of perceptions you have about growing the grape and things you have learned in working with it all these years?

A, Pinot Noir is great for terroir-driven winemaking because it expresses itself so acutely. Each growing season, each soil structure, each microclimate and each clone all come together to make a wine that is singular to that site and vintage. When you change these things, even within an appellation [i.e., Burgundy] you see the subtle changes in the resulting wine.

The backbone of any great Pinot is in the skins flavor, color, texture, tannin this is why site is so important. But in an over-ripe setting, the subtlety of Pinot Noir is replaced by a fruit bomb often with abusive use of new oak.

Q, Ive seen on your site and in other stories about bringing to your job what you learned in Burgundy. So, without leaning on the learning aspect too, too much, what are a few of the lessons you brought back from Burgundy?

A, Trust your senses as you both make the wine and taste during the aging process. With a sound technique, the grapes are able to fully express themselves and a good palate can train the results into a great wine that tells the story of that vintage this is what we strive for.

The Baxter Winery tasting room in Philo, California. It's open Fridays through Sundays.

Q, Id be remiss not to at least to ask what has the last year been like for you and your family? How much of an effect did the pandemic have on your business?

A, Its been busy, but in different ways than a normal year. This year has been busy adapting our tasting room to a new seated, appointment-based, outdoor format to allow us to host guests in a responsible way during covid. And now preparing to tweak it back to a semi-indoor format. Its been a year of testing out new ways of connecting with our fans via online winemaker tastings and notably a brand-new website.

My wife and I also had a baby girl mid-year so with a baby and a toddler at home and working from the home winery office, its been a year of adapting schedules and keeping up with change. Its given us great impetus to question the usual norm and were actually planning on keeping the new tasting room format and online events going forward, so its been a positive year for us.

With many restaurants being closed for a large portion of the year, that has had an effect on us. But we know its temporary and have generally faired pretty well and stayed healthy so we feel very fortunate. Were also fired up by the opportunities this past year has presented to break from the usual formats.

Q, I saw a mention of Carignan in a few stories related to you. Is that a grape you work with and are there several other less-known grapes that you have gotten comfortable with in the cellar?

A, It is clear that I have a love for Pinot, however my first deep love of wine was actually for Syrah. Since the beginning of Baxter, I have worked consistently with Carignan as there is a wealth of Old Vine options here in Mendocino County. Dry-farmed and organic, these vines are very expressive and complex compared to high-yielding younger vines. I have also worked with Syrah, Grenache, Zinfandel however, more recently I have added a Montepulciano and Nebbiolo to the lineup of single-vineyard wines.

Says Phillip Baxter of Pinot Noir: 'The backbone of any great Pinot is in the skins Flavor, color, texture, tannin. this is why site is so important.'

Q, You source from so many vineyards how often do you get out to them to just look at the vines?

A, I try to get to them as often as possible during the growing season, but it depends on the site and how far from the winery it is. Running my own facility primarily by myself keeps me in the cellar a lot. The closer it gets to harvest, the more I make the rounds, about once a week.

Q, For you, what is the most enjoyable part of making wine and has that changed in the years youve been working in the cellar?

A, Watching the complete process come together from bud break in the spring to bottling years later. The vintages add up and the dialogue of each individual site and variety become the story of the vintage, and collectively they are chapters in a greater story.

The part that has changed around the joy of winemaking is in the physical cellar. I am older and the physical cellar work is getting harder and harder each year that I add but we adapt and start to work smarter not harder!!!

Q, Finally, tell me a bit about the wine club for anyone who might be interested in joining. Ive had winery owners and winemakers speak glowingly about interacting with their members and for the feedback they get. How long has the club been operating there?

A, My wife [and partner] runs the wine club. She set it up in 2011 and has a very loyal following  once people join we find they enjoy the high quality of the wines we share in shipments and so we have many members who have been with us throughout. We often include club-only wines in batches as small as 2 barrels, so each new box is a treat. From our perspective, we love the friendships we have made with familiar faces over the years. Join via our website at https://www.baxterwinery.com/club. It provides a great way to sample and enjoy our wines at special pricing.

ALSO READ: Military family sets sail on a new mission, employing veterans at a new winery theyve planned for years

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Four teachers at the Hershey School of Dance in Derry Township will take over ownership of the school.

This summer, the Paulette J. Viviano Foundation for the Performing Arts will transfer ownership and operation of the school to a new entity owned and operated by dance teachers, Jessica Block, Emily Drobnock, Hollis Healy and Jennifer Owsley.

Under the new leadership, Hershey School of Dance will continue to provide exceptional dance and performance education, and initiate new endeavors to serve the community and its beloved dance family, the foundation said in a press release. The PJVFPA will continue to provide support to Hershey School of Dance, as it always has, in honor of the late Paulette J. Viviano.

Paulette J. Viviano founded the school in 1977 as a tap dance school. The school has expanded to include other dance forms over the years, and currently offers a variety of styles including jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, hip hop, contemporary, modern and theater dance.

The summer session will begin in July.

The 4,860-square-foot school is located at the Hershey Square shopping center at 1176 Mae St.

24 Hershey Square shopping center

READ MORE:

There have been a number of changes this year at the shopping center.

Planet Fitness, Five Below and Big Lots have opened this year on the site of a former Kmart. T.J. Maxx will open on Sunday, according to its website. And the grand opening for Where the Wild Things Play, a play space for children will take place June 5, according to its Facebook page.

Sally Beauty is expected to open this month in the former 1,750-square-foot GNC space.

A Chipotle Mexican Grill is being constructed on a new pad site in front of Weis Markets and will include a Chipotlane, a drive-thru pickup lane where customers can pick up online orders.

And Comcast is opening an Xfinity store between Char Koon and a state liquor store in the former space of One Cup Joe in the second quarter of this year.

--Business Buzz

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like him on Facebook.
A man was hiking on a trail in Missouri when a hunter accidentally mistook him for a turkey and shot him in the chest.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon on the Lewis and Clark Trail at the August A. Busch Memorial and Weldon Spring Conservation Area in St. Charles County, and left the hiker in serious condition.

KSDK News reports how the Missouri Department of Conservation was holding a turkey hunt during this time. The hunt was scheduled to last until 1 p.m., and signs notifying passersby of the event were reportedly posted throughout the area.

This is a freak accident, I think, said Nancy Phillipswho frequently hikes on the trailto the news station. I always purposefully wear my bright colors, so no hunters mistake me for anything.

NBC News further reports that first responders reached the scene in utility vehicles. The injured hikerwho remains unidentifiedwas later transported to receive medical treatment via airlift.

Fox News details how a witness to the incident, Rebecca Brown, describes the hunterwho also remains identifiedas wearing head-to-toe camouflage at the time. She also notes that he was quiet and was using a long firearm.

It may have been an accident, but it is positively unforgivable that they allow people to hunt with firearms on Mothers Day weekend on one of the most heavily traveled trails, commented Brown. They need to mark that differently. There were families out there [that day] with kids and dogs.

The investigation into the incident remains ongoing. The medical condition of the hiker remains pending.
A 2.98-pound yellow perch pulled from Lake Erie on April 9 has sent the Pennsylvania record for the species.

It was caught by Kirk Rudzinski, 63, of Erie, while fishing with his friend Sam Troup, 62, also of Erie.

Perch weighing 1.5 to 2 pounds are caught regularly in Pennsylvania, but the average is about half that.

The record-setting fish was 16.875 inches long with a girth of 14 inches, but the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission bases state records on the weight of the fish.

The previous state-record yellow perch was caught in Lake Eries Presque Isle Bay in 2016. It weighed 2 pounds, 14 ounces.

On the afternoon of April 9, Rudzinski and Troup set out from the East Avenue Boat Launch and traveled 4 to 5 miles east to the area of the Sunoco Cribs where they anchored in sight of the high-rise building at the Brevillier Village community.

Rudzinski was targeting yellow perch using live emerald shiners as bait on a casting rod fitted with 10-pound-test, braided line with an 8-pound monofilament leader and a pair of size 4 hooks.

We had been catching them pretty good throughout the afternoon, but then the school of fish moved and so did we, he said. We pulled anchor and moved about a hundred yards east where there were some other boats and we started to mark fish again. We noticed there was a really strong current on the bottom of the lake that day, so we had to cast into the current.

That technique seemed to work, and at 7:21 p.m., Rudzinski felt the bite of a lifetime.

When I felt the pull, I thought for sure that I had a double, he recalled. My drag was set pretty loose and as I was reeling, the fish was taking some line. As it got closer to the boat, I realized that it was a single fish and I told Sam hed better grab the net.

After a 2-minute fight, Troup netted the fish and brought it aboard the boat. It was the largest yellow perch Rudzinski had ever caught.

Oh, my gosh. This has to be a state record, Rudzinski recalls saying at the time of the catch. Ive been fishing on Lake Erie for 45 years and I just love fishing for yellow perch, so Ive seen a lot of them. Then I saw a few eggs start to drop out of the fish, and I worried that if it was a potential state record, it was going to be losing weight quickly.

A scale aboard the boat malfunctioned, so the anglers didnt immediately know the true weight of the fish.

They considered ending the fishing trip immediately to take the fish to a certified scale but decided to put the fish on ice while they continued to fish until sunset.

At about 9:15 p.m., Rudzinski and Troup arrived at East End Angler, a bait and tackle shop owned by Rudzinski, which also has a certified scale.

Rudzinsky kept the fish on ice until the following day when Waterways Conservation Officer Matthew Visosky arrived at East End Angler to verify the species, weight and review photographs that were taken throughout the initial weigh-in.

In addition to a witnessed weigh-in and commission in-person inspection, Rudzinski completed an official state record fish application including color photographs, which was reviewed by commission Fisheries and Law Enforcement officials and confirmed.

Its a thrill to know that there are big fish like this out there, Rudzinski said. Walleye fishing has been world-class on Lake Erie for several years now, but the yellow perch fishing has been a challenge. Were in a bit of a decline. Its not only a thrill to have this record, but this big fish is a really positive sign of good things to come.

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Wendy Bell did not appear on her weekday morning show Monday on Pittsburgh radio station WJAS 1320 AM, due to a personnel matter, according to The Beaver County Times.

WJAS spokeswoman Michele Bradac told the news outlet that Bell is currently not on the air due to a personnel matter being handled within the company.

The radio station shared its new weekday lineup of shows on Facebook Monday morning, notably missing any mention of Bell. As of 12:30 p.m., it had drawn more than 800 comments, many from people calling for information on Bells removal.

Bell started at the station in January in a part-time role. In September 2020, she had been removed from the air at KDKA Radio following controversial comments that do not align with Entercoms values. At the time, Bell had made a call on park rangers to shoot on site anyone defacing historical monuments.

She was previously fired as an anchor at WTAE in 2016 for comments she made about a mass shooting in Wilkinsburg that left five dead, according to the Times.

In March, Bell became full-time at WJAS, hosting The Wendy Bell Show from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.

On Monday, Bell shared a message on her Facebook page, thanking a number of sponsors and noting All is good! Believe me. Its all good. She added, Stay tuned, America. I have your 6. Stay tuned and thank you, all!
WASHINGTON  The Colonial fuel pipeline that was crippled by a ransomware attack late Friday hasnt suffered damage and can be brought back online relatively quickly, a White House official said Monday.

Right now there is not a supply shortage, deputy national security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall told reporters in a briefing.

Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said the government is actively engaged with Colonial, but that the company hasnt asked for federal assistance with its cybersecurity. She said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been probing the ransomware used in the attack since October.

Neuberger said the government hasnt advised the company on whether it should pay ransom demanded by the hackers that attacked the pipeline. Asked whether the hackers are connected to a foreign government, she said that at this time they are considered a criminal actor.

Our intelligence community is looking for any ties to any nation-state actors, she said.

The pipeline was idled for the third consecutive day on Monday, as fuel suppliers increasingly worry about the possibility of gasoline and diesel shortages across the U.S. East Coast. Colonial Pipeline said Sunday that it was still working on a plan to restart the nations largest fuel pipeline and would once it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations.

The company said Monday it expects the pipeline to be substantially back in operation by the end of the week.

The attack came as the energy industry braced for stepped-up demand from summer travelers and the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions nationally. The White House said Sunday that it has launched an interagency working group to address the breach, including planning for options to lessen the impact on the nations energy supply. The Department of Energy and the FBI each said theyve been in contact with Colonial Pipeline.

President Joe Biden has the ability to invoke an array of emergency powers to keep fuel flowing. On Sunday, he extended the time delivery drivers can spend behind the wheel when transporting fuel, a move intended to avoid disruption to supply, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said.

The president also has the option of waiving the Jones Act, which requires ships to be built and flagged in the U.S. and crewed by American workers to transport goods between U.S. ports. Foreign-flagged tankers could help fill any gap caused by the pipelines crippling, either transporting fuel from the Gulf Coast to New York or from Europe.

The FBI confirmed Monday that ransomware made by a group known as DarkSide was used in the attack. The group posted a message on its dark web page suggesting an affiliate was behind the attack and that it would vet buyers of its ransomware in the future to avoid social consequences.

We are apolitical. We do not participate in geopolitics, the message says. Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society. From today, we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.

While the inquiry remains in its early stages, some evidence has emerged linking DarkSide to Russia or elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

___

Jennifer Epstein 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
STOWE, Vt.  Eduardo Rovetto is hoping the state of Vermonts reinstated requirement that people who are collecting unemployment benefits must seek work to qualify will help him hire enough staff for his restaurant in the resort town of Stowe.

After more than a year of coronavirus restrictions on his business, Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge, hes expecting a breakout summer tourism season. But like employers across the country, hes worried he wont have enough workers.

Weve been getting many excuses as to why not to return, said Rovetto, who is offering a signing bonus of up to $600 to try to add 15 to 20 employees who agree to stay through the middle of October. Obviously, it was a legitimate one with COVID, but, you know, I think thats getting used less and less now. The vaccines are free; they are out there for anyone.

Many employers are telling similar stories. Fourteen months after COVID-19 put hundreds of thousands of people out of work, the U.S. economy is rebounding and employers are desperate for workers.

The challenge was highlighted Friday when employers nationwide added 266,000 jobs, far fewer than expected, and businesses reported they couldnt find people to fill the openings they have to keep up with the rapidly strengthening economic rebound.

To encourage people to return to work, more states are making it harder for people to stay on unemployment. Many blame the easy benefits that followed the pandemic, including what is now a $300-a-week supplemental federal payment on top of state benefits. The argument is that people make more money staying home than going back to work.

Several states have begun requiring those receiving unemployment benefits to show they are actively searching for work, and a few will stop providing the additional federal supplement.

Its not just the hospitality sector that is scrambling to fill positions. Alene Candles, based in Milford, New Hampshire, is looking to fill 1,500 positions for its facility there and another in New Albany, Ohio, to meet demand for the holiday season. Company representatives will be participating in a number of virtual job fairs this month.

We have had more than 100 positions open since the start of the year, and just recently we increased sign-on bonuses to $1,200 for hourly positions - in-part because we are competing with an entity that can print its own money - the federal government - and its $300 per week additional unemployment benefit, said CEO Rod Harl. I would love to welcome those searching for work to join our team.

On Monday, the state of New Hampshire reopened its job centers for the first time since the pandemic hit to help people looking for work, but only a handful showed up in the first few hours at the largest one in Manchester.

Labor experts say the shortage is not just about the $300 payment. Some unemployed people also have been reluctant to look for work because they fear catching the virus. Others have found new occupations rather than return to their old jobs. And many women, especially working mothers, have had to leave the workforce to care for children.

Job seekers line up outside the New Hampshire Works employment security job center, Monday, May 10, 2021, in Manchester, N.H. States are pushing the unemployed to get back to work to help businesses large and small find the workers they need to emerge from the COVID-19 recession. Now some states are reinstating a requirement that anyone who collects unemployment must look for work. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)AP

The details and the timing of the state-led efforts to get people back to work differ, but they are coming from states led by both Republicans and Democrats.

In addition to Vermont, states reinstating the work-search requirement include Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

As President Reagan said, the best social program is a job, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, said when announcing the resumption of the work-search requirement. This statement rings true today. Unemployment benefits are still available to Arizonans who need them, but now that plenty of jobs are available, those receiving the benefits should be actively looking for work.

Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and South Carolina are planning to stop accepting the $300 benefit.

In announcing last week that unemployed workers will no longer receive the additional benefit beginning June 27, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, said it was doing more harm than good.

Rachel Mata, an area manager for a Fayetteville, North Carolina-based staffing company, said its been increasingly difficult to find people for positions since the passage of the latest federal COVID-19 relief bill.

We get candidates who will mention, Hey, you know, why would I go to work when I get paid more on unemployment to sit at home? said Mata.

At a recent job fair, only one candidate showed up, said Mata, whose company, Mega Force Staffing Group Inc., mainly focuses on manufacturing jobs. In other cases, candidates have gone through the staffing companys onboarding process, only to not show up on their start date.

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the heart of the states $20 billion tourism industry, restaurants and resorts are scrambling for summer help. Angelo Verdone, an assistant general manager at Seaside Resorts, said hotels are so short-staffed that managers are working double duty, cleaning rooms and doing maintenance. He is working some front desk shifts.

Some applicants have responded to ads but failed to attend the interviews; others have gotten offers but did not show up to the job itself.

Though the company has offered a $500 sign-on bonus for its $11-an-hour housekeeping role, it got no takers.

Its not like theyre bad jobs, Verdone said. Most years, people are beating down the front door for the front desk jobs.

William Spriggs, an economist at Howard University and the chief economist for the AFL-CIO, said the issue isnt as simple as the unemployed being able to receive more benefits. He says the economy has changed.

He said he didnt think the job-search requirement is bad, but it wont solve the labor shortage.

Matching workers to employers isnt as easy as people think, which is what some of these employers are finding out, Spriggs said.

Crystal Dvorak shops at WinCo Foods, Saturday, May, 7, 2021, in Billings, Mont. Dvorak recently lost her job as an audiologist. The day Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced the $300 benefit would end June 27 was Dvoraks second day of unemployment. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)AP

There might be a lot of jobs available, but in some cases they dont fit for the unemployed with specialized work skills.

I am a master technician with 30 years experience. You think I am going to go work in a pet store? said Harry Chaikin, an out-of-work stagehand from Burlington, Vermont, who lost his job last year when the theater where he works stopped offering performances.

Chaikin says he is eager to return to work when theaters resume normal performances. Hes receiving unemployment, including the $300 supplemental benefit, but hes still months behind in his rent.

The sense of optimism I feel is that human nature being what it is, I know that sooner or later people are going to gather again in big groups to be entertained. And when that happens, I will have work, he said.

And people are still losing their jobs.

Crystal Dvorak, 41, an audiologist in Billings, Montana, who has two teenage daughters, weathered a furlough early in the pandemic and had to dip deep into her savings. Last month, she found out she would lose her job when the clinic where she worked for nearly nine years had been sold.

When the governor announced the $300 supplemental benefit would end, it was Dvoraks second day of unemployment.

It had me in tears, she said.

The state plans to launch a new program to give one-time $1,200 bonuses to unemployed workers who return to work. Dvorak has begun applying for waitressing jobs, even though it could complicate her search for positions in her field.

Knowing that change is coming, Im having to be open to other positions, she said. I have shown interest in more jobs in the last week than I have applied for my entire 25 years of working.

___

Wilson Ring of The Associated Press wrote this story.

Associated Press writers Michelle Liu in Columbia, S.C.; Kathy McCormack in Manchester, New Hampshire; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; Iris Samuels in Helena, Montana, and statehouse reporters across the country contributed.
Cumberland County-based Hempt Bros. has been acquired by a Bedford County company.

New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. acquired Hempt Bros last week.

The acquisition consists of three aggregate plants, four hot mix asphalt plants, two ready mixed concrete plants, paving and heavy highway construction in the Harrisburg area.

The facilities are ideally situated between NESLs existing Chambersburg and Allentown locations, expanding its construction materials footprint and market scope into the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania market, New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. said in a press release.

The 96-year-old Hempt Bros. provides highway and road construction, excavation, asphalt paving and concrete paving. The company also supplies stone, asphalt, and ready mix concrete throughout the region.

Hempt Bros. is based in Lower Allen Township and has two asphalt plants at that location. The companys Locust Point quarry is in Silver Spring Township and offers a variety of crushed stone. There is a asphalt plant and a ready mixed concrete plant located on that site. The companys Steelton Quarry offers a variety of crushed stone. There is also a asphalt plant and a ready mixed concrete plant located on that site. The companys Toland Quarry is located in South Middleton Township.

New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. is a construction materials supplier and heavy/highway construction contractor in Pennsylvania and western New York. The company is based in New Enteprise, Bedford County.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

--Business Buzz

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like him on Facebook.
A one-day COVID-19 vaccination clinic is opening in New Cumberland next week.

The Sadler Health Center announced its clinic will be administering a limited supply of the Moderna vaccine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 17 at St. Pauls Lutheran Church, 530 Bridge Street. Parking and the entrance are behind the building.

Appointments are required, and the vaccine is available to those who are 18 and older.

To schedule an appointment, visit Sadler Health Centers website or call 717-960-6901.

Those with an appointment should bring:

A photo ID

An EPI Pen (if prescribed one)

And an insurance card (if insured).

Only the person scheduled for the vaccine will be allowed to enter the building unless assistance is needed.

The Sadler Health Center, which serves nearly 10,000 patients per year, provides comprehensive primary care, dental care and behavior health services at its facility in Carlisle and dental care at its Perry County location.

In 2015, it was designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center.
Dickinson College in Carlisle is planning for students to return to campus for in-person classes for the 2021-22 academic year and decided the safest way to do that is to require COVID-19 vaccinations.

DIckinson joins nine other Pennsylvania private colleges in making this decision, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is tracking the vaccine mandates. As of Monday, 319 campuses nationwide had imposed this mandate.

Dickinson, which enrolls 2,200 students, plans to require vaccinations for all students living on campus as well as those studying abroad or off-campus unless they seek a religious or medical exemption. Summer resident students also will be required to get their COVID-19 shot before the fall.

The colleges decision is in keeping with a recommendation by the American College Health Association.

The health and safety of our community has been at the center of all decision-making throughout the pandemic, said Dickinson College President Margee Ensign in a statement. Were planning for a full return of students this fall to a vibrant campus, and the safest way to do that is with a fully vaccinated student body.

No decision has been made as to whether faculty and staff will be required to be vaccinated.

Other Pennsylvania higher education institutions that have made vaccinations mandatory for fall enrollment are Bryn Mawr, Drexel University, Haverford College, Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College, Swarthmore College, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania and University of the Sciences, according to the Chronicles list.

According to the state Department of Education, there is nothing to preclude private post-secondary institutions from requiring immunizations. However, a spokesman for Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education stated system officials dont believe they have the legal authority to mandate vaccinations for students or employees. The system oversees the 14 state-owned universities.

Penn State University President Eric Barron recently indicated the university plans to try incentivizing students to get the vaccine to try to get to herd immunity without ruling out making it mandatory, according to a recent story in the Centre Daily Times.

Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher also is being cautious about pursuing a vaccine mandate for students, faculty and staff, citing multiple potential legal and political roadblocks, according to a recent story in the University Times, a news source for PItts faculty and staff.

Temple Universitys website only speaks of opportunities it provides to get the vaccine.

Requiring vaccinations to attend a post-secondary education institution are not new. In fact, the General Assembly passed a law in 2002 requiring all college students living in campus housing in the state of Pennsylvania to be immunized against meningococcal disease or sign a waiver saying they received information on the risks associated with the disease and choose not be vaccinated.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
A state appeals court panel has refused to void the prison sentence imposed on a drunken customer who was charged with groping a female Lyft driver.

That 9- to 24-month jail term was imposed after Terah Odoi, 35, of Erie, pleaded no contest to an indecent assault charge filed over the September 2018 incident in Wilkes Barre. The state Superior Court took on the case when Odoi appealed a Luzerne County judges refusal to allow him to withdraw his plea.

Judge Deborah Kunselman noted in the Superior Courts opinion that Odoi had no deal on sentencing when he entered his no contest plea in September 2019.

She cited Odois claim that he is illiterate, and that he sought to withdraw that plea after getting a better understanding of the accusations against him.

Having reviewed the case, he did not believe he committed any criminal act; he could not recall touching the (Lyft driver). The commonwealths case was solely based on the testimony of the (driver); there was no physical evidence, Kunselman wrote. Consequently, according to Odoi, he presented a plausible claim of innocence and should have been permitted to withdraw his plea.

That bare assertion of innocence wasnt enough to justify a plea withdrawal, the state judge concluded.

Instead, she agreed with county Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr.s assessment that Odoi was acutely aware of the circumstances and the nature of the allegations against him when he pleaded no contest. Therefore, Sklarosky found, Odois plea was knowing and intelligent and there are no grounds for allowing him to withdraw it.

Kunselman concluded that Odoi had more time to reconsider the entry of his plea and repercussions thereof and simply changed his mind.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Serene, stark and seemingly in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania, the National Park Service memorial to the people who died on United Airlines Flight 93 is hard to find on a map  as the Sept, 11, 2001, terrorist attack itself slips deeper into the nations collective memory.

And even schools that do teach about the day may only bring it up only on the anniversary, rather than as a point in a long arc of history and a turning point that left the U.S. irrevocably changed, 20 years later.

Families of Flight 93s 40 passengers and crew members are trying something new to change that: an annual award for heroism. Nominations open Monday through the nonprofit group, Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial.

The award aims to reward selfless acts of heroism, but also to educate the public on what happened when those aboard the hijacked plane, bound for San Francisco, discovered that jets had been flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington.

The passengers and crew of Flight 93 then tried to wrest control of the aircraft, which crashed into a field, leaving no survivors  a sacrifice then-President George W. Bush called one of the most courageous acts in U.S. history, believed to have stopped a catastrophic crash into the White House or the Capitol.

The hope is to use the award to connect teachers to the Friends organizations considerable teaching materials and historical records from the day, and bring it to classrooms, said Donna Gibson, a banking executive who, as president of the Friends organization, has given countless tours of the site tucked amid the wildflowers in Pennsylvanias Laurel Highlands.

By the time the 20th anniversary rolls around in four months, 75 million Americans will have been born in those two decades, the organization estimates.

Thats nearly a quarter of the country, and it shows.

One of the questions I get when people visit is, Was this a national park when the plane crashed here? Gibson said.

A Boy Scout troop touring the site were puzzled when they heard about the messages that passengers left on answering machines from the planes air phones. Whats an answering machine? they asked.

Another time, a group visiting the area for an ATV park were at a nearby restaurant asking the staff how they could fill their the next day there, unaware the memorial was so close by, Gibson recalled.

Tourists walk down to the Wall of Names at the Flight 93 National Memorial on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack, Sept. 11, 2020. | Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

Flight 93 inspired a major motion picture, a Neil Young song and stack of books. But the worrisome thought for family members is the story of Flight 93  and, along with it, the wider story of 9/11  is being forgotten, including the decades of geopolitics that came before the attack and the dramatic change it created in American life.

Its not taught thoroughly in schools.

Jeremy Stoddard, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education, has studied since 2003 how 9/11 and its aftermath are taught in middle and high schools around the country.

There hasnt been a lot of good data on that, its very anecdotal, Stoddard said.

There was an initial burst of materials for teachers that Stoddard and his colleagues found to be inconsistent and lacking detail in how 9/11 was explained. Little of the material addressed controversies or gave students assignments to help them explore the subjects, or mat they found.

In 2017, Stoddard and two colleagues found that one-third of states  16  had education standards that included no mention of the attacks, or any content related to terrorism or the war on terror. That could be because those states give broad guidance to teachers that do not include specifics dates, events or people.

But even for states that do mention the subject, standards are generally a guide for teachers and not a requirement, leaving teachers with substantial autonomy on how and what to teach.

In a 2019 survey of teachers and how they teach the subject, he heard many say they were seeing an increase in students repeating conspiracy theories about Sept. 11 in class.

Even educators who teach it are sometimes uncertain where to place the material, or in which course. The subject often gets tacked onto the end of U.S. history courses that go in chronological order.

Stoddard encourages teachers to use primary sources: letters, documents, photographs, television news recordings and audio recordings of first-person accounts.

Stoddard also encourages teachers to move beyond the anniversary, and teach the roots in history  going back to the redrawing of the borders of Middle East countries after World War 1 and the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s  and its lasting effect on American life, including foreign policy and domestic security.

These kids dont recognize how much ... all the things that occurred as a result that have impacted their lives, Stoddard said.

Tourists visit the Wall of Names at the Flight 93 National Memorial on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack, Sept. 11, 2020. | Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

The families of Flight 93 victims also worry that the Flight 93 story is overshadowed by the stories of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Those memorials in New York and Washington  major urban centers, as opposed to a rural field  might pull in millions of visitors a year.

The Flight 93 memorial attracted 411,000 visitors in 2019, according to National Park Service figures. But it is also a click away online, with resources for teaching about Flight 93 and Sept. 11.

The award is for things that were done in 2020, but how that ties back to 9/11 and Flight 93 and the resources that we have, said Emily Schenkel, a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, resident whose godmother was an attendant on Flight 93. So this is keeping that awareness and making these connections for younger people who either werent alive or dont have a recollection of 9/11.

More from PennLive

Memorial serves as a meaningful, raw reminder of Flight 93

High school graduations: With COVID-19 restrictions set to end, some schools are changing plans
WILLIAMSPORT  A federal appeals court has vacated the sentence of a New York State man convicted in a weapons theft case because a judge committed a procedural order.

A panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday noted the procedural issue precluded it from addressing the merits of the appeal of Ben McCormack of Jamestown, New York.

He is serving a sentence of 10 years, 2 months on charges of theft of firearms and conspiracy to steal and possess firearms to which he pleaded guilty.

He and an accomplice stole nearly 100 handguns in 2016 from stores in Bradford, Tioga and Forest counties. Weapons valued at $55,000 were stolen from a store in Mansfield.

McCormack admitted selling many of the weapons for cash including to an individual known to law enforcement to be involved in drug trafficking.

The probation office in its presentence report recommended a sentence enhancement because McCormack sold weapons to a drug trafficker.

McCormack objected, claiming he was unaware the individual was a drug trafficker.

U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann overruled McCormacks objection but in explaining his reason cited the wrong section of the sentencing guidelines, the panel ruled.

The judges cursory analysis for his reason made it unable to determine if he just inadvertently cited the wrong section number, it said in ordering McCormack resentenced.

Procedural matters take precedence so McCormacks claim the government failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove he had the requisite knowledge that the individual was a drug trafficker was not addressed, the opinion states.

ALSO READ: Models heinous killing at Pa. interchange is worthy of the death penalty, victims brother says
A subsidiary of the PSC Biotech Corporation, which will eventually be known BioTechnique plans to open a new contract pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in York County.

PSC will transfer equipment, staff, and customers from its Wisconsin site to the new facility in Conewago Township, investing over $22 million and bringing 100 new jobs to the region, Gov. Tom Wolf announced last week in a press release.

The company purchased the vacant 160,000 square-foot former Unilife pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at 250 Cross Farm Lane.

BioTechnique manufactures sterile injectable drugs that are highly potent. BioTechnique operates a pharmaceutical contract development manufacturing operation providing development services for cancer therapies, novel vaccines, hormonal therapies, and DEA controlled substances.

We are incredibly excited that PSC Biotech Corporation will create 100 new, highly skilled jobs in the pharma sector at the Cross Farm Lane facility, a site that has been vacant for several years, York County Economic Alliance president and CEO Kevin Schreiber said in the joint press release.

The project was awarded $750K in funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and a $2 million Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan.

PSC, which was founded in 1996, is based in California and operates in 52 countries.

--Business Buzz

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like him on Facebook.
Update: SPX Flow acquired Philadelphia Mixing Solutions for $65 million on May 12.

A Lebanon County-based mixing solutions provider has been acquired by a North Carolina company.

SPX Flow, a provider of process solutions for the nutrition, health and industrial markets has signed an agreement to acquire Palmyra-based Philadelphia Mixing Solutions from Thunder Basin Corporation, an affiliate of Wind River Holdings.

This acquisition is in line with the SPX Flows disciplined approach to mergers and acquisitions, which is focused on strategic alignment combined with clear plans for value creation, SPX Flow said in a press release.

The agreement is expected to be completed in the second quarter. Philadelphia Mixing Solutions office in Palmyra will remain open. The company employs approximately 150 people. Philadelphia Gear was founded in 1892 and commenced its mixer product line in 1954.

The Philadelphia Mixing Solutions teams proven track record of customer focus, technical expertise, quality and on-time delivery closely aligns with our own strategy, culture and growth priorities, Marc Michael, President and CEO of SPX Flow said in a press release. The combination of these two great mixer businesses will create new opportunities for synergy and growth, while also broadening our portfolio of comprehensive mixing solutions for customers in the chemical, water and wastewater, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and nutrition & health markets.

SPX Flow is based in North Carolina and has operations in more than 30 countries and sales in more than 140 countries.

The companys product offering is concentrated in process technologies that perform mixing, blending, fluid handling, separation, thermal heat transfer and other activities that are integral to processes performed across a wide variety of nutrition, health and industrial markets, SPX Flow said in a press release.

--Business Buzz

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like him on Facebook.
David Friesema, the CEO of Sleep Country Canada, sits on the new "Bloom" mattress, as he poses for a photo at a store in Toronto, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim
The last thing you expect to see while spending a quiet day fishing is a Bigfoot moving about on the shoreline and throwing rocks. A Kentuc...
The World Health Organization's approval to give emergency use to the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China's Sinopharm has been welcomed by experts and health regulators worldwide. On Friday, the WHO gave the vaccine the green light, paving the way for potentially millions of doses to be rolled out globally to reach countries in need and boost WHO-backed efforts such as the COVAX initiative. COVAX is a global effort aimed at ensuring access in poorer nations to novel coronavirus vaccines. The WHO is also considering approval for the emergency use of another Chinese vaccine made by Sinovac. Andrea Taylor, an expert on global vaccine data at the Duke Global Health Institute, said two Chinese vaccines, if the Sinovac shot is included in the COVAX program, will constitute a "game changer". "The situation right now is just so desperate for low- and lower-middle-income countries that any doses we can get out are worth mobilizing," Taylor told The New York Times. "Having potentially two options coming from China could really change the landscape of what's possible over the next few months." Bangladesh is very pleased to learn about the WHO decision to include the Sinopharm vaccine in the emergency use listing, which surely comes as a big blessing for the whole world in the fight against the deadly disease, Mushtuq Hossain, an adviser at the Bangladesh Health Ministry's Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. "Our government has already signed an agreement with Chinese counterparts to import this vaccine," the health expert said. Bangladesh's drug regulator has already approved the Sinopharm vaccine, Hossain said. Speaking at the conference with South Asian foreign ministers that China hosted recently, he said that this was a good initiative by the Chinese government. "International cooperation is a must for fighting a global pandemic like COVID-19," he said, noting that a WHO emergency use listing will help China extend more support to the countries in need. Gavi, an international vaccine alliance organization that co-runs COVAX, welcomed the WHO's decision to approve the emergency use of the Chinese vaccine. "This means the world has yet another safe and effective tool in the fight against this pandemic," the alliance was quoted by The Associated Press as saying. The COVAX program has already distributed over 54 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The WHO's move on Friday marks the first time any Chinese-made vaccine has received emergency authorization from the WHO. During a media briefing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, said, "The WHO gave emergency use listing to Sinopharm Beijing's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality." "This expands the list of COVID-19 vaccines that COVAX can buy, and gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approval, and to import and administer a vaccine," he added. Sinopharm joins WHO-approved vaccines for emergency use developed by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, the Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca. "The addition of this vaccine has the potential to rapidly accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk," said Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for access to health products. "We urge the manufacturer to participate in the COVAX facility and contribute to the goal of more equitable vaccine distribution." The WHO has recommended the Sinopharm vaccine for people aged 18 to 59 years, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of three to four weeks. The organization said the vaccine efficacy for symptomatic and hospitalized cases was estimated to be 79 percent for all age groups combined. Unlike some other vaccines, the Sinopharm vaccine is easy to store, making it suitable for low-resource settings. The WHO said it is also the first vaccine that will carry a vaccine vial monitor, a small sticker on the vaccine vials that changes color if the vaccine is exposed to heat, letting health workers know whether the vaccine can be used safely. The Sinopharm vaccine has already been authorized by many countries around the world, with some 65 million doses distributed.


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South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is among 44 AGs who are urging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to abandon plans to develop an Instagram photo- and video-sharing network specifically for young children.

"Use of social media can be detrimental to the health and well-being of children, who are not equipped to navigate the challenges of having a social media account," the bipartisan group of law enforcement officials wrote in a letter dated May 10. "Facebook has historically failed to protect the welfare of children on its platforms."

The AGs added that they have an interest in protecting our youngest citizens, and Facebooks plans to create a platform where kids under the age of 13 are encouraged to share content online is contrary to that interest.

They said one concern is that the app could very well exacerbate the alarming rates of cyberbullying among children. Another is that predators would use the platform to target potential victims.

The letter to the Facebook founder was from National Association of Attorneys General. The effort is backed by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

In a written statement, Facebook said it is exploring" Instagram for kids and that it would make every effort to protect users and would not show advertising on such a platform.

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We agree that any experience we develop must prioritize their safety and privacy, and we will consult with experts in child development, child safety and mental health, and privacy advocates to inform it," the company said. We also look forward to working with legislators and regulators, including the nations attorneys general.

Facebook also pointed out that it is a founding sponsor of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Childrens Hospital, launched in March to study the effects of digital technology on children's brains, bodies, and behaviors."

Children under 13 are barred from using Instagram and other Facebook platforms under federal privacy regulations.

During a Congressional hearing this year, Zuckerberg said plans for a version for kids was in the "very early stages."

The existing Instagram app has more than 1 billion users.
COLUMBIA  University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen admitted plagiarizing a portion of the speech he delivered during an on-campus graduation ceremony on May 7, issuing an apology three days later and taking full responsibility for not citing its original speaker.

Caslen delivered the copycat remarks to graduates of USC's Arnold School of Public Health, School of Music and the Darla Moore School of Business. He repeated the unattributed remarks during at least one other ceremony, held the morning of May 8.

The wording in question  lasting some two paragraphs in length  was originally made by retired U.S. Navy four-star Adm. William McRaven during a 2014 commencement at the University of Texas.

McRaven is the former Navy SEAL commander in charge of the mission to take out terror leader Osama bin Laden and author of the self-discipline book "Make Your Bed" which was an expansion of his own graduation speech.

In a statement released by USC, Caslen said, "I am truly sorry. During my remarks in our weekend commencement ceremonies, I shared a well-known quote from Admiral William McRaven and failed to cite him as its original author and speaker.

"I take full responsibility for this oversight," Caslen continued. "I sincerely apologize to Admiral McRaven, someone I know and respect, our graduates, their families and the entire university community for not leading by example."

In the university's honor code for students, plagiarism is listed in the same category as cheating, complicity and falsification. If a finding of plagiarism against a student is affirmed, sanctions could range from making the student conduct a research project or essay to a notification on transcripts or even suspension or expulsion.

There is no official plagiarism standard in the university's faculty manual, according to Mark Cooper, chairman of the Faculty Senate, though many faculty members are members of professional organizations, which have their own independent standards for academic honesty.

Cooper said the senate is discussing the incident but has not decided on any action at this time.

Near the end of the roughly three-hour, in-person and live-streamed ceremony, in an introduction of the president of USC's alumni association, Caslen, without indicating he was quoting a prior speech, repeated nearly word for word two paragraphs of the address delivered by McRaven, who also served as chancellor of The University of Texas System from 2015 to 2018.

The copied section reads:

"Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times are the toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up  if you do these things, the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today.

"And what started here will indeed have changed the world  for the better."

Caslen's address was already achieving viral status before the plagiarism came to light due to the president also having bungled the school's name during the ceremony, mistakenly congratulating the graduates as the "newest alumni of The University of California."

The gaffe earned Caslen a mix of laughs, boos and confused remarks. A large number of students who received their degrees that evening took to social media upset that the president didn't appear more prepared for the occasion.

President Caslen apologizes for accidentally saying California instead of Carolina at the end of last nights ceremony and regrets any attention it may have drawn from the accomplishments of our graduates," the school said in a statement to The State newspaper of Columbia.

This is far from the first time the former superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has stumbled in a speech.

When competing for the position of USC president, Caslen had several slip ups while speaking to students and faculty. Those remarks, made during what would become a controversial hiring process, included a statement that some thought blamed sexual assault on binge drinking and another that bragged about increasing diversity among West Point cadets without lowering standards for minorities.

Caslen has said those statements were taken out of context.

While those remarks were not favorable, much of the dissension surrounding Caslen's hiring came from the perceived politics involved when Gov. Henry McMaster, who also was the official commencement speaker during this most recent fallout, used his position within the Board of Trustees to lobby for the retired three-star Army general despite Caslen's lack of a doctoral degree and research pedigree held by previous presidents.

Caslen had begun to overcome some of the controversy that led to his hiring, winning praise for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that closed the campus in the spring of 2020.

Following the reopening in the fall, Caslen then had to battle one of the nations largest COVID-19 surges on a college campus.

This latest misstep comes as Caslen's second-in-command, Provost William Tate, prepares to leave USC for the top position at Louisiana State University.
Theres no question that education has taken a serious hit recently. Schools of all types have struggled to adjust to virtual classes and shifting policies on in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The performing arts have suffered, too, with live performance effectively shut down for much of the past year.

Accordingly, arts students have struggled to perfect their craft in an imperfect environment. Dancers from the Southeastern School of Ballet, however, will have the chance to showcase their artistry in a virtual performance entitled Instinct, Rising Above the Pandemic, that will also serve as a fundraiser for the school.

Our faculty and students have been resilient during this time, and we are very thankful to them, school co-founder and co-director Hillary Krieger-Toth said.

She and her husband, Gabor Toth, met as performers with the Greensboro Ballet in North Carolina, and relocated to Columbia for career opportunities, opening their school in 2006.

The studio offers instruction in classical ballet, as well as jazz, modern and contemporary dance for all ages. Former Southeastern ballet students have been accepted into schools, training programs and professional companies such as Londons Royal Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet School, The American Ballet Theatre, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

But that doesnt mean the school was immune to the effects of the pandemic.

2020 was a rough year both with the pandemic and current situations worldwide, Krieger-Toth said. We have all been so grateful to have this art form in our lives, and (have) learned to never taken (for granted) what we have, for one day it may not be there.

The arts are essential for the human beings mind, body, and soul. If anything, our students are both mentally and physically stronger from this experience, she added. We are (a) studio that loves human beings, and the choreographers and students want to share that love with our community. As our students say, we have a voice through dance and we want to be heard.

The shows title, Krieger-Toth explained, is meant to signify the dancers perseverance in the face of adversity, while continuing to display great focus among the many distractions of life.

Safety measures and protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been assiduously followed, she emphasized. Temperatures are checked and logged, and only students and faculty are currently allowed within the facility. All students wear masks, except when training, and faculty wear masks at all times. There are air purifiers in all three of the schools studios, and class sizes are limited to allow students to remain six feet apart.

The performance was filmed in a studio at the school's Northeast Columbia location by videographer Michael McClendon. Ticket purchasers will be able to view the production at their choice of Friday or Saturday evening, or Sunday afternoon. The performance will be accompanied by a virtual silent auction.

According to Krieger-Toth, proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Arts Education Fund of the Southeastern Professional School of the Art.

(It) allows us to provide scholarship funding to the underserved community, she explained, to students that are financially limited.

Southeastern Professional School of Artis set up as a nonprofit in partnership with the Southeastern School of Ballet, designed to provide dance opportunities to at-risk youth and children from low- to moderate-income families. The website details that the initiative helps provide after-school introductory programs to multiple styles of dance at multiple skill levels, along with workshops, seminars and annual performances.

Goals for participants include development of self-expression, sensitivity, empathy and an appreciation for the arts, and increased work ethic, self-esteem and self-respect. Southeastern Professional Art School services are offered free to all participants through corporate and individual funding, including revenue generated from special events such as this virtual performance.

Running about an hour, Instinct, Rising Above the Pandemic will feature dancers ages 10 to 24 performing excerpts from the ballet Coppelia, along with a Hungarian character piece and two modern pieces.

Terrance Henderson, the schools director of modern and contemporary dance and one of the featured choreographers, noted that health and safety are always a priority, and as a faculty we work a lot on healthy mindset as the beginning and root of healthy dancing.

The recipient of the 2016 Steve G. Morrison Visionary Award for leadership in the arts, Henderson has performed and directed at Trustus Theatre, led Vibrations Dance Company for many years, and has presented performances through his personal brand, TOdanceInc., and as part of the soul music trio IndigoSoul.

My piece this year is very personal, Henderson revealed, explaining that his work over the past year has emphasized restoration and making room for grace.

Featuring seven advanced level students, his contribution, Letting Go, can be seen as a ritual for healing, with each dancer having the opportunity to ritualize a moment of bravery and truth.

First speaking their own individual things, they are letting go, Henderson explained, and the movements of the piece (represent) a journey through stages of healing and re-connecting, ending with divine trust and ultimately peace.

Instinct, Rising Above the Pandemic

May 14-16. $25. ssbcolumbia.net.
PAWLEYS ISLAND  Whether it's meeting with a real estate agent or stopping in for a quick layered donut and coffee, Parlor Doughnuts wants to establish itself as a destination for everyone in Pawleys Island.

Parlor Doughnuts is set to open at the end of May just off U.S. 17 in the heart of Pawleys, an area that, regional manager Toni Ricker said, lacks non-chain donut and coffee options.

"There is nothing quite like us (around here)," Ricker said. "If you're looking for something that is fresh, prepared on site and not shipped in a truck, we're here."

Though Parlor is known for its coffee and trademark layered donuts  just imagine a croissant, but glazed and in the shape of a donut  Ricker said the cafe will also serve western-style breakfast options such as breakfast tacos and avocado toast.

Based out of Evansville, Ind., the family-centered Midwest coffee shop quickly gained traction nationally, and found itself in places such as Fort Worth, Texas and even Southern California.

Though Pawleys is not much like those larger cities, a Parlor being in the area just made sense to Ricker.

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"Nostalgia is the No. 1 thing, every location has an old time big floor radio somewhere," Ricker said. "It's very raw Americana ... but there's definitely this weird fine line between nostalgia and hipster coffee house."

The building in Pawleys is one of the larger Parlor shops, Ricker said, and she hopes to utilize the space to make private rooms so business people, students or anyone else can have an area to work. Pawleys Island lacks public spaces besides libraries for residents to utilize, Ricker said, and she is excited to be able to provide that type of space.

In-house coffee roasting is also a future option due to the sheer amount of space, but for now Parlor ships its beans in from Evansville weekly.

Right now, flooring is still going in and supports are being built. Ricker said she practically tore the building down to its studs and started from scratch, but she believes it will be worth it and residents will flock to them.

"It's pretty much a family running this, it's not like we're this mass chain coming in and putting one of every corner, and that's never going to happen," Ricker said. "We want quality and exceptional experience."

Before its opening, Parlor is still looking to hire for a medley of positions. Visit bit.ly/parlordoughnutsjobs for more employment information, and to learn more about Parlor Doughnuts in general, visit parlordoughnuts.com or find them on Facebook.
South Carolina reported 277 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and four new deaths. The state ranks 42nd nationwide in terms of the number of vaccines administered per 100,000 people.

Here's the latest on the pandemic in South Carolina.

Pfizer COVID-19 shot expanded to US children as young as 12 COVID-19 vaccines finally are headed for more kids as U.S. regulators on Monday expanded use of Pfizer's shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall.

5:38 p.m.  COVID-19 vaccines finally are headed for more kids as U.S. regulators on Monday expanded use of Pfizer's shot to those as young as 12, sparking a race to protect middle and high school students before they head back to class in the fall. Read more.

US Treasury to start paying out $350B in state and local coronavirus aid The aid is part of Biden's larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that became law in March. Administration officials said payments could begin to go out in the coming days to eligible governments, allowing state, local, territorial and tribal officials to offset the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Treasury Department on Monday launched its $350 billion program to distribute aid to state and local governments, giving the U.S. economy an added boost as President Joe Biden sought to assure the country that stronger growth is coming. Read more.

1 p.m.  South Carolina's state government will receive $435 million from the latest coronavirus relief package, according to allocations released by the federal government today. Read more.

SC reports 277 new cases of COVID-19, 4 deaths According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, the week leading up to May 8 saw about 4,000 COVID-19 cases  the lowest count since June of last year.

12:30 p.m.  The state began the week with low reports of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with 277 confirmed reports of the disease among South Carolinians and four deaths. Read more.

AP-NORC poll: Biden approval buoyed by his pandemic response The survey shows Biden is buoyed in particular by the public's broad backing for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

11:50 a.m.  The survey shows Biden is buoyed in particular by the public's broad backing for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more.

+6 Could be Labor Day before Carnival resumes Charleston cruises Carnival Cruise Line has removed all Charleston sailings through August from its website as confusion over coronavirus health protocols continue to vex the industry.

11 a.m.  Carnival Cruise Line has removed all Charleston sailings through August from its website as confusion over coronavirus health protocols continue to vex the industry. Read more.

+3 With vaccine uptake in SC low, public health leaders struggle to confront skepticism Only about 2 percent of the state's adult population is becoming fully vaccinated against COVID-19 each week. At the current rate, it would take months to get 70 percent of people inoculated.

Sunday, 3 p.m.  Its becoming clear that reaching herd immunity through vaccines wont happen any time soon  if at all  as South Carolinas public health leaders are beginning to say it might not be possible to convince everyone they should get a shot.

Only about 2 percent of the states adult population is becoming fully vaccinated against COVID-19 each week. At the current pace, it would take at least another five months to get 70 percent of people inoculated. (Read more)

Roughly one-third of SC residents 15 and older are vaccinated More than a third of South Carolina residents eligible for the coronavirus vaccine are now considered fully vaccinated, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Sunday, 1 p.m.  More than a third of South Carolina residents eligible for the coronavirus vaccine are now considered fully vaccinated, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Thirty-four percent of citizens age 15 and older have either two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Read more about where the Palmetto State stands here.
Former Chester County Sheriff Alex "Big A" Underwood wants a new trial after a jury convicted him of public corruption and abuse of power charges last month.

In court documents filed May 7, Underwood's attorneys argued federal prosecutors did not produce sufficient evidence of the ex-sheriff's guilt during their nine-day trial. They asked a judge to acquit Underwood, 57, or give him a new trial.

Underwood and two of his former top deputies, Johnny Neal and Robert Sprouse, were convicted April 23 of a total of 23 federal charges that carry up to 20 years in prison for each man.

During the trial, prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice made the case that Underwood, who became Chester County's first Black sheriff after his 2012 election, had used his powerful position to serve himself.

They presented the jury evidence Underwood had ordered deputies to build him a "party barn" during work hours and spy on political opponents, skimmed money his deputies had earned working DUI checkpoints, and illegally arrested a Chester County man who had taunted him from his porch.

Prosecutors also entered into evidence a Post and Courier investigation that found Underwood and Sprouse had improperly booked first-class plane tickets for themselves and their wives to Nevada for a sheriff's conference.

Further, they argued, Underwood and his cronies lied and falsified documents to cover up their misdeeds.

Underwood's attorneys, Stanley Myers and Jake Moore, painted Underwood as a public servant who was being unfairly targeted by the federal government. Underwood's worst offenses were mere policy infractions  and prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the sheriff's actions constituted federal crimes, they argued.

After the guilty verdicts were read, Underwood's attorneys had hinted at a possible appeal. Moore said he was baffled by the jury's decision and saw plenty of room to challenge juror's findings.

Efforts to reach Underwood's attorneys for comment May 10 were unsuccessful.

The news about plans to seek a new trial was first reported by The State newspaper.
COLUMBIA  A South Carolina judge who is also a law partner to a top South Carolina lawmaker was arrested under suspicion of drunken driving May 8 before being released on bond by one of his fellow jurists.

Cody T. Mitchell, a judge of several municipalities in Chesterfield County, refused to take a breathalyzer when stopped a little after 11:30 p.m. by highway troopers, said Master Trooper Gary Miller, an agency spokesman.

Mitchell, 34, was also charged with driving with an open container. That, along with driving under the influence  a first offense  are misdemeanors.

He was released under a personal recognizance bond by Chesterfield Magistrate Gary R. Faulkenberry, court records show.

Mitchell is a law partner of House Speaker Jay Lucas, a Hartsville Republican, and manages the Hartsville office of Lucas, Warr, White & Mitchell.

Mitchell did not return a message left with an assistant at his office or respond to an email seeking comment.

Lucas did not respond to a message left with his spokeswoman.

Mitchell sits as chief municipal judge for the towns of Bethune, Bishopville, Jefferson and McBee. Hes also a judge for Hartsville.

South Carolina municipal judges are appointed by town and city councils to handle minor offenses like traffic tickets or other misdemeanors. They also set bail and issue warrants for municipal cases.

Its unclear what action Mitchell may face after his own run-in with the law. Ginny Jones, a spokeswoman for South Carolina Court Administration, didnt immediately respond to questions about Mitchells status.

In Hartsville, where Mitchell has presided over the local court for no fewer than five years, the mayor said Monday he had not heard about the incident.

I was not aware, Mayor Mel Pennington told The Post and Courier. Let me find out whats going on."

The incident began Saturday when deputies with the Chesterfield County Sheriffs Office pulled Mitchell over on U.S. Highway 1 north of Old Creek Road in McBee after watching his vehicle swerve out of its lane, Miller said.

The deputies called highway troopers for backup. Thats when authorities concluded Mitchell was under the influence, Miller said, and found an open alcohol container in the car. After Mitchell refused to take a breath test, he was booked into the Chesterfield County Detention Center.

Mitchell earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina and in 2016 was named an outstanding young alumnus of Presbyterian College, where he studied history and business, according to his biography.

He also has served as a judge advocate in the Army Reserves and the secretary of the Military and Veteran Law Section of the S.C. Bar Association.
Over the past year, mounting meaty exhibitions including works from far afield has been daunting, to say the least.

Unless, of course, youre an institution like the Gibbes Museum of Art, which can curate from its own acclimatized closet. But, lest you think that refers to its hallmark miniature portraits and Charleston Renaissance artists, there is more to the story.

There is another sizable, if surprising, collection. It is one that may at first seem a bit of a head-scratcher for a Southern art museum, but its roots are real, and its breadth and depth are, too. And it even has ties with that aforementioned Charleston Renaissance trove.

Through Oct. 30, two companion exhibitions are up and running at the Gibbes: Lasting Impressions: Japanese Prints from the Reads-Simms Collection and Japonisme in Charleston: Alice Smith and Her Circle.

The thrust of this twofer comes from the museums own Reads-Simms Collection of Japanese Art. Yes, mainly tucked away and ripe for the mounting, the Gibbes holds 600 ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The current show shares 60 of them.

So just how did this sweeping yet intentional collection wind up in Charleston in the first part of the 20th century?

Even with Charleston's post-Civil War poverty and inward-facing inclinations, the citys luster still drew the culturally minded. Among them were New Orleans-based Mary Read Hume Simms and her first husband, Dr. Joseph Hume, as well as her brother Motte Alston Read and their mother Jane Alston Read, who both lived in Charleston.

According to the exhibition catalog publication (which avails of insights from Sebastian Izzard, a specialist in Japanese fine art focusing on ukiyo-e), when the Harvard-educated geologist Motte Alston Read moved to Charleston in 1909, he imported a penchant for Japanese art. By then, it was all the rage in Boston and other cities. The trend extended to Western artists, too, who tried their own hand at the art form in a style coined Japonisme.

Starting in 1947, the family began to donate the extensive collection of works they had started purchasing during their travels. Over the course of 12 years, the family gifted the 600 prints that are the Read-Simms Collection.

And they are not just any ukiyo-e works, mind you. They are the extraordinary output of its master artists. In Gallery 8, an orderly procession along the walls boasts 18th century icons like Suzuki Harunobu, Toshusai Sharaku and others, who were known to dramatize the celebrity actors of Kabuki Theater in the Edo period.

In deftly gouged lines of despair and menace and cheer, the works freeze the actors at the pitch of drama, portraying centuries-old characters from warriors to wet nurses, sumo wrestlers to courtesans.

The show skips to the next century, too, with epic, if modestly sized, landscapes from the 19th century artists Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (whose famous mid-swell The Great Wave of Kanagawa remains a ubiquitous image throughout the West  just Google it for a plethora of licensed products bearing the image.)

Waves and other natural phenomena figure in here, too. Hokusais sketch Plovers and Waves (1830) offers the same expert flourish of arch and foam, at once ordered and wild. His Sparrow, Cicada, and Clematis (1830) frames flora and fauna in blithe interplay, at once flowing and composed.

Then there are Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Fuji, which depict the prominent peak from various perspectives and points of arrival, snow-streaked and awash in still-rich russets and blues offset by swirling, cloud curlicues, or as a small triangle from afar, distant and majestic across expansive seas.

Hiroshiges intricate lines similarly animate in his series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. In White Rain, Shono, he swirls up a tumultuous summer storm, with figures struggling to forge ahead. In Hakone, Traveling with Pine Torches, voyagers contend with a formidable highway passage. The artist gets granular, too, detailing the plumage in Parrot on a Branch of Flowering Crabapple or chronicling a balletic descent in Geese Flying before a Full Moon.

That's where the Charleston Renaissance artists come in, one gallery over. Both fluid and formal, the Japanese woodblocks segue readily to the works featured in Gallery 9's Alice Smith and Her Circle.

Some, like Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, were inspired to do so by Motte Alston Read, who was her cousin, as well as visiting artist Helen Hyde. Others, like the adventurous Anna Heyward Taylor and Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, had visited Japan and took lessons from drawing masters.

However they came to the ukiyo-e aesthetic, the application of its principles in their contemporary works is as clear as a moonlit vista.

Like the work of Hiroshige, Smiths Moon, Flower and Hawk Moth offers a similar, indigo-saturated descent before a perfect lunar orb. Her Untitled (Trees and Moss and Moon)" realizes tree top arcs as foamy and twilight blue, akin to Hokusais famed waves. Moonlight on the Cooper River frames figures huddling around fire in deeply green canopy through which that ever-full moon peaks.

And, while her techniques may have departed from those honed in Japan, Anna Heyward Taylor was drawn to the same natural subjects, swapping out a parrot for an indigenous beauty in Carolina Paroquet and sending a bird of local origins into a cresting, massive wave, made dramatic by thickly grooved woodcuts, in Skimmer.

Weighting these two artistic camps is likely something that only the Gibbes could pull off, particularly right now, both logistically and conceptually. The museum's vantage on Charleston Renaissance artists, as well as its Read-Simms Collection, together offer a worthwhile prism on both.

With their immersion into a culturally rich world of theater, visual art and poetry, the Japanese woodblock prints remain as vibrant as they were when trumpeting new theatrical productions and promoting the stars. It's no wonder the Western world became so besotted with them.

And, modish and exotic in early 20th century Charleston, the art form was an inroad for Charleston artists to reconsider familiar vistas and break from tradition with a rigorous chisel.

As those bold and powerful waves reared gloriously, and those finely featured creatures darted and dove with transcendent precision, the Japanese masters forged a new way of seeing Charleston, too.

Perhaps a revisit of them together can inform the city's next chapter, as artists, actors and poets once again aim to find a new way forward.
There seems to be no doubt that Joe Dawson has served Charleston County well over the years and it is obvious that County Council has been extremely generous to the county attorney.

After County Council went behind closed doors Thursday to amend Dawsons contract to make things easier for him and his ethics complaints as a federal judge, it now needs to put the residents needs on the table.

With the 1.5% share of any opioid settlement removed from his contract, council should send that money to Charleston Countys Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services.

This should help not only the judge but also the countys residents.

JACK OWENS

Ocean Boulevard

Isle of Palms

Use freedom wisely

In theory, a democracy protects the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

Freedom has taken on a new meaning in our country. People are now free to be total idiots.

Theres no need for me to offer specific examples: Just read the daily news bulletins and we are sure to find people exercising their rights.

Stories are published about corrupt government leaders and gun violence. Racial problems have always existed, but politics and events of the past few years have thrown gasoline on the fire.

Other democracies are more efficient in some ways partly because they have fewer people and, unlike the U.S., dont have 50 states each making their own policies.

For example, Israel has a coalition government out of necessity in order to facilitate quick decision-making on ever-present security matters. If Israel had the type of division we have in Congress, nothing would ever get done.

Our country is largely controlled by big money. Politicians need large sums to have any chance of being elected. For them, it is always about the next election.

Many voters follow the expensive sales pitches and very often vote against their own best interests.

With all of this in mind, it is difficult to keep a positive outlook, but we must do our best.

ED SILVERBERG

Windmill Creek Road

Charleston

Support voting rights

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We have heard recent statements by Sen. Tim Scott that have ranged from support of voter suppression laws in Georgia to comparing the woke movement to white supremacy.

While he has provided invaluable assistance and support for our communities throughout his decades of public service, questions exist regarding his current posture.

At this inflection point in our nation, we ask a critical question of the senator: Will he choose politics and political party over his faith and people?

As the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would ensure secure and accessible voting, come before the Senate, we plead with him to do the right thing in supporting these bills.

As he considers these bills, we issue the reminder that he has a seat in the Senate because of the sacrifices and bloodshed of our heroes of the movement. He stands on the shoulders of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Congressmen John Lewis and a cloud of witnesses who have made it possible for him to sit at the table with Sens. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley.

As for the legislation around commonsense gun laws, including the Charleston loophole, we ask him to remember standing in solidarity with the families, survivors and congregation of Emanuel AME Church following that deadly attack by a white supremacist.

For the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, we solicit his leadership and willingness to put the lives of those who are disproportionately the victims of fatal encounters with law enforcement over party.

In the words of Dr. King: The time is always right to do the right thing.

Rev. BRENDA NELSON

Chemistry Circle

Ladson

Trees better than solar

In 1970 when the first Earth Day was declared, I remember my hopes for improving the environment through technology and intelligence.

While its up for debate about technology solving our environmental woes, I can say with some surety that human intelligence on this issue has been a failure.

I was shocked to see in the April 17 Post and Courier the article Silicon Ranch is looking to build a 2,500-acre solar farm on a timber site in Georgetown.

Two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four. So, does it make sense to destroy 2,500 acres of trees and vegetation to install solar panels that block sunlight in what would otherwise be the forest floor, thus removing roots that prevent flooding and soil erosion?

Follow the money on this solar project to see whos benefiting from government grants, tax credits and other financial incentives.

Loggers and timber producers have been vilified for the past 50 years for logging renewable timber to sustain the building industry and producing fuel, pulp and resin.

But removing 2,500 acres of oxygen-producing timber for solar production is not a good thing.

SUSY RAYBON

Glen Eagles Drive

Summerville
Goose Creek, SC (29445)

Today

Cloudy in the morning with scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High near 90F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low near 75F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
COLUMBIA  With just three days remaining in South Carolina's regular legislative session, lawmakers will be scrambling this week to advance measures to Gov. Henry McMaster's desk  or at least keep them alive for upcoming special sessions.

By state law, the gavel falls at 5 p.m. May 13, ending the session that started 17 weeks earlier.

But much work will carry over into next month's limited special sessions, primarily passing a state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Legislators can also vote next month on compromises worked out between House members and senators  but only on bills that pass both chambers before this week ends.

House Majority Leader Gary Simrill characterized the final week as a game of "hurry up and wait," as legislators try to wrap up work in their chamber, while waiting to see what happens across the lobby.

"Buckle up," said the Rock Hill Republican. "Its a lot of fast-paced action. There will be a flurry of activity. The question is how much you can work through."

Key questions this week include whether the House will agree to the Senate's version of a bill allowing people with concealed weapon permits to openly carry their handguns. And the Senate will consider agreeing to the House's tweaks to a measure aimed at resuming death penalty executions in South Carolina by making electrocution the default method, with the added option of a firing squad.

A majority vote in each chamber could send both GOP-backed bills to McMaster, who has made clear he'd sign them. Or they could be sent to groups of House members and senators who will try to hash out a compromise between the differing versions.

"It's a gamble," Simrill said about option two, as a compromise may never materialize.

Another bill poised for final passage with support across the political spectrum is aimed at preventing slow drivers from bunching up interstate traffic.

Drivers who lollygag in the left lanes could be fined up to $25 under the agreement tentatively worked out in a joint House-Senate committee. The Senate approved the compromise May 6. A "yes" vote in the House would send to McMaster the bill that also directs the state Department of Transportation to put signs along interstates telling slower drivers to move right.

Unlike in previous years, there's no single, top-priority bill that could come down to last-minute votes in the Senate.

"It will still be chaos," said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield. "But the last week this year could be more uneventful than usual because we tried very hard to get done what we wanted to get done before the last week. I intentionally left the last week as a cushion."

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Advocates for a hate crime law in South Carolina want senators to take up a bill enhancing penalties for people convicted of violent crimes if they chose their victims because of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The measure would tack on up to five more years to their prison sentence.

While it advanced May 4 out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, allowing for floor debate this week, the margin was close. And nine GOP senators have officially contested the bill, blocking debate and giving it a near-zero chance of being taken up in the session's waning days.

However, that doesn't doom the legislation completely. It will remain on the Senate calendar for next year.

It is among bills that remain alive for next year at whatever point they are in the process when this week ends. Bills don't officially die, and must be refiled to start the process all over again, until the end of the 2022 session.

"Nothing dies, but it does for the year 2021," Simrill said about bills that don't pass both chambers by week's end.

One thing the House won't be doing this week is sending a new state spending package to the Senate.

"Normally, we'd be scrambling to have a budget back to them" before the regular session ends, Simrill said.

Senators had the benefit of crafting the more-than-$10 billion budget proposal after an update in the state's revenue projections that gave legislators $1.7 billion more to spend. So the House is largely starting over to craft a new plan, two months after it passed what Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith called a worst-case-scenario pandemic budget.

Legislators are expected to return for three short sessions next month to finalize a spending package for 2021-22 and take up McMaster's budget vetoes.

Special sessions will also be held this fall, meaning a busier-than-usual off-session. But those will be limited to redrawing legislative voting lines after getting decennial census data and debating how to spend billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 aid.
MOUNT PLEASANT  MyPillow CEO and die-hard Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell rallied a crowd on Mother's Day for Lin Wood, the pro-Trump attorney who is mounting a longshot bid to lead the South Carolina GOP.

Wood and Lindell's appearance was organized by Chris Cox of Bikers For Trump. In an attempt to draw a crowd for the May 9 event, the group gave out 250 of Lindell's signature pillows and held a raffle for a queen-sized pillow top mattress.

"What better way to salute our moms then with a good night's sleep?" Cox asked the crowd before introducing Lindell and Wood to the stage.

The advertising worked. Hundreds of people showed up to the rally off Coleman Boulevard and brought with them signs that read "Win With Lin."

Motorcycles were decorated in American flags and there were souvenir newspapers with a front page that declared "Trump Wins."

Overall, the event showcased Wood's attempt to rally support for his GOP leadership bid by using fringe celebrities such as Lindell. Notably, some in the crowd didn't know Wood is running for SC GOP chairman and few in attendance were delegates to the state Republican Party convention coming on May 15.

Wood faces current party Chairman Drew McKissick in the election; McKissick and his supporters believe they have secured the delegates he needs for another term.

Lindell spoke for more than an hour about his rise to pillow fortune, his clout with Trump and his self-produced documentary which he believes showcases widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

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Eventually, Lindell was cut off by Cox so Wood could be brought on to the stage. The MyPillow CEO went on to endorse the pro-Trump attorney's bid against McKissick.

"We got to get people in that have the people's back, that have our backs," Lindell said to cheers from the crowd.

Wood announced in March that he had moved to South Carolina from Georgia and would be running against McKissick.

Some of the mothers who spent their special day with a packed crowd of bikers said they liked what they heard.

"I'd like to see (McKissick and Wood) debate," Allison Isaac, of Mount Pleasant, said. "Columbia and Washington, D.C., are corrupt as hell and I think Lin Wood is a truth-speaker, which we've never had in politics."

Anna Gernt, a mother from Charleston, said she believed Lindell and Wood have "a great attitude" that's needed for the party.

Patricia Beverly Cox  Bikers For Trump founder Chris Cox's mother  said she is grateful to see someone shaking up the GOP establishment.

"Mr. Wood feels like if he can bring out the issues it's a win, whether he ultimately wins or loses," she said.
COLUMBIA  South Carolina's state government will receive $2.5 billion from the latest coronavirus-relief package, according to allocations released by the federal government on May 10, and many county and municipal governments will also get their own substantial pots of funding.

All 46 counties will receive some level of financial assistance, ranging from $1.7 million for Allendale County to $102 million for Greenville County. Charleston County will get around $80 million, while neighboring Berkeley will get $44 million and Dorchester close to $31 million.

Additionally, 17 municipal governments will get their own funding, with the smallest amount of around $2 million going to North Myrtle Beach and Bluffton, and the highest total of $27 million for Columbia.

In the Lowcountry, North Charleston will get $24 million, Charleston will receive $21 million and Summerville close to $8 million.

The influx of funds comes from a national pot of $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments from the latest $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, dubbed the "American Rescue Plan," which passed Congress and was signed into law by President Joe Biden in early March.

In a call with reporters, deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the COVID-19 pandemic had damaged the finances of state and local governments around the country, forcing them to spend money on emergency services and keep their economies afloat while cutting into their revenue sources.

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"It is a top priority for the Treasury to make sure we do everything we can to help those who have been adversely impacted by COVID-19 and promote a strong and equitable recovery," Adeyemo said.

Local governments will be able to access the funds in the coming days and will have significant flexibility to decide how they want to spend it.

Approved uses for the money include public health expenses, mitigating economic harms to residents and small businesses, replacing lost government revenue, providing premium pay for frontline workers and investing in local infrastructure.

The only two uses that governments are specifically barred from using the funds for are offsetting any tax cuts that stemmed from a change in law after March 3, 2021, and for making deposits to a pension fund.
Joel Po Ymballa, 50, was emotional in federal court as he was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for smuggling $400,000 worth of methamphetamine from the Philippines to Guam in 2017.

Everyday I apologize to my mom, your honor, said Ymballa during his sentencing hearing before District Court of Guam Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatwood on Monday. My mom is 71 and she is all alone here in Guam.

He learned of his fate after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to import a kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of meth to Guam.

The best way that you can really mean that you really care about what you just said in the sincerity of your apology is that you improve upon yourself, said Tydingco-Gatewood. To really focus on getting your life in order, getting off the drugs, taking advantage of this drug treatment program that your attorney and the U.S. attorneys office is recommending that you be accepted into.

He was given credit for the 18 months and 11 days he already served at the Guam Department of Corrections Federal Detention Center. It was recommended that he serve the remainder of his time at a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in California. The court also recommended that Ymballa, a first-time criminal offender, undergo a drug rehabilitation program.

Unfortunately, you were tempted by drugs to become a shadow man, Tydingco-Gatewood said.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Moots told the court that the defendant had been using drugs since he was 18.

He couldnt refrain from using. He had a serious addiction. He didnt know what was going on and he didnt care. He wanted the drugs, Moots said.

So, he got used, Tydingco-Gatewood said.

They were looking for an expendable courier, Moots said. He wasnt given a choice. They were taken out of the room and their bags were packed by somebody else.

It was said in court that Ymballa was taken out for dinner in the Philippines at the time the meth was put into his luggage.

(Defendant Fritz Ventura Tady Ganzon) told him he was going to get drugs and he used him as a cover to look like two guys going to the Philippines, Moots said. (Ymballa) was not making the best choices in the world.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Sambataro recommended that Ymballa get 42 months in prison, as he violated his pretrial release conditions by testing positive for meth and missing several drug tests.

The U.S. Probation Office also told the court that Ymballa had been compliant since being taken back into custody.

Its great that hes complied within the detention facility. Maybe that speaks to the structure there that helps to manage his addiction compared to when he was out on the streets, said Sambataro.

Thats good, Mr. Ymballa. You are not screwing around in there, Tydingco-Gatewood said.

Thank you, he said.

In 2017, Ymballa went to the Philippines with Ganzon to meet with the drug supplier, court documents stated. The meth was individually wrapped in 23 clear cellphone plastic bundles and concealed in nine Philippine snack boxes placed in Ymballa's suitcase.

A drug detection dog alerted to the presence of drugs upon their arrival at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport, documents state. Ymballa told authorities, according to court documents: "It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

Federal prosecutors said Ganzon is waiting to be sentenced for his part in the case.
I hoped that the June 2016 vote in favor of Brexit might be a harbinger of the outcome in our own presidential election but feared this was wishful thinking. I was thinking  I think I was thinking  of the wave that brought Mehachem Begin to power in 1977, Margaret Thatcher in 1979, and Ronald Reagan in 1980. And so it proved to be.

Reading Melanie Phillipss long column on the one-off parliamentary by-election in Hartlepool last week has me wondering similar thoughts. Phillips prefaces her thoughts with an observation:

The significance of the Hartlepool result is hard to exaggerate. This was a rock-solid, northern, blue-collar working-class Labour constituency which had elected a Labour MP for the past 62 years. Now the Tories [in the person of Jill Mortimer] have won it with a majority of nearly 7,000 votes on a swing of 16 per cent  only the second time in nearly 40 years that a governing party has taken a seat from the opposition.

Drawing out the meaning of the result, Phillips writes:

In the 2016 EU referendum, Hartlepool overwhelmingly voted Leave by 69.6 per cent to 30.4 per cent. In the 2019 general election, its Labour MP, Mike Hill, hung on to his seat although his share of the vote dropped by 15 per cent. Yesterdays by-election was triggered because in March Hill resigned, following sexual harassment allegations against him which he denies. Yet, despite Hartlepools overwhelming Brexit vote, the party installed a Remainer, Dr Paul Williams, to fight the seat. This extraordinary gesture of contempt for Hartlepools vote in the most momentous plebiscite in the nations memory suggests two things. First, the party leadership believed that the Brexit issue could now safely be parked as past history. Second, it demonstrated that the leadership just cannot or will not understand or acknowledge the full significance of that Brexit vote. For it wasnt just about membership of the European Union. It was about what that stood for: an erosion of the British peoples democratic right to govern themselves in accordance with their own historic culture and traditions, a right which had been removed from them by an entire political class  including the Labour party  which no longer wanted to defend and even seemed to despise their nation and its culture.

The question occurs to me whether Democrats may be better at masking their contempt for America, Americans, and American history than the Labour crowd is about masking its contempt for working-class voters who support their own historic culture and traditions, or whether Republicans can unmask it. In any event, Phillips has much more, all of it of interest  whole thing here.
Herewith a series of propositions and observations that all add us to the same conclusionthe left is utterly unprincipled, and will change their views on a dime when it suits their drive for power.

 As recently as 2009, Democrats had 60 U.S. Senators. You will search in vain to find a Democrat who complained then that the Senate was undemocratic, favored small states unfairly, or that we needed to add two new (Democrat) states to make it fair. Instead of wondering why Democrats cant compete in states where they often used to compete effectively (and quite recently), they want to change the rules.

 Ditto for the House of Representatives. Democrats enjoyed the fruits of gerrymandering for decades. Suddenly, when Republicans started getting good at it, it became an affront to democracy. (The effects of gerrymandering are exaggerated and overestimated; it is the cast of mind among the left that is the decisive factor here. Oh, and have Democrats stopped gerrymandering Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York yet?)

 California appears to be headed for its second recall election in 20 years of an unpopular Democrat governor. Last time there were over 130 candidates to replace Gray Davis. This time, there is talk behind closed doors in Sacramento that the Secretary of State may impose much stricter ballot access rules that will limit the fieldpossibly down to almost no one. (So far this possibility is attracting virtually no media attention. I almost hope they do it, so we can recall Gavin Gruesom and leave the governorship vacant.)

 In Colorado, where several recent recalls have succeeded in removing Democratic legislators from office, guess what? Democrats want to change the rules to make it harder to recall anyone.

This is a big, disruptive force in our democratic process. I think its important that voters have, maybe not the full picture, but at least a sentence from both sides, said Sen. Majority Leader Steve Fenburg, one of the bills sponsors. Its really just to make sure the information is out there, in that these recall efforts are being used for legitimate purposes and not for purely routine political attacks. In addition to those more substantive changes, the bill systematizes various recall procedures, generally bringing them in line with the rest of Colorado election law. It requires recall campaigns to only use paid signature gatherers who are licensed by the Secretary of States office, as is already the policy for other candidate and ballot issue campaigns. And it would ensure that clerks conduct a risk-limiting audit of recall results, as they do for other elections.

 In re: court packing. I dont recall liberals wanting to pack the Supreme Court back in the days when the judiciary was largely doing the bidding of the left, such as during the rampages of the Warren Court. The difference between right and left on this point is instructive: whereas the left wants to pack the Court with its own people when the Court goes wrong, the right wanted to impeach Chief Justice Warren and Justice William O. Douglas, which is the better remedy for justices who distort the Constitution.

Conclusion: for the left, it is only democracy when Democrats win. And of course pointing this out is racist.
Joe Bidens average approval rating is 54 percent. Thats not bad, though it lags behind the 100-day numbers of every post-World War II president except Donald Trump.

But our friend Michael Barone looks behind that number and sees worrying signs for Democrats.

For one thing, Bidens 41.6 percent disapproval number is about equal to Trumps. And Bidens real numbers may be worse than what the poll average shows because, as The Cook Political Reports Amy Walter suggests, polls seem to be under-sampling Republican voters.

Barone sees Bidens appeal to white non-college voters as limited. He points to several congressional districts, including Rep. Cheri Bustos Illinois district. It voted 58 percent for Barack Obama in 2012, but 50-48 percent for Donald Trump last year. Bustos, who won by 52-48, is retiring.

What about the college-educated voters Trump turned off? Barone points to the May 1 special election in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Trump carried the district by only 51-47. On May 1, the district nominated two Republicans and GOP candidates won 62 percent of the vote.

Bidens woke agenda may appeal to the mainstream media and the professoriate. However, it doesnt seem to enchant upscale voters in Texas. Barone point out that voters in affluent Southlake, Texas split 70 percent to 30 percent in favor of ousting school board members who mandated critical race theory instruction, which the Biden Education Department wants to encourage.

And in hyper-liberal Austin, 57 percent of voters opted to reinstate a law banning camping in public spaces. The desire to keep Austin weird evidently doesnt go so far as endorsing California-style tent cities under every overpass, Barone concludes.

Barone acknowledges that Bidens connection with treatment of the homeless may be tenuous. But thats not the case when it comes to the border crisis (as even Biden is now describing it). Barone cites the reaction of Sen. Mark Kelly (D. Ariz.) to Bidens April 29 speech on the subject. Said Kelly:

What I didnt hear tonight was a plan to address the immediate crisis at the border.

And Laredo-based Rep. Henry Cuellar, also a Democrat, declared were not paying attention to the borders communities, and its not under control. I can tell you that.

Barone points to two polls on immigration. A CNN poll shows 78 percent agreeing that the border is in crisis. An NBC poll shows 59 percent disapproval and only 35 percent approval of Bidens performance on border security and immigration.

Finally, Barone notes a diminution in enthusiasm for Biden and for the left. The audience for Bidens April 28 speech to Congress was about 30 percent smaller than Trumps audience for his 2020 State of the Union. And viewership of pro-Biden MSNBC and CNN is down by even larger percentages.

Barone concludes:

As homicides increase in city after city at the highest rates ever measured, and as tens of thousands keep crossing the border illegally, a lukewarm overall-positive rating and a de-energized core constituency may not be enough for Democrats to hold on to their current tenuous majorities.

So too with an economic recovery. Americans probably understand that some level of recovery is inevitable following the pandemic. How much credit they will give Democrats remains to be seen.

Keep in mind that the economy was recovering in 1994 and 2010 under Democratic presidents. But in both years, the mid-term election didnt go well for Democrats.

Keep in mind, as well, that it wont take GOP success on the scale of 1994 and 2010 to end the current Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
Przepraszamy!

Ogoszenie na stanowisku:

Controller to Credit Risk Control



wygaso z dniem 2021-05-24



Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddzia w Polsce

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Nigeria on Sunday recorded 37 new cases of the COVID-19 virus in seven states.

Sundays tally brings the number of infections in the country to 165,419, an update published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Sunday night shows.

The 37 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Yobe-13, Lagos-12, Akwa Ibom-6, FCT-3, Edo-1, Kaduna-1 and Ogun-1.

According to the update, no new death was recorded from the virus which has already claimed 2,065 lives in the country.

The number of deaths recorded from the virus has declined recently with only four deaths recorded in the last 25 days.

A breakdown of the data shows that 47 people were discharged on Sunday after testing negative for the virus. This brings the total number of discharged persons after treatment to 156,297.

Todays report includes a corrected computational error that occurred during the week, the agency said.

Precautions

Nigeria has continued to report low COVID-19 cases since February 2021.

To ensure no imported cases from countries experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Nigeria recently banned travels from Brazil, India and Turkey.

The Nigerian government said non-Nigerians who had travelled to any of the three countries in the previous 14 days would not be allowed into Nigeria.

While working to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, Nigeria is also continuing with its vaccination programme with over 1.6 million Nigerians receiving their first of two shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Nigeria has, so far, received about 4.4 million doses of the vaccine.
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Come May 15 and 16, 2021, the audio adaptation of the Broadway musical FELA! will make its debut on Clubhouse, the popular audio chat platform.

Nigeria represents one of the most active users on the Clubhouse which boasts over 20 million members.

Titled Fela Ten Twenty, the adaptation will feature a new interpretation of Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis original FELA! script, framing the #EndSARS movement in the context of Fela Kutis legacy.

Stephen Hendel, the Original Lead Producer of the Broadway Show, FELA!, said proceeds from the show will support GEANCO, whose David Oyelowo Leadership Scholarship provides full tuition, healthcare, and social and psychological support to young female survivors of terrorism and gender inequality.

Music for the production will be recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, by The Cavemen, the band rekindling Nigerian highlife with their new album Roots.

The production will feature a talented cast of actors from Nigeria, the UK, and the U.S., including Sir Marcell as Fela Kuti, Jumoke Fashola as Funmilayo Kuti, NC Grey as Najite- a Kalakuta Queen, Nneamaka Nwadei as Omolara- a Kalakuta Queen, Malikat Rufai as Sandra Izsadore, Uche Ogodi as J.K. Braimah and Comfort Dangana as DJ Switch.

Others are, Adeola Adebari as Tunde, Muhammed Agboluaje as the Driver, LaToya Ransom as the Radio Journalist, and Aliu Ajala as the Babalawo.

The production is produced by Hendel, Funa Maduka, and Olabimpe Olaniyan, daughter of the late renowned Fela scholar, Tejumola Olaniyan.

Kingsley Okorie and Benjamin James of The Cavemen are Music Directors; Marcellus Wesley is both Technical Director and Sound Designer; Ellen Marte is both VFX Director and Graphic Designer and Amanda Ezechi is Marketing Director.

Inspiration

The spark for this ambitious production came when a group of four friends, Eniola Mafe, Omolola Adele-Oso, Chinedu Enekwe, and Audu Maikori, were inspired to host a table read of FELA! on Clubhouse to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the close of the shows Broadway run.

They approached Maduka to direct, who pitched reimagining it, and the audio play adaptation was born.

Felas music, the foundation for Afrobeat, demanded global engagement with African political thought. In the aftermath of the October 2020 #EndSars protests against police brutality, his message still achingly resounds. This production is a love letter to those fighting for a better Nigeria, said Fela Ten Twenty writer, director, and producer, Funa Maduka.

Fela belongs to Nigeria, Africa, and the world. It is a thrill to have the show reimagined by a team of young, creative Nigerians. Im proud to support these artists who have come together to honor Fela Kutis legacy with such immense commitment and dedication, says Stephen Hendel, whose hit Broadway show was nominated for 11 Tony Awards.

Fela! was based on events in the life of groundbreaking Nigerian composer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It portrayed Kuti in the days when he was the target of 1,000 government soldiers assigned to end his public performances at the legendary Lagos nightclub The Shrine.

The musical ran Off-Broadway for one month in 2008.
At least 15 people, mainly civilians, were killed in Afghanistan on Monday, the same day Taliban militants announced a nationwide three-day truce for the upcoming Muslim Eid holidays.

The holidays are due to start either on Wednesday or Thursday, but the latest violence, which officials blamed on the Taliban, cast a pall over the news of any short-lived reduction in violence.

All Taliban fighters are instructed to cease offensive operations across the country from the first to the third day of Eid-el Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, a Taliban statement published late on Sunday read.

The holiday is set to begin on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Taliban fighters were prohibited from visiting government-controlled areas or giving enemy personnel access to areas controlled by the Islamists.

A response from the government in Kabul was still pending.

The Taliban had declared ceasefires to mark the end of Ramadan in the past.

There have been growing concerns about the security situation in Afghanistan since May 1, the date that international troops officially began their withdrawal.

The process was due to be completed by September 11, at the latest.

Highlighting the dangers, at least 11 civilians were killed after a roadside bomb hit a passenger bus in Zabul province, in the south, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

Another 28 passengers were wounded in the explosion, which happened around midnight.

Meanwhile, in the northern province of Parwan, two people were killed in an explosion that targeted a minibus with 25 passengers on board, according to a provincial police spokesperson and a local politician.

Nearly a dozen people were wounded in the bombing.

And in western Farah province, militants detonated an explosive-packed armoured vehicle near an army checkpoint just a few kilometres away from the provincial city centre, several officials confirmed.

There were conflicting reports about the casualty figures.

Provincial governor Taj Mohammad Jahid told dpa that two soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in a checkpoint manned with at least 15 soldiers.

However, provincial councillor Shah Mahmoud Naimi said that the bodies of six soldiers were found under the rubble and four others have been taken captive, with the fate of the remaining force members unclear.

The government officials blamed the Taliban for the incidents.

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(NAN)
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Vietnam on Monday recorded more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 via community transmission for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the Ministry of Health said.

By noon on Monday, Vietnam had recorded 109 cases of COVID-19, with the majority found in the capital of Hanoi, nearby northern provinces and the coastal city of Da Nang.

This figure is expected to rise by Monday evening as further cases are added to the tally.

The new cases were linked to a 27-year-old man who returned to Vietnam from Japan on April 7, and a Chinese expert that entered the country in search of work, both of whom tested positive after completing their mandatory two-week quarantine.

Vietnam has repeatedly been praised for its response to the pandemic, yet after a month without any community transmissions of the Coronavirus, local cases emerged again on April 27. Since then, the country has recorded more than 400 cases.

Last week, Hanoi authorities locked down a cancer hospital and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which has been responsible for dealing with all COVID-19 cases in northern Vietnam since the pandemic began, after discovering clusters in each facility.

Authorities in the Vietnamese capital also shuttered schools, bars and karaoke parlours in Hanoi and several other provinces.

As of May 7, the Southeast Asian nation had so far offered one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to fewer than 750,000 people.

Vietnam has officially recorded just 3,444 Coronavirus cases and 35 deaths since the pandemic began.

(NAN)
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Iran on Monday issued a sharp condemnation on a weekend attack on its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala.

It is the international duty of the Iraqi government to protect diplomatic facilities in the country, Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said, adding that this duty had not been met in Karbala on Sunday.

Irans protest had also been sent to the Iraqi embassy in Tehran, he told a press conference.

Protesters attacked the consulate on Sunday, protesting the killing of an activist, witnesses said.

They stormed the outer enclosure of the consulate building and torched parts of it, videos shared on social media showed.

The demonstrators also set fire to the consulate guards booths.

Security forces fired live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators, leaving at least 10 people injured, according to the witnesses.

The protest came in response to the killing of Iraqi activist, Ihab Jawad, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside his house in Karbala on Saturday, security sources said.

His killing was the latest in a series of attacks on pro-reform activists in Iraq blamed by protesters on pro-Iranian militias.

(NAN)
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The armed persons who attacked a police station in Abia State, on Sunday, came in three vehicles and three motorcycles, an official has said.

John Okiyi-Kalu, the Abia commissioner for information, also said there was no casualty from the incident because there was a security report earlier that the station could be attacked. He said the police officers at the station were relocated from there three weeks earlier.

Mr Okiyi-Kalu, in a press statement on Sunday, said the Abia State Government condemns the attack on the Mike Okiro Police Station, located along the Umuahia-Uzoakoli Road, in Umuahia North Local Government Area (LGA).

On Sunday, at about 09.45 hours, the Mike Okiro Police Station, located along Umuahia-Uzoakoli Road, close to Ubani market, was attacked by hoodlums, who came in a bus, 2 Sienna mini vans and 3 motorcycles, he wrote.

While two vehicles, two motorcycles, stationeries and office equipment inside the police station were set on fire, there were no human casualties or loss of weapons.

Following security review of credible intelligence, officers at the station were evacuated and relocated three weeks earlier.

The Government of Abia State condemns, in its totality, the attacks on security agents and facilities across the country, warning those responsible for the attacks that they will certainly not escape the long arms of the law as our security architecture in the state is robust enough to bring them to justice.

He expressed dismay over the attacks on security agents, especially the Nigeria Police Force, adding that this was dangerous for everyone in society.

Mr Okiyi-Kalu called on the citizens and leaders to come together and evolve strategies that would bring an end to such attacks on security agents and facilities.

He said the destruction of security facilities would create more problems than solutions, adding that venting ones grievances and agitating for redress as provided for in our constitution is more effective than taking laws into ones hands.

He urged the people of Abia to remain law-abiding and maintain vigilance as they go about their normal businesses, and advised them to observe the curfew hours of 8.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.

Mr Okiyi-Kalu said that the state government would deploy every necessary resource in ensuring the safety of the residents and visitors in Abia, as well as bring criminal elements to justice swiftly.

He added that the government had directed all relevant agencies involved in enforcing the ongoing curfew to continue to exempt members of the public on essential duties from the curfew.

The Abia attack in the latest in a series of attacks on security officials and facilities in the South-east and South-south regions of Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how 16 police officers were killed in four separate incidents last week.

The government blamed a secessionist group, IPOB, and its security arm, ESN, for the attacks. Many IPOB members have since been killed or arrested in relation to previous attacks.

IPOB, however, denies responsibility for the attacks.
The Buhari-led government is not directly responsible for the insecurity in the country, Kebbi senator, Bala NaAllah, has said.

It is for this reason, he said, that every responsible Nigerian should assist the federal government in its fight against the menace.

The lawmaker made the statement shortly after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Sunday.

He told journalists that he was on a routine visit to the president to discuss some issues of national importance.

His visit to the president comes days after the Senate, in a four-hour meeting, discussed insecurity in Nigeria with security chiefs.

It also comes weeks after the Senate resolved to send its leadership to meet with the president to seek ways of mitigating the security challenges bedevilling the country.

Mr NaAllah did not say if his meeting was on behalf of the Senate.

He simply said he had a frank discussion with the president and assured Nigerians of the governments commitment to boost security.

When asked the reason for the increasing cases of banditry across the country despite governments efforts and investment in the fight against insecurity, the lawmaker said a society evolves with its own problems, depending on its structure.

Let me give you an example. Boko Haram is predominantly in the Northeast, its a fact. Banditry is in the Northwest; you cant say its not correct. These are issues that the previous injustices that we have done to ourselves, collectively and individually, are manifesting.

It is only unfortunate that they are manifesting now when this government is in place and that is the reason why the government, having not been directly responsible for this situation, should be assisted with whatever assistance from any responsible citizen of this country to ensure that we put this behind us.

This country will remain one because the factors that bring the country together are stronger than the ones that seek to divide it and I think that every responsible Nigerian should understand this and give his or her own contribution to ensure that we have a very formidable and resilient country, he said.

Responding to statement by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, with regards to the government losing justification to rule beyond 2023, Mr NaAllah said the PDP has equally lost every justification to say that we have not done our best in view of the fact that they brought us to where we are, having ruled the country from the beginning of democracy to where we are today.

Politicians criss-cross from PDP to APC therefore, depending on what side of the divide they are, they find it convenient to now rundown (the) party in government, but I think that if you look critically at what is happening, you will see that the more the thing changes, the more it remains the same.

What we need are patriotic Nigerians, with zeal and commitment, to build a viral nation. Thats what we need. Not politicians who are playing to the gallery. How can you call yourself a responsible politician in this country and ride on the platform of lies, to continue to de-market your country to the international community? It doesnt make sense.

Electoral Act

The lawmaker who is a member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, disclosed that progress has been made on the electoral amendment bill. The bill, currently at the committee stage, seeks to alter some parts of the Electoral Act.

Although he did not explicitly say whether or not the bill will be passed before 2023, the senator urged Nigerians to talk to their representatives to ensure it is passed.

That means that every Nigerian has a responsibility to talk to his representatives in the Senate and the House, to accept the fact that he must act patriotically. He must place the nation above his partys interest in the determination of the provisions of the Electoral Act. Once we do this, we dont have a problem.

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I am not sure there is any Nigerian, responsible Nigerian, who is not interested in an electoral law that gives us the comfort of conducting a free, fair and credible election. These three concepts have often been misused by people who dont know, they are distinct and distinguishable and they are mutually repellent. It is one thing for an election to be free, it is another thing for it to be fair, it is another thing for it to be credible. The yardstick for measuring the three concepts are completely different.
The Federal Government has imposed a nationwide curfew to further limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The National Incident Manager, Mukhtar Mohammed, made this known at the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 briefing on Monday.

Mr Mohammed said the curfew, which will be from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m., would take effect from midnight on Monday, May 10, 2021.

He said night clubs, gyms and others would remain closed till further notice.

He noted that gatherings of religious groups and weddings, among others, have been reduced to 50 per cent attendance, while official engagements, meetings, and conferences should continue to hold virtually.

New restrictions

Announcing the new restrictions, Mr Mohammed said: for gathering including wedding, parties meetings; we are expanding the limit to 50 people preferably Outdoors not in enclosed spaces and attendees must wear face masks and they must ensure proper sanitization of their hands and maintaining physical distance.

For land and rail transport, there are no limitations anymore on inter and intrastate travel but service providers must abide by status stipulations from the Federal Ministry of Transport and ensure that PPEs are used and where applicable physical distancing is observed.

For the public sector, we are maintaining the restriction and encouraging the work-at-home policy for staff below the level of grade level 12. Those at grade level 12 and above will be allowed to come to work.

For the hospitality and entertainment industry, hotels will continue to remain open but observing all non-pharmaceutical interventions.

He said amusement parks, gyms and cinemas can open but at half capacity, adding that event centres that provide outdoor spaces can open but not indoor event centres.

Eateries and restaurants can only open for outdoor services and we will make sure this is complied with. Bars and nightclubs to remain closed until further notice. Each of authority within the state can provide additional guidelines for minimising risk in the state as it relates to these facilities and industries, he said.

As of Sunday evening, Nigeria has recorded 165,419 COVID-19 infections according to an update published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The virus has killed 2,065 persons in the country.

To ensure no imported cases from countries experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Nigeria recently banned travels from Brazil, India and Turkey.

The Nigerian government said non-Nigerians who had travelled to any of the three countries in the previous 14 days would not be allowed into Nigeria.

While working to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, Nigeria is also continuing with its vaccination programme with over 1.6 million Nigerians receiving their first of two shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, at the briefing, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said the PSC has approved the commencement of the second dose of the vaccination in all states of the federation and the FCT.

Nigeria has, so far, received about 4.4 million doses of the vaccine.

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The Presidency on Monday confirmed there was an attempt to burgle the residences of the Presidents Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari and Admin Officer, Abubakar Maikano.

In a tweet via his verified handle on Monday, the presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the attempts were unsuccessful.

The Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari has confirmed that there was a foolish attempt to burgle his residence at 3:00am this morning but it turned out to be unsuccessful.

Professor Gambari, whose house is on a street next to the Villa has assured that there is nothing to worry about from the incident.

The police, in a related development is searching for a suspected burglar who unsuccessfully attempted to break into the house of Maikano Abdullahi on Thursday, last week. Maikano lives on the same street with the Chief of Staff, close to the Villa, he tweeted.

An online newspaper, Peoples Gazette, had reported that the homes of the two senior officials were robbed on Sunday night.

According to the report, the invaders made away with cash and other valuable items. PREMIUM TIMES has not verified this claim.

The tweets by the presidency only confirmed the burglary attempts.

The Presidential Villa, where the Nigerian president and his family reside, is regarded as one of the most secure places not just in the Federal Capital Territory but in the country.

The robbery attempts in one Nigerias most secure places, arguably, reflects the worsening security situation across the country.

Nigeria has witnessed rising crime rate and violence across the country in recent months. Kidnappings, killings and attacks by armed groups have become rampant in many parts of the country. Victims have included civilians and security operatives.
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Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger has urged residents of the state to continue praying for divine intervention in Nigerias security challenges.

The governor also says prayer remains the best option for promoting peace in the nation as a whole.

Mr Sani-Bello said this when he hosted top government functionaries, political office holders and others to iftar in Minna on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event which drew people of diverse backgrounds and culture is aimed at strengthening the bond with God as well as with brothers and sisters, particularly in the month of Ramadan.

Also at the event were lawmakers from the National Assembly, state executive council members, directors-general of parastatals, political appointees, heads of information and media organisations.

Others were imams, leaders of unions and organisations.

The event culminated with a special prayer session by key government officials, seeking Gods intervention in addressing the security challenges confronting the state in particular and the country.

Those that attended, appreciated the governor for the act of kindness and generosity in line with the teachings of the Quran and Hadith. (NAN)
Outspoken Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, has apologised to the Catholic Church over the attack and destruction of the Enugu Catholic Diocese Bishops Court and the Holy Ghost Cathedral in Enugu.

Mr Mbaka, who is the spiritual director of Adoration Ministries, Enugu, apologised while delivering a sermon on Sunday at the Adoration Ground in Emene.

He said the church did not kidnap him and apologised to people who may have misunderstood his statement when he resurfaced in Enugu.

He said he was misquoted by people who wanted to cause problems between him and the church.

The priest said the protest was hijacked by hoodlums who unleashed mayhem on the church.

I wish to apologise to whoever misunderstood my statement at New Haven. I didnt clap for anybody for destroying anything.

I am here standing on your behalf and I render my sincere apologies to the Holy Roman and Apostolic Church where I belong and say may the mother church forgive us in any way we didnt do it well even in all that I said, where I didnt say it well, we pray for their forgiveness.

I am on your behalf, kneeling down for the church and I say may the church forgive. What has happened has happened, we are to save the image of the church and the face of the church and the souls of the son of God.

People started going in and breaking things Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas, Catholics and non- Catholics.

The church is not my property. I belong to the church so I am asking my Lord, Bishop Onaga and all the priests of Enugu diocese and for everybody to rest the case.

He said he will join the prayer of reparation called by the bishop as he did not send anybody to destroy the bishops residence.

The prayer of reparation, we will join, I didnt send anybody to destroy anything, I have no problem with anybody and I cant disobey the church who am I? How can somebody who has been serving the church for 25 years come out to begin to fight the same church.

Mr Mbaka condemned the destruction of properties at the bishops court, although he said he was not aware of what was destroyed.

He explained why he had praised the crowd despite the destruction at the bishops residence.

What I was praising you for was not for anything destroyed. I was praising you for your ability to search for your missing pastor, he said.

He enjoined them to look for any priest that goes missing in Nigeria because we are sharing in one priesthood of Christ Jesus.

I thank God nobody died. One person was said to have poured himself fuel and started pouring it round the Bishops Court and wanted to light himself up with the house, is that not another type of suicide bomber?

But the Adoration people beat the hell out of him. And some others wanted to destroy the sanctissimum sacramentum (Holy Sacrament) and the grotto but the Adoration members blocked them and started praying.

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The parishioners, he said, will agree on a day to go in their large number to the bishop and apologise to him.

Background

Following the exchange of words between Mr Mbaka and Nigerias presidency because of his call for President Muhammadu Buharis resignation, the priest was summoned last week by the bishop of the diocese. Some hours later, information went viral on social media that the priest was missing.

His parishioners, thereafter, embarked on a protest to the bishops residence where they allegedly destroyed properties within the premises.

They reportedly destroyed properties at the Holy Ghost Cathedral before Mr Mbaka later resurfaced and took them away to New Haven where he addressed them.

Mr Mbaka had told the parishioners he was denied access to his phones and ordered to proceed on one month suspension.

He also alleged that the diocesan leadership wanted to close down the Adoration ministry.

Following the attack, the Bishop, Callistus Onaga declared a one week prayer for reparation over the incident.
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As part of its contributions towards solution-driven journalism, Nigerias leading investigative newspaper, PREMIUM TIMES, has created a development-focused desk.

The newspapers Managing Editor, Idris Akinbajo, on Monday announced the creation of Development Desk.

The desk, according to Mr Akinbajo will focus on issues of human development including health and education.

He also announced the appointment of Mojeed Alabi, former deputy head of investigations as the new head of the desk.

Mr Alabi holds a BA Certificate in English from Obafemi Awolowo University and Masters in Diplomacy and Strategic Studies (MDSS), from UNILAG.

He joined the defunct National Mirror Newspapers in 2010 and served as both education correspondent and campus page editor. He later moved to New Telegraph Newspaper in 2014 as correspondent before joining PREMIUM TIMES as deputy head of investigations.

The multiple award winning journalist won the education category of Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA) in 2012 and 2017. He won Human Rights Reporter of the Year of the same award in 2018.

Mr Alabi also won the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (Print Category) 2016 and 2018.

He is a recipient of Golden Pen Report of the Year (Sponsored by Nigerian Breweries) 2017 and 2018.

He was a fellow of the World Health Organisations Road Safety Fellowship at the Road Safety Conference in Brazil in 2015 and also participated in the 2017 Global Investigative Journalism Conference at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

PREMIUM TIMES in January, as part of a reorganisation to serve its readers more, announced the creation of the National News Desk, which succeeds the Politics Desk. The desk coordinates political and security/law enforcement coverages.

It also created Human Rights, Judiciary & Anti-Corruption Desk, headed by Ade Adesomoju, a veteran judiciary reporter who recently joined the organisation from PUNCH newspapers.
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Students of Bayero University, Kano, on Monday, held a protest following the report of the killing of a student at its new campus.

But the universitys spokesperson, Lamara Garba, in a statement on the development, said the person killed was not a student but a visitor.

Following news of the killing on social media, some students of the university staged a protest over insecurity in the school, calling on the university authorities to protect students.

The protesters marched within the campus with placards inscribed with different messages such as: Our girls are not secure, Na person we dey alive dey rewrite carry over and Use your sense, we need security in BUK.

The governor of the universitys new campus, Abubakar Bamaker, told PREMIUM TIMES that the police had taken control of the situation.

Mr Bamaker corroborated the universitys statement that the deceased person was not a student of the university but a frequent visitor to the campus.

It is difficult to comment whether he was killed on the campus or outside. Only the police can speak on this and we are now waiting for them, the governor said.

Mr Lamara, identified the deceased person as Adamu Sunusi-Shanono. He said he was killed by phone snatchers, adding that two suspects have been arrested over the incident.

The victim and the arrested suspects are not students of the university and the incident did not happen in the school, Mr Lamara said.
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the dismissal of Nigerias transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi, and the suspended Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Usman, over unremitted funds.

Ms Usman was suspended last Thursday following the recommendation of Mr Amaechi to the presidency. The minister accused the NPA under Ms Usman of not remitting enough money to Nigerias purse.

The minister, in a letter sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the NPA, under Ms Usman, failed to remit N165 billion (N165, 320, 962, 697) to Nigerias purse between 2016 and 2021 and should therefore be probed.

Mr Buhari has since ordered the probe and asked Ms Usman to step aside while the probe continues.

Ms Usman has denied the allegations.

However, the PDP, in its reaction, faulted Mr Amaechis suggestion, describing it as a ploy to cover up the scandal.

In the statement signed by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party insisted that both the minister and the indicted NPA Managing Director should be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and possible prosecution.

The party also asks the transport minister to come clean on his reported connection in the alleged involvement of his wife, Mrs. Edith Amaechi, in the exposed N48 billion contract scam currently rocking the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the PDP said.

This is in addition to reports from the office of Auditor General which also unearthed the looting of unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and 252,682.14 under the suspended NPA Managing Director and Amaechis ministerial supervision.

The audit report also exposed another N15.18 billion allegedly siphoned through shady Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects by the NPA, an agency under Amaechis ministerial purview.
Health experts in Nigeria have urged the federal government to improve its domestic funding for Tuberculosis (TB) in order to reduce its burden in the country.

The call was made on Monday in Abuja at an advocacy workshop on Drug-Resistance TB (DR-TB) organised by the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), in collaboration with the Stop TB Partnership Nigeria and the Treatment Action Group (TAG) New York.

Speaking at the event, the National Coordinator, NTBLCP, Chukwuma Anyaike, said the funding gap of TB in the country currently stands at 70 per cent.

Mr Anyaike said the country can only boast of 30 per cent funding out of which 23 per cent is from international donors and other partners.

He said; We need support, especially financial support to be able to breach this gap and eradicate the disease.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a contagious disease that is caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that often affects the lungs.

Nigeria remains one of the 30 countries globally with the highest burden of TB. She ranks first in Africa with the number of undetected cases.

Although TB is one of the vaccine-preventable diseases which is also curable, statistics from the WHO show that every year, around 245,000 Nigerians die from TB, and about 590,000 new cases occur (of these, around 140,000 are also HIV-positive).

Data released by Stop TB Partnership in March shows that global treatment and diagnosis of TB cases witnessed a drastic decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected millions of people worldwide.

The report also indicates that disruptions in services caused by the pandemic have led to further setbacks in progress already made against the disease.

Drug -resistant TB

Mr Anyaike said the country has only treated 11 per cent of people with drug resistant TB, leaving a gap of 89 per cent.

He said data show that one case of TB that is left untreated can infect 10 to 15 people in a year depending on the environmental position of such a person.

We have 440,000 new cases of TB in this country and the highest number of cases we notified was in 2020. If compared with our estimation, you will find out we have above 300,000 cases still missing, he said.

He explained that between 2010 and 2020, 13,407 DR-TB cases have been notified while 9,337 have been placed on treatment.

He, however, said awareness of TB is still very low as only 27 per cent of Nigerians know about the disease.

Furthermore, worthy of note is the gap between diagnosis and enrollment of DR-TB cases which has been largely due to a myriad of factors.

One of which is the lack of demand for the diagnostic services due to lack of awareness of Tuberculosis amongst the population, stigma, and ignorance of the people in the community about the disease, he said.

He noted that the NTBLCP through the support and collaboration of partners and donor agencies has taken laudable steps in reducing the prevalence of the disease through ensuring Universal Health Coverage for DR-TB patients.

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Nigeria adopted the Gene Xpert technology in 2013 for rapid diagnosis of DR-TB with the capacity to diagnose a case within 100 minutes.

Currently, 403 of these Gene Xpert machines have been procured and deployed across the country to ensure accessibility to rapid molecular diagnosis of presumptive DR-TB, he said.

In his remarks, the executive secretary of StopTB partnership, Mayowa Joel, said there are ongoing efforts to eradicate drug-resistant TB which is still high in the country.

He said the dialogue aims to get new recommendations to improve TB case finding and treatments for drug-resistant TB in the country.
The police in Lagos have denied torturing a suspect in their custody, Omolola Ejioye, popularly known as Eji, to death.

Muyiwa Adejobi, the police spokesperson, said in a statement Monday that the suspect fell ill and died while in police custody.

Mr Ejioye, who was detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, was allegedly tortured to death on Friday, the deceaseds family said.

But the police said the suspect had (sic) an underlining illness.

The Lagos State Police Command has deemed it necessary to refute and clear the air on the alleged torture and killing of one Omolola Rotimi Ejioye, aka Eji, by the operatives of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba on Sunday 9th May, 2021, contrary to the news making waves on the social media, Mr Adejobi said in the statement.

The Command wishes to state in clear terms that a case of suspected murder was transferred from Ikorodu Division of Lagos State to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba-Lagos on 4th May, 2021 for discreet investigation. One Rotimi Omolola, the deceased, was equally brought along with the casefile and other suspects.

On 7th May, 2021, at about 4am, the attention of the officers on duty at the State CID, Panti, was drawn to a strange behavior of the suspect, Omolola, suggesting an underlining illness and he was quickly rushed to Falomo Police Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos where he gave up the ghost while on admission.

Background

The family of the deceased has earlier accused the police of causing the death of the suspect.

In a Facebook post by Ikorodu Oga, the lawyer to the family, Yakubu Eleto, called for an investigation into the death of Mr Ejioye, including an autopsy.

According to the lawyer, Mr Ejioye was unjustly arrested at Ladega, Ikorodu, around 8 p.m. on May 2 and was detained in Igbogbo Police Station in Ikorodu, before he was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, on May 4.

The suspect was arrested by the police over the death of a motorcyclist who died during okada riders clash in Ikorodu, the lawyer added.

Our brief reveals further that one Inspector Bisi took him from Ikorodu to Panti and handed him over to one Babatunde in Panti D4 department and the Babatunde collected some amount of money to open a file for the case in Panti.

On Thursday the Investigation Police Officer collected another sum of money for mobilisation to Ikorodu to investigate the scene of the death of the Okada rider.

Our clients family and friends thereafter visited the SCIID Panti where they requested for the release of the deceased on the 5th day of May 2021 but all efforts were to no avail, the lawyer wrote.

He added that the police requested a sum of N100,000 from the family members of the deceased so that he could be granted bail, an amount the family could not produce.

The officer, who was not named, also reportedly rejected a sum of N28,000 which the family offered for bail.

Eventually, when the family was able to see him (the deceased), they noticed he had been subjected to torture by inmates and was already seen soaked with bruises and blood stains.

Our clients on that premise requested for the bail but the Inspector Bola of D4 further denied our clients administrative bail on the night of 6th May, 2021 despite the deteriorating health condition of our client. Upon getting to the SCIID, Panti on Friday the 7th day of May, 2021 our clients were told that the Omolola Ejioye died in the middle of the night, the lawyer wrote.

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The family alleged that the suspect died in the hands of the police and is requesting an autopsy.

Police deny

Giving the position of the police, Mr Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, said the suspected, Mr Ejioye developed strange behaviour, suggesting an underlying illness.

He said the suspect was rushed to Falomo Police Hospital, Ikoyi, where he died.

The corpse has been deposited at mortuary for the performance of autopsy to ascertain the probable cause of death.

The Command therefore urges the general public to disregard the fake, unfounded and mischievous news which has been in circulation by certain individuals to distort the fact and escalate misinformation on the incident, for reasons best known to them, Mr Adejobi said.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, commiserated with the family of the deceased suspect.

He said the suspect was neither tortured nor maltreated by the police, despite his alleged involvement in the murder case under investigation, the statement said.

Mr Odumosu was quoted as saying the case will be properly investigated and officers will continue to discharge their duties in line with the provisions of the law.
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The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denied the accusation by the police that it was plotting to attack Lagos State.

The groups leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in a statement on Monday described the allegation as total falsehood.

The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, had said earlier on Monday that there was a plan by IPOBs security arm, the Eastern Security Network, to attack soft targets in the state.

Mr Odumosu said this during a security Townhall Meeting at the Lagos state secretariat, attended by the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and other senior officials of the Lagos State Government.

The threat of IPOB to attack soft targets in Lagos is equally being put on the radar of the command intelligence gathering and other security services in the State. Strategies are being put in place to neutralise their activities.

The Command is using this medium to solicit the support of all and sundry to be vigilant at all times and report any suspicious person or movement to security agencies. Let us adopt the slogan of when you see something, say something, he said.

IPOBs response

But Mr Kanu, in a statement issued through IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, urged the public to disregard the allegation.

He said Mr Odumosu, in connivance with a former governor of Lagos, was plotting to create disharmony between Ndigbo and Yorubas.

The public is hereby notified that the allegations that IPOB is plotting to attack Lagos is a lie.

Lagos State CP, Hakeem Odumosu who made the allegation is a former CSO to Tinubu and their intention is to fuel division between Yorubas & Biafrans.

It wont work. This is not 1967, he said

IPOB, a separatist group seeking for secession of Igbo speaking South-east and parts of South-south from Nigeria, has been proscribed by the Nigerian government.

The group has denied the accusations that they were responsible for the spate of deadly attacks against security agencies in the countrys South-east and South-south regions.
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The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has criticised President Muhammadu Buharis administration over its handling of the allegations against the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Usman.

The caucus, in a statement by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP Delta), on Monday, called on the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to take over the case.

Ms Usman was suspended on Sunday for the alleged discrepancy in the operating surplus of her agency, from 2016 to 2020.

The letter of her suspension came three days after the news of her suspension.

Her suspension was approved by President Buhari, following the recommendation of the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, to set up an administrative panel of inquiry to investigate Ms Usmans management of the NPA. The president approved the recommendations and set up the panel.

Ms Usman has denied any wrongdoing.

Elumelu questions panel of inquiry

The Minority Leader said that the mere suspension of the indicted Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, and the resort to an administrative panel of enquiry even after the report by the Supervising Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, exposed an unremitted and possibly diverted operating surplus of N165 billion, amounts (to) romancing and perfuming corruption by the APC-led Federal Government.

He noted the EFCC should take in the indicted Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, and commence a system-wide investigation with a view to prosecuting her, if found wanting.

He alleged that the administrative panel is a decoy to shield some other APC government officials involved in the looting spree at NPA and other affiliated agencies in the transport sector.

Mr Elumelus party, PDP, had earlier taken a similar position by calling for a probe by the EFCC.
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The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday in Abuja, said the federal government has no plans to slash salaries of civil servants as alleged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

John Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), debunked the allegation in a statement.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP, in a statement by its spokesman, had alleged that it got intelligence report that the federal government is planning to slash salaries of workers because of economic reasons.

Mr Akpanudoedehe said The PDP is up to its comical tales on what it terms intelligence at its disposal to slash the salaries of workers in the country, clearly only the PDP believes its tales.

We are proud of our credentials as a truly progressive and people-centred political party.

He stressed that rather than thinking of slashing workers salaries as alleged by the PDP, President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government is committed to the welfare of Nigerian workers.

He added that the administration had been tested and proven in this regard, saying that it would continue to match words with actions in line with the APC electoral promises.

He noted that the administration had put in place several social investment programmes targeted at citizens living on the margin.

These, he said, include the implementation of the improved minimum wage and the Economic Sustainability Plan to the mass housing programme which thousands of Nigerians are already benefitting from, among others.

(NAN)
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The Nigerian Army says the troops of 8 Division operating in Zamfara and adjoining states have eliminated many commanders and 48 members of bandits gangs in the North-west.

The spokesperson of the army, Mohammed Yerima, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Mr Yerima, a brigadier-general, said the Division had earlier launched Operation Tsare Mutane following the directives of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Ibrahim Attahiru.

He said that the COAS had directed the Division to stabilise the security situation in the zone to facilitate the return of socio-economic activities.

According to him, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Division, Usman Yusuf, launched the first phase of the operation that lasted from March 23 to April 2 in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara.

The troops successfully cleared many bandits camps in Jaya, Kadaya and Bayan Ruwa amongst several others.

The troops successfully neutralised 48 bandits while the bandits leader in the area known as Jummo sustained a gunshot wound to his leg.

The troops rescued 18 kidnap victims from the bandits enclave and recovered eight AK-47 rifles, one G3 rifle, one PKT and a Machine Gun from the bandits, he said.

Mr Yerima also disclosed that the troops sacked several other bandits camps around Gabiya, Bozaya and Mereri and the adjoining forests in Maru Local Government Area during the second phase of the operation.

According to him, the second phase took place from April 19 to May 3, adding that the areas which were heavily infested by bandits were successfully cleared by the troops.

He said key bandits leaders including Yellow Mai-Bille, Sani Meli, Dan-Katsina and Samaila Bakajin Bari were neutralised in the process while the main leader known as Nasanda narrowly escaped with fatal injuries.

He said that Isan Heshi, a close ally of a notorious bandit called Nagala, was also neutralised during the operation.

According to him, items recovered in the second phase include 4,600 rounds of ammunition, two AK-103 rifles, eight AK-47 magazines, 1,628 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 54 rounds of PKM as well as one motorcycle and five Techno mobile phones.

The COAS has congratulated the GOC and troops of 8 Division for the gains made so far and urged them to sustain their offensive operations until Zamfara and neighbouring States are stabilised.

He further assured the GOC of his continuous support in achieving the overall objective of keeping the North West and the entire country free of terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes. (NAN)
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Cartons of live ammunition were discovered on Sunday at Awka Road, Onitsha, in Anambra, after a truck conveying them fell into a drainage and spilled its content.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the incident sent jitters into residents of the area, who later drew the attention of the police.

A witness told NAN on Monday that police personnel were immediately deployed to the area and the driver of the truck, who sustained injury, was arrested.

The driver and his assistant, who also was injured, tried to gather and conceal the content of the truck but could not do much due to the arrival of the police operatives, the source added.

The source said the assistant driver fled the scene on sighting the police, leaving behind the driver.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, said the police had recovered the vehicle and its contents.

Mr Ikenga said: At about 4:00p.m. on May 9, 2021, there was an accident involving a truck along Awka expressway, Onitsha, and on receipt of this information, Police operatives, military and other security agencies rushed to the scene and quickly cordoned off the area and recovered the truck with its contents.

Meanwhile, the case has been transferred to state criminal investigation department for further investigations, Mr Ikenga said. (NAN)
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The suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Usman, has denied using her position to award a contract to a company owned by Aliko Dangote.

Ms Usman in a statement Sunday said a report by Sahara Reporters regarding the purported contract was false.

The paper had accused Ms Usman of removing Integrated Logistics Services (INTELs) from operating some coastline terminals in Onne ports complex, and handing the job to Mr Dangote through a proxy company, International Container Terminal Services (ICTS) Nigeria limited.

The company has denied links with the Africas richest man.

Ms Usman was suspended Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari to allow an independent audit of the accounts and remittances of the agency.

Reaction

Ms Usman in her statement said she could not have awarded any contract without the management team of the NPA.

To start with, the Nigerian Ports Authority has an executive management team, which always considers and takes business decisions on all assets of the Authority in the best interest of Nigeria. To claim that I singlehandedly awarded a contract in my capacity as Managing Director, is therefore, irresponsible, mischievous, and defamatory, she said.

She said, the report also mischievously lumped the now expired service boat contract between the NPA and the Integrated Logistics Services (INTELs), which took off in 2007 with a review of a ten-year extension in 2011 to culminate in an expiration in August 2020 with the lease under discussion. The service boat contract expired through the effusion of time and the Authority initiated a procurement process in which INTELs participated in line with all extant laws.

Concerning Onne berths 9, 10 and 11, which the report alleged was clandestinely taken from INTELs, she said the Authority offered those berths to INTELs in 2013 without any contractual agreement even though the offer letter required that the company should pay rent to the Authority for the use of the berths.

She said the Authority realised in 2018 that INTELs had neither been making these payments for five years nor putting the berths to optimal use.

She said the NPA then wrote INTELs to request the payment of the arrears of monies that were unpaid and expand the utilisation of the facility.

With the continued under-utilisation of the facility, the fact that there was no contractual agreement with INTELs from the outset and the urgent need to decongest the ports in Lagos, the Authority offered the berths to an internationally renowned container handling company, Messers International Container Terminal Nigerian Limited (ICTNL) for the use of the berths for container cargo discharging, she said.

ICTNL has signed a contract for the lease of the berths with the Authority and has commenced the installation of container handling equipment when INTELS instituted a court action challenging the withdrawal of the offer. That case is still in court!
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An ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives on national security has called for the submission of memoranda on a planned security summit. The four-day summit has been scheduled for May 24 to 28.

According to a statement by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Chinedu Akubueze, the deadline for submission is May 20.

The Special Ad Hoc Committee on National Security was constituted by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, on March 17.

According to the statement, memoranda should be solution-focused with emphasis on local and community level security options, strategic kinetic national security, and non-military and non-kinetic security.

Interested entities are to send their recommendations to the committee secretariat at the National Assembly complex.

Past security summits by lawmakers

This is not the first time lawmakers will be holding security summits in the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari.

In 2018, the Senate had a summit on security and another was held 14 months later in 2019.

This latest is coming amidst an increase in killings and general insecurity across the country. Last month, the lower chamber asked the president to declare a state-of-emergency on security, while the lawmakers also made 11 other resolutions on security.

Buharis fate on the balance

An opposition lawmaker, Dachung Bagos (PDP, Plateau), had said the lawmakers will consider the option of impeachment if nothing changes after the summit.

However, the possibility of impeaching the president is low because the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), controls both chambers of the National Assembly. Also, past threats of impeachment failed to yield any action.

In 2020, the PDP caucus, under the leadership of Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) threatened to commence an impeachment process over insecurity and corruption in the country. It never did.

The four-day summit will hold from May 24 to 28.
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The police in Akwa Ibom State have confirmed that a police officer was killed by hoodlums in the state on Sunday.

Besides Sundays attack on a police station in Abak, which was reported by PREMIUM TIMES, another police facility located at Mkpanak in Essien Udim Local Government Area of the state was attacked too, the police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, disclosed in a statement on Monday.

Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, identified the slain officer as Obadia Eli, who was attached to MOPOL 57 Ukana, in Essien Udim.

The officer was on his way to his beat when he was accosted and killed by the hoodlums, according to Mr MacDon.

The police spokesperson described the two facilities attacked as outposts which he said were non-operational at the time of the incident.

At Ikot Odon (Abak), a scrap vehicle parked outside and a motorcycle inside were burnt, but the building wasnt razed down, while at Mkpanak (Essien Udim), the Command commend the swift response from youth of the community, who quickly put out the fire meant to set the building ablaze.

A little part of it was however affected, he said.

Mr MacDon said the police in Akwa Ibom remain undaunted and committed to the provision of security in all parts of the state, despite the attacks.

He said the police have put up strategies to address the security challenges in the state, and called on residents to continue to support the police.

This time shall pass, he added.

Gunmen have attacked police facilities at least four times lately in Essien Udim. The deadliest attack in the area occurred in March in which three police officers were killed and four confirmed missing.

A resident of Essien Udim told PREMIUM TIMES that several people in the areas were forced to stay indoors out of panic during Sundays attack.

People are just beginning to come out from their houses as we speak, the resident said, around 5p.m. on Sunday.

I think the Essien Udim attack was staged simultaneously with that of Abak, he added.

Essien Udim, which shares a boundary with the neighbouring Abia State, has been notorious for cult-related violence and killings in the past.

Besides the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, the perennial conflicts between farmers and herders, and the abduction for ransom in various parts of Nigeria, there has been a spate of deadly attacks on security agencies in the South-east and South-south geopolitical zones, which has compounded the security challenges in the two regions.
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The Inspector General of Police (IG) Intelligent Response Team (IRT) on Monday arrested five newspaper vendors in Owerri, Imo State, Nigerias South-east, for allegedly promoting activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Abutu Yaro, confirmed the arrest but said the operatives were not from his command.

One of the arrested vendors, Onyebuchi Iwundu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at a police station that the IRT operatives arrested them at Rotibi Street, a popular newspaper circulation street, off Douglas Road in the early hours of Monday.

Mr Iwundu said they were accused of circulating newspapers that promote the activities of IPOB.

He said he and others were manhandled before being taken to the police station for detention.

The vendor said the operatives confiscated their papers and money, adding that they had been warned not to circulate newspapers that promote IPOB activities.

Other vendors arrested have been identified as Isinwa Blessing, Nelson, Micheal and Sakatan.

NAN reported that the circulation manager of New Telegraph newspaper, Chuck Ugwuibe, was arrested on Tuesday at Banana junction Orlu and has been in police custody.

Eastern Security Network, a security arm of IPOB, appears to have a strong presence in Imo.

Besides the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, the perennial conflicts between farmers and herders, and the abduction for ransom in various parts of Nigeria, there has been a spate of deadly attacks on security agencies in the South-east and South-south geopolitical zones, which has compounded the security challenges in the two regions.

(NAN)
The controversy surrounding the appointment of the former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, as the leader of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement in Nigeria was put to rest on Sunday at the global headquarters of the movement in Senegal.

The Supreme Leader of the sect, Mahi Nyass, confirmed the appointment when he received the former emir on a Ramadan visit on Saturday.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Sanusi II was invited to Senegal by Mr Nyass to confer the title of the Khalifah of the sect in Nigeria on him.

In a video obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Nyass, who spoke in Arabic, prayed for Mr Sanusi and charged him to unite members of the sect in Nigeria and lead with the fear of Allah.

Sanusi is hereby appointed as the Khalifah of Late Sheikh Ibrahim Inyas and the leader of the Tijjaniya sect in Nigeria. We pray Allah should guide him. Amin, he said.

He also tasked the former emir to be a good ambassador of the sect in Nigeria.

The seat had been vacant since May 7, 2018 when its last occupant, Isyaku Rabiu, died.

Late Mr Rabiu had succeeded Mr Sanusis grandfather who was also an Emir of Kano and the first leader of the sect in Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi I.

However, Mr Rabius leadership was opposed by a popular Islamic scholar, Dahiru Usman-Bauchi, who ran a parallel headquarters of the sect in Nigeria.

Sanusis earlier appointment

On March 13, Mr Sanusi was appointed by some members of the Tijjaniyya leadership when he visited Sokoto State to participate in this years Maulid celebrations.

But the Dahiru-Bauchi faction of the sect rejected the appointment, saying the representative of the sect leader was misquoted.

Ibrahim Dahiru-Bauchi, one of the sons of Mr Dahiru-Bauchi who interpreted the submission of the sects leader, described the report of Mr Sanusis appointment as propaganda.

The junior brother of Grand Leader, Sheikh Makey Nyass, was quoted out of context in the report. What he said was that Sanusi has been following the footsteps of his late grandfather, Muhammadu Sanusi I.

Nyass only tried to compare the life experiences of Sanusi and that of his late grandfather after being deposed from throne, Mr Dahiru-Bauchi said.

With the recent confirmation by the Supreme Leader of the sect, however, the dispute has been laid to rest.

Meanwhile, Mr Dahiru-Bauchi could not be reached as of the time of writing this report. But a prominent member of the movement in Kaduna said although he was aware of the appointment by the global leader of the sect, but insisted that Mr Dahiru-Bauchi is their spiritual leader in Nigeria.

Even when Sheikh Isiyaka Rabiu was alive, we followed Dahiru-Bauchi and some of our sect members followed late Rabius faction. It does not affect us. So for me, it will be the same now. This is what I think, the member, Rabiu Hassan, said.

The Tijaniyya Islamic sect has a huge following across Africa. It was founded by an Algerian, Ahmad al Tijani Hasani, in the late 18th century.

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But the teaching of the Tijjaniyya sect is being challenged by the radical Sunni sect, popularly called the Izala, in Northern Nigeria.
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A former military Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Sunday, denied online media reports linking him to armed banditry and insurgency in Nigeria.

The retired army general described the reports as false, unfounded and fake news.

Many residents of Kagara in Rafi local government areas of Mr Abubakars home Niger State had claimed sighting an helicopter supplying arms and food items to the armed bandits terrorising the area.

Mr Abubakars media aide, Yakubu Suleiman, in a statement, said some online media had linked him to the said helicopter.

Mr Abubakar decried being associated with such a heinous crime that is unbecoming of any patriotic citizen.

He said he would have ignored the spurious reports but decided to set the record straight.

This kind of fake news has the potential of aggravating the already tense security situation in the country and should not be condoned, he said.

He expressed regret that individuals could peddle such news and smear the image and character of people.

I urge Nigerians to ignore such treacherous acts and to be careful with the kind of information they dish out and share on Social Media.

He also urged Nigerians to continue to work and pray for enduring peace in Nigeria, saying that no nation can attain greatness without peace and security of lives and property.
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The police authorities in Akwa Ibom State said they have so far lost 21 officers due to gun attacks in the state.

The commissioner of police in the state, Amiengheme Andrew, disclosed this on Monday while briefing Governor Udom Emmanuel who visited the police headquarters in the state to condole with the families of the slain officers and the police over the loss.

Mr Andrew also informed the governor that the police in the state lost 11 vehicles and seven firearms in the various attacks.

Mr Emmanuel, who visited the police headquarters immediately after the State Executive Council meeting, announced a donation of N60 million to the families of the slain officers.

Besides meeting with the police commissioner in his office, Mr Emmanuel met with officers inside a hall where he thanked them for dedicating their lives to the security of lives and properties in the state.

Mr Andrew thanked the governor for the visit and the donation. He said the visit was a morale booster to police officers in the state, and promised that the command will continue to do its best to secure the state.

Hours before Governor Emmanuels visit to the police headquarters, there were unconfirmed reports of fresh disturbances by hoodlums in Essien Udim Local Government Area of the state.

A police officer was killed on Sunday in Essien Udim during an attack by hoodlums.

The attack occurred simultaneously with a similar attack in another area  Abak Local Government Area  in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, identified the slain officer as Obadia Eli, who was attached to MOPOL 57 Ukana.

The officer was on his way to his beat when he was accosted and killed by the hoodlums, Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, said in a statement on Monday.

Besides the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, the perennial conflicts between farmers and herders, and the abduction for ransom in various parts of Nigeria, there has been a spate of deadly attacks on security agencies in the South-east and South-south geopolitical zones, which has compounded the security challenges in the two regions.
The spate of ritual killings has become so problematic that our political leaders should declare a national emergency on the crises. I call for stiffer jail sentences to deter potential perpetrators from engaging in ritual killings. The trust and confidence of citizens in our law enforcement need to be built, to motivate them to provide credible intelligence required for security operators.

Iniobong Umoren was a young woman in her early 20s who lived in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. She shared, on Twitter, her need for a job, and one Twitter user named Uduak Akpan asked her for a private chat concerning her application. According to police reports, Mr Akpan asked Ms Umoren to meet her at a particular location in Uyo.

When the unsuspecting lady got there, the sinister man raped her, killed her, and buried her in a shallow grave. Unfortunately for the serial rapist and murderer, the lady had given her friend the phone number of the person who invited her for an interview, before she set out for the meeting. This number led to the apprehension of the culprit, after the lady was declared missing for days.

There are reports that Ms. Umorens gruesome murder was not just a case of rape and murder but that it also involved ritual killing. Mr Akpans entire family is said to be involved in the barbaric business of ritual killings.

Two weeks ago, a report indicated that in Kwara State, a next-door neighbour allegedly murdered a groom-to-be for ritual purposes. According to the account in Vanguard, the deceased, who was said to be a devout Christian, did not know that his neighbour, with whom he used to eat, was a serial killer and ritualist who has served jail terms twice. This wolf-in-sheep-clothing neighbour allegedly killed his victim, removed some sensitive body parts, and poured acid on his remains for speedy decay, to prevent it from fouling the area.

Last February in Port Harcourt, a suspected ritual killer was arrested while attempting to sacrifice a nine-year-old girl in the Ibaa community in Emuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State. According to a report in PUNCH newspapers, the girls parents had raised the alarm over her sudden disappearance after she went to dispose of refuse in a nearby bush. It happened that the suspect had taken the minor to an abandoned compound, tied her with white cloths, applied white clay on her body with a coffin already stationed for the ritual purpose. He was in the process of performing the ritual when he ran out of luck.

In 2019, Port Harcourt made international headlines in ritual killings with the case of Gracious David-West, Nigerias most celebrated ritual killer in recent times. From July to September 2019, David-West killed at least 15 women, mainly in the Rivers State capital city. After his arrest, he confessed to these murders.

Official statistics indicate that there has been an increase in the number of missing persons all over the country in recent times. Some are found, while others are not. There is the speculation that a majority of those who disappear perpetually without a trace are often victims of ritual killings.

Incidents of ritual killings have assumed an alarming rate in Nigeria. There seems to be little or no effort by concerned government agencies to checkmate the trend. We expect that such cruel and barbaric acts would no longer exist in our society given our levels of exposure, enlightenment, and civilisation. Ironically, as our communities seem to be getting more religious, given the proliferation of churches and mosques in all nooks and crannies of the country, it seems that these heinous acts are increasing, as the quest for filthy lucre pervades our society.

It is disheartening to point out that as developed societies invest in science and technology to keep abreast of a dynamic world, ours are still stuck in the mistaken belief that sacrificing human blood is the surest route to wealth, safety, and protection.

No doubt, ritual killings are performed to obtain human body parts for potions, charms and other fetish needs. Ritualists search for human parts at the request of voodoo practitioners, who require these to make sacrifices or prepare various magical potions to give power and wealth to an individual. Some people engage in ritual killings to obtain charms that would make them invincible and protect them from business failure, illness, accidents, and spiritual attacks. Whether they succeed or not is open to debate. However, it is not easy to prove that there is a link between such sacrifices and financial success or any type of success, empirically.

Amongst a large group of Nigerians, including the well-educated and people from different faiths and social backgrounds, there is a strong belief in the supernatural and the effectiveness of rituals. This belief has a direct correlation to the prevalence of ritual killings. It is a well-known fact that some elite in society indulge in ritual killings. Some people apprehended for ritual killings, and witch doctors who perform the sacrifices accused politicians, government officials and wealthy businessmen of being their sponsors. They are said to use human beings for rituals to sustain their affluence and remain in positions of power.

Sometimes, it is difficult to understand the mindset of the ritual killer. How can someone take another persons life in the quest for wealth, protection, and power? More worrisome is the fact that sometimes it is not just the issue of a depraved mind but also that of a depraved group of minds.

Therefore, it is not surprising that there are usually increased cases of mysterious disappearances and ritual killings during elections. Some desperate, fetish and superstitious politicians always consult voodoo practitioners during elections to help them overcome their opponents. It is claimed that these spiritualists usually demand human heads and other body parts to perform these rituals.

Given the rate of increase in ritual killings in our society, no one is immune to becoming a victim of this malevolent practice. But some people are at greater risk than others. It is considered that people with mental illnesses and virgins are unique targets, as the ritualists allegedly believe that their being eccentric or pure makes them more viable sacrifices. Also, people living with albinism have equally become victims of ritual killings, fuelled by the belief that their body-parts could allegedly make one wealthy or prolong ones life.

Sometimes, it is difficult to understand the mindset of the ritual killer. How can someone take another persons life in the quest for wealth, protection, and power? More worrisome is the fact that sometimes it is not just the issue of a depraved mind but also that of a depraved group of minds.

Sometime in 2017, Lagos State, the countrys commercial hub, was gripped by Badoo ritual killings. According to news reports, over 50 people were killed by a Badoo Boys group, who moved about with an air of invincibility until the Nigerian Police routed them.

The Vanguard newspaper reported the activities of the group thus: Before the raid and subsequent arrest of over 200 suspected members of the cult group by the Police with the support of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, local vigilante and the Neighbourhood Watch Corps, Badoo Boys had been unleashing an orgy of killings, during which they crush the skulls of their victims. Their modus operandi included storming victims residences while they are asleep.

People suspected that they usually hypnotise their victims, making them unconscious of their presence. After that, they would smash the heads of these victims with grinding stones and then use handkerchiefs to clean the blood and brain matter before leaving the scene.

During interrogation, one of the suspects confirmed that they sold each handkerchief stained with blood for N500,000. He further revealed that they were mere errand boys for rich politicians within and outside Lagos state. But in their case, the blood and semen-stained handkerchief were used to prepare the spiritual defence for some wealthy Nigerians.

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What are the root causes of ritual killings? How can society tackle this menace? What role should the government and relevant agencies play in ameliorating the negative impact of these dastardly acts?

Poverty and economic hardship in the land are reasons for ritual killings. However, these are not justifiable reasons to commit ritual murder. Impunity encourages ritualists to commit other murders because they believe they will never be apprehended or punished.

Another reason for ritual murders is the collapse in our moral values, ignorance and superstition, and the lack of an adequate punishment system. We should also consider poverty and unemployment as significant risk factors. If Nigerians have equal opportunities to earn income legitimately, there will be a reduction in horrific crimes such as banditry, human killings for ritual, and terrorism.

The fight against ritual killings and other menaces in our society is for all. We should not rest until we create a culture where we always uphold the sanctity of life at all cost and the safety of everyone is guaranteed, irrespective of social status, religion, or ethnic background. This task calls for authentic leadership. We swim or sink together.

Besides, the inordinate quest for and pursuit of quick wealth are said to be driving some people to resort to the use of human parts for rituals. And some usual suspects include fake clerics and voodoo practitioners who carry out the rituals for their clients.

Some analysts have recommended that government should investigate suspected pastors and imams and checkmate their activities because what they do under the cover of being religious leaders sometimes leaves much to be desired.

To curb the increase in ritual killings, the government should thoroughly explore the intelligence-gathering approach and prosecute arrested culprits. The timely arrest and prosecution of arrested suspects would serve as deterrents to folks contemplating ritual killings. The record of the successful prosecution of ritualists is not in the public domain. When there are no consequences for deviant behaviour, it is incentivised.

For the public, commuters should always write down the identification markings of public conveyance vehicles they enter and make phone calls to loved ones to pass on the information. In the case of Iniobong Umoren mentioned earlier, the fact that she confided in her friend about her movement and passed across the phone number of the person who invited her for an interview was instrumental in apprehending the culprit.

Most ritual murderers always wish to be unidentified. They want to kill people but do not wish to be apprehended. Once information about them has been exposed to someone else, it becomes difficult for them to remain anonymous and perpetrate evil.

Commuters should also assess public transport vehicles before boarding in order not to enter vehicles occupied by hoodlums. I advise ladies to carry whistles on them to raise alarms, if there is an attempt to abduct them.

In addition to these, people should avoid staying in isolated areas where criminals can quickly attack them without being noticed, and everybody should be conscious of their immediate environment.

The spate of ritual killings has become so problematic that our political leaders should declare a national emergency on the crises. I call for stiffer jail sentences to deter potential perpetrators from engaging in ritual killings. The trust and confidence of citizens in our law enforcement need to be built, to motivate them to provide credible intelligence required for security operators.

We should also make good use of whistleblowers. These are invisible law-abiding citizens whose primary function is to disseminate information that provides details necessary for the arrest of suspected ritual murderers. They should be kept anonymous, with law enforcement institutions desisting from revealing their identities as their link persons.

The fight against ritual killings and other menaces in our society is for all. We should not rest until we create a culture where we always uphold the sanctity of life at all cost and the safety of everyone is guaranteed, irrespective of social status, religion, or ethnic background. This task calls for authentic leadership. We swim or sink together. Our only option is to swim to survive the social disaster we are becoming as a nation because of the collapse of morality, ethics, and law.

Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.
All these contributions, regardless, Professor Sotunsa has made additional important input in the development of academics generally. This explains the recognition she has been accorded in the time past. Without doubt, she has been identified as one of the most successful Nigerian women who thrive exceptionally in areas that have hitherto been delineated as mens terrain.

From June 21-23, Professor Mobolanle Sotunsa will be co-convening the 6th J. A. Atanda Lectures and Conference, which will bring 400 speakers to Babcock University, Nigeria. Her talent and managerial capability are the driving force behind this success. Professor Sotunsa does not find this new, as she has achieved comparable feats in the past. She has stories to tell, with drums and songs to accompany them; however, she must first listen to us introduce her.

Professor Mobolanle Sotunsa is one of the most versatile women breaking academic frontiers in Nigeria. Her place in the knowledge production sector of the country remains firmly sustained because of her rounds of stimulating academic engagements, which can be ascribed to her zeal, dedication, and hunger for success. The Nigerian, and then African, academic sector is dominated by males, so much that women, in some settings, are almost synonymous with ignorance and docility, despite their impressive contributions to cognitively shaping and developing every child. Therefore, Sotunsas valiant academic feats are informed by the decision to showcase the deep-seated immersion of African women in knowledge production and how their efforts are worthy of intellectual recognition. Her fame as an academic leader is strengthened by the groundbreaking intellectual additions she has made to scholarship since her rise to academic recognition. Sotunsa has not only contributed to the education system through her wide-ranging research and knowledge, but she has also erected for herself a sturdy image whose foundation cannot be threatened by any factor.

Born when the country experienced unprecedented economic growth, the impact spread to her as she had access to valuable content during her formative years. Sotunsa started her academic journey as a child at Moremi Nursery and Primary School, where she acquired elementary education to guide her advancement. Her extraordinary performance as a pupil fast-tracked her journey and placed her on the right pedestal on which she built her career. After her secondary school education at Command Secondary School, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, Mobolanle proceeded to the premier tertiary institution, the University of Ibadan, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English within the stipulated time.

Her interest in education was cemented by her quest to immediately progress to graduate studies so that she could consolidate her already acquired knowledge with a more sophisticated academic engagement. But before this, she decided to sharpen her communications skills by gathering expert information in appropriate fields. This led to her enrollment into a journalism school, where she became a certified journalist within a year. More importantly, she continued with her pursuit of academic excellence at the University of Ibadan, where she obtained a Masters of Arts in English, before finally capping the whole engagements with a doctorate in the same school in 2005.

One should be impressed by Sotunsas academic feat in earning her Ph.D. In that case, there is hardly anyone who can deny or resist her elegance when they are treated to the vast academic engagements she has pulled in the course of her teaching career. She has written books, made sound contributions to journals, edited books of enthusing contents, written articles in many publications, organised conferences, and offered many other impressive academic insights. Generally, she has made impressive contributions to academic discourse, so much that one cannot contest that she is worthy of national and international accolades.

Although her Ph.D. was in English (Literature), Sotunsa has not failed to address sociocultural, sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and cultural matters through the literary lens of which she is an expert. The scent of her academic beauty percolates different spheres of influence, which explains why she has been continually celebrated, respected, and revered in the academic circle and the general social network of powerful essence. She has proven herself to be versatile and made contributions to gender issues. Her efforts to expand the frontiers of language education cannot also be sidelined.

As a marker of her academic journey, the professors inaugural lecture spotlights what she has been doing for many years as an academic. The lecture titled, Gender Matters and Cultural Dilemma in African Literature, dives into the politicisation of gender roles in Africa, using African literature as her laboratory of professional practice. She indicates that the excessive concentration on the contributions of the male folk in every human endeavour has uncharacteristically sidelined, if you will, and silenced womens voices. In most cases, it is not a deliberate act, but the proliferation of a single voice naturally eclipses the others. For instance, when one considers how roles are allocated to women in most of the works authored by African males, there is a glaring inequity perpetuated by the patriarchal system allowed to go on for so long without any recognisable impediment. This particularly works especially in the oversimplification of African women because the failure to report their contributions to the general development and advancement of the continent automatically positions them negatively, where undue generalisations about them are excused. Perhaps Sotunsas diligent research is informed by the understanding that the continuation of such a trend would ineluctably downgrade women.

There is the likelihood of making ideologically inaccurate generalisations about Sotunsa if you are not familiar with her intellectualism. But as you get closer to her works, there will be a change of mindset. Would it not be impressive to understand her incredible role in diaspora politics and how it is evolving?

The marginalisation of women creates a cultural quandary that becomes an impediment to the true emancipation of the people. We should be attentive to the avant-garde piece by Sotunsa and not allow something remarkable about her research to evade us. Considering that the scope of her work is African literature, one would see the basic association of social and gender stratification that emerged in Africa as a brainchild of the colonial relationship. This, for one reason, is occasioned by the understanding that the conversion of the African experiences into orthographical narrative coincided with the emergence of colonialism in the continent. The cultural difficulty that emerged comes because of how gender is favoured, while the other is disrespected in the same medium of information sharing  the literature. Africa thus came to the level of a cultural dilemma because the narratological style offered in the creative engagement does not conform with the existing socio-cultural arrangement. In other words, promoting one-sided narratives in African texts creates a gap that cannot be immediately covered in the social environment. While they take their actual role in the development of African children, women are underrepresented in the novels written about them. Sotunsas input became known by her ability to establish a connection between these experiences.

There is the likelihood of making ideologically inaccurate generalisations about Sotunsa if you are not familiar with her intellectualism. But as you get closer to her works, there will be a change of mindset. Would it not be impressive to understand her incredible role in diaspora politics and how it is evolving? In one of the books Sotunsa jointly edited with Akinloye Ojo, Expressions of Indigenous and Local Knowledge in Africa and its Diaspora, we are treated to the diaporisation of knowledge that has been historically linked to Africa from time immemorial. Africans, wherever they are in the world, confidently express their indigenous knowledge, which helps to indicate the fluidity of knowledge production in general terms. The awareness that people move with their epistemologies discountenances the general egoistic charade of Eurocentric narratives laying claims to universal knowledge-making, as if Africans are passive and inordinate in generating knowledge to better themselves and improve their human conditions. The fact that recent and contemporary Africans demonstrate their indigenous knowledge wherever they are and whenever possible gives substantial evidence about the transportation of knowledge with individuals to places they migrate.

In essence, Africans have benefited through the generation of knowledge that is done to improve their sociopolitical and sociocultural conditions in the continent, and they have also corroborated this by transforming other places where they find themselves with the knowledge that is indigenous to them. To a degree, this corroborates what Lawrence Barham and Peter Mitchel stand on in their very stimulating academic work, The First Africans: Archaeology from the Earliest Toolmakers to Most Recent Foragers. As a result, one understands very pointedly that the association of knowledge and human experience, expertise, and excellence to Africans, as indicated in Sotunsas work, is born from the understanding that Africans are a continually impactful people with a record of influence and contributions made in the course of migration and movement. Apart from this underlying implication of her work, it cools the spirit to know again that the place of the diaspora in the facilitation of knowledge expansion is sacrosanct. While the cross-border relationship and intermingling help provide the atmosphere for the display of cultural knowledge and framework, it also allows expanding ones information horizon. This confirms the mutuality and duality of importance and purpose ascribed to the said diaspora environment.

Contrary to the wrong assumption about the supposed homogeneous nature of African culture, there are many cultures in the continent, each with its distinctive oral legacies. Generally, Africans have been said to document their history and experience in oral archives from where everyone or succeeding generations draw knowledge to continue in a predicted fashion. However, an outsider would be weaned off the knowledge that the African oral traditions and cultures are almost limitless or interminable. The vastness of this oral tradition places limitations on what a researcher can cover at a stretch in an academic engagement. However, it is documented that very many African scholars have made strenuous efforts to record impressive feats in this regard. Fortunately, Professor Sotunsa is grounded in African oral legacies and remains one of the credible researchers who have done extensive and impressive research in this trajectory.

In her work, Fieldwork in Nigerian Oral Literature, Sotunsa made very impressive efforts to understand some oral traditions in Nigeria. Her findings reveal that there are many people and identities that have beautiful oral legacies that can be looked into for professional purposes. There is Ijala among the hunters in Yorubaland. This oral tradition is performed as acts of celebration and adoration of their profession. The hunters take pride in the job because they are logically one of the earliest cognitively evolved beings who make available the materials needed to navigate their human environment. Therefore, to understand them and their songs is to understand the history and also to be able to trace the historical trajectory of Yoruba people along the lines of their technological development and their scientific skills and contributions that can be linked to the globalisation age.

There is also Ekun Iyawo among the Yoruba, which is done specifically to welcome the bride to adulthood and tell a story of the cultural conception of marriage. Human society evolved from the individual to social arrangements, and the marriage institution is one of the methods devised to keep this social bonding going. Marriage is encouraged among individuals with no immediate familial ties and affiliation, so that the grouping of the society would be kept intact and rotating. Therefore, Ekun Iyawo provides the social opportunity to recount the experiences and relationship of the parents with the would-be bride. There are many other oral traditions explored in this work too.

It is important to know that Sotunsas versatility does not end with discussing intellectually exclusive topics that thrust into the professional trajectory she has taken. Instead, she touches on areas that have continental and global imports.

Meanwhile, in all of Professor Sotunsas engagements, she has not for a bit forgotten her academic first love, literature, as her continuous academic researches are a romanticisation of the subject. For example, in one of her papers titled, From Theory to Practice: Advanced Literary Text Analysis, the professor opens up the discourse around literary theories and their place when interrogating texts. Ordinarily, the average individual goes about reading texts without being aware of the socio-historical and socio-temporal issues that have necessitated and mandated their emergence. In the most basic form, the non-theorist reader evaluates literary productions on the basis of their aesthetic importance alone, whereas several things are unknown to this type of reader, and they would have evaded important information in the course of their reading. To educate such innocent readers who read without the proper systems of theories to understand the work, Sotunsa bridged the gap between the theories and the texts in the highlighted paper. We are extensively educated on the cardinality of the theories to the evaluation, interpretations, and interrogation of literary materials. The knowledge of each theory gives the direction to follow when reading the texts and, as a result, brings out the beauty of the work.

During the textual analysis undertaken by the scholar, we understand the pretext of the materials in most cases. In other words, readers are usually unfamiliar with the economic, psychological, social, and political circumstances that give birth to the work they read. In essence, when conflict or struggle arises between two or more characters in the text, we are unaware that they are perhaps reacting or responding to the countrys economic system that the elites of such an environment have configured. Without appropriating the Marxist theory for reading such a text, one would not understand why peoples frustrations triggered the conflict. On some other occasions, we come across characters who are not stable and who refuse to settle within themselves. At one point or the other, they are usually fazed by the external challenges that confront them to the level that they are unsettled internally. Unless one brings up the psychoanalytical theory that provides the basis for understanding this form of literature, one obviously would not be kept abreast of the appropriate information that pushes characters to act in certain ways.

It is important to know that Sotunsas versatility does not end with discussing intellectually exclusive topics that thrust into the professional trajectory she has taken. Instead, she touches on areas that have continental and global imports. For example, in one of her collaborations with other good minds, she produced a significant knowledge content in the book, Emerging Discourses on the Future of Higher Education in Africa, where they address issues around the transformation of the African educational system. Despite having strong human resources, the continent is lagging in the speed of academic productions they have made in recent history. Members of the African political elite refuse to merge their energy with what those in intellectual circles have done through their energetic zeal and mental investment to move the continent forward. The political systems failure is observed in its inability to provide the necessary facilities in African schools to enhance learning.

As a result, the future of the African educational system is clouded not because the people lack intellectual capacity but rather because they have not been properly equipped with the necessary instruments that can drive knowledge into them. This action has systematically hindered them, and the absence of facilities in the contemporary world, in particular, means that people suffering from this lack would have predictable progress. However, the degree of knowledge production in any clime cannot be used as a factor to predict their intellectuality and versatility. This is underscored by the awareness that immediately they set their feet on other civilisations, swelling numbers of Africans do academically fine in international communities. Therefore, we are safe to say that the despoliation of African intellectualism is deliberate because nothing can absolve a government which fails to invest brilliantly in education from the blame and embarrassment resulting from their inactions. As such, the works by these brilliant minds x-ray the African present to predict their future academic trajectory.

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All these contributions, regardless, Professor Sotunsa has made additional important input in the development of academics generally. This explains the recognition she has been accorded in the time past. Without doubt, she has been identified as one of the most successful Nigerian women who thrive exceptionally in areas that have hitherto been delineated as mens terrain. She has been honoured with different awards of excellence and has been designated to function in different socio-academic capacities she received a Travel Grant of the University of Birmingham in 2018; was Scholar in Residence by the University of Georgia in 2013; and Visiting Scholar by the School of Oriental African and Studies (SOAS) in 2009. All of these have consolidated the vibrant and energetic works that she has put in place.

Beyond this, Professor Sotunsa has been given recognition in different places as an appreciation of what she has grown to become as an academic in this part of the divide. The number of Ph.D. and Masters graduates that she has seen to their development is a testament to one of her achievements as an academic. Undeniably, Professor Sotunsa has established herself in Nigerian scholarship because of the outstanding contributions credited to her name. All these can only corroborate the conclusion that she has singled herself out among the class of scholars who have made commendable efforts to transform themselves and the people around them.

Toyin Falola, a professor of History and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, is Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin.
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The Rivers State Government has reviewed the night curfew imposed on the state.

Governor Nyesom Wike said the curfew is now from 7p.m.to 6a.m. daily with effect from Tuesday, until further notice.

The curfew was initially from 10p.m.to 6a.m. daily.

Mr Wike announced the review in a state broadcast on Monday after the state Security Council meeting.

He said the government decision was prompted by the killing of seven police officers over the weekend along the East-West Road.

He stated that the way and manner the recent attacks were executed made review of the curfew necessary, as it was discovered that the perpetrators, who disguised themselves as security officers, moved in unhindered from Oyigbo to launch the attack.

The security agencies are hereby directed to note the new curfew time, ensure strict compliance and effectively deal with any person or group that violates or attempts to violate it.

We have reviewed and for the moment, declined the pressure on the state government to activate our youths to defend the state from these terrorists.

We do not want to complicate our very delicate security situation by creating opportunities for some other monsters to emerge, Mr Wike said.

The governor condoled the families of the slain officers and the police in Rivers State.

He said the government and security agencies were determined to deploy everything at their disposal to advance the safety and security of lives and property in the state.

The security agencies, he said, were on the trail of the gunmen, and expressed optimism that they would be arrested soon and brought to justice.

We wish to assure every resident that we are not intimidated by the sporadic and cowardly attacks on predetermined security targets by faceless criminals on our soil; neither will we be cowed into succumbing to a baseless and doomed secessionists agenda, he said.

(NAN)
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The National Chairman, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Raph Nwosu, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call for a national dialogue to address the current state of insecurity in the country.

Besides the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, the perennial conflicts between farmers and herders, and the abduction for ransom in various parts of Nigeria, there has been a spate of deadly attacks on security agencies in the South-east and South-south geopolitical zones, which has compounded the security challenges in the two regions.

At least seven police officers have been killed by gunmen in various attacks in Anambra State alone, between February and now.

Charles Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a governorship aspirant in the state, appeared to have been a target of one of the attacks, on March 31.

Mr Soludo survived the attack, while three police officers attached to him were killed.

The ADC national chairman, Mr Nwosu, while speaking with reporters on the partys programme on Monday, in Awka, Anambra State, said a national dialogue at this moment of the nations history was necessary as it would ease current tensions and enhance unity in the country.

There is a need for all stakeholders, opposing parties, groups and agitators to sit together and have a national conversation on how best to construct a Nigeria that works.

A dialogue is one important option that provides a way to reconcile opposing visions for the future and put the countrys political reforms back on track in an inclusive manner.

It will not be about one persons or groups idea but a holistic idea from every party involved in the conversation, to establish a pathway forward for the country, he said.

On the ADCs participation in the November 6 Anambra governorship election, Mr Nwosu said the party already has 11 aspirants jostling for the partys ticket.
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The Lagos State Government has said it would investigate allegations of medical negligence levelled against Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Victoria Island, leading to the death of Peju Ugboma, a chef.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that at least 3,000 people had signed an online petition, as of Sunday morning, calling on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Ministry of Health to investigate the death.

According to a statement signed by Nwabeze Ugboma on behalf of the family, the deceased died days after undergoing fibroid surgery in the hospital.

The state government said the Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, has directed the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMMA) to conduct a proper investigation into the death of the chef and establish the facts of the matter.

On behalf of the Lagos State Government @followlasg, @HEFAMAA_LASG commiserates with the family of Mrs. Peju Ugboma, may God in His infinite mercies bless her soul and give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, the agency said via its official Twitter account on Sunday.

On behalf of the Lagos State Government @followlasg, @HEFAMAA_LASG commiserates with the family of Mrs. Peju Ugboma, may God in His infinite mercies bless her soul and give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. https://t.co/Iypmh1kz1D  HEFAMAA (@HEFAMAA_LASG) May 9, 2021

Meanwhile, the Honorable Commissioner @LSMOH, @ProfAkinAbayomi has directed, @HEFAMAA_LASG the agency charged with the responsibility of accrediting, monitoring, and inspecting all public and private health facilities in the State, to conduct a proper investigation on the occurrence to establish the facts of the matter.

We assure the family and the public that @HEFAMAA_LASG will do the needful to get to the root of the matter and ensure #JusticeForPeju with a view to preventing such unfortunate incidents in the future.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, on Monday also confirmed the development to this reporter.

The (Health) commissioner has ordered an investigation into the death of the lady. One of our agencies, HEFEMAA will take it up from there and brief the commissioner, he said.

The petition

On Sunday, a petition set up by a committee of friends, led by Abdul Mahmud, a human rights lawyer, garnered over 3,000 supporters on Sunday morning, calling Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and the Ministry of Health to investigate the incident.

As of Sunday evening, at least 7,500 people had signed the petition.

Autopsy

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported how the family of the late Peju Ugboma accused Premier Specialist Medical Center of negligence resulting in her untimely demise.

The family said an independent autopsy by pathologists at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) showed that Mrs Ugboma suffered internal bleeding after the surgical procedure.

The autopsy revealed that she had about two litres of blood in her abdomen and pelvic area.
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Two suspected armed robbers have been shot during a gun exchange with the police in Shagamu, Ogun state, an official has said.

The incident occurred around 9 p.m. on Sunday, and other members of the gang escaped with gunshot injuries.

The Ogun State police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Monday, said the robbery operation was at the interchange area of Shagamu before the police intervened and shot dead two of the suspected armed robbers.

Mr Oyeyemi said the police responded to a distress call and the officers met the suspected robbers attacking one Agba Enoch, before they engaged them in a gun duel.

Two suspected armed were on Sunday 9th of May 2021, shot dead at Shagamu interchange, along Lagos -Ibadan expressway by men of Ogun state police command.

The two suspects were shot dead following a distress call received by the DPO Shagamu Division, CSP Okiki Agunbiade, at about 9 p.m., that a robbery operation was going on at Shagamu interchange and that one of their victims has been seriously injured.

Upon the distress call, the DPO quickly led his patrol team to the scene where they met the robbers attacking another person one Agba Enoch. The team engaged them in (a) gun duel at the end of which two members of the gang were fatally injured, while others escaped with gunshot injuries, the police spokesperson said.

The police said the victim of the suspected armed robbers, one Adekunle Adewale, was seriously macheted on the head and was rushed to hospital for medical attention.

Mr Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police said three handsets, one mock gun, one electric clipper, three ATM cards and one blood-stained cutlass were recovered from the suspects.

Reacting to the incident, Edward Awolowo, the commissioner of police, commended the gallantry display of his men and directed a manhunt of the fleeing members of the gang.

The Ogun police boss appealed to members of the public, especially hospitals, to quickly alert the police if anybody with gunshot injuries is seen in their area.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has said there are plans by members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to attack soft spots in the state.

Mr Odumosu disclosed this on Monday during a Security Townhall Meeting at the Lagos state secretariat, attended by the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and other principal officials in Lagos State.

In a paper he delivered at the meeting titled, Appraisal of Security Situation in Lagos State, Mr Odumosu identied threats by IPOB and called on Lagosians to be at alert and support the police.

The threat of IPOB to attack soft targets in Lagos is equally being put on the radar of the Command intelligence gathering and other security services in the State. Strategies are being put in place to neutralize their activities.

The Command is using this medium to solicit the support of all and sundry to be vigilant at all times and report any suspicious person or movement to security agencies. Let us adopt the slogan of when you see something, say something.

Mr Odumosu had earlier placed police officers in Lagos State on red alert following a jailbreak that occurred in Imo State on April 5.

The police chief summoned all Deputy Commissioners of Police, Operations, Administration and State CID, Panti respectively, the fourteen (14) Area Commanders, Police Mobile Force Commanders, Commanders of Rapid Response Squad and Taskforce, Commanders of the Special Squad and Strike Team and the State Intelligence Bureau of the command to strategise on ways to forestall looming attacks.

Mr Odumosu said the police will do all they can to forestall the plotted attack by IPOB/ESN members.

He added that the police had taken note of threats by agitators of Oodua Republic and other Yoruba separatist groups, adding that the police will neutralise their activities.

Furthermore, the Command has taken notice of agitators for Oodua Republic by some Yoruba separatist groups and the threats to disrupt law and order in the State. Twenty four of these groups have been identified and being closely monitored, the police boss said.

Mr Odumosu identified modus operandi of criminal elements in Lagos as follows;

 Use abandoned buildings as hideouts;

 Use uncompleted buildings, dwelling house and hotels to hibernate before and after commission of crime;

 Use abandoned vehicles to store their operational arms and their loots;

 Build shanties on abandoned open spaces and convert it to their sanctuaries to commit crimes; to

. Use vehicles with covered number plates to perpetrate crimes;

 Illegal fabrication and possession of arms.

 Use of tinted vehicles to commit crimes.

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The Commissioner urged Lagosians to inform the police of any suspicious movement or gathering within their vicinity.
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The Lagos State Government (LASG) on Monday said that it would turn the ancient town of Badagry into the Jerusalem of Nigeria by constructing a befitting structure under the Agia Tree, where Christmas was first celebrated in 1842.

Solomon Bonu, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tourism, Arts and Culture, said this at the 15th anniversary of Badagry Prime, a Town Hall Meeting and Award in Badagry.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the event was tagged, Badagry in the Face of Modern Development: Beyond the Talks.

According to Mr Bonu, the whole idea is meant to revitalise the tourism sector in Badagry.

Lagos State governor has just approved the construction of a structure around the Agia Tree in Badagry, where the first Christmas was celebrated in Nigeria.

The idea is that if Christmas was celebrated in 1842 here in Badagry under the Agia Tree here, the present administration is trying to turn Badagry into Jerusalem, so that the there will be festival of Christmas in the town.

This will be an avenue for pastors that used to travel from Nigeria to Jerusalem, to get back to their roots.

So, every year, we want to make sure that everyone comes to Badagry to celebrate Christmas, the plan is on now.

Any moment from now, the contractor will move to site and the work will start, he said.

The special adviser said that the abandoned chalet in the town had been revisited and the contractor had returned to site.

Meanwhile, Setonji David, the lawmaker representing Badagry Constituency 11 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, described the publisher of Badagry Prime, Felix Godonu, as a role model in the town.

According to the lawmaker, the publisher has sustained the publication for over 15 years without hitches.

He urged the youth in Badagry to emulate him, adding that he had remained well-versed in his job.

Also, Sunday Ogunfowora, the Protocol Officer of NULGE in Lagos State, said there was the need to change the old system of doing things in Badagry.

(NAN)
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The non-indigenes residing in Osun have pledged to continue to live in peace and harmony.

The non-natives, Hausa, Igbo, Fulani, Igede, Ebira, Tiv and Igala, made the pledge during a programme organised by the Osun Civic Engagement Agency on Monday in Osogbo.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of Ohaneze Ndigbo in the state, John Nkemka, said Osun is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria where all and sundry lived in harmony.

Mr Nkemka said the Igbos in the state would continue to live in peace with other ethnic groups.

Osun State Government deserves kudos for creating an enabling environment for different ethic groups to live in peace in the state.

We will continue to support the state government in maintaining peace and harmony, Mr Nkemka said.

He, however, appealed to government to assist in checkmating alleged highhandedness of some security operatives whose unruly attitude might undermine the peaceful atmosphere in the state.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Council of Arewa, Lawal Gomina, appreciated the state government for the manner it embraced all non-indigenes of the state.

Mr Gomina appealed to all the residents especially, the non-indigenes, to continue to cooperate with the state government in sustaining peace in the state.

In their separate remarks, the Chairman, Fulani community, Ibrahim Dende and the President, Ebira community, Shuaib Abere, said they would continue to live in peace and harmony with others.

Also, the Chairman of Igede community, Mathias Ogah, and his Tivs Community counterpart, Zaki Augustine, pledged their resolve to continue to live in peace and harmony with others in Osun.

In his remarks, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, commended all the non-natives of the state for their peaceful conduct.

Mr Oyintiloye noted that frequent engagement with them by the state government was a way of making them critical stakeholders in the state as well as a means to sustain peaceful coexistence.

He said the state would continue to provide an enabling environment for all of them to succeed in their endeavours, but warned that any unlawful act would not be tolerated by government.

(NAN)
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd today announced the launch of its 2021 Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky - the success and leadership summit for women which would be held as a virtual summit on July 7, 2021. The summit will bring together (virtually) the top leaders from the best Companies in Africa to share best practices on leadership and success, diversity & inclusion and shape women's skills for the future of work. A team of 20 C-suite speakers from the world's best companies, led by Coca-Cola (as a world sponsor) would lead this edition.

The 2021 Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky leverages the extensive global experience of Break the ceiling touch the sky across North America, Asia, the Middle East, ANZ and Europe since 2015 in enabling and inspiring over 20000 women leaders to success. It supports House of Rose Professional's MISSION 2029 FOR A BETTER WORLD  a 10-year global initiative to shape a better world by quintupling the number of Female CEOs in the worlds 500 largest Companies by 2029 (from 14 in 2020 to 70 in 2029). With some of the world's fastest growing economies in Africa, the Region is expected to contribute significantly towards this Mission.

Commented Debra Mallowah, Vice President, East and Central Africa Franchise at The Coca-Cola Company, "Diversity is at the core of our business. We continue to invest and make progress in unlocking the full potential of our people with equal access to development and opportunity. We are delighted to partner with Break the ceiling touch the sky for this important 2021 Africa Edition and contribute to the development of human capital in the region."

Bob McDonald, 8th Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs and former Chairman, President and CEO of The Procter & Gamble Company and member of the Mission 2029 Global Advisory Council commented, "An Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky is an important development in the mission for global gender diversity & inclusion. Gender diverse companies are financially more successful, better employers, greater innovators, and better corporate citizens. We believe that through MISSION 2029 for a BETTER WORLD we can change the trajectory of global business for the better and influence a more sustainable, better world."

Commented Anthony A. Rose, Chairman and CEO, House of Rose Professional and best-selling author of the book Break the Ceiling, Touch the Sky: success secrets of the world's most inspirational women which inspired the summit: "Break the ceiling touch the sky is a unique opportunity for Companies to learn and build sustainable strategies to unlock the full impact of a diverse and inclusive workforce. The 2021 Africa Edition offers Companies in Africa a dedicated forum that will enable and inspire their women leaders to success and shape more positive male mindsets in support of diversity & inclusion. This is an opportunity to shape a more equal world, a better world."

The Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICC) and ENACTUS are the official Industry Partners for the 2021 Africa Edition.

For details please visit www.houseofroseprofessional.com.

Singapore headquartered House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd is a leader in the global Talent, Training and Transformation businesses. The Company operates via its three core brands Break the ceiling touch the sky (Training), Dream Job International (Talent) and CEOSmith (Transformation).

Contact:

Anthony A. Rose

House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd.

Email: anthony@houseofroseprofessional.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1229876/House_of_Rose_Professional_Logo.jpg

Related Links

http://www.houseofroseprofessional.com



SOURCE House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd.
PARMA, Italy, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chiesi Group is calling for #ActionOverWords to encourage measurable sustainability action and invite accountability.

Announcing its 2035 carbon neutral target, Chiesi is not the first company to make public commitments to reduce its carbon footprint, but wants to start a conversation about corporate action: the need to move from celebrating commitments to celebrating measurable progress, independently audited.

"It's time to make announcements that mean something," Ugo Di Francesco, Chiesi Group CEO said. "Companies should be held accountable for their commitments and society should not forget promises made. We want to commit to things that are measurable, and dare to share our progress publicly. We invite our peers to join us on this path."

Corporate sustainability commitments often focus on words rather than actions, using terms like carbon neutral, net zero and climate neutral interchangeably based on what sounds more impressive. But only a few refer to official standards to measure progress on an individual company level. This only exists for carbon neutrality[1]. Without action independently verified according to international standards, sustainability commitments are just words.

Many commitments also do not include indirect emissions that occur in a company's value chain and during product use (scope 3 emissions).

The largest pharmaceutical certified B Corp, Chiesi's commitments are approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative[2] and aligned with the Paris Agreement's goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C[3]. They cover scopes 1, 2 & 3, based on full transparency:

Carbon neutral by 2030 on direct greenhouse gas emissions and indirect GHG emissions from purchased electricity and heat (scopes 1 & 2) and by 2035 on indirect GHG emissions (scope 3).

Full disclosure of Chiesi's emissions inventory through the Carbon Disclosure Project [4] , transparently benchmarking Chiesi's emissions against industry peers yearly.

, transparently benchmarking Chiesi's emissions against industry peers yearly. Independent verification of the value and efficacy of Chiesi's plans (including mitigation actions and carbon offsetting of residual GHG emissions) within the internationally recognised PAS 2060 specification process[5].

Visit www.actionoverwords.org to learn more.

[1] Certified Carbon Neutral Global Standard, "The Carbon Neutral Protocol January 2021" www.carbonneutral.com.

British Standards Institution, "PAS 2060 Carbon Neutrality" www.bsigroup.com

[2] The Science-based Targets Initiative, "How it works?" www.sciencebasedtargets.org

[3] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, "The Paris Agreement" www.unfccc.int

[4] Carbon Disclosure Project, www.cdp.net

[5] British Standards Institution, "PAS 2060 Carbon Neutrality" www.bsigroup.com

Related Links

https://www.chiesi.com/



SOURCE Chiesi Group
MSMEs currently constitute more than one-third of NMB Bank's total loan portfolio (approximately 4,800 borrowers) and the bank is working toward increasing its MSME base. NMB is also already one of the leading finance providers for local renewable energy providers in Nepal. Its renewable energy portfolio consists primarily of hydro projects (over 90 percent of its renewable energy portfolio) and total committed limits for renewable energy stand at approximately 17 percent of its total loan outstanding book.

"There is a significant gap between the MSME sector's supply of finance and the demand for credit," says the OPEC Fund's Assistant Director-General, Private Sector and Trade Finance Operations Tareq Alnassar. "Also, the current lack of access to reliable, gridsupplied electricity and the reliance on power imports are constraining economic growth and poverty reduction in Nepal.

"The OPEC Fund is excited to be working with NMB to support such integral sectors," continued Alnassar. "This transaction  our first of this nature in Nepal  aligns with our support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and with SDGs 1, 7 and 8 on ending poverty, providing affordable and clean energy, and supporting decent work and economic growth, in particular."

Sunil KC, Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, said: "The financing from the OPEC Fund will allow us to support the real economy in Nepal by strengthening employment and renewable energy generation, for which Nepal has tremendous potential. In turn, this makes us less reliant on imports and helps us become more self-sufficient and sustainable.

"Our belief in 'banking on values' means NMB does business in a way that makes us accountable to society and more focused on developmental impact," KC continued. "This is in line with the OPEC Fund's values and this common approach defines our partnership."

NMB Bank was established in 1996 as a merchant bank and in 2008 expanded into commercial banking. In 2015, it underwent a merger with four other financial institutions to create its current form as a universal bank. NMB is now Nepal's 7th largest commercial bank in terms of asset size.

The OPEC Fund has supported development in Nepal since the organization's inception in 1976. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$224 million to the country via public sector financing.

About the OPEC Fund

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The OPEC Fund was established by the member countries of OPEC in 1976 with a distinct purpose: to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people. Our work is people-centered, focusing on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$22 billion to development projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total project cost of US$187 billion. Our vision is a world where sustainable development is a reality for all.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1505697/Opec_Fund_NMB_Bank.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1428246/OPEC_Fund_Logo.jpg

SOURCE OPEC Fund for International Development
The All-In-One Cloud Platform for Air and Water Monitoring

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Disrupt-X, a Dubai-based IoT Development Company, announced their first Global Launch of Ignite Shield in partnership with Intel IoT Alliance hosted on Amazon Web Services using Intel Architecture.

Ignite Shield is a full-stacked IoT Solution that can be scaled from a Single Asset up to a City Level which makes IoT for Companies and End-Users beneficial. Ignite Shield includes Smart Outdoor and Indoor Air Quality Monitoring, Smart Water Infrastructure Monitoring (Water Leakage with Data breakdown), Swimming Pool Monitoring, SPA Monitoring, Water Tanks Monitoring and Water Pressure Monitoring from Single Homes to Buildings, Communities and giving a Portfolio Dashboard up to City level where Alarms can be raised for Government Authorities, Facility Management Companies, Operators or individual End-users. Solutions use Long Life Battery devices (up to 7 years) with latest communications protocols as Sigfox /5G/4G/ LoraWAN etc.

These IoT cloud based solutions have a robust web platform and mobile application supported on both iOS and Android devices which are hosted on AWS using Intel Architecture using AI, machine learning and Deep Learning to compute the data and give analytics.

Intel Enterprise and Public Sector Manager for Gulf region Mr. Adib Rajji said, "We strive to provide Disrupt-X with what they need so they can focus on their success with their customers and business. At Intel we enable an early solution development engagement so partners can take advantage of Intel's leading-edge technology and Edge to cloud offerings."

Disrupt-X CEO Mr. Yaseen AlJaizani said, "It's exciting to be at the forefront of IoT based technology, with our new products and solutions offering real practical life optimising uses such as air quality monitoring and water monitoring. Backed by intel power enables seamless processing power and facilitating city wide rollout."

Please visit disrupt-x.io for further details.

Related Images

disrupt-x-in-partnership-with.jpg

Disrupt-X in Partnership With Intel IoT Alliance Launch Ignite Shield - World's First Water and Air

SOURCE Disrupt-X
Based in Chennai, Dr. Kabra will be working closely with the Everlife team and local management to accelerate growth of the company by expanding reach and product offering, delivering superior performance to our partners and improving customer experience. He brings with him over 20 years of valuable and diverse industry experience notably in the Pharmaceutical, Diagnostic, and Clinical Research segments. Prior to joining CPC, he led the Specialty Diagnostics Group at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Throughout his career, Dr. Kabra has demonstrated a proven track record of growing businesses, driving productivity and improving overall business performance. He is a trained physician and is frequently invited to share his expertise at industry conferences.

CPC is the market leader in specialty immunoassays in India and has seen significant growth in its business over the last few years thanks to the addition of new partners and products. CPC employs over 250 people nationwide and it launched the first ICMR approved Covid-19 CLIA antibody test in India, and today is one of the few companies in India that offers a full suite of Covid-19 solutions from RT-PCR, ELISA and CLIA tests to Viral Transport Medium.

Mr. R. Kailasnath, Chairman of the Board, said: "CPC looks forward to an exciting journey with Pramod at the helm. CPC will benefit from his knowledge and experience and we look forward to working with him to take the company to the next level."

Mr. Raman Gandotra, Chief Executive Officer, Everlife, commented: "Pramod brings with him unparalleled industry and leadership experience and we are excited to have him join the team. India's healthcare system is significantly underserved, and I believe that Pramod is the right person to help us fill these gaps. Our goal is to ultimately enable better outcomes for patients in India and to bring better and more accessible diagnostic testing to the people."

"CPC has been a leading player in the diagnostics space in India for many years, but as part of the Everlife, we are now positioned to not only be a leading player in India but across the region. I'm extremely excited to join such a dynamic and ambitious team, and look forward to contribute in a meaningful way," said Dr. Kabra on his appointment.

In addition to CPC, Everlife has operating subsidiaries in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

About Everlife

Everlife Group is one of Asia's leading and most trusted distribution platforms of medical devices and laboratory equipment and supplies. By combining our expertise in healthcare and Asia with a passionate and driven approach to business, we aim to improve health outcomes for patients and improve business performance for customers and principals. Everlife companies represent more than 200 principals and its more than 800 employees operate in 6 countries. Everlife is part of the Everstone Group and Cure Capital is a minority investor. To learn more, visit www.everlifeasia.com or visit us on LinkedIn.

About CPC Diagnostics

CPC is a Chennai based manufacturer and marketer of in-vitro diagnostic products. CPC has three decades of experience in the industry and is well known for its pioneering efforts in introduction of new products and technologies. With dedicated marketing sales and service teams, CPC operates in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. For more information, please visit CPC Diagnostics.

For inquiries, please contact:

Chermayn Chan

[email protected]

Karan Anand

[email protected]



Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1506399/CPC_Diagnostics_Logo.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1506400/Dr_Pramod_Kabra_CEO.jpg

SOURCE CPC Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd.
HONG KONG, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) INDICAID, developed by Hong Kong biotechnology start-up PHASE Scientific International Limited (PHASE), has been named by the government as one of the designated rapid tests when care homes resume visitation today. The endorsement came after the Food and Health Bureau's satisfactory audit of INDICAID's community dual-track pilot results.

On 30 April 2021, the Social Welfare Department announced the conditional resumption of visits to residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities and designated INDICAID as one of the three (the other two are Roche Diagnostics and Abbott Laboratories), and the only locally developed, COVID-19 RAT to be used by the visitors. To gain entry to these facilities, visitors that are fully vaccinated may present their negative COVID-19 RAT results within 24-hour prior to the visit.

Dr. Ricky Chiu Yin-to, Founder and CEO of PHASE Scientific, welcomes the official endorsement of INDICAID RAT. "While rapid antigen test is not a substitute of the gold-standard PCR test, its lower cost and ease-of-use are conducive to more frequent testing and faster results, which are critical to outbreak prevention and control. According to US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), serial antigen testing conducted weekly is able to offset the lower sensitivity of antigen tests while delivering advantages that PCR testing-only cannot provide, despite the higher sensitivity of the latter." Dr Chiu sees it as an important step for policymakers and the community to support wider adoption of RAT particularly in helping resume socioeconomic activities and 'normalcy' in steps.

INDICAID COVID-19 rapid antigen test is a CE-marked lateral flow immunoassay designed for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens in direct nasal swab samples. It is developed in Hong Kong with reliable product quality and is easy-to-use, with no special equipment or facilities needed. Results are available fast within 20 minutes, and are clinically validated with world's largest dual-track testing with over 9,200 samples with high sensitivity and specificity. INDICAID has been widely adopted in hospitals, government and private corporations, supermarkets, hotels and schools for regular screening in Hong Kong and overseas. INDICAID is currently available in 33 countries, and in the process of obtaining approval for emergency use authorization by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

SOURCE PHASE Scientific
BENGALURU, India, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tejas Networks (BSE: 540595) (NSE: TEJASNET) today announced that TelOne, one of Zimbabwe's largest telecom entities and the most affordable internet service provider, has deployed Tejas' 100G/100G+ coherent DWDM solution. TelOne has the widest network coverage in Zimbabwe with connectivity across the country, anchored on its robust backbone infrastructure. TelOne has strong connections to multiple undersea cable systems and has shareholding in the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), which has a major stake in the East African Submarine System (EASSy) cable.

Tejas' state-of-the-art 100G DWDM/OTN solution was selected by TelOne after a competitive bidding process and a successful field trial. Tejas was able to successfully demonstrate high-speed transmission of multiple 100G lambdas while meeting the stringent performance and reliability requirements in a cost-effective manner.

Mr. Sanjay Nayak, CEO and MD of Tejas Networks said, "We are delighted that TelOne has deployed our latest 100G/100G+ DWDM/OTN technology for its network expansion. Our solution empowers our customers to diversify their existing DWDM vendor base and use our proven, cost-effective solution to expand and inter-operate. It is a prime example of how our open and flexible software-defined-hardware architecture is enabling our customers to become 'future-ready' by enabling them to upgrade their existing networks with the latest technologies at incremental cost."

Mrs. Chipo Mtasa, Managing Director at TelOne said, "TelOne offers access to a vast network footprint in Zimbabwe. With rising demand for bandwidth and higher speeds from our customers, we were looking for a versatile solution that could significantly expand the capacity on our existing fibre network with incremental investments. We were impressed by the capabilities of the Tejas' solution and its ability to seamlessly carry 100G services with no inter-operability issues. Tejas products have very versatile software, are simple to configure and easy to operate. We appreciate the support of a highly responsive Tejas team, that was able to design and deliver an end-to-end network solution in the shortest period of time."

Mr. Rakesh Raghoonandan, Vice President Sales - Tejas Networks Africa said, "In the TelOne network, we delivered our DWDM/OTN solution using our scalable and versatile TJ1600 platform. Our solution unlocks new opportunities for service providers to multiply the available capacity on their networks by more than 10X, without being limited by their existing network deployment. The TelOne deployment is yet another example of our cutting-edge technology that we have deployed over several networks across Africa."

About Tejas Networks Limited

Tejas Networks designs, develops and sells high-performance and cost-competitive networking products to telecommunications service providers, internet service providers, utilities, defence and government entities in over 75 countries. Tejas products utilize programmable, software-defined hardware architecture with a common software code-base that delivers seamless upgrades of new features and technology standards. Tejas Networks is ranked among top-10 suppliers in the global optical aggregation segment and has filed over 349 patents.

For more information on Tejas Networks, visit http://www.tejasnetworks.com or contact

Investor Relations: [email protected]

About TelOne

As the most affordable internet service provider in Zimbabwe, at TelOne, our business is connecting people and businesses together. We are passionate about making long lasting and meaningful connections through our voice, broadband and data transfer services. We offer fast, affordable and reliable telecommunication services in Zimbabwe to people, homes, businesses, educational institutions and Government departments all over Zimbabwe. This is anchored on excellent customer service through responsiveness and constantly bringing in of new innovations that enable even better connections.

For more information on TelOne, visit http://www.telone.co.zw or email [email protected]

SAFE HARBOUR

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements due to risks or uncertainties associated with our expectations with respect to, but not limited to, our ability to successfully implement our strategy and our growth and expansion plans, technological changes, our exposure to market risks, general economic and political conditions in India which have an impact on our business activities or investments, changes in the laws and regulations that apply to the industry in which the Company operates. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

Media Contact:

Mr. Santosh Kesavan

[email protected]

Phone: +91-80-41794600

Tejas Networks

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/826177/Tejas_Networks_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Tejas Networks Limited
SHANGHAI, May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alebund Pharmaceuticals ("Alebund" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing innovative therapies for the treatment of renal diseases and related chronic conditions, today announced that it has raised $60 million in its Series B financing round which was led by Quan Capital, and followed by a prominent sovereign wealth fund, 3E Bioventures Capital, and Sherpa Healthcare Partners. Existing Shareholders, Lilly Asia Ventures and Med-Fine Capital, also took part in this financing round. Proceeds raised from this round will be invested in the research and development of pre-clinical assets, clinical programs, the construction of the manufacturing site, and the expansion of Company's talent pool.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition that poses a growing threat to public health worldwide and has seen its incidence steadily rising in recent years. In China, the latest epidemiology data show that the prevalence of CKD in the adult population is as high as 10.8%i, which amounts to a total patient population of 120 millioni with over one million renal patients at the terminal stage. Meanwhile, the diagnosis rate of CKD in China is just 12.5%i, thus suggests enormous unmet patient need for diagnosis and treatment.

As China's first biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel renal therapies, the $60 million raised from Alebund's Series B financing round sets a record for the amount raised in a single financing round by any nephrology-focused biopharmaceutical company in China. The participation of numerous renowned institutional investors specialized in the biopharmaceutical industry has once again signified the recognition of Alebund's robust capabilities and deep expertise by the global capital market. After three years of rapid growth since its inception, the Company has built a diversified and balanced pipeline of drug candidates targeting a range of major renal diseases, including CKD/Dialysis complications, IgA nephropathy, diabetic kidney disease, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The most clinically-advanced product in the Company's pipeline has best-in-class potential in the treatment of hyperphosphatemia. This drug candidate is currently being evaluated in a Phase II trial and is expected to enter Phase III registrational study next year. Supported by the sufficient funding, Alebund is poised to further accelerate the research and development of its hyperphosphatemia candidate and other pipeline assets, and to advance the building of its manufacturing site.

Dr. Gavin Xia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alebund, commented "This financing round has secured sufficient funding for the coming year to accelerate the development of our clinical programs and early-stage projects. Capitalizing on our strong track record and deep expertise in the R&D of renal therapies, we will press ahead with our innovation in nephrology to bring more effective therapies to renal patients both in China and around the world, and to make Alebund a leader and prominent player in the development of novel therapies for renal diseases."

Dr. Jin Tian, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Alebund, said: "I recall reading an article in a scientific journal early this year titled 'Renal innovation: the long winter is finally over', and we are pleased that we had the foresight of establishing Alebund three years ago, as China's first biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies for renal diseases. Our founding tenet is to revere the nature, follow the science, and serve the patients. This patient-focused mission drives our commitment to developing accessible novel therapeutics for renal patients in China and around the world."

Dr. Marietta Wu, Managing Director of Quan Capital, noted: "Alebund and its leadership team have an outstanding track record and deep expertise in the field of nephrology. We are very impressed by the management team's experience and ability to execute. Quan Capital has long been interested in the field of nephrology, and we are fortunate to share the same therapeutic focus with Alebund. We hope our support will help Alebund further establish itself in the field of nephrology, facilitate the Company's long-term growth, and ultimately bring more innovative therapies to the broad population of renal patients."

"Alebund Pharmaceuticals is a leading renal disease therapeutics company incubated by Lilly Asia Ventures. The Alebund team has deep expertise in renal disease and their pipeline has high potential not only in China but also globally. Lilly Aisa Ventures will continue to support the company in their tireless efforts to bring innovative, life-saving renal therapeutics to the market," said Dr. Yi Shi, Founding managing partner of Lilly Asia Ventures.

About Alebund Pharmaceuticals

Alebund was founded in Shanghai in early 2018, as a startup jointly incubated by a group of industry leaders in the field of nephrology and Lilly Asia Ventures. By 2020, Alebund had completed its Series A+ financing round jointly led by Huagai Capital and Med-Fine Capital, followed by Lilly Asia Ventures. Alebund is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company and is dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies and providing better clinical solutions to patients with kidney diseases and related chronic conditions.

Alebund has built a diversified and balanced pipeline of drug candidates targeting a range of renal diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD)/dialysis complications, IgA nephropathy, diabetic kidney disease, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Alehund's pipeline comprises both small-molecule and biologic assets. At present, the most advanced product in the Company's pipeline has best-in-class potential in the treatment of hyperphosphatemia. This drug candidate is currently being evaluated in a Phase II trial and is expected to enter Phase III registrational study next year.

About Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV)

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a leading biomedical venture capital firm established in 2008. Our vision is to become the trusted partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital and to build great companies developing breakthrough products that treat diseases and improve human health. For more information, please visit www.lillyasiaventures.com.

About Quan Capital

Quan Capital is a life sciences venture capital firm with strong China expertise and global capabilities. We discover, incubate, and grow next-generation life science companies in early and growth stage, worldwide. Our portfolio companies pioneer differentiated therapies and enabling technologies to address major human diseases with high unmet medical needs.

Quan has offices in Shanghai, Menlo Park and Boston. Our investment professionals combine their strong expertise in both science and business with their diverse experiences in global drug development and healthcare investments, and they leverage their broad network worldwide to help maximize the company's value across geographies and development stages.

Visit www.quancapital.com to learn more about us.

About Huagai Capital

HuaGai Capital is a private equity firm co-founded in 2012 by professionals from top investment institutions. HuaGai Capital's mission is to become a leading global asset management company, with a focus on China's equity investment market. We are committed to working together with our portfolio and assisting them in reaching their full potential as market leaders in their respective industries. HuaGai Capital is focused on investments in the Healthcare, TMT and Digital industries, currently with near 20 billion RMB assets under management.

About Med-Fine Capital

Founded in 2016, Med-Fine Capital is a VC firm investing in the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Comprised of a team of experienced investors and professionals, Med-Fine Capital provides early stage and fast-growth stage companies with capital, professional expertise, and valuable resources.

About 3E Bioventures

3E Bioventures Capital is dedicated to investing in cutting-edge life sciences and biomedical technologies, with a focus on breakthrough first-in-class therapies and disruptive cross-disciplinary innovations in medical devices and diagnostics.3E Bioventures takes on a science-driven, entrepreneur-friendly investment philosophy by working closely with companies and research institutions to develop drugs or products that have strong unmet medical needs. With offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and the San Francisco Bay Area, 3E Bioventures leverages its experience, capabilities, and network to help companies tap into markets and resources across the Pacific and advance with greater speed and capital efficiency.

About Sherpa Healthcare Partners

Sherpa Healthcare Partners ("Sherpa") was founded in 2018. The founders previously worked together in one of China's leading venture capital firms, built and led its professional healthcare investment team since 2011, set up the dedicated healthcare investment fund and responsible for healthcare investment. The founders have been teamed together in close co-operation, built on shared values, mutual trust, and complementary capabilities. Sherpa has invested in leading companies in many key areas, such as Pharma, GeneTech, MedTech and Medical services. From 2011 to 2020, the team has gone through 4 vintage year cycles and made over 100 investments. Sherpa has the honor to work with many outstanding entrepreneurs and grow together with them.

References

i. Luxia Zhang, Fang Wang, Li Wang, et al. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in China: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet. 2012 Mar 3; 379(9818): 815822. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60033-6.

SOURCE Alebund Pharmaceuticals
LONDON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bacchus Capital is pleased to announce that Steven Latimer has joined the firm as Managing Director and Head of Bacchus Capital's presence in the Americas. Steven will be based in Toronto and will focus on providing Bacchus Capital's new and existing clients with on-the-ground strategic, financial and tactical investment banking support, and advancing Bacchus Capital's Venture business in the region. He will work closely with Karr McCurdy, who is a member of the Bacchus Capital Senior Advisory Board, based in Denver, and with the Investment Banking team in the UK and globally.

Steven is an experienced global investment banker with an extensive career leading complex advisory and financing transactions, and has many longstanding, trusted client relationships, particularly in the natural resources sector. Most recently, Steven was President of Jefferies Securities, Inc. (Canada), Managing Director and Head of the firm's Canadian Investment Banking business.

Peter Bacchus, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bacchus Capital, commented:

"We are excited to have Steven join our team. With over 30 years of global investment banking experience, Steven will enable us to expand our presence and industrial expertise across several verticals in the mining sector, including precious metals, base metals, uranium, iron ore and, importantly, within the growing battery metals sector, including lithium and cobalt.

Bacchus Capital is focused on providing truly differentiated solutions for our clients, particularly in the context of highly strategic M&A, takeover or defence situations or moments of tactical or financial stress, and on delivering value-added results. Steven has an unrivalled track record of providing high quality tactical and financial advice, in Canada and globally, and we are delighted to have him join us."

Steven Latimer, Managing Director and Head of North America, said:

"Bacchus Capital has quickly established an outstanding reputation for providing clients with innovative, and dedicated support since it was founded, often in complex, high stakes transactions. It has a firm foundation from which to build internationally, and I look forward to joining the team and leading the firm's growth in the North American markets."

Steven received his Honours Business Administration Degree from The University of Western Ontario, completed his MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and is a CFA charterholder. Additionally, he has been admitted into the ICD-Rotman Directors Education Program (DEP), joining the Toronto DEP 96 cohort commencing in the fall of 2021.

Bacchus Capital, based in London, is an independent investment and merchant banking platform with particular expertise in public market takeover and defence, bringing together senior investment banking professionals and senior executives from industry. The firm has three distinct areas of business focus, including through its Advisory, Capital Markets and Ventures divisions. Bacchus Capital has grown to 16 employees and advisers.

Since being founded in 2017, Bacchus Capital has partnered with some of the most innovative companies within the global natural resources sector, and advised on a number of sector-defining transactions - beginning with the highly successful public takeover defence of ASX-listed battery metals technology company Lepidico against a hostile offer from Lithium Australia, and subsequently the creation and IPO on the London Stock Exchange of Yellow Cake plc, the public market uranium vehicle which served as a catalyst for renewed investor interest in the commodity. With in excess of $400 million invested, Bacchus Capital has raised more equity finance in the uranium industry than any other investment bank in recent times. In the last year alone, Bacchus Capital advised on three high profile M&A transactions in the gold sector (advising Golden Star Resources on the Sale of the Bogoso-Prestea Gold Mine in Ghana, Titan Minerals on its successful contested public takeover of Canadian listed Core Gold, and Nordgold on its proposed $500 million takeover of ASX listed Cardinal Resources). Bacchus Capital Ventures has also developed a portfolio of investments in some of the most exciting growth companies in the natural resource sector, particularly in battery metals and critical minerals.

For more information, contact:

Peter Bacchus

Chairman and Chief Executive

6 Adam Street, London WC2N 6AD UK

[email protected]

Tel: 44 (0) 203 848 1640

Peter Ogden, Powerscourt (07793 858 211)

SOURCE Bacchus Capital Advisers
MEXICO CITY, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco Santander Mexico, S.A., Institucion de Banca Multiple, Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico (BMV: BSMX;NYSE: BSMX) ("Banco Santander Mexico" or "Banco") one of the main banks in Mexico, announced today that by approval of its Board of Directors today, a Shareholders' General Ordinary and Extraordinary Meeting will be held on June 9, 2021, in which the following, among others, shall be considered for approval: (i) the payment of a dividend in cash, up to the amount and on the date to be determined by the meeting and (ii) the cancelation of the registration in the National Securities Registry (Registro Nacional de Valores) as well as the listing on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V. of all the shares representing its capital stock in the event that the all-cash public acquisition offer announced by Banco Santander is carried out.

Should the payment of the dividend be approved, the amount to be paid per share as a result of the offer announced by Banco Santander, S.A. last May 26, shall be reduced from the price of Ps. 24.00 per share.

This relevant event does not constitute an offer or a request for a securities issuance or acquisition offer, and no securities offer, request or sale shall be conducted in any State or jurisdiction in which such an offer, request or sale is illegal prior to its registration or qualification pursuant to such State's or jurisdiction's applicable law.

ABOUT DE BANCO SANTANDER MEXICO (NYSE: BSMX BMV: BSMX)

Banco Santander Mexico, S.A., Institucion de Banca Multiple, Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico (Banco Santander Mexico), one of the main banks In Mexico, offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services, including commercial and retail banking, financial advisory services, as well as other investment activities. Banco Santander Mexico offers a services platform directed to the middle and high sectors of the public and small and medium enterprises. It also provides integrated financial services to large multinational companies in Mexico. As of March 31, 2021, Banco Santander Mexico had total assets for Ps. 1,748 billion and more than 19.0 million clients. Based in Mexico City, the company operates more than 1,352 branches and offices in the country and has total of 22,280 employees.

Investor Relations Contact

Hector Chavez Lopez  Managing Director - IRO

+ 52 (55) 5269-1925

[email protected]

Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Banco Santander Mexico, S.A.
QINGDAO, China, May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Qingdao, an island of youth and a hot spot of innovation and entrepreneurship, has a complete industrial system, outstanding innovation ability and profound financial genes, and is promoted to develop more quickly with the holding of the Global Venture Capital Conference here for three consecutive years. At present, Qingdao is actively integrating into the new development pattern featured by the mutual promotion of domestic and international dual-circulation while taking domestic circulation as the main body. The 2021 Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference will also be endowed with a more far-reaching historical significance, which is to build Qingdao into a highland for high-quality capital accumulation by standing at the forefront of opening up to the outside world at a higher level.

On the morning of May 7, the 2021 Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference, hosted by Qingdao Municipal People's Government and guided by the Asset Management Association of China, was held solemnly at Qingdao Haitian Financial Center Hotel. Themed on "A New Era for Venture Capital, A Bright Future for Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Building the Height of High-Quality Capital Accumulation", the Conference was held with the attendance of more than 100 renowned experts, scholars, entrepreneurs and representatives of financial institutions in the industry from all over the world to agglomerate the consensus on development, stimulate the entrepreneurial vitality, and discuss opportunities and the future.

Wang Xinfu, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, attended the Conference and made an address. Zhao Haozhi, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Qingdao, and Jiang Xiaojuan, Member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, Deputy Director Member of the Social Construction Committee, Professor and Dean of School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, delivered the keynote speeches. Liu Jianjun, First-Class Inspector of the Second Department of Market Regulation of China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wang Lei, Deputy Director General of the Department of Capital Project Management of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Hu Jiafu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Asset Management Association of China, Lu Dabiao, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Stock Exchange, Li Hui, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Mao Zhirong, Member of the Management Committee and Managing Director of Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Luo Wencai, the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Exchange Limited made addresses and delivered speeches respectively.

Mayor Zhao Haozhi pointed out in his keynote speech that, over the past two years, with the joint efforts of all circles, the construction of Qingdao Venture Capital Center has been developed comprehensively, showing a good situation of vigorous development. More venture capital institutions have been laid out in Qingdao, more enterprises have received capital support, and a better industrial ecology has been formed more quickly. In the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Planning of Qingdao, the construction of Global Venture Capital Center is taken as an important objective of work. Qingdao will continuously innovate policies to provide strong support for the development of venture capital; will strive to optimize services to create a good atmosphere for the development of venture capital; and will strengthen coordination and linkage to actively explore the creation of a regional capital alliance.

Mayor Zhao Haozhi said that Qingdao is currently focusing on developing the real economy to provide new space for venture capital; focusing on promoting technological innovation to provide new opportunities for venture capital; focusing on accelerating digital transformation to provide new opportunities for venture capital; focusing on implementing organic urban renewal to provide a new hot spot for venture capital. Taking this Conference as an opportunity, Qingdao will invite more venture capital institutions to pay attention to Qingdao, to enter Qingdao, and to become "partners" of Qingdao for urban development.

The important ceremony is full of highlights, and the Conference promotes a satisfactory result of contract signing

The important ceremonial section of the Conference mainly displayed the development achievements of Qingdao Municipal Government Guidance Fund at its 10th anniversary. The Conference also carried out the inauguration ceremony of the public venture capital platform and Qingdao Innovation Investment Co., Ltd.

At the Conference, contracts were signed for 28 key projects on the spot, with a total scale of RMB61.688 billion Yuan, including 16 implemented fund projects with a total scale of RMB50.3 billion Yuan and 10 investment projects with a total scale of RMB11.388 billion Yuan. Zhongtai Securities Co., Ltd. signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Finance Bureau of five cities in Jiaodong Peninsula to help with the economic transformation of the five cities. Also, at the Conference, the intentional contract for the qualification of QDLP pilot fund manager of CITIC Trust was signed, making a substantial step towards the pilot foreign investments of QDLPs in Qingdao. In addition, the contracts for a number of projects were signed, including Shandong Green Development Equity Investment Fund, Qilu Qianhai (Qingdao) Venture Capital Fund, Shandong Land and Sea Linkage Development Fund, Qingdao Meihuashengkai Equity Investment Partnership, Qingdao Chengwei Zhongying Kechuang Venture Capital Partnership, etc..Qingdao has seen increasingly prominent gathering effect of building a global venture capital center, which empowers the high-quality development of real economy continuously with the power of venture capital.

Ten Policies of Qingdao for Venture Capital 2.0 issued, leading the first-move

The Conference released several policy measures of Qingdao to further support the construction of Qingdao Venture Capital Center. As an upgraded version of the "Ten Policies of Qingdao for Venture Capital", these policy measures fully promote the construction of a global venture capital center with the most competitive policy provisions in China.

The version 2.0 of the "Ten Policies of Qingdao for Venture Capital", with a total of 10 articles and 30 items, covers the full chain of "fundraising, investment, management and withdrawal", and is fully in line with the first-tier cities and featured by stronger support for venture capital, broader coverage, more comprehensive supporting measures and more precise supported areas. Striving to provide what others don't have or what better than others, this policy is currently the most leading and competitive in the domestic venture capital industry. The upgraded policy encourages early investment, investment in small-scale enterprises, and investment in science and technology, encourages institutions to make more investments more bravely, explores the establishment of risk-sharing mechanism, insists on the attachment of equal importance to "bringing in" and "going global", further optimizes the profit concession measures for government-guided funds, and provides a better business environment for venture capital institutions to develop in Qingdao.

Global guests offer their wisdom and advice to continuously build the height of high-quality capital accumulation

In the keynote speech section of the Conference, Wang Zhongmin, Chairman of Shenzhen Financial Stability & Development Institute and former Vice Chairman of National Council for Social Security Fund, Li Xunlei, Chief Economist of Zhongtai Securities and Director of Institutional Committee, Liu Erhai, Founding and Managing Partner of Joy Capital, Jia Kang, President of China Academy of New Supply-side Economics and winner of Sun Yefang Economic Science Award, Yu Minhong, Founder of Hongtai Aplus and Founder of New Oriental, and Sheng Xitai, Founder of Hongtai Aplus and other heavyweight guests delivered keynote speeches, providing new ideas for the high-quality development of economy in Qingdao.

This Conference was also held by inviting more international heavyweight experts, scholars as Nobel Prize winners, and leaders of international institutions. Eric Maskin, the winner of 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics, Detlef ZUEHLKE, the originator of Industry 4.0 in Germany, Olivier Guillet, Vice Dean of Sciences Po's School of Management and Innovation , and Tadayoshi Yamanaka, Founder and CEO of Venture Labo Group, and other economists and industry leaders from the United States, Germany, France, Japan, etc. gave advice on continuously developing Qingdao into a global venture capital center, comprehensively enhancing the international perspective of the Conference.

The 2021 Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference lasted for two days. The Conference set one main forum and four parallel sections, including a special session on science and technology innovation mother funds, a special session on Chinese funds, an on-cloud meeting of outstanding talents, and regional and municipal promotions. It has various functions such as policy promotion, project contract signing, communication and interaction. The annual white book of global venture capital will also be issued at the Conference for three consecutive years. More than 20 media platforms made a full-process live streaming of the Conference, presenting a pageant of professional industrial exchange and high-end resources convergence to the world.

SOURCE Qingdao Global Venture Capital Online Conference
LAS VEGAS, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaving fine dining Italian cuisine for American BBQ, James Beard nominated and Bravo Top Chef favorite Chef Bruce Kalman opens his first Las Vegas restaurant with business partner Richard Camarota, dubbed Soulbelly BBQ, in the heart of the Downtown's Arts District May 12, 2021.

Images can be found here

Chef Bruce Kalman Opens Soulbelly BBQ May 12 in Downtown Las Vegas Signature #jigglymeatdishes include Kalman's Salt & Pepper Brisket, Carolina Pulled Pork, Chipotle Cider Glazed Drumsticks, Pork Spare Ribs, housemade Hatch Chile and Cheddar Hot Links, and Texas Sausages.

Kalman says, "I came to Las Vegas because a chef friend of mine convinced me it was a great place to start a business. I've been so warmly welcomed by the incredible culinary and business community. I want Soulbelly to be something special that celebrates the amazing soul of Las Vegas and its people. We've held a series of pop-ups to build momentum, but it's finally time to show the city of Las Vegas what we've been smoking!"

"We saw an opportunity to bring a totally new experience to Las Vegas' growing off-strip dining scene. The combination of great, honest barbecue, cooler beers, American whiskey and live music is something we're really passionate about and excited for people to enjoy. We're also really proud and grateful to be joining this awesome family of indie restaurants, bars, shops in the area; the whole neighborhood is set to explode with energy as the world re-opens," says Camarota.

From fine Italian to American BBQ  Chef Bruce Kalman's Evolution

A veteran chef, Kalman became most known for his time at and ownership of LA's Knead & Co. Pasta Bar + Market and Pasadena's UNION, where he wowed diners with his Italian cuisine.

Committed to art of cooking, Kalman has always prided himself on house-crafted dishes created with the best-quality ingredients. In a kismet meeting, Kalman found himself at a charity event also attended by Backbeat BBQ founder and Foo Fighters Front Man Dave Grohl. To help Grohl serve the crowds, Kalman was introduced to the passion, effort and incredible community of American BBQ. From that experience, Soulbelly BBQ was born.

A Chef's Take on Regional American BBQ

Coming from a very different side of the culinary industry "barbecue has been humbling," says Kalman. "I really wanted to respect the tradition while putting my own spin on my meats. I'm taking a little more of a chef's approach than a pitmaster's, though the heart of the industry and culture can still be tasted."

Signature #jigglymeatdishes include Kalman's Salt & Pepper Brisket, Carolina Pulled Pork, Chipotle Cider Glazed Drumsticks, Pork Spare Ribs, housemade Hatch Chile and Cheddar Hot Links, and Texas Sausages.

Sides That Don't Suck

From handcrafted pasta and chicharron breadcrumbs for the Mac and Cheese, to extensive recipe testing for the Coleslaw, Kalman dedicated his efforts toward ensuring that each dish on Soulbelly BBQ's menu was crafted with full flavor in mind.

Further showcasing his creative side, Kalman has adorned the bar menu with rotating bites like Pigs In A Blanket, Frito Pie, Pickled Eggs, Chicharron Chips, Pimento Cheese Dip and more.

Cooler Beer & American Whiskey

Soulbelly BBQ's beer and cocktail program features American beers like Lone Star and Shiner, alongside locally brewed Nevada beers. Most notably, HUDL Brewing, Soulbelly BBQ's next-door neighbor, is specially brewing the Charred & Shifty  an American red made with Garrison Brothers barrel ashes in the mash.

Putting the Soulbelly spin on classic cocktails, the menu is dressed with sips including an Old Fashioned and Mint Julip, beside twists like the Sweet Tea Sangria and the Lunch Box.

A Garage With Rustic Soul

This former automotive garage turned restaurant was carefully designed to reflect and honor the culture surrounding American BBQ. Murals on each side of the space showcase iconic figures like the Queen of Texas BBQ and pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz, alongside southern musicians like Koko Taylor and Buddy Guy.

Again tying in Kalman's love for music, the restaurant has a 16-by-8 foot stage, which will soon become home to live musicians. A few special accent features include Soulbelly BBQ's mascot, an antique metal pig now named "Lambchop," and the vintage beverage cooler parked near the front of the restaurant.

Address & Hours

1327 S Main Street, Las Vegas, NV 89104

11 a.m.-Midnight

Media Contact:

Authentic Public Relations

Mikayla Jones

[email protected]

702.340.3742

SOURCE Soulbelly BBQ
DENVER, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Custom Made Meals (CMM), the leading U.S. provider of fresh, handmade, oven-ready entrees, appetizers and sides for grocery retailers, announces it has been acquired by Stellex Capital Management, a middle-market private investment firm with extensive food industry experience.

The recapitalization is designed to support CMM's accelerated growth and continued expansion in the rapidly evolving market sector. With scaled, centralized production capabilities, fresh supply chain expertise, flexible logistics and excellent execution, CMM is uniquely positioned as the number one leading U.S. operator capable of serving more than 15,000 retail locations nationwide with unrivaled product SKU breadth, depth and complexity.

"At Stellex, we look for opportunities to invest in businesses that are undergoing or facilitating transformation," said Trey Lee, Principal at Stellex. "CMM is providing its retail customers products that meet growing consumer demand for convenient yet high-quality, fresh foods. At the same time, CMM is also providing its customers product development and innovation along with a service, which reduces the complexities of procurement, labor management, food safety, shelf life, and waste. We have witnessed the power of these trends within other food products, and CMM has the team, the scale and the new financial support of Stellex to continue paving the road in the fresh, ready-to-cook category."



CMM's partnership with Stellex will support new investment in automation and expanded production capacity and provide management expertise during the next phases of CMM's growth, under the leadership of CMM's existing award-winning executive team, said CMM President and CEO Dale Easdon.

"Our financial partnership with Stellex will provide the resources for CMM to continue its rapid expansion, both through geographic expansion and acquisition opportunities," Easdon said. "This new investment in the company's growth will give us the increased capacity, improved infrastructure and geographic flexibility to better serve our customers in meeting the demands of this fast-growing market."

Easdon credits CMM's commitment to product excellence, customer service and a family-like corporate culture for the success of the company and its leadership team, which have won several awards for operational excellence. The company was named a Top Colorado Workplace by The Denver Post for the past three years. The Denver Post also honored Easdon as a Top CEO of a mid-sized company in 2020. CMM CFO and Chief Administrative Officer Sean Saunders was recently named a 2021 Titan 100, a program recognizing top C-level executives in Colorado.



Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Stellex Capital

Stellex Capital Management is a private equity firm with more than $2.6 billion in committed capital under management that invests in middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Stellex seeks to invest in opportunities where it can deploy capital to provide stability, catalyze operational improvement and foster growth. Stellex is a value-add partner with the ability to provide flexible capital solutions and operational expertise. Portfolio companies benefit from Stellex's industry knowledge, operating capabilities, network of senior executives, strategic insight and access to capital. Sectors of particular focus include aerospace, defense, automotive, building products, business services, capital equipment, consumer, distribution, logistics, food, general manufacturing, government services, industrial services, and transportation. Additional information may be found at www.stellexcapital.com .

About Custom Made Meals

Custom Made Meals is a Denver-based leading manufacturer of fresh, oven-ready, value-added entrees and appetizers sold through more than 15,000 retail grocery locations nationwide.

SOURCE Custom Made Meals

Related Links

http://www.custommademeals.com/


WESTMINSTER, Md., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Dave Harden (D) declared his congressional bid for Maryland's First District from his boyhood home on the family farm in Westminster, Maryland. Prior to running for congress, Mr. Harden was a successful entrepreneur and previously served as a Senior Foreign Service Officer for 20 years leading the American response to the toughest foreign policy and economic challenges of our generation. Now, the national security strategist seeks to bring jobs and build an inclusive economy in Maryland.

Dave Harden, Democrat running for Congress in MD-1 Dave Harden, left, being sworn into duty for USAID

Harden plans to build a big tent coalition in a district which has eluded the Democrats for more than a decade. Maryland is poised to be remapped prior to the 2022 election, likely making the First District a highly contested congressional district in a race that will help determine the majority in the House of Representatives.

Harden can tout his bipartisan track record to voters: he was appointed by President Barack Obama, and subsequently confirmed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate, to serve as the Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance in 2016. In 2018, President Donald Trump awarded Harden the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service, the highest honor in the Foreign Service.

The sitting incumbent, Andy Harris, is a six-term Republican. Harris' actions during and after the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol motivated Harden to run for congress. Harris is particularly vulnerable in this campaign after the attack on the Capitol. He voted to overturn Joe Biden's win, nearly got into a fist fight with Rep. Colin Alred (D-Texas) in the early hours of January 7, refused to honor the Capitol Police who defended lawmakers during the attack, and voted against the 2022 Defense budget.

Dave Harden will focus on jobs and the economy. Maryland's First District has lagged behind the economic development of the broader mid-Atlantic region. "We have lost a decade with Andy Harris," Harden said. "If you look at the metrics, we are simply poorer, sicker, less protected, and more divided. It's time for more results and less politics."

The Maryland primary is June 22, 2022, the general election is November 8, 2022. Voters can learn more about Dave Harden at www.hardenforcongress.com.

Media contact:

Dennis Parker

[email protected]

410-227-6454

SOURCE Harden for Congress LLC

Related Links

http://www.hardenforcongress.com


BOSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Biofourmis, a Boston-based global leader in virtual care and digital therapeutics, has named Maulik Majmudar, MD, a cardiologist and leader in digital health transformation, as its chief medical officer. Dr. Majmudar will lead the expansion of the company's clinical care servicesincluding near-term plans to offer in-home provider services that complement its robust care-at-home technology platform.

Most recently, Dr. Majmudar served as Medical Officer at Amazon, where he led several healthcare-related initiatives, including the development and launch of Amazon Halo, a health and wellness membership service targeted to consumers. Before Amazon, Dr. Majmudar was associate director of the Healthcare Transformation Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, where he was responsible for the identification, validation and implementation of digital health solutions to improve care delivery along with the patient and provider experience. Dr. Majmudar has served on Biofourmis' clinical advisory board since the company's inception in 2015 and on the Board of Directors since 2019.

"Healthcare has seen a rapid and seismic shift toward virtualization of care throughout the care continuum, including acute, post-acute, and chronic care, all accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr. Majmudar. "Biofourmis is leading that charge with its innovative solutions to support hospital-level care at home as well as chronic condition management. We are building clinical capabilities to evolve from remote patient monitoring to remote patient management, with a focus on improving patients' lives, while reducing healthcare utilization and associated costs."

As chief medical officer, Dr. Majmudar will oversee product management, data science, and clinical affairs. The broad scope of the role will allow him to influence and execute an ambitious product vision. He will also support continued clinical validation and regulatory approvals of Biofourmis' artificial-intelligence (AI)-powered digital therapeutics and virtual care solutions.

The company's FDA-cleared software-as a-medical-device Biovitals enables care teams to remotely monitor the physiological signs of patients in both acute and post-acute settings and provides clinical teams with a real-time look at patients' disease trajectory, which helps identify clinical decompensation at an earlier stage to prevent serious medical adverse events before they occur.

The most recent addition to the Biovitals platform, [email protected]TM, is an end-to-end solution that enables hospitals and health systems to quickly deploy a home hospital program that delivers inpatient-level care within patients' homes. It includes clinical care services and non-clinical services such as program management, operations, supply chain and revenue cycle management. In late 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced reimbursement parity with inpatient care for hospitals with such "hospital at home" programs. Biofourmis originally co-developed Biovitals [email protected] with Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital, for use in Brigham's Home Hospital Program.

"Our vision is to become the most comprehensive and tightly integrated care-at-home platform across a range of patient acuity levels and medical conditions," Dr. Majmudar said. "As we expand our offerings to including in-home provider services, we will continue to demonstrate the value of our solution through improved outcomes that support both providers and insurers in value-based care arrangements that include shared risk."

He added: "I look forward to helping accelerate Biofourmis' product roadmap and commercial growth to become the most sought-after care-at-home platform for health systems, payers and newer value-based primary and specialty care companies."

Former Mentor Turned Advisor

Dr. Majmudar's history with Biofourmis founder and CEO Kuldeep Singh Rajput pre-dates the company to 2014 when Rajput was an undergraduate student in India participating in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab's REDX program, a workshop focused on developing affordable medical diagnostics. Dr. Majmudar was a clinical advisor for the program and worked with Rajput on multiple cardiovascular diagnostic devices. The experience helped shape Rajput's thinking around unmet patient and provider needs and the opportunities to apply technology and data science in medicine.

A short time later, when Rajput was a PhD student in neuroscience at the National University of Singapore, he sought Dr. Majmudar's guidance about whether to drop out of the doctoral program to launch Biofourmis. Rajput eventually left the program, following his passion and founding Biofourmis in November 2015. Dr. Majmudar continued to serve as a mentor to Rajput, ultimately becoming a clinical advisor to Biofourmis and then a member of the board before his recent appointment to chief medical officer.

"Maulik has been a trusted advisor, colleague and friend for many years, which is why I am thrilled that he will guide the product and clinical vision of Biofourmis as we begin a new phase of our growth," Rajput said, noting that much of that growth will be fueled by a $100 million Series C financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in 2020. "Maulik's extensive experience in digital health, as well as his time at Amazon learning about product development, organizational culture and their renowned customer-centric philosophy, will be invaluable assets as it relates to our strategic roadmap and continued worldwide commercial expansion."

About Biofourmis

Biofourmis is a global leader in virtual care and digital therapeutics, offering innovative solutions that enable clinicians to deliver personalized predictive care to patients outside of a traditional hospital, clinic, or clinical research environment. Biovitals, a highly sophisticated AI-powered health analytics platform, utilizes medical-grade wearables to continuously collect patient data to predict clinical exacerbation in advance of a critical event, which enables earlier interventions and leads to better clinical and financial outcomes. The Biovitals platform is in use across multiple therapeutic areas for acute and chronic conditions, including heart failure, oncology, infectious disease such as COVID-19, chronic pain, and COPD, and is prescribed as a companion digital therapeutic with pharmacotherapy in pay-for-value arrangements. For more information, visit: www.biofourmis.com.

SOURCE Biofourmis

Related Links

http://www.biofourmis.com


PORTLAND, Ore., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Donkey Milk Market by Application (Cosmetics & Personal Care and Food & Beverages) and Form (Liquid and Powder): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212027." According to the report, the global donkey milk market garnered $28,180 thousand in 2019, and is expected to garner $68,139 thousand by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.4% from 2021 to 2027.

Prime determinants of growth

Rise in use of donkey milk in food & beverages, surge in utilization of donkey milk in cosmetics industry, and growth in consumption of donkey milk by health conscious consumers drive the global donkey milk market. However, lack of awareness regarding donkey milk and its high cost restrain the market growth. On the other hand, rise in social media awareness is expected to offer an array of opportunities to the market players in the near future.

Request Sample Report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5662

Covid-19 Scenarios-

The outbreak of the pandemic led to increase in sales of donkey milk, owing to its high nutritious properties such as vitamins, minerals, protein, iron, and other.

As a result of the pandemic, e people have started to switch towards herbal or organic skin care products. This in turn has increased the demand for donkey milk in cosmetics and personal care industry.

The cosmetic and personal care technology segment to continue its dominant position by 2027

Based on application, the cosmetics and personal care segment held more than three-fourths of the total share of the global donkey milk market in 2019, and is estimated to continue its dominant position throughout the forecast period. This is due to rise in demand by personal care industry, and surge in demand for advanced natural ingredients. However, the food and beverages segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 10.4% from 2021 to 2027. This is owing to the presence of proteins, omega-69 fatty amoino-acid, lactose, and mineral in donkey milk. In addition, donkey's milk consists of immune enhancer compounds, which protects toddlers from infections and diseases. Which further drives the growth of the segment.

The powder segment to maintain its lead throughout the forecast period

Based on form, the powder segment held the highest market share in the global Donkey Milk market in 2019, contributing to nearly two-thirds of the total share, and will maintain its lead position in terms of revenue by 2027. The donkey milk powder origin is natural and it is a key ingredient, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry. Moreover, the donkey milk powder is a rich source of minerals, protein, bioactive enzymes, essential fats, and various growth factors such as riboflavin, vitamin D, and others, which provides natural nourishment to skin and toned it. However, the liquid segment is estimated to register the fastest CAGR of 10.3% from 2021 to 2027. The donkey milk contains less cholesterol and fat when compared with cow, goat, and sheep milk, this in turn leads to increase the growth of the segment.

Europe, followed by North America, to continue its dominant position during the forecast period

Based on region, Europe, followed by North America, held the largest market share in terms of revenue, with nearly half of the global donkey milk market in 2019, and is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period. The global players along with donkey milk manufacturing companies in Europe majorly focus on product innovation and have introduced donkey milk cosmetics and confectionary, which further boosts the demand for donkey milk. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.5% from 2021 to 2027. Donkey milk is new product in the animal milk category in the Asia-Pacific region as its ingredients shows resemblance to human breast milk for lactose, protein, and ash.

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Major market players in the industry-

Asinus Atlanticus S. A.

Dolphin IBA

Donna Tina Farm

Eurolactis Italia Srl

Golden Donkeys Farm

Hellenic Asinus Farms

Stephenson Group Ltd

The Donkey Dairy PTY LTD

The White Sea & Baltic Company Limited

Vro Enterprises.

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DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- F&G, part of the FNF family of companies and a leading provider of annuities and life insurance, announced that the company has surpassed $1 billion in sales in the financial institutions channel, less than one year after launching. Debuting in July 2020 with Raymond James, F&G has experienced significant growth in this space and remains a top-five carrier in fixed index annuity sales.

"We're extremely proud to reach this milestone, which is a reflection of our team's commitment to developing simple and competitive products which consumers want and advisors want to use, while providing a high-quality experience to our bank and broker dealer distribution partners," said Chris Blunt, CEO at F&G. "In a period where industry sales declined, and we saw others reduce volume, F&G was able to achieve this milestone much faster than we anticipated  all done virtually during a global pandemic."

"Our launch with F&G was one of our most successful ever  a testament to the quality of their products, level of service and deep partnership we've developed with them through their relationship with Producers Choice over the years," said Beth Maziad, Senior Vice President of Insurance Operations for Raymond James. "F&G partnered with Raymond James to deliver the operations and service 'must haves' within the financial institution space to make the business easier on day one. We look forward to continuing this partnership to help our mutual clients achieve their financial goals," added Jamie Kosharek, President of Producers Choice Network, the annuity distribution arm of Raymond James.

Another factor to F&G's growth is its ability to ensure the pricing of its products are consistently competitive in large part due to their partnership with The Blackstone Group. F&G and Blackstone work together to find, source and underwrite assets seeking compelling returns without significantly increasing risk. In a low rate, low spread, volatile environment, the partnership is a critical differentiator for F&G.

F&G's Financial Institutions Channel partners with banks and broker dealers, including Raymond James and others, providing fixed and fixed index annuities. F&G's relationship management and sales teams engage with these distributors proactively to deliver a positive and consistent experience for both advisors and back office teams alike. This high-touch and communicative manner has helped drive repeat business from the advisors that look to F&G to protect their clients' retirement savings.

"F&G plans to strategically grow its financial institutions business with likeminded partners who support our mission of turning aspirations into reality," said Dan Farrelly, Senior Vice President, Head of Financial Institutions Channel at F&G. "These partnerships highlight how our protected growth and guaranteed income solutions can offer clients a happier and more predictable retirement."

For financial institutions interested in learning more about F&G, visit fglife.com.

About F&G

F&G is part of the FNF family of companies. F&G is committed to helping Americans turn their aspirations into reality. F&G is a leading provider of annuity and life insurance products and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, please visit fglife.com.

"F&G" is the marketing name for Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company issuing insurance in the United States outside of New York. Life insurance and annuities issued by Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company, Des Moines, IA.

Media Contact

Gabrielle Simon

pro-F&[email protected]

413.695.3818

SOURCE Fidelity & Guaranty Life; FNF

Related Links

http://fglife.com


SELBYVILLE, Del., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Geothermal Energy Market value is set to cross USD 50 Billion by 2027, as reported in the latest study by Global Market Insights, Inc. Shifting government focus toward clean energy development primarily in the upcoming economies along with growing concern toward increasing greenhouse gas emissions will positively enhance the market growth in the forecast timeline.

Global Market Insights Inc.

Increasing demand for clean energy coupled with the limited utilization of the conventional fuels owing to climate change goals will contribute to the existing demand of renewables. The use of fossil fuels contributes to both carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. Strict government policies and mandates across various economies encouraging the use of renewables is set to accelerate the geothermal energy industry outlook.

Request a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1244

Growing industrialization, rising electricity demand from off grid areas along with increasing adoption of clean energy production methods will complement the industry scenario. Various advancements in the technological processes coupled with varied advantages offered by geothermal are some of the key factors contributing to the overall market size. Ongoing research & development activities toward direct utilization of geothermal in niche application areas including heating for buildings will further contribute to the business landscape.

Some major findings of the geothermal energy market report include:

Growing concerns toward air pollution & growing emissions along with continuous development of technologies in the renewable energy sector is set to drive the market growth.

Increase in the government financing to promote geothermal energy across economies will augment the industry landscape.

Rising implementation of policies and measures to accelerate the use of renewable energy owing to climate change across the countries will stimulate the business landscape.

Key players operating across the geothermal energy market comprise of Ormat Technologies, Toshiba Corporation, Terra Gen, Mitsubishi Power Ltd. and Exergy International among others.

Browse key industry insights spread across 160 pages with 150 market data tables & 24 figures & charts from the report, "Geothermal Energy Market Forecasts By Technology (Binary, Single Flash, Double Flash, Triple Flash, Dry, Back Pressure), Industry Analysis Report, Country Outlook, Covid-19 Impact Analysis, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2021 - 2027" in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/geothermal-energy-market

Flash steam plants are the most common geothermal power plants that convert hot fluids into steam to drive the generator turbines. It is further classified into single, dual, and triple power plants based on the number of flash containers or separators used in the technology setup. Large scale adoption of flash steam plants in countries comprising Mexico, huge potential of geothermal in heating for buildings along geothermal being a sustainable, stable, and reliable energy resource will propel the geothermal energy market forecasts.

Italy geothermal energy industry is poised to witness over 1% CAGR through 2027. The availability of numerous unexploited natural hot springs across the peninsula is the major factor influencing the transition toward geothermal energy sources. The growing adoption of district heating coupled with efforts to reduce the increasing carbon footprint is anticipated to accelerate the geothermal energy adoption across Europe. COVID-19 has affected the development of geothermal projects, leading to delay in a number of projects, however with the introduction of vaccines & less cases encountered, the overall industry growth will propel in the coming times.

Browse the TOC of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/geothermal-energy-market

Browse Related Report:

Geothermal Heat Pump Market by Products {Open Loop, Closed Loop (Vertical, Horizontal), Pond Loop}, Application {Residential, Commercial (Educational institutes, Healthcare, Retail, Logistics & transportation, Offices, Hospitality and Others)}, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018 - 2024

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/geothermal-heat-pump-market

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.

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Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights Inc.

Phone: 1-302-846-7766

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Email: [email protected]

Related Images

geothermal-energy-industry.jpg

Geothermal Energy Industry Forecasts 2021-2027

SOURCE Global Market Insights Inc.
DUBLIN, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Organic Pharmaceutical Excipients Market (2020-2025) by Product, Function, Formulation, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Growing pharmaceutical industry, increasing uptake of multifunctional excipients, and the availability of high quality raw materials and excipients are the key driving factors of the market. Furthermore, increasing chronic disease prevalence around the world enhances the demand for pharmaceutical products and thereby excipients.



Market Segmentation



By Geography, North America is projected to lead the market.



Recent Developments

2020: Evonik launched RESOMER Precise platform of custom functional excipients to precisely control the release profile of parenteral drug products.

In April 2019 , Colorcon, Inc. (US) signed an agreement with DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences (US) in order to enhance the current product portfolio of CR Alliance products.

, Colorcon, Inc. (US) signed an agreement with DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences (US) in order to enhance the current product portfolio of CR Alliance products. In February 2019 , Associated British Foods plc (UK) signed an agreement with Indchem International ( India ) under which, Indchem will distribute Associated British Food's functional lipid excipient product line in the Indian market.

Company Profiles



Some of the companies covered in this report are Air Liquide, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Ashland Global Holdings, Inc., Associated British Foods Plc, BASF SE, Colorcon, Croda International Plc, DFE Pharma, Dow Chemicals Corporation, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Roquette Freres, WACKER Chemie AG, etc.



Competitive Quadrant



The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Organic Pharmaceutical Excipients Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 force model and the Ansoff Matrix. The impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using the Competitive Quadrant, the analyst's proprietary competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description

1.1 Study Objectives

1.2 Market Definition

1.3 Currency

1.4 Years Considered

1.5 Language

1.6 Key Shareholders



2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Process

2.2 Data Collection and Validation

2.3 Market Size Estimation

2.4 Assumptions of the Study

2.5 Limitations of the Study



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Overview

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Market Dynamics

4.2.1 Drivers

4.2.1.1 Growth of pharmaceuticals

4.2.1.2 Surge in the generics market

4.2.1.3 Increasing uptake of biopharmaceuticals

4.2.1.4 Rising adoption of orphan drugs

4.2.2 Restraints

4.2.2.1 Cost and time-intensive drug development process

4.2.2.2 Increasing regulatory stringency

4.2.3 Opportunities

4.2.3.1 Multifunctional excipients

4.2.3.2 Shifting focus of pharmaceutical manufacturing to emerging countries

4.2.3.3 Growth in the biosimilars market

4.2.4 Challenges

4.2.4.1 Safety and quality concerns

4.2.4.2 Changing trade policies

4.3 Trends



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.2 Impact of COVID-19

5.3 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Organic Pharmaceutical Excipients Market, By Product

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Organic Chemicals

6.3 Inorganic Chemicals

6.4 Other Devices



7 Global Organic Pharmaceutical Excipients Market, By Function

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Pharmaceutical Fillers

7.3 Binders

7.4 Coatings

7.5 Disintegrates

7.6 Preservatives

7.7 Lubricants & Glidants



8 Global Organic Pharmaceutical Excipients Market, By Formulation

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Oral

8.3 Topical

8.4 Parenteral

8.5 Advanced delivery system



9 Global Organic Pharmaceutical Excipients Market, By Geography

9.1 Introduction

9.2 North America

9.2.1 US

9.2.2 Canada

9.2.3 Mexico

9.3 South America

9.3.1 Brazil

9.3.2 Argentina

9.4 Europe

9.4.1 UK

9.4.2 France

9.4.3 Germany

9.4.4 Italy

9.4.5 Spain

9.4.6 Rest of Europe

9.5 Asia-Pacific

9.5.1 China

9.5.2 Japan

9.5.3 India

9.5.4 Indonesia

9.5.5 Malaysia

9.5.6 South Korea

9.5.7 Australia

9.5.8 Russia

9.5.9 Rest of APAC

9.6 Rest of the World

9.6.1 Qatar

9.6.2 Saudi Arabia

9.6.3 South Africa

9.6.4 United Arab Emirates

9.6.5 Latin America



10 Competitive Landscape

10.1 Competitive Quadrant

10.2 Market Share Analysis

10.3 Competitive Scenario

10.3.1 Mergers & Acquisitions

10.3.2 Agreement, Collaborations, & Partnerships

10.3.3 New Product Launches & Enhancements

10.3.4 Investments & Funding



11 Company Profiles

Air Liquide

Archer Daniels Midland Company

Ashland Global Holdings, Inc.

Associated British Foods Plc

BASF SE

Colorcon

Croda International Plc

DFE Pharma

Dow Chemicals Corporation

DuPont de Nemours, Inc.

Evonik Industries AG

Innophos Holdings

J.M. Huber Corporation

JRS Pharma

Kerry Group plc

Lubrizol Corporation

Merck Inc.

Merck Millipore

Roquette Freres

WACKER Chemie AG

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/u0ihbk

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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The fair, targeting the global consumer electronics and home appliance market, aims to connect Chinese suppliers with international buyers seeking a one-stop online communications and trade platform for their sourcing needs. It is segmented into eight exhibition areas: consumer electronics, home appliances, digital entertainment devices, electronic appliances, etc. the latest in technology and exhibitors from Hong Kong. Over 400 of the leading electronics and electrical appliance makers will have more than 2,000 items on display during the expo.

All exhibitors were required to meet strict qualification requirements and provide internationally recognized export certificates. Leading Chinese manufacturers and small- to medium-sized companies with proprietary brands, will showcase diversified lineups of new and innovative products, cutting-edge technologies and best-sellers, allowing buyers worldwide to stay informed of market trends and new product launches in real-time.

Guangdong province, home to the production facilities of many multinational firms, is well known for its thriving consumer electronics and home appliance sectors. A Malaysian import trader noted that they regularly travel to Guangdong in person for their purchases of smart home appliances. Given the COVID-19 travel restrictions, they are now using the online expo to establish long-term partnerships with Chinese suppliers.

An officer from the organizing committee said they have received inquiries from head buyers at the world's leading cross-border e-commerce firms, including Tmall Global, Amazon, DHL, eBay, Wish and Dhgate.com, all of whom plan to establish distribution or custom manufacturing agreements encompassing smart home appliances, digital products, smart wearables, Bluetooth headsets and 3D printers, among other popular categories, with the suppliers.

Over 30 online business and trade events will be held concurrently with the exhibition. With these events connecting global purchasers with Chinese producers, buyers, most notably from the UAE, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, France, Russia and South Korea, are already in direct communication with makers.

SOURCE Guangdong Premium Products International Trade Online Expo - Electronics Expo
MANCHESTER, N.H., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care today announced the launch of two virtual health plans, SimplyVirtualSM and Virtual ChoiceSM, in New Hampshire. These innovative models for health care give members access to virtual visits with primary care providers (PCPs) and care team support through its existing partner, Doctor On Demand. Both SimplyVirtualSM and Virtual ChoiceSM will be available to large employers (51+ subscribers), starting in September. SimplyVirtualSM and Virtual ChoiceSM are the first virtual primary care plans offered by Harvard Pilgrim in New Hampshire.

"We know our members have a lot to consider when it comes to choosing a health plan that best fits their families' needs," said Phil Chambers, Director of Sales in New Hampshire for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. "Adding SimplyVirtualSM and Virtual ChoiceSM to our portfolio of products provides a new level of flexibility and reflects the popularity we have seen in telehealth over the last year."

SimplyVirtualSM plan members will be able to engage with PCPs and a dedicated care team through video, voice and in-app messaging 24/7 via the Doctor On Demand digital platform on their smartphone or computer. Preventive health, chronic care management, urgent care and behavioral health are all provided through a seamless, virtual experience for patients. Members will still have access to office-based care and can be referred to services that cannot be completed virtually, such as in-person procedures, labs, and x-rays. Prescriptions and refills can be ordered at the pharmacy or through mail-order pharmacies.

Virtual ChoiceSM plan members will also have 24/7 access to primary care physicians (PCP) through virtual visits with Doctor On Demand. Members have the freedom to receive virtual visits from anywhere in the world with a lower PCP visit cost-sharing than office-based offerings. In addition, Harvard Pilgrim's provider directory will include this plan and a link to a co-branded page on the Doctor On Demand website for members to choose a provider. Once a member chooses a Doctor On Demand virtual PCP, all visits with their PCP take place virtually through video and voice communication via their smartphone, tablet or computer  allowing real-time interaction between the patient and provider.

For members who choose traditional office-based care, they will have in-person office visits with their PCP. Members will choose a PCP from Harvard Pilgrim's New England HMO provider network.

"At Doctor On Demand, we're committed to making sure that everyone has access to the health care they need," said Robin Glass, president of Doctor On Demand. "Harvard Pilgrim has always been an innovative partner, and our new, expanded offering for virtual primary care ensures that no matter what a member's unique needs look like, they have a solution that fits their lives."

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care members who are not enrolled in SimplyVirtualSM or Virtual ChoiceSM will continue to have access to Doctor On Demand's urgent care telehealth services via their existing plans.

About Harvard Pilgrim

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care along with its subsidiaries provide health benefit plans, programs and services to more than 3 million members and customers, including its subsidiaries that serve national self-insured and population health customers, in New England and beyond. A leading not-for-profit health services company, we guide our members  and the communities we serve  to better health. In partnership with our expansive network of doctors and hospitals, we're improving health outcomes and lowering costs through clinical quality and innovative care management. Our commitment to the communities we serve is driven by the passion of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. Through its work, low- and moderate-income families are gaining greater access to fresh, affordable food  a cornerstone to better health and well-being. SimplyVirtualSM and Virtual ChoiceSM Plans in New Hampshire are underwritten by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care-New England, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

About Doctor On Demand

Doctor On Demand delivers Total Virtual Care for the way people live today. Our nationwide practice of dedicated clinicians and our innovative technology platform deliver better care experiences, better integration, and better outcomes for our patients and partners. Our full suite of personalized Total Virtual Care services include primary care, integrated behavioral health, everyday & urgent care, chronic condition management, and prevention. 24/7 triage, navigation, and ongoing care coordination ensure patients get the right care, at the right time. Doctor On Demand partners with leading health insurers and employers to deliver these services to more than 98 million Americans across commercial, Medicare and Medicaid. For more information, visit www.doctorondemand.com.

SOURCE Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
In a groundbreaking collaboration, Hennessy welcomed acclaimed media artist and director Refik Anadol to its historic seat in Cognac, France to observe the Tasting Committee at work. It marked the first time in the Maison's history that an artist was allowed to capture this time-honored ritual real-time via neuroscientific research methods  then use the collected data in collaboration with machine intelligence to create an unprecedented work of art.

In keeping with Hennessy tradition, the Los Angeles-based artist received carte blanche to create a contemporary masterpiece celebrating the iconic V.S.O.P Privilege blend. Upon touring the Hennessy estate and Founder's Cellar, he became fascinated by the contrast between Hennessy's tradition of transmitting savoir-faire, generation after generation, as compared to the new frontiers of artificial intelligence.

Enduring mastery and new modes of expression came together in an extraordinary convergence. In an experiment borrowed from another realm, the Hennessy Tasting Committee agreed to "open up their minds" to a completely unconventional experiment. Outfitted in high-tech equipment, Master Blender Renaud Fillioux de Gironde and his colleagues allowed Refik Anadol to track their emotions in real time, capturing their experience, sensations, and appreciations of eaux-de-vie.

"In our craft, we are constantly classifying, describing, and trying to find exactly the right words to convey our impressions and experiences," said Renaud Fillioux de Gironde, Hennessy's eighth generation Master Blender. "We were all very intrigued to see what elements technology might bring to light."

During the traditional 11am meeting, a rare and specialized electroencephalogram (EEG) typically reserved for laboratory research was used to capture sensorial data as each participating Tasting Committee member evaluated a selection of eaux-de-vie destined for Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege. Freshly equipped with sensors, the committee followed a ritual that has remained unchanged for generations. Past and present merged in what Refik Anadol describes as "a near-future experience, in real time."

"Emotion lives in the senses, on the skin, in the heart, and in the mind  and with this hyper- sensitive equipment, we are able to trace everything, down to the movement of the glass," Refik Anadol explains. "You can see heritage and savoir-faire become visible and observe how the material actually becomes the wisdom."

Back in his California studio, Refik Anadol and his team filtered the true data  two centuries' worth of living memory  through sophisticated analytics, transforming the data set into pigments and light. What emerged, the artist says, was a completely harmonious dialogue, an "architecture of memory" that was remarkably consistent across subjects at a specific point in time.

"With help from machine intelligence, we embarked on a journey through gene memories and dreams. Neuro-scientifically, the Tasting Committee is the source of memory, dreaming about the future," he says.

The result is a masterpiece three-dimensional data sculpture: Sense of Heritage, an immersive audio-visual installation, which inspired the 2021 V.S.O.P Privilege Limited Edition.

Using 3D data mapping, Refik Anadol interpreted and transcribed the Tasting Committee's emotions into the color, shapes, reliefs and textures that appear on the Limited Edition carafe. What was once an invisible sensory experience has suddenly become tangible: the power of balance appears in a harmonious and poetic surface design. Data becomes art in a visual metaphor for a blend; like the cognac itself, Sense of Heritage is designed to be appreciated on an individual, sensorial level.

To augment this journey, Refik Anadol designed an "Infinity Room" for projecting images of the data he collected in Cognac, which will be showcased in select locations worldwide. The immersive art experience is also brought to life as a sharable digital platform accessed via a QR code on the 2021 V.S.O.P Privilege Limited Edition bottle.

The 2021 Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege Limited Edition by Refik Andaol is available at select fine retailers nationwide starting May 2021. To learn more, please visit Hennessy.com, Facebook.com/Hennessy or Instagram.com/HennessyUS.

ABOUT HENNESSY V.S.O.P PRIVILEGE

The Hennessy V.S.O.P blend is the expression of eight generations of Master Blenders know- how. To perpetuate the legacy of the original Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege, Hennessy Master Blenders have constantly sought to create a completely harmonious blend: it is the definitive expression of a perfectly balanced cognac. Based on a selection of firmly structured eaux- de-vie, aged largely in partially used barrels in order to take on subtle levels of oak tannins, this highly characterful cognac reveals balanced aromas of fresh vanilla, cinnamon and toasty notes, all coming together with a seamless perfection.

ABOUT REFIK ANADOL

Refik Anadol (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey) is a media artist, director and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. His body of work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. In taking the data that flows around us as the primary material and the neural network of a computerized mind as a collaborator, Anadol paints with a thinking brush, offering us radical visualizations of our digitized memories and expanding the possibilities of architecture, narrative, and the body in motion. Anadol's site-specific AI data sculptures, live audio/visual performances, and immersive installations take many forms, while encouraging us to rethink our engagement with the physical world, its temporal and spatial dimensions, and the creative potential of machines.

ABOUT HENNESSY

The leader in Cognac, the Maison Hennessy has shined around the world with its exceptional know-how for more than 250 years. Built on founder Richard Hennessy's spirit of conquest, the brand is present in more than 160 countries. Based in the heart of the Charente region, Hennessy is also a steadfast pillar of the regional economy. The Maison's success and longevity are rooted in the excellence of its cognacs, each of which is born of a unique process of transmission of know-how from generation to generation. The first spirits house to be certified ISO 14001, Hennessy unites its capacity for innovation and the support of all of its partners to protect this exceptional area. As a crown jewel of the LVMH Group, Hennessy is a major contributor to French international trade, with 99% of production sold in export, and a worldwide ambassador for the French art de vivre.

Contact

Caitlin Kelly, BCW Global

(347) 786-3698, [email protected]

SOURCE Hennessy
This system helps robots better navigate emergency rooms

Computer scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a more accurate navigation system that will allow robots to better negotiate busy clinical environments in general and emergency departments more specifically. The researchers have also developed a dataset of open source videos to help train robotic navigation systems in the future.

The team, led by Professor Laurel Riek and Ph.D. student Angelique Taylor, detail their findings in a paper for the International Conference on Robotics and Automation taking place May 30 to June 5 in Xi'an, China.

The project stemmed from conversations with clinicians over several years. The consensus was that robots would best help physicians, nurses and staff in the emergency department by delivering supplies and materials. But this means robots have to know how to avoid situations where clinicians are busy tending to a patient in critical or serious condition.

"To perform these tasks, robots must understand the context of complex hospital environments and the people working around them," said Riek, who holds appointments both in computer science and emergency medicine at UC San Diego.

Taylor and colleagues built the navigation system, the Safety Critical Deep Q-Network (SafeDQN), around an algorithm that takes into account how many people are clustered together in a space and how quickly and abruptly these people are moving. This is based on observations of clinicians' behavior in the emergency department. When a patient's condition worsens, a team immediately gathers around them to render aid. Clinicians' movements are quick, alert and precise. The navigation system directs the robots to move around these clustered groups of people, staying out of the way.

"Our system was designed to deal with the worst case scenarios that can happen in the ED," said Taylor, who is part of Riek's Healthcare Robotics lab at the UC San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

The team trained the algorithm on videos from YouTube, mostly coming from documentaries and reality shows, such as "Trauma: Life in the ER" and "Boston EMS." The set of more than 700 videos is available for other research teams to train other algorithms and robots.

Researchers tested their algorithm in a simulation environment, and compared its performance to other state-of-the-art robotic navigation systems. The SafeDQN system generated the most efficient and safest paths in all cases.

Next steps include testing the system on a physical robot in a realistic environment. Riek and colleagues plan to partner with UC San Diego Health researchers who operate the campus' healthcare training and simulation center.

The algorithms could also be used outside of the emergency department, for example during search and rescue missions.

###

Ph.D. student Sachiko Matsumoto and undergraduate student Wesley Xiao also contributed to the paper.

Social Navigation for Mobile Robots in the Emergency Department

Angelique M. Taylor, Sachiko Mastumoto, Wesley Xiao and Laurel Riek, University of California San Diego

http://cseweb. ucsd. edu/ ~lriek/ papers/ taylor-icra-2021. pdf

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The latest China AI Development Report for 2020 and the AI Open Index were released during China's annual meeting for artificial intelligence in Jiangsu province from Sunday to Monday.

According to the report, 521,264 applications have been filed as patents in the artificial intelligence field in the past 10 years, and the number of applications has been growing year by year. Among them, applications from China reached 389,571, accounting for 74.7 percent of the world's total, and top the ranking by country.

In China, there were 10 cities entered into the top 100 world cities by AI innovation power. Let us take a look at the 10 cities.

No 10 Guangzhou

No 9 Shenzhen

No 8 Nanjing

No 7 Xi'an

No 6 Taipei

No 5 Hangzhou

No 4 Hefei

No 3 Shanghai

No 2 Hong Kong

No 1 Beijing
BOGOTA, Colombia, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Ikanik Farms, Inc. (CSE: IKNK.U) (FSE: DFMA) (the "Company" or "Ikanik Farms") is pleased to announce its wholly-owned, Colombian subsidiary Pideka SAS ("Pideka"), has received ISO-9001:2015 certification from SGS Colombia, for its administration, cultivation and laboratory operations.

"We are extremely proud to have received the ISO-9001 accreditation, which continues to demonstrate our Pideka teams ongoing commitment to provide quality cannabis to the global markets." said Brian Baca, CEO of Ikanik Farms.

Ikanik Farms is proud to receive globally recognized ISO-9001 certification, which works to ensure its products and client services meet the highest standards through a comprehensive quality management system. The Company has implemented the ISO-9001 standard with the support and guidance of SGS Colombia, attesting to the Company's best-in-class approach to standardized processes and global business practices. Implementing ISO-9001 standards contributes to product quality and consistency, while maintaining customer centric service and support protocols.

Using a standardized quality management system provides the Company with a replicable platform to implement across its operating footprint and demonstrates the commitment to providing high-quality products and services to its clients. The ISO-9001 certification supports the Company in maintaining robust and clearly defined procedures, spanning all areas of its operating model, including cultivation, manufacturing, R&D, production, supply chain and risk management, document and data handling, and drives continuity in processes through all business channels. The Company manages processes from seed to sale using a state-of-the-art ERP system, ensuring accurate traceability of the entire supply chain.

"We would like to thank SGS Colombia and the Bogota Chamber of Commerce for their support through this certification process and continued assistance with our development initiatives that drive operating efficiencies." said Borja Sanz de Madrid, President of Ikanik Farms International, Inc.

About Ikanik Farms

Ikanik Farms is a California based, Multi-National Operator (MNO) who is building a dynamic portfolio of brands, inspired by its passion for health and wellness, action sports, and supported by its vertically integrated retail, distribution and cultivation in CA and its medical grade cultivation and laboratory in Colombia. The Company's leadership brings decades of expertise in R&D, cultivation, retail, branding, and corporate finance. Ikanik Farms' operation in Colombia, through its pharma division Pideka, holds GMP-PHARMA, (GACP) Good Agricultural and Collection Practice, (GPTCP) Good Production Transformation & Commercialization Practices Cannabis Pharma and ISO-9001:2015 certifications for its Casa Flores operating facility.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and United States securities laws (together, "forward-looking information). All information, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future is forward-looking information. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "believe", "should", and similar expressions, are forward-looking information.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: changes in laws, a change in management, the inability to obtain additional financing, increased competition, hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and, regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in the forward-looking information may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this news release is made as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and the Company does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ikanik Farms Inc.

SOURCE Ikanik Farms Inc.

Related Links

https://ikanikfarms.com/


MERIDIAN, Idaho, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacksons and ExtraMile by Jacksons convenience stores will now offer same-day delivery via Instacart to customers across their network of more than 260 locations. The new delivery service piloted in Jacksons' home region of the Treasure Valley, Idaho in March and April of this year as a way to exceed customer expectations and respond to changing preferences. After seeing high demand and engagement with the service, Jacksons and ExtraMile by Jacksons have expanded the partnership with Instacart across Idaho as well as Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Through Jacksons' and ExtraMile by Jacksons' partnership with Instacart , the leading online grocery platform in North America, customers can shop from thousands of goods to be delivered to their door in as fast as an hour or at a scheduled time of a customer's choosing.

"Our team was excited to see customers experience the ease and efficiency of convenience delivery firsthand in the Treasure Valley," said Cory Jackson, President of Jacksons Food Stores. "So, it made sense to expand the offering to other locations, a feat made possible by our incredible technology team and associates in partnership with Instacart, all focused on getting our customers what they need where, when and how they want it. Jacksons is leading the customer experience in convenience!"

Many of Jacksons' products are available for delivery, including beer and wine in select states as well as fountain drinks and even Icees. Customers can begin shopping for delivery by following this easy process:

Visit www.jacksons.com or open the Let's Go Rewards App and Select Delivery Click on either the Jacksons or ExtraMile by Jacksons storefront on Instacart to start your order Type in your zip code Log in or create an account Place your order

Once an order is placed, an Instacart shopper will pick and deliver the order within the customer's designated timeframe  whether they choose to receive their order as quickly as possible or opt to schedule their delivery in advance.

"We're always looking for ways to make life a little easier for our customers which is why we're proud to help them double up on convenience through delivery," said Cory Jackson.

Visit Jacksons.com for full delivery program details and locations.

About Jacksons Food Stores

Since John D. Jackson founded Jacksons in 1975 as a single service station, the Idaho-headquartered company has grown to be a nationally recognized chain of more than 260 company-operated convenience stores in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Utah under the Jacksons Food Stores and ExtraMile by Jacksons Convenience Store brands.

SOURCE Jacksons Food Stores

Related Links

http://www.jacksons.com


NEW YORK, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Khaled Salem, the popular candidate for U.S. Senate running against Chuck Schumer in 2022, strongly urged the United Nations, NATO the U.S. government and the E.U. to take a hardline approach against terrorism. Khaled is clear that Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority must now prove they are taking tangible action against Hamas and Hezbollah or face the consequences of losing valuable subsidies provided by the United States.

American Human Rights CEO and U.S. Senate Candidate Khaled Salem American Human Rights CEO and U.S. Senate Candidate Khaled Salem

"Every free and democratic country in the world is at risk of attacks by terrorist forces, which take every opportunity to assassinate innocent people," explained Khaled, who is also CEO of the American Rights Association. "Arab States and other nations continue to sponsor terrorism with funds and supplies. The United States must be forceful, yet at the same time be as transparent as possible in assuring citizens around the world that the U.S. is leading the way and fighting terrorism with the cooperation of allied governments."

As Khaled sees it, subjugated citizens are already under pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic and depend on global allies for assistance. He implores the Biden administration to be an example for the international community, protecting the Middle East region, especially Israel. Khaled advises that all countries be extremely vigilant against terrorism, noting that present vulnerabilities and distractions of vaccination programs and global health precautions are distracting governments from focusing on global terrorism.

Khaled is one of the few Arab-Americans to run for the U.S. Senate, hoping to contribute to a safer world. His background gives him many advantages in understanding critical nuances of American foreign policy, especially in the Muslim world. He has a deep understanding of the mentality of the Arab world and knows how to best deal with issues concerning the United States and the Middle East. Khaled supports the Biden administration's efforts to combat terror, especially in the State of Israel.

Khaled is asking the United States Department of State to start, as soon as possible, to make the place of birth optional on U.S. passports to protect dual citizens abroad from discrimination in most international Airports around the world.

Khaled policy positions argue for free university education, Khaled highlighted the irony of the US sending money to countries like Egypt and Middle East, which do provide free university, but whose people tend not to like America.



Khaled asks New York Voters to look not at his religion or where he came from, but rather what he offers to the citizenry in terms of policy.

Some other key policy positions from Mr. Salem's agenda include:



Free university education for American students with a $0 budget from the government to support this plan.

Laws and procedures to reduce domestic violence nationwide.

A reduction in U.S. military activity and presence in the Middle East .

A policy that requires these regions pay for American military services.

The establish a home loan program for middle class single parents with no penalty for credit history.

* Reduce the NY State Sales Tax for six years until the state recovers from COVID-19 economic hardship

Khaled is running in the next general election, scheduled for November 8, 2022. Thirty-four of the Senate's 100 seats are being contested in these elections.

For more information, visit https://www.khaled2022forcongress.com/

Or visit https://www.facebook.com/Khaledforcongress/, https://twitter.com/KhaledYork, or https://www.khaled2022forcongress.com/donate

Media Contact

U.S. Senate Candidate Khaled Salem U.S. Senate Candidate Khaled Salem

518-348-6868

[email protected]

SOURCE American Human Rights CEO and U.S. Senate Candidate Khaled Salem
"Engineers and user experience experts from Eurisko Mobility and content specialists from Al Qabas worked with a wide variety of focus groups  including users from different age groups and demographics  to create a truly unique and hyper personalized digital platform", said Faisal Karkoh, Digital development manager at Al-Qabas.

"And despite a global pandemic that pushed teams online while working from home, Eurisko Mobility built this cutting-edge platform in six short months. Eurisko Mobility's engineers created an automated process that minimizes the risk of human error, allowing for continuous delivery and feedback", said Edgard Tawk, CEO at Eurisko Mobility.

Al Qabas is proud to be the first media outlet in the region to offer readers innovative features like an intelligent recommendation and search engine powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). "Unlike other digital platforms and news apps, Al Qabas will bring readers recommended content they actually want to see instead of simply nudging them toward what's most popular", added Karkoh.

"The AI-powered search and recommendation engine brings together the latest in high-end technologies, intelligent algorithms, optimization techniques and industry best practices to bring startlingly accurate and personalized results in a matter of milliseconds", added Tawk.

Combining the best of Al Qabas' content and media from several of its systems, users will have no shortage of options when considering what to watch or read.

The new Al Qabas digital platform was painstakingly designed for a maximum user experience and its AI and ML components mean the platform will responds intelligently to each unique user. Working with regionally renowned developers from Eurisko Mobility, whose clients include American Express, MBC Group, Saudi Aramco, Al Hilal Bank, RightBite, Azadea Group and many others, AlQabas's new platform is the result of six months of design iteration and continuous user feedback.

Design experts also spent months iterating and gathering focus-group feedback to create a one-of-a-kind platform with a look unlike anything currently on the market.

Al Qabas's new platform is deployed using serverless infrastructure managed by Amazon Web Services, which means the platform can auto-scale as more users join, able to accommodate millions of users without compromising speed or security.

Al Qabas has long been known for high-quality content and is beyond excited to bring its entire library of print, video and audio features to users' fingertips instantly and intelligently.

SOURCE Eurisko Mobility; Al-Qabas

Related Links

https://euriskomobility.com


SEATTLE, May 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LumiThera Inc., a commercial stage medical device company delivering photobiomodulation (PBM) treatment for ocular damage and diseases, today announced research investigators lead by Drs. Hakan Kaymak, Inken Becker and Hartmut Schwahn, from the Macula Retina Centre of Breyer Kaymak & Klabe Eye Clinic in Dusseldorf, Germany presented positive clinical findings following PBM treatment with the Valeda Light Delivery System from an ongoing safety and efficacy study in Early Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) Patients with Central Macular Edema (DME) at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Conference 2021.

This is the first retrospective systematic evaluation with the Valeda system in early DR/DME patients with good vision. The study investigated the beneficial effects of Valeda PBM on both objective and subjective visual function in early DME patients. A total of 30 eyes from 19 DME patients (56  14 yrs, range: 27-76, 68% male) with good visual acuity (VA) and macula edema were treated with one series of 9 PBM treatments (about 3 times a week for 3 to 4 weeks).

The patients were assessed for multiple clinical, anatomical and safety outcomes. Wide field color fundus photography (Optos) prior to and after PBM treatment was assessed using diabetes retinopathy severity scale (DRSS) by an independent retinal expert. Optical Coherence Tomography (Zeiss) imaging assessments and patients subjective evaluations (via questionnaire) were conducted before PBM treatments at baseline (BL), after final treatment and at follow-up visits that extended up to 16 months.

"The results demonstrate the first time Valeda was tested in DME patients and showed improvement in both anatomical and clinical outcomes," stated Hakan Kaymak, MD. "Previously, we have demonstrated the clinical benefits of PBM treatments in dry AMD patients in our clinic. Now we have extended the safety and effectiveness into early DME patients with good vision."

After the Valeda treatment, the presence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) overall was reduced from 90% to 70% (p = 0.031). Presence of IRF in the central 1 mm reduced from 70% to 57% (p = 0.125). Hard exudates were present at BL and were significantly reduced by the PBM treatment from 66.7% to 46.7% (p = 0.031). Central Retinal Thickness at BL was 294  51 m and significantly reduced to 286  42 m (p = 0.027). After 9 PBM treatments the DRSS scores showed a 1 step improvement in 17% of the eyes, in 83% the DRSS score remained stable. More than 60% of the patients treated with one series of PBM for 3 to 4 weeks noted a continuation of their subjective improvement and a decreased disease influence on their daily life 4 months after the PBM treatments.

"Anatomical benefits and subjective patient evaluations suggest disease-modifying effect with PBM treatment in patients with early DME," stated Hartmut Schwahn, PhD, Director of Research at Hakan Kaymaks clinic. "The early DME patients typically had good vision and nearly normal CRT but clear evidence of macular edema. This data supports the safe and effective use of the Valeda and PBM in early diabetic retinopathy and macular edema patients."

"There was no change in the other morphological efficacy and safety parameters including epiretinal membrane, disorganization of the retinal inner layers, and integrity of the outer retina during the whole follow-up period," noted Professor Marion Munk, MD, PhD, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern and Bern Photographic Reading Center. "Several anatomical parameters showed a significant improvement without the need for invasive treatments. The PBM treatment was very well tolerated, and no signs of phototoxicity were observed based on functional and anatomical outcomes assessed."

"We continue to evaluate Valeda treatments in ocular disease and damage," stated Clark Tedford, Ph.D., President and CEO. This early case study demonstrates safety for Valeda treatments up to 16 months following PBM treatments in early DME patients and potential disease-modifying benefits on anatomical endpoints without resorting to invasive laser procedures or injections in the eye. We are planning formal prospective studies to further optimize treatment benefits."

In 2018, LumiThera obtained a CE mark to commercialize the Valeda Light Delivery System in the European Union for the treatment of dry AMD. In 2020, LumiThera was awarded a SBIR phase II grant by the NIH to study the effects of the Valeda device in DME patients in the US.

Visit the Company's website at www.lumithera.com.

About LumiThera Inc.

LumiThera is a commercial-stage medical device company focused on treating people affected by ocular damage and disease including dry age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in adults over 65. The company is a leader in the use of PBM for treatment of acute and chronic ocular diseases and disorders. The company has developed the office-based Valeda Light Delivery System to be used by eye care specialists as medical treatments.

The Valeda Light Delivery System has been granted authorization to use the CE Mark by an EU Notified Body as required for commercial use in the European Union only. Valeda is not approved for use by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

2021 LumiThera, Inc., All rights reserved.

SOURCE LumiThera Inc.

Related Links

http://www.lumithera.com


JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI) today unveiled the latest phase of the transformation of its Harborside campus in Jersey City. The Company previewed the fully renovated and repositioned Harborside 1, revealed new public open spaces, and announced its robust summer lineup of programming, including the first New Jersey location for the largest weekly open-air food market in the country, Smorgasburg. The announcements mark a major milestone for the reimagination of the 4.3 million-square-foot office campus now uniquely prepared to satisfy the needs of today's top talent in a post-COVID environment.



"Harborside's premier office spaces, top-tier amenities and abundant recreational areas, coupled with its waterfront access, close proximity to public transit and ample on-site parking, make it an ideal destination for workers, visitors and locals alike," said Mahbod Nia, Chief Executive Officer of Mack-Cali. "With these latest improvements, Harborside is well-positioned to be the workplace solution for the future as office life across the tri-state area is reinvigorated."



Anchoring the five-building Harborside campus, the newly redeveloped Harborside 1, which is a 422,590 square foot, nine-story first-class office building with an attractive new facade, reimagined lobby, and significant infrastructure upgrades. A private terrace on the 4th floor offers expansive views of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. The lobby level has direct indoor access to an activated marketplace offering retail designed specifically to support and cater to the professionals that work at Harborside, and dining with connectivity to a waterfront boardwalk that offers panoramic New York City views. The building maintains its stature as a headquarters-quality asset with extensive infrastructure, and due to the ongoing improvements, the building is anticipated to achieve LEED-Gold certification. Furthermore, Harborside can accommodate approximately 3.5 million square feet of additional residential and office development for future uses.



In addition to five Class A commercial buildings, Harborside offers over 71,000 square feet of retail, indoor and outdoor dining options, fitness and wellness programming, a daycare center and ample on-site parking. The neighborhood's residential portfolio offers more than 3,000 residential units within walking distance. Located adjacent to the Harborside Atrium, the popular District Kitchen food hall contains a carefully curated selection of food and beverage from local restaurateurs. The Hyatt Regency Jersey City, a five-star, 351-key, full-service hotel, located on the Harborside pier serves as both a neighborhood and business amenity.



An extraordinary win for Jersey City, Smorgasburg is launching its first-ever New Jersey location this spring, bringing its world-famous food festival to Harborside. Smorgasburg attracts tens of thousands of visitors each weekend to its other locations, and the Harborside location is expected to be a strong draw to the community.



"The repositioning of Harborside aligns well with our tenants' return to work," said Edward Guiltinan, Senior Vice President of Leasing. "In addition to providing first-class office space, we are fortunate to be able to offer wide-ranging amenities and outdoor space for our tenants to enjoy."



In addition, Mack Cali will introduce Ziggy, a one-of-a-kind art installation designed by Hou de Sousa and located at the Atrium at Harborside. Ziggy is a kaleidoscopic beacon that strings together gateways, apertures, and benches. The sculpture welcomes folks from all directions to freely explore its ethereal forms and undulating spaces. Consisting of thin linear elements, Ziggy is surprisingly lightweight, visually transparent, and impervious to wind. Ziggy's footprint echoes and reverberates the architectural context of Harborside while 24,000 feet of iridescent cord dynamically tints and mixes with the surrounding context, taking on a unique appearance from every point of view. Visitors are invited to share photos with #ZiggyHarborside on Instagram.



"The waterfront is one of Jersey City's many unique assets, and I'm confident Mack-Cali's reimagined Harborside will not only be a valuable addition to our growing business community, but now with all its additional activations and programming, the local neighborhood will also benefit greatly," said Mayor Steven M. Fulop, City of Jersey City. "We appreciate Mack-Cali's ongoing commitment to creating a best-in-class mixed-use environment for all of our residents and visitors."



Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of CBRE's New York Tri-State Region and project consultant, underscores Harborside's focus on three areas critical to companies recommitting to the office: wellness, flexibility, and scalability.



"The repositioning of Harborside is designed to meet this moment," said Mary Ann Tighe. "The virtually column-free, large floors accommodate a broad range of uses, from tech and media companies to financial and professional service firms. And the waterfront-facing, light filled spaces are connected to a campus that provides expansion opportunities and a broad array of amenities, immediate access to transit in all forms, and a wide variety of residential options all at compelling economics."



The pandemic has accelerated the merger between technology and real estate to create a seamless, accessible lifestyle that transpires in a variety of locations. With renewed emphasis on flexibility in the workplace  from desks and conference rooms to cafes and lounges to outdoor parks and boardwalks to food delivery and exclusive tenant perks  Harborside provides a fully amenitized campus environment that provides owners and operators space to infuse their offices with services and a diversity of physical settings that amenities in the same way hotels and destinations once did, which better supports overall employee wellbeing. To that end, Mack-Cali has tapped CBRE's talented team of retail brokers to laser focus on an elevated retail experience throughout the Harborside campus.



In addition, Harborside recently received the Hackensack Meridian Health 'Gold Star' recognition for COVID-19 protocols. Extensive COVID protocols are in place throughout the campus.



New Website, Brand + Marketing Campaign

To complement the campus repositioning, Mack-Cali today launched a new brand identity and website for Harborside, kicking off an aggressive new marketing campaign to reach the tenants and brokers. Follow along at harborsidejc.com or on Instagram at Harborsidejc.

Harborside Seasonal Hudson Street Programming

A temporary pedestrian-only Hudson Green will galvanize the whole campus, and ultimately create a true Harborside District. The outdoor space has been reclaimed to safely entertain during continued COVID-precautions and will be activated seasonally with a combination of ongoing exhibitions, partnerships, and community-focused programming.



Highlights include JCFamilies Weekly Summer Series, yoga, weekly live music, fresh markets, and food festivals. The full calendar of events can be found here.



Images and renderings can be found here.

About Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

One of the country's leading real estate investment trusts (REITs), Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is an owner, manager and developer of premier office and multifamily properties in select waterfront and transit-oriented markets throughout New Jersey. Mack-Cali is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, and is the visionary behind the city's flourishing waterfront, where the company is leading development, improvement and place-making initiatives for Harborside, a master-planned destination comprised of class A office, luxury apartments, diverse retail and restaurants, and public spaces.



A fully integrated and self-managed company, Mack-Cali has provided world-class management, leasing, and development services throughout New Jersey and the surrounding region for over two decades. By regularly investing in its properties and innovative lifestyle amenity packages, Mack-Cali creates environments that empower tenants and residents to reimagine the way they work and live.



For more information on Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and its properties, visit www.mack-cali.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this communication may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "potential," "projected," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is incorporated herein by reference. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.



Media Contact:

[email protected]

(646) 200-5318

SOURCE Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

Related Links

www.mack-cali.com


Globally, 415,000 neonates and infants require invasive mechanical ventilation per year and are intubated for greater than 24 hours. Despite recommendations and reduction efforts, 75,000, or about one in five, of these neonates and infants will experience at least one unplanned extubation (UE). In the NICU, UEs are a significant safety concern for neonates and newborns and are the most common adverse event during mechanical ventilation. 1 These events can lead to increased length of stay and hospital costs. 2 Adoption of the SonarMed airway monitoring system can help reduce the frequency of these events, which in turn can help improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

"The SonarMed airway monitoring device has revolutionized the way we care for our littlest patients. There is no other device in the world that can tell you where the endotracheal tube is located within the airway continuously in real-time, and whether the tube is obstructed or even partially occluded," said Jamie W. Powers, M.D., MBA, neonatologist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California. "At our hospital, this information has led to a drastic reduction in the number of x-rays performed and marked improvement in the effective suctioning of the airway. It also provides the care team and parents the added reassurance that the breathing tube is where it needs to be while repositioning the patient and during kangaroo care. In our institution it has become the new standard of care for all intubated infants."

The SonarMed airway monitoring system is the first and only FDA-cleared airway monitoring system that provides timely notifications and specific measurements that help enable a coordinated response to address potentially critical events such as ETT movement and migration.

"Clinicians face unique challenges in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) daily, ranging from managing oxygenation within extremely tight ranges, to keeping family members informed and comforted. With our innovative technology, this fragile patient group is continuously monitored with a real-time and accurate device that may help improve a clinician's ability to manage the airway and enhance outcomes for our smallest, most vulnerable critical care patients," said Ariel MacTavish, president of the Respiratory Interventions business, which is part of the Medical Surgical Portfolio at Medtronic. "Our goal with introducing the SonarMed technology is to help solve a clinical need to reduce the number of unplanned extubations to help these vulnerable patients start their lives in the healthiest way."

SonarMed, which was acquired by Medtronic in December 2020, specializes in developing solutions that increase patient safety while significantly decreasing healthcare costs.

"With Medtronic's extensive market presence, clinical leadership, and market development expertise, coupled with SonarMed's innovative technology, we are confident that together, we can potentially help save the lives of thousands of infants," said Tom Bumgardner, strategic planning program director, Medtronic Respiratory Interventions, and former SonarMed CEO.

For additional information about the SonarMed airway monitoring system, please visit: medtronic.com/sonarmed.

About SonarMed Airway Monitoring System

The SonarMed airway monitoring system includes a bedside monitor and single-use sensor. The SonarMed sensor fits any brand of standard endotracheal tube (ETT) in sizes ranging from neonatal to pediatric populations (2.5 mm6.0mm ID) and attaches noninvasively to the proximal end of the ETT by replacing the 15-mm connector within the ventilator circuit. The SonarMed monitor incorporates an easy-to-read color screen that can display any change in ETT status.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc ( www.medtronic.com ), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services, and solutions companies  alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 90,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals, and patients in more than 150 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

The SonarMed Airway Monitoring System should not be used as the sole basis for diagnosis or therapy and is intended only as an adjunct in patient assessment.

1 The Adverse Impact of Unplanned Extubation in a Cohort of Critically Ill Neonates. 2019. KK Kambestad, A Huack, S Nair, R Chapman, S Chin, L Langga, E Mounger, E Guerrero, NP Iyer. 10.4187/respcare.06721. Respiratory Care.

2 Roddy DJ, Spaeder MC, Pastor W, Stockwell DC, Klugman D. Unplanned Extubations in Children: Impact on Hospital Cost and Length of Stay. Pediatr Crit Care Med . 2015;16(6):572-575. doi:10.1097/PCC.

Contacts:

Kira Jastive Ryan Weispfenning Public Relations Investor Relations +1-508-452-4238 +1-763-505-4626

SOURCE Medtronic plc

Related Links

http://www.medtronic.com


NEW YORK, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mindshare, the media agency network that is part of WPP, has been named Global Network of the Year by leading business media brand Campaign.

The Global Network of the Year Award is specifically intended to award one global network, regardless of sector - across all areas of advertising, whose achievements are seen as world class.

Mindshare was recognised for its outstanding performance in new business as well as creative excellence and for 'taking inclusion to another level, supporting not only their colleagues but also the industry.'

Highlights included:

Being the first media agency to launch LGBTQ and Black Community private marketplaces in the US as part of an 'Inclusion PMP' series dedicated to funding the journalism and voices of marginalized communities.

Transforming its NeuroLab (launched by the agency in 2019) from an in-person offering to virtual in the pandemic, marrying empathy in understanding people and the accuracy of media targeting  helping to optimise emotional impact of campaigns across different channels and clients.

Rapid deployment of data led COVID learnings from East to West, helping clients understand consumer and government reactions to COVID and lockdown. Built upon by the Mindshare's New Normal Tracker  an ongoing study covering 10 global markets, China , US, Germany , UK, Mexico , India , Singapore , France , Spain and Italy , that followed the impact on these societies as their countries transitioned from lockdown, to release, to reassess.

 an ongoing study covering 10 global markets, , US, , UK, , , , , and , that followed the impact on these societies as their countries transitioned from lockdown, to release, to reassess. Strong New Business performance, winning and retaining $1.2bn in billings in 2020

Adam Gerhart, Global CEO at Mindshare, said: "Consumers now demand that the brands they buy not only deliver value but also align with their values. This award is testament to that shift and the amazing work that Mindshare does around the world. Marrying empathy in understanding people with the accuracy of media targeting allows us to use truly use media with the intention of not only making the world a better place for everyone, but also growing our clients' brands at the same time."

Mindshare's win follows numerous other accolades for the agency around the world, including:

Reigning Cannes Lions Media Network of the Year

MMA Global Mobile Agency of the Year for the 4th consecutive year

WARC # 1 Media Agency Network

Campaign US Media Agency of the Year

MediaPost Media Agency of the Year for second consecutive year

Festival of Media APAC Network of the Year for 5th consecutive year

About Mindshare:

We are 10,000 people across the world partnering with our clients to use media with the intention of promoting good growth that drives both business and society. In 116 offices across 86 countries we manage $24.1bn in billings as part of GroupM, the media investment arm of WPP.

Hear our stories (and join us) at www.mindshareworld.com and follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @mindshare; Facebook: facebook.com/mindshare and LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/mindshare.

About GroupM

GroupM is the world's leading media investment company responsible for more than $60B in annual media investment through agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and m/SIX, as well as the outcomes-driven programmatic audience company, Xaxis. GroupM's portfolio includes Data & Technology, Investment and Services, all united in vision to shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people. By leveraging all the benefits of scale, the company innovates, differentiates and generates sustained value for our clients wherever they do business.



Discover more about GroupM at www.groupm.com

Follow @GroupMWorldwide on Twitter

Follow GroupM on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/groupmworldwide

SOURCE Mindshare

Related Links

https://www.mindshareworld.com


Ted joined Minnesota Limited in 1999 as a project manager and has served as president since 2016. With over 44 years in the industry, managing small and multi-million-dollar pipeline construction and maintenance projects, Crowe cultivated a company culture deeply rooted in core values and integrity. His leadership brought a controlled and sustained growth pattern, which has resulted in increased volume, a broadened client base, expanded fleet of company-owned equipment, and, most importantly, the accumulation of highly skilled and dedicated employees. Ted's commitment to supporting and empowering the Minnesota Limited team is immeasurable.

Vice president of operations, Dan Britz, will assume the role of president at Minnesota Limited, effective May 14. Dan has provided core leadership and innovative, strategic planning to the operations division at Minnesota Limited for the past 13 years. In his role, he will work closely with Casey Joyce, president and CEO of Otis Eastern Service, Minnesota Limited's sister company under the Artera Services business.

"We owe a tremendous amount of thanks to Ted for his leadership and unwavering commitment to the Minnesota Limited team. His care for people and value-driven business practices have created an inclusive and energetic culture within the organization. His influence has directly impacted our future success in the energy industry," Britz stated.

Ted Crowe will continue to support Minnesota Limited in an advisory role over the next year.

About Minnesota Limited, LLC

Minnesota Limited, LLC, based in Big Lake, MN, is a leading energy infrastructure contractor specializing in transmission pipeline construction throughout the United States for more than 55 years. Established in 1966, Minnesota Limited's capabilities include new pipeline construction, maintenance and integrity, and facilities. Minnesota Limited delivers extraordinary customer service, a steadfast commitment to core values, and a proven track record of operational excellence across 32 states and 1,500 employees. For more information, visit www.mnlimited.com.

About Artera

Artera, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is a more than $2 billion in revenue industry-leading provider of integrated infrastructure services to the natural gas and electric industries across 35 states. Artera employs more than 9,200 people throughout the United States and focuses on maintenance, replacement, upgrade and integrity of existing infrastructure. Artera's business units are recognized market leaders, have long-standing operating histories in the industry, and are well respected for shared common core values of Safety, Integrity, Quality, and Commitment. For more information, visit www.artera.com.

SOURCE Minnesota Limited

Related Links

http://www.mnlimited.com


WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson announced Monday Robert D. Cabana, who has served as director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida since 2008, will serve as associate administrator effective Monday, May 17. Steve Jurczyk, who held the position since 2018, announced his retirement Monday.

"Bob has a relentless determination to expand America's role in space. Under his leadership, Kennedy has emerged as a modern, world class multi-user spaceport, partnering with commercial customers and supporting NASA's science and human exploration missions," Nelson said. "Bob is the real deal  he has the vision and management skills to bring NASA to even higher heights."

"I'm honored to have been selected by Sen. Nelson to serve as associate administrator of NASA," Cabana said. "Bill and I have a shared passion for America's space program, and I look forward to serving NASA and our nation in this new capacity. As much as I am going to miss the incredible team at Kennedy, I can't wait to take on this new challenge."

Nelson and Cabana first met in 1985 while Nelson was training to fly on the space shuttle and Cabana arrived at NASA as an astronaut candidate. At Kennedy, Cabana managed all NASA programs and activities for the spaceport, including the team of civil service and contractor employees who operate some of NASA's most critical programs, including its Commercial Crew Program.

Cabana graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971 with a degree in mathematics. He was commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps and completed Naval Flight Officer training in Pensacola in 1972. He was designated a naval aviator in September 1976 and went on to log more than 7,000 hours of flight time in more than 50 different kinds of aircraft.

Janet Petro, who has served as deputy director of Kennedy since 2007, will serve as acting center director. Petro also was central to Kennedy's transition to a multi-user spaceport, leading cross-agency initiatives with the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Air Force to streamline government processes, support commercial space operations, increase government efficiency, and limit redundancy.

Cabana will join a senior NASA Headquarters team including: Pam Melroy, nominee for deputy administrator; Margaret Vo Schaus, nominee for chief financial officer; Susie Perez Quinn, chief of staff; Bhavya Lal, senior advisor for budget and finance; Marc Etkind, associate administrator for communications; and Alicia Brown, associate administrator for legislative and intergovernmental affairs.

For more information on NASA and agency activities, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


AUCKLAND, New Zealand, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Objective Acuity ("OAL") today announced the completion of a pilot study using OAL's threshold visual acuity test for young children diagnosed with late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis Type 2 (CLN2 disease), a form of Batten disease.

A prominent feature of CLN2 disease is vision loss, which typically develops when cognitive, motor and language impairments are already present. Measurement of visual acuity of those with the disease using standard methods is difficult and unreliable due to the age of those affected and their cognitive, language, and motor impairments.

Pursuant to an agreement between OAL and REGENXBIO Inc., a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapy, a pilot study was conducted at Universitatsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, Germany, using OAL's objective optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) detection technology to determine its usefulness in monitoring children with CLN2 disease.

OAL's technology uses a camera to measure the movement of each eye while the child looks at a screen displaying a "drifting stimulus" pattern. Data from the camera is used by OAL's proprietary algorithms to detect OKN, an involuntary motion of the eye that typically occurs as a reflex response to the visual stimuli.

Visual acuity read-outs using OAL's technology were compared to measurements of central retinal thickness (CRT) obtained under anaesthesia. The results of the pilot study demonstrate a high correlation between visual acuity results determined using OAL's technology and the CRT measurements. Therefore, determining visual acuity results using OAL's technology could potentially be used as a significantly less subjective method for measuring visual acuity of those with CLN2 disease. Further details were presented by REGENXBIO at the ARVO 2021 Annual Meeting in a presentation titled "Pilot Study of Novel Optokinetic Nystagmus-Based Visual Acuity Test in Children with CLN2 Disease."

As a result of the successful pilot study, REGENXBIO has signed an agreement with OAL to use OAL's technology in future studies for the development of RGX-381, REGENXBIO's gene therapy candidate to treat ocular manifestations of CLN2 disease.

Christina Ohnsman, M.D., Senior Clinical Development Lead of REGENXBIO, who presented the work at ARVO, said: "We are pleased with the results of this study. The objective visual acuity measurement obtained using OAL's technology may allow REGENXBIO to obtain further data on the range, severity and impact of visual impairment in patients with CLN2 disease as we advance our gene therapy candidate to treat ocular manifestations of the disease."

Adam Podmore, Chief Executive Officer of OAL, said: "It is exciting to be working with REGENXBIO and to have OAL's technology potentially be deployed in REGENXBIO's studies."

About Objective Acuity ("OAL")

OAL aims to develop objective vision tests for children and adults. The tests do not require children to provide a response, unlike existing picture or letter chart tests. We are developing two tests, a vision screening test for young children displayed on an iPad Pro and a threshold visual acuity test.

OAL's patented technology involves a "drifting stimulus". The camera measures movement of the eyes and OAL's proprietary algorithms use data from the camera to detect optokinetic nystagmus (OKN). OKN is an involuntary sawtooth motion of the eye that typically occurs as a reflex response to the visual stimuli. The test is 100% objective and the system indicates the presence or absence of an OKN response. Intuitively, the presence of OKN indicates that the child can see the drifting stimulus, while the absence of OKN indicates the opposite.

SOURCE Objective Acuity Limited
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The growing connection between problem gambling and mental health challenges prompted three leading Ohio advocacy groups to forge a new partnership.

Ohio for Responsible Gambling, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio (NAMI Ohio) and the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio (PGNO) announced a joint awareness effort as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. Ohio for Responsible Gambling is comprised of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), Ohio Casino Control Commission and the Ohio Lottery Commission.

Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson, OhioMHAS chief of Prevention and Problem Gambling, said there are connections between problem gambling and behavioral health disorders in Ohio.

"People with gambling problems have higher levels of misuse of drugs and alcohol, mental health disorders, and suicidal thoughts and attempts," said Frohnapfel-Hasson. "During Mental Health Awareness Month, it's important to make people aware of the signs of mental health and gambling disorders and how to get resources to those who need them."

A national study of more than 43,000 Americans with a gambling disorder found more than 80 percent dealt with depression or anxiety. Nearly half have had suicidal thoughts, and 17 percent attempted suicide.

Terry Russell, executive director, NAMI Ohio, said problem gambling also impacts friends and families, with nine out of ten people impacted by someone's problem gambling expressing their own social and emotional stress.

"Mental health and problem gambling impact every Ohioan, whether they know it or not," Russell said. "NAMI Ohio's collaboration with Ohio for Responsible Gambling and PGNO hopes to open eyes to a problem many don't see."

"Gambling is a growing trend nationally and in Ohio," said Derek Longmeier, executive director, Problem Gambling Network of Ohio. "People need to realize that one out of every 10 Ohio adults are at risk of having a gambling problem."

For more information and resources about the intersection between gambling and mental health, please visit www.beforeyoubet.org or call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966.

Contact: Sarah Irvin Clark (614) 225-9100

[email protected]

SOURCE Ohio for Responsible Gambling
PORTLAND, Ore., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Polyolefins Market by Type (Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polystyrene) and Application (Film & Sheet, Injection Molding, Blow Molding, Profile Extrusion, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212028." According to the report, the global polyolefins industry generated $133.9 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $444.2 billion by 2028, witnessing a CAGR of 12.6% from 2021 to 2028.

Prime determinants of growth

Rise in demand from the healthcare sector and surge in deployment of renewable energy drive the growth of the global polyolefins market. However, varying prices of raw materials hinder the market growth. On the other hand, growth of the food sector in emerging economies presents new opportunities in the coming years.

Request PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/11483

Covid-19 Scenario

Manufacturing activities have been hindered due to the lockdown imposed in many countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the supply chain has been disrupted.

The demand from various application industries such as packaging, automotive, electronics, and others slowed down due to disruptions in daily operations. However, the demand would grow during the post-lockdown.

Various industries have been facing challenges in terms of customer spending. The automotive sector faced a decline in sales in 2020, which, in turn, reduced the demand for polyolefins.

The polyethylene segment to continue its lead position during the forecast period

Based on type, the polyethylene segment held the highest share in 2020, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global polyolefins market, and is expected to continue its lead position during the forecast period. This is attributed to its applications in industries such as packaging, automotive, electronics, and others. However, the polypropylene segment is expected to witness the largest CAGR of 14.5% from 2021 to 2028. This is due to its increased demand from the healthcare sector for its usefulness as medical plastics in applications such as syringes.

Get Detailed COVID-19 Impact Analysis on the Polyolefins Market @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/11483?reqfor=covid

The film & sheet segment to continue its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on application, the film & sheet segment contributed to the largest market share, holding nearly one-third of the global polyolefins market in 2020, and will continue its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Moreover, this segment is projected to portray the fastest CAGR of 13.2% from 2021 to 2028. This is attributed to rise in demand for films and sheets from sectors such as packaging, automotive, electronics, medical, and others. The research analyzes the segments including injection molding, blow molding, profile extrusion, and others.

Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, to maintain its dominant share by 2028

Based on region, Asia-Pacific, followed by Europe and North America, accounted for the highest market share in 2020, holding around three-fifths of the global polyolefins market, and will maintain its dominant share in terms of revenue by 2028. Moreover, this region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 13.6% during the forecast period. This is due to presence of key players in emerging countries such as China, Malaysia, Japan, India, and others along with the demand from industries such as packaging, construction, automotive, and others.

Leading Market Players

Exxonmobil Corporation

SABIC

Total SE

Repsol

Ineos Group AG

Reliance Industries

LyondellBasell Industries N.V.

Sinopec Group

Ducor Petrochemical

Formosa Plastics Corporation

Interested in Procuring This Report? Visit Here:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/polyolefins-market/purchase-options

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About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

Pawan Kumar, the CEO of Allied Market Research, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
ASHLAND, Va., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Louisa von Trapp was known for her mischievous tricks and desire to live life to the fullest. We like to think she'd thrive in the Louisa Slingback Sandal , named in her honor. This shoe from Stegmann Clogs is the very first sandal designed by the 120-year-old footwear brand, which began in Austria, where it also sources many of its materials.

The Louisa Slingback comes in three wearable colors for the initial launch of the shoe design: Tan, Violet, and Black. They're ready to style with anything in your closet, from dresses to jeans. This shoe from Stegmann Clogs is the very first sandal designed by the 120-year-old footwear brand, which began in Austria, where it also sources many of its materials.

The shoe features signature Stegmann comfort elements including an anatomically contoured cork footbed, padded arch support, a generous toe box, and elastic upper additions for 360-degree comfort. The shoe's supportive shape offers relief and comfort not often found in a summer sandal for people who suffer from foot and back pain, including plantar fasciitis.

"We know our customers love the comfort of our clogs and continuously want more options to wear for any occasion," says Stegmann USA President Andy Jacobs. "We packed every comfort feature we could into this chic little shoe. We really thought of everything!"

The Louisa Slingback comes in three wearable colors for the initial launch of the shoe design: Tan, Violet, and Black. They're ready to style with anything in your closet, from dresses to jeans. Just in time for warmer weather, the Louisa Slingback is now available for preorder. The first shoes will ship May 11.

The sandal design was inspired by the feminine construction and aesthetic of the Liesl Skimmer . Stegmann released this dress shoe design last year. It swiftly sold out during its first release and continues to be in high demand. Stegmann recommends women order their normal dress shoe size as the sandal runs true to size.

About Stegmann

Born and based in Austria, the Stegmann brand has been handcrafting wool felt and leather footwear since 1888. Famous for their iconic styling, seamless wool uppers, and contoured comfort soles, the brand also emphasizes sustainability and quality throughout its production. Stegmann continues to reimagine the everyday shoe by releasing fresh shapes and sophisticated styles for new admirers and loyal fans alike.

For more information about Stegmann, visit stegmannusa.com .

Contact:

Megan Wilson

(540) 894  6245

[email protected]

SOURCE Stegmann USA

Related Links

http://stegmannusa.com


VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV: SR) (the "Company" or "Strategic") is pleased to announce it has commenced joint hydro-metallurgical testing with VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. (TSXV: VRB)("VanadiumCorp") using their patented and proprietary green recovery process named VanadiumCorp Electrochem Process Technology ("VEPT") on titanomagnetite concentrate from Strategic's wholly-owned Mustavaara Project in Finland. The ongoing testing campaign is being performed by Electrochem Technologies & Materials inc. ("Electrochem") at its facilities in Boucherville, Quebec, Canada. The program will test whether this clean energy technology from VanadiumCorp would be viable on Mustavaara's material and could provide an alternative and more environmentally friendly way to extract vanadium and iron versus the conventional smelting methods evaluated in the Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Project (see news release dated May 4, 2021). Vanadium end products produced by the VEPT process favour the rapidly emerging Vanadium Redox Flow Battery industry in contrast to the current flowsheet, which produces ferrovanadium used in the steel industry. In addition, the process offers the potential for commercial-grade titanium production as a third revenue stream for the Project.

Adriaan Bakker, VanadiumCorp's CEO, commented: "VanadiumCorp is excited to be working with Strategic, who has identified the potential of our patented green process technology. As the Mustavaara Project encompasses a formerly producing vanadium-iron- mine, it represents a potential paradigm shift toward green metallurgical recovery methods. Located in Finland, sustainable recovery of vanadium and other critical metals at Mustavaara would represent an exciting development in the region and the EU."

About VEPT

VEPT is a patented and proprietary chemical process technology wholly owned by VanadiumCorp. Dr. Francois Cardarelli, from Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc., invented VEPT in 2017 to address challenges in the metallurgical recovery of vanadium from a variety of feedstocks. The VEPT process was co-developed by Electrochem and VanadiumCorp over the past four years as a higher-yielding alternative to conventional methods that rely upon carbon- and energy-intensive pyrometallurgy. The VEPT process directly recovers source materials for the Vanadium Redox Flow Battery industry, such as vanadium pentoxide and vanadyl sulphate both precursors for producing vanadium electrolyte. Yields include a high-purity titanium byproduct. VEPT is patent-protected in the USA and patent-pending in the key global jurisdictions of Canada, the EU, South Africa, Australia, and India. Testing of the VEPT process on a wide range of feedstocks is currently progressing at the bench scale.

About Strategic Resources

Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV:SR) is a Vancouver, Canada-based mineral exploration and development company focused on vanadium projects in Finland. The Company is primarily focused on its flagship Mustavaara vanadium-iron-titanium project in Finland. The Company continues to evaluate new opportunities that are related to the electrification of the economy.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://strategic-res.com/.

To follow future news releases, please sign up at https://strategic-res.com/contact/.

STRATEGIC RESOURCES INC.

Signed: "Scott Hicks"

Scott Hicks, CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to future testing on Mustavaara's material and whether it could provide an alternative and more environmentally friendly way to extract vanadium and iron versus the conventional smelting methods contemplated in the preliminary economic study. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will" or "projected" or variations of those words or statements that certain actions, events or results "will", "could", "are proposed to", "are planned to", "are expected to" or "are anticipated to" be taken, occur or be achieved.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of vanadium and pig iron, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Strategic Resources Inc.

Related Links

https://strategic-res.com


Dr. Dori Cross from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, will serve as the guest editor of the issue. Tweet this

"For the last 11 years, we have been consistently impressed by the quality of manuscripts we have received for the annual health IT issue," said Mike Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences, the parent company of AJMC. "Considering the explosion in the use of telehealth and other IT tools over this past year, we are very grateful to have Dr. Cross edit our special issue and look forward to her working alongside our editorial team to review these incoming submissions."

Topics of interest for original research papers and informed commentary on health IT include, but are not limited to, the following:

Patterns of telemedicine use and impact

Electronic health record usability and clinician burden

Use of patient-facing portals, third-party applications and application programming interfaces (APIs)

Predictive analytics

Health IT and equity

Interoperability/data exchange

Data safety/privacy

Adoption of advanced health IT capabilities

Each submitted research paper will undergo peer review before being accepted. The final decision regarding a paper's acceptance will be made by Cross. Due to space constraints, AJMC requests that Original Research articles be limited to 3,000 words and a total of five figures and/or tables; limits for other article types can be found on the AJMC website.

Papers will have the best chance of inclusion if submitted before July 31, 2021. High-quality papers not selected for this issue will be considered for one of the regular monthly issues of AJMC.

"This annual special issue always profiles exciting research advancements in the use of health IT to support care delivery and population health," Cross said. "I look forward to working with AJMC to select articles that thoughtfully inform how we can best leverage IT for improvement and equity in care quality, safety and patient experience."

For more information about how to submit a manuscript, click here.

About The American Journal of Managed Care

The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) is a multimedia, peer-reviewed, MEDLINE-indexed journal that keeps industry leaders on the forefront of health policy by sharing digital research relevant to industry decision-makers. Other brands in the AJMC family include The American Journal of Accountable Care and Evidence-Based Oncology. These comprehensive multimedia brands bring together stakeholder views from payers, providers, policy makers and other industry leaders in managed care. AJMC is a brand of MJH Life Sciences, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America, dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels.

AJMC Media Contact

Alexandra Ventura

609-716-7777

[email protected]

SOURCE The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC)

Related Links

https://www.ajmc.com


UPPER WEST SIDE, N.Y., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side has undergone a gorgeous transformation as part of their "Restart Stages" initiative. They have appointed SYNLawn New York to convert 14,000 square feet of concrete into a lush park-like artificial lawn area centered around the iconic Revson Fountain. Designed by renowned set designer and MacArthur Genius grantee Mimi Lien. It features grassy slopes and arches for shaded relaxation and summertime lounging to be enjoyed by everyone.

The "Green" is constructed of Biobased artificial grass provided by SYNLawn New York. Their turf is the only artificial grass company with USDA certification, due to high soy content, 100% sourced from US Farmers making it sustainable, and recyclable. The turf fibers are actually made from sugar cane, and the backing from soybean oil making it the most environmentally friendly turf on the planet.

SYNLawn New York was chosen due to the quality and ultra realism of their artificial grass as well as the environmentally friendly aspects. In addition, their jaw-dropping artificial lawn installation at City Square Central Park in White Plains, seen here.

"The GREEN," opening today for your summer enjoyment, will remain open through September 2021, from 9 a.m. to midnight every day.

"The GREEN" will also be the focal point of the Lincoln Center's "Restart Stages" initiative, which recently opened to the public as a major outdoor performing arts center featuring 10 performance and rehearsal spaces between West 62nd and 65th Streets.

President and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Henry Timms, said in a news release, "We're thrilled to launch 'The GREEN,' a space for New Yorkers to re-energize and find inspiration and uplift."

There will be safety protocols in place adhering to the current recommended health guidelines including facemasks, social distancing, and regular cleaning. SYNLawn New York also features Sanitized antimicrobial technology that assists in keeping the green naturally clean and sanitized.

Here is a sneak peek of Lincoln Center "The Green" until you come and check it out for yourself. What is even cooler is when they are finished with the turf SYNLawn New York plans to donate the turf for playgrounds for at-risk youth in upstate New York.

SOURCE SYNLawn New York

Related Links

https://newyorkartificiallawns.com/


On May 10, 1921, 23-year-old John Dickinson Schneider founded JDS Inc. with a printing press in the basement of his parents' home in Chicago. Over the ensuing decades, he ran the company based on the unbending principles of Dignity of the Person, Service, and Quality, while at the same time adapting and evolving it to its global presence today in medical products and service. Towards the end of his career, in an act of great generosity, he gave his company to his employees as stewards; and in doing so, he left a Legacy  a Legacy not confined to lifeless documents, legalistic frameworks, or petrified stories. Mr. Schneider and his wife, Minnie Schneider, left a Legacy that each associate continues to live every day.

"Today marks a special moment in time  a moment that has affected our lives and the lives of millions of people around the world who depend on our products and services to live their lives with dignity," said V. George Maliekel, President and CEO, JDS Inc. "Our corporate culture is the living expression of The Schneiders' Legacy. Our culture defines the character of our company. It guides us in the decisions we make, the work we do, the ways in which we interact with each other, and how we serve our customers and the global community."

JDS Inc. and the operating companies of Hollister Incorporated and KMT Medical, will continue to commemorate the Centennial anniversary throughout 2021 with global activities to inspire and connect associates and customers to The Schneiders' Legacy.

About Hollister Incorporated

Hollister Incorporated is an independent, employee-owned company that develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products worldwide. The company develops and manufactures products for ostomy care, continence care and critical care, and also develops educational support materials for patients and healthcare professionals. Headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, it has manufacturing and distribution centers on three continents and sells in nearly 80 countries. Hollister is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Firm of John Dickinson Schneider Inc. (JDS Inc.), a 100-year-old company. Hollister is guided by the shared Mission of JDS Inc. to make life more rewarding and dignified for people who use its products and services. www.Hollister.com .

About KMT Medical Incorporated

KMT Medical is a group of companies providing home healthcare services to consumers. Working with clinicians, the companies are dedicated to respecting clinical decisions while providing high quality products, unmatched expertise and personalized services. Announced in 2017, KMT Medical is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Firm of John Dickinson Schneider Inc. (JDS Inc.). KMT Medical companies are guided by operating policies consistent with the mission and vision of its parent company, The Firm of John Dickinson Schneider, Inc. www.kmtmedical.com.

Media Contact:

Meredith Castro

Corporate Communications

[email protected]

224-358-7631

SOURCE Hollister Incorporated

Related Links

http://www.hollister.com


"We know that families are ready to get out of their homes and reclaim their summer, so that's why Hershey's Chocolate World is adding sweetness this year more than ever," said Todd Kohr, Marketing Manager, Hershey's Chocolate World Attraction. "From our over-the-top customizable Reese's Peanut Butter Cup experience coming soon and Custom Creation kits to our limited-time-only milkshake flavors, guests will experience new twists on classic Hershey treats."

Check out what's new at Hershey's Chocolate World in addition to existing, fan-favorite attractions!

Experience Hershey Candy in New Ways

Reese's Stuff Your Cup (Price: $14.95 ): Coming soon just in time for summer, customize your own over-the-top Reese's Peanut Butter Cup with this exclusive experience. While you choose the mix-ins, our tasteologists will fold in authentic Reese's peanut butter direct from the factory.

Coming soon just in time for summer, customize your own over-the-top Peanut Butter Cup with this exclusive experience. While you choose the mix-ins, our tasteologists will fold in authentic peanut butter direct from the factory. Beverage and Candy Pairings (Starting Price: $8 ): For the first time ever, Hershey's Chocolate World offers beer and wine with its perfect Hershey candy counterpart for the ultimate duo. Adults can delight in all the available offerings from local PA beers paired with a classic Hershey's milk chocolate bar, or wines paired with Hershey's Kisses milk chocolate filled with caramel.

New Treats Exclusively Found at Hershey's Chocolate World (Limited Time Only):

Hershey's Ice Cream Shoppe Bars (SRP: $1.85 ): Extra creamy bars, now inspired by your favorite ice cream. New Hershey's Ice Cream Shoppe Bars come in Strawberries 'N' Creme, Cookies 'N' Mint, Sprinkles 'N' Creme all with a cool and creamy textured flavor, bundled up in a melt-free bar. You can also get the flavor in a smooth and creamy sundae!

Extra creamy bars, now inspired by your favorite ice cream. New Ice Cream Shoppe Bars come in Strawberries 'N' Creme, Cookies 'N' Mint, Sprinkles 'N' Creme all with a cool and creamy textured flavor, bundled up in a melt-free bar. You can also get the flavor in a smooth and creamy sundae! Custom Creation Kits (Price: $14.95 ) : We know that Hershey's Chocolate Bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are perfect as is, but everyone loves a personal spin. Sprinkles on your Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? We say, yes. When life gives you possibilities, make Hershey's bars and Reese's cups your way.

We know that Chocolate Bars and Peanut Butter Cups are perfect as is, but everyone loves a personal spin. Sprinkles on your Peanut Butter Cup? We say, yes. When life gives you possibilities, make bars and cups your way. Hershey's Kisses Birthday Cake Milkshake (Price: $8 ): This new shake delivers on everything you expect from a birthday cake flavor, sealed with velvety sweet Hershey's Kisses candy. Your kids will love this new treat or grab one for yourself. You deserve it!

This new shake delivers on everything you expect from a birthday cake flavor, sealed with velvety sweet candy. Your kids will love this new treat or grab one for yourself. You deserve it! KIT KAT Key Lime Pie Milkshake (Price: $8 ): KIT KAT has done it again, this time putting summer's sweet and tangy pie into a bitable treat. So why not make it a la mode? A swirl of summer bliss that will transport you to your happy place.

KIT KAT has done it again, this time putting summer's sweet and tangy pie into a bitable treat. So why not make it a la mode? A swirl of summer bliss that will transport you to your happy place. Create Your Own Ultimate Milkshake Kits (Price: $24.95 ): The Ultimate Milkshake Kits takes two Hershey icons  Hershey's chocolate bar and Reese's peanut butter cup  and puts a cherry on top. Whether shipping it to your home, sending it as a gift, or picking as a souvenir while leaving Hershey's Chocolate World, this is a MUST have for a sweet summer.

Guests can also visit Hershey's Chocolate World's iconic attractions including Hershey's largest candy store, the free Hershey's Chocolate Tour, chocolate tasting, a Create Your Own Candy Bar factory experience and much more. There are also locations in New York's Times Square and downtown Las Vegas.

To learn more about Hershey's Chocolate World, visit chocolateworld.com.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com

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SOURCE Hershey's Chocolate World
HOUSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TransTex, LLC DBA TransTex Treating, (https://transtextreating.com) ("TransTex") a leading provider of natural gas treating and processing solutions to operators and midstream companies, today announced that it has acquired the assets within Bold Production Services, LLC ("Bold") B-Treat Business Division. Under terms of the agreement, TransTex Treating will acquire all amine gas treating assets and associated equipment within Bold's B-Treat business line, including associated contracts for in-service equipment. The acquisition is anticipated to increase the book value of TransTex's fleet of amine gas treating equipment by approximately 30 percent and was approved by the TransTex Board of Directors which is effective immediately.

Included in the transaction are in-service amine gas treating facilities located in the Eagle Ford and Barnett Shales, treating approximately 150MMscf/d. The transaction will boost TransTex's recurring rental and service revenue on day one with additional revenue generation from stock equipment once deployed. TransTex plans to hire Bold's employees associated with operations of the in-service assets, further strengthening TransTex's highly experienced workforce.

Commenting on the transaction, Stephen Morgan, Chief Executive Officer and President of TransTex, said, "I'm pleased to announce the acquisition of the assets within Bold's B-Treat business unit. The transaction is a noteworthy accomplishment on several fronts. To start, Bold's amine plants, with their modular designs, complement our existing fleet of amine gas treating equipment. In addition, the acquisition expands our footprint while, at the same time, captures additional synergies that will enable us to operate more efficiently. And finally, it expands TransTex's market share and customer base, creating new growth opportunities throughout the Company."

Glen Wind, Chief Executive Officer of Bold, said, "The sale of amine gas treating assets to TransTex is a "win-win" for both companies. It allows us to monetize a non-core asset, while, at the same time, provides TransTex with valuable assets that are core to their business and area of expertise. We're excited to work more closely with the TransTex team going forward."

TransTex's acquisition of Bold's amine treating assets perfectly aligns with TransTex's goal of providing clients with modular, quick, and cost-effective treating solutions. As part of TransTex's turnkey solution offerings, the Company provides all upfront engineering, procurement, equipment transportation, onsite construction, and startup/commissioning.

About TransTex Treating

TransTex Treating is an industry leading provider of natural gas treating, processing, and related production equipment and services, to operators and midstream companies alike. The company operates facilities across the United States, for projects ranging from wellhead solutions to larger centralized facilities. Whether it be for removal of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), water, or to cool natural gas, TransTex has the experience needed to maximize its client's production to the pipeline. In addition, TransTex offers flexible commercial options with guaranteed run-times. The Company provides excellent customer service and solutions to succeed.

About Bold Production Services

Bold Productions Services provides oil and natural gas treating, processing and production solutions for producers, midstream and oilfield service companies. Bold brings a unique blend of products, services, and technology to our customers by leveraging our extensive experience in the oil and gas industry. Through our expertise, Bold delivers ease of installation and operation, on demand service, and best in class safety across all of our products. We maximize runtime for our customers from the wellhead to the pipeline.

Company contact:

Stephen Morgan, CEO and President

Phone: (713)-654-4440

www.transtextreating.com

SOURCE TransTex Treating
CRH Medical or "CRH", a wholly owned subsidiary of WELL Health, completes the acquisition of an 85% stake in New England Anesthesia Associates LLC (" NEAA ").

"). NEAA's current estimated annualized revenue run-rate is approximately US$3.6 million with operating EBITDA (1) margins equal to approximately 40% which is generally consistent with other similar acquisitions made by CRH.

with operating EBITDA margins equal to approximately 40% which is generally consistent with other similar acquisitions made by CRH. This highly accretive acquisition marks CRH's fourth acquisition transaction so far in 2021 and represents the company's entry into Connecticut which increases its footprint to 16 states across the United States .

which increases its footprint to 16 states across . Acquisition adds 17 practitioners to CRH's team which now exceeds 800 healthcare practitioners who are predominantly credentialed anesthesia providers.

VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - WELL Health Technologies Corp. (TSX: WELL) ("WELL" or the "Company"), a company focused on consolidating and modernizing clinical and digital assets within the healthcare sector, is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary, CRH Medical Corporation ("CRH"), has completed an accretive transaction whereby the company has acquired an 85% stake in New England Anesthesia Associates LLC ("NEAA") effective May 1, 2021. NEAA provides anesthesia services to an ambulatory surgical center in Guilford, Connecticut along with other staffing services that serve the surrounding region. It represents CRH's 34th acquisition to date.

"We are very excited to complete the first acquisition by CRH after joining WELL just a couple of weeks ago," said Hamed Shahbazi, Chairman and CEO of WELL Health. "This acquisition is yet another validation of CRH's disciplined acquisition and partnership program, and it demonstrates WELL's commitment to continuing CRH's very successful and accretive capital allocation program, which aligns perfectly with WELL's own growth strategy."

The acquisition of NEAA is expected to be immediately accretive to CRH's cashflows. NEAA's current estimated annualized revenue run-rate is approximately US$3.6 million with operating EBITDA(1) margins equal to approximately 40% which is generally in line with similar acquisitions made by CRH. CRH paid approximately less than 5X trailing operating EBITDA to complete the transaction.

Dr. Tushar Ramani, CEO of CRH Medical, added, "We are delighted to have completed this acquisition, which represents our initial expansion into Connecticut. This is our fourth transaction of 2021, and we now serve 73 ambulatory surgery centres across 16 states. We are thrilled to partner with NEAA in order to provide exceptional anesthesia services to their patients. We expect to remain active as we look to: (i) continue to make progress on additional acquisition opportunities in order to continue to strengthen our anesthesia footprint; and (ii) execute on our various digital transformation initiatives and provide more digital tools and enablement to the healthcare practitioners in our channel."

Footnote:

1. EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") should not be construed as an alternative to net income/loss determined in accordance with IFRS. EBITDA does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. WELL believes that EBITDA is a meaningful financial metric as it measures cash generated from operations which WELL can use to fund working capital requirements, service future interest and principal debt repayments and fund future growth initiatives. Operating EBITDA margin is a non-GAAP measures representing EBITDA as a percentage of total revenue. For EBITDA reconciliation to Net income, please refer to WELL's Management Discussion and Analysis filings on Sedar.com.

WELL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES CORP.

Per: "Hamed Shahbazi"

Hamed Shahbazi

Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Director

About WELL Health Technologies Corp.

WELL is an omni-channel digital health company whose overarching objective is to empower doctors to provide the best and most advanced care possible while leveraging the latest trends in digital health. As such, WELL owns and operates primary and executive healthcare clinics in both Canada and the US, operates a multi-national digital Electronic Medical Records (EMR) business serving thousands of healthcare clinics and health systems of all sizes and operates a multi-national portfolio of telehealth services which includes one of the largest telehealth service providers in Canada. WELL is also a provider of digital health, billing and cybersecurity related technology solutions. WELL's wholly owned subsidiary CRH Medical is a leading provider of anesthesia services and the patented O'Regan hemorrhoid banding product to gastrointestinal focused clinics. WELL is an acquisitive company that follows a disciplined and accretive capital allocation strategy. WELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "WELL". To access the Company's telehealth service, visit: tiahealth.com, and for corporate information, visit: www.well.company.

About CRH Medical Corporation

CRH, a wholly owned subsidiary of WELL Health Technologies Corp., is a North American company focused on providing gastroenterologists throughout the United States with innovative services and products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. In 2014, CRH became a full service gastroenterology anesthesia company that provides anesthesia services for patients undergoing endoscopic procedures in ambulatory surgical centers. To date, CRH has completed 34 anesthesia acquisitions, and now serves 73 ambulatory surgical centers in 16 states. In addition, CRH owns the "CRH O'Regan System", a single-use, disposable, hemorrhoid banding technology that is safe and highly effective in treating all grades of hemorrhoids. CRH distributes the O'Regan System, treatment protocols, operational and marketing expertise as a complete, turnkey package directly to gastroenterology practices, creating meaningful relationships with the gastroenterologists it serves. CRH's O'Regan System is currently used in all 48 lower US states.

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements and are prospective in nature including the statements regarding: expectations regarding the benefits of the acquisition of NEAA, the expected financial impact of such acquisition and the growth plans of WELL and CRH. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "could", "would", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "working on" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and WELL's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including: risks outlined in WELL's publicly filed documents available on SEDAR; business disruption risks relating to COVID-19; regulatory risks, including those related to healthcare, privacy and data security; and integration risks relating to the acquisition of NEAA on a post-closing basis. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, WELL does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE WELL Health Technologies Corp.

Related Links

well.company


STAMFORD, Conn., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TestZone TM, a trusted provider of multi-layered health security solutions designed to make spaces safer, announces today a partnership with Melbourne, Australia-based Leash ITTM to utilize its LeashView platform, enhancing TestZone's onsite health security screening programs. For businesses of all kinds looking to keep employees healthy and the doors open, LeashView, built on highly accurate Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology coupled with robust analytic capabilities, enables organizations to perform proactive social distancing, reliable contact tracing, access control monitoring and to limit the number of people per room or area. TestZone's proven turnkey programs include symptom screening, hygiene and sanitation measures, behavior change communications, fully-staffed onsite and at-home viral testing, and contact tracing.

"As more citizens get vaccinated the COVID-19 virus continues to rage in parts of the world, this is a critical time for industry. It's never been more imperative we get people back to work in a safe, effective manner. TestZone is very excited to partner with LeashView to significantly enhance our mission of making places safer," says David Orelowitz, co-founder and chief technology officer, TestZone. "LeashView comes to the partnership with a proven track record with more than 40 installations in Australia, Thailand, the UK and Israel, including hospitals and medical research institutions. Their innovative technology is precisely the type of solution we are looking to integrate into our core offering so that we can be on the front lines making sure businesses, sporting events, concerts, film productions and more, stay open and people stay employed."

Designed to enhance the safety of the environment for all, the LeashView platform enables a company's existing ID badge to intermittently emit Bluetooth pulses that determine where wearers have been and who they might have come in contact with.

"A strategic Health Security program is now imperative for any arena, business or school and needs to become the new normal for organizations of all sizes. The combination of TestZone and LeashView provide the science expertise, data and traceability to protect staff and assets and mitigate any risks before they happen, and we are very excited to be on the front lines of this effort with the experts at TestZone," says Tony Lotzof, CEO, Leash IT.

About TestZone

Headquartered in Stamford, CT, TestZone, Inc. is a global health security company at the forefront of the science that provides universities and businesses with multi-layered turnkey health security screening programs to identify health threats quickly and take action to mitigate spread. Founded by a group of recognized leading experts in medical science and public health, TestZone creates customizable onsite solutions that combine screening, behavioral and IT systems to make spaces safer. For more information connect on LinkedIn or visit https://www.testzonedx.com/ .

About Leash IT

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia Leash IT is a global IoT solution provider specializing in track and trace technologies, Leash IT has developed technology to help businesses, hospitals, medical research institutes, sporting venues, mines and other facilities gain insight into anyone visiting these facilities and maintaining social distancing in line with government guidelines and requirements. Leash IT's platform LeashView is an end-to-end asset and people monitoring solution comprising a range of wireless communications products and monitoring services on its private Community of Things (CoT) Network. For more information visit https://www.leashview.com or connect on LinkedIn.

SOURCE TestZone

Related Links

https://www.testzonedx.com


LONDON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dark Web sees personal information sold to this day. In 2020, organizations like NASA, McDonald's, Visa, MasterCard, Microsoft, and Google have experienced security breaches, leading to theft of credit card details, online banking logins, and social media credentials. Later, all this information can be found sold on the Dark Web.

PrivacyAffairs.com collected hundreds of examples of data being sold and reported the prices on their Dark Web Price Index.

Dark Web Price Index

A quick rundown on the information gathered by Privacy Affairs shows that:

Online banking logins cost an average of $40

Credit card details including associated data cost $14 - $30

- A full range of documents and account details can be obtained at $1,000

Hacked Facebook account: $35

Personal information is used to forge documents such as driver's licenses, passports, and auto-insurance cards.

Online Banking and Credit Card Information

In the United States, the average annual expense for dealing with cybercrime increased by 29% in 2018, reaching $27.4 million.

Credit card details are sold on the Dark Web from $14-$30, which include the card number, associated dates, and CVV. Personal data such as an address, email, and phone number may also be included.

These details are usually stolen through the credit card processing chain. Hackers can breach company security measures set to handle aspects of credit card processing. They can also steal card information through associated merchants whenever transacting with a card.

Hacked Crypto Accounts

Dark Web markets contain listings of hacked cryptocurrency trading wallets such as Coinbase, LocalBitcoins, Kraken, Cex, and more.

While it was previously thought that blockchains weren't prone to hacking, a 2019 report by MIT Technology Review shows that this isn't the case. That year, an attacker gained control of more than half of Coinbase and rewrote entire transaction histories.

Vigilance Regarding Online Theft

The public needs to be aware that identity theft and other forms of cybercrime are still prevalent.

As the economy becomes more digital, more forms of digital crimes emerge. Now that much of the world is shifting into digitization, people need to be reminded that vigilance is key when it comes to managing the information they share online.

The full Dark Web Price Index 2021 can be found at https://www.privacyaffairs.com/dark-web-price-index-2021

For questions regarding the research or more information about the report, contact Miklos Zoltan at [email protected] or visit Privacy Affairs.

Related Images

dark-web-price-index.jpg

Dark Web Price Index

Dark Web Price Index

SOURCE Privacy Affairs
PHILADELPHIA, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees (the "Board") of Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund (NYSE: ACP) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund, has approved the terms of the issuance of transferable rights ("Rights") to the holders of the Fund's common shares (the "Common Shareholders") of beneficial interest ("Common Shares") as of the record date, entitling the holders of those Rights to subscribe for Common Shares (the "Offer"). The Board, based on the recommendations and presentations of Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited, the Fund's investment adviser (the "Adviser"), and others, has determined that it is in the best interests of the Fund and the Common Shareholders to conduct the Offer and seek to increase the assets of the Fund available for investment. The Offer seeks to provide an opportunity to existing Common Shareholders to purchase Common Shares at a discount to market price (subject to a sales load).

The Fund will distribute to Common Shareholders of record as of the record date ("Record Date Shareholders"), which is currently anticipated to be May 20, 2021 (the "Record Date"), one right ("Right") for each Common Share held on the Record Date. Record Date Shareholders will be entitled to purchase one new Common Share for every three Rights held (1 for 3); however, any Common Shareholder who owns fewer than three Common Shares as of the Record Date will be entitled to subscribe for one Common Share. Fractional Common Shares will not be issued.

The proposed subscription period is currently anticipated to commence on the Record Date and expire on June 16, 2021, unless extended by the Fund (the "Expiration Date"). The Rights are transferable and are expected to be admitted for trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") under the symbol "ACP RT" during the course of the Offer. Rights may be exercised at any time during the subscription period.

The subscription price per Common Share (the "Subscription Price") will be determined on the Expiration Date, and will be based upon a formula equal to 92.5% of the average of the last reported sales price of a Common Share of the Fund on the NYSE on the Expiration Date and each of the four (4) immediately preceding trading days (the "Formula Price"). If, however, the Formula Price is less than 87% of the Fund's net asset value per Common Share at the close of trading on the NYSE on the Expiration Date, the Subscription Price will be 87% of the Fund's net asset value per Common Share at the close of trading on the NYSE on that day. The estimated Subscription Price has not yet been determined by the Fund.

Record Date Shareholders who exercise all of their primary subscription Rights will be eligible for an over-subscription privilege entitling Record Date Shareholders to subscribe, subject to certain limitations and allotment, for any additional Common Shares not purchased pursuant to the primary subscription.

The Fund also announced today that it will pay a distribution of US $0.10 per share on May 27, 2021 to all shareholders of record as of May 21, 2021 (ex-dividend date May 20, 2021). Please note that this monthly distribution will not be payable with respect to the shares that will be issued pursuant to the rights offering.

The Fund also expects to declare a regular monthly distribution to Common Shareholders payable on or about June 30, 2021 with a record date on or about June 4, 2021, which will also not be payable with respect to Common Shares that are issued pursuant to the Offer after such record date.

The Offer will be made pursuant to the Fund's currently effective shelf registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus will be filed with the SEC, but has not been filed as of the date of this release. The Fund expects to mail subscription certificates evidencing the Rights and a copy of the prospectus for the Offer to Record Date Shareholders within the United States shortly following the Record Date. To exercise their Rights, Common Shareholders who hold their Common Shares through a broker, custodian or trust company, should contact such entity to forward their instructions to either exercise or sell their Rights on their behalf. Common Shareholders who do not hold Common Shares through a broker, custodian or trust company, should forward their instructions to either exercise or sell their Rights by completing the subscription certificate and delivering it to the subscription agent for the Offer, together with their payment, at one of the locations indicated on the subscription certificate or in the prospectus.

* * *

The Fund is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's primary investment objective is to seek a high level of current income with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. Depending on current market conditions and the Fund's outlook over time, the Fund seeks to achieve its investment objectives by opportunistically investing primarily in loan and debt instruments (and loan-related or debt-related instruments, including repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements and derivative instruments) of issuers that operate in a variety of industries and geographic regions. The Fund invests all or a substantial portion of its assets in below investment grade securities which are often referred to as high yield or "junk" securities. Shares of closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount to net asset value. The price of the Fund's Common Shares is determined by a number of factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Fund.

The Fund is managed and advised by Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited. The Fund's shares trade on the NYSE under the symbol "ACP".

In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited.

Investors should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. For further information regarding the Fund's Offer, or to obtain a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, when available, please visit the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov or contact the Fund's Information Agent:

Georgeson Inc.

1290 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor

New York, NY 10104

1-800-561-2871

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy. Investors should read the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, when available, and consider the investment objective, risks, fees and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. This press release is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting offers to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenacp.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund
PHILADELPHIA, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund (NYSE: ACP) (the "Fund"), today announced the closing of its offering of 1,600,000 shares of 5.25% Series A Perpetual Preferred Shares (the "Preferred Shares"). The offering, priced at $25 per share, resulted in net proceeds to the Fund of approximately $38.2 million after payment of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Fund.

The Fund has applied to list the Preferred Shares on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the ticker symbol "ACP PRA". If the application is approved, trading on the NYSE in the Preferred Shares is expected to begin within 30 days following the issuance date of the Preferred Shares.

The Fund's investment objective is to seek a high level of current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to invest in accordance with its investment objective and policies, for general working capital purposes and/or to pay down outstanding borrowings under its credit facility.

UBS Securities LLC acted as the sole book-running manager for the offering.

Investors should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus contain this and other information about the Fund and should be read carefully before investing. Copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus and other documents the Fund has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") may be obtained by visiting EDGAR on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting offers to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited.

Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund'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 of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

This press release contains certain statements that may include "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "may," "will," "intend," "expect," "estimate," "continue," "plan," "anticipate," and similar terms and the negatives of such terms. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Many factors that could materially affect the Fund's actual results are the performance of the portfolio of securities held by the Fund, the conditions in the U.S. and international financial and other markets, the price at which Preferred Shares trade in the public markets and other factors discussed in the Fund's preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus and to be discussed in the Fund's periodic filings with the SEC.

Although the Fund believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. The Fund's future financial condition and results of operations, as well as any forward-looking statements, are subject to change and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. Except for the Fund's ongoing obligations under the federal securities laws, the Fund does not intend, and the Fund undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement.

NOT FDIC INSURED NO BANK GUARANTEE MAY LOSE VALUE

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenacp.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund
MONTREAL, Canada, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Accedian, a leader in performance analytics, cybersecurity threat detection, and end user experience solutions, today announced a significant upgrade to their Skylight 4X Partner Program.The upgrades are focused on new service introduction and consultative engagements for managed service (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) to drive service adoption, stronger brand awareness, and expanded revenue opportunities.

Today, the majority of partner programs for IT service providers and MSPs/MSSPs are focused on benefits that are tied to the sales of solutions, such as discounts, training credits, and leads; however, they do not provide support around what many MSP/MSSPs are lacking. These include expertise in identifying new markets, the solutions to take to them, and assistance with the new service introduction process. New service introduction is the single most challenging area for MSPs and MSSPs offering a sell-through solution.

Accedian's new Skylight 4X consulting methodology is aimed at increasing both the quantity of opportunities and win rates by enabling MSP/MSSP partners to develop and expand new lines of business with value-based offerings that drive subscription revenues and deepen customer relationships. The consulting methodology is organized into several key areas:

Service identification and strategy: including market and vertical consulting, solution development, competitive analysis, and KPI tracking consultation

Service creation: including identification and creation of operational integration requirements, pricing and packaging commercial consulting, and SLA creation consulting

Service enablement: including operational assessment and implementation guidance and sales and operations training

Service execution: with go-to-market consulting.

"In a competitive market and with a competitive solution, it is the `extras' that drive more adoption and a stronger brand," said Sergio Bea, Vice President of Global Enterprise and Channels at Accedian. "With the updated Skylight 4X Program, we are helping our partners move beyond the technology sale to create new services that drive real value to their clients and differentiate themselves."

"Accedian's MSP Advantage will address the new service introduction process by providing additional key investments and consulting expertise that many MSPs and MSSPs are missing which can significantly limit them in terms of launching new services. The majority of programs today reward partners on success, but do very little to help them expand in new markets where revenue potential is high. This is exactly the focus of the new benefits we are offering as part of our Skylight 4X Program updates," added Kevin Baranowski, Senior Director of Accedian's Global Enterprise MSP and MSSP Channel Sales.

Accedian's Skylight 4X Partner Program upgrades come just months after the program was awarded with a 5-star rating by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, in its 2021 Partner Program Guide. To learn more, please visit accedian.com/partners.

CONTACT:

Accedian Media Contact

Naomi Sabbah, SourceCode Communications

P: +1 (203) 554-5820

E: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/accedian/r/accedian-launches-upgraded-skylight-4x-partner-program-to-propel-new-services-opportunities,c3343318

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/18007/3343318/1415239.pdf Accedian_Skylight 4X Program Upgrade_Press_10May21 https://news.cision.com/accedian/i/partner-program-resource-card-1125x660px,c2910906 Partner Program Resource card 1125x660px

SOURCE Accedian
Download Our Free Sample Report to Know More

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Ansell Ltd., Church & Dwight Co. Inc., Doc Johnson Enterprises, LELOi AB, Luvu Brands Inc., Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, Tantus Inc., TENGA Co. Ltd., The Aneros Co., and WOW Tech International GmbH are some of the major market participants. The growing acceptance of sexual wellness products will offer immense growth opportunities. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Adult Stores Market 2021-2025: Segmentation

Adult Stores Market is segmented as below:

Product

Sex Toys



Condoms



Personal Lubricants



Others

Distribution Channel

Online Retail Stores



Adult And Specialty Stores

Geography

APAC



North America



Europe



South America



MEA

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Adult Stores Market 2021-2025: Vendor Analysis and Scope

To help businesses improve their market position, the adult stores market provides a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the market. Some of these vendors include Ansell Ltd., Church & Dwight Co. Inc., Doc Johnson Enterprises, LELOi AB, Luvu Brands Inc., Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, Tantus Inc., TENGA Co. Ltd., The Aneros Co., and WOW Tech International GmbH.

The report also covers the following areas:

Adult Stores Market size

Adult Stores Market trends

Adult Stores Market industry analysis

The rising demand for adult store products from the LGBT community is likely to emerge as one of the major trends in the market. However, the side effects of sexual wellness products may threaten the growth of the market.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Technavio's in-depth research has direct and indirect COVID-19 impacted market research reports.

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Related Reports on Consumer Staples Include:

Global Female Sex Toys Market - Global female sex toys market is segmented by distribution channel (retail outlets and specialty stores and online stores) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America).

Download Exclusive Free Sample Report

Sex Toys Market in Europe - Sex toys market in Europe is segmented by product (adult vibrators, dildos, erection rings, and others) and distribution channel (offline and online).

Download Exclusive Free Sample Report

Adult Stores Market 2021-2025: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will assist adult stores market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the adult stores market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the adult stores market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of adult stores market vendors

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Value chain analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market segment analysis

Market size 2020

Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025

Five Forces Analysis

Five Forces Analysis

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

Market Segmentation by Product

Market segments

Comparison by Product

Sex toys - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Condoms - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Personal lubricants - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Others - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Market opportunity by Product

Market Segmentation by Distribution channel

Market segments

Comparison by Distribution channel

Online retail stores - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Adult and specialty stores - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Market opportunity by Distribution channel

Customer landscape

Geographic Landscape

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 South America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

- Market size and forecast 2020-2025 MEA - Market size and forecast 2020-2025

Key leading countries

Market opportunity by geography

Market drivers

Market challenges

Market trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendor Landscape

Competitive scenario

Landscape disruption

Vendor Analysis

Vendors covered

Market positioning of vendors

Ansell Ltd.

Church & Dwight Co. Inc.

Doc Johnson Enterprises

LELOi AB

Luvu Brands Inc.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc

Tantus Inc.

TENGA Co. Ltd.

The Aneros Co.

WOW Tech International GmbH

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

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Website: www.technavio.com/

Report: www.technavio.com/report/adult-stores-market-industry-analysis

SOURCE Technavio
CARY, N.C. and BASEL, Switzerland, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Altavant Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on patient-centric drug development in rare respiratory diseases, will be providing an update on the clinical development of rodatristat ethyl, the company's lead candidate for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), being held virtually on May 14-19, 2021.

Altavant is conducting a randomized, double-blind Phase 2b clinical study of rodatristat in up to 90 adults with PAH. The study, ELEVATE 2 (NCT04712669), is randomizing participants to receive one of two doses of rodatristat ethyl or placebo twice daily for 24 weeks. Altavant's study design for ELEVATE 2 is based, in part, on favorable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic findings, which will be presented at the ATS meeting in the e-poster titled, A Pharmacokinetic / Pharmacodynamic-Based Rationale for Dose Selection of the TPH Inhibitor Rodatristat Ethyl in ELEVATE2 - a Phase 2b Study in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension .

Rodatristat's unique mechanism of action will be discussed further by Marc Humbert, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the French Pulmonary Hypertension Referral Center and a professor of respiratory medicine at the Universite Paris-Saclay, as well as members of the Altavant management team during an industry symposium on May 18, 2021 from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, titled: Serotonin Pathobiology in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Phase 2b Investigation of the Novel Therapy Rodatristat Ethyl (RE) in WHO Group 1 PAH. Clinicians interested in learning more about the ongoing ELEVATE 2 study, which includes sites in the US, Canada and Europe, are encouraged to join this presentation.

Altavant will be hosting a second symposium during the ATS Scientific Symposium session, Bench to Bedside: The Importance of the Patient Voice in the Drug Discovery Pipeline. In this event, Lyn Baranowski, Altavant's Chief Operating Officer will discuss patient-centric clinical development strategies being applied to the company's clinical programs, including ELEVATE 2.

Pre-recorded presentations of the above e-poster and two symposia will be available on demand on the ATS virtual platform from May 14 - July 2, 2021 and subsequently on the Altavant website in compliance with the congress' embargo policy.

About Altavant Sciences

Altavant Sciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on elevating patient-centric drug development in rare respiratory diseases. Altavant is currently advancing two pipeline candidates: rodatristat ethyl and ALTA-2530. Rodatristat ethyl is a pro-drug for rodatristat and is in Phase 2 development for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). A tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) inhibitor, rodatristat may play a role in halting or reversing the vascular remodeling associated with PAH, offering a novel treatment option for patients living with this disease. ALTA-2530 is an inhaled interleukin-1 receptor antagonist under development for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a life-threatening form of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) that may present following lung transplantation. ALTA-2530's unique mechanism of action may offer a novel treatment option for patients who suffer from BOS, a disease where there are currently no approved therapies.

Altavant is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitovant Biopharma Ltd. For more information, please visit https://altavant.com.

About Sumitovant Biopharma Ltd.

Sumitovant is a global biopharmaceutical company with offices in New York City and London. Sumitovant is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. Sumitovant is the majority shareholder of Myovant, and wholly owns Enzyvant, Urovant, Spirovant and Altavant. Sumitovant's pipeline is comprised of early- through late-stage investigational medicines across a range of disease areas targeting high unmet need.

Sumitovant Biopharma Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. For further information about Sumitovant please visit https://www.sumitovant.com/.

About Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma is among the top-ten listed pharmaceutical companies in Japan, operating globally in major pharmaceutical markets, including Japan, the U.S., China and the European Union. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma is based on the merger in 2005 between Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. Today, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma has more than 6,000 employees worldwide. Additional information about Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma is available through its corporate website at https://www.ds-pharma.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" concerning the development and commercialization of Altavant's products, the company's business development efforts and its expectations regarding its prospects. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results may vary. Altavant undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

SOURCE Altavant Sciences

Related Links

https://altavant.com


ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the country begins to recover from the initial impacts of COVID-19, millions of families  the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population  are at heightened risk of falling below the poverty line and entering a multiyear cycle of challenges. A profound crisis  pandemic poverty  has been created by COVID-19 and is causing significant spikes in food insecurity, unemployment, housing, and a host of other critical factors that contribute to homelessness. With growing concerns about evictions, the nation's largest social service provider, The Salvation Army, is providing assistance to help families stay in their homes and avoid the long-term impacts of homelessness and poverty.

The eviction moratorium has protected tens of millions of Americans across a range of income levels including families. The organization recognizes the essential need to keep roofs over heads and help keep families out of poverty and has provided more than $655 million in direct financial assistance to meet immediate needs like rent, utilities, food, clothing, and household goods. That represents a $100,000,000 increase from the previous time period in 2019.

"Every day, the menacing threat of pandemic poverty knocks on the doors of millions of Americans," said Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder, national commander of The Salvation Army. "In any given year, falling below the poverty line presents unique challenges for hardworking families. The global health crisis, however, has created unprecedented, multi-faceted, and potentially multi-generational cycles of poverty. But with the support of generous Americans, we can keep families in their homes and above the pandemic poverty line."

Nearly 3.1 million people are at risk of becoming homeless due to multiple compounding factors causing Americans to seek assistance from The Salvation Army:

Nearly 50% of adults with low income are behind on their housing payments i

57.3% of individuals with low income experienced income loss or unemployment in the last year ii

32% of adults with low income have battled feelings of depression iii

80% of four-person households have already spent stimulus payments on either paying off debts or essential household expensesiv

On average, individuals with low income have a one-in-three chance of escaping poverty in any given year. For the most marginalized populations, however, it is less likely. The rate of Black Americans in poverty is double that of the overall poverty rate in the United States.v Additionally, households headed by women and households with children have a lower probability of getting out of poverty, so the need to support these communities is greater than ever.

After the Great Recession, The Salvation Army saw an increase of 10 million requests for service over three years, and the organization anticipates service requests will continue to grow as a result of pandemic poverty. Through 7,600 local service centers, The Salvation Army is providing rent, utility, and food assistance to individuals and families in need.

During National Salvation Army Week (May 1016), The Salvation Army is raising awareness of this crisis and asking supporters to help support vulnerable families. Originally declared by U.S. Congress and President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 to recognize the work of the organization, The Salvation Army is using it as an opportunity to shed light on the important challenges facing the country's most vulnerable.

Generous Americans can help their vulnerable neighbors stay above the pandemic poverty line by giving just $25 a month, which can be the difference between a family being housed or homeless. To learn more, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org/USN/video-hub.

To make a difference in the lives of those in your community, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army annually helps more than 30 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction, and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, emergency relief for disaster survivors, rehabilitation for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and clothing and shelter for people in need, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. In the first-ever listing of "America's Favorite Charities" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country's largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org. Follow us on Twitter @SalvationArmyUS and #DoingTheMostGood.

i Human Rights Watch

ii https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/30636/411956-Transitioning-In-and-Out-of-Poverty.PDF

iii https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/30636/411956-Transitioning-In-and-Out-of-Poverty.PDF

iv U.S. Census Bureau

v https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/poverty-soared-pandemic-high-last-month-n1264692

Contact:

Katie Wilkinson

480-208-0606

[email protected]

SOURCE The Salvation Army

Related Links

http://SalvationArmyUSA.org


Anterix and 37 charter members collaborate to drive a new technology landscape at 900 MHz. Tweet this

"We've regularly talked about the scale and scope benefits to the utility sector of collective action at 900 MHz. The launch of this program is key to driving those benefits, and it highlights what we view as momentum toward private LTE throughout the entire utility ecosystem," said Anterix President & CEO Rob Schwartz. "Our Anterix Active Ecosystem Program will provide members with the collaborative environment needed to further develop secure and resilient private wireless broadband solutions, fully under the utility's control, to address current and future energy needs. We couldn't be more excited to see leaders across the technology landscape joining together to advance private broadband at 900 MHz for the critical needs of utilities."

4RF: "At 4RF, we have extensive experience of providing future-proof SCADA networks to the utility sector," said 4RF CEO Ian Troughton. "The addition of Anterix's 900 MHz nationwide low-band spectrum strengthens the Aprisa family offering for critical infrastructure networks."

Burns & McDonnell: "As the premier design and construction firm for utility PLTE networks, our firm sees spectrum as a key support for building out the distributed grid we envision as an industry," says Matt Olson, vice president of Networks, Integration, and Automation at Burns & McDonnell. "The coverage and advantageous infrastructure economics provided by sub 1 GHz spectrum solutions makes it an ideal foundational spectrum for deploying PLTE across a utility territory. Bringing the industry together with Ecosystem Week provides much needed focus on a robust end-to-end utility ecosystem."

GE: "GE was proud to work with Anterix on the first FCC certified gateway for 900 MHz, and we're equally as proud to join the Anterix Ecosystem Program to continue to grow the 900 MHz ecosystem," said Chris Trabold, General Manager-Industrial Communications, GE Grid Solutions. "High bandwidth, low latency private LTE on Anterix 900 MHz is an ideal solution for the broadband communications challenges utilities are facing as they modernize their grids."

Hitachi ABB Power Grids: "As utilities and industry focus on digitalization, renewables integration, and our carbon-neutral future, intelligent systems and solutions place new demands on communication networks," said Michael Atkinson, senior vice president, North America, Grid Automation at Hitachi ABB Power Grids. "Our ability to integrate multiple communication technologies such as Anterix's 900 MHz private LTE spectrum enables Hitachi ABB Power Grids to help our customers reach new levels of operational efficiency, resilience, security and service innovation."

Motorola Solutions: "Motorola Solutions has decades of experience providing mission-critical communications infrastructure and purpose-built devices in the 900 MHz spectrum and is proud to have helped define the more recent broadband opportunity in the band," said Scott Schoepel, Vice President, Global Enterprise, Motorola Solutions. "We are looking forward to bringing our unique perspective to the Anterix Active Ecosystem Program and working with other members to help utilities realize the full potential of utility grade private broadband."

Nokia: "As a charter member of the Anterix Active Ecosystem Program, and a global leader in industrial-grade and mission-critical private LTE deployments, Nokia offers the first FCC-certified radio supporting Anterix spectrum that power utilities can deploy today in private LTE solutions. This will allow them to address critical use cases that transform their grid operations and business models," said Matt Young, head of Nokia's Enterprise business in North America.

Q-Net: "Utilities and defense systems demand the absolute strongest network cybersecurity, which is why Q-Net Security has chosen to collaborate with Anterix - combining our best-in-class technology with Anterix transformative solutions to deliver this industry-leading package," said Dr. Ronald Indeck, CEO at Q-Net Security. "As a charter member of the Anterix Active Ecosystem Program, we join a community focused on securing critical national infrastructure by bringing a range of products and solutions to the utility sector at 900 MHz."

Telit: "Joining the Anterix Active Ecosystem allows Telit to pair our 20 years of innovative IoT experience with Anterix's 900 MHz spectrum to better provide mission critical connectivity that provides security, scalability and enterprise-grade performance," said Jitender Vohra, Director of Product Marketing, North America at Telit. "We're looking forward to working with Anterix to help utilities optimize energy distribution, reduce operating expenses and improve customer service."

As part of the program launch, this week Anterix is dedicating three consecutive episodes of its engaging Industry Insights roundtable series to hear perspectives of nine charter members:

CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE ANTERIX ACTIVE ECOSYSTEM PROGRAM

4RF

Accelleran

Atomation

Atos

BEC Technologies

Bittium

Burns & McDonnell

CISCO

CMG Consulting

Council Rock

Druid Software

Encore Networks

Ericsson

Expeto

GE

Hitachi ABB Power Grids

Index AR Solutions

Itron

Kognitiv Spark

LineVision

Motorola Solutions

Multi-Tech Systems

Nighthawk

Nokia

Onclave Networks

Qnet

Qubitekk

Redline Communications

Sentient Energy

Sequans

Sierra Wireless

Sonim Technologies

Tecore Networks

Telit

Tilson

u-blox

West Monroe Partners

About Anterix

At Anterix, we are focused on delivering transformative broadband that enables the modernization of critical infrastructure for the energy, transportation, logistics and other sectors of our economy. As the largest holder of licensed spectrum in the 900 MHz band, with nationwide coverage throughout the contiguous United States, Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico, we are uniquely positioned to enable the private LTE broadband solutions that support secure, resilient and customer-controlled operations.

Contacts

Natasha Vecchiarelli

Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Anterix

973-531-4397

[email protected]

James Fuller

Executive Vice President

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

240-393-1369

[email protected]

SOURCE Anterix Inc.

Related Links

https://www.anterix.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff, v. STERLING BANCORP, INC.; GARY JUDD; THOMAS LOPP; MICHAEL MONTEMAYOR; SCOTT SELIGMAN; BARRY ALLEN; JON FOX; SETH MELTZER; SANDRA SELIGMAN; PETER SINATRA; BENJAMIN WINEMAN; LYLE WOLBERG; PIPER SANDLER COMPANIES; AND AMERICAN CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC, Defendants. Case 5:20-cv-10490-JEL-EAS

SUMMARY Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement, Final Approval Hearing, and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses

TO: All Persons that purchased or otherwise acquired Sterling Bancorp, Inc. (SBT) common stock during the period from November 17, 2017, through and including March 17, 2020 (the "Settlement Class Period"), including shares sold in the initial public offering that commenced on November 17, 2017 (the "Settlement Class")

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT, STERLING BANCORP, INC., OR ANY OTHER DEFENDANT OR THEIR COUNSEL, REGARDING THIS NOTICE.

ALL QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE, THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, OR YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO LEAD COUNSEL OR THE CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR, WHOSE CONTACT INFORMATION IS PROVIDED BELOW. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT IS AVAILABLE ON THE SETTLEMENT WEBSITE: www.SterlingBancorpSecuritiesLitigation.com .

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the Court, that the Settlement Class in the above-captioned litigation (the "Action") has been preliminarily certified for the purposes of the proposed settlement only.

YOU ARE ALSO NOTIFIED that Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System ("Lead Plaintiff"), on behalf of itself and the proposed Settlement Class, and the Defendants have reached a proposed settlement of the Action for $12,500,000 in cash (the "Settlement Amount"), that, if approved, will resolve all claims in the Action (the "Settlement").

A hearing (the "Final Approval Hearing") will be held before the Honorable Judith E. Levy, United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, either via telephonic or video conference, or in Courtroom 100, Federal Building, 200 E. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 at 2:00 p.m. on September 16, 2021, to, among other things, determine whether: (i) the proposed Settlement should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) the Action should be dismissed with prejudice against the Defendants, as set forth in the Stipulation of Settlement ("Stipulation"), dated April 16, 2021; (iii) the proposed Plan of Allocation for distribution of the Settlement Fund, and any interest earned thereon, less Taxes, Notice and Administration Costs, Litigation Expenses awarded by the Court, attorneys' fees awarded by the Court, and any other costs, expenses, or amounts as may be approved by the Court (the "Net Settlement Fund") should be approved as fair and reasonable; and (iv) the application of Lead Counsel for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses should be approved. The Court may change the date of the hearing without providing another notice. You do NOT need to attend the Final Approval Hearing in order to receive a distribution from the Net Settlement Fund.

IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS, YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AND YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SHARE IN THE NET SETTLEMENT FUND. If you have not yet received (i) the printed Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement, Final Approval Hearing, and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses ("Notice"), or (ii) the Proof of Claim and Release Form ("Claim Form"), you can obtain a copy of those documents on the website www.SterlingBancorpSecuritiesLitigation.com or by contacting the Claims Administrator:

Sterling Bancorp Securities Litigation

Claims Administrator

c/o A.B. Data, Ltd.

P.O. Box 173130

Milwaukee, WI 53217

Please refer to the website for more detailed information and to review the Settlement documents. Inquiries other than requests for information about the status of a claim may also be made to Lead Counsel:

Kristin J. Moody

Berman Tabacco

44 Montgomery Street, Suite 650

San Francisco, CA 94104

Telephone: (415) 433-3200

If you are a potential Settlement Class Member, to be eligible to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund you must timely submit a valid Claim Form, which can be found on the website listed above, postmarked no later than August 10, 2021. If you are a potential Settlement Class Member and do not submit a valid Claim Form, you will not be eligible to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, but you will nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action.

If you are a potential Settlement Class Member, but wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must submit a written request for exclusion in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice, which can also be found on the website, postmarked no later than August 26, 2021. If you are a potential Settlement Class Member and do not timely exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action.

Any objections to the proposed Settlement, Plan of Allocation, or Lead Counsel's application for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses must be submitted to the Court in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice, received or postmarked no later than August 26, 2021.

DATED: May 10, 2021 THE HONORABLE JUDITH E. LEVY

District Judge, United States District Court for

the Eastern District of Michigan

SOURCE Berman Tabacco

Related Links

http://www.bermantabacco.com


AURORA, Ill., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BERNINA of America, the premier manufacturer of sewing, embroidery and quilting machines, is proud to announce the launch of the Sew A Little Love Bug campaign. The new campaign is led by the Creativity Shell, a Rochester, New York-based nonprofit organization that teaches children how to use creative trades such as sewing. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness for children's mental health. In addition to BERNINA of America, the campaign is also sponsored by Moda Fabrics and Hobbs Bonded Fiber.

The Sew A Little Love Bug campaign encourages sewists to sew a love bug that will be donated to local stores and available for purchase. All the funds raised throughout this campaign will go towards building a Creativity Shell Design Center in Houston, Texas. In addition to the classes and programs Creativity Shell offers, the new center in Houston will offer mental health services to children led by experienced therapists that work with kids suffering from a variety of mental health issues including depression and anxiety. Those interested in sewing a love bug can pick up a pattern at participating Moda Fabric stores. The campaign will run throughout the month of May.

"BERNINA of America is honored to work with an organization like Creativity Shell that understands the importance of mental health," said Paul Ashworth, President of BERNINA of America. "Like BERNINA, the Creativity Shell recognizes that activities like sewing are not only therapeutic hobbies, but they also have the ability to help strengthen critical thinking and decision-making skills especially in young children."

The Creativity Shell is a nonprofit organization that teaches classes like sewing/textile arts, cooking, building and other creative trades to students in their private studios, libraries, schools, ABA therapy centers, the juvenile justice system as well as shelters that rescue children from homelessness and human trafficking. All of their classes are designed to teach children essential life and practical skills.

"The Creativity Shell hopes the Sew A Little Love Bug campaign will help shine a light on youth mental health struggles," said Shelancia Daniel, Creative Director at Creativity Shell. "As a certified Youth Mental Health First Responder, the mental health of children is something very close to my heart. This is an issue we cannot take for granted any longer. We are grateful to companies like BERNINA for sewing a little love and helping us drive awareness to an important cause."

For more information on BERNINA, visit www.bernina.com.

For more information on the Creativity Shell, visit www.creativityshell.org

About BERNINA

BERNINA is the world's premier manufacturer of quality state-of-the-art sewing, quilting and embroidery machines, overlockers and embroidery software. Since being founded over 125 years ago, BERNINA has maintained a strong commitment to serving the creative community. This dedication threads through the swiss precision found in every machine, the training and education available through our over 400 fully trained independent BERNINA Dealers and the endless tutorials and content shared on BERNINA's blog and social media channels. BERNINA products are designed for beginning to advanced sewists and priced to meet a variety of budgets, with new products being introduced every year. Shop for BERNINA products online or buy directly from your nearest BERNINA Dealer. Follow BERNINA on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. BERNINA's sister machine, bernette, can be found on Instagram. You can also find helpful tips and tutorials for every skill level on BERNINA's Blog, WeAllSew.

Media Contact

Tyler Rabel

Two by Four

[email protected]

(312) 445-4728

SOURCE BERNINA of America

Related Links

http://www.bernina.com


BROWARD COUNTY, Fla., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Broward County Library (BCL) received four 2021 Florida Library Association Awards, which honor outstanding Florida libraries, individuals, businesses and library supporters. Each award recognizes BCL's online services, events and resources, which were in the spotlight this past year as their usage surged due to the threat of COVID-19.

"I am proud of our staff, as these awards are testaments to their creativity, perseverance and excellence in serving the ever-changing needs of our community," says Allison Grubbs, Broward County Library Interim Director.

Broward County Library's winning 2021 Florida Library Association Awards entries were:

Science Fair Readiness Festival - Betty Davis Miller Youth Services Award - Teens: Broward County Library's Science Fair Readiness Festival provides students with free help, guidance and library/community resources to help make their science fair project a winner. First launched in 2017, the Festival moved online in 2020, with 298 families participating, making the event's transition to virtual a success.

Broward County Library's Science Fair Readiness Festival provides students with free help, guidance and library/community resources to help make their science fair project a winner. First launched in 2017, the Festival moved online in 2020, with 298 families participating, making the event's transition to virtual a success. Broward.org/Library - Library Web Presence Award: Broward.org/Library is Broward County Library's website, a busy, 24/7 online library that pivoted seamlessly during the COVID-19 crisis from being the library's online branch to being the library's only branch, providing a complete range of services, including a YouTube channel filled with online programs for all ages.

Broward.org/Library is Broward County Library's website, a busy, 24/7 online library that pivoted seamlessly during the COVID-19 crisis from being the library's online branch to being the library's only branch, providing a complete range of services, including a YouTube channel filled with online programs for all ages. Built in Broward - Libraries Mean Business Award: The Built in Broward program series is a grant-funded initiative designed to break down barriers to affordable technical training and business development for underrepresented minorities including online workshops, quarterly business/entrepreneur incubators and participation by BCL staff in a national cohort for library-led entrepreneurship initiatives.

The Built in program series is a grant-funded initiative designed to break down barriers to affordable technical training and business development for underrepresented minorities including online workshops, quarterly business/entrepreneur incubators and participation by BCL staff in a national cohort for library-led entrepreneurship initiatives. Catherine McElrath - Paraprofessional of the Year Award: Catherine McElrath is Broward County Library's behind-the-scenes marketing maven. As part of the Library's Marketing team, she creates promotional materials including newsletters, magazines and press releases that turn heads and fill seats. As the library's recognition-wrangler, she's one of the reasons for the library's "award-winning" adjective, producing award nominations that have garnered BCL numerous honors.

About Broward County Libraries

Broward County Libraries Division, named 2020 and 2015 Library of the Year by the Florida Library Association, was founded in 1974 and is the largest library system in Florida by square footage and one of the busiest, with more than 7.5 million walk-in customers visiting its 38 locations annually. Broward County Libraries Division provides convenient access to a full range of innovative and cost-effective services that satisfy the changing needs of the people of Broward County for information, education and recreation. Visit our website, Broward.org/Library, or follow Libraries on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Broward County Libraries

Related Links

https://www.broward.org/library


Canon also led the Continuous Feed Inkjet Market Share category with 35 percent of installations largely due to the success of the respected ColorStream series which continues to be the most installed inkjet press worldwide. Now in its third generation, the demand for the ColorStream platform continues to be extremely positive, and many customers have commented on its high reliability, productivity, and enhanced outputall of which have been determining qualities in its 1,500 worldwide installations.

In 2020, Canon further built on its proven reputation in the web-fed market with the launch of the high-speed ProStream 1800 inkjet web press, with early customers including DS Graphics|Universal Wilde and MWI Direct. With maximum speeds of 133m/min (ProStream 1800), this press has been recognized for reaching the highest resolution and print quality of any digital printing press at these speeds, enabling customers to achieve maximum performance with offset like quality.

"At Canon, we are focused on investing in our production inkjet product portfolio to offer our customers solutions that help them to improve efficiencies, expand their application possibilities, meet customer demands, and grow their business," said Francis A. McMahon, executive vice president, Production Print Solutions, Canon Solutions America, Inc. "With that in mind, we are confident that our technology, combined with premium service and support, sets us apart from our competition and boosts customer confidence when investing in Canon's inkjet presses. We take great pride that we have once again been acknowledged as the market leader for total production inkjet."

Beyond being a leader in production inkjet technology, in September 2020 Canon Solutions America also successfully executed the first ever virtual thINK Ahead event along with the thINK organization. Proving its success, thINK reported the event reached a record number of attendees across the world, more than doubling the number of Canon Solutions America inkjet customers from the prior year. The virtual event enabled attendees to engage in almost 50 educational breakout sessions, participate in a live Q&A, and have discussions with partners in the Partner Pavilion, as well as one-to-one exclusive conversations with Canon Solutions America executives, thINK Board members, industry experts, and other event attendees using chat and video features.

"I am incredibly proud of the thINK Board for creating a one-of-a-kind experience for Canon Solutions America inkjet customers and partners in 2020. We will all remember the thINK Ahead 2020 virtual event for a variety of reasons, but most of all for the reminder that we all need to stay connected," said McMahon. "We look forward to returning to an in-person thINK event for Canon Solutions America inkjet customers in 2021 with more sessions, which will allow for a smaller number of participants and social distancing. There will also be a virtual component to reach even more customers."

Further building on its commitment to putting its customers first and providing opportunities for them to connect and learn in ways like thINK Ahead, Canon Solutions America stands by its exceptional service offerings by consistently looking for ways to maximize customer productivity and efficiency. The Canon Service Team overcame many obstacles in 2020, including navigating state guidelines, maintaining safety protocols and social distancing, increasing remote machine diagnostics, and more to deliver the unwavering commitment to keeping customers' presses running smoothly and helping customers maximize their investments.

For further insight on Canon Solutions America's product and service offerings, please visit www.csa.canon.com.

About Canon Solutions America, Inc.

Canon Solutions America, Inc. provides industry leading enterprise, production, and large format printing solutions, supported by exceptional professional service offerings. Canon Solutions America, Inc. helps companies of all sizes discover ways to improve sustainability, increase efficiency, and control costs in conjunction with high volume, continuous feed, digital and traditional printing, and document management solutions. A wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., Canon Solutions America, Inc. is headquartered in Melville, NY and has sales and service locations across the U.S. For more information on Canon Solutions America, please visit csa.canon.com .

Canon Solutions America, Inc. Website:

csa.canon.com

For sales info/customer support:

1-844-443-INFO (4636)

Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.



 2021 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Canon Solutions America, Inc.
ROSTOCK, Germany, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDA Cruises, a part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL;NYSE: CUK), today announced that Europe's largest shore power plant was officially inaugurated with one of its ships, AIDAsol, in the presence of Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and AIDA Cruises President Felix Eichhorn during the 12th German National Maritime Conference.

Establishing a shore power supply for cruise ships in Rostock-Warnemunde, Germany, is the result of a joint agreement between AIDA Cruises, the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock and Rostock Port signed in September 2018.

"With our green cruising strategy, we have been investing in a sustainable cruise market for many years," said AIDA's Eichhorn. "The shore power plant in Rostock-Warnemunde is another important step after the facility in Hamburg on our way to an emission-neutral cruise that we want to achieve with our fleet. I would like to thank the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and all partners involved for the good and trusting cooperation. Together, we are sending out an important signal, not just in Germany, but throughout Europe."

The shore power plant, which was completed in summer 2020, is currently the largest in Europe. With an output of up to 20 megavolt amperes (MVA), two cruise ships can be supplied with electricity at the same time in Warnemunde at berths P7 and P8. In regular passenger operation AIDAsol needs up to 4.5 megawatts per hour (MWh) of electricity.

The use of shore power to supply ships with energy is a decisive step for AIDA Cruises to reduce local emissions to zero during berthing over time, as a cruise ship typically stays in port around 40% of its operating time.

As early as 2004, when the order for the construction of AIDAdiva was placed, and for all other ships put into service the following years, the company considered the use of shore power as an option for environmentally friendly ship operation.

Since 2017, AIDA Cruises has been using Europe's first shore power plant in Hamburg-Altona with AIDAsol in regular operation. Currently, 10 ships in the AIDA fleet can use shore power where available or are technically prepared for it. The aim is to convert all ships built from 2000 onwards accordingly.

With AIDA Cruises starting a cruise season from Kiel, Germany, on May 22, AIDAsol will also be the first cruise ship to complete the final tests on the newly built shore power plant there. Its construction is the result of a joint initiative by the state government of Schleswig-Holstein, the city and the port of Kiel and AIDA Cruises. AIDAsol is scheduled to arrive in Kiel on the afternoon of May 13.

As part of its green cruising strategy, AIDA Cruises has been investing in a sustainable cruise operation for many years. Further practical steps on the way to the zero emission ship of the future are already in preparation. This year, AIDAnova will receive the first fuel cell to be used on an ocean-going cruise ship. In 2022, the largest battery storage system to date in cruise shipping will go into operation on board an AIDA ship. In addition, the company is already addressing the question of how regenerative fuels can be used on board cruise ships in the future.

Since 2007, AIDA Cruises has been publishing all current information, facts, data and figures on its commitment to sustainability in its annual AIDA Cares sustainability report at www.aida.de/aidacares.

SOURCE AIDA Cruises
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced today public disciplinary actions against the following individuals, effective immediately or on the date noted in each case. Public disciplinary actions taken by CFP Board, in order of increasing severity, include Public Censures, Suspensions and Permanent Revocations. This release contains information about recent disciplinary actions relating to 19 current or former CFP professionals. Of these actions, there are 11 Public Censures, three Suspensions, and five Revocations.

The basis for each decision also may be found on CFP Board's website at https://www.cfp.net/verify-a-cfp-professional. At that website, the public may check on any individual's CFP Board disciplinary history and CFP certification status. The website also provides links to other sources of information about CFP professionals that may be more recent or that may contain information that has not led to CFP Board discipline and does not appear on CFP Board's website. That information may include customer disputes, disciplinary actions taken by a regulator or employer, certain criminal matters, and certain financial matters (such as bankruptcy proceedings and unpaid judgments or liens). For those who are subject to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight, the website includes links to FINRA's BrokerCheck and the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure databases.

CFP Board's enforcement process is a critical consumer protection. As part of their certification, CFP professionals agree to abide by CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (Code and Standards), or its predecessor, the Standards of Professional Conduct (Standards), which included the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Rules of Conduct and Financial Planning Practice Standards. CFP Board's Procedural Rules set forth the process for investigating matters and imposing discipline where violations have been found.

CFP Board enforces its ethical standards by investigating alleged violations and, where there is probable cause to believe there are grounds for sanction, presenting a Complaint containing the alleged violations to CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission). If the Commission determines there are grounds for sanction, then it may impose a sanction ranging from a Private Censure or Public Censure to the Suspension or Revocation of the right to use the CFP marks.

The Commission meets at least six times a year to provide a fair, unbiased review of any matter in which CFP Board has alleged that a CFP professional has violated the Code and Standards, or its predecessor Standards. The Commission functions in accordance with the Procedural Rules and reviews all matters on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the details specific to an individual case.

If a Respondent is in default due to a failure to (a) acknowledge receipt of a Notice of Investigation sent by CFP Board Counsel, (b) file an Answer to a Complaint, (c) provide proof of compliance after an Interim Suspension Order or written evidence after a Public Censure, Temporary Bar, or Permanent Bar, or a statement and written evidence after a Suspension, or (d) pay fees assessed by CFP Board, then Respondent will be in default and, based upon CFP Board Counsel's determination of the seriousness, scope, and harmfulness of the allegations, CFP Board Counsel must deliver to Respondent an Administrative Order of Suspension, Administrative Order of Temporary Bar, Administrative Order of Revocation, or an Administrative Order of Permanent Bar.

While CFP Board has attempted to capture the details relevant to each decision, the summary nature of these releases may omit certain details affecting the decision. Accordingly, the decisions and/or rationale described in the releases may not apply to other cases reviewed by the Commission or reflect the Commission's future interpretation or application of the Code and Standards, or the predecessor Standards.

STATE NAME LOCATION DISCIPLINE California Charles D. Etzweiler, CFP San Diego Public Censure California Grant Ter-Avanesyan, CFP Dublin Public Censure Colorado Jeffrey A. Grimes, CFP Colorado Springs Public Censure Florida James A. Colley, CFP Lake Placid Public Censure Minnesota Michael J. Corbett, CFP Osseo Public Censure New York David Beston, CFP New York Public Censure North Carolina Peyton K. Gravely, Jr., CFP Mount Airy Public Censure Virginia Charles B. Atwill, CFP Richmond Public Censure Vermont Mark C. Giometti, CFP Warren Public Censure Texas Jonathan M. Hurley, CFP Fort Worth Public Censure Texas Harold G. Minton, CFP Houston Public Censure California Michael S. Behner San Diego Administrative Suspension District of Columbia Marie Isabel Laurion Washington Administrative Suspension Pennsylvania Robert E. Kauffman Lancaster Administrative Suspension California Marco Rivera Windsor Administrative Revocation Georgia David Harrison Miller Atlanta Administrative Revocation Georgia F. Stephen Lambert Decatur Administrative Revocation Nevada Wesley W. Griffin Sparks Administrative Revocation Tennessee Bryant Caveness Kingsport Administrative Revocation

PUBLIC CENSURE

CALIFORNIA

Charles D. Etzweiler, CFP (San Diego, California): In January 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Etzweiler entered into a Consent Order pursuant to which the Commission issued to Mr. Etzweiler a Public Censure. The Commission issued its order after determining that Mr. Etzweiler failed to pay federal taxes each year for five consecutive years, generating a history of federal tax liens amounting to more than $263,000. In the Consent Order, Mr. Etzweiler consented to findings that he failed to timely pay his federal tax obligations for several years. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Etzweiler consented to findings that his conduct violated Rule 6.5 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Etzweiler a Public Censure.

Grant Ter-Avanesyan, CFP (Dublin, California): In February 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Ter-Avanesyan entered into a Consent Order pursuant to which Mr. Ter-Avanesyan agreed that CFP Board would issue a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Ter-Avanesyan consented to findings that he failed to perform his professional services with dedication to the lawful objectives of his firm by obtaining and retaining reimbursement for a 2012 computer purchase to which he was not entitled under the firm's Computer Equipment Purchase Assistance Program. These actions resulted in his resignation of employment in January 2018. Mr. Ter-Avanesyan also consented to a finding that, in an August 2019 Cautionary Action Letter, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) found that his conduct with respect to the computer reimbursement violated FINRA Rule 2010, which states that "every membershall observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade." As a result, in the Consent Order, Mr. Ter-Avanesyan consented to findings that his conduct violated Rules 5.1 and 6.5 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Ter-Avanesyan a Public Censure.

COLORADO

Jeffrey A. Grimes, CFP (Colorado Springs, Colorado): In January 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which Mr. Grimes received a Public Censure and Thirty (30) hours of remedial education in the principal topic areas of Ethics and/or Professional Conduct and Regulation. The Commission issued its order after determining that Mr. Grimes (1) dropped two undergraduate courses, prior to completion, and received reimbursement from the university directly to him when he had used his employer's education benefits to pay for the courses; (2) submitted altered transcripts with changed dates to his employer; and (3) did not provide his employer with documentation of the courses being dropped or that funds were deposited back into his personal account. The Commission determined that Mr. Grimes' conduct violated Rules 5.1, 6.2, and 6.5 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Grimes a Public Censure and Thirty (30) hours of remedial education in the principal topic areas of Ethics and/or Professional Conduct and Regulation.

FLORIDA

James A. Colley, CFP (Lake Placid, Florida): In February 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Colley entered into a Consent Order in which Mr. Colley agreed that CFP Board would issue a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Colley consented to findings that, in April 2018, he entered into a Consent Order with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation on behalf of himself and his company, James A. Colley, Inc., of which he is the sole owner. The 2018 Florida Consent Order found that Mr. Colley and his firm: (1) failed to disclose on the firm's Form ADV for three years a 2012 Order against his firm for failure to file financial statements; (2) failed to properly disclose billing practices to clients; (3) made false and misleading statements regarding the firm's economic connection to an outside company; (4) failed to concurrently send invoices to clients; (5) maintained custody of client funds and securities; (6) failed to enter into written advisory agreements with more than one client; (7) failed to disclose whether written advisory agreements granted discretionary power to the advisor; and (8) directly or indirectly published, circulated, or distributed a false or misleading advertisement. As part of the 2018 Florida Consent Order, Mr. Colley and his firm agreed to cease and desist from the conduct at issue and paid a $4,000.00 fine. Further, Mr. Colley failed to disclose the Consent Order to CFP Board within 30 days as then-required by Article 13.2 of the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Mr. Colley consented to findings that this conduct violated Rules 2.1, 4.3, and 6.2 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Colley a Public Censure.

MINNESOTA

Michael J. Corbett, CFP (Osseo, Minnesota): In March 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Corbett entered into a Consent Order pursuant to which Mr. Corbett received a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Corbett consented to findings that he was terminated from his firm in 2019 for failing to follow the required signature guarantee protocol, which two regulators inquired about. Mr. Corbett admitted to applying a signature guarantee stamp to a client's annuity distribution form when the client was not present. Under the signature guarantee stamp policy, Mr. Corbett could only apply the signature guarantee stamp when he was physically present at the time the client signed the document. As a result of Mr. Corbett's misuse of the signature guarantee stamp, the carrier rejected the annuity distribution form and the client was unable to surrender the annuity prior to the annuity owner's death, when the value of the annuity was higher than after the annuity owner's death. Mr. Corbett also consented to a finding that he made a misleading statement to CFP Board when he failed to disclose his termination or regulatory investigations in response to questions on his Ethics Declaration form. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Corbett also consented to findings that his conduct violated Rules 4.4, 5.1, and 6.2 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Corbett a Public Censure.

NEW YORK

David Beston, CFP (New York, New York): In March 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Beston entered into a Consent Order pursuant to which Mr. Beston received a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Beston consented to CFP Board's findings that he entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), pursuant to which FINRA imposed a five-month suspension and a $5,000 fine and required Mr. Beston to disgorge $7,500. FINRA imposed this discipline after determining that Mr. Beston took non-public, personal information of clients (including names, account values, and some customers' account numbers) from his firm and sold some of that information to another registered representative at another FINRA member firm. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Beston consented to CFP Board's findings that his conduct violated Standard E.2. of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Beston a Public Censure.

NORTH CAROLINA

Peyton K. Gravely, Jr., CFP (Mount Airy, North Carolina): In February 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Gravely entered into a Consent Order in which Mr. Gravely agreed that CFP Board would issue a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Gravely consented to findings that he was terminated from his firm in 2019 for discretionary trading without written authorization. Mr. Gravely also consented to a finding that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) found in a 2019 Cautionary Action Letter (CAL) that his conduct with respect to discretionary accounts violated NASD Rule 2510(b), which states that no member or registered representative shall exercise any discretionary power in a customer's account unless such customer has given prior written authorization to a stated individual or individuals and the account has been accepted by the member, as evidence in writing by the member or partner, officer or manager, duly designated by the member, in accordance with Rule 3010. Mr. Gravely also consented to a finding that he misled CFP Board by failing to disclose his termination or FINRA's investigation on his Ethics Disclosure forms. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Gravely also consented to findings that his conduct violated Rules 4.3, 5.1, and 6.2 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Gravely a Public Censure.

VIRGINIA

Charles B. Atwill, CFP (Richmond, Virginia): In March 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Atwill entered into a Consent Order in which Mr. Atwill agreed that CFP Board would issue a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Atwill consented to CFP Board's findings that in January 2020, he entered into a Settlement Order with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on behalf of himself and his company, AFCG, LLC, of which he is the managing member. The Settlement Order with SCC contained findings that Mr. Atwill and his firm: (1) violated state law by conducting business in the State of Virginia for 11 months after his and his company's registrations expired; and (2) submitted a false and misleading affidavit to the SCC during its investigation into Mr. Atwill's expired registration. As part of the SCC Settlement Order, Mr. Atwill and his firm agreed to refrain from conducting business without registration in the future and paid $3,000 in fines. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Atwill consented to CFP Board's findings that Mr. Atwill's conduct violated Rules 4.3 and 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Atwill a Public Censure.

VERMONT

Mark C. Giometti, CFP (Warren, Vermont): In March 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Giometti entered into a Consent Order in which Mr. Giometti agreed that CFP Board would issue a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Giometti consented to CFP Board's findings that he was professionally disciplined by the State of Massachusetts for violating Section 201(c) of the Massachusetts General Laws by engaging in unregistered investment advisory activity in the State from 2008 to 2019. Mr. Giometti also consented to CFP Board's finding that he failed to timely disclose the Final Order to CFP Board within 30 days of entry. Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Giometti also consented to CFP Board's findings that his conduct violated Rules 4.3, and 6.2 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Giometti a Public Censure.

TEXAS

Jonathan M. Hurley, CFP (Fort Worth, Texas): In December 2020, CFP Board issued an order in which Mr. Hurley received a Public Censure. This discipline followed an appeal of an August 2020 decision by the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission). The Code and Standards Enforcement Committee of CFP Board (Enforcement Committee, formerly known as the Appeals Committee) affirmed the Commission's findings that Mr. Hurley obtained reimbursement for a 2016 computer purchase to which he was not entitled pursuant to his firm's Computer Equipment Purchase Assistance Program, and that he was permitted to resign from his firm in April 2018 for this conduct. The Enforcement Committee affirmed the Commission's determination that Mr. Hurley's conduct violated Rules 4.3, 5.1, and 6.5 of the Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(a) of the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. CFP Board issued to Mr. Hurley a Public Censure.

Harold G. Minton, CFP (Houston, Texas): In January 2021, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Minton entered into a Consent Order pursuant to which Mr. Minton received a Public Censure. In the Consent Order, Mr. Minton consented to findings that he failed to perform his professional services with dedication to the lawful objectives of his firm by obtaining and retaining reimbursement for a 2015 computer purchase to which he was not entitled pursuant to the firm's Computer Equipment Purchase Assistance Program, resulting in his resignation from employment in May 2018. Mr. Minton also consented to a finding that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) found in an August 2019 Cautionary Action Letter that Mr. Minton's conduct with respect to the computer reimbursement violated FINRA Rule 2010, which states that "every membershall observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade." Pursuant to the Consent Order, Mr. Minton consented to findings that his conduct violated Rules 5.1 and 6.5 of the Rules of Conduct, providing grounds for the sanction imposed. Accordingly, the Commission issued to Mr. Minton a Public Censure.

SUSPENSION

CALIFORNIA

Michael S. Behner (San Diego, California): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order suspending Mr. Behner's right to use the CFP certification marks for one year and one day. This discipline followed Mr. Behner's failure to respond to CFP Board's Notice of Investigation ("NOI") and Second NOI within the required timeframe. CFP Board sought to investigate allegations that Mr. Behner failed to timely pay his federal and state taxes, in multiple years, resulting in the Internal Revenue Service and the state of California filing tax liens against him. Mr. Behner failed to acknowledge receipt of an NOI, as required by Article 1.1 of the Procedural Rules. Pursuant to Article 4.1 of the Procedural Rules, Mr. Behner was in default. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Behner's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Suspension, suspending Mr. Behner's certification for one year and one day. Mr. Behner's suspension was effective as of February 4, 2021.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Marie Isabel Laurion (Washington, DC): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order suspending Ms. Laurion's right to use the CFP certification marks for one year and one day. This discipline followed Ms. Laurion's failure to respond to or otherwise acknowledge CFP Board's Notice of Investigation ("NOI") and Second NOI within the required timeframe. CFP Board sought to investigate allegations that Ms. Laurion failed to timely pay her federal taxes, in multiple years, resulting in the Internal Revenue Service filing tax liens against her. Ms. Laurion failed to acknowledge receipt of an NOI, as required by Article 1.1 of the Procedural Rules. Pursuant to Article 4.1 of the Procedural Rules, Ms. Laurion was in default. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Ms. Laurion's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Suspension, suspending Ms. Laurion's certification for one year and one day. Ms. Laurion's suspension was effective as of February 4, 2021.

PENNSYLVANIA

Robert E. Kauffman (Lancaster, PA): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order suspending Mr. Kauffman's right to use the CFP certification marks. This discipline followed Mr. Kauffman's failure to acknowledge and respond to the Notice of Investigation (NOI) CFP Board sent him on May 19, 2020. The NOI requested that Mr. Kauffman provide information on a civil suit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Mr. Kauffman and his company on May 13, 2020, for breach of fiduciary duty. On June 18, 2020, CFP Board issued a second NOI. Mr. Kauffman also failed to respond to that NOI. According to Article 4.1 of CFP Board's Procedural Rules, Mr. Kauffman is in default for his failure to acknowledge and provide an answer to the NOIs. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Kauffman's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Suspension, suspending Mr. Kauffman's certification for one year and one day. Mr. Kauffman's suspension was effective as of February 4, 2021.

PERMANENT REVOCATION

CALIFORNIA

Marco Rivera (Windsor, California): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order permanently revoking Mr. Rivera's rights to use the CFP certification marks. This sanction followed Mr. Rivera's failure to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint alleging that Mr. Rivera violated CFP Board's Terms and Conditions when he refused to respond to CFP Board's requests for information and Notice of Failure to Cooperate with an investigation regarding two federal tax liens. Mr. Rivera declined to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint within 30 calendar days as required by Article 3.2 of the Procedural Rules. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Rivera's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Mr. Rivera's revocation was effective as of February 8, 2021.

GEORGIA

David Harrison Miller (Atlanta, Georgia): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order permanently revoking Mr. Miller's right to use the CFP certification marks. This sanction followed Mr. Miller's failure to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint. CFP Board's Complaint alleged that Mr. Miller failed to cooperate with CFP Board's investigation into a customer complaint and a related termination. CFP Board's Complaint alleged that Mr. Miller's conduct violated Rule 6.1 of the Rules of Conduct. Mr. Miller declined to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint within 30 calendar days of the date of service, as required by Article 3.2 of the Procedural Rules. Pursuant to Article 4.1.a. of the Procedural Rules, Mr. Miller has been deemed in default. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Miller's conduct CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Mr. Miller's administrative revocation was effective as of February 6, 2021.

F. Stephen Lambert (Decatur, Georgia): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order permanently revoking Mr. Lambert's rights to use the CFP certification marks. This sanction followed Mr. Lambert's failure to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint alleging that Mr. Lambert violated CFP Board's Terms and Conditions when he refused to respond to CFP Board's requests for information and Notice of Failure to Cooperate. CFP Board's requests for information pertained liens filed against Mr. Lambert by the Georgia Department of Labor from 2016 to 2019. Mr. Lambert declined to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint within 30 calendar days as required by Article 3.2 of the Procedural Rules. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Lambert's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Mr. Lambert's revocation was effective as of February 8, 2021.

NEVADA

Wesley W. Griffin (Sparks, Nevada): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order permanently revoking Mr. Griffin's rights to use the CFP certification marks. This sanction followed Mr. Griffin's failure to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint alleging that Mr. Griffin violated CFP Board's Terms and Conditions when he refused to respond to CFP Board's requests for information and Notice of Failure to Cooperate. CFP Board's requests for information pertained to outstanding federal tax liens imposed against Mr. Griffin in 2010 and 2012. Mr. Griffin declined to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint within 30 calendar days as required by Article 3.2 of the Procedural Rules. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Griffin's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Mr. Griffin's revocation was effective as of February 8, 2021.

TENNESSEE

Bryant Caveness (Kingsport, Tennessee): In January 2021, CFP Board issued an administrative order permanently revoking Mr. Caveness's right to use the CFP certification marks. This sanction followed Mr. Caveness's failure to provide proof of compliance with an automatic interim suspension imposed by CFP Board after it received evidence that Mr. Caveness was permanently barred from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) in all capacities on July 22, 2020. FINRA's bar was based on its findings that Mr. Caveness: (1) failed to respond to FINRA's June 25, 2020 request for the production of information and documents pursuant to FINRA Rule 8210 relating to FINRA's investigation of Respondent's potential receipt of checks from senior customers; and (2) acknowledged, on July 9, 2020, that he received FINRA's request and would not produce the information or documents requested at any time. FINRA determined that Mr. Caveness's failure to respond to FINRA's request warranted a permanent bar under FINRA Rule 8210 and 2010. In accordance with Article 4.2 of the Procedural Rules, based on CFP Board's determination of the seriousness, scope and harmfulness of Mr. Caveness's conduct, CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Mr. Caveness's revocation was effective as of February 6, 2021.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification  one of the most respected certifications in financial services  so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by firms and consumer groups as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by more than 88,000 people in the United States.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cfp.net


BEIJING, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk", or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, today announced that it will report its first quarter 2021 unaudited financial results on Monday, May 17, 2021, before the open of U.S. markets.

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on May 17, 2021 (8:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time on May 17, 2021).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States Toll: +1-866-264-5888 International: +1-412-317-5226 Mainland China Toll: 400-120-1203 Hong Kong Toll: 800-905-945 Hong Kong-Local Toll: +852-3018-4992

Participants should dial-in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "China Online Education Group."

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.51talk.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until May 24, 2021, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States Toll: +1-877-344-7529 International Toll: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 10156395

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.

For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

China Online Education Group

Investor Relations

+86 (10) 8342-6262

[email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

+86 (10) 6508-0677

+1-212-481-2050

[email protected]

SOURCE China Online Education Group
DENVER, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of the Clough Global Dividend and Income Fund ("GLV" or the "Fund") has authorized and set the terms for a transferable rights offering ("the Offering").

Shareholders of record as of May 25, 2021 ("Record Date") will receive one transferable right for every share held. For every three rights, rights holders can subscribe for one new share of common stock at the subscription price.

Subscription price will be calculated as the higher of 95% of market price or 85% of net asset value ("NAV") on expiration date. Market price per common share will be determined based on the average of the last reported sales prices of a common share on the NYSE American for the five trading days preceding the Expiration Date (not including sales price on the Expiration Date). Expiration Date is expected to be June 22nd, 2021.

Record date shareholders who fully subscribe to the primary subscription are eligible for an oversubscription privilege, subject to pro rata allotment. Rights acquired in the secondary market are not eligible for oversubscription privileges.

Record date shareholders who exercise their Rights will not be entitled to distributions payable during May or June 2021 on new shares issued in connection with the Rights Offering.

The Fund anticipates that the offering will commence on or about May 27th, 2021 and expire on or about June 22nd, 2021, unless extended by the Board.

The Rights are expected to trade on the NYSE American beginning on May 28th, 2021. Shareholders who do not wish to participate in the Offering will have the ability to sell their rights.

The rights offering will be made pursuant to the Fund's currently effective shelf registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A final prospectus supplement will be filed with the SEC, but has not been filed as of the date of this release. The Company expects to mail subscription certificates evidencing the subscription rights and a copy of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus for the rights offering shortly following the Record Date. These securities described in this release may not be sold nor may offers to purchase be accepted prior to the time the prospectus supplement is filed with the SEC.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy.

An investor should consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. To obtain an annual report, semi-annual report or prospectus which contains this and other information visit www.cloughglobal.com or call 1-877-256-8445. Read them carefully before investing.

The Clough Global Dividend and Income Fund

The Fund is a closed-end fund with an investment objective of providing a high level of total return and current income. The Fund seeks to pursue this objective by applying a fundamental research-driven investment process and will invest in equity and equity-related securities as well as fixed income securities, including both corporate and sovereign debt, in both U.S. and non-U.S. markets. The Fund's portfolio managers are Chuck Clough and Rob Zdunczyk. As of April 30th, 2021 the Fund had approximately $165 million in total assets. More information, including the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan, can be found at www.cloughglobal.com or call 877-256-8445.

Clough Capital Partners L.P.

Clough Capital, a Boston-based investment advisory firm which manages approximately $2.2 billion in assets as of April 30th, 2021, serves as investment adviser to the Fund.

The Clough Global Dividend and Income Fund is a closed-end fund and closed-end funds do not continuously issue shares for sale as open-end mutual funds do. Since the initial public offering, the Fund now trades in the secondary market. Investors wishing to buy or sell shares need to place orders through an intermediary or broker. The share price of a closed-end fund is based on the market's value.

Forward-looking statements are based on information that is available on the date hereof, and neither the fund manager nor any other person affiliated with the fund manager has any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could affect actual results to differ from these statements include, among other factors, material, negative changes to the asset class and the actual composition of the portfolio.

ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc., FINRA Member Firm.

Clough Global Dividend and Income Fund (NYSE MKT: GLV)

1290 Broadway, Suite 1000

Denver, CO 80203

Contact: Fund Services Group at 877-256-8445

SOURCE Clough Global Dividend and Income Fund
DENVER, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of the Clough Global Opportunities Fund ("GLO" or the "Fund") has authorized and set the terms for a transferable rights offering ("the Offering").

Shareholders of record as of May 25, 2021 ("Record Date") will receive one transferable right for every share held. For every three rights, rights holders can subscribe for one new share of common stock at the subscription price.

Subscription price will be calculated as the higher of 95% of market price or 85% of net asset value ("NAV") on expiration date. Market price per common share will be determined based on the average of the last reported sales prices of a common share on the NYSE American for the five trading days preceding the Expiration Date (not including sales price on the Expiration Date). Expiration Date is expected to be June 22nd, 2021.

Record date shareholders who fully subscribe to the primary subscription are eligible for an oversubscription privilege, subject to pro rata allotment. Rights acquired in the secondary market are not eligible for oversubscription privileges.

Record date shareholders who exercise their Rights will not be entitled to distributions payable during May or June 2021 on new shares issued in connection with the Rights Offering.

The Fund anticipates that the offering will commence on or about May 27th, 2021 and expire on or about June 22nd, 2021, unless extended by the Board.

The Rights are expected to trade on the NYSE American beginning on May 28th, 2021. Shareholders who do not wish to participate in the Offering will have the ability to sell their rights.

The rights offering will be made pursuant to the Fund's currently effective shelf registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A final prospectus supplement will be filed with the SEC, but has not been filed as of the date of this release. The Company expects to mail subscription certificates evidencing the subscription rights and a copy of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus for the rights offering shortly following the Record Date. These securities described in this release may not be sold nor may offers to purchase be accepted prior to the time the prospectus supplement is filed with the SEC.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy.

An investor should consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. To obtain an annual report, semi-annual report or prospectus which contains this and other information visit www.cloughglobal.com or call 1-877-256-8445. Read them carefully before investing.

The Clough Global Opportunities Fund

The Fund is a closed-end fund with an investment objective of providing a high level of total return. The Fund seeks to achieve this objective by applying a fundamental research-driven investment process and will invest in equity and equity-related securities as well as fixed income securities, including both corporate and sovereign debt. Utilizing Clough Capital's global research capabilities, the Fund will invest in both U.S. and non-U.S. markets. The Fund's portfolio managers are Chuck Clough and Rob Zdunczyk. As of April 30th, 2021 the Fund had approximately $715 million in total assets. More information, including the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan, can be found at www.cloughglobal.com or call 877-256-8445.

Clough Capital Partners L.P.

Clough Capital, a Boston-based investment advisory firm which manages approximately $2.2 billion in assets as of April 30th, 2021, serves as investment adviser to the Fund.

The Clough Global Opportunities Fund is a closed-end fund and closed-end funds do not continuously issue shares for sale as open-end mutual funds do. Since the initial public offering, the Fund now trades in the secondary market. Investors wishing to buy or sell shares need to place orders through an intermediary or broker. The share price of a closed-end fund is based on the market's value.

Forward-looking statements are based on information that is available on the date hereof, and neither the fund manager nor any other person affiliated with the fund manager has any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could affect actual results to differ from these statements include, among other factors, material, negative changes to the asset class and the actual composition of the portfolio.

ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc., FINRA Member Firm.

Clough Global Opportunities Fund (NYSE MKT: GLO)

1290 Broadway, Suite 1000

Denver, CO 80203

Contact: Fund Services Group at 877-256-8445

SOURCE Clough Global Opportunities Fund
The monumental gift came from 95-year-old Cecil F. Lockhart of Welch, W.Va., reaffirming CORE's internal mantra and commitment to honor "every donor, every time." The mantra captures the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-winning organization's commitment to Saving and Healing as many lives as possible within its service area spanning western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, New York.

"CORE is incredibly proud to have been able to make this historic organ donation possible," said Susan Stuart, CORE president & CEO. "This landmark in the field of transplantation is just another example of CORE's pioneering legacy and commitment to innovation, which, over the last 40 years, has given 6,000 people in the United States the opportunity to save more than 15,000 others as organ donors."

Cecil's family said he was moved to become an organ donor following the death of his son, Stanley, in 2010, after which Stanley healed the lives of 75 people through tissue donation and restored sight to two others through cornea donation. Cecil is survived by Helen Cline Lockhart, his "best girl" and loving wife of 75 years, his daughter, Sharon White, and his son, Brian Lockhart, as well as three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

"He was a generous person when he was alive, and we are filled with pride and hope knowing that, even after a long, happy life, he is able to continue that legacy of generosity," Cecil's daughter, Sharon White, said. "When my brother was a donor after he passed away a few years ago, it helped my dad to heal. And today, knowing his life is continuing through others really is helping us through our grief too."

Cecil was born in Short Pole, W.Va. in 1926, the sixth of seven children. He was a proud coal miner working the mines in West Virginia for more than 50 years. Cecil served as a corporal in the United States Army during World War II.

According to Bill White, Cecil's son-in-law, Cecil was very proud to be a veteran: "Just as he fought for our country's freedom 75 years ago in World War II, he would be proud to know that he's fighting for someone else today, as an organ donor." Bill said that at Cecil's funeral, which included full military honors, the family asked everyone to register as an organ donor to honor Cecil's memory.

More than 30% of all deceased organ donors in the United States since 1988 have been age 50 or older, according to UNOS data. And it's a trend that's rising. So far in 2021, 39% of all U.S. deceased organ donors have been age 50 or older. That's up more than 8% from just 20 years ago. Seven percent of deceased organ donors since 1988 have been age 65 or older. In the last 20 years, 17 people over age 90 have died and become organ donors in the United States, with the first instance occurring in 2001.

The record-breaking donation in West Virginia remarkably took place during Older Americans Month, which is observed in the United States every May to acknowledge the contributions of past and current older persons to the country. UNOS Chief Medical Officer David Klassen said that Cecil's contribution is indeed significant  and one that each and every American has the power to achieve as well by registering as a donor.

"Too often, people mistakenly believe there is an age limit associated with being an organ donor," said Klassen. "The truth is, no one is ever too old or too young to give the gift of life. Every potential donor is evaluated on a case-by-case basis at the time of their death to determine which organs and tissue are suitable for donation. Cecil's generous and historic gift is a perfect example of that."

According to his family, "Cecil was kind and loving. He greeted everyone with a huge smile, a kind word and a big hug. He will be missed." They say that in addition to being an adoring Paw-Paw to his great grandchildren, he was an animal lover and leaves behind many "special friends" including four birds, Fred, Caesar, Heckle and Jekyll; two dogs, Cephas and Molly; and a cat, Casper.

In addition to this latest record broken under CORE, the organization also achieved a record-breaking year for organ donation in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia in 2020. Still, the need for donors remains critical. Every 10 minutes, someone is added to the national transplant waiting list. More than 107,000 people are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the United States, with nearly 2,500 waiting in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia alone. Yet, only half of Pennsylvanians and a third of West Virginians are registered as organ donors.

One person can save the lives of eight by donating organs and heal the lives of 75 through tissue donation. Anyone can sign up to be a donor, regardless of age or medical history. Register as an organ, tissue and cornea donor today at registerme.org/core.

About CORE:

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 57 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States, serving more than five million people in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, New York. CORE coordinates the recovery and matching of organs, tissues and corneas for transplant within our service region and works tirelessly to create a culture of donation within the hospitals and communities we serve. CORE's mission is to Save and Heal lives through donation, ultimately ending the deaths of those on the transplant waiting list, while maintaining integrity for the donation process, dignity for the donors, and compassion for their families. CORE is a winner of the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a presidential-level award that recognizes non-profits for their innovation and excellence. For more information, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7.

CONTACT:

Colleen Sullivan

Center for Organ Recovery & Education

[email protected]

412-963-3550

SOURCE Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE)

Related Links

http://www.core.org


Download Free Sample Pages

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation of the pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPIs to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

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Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for Data Center Services market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Data Center Services pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

Insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants have resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 1.00%-3.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Promotional Products TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

Some of the top data center services suppliers listed in this report:

This data center services procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

Digital Realty Inc.

Equinix Inc.

Capgemini SE

Fujitsu Ltd.

Nokia Corp.

Related Report on Information Technology Include:

To access the definite purchasing guide on the data center services that answers all your key questions on price trends and analysis:

Am I paying/getting the right prices? Is my Data Center Services TCO (total cost of ownership) favorable?

How is the price forecast expected to change? What is driving the current and future price changes?

Which pricing models offer the most rewarding opportunities?

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Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge

Related Links

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us


DENVER, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Kidney Care today announced the expansion of its home kidney care program to include the HomeChoice Claria Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD) system enabled by Sharesource remote patient monitoring from Baxter International Inc., a global innovator in renal care. This new technology further enhances DaVita's home dialysis program and is another important step forward to enable more patients to choose to treat their kidney failure at home.1

"With more than two decades of experience as the leading home dialysis provider, we know consistent communication between patients and care teams is crucial for building trust and confidence," said Dr. Martin Schreiber, chief medical officer for DaVita home modalities. "HomeChoice Claria bolsters connectivity between our care teams and patients, ultimately making their lives a little easier, which is what we aim to do in our home program."

For many patients with kidney failure, choosing a home dialysis treatment option may provide a better quality of life. Peritoneal dialysis (PD), the most popular at-home dialysis treatment, is a needle-free option that replicates natural kidney function. HomeChoice Claria combines simplified APD with remote patient monitoring  creating a two-way, digital communication stream between patients and their care teams. The system represents the innovation in HomeChoice, the world's most widely prescribed APD cycler.

As one of the first U.S. dialysis providers to use HomeChoice Claria, DaVita is already using the technology with more than 250 patients across the U.S. The system is complemented by DaVita's robust connective suite of technologies with platforms like telehealth and home remote monitoring, which enable patients to experience the support, confidence, and care of in-center treatment, all at the comfort of home.

HomeChoice Claria was designed with the patient's experience in mind, prioritizing straightforward training and usage with efficient set-up and disconnection steps. The system features Baxter's Sharesource remote patient management platform, which facilitates on-demand access to precise patient data, further enhancing the ability of care teams to proactively manage patient care and make timely therapy decisions.

"It's critical for health care providers to have visibility into accurate adherence and therapy data," said Maggie Gellens, M.D., nephrologist and senior medical director at Baxter. "Having more patients on Sharesource-enabled systems can help clinicians respond swiftly to potential problems and reduce the need for extra visits to the clinic."

Offering a convenient, connected and confident experience for patients is at the core of DaVita's home dialysis program. As a pioneer in the kidney care community, DaVita offers a range of innovative solutions to support patients' needs at every stage and setting in their care journey, ensuring seamless continuity of care through life's changes. By coupling comprehensive patient education platforms with personalized care plans, DaVita empowers patients' efforts to remain healthy and on their modality of choice, where they're able to lead their best possible lives.

More information about how DaVita is transforming care for patients treating at home is available at DaVita.com/Home.

About DaVita Inc.

DaVita (NYSE: DVA) is a health care provider focused on transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients globally. The company is one of the largest providers of kidney care services in the U.S. and has been a leader in clinical quality and innovation for more than 20 years. Through DaVita Kidney Care, the company treats patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage kidney disease. DaVita is committed to bold, patient-centric care models, implementing the latest technologies and moving toward integrated care offerings for all. Through these efforts, DaVita has also become the largest provider of home dialysis in the country. As of March 31, 2021, DaVita served 202,600 patients at 2,827 outpatient dialysis centers in the United States. The company also operated 323 outpatient dialysis centers in ten countries worldwide. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations, improved mortality, and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney care industry to adopt an equitable and high-quality standard of care for all patients, everywhere. To learn more, visit DaVita.com/About.

Rx Only. For safe and proper use of this device, refer to the full Instructions for Use.

The Homechoice Claria APD system is intended for automatic control of dialysis solution exchanges in the treatment of pediatric and adult renal failure patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis in the home healthcare environment, including comparable use in professional healthcare facilities.

Baxter, Homechoice Claria and Sharesource are registered trademarks of Baxter International Inc.

Media Contact:

Halie Peddle

[email protected]

303-550-6349

1 Modality selections and decisions related to a patient's care are always made by the attending nephrologist and patient and provided pursuant to a physician's order.

SOURCE DaVita Kidney Care

Related Links

https://www.davita.com


HOUSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. ("Diamond" or the "Company") announced today that Bernie G. Wolford Jr. has been named the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer and will also serve on the Board of Directors. Mr. Wolford succeeds Marc Edwards, who retired from the Company as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer on April 23, 2021 when the Company and its debtor affiliates emerged from their chapter 11 financial restructuring.

Mr. Wolford brings 40 years of industry and related experience to his leadership role at Diamond. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Drilling S.A., from November 2018 to April 2021. From 2010 to 2018, Mr. Wolford served in senior operational roles at Noble Corporation, including five years as the company's Senior Vice President  Operations. He began his career with Transworld Drilling Company in 1981 and has worked in numerous locations across the globe.

Mr. Wolford stated, "I am honored to be named Diamond's CEO, and I'm excited to lead the Company in its next phase. Diamond responsibly operates valuable assets, has an excellent operational and safety reputation and maintains a competitive market position. I look forward to meeting with our employees both on the rigs and in offices around the world. I am committed to working with the Board and the rest of the leadership team to ensure a seamless transition for our clients and stakeholders."

The Company also announced that on May 7, 2021, the Board of Directors elected Neal P. Goldman as the Company's new Chairman of the Board. Mr. Goldman commented, "I am excited to work with Bernie through the company's next chapter. Throughout his career, Bernie has demonstrated a keen ability to revitalize the organizations he leads, delivering operational and financial excellence. These skills will be critical on Diamond's path to drive operational efficiency and achieve profitable growth, while continuing to deliver best of class value for our customers."

ABOUT DIAMOND OFFSHORE

Diamond Offshore is a leader in offshore drilling, providing innovation, thought leadership, and contract drilling services to solve complex deepwater challenges around the globe. Additional information and access to the Company's SEC filings are available at www.diamondoffshore.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In addition, Company representatives may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "anticipate," believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "may," "will," "could," "should," "seek" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy and other future events and conditions and are based on currently available financial, economic and competitive data and the Company's current business plans. Actual results could vary materially depending on risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's operations, markets, services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Risk Factors section of the Company's filings with the SEC. While management believes the Company's assumptions are reasonable, the Company cautions against relying on any forward-looking statements as it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for management to anticipate all factors that could affect the Company's actual results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include the risk factors listed in the Company's SEC filings. For a more detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, see the Risk Factors section in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company's other filings made with the SEC. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice. The forward-looking statements made by the Company and Company representatives speak only as of the date on which they are made. Factors or events that could cause actual results to differ may emerge from time to time. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

Contact:

Samir Ali

Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development

(281) 647- 4035

SOURCE Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.diamondoffshore.com


NEW YORK, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Elliman, one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerages in the United States, announces the launch of its brand new single sign-on portal, MyDouglas, in addition to an improved StudioPro application powered by Rechat. MyDouglas is a premier, customizable, mobile-friendly and cloud-based platform that integrates all agent resources in one user-friendly suite.

"We are thrilled to launch the newly updated MyDouglas and StudioPro," says Scott Durkin, President and COO of Douglas Elliman. "At Douglas Elliman, we continue to invest in the finest technology in order to ease all aspects of business management for our agents. We are proud to have created a seamless single solution platform that only strengthens our existing tech and provides a unique experience for agents at all levels, across the country."

MyDouglas is an entitlement-based portal that provides agents with a one-stop-shop to access individualized information such as business and financial analyses, deals and commissions payment breakdown, comparative marketing analysis, and the enhanced StudioPro, powered by Rechat, a comprehensive platform which includes a customer relationship management system, digital transaction management and custom DIY marketing templates. MyDouglas also serves as an integration platform for our external partners such as DocuSign, VideoBolt, Notarize and more.

"We prioritize personalization and transparency for our agents," explains Connie Mui-Reilly, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Douglas Elliman. "Not only do our agents require transparency in their business, but we want to provide complete clarity in their partnership with the brokerage. MyDouglas establishes an innovative space for all of our internal tools and resources, where we will proceed to deliver the latest technology directly to agents."

MyDouglas will be strategically rolled out regionally to all Douglas Elliman agents, beginning in May 2021. As an entitlement-based system, agents will acquire access to exclusive content as they continue to build their business and increase sales volume.

MyDouglas is an entirely personalized interface. No matter where an agent is, they will have the ability to use MyDouglas on any device, manage their business and build their brand.

Rechat is one of New Valley Ventures' property technology (PropTech) investments. Like Douglas Elliman, New Valley Ventures is a subsidiary of Vector Group Ltd (NYSE:VGR) and serves as an investment vehicle seeking opportunities in next-generation technologies in the PropTech space.

About Douglas Elliman Real Estate

Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman Real Estate is the largest brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerages in the United States. With approximately 7,000 agents, the company operates approximately 105 offices in New York City, Long Island, The Hamptons, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas. Moreover, Douglas Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets spanning 61 countries and six continents. The company also controls a portfolio of real estate services including Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, Douglas Elliman Property Management and Douglas Elliman Commercial. For more information on Douglas Elliman as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the real estate industry, please visit elliman.com.

SOURCE Douglas Elliman

Related Links

http://www.elliman.com


What a Brainfreeze SZN is to Slurpee drinks, skateboarding is to sports  EXTREME. Likewise, both Joe Freshgoods merch drops are limited editions of the extreme kind. Each is expected to sell out in hours. Whenever Freshgoods releases a new collection in his hometown, people line up around the block to get their hands on one of his exclusive designs. And when they're gone, they're gone.

"We are stoked to roll into Brainfreeze SZN with Joe Freshgoods  one of the coolest collabs in 7-Eleven history," said Marissa Jarratt, 7-Eleven senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "We especially wanted to ramp up the summer fun factor this year after missing out in 2020, and skater fans can count on 7-Eleven's 24/7 convenience to keep them fueled whether they're mastering a new trick, skating around town or watching pros catch some air at the skate park."

Exclusive Collab: Icon Meet Icon

7-Eleven took to the streets for its first exclusive collaboration with an American designer. The convenience retail icon called on Freshgoods, who some call the most iconic designer in streetwear history, to create several pieces using his unique style and the signature orange, green and red 7-Eleven colors. The collection includes sweats, shirts and socks, along with collectible sticker packs.

A designer and creative director from Chicago's West Side, Freshgoods uses a unique blend of brand narrative, historical and cultural references to create authentic connections with streetwear lovers all over the world. An avid proponent of arts education, Freshgoods says his real mission is to tell stories through his collections.

"I'm beyond excited to bring this collab with 7-Eleven to life," said Freshgoods. "Growing up in Chicago, I would always hit up the local 7-Eleven on Division and Lockwood to grab a Slurpee drink or a snack and just hang out with friends. While that store is now closed, the brand reminds me of being young and free, so I had a lot of fun coming up with these designs in the iconic orange, green and red colors that 7-Eleven fans and skaters alike are going to love."

When the JFG 7-Eleven merch drops for sale, all items will be sold exclusively on Freshgoods' e-comm site  joefreshgoods.com. Prices for the merch range from $10 to $90. You can learn more about the collaboration, including how to score early access to the merchandise drops, here.

Brainfreeze SZN: Taking it to the Streets

While skateboarding has crept into the mainstream  the sport debuts as an event at this summer's big games  it still has a culture and a language all its own.

In addition to the Joe Freshgoods launch, there is so much more on deck for Brainfreeze SZN 2021. 7-Eleven has (r)amped up the tunes for 7Rewards members, with customized Spotify playlists based on weekly quizzes. The retailer is also introducing a new AR game in the 7-Eleven app, Sticker Slap, that awards exclusive stickers to the top 500 on the leaderboard each week. Rewards members can also use their 7Rewards points to shop for exclusive merch in 7-Eleven's own online popup shop.

Skateboarding adds enthusiastic new members to its fanbase with every generation. Approximately 6.5 million people in the U.S. participate in skateboarding, with millennials and Gen Z fueling passion for the sport. And while skateboarding has become more mainstream with its own professional athletes, video games and sponsors, it still retains its alternative, nonconformist attitude.

With the 7NOW delivery app, skaters never have to leave the skate park for their Slurpee drink fix. Favorite 7-Eleven beverages, snacks, and more can be ordered online and delivered directly to skateboarders  at home or even at a local meet-up, park or beach via 7NOW Pins locations. Alcohol delivery, including beer, wine and liquor, is available in select markets to customers age 21 and older. Offered in over 1,300 U.S. cities, the 7NOW app offers real-time tracking that lets customers know when to expect their orders, typically in 30 minutes or less. The 7NOW delivery app is available to download from Google Play, the App Store or visit 7NOW.com.

About 7Eleven, Inc.

Are you still reading this? Awesome. Most people stop when they get to the small print. But not you! You get to read the cool stuff. 7Eleven, Inc. is the premier name in the convenience-retailing industry. They don't like to brag, but they invented convenience stores. For real. Google it. Based in Irving, Texas, 7Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 73,000 stores in 16 countries and regions, including 12,000 in North America. Known for its iconic brands such as Slurpee, Big Bite and Big Gulp, 7Eleven has expanded into high-quality sandwiches, salads, side dishes, cut fruit and protein boxes, as well as pizza, chicken wings and mini beef tacos. Mmmmm, tacos. 7Eleven offers customers industry-leading private brand products under the 7-Select brand including healthy options, decadent treats and everyday favorites at an outstanding value. Customers can earn and redeem points on various items in stores nationwide through its 7Rewards loyalty program with more than 40 million members, place an order in the 7NOW delivery app in over 1,300 cities, or rely on 7Eleven for bill payment service, self-service lockers and other convenient services. Find out more online at www.7Eleven.com, via the 7Rewards customer loyalty platform on the 7Eleven mobile app, or on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Also, they trademarked the word "Brainfreeze." No lie. Thanks for sticking with this. You're unstoppable.

About Joe Freshgoods

Joe Freshgoods is a designer and creative director from the West side of Chicago. He uses a unique blend of brand narrative, historical, and cultural references, which allow him to create authentic connections with streetwear lovers all over the world. A co-owner of Chicago creative hub Fat Tiger Works, Freshgoods' unique approach has led to partnerships with brands across the world like AT&T, McDonald's, the Chicago Bears, and New Balance and his collections feature in magazines like Vogue, GQ, and Complex. An avid proponent of arts education, his real mission is to tell stories through his collections.

SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.7-eleven.com


BEIJING, May 10, 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 the appointment of Mr. Pengwei Luo ("Mr. Luo") as a director of the Company's board of directors (the "Board"), effective from May 10, 2021. Upon the effectiveness of Mr. Luo's appointment, the Board will consist of five directors, including two independent directors.

Mr. Luo is the founder and the managing director of Spring River Greater China Fund, which he founded in 2014. Mr. Luo manages and supervises the daily operation of ten asset management companies since July 2020. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Luo served as a portfolio manager at Yinhua Fund Management Co., Ltd. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Luo served as a portfolio manager at the asset management department at Huatai United Securities Co., Ltd. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Luo worked as a project manager at the investment banking group of Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code: 1788). Mr. Luo received a master's degree in economics from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics in 2001.

On April 29, 2021, Spring River Greater China Fund filed Schedule 13G disclosing its beneficiary ownership of 6.7% in First High-School Education Group. On May 8, 2021, the Company entered into an option to buy agreement with Spring River Greater China Fund, pursuant to which, it was granted an option and right to buy an equivalent of 1,850,000 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), as represented by Class A ordinary shares of the Company during the option period for the full price equivalent to US$10.00 per ADS.

Mr. Shaowei Zhang, Chairman and chief executive officer of First High-School Education Group commented: "The assignment of Mr. Luo from Spring River Greater China Fund reflects investor confidence in the Company's long-term growth and potential value. We are greatly honored to have Mr. Luo to join our Board. He is a highly accomplished and widely respected leader in finance with extensive experience in business operation and corporate and regulatory authority. We are confident that he will provide valuable perspectives on the business strategy and on compliance for First High-School Education Group."

[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/.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected trading commencement and closing dates. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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/


HOUSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Flotek Industries, Inc. ("Flotek" or the "Company") (NYSE: FTK) is pleased to announce Matthew P. Sullivan has joined the Company as Vice President of Professional Chemistries. In this role, he will oversee the Company's business development strategy and implementation for Flotek's cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing product line. He will report directly to Ryan Ezell, Ph.D, President of Flotek's Chemistry Technologies segment.

Sullivan is an experienced leader in the Away from Home market, with a specialization in the janitorial and sanitizing segment, bringing more than 30 years' experience to the role. He joins Flotek from Georgia-Pacific, a Koch Industries company, where he held a variety of leadership roles, and most recently, served as Director of Sales for the Northeast Market for GP Pro. He started his career at Scott Paper Company in 1989, later becoming senior market manager at Kimberly Clark, following the Scott and Kimberly Clark merger. Sullivan joined Clorox Professional for six years running 24 states in the Eastern region. In 2003, he served on the leadership team of Technical Concepts (TC), the world leader in restroom automation systems, which sold to Newell Rubbermaid in 2008.

"I'm incredibly excited to welcome Matt to our team here at Flotek. I am confident Matt will help accelerate the momentum we have built in our professional chemistries product line. For decades, Matt has built a reputation as a trusted leader and partner to customers, helping to solve their challenges through meaningful solutions," said Ezell.

"I am thrilled to join Flotek at such an exciting time in the Company's journey. With Flotek's chemistry and manufacturing core competencies, I am eager to develop and promote our technologies and portfolio of product solutions to the marketplace. Flotek's agility and ability to meet distribution and end user demands will create mutual value for all stakeholders  end users, distributors and shareholders," said Sullivan. "I am humbled and honored that the Flotek leadership team and Board has entrusted me with this pursuit. I look forward to leveraging my relationships, experience and market knowledge in the janitorial and sanitizing industry  built over my professional lifetime  to grow the Company's professional chemistries business."

As an inducement to join the Company and to closely align interests with the Company's shareholders, Sullivan has been granted 60,000 restricted stock awards (RSAs) that will vest over three years.

Sullivan graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a Bachelor of Science in journalism. He resides in Freehold, New Jersey.

In March, the Company launched Flotek Protekol, its full suite of high-performance surface cleaners, disinfectants, wipes and sanitizers. The product line is made with ingredients sourced, formulated, blended and bottled in the USA, and includes products registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). More information can be found at www.flotekprotekol.com.

About Flotek Industries

Flotek Industries, Inc. is a technology-driven, specialty chemistry and data company that helps customers across industrial, commercial and consumer markets improve their Environmental, Social and Governance performance. Flotek's Chemistry Technologies segment develops, manufactures, packages, distributes, delivers, and markets high-quality cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing products for commercial, governmental and personal consumer use. Additionally, Flotek empowers the energy industry to maximize the value of their hydrocarbon streams and improve return on invested capital through its real-time data platforms and green chemistry technologies. Flotek serves downstream, midstream and upstream customers, both domestic and international. Flotek is a publicly traded company headquartered in Houston, Texas, and its common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FTK." For additional information, please visit Flotek's web site at www.flotekind.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements set forth in this press release 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) regarding Flotek Industries, Inc.'s business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Words such as will, continue, expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, seeks, estimates and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements in this press release. Although forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the good faith judgment of management, such statements can only be based on facts and factors currently known to management. Consequently, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results and outcomes may differ materially from the results and outcomes discussed in the forward-looking statements. Further information about the risks and uncertainties that may impact the Company are set forth in the Company's most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-K (including, without limitation, in the "Risk Factors" section thereof), and in the Company's other SEC filings and publicly available documents. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this press release.

SOURCE Flotek Industries, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.flotekind.com


HOUSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontline Road Safety, a portfolio company of The Sterling Group ("Sterling"), today announced the acquisition of PK Contracting ("PK"). Frontline's operating companies provide pavement marking and ancillary services to a variety of end markets and customers.

The PK transaction marks Frontline's sixth acquisition since the platform was established in July 2020. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, PK Contracting is a premier safety marking service provider with seven locations in Michigan and three locations in Florida (where PK operates as McShea Contracting). PK is known industry-wide as an innovator in the safety marking industry with an unwavering commitment to best-in-class customer service.

"PK Contracting is an exciting addition to the Frontline family," said Tony Plut, CEO of Frontline Road Safety. "This partnership will establish a new road striping presence for the Frontline platform in Michigan and Florida, further diversifying our operating subsidiaries and increasing our scale."

"A partnership with Frontline will benefit our employees and customers alike, as we will continue to execute exceptional local service while leveraging the benefits of the broader platform," said Chris Shea, CEO of PK Contracting. Consistent with Frontline's goal of supporting best-in-class operating teams, Chris Shea and the full PK management team will continue to operate the PK business going forward.

Over the last several years, Sterling has developed an investment thesis in the road safety and infrastructure maintenance industry. Through organic growth and further acquisitions, Sterling intends to build Frontline into the leading platform for road safety solutions with best-in-class local execution capabilities. Sterling has a long history of partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to support the growth of their businesses.

About The Sterling Group

Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 58 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $14.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $4.0 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.

SOURCE The Sterling Group
MILWAUKEE, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Milwaukee, Wis, - based Glenn Rieder LLC has acquired Palm City Millwork, Palm City, Florida. Founded in 1987, Palm City Millwork is a leading manufacturer of custom millwork products including doors, windows, moldings, trims and shutters for the high-end residential market. Palm City primarily sells its millwork products to residential builders of custom homes on the Atlantic Coast of South Florida.

Palm City maintains 76,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing, office and showroom space in Palm City, FL.

Glenn Rieder LLC is a custom architectural millwork manufacturer and commercial interior contractor serving all major markets across the United States. Since 1946, Glenn Rieder has produced and installed millwork for the hospitality, gaming, corporate, institutional, restaurant, winery, sports, retail and high-end residential markets. Through its subsidiaries, which include Quality Cabinet & Fixture Co., Shamrock Metals LLC and Shamrock Installations LLC, the company operates manufacturing facilities in Milwaukee, WI, Tijuana, MX and Las Vegas, NV. Glenn Rieder also maintains offices in Fort Lauderdale, FL, New England and San Diego, CA.

For more information about Glenn Rieder and to view photos from previous projects, please visit www.glennrieder.com

For more information about Palm City Millwork and to view photos from previous projects, please visit www.palmcitymillwork.com .

Glenn Rieder, Inc. is a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified company (SW-COC-000969). It is certified through the SmartWood program of the Rainforest Alliance and conforms to the requirements of FSC Chain-of-Custody (COC). Chain-of-Custody (COC) is the path taken by raw materials harvested from an FSC-certified source through processing, manufacturing, distribution, and printing until it is a final product ready for sale to the end consumer.

Contact: Michael Floyd, [email protected], 414-389-8671

SOURCE Glenn Rieder LLC
DUBLIN, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global clinical oncology next generation sequencing market is expected to grow from $0.44 billion in 2020 to $0.56 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.3%.

Major players in the clinical oncology next generation sequencing market are Thermo Fisher Scientific (Qiagen), Oxford Nanopore Technologies, QIAGEN, Myriad Genetics, Illumina, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Perkin Elmer, Agilent Technologies, Pacific Bioscience, and Caris Life Sciences.



The growth is mainly due to the companies resuming their operations and adapting to the new normal while recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $1.05 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 17%.



High costs associated with the clinical oncology next generation sequencing is a major issue faced by patients across the globe. The pressure to contain costs and demonstrate value is widespread. Political uncertainty and persistent economic stress in numerous countries are calling into question the sustainability of public health care funding. In low-income countries, the lack of cost-effective therapies for cancer has influenced the health conditions of the population and has led to a low average life expectancy.

According to an article published in July 2019 by Genetics in Medicine, the genome sequencing costs per cancer case is around 6,841, and costs per rare disease are around 7,050, and this cost is due to consumables that are the most expensive components in the sequencing process, and the equipment cost for rare cancer disease is higher when compared with normal cancer equipment, thus restraining the growth of the market.



In August 2019, Agilent Technologies acquired BioTek Instruments for $1.2 billion. The acquisition is expected to grow the presence and expertise of Agilent in cell analysis and strengthens the position of Agilent in the large and growing immune-oncology and immunotherapy areas. BioTek Instruments is a Vermont-based company that sells scientific instruments and associated software.



The rise in the number of cancer cases across the globe is likely to contribute to the growth of the clinical oncology next generation sequencing market during the forecast period. According to the American Cancer Society, there were 1.7 million new cases and 0.6 million cancer deaths in 2019 in the USA.

The four most common types of cancer worldwide are lung, prostate, bowel, and female breast cancer, accounting for 43% of all the new cancer cases. Therefore, the rise in cancer incidence rate globally is anticipated to boost the demand for clinical oncology next generation sequencing market.



Companies in the clinical oncology next generation sequencing are increasingly investing in automation of workflow to increase precision and reduce the sample to sample variability. For instance, Agilent automation solutions have developed an automation system that allows increasing the number of reactions that can perform in parallel, and reducing the amount of sample processing time, and increasing the number of samples which can be processed while reducing the variability amount from sample to sample.

Companies such as Sophia Genetics are also investing in data-driven medicine that looks into automating DNA sequencing to better diagnose and treat patients.



The countries covered in the market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market Characteristics



3. Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market Trends And Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing



5. Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market Size And Growth

5.1. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Historic Market, 2015-2020, $ Billion

5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.1.2. Restraints On The Market

5.2. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Forecast Market, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

5.2.2. Restraints On the Market



6. Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market Segmentation

6.1. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market, Segmentation By Technology, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

Ion Semiconductor Sequencing

Pyro-Sequencing

Synthesis Sequencing

Real Time Sequencing

Ligation Sequencing

Reversible Dye Termination Sequencing

Nano-Pore Sequencing

6.2. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market, Segmentation By Application, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

Screening

Companion Diagnostics

Other Diagnostics

6.3. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market, Segmentation By End User, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

Hospital Laboratories

Clinical Research Organizations

Diagnostic laboratories

7. Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market Regional And Country Analysis

7.1. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

7.2. Global Clinical Oncology Next Generation Sequencing Market, Split By Country, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion



Companies Mentioned

Thermo Fisher Scientific(Qiagen)

Oxford Nanopore Technologies

QIAGEN

Myriad Genetics

Illumina

F. Hoffmann-La Roche

Perkin Elmer

Agilent Technologies

Pacific Bioscience

Caris Life Sciences

Paradigm Diagnostics

GATC Biotech

Macrogen

Life Technologies

DNASTAR

Exosome Diagnostics

Biomatters

Partek

Foundation Medicine

BD

Takara Bio

Creative Biolabs

Mogene

Knome

Genomatix Software

CLC Bio

GnuBIO

Bio-Rad Laboratories

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qx0lie

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


DUBLIN, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Roll-Your-Own Tobacco Product Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Products (RYO Tobacco, Filter & Paper Tip), by Distribution Channel (Offline, Online), and Segment Forecasts, 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global roll-your-own tobacco product market size is expected to reach USD 10.42 billion by 2028. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.2% from 2021 to 2028.

The rising consumption of products among females and students is fueling market growth over the world. The adoption rate of the product is increasing among the youth in major economies, including the U.S. Moreover, the financial stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged numerous smokers to shift from factory-made cigarettes to hand-rolled cigarettes due to the cost advantage of roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco products.



The filter and paper tip segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028. Rapid research and product development of new kinds of filters focusing on removing maximum tar, nicotine, and certain gases are estimated to fuel the segment growth. Furthermore, the introduction of biodegradable or environment-friendly filters is expected to boost the demand for filter and paper tips in the upcoming years.



Europe dominated the market with a revenue share of more than 55.0% in 2020. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Europe reported the highest prevalence of smoking among adults (28%), with a percentage of the consumption trend observed among adolescents. Cigarettes witnessed the highest consumption among Europeans. The popularity of RYO cigarettes is on the rise among consumers due to the cost-effectiveness of the products and the availability of varied flavors. The consumption of RYO cigarettes in the region is mainly concentrated among men who smoke regularly.



Companies are looking to maintain their brand image and gain customer loyalty by upgrading their offerings according to customer specifications and studying consumer behavior patterns. Key players in the market are offering tobacco products in different sizes, flavors, and attractive packaging. These initiatives by manufacturers are propelling the global demand for premium roll-your-own tobacco products.



Roll-Your-Own Tobacco Product Market Report Highlights

North America is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028 owing to the increasing adoption of the product among the young consumers.

is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028 owing to the increasing adoption of the product among the young consumers. By product, the filter and paper tip segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028.

Europe dominated the market by accounting for over 55.0% in 2020. The rate of smoking in the European countries has contributed to the growth of the market in the region.

dominated the market by accounting for over 55.0% in 2020. The rate of smoking in the European countries has contributed to the growth of the market in the region. Offline distribution channel held the largest share of more than 85.0% in 2020.

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary

2.1. Market Outlook

2.2. Product Outlook

2.3. Application Outlook

2.4. Competitive Insights



Chapter 3. Roll-Your-Own-Tobacco Products Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1. Market Introduction

3.2. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping

3.3. Industry Value Chain Analysis

3.3.1. Sales/Retail Channel Analysis

3.3.2. Profit Margin Analysis

3.4. Market Dynamics

3.4.1. Market Driver Analysis

3.4.2. Market Restraint Analysis

3.4.3. Industry Challenges

3.4.4. Industry Opportunities

3.5. Business Environment Analysis

3.5.1. Industry Analysis - Porter's

3.6. Roadmap of Roll-Your-Own-Tobacco Products Market

3.7. Market Entry Strategies

3.8. Impact of the Covid-19



Chapter 4. Consumer Behavior Analysis

4.1. Consumer Trends and Preferences

4.2. Factors Affecting Buying Decision

4.3. Consumer Product Adoption

4.4. Observations & Recommendations



Chapter 5. Roll-Your-Own-Tobacco Products Market: Product Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1. Product Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028

5.2. RYO Tobacco

5.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2016-2028 (USD Million)

5.3. Rolling Paper & Cigarette Tubes

5.4. Injector

5.5. Filter & Paper Tip



Chapter 6. Roll-Your-Own-Tobacco Products Market: Distribution Channel Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1. Distribution Channel Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028

6.2. Offline

6.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2016-2028 (USD Million)

6.3. Online



Chapter 7. Roll-Your-Own-Tobacco Products Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis

7.1. Regional Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028



Chapter 8. Competitive Analysis

8.1. Key global players, recent developments & their impact on the industry

8.2. Key Company/Competition Categorization (Key innovators, Market leaders, Emerging players)

8.3. Vendor Landscape

8.3.1. Key company market share analysis, 2020



Chapter 9. Company Profiles

9.1. Company Overview

9.2. Financial Performance

9.3. Product Benchmarking

9.4. Strategic Initiatives

Imperial Brands

British American Tobacco

Japan Tobacco International

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S

Altria Group, Inc.

Philip Morris International

HBI International

Curved Papers, Inc.

Karma Filter Tips

Shine Brands

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wisuf4

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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DUBLIN, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Home Infusion Therapy Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product (Infusion Pumps, Needleless Connectors), by Application (Anti-infective, Chemotherapy), by Region, and Segment Forecasts, 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global home infusion therapy market size is expected to reach USD 44.7 billion by 2028. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2021 to 2028.

Home infusion therapy involves the intravenous or subcutaneous administration of drugs or biological products to an individual at home. Favorable government policies and regulations are expected to propel market growth. In February 2018, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed into a law that states that all temporary payments of home infusion therapy in the U.S. will be covered by the government in accordance with this regulation.



In addition, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening conditions, is expected to have a high impact on market growth. According to a report by the WHO, the above-mentioned diseases accounted for 60.0% of the total deaths and 43.0% of the disease burden in the U.S. in 2019. This creates the need to infuse nutritional products that contain glutamine, phospholipids, glucose, and amino acids while administering medication to patients, which, in turn, is expected to boost the market growth.



The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is expected to create lucrative opportunities for the market. Due to restrictions caused by COVID-19, patients are waiting to seek treatment until they feel safe. Moreover, patients who seek infusion therapy already have diseases that weaken their immune systems. In such cases, going outside even to receive treatment becomes a potential threat. Reduced operating hours have led to difficulty in scheduling appointments as well, even if patients choose to continue treatment. Hence, home infusion therapy is expected to play a key role in supporting patients.



Home Infusion Therapy Market Report Highlights

By product, the infusion pumps segment held the largest revenue share in 2020 owing to the increasing use of delivery fluids, such as nutrients and medications.

The anti-infective application segment dominated the market in 2020 as a large number of procedures are performed during the administration of medications, such as antibiotics and antifungals.

North America dominated the global market in 2020 owing to increasing demand for new technologies, along with advanced healthcare infrastructure.

dominated the global market in 2020 owing to increasing demand for new technologies, along with advanced healthcare infrastructure. The Asia Pacific market is projected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing number of diabetic patients in the region.

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary

2.1. Market Outlook

2.2. Segment Outlook

2.3. Competitive Insights



Chapter 3. Home Infusion Therapy Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1. Market Lineage outlook

3.1.1. Parent market outlook

3.1.2. Related/ancillary market outlook

3.2. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping

3.3. Product Pipeline Analysis, by Application

3.4. Market Dynamics

3.4.1. Market Driver Analysis

3.4.1.1. Increasing geriatric population

3.4.1.2. Rising prevalence of chronic diseases

3.4.1.3. Recent technological advancements in infusion pumps

3.4.1.4. Home healthcare as a cost-effective alternative

3.4.1.5. Improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies

3.4.2. Market Restraint Analysis

3.4.2.1. Product recall

3.4.2.2. Presence of complicated reimbursement framework and reimbursement cuts

3.4.3. Industry Challenges

3.4.3.1. Rising cost of home infusion therapy

3.5. Home Infusion Therapy: Market Analysis Tools

3.5.1. Industry Analysis-Porter's

3.5.1.1. Supplier Power

3.5.1.2. Buyer Power

3.5.1.3. Substitution Threat

3.5.1.4. Threat from new entrants

3.5.1.5. Competitive rivalry

3.5.2. PESTEL Analysis

3.5.3. Major Deals & Strategic Alliances Analysis



Chapter 4. Home Infusion Therapy Market: Segment Analysis, by Product, 2016-2028 (USD Million)

4.1. Definitions & Scope

4.2. Product market share analysis, 2020 & 2028

4.3. Segment Dashboard

4.4. Global Home Infusion Therapy Market, by Product, 2016 to 2028

4.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2016 to 2028 for the following

4.5.1. Infusion pumps

4.5.1.1. Elastomeric

4.5.2.1 Electrochemical

4.5.2.2 Gravity

4.5.2.3 Others

4.5.2. Intravenous Sets

4.5.3. IV cannulas

4.5.4. Needleless connectors



Chapter 5. Home Infusion Therapy Market: Segment Analysis, By Application, 2016-2028(USD Million)

5.1. Definitions & Scope

5.2. Application market share analysis, 2020 & 2028

5.3. Segment Dashboard

5.4. Global Home Infusion Therapy Market, By Application, 2016 to 2028

5.5. Market Size & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2016 to 2028 for the following

5.5.1. Anti-infective

5.5.2. Endocrinology

5.5.2.1 Diabetes

5.5.2.2 Others

5.5.3. Hydration Therapy

5.5.3.1. Athletes

5.5.3.2. Others

5.5.4. Chemotherapy

5.5.5. Enteral Nutrition

5.5.6. Parenteral Nutrition

5.5.7. Specialty Pharmaceuticals

5.5.8. Others



Chapter 6. Home Infusion Therapy Market: Regional Market Analysis, by Product, Application, 2016-2028 (USD Million)

6.1. Definitions & Scope

6.2. Regional Market Share Analysis, 2020 & 2028

6.3. Regional Market Dashboard

6.4. Regional Market Snapshot

6.5. Regional Market Share, 2020

6.6. Market Size, & Forecasts, and Trend Analysis, 2016 to 2028



Chapter 7. Home Infusion Therapy Market-Competitive Analysis

Caesarea Medical Electronics

CareFusion Corporation

Baxter

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Fresenius Kabi

ICU Medical, Inc.

JMS Co. Ltd.

Smiths Medical

Terumo Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/js1r9k

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

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Memorial Foundation and MISSION BBQ announced the launch of the latest "American Heroes Cup" campaign. Nearly half of the proceeds from the sale of the iconic cup will supplement the Foundation's efforts to build a permanent place of reflection on the National Mall to honor all who've served and are still serving in the Global War on Terrorism.

Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation

Beginning May 10, MISSION BBQ customers can purchase the cup bearing the GWOT Memorial Foundation's logo and mission statement at any of the patriotic BBQ chain's 106 locations nationwide. The American Heroes cup retails at $3.99 per cup, and MISSION BBQ will donate $2 from the sale of each cup directly to the GWOT Memorial Foundation. Customers who bring their American Heroes cup back to MISSION BBQ for subsequent visits earn $.99 cent refills.

"Our goal at MISSION BBQ is to remind ourselves and our customers each day what makes America great: our service members, our first responders, and our military veterans and families," said Bill Kraus, co-founder of MISSION BBQ, "It's an honor to provide support to the GWOT Memorial Foundation to build a monument to all who've served in the nation's longest ongoing conflict."

"The GWOT Memorial Foundation couldn't do the work that we do without partners like MISSION BBQ," said GWOT Memorial Foundation President & CEO Marina Jackman. "We couldn't be more grateful for people like Bill Kraus and friends like MISSION BBQ who share our mission and understand the deep dedication that our service members, veterans, non-uniformed civilian service members, and military families have shown to this country."

About Mission BBQ:

MISSION BBQ opened its doors for business on Sept. 11, 2011, 10 years after the world changed. We believe there is nothing more American than BBQ. And nobody more American than the brave men and women who have sworn to protect and serve our communities and our country. We do what we do for the love of our soldiers, firefighters, police officers, and first respondersall our loved ones in service. We set across this great land from Texas to Kansas City, the Carolinas to St. Louis...to discover the secrets of great BBQ. Every day we strive to serve you authentic BBQ made from the freshest, most delectable ingredients and serve it to you in a patriotic dining room filled with tributes to those who've made our country great, given to us by the people who earned them. Stop by at 12 noon as we sing our national anthem. Every day. For more information about MISSION BBQ, visit mission-bbq.com.

About the GWOT Memorial Foundation:

The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Memorial Foundation was founded in 2015 by a group of like-minded service members, military veterans, and military families. In 2017, the GWOT Memorial was approved by Congress, and the GWOT Memorial Foundation was designated as the sole non-profit organization tasked with planning, funding, and overseeing design and construction of the national GWOT Memorial. As it stands, legislation is pending in Congress that would designate a location on the National Mall for the memorial that will fully honor the service and sacrifice of all who've served in the GWOT. We invite all who share our mission of honoring those who've risked and given their lives in the GWOT and those who've supported them to join us. Learn more at gwotmf.org and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Press Contact

Farahn Morgan

[email protected]

276 393 5677

Related Images

image1.jpg

SOURCE Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation
PHOENIX, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Canyon University and CityServe are partnering to create a major distribution HUB on the GCU campus that will provide thousands of household goods to needy families in Arizona.

GCU is creating a 35,000-square-foot warehouse on campus that will house products such as clothing, heaters, fans, blankets, furniture, mattresses, food boxes and other essential items provided by major retailers through CityServe. The GCU HUB  powered mostly by volunteers  will provide the items to PODs, or points of distribution, such as churches, schools and social service organizations that will then distribute them directly to families in need. GCU has already identified 40 community partners that will serve as PODs and plans to connect to more than 100 eventually.

"This partnership with CityServe is a natural extension of our broader outreach efforts and our five-point plan to transform our surrounding community," GCU President Brian Mueller said. "CityServe is making a significant impact across the country by empowering local churches and service organizations to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help those in need. Their mission aligns perfectly with GCU and we look forward to not only partnering with them to provide essential household goods, but also extending that impact by providing further assistance to those families."

Formed in 2017, CityServe is a collaborative network of faith-based non-profits, corporate, retail, farm and food supply partnerships that provide resources and empower them to make a greater impact in the world. To date, CityServe has distributed 15 million food boxes to communities through the Faith-Based Community for Farmers to Families partnership and has distributed $749 million worth of household goods  impacting more than 62 million people.

CityServe receives donations as well as surplus supplies from businesses such as Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's and other large retailers. Its structure is unique in that it incorporates a grassroots effort in which PODs identify families in need and are able to form relationships with those families.

"GCU will become a model for CityServe's university-based vision to equip and mobilize students to meet community needs and to help families move from dependency to sustainability," CityServe CEO Dave Donaldson said.

CityServe has over 2,000 HUBs in the U.S.  the largest of which is in Bakersfield, Calif., where $100 million worth of merchandise has been distributed. The Bakersfield HUB serves an average of 9,000 adults and 5,760 children each month. Mueller envisions a similar impact from the GCU hub, which will begin distributing goods this fall.

"There is a lot of need in our neighborhood, throughout Phoenix and Arizona," Mueller said. "We want to assist by not only providing essential household goods to those families but, once we get to know the families, we want to take that relationship further by providing long-term assistance through our nine colleges in areas such as job readiness, tutoring, fiscal literacy, addiction counseling, health clinics or business development. The hope is to completely change the trajectory of those families and put them on a path toward prosperity."

The GCU-CityServe partnership initially formed in December when the University began providing food boxes from Shamrock Farms to organizations in Phoenix through the Farmers to Families program. To date, approximately 18,000 boxes of food have been distributed through GCU. That partnership will now be extended through the creation of the GCU hub and warehouse to distribute other types of goods to those needing assistance.

"It has been a joy to partner with GCU and Shamrock Farms to provide Farmers to Families food boxes to nutrition insecure families," Donaldson said. "The faculty and students effectively modeled this USDA program."

About Grand Canyon University: Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949 and is Arizona's premier private Christian university. GCU is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers 270 academic programs, emphases and certificates for both traditional undergraduate students and working professionals. The University's curriculum emphasizes interaction with classmates, both in-person and online, and individual attention from instructors while fusing academic rigor with Christian values to help students find their purpose and become skilled, caring professionals. For more information, visit gcu.edu.

About CityServe: CityServe is a collaborative network of churches and community leaders who help those in need live better lives. CityServe empowers the local church to fulfill its purpose to overcome despair and transform lives by resourcing them with tangible goods and capacity building. CityServe brings the church to the table to address community challenges by offering long-lasting relationships that lead to transformation and has been designated a "Community of Faith and Opportunity" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For more information about CityServe and its initiatives, please visit https://cityserve.us/ or on social platforms @cityservehq.

SOURCE Grand Canyon University

Related Links

http://gcu.edu


TSX-V: GBR



VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Great Bear Resources (the "Company" or "Great Bear") (TSXV: GBR) would like to invite interested shareholders to join Mr. Chris Taylor, P.Geo, President and CEO and Mr. R. Bob Singh, P.Geo, Vice President, Exploration for a webinar detailing recent progress in the Company's ongoing fully-funded drill program at its 100% owned Dixie property in the Red Lake district of Ontario.

The Great Bear webinar will take place on Monday, June 7th at 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT. Management will be available to answer questions following the presentation. Online registration and participation details may be found at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MJNWX5GERvKjZ63Jh89n_Q

For those unable to participate, a recording of the webinar will be posted to the Company's web site following the live broadcast.

Annual Incentive Grant

The Company also reports that it has completed its annual incentive compensation grants. A total of 61,236 Deferred Share Units ("DSUs") have been granted to non-executive directors and 265,356 Restricted Share Units ("RSUs") have been granted to employees. The DSUs and RSUs were granted in accordance with the Company's DSU/RSU Plan adopted in December 2020. The DSUs vest immediately and the RSUs vest on May 7th, 2024.

In addition, the Company has granted incentive stock options to recently hired employees to purchase up to an aggregate of 205,000 common shares. The incentive stock options have an exercise price of $14.97, vest over two years, and expire after five years.

About Great Bear

Great Bear Resources Ltd. is a well-financed gold exploration company managed by a team with a track record of success in mineral exploration. Great Bear is focused in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwest Ontario, where the company controls over 330 km2 of highly prospective tenure across 5 projects: the flagship Dixie Project (100% owned), the Pakwash Property (earning a 100% interest), the Dedee Property (earning a 100% interest), the Sobel Property (earning a 100% interest), and the Red Lake North Property (earning a 100% interest) all of which are accessible year-round through existing roads.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Chris Taylor"

Chris Taylor, President and CEO

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. The forward-looking information contained herein is provided for the purpose of assisting readers in understanding management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking information are based on management of the parties' reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on such management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect.

Such factors, among other things, include: impacts arising from the global disruption caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold or certain other commodities; change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); discrepancies between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties.

Great Bear undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

SOURCE Great Bear Resources Ltd.

Related Links

https://greatbearresources.ca/


MIAMI, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenspoon Marder is pleased to welcome former Miami-Dade County Commissioner and former City of Miami Mayor Xavier L. Suarez as of counsel in the firm's Miami office.

"Xavier is an incredibly well respected individual and lawyer in Florida and beyond. Together, we look forward to making this relationship a huge success," says Gerry Greenspoon, co-managing director at Greenspoon Marder. "We are thrilled to welcome Xavier to the firm. His deep roots and decades of experience serving the Miami community make him an ideal fit for the firm's plan of strategic growth and development in South Florida," says Michael Marder, co-managing director at Greenspoon Marder.

With a law degree from Harvard University, Mr. Suarez has more than 40 years of experience in litigation, real estate, corporate, and healthcare care law as well as representing government agencies. He focuses his practice on every aspect of civil litigation, which includes international litigation, real estate, labor and employment, and intellectual property.

Mr. Suarez served on the Miami-Dade County Commission as District 7 Commissioner, representing numerous municipalities including the City of Miami, the Village of Key Biscayne, the City of Coral Gables, the City of South Miami, the Village of Pinecrest, as well as areas of unincorporated Miami-Dade County. Mr. Suarez served as Mayor of the City of Miami beginning in 1985 and was reelected in 1987 and 1989. His work concentrated on the construction of affordable housing, prioritized community neighborhood improvements, and received national praise for his effective handling of civil disturbances. In addition, he entered Miami City Hall becoming the first Cuban-born mayor of a major U.S. city.

About Greenspoon Marder

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding in 1981, Greenspoon Marder is a national full-service business law firm with 200 attorneys and locations across the United States. We are ranked among American Lawyer's Am Law 200, as one of the top law firms in the U.S. since 2015. Since our inception in 1981, our firm has been committed to providing excellent client service through our cross-disciplinary, client-team approach. Our mission is to understand the challenges that our clients face, build collaborative relationships, and craft creative solutions designed and executed with long-term strategic goals in mind. We serve Fortune 500, middle-market public and private companies, start-ups, emerging businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs nationwide. For more information, visit www.gmlaw.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Cynthia Howard, Chief Marketing Officer

720.370.1182 | [email protected]

SOURCE Greenspoon Marder

Related Links

https://www.gmlaw.com


NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) today congratulates its five 2021 Christian Book Award winners. These awards have been presented annually since 1978 by the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association (ECPA). In lieu of an in-person event, this year marked the second virtual awards ceremony, which took place on May 6, 2021, to recognize the best Christian products of the year in 12 categories.

The winning titles from HCCP are:

Audio  Suffer Strong written and narrated by Katherine and Jay Wolf produced by Gabe Wicks /HarperCollins Christian Publishing  (Zondervan)





written and narrated by produced by /HarperCollins Christian Publishing  (Zondervan) Bibles  NIV Study Bible Fully Revised Edition  (Zondervan)





 (Zondervan) Bible Reference Works  The New Testament in its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature and Theology of the First Christians written by N.T. Wright and Michael Bird  (Zondervan Academic)





written by N.T. Wright and  (Zondervan Academic) Devotion and Gift  How Great Is Our God: 100 Indescribable Devotions About God and Science written by Louie Giglio  ( Tommy Nelson )





written by  ( ) New Author  Laughing Through the Ugly Cryand Finding Unstoppable Joy written by Dawn Barton  (Thomas Nelson)

In addition to the five award winners, HCCP had 10 additional titles that were finalists in nine out of 12 categories.

These finalists are:

Bibles  NET Full Notes Edition Bible  (Thomas Nelson)





 (Thomas Nelson) Biography and Memoir  I Am Restored written by Lecrae  (Zondervan)





written by Lecrae  (Zondervan) Biography and Memoir  The History of Apologetics: A Biographical and Methodological Introduction written by Benjamin K. Forrest , Josh D. Chatraw , Alister E. McGrath  (Zondervan Academic)





written by , ,  (Zondervan Academic) Christian Living  Dangerous Prayers written by Craig Groeschel  (Zondervan)





 written by  (Zondervan) Devotion and Gift  More Power to You: Declarations to Break Free from Fear and Take Back Your Life written by Margaret Feinberg  (Zondervan)





written by  (Zondervan) Faith and Culture  The House that Love Built written by Sarah Jackson with Scott Sawyer  (Zondervan)





written by with Scott Sawyer  (Zondervan) Faith and Culture  White Lies written by Daniel Hill  (Zondervan)





written by Daniel Hill  (Zondervan) New Author  The Fight to Flourish written by Jennie Lusko  (Thomas Nelson)





written by  (Thomas Nelson) Young People's Literature  Goliath Must Fall for Young Readers: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants written by Louie Giglio with Laura Fortner  ( Tommy Nelson )





written by with  ( ) Young People's Literature  Loved and Cherished: 100 Devotions for Girls written by Lynn Cowell with Michelle Nietert , M.A., LPC-S CSC  (Zonderkidz)

"We are honored to have 15 titles recognized by the 2021 Christian Book Awards," said Mark Schoenwald, president and CEO of HCCP. "Since March of last year, our readers have been experiencing the unprecedented challenges facing the world while in lock down - away from churches and community. I believe these books were published for such a time as this - to bring light and hope into a dark year. It is a privilege to have published them."

In addition to the 2021 Christian Book Award recipients, HCCP also celebrates its longtime international bestselling author, Max Lucado, who was honored with the ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding writing contributions, both to the publishing industry and to society at large. He is only the fourth recipient of this prestigious award. HCCP has represented Lucado for 31 of his 35-years as an author. He has impacted more than 145 million lives with his books, which are printed in 45 different languages and distributed throughout 80 countries.

For more information on this year's winners and finalists please click here.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing

The world's leading Christian publisher, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. comprises the Thomas Nelson, Zondervan and HarperChristian Resources publishing groups and imprint, BibleGateway.com, FaithGateway.com, StudyGateway.com and ChurchSource.com. The Company produces bestselling Bibles, inspirational books, academic resources, curriculum, audio and digital content for the Christian market space. Bible Gateway is the world's largest Christian website with more than 20 million unique visitors each month. HarperCollins Christian Publishing is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. with additional offices in the U.S. and Mexico. For more information visit www.HarperCollinsChristian.com.

Contact: Chelsea Taff

Manager, Corporate Communications

tel: 615.902.2137

web: [email protected]

SOURCE HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Related Links

https://www.harpercollinschristian.com/


DENVER, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of National Police Week, May 9-15, Bio-One, Inc. will thank first responders by donating 5,000 first aid kits as part of their nationwide campaign #HelpFirst for First Responders. Throughout the week, Bio-One offices in 41 states will distribute the first aid kits, which include alcohol swabs, Advil, gloves, gauze pads, and an assortment of bandages.

Since 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

National Police Week

"As crime and trauma scene cleaners, Bio-One works closely with law enforcement across the country and National Police Week is a great opportunity to say thank you for their service and sacrifices," said Nick-Anthony Zamucen, founder of Bio-One, Inc. "Our #HelpFirst campaign aligns with our motto, Help First, Business Second, and it is our hope that these kits will help officers and community members in the event of a minor medical emergency."

As a 2021 corporate sponsor of the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Bio-One will also pay tribute to fallen officers during the virtual 33rd Annual Candlelight Vigil on May 13 at 8:00 p.m. The event will be broadcasted live on Facebook, YouTube, and LawMemorial.org/CV.

"We are so thankful for Bio-One's corporate partnership and their continued support of the Memorial Fund," said Marcia Ferranto, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. "This partnership will further bolster the Memorial Fund's mission of honoring America's Law Enforcement, as well as provide support for the Museum's upcoming exhibition opening in September. We are grateful for their commitment."

Established in 1984, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the fallen, telling the story of American law enforcement, and making it safer for those who serve. The Memorial Fund maintains the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., which honors the names of all of the 22,611 officers who have died in the line of duty throughout U.S. history.

About Bio-One Inc.

Bio-One Inc. is the first crime and trauma scene cleaning franchise, operating in 41 states with over 100 locations, and was ranked number one in Crime Scene Cleaning and Trauma Scene Cleaning in Entrepreneur Magazine's 42nd Franchise 500. Bio-One is committed to providing excellent service in recovery and suicide cleanup, homicide cleanup, hoarding situations, junk removal, deceased animal recovery, feces removal, pest and rodent droppings and much more. Each office is independently owned and operated by a member of the local community. For more information about Bio-One, visit BioOneInc.com.

Media Contact

Krista Gregg

Marketing & Public Relations

Bio-One Inc

[email protected]

(720) 404-3036

Related Files

Logo_Black-Red Help First.png

Bio-One Media Sheet as of May2021.pdf

Related Images

national-police-week.png

National Police Week

National Police Week

SOURCE Bio-One, Inc.

Related Links

http://BioOneInc.com


CUC, an active member of the Incu-Tech and Leading Enterprises Acceleration Programme (LEAP) of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) for Network Coding Technology applications, invented and researched by The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), which operates the patented technology nEdge and nCloud solutions. The new partnership underlines HGC's support for start-ups and how it can help them expand their market presence and facilitate growth.

nCloud and nEdge are the Platforms-as-a-Service (PaaS) in Hong Kong that guarantee data sovereignty and offer the local ISV ecosystem network to enterprises and organisations a full range of intelligent services, innovative and practical applications, and intelligent and large-capacity information channels.

In response to the rising trend of multi-cloud applications across corporates of various scales, the nCloud, a network-coding-based multi-cloud storage system, can significantly enhance data storage security by distributing data among cloud storage providers, thereby lowering operating costs and streamlining access. CUC's other patented technology, nEdge, can boost 5G communications and Smart City development by connecting Internet of Things (IoT) end-points.

HGC's hosting solution provides a turnkey service for start-up companies to ensure a hassle-free path to commercialisation for their products and services. The integrated portfolio covers multi-layer security, Smart IoT service, network connectivity and infrastructure hosting. HGC's total solution provides the core elements for CUC to launch their technologies to the market successfully. In addition, these abilities have also tightened the cooperation of both companies.

Powered by HGC's Smart Server Rack and SAIP (Smart AI Portal), CUC can effectively monitor its facilities with AI alert to enhance overall security, which has become the first advance toward a "Zero Trust" security framework. To further advance the facility management policy, an innovative record-and-alert approach is adopted to record and monitor actual operation temperature, and authorized persons will be arranged to conduct an inspection at CUC's infrastructure when an alarm is received.

Professor Patrick Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, CUHK, and also the founder of nCloud and nEdge solutions, said, "nEdge and nCloud are deeptech in nature. Deeptech is defined as a scientific breakthrough or significant advancement which has far-reaching implications across sectors and can potentially change human life for the better. We have conduct applied research on large-scale storage and networked systems, including distributed systems across edge and cloud computing. Our effort ensures that nEdge and nCloud can achieve their guarantees of performance, scalability, dependability, and generality. We are very excited at this successful commercialisation of new technologies, leveraging the capabilities of HGC and CUC."

Aldous Ng, Co-founder and CEO of CUC, said, "The successful landing of nEdge and nCloud in the market is from the teamwork of CUC and HGC. nEdge and nCloud are the best examples of deeptech commercialisation by collaboration between industry and universities in Hong Kong. The process of commercialisation entails understanding of the markets in general, identifying potential users and targeting as many people as possible who will benefit from these breakthrough technologies."

Cecilia Wong, Executive Vice President, Product & Innovation of HGC, said, "HGC has extensive experience in serving businesses of different scales and being an enabler of other service providers. Apart from HGC's top-notch network infrastructure, a variety of other core services such as cloud, unified communications and A2P-SMS API gateway enables customers to address their primary and on-going business needs. HGC is delighted to support start-up companies such as CUC and provide a cutting-edge service platform that enables them to focus on core business and business development in local and overseas market with the support of our regional professional team."

Chris Chow, Head of Product and Project Solution of HGC, said, "Start-up companies usually struggle to select the right service and best practice to maintain their operation. HGC's Smart+ portfolio facilitates system monitoring with IoT. Our self-developed SAIP is a consolidated platform to link across HGC services with AI and IA (Intelligent Automation) capability. We aim at transforming IoT from the traditional Internet of Things for monitoring into Intelligence of Things, emphasising operational efficiency. The unique AI Alert function enables different user groups to communicate based on severity level to drastically reduce users' decision cycle."

Alex Chan, General Manager of Enterprise Market, HGC, said, "HGC always supports SMEs and we are energizing different business partners, in particular start-up partners to capture growth opportunities in a dynamic business environment and maximize business efficiency and ROI by fully utilizing their product's competitive edges so that they are able to get to market in a faster and smarter way."

About CU Coding Ltd.

CU Coding Limited is a DaaS (Data-as-a-Service) solution provider for enterprises to enhance security and network reliability through multi-cloud service providers. The Company was founded in 2018 by a team of distinguished scholars and serial entrepreneurs and was named by the world's top information technology research and consulting company Gartner as "the notable player in the emerging Intelligent Infrastructure market".

CUC is an active member of the Incu-Tech and Leading Enterprises Acceleration Programme (LEAP) of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. Its flagship products, nCloud and nEdge, enables interoperability of all public cloud vendors with the highest-grade security and geo-distribution. The Company has secured more than 300 institutional clients to-date with enriched experience in DaaS solution, and is currently expanding its business to the Greater Bay Area with a grant of RMB 20 million funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2020.

About HGC Global Communications Limited

HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) is a leading Hong Kong and international telecom operator and ICT solution provider. The company owns an extensive network and infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and provides a broad range of advanced telecommunications and ICT services. Headquartered in Hong Kong and operating 23 overseas offices on five continents, it provides telecom infrastructure service to other operators and serves as a service provider to corporate and households. The company provides full-fledged telecom, data centre services, ICT solutions and broadband services for local, overseas, corporate and mass markets. HGC owns and operates an extensive fibre-optic network, five cross-border telecom routes integrated into tier-one telecom operators in mainland China and connects with hundreds of world-class international telecom operators. HGC is one of Hong Kong's largest Wi-Fi service providers, running over 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong. The company is committed to further investing and enriching its current infrastructure and adding the latest technologies and solutions. HGC is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities and transport in North America, Europe and selected fast-growing economies.

To learn more, please visit HGC's website at: www.hgc.com.hk

About the Faculty of Engineering, CUHK

Founded in 1963, CUHK is a forward-looking comprehensive research university. The Faculty of Engineering was founded in 1991, offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes through its six departments: Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering, Mechanical and Automation Engineering, and Systems Engineering and Engineering Management. The Faculty has world-class teaching staff coming from prestigious universities possessing extensive teaching experience and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to support teaching and research activities. The Faculty launches a wide range of innovative projects that make use of AI to improve the quality of human life, and explores the application of AI and deep learning in various areas, such as smart living, smart mobility and smart environment, in order to build Hong Kong into a world-class smart city.

The Faculty's mission is to train future leaders in engineering, to pursue knowledge at the frontier of modern technology, and to apply advanced technology to meet societal and human needs.

For more information about CUHK Faculty of Engineering, please visit www.erg.cuhk.edu.hk.

SOURCE HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC)
PITTSBURGH, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Highmark Health announced today that a $5 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation will be used to leverage its partnership with Google Cloud and Verily to develop and deploy holistic, digitally enabled personalized health support programs and increased access to such services as part of its Living Health Strategy.

Funds from the grant will be used to address the chronic medical and behavioral health needs of patients and members across Highmark Health's core markets in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and northeastern and western New York through the development of state-of-the-art personalized healthcare solutions. This will enable access to individualized options for digital solutions and care tailored to their specific needs and preferences.

The focus will be on the whole person, considering the presence of multiple chronic conditions with particular emphasis on behavioral health, a major need in the community which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Behavioral health includes mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety; the treatment of addiction and substance use disorders; and an individual's overall resilience and wellbeing. Currently, many individuals fail to seek treatment due to a lack of awareness of where to go for help, a problem exacerbated by the spate of digital offerings now available. The customized solutions will personalize care and support options based on member and patient needs and preferences.

"Health care as it exists today is complex, fragmented and reactive. Our goal is to develop curated data based, personalized, clinician prescribed and fully integrated solutions for promoting and preserving a person's whole health  physical, mental and social. This will enable us to deliver a more sustainable improvement in the health and quality of life of the communities we serve," shared Tony Farah, MD, FACC, FSCAI, executive vice president, chief medical and clinical transformation officer of Highmark Health. "By using technology to enable new options of care, not only will we have the opportunity to improve the health of our patients at scale, but we will reduce costs of care by more effectively addressing physical and behavioral health needs in a timely and efficient manner."

Highmark Health will also enhance the services offered to individuals who are negatively impacted by social determinants of health (SDoH) through the creation of a High Performing Social Care Network (HPSCN) for residents in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The HPSCN will bring together Community Based Organizations and other social care providers using an incentive model to address the confluence of medical and non-medical drivers of poor health outcomes. The HPSCN will include the integration of Aunt Bertha, the digital platform that currently powers Allegheny Health Network and Highmark's Community Support tool.

The grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation will promote healthier communities throughout the region with improved access to social services and access to innovative behavioral health support programs, resulting in lower healthcare utilization rates, less substance use, and improved medical outcomes.

"We know the pandemic has led to dramatic increases in anxiety, depression and substance-use disorder," said Sam Reiman, director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation. "The impacts on the lives of our neighbors in Southwestern Pennsylvania are profound, as are the impacts on the work of the social-service agencies and health-care providers who seek to help them. But too often, social-service agencies and health-care providers work in silos. This initiative will utilize an abundance of data from Highmark combined with technology from Google Cloud and Verily to better connect our social-service and health-care providers, resulting in a new model for improving health and well-being both locally and nationally."

About Highmark Health : Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh, PA-based $21 billion enterprise that employs more than 35,000 people who serve millions of Americans across the country, is the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, and HM Health Solutions. Highmark Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide health insurance to more than 6 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and New York as well as dental insurance, and related health products through a national network of diversified businesses. Allegheny Health Network is an integrated delivery network comprised of thirteen hospitals, more than 2,500 affiliated physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, an employed physician organization, home and community-based health services, a research institute, a group purchasing organization, and health and wellness pavilions in western Pennsylvania. HM Health Solutions is focused on meeting the information technology platform and other business needs of the Highmark Health enterprise as well as unaffiliated health insurance plans by providing proven business processes, expert knowledge, and integrated cloud-based platforms. To learn more, visit www.highmarkhealth.org.

About the Richard King Mellon Foundation : Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation's projected 2020 year-end endowment was $3.1 billion, and its Trustees in 2020 awarded grants and Program Related Investments totaling $130 million. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021-2030 Strategic Plan.

SOURCE Highmark Health

Related Links

https://www.highmarkhealth.org


ORADELL, N.J., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntington Learning Center, the nation's leading tutoring and test prep provider with approximately 300 locations nationwide and a growing roster of online programs was recently awarded the Gold Stevie award in the Product and Services Education category, and Huntington president Anne Huntington Sharma was named a Silver Stevie winner as a Maverick of the Year.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.'s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations - public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, large and small.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning "crowned," the awards will be virtually presented to winners during a live event on Wednesday, June 30.

More than 3,800 nominations - a record number - from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Virtual Event of the Year, and App of the Year, among others.

Of Huntington's application highlighting innovative program development in the face of the pandemic, one judge stated, "[Huntington's] PK-12 Personalized Learning Solution is a great way to have students learn many things during a challenging time. Looking at their essay, I believe [Huntington] made a huge difference in many students' lives."

Anne Huntington Sharma was acknowledged for doing a "great job in leveraging the company's core assets in a trying time, as well as achieving strategic growth before the pandemic. [A] well deserved recognition."

"This is a special moment for Huntington Learning Center. We have stayed true to our mission and vision while completely transforming our company in real time in order to not only survive, but thrive. Our students and national network of franchisees have the tools necessary to continue to fulfill our 44 year mission. To be recognized for our efforts by the American Business Awards and win multiple Stevies is extremely humbling and means a lot," said Anne.

For information about Huntington Learning Center visit https://huntingtonhelps.com

Interested in franchise opportunities? please visit www.HuntingtonFranchise.com or call 1-800-653-8400.

About Huntington Learning Center

Huntington Learning Center is the nation's leading tutoring and test prep provider. We offer customized programs in-person, online, and hybrid options. Our certified teachers provide individualized instruction in phonics, reading, writing, study skills, elementary and middle school math, Algebra through Calculus, Chemistry, and other sciences. It preps for the SAT and ACT, as well as state and standardized exams. Huntington programs develop the skills, confidence, and motivation to help students succeed and meet the needs of Common Core State Standards. Huntington is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Founded in 1977, Huntington's mission is to give every student the best education possible. Learn how Huntington can help at www.HuntingtonHelps.com and for franchising opportunities, visit www.HuntingtonFranchise.com.

Press Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Huntington Learning Center
The new law office will double as a resource center for its local community. Community members will be able to use the new office's technology, including printers, scanners, and computers, to complete important documentation pertaining to their immigration case. The resource center will be open each weekday (Monday  Friday) from 8am-5pm by appointment only and is staffed by a bi-lingual English and Spanish office manager.

Shirazi has dedicated her career to focusing on immigration cases and specifically family-based and immigration court cases for the past 20 years. The firm's goal is to provide their clients with energetic, effective, and aggressive representation in all areas of U. S. immigration law. Shirazi's representation includes deportation defense, naturalization, political asylum, federal litigation, as well as family and employment-based petitions.

Shirazi comments that immigrants she will serve "almost always have only one time to get it right." She goes on to encourage anyone facing immigration court to talk with at least three attorneys that only focus on immigration prior to hiring their lawyer.

Amna Shirazi, a first generation American, grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Georgia State University College of Law for her J.D. and Emory University School of Law for her LLM. Shirazi, a 2016 Leadership Georgia alumni, has been awarded several peer reviewed and prestigious awards for her outstanding work in immigration, the Fulton County Daily Report "Rising Star" award, Georgia Trend Magazine's 40 under 40, Super Lawyers and Georgia Trend Magazine's Legal Elite.

To learn more, visit https://shirazilaw.com/. To make an appointment at the resource center, please call ahead at (229) 520-8875. The Tifton office is located in historic downtown Tifton at 402 N Park Ave., Tifton, GA 31794 and is open to the whole South Georgia community.

Media contact: 404-523-3611

SOURCE Shirazi Immigration Law

Related Links

https://shirazilaw.com


ALBANY, N.Y., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The genetic testing services market is expected to gain a considerable share across the forecast period of 2019-2027 on the back of the rising use across various applications such as obstetrics, oncology, ancestry, and others. Individuals are being made aware of the importance of early disease diagnosis, which is boosting the growth prospects of the genetic testing services market. Early diagnosis helps in minimizing the severity of the disease and leads to reduced mortality, which proves beneficial for the patients.

Genetic testing services comprise a wide range of laboratory tests undertaken to identify the chromosomes, DNA, proteins, RNA, cytogenic, biochemical, or molecular methods. The advantages related to genetic testing will bring immense growth opportunities during the forecast period.

Request for Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Genetic Testing Services Market  https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/covid19.php

The analysts at Transparency Market Research (TMR), after a systematic and thorough analysis of each growth factor estimate that the global genetic testing services market will expand at a CAGR of 7.3 percent across the forecast period of 2019-2027. The global genetic testing services market was valued at US$ 41.2 bn in 2018 and is prognosticated to reach US$ 78.3 bn by 2027, the end year of the assessment period.

The penetration of information technology at a rapid rate across the healthcare sector will serve as a vital growth propeller for the genetic testing services market. The heightening influence of technology will bring extensive growth to the genetic testing services market. Furthermore, the need for novel detection techniques in genomics will invite significant growth opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the demand for testing exponentially, which will prove to be fruitful for the growth of the genetic testing services market.

Request Brochure of Genetic Testing Services Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/brochure.php

Key Findings of the Report

Promotion of Early Cancer Testing to Multiply the Growth of the Genetic Testing Services Market

The government bodies of numerous countries are designing initiatives and programs to encourage the early diagnosis of cancer among their citizens. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. Nearly 70 percent of deaths are caused due to cancer in low and middle-income countries. Early diagnosis is the key to prevent deaths related to cancer. All these factors lead to an increase in the demand for genetic testing services.

Purchase the Genetic Testing Services Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php

COVID-19 Impact

The novel coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc around the world with great transmission levels and massive fatality rate. Testing, tracing, and tracking are the most important tools for controlling the spread of the virus. The genetic testing services market is witnessing tremendous growth during the pandemic due to the escalating demand for RT-PCR testing. RT-PCR technique is regarded as the gold standard for the COVID-19 and hence, based on this aspect, the genetic testing services market will gain considerable momentum during the assessment period.

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Genetic Testing Services Market: Growth Drivers

The emergence of novel detection technologies will serve as a vital growth generator for the genetic testing services market

Rising awareness among a large chunk of the global populace about the importance of early diagnosis will bring immense growth opportunities for the genetic testing services market

Browse Our Latest Reports - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/latest.htm

Genetic Testing Services Market: Major Players

Some well-entrenched players in the genetic testing services market are:

NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Exact Sciences Corporation

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

23andMe, Inc.

Eurofins Scientific

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Illumina, Inc.

Ambry Genetics

Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Healthcare Industry:

Central Lab Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/central-lab-market.html

Bone Growth Stimulators Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/bone-growth-stimulator-market.html

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Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.

TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision."

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Press Release Source: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/genetic-testing-services-market.htm

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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
DUBAI, U.A.E, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The global isomaltulose market is forecast to grow at 5.3 % CAGR throughout the forecast period of 2021-2031. Isomaltulose has low glycemic index and is particularly useful for diabetic patients with impaired insulin sensitivity. Cardiovascular health benefits and balanced blood glucose profile is driving the isomaltulose market sales. Isomaltulose has no side or long term effects when used for a prolonged period making it highly popular among Food and beverage manufacturers, evaluated ESOMAR-certified consulting firm Future Market Insights (FMI).

According to the study, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) sanctioned the use of isomaltulose as a low carbohydrate alternative to regular sugar. The populations in developed economies are willing to pay extra from clean label products with no artificial flavoring and coloring paving way for isomaltulose market growth.

"Consistent discovery and understanding of various health benefits of isomaltulose backed by Government support towards usage of isomaltulose in food and beverage industries will accelerate the production resulting in tremendous market growth," remarks the FMI analyst.

Request a report sample with 250 pages to gain comprehensive insights at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-13118

Key Takeaways

The U.S. isomaltulose market is forecast to grow at 5.8% CAGR on the backs of rising incidences of childhood obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular ailments.

Growing emphasis on healthy life style and clean eating along with high consumption of processed food are key market sales drivers in Germany .

. Isomaltulose market in UK is expected to grow 3% y-o-y in 2021 due to rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and surging demands for cold drinks and beverages.

Increasing demand for clean label food products will create opportunities for growth in India .

. New beverage launches from Chinese manufacturers strengthen China's dominance in East Asia isomaltulose market.

Prominent Drivers

Isomaltulose is gaining popularity among diabetic patients owing to its immunity benefits and reducing blood triglyceride level leading to increased market demand.

Growing insistence from customers towards usage of organic ingredients in energy drinks, and chocolate bars is expected to aid the isomaltulose market growth.

Rising emphasis on developing high nutritional value and multi functional food items by the food and beverage companies will boost isomaltulose market demand.

Key Restraints

High probability of malabsorption due to isomaltulose use might negatively influence the demand.

High cost of isomaltulose in comparison with normal sugar hampers the market sales.

Discover more about the isomaltulose market with figures and data tables, along with the table of contents. You will also find detailed market segmentation on https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/isomaltulose-market

Competitive Landscape

Leading players profiled by FMI operating in isomaltulose market include Cargill Inc, Merck KGaA, BENEO GmbH, Qingdao Oriental Tongxiang International Trading Co.,Ltd , Anhui Elite Industrial Co.,Ltd, Now Foods, ErgoNutrition among others. According to FMI, customers are switching towards low carbohydrate food items pushing the market players towards developing low calorie food item to cater the rising demand. For instance, Functional carbohydrates are present in PalatinoseTM was scientifically validated by BENEO.

Rise in diabetic patients and obesity are promoting the manufacturers to create low calorie alternatives. Surging online retails market is helping market players to capture larger market. For instance, 3Action Guarana-Speed on Top by Luked is the latest energy drink that contains PalatinoseTM.

More Insights on FMI's Isomaltulose Market

The latest market study on global isomaltulose market by Future Market Insights gives a detailed segmentation for the forecast period of 2021-2031. In order to gain a better perspective of the global market potential, its growth, trends, and opportunities, the market is segmented on the basis of grade (Food grade isomaltulose, Pharma grade isomaltulose), end use (Fluoridated Salt, Table Top/ Spoon-for-spoon Sweeteners, Supplements and OTC Medicine, Ingredients, Bakery Products, Breakfast Cereals and Bars, Dairy Products, Frozen Desserts, Beverages, confectionary) and across major regions (North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia and Oceania, Middle East & Africa).

Our experts will answer your queries about the report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-13118

Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage on Food and Beverage Domain

Allulose market: The global allulose market report by FMI gives an in-depth insight on the future expansion prospects, trends and challenges that market is likely to face in the upcoming decade. Key statistics regarding key segments have been presented across prominent geographies, along with a detailed assessment of the market's competitive landscape.

Isomalt market: Future Market Insights gives a detailed segmentation on the global isomalt market with upcoming market trends, challenges and future growth dynamics across key geographies and prominent segments. The report provides a holistic approach, mapping the competitive landscape with detailed analysis on established players, new entrants, and opportunities likely to prevail across the 2021-2031 decade.

Policosanol market: The policosanol market study published by FMI offers a comprehensive analysis and focused views on major trends expected to provide shape to future growth prospects. The report provides detailed analysis of the significant drivers, trends, challenges and opportunities prevailing for the forthcoming decade across key geographies along with competitive landscape of the upcoming decade.

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai, and has delivery centers in the UK, U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

Contact:

Abhishek Budholiya

Future Market Insights,

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Plot No: JLT-PH2-X2A,

Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai,

United Arab Emirates

For Sales Enquiries: [email protected]

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Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/

Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/isomaltulose-market

Press Release Source: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/press-release/isomaltulose-market

SOURCE Future Market Insights
HOUSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) announced it has been awarded a contract to complete the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for BUA Group's new, modern refinery facility in Nigeria.

The award marks the continuation of a strong relationship with BUA Group, a leading agricultural and industrial chemicals conglomerate, after KBR successfully completed the conceptual feasibility study for the project in 2018.

The facility will support fuel production for Nigeria's domestic and regional markets, helping reduce the country's dependence on imported supplies. Elements of the work will include sulphur removal facilities, water treatment facilities to meet high level environmental standards, and heat integration to ensure long standing efficiency of production.

"KBR's Sustainable Technology Solutions business is committed to helping provide and shape sustainable and efficient solutions to its clients globally," said Jay Ibrahim, KBR President  Sustainable Technology Solutions. "This contract outlines our strong position as a market leader in this sector, and we are excited to continue working with BUA in this critical next phase of the project."

Sustainability is fundamental to all of KBR's activities, guiding our approach, and informing our global activities to support our people, our communities and our planet for future generations. We take great pride in our role supporting clients to advance their sustainable technologies, with the goal of ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our carbon footprint. At KBR, we continually strive to develop new technologies and solutions that benefit our planet.

About KBR

We deliver science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies around the world. KBR employs approximately 29,000 people worldwide with customers in more than 80 countries and operations in 40 countries.

KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, and long- term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver.

Visit www.kbr.com

About BUA Group

Established in 1988, BUA Group is one of Africa's largest diversified groups operating out of Nigeria with its key interests in foods, mining, manufacturing and infrastructure. Its vision is to unlock opportunities that will drive sustainable development whilst providing value to all stakeholders and the African continent.

www.buagroup.com

Forward Looking Statement

The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the significant adverse impacts on economic and market conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic; the company's ability to respond to the challenges and business disruption presented by the COVID-19 pandemic; the recent dislocation of the global energy market; the company's ability to realize cost savings and efficiencies relating to the streamlining of its Energy Solutions business; the company's ability to manage its liquidity; the company's ability to continue to generate anticipated levels of revenue, profits and cash flow from operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and any resulting economic downturn; the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company.

KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

SOURCE KBR, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.kbr.com


Korea's Green New Deal Policies focuses on realizing the sustainable growth in economic, social, and environmental sectors under the paradigm change for eco-friendly energy city. As witnessed in several large cities, a circular economic cooperation model is being established to overcome waste problems at the overcrowded cities and industries.

The Korean government is trying to establish a society where waste are recirculated as a resource and their environmental abuse are decreased through "Recirculation Resource Certification System". Established in 2018, the program minimizes the volume of wastes and manages the wastes to reuse them. Moreover, many organic wastes such as wood waste, livestock manure, food waste, sewage sludge, and industrial sludge that used to be dumped in the ocean are now being converted in many different ways to fertilizer or dried biofuel.

However, converting organic waste to solid biofuel usually requires a large investment and operation cost including facilities, equipment, utilities, and energy. Thus, Kinava's new technology of Hybrid Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) costs only 1/3 of utilities and energy compared to conventional drying technology. On top of that it effectively addresses the stench problems of stinky organic waste.

Kinava Co. and Korea East-West Power Co. are collaborating on Hybrid Hydrothermal Carbonization Green Pellet Pilot Project, which demonstrates to convert sewage sludge and wood wastes to biosoild fuel at Dangjin Power Plant. High interest in renewable energy by utility company is accelerating waste to energy business and investment from various investors including venture capitals. Specifically, global expansion of the related business is witnessed recently thanks to huge investment and government supports on green energy projects both domestically and internationally.

The demands for the volume reduction of organic wastes, such as sewage sludge, food wastes, and livestock manures, are expanding in the United States as well as conversions to biosolid fuels. Therefore, employing the Hybrid Hydrothermal Carbonization with catalyst developed by Kinava's research team leads to effective treatment processes and outstanding high-caloric and eco-friendly biofuel businesses. It matches perfectly with conventional drying technology if the Hybrid HTC reactor is installed as a pre-processor of the dryer. It actually gives the same effect of double or triple up the capacity of dryer.

The global market for organic waste to energy sector is expected to continuously grow as a core business until 2026, leading to expanded investment in green energy fuel. For more information, please visit Kinava's website. (www.kinava.com)

SOURCE Kinava
MONTREAL, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - The Lion Electric Company (NYSE: LEV) (TSX: LEV) ("Lion" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, today announced that it will release its 2021 first quarter results on May 17, 2021, before market opens. A conference call and webcast will be held on May 17, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss the results.

To participate in the conference call, dial (236) 714-3941 or (833) 329-1697 (toll free). A live webcast of the conference call will also be available at www.thelionelectric.com under the "Events and Presentation" page of the "Investors" section. An archive of the event will be available shortly after the conference call.

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.

SOURCE Lion Electric

Related Links

https://thelionelectric.com/


The first-place winner is Abi Jo Wanek from North Rose-Wolcott High School in North Rose, New York, who was awarded a $25,000 scholarship to Long Island University. Second-place winner Phoenix Boggs from Edgewood Junior/Senior High School in Merritt Island, Florida received a $10,000 scholarship to LIU. Third-place winner Kaitlyn Gavin from Valley Stream Central High School in Valley Stream, New York, received a $10,000 scholarship to LIU.

The remaining finalists include Mona Shadded, Daniel Imperato, Maximilian Garibay-Deasy, Caroline Hsu, Riley Meckley, Penelope Keeble and Joseph Johnston, who all received $10,000 scholarships to LIU.

High school juniors and seniors throughout the country were invited to compete in the prestigious Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest, sponsored by The Roosevelt School at Long Island University and the Theodore Roosevelt Association, for a chance to win prizes and up to $25,000 in scholarships to LIU. Students were tasked with utilizing their critical thinking, leadership, and independent research skills to develop and deliver a speech on President Theodore Roosevelt. Monetary prizes were donated through the generosity of Robert Friedman.

"The leadership, poise and determination exhibited by Theodore Roosevelt taught us many lessons about American society that still ring true to this day," said Tweed Roosevelt, chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute, professor at LIU, and great-grandson of the illustrious president. "The exemplary critical thinking and research skills demonstrated by these students shows the importance of applying history to the challenges we face today. They embody TR's belief that inspiring young people to strive for greatness gives them the skills they need to succeed."

"All of the participants in the Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest should be proud that they challenged themselves to present their insight and creativity on a national stage," said Long Island University President Kimberly R. Cline. "Long Island University is committed to accelerating the exceptional and making college more accessible by awarding deserving students with millions of dollars in scholarships each year. These scholarship recipients are hard-working and incredibly bright students, and we look forward to welcoming them to the LIU community."

The panel of four judges for the Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest included:

Tweed Roosevelt, great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, Professor at Long Island University, and Chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute.

Howard Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Alice L. George, Vice President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Robert Friedman, judge of the Theodore Roosevelt Association's NYC Public Speaking Contest since 1992.

Winning presentations can be viewed on the Theodore Roosevelt Institute website at https://liu.edu/roosevelt/contest .

About the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA)

The Theodore Roosevelt Association, headquartered in Oyster Bay, New York, is a national nonprofit and nonpartisan organization chartered by an act of Congress in 1920 to perpetuate the memory and ideals of America's 26th President. The TRA supports new scholarship about Roosevelt, his life and times in its quarterly Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal and through conferences and presentations by leading historians and authors. The Association also supports the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Fund for research grants at the American Museum of Natural History, and sponsors various programs that develop tomorrow's leaders.

About the Theodore Roosevelt Institute (TRI)

The Theodore Roosevelt Institute, part of the Roosevelt School at Long Island University, serves as a home for research, public seminars, workshops, educational programs, and conferences about Roosevelt, his times, and contemporaries. As a hands-on learning space, the TRI showcases many of the 26th President's writings and collections. As a forum for academic assessment and discussion of his legacy, conferences and events led by preeminent scholars offer public access to local history and an ability to connect with that history in a very real way.

About Long Island University

Long Island University, founded in 1926, continues to redefine higher education, providing high-quality academic instruction by world-class faculty. Recognized by Forbes for its emphasis on experiential learning and by the Brookings Institution for its "value added" to student outcomes, LIU offers over 250 degree programs, with a network of 270,000 alumni that includes industry leaders and entrepreneurs across the globe. Visit liu.edu for more information.

SOURCE Long Island University

Related Links

www.liu.edu


NEW YORK, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE: LFT) ("we", "LFT" or "the Company") today reported its first quarter 2021 results. GAAP Net income attributable to common shareholders for the quarter was $2.80 million, or $0.11 per share. Distributable earnings for the quarter was $2.84 million, or $0.11 per share. The Company has also issued a detailed presentation of its results, which can be viewed at www.lumentfinancetrust.com.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

The Company will also host a conference call on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, at 8:30 AM ET to provide a business update and discuss the financial results for the first quarter of 2021. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 1-877-870-4263 (US) or 1-412-317-0790 (International). Note: there is no passcode; please ask the operator to be joined into the Lument Finance Trust call. A live webcast, on a listen-only basis, is also available and can be accessed through the URL:

https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2022/41302

For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a recorded replay will be available for on-demand viewing approximately one hour after the end of the event through the Company's website https://lumentfinancetrust.com/ and by telephone dial-in. The replay call-in number is 1-877-344-7529 (US) or 1-412-317-0088 (International) with passcode 10156376.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this release, the Company presents certain financial measures that are not calculated according to generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). Specifically, the Company is presenting distributable earnings, which constitutes a non-GAAP financial measure within the meaning of Item 10(e) of Regulation S-K and is net income under GAAP. While we believe the non-GAAP information included in this press release provides supplemental information to assist investors in analyzing our results, and to assist investors in comparing our results with other peer issuers, these measures are not in accordance with GAAP, and they should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, our financial information calculated in accordance with GAAP. The methods of calculating non-GAAP financial measures may differ substantially from similarly titled measures used by other companies. Our GAAP financial results and the reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated.

GAAP to Distributable Earnings Reconciliation





Three months Ended







March 31, 2021



Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Information







Net Income (loss) attributable to common shareholders

$ 2,804,935



Adjustments for non-Distributable Earnings







Unrealized (Gain) Loss on mortgage servicing rights

20,455



Subtotal

20,455



Other Adjustments







Recognized compensation expense related to restricted common stock

2,885



Adjustment for (provision for) income taxes

14,713



Subtotal

17,598













Distributable Earnings

$ 2,842,988













Weighted average shares outstanding - Basic and Diluted

24,943,383



Distributable Earnings per weighted share outstanding - Basic and Diluted

$ 0.11





About LFT

LFT is a Maryland corporation focused on investing in, financing and managing a portfolio of commercial real estate debt investments. The Company primarily invests in transitional floating rate commercial mortgage loans with an emphasis on middle-market multi-family assets.

LFT is externally managed and advised by OREC Investment Management, LLC d/b/a Lument Investment Management, a Delaware limited liability company.

The Company changed its name from Hunt Companies Finance Trust, Inc. to Lument Finance Trust, Inc., effective December 28, 2020.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

Investors, security holders and other interested persons may find additional information regarding the Company at the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov/ or the Company website www.lumentfinancetrust.com or by directing requests to: Lument Finance Trust, 230 Park Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10169, Attention: Investor Relations.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release, any related webcast / conference call, and other oral statements made by our representatives from time to time may constitute forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. You can identify forward-looking statements by use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "plan," "continue," "intend," "should," "may," "will," "seek," "would," "could," or similar expressions or other comparable terms, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, may be forward-looking: the return on equity; the yield on investments; the ability to borrow to finance assets; and risks associated with investing in real estate assets, including changes in business conditions and the general economy. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information currently available to us on the date of this press release or the date on which such statements are first made. Actual results may differ from expectations, estimates and projections. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements in this press release and/or any related webcast / conference call and should consider carefully the factors described in Part I, Item IA "Risk Factors" in our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other current or periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), when evaluating these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond our control. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and will continue to be amplified by, or in the future may be amplified by, the COVID-19 outbreak. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in our 2020 10-K which is available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by applicable law, we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.





SOURCE Lument Finance Trust, Inc.
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, is honored to announce the creation of the LUNGevity Community Champions program. Part of the organization's Health Equity and Diversity Initiatives, the program identifies and shines a light on community leaders whose work in engaging at-risk communities with lung cancer programs can inspire others.

LUNGevity named Karriem Watson, DHS, MS, MPH, as the program's first honoree for his dedication to addressing the needs of Chicago's neighborhoods at risk for lung cancer.

A native of Muskegon Heights, Michigan, Dr. Watson serves as the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement for the University of Illinois Cancer Center. He is also the Associate Executive Director of the Mile Square Health Center, which has the distinction of being among a handful of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the United States that has a direct affiliation with an academic medical center. UI Health Mile Square has 13 sites across Illinois and serves over 40,000 patients annually.

Dr. Watson's research and publications are deeply rooted in community engagement, health equity, and expanding clinical trials access to underrepresented groups. Recognized by his peers for his advancement of community health sciences, he has received funding from the National Institute of Health to address breast cancer disparities among African American women and cancer screening among racial/ethnic minorities. He also received financial support from the Chicago Department of Public Health to establish tobacco cessation and lung cancer screening.

"We're thrilled to name Dr. Watson as our first Community Champion," explained Jeanne Regnante, LUNGevity's Chief Health Equity and Diversity Officer. "Throughout his incredible career, Karriem has worked to highlight the intersectionality between health disparities, health equity, and social justice. We know others will be moved by his drive to ensure quality cancer care for all."

For Dr. Watson, his work is shaped by his personal experiences navigating the health care system. "My passion and commitment to serving communities are what led me to my current career path. When I moved to Chicago over 18 years ago, I was uninsured when I first received health care at Mile Square. Now, it is a full-circle moment that I am in leadership for the organization."

"Cancer took my parents and my brother, so this mission is very personal. I am honored to help patients in our community receive world-class cancer care and preventative services regardless of their ability to pay," he added.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity Foundation is the nation's leading lung cancer organization focused on improving outcomes for people with lung cancer through research, policy initiatives, education, support, and engagement for patients, survivors, and caregivers. LUNGevity seeks to make an immediate impact on quality of life and survivorship for everyone touched by the diseasewhile promoting health equity by addressing disparities throughout the care continuum. LUNGevity works tirelessly to advance research into early detection and more effective treatments, provide information and educational tools to empower patients and their caregivers, promote impactful public policy initiatives, and amplify the patient voice through research and engagement. The organization provides an active community for patients and survivorsand those who help them live longer and better lives.

Comprehensive resources include a medically vetted and patient-centric website, a toll-free HELPLine for support, the International Lung Cancer Survivorship Conference, and an easy-to-use Clinical Trial Finder, among other tools. All of these programs are to achieve our visiona world where no one dies of lung cancer. LUNGevity Foundation is proud to be a four-star Charity Navigator organization.

Please visit www.LUNGevity.org to learn more.

About Lung Cancer in the US

About 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime.

More than 228,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year.

About 60%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers.

Lung cancer takes more lives than the next three leading cancers (colorectal, breast, and prostate) combined.

Only 19% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically.

SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation

Related Links

http://www.LUNGevity.org


DALLAS, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A jury in Midland County has returned a $5.9 million verdict against Glen Rose, Texas-based energy construction company DanCar Energy Construction, LLC, finding it responsible for a 2017 multiple-fatality accident caused by an employee speeding to a jobsite in inclement weather.

Jurors agreed that both DanCar and its employee bore responsibility for the collision. The company's policy required that workers "show up" and sign in on inclement weather days to get paid.

The verdict, which was one of the first trials for Midland County since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, is reportedly the largest verdict in the county for a personal injury case. Michael Lyons, Chris Simmons, Chris Carr and Stephen Higdon of the Dallas-based trial firm Lyons & Simmons represented Neva Rogers who lost three of her children in the tragic crash.

The January 2017 wreck occurred on Highway 158 southeast of Midland when Luis Rangel Jr. lost control of his truck on a slick road, sliding into oncoming traffic, and slamming into the car driven by Kantrell Hires, who was traveling with his children  ages 16, 14 and 12.

Mr. Hires and all three children died. Mr. Rangel was later convicted of four counts of criminally negligent homicide.

"This was a case about a company policy that should never have been in place, and needed to end before another parent had to experience the type of unthinkable tragedy Neva has endured. I'm so proud that this jury told the industry this kind of policy is dangerous and this practice should end," said Mr. Lyons.

"We were repeatedly told we were wrong about this case. We were told we could not win this case in this jurisdiction," said Mr. Simmons. "We are thankful that the Midland County jury saw that this was not just a simple case of careless drivingthis was a dangerous policy."

The case is Neva Rogers, et al. vs. Luis Rangel, Jr. & DanCar Energy Construction, LLC, Midland County 385th District Court, Case No. CV5442.

About Lyons & Simmons LLP

Dallas-based Lyons & Simmons, LLP, is a trial boutique representing clients in wrongful death, personal injury, products liability and complex "bet-the-company" business litigation matters across the country. To learn more, visit http://www.Lyons-Simmons.com.

Media Contact:

Rhonda Reddick

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Lyons & Simmons

Related Links

http://www.lyons-simmons.com


WINNIPEG, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV: MPH) (OTC: MCUJF), a company focused on the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products for patients and prescribers in the United States market, today reported its results from operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

Quarter Ended March 31, 2021 Highlights:

Recorded total net revenue of $4.9 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared to $3.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and;

during the quarter ended compared to for the quarter ended and; Recorded total net revenue from the sale of AGGRASTAT  of $2.6 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared to $2.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and;

of during the quarter ended compared to for the quarter ended and; Diversified product portfolio with revenues from the Marley Drug business of $2.1 million and ZYPITAMAG  revenues of $161,000 during the quarter ended March 31, 2021 and;

and ZYPITAMAG revenues of during the quarter ended and; Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA 1 ) for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was $31,000 compared to adjusted EBITDA of negative $1.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and;

) for the quarter ended was compared to adjusted EBITDA of negative for the quarter ended and; Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was $1.0 million compared to $1.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 .

Financial Results

AGGRASTAT revenues were consistent when compared to the same period in the previous year. The Company continues to maintain the majority of patient market share in the GPI IIb/IIIa drug class.

ZYPITAMAG contributed $161,000 of revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared to $163,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The Company continues to pursue innovative marketing strategies to grow the usage of the product.

The Marley Drug business, acquired on December 17, 2020, contributed $2.1 million of revenue to the Company for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. Marley provides excellent customer service, cost competitive medications, expedited direct to patient delivery, and is licensed in 49 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Its advanced operating systems include automated pill dispensing, an extended supply generic drug program, and an effective customer communication system. Marley has been successful in marketing directly to customers, providing access to medications without the need for insurance, and building a nationwide customer base.

Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $31,000 compared to negative $1.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The improvement in adjusted EBITDA experienced in 2021 is the result of increased revenues, primarily from the acquisition of Marley Drug, partially offset by higher selling expenses primarily related to the operation of the Marley Drug business.

Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was $1.0 million or $0.10 per share compared to net loss of $1.5 million or $0.14 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The main factors contributing to the decrease in the net loss recorded for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 were the increased revenues, partially offset by higher selling expenses as noted above.

At March 31, 2021, the Company had unrestricted cash totaling $2.9 million, compared to $2.7 million of unrestricted cash held as of December 31, 2020. The Company is in the process of obtaining debt financing from a commercial bank to replenish its cash balance following the Marley Drug acquisition in December 2020. Cash from operating activities for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 totaled $224,000 compared to cash used in operating activities of $822,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

All amounts referenced herein are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

Notes

(1) The Company defines EBITDA as "earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and other income or expense" and Adjusted EBITDA as "EBITDA adjusted for noncash and non-recurring items". The terms "EBITDA" and "Adjusted EBITDA", as it relates to the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 results prepared using IFRS, do not have any standardized meaning according to IFRS. It is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.

Conference Call Info:

Topic: Medicure's Annual 2020 and Q1 2021 Results

Call date: Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Time: 7:30 AM Central Time (8:30 AM Eastern Time)

Canada toll: 1 (416) 764-8659

North American toll-free: 1 (888) 664-6392

Passcode: not required

Webcast: This conference call will be webcast live over the internet and can be accessed from the Medicure investor relations page at the following link: http://www.medicure.com/investors

You may request international country-specific access information by e-mailing the Company in advance. Management will accept and answer questions related to the financial results and operations during the question-and-answer period at the end of the conference call. A recording of the call will be available following the event at the Company's website.

About Medicure Inc.

Medicure is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the U.S. cardiovascular market. The present focus of the Company is the marketing and distribution of AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection and ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets in the United States, where they are sold through the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Medicure Pharma Inc. Medicure also operates Marley Drug, Inc. ("Marley"), a pharmacy located in North Carolina that offers an Extended Supply mail order drug program serving 49 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Marley is committed to improving the health status of its patients and the communities they serve while reducing overall health care costs for employers and other health care consumers. For more information visit www.marleydrug.com. To learn more about The Extended Supply Generic Drug Program call 800.286.6781 or email [email protected]. For more information on Medicure please visit www.medicure.com. For additional information about AGGRASTAT, refer to the full Prescribing Information. For additional information about ZYPITAMAG, refer to the full Prescribing Information.

To be added to Medicure's e-mail list, please visit:

http://medicure.mediaroom.com/alerts

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Information: Statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes", "may", "plans", "will", "estimates", "continues", "anticipates", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions, may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. federal securities laws (such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are hereinafter collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements, include estimates, analysis and opinions of management of the Company made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors which the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances. Inherent in forward-looking statements are known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's ability to predict or control that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, and as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, among others, the Company's future product revenues, expected results, including future revenue from P5P, the likelihood of receiving a PRV, expected future growth in revenues, stage of development, additional capital requirements, risks associated with the completion and timing of clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to market the Company's products, the ability to protect its intellectual property, dependence upon collaborative partners, changes in government regulation or regulatory approval processes, and rapid technological change in the industry. Such statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about: general business and economic conditions; the impact of changes in Canadian-US dollar and other foreign exchange rates on the Company's revenues, costs and results; the timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for the Company's research and development projects; the availability of financing for the Company's commercial operations and/or research and development projects, or the availability of financing on reasonable terms; results of current and future clinical trials; the uncertainties associated with the acceptance and demand for new products and market competition. The foregoing list of important factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of factors, other than as may be required by applicable legislation. Additional discussion regarding the risks and uncertainties relating to the Company and its business can be found in the Company's other filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities or the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and in the "Risk Factors" section of its Form 20F for the year ended December 31, 2020.

AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection and ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets are registered trademarks of Medicure International Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Financial Position

(expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)



March 31, 2021 December 31, 2020 Assets



Current assets:



Cash and cash equivalents $ 2,856 $ 2,716 Restricted cash 1,010 1,394 Accounts receivable 4,674 5,253 Inventories 4,837 5,139 Prepaid expenses 1,185 1,174 Total current assets 14,562 15,676 Noncurrent assets:



Property and equipment 1,546 1,640 Intangible assets 12,634 13,596 Goodwill 2,949 2,986 Other assets 150 156 Total noncurrent assets 17,279 18,378 Total assets $ 31,841 $ 34,054 Liabilities and Equity



Current liabilities:



Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 6,495 $ 6,979 Current portion of royalty obligation 326 362 Current portion of acquisition payable 629 637 Holdback payable 1,504 1,876 Current portion of contingent consideration 1,962 1,925 Current income taxes payable 162 164 Current portion of lease obligation 365 367 Total current liabilities 11,443 12,310 Noncurrent liabilities



Royalty obligation 279 335 Acquisition payable 1,146 1,132 Contingent consideration 52 51 Lease obligation 1,006 1,080 Total noncurrent liabilities 2,483 2,598 Total liabilities 13,926 14,908 Equity:



Share capital 80,917 80,917 Contributed surplus 10,347 10,294 Accumulated other comprehensive income (6,733) (6,497) Deficit (66,616) (65,568) Total Equity 17,915 19,146 Total liabilities and equity $ 31,841 $ 34,054

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Net Loss and Comprehensive Income (Loss)

(expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)

For the three months ended March 31 2021 2020





Revenue, net $ 4,936 $ 3,010 Cost of goods sold 1,927 1,542 Gross profit 3,009 1,468





Expenses



Selling 2,768 2,069 General and administrative 585 800 Research and development 581 858

3,934 3,727





Finance (income) costs:



Finance expense, net 121 73 Foreign exchange loss (gain), net 2 (868)

123 (795) Net loss before income taxes $ (1,048) $ (1,464)





Income tax (expense) recovery - -

- - Net loss $ (1,048) $ (1,464) Other comprehensive (loss) income:



Item that may be reclassified to profit or loss



Exchange differences on translation of foreign subsidiaries (236) 1,491 Other comprehensive (loss) income, net of tax (236) 1,491 Comprehensive (loss) income $ (1,284) $ 27





Loss per share



Basic $ (0.10) $ (0.14) Diluted $ (0.10) $ (0.14)

Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Cash Flows

(expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)

For the three months ended March 31 2021 2020 Cash (used in) provided by:



Operating activities:



Net loss for the period $ (1,048) $ (1,464) Adjustments for:



Current income tax recovery - - Amortization of property, plant and equipment 94 75 Amortization of intangible assets 800 608 Sharebased compensation 53 77 Write-down of inventories - 207 Finance expense (income), net 121 73 Unrealized foreign exchange loss 2 401 Change in the following:



Accounts receivable 595 516 Inventories 302 (1,899) Prepaid expenses (11) (110) Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (578) 680 Interest (paid) received, net (7) 14 Royalties paid (99) - Cash flows from (used) in operating activities 224 (822) Financing activities:



Repayment of lease liability (84) - Cash flows used in financing activities (84) - Foreign exchange gain (loss) on cash held in foreign currency - 545 Decrease in cash and cash equivalents 140 (277) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 2,716 12,965 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 2,856 $ 12,688

SOURCE Medicure Inc.

Related Links

www.medicure.com


LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vision Films, Inc ("Vision") is a boutique, industry-leading, worldwide distribution company with a library of over 800 feature films and documentaries, TV movies, and music specials from some of the most prolific talent in the world.

For 30 years, Lise Romanoff, Managing Director/CEO, has been a force in this traditionally male-dominated business and is one of the few women in the independent film space to own and run her own company.

Vision offers a "hybrid distribution model"  distributing directly to consumers domestically with a strong international sales division. Transparency is first and foremost; working closely with producers, providing publicity and marketing plans, and keeping producers informed is what sets Vision apart. Vision's model keeps costs down, provides 24/7 real-time producer reporting portals, and maximizes revenue for each title.

Vision designs custom release plans for each film, managing all release windows, deciding what is best for the long run of a film; from limited theatrical release to TVOD, SVOD, pay and free TV, as well as AVOD and physical sales [DVD and Blu-Ray] as they are not dead yet!

Vision is celebrating its success with the launch of a new website, VisionFilms.net, designed to more-thoroughly service their global licensing clientele and provide audiences detailed information on where to find and watch the films from their extensive catalogue.

Website visitors can watch trailers, search the database by various filters, explore thematically grouped films for holidays and other timely events [Black History Month, Earth Day, Mother's Day, LGBTQ, female filmmakers, etc.], and discover discounts from select platforms. Every film has a dedicated informational page with trailer, where to watch options, links to social media and official websites, plus marketing materials, top press, and more.

Lise Romanoff shares, "Vision Films is excited to share our new client- and consumer-facing website that invites cinephiles and all audiences in to explore our vast catalogue and where to find these films."

"From my early career working on film sets, to today selling and licensing films around the world, I love every facet of this industry," continues Romanoff. "Indie film is truly the most creative form of storytelling, no matter the genre or on what media platform one watches. Our goal is to continue working with the most talented independent filmmakers in the world, championing and promoting their projects to the broadest audience possible. I am especially fond of documentaries with compelling messages that make a difference in our world and have a soft spot for female filmmakers and female-driven storylines."

Notable releases include domestic-only titles like Break Even (Steve Guttenberg), 10 Things We Should Do Before We Break Up (Cristina Ricci, Hamish Linklater), Planetarium (Natalie Portman, Lily Depp), and Una (Rooney Mara, Riz Ahmed); international only releases include Adverse (Mickey Rourke, Lou Diamond Phillips) and Between Worlds (Nicholas Cage); and worldwide releases, including Chloe & Theo (Dakota Johnson, Mira Sorvino), Blood Pageant (Snoop Dogg), Hot Money and Living in the Future's Past (Jeff Bridges, General Wesley Clark), and Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story (Sam Waterston).

Domestically, Vision has its own DVD label and is a direct VOD aggregator with all major cable and digital TVOD, SVOD and AVOD platforms, including iNDEMAND (Comcast, Cox, Spectrum), DirecTV, Vubiquity, Dish, Shaw, Rogers, Telus, Bell, FandangoNow, iTunes, PlayStation, Xbox, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, Vimeo, Hoopla, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Tubi, Pluto, Roku, the Peacock and more.

Internationally, producers receive the same transparency and are provided copies of all license agreements with third party licensees. Vision's model divides world territories into geographic regions, Lise Romanoff handles the English-speaking world (USA/Canada, Australia/New Zealand, UK/Eire, Africa), France and Italy. Robby Amar, VP of International Sales, handles all of Asia, Middle East, India and parts of Europe, Almira Ravil handles Eastern Europe, Germany and Scandinavia, and Andres Santos handles Latin America. Kristen Bedno, formerly of Starz and Lionsgate, serves as VP of Distribution and Marketing, spearheading the growing domestic business.

Vision Films is always looking to fill their domestic pipeline and is actively seeking action, family, and rom-com genre films. They attend all sales markets including TIFF, MIPCOM, AFM, NATPE, Berlinale EFM, HK FILMART, MIPTV, and the Cannes Film Festival.

Romanoff is currently in her 9th year serving as a Senior Board Member of IFTA (International Film and Television Alliance) and is on their Executive Committee as well as their Legal Committee. She is an active member of OTT.X, an organization that is bringing together all aggregators and service companies in the digital world. A former producer, she still executive produces many films and series.

Lise Romanoff and Kristen Bedno are sought-after participants for speaking engagements, conferences, and by major trade publications.

For more information, visit visionfilms.net and like/follow on social:

Twitter @VisionFilmsInc

Instagram @Vision.Films

Facebook @VisionFilms

LinkedIn @vision-films-inc

Contact:

Andrea McKinnon

818-415-9442

[email protected]

SOURCE Vision Films, Inc.
BOSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of National Nurses Week, nurses and healthcare professionals with the Massachusetts Nurses Association will join with Boston City Councilor and Mayoral Candidate Annissa Essaibi George for an event on May 11 that will highlight the daunting challenges healthcare workers have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and legislative solutions nurses have proposed.

National Nurses Week Boston City Hall Event

Date: Tuesday, May 11

Time: 1 p.m.

Location: On the plaza outside Boston City Hall.

Details: Attendees will don masks and maintain responsible social distances. Speakers will include nurses and Annissa Essaibi George, who the MNA endorsed for Boston Mayor because of her strong public health leadership and ongoing support of frontline nurses and healthcare professionals.

To mark National Nurses Week, MNA nurses and healthcare professionals released "The State of Nursing in Massachusetts," a survey of more than 500 registered nurses showing that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated troubling healthcare trends such as unsafe patient assignments, diminished time with patients, and a lack of workplace safety. Email [email protected] for the full survey results and charts.

"This National Nurses Week, what nurses really want is not pizza or flowers or accolades," said Katie Murphy, a practicing ICU nurse and president of the MNA. "We would like to celebrate National Nurses Week with safe staffing, with workplace violence prevention, with occupational presumption, with the protection of essential services. Let's celebrate National Nurses Week with real action on the issues affecting patients and nurses at the bedside."

"Our healthcare system is broken and was not able to sufficiently respond to the needs of the COVID-19 crisis," said Essaibi George. "And when we needed them most, our nurses stepped up. Selfless, they put the health and safety of themselves and their families on the line each and every day. It's time we get our priorities straight and implement changes that provide our nurses a safe, quality work environment to deliver safe, quality care to their patients."

Since her first days on the Boston City Council, Annissa has fought to place at least one full-time nurse and one full-time social-emotional support specialist in every public school. She has also led the Council's response to the opioid epidemic, the homelessness crisis, and insufficient mental health care in Boston. Annissa has fiercely advocated for increasing the number of safe collection sites for sharps across the City of Boston, expanding access to mental health resources, challenging the stigma of addiction, rebuilding the Long Island Bridge, and creating a recovery campus, and ensuring mental health clinicians become a part of each Boston Police Department precinct.

National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6 and ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday. For 19 years, nurses have topped Gallup's ranking of the most trusted professions. They have been called "healthcare heroes" throughout the pandemic, but during National Nurses Week are seeking important, lasting changes to the Massachusetts healthcare system that properly protect and support patient safety, nurses, and other staff.

"The State of Nursing in Massachusetts" is a randomized survey of Massachusetts RNs conducted March 25 to March 30 by Boston-based Beacon Research. Nurses from all types of healthcare settings were involved in the survey, including teaching hospitals, community hospitals, non-hospital settings and non-direct patient care. A plurality of nurses who responded (45%) worked in hospitals and most (58%) were not MNA members.

The survey results demonstrate strong support among nurses for addressing issues that MNA nurses and healthcare professionals have proposed tackling through state legislation proposed during the 2021-2022 term, including presumption of workplace COVID-19 infection, personal protective equipment (PPE) data transparency, workplace violence prevention, independent studies of the nursing workforce, essential services protections, and a measure to relieve emergency department overcrowding by behavioral health patients. Read more: www.massnurses.org/RNSurvey2021.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses  Instagram.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association

Related Links

http://www.massnurses.org


BBA Inc. awarded contract for mineral resource estimate (MRE) on Beaufor Mine gold deposit.

New MRE to incorporate 2020-2021 drill program results and use new and more advanced 3D technology to treat vast amounts of historical data.

Excavation of exploration drift initiated to provide drill bays for testing depth extensions.

Montreal, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - MONARCH MINING CORPORATION ("Monarch" or the "Corporation") (TSX: GBAR) (OTCMKTS: GBARF) is pleased to announce that it has awarded the mineral resource estimate (MRE) contract for the Beaufor Mine gold project to BBA Inc.

The Beaufor Mine first entered commercial production in the early 1930's and over the years has produced over 1.1 million ounces of gold. The mine is currently on care and maintenance, which has given Monarch an opportunity to drill-test targets throughout the mine area. In June 2020, the Corporation initiated a 42,500-metre diamond drilling program to test near-mine targets.

Monarch has retained the services of the engineering consulting group BBA Inc. to update the resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine property. Up until December 2020, MREs for the Beaufor Mine used a polygonal method on cross sections. The MRE to be produced by BBA Inc. will represent the first block model type resource estimate for the property. It will include much of the historical information as well as results of the ongoing 2020-2021 drilling program. This work is in line with Monarch's vision and approach of using new and more advanced technologies to treat vast amounts of historical data that had previously been worked and viewed in a predominantly 2D format. The MRE is expected to be completed in early Q3 2021.

The results of the ongoing 2020-2021 drilling program to be included in the updated MRE represent 171 recently completed holes (~17,000 metres of drilling). Significant results include 783 g/t Au over 0.2 m and 293 g/t Au over 0.5 m (see press release dated October 1, 2020), 35.87 g/t Au over 9.8 m (see press release dated January 19, 2021) and 187.0 g/t Au over 0.5 m, 151.5 g/t Au over 0.5 m and 147.5 g/t Au over 0.3 m (see press release dated April 29, 2021).

Monarch has begun driving an exploration drift with drill bays at the lower-most level of the mine, approximately 900 metres below surface. The drill bays will allow the Corporation to properly test the continuity of the mineralized zones at depth (see Figures 1 and 2). Historical intersections, obtained from up to 150 metres below the mine workings, include 16.45 g/t Au over 6.75 m (hole 120-126), 17.06 g/t Au over 4.25 m (hole 18-150-69) and 26.11 g/t Au over 5.6 m (hole 128-35) (core lengths do not represent true thickness). The first phase of the exploration drift, currently in progress, consists of 75 metres of lateral development plus drill bays, which will allow for 4,400 metres of exploration drilling. This drilling is considered an integral part of the ongoing 42,500-m program.

"We are very much looking forward to seeing the results of the BBA Inc. mineral resource estimate, which will not only reflect the results of our most recent exploration drilling but will also reinterpret the geology and mineralization using 3D modelling. This work will allow us to review and revisit parts of the mine that may not have been included in the previous polygonal resource estimate. We are also thrilled to be doing exploration drilling below the current mine workings, which up until now has been limited by the lack of a proper exploration drilling drift and drill stations. Given the results we have seen to date and discoveries at neighbouring mines at deeper depths, we have great confidence that Beaufor's mineralization continues at depth," said Jean-Marc Lacoste, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monarch.

The technical and scientific content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Christian Tessier, P.Geo., the Corporation's qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

About Beaufor

The Beaufor Mine is located within the Bourlamaque Batholith at the eastern contact with the Dubuisson Formation. The Bourlamaque Batholith, a synvolcanic intrusion, is a major geological feature of the Val-d'Or mining camp. It is a quartziferous granodiorite cut by fine-grained dioritic dykes. Gold mineralization occurs in veins associated with shear zones dipping moderately south. Mineralization is associated with quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins resulting from the filling of shear and extension fractures. Gold-bearing veins show a close association with mafic dykes intruding the granodiorite. A National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine property was prepared for Monarch Mining in December 2020 by Carl Pelletier, P. Geo., InnovExplo Inc., and John Langton, P. Geo., JPL GeoServices Inc. The mineral resource estimate is listed in the table below.

Table 1: 2020 mineral resource estimate for the Beaufor Mine

Category Tonnes Grade (g/t Au) Gold (ounces) Measured 121,000 5.62 21,900 Indicated 310,100 7.10 70,800 Total M+I 431,100 6.68 92,700 Inferred 134,600 6.96 30,100

Mineral Resource Estimate notes:

1. The independent and qualified person for the 2020 MRE, as defined by NI 43-101, is Carl Pelletier, P.Geo. (InnovExplo Inc.), and the effective date is December 18, 2020. 2. These mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The mineral resource estimates follow CIM Definition Standards and Guidelines. 3. A capping of 68.5 g/t Au on assays was applied for zones 8, B, M, M1 and Q, and 34.25 g/t for all other zones. The DDH intercepts (min. 2.4 m) were capped at 16.5 g/t. 4. The estimate method was polygonal on cross-sections with a minimum width of 2.4 m using a density of 2.75 t/m3 for the 63 mineralized zones. 5. Measured resource polygons extend 8 m above and below development and up to 10 m laterally. Indicated resource polygons extend up to 20 m from DDH intercepts, along dip and along strike and a minimum of 2 polygons need to be in contact. Inferred resource polygons extend up to 40 m from DDH intercepts, along dip and along strike where a drill spacing ranges from 20 m to 40 m and/or in areas of isolated drill holes where mineralization is known. 6. The reasonable prospect for an eventual economical extraction is met by having a reasonable minimum width for the polygons, a cut-off grade of 3.20 g/t Au, application of constraining volumes on the blocks (potential underground scenario) below a 30 m crown pillar. The cut-off grades inputs are: a gold price of USD1,612/oz, a CAD:USD exchange rate of 1.34; a mining cost of $100/t for the long hole method and $145/t for the room and pillar method; a processing cost of $50/t; and G&A and environment of $13/t and includes the royalty of 1.0% and a refinery charge of $5/t. The cut-off grades should be re-evaluated in light of future prevailing market conditions (metal prices, exchange rate, mining cost, etc.). 7. Results are presented in situ. Ounce (troy) = metric tons x grade / 31.10348. The number of tonnes and ounces was rounded to the nearest hundred. Any discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding effects; rounding followed the recommendations as per NI 43-101. 8. InnovExplo Inc. is not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issue that could materially affect the mineral resource estimate.

About BBA Inc.

BBA Inc. has been providing a wide range of consulting engineering services for over 40 years. Today, its engineering, environmental and commissioning experts team up to quickly and accurately pinpoint the needs of industrial and institutional clients. The firm's expertise is recognized in the fields of energy, mining and metals, biofuels and oil and gas. With 14 offices across Canada to provide clients with local support and field presence, BBA Inc. is recognized for providing some of the industry's most innovative, sustainable and reliable solutions. www.bba.ca

About Monarch

Monarch Mining Corporation (TSX: GBAR) is a fully integrated mining company that owns four advanced projects, including the fully permitted past-producing Beaufor Mine, which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold over the last 30 years. Other advanced assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch's wholly owned and fully permitted Beacon 750 tpd mill. Monarch owns 28,725 hectares (287 km2) of mining assets in the prolific Abitibi mining camp that host 588,482 ounces of combined measured and indicated gold resources and 329,393 ounces of combined inferred resources.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Monarch's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied therein. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Table 2: Monarch combined gold resources



Tonnes (metric) Grade

(g/t Au) Ounces Croinor Gold1





Measured Resources 80,100 8.44 21,700 Indicated Resources 724,500 9.20 214,300 Total Measured and Indicated 804,600 9.12 236,000 Total Inferred 160,800 7.42 38,400 Beaufor Mine2





Measured Resources 121,000 5.62 21,900 Indicated Resources 310,100 7.10 70,800 Total Measured and Indicated 431,100 6.68 92,700 Total Inferred 134,600 6.96 30,100 McKenzie Break3





In-pit





Total Indicated 1,441,377 1.80 83,305 Total Inferred 2,243,562 1.44 104,038 Underground





Total Indicated 387,720 5.03 62,677 Total Inferred 1,083,503 4.21 146,555 Swanson4





In-pit





Total Indicated 1,864,000 1.76 105,400 Total Inferred 29,000 2.46 2,300 Underground





Total Indicated 91,000 2.86 8,400 Total Inferred 87,000 2.87 8,000 TOTAL COMBINED5





Measured and Indicated Resources



588,482 Inferred Resources



329,393

1 Source: Monarch Gold prefeasibility study (January 19, 2018) and resource estimate (January 8, 2016). This resource estimate was prepared for Monarch Gold and has not been reviewed by a qualified person for Monarch Mining as required under National Instrument 43-101 and is thus considered as an historical estimate. 2 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Beaufor Mine, December 18, 2020, Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada, Carl Pelletier, P. Geo., InnovExplo Inc. and John Langton, P. Geo., JPL GeoServices Inc. 3 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Evaluation Report on the McKenzie Break Property, February 1, 2021, Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada, Alain-Jean Beauregard, P.Geo., Daniel Gaudreault, P.Eng., Geologica Groupe-Conseil Inc., and Merouane Rachidi, P.Geo., Claude Duplessis, P.Eng., GoldMinds GeoServices Inc. 4 Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Swanson Project, January 22, 2021, Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada, Christine Beausoleil, P. Geo. and Alain Carrier, P. Geo., InnovExplo Inc. 5 Numbers may not add up due to rounding.

www.monarchmining.com

SOURCE Monarch Mining Corporation

Related Links

https://www.monarchmining.com/


VICTOR, N.Y., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Monte Nido & Affiliates, a leading national provider of eating disorder treatment for over 25 years, announces the upcoming opening of a new residential eating disorder center in Western New York. Opening in summer 2021 and located in the town of Victor, just outside of Rochester, Monte Nido Western New York will offer state-of-the-art, evidenced-based residential programming for eating disorders and co-occurring presentations for adults of all genders. The company is thrilled to expand their footprint within the region, making Monte Nido Western New York the sixth Monte Nido & Affiliates program in the state.

"Monte Nido prides itself on offering unique treatment plans that provide each individual with holistic, person-centric care, and for years, we've been asked by clients, families, and clinicians to expand to the Western New York area," said Candy Henderson, MS, Chief Executive Officer of Monte Nido & Affiliates. "Finally, that time has come. We were honored to find such a welcoming community in Victor and are immensely proud to be able to offer services to more and more communities in need across the state of New York."

Monte Nido Western New York will offer programming for adults of all genders with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and/or exercise dependency, as well as co-occurring substance use, trauma and psychiatric presentations. The residential setting in a home is designed to ensure the highest level of care outside of a hospital, offering high levels of medical and nursing oversight and personalized treatment models. When appropriate, clients can step down to day treatment programs in the region or one of the company's day treatment programs across the country.

According to the National Eating Disorder Association, 20 million women and 10 million men in the U.S. will have an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health illness, and early intervention can be a key factor in recovery. By expanding access to care, those in need of treatment will have a greater chance of recovery. "Eating disorders are prevalent and often go undetected or untreated," said Joel Jahraus, MD, CEDS, FAED, Chief Medical Officer of Monte Nido & Affiliates. "Our data shows a significant increase in the number of people from New York inquiring about eating disorder treatment options. These insights have prompted us to expand our programs from the New York City Metropolitan and immediate surrounding areas to Western New York, as the need for care closer to home increases."

Recently, Monte Nido celebrated their 25th year anniversary as a national leader in comprehensive eating disorder treatment. As the company continues to expand its nationwide footprint by entering new areas, Monte Nido will continue to serve thousands of clients working toward full recovery from their eating disorder.

For more information, or to inquire about services nationwide, please contact: 888-228-1253, or visit www.montenido.com

About Monte Nido & Affiliates

Monte Nido & Affiliates is one of the country's leading eating disorder treatment providers, offering inpatient, residential and day treatment programs for eating disorders. Founded in 1996, Monte Nido & Affiliates operates thirty-three programs in twelve states, with residential programs being Joint Commission accredited. Monte Nido & Affiliates includes four distinct eating disorder program brands: Monte Nido, Rosewood, Oliver-Pyatt Centers and Clementine.

Media Contact

Nierah Jinwright

Makovsky

212-508-9658

[email protected]

SOURCE Monte Nido

Related Links

http://www.montenido.com


CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- John W. Kennedy, Ph.D., CEO of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, Inc. (NJMEP), has been included in NJBIZ's 2021 ICON HONORS program. The program recognizes New Jersey business leaders over the age of 60 for their notable success and strong leadership both within and outside their field. He was chosen by an independent panel of judges because of his outstanding contributions that have improved both New Jersey and the manufacturing industry.

"My work in the community and for the manufacturing industry is not motivated by awards but I'm grateful to be recognized by NJBIZ," explains John W. Kennedy.

"The NJMEP team played a vital role in helping the manufacturing industry make it through the pandemic in 2020 and continues to be critical in its recovery. Individuals such as Robert Stramara, our COO; Sally White, Dir. Business Development; Constantina Meis, Communication Relations Manager; Laura Fisher, HR Manager; Mike Womack, Marketing & Comms. Manager and the contributions of so many other NJMEP personnel and partners are driving our industry forward each day,"

Kennedy continues, "Thank you NJBIZ for recognizing the work my team and I have done as well as giving us a platform to highlight the wonderful work of our state's manufacturers."

John W. Kennedy and all the honorees of NJBIZ's 2021 ICON HONORS program will be recognized during a virtual awards ceremony. It will be streamed live on YouTube where audience members can engage directly with each other as the award ceremony takes place. This event will be held on Tuesday, June 22nd. The complete list of 2021 NJBIZ ICONS is available, here. Registration is open and more information can be found by following this link.

About NJMEP:

NJMEP is a private, not-for-profit organization that improves the profitability and competitiveness of New Jersey's manufacturers. Backed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NJMEP enables organizations to enhance their productivity and efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve employee performance.

For more than 20 years, NJMEP has used its extensive network of connections and proven track record of success to help manufacturers adapt to the latest innovative technologies and best practices to realize more than $5.4 billion in value. Our services are categorized into the following three areas: Operational Excellence, Innovation and Growth Strategies, and Workforce Development. NJMEP also has a signature philanthropic program, Manufacturing Cares, which is designed to provide a platform for manufacturers to give back to the community by pooling efforts to increase our impact.

SOURCE New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program

Related Links

njmep.org


WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The vast majority of today's consumers  especially those from younger generations  say brands should inspire, advocate and provide value-added information.

A national Meyocks consumer survey shows widespread support for "mentor branding." With this approach, businesses differentiate themselves by taking their brand a step further  mentoring customers, educating and advocating for them, and showing them how to make their lives better. The survey looked at all brands, and those focused on health and food.

"Mentor branding is an opportunity for businesses to create stronger bonds with customers" Meyocks president Doug Jeske Tweet this A national Meyocks consumer survey shows widespread support for mentor branding.

"Mentor branding is an opportunity for businesses to create stronger bonds with customers by inspiring them, advocating on their behalf and providing value-added information," said Doug Jeske, president of Meyocks, a West Des Moines branding and marketing agency.

The Meyocks national survey showed:

88% of consumers say brands should provide valued-added information to their customers.

75% of consumers believe brands should work to inspire customers.

75% of consumers think brands should advocate for their customers.

Specifically, consumers said they want brands to provide information on how to get the most out of a product or service (64%), inspiration on how to improve their personal lives (47%) and advocacy for the environment (46%).

The way consumers feel about a brand can impact their spending habits. The survey showed 56% of consumers said they would stop buying or boycott a brand that does not align with their beliefs. In addition, 57% said they are willing to pay more for a brand that advocates for something they believe in or feel strongly about.

"Consumers feel strongly that brands should demonstrate mentorship characteristics," Jeske said. "We've found that brands that rate high in these characteristics enjoy faster revenue growth."

The survey showed millennials and Generation Z  born between 1981 and 2012  are even more likely to choose brands that inspire and advocate for them.

The Meyocks survey was conducted nationwide via an online panel with 1,523 Americans age 18 and over. For results based on the total sample of American adults, the margin of error is 3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

About Meyocks

Meyocks, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, is a full-service branding and marketing agency founded in 1984 that shapes marketplace meaning for food, agriculture, health and mentor brands. For more information or to download the survey results, visit meyocks.com .

SOURCE The Meyocks Group, Inc.

Related Links

www.meyocks.com


VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - NexGen Energy Ltd. ("NexGen" or the "Company") (TSX: NXE) (NYSE MKT: NXE) is pleased to announce it has mailed the Notice of Meeting and Management Information Circular to shareholders record as of April 30, 2021 in connection with the Annual General and Special Meeting to be held Thursday, June 10, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. (Pacific Time).

Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, governmental recommendations and/or orders for physical distancing, restrictions on group gatherings, non-essential travel and business activities we request that shareholders do no attend the meeting in person. To mitigate any risks to stakeholders, employees, partners and community members, the Company will hold this year's meeting by conference call, details below. Shareholders are encouraged to cast their votes in advance by proxy.

Conference Call dial in details:

To join the conference call please dial:

International Callers: (+1) 416 764 8659

North America Callers: (+1) 888 664 6392

Conference ID: 33931792

Shareholders will be asked to vote on the following matters:

elect the nine (9) Directors for the ensuing year; re-appoint KPMG LLP as independent auditor of the Company for the 2021 financial year and to authorize the directors to fix their remuneration.

The Board of Directors of NexGen recommends that shareholders vote in favour of all proposed items.

NexGen encourages shareholders to read the meeting materials, which have been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and are on the Company's website at https://www.nexgenenergy.ca/investors/agm/.

Shareholder Information and Questions

NexGen shareholders who have questions about the management information circular, or require assistance with voting their shares can contact the Company's proxy solicitation agent, Laurel Hill Advisory Group:

Laurel Hill Advisory Group

North America Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184

Outside North America: 1-416-304-0211

Email: [email protected]

About NexGen

NexGen is a British Columbia corporation with a focus on developing the Rook I Project located in the south western Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada into production. NexGen has a highly experienced team of uranium industry professionals with a successful track record in the discovery of uranium deposits and in developing projects through discovery to production. NexGen also owns a portfolio of highly prospective uranium properties in the south western Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Forward-Looking Information

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable United States securities laws and regulations and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, the 2021 Arrow Deposit, Rook I Project and estimates of uranium production, grade and long-term average uranium prices, anticipated effects of completed drill results on the Rook I Project, planned work programs, completion of further site investigations and engineering work to support basic engineering of the project and expected outcomes. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Statements relating to "mineral resources" are deemed to be forward-looking information, as they involve the implied assessment that, based on certain estimates and assumptions, the mineral resources described can be profitably produced in the future.

Forward-looking information and statements are based on the then current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about NexGen's business and the industry and markets in which it operates. Forward-looking information and statements are made based upon numerous assumptions, including among others, that the mineral reserve and resources estimates and the key assumptions and parameters on which such estimates are based are as set out in this news release and the technical report for the property , the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the price and market supply of uranium, the cost of planned exploration activities, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment, supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct NexGen's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward looking information or making forward looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate in the future.

Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performances and achievements of NexGen to differ materially from any projections of results, performances and achievements of NexGen expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others, the existence of negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of the availability of additional financing, the risk that pending assay results will not confirm previously announced preliminary results, conclusions of economic valuations, the risk that actual results of exploration activities will be different than anticipated, the cost of labour, equipment or materials will increase more than expected, that the future price of uranium will decline or otherwise not rise to an economic level, the appeal of alternate sources of energy to uranium-produced energy, that the Canadian dollar will strengthen against the U.S. dollar, that mineral resources and reserves are not as estimated, that actual costs or actual results of reclamation activities are greater than expected, that changes in project parameters and plans continue to be refined and may result in increased costs, of unexpected variations in mineral resources and reserves, grade or recovery rates or other risks generally associated with mining, unanticipated delays in obtaining governmental, regulatory or First Nations approvals, risks related to First Nations title and consultation, reliance upon key management and other personnel, deficiencies in the Company's title to its properties, uninsurable risks, failure to manage conflicts of interest, failure to obtain or maintain required permits and licences, risks related to changes in laws, regulations, policy and public perception, as well as those factors or other risks as more fully described in NexGen's Annual Information Form dated March 11, 2020 filed with the securities commissions of all of the provinces of Canada except Quebec and in NexGen's 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and Edgar at www.sec.gov.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or statements or implied by forward-looking information or statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE NexGen Energy Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.nexgenenergy.ca/


CALGARY, AB, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation ("NOVA Chemicals") announced today the early tender results of its previously announced offer to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offer") any and all of its outstanding 5.25% Senior Notes due 2023 (the "Notes"). NOVA Chemicals also announced receipt of requisite consents in connection with its previously announced consent solicitation (the "Consent Solicitation") from the holders of the Notes for the adoption of the Proposed Amendments (as defined below).

The terms and conditions of the Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation are described in the Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement, dated April 27, 2021 (the "Offer to Purchase"), previously distributed to holders of the Notes.

NOVA Chemicals has been advised that as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on May 10, 2021 (such date and time, the "Early Expiration Time"), $448,027,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes, representing approximately 89.61% of the aggregate principal amount of the Notes outstanding, had been validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) pursuant to the Tender Offer and the corresponding consents were delivered (and not validly revoked) pursuant to the Consent Solicitation. NOVA Chemicals intends to purchase all such validly tendered Notes on May 11, 2021 (the "Early Settlement Date").

The total consideration payable to holders of Notes for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Expiration Time and purchased pursuant to the Tender Offer will be $1,010.21 (the "Total Consideration"). The Total Consideration includes an early tender payment of $30.00 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes (the "Early Tender Payment"), plus accrued and unpaid interest, up to, but excluding, the Early Settlement Date, payable only to holders of Notes who validly tendered (and did not validly withdraw) their Notes and validly delivered (and did not revoke) the related consents at or prior to the Early Expiration Time.

NOVA Chemicals intends to execute a supplemental indenture (the "Supplemental Indenture") to the indenture governing the Notes (the "Indenture"), which will, among other things, (i) eliminate substantially all of the restrictive covenants and certain events of default and related provisions contained in the Indenture and (ii) reduce the minimum required notice period for the redemption of the Notes from 30 days to three business days (collectively, the "Proposed Amendments"). Adoption of the Proposed Amendments to the Indenture requires consents of holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Notes outstanding (excluding any Notes owned by NOVA Chemicals or any of its affiliates). NOVA Chemicals has obtained the requisite consents for the Proposed Amendments. Any Notes not tendered and purchased pursuant to the Tender Offer will remain outstanding and will be governed by the terms of the Indenture, as amended by the Supplemental Indenture. Following the execution of the Supplemental Indenture, NOVA Chemicals expect to issue a notice of redemption for any outstanding Notes. This press release is not a notice of redemption, and any notice of redemption will be provided separately in accordance with the terms of the Indenture, as amended by the Supplemental Indenture.

Holders who have not yet tendered their Notes have until 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on May 24, 2021, unless extended by NOVA Chemicals (such time and date, as it may be extended, the "Expiration Time"), to tender their outstanding Notes pursuant to the Tender Offer. Withdrawal rights for the Tender Offer expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on May 10, 2021, and, accordingly, Notes validly tendered in the Tender Offer may no longer be withdrawn except as required by law. Holders of the Notes who validly tender (and do not validly withdraw) their Notes after the Early Expiration Time but at or prior to the Expiration Time will be entitled to receive only $980.21 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn), as described in the Offer to Purchase, plus accrued and unpaid interest from and including the last interest payment date up to, but excluding, the final settlement date.

NOVA Chemicals' obligation to accept for purchase, and to pay for, Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the Tender Offer is conditioned upon the satisfaction or, when applicable, waiver of certain conditions, which are more fully described in the Offer to Purchase, including, among others, a financing condition as described in the Offer to Purchase. In addition, subject to applicable law, NOVA Chemicals reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (i) extend, terminate or withdraw the Tender Offer or Consent Solicitation at any time or (ii) otherwise amend the Tender Offer or the Consent Solicitation in any respect at any time and from time to time. NOVA Chemicals further reserves the right, in its sole discretion, not to accept any tenders of Notes or deliveries of consents with respect to the Notes. NOVA Chemicals is making the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation only in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so.

HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. is acting as dealer manager for the Tender Offer and as solicitation agent for the Consent Solicitation and can be contacted at their telephone numbers set forth on the back cover page of Offer to Purchase with questions regarding the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation.

Copies of the Offer to Purchase are available to holders of Notes from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information agent and the tender agent for the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation. Requests for copies of the Offer to Purchase should be directed to D.F. King at +1 (800) 714-3311 (toll free), +1 (212) 232-3233 (collect) or [email protected].

Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, nor have any such documents been filed with or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country. No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer to Purchase or any related documents, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary.

The Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation are being made solely on the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. Under no circumstances shall this press release constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes or any other securities of NOVA Chemicals or any of its affiliates. The Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation are not being made to, nor will NOVA Chemicals accept tenders of Notes or accept deliveries of consents from, holders in any jurisdiction in which the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdiction. This press release also is not a solicitation of consents to the Proposed Amendments. No recommendation is made as to whether holders should tender their Notes or deliver their consents with respect to the Notes. Holders should carefully read the Offer to Purchase because it contains important information, including the various terms and conditions of the Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation.

About NOVA Chemicals Corporation

NOVA Chemicals develops and manufactures chemicals and plastic resins that make everyday life healthier, easier and safer. Our employees work to ensure health, safety, security and environmental stewardship through our commitment to Sustainability and Responsible Care. NOVA Chemicals, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is wholly owned ultimately by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Visit NOVA Chemicals on the Internet at novachem.com.

NOVA Chemicals Media Contact

Jennifer Nanz, Director, Corporate Communications

e-mail: [email protected]

NOVA Chemicals Investor Relations

Patty Masry, Leader, Financial Reporting & Investor Relations

E-mail: [email protected]

The NOVA Chemicals logo is a registered trademark of NOVA Brands Ltd.; authorized use/utilisation autorisee.

Responsible Care is a registered trademark of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.

SOURCE NOVA Chemicals Corporation
LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. ("Virgin Galactic" or "the Company") (NYSE: SPCE) for violations of the securities laws.

The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Virgin Galactic declared in a Current Report on Form 8-K that it will restate its financial results including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. The Company disclosed that the restatement involves the accounting treatment for the warrants of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. Based on this news, shares of Virgin Galactic dropped by more than 9% on May 3, 2021.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.

310-301-3335

[email protected]

www.schallfirm.com



SOURCE The Schall Law Firm

Related Links

www.schallfirm.com


50,000-55,000 Oz 2021 Production Guidance Intact

Q2 2021 Consolidated Highlights:

On track to meet FY2021 guidance of 50,000-55,000 gold ounces and 7.0-8.5 million copper pounds.

Production of 14,197 gold equivalent ounces (10,785 gold ounces, 1.4 million copper pounds and 35,206 silver ounces).

7,686 gold ounces and 0.8 million copper pounds produced in stock as at March 31, 2021 .

. Revenue of $19.7 million ; Average realized gold price per ounce of $1,822 and copper price per pound of $3.74 .

; Average realized gold price per ounce of and copper price per pound of . EBITDA of $2.7 million .

. Free cash flow of ($0.5) million .

. Cash balance of $13.4 million as at March 31, 2021 .

as at . Cash Operating Costs ("COC") and All in Sustaining Costs ("AISC") of $1,193 and $1,769 .

Juan Gavidia, CEO of Orvana Minerals stated: "I am very proud that our field teams in Spain, Argentina and Bolivia were able to deliver on results, as expected, notwithstanding COVID-related logistical restrictions and execution risks. With Spain's steady cash-flow, Argentina's progress in expanding its mineral resource, and Bolivia advancing with its final phase of metallurgical testing; Orvana is on target to meet its strategic objectives for FY2021."

TORONTO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX: ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") announced today financial and operational results for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 ("Q2 2021") and the completion of Taguas Drilling Campaign.

OroValle

Quarterly gold production of 10,785 ounces, 24% lower than previous quarter due to 12% lower throughput and 11% lower grade. The start of the quarter was impacted by infrastructure issues in one sector of the mine; the mine schedule was successfully rectified to be on track to meet FY2021 guidance.

Copper production was 1.4 million pounds, 34% lower than previous quarter, due 12% lower throughput and 26% lower grade.

Revenue of $19.7 million .

. OroValle COC & AISC of $1,067 and $1,558 .

and . Drilling:

Orovalle drilled 6,530 meters in El Valle in the second quarter of fiscal 2021; 4,487 meters were infill drilling and 2,043 meters were brownfield drilling.



638 meters were drilling in Lidia in the second quarter, completing the first phase of the program with a total of 1,017 meters.



Ortosa Godan permitting completed, drilling starting in May.

Taguas

Drilling campaign to enlarge the Mineral Resource started last February and was completed in April, with a total of 4,689 meters. Distribution of drilled meters is as follows (Figure 1):

3,455 meters in Cerros Taguas to enlarge oxide resources (main target of this campaign).



734 meters in Cerro Campamento with the aim of testing continuity of mineralized structures towards the southwest.



500 meters in CARDS target 1 & 2 to explore the mineralogy potential of this area.

Laboratory assays and evaluation in progress, with expected completion by late May.

A new Mineral Resource Estimate is being updated in compliance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101, by Geosim Services Inc, an independent consulting firm, with expected completion by the third quarter of fiscal 2021.

EMIPA

The Oxides Stockpile Project quality assurance (metallurgical) testing continues and a decision on the project is expected by the end of fiscal year 2021.

New reprocessing and interpretation of historical geological data was completed in December 2020 . As a result, a brand-new comprehensive exploration program will be launched in the third quarter. Areas of interest will be subject to non-drilling exploration fieldwork during the second half of fiscal 2021. The goal is to develop drilling targets for fiscal 2022.

Selected Q2 2021 Consolidated Operational and Financial Information



Q2 2021 Q1 2021 Q2 2020 YTD 2021 YTD 2020 Operating Performance









Gold









Grade (g/t) 2.31 2.60 2.74 2.47 2.55 Recovery (%) 90.9 92.6 92.9 92.4 92.5 Production (oz) 10,785 14,127 12,139 24,912 27,954 Sales (oz) 8,523 12,085 12,216 20,609 30,879 Average realized price / oz $1,822 $1,868 $1,528 $1,849 $1,494 Copper









Grade (%) 0.47 0.63 0.52 0.55 0.44 Recovery (%) 82.3 81.6 83.1 81.9 78.2 Production ('000 lbs) 1,355 2,044 1,422 3,399 2,314 Sales ('000 lbs) 1,475 1,645 1,413 3,120 2,464 Average realized price / lb 3.74 3.29 2.60 3.51 2.62 Financial Performance (in 000's, except per share amounts)







Revenue $19,678 $27,815 $21,245 $47,493 $50,265 Mining costs $14,880 $17,657 $18,657 $32,537 $44,661 Gross margin $1,746 $6,263 ($2,823) $8,009 ($5,436) Net income (loss) ($818) $1,919 ($2,776) $1,101 ($5,521) Net income (loss) per share (basic/diluted) ($0.01) $0.01 ($0.02) $0.01 ($0.04) EBITDA (1) $2,683 $7,282 $1,688 $9,965 $3,203 Operating cash flows before non-cash working capital changes $3,446 $7,494 $1,384 $10,940 $3,492 Operating cash flows ($594) $5,087 ($3,311) $4,493 ($1,135) Free cash flow(1) ($449) $5,087 ($1,478) $4,638 ($1,150) Ending cash and cash equivalents $13,390 $15,562 $6,256 $13,390 $6,256 Capital expenditures $3,895 $2,407 $2,862 $6,302 $4,642 Cash operating costs (by-product) ($/oz) gold $1,193 $1,051 $1,363 $1,110 $1,268 All-in sustaining costs (by-product) ($/oz) gold $1,769 $1,467 $1,765 $1,592 $1,527 All-in costs (by-product) ($/oz) gold $1,958 $1,518 $1,787 $1,700 $1,542

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), free cash flow, cash operating costs, all-in sustaining costs and all-in costs are non-IFRS performance measures.

Capital expenditures are presented in the consolidated cash flows in the Audited Financials on a cash basis.

ABOUT ORVANA - Orvana is a multi-mine gold-copper-silver company. Orvana's assets consist of the producing El Valle and Carles gold-copper-silver mines in northern Spain, and the Don Mario gold-silver property in Bolivia, currently in care and maintenance. Orvana is in the process of completing the registration of transfer documents with the mining authorities in connection with the acquisition of Taguas, Argentina. Additional information is available at Orvana's website (www.orvana.com).

Cautionary Statements - Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements made herein constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, potentials, future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "believes", "expects", "plans", "estimates", "intends" or "anticipates" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "are projected to" be taken or achieved) are not statements of historical fact, but are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements herein relate to, among other things: Orvana's ability to achieve improvement in free cash flow; the potential to extend the mine life of El Valle and Don Mario beyond their current life-of-mine estimates including specifically, but not limited to in the case of Don Mario, the processing of the mineral stockpiles and the reprocessing of the tailings material; the timing of the completion of the evaluation of laboratory assays and preparation of an NI 43-101 report on Taguas; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at Don Mario and El Valle; any measures taken by the Company to prevent and/or mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases at or near the Company's mines and support the sustainability of its business including through the development of crisis management plans, increasing stock levels for key supplies, monitoring of guidance from the medical community, and engagement with local communities and authorities; estimates of future production, operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions (including the completion of the acquisition of Taguas and subsequent results of any exploration work on Taguas); future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; and mine development plans. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained or incorporated by reference in this news release, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to, the various assumptions set forth herein and in Orvana's most recently filed Management's Discussion & Analysis and Annual Information Form in respect of the Company's most recently completed fiscal year (the "Company Disclosures") or as otherwise expressly incorporated herein by reference as well as: there being no significant disruptions affecting operations, whether due to labour disruptions, supply disruptions, power disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; permitting, development, operations, expansion and acquisitions at El Valle and Don Mario being consistent with the Company's current expectations; political developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; certain price assumptions for gold, copper and silver; prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; production and cost of sales forecasts meeting expectations; the accuracy of the Company's current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; and labour and materials costs increasing on a basis consistent with Orvana's current expectations.

A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include the effect of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases on the Company's operations, workforce and supply chain, fluctuations in the price of gold, silver and copper; the need to recalculate estimates of resources based on actual production experience; the failure to achieve production estimates; variations in the grade of ore mined; variations in the cost of operations; the availability of qualified personnel; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals and licenses; the Company's ability to use cyanide in its mining operations; risks generally associated with mineral exploration and development, including the Company's ability to continue to operate the El Valle and/or Don Mario and/or ability to resume long-term operations at the Carles Mine; the Company's ability to successfully implement a sulphidization circuit and ancillary facilities to process the current oxides stockpiles at Don Mario; the Company's ability to acquire and develop mineral properties and to successfully integrate such acquisitions; the Company's ability to execute on its strategy; the Company's ability to obtain financing when required on terms that are acceptable to the Company; challenges to the Company's interests in its property and mineral rights; current, pending and proposed legislative or regulatory developments or changes in political, social or economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates; general economic conditions worldwide; and the risks identified in the Company's disclosures. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's Disclosures for a description of additional risk factors.

Any forward-looking statements made herein with respect to the anticipated development and exploration of the Company's mineral projects are intended to provide an overview of management's expectations with respect to certain future activities of the Company and may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions and, except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Orvana Minerals Corp.

Related Links

www.orvana.com


NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ott Scientific is pleased to announce its acquisition of American Bionostica, Inc. (ABI), a lateral flow development and manufacturing company, further diversifying the company's product portfolio within the health-care diagnostics space.

The acquisition of American Bionostica  a leading developer of specialty quantitative lateral flow assays utilizing colloidal gold conjugates and latex microspheres for highly sensitive and specific assays  was effective April 1 and will be operated inside the company's Ethos Biosciences subsidiary.

"Through integrating American Bionostica into the Ott Scientific organization, we are driving health-care innovation by providing diagnostic tools to scientists and practitioners," said Ryan Ott, EVP of Ott Scientific and President of Ethos Biosciences. "The addition of ABI broadens the portfolio of assays we develop and manufacture that are accurate, repeatable and easy to use."

The entire American Bionostica team will join Ott Scientific post acquisition, and a number of new research and production positions are expected to open immediately.

ISO13485 and cGMP compliant space is under construction at Ott Scientific's 126,000-square-foot facility in Logan Township, NJ, to house the operation, which will provide significant room for expansion of the business. ABI will remain at its Swedesboro, NJ, location until the new space is completed later this year.

"We are excited to integrate ABI into our portfolio of diagnostic-related companies, expanding the unique products and services we can provide to our customers," said Michael H. Ott, Chairman & CEO of Ott Scientific. "Rapid tests that American Bionostica can develop and manufacture here in the United States have applications in food, environmental, biotechnology and health-care industries."

About Ott Scientific

Ott Scientific is a leading manufacturer of clinical histology and hematology stains, immunoassays for the research market, and microspheres for the diagnostic market through its subsidiaries Astral Diagnostics, Bangs Laboratories, Ethos Biosciences and Polysciences, Inc. Learn more about Ott Scientific by visiting www.ethosbiosciences.com.

SOURCE Ott Scientific
DUBLIN, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global High Voltage Cable (HVC) Market 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The publisher insinuates that the global market for high voltage cable (HVC) is likely to experience a growth at a CAGR of 5.42% over the forecast period 2021-2028.



The high voltage cable market is primarily motivated by factors such as rising demand for power generation, paired with the growth in infrastructural activities. Further, the surging investments in smart grid technology are another factor generating several opportunities for the studied market to leverage and reach its expected growth.



Although, the costs of pricing of conducting materials, such as copper and aluminum, are vital in determining the total cost of the high voltage cables. Hence, the fluctuating prices of these metals are majorly restricting the growth of the high voltage cable market's future growth.



The global high voltage cable (HVC) market covers the regions of North America, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.



Asia-Pacific is considered to hold the largest share in the high voltage cable market, and is expected to continue its stronghold till 2028. The region's growth can be attributed to the continual efforts to fulfill electricity needs due to rising urbanization activities in countries like China, India, and Japan. Among the countries, China is one of the largest electricity producers, which calls for the adoption of high voltage cables for power transmission.



Furthermore, several leading companies are entering the region's market. For instance, the General Cable Technology Corporation signed an agreement to sell its business operations in the Asia-Pacific region to MM logistics. Therefore, these factors are mainly fuelling the progress of the HVC market across the APAC region.



Competitive Outlook

The leading firms involved in the global market are Tratos, Sumimoto Electric Industries Ltd, TBEA Co Ltd, Nexans, Dubai Cable Company Pvt Ltd, Southwire LLC, Siemens AG, Tele-Fonika Kable SA, Finolex Cables, ABB Ltd, Hitachi Ltd, NKT Cables, and Prysmian Group.



Siemens AG is a technology company involved in the field of automation, digitization, and electrification. It offers its products, solutions, and services for medical imaging, power generation, infrastructure technologies, and others. Among the products, the company provides standard medium high voltage power cables that help in the transmission of 11 kV to 33 kV electricity using 3-core cables. Moreover, it serves a broad client base across multiple industries, including network operations, independent power producers, and transportation companies. Siemens has functions globally, with its headquarter in Munich, Germany.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Global High Voltage Cable (HVC) Market - Summary



2. Industry Outlook

2.1. Market Definition

2.2. Key Insights

2.2.1. Asia-Pacific is the Most Promising Regional Market

2.2.2. Infrastructure is Anticipated to Grow at a Highest Cagr

2.2.3. Rise in Offshore Power Projects

2.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

2.3.1. Threat of New Entrants

2.3.2. Threat of Substitute

2.3.3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

2.3.4. Bargaining Power of Buyers

2.3.5. Threat of Competitive Rivalry

2.4. Market Attractiveness Index

2.5. Vendor Scorecard

2.6. Key Market Strategies

2.6.1. Acquisitions

2.6.2. Product Launch

2.6.3. Partnership & Agreements

2.6.4. Business Expansion

2.7. Market Drivers

2.7.1. Rising Demand for Power Generation

2.7.2. Rise in Infrastructural Activities

2.8. Market Restraints

2.8.1. Volatile Prices of Metals

2.9. Market Opportunities

2.9.1. Rising Investments in Smart Grid Technology

2.10. Impact of Covid-19 on High Voltage Cable (HVC) Market



3. Global High Voltage Cable (HVC) Market Outlook - by Installation

3.1. Overhead

3.2. Underground

3.3. Submarine



4. Global High Voltage Cable (HVC) Market Outlook - by End-User

4.1. Industrial

4.1.1. Power Utilities

4.1.2. Oil & Gas

4.1.3. Mining

4.1.4. Chemical & Petrochemical

4.1.5. Others

4.2. Renewable Energy

4.3. Infrastructure

4.3.1. Commercial

4.3.2. Residential



5. Global High Voltage Cable (HVC) Market - Regional Outlook

5.1. North America

5.1.1. Market by Installation

5.1.2. Market by End-User

5.1.2.1. Market by Industrial

5.1.2.2. Market by Infrastructure

5.1.3. Country Analysis

5.1.3.1. United States

5.1.3.2. Canada

5.2. Europe

5.2.1. Market by Installation

5.2.2. Market by End-User

5.2.2.1. Market by Industrial

5.2.2.2. Market by Infrastructure

5.2.3. Country Analysis

5.2.3.1. United Kingdom

5.2.3.2. Germany

5.2.3.3. France

5.2.3.4. Sweden

5.2.3.5. Spain

5.2.3.6. Italy

5.2.3.7. Russia

5.2.3.8. Rest of Europe

5.3. Asia-Pacific

5.3.1. Market by Installation

5.3.2. Market by End-User

5.3.2.1. Market by Industrial

5.3.2.2. Market by Infrastructure

5.3.3. Country Analysis

5.3.3.1. China

5.3.3.2. Japan

5.3.3.3. India

5.3.3.4. South Korea

5.3.3.5. Asean Countries

5.3.3.6. Australia & New Zealand

5.3.3.7. Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.4. Latin America

5.4.1. Market by Installation

5.4.2. Market by End-User

5.4.2.1. Market by Industrial

5.4.2.2. Market by Infrastructure

5.4.3. Country Analysis

5.4.3.1. Brazil

5.4.3.2. Mexico

5.4.3.3. Rest of Latin America

5.5. Middle East and Africa

5.5.1. Market by Installation

5.5.2. Market by End-User

5.5.2.1. Market by Industrial

5.5.2.2. Market by Infrastructure

5.5.3. Country Analysis

5.5.3.1. United Arab Emirates

5.5.3.2. Turkey

5.5.3.3. Saudi Arabia

5.5.3.4. South Africa

5.5.3.5. Rest of Middle East & Africa



6. Competitive Landscape

6.1. Tele-Fonika Kable Sa

6.2. Prysmian Group

6.3. Dubai Cable Company Pvt Ltd

6.4. NKT Cables

6.5. Nexans

6.6. Southwire LLC

6.7. Sumimoto Electric Industries Ltd

6.8. Siemens AG

6.9. TBEA Co Ltd

6.10. Hitachi Ltd

6.11. ABB Ltd

6.12. Tratos

6.13. Finolex Cables



7. Methodology & Scope

7.1. Research Scope & Deliverables

7.2. Sources of Data

7.3. Research Methodology



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bsaqdg

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


BEIJING, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG) ("Phoenix New Media", "ifeng" or the "Company"), a leading new media company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

Mr. Shuang Liu, CEO of Phoenix New Media, commented, "During the first quarter of 2021, we adapted to the evolving advertising landscape and implemented active measures to increase user traffic, enhance user engagement, and improve user retention. Those measures include producing more exclusive, premium, and original content, leveraging social media distribution to reach a broader audience, and augmenting our premium content pool operations. In addition, we continued to explore new business initiatives to diversify our revenue sources and increase our ability to manage macro risks. Going forward, we will continue to focus on fortifying our leadership in news reporting, expanding our new media influence to build a solid foundation for sustainable growth. We seek to leverage our core competencies to capitalize on emerging opportunities as the economy recovers in 2021."

Mr. Edward Lu, CFO of Phoenix New Media, further stated, "Certain segment of our advertising business experienced continued pressure during the first quarter of 2021, thus causing our net advertising revenue to decline slightly year over year. However, thanks to our continued efforts in diversifying our revenue streams, the growth in our paid services revenues partially offset the decline in our net advertising revenues. This led to our total revenues remaining relatively steady on a year-over-year basis. Going forward, we believe that the recovery of our brand advertising business, combined with the progress we have achieved in various new business initiatives, is setting the stage for a revitalization of our future growth."

First Quarter 2021 Financial Results

As disclosed in the second quarter 2020 unaudited financial results announcement made on August 17, 2020, the Company sold all of its investment in Beijing Yitian Xindong Network Technology Co., Ltd. ("Yitian Xindong" or "Tadu") in the second quarter of 2020 and the disposal of Tadu was qualified for reporting as a "discontinued operation" in the Company's financial statements. Accordingly, Tadu's results of operations have been excluded from the Company's results from continuing operations in the condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income/(loss) and are presented in separate line items as discontinued operations for all prior periods. The financial information and non-GAAP financial information disclosed in this press release is presented on a continuing operations basis, unless otherwise specifically stated.

REVENUES

Total revenues in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 2.3% to RMB226.1 million (US$34.5 million) from RMB231.4 million in the same period of 2020, primarily due to the year-over-year decline in the Company's net advertising revenues.

Net advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 3.5% to RMB201.3 million (US$30.7 million) from RMB208.7 million in the same period of 2020, mainly due to the reduction in advertising budgets of advertisers in certain industries in the first quarter of 2021.

Paid services revenues[1] in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 9.3% to RMB24.8 million (US$3.8 million) from RMB22.7 million in the same period of 2020. Revenues from paid contents in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 11.8% to RMB10.5 million (US$1.6 million) from RMB11.9 million in the same period of 2020, mainly due to the broader market conditions reflecting the trend towards free online reading. Revenues from E-commerce and others in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 32.4% to RMB14.3 million (US$2.2 million) from RMB10.8 million in the same period of 2020, which was mainly caused by the increase in revenues from E-commerce and online real estate related services.

COST OF REVENUES

Cost of revenues in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 2.7% to RMB108.1 million (US$16.5 million) from RMB105.3 million in the same period of 2020. The increase in cost of revenues was mainly due to the following:

Content and operational costs in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 5.4% to RMB91.7 million ( US$14.0 million ) from RMB87.0 million in the same period of 2020, mainly caused by the resumption of normal operations in the first quarter of 2021 as compared to decreased operational activities in the same period of 2020 due to COVID-19 impact in China at that time. Share-based compensation included in the content and operational costs in the first quarter of 2021 decreased to RMB0.3 million ( US$0.05 million ) from RMB1.1 million in the same period of 2020.

The increase was partially offset by the following:

Revenue sharing fees in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 39.5% to RMB2.6 million ( US$0.4 million ) from RMB4.3 million in the same period of 2020, mainly due to the decrease in revenue sharing fees paid to telecom operators.

( ) from in the same period of 2020, mainly due to the decrease in revenue sharing fees paid to telecom operators. Bandwidth costs in the first quarter of 2021 decreased slightly to RMB13.8 million ( US$2.1 million ) from RMB14.0 million in the same period of 2020.

GROSS PROFIT

Gross profit in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 6.4% to RMB118.0 million (US$18.0 million) from RMB126.1 million in the same period of 2020. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2021 decreased to 52.2% from 54.5% in the same period of 2020, mainly caused by the year-over-year increase in cost of revenues as well as the year-over-year decrease in revenues in the first quarter of 2021, as explained above.

To supplement the financial measures presented in accordance with the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), the Company has presented certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, which excluded the impact of certain reconciling items as stated in the "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section below. The related reconciliations to GAAP financial measures are presented in the accompanying "Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results of Operation Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures."

Non-GAAP gross margin in the first quarter of 2021, excluding share-based compensation, decreased to 52.3% from 55.0% in the same period of 2020.

OPERATING EXPENSES AND LOSS FROM OPERATIONS

Total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 18.8% to RMB159.9 million (US$24.4 million) from RMB197.0 million in the same period of 2020, mainly due to the decrease in the Company's traffic acquisition expenses and the personnel-related expenses caused by the Company's strict cost control measures taken to enhance its operating efficiency. Share-based compensation included in operating expenses in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB1.0 million (US$0.2 million), compared to RMB1.6 million in the same period of 2020.

Loss from operations in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB41.9 million (US$6.4 million), compared to RMB70.9 million in the same period of 2020. Operating margin in the first quarter of 2021 was negative 18.6%, compared to negative 30.7% in the same period of 2020.

Non-GAAP loss from operations in the first quarter of 2021, which excluded share-based compensation, was RMB40.7 million (US$6.2 million), compared to RMB68.3 million in the same period of 2020. Non-GAAP operating margin in the first quarter of 2021, excluding share-based compensation, was negative 18.0%, compared to negative 29.5% in the same period of 2020.

OTHER INCOME OR LOSS

Other income or loss reflects net interest income, foreign currency exchange gain or loss, income or loss from equity method investments, net of impairment, changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to disposal of investments in Particle and others, net[2]. Total net other income in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB12.5 million (US$1.9 million), compared to RMB24.3 million in the same period of 2020.

Net interest income in the first quarter of 2021 increased to RMB10.7 million ( US$1.6 million ) from RMB6.4 million in the same period of 2020.

( ) from in the same period of 2020. Foreign currency exchange loss in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB2.8 million ( US$0.4 million ), compared to RMB1.7 million in the same period of 2020.

( ), compared to in the same period of 2020. Loss from equity method investments, net of impairment, in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB0.1 million ( US$0.02 million ), compared to RMB0.2 million in the same period of 2020.

( ), compared to in the same period of 2020. Changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to disposal of investments in Particle in the first quarter of 2021 was nil, compared to a gain of RMB14.7 million in the same period of 2020.

in the same period of 2020. Others, net, in the first quarter of 2021 decreased to RMB4.7 million ( US$0.7 million ), from RMB5.1 million in the same period of 2020.

NET LOSS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS ATTRIBUTABLE TO PHOENIX NEW MEDIA LIMITED

Net loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB29.2 million (US$4.5 million), compared to RMB38.6 million in the same period of 2020. Net margin from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2021 was negative 12.9%, compared to negative 16.7% in the same period of 2020. Net loss from continuing operations per diluted ordinary share in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB0.05 (US$0.01), compared to a net loss from continuing operations per diluted ordinary share of RMB0.07 in the same period of 2020.

Non-GAAP net loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited, which excluded share-based compensation, income or loss from equity method investments, net of impairment, and changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to disposal of investments in Particle as applicable, was RMB27.8 million (US$4.2 million) in the first quarter of 2021, compared to RMB50.5 million in the same period of 2020. Non-GAAP net margin from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2021 was negative 12.3%, compared to negative 21.8% in the same period of 2020. Non-GAAP net loss from continuing operations per diluted ADS[3] in the first quarter of 2021 was RMB0.38 (US$0.06), compared to RMB0.69 in the same period of 2020.

In the first quarter of 2021, the Company's weighted average number of ADSs used in the computation of diluted net loss per ADS was 72,790,541. As of March 31, 2021, the Company had a total of 582,324,325 ordinary shares outstanding, or the equivalent of 72,790,541 ADSs.

CERTAIN BALANCE SHEET ITEMS

As of March 31, 2021, the Company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits and short term investments and restricted cash were RMB1.58 billion (US$240.9 million).

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2021, the Company expects its total revenues to be between RMB263.8 million and RMB283.8 million; net advertising revenues are expected to be between RMB244.8 million and RMB259.8 million; and paid services revenues are expected to be between RMB19.0 million and RMB24.0 million.

All of the above forecasts reflect the current and preliminary view of the Company's management, which are subject to change and substantial uncertainty, particularly in view of the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the effects of which are difficult to analyse and predict.

Conference Call Information

The Company will hold a conference call at 9:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on May 10, 2021 (May 11, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time) to discuss its first quarter 2021 unaudited financial results and operating performance.

To participate in the call, please register in advance of the conference by navigating to http://apac.directeventreg.com/registration/event/2227658. Upon registering, you will be provided with participant dial-in numbers, Direct Event passcode and unique registrant ID by email. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the call, using the participant dial-in numbers, Direct Event Passcode and unique registrant ID which would be provided upon registering. You will be automatically linked to the live call after completion of this process.

A replay of the call will be available through May 19, 2021 by using the dial-in numbers and conference ID below:

International:

+61 2 8199 0299 Mainland China:

4006322162 Hong Kong:

+852 30512780 United States:

+1 646 254 3697 Conference ID:

2227658

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.ifeng.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), Phoenix New Media Limited uses non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP income or loss from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income or loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited, non-GAAP net margin from continuing operations and non-GAAP net income or loss from continuing operations per diluted ADS, each of which is a non-GAAP financial measure. Non-GAAP gross profit is gross profit excluding share-based compensation. Non-GAAP gross margin is non-GAAP gross profit divided by total revenues. Non-GAAP income or loss from operations is income or loss from operations excluding share-based compensation and impairment of goodwill. Non-GAAP operating margin is non-GAAP income or loss from operations divided by total revenues. Non-GAAP net income or loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited is net income or loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited excluding share-based compensation, impairment of goodwill, income or loss from equity method investments, net of impairment, gain on disposal of available-for-sale debt investments and changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to disposal of investments in Particle. Non-GAAP net margin from continuing operations is non-GAAP net income or loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited divided by total revenues. Non-GAAP net income or loss from continuing operations per diluted ADS is non-GAAP net income or loss from continuing operations attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited divided by weighted average number of diluted ADSs. The Company believes that separate analysis and exclusion of the aforementioned non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items add clarity to the constituent parts of its performance. The Company reviews these non-GAAP financial measures together with the related GAAP financial measures to obtain a better understanding of its operating performance. It uses these non-GAAP financial measures for planning, forecasting and measuring results against the forecast. The Company believes that using these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate its business allows both management and investors to assess the Company's performance against its competitors and ultimately monitor its capacity to generate returns for investors. The Company also believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful supplemental information for investors and analysts to assess its operating performance without the effect of items like share-based compensation, income or loss from equity method investments, net of impairment, which have been and will continue to be significant recurring items, and without the effect of impairment of goodwill, gain on disposal of available-for-sale debt investments and changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to disposal of investments in Particle which have been significant and one-time items. However, the use of these non-GAAP financial measures has material limitations as an analytical tool. One of the limitations of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that they do not include all items that impact the Company's gross profit, income or loss from operations and net income or loss attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited for the period. In addition, because these non-GAAP financial measures are not calculated in the same manner by all companies, they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider these non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, or as an alternative to, the financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Exchange Rate

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("USD") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from RMB to USD were made at the rate of RMB6.5518 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on March 31, 2021 in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or USD amounts referred could be converted into USD or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. For analytical presentation, all percentages are calculated using the numbers presented in the financial statements contained in this earnings release.

About Phoenix New Media Limited

Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG) is a leading new media company providing premium content on an integrated Internet platform, including PC and mobile, in China. Having originated from a leading global Chinese language TV network based in Hong Kong, Phoenix TV, the Company enables consumers to access professional news and other quality information and share user-generated content on the Internet through their PCs and mobile devices. Phoenix New Media's platform includes its PC channel, consisting of ifeng.com website, which comprises interest-based verticals and interactive services; its mobile channel, consisting of mobile news applications, mobile video application, digital reading applications and mobile Internet website; and its operations with the telecom operators that provides mobile value-added services.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forwardlooking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forwardlooking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Phoenix New Media's strategic and operational plans, contain forwardlooking statements. Phoenix New Media may also make written or oral forwardlooking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Forms 20F and 6K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Phoenix New Media's beliefs and expectations, are forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forwardlooking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of online and mobile advertising, online video and mobile paid services markets in China; the Company's reliance on online and mobile advertising for a majority of its total revenues; the Company's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its services; the Company's expectations regarding maintaining and strengthening its relationships with advertisers, partners and customers; the Company's investment plans and strategies, fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results; the Company's plans to enhance its user experience, infrastructure and services offerings; competition in its industry in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the Company; and the effects of the COVID-19 on the economy in China in general and on the Company's business in particular. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its registration statement on Form F1, as amended, and its annual reports on Form 20F. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Phoenix New Media does not undertake any obligation to update any forwardlooking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Phoenix New Media Limited

Qing Liu

Email: [email protected]

ICR, Inc.

Jack Wang

Tel: +1 (646) 405-4883

Email: [email protected]

Phoenix New Media Limited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Amounts in thousands)

















December 31,

March 31,

March 31,

2020* 2021

2021



RMB

RMB

US$



Audited

Unaudited

Unaudited ASSETS











Current assets:











Cash and cash equivalents

357,796

393,550

60,067 Term deposits and short term investments

1,280,033

1,159,786

177,018 Restricted cash

31,039

25,093

3,830 Accounts receivable, net

675,616

578,900

88,357 Amounts due from related parties

32,587

34,859

5,321 Prepayment and other current assets

42,846

48,602

7,418 Total current assets

2,419,917

2,240,790

342,011 Non-current assets:











Property and equipment, net

62,649

56,437

8,614 Intangible assets, net

12,396

12,347

1,885 Available-for-sale debt investments

36,662

35,150

5,365 Equity investments, net

94,821

108,714

16,593 Deferred tax assets

86,867

89,140

13,605 Operating lease right-of- use assets, net

49,487

42,466

6,482 Other non-current assets

9,753

9,293

1,418 Total non-current assets

352,635

353,547

53,962 Total assets

2,772,552

2,594,337

395,973 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY











Current liabilities:











Accounts payable

221,203

201,052

30,687 Amounts due to related parties

34,420

32,784

5,004 Advances from customers

38,835

36,528

5,575 Taxes payable

402,610

397,725

60,705 Salary and welfare payable

156,599

88,707

13,539 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

172,376

129,611

19,782 Operating lease liabilities

36,370

32,385

4,943 Total current liabilities

1,062,413

918,792

140,235 Non-current liabilities:











Deferred tax liabilities

1,312

1,312

200 Long-term liabilities

28,182

28,182

4,301 Operating lease liabilities

16,672

10,174

1,553 Total non-current liabilities

46,166

39,668

6,054 Total liabilities

1,108,579

958,460

146,289 Shareholders' equity:











Phoenix New Media Limited shareholders' equity:











Class A ordinary shares

17,499

17,499

2,671 Class B ordinary shares

22,053

22,053

3,366 Additional paid-in capital

1,620,580

1,621,904

247,551 Statutory reserves

92,017

92,017

14,045 Accumulated deficit

(88,191)

(117,364)

(17,914) Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(28,214)

(27,927)

(4,262) Total Phoenix New Media Limited shareholders' equity

1,635,744

1,608,182

245,457 Noncontrolling interests

28,229

27,695

4,227 Total shareholders' equity

1,663,973

1,635,877

249,684 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

2,772,552

2,594,337

395,973













* Derived from audited financial statements included in the Company's Form 20-F dated April 28, 2021.





Phoenix New Media Limited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income/(loss) (Amounts in thousands, except for number of shares and per share (or ADS) data)

































Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

March 31,

2020

2020

2021

2021

RMB

RMB

RMB

US$















Revenues:













Net advertising revenues 208,710

336,653

201,313

30,726 Paid service revenues 22,666

25,546

24,778

3,782 Total revenues 231,376

362,199

226,091

34,508 Cost of revenues (105,298)

(179,224)

(108,104)

(16,500) Gross profit 126,078

182,975

117,987

18,008 Operating expenses:













Sales and marketing expenses (81,623)

(75,660)

(64,843)

(9,898) General and administrative expenses (70,272)

(70,716)

(54,828)

(8,368) Technology and product development expenses (45,111)

(42,617)

(40,275)

(6,147) Impairment of goodwill -

(22,786)

-

- Total operating expenses (197,006)

(211,779)

(159,946)

(24,413) Loss from operations (70,928)

(28,804)

(41,959)

(6,405) Other income/(loss):













Interest income, net 6,402

9,309

10,740

1,639 Foreign currency exchange (loss)/gain (1,728)

3,921

(2,765)

(422) Loss from equity method investments, net of

impairment (236)

(179)

(107)

(16) Gain on disposal of available-for-sale debt

investments -

477,254

-

- Changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to

disposal of investments in Particle 14,744

-

-

- Others, net 5,116

8,770

4,670

713 (Loss)/income from continuing operations before

income taxes (46,630)

470,271

(29,421)

(4,491) Income tax benefit/(expense) 757

(14,793)

(250)

(38) Net (loss)/income from continuing operations (45,873)

455,478

(29,671)

(4,529) Net loss from discontinued operations, net of

income taxes (44,497)

-

-

- Net (loss)/income (90,370)

455,478

(29,671)

(4,529) Net loss/(income) attributable to noncontrolling

interests:













Net loss/(income) from continuing operations

attributable to noncontrolling interests 7,254

(700)

498

76 Net loss from discontinued operations attributable to

noncontrolling interests 22,875

-

-

- Net loss/(income) attributable to noncontrolling

interests 30,129

(700)

498

76 Net (loss)/income attributable to Phoenix New

Media Limited:













Net (loss)/income from continuing operations

attributable to Phoenix New Media Limited (38,619)

454,778

(29,173)

(4,453) Net loss from discontinued operations attributable to

Phoenix New Media Limited (21,622)

-

-

- Net (loss)/income attributable to Phoenix New

Media Limited (60,241)

454,778

(29,173)

(4,453) Net (loss)/income (90,370)

455,478

(29,671)

(4,529) Other comprehensive loss, net of tax: fair value

remeasurement for available-for-sale debt investments -

(2,736)

(1,730)

(264) Other comprehensive loss, net of tax: reclassification

adjustment for disposal of available-for-sale debt

investments -

(491,197)

-

- Other comprehensive income/(loss), net of tax: foreign

currency translation adjustment 30,428

(41,326)

2,017

308 Comprehensive loss (59,942)

(79,781)

(29,384)

(4,485) Comprehensive loss/(income) attributable to

noncontrolling interests 30,129

(700)

498

76 Comprehensive loss attributable to Phoenix New

Media Limited (29,813)

(80,481)

(28,886)

(4,409) Basic net (loss)/income per Class A and Class B

ordinary share:













-Continuing operations (0.07)

0.78

(0.05)

(0.01) -Discontinued operations (0.03)

-

-

- Basic net (loss)/income per Class A and Class B

ordinary share (0.10)

0.78

(0.05)

(0.01) Diluted net (loss)/income per Class A and Class B

ordinary share:













-Continuing operations (0.07)

0.78

(0.05)

(0.01) -Discontinued operations (0.03)

-

-

- Diluted net (loss)/income per Class A and Class B

ordinary share (0.10)

0.78

(0.05)

(0.01) Basic (loss)/income per ADS (1 ADS represents 8

Class A ordinary shares):













-Continuing operations (0.53)

6.25

(0.40)

(0.06) -Discontinued operations (0.30)

-

-

- Basic net (loss)/income per ADS (1 ADS represents

8 Class A ordinary shares) (0.83)

6.25

(0.40)

(0.06) Diluted net (loss)/income per ADS (1 ADS

represents 8 Class A ordinary shares)













-Continuing operations (0.53)

6.25

(0.40)

(0.06) -Discontinued operations (0.30)

-

-

- Diluted net (loss)/income per ADS (1 ADS

represents 8 Class A ordinary shares) (0.83)

6.25

(0.40)

(0.06) Weighted average number of Class A and Class B

ordinary shares used in computing net (loss)/income per

share:













Basic 582,324,325

582,324,325

582,324,325

582,324,325 Diluted 582,324,325

582,324,325

582,324,325

582,324,325

Phoenix New Media Limited Condensed Segments Information (Amounts in thousands)

















Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

March 31,

2020

2020

2021

2021

RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited Revenues:













Net advertising service 208,710

336,653

201,313

30,726 Paid services 22,666

25,546

24,778

3,782 Total revenues 231,376

362,199

226,091

34,508 Cost of revenues













Net advertising service 97,233

165,581

101,255

15,455 Paid services 8,065

13,643

6,849

1,045 Total cost of revenues 105,298

179,224

108,104

16,500 Gross profit













Net advertising service 111,477

171,072

100,058

15,271 Paid services 14,601

11,903

17,929

2,737 Total gross profit 126,078

182,975

117,987

18,008

Phoenix New Media Limited Condensed Information of Cost of Revenues (Amounts in thousands)

















Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

March 31,

2020

2020

2021

2021

RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited Revenue sharing fees 4,256

6,897

2,571

392 Content and operational costs 87,030

158,458

91,717

13,999 Bandwidth costs 14,012

13,869

13,816

2,109 Total cost of revenues 105,298

179,224

108,104

16,500

Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results of Operations Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures (Amounts in thousands, except for number of ADSs and per ADS data)





































Three Months Ended March 31, 2020

Three Months Ended December 31, 2020

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021

GAAP

Non-GAAP

Adjustments

Non-

GAAP

GAAP

Non-GAAP

Adjustments

Non-

GAAP

GAAP

Non-GAAP

Adjustments

Non-

GAAP

RMB

RMB

RMB

RMB

RMB

RMB

RMB

RMB

RMB

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited

Unaudited Gross profit 126,078

1,141 (1) 127,219

182,975

229 (1) 183,204

117,987

268 (1) 118,255 Gross margin 54.5%





55.0%

50.5%





50.6%

52.2%





52.3%





2,666 (1)







2,734 (1)







1,288 (1)







- (2)







22,786 (2)







- (2)

Loss from operations (70,928)

2,666

(68,262)

(28,804)

25,520

(3,284)

(41,959)

1,288

(40,671) Operating margin (30.7)%





(29.5)%

(8.0)%





(0.9)%

(18.6)%





(18.0)%





2,666 (1)







2,734 (1)







1,288 (1)







- (2)







22,786 (2)







- (2)







236 (3)







179 (3)







107 (3)







- (4)







(573,860) (4)







- (4)







(14,744) (5)







- (5)







- (5)







- (6)







(11,393) (6)







- (6)







- (7)







96,606 (7)







- (7)

Net (loss)/income from continuing

operations attributable to Phoenix

New Media Limited (38,619)

(11,842)

(50,461)

454,778

(462,948)

(8,170)

(29,173)

1,395

(27,778) Net margin (16.7)%





(21.8)%

125.6%





(2.3)%

(12.9)%





(12.3)% Net (loss)/income per ADS-diluted (0.53)





(0.69)

6.25





(0.11)

(0.40)





(0.38) Weighted average number of ADSs used i

n computing diluted net (loss)/income

per ADS 72,790,541





72,790,541

72,790,541





72,790,541

72,790,541





72,790,541







































































(1) Share-based compensation

































(2) Impairment of goodwill

































(3) Loss/(income) from equity method investments































(4) Gain on disposal of available-for-sale debt investments































(5) Changes in fair value of forward contract in relation to disposal of investments in Particle























(6) Loss attributable to noncontrolling interest related to item (2)



























(7) Accrued withholding taxes of item (4). Other non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items have no income tax effect.





















[1] Prior to 2021, paid services revenues comprised of (i) revenues from paid contents, which included digital reading, audio books, paid videos, and other content-related sales activities, (ii) revenues from games, which included web-based games and mobile games, (iii) revenues from MVAS, and (iv) revenues from others. As revenues from games and revenues from MVAS were small and had been declining for the past years, to better reflect the Company's paid services revenues disaggregated by products and services, beginning from January 1, 2021, paid services revenues have been re-grouped and comprise of (i) revenues from paid contents, which includes digital reading, audio books, paid videos, and other content-related sales activities, (ii) revenues from E-commerce and others, which mainly includes revenues from E-commerce, MVAS, games and others. For comparison purposes, the revenues from paid services for the quarters of 2020 have been retrospectively re-classified. [2] "Others, net" primarily consists of government subsidies and litigation loss provisions. [3] "ADS" means American Depositary Share of the Company. Each ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares of the Company.

SOURCE Phoenix New Media Limited

Related Links

www.ifeng.com


NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Premium Schools ( https://www.premiumschools.org/ ), a primary source of information for quality degree programs, has released its list of The Best Online Community College in Every State in the US. To produce the list, Premium Schools looked at all of the community colleges offering online degrees across the country and made their comparison based on certain criteria.

"We looked at every community college in the nation that offers some online degrees. We then sectioned them by state and compared graduation rates, as well as the average cost of attendance after financial aid was applied," Malcolm Peralty, chief editor of Premium Schools explains on how they came up with the list.

Attending an in-state online community college is beneficial to students simply because it can certainly offer lower costs. As a matter of fact, many states in the U.S. are offering a 100% free college education to first time students within the state they reside. Additionally, a number of community colleges in the country have transfer agreements with other four-year schools. It is another privilege that gives students with outstanding grade point averages (GPA) automatic admission to a bachelor's degree program.

Here's Premium School's list of the best community colleges that offer online courses to meet the needs of students in each state:

Alabama: Snead State Community College, Boaz

Alaska: Alaska Vocational Technical Center, Seward

Arizona: Pima Medical Institute, Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson

Arkansas: Southern Arkansas University Tech, Camden

California: Unitek College, Fremont, San Francisco, and Hayward

Colorado: Front Range Community College, Westminster

Connecticut: Capital Community College, Hartford

Delaware: Delaware Technical Community College, Georgetown

Florida: Hillsborough Community College, Tampa

Georgia: Georgia Highlands College, Northwest

Hawaii: Hawaii Community College, Hilo

Idaho: College of Western Idaho, Nampa

Illinois: Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Albany

Indiana: Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis

Iowa: Marshalltown Community College, Marshalltown

Kansas: Cowley County Community College, Arkansas City

Kentucky: Jefferson Community and Technical College, Louisville

Louisiana: Bossier Parish Community College, Bossier City

Maine: Kennebec Valley Community College, Fairfield

Maryland: Montgomery College, Rockville

Massachusetts: Bristol Community College, Fall River

Michigan: Kirtland Community College, Grayling

Minnesota: Lake Superior College, Duluth

Mississippi: Hinds Community College, Raymond

Missouri: Jefferson College, Hillsboro

Montana: Dawson Community College, Glendive

Nebraska: Central Community College, Grand Isle

Nevada: Great Basin College, Elko

New Hampshire: Manchester Community College, Manchester

New Jersey: Sussex County Community College, Newton

New Mexico: Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque

New York: Hudson Valley Community College, Troy

North Carolina: Richmond Community College, Hamlet

North Dakota: North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton

Ohio: Sinclair Community College, Dayton

Oklahoma: Tulsa Community College, Tulsa

Oregon: Blue Mountain Community College, Pendleton

Pennsylvania: Bucks County Community College, Newton

Rhode Island: Community College of Rhode Island, Warwick

South Carolina: Spartanburg Community College, Spartanburg

South Dakota: Southeast Technical Institute, Sioux Falls

Tennessee: Motlow State Community College, Tullahoma

Texas: South Texas College, McAllen

Utah: Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City

Vermont: Landmark College, Putney

Virginia: Southwest Virginia Community College, Cedar Bluff

Washington: Shoreline Community College, Shoreline

West Virginia: Blue Ridge Community College, Martinsburg

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Shell Lake

Wyoming: Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne

"Since the expansion of community college systems across America in the 70's and 80's, community colleges have quietly been the unsung heroes of American higher ed", Mr. Peralty stressed. "These schools tend to do a better job of preparing a local workforce in high need areas, for a lower cost, and with the flexibility needed to serve local students, than traditional universities."

About Premium Schools

Premium Schools is a primary provider of information for college degrees or career diplomas on the web. Its main goal is to provide interested students with the right information that can open doors to opportunities to access and pursue their educational and career goals.

For more information about different educational programs and online college degrees, visit www.premiumschools.org .

Contact:

Malcolm Peralty

Chief Editor

PremiumSchools.org

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 731-614-1990

SOURCE Premium Schools
EXTON, Pa., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced it has won the 2021 MedTech Breakthrough Award for "Clinical Efficiency Innovation" for its eFax Referrals Solution. The solution revolutionizes the digital health and medical technology markets by expediting the referrals process, helping safeguard sensitive patient information and lowering administrative costs for medical providers. It helps improve the overall healthcare experience for patients, physicians and healthcare administrators and accelerate the consumerization of healthcare.

Referrals are a significant component of healthcare delivery, particularly in the 65+ age demographic which is expected to comprise nearly 20% of the U.S. population by 2025, among whom studies show every person is expected to need two or more referrals to other medical specialties per year. The vast majority of healthcare systems utilize a fax- and paper-based referral process that can expose potential for referrals loss, privacy breaches and appointment delay in a process that can take days or even weeksall of which impact patient care and satisfaction. This manual process also prevents physicians from helping more patients faster and distinguishing their practices from competitorswhich can impact financial viability and practice revenue.

Ricoh's electronic Fax (eFax) Referrals Solution enables call centers to receive and process referrals and associated clinical documents digitally within an hour, versus hours or days. With it referral coordinators can quickly complete the preauthorization process to confirm patients' demographics, validate insurance, attach MRI and/or lab results and upload data to the providers' EHR (Electronic Health Record)benefits that can vastly improve both patient and medical staff experiences.

"As the consumerization of healthcare accelerates, healthcare organizations and their technology partners must keep up with patients who expect a fast, seamless experience scheduling an appointment with a provider, receiving care quickly, and having all of their healthcare data and medical history readily available and at their fingertips," said Rory Fitzpatrick, Healthcare Partner Executive, Ricoh USA, Inc. "Our eFax Referrals Solution delivers exactly this, fast-tracking the patient's time to appointment and enhancing their overall experience, while providing physicians and healthcare administrators access to all of the referral documents in one placefurther improving the patient experience and quality of care."

Ricoh's eFax Referral Solution transforms the data workflow portability by supporting new ways of working from home or a traditional office, enabling healthcare employees to work seamlessly from a remote location with a completely automated, fluid and secured workflow that enables them to process, access and schedule a patient's referral faster. The eFax Referrals Solution dashboard also allows users to track precisely who is handling each referral and what action is taken in real time. It also simplifies auditing and tracking of protected health information (PHI) related to referrals.

The MedTech Breakthrough Awards celebrate the world's most outstanding digital health and medical technology products, services and companies around the world. This year's award winners were selected from more than 3,850 nominations from across the globe.

For more information on Ricoh's fax management for healthcare, click here. Or follow the company's social media channels on Twitter , Facebook and LinkedIn .

| About Ricoh |



Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services, thus enabling individuals to work smarter.



With cultivated knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over its 85-years history, Ricoh is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, communications services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.



Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group has major operations throughout the world and its products and services now reach customers in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2021, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 1,682 billion yen (approx. 15.1 billion USD).



For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com

 2021 Ricoh USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Ricoh USA, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ricoh-usa.com


VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - The Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (the "Company") (NYSE: RBA) (TSX: RBA) was held on May 6, 2021. Each of the matters voted upon at the Meeting is discussed in detail in the Company's Proxy Statement dated March 23, 2021, which can be found on the Company's website at: https://s24.q4cdn.com/560830410/files/doc_financials/proxy/2021-Proxy-Statement-Web-Version-(FINAL).pdf.

Per TSX reporting requirements, the company wishes to disclose that the total number of shares represented by shareholders in person and by proxy at the Meeting was 93,222,826 shares, representing approximately 84.77% of the Company's outstanding shares. The voting results for the election of directors were as follows:

Name of Director For Withheld Erik Olsson 81,028,070 9,762,665 Ann Fandozzi 90,109,012 681,723 Beverley Briscoe 89,354,413 1,436,322 Christopher Zimmerman 87,749,666 3,041,069 Bob Elton 89,501,232 1,289,503 Sarah Raiss 89,275,995 1,514,740 Amy Guggenheim Shenkan 88,110,112 2,680,623 J. Kim Fennell 89,611,818 1,178,917 Adam DeWitt 86,260,067 4,530,668

On May 10, 2021, the Company filed a report of voting results on all resolutions voted on at the Meeting on www.sedar.com.

About Ritchie Bros.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offers live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The Company's suite of solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions and Rouse Services LLC, which together provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system. Ritchie Bros. also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Kruse Energy, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers

Related Links

http://www.rbauction.com


HOUSTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen, a popular Houston-based fast-casual pizza brand, has signed a five-unit franchise agreement in Fresno California. The multi-unit deal is with a local entrepreneurial couple who fell in love with the food and decided to bring the pizza concept to their town.

The five restaurants will be owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Katharina and Don Haines. Don comes from an Italian family and Katharina spent most of her life in Europe, so it was important for them to invest in a brand with authentic Italian food. While living in Texas, the couple tried Russo's and found that perfect slice of pizza.

"After trying Russo's Pizza while living in Houston, it reminded me of the Italian pizza I would eat while growing up in New Jersey, something that is hard to find on the West Coast," said Don. "You can't find good authentic Italian pizza for delivery or take-out in Fresno and I'm confident by offering quality Italian food, Russo's will soon become the go-to Italian restaurant in our area."

The Haines recently moved back to California and saw a growing demand for authentic Italian cuisine in Fresno. Katharina spent many years working in event management and marketing, while Don spent more than 30 years in the powerplant business gathering over 25 years of management experience. Between both of their backgrounds in business, they say they're excited about introducing a high quality fast-casual franchise brand like Russo's in the state of California.

Russo's is known for its New York-style pizza and authentic Italian family recipes. Their scratch Italian kitchen with 650-degree pizza ovens allows franchisees to make unique pizzas that use original recipes, fresh ingredients, and cost-effect measures to provide pizza flavors, unlike anything tasted before. Some fan favorites include Truffle Mushroom, Prosciutto & Burrata, and Prosciutto & Fig pizzas. Other menu items include Truffle Tortellini, Caprese Pasta, Chicken Piccata, Pappardelle Carbonara; as well as gourmet soups, salads, and desserts.

"I'm so excited to expand our brand into California and have more guests try the recipes that I grew up using with my family," said Chef Anthony Russo, Founder and CEO of Russo's. "The Haines' are extremely passionate about authentic food and good service which will represent Russo's well as we enter this new state."

In addition to the new restaurants in California, Russo's has signed a five-unit franchise agreement to bring restaurants to the Benders Landing area in North Houston and, and additional agreements to bring Russo's to New Caney Bridgeland, Texas. The brand has also expanded internationally in the Middle East during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Russo's restaurants are custom designed with an open kitchen concept, counter service, and limited employees for maximum revenue and lower labor costs. Russo's lower-than-average labor costs kitchen concept can help franchisees manage the restaurant industry's nationwide labor shortages, due to the pandemic, and the prospective increase in the minimum wage. According to Russo's Franchise Financial Performance Average, the average unit volume of each Russo's franchise location is $980,900; average food costs are 21%; average labor costs are 23%, and the average income is 19.2%. The average store investment ranges from $350,000- $895,000. Qualified candidates must have at least $200,000 in liquid capital. For more information, please visit https://www.russosfranchise.com/

ABOUT RUSSO'S NEW YORK PIZZERIA & ITALIAN KITCHEN

Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen is a national and international franchisor of fast-casual New York-style pizza and authentic Italian food dishes. Based in Houston, Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen is composed of 50 corporate and franchised locations across Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida. Their international locations are in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen's restaurants and their traditional Italian recipes trace their origins to a tight-knit family where the kitchen was the center of all activity. As the son of first-generation Italian immigrants, Chef Anthony Russo, Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen's Founder and CEO learned authentic Italian recipes at age 12, honed his culinary skills working in his parents' fine dining Italian restaurant at age 18, and opened his first pizzeria at age 25. After opening three more restaurants, Chef Anthony created Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen by applying his unique, family recipes to a menu featuring New York-style pizza, handcrafted pasta dishes, calzones, salads, sandwiches, soups, and desserts. At its heart, Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen reflects Chef Anthony's commitment to his New York roots where food and family come first. For more information, visit https://www.russosfranchise.com/.

SOURCE Russo's New York Pizzeria

Related Links

http://www.nypizzeria.com


"Nobody wants to pay sky-high cooling bills," said Michael Petri, owner of Petri Plumbing & Heating. "Keeping your AC running at top efficiency is easy with a little annual upkeep."

With summer coming, Petri offers some food for thought about HVAC maintenance to Brooklyn homeowners:

Saves energy and money : In addition to preventing costly breakdowns, HVAC tune-ups can help homeowners save money by reducing energy consumption. A system tune-up will keep your HVAC system working efficiently. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an HVAC unit running close to peak efficiency can save you up to 30% on your energy bill.

: In addition to preventing costly breakdowns, HVAC tune-ups can help homeowners save money by reducing energy consumption. A system tune-up will keep your HVAC system working efficiently. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an HVAC unit running close to peak efficiency can save you up to 30% on your energy bill. Prevents costly repairs: The longer a minor issue goes undetected, the greater the chance of a breakdown. Small issues caused by normal wear and tear can usually be corrected if discovered early. If homeowners are not having their unit serviced regularly, minor problems will turn into costly repairs. Having your unit serviced will not only limit breakdowns but will also extend the life of your system.

The longer a minor issue goes undetected, the greater the chance of a breakdown. Small issues caused by normal wear and tear can usually be corrected if discovered early. If homeowners are not having their unit serviced regularly, minor problems will turn into costly repairs. Having your unit serviced will not only limit breakdowns but will also extend the life of your system. Keeps your warranty active: Most HVAC manufacturers who provide warranties require evidence of annual maintenance to pay a claim. If you are not having your unit serviced annually and the system breaks down, your claim may be rejected.

Most HVAC manufacturers who provide warranties require evidence of annual maintenance to pay a claim. If you are not having your unit serviced annually and the system breaks down, your claim may be rejected. Improves indoor air quality: An HVAC unit performing at high quality can help improve IAQ. One of the functions of an HVAC system is filtering pollutants in the air. If you haven't been regularly servicing your unit, it may not be filtering all the allergens in your home. To increase comfort, ensure your unit is working properly.

"Having your HVAC system inspected ensures it's operating in peak condition," Petri said. "A quick annual tune-up will save you money in the long term."

For more information about Petri Plumbing & Heating, or to schedule a service call, visit https://www.petriplumbing.com/ or call (718) 748-1254.

About Petri Plumbing & Heating, Inc.

Petri Plumbing & Heating, Inc. is a family owned and operated business serving Brooklyn and the New York City area. Founded in 1906, the company offers a 100 percent guarantee on all services, upfront pricing, and friendly and knowledgeable Service Experts for all kinds of home and business plumbing and heating needs. Services offered include water and gas pipe leak repair and installation, fixture installations, inspections, boiler repair, water heater installation, complete bathroom, kitchen, laundry & utility room remodeling and more. Petri is also licensed and certified by Green Plumbers USA, the first in New York City to receive this designation. For more information, please visit www.petriplumbing.com or call 718-748-1254.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Petri Plumbing & Heating, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.petriplumbing.com


"Seth is a highly credentialed lawyer and will be a terrific addition to the firm," said Bracewell Managing Partner Gregory M. Bopp . "His distinguished career as a prosecutor will add further depth to our elite government enforcement and investigations team."

DuCharme will focus his practice at Bracewell on advising companies and individuals on matters related to cybersecurity and breach response, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) diligence and litigation, export controls, sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering. He will draw on the experience gained through various leadership roles at the Eastern District, including as Chief of the Criminal Division, Chief of the National Security & Cybercrime Section and most recently as the Acting United States Attorney.

At the Eastern District, DuCharme played a leading role in:

the trial of "El Chapo" Guzman

the Huawei indictment

the RICO prosecution of Keith Raniere in connection with the NXIVM cult

in connection with the NXIVM cult the investigation of a global financial institution for its involvement in the 1MDB Malaysian bond deal, resulting in the largest criminal penalty ever obtained in an FCPA case

the arrest and indictment of eight individuals charged with conspiring to act as illegal agents of the People's Republic of China

the conclusion of a deferred prosecution agreement over a major financial institution in connection with its potential exposure for international money laundering

From December 2019 through July 2020, DuCharme was the highest-ranking career lawyer in the DOJ, serving as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He worked directly with the Deputy Attorney General in overseeing all of the DOJ's litigating components and law enforcement agencies. He helped resolve appeals of DOJ litigation positions by private counsel; supervised complex, high-profile matters brought by the Criminal, Civil, Antitrust and National Security Divisions; and advised the Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General on criminal and civil litigation matters, as well as national policy and the government's COVID-19 response, on a daily basis.

"I'm excited to welcome Seth to the Bracewell team," said Stephen L. Braga, chair of the government enforcement and investigations practice. "Corporations, even large ones with sophisticated legal and compliance departments, need experienced legal counsel to provide informed, strategic advice on internal investigations, criminal investigations and prosecutions, regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. Seth brings a real world understanding of what our corporate clients can expect from federal, state and foreign law enforcement authorities in these kinds of matters."

"Seth supervised some of the biggest and most complex federal cases in New York," adds Daniel S. Connolly, managing partner of Bracewell's New York office and a former prosecutor in the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney. "This experience compliments the strengths of our existing team, which includes retired District Court Judge Barbara S. Jones and Paul Shechtman."

DuCharme joins an established national practice, which includes Connolly, Rachel B. Goldman, Jones, Thomas F. Kokalas, David A. Shargel and Shechtman in New York; Kevin D. Collins and Timothy A. Wilkins in Austin; Matthew G. Nielsen in Dallas; Jeffery B. Vaden in Houston; Philip J. Bezanson in Seattle; and Braga, Paul S. Maco, Britt Cass Steckman and Robert J. Wagman Jr. in Washington, DC.

"I am excited to join a dynamic team of seasoned trial lawyers, former federal prosecutors and judges. I look forward to working with my new partners in serving the needs of our clients with the same judgment and creativity that I brought to my roles at the Eastern District and Justice Department," said DuCharme.

DuCharme began his career as a Deputy United States Marshal in the Eastern District. He clerked with the Honorable Richard Owen of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York prior to beginning his legal career as an associate at an international law firm in New York. DuCharme earned his J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law and his B.A., with honors, from Hamilton College.

About Bracewell LLP

Bracewell is a leading law and government relations firm primarily serving the energy, infrastructure, finance and technology industries throughout the world. Our industry focus results in comprehensive state-of-the-art knowledge of the commercial, legal and governmental challenges faced by our clients and enables us to provide innovative solutions to facilitate transactions and resolve disputes.

SOURCE Bracewell LLP

Related Links

http://www.bracewell.com


NEW YORK, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WeissLaw LLP is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. ("Harvest" or the "Company") (OTC: HRVSF) in connection with the proposed acquisition of the Company by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. ("Trulieve") (OTC: TCNNF). Under the terms of the merger agreement, Harvest shareholders will receive 0.1170 shares of Trulieve common stock for each Harvest share that they own, representing implied per-share merger consideration of approximately $4.79 based upon Trulieve's May 7, 2021 closing price of $40.92. Upon consummation of the transaction, current Harvest shareholders will own only 26.7% of the issued and outstanding pro forma Trulieve shares.

If you own Harvest shares and wish to discuss this investigation or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, visit our website:

http://www.weisslawllp.com/HRVSF/

Or please contact:

Joshua Rubin, Esq.

WeissLaw LLP

1500 Broadway, 16th Floor

New York, NY 10036

(212) 682-3025

(888) 593-4771

[email protected]

WeissLaw LLP is investigating whether (i) Harvest's board of directors acted in the best interests of Company shareholders in agreeing to the proposed transaction, (ii) the merger consideration adequately compensates Harvest's shareholders, and (iii) all information regarding the sales process and valuation of the transaction will be fully and fairly disclosed.

WeissLaw LLP has litigated hundreds of stockholder class and derivative actions for violations of corporate and fiduciary duties. We have recovered over a billion dollars for defrauded clients and obtained important corporate governance relief in many of these cases. If you have information or would like legal advice concerning possible corporate wrongdoing (including insider trading, waste of corporate assets, accounting fraud, or materially misleading information), consumer fraud (including false advertising, defective products, or other deceptive business practices), or anti-trust violations, please email us at [email protected]

SOURCE WeissLaw LLP

Related Links

http://weisslawllp.com


ARLINGTON, Texas, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Filling a serious gap for underserved DFW-area kids on the autism spectrum, Shine Behavioral Academy opens its doors to its first students in Arlington on May 10. The tuition-based, nonprofit school will provide behaviorally centered K-6 education with a curriculum based on leading-edge research and applied behavioral analysis.

The concept for Shine Behavioral Academy was born from the parents and staff of Shine Behavioral, an Applied Behavioral Analytics (ABA) multidisciplinary center that opened in 2017. The center, founded by local mom Emilye Schmale, whose own son was diagnosed with autism at age 3, offers a child-centric, family-friendly program, developed in consultation with the world-famous Cleveland Clinic, for kids across the spectrum aged 2-12.

Schmale says the families at Shine became frustrated when seeking suitable full-time school environments with specialized programs and looked to her for help. With limited local options, especially in public school systems, Schmale decided to open the Shine Behavioral Academy right next to the center.

"At Shine Behavioral Academy, we believe every student can realize academic success when they are evaluated to determine their learning style and then taught based specifically on how they learn," said Schmale. "We do not attempt to fit the child into an academic box, but instead seek to change our approach to suit them as unique individuals."

The academy, which will serve verbal and nonverbal students and those with behavioral challenges, will not be grade determinant. The students will work at a level commensurate with their individual abilities.

Students will also have access to Shine Behavioral LLC for other services, including a sensory room to engage students with light, color, textures and more; licensed music therapists; ABA therapy, speech therapy; occupational therapy; martial arts; and a hairstylist trained in caring for kids with disabilities.

Shine Behavioral Academy is located at 1205 W. Green Oaks Blvd. in Arlington. For information on programs, tuition and enrollment, please go to www.shinebehavioral.academy.

ABOUT SHINE BEHAVIORAL ACADEMY

Founded in Arlington, Texas, in 2021, Shine Behavioral Academy is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, tuition-based private school offering customized learning for K-6 students on the autism spectrum. The concept for Shine Behavioral Academy was born from the parents and staff of Shine Behavioral LLC. Shine Behavioral LLC, an Applied Behavioral Analytics (ABA) center, opened in 2017. The Academy serves both verbal and nonverbal students and those with other behavioral challenges, with a curriculum based on leading-edge research and Applied Behavior Analysis, taught by staff trained by the esteemed Cleveland Clinic. For more information, go to https://shinebehavioral.academy.

Media Contact:

Kristen Kauffman, [email protected]

817-329-3257

SOURCE Shine Behavioral Academy

Related Links

http://www.shinebehavioral.academy


HOLLAND, Mich., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shoulder Innovations (SI), an emerging leader in the development of shoulder replacement systems, announced today that it has signed an exclusive license agreement for Genesis Software Innovation's "GSI" PreView Shoulder Arthroplasty Planning Software, which recently achieved FDA 510(k) clearance. This clearance is the first musculoskeletal solution under the FDA's new QIH classification for software solutions based on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

GSI's PreView Shoulder software was developed by an international team of experts, including shoulder reconstruction surgeons, artificial intelligence experts, and visual gaming programmers. This team developed a best-in-class product that performs automated segmentation and reconstruction of imaging data, allowing surgeons to have functional visualization of their surgical cases prior to entering the operating room and without needing external data processing. Surgeons can optimize implant size, location and orientation by digitally placing the implant into the patient's anatomy with a 3D view. This serves to improve the surgical experience by likely reducing total O.R. time and reducing risks, benefiting patients, surgical teams and facilities hosting the procedures.

Shoulder Innovations has a highly innovative, world-class product line for shoulder replacement, with numerous 510(k) clearances. The company is solving surgical challenges resulting in significant and tangible improvements in patients' lives. Adding the PreView Shoulder software product to their shoulder surgery portfolio allows the company to bring greater clarity to the surgical process.

Dave Blue, Chief Commercial Officer for Shoulder Innovations said, "PreView Shoulder is extremely valuable because it helps surgeons who use this next-generation pre-operative planning software tool achieve precision and accuracy in complex total shoulder replacement surgeries. We are excited to offer our surgeons and their patients this valuable clarity, and there is no question that this is the next generation and thus really game-changing technology."

Matt Ahearn, Shoulder Innovation's COO said, "Shoulder Innovations is dedicated to improving efficiencies, decreasing costs and improving patient outcomes. SI has unmatched product innovation and therefore adding a unique breakthrough product such as PreView Shoulder fits perfectly into our strategy."

Rob Ball, Chief Executive Officer of Shoulder Innovations said, "Giving the best tools to surgeons results in better outcomes for patients. With our full platform of shoulder products and with the addition of the PreView Shoulder software, Shoulder Innovations is in a position to accelerate its impact on the shoulder replacement market."

About Shoulder Innovations:

Shoulder Innovations Inc is a medical device development company that designs and commercializes innovative products which demonstrate the potential for improved patient care and reduced overall cost to the healthcare system.

Leveraging its breakthrough, patented, InSet glenoid design, Shoulder Innovations is commercializing a shoulder replacement implant system focused on improving outcomes related to the greatest cause of shoulder replacement failure: glenoid loosening.

The InSet technology has been shown in multiple peer reviewed publications to significantly reduce glenoid implant micro-motion and simplifies surgical the surgical technique, potentially reducing complications or increase implant longevity. Shoulder Innovations is based in Holland, Mich.

Learn more about Shoulder Innovations and its Total Shoulder Replacement System at shoulderinnovations.com .

SOURCE Shoulder Innovations
"While there remains some uncertainty and financial strain for many small employers, benefits, benefits education and worker attraction and engagement remain major priorities," said Richard Shaffer, Senior Vice President of Field and Market Development.

The Small Business Benefits Trend report also found:

36% of small businesses are planning to hire new employees.

76% of small business will keep their benefits packages intact or add more benefits in 2021.

20% of small businesses plan to increase the employer portion of premiums paid.

And employees agree  the need for these benefits and the financial protection they provide have never been more important. According to a 2020 Workplace Wellness Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald & Associates:

Seven in ten (70%) employees agreed that they need their employer's help ensuring they are healthy and financially secure, and just over six in ten (60%) say it is their employer's responsibility to do so.

To a great and growing degree, employees said employer-offered benefits contribute to their feelings of financial security.

Yet, the financial health of a business will invariably affect its ability to offer benefits. And while federal funding provided some relief, 75% of the small employers surveyed said their overall financial health significantly or somewhat impacted the benefits they planned to offer this year.

This data point, coupled with employees' elevated interest and need for financial protection options, has led to the steadily increasing interest in leveraging voluntary benefits as a solution.

Voluntary benefits offer a customizable solution for the specific needs of businesses and their employees. They can provide flexibility to employees  catering to certain stages of life and lifestyles.

These benefits can also provide flexibility to employers by offering various funding options like 100% employee-paid or employer-employee shared funding.

Contact your local benefits representative to learn more about offering voluntary benefits to your employees.

*Unum, parent company to Colonial Life, Employer Survey, 2020. 321 U.S. employers with 250 or fewer employees responded to the survey from November 30  December 11, 2020.

ABOUT COLONIAL LIFE

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing financial protection benefits through the workplace, including disability, life, accident, dental, cancer, critical illness and hospital confinement indemnity insurance. The company's benefit services and education, innovative enrollment technology and personal service support more than 90,000 businesses and organizations, representing more than 3.8 million of America's workers and their families. For more information visit www.coloniallife.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Colonial Life

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At the height of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s, actress-producer-director LaTanya Richardson Jackson, C'71, was honing her significant talents on the stage of the Baldwin Burroughs Theatre in Spelman's John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts Building. She performed, alongside then Morehouse College student, Samuel Jackson, as a member of the Morehouse Spelman Players in productions like "The Sale" by Pearl Cleage, C'71. Their auspicious debut in plays produced by Spelman's Department of Drama catapulted the couple into award-winning careers spanning nearly 50 years of artistic excellence and theatrical success.

"The love that both LaTanya and Sam continue to exhibit for Spelman since their time on stage decades ago is heartwarming," said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. "These living legends met and acted together on stage on our campus. Their dedication to their artistry will leave a legacy that will inspire students in the Atlanta University Center for years to come. We are grateful for their gift and that of the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, Bank of America and David Rockefeller, Jr. to renovate the space where these beloved talents got their start. Pioneers and leaders in producing important stories, LaTanya and Sam's excellence will forever resonate in the arts center named for them."

Richardson Jackson and Jackson both performed leading roles with the Morehouse Spelman Players on Spelman's theatrical stage in the 1970s. They were directed by Spelman drama professor Baldwin W. Burroughs, Ph.D., for whom the stage is named, as well as award-winning playwrights, Carlton W. Molette, Ph.D., and Barbara Molette, Ph.D. Richardson Jackson spent time in programs on Spelman's campus as a high school student before becoming an undergraduate.

"The benevolence of God placed me, Sam and our daughter Zoe inside a miracle which out of great gratitude, we work hard to share. Sam and I are invested in the success of Spelman because Spelman first invested so much in us," said Richardson Jackson, who served on the Spelman College Board of Trustees (1998-2006), as well as on the advisory board of the Spelman Women's Research and Resource Center. "Our beloved Mellody Hobson and George Lucas [of the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation] have always been friends who supported Spelman. Their legendary philanthropy has forever graciously seeded many of the causes that Sam and I champion. But for them to offer of themselves in this incredibly generous way (without our knowledge) speaks to an understanding of the importance of Spelman women to the world, while lovingly giving zoom focus to the reality of our miracle. Bank of America and their CEO Brian Moynihan are new friends who have joined us in this preservation process, and we are ever grateful for their support."

"We're pleased to support Spelman College as it inspires, trains and develops the next generation of leaders, from entrepreneurship to the arts, with a commitment that aligns with our focus on advancing racial equality and economic opportunity," said Anne Finucane, vice chairman, Bank of America. "We believe that when the power of the arts is combined with the longstanding traditions of Spelman, it yields excellence, and we're honored to be a part of this important work."

Richardson Jackson is an accomplished actress of stage and screen, who served as The Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theater at Fordham University and has received critical praise, as well as a Tony Award Best Actress Nomination for her performance as Lena Younger in the 2014 Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," the Lily Award for Broadway Excellence for "To Kill a Mockingbird," and the Lincoln Center Theater Award for "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." Her extensive New York theater credits include "For Colored Girls...," "Spell #7," "Casanova," "The Trail of Dr. Beck," "From the Mississippi Delta," "Stop Reset" and August Wilson's 20th Century cycle at the Kennedy Center. Her film and television credits include "Fried Green Tomatoes," "The Fighting Temptations," "Dorothy Dandridge," the Netflix series "Luke Cage," HBO's "Show Me A Hero," for which she received a NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress, "Grey's Anatomy," "Blue Bloods," "U.S. Marshalls," "Freedomland," "Losing Isaiah," "Malcolm X," "Mother and Child," "The Watson Go to Birmingham" and Sidney Lumet's critically acclaimed "100 Centre Street." She was the narrator for the award-winning documentary on Lorraine Hansberry, "Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart." Richardson Jackson and Jackson are the proud producers of the internationally awarded documentary "Enslaved," streaming now on EPIX.

During his years at Morehouse, Samuel L. Jackson as a member of the Morehouse Spelman Players, starring in "The Three Penny Opera," "Perry's Mission," "The Sale" and Dr. B. S. Black." After college he spent a decade in New York City appearing on stage at The Public Theater, The Billie Holiday Theater, the New Federal Theater and with the Negro Ensemble Company, where he originated the role of Pvt. Henson in "A Soldier's Play." He created the role of Boy Willie in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" and Wolfe in Wilson's "Two Trains Running" at Yale Repertory Theatre. Widely recognized as one of the most prolific actors working, Jackson has won several acting awards around the world, including a Special Best Supporting Actor Award of Excellence at The Cannes Film Festival for "Jungle Fever"  a Spike Lee Joint! He has a BAFTA Award, numerous NAACP Awards, three Golden Globe nominations, and the Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for "Pulp Fiction." He has been named the highest grossing actor of all time. He has appeared in more than 100 films, including "Star Wars," "Coming to America," "Do the Right Thing," "The Hateful Eight," "Snakes on A Plane," "Glass," "A Time to Kill," "Eve's Bayou," "Shaft," "The Banker," and as Nick Fury for the Disney Marvel franchise. Jackson was the narrator for the acclaimed documentary "I Am Not Your Negro," based on the writings of James Baldwin and he has also lent his voice to memorable advertisements, video games, audio books, and animated films like the "Incredibles" series.

About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College's picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The College's status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MIT's Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman's first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones. For more information, visit www.spelman.edu.

SOURCE Spelman College

Related Links

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WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Supernova Partners Acquisition Company III, Ltd. (NYSE: STRE.U) (the "Company," "us" or "our") today announced that, commencing May 13, 2021, holders of the units sold in the Company's initial public offering of 28,103,449 units completed on March 25, 2021, may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants included in the units. Those units not separated will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") under the symbol "STRE.U," and the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants that are separated will trade on the NYSE under the symbols "STRE" and "STRE WS," respectively. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Holders of units will need to have their brokers contact American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, the Company's transfer agent, in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants.

The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company will look to partner with a technology company focused on internet, consumer, media and similar businesses.

The Company is led by the team that founded its predecessors, Supernova Partners Acquisition Company, Inc. and Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II, Ltd., consisting of Spencer Rascoff, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Hotwire and Zillow and who led Zillow as CEO for nearly a decade; Alexander Klabin, founder and CEO of Ancient Management LP, and co-founder of Senator Investment Group; Robert Reid, an investor who worked for 21 years at Blackstone in its Private Equity Group; and Michael Clifton, an investor who was most recently a senior investment professional at The Carlyle Group.

The units were initially offered by the Company in an underwritten offering. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Jefferies LLC served as book-runners for the offering.

The offering was made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained for free from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") website at www.sec.gov or by contacting:

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions

1155 Long Island Avenue

Edgewood, NY 11717

Telephone: 866-803-9204

Email: [email protected]

or

Jefferies LLC

Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department

520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10022

Telephone: 1-877-821-7388

Email: [email protected]

The registration statement relating to the securities became effective on March 22, 2021. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management team, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in the Company's filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statement and prospectus relating to the Company's initial public offering filed with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

SOURCE Supernova Partners Acquisition Company III, Ltd.
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union applauded the announcement of the first labor complaint filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Rapid Response Mechanism. The complaint, filed by the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajardores de Industrias y de Servicios Movimiento (SNITIS), addresses labor violations at Tridonex, an auto parts factory based in Mexico.

The complaint will be the first test of the labor reforms included in the USMCA. Workers at Tridonex have reportedly been denied their right to organize for more than two years and have faced harassment and termination for their union activity.

"This filing is a critical test of the rapid response mechanism in the USMCA," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "Part of the intent of the labor reforms included in this trade agreement was to raise the standards in Mexico and to empower workers seeking union representation on the job. How Mexico treats its workers impacts all workers in North America. Every worker in the U.S., Canada and Mexico deserves a safe workplace, free from intimidation and persecution."

Tridonex, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Cardone Industries Inc., manufactures auto parts that are sold in the U.S. The company has fired more than 600 workers who wanted to organize with the independent union SNITIS. The campaign began in 2019 after workers were dissatisfied with the representation they received from the "protection union" at Tridonex. Protection unions in Mexico are usually company-controlled and offer little to no true representation of the workforce.

"Tridonex uses dirty tricks to deny Mexican workers a decent living. In doing so, they suppress wages and working conditions for people across North America. We have no business trading with companies like Tridonex until they respect workers' rights," said the president of Teamsters Canada, Francois Laporte. "Moreover, the Canadians at Brookfield Asset Management, the company that ultimately controls Tridonex, should be ashamed that so many workers were abused under their watch. I call on Brookfield to take action to ensure their companies at least live up to the USMCA's minimum standards."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Galen Munroe, (202) 439-7427

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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CHICAGO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Temperature Controlled Packaging Solutions Market by Type (Active, Passive), Product, Usability (Single, Reuse), Revenue type (Product, Service), End-Use Industry (Pharma and Biopharma) & Region - Trends and Forecasts Up to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market size is estimated to be USD 34.4 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 80.1 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 18.4% between 2021 and 2026.

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Biopharma and Pharma are major end-use industries for TCP market. It includes Vaccines, drugs, enzymes, tissues, gene therapies, cell therapies and others are some examples of the product from the industries. These products require a lower temperature for shipping. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine, cell and gene therapies, other flu vaccines have increased significantly. The growing demand for pharmaceutical products is driving TCP market during the forecast period. Moreover, utilisation of advance insulation material in packaging and increasing demand of reusable container due to lower environment impact are other driving factors for TCP market.

By end use industry, Pharma account for largest share of TCP market

Pharma industries include products that are derived from synthetic or chemical processes (artificial sources). The medicines, raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and other drugs require a temperature-controlled environment to maintain their efficacy and other properties. The demand for pharma products is growing steadily across the globe and for safe & secure distribution, these products are shipped in temperature-controlled packaging (TCP) solutions. The growing demand for pharmaceutical products expects to drive the market for temperature-controlled packaging solutions during the forecast period.

Single use account for largest share of TCP market by usability

Single-use packaging systems are basic containers that are suitable for one shipment. These containers are a lightweight and an inexpensive option for shipment of temperature sensitive products. The single-use products provide a low total cost of ownership (TCO) to its customers. The growing demand for pharmaceutical or biopharma products (Vaccines, cell and gene therapy, and clinical trials) is expected to drive the market for single-use packaging systems in the forecast period.

Products account for largest share of TCP market by revenue type

Temperature-controlled packaging providers focus on high-performance shippers/containers and refrigerants for safe and secure shipment of payload over long transit time. These packaging systems are available in various sizes and temperature ranges. Primarily, there are three types of shippers/ containers available; Expanded polystyrene (EPS), Polyurethane (PUR), and Vacuum insulated panel (VIP). In the COVID scenario, the demand for vaccines, drugs, and cell & gene therapy has increased. The distributions of these products have increased the demand for temperature-controlled packaging products.

By type, Active system account for largest share in TCP market

Active temperature-controlled packaging systems encompass a dedicated refrigeration unit installed onboard They are mainly electricity or battery-powered and more secure options for shipment of highly temperature-sensitive products. It is a suitable solution for highly temperature-sensitive products such as pharmaceuticals which require shipping at a fixed temperature. Active systems are expensive option and are suitable for the shipment of large volumes payload with substantial transit time, such as international shipments. As these containers are offered on lease, companies worldwide are increasingly adopting active temperature-controlled packaging systems, which is driving growth of this segment

By product, insulated shippers account for largest share in TCP market

Insulated shippers are lightweight, reusable, recyclable, and economical. These shippers encompass two pieces that include a tight-fitting lid and a seamlessly moulded body. Insulated shippers are mainly used as a packaging material, as they ensure safe transportation of various temperature-sensitive products. These are suitable for carrying a temperature-sensitive payload of volume ranging from 4 liters to 100 liters. These shippers enable quick preconditioning & packing of payload and maintain the temperature of payload duration for about 48 hours to 120 hours, which could increase with appropriate insulating materials and refrigerants. These shippers are ideal for pharmaceuticals and clinical trial shipments.

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North America accounted for the largest share in the global TCP market

North America accounted for the largest share of the TCP market in 2020, followed by APAC and Europe. The region accounted for a significant global pharmaceutical market share with the presence of leading pharmaceutical industries in the US. This large share is mainly attributed to the technological advancements in the packaging industry of this region. Leading temperature-controlled packaging manufacturing companies such as Pelican BioThermal LLC (U.S.), Sonoco Products Company (U.S.), Cold Chain Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), FedEx Corp. (U.S.), and AmerisourceBergen Corp. (U.S.) are based in North America. These companies are investing in R&D activities to develop innovative products for the packaging industry.

The leading players in the TCP market are Sonoco Products Company (US), Cold Chain Technologies, LLC (US), Va-Q-Tec AG (Germany), Pelican BioThermal LLC (US), Softbox Systems (UK), Sofrigam SA (France), DGP Intelsius GMBH (UK), Inmark, LLC (US), Envirotainer AB (Sweden), Fedex Corporation (US) and Amerisourcebergen Corporation (US).

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FORT WORTH, Texas, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed trucking and transportation attorney Steve Laird has been named the recipient of the 2021 Blackstone Award, the Tarrant County Bar Association's most prestigious honor.

The Blackstone Award is presented annually during the TCBA's Law Day Celebration to an attorney whose career embodies ethical ideals, courage and service to the legal profession. The award is named after British jurist and judge Sir William Blackstone. His "Commentaries on the Laws of England" is considered the foundation of legal education in England and North America.

"It gives you a chance to reflect when peers present you with a career-spanning recognition," said Mr. Laird, founder of The Law Offices of Steven C. Laird, PC in Fort Worth. "Law always has been and continues to be a profession to me, rather than a business. I've always said, 'How a lawyer practices is a reflection on the kind of person he or she is.' It takes years to develop a positive reputation, but that can all be lost overnight. I have been fortunate throughout my career, but I have also worked very hard to maintain my professional integrity."

Starting his career in 1980 in the San Antonio office of what was then one of the largest firms in the Southwest, Mr. Laird litigated and handled appellate arguments in an "extraordinary number of cases for a second-year attorney," he said. That courtroom experience became the foundation for his career as a trial lawyer now widely considered to be among the nation's leading truck accident attorneys. Last year, he was one of a select group of attorneys to be among the first in the nation to earn Board Certification in Truck Accident Law from the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is also Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board Legal Specialization and as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

Mr. Laird's reputation as a client-first, unflinching litigator came into focus early in his career when his work spurred General Motors to lift the veil of corporate secrecy surrounding known fire risks associated with defects in one of its popular truck models. GM had kept the defects out of the public eye through an excessive use of confidential settlements. His fight to open the files helped shed light on the defects, putting pressure on GM to resolve the issue.

"The GM case was pro bono. I felt very strongly about allowing the public to have access to crucial information. Lifting the veil of secrecy helped lead to a recall and corrective action by the manufacturer," he said. ""I really can't imagine being anything other than a trial lawyer. Seeing justice served for a deserving client is always fulfilling."

Announcement of the Blackstone Award was made during TCBA's annual Law Day Celebration, held May 3 via Zoom amid ongoing COVID precautions. An in-person presentation will be announced at a later date.

About The Law Offices of Steven C. Laird, P.C.

The Law Offices of Steven C. Laird, P.C. is a firm of experienced Fort Worth truck accident lawyers focused on helping victims and their families. For more information visit www.texlawyers.com.

Media Contact

Rhonda Reddick

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Law Offices of Steven C. Laird

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Recently, A community kindergarten in Hefei's Luyang District launched a clay modelling activity themed "the great mother in my heart". Under the guidance of community volunteers, pupils created beautiful figurine of mothers to express their love by using materials such as plasticine and clay.



On May 8, Shangpai town of Feixi County carried out a theme activity of "Sending blessings to the elderly to celebrate Mother's Day" in Qianjin village. More than 20 mothers of over 80 years old were given free medical treatment as well as flowers and gifts.

(Translated by Li Yuxin)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- From buildings to brands, all things that are built require a strong foundation. With its proprietary Brand Architecture, global strategic branding and communications agency Christie & Co provides ethical companies with the sturdy groundwork that will help them penetrate new markets and transform into winning brands. The latest companies to receive this foundation from Christie & Co are fitness gear purveyor DMOOSE, plant-based skin care company Puriya, radiant heating system manufacturer STEP Warmfloor, and Rene's Naturals ESSIAC from Canada, International, formulator of the immunity-boosting herbal supplement, Essiac.

For 27 years, Christie & Co has been privileged to work with ethical companies from all over the world in various industries, all dedicated to making a difference through their innovative products, services, and business models. Christie & Co. achieves results that surpass their clients' expectations with its Brand Architecture. A Brand Architecture is the vital foundation for a company's brand. It compiles relevant market research for targeting an audience's emotional hot buttons, priority of needs, opinion leaders, and preferred channels of communication. By uncovering the emotional reasons behind an audience's purchasing decisions, Christie & Co's Brand Architecture reveals the core motivation for how a competitor's customers can be drawn to its client's products and services.

From the information in the Brand Architecture, Christie & Co crafts a customized Strategic Marketing Plan that helps its clients' brands reach stratospheric heights. It integrates strategic planning, creative design and marketing, public relations, and social media that will engineer its clients' companies into brands that resonate and connect with audiences in a profound, lasting way.

"We are thrilled to work with brands which enhance the betterment of our daily lives and contribute to improved health and wellness," said Christie & Co Founder and CEO, Gillian Christie. "We look forward to providing our new clients with a Brand Architecture that will guide them on their journey from dream to mainstream."

Contact Information:

For more information, visit www.christieand.co. For inquiries, contact Gillian Christie at Christie & Co by phone (805) 969-3744 and/or email [email protected] .

SOURCE Christie & Co

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http://www.christieand.co.


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Therini Bio, Inc. announced it has completed an oversubscribed Seed Extension round of financing. The capital will accelerate the development of Therini's lead program  a monoclonal antibody against fibrin  towards the clinic for patients with inflammatory conditions associated with vascular damage.

Therini Bio was co-founded by Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, based upon discoveries from her laboratory at Gladstone Institutes and also UC San Francisco that a cryptic epitope on fibrin, a blood-clotting factor, drives toxic chronic inflammation in the brain and the invention of an antibody to selectively target this fibrin cryptic epitope. This mechanism is believed to underlie damage in multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease and Multiple Sclerosis, in addition to peripheral inflammatory conditions like colitis and kidney disease. The scientific team at Therini led by Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Jeff Stavenhagen, PhD, has advanced this pioneering work and developed an optimized therapeutic antibody appropriate for human use that attenuates fibrin-induced inflammation without affecting critical clotting functions. In addition, Therini also has developed a suite of antibodies that could be utilized as imaging agents for diagnosis and clinical trial selection and has also discovered a broad set of novel human therapeutic antibody candidates that it is profiling for potential use in a wide range of inflammatory diseases. The Company is using the capital from this financing for antibody manufacturing and IND enabling studies in anticipation of initiating human clinical trials in 2022.

"The upsized financing validates the progress made by Therini's research team and reveals the significant excitement that exists around the breadth and depth of the science behind this new biological approach to inflammation. Having such prestigious corporate and institutional investors around the table provides the critical financial and human capital needed to support Therini through this stage of development as we near human clinical trials. The round will allow us to begin developing our exciting portfolio of antibodies to treat and diagnose a wider array of clinical indications," stated Dan Burgess, President and CEO of Therini.

The round was co-led by SV Health Investors' Impact Medicine Fund, MRL Ventures, and Sanofi Ventures who join existing investors including the Dementia Discovery Fund and Dolby Family Ventures, as well as new investor, Foundation for a Better World in support of the Company. With the closing of the financing Dr. Christine Brennan, PhD from MRL Ventures and Dr. Jim Trenkle, PhD from Sanofi Ventures have joined the Therini board of directors.

About SV

SV Health Investors is a leading healthcare fund manager committed to investing in tomorrow's healthcare breakthroughs. The SV family of funds invests across stages, geographic regions, and sectors, with expertise spanning biotechnology, dementia, healthcare growth, healthcare technology and public equities. With approximately $2.7 billion in assets under management and a truly transatlantic presence with offices in London and Boston, SV has built an extensive network of talented investment professionals and experienced industry veterans. Since its founding in 1993, SV has invested in more than 200 companies with more than 90 of these having achieved successful acquisitions or IPOs. For more information, please visit www.svhealthinvestors.com.

The SV7 Impact Medicine Fund (IMF) is SV's first fund focused solely on Biotech investments. The Fund's mission is to turn scientific breakthroughs into successful biotech companies producing high impact precision medicine drugs for poorly treated diseases. As with SV's predecessor funds, the IMF will maximize the Fund's potential to transform healthcare by working closely with its cutting-edge portfolio companies as trusted advisers and partners and by acting as entrepreneurs who can create and build breakthrough companies and treatments.

About MRL Ventures Fund

MRL Ventures Fund (MRLV) is the therapeutics-focused corporate venture fund of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A.

From its headquarters in Cambridge, M.A., USA, the MRLV team invests globally in early-stage innovative therapeutics companies that are developing transformative medicines in any therapeutic area using any modality. The MRLV team of experienced life-sciences venture capital professionals is committed to supporting great entrepreneurs in their quest to create value through building companies that have a meaningful impact on health and disease. For more information, please visit: www.mrlv.com.

About Sanofi Ventures

Sanofi Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi. Sanofi Ventures invests in early-stage biotech and digital health companies with innovative ideas and transformative new products and technologies of strategic interest to Sanofi. Among these areas are vaccines, oncology, immunology, rare diseases, potential cures in other core areas of Sanofi's business footprint, and digital health solutions. For more information, visit www.sanofiventures.com.

About Foundation For a Better World

Foundation For a Better World funds a wide array of initiatives supporting medical research, education and global development with a specific focus on advancing medical research that seeks to treat and cure neurodegenerative diseases. To learn more, please visit www.forabetterworldfoundation.org.

About Therini Bio

Located in South San Francisco at Lilly Gateway Labs, Therini is a vascular biology company focused on discovering and developing therapeutics targeting fibrin, a new biological target for neurological and peripheral diseases. In 2020, Therini announced initial Seed funding of $9.35 million led by the Dementia Discovery Fund, Dolby Family Ventures and Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. Therini has also received funding from the Fast Forward program of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Therini is a spin-out from the Gladstone Institutes based on technology discovered in the laboratory of Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, PhD at Gladstone Institutes, UCSF, and UCSD.

Contacts:

Therini Bio, Inc.

Daniel Burgess, Therini Bio, Inc. President & CEO

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Therini Bio, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.therinibio.com


"We are delighted to expand the open implant library of the TSolution One Total Knee Application to include Ortho Development's Balanced Knee System and BKS TriMax implants," said Jay Yang, acting CEO, THINK Surgical, Inc. "Ortho Development's reputation for attaining reproducible outcomes in total knee arthroplasty combined with the accuracy available to surgeons through the use of the TSolution One Application makes this an exciting offering for surgeons."

The collaboration enhances each company's pioneering technology: THINK's TSolution One Total Knee Application active robot and Ortho Development Corporation's Balanced Knee System and BKS TriMax, which includes implants and instrumentation for total knee replacement procedures.

Brent Bartholomew, President of Ortho Development, added, "We are optimistic about our collaboration with THINK Surgical, and the ability to offer a robotic option to our customers in this expanding area of orthopedic surgery. The BKS and BKS TriMax have an excellent clinical history and market reputation going back 20+ years. Coupling these implants with the TSolution One Total Knee Application adds a unique enabling technology for our flagship products."

The TSolution One Total Knee Application consists of TPLAN, the 3D pre-surgical planning workstation, and TCAT, the active robot. Pre-surgical planning allows the surgeon to design and prepare, in a virtual environment, the patient's personalized joint replacement surgical plan. The active robot aids the surgeon in executing the preoperative surgical plan with automated, hands-free cutting and removal of the diseased bone and cartilage. The TSolution One Total Knee Application assists surgeons with optimal joint implant placement based on each patient's unique anatomy.

Ortho Development's BKS and BKS TriMax design is based on proven technology with more than 20 years of successful clinical results and over 100,000 implanted worldwide. BKS implants are offered in a wide range of sizes and options to allow optimal anatomical fit for a variety of patients. The system has a patented locking mechanism specifically designed to minimize the micro-motion between the plastic tibial insert and the titanium tibial base plate implants. Simple and intuitive instrumentation facilitates reproducibility in the hands of every surgeon and aids in proper intraoperative balancing of the knee joint.

About THINK Surgical, Inc.

THINK Surgical, Inc., a privately held U.S.-based medical device and technology company, develops, manufactures, and markets active robotics for orthopedic surgery. The TSolution One Total Knee Application includes the only commercially available active robot for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) utilizing an open implant library, supporting a variety of implant options. The first generation TSolution One Total Knee Application received FDA 510(k) clearance in October 2019. The second-generation system received FDA clearance in November 2020 and is commercially available in the United States. The core technology of the TSolution One has been used in thousands of successful total joint replacements worldwide.

THINK Surgical actively collaborates with healthcare professionals around the globe to refine our orthopedic products, improving the lives of those suffering from advanced joint disease with precise, accurate, and intelligent technology. Please refer to the instructions for use for the TSolution One Total Knee Application for a complete list of indications, contraindications, warnings, and precautions. For additional product information, please visit www.thinksurgical.com.

THINK Surgical, TSolution One, TPLAN and TCAT are registered trademarks of THINK Surgical, Inc. 2021 THINK Surgical, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Ortho Development Corporation

Ortho Development Corporation was founded in 1994 and is a privately held company located in Draper, Utah, U.S.A. The company's majority owner is Japan Medical Dynamic Marketing, Inc. (Japan MDM), a Japanese medical device distributor. Japan MDM is publicly traded on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ticker 7600.

Ortho Development designs, manufactures, and distributes orthopedic implants and related surgical instruments for the global market, with a primary emphasis on the United States and Japan, and recent expansion into China and Australia.

The company's principal product focus is total knee and hip joint replacement, but also develops trauma fracture repair and spine treatment products for the Japanese market. Ortho Development products are distributed through a network of independent sales reps and distributors in the United States, and through a direct Japan MDM salesforce in Japan. Surgeons are using Ortho Development products at hundreds of locations, including world-renown orthopedic hospitals and teaching universities, as well as in a widespread number of regional and community hospitals, and ambulatory surgical centers.

Balanced Knee and BKS TriMax are registered trademarks of Ortho Development Corporation.

SOURCE THINK Surgical, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.thinksurgical.com


SEATTLE, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington State Legislature notably adopted key policies during the 2021 legislative session to better support youth experiencing foster care, including an increase in critical educational investments through Treehouse to support high school students statewide.

The nonprofit has become Washington's leading organization addressing the academic and other essential supports of more than 7,800 youth in foster care statewide. Since its inception in 2011, Treehouse's groundbreaking youth-centered academic program, Graduation Success, has dramatically increased graduation rates throughout the state.

"This investment is the culmination of a dream we launched a decade ago," said Dawn Rains, Treehouse Chief Policy and Strategy Officer. "It's one critical step toward supporting those students who are furthest from educational equity."

With this year's legislative session focused on addressing the many impacts of the pandemic and improving equity, Treehouse is thrilled to share the following wins for youth experiencing foster care:

Treehouse will receive $4.89 million to expand Graduation Success statewide. This funding will bring the program to the remaining 600 high school students statewide by 2023. In addition to increased state funding, this expansion requires Treehouse to raise an additional $1 million in private contributions. The legislature also preserved current state investments in other Treehouse programs.

Establish school building points of contact in every K-12 public school. Senate Bill 5184 requires each school building to clearly establish a point of contact for every youth in foster care to coordinate services and resources.

Provide financial support to relative caregivers. While 45 percent of youth in foster care are placed with relatives, their caregivers were ineligible to receive financial support and services without becoming licensed. Senate Bill 5151 modifies licensing requirements to improve relatives' access to licenses and the related foster care stipends.

Create community transition services for youth exiting juvenile rehabilitation. Approximately 40 percent of youth in juvenile rehabilitation facilities have experienced foster care and many meet criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. The legislature made significant investments in community facility staffing and essential behavioral therapy and substance use treatment for incarcerated youth. House Bill 1186 provides therapeutic community transition services to improve reentry outcomes in education, employment and behavioral health. House Bill 1295 increases education access to youth in and released from juvenile rehabilitation facilities.

To learn more about the policies and investments made in the 2021 Washington state legislative sessions, we encourage you to join us for our live 2021 legislative session debrief on Wednesday, May 19 at 1 p.m. PST at: facebook.com/treehouseforkids

About Treehouse

Founded in 1988 by social workers, Treehouse is Washington's leading nonprofit organization addressing the academic and other essential support needs of more than 7,800 youth in foster care. We're committed to youth in care statewide achieving a degree or other career credential, living wage job and stable housing at the same rate as their peers. With fierce optimism, we fight the structural inequities that impact all of us. Learn more at treehouseforkids.org.

Media Contact

Desiree Lindsay

[email protected]

206.767.7000

SOURCE Treehouse

Related Links

treehouseforkids.org


U.S. Xpress has been working closely with TuSimple for two years to better understand and prepare their operations for the arrival of autonomous technologies, and has had a front row seat in following the progress of TuSimple's autonomous system.

"We have been working with TuSimple since 2019, and we see them as the clear leader in autonomous trucking technology, which is why U.S. Xpress is among the first in line for reservations," said Eric Fuller, President and CEO, U.S. Xpress. "Autonomous technology is complementary to other investments we've made to broaden our portfolio of services across the supply chain."

TuSimple and Navistar previously announced a strategic partnership to co-develop L4 autonomous heavy-duty trucks. TuSimple and Navistar will launch a fully integrated engineering solution manufactured by Navistar and targeted for production in 2024.

"These early reservation numbers reflect the appetite surrounding self-driving technology in long-haul applications," said Bob Walsh, Vice President, Emerging Technologies, Strategy & Planning, Navistar. "We are happy to partner with TuSimple to offer this integrated autonomous solution to our customers."

These reservations represent the first wave of customer commitments as TuSimple and Navistar began the reservation process by approaching a select group of large customers.

"Our first wave customers recognize that a TuSimple and Navistar partnership is a winning combination, bringing together TuSimple's industry-leading autonomous technology with Navistar's world-class engineering and manufacturing capabilities," said Cheng Lu, President and CEO, TuSimple. "Autonomous trucks are poised to transform the trucking industry in powerful new ways by setting a new standard for safety, while dramatically increasing efficiency and reducing fuel consumption."

Today, TuSimple's Autonomous Freight Network (AFN) operates a fleet of 50 L4 autonomous trucks across the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The company plans to expand the AFN network coast-to-coast by 2023 and today transports freight for revenue on highways and surface streets for customers such as UPS, U.S. Xpress and the Arizona Association of Food Banks, among others.

About TuSimple

TuSimple is a global autonomous driving technology company, headquartered in San Diego, California, with operations in Arizona, Texas, China, Japan and Europe. Founded in 2015, TuSimple is developing a commercial-ready Level 4 (SAE) fully autonomous driving solution for long-haul heavy-duty trucks. TuSimple aims to transform the $4 trillion global truck freight industry through the company's leading proprietary AI technology, which makes it possible for trucks to see 1,000 meters away, operate nearly continuously and consume 10% less fuel than manually driven trucks.

Visit us at www.tusimple.com, and follow us on Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Images and video can be found in our press kit at www.tusimple.com/media .

About Navistar

Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International brand commercial trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus brand school and commercial buses. An affiliate also provides truck and diesel engine service parts. Another affiliate offers financing services. Additional information is available at www.navistar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking, including statements regarding TuSimple's business strategy and plans, the impact of autonomous trucks on the trucking industry, the expected efficiencies and savings from autonomous trucks, market opportunity and objectives of management for future operations. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast", "future", "intend," "may," "might", "opportunity", "plan," "possible", "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strategy", "strive", "target," "will," or "would", the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. The absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many important factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to the fact that autonomous driving is an emerging technology and involves significant risks and uncertainties; TuSimple's business model is relatively new; unfavorable changes to, or TuSimple's failure to comply with, applicable government regulations, including those related to autonomous vehicles; TuSimple's ability to develop its Autonomous Freight Network and market, sell or lease purpose-built L4 autonomous semi-trucks could be harmed if TuSimple's L4 autonomous semi-trucks fail to perform as expected; TuSimple's ability to commercialize its offerings at scale; various other factors relating to TuSimple's business, operations and financial performance, including, but not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our final prospectus dated April 14, 2021 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 16, 2021 and TuSimple's other filings with the SEC. These SEC filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. We do not give any assurance that we will achieve our expectations.

SOURCE TuSimple Holdings Inc.

Related Links

http://www.tusimple.com


WICKENBURG, Ariz., May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul is offering 30 days of free self-storage to residents impacted by the Tussock Fire in Crown King, just south of Prescott National Forest.

Evacuation orders have been issued for Minnehaha, Fort Misery and Horsethief Basin.

"This fire started Saturday and no containment has been reported yet," stated Jim Pena, U-Haul Company of Northern Arizona president. "With evacuation orders in place, people leaving their homes may be seeking storage to protect their personal belongings. We are offering help at our Wickenburg store for anyone in need."

People seeking more information about the U-Haul disaster relief program or needing to arrange 30 days of free self-storage should contact:

U-Haul Moving & Storage of Wickenburg

2820 Scenic Loop Road

Wickenburg, AZ 85290

(928) 415-4746

In addition to its 30 days free self-storage disaster relief program, U-Haul is proud to be at the forefront of aiding communities in times of need as an official American Red Cross Disaster Responder.

As an essential service provider, U-Haul continues to serve communities during the COVID-19 recovery while offering contactless business programs and enhanced cleaning protocols, including added steps for sanitizing equipment between customer transactions. U-Haul products are used daily by First Responders; delivery companies bringing needed supplies to people's homes; small businesses trying to remain afloat; college students; and many other dependent groups, in addition to the do-it-yourself household mover.

About U-Haul

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of 22,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 176,000 trucks, 127,000 trailers and 41,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 774,000 rentable storage units and 66.7 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry, and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S.

Contact:

Andrea Batchelor

Jeff Lockridge

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 602-263-6981

Website: uhaul.com

SOURCE U-Haul

Related Links

www.uhaul.com


HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Valaris Limited (NYSE: VAL) announced today that it has been awarded a contract extension of approximately 240 days with Mubadala Petroleum Thailand offshore Thailand for VALARIS JU-115, a heavy-duty modern jackup. The extension is anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2022 and, as a result, the VALARIS JU-115 is now expected to be under contract through September 2022.

About Valaris Limited

Valaris Limited (NYSE: VAL) is the industry leader in offshore drilling services across all water depths and geographies. Operating a high-quality rig fleet of ultra-deepwater drillships, versatile semisubmersibles and modern shallow-water jackups, Valaris has experience operating in nearly every major offshore basin. Valaris maintains an unwavering commitment to safety, operational excellence, and customer satisfaction, with a focus on technology and innovation. Valaris Limited is a Bermuda exempted company (Bermuda No. 56245). To learn more, visit our website at www.valaris.com.

Cautionary Statements

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are 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. Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and similar words. Such statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated, including the Company's liquidity and ability to access financing sources, debt restrictions that may limit our liquidity and flexibility, the COVID-19 outbreak and global pandemic, the related public health measures implemented by governments worldwide, the volatility in oil prices caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and the decisions by certain oil producers to reduce export prices and increase oil production, and cancellation, suspension, renegotiation or termination of drilling contracts and programs. In particular, the unprecedented nature of the current economic downturn, pandemic, and industry decline may make it particularly difficult to identify risks or predict the degree to which identified risks will impact the Company's business and financial condition. In addition to the numerous factors described above, you should also carefully read and consider "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Part I and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, as updated in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10- Q, which are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov or on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.valaris.com. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Investor & Media Contact:

Darin Gibbins

Vice President - Investor Relations and Treasurer

+1-713-979-4623

SOURCE Valaris Limited
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Value Colleges ( www.valuecolleges.com ), an independent online guide to the best values in undergraduate and graduate education, is pleased to share a new ranking of the Top 50 Best Community Colleges for 2021 ( https://www.valuecolleges.com/ranking/best-community-colleges/ )

Value Colleges features only fully accredited institutions that have proven their value for graduates on the job and on the job market. Value Colleges rankings are based on verified data from sources including IPEDS and Niche. Programs are ranked according to factors including cost and student satisfaction, so students can feel certain their choice of program will have a positive impact on their career.

The Top 10 Best Community Colleges are:

1. Guttman Community College - New York, NY

2. College of San Mateo - San Mateo, CA

3. De Anza College - Cupertino, CA

4. State Technical College of Missouri - Osage County, MO

5. Moorpark College - Moorpark, CA

6. Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture - Curtis, NE

7. Las Positas College - Livermore, CA

8. Orange Coast College - Costa Mesa, CA

9. Oakton Community College - Des Plaines, IL

10. North Dakota State College of Science - Wahpeton, ND

The full list will appear below this release in alphabetical order.

As the editors of Value Colleges explain, "With university and college enrollments on the decline for the first time in decades, and tuition rates going steadily higher and higher, there is a lot of concern in higher education." But, according to the editors, "Community colleges are a key part of picking up that slack, by providing career and technical training, associate's degrees, and the opportunity to transfer to 4-year institutions." The low tuition of community college makes them "central to social mobility, educational access, and entry into professional careers."

The full ranking of the 50 Best Community Colleges (in alphabetical order):

Aims Community College - Greeley, CO

Asnuntuck Community College - Enfield, CT

Bates Technical College - Tacoma, WA

CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College - New York, NY

CUNY Kingsborough Community College - New York, NY

CUNY Queensborough Community College - New York, NY

Carroll Community College - Westminster, MD

Casper College - Casper, WY

Cerritos College - Norwalk, CA

City College of San Francisco - San Francisco, CA

College of San Mateo - San Mateo, CA

De Anza College - Cupertino, CA

Diablo Valley College - Pleasant Hill, CA

Folsom Lake College - Folsom, CA

Fox Valley Technical College - Appleton, WI

Frederick Community College - Frederick, MD

Glendale Community College - Glendale, CA

Grossmont College - El Cajon, CA

Guttman Community College - New York, NY

Hillsborough Community College - Tampa, FL

Howard Community College - Columbia, MD

Irvine Valley College - Irvine, CA

Kapi'olani Community College - Honolulu, HI

Kauai Community College - Lihu'e, HI

Lake Area Technical College - Watertown, SD

Las Positas College - Livermore, CA

Minnesota State Community and Technical College - Fergus Falls, MN

Mitchell Technical College - Mitchell, SD

Montgomery College - Rockville, MD

Moorpark College - Moorpark, CA

Mt San Antonio College - Walnut, CA

Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture - Curtis, NE

North Dakota State College of Science - Wahpeton, ND

Northwest Iowa Community College - Sheldon, IA

Oakton Community College - Des Plaines, IL

Orange Coast College - Costa Mesa, CA

Oxnard College - Oxnard, CA

Pasadena City College - Pasadena, CA

Raritan Valley Community College - Branchburg Township, NJ

SUNY Westchester Community College - Westchester County, NY

Saddleback College - Mission Viejo, CA

San Diego Miramar College - San Diego, CA

San Jacinto College - Pasadena, TX

Sheridan College - Sheridan, WY

Shoreline Community College - Shoreline, WA

Southeast Community College Area - Lincoln, NE

St Cloud Technical and Community College - St Cloud, MN

State Technical College of Missouri - Osage County, MO

Western Iowa Tech Community College - Sioux City, IA

Western Technical College - La Crosse, WI

Value Colleges is independent and unbiased, ranking degree programs, providing guides for the complex financial and professional questions of college students, and offering honest facts about the potential and pitfalls of a college education.

Rhonda Corey

Media Manager, Value Colleges

[email protected]

(919) 864-2220

SOURCE valuecolleges.com
OMAHA, Neb., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vishal M. Kothari, MD, FACS, is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Top Surgeon for his outstanding contributions to the fields of Medicine & Education and acknowledgment of his professional excellence with Nebraska Medicine  Lauritzen Outpatient Center.

Vishal M. Kothari, MD, FACS

Board Certified General Surgeon Dr. Kothari, is currently serving patients within the Nebraska Medicine healthcare network. He practices at Nebraska Medicine  Lauritzen Outpatient Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and also sees patients within the Bariatrics Center at the Nebraska Medical Center, as well as the Multispecialty Clinic at Village Pointe Health Center. At these offices, the highly trained medical professionals are dedicated to providing quality, expert services for a wide range of issues including acid reflux, gallstones, appendicitis, hernias, intestinal surgery, minimally invasive surgery, swallowing problems, weight loss, and weight loss surgery. Dr. Kothari can also perform surgeries at Nebraska Medical Center, Village Pointe.



Having accrued 15 years of professional experience in his field, Dr. Kothari offers a vast repertoire of expertise in complex abdominal wall reconstruction (foregut), hernias, hiatal hernias, all bariatric surgeries, and gastric bypass. In addition to providing quality healthcare, he has served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Nebraska since 2011, where he educates his students on Minimally Invasive and Bariatrics. He continues to demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and integrity in all of his professional endeavors.



To prepare for his distinguished career, Dr. Kothari completed his undergraduate studies at Lehigh University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in pre-medical accelerated studies. He went on to obtain his Medical Degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. Following his medical degree, Dr. Kothari completed a General Surgical Residency At North Shore LIJ in Manhasset, New York, and a Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Fellowship at the University of Nebraska. With his commitment to excellence, Dr. Kothari is Board Certified in General Surgery.



Remaining abreast of the latest industry developments, Dr. Kothari maintains active memberships and affiliations with various professional organizations, including the Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Hernia Society, American Board of General Surgery, and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Kothari has contributed to several publications.



A pillar of his community, Dr. Kothari participates in the annual hernia event, sponsored by the University of Nebraska. He and other dedicated medical professionals collectively provide services to the underinsured, and disadvantaged.



Dr. Kothari dedicates this recognition in the loving memory of his father, Mayur Kothari, MD. He also dedicates this recognition to Dmitry Oleynikov, MD.



For further information, please visit https://www.nebraskamed.com/nebraska-medical-center/lauritzen-outpatient-center and https://www.unmc.edu/.

Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634 [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com


MIAMI, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- VIVEX Biologics, Inc., a leading regenerative medicine company specializing in the development of naturally sourced treatment options, is a sponsor of the 21st annual International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) Conference at the Loews Miami Beach from May 13-15, 2021.

The ISASS conference draws many of the most talented spinal surgeons, allied health professionals and residents from around the world, featuring 65+ academic presentations and oral presentations of scientific posters. This year's program is focused on new techniques, with an emphasis on innovative spinal technology, international perspectives, and candid discussions of complications and technologies.

VIVEX leadership will be onsite to discuss its diverse portfolio of solutions that support the healing and regenerative potential of the body for patients suffering from discogenic back pain, musculoskeletal injuries, wounds, burned and injured skin, and aging and degenerative joints.

"We are thrilled to be back in person to support this year's ISASS conference," said Peter Wehrly, CEO at VIVEX Biologics, Inc. "VIVEX products are used to improve the lives of more than 100,000 patients annually, and ISASS is key to our progress as we connect and share with the best and brightest in the spine industry."

Team representatives will host booth 216 during the following exhibit hours:

Thursday, May 13 from 9:45 a.m. - 6:35 p.m.

from Friday, May 14 from 9:45 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.

from Saturday, May 15 from 9:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

For more information on VIVEX and its advanced regenerative medicine solutions, visit www.vivex.com.

About VIVEX Biologics, Inc.

VIVEX Biologics is a pioneer in regenerative medicine, specializing in the development of naturally sourced treatment options and solutions that improve clinical, surgical, and therapeutic patient care through innovation. With tissue damage resulting from a variety of diseases, direct injury or trauma, there is a significant need for advanced solutions. By leveraging the resources of the nation's oldest civilian tissue bank, VIVEX is channeling the body's inherent healing qualities to bring patients optimal care and to provide medical professionals and patients with innovative treatment options for a broad range of indications.

Media Contact:

rbb Communications

Rachel Gerardi

(561) 313-3135

[email protected]

SOURCE VIVEX Biologics
SHENZHEN, China, May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- vivo today announced that it is expanding its software support for the flagship X series, committing to provide three years of major Android OS upgrades and security updates for selected models launching after July 2021. vivo aims to extend the high-end smartphone experience offered by the X series devices by ensuring continuous improvements based on evolving consumer trends and exciting new software innovations.

"Featuring top of the line hardware, the X series flagship phones are built to last  and we want to make sure that our customers get software support that lives up to their expectations," said Yujian Shi, Senior Vice President and CTO of vivo. "We always innovate with the user in mind. With this pledge, we are making a promise to our customers that they will be able to enjoy a premium smartphone experience for an extended period and continue to benefit from the latest software features."

The policy covers the European, Australian, and Indian markets. The premium X series models that are not eligible will continue to receive regular Android security updates.

vivo prioritizes user-oriented innovation by only providing products, functions and experiences that comprehensively meet consumer needs. This commitment is part of vivo's ongoing efforts to bring new products and joy-inspired experiences to consumers. As one of the leading smartphone brands in India, vivo began introducing its products to markets across Europe in 2020 and will continue expanding its footprint around the world.

END

About vivo

vivo is a leading, product-driven, global technology company, with its core business focusing on smart devices and intelligent services. vivo is committed to connecting users around the globe, through design of exciting and innovative smartphones and companion devices, as well as services which integrate technology and design thinking in unique and creative ways. Following the company core values, which include innovation, consumer orientation and benfen*, vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy, with the vision of becoming a leading, long-lasting, world-class enterprise.



With headquarters in China, supported by a network of 10 R&D centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi'an, Taipei, Tokyo and San Diego, vivo is focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, photography and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set-up five production hubs (including brand authorized manufacturing center), across China, South- and Southeast Asia, with an annual production capacity of nearly 200 million smartphones. As of now, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 40 countries and regions, and is loved by more than 400 million users worldwide.

*"Benfen" is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right  which is the ideal description of vivo's mission to build technology for good.

Please stay informed of vivo's news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news

SOURCE Vivo
From the moment guests enter through its bamboo lined entry, White Sands Hotel feels like stepping back in time to an era of playful hospitality, when Hawaii's Polynesian culture influences were felt around the world. The hotel's 94 guestrooms and suites, starting at $179/night, are centered around a courtyard pool with a cascading waterfall, grotto-style hot tub and lush greenery. The reimagination embodies vintage Hawaii vibes and offers guests an irreverent take on what it was like to work and play in Hawaii in during the Jet Age. Designed for today's thoroughly modern traveler, White Sands Hotel is now the most energy efficient hotel in Waikiki, generating almost all its energy from solar power.

"With a come as you are mentality and a design that doesn't take itself too seriously, White Sands Hotel is ready to welcome back dreamers looking for an escape from their everyday routine," said Ben Rafter, Chief Executive Officer, Springboard Hospitality. "We are thrilled to unveil Hey Day, which is sure to quickly become a favorite amongst guests and locals alike in our little corner of paradise."

From the team behind the beloved Chinatown hotspot, Fete, the heart of the hotel is Hey Day, an open-air restaurant and bar led by Chef Robynne Maii that will serve farm-to-table, new continental cuisine with a Hawaiian twist, an homage to Maii's local heritage. The restaurant will work with farmers and purveyors in Oahu to serve authentically local cuisine. The centerpiece of Hey Day is a large, circular poolside bar with hanging chairs, that welcomes guests to swing, sip and swap stories as they enjoy stiff drinks crafted by several of Waikiki's most popular mixologists.

The new look for White Sands Hotel is anchored in midcentury modern design with a distinctive island flair that embodies the eclectic, inspiring spirit of Waikiki. A palette of butterscotch yellow, olive green and cyan blue punctuate the vibrant fabrics used throughout rooms, complementing the distinctive bright orange and white umbrellas that ring the pool. Guestrooms include a private lanai and a wet bar, perfect for mixing Mai Tai's on hazy afternoons. Throwback touches are found throughout the hotel: whether the bright blue, curly cord landline telephones, or the vintage cigarette machines that now dispense locally made artwork, White Sands Hotel invites guests not to take life too seriously and embrace a slower pace.

Media Contact:

Laura Notaro

[email protected]

SOURCE Springboard Hospitality
DUBLIN, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The publisher, in its research report, estimates the global critical infrastructure protection market to proliferate with a CAGR of 6.89% during the estimated phase between 2021 and 2028.



Several factors are responsible for driving the growth of this market. These include the implementation of smart grid technology on a large scale as well as a rise in the instances of cyber threats, insider attacks, and physical threats.



Also, in the present market environment, technologies like cloud computing are fundamentally changing the way information technology is used. The cloud computing technology and critical infrastructure protection systems working in conjunction are also contributing to market growth.



However, the lack of understanding of industrial control systems and poor interoperability among products is hampering the growth process. On the brighter side, though, the IoT technology (Internet of Things) is driving the growth of the information and physical security market. This is propelling the critical infrastructure protection market growth.



The global market for critical infrastructure protection spans across the regions of North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.



North America is the largest market globally, accounting for the highest share in the CIP market. The region is an early adopter of technologies. In Canada, the implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure has helped develop a risk-based approach for strengthening the resiliency of the nation's crucial systems and assets. This is aiding the overall market growth.



Further, according to the US Department of Energy, the annual investment for the development of smart grid technology in the US is expected to rise significantly. These rising investments in smart grids to improve the security, flexibility, reliability, and efficiency of the electricity system is also supplementing the market growth in the North America region.



Competitive Outlook

Some of the established giants in this market include Teltronic, McAfee Inc (TPG Capital), Waterfall Security Solutions Ltd, Honeywell International Inc, Raytheon Co, General Dynamics Corporation, Kaspersky Lab Inc, General Electric Company, BAE Systems Plc, Airbus SE, Axis Communications, Hexagon AB, Northrop Grumman Corp, Ericsson AB, and Lockheed Martin Corporation.



Ericsson is a company providing communications technology and services. It offers services such as application development and maintenance; learning services; managed services; consulting and transformation; and systems integration, among others.



The company operates in 180 countries across North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa via business segments like Networks, Managed Services, Digital Services, and Emerging Business, and Other. Ericsson Security Manager offers holistic security management, to ensure security and privacy in telecommunication networks, and it emphasizes on 5G, virtualization, and IoT.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market - Summary



2. Industry Outlook

2.1. Key Insights

2.1.1. Growing Need to Secure Operational Technology Networks

2.1.2. Increasing Disruption in the Cyber Domain

2.2. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

2.2.1. Threat of New Entrants

2.2.2. Threat of Substitute

2.2.3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

2.2.4. Bargaining Power of Buyers

2.2.5. Threat of Competitive Rivalry

2.3. Value Chain Analysis

2.4. Industry Policies

2.5. Market Attractiveness Index

2.6. Vendor Scorecard

2.7. Key Market Strategies

2.7.1. Acquisitions

2.7.2. Product Launch

2.7.3. Partnership & Agreements

2.8. Market Drivers

2.8.1. Implementation of Smart Grid Technology on a Large Scale

2.8.2. Insider Attacks, Cyber Threats, and Physical Threats

2.8.3. Joint Functioning of Cloud Computing and Critical Infrastructure Protection

2.8.4. Political Pressure for Efficient Regulations

2.9. Market Restraints

2.9.1. Lack of Understanding of Industrial Control Systems

2.9.2. Poor Interoperability Between Products

2.10. Market Opportunities

2.10.1. IoT Driving the Information and Physical Security Market



3. Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market Outlook - by Security Technology

3.1. Network Security

3.2. Physical Security

3.2.1. Screening and Scanning

3.2.2. Video Surveillance

3.2.3. Psim and Piam

3.2.4. Access Control

3.3. Vehicle Identification Systems

3.4. Building Management Systems

3.5. Secure Communications

3.6. Radar

3.7. Scada Security

3.8. Cbrne



4. Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market Outlook - by Services

4.1. Risk Management Services

4.2. Designing, Integration, and Consultation

4.3. Managed Services

4.4. Maintenance and Support



5. Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market Outlook - by Vertical

5.1. Energy and Power

5.2. Transportation

5.3. Sensitive Infrastructure and Enterprises



6. Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market - Regional Outlook

6.1. North America

6.1.1. Market by Security Technology

6.1.1.1. Market by Physical Security

6.1.2. Market by Services

6.1.3. Market by Vertical

6.1.4. Country Analysis

6.1.4.1. United States

6.1.4.2. Canada

6.2. Europe

6.2.1. Market by Security Technology

6.2.1.1. Market by Physical Security

6.2.2. Market by Services

6.2.3. Market by Vertical

6.2.4. Country Analysis

6.2.4.1. United Kingdom

6.2.4.2. Germany

6.2.4.3. France

6.2.4.4. Spain

6.2.4.5. Italy

6.2.4.6. Russia

6.2.4.7. Rest of Europe

6.3. Asia-Pacific

6.3.1. Market by Security Technology

6.3.1.1. Market by Physical Security

6.3.2. Market by Services

6.3.3. Market by Vertical

6.3.4. Country Analysis

6.3.4.1. China

6.3.4.2. Japan

6.3.4.3. India

6.3.4.4. South Korea

6.3.4.5. Asean Countries

6.3.4.6. Australia & New Zealand

6.3.4.7. Rest of Asia-Pacific

6.4. Latin America

6.4.1. Market by Security Technology

6.4.1.1. Market by Physical Security

6.4.2. Market by Services

6.4.3. Market by Vertical

6.4.4. Country Analysis

6.4.4.1. Brazil

6.4.4.2. Mexico

6.4.4.3. Rest of Latin America

6.5. Middle East and Africa

6.5.1. Market by Security Technology

6.5.1.1. Market by Physical Security

6.5.2. Market by Services

6.5.3. Market by Vertical

6.5.4. Country Analysis

6.5.4.1. United Arab Emirates

6.5.4.2. Turkey

6.5.4.3. Saudi Arabia

6.5.4.4. South Africa

6.5.4.5. Rest of Middle East & Africa



7. Competitive Landscape

7.1. BAE Systems plc

7.2. Honeywell International Inc

7.3. Raytheon Co

7.4. Airbus Se

7.5. Hexagon Ab

7.6. General Electric Company

7.7. Mcafee Inc (Tpg Capital)

7.8. Waterfall Security Solutions Ltd

7.9. General Dynamics Corporation

7.10. Lockheed Martin Corporation

7.11. Northrop Grumman Corp

7.12. Kaspersky Lab Inc

7.13. Ericsson Ab

7.14. Teltronic

7.15. Axis Communications



8. Methodology & Scope

8.1. Research Scope & Deliverables

8.2. Sources of Data

8.3. Research Methodology

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5ex6so

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


In addition to launching its first television campaign and video ads on digital and social channels, Yext collaborated with Adweek to activate the campaign in the publication's May 10th CMO-themed issue. Readers who receive a print copy of the magazine will find a "Keyword Search" CD insert, reminiscent of the installation CDs frequently mailed to consumers in the late 1990s. The Yext-created CD includes a QR code that takes readers to a microsite, www.got-hyperlinks.com , where they are challenged to "escape the '90s" and impending Y2K doom by selecting between outdated technology choices in an interactive game.

The TV spot, produced in partnership with Sawhorse Productions out of Los Angeles, uses comedy to personify different technologies as they return to their high school reunion. The characters include a cell phone ("Cell Phone"), cloud storage ("Storage"), and internet ("Internet") reflecting on how outdated they were in high school back in 1999. The story's antagonist is "Keyword Search," who hasn't changed in looks, attitude, or efficacy since graduation.

"We have a pretty simple message, which is there are two kinds of business search out there  outdated keyword search that is stuck in the past, and modern, AI-powered search built for today," said Josh Grau, Chief Marketing Officer at Yext. "The choice might seem obvious, but the reality is millions of companies still use keyword search to power their websites. To shine a light on this problem, we created a multi-media campaign using humor to compare using keyword search with using technology that is so obviously outdated, like an old flip phone or a dial-up modem. Search is mission critical to a business's success, and we think this campaign will help create more awareness of its importance in an increasingly digital world."

Click here to learn more about Yext's modern, AI-powered search solutions.

About Yext

The ultimate source for official answers about a business online should be the business itself. However, when consumers ask questions on company websites, too often they are left in the dark with wrong answers. Yext (NYSE: YEXT), the Search Experience Cloud, solves this problem by organizing a business's facts so it can provide official answers to consumer questions  wherever people search. Starting with the company website, then extending across search engines and voice assistants, businesses around the world, like T-Mobile, Jaguar Land Rover, BBVA USA, and Kiehl's  as well as organizations like the U.S. State Department and World Health Organization  trust Yext to radically improve the search experience on their websites and across the entire search ecosystem.

Yext's mission is to help businesses and organizations around the world deliver official answers everywhere people search. Yext has been named a Best Place to Work by Fortune and Great Place to Work, as well as a Best Workplace for Women. Yext is headquartered in New York City with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Dallas, Geneva, London, Miami, Milan, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and the Washington, D.C. area.

Contact: Amanda Kontor, [email protected]

SOURCE Yext, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.yext.com


Customers will benefit from quality measurement solutions and expanded experience from one source

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ZEISS plans to expand its national coverage in the US for its Industrial Quality & Research segment by acquiring Capture 3D. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, Capture 3D is the leading US partner for GOM 3D non-contact measuring solutions. With this acquisition customers will benefit from a seamless integrated experience to get the best measuring solutions for their specific tasks.

"We are pleased to bring the Capture 3D team and their know-how into the ZEISS Group," states Dr. Jochen Peter, member of the ZEISS Group Executive Board responsible for the Industrial Quality & Research segment. "After the acquisition of GOM two years ago, we will now also combine our strategic forces in the important US market to provide customers with best-in-class measuring solutions from one source."

"We look forward to being a part of ZEISS to combine our efforts in serving our customers with the best in class measuring solutions and services," adds Richard White, CEO of Capture 3D. "Being part of the ZEISS Family will open up new opportunities for the Capture 3D team and our customers in the future."

"Having such a talented team with expert industry knowledge and a passion for 3D metrology is important," states Michael Kirchner, Head of ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions in the US. "This will expand the ZEISS support network for our customers."

Once the transaction is complete, Capture 3D will become part of the Industrial Quality Solutions strategic business unit within the ZEISS Industrial Quality & Research segment (revenue in 2019/20: 1.640 billion euros). Subject to approval by the regulatory authorities, the transaction is due to be finalized in summer 2021. Both sides have agreed not to disclose the financial details of this transaction.

About Capture 3D

Capture 3D, Inc. is the leading US partner for GOM GmbH (a ZEISS company) located in Santa Ana, California. Founded in 1997 as one of the first distributors of GOM, they now have 5 locations across the US with nearly 100 employees and over 2,900 installations. From marketing and sales, to engineering, automation, and support, Capture 3D is specialized in GOM technology for various industries. They provide innovative 3D measurement solutions to help customers make significant improvements in product design, manufacturing, quality control, and production processes. Capture 3D's solutions deliver meaningful data intelligence to empower its customers to make good decisions and be successful. In fiscal year 2019, the company generated approximately 44 million dollars in revenue. Further information at www.capture3d.com

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 6.3 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2020).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development  this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 32,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, microscopy systems for industrial quality assurance as well as metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the portfolio. In addition, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with ZEISS Quality Excellence Centers close to its customers. The company is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment.

SOURCE Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, LLC

Related Links

zeiss.com


The use of this technology, which is designed to convert waste plastic into a syngas and/or hydrogen, is subject to a formal agreement being reached between Powerhouse and Hydrogen Utopia

( ) said its relationship with Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) could be extended beyond Poland to include Greece and Hungary.

HUI, which is looking at deploying Powerhouses waste-to-energy DMG technology in Poland, has expressed an interest in broadening the relationship.

READ Powerhouse Energy to team up with Hydrogen Utopia in Poland

If the two parties firm up on the deal, HUI will pay Powerhouse 250,000, of which 25,000 is payable immediately with the balance becoming payable when the conditions of the heads of terms agreement are satisfied.

Powerhouse will continue to receive a licence fee for any DMG plant that becomes operational in any location so the company's worldwide rights to the technology are not affected by these heads of terms.

The use of this technology, which is designed to convert waste plastic into a syngas and/or hydrogen, is subject to a formal agreement being reached between Powerhouse and HUI.

Powerhouse is pleased to extend the countries in which it is intended HUI will help deploy its DMG technology to include Greece and Hungary having already entered a MOU [memorandum of understanding] in relation to Poland. This is part of our long-term vision for rolling out sustainable hydrogen technology internationally. We believe this will accelerate the clean energy transition in both Hungary and Greece and provide those countries with a solution to end-of-life plastic, said Tim Yeo, the executive chairman of Powerhouse Energy Group.

Aleksandra Binkowska, the chief executive of HUI, expressed delight at the strengthening alliance between the two companies.

Since our first MOU in November, our mutual work has been very successful. Now with potentially three territories under our umbrella, I believe that this will help speed up the DMG system rollout. The Polish Centre of Hydrogen is still our main target, but we are more than pleased to have new opportunities in new markets to target for the proposed expansion of DMG to the mutual benefit of Powerhouse and HUI," Binkowska said.




We are in the midst of a massive global transformation, thanks to green stimulus and electric vehicles rapidly gaining traction, that has propelled the copper price to 10-year highs due to fears of significant forward supply deficits, says MD.

Geophysical survey work along the line of lode at Mt Oxide Project in northwest Queensland.

( ) ( ) ( ) is set to begin its aggressive 2021 exploration program at Mt Oxide Copper Project in northwest Queensland coinciding with a massive global transformation in the copper market.

Green stimulus programs at a global level together with electric vehicles rapidly gaining traction have propelled copper prices to 10-year-highs due to fears of forward supply deficits.

This provides great encouragement for Castillo Copper which is advancing along the path to becoming a mid-tier copper group.

Upcoming Mt Oxide work

Managing director Simon Paull reflects the optimism in describing the upcoming work at Mt Oxide.

Over the past few months CCZs geology and corporate teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes on two fronts - the next phase of exploration for the flagship Mt Oxide Project and identifying prospective strategic partners to develop our Zambia and New South Wales assets.

"With the wet season in northwest Queensland now largely over, we have received approval from the landowner to recommence exploration activities at the Mt Oxide Project.

Geophysical survey work is being carried out at Mt Oxide ahead of drilling.

He said the companys first priority was to extend known mineralisation discovered at the Big One Deposit.

Geophysical survey

"Currently, a team is at site conducting a geophysical survey along the line of lode, he said.

"Once the geophysical results are interpreted and new targets formulated, our drilling team will complete the reminder of the campaign that was designed in late 2020.

"The drilling crew will then move to the Arya Prospect, where there are two shallow targets around 25 metres deep.

"However, most of the intrigue is focused on the huge interpreted 130-metre-thick potential massive sulphide target that is 1.5-kilometres long and 450-metres wide at a depth of around 430 metres.

"Contingent on the assays from Big One Deposit and Arya Prospect further drilling may be required to build our understanding of these two primary targets.

"However, there is no shortage of exploration potential for the Mt Oxide Project as there are another 19 targets that warrant investigation."

A team is at site conducting a geophysical survey.

Drilling campaign timely

The MD said with the company being strongly leveraged to the global copper market, embarking on a drilling campaign was timely.

We are in the midst of a massive global transformation, thanks to green stimulus and electric vehicles rapidly gaining traction, that has propelled the copper price to 10-year highs due to fears of significant forward supply deficits.

More significantly, with more investment now expected to be earmarked for copper exploration, our corporate team has been extremely busy liaising with prospective strategic partners to develop our Zambia and New South Wales assets.

To recap, CCZ has four projects across Zambias copper belt, a large footprint in Broken Hill that is prospective for IOCG-cobalt mineralisation and the high-grade historic Cangai Copper Mine.

Paull added: The board remains optimistic that 2021 will be a transformative year as we ramp up our exploration efforts at the Mt Oxide Project, coupled with, working towards successfully optimising our Zambia and NSW assets.
According to the company, delivery of the second Guardian-class Patrol Boat to the Solomon Islands signifies the halfway mark in the delivery of the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project.

The crew of the RSIPV Taro on board the vessel following the handover certificate signing.

( ) (OTCMKTS:AUTLF) has delivered its tenth Austral Australia Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) to the Australian Department of Defence.

The vessel, the RSIPV Taro, was then gifted by the Australian Government to the Solomon Islands Government.

This occurred during a certificate signing ceremony at Austal Australias Henderson shipyard attended by Solomon Islands High Commissioner to Australia Robert Sisilo, Federal Member for Stirling Vince Connelly and Royal Australian Navy head of Navy Engineering RADM Katherine Richards.

The vessel is the second of two Guardian-class Patrol Boats to be delivered to the Solomon Islands under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project, part of the Australian Governments Pacific Maritime Security Program, and follows the delivery of the RSIPV Gizo in November 2019.

Signifies half way mark

Austal chief executive officer Paddy Gregg said the delivery of the second Guardian-class Patrol Boat to the Solomon Islands signified the halfway mark in the delivery of the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project.

He said: The RSIPV Taro is the tenth Guardian-class Patrol Boat we have completed for the Australian Government, out of a total 21 vessels we are constructing and sustaining under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project.

The RSIPV Taro is a 39.5 metre Guardian Class Patrol Boat, designed and constructed by Austal Australia (Photo: Austal).

On track to deliver all 21 boats

Gregg said: Based on our current productivity, and despite the challenges of the COVID19 pandemic, our Australian shipyard is well on track to delivering all 21 Guardian-class Patrol Boats, on time, by the end of 2023.

Were very grateful to the Minister for Defence, the Honourable Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Defence Industry, the Honourable Melissa Price MP, and the Department of Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group for their continued support of this sovereign shipbuilding program.

Our warmest congratulations go to the Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare; Solomon Islands Minister of Police, National Security and Correctional Services, the Honourable Anthony Veke; Commissioner of the Royal Solomon Islands Police, Mostyn Mangau; and the people of the Solomon Islands on the handover of the Taro to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project

The Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) Project was awarded to Austal in May 2016, with an additional contract option awarded in April 2018, taking the program to 21 vessels, valued at more than A$335 million.

Twelve Pacific Island nations including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor Leste will receive the vessels through to 2023.

The project supports more than 200 direct jobs at Austal Australia and more than 200 indirect jobs nationally through Australian businesses contracted by Austal.

Austal Australias expanded service centre in Cairns, now incorporates a 1,200 tonnes slipway and a 1,120-tonne mobile boat hoist that continue to provide in-service support to the growing Guardian-class Patrol Boat fleet.

More than 100 people now employed in a variety of engineering and sustainment roles in the Far North Queensland city.

Much-improved naval asset

With improved seakeeping, better amenities and an enhanced mission capability  including an integrated RHIB stern launch and recovery system  the Guardian-class Patrol Boats provide the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force with a much-improved naval asset to carry out border patrols, regional policing, search and rescue, and many other operations domestically and internationally.

The 39.5-metre steel monohull patrol boat  designed, constructed and sustained by Austal Australia  is based on a proven design platform that has included the 38-metre Bay-class, 56-metre Armidale-class and 58-metre Cape-class patrol boats that are in service with the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy.

The vessel is named after Taro Island, capital of the Choiseul Province, in the far northwest of the Solomon Islands archipelago.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : A journalist in Kerala who had tested positive for the Covid-19 has died after developing coronavirus-reated complications.

Vipin Chand, 42, passed away on Sunday following a massive heart attack. He is survived by his wife Sreedevi and son Maheshwar.

Following his death, the demand to declare journalists as frontline workers has grown once again.

Vipin had started his career with Indiavision Malayalam news channel in 2005 and joined Matrubhumi in 2012.

Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala , Union minister of state for External affairs and several other political leaders and people from all walks of life expressed their condolences on the passing away of the journalist.

Union minister of state for External affairs, V. Muraleedharan called upon the state government to consider journalists in the category of frontline workers and to provide all the benefits of the frontline workers including priority in vaccination. Kerala is yet to consider journalists as frontline Covid-19 workers. Punjab, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have already given journalists the status of frontline Covid -19 workers.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Washington, May 10 : US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has confirmed that he supports Elise Stefanik to replace House Republican Conference Chair Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House and one of the few in her party who refuses to march in lockstep with former President Donald Trump.

"Yes, I do," Xinhua news agency quoted McCarthy as saying to Fox News on Sunday.

Stefanik, a Congresswoman from New York, thanked McCarthy for his support in a tweet later on Sunday.

"We want to be united and looking -- moving forward and I think that's what will take place," McCarthy said.

Steve Scalise, the No. 2 role of House Republican leadership, publicly endorsed Stefanik for replacing Cheneyy.

Trump also endorsed Stefanik, saying in a statement earlier this month that she "is a far superior choice, and she has my complete and total Endorsement for Republican Conference Chair".

Cheney, who faces a vote to oust her from the influential Republican leadership post as early as Wednesday, said last week she would continue to speak out against Trump's "cult of personality" regardless of the political consequences she might face.

"The Republican Party is at a turning point," said Cheney, who was among the 10 House Republicans having voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 Capitol riot which left five people dead.

Cheney's fate is widely thought to underscore Trump's massive and continuing importance in the Republican Party.

The party's move to oust Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, from her No. 3 leadership post was recently precipitated when she greeted President Joe Biden at the Capitol and tweeted that hewon the election fair and square, countering Trump's narrative of a stolen election.

A CNBC poll in February found that 74 per cent of Republicans wanted Trump to stay active in the party, and nearly half wanted him to remain head of the the party.
Kabul, May 10 : Afghans, as victims of the so-called US-led war on terror, would continue to suffer after the withdrawal of the American troops, according to a political analyst.

"The people of Afghanistan as the victims of the so-called US-led war on terror had suffered in the war during the 20-year-old presence of the huge military and would continue to suffer even after the troops' pull out as the militants are still very much active in the country," analyst Nazari Pariani told Xinhua news agency.

The US and its allied nations invaded the Taliban regime in Afghanistan over the country providing shelter to former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the alleged architect of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

The US dethroned the Taliban reign but it neither diminished the group nor the Al Qaeda, Pariani said.

He described the US forces withdrawal at this stage as irresponsible when the militants are still active and fighting continues, saying "first phase of war ends with the troops' pull out and the next phase of war would be more catastrophic" and the Afghans won't embrace peace in the near future.

The renowned political expert, who is also the editor-in-chief of the popular newspaper Mandegar, doubts US President Joe Biden's remarks that Washington has achieved its goal which was punishing bin Laden and smashing Al Qaeda network, which, he said, didn't need costly war and launching military invasion in a poor country like Afghanistan.

"Killing Osama and destroying terror groups were small objectives which never required launching such a costly and longest war in the US history," he told Xinhua.

"Fighting has been continuing and Al Qaeda and like minded groups are active in Afghanistan and the brutal war claims Afghans' lives every day." Pariani said the merciless killing of civilians and Taliban attacks on government forces in several provinces demonstrate the outcome of the troops pull-out from Afghanistan.

Regarding the capability of Afghan security and defence forces, the analyst said: "The security forces would continue to defend the government against Taliban attacks and the armed group would continue to resist.

"The victims are ordinary people, and the scenario would be continuing after US forces withdrawal." About intra-Afghan talks, the political observer said that "the prospect seems uncertain and the talks for peace in Afghanistan at the upcoming conference in Turkey would face deadlock as it previously faced in Doha".

"No desired outcome is foreseen in the ongoing peace process and Afghans won't reach a peace agreement over the next six months." Washington formally started its forces pull-out from May 1 in Afghanistan and the process, according to the US administration, would be completed by September 11.
May 10 : At the Vax Live event, Amitabh Bachchan requested the world to help India in fighting the acute wave of COVID-19. Taking to social media, the megastar shared a glimpse from the virtual event, where he could be seen sharing the grave crisis to the world.

Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World has been organised to emphasise the importance of vaccination and inspire vaccine drive across the world. The event was pre-taped at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as the vaccinated frontline healthcare and essential workers were the audience. The event features special messages from His Holiness Pope Francis, President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Biden, Indian acting icon Amitabh Bachchan, among others.

Sharing a clip of the event on his Twitter handle, Amitabh Bachchan urged people across the world to help India in fighting the deadly second wave of coronavirus.

Namaskar, this is Amitabh Bachchan. My country India is battling with the sudden surge of the second wave of Covid 19. As a global citizen, I appeal to all global citizens to rise up, speak to your governments, pharmaceutical companies and ask them to donate, to give, to extend a helping hand, to the public that needs it the most. Every effort counts. As Mahatma Gandhiji said, In a gentle way you can shake the world. Thank you, he was heard saying in the video. Sharing the video, the veteran actor wrote, Privileged to be a part of the concert, and the fight for India..

T 3900 - Privileged to be a part of the concert .. and the fight for India .. pic.twitter.com/vlyhKVc6QG  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 9, 2021

Amitabh Bachchan has also contributed  2 crore for the COVID-care facility at Rakab Ganj Gurdwara in Delhi, which will open today with 300 beds, oxygen concentrators, doctors, paramedics and ambulances. All the services will be provided to patients free of cost, said Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa. Sikhs are Legendary, Salute To Their Service'. These were the words of Amitabh Bachchan when he contributed  2 crore to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Covid Care Facility," Manjinder Singh Sirsa tweeted, who is also the national spokesperson for Akali Dal party.

Sikhs are Legendary

    

These were the words of @SrBachchan Ji when he contributed 2 Cr to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Covid Care Facility



While Delhi was grappling for Oxygen, Amitabh Ji called me almost daily to enquire about the progress of this Facility@ANI pic.twitter.com/ysOccz28Fl  Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) May 9, 2021

Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the superstar ensured that oxygen concentrators from abroad reached the COVID care centre. "While Delhi was grappling for Oxygen, Amitabh Ji called me almost daily to enquire about the progress of this facility," he added in his tweet.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
May 10 : South superstar Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday starrer Ligers teaser release has been postponed indefinitely owning to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic the country is battling currently.

The producer of the film, Karan Johar, had announced the film a few months ago. Unveiling the title of the film, Karan shared the release date to be September 9, 2021. The makers had also announced that a power-packed teaser of the film will be released on May 9. However, owing to the pandemic situation in India, the makers have postponed the release of the teaser.

During these testing times, we hope you all are staying indoors and taking care of yourself and your loved ones. We were all geared up to reveal a power packed teaser for LIGER on 9th May. However, due to the current scenario and environment that our country is facing, we have decided to postpone the same in the hope to share it with the world at a better time for us all. Having said that, we assure and guarantee that you will witness Vijay Deverakonda in a never seen before avatar and you will not be disappointed, read a joint statement by Dharma Productions, Puri Connects and Vijay Deverakonda.

The makers took the opportunity to urge the people of the country to take all precautionary measures to stay safe during the pandemic situation. Sit tight and until then we request all of you to stay safe, take care of all your dear ones, help each other and get vaccinated at the earliest. Take all the precautionary measures as prescribed by the medical fraternity and be sure that-we are all in this together. See you soon at the theatres when we're healthy and strong as a country, they added.

In light of the current environment and the testing times our country is facing, our focus is solely on helping the community. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the release of the teaser of #LIGER. We hope youre staying safe, staying healthy and staying home. pic.twitter.com/JmPSvhch8Y  Dharma Productions (@DharmaMovies) May 9, 2021

Sharing the statement on its Twitter handle, Dharma Productions tweeted, In light of the current environment and the testing times our country is facing, our focus is solely on helping the community. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the release of the teaser of #LIGER. We hope youre staying safe, staying healthy and staying home.

Since major parts of the film has not yet been shot, and owning to the current COVID situation, the makers are uncertain when shoot will resume again. Hence, the September release of the film has been stalled for now. The film will now release in 2022.
Chennai, May 10 : The production of oxygen from the controversial Sterlite plant in Tuticorin is likely to start from Wednesday, thus helping 7 to 8 districts of South Tamil Nadu getting ample stock of gaseous Oxygen. This will help overcome the logistical delay in supply from other parts of the state to South Tamil Nadu.

The state government and the local administration have already provided critical support in reactivating Sterlite's oxygen plant. All necessary approvals were provided in war footing to start production of oxygen which will help mitigate the crisis.

The company will be initially supplying 35 MT of liquid oxygen and additionally it has the capacity to fill another 30 MT of gaseous Oxygen. SIPCOT- the state government body, which is coordinating with the industries, is getting the required cylinders ready.

The Sterlite company according to sources, will be increasing the production of both liquid and gaseous oxygen to 100 MT each within a fortnight.

However, with the local administration allowing activists to monitor the functioning of the plant there may be hitches in the production. The Supreme Court had ordered the constitution of a monitoring committee under the Tuticorin district collector with the District Superintendent of police as a member and this committee was to give assurance to the local people on the safety of the plant.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 10 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed the union government over the foreign aid to India amid pandemic and alleged that the government did not do its job properly.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "GOI's repeated chest-thumping at receiving foreign aid is pathetic. Had GOI done its job, it wouldn't have come to this." Rahul Gandhi on Sunday had hit out at the Narendra Modi-led Central government for poor handling of the Covid situation.

"Shehron ke baad ab gaon bhi parmatma-nirbhar (After cities, villages also left to the mercy of God," he said in a tweet, attaching an image of a Hindi caption reading "Covid-19: Mahamari ki dusri lahar ab gaaon mein barpa rahi hai kehr (Covid-19: The second wave of the pandemic now overwhelming villages)".

Gandhi had earlier tweeted the country doesn't need a new house for the PM but needs oxygen, attaching photos of people in line for the life-saving gas, and work on the Central Vista.

In another tweet which displayed a graph on the Covid surge and falling vaccinations, he had termed the situation "The Movid pandemic."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : Though it's well established that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be the last word when it comes to finalising his cabinet, there is an uneasy calm that prevails in the state capital as a series of meetings with the allies and his top party leaders get underway.

Vijayan created electoral history by retaining power and that too with an increased margin of eight seats when its tally finished one short of 100 in the 140 member Kerala Assembly.

None will dare raise a banter, when it comes to Vijayan's last word, but hoping against hope are new allies like Kerala Congress (M) who have five legislators and the LJD who ended up with just one seat.

A media critic on condition of anonymity said had the KC (M) been in the Congress-led UDF, they would have definitely extracted their pound of flesh and would have gone home with two cabinet posts.

"But with Vijayan, all such tactics won't work and if Vijayan is magnanimous they will get one cabinet minister and a Chief Whip post or a deputy speaker post, both which comes with cabinet status.

"LJD is also in a quandary, as they were given three sitting seats of the Left and they lost two. Moreover, there are several other allies who have one legislator. So the final decision maker is going to be Vijayan and there are unlikely to be any murmurs. In case it happens, such allies will be shown the exit door," said the critic.

In the coming two days Vijayan will finish his one to one meetings with the nine allies and then move on to pick his cabinet ministers from the CPI-M.

In the outgoing Vijayan cabinet there were 20 Ministers including Vijayan and the CPI-M took away 13 including his post.

The maximum upper limit is 21 and this time with more number of seats for the CPI-M, it remains to be seen if there will be more ministers this time and waiting with bated breath are cabinet hopeful legislators in his party.

From the outgoing cabinet, five were not given a seat to contest, while six won and the lone loser was State Fisheries Minister J.Mercykutty.

According to sources in the know of things, Vijayan is contemplating to field a totally new team with the sole exception of State Health Minister K.K.Shailaja who might be retained as a Minister and is also being considered for the Speaker's post and if it happens, she will become the first woman speaker in the Kerala Assembly.

One problem that Vijayan might face is if he decides to go in for a new team, it could lead to lack of experience as in the outgoing cabinet he had seasoned veterans like Thomas Isaac (Finance), G.Sudhakaran (Public Works) and A.K.Balan (Law).

The only other legislator who has previous experience is former Minister (1996-01) and Speaker (2006-11) K.Radhakrishnan and coming from the Scheduled Caste community, he is a sure certainty.

Among the others whose names have started to make the rounds include former Rajya Sabha members -- P.Rajeev and K.N.Balagopal besides two time Lok Sabha member M.B.Rajesh.

Veteran CPI-M leader M.V.Govindan is also a sure certainty and others like Thottathil Ravindran, R.Bindhu -- wife of present acting secretary of CPI-M and also the LDF convenor A.Vijayaraghavan are the others who could get the call from Vijayan.

In Kerala, where every post is given on the basis of caste, creed and religion, the Christian's who can get a post include Saji Cherian, Xavier Chittilapally, Linto Joseph, K.J.Maxi, K.N.Ansalan and G.Stephen and the women include Veena George and Daleema Jojo.

From the Muslim community include C.H.Kunhambu, A.N.Shamsheer, M.Noushad, N.K.Akbar. Son-in-law of Vijayan -- P.A.Mohammed Riyaz and the lone Muslim lady from the CPI-M -- K.Jameela.

The CPI -- the second biggest ally which got four Minister's last time is likely to get it this time too, while the allies like NCP and Janata Dal (S) who have two legislators each, have by now zeroed down on their nominees.

With Covid raging in Kerala and the state under a total lockdown till next Sunday, the tentative date for the swearing in has been fixed for May 20, Vijayan has time to make the final list and until then, all the hopefuls will have to wait.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, May 10 : With Tamil Nadu under lockdown from May 10 to May 24, the state is staring at an exodus of migrant workers once again. Scores of migrant workers from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Odisha have already left from the industrial towns of Coimbatore and Tirupur with a small percentage deciding to stay back.

Mohammed Suhaib Alam, a migrant labourer who works in the Tirupur textile industry while speaking to IANS said, "Half of our friends have already left the town as we are in constant fear. People think that if we reach our home, we can at least be with the family rather than in an alien land. Myself and six of our room mates are staying back as the owner of our industrial unit is very compassionate and is providing everything to us. This is not the case with everyone and hence people are moving out." The government of Tamil Nadu does not have a proper data base of these migrant workers except for a rough estimate that there are around 30 lakhs of them spread across Tamil Nadu engaged in various kinds of jobs.

In October 2020, the Tamil Nadu Civil Services Corporation had announced a portal for the migrant workers to register and to include them under 'One Nation, One Ration Card' scheme, but the project is still on hold. This would have given a semblance of idea on the migrant workers present in the state and their whereabouts and details but unfortunately, the state is lacking on the data of t$hese workers.

However, the labour department of Tamil Nadu had in an initiative developed an exclusive portal to track the whereabouts and details of migrant workers in the state. This was intended to help the workforce from outside the state to avail the benefits under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 and other labour laws. There is a data of 4.5 lakh migrant workers registered on this portal but unfortunately this is not updated.

The industrial bodies of Coimbatore and Tirupur are trying to convince the workers not to leave the state. Initiatives are being taken by Federation of Coimbatore Industrial Association, CREDAI and Tirupur Exporters association to try and persuade the workers to continue working.

With the European markets opening up and Tirupur having to execute several international orders, the export units of the town cannot afford to lose the services of these workers.

Kalesh Kumar, a textile unit worker in Tirupur hailing from Ranchi, Jharkhand while speaking to IANS said, "The owners of these companies are promising the sky. But we are not convinced, what if the situation becomes worse, no one will help. I have the bitter experience of 2020 and I am not taking the risk, myself and ten of our team from Jharkhand are going back, come what may." If the Tamil Nadu government does not act swiftly and prevent the exodus, the industries which were looking up will have again to face the reality of shutting down bringing in heavy losses.
Mogadishu, May 10 : At least six people, including two senior police officers, were killed and six others injured in a suicide bombing at a police station in Mogadishu's Waberi district, Somalian authorities have confirmed.

Polic spokesman Sadik Aden Ali said that Ahmed Bashane, Waberi district police commander, and Abdi Basid, deputy commander of Waliyow Adde police division, were among those who died in the attack on Sunday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We can confirm that the suicide bomb attack killed six people comprising two senior police officers, three soldiers and a civilian and injured six others this," Ali said.

Independent sources said the death toll could rise since the blast was huge and there were many civilians around the place at the time of the attack.

Abdikadir Abdirrahman Haji Aden, director of Amin Ambulance, told Xinhua over phone that their team saw four bodies and took three injured people to the hospital.

Witnesses reported that the bombing caused panic among the residents.

The attack took place amid tight security in Mogadishu as the police have erected additional checkpoints in the Somalian capital to ensure safety of the residents who are observing the holy month of Ramadan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack.
Washington, May 10 : Six people were killed when a suspect opened fire at a birthday party in the US state of Colorado, police said, adding the perpetrator killed himself at the scene.

The incident took place on Sunday in the city of Colorado Springs, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said in a statement that they responded to a shooting call at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park at 12.18 a.m.

"Upon arrival, officers located six deceased adults and one adult male with serious injuries who was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," the statement said.

The CSPD said that through an initial analysis of evidence and preliminary interviews they believed the mass shooting incident occurred when a birthday party was being held for one of the victims.

The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life.

The children at the scene were not injured by the suspect, police said, noting they were still investigating to determine a motive.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers called it a "senseless act of violence", saying: "Today we find ourselves mourning the loss of lives and praying solemnly for those who were injured and those who lost family members." Sunday's shooting incident was the second in the state so far this year.

In March, 10 people were killed in a mass shooting inside a grocery store in oulder city.

The suspected gunman was later arrested and now faces 10 counts of murder.
London, May 10 : One of the UK's most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Dubai after absconding for eight years, the London-based National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Michael Paul Moogan, who had been wanted for his alleged role in a large-scale international drug trafficking plot, was apprehended on April 21 as a result of joint working between Dubai Police and British law enforcers, the NCA said on Sunday.

The NCA has established that Moogan was using numerous false identities to avoid capture, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Dubai Police believe that after entering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using a different identity, he tried to avoid Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in an attempt to elude detectives.

"Utilising the latest capabilities, including the Criminal Data Analysis Center, they were able to track him down," the Agency added.

"For operational reasons details can only be revealed now," said an NCA spokesman.

The spokesman added that Moogan had been on the run since a raid on a Rotterdam cafe suspected of being used as a front for meetings between drug traffickers and cartels, and central to a plot to bring hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the UK every week.

The NCA suspected that Moogan and two other British men were involved in plans to import drugs from Latin America to the European Union.
Islamabad May 10 : Three soldiers were killed and five others injured in two separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan province, an army statement said.

One of the attacks took place on Sunday in the provincial capital of Quetta where militants attacked paramilitary troops Frontier Corps (FC) deployed on security duties, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.

The attack left three soldiers killed and one injured, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

In another attack in Turbat area, terrorists targeted FC soldiers patrolling along the Pakistan-Iran border, leaving four of them injured, the statement added.
Tripoli, May 10 : The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Monday that some 600 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya's western coast.

"Some 600 people were returned today to Tripoli and to Zawiya by Libyan Coast Guard, among them many women and children," the Agency said in a tweet.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a total of 11,891 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

The IOM added that 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the Central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centres across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them.
Seoul, May 10 : South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that his government will seek to find a way for restored talks between Seoul and Pyongyang and between North Korea and the US.

"I will consider the remaining one year of my term to be the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible," Moon said in a televised address to mark the fourth inauguration anniversary of his five-year tenure.

He took office in May 2017, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It is time to take action," Moon said hailing US President Joe Biden's North Korean policy, which he said aimed to "achieve the primary goal of the Korean Peninsula's complete denuclearization via diplomacy with a flexible, gradual and practical approach by building upon the foundation of the Singapore Declaration".

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and former US President Donald Trump held their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing to the complete denuclearization of and the lasting peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Moon is scheduled to visit Washington for summit talks with Biden on May 21 in a bid to restore the deadlocked dialogue between the two Koreas and between Pyongyang and Washington.

"We (he and Biden) will restore dialogue between the two Koreas and between the United States and North Korea and find a way to step once again toward peaceful cooperation by more closely coordinating policies toward North Korea," Moon said.

"If there is an opportunity to restart the clock of peace and advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything I can. I look forward to North Korea responding positively.

"We have seen clear potential for issues to be solved diplomatically," the president said, citing the three inter-Korean summits and the two North Korea-US summits during his tenure that failed to achieve a complete success but maintained peace.

"If we make a little more effort, the issue will be able to be solved through diplomacy. I found a possibility for and had confidence in the Korean Peninsula's complete denuclearization and the lasting peace settlement," he added.

Following Biden's first Congressional speech in which the he called North Korea's nuclear program a "serious threat", Pyongyang warned earlier this month that Washington will "face a worsening crisis" if it holds on to the outdated hostile policy.

Moon said he did not interpret the North Korean response as a refusal to dialogue.

He said the prolonged dialogue deadlock will never be desirable, adding that his concern was shared by the Biden administration, which rapidly established its North Korean policy through close coordination and consultations with Seoul.
Tripoli, May 10 : The Libyan Navy has denied shooting at an Italian fisherman off the country's coast during an operation against four boats from Sicily.

The navy said in a statement on Sunday that four Italian fishing boats were spotted on May 6 about 48 k) off the coast of Khoms city, some 120 km east of the capital Tripoli, reports Xinhua news agency.

A Libyan Coast Guard vessel went to the location and issued orders to the Italian boats to be inspected, but they did not respond, the statement said.

One of the Italian boats was captured and inspected in the presence of an Italian navy vessel and was then released after the crew signed a pledge not to fish in the area, the statement said.

It added that a member of the Italian boat's crew was injured "when he hit one of the windows of the boat".

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio condemned the Coast Guard's actions but also warned against crossing into Libyan waters.

"We have been advising against going there not just for months but for 10 years," he said.

Salvatore Quinci, mayor of the fishing port of Mazaro del Vallo in southwestern Sicily, said members of the Coast Guard shot at the fisherman's boat, the Italian news agency Agi reported.
New Delhi, May 10 : Eli Lilly announced that it has issued royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licenses to Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers of generic medicines, Cipla Ltd., Lupin Ltd. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., who are collaborating with Lilly to accelerate and expand the availability of baricitinib in India.

Lilly is also in discussions with several other Indian manufacturers for the potential grant of additional voluntary licenses.

These voluntary licensing agreements will ensure high quality manufacturing and accessibility of baricitinib during this pandemic improving the local treatment options available to positively impact the lives of people who are currently battling Eli Lilly signs agreements with Cipla, Lupin and Sun Pharma -19 in India.

Lilly has recently received permission for restricted emergency use by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health, for baricitinib to be used in combination with Remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed Eli Lilly signs agreements with Cipla, Lupin and Sun Pharma -19 in hospitalized adults requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Commenting on the development, Luca Visini, Managing Director, India Subcontinent, Lilly India, said, "Lilly is committed to supporting India in this healthcare challenge through our innovative and effective portfolio of breakthrough medicines. During the current surging Covid-19 pandemic, we have responded by issuing three voluntary licenses for baricitinib by pharmaceutical companies in India to accelerate its local manufacturing and distribution under best quality conditions. More licenses to additional Indian generic manufacturers are expected to be announced soon. This is in addition to the donations being offered by Lilly to the Indian Government that will potentially help alleviate the burden of Eli Lilly signs agreements with Cipla, Lupin and Sun Pharma -19. We will continue to explore other possible initiatives to support patients and the healthcare system in India." Lilly is working closely with the Government in India to defeat the pandemic via different initiatives including donations and expanding availability of Lilly therapies in private or public markets. On the 4th of May, Lilly also announced that an initial donation of 400,000 baricitinib tablets was being made immediately available through the humanitarian aid organization, Direct Relief, to the Indian government for eligible hospitalized Covid-19 patients in India, while urgently working to increase product supply over the coming days.

Meanwhile Lilly continues to engage in active dialogue with the regulatory authorities and government in India to donate Lilly's anti-COVID-19 treatments, including Lilly's neutralizing antibodies (bamlanivimab and bamlanivimab and etesevimab to be administered together).

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 10 : Delhi Police has issued a look out notice against Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, who has been absconding since May 4 after a wrestler died in a brawl at Chhatrasal Stadium.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, North West told IANS, "A Look our notice has been issued against Kumar." According to senior police officials, Kumar has been absconding after 23-year-old Sagar Rana, was beaten to death during a brawl at Chhatrasal Stadium.

On May 4, an incident of brawl among wrestlers was reported at Chhatrasal Stadium.

The official said that some wrestlers were injured and they were admitted to a hospital, and one of them died during treatment.

Police registered a case of murder and an investigation is underway, the official said.

He said that several teams have been formed to trace out alleged persons including Kumar.

He further said that police is probing the role of Kumar as allegations have been made against him.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 10 : LIC's holding across 296 companies where its holding is more than 1 per cent slipped to an all-time low of 3.66 per cent as on March 31, 2021, down from 3.70 per cent as on December 31, 2020 and from all-time high of 5 per cent as on June 30, 2012, as per primeinfobase.com, an initiative of PRIME Database Group.

According to Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, Prime Database Group, this was on account of profit booking by India's largest institutional investor.

In INR value terms though, it reached an all-time high of Rs 7.24 lakh crore in quarter ending March 31, 2021, an increase of 6.30 per cent over previous quarter. Sensex and Nifty rose by 3.70 and 5.10 per cent respectively during this period. LIC also continues to command a lion's share of investments in equities by insurance companies (76 per cent share).

Holding of Insurance companies as a whole also declined to a 5 year low of 4.80 per cent as on March 31, 2021 down from 5.00 per cent as on December 31, 2020. In INR value terms, it went up by 3.09 per cent from the previous quarter to an all time high of Rs 9.48 lakh crores as on March 31, 2021 Holding of domestic Mutual Funds in companies listed on NSE also reduced to 7.23 per cent as on March 31, 2021 down from 7.42 per cent as on December 31, 2020.

According to Haldea, holding of Mutual Funds has now declined for four consecutive quarters, after 24 quarters of continuous rise (from 2.81 per cent as on March 31, 2014 to 7.96 per cent as on March 31, 2020). Net outflows by domestic Mutual Funds stood at INR 26,810 crore during the quarter, as retail investors booked profits. In INR value terms, the holding of domestic Mutual Funds went up by 4.81 per cent to Rs 14.30 lakh crores as on March 31, 2021 from INR 13.64 lakh crores on December 31, 2021.

Holding of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) stood at 22.60 per cent as on March 31, 2021, down from 22.74 per cent as on December 31, 2020, despite net inflows of Rs 55,741 crore during the quarter, according to Haldea. In INR value terms, FPI ownership also reached an all-time high of Rs 44.66 lakh crore as on March 31, 2021, up 6.77 per cent from Rs 41.83 lakh crore as on December 31, 2020.

According to Haldea, retail holding (individuals with up to Rs 2 lakh shareholding) in companies listed on NSE remained the same at 6.90 per cent as on March 31, 2021. In INR value terms though, retail holding in companies listed on NSE also reached an all-time high of Rs 13.63 lakh crore from INR 12.69 lakh crore on December 31, 2020.

On an overall basis, retail holding went up in 863 companies listed on NSE in the last 1 quarter. The average stock price of these companies in the same period increased by 5.52 per cent. On the other hand, retail holding went down in 713 companies. The average stock price of these companies increased by a much higher 15.57 per cent. According to Haldea, this further validates the oft-used phrase that retail buys at the peak and sells at lows.
New Delhi, May 10 : Swedish telecom company Ericsson and South Korean giant Samsung have ended their legal disputes over patents, signing an agreement to cover all cellular technologies.

The agreement covers network infrastructure and handset sales from the start of 2021, but other financial details were not disclosed, reports ZDNet.

"We are delighted to sign a mutually beneficial agreement with Samsung. This important deal confirms the value of our patent portfolio and further illustrates Ericsson's commitment to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) principles," Ericsson chief intellectual property officer Christina Petersson was quoted as saying in the report on Sunday.

Samsung's FRAND commitment is a contract between Samsung and European Telecommunications Standards Institute.

The application of the FRAND commitment is in relation to various global cross-licences that cover both parties' patents for 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular standards.

Ericsson had accused Samsung of not adhering to its contractual commitments for various licensing patent agreements.

In a suit filed at District Court in the US last year, Ericsson had claimed that Samsung violated contractual commitments by failing to adhere to FRAND terms and conditions.

Both the companies have now pulled their complaints filed with the US International Trade Commission, according to the report.

In its second quarter, Ericsson expected that its licensing revenue would be approximately $240 million to $300 million.
New Delhi, May 10 : With six months to go before the UK brings world leaders together for key UN climate talks, renowned natural historian and broadcaster David Attenborough has been named People's Advocate for the country's Presidency of the UN climate change summit in Glasgow named COP26.

Attenborough, who turned 95 on May 8, will put forward the compelling case to global leaders, key decision makers and the public for why climate action matters, to evidence the progress underway, and to highlight the actions decision makers will need to take ahead of and at the talks.

He will address world leaders at major international events over the next six months, including the G7 Summit in Cornwall next month, to firmly put climate and the protection of nature at the top of their agenda.

He has also been invited to address world leaders and the public at the Glasgow Summit -- the most important climate meeting since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "David Attenborough has already inspired millions of people in the UK and around the world with his passion and knowledge to act on climate change and protect the planet for future generations.

"There is no better person to build momentum for further change as we approach the COP26 climate summit in November. I am hugely grateful to Sir David for agreeing to be our People's Advocate." On being appointed COP26 People's Advocate, Attenborough said: "I am greatly honoured to be given the role of People's Advocate. There could not be a more important moment that we should have international agreement.

"The epidemic has shown us how crucial it is to find agreement among nations if we are to solve such worldwide problems. But the problems that await us within the next 5-10 years are even greater. It is crucial that these meetings in Glasgow, COP26, have success, and that at last the nations will come together to solve the crippling problems that the world now faces." He has also previously stressed the importance of COP26.

Addressing the UN Security Council in February, on the invitation of Prime Minister Johnson, Attenborough had described COP26 as possibly "our last opportunity to make the necessary step-change" towards protecting the planet.

COP26 President-Designate, Alok Sharma, said: "Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity and the stakes could not be higher for our planet. The next decade will be make, or break, for cutting global emissions sufficiently to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

"That is why I am delighted to be working with Sir David, a hero for our country and our planet, to inspire action ahead of COP26." The appointment comes as the India-origin Sharma is urging governments, international organisations, businesses, and civil society to accelerate bold pledges ahead of the summit, to put the world on a path to net zero emissions by mid-century.

In November, the UK will host the UN climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow with partner Italy.

This will provide an opportunity for the world to come together and commit to urgent action.
Chennai, May 10 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday urged the central government to allocate at least 20,000 vials of Remdesivir injection daily up from the current 7,000 vials.

Speaking to the Union Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution over phone Stalin said about 1.45 lakh persons in Tamil Nadu are being treated for coronavirus infection.

Stalin told Goyal that the central government has supplied Tamil Nadu 205,000 vials till date, that is about 7,000 vials per day which is insufficient for the state's needs.

The needs of government and private hospitals for Remdesivir injection can be met only if 20,000 vials are allocated per day to Tamil Nadu, Stalin told Goyal.

On his part, Goyal told Stalin that the request will be considered.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kabul, May 10 : Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Monday met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul to discuss the withdrawal of troops from the war-torn country.

The Foreign Minister said in a statement that in meetings in the Afghan capital she also discussed the handling of alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops, reports dpa news agency.

Payne, who is also Australia's Minister for Women, said she met Afghanistan's Minister for Women's Affairs Hasina Safi, the head of the country's National Reconciliation Council, Abdullah Abdullah, and the commander of the US and NATO forces in the country, US General Austin Scott Miller.

"During these meetings, we discussed the sacrifices made by the Afghan people, as well as those international military forces killed or wounded, including those Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice and the many who still bear the impacts of their service in Afghanistan both physical and mental," Payne said.

The Minister said that with the departure of Australian troops from the country, the Australia-Afghanistan relationship is "beginning a new chapter," pledging to "continue our close friendship, and support our shared aspiration of peace, stability and prosperity".

Payne's visit to Kabul, which according to Australian media was unannounced, followed explosions near a school in the Afghan capital over the weekend which killed more than 50 people, many of them teenage girls leaving class.

"I expressed our deepest condolences for the cowardly terrorist attack on teenage girls at school," Payne said in a tweet after meeting Ghani.

The Taliban were quick to reject their involvement in the attack, however the government has blamed the militant group.
Moscow , May 10 : Months after Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny was poisoned, the Russian doctor who treated him has been reported as missing.

Alexander Murakhovsky, since appointed health minister of the Siberian region of Omsk, did not return from a hunting trip on May 7, state news agency Tass reported on Sunday, citing a police spokesman.

A local authority had earlier spoken of the disappearance of a man born in 1971, without giving a name.

According to the report, additional police officers were requested for the search, dpa news agency reported.

Until a few months ago, Murakhovsky ran the Omsk clinic where Navalny, now jailed in a prison camp, was taken after he collapsed on a domestic flight last August.

Navalny was later flown out to Germany and treated for weeks at the Charite hospital in Berlin.

According to tests by several laboratories, he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.

At the time, Murakhovsky did not diagnose a poisoning and said Navalny had fallen ill with a metabolic disorder.

Navalny accused him of falsifying the diagnosis, and his supporters accuse Murakhovsky of delaying his transfer to Germany at a critical time.

In November 2020, the doctor was promoted to health minister of the Siberian region.

Russia says it has not been able to prove that Navalny was poisoned and is therefore not investigating the matter.

The European Union and the US have repeatedly called on Russia to investigate the crime and imposed sanctions on the country.
New Delhi, May 10 : Taiwanese brand Asus on Monday said it has postponed the launch of its Zenfone 8 series smartphones in India due to the Covid surge.

Standing in solidarity with the nation during these testing times, ASUS India said it has delayed the launch that was originally slated during this month until the current situation improves.

"While we have been very excited to launch our new smartphone at same time as global, ASUS India's top priority in these challenging times is the safety of our customers, partners, employees and all other stakeholders in the fight against the virus," said Dinesh Sharma, Business Head, Commercial PC and Smartphone, System Business Group, Asus in India.

"Hence we have consciously decided to defer the launch until the current scenario improves," Sharma added.

The company will disclose the new launch date once the situation improves.

Asus ZenFone 8 series was likely to feature two phones - Asus ZenFone 8 and Asus ZenFone 8 Flip.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Tehran, May 10 : Iran issued a sharp condemnation on Monday after a weekend attack on its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala.

"It is the international duty of the Iraqi government to protect diplomatic facilities in the country," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said, adding that this duty had not met in Karbala on Sunday.

Iran's protest had also been sent to the Iraqi embassy in Tehran, he told a press conference.

Protesters attacked the consulate on Sunday, protesting the killing of an activist, dpa news agency reported citing witnesses as saying.

They stormed the outer enclosure of the consulate building and torched parts of it, videos shared in social media showed.

The demonstrators also set fire to the consulate guards' booths.

Security forces fired live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators, leaving at least 10 people injured, according to the witnesses.

The protest came in response to the killing of Iraqi activist Ihab Jawad, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside his house in Karbala on Saturday, security sources said.

His killing was the latest in a series of attacks on pro-reform activists in Iraq blamed by protesters on pro-Iranian militias.
New Delhi, May 10 : There is no dearth of honey brands dotting the market shelves claiming to be pure, healthy and immunity boosting. Are all these products really as healthy as they claim to be? Is the honey you consume pure, unadulterated and unaltered from its natural state? To ascertain the goodness of honey, one must know that honey is most beneficial and healthy when consumed in its most natural state. However, when the honey extracted from beehives is processed, heated and laden with additives, it not just loses its innate health benefits but may even become unhealthy to consume. So, if you want to consume honey for its myriad health benefits, it is raw, unprocessed honey you must look for.

Health benefits of raw honey Honey has long known to be a superfood with near miraculous medicinal properties. Ancient medical literatures from across civilizations show how honey has always been used as a healing agent. Among his diverse observations, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle also referred to honey as "good as a salve for sore eyes and wounds''. The benefits of ''madhu'' find mention in the Vedas, suggesting how our ancestors swore by its medicinal properties.

Modern research has attested to the fact that when consumed in its pure form, honey indeed has miraculous medicinal properties. Honey's antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties are well-known today. Pure honey also has immunomodulatory properties, implying that it helps modulate the body's immune system and boosts its immunity effectively. Growing evidence in recent years has indicated that honey when consumed in its purest form may also have potential anti-cancer benefits. The pollen derived by bees from the nectar of vibrant and diverse flowers helps improve digestion, vitality and longevity. It is rich in amino acids and may help achieve a series of health goals including weight loss, fighting off allergies, improving respiratory health and even provide anti-ageing benefits.

Raw honey is also packed with phytonutrients and is antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal in nature. In current times when the only way to really protect yourself from a contagious virus is to boost your immunity, a cup of pure honey-lemon tea can go a long way.

Unfortunately, a bulk of these benefits is lost when honey is subjected to processing, heating and pasteurization. Heavy processing kills its natural curative qualities and reduces it to a mere sweet tasting syrup. This is why it is not a given that the honey picked up from grocery stores is replete with all these health benefits.

Raw honey vs processed honey Raw honey is what is derived directly from the bees in its most natural form. Raw honey is neither heated nor pasteurized. It is not processed in any form and does not contain any additives. Rather, it comes laden with the immense benefits of bee wax and bee pollen. However, not all honey available in the market is in its natural raw and unprocessed state.

The process of mechanical filtration, pasteurization and bottling does significantly improve the texture and appearance of honey but it also kills most of its benefits. Pasteurized honey can increase its own glycemic index which in turn has adverse effect on diabetics. Heating honey not only deteriorates its quality but also results in a loss of essential enzymes and nutrients. Worse still, the principles of Ayurveda suggest that when cooked, the molecules of honey produce toxins which contribute to health problems such as congestion, obesity, indigestion, respiratory diseases and blood glucose imbalances.

Unfortunately, most of the mass-packaged honey we get in our local stores is preheated and severely processed. On the other hand, some producers also replace honey with sugarcane, corn or rice solutions while many beekeepers replace the honey in the hive itself with sugar substitutes. A study conducted by a leading Indian environment watchdog recently threw up startling revelations. It concluded that a number of leading honey brands in the country were adulterated with sugar syrup.

What to look for while buying honey? If you are out to buy honey for its health and immunity boosting benefits, it is raw and unprocessed honey that you should look for. At Conscious Food, we source honey from the Shivalik hills of the Himalayas using age-old eco-friendly honey-extraction methods that preserve its natural goodness and nutrients. It is then bottled and shipped to ensure every spoonful is as pure and fresh as can be.

(Shivranjani Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Conscious Food) (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kozhikode, May 10 : As Covid-19 cases rise drastically, a 13 KL oxygen plant was set up at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

This is to accommodate the increase in the number of Covid patients who require oxygen support.

The 13KL plant from the PK Steel Complex was re-located to the Medical College compound. This was following the order of the District Collector under the Disaster Management Act.

The re-location was done by Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS).

Kozhikode today has 52,116 Covid positive cases and the State run Medical College hospital has the highest number of patients and hence this new oxygen plant is expected to make breathing easy for numerous patients.

The decision to re-locate the oxygen plant was taken by the Sambasiva Rao, the Kozhikode district collector on May 1 and ULCCS team began the re-location work and it has completed its work and commissioned the plant, all done free of cost taking into consideration the gravity of the situation.

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar took to Twitter to congratulate the ULCCS for reinstalling the oxygen plant.

The plant is located in front of the new Covid Block of Kozhikode Medical College which can accommodate 700 patients and has 120 ICU beds.

The 2013 Indian Cooperative Congress has acknowledged ULCCS as the best worker's Cooperative society in India and the World Cooperative Monitor published by the International Cooperative Alliance has ranked ULCCS in second position after the world leader in Cooperatives, Modragon of Spain. This ranking is based on the ratio of turnover over gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kolkata, May 10 : Amid a raging Covid-19 pandemic, 43 Trinamool Congress ministers comprising 24 cabinet ministers, 10 Ministers of State with Independent charge and nine MoS took oath at an austere ceremony held in the Raj Bhawan on Monday.

While three ministers Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu and Rathin Ghosh took their oath virtually. The rest -- 40 ministers were divided into three groups -- Cabinet, MOS (Independent Charge) and MoS and they took their oath together to cut short the program.

Mitra has not been well for a long time and the other two ministers have Covid.

Later Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allocated the departments to the ministers.

Banerjee kept with herself important departments like Home and Hill Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, Information and Cultural Affairs, Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Rehabilitation.

The chief minister will also take care of North Bengal.

As expected, Amit Mitra was given the responsibility of Finance but his other department Commerce and Industries was given to former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee. Chatterjee will also hold the portfolio of IT and Parliamentary Affairs.

On the other hand, Bratya Basu who was handling IT is now given the responsibility of the School and Higher Education Department. Mitra is physically not well and didn't contest the election but he was brought back by the chief minister so that he could continue to handle finance.

Though most of the former ministers retain their department but former Urban Development minister and former Mayor Firhad Hakim will be holding the portfolio of Transport and Housing. Earlier the state Transport Department was with Suvendu Adhikari who left TMC and joined BJP before the election.

Adhikari who won from Nandigram defeating the chief minister in a closely fought battle will be the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

Interestingly enough three most powerful ministers in the last cabinet Arrop Biswas, Jyotipriya Mullivk and Sovondeb Chattopadhyay have been given relatively insignificant portfolios.

Mullick, who was in charge of the Food Department last time, has been given the responsibility of Forest and non-conventional energy.

The Food and Supply department has been given to Pulok Roy, who is new in the ministry.

Similarly, Mamata's close aide and loyal for long time Sovondeb Chattopadhyay has been transferred from Power to Agriculture and Aroop Biswas, who is one of the most trusted of the chief minister has been given the portfolio of Power. Biswas was the PWD minister that has not been allotted yet.

Apart from Roy, the new faces in the cabinet include Manas Ranjan Bhuniya and Bamkim Chandra Hazra. When Bhuniya has been given the responsibility of Water Resource Investigation and Development, Hazra has been given the responsibility of Sunderban Affairs.

Chandrima Bhatacharya -- one of the most trusted of the chief minister has been made MoS with independent charge but she has been given the responsibility of several departments like Urban Development and Municipal Affairs and will be working as MoS in several departments that are held by Mamata Banerjee like Health and Family Welfare, Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Rehabilitation. It is likely that she will become one of the key ministers in this ministry.

There are some new faces who will be working as ministers of state with independent charge and that include a former IPS Officer who has been asked to handle the Technical Education Department.

Ratna De Nag will be handling Environment, Science and Technology, Sandhyarani Tudu has been allotted the Western Region Development department and Akhil Giri has been given the department of fisheries.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Rome, May 10 : More than 2,000 migrants have reached the Lampedusa island in the Mediterranean Sea by boat within the past 24 hours, state media reported on Monday, sparking concerns in Rome.

The number of migrants boarding crowded vessels for the treacherous journey to the small island between North Africa and Sicily has sharply risen in recent days, dpa news agency quoted Italy's ANSA as saying in a report.

ANSA said early on Monday that, during the previous 24 hours, 2,128 people landed on the Italian island, including 635 overnight.

Patrol boats picked up several hundred people travelling in small boats and brought them ashore, while others managed to reach the coast.

In recent weeks, private sea rescuers have reported seeing greater numbers of migrants setting off in rubber dinghies and small wooden boats towards Europe, often from Libya, while dozens have drowned when vessels capsize.

According to a count by the Ministry of the Interior published on May 7, more than 10,700 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year.

There were 4,100 arrivals during the same period last year.

Many of those making the perilous journey came from Tunisia, the Ivory Coast and Bangladesh.

Right-wing parties, including the co-ruling League party of former interior minister Matteo Salvini, responded by warning about "thousands of illegal immigrants" arriving in Italy. Salvini called for a crisis meeting with Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Sunday.

Salvini said he was already in contact with Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese.

Lamorgese had also contacted Prime Minister Draghi during the weekend about the rise in numbers, ANSA said.
Mumbai, May 10 : Global life sciences company Bayer on Monday announced an extension of its COVID-19 relief measures to local communities, healthcare workers, businesses and employees.

As COVID-19 cases surge in India, Bayer is re-purposing its existing 200 NM3/hr Nitrogen plant at its manufacturing facility at Vapi. This will help provide a permanent source of Oxygen supply to a local hospital.

Additionally, Bayer will also provide oxygen concentrators to Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to serve communities across rural India.

Over the last 10 months, the company along with the Government of Maharashtra has converted its plant at Chittegaon, Aurangabad into an 80-bed COVID-care facility. To support, those in need, the organization has also sponsored beds in major hospitals across multiple cities for emergency support.

In collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra, NASSCOM and WNS Global Services, Bayer is supporting 30 ICU beds in one of the district hospitals through telemedicine solutions.

There is an urgent and critical need to support those paramedics and frontline workers who are struggling with mental health challenges during these tough times. To this end, Bayer is launching a helpline to support these frontline workers and the farming community. This helpline will serve approximately 10,000 beneficiaries and their immediate families.

To accelerate the vaccination process, Bayer is mobilizing communities by conducting awareness drives highlighting the benefits of immunization and reinforcing COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB). These efforts will complement Bayer's ongoing initiative to facilitate vaccination for all employees and their families.

D. Narain, Senior Bayer Representative, South Asia and Chief Executive Officer, Bayer CropScience Limited said, "During these unprecedented times, it is our responsibility to support the nation's fight against the pandemic. Our small contribution is an effort to sustain sections of our society where help is needed the most. Reflecting our vision, 'Health for all, hunger for none', we will continue our efforts to resurrect vulnerable sections of our society." Since the start of the pandemic, Bayer has been focused at providing holistic support across multiple dimensions delivering impactful results to the communities and customers we serve. As part of these initiatives to provide critical supplies and support, Bayer has provided 15,000 PPE kits to 175 hospitals across 6 states; 6,00,000 N-95 masks to police personnel and 206 hospitals in 12 states; 5,000 pairs of gloves to frontline workers; 5,500 ration kits to migrant workers and 45,000 cooked meals to quarantined individuals and frontline workers.

In addition through its initiative "Better Farms, Better Lives", Bayer has provided 4,00,000 smallholder farmers, immediate access to basic agri-inputs and crop advisories in 204 districts across 17 states, spanning key crops such as rice, corn, vegetables and millet to support their critical livelihood needs. The company is also extending support to marginalized communities with nutritious food through the "Roti Foundation, Mumbai".

While the last few months have been tumultuous, Bayer's 13,000+ employees and associates are ensuring that our customers, partners and local communities are supported extensively. Safety of our employees and their families has always been paramount. Bayer's employee welfare measures have included enhanced health insurance coverage, teleconsultation services, comprehensive health check-ups and vaccination programs for all our employees, their families and all contracted associates.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Berlin, May 10 : Germany on Monday said it would administer the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine primarily to those aged 60 and above, but decided it could also be offered to younger people as long as their individual health risks had been considered.

The vaccine will therefore be given the same status as the AstraZeneca jab, which was last week cleared to be given to people younger than 60, as long as they had had a consultation with a doctor, reports dpa news agency.

Unlike the AstraZeneca vaccine, however, Johnson & Johnson requires only one dose, rather than two.

The roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson jab had been delayed in Germany and other countries in Europe due to concerns that, in highly rare circumstances, they can contribute to the formation of internal blood clots.

The decision to lift the age restriction was taken at a meeting of state and federal health ministers and announced by Health Minister Jens Spahn on Monday, following a recommendation from Germany's top vaccine body.

The Ministers said that they took the cases of cervical vein thromboses in connection with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine very seriously, but pointed out that, as with the AstraZeneca vaccine, such cases were very rare.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) infectious disease authority on Monday reported 6,922 infections during the past 24 hours.

The country's overall case tally and death rate currently stood at 3,530,887 and 84,796 deaths.
Mumbai, May 10 : Concerned over the massive COVID-19 surge in the country, a Maharashtra researcher-cum-scientist has developed a unique stem-cell/platelet-based remedy to kill the Coronavirus "naturally, with anti-inflammatory bodies" and reduce the need for hospitalization of COVID patients by 65-75 per cent.

Navi Mumbai-based Urologist-cum-regenerative medicine researcher Dr Pradeep V. Mahajan, 61, said that the stem-cell/lyophilised platelet remedy is a proven protocol for COVID and post-COVID patients on OPD basis, without requiring hospitalization for targeting the primary lung disease.

Dr Mahajan - Chairman of StemRx Biosciences Solutions Pvt Ltd - said that the lungs are the prime target of Covid, causing maximum morbidity, highest stay in ICU/ventilators and deaths, and post-treatment, the patient requires oxygen for several months as lungs develop fibrosis.

"Most drugs, medicines, various forms of treatment and even vaccines fail to give the desired success rate as they are targeting the virus, not its environment. So, to survive, it keeps mutating, and we fumble for newer remedies. My protocol is simple - I tackle and strengthen the environment which kills the Coronavirus naturally," Dr Mahajan pointed out.

Elaborating, he said for this, his team acquires blood platelets - considered the first line defence of the lungs, followed by white blood corpuscles and platelets for the next stage of the healing process.

"We take the platelets from regular blood banks or donors, they are lysed, (to remove its walls to extract the granules), convert them into a powder and administer as a mixture through a Nebuliser or a Rotahaler directly into the lungs - similar to any asthma patients," Dr Mahajan said.

These pumps (Nebuliser-Rotahaler) are easily available for between Rs 250-Rs 1,500 apiece, while the stem-cell concoction used in them is prepared in a special lab machine.

Presently, Dr Mahajan has installed one such small capacity machine at the StemRx facility, Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri, Mumbai.

"At current costs, a patient would have to pay around Rs 600-700 per vial, needs 14 vials for a week, and then 1 vial daily for 3/4 weeks for recovery from post-Covid morbid conditions like lung fibrosis. Patients can be treated at home during quarantine, with our fleet of ambulances to help administer the solution to them, and eliminating the stage for oxygen beds or ventilators," Dr Mahajan smiled.

In the early phase of the disease, he claimed that the stem-cell/lyophilised platelet remedy works like a miracle, reduces hospitalization needs by over 50 per cent, axes a massive load off the government-private health network, besides preventing mutations of the virus and slashing post-Covid complications, as are being witnessed now.

Dr Mahajan's machine (Freeze Drier/Lyophilizer) - costing around Rs One crore - produces 3,000 vials daily though bigger machines can boost production enhancement to cater to major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, etc, within a fortnight.

"I have approached the Maharashtra Government, the Union Health Ministry and other states to help us set up similar facilities nationwide, or at least in all districts where Covid is taking a huge toll. We can overpower the virus by the year-end at a fraction of the costs now being spent per patient by the government," Dr Mahajan declared.

He added that stem-cell therapy/lyophilised platelet nebulisation would work complementary to other treatment protocols, at least till it can be produced on a mass-scale to make it available in every neighbourhood family doctor's clinic to be prescribed as 'home-treatment'.

The scientist is also exploring possibilities of local corporates or Members of Parliament funding one such Machine for his/her constituency out of the MPLADS to cater to the local population and prevent overloading medicare facililties.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Berlin, May 10 : German biotechnology company BioNTech on Monday announced plans to expand its global footprint to Asia by building its first mRNA manufacturing facility in Singapore.

The Covid vaccine maker will establish its regional headquarters for Southeast Asia in Singapore, later this year, it said in a statement. The facility will be operational as early as 2023, it added.

The fully integrated mRNA manufacturing facility will provide regional and global supply capacity of BioNTech's growing pipeline of mRNA-based product candidates. It will be equipped to produce a range of novel mRNA vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases and cancer.

It will also bring highly automated and end-to-end mRNA production capabilities across drug substance, drug product and fill-and-finish, with an estimated annual capacity of several hundred of million doses of mRNA-based vaccines depending on the specific vaccine, the jab maker said.

"With this planned mRNA production facility, we will increase our overall network capacity and expand our ability to manufacture and deliver our mRNA vaccines and therapies to people around the world," said Ugur Sahin, MD, CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech, in the statement.

The facility, to be set up in collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board, will also contribute significantly to the Southeast Asia region's ability to address future pandemic threats. The site will also create up to 80 jobs in Singapore.

"We strongly welcome BioNTech's plan to establish its mRNA manufacturing facility and regional headquarters in Singapore. The investment will enable Singapore to develop capabilities in an important new therapeutic modality as part of the strategy to grow our biopharmaceutical industry," said Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman, EDB, in the statement.

BioNTech in collaboration with US pharmaceutical Pfizer developed a Covid -19 vaccine BNT162. The US FDA approved the vaccine in December for emergency use.

Pfizer and BioNTech, last week, announced to apply for full approval of the vaccine for use in people from ages 16 to 85.

Meanwhile, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) also plans to invest 240 million pounds in the UK to expand its vaccine business and create multiple jobs in the country. The investment is part of the 1 billion-pound India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership that will create nearly 6,500 jobs in Britain.

The investment by the Adar Poonawalla-run SII will also see the opening of a new sales office in the UK.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Tehran, May 10 : Iranian authorities have confirmed reports that direct talks had taken place with Saudi Arabia on Monday.

"There have been talks and they have been about bilateral and regional issues," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told a press conference.

He said it was too early to talk about results, but said that "it is well known that we have always welcomed talks with the Saudis in any form and at any level", reports dpa news agency.

Saudi and Iranian officials have met at least twice in Iraq in recent weeks, according to media reports.

Tehran had not previously confirmed the meetings but Iraqi President Barham Salih said his country had hosted several rounds of talks between the two countries' representatives.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran view each other as arch-enemies and have been competing for decades for economic and political primacy in the region.

The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 2016 and are currently facing off in multiple proxy conflicts, including in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a military alliance supporting the Yemeni government in its fight against the Iran-linked Houthi rebels.

However, Saudi and Iranian officials have softened their language recently, and said they are prepared for reconciliation.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told state television that Riyadh seeks positive and special relations with Iran if Tehran ended negative behaviours.

Iran followed by saying it hoped for constructive dialogue to resolve differences between the countries, in a marked change of tone compared to past years.
New Delhi, May 10 : Distancing itself from the alliance with ISF, Congress West Bengal in-charge Jitin Prasada said in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet on Monday that the alliance with the ISF ruined the party prospects in the state, sources said. He said that the ISF alliance was finalized by the Left parties and not the Congress.

At the time of elections, Congress leader Anand Sharma had raised the issue but was snubbed by Adheer Ranjan Chowdhury that the Left had given its share of seats to ISF.

ISF (Indian Secular Front) was formed by the cleric of Furfura Sharif, Abbas Siddiqui with whom the Left tied up an alliance and the Congress was in alliance with the Left.

The Congress state in charge blamed the committee for delaying the seat sharing pact and also said by the time campaigning for the last phases began where the Congress was strong, the election became bipolar between TMC and the BJP, and the party could not get any seat in Malda and Murshidabad, which are its strongholds.

Prasada also said that there was no clarity whether to attack Mamata Banerjee or not and requested the CWC to throw light on the issue of alliance and how to move forward. The Congress could not open an account in West Bengal election this time, as the party had 44 MLAs in 2016 but reduced to 22 after half of the MLAs defected to the TMC and other parties.

Earlier in the day addressing the meeting, party chief Sonia Gandhi said: "This CWC meeting has been convened to discuss the results of the recently-held Assembly polls. We have to take note of our serious setbacks. To say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement." "I intend to set up a small panel to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and report back very quickly. We need to candidly understand why in Kerala and Assam we failed to dislodge the incumbent governments, and why in West Bengal we had drawn a complete blank.

The General Secretaries - Jitender Singh for Assam, Tariq Anwar for Kerala, in charge Dinesh Gundurao for Tamil Nadu & Puducherry and Jitin Prasada for West Bengal made their presentations.
Chandigarh, May 10 : As part of the continued fight against the spike in Covid-19 cases, the Western Command on Monday dedicated three Covid hospitals to the nation under the Indian Army initiative 'Operation Namaste'.

Lt Gen R.P. Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Command, announced the operationalisation of first Western Command 100-bed hospital in coordination with the Chandigarh administration at International Students Hostel of Panjab University in Sector 25 here in presence of UT Administrator V.P. Singh Bandore.

Likewise, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hospital in Faridabad in Haryana and Rajindra Government Hospital in Patiala in Punjab will be made operational on May 11 and 12 respectively.

The Western Army commander dedicated these hospitals to the respective states and made a special mention that they have been set up on a war footing in coordination with the civil administration of respective states and the UT.

The hospitals have the capacity to accommodate and treat mild to moderate symptomatic patients suffering from Covid-19.

The army has deployed its doctors, nursing officers and paramedics for holistic treatment to the patients as per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, provided service ambulances and trained personnel for administration and management of the hospital.

The civil administration is facilitating essential amenities, service management, uninterrupted oxygen supply, patient admission and discharge and ambulance services at these hospitals. The hospitals will also cater for basic laboratory, X-Ray, pharmacy and catering for the patients.

The admission to these hospitals will be opened to all citizens and coordinated by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the respective districts.

On admission, ISO numbers will be given by the respective hospital management. However, the discharge of patients will be on recommendation of the Army Medical Officer treating the patient.

Patients requiring higher grade of treatment will be shifted to other hospitals, coordinated by the CMO as per availability of ICU facilities.

On this occasion, Lieutenant General R.P. Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief of Western Command, highlighted the efforts put in by both the Indian Army and the civil administration in the early operationalisation of these hospitals.

The army commander assured the governments of Punjab, Haryana and the administration of Chandigarh of continued support of the armed forces in the fight against the coronavirus.

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Kolkata, May 10 : Two of the four former ministers of the Mamata Banerjee ministry took oath on Monday - hours after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar accorded sanction for prosecution to the CBI in the alleged Narada sting tapes cases where several politicians and a high-ranked police officer accepting cash bribes in exchange for providing unofficial favours to a company.

The sanction attracted controversy after Dhankhar, on a request by the CBI, sanctioned the prosecution of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, all of them ministers during the time of the alleged commission of a crime that came to light in the purported Narada sting tapes. Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim have been sworn in as cabinet ministers in the newly formed Mamata Banerjee government. Another accused Madan Mitra has won the election and Sovon Chatterjee has left the TMC to join the BJP and then left the BJP too following differences with the party leadership.

"I accorded sanction for prosecution because the CBI sought the same. I went through the documentation. There seems to be some confusion regarding some reports created by the media that the governor has accorded sanctions for the members of the assembly. I am not on that. Those people whose sanctions were accorded at the relevant time as per CBI for holding the positions of ministers," Dhankhar told the media after the oath taking ceremony in Raj Bhawan on Monday.

"The governor of the state if they appoint you as the authority of a minister in terms of article 164 of the constitution and when exercises such power as competent authority in terms of law then in view of Article 163 of the constitution, he is not required to consult anyone. That lies in his own discretion without any aid or assistance. The issue is settled firmly and finally by the highest court of the state," he added.

"I may indicate to the media that a plea for sanction was made a little before MCC came into being. I thought it as an act of propriety that at that point of time I should not be giving attention to the matter. The moment the poll process was over, the matter engaged my attention because such issues should not be delayed and so I acted and you know the results," he said.

"As coming to issues on people taking oath in respect of whom sanctions for prosecution has been afforded is a matter of propriety to be taken not by those who make a request to the governor to appoint them. I leave the matter here," he added.

Speaking on the post-poll violence in the state, Dhankhar said, "If you see my tweets from May 2, I have been in touch with the chief minister. I expressed my deep anguish and concern. The stance taken by the hon'ble chief minister that law and order was under the Election Commission of India. I conveyed to her that she could not have been more wrong. Model Code of Conduct came to an end on May 3rd. During the day and then on she had all the powers and obligation, authorities and duties that she had when she was elected a chief minister in 2016. This answer was not available to her".

"I asked her several times to send toughest message to the police and administration that if there is violence in that area, rape in that area, loot and arson in that area they will be squarely held accountable," he added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 10 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday took a dig at the opposition for 'doing politics over the Covid-19 crisis when the 'Centre is adopting all possible measures to safeguard the lives of the people.

"The Centre took a multi-dimensional approach for safeguarding the lives of citizens. While the Modi govt was making diligent efforts to control Covid, opposition leaders were continuing with politics as usual," Shah tweeted.

The Home Minister made the remarks in a tweet on Union Minister Prakash Javadekar's article published in a daily with the title "Disinformation Crisis", saying: "Do read Prakash Javadekar ji's article".

In the article, Javadekar mentioned how the Covid situation across the country had improved considerably in early January and the number of daily new cases was declining continuously.

However, he said, Kerala had started witnessing a surge in infections and almost one-third of the new daily cases were being reported from there.

On January 6, the minister mentioned in the article, the Union Health Secretary had written to the Kerala government, urging it to take immediate steps.

"The very next day, a high-level Central team was sent to the state to support its efforts. This was one among many instances over the last year -- especially in the past few months -- that highlights the Central government's rigorous monitoring efforts and swift response to the Covid surge across India.

"I recall this instance because the myth is being circulated that the Central government dropped the ball on Covid management after the first wave and left it entirely to the states for the last few months," Javadekar wrote.

Noting that "nothing is further from the truth", the minister said despite public health being a state subject, the Central government has been proactive in Covid management as a pandemic requires national-level coordination and substantial resources.

"It continues to lead from the front and provide considerable support and guidance to the states. Since February 2020, the Union Health Ministry has been monitoring case trends, evaluating states' preparedness, providing technical expertise, and overseeing the formulation of state and district-level response strategies," he wrote.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 10 : Stocks of Covaxin in the Capital could run out in the next 24 hours and stocks of Covishield are likely to get exhausted in the next three to four days, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday.

"Delhi has stocks for just one day for one and for three or four days for the other. Covaxin stock will last a day and Covishield three or four days," said Jain during his visit to a 400-bed Covid facility at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib.

The Minister told mediapersons there were just 274,460 doses - both Covaxin and Covishield - meant for those between the ages of 18 and 44 years purchased by the state as on May 9. There were 467,190 doses allocated by the Centre meant for those above the ages of 45 years, health care workers, and frontline workers till May 9.

As per the Centre's directives, states have to use 70 per cent of these doses to give the second shot to those who have already received one. Delhi has been giving nearly 95,000 shots a day during the last week, according to data shared by the government.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Sunday written to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan requesting that the government must come up with a uniform price for the vaccine doses as states and private hospitals were competing for the same supply.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New York, May 10 : Hospitalised Covid-19 patients with an often undetected sign of heart failure were nearly five times more likely to die, according to new research.

The study showed Covid-19 patients with a first-phase ejection fraction -- a measure of the left ventricular ejection fraction until the time of maximal ventricular contraction -- of less than 25 per cent had a nearly five-fold higher risk of death than those with an ejection fraction of 25 per cent or higher.

The team also found that a similar proportion of people with similar risk factors who did not have Covid-19 had low values of first-phase ejection fraction. This suggests that the damage to the heart may be due to chronic pre-existing conditions and was not the result of Covid-19 infection, the researchers said.

"Traditionally, heart function is measured by ejection fraction, or how much blood the left ventricle pumps out with each contraction of the heart," said Phil Chowienczyk, Professor of cardiovascular clinical pharmacology at St Thomas' Hospital, in London.

"First-phase ejection fraction is a new measure of the heart's function that seems to be much more sensitive of early, undetected damage to the heart than traditional ejection fraction measures," he added. The findings are published in the journal Hypertension.

Cardiovascular risk factors and/or disease have been recognised as Covid-19 risk factors that have a high negative impact on patient outcomes, since early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Researchers hypothesised that predisposition to heart failure would be associated with more severe cases of Covid-19 in hospitalised patients.

The team analysed mortality rates for 129 hospitalised Covid-19 patients in Wuhan, China, and 251 hospitalised Covid-19 patients in South London, treated between February and May 2020.

"The findings suggest that if we can prevent the very early chronic damage to the heart detected using first-phase ejection fraction imaging, then people will be much more likely to survive respiratory infections like Covid-19. Healthy lifestyle choices, better treatments and adherence to treatments for high blood pressure and high cholesterol are also important," Chowienczyk noted.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Shimla, May 10 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday visited the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) here to inspect the upcoming OPD in the hospital to cater to Covid-19 patients.

The Chief Minister said the new OPD would have capacity to accommodate about 500 Covid patients. A trauma ward is also nearing completion that could also be used for treatment of Covid patients, if situation arises.

Thakur urged the people to cooperate the government to fight the pandemic. He said the next phase for vaccinating the people between the age group of 18 to 44 years would start as the state gets its quota of vaccine from manufacturers.

The Chief Minister said a new multi-storeyed parking is being constructed near the IGMCH at a cost of Rs 32 crore under the Smart City Project. This parking would have capacity to park about 500 vehicles which could be further extended up to 800 vehicles.

He said that this smart car parking would not only facilitate the patients and their attendants visiting the hospitals but would also provide adequate parking facility to the doctors and paramedical staff.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Chennai, May 10 : Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami will be the next Opposition leader of the state.

A three hour-long meeting of legislators and senior leaders held at the party headquarters here on Monday decided on the former Chief Minister as the legislature party leader of the AIADMK.

The legislature party leader of the opposition party will automatically become the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

Party leaders handed over a letter proposing the name of Palaniswami as the legislature party leader of thee AIADMK to Assembly Secretary K. Srinivas after the meeting of the party legislators and office-bearers.

This is the first time that the AIADMK legislature party leader was announced after much opposition within the party.

The party is yet to announce the name of its Chief Whip and Deputy Leader in the Assembly.

There were hectic parleys in the AIADMK and former Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam had proposed the name of former Speaker P. Dhanapal as the party legislature party leader which was voiced down by the MLAs in support of Palaniswami.

The newly-elected legislators will take the oath of office on May 11, Tuesday and the Speaker will be elected on May 12.

The Speaker has to be escorted to the chair by the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and hence the selection of the Leader of Opposition had to take place before May 12.
Islamabad, May 10 : The Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia has said that his country could play an important role in reducing tensions between the two nuclear-powered arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud praised India and Pakistan for re-enforcing the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC), terming the move as an "excellent step in the right direction".

It is pertinent to mention that the UAE Ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, had recently confirmed his country's role in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

"Ceasefire would hopefully lead to restoring diplomats and getting the relationship back to a healthy level," said Otaiba.

As the UAE is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh's offer for intervention may prove fruitful in further melting down tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

The statement from the Saudi Foreign Minister comes at a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is visiting Saudi Arabia.

Prince Faisal has termed the visit of the Pakistani Premier as "extremely important one in the history of bilateral relations".

"The visit of Imran Khan is extremely important in the history of brotherly relations. We have an excellent visit of the prime minister and many, many subjects have been covered," he said.

It seems that the backdoor channels, activated by Washington and routed through the Arab countries like the UAE and now Saudi Arabia, have been designated to ensure that matters of concern between India and Pakistan are deliberated and discussed to seek a workable solution.

Pakistan and India both have maintained rigid positions officially, with Islamabad putting the Kashmir dispute first with the demand of reversal of the unilateral decision taken by the Narendra Modi government to revoke Articles 370 and 35A, thus changing the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating it in to two Union territories - J&K and Ladakh.

India, on the other hand, has maintained that cross-border terrorism is its prime agenda if any talks are to happen between the two countries through official channels. India has also maintained that its decision on Jammu and Kashmir is its internal matter and has refused to discuss it on any platform.

These are the reasons why backdoor channels are being activated as both countries have serious political complications and obligations, which do not allow them to take any forward movement with an open-minded approach towards each other.

But the prime question pertaining to Indo-Pak relations with reference to deliberations through backdoor channels is how both governments will implement major decisions officially.
Mumbai, May 10 : Riteish Deshmukh shared on Monday that he has taken the Covid-19 vaccine, along with a picture he posted on Instagram.

In the picture, the actor is seen getting the vaccine shot as he sits flashing a thumbs-up gesture. Riteish turned out casually in a black T-shirt and jeans for the vaccination, with a face mask.

"Get Vaccinated !!! Let's fight this monster together.... #vaccinationdone #vaccination," he wrote as caption.

Riteish was last seen in "Baaghi 3", directed by Ahmed Khan. He recently shared a picture, where he turned hairstylist for his injured wife Genelia. The actress had her left hand plastered.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chikkamagaluru : , May 10 (IANS) In a tragic and shocking incident a 72-year-old retired assistant tehsildar reportedly killed himself by shooting himself in the head on Monday after testing positive for Covid, the police said.

The police said that the poignant point of his suicide note is that he was deeply troubled by the fact that his granddaughter had contracted Covid from him besides his daughter too.

"I will never be able to forgive myself for transmitting this dreaded disease to my lovely doll, my beloved grandchild and my daughter. I am not able to see their pain. Therefore I am committing suicide by killing myself," he said in suicide note written in Kannada.

In his suicide note titled as - Lost all the hope; Reason: I am aged - also expresses my last desire that I am cremated in my farm and if family wishes to witness my cremation, they should be allowed to take part. " He also sought pardon from his wife, son-in-law , granddaughter and daughter .

According to the police, the deceased identified as C. Soma Nayak killed himself in his car parked in his farm house which is at some distance from his residence.

The police added that the victim has used Single barrel Muzzle Loading gun to shoot himself, which is a very commonly possessed weapon by farmland owners in and around Malnd region of the state and these weapons are used to protect oneself from animal attacks.

The incident occurred at Belenahalli Tandya in Tarikere taluk of Chikkamagaluru. This quaint small hamlet has just over 220 houses and a population of just over 1000 people. This hamlet is around 250 kms from Bengaluru, the southern state's capital city.

The police have registered case and are investigating.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 10 : After battling for hospital beds and oxygen for nearly a month amid the raging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the national capital is now struggling to get adequate supply of vaccines.

The Aam Aadmi Part (AAP) led Delhi government said on Monday that the city is not getting adequate supply of vaccines and the stocks of Covaxin in Delhi would run out in the next 24 hours, while the stocks of Covishield are likely to get exhausted in the next three to four days.

"Delhi has stocks for just one day for one, and for three or four days for the other vaccine. Covaxin stock will last a day and Covishield for three or four days," Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the Centre has replied that the national capital will get only 3.5 lakh doses of vaccine in May against its demand for around 3 crore vaccines in the next three months.

The Delhi government had on Sunday informed the Centre that it would need 60 lakh doses of vaccine per month to vaccinate around 93 lakh people in the 18-45 age group between May and July.

Sisodia also slammed the BJP for making a 'false claim' that Delhi government did not order for adequate doses of vaccine in advance.

"After the Centre had made it clear that the state governments could directly approach the companies for placing vaccine orders, the Delhi government had in April ordered 1.34 crore vaccines," Sisodia said.

A large number of youth in the country have died during the second wave of the pandemic, Sisodia said, adding that their lives could have been saved had vaccines were administered to them instead of exporting the doses to other countries.

He said the Centre should ensure that the vaccines manufactured in the country are provided to the states that are facing shortage.

He also reiterated Delhi government's stand that it can vaccinate everyone in the city within three months provided adequate doses are made available to it.

In a letter to the Union Health Ministry, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Sunday requested the Centre to direct the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to increase monthly supplies of Covid vaccines to Delhi to 60 lakh a month for the next three months.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Patna, May 10 : Amid the Covid surge that is wreaking havoc across India, the administration in Bihar's Buxar district on Monday found at least 45 dead bodies, most in a decomposed stage, in the Ganga, and claimed they had been thrown into the river in upstream Uttar Pradesh.

Ashok Kumar, the Block Development Officer of Chausa in the district, said that the administration has spotted 45 dead bodies at Mahadev Ghat.

"Chausa is located on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border. These dead bodies are definitely thrown in districts in Uttar Pradesh. We have deployed guards at Mahadev Ghat and cremations of dead bodies are underway," he said.

Buxar SDO K.K. Upadhyay said: "During preliminary investigation, it has appeared that the dead bodies are in decomposed state and more than 5 to 6 days old. We are interacting with our counterparts in Varanasi and Allahabad (Prayagraj) to investigate the incident and intensify vigil in the areas located on the banks of the Ganga." Despite the district administration of disposal of dead bodies is underway in a proper manner, the situation in Mahadev Ghat is extremely shocking, with the dead bodies flowing in the river being torn apart from street dogs and vultures.

Anjoria Devi, the wife of the Dom Raja of Mahadev Ghat in Chausa, alleged that relatives of the deceased are also coming to the Ghat and throwing the dead bodies into the Ganga without cremation.

"Around 10 dead bodies are being thrown in every day. When they were asked not to do so, they assault us. They also argue who would bear the expenses of cremation," she told reporters.
Chandigarh, May 10 : Taking strong exception to the no-holds-barred 'attack' unleashed by Navjot Sidhu against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, several Punjab Cabinet ministers in a joint statement on Monday urged the Congress high command to take strict disciplinary action against the dissident MLA.

The Cabinet ministers, including Brahm Mohindra, Sunder Sham Arora and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, came out in strong criticism of Sidhu's actions and open criticism of the Congress Chief Minister while being an elected MLA from the same party.

Terming Sidhu's onslaught on the Chief Minister as an act of gross indiscipline and an attempt to undermine the Congress government, the ministers said the MLA's personal attack on Amarinder Singh was an anti-party act, which called for immediate disciplinary action.

Sidhu's recent spate of comments against the Chief Minister could no longer be dismissed as the rantings of a disgruntled member of a democratic political party, said the ministers, adding the open rebellion was damaging the interests of the Congress at a time when Assembly elections in the state were less than a year away.

Failure to take action against Sidhu now could trigger unrest in the party's state unit, which would be fatal for the party, which had suffered major electoral blows in the recently concluded Assembly polls in five states, the ministers warned.

They alleged Sidhu's intentions were nefarious and motivated by his vested personal and political interests. It was clear that the MLA, through his blatant accusations and allegations, was trying to fan dissent in the Punjab Congress against Amarinder Singh, who had successfully steered the party to an unprecedented win in 2017 and in every major election in the state thereafter, they added.

Dubbing Sidhu's aggressive posturing on the social media as an attempt by the disgruntled MLA to pressurise the high command into succumbing to his unreasonable demands, the ministers said unless urgent steps were taken by the party to check his unbridled tirade, it would encourage other ambitious and rebellious members to raise their voice openly against the Congress leadership while continuing to enjoy its patronage.

Pointing out that the Chief Minister had made several overtures in recent past to resolve any perceived differences on Sidhu's part, the ministers said it was clear that the latter did not want to be placated but only wanted to score political brownie points to further his personal ambitions.

They appealed to the party's central leadership to nip this insurgence in the bud so that the Congress does not lose out on the electoral advantage it has in Punjab and ends up losing a winning battle.
New Delhi, May 10 : FAITH, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India, has made suggestions to the Finance Ministry, the RBI and the Tourism Ministry for urgently taking up measures targeted at tourism jobs and businesses protection.

It has been repeatedly reaffirmed through all government data whether that of GST, the RBI or of income tax that tourism, travel and hospitality continues to be the worst-hit sector during the 13 months period since the pandemic struck and is also likely stay that way for much of the foreseeable period.

To address that on an immediate basis, the three measures proposed are waiver or compensation for fixed statutory liabilities, direct benefit transfer of basic pay, and credit of SEIS dues for 2019-20.

There has been literally no tourism business due to full or partial shutdown of all other segments of tourism - inbound, outbound, corporate and also group tourism business and now domestic travel. Without any business, it is practically impossible for tourism, travel & hospitality entities to generate cash flows. This situation is dramatically inverse to that of pre-pandemic which saw over 17.8mn international tourist arrivals, over 26.9 mn outbound and almost 2.3 billion domestic tourism visits in 2019-20.

Despite no revenues, there are statutory liabilities and compliance liabilities at both state and Central level and other regulatory bodies which still need to be met.

These include various forms of duties, taxes, cess or license fees including electricity and water, property taxes, excise duties, transport taxes, parking cess, insurance premiums, provident fund, ESI contribution on hotels, travel agents, tour operators, restaurants tourist transporters or any other form of tourism travel & hospitality services.

With no revenues and businesses continuing under shutdown for measures beyond their control, it is principally unfair for these businesses to continue paying fixed costs of statutory liabilities & compliances for them, FAITH said, requesting the government to urgently urge all state governments and the respective Central government ministries to waive off these fixed levies & compliances till the period of the pandemic.

Till the time that is fully achieved, they have suggested the government to set up a corpus with the Tourism Ministry to meet these monthly liabilities of tourism travel and hospitality companies to discharge them on their behalf.

With no revenues & cash inflows to discharge out cash flows emerging from statutory and compliance liabilities, this gesture will prevent Indian tourism, travel & hospitality businesses from declaring bankruptcies and will protect their vital jobs.

Pre-pandemic, it was roughly estimated that between 10 per cent to 12 per cent of India's direct and indirect employment came from tourism, travel & hospitality services. This included both skilled and unskilled jobs across the length and breadth of our country.

With no tourism business, a lot of these employees are temporarily out of jobs or on minimum wages. Their service skills have been cultivated with a lot of diligence and passion over years which makes Incredible India a reality that it is, it said.

FAITH has requested that an amount equivalent to their pre-pandemic basic salaries be sent each month to such tourism, travel & hospitality employees in a direct benefit transfer against their PAN Card. This will help support livelihoods of crores of people and their families till the duration of the pandemic, it said, adding that it will also enable them to be job and service ready for when it is time to restart Indian tourism.
Islamabad, May 10 : Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) landed in Kabul on Monday to meet Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani amid uncertainty in the region, heightened tensions due to terror attacks in Afghanistan, withdrawal of US troops and the latest announcement of ceasefire by the Taliban during Eid.

The visit holds importance since Islamabad holds a key position in the Afghan peace process. On the other hand, the Ashraf Ghani government has accused Islamabad of harbouring the Taliban and has used them to destabilise Afghanistan.

In a recent article written by Afghan president Ashraf Ghani titled "Afghanistan's Movement of Risk and Opportunity," he has maintained that the US decision to withdraw from Afghanistan has come as a surprise to the Taliban and their patrons in Pakistan, forcing them to make choices.

"Will they become credible stakeholders, or will they foster more chaos and violence? If the Taliban choose the latter path, the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) will fight them. And if the Taliban still refuse to negotiate, they will be choosing the peace of the grave," he wrote.

Ghani also maintained that the intra-Afghan dialogues with the Taliban would confront difficult issues, especially pertaining to their relationship with Pakistan.

"The negotiations would confront difficult issues, such as whether and how the Taliban would end their relationship with Pakistan, which provides them with support for logistics, finances, and recruitment," he wrote.

"The talks must also address the Taliban's ongoing connections to Al Qaeda, which the UN detailed in a 2020 report. Thus it is crucial that the Afghan government and the Taliban also agree on an approach against the Islamic State (or ISIS), Al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups and that our agreement includes a framework for counterterrorism that secures guarantees of support from other countries in the region and from international organisations", he added.

Ghani warned that Pakistan may miscalculate in a way that threatens peace.

"It's not too late for Pakistan to emerge as a partner and stakeholder in an orderly peace process. Pakistan might also miscalculate in a way that threatens peace," he highlighted.

The Pakistan Army Chief's visit becomes even more crucial as before landing in Afghanistan, the COAS was in Saudi Arabia to discuss the Afghan peace process, and then met Britain's Chief of Defence Staff General Nicholas Patrick Carter for talks on the Afghan peace process.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan has been in contact and negotiations with the Taliban and has been insisting on them to announce ceasefire, agree to an extension in the US-Taliban agreement and also to continue being part of the peace talks in Turkey.

It seems that the efforts have yielded fruit as the Taliban announced that they would commit a three-day ceasefire for Eid.
Islamabad, May 10 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that when it comes to the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, no decision on the subject can be Indias internal matter.

Qureshi said the final settlement of what he called 'Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)' dispute lies in the United Nation Security Council's (UNSC) resolution, calling for a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices.

"Let me be clear: Jammu & Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute on the @UNSecurity Council agenda. Final settlement of the dispute lies in #UNSCresolution calling for free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices. Nothing about J&K can be India's internal matter," Qureshi tweeted o Monday.

He also said that the possibility of talks with India at any level would only happen if the situation in Jammu and Kashmir improves, insisting that the J&K dispute is an internationally recognised issue.

"Kashmir is not bilateral; rather an internationally recognised issue as there are numerous UN Security Council resolutions on it," Qureshi said.

He also highlighted that if India and Pakistan want sustaining and lasting peace in the region, they would have to put the Kashmir dispute on the table and find a resolution to the matter through dialogue.

Qureshi said that resolution to the Kashmir dispute can only happen as per the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.

Talking about the role of the UAE in reducing tensions between India and Pakistan, Qureshi said Pakistan is comfortable with the Gulf nation's role.

"We want to move ahead, but in order to get there, India, which is responsible for vitiating the environment, will have to create a conducive and enabling environment for dialogue to take place," he said.

"Pakistan would appreciate anyone and everyone, including the UAE, to play a positive and constructive role, but the initiative will have to be indigenous," he added.

Qureshi also criticised the Narendra Modi-led government in India for wanting to see peace in Afghanistan and the region, but opting to "assault, brutalities and oppress the Kashmiris through unprovoked firing".

"There have been some positive developments, as India says it wants to see a peaceful Afghanistan and region, but Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control are suffering from unprovoked firing by India," Qureshi claimed.
New Delhi, May 10 : As India continues to struggle with the second and more brutal wave of Covid-19, technology companies Lenovo, IBM and Acer on Monday pledged support to strengthen the country's fight against coronavirus.

Lenovo committed Rs 8 crore towards Covid-19 relief to meet India's short-term and long-term requirements, via the Lenovo Foundation.

Of this funding, Rs 5 crore will be donated in the form of medical equipment consisting of oxygen concentrators, refillable oxygen cylinders, invasive ventilators and oximeters are being donated to hospitals where the need is high. The remaining Rs 3 crore will be dedicated to hospital extensions and supporting medical frontline workers, the company said in a statement.

Lenovo has also invited its employees, partners, customers to contribute and donate medical equipment to those in need, through its America India Foundation page.

"At challenging times such as these it helps to remember that we all want the same thing: for the people we care about to stay healthy, the virus' impact to diminish, for treatments to be developed and for life to return to normal. That shared sense of hope and purpose can encourage each of us during this difficult time and help us rally to meet the challenges we face," Lenova India, said in the statement on Monday.

Tech giant IBM has created a comprehensive support plan for its employees and their families to tide through this pandemic. These include care for those impacted, like a dedicated 24x7 medical helpline, emergency transport for medical needs, medically supervised quarantine facilities in hotels and preventive and enhanced care like vaccination for all employees and family members, additional IBM-funded insurance coverage and oxygen concentrators for employees across India.

The company has also leveraged technology to develop AI powered, IBM Watson Assistant that will assist employees in need for critical resources.

"We are amidst an unprecedented crisis, one that does not have a playbook. Our unilateral focus is ensuring health and safety of our employees, their families and communities at large. We have put together a comprehensive support plan for our employees and their families to tide through this pandemic," said Sandip Patel, MD, IBM India, in a statement.

IBM is also a part of the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response launched by the US Chamber of Commerce to send aid to India.

Global technology brand Acer has also announced to donate oxygen concentrators to India. The first batch of concentrators has arrived in the country for immediate distribution, it said.

In addition, Acer has also contributed oxygen cylinders to NGOs who run Covid healthcare centres, including all the expenses for continuous re-filling of the cylinders which has enabled them to save lives.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Chennai, May 10 : Puducherry Chief minister N. Rangasamy tested Covid positive and has been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai according to Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilsai Soundararajan's office.

Rangasamy, who was sworn in as Chief minister of Puducherry on May 7 tested positive on Sunday evening after a test at the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College hospital, Puducherry. He left for Chennai to get treatment and was admitted to a private hospital.

All the public programmes of the Chief minister stand cancelled.

Rangasamy is the leader of the All India NR Congress( AINRC) and led the NDA to victory in the recent elections. The AINRC won 10 seats while its coalition partner BJP got 6 seats. Independents garnered 6 seats, DMK 6 seats and the Indian National Congress won 2 seats.
New Delhi, May 10 : Chinese smartphone brand vivo has announced that its upcoming X-series flagship phones will receive three years of major Android OS upgrades and security updates.

The company said in a statement that it is expanding its software support for the flagship X series for selected models launching after July 2021.

vivo said it aims to extend the high-end smartphone experience offered by the X series devices by ensuring continuous improvements based on evolving consumer trends and exciting new software innovations.

"Featuring top of the line hardware, the X series flagship phones are built to last - and we want to make sure that our customers get software support that lives up to their expectations," said Yujian Shi, Senior Vice President and CTO of vivo.

"We always innovate with the user in mind. With this pledge, we are making a promise to our customers that they will be able to enjoy a premium smartphone experience for an extended period and continue to benefit from the latest software features," She added.

The policy covers the European, Australian and Indian markets.

The premium X series models that are not eligible will continue to receive regular Android security updates, the company said.

Vivo garnered 16 per cent market share in the India market in Q1 2021, with its shipments growing by 20 per cent YoY, according to market research firm CMR.
Srinagar, May 10 : The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has welcomed the release of senior party leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar after five months of incarceration, and sought the release of all political prisoners languishing in jails in and outside of Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement issued on Monday, PDP General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said the continued 'illegal' incarceration of political leaders despite the raging pandemic belittles the claims of restoration of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir trumpeted by the government.

"Five months ago, Naeem Akhtar and Sartaj Madni were arbitrarily picked up on frivolous grounds and put in jail without any rhyme and reason. Despite their old age and numerous underlying medical issues, they were kept in detention even during the raging pandemic depicting the vindictiveness of the administration. Even after his release from jail, Naeem Akhtar continues to be under house arrest," Hanjura said.

Urging the authorities to release senior party leader Sartaj Madni, Hanjura said given the prevailing health scare and lockdowns, it makes no sense for the government to keep Sartaj Madni under detention.

"When the whole of the country, including J&K, is under lockdown, people are restricted to their homes and the Supreme Court is urging governments to decongest jails, what logic does it serve to keep a former legislator and a senior political leader under detention on unknown grounds? "The families cannot even meet them given the Covid scare. The administration should give up on its vindictiveness and release Sartaj Madni immediately," he said.

"Isn't it ironic that even after the NIA gave bail to the pdarty's youth wing president Waheed ur Rehman Parra, its state counterpart continues to detain him under similar charges for which the NIA court has already granted him bail.

"The charges against Waheed are mendacious, politically motivated and reeks of vengeance. The authorities should immediately order his release and end his ordeal and long tryst with injustice," Hanjura added.

He also urged the government to release other political prisoners lodged in different jails in and outside J&K on humanitarian grounds.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari welcomed the release of Naeem Akhtar.

In a party statement, Altaf Bukhari said, "It has been our consistent demand that the government should release all political prisoners languishing in jails within and outside J&K given an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases in the country".

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, May 10 : Comedian Gaurav Gupta is quite excited about his upcoming stand-up special "Market Down Hai", slated to release digitally.

"'Market Down Hai' is special as it is my first stand-up special, and also because I used my life experiences that are hilarious in nature. I am a Baniya and cracking jokes on the Baniya community never gets old for me. I hope the audience will love my show as much as they loved my other work of stand-up," said Gaurav.

OTT platforms have helped stand-up comedy as a concept take centrestage, he feels.

"Thanks to them (OTT platforms), a host of comedians have entered the limelight and I too look forward to reaching a larger audience and garner new fans," said the comedian.

The show releases on Amazon Prime Video on May 14.
Badaun : , May 10 (IANS) Amid the surging Covid-19 cases across Uttar Pradesh, a large gathering was witnessed at the funeral of an Islamic cleric, Qazi Hazrat Abdul Hameed Mohammed Salimul Qadri, in Badaun district. The police have filed a case against unknown persons after an alleged video of the funeral went viral on social media. Thousands of followers of the cleric were seen flouting social distancing norms and other Covid protocols prescribed by the state government while attending funerals.

Thousands of people joined the funeral procession without wearing a mask. There was also a ruckus among the followers of the Islamic cleric over taking his body for the funeral. The Uttar Pradesh police and district administration failed to take action against the crowd at the funeral.

The attendees thronged the madrasa Alia Qadria from Monday morning. To control the spread of the Covid-19 infection, the state government had ordered a strict 'Corona curfew' till May 17 but the crowd at the funeral procession continued to swell with the police failing to stop them. Apart from the city, thousands of people from all over the district attended the funeral.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Pravin Chauhan, said that due to it being a religious matter and a funeral the police maintained restraint. But a case has now been registered against unknown persons and an investigation is underway.

Salimul Qadri, 65, of Dargah Alia Qadria died early morning on Sunday.

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Hyderabad, May 10 : In a move to prevent suicides and keep people away from depression and anxiety during Covid pandemic times, Rachakonda police on Monday launched psycho-social counselling services for citizens of Telangana.

Those coping with stress during Covid pandemic can contact the psycho-social counselling centre at 040-48214800. The centre will function from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat virtually launched the centre which is aimed at giving confidence to those in distress due to Covid-related health and social-economic problems.

"Coping with stress during the Covid-19 pandemic? We are with you, don't panic. Nothing is permanent in this world, not even our troubles," says the centre launched by Rachakonda police in association with the Rachakonda Security Council. Its services will be available for all citizens of Telangana.

"You don't have to struggle in silence. You can be Un-silent. You can live well with a mental health condition as long as you open up to somebody about it," it says.

The services provided by the centre include assessment, counselling by professionals, and referral services. There is no cost to the individual and no paper work is required. The information will be kept confidential.

It will focus on everyday life problems relating to stress, marriage, family & kids, alcohol, trauma, depression, profession and Covid.

Bhagwat said that the centre is need of the day. "Last year, the Covid situation was different. There was a complete lockdown. There were issues related to domestic violence, migrant workers, anxiety etc. This year, the fear of uncertainty is hanging on everyone's head," he said.

"Once a person is going to hospital, there is a fear whether he will come back or not. People in hospitals with negative thoughts are worried about families and families are worried about them. Entire family is in the same wave length of negative thoughts or depression kind of thing," he said.

The Commissioner calling for focusing on mental health as a health issue and addressing it.

Rachakonda is one of the three police commissionerates covering Greater Hyderabad. Areas on the city outskirts fall under its jurisdiction.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bengaluru, May 10 : The Bengaluru central crime branch police on Monday arrested three persons including a health department official who talked about the 'cash for bed scam' in hospitals at a time when the Covid second wave is sweeping across the state.

With the arrests the total number of arrests touched seven with the CCB having arrested four persons on Friday, a CCB press release stated here on Monday.

According to the police, the three arrested on Monday have been identified as Shashidhar, an Arogya Mitra, apart from Venkat Rao and Sudhir Umarani, who were working in two separate private hospitals and used to coordinate with Shashidhar to block and unblock beds of the hospitals they represented.

Meanwhile, four others accused who have links with this scam are identified as Rohit Kumar, Nethravathy, Rihan, and Shashi Kumar.

In Bengaluru the Arogya Mitras are responsible for coordinating with SAST (Survarna Arogya Suraksha Trust) and counselling the Covid and non-Covid patients seeking treatment at the empanelled hospitals.

Karnataka's (SAST) has appointed Arogya Mitras in all private hospitals to look after the admission of Covid and Non Covid patients and to ensure 50 per cent of beds are reserved for patients referred by the state government. The Arogya Mitras (health officials) have to ensure that the beds are reserved for government quota patients.

"Shashidhar worked as an Arogya Mitra, Rao and Umarani were working as staff members at Sparsh Hospital (RR Nagar) and Punya Hospital (Basaveshwar Nagar)," Bengaluur's Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil told reporters.

CCB sleuths said that these three accused allegedly blocked real-time data entry to the Central Hospital Bed Management System hosted by the Bengaluru Civic Body.

"Even after patients were discharged either after recovering from Covid-19 or succumbing to the infection, these accused did not forward the data to their jurisdiction BBMP war room to be updated into the bed management system. Instead, they blocked such beds and allowed admission to other patients which is illegal," an investigating officer said.

The police officer added that this has led to many other deserving patients suffering without timely treatment and in some cases patients have even succumbed to the deadly virus.

According to the CCB, a total of 18 persons were questioned on Friday with regard to the bed allotment scam, including doctors in war rooms, hospital staff, and staff in charge of the ambulance app.

The police have registered a case and are investigating.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Hyderabad, May 10 : The Telangana Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to take a decision on imposing lockdown in the state in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases.

The meeting to be presided over by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will discuss the surge in the Covid cases and take a decision on the imposition of lockdown in the state.

"There are reports that suggest that despite certain states imposing the lockdown, there is no decrease in the cases. Against this backdrop, different opinions are emerging on the lockdown. Some sections are arguing in favour of the imposition of lockdown. Under these circumstances, the state cabinet would discuss the pros and cons of the lockdown and also the adverse impact it may have on the ongoing procurement of paddy and it will take a decision," the Chief Minister's Office said on Monday.

Last week, the Chief Minister had ruled out imposing lockdown in the State, saying such a move would bring life to a standstill and would lead to total collapse of the economy.

"There is no use imposing lockdown. Since Telangana is the most happening state in the country, 25 to 30 lakh workers from other states are here working. We have seen how their lives were adversely impacted by the lockdown we imposed during the first wave. If they are dislocated, they will not come back," he had said.

"Moreover, there is bumper yield of paddy in the state. Paddy is stocked in 6,144 procurement centres in the state and they are weighing it. Purchasing paddy is not a simple process. There are lakhs of people involved in the process. What will happen to the workers who came from other states and are working in the rice mills? What will happen to them if there is lockdown? If the workers go helter-skelter, how would one get them back," he had asked.

The Chief Minister had also stated that the state cannot stop the supply of essential commodities, milk, vegetables, fruits, emergency medical services, deliveries, sanitation and other such emergency and essential services. He also felt that lockdown will also affect the import of vaccines, medicines, injections etc from other states.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Hyderabad, May 10 : Covid patients from Andhra Pradesh were on Monday stopped from entering Telangana by the police, citing shortage of beds and oxygen in Hyderabad's hospitals.

Telangana police stopped ambulances bringing Covid patients from the neighbouring state to Hyderabad for advanced treatment.

Ambulances were stopped on inter-state borders in Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda districts. Police were also checking the vehicles at toll gates to stop entry of Covid patients.

The sudden move caused severe hardships to critically ill patients. People accompanying them were seen pleading Telangana police to allow them to proceed to Hyderabad.

The police officials insisted that they produce letters from hospitals where they would be seeking the treatment. They said only in cases where hospitals give in writing that they will be allotted beds and treated, they will allow them to travel to Hyderabad.

An ambulance carrying a critically ill patient from Mydukur in Kadapa district was stopped in Mahabubnagar district. After waiting for two hours at the border, the ambulance returned to Mydukur.

A woman from Anantapur accompanying her Covid positive husband broke down while requesting the police to allow them to proceed towards Hyderabad. "At the time of bifurcation (of united Andhra Pradesh) you said Telugu people are one. What is happening now," she asked the chief ministers of both the Telugu states.

Telangana BJP spokesman Krishna Sagar Rao urged the state government to allow critically ill patients from other states on humanitarian grounds. "It's fair to give priority to Telangana people in hospital admissions but in this crisis critical patients from other states should be allowed to get treatment in Hyderabad," he said.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh police said they would allow private ambulances to proceed towards Hyderabad only if they have permission from Telangana authorities. It suggested to those wanting to go to Hyderabad for treatment to take letters from hospitals concerned in Hyderabad they are ready to provide beds and treat the patients.

Telangana officials have been saying that majority of the patients undergoing treatment in Covid hospitals in Hyderabad are from neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

The Telangana government had been requesting the Centre to hike the state's quota for oxygen and medicines keeping in view the large number of patients from other states undergoing treatment in Hyderabad.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Chennai, May 10 : While TASMAC sales had crossed a record Rs 900 crore on Saturday and Sunday with tipplers collecting and stocking liquor to last the lockdown period, the police have arrested more than 100 persons in Madurai and around 70 people in Trichy for hoarding liquor in large quantities.

A complete lockdown for 14 days came into force in Tamil Nadu from Monday to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the state.

Raids conducted at several places by the police and the Prohibition Enforcement Wing have unearthed liquor bottles stocked for sale during the lockdown at premium rates.

The police told IANS said that in the raids conducted on Saturday and Sunday, the force has seized more than 3,000 bottles from various places in Madurai.

Muthumaran, a trader in Madurai, was arrested after around 300 bottles of cheap quality liquor were seized from a shop owned by him.

Most of the liquor seized are of cheap quality and those arrested have admitted that they intended to sell them at three to four times the prescribed rates, the police said.

In Trichy, the police have seized around 1,800 bottles of liquor, mostly cheap brands, and arrested 70 persons for hoarding the same.

An SHO in Trichy, Nagaraju, told IANS, "We are conducting raids following tip-offs and have arrested around 70 people and seized a good quantity of bottles. We will continue to raid the premises of those who are stocking liquor." The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) is a state-owned company, which has a monopoly over wholesale and retail vending of alcoholic beverages in the southern state. During the 14-day lockdown, all the TASMAC shops will be shut.
New Delhi, May 10 : Three Indian Navy ships arrived at three different ports on Monday carrying oxygen tanks, cylinders and other critical medical equipment and supplies from Singapore, Qatar and Kuwait, in an effort to meet the surging demand for oxygen to treat Covid patients in the country.

"As part of the ongoing Operation Samudra Setu II to support the nation's fight against Covid-19, INS Kolkata arrived New Mangalore, INS Trikand entered Mumbai while INS Airavat arrived at Visakhapatnam on Monday," the Indian Navy said.

These three ships are part of nine ships deployed for Operation Samudra Setu II for the shipment of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) and associated medical equipment from friendly foreign countries in the Persian Gulf and South East Asia regions.

INS Airavat arrived at Visakhapatnam with eight cryogenic oxygen tanks and around 4,000 oxygen cylinders along with other critical medical equipment/supplies from Singapore.

INS Trikand was deployed to augment shipment of LMO cryogenic containers from the Hamad Port in Qatar to Mumbai.

The ship arrived at Mumbai with 40 MT of liquid oxygen. The consignment carried is part of the French mission 'Oxygen Solidarity Bridge' to support India's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

INS Kolkata arrived at New Mangalore Port on Monday with 400 bottles of Oxygen, two 27 MT containers of LMO and 47 concentrators that were embarked at Qatar and Kuwait.

While these ships entered the ports to augment oxygen supply in three different states, two more warships are enroute India from Kuwait while one ship is in Brunei to embark medical supplies.

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Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : Ace scriptwriter Dennis Joseph, who wrotes for several superhit films in the eighties and nineties that made actors Mammootty and Mohanlal superstars, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest on Monday night, industry sources said.

Joseph, who began his career in the early eighties as a journalist with a film magazine, later started writing scripts. He penned scripts for 45 films besides directing five movies, of which 'Manu Uncle' fetched him the national award for best children's film in 1988.

Joseph's last wrote the script for ace director Priyadarshan's film 'Geethanjali' in 2013. He was planning another scriot, which was in the pipeline.

On Monday night, Joseph collapsed at his house in Kottayam and was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Among the all-time Malayalam hits, Joseph had written the script for the blockbuster 'New Delhi', a film which gave a new lease of life to Mammootty's career in 1987.

Whenever Joseph and director Joshy got together, they scripted some of the biggest success stories in the Malayalam film industry.

Mohanlal's career took an upward surge following the 1986 hit movie 'Rajavinte Makhan', which was scripted by Joseph and directed by Thampi Kannanthanam.

When he wrote 'No. 20 Madras Mail', it saw both Mammootty and Mohanlal acting together in the Joshy directorial.

Reacting to the demise of Joseph, Mohanlal said that "no doubt it was he who made me".

"Take any character that I played, I owe it to him. And the big films of yesteryears were also made in other languages just because of the power of his script. The dialogues of 'Rajavinte Makhan' continue to reverberate even now and that says everything. Never felt he would go this fast," said Mohanlal.

Another superstar Suresh Gopi, presently a member of the Rajya Sabha whose role in 'New Delhi' also catapulted his film career, said that he was shocked to hear this extremely sad news.
New Delhi, May 10 : The Centre has told the Supreme Court that no governmental aid, assistance or grant was made either for research or development of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines but some financial assistance was given for conducting clinical trials.

In an affidavit, the Centre said that Covaxin has been developed under public private partnership (PPP) between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL). The PPP was executed under a formal MoU between the ICMR and the BBIL which includes a 5 per cent royalty clause for the ICMR on net sales and other clauses like prioritisation of in-country supplies, and the product intellectual property rights are shared.

"ICMR has not provided any funds to BBIL for Covaxin development. However, funds have been spent in various activities undertaken by ICMR-NIV, Pune for Covaxin development. Also, Phase 3 clinical trials of Covaxin have been funded by the ICMR. The trials have been conducted at 22 sites in 25,800 participants," said the affidavit, which also provided details of activities undertaken by the ICMR-NIV, and that the total estimated expenditure of the ICMR in this was Rs 35 crore.

For Covishield, the Centre said the bridging studies of 1,600 participants in India were supported by the ICMR in partnership with the Serum Institute of India (SII). "No funds were provided to SII. Funds were transferred to 14 clinical trial sites. ICMR also supported laboratory studies on characterisation of immune response related to COVISHIELD at ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune," added the affidavit. The total estimated expenditure of ICMR was Rs 11 crore.

The Centre said the Department of Biotechnology, under the DBT-BIRAC Covid-19 research consortium is supporting the research and development of 11 vaccine candidates by industry and public sector laboratories.

It added that "financial support to Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL) and Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd (SIIPL), for the production of Covaxin and Covishield, in the form or advance payment (not support or investment) of Rs 1,732.50 crore was released to Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 crore doses of Covishield vaccine for the months of May, June and July and similarly, an advance payment of Rs 787.50 crore was released to Bharat Biotech India Ltd (BBIL) for 5 crore Covaxin doses for the months of May, June and July." The Centre said the current procurement price is based on the price negotiated by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC).

"The NEGVAC had interactions with vaccine manufacturers in the initial phases of Covid Vaccination programme to secure adequate vaccine doses. For the initial phases, 6.6 crore doses were secured. Herein, the NEGVAC, after comprehensive deliberation, recommended that vaccines for Covid-19, which have been developed & are being manufactured in foreign countries and which have been granted emergency approval for restricted use by the United States, the European Medical Agency (EU), the United Kingdom, Japan or which are listed in WHO (Emergency Use Listing) may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial, in place of conduct of local clinical trial as per the provisions prescribed under the Second Schedule of the New Drugs & Clinical Trials Rules 2019," added the affidavit.

A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will hearing the Centre's response in the suo motu case for ensuring distribution of essential supplies and services during the Covid-19 pandemic on May 13.

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Jaipur, May 10 : Self-styled godman and rape convict Asaram, who is undergoing treatment at AIIMS after testing Covid positive in Jodhpur jail, on Monday moved the Rajasthan High Court for two months interim bail to continue his treatment further via ayurveda.

Hearing his plea, a bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Devendra Kachhwaha ordered the AIIMS to submit his medical report and posted the next hearing in this case to May 13.

Senior advocate Jagmal Singh Choudhary, appearing for Asaram, argued that Asaram is suffering from many diseases and wants to get his treatment done through ayurveda system, so he should be given interim bail of two months.

Asaram had earlier also sought interim bail for treatment at an ayurveda centre in Kerala, claiming he had 12 diseases, but the court did not accept his plea.

Asaram was taken to the MG Hospital with other detainees from Jodhpur jail as his oxygen level started falling after he tested positive a few days back. He was later shifted to Jodhpur AIIMS two days ago due to security reasons where his health is constantly improving.

Asaram was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 after a court here found him guilty of raping the girl in his ashram in 2013.

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Guwahati, May 10 : The 120-year-old Cotton University, previously Cotton College, in Guwahati has given Assam seven of the states 15 Chief Ministers, including Himanta Biswa Sarma, who on Monday was sworn-in as the 15th CM of the northeastern state.

As the Education Minister in the previous government led by Sarbananda Sonowal, Sarma, who studied in the varsity from 1985 to 1992, took active initiative to turn Cotton College into a university in 2017 by approving the Cotton University Bill, 2017 in the state Assembly.

Before 2017, Cotton College was under the Gauhati University.

Assam's first Chief Minister (1946-1950) and the architect of modern Assam, Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi, was a student of the then Cotton College. He was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna in 1999.

The five other students of Cotton University who went on to become Chief Minister of Assam include Mahendra Mohan Chowdhury (1970-1972), Sarat Chandra Sinha (1972-1978), Jogendra Nath Hazarika (Sept 1979-Dec 1979), Hiteswar Saikia (1983-1985 and 1991-1996) and Bhumidhar Barman (April 1996-May 1996).

Besides the seven Chief Ministers and many prominent political leaders of northeastern India, the first premier of Assam in the pre-Independence period (Assam became a constituent state of India in 1950), Maulavi Saiyid Sir Muhammad Saadulla (1937-1938 and 1939-1946) was also a student of Cotton College.

Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, then chief commissioner of Assam, had set up the Cotton College in Guwahati in 1901.

"Before the Partition of India in 1947, Cotton College and Sylhet College were the two main higher educational institutions in the region. Hence most students from Assam and other northeastern states either went to Cotton College or Sylhet College for higher education.

"Of the two colleges, since the beginning Cotton College was government-run and most students of the region preferred to study there," Cotton University Vice-Chancellor Bhabesh Chandra Goswami told IANS over phone.

"Himanta Biswa Sarma had enrolled as a higher secondary student in the college in 1985 after completing his schooling from the Kamrup Academy School. He completed his graduation in political science from the institute in 1990 and post-graduation in 1992," Goswami added.

Sarma was the assistant general secretary of Cotton College Student's Union from 1987 before becoming the general secretary for a record three times - in 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1991-92.

"Besides being a popular leader, he was a very generous man who respected the elderly, especially the teachers. Sarma's hard work, dedication and sincerity took him to the top post of Assam. I believe that as a Chief Minister, he would do more for the university," said Goswami, who was also present in Monday's swearing-in-ceremony at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati.

Goswami said that before the establishment of Jorhat College in 1960s, thousands of students, including many future top politicians of the eight northeastern states, studied in the Cotton College.

The Cotton University, which has higher secondary to Ph.D courses in almost all required subjects of science, arts and commerce, has over 5,000 students now.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 10 : The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has rescued five fishermen from the fishing boat MFV 'Kalamma', which was in distress off Bomilla Creek near Hutbay, the gateway to the Little Andaman Island.

"The ICG regional headquarters at Port Blair received an unregistered distress alert transmitter (DAT) alert from DAT ID-85068 at around 11:00 hrs," the Indian Coast Guard said in a statement.

On receiving the information, the ICG promptly launched a search and rescue operation and sailed out Coast Guard ship C-412 from Hutbay for investigation and assistance.

Since the alert was activated from an unregistered DAT, the details of the boat and its owner were not available with the ICG.

"The information was immediately shared with the fisheries authorities with a request to provide the details of persons/boat issued with the said DAT," the force said.

Braving rough seas and strong winds, at around 2:30 pm on Sunday, the Coast Guard ship successfully located the distressed boat and provided its crew with basic necessities and first aid.

The boat had sailed from Junglighat on May 3 for fishing. While fishing in the Bomilla Creek on Saturday night, the boat got toppled due to high swell and inclement weather and its engine got damaged due to ingress of salt water.

"The boat was taken in tow by Coast Guard ship C-412 and was brought to Hutbay at around 19:45 hrs May 9," the force stated.

All five crew members are reported to be safe and healthy. The boat along with its crew was handed over to the local police at Hutbay for further formalities.
Jodhpur, May 10 : Union minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat along with his team has set up a Covid relief centre in the city in 7 days' time and handed it over to the AIIMS team on Monday.

The 120-bed Atal Community Covid Relief Centre with facilities like oxygenated beds is the extension of Jodhpur AIIMS, whose doctors will treat the patients there.

Shekhawat told the media that when he came to Jodhpur on April 19, the district administration had proposed the idea of setting up a covid relief centre in the city.

"During my next visit on May 1, I found people upset and sad as they had to wait through the night to get one hospital bed. Then we discussed the idea of building this hospital," he said.

The Union minister said that community members from around the world cooperated to build the centre. The gas cylinders came from Dubai, the monitors were bought from London, while the oxygen concentrator came from Germany, he said.

Five beds with ventilator support are coming from England in the next two-three days, Shekhawat said, adding that food will be provided free of cost to all the patients and staff employed at the centre.

AIIMS staff will remain available 24x7, he added.

Jodhpur remains the second worst-hit district by Covid-19 in Rajasthan after Jaipur with 97,823 cumulative positive cases and a death toll of 820.

On Monday, the district reported 2,238 positive cases while 15 people lost their lives to Covid.

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Patna, May 10 : The wife of a Covid patient, who succumbed in a private hospital in Patna on May 8, has alleged that a doctor there had molested her, while the hospital administration deliberately switched off the oxygen supply in the ICU, to force people to buy oxygen cylinders, and this caused her husband's death.

Sharing her plight, the woman said that the entire family, living in Noida, came to Bhagalpur to celebrate Holi, and decided to stay back as Covid cases began increasing across the country.

"On April 9, the health of my husband Raushan Chandra deteriorated and we conducted his RT-PCR test which came negative. As his health condition was not improving, we got him admitted to a private hospital in Bhagalpur. He underwent RT-PCR tests twice again which came negative. As doctors were not attending to him properly, we consulted a doctor in Noida. During video chat, he suggested my husband undergo a CT-scan of his chest. When we did the CT-scan, 60 per cent infections were found in his lung. Soon after the report, we consulted the doctors of the hospital, who referred him to a hospital in Mayaganj in Bhagalpur for better treatment.

"My husband was admitted in ICU of the hospital in Mayaganj. He was not in a position to interact with anyone. He was on oxygen support in ICU and only communicated through signals. Whenever he made a missed call, it was his way of informing us whenever he wanted something," she said.

The woman also claimed that the situation was extremely shocking in the ICU as the staff did not even change the bed sheet, and patients forced to stay on their beds soiled with urine and stools. "My husband also stayed there for 6 to 7 hours and they neither changed the bedcover nor allow us to change it," she said.

"One day, his health deteriorated and he informed me through a missed call, and when I forcibly entered the ICU, I found that the pipe of the oxygen mask was not attached. I shouted for help, then doctors came and connected the pipe with a mask. That incident created fear in my husband's mind. When I complained to a senior doctor, he threatened me to tear my eyes out. A ward boy named Jyoti Kumar snatched my dupatta in front of my husband in the ICU and put his hand in my hip," she said.

"When I was sitting on a bench in the corridor outside the ICU, Jyoti came and made inappropriate remarks," she said.

The woman also said as her husband's health did not improve, she managed to obtain a Remdesvir injection at a higher price and gave it to the doctor, but he only injected half and kept the other half with himself.

"When I complained that it was a life-saving drug and not easy to obtain apart from its high cost, that doctor and other medical staff threatened me with dire consequences. I became silent as I was scared that they might kill my husband," she said.

She said that they eventually decided to take him away from that Mayaganj hospital, and had contacted several hospitals in Noida but were unable to find a bed there.

"Then, we decided to take him to Rajeshwar hospital in Patna and admitted him in the ICU on April 26. However, doctors of the hospital did not even visit the ICU. A doctor named Akhilesh Kumar inappropriately touched me several times during his visit to the ICU. I did not dare to shout as I suspected that they might do 'wrong treatment' of my husband," she said.

The woman alleged that the hospital administration deliberately stopped the oxygen supply of the ICU in a bid to force patients to purchase oxygen cylinders privately at high prices.

"The doctors gave us an excuse about limited oxygen supply leading to non-regular supply in the ICU. Hence, we purchased an oxygen cylinder for him in case of an emergency. The hospital administration regularly stops oxygen supply in the ICU. This practice has taken the life of my husband on May 8," she said.

"I don't know where I should go to complain against the hospitals of Bhagalpur and Patna. I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and (state) Health Minister Mangal Pandey to take cognizance of wrongdoing with me and my husband. I also appeal to the Bihar, Delhi and national women commissions to investigate," she said.

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Guwahati, May 10 : "Inform your mother, I will be the Chief Minister one day", new Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, then a student of Cotton College, had told his future wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, in their university days.

After the swearing-in-ceremony at the famous Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra, she said that this was the answer the then 22-year-old Sarma gave her when she asked what should she tell her mother about his future career.

"When we first met, he was 22 and I was 17," a smiling Riniki Bhuyan Sarma said.

They had married on June 7, 2001 when he became the member of the Assam Assembly for the first time.

"He was a Minister for several years, but when I was watching him taking the oath as Chief Minister today (Monday), I could not believe it," she told the media. She said that even last night, he told her that he is the Chief Minister-designate and "I asked him 'kun' (who), he replied 'moi' (I am)".

"It is always Himanta for me and our children. I cannot relate to him as the CM. It would take some time for me to feel that he is the executive head of a state," said Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, a media entrepreneur.

"A person in public life has to face many odds and challenges but I am confident that he would solve the issues and tasks as he is a person who thinks positively both with his heart and mind besides both sides of the issues," the CM's wife said.

The couple have two children - Nandil and Sukanya. Nandil did his schooling at the Doon School and passed his Class 12 in 2020 and Sukanya passed the secondary exam in the same year.
United Nations, May 11 : The Security Council on Monday strongly condemned Saturday's "atrocious and cowardly terrorist attack" in the Afghan capital of Kabul, in which at least 50 people were killed, many of them schoolgirls.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the government of Afghanistan and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured, said the council in a press statement, Xinhua reported.

The council members expressed their deep concern about the continuing high level of violence and the security situation in Afghanistan, especially the number of civilian casualties. They stressed the importance of sustained efforts to end violence and protect civilians.

They reaffirmed the right to education and education's contribution to the achievement of peace and security, and expressed grave concern about the significant number of attacks on schools and education facilities in Afghanistan in recent months, as well as the significant implications of such attacks on the safety of students and their ability to enjoy their right to education.

The council members reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and stressed the need for all states to combat by all means threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

They underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all states to cooperate actively with the Afghan government and all other relevant authorities in this regard.
Skyler Reeves, proprietor of Vivili Hospitality Group Attracting and retaining the best talent is a top priority for Vivili and creating this program with Yavapai College allows us to do just that, while also contributing to the community by funding the education of people looking to get ahead in their careers.

Vivili Hospitality Group, Prescotts largest restaurant group, is partnering with Yavapai College to offer employees free college tuition in an effort to incentivize new and existing employees amid a national hiring crisis that has plagued the restaurant industry since the pandemic.

While operating restrictions affecting restaurants throughout the pandemic continue to be lifted, staffing shortages have left many establishments unable to fulfil the demand from customers seeking to return to in-person dining. With service worker positions being difficult to fill, Vivili is turning to college students to recruit staff for its five Prescott restaurants including The County Seat, La Planchada, The Barley Hound, Rosas Pizzeria and Taco Dons by committing to pay for their college tuition.

The Vivili College Program launches today and is available at Yavapai College with registration for the fall semester currently open. All Vivili employees are eligible for tuition benefits after 90 days of employment and working an average of 32 hours per week. With classes for the first fall term beginning Aug. 16, new staffers must be employed by May 22 to qualify and those enrolling in the second fall term beginning Oct. 11 must start their employment by July 17. Employees are required to enroll in a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester and earn a passing grade of C or better to receive the reimbursement.

Attracting and retaining the best talent is a top priority for Vivili and creating this program with Yavapai College allows us to do just that, while also contributing to the community by funding the education of people looking to get ahead in their careers, said Skyler Reeves, proprietor of Vivili. With this being a challenging hiring time for the service sector all over the country, our vision for this program is to find a creative way to alleviate this industry-wide issue.

Yavapai College serves students in Northern Arizona  its main campus is in Prescott with additional locations in Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Sedona. Students participating in the Vivili College Program are able to select any major or path without restrictions and there are no stipulations requiring employment beyond graduation, allowing graduates to immediately pursue careers aligned with their degrees.

"This type of model for workforce training is essential for students to allow them to work and go to school simultaneously," said Dr. Lisa Rhine, president of Yavapai College. "We are beyond excited to partner with Vivili Hospitality Group and commend their efforts to provide education to as many of their employees as they can."

To learn more about Vivili Hospitality Group or to apply to join the team, visit ViviliGroup.com. For more about Yavapai College and its degree programs, visit yc.edu or call (928) 717-7777 and ask for Ashley Harlan or Jeremy Poehnert to register.

About Vivili Hospitality Group

Headquartered in Prescott, Ariz. and led by owner Skyler Reeves, Vivili Hospitality Group is the largest restaurant group in the area employing more than 125 people across five thriving restaurants including The County Seat, La Planchada, The Barley Hound, Rosas Pizzeria and Taco Dons, plus a full-service events and catering company, Hawk & Hound. With an eye towards putting Prescott on the culinary map, Vivili is not only committed to executing new concepts that deliver big-city appeal, but also breathing life into celebrated staples while maintaining the quality and charm locals and travelers have grown accustomed to. Vivili looks to expand its concepts regionally and nationally in the coming years. For more, visit ViviliGroup.com.

About Yavapai College

Yavapai College offers dozens of degree and certificate programs in areas of Career and Technical Education, Health and Wellness, Arts and Humanities, Business and Computer Systems, Social Sciences, and Science and Engineering. YC operates campuses in Prescott and Clarkdale, as well as centers near the Prescott Airport, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Sedona. The College is committed to helping its communities recover by reskilling and upskilling individuals for in-demand jobs.
Roses: a potent tale of loss and regrowth. Roses is the creation of published author, Brinda Gress, a devoted wife, mother, and social worker.

Brinda writes, Mommy turned her attention to Kelli and me. She ruffled her trembling hands through our hair, and said, My poor babies, how could he do this to you? Things are going to be different from now on. Although I was only seven years old at the time, I could never forget the words my mother uttered on the night my father committed suicide or how true her words would prove to be.

A couple of cartoon royal sisters popularized the bond that only sisters could share and this novel demonstrates that same power. It is told through the eyes of a child who lived through it. The story begins when Maris father commits suicide. Her mother suddenly has to find employment to care for Mari (age seven) and her younger sister Kelli (age 4). Mari narrates her journey through a neglectful mother, abusive step-father, separation from her beloved sister through foster care, adoption and eventually a reunion. The story emphasizes the bond between the sisters through lifes journey and struggles. Maris tireless search for her sister in spite of numerous roadblocks although fiction; resembles the trials many children face when trying to relocate siblings lost through the court system.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Brinda Gress new book is an emotionally charged tale of two sisters and how they cope with the cards life deals them.

Offering a look at the effects of suicide, abuse, neglect, drug addiction, and abandonment, this dark tale is hard to put down. Will the sisters find their way through or will they stumble in the face of adversity?

View a synopsis of Roses on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Roses at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Roses, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
Incorporating Augmented Reality into our curriculum, and making it accessible to every single student with a cell phone or laptop, is the next step in our evolution," said Dr. Jill Langen, Baker College Provost.

Baker College, Michigans largest, private not-for-profit college and the top private transfer school in the state, is pleased to announce it has received a $25 million grant from EON Reality. The five-year award of EON Reality technology and software products and services will launch a virtual Innovation Center across all Baker campuses, programs and learning modalities. EON Reality, with offices around the globe, is considered a world-leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) academic and industry training solutions.

Baker College will launch its first phase of the Innovation Center and EON Reality platform in fall 2021. The EON Reality platform, known as EON-XR, is accessible through a free app available on all mobile devices, laptops and PCs, and will offer students the opportunity to experience real-world, immersive learning environments through Extended and Augmented Reality (XR) technology.

With XR, student courses can include virtual visits to locations around the world, as well as the ability to manipulate 3D objects. Students will be able to virtually take apart, examine and rebuild almost anything, from a computer motherboard to a car engine to a human heart. XR lessons also will offer opportunities to project on-screen items into real world environments, use x-ray vision to see inside objects and engage with a live labeling function to help students better learn and understand complex concepts.

In a benefit to the community-at-large, all of the XR curriculum developed over the next five years by Baker College in partnership with EON Reality, will be available and accessible to anyone with the free EON-XR app.

Phase one of Bakers EON-XR roll-out will initially impact about 6,000 course seats, with XR immersive learning available to students across Baker Colleges health sciences and information technology degree programs, as well as several general education classes. Eventually, extended and augmented reality experiences will be used in every Baker College degree program, and growth plans include expanding into the use of Virtual Reality, with students using VR goggles to enhance learning.

Baker College has remained successful over the last century by continually adapting to the evolving educational landscape and changing needs and expectations of our students, said Dr. Jill Langen, Baker College Provost. Incorporating Augmented Reality into our curriculum, and making it accessible to every single student with a cell phone or laptop, is the next step in our evolution.

Dr. Langen continued, The trends in higher education all point to less passive learning models and more individualized, technology-driven experiences. Through our grant and partnership with EON Reality, were making sure Baker College is at the forefront of whats ahead.

Baker College was selected as a partner of choice by EON Reality for the companys $25 million, five-year grant after an extensive assessment of the Colleges curriculum design, faculty readiness and online learning expertise. The grant will provide Baker with free access to all of EON Realitys technology and services related to a five-year roll-out of the EON-XR platform.

While many of our efforts have been focused on expanding EON-XR around the world, its always nice to be able to provide the same top-notch solutions to a new American partner in an area we havent reached before. By working with Baker College, we know that well be able to positively influence lives all across Michigan, as their reach is unparalleled in that regard. This is truly EON Realitys opportunity to help teach and train the future of Michigans workforce, said Dan Lejerskar, founder of EON Reality.

About Baker College

Founded in 1911, Baker College is Michigans largest, private not-for-profit college and the top private transfer school in the state. Baker College has multiple on-ground campus locations and two affiliate sites across the state, as well as an online global campus offering more than 40 academic program options for both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Learn more at http://www.baker.edu.

About EON Reality

EON Reality is the world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality-based knowledge and skills transfer for industry and education. EON Realitys 21 years of success are tied to its belief that knowledge is a human right and should be available, accessible, and affordable for every human on the planet. To carry this out, EON Reality has developed the de-facto standard for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality-based knowledge and skills transfer software that supports devices from mobile phones to large immersive domes. EON Realitys global development network  with more than 20 locations worldwide  has created the worlds leading AR/VR library for education and industry with over 8,000 applications and over 40 million users worldwide. For further information, visit http://www.eonreality.com.
Baker McKenzie

Global law firm Baker McKenzie announced today that Colin Murray, CEO of the Firm's North America Region, has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious 2021 ABA Litigation Sections Diversity Leadership Award. The award honors those who have made outstanding commitments to promoting full and equal participation in the legal profession through the encouragement and inclusion of women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and/or persons of differing sexual orientations and gender identities.

As the CEO of the North America Region at Baker McKenzie for nearly four years, Colin Murray leads all 16 office locations in the US, Canada and Mexico. His uncompromising commitment and passion for inclusion & diversity has directly resulted in meaningful and enduring culture change and progress across the Firm and has enabled Baker McKenzie to set a ground-breaking example of inclusion in the legal industry.

During the Pandemic, Colin has continued to implement policies and programs to increase inclusivity and equity and ensure that the Firm was actively taking an anti-racist stance in hiring processes, work allocation systems, partner promotions and other long-standing practices. This has been especially important due to the global pandemic's disproportionate impact on women and ethnic/racial minorities and the series of widely publicized racial injustices in 2020.

Global Chair, Milton Cheng, said, Cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment is foundational to our culture and our strategy. All of us are proud of Colin who has done so much to further our progress and commitment to a more diverse, equitable and inclusive Firm.

Susan Eandi, member of Baker McKenzies North America Regional Management Committee and Head of the Global Employment and Labor Law practice, said, In our work together on the North America Regional Management Committee, I see Colin as a persistent and determined champion of inclusion and equity for all of our people. He prioritizes these values in leadership decisions, which is one of the reasons we have been able to accomplish so much since he began his tenure almost four years ago as CEO of the region.

This is a great honor for our Firm, and I cannot imagine a more deserving recipient, said Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Anna Brown. Colin is an exceptional and fierce ally and upstander to inclusion, and he places diversity, equity, belonging and engagement at the center of his work as an inclusive leader. He also actively seeks opportunities to keep I&D top of mind for all members of the Firm. Since Colin started his term as CEO, significant progress has been made with regard to gender and ethnic diversity among Firm leadership, the implementation of a billable hour policy for I&D work, as well as recognition of the Juneteenth holiday, among many others.

I am so humbled and honored to receive this award. I owe so much to the amazing Inclusion & Diversity team here at the Firm. I view my role as a series of opportunities to help and serve the partners and all of our people at the Firm, as well as our clients, who are equally committed to inclusion and who want diverse teams representing them, said Colin about the role he plays in advancing I&D across the Firm. Through collective focus and teamwork, we are in fact driving positive change at Baker McKenzie and making a real difference. We have much more work to do, but we are definitely on the right path.

In addition to serving as the Firms North America CEO, Colin is a seasoned trial lawyer who represents global and local clients in complex, fact-intensive business disputes. Colin has tried over 50 cases through final jury verdict, as well as a substantial number of bench trials and private domestic and international arbitration proceedings. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Colin served as a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego (1993-2000).

About Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie helps clients overcome the challenges of competing in the global economy. We solve complex legal problems across borders and practice areas. Our unique culture, developed over 70 years, enables our 13,000 people to understand local markets and navigate multiple jurisdictions, working together as trusted colleagues and friends to instil confidence in our clients. (http://www.bakermckenzie.com)
BASF expands e-commerce agreement with Agilis Our customers have embraced the digital commerce portal. Within the first year, we have seen a significant growth in sales, an increase in repeat orders and a significant improvement in sales efficiency thanks to the self-service features of the Agilis portal,

BASF has entered into a multi-year agreement with Agilis Chemicals Inc., provider of digital commerce technology for the chemical industry. BASF launched a digital sales portal for its OPPANOL polyisobutene product family last April and has recently added more products to the portal.

Our customers have embraced the digital commerce portal. Within the first year, we have seen a significant growth in sales, an increase in repeat orders and a significant improvement in sales efficiency thanks to the self-service features of the Agilis portal, says Marius Vaarkamp, Business Director, Fuel and Lubricant Solutions, BASF. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Agilis, making the customer online experience simple, convenient, and easy-to-use.

OPPANOL is marketed as a solution for a diverse spectrum of applications in a wide range of industries, including automotive, construction, packaging, electronics and food sectors. Our mission at Agilis is to help chemical suppliers implement smart and intuitive digital commerce solutions that dont require them to change how they do business, says Jay Bhatia, Founder and CEO of Agilis. The success that we are seeing with BASF proves that producers of all sizes can benefit from a commerce platform thats tailor-made for the chemical industry.

BASF is planning to add more products to its web portal, including its Glissopal product line for adhesives and sealants markets and new grades of the OPPANOL products. To learn more about the OPPANOL e-commerce portal, visit: https://oppanol.agilischemicals.com

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 17,000 employees in North America and had sales of $18.7 billion in 2020. For more information about BASFs North American operations, visit http://www.basf.com/us.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 110,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of 59 billion in 2020. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at http://www.basf.com.

About Agilis Chemicals, Inc.

Agilis is a technology company focused on driving digitalization of commerce processes in the chemical industry. With Agilis, global chemical producers and distributors can launch their own cloud-based branded e-commerce portals, fully optimized and equipped with modern marketing tools and analytics. Agilis offers chemical suppliers an easy and cost-effective way to attract and engage customers via secure digital sales and marketing channels. Headquartered in Newark, NJ, with its growing technology team based in New York City, Agilis combines industry experience and technology expertise in building advanced, scalable technology solutions. For more information about Agilis, please visit https://agilischemicals.com.
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw For more information about the lawsuit against Autism Outreach Southern California LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The San Diego employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against Autism Outreach Southern California LLC, alleging the company violated Labor Code  2699, et seq. seeking penalties for DEFENDANTs alleged violation of California Labor Code  201, 202, 203, 204, 210, 226(a), 226.7, 510, 512, 558(a)(1)(2), 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 1198, and 2802. The lawsuit against Autism Outreach Southern California, is currently pending in the San Diego County Superior Court, Case No. 37-2021-00011213-CU-OE-CTL. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

Cal. Lab. Code  226 states that employers shall provide employees with accurate itemized wage statements showing, among other things "gross wages earned and all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period..." From time to time, DEFENDANT allegedly violated this California Labor Code by allegedly failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements.

PAGA is a mechanism by which the State of California itself can enforce state labor laws through the employee suing under the PAGA who do so as the proxy or agent of the state's labor law enforcement agencies. An action to recover civil penalties under PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of "deputizing" citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code. As a result of their rigorous work schedules, "PLAINTIFFS and other AGGRIEVED EMPLOYEES were from time to time denied their proper rest periods by DEFENDANT and DEFENDANTs managers."

For more information about the lawsuit against Autism Outreach Southern California LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.

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A temporary military discount offers drivers up to $500 bonus cash with their new vehicle purchase

Carl Black Nashville, a Chevrolet dealership serving the Nashville area, is offering a special military discount throughout the month of May 2021. Military personnel in the area who are looking for a new vehicle can receive up to $500 bonus cash when they make a purchase. New retail delivery for the offer must be taken by June 1, 2021, in order to qualify for the discount.

Eligible military personnel includes active-duty members, reservists, national guard members, veterans and retirees who worked in the U.S. army, navy, air force, marine corps or coast guard. Spouses and household members of military personnel may also qualify for this special offer. This offer is only available at participating dealerships like Carl Black Nashville.

To take advantage of this temporary offer, drivers will need to purchase a new Chevrolet vehicle during the month of May. They will need to present proof of service. Base trim levels, CTA, CT5, Corvette and Escalade models may not qualify for the special offer. The offer may not be combined with some other offers.

Military personnel who are interested in purchasing a new Chevrolet vehicle this month are encouraged to visit the dealership, which is located at 535 Murfreesboro Pike, Nashville, TN. They can also learn more by visiting the dealerships website,carlblackchevy.com. The dealerships site includes information on special offers, new vehicle inventory, financing at the dealership, contact information, hours and more. Other special offers currently available at the dealership include those for educators, first responders and college graduates.
2021 National Police Week "Being a part of this event means a lot. Datum is a family-owned company, American-made from the ground up, so it is important we give back to those who sacrifice so much for this country, day in and day out." - Doug Mucci, President

Datum Storage Solution is proud to announce its support of the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) as a 2021 National Police Week sponsor. The national event, established in 1962 by President Kennedy and Congress, allows the community to gather in honor of those who gave their lives in the line of duty.

"Being a part of this event means a lot," said President Doug Mucci, "Datum is a family-owned company, American-made from the ground up, so it is important we give back to those who sacrifice so much for this country, day in and day out."

National Police Week, typically held the week of Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), has been postponed to October due to COVID-19 restrictions. Virtual programs will still be held the week of May 9, including a Candlelight Vigil on May 13. In-person events are scheduled for October 13-17, 2021, in Washington, DC.

Detailed information is available on NLEOMF's website: nleomf.org.

ABOUT DATUM STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Owned and operated by the Potter family since 1968, Datum Storage Solution's team of in-house engineers, designers, and skilled craftsmen has manufactured storage solutions for over 40,000 companies around the world. Datum's diverse lines of products are made in York, Pennsylvania, with high-quality, environmentally friendly materials and processes. Every product is backed by Datum's exclusive Lifetime Warrantythe best in the industry.

For more information, please visit bydatum.com.
Evive leverages predictive analytics and behavioral science principles to deliver highly personalized campaigns of one that help employees fully engage with their benefits.

Evive, the leader in digital engagement and communication technology, today announced they are a platinum sponsor of the Human Resource Executive Health and Benefits Leadership Conference (HBLC). The conference will take place, virtually, May 11-13, 2021.

HBLC is the nations top gathering of human resources and benefits professionals looking for expert guidance and insight to strengthen health and benefits programs within their organizations. The conference will cover issues such as the mental health crisis, employers role in COVID-19 vaccines and how benefits can help address racial inequity. Through speakers, virtual booths and online networking, attendees will gain information about solutions used to craft benefits programs that attract new employees, retain top talent and enhance productivity.

As health implications from 2020 continue to play out, Evives automated, data-driven messaging platform is crucial to helping HR and benefits leaders reach individual employees as well as segment employee audiences and high-risk populations with the right resources, when they need it most, said Prashant Srivastava, Evive president and CEO. HBLC provides Evive an opportunity to show employers how our technology can improve the overall health of their workforce and enjoy benefits cost savings through increased benefits utilization and a personalized employee experience.

Evive leverages predictive analytics and behavioral science principles to deliver highly personalized campaigns of one that help employees fully engage with their benefits. For example, Evive can:



Identify employees overdue for a preventive care activity and nudge them to complete it.

Recognize whos not using an HSA/FSA benefit that could support them during challenging times.

Identify whos trending toward high-cost treatments and direct those individuals to second opinion services.

Evives communications platform gently reminds employees to act using their preferred mode of communication  email, text or push notification. Once employees act, Evives closed loop system learns what messaging style works best for that individual and determines what should be communicated next.

HBLC will feature six keynote sessions, including award-winning journalist and former Good Morning America co-host, Joan Lunden and President of the American Benefits Council, James Klein. To register for the free Health and Benefits Leadership Conference, visit here.

To learn more about Evive, click here or download the e-book, Jumpstarting the Employee Journey, here.

About Evive

Evive changes the way companies communicate. As the market leader in data-driven, personalized engagement, Evive has extensive experience helping large and midsize companies optimize the employee experience across their diverse populations. Starting with rich healthcare and HR data sources, Evive uses proprietary predictive analytics and behavioral science expertise to deliver highly segmented, multi-modal messaging. Personalized communications connect the right person to the right resource at the right time: driving individual action and delivering measurable outcomes across the spectrum of employee experiences. To learn more about Evive, visit https://goevive.com/ or LinkedIn. Contact press@goevive.com to learn more.
Wreaths laid by Xinhua News Agency are seen to commemorate the deaths of three Chinese journalists killed during a NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy, in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, May 7, 2021. The NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 was commemorated on Friday by officials from the Serbian government and Chinese embassy. The NATO bombings of Yugoslavia started on March 24, 1999. During the 78-day military attack, 2,500 civilians were killed, and around 25,000 objects were damaged, including airports, hospitals, schools, cultural monuments and road infrastructure, according to the Serbian government. [Photo/Xinhua]

BELGRADE - The NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 was commemorated on Friday by officials from the Serbian government and Chinese embassy.

Wreaths were laid by the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, head of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) Vladimir Radomirovic, Chinese ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo and citizens to commemorate the deaths of three Chinese journalists killed during a NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy on May 7, 1999.

Chen thanked the Serbian people for keeping the memory of the attack alive, reminding that the martyrs of the attack "paid the price of truth, justice, and righteousness with their lives."

"We will never forget the crime conducted by the aggressor, who most brutally violated the human rights, in the name of the so-called protection of human rights," she said.

Chen said that the newly built Chinese cultural center here represents a new symbol of the iron friendship between Serbia and China and the striving of both countries for justice.

Minister Kisic Tepavcevic said that that the Chinese people and Chinese journalists were "together with us in the hardships" and that is why the Serbian people come here to honor them every year.

"The People's Republic of China is our great friend, who always provides immense support to us in all challenges that we come across. It is a true privilege to have such a friend like the Chinese people," she said.

The NATO bombings of Yugoslavia started on March 24, 1999. During the 78-day military attack, 2,500 civilians were killed, and around 25,000 objects were damaged, including airports, hospitals, schools, cultural monuments and road infrastructure, according to the Serbian government.
Technology and other forms of innovation are transforming the wellness economy as never before, and were excited to launch an Initiative that has a more focused regional lens, allowing us to shine a spotlight on wellness innovation in a different global region every year

The nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI), the leading research and educational resource for the global wellness industry, has launched a Wellness Innovation Initiative dedicated to identifying and supporting promising companies that sit at the intersection of wellness, innovation and technology.

The new Initiative takes a uniquely regional approach: Each year, it will focus on innovation in the host region of that years Global Wellness Summit (GWS) and will sponsor a regional competition prior to the conference, the Call for Wellness Innovation, judged by a global panel of wellness founders, experts and executives.

With the conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, from November 1518, the Initiatives focus for 2021 will be scouting the most game-changing wellness companies across the Middle East. The Call for Wellness Innovation competition opens on July 1, 2021.

Each year, the Initiatives regional advisors will amplify the competition in their country, and after the judges have evaluated all the entries, there will be a Demo Day, showcasing the 1020 most promising companies. Ultimately, the winners will gain global recognition, along with access to a network of experts for counsel in areas such as fundraising, branding and marketing, distribution, and supply chain. The winning companys founder will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Summit, where theyll be interviewed on the Main Stage.

The Initiative is the brainchild of and chaired by Amir Alroy, founder of Israels Welltech Ventures, the first Israeli VC fund specializing in wellness-related technologies.

The Initiative is still welcoming advisors from the Middle East. If interested, contact Innovation@WelltechVentures.com

This is the very first time that the Global Wellness Summit will take place in the Middle East, and Im excited that Tel Aviv, Israel, famed Start-up Nation, will play host, said Alroy. Through this dynamic competition, well find the most disruptive and creative Middle Eastern companies in wellness and technology, and well put the winners on a global stage.

Alroy is joined by Vice Chair Alexia Brue, co-founder of Well+Good, leading American wellness media company, and Initiative advisors from Pepsicos innovation team, Technogyms leadership team, and UAE-based RAI Digital.

Technology and other forms of innovation are transforming the wellness economy as never before, and were excited to launch an Initiative that has a more focused regional lens, allowing us to shine a spotlight on wellness innovation in a different global region every year, said Nancy Davis, chief creative officer of the GWI and GWS. This will help foster economic growth in the regions where our Summits take placeand both the GWI and GWS are uniquely capable of giving these companies a global audience.

The GWI now supports 31 industry Initiatives that focus on developing projects, research and trend forecasts that impact wellness in a particular market segment or region of the worldall available free of charge.

About the Global Wellness Institute: The Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the leading research and educational resource for the global wellness economy. Through its five pillarsresearch, industry initiatives, roundtable discussions, Wellness Evidence and The Wellness Moonshot: A World Free of Preventable Diseasethe GWI informs and connects key global stakeholders who impact the health and wellness of our planet and its citizens. The GWIs mission is to empower wellness worldwide.
GPR Ventures has completed its 30th total acquisition since 2011 with a multi-market purchase of joint properties in Sacramento, Calif. and Reno, Nev. We are excited to continue expanding the GPR Ventures footprint across the Western United States, which is a key goal for our company over the next five years.

GPR Ventures has completed its 30th total acquisition since 2011 with a multi-market purchase of joint properties in Sacramento and Reno, Nev. Given the unique, dual-market nature of the acquisition, the firm formed a new business entity, NV Sac GPRV Partners 29, LLC, to facilitate the joint purchase of the two industrial properties. The Sacramento asset is a 26,400 square foot building located at 6910 Luther Drive, while the second asset in the portfolio is a 20,000 square foot property at 56 Coney Island Drive in Sparks, Nev. Both buildings are 100 percent occupied.

We are excited to continue expanding the GPR Ventures footprint across the Western United States, which is a key goal for our company over the next five years, said GPR Ventures co-founder and Managing Principal Phil Rolla. The joint purchase of these two properties will allow us to maintain a strong presence in two thriving industrial markets, and we look forward to contributing to both communities through these acquisitions.

TWEET THIS: Real estate firm #GPRVentures has completed a multi-market acquisition of joint properties in Sacramento and Reno. The company closed escrow on two industrial properties, each of which is fully occupied by multiple tenants. https://gprventures.com/ #business #realestate

About 6910 Luther Drive, Sacramento

The single-building industrial warehouse acquisition is comprised of 12 separate units and is fully occupied with long term stable tenants, most of which are in the automotive industry. Each suite is equipped with its own secure access, rear loading area, front entrance reception space, bathroom and warehouse space. The property includes a 2,400 square foot paved yard with secure fencing and is situated on a 1.76-acre lot.

The property is centrally located in between Highway 99 and Interstate 5 and is minutes away from two Sacramento light rail stations.

About 56 Coney Island Drive, Sparks

GPR Ventures second acquisition in the Reno market is a single-building industrial warehouse that is fully occupied with three different tenants, including local automotive repair shop Lancaster Auto Care & Customs. The buildings location off S. McCarran Blvd provides easy access to Interstate 80.

GPR Ventures closed escrow on Thursday, May 6, and plans to complete minor capital improvements on both properties. Zac Sweet, Senior Vice President with CBREs Roseville office, helped broker the Sacramento sale and Eric Bennett, Senior Vice President for CBRE in Reno, helped broker the Coney Island Drive purchase.

For more information on GPR Ventures and its complete portfolio, visit https://www.gprventures.com/.

About GPR Ventures

Founded in 2011, GPR Ventures is a privately held real estate investment firm with offices in Silicon Valley and Sacramento that specializes in providing real estate opportunities for a select group of sophisticated investors. GPR Ventures uses a dynamic, fully developed process and the acquisition-to-disposition expertise of founders Glen Yonekura and Phillip Rolla to yield consistent results. GPRs portfolio includes 85 buildings totaling nearly 3 million square feet and an additional 26 acres of land. For additional information, please visit GPRVentures.com or call (408) 559-3300.
Lets teach success to those who think its out of reach  Grant Cardone

The Grant Cardone Foundation has affirmed their commitment to providing educational opportunities and financial empowerment for young adults by establishing The Grant Cardone Foundation First Generation Scholarship. The scholarship will provide aid for students currently residing in the state of Florida who are first generation college students in their family pursuing a degree at Florida International Universities College of Business. The scholarship will cover a full ride for two students every year, up to $7,500 per year, and a renewal option for up to four additional years, for a total of $30,000 to the recipient. Scholarship recipients will also gain access to mentoring support and additional business resources through Cardones world renown training enterprise, Cardone Training Technologies, Inc.

Applications for the 2021 year are open now until the end of July 2021 with funds being awarded for the Fall 2021 semester. To learn more on how to apply, visit http://www.grantcardone.com/fiu.

Founded by entrepreneur, best-selling author and star of Discovery Channels Undercover Billionaire, Grant Cardone, The Grant Cardone Foundations mission is to impact one million lives in 2021, by providing education, mentorship and guidance to at-risk kids in our underserved communities around the world. Lets teach success to those who think its out of reach  Grant Cardone. To learn more about The Grant Cardone Foundation, visit https://cardonefoundation.com/.

About The Grant Cardone Foundation

The Grant Cardone Foundation is a national non-profit organization invested in helping youth in our communities reach their fullest potential. Entrepreneur and best-selling author, Grant Cardone, created the foundation as a result of experiencing the traumatic loss of his father when he was only ten years old. Growing up without a father figure in his life affected him emotionally, socially, and academically and so he has made it his mission to help young adults, who may need life and career guidance just as he once did. The foundations mission is to provide mentoring and financial literacy education to adolescents in underserved and at-risk populations, especially those without a father figure. The foundation partners with community organizations, municipal agencies, corporations, and other non-profit entities to help deliver energy and educational resources to kids in need

About Grant Cardone

CEO of Cardone Capital, international speaker, entrepreneur and author of The 10X Rule & creator of 21 best-selling business programs, Grant Cardone owns & operates seven privately held companies and a $1.4B portfolio of multifamily properties. Named the #1 marketer to watch by Forbes Magazine, Cardone is also the founder of The 10X Movement & The 10X Growth Conference, the worlds largest business & entrepreneur conference.
We salute the doctors, nurses, and other members of the clinical staff as well as the behind the scenes employees who every day rise to the challenge to improve healthcare delivery and the patient experience...

Harmony Healthcare, a national leader in reimbursement, population health, and information technology staffing, joins hospitals, health systems, and healthcare employees across the country in celebrating National Hospital Week. This week of awareness highlights the innovative ways hospitals strengthen their communities, and Harmony is keen to give back to the heroes who have bravely faced the impact of the COVID pandemic. As a demonstration of their appreciation, the team at Harmony created an outreach project to show their support for Tampa General Hospital.

In collaboration with the TGH Foundation and the TGHope Committee, Harmony is sponsoring massage therapy sessions for 500 employees of Tampa General. The selected employees work in departments that recently won the hospitals monthly Gumby award, a recognition that inspires hope and generates inspiration across the TGH system.

No words can express Harmony Healthcares deep gratitude to the healthcare heroes at Tampa General Hospital, said Randy Verdino, CEO, Harmony Healthcare. We salute the doctors, nurses, and other members of the clinical staff as well as the behind the scenes employees who every day rise to the challenge to improve healthcare delivery and the patient experience, Verdino added.

The winning departments include: Complex Medicine 1 6A1, the Emergency Department, Medical ICU 2D1-2, Observation Unit 2K7, Post Anesthesia Care, Primary Care 8A1, the Patient Relations team, the Human Resources and HR/Talent Management teams, and the Volunteer Services team. Like the Gumby Awards namesake, the award represents unrelenting flexibility, steadfast durability, and remarkable resilience. Nominated by TGH team members, a subsequent vote is taken by the TGHope Committee.

Thank you on behalf of the entire Emergency Department team. It was an honor and a pleasure to accept the Gumby Award for the month of April 2021, said Michele Moran, senior director of Tampa Generals Emergency Department (ED), Pediatric ED, Brandon HealthPlex ED, Trauma Services, and Aeromed Transport Program. The recognition meant the world to us after one of the most trying years of our professional careers. I am so proud of the ED team for being resilient, flexible, and continuously striving for excellence in the care of our patients and families! I am humbled to be your fearless leader!

Founded in 2010, Harmony Healthcare employs over 500 employees across the United States and serves over 300 clients, including 11 of the top 15 largest health systems, along with major academic health centers, hospitals, physician practices, payers, CPA firms, and VA hospitals. The team at Harmony hopes to make its celebration of healthcare heroes an annual company tradition, recognizing different organizations each year within the industry.

About Harmony Healthcare:

Harmony Healthcare delivers expert consultants within reimbursement, population health, and information technology to providers on a national basis and across all care settings. The company empowers healthcare organization success, enhances clinical and financial outcomes, and enables the transition to value-based healthcare. For more information, please visit https://harmony.solutions/.
Ideal Option, a national leader in evidence-based treatment for addiction to opioids, alcohol, meth, and other substances, has opened its first clinic in Pierce County. The new clinic, located at 2802 S Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98373, will provide physician-led, outpatient medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

With the surge in substance use and overdose rates during the pandemic, the opening of the new clinic comes at a time of great need. As reported by the Washington State Department of Health, Overdose deaths accelerated in 2020, increasing by 38% in the first half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019. Most of that increase came from deaths involving fentanyl, a very strong opioid.

Pierce Countys rate of overdose fatalities is even higher than the Washington state rate, and 78% of the 9,278 Medicaid patients in Pierce County with opioid use disorder (OUD) are not receiving treatment, according to the Washington State Health Authority.

We have seen more than 500 hundred patients in our south King County locations who have traveled from the Puyallup area, and that number is only going to increase as the pandemic winds down, stated Tim Kilgallon CEO of Ideal Option. Opening a location in Puyallup will make it much easier for our patients who live in Pierce County to stay in recovery and help many more patients start their recovery journey.

The Ideal Option clinic is open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m.  6 p.m. and is located at 2802 S Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98373. Ideal Option has no waitlists and accepts all forms of insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare. Patients can make an appointment by calling 1.877.522.1275 or visiting http://www.idealoption.com.

About Ideal Option

Headquartered in Kennewick, Washington, Ideal Option was founded in 2012 and has since helped nearly 45,000 patients through a network of 65 office-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinics across 10 states. With a mission to serve under-served communities, Ideal Option accepts all forms of insurance including Medicaid and Medicare and financial assistance and payment plans are available.

Ideal Option's team of medical providers carry certifications in Addiction and Emergency Medicine, Internal, OB/GYN, and Family Medicine, among other specialties. The company also employs social workers, caseworkers, counselors, and mental health practitioners. This holistic approach helps drive positive outcomes, including family stability, stable housing, improved overall health, and reduced rates of recidivism.

In all the communities it serves, Ideal Option collaborates with existing stakeholders and providers to improve the continuum of care. This approach includes partnerships with emergency rooms and county jail systems, where individuals with substance use disorder often appear, as well as collaborating with numerous support agencies and municipal programs addressing social needs such as housing, mental health, and nutrition support.
This new relationship will further enhance the skills and expertise of our highly-trained physicians who provide healthcare across a large geographic footprint, said R. Steven Paulson, M.D., president, and chairman of Texas Oncology.

IDEOlogy Health and Texas Oncology announced today that the two companies have entered a formal agreement to collaborate on expanding and enhancing medical education for Texas Oncology physicians.

Texas Oncology has more than 500 physicians providing care at 210 locations across Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. This agreement provides instant access to the suite of IDEOlogy Healths live and online events, seminars and training sessions that are offered through their three flagship channels- IDEO Oncology, IDEO Hematology, and IDEO Sound Bites.

IDEOlogy Health has built a reputation for being a go-to resource for physicians who want credible, unbiased, up-to-date information on the latest advances right at their fingertips. IDEO Oncology and IDEO Hematology will provide up-to-the minute information in cancer care through a series of virtual and live meetings with world-renowned thought leaders

The two companies will also collaborate to create custom medical education for Texas Oncology and their physicians leading to a more efficient exchange of ideas, data, and the latest treatment updates across the oncology landscape.

Said IDEOlogy CEO Mike Gramling: The physicians who founded Texas Oncology in 1986 were a forward-looking group of doctors who were determined to make high-quality, high-touch, evidence-based, community-focused cancer treatment a reality. This agreement and our collaboration will support that continuing mission by providing access to cancer research and best-practices, informing physicians quickly so they can offer the evidence-based options in cancer innovations that safely impact and measurably improve patient outcomes.

Through its digital Sound Bites platform, IDEOlogy Health provides authentic and credible information with timely, trustworthy, clinical data from the most world-renowned experts, enabling physicians to get the most up-to-date information right at their fingertips.

This new relationship will further enhance the skills and expertise of our highly-trained physicians who provide healthcare across a large geographic footprint, said R. Steven Paulson, M.D., president, and chairman of Texas Oncology. Quality patient care always comes first at Texas Oncology and this new collaboration elevates that commitment even higher.

About IDEOlogy Health

IDEOlogy Health is disrupting the status quo in how medical education is delivered and received by putting up-to-the-minute scientific treatment advances right at their physicians fingertips. The company leverages decades of healthcare expertise and emerging technology to provide data, analysis, and educational opportunities from experts across the globe in the diseases of Oncology, Hematology, and Cardiology. http://www.ideologyhealth.com.

On Behalf of IDEOlogy Health

Aurora Silva

P: 512-537-1414

E: media@crosswindpr.com

About Texas Oncology

Texas Oncology is an independent private practice with more than 500 physicians and 210 locations across the state. Meeting the oncology needs of Texans for more than 35 years, the practice includes Texas Center for Proton Therapy, Texas Breast Specialists, Texas Oncology Surgical Specialists, Texas Urology Specialists, and Texas Center for Interventional Surgery. As a lead participant in US Oncology Research, Texas Oncology played a role in the development of more than 100 FDA-approved therapies. For more information, visit http://www.TexasOncology.com

On Behalf of Texas Oncology

Shana Bristow

FlieshmanHillard

P: 972-822-0798
Were thrilled that ICBA, the leading community bank trade association, is partnering with JAM FINTOP Banktech to help facilitate technology transformation at community banks, said Ryan Zacharia, a General Partner at JSOV.

JAM FINTOP Banktech, a $150 million investment fund designed to help accelerate technology adoption at community banks, announced that the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), which represents community banks through advocacy, education and innovation, will serve as a strategic advisor. In this capacity ICBA will collaborate with JAM Special Opportunity Ventures (JSOV) and FINTOP to further the goals of the fund and its community bank investors to identify and fast track fintech solutions that solve for community bank pain points.

Were thrilled that ICBA, the leading community bank trade association, will be working with JAM FINTOP Banktech to provide leadership and expertise, helping facilitate and enhance continued technology transformation at community banks, said Ryan Zacharia, a General Partner at JSOV. We share ICBAs commitment to community banks and look forward to advancing innovation and delivering results for all stakeholders. ICBAs work pioneering community bank-fintech collaborations along with insights from its member banks will be invaluable as we invest in banktech companies.

JAM FINTOP Banktech is creating an ecosystem for its investors to stay ahead of fintech trends and access new technologies, including the formation of several committees. ICBA Chief Innovation Officer Charles Potts will chair the funds Community Banking Committee. At ICBA, Potts is responsible for developing impactful, value-added solutions that help community banks seize new market opportunities to meet customers evolving financial services needs. The fund will leverage his extensive experience working with banktech companies for the benefit of its investors and portfolio companies.

"Technology has become an important part of how community banks interact with customers and solve for todays business challengesall while maintaining the valuable relationship banking experience customers expect, Potts said. "ICBA is pleased to participate in this important initiative as we work to foster meaningful fintech collaborations that create true value for community banks, while delivering the very best customer experience.

The JAM FINTOP Banktech investment team is currently evaluating investments in B2B companies with active deployments in banks and annual recurring revenue approaching or exceeding $1 million. For more information visit https://www.jamfintop.com.

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About JAM Special Opportunity Ventures

JSOV is an affiliate of Jacobs Asset Management, an investor in financial services companies with a 26-year track record across public and private markets. JSOV was formed in 2020 to partner with top investors, management teams and innovators in the financial services industry. Its principals are Adam Aspes, Sy Jacobs and Ryan Zacharia.

About FINTOP

FINTOP is a team of entrepreneurs that built the foundations of fintech. The firm invests in the next generation of B2B SaaS and service-enabled software companies that are changing the way financial institutions and their customers move, track and interact with money. Targets have a proven product in the market, real revenues and are helmed by veterans of the industries they are looking to shape.

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America creates and promotes an environment where community banks flourish. ICBA is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education, and high-quality products and services.

With nearly 50,000 locations nationwide, community banks constitute 99 percent of all banks, employ more than 700,000 Americans and are the only physical banking presence in one in three U.S. counties. Holding more than $5 trillion in assets, over $4.4 trillion in deposits, and more than $3.4 trillion in loans to consumers, small businesses and the agricultural community, community banks channel local deposits into the Main Streets and neighborhoods they serve, spurring job creation, fostering innovation and fueling their customers dreams in communities throughout America. For more information, visit ICBAs website at https://www.icba.org.

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Media Contacts:

Adam Aspes, JAM Special Opportunity Ventures | adam@jampartners.com

Jared Winegrad, FINTOP Capital | jared@fintopcapital.com
The 2021 Power 60 Solution Providers list is an elite subgroup of honorees chosen from the highly regarded Women of the Channel list. CRNs 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges accomplished, influential women whose dedication, hard work, and leadership accelerate channel growth.

Tennessee-based IT and cybersecurity provider, InfoSystems, announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Kelly Nuckolls, Vice President of Marketing and Alliances at InfoSystems, to its 2021 Power 60 Solution Providers list, an elite subgroup of honorees chosen from the highly regarded Women of the Channel list.

The women honored on this years list pushed forward with comprehensive business plans, marketing initiatives, and other innovative ideas to support their partners and customers, helping them through the uncertainty brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic. CRN celebrates these exceptional women for their leadership, dedication, and channel advocacy.

The Power 60 Solution Providers are chosen by the CRN editorial team based on their contributions, expertise, and dedication to building strong solution provider businesses. The award recognizes an exclusive subgroup of elite industry role models who continue to drive professional success through leadership and dedication to their own organizations and the entire IT channel.

Nuckolls joined the team at InfoSystems in August of 2020 and quickly made a significant impact. Partnering with her team, company leadership, business partners, and outside vendors, she mapped out a plan to better position InfoSystems to meet immediate demands brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future-proof InfoSystems services and offerings.

CRNs 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges accomplished, influential women whose dedication, hard work, and leadership accelerate channel growth, said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. We are proud to honor them for their many accomplishments and look forward to their continued contributions to the IT channel.

We couldnt be more thrilled as a business to have Kelly recognized in the Power 60, said Chris Kotte, Vice President of Enterprise Sales at InfoSystems. This is no surprise to us, as Kellys efforts have made an immediate impact on our business and brand. She has brought organization, strategy, and alignment to our partners and sales teams, and I personally couldnt be more proud of the work she is doing.

The 2021 Women of the Channel and Power 60 Solution Provider award will be featured in CRN Magazine on May 10th and online at http://www.CRN.com/WOTC.
Personal injury law firm Laffey, Bucci & Kent has moved its primary office from Broad and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia to The Ludlow at East Market located at 1100 Ludlow Street, Suite 300. The firm designed the space to its exact specifications for maximum efficiency, productivity, safe collaboration and client service. In addition, attorneys and professional staff will have the option to return to work in the office beginning May 10, 2021.

Managing partner, Jeffrey Laffey said, We are grateful to all the men and women laborers who worked during the pandemic to get the office space renovated and completed. It is due to their bravery that were able to return to the office in our new and expanded space. He said, It will be the first time since March 2020 that our professionals will have the opportunity to work in an office now that pandemic restrictions are lifting. Working from home or the office will remain optional as we navigate the changes.

Built with 100% Philadelphia union labor, Laffey, Bucci & Kent designed the space and incorporated health and safety protocols in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the firm has added technologically advanced audio/visual equipment. Unlike many Pennsylvania law firms that have recently downsized, Laffey, Bucci & Kent has increased its space from 4,863 to 11,588 square feet (nearly 140%), to accommodate the firms continued growth. In the first quarter of 2021, the firm added seven professionals: two law school graduates awaiting their bar exam results, one former assistant district attorney, three paralegals and one office administrator.

East Market is managed by SSH Real Estate. It is the home of Moms Organic Market, The Design Center, and the offices of architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. The building is EPA LEED-certified, provides open floor plans, has 14-foot ceilings, on-site garage parking and bike storage, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

About Laffey, Bucci & Kent

The law firm was founded in 2009 by Jeff Laffey, Paul Bucci & Brian Kent. Each attorney brings a wealth of trial experience to the firm. Combined, attorneys at the firm have over 50 years of experience and have obtained over $200 million for their clients. In addition to crime victim injury cases, the firm handles a variety of personal injury matters including work injuries, construction accidents, defective product injuries, auto injuries and more.
Chris is an industry pro with a great track record of working with clients to achieve their goals. He has been involved with many of the great landscape projects in Colorado. We are glad to have his expertise and leadership.

Chris Perry, a leader in the landscape industry with more than 30 years of experience, has joined Los Angeles-based Monarch Landscape Companies, a growing family of landscape companies. Perry was named Director of Sales for Monarchs Installation Division. He will be based in Northern California working with the Jensen Installation business in California and Washington.

Prior to joining Monarch, Perry served in Branch Management and Business Development roles at BrightView/ValleyCrest. He spent 17 years with the company selling some of their most notable projects in Colorado, including The Gaylord Rockies Hotel, Charles Schwab Corporate Campus, The Canyons, and Block 162 in downtown Denver.

Entering a new chapter in my career with Monarch is exciting and I am looking for the great opportunities that will come with the future growth of the company, Perry said.

Perrys love for the industry began while working for a local landscape firm in upstate New York at the age of 16. He studied Landscape Development in college, has worked for a design-build firm in Colorado, and served as VP Business Development for a large-scale commercial landscape firm.

Perrys passion for the industry has driven him to volunteer in the ACE Mentor Program and with HomeAID. For the past 14 years, he served as a mentor, Executive Board Member, Board Chairman and Past-Chair of the Colorado affiliate of the ACE Mentor Program. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the California Capital Affiliate (Sacramento). He also serves on the project committee for HomeAID.

Jeff Colton, President of Monarchs Installation Division, welcomes Perry to the team saying, Chris is an industry pro with a great track record of working with clients to achieve their goals. He has been involved with many of the great landscape projects in Colorado. We are glad to have his expertise and leadership. Perry will be focused on developing and growing Monarchs business in California and Washington.

ABOUT MONARCH LANDSCAPE COMPANIES: Monarch Landscape Companies is a major leader in the commercial landscape industry, providing full-service landscape maintenance for commercial, multi-family, industrial and municipal properties. With offices in California, Texas, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the firm strives to develop maximum value for its clients budgets and provide timely project delivery, clear consistent communications, and proactive property improvement recommendations.

For media inquiries, please contact: Scott Gilbert at scott.gilbert@monarchlandscape.com and 720-360-6920.

Follow Monarch Landscape Companies on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/monarch-landscape-companies
I was the poster child of a defeated Christian. I began asking questions and researching books which led me in many directions until I discovered the Truth. My book shares the discoveries of the Truth, the secrets of the Early Church.

Feeling like a defeated Christian, Dr. Katherine Moore Davis, Ed.D. began asking questions and researching the Early Church in search of her Truth. In her debut book, Chasing the Early Church Experience, Dr. Moore Davis reveals how she uncovered the secrets of the Early Church and is living victoriously as a Christian.

After accepting Jesus Christ as her Savior at age eight, Dr. Moore Davis was fully committed to her Christian lifestyle and enthusiastic about the church. During her teenage and college years, she began to feel as though something was missing. She felt confused and disappointed by the behaviors of church leaders and the church community. This led Dr. Moore Davis on a journey to find her Truth. In her research, she found answers in the Bible and discovered the secret of the love, sacrifices and miracles in the Early Church which she now outlines for others to learn. Throughout the book, the author identifies areas and practices that the Early Church modeled and how they can be used today to achieve a successful lifestyle.

In my teenage years, I knew something was missing in my life, said Dr. Moore Davis. I was the poster child of a defeated Christian. I began asking questions and researching books which led me in many directions until I discovered the Truth. My book shares the discoveries of the Truth, the secrets of the Early Church.

Throughout the book, readers will learn that they too can live a joyous and successful life by following the Early Church Pattern. Dr. Davis Moore highlights the importance of today's church being effective in the world. Chasing the Early Church Experience gives hope to other defeated Christians on how they can rediscover the excitement of being a Christian.

Chasing the Early Church Experience

By Katherine Moore Davis, Ed.D.

ISBN: 9781664208100 (softcover); 9781664208094 (hardcover); 9781664208117 (electronic)

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and WestBow Press

About the author

Katherine Moore Davis, Ed.D. is the Fivefold Ministry teacher, founder, director and facilitator of Moore Life Institute, a nonprofit teaching ministry in the Body of Christ. She is an anointed Christian speaker and seminary graduate, with an accredited doctorate degree in Education, specializing in Christianity. She is also an informative and humorous speaker at workshops and conferences. Dr. Moore Davis currently resides in Bossier City, Louisiana with her husband.

General Inquiries:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Meghan Bowman

480-306-6597

mbowman@lavidge.com
Sense Neuro Diagnostics is a medical technology company focused on improving outcomes for stroke and brain injury patients through non-invasive detection, triage and monitoring technology. Through innovation, Sense Neuro Diagnostics is addressing a critical need identified by its medical co-founders

Sense Neuro Diagnostics, a medical technology company focused on improving outcomes for stroke and brain injury patients, today announced a strategic collaboration with Inflect Health, the new nationwide, multispecialty investment and innovation hub formed by Vituity. As part of this new relationship, Inflect Health will provide Sense access to its robust network of frontline physicians and healthcare experts and offer guidance on market development, commercial awareness and go-to-market strategy.

Owned and led by physicians and healthcare business experts, Inflect Health represents a single point of contact for healthcare innovators seeking to grow, develop and scale their healthtech solutions. With access to a network of 3,000 physicians, 2,000 advanced providers, 1,500 scribes and more than 300 hospitals, Inflect Health is well-positioned to serve as a comprehensive go-to-market and strategic business partner for early-stage startups such as Sense Neuro Diagnostics.

Through innovation, Sense Neuro Diagnostics is addressing a critical need identified by its medical co-founders and well understood by physicians who practice emergency medicine, neurology and neurocritical care, said Inflect Health President and Vituity Chief Operations and Innovation Officers Andrew Smith. We are pleased to partner with Sense on a range of possible market applications for this promising technology.

Each year nearly 800,000 people suffer strokes in the United States and 1.7 million Americans suffer traumatic brain injury. Ongoing or repeat bleeding in the brain contributes to decreased brain function and disability and may be difficult to detect under the current standard of care. There is currently no objective way to detect brain injury and stroke subtype in a field environment, or to non-invasively and continuously monitor brain injury for expanded hemorrhage in the hospital.

Sense is developing non-invasive, wearable brain scanners using novel technology to enable rapid detection of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and important stroke subtypes in a pre-hospital setting, and continuous brain injury monitoring between CT scans in a hospital setting. In Q1 2021, Sense initiated a multicenter pivotal trial to evaluate its device to monitor intracranial hemorrhage in an acute hospital setting, following positive in vitro and in vivo proof of concept studies and a successful first in human feasibility study.

We are excited to collaborate with the team at Inflect Health, an organization of top physicians and specialists who bring top clinical expertise and who share our vision for improving patient outcomes, said Geoffrey Klass, CEO of Sense Neuro Diagnostics. Input and insights from Inflect Health will be valuable as we advance toward market entry.

About Sense Neuro Diagnostics

Sense Neuro Diagnostics is a medical technology company focused on improving outcomes for stroke and brain injury patients through technology innovations that enable faster detection and more effective triage. Sense is developing non-invasive technology to enable continuous, real-time brain injury monitoring as well as rapid detection of traumatic brain injury and important stroke subtypesischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion, ischemic stroke without large vessel occlusion, and intracerebral hemorrhage. Learn more at https://senseneuro.com or find Sense Neuro Diagnostics on LinkedIn or Twitter @SenseDx.

About Inflect Health

Inflect Health is a catalyst for better care. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices across America, Inflect Health provides guidance and financial support to early-stage healthcare and healthtech companies building promising solutions that offer to meet the needs of todays evolving healthcare landscape. With its robust access to frontline providers, health systems, and industry players, Inflect Health connects capital to innovators to physicians, catalyzing real-time, real-world innovation and disruption unlike anyone else. For more information on Inflect Health, including its portfolio, partners, services, and networking opportunities, visit http://www.InflectHealth.com or find Inflect Health on LinkedIn or Twitter @InflectHealth.

Corporate Contacts:

For Media Inquiries please reach out to Vanessa Camones at vanessa@anycontext.com
The U.S. Federal Governments giving program, the Combined Federal Campaign saw an increase in dollars contributed and participation in 2020 despite unprecedented circumstance. The program is powered by Total Administrative Service Corporations (TASC) GiveBack giving platform.

Give Back Foundation and TASC are encouraged by the positive trend of the last year despite economic uncertainty and inability to gather for in-person events and fundraising efforts. The Give Back Foundation has contracted with TASC to be the service provider for the CFC. The enhancements made to The Combined Federal Campaign over the last few years have enabled easier, more streamlined giving and encouraged giving via remote opportunities allowing a pathway for success.

The GiveBack platform is an online employee enrollment system, pledge platform for one-time or reoccurring giving and seamless fund distribution to charities. Following a dip in participation and dollars donated the previous year, an increase in participation and innovative giving is encouraging especially given the global situation.

In January 2021, the U.S. Federal Governments Office of Personnel Management announced a new contract for up to 5 years had been awarded up to 5 years with The Give Back Foundation and the U.S. Federal Government. TASC was selected as the prime subcontractor to provide software and operational services for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), a Workplace Giving Program originally created in 1961.

We are delighted to recognize the generosity of our U.S. federal employees through their workplace giving commitments, said Jeanan Yasiri Moe, Give Back Foundation Board Chair. The Foundation has been honored to facilitate this technology innovation for the Office of Personnel Management which allows for a secure, accessible platform for those who choose to participate.

Over the last five years, this partnership has transformed the worlds largest and most successful workplace giving program from a 50-year old paper-based program to a digitized, cloud-native program embedded with the necessary and appropriate security protocols. Additionally, in 2019, the CFC Giving mobile app was piloted to promote cashless giving for those compelled to give at a charity fair, fundraiser event, or in the event of a disaster. In 2020 we saw tremendous need for this and a matched intensity to want to give.

We are encouraged by this upward trend with the Combined Federal Campaign. said TASC CEO Dan Rashke. The GiveBack Foundation, TASC and the CFC are excited to continue this upward trend for the program. TASC is dedicated to creating new innovations with data-driven decisions that will increase donor participation, decrease the cost of the program and increase the amount of funds donated to charities.

TASC is the only government contractor to integrate across all Federal agencies and departments. In addition, TASCs platform architecture is certified for security and financial integrity over several lengthy government third-party audits.

About TASC

Since 1975, we have evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients and their employees and work with them to provide benefit options that feel like benefits every day and in times of great need. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, TASC is the nations largest, privately held, third-party administrator for employee benefits programs. A philanthropy-driven, family-owned business, TASC delivers innovative quality solutions that help protect the rights of more than 65,000 sole proprietors, family farmers and business owners of all sizes all over the country. http://www.tasconline.com

About the Give Back Foundation

The GiveBack Foundation is a 501(c)(3) offering a unique solution that encourages more people, giving more, more often, to more charitable organizations. With access to more than 1.5 million IRS approved charities, the GiveBack Foundation the peace of mind that their generosity goes where you expect and will make a difference. http://www.giveback.org

About the CFC

The mission of the CFC is to promote and support philanthropy through a program that is employee focused, cost-efficient, and effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all.

CFC is the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign, raising millions of dollars each year. Pledges made by Federal civilian, postal and military donors during the campaign season (September to January) support eligible non-profit organizations that provide health and human service benefits throughout the world. The Director of OPM has designated responsibility for day-to-day management of the program and to its CFC office.

http://www.opm.gov/combined-federal-campaign/
Ricardo Maciel

Tecumseh Products Company LLC, a global leader and innovator of commercial refrigeration technologies, has welcomed Ricardo Maciel as their Managing Director  EMEA based in Vaulx-Milieu, France.

Ricardo brings over 20 years of leadership experience and knowledge in the refrigeration compressor industry having most recently been President and CEO of SECOP Group. Prior to his current role, Ricardo was President, Cold Business Unit for Nidec Global Appliances and before that Ricardo spent 15 years with Embraco primarily in engineering and R&D leadership roles.

As Managing Director, Ricardo will be responsible for all aspects of the Tecumseh business in Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as being an integral part of Tecumsehs global leadership team.

About Tecumseh Products Company LLC

Founded in 1934, Tecumseh Products Company LLC is a leading global manufacturer of hermetic reciprocating, rotary and scroll compressors ranging in capacity from 1/15th to 30 horsepower, as well as offering a complete line of condensing units and systems for use in residential and commercial refrigeration and air conditioning applications. Tecumseh products are manufactured on four continents and sold globally through a network of sales professionals, authorized wholesalers and licensed distributors offering brand names that include: AE, AE2, AW, Celseon, LUnite Hermetique, Masterflux, Silensys, and Wintsys. Tecumseh Products Company LLC is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Getting car insurance is not that complicated. With a little help, any driver can get an affordable car insurance policy that satisfies its needs., said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents several tips that can help drivers get the best car insurance policy.

For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/top-tips-that-will-help-you-but-the-best-car-insurance-coverage/

Getting a new car is always exciting. Even the purchase of a used car can make most drivers be filled with excitement. However, many people are shocked when they find out that they cant even drive their new car until they have car insurance. Furthermore, many of them have no idea how to shop for insurance. They don't know what insurance coverage they need and have no clues on what to expect from their insurance provider.

When shopping for car insurance, drivers are advised to follow the next tips:



Purchase the appropriate insurance coverage. Drivers should purchase at least the state-required minimum coverage in order to legally drive. However, the minimum coverage is not always the coverage most drivers need. Many times, the minimum coverage is not near enough to pay for the costs involved in a car accident. In many cases, the at-fault drivers will have to pay a lot of money from their own pockets. Drivers should have enough bodily injury coverage to pay for at least one serious injury and enough property damage coverage to pay for the replacement of an average new car.

Consider other coverages. Besides the state-required minimum coverage, there are other coverages that can be useful in different situations. Collision coverage covers any type of damage that happens as a result of a collision. Comprehensive coverage protects against fire, vandalism, theft or other damages incurred from a non-impact accident. Usually, collision and comprehensive coverage are bundled together, but they can also be sold separately.

Review the driving record. Before getting any insurance policies, drivers should review their driving records. Before offering any insurance policy, insurance carriers will always check the driver's driving record. Drivers who got points on their record in the past 3 years, or got a suspension should tell their insurance agents about them. Insurance companies assess individual drivers for any potential risks. The driving history of a driver is an important part of their assessment.

Compare multiple car insurance quotes. Before getting coverage, drivers should compare multiple car insurance quotes. Shopping around for the best deal is always a good idea. No insurance company is the same. Some insurance companies may offer more perks and benefits than others at the same price. Other providers may offer the same services as others but at lower prices.

Understand the policy. Before signing any insurance policies, drivers should always make sure they understand what they are signing. If there are any unclarities regarding the policy, drivers should ask their insurance agents for explanations.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
S-45 BAALAM We are proud to announce this important milestone, achieved with a S45 BAALAM system from Hydra Technologies. The S-45s have successfully flown supporting the customers law enforcement operations and performed flawlessly despite challenging missions and sometimes extreme weather conditions.

Trident Aerospace, the groups Phoenix-based ISR Services company with a strong presence in Latin America, has announced that one of its customers has reached 4,000 flight hours in a continuous ISR services contract over a 24-month period. Providing persistent support for critical law enforcement operations and exceeding the contractual requirements of 1,500 flight hours per year.

We are proud to announce this important milestone, achieved with a S45 BAALAM system from Hydra Technologies. The S-45s have successfully flown supporting the customers law enforcement operations and performed flawlessly despite challenging missions and sometimes extreme weather conditions, said Robert Morris of Trident Aerospace. This is only one example of the reliability of the S45 that has managed to be successful in supporting the customers needs at all times.

Specifically designed for harsh weather conditions, the S-45 BAALAM UAV is a twin engine, tactical unmanned aerial system with an endurance of 12 hours, a command and control range of 75 miles and a 17,000 feet operating ceiling. Payloads include EO/IR as well as SIGINT and ELINT capabilities. Trident Aerospace offers contactor-owned/contractor-operated full ISR solutions, as well as the sale of their full unmanned aerial systems, for government institutions in border protection, law enforcement and intelligence support. The company also provides solutions for private sector customers such as utility, oil and gas companies through sophisticated aerial unmanned systems solutions, in addition to the unmanned systems.

Trident Aerospace and Hydra Technologies recently announced a broad ranging alliance that is certainly proving to be successful and especially beneficial for customers throughout the American continent, Africa and the Middle East.
2021 Morgan and Peace Dollars

The United States Mint (Mint) today announced that the 2021 renditions of the classic Morgan and Peace Dollars will be available in three pre-order windows, beginning on May 24, June 1, and June 7, with each order window lasting two weeks.

The products will include five Morgan Dollars  three versions from Philadelphia (one with no Mint mark, one with a Carson City privy mark, and one with a New Orleans privy mark) and one version each from Denver and from San Francisco with D and S Mint marks, respectively. The Peace Dollar will be manufactured at Philadelphia with no Mint mark. The historic New Orleans and Carson City mints are no longer operational United States Mint facilities, and no Morgan Dollars will actually be struck in those cities. The privy mark coins from Philadelphia are meant to honor the history of the original mintage.

The Morgan Dollar struck at Philadelphia with a Carson City privy mark (21XC) and the Morgan Dollar struck at Philadelphia with a New Orleans privy mark (21XD) will be on sale during the first pre-order window beginning at noon (ET) May 24 and extending until June 7 at 3 pm (ET) or until product inventory is depleted.

The Morgan Dollars struck at Denver (21XG) and San Francisco (21XF) will be on sale during the second pre-order window beginning at noon (ET) June 1 and extending until June 15 at 3 pm (ET) or until product inventory is depleted.

The Morgan Dollar (21XE) and the Peace Dollar (21XH) struck at Philadelphia will be on sale during the third pre-order window beginning at noon (ET) June 7 and extending until June 21 at 3 pm (ET) or until the product inventory is depleted. The three pre-order windows were necessary to coordinate production planning at our facilities.

Priced at $85 each, all coins will be struck in .999 silver and have an uncirculated finish. The household limit for each coin will be 10. The product limit for each Morgan Dollar is 175,000 coins; the product limit for the Peace Dollar is 200,000 coins.

To sign up for REMIND ME alerts, visit:



Shipping is scheduled to begin in October. Customers may begin ordering the coins at noon (ET) on the day each pre-order window opens  May 24, June 1, and June 7 via https://catalog.usmint.gov/.

In addition, the Morgan and Peace Dollars will be included in the Mints recently launched Authorized Bulk Purchase Program. This new program is structured to better meet marketplace product availability on the initial on sale date by expanding the distribution of Mint products. No more than 10% of products with limited quantities will be distributed under this program.

The coins feature two of the most revered designs of Liberty in U.S. coinage history. The Morgan Dollar, designed by George T. Morgan, features an obverse profile of Lady Liberty, and the reverse features a heraldic eagle. The Peace Dollar, designed by Anthony de Francisci, features the Goddess of Liberty on the obverse and a bald eagle clutching an olive branch on the reverse.

The Morgan Dollar was minted from 1878 to 1904, and again in 1921. In December 1921, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon approved the Peace Dollar, replacing the Morgan Dollar, and commemorating the declaration of peace between the United States and the Imperial German government. The Peace Dollar was minted from 1921 to 1935.

The Morgan Dollar represents the countrys westward expansion and industrial development in the late 19th century. The Peace Dollar symbolizes the countrys coming of age as an international power while recognizing the sacrifices made by her citizens in World War I and celebrating the victory and peace that ensued.

About the United States Mint

Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nations sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.

Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, the United States Mint will not accept and will not honor orders placed prior to the official on-sale dates at noon EDT.

To reduce the risk of employee exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace, the Mints sales centers are closed until further notice. Please use the Mints catalog site

https://catalog.usmint.gov/ as your primary source of the most current information on product and service status.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:



Visit https://www.usmint.gov/about to information about the United States Mint.

Visit https://catalog.usmint.gov/email-signup to subscribe to United States Mint electronic product notifications, news releases, and public statements.

Sign up for RSS Feeds from the United States Mint and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

# # #

United States Mint  Connecting America through Coins


This summit will bring together some of the worlds greatest designers, hardware manufactures, software developers, marketers, end users and entrepreneurs to share ideas, best practices, network, and get business done, says Nathan Pettyjohn, President of the VR/AR Association.

After organizing the virtual VR/AR Global Summits in 2020, the largest global ecosystem of VR/AR companies, brands, and professionals is going virtual again.

The theme of the summit is The Time is Now, and it will feature thought-leaders and creatives from around the globe in engaging live discussions, debates, round tables, workshops, Ask an Expert Sessions, networking and immersive social events.

We will have 150+ Speakers, Exhibitors, Brands/End-Users (including Bentley, Bristol Myers, CraneMorley, Mayo Clinic, Shopify, Sony, UPS, Whitecaps, Viacom), sessions on enterprise, safety, health, diversity & inclusion, defense & aerospace, equity and access to education, and so much more! The summit is sponsored by Unity, Lenovo, Healium, Librestream, IO Industries, Emergent, IEEE, Cognitive 3D, Boston Micro Fabrication, Hotlum Powell, Innovation Quebec and Xenco Medical, Northeastern, among others.

The VR/AR Global Summit brings together the greatest minds working in spatial reality today, many of whom use Unitys market leading real-time 3D platform to develop interactive VR and AR experiences, said Timoni West, Vice-President of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Unity. As the worlds leading platform in real-time 3D, Unity is proud to be the title sponsor and share in this years virtual experience and see how our technology is being utilized.

Plus, we will have 1000s of 1-on-1 interactive meets as part of our famous Speed Networking. Our online events platform uses a special networking feature that will match and connect you with other executives and give you 5 minutes to connect 1-on-1 on video where you can preview each other's credentials, bio, and talk business!

This summit will bring together some of the worlds greatest designers, hardware manufactures, software developers, marketers, end users and entrepreneurs to share ideas, best practices, network, and get business done, says Nathan Pettyjohn, President of the VR/AR Association.

The VR/AR Global Summit will feature dynamic keynotes, industry tracks, a startup pitchfest, demos, exhibits, networking and amazing VIP events. It will showcase the best that the industry has to offer.

Tickets are now on sale for the event - Get tickets here https://hopin.com/events/vr-ar-global-summit-2021-north-america

To learn more about the VR/AR Global Summit see http://www.vrarglobalsummit.com

Contact:

Anne-Marie Enns

VR/AR Global Summit, Executive Producer

Am@thevrara.com

Kris Kolo

Global Executive Director, VR/AR Association (VRARA)

Kris@thevrara.com

About VR/AR Association (VRARA)

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies.

About VR/AR Global Summit

The summit is a content-driven VR / AR show, featuring important conversations, talks, exhibits, and events led by globally leading companies and organizations, who are sharing practical and valuable real-use cases from the immersive industry. Our Summit is now the largest immersive tech event in the world.
"This is a personal account of the feelings, frustration, horror and friendships, of a young man under very exceptional conditions. It describes the grassroot experiences of a young marine on a mission for his country, but where questions arise of the ultimate purpose, the Why."

For many Americans, the Vietnam War often conjures mental images of high-action military combat overseas, unprecedented frontline media coverage of the war as it unfolded in Vietnam, and tensions across the U.S. as protestors called for the war to end. In 13 Months: In the Bush, In Vietnam, In 1968, author Bruce A. Bastien draws back the curtain of this high-conflict period to share his experience as a young Marine  both the common notions of war and the mundane, daily life experiences that shaped his 13-month tour of duty.

13 Months sweeps readers up on a coming-of-age journey through a U.S. Marine Corps grunts daily struggles, battles, and funny moments as he navigates a new and sometimes unforgiving environment. Bastiens book shares with readers the range of emotions and physical discomfort he experienced during his service, from unmitigated terror to utter boredom, hot and dry to wet and cold, rested and ready to frazzled and wired.

13 Months also shares Bastiens experience maturing from a young man to an adult as he grows philosophically, finds his confidence, develops the ability to handle stress and strain, and learns lessons about friendship, love, difficulty, danger, deprivation, and loss. Bastien reflects on his friendship with the other American men with whom he served who came from all different walks of life, backgrounds, races, and levels of learning. The common element among them was their humanity, bravery, and willingness to risk their lives to help one another, all the while hoping to find their way back home.

This is a personal account of the feelings, frustration, horror and friendships, of a young man under very exceptional conditions. It describes the grassroot experiences of a young marine on a mission for his country, but where questions arise of the ultimate purpose, the Why, Marten Wikstrom wrote in an endorsement of the book. It is not a story of heroes, but a sincere description of what a young American boy experienced. What was the purpose of this war? And even, what was the purpose of some of the movements of the soldiers unit? This is a very realistic story of how many young Americans must have experienced their role in Vietnam. The narrative doesnt dwell in excesses, or drama, yet describes the horror and fright very clearly, but also the extreme boredom and man-to-man conflicts that arose.

Ultimately, Bastiens book is a gripping and unforgettable story peppered with supporting photos about a boys journey to becoming a man that highlights the incredible power of camaraderie and friendship. 13 Months keeps the memories of the people who served during the Vietnam War alive and provides a glimpse into the negative impact and harrowing toll of war on individual lives.

13 Months: In the Bush, In Vietnam, In 1968

By Bruce A. Bastien

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0456-1 (sc); ISBN: 978-1-6632-0458-5 (hc); ISBN: 978-1-6632-0457-8 (e)

Available through iUniverse, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

About the author

Bruce A. Bastien has had dual careers in data processing and aviation. Bastiens previous roles include computer salesman for IBM, business applications computer programmer, consultant, and owner of a Cloud service bureau business that hosts client business applications. He has also worked as a flight instructor and owner of a Part 135 on-demand airline, and he earned commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates for single and multi-engine aircraft with instrument ratings. Bastien holds degrees in biometry, computer science, and accounting. He currently resides in San Diego with his wife, Carol. To learn more, please visit http://www.scsstories.com.

General Inquiries, Review Copies & Interview Requests:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Danielle Grobmeier

480-648-7557 | dgrobmeier@lavidge.com
Wavestone Acquires the Consulting Practice of Everest Group We see this as an opportunity for each firm to focus on what we do best, and not only grow our core businesses but also provide better services to our clients through our partnership. - Pascal Imbert, CEO of Wavestone

Wavestone SA (WAVE:PA), a leading international consultancy, and Everest Group, a US-based company, have announced a significant undertaking: first, the acquisition by Wavestone of the Everest Group Consulting division to strengthen its consulting presence in the US, and second, the initiation of a strategic alliance between Everest Group and Wavestone.

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Everest Group is a company made of two practices: Consulting and Researchthe former being acquired by Wavestone.

For the past thirty years, Everest Group Consulting has focused on delivering business process optimization, sourcing, and transformation advisory services to corporate and IT leaders. It also advises service providers on how to effectively deliver and monetize services to their targeted markets.

Everest Group Consulting serves Global 500 clients across a variety of industry sectors, including Financial Services, Utilities, Retail, and CPG, on their most important global services challenges and opportunities.

This acquisition accelerates the development of Wavestone in the US, which is a high priority market in Wavestone's international development strategy.

For Everest Group Consulting, the merger with Wavestone offers new opportunities for growth within a pure-play consultancy.

This acquisition is perfectly in line with our strategic plan in the US, commented Pascal Imbert, CEO of Wavestone. We were impressed with the practices first-class client base and the strategic character of its assignments. The skills and talent quality of the team are an ideal fit for us as Wavestone continues to expand in the US market.

After helping some of the largest and most complex organizations in the world solve tough sourcing and digital transformation challenges and achieve heightened operational and financial performance, accelerated value delivery, and high-impact business results, Everest Groups Consulting division is looking for ways to expand the business and soar to new growth benchmarks, said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group. Through this acquisition, the practice will be able to accomplish this goal by leveraging a deeper and wider talent pool, enhancing opportunities for faster growth, and becoming more competitive in the North American market.

The transaction takes the form of the acquisition of all the assets of Everest Groups Consulting practice from Everest Group by Wavestone.

The acquisition has been paid in cash and has been financed out of Wavestones own funds.

Everest Group Consulting division has been consolidated into Wavestones accounts as of May 1, 2021.

In addition to this acquisition, Wavestone and Everest Group have established a strategic alliance. As such, Wavestone will serve as the exclusive consulting partner of Everest Group in North America. Additionally, Everest Groups former consultants will have access to a level of Everest Group research content that was available prior to the acquisition. The two firms also plan to contribute to joint intellectual property creation, as well as other joint go-to-market activities, such as webinars and thought leadership.

The partnership will extend to Europe, where Wavestone will support Everest Groups ambition, while leveraging its research to bring more value to clients.

We see this as an opportunity for each firm to focus on what we do best, and not only grow our core businesses but also provide better services to our clients through our partnership, added Pascal Imbert.

We are excited about the opportunity that stands before us to invest our full resources in our core research competencies and to build on our recent growth. This alliance allows us to accelerate the expansion of our research offerings to enterprises, which is our fastest-growing research area, concludes Peter Bendor-Samuel.

Wavestones advisors:

Innovation Advisors, Dentons, Grant Thornton

About Everest Group

Everest Group is a research firm focused on strategic IT, business services, engineering services, and sourcing. Our clients include leading global companies, service providers, and investors.

Clients use our services to guide their journeys to achieve heightened operational and financial performance, accelerated value delivery, and high-impact business outcomes.

Details and in-depth content are available at http://www.everestgrp.com

About Wavestone

In a world where knowing how to drive transformation is the key to success, Wavestone's mission is to inform and guide large companies and organizations in their most critical transformations, with the ambition of a positive outcome for all stakeholders. Thats what we call "The Positive Way.

Wavestone draws on over 3,000 employees across 8 countries. It is a leading independent player in global consulting.

Wavestone is listed on Euronext Paris. More information available at http://www.wavestone.com

About Wavestone in the US

Wavestone US is the North American arm of Wavestone. Over the past 15 years, we have supported the transformations of more than 200 Fortune 1,000 companies across a wide range of industries. Our model is uniqueit leverages a strong peer-to-peer culture and offers a practitioner's perspective on IT strategy, cost optimization, operational improvements, cybersecurity, and business management.

We strive to help business and IT leaders successfully deliver their most critical transformations and achieve positive outcomes.

More information about Wavestone US is available at http://www.wavestone.us.


Helping to expand the burgeoning community of Black and brown voices in childrens books, Young Authors Publishing is celebrating its third year in business. Six new books were released in March, and 10 additional titles are slated for fall. What began as a corporate social responsibility initiative for the Atlanta-based book publisher has since morphed into a full-time nonprofit that serves children in low-income communities by putting their stories onto paperand into readers hands.

More Tales to Tell

Formerly known as the Young Authors Program, the company was founded in 2017 by Leah Hernandez, a former full-time student whose experience of publishing her first book led her to develop a pilot project to help kids write books and deposit the royalties into savings accounts. We worked with four dynamic girls from Vine City [in Atlanta] who had a beautiful perspective about the community they lived in and wanted the world to know about it, Hernandez said. Upon the conclusion of the program and the subsequent publication of the girls book, Roxies Day in Vine City, she realized other stories were out there, waiting to be told. After this remarkable experience, I understood the pure imagination and perspective kids had on life, Hernandez explained. The following year, the company officially changed its name to Young Authors Publishing (YAP) and pivoted to a 501c3 tax-exempt childrens book publisher focused on devoting its resources and expertise to underserved communities.

The cornerstone of YAP is its Experience Program, which partners prospective writers with mentors (interns of color hailing from local colleges, including Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College and Grand Valley State University). Each mentor is assigned to two authors and undergoes special training to guide their writing process. According to Hernandez, the mentors are taught to foster an environment that gives the young author creative control to write a book about what they are most passionate about. As the book is being crafted, mentors gain experience by collaborating and communicating with illustrators, editors, and designers. On the business side, they also learn how to collect metadata, how to copyright the books and assign ISBNs to their authors.

The authors themselves, in addition to understanding how a book moves from concept to completion, are schooled on the fundamentals of public speaking and financial literacy. New members of the program emerge via community partners, made up of afterschool programs, churches, writing programs, and other nonprofits working with YAPs target demographic (Black and brown children ages 817). They are where we find our young authors and new books to publish, Hernandez said.

To date, a total of 36 students have completed the YAP program and 23 books have been published, with more on the way. Among the titles more prevalent themes are bullying and family, with a common focus on personal experience. Primarily what we see is young people capturing their reality as children, Hernandez added. The company is currently gearing up for a national expansion and will open up submissions to high school students of color in Minneapolis this fall. Two other yet-unnamed cities are expected to join the writers pool by the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, to further its mission, YAP has joined forces with Berkeley, Calif.-based West Margin Press to distribute its backlist and frontlist titles. This partnership allows us to grow our publishing program and makes our books available globally, Hernandez said. We couldnt be more thrilled.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Livestock producers can get firsthand tips on how to incorporate management-intensive grazing techniques during two-day seminars in June that will run in both northern and southern Indiana.

The Indiana Grazing School Making A Difference with Improved Grazing Systems programs will cover topics on best management practices, including plant growth and development, soil fertility, forage identification, rotational grazing, animal nutrition, paddock and watering system design, fencing and pasture record keeping.

The school will run from 1-6 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Trainings will be held at two locations:

June 4-5 at the Southern Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center (SIPAC), 11371 E. Purdue Farm Road in Dubois.

June 11-12 at Dave Wagner Farm, 291 E. 700 S. in Cutler.

The course will include pasture walks and field tours to provide hands-on opportunities, identify forage and weed species, explore fencing and watering options, and demonstrate rotational grazing concepts. There will also be small group discussions with seminar experts and fellow program participants.

The fee is $75, which covers management tools, materials, a Saturday meal and refreshments. Additional individuals from the same operation are permitted at a cost of $50, but materials and management tools will not be included.

Preferred online registration is available at the following: Southern Indiana (SIPAC location), or Northern Indiana (Cutler location), with phone registration available at 812-678-4427. The registration deadline is May 24, and the event will be held rain or shine.

The schools are hosted by the Indiana Forage Council in partnership with Purdue Extension, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. Events are partially funded by the Indiana Livestock Promotion grant from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

Writer: Brian Wallheimer; 765-532-0233; bwallhei@purdue.edu

Source: Kenny Eck; kjeck@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
Cloud-based technology provider Amagi has announced a record increase in annual revenue and other key growth indicators for the fiscal year ending 31 March.

The company saw growth in the areas of channel creation, distribution and monetisation, enabling customers to extend distribution and earn advertising revenue while saving up to 40% in cost of operations compared with traditional delivery models.

Amagi had 136% annual revenue growth, a 44% increase in customers, and a 60% increase in workforce in the US, UK and India to support strong customer growth.

Baskar Subramanian, co-founder and CEO, Amagi, said: Two big trends in the industry are driving growth for Amagi. First, traditional broadcast TV networks are transitioning to cloud much faster now as multi-dimensional challenges brought forward by the pandemic have put the inherent advantages of virtualisation in the spotlight.

Second, the FAST segment is witnessing strong growth in the US and in other key markets across Europe, Latin America and Asia. Amagi is able to partner with customers across the broadcast and streaming spectrum and help them navigate business strategies through innovative cloud technologies.

The US region continues to be the largest market for Amagis SaaS platform, contributing nearly 70% of the companys revenue. Amagi clients in the region include Blue Ant Media, CuriosityStream, Fremantle, Fox Networks, People TV, Pac-12 Networks, Tastemade, Tegna and others. In Europe, the company has operations in the UK, France and DACH regions, working with brands including A+E Networks UK, Discovery Networks, IMG, Insight TV, Vice TV and Warner Media.
Around the world, both friends and foes will watch this week as the daughter of a former two-term vice president is likely ejected from her leadership role in the Republican Party for calling out former President Trumps corrosive lie about last years election. Enemies and allies overseas, Republican and Democratic congressmen and senators at home all know 50 states certified his loss, 60 courts rejected his claims of fraud, and Donald Trumps own FBI and DHS found no widespread fraud existed that would alter the outcome. But Rep. Liz Cheney will be punished for trying to stop his continued attack on democracy as he repeats the Big Lie.

Cheney not only survived a previous no-confidence vote against her in February for voting to impeach Trump weeks before, but won a resounding 145-61 secret ballot vote. Yet when she faces a second vote to vacate her position as House GOP Conference chair this Wednesday, Rep. Elise Stefanik -- chosen by leadership -- is expected to prevail.

Cheney isnt the only Republican being purged from her position within the party for calling out Trumps lie, but as the most powerful, high-profile official to be rejected for standing on this principle she has become the face of all those Republicans all across the country whom Trump is working to exile. He has leaned on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for months to get rid of her as scores of state and local party officials lose their posts, and those members and senators who voted for impeachment face censure resolutions and primary challengers.

In February, when McCarthy still supported Cheney, he spoke of the House GOP conference as a big tent. And it surely is large enough to tolerate Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes embrace of conspiracy theories and a federal investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz for potential sex trafficking. As Stefanik burns up the phones for votes, Gaetz and Green are on an America First Roadshow promoting the Big Lie and promising future Trump appearances. It launched this weekend at The Villages in Florida with a call and response where Greene said, Tell me whos your president! And the crowd rapturously screamed, Donald Trump! Gaetz snickered: If Liz Cheney could even find Wyoming on a map and get there, she would find a lot of very angry cowboys.

Republicans privately acknowledge the election wasnt stolen and what Cheney says is true, but they have decided its too troublesome to say so. A Wall Street Journal editorial noted, Mr. McCarthy knows Ms. Cheney is right. The election wasnt stolen, yet Mr. Trump wants an endorsement of his stolen claim to be a litmus test for every Republican candidate.

Members chafing at Cheney claim her speaking out against Trump is now getting in the way of crafting and selling a unifying message the party can run on to win the 2022 midterms. But if they had recalled the memo she circulated on Jan. 3, warning them of how dangerous Trumps election lie was before he was urging Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results on Jan. 6, they might have realized Cheney chose to elevate this issue as the most important one for her party many months ago. Whether she is conference chairwoman or not, Cheney sees Trumps lie -- and the millions of voters now believing it -- as an existential threat to the GOP and to the country, and she will not stay quiet.

As one GOP member told me: If we vote her out we will be answering that question anyway -- that we chose a liar over someone who was telling the truth. Its only going to reinforce the Democrats message.

Cheney is also alarmed by her partys willingness to move on from the Jan. 6 insurrection she blames Trump for inciting, and is urging her party to step back from the dark forces behind it. Her statements are not reactions to press questions; they are deliberate and purposeful, and she chooses her words carefully. Since January she has said Republicans must be the party of truth, and that they must make clear that we aren't the party of white supremacy. Noting symbols of Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism and Confederate flags during the Capitol riot, she said, "We, as Republicans in particular, have a duty and an obligation to stand against that, to stand against insurrection."

Cheney is concerned not only that Republicans arent telling voters the truth about the election or Jan. 6, but that leadership isnt telling fellow members the truth about Trump. The 54-year-old veteran of the Beltway, raised by one of the nations most experienced politicians, is making sure we know that.

On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that GOP leaders didnt share internal polling on Trumps unpopularity in battleground districts with the rank and file at their April retreat. The story contained this passage: Cheney was alarmed, she later told others, in part because Republican campaign officials had also left out bad Trump polling news at a March retreat for ranking committee chairs. Both instances, she concluded, demonstrated that party leadership was willing to hide information from their own members to avoid the truth about Trump and the possible damage he could do to Republican House members, even though the NRCC denied any such agenda.

In addition, just this week a critical revelation was leaked to both the New Yorker and the Post that it was Cheney -- before Jan. 6 -- who organized the writing of a letter from all 10 living former secretaries of defense to warn that the president could not use the military for political purposes. She did so because of her fear of what Trump would incite on Jan. 6 when Congress gathered to certify the election results. In an op-ed published Jan. 3 in the Post, the former officials warned: Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.

Stefanik, who received Trumps endorsement for her challenge to Cheney, feeds the Big Lie. When she voted to decertify Joe Bidens election, she said: Tens of millions of Americans are concerned that the 2020 election featured unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials and judges.

Stefanik cut her teeth in the old guard of the GOP, with Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and George W. Bush. She only voted with Trump 77% of the time, compared to Cheneys 92%. She opposed Trump in 2016 and supported former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Before evolving into a fiery Trump loyalist in 2019, Stefanik once criticized him for being insulting to women, attacking Gold Star families, and said his Muslim ban was not who we are as a country. She took the same hawkish stands against Trumps decisions on Syria and Afghanistan that Cheney did, and her moderate record on immigration and other issues has stirred some tension in MAGA world, as one right-wing outlet dubbed her a neocon establishment twit. But it is no longer policy or principle that qualifies her for leadership. Stefaniks fundraising prowess, appearances on Sean Hannitys show, and constant defense of Trump are the priority right now.

Cheney published a swan song last week as soon as it was clear she would likely be defeated within days. In a Washington Post op-ed she bluntly stated Trumps lie can produce future violence and that he is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work -- confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. She reminded her colleagues not only that they swore an oath before God to the Constitution but that the most conservative of conservative values is reverence for the rule of law.

She also quoted Ronald Reagan describing our peaceful transfer of power among political opponents as the American miracle. As she urged her colleagues to steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality, she stated, In our hearts we are devoted to the American miracle.

If Cheneys colleagues are devoted in their hearts to the miraculous peaceful transfer of power, and their oath to defend the constitutional order, they wont vote to oust her this week.
It wasnt the exact same speech, but the words were familiar and the message was identical.

President Biden addressed the disappointing April jobs report on Monday, just as he did on Friday. Economists had expected the economy to create as many as 1 million jobs in that month, but employers added just 266,000. Biden insists that everything will be all right.

It takes time to recover from a once-in-a-century pandemic, he said, urging patience both days and no doubt sensing the political danger a slowing economy puts on his ambitious infrastructure package and other spending proposals.

On Friday, the president asserted that his $1.9 trillion stimulus package was a long-term play: We never thought that after the first 50 or 60 days everything would be fine. On Monday, he reiterated that he never said, and no serious analyst ever said, that climbing out of the deep, deep hole our economy was in would be simple, easy, immediate, or perfectly studied.

There will be good months, and bad months. But what really matters, according to the president, is the overall picture. The question is: What is the trend line? Are we headed in the right direction? Are we taking the right steps to keep it going? And the answer clearly is yes.

While economists were wrong with their rosy jobs forecast, Biden touted the fact that his administration oversaw the most jobs created in the first 100 days [in office] of any president on record. He inherited a vaccine but a slow economy, one that was adding just 60,000 new jobs a month. More than half the adult population has now received at least one dose of that vaccine, and the economy has added more than 1.5 million jobs. For any historian keeping track at home, Biden noted that that figure was more than three times the solid job creation President Carter saw in his first 100 days. And more than six times what President Reagan saw.

He spoke into a camera in the East Room while accompanied by Vice President Harris. His only audience was a small group of reporters, many of whom had heard him the first time when he said the April jobs report was nothing to worry about. And on Monday, the president outlined a little more of how his mammoth American Rescue Plan would be spent.

The Treasury Department opened the flood gates Monday for state and local governments to get a share of the $350 billion in relief that Congress appropriated earlier in the year. And on the same day, the administration sent relief checks to 16,000 of the hardest hit restaurants and bars.

None of this is enough, though, and the buzzwords of the Biden administration thus far have been urgency and investment. It branded the first stimulus as a rescue plan that was urgently needed to shore up the economy. It is now pushing a $2.3 trillion infrastructure package and a $1.8 trillion American Families Plan as the follow-through part of the campaign promise to build back better.

But the April numbers may have impacted momentum. Before the White House announced that Biden would make a second address on Monday, Republicans and Democrats were already arguing on the Sunday shows that the slowing economy was evidence for each of their dueling political positions.

It is a terrible jobs report, not what we were expecting at all, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on CNN, making the Republican case that the numbers were the predictable consequence of too generous unemployment benefits. But thats what happens when we pay people not to work.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn said on the same news channel that the idea that anyone would collect unemployment rather than look for work was akin to the big lie that the election had been stolen from Donald Trump. This notion that people don't want to go to work because they'd rather stay at home, that they will make more money drawing unemployment, I've been hearing that all of my life, Clyburn said. It has never been true. It's not true now. I don't think it will ever be true.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has also said as much, telling reporters on Friday that generous benefits were not hurting employment, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the same Monday, insisting that we dont see much evidence that the extra unemployment insurance is a major driver in people not rejoining the workforce. Then, less than an hour later, the president addressed at length an issue that his team said was not a problem.

It was not the first time. Asked on Friday if unemployment benefits were creating a disincentive for people returning to work, Biden answered with just three words: No, nothing measurable. Republican criticism apparently landed over the weekend, though, because Biden gave a more robust defense in his prepared remarks on Monday.

If youre receiving unemployment benefits and youre offered a suitable job, you cant refuse that job and just keep getting unemployment benefits, he said. There are some COVID specific exceptions, he noted, but thats the law.

According to economists at Bank of America, anyone previously making less than $32,000 a year is better in the short term just receiving unemployment benefits. There is definitely a job paradox thats going on, Joe Song, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Corp., told Bloomberg News. Its difficult to quantify, but its clearly a challenge thats weighing on a quicker pace of recovery.

Biden didnt make much of such reports. He dismissed the analysis as patronizing, if not unpatriotic: I think the people who claim Americans wont work, even if they find a good and fair opportunity, underestimate the American people.
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

Rain showers in the morning with thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 86F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 71F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
John Koopmann, a Lake Host at Spofford Lake, in Spofford, N.H., talks with Michael Collier, from Walpole, N.H., about places the boat has been before the boat goes into the water on Tuesday, June 8, 2021.
You are the owner of this article.
General Assignment Reporter

Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012.
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
Michael Metz is a retired materials scientist, entrepreneur, and business owner. He has a history of board leadership with profit and nonprofit organizations and currently serves in that role for the Maker Space Generator and The Vermont Community Foundation. This commentary is from a 10-part series in which the authors respond to the pressing topics identified in a draft Proposition for the Future of Vermont developed by the non-partisan Vermont Council on Rural Development. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer.
Letter: Vermont needs to protect and value its nurses
GREENWICH  A Belle Haven estate in Greenwich has sold for $27.75 million, making it the largest waterfront transaction in Connecticut this year.

The property at 23 Smith Road boasts nearly 700 feet of waterfront along Greenwich Harbor, backed by more than 5 acres of land, including a main residence built in 1939, a guest house and a barn.

Listing broker Houlihan Lawrence declined to disclose the identities of the buyer and seller, who originally sought $39.5 million for the property when putting it on the market in May 2019.

In 2015 filings with the town of Greenwich, Peter and Laurie Grauer identified themselves as owners of 23 Smith Road. Blockshopper.com reported their original purchase price at $2.9 million in 1991.

Peter Grauer is chairman of Bloomberg, having taken over the role in 2001 from founder and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. The company did not respond immediately to a query on the Grauers residency status. In 2011, the couple spent $7 million for a Mediterranean-style villa in Palm Beach, Fla.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, Grauer signed a letter in March alongside some 250 other executives of New York companies, asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to avoid raising taxes, citing relocations by their employees to locales with lower taxes.

Greenwich is among the Connecticut towns that have benefited the most from a significant influx of new arrivals when compared to neighboring towns in Westchester County with comparable estates.

The original house at 23 Smith Road was built in 1939 by Oliver D. Mead, a lumber dealer and banker who inherited the land that is Belle Haven today, selling off lots over time for development. Landmarks and buildings throughout Greenwich bear the Mead name, which can be traced back to John Mead, who was among the towns earliest landowners in the mid-17th century.

The Grauer name is attached to one small institution in town: the towns oldest preschool run by the nonprofit Family Centers, which in 2016 was renamed the Grauer Preschool after the couple created a scholarship program supporting early childhood education.

Includes prior reporting by Emilie Munson.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
STAMFORD  Details are still scarce about the plan to renovate or demolish and replace Westhill High School, but one thing is certain: if the district wants a new swimming pool in the building, it will have to pay for it with no state relief.

Thats one of the findings officials discovered in recent weeks while coming up with a plan  and corresponding costs  to make major changes to Stamfords largest public school. If the building that houses the pool is on the chopping block, it will cost the city between $10 million and $15 million to build a new pool, said Cindy Grafstein, assistant to Mayor David Martin.

Grafstein said a new pool would be part of the process moving forward, in lieu of any board voting against the proposal.

Because it is easier to take it out than it is to put it in after we submit, she said.

The pool is used by swimming and diving teams at Westhill and Stamford High School, as well as the citys recreation department, and the community at large.

Megan Cottrell, a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives and a member of the Long-Term Facilities committee, was in favor of keeping a pool at the site.

It seems like its pretty important to have, she said, during a recent meeting of the committee.

Member Stephanie OShea agreed.

For a district our size, we should have at least one pool, she said. A nice new one would be great.

As officials have looked at different scenarios for rebuilding or renovating schools across the district, doing a project at Westhill has been a constant. Thats why the plan to renovate or replace Westhill is being fast-tracked, with the intention of submitting it to the state by June 30, in order to qualify for state funding.

Officials are hoping the state will provide plenty of dollars, as it recently did at Norwalk High School, picking up 80 percent of the cost.

After the city submits the applications, the states Department of Administrative Services creates a priority list for the governor and the General Assemblys Education Committee in December, said City Engineer Lou Casolo. Around February, the committee submits an approved list to the governor and General Assembly, he said.

Members of Stamfords state delegation are planning to pressure the governors office into paying for a large part of the Westhill project, which had been previously estimated to cost roughly $125 million.

State Rep. Caroline Simmons, who is running for mayor of Stamford this year, said the city often gets overlooked because of a misconception.

I think sometimes they look at us down here as the Gold Coast, she said, during a recent meeting of the Long-Term Facilities committee. We always make the case to them that thats not the case. Fifty percent of our students are on free or reduced lunch. We have enormous needs down in Stamford.

City Rep. Benjamin Lee, D-15, said it would be good to get the school community involved to put pressure on the state to provide major funding for the work.

Were the second largest city in the state and the economic engine of the state, so we do have political weight that should be deployed, he said.

The cost estimate for the project has not been announced, but will be presented to the Board of Finance, along with conceptual renderings, at the boards Thursday meeting. Then, the plan will go to the Board of Representatives the first week in June.

One option is to tear down the school and build a brand new one, while another would seek to maintain as much of the structure as possible, while adding extra square footage.

The Long-Term Facilities committee has also been in charge of developing a facilities master plan that will dictate which schools are rebuilt or renovated.

In 2019, a proposal was presented to the Board of Representatives to have a private developer rebuild five schools  Toquam, Hart and Roxbury elementary schools, Cloonan Middle School and Westhill. But the Board of Representatives rejected the funding to develop that plan.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com
Cressona

Bethany Christian Fellowship, 102 Front St., will have a yard sale in conjunction with the Cressona Community Yard Sale from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 22. Setup will be in the parking lot unless there is inclement weather. Table rentals are available. For more information, call 570-385-0609.

Mount Carmel

Distribution from the Mount Carmel Area Ministerium Food Pantry, 26 N. Market St., is set for 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 12. Masks are required.

Pottsville

At a recent meeting of the Pottsville Rotary Club held via Zoom, Rotarian Rudy Gherghel discussed his new book, The Miracle at Saint Michaels Church, a fictional account of a miracle delivered to a small church in eastern Pennsylvania as a message from God about the second coming of Christ, and the reaction of civilization to it. Gherghel, according to the Rotary bulletin, has authored several books, including his memoirs of escaping from Communist eastern Europe; also childrens book and other fiction.

Saint Clair

The Saint Clair Community & Historical Society, 24 N. Nichols St., is accepting registrations for the community townwide yard sale to be held 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 19. The cost is $5 and people may register at Giorgios, TNT Deli and the historical society. Proceeds will be used for advertising the sale and to benefit the society. Forms can be dropped off at the society quarters. For more information, call 570-429-2060 or go online to https://stclairhistory.wixsite.com/stclairweb.

Tamaqua

The Tamaqua Senior Citizens group meets at 1 p.m. every Thursday at the Coaldale Complex. People 55 and older are invited to join.
100 years ago  1921

Nineteen forest fires on Monday did considerable damage. The fire in Owl Creek was the most serious, while one in Saint Clair threatened to destroy several big buildings there.

75 years ago  1946

Pottsvilles patriotic memorial service will be held this year on May 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial school stadium.

50 years ago  1971

Michael Kitsock, Mahanoy Plane, will be principal speaker at the GOP rally at Melrose Restaurant, Shenandoah, Tuesday night.

25 years ago  1996

The 70-year-old Pottsville woman has no car, but she says shed be too afraid to drive in the busy traffic these days anyway. The bus gets her places, but not always when and where she wants to go. Neighbors are friendly, but her older weary body cant always keep up with what theyre doing. The woman did not want her name published because she lives alone and didnt want that publicly known because she is concerned about recent thefts of money in her neighborhood. Although she gets out to socialize with others daily at the Pottsville senior center, her slower physical abilities, lack of transportation and living alone can make her feel cut off from society and even a little depressed. Thats a widespread feeling among senior citizens in Schuylkill County, according to the Schuylkill Community Health Partnership, formed by Pottsville Hospital and Warne Clinic and the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.
ORWIGSBURG  Moms, their contributions to society and their role in the Bible were celebrated Sunday morning.

The congregation of Amazing Grace Baptist Church held a special Mothers Day service in the banquet hall at Pioneer Evergreen Farms on Adamsdale Road in North Manheim Township.

During the service, Pastor Adam Schedal called the sacrifices of moms truly tremendous, thanking his own mother, Diane Schedal, the churchs accompanist, at the start of the service.

A man can cook good, but a mother offers tender love, he said.

The four mothers who came were recognized with a coffee mug, which was handed to them individually by fellow congregants. Schedal also offered his own reflections on motherhood, stating that his perspective on them changed after his infant son, Daniel, was born. He then sang A Mothers Gentle Love, by South Carolina songwriter Ron Hamilton.

With 12 people in attendance, sitting in groups, the service included hymns, prayers and Bible readings. In one of the readings, the pastor pointed out one of the Ten Commandments in the Bible, honor thy father and thy mother.

It should be done year round, he said. It is a biblical command.

In a sermon titled 7 Ways To Honor Your Mother, Schedal listed some of those ways as obeying her law and reciprocating tender love.

The church was founded in September and has a mission to be Bible based, gospel centered and family focused, according to its website.
As the world celebrates Mothers Day on May 9, Bollywood stars also took tosocial media to express their love for their mothers. Similarly, Preity Zinta also took to Instagram to wish her mother and mother-in-law on the special occasion, however, a follower in the comment section tried to troll her mother in law. The 'Koi Mil Gaya' actress hit back with a stern reply.

On the occasion of Mother's Day, Preity took to her official Instagram and wrote, "Happy Mothers Day to my other mother. Thank you for raising the man of my dreams and Thank you for loving me, spoiling me & for making me feel more like your daughter than your daughter in law".

Meanwhile, a user name vardha.sami replied to the picture and wrote, "Its because of fame. Is level pe aake koi bhi mother in law spoil karegi (Any mother in law will spoil you at this level)". To which the Bollywood actress gave a befitting replying saying Fame does not work in family- love and respect does," with a joining hands emoticon.

On the work front, Preity was busy with the latest season of the Indian Premier League. Due to COVID-19 IPL has been suspended till further notice. Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, and others shared social media posts celebrating the spirit of motherhood.

Preity Zinta receives second jab of COVID vaccine

Preity Zinta joined the clan of Bollywood celebrities who took the second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine by receiving the second shot of vaccine on Saturday. The actress took to her Twitter and shared her pictures at a COVID vaccination centre taking the shot of vaccine and urged everyone to get vaccinated.

I took my second covid shot and am vaccinated. I would request everyone to get vaccinated so we are all safe. #Getvaccinated #Staysafe pic.twitter.com/HB8IDbP0kl  Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) May 8, 2021

(Image Credits: Preity Zinta Official Instagram Account)

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Actor-YouTuber Rahul Vohras death due to COVID-19 after penning a message on lack of proper treatment became a talking point on social media. The news was shocking for his wife Jyoti Tiwari, who had married him six months ago, and was also his co-star. The actor expressed her regret about adhura pyar (incomplete love).

Rahul Vohras wife pens a heartbreaking message

Jyoti Tiwari shared multiple messages on social media upon Rahul Vohras death that left netizens saddened. Posting an image on Instagram stories, from Holi celebrations, she wrote, Chale gaye na pyaar adhura kar ke (You left me, right? by giving me, incomplete love. She also wrote on Facebook stories, aaj sara bhram toor gaya (today, all my illusions have been shattered).

Sharing a picture from their wedding, that had taken place in December last year, she mourned her husband's loss. Our last meeting was also incomplete. I dont know why God liked you so much. My life, my world, just be happy whenever you are.

A day before Rahulsdeath, she had shared her anger at the websites that were spreading fake information about her husbands health. She had urged fans to report those pages. She had expressed her faith then that he will be fine soon.

She had also written, Please help us on Rahul Vohras post about his coronavirus diagnosis and the failure to get proper treatment.

Since their wedding, Rahul and Jyoti had starred together in many of the videos on his channel. He had 2 million followers on Facebook, 111 K subscribers on Youtube and 7.9 million views on the platfor.

Rahul, in a heartbreaking message, wrote," Mujhe bhi treatment acha mil jata To main bhi bach jata tumhaara Irahul Vohra." ( I too would have been saved, had I received good treatment, along with details, 'Name-Rahul Vohra. Age -35 Hospital name -Rajeev Gandhi super speciality hospital Tahirpur,Delhi. Bed no -6554."

He concluded his message, "Jald janam lunga or acha kaam karunga. Ab himmat haar chuka hu' (I will take birth again and do do good work. I have lost all courage now." The post left netizens in shock.

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Young Sheldon is the popular spin-off series of the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which had a long run on television. The spin-off series has brought a total of four seasons on television to date and is currently reaching the end of the fourth season. While the plot of the show has taken several intriguing turns till now, it is likely to witness a tough phase with the likely departure of Sheldons dad George. Having anticipated the same, the fans have taken to social media to express their sadness as the show gears up to bring up an emotional period.

Fans express their heartbreak for the upcoming Young Sheldon episode

Young Sheldon shows the younger version of the popular character Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, focusing on his background and childhood years. Viewers who have watched The Big Bang Theory would be aware that it has been mentioned in the early episodes of the original show that Sheldons father had passed away when he was young. Many netizens have already anticipated that the coming episodes of Young Sheldon may show the passing of Sheldons father George.

Really like the show Young Sheldon. Sheldon's interactions with his father really are interesting, his father will eventually cheat on his mother and pass away before this show is over.  Jason Ivar Myrnyj (@myrnyjmrcool) March 21, 2021

I was watching Young Sheldon S1 Ep3 and I really hope George Sr is doing okay but you know why ? For Mary, Sheldon's mother bc she deserves the world  And I can't stop thinking how he could ever cheat on her someday ... She is hella scared to loose him just like the children   Rachel (@IceTaeJinTonic) November 25, 2017

It's in Big Bang Theory! It's how/why Sheldon knocks three times. The second and third knocks are to give people 'time to get their pants on'



:(  Confused Dad (@Orr_Man_Worcs) December 20, 2018

One of the fans tweeted that the death of George would be heart-breaking to watch, while another netizen tweeted that they are not emotionally ready to watch the dramatic turn of events for the show. A few of the fans even anticipated that the show may be getting set to show the part where his father cheats on his mother. These reactions have come from fans after the ending of the previous episode, which shows the bonding that Sheldon builds with his father. Jim Parsons, who played the adult Sheldon, is also the narrator of this show. Jims voice over at the end says, We often regret the things we dont say.

I am not ready for George Sr.'s death in Young Sheldon, it's gonna be so heartbreaking   Abhishek Lele (@raasputinn) May 8, 2021

Watching Young Sheldon where George is playing catch with Missy after a boy rejected her and it occurs to me that the show has to have George die before the end and I don't think I'm emotionally ready for that #YoungSheldon  KTC (@KieranTCampbell) March 8, 2020

Young Sheldon Season 4 Finale Trailer Teases Emotional Episode.

The first look at Young Sheldon season 4 finale teases an adventure for Missy and Sheldon, as well as, an intense argument between Mary and George Sr.https://t.co/qCcObnM4zL  Vires Et Honestas (@Pia_Fidelis) May 9, 2021

When in Young Sheldon are they going to show how his daddy cheats on his mommy with a blonde waitresses and then he dies??? Like wasnt that the basis of his trauma.  kyra (@kyra_lucia) February 22, 2021

I want to love George Snr in Young Sheldon... He's great... But knowing he cheats on Mary? Nope!  Confused Dad (@Orr_Man_Worcs) December 20, 2018

Iain Armitage has played the titular role in this spin-off series, while Lance Barber has played the role of George. It also sees actors such as Zoe Perry, Montana Jordan and others playing some of the major roles in the plot. The show airs on CBS and has rapidly gained a high viewership since its beginning.

IMAGE: 'YOUNG SHELDON' INSTAGRAM

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The Central Board of Secondary Education had previously announced the launch of a new app called 'Dost for Life' that will help students cope with mental issues amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The mobile app has finally made it to the Google Play Store, as of today, and is available for students from classes 9 to 12. Although a new initiative, this is not the first time the Board has taken such a plunge as it previously promoted counselling through a toll-free number. Here's everything you need to know about the CBSE Dost for Life app.

CBSE Counselling to begin today

According to the CBSE, the app will be fully available for students from Monday, May 10. The live counselling sessions will be completely free of cost and will be available for both students and parents who are affiliated with CBSE schools across the globe. Apart from CBSE counselling, the app also boasts several other features like expert advice, suggestive course guide after class 12, tips on mental well-being, COVID-19 related protocol and audio-visual messages.

To elaborate further, the CBSE Dost for Life app will also include educational material on social, emotional and behavioural issues such as exam anxiety, internet addiction disorder, depression, specific learning disability, substance use disorder, aggression and life skills to sensitise students and masses. This information can be accessed from both the app as well as the official website of CBSE, of which a direct link is provided below. Reportedly, 83 volunteers have already joined the live counselling programme, out of which 66 are in India and 17 located in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Nepal, Oman, Kuwait, Japan, and the USA.

It must be noted that the counselling sessions will be available three days a week i.e on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Parents and students can choose their own time slot between 9.30 am - 1.30 pm or 1.30 pm - 5.30 pm and connect through a chat box as per their convenience. In other news, CBSE has also given a go-ahead to the conduction of class X exams to give students another chance to pass the exams. This will be on the basis of internal assessment and half-yearly examination. If a student fails to secure passing marks in the CBSE board exams 2021, they will be given another chance to attempt the compartmental exam.

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New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Three warships of the Indian Navy brought to India on Monday over 80 tonnes of liquid oxygen, around 4,300 oxygen cylinders and a large number of other medical supplies from abroad as the country continued to reel under a severe second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The medical supplies brought from Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore included 10,000 rapid antigen COVID-19 test kits, 54 oxygen concentrators, eight cryogenic oxygen tanks and 450 PPE (personal protective equipment) kits, Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

The three warships are part of nine ships deployed by the Indian Navy under operation 'Samudra Setu II' for shipment of liquid medical oxygen and associated equipment from friendly foreign countries in the Persian Gulf and South East Asia.

Madhwal said INS Airavat arrived in Visakhapatnam from Singapore, carrying eight cryogenic tanks each having a capacity of 20 metric tonnes of oxygen, 3,898 oxygen cylinders and other supplies.

Another ship, INS Trikand, arrived in Mumbai, bringing 40 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen and some other supplies from Qatar.

A third ship, INS Kolkata arrived at New Mangalore transporting two oxygen-filled containers each having around 20 metric tonnes of the life-saving gas besides bringing 400 oxygen cylinders and 47 oxygen concentrators from Qatar and Kuwait.

The 40 tonnes of liquid oxygen brought to the Mumbai port from Qatar was produced by a French company.

"The 2nd phase of the solidarity mission is underway. Medical oxygen produced by French @airliquidegroup at its plants in the region is being shipped to India by @IndianNavy. The first 40 tons just arrived in #Mumbai," French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain tweeted.

France had delivered to India 28 tonnes of medical equipment as part of the country's first phase of the "solidarity mission" launched by President Emmanuel Macron to help New Delhi fight the pandemic.

The Indian Navy said it has stepped up its efforts as ships from all three naval commands in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Kochi were deployed to bring oxygen and other medical equipment under operation 'Samudra Setu II'.

Last year, the Indian Navy had launched Operation Samudra Setu as part of the Vande Bharat evacuation mission under which it brought back to India around 4,000 stranded Indians from Maldives, Sri Lanka and Iran.

As India battles a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, countries around the world have sent medical supplies including oxygen-related equipment to help it tide over the situation.

The leading countries that have supplied assistance to India included the US, Russia, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, Singapore, Portugal, Sweden, New Zealand, Kuwait and Mauritius.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said a shipment of 10 oxygen concentrators and 141 ventilators arrived in India from Spain.

He also tweeted that three aircraft loaded with medical equipment arrived from Egypt.

The shipments included 300 oxygen cylinders, 50 oxygen concentrators, 20 ventilators, 8000 vials of Remdesivir and other medical equipment, he added. PTI MPB ANB ANB

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Egypt delivered 300 oxygen cylinders, 50 oxygen concentrators, 20 ventilators, 8000 vials of Remdesivir and other medical equipment to India via 3 aircraft on Monday, May 10. MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi appreciated support from Egypt during these unprecedented times.

Fast expanding  relations



3 aircrafts loaded with medical equipment arrive from Egypt. Total shipment includes 300 oxygen cylinders, 50 oxygen concentrators, 20 ventilators, 8000 vials of Remdesivir & other medical equipment. Deeply appreciate this support from our friend. pic.twitter.com/MRO1jUWtAH  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 10, 2021

Egypt sends medical assistance to India

While sharing a picture on Twitter, Bagchi wrote, "Fast expanding relations. 3 aircrafts loaded with medical equipment arrive from Egypt. Total shipment includes 300 oxygen cylinders, 50 oxygen concentrators, 20 ventilators, 8000 vials of Remdesivir & other medical equipment. Deeply appreciate this support from our friend." According to the reports, the supplies shipped to India in cooperation with the Egyptian armed forces.

Last week, the Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced the shipment of 30 tonnes of medical supplies to India to aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Egypt's health ministry in an official statement stated, " Egypts keenness to help the world countries during the times of crises within the framework of its leading role."

India Embassy in Egypt also conveyed gratitude to the government and citizens of Egypt for their generous support. It wrote on Twitter, "Greatly appreciate Egypt's gesture of generous support. #IndiaEgypt."

Medical aid from Emirates

As India is facing the second of Coronavirus pandemic, several countries across the world are standing in solidarity with the nation. Many countries delivered medical assistance to India in these unfortunate times. In support of India's fight against the deadly COVID-19 outbreak, Emirates Airlines has built a humanitarian airbridge between Dubai and India to transport urgent medical and relief supplies. On an "as available" basis, Emirates will give free cargo capacity on all of its flights to nine cities in India, assisting foreign NGOs in getting relief supplies to where they are needed quickly. In recent weeks, Emirates SkyCargo has flown medicines and medical equipment to India on scheduled and charter cargo flights.

Picture Credit: @MEAIndia/Twitter
India on Monday received several medical oxygen cylinders donated by countries like South Korea, UK, Egypt, and Singapore. The Health Ministry has allocated some of the oxygen cylinders to various states in the country. As per the latest data released by the Health Ministry, India has received a total of 8900 Oxygen Concentrators, 5043 oxygen cylinders, 18 oxygen generation plants, 5698 ventilators.

Here's the allocation list

Among 200 Oxygen Cylinders received from South Korea, 100 have been allocated to Himachal Pradesh while another 100 have been allocated to Punjab.

Among 900 Oxygen Cylinders received from the UK, 200 have been allocated to Chhattisgarh, 100 to Haryana, 200 to Bihar,200 to Uttar Pradesh, and 200 to Uttarkhand.

Among 300 Oxygen Cylinders received from Egypt, 100 have been allocated to Assam-100, 50 to Meghalaya, 50 to Mizoram, and 100 to Punjab.

Among 500 Oxygen Cylinders received from Singapore, 300 have been allocated to Andhra Pradesh and 200 to Karnataka. Whereas, among 3150 empty Oxygen Cylinders from Singapore, 300 have been allocated to Andhra Pradesh, 300 to Bihar, 300 to Goa, 300 to Gujarat, 200 to Haryana, 300 to Himachal Pradesh, 260 to Jharkhand, 400 to Karnataka, 300 to Kerala, 150 to Manipur, 100 to Nagaland, 260 to Odisha, 50 to Puducherry, 100 to Sikkim, 110 to Telangana and 220 to Uttarkhand.

COVID Cases In India

After recording over four lakh fresh cases for four consecutive days, India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,66,161 COVID-19 cases on Monday, which pushed its tally to 2,26,62,575, according to the Health Ministry.

The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 2,46,116 with 3,754 more people succumbing to it, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed. The number of active cases of the coronavirus infection in the country has gone up to 37,45,237, accounting for 16.53 percent of its total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 82.39 percent.
Pune, May 9 (PTI)A woman doctor and two staffers of a government hospital were attacked by relatives of a COVID-19 patient after his death at Indapur in Pune district of Maharashtra, police said on Sunday.

The 56-year-old patient died on Saturday due to COVID-19 complications during treatment, an officer said.

"Following the death of the patient, two of his sons came to the hospital and assaulted a woman doctor and two other members of staff," he said.

The duo was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010, the officer added. PTI SPK NSK NSK

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
In a huge development on Sunday, 13 opposition parties released a joint statement pertaining to the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country. It was signed by Sonia Gandhi (Congress), HD Deve Gowda (JD-S), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Hemant Soren (JMM), MK Stalin (DMK), Mayawati (BSP), Farooq Abdullah (NC), Akhilesh Yadav (RJD), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), D Raja (CPI) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M). They called upon the Centre to focus "all attention" on ensuring uninterrupted oxygen supply to all hospitals.

This assumes significance amid frantic appeals by multiple hospitals citing shortage of sufficient oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients during the second COVID-19 wave. Moreover, it requested the Centre to immediately launch a free mass vaccination programme in India. According to these parties, the Union government should utilise the budgetary allocation of Rs.35,000 crore.

Joint statement calling upon Central govt to focus all attention in ensuring uninterrupted flow of oxygen & immediately launching a free mass vaccination programme across the country. pic.twitter.com/i9sre8xBzE  NSUI (@nsui) May 2, 2021

COVID-19 vaccination in India

Apart from COVISHIELD and COVAXIN, the DCGI accepted the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, paving way for the approval of Sputnik V on April 12. Moreover, the Union government declared that those vaccines that have been granted emergency approval for restricted use by USFDA, EMA, UK MHRA, PMDA Japan, or which are listed in WHO (Emergency Use Listing) will be granted emergency use approval in India. In place of the local clinical trial requirement, the post-approval bridging clinical trial shall be mandated.

In a huge announcement on April 19, the Centre relaxed the age bar for vaccination from May 1 onwards and mentioned that vaccine manufacturers can supply 50 per cent of its doses to state governments and in the open market. The private hospitals shall have to procure their supplies of the COVID-19 vaccines exclusively from this quota. However, they will have to follow all protocols such as being captured on the CoWIN platform and linked to AEFI reporting.

At the same time, vaccination shall continue at Government of India vaccination centres for healthcare and frontline workers and those above 45 years. Additionally, the Centre stated that it will allocate vaccine doses to the states from the remaining 50% quota based on factors such as the number of active cases, speed of administration and vaccine wastage. So far, a total of 15,41,85,596 vaccination doses have been administered in India.
Slamming Centre's 'chest thumping' on receiving foreign aid to help India amid the COVID crisis, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday said it was pathetic. Highlight government's failure, he said that if 'GOI had done its job, it wouldn't have come to this'. India has received financial aid from the EU and other countries - a first since 2004, which has been criticised by several Congress leaders.

Rahul Gandhi: 'Its pathetic'

GOIs repeated chest-thumping at receiving foreign aid is pathetic.



Had GOI done its job, it wouldnt have come to this.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 10, 2021

EAM justifies foreign aid to India

In an exclusive interview with ANI, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar refuted the notion that India had changed its policy by accepting foreign aid amid the COVID-19 crisis. Maintaining that novel coronavirus is a shared problem for the entire world, he stated that India had helped other countries by sending medicines and vaccines and this support is now being reciprocated in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases. Moreover, he asserted that there was nothing wrong with seeking help from foreign countries to help our people.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar remarked, "This is not an accurate way of projecting the situation because as I said COVID is a shared problem for the whole world. Last year, we gave medicines-hydroxychloroquine, paracetamol to the US, Singapore and European countries. We sent a medical team to Kuwait. We sent vaccines to some countries in the Gulf. We describe it as friendship or support." "As the Foreign Minister and someone heading a Ministry which has relationships around the world, I will do everything which I have accumulated over many years to help my people," he added.

India receives global aid

India has been offered aid from several countries like United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Russia, Kuwait, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE, Dubai, Qatar, Switzerland Hong Kong, Thailand, Pakistan, United States and China promising oxygen concentrators, ventilators, liquid oxygen, PPEs, test kits, N95 masks, cryogenic Oxygen Containers. Moreover, US has lifted its ban on exporting raw materials needed to manufacture COVISHIELD doses and is backing India at the WTO for patent waiver on COVID vaccines. India has been reporting 4 lakh new cases daily on an average for the past week.

Currently, India is grappling with a second wave of COVID-19, with the infection hitting rural India too. The biggest issue has been the acute oxygen supply with Delhi being hit the worst - several hospitals have moved the High Court seeking oxygen supply. While the Centre and Delhi govt have blamed each other for the ongoing oxygen crisis in the national capital, Railways has started 'Oxygen Express' to transport liquid oxygen to the states via green corridors. SC has ordered the Centre to maintain a daily supply of 700 MT to Delhi and constituted a 12-member National Task Force of oxygen distribution. Meanwhile, India's vaccination drive has hit a roadblock due to shortage of supplies amid Centre allowing 18+ to be vaccinated. Most state governments placed lakhs of orders with the two vaccine manufacturers, but are yet to receive their orders.


Settling the dispute over the leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu on Monday, ex-CM E Palaniswami (EPS) has been chosen after a heated debate for three days. Sources state that EPS garnered the support of 55 MLAs compared to ex-Dy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) who only got 15 MLAs' support. As EPS supporters began celebrating outside the party's Chennai headquarters, sources say that OPS stormed out in anger. DMK chief Stalin was sworn in as the 8th CM on Friday after he managed to trump AIADMK's EPS for the top post, denying AIADMK a 3rd consecutive term in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu polls.

AIADMK chooses EPS over OPS as LoP

       .  .   .  AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) May 10, 2021

EPS Vs OPS

On Friday, a scuffle reportedly broke out between supporters of EPS and OPS at the party's headquarters in Chennai while several AIADMK cadres arrived at the party office to choose a Leader of Opposition. Several party leaders had preferred EPS over OPS citing the credentials he built over the past four years. OPS, on the other hand, was hoping to be LoP as AIADMK had lost the polls under EPS' leadership and was reportedly upset with EPS' camp for not supporting him as LoP.

The rift in AIADMK has been a festering wound since the demise of ex-CM J Jayalalitha in 2016. After her demise, her close aide Sasikala had taken over as general secretary but was later convicted and arrested in the disproportionate assets case. O Pannerselvam (OPS) - the then-deputy CM, quit as caretaker CM to make way for Sasikala. With his exit, EPS, who was chosen by Sasikala, was made the CM, which led to the party being split in the middle - EPS camp and OPS camp.

Amid the impasse, the BJP had intervened to allow EPS to continue as CM and made OPS the party's Convenor, Deputy CM, naming the late Jayalalitha as the party's 'eternal' General Secretary. The convicted Sasikala was then thrown out of the party. Moreover, the two warring factions in AIADMK reconciled ahead of 2021 polls, naming EPS as the CM candidate and OPS as the head of the 11-member steering committee of AIADMK, while Sasikala who had been released from jail 'quit' politics.

Tamil Nadu Election Results 2021

Witnessing a triumphant return of the DMK, the Stalin-led party bagged 133 seats while its allies bagged - Congress (18), VCK (4), CPI (2), CPM (2) seats. The incumbent AIADMK was reduced to 66 seats while its allies won - BJP (4) and PMK (5) seats. Stalin, who has been patiently waiting to win the top post, launched a massive campaign, persistent social media campaign and major freebies if elected to power. In the past, the DMK had been the ruling party five times, during 2006-11, 1996-2001, 1989-91, 1971-76, and 1967-71.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reveals that people who have had organ transplants remain vulnerable to the deadly COVID-19 infections even after the second dose of the vaccine. Led by the researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the study concluded that in contrast to immunocompetent participants in vaccine trials, a proportion as low as 17 per cent of solid organ transplant recipients mounted a positive antibody response to the first dose of SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. However, for those receiving antimetabolite maintenance immunosuppression were less likely to respond. As a part of the study, the researchers assessed antibody response after the second dose. The Johns Hopkins Medicine research team includes William Werbel, Robin Avery, Aaron Tobian, Allan Massie and Jacqueline Garonzik-Wang.

COVID jabs in transplant patients

The transplant recipients without prior polymerase chain reaction (PCR), who confirmed COVID-19 were recruited from across the US in order to participate in this prospective cohort through a digital campaign. Also, those who completed the 2-dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine series between December 16, 2020, and March 13, 2021, were included and followed up through April 13, 2021. As a part of the process. The proportion of patients who developed a positive antibody response were assessed with an exact binomial confidence interval. The analyses were performed using Stata 16.1/Windows.

Study lead author Brian Boyarsky, MD, a surgery resident at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said, "While there was an increase in those with detectable antibodies -- 54 per cent overall -- after the second shot, the number of transplant recipients in our second study whose antibody levels reached high enough levels to ward off a SARS-CoV-2 infection was still well below what's typically seen in people with healthy immune systems". He added, "Based on our findings, we recommend that transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients continue to practice strict Covid-19 safety precautions, even after vaccination".

Also, in as long as the humoral response is concerned, the majority had detectable antibody responses after the second dose. The participants without a response after dose 1 had low antibody levels. Poor humoral response was associated with use of antimetabolite immunosuppression.

As a part of the study, 658 transplant recipients who received 2 doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine were observed. Also, the first-dose results of 396 of these recipients were previously reported. It then came forward that at a median of 21 (18-25) days after dose 1, antibody was detectable in 98 participants, which was 15 per cent of the total. At a median of 29 (28-31) days after dose 2, antibody was detectable in 357 participants, which was 54 per cent.

Among the 473 participants who received antimetabolites, 38 participants had antibody response after dose 1 and dose 2. 268 had no antibody response after dose 1 or dose 2, and 167 had no antibody response after dose 1 but subsequent antibody after dose 2. Among the 185 participants not receiving antimetabolites, 60 had antibody response after dose 1 and dose 2. Also, 33 had no antibody response after dose 1 or dose 2, and 92 had no antibody response after dose 1 but subsequent antibody after dose 2.

IMAGE: PTI
The remains of a Chinese rocket, that was hurtling down on Earth at an incredible speed plunged into the Indian Ocean, just west of the Maldives on May 9, according to China National Space Administration (CNSA). The returning Long March-5b vehicle had triggered speculations about potential damage as well as had raised fingers on Beijings handling of space debris. However, as it re-entered the earths atmosphere at 10:24 am Beijing time, vast majority of it was burned beyond recognition, confirmed Xinhua news agency.

Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracked the tumbling rocket part, said on Twitter, An ocean re-entry was always statistically the most likely. It appears China won its gamble. But it was still reckless. In addendum, NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson also issued a statement asserting that it was clear that China was failing to meet responsible standards regarding space debris.

China now reporting https://t.co/dHSJVoItCY that the rocket reentered at 0224 UTC at 72.47E 2.65N which is right over the Maldives. If correct will be interesting to see if we get reports from there pic.twitter.com/NQovz33pqg  Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) May 9, 2021

An ocean reentry was always statistically the most likely. It appears China won its gamble (unless we get news of debris in the Maldives). But it was still reckless  Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) May 9, 2021

In usual launches, the space rocket is allowed to fall back to earth while its still in the atmosphere. However, the Chinese let its 18 ton heavy, main component of the rocket enter earths orbit. The CNSA, which is tightly linked to the countrys military, hasnt answered as of now.

Sighting in Saudi Arabia

While Beijing clarified that the debris dived in the Indian ocean at a point 72.47 East and 2.65 North sans causing damage, scores of people in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan reportedly saw it passing overhead before dawn. Meanwhile, the US Space Command plainly confirmed the rockets presence over the Arabian peninsula before crash landing near the Maldives. It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water, said US Space Com.

#USSPACECOM can confirm Chinese #LongMarch5B re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula at approximately 10:15 pm EDT on May 8. It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water. https://t.co/4Ol9Sa2iJo  U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) May 9, 2021

What is Long March 5B?

Long March 5B put an unmanned Tianhe module as part of T-shaped Chinese Space Station which is scheduled completed by late 2022. This rocket is set to be followed by 10 more missions to complete the 66 ton Chinese Space station, which will be far lighter than the ISS which weighs around 419 tons. In May, last year, a part of China's Long March 5B (CZ5B) rocket crash-landed in the Atlantic Ocean, as per Science Alert. The debris was reportedly the rocket's core and was 30.48 meters, weighing almost 18,000 kgs - making it the biggest rocket debris to fall in the Ocean since 1991. Reports stated that the rocket was launched on 5 May 2020 and had spent several days in orbit before re-entering Earths atmosphere and crashing off the west coast of northwest Africa.

Image: AP
South Africas Health Minister Zweli Mkhize recently informed that several cases of two COVID variants of concern have been detected in the country. According to AP, Mkhize said that testing had picked up 11 cases of the variants B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK and four cases of the B.1.617.2 variant, which was first found in India. In a statement, the minister said that the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) confirmed that the two variants of concern have been detected in South Africa, in addition to the B.1.351 variant which was already dominating in the country.

Mkhize informed, The four cases of B.1.617.2 [Indian variant of coronavirus] have been detected in Gauteng [2] and KwaZulu-Natal [2] and all have a history of a recent arrival from India. All cases have been isolated and managed according to the national COVID-19 case management guidelines and contact tracing has been performed in order to limit the spread of this variant.

The minister further said that of the 11 cases of B.1.1.7, eight were detected in the Western Cape - with two having a history of travel from Bahrain, one was detected in KwaZulu-Natal and two in Gauteng. He added that the B.1.1.7 strain was detected in community samples and that this suggested community transmission had already set in. Mkhizes statement came on the same day the country recorded its highest ever single-day COVID-19 death toll of 4,187 fatalities.

No need to panic

However, he said that there is no need to panic as the fundamentals of the public health response - testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine - have not changed. Mkhize said that it is important to emphasise that variants can develop at any time in any country so they do not have to be imported. He added that as the world is still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, surges in one territory are bound to spill over into other territories.

These findings are urgently being processed by the government and announcements pertaining to travel regulations will be made after all appropriate consultations have been undertaken by the Cabinet, he said.

It is worth noting that Africa is the worst hit in terms of infections and fatalities. South Africas second wave was driven by its own variant that quickly dominated infections countrywide. So far, COVID-19 has killed 54,687 people in South Africa, along with over 1.59 million confirmed cases, according to John Hopkins University. The country has ordered tens of millions of vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer as it looks to ramp up its slow mass vaccination campaign.

(With inputs from AP and PTI)




Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, who announced that they are ending their marriage, have been subject to a lot of rumours and speculations lately. While the couple said on May 4 that they took the decision after "a lot of thought", people have been trying to guess the reason that led to the separation after 27 years of togetherness. Recently, a report claimed that the Microsoft Co-founder's Chinese interpreter had a role to play in it.

Bill Gates' interpreter Zhe Shelly Wang is the latest name to be thrown up in the high-profile divorce with reports claiming that she shared a very close relationship with Bill. As the rumours continue to spread on the internet, Wang released a statement denying any involvement in the divorce.

I thought that the rumors would go away by themselves, but I did not expect the rumors to become more and more crazily spread, Wang wrote on Chinese microblogging website Weibo, as per Page Six. 

She continued, How many books can I read, so why spend time on the unfounded rumors? I would like to thank everyone for their concern and help in dispelling the rumors through private messages in the past 24 hours. She ended her message with a link to a story titled #Gates divorce, some vicious people rumor to vilify an innocent Chinese girl.

Bill and Melinda Gates divorce

While the couple did not give a specific reason for their divorce, they said After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.

They continued, We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.

Bill and Melinda tied the knot in 1994 in Hawaii and they met after she began working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987. Soon after the divorce was announced, a report revealed that the couple had an arrangement that allowed Microsoft co-founder to meet with ex-girlfriend Ann Winblad. According to Time, Bill and Anna developed a strong bond and the billionaire ensured that he keeps her in life after they split in 1987.

Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce talks started in 2019

Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce on May 4 but reports claim that it was in the works for several years. While there were rumours that Bill Gates' ex-girlfriend Anne had a role to play in the separation, a report has now claimed that Melinda had been consulting divorce lawyers since 2019 over Epstein. Melinda consulted with divorce lawyers roughly two years before she filed for divorce, saying their marriage was irretrievably broken, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to people and documents reviewed by the publication, Melinda had been working with lawyers at several firms since at least 2019 to unwind the marriage.
With the sensational report throwing light on China allegedly discussing 'weaponising' Coronaviruses in 2015, Virologist & whistleblower Dr Li-Meng Yan on Monday reiterated her claim that the COVID-19 virus had been manufactured by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to wage a bio-weapon war across the globe. Dr Yan, who was the first whistleblower to allege that the Chinese government had manufactured the virus to intentionally cause a pandemic, banked on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) report which suggested that the Chinese military scientists discussed the weaponisation of SARS coronaviruses, to verify her claims. Based in Hong Kong now, Dr Yan has accused the ruling Communist government of running a massive propaganda campaign to counter its role in the pandemic and in a bid to suppress information.

Speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network on Monday evening, Dr Li-Meng Yan said, "This bioweapon is non-traditional and unrestricted by nature. I have presented in my previous reports that the virus is man-made. This is very good evidence to support my report and to verify that the Coronavirus is the Chinese government's homegrown project. I called it a non-restricted bioweapon project."

The report shedding light on China's plans to weaponise the virus is said to have been obtained by US officials and was reportedly written by military scientists and senior Chinese public health officials in 2015. The new details once again raise questions over China's role in the spread of coronavirus with major concerns about China's transparency on the origins of COVID-19, which continue to be probed by the World Health Organization.

'CCP wants to damage enemy society'

Speaking of China's objective of weaponising the Coronavirus and unleashing it upon the globe, Dr Yan said that the CCP wants to 'damage enemy society and the economy'. The whistleblower pointed out that China has begun 'celebrations' as the economies of several countries have crashed while they have recovered and are doing well. Elaborating on the reasons why China allegedly created a bioweapon, Dr Yan said, "China govt have past materials and knowledge about this. This is a good material for non-traditional bioweapon which means the mortality does not need to be high and it can be low. The advantage is that it can target humans easily, it is invisible and also stable. The secondary damage will ruin the enemy society and the economics."

She also accused the Chinese government of attempting to cover up the origins of the Coronavirus as well as the WHO of working in tandem with the CCP. Notably, Dr Yan has made similar claims in three 'Yan reports' that she has published so far pertaining to the origins of COVID-19.

Moreover, Dr Yan claimed that far more people have died in China due to the Coronavirus than it has been shown. She alleged that the Chinese government does not care about human lives and while there is no 'magic antidote' to the Coronavirus, the CCP has identified cheap methods to treat its citizens affected by COVID-19.

"In China, more people have died. Far more than you know. China's government is covering up. Especially in Wuhan, from where we say the virus has originated, many people are dead. But the government does not care about people's lives. If you know history, you will know the Chinese Communist Party has never cared about human lives. Based on that thinking, they let people die and then suppress information. There is no magic antidote. However, the Chinese government uses some cheap drugs like Hydroxychloroquine to treat citizens," she said.

China planned to weaponise Coronavirus: 2015 Report

The military document titled 'The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons' speaks of the Chinese military's plans with regards to bioweapons. Further, the document claim that a bioweapon attack could cause the "enemy's medical system to collapse". There are references of work by US Air Force colonel Michael J. Ainscough who had predicted that World War 3 may be fought with bioweapons. Some of China's top public health figures have been listed in these documents among 18 other authors. Ten of the authors are scientists and weapons experts affiliated with the Air Force Medical University in Xian, according to the report by The Australian.
After Spaniards came down on streets and celebrated the end of a six-months lockdown, a key expert warned that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. According to the reports by Dpa International, the president of Spain's Epidemiological Society, Elena Vanessa Martinez, warned there are still many infected people who could further spread the virus. She said that she is concerned about the false security signal sent with the end of the emergency and the end of the night curfew.

Most restrictions, including the nationwide night curfew, were lifted in most places. However, it will remain in force in several others. As per the new orders, travel within Spain is also allowed again. Also, in-person family visits are now allowed. As per the reports by Dpa International, officials are concerned that the past year could repeat itself.

Mayor appeals to behave responsibly

According to the reports by The Guardian, the mayor of Madrid appealed for people to behave responsibly. Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged the people to remember the rules after scenes of drinking, jubilation and often maskless celebrations were seen on various social media platforms. Most of the restrictions in Spain expired at Sunday midnight.

10-day quarantine for travellers arriving from India

While Spain has allowed travel, during late April it said that it will impose a 10-day quarantine on all travellers arriving from India. While speaking at a news conference, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero informed that the measure will apply to people who travelled via third countries. This is because there are no direct flights between India and Spain.

It is worth noting that Spain has also imposed a 10-day quarantine on passengers arriving from Brazil, Peru and Colombia as well as nine nations in Africa, including South Africa and Mozambique. However, Spains chief epidemiologist said that there was no reason to be currently concerned about the spread of the Indian variant in Spain as more than 90 per cent of new cases detected are the so-called British variant. Further, Spains Foreign Ministry also recommended that Spanish citizens currently in India return home as soon as possible.

(Image Credits: Unsplash/Pixabay)
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez arrived in Lisbon on Saturday to meet his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The visit was part of Fernandez's first official international trip that will take him to Spain, France, Italy and the Vatican City.

The two leaders held a private meeting for 30 minutes at the National Palace in Belem which was followed by an extended meeting with ministries and other local authorities.

As part of his agenda in Portugal, Fernandez will on Monday hold a meeting with the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, who will host a lunch for the delegation.

The Argentine President was expected to fly to Madrid later Monday to continue his tour.

(Image Credit: AP)

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Students in Greece wore face masks and showed documents stating they had tested negative in a COVID-19 self-test as they returned to classes Monday, following months of distance learning.

Primary schools and junior high schools reopened their doors Monday.

Students in the final three grades of high school have already returned to classes.

School administrators in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada monitored the temperatures of students as they entered the building, a measure that was implemented at the start of the academic year.

Mayor Giorgos Papanicolaou of Glyfada said cleaning staff's shifts were also increased.

Greece has started easing coronavirus-related restrictions with a view to opening the vital tourism industry in the summer, despite stubbornly high infection rates and hospitalizations that have strained its health system.

The country of 11 million people has seen more than 11,029 deaths and 362,004 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest figures released Sunday.

Cafes, restaurants and bars, which had been shut to all but takeout and delivery services when lockdown-type measures were imposed in early November, reopened for outdoor seated service only last week.

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Egypt said Sunday it expects to become a regional center able to manufacture and export a COVID-19 vaccine to the African continent.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed told a news conference on Sunday it expected a shipment of raw materials on the 18th that would enable it to manufacture millions of doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

"The agreement stipulates that 40 million doses will be produced in the first year, and the first two million doses will be produced by the end of June," she said.

Zayed also said Egypt is open to partnering with Russia to produce the Sputnik V vaccine through a factory built in October.

"We met with the Russian ambassador in Cairo, and we are very open to manufacturing with Russia, and there are some private companies that have already started cooperating and we encourage them," she said.

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Iran's foreign ministry said Monday it strongly condemns Iraq's raid on Tehran's consulate in Karbala over the killing of a prominent activist.

Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh Monday told reporters that Iran late Sunday handed over a letter of protest to the Iraqi embassy in Tehran and urged the neighboring Arab nations to pursue the case under international conventions.

Iran strongly condemns attacks on its diplomatic sites in Iraq, said Khatibzadeh in a weekly briefing in Tehran.

A day earlier, Iraqi protesters set fire to trailers belonging to Irans consulate in Karbala amid widespread anger over the killing of Ehab Wazni, an activist who took part in anti-government protests that swept Iraq in October 2019. He was shot overnight Saturday outside his home by unknown assailants.

Wazni's death sparked daylong protests in Karbala, with demonstrators blocking roads and bridges with burning tires. On Sunday night, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Iranian consulate, burning tires in front of the building and setting fire to several trailers parked outside.

Similar scenes played out in November 2019 during protests in Baghdad and Iraqs majority-Shiite provinces in the south.

Iran and Iraq has had close relations since the toppling of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who waged an eight-year war against Iran in 1980 that left some one million casualties on both sides.

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Iran's foreign ministry said Monday it "strongly condemns" Iraq's raid on Tehran's consulate in Karbala over the killing of a prominent activist.

Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Monday told reporters that Iran handed over a "letter of protest" to the Iraqi embassy in Tehran late on Sunday and urged the neighboring Arab nations to pursue the case under international conventions.

Protesters in Iraq have set fire to trailers belonging to Iran's consulate in Karbala amid widespread anger over the killing of a prominent activist in that city.

Ehab Wazni was shot Saturday night outside his home in Karbala by unknown assailants.

He was active in the organization of anti-government protests that swept Iraq in October 2019.

Then Sunday night, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Iranian consulate in the city, burning tires in front of the building and setting fire to trailers parked outside.

Khatibzadeh also commented after the US Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country's Houthi rebels.

"What is completely clear is that the Islamic Republic of Iran just has a diplomatic presence in Yemen and such reports absolutely cannot be confirmed under any circumstances," he said.

An American defense official told The Associated Press that the Navy's initial investigation found the vessel came from Iran, again tying the Islamic Republic to arming the Houthis despite a United Nations arms embargo.

Iran's mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though Tehran has denied in the past giving the rebels weapons.

The seizure, one of several amid the yearslong war in Yemen, comes as the US and others try to end a conflict that spawned one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

The arms shipment, described as sizeable, shows that the war may still have far to run.

Khatibzadeh went on to confirm direct talks between Iran and its main regional rival Saudi Arabia saying they concerned bilateral and regional issues without giving away the details.

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Taking a u-turn days after conceding that the abrogation of Article 370 is India's internal matter, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi backtracked his statement with clear hopes of attempting some damage control. Taking to Twitter, the PTI-led government minister resorted back to Pakistan's same old rhetoric stating that Jammu & Kashmir is an 'internationally recognised dispute' on UN Security Council Agenda. Claiming that nothing about J&K can be 'India's internal matter,' Qureshi contradicted his own statement from a few days ago where he admitted that the abrogation of Article 370 is India's internal issue.

Let me be clear: Jammu & Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute on the @UN Security Council agenda. Final settlement of the dispute lies in #UNSC resolution calling for free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices. Nothing about J&K can be Indias internal matter.  Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) May 10, 2021

Previously, in an interview with Samaa TV, Qureshi was heard making the massive admission which seems to have left his top bosses red-faced with embarrassment and thereby possibly forcing him to attempt damage control. In the interview clip, which was shared by Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, Qureshi had also pointed out that the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir has been challenged in the Supreme Court. While admitting that the abrogation was India's internal matter, he stressed that all outstanding issues can be settled only through dialogue as war will be "suicidal".

Imran Khan's Foreign Minister had remarked, "Article 370 is their (India's) internal issue. The people of Kashmir are saying that you had made a promise...It is their frustration. The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court and people have challenged it. There has been a strong reaction in Kashmir to the steps which have been undertaken- whether it is 35A or 370 or the cruelty inflicted there. Today, there is a huge section in India which agrees that they have lost more and gained less because of these steps."

"There is no option other than dialogue. These are two nuclear powers with outstanding issues which need to be resolved either today, tomorrow, or the day after. War is not an option. War will be suicidal," he added. This statement had come at a time when the two countries have officially entered into a ceasefire, though Pakistan at different points has resorted to unilaterally violating it. The ceasefire, however, has been welcomed by a number of neighbouring countries. As is often the case with Pakistan, however, when steps are taken to thaw relations with India, quick retractions and unhelpful statements like Qureshi's often come about.

Article 370 abrogation

A Presidential notification combined with requisite legislation passed by both the House of Parliament in August 2019 led to Article 370 becoming a thing of the past. This implied that the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was scrapped. Furthermore, the region was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. Thereafter, restrictions on the movement of people and communication were imposed in the state, which was gradually lifted over the months. Ever since Pakistan has obtained an intrusive stance attempting to garner international attention to the matter despite the Indian government's clear and tough stance that the matter pertains to India's sovereignty. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in yet another desperate measure and political gimmick, had also raked up the matter at the United Nations in September 2019.

Pakistan violates ceasefire, again

After maintaining peace for a couple of months following the India-Pakistan DGMOs meeting in February, Pakistan ended the ceasefire agreement reached on May 3, briefly after observing it for merely 68 days. The Pakistani forces resorted to unprovoked firing in the Samba sector of the International Border. The incident happened at around six in the morning when all of a sudden Pakistani rangers started targeting Border Security Forces in Samba Sector to which BSF retaliated in appropriate measure.

Earlier on 25 February, India Pakistan decided to abide by the ceasefire agreement so that peace prevails on both sides of borders and issued a statement,  The Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan held discussions over the established mechanism of hotline contact. The two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and all other sectors in a free, frank, and cordial atmosphere. In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGsMO agreed to address each others core issues and concerns which have the propensity to disturb the peace and lead to violence.
Bangladesh, on May 9, declined a petition by former PM Khaleda Zia to go abroad for medical treatment. There is no judicial provision that permits a jailed convict to go abroad for treatment," the country's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan asserted declining her proposal. Zia, who had served as the countrys PM for two terms, was convicted of embezzlement of foreign donations.

The 76-year-old had contracted the coronavirus disease back in April, following which she was temporarily released on bail. While she proposed to receive treatment abroad, her doctors recently confirmed that she had recovered from her illness, "The third phase test has found her Covid-19 negative but she is now in hospital for post-Covid-19 treatments," said Zia's doctor and BNP vice-chairman AZM Zahid Hossain. Following her negative reports, the country's law ministry held a discussion over the legal scope as well as restrictions for the visit and concluded that she should not be allowed to leave the country.

COVID In Bangladesh

Meanwhile, the coronavirus contagion has continued to wreak havoc in Bangladesh. According to the latest tally, the country has reported a total of 773,513 cases and 11,934 fatalities till now. On May 8, PTI re[roted that the country detected six people, who had recently visited India, infected with the Indian variant of the COVID-19. Addressing media reporters, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) spokesman Professor Dr Nazmul Islam Munna said the cases were detected by health officials overnight adding that out of the six people, two were detected in the national capital Dhaka.

"Six people have been found to be carrying the Indian variant so far and we expect more people to be detected with identical types of virus in the coming days," Munna told PTI. "This development means we in Bangladesh need extreme caution, perfect compliance of health guidelines . . . If we maintain the guidelines, no variant -- deadly or not -- can cause major problems," Munna said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) described the Indian variant as a "variant of interest," suggesting it may have mutations that would make the virus more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade vaccine immunity. Along with Bangladesh, several other states including the US, the UK, UAE have imposed travel bans on Indian travellers, fearingthe Indian mutation of coronavirus.

Image: DD News
Prithivi Subba Gurung, Chief Minister of Nepals Gandaki Province stepped down from his post on May 9. His resignation came a day ahead of a non-confidence hearing, filed by the opposition parties last month. Gurung struck nerves with the opposition-Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, Janata Samajwadi Party, and Rashtriya Janamorcha- when he asked the current session of assembly to be prorogued.

Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel to take charge

In the aftermath of his resignation, the opposition has started the process to form a new government in the province. Nepali Congress party, along with the support of CPN Maoist Central has proposed the name of Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel. Meanwhile, the country's PM KP Sharma Oli's vote of confidence at least 25 Members of Parliament have tested positive for COVID-19, the Parliament Secretariat confirmed to ANI. Secretariat's spokesperson Rojnath Pandey said that over 200 honourable Members of Parliament underwent a test for COVID-19, out of which 18 tested positive. Eight MPs, who had undergone tests on their own, were also added to the list that takes the total number of infected members in Lower House to 26. One member of the Upper House also tested positive, Rojnath Pandey confirmed to ANI over the phone.

Rojnath Pandey said a total of 1,235 people underwent tests over three days and there's confirmation that 160 have tested positive for the virus while the reports of 54 other members of parliament are awaited. Pandey also said that the final number of COVID-19 infected MPs can only be ascertained after reports of 54 others will come. Coronavirus tests were conducted of MPs along with the staff of Parliament building, security officials, parliamentary reporters among others.

The official added that discussions have been conducted to ensure the voting right of every lawmaker on Monday's floor test despite being tested positive for COVID-19. Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will seek a vote of confidence from Parliament on May 10 in his bid to stay in power. With the withdrawal of the CPN - Maoist Centre, PM Oli now heads a minority government falling short of 15 votes to reach a simple majority.

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: ANI
STORY: Afghanistan US Scrap - US sells unwanted kit for scrap in Afghanistan

LENGTH: 03:08

FIRST RUN: 0300

RESTRICTIONS:

TYPE: Pashto/Dari/Natsound

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

STORY NUMBER: 4324912

DATELINE: 3 May 2021 - Bagram district

SHOTLIST:

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bagram district, Parwan province  3 May 2021

1. Pan of scrapyard, where unwanted U.S. gear is sold as scrap

2. Twisted remains of vehicle scrapped by U.S. forces in Bagram airfield

3. Pieces of scrapped vehicle

4. Remains of armored vehicle glass with badge reading BAF-2025 (BAF stands for Bagram Airfield)

5. Various of workers in Baba Mir's scrapyard

6. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Baba Mir, scrapyard owner:

"Obviously, they (Americans) don't trust Afghans and they don't want us to use this stuff and make progress. What they are doing is betrayal of Afghans."

7. Various of Baba Mir scrapyard

8. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Baba Mir, scrapyard owner:

"They should leave, we pray to God. We don't have good memories from them. The memory and benefit we have seen from them is destruction. Like they have destroyed this vehicle, they have destroyed us too."

9. Pan of scrapyard with military tents

10. Scrapped tents

11. Various of Sirajul Haq, junk dealer showing unused military summer tent scrapped by U.S. forces in Bagram Airfield

12. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Sirajul Haq, junk dealer:

"There are new, unused tents, which have been damaged, if these tents were in working condition, one piece of it could be sold for 200 to 300 US dollars, but these are damaged, and a damaged one can hardly be sold for 1,000 Afghanis (13 US dollars.)"

13. Wide of Bagram Airfield

14. Security tower at airfield

15. Plane flying over Bagram Airfield

16. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Sadat, one name given, junk dealer:

"Inside Bagram they destroy the military equipment, the Afghan government asked them to hand over this stuff to them, but they (Americans) didn't do it."

17. Military tent in scrapyard

18. Mid of rope and other scraped materials from Bagram Airfield

19. Various of junk dealer Hajji Gul working in his scrapyard

20. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Hajji Gul, junk dealer:

"Why do they trash this stuff? Why did they come to Afghanistan? They came here to rebuild Afghanistan, but now that they are leaving, they leave behind all the scrap in Afghanistan."

21. Pan of market in Bagram district, where they sell scrap materials left by U.S. forces in Bagram

STORYLINE:

As the US army packs up to leave Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, it's dumping tons of equipment and selling it as scrap to local dealers.

The twisted remains of several all-terrain vehicles leaned precariously inside Baba Mir's sprawling scrapyard, alongside smashed shards that were once generators, tank tracks that have been dismantled into chunks of metal, and mountains of tents reduced to sliced up fabric.

It's all U.S. military equipment. The Americans are dismantling their portion of nearby Bagram Air Base, their largest remaining outpost in Afghanistan, and anything they are not taking home or giving to the Afghan military, they destroy as completely as possible.

They do so as a security measure, to ensure equipment doesn't fall into militant hands. But to Mir and the dozens of other scrap sellers around Bagram, it's an infuriating waste.

"What they are doing is a betrayal of Afghans. They should leave," said Mir.

As the last few thousand U.S. and NATO troops head out the door, ending their own 20-year war in Afghanistan. They leave behind an Afghan population where many are deeply frustrated and angry, feeling abandoned to a legacy they blame at least in part on the Americans - a deeply corrupt U.S.-backed government and growing instability that could burst into a brutal new phase of civil war.

The bitterness of the scrapyard owners is only a small part of that, and it's somewhat self-interested: they're angry in part because they could have profited more selling undestroyed equipment. But it's been a common theme for the past two traumatic and destructive decades, where actions that the U.S. touted as necessary or beneficial only disillusioned Afghans who felt the repercussions.

About 20 days ago, around the time President Joe Biden announced that America was ending it's 'forever war," Mir paid nearly 40,000 US dollars for a container packed with 70 tons of trashed equipment.

He'll make money, he told The Associated Press, but it will be a fraction of what he could have made selling the vehicles if they'd been left intact, even if they weren't in running condition.

"The memory and benefit we have seen from them is destruction. Like they have destroyed this vehicle, they have destroyed us too," said Mir.

The Western official deeply familiar with the packing up process said U.S. forces face a dilemma: hand off largely defunct but intact equipment and risk having it fall into the hands of enemy forces, or destroy it and anger Afghans.

To make his point, he said not long ago, U.S. forces discovered two Hummers that had found their way into enemy hands. They had been refitted and packed with explosives. They were destroyed, but it reinforced a policy of destroying equipment.

But Afghan scrapyard owners and dozens of others who sifted through the junk in the yard wondered what danger a treadmill could have posed to require it to be torn apart, or the long lengths of fire hose that had been cut to pieces, or the Hesco bags, once used to create large sand-barrier walls, now with their powerful mesh fabric sliced and useless.

Dozens of tents cut and sliced sat in piles on the scrapyard floors, nearby were fuel bags and gutted generators, tank tracks and gnarled pieces of metal that look like it was the undercarriage of a vehicle.

Junk dealer, Sirajul Haq, said even unused material can be found among the scraps - it was turned into trash.

"There are new, unused tents, which have been damaged, if these tents were in working condition, one piece of it could be sold for 200 to 300 US dollars, but these are damaged, and a damaged one can hardly be sold for 1,000 Afghanis (13 US dollars,)" said he said.

At Bagram, northwest of the capital Kabul, and other bases, U.S. forces are taking an inventory of equipment that will be returned to America. Tens of thousands of metal containers, about 20 feet long, are being shipped out on C-17 cargo planes or by road through Pakistan and Central Asia. As of Tuesday, 60 C-17s packed with equipment had already left Afghanistan.

Officials are being secretive about what stays and what goes. Most of the gear being shipped home is sensitive equipment that was never intended to stay, say U.S. defence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about departing troops.

Other equipment including helicopters, military vehicles, weapons and ammunition will be handed over to Afghanistan's National Defense and Security Forces.

Some bases will be given to them as well. One of the most recent handed over was New Antonik base in Helmand province, where the Taliban is said to control roughly 80% of the rural area.

But many locals said they witnessed U.S. forces inside Bagram Airfield, destroy all equipment they can't take back with them.

"Inside Bagram they destroy the military equipment. The Afghan government asked them to hand over this stuff to them but, they (Americans) didn't do it," said Sadat.

So far about 1,300 pieces of equipment have been destroyed, said a U.S. military statement. There will be more before the final deadline for departure on Sept. 11, said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The practice is not a new one. The same was done in 2014, when thousands of troops withdrew as U.S. and NATO handed Afghanistan's security over to Afghans. More than 387 million pounds (176 million kilograms) of scrap from destroyed equipment and vehicles was sold to Afghans for 46.5 million US dollars, a spokeswoman for the military's Defense Logistics Agency in Virginia said at the time.

Among Afghans it is causing anger that the mountain of supplies and equipment was trashed before being sold to them.

"They came here for rebuilding Afghanistan, but now that they are leaving, they leave behind all the scraps in Afghanistan," said a Hajji Gul.

Junkyards in villages outside America's largest base of Bagram are brimming with twisted hunks of metal that were once powerful trucks and 4 by 4 vehicles, sports' equipment and even hesco bags that once were packed with dirt to protect troops against explosions and would-be bombers.

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Russias threatening posture toward Ukraine has drawn widespread international concern, but the Pivot to Asia has so far drawn less attention.

Russia announced a plan last year to shift its diplomatic and trade ties eastward from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region.

But experts say that the plan, nicknamed the Pivot to Asia, is already encountering difficulties and criticism.

Russias threatening posture toward Ukraine in recent months has drawn widespread international concern, but the Pivot to Asia has so far drawn less attention.

Toward the end of last year, the Washington, D.C.-based Jamestown Foundation summed up the obstacles to the Pivot as seen by Russias Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

During his first trip to the Russian Far East as prime minister, Mishustin found an inadequate level of infrastructure support for international trade at a local seaport at Magadan.

The limitations of the port, located on the Sea of Okhotsk, have hindered the surrounding regions economic development and international outreach.

Russias Pivot to Asia isnt a totally new idea. Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov laid down the policys foundations at the end of the 1990s.

The policy proposes shifting Russias economic ties eastward from the European Union to the Asia-Pacific.

It would make Siberia and the Russian Far East the countrys national priority for the 21st century.

But by 2019, the strategy was floundering due to systemic and cultural obstacles, according to the Jamestown report.

Citing experts, the report written by Sergey Sukhankin says that Russia faces four challenges in its attempts to implement the Pivot.

Negative public perception

First is Russias lack of a comprehensive approach to overcoming the social and economic hardships faced by its least developed regions, namely Siberia and the countrys Far East.

The government has moreover failed to improve the negative public perceptions of this region among Russians. Settlers and business people view much of Siberia and the Far East as highly unattractive places to live or work in. According to some, these regions are in the middle of nowhere.

Second, the key pillar for the Pivot to Asia was originally premised on strengthening economic ties with China. But now, according to an expert at the U.S.-based Eurasia Group, many Russian experts and intellectuals see the limitations of that approach.

Though it serves as a source of raw materials, Russia occupies a marginal role in Chinas foreign trade and economic ties.

Attempts to diversify cooperation by engaging India, Japan, and South Korea have yielded minimal results.

Third, despite some impressive diplomatic and political achievements, Russia has been unable to convert these into sustainable economic gains.

A Russian expert at the countrys Pacific National University in Khabarovsk said two years ago that Asian nations didnt consider Russia to be an attractive place for foreign investments.

So, not surprisingly, Russias share in the economy of the Asia-Pacific region has been limited.

Fourth, according to the Jamestown report, inhabitants of the Far East view the Pivot to Asia as an artificial, Moscow-generated project that doesnt adequately assess local realities nor invite the participation or input of the local population.

Moreover, in Siberia, it says, there is growing dissatisfaction over its de facto exclusion, despite pompous rhetoric, from the project.

Incompetent metropolis

In other words, the federal center has been unable to explain to the locals how it plans to upgrade regional living standards.

Sergey Karaganov is a former advisor to Russias leader Vladimir Putin and a leading supporter of the Pivot to Asia strategy.

In an article that he co-authored with Russian scholar Anastasia Likhacheva, the two say that for the past year and a half the strategy has risked a loss of momentum.

Among other concerns, they argue that a major problem hindering progress is inadequate attention paid to human capital in the Russian Far East and in Siberia.

Human capital is a reference to people who are supposed to be a driving force in the Pivot. But according to Karaganov and Likhacheva, they end up viewing Moscow as an incompetent metropolis.

Russias economy has long depended heavily on oil and gas exports. But in recent years, arms sales have also become a major source of revenue.

Vietnam, for example, is almost entirely dependent on Russian military equipment, although experts say that Vietnam is now trying to diversify its sources.

China meanwhile accounted for roughly half of Myanmars major arms imports from 2014 to 2019, including warships, combat aircraft, armed drones, armored vehicles, and air defense systems, according to an expert with the Stockholm Peace Institute.

Russia supplied 17 percent of Myanmars military imports during that same period, mainly in the form of combat aircraft.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief who overthrew the civilian government in Myanmar on Feb. 1, has cultivated ties with the Russian military over the past decade, according to the Japanese website Nikkei Asia.

He did this, Nikkei Asia says, to avoid dependence on China, Myanmars giant neighbor and the country which had long served as its largest weapons supplier.

Asian diplomats told Nikkei Asia that Min Aung Hlaing still recalls reports that China served as a Chinese weapons supply line passing into strongholds held by ethnic rebels along Myanmars eastern border.

Days before the military coup against the civilian government, Russias Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Myanmar to complete a deal for a new surface-to-air missile system, surveillance drones, and radar equipment.

Russian weapons in junta hands

The coup had prevented Aung San Suu Kyis popular National League for Democracy from taking a second term after winning a landslide election last November.

Following the coup, tanks and other armored vehicles made in Russia were seen on the streets of the heavily populated city of Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar and formerly known as Rangoon.

The United States and several other Western nations have denounced the coup and condemned the militarys use of violence against unarmed protesters.

The total death toll since Feb. 1 reached 780 as of May 9, according to a local group called the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The military junta said this number was inflated and claimed in late April that the real number was 240.

While Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who is reported to have visited Russia six times over the years, has stated that Russia has proven to be a loyal friend, Russia may not be winning many hearts and minds among ordinary people in Myanmar.

Amy Searight, a senior associate of the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said recently regarding Myanmar, Moscow has seemed to seek to fill the military void in a way that no other country has. Even China has been more cautious than Moscow.

She mentions that on Myanmars Armed Forces Day in late March, Russia sent its deputy defense minister to a parade that featured not only tanks and other military equipment but also several Russian-built military jets flying overhead.

The parade took place in Myanmars capital city of Naypyitaw.

But Searight is skeptical about Russias Pivot to Asia both as it existed to a certain extent in the past and then with its new emphasis today, at least when it comes to Southeast Asia.

I think they never really managed to gain much traction in that effort in the past, she said.

She made her comments in a discussion organized by the Washington D.C.-based Wilson Centers Kennan Institute and Asia Program to discuss Russias Role in Southeast Asia.

Dan Southerland is RFA's founding Executive Editor.
.



Last month, the chairman of Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster Phoenix Media Investment, Liu Changle, announced he would sell almost all of his stake in the company to the CCP-backed Bauhinia Culture Holdings and to Common Sense, which is owned by Pansy Ho's Shun Tak empire.



According to the Ming Pao, new directors have now been drafted in to helm Bauhinia, suggesting a higher degree of political momentum from Beijing, analysts told RFA.



According to publicly available company records, directors Fu Weizhong and Li Jiping were replaced in February with Guangqi, Gong Rui and Wang Kai.



previously headed the economic construction department at the ministry of finance of China. The other two had Beijing addresses, suggesting that they had also previously been working for central government in Beijing, the paper said.



Joseph Cheng, a former professor of political science at the City University of Hong Kong, said pro-Beijing media in Hong Kong under the party's United Front activities used to be controlled by the CCP's Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong.



The new appointments at Bauhinia suggest the central government will be exerting a far greater degree of direct control, Cheng said.



"Rank and precedence are very important in China, so somebody in charge of the most important media asset under the Hong Kong United Front will need to hold considerable rank in order to control and direct other media entities, such as the Ta Kung Pao and Wen Hui Po [newspapers]," Cheng said.



"[The new appointee is at least equal in rank to the person in charge of the propaganda department at the Central Liaison Office, but he has a slight advantage in rank because he is from Beijing," he said.



A set of Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster Phoenix Media Investment, which is being sold to the Chinese Communist Party-backed Bauhinia Culture Holdings and to Common Sense. Credit: Phoenix The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is making further moves towards setting up a media and publishing empire in Hong Kong, as part of a two-pronged strategy to bring the city under its ideological control, the Ming Pao newspaper reported onLast month, the chairman of Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster Phoenix Media Investment, Liu Changle, announced he would sell almost all of his stake in the company to the CCP-backed Bauhinia Culture Holdings and to Common Sense, which is owned by Pansy Ho's Shun Tak empire.According to the Ming Pao, new directors have now been drafted in to helm Bauhinia, suggesting a higher degree of political momentum from Beijing, analysts told RFA.According to publicly available company records, directors Fu Weizhong and Li Jiping were replaced in February withGuangqi, Gong Rui and Wang Kai.previously headed the economic construction department at the ministry of finance of China. The other two had Beijing addresses, suggesting that they had also previously been working for central government in Beijing, the paper said.Joseph Cheng, a former professor of political science at the City University of Hong Kong, said pro-Beijing media in Hong Kong under the party's United Front activities used to be controlled by the CCP's Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong.The new appointments at Bauhinia suggest the central government will be exerting a far greater degree of direct control, Cheng said."Rank and precedence are very important in China, so somebody in charge of the most important media asset under the Hong Kong United Front will need to hold considerable rank in order to control and direct other media entities, such as the Ta Kung Pao and Wen Hui Po [newspapers]," Cheng said."[The new appointee is at least equal in rank to the person in charge of the propaganda department at the Central Liaison Office, but he has a slight advantage in rank because he is from Beijing," he said.

Beijing controls 80 percent of industry now

The Central Liaison Office acquired control of Sino United Publishing Ltd. in 2015, a company that owns three major bookstore chains in the city, Joint Publishing HK, Chung Hwa Book Co. and the Commercial Press.



The move gave Beijing control of more than 80 percent of the publishing industry in Hong Kong.



The liaison office already owns a number of Chinese-language media, including the Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung Pao and Hong Kong Commercial Daily newspapers, as well as the online Orange News.



According to independent Chinese journalist Gao Yu, any Hong Kong-based media with a former finance ministry official in charge will effectively be subject to the control of the CCP's Central Propaganda Department.



This will likely eventually apply to Phoenix TV, she said.



"It is now totally one country, one system," Gao said of promises that Hong Kong would enjoy its traditional freedoms under the "one country, two systems" promise long considered broken by Beijing.



"Without the two remaining outspoken publications like Apple Daily and Epoch Times, [Hong Kong media] will be in exactly the same situation as media in mainland China," she said.



"They have now acquired the companies," Gao said. "After that, they will need to set up CCP cells [in those companies] and start editing textbooks to send a unified [CCP-backed] message."





Hardline 'soft power'

The moves come after the pro-China Sing Tao Daily reported in January that Beijing was planning to set up a centrally directed cultural enterprise in Hong Kong, to enhance the CCP's soft power in the city following months of pro-democracy protests and police violence in 2019.



The group would have "unified jurisdiction" over Chinese-funded institutions including Sino United Publishing and Bauhinia, the paper reported at the time.



Chinese journalist Huang Yongqiang said the change of directors at Bauhinia was "a major personnel change."



"Three mainland Chinese residents are now on the board of directors," Huang said. "One of them is highly likely to be a secretary-level official of the Chinese ministry of finance."



"This shows that the mainland authorities are continuing to strengthen controls over Hong Kong's cultural sector," he said.



He said the CCP is using a two-pronged approach based on late supreme leader Mao Zedong's maxim that "political power comes from the barrel of a gun," to include the notion that it also stems from the written word.



"This is the CCP's two-pronged approach using guns and pens, that it used to take and keep power right from the start," Huang said.

"The central government recently took over full control of the police force in Hong Kong, and now they are moving in with the pen, sparing no effort in the culture and propaganda sectors."



According to publicly available company information, the Bauhinia Culture Holdings was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2019 and is 100 percent controlled by China's ministry of finance.



Reported by Man Hoi Yan for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The deposed state counselor will face trial on six charges under the military junta.

Myanmar anti-junta protesters disply signs calling for the release of deposed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders as they march along a street in Yangon, April 24, 2021.

Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is scheduled to make her first in-person appearance in a special courtroom in the capital Naypyidaw on May 24, her chief lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told RFA on Monday.

At a hearing on Monday, the presiding judge said that countrys Supreme Court issued a directive for a special courtroom be set up to hear the six cases against the former state counselor, who has been detained since the Feb. 1 military coup under various charges.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged in five cases in Naypyidaw and one in Yangon for allegedly violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, bribery, incitement and sedition, violation of telecommunication laws, possession of unlicensed walkie-talkie radios, and violating coronavirus protocols. Her legal team says the charges are groundless and spurious.

The most serious charge against the 75-year-old Nobel laureate for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

We were told that there wont be any more video conferences but that she will appear in person, he said. The special court will be located  close to her residence in Naypyidaw. The hearing on May 24 will be for all six cases.

Previous court hearings have been held via video conference, and court officials have refused to let Aung San Suu Kyi meet face-to-face with her attorneys.

Though attorneys on her defense team have asked the court to allow them to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi privately during the trial, they have not yet received a definitive answer, Khin Maung Zaw said.

We are not sure whether we will be able to see her privately or not, he said. During court hearings held inside the prison, the accused are brought into the courtroom when the judge shows up, and then they are taken away as soon as the hearing ends [with] no chance for lawyers to meet their clients.

We have insisted that wed like to meet with her privately, but we are still not sure if we will meet her, he said.

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told Russias RIA news agency in April that Aung San Suu Kyi was not allowed to see her lawyers for national security reasons, saying that the regime had information that protest leaders wanted to communicate with her through her legal team.

Khin Maung Zaw said accused persons have an undeniable right to meet with their defense lawyers.

During video-conference hearings for detained President Win Myint and Naypyidaw Council Chairman Myo Aung on Monday, court officials said the two politicians would be tried at the special court along with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Reported by Soe San Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
An empty street is shown on the campus of Myanmar's Yangon University on May 6, one day after the ruling military junta declared the schools reopened.

An education plan will soon be released to prevent students from losing their rights to public education, says Sai Khaing Myo Tun, Deputy Minister of Education of Myanmars National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow government set up to counter the military regime that seized power Feb. 1. On May 9, RFA Myanmar Service's Khin Khin Ei interviewed Sai Khaing Myo Tun about how Myanmars ruling State Administration Council, the juntas formal name, is suspending teachers involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), and what the NUG is planning now for Myanmars education sector.



RFA: What are you currently doing as the Deputy Minister for Education of the National Unity Government (NUG)?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: We are making contact with teachers and with students involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and are having discussions about education plans. Even though this is a revolutionary period, we are looking for ways to do this.



RFA: The State Administration Council is now suspending education staff. Would you comment on this?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: The teachers themselves are determined not to work under the military junta's education system. At NUG, we set principles that are in line with the will of the teachers. We communicate with them and are trying to offer them moral support.



RFA: Some teachers have now left the CDM and have become non-CDM staff. What do you think about this?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: The main issue here is the pressure put on them [by the junta] in terms of their security. This pressure includes violence directed not only at them but also at their families, involving very cruel methods. There are a lot of teachers who do not want to do non-CDM work. But there are also teachers who are not morally strong. The learned teachers I have contacted have not given up; they will do it [CDM] until the end of the revolution. And when the government elected by the people comes to power, they will carry out the duties of the people's government.



RFA: How many teachers are currently involved in CDM?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: We are still counting the teachers in basic education. We have collected the lists [inside Myanmar], but most of them have not reached us yet. There are more than 400,000 teachers in Myanmar, including in the higher education department. You can imagine how many of these are involved in CDM work by looking at the fact that the schools cannot open now. If the classrooms were full of students [as the junta has said], it would not be possible to run these classes with such a small number of the current non-CDM teachers. I think that more than 80 percent of teachers are now involved in CDM. Now the State Administrative Council is not only suspending education officers, but also firing some of them. So the percentage of teachers doing CDM is over 80 percent, as I said.



RFA: We also heard that CDM education staff are facing difficulties and need help. What are you doing to help them?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: We are making plans. One of our government ministers has said that they are planning to pay them their full salaries as much as possible. Even if we cannot help to that level, we are still doing our best to help.



RFA: The State Administration Council is trying to reopen the schools. Students are boycotting this, but there are also some students who want to study. What can you say about this situation?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: We are making plans for this, too. The main thing is that students not lose their right to an education. Nor should this be delayed. In addition, we have set a "No one left behind" commitment, so that anyone can get an education. We will officially announce something soon. There will be opportunities for students to learn with teachers. Some students have suggested to us [the NUG] that we open schools for those students who are currently involved in the revolution. We will discuss all these issues and implement an education plan soon.



RFA: What message would you like to send to the students, teachers, parents, and other people who are now fighting the military dictatorship?

Sai Khaing Myo Tun: I want to say that both students and teachers have been resilient so far. The State Administration Council has used various forms of repression to oppress the people, including students and teachers, and many have already lost their lives. So we need to fight with resolve until the end of the revolution. At the same time, we are working to provide an education plan by linking to global education and linking to federal education: a plan for both the young and the grownup people in our country. It is very important that we completely overthrow the military dictatorship. This will give us a better future and better lives, and we will then be able to implement a better [program for] education.

Translated by Thane Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service.
Parents may no longer carry religious items onto school grounds, as China continues to enact policies wearing away at Tibetans distinct cultural identity.

A classroom in a school in Sog county, Tibet, is shown in an undated photo.

Parents of Tibetan schoolchildren may no longer carry rosaries, prayer wheels, or other religious items onto school grounds, Chinese authorities in one Tibetan county say, as China continues to enact policies wearing away at Tibetans distinct cultural identity.

Family members are also forbidden now to recite mantras or other prayers when visiting their childrens schools, a Tibetan living in Sog (in Chinese, Suo) county in the Tibet Autonomous Regions Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture told RFAs Tibetan Service.

Posted on school blackboards beginning in April, the new regulations remind students and their families that Schools are places to cultivate and produce socialist scholars, and should not be used as places in which to follow rituals and traditions, RFAs source said.

The restrictions are now in place in all junior and middle schools in Sog county, and students have been told to make sure their parents or guardians know the regulations must be followed, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Chinese Communist Party members and government employees including retired workers are already forbidden from making open displays of religious practice, but these new restrictions on the behavior of students parents are a complete violation of their rights and an insult to Tibetan religion and culture, the source said.

Since China is gearing up this year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the [July 23] founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), authorities are stepping up their efforts to spread the Partys ideology in Tibetan counties, towns, monasteries, and schools, he said.

These places are all being told to report back to ensure their loyalty to the CCP, he added.

Language rights threatened

Restrictions already in place on the use of the Tibetan language in Tibetan schools, with preference given to instruction in Mandarin, are meanwhile causing Tibetan children to lose fluency in their own language, sources say.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed illegal associations, and teachers subject to detention and arrest.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

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 Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.
As far as resources and economic structure are concerned, Russia and Europe are more complementary than competitive. Yet, in reality, Russia seems to have been considered by Europe as an enemy, not only being guarded against by Central and Eastern European countries militarily but also being condemned and sanctioned by the EU over and over. But the root cause for all this enmity lies not in Russia or Europe themselves, but in the country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The US has a record of being the troublemaker. The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project is a win-win, even multi-win energy cooperation plan, which can expand Russias natural gas export and increase its revenues and enable Central and Western European countries to access high-quality energy supply conveniently at a fair price. But the US worries that the project would strengthen Europes energy reliance on Russiaand worries even more that the strengthened economic ties between Russia and Europe would pave the way for their diplomatic reconciliation, thus changing the geopolitical situation in Europe and undermining Americas influence on its European allies. Therefore, Washington imposed rounds of sanctions on companies involved in the project, in defiance of international law, slowing down its schedule by force.

The US is also good at driving wedges. Capitalizing on the historical feud and geopolitical divergences between Russia and its neighboring countries, Washington has fabricated the Russia threat theory to create tension and doubles down on that by supporting the anti-Russia military operations of some of the neighbors by enhancing military presence or selling weapons to them. For instance, it goaded the Ukrainian government to launch military attacks on the pro-Russian armed forces in East Ukraine, forcing Moscow to take countermeasures and intensify military deployments on its western border. This, in turn, pushes the Central and Eastern European countries to be more reliant on the US in security and eager to pledge allegiance by standing up against Moscow.

After Joe Biden took office, the new administration has been actively enhancing its presence at Europes important multilateral activities to mend the cross-Atlantic relations, rally NATO allies around, and resume the combat force against Russia. Biden participated in the special online meeting of Munich Security Conference in February and then the EU Spring Summit in March via video connection, all aimed to tell the allies that America is back.

Despite a seemingly different governing style, Biden has largely inherited his predecessors international strategy, sparing no effort to destroy global security and stability and drive wedges between other countries to benefit from their conflicts. At the NATO foreign ministers meeting held in Brussels in March, US Secretary of State Blinken attempted to rope in and manipulate the European allies. When meeting with Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu , he made Turkeys purchase of the Russian S-400 system a vital topic, trying to test Turkeys loyalty and boggle Russia-Turkey relations. He also issued a joint statement with Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, announcing their plan to cope with the challenge posed by Moscow jointly.

Europe sees through Americas intentions all too clearly. During a phone conversation with Russian President Putin on April 8, German Chancellor Merkel emphasized EUs diplomatic independence, vowing that the union doesnt want to be a tool of Russia-US confrontation, and she reaffirmed the EUs commitment to regional stability and cooperation. Analysts pointed out that Washington wants to mend ties with the EU because it hopes to re-gain the wand and make Europe continue to play the pawn in its major-power competition. But it fails to notice that the EU aims to gain greater independence and international say, trying hard to become a more independent and influential pole. Their fundamentally different objectives keep the vile gale blowing from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean where it is.

Indeed, Rome was not built in one day. Thanks to long years of US trouble-making and discord-sowing, Europe and Russia are still at odds on the Crimea issue and the Alexei Navalny incident, and Russia is a powerful neighbor that wont move for new European countries. For autonomy and development, European countries have to strike a balance between Washington and Moscow rather than being taken hostage in their tug-of-war. Thats the only way for the European continent to avoid falling into the old track and better deal with the American countercurrents.

(The author is Li Shuyin, a researcher at the War Studies College of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese PLA.)
Armenia's parliament failed to elect a prime minister for the second time on May 10, triggering its own dissolution in a final move toward early elections next month.



Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who was swept to power in pro-democracy protests in 2018, resigned last month to run in an early election after facing criticism over his handling of last years conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.



This was the second time lawmakers rejected Pashinian's candidacy, as part of a political deal made earlier between the parliament majority represented by Pashinian's My Step Alliance and two opposition factions -- Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia.

Only one lawmaker voted for Pashinian's candidacy, one voted against, with 76 abstaining.



Under Armenias constitution, the parliament must fail to elect a prime minister twice in order to be dissolved.

Both times Pashinian was nominated by My Step as a candidate to maintain the procedure for the parliaments dissolution.



In the meantime, Pashinian has continued as caretaker prime minister.

Political Crisis



Armenia has been embroiled in a political crisis since Pashinian signed a Russian-brokered cease-fire on November 9, 2020, to end a 44-day war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.



Pashinian agreed in March to hold the early vote next month. He has indicated that he favors June 20 as the date for the elections.



Opinion polls show that public confidence in Pashinian's government has fallen sharply since then, with its approval rating falling from 60 percent to around 30 percent last month.



Pashinian has come under fire since agreeing to the Moscow-brokered deal with Azerbaijan, which took effect on November 10, ending six weeks of fierce fighting in and around the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh that saw ethnic Armenian forces suffer battlefield defeat.

Under the cease-fire, a part of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by Armenians.



Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region's population reject Azerbaijani rule.



Observers expect Armenian ex-President Robert Kocharian -- who signed a deal with two opposition parties to run as leader of their alliance on May 9 -- to become Pashinians main challenger in the elections.



Addressing thousands of his supporters at a rally in central Yerevan on May 9, Kocharian said that losing power was the price the Pashinian government should pay for the defeat in the war.

With reporting by Reuters
TBILISI -- The leader of Georgia's opposition United National Movement (ENM) was freed from prison on May 10 after the European Union posted his bail to help end the country's protracted political crisis.



Nika Melia left Rustavi prison after the Tbilisi City Court ruled to release him from pretrial detention after nearly three months.



The EU said over the weekend that it had posted bail of 40,000 laris (more than $11,600) for Melia, allowing for a court in the capital Tbilisi on May 10 to "order the release," his lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili said.



Supporters and party members waiting for Melia to exit the central gate chanted his name and applauded and waved posters saying Nikas time has come! and Nika is a strong man, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reported.



When prison administrators let him walk free through a different gate, journalists quickly relocated. Melia apologized for the disturbance but said he was not to blame.



Melia thanked the ambassadors of the EU and the United States, as well as European Council President Charles Michel.



"I don't know if I look like a criminal or a politician, but in either case, together with my colleagues and society, I will pose a serious threat to the authorities and Bidzina Ivanishvili," said Melia, who appeared to have lost a lot of weight.



"We are facing a ruthless opponent," he said, referring to the ruling Georgian Dream party founded by Ivanishvili, a multibillionaire. "Unfortunately, I am not the last political prisoner in Georgia."



Melia, whose case has roiled the country's political scene, went on trial on April 8 for allegedly organizing "mass violence" during 2019 anti-government protests.

Melia has rejected the charge calling it politically motivated, which the ruling Georgian Dream party denies.



His release was part of an agreement that the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition leaders signed last month under European Council President Charles Michel's mediation.



The ENM, however, had refused to join the EU-mediated deal until Melia was released from pretrial detention. There was no immediate comment from the party on the court's May 10 ruling.



The political scene in Georgia has been on the brink of crisis since October parliamentary elections dominated by the Georgian Dream party, but which independent monitors said were marred by irregularities.



The opposition has boycotted the new parliament and staged protests demanding new elections.

The decision to arrest Melia after he refused to pay an increased bail bond led to the resignation of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia in February.



Gakharia said the decision was unacceptable if it threatened to fuel political divisions in the Caucasus country of 3.7 million people. It also sparked mass protests as well as international condemnation amid mounting fears in the West over the ex-Soviet republic's perceived backsliding on democracy.



The Interior Ministry carried out the arrest on February 23, five days after Gakharia stepped down, which further deepened an ongoing political crisis in the South Caucasus country caused by the parliamentary elections.



The 41-year-old politician faces up to nine years in prison if found guilty.
Tehran says it strongly condemns a weekend attack on the Iranian Consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala following the killing of a prominent activist.

A letter of protest has been handed over to the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on May 10.

"It is the international duty of the Iraqi government to protect diplomatic facilities in the country," Khatibzadeh said, adding that this duty had not met in Karbala on May 9.

That day, dozens of protesters gathered outside the consulate, setting fire to the perimeter wall, a gate, and trailers outside, amid anger over the killing of Ehab Wazni by unknown assailants overnight on May 8 -- the latest in a series of attacks on Iraqi activists that protesters blame on pro-Iranian militias.

Security forces reportedly fired live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators gathered at the consulate, leaving at least 10 people wounded.

Wazni was an organizer of anti-government protests that shook Iraq in October 2019. He was also an outspoken anti-corruption activist, as well as an opponent of the influence of Iran-linked militia and Tehrans influence in Iraq.

Aside from Karbala, his assassination sparked protests elsewhere in the predominately Shiite south of Iraq, including in Basra, Nasiriyah, and Najaf.

The popular protests that erupted in October 2019 and lasted for months demanded a complete overhaul of the countrys political structure, an end to endemic corruption, and improved public services. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the protest movement has abated.

The cross-sectarian protest movement also directed its frustration at neighboring Iran and the powerful Iraqi Shiite militias tied to it, with protesters attacking the Iranian consulates in Najaf and Karbala.

Iran and Iraq have had close relations since the toppling of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

With reporting by AP and dpa
A 20-year-old Iranian man has reportedly been killed -- perhaps beheaded -- by family members in the country's southwest because of his sexual orientation.

Reports from Iran say Alireza Monfared was killed by his brother and cousins earlier this month after they discovered that he had been exempted from military service due to his homosexuality.

Some reports suggested he had been beheaded.

Up to three people were said to have been arrested in connection with the killing, which reportedly took place on May 4 near Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province.

Monfareds partner, Aghil Abyat, told RFE/RL that Monfared had been due to travel to Turkey on May 8 to join him.

The BBC reported it had received audio recordings of Monfared saying he was in danger from family members and that he was planning to flee Iran.

Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran, where sexual minorities have to hide their orientation.

Earlier this year, the UNs special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran expressed concern over reports that the country has subjected lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

With reporting by Yahoo! News and the BBC
Iran has for the first time confirmed that it is holding talks with its bitter regional rival Saudi Arabia, saying that de-escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf is in the interest of both nations and the region.

"There have been talks and they have been about bilateral and regional issues," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at news conference on May 10.

Khatibzadeh said it was "too soon" to discuss the results, insisting that Tehran has always welcomed talks with the Saudis "in any form and at any level."

Iraqi President Barham Salih on May 5 said his country had hosted at least two rounds of talks between Iranian and Saudi representatives, calling the discussions important and significant.

The talks, said to have taken place in Baghdad last month, were the first high-level meeting between the two sides since Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016.

Last week, the head of policy planning at Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry told Reuters that it was too early to judge the outcome of the process, which he said was aimed at reducing regional tensions.

The Sunni-ruled kingdom and Shiite majority Iran have been locked in a rivalry that has played out in proxy conflicts across the region, from Yemen to Syria.

However, Saudi and Iranian officials have recently softened their language and said they were prepared for reconciliation.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has said Riyadh sought a "good and special relationship" with Tehran if Tehran ended its "negative behavior."

Analyst say Saudi Arabia appears to be shifting its regional policies in response to the change of administration in Washington, which has brought renewed criticism of Riyadhs human rights record and regional policies.

Former President Donald Trump pursued a maximum pressure campaign against Iran and generally supported Saudi policies.

But his successor, President Joe Biden, is seeking to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran abandoned by his predecessor, and has signaled impatience with the Saudi-led war in Yemen against Iran-aligned Huthi rebels.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
A U.S. Coast Guard ship fired some 30 warning shots after 13 boats from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) came close to it and other U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon said on May 10.



It was the second time over the past month that U.S. military vessels had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behavior by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year.



Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the warning shots were fired after the Iranian fast boats came to within 150 meters of six U.S. military vessels, including the USS Monterey, which were escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia.



The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Maui fired the warning shots from a .50-caliber machine gun before the Iranian vessels left, Kirby said.



"It's significant...and they were acting very aggressively," he said, adding that there had been more Iranian vessels involved this time than in other incidents in the recent past.



Last month, a U.S. military ship fired warning shots after three Iranian vessels came close to it and another U.S. patrol boat in the Persian Gulf.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Council of Europe member states should reinforce efforts to combat violence against women by quickly ratifying and implementing a regional treaty on womens rights that the group said has faced unprecedented backlash in a number of countries.

HRW made the call in a statement on May 10, the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention.

The convention has been ratified by 33 countries in the 47-member grouping since taking force in 2014.

Twelve others have signed but not yet ratified the convention, including Ukraine, which signed it in 2011.

Azerbaijan and Russia are the only two Council of Europe member states that have not signed the treaty.

HRW warned that some governments have withdrawn or threatened to withdraw from the treaty while others have refused to ratify it despite soaring reports of domestic violence during lockdowns aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed violence against women as one of the most far-reaching and persistent rights abuses, and a daily threat to the lives and health of women and girls around the world, said Hillary Margolis, senior womens rights researcher at the New York-based human rights watchdog.

At this decisive moment, Council of Europe members should demonstrate they are serious about prioritizing the safety and well-being of all women and girls by committing to and carrying out the Istanbul Convention.

The Istanbul Convention establishes robust, legally binding standards for governments to prevent violence against all women and girls, support survivors, and hold abusers to account, according to HRW.

It noted that the treaty mandates protections from forms of violence that are often not incorporated into national legislation, such as sexual harassment or forced marriage, and requires protections for all victims of violence -- regardless of age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and immigration status.

But Turkey earlier this year decided to withdraw from the convention. HRW said the move "poses dangerous risks for the region" and called it a setback for womens rights in the country.

In 2020, Polands justice minister announced he would pursue withdrawal from the convention, while parliaments in Hungary and Slovakia blocked its ratification.

Bulgarias Constitutional Court ruled in 2018 that the conventions use of gender makes it unconstitutional.

Conservative politicians and groups have erroneously claimed the convention threatens 'traditional' families, promotes homosexuality and so-called 'gender ideology,' and corrodes national values, HRW said.

Some governments claim that national legislation provides adequate protection from and accountability for violence against women, while many survivors continue to face stigma, dismissive attitudes from authorities, and social pressure to remain silent, according to the group.
BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz opposition politician and an outspoken critic of President Sadyr Japarov has been arrested on a charge of organizing "mass disorder" in October over anti-government rallies protesting the official results of parliamentary elections.

Jenish Moldokmatov's lawyer, Kantemir Turdaliev, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service on May 10 that his client was arrested and sent to pretrial detention for two months over the weekend.

Turdaliev called the charge "absurd" and said the court's May 8 ruling will be appealed.

During the court hearing over his arrest, Moldokmatov rejected the charge, calling it politically motivated, his lawyer said.

Moldokmatov was one of the candidates to the Kyrgyz parliament in October who, according to official results, lost the election.

He took part with thousands of others in the mass protests following the election in Bishkek. The rallies led to the governments resignation and then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov stepping down.

Current President Sadyr Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the unrest. He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage-taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He maintains the charges against him were politically motivated.

Japarov easily won the presidential election in January.

Moldokmatov's arrest came three days after Japarov signed into law a bill on constitutional amendments approved by a nationwide referendum in April that has been criticized by his opponents as a move to concentrate more powers in his hands.
Fighting in Kyrgyz-Tajik border areas has died down after deadly clashes in late April, but residents of the Tajik region of Vorukh say tensions remain high. They're set apart from the rest of their country, surrounded by Kyrgyz territory, and some fear that their freedom of movement and access to resources are far from guaranteed.
NATO members from Eastern Europe have pushed for a larger allied military presence on the bloc's eastern flank, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on May 10 after a virtual summit of those states that was also joined by U.S. President Joe Biden.



"The worrying situation in the Black Sea, which we discussed in detail, proved that we have to keep being vigilant," Iohannis said in Bucharest.



The summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of European countries on the eastern edge of NATO, was jointly hosted by Iohannis and Polish President Andrzej Duda, who traveled to Bucharest in person.



It came after Russia last month amassed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine's borders as well as in Crimea, the biggest mobilization since Moscow seized the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014 and war broke out in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is backing separatists.

"NATO must continue to beef up its defense and deterrence posture especially on the eastern flank from the Baltic to the Black Sea. That's why, including during our discussion with President Biden, I advocated a bigger presence of the alliance and the United States in Romania and in the south of the eastern flank," Iohannis said.



"The talks were very substantive, a fact reflected in the Joint Statement adopted at the end of this meeting," Iohannis added.



"I've also highlighted during the talks with my counterparts that Russia's destabilizing actions in the region have sparked concern and contributed to maintaining a climate of insecurity."



Ahead of the summit, the White House said Biden would convey his desire for closer cooperation with our Allies in Central Europe and the Baltic and Black Sea regions on the full range of global challenges."

The members of the B9 are Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Most share concerns about Moscow's attempts to reassert its influence over their region since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and threw its military, political, and economic support behind separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who also attended via video link, told the conference that Biden's attendance proved Washington's determination to rebuild and strengthen NATO.

Duda said at a news briefing before the meeting that the political situation in Belarus was a matter of concern for the B9 countries and Ukraine was also on the agenda.



He said he was relieved that Russia had pulled back many of the forces it had recently built up near the Ukrainian border, saying he believed it reduced the risk of another Russian invasion.



"But there is no doubt that the situation there is very difficult, that Ukrainian territory is occupied," Duda said at the briefing alongside Iohannis.



"Neither Europe nor the world can take their eyes off this part of our continent," Duda said. "We must all absolutely support Ukraine on the one hand, but on the other hand, we must also guard our security because this is our eastern flank, both for Romania and for Poland."



Iohannis and Duda will attend a military exercise on May 11 involving Polish and Romanian troops called Justice Sword 21. It is to take place in Smardan, a village in eastern Romania.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Romanian Service and AP
When hostilities broke out along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border at the end of April, many countries and organizations were quick to call for an end to the fighting and a peaceful resolution to the long-running border conflict.

No one wanted to openly side with either Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, let alone comment on the violence that left more than 50 people dead.

But in the days following an agreement between Kyrgyz and Tajik officials that halted the fighting, there have been hints of the positions of some leaders through their statements and actions.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was fortunate to have accepted an invitation months ago to make an official visit to Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day celebrations. Rahmon was the only head of state to attend the Moscow ceremonies but the trip allowed him an opportunity to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 8 and again the next day during the parade on Red Square.

Reports on the meetings of the two presidents did not mention any discussion of the April 28-30 fighting on the border, though Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said days earlier it would be on the agenda, and Putin had offered on April 30 to act as a mediator in the conflict.

Where Moscow Stands

Putin's comments were interesting, as they seemed to indirectly address the problem between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The topic of Russia's bases in Tajikistan, where Russia's 201st Division has been stationed since shortly after the end of World War II, is a perennial whenever Putin and Rahmon meet and with U.S. and other foreign forces withdrawing from Afghanistan. Putin said Russia would "work on strengthening [the bases] and on strengthening the armed forces of Tajikistan."

The part about strengthening Tajikistan's military was certainly noticed in Kyrgyzstan, even if Putin said the strengthening was needed because of increased fighting in Afghanistan. Though both sides in the border fighting took substantial losses, the casualty figures show that Kyrgyz took a worse beating in the fighting with the Tajiks.

The Kremlin has made many statements about the need for stability in Kyrgyzstan, where Russia also has a military base and where there have been three revolutions since 2005.

In July 2019, then-Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev met with Putin in Moscow. Atambaev was in the midst of a feud with his successor, President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, but despite technically being under house arrest, Atambaev left Kyrgyzstan on a plane that departed from the Russian military base in Kant.

At the end of the meeting with Atambaev, Putin referred to the 2005 and 2010 revolutions in Kyrgyzstan: "Kyrgyzstan has endured several serious internal political shocks...at least two," adding, "the country needs political stability."

Putin also said that as part of achieving stability, the people in Kyrgyzstan should "unite around the current president and help him in developing the state."

The feud between Atambaev and Jeenbekov did not end and barely two weeks later, elite troops of Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry raided Atambaev's compound outside Bishkek. After a deadly standoff, Atambaev surrendered and was eventually put in prison.

Then in October 2020, protests over the results of rigged parliamentary elections ousted Jeenbekov. But Moscow's relations with the new government of President Sadyr Japarov have been icy.

Rahmon, on the other hand, has been in power in Tajikistan for nearly 29 years and, for the Kremlin, he represents stability in a country that borders Afghanistan. Russia has put a lot of effort and money into making Tajikistan a country that could hold the line against spillover from Afghanistan.

However, in his meeting with Rahmon on May 8, Putin also spoke about Tajik migrant laborers in Russia. "I know this is a sensitive issue for Tajikistan," he said. "A significant volume of support for the families [of migrant laborers] is sent from Russia back home [to Tajikistan]."

That is true also for Kyrgyzstan. Hundreds of thousands of citizens of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan work in Russia and send money back to their families. Without these funds the economies of both countries would collapse, and the resulting economic decline would fuel social unrest.

By promising to lend further help to Tajikistan's military, Putin might be sending a message to Kyrgyz authorities to forget about any thoughts of renewing aggression along the border with Tajikistan, and by mentioning the billions of dollars migrant laborers send back, he sends a message to both countries about the potential leverage Russia can employ against Tajikistan -- or Kyrgyzstan -- if either side takes measures along their common border that destabilize the situation.

Offering Condolences, Aid

While the Kremlin needs to maintain some sort of balancing act, other countries do not. Again, no country or international organization has come out on the side of either Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan. But some have sent messages of sympathy over losses from the fighting.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev phoned President Japarov on May 1 to express his condolences to the victims of the fighting in the southern Batken Province, and to say Kazakhstan was ready to render humanitarian aid to Kyrgyzstan.

Toqaev also spoke with Rahmon, who reportedly "informed [Toqaev] in detail" about the history of the border conflict and the current situation. Toqaev also offered to help mediate between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and is scheduled to visit Dushanbe on May 19-20.

On May 4, Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov phoned Kyrgyz counterpart Ruslan Kazakbaev to offer Turkmenistan's condolences "to family and friends of the deceased citizens of Kyrgyzstan."

That same day, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan phoned Kazakbekov with the same message. Ayvazyan also spoke with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin on May 4, but reports did not mention if Ayvazyan expressed any condolences for Tajik losses.

Japarov spoke with Putin on May 10 and the two reportedly discussed the recent fighting.

Putin promised to provide humanitarian aid for Kyrgyzstan, but a phone call is not the same as two days of meetings in Moscow, even though many of the details of the Putin-Rahmon talks -- particularly their discussion of the fighting along the border -- remain unknown.
In his speeches at the annual Red Square military parade marking the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized the massive role the Soviet Union played, while often minimizing the contributions made by the Western Allies, including the United States.

This year, he seemed to take that approach a step further, even going off-script -- possibly -- to suggest that the Soviet Union essentially defeated Hitler on its own. The remark drew criticism from Russians who accuse Putin of using the people's pride in the victory in the war, which killed an estimated 27 million Soviet citizens and left few families untouched, for his own political purposes.

In the initial Russian-language transcript of the May 9 address on the Kremlin website, Putin is quoted as saying that "at the most difficult moments in the war, during decisive battles that determined the result of the struggle against fascism, our people were united -- united in the toilsome, heroic, and sacrificial path to victory."

Those words are unremarkable: Amid ethnic tensions inside Russia today and disputes between Russia and other former Soviet republics, Putin has often used his Victory Day speech to advance the narrative of wartime unity among the Soviet people -- though in some cases, such as with dictator Josef Stalin's persecution of ethnic groups in the North Caucasus, this picture is inaccurate.

But in the speech itself, Putin replaced the word that means "united" with one that means "alone," suggesting that the Soviet Union -- at least at the most crucial junctures in the war -- had no help.

"I didn't even believe it at first -- I looked at the text and it said 'united,' and I thought I had heard it wrong," Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin adviser who is a critic of Putin, told the Russian news outlet Dozhd TV. "Then I listened to him again -- no, he specifically said 'alone.'"

Andrei Kolesnikov, who heads the Russian domestic politics program at the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, also said he did a double take when he heard Putin's words.

"In the official text of Putin's Victory Day speech [it says] 'our people were united,'" Kolesnikov, who is also a critic of Putin, wrote on Twitter. "I clearly heard [that] he said twice: 'our nation was one, one (in a sense of alone) on...the road to Victory.' In any case, no allies in the Victory were mentioned."

'Denial Of Reality'

At some point after the address, the Russian-language transcript on the Kremlin website was altered to conform with Putin's words, and it was unclear whether he had misspoken or said "alone" deliberately. Either way, it fit in with what analysts say is Putin's use of the May 9 celebrations and the speech itself to seek to burnish his image and to send messages to the Russian people and foreign leaders.

Over Putin's 17 years as president, the parade speech has been a kind of barometer of ties with the West. In years when relations have been better, Putin has mentioned the Western Allies' contributions.

In 2005, with U.S. President George W. Bush among leaders from both former Allied and Axis powers in attendance, Putin said that "the most ruthless and decisive events -- the events that determined the drama and the outcome of this inhuman war -- unfolded on the territory of the Soviet Union."

But he also paid tribute to the Western Allies, saying: "We never divided victory into ours and theirs. We will always remember our allies -- the United States, Great Britain, France, and the other countries that fought in the anti-Nazi coalition, the German and Italian anti-fascists."

This year, it came at a time when relations between Moscow and the West are at or near the lowest levels since the Cold War, and in some ways even below those levels. The only foreign leader on the podium on Red Square to watch the parade and hear Putin's speech was Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

But it was not the first time Putin he has neglected to mention the role of the Western allies in defeating Nazi Germany -- an omission that seems in part a product of the frequent assertions by Russian officials that Western governments downplay the Soviet role, which was inarguably colossal and came at a massive cost that is still being felt in Russia and other former republics even as few veterans remain.

It was also not the first time, by any means, that his Victory Day speech has included veiled hints that the world now faces potential threats from Moscow's wartime allies in Washington and the West.

Critics said that in describing the Soviet Union as "alone," Putin took the Kremlin's narrative of the war too far.

His language was "a denial of the reality of a world war," opposition politician Leonid Gozman wrote on Facebook. "He managed not to say a word about those whom Stalin called 'our valiant allies.'"

Putin's message, he said, seemed to be that Russia is "alone against the world," Gozman wrote, adding that he had also "essentially likened all the countries in conflict with the state he leads to Nazi Germany."

Stolen Victory?

Pavlovsky also contrasted Putin with Stalin, who he said mentioned allies in a in a speech on Red Square in November 1941, and suggested that Putin's wording reflected his own feelings and fears. "It's he who is alone. He feels abandoned, betrayed, surrounded by enemies," Pavlovsky told Dozhd TV. "He has no allies."

Another analyst, Abbas Gallyamov, said that ahead of September parliamentary elections in which the unpopular Kremlin-controlled United Russia party faces a test, Putin is trying to use the war and the Soviet victory as something voters will associate with him and his government.

"On practically all the issues on the current agenda -- political, economic, and social -- the Kremlin has already lost the sympathy of the majority," Gallyamov told Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

"But for the majority [Victory Day] really is a sacred holiday, and the patriotic rhetoric about how our grandfathers fought more or less answers to the mood of the majority, or at least does not sharply contradict it," he said. "And so, Putin is hysterically trying to drag the historical agenda into the current political discourse."

Imprisoned Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny has not commented on Putin's May 9 address. But at a court hearing late last month, he said the World War II victory was one of the pieces of the past that Putin had tried to "appropriate -- to steal -- and to use for his own personal purposes."

"He has been doing this for many years with our people's victory in the Great Patriotic War," Navalny, who was convicted of defaming a World War II veteran in a trial he contends was politically motivated, said at an appeals hearing on April 29. "He is trying to appropriate it for himself."

Vladimir Mikhailov of Current Time contributed to this report
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on May 9 presented one of the state's highest honors to Peter Handke, an Austrian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2019 who denies the genocide in Srebrenica.

The Order of Karadjordje's Star of the First Degree was given to Handke in Belgrade because of his uncompromising fight for the truth, according to a statement by the moderator of the ceremony.

Vucic said that by presenting the award, Serbia shows its gratitude to its academic and friend Handke. Vucic also thanked him for everything you do for our country, for our Serbia, and apologized that some Serbs have not always been able to show enough gratitude for everything you have done for us.



The honor is for "special merits and successes in representing the state (Serbia) and its citizens, according to the website of the Serbian Army. A decree on awarding the honor to the writer was passed in February 2020.

Handke, who was declared an honorary citizen of Belgrade in 2015, arrived in Belgrade from Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he received the highest awards two days earlier by representatives of the Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity of Bosnia. Film director Emir Kusturica also honored him with the literary Grand Prize Ivo Andric in the eastern city of Visegrad.

In Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, however, Handke's visit to the region was met with rejection and dismay. The local media referred to him as a "genocide denier."

Handke is well known for his support of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's policies in the 1990s. He was criticized by the international community for his support for internationally isolated Serbia, visits with Milosevic in The Hague tribunal's detention unit, and attendance at his funeral.

Many in the Balkans see Handke as an apologist for Serb war crimes during the conflicts that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Bosnia marked the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide last year. In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were rounded up and killed by Bosnian Serb forces in the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II.

The massacre was labeled as genocide by international courts, but Serbian and Bosnian Serb officials refuse to accept that wording.

The 78-year-old Handke, considered one of the most original German-language writers alive, has argued that Serbs were unfairly portrayed by the Western press as the only aggressors in the conflict.

Handke was a controversial choice for the 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature. Bosnia, Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Turkey boycotted the Nobel Prize award ceremony that year. Protests also were held in Sweden on the day the awards were presented.

Numerous reporters who reported on wars in Bosnia and Kosovo raised their voices against Handke on social media at the time.

With reporting by Tatjiana Bogdanov Krstic, dpa, AFP, and AP
XALQOBOD, Uzbekistan -- A court in Uzbekistan's southern Surxondaryo region has sentenced blogger Otabek Sattoriy to 6 1/2 years in prison in a high-profile extortion and slander case that has sparked harsh criticism of the country by domestic and international human rights groups.



The Muzrabot district court pronounced the ruling on May 10. Last week, a prosecutor asked the court to sentence the blogger to 11 years in prison.



The 40-year-old blogger faced a number of charges, including extortion and slander, which his supporters and rights defenders have characterized as retaliation by the authorities for his critical reporting.



Sattoriy, whose trial started in March, has insisted that the case against him was "based on lies."



Sattoriy is known to be a harsh critic of the regional governor, Tora Bobolov. In one post on his Halq Fikiri (People's Opinion) video blog, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the "crackdown."



Since his arrest in late-January, Sattoriy has been tried in a separate case and found guilty of defamation and distributing false information. According to the Prosecutor-General's Office, the blogger was ordered to pay a fine for the offenses.



The Prosecutor-General's Office has also rejected criticism by human rights organizations, saying that Sattoriys arrest was lawful.



Uzbekistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders organization's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.



Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Uzbekistan to repeal recent legal amendments that the group says "deepen restrictions" on online speech ahead of a planned presidential election in October.



The changes introduce prison sentences for crimes such as insulting or defaming the president online and making online calls for "mass disturbances." They also make it an offense to publish statements online calling on people to violate the law and threaten public order, or show "disrespect" to the state.



President Shavkat Mirziyoev took over as the head of Central Asia's most-populous state after authoritarian leader Islam Karimov's death was announced in September 2016.



Mirziyoev has since positioned himself as a reformer, releasing political prisoners and opening his country to its neighbors and the outside world, although many activists say the changes have not gone nearly far enough.
New Delhi: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has donated Rs 2 crore to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Covid Care Centre at the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib here to help them combat the coronavirus crisis.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, shared the news on Twitter.

He often said;

?? ????? ?? ????? ?? ?????... ?? ????? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ????!@SrBachchan Ji contributed a huge Amt & also took the pain to ensure oxygen concentrators get shipped frm abroad & reach on time



He is not just a REEL Hero but a Real life Hero https://t.co/5NEFgsZid5 pic.twitter.com/DA1onuT4RE  Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) May 9, 2021

"Sikhs are Legendary, salute to their service'. These were the words of @SrBachchan Ji when he contributed Rs 2 Cr to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Covid Care Facility," Sirsa wrote on Sunday.

He said when Delhi was facing crunch in oxygen supply, Bachchan would every day enquire about the progress at the facility, which started operations from Monday afternoon with 300 beds.

Amitabh Bachchan

In another tweet, Sirsa informed that the 78-year-old actor has also arranged oxygen cylinders from abroad for the facility.

"He is not just a REEL Hero but a Real life Hero," he said.
New Delhi: Hitting out at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the government's "repeated chest-thumping" at receiving foreign aid to tackle the Covid-19 crisis in the country is pathetic and had it done its job, it would not have come to this.

The Congress had last week demanded transparency and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make public the details of all the relief material received by India from different countries.

GOIs repeated chest-thumping at receiving foreign aid is pathetic.



Had GOI done its job, it wouldnt have come to this.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 10, 2021

"GOI's repeated chest-thumping at receiving foreign aid is pathetic. Had GOI done its job, it wouldn't have come to this," Gandhi said in a tweet.

As India reels under a calamitous second wave of the coronavirus infection, it has received large amounts of medical supplies from a significant number of countries, including the US, Russia, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Romania, Singapore, Sweden and Kuwait.
Two Donors Give $1.33 Million to the San Diego Automotive Museum

Plus, Share the Dough donates $12,500 to San Diego Rescue Mission, and restaurants pitch in to help kids in foster care
The 54-year-old man accused of stabbing two women in San Francisco last week pleaded not guilty Monday to a number of charges, including two counts of attempted murder.

Patrick Thompson was arrested last Tuesday after reports of a double stabbing around Fourth and Market streets. Thompson is accused of stabbing the two women, ages 63 and 84, multiple times as they waited at a bus stop. Both victims are expected to recover.

Outside of the courtroom Monday, District Attorney Chesa Boudin  who is handling the prosecution of Thompson  said he was outraged at the violence against elders in San Franciscos Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The two women Thompson is charged with attacking are Asian.

Weve seen a wave of violence against Asians and Pacific Islanders in particular, said Boudin. Enough is enough. Im rolling up my sleeves, Im doing whatever I can to lead my office toward building a safer San Francisco for everyone.

Boudin said that at this point Thompson will not be charged with a hate crime but that the investigation is still ongoing and if new evidence emerges, changes to the charges could be made.

Here, based on available evidence, we could not even prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew they were Asian, much less that their identity is what motivated the crime, Boudin said. If we see a pattern of similar behaviors, if we find social media postings, or other statements made by the defendant, that would be the kind of evidence we need to amend the complaint at a future date.

The case comes after a spate of violence against the Bay Areas Asian American and Pacific Islander community. In San Francisco, hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 140% in the first quarter of 2021. The national coalition Stop AAPI Hate has documented 931 hate incidents in the Bay Area  359 of them in San Francisco  since the pandemic began, The Chronicle reported.

The case against Thompson also comes amid news of another attack against an Asian man in San Francisco last month. Boudin announced this week that the man accused of beating a 36-year-old Asian father outside a Mission Bay grocery store would be charged with a hate crime.

Boudin is expected to argue at a hearing on Thursday that Thompson be kept in jail ahead of any potential trial.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Brian Ferrall also signed a criminal protective order that mandates Thompson stay at least 150 yards from both victims and from the scene of the crime.

Based on my review of the incident ... I do believe at least provisionally that there is a basis to conclude that there is a substantial likelihood of great bodily injury if the defendant were released, Ferrall said.

Thompson, who refused to appear in court Friday, was represented by deputy public defender Eric Fleischaker during the arraignment on Monday morning. Thompsons arrest comes three years after he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon  but was sent to a state hospital in Napa after a judge found him incompetent to face those charges.

Fleischaker did not respond to questions following Mondays hearing.

Thompson received treatment at the hospital for schizophrenia and psychotic disorder and returned to San Francisco in July 2018. Thompson was later placed in a mental health diversion program, which defense attorneys at the San Francisco Public Defenders Office said he completed in August 2020.

Chronicle staff writer Megan Cassidy contributed to this report.

Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annievain
Expanding on what officials called a promising start to San Franciscos new police-free mental health crisis teams, Mayor London Breed is proposing a sister division that would respond to lower-level wellness calls that traditionally have been handled by armed officers.

The street wellness response teams would represent the latest in the citys efforts to dial back police presence from calls for service that dont involve criminal activity  particularly those involving mental health and homelessness.

We are continuing our work to make a significant change to improve how we effectively serve people in need on our streets, Breed said in a statement.

Many calls to 911 or 311 about someone who appears to need help on our streets dont require an armed police response, and often the services and care people need would be best provided by a paramedic or outreach worker instead of a police officer.

Breeds proposal, announced Monday, comes as the city launches its fourth street crisis response team  trios made up of a paramedic, a behavioral health clinician and a peer health worker who respond to people in the throes of a mental-health crises.

There is broad support throughout San Francisco City Hall for replacing police with people trained to handle psychiatric crises and other types of mental-health emergencies.

The street teams were one of the key pillars of Breeds police reform blueprint released last year in the wake of the George Floyd killing and a national uprising over police brutality against Black people. The teams were also important elements of Mental Health SF, the sweeping proposal to overhaul the citys mental health care system, spearheaded by Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Matt Haney.

The wellness teams would work in tandem with their crisis team counterparts, but would tend to scenes where the need is less severe. This could include reports of a homeless person sprawled out on the sidewalk, someone with an obvious injury or calls from out-of-towners who havent heard from an elderly relative in a few days and want someone to check in.

Most of the people that are out in the street and exhibiting problem behavior are not having an acute behavioral crisis, said Simon Pang, section chief of community paramedicine at the San Francisco Fire Department.

Pang, who heads the departments street team efforts, said while the subject of a mental-health call may have a history of mental illness or be in a social distress, many dont meet the threshold for the crisis teams, or require a psychologist or social worker on scene.

What they need is someone to assess them to make sure there isnt an acute medical emergency that needs to be addressed, and have the ability to connect them to any resource the city has to offer, Pang said. We can do that.

The initial five wellness teams would consist of a paramedic and homeless outreach team member, operate in 12-hour shifts, and handle about six or seven calls per day, according to the mayors office. Its estimated to cost about $3.8 million in the first year and $5.8 million in the second year as the program scales up to 10 total teams by the end of 2022.

Breed will include these funds in her next budget proposal, which will be unveiled on June 1. If approved, officials plan to launch at least one team by January of next year and up to five teams by April 2022.

By April of this year, city officials said the street crisis response teams had responded to more than 700 calls since its soft launch in November, which began with just one team in the Tenderloin.

The vast majority of those calls, officials said, were dispatched from 911, meaning they significantly diverted what would have likely been a police presence. This amounted to about 19% of the dispatch calls for a mentally disturbed person.

In 2019, San Francisco dispatchers fielded about 12,000 mental-health crisis calls. Calls for well-being checks  the ones that will be handled by the new teams  clocked in at about 18,000 calls.

I feel like this team that were proposing is nimble enough that we could respond to any nature of these checks on well-being, Pang said. People wont be alarmed to see our department member knocking on the door and asking is everything OK.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
The participating ships in the drill. (Photo by Xue Chengqing)

JAKARTA, May 10 -- According to the annual training plan, a far-sea training taskforce composed of the guided-missile frigates Liuzhou and Suqian from the navy under the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command held a joint maritime training exercise with the Indonesian Navy in the waters near Jakarta, Indonesia on the morning of May 8, local time.

The guided-missile frigate Usman Harun and missile craft Halasan from the Indonesian Navy participated in the drill. Participating warships from both sides took turns to act as the commanding ship in the drill.

Before the drill kicked off, the Chinese naval ships sounded the siren in mourning and the sailors manned the rail to express their deep condolences for the victims of the sunken Indonesian Navys submarine Nanggala-402.

The training subjects arranged in this joint drill included ship-to-ship communication, joint search and rescue, and ship formation movements. In the ship-to-shipcommunication drill, the participating ships exercised the flashing light signalling and VHF (Very High Frequency) communication. The drill went smoothly and efficiently, demonstrating the well-trained communication capabilities of both parties.

During the joint search and rescue drill, frigate Liuzhou randomly dropped dummies after arriving at the drilling area, setting up the scenario of nearby merchant ship crews falling into the water. The Indonesian naval frigate Usman Harun then commanded the other two participating ships to advance to their respective searching areas . The lookout on the Chinese frigate Suqian spotted the "persons in the water" first and spared no time to report to the commanding ship of the drill. After receiving the order of rescue sent by the commanding ship from the Indonesian Navy, a jolly boat with sailors onboard dropped from the frigate Suqian went full steam ahead for the rescue, and the person in the water was successfully picked up. .

The following formation movement drill was commanded by the Chinese naval frigate Liuzhou. The participating ships carried out a variety of formation changes from the initial double-column formation. The two sides maintained close communication and cooperation throughtout the drill.

Mei Guoqiang, a commanding officer of the Chinese naval far-sea training taskforce, told PLA Daily that, by holding the joint training exercise, the two navies further improved the coordination between the warships of both sides, promoted professional exchanges and enhanced mutual trust and cooperation, and demonstrated together their concrete actions to safeguard regional peace and stability and to promote the building of a maritime community with a shared future.
A debate over how to teach math in California is heating up as state officials look to redefine success in the subject, with calculus no longer the gold standard of achievement, and a move to push Algebra 1 out of middle schools.

The proposed revamping of the states math framework for its 6 million K-12 students has sparked yet another math war. It is one of many over the decades as parents, politicians and mathematicians battle over not only when and how to teach fractions, functions and quadratic equations, but what topics shouldnt be taught at all.

The debates comes as the country has slowly lost ground in math to dozens of others, a potential liability in a global economy, and as Republicans and Democrats are battling over equity issues in education, with math a common flash point.

California decided to require Algebra 1 in eighth grade about 25 years ago, then made it an option 10 years ago. State officials are now recommending a delay in offering the course until high school, which would eliminate the need to track students into accelerated programs in middle school, a controversial decision San Francisco made in 2014.

The goal is a deeper understanding of concepts rather than a race through memorized skill sets, supporters say.

Critics, however, question whether the effort will be an attempt to sacrifice advanced students on the altar of equity amid a desire to keep students together in math class until junior year in high school.

State officials have pushed back on the concerns with a mountain of research and support from university experts, who say the goal of racing through math courses to reach calculus too often results in a cursory understanding of the topic. That can lead to student burnout and a hatred of math that sticks with them for the rest of their lives.

Traditionally, particularly in secondary math education, theres been very much this notion we can measure what students know by how far they go, said Michael Steele, associate professor of math education at the University of Wisconsin. Theres really been an acceleration in this mathematics course-taking arms race.

In other words, there is a general belief that the quicker you get to calculus, the smarter you are. Increasingly, colleges and universities are rejecting that notion, eliminating the expectation students must complete calculus to be competitive for admission.

Its not about the names of courses, Steele said. Its about the learning that happens inside of it.

Many disagree, holding fast to the notion that the farther you get in math, the better.

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call 2019

The 21st Century requires more education, not less, said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), said in a tweet last week lambasting the proposed framework. Your proposed math framework takes our state backwards. You will be hurting an entire generation of children and our future. Do not do this.

The guidelines also look to eliminate the belief that some kids are good at math and should be propelled forward, while others are not, left to lag behind. While the framework would not be mandatory for districts even if passed by the state Board of Education later this year, the recommendations could be aligned with future state policies related to funding or standardized testing.

Students internalize these messages to such a degree that undoing a self-identity that is bad at math to one that loves math is rare, according to the framework.

Under the current proposal, the state recommends students stay together in the same math sequence through sophomore year geometry, with opportunities for accelerated coursework after that. Currently, many districts offer students the chance to take more advanced math courses starting in middle school.

Despite accusations by critics, the 800-page document does not recommend eliminating calculus.

Were not kicking calculus to the curb, said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the state Board of Education. It does present the research that the rush to calculus without the depth of understanding is not beneficial to long-term math (achievement).

The framework is still a work in progress, with the first round of public comment complete. The draft will be revised and then pushed through another round of public vetting this summer. The state school board is expected to vote on it in November.

The document includes examples of how to teach various concepts as well as three types of math course sequences through high school, which would allow higher-level math including calculus, statistics or data science.

Yet Orinda parent Chris van Loben Sels believes the recommendations would decrease opportunities for advanced students. The further in math you go in high school, the better, he said, with increased odds for college acceptances and scholarships.

In his sons school district, students can take Algebra 1 in seventh grade, geometry at the local high school in eighth grade and calculus by sophomore year.

Progress is getting more kids to get further in math, he said. Regardless of what our hopes may be, getting into college is competitive and when kids are able to get further in math, it helps them compete.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

In part, state officials drafting the framework looked to San Francisco Unified, which pushed Algebra 1 out of middle school in 2014, a decision that remains controversial even now.

But by 2019, the district saw a dramatic increase in the number of students who passed Algebra 1, said Lizzy Hull Barnes, the districts Mathematics & Computer Science supervisor.

In addition, the number of students taking Advanced Placement math courses soared to 1,819 students, up from 1,641 in 2016, despite high school enrollment staying flat, and those taking the courses include more students of color, Barnes said.

Enrollment in calculus has dipped slightly to 1,085 this year, about 50 fewer students than five years ago, but at the same time enrollment in Advanced Placement Statistics has increased nearly 50%, to 734 enrolled in the course.

Despite the example of success and consistent research associated with slowing down the pace, it causes fear and anxiety, said Rachael Maves, California Department of Education deputy superintendent for Instruction and Measurement.

Some of this is based on a misunderstanding and misconception of what were trying to accomplish here, which pushes against traditional notions and thinking, she said. The importance and outcome of math is providing a depth of understanding around mathematical concepts, not necessarily how quickly can we get to the top.

Piedmont dad Mike Malione, who has read all 800-plus pages of the draft framework, disagrees, saying there is too much focus on the beauty and joy students should have for math rather than the necessary skills. Its like teaching an art appreciation class rather than teaching how to make art.

It sort of forces everyone into one slow lane, he said. The ones who are capable are never going to be able to move fast enough.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
City College of San Francisco and its faculty union headed off drastic layoffs and class cuts for at least a year over the weekend, after marathon negotiations meant to stave off the largest downsizing in the schools history.

Hundreds of full- and part-time instructors represented by the American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 who expected to be without a job next fall now have until Monday afternoon to ratify a one-year contract that includes pay cuts and other, undisclosed concessions.

This tentative agreement means that in the fall, City College classes will be open for our students, said Malaika Finkelstein, the union president.

City College trustees approved pink slips for 163 full-time faculty members in March, setting off weeks of protests by students and faculty members. More than 440 part-time instructors also were set to be let go.

Altogether, the reductions were expected to lead to the loss of 600 classes next fall, eliminating or drastically reducing entire fields of study, including Cantonese, womens and gender studies, Philippine studies, and fashion.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

City College is facing a $35 million deficit and planned to eliminate much of that with faculty layoffs and cuts to salaries and benefits, Vice Chancellor Tom Boegel said.

In broad terms, the new agreement reduces the projected deficit by $22.6 million with salary cuts and additional, unspecified salary savings and retirement savings.

City College officials declined to comment on details of the agreement, including how many courses will be cut, until it is ratified.

Finkelstein said the proposal ensures that most of the classes that would have been eliminated will be offered in fall.

That still leaves a longer-term problem  a big problem, she said. So we still need more investment if were going to serve the community of San Francisco.

Faculty members and the colleges Board of Trustees are looking to city supervisors for long-term help. They would like to see the college receive ongoing funding from the city, as the San Francisco Unified School District does.

City College has lost thousands of students in recent years but has been unwilling to shrink classes and fire faculty to match the new reality, according to fiscal monitors.

One report last month found that the college risks going broke in part because it spends too much on salaries and benefits  up to 98% of its general fund, compared with a statewide average at community colleges of 88.8%. The April 7 assessment from the states Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team echoed audits and concerns from an accrediting commission that placed City College on enhanced monitoring in October for its financial problems.

But many instructors reject these reports, saying the 86-year-old college needs more funding and a campaign to bring students back.

This is a struggle over the soul of public education, said Marcy Rein, co-author of Free City: The Fight for San Franciscos City College and Education for All, which tracks the colleges successful effort to fend off accreditors who tried from 2012 to 2017 to close the financially troubled school.

Rein has joined students and faculty to speak out against the cuts, which they say would cause people of color to suffer most because they represent more than 80% of City College students.

While the college and the faculty have reached an agreement this year, both sides recognize that its only a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

For a decade, state lawmakers have been transforming Californias 116 community colleges into vehicles for full-time students to transfer to a university or earn a vocational certificate. They have stopped funding colleges based on enrollment alone, and have created a student-centered funding formula to reward schools that increase the number of students who earn associate degrees and certificates, transfer to a university, speedily complete transfer-level math and English courses, and earn career education units.

City College is one of 29 community colleges still funded according to enrollment alone because they are far from achieving the goals. The protection expires in 2024.

Activists say City College should be exempted from the new funding system because most of those enrolled are not recent high school graduates or full-time students. Many are parents, immigrants, formerly incarcerated people, former foster youth and senior citizens.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

Full-time students have not topped 10% of enrollment for at least 30 years, even when the college reported more than 100,000 students in 2008, records show. Current enrollment is about 55,000 students. Just 2,955 of them studied full time last year, and only 796 of those were fresh out of high school.

Reshaping City College fails to really, truly understand the classes that bring most benefit, Vick Van Chung, a student and nonvoting member of the Board of Trustees, told The Chronicle.

Boegel, the vice chancellor, said that in the long run, the college has no choice. We have to acknowledge the reality of the (forthcoming) student-centered funding formula, he said.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

At 25, Julia Quon is a more typical student. She is a 2019 graduate of UC San Diego and is taking her prerequisites for a nursing degree shell complete at a university. She also studies Cantonese, one of the offerings that was set to be eliminated. Quon and many other students need Cantonese for work, and it remains unclear whether the classes will survive under the new agreement.

Quon is a doula at San Francisco General Hospital, where many patients speak Cantonese. A classmate, Angela Wisco, is an emergency medical technician who was the only member of her ambulance team who could communicate with a patient during a recent ride.

There was a huge uproar in the Zoom class the other evening when students learned that Cantonese faces elimination, Quon said. She and classmates quickly formed Save Cantonese at CCSF.

I felt it was another act of anti-Asian hate, she said of the planned cuts.

On Thursday, before the tentative agreement with faculty was reached, protesters largely representing Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander solidarity took their anti-cuts message outside the San Francisco home of Tom Temprano, a member of the Board of Trustees.

He wasnt there, but said in an interview that he agreed with the protesters. He added, This is what student activists should do when they feel their school is in trouble.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
Since the Outer Sunset Farmers Market & Mercantile opened last summer, eating and shopping at the bustling, two-block market has become an essential Sunday activity for the neighborhood.

The markets food vendors in particular have become a draw. People line up for the rich, sweet turkey mole tacos on toothsome, fresh-pressed tortillas at Molcaxitl Kitchen, or Thai chicken skewers that sizzle on the grill at Vanida Thai Kitchens stand. Nearby, Dontaye Bell at Gumbo Social ladles chicken-sausage gumbo into containers; hell probably then recommend the luscious banana pudding at the neighboring Yes Pudding stand for dessert.

Its also a bread-lovers market, with naturally leavened loaves from the former head baker of Outerlands, as well as William Fenimore of Driftwood Bread Co., who bakes baguettes, breads and pita with grains he mills himself in his Sunset home kitchen.

The food can hold its own in San Francisco, but the farmers market, which takes place along 37th Avenue between Ortega and Quintara streets, is uniquely by the neighborhood and for the neighborhood. Almost all of the food vendors are based in the Sunset, or the owners live there.

Angie Petitt-Taylor, a longtime Sunset resident whos passionate about giving small businesses a platform to grow, started the market last year. She was approached by District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar following the success of several pop-up markets she organized in the neighborhood.

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

The Outer Sunset market has nurtured community and connection during a time when both were in short supply. Its now one of the citys liveliest farmers markets, full of families with young children, live music and uplifting energy.

Its like a breath of fresh air for people to get above the water for a second, metaphorically speaking, and see other people, Fenimore said. There are kids dancing, there are bubbles blowing, theres music, theres food. Its been a fantastic way to nourish or give us some sort of semblance of normalcy during this crazy time.

The market is well worth a trip even if you dont live in the neighborhood. The two blocks are full of enticing food options, from Detroit-style pizza to cake doughnuts and rotisserie chicken, which you can enjoy at tables and chairs set up alongside Sunset Boulevard.

Here are seven vendors worth checking out.

Outer Sunset Farmers Market & Mercantile, 37th Avenue between Ortega and Quintara streets. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, year-round. sunsetmercantilesf.com/

Molcaxitl Kitchen

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

At the Molcaxitl Kitchen stand, Nomar Ramirez pays homage to the food he grew up eating as a first-generation Mexican American in Los Angeles.

Take his sweet, rich mole, a family recipe thats made from three types of chiles, about 20 spices, several kinds of roasted nuts and seeds, chocolate and Mexican cane sugar. He mixes the mole with turkey, which is indigenous to Mexico, and serves it on toothsome tortillas cooked to order at the stand, or over achiote rice. Ramirez also makes tacos with ayotli, or the indigenous Nahuatl language word for a type of zucchini (also indigenous to Mexico), caramelized in a rub of Mexican cane sugar, chile and garlic.

Ramirez, a full-time San Francisco State student, sees food as a vehicle for cultural dialogue. He sources his produce from Mexican farmers and prioritizes hiring Mexican American employees, most of whom are also in their 20s. He purposefully gave his business a hard-to-pronounce name and uses the Nahuatl words for dishes on his menu. Ramirez genuinely wants customers to ask how Molcaxitl is pronounced (mol-ka-shee-tl) and what it means in Nahuatl (mortar and pestle). Last year, he brought a Dia de los Muertos celebration to the farmers market.

Im unapologetically celebrating the culture for truly what it is, even though its tricky to pronounce, he said. I want people to feel like they can experience the culture and learn about it.

instagram.com/molcaxitl.kitchen/

Gumbo Social

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

Dontaye Ball started Gumbo Social in Bayview in 2018, inspired by the dish that was essential to family Christmas dinners and New Years Day meals.

Ball learned to make gumbo from his late grandmother, watching her from a young age make her roux in a cast iron skillet. The San Francisco native and chef, who cut his culinary teeth in France and at Delfina in the Mission, has since made his own tweaks to the family recipe. He makes a roux with half butter, half oil, with the toasted milk solids from the butter creating more layered flavors. His chicken-sausage gumbo has no seafood  thanks to a friend with a seafood allergy who couldnt eat Bells early iterations  but he brines the chicken in kombu, a kelp that gives the dish an oceanic element. Customers missing the seafood can add shrimp or crab. Ball uses locally sourced, seasonal ingredients as much as possible, including fresh okra when its available.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

For Ball, gumbo is an essential, edible piece of American history.

Theres a mound of different contributions from West Africa to Gullah culture to French-Creole influence, he said. Its a dish that I think really symbolizes our country  or what it should be, a melting pot, a dish that different people contribute to.

The popularity of Balls gumbo, shrimp poboys and red beans and rice with smoked turkey at the Outer Sunset farmers market enabled him to hire four employees and keep his family afloat during the coronavirus shutdown. Hes now planning to expand to other farmers markets and eventually open a food truck.

gumbosocial.com/

Churn Urban Creamery

Churn Urban Creamery/

Churn Urban Creamerys mint chip stracciatella has the jolt of herby mint flavor in every bite, thanks to fresh mint grown in owner Rica Sunga-Kwans backyard.

Seasonal, ingredient-driven ice creams are Sunga-Kwans calling card at Churn. Pints and scoops of French vanilla ice cream swirled with blueberries, strawberries and cream (the berries from a neighboring farm stand), ube honeycomb and other flavors are available at the farmers market, plus ice cream sandwiches. Sunga-Kwan doesnt use eggs in the flavor bases to prevent that thick, back-of-the-throat coating that ice cream can sometimes produce.

Churn also sells pastries  a throwback to Sunga-Kwans time as a baker at Andytown Coffee Roasters in the Outer Sunset  like everything bagel-flavored babka, matcha amaretti cookies, cardamom buns and fruit hand pies.

Sunga-Kwan has deep roots in the Outer Sunset: She moved there from the Philippines as a 9-year-old and got her first job scooping ice cream blocks away at Polly Ann Ice Cream. Her own ice cream business got its start decades later as a pop-up in the Outer Sunset. She now runs a brick-and-mortar location in the Portola neighborhood. And thanks to the Sunday market, shes in talks with a neighboring stand, Sunset Coffee Roasters, to open a production facility together  hopefully, in the Outer Sunset.

churnsf.com/

Sunset Squares Pizza

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

The farmers markets best-kept secret might be that its the newest place to get slices of Sunset Squares popular Detroit-style pizza.

Chef Dennis Lee, of Namu Gaji and Namu Stonepot fame, initially started selling the thick, pillowy pies out of his Outer Sunset home last year but is now offering delivery and pickup out of a space in SoMa. When Pettit-Taylor asked Lee to be part of the Sunday market, he jumped at the opportunity to add a location closer to home.

The Sunset Squares market stand sells three-cheese sourdough pizza by the slice, customizable with pickled jalapenos, mushrooms, pepperoni, chile crisp and other add-ons  or bulldog style with bonito flakes, Kewpie mayo and Bulldog tonkatsu sauce. The farmers market has been a testing ground of sorts for this slice shop model, which Lee plans to open elsewhere in San Francisco.

Lee also tests specials at the Outer Sunset farmers market, like a focaccia sandwich with burrata, prosciutto and balsamic agrodolce, the sticky-sweet Italian vinegar sauce, thats now on the pizza shops menu.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

sunsetsquares.com/

Avast Bakeshop

Matthew Jones /

One of the Outer Sunsets most beloved businesses, Outerlands, remains closed, but the restaurants head baker is now slinging loaves at the farmers market on Sundays.

Matthew Jones bread is all naturally leavened, but he stops short of the full-throated sourness of classic San Francisco sourdoughs. He bakes with single-origin grains, like yecora rojo, a drought-resistant hard red wheat grown in the Central Valley, for his country loaf, and a cinnamon raisin bread made completely from spelt flour.

The Sunset residents most popular breads sell out quickly, so preorder online to snag one of the loaves.

avastbakeshop.com/

Driftwood Bread Co.

Fans of Matthew Jones will likely be into William Fenimores whole-grain breads at Driftwood Bread Co., located a few steps away at the market. He also bakes with grains like spelt, einkorn and Khorasan wheat  including a special 30 or so loaves each week for which he mills the grains himself.

Fenimore, a self-taught, 26-year-old baker, started selling loaves via delivery and at the Sunsets worker-owned grocery cooperative Other Avenues before the pandemic. He started with just whole wheat and seeded sourdough but now bakes nine varieties in his small home kitchen, including a seeded dukkah loaf, which he described as the shortcut to dipping bread in the Middle Eastern nuts-and-spices condiment. (His includes flax seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, toasted fennel, roasted garlic and nori.) A manoushe, or flatbread, made from his whole wheat pita sometimes makes a special appearance on Sundays.

driftwoodbreadco.com/

Marinuccis Pasta Shop

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

Egg dough pastas are the focus at Marinuccis Pasta Shop, which Christina Marinucci started after she lost her job at Rich Table during the pandemic. Marinucci, who also previously cooked at Mister Jius, makes tagliatelle, whole wheat pappardelle, squid ink spaghetti and even a vegan semolina linguine. Pair a fresh pasta with one of her sauces  like an aggressively salty and briny puttanesca, a kale pesto thickened with white beans or a vegan alfredo made from cauliflower  and some market produce for Sunday dinner.

She also makes spreads, like a Calabrian chile butter and olive tapenade (an ideal pairing with Driftwoods seeded dukkah or Sunset Squares focaccia). At her stand, 1% of every sale is donated to a rotating charity, from Black Lives Matter to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Marinucci, who lives several blocks from the market, is now focused on the pasta business full time and doesnt think shell return to restaurants.

In restaurants you see your regulars, but as cooks in the kitchen  youre not at their table hanging out, Marinucci said. At the market its totally different. I get to talk to people every week and help feed their families. We talk about recipes. Its so much more personal and so much more exciting.

marinuccispastashop.com/

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @ekadvany
For the first time in more than a year, San Francisco bars can serve drinks indoors without offering meals  and patrons slowly found their way to their favorite watering holes over the weekend.

The momentous change happened Friday, days after San Francisco reached the yellow tier, the least restrictive in Californias color-coded reopening system. Until then, bars could reopen only if they served food in addition to drinks.

Many bars have been closed since the morning of St. Patricks Day last year, when the city started shelter-in-place, although some added food service in recent months, allowing them to reopen. For some, the latest change in rules did not make a difference because they are limited to 25% of their usual capacity, a threshold some said was too low to cover expenses. That limit will remain until June 15, when the entire state is expected to fully reopen.

At the Sea Star in San Franciscos Dogpatch neighborhood, Sofia Padilla and German Rivera, both 29, ordered a white ale and tequila mixed drink directly from a bartender  a small yet significant step toward normalcy after more than a year without setting foot inside a bar, they said. Patrons in the bar, which at 3 p.m. Saturday equated to just six, all wore masks when not drinking from perspiring glasses of cocktails and beers.

It feels weird. We could have sat outside, but we were like, Lets just sit inside to feel like what it was like before, Rivera said, referring to the time before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the regions bars and restaurants. We havent done that in a year and a half. To just go to a bar and grab a drink feels nice.

Ryan Gilbert, co-owner of the Sea Star, said it partnered with local restaurants to provide meals, so it can operate at 50% capacity indoors  as opposed to 25% for bars that serve alcohol without food. The increased capacity means 24 customers can drink in the bar at a time.

At 25%, its not worth it for us  youre at 12 people. If we werent serving food, we would not have opened, Gilbert said.

Tim Biasotti, 33, was nursing a Vaccination Sensation SLUSHEEEEE whiskey drink with a group of friends in the Sea Star a few hours before leaving for Chase Center to see the Golden State Warriors game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday evening.

Biasotti, of Clearlake (Lake County), said he doesnt visit bars frequently, but the Warriors game is more of an occasion with friends.

It feels like some normalcy, but at the same time it doesnt  because usually the bar would be full, and there would be a lot of people. Its pretty empty; its quiet, he said, gesturing toward the space, which had just two other patrons seated near the front door, and an employee shuffling behind the bar.

Xavier Miller, 33, who was going to the Warriors game with Biasotti, said this was his first time in a bar since the pandemic started.

It feels a little different, honestly. The masks arent going away, everything is all spread out, but I feel like its something good, Miller said, referring to the relaxing of guidelines for bars. But you just gotta be cautious.

Gilbert, the owner, urged people to patronize their local businesses if they feel comfortable, and urged visitors to tip their servers if they visit bars and restaurants in person.

Everyone who has worked in the industry has probably had a really rough year and they can use all the support that they can get. Its hard for me to even think about, Gilbert said, his eyes welling with tears. People should feel they can celebrate having done a really good job of keeping San Francisco so safe.

Maggie McGarrys, an Irish pub on Grant Avenue, was one of the few bars immediately opting for reopening at 25% because its 99-person capacity meant it could have 24 patrons inside, plus people in its outdoor parklet. It previously was open at 50% capacity indoors by partnering with nearby restaurants for meals, but now wont offer the food.

Some bars will reopen indoors without food but need more time to get ready.

Its not as easy as flipping a switch, said Brian Sheehy, CEO of Future Bars, which owns 12 bars and three whiskey shops in San Francisco and Berkeley. The companys shuttered Rickhouse Bar will reopen by the end of this week if it can round up enough staff.

For our other bars, we cant immediately open them because staff have to come back from all the corners of the world, he said.

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And for that matter, hes in no rush, as he thinks business will be slow to start. Weekdays depend on Moscone Center and business travel, which is nonexistent, he said.

Nightingale, Future Bars modern take on a fern bar, wont reopen now because the 25% capacity is not viable, he said. Our drinks are very labor-intensive, all craft cocktails. Likewise Bourbon & Branch and Zombie Village wont reopen for a while because their Tenderloin location is less active.

Three of Sheehys bars  the Lark, Pagan Idol and Devils Acre  have been offering indoor dining and drinks at 50% capacity since San Francisco moved to the orange tier in late March. The Lark and Devils Acre also have parklets, which can serve alcohol without food requirements.

Moby Dick in the Castro, one of the citys oldest gay bars, needs about a week to prepare to welcome back patrons, said co-owner Joe Cappelletti.

Im excited about reopening  I miss my bar family and the people I used to see in the bar  but I dont know what to expect at the 25% capacity, since my bar is so small, he said. With a regular capacity of 87, hell only be able to accommodate 21 people. He thinks hell need an extra staffer to police customers to ensure they are sitting down and socially distanced, as the rules require.

I used all the money I had to maintain my bar in a state of suspended animation until we could open again, he said. Im in debt up to my eyeballs.

Sheehy, of Future Bars, said he hopes that the city swiftly moves beyond the current rules to the full reopening Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised for mid-June.

What were really waiting for is the magical date of June 15 and praying to the tiki gods that the governor will stick to that date and COVID numbers will stay low, Sheehy said. Once bars are open at 100% with no food requirement, well be back in business.

Lauren Hernandez and Carolyn Said are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com, csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez, @csaid
Art Gensler, a San Francisco architect who designed everything from an office reception desk to the second-tallest building in the world during a 62-year career that saw his namesake company grow into the worlds largest design firm, has died.

Gensler died early Monday at his home in Mill Valley, according to his son David Gensler of Sebastopol, former co-CEO of Gensler, as the firm was simply called. Gensler had been suffering from lung disease for 18 months and died in his sleep, his son said. He was 85.

The firms credits and collaborations include the first 100 Apple stores; the Warriors new home, Chase Center; the boarding area for the United Airlines terminal at San Francisco International Airport; the west wing at Moscone Center; and a 24-story high-rise in Oaklands City Center complex.

With his health failing, Gensler had recently stepped down from long terms of service on the boards of directors for California College of the Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato.

But he did not step down from his own design practice and had a calendar of meetings scheduled for Monday and the rest of this week.

He had a real passion for San Francisco and the Bay Area, said David Gensler, noting that his father arrived from New York in 1962 and never left. He started his practice in the back of another firms office, using sawhorses and doors to set up drafting tables in 1965, and maintained that level of humility no matter how big his firm and his name became.

My dad was a regular guy, respectful and friendly and never pompous, Gensler said. He loved serving clients through the power of design.

Gensler is an employee-owned firm with 50 offices housing 5,000 employees. Though founded in San Francisco, where it maintains a regional hub, the firm has no headquarters. It has worked in 129 countries to produce $1.5 billion in annual billings. Projects include the 127-story Shanghai Tower, the worlds second-tallest building.

Unlike most starchitects, Gensler himself never claimed individual credit for designing anything. There is no such thing as an Art Gensler building. He oversaw what he called a constellation of stars working in 28 separate areas of practice.

The only project Gensler did one-on-one was to design the prototype for the Apple store  at the insistence of Steve Jobs.

Im not the guy perfecting the detail on the curtain wall. Weve got good people for that, Gensler told The Chronicles John King in a 2014 interview. Im good at understanding what clients want. Thats the fun of it for me.

Gensler is credited with elevating interior design, often dismissed as decorating to an architectural practice. He also incorporated space planning into design by submitting floor plans that landlords were able to use to entice clients in a soft commercial real estate market, as San Francisco was in the 1960s and 70s.

One time Art took me on a tour of the Gensler building on the Embarcadero, said designer Stanlee Gatti, a longtime friend, who served with Gensler on the board of CCA.

I was astonished to see all of the varying disciplines involved in his business. Architecture, interiors, landscape, furniture design. Most surprising to me was product branding. Gensler does everything.

Millard Arthur Gensler Jr. was born July 12, 1935, in Brooklyn. His father, Millard Gensler Sr. sold acoustic tile and the family moved to Hartford, Conn., where Art attended high school. From there he entered Cornell University in upstate New York to study in the College of Art, Architecture and Planning.

Gensler was a member of the Delta Phi fraternity, and during a rush event he met Jim Edgar. They became good friends, and Edgar, now a consultant in Kentfield, recalled that Gensler was always easy to spot on campus because he stood 6-foot-4, which was taller than most of the Cornell basketball players. But Gensler did not have time for the basketball team. He was an all-Ivy League soccer player and also played on the tennis team.

Art has never changed, said Edgar, who lunched with him last Friday. Theyd been talking on the phone and Gensler suggested lunch, not next week but next hour. He was very spontaneous by nature, said Edgar. There was no formality to him even as he became an incredibly successful businessman.

While still an undergraduate, Gensler attended a holiday party in Manhattan. There he met Drucilla Drue Cortell, a drama and French major at Middlebury College in Vermont. They were married in 1957. They then returned to Ithaca, where Gensler earned his degree in 1958.

After working in New York and Kingston, Jamaica, the Genslers moved to San Francisco in 1962, and in 1965 the couple formed M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates with James Follett. According to a tribute on the Gensler website, the business occupied a one-room office, with just one draftsman and $200 in the bank.

Gensler stepped down as CEO of his firm in 2005 and as chairman in 2010 but immediately backfilled whatever free time he had with board commitments. That same year he joined the board of CCA, during a time when the art school started transitioning from its home in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland to a central campus in Dogpatch in San Francisco.

Gensler was in the fourth year of a term as board chair and was scheduled to leave the board this summer. He was also scheduled to leave the Board of Trustees of SFMOMA in June, after his second 10-year stint.

He was involved in expansion there as well, and recused himself from the board for a year because his firm was under consideration to be the lead architect on construction of the Howard Street addition. He chaired several committees and was involved in creation of the rooftop garden atop the new building.

Art was a trustee for over two decades and was an essential member of the SFMOMA community, and he contributed to our museum in countless ways, said SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra. He was truly beloved by his fellow trustees and will be missed tremendously.

In 2015, Gensler put all of his advice and experience into the publication of Arts Principles: 50 Years of Hard-Learned Lessons in Building a World-Class Professional Services Firm.

Art Gensler is the original design thinker, said Stephen Beal, president of CCA, on the book jacket.

For all his varied projects, Gensler designed very few homes and none that he lived in. He and Drue raised four sons in a variety of homes in Tiburon before moving into a Craftsman-style home on the water in the Strawberry section of Mill Valley. Gensler made an offer on the place the first time he saw it, in 1983. He never moved again.

Over the last 15 years, Gensler gave away half of his fortune, including a $10 million bequest to endow the Cornell art, architecture and planning program in New York City.

Donations can be directed to diversity scholarships for California College of the Arts students through the Gensler Family Foundation Scholarship, California College of the Arts Advancement Office, 1111 Eighth St., San Francisco, CA 94107.

Survivors include sons David of Sebastopol, Robert of San Diego, Kenneth of San Diego and Douglas of Boston; 10 grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. A memorial is being scheduled for summer or fall.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com. Twitter:@samwhitingsf
Twenty cases of the coronavirus have been recorded among the 20,000 staffers and students who have returned to San Francisco elementary school campuses since the district reopened for in-person learning three weeks ago, health officials said Monday.

All the cases reported by the school district were related to community transmission in unvaccinated people, according to city officials.

In other words, zero cases were related to in-school transmission at SFUSD, the city Department of Public Health said in a statement. There were no cases among vaccinated teachers and staff in the school district.

On its face, this is a promising sign in that rates are no higher than in the city as a whole and that schools are not amplifying infection, said Dr. George Rutherford, an infectious-disease expert with UCSF.

There were 14 additional cases reported by students who have not returned for in-person instruction. A majority of the positive cases recorded on the districts COVID-19 dashboard were self-reported by families, with a mobile testing program at schools catching just four infections. The school district does not require that students be tested before returning for in-person learning, but strongly encourages it.

The data is consistent with transmission rates at other schools, public and private, that have reopened in the Bay Area, according to various district trackers.

The fact that our low case rates are comparable to other districts that have reopened more widely underscores SFDPHs long-held position that schools are safe to reopen as long as they follow COVID-19 safety protocols and all eligible people get vaccinated, the health department said. All adults are eligible, as are 16- and 17-year-olds with parents permission.

While San Franciscos coronavirus rates are declining, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that nationwide, coronavirus infections in children are steady. As of Monday, the data showed children make up 22% of coronavirus infections and about 1.2% to 3.1% of hospitalizations.

The San Francisco Unified School District was among the last large school systems in the country to bring students back, reopening nearly 100 elementary school campuses for part-time in-person learning in April. The school day is still far from pre-pandemic normal: Some classes have been moved outside, and lunchtime gatherings are restricted to reduce the chances of transmission.

The situation merits such extraordinary steps, Rutherford said. During the 1918 flu pandemic, he noted, New York and Boston schools were outdoors all winter. Were lucky we can go outside here in San Francisco without freezing.

About 19,000 of the districts 52,000 students have returned to classrooms. Most middle and high school students, however, are still being instructed remotely full time.

The elementary school reopenings followed months of pressure from some parents as well as from City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who sued in an unsuccessful attempt to force an earlier return to classrooms.

Rutherford said the low rate of transmission could make it more likely that all schools can reopen for full-time in-person learning in August.

I think its totally doable, he said. Some of it is going to depend on getting adolescents vaccinated.

The first coronavirus vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. Vaccinations for children under 12 could follow before the end of the year.

The health department will host a virtual town hall on Wednesday about youth vaccinations in the city, with health officer Dr. Susan Philip and infectious disease and pediatric experts Dr. Lillian Brown and Dr. Lee Atkinson-McEvoy from UCSF. It will be streamed at 7 p.m. on the SFGovTV YouTube channel.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Jill Tucker contributed to this report.

Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
Housing production continues to plummet in the Bay Area. For the second year in a row, the number of new units built declined in California overall, with the Bay Area seeing sharper decreases in home-building than the rest of the state.

The Chronicle reviewed data from the Construction Industry Research Board, a service provided by the California Homebuilding Foundation that collects monthly residential building permits issued by local jurisdictions. New housing statewide fell by 10% in 2020, with most of the decrease coming from multi-family unit production, according to the data. The state saw an 18% decline in multi-family permits  just 43,500 were issued, the lowest number since 2012. Single-family permits declined statewide by 2%.

The nine-county Bay Area region experienced an even sharper decrease in home-building last year, with a 26% downturn in total residential permits issued. The region issued 28% fewer multi-family permits, and 24% fewer single-family ones.

The Bay Areas slowdown on housing production  particularly of multi-family units, which can house more people in denser urban areas  has led to a red-hot market, with fierce competition over the small pool of available homes. Prices have skyrocketed in Napa County and Alameda counties in particular: The two counties saw their median home values increase by more than 10% in just the past year, according to data from the real estate firm Zillow.

Marin County had the greatest decrease in residential permits overall, with 54% fewer permits issued in 2020 compared to 2019. Most of that decrease came from multi-family housing  the county issued just three multi-family permits in 2020, compared to 86 in 2019. Four other counties, Alameda, San Mateo, Sonoma and San Francisco, saw housing permits decrease by more than 25%.

The only Bay Area county that saw increased housing production last year was Solano. The county, which had looser restrictions on construction last April than most other Bay Area counties, issued 41% more housing permits in 2020 than it did in 2019. Solano particularly increased its multi-family housing production: The county issued 716 multi-family permits in 2020, over ten times more than the 56 it issued in 2019.

California hasnt built enough homes to keep up with its population since the 1970s, but the state has suffered from an especially steep decrease in production during the Great Recession. Statewide residential permits fell by 83% over four years, going from 209,000 permits in 2005 to just 36,000 in 2009.

Starting in 2010, housing production climbed steadily back upward until 2018, when permits peaked at 118,000. Then they fell back down to 111,000 in 2019, a 6% decrease. And then they fell again last year, down to 100,600  the lowest number since 2015 and far from Gov. Gavin Newsoms stated goal of about 500,000 new homes a year.

Matt Lewis, director of communications at California Yimby, a pro-housing advocacy organization, said that the pandemic contributed to declining housing production last year in several ways. For one, ongoing supply shortages have driven up the cost of lumber, along with other building materials, like iron and steel.

Additionally, some parts of the state temporarily halted or impeded construction last year, he said  including the Bay Area, where most counties shut down a majority of construction sites last April.

A month of a job site sitting dormant is a loss of money depending on the size of the job site, (and) has the impact of scaring off some of the capital that might come from future projects, Lewis said.

Government building shutdowns also caused delays to many projects by slowing down the collaborative process between developers and city officials, as the Mercury News previously reported.

Susie Neilson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: susie.neilson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susieneilson
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  People could have concealed weapons on Montana's public college campuses if they have firearms training and keep the guns holstered or locked in their rooms, with an exception for self-defense, under a policy proposed by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

Under the proposal, students, faculty and others would be allowed to carry on campus if they can certify they have a concealed firearm permit in Montana, a similar permit from another state or firearms safety training.

The university system is also proposing a course for those wanting to possess weapons while living in campus housing.

The policy is needed following legislation, sponsored by Republican Rep. Seth Berglee of Joliet, that expands the number of places people can carry a concealed firearm to also include bank lobbies, restaurants and bars. He said it would reduce the possibility of mass shootings by enabling people to defend themselves.

A legal analysis attached to the bill said there could be constitutional issues with expanding the carrying of concealed weapons to university campuses. The Montana Constitution gives the Board of Regents full power, responsibility and authority to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the Montana university system, the note stated.

Berglee argued the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution supersedes that provision in Montanas Constitution.

Opponents of the bill said having more guns on campuses could exacerbate Montanas already high suicide rate.

The Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee of the Montana Board of Regents will hear public comments on the proposal Wednesday during a video conference.

About 150 people had signed up to comment on the policy by Monday afternoon, said Helen Thigpen, deputy legal counsel for the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. More than 800 people had signed up to watch the meeting, so it was made available on a livestream, she said. The meeting is set to run from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Montana Board of Regents is set to vote on the policy during its meeting on May 26-27. If approved, the policy would take effect on June 1.

Students with histories of campus discipline due to violence or substance abuse could be denied the ability to carry a weapon, under the proposed policy. In addition, firearms would not be allowed at campus events where alcohol is being served and consumed or at concerts or sporting events.

The Board of Regents had previously banned firearms on campus for all but security officers. Campuses were allowed to set regulations for the transportation and storage of firearms on campus.
California has long been praised as the most racially and ethnically diverse state in the country. That treasured diversity, however, is in danger.

For nearly three decades, our research team at Oaklands Insight Center, in partnership with the Center for Womens Welfare at the University of Washington, has used census data to analyze Californias costs of living  including housing, child care, transportation, utilities and taxes. Every two years, we compile this data into a report we call Cost of Being Californian, using a tool called the Family Needs Calculator, which maps and analyzes economic stability by race and gender for households in all 58 California counties.

Over the years, our report has documented the rising tide of inequality in California. But 2020 was particularly startling to us.

Skyrocketing child care costs have now overtaken housing prices as the highest expense in all but five California counties. The Bay Areas child care costs are the highest in the state; San Francisco county has seen an 81% increase in child care costs since 2014. But counties in all other regions, including Southern California and the Central Valley, have experienced huge jumps, too. Los Angeles saw a 45% growth in child care costs, and Fresno witnessed a 38% increase in the past seven years. Almost everywhere in California, having a single child nearly doubles the likelihood that a couple will teeter on the edge of financial instability.

Not all groups are suffering the consequences of these rising costs equally. Our data indicates that the very act of starting a family is becoming a white privilege here in California. The first batches of 2020 census data affirm this, with California reporting its slowest population increase since 1900  growth that has historically been led by households of color.

Black, Native and Latinx households with no children are more likely to be struggling financially than white households with two children. While households of color make up 59% of all California households, they constitute 73% of those living on the edge of economic insecurity. In Marin County, the percentage of Black households grappling to cover basic expenses increased from 56% in 2018 to 95% in 2021.

Gender plays a role here, too, We found that 72% of solo moms with one or more children are more likely to be paid wages that do not support a basic cost of living, compared with 57% of solo dads. Black female householders with a bachelors degree face economic precarity at twice the rate of comparable white men.

It is clear that the cost of living in California is outpacing the wages being paid to people of color and women. As it stands, the hourly wage needed for a single parent with two children to meet their basic household expenses ranges from $26.32 and $27.53 an hour in Modoc and Plumas counties, respectively, to an astonishing $74.60 and $73.28 an hour in San Mateo and Marin counties.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly exacerbated deep racial and gender inequality in our state, it is not the root cause. Rather, longstanding systemic racism and sexism, especially in the housing market, paired with harmful narratives on who and what type of work is valuable, are the origins of entrenched inequality. Black women in California make 59 cents to every dollar a white man does. Runaway student debt remains a major issue for women and people of color. Black women graduate with more than $10,000 in student debt compared to white men, on average.

We have also built a mass incarceration system that targets and thrives on siphoning money away from Black and brown communities through fines and fees, unmoderated costs for food and phone calls in prisons and jails, and cash bail. Families of the incarcerated often suffer the economic toll. Black and Latinx drivers are disproportionately pulled over more by police than white people in California. This can add crushing court debt to the already precarious financial situation of Black and Latinx Californians. A recent report showed that nationally, $27.6 billion is owed in court debt alone, with California having one of the highest court debts per capita.

While these statistics are staggering, a more equitable path forward exists. Government investments clearly must be made in housing, child care, utilities and other public goods. It is past time to bolster our safety net by treating child care as a public good, creating a robust and equitable public care infrastructure and trusting people with unconditional cash.

Cash transfers for pregnant women and moms of color, like San Franciscos Abundant Birth Project, the first pregnancy income supplement program in the nation, can provide transformative economic relief against climbing racial, gender and maternal health inequity.

California Senate Democrats Build Back Boldly plan is another welcome step in the right direction. The plan includes robust goals to provide a path to universal infant early care and education, as well as the beginnings of debt-free college for the most marginalized Californians. Additionally, the plan recognizes the work of Debt Free Justice California to eliminate administrative fees in the legal system and ensure further reform is prioritized.

As California emerges from COVID-19 pandemic and its related recession, relief efforts must not only address present crises, but also work to quell long simmering racial and gender economic inequities. We cant continue to allow the color of peoples skin to be the determining factor in whether they can afford to start a family.

Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Anne Price and Aisa Villarosa are advocates with the Insight Center.
SACRAMENTO  Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency Monday for 39 more California counties, a step he earlier resisted despite calls from elected officials in both parties.

The governor said swift action is needed to protect counties from the severe environmental and public health effects of two years of minimal rainfall. His proclamation includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, and Solano counties in the Bay Area, and it brings the total to 41 of the states 58 counties now under drought emergency.

Newsom last month had declared a drought status for Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Combined, the 41 designated drought counties include about 30% of the states population.

Its self-evident to many folks that the hots are getting a lot hotter in this state, the dries are getting a lot drier, Newsom said during a news conference overlooking the shrinking banks of San Luis Reservoir in Merced County.

He added, We have to recognize that were living in a world that we were not designed to live in.

Newsoms proclamation Monday primarily affects counties that are reliant on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake and Klamath River watersheds to supply water for homes, businesses and agriculture.

For weeks, Newsom has resisted bipartisan calls to declare a statewide drought emergency, a measure that triggers a series of actions to reduce water usage in the state. He earlier downplayed the significance of such a declaration, saying the state can move forward with many drought measures without officially calling the situation an emergency.

Newsom stood by that refrain Monday, saying, Were not announcing a statewide drought emergency. We still dont think thats necessary. However, he said more county proclamations could be needed.

The governor said the crisis has worsened in many counties because of higher-than-normal temperatures in April and early May. He said hot conditions caused snowmelt to evaporate or seep into the ground rather than gradually flow into rivers and streams.

Newsom estimated the state had lost 500,000 acre-feet of runoff because of high temperatures, roughly enough water to supply 1 million homes for a year.

California is facing a drought crisis just a few years after it emerged from the last one. Former Gov. Jerry Brown issued the last statewide drought declaration, in 2014, and kept it in place for three years.

Newsoms drought proclamation directs the state Water Resources Control Board to consider limiting water releases from reservoirs so more can be stored for later in the year when it might be needed to supply communities and protect river levels for salmon and steelhead.

His order also gives the Water Board the power to curtail some users rights to divert water from rivers if there is a shortage and allows state agencies to more easily transfer water for priority uses.

Newsoms order doesnt mandate rationing. Local water districts will probably decide whether to set voluntary or mandatory restrictions on use.In the Bay Area, several districts are asking customers to conserve, and the Marin Municipal Water District has required about 190,000 residents to stop washing their cars and power-washing homes and driveways.

The governor also introduced a $5.1 billion plan Monday to fund water infrastructure and conservation projects over four years as part of the overall surplus-rich state budget that he is presenting to legislators.

His plan includes $1.3 billion for drinking and wastewater infrastructure, $1 billion to help Californians pay their overdue water bills, $200 million to repair canals in the Central Valley, and $150 million to clean up and recycle water from aquifers.

In addition, California has launched a new public awareness campaign to encourage people to conserve water.

Its time for Californians to pull together once again to save water, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said in a statement. All of us need to find every opportunity to save water where we can: limit outdoor watering, take shorter showers, turn off the water while brushing your teeth or washing dishes.

Pressure for Newsom to declare an emergency has mounted. Last month, a group of state legislators from the Central Valley urged him to declare an emergency so the state can mitigate the effects of drought on farmers and the food-supply chain.

California produces half of the nations livestock and produce products, which are an essential part of our economy and a crucial aspect of our national security, the legislators wrote in a letter to Newsom.

At the federal level, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in March declared that 50 of Californias 58 counties were disaster areas because of drought. That allowed farmers to apply for emergency loans.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner
State finance officials project that California will have a $38 billion discretionary surplus in the upcoming fiscal year, a massive influx of cash that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature have a month to decide how to spend.

The surplus is more than twice what the Department of Finance estimated in January, reflecting an economy that has recovered far more quickly than expected from the pandemic-induced recession, particularly for the wealthiest Californians.

Newsom wants to use more than $8 billion of the windfall to expand on the $600 stimulus checks the state already targeted to millions of Californians this spring, a second round of direct cash payments that the governor said would ultimately reach two-thirds of Californians. He also outlined additional steps to cover unpaid rent and utility bills for tenants slammed by the pandemic.

Its a remarkable turnaround, Newsom said during a news conference Monday at the Unity Council, a community organization in Oaklands Fruitvale neighborhood. And thats because we are defeating, and we are successfully applying strategies to address, this pandemic.

A year ago, as the coronavirus pandemic decimated Californias finances, Newsom and lawmakers crafted a budget deal to close what they expected would be a $54 billion deficit, relying on reserve accounts, internal borrowing and a temporary limit to corporate tax credits to avoid widespread cuts to many state programs.

But the revised budget plan has the state in far healthier fiscal condition:

Including additional money that is mandated for K-12 schools and to replenish reserve accounts, Newsom said California has a historic $75.7 billion surplus, tens of billions of dollars larger his original $227.2 billion spending plan. The state is sitting on another $26.6 billion from the latest federal coronavirus relief package in March, with broad authority on how to use it.

Newsom will negotiate with the Legislature in the coming weeks on spending priorities. The Legislature must pass a balanced budget by June 15 or forgo its pay. The governor plans a full week of events to roll out his proposals, leading to the formal budget announcement on Friday. He also unveiled a plan Monday to spend $5.1 billion on water infrastructure and drought preparedness.

Newsom said Monday that he expected lawmakers would be on board with his ideas.

Im mindful that our values are aligned, and thats been demonstrable over the course of the last number of months, Newsom said of advancing billions of dollars from the anticipated surplus for emergency aid to struggling Californians and businesses.

Among those early actions was a state stimulus program to aid low-income Californians: $3.8 billion set aside this spring for direct $600 payments to millions of households, plus additional grants for Californians enrolled in welfare and Social Security programs, and rebates for households who claimed the earned income tax credit for the working poor.

Newsom proposed Monday to spend another $8.1 billion to send the $600 checks to middle-income households that make up to $75,000 per year and did not receive the first round of direct payments. The state also would provide $500 more to families with children and to undocumented immigrants, who have been left out of the federal stimulus bills. Some taxpayers could receive multiple payments from the state.

That would bring the total state stimulus program to $11.9 billion. If approved by the Legislature, the checks would be sent later this year.

The money will also fulfill an obscure law, approved by voters in 1979, that requires the state government to keep per capita spending below the 1978-79 level, adjusted for growth in personal income and population. State finance officials project they will exceed the cap, known as the Gann Limit, by $16 billion next year, with half of the excess revenue going to schools and half owed back to taxpayers.

Newsom on Monday also said the state would be able to double its rent relief program for tenants who have been unable to pay during the pandemic. California is set to receive another $2.6 billion from the federal government for the program, the governor said, bringing the total to $5.2 billion and potentially allowing the state to cover 100% of unpaid rent for eligible tenants.

Newsom is also proposing to use $2 billion from the federal coronavirus aid package to cover overdue utility bills and $1 billion to launch a grant program that would help workers laid off during the pandemic to train for new careers or start their own businesses.

We recognize the importance of continuing to make sure were there for all Californians, Newsom said.

Some national Republican figures pointed to the news of Californias surplus as evidence that President Bidens most recent coronavirus aid package this spring was unnecessary.

This is one more reason why borrowing and sending tens of billions to California was a crying shame  and why every Republican in Congress opposed it, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah tweeted Monday.

During a conference call with reporters to announce that hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments would begin arriving this week, Biden administration officials defended providing money to states like California that are now seeing a surplus.

One official, whom the Treasury Department declined to put on the record, said they are currently commuting from Los Angeles, where more housing and homelessness help clearly was needed. The officials also noted that the goal of the funding was an equitable recovery to ensure that no communities are left out of the rebound.

Its about taking every step possible to make sure we ... have a recovery that brings everybody along, said Gene Sperling, who is overseeing the federal stimulus bills rollout as the White Houses American Rescue Plan coordinator.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Tal Kopan and Dustin Gardiner contributed to this report.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff
On June 19, 2020, protesters toppled three statues in Golden Gate Park.

The likenesses of "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Junipero Serra, the creator of California's mission system during Spanish colonization, have disappeared, and now, almost one year later, at least one is expected to be replaced.

The empty pedestal that once held the statue of Francis Scott Key, who was a slave owner and abolition opponent, could soon be surrounded by black steel sculptural figures with vinyl tubing, each standing 4 feet high. The installation will include 350 sculptures, representing the number of Africans initially forced onto the slave ship San Juan Bautista for a journey across the Atlantic. Set to be located in Golden Gate Parks Music Concourse and hopefully erected in time for Juneteenth, the work has been dubbed Monumental Reckoning by Bay Area sculptor Dana King.

Mayor London Breed announced the new public art installation Friday. The art and monuments that we choose to display in our city and the civic art that fills our public spaces must reflect the diversity of our community, and honor our history, Breed said in a statement. This powerful public art installation in Golden Gate Park will help us not only commemorate Juneteenth, but also serve as an example of how we can honor our past, no matter how painful, and reflect on the challenges that are still with us today.

The phrase Lift Every Voice will be projected from the nearby Spreckels Temple of Music through a second, connected piece by Illuminate the Arts. These are the first three words of Lift Every Voice and Sing, a song written by civil rights champion James Weldon Johnson and often sung as the Black national anthem.

Already approved by both the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commissions Operations Committee, the art piece is still under review by the Planning Commission. If approved, the installation would remain in place through June 20, 2023.

The memory of African descendants deserves to be told truthfully and publicly, said sculptor King in a statement. Monumental Reckoning fulfills both objectives with the installation of 350 ancestors who will encircle the Francis Scott Key plinth in Golden Gate Park. The ancestors stand in judgement, holding history accountable to the terror inflicted on the first group of enslaved people brought here in 1619 to the last person sold to another, all victims of chattel slavery. Even though the business of enslavement ended long ago, it still resonates generationally for African Americans and forms the bedrock from which systems of oppression proliferate today.
Two Asian activists  and self-defense instructors  prevented thieves in San Francisco from breaking into a tourist rental car. Twice.

Jeremy Jong, a chef and co-owner at Paina, and Hudson Liao, a marketing head at a health care startup, say they witnessed the most recent break-in attempt on May 2 just across the street from the restaurant.

The two co-founded an Asian self-defense group called Asians Are Strong  which has staged multiple self-defense rallies as violence against Asians in the Bay Area has continued relatively unabated.

Jong and Liao told KPIX that they bolted out of Paina and crossed the street, despite incoming traffic, to catch up to the trio of thieves.

"They immediately dropped the bags as I was chasing towards them. The second they dropped the bags, they were pretty fast. Jong told KPIX.

The suspects were able to escape but the luggage was recovered; Jong and Liao say it belonging to a group of tourists from Chicago who were grabbing a quick bite in Japantown before their departure.

But this isn't their first time stopping a car-break in. On April 21, according to the Asians are Strong Instagram page, they were able to prevent another similar incident from taking place near the Japantown mall.

Security footage shows them in the midst of recording a training video before seeing the break-in take place. They scurry to the scene, retrieving the tourist familys belongings, before chasing the thief and making a citizens arrest. The family, they said, was visiting from Kentucky  and targeted because of their out-of-state license plates. They were Vietnamese.

No one was hurt and we were able to retrieve all of the stolen property for the family! the group said on Instagram.

Were San Francisco natives and we hate whats happening to our city, and we hate that tourists come here  this used to be a great place to visit, great place to live  and its gone downhill quick, Liao told KPIX. We hate that and we want to make sure people come here, feel safe.

Representatives from Asians Are Strong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
A Bay Area teenager has been reported missing in Mexico after nearly a month-long stay that was supposed to conclude last week.

The 19-year-old Manuel Reyes went to Lagos de Moreno, a city in Jalisco, in early April to visit from Hayward.

His motivations for the trip are unclear but appear to involve family. KVEA-TV in Los Angeles said that he came in town to visit his sister, while a report from a Mexican news outlet reported that Reyes came to visit his ailing grandmother who passed away last week.

Reyes was scheduled to fly back to Hayward last Thursday at the Guadalajara Airport, but was reported missing days before with a friend, Jesus Jessy Ramos Corona, 36. The two went to get tacos late on May 2, but family members have not heard from either person since.



Reyes sister, who spoke to KVEA-TV, told the station that they were supposed to meet that evening after he and Ramos Corona went to get food.

Reyes was reported as last wearing gray pants, a blue and gray sweatshirt, gray sneakers and a red cap, per Newsweek. The outlet also reported Ramos Corona as last wearing jeans, a pink Aeropostale shirt and blue Nike sneakers.

His mother told KVEA-TV that he promised he would come back safely during their last conversation.

Representatives from Hayward police and Lagos de Moreno police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
BEIJING (AP) _ Phoenix New Media Ltd. (FENG) on Monday reported a loss of $4.5 million in its first quarter.

On a per-share basis, the Beijing-based company said it had a loss of 6 cents.
This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

Applying for car insurance isnt exactly glamorous, but for most people its fairly straightforward. For transgender or nonbinary drivers, however, one part of the application  selecting a gender  can pose a distinct challenge.

Thats because nonbinary and transgender people often dont have the freedom to choose the gender they identify with, something others can easily take for granted.

How gender complicates insurance applications

Gender is one factor commonly used to determine a car insurance rate, but there's no set standard for how insurers define or verify gender.

Some companies ask for sex at birth, some require gender to match your drivers license, and others let you choose the gender you identify with, says Charlie Arrowood, counsel for the Name Change Project at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, a nonprofit based in New York City dedicated to ending discrimination against transgender people.

Although gender may be listed on an application, insurers might really be asking for your sex. Sex and gender are often used as synonyms, but sex refers to biological traits, while gender refers to how you identify within society.

This inconsistency presents a challenge for both a transgender person, whose gender identity differs from their sex at birth, and for a nonbinary person, whose gender is neither strictly male nor female.

Why does gender matter?

You may be wondering, why do insurers need to know your gender to begin with?

Some studies show a correlation between gender and driving habits. For instance, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that male drivers were nearly twice as likely as females to be involved in a fatal crash for almost every year from 1975 to 2019.

Still, advocates like the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., argue that charging a good driver a higher rate based on gender alone is discriminatory.

After all, gender "really does not tell you anything about someone's driving history," Arrowood says.

Gender-based pricing is banned when setting car insurance rates in seven states: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. And in Oregon, gender-based pricing is allowed, but insurers must provide rates for anyone who chooses a gender-neutral option on their drivers license.

Rates for men and women may vary less than you think

Because each insurer uses a unique formula to determine auto insurance prices, you cant find out your rate without a quote. To get a better idea of how gender affects your car insurance, you can look at average auto insurance rates.

Across all age groups, men pay $62 more annually than women on average, according to NerdWallets car insurance rates analysis.

Rate disparities can vary by age. For example, men and women pay similar rates in their 30s through 50s. However, 20-year-old men pay $450 more per year, on average, than women of the same age.

But anyone  even young men  can save that much by shopping around and comparing quotes. Each insurer values personal factors differently, so the cheapest car insurance is different for everyone.

What transgender and nonbinary applicants can do

Finding the best car insurance rates can be tricky even without the challenges transgender and nonbinary applicants face. Here are some tips for buying car insurance to help you get through the process.

Shop around for car insurance quotes

Arrowood knew to ask their insurance agent whether their auto insurance rates would change based on their gender. Luckily, gender didnt affect the rates. But not everyone will have the same results. Thats why comparing car insurance quotes is key to finding the lowest price for you.

Really, it's just a question of shopping around, Arrowood says. The main problem is that there's no standard. ... You have to do the digging.

Dont be afraid to talk to your agent

Changing the gender you report to your insurer may affect your rates, but not always. Arrowood recommends reaching out to your insurer directly and asking what its rules are.

Your agent can let you know what documents are needed to change your stated gender with the insurer. If you need to update your drivers license and birth certificate, the National Center for Transgender Equality provides details on how to officially change your name and gender in your state.

Consider a trans-affirming auto insurer

If youve talked to your insurer and feel like youre getting an unfair rate, look at lists like the Human Rights Campaign Foundations Corporate Equality Index. This index shows how likely a company is to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive policies.

A high rating on this list doesn't mean a company will have gender-neutral rates, "but at least it's a place to start," Arrowood says.

Kayda Norman writes for NerdWallet. Email: knorman@nerdwallet.com.

The article Navigating Car Insurance as a Transgender or Nonbinary Driver originally appeared on NerdWallet.
People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry (Berkley)

A truly good romantic comedy, whether it be a novel or a movie, justifies why two people are drawn to each other. It builds a case for the relationship so it makes sense why theyre together.

In Emily Henrys latest book, People We Meet on Vacation, she does just that, introducing Poppy and Alex, two polar opposites who met in college but happened to both be from the same town in Ohio. Its a shared ride home for the summer (hello, wink to one of the greatest rom-coms ever, When Harry Met Sally) where they talk about everything and anything, and a friendship is born.

The two remain best friends even beyond college when their lives take them to different places. Poppy moves to New York to become a travel writer. Alex moves back home to teach. They establish a tradition to take a vacation together every year to catch up. Each time they reunite, Poppy and Alex reestablish their rapport, as if no time has passed. The vacation is a sacred ritual to look forward to, no matter who theyre dating or what theyre doing.

Except something happened on their last trip to Croatia two years ago that caused a rift, and now Poppy and Alex havent spoken in two years. Poppy gets up the nerve to propose another trip with the hope of getting her friend back, and to her delight, Alex agrees.

The book jumps around in its timeline, to past vacations and present day  detailing their history and orbit around the other.

What Henry is especially skilled at is writing dialogue. The banter between Poppy and Alex is so natural, quick and witty that it would make Shonda Rhimes do a slow clap. It also reminds the reader why these two come alive with each other in a way that they do not with anyone else.

Whether or not Poppy or Alex can resolve their difference remains to be seen, but Henry creates a story where youll want to stick with it to see what happens.
If Kristina Costa could look back at the past year and identify the biggest issue Tartine Bakery faced during the pandemic, hiring wouldnt have been one of them. But now as COVID-19 restrictions continue to loosen, finding skilled bakers has quickly moved to the top of the list.

It's always been slightly challenging to hire experienced bakers, but I do believe it's harder now than it has ever been, said Costa, lead baker at Tartine Bakery. I've had an active job posting up for over a month now, and I just filter through them. [Many are] people that live overseas, which I'm fine hiring, but it's hard to plan for that transition ... because usually when you're hiring, you need someone right now.

Costa said that production at Tartine Bakery is currently at 65% of what it was before the pandemic, but its not for lack of demand in bread or pastries. She says that there are currently 10 bakers on her roster  including herself  who are spaced out through the week. Costa says shes in the kitchen every day.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

The number of bakers has fluctuated throughout the pandemic. At its lowest, Costa says there were just six bakers, but for the business to operate comfortably, Tartine Bakery should have 12 to 13 bakers. Thats part of the reason why production is currently down from its pre-pandemic days.

My current roster is stretched thin, so we need at least one or two more bakers, Costa said. We're producing the most that we can. If all of a sudden, we could sell 20% more, we would not be capable to keep up with that and sustain the quality that we try to maintain at Tartine. [It] also [wouldnt be] fair to the employees. You can only ask someone to sprint for so long.

Costa is hardly alone. Brittany Dunn, the owner of Saltwater Bakeshop, began to notice a scarcity of bakers during the past few months. It seemed strange to see a lack of applications at her bakery, especially as more businesses were reopening throughout San Francisco.

In my mind, [I thought] it was going to be an easier task than what's actually happening, Dunn said. I would say [during] the last four months is when I realized [in] talking to other bakers that it wasn't just me going through this. When I talked to other bakers, it's kind of like, OK, regulations are starting to change, vaccines are coming out. And everyone kind of turned and looked at each other like, Oh my gosh, where are all the candidates?

Aja Villacres

Hiring hasnt just affected bakeries. In April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest economic report for March 2021 and found that the unemployment rate was at 6% nationwide. Leisure and hospitality industries had a 280,000-employment bump but still saw unemployment rates as high as 18.5% since February 2020. The bulk of hiring went toward food and drink services, which accounted for 176,000 new hires  nearly two-thirds of the overall number. But despite a downturn in unemployment rates, overall employment in the United States isnt expected to return to what it was before the pandemic until 2024, the Washington Post reports.

But by and large, bakeries have operated smoother than their restaurant counterparts over the past year as more pastry pop-ups have emerged around the Bay Area. Dunn says that most bakeries have been able to make it through the pandemic because people wanted a bit of comfort during such a chaotic time. Paradoxically, it hasnt been enough to garner the attention of skilled bakers.

Dunn lost her entire roster of wholesale accounts at the start of the pandemic, which resulted in laying off 75% of the staff at her business. Saltwater Bakery runs inside a commercial kitchen that used to have five bakers, but thats since dwindled to two  including Dunn herself. When she was finally able to hire back, many of her skilled bakers had moved out of state or turned to a new industry altogether.

Aja Villacres

I had most of my staff move back to where they were from, [some] moved back to Georgia [others] moved back to Nevada, things like that, Dunn said. We are in an industry where were unable to pay a significantly high salary for employees, unfortunately. And I think that's just the culinary industry as a whole. Were working on really small margins.

Costa agrees but understands both sides of the coin. In a high-priced place like San Francisco, she says its difficult to pay a full staff of bakers more than $20 an hour, but understands that it isnt easy to live off that in this city.

I think that people started to realize this isn't sustainable, Costa said. Maybe those people left and went to a city or a place that is easier to make it in this industry. When I moved from North Carolina to San Francisco, my cost of living tripled, and between me and my partner, our income was cut in half. So, living like that during a really terrifying time when you don't know what it's going to be like next week, let alone three months from now. I think that people were forced to leave because they needed to survive.

Patricia Chang/Special to SFGATE

Dunn has also felt internal pressure to pay prospective bakers more as an incentive to work.

Struggling through the pandemic and then trying to hire people for more than what I can afford [has been hard]. You have to find that money somewhere and it tends to just come from me overworking," Dunn said.

Some Republicans have also blamed the worker shortage on President Joe Bidens recent economic stimulus check as the culprit, Huffpost notes. Rep. David Rouzer recently tweeted, This is what happens when you extend unemployment benefits too long and add a $1,400 stimulus payment, that included a photo of a Hardees restaurant chain location with a flyer that read Due to NO STAFF WE ARE CLOSED.

Aidan O'Leary

But President Biden's administration says that unemployment benefits are not the cause for the recent worker shortage, especially in the hospitality industry, Forbes reports. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that unemployment insurance has not been a proven factor for the worker shortage and added that, based on analysis, a bigger factor in people not returning to the workforce is lack of vaccinations, child care, and schools reopening. Psaki added that there is also a need to pay for livable working wages. UC Berkeley Food Labor Research Center echoed that sentiment in a recent study that determined that low wages and tips, and concerns about COVID-19 safety, were the biggest reasons restaurant workers were leaving their jobs.

Thomas (Mac) McConnell, who co-owns The Midwife and The Baker with his partner Jamie McConnell in Mountain View, says that he hasnt felt the hiring strain quite yet, though he shares that he doesnt want to jinx it either. With the upcoming months, McConnell anticipates a boost in production, especially with wholesale clients and he hopes to hire a couple of bakers to help with the additional work. But at this time, he says that his crew is solid.

I think that we do offer a pretty competitive wage and we have some benefits to go with that. So, I don't know if that would have something to do with some of our ability to hold on some folks, McConnell shared.

Still, conversations about hiring have come up among his friends who also own bakeries around the Peninsula. McConnell admits that he did lose two bakers when their hours were reduced as The Midwife and the Baker adjusted to the pandemic. (A day after our interview McConnell shared that a staffer had just put in their two-week notice.) The reduction in hours was only temporary though, and last August McConnell says that his business turned the tide.

It really felt kind of [like] early 2020, at least in terms of volume, McConnell said.

Dunn says that she was able to hire one baker after her four-month search, so shes feeling less stressed now. Costa is still searching but when she thinks about the hard work her current team has put in during the pandemic, shes overcome with emotion.

There's just this really beautiful sentiment of people bonding together during this time that has been really impressive. Every single one of my bakers has shown up every day and worked their butts off. We can pump out so much more than my team ever could because everyone has stepped up and grown so much as bakers. There's just this strength to everybody that is frankly extremely impressive.

Editors note: This story was updated at 3 p.m., May 10, to include more context about the national worker shortage and unemployment benefits.
SAN ANTONIO (AP)  Police have charged a 23-year-old man with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old girl at a San Antonio car club meetup.

Andrew Rey Elizondo, an acquaintance of the child's mother, was arrested Monday afternoon in the Sunday night shooting, Police Chief William McManus said. It was unclear from online jail records if Elizondo had an attorney.,
NEW YORK (AP)  Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said Monday that it blocked more than 10 billion suspected phony listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold.

The numbers were released in Amazons first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technologies in 2019. The number of suspected bad listings that it blocked last year was up about 67% from the year before.

The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth said the number of counterfeiters attempting to sell on the site rose as scammers tried to take advantage of shoppers who were buying more online during the pandemic.

Amazon has been wrestling with counterfeits for years. But since 2019, it has warned investors in government filings that the sale of phony goods poses a risk to the company and its image. Brands may not want to sell their items on the site if they know there are fake versions being offered. And knock-offs could cause shoppers to lose their trust in Amazon.

Counterfeiters try to get their products on Amazon through its third-party marketplace, where sellers can list their items directly on the site. The company destroyed 2 million counterfeit products sent to its warehouses last year before they could be sold. And it said fewer than 0.01% of all items bought on the site received counterfeit complaints from shoppers.

Amazon said it can stop counterfeiters before they can sell anything thanks to machine-learning technology, which automatically scans listings to remove suspected counterfeits. The company also gives brands a way to remove fake items from the site themselves, rather than reporting them to Amazon and waiting for it to do something.

The company's efforts comes as lawmakers are looking at ways to reduce counterfeits online. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois re-introduced the INFORM Consumers Act this year. It would require third-party sellers to be verified and to disclose their name and address to shoppers. The bill was introduced last year, but wasn't voted on.

Amazon and smaller online stores, such as eBay and Etsy, oppose the bill for reasons including concerns it could discourage people from starting a small business and selling online. But groups that represent big-box physical retailers, such as Home Depot and Lowe's, support it because they say it levels the playing field, since physical retailers already make sure their shelves are free of fakes.

Amazon.com Inc. said it spent more than $700 million last year on its fraud and anti-counterfeiting efforts and has 10,000 people working on it. The company has also been filing joint lawsuits with brands, including one earlier this year with Salvatore Ferragamo against counterfeiters who were selling knock-offs of the high-end brand's belts on the site.

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This story has been corrected. Sen. Bill Cassidy is a Republican, not a Democrat.
Just after midnight on Halloween, a blaring car alarm and a loud banging sound startled Mirella Castaneda and woke her young son.

A man stood in her driveway in Forest Grove, Ore., slamming his fist into the Black Lives Matter flag draped over the metal garage door as the security alarm on the family's pickup truck continued to beep.

Castaneda immediately called 911 - but when police showed up they recognized the man as an off-duty officer named Steven Teets.

Instead of arresting Teets, though, one of the responding officers simply drove him home.

Now, Teets and that officer, Bradley Schuetz, face criminal charges in the incident that Castaneda's lawyers say "terrorized" her family.

A grand jury has indicted Schuetz for official misconduct, following an outside investigation by the Beaverton Police Department, the agency said in a statement Friday. Teets was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct last year. A second responding officer, Amber Daniels, will not face charges, officials said.

An attorney for Teets did not respond to a request for comment.

Steve Myers, who is representing Schuetz, told The Washington Post that his client had limited options after confronting Teets because the local center where police take intoxicated individuals had been closed and the county jail was not holding people charged with misdemeanors, because of the pandemic.

Myers said Schuetz said taking Teets to his nearby home was the best way to handle the unusual situation. He added that Schuetz knew an outside agency would be taking over the investigation, so he declined to interview Teets or write a citation to preserve the Washington County sheriff's investigation.

"It's hard to believe that this grand jury could find probable cause," Myers said, noting that a charge of official misconduct requires that an officer intended to benefit or intentionally harm another person.

Teets has been on administrative desk duty since late last year, and Schuetz is on paid administrative leave, the Oregonian reported.

The charges raised questions about how police handled the investigation, including whether the officers involved treated Castaneda differently because of her support of the Black Lives Matter movement that has challenged police across the United States over fatal shootings and violent arrests. The Forest Grove Police Department has also recently drawn public scrutiny over the death of James Marshall, who died after police used a stun gun to subdue him as he was having an apparent mental health crisis.

A lawyer for Castaneda provided The Washington Post with a tort claim declaring her intent to sue the Forest Grove Police Department. The claim describes how police allegedly "worked in concert, either intentionally, or subconsciously due to implicit bias, to deprive Ms. Castaneda of her Constitutional rights" as they investigated the incident last October.

In a statement addressing the charges against Teets and Schuetz, Forest Grove police chief Henry Reimann said he could not release any information about the October incident until the criminal cases are resolved.

"Sharing such information at this time (or rushing to make decisions based on partial information) could do more harm than good and could potentially hinder the City's ability to address these important issues," he said in the statement. "Once the criminal process is complete for each of the officers, an outside law enforcement agency will evaluate if policy violations occurred."

In the suburb about 30 miles west of Portland, Castaneda is one of the only homeowners who openly displays Black Lives Matter banners and signs, according to her claim. About 25,500 people live in Forest Grove; more than two-thirds of those residents are White, nearly 23% are Latino, and fewer than 1%of residents identify as Black, according to census data.

The signs allegedly attracted Teets's attention in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, when he allegedly strode up Castaneda's driveway, setting off the security alarm on the family's pickup truck and pounding on a Black Lives Matter flag. Teets allegedly kicked the front door, shouted at the family inside the home, and refused to leave.

"Officer Teets terrorized Ms. Castaneda and her family and yelled at them to fight," according to the tort claim.

Fifteen minutes after Castaneda called 911, two Forest Grove police officers arrived at her home and identified Teets as he was walking in the street nearby, according to court records.

Investigators ultimately revealed that Teets appeared to be "highly intoxicated" when Schuetz and Daniels arrived on the scene, according to a memo reported by the Portland Tribune last month.

Teets allegedly "squared up" with the two officers, fists raised as if he wanted to fight them. He did not recognize his colleagues, the memo said.

The responding officers did not check Teets for weapons, according to Castaneda's tort claim. Then, Schuetz drove Teets to his nearby home, "only blocks away from the Castaneda family," according to the tort claim, and helped the intoxicated officer to his front door.

The officers who interviewed Castaneda on Halloween did not tell her that they had identified Teets as the man who attacked her home, nor did they divulge that they had already taken him home.

"For my own sanity and my family's, I just felt like I needed to know what happened," Castaneda told the Tribune. "This really shook my sense of safety."

Nearly three days later, officials finally disclosed Teets's name and let a shaken Castaneda know that he had been arrested.

Castaneda has alleged that officers violated department policy and Oregon law when they "failed to tell [her] that the suspect lived near her family and carried a firearm as part of his job as an officer."

Even after providing Teets's name, investigators did not tell Castaneda that he was a police officer. According to her tort claim, she only discovered that Teets worked for the Forest Grove Police Department after she searched for his name on the Internet.

Her attorney, Michael Fuller, also said police did not document the possible political motives at play when Teets targeted Castaneda's home. The responding officers did not turn on body cameras during the investigation as required by department policy, nor did they note the existence of the Black Lives Matter flags prominently displayed on Castaneda's property in their reports.

Myers said Schuetz simply forgot to turn his body camera on while determining how to handle the incident and noted that the Forest Grove Police Department had implemented the body-worn cameras in January 2020. He also said the victim's Black Lives Matter flag had not been damaged.

"The treatment of Ms. Castaneda as a second-class citizen based on her political viewpoint by the investigating officers added insult to injury, and further compounded the emotional trauma she and her family had experienced at the hands of Officer Teets," her lawyer said.

The Forest Grove Police Department ultimately passed the criminal investigation over to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, which brought charges against Teets in November. Reimann, the Forest Grove police chief, also requested an administrative investigation be done by the police department in nearby Beaverton, which charged Schuetz last week.

Fuller told The Post that the criminal charges have given Castaneda hope that the city will address the failures that may have inhibited prosecutor's ability to pursue more aggressive charges in the case against Teets.

"I honestly didn't expect much to come from the internal review, certainly not a criminal probe of the police officers involved," Fuller told The Post in an email. "The charge of official misconduct substantiates what my client and I have been alleging for the past six months."
SYDNEY (AP)  An Australian judge on Monday rejected a challenge to a temporary COVID-19 ban on citizens returning from India.

The government imposed the Indian travel ban on April 30 to relieve pressure on quarantine facilities for returned international travelers. The ban will be lifted on Friday when a government-chartered plane is expected to repatriate 150 of the 9,000 Australians in India who want to come home.

Federal Court Justice Tom Thawley dismissed the first two parts of a four-pronged challenge to the ban initiated by 73-year-old Australian Gary Newman who has been stranded since March last year in the Indian city of Bangalore.

The second two parts are based on constitutional grounds so require more notice for a court hearing than Newmans application last week for an urgent hearing allowed.

The hearing was initiated before the government announced that six chartered flights would bring Australians home before the end of May. The government has yet to decide when commercial flights will resume.

The ban is the first time that Australias Biosecurity Act has been used to prevent Australians from returning home.

Newmans lawyers had argued the ban violated a fundamental common law right of citizens to enter their country of citizenship.

Thawley ruled that the Biosecurity Act was intended to impinge on common law rights.

Australia has used its geographic isolation as an island nation to its advantage in fighting the pandemic. It has been among the most successful countries in preventing the viruss local spread. The vast majority of COVID-19 cases are returned travelers diagnosed while in 14-day quarantine.

The Federal Court has yet to rule on a challenge to Australias tight restrictions on its citizens leaving the country for fear that they would bring the virus home.
For more than a year now, the state of America's live music industry has been a grim one.

The COVID-19 pandemic threw hundreds of thousands of musicians, roadies and other touring industry professionals out of work, according to the Country Music Association. In Tennessee alone, the industry's unemployed number around 50,000.

Compounding the problem, the jobs in restaurants and other hospitality businesses that have long sustained out-of-work entertainers were drastically slashed, too.

Now, in response to the crisis, the music association is expanding its efforts to help the industry's needy. It's announcing Monday that it will provide 4 million meals in cities with large populations of musicians and music industry professionals in a new partnership with Feeding America.

The trade organizations foundation will also launch a donation challenge to fund an additional 1 million meals throughout all of Feeding America's food banks. And its Music Industry COVID Support (MICS) Initiative will help those in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

All of that will come on top of $3 million that the CMA has invested in numerous nonprofits that serve music professionals.

Nobody wants to think about their friends or colleagues going without food, said Sarah Trahern, the associations CEO. But Ive been out at a couple of the food banks that weve done work with over the last year, and its us. As people, you think, There but for the grace of God go I.

I feel like by next year were going to be in good stead, she said. But a lot of those people will have gone 18 months to 24 months without salaries in their chosen fields. And then you cant put a roof over your head or put braces on your kids or put food on the table.

The need to help those musicians and music industry professionals make it through the next few months is why the CMA opted to expand its MICS initiative. And its why country superstar Blake Shelton said he is proud to have been part of the initiative in helping drum up financial support for the food banks.

There are a lot of people struggling in our country, and COVID has only made that worse, Shelton said in an interview with The Associated Press. People are going to bed hungry at night now more than ever, and I just cant live with that. Ive been passionate for a long time about helping folks get the food they need.

Since beginning his recording career in 2001, Shelton has never been off the road for as long as he has now, though his work on The Voice has kept him busy when he hasnt been on his Oklahoma ranch with his fiancee, Gwen Stefani, and their families. He said he feels fortunate to have been able to keep paying his band and crew over the past year, allowing his band members to be busy working on different musical projects, keeping their skills sharp!

This pandemic has affected people all across the country, working in all different kinds of industries, from restaurants to schools to travel, Shelton said. What more can be done? The world is starting to open up again, and tours and shows are being announced daily. So go support your favorite artists, bands, orchestras, theaters. Of course, do it safely, but lets have some fun again!

Thats what Amberly Rosen yearns to do. Rosen, one-half of the folk-dance duo The Rosen Sisters, has toured with numerous artists. She has played arenas and major festivals with country star Terri Clark and Late Night with David Letterman with Maddie and Tae. And she wants very much to get back to entertaining people.

"There was a ton of disappointment last year, said Rosen, a violinist who was trained at the Berklee College of Music and now lives in Nashville. I cant wait to have joyful moments with people again, when we can be with each other just a little bit.

Rosen remembers the day early in the pandemic when she received one call after another canceling concerts, tours and other gigs for months into the future. When even her backup job as a violin teacher slowed to a crawl, she grew worried.

It was totally terrifying, said Rosen, 34. Ive always worked in music. Its what I do. Its who I am. All of a sudden, I couldnt do my job.

As she looked for ways to cut costs, Rosen heard about a program from Musically Fed, one of the initiatives the CMA began supporting in 2020, that would give unemployed musicians $100 vouchers to spend at a local farmers market.

It was so helpful, and I was so grateful to have that, Rosen said. But it was a personal struggle because I worried, Am I needy enough for this? Ive always been capable of taking care of myself, but this time there were really no jobs in my field.

Thats a common feeling, especially during the pandemic, when so many found themselves so quickly in need, said Nancy Keil, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, one of the nonprofits that will benefit from the expanded MICS initiative.

About 40% of people who visited food banks in the past year, she said, had never come before. Part of her groups challenge is to educate people to accept help when they need it.

When people just dont have jobs, you have a need, Keil said. You cant just find food somewhere. You need someone to help. Its so basic.

Second Harvest, it turns out, needs some help of its own. In 2020, the food bank experienced a 50% increase in demand for its services  which, Keil said, meant that about 450,000 more people in Middle Tennessee became food insecure. Financial donations rose last year. But they didnt completely cover the costs of increasing staff and buying more supplies because food donations from now-closed restaurants tumbled.

This funding support from the CMA is going to be huge, Keil said. When we looked at the numbers from the last recession, it took 10 years to get back to pre-recession numbers. Were hoping that this time it will take much shorter.

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
BOSTON (AP)  The Pine Street Inn and its codevelopers can proceed with building a 202-unit building after reaching a settlement with a neighbor who sued to stop construction.

Pine Street and its partner, Community Builders, plan to break ground by fall on the building that will include 140-units for the homeless with a suite of social services onsite, The Boston Globe reported.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday expanded a drought emergency to a large swath of the nation's most populous state while seeking more than $6 billion in multiyear water spending as one of the warmest, driest springs on record threatens another severe wildfire season across the American West.

The Democratic governor said he is acting amid acute water supply shortages" in northern and central parts of California as he called again for voluntary conservation. Yet the state is in relatively better shape than it was when the last five-year drought ended in 2017, he said, as good habits have led to a 16% reduction in water usage.

His emergency declaration now includes 41 of 58 counties, covering 30% of California's nearly 40 million people, and he said a further expansion is likely as conditions worsen. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of the state and the American West is in extensive drought just a few years after California emerged from the last punishing multiyear dry spell.

Were staring down at what could be disastrous summer and fall, with the potential of communities running out water, and fires," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, who accompanied Newsom to the announcement made before a Central Valley reservoir with a deep bathtub ring of dry earth surrounded by browning grass.

Like most of the state's extensive interconnected system of reservoirs and canals, the San Luis Reservoir is at less than 60% of its seasonal average as scarce winter rain and snow turns to a dry summer that Newsom said is imperiled by climate change.

Officials fear an extraordinarily dry spring presages a wildfire season like last year, when flames burned a record 6,562 square miles (16,996 square kilometers).

The hots are getting a lot hotter in this state, the dries are getting a lot drier, Newsom said. We have a conveyance system, a water system, that was designed for a world that no longer exists.

That requires the state to envision a much more resilient, a much more vibrant, much more dynamic water delivery system, he said, noting that the one largely constructed in the last mid-century to carry water from Northern California to the south, helped us build the worlds largest middle class" by enabling the state's population and agricultural growth.

The governor is asking state lawmakers to approve what he said is a record $5.1 billion over four years for water projects, plus another $1 billion to help an estimated million Californians who are behind on their water bills in part because of the economic hardship of the pandemic.

His proposed water spending includes $1.3 billion for drinking water and wastewater systems, prioritizing smaller and poorer communities.

Another $200 million would go to repair canals damaged when the ground beneath them sank as more groundwater was pulled from wells.

Other projects would address groundwater cleanup, water recycling, fish and wildlife habitat, flood preparedness, weather forecasting, and agricultural water use.

His expanded drought emergency declaration includes the counties in the Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake watersheds across much of the northern and central parts of the state.

The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides about a third of the states water, was at just 59% of average on April 1, when it is normally at its peak.

This year is unique because of extraordinarily warm temperatures in April and early May, Newsom said. That led to quick melting of the Sierra Nevada snowpack in the waterways that feed the Sacramento River, which in turn supplies much of the states summer water supply.

The problem was worse because much of the snow seeped into the ground instead of flowing into rivers and reservoirs, he said.

The warmer temperatures also caused water users to draw more water more quickly than even in other drought years, he said, leaving reservoirs extremely low for farmers, fish and wildlife that depend on them.

That all reduced the states water supplies by as much as what would supply up to 1 million households for a year, he said.

Newsom urged residents to limit their use, whether by limiting outdoor watering, checking for leaks, or taking shorter showers and turning off the water when washing dishes or brushing teeth.

Senate Republicans blamed majority Democrats for not building more dams to increase water storage, with GOP leader Scott Wilk saying in a statement that the governor's declaration "does nothing to remove regulatory roadblocks that hold up shovel-ready water projects.

Newsom is spending the week previewing highlights of the revised budget he will present to state lawmakers Friday for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Earlier Monday in the San Francisco Bay Area, Newsom proposed tax rebates of up to $1,100 for millions of lower- and middle-income Californians, one leg of a pandemic recovery plan made possible by an eye-popping $76 billion budget surplus.

The barnstorming comes as Newsom faces a fall recall election driven in large part by frustration over his handling of the pandemic, though he noted that he also previewed his budget proposals in the past when he wasnt facing a recall.

This expanded #drought declaration should have happened weeks ago, tweeted former Congressman Doug Ose, one of the Republicans who wants to replace Newsom. Playing politics like this with peoples livelihoods doesnt do anybody any good.

The governors fellow Democrats, who control the Legislature, have until June 15 to pass a spending plan.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, plans a $100 billion economy recovery package, with the centerpiece a proposal to give $11.9 billion of direct cash payments to Californians.

The plan would expand on a previous program distributing $600 checks to qualifying low-income residents by extending eligibility to the middle class. Two out of three Californians would receive a check of at least $600, and families with kids will get an additional $500, according to a release from the Democrat's press office. It would create the biggest state tax rebate on record, the release said.

Newsom, who's facing a likely recall election later this year, will spend the week highlighting parts of his package, which is billed the "California Comeback Plan." He's required to present a revised budget for the next fiscal year by Friday.

The announcement underscores the improved financial picture of the most-populous U.S. state, which last May girded for deficits because of the pandemic-spurred recession. But the state, with a progressive tax system that rakes in more revenue when the income of the highest earners rises, has collected more than it expected from its wealthiest residents. That group has reaped the benefits of rising stock prices and stable employment even as lower-income workers lost their jobs in the pandemic.

In January, the state was expecting a $15 billion surplus, and that was before the federal stimulus package passed that gives it $26 billion. Tax collections for the first nine months of the fiscal year are running about 14% ahead of projections.

"The state is awash in cash," John Ceffalio, senior municipal research analyst at CreditSights Inc, said before the announcement. "California came into the pandemic in good fiscal shape and it's probably leaving it in even better fiscal shape.
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP)  A 12-year-old boy died and three other children were critically hurt after fire ripped through a home in inland Southern California, authorities said.

Two adults were able to escape the blaze Friday night at the house in Victorville, CBS 2 reported.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Four bodies of illegal migrants, including a woman and a child, were recovered by Libyan Red Crescent teams who also rescued 40 other people, informed sources said Monday in the Libyan capital
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (AP)  A Southern California woman faces criminal charges after she created fake home health care certifications leading to more than $6 million in fraudulent Medicare billings, federal authorities said.

Lilit Gagikovna Baltaian, 58, of Porter Ranch, was arrested Thursday after authorities said she fraudulently certified patients to receive care from four separate home health agencies  two in Glendale and two in Panorama City  between January 2012 to July 2018, the Daily News reported.

Police said the agencies would then file claims for reimbursement with Medicare for services that were not provided or unnecessary, and Baltaian would receive cash benefits from the home health agencies for the referrals. Authorities said Baltaian also submitted her own claims for reimbursement.

It was not immediately known if Baltaian had an attorney to speak on her behalf.

Physicians, registered nurses or qualified therapists can certify patients for home care from home health agencies if they are confined to their home because of illness or injury. The agencies file claims with Medicare for reimbursement.

Home health services could include changing wound dressings, giving injections or teaching patients' family members to properly care for their loved one.

Prosecutors claim Baltaian and the home health agencies knew the certifications were false, or not necessary, before the agencies submitted claims to Medicare. Baltaian faces four charges of health care fraud and could receive up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

It was not immediately known how many claims were submitted by the agencies or if the agencies could face charges for their alleged involvement in the fraudulent scheme.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  When Joel Acevedo died from injuries at the hands of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer last spring, his parents Maribel and Jose were told their son had been the aggressor.

Months later in December, the Acevedos saw police body camera footage they say shows a different version of events. The family has been fighting ever since to have the video released to the public.

Its black and white evidence that there is no justification for what he did to my son, Maribel said during a press conference in December. I dont care what narrative they have. It is not justifiable.

The Acevedos are one of a number of Wisconsin families who have lost loved ones to police violence  and are hoping body camera footage can lead to justice.

Joel died after being in a choke hold for 11 minutes and 20 seconds on April 19, 2020. He was at a party at the home of former Milwaukee Police Officer Michael Mattioli when he reportedly got into a fight that led to the strangling. Another man held Joels legs, while Mattioli leaned on his neck. There was a third man involved, according to a criminal complaint.

Acevedo family attorney BIvory Lamarr said more than 40 hours of body cam footage would show police entering Mattiolis home after he called them; Acevedo on the ground; first responders performing CPR and loading Acevedo into the ambulance and transporting him to a hospital; conversations among the responding police officers after Acevedo was transported; witness interviews; and statements from Mattioli.

Mattioli resigned from the Milwaukee Police Department in September. He was charged with first-degree reckless homicide in May 2020. His attorney has argued releasing the tape would interfere with his ability to receive a fair trial, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

But Lamarr says the public has a right to know what happened.

When you see the body cam footage, you will see it paints a completely different picture, and I think that will provide the basis as to the public understanding as to why it is being fought so hard for it not to be made available, Lamarr said.

A sign above docked body cameras says Officers: Remember to categorize each of your videos on evidence.com

In recent weeks, there have been several high-profile killings across the country by police officers where video footage was quickly released to the public.

Last month, former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. Because of footage from her body camera, Potter was quickly charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Video footage revealed 13-year-old Adam Toledo had his empty hands raised when he was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer last month  a very different scenario than what police there originally reported.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice conducted a survey in January asking police departments across the state if they use body cameras. Of the 436 agencies who responded, 208  or less than half  said they have enough body cameras for every officer. Of those, about 88 percent say theyve been using the devices for at least a year.

Greater calls have been made for police-worn cameras in Wisconsin since former Wauwatosa Police officer Joseph Mensah killed three people while on duty and Jacob Blake was shot seven times in Kenosha by an officer. There were no body cameras in Wauwatosa or Kensoha at the time of these incidents.

In the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, police officers have been wearing body cameras since February.

Wauwatosa Sgt. Abby Pavlik said the cameras are always on, and the camera is activated when an officer is about to have an interaction. Pavlik said the footage is saved for at least three months, and is released to the public if it doesnt hinder an investigation.

Anytime we release footage or any type of open records ... we weigh that balance of what needs to be seen to preservation of evidence or someones personal information, Pavlik said.

Wauwatosa police didnt have body cameras in 2016 when Mensah fatally shot Jay Anderson Jr. six times.

The shooting happened around 3 a.m. June 23, 2016, when Mensah approached Anderson who was sleeping in his car at a local school. Andersons family says he was inebriated. Mensah says Anderson was reaching for a gun when he shot him.

Mensah was never charged, although the Anderson family is asking a judge to reconsider.

Jay Anderson Sr. says if Mensah had been wearing a body camera, things could have been different.

A body cam is what we need on every police force in the United States, Anderson Sr. said.

Cynthia Lum is a criminology professor at George Mason University. She says there is some research that shows body cameras can potentially curb excessive use of force. But Lum said an agencys willingness to be transparent is more important than the recording of an event.

How is that recording being used by the agency or the jurisdiction to ensure effective or fair policing? Lum said.

Lum said while body cameras sometimes make police officers and a community feel safer, there remains uncertainty about whether the devices actually reduce police violence.

People and the police can feel and have perceptions one way about one thing, but I think the more important thing is whether body-worn cameras actually deliver on the outcomes that we expect from them, Lum said.
Four people are facing nearly $70,000 in civil fines for clashing with airline crews over mask requirements and other safety instructions on recent flights, part of what the Federal Aviation Administration called a disturbing increase in the number of unruly passengers who have returned to the skies with the easing of pandemic restrictions.

The latest round of proposed fines, which passengers have 30 days to contest, came just days after the FAA said that it had received more than 1,300 unruly-passenger reports from airlines since February. In the previous decade, the agency said, it took enforcement actions against 1,300 passengers total.

We will not tolerate interfering with a flight crew and the performance of their safety duties, Stephen Dickson, the administrator of the FAA, said on Twitter on May 3. Period.

None of the passengers now facing fines were identified by the FAA, which this year imposed a zero-tolerance policy for interfering with or assaulting flight attendants that carries a fine of up to $35,000 and possible jail time.

One of the passengers, a woman who was traveling from the Dominican Republic on a JetBlue flight bound for New York on Feb. 7, refused to comply with instructions to wear a mask aboard the plane, hurled an empty liquor bottle that almost hit another passenger, threw food and shouted obscenities at flight attendants, according to the FAA.

The woman grabbed the arm of a flight attendant and hurt her arm, and she struck the arm of another flight attendant twice and scratched that crew members hand, causing the flight to return to the Dominican Republic, the FAA said last week. It recommended a fine of $32,750 for the woman.

So far, the FAA has identified potential violations in about 260 of the 1,300 cases referred by airlines, a spokesman for the agency said in an email Sunday. Officials have begun enforcement actions in 20 of the cases and are preparing a number of additional enforcement actions, the spokesman said.

In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 142 enforcement actions that stemmed from unruly passengers, according to the FAA. There were 159 in 2018, and 91 in 2017.

In an opinion column Sunday on NBCNews.com, Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants union, attributed the rising tensions in the skies to the politically charged atmosphere over health protocols.

Whats causing these incidents? she asked. Overwhelmingly, its passengers who refuse to wear masks.

Nelson said that flight attendants would never tell passengers that it was a matter of personal choice to wear oxygen masks in the event of cabin depressurization or seat belts in case of turbulence. The same is true now for wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus.

Were also trained to help stop the spread of infectious disease, she said. Were not just enforcing these long-overdue mask policies because we have to: We understand that masks are a way we keep ourselves and each other safe. And were grateful policymakers are backing us up.

In April, the Transportation Security Administration extended a requirement for airline passengers to wear masks on commercial flights and at U.S. airports through Sept. 13. The order had been scheduled to expire May 11.

Last month, Alaska Airlines said that it had suspended an Alaska state senator from its flights for violating its mask policies. The lawmaker, Lora Reinbold, a Republican, was captured on video arguing with employees at Juneau International Airport about the airlines mask rules, according to footage posted on Twitter.

In response to the dispute, a woman who identified herself as an Alaska Airlines flight attendant said on Twitter that episodes like the one involving Reinbold were a reason that she had resigned.

It has been an exhausting time for all the employees who are just trying to do their job according to their companys policies, the woman, Angela Hagedorn, said April 26. The constant arguing and pushback from guests, its ridiculous.

As part of the latest round of fines recommended by the FAA, the agency said that a male passenger aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Sacramento, California, on Jan. 26 refused to comply with a flight attendants instructions to wear a mask over his nose and mouth. The man became combative and used offensive language when a second flight attendant told him he was required to wear a mask, according to the FAA, which said that the passenger hit one of the flight attendants with his bags when he was ordered to leave the plane. Officials recommended a $16,500 fine for the man.

On Dec. 22, a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia returned to the airport after a female passenger began walking up and down the aisle during takeoff and refused to return to her seat, the FAA said. A $9,000 fine was recommended for the woman, who the agency said told the crew repeatedly that she wanted to get off the plane.

A Jan. 30 flight from Bozeman, Montana, to Seattle also returned to the airport after a male passenger refused to put on a mask, according to the FAA, which also recommended a $9,000 fine in his case.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
BEIJING (AP)  Chinas government criticized U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday for urging the World Health Organization to invite Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, to participate in a meeting this month.

Blinkens statement Friday adds to a similar joint appeal by foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major economies this month in London. That irked the Communist Beijing government, which insists Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations or join global bodies.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Wisconsin Claims Board announced Monday that it will award $25,000 to a man wrongfully convicted in a 1995 homicide later connected to a Milwaukee serial killer.

Sam Hadaway was seeking the maximum compensation for a wrongful conviction under state law. The Claims Board said he was clearly innocent in 16-year-old runaway Jessica Payne's death.

Police found Payne's body behind an abandoned house in Milwaukee in August 1995. Investigators arrested Hadaway and Chaunte Ott in the death, based partly on statements from a third man, Richard Gwin.

He told police that the three of them drove Payne to an abandoned house. Hadaway, Ott and Payne got out but Hadaway came back alone. Gwin said that Hadaway told him Ott tried to rob Payne and killed her because she had no money. Both Hadaway and Gwin testified against Ott.

Hadaway was convicted of attempted robbery and sentenced to five years. Ott was convicted of homicide and sentenced to life.

Both Gwin and Hadaway later recanted. In 2002, the Wisconsin Innocence Project forced new DNA testing of semen collected from Paynes body. The results cleared both Ott and Hadaway, pointing instead to Milwaukee serial killer Water Ellis, who had raped and strangled at least seven women in Milwaukee between 1986 and 2007.

Prosecutors dropped the case against Ott in 2009. He spent 13 years in prison and won $25,000 from the Claims Board in 2010. He also won a $6.5 million settlement from the city of Milwaukee.
MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP)  The family of a man who died in a western Michigan jail has reached a lawsuit settlement with Muskegon County, a mediator said.

Daniel Ryan made the disclosure Friday in a document filed in federal court in Kalamazoo. No financial details were revealed.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  Extreme drought shows no signs of releasing its grip on North Dakota, despite recent cooler weather and widespread rainfall.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, released Thursday, shows 85% percent of North Dakota in extreme drought, the second-worst of four categories. Thats up slightly from 83% last week. Extreme drought blankets the western and central portions of the state, with most of the Red River Valley in moderate or severe drought.

Areas of extreme drought expanded in northern South Dakota and southern North Dakota, wrote Western Regional Climate Center Associate Research Scientist David Simeral and Climate Prediction Center Meteorologist Richard Tinker.

In northwestern South Dakota, the town of Lemmon saw its driest January-through-April period on record with only 0.71 inches of precipitation observed, they said. The South Dakota State Extension and the North Dakota State Climate Office are both reporting drought-related impacts in their respective states, including poor water quality for livestock and dry stock ponds.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a partnership of USDA, the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

April climate statistics from the National Weather Service show that precipitation for the Bismarck area was more than half an inch below normal. In Dickinson it was even worse -- more than an inch below normal. Temperatures for the month were just under normal, after a hot March.

The state has received widespread precipitation over the past two weeks, The Bismarck Tribune reported.

Combined with recent cooler temperatures, it has been enough to slow down drought degradation, the National Weather Service said in a drought update issued Wednesday. However, soil moisture remains well below average across the majority of the state.

The weekly crop report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service rates 83% of topsoil in North Dakota as being short or very short of moisture, and 81% of subsoil as being in those two categories -- both up from the previous week. Ranchers hay supplies were rated 54% short or very short, and stock water supplies were 74% in those categories, also higher over the week.

Gov. Doug Burgum earlier this month declared a statewide disaster. The State Water Commission has reactivated the Drought Disaster Livestock Water Supply Project Assistance Program. The state Agriculture Department has reactivated the Drought Hotline and interactive hay map. For more information, go to www.swc.nd.gov and www.nd.gov/ndda.

The tinder-dry conditions across the state have led to more than 800 wildfires scorching nearly 80,000 acres -- 8  times the number of acres that burned in all of 2020, according to Beth Hill, acting outreach and education manager for the North Dakota Forest Service. Burned areas total four times the square mileage of Bismarck.

All but four of North Dakotas 53 counties have some form of outdoors burning restrictions in place. Much of central and eastern North Dakota was in the very high fire danger category on Thursday, with the eastern half of the state under a red flag warning from the National Weather Service for critical fire weather conditions -- warm temperatures, low humidity and wind gusting to 40 mph.

The overly dry conditions are likely to persist or worsen through the summer, according to the National Weather Service. The agencys precipitation outlook for the May-July period shows a low probability of even normal precipitation in North Dakota, and the three-month outlook for late summer shows a high probability of below-normal precipitation for the entire state.

At this point it would take an extended period of above-normal rainfall to bring the region back to near-normal hydrologic conditions, the weather service said. Crops across the region face greater-than-normal uncertainty as normal to below-normal rains may still see crops struggle, as there is not enough soil moisture to allow crops to thrive in the absence of regular rainfall.
BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union foreign ministers on Monday debated ways to maintain support for Afghanistans beleaguered government after a brutal weekend attack on a girls' school underscored deep concern that violence will spread as U.S.-led troops leave the country.

With the departure of foreign troops just a few months away, European governments are still trying to work out what kind of diplomatic presence they will keep in Afghanistan and who will provide security for them. They are particularly reluctant to be perceived as abandoning the country.

Just hours after the Taliban announced a cease-fire for later this week, a bus in southern Zabul province struck a roadside mine on Monday killing 11 people. At least 24 others on the bus were injured, the Interior Ministry said.

On Saturday, a bomb attack on a girls school killed up to 60 people, most of them students aged 11-15. The death toll from the three explosions there continues to climb.

After the terrible attacks of recent days, it is all the more important for the EU to make very clear that Afghanistan and the Afghan government can continue to count on Europes support, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Brussels.

We will continue to make available sufficient funding for civilian reconstruction, and we will do everything we can so that the ongoing peace negotiations reach a conclusion, Maas said. Peace talks, though, between the divided Afghan government and the Taliban appear to be going nowhere.

The remaining 2,500 to 3,500 American troops officially began leaving Afghanistan on May 1. They are expected to be out by Sept. 11 at the latest  a deadline set by President Joe Biden. European troops depend on U.S. forces for transport and logistics help and will leave with the Americans.

Germanys defense ministry has suggested that a July 4 withdrawal might be on the cards.

The U.S. has openly also warned of battlefield gains for the Taliban and officials in Washington say Afghan government forces face an uncertain future against the insurgents as the withdrawal accelerates in the coming weeks.

This is all raises deep security concerns for the Europeans which weigh heavily as they debate how to help ordinary Afghan civilians, including many who have helped international forces, agencies and NGOs during almost 20 years of conflict.

The decision has been taken and what we have to do is to face the situation that is going to be created, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said last Thursday. The violence in Afghanistan is increasing, and its clear that once the U.S. will withdraw, the European Union troops will not be able to stay.

We better face the future and to try to take positive decisions in order to face reality, Borrell said.

Part of that reality could be a return of the Taliban as the dominant force.

No matter who is in control in the future, Maas said Monday, the EU will always point out to those in charge in Afghanistan that the aid we make available is tied to the things that have been achieved in the past 20 years  regarding the building of the state, regarding womens rights, regarding education  not being sacrificed. That is the precondition.

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
MARSHALL, Mich. (AP)  A man has died weeks after he was among eight people who were injured in a natural gas explosion and fire at a southern Michigan home.

Family members said Dustin Boggess, 38, rushed back into the Marshall house to rescue a 2-year-old child during the April 12 incident. He died Friday.
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration cleared the first coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in children as young as 12 on Monday, expanding access to the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to adolescents before the next school year and marking another milestone in the nation's battle with the virus.

The decision that the two-shot regimen is safe and effective for younger adolescents had been anticipated by many parents and pediatricians, particularly with the growing gap between what vaccinated and unvaccinated people may do safely. Evidence suggests that schools can function at low risk with prevention measures, such as masks and social distancing. But vaccines are poised to increase confidence in resuming in-person activities and are regarded as pivotal to returning to normalcy.

"Adolescents, especially, have suffered tremendously from the covid pandemic. Even though they're less likely than adults to be hospitalized or have severe illness, their lives really have been curtailed in many parts of the country," said Kawsar R. Talaat, an assistant professor of international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "A vaccine gives them an extra layer of protection and allows them to go back to being kids."

Expert advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scheduled to meet Wednesday to recommend how the vaccine should be used in that age group, and the vaccine can be administered as soon as the CDC director signs off on the recommendation.

In a news briefing Monday evening after the announcement, FDA officials said the Pfizer authorization for 12- to 15-year-olds was a straightforward decision because the data showed that the vaccine was safe and that the response to the vaccine was even better than among the 18- to 25-year-olds who got the shots.

Children rarely suffer serious bouts of covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. But there is no way to predict the few who will become dangerously sick or develop a rare, dangerous inflammatory syndrome. Out of more than 581,000 covid-19 deaths in the United States, about 300 have been people under 18 - a tiny fraction of the total. But that exceeds the number of children who die in a bad flu season.

Children appear to be less efficient at spreading the virus, though their role in transmission is still not fully understood - another reason for pediatric vaccinations.

Clinicians also worry that with a new virus with many unknowns, the possibility exists for long-term effects of infection, even from the mild or asymptomatic courses of illness common among children.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, already authorized for adolescents 16 and older, was the first to be tested in younger adolescents. The FDA's decision will provide a potential path for other vaccine makers to follow, most of which have launched or plan to initiate trials of their vaccines in teenagers and younger children.

The agency based its authorization on a trial of nearly 2,300 adolescents between 12 and 15 years old, half of whom received the same two-shot regimen shown effective and safe in adults. Researchers took blood samples and measured antibody levels triggered by the shots and found stronger immune responses in the teens than those found in young adults. There were 16 cases of covid-19 in the trial, all of them among adolescents who received a placebo, suggesting that the regimen offered similar protection to younger recipients as it does to adults.

Robert Frenck, the researcher who led the adolescent trial at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said the study was designed to test whether it triggered immune responses, not whether it prevented disease. But because of the number of children who became ill in the placebo arm of the trial, it also became evident the vaccine offered robust protection.

"That really points out how much covid there is in the adolescent community," Frenck said.

The data has not been published or peer-reviewed, but Kathryn Edwards, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the results announced by Pfizer were "pretty exciting - it looked very effective and the immune responses were really good."

Edwards said she is comfortable that the benefits of vaccinations are clear among teens, noting that while children, in general, are at lower risk of severe covid-19 than adults, older adolescents seem to be more like adults in their risk for covid-19 than the very youngest children.

Audrey Baker, 15, and Sam Baker, 12, rolled up their sleeves for shots in the Pfizer-BioNTech trial at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Audrey said she had no hesitation about signing up, and misses little things about how life used to be - eating in restaurants and seeing family.

"I just trusted the science," Audrey said. "I knew it was tested in adults. I was really just joining, hoping that maybe I could get vaccinated and help out science."

Sam said he was more hesitant, in part because participating meant many follow-up lab tests. But he decided to do it and thinks he may have gotten the vaccine in the trial because he developed a headache and fever after his second dose.

Their mother, Rachel Baker, said she was relieved because of Sam's symptoms.

"The biggest benefit has been that I feel a weight off my shoulders," Rachel said. "We haven't changed how we do anything. . . . We're still masking, we're still social distancing, but we're a bit calmer about it all."

Cody Meissner, a pediatrician at Tufts Medical Center and a member of an external advisory committee to the FDA, said a pediatric vaccine is needed. But he said he would like to see more safety data because the messenger RNA technology at the core of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and the biotechnology company Moderna does not have a long, established safety record, and its first large-scale use began in December.

Meissner abstained from the December vote that overwhelmingly recommended authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for people 16 and older, because he thought the vaccine should be authorized in people 18 and older.

"For those who are eager to get it, it's important for them to understand that this is very rarely a severe disease in young adolescents, number one, and this is an entirely new vaccine," Meissner said. "I just don't want people to get too swept up in fear of hospitalization and death from covid-19 for the first few decades of life."

Many other physicians take comfort knowing that 250 million shots of messenger RNA vaccine have been given in the United States alone. Serious side effects, such as a risk of anaphylaxis, are extremely rare. Because the trial in teens was an "immune bridging" trial designed to test whether the vaccine triggered immune responses similar to those in adults, researchers did not need to recruit tens of thousands of people to see if those who received a vaccine were protected against illness. The immune bridging technique is commonly used to expand access to vaccines that have been proved effective and safe to adolescents or other populations.

The expansion of eligibility to children will probably ignite debates in families about when to get vaccinated, and among policymakers about whether it should be required.

Dorit Reiss, a law professor focused on vaccine policy at the University of California Hastings College of Law, said children probably will not be mandated to receive a coronavirus shot until the vaccines win full approval and not just emergency use authorization.

She predicted that acceptance of the vaccine will evolve as more children are vaccinated and depend on the state of the pandemic. She noted that when vaccines are introduced, the rollout often starts slowly before accelerating.

"Nervousness about a new vaccine is normal, especially when it's for kids," Reiss said. "Parents that are nervous now might feel different in a few months, once their friends' kids have gotten vaccinated. And the views of the kids are also going to matter - if teens are going to think this is going to make their lives easier."

Opening up vaccinations to children may sharpen a debate unfolding globally about the equity of vaccine access. Talaat said that while she is eager for her children to have access to a vaccine, she is troubled by the global inequities because high-risk front-line workers or older people still do not have access to vaccines in countries where the coronavirus is out of control.

Moderna announced Thursday that an initial analysis of its teen trial found that its vaccine was 96% effective among participants who received at least one dose. Moderna is in discussions with regulators about the data. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are testing their vaccines in children as young as infants. Johnson & Johnson is planning pediatric trials of its single-shot vaccine.

Trials in younger children are expected to take longer because researchers must step down gradually in age and determine a safe and effective dose. William Gruber, senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development at Pfizer, said data from tests in children as young as 2 years old may be available by September or October, with data on children as young as 6 months possible by the end of the year.

Within each age category, a separate risk-benefit assessment may take place. In the youngest children, given the low risk from the coronavirus, side effects may figure more prominently into the analysis. Researchers may end up choosing a lower dose of vaccine. The understanding of children's role in transmission may also evolve and help guide vaccine use and public policy.

"We are proceeding carefully, cautiously," Edwards said. "We're using the same rigid guidelines we use in all vaccines, and we take this very seriously. I think as time goes on and more information becomes available, some of the questions may be easier to address."
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A former Anoka theater teacher who was an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ students is charged with 10 felony counts of sexually abusing minors.

Jefferson Fietek, 47, taught arts theater at Anoka Middle School and created the non-profit group Young Artists Initiative that operated out of a St. Paul church.

According to court documents, the five male victims are either former middle school students of participants in the theater non-profit.

A criminal investigation began when a former student went public with abuse allegations, which span a decade, last year.

While Fietek stood up for LGBTQ students during a federal prove into anti-gay bulling in the state's largest school district, the Anoka-Hennepin School District itself may have failed to protect students from Fietek, the Star Tribune reported.

On three previous occasions, school officials or leaders of the Young Artists Initiative had been warned about Fieteks close relationships with male students, the Tribune reported.

It was like a big, bad monster that was in the room the whole time, said Amy Mills, a parent who said she anonymously warned school officials in 2016 about Fieteks behavior toward male students. Why on earth did nobody else see it?

The Anoka-Hennepin School District declined to comment, citing the active criminal case.

Fietek referred questions to his attorney, Jack Rice.

We deny all allegations and we look forward to the trial that will be coming in the future, Rice said.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Former Connecticut House Republican leader Robert Ward, a key player in state government for decades, has died at age 68.

Ward died Sunday at his home in North Branford, according to Brian Havens, owner and director of the North Haven Funeral Home. The cause of death was not released.

Ward served as a state legislator for 22 years, the last 12 as House Republican leader, a position he held for longer than anyone else in Connecticut history.

After declining to run for reelection to the legislature in 2006, Ward held positions as state motor vehicles commissioner and state auditor.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, a New Haven Democrat, called Ward the epitome of a public servant in a statement Monday.

He will be sorely missed and his years as a legislator, DMV Commissioner, and State Auditor will stand as an ongoing model for other public officials to emulate, Looney said.

Hartford Courant columnist Kevin F. Rennie, a Republican former state senator, said in a blog post Sunday that Ward entered the thin ranks of the heroic when he supported an impeachment inquiry into Gov. John Rowland, a fellow Republican.

Rowland resigned in 2004 during a corruption investigation and has served two terms in federal prison.
PARIS (AP)  The French government gave a medal Monday to a math teacher-volunteer firefighter who used CPR to save the life of a jogger in a Paris park, a gesture that has drawn national attention to the importance of first aid training.

The joggers wife, Paris-based Associated Press journalist Lori Hinnant, helped identify the anonymous rescuer by putting up thank-you signs in Monceau Park, where her husband Peter Sigal went into cardiac arrest on April 28.
SALISBURY, Md. (AP)  Hundreds of police officers joined family and friends in saying goodbye Monday to a Delaware officer who authorities say was fatally attacked while responding to a fight.

Officers from Delaware, Maryland and other states as well as members of the community that Delmar police Cpl. Keith Heacook served for 22 years provided an escort between Delmar and the service in Salisbury, Maryland.

Authorities say the 54-year-old Heacook was attacked April 25 by Randon Wilkerson, 30, of Salisbury after responding to a fight. Heacook died days later. Wilkerson was charged with attempted murder and other offenses and Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings has said the charges will be upgraded to include murder.

The Delmar police department serves a community that straddles the Maryland-Delaware border. News outlets report that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan spoke at the funeral of the grief felt in both states at the loss of a hero. Delaware Gov. John Carney said the heart of every Delawarean is heavy in solidarity with all of you.

Heacook was remembered as a dedicated son and loving father to his 12-year-old son. Heacook's stepdaughter, Michelle M. Colander, said he was a best friend to her mother, Susan.

Not only was he amazing to my mother, but he was wonderful to me and my brothers, Colander said. He was always there to help to counsel and to be our support when we needed it. Even though Im pretty certain we might have given him some gray hairs through the years, you would never have known because he was just always there and willing to help us.
ATLANTA (AP)  The mother of a Black man pursued and killed by white men who said they suspected him of a crime says she is thankful, very thankful that Georgia has repealed its Civil War-era citizen's arrest law.

Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, spoke Monday after Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 479, which says bystanders can no longer make an arrest in Georgia if a crime is committed in their presence.

I think the signing of this bill will make people think before they take action into their own hands," Cooper-Jones said. Unfortunately we had to lose my son in this manner. Had this bill been in place, I think it will protect young men as they are jogging down the street.

The law is a continuing reaction to Arbery's death, which was recorded on video by one of three men now charged with murder. The outcry over the shooting also pushed lawmakers last year to pass a new hate crimes law in Georgia, more than 15 years after the state Supreme Court overturned an earlier law.

This bill makes Georgia the first state in the country to repeal its citizen's arrest statue, Kemp, a Republican, said before signing the measure. Today we are replacing this Civil War-era law, ripe for abuse, with language that balances the sacred right of self-defense of person and property with our shared responsibility to root out injustice and set our state on a better path forward.

Those who had long pushed for the repeal said the law was approved in 1863 to round up escaped slaves and was later used to justify the lynching of African Americans. Some other states are now also considering repealing such laws.

Arbery, then 25, was fatally shot while running through a neighborhood near Brunswick on the Georgia coast in February 2020. His 27th birthday would have been days ago, and Cooper Jones said she viewed the law as a birthday present to her son.

The father and son who pursued Arbery  Greg and Travis McMichael  werent arrested or charged until the state took over the case more than two months after the shooting. A prosecutor initially assigned to the case had cited Georgias citizens arrest law to argue that the shooting was justified. Lee Merritt, the family attorney, said Arbery's relatives continue to want to see that prosecutor criminally charged.

Defense lawyers said the McMichaels pursued Arbery suspecting he was a burglar, after security cameras had previously recorded him entering a home under construction. They said Travis McMichael shot Arbery while fearing for his life as they grappled over a shotgun.

Video of the fatal encounter was recorded by William Roddie Bryan, a neighbor who joined the chase. All three men are charged with murder. Prosecutors have said Arbery stole nothing and was merely out jogging when the McMichaels and Bryan chased him. They remain jailed without bail.

Issues surrounding citizens arrest could be aired in pretrial hearings in coming days.

Under the repeal bill, people who are mere bystanders or witnesses generally no longer have the right to detain people. Deadly force can't be used to detain someone unless its in self-protection, protecting a home, or preventing a forcible felony. The changes retain Georgias stand your ground law, which says a person who is being threatened isnt required to retreat.

It still allows business employees to detain people they believe stole something, and lets restaurant employees detain people who try to leave without paying for a meal. It also lets licensed security guards and private detectives detain people.

Someone who is detained must be released along with their personal belongings if a police officer or sheriffs deputy doesnt arrive within a reasonable time.

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Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.
CASCO, Maine (AP)  Maine State Police are investigating the discovery of human remains found over the weekend in Casco.

Police described the discovery as suspicious, WMTW-TV reported. The skeletal remains were found near a home.
CHICAGO (AP)  The state of Illinois, working with business and labor organizations, plans to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to workers at offices around the state, officials announced Monday.

The initiative is being prompted by the return to offices by thousands of workers forced home by the pandemic. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday having vaccine available where people are working makes getting vaccinations very convenient.

Thanks to this new initiative, people will be able to conveniently get this life-saving vaccine right in their workplace, furthering our efforts to create a safe return to work process for our residents in the economic heart of our city, regardless of their occupation, said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The effort will launch in mid-May with the opening of 10 vaccination sites in Chicago, Schaumburg and Rockford. The clinics, staffed by Walgreen pharmacists, offer two-dose vaccinations and will also take walk-ins.

State officials are encouraging Illinois building operators interested in hosting additional clinics to contact the Illinois Department of Public Health directly or to contact the Building Owners and Managers Association.

With enhanced air quality and ventilation, advanced cleanliness procedures, and reconfigurations, our buildings have been prepared to welcome tenants back to the office for over a year, Building Owners and Managers Association executive director Farzin Parang said in a statement.

While announcing the vaccination plans at a Chicago bank, Pritzker acknowledged Illinois has reached a vaccination plateau, as most people eager to be vaccinated have already received their shots.

State officials are also supporting vaccination clinics for community organizations such as churches and other religious organizations, neighborhood associations, mutual aid groups, nonprofits, immigrant service providers. Interested organizations can sign up to host a clinic at no cost to them and IDPH will provide the staff and supplies.

The efforts come as state health officials report 1,424 new cases of the coronavirus and 12 new deaths. The health department is reporting a total of 1,356,391 cases, including 22,235 deaths in the state since the start of the pandemic. More than 9.9 million vaccines had been administered in Illinois as of early Monday.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP)  Gov. Kim Reynolds has removed the chief executive of the state's nursing home for veterans and their spouses, months after praising his response to the coronavirus pandemic, her office said Monday.

Reynolds' spokesman, Pat Garrett, said Timon Oujiri was relieved of his duties as commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown last week. He offered no additional information on the leadership change at the facility, which is Iowa's largest nursing home.
ANKENY, Iowa (AP)  An Ankeny man faces sentencing in June after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of his pregnant girlfriend.

The Des Moines Register reports that 19-year-old Donault Logan also pleaded guilty Thursday to possession with intent to deliver.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Iowa will get $1.48 billion in aid under the federal governments plan to help states hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to new numbers released Monday.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced a state-by-state funding breakdown for President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan, an effort to restore jobs lost during the pandemic and replenish the coffers of governments that saw huge declines in tax revenue.
BEIJING (AP)  Authorities in eastern China used drones and hunting dogs to search for the last of three leopards that escaped from a safari park, which faced strong public criticism for concealing the breakout for more than two weeks.

The leopards escaped from Hangzhou Safari Park on April 19 during a handover between zookeepers due to a lapse in operating procedures, officials said at a news conference Monday.

Hangzhou Deputy Mayor Wang Hong said police received calls that leopards were spotted last Thursday and Friday but the safari park denied any had escaped.

The safari park failed to report the escape because it feared that a public announcement would severely reduce the number of visitors to the park over China's five-day Labor Day holiday, the officials said. The park instead attempted to recover the leopards on its own, and captured one on April 21.

The safari park eventually reported the missing leopards Friday night, and a second one was captured on Saturday, they said.

A Shanghai Zoo expert who examined the leopards said that the second one required minor surgery for an injury to its paw. Officials said they are both in good health.

The last leopard was spotted by a drone early Sunday, but fled when people attempted to approach it, according to the state-owned Global Times newspaper.

The delay in announcing the escape sparked criticism that the safari park had put people at risk, especially since the animals were at large over the Labor Day holidays, when large numbers of tourists visit Hangzhou. The city is one of Chinas most popular tourist destinations, famed for its tea plantations and scenic West Lake.

Five employees, including the general manager and legal representative of the safari park, have been taken into police custody for questioning. The park has been temporarily closed while it reviews safety and management issues.

Officials urged people to remain indoors as much as possible while they attempted to recover the last leopard.

The safari park said on its Weibo social media account Saturday that it was sincerely sorry for not announcing the escape sooner. It said it did not make a public announcement because the young leopards were believed to be less aggressive and it wanted to prevent panic.
FRANKLIN, La. (AP)  A Louisiana man was charged with murder Sunday in the death of an infant whose body was found in an abandoned car on a bridge, according to authorities.

Ervin Melancon, 53, of Breaux Bridge, was arrested by Broussard police on the second-degree murder charge, a day after the baby's body was discovered on the Intracoastal Bridge near Franklin, the St. Mary's Parish Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  The Louisiana Senate will debate whether to require all 5-year-old children in Louisiana to receive a kindergarten education, after the measure cleared a financial review Monday for its multimillion-dollar price tag.

The Senate Finance Committee advanced the proposal by Senate Education Chairman Cleo Fields without objection, but several senators raised concerns that suggested the bill could face difficulty winning passage from the full Senate.

Currently, Louisiana children are required to attend school from the ages of 7 to 18, unless they graduate early from high school. Fields' proposal would mandate that children who turn 5 years old by Sept. 30 of each year to attend kindergarten, starting with the 2022-23 school year. People who homeschool their children also would be required to start with kindergarten.

I just think we have a compelling interest to educate our kids, Fields said.

Mandatory kindergarten is estimated to cost the state anywhere from $2 million to $12 million more for public schools each year, depending on how many additional students enroll earlier than they otherwise would.

Fields, a Baton Rouge Democrat, and other supporters of the measure point to studies showing 90% of brain development happens between birth and age 5. They said 19 other states require mandatory kindergarten, including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

You are attempting to address those who are falling through the crack, said Sen. Regina Barrow, a Baton Rouge Democrat.

Opponents argue that parents are best equipped to make decisions about the education of their children.

Woody Jenkins, leader of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Party and a former lawmaker, argued that children don't need the institutionalization of kindergarten. He suggested children have greater behavioral problems if they go to school early and said kindergarten doesn't change a child's educational trajectory.

Home is the richest place for early childhood education, Jenkins said. None of my children went to kindergarten. I didnt go to kindergarten. Weve done very well."

Barrow replied that science shows the importance of early learning programs. Sen. Greg Tarver, a Shreveport Democrat, also defended the need for early childhood education, and he suggested better education of children could keep them from committing crimes and ending up jailed later.

I know this bill will cost some money, Tarver said. You pay now, or you pay later.

Sen. Heather Cloud, a Turkey Creek Republican, said she kept her children at home for kindergarten. She said while she understood the value in getting children educated, she didn't want parents to be penalized with fines or the risk of jail time if they choose to skip kindergarten for their children.

But Cloud's effort to remove any penalties for parents from the bill failed, with six senators voting against the amendment and only three voting for it.

Sen. Cameron Henry, a Jefferson Parish Republican, said in his area many parents send their children to Catholic and private schools. He said he was concerned that some of those schools might not have available kindergarten spots for children, and he didn't want to force a parent to put their child in a school they didn't want their children to attend. Henry said he wanted to tweak the measure to address that worry.

I think they should be in school, Henry said. We just have to work through that.

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The bill is filed as Senate Bill 10.

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Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.
KUALA LUMPUR (AP)  Malaysia's finance ministry said Monday that sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and a former subsidiary have filed 22 lawsuits to recover assets worth over $23 billion from various institutions and individuals.

1MDB was set up by former Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 but it accumulated billions in debts and sparked investigations in the U.S. and several other countries. U.S. investigators allege that over $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB and laundered by Najib's associates.

Finance Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the governments recovery efforts are now focused on pursuing other wrongdoers who have caused losses to 1MDB and SRC International following successful settlements with U.S. firm Goldman Sachs, Malaysias AmBank Group and Deloitte PLT.

1MDB earlier this month filed six suits against nine entities including two foreign financial institutions and 25 people for various violations including breach of trust, fraud and negligence. SRC filed 22 lawsuits against 15 individuals and 8 entities over for similar wrongdoings.

The two companies contend those entities and people were unjustly enriched by wrongfully receiving monies from 1MDB or SRC," the ministry said in a statement that did not name any of the entities or individuals.

The government will not rest until all those involved are made fully accountable for the wrongdoings caused to the country through their involvement" in 1MDB and SRC, Zafrul said in a statement.

Malaysia received a 10.5 billion ringgit ($2.5 billion) settlement from Goldman Sachs last August. The ministry said the government will also receive 2.83 billion ringgit ($689 million) from the Ambank Group and 336 million ringgit ($80 million) from Deloitte.

The 1MDB saga sparked public anger that led to the defeat of Najib's long-ruling coalition in 2018 elections. But it has regained power by joining an unelected alliance that took over last year.

Najib was found guilty last year and sentenced to 12 years in jail in the first of several corruption trials linked to the 1MDB scandal. He is appealing the sentence.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A man threw a firebomb at a Los Angeles police station and was chased down by officers and arrested, police said Monday. No one was hurt in the weekend attack.

Jonathan Rosin, 24, approached the Topanga station at 12:55 a.m. Sunday, lit a glass bottle containing a flammable liquid and threw it at the front window, where the bottle shattered and ignited, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.
Seventy-one percent of Connecticut adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday.

The state tops the nation when it comes to the percentage of fully vaccinated adults and is among the top five states in getting at least one shot in arms, the governor's office said.

About half of Connecticut's 16- and 17 year-olds have gotten a shot, putting the vaccine rate for the total population at 57%, the governor said.

The numbers are much higher for those 45 and above (80%) and 65 and older (92%), Lamont said.

What that means is that 45 and above, we're very close to what they call herd immunity," Lamont said. I know that's a moving target. But you add that 80% who have been vaccinated along with those who were previously infected over the last year or have some antibodies, we're in pretty good shape there.

Connecticut did record 17 more COVID-19 related deaths over the weekend, bringing the total to 8,154 during the pandemic. But Lamont said that hospitalizations fell by 29 patients to 280, the lowest total in more than seven months.

He said that if the metrics continue to trend in direction they are now going, Connecticut could be back to normal within a matter of months.

The fall, we'll see if there are variants or anything that make us worry, but right now I think it's a good summer, he said.

In other pandemic related news:

SUMMER EDUCATION

Fairfield University is partnering with the state to train about 500 college-age students to teach in summer education enrichment programs and camps for children across Connecticut.

It's part of the state's plan to combat learning lost by those in kindergarten through high school during the pandemic.

Fairfield President Mark Nemec said the training of the Connecticut College Corps will take place in early June. All undergraduate college students who attend Connecticut colleges and universities are eligible to apply, including those who will be freshmen in the fall.

Fairfield graduate students will monitor their work and serve as mentors to corps members over the summer, he said.

The College Corps members will be paid a $4,500 stipend to work in the programs and camps.

Charlene Russell-Tucker, the state's acting education commissioner said about 240 organizations have applied for grants to the run the camps and summer educational enrichment programs.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP)  The next step in Myrtle Beachs downtown beautification efforts has arrived.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce announced plans Thursday to paint downtowns lone public parking garage, sidewalks and crosswalks in bright colors for its new tourism advertising campaign, We are the beach.

The chamber and Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune hope painting the town will draw more people to the region and downtown, specifically. Right now, the public parking garage set to get a face lift is a dull gray concrete monolith surrounded by a rainbow of brightly colored restaurants, shops and attractions.

Its smart to incorporate it into areas of key focus for the city, said Bethune, who added that she loves what will be done to the area. Anytime we work together with the chamber to make our community and our destination cleaner and brighter, its a good thing.

Painting the crosswalks, chamber CEO Karen Riordan hopes, will not only make them prettier but also encourage people to actually use them, rather than jaywalking, as is a habit of many tourists downtown. The project allows locals to directly benefit from the chambers spending, which residents dont often see because it is typically directed toward advertising in other markets.

Its all part of a plan to get locals more involved with helping the community recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Riordan wants to encourage residents serve as ambassadors for the region, whether its helping people online or in person find their way around town or to the best local restaurant.

The last 15 months has been a worldwide pandemic  people not being able to connect with each other, be with each other, see their families, Riordan said. This is a moment for us as a community together to pull together.

The beautification efforts are part of the chambers major rebranding, its first in 10 years, that it hopes will give new life to the Grand Strand as the region limps out of the pandemic-induced recession. The City of Myrtle Beach has also been taking steps in recent years to clean up downtown with new landscaping and repaired sidewalks. Two years ago, locals added murals to downtown buildings, like a Mexican-themed Octopus on the side of Gordos Tacos and Tequila.

The design for the sidewalks, crosswalks and garage are not yet finalized but will likely incorporate the orange, green and blue wave designs the chamber showed off Thursday morning at its annual summer update during National Travel and Tourism Week.

Riordan said her goal is to have at least some of the work done on the garage and other areas in time for the Sun Fun Festival and Carolina Country Music Festival the first two weekends of June. As long as the chamber meets with the city soon on locations for the art, Bethune said that timeline is a realistic.

Its a great opportunity where a lot of people will be downtown, and theyll be right in that area, Riordan said. But, if we cant get it done by then, were not going to give up. Were just going to continue to push through to get as much of this deployed as we possibly can in the next weeks and months.
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP)  The Navajo Nation on Monday reported 11 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths.

Tribal health officials also said there were 19 new coronavirus cases and one death Sunday, but the numbers werent immediately reported due to the Mothers Day holiday.

The latest combined figures pushed the total number of cases since the pandemic began more than a year ago to 30,620 on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The known death toll now is at 1,285.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said more than half of the reservations adult population has been vaccinated, but people still need to stay home as much as possible, wear masks and avoid large gatherings.

The Navajo Department of Health recently loosened some virus-driven restrictions and transition to yellow status.

Restaurants are allowed to have in-door dining at 25% capacity and outdoor dining at 50% capacity and parks are permitted to open at 25% capacity but only for residents and employees.

Navajo casinos are open at 50% capacity, but only for residents and staff.
BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP)  Two Nebraska teenagers are charged with attempted first-degree murder and other crimes for allegedly attacking a man with a metal meat tenderizer and a wooden rod.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that one of the suspects, 18-year-old Gabriella Laws, is the daughter of the victim. The other suspect is 18-year-old Josh Fithian. Both are accused of attacking Robert Laws in his bedroom in Bellevue in January.
PARAMUS, N.J. (AP)  Some New Jersey lawmakers are turning their ire over New York's plan to charge motorists an additional toll for entering midtown Manhattan into action they say will blunt some of the impact  with out-of-state drivers footing the bill.

On Monday, they announced legislation that would charge non-New Jersey motorists an additional fee when they cross from New Jersey into New York on toll bridges and tunnels. The collected money would go into a fund to reimburse New Jersey commuters who could be on the hook for as much as an additional $3,000 a year under New York's plan.

An official with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city's subways that will be the beneficiary of the additional tolls collected, called New Jersey's plan legally dubious."

It's also unclear if New Jersey could levy a fee on motorists driving into New York through toll booths operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Referred to as congestion pricing, New York's plan would be the first of its kind in any American city and would add a surcharge to drivers entering the heart of the city, likely defined as the southern border of Central Park to Battery Park at the tip of lower Manhattan. Numerous details still need to be finalized.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Lagana, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain and Assemblyman Chris Tully variously described New York's plan as offensive, unthinkable and a slap in the face. Gottheimer said he and fellow Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell have asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to conduct a review of the economic impact before giving the project final approval.

New Yorks Legislature approved a conceptual plan for congestion pricing two years ago and it was initially projected to be in place by this year. But the pandemic and a lack of guidance from federal regulators on the type of environmental review that was required combined to stall the project. That guidance was provided at the end of March.

New York plans to use the revenue from the tolls, estimated at $1 billion annually, to issue bonds to raise money to refurbish the Metropolitan Transportation Authoritys aging subway system.

Gottheimer noted that none of the money raised by the congestion pricing plan would go to public transit systems operating in New Jersey, which need upgrades too.

These dollars collected through the congestion tax plan that New York's proposing will only go to New York City, mostly to the MTA to help fix their subways, and not a cent to actually help our state in any way, he said.

In an email Monday, Ken Lovett, senior advisor to MTA chairman and CEO Patrick Foye, cast doubt on New Jerseys plan.

This isnt the time for NIMBYism and legally dubious taxation," Lovett said. "Congestion pricing will benefit everyone who comes to New York, including those from New Jersey, by providing reduced traffic and better air quality. We are at the beginning of a transparent process that will take into consideration potential credits, discounts and exemptions for tolls paid on bridges and crossings, and that process must play out.

While motorists entering midtown New York directly through the Lincoln and Holland tunnels are expected to be exempt or receive a discount from the congestion toll, drivers coming over the George Washington Bridge from northern New Jersey and driving south into midtown are not yet assured of the same benefit. The bridge and tunnel crossings currently are $16 for cars paying cash and $13.75 with E-ZPass during peak times.

New Jersey is not New York's piggy bank, Lagana said. If New York wants New Jersey residents to come back to work in the city, this is absolute lunacy.

Gottheimer said New Jersey would be able to assess the fee through the states E-ZPass system at the Port Authority toll booths because they are on New Jersey property.

The Port Authority declined to comment on the plan.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Hardly a week goes by, it seems, without a big food company making promises to deliver products from green, sustainable farms. Turning those promises into reality, though, can be complicated.

Take Gunsmoke Farms, a vast property that covers 53 square miles just northwest of Pierre, South Dakota. The food company General Mills, the Minnesota-based maker of Cheerios, announced in 2018 that it would convert the farm to organic production. The company planned to turn it into an educational hub to teach other farmers how to implement organic and regenerative agriculture practices.

Now, some of Gunsmoke Farms neighbors say that the farm is doing more environmental harm than good, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.

Among the critics is Dwayne Beck, a soil scientist who manages South Dakota State Universitys Dakota Lakes Research Station, located forty miles east of Gunsmoke Farms. Beck was skeptical about the project from the beginning. It scared me, because normally organic (farming) entails lots of tillage, and those soils are very fragile, he says.

Farmers often till the soil  breaking it up with tools like chisel plows or disks  to uproot weeds and get land ready for planting. But tillage also tears soil loose from the plant roots that help hold it together, and also breaks down parts of the soil that are most rich in carbon and nutrients.

This is especially true of soils where Gunsmoke Farms is located, Beck says. The area developed from an ancient ocean floor, and the soil is full of clay. Once you disturb it, nothing holds that soil together. It just turns into powder, he says, vulnerable to rain or wind that can carry it away.

This used to happen regularly in western South Dakota. Beck recalls dust storms so thick, cars crashed because drivers couldnt see vehicles just in front of them.

South Dakota was one of the places that saw severe soil erosion from wind during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

Those dust storms happen less often now because over the past two decades, many farmers in the region abandoned regular tillage. They now use planting equipment that slices into undisturbed soil and places seed in the ground.

To control weeds, these farmers use herbicides. But chemical weed control isnt an option for an organic business like Gunsmoke Farms.

During the farms three-year transition to organic status, its managers grew primarily alfalfa, which doesnt require annual planting. In 2020, though, they planted their first crops of wheat and peas, which involved tilling the enormous fields.

Months later, Dwayne Beck says his fears were realized. He collected photographs of the damage: small drifts of wind-blown soil in a roadside ditch, and a country road that disappears into a brown cloud of blowing dust. The soil that blew out of there, it will never be the same as it was before it blew, he says. It wont have the stability and structure of healthy soil, held in place by the roots of plants.

Beck and others who live near Gunsmoke Farms say that non-organic farmers also struggled to control soil erosion in 2020 because of drought and high winds. But the problems at Gunsmoke, they say, were worse. A planting of winter wheat, which was supposed to protect the soil on those fields, failed to grow well.

When the Gunsmoke project was just getting off the ground, in 2018, an expert from the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service drew up a soil conservation plan for the farm. That plan called for wide strips of native grasses across the farm to help prevent soil from blowing, and for the steepest slopes to stay covered, most years, with crops like alfalfa that dont require annual planting.

Gary Zimmer, an expert on organic farming who collaborated with General Mills in launching the Gunsmoke project, says that he drew up a plan that incorporated many of these measures. But he says much of his plan was never implemented.

Its in a deep hole, Zimmer says, referring to the farm. I dont know how you get it back out organically. Its hard to farm organically if you do it really well, and have your intensive management. But 30,000 acres, poorly managed, is a really good sign for failure.

General Mills doesnt own Gunsmoke Farms, or control it directly. It signed a strategic sourcing agreement with an investment firm called TPG, an early investor in Uber, which acquired the land in order to supply General Mills with organic wheat, peas, and other crops. TPG then spun off another firm, Sixth Street, which currently owns Gunsmoke. The investors have hired a series of managers to run the farm.

General Mills said in a statement to NPR that turning Gunsmoke Farms into a thriving ecosystem is a journey, and promised continued efforts to minimize erosion and improve soil health there.

Sixth Street Partners said in its statement that the farm is early in the process of regenerating land and that its mission  organic farming  also provides additional environmental benefits, such as lower use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizer.

Ruth Beck, whos married to Dwayne Beck, spent many years as an extension agronomist with South Dakota State University, advising farmers in the area around Gunsmoke Farms. She says its simply difficult to grow crops organically, on a large scale, in this semi-arid part of the country. You know, weve got to figure out ways to do that, if thats what people want, she says. But we arent there yet.

At Gunsmoke, she says, environmental marketing got ahead of what farmers can actually do.
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (AP)  Ohio-based televangelist Ernest Angley has died at age 99, according to the self-named ministry he led for decades.

Angley, whose base of operation was Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls outside Akron, died on Friday. A cause of death was not released.
PHOENIX (AP)  Police have identified a man killed in a shooting that broke out at a downtown Phoenix hotel.

Phoenix police say 21-year-old Jaziah Shakor Causey was the sole fatality in the Sunday shooting that wounded seven others.

According to investigators, an altercation broke out shortly before 12:30 a.m. among a group of people attending an event at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix hotel.

The fight escalated into shots being fired by more than one person.

Officers evacuated hotel staff and searched the entire building to make sure there was no active shooter.

They located six men and one woman with varying injuries  none life-threatening.

Police are going through surveillance video and other evidence. They did not say what was the reason behind the fight.

No arrests have been made.

Authorities say everyone in the group was between the ages of 18 and 22.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Law enforcement officials said Monday that they are searching a landfill in Virginia as part of an investigation into the disappearance of a baby who disappeared last week in the nations capital.

The 2-month-old boy, Kyron Jones, was last seen on Wednesday in Northeast Washington, police said. He was reported missing Friday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)  Prosecutors called for the release of a Missouri man who has spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder that the prosecutors concluded he didn't commit, a letter released Monday showed.

The release of the letter, indicating overwhelming support for the release of Kevin Strickland, 62, came after his attorneys filed a petition urging the Missouri Supreme Court to free him immediately, The Kansas City Star reports. In the letter, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker and her chief deputy, Dan Nelson, said the evidence used to convict Strickland as a teenager has since been eviscerated.

Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Missouri, Jackson Countys presiding judge, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and members of the team that convicted Strickland four decades ago also now all agree that he deserves to be exonerated.

This is a profound error we must correct now, Baker said in the letter.

Strickland remains at the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron. If he is exonerated, he will have suffered the longest wrongful imprisonment known in Missouri history.

Strickland, of Kansas City, was 18 when he was arrested, and prosecutors say the case was thin from its inception, resting almost entirely on the dubious identification of a traumatized shooting victim. Prosecutors said they wouldnt charge Strickland with any crimes if the same case was before them today.

The Star reported in investigation published in September that for decades, two men who pleaded guilty in the killings swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the April 25, 1978, killings.

The testimony of Cynthia Douglas, the only eyewitness to the murders who herself was shot, was crucial. However, she later said detectives pressured her into identifying him, The Star reported. She tried to recant for years before dying in 2015.

Prosecutors at trial claimed Strickland carried a shotgun during the murders and elicited testimony that no fingerprints on the weapon could be compared. But new forensic testing done this year shows one fingerprint found on the gun is not Stricklands.

The Jackson County Prosecutors Office began reviewing Stricklands conviction in November after speaking with his lawyers and reviewing The Stars investigation. Strickland's case was the first tied to the murders to go to court.

The killings occurred when a group of assailants ransacked a Kansas City home. Larry Ingram, 21; Douglas boyfriend, John Walker, 20; and Douglas best friend, Sherrie Black, 22, were each fatally shot. Douglas was wounded but pretended to be dead.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  An Israeli helicopter gunship opened fire on Monday on a home at the edge of Syrias Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, wounding one person, Syrian state TV reported.

The TV said the unidentified man, reported to be a civilian, was taken to hospital for treatment following the attack on the southern Quneitra region.
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP)  A retired U.S. Army colonel from California says he will challenge Liz Cheney in next year's Republican U.S. House primary in Wyoming.

Denton Knapp, of Trabuco Canyon, California, said he plans to move back to Gillette, where he graduated from high school in 1983, the Gillette News Record reported Monday.

Five Republicans as of Monday had filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission stating their intent to run against Cheney in 2022.

The list didn't include Knapp yet but has been growing amid Republican discontent with Cheney for continuing to dispute former President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claim that vote fraud cost him re-election.

Cheney was among 10 Republican representatives who voted to impeach Trump over the deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. She has called her impeachment vote an act of conscience in defense of democracy and the Constitution.

Cheney faces a likely House GOP vote this week to remove her as conference chair, the chamber's third-ranking Republican leadership post.

Whats missing right now is trust in our elected officials, Knapp said. Wyomingites expected Cheney to vote a certain way and she didnt. As a result, shes going through consequences.

A West Point graduate, Knapp served in the Army from 1987-2017, with service in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Most recently he has led the Tierney Center for Veteran Services at Goodwill of Orange County, according to his resume online.

Other Republicans running against Cheney include Cheyenne attorney and businessman Darin Smith, who announced his campaign Friday; state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, of Cheyenne; and state Rep. Chuck Gray, of Casper.

The race already is shaping up as one of the toughest of Cheney's career. Cheney decisively won a nine-way GOP primary in 2016 and won Wyoming's lone House seat by wide margins in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
SAN DIEGO (AP)  A San Diego sheriffs department employee who sued the county and a former assistant sheriff over sexual harassment allegations was awarded $60,000 by a judge.

Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal issued her ruling late last month in a civil lawsuit brought by administrative secretary Louise LaFoy, awarding her $50,000 for the sexual harassment claim and $10,000 for claiming the department failed to prevent the harassment, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday.

LaFoy said former San Diego Assistant Sheriff Rich Miller improperly touched her buttocks during hugs in the workplace. LaFoy said she told a commander after the first time in 2014 but the report never went higher up the chain. She filed a formal complaint after the second incident in 2017.

Miller retired in 2018. During the trial he denied any inappropriate conduct. He was not immediately available for comment on the allegations or the ruling.

The San Diego sheriffs department said in response to the ruling that it does not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind and thoroughly investigates all reported or observed allegations.

LaFoy said the ruling was an awesome moment because my character and my truthfulness was on trial.

Her attorney Jenna Rangel said the ruling emphasizes that employers have to take every report of misconduct seriously. It is a big deal, and you need cases like these to show that this is a big deal.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP)  An Ohio school board member, who disputed the existence of systemic racism in a meeting last week, has resigned as president of the Ohio School Boards Association.

Scott Huddle, a Mad River school board official, told parents at a school board meeting that there was no evidence of systemic racism exists and that society has improved since the time of slavery, Dayton Daily News reported.

Huddles comments were in response to a school newsletter distributed with columns, poetry and discussion questions about diversity.

According to recordings, Huddle compared the newsletter to critical race theory, calling it reverse race discrimination and compared the articles to Nazi education.

After several objections from teachers, Huddle agreed to host a dialogue regarding systemic racism.

I obviously realize that my comments touched on some extremely sensitive issues and I want to be able to have a dialogue  and I want to listen to what other people have to say, Huddle said. I have heard from many people who have expressed their support and those who dont.

Huddle will be replaced by the current president-elect, Robert M. Heard Sr., a member of the Cleveland board of education.

This is a time to come together, Heard said. We know that one of the advantages for public school students is the opportunity to meet people who are not like them  an experience that pays dividends long after high school. I look forward to building on OSBAs successes, including being a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion.

It is not immediately clear if Huddle resigned from his position as president or from the OSBA as a whole.
FAIRFIELD, Ohio (AP)  A detective with an Ohio county sheriff's office shot a person armed with a handgun, but the person is expected to survive, authorities said.

The Butler County sheriff's office said detectives were serving a search warrant at a Ross Township residence at about 12:30 p.m. Monday and encountered a man who authorities allege pointed a handgun at them.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  The country of India is going through its worst surge of COVID-19 since the pandemic started more than a year ago, but its effects are reverberating across the world, even in the city of Sioux Falls, where residents have been forced to remain oceans apart because of the deadly virus.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, India has become the first country to report more than 400,000 daily cases, with the overall case county most likely underestimated. With the rise in cases, the U.S. has implemented travel restrictions from the U.S. to India.

The COVID-19 death toll there has also surpassed 220,000, making India the fourth country to reach the milestone, Johns Hopkins data shows.

The surge in cases happened quite rapidly, stated Amita Gupta, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, in an article from Johns Hopkins University last week. The stresses that have been placed on every sector of society are catastrophic.

People from India who live in Sioux Falls talked about how theyre navigating the surge of COVID-19 back home and what theyre doing to help, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.

Kirtana Krishna Kumar was born in India and grew up there before moving to Sioux Falls to attend Augustana University in 2016. When she graduated last year, her parents couldnt come visit to see her because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, shes found a job in the city and is still waiting for her parents the place shes called home for the last couple of years.

I talk to them every day, and fortunately, they are safe, Kumar said.

Kumars parents are vaccinated, which brings her relief, but she said its still difficult to hear about other people she knows struggling  and at times dying  from COVID-19 in India.

The majority of her immediate family are back in India. Earlier this year, her 87-year-old grandmother back in India got the virus and recovered from it. When her uncle, who lives with her grandmother got it, the family became worried shed get it again.

Kirtana Kumar moved to Sioux Falls to attend Augustana University, now she works at Sanford.

We are fortunate to even have her, Kumar said. We quarantined her and the whole house. It was really scary. After that, she was really weak.

The day of March 24, 2020 India went into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. Kumar said after the initial lockdown ended and restrictions were lessened people began attending religious and political gathering again. This led to the countrys first major surge of COVID-19.

The first major surge in cases in India peaked in mid-September with a seven-day average of new cases of more than 90,000. The current surge has a seven-day average of more than 350,000 cases a day, according to data from John Hopkins University.

My familys health is very important to me, Kumar said. Weve all collectively decided we wont be seeing each other this year.

Because of the risk of spreading the disease more, Kumar said shell be waiting until sometime in 2022 to be reunited with her family, be it in India or Sioux Falls. Meanwhile, Kumar and her family make due with phone calls.

Ramesh Singh has been in the U.S. since 2005 and moved to Sioux Falls in 2009. He, like many other Indians in Sioux Falls, maintains a connection to family and friends in his home country.

Singh visits India once a year at least, and in 2019, he said he visited four different times. For 2020, he didnt visit, but planned a trip in 2021. As of Tuesday, because of the new travel restrictions, hell have to miss out again on going home.

First wave, they managed very well, Singh said. Everything was in control only because there was a shutdown.

Singh, who has three brothers and two sisters in India, said the importance of family and friends in his culture has attributed to the risings cases of COVID-19. In India, events like wedding festivities can last four to five days, he said. The close interactions associated with these events and number of people who attend help spread the disease.

Thats one of the reasons COVID is devastating, he said. Social distancing is difficult when one house has 20-30 people. You cant leave someone isolated.

The Sioux Falls Indian community is stressed with whats going on in their home country, Singh said. Being kept away from family is not something theyre used to in their culture.

I talk to my brothers and sisters often, he said. Family is important in India. We keep in touch.

During the current surge, Singh said hes lost some distant relatives and one of his college friends to the virus: a professor in Delhi with two young kids.

Most people here know somebody whos lost family members there, Singh said.

Now a year into COVID-19, Singh said the virus alone isnt killing people in India, but rather having to live with the restrictions.

You cant just sit home and do nothing, Singh said.  You have to take care of family. People relaxed, and the result is an increase in number of cases.

Singh said the Indian community in Sioux Falls has been sending money and resources back home to help their families deal with the virus.

Happy Singh has been a part of the Sioux Falls Indian community for more than 10 years, since opening Shahi Palace, the citys oldest Indian restaurant. Although the majority of his family lives outside of India, he said he still sympathizes with the struggles faced by his countrymen.

My wife and my parents, they usually call on a daily basis to check up on their families, Happy Singh said.

Part of issue hes seeing from India could be that hospitals are privately owned, and therefore, only cater to those with money who can afford the services, he said.

A lot of people live below poverty, and people are dying, because they cant afford medical services, Happy Singh said.

Alongside his other relatives, Happy Singh said hes been trying to send help as often as he can to those affected by the pandemic in India. The main way theyve assisted has been by donating money to organizations that give out oxygen tanks to those in need, because oxygen is running low in India because of the high demand.

When somebody sends help, you really want to make sure it goes to the right people, Happy Singh said.

He expects the supply will run out before the demand for things like oxygen tanks are met, he said. Government hospitals near where his family in India lived are overcrowded, he said. The best chance at receiving medical attention if someone gets the virus is to try to go to a privately owned medical facility, he said.

Meanwhile, Happy Singh said people in Sioux Falls have been reaching out to him and asking about his family.

Ive had people texting me, calling me and even emailing me, asking about the situation in India, he said.

As the situation in India worsens, Happy Singh said its a time for those with connections to the community to unite. Whether it be in prayer or donations, he said anything can help.
ST. JOHNS, Fla. (AP)  A 14-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a wooded area in northeast Florida.

The teen was in the custody of juvenile justice officials, St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said during a news conference. Hardwick released the boys name but said it has not been determined whether he will be charged as an adult. The Associated Press does not generally publish the name of juveniles charged with crimes unless they are charged as adults.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Treasury Department on Monday said Ohio will receive nearly $5.4 billion in aid as part of Democratic President Joe Biden's larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with another nearly $6.6 billion going directly to counties, cities and townships.

Thirty-four Ohio cities, three large townships and all 88 counties will receive the payments, part of the $350 billion program created under the American Rescue Plan to help state and local governments and boost the U.S. national economy that's been hard hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

State and local governments can use the money for relief from the public health crisis. The money also can be used to offset harm to workers, small businesses and affected industries, to invest in water, sewer and broadband systems and to replace lost public sector revenue, according to guidance the Treasury Department released along with the figures. Essential workers also can qualify for premium pay under the program.

What officials can't do with the money is use it to cut taxes, pay down debt or bolster the state rainy day fund.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, called Treasury's directives on how the money should be used akin to fantasy fiction.

Because Ohio's unemployment rate is not significantly higher than its pre-pandemic level, the state is eligible to receive just half of its $5.4 billion allotment immediately, with the rest being provided one year later. Those states where unemployment rose significantly will get their full allotment right away.

Cleveland will receive $511 million under the program, with its home county, Cuyahoga, receiving another $240 million. Columbus will receive $187 million, while Franklin County, where it sits, will receive about $256 million. The figures for Cincinnati and Hamilton County are $280 million and $159 million, respectively.

Local governments can expect to receive funds in two batches, half coming this month and the rest a year from now.

Ohio Townships Association Executive Director Heidi Fought said only three of Ohios 1,308 townships received the recovery money, with the rest facing a disadvantage if they dont receive similar direct funding. If that happens, they will urge government entities that did receive the funding to transfer some to cover services and programs for their roughly 4 million residents, she said.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has recommended to the state Legislature that Ohio use a portion of its COVID relief dollars to pay off the unemployment compensation insurance loan the state owes to the federal government.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has said paying the loan balance and shoring up the states unemployment trust fund would prevent an estimated tax increase on employers next year of more than $100 million and save businesses nearly $660 million over three years.

Under Treasury guidelines, states can use the federal money to replenish their unemployment insurance trust funds up to pre-pandemic levels.

News of the federal allotment came as the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced plans to resume weekly work-search requirements for those receiving unemployment benefits starting the week of May 23.

The federal government authorized states to waive the requirement from the middle of last March, at the height of the pandemic, through Dec. 1. On Dec. 6, Ohio resumed the requirement for new claims, but continued to waive it for existing ones.

DeWine said resuming the requirement only makes sense now that the COVID-19 vaccine is available, allowing people to safely return to work.

___

This story was first published on May 10, 2021. It was updated on May 11, 2021 to make clear that direct funding for most of the states 1,308 townships remains unresolved. Only three townships have received direct funding to date.

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Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
LONDON (AP)  The leader of Britains main opposition Labour Party shook up his top team after disappointing election results, moving his party chairwoman, economy spokeswoman and chief whip in an attempt to exert control over a fractious membership.

But the moves by Labour leader Keir Starmer spurred new recriminations in a party that has not been able to make a breakthrough against Prime Minister Boris Johnsons governing Conservatives.

Starmer late Sunday moved deputy party leader Angela Rayner from the post of party chairwoman  responsible for election strategy  and named Rachel Reeves his new Treasury spokeswoman, replacing Anneliese Dodds. Long-serving chief whip Nick Brown was replaced by Alan Campbell.

The Labour Party must be the party that embraces the demand for change across our country, Starmer said. That will require bold ideas and a relentless focus on the priorities of the British people. Just as the pandemic has changed what is possible and what is necessary, so Labour must change too.

The relatively modest changes drew criticism both from those who wanted a bolder shuffle and from those angry at the sidelining of Rayner, who is popular with the social democratic partys left wing. She remains deputy leader, and Starmer also handed Rayner new responsibilities countering powerful Cabinet Minister Michael Gove, in a sign of her strong base within the party.

Labour has been out of office since 2010, and has been struggling to find a way back to power. In elections last week, Labour was defeated by the Conservatives in Hartlepool, a northeast England parliamentary seat that it had held for decades, and lost hundreds of posts on local authorities across England. The results demonstrated the Conservatives success at winning over voters in former industrial towns who feel neglected by successive governments over several decades. Johnsons promise of jobs and investment has helped the Tories win a clutch of northern England seats long held by Labour.

Labour came third in an election for the Scottish Parliament that saw the pro-independence Scottish National Party win a fourth term in power.

Labour did better than expected in Wales, extending its 22 years at the helm of the semi-autonomous Welsh government. Labours vote also held up in big cities, with its candidates winning mayoral races in London, Manchester, Liverpool, the West of England and West Yorkshire. And the party, founded a century ago to represent the industrial working class, made gains at the local level in affluent southern areas and university towns.

Starmer was elected leader a year ago, replacing Jeremy Corbyn, who led Labour to election defeats in 2017 and 2019. Starmer, a more centrist figure than the left-wing Corbyn, has struggled to unite a party divided over how economically radical it should be. Last weeks disappointing election results have fanned the flames of party discontent.

What we want is a strategy for winning from this leadership, because its clear from what happened over the weekend, particularly what happened in Hartlepool, theres a problem with the strategy, Labour lawmaker Diane Abbott, a Corbyn ally, told the BBC on Monday.

Polling expert John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde said Labours problem is even broader than that. Five years after Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union, and more than a year after it officially quit the bloc, the electorate remains split between supporters and opponents of Brexit.

Curtice said Labour is a party of remain voters  the party of young voters, of graduates, of the socially liberal, of people living in London. It is not the party of the working class.

Curtice said Labour had barely begun to grapple with that major shift.

Its reaction seems to be, Could we please go back to where we were? he said.
CAIRO (AP)  A boat carrying migrants capsized off Libya on Monday, leaving at least two dozen presumed dead, the U.N. refugee agency said. It was the latest disaster in the Mediterranean Sea involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

Tarik Argaz, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency in the North African country, said the Libyan coast guard returned at least 42 survivors to the shore and the capital, Tripoli. Only one body was retrieved from the sea, and 23 others were feared drowned, he said.

The UNHCR and the International Rescue Committee were treating survivors from burns, he added.

On Sunday, five people, including a woman and a child, drowned when a boat carrying at least 45 Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya. Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, said fishermen rescued 40 migrants from Sundays disaster and returned them to the shore.

The boat was among nine that were carrying more than 700 migrants and that were intercepted Sunday by the Libyan coast guard, she said. The migrants were taken to overcrowded detention centers, where the U.N. migration agency fears more threats to their lives and violations of their rights, Msehli added.

There has been a spike in crossings and attempted crossings from Libya in recent weeks, with smugglers taking advantage of the calm sea and warm weather.

Federico Soda, head of IOM in Libya, said he was extremely concerned about the spike in migrant departure from Libya and the continuous loss of life. The situation cannot be ignored, and states must live up to their responsibilities and redeploy search and rescue vessels, he tweeted.

Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Earlier this month, at least 11 Europe-bound migrants drowned when a rubber dinghy carrying two dozen people capsized off Libya. That followed another tragedy in April, when at least 130 migrants were presumed dead in one of the deadliest maritime tragedies in years along the busy route.

Around 7,000 Europe-bound migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya so far this year, according to the IOMs tally.

Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route. Over the last several years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached Europe either on their own or after being rescued at sea.

Thousands have drowned along the way. Others were intercepted and returned to Libya to be left at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers that lack adequate food and water, according to rights groups.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The United States ambassador to Ethiopia on Monday hosted the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church after he warned of genocide in the Tigray region in his first public comments on the war.

In a Facebook post, the U.S. Embassy said Ambassador Geeta Pasi discussed the humanitarian situation in Tigray with the patriarch, Abune Mathias, as well as his video message released last week and first reported by The Associated Press.

In the message, filmed by an American friend on a mobile phone and taken out of Ethiopia, the church leader said that they want to destroy the people of Tigray and said his previous attempts to speak out on the six-month conflict had been blocked.

The patriarch, an ethnic Tigrayan, also said that many barbarisms have been conducted these days all over Ethiopia, but what is happening in Tigray is of the highest brutality and cruelty. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones, the result of a political struggle that turned deadly in November.

The ambassador hosted the patriarch at her residence in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, and invited him to attend future interfaith community meetings at the embassy to further explore and continue their conversation, the Facebook post said.

It was not clear whether the patriarch requested protection from the U.S. and the embassy did not comment on that. While the U.S. government has been outspoken on the Tigray conflict, notably urging soldiers from neighboring Eritrea to leave immediately, the embassy has been publicly quiet.

The spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, did not respond to questions about the patriarchs comments. The prime minister, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been under growing international pressure as atrocities in Tigray come to light, especially those committed by Eritrean forces, whose presence Abiy denied for months before admitting they were there.

Ethiopias government says it is deeply dismayed by the deaths of civilians, blames the former Tigray leaders and claims normality is returning in the region of some 6 million people. It has denied widespread profiling and targeting of Tigrayans.

But witnesses have told the AP about seeing bodies strewn on the ground on communities, Tigrayans rounded up and expelled and women raped by Ethiopian, Eritrean and allied forces. Others have described family members and colleagues including priests being swept up and detained, often without charge.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A group of 13 armed speedboats of Iran's Revolutionary Guard made unsafe and unprofessional high-speed maneuvers toward U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired warning shots when two of the Iranian boats came dangerously close, U.S. officials said.

It was the second time in two weeks that a U.S. ship opened fire to warn vessels of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The encounters come as the United States and Iran are in indirect talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the United States left in 2018.

Asked whether it appeared the Revolutionary Guard are trying to pick a fight with the U.S. Navy, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby declined to comment on the Iranians intentions.

Sadly, harassment by the IRGC Navy is not a new phenomenon. It is something that all of our commanding officers and the crews of our vessels are trained to for," Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. This activity is the kind of activity that could lead to somebody getting hurt and could lead to a real miscalculation there in the region, and that doesn't serve anybody's interests."

On April 26, an American warship fired warning shots when vessels of Irans Revolutionary Guard came too close to a patrol in the Persian Gulf. That was the first such shooting in nearly four years. The Navy released black-and-white footage of that encounter in international waters of the northern reaches of the Persian Gulf near Kuwait, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

In the latest incident, Kirby said 13 Iranian vessels maneuvered at high speed toward six Navy ships that were escorting the guided missile submarine USS Georgia through the Strait on Monday. The sub was sailing on the surface. The six Navy escort ships included the guided missile cruiser USS Monterey. A day earlier, the Monterey had intercepted an arms shipment aboard a dhow in the Arabian Sea apparently headed for Yemen, whose Houthi rebels are supported by Iran.

They were acting very aggressively, Kirby said of the Iranian boats.

At one point, two of the Iranian boats broke away from the others and positioned themselves on the other side of the U.S. ship formation. The two then sped toward some of the U.S. ships. In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, U.S. crews issued multiple warnings to both groups of Iranian boats, including repeated bridge-to-bridge verbal warnings, said Navy Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a Navy 5th Fleet spokesperson.

After the two Iranian boats failed to respond to the multiple warnings and closed to within 300 yards, the Coast Guard cutter Maui fired a volley of warning shots from its .50-caliber machine gun. It fired another volley when the Iranian boats got within 150 yards.

The two Iranian boats then altered course and increased their distance from the U.S. forces, Rebarich said.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  U.S. and Mexican unions on Monday filed the first labor complaint against Mexico under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact.

The complaint argues that Mexico has not lived up to its pledge under the trade accord, known as the USMCA, to guarantee workers the right to freely organize and join the union of their choice.

The complaint centers on the Tridonex auto parts assembly plant in the Mexican border city of Matamoros where workers have been fighting to join a new union.

The outside organizer of that union, lawyer Susana Prieto, has been jailed, harassed and prohibited from traveling to Tamaulipas, the state where Matamoros is.

I still cannot go to Tamaulipas, nor travel abroad, nor live in any state other than Chihuahua," Prieto said.

Prieto said about 600 union supporters have been fired from the Matamoros plant in retaliation for their fight to oust on old-guard union.

In a statement, Prieto said: "We are fighting so that no one ever is afraid of freely electing the union they wish to represent them and to make history, ending several generations of modern slavery.

In 2019, Prieto led a historic and largely successful battle for higher wages in Matamoros, but she was arrested for allegedly inciting a riot, threats and coercion stemming from a protest at a local labor board that sought to revoke an existing union at a factory and install a new one. In return for the charges being dropped, she had to adhere to the unusual travel restrictions.

Mexico's old-guard unions  often linked to the former governing party  signed thousands of protection" labor contracts in the past, often before factories even opened. They guarantee employers labor peace and low wages, but workers often couldn't vote in their contract negotiations or for their union leaderships, except by show-of-hands votes.

The USMCA sought to stem the flood of manufacturing jobs moving to Mexico to take advantage of wages that amount to a dollar or two an hour. The Tridonex plant operates for a U.S. company that moved part of its manufacturing to Mexico.

Under the trade pact, Mexico agreed to reform its labor laws to guarantee secret-ballot votes on union representation and contracts and the right to organize freely. It also requires that 40% to 45% of auto content be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour.

If Mexico doesnt comply with the new rules, under the USMCA it has agreed to dispute-resolution panels, which could include banning a factory's product from entering the United States.

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 Mexican government has promised to enforce the labor law reforms, but it has been a difficult fight with deeply entrenched old-guard unions.

In April, a vote on whether to keep an old-guard union had to be postponed after the union was caught apparently destroying ballots at a General Motors plant in northern Mexico.

Israel Cervantes, who helps lead the Generating Movement campaign to get a new union at the GM pickup truck and transmission factories in the northern city of Silao, said old-guard union officials had broken open ballot boxes, destroyed no votes and replaced them with ballots marked yes.

In the past, workers at many factories in Mexico were often unaware they even had a union until they saw dues deducted from their paychecks.

Mexico has begun a process of voting among workers on whether to accept or reject existing unions. Started in 2019, the process calls for such votes to be held at every unionized factory and workplace in Mexico by 2023.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Authorities say a violent Mother's Day weekend in Philadelphia that included several multiple shootings claimed the lives of seven people and left more than two dozen others wounded.

Police said five people were shot in Olney in north Philadelphia shortly before 4:30 p.m. Sunday. A 17-year-old youth and a 23-year-old man who were found on a porch with multiple gunshot wounds were pronounced dead at the scene. Three other men were stable. Police believe the shooting was retaliation for an earlier incident.

In another part of north Philadelphia three hours earlier, three victims were found in a car after shots were fired from another vehicle that pulled alongside. An 18-year-old man shot in the head died at the scene and a 19-year-old man was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and died early Sunday. Another man was stable.

Shortly before midnight Sunday in Upper Kensington, a 26-year-old man standing in the doorway of a deli grocery was shot and killed by two males. A 33-year-old woman and 26-year-old woman who were in the store were hit by gunfire and listed in stable condition. Police believe the shooting was drug-related.

A 31-year-old man was shot to death Saturday morning in northeast Philadelphia's Frankford neighborhood in a suspected robbery. A 20-year-old man died Saturday night in a north Philadelphia shooting believed to be part of a cycle of retaliation shootings in the north Philadelphia area.

Other gunfire included shots fired early Sunday at a man and woman leaving a southwest Philadelphia tavern; both were taken to hospitals and the man was listed in critical condition. Several people were also injured in stabbings over the weekend.

Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement Sunday that he was devastated by the unspeakable violence that occurred this weekend across our city.

Kenney said he had proposed an additional $18.7 million for anti-violence initiatives during the next fiscal year and planned a $70 million increase over the next five years for proven violence reduction strategies."

Only hours after police briefed reporters Monday afternoon on the weekend carnage, officials announced two more homicides  a 20-year-old man shot in northeast Philadelphia (along with another man who was wounded) and another 20-year-old man shot multiple times in north Philadelphia. There were no arrests in either case.
Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)  Landlords will be required to provide a valid reason for ending certain leases with tenants, under a measure signed into law Monday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

Previously, landlords were allowed to end month-to-month leases with 20 days notice, without providing a reason. Under the measure that passed the Legislature last month, landlords can now end leases for reasons like failure to pay rent, unlawful activity and nuisance issues, as well as cases in which a landlord intends to sell or move into a rental.
The federal government will begin enforcing protections for LGBT Americans in health care again, reversing a ban put in place by the Trump administration, the Health and Human Services Department said Monday.

The decision to do so was made in light of the Supreme Court's finding in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that LGBT people are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"The Supreme Court has made clear that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences. It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone-including LGBTQ people-should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period."

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability by entities that primarily provide health care and receive federal funding. This notice says that the Biden administration will enforce it as the law was initially intended.

All people need access to health-care services to fix a broken bone, protect their heart health, and screen for cancer risk," HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine said in a statement. "No one should be discriminated against when seeking medical services because of who they are."

The majority of Americans, about 156 million people, get their insurance through their employers. Most employers rely on health insurance companies to process their claims and administer their plans as a third-party administrator, said Matthew Cortland, a disability rights attorney policy director at the health-care advocacy organization Be a Hero Fund

However, the question of how it applies to insurers has been a conflict over the past five years.

The Obama administration issued a rule in 2016 that said those protections applied to employer-sponsored plans that relied on insurance companies receiving federal funds as a third-party administrator, Katie Keith, a health-care policy research professor at Georgetown University, said.

The 2016 rule was "clearly intended" to reach the third-party administrators of the employer-sponsored plans, Cortland said. However, the employer-sponsored plan insurance industry made clear it didn't want the nondiscrimination law to apply to third-party administrators, and the 2020 Trump-era rule reversed that.

The Trump-era regulation allowed health-care workers, hospitals, and insurance companies that receive federal funding to refuse to provide or cover any care for LGBT Americans.

The 2020 rule says that health insurers aren't bound by the ACA's nondiscrimination provisions because they don't provide health care, Wayne Turner, a senior attorney at the National Health Law Program, said.

The two previous regulations are still tied up in lawsuits, and this notice is likely to follow the same fate.
Want to start a lively  and possibly tense  conversation among Californians? Say something about how everyones leaving the state. You might hear about exhaustion from fleeing fire after fire, or frustration with high taxes and business regulations.

If youre talking to Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian who is vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall election, you might hear about a fellow private plane owner packing up his hangar because he can no longer bear to see homeless people.

Inevitably, someone will talk about Californias astronomical housing costs: Do you know how much house you could get in Idaho for what youre paying in Los Angeles? Can you imagine having a yard? And yet, for all the supposed downsides of living here, the price of a home seems only to ever be going up and up.

In recent weeks, new data about Californias population has at once confirmed and complicated those narratives.

First there came the news that while California did grow over the past decade, it didnt grow fast enough according to the 2020 census to prevent the state from losing a seat in Congress for the first time. Then, the state released its own population estimates, which showed that for the first time in more than a century, California actually lost people last year.

The decline was small by share of the states nearly 40 million residents  just 0.46%  but in raw numbers, that is 182,083 people, or two Santa Barbaras.

Both of those changes were major reversals for a state that has, since the Gold Rush, been defined by lots of people moving here from around the world. Neither was totally surprising, though. In recent years, Californias population growth has slowed to its lowest recorded rates since 1900.

Much of the slowdown is the result of forces that have reshaped the United States more broadly, like a declining birthrate and the Trump administrations policies discouraging or limiting immigration.

Demographers say that it was probably the coronavirus that tipped the state into population decline  and that once the pandemic has passed, there will be a rebound.

Some 62,270 people have died of COVID-19 in California. Immigration policies that were already restrictive became even more so amid global lockdowns, resulting in what state officials estimated was a loss of 100,000 residents and roughly 53,000 fewer international students.

To be sure, migration to other states is a significant part of the story, as well. But as an analysis of census data by the Public Policy Institute of California found, the people who headed for another state largely have not been the wealthy, educated tech workers whose departures for Miami or Austin, Texas, have been the cause of much hand-wringing.

Rather, the people moving into California tend to be more educated and wealthier than the people leaving, according to the analysis: From 2015 to 2019, California gained 74,500 working-age adults with a bachelors degree or more  and lost 465,500 working-age adults with less than a bachelors degree. Over the past decade, California actually gained almost 114,000 high-income (defined as making more than $138,750 a year) working-age adults.

And while some former Californians have loudly proclaimed that they are taking their families and dollars elsewhere out of distaste for the states liberal politics, almost half of the adults who left California in the 2010s said they left primarily for jobs, and nearly a quarter said their primary reason for leaving was housing.

Of course, a combination of many factors influence any given familys decisions. And the net losses to other states should serve as a warning, experts say.

But determining what kind of action these signals should prompt is, as always, the challenge.

Which raises the eternal  if increasingly urgent  question: If Californias population is contracting because thousands of people cannot afford to live here, then what kind of communities will be left? Who is California for?

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia will receive nearly $1.4 billion from the federal government to offset economic setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic, but likely not all at once. An additional $516 million is earmarked for every county and some larger cities.

The $350 billion national program launched Monday is part of President Joe Bidens larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that became law in March.

Because West Virginia's current unemployment rate is not significantly higher than its pre-pandemic level, the state is eligible to receive just half of its allotment immediately, with the rest being provided one year later. Some 20 states currently are eligible to receive their entire allotment right away. The other 30 states, including West Virginia, would get their money in two equal annual payments, based on current federal data.

The withholding determination will be made based on unemployment data on the date a state submits its funding request.

West Virginias seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped from 5.3% in March 2020 to 15.6% in April 2020 as employers shut their doors at the start of the pandemic. The rate has fallen steadily since, hitting the lowest mark in a year in March to 5.9%.

Along with the funding for the state, an additional $348 million will go to West Virginias 55 counties, ranging from $1.1 million for Wirt County to nearly $35 million for Kanawha County. Calhoun County, which had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 14.9% in March, will receive $1.4 million.

Direct cash payments totaling $168.2 million also are heading to nine of West Virginias largest cities, including $36.8 million for Charleston and $40.6 million for Huntington. Other cities in the funding are Beckley, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Weirton, Wheeling and Vienna. Fairmont, the state's sixth largest city in 2019 Census estimates, was left out.

The money can be used by state and local governments for relief from the public health crisis. Under guidance the Treasury Department released along with the numbers, it also can be used to offset harm to workers, small businesses and affected industries, to invest in water, sewer and broadband systems and to replace lost public sector revenue. Essential workers also can qualify for premium pay under the program.

Officials cannot cut taxes, pay down debt or bolster the state's rainy day fund with the relief package.
Intrigued by the prospect of a new airline launching during a pandemic, and tempted by incomprehensibly low fares ($38 RT between Sonoma and Hollywood), SFGATEs fully vaccinated travel editor  that would be me  decided to take her first flight since Feb. 1, 2020.

I chronicle my surprising experience here: What it's like to fly AVELO, the new, dirt-cheap California-based airline.

The trip yielded a few other pandemic-era firsts:

My first dine-in restaurant experience (at a Los Angeles restaurant that, for lovers of Mexicos capital city, is a destination in itself)

My first visit to a spa

And my first Amtrak ride

Yes, this is a teaser. And yes, you should keep an eye out for stories on each of these adventures over the next couple weeks. Its a weird, wild world out there right now, folks!

Travel is not the same. Cities are not the same. But were all muddling through. And for those of us in the U.S., where vaccination is widely available and life is steadily returning to some version of the new normal, we have so much to be grateful for.

Even as travel becomes safer, there are still plenty of reasons to lean into our collective (possibly newfound?) interest in camping, hiking and non-hotel accommodations.

For those of us with unvaccinated kids, for example, vacation rentals may still feel like a safer bet than hotels.

On a recent trip to Arroyo Grande, in southern San Luis Obispo County, I stayed at what may be the most family-friendly Airbnb in the state. And the backstory of how it came to be  complete with an evil boss and a 3-year-old at Burning Man  made it all the more irresistible:

The second happiest place on Earth is a California Central Coast lifeguard tower

As many types of travel have been off the table over the past year, the outdoors have been a refuge for COVID-19-safe adventure. Camping, in particular, has found new fans. But for most of us, camping means hitting the road and leaving the city.

Grant Marek, SFGATEs editor in chief, found a way to eat smores and sleep in a tent without venturing beyond San Franciscos city limits:

Here's what it's like to spend the night in the Presidio at one of San Francisco's only campgrounds

SFGATEs California Parks editor, Ashley Harrell, decamped from the Bay Area during the pandemic for the bucolic pastures of Humboldt County. One advantage to life up north is her proximity to the big trees.

Eurekas new Redwood Sky Walk, which opens to the public this weekend, offers a particularly intimate encounter with Californias giant sequoias:

What it's like to hike 100 feet off the ground in a California redwood forest

Each day, more travel is possible. But theres also less patience with those who refuse to follow the rules of pandemic-era travel:

Both the FAA and the states are cracking down on bad behavior

Two California men arrested at airport in Hawaii for COVID-19 violations, police say

The moral of the story? Travel is a privilege we should appreciate now more than ever.

Travelskills is curated by Travel editor Freda Moon. Contact her at Freda.Moon@sfgate.com.
STAMFORD  State prosecutors will proceed with its case against a Stamford man accused of orchestrating a long-running dog-running scheme after they decided to waive a warrant that would have seen him extradited.

Deputy Assistant Margaret Moscati said during a hearing on Monday that the state had decided not to extradite Nygel Joseph, 23, to New Jersey, where he faces unrelated charges.

Joseph will remain in Connecticut to face racketeering, first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny, nine counts of conspiracy to illegally use a payment card, illegal trafficking in personal identifying info, animal cruelty and importing a dog without a health certificate charges, state prosecutors announced on Monday.

Joseph is one of four people  Devon Sherman, 25; Ebony Ayala, 23; and Paul Joseph, 23  accused of using stolen identities to purchase puppies from around the country and sell them out of a Glenbrook home.

As a part of an investigation into the dog-running operation, Stamford Animal Control seized 22 dogs from the accused.

Investigators were first alerted to the alleged dog-running scheme on Feb. 19 when an employee at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists in Stamford reported that a group of individuals had been bringing multiple dogs in and were using stolen credit cards to pay for the nearly $25,000 that they racked up in medical bills, investigators Michael Stempien and Vanessa Lynn wrote in Shermans arrest warrant affidavit.

The warrant states the suspects brought nine puppies to the vet in varying states of malnutrition and illness between October 2020 and March 2021.

In one trip, vets needed to remove the right eye from a 7-month-old shiba inu because of trauma, according to warrant. In another trip, they brought an 8-week-old French bulldog needed to be euthanized because it arrived comatose and severely emaciated, the warrant said.

During the ensuing investigation, police discovered a dead young looking, black female toy poodle in the garbage of the suspects Glenbrook home, according to the warrant. A later diagnostic exam revealed the dog had died of bronchopneumonia, the warrant said.

Based on this evidence, police executed a search warrant on the Belltown Road home in March. It was during this raid that police first arrested Nygel Joseph on a lone second-degree forgery charge, as well as a citation for operating a pet store without a license.

His alleged accomplices  Sherman, Ayala and Paul Joseph  were arrested in April on racketeering charges and more.

Earlier this month, Nygel Joseph was arrested on new charges as police discovered new information on the alleged operation.

On Monday, Nygel Joseph entered not guilty pleas to all charges.

His next court date is scheduled for July 6.
When was the last time you thought to yourself that you were happy to be standing on aged carpet in a dive bar?

Well, everyone who set foot in Aunt Charlies last Friday afternoon seemed to have that exact same thought, as the Tenderloins nearly 40-year-old queer bar reopened for the first time since COVID-19 struck, and a year after a crowdfunding campaign rescued it from closure.

It was a reunion of regulars, said Katie Conry, executive director of the Tenderloin Museum and a supporter of Aunt Charlies in both a professional and personal sense.

We really see the value in this place, Conry said. This is the Tenderloins shared living room.

Every neighborhood in the city has suffered one way or another during this pandemic, but the TL may have benefited the least from measures like Shared Spaces and outdoor dining (which is mostly clustered on Larkin Street, anyway).

So the return of Aunt Charlies is a big deal. It isn't the oldest queer bar in San Francisco  Twin Peaks was built in the 1930s, while Wild Side West has been lesbian-owned since 1962  but its undeniably historic. The block of Turk Street between Taylor and Jones once had a number of LGBTQ+ establishments. Aunt Charlies, which was originally called the Queen Mary, is the only one left. Its the only one left in the entire Tenderloin, in fact, after the Gangway  which truly was the citys oldest queer bar  shuttered in 2018.

The neighborhood holds a poignant place in LGBTQ+ history  in particular, trans history. Comptons Cafeteria, where an August 1966 uprising by transgender women against police harassment essentially launched the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, was across the street. Today, both Aunt Charlie's and the former site of Compton's are within the footprint of the Transgender District, signified by the pink, white and blue colors of the trans flag adorning the light poles. The next block east on Turk from Aunt Charlies has been renamed Vicki Mar Lane after trans drag performer Vicki Marlane, aka the Lady with the Liquid Spine, a staple of the senior drag troupe the Hot Boxxx Girls until shortly before her death in 2011.

History aside, Aunt Charlies is still very much a working-class neighborhood joint. The prices, which were always low, have barely budged. An exceptionally strong bourbon and ginger costs $7.75. A Manhattan is barely more than that, and everybody who sees you holding one feels compelled to warn you about the journey youre about to go on.

Youre normal, the bartender says after taking this reporters temperature, clearly pleased with himself to have a dozen patrons to repeat that same joke to. For now, you can only sit at the bar if you have proof of vaccination. Everybody else has to find a cocktail table or make room along the opposite wall.

Maybe it was just the late afternoon light, but the bar felt noticeably polished and repainted, with a new psychedelic triptych above the urinal in the bathroom. The pink neon Aunt Charlies sign was still only half-functioning, but the whole place looked like a 1980s Nagel print come to life, according to street photographer and patron Darwin Bell, referencing art deco illustrator Patrick Nagel. Joe Mattheisen, the bar's owner, was as reluctant to speak to the press as ever, but still in good spirits. When he walked in, people applauded.

A year ago, things looked much grimmer. Owing to its size, Aunt Charlies only received a modest PPP loan. Last June, word spread that the financial picture was bleak. A crowdfunding campaign raised more than $100,000 in barely a week and, well, here we are. According to Bell, even the Stonewall, probably the most famous gay bar in America, didnt raise money as quickly.

The relief was everywhere. Milani and Janesta, friends who first met at Aunt Charlies who asked not to use their last names for privacy purposes, were each drinking a Crown Royal with ginger ale. What did they miss the most this past year?

I miss the feeling of family, Milani said. I come to this place when I have terrible Thanksgivings, when I have fights with my husband, anything. This is where I go.

Colette LeGrande, a Hot Boxxx Girl, was not in drag but still eager to show off some new jewels. Shes worked at Aunt Charlies since 1999 and has been rehearsing a new number for when the shows resume in June.

Im a lot older now, so I dont know if I have as much energy, but Ill be here, she said. I dont know if itll be every weekend, but Ill be here as much as I can.

Meanwhile, the temperature checks at the bar continued. "You're normal," the bartender said to one more patron, before clocking out to hang out with some friends.

Peter-Astrid Kane (they/them) is the communications manager for San Francisco Pride and a former editor of SF Weekly.
Sixteen public servants in charge of election-related duties at the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and each city and province went overseas on a short-term study and training program. They came back to Korea and submitted a report on what they observed and learned. It turns out that the report was written by a university student, and the civil servants bought it on the Internet for W900 (US$1=W910). They traveled to France, Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Austria for 12 days in July last year to study and observe the election systems of those countries. The trip cost taxpayers W4 million per public servant. But the only things they did on their trip that was related to work was to visit the election management offices in Paris and Rome. The rest was sightseeing.

After returning to Korea, they submitted a joint report. According to evidence presented by Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun, the portion of the report on Switzerland was exactly the same as a report written by a university student and sold on the Internet for W900. Other parts were plagiarized from reports available on the Internet for free. In the end, W64 million in taxpayers money was wasted on a sightseeing trip for civil servants, who ended up buying a W900 report off the Internet to compensate us.

Two high-ranking officials of the National Police Agency, meanwhile, traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates early this year to research police budget systems. The report these officials submitted after the trip was the same. It contained general information about the Greek police that can easily be obtained off the Internet in Korea and did not mention anything else about police in those countries. The rest of the report was filled with tourism-related information about those countries. In their application to go on the trip, the police officers said they were going to meet the budget chiefs of the police agencies there, but all they ended up doing was, again, sightseeing.

The Board of Audit and Inspection issued a mid-term report last month on its probe of abuses committed by civil servants who travel abroad and warned that half of such trips could end up being merely for sightseeing purposes. Fifty-three public servants with Gyeonggi Province and affiliated agencies planned to visit the city halls of Paris, Athens and Ankara but were not given permission due to the busy schedules of the host cities. Yet the Korean civil servants went anyway and spent the entire trip visiting tourist sites. There are countless numbers of such incidents. The achievements of the so-called reforms of which the Roh Moo-hyun administration is so proud can be summed up in a W64 million bill for taxpayers resulting in a W900 report bought off the Internet.
The British Gas owner recently fired hundreds of engineers after they refused to accept new terms and conditions

No guidance for the current year due to the uncertainty

( ) said trading is continuing to be difficult with the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown and its dispute with engineers affecting boiler installations.

Chris O'Shea, the British Gas owners chief executive said: "As expected, trading conditions have remained tough in the year to date.

OShea added that the modernisation of the group remains on track with a dispute with engineers about new contracts now completed.

That dispute saw hundreds of engineers fired last month after they refused to accept the new terms and conditions, though 98% had accepted, OShea said.

Residential boiler installations fell by 11% in the three months to end-March, 2021, which OShea attributed to non-essential and servicing visits being cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Electricity demand from business customers dropped by 15% during the quarter, though Centrica said due to the restructuring it expects overall cost savings of more than 100mln this year.

Net debt has fallen to 0.5bn from 3bn following receipt of net proceeds from the sale of Direct Energy.

OShea added that given the ongoing uncertain outlook it is still not providing any specific group earnings or cash flow guidance for 2021.

Although the external environment remains uncertain, our tight focus on cash and on fixing the basics across the group leaves us well placed as we continue the turnaround of our company," he added.
Islamabad May 10 (IANS) Three soldiers were killed and five others injured in two separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan province, an army statement said.

One of the attacks took place on Sunday in the provincial capital of Quetta where militants attacked paramilitary troops Frontier Corps (FC) deployed on security duties, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.
The Market Report with Katie Pilbeam.

FTSE 100 opened a touch higher, with the pound rallying after the SNP failed to win an overall majority at Holyrood, making independence harder to target. Londons leading index added 12 points to 7,141 in early trading.

Boris Johnson is expected to confirm that indoor hospitality and household mixing can go ahead on 17 May as per the governments roadmap. Other indoor businesses, such as cinemas, will also be allowed to reopen.

( ) said full-year profits could be much higher than expectations and reach 2019 levels. Recent sales benefitted from reduced competition with cafes and restaurants not offering indoor service.

Dogecoin, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, is set to head to the moon. The Canadian firm said it will use the crypto to fund a Moon mission next year through Elon Musks SpaceX. The value of the memecoin has rocketed around 10,640% so far this year.

( ) shares jumped 5.4% to 97p in early dealings after the company announced a new order from an existing customer. The medical imaging technology company said the University of British Columbia had placed an additional research order.

Open-Orphan PLC( ) said its hVIVO operation has won a 3mln contract to create a challenge virus that will be used to test vaccines and antivirals against new Covid variants. The deal has been signed with Imperial College London as part of an initiative funded with the Wellcome Trust.

s ( ) commercial collaborator, , has received authorisation from Italian regulators to sell its Cedroz pesticide in the country. Cedroz is designed to control pests in fields and greenhouses.
The deal, the first of its kind Israel will have with an Asian country, is expected to be signed in eoul during a two-day visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Economy and Industry Minister Amir Peretz, Xinhua news agency quoted a joint statement issued by their offices on Sunday as saying.

Tel Aviv, May 10 (IANS) Israel and South Korea will sign a free trade agreement this week, officials said here.

Under the deal, imported product from Israel and South Korea will be exempt from duty in both countries.

The deal "is expected to significantly increase mutual trade between Israel and Korea" ,said the statement.

Israel hopes that the arrangement will give the Israeli industry "a competitive advantage and facilitate the activity of businessmen in the Korean market".

Ashkenazi said the deal is expected to help reduce Israel's high living cost by lowering import costs from ROK to Israel.

Peretz said Israel is in negotiations on new free trade agreements with China, Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union which includes Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus.

--IANS

ksk/
With hospitals struggling to deal with the overflow of Covid fatalities who developed breathlessness, the government has decided to arrange 22 oxygen-generation plants in 18 medical institutes all over the state. This is a condition during which Karnataka is reporting around 50,000 positive cases and the case fatality rate in eight districts has crossed one percent.

CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and State Covid-19 Ministerial Task Force chief, stated The idea is to make sure the 18 medical colleges are self-sufficient in oxygen production, and the process is fast-tracked.

Three of the plants are in Bengaluru. The finance department has given its nod to 62.7 crore proposal and tenders have been invited.

He adds With this, institutes can generate medical oxygen on their own instead of depending on outside suppliers. Each of these plants shall be designed for a stream flow rate of 1,500 litres per minute and can cater to the needs of 250 individuals requiring oxygen support.

The much-needed move has been welcomed by public health experts. Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (Bengaluru chapter) chairman Dr Sunil Karanth mentioned, Its the need of the hour. It is prudent to make medical institutions self-sufficient in meeting their oxygen needs. This will reduce dependency on oxygen production plants, which also have to supply for industrial purposes.

Dr Karanth pointed out how All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi recently succeeded in establishing a plant in record time with DRDOs support. Setting up a plant is not a cumbersome process. It is a necessary infrastructure for medical institutions and varsities that see a constant stream of patients in need of oxygen. Moreover, oxygen-generation technologies have developed so much that purity of oxygen for medical usage is on expected lines 93-95 percent, he added.

A number of public health specialists feel the government might have minimised the present oxygen demand had it acted upon at an earlier stage. Subject specialists had alerted the government on the necessity for ramping up supply in April last year following reports on oxygen scarcity in other nations, including US and Italy. The government was advised to arrange liquid oxygen tanks for 150 to 200-bed hospitals as a instead of relying on cylinders. But as the severity of the first wave reduced, the government put the proposal on the back burner,".

Nevertheless, the health department revoked the proposal again in December and introduced plans to arrange plants in 10 district hospitals and 30 taluks, at a cost of 38 crore. However after the preliminary discussions, it was not taken ahead as the government didnt anticipate a second surge of such magnitude.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Oakwood residents Christine and Kenneth Bonamo celebrated 50 years of marriage on April 25, 2021.

The couple were married in St. Patricks R.C. Church, Richmond.

With the challenge of celebrating their anniversary amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Bonamos were the guests of honor at a small intimate dinner party of their immediate family of eight people.

The family hosted a Zoom cocktail hour for the couples extended family and friends. Several of the Zoom guests were from the original wedding party, including the brides brother, Tom Giarratano, and the grooms cousins, Jack Bonamo and Maria Bonamo and Patty and Anthony Petro, as well as a friend of the couple, Maureen Hayes.

With the challenge of celebrating their anniversary amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Bonamos were the guests of honor at a small intimate dinner party of their immediate family of eight people.(Family photo)

The Bonamos met at driving school when he was her driving instructor.

Born in Brooklyn, Mrs. Bonamo, 70, is a graduate of Fort Hamilton High School, Brooklyn and attended Baruch College, Manhattan. She was a claims adjuster for Mercedes Benz USA for 10 years. She previously was a claims adjuster for CSL North America for 15 years, retiring three years ago.

Born in New Brighton, Mr. Bonamo, 72, graduated New Dorp High School and attended the RCA Institute of Technology in Manhattan. He was vice president of Frenkel & Company in Manhattan for 12 years. He previously was a claims adjuster for CSL North America for 12 years, retiring three years ago.

In the Bonamos spare time, they enjoy spending time with family, reading, traveling and dining out. They also enjoy traveling, and have visited Bermuda, Europe, Italy, Alaska, Vancouver, Florida, California, Las Vegas, New England, and taken various cruises.

The couple have two children, Ken Bonamo Jr. and Karin Ames and two grandchildren, Cecily and Leo Ames.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The United States is unlikely to see a coronavirus (COVID-19) surge akin to the one witnessed late last year as long as vaccination goals are met said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, on NBCs Meet the Press.

Fauci said goals established by President Joe Biden  to have 70% of all adults receive at least one vaccine dose by July 4  will enable the country to effectively manage isolated outbreaks of the virus.

You may see blips, but if we handle them well, it is unlikely that youll see the kind of surge that we saw in the late fall and the early winter, said Fauci.

Thats the reason why we plead with people to get vaccinated, he added, because the larger proportion of the population thats vaccinated, the less likelihood that in a season like the coming fall or winter youre going to see a significant surge.

Vaccination levels have slowed in recent weeks after a steady incline in the first months of the effort. Staten Island officials have expressed concern that reaching levels of herd immunity will not happen this year.

Part of that decline could be attributed to levels of either refusal or trepidation to receive a vaccine. Studies indicate that religious beliefs as a factor; distrust of governmental authority has been viewed as a deterrent; and even conspiracies have fueled reluctance.

To counteract hesitancy, Fauci said there is a two-fold approach that needs to occur.

Youve got to get trusted messengers out there, getting people to understand why its important to get vaccinated for themselves, their family and the community, said Fauci. The next thing is make it as easy as possible for people to get vaccinated, which were doing now with the 40,000 pharmacies where you dont have to go online, you dont have to call up, you can just walk right in, in a walk-in and get vaccinated, and mobile units to go out into not easily accessible areas.

Still, Fauci remains confident that the aforementioned goals will be met, saying, Right now, were averaging about 2 million a day. So, if we do that, which I think we will, I think, I believe strongly that we will reach the presidents goal of 70 percent of adults getting at least one shot by 4th of July.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  One million coronavirus (COVID-19) tests have been administered in New York City schools since the start of the 2020-2021 school year, city officials announced last week.

The NYC Test & Trace Corps announced the milestone that marks a crucial part of the effort to keep school buildings open for in-person learning and school communities safe  becoming a model for the rest of the nation recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City has shown the way in the fight against COVID-19, and our massive school-based testing effort is a major reason how weve been able to keep our schools safe and become a model for jurisdictions around the country, said Dr. Ted Long, executive director of the NYC Test & trace Corps, and senior vice president for ambulatory care and population health at NYC Health + Hospitals.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

New York City operates the countrys largest and most comprehensive school-based testing regimen, with thousands of tests performed at hundreds of school locations every day, the Corps stated. The initiative is organized by NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Test & Trace Corps, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in coordination with the city Department of Education (DOE), and other city agency partners.

Under the current testing protocol, a random selection of staff and students at every school is tested each week.

The mandatory in-school testing program began on Oct. 9 and required families to consent to testing upon their return to campus for in-person learning. Beginning in December 2020, all buildings that remained open for in-person learning required mandatory, weekly in-school testing for COVID-19 for 20% of the school population in grades 1 and higher.

Since the start of the testing initiative, COVID-19 transmission has remained low in school buildings, with the seven-day rolling average for citywide survey testing positivity standing at 0.53% as of May 6. In Staten Island, the seven-day positivity rate in school buildings is at 0.54%.

With one million tests and remarkably low levels of transmission, we are ensuring the safety of our school buildings for staff and students so we can offer one of the most important parts of social development and educational opportunity  in-person learning, Long added.

Tests in schools are administered by trained medical professionals using a nasal swab to collect the PCR test. Results are returned with 48 hours, with positive cases referred for additional action to curb the spread.

SCHOOL CLOSURE POLICY FOR COVID CASES

The city recently updated its policy when there were positive cases in a school building, which meant they wouldnt close as frequently.

Under the former policy, a classroom with one confirmed case or more would quarantine the entire class for 10 days, moving students to remote learning. Two or more unrelated cases without any clear links in the entire school would shutter the building for 10 days.

Heres a closer look at the different scenarios to close a classroom or school if there are COVID cases.

If theres one confirmed case:

The classroom of the positive case remains closed and quarantined for 10 days, moving to remote learning. Additional school members are quarantined based on where the exposure was in the school.

Individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19 wont be required to quarantine.

Two or three confirmed cases in the same classroom within seven days:

The classroom of the positive cases remains closed and quarantined for 10 days, and students in the impacted classroom move to remote learning for 10 days. Additional school members are quarantined based on where the exposure was in the school.

Individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be required to quarantine.

Two or three confirmed cases in different classrooms within seven days:

Classrooms involved in each case remain closed and quarantined for 10 days, and students in impacted classrooms learn remotely. Additional school members are quarantined based on where the exposure was in the school.

Individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be required to quarantine.

Weekly random COVID-19 testing is doubled to 40% of the in-person school population, including vaccinated individuals.

Four or more confirmed cases in fewer than four classrooms within seven days:

The classrooms of the positive cases remain closed and quarantined for 10 days, and students impacted move to remote learning. Additional school members are quarantined based on where the exposure was in the school.

Individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be required to quarantine

The school remains open. Weekly random COVID-19 testing is increased to 40% of the in-person school population, including vaccinated individuals.

Four or more confirmed cases in four different classrooms within seven days, not linked to transmission at school:

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) will initiate an investigation.

If the investigation determines not all cases are linked to transmission in school, then:

DOHMH will interview all cases.

The classrooms of the positive cases remain closed and quarantined for 10 days and students in impacted classrooms move to remote learning. Additional school members are quarantined based on where the exposure was in the school.

Individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be required to quarantine.

School remains open. Weekly random COVID-19 testing is increased to 40% of the in-person school population, including vaccinated individuals.

If the investigation determines all cases are linked to transmission in school, then:

DOHMH will interview all cases.

The entire school (not building) is closed for 10 days. For example, PS 16 and PS 10 in Tompkinsville are located in the same building. If there are cases in PS 10 requiring it to close for 10 days, students in PS 16 can remain on campus.

All students are moved to remote learning for 10 days.

Upon reopening, school resumes 20% weekly random COVID-19 testing.

School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter:



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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Ask Rob Rispoli how Staten Islanders kept occupied in the pandemic and, from his perspective, they chillaxed over homemade wine at Vino Divino in Charleston. His familys instructional classes served as one way to socialize and commune while being mindful of COVID-19 precautions.

It was a rough year. The winery got through it. People came out and they made wine in the middle of the pandemic! said Rispoli with a chuckle. In fact he got a kick out of how comfortable guests made themselves while sitting at a few outdoor tables. Guests made their own little parties.

Rob Rispoli at Vino Divino in Charleston (Courtesy of Rob Rispoli)

I finally had to put a two-hour time limit on it, he said.

When restaurant dining rooms closed again around Thanksgiving, he said, the shutdown was a boon for business.

People were relaxing and having wine. They were finally coming out of their house, said Rispoli.

Vino Divino is the only professional wine academy and winery on Staten Island. Over the span of its 19-year history, it has absorbed two other operations. Staten Island Winery merged with Vino Divino in 2019 and then Piazza Brothers in September 2020.

SAMPLING AND SELLING ON S.I.

Indeed, the business has evolved since its inception in 2001. Back then, Rispoli was prohibited from opening a tasting room. But laws governing on-premise consumption at a winery changed fairly recently. Now Vino Divino sells samples of various barrels. Flights of wine can include 1-ounce, 3-ounce and 6-ounce pours with pricing at $3, $5 and $7 respectively. Bottles cost $15 to $20. There are dozens of creations and grape varietals and grape concoctions rotated through the pouring program  Carmenere and Pinot Noir, Malbec and Merlot, blends of Chilean and South African fruit plus American vino made from region-specific, seasonal harvests.

The crush: Guests put their grapes through a machine that removes the skins and seeds from the fruit. (Courtesy of Rob Rispoli)

In September and October we get shipments from Sonoma and Lake counties, Oregon and Washington State. Merlot and Cabernet come from from Horse Heaven Hills in Washington State. These are very limited but they make an unbelievable wine, said Rispoli.

He added, We have the Chilean and South African season that started the first week in May.

To make a barrel of wine, Rispoli encourages friends and a few couples to collaborate in the effort. A full barrel costs $3,000 (a Washington State pinot noir would be $3,800) to yield 240 bottles of wine or 20 cases per barrel.

The tasting room is open Fridays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Samples of rose made in the winery are among the inventory to sample at Vino Divino. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Rispoli offers hot pretzels and an antipasto platter for purchase. The latter for $9.99 comes with roasted peppers, caponata, Parmigiana Reggiano plus hot and sweet sopressata. Those dried sausages are house-made as are the fresh mozzarella balls and extra-virgin olive oil.

In the do-it-yourself spirit, there are classes for all of those foods. Occasionally the winery presents cheese and oil-making demos where participants go home with their own product.

Barrels of wine hail from grapes harvested around the world. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

I put different people together at each table and they make friends. They end up making wine together! People wind up talking and connecting. Wine creates a totally different atmosphere and a laid back crowd, said Rispoli.

Vino Divino is located at 42 Industrial Loop, Charleston; 718-227-9463; Vinodivinowinery.com.

Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Its a question on everyones mind as we ease back into the routines we once considered normal, occasionally ditching the mask and even hugging those whove been vaccinated just like us: Can I catch coronavirus (COVID-19) even when Im fully vaccinated?

Experts say yes, it is possible. But Staten Islands top doctors continue to warn us to get the facts before losing faith in the vaccine.

While a very small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated will still get COVID-19 if they are exposed to the virus that causes it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says such cases are rare. Known as breakthrough infections, they occur very infrequently  and its nearly impossible to get a fatal infection, doctors say.

It is also impossible to contract COVID-19 from the vaccine, as there is no live virus present in any of the three vaccines currently being distributed in the United States, the CDC says.

Though the vaccines currently available are celebrated for their effectiveness at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, they are not 100%, but about 95% effective at preventing symptoms of the virus, according to the medical journal The Lancet.

Since COVID-19 vaccine distribution began in the United States on Dec. 14, 2020, more than 246 million doses have been administered, fully vaccinating over 105 million people or 31.8% of the total U.S. population, according to the NPR COVID Vaccine Tracker. It is unclear how many have later gotten infected with the coronavirus, as many remain asymptomatic or do not seek medical treatment, doctors say. Michigan, Illinois and other states have reported hundreds of cases, and though most people have gotten only mildly ill, some cases were serious or even fatal.

A very small percentage of breakthrough infections is an accepted part of vaccines and vaccination, said Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena, director of global health at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH).

They occur routinely with other trusted vaccines, like the flu vaccine, but very rarely are they serious or fatal, he told the Advance.

People tell me all the time that their loved one got the flu after being vaccinated, but no one says my loved one got the flu vaccine and died on a ventilator in the ICU, he said. COVID-19 is a virus that is killing thousands of Americans, and death from post-vaccination infection is a virtually unheard-of event.

At the beginning of this month, the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have all been administered to more than 150,000 Staten Islanders, according to the state COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker. Only two breakthrough infections have been reported at RUMC as of May 5, and about a dozen breakthrough infections have been reported on the Island as of April 15, the last date for which SIUH numbers are available to the Advance.

Staten Islanders should realize that there are very, very few patients who are getting admitted to the hospital after vaccination,' said Dr. Philip Otterbeck, chief medical officer at Richmond University Medical Center, where two patients were treated for COVID-19 after being vaccinated. The fact that there are so few underscores the dramatic benefit these vaccines have had, and this should encourage them to get vaccinated as soon as they can.'

According to the CDC, people are considered fully vaccinated:

Two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or

Two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnsons Janssen vaccine.

The vaccine is currently available only to those aged 16 or over, but the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said COVID-19 vaccines for middle schoolers in the United States could be approved as early as this week.

The bottom line, Cioe-Pena told the Advance, is that vaccination is close to 99% effective at preventing hospitalization. Theyre not perfect, but theyre really good,' he said.

Vaccination prevents empty chairs at the dinner table,' Cioe-Pena said. It really does protect people, and even if they do get the virus, theyre not likely to be hospitalized at all.'
The US and World Trade Organization have already expressed support for the initiative

A group of over 400 experts have called the UK to back a proposal first put forward by India and South Africa for a temporary waiver on COVID-19 vaccine patents.

Intellectual property protections ensure that the developers of vaccines are financially rewarded; removing them would help with boosting supply to poorer countries.

The open letter to Boris Johnson was organised by Global Justice Now, StopAIDS, and Just Treatment, Sky News reported.

"Action is profoundly urgent. New waves of COVID-19 are rising across the globe while epidemiologists warn that new mutations risk leaving current vaccines ineffective, it read.

"Together with sharing vaccine technologies and know-how through the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), this waiver would allow more producers to get more vaccines made, and help save countless lives and livelihoods. We must learn the painful lessons from a history of unequal access in dealing with diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

"We urge you to now provide the leadership to ensure an end to this global crisis. Defending intellectual property at all costs will not only lead to even more unnecessary loss of lives but is an unprecedented act of collective self-harm.

Last week, the US and World Trade Organization (WTO) expressed support for the initiative.

Inc. ( ) and Moderna Inc ( ), which were initially knocked down by the news, rose 1% to US$39.78 and 2% to US$166.90 on Monday in premarket trading.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Department of City Planning (DCP) announced two remote public meetings this month about its Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, designed to create a more resilient future for New York Citys 520 miles of shoreline.

The virtual meetings, scheduled for May 25 and 27, are meant to get New York City residents comments about the newly-released draft goals and strategies for the next Comprehensive Waterfront Plan.

From the South Shore of Staten Island to Orchard Beach in the northern Bronx, New York Citys dynamic waterfront defines our city, said Marisa Lago, DCP director.

The Comprehensive Waterfront Plan is a visionary roadmap, crafted together with a wide swath of New Yorkers, for making our shoreline more equitable, resilient and vibrant, whether for relaxation, recreation, resilience, travel or work. Please read our proposed strategies and then join us at these upcoming meetings. We want to hear your perspective, she added.

The release of DCPs draft goals and strategies for the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan follows two years of public collaboration, through dozens of in-person and remote workshops, waterfront tours, participating in seasonal or nature-focused festivals and its Waterfront Planning Camp.

DCP was able to continue engagement with the public during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through online programs like #WaterfrontWednesdays and Walking the Edge, done in collaboration with local arts and not-for-profit organizations, said the agency.

Building on the foundation laid out with the release of the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan framework in September 2020, the draft goals and strategies advance a 10-year vision for a resilient waterfront across the five boroughs, said DCP.

The draft goals and strategies present the ways that city agencies can work together with waterfront communities and other stakeholders to address historic discrimination, build on past successes that made the waterfront more attractive, accessible, livable and vibrant, and take decisive action on climate change while leveraging opportunities for a 21st century working waterfront, said DCP.

The document is organized by the following six themes:

Climate Adaptation & Resiliency

Waterfront Public Access

Economic Opportunity

The Working Waterfront

Water Quality & Natural Resources

Ferries

Each of these themes encompass a set of goals meant to advance a vision for the citys waterfront and strategies for potential ways to achieve those goals -- running the gamut from targeted infrastructure investments, to policy recommendations, to program expansions.

In addition, the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan highlights the role the citys waterfront can take in advancing other recent citywide plans, including OneNYC 2050, Food Forward NYC and Where We Live NYC.

While DCP is leading the process for creating the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, it is a citywide document and numerous city agencies have engaged in the planning process.

Details on the two upcoming meetings in May are posted on NYC Engage, offering additional opportunities following last falls workshops for New Yorkers to share their feedback. The remote meetings will be accessible by phone or online. For those who cant make the meetings, DCP is also accepting written public comments on the Plans website through May 28.

The final Comprehensive Waterfront Plan will be completed and released by June 30.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Like so many other businesses, the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) shuttered its offices and bureaus across the state last March to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

While offices were closed, the state said it would extend expiration dates for driver licenses, non-driver IDs and registrations. Temporary 45-day vehicle registrations were also extended. Road tests were suspended until further notice.

During the closure, the DMV made 60 transactions available to customers online, like pleading or paying a New York City traffic ticket, license and registration renewal, obtaining a driver record, address change, and more.

Customers also had the ability to return license plates and perform other transactions via mail.

Its been more than one year since the DMV closed and Staten Islanders are wondering when it will reopen and resume in-person services.

One Staten Island resident asked #fyiSI when it would reopen and also wondered if the state plans to open a second location on Staten Island.

Staten Islands population is about twice the size of Buffalo, yet you have 10 times more DMV reservation sites in Buffalo/Eerie than Richmond [County]. Why? the resident asked.

Last August the DMV reopened as part of the states Phase 3 reopening plan and residents were able to make appointments for select services.

UP TO 70 TRANSACTIONS CAN HANDLED ONLINE, DMV SAYS

#fyiSI asked the state DMV about when it plans to resume in-person services and add additional time slots/reservations at the Richmond County DMV.

The DMV reimagined and continues to transform its services in the wake of the pandemic, including offering more online transactions than ever before. Nearly 70 transactions can be done online, including the option to register most vehicles online without visiting a DMV office, a DMV spokesman told the Advance/SILive.com.

He continued, For customers who need to visit an office, new reservation times are added daily, and DMV has extended office hours

Located at 1775 South Ave. in the West Shore Shopping Plaza, the Richmond County DMV is open Monday through Friday from 6:15 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The spokesman said there are no plans at this time to add a second DMV location on Staten Island.

The Buffalo offices are run by the Erie County Clerk who has the discretion to determine how many offices to operate there. There are no current plans for a second office in Staten Island, however, there are 13 offices throughout the NYC metropolitan area, the spokesman said.

IN-PERSON SERVICES

The DMV lists the following services as in-person, however, many can also be handled by mail:

LEARNERS PERMITS AVAILABLE ONLINE

The tests for Class D (passenger vehicles) and Class M (motorcycles) are now available to New Yorkers statewide online, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The announcement comes after the launch of an online permit application pilot program last year. This service allows New Yorkers to begin the permit application process and take the test from their home, saving the customer significant time waiting in the DMV office.

However, after passing the online test, the applicant must still come to the DMV office to obtain their learner permit. But their visit is expected to be quicker, more convenient and will allow a greater number of customers to be served, according to the state.

Real ID-compliant driver's licenses have a star in the upper right corner.New York DMV

REAL ID DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR SECOND TIME AMID PANDEMIC

For the second time, the federal government has announced an extension of the Real ID deadline, granting Americans an additional 19 months to acquire the new form of identification that will be required for domestic air travel.

The deadline for Real ID requirements on domestic air travel, initially set for October 1, 2020, was extended last May, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the deadline would be pushed back to October 1, 2021 as a result of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The extended deadline will allow state Departments of Motor Vehicles, which have been hampered in their ability to issue new IDs by the pandemic, the opportunity to ramp back up to full operations.

#fyiSI -- HERES THE POINT

When #fyiSI launched in October 2018, the Advance received dozens of questions from readers about all things Staten Island.

Now, were continuing to provide answers and are asking you again to ask us anything, Staten Island -- and we mean anything.

Through #fyiSI, Im going to answer all of your burning questions  with the occasional help of my coworkers  about the borough with 479,458 residents that we all call home.

Some of the questions weve received so far include:

How can we ask for a stop sign to be added?

What happened to my favorite restaurant?

Is that a mobile speed camera?

Why is the Department of Transportation doing construction on my block?

Now I ready to tackle them all, and Im looking for more questions, Whatever it is, Ill answer it.

You might be wondering how #fyiSI differs from the average story you already read in the Staten Island Advance or on SILive.com.

Were not stepping away from the traditional news article, but instead adding social media elements like Facebook live, Instagram stories, Twitter polls, and other multimedia to help us reach you.

Well also do a lot of reporting on site.

Questions should include your name, neighborhood of residence and contact information, and can be emailed to fyi@siadvance.com or kdalton@siadvance.com.

#fyiSI questions weve answered so far

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The city will lower speed limits on over 45 miles of major streets across the five boroughs where the most crashes have been reported, including Hylan Boulevard, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

Hylan will be lowered to 30 mph.

The new speed limits will go into effect as speed-limit signage is posted over the coming weeks, according to the city. Speed cameras located along any of these streets will be reprogrammed and drivers will be given a 60-day adjustment period after new signage is posted, the city said.

You lower the speed limit, you send a message to everyone  these are the rules, you have to live by these rules. If you dont, there will be consequences, De Blasio said.

The change in speed limit will mean that motorists traveling 41 mph on Hylan Boulevard will receive a speed camera violation.

Currently, the speed limit on the southernmost portion of Hylan Boulevard is 40 mph while the stretch between New Dorp Lane and Richmond Avenue has a speed limit of 35 mph.

MAYOR RESPONDS TO BORELLIS OPPOSITION

The mayor said he was responding from the heart when asked about Councilman Joe Borellis opposition and vocal criticism of the lowered speed limit.

We dont agree on many things, but I do respect him as an individual, de Blasio began.

De Blasio responded to Borellis remarks on Monday morning after making the official announcement,

This is what I would say to him. I would just raise the facts. Hylan Boulevard in the last years, even with Vision Zero, weve seen too many people hurt and weve seen lives lost. And its clear you have to do something differently when you see that. So, no, you cannot have a higher speed limit. In the end, lowering speed limits creates accountability and saves lives and its time. The facts point to it. Its time, he continued.

Borelli (R-South Shore) and Councilman Steve Matteo (R-Mid-Island) blasted de Blasio on Sunday ahead of his announcement, Borelli calling the decision absurd and unnecessary.

Did he consult with anyone? No. Does he care? No. Is it a money grab for speed cameras? Yes, Borelli tweeted Sunday.

Both city councilmen were angry the city did not consult with them ahead of time. Matteo took issue with the city Department of Transportations (DOT) not approving other traffic calming measures hed requested in the past.

Vision Zero means using our tools and constantly refining, constantly adding to them. So, now, were going to be lowering speed limits on additional streets. Weve done this over the years. Its worked. I know some people gripe about it, I respect the concerns, but this is about safety. This is about saving lives. This is about protecting kids, about protecting seniors, de Blasio said during his Monday press briefing.

Speed limits will be lowered on over 45 miles of major streets across the five boroughs where the most crashes have been reported, including Hylan Boulevard.

The new speed limits will go into effect as speed-limit signage is posted over the coming weeks, according to the city. Speed cameras located along any of these streets will be reprogrammed and drivers will be given a 60-day adjustment period after new signage is posted, it said.

DOT SAYS SPEED CAMERAS REDUCE SPEEDING BY 70%

From December to late April, Staten Island speed cameras have netted over $4.5 million.

Currently, the citys school zone speed cameras operate on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; however, de Blasio is pushing the state legislature to expand the citys speed camera program to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

More speed cameras are expected to be added in New York City within the next two years, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported.

Rose Uscianowski, the Staten Island organizer for Transportation Alternatives, one of the citys leading transit advocacy groups, previously said that despite their unpopularity, statistics indicate that traffic cameras have been effective in reducing speeding and crashes at the locations theyve been installed.

The city DOT said that speeding has been reduced by more than 70% at locations where speed cameras are present, with injuries down 17% at those same areas.

Reducing speed is a strong contributor to fewer pedestrian deaths, according to the DOT, with an individual twice as likely to be killed by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph compared to 25 mph.

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The New York state lawmaker who for years has led the charge on legalizing adult-use cannabis says shes excited about what lies ahead.

I know that at the end of the day this will create opportunities for people, said New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes during a recent online town hall. That speaks volumes for the future and for the ability to begin creating the kind of access to wealth that can be passed on generationally.

I am totally excited about the whole process, said Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo.

On May 20, Peoples-Stokes will be a keynote speaker for NY Cannabis Insider Live presented by Hance Construction, a virtual half-day conference and business networking event scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Early-bird tickets ($45) ends today. Regular price tickets $65 go on sale tomorrow. Register and purchase tickets.

Peoples-Stokes, who estimates it will take at least 18 months for the legal cannabis marketplace to open, has been at the forefront of social equity and economic justice for those most harmed by the War on Drugs.

We want to open this market up so we can get resources to be able to feed into the lives of the people who suffered from multiple decades of mass incarceration, she said. And its not a small price that folks have paid for this. Going to jail, their children not having parents, their parents not having their loved ones, trying to take care of grandchildren, trying to maintain their homes, so life has been tough for this population of the majority Black people and brown people who have been criminalized around this plant, so first and foremost there has to be that equity.

In addition to Peoples-Stokes, several heavy hitters in the regions cannabis space will also speak:

Dasheeda Dawson, cannabis czar for the City of Portland, Oregon, founder & chair of Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, chief strategist for CHEM, and best-selling author.

Ngiste Abebe, president of the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Assn., and vice president of Public Policy at Columbia Care.

Allan Gandelman, founder and president of the New York State Cannabis Growers and Processors Association, and co-founder of CBD processing company New York Hemp Oil.

Arthur Hance, founder and president of Hance Construction, Inc. which provides material erected, turnkey construction management and general contracting services to the industrial, commercial and cannabis markets in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Sam Andras, senior principal & partner at MJ12 Design Studio/2WR + Partners, both national architectural and interior design firms. MJ12 specifically provides services to the cannabis industry both domestically and internationally.

David Serrano, a decorated U.S. Navy veteran, a pioneer in the cannabis industry, and a fierce advocate for social and environmental justice. He is the founder and chief of Business Development at Harvest 360 and H360 Labs. Harvest360 is NY Cannabis Insiders social equity partner for this event.

Themes that will be explored during the programmed portion of the conference:

Timeline for the road ahead as the market opens

What you need to compete for a license

How to work with municipalities

How will social equity work

What to expect on the federal level

We expect at least 60 minutes of focused networking session. On our virtual networking floor well have some 12 roundtables, hosted by sponsors and partners.

Hance Construction was selected to build one of the first cannabis grow facilities in New Jersey, and has since worked on other medical cannabis projects, offering consulting and site-location services.

SUNY Morrisville offers a Cannabis Industry minor, providing students a vast understanding of the cannabis space by combining portions of its agricultural science, horticulture and business programs.

Beak & Skiff Research is a vertically integrated manufacturer of high-quality and consistent CBD products including its new CBD infused line of sparkling water

Harvest 360, NJ Cannabis Insiders Social Equity Partner, is a cannabis consulting company that specializes in application preparation and licensing management, working to reduce barriers of entry for communities most impacted by the War on Drugs.

Trichome Analytical, headquartered in Mount Laurel Township, offers the highest standard in accurate, compliant and comprehensive cannabis and industrial hemp testing and consulting services for cultivators, processors, retailers and regulatory agencies.

Eaze, a California-based technology platform that connects adult consumers with local licensed retailers for on-demand delivery of legal cannabis products.

The Cannabis Health Equity Movement (CHEM), which includes a coalition of BIPOC cannabis industry leaders working and innovating in the field. It recently launched CHEM Global Campus, a White House supported project, in partnership with Southern University Law Center to produce customized curriculum development for tomorrows cannabis leaders.

Marino PR, is a full-service communications firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles with a leading cannabis practice.

New York State Cannabis Growers and Processors Assn. is an industry association that represents farmers, processors and other businesses in cannabis, giving emphasis to the importance of environmental sustainability.

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets. Space is limited.

The half-day conference is hosted by Advance Media New York, the company that publishes The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com, in collaboration with NJ Cannabis Insider, a weekly online trade journal and events group covering New Jersey and the Northeast region.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Six Flags Hurricane Harbor will kick off its 2021 season when it opens to the public on Saturday, May 15.

One of the Northeasts largest and most tropically-themed waterparks, Hurricane Harbor will open Saturday for a two-week spring preview that will feature many of the parks rides, dining and shopping locations  offering a taste of summer prior to its official season launch on Memorial Day weekend.

The waterpark in Jackson, N.J., is located next to Six Flags Great Adventure & Wild Safari.

Heres a look at what to expect when the waterpark opens.

Six Flag's Hurricane Harbor's Calypso Springs features a 100,000-gallon family activity pool, giant deck for relaxing and sunbathing, and quick-service dining. The water park, in Jackson, N.J., will open this weekend for a spring preview. (Courtesy/Six Flags)

What are the park hours?

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor will open on weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including Memorial Day. If there are no operating hours listed for a particular date, the park is closed.

The waterpark begins daily operation starting June 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

What are some of the amenities and rides?

Hurricane Harbor features more than 30 thrill slides including Big Wave Racer, Tornado and Juhranimo Falls  a massive, million-gallon wave pool, half-mile lazy river, and two interactive, family water play areas.

Its newest addition, Calypso Springs, features a refreshing, 100,000-gallon family activity pool, giant deck for relaxing and sunbathing, and quick-service dining.

What are the health and safety protocols?

Like Great Adventure, the waterpark implemented extensive, new safety measures and hygiene protocols amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for the 2021 season. These procedures will be adjusted on an as-needed basis to ensure compliance with state requirements.

The safety measures, which Six Flags developed in consultation with epidemiologists, meets or exceeds federal, state and local guidelines for sanitization, hygiene and social distancing protocols.

Face masks are required, and advance ticket purchases and reservations will manage attendance and stagger arrivals.

Other new technologies include state-of-the-art thermal imaging for temperature checks, mobile food ordering and advanced security screening technology for touchless bag checks. Six Flags employees are also required to wear a mask and are temperature-checked and health-screened each day. Gloves are worn as appropriate, per guidelines.

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor has various protocols in place amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Courtesy/Six Flags)

Will I need to make a reservation?

To prevent overcrowding, advance tickets and reservations are required using Six Flags online reservation system, which will incorporate safety procedures for both guests and team members.

The reservation system will be activated to allow members, season pass holders and single-day ticket holders to make reservations at sixflags.com/reserve. Guests will not be able to buy tickets at the gate, and guests without advance reservations will not be allowed to enter.

Guests will submit their online order number, ticket number, or membership/season pass number, select the day and approximate time they want to visit, acknowledge their understanding of the companys health policy, order pre-paid parking if needed, and watch a brief video describing new social distancing and sanitization procedures.

Guests will need to make a reservation to visit the waterpark this year. (Courtesy/Six Flags)

What else is open at Six Flags?

Six Flags Great Adventure is open  featuring cutting-edge thrills like Kingda Ka and Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, family favorites like Bumper Cars and Skyway, and chart-topping coasters like Nitro and El Toro.

Guests will also be able to sneak a peek at one of the most anticipated new coasters, the triple record-breaking Jersey Devil Coaster.

Beginning this summer, riders will straddle the thin, monorail track as they soar through the foreboding woods on the tallest and longest single-rail coaster in the world, according to Six Flags. Inspired by infamous New Jersey mythology, the coaster will feature five intense elements through three dramatic inversions.

An opening date for the coaster hasnt yet been announced.

The Six Flags Wild Safari Drive-Thru Adventure is also open, allowing guests to see the new rare bongo species, including an adorable calf next month, as well as other adorable babies like four giraffe calves and two Siberian tiger cubs.

The safari takes guests on a self-guided journey through 1,200 exotic animals from six continents. From the safety and privacy of their own vehicle, guests will slowly wind through 11 simulated natural habitats -- seeing animals like giraffes, elephants, rhinos, lions, tigers, bears and baboons.

The drive is about five miles and takes about one hour to complete.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Moving. Powerful. Sobering. These are some of the words people used to describe the College of Staten Islands Speak Out Against Anti-Asian Hate! event.

The event consisted of a panel of CSI students, faculty, and staff of Asian descent who shared their personal experiences and answered questions in a discussion about the recent surge in violence against Asian and Asian American people in the United States. They also covered some of the history behind the violence as well as solutions to address it.

More than 100 people logged onto Zoom on Thursday, May 6, to attend the virtual event.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

While hate crimes and violence committed against Asian and Asian American people has skyrocketed over the past year, discrimination and racism toward Asians in the U.S. dates back more than 150 years.

Numerous people in the discussion admitted that they had limited knowledge of some of this history such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which is the only federal law in American history to prohibit one specific nationality from immigrating to the U.S., or the extent of Japanese internment camps set up during World War II.

PROVOKING ANIMOSITY

One attendee posed a question asking how politics and international relations may contribute to an increase in violence and hate crimes committed against Asian people. He referenced President Trump naming coronavirus the Chinese virus as an example of leaders provoking animosity towards specific racial groups.

Geopolitically what happens between our country and other Asian countries traditionally impacts Asian Americans on the ground here very negatively, responded Dr. Ava Chin, associate professor of creative nonfiction and journalism.

Staten Islanders honored the lives lost to hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte)

She cited the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin in Detroit as an example of larger issues becoming racialized locally. Dr. Chin also emphasized that these issues impact all Asian and Asian American people in the U.S. when combined with ignorance of the range of Asian nationalities and ethnicities.

Animosity toward one East Asian country unfortunately results in anyone of East Asian descent becoming a potential target of violence regardless of age or nationality. For example, Vincent Chins attackers were two white autoworkers who yelled anti-Japanese slurs as they killed him, completely unaware that he was actually Chinese.

IM AFRAID TO WALK OUTSIDE

Multiple panelists expressed how the recent surge in hate crimes against people of Asian descent in the U.S. has evoked a sense of constant fear in their daily lives.

This is the first time in my life experience Im afraid of walking outside, so insecure in this country that I dont know, like the question were being asked, what we can do, said Qimei Luo, a CSI alumnus, class of 2011.

Lara Saguisag, associate professor of English at CSI, described how she now takes additional precautions when walking down the street.

I stay about like five feet away from the sidewalk because I often think somebody is going to push me into the street. And I get angry that Ive had to do that  that I am afraid when I go out of the house said Saguisag.

People take part in a rally against hate and the rising violence against Asians living in the U.S., at Columbus Park in the Chinatown section of the Manhattan borough of New York, on Sunday, March 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) AP

ORGANIZING AND COMING TOGETHER

In terms of solutions going forward, panelists encouraged people to approach it from a community-oriented perspective.

Qimei Lou explained that community organizing on a day-to-day basis could be something as small as donating personal protective equipment (PPE) to people or as big as addressing lawmakers and holding them accountable.

Chin reminded attendees of the importance of visibility.

I think it behooves all of us within the community and outside, for the community to listen to each others stories because thats just one very basic step that goes a long way, said Chin.

Staten Islanders honored the lives lost to hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte)

Despite having such a large audience, panel members were able to maintain a welcoming, intimate, and supportive atmosphere. Many attendees showed their support for each other with the heart react feature, exchanging encouraging words in the live chat, and thanking each other for sharing their experiences and thoughts.

After the event, Winnie Brophy, director of special programs and initiatives for CSIs Center for Global Engagement, reflected on the significance and success of the event.

We do not want this momentum to fade away! This is our moment and we need to keep going. Talk about these issues, encourage folks to act, etc., Brophy told the Advance/SILive.com.

The panelists included: Winnie Brophy, Director, Special Programs and Initiatives, Center for Global Engagement; Ava Chin, Associate Professor of Creative Nonfiction + Journalism, English; Benji Kuriakose, HelpDesk Manager, Office of Information Technology Services; Qimei Luo, CSI Alum, Class of 2011, Corporate Communications; Ananya Mukherjea, Associate Professor and Chairperson, Sociology and Anthropology; Lara Saguisag, Associate Professor, English; Xin Yan Zhu Jiang, Sophomore, Biology, Macaulay Honors Program

This month is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Check out upcoming events to learn about and celebrate AAPI history and culture.

For more information, CSIs library has compiled a list of various resources including information about anti-Asian violence, how to report hate crimes, obtaining legal assistance, and how to be an active ally to the Asian American community.
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Australias corporate watchdog has cancelled the credit licence of controversial Sydney lawyer Dominique Grubisa, one of the nations most high-profile property investment and wealth protection promoters.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Monday announced the cancellation of Ms Grubisas Master Wealth Control Pty Ltd on the basis that her company had not engaged in any credit activities authorised by its licence for at least six months.

Dominique Grubisa leaving her Turramurra home in November 2020. Credit:Nick Moir

Under Australian law, companies that do not engage in any credit activities authorised by their licence for a six-month period can be stripped of their licence.

ASIC has also forced Ms Grubisa to remove statements from her DG Institute website in which she claimed to be an ASIC licensed debt specialist and a holder of an ASIC financial services licence.
European Metals Holdings Limited (LON:EMH) (ASX:EMH) Keith Coughlan catches up with Proactive London after adopting a set of environmental, social and governance protocols.

Coughlan explains how the firm will establish an ESG committee at board level, to be chaired by Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, who has considerable experience in this area.

He believes that the carbon dioxide footprint of their Cinovec lithium and tin project in the Czech Republic will be low when compared with other hard rock lithium projects.
Former Home and Away actor Putu Winchester-Stanton is among seven men charged with drug offences following two separate investigations into the ongoing supply of cocaine in Byron Bay.

Following inquiries last October, police executed four search warrants at a Byron Bay business and at homes in Byron Bay, Bangalow and Mullumbimby about 1pm on April 22.

Former Home and Away actor Putu Winchester-Stanton, 44 (wearing red shorts) was charged with 10 offences including supplying commercial quantity prohibited drugs and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group. Credit:NSW Police

During these warrants, police located and seized approximately 340 grams of cocaine, more than $25,000 cash and other proceeds of crime. In total, seven men were arrested.

Mr Winchester-Stanton, 44, was arrested at a Mullumbimby home. He was charged with 10 offences including supplying commercial quantity of prohibited drugs and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group.
Storms that could bring isolated rainfall of up to 70 millimetres have been forecast for parts of south-east Queensland over the coming days, after the region was battered by a fast-moving system overnight.

On Tuesday the Bureau of Meteorology predicted storms would sweep through large parts of the Queensland coast from the south-east to Townsville.

BOM meteorologist Peter Markworth said there was a chance of severe thunderstorms, with the worst expected on Wednesday.

He said isolated totals could be as high as 60 to 70 millimetres.
A woman suffered critical head injuries when she was hit by a car on Monday night in Brisbane.

Police said a grey Mazda 3 was being driven southbound along Ipswich Road at Woolloongabba about 1.30am when a woman reportedly walked onto the road and was struck by the car.

The woman remains in Princess Alexandra Hospital. Credit:Getty

The 29-year-old suffered critical head injuries and was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital.

A 67-year-old man driving the car was not physically injured.
In Britain and South Africa, studies showed that minorities, especially Muslims, had among the highest COVID-19 mortality rates. And this has partly been attributed to online disinformation campaigns that exploit Muslim cultural or religious sensitivities.

Muslims, like other groups, have fallen victim to mass disinformation campaigns about why Muslims should not take the COVID vaccine. Whether on Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp, potentially harmful messages have spread like wildfire across the world.

However, as global health organisations have warned, major obstacles could derail a successful global vaccine rollout. And one of the biggest of those obstacles is COVID disinformation.

More than one billion Muslims welcomed the start of Ramadan this year. But this is no ordinary Ramadan. Though this is the second time Muslims have celebrated under COVID-19 restrictions, it is the first time Ramadan has occurred during massive vaccine rollouts.

One message told Muslims they were immune to the virus. Others urged cures that included herbal remedies, onions, steam or vitamins. Muslims were also attacked on social media, particularly in India, and blamed for the spread of COVID-19.

Now that vaccines are available, they have become a misinformation target too. There are popular rumours on social media that vaccines contain pork derivatives  a claim vaccine manufacturers like AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna have proven is untrue. But not before some Muslim leaders, in countries as far apart as Indonesia and Australia, declared that the AstraZeneca vaccine was haraam.

Other claims assert that taking any vaccine breaks the fast  a central component of Ramadan.

Confusing positions like these, based almost entirely on flawed information, delay urgent global progress against COVID-19. They have deadly consequences, particularly when experts have warned that virus cases could escalate significantly this next month due to easing lockdowns and new variants. Cases have already risen globally by 25 per cent in the past 14 days, with upward trends in most of the Middle East and South Asia.

Clearly, much is at stake. The mixed messaging on vaccines affects all faiths  not just Muslims. But Muslims can draw on their faith to set an example. Islam, unique among world religions, contains explicit guidance on pandemics, as demonstrated by a hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad who said: When you hear that [a plague] is in a land, do not go to it and if it occurs in a land that you are already in, then do not leave it, fleeing from it.
A sailor who jumped from an international oil tanker and was found clinging to a buoy five kilometres from shore in Port Phillip Bay has been placed in hotel quarantine, as authorities prepare to inspect the ship.

The 31-year-old Georgian national was rescued by water police about 8pm on Sunday after they were told by harbour control that he was holding onto a navigational marker.

Aerial footage of the buoy in Port Phillip Bay where the sailor was found. Credit:Nine News

He was pulled from the water and taken to Williamstown where he was medically assessed.

Officers from the Australian Border Force and Department of Health accompanied him to hospital and he was expected to be transferred to hotel quarantine on Tuesday.
Former lord mayor Robert Doyle has apologised for the pain he has caused, in his first interview since he was found to have sexually harassed multiple women while leading Melbourne City Council.

Mr Doyle said he was aware that speaking publicly would draw attention to his actions again, but he felt an obligation to speak.

Former lord mayor Robert Doyle in 2017. Credit:Eddie Jim

I have an obligation to say to those people that Im sorry and I wanted them to hear that directly from me, that Im sorry, he told 3AWs Neil Mitchell.

Mr Doyle said he was deeply ashamed of his ugly and reprehensible actions, which he said were driven by arrogance, self-importance and his inability to see how his behaviour was affecting other people.
The centrepiece of the budget will be an aged care package costing about $18 billion, responding to the royal commission into the sector by offering Australians more in-home care packages and spending on residential care. The government will commit $7.2 billion to an extension to the low and middle-income tax offset for 10 million workers, $10 billion to infrastructure and $9 billion to an increase in the JobSeeker allowance for the unemployed. The budget will show the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme rising to $26 billion next financial year, putting it on course to surpass the annual outlay on Medicare over the next four years. Medicare was expected to cost $31 billion in 2024. With employers warning of labour shortages while the countrys borders are closed, the government is under pressure to do more to help 244,000 people who have been out of work for at least 12 months, a 26-year high in long-term unemployment. The skills package departs from policies such as the JobMaker Hiring Credit unveiled last October, which paid employers up to $200 per week to hire workers aged 16 to 35 but sparked complaints that it did not help older workers.

Loading While the budget includes programs that are more useful to younger than older people, the new programs for the long-term unemployed will not be targeted like last years hiring credit. The focus on intensive support for people is regardless of age, Mr Frydenberg told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. The new plan will include changes to the hiring credit, which was expected to cost $4 billion but has been largely ignored by employers. Mr Frydenberg claimed last year the scheme would support 450,000 jobs, but the Australian Financial Review revealed in March it had only created 609 jobs in its first seven weeks. While Mr Frydenberg emphasised the support for those in need, the budget will come with a message to younger Australians to take up the training programs or risk losing income support through payments such as Youth Allowance.

Employment Minister Stuart Robert has considered ways to contact about 122,000 people who are aged from 16 to 22 and are on Youth Allowance (Other) for those who are looking for work and are not in education. Ive asked my department for options on how do we communicate with each one of them [based on] where they are to identify subsidised places for training or skilling or jobs, he said last week. With the latest ANZ jobs survey showing 198,000 positions advertised, the government is aiming to encourage young people to seek those jobs. That work is there, the subsidised skilling is there, we just need to now connect, especially young Australians, to those job opportunities, and those skilling opportunities, Mr Robert said. Australian Council of Social Service chief Cassandra Goldie said she was concerned the government would attempt to use an automated compliance regime to place obligations on those out of work.

Loading Clearly the 1.3 million people still on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance need more help than theyre getting to secure employment, especially if theyve been unemployed for over a year  as around half of them are, she said. Properly paid work experience via decent wage subsidies, and training that strengthens skills in demand in the labour market, can certainly help. This is an investment in people to lift them out of poverty and improve the functioning of the labour market. Governments must stop using employment services as a means to threaten and harass people off benefits and start investment in genuine help. A key factor for the labour market is the extended closure of Australias international borders, sparking warnings from business groups about skills shortages.
The rail tunnel, which will connect South Kensington to South Yarra through five underground stations, was initially costed at $11 billion, but has blown out by $2.7 billion. In October the state government reached a deal with the consortium building the Metro Tunnel project, Cross Yarra Partnership, which agreed to pay an extra $1.37 billion on the project. The remaining $1.37 billion will be picked up by Victorian taxpayers and is expected to be included in the state budget when its handed down later this month. Ms Allan on Monday said she welcomed every dollar thats invested in transport infrastructure projects by the Commonwealth. We have been talking to them about the delivery of road projects across the state, noting that we are already in partnership with the Commonwealth on a whole range of suburban and regional road projects, she said.

Ms Allan said the business and investment case for the Suburban Rail Loop would be completed within months, and she would be speaking to Canberra for federal funding. However, key questions remain about the merits of the rail line, announced in the lead-up to the 2018 election. The Andrews government did not provide the final cost or the business case, despite settling on the route. As part of the rollout of this project, yes, we will be having conversations with the Commonwealth government, Ms Allan said. We have said that we would look for a funding share from the Commonwealth government, and when we release the investment and business case in the coming months I plan on having extensive discussions and conversations with the Commonwealth government because this is a vitally important project  not just for now and supporting construction jobs now, but for the way Melbourne will grow into the future. Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan wants the Commonwealth to pitch in for the Suburban Rail Loop. Credit:Joe Armao Tuesdays federal budget will include almost $1 billion in additional road funding, including an extra $20 million for upgrades to freight connections to the Port of Portland, as well as $500 million to tackle congestion at two pinch points on the Monash Freeway.

The federal government has also announced a $2 billion cash injection for a new freight terminal to remove thousands of trucks from Melbournes clogged roads. The money is contingent on a matching contribution by the Andrews government, with potential sites identified at Truganina in the citys west and Beveridge in the north to accommodate future Inland Rail services of double-stacked, 1800-metre trains. Loading Ms Allan argued the intermodal terminal must be in the western suburbs, at the centre of freight activity. For some time now, weve already been identifying the best location for an intermodal freight terminal, and well be doing that work and sharing that information with the Commonwealth government, she said.
Rival clubs want the NRL to punish Parramatta for ignoring a warning not to play fringe first-graders in NSW Cup matches at the weekend - a move that leaves the Eels facing the prospect of having just 16 eligible players for Magic Round.

The Project Apollo committee met on Monday night, and a final decision on whether Parramatta are granted exemptions will be made on Tuesday morning following consultation with NRL boss Andrew Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter Vlandys.

The NRL has been backed into a corner by the Eels, who were the only Sydney club to keep its fringe players in reserve grade despite the governing body refusing to guarantee they would be able to return to the biosecurity bubble in time for Magic Round.

At the centre of the issue is the NRLs bid to protect a financial windfall if Magic Round goes ahead in Brisbane this weekend and its reluctance to take any risks with a Queensland government renowned for its strict border measures.
John Bateman has leapt to the defence of his former teammates, taking aim at unnamed Canberra officials for undermining the players and urging the club to release homesick halfback George Williams from his deal.

Bateman finished up at the Raiders at the end of last season to return to Wigan in the Super League, but he remains close to many of the players in Canberra.

Bateman knows where the Raiders are on the ladder. He knows how many points outside the top eight they sit and who they are playing in the coming weeks, such is his passion for the club.

I feel for them, its sad to see, mate, Bateman told the Herald from the north of England. In any sport, if youre not winning, people start picking everything to pieces. When you lose games, people start arguing. Thats the nature of the beast. We know how Ricky can blow up and I suspect hes probably had a few blow-ups in the last few weeks because they havent got the wins.
The world's second most valuable crypto hit a record high of US$4,158 on Monday morning, giving it a market cap of just under US$474bn

Ethereum, the worlds second most valuable cryptocurrency, surpassed the US$4,000 milestone on Monday morning amid a flurry of fresh speculation over the rapidly expanding Decentralised Finance (DeFi) sector.

In late morning trading in London, Ethereum was up 5.3% over the last 24 hours at US$4,094, giving it a market cap of about US$474bn, after breaching the US$4,000 barrier in the early hours and hitting an all-time high of US$4,158 at 10am.

The recent surge means Ethereums value has shot up around 461% so far this year, compared to a 98% increase for Bitcoin, the oldest and most valuable crypto with a market cap of over US$1 trillion.

Ethereums fortunes have been boosted by increased interest in DeFi, mostly due to the fact that most apps in the sector use its blockchain technology as their foundations.

Another potential driver is Ethereums plan to shift to a proof of stake mechanism to verify transactions, a less energy-consuming and more scalable method than the proof of work system which involves crypto mining.

The subsequent demand for Ethereum has also placed a strain on the supply of the crypto, pushing the price up even further alongside other digital currencies deemed as Ethereum adjacent cryptos such as Ethereum Classic, which has risen by just over 2,000% this year.
Australias consumer and competition watchdog has applied to intervene in the legal showdown between Apple and Fortnite-maker Epic Games, in an attempt to reverse a previous judgement that the local case be suspended as the tech giants battled it out in American courts.

Epic brought legal action against Apple in Australia late last year, alleging its operation of the App Store and payment mechanisms on iPhone and other platforms was monopolistic and breached Australian law.

Epics case alleges Apples App Store gives it anti-competitive power. Credit:Bloomberg

Last month Apple successfully requested the issue be suspended in Australia as its business with Epic was in California, but Epic has appealed that decision and will appear in Federal Court in June. The ACCC has applied to speak not in favour of Apple or Epic, or as to whether Apple breached Australian law, but rather to argue the importance of the case going ahead in Australia.

Our view is that its in the public interest to have these sorts of cases heard in Australia, because then its an Australian court giving a view, and its therefore got future relevance to Australian cases, said ACCC chair Rod Sims.
Happis lab, along with the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) in South Africa, are Africas two main hubs of genomic sequencing. While they have been credited with discovering significant variants of concern in their respective countries, they are under-resourced and have only been able to sequence less than a tenth of the samples that labs in Britain and the United States have, despite being home to around three times as many people. A woman walks past a coronavirus-themed mural promoting the use of face mask in public to protects against COVID-19 in Vereeniging, South Africa. Credit:AP Most African countries dont have labs that can do genome sequencing, so ACEGID and KRISP field weekly batches of a few hundred samples from around their respective regions, some of which are spoiled by the time they arrive because of the difficulty of keeping them stable across multiple flights and various other handlers. What weve tried to do - although were doing lower volumes - is still sequence systematically so were able to understand whats happening in different parts of the continent, said Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases specialist and group leader at KRISP. Thats what basically allowed us to detect the 501Y.V2 variant before Christmas. The 501Y.V2 variant, which first emerged in South Africa, and the B.1.525 variant, which first emerged in Nigeria, are the most widespread variants on the continent, said Happi. They have both also been found in dozens of countries outside of Africa.

Without any major sequencing effort in other countries, it remains unknown whether the emergence of these two variants coincidentally happened in the countries with capable labs, or if there might be other variants circulating widely in countries that produce very few samples for testing. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Senegal, Uganda and Kenya, among others, have also done smaller batches of sequencing at national research institutes. On Wednesday, Uganda announced it would start taking samples from arriving passengers at its main international airport, a monitoring measure also taken by Angola since the beginning of the year. Among the samples Angola sent to KRISP was a variant found in three travellers from Tanzania that researchers described as the most mutated variant of the coronavirus found to date. Tanzanias government announced new containment measures this week, more than a month after the death of the countrys previous president, John Magufuli, who was an ardent denier of the pandemics severity as well as its presence in Tanzania.

The Angolans had a robust system for retesting people on arrival and isolating anyone if tested positive, Lessells said. Of course, you dont know at the time that people at the airport have tested positive that thats a new variant straight away. But the policy of testing and isolating at the border has the potential to limit the introduction of new variants. Since the pandemic began, African labs have sequenced fewer than 15,000 samples compared to hundreds of thousands in some Western countries. Loading Our goal is to make sure we generate 50,000 sequences by the end of the year so we can have a better picture of whats going on in the continent, said John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the continents main health body. Im hoping we can expand the capacity to more countries to do it locally. The variants thought to be currently most prevalent in Africa exhibit mutations on the E484K protein, which studies have suggested makes them able to partially escape antibodies created by existing vaccines.

That has led researchers like Happi and Lessells to feel less concerned about recent findings of a variant spreading widely in India, known as B.1.617, having been found in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and other African countries. Given what was known about B.1.617, said Lessells, it was unlikely it could take over dominance from the variants already present in much of Africa. Loading Above all, however, was a need for more sequencing resources, and a greater sense of urgency and vigilance. Last month, a spike in coronavirus cases in South Africas Northern Cape province set off alarm bells among local health officials after over 100 cases were reported overnight in a small cluster of towns. Through sequencing we could quickly show that it was still the 501Y.V2, Lessells said. But steady, regular surveillance depends on what resources you have. We can only do a small number because we dont have limitless capacity and money.
Jakarta: Indonesian authorities have arrested Papuan independence leader Victor Yeimo over accusations that he orchestrated some of the most serious civil unrest in decades that broke out in 2019, police said.

Tension has reignited in recent weeks in Indonesias easternmost provinces, with President Joko Widodo calling for a crackdown after a senior intelligence figure was shot dead late last month, and with an additional 400 troops deployed there.

Papuan activists scuffle with police and soldiers near the presidential palace in Jakarta, in 2019, following the unrest at Surabaya. Credit:AP

Yeimo, 38, who is the international spokesman of the West Papua National Committee, was arrested in the provincial capital of Jayapura on Sunday and is being questioned, said national police spokesman Iqbal Alqudusy on Monday.

Police accuse Yeimo of being the mastermind behind the civil unrest and of committing treason, as well as inciting violence and social unrest, insulting the national flag and anthem, and carrying weapons without a permit.
Jerusalem: Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site on Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations that threatened to push the contested city toward wider conflict.

More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islams holiest sites, as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the iconic golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets.

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalems Old City. Credit:AP

More than 305 Palestinians were hurt, including 228 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Seven of the injured were in serious condition. Police said 21 officers were hurt, including three who were hospitalised. Israeli paramedics said seven Israeli civilians were also hurt.

The confrontation was the latest after weeks of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional centre of their conflict. There have been almost nightly clashes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities.
A spokesman for McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Kinzingers tweet. A pro-Trump mob intent on stopping congressional certification affirmation of Joe Bidens presidential win stormed the Capitol that day, an attack that resulted in five deaths.

A few days before Jan 6, our GOP members had a conference call. I told Kevin that his words and our partys actions would lead to violence on January 6th, Kinzinger tweeted Monday morning. Kevin dismissively responded with ok Adam, operator next question. And we got violence.

Washington: Representative Adam Kinzinger, one of the earliest congressional Republican critics of former president Donald Trumps false information about the 2020 election , said he warned House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy a few days before the January 6 attack on the Capitol that adopting Trumps rhetoric would lead to violence.

Kinzingers broadside against the most prominent House Republican comes two days ahead of his partys expected purge of Representative Liz Cheney, from her leadership post over her continued criticism of Trumps falsehoods about the election.

The congressman from Illinois, one of 10 House Republicans who voted with Democrats to impeach Trump over his role in inciting the January 6 riot, also spoke virtually Monday at the National Press Club about the future of the Republican Party, and he continued to lash out at McCarthy.

Kinzinger said it was McCarthy who resurrected Trump at the end of January when the GOP leader went to Florida to visit the former president. The visit came after McCarthy had said Trump bears responsibility for the attack and raised the specter of censuring the former president.

So when it came to Kevin, you know, the only thing Liz [Cheney] did was be consistent. . . . It pains me to say this because I considered Kevin McCarthy a great friend, but two weeks after January 6, he goes down to Mar-a-Lago and it was almost like January 6 never happened.
~ Blackmail to fire locals unacceptable ~

PHILIPSBURG:---Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Sunday once again urged Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs to let Schiphol go and not accept the indignity of having her entire country bow down to an institution like Schiphol. The MP said if there was any time the PM would have his support on anything, this would be it. Do not bend your knee to another entity. Let the airport holding company lead the way and do their job.

The MP, who has been urging government for the last few months not to renew the cooperation agreement with Schiphol Airport, said that Schiphol has been strategically placed as the new bully to blackmail St. Maarten into getting what it wants. He said State Secretary Knops and BZK have remained purposely quiet, while allowing Schiphol to be the bully.

Schiphol is an airport, a lone foreign entity, blackmailing the government of a country. Here we have a lone foreign entity telling the Prime Minister of St. Maarten to fire the St. Maarteners on the airport holding company and out the other side of its mouth preach about good cooperate governance. The holding company of the airport is looking out for the best interest of St. Maarten and the airport. And for that a foreign entity, supported by Knops and BZK, is threatening the PM to pull out if they dont get what they want. I say let them go, Emmanuel said.

The MP said that Schiphols latest letter dated May 6 is an insult in a long line of insults towards St. Maarten and not acting is good faith. He explained that Schiphol is trying to re-negotiate the cooperation agreement fully with terms that are not advantageous to St. Maarten. Including, but not limited to, not wanting an ending date stipulated in the agreement. The airport holding company (PJIAH) proposes that the end of the agreement coincides with the termination of the airport terminal reconstruction project for which Schiphol is involved.

Why do they want to be involved after that date? So they want to be able to control St. Maartens most strategic asset forever and by extension give Holland a tighter grip over the country, Emmanuel said. He added that Schiphol, in re-negotiating a Cooperation Agreement, has designated many aspects of the agreement as non-negotiable, keeping right in line with Knops and his non-negotiable positions.

Here we have an entity with little to no progress on the island for the past two years, telling the country that things are non-negotiable? That alone should be enough grounds to cut them loose once and for all, Emmanuel said. The MP also reminded PJIAH not to allow Schiphol to burden the airport with exorbitant costs related to the Schiphol/BZK appointed Chief Financial Officer and other consultants/employees of Schiphol. Because of that and more, Schiphol is uncomfortable dealing with PJIAH and wants to see that board sidelined or changed.

Knops know full well that with the questions surrounding COHO and the three laws regulating reforms and income cuts being challenged by St. Maartens Ombudsman with the Constitutional Court, he cannot again blackmail St. Maarten after St. Maarten foolishly signed agreements and gave in to all of his demands, Emmanuel said. Instead, he holds back liquidity support and let Schiphol indirectly use it to try and get what it wants from St. Maarten, when the liquidity and the Schiphol agreement have nothing to do with each other, Emmanuel added.

The MP said the Prime Minister must by now realize the cartel-like structure she is up against with Knops, BZK, Schiphol and apparently the World Bank and EIB. The question is, he continued, what will she do about it? He also questioned what St. Maartens representative on the Trust Fund Steering Committee Marcel Gumbs is actually doing for St. Maarten as the World Bank is sitting back and letting Schiphol conduct re-negotiations of the Cooperation Agreement using the same heavy-handed methods as the Dutch government.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):---The Minister of Public Housing, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA) Omar Ottley has officially thanked Henk Veerdig for his contributions to the vaccination campaign over the last three months as the Vaccination Manager of Sint Maarten.

Henk Veerdig came to the island in February to head the Vaccination Management Team (VMT), based on his earlier experience with the Red Cross during the first wave of COVID-19 infections on Sint Maarten.

When his contract ended two weeks ago, Henk returned to the Netherlands after three very eventful months. Henk, unfortunately, had to decline the offer made by the Minister of VSA last week to extend his contract due to family circumstances back home.

Until a more structural solution has been sought, the function of Vaccination Manager will now be taken up collaboratively by VMT members: Eva Lista-de Weever, Fenna Arnell & Bregje Boetekees.

''We were sad to hear that Henk decided not to extend his contract, but we do understand his decision,'' says, Fenna Arnell, who speaks on behalf of the entire VMT.

''It was a pleasure working with Henk, and his effort was vital for the success of the vaccination campaign so far. We hope that during his next visit to Sint Maarten, he will have more time to enjoy the island instead of working 80 hours a week!''
PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on May 10, 2021.

The Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday at 10.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda points are:

1. Advice concerning appointment of 2nd Acting Secretary-General of Parliament

2. Draft Code of Conduct for the Parliament of Sint Maarten (IS/595/2020-2021 dated April 19, 2021, and IS/589/2020-2021 dated April 15, 2021)

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
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten--The National Detectives Agency (Landsrecherche) doesnt comply with the most essential preconditions (financial, material, and personnel resources) in order to properly function. The Law Enforcement Council (hereafter: the Council) has drawn this conclusion in its most recent inspection report about the Agency.

The Council concludes that the Agency is at this time unable to (independently) carry out its legal tasks (optimally). The basic conditions for this are lacking, the Council stated in its report which is published today. The Council concluded that, Despite the plans to build the Agency, there are still several serious bottlenecks 10 years after the establishment of Sint Maartens own National Detectives Agency.

Problematic functioning

The Council investigated in this inspection to what extent the National Detectives Agency is equipped to execute its tasks. According to the Council, the functioning of the Agency is problematic in all aspects. Policy, management, and supervision are lacking. The means of the LSM are inadequate to achieve the objectives, mainly due to the structural lack of budget. The independence of the Agency is also insufficiently secured.

The recommendations made by the Council and other organizations on these bottlenecks were not or were barely followed. Despite all of this, personnel keep doing their best for the Agency, but they also deserve a (safe) working place to properly carry out their tasks. The various plans for the establishment and further development of the LSM, the Organization Plan with the accompanying Implementation Plan, and the Improvement Program by the Public Prosecutors Office have not led to the desired result, namely a fully functioning agency. The legal framework of the National Detectives Agency is largely up to date, but there are bottlenecks where it concerns the legal position of personnel and there is still no formalized function book.

Concrete policy

The Minister of Justice has not formulated concrete policy about what is expected from the National Detectives Agency, with as a result a negative effect on, among other things, the execution of tasks and the collaboration with stakeholders. For the organization, this mostly means that there is insufficient supervision on performance and priorities, which ideally, should be defined as uniform as possible, by the Minister, the Attorney General, and the LSM together, and for which accountability can be given.

In recent years the Public Prosecutor's Office has sought to intensify its supervision of the investigations conducted by the National Detectives Agency using the National Detectives Agency Coordinating Committee (CCLR) along with the Instruction of tasks and deployment of the National Detectives Agency. The Council is nevertheless concerned. For a number of months, deliberations by the CCLR were not regularly conducted. Furthermore, the communication between the LSM and the Public Prosecutor's Office is not optimal, which affects ongoing investigations.

Integrity investigations

The Council finds that the LSM, in so far as it concerns conducting integrity investigations, has not yet gained it's desired standing within law enforcement. In this regard, the Council deems it appropriate that the Minister, as well as the Attorney General, devote (more) effort in supervising the National Detectives Agency. Various strategic platforms are in place for this purpose, including the Tripartite Meeting, the Management Consultation, and the Four Party Judicial Consultation (JVO).

There should be greater investment in critical resources such as a business process system and increasing the current knowledge and capacity through the education and recruitment of personnel. The National Detectives Agency is relatively highly dependent on the support and expertise of the Detective Cooperation Team (RST) and the Anti-Corruption Task Force (TBO). While this is currently necessary because of the LSMs lack of capacity and expertise, and cooperation is considered a good thing, the secondment of RST-personnel should not be a long-term solution, the Council stated.

The Council appreciates the attention the Agency, rightfully, dedicates to the subject of integrity. This attention is reflected in, among other things, the introduction of a code of conduct for employees and the identification of their secondary activities.

Insufficient means

The National Detectives Agency faces budgetary challenges. According to the Ministry of Justice, the financial situation of Country Sint Maarten is a given, resulting in the Agency's budget remaining virtually unchanged for the past several years. As such, the Agency has not been able to make the required investments in material and human resources, such as investing in the tools necessary for operations, including its vehicle fleet, and equipment and supplies for use in and around the building. Furthermore, the ability to qualitatively fill vacancies appears to be essential for the growth of the organization. For example, the position of the head of the agency is once again vacant, which has implications for the management of investigations. The aforementioned bottlenecks cause employees considerable frustration. In addition, employees experience difficulties due to the lack of a formalized legal status, for example with regard to their national decrees, promotions, and remuneration.

Cooperation

Cooperation with local chain partners such as the Sint Maarten Police Force (KPSM) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is considered good. Limited cooperation exists with government departments such as the Tax Inspectorate and the Civil Registry. The LSM would like to work towards closer cooperation with these departments and is eager to take steps to this end.

In this regard, the Council stated that: It has become apparent to the Council that the desirability and feasibility of intensifying the cooperation between the sister agencies within the Kingdom have long been under discussion at a ministerial level. However, without tangible results. Given the limited scale of the countries, the Council feels this is a miss. The Council concludes that all organizations understand the need for cooperation, but that they agree that they have nothing to offer each other as long as their own limitations remain unaddressed. In the opinion of the Council the bottlenecks, which are preventing more intensive cooperation between the organizations, need to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

Recommendations

The Councils inspection focused on the legal basis, the organizational structure, (personnel and material) resources, the cooperation with other agencies, and the results. The findings of the inspection led to 17 recommendations directed at the Minister of Justice of Sint Maarten. The core message of the Council is that it once again recommends the Minister to make structural work of the further development of the National Detectives Agency.

The Minister is requested to, among other things, provide regulation on the legal status for the Agency, formalize the LSM function book, provide staffing for the National Detectives Agency in accordance with the established staffing plan, adopt the earlier recommendation issued by the Council concerning an overall political-administrative policy with respect to the National Detectives Agency observing the proper performance of tasks and adequate infrastructure for effective management support, reserve sufficient means in the budget based on the Agencys needs, and to promote cooperation between the LSM and sister agencies.

With regard to the Office of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutors Office, the Minister is advised to, among other things, conduct an evaluation of the National Detectives Agency Improvement Plan, ensure that the National Detectives Agency is involved in all cases for which the Agency is legally authorized, and to ensure a strong(er) presence of the National Detectives Agency at designated platforms, e.g., the JVO.

The full report titled Inspection: Review of St. Maarten's National Detectives Agency in the English and Dutch language, and all other publications of the Council can be found on the website www.rechtshandhaving.com or http://rrh-sxm.org.
Karora Delivers Strong Start to Year with First Quarter 2021 Adjusted Earnings of $0.06 Per Share, Adjusted EBITDA of $0.15 Per Share as Operations Continue to Deliver in Line With 2021 Guidance and Phase I Mill Expansion Tracks Ahead of Schedule

Posted by Publisher Internet

Karora will host a call/webcast on May 7, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss the first quarter 2021 results. North American callers please dial:? 1-888-231-8191, international callers please dial: (+1) 647-427-7450. For the webcast of this event click [here] (replay access information below).

Karora Resources Inc. (TSX: KRR) (\Karora\ or the ?Corporation\  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/karora-resources-inc/) is pleased to announce its financial results and review of activities for the three months ended March 31, 2021. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. For additional information please refer to Karora\-\-s Management\-\-s Discussion & Analysis (\MD&A\) and unaudited condensed interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020.

Highlights

First quarter 2021 consolidated gold production of 24,694 ounces and gold sales of 25,547 ounces was precisely on track with budget, positioning the Company well to deliver 2021 guidance. Full year consolidated 2021 gold production guidance of 105,000 to 115,000 ounces is maintained (assumes no significant interruption in operations as a result of the COVID-19 virus).

First quarter 2021 consolidated all-in-sustaining-costs (?AISC?)1 of US$1,049 per oz. was in line with the full year 2021 guided range of US$985-$1,085 per ounce and sets the pace for continued strong cost performance during 2021.

Net earnings of $5.6 million or $0.04 per share for the first quarter of 2021 compared to $0.5 million in the first quarter of 2020. First quarter earnings were negatively impacted by a non-cash unrealized foreign exchange loss of $4.5 million (or $0.03 per share).

Adjusted earnings1 of $8.1 million or $0.06 per share for the first quarter of 2021.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization (?EBITDA?)1 was $21.2 million or $0.15 per share for the first quarter of 2021, a $1.8 million increase compared to $19.4 million for the first quarter of 2020.

Cash flow from operating activities of $18.7 million or $0.13 per share, a 53% increase compared to $12.2 million for the first quarter of 2020.

Cash Position and Balance Sheet: Karora ended the first quarter of 2021 with a strong cash position of $76.7 million, and working capital of $63.2 million, slightly lower by $3.0 million and slightly higher by $6.4 million respectively from December 31, 2020. The cash position decrease was due to timing of planned investment into Karora\-\-s assets as part of 2021\-\-s capital program as well as a scheduled US$2.5 million cash payment to Maverix Metals as part of the Beta Hunt royalty buy back agreement announced in 2020.

Phase I mill expansion to increase capacity by 15%, or 550 tonnes per day, to 1.6 million tonnes per annum is proceeding ahead of schedule having already achieved an annualized production rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (up from the prior capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per annum).

At Beta Hunt?s Larkin Zone, drilling intersected 19.0 g/t gold over 9.0 metres, including 542 g/t over 0.3 metres in hole EL-EA2-023E with visible gold mineralization observed in the drill core. The Larkin Zone discovery was announced in September 2020.

Second new high grade nickel discovery at Beta Hunt in the last six months, known as the ?Gamma Zone  50C?, where 1.6% nickel over 4.6 metres, including 18.4% nickel over 2.2 metres was intersected in hole G50-22-005E. The drilling, which was targeting nickel, also intersected gold mineralization above and below the 50C trough and suggests the Beta Hunt gold mineralized system extends for over 3.5 kilometres of strike from the northern end of the A Zone.

At the Lake Cowan prospect, air core drilling on the dry salt lake returned an interval of 1.35 g/t gold over 50 metres, including 3.64 g/t over 16 metres from hole HIGA8864, an excellent result from first pass drilling in this underexplored area.

At the Spargos Reward Gold Project, continued strong drilling results were announced, including 6.1 g/t over 14.0 metres in hole SPDD0003, which confirmed the interpreted high grade gold plunging shoot thesis by extending the shoot to over 300 metres down-plunge (remains open down-plunge).

Paul Andre Huet, Chairman & CEO, commented: ?I am pleased with Karora?s first quarter performance, which places us on a very strong footing to achieve our full year 2021 gold production guidance of between 105,000 and 115,000 ounces and AISC1 of US$985-$1,085 per ounce sold. First quarter gold production of just under 25,000 ounces was right on budget as we prepared new higher grade mining areas at Higginsville Central. Over the course of 2021, as we have previously stated, we expect quarterly grade improvements resulting from Spargos and Two Boys to drive increased production towards the second half of the year.

After recently visiting site upon my relocation to Australia, I am extremely happy to announce that our Phase I mill expansion is proceeding well ahead of schedule. We have already achieved an annualized production rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum. Once completed, as previously announced, the Phase I expansion will increase production capacity at our Higginsville mill in 2021 by approximately 15%, or 550 tonnes per day, to 1.6 million tonnes per annum from the prior capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per annum.

Karora delivered a solid financial performance in the first quarter of 2021 with adjusted EBITDA of $21 million or $0.15 per share, operating cash flow of $19 million or $0.13 per share and consolidated AISC1 of US$1,049 per ounce sold. Net earnings of $5.6 million or $0.04 per share were negatively impacted by an unrealized non-cash foreign exchange loss of $4.5 million or $0.03 per share, primarily related to intercompany loans due to quarter over quarter currency fluctuations. We reiterate that these are unrealized intercompany loans as we do not transfer cash out of the Australian business unit. Adjusted for these fluctuations, earnings were $8.1 million or $0.06 per share. On the cost front, despite planned lower grades during the first quarter, we recorded yet another strong three month period of disciplined cost control with AISC of US$1,049 per ounce well within our 2021 guidance range.

With Karora?s strong cash balance of $76.7 million at the end of the first quarter, and much of the ground work to bring on higher grade mining areas over the balance of 2021 completed, we are in a very strong position to deliver on our 2021 organic growth commitments. In this regard, I am looking forward to delivering our multi-year growth profile to the market later in the second quarter.\

Non-IFRS: the definition and reconciliation of these measures are included in the Non-IFRS Measures section 17 of Karora?s MD&A dated May 7, 2021.

COVID-19 Protocols

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Karora?s protocols and contingency plans have mitigated impacts of the pandemic. Karora?s operations continued at expected levels, consistent with the Corporation?s full year 2021 guidance for the first quarter of 2021. Karora?s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prioritize the safety of its workforce and host communities while mitigating potential operational impacts.

Consolidated Operations

For the first quarter of 2021, Karora?s gold operations milled 371,000 of material at an average grade of 2.16 g/t to produce 24,694 ounces of gold, the Corporation?s seventh consecutive quarter of consistent production of approximately 25,000 gold ounces since the acquisition of the Higginsville Mill in mid-2019. Cash operating costs for the first quarter were US$952 per ounce.

The mill feed was made up of approximately 63% material from Beta Hunt underground and 37% material from Higginsville Central open pit compared to an average 55% from Beta Hunt and 45% from HGO in 2020. The increased weighting of Beta Hunt material was due primarily to increased productivity at Beta Hunt and a lower contribution from Higginsville Central as part of the planned ongoing transition to higher grade mining areas throughout 2021.

Beta Hunt

Production for the first quarter of 2021 was 219,000 tonnes mined, a 33% increase over the first quarter of 2020, and 233,000 tonnes milled, a 25% increase over the first quarter of 2020. Gold production was 18,261 ounces and cash operating costs of US$899 per ounce sold.

The increased production is a direct reflection of improved mining techniques and a staged fleet replacement and upgrade program, including the addition of a CAT R2900 underground loader and two CAT AD60 trucks into the mining fleet. Two additional CAT R2900 underground loaders and two CAT AD60 trucks are planned for 2021 which are required as part of the continued production ramp up in 2021. The first of these two new trucks recently hauled its first load of ore at Beta Hunt in May.

Nickel production is currently limited to remnant nickel resources south of the Alpha Fault; however, recent drilling has identified a number of new areas including the high grade 30C Nickel Trough discovery where production can potentially be increased.

Furthermore, on April 6, 2021 Karora announced the second new high grade nickel discovery at Beta Hunt in the last six months, known as the ?Gamma Zone  50C?, where 11.6% nickel over 4.6 metres, including 18.4% nickel over 2.2 metres was intersected in hole G50-22-005E. The drilling, which was targeting nickel, also intersected gold mineralization above and below the 50C trough and suggests the Beta Hunt gold mineralized system extends for over 3.5 kilometres of strike from the northern end of the A Zone.

Higginsville (?HGO?) Central

During the first quarter, 138,000 of HGO material was milled at an average grade of 1.57 g/t to produce 6,433 ounces of gold and cash operating costs of US$1,100 per ounce sold.

In the first quarter of 2021 mine production from Hidden Secret totaled 141,078 tonnes and metallurgical recoveries were aligned with expectations at 92-93%. At Mousehollow, grade control work commenced during the quarter which will provide valuable additional operational flexibility for mill feed optimization.

With Higginsville Central mining primarily focused at Hidden Secret, minimal production occurred during the first quarter of 2021 at Baloo. Mine production from Baloo totaled 21,355 tonnes for the quarter. A re-optimization of the pit was completed with additional mineralization identified in the northern portion of the pit which has driven the development of a new ramp from the south to allow additional open pit material to be mined from the North eastern corner. Karora continues to evaluate the underground potential at Baloo.

At Two Boys dewatering and exploratory work was significantly advanced during the first quarter of 2021. Mining is on track to commence as planned in the second quarter of 2021.

Karora continues to target the development of a starter pit at the high-grade Aquarius deposit, located less than two kilometres from the HGO treatment plant. As previously reported, near surface drilling identified a number of high grade supergene gold intersections, including 43.5 g/t over 3.0 metres and 5.7 g/t over 6.0 metres (see Karora news release dated November 9, 2020). A starter pit will be developed to access the higher grade underground gold mineralization. Development of the Aquarius starter pit could commence as early as mid 2021.

The existing Aquarius historical resource1,2 is 20 kt @ 19.5 g/t (Measured and indicated) and 43 kt @ 4.2g/t (Inferred) will be updated as part of the Corporation?s 2021 resource report.

? Karora Resources profile at www.sedar.com technical report, February 6th, 2020.

? Westgold 2018 Annual Update of Mineral Resources & Ore Reserves dated October 2, 2018 and is available to view on the ASX (www.asx.com.au).

A qualified person has not done sufficient work on behalf of Karora to classify the historical estimate noted as current mineral resources and Karora is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources.

Spargos Reward Gold Project

The first stage of a reverse circulation (?RC?) drilling program designed to test the offset southerly strike extension of the main Spargos Reward zone was completed in the first quarter. This program was part of HGO?s larger resource definition program with the aim of improving the confidence of the Spargos Reward main zone ahead of mining activities schedule to begin by mid-year. An updated gold Mineral Resource statement is expected later in the second quarter of 2021.

Results from the RC drilling program were reported in Karora news release dated March 1, 2021. The intersection of 6.1 g/t over 14.0 metres in diamond drill hole SPDD003 supports the interpretation of high grade gold mineralization extending over a down-plunge distance of over 300 metres. The down-plunge extension of this shoot remains open at depth and highlights the underground growth opportunity remaining to be tested.

Cash Operating Costs and AISC1

For the first quarter, consolidated cash operating costs1 and AISC1 were US$952 and US$1,049 per ounce sold, respectively (reductions of 1% and 5% compared to the first quarter of 2020). The first quarter cost performance is within full year 2021 AISC guidance range of US$985-$1,085 per ounce.

Outlook

Karora is maintaining its previously announced full year consolidated 2021 production guidance of between 105,000  115,000 ounces of gold at an AISC range of US$985 to US$1,085 per ounce. The high-end of 2021 production guidance represents a 21% increase over the high-end of 2020 guidance (19% mid-point to mid-point). The mid-point of 2021 AISC cost guidance represents an 8% reduction when compared to the mid-point of 2020 guidance. The reduced AISC guidance reflects Karora\-\-s continued focus on cost reduction initiatives following a very successful year of reducing AISC during 2020.

The above guidance assumes no significant disruption in operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploration

Karora has identified multiple high priority exploration targets for 2021 as part of its significantly expanded A$20 million exploration budget across its +1,900 km2 land package. The increase in the drilling and exploration budget was driven by Karora\-\-s strong success in 2020 in increasing consolidated Reserves and Resources. Exploration is separated into brown fields drilling which is predominantly aimed at upgrading and extending existing Mineral Resources and greenfields exploration, which is targeting new +250k oz discoveries.

At Beta Hunt, 7,837 metres of exploration drilling during the first quarter continued to focus on upgrading and extending the northern, up-plunge margin of the A Zone Mineral Resource and the recently discovered Larkin Gold Zone. Drill results from both these areas are planned to be incorporated in the upcoming Beta Hunt Mineral Resource update expected in later in 2021.

At Beta Hunt?s Larkin Zone, drilling intersected 19.0 g/t gold over 9.0 metres, including 542 g/t over 0.3 metres in hole EL-EA2-023E with visible gold mineralization observed in the drill core (see Karora news release dated February 1, 2021). The results support the potential of this mineralization as a third gold resource area in addition to the A Zone and Western Flanks Mineral Resource. The Larkin Zone discovery was initially announced in September 2020.

The second new high grade nickel discovery at Beta Hunt at Beta in the last six months, known as the ?Gamma Zone  50C?, was announced on April 6, 2021. Drill hole G50-22-005E intersected 1.6% nickel over 4.6 metres, including 18.4% nickel over 2.2 metres. These results are 140 metres from existing mine development and reinforce the potential for a repeat of the Beta style mineralization south of the Gamma Island Fault, potentially representing a significant growth opportunity for by-product nickel production at Beta Hunt. Current Beta Hunt Measured and Indicated Resources total 561 kt @ 2.9% Ni for 16,100 contained nickel tonnes (see Karora\-\-s Technical Report dated February 1, 2021 available under Karora\-\-s profile on Sedar.com).

The drilling in Beta Hunt?s 50C discovery area, which was targeting nickel, also intersected gold mineralization above and below the 50C trough and suggests the Beta Hunt gold mineralized system extends for over 3.5 kilometres of strike from the northern end of the A Zone. Significant gold intersections included 2.7g/t over 12.0 meters, including 10.1g/t over 1.4 metres in hole G50-22-002E and 5.2 g/t over 3.2 metres in hole G50-22-005E.

At Higginsville, exploration efforts are focused on completing the scout lake aircore drilling program over the Lake Cowan dry salt lake area. Following the receipt of assays from this initial drilling program, Karora intends to prioritize targets generated with reverse circulation and diamond drill programs to further test geochemical anomalies and aircore results. The program is designed to test for anomalous gold (+0.02g/t), however Karora has already successfully identified several strong targets which exceeded expectations, including 3.65 g/t gold over 16 metres within an intersection of 1.35 g/t over 50 metres (see Karora news release, February 8, 2021).

Additional advanced targets for exploration during 2021 include the Spargos Project area, Mt Henry and the Sleuth trend which incorporates the Baloo deposit and the Nanook and Monsoon prospects. 2021 Resource Definition drilling will initially focus on testing targets within Higginsville Central, which includes the Aquarius, Two Boys and Trident deposits. In addition, further drilling is planned at Spargos to build upon the results from the Stage 1 drill program.

Financial Highlights

Revenue for the first quarter of 2021, was $59.3 million. During the comparable period in 2020, revenue of $54.3 million. The increase in revenue in 2021 was the result of a combination of higher gold ounces sold and higher realized prices which increased by 4% and 18%, respectively.

Net earnings for the first quarter of 2021 were $5.6 million (or $0.04 per share) compared to net earnings of $0.5 million (or $0.00 per share) for the comparable period in 2020. First quarter net earnings were negatively impacted by a non-cash (unrealized) foreign exchange loss of $4.5 million (or $0.03 per share).

Adjusted EBITDA1 for the first quarter of 2021 were $21.2 million (or $0.15 per share) compared to $19.4 million (or $0.14 per share) in the first quarter of 2021.

Karora?s cash position remained strong at $76.7 million as at March 31, 2021. Karora had a working capital surplus of $63.2 million as of March 31, 2021.

For a complete discussion of financial results, refer to Karora\-\-s MD&A and unaudited condensed interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020.

Compliance Statement (JORC 2012 and NI 43-101)

The disclosure of scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by?Stephen Devlin, FAusIMM, Group Geologist, Karora Resources Inc., a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101.

About Karora Resources

Karora is focused on growing gold production and reducing costs at its integrated Beta Hunt Gold Mine and Higginsville Gold Operations (\HGO\) in Western Australia. The Higginsville treatment facility is a low-cost 1.4 Mtpa processing plant which is fed at capacity from Karora\-\-s underground Beta Hunt mine and open pit Higginsville mine. At Beta Hunt, a robust gold Mineral Resource and Reserve is hosted in multiple gold shears, with gold intersections along a 4 km strike length remaining open in multiple directions. HGO has a substantial gold Mineral Resource and Reserve and prospective land package totaling approximately 1,900 square kilometers. The Company also owns the high grade Spargos Reward project which is anticipated to begin mining in 2021. Karora has a strong Board and management team focused on delivering shareholder value. Karora\-\-s common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol KRR. Karora shares also trade on the OTCQX market under the symbol KRRGF.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains \forward-looking information\ including without limitation statements relating to the liquidity and capital resources of Karora, production guidance and the potential of the Beta Hunt Mine, Higginsville Gold Operation, the Aquarius Project and the Spargos Gold Project, the commencement of mining at the Spargos Gold Project and the completion of the resource estimate.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Karora to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; results of exploration programs; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, projected cash operating costs, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Karora \-\-s filings with Canadian securities regulators, including the most recent Annual Information Form, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although Karora has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Karora disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
PLC ( ) David Hampstead talks to Proactive London about their new investment deal with S.F. Holding, a leading Chinese delivery group with a market cap of around 32bn.

United Win Asia is a subsidiary of S.F. Holding Co Ltd and Hampstead believes this will combine well with their own Nomad technology platform.

He says they are well known for their 'speed and reliability' as well as 'a very trusted brand in China'.

Hampstead also discusses their decision to snap up mother and baby nutritional product brands Zita West Products and Babawest.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Two of the most powerful Native American tribes in Oklahoma said Monday they've reached an agreement on federal legislation that would address concerns over criminal jurisdiction in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The leaders of the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations said the bill expected to be introduced in Congress Tuesday by Rep. Tom Cole would authorize the two tribes to reach a compact with the state over criminal jurisdiction. Cole's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation, with a spokeswoman saying Cole planned to release a statement on Tuesday.

Dubbed the McGirt decision, the July ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the reservation of the Muscogee Nation was never disestablished by Congress and that Oklahoma prosecutors lack jurisdiction over crimes within the historic reservation boundaries in which defendants or victims are tribal citizens.

The decision has since been expanded by state appellate courts to include the tribal reservations of all of the Five Tribes, known historically as the Five Civilized Tribes, which cover nearly the entire eastern half of Oklahoma. As a result, hundreds of criminal convictions, including several death sentences for first-degree murder, have been vacated and tribal and federal officials have been scrambling to refile those cases in tribal or U.S. district court.

We support federal legislation that is based on the core principle of self-determination, clearing the way for us to work with the state as we navigate the best path forward," Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatuby said in a statement. We look forward to working with our delegation to secure the passage of such legislation."

The proposed legislation would not diminish either tribe's authority or treaty rights, but would give the two tribes the express authority to negotiate a separate agreement, or compact, with the state over criminal jurisdiction. Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill said one area a compact could address is authorizing state criminal jurisdiction in cases involving non-Native American defendants committing crimes against Native Americans.

Alex Gerszewski, a spokesman for Oklahoma's attorney general, Mike Hunter, said his office supports the concept of allowing compacts with the state to address jurisdictional concerns.

Like every piece of legislation, our support depends on the language and whether or not it fixes current problems without creating new ones," Gerszewski said.

Gov. Kevin Stitt's office did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed legislation, and it wasn't clear how willing he would be to engage in negotiations with the tribes. Despite his own Cherokee Nation citizenship, the governor's relationship with many of the Oklahoma-based tribes became strained after a drawn-out legal battle with them over casino gambling.

I can always be optimistic," Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin said Monday. I think Ive got plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about Gov. Stitts approach to tribes in Oklahoma, but I take Gov. Stitt at his word when he says hes concerned about making sure the public is protected and that victims are protected and that justice is served. Those are interests that I have as the chief of the Cherokee Nation."

Three of the other Five Tribes  the Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole nations  have not indicated that they would be willing to negotiate a compact over criminal jurisdiction. When the idea was discussed last fall after the McGirt decision, some tribal leaders voiced concerns about the possibility that such compacts might degrade tribal sovereignty.
Aviva and Standard Life Aberdeen have voted to block the proposal ahead of Tuesdays AGM

PLC ( ) is facing investor backlash after proposing to boost the performance-related bonus to its chief executive by 2.3mln.

If it goes ahead, Pascal Soriot would pocket awards of 12mln or more if the share price rises, with a total salary well over the 15.4mln he received last year.

( ) and ( ) have voted to block the proposal ahead of Tuesdays AGM, the Daily Mail reported.

They reportedly fear the pay raise would tarnish the pharma giants reputation after vowing to deliver COVID-19 vaccines not for a profit during the pandemic.

Shareholder advisory groups ISS, Glass Lewis and Pirc have also recommended to vote against it.

Other funds, instead, told the paper they will vote in favour, which it setting up the stage for controversy.

Over half of the shareholders will have to veto the pay hike for AstraZeneca to reconsider its policy.

If the board feels there is a real risk of losing Pascal...and so they've got to up the ante, then I'm prepared to trust the board, Richard Buxton at Jupiter Asset Management told the Mail.

Pascal is so central to the future success of this company that to risk losing him...would be shooting my clients in the foot, because I think the shares would fall 15 to 20%.

This pride is now tarnished, however, by proposals to once again escalate executive pay to heights rarely seen in the UK, said EdenTree, adding it will vigorously oppose the plans.

Shares in the firm were flat at 7,698p on Monday at midday.
T he pandemic has seen the whole country unite in the fight against Covid-19. With vaccine rates increasing rapidly and restrictions steadily lifting, it is clear that the hard work will continue to pay off  if people carry on protecting themselves and others.

Whether you have received your vaccine or not, it is imperative that as well as observing guidelines around Hands Face Space and Fresh Air, people take two rapid Covid-19 tests each week. Since they were made available in October last year, 58 million have been taken and hundreds of thousands of cases identified, showing their key role in decreasing infection rates in recent months.

Combined with the ongoing vaccine rollout and current guidelines, regular rapid testing is an essential part of the UKs mission to break the chain of transmission. Heres everything you need to know about the importance of introducing this bi-weekly habit to your regular routine.

What is rapid testing?

/ UK Government

Rapid testing involves the use of lateral flow tests, which employ a technology that can quickly identify the presence of Covid-19 antigens/proteins.

UK Government

The test kits are comprised of a handheld device with an absorbent pad at one end and a reading window at the other; a strip of test paper that changes colour when Covid-19 antigens/proteins are present; a swab, to take a sample from the nose and throat; and a solution, which is mixed with the sample and then applied to the test strip to produce a result. The results take up to 30 minutes, and tests do not need to be sent to a lab.

Who needs to take a test?

Everybody over the age of 18 who doesnt have Covid-19 symptoms should be taking a rapid test twice a week. Because around one in three people with Covid dont show the symptoms but are still infectious, it is necessary to test everyone regularly to identify cases with no symptoms and prevent further spread. Taking a test every three to four days reduces the chance of the test missing the period of infection.

How do I get a test?

There are a variety of ways to obtain rapid Covid-19 tests. A free pack of seven tests can be ordered online to be sent to your home at NHS.uk/Get-Tested.

Alternatively, you can find a participating local pharmacy or test site to collect two packs of seven tests. It is also possible to get tested at a test site  but you may need to make an appointment. Some employers and universities are also supplying lateral flow tests to their staff and students. If you test at home, you must report your results online or by phone, even if they are negative or void to help track of the spread of the virus.

Why is rapid testing so important?

Getty Images/Westend61

Rapid testing  alongside the vaccine rollout and social distancing guidelines  is key to reducing infection and transmission, helping the country to keep moving.

Rapid testing is effective at detecting people who are infectious and helping us find Covid-19 cases that we otherwise would not know about, helping us stop the spread of the virus, GP Dr Amir Khan explains. Testing regularly, even when you do not have symptoms, means we can keep infection levels low and our country safe.

When done correctly, the tests are at least 99.9% specific, which means that the risk of false positives is extremely low  less than one in a thousand.

In short, its a simple and effective way for everybody to do their bit in stopping the spread of the virus.

If you have no symptoms, get your free, rapid Covid-19 tests at at NHS.uk/Get-Tested or call 119.

I was so shocked. Apart from a sore throat I felt fine

Kim Tobin

Kim Tobin, 54, lives in Southend, Essex. She works in a supermarket and lives with her daughter Eva, 23, and husband Phil, 55. Tobin took a rapid Covid-19 test before her first supermarket shift of 2021. At the time of the test her son Jack, 21, was also living at home.

I thought Ill go and have a test before I start. I had a very, very mild, sore throat, just a little scratch and that was it. I didnt even think anything of it, she says.

After waiting 20 minutes, Tobin was told she had tested positive.

I was so shocked, I just couldnt believe it, because, apart from that very, very slight sore throat  and Id been for a run the day before so it wasnt that bad  I felt fine.

Tobin concedes that she was lucky not to have had worse symptoms: For a couple of days I didnt feel too bad. I think I might have had some sniffles after a couple of days, but still nothing where I wouldnt have normally gone to work. It was about four or five days after Id had the rapid test that I lost my sense of taste and smell, and that lasted for a few days, and I just felt a bit tired, nothing more than that really.

The family isolated and took the test. Phil and Jack were negative, Eva tested positive. Shes really struggled with her breathing and her lungs feeling really heavy, says Tobin.

Her daughter is a lot better now, but Tobin is adamant that people should get into the habit of taking tests.

Theres a lot of people who could have it and not show the symptoms and if you dont know, if youre not feeling any of those symptoms, you would probably assume that you havent got it, she says. The person who I got it from, I dont even know who that was, but if they didnt know they had it, they could have passed it onto me, and I could have been really, really ill.
T he end of Ramadan - the Muslim holy month of fasting - is almost here, which means Eid is on the horizon.

The UKs muslim community will have observed two Ramadans under some sort of Covid restrictions by now, but with the pandemic in our rear-view and summer coming up, theres more cause than ever to celebrate.

While you may be planning a major feast with your household and select friends and family outdoors, its also a chance to send gifts to the ones you hold dear.

To that end, weve put together an edit of the nicest presents around right now. While money is traditional for children, weve added some thoughtful options to really spoil the ones you love, especially if you havent seen them in a while.

From new fragrances to luxury confectionery, theres something for everyone in our Eid gift list.

See our favourites below

Eid gifts for children

Mimi & Lula Star headband 3-10 years

Get your little ones looking their finest on Eid with this sparkly star-studded headband. The slip on headband should fit kids aged between three and 10.

Mimi & Lula

Fujifilm Instax Mini 40 Instant Camera - Black and Silver

Kids of a certain age may look at this gadget in wonder - after all, nearly all pictures are taken (and remain) on phones these days. Remind them of the joys of a proper snap with Fujifilms new analog instant camera which boasts a classic design and key features such as automatic exposure and selfie mode. Once they take their hot shot, it takes just 90 seconds for the image to develop.

Fujifilm

Personalised Eid Mubarak Babygrow

Babys first Eid is a landmark occasion. Make sure your little one is suitably attired in a bespoke babygrow printed with their name. It comes in a presentation box thats perfect for gifting.

NOTHS

Eid gifts for women

Huda Beauty Kayali Sweet Diamond Pink Pepper Eau de Parfum 50ml

Huda has released a brand new fragrance in the Kayali line, and its perfect for anyone who wants to change up their fragrance wardrobe this spring. The gourmand floral EDP is sweet, spicy and sparkling with notes of pink pepper, bergamot, saffron, Bulgarian rose and sandalwood and sticks around pleasantly for hours. Stunning bottle too.

Huda Beauty

Zimmerman Brighton paisley-print ramie blouse

After a year wearing loungewear, what better way to celebrate Eid than with a new top made to be seen? The high neck and balloon 3/4 sleeves give it a look of refined elegance, whether youre pairing it with jeans or a long skirt.

Zimmerman

SLIP Pure Silk Queen Pillowcase - Dusk

Sleep like a Queen on Slips luxurious silk pillowcase, which reduces friction on your hair so you wake up frizz and static-free. It also helps with the absorption of your night-time beauty products.

Slip

Rituals The Ritual of Ayurveda Scented Candle

A party is more about the food and decor; calming fragrance can really help set the scene. Rituals' Ayurveda candle features Indian rose and sweet almond oil, offering a luxurious scent that will fill the whole home. Best of all, the 290g candle last 50 hours, so will see them well through the celebrations to use in the future.

Rituals

Eid gifts for men

Tom Ford Oud Wood Eau de Parfum Spray

Deep and rich oud scents make the perfect gift for the man who appreciates the finer things in life, and this fragrance from Tom Ford is amongst the most luxurious. The 100ml volume is perfect for taking on trips away once we get the green light.

Tom Ford

John Lewis & Partners Kainoosh Hammered Stainless Steel Balti Serving Dishes

Upgrade their Eid feast with a set of serving dishes made with hammered steel and a gold-coloured finish. The set of two come with a pair of handles each, which make passing them around the table easy. If your recipient loves hosting, this pair of dishes will make a welcome addition to their tableware collection.

John Lewis

Galaxy Z Fold2 5G

Samsungs new phone is the next step in mobile tech, transforming from handset to tablet with one quick twist. If theyve been dropping heavy hints for a new phone this Eid, the Fold2 is one of coolest and highest specs around. See all buying options on the link below.

Samsung

Personalised Eid Mubarak Sundial Compass

A beautifully elegant keepsake perfect for fathers, grandads and uncles, this personalised Eid Mubarak sundial and compass can be engraved with a special message. Its fully operational too, making it of much more use than simply admiring it on a shelf.

NOTHS

Eid gifts for the whole family

John Lewis & Partners Eid Celebration Hamper

A basketful of sweet treats, drinks and nibbles is the perfect gift to send to a household to share, whether that's good friends or family you haven't seen in a long while. John Lewis's hamper comes packed with special occasion confections like Turkish Delight, a salted caramel chocolate cake, flavoured teas and coffees, luxury rose honey and traditional Medjool dates. A real treat.

John Lewis

Personalised Eid Mubarak Sweet Treat Hamper

This hamper is full of beautifully decorated cookies with a heavy Arab influence. The biscuits include vanilla sugar cookies, a cake slice and coated Oreos. Whether you buy to share with your household or send to family far away, they make the perfect Eid offering.

NOTHS

Natalie Eid Mubarak Nut Selection, 320g

Sweets are a sure-fire win for any occasion, but this Eid box will be a hit with any nut-lover. The specially decorated box houses an assortment of Belgian chocolate-coated Brazil nuts and uncoated premium cashew and almonds. Finished with a navy ribbon, it's an ideal gift to drop off to friends and family on May 12.

Natalie

Biscuiteers Eid biscuit tin

Enjoy a sweet treat in the form of Biscuiteers beautifully iced biscuits. The company has created a new collection for anyone celebrating Eid, with nine themed treats to enjoy in a special limited edition tin.

Biscuiteers

Maison Samadi Crescent Ramadan & Eid Chocolate & Truffles Box

A sweet treat to share with your household, Maison Samadis Crescent Chocolate & Truffles Box is packed with heavenly salted caramel truffles and hazelnut chocolates. A special box for a special occasion.

Maison Samadi

Save The Date Luxury Candied Dates

A traditional sweet for Eid, these dates are flavoured with pistachio, salted caramel and coconut note, finished with a dainty edible rose on top. The box of six is a lovely token to send friends and family celebrating across the country this Eid.

NOTHS

Blondies Kitchens Eid Mubarak hamper

To celebrate the big occasion, Blondies Kitchens has curated an Eid Mubarak Hamper, which includes a Nutella Stuffed seven-inch cookie, six NYC Thic cookies, and three of their Ready-to-Bake Cookie Dough Rolls. Whether you're self-treating or looking for something delicious to send relatives, this box of sweets will hit the right note.
's ( ) Tim Livesey catches up with Proactive London after starting their regional mapping and stream sediment sampling programme at the Central Licence project in Cameroon.

Livesey explains their controlling position in Reservoir Minerals Cameroon Sarl, for its early-stage exploration licences in Cameroon.

He goes on to cover its Senala project in Senegal as well as their interest in Thani Stratex Djibouti Limited.


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Hazleton, PA (18201)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 81F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Low 54F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Another 15 containers loaded with waste from Germany have been halted in the Black Sea's largest Romanian port, Constanta, the Coast Guard informed on Monday.

"Continuing the investigations in the case of 07.05.2021, the border guards from the Coast Guard, in cooperation with workers from the Constanta Environmental Guard, of the Constanta South Border Customs Office and together with a representative of the FRONTEX Agency, have carried out the physical control over another 15 containers located in the Port of Constanta Sud Agigea, loaded with waste from Germany," a release from the Coast Guard sent to AGERPRES reads.

According to the source, following the investigations in the case of 7 May, another 15 containers arrived from Germany were identified on Monday, for the same company from southeastern Prahova county that carries out import activities in Romania.Following the verifications, it was established that the data declared and contained in the documents submitted to the customs authority did not correspond, the goods consisting of waste, mixture of metal and paper, textiles, rubber, wood, batteries and pieces of asbestos, in an amount of approximately 300 tons, which cannot be put into free circulation on the Romanian territory.Hence, in this case, too, the measure was taken not to allow the import on the Romanian territory by the commissioners of the Constanta Environmental Guard.In this case, the border police officers continue the investigations, under the coordination of the prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Constanta Court of Appeal invested in the case, in terms of committing crimes of using non-real documents and non-compliance with the waste regime, and the goods will be returned to the sender.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday at the opening of the B9 Summit in Bucharest that the event takes place during the Defender Europe military exercise, noting that this is a symbol of "NATO's real power".

We meet right amid the military application called Defender Europe, which takes place in Romania. The maneuvers involve a total of nearly 28,000 soldiers from 26 states. I am very proud to say that a few hours ago the Polish paratroopers made a landing together with the American soldiers, as part of this military application. It is a true symbol not only of the solidarity of our alliance, but also of the real power of NATO, the Polish president said, according to the official translation.

He also spoke about Romania's role in organizing the summit in Bucharest."Special thanks to President Klaus Iohannis for organizing this meeting. We co-initiated and are hosting this summit together, however, the main credit goes to Romania for organizing this summit," Duda said.President Klaus Iohannis is hosting on Monday the Bucharest Format Summit (B9) alongside his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. In addition to the two presidents and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, also addressing the summit online will be US President Joe Biden, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Czech President Milos Zeman, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Hungarian President Janos Ader, Latvian President Egils Levits, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, and Slovak President Zuzana Caputova.The visit of the Polish President to Bucharest at the invitation of President Klaus Iohannis takes place in the context of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Republic of Poland, signed on 3 March, 1921, a symbolic moment of bilateral relations.On Tuesday, the two presidents will participate in the Distinguished Visitors Day of the military exercise Justice Sword 21, which takes place at the Smardan Shooting Range and in which Poland participates with the forces and technical means deployed in our country within the Adapted Presence on the allied Eastern Flank, from the structures of the NATO Multinational Brigade based in southern Craiova.
's (BBER) chief executive Tony Mason explains to Proactive London's Katie Pilbeam why they utilise the use of digital technologies such as electronic tools, systems, devices and resources that generate, store and process data.

Mason says 'you're able to react in real time to a real situation, whether that be an oil spill, a carbon monoxide leak or even hydrogen sulfide - which is lethal.'

It is currently used by larger and larger mid-sized oil and gas players like BP, Shell, Chevron, and Anadarko.
President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that the Black Sea security situation is worrying, which is why NATO must continue to strengthen its deterrence and defense position, especially on the Eastern Flank, in a unitary and coherent manner.

"The worrying security situation in the Black Sea - which we have discussed at length - has shown us that we need to remain vigilant. Therefore, NATO must continue to strengthen its deterrence and defense position, especially on the Eastern Flank, in a unitary and coherent manner, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. That is why I pleaded - including in the discussion with President Biden - for enhancing the allied military presence, including the USA, in Romania and in the south of the Eastern Flank," president Klaus Iohannis said in a joint statement with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda at the end of the B9 Summit.

The B9 Summit was attended in video conference format by US President Joe Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and the heads of the other Bucharest Nine states: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary.
President Klaus Iohannis said today that the participation of US President Joe Biden and of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the B9 Summit in Bucharest has strengthened the sentiment of Allied unity and highlighted the fact that security developments in the region have an impact on Euro-Atlantic security overall.

"The top-level participation of the United States and of the North Atlantic Alliance leadership is also proof that security developments in our region have an impact on Euro-Atlantic security overall. For Romania, President Biden's participation, in a first, in the Bucharest Format Summit is all the more relevant as this year we celebrate a decade since the adoption of the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century between Romania and the United States. It also demonstrates the trust Romania enjoys in Washington as a strong partner and ally," Iohannis said in a joint statement delivered with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda at the end of the B9 Summit.

The Romanian President stressed that the B9 Summit has confirmed the added value in promoting the common goals of the Eastern Flank allies and in supporting the unity of the Alliance.

US President Joe Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and the heads of the other Bucharest Format states - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary - joined into the gathering via video conference.
President Joe Biden's attendance in the B9 Summit in Bucharest is "a clear signal of the US interest in this part of Europe," Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday in Bucharest in a statement delivered jointly with President Klaus Iohannis at the end of the virtual summit of the eastern European NATO states.

We all know that the US is the world's greatest peace guarantor, the greatest security guarantor. (...) For me, President Joe Biden's presence in our meeting today sends a very important signal about two elements: the attendance of the US President shows his interest in this alliance, that he takes interest in us as members of this alliance (...) and it seems to me that the presence of the President is a clear signal regarding the US interest in this part of Europe, said Andrzej Duda according to the official translation.

The Polish head of state also referred to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on NATO's common defense requirement.

President Biden's intervention at the B9 gathering - President Duda said - confirms NATO's obligations to our states, confirms the presence of the American policy in this part of Europe, that it stands by our side, with us.

Duda also pointed out that the participants in the B9 Summit have spoken in a unitary voice.

If anyone were to hear each president's intervention (...) they would note that in all these addresses, the emphasis was placed on seeing what is happening in the eastern area, of course given the dangers that have arisen. And again, there is an unsettling specter looming over this part of Europe and which has been rising since 2008, with the actions in Georgia, up to what happened recently in Ukraine; in addition, today the future situation of Belarus is being questioned - what kind of Belarus will we have in the coming years, will Belarus be a sovereign country? These are the questions we, the Central European states are asking. We are also looking at the insecurity in Moldova, and are interested in what is happening in the Western Balkans as well, Duda said.

The Polish President also called for the opening of the Alliance to new members, bringing to mind the communist period in Central and Eastern Europe.

Whereas a few decades ago we were behind the Iron Curtain, enviously looking at developed countries, today the North Atlantic Alliance must remain open and those who want to join must be convinced that if they meet the Alliance requirements, they can do so, Duda said.

The President of Poland also reminded that the B9 Summit precedes the upcoming NATO Summit in Brussels this June and that the event in Bucharest has highlighted the emerging dangers, especially with regard to Ukraine, given Russia's latest actions on the Ukrainian border.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday in the opening of the Bucharest Format Summit (B9) that the participation of US President Joe Biden in the event is proof of the United States' commitment to strengthening the North Atlantic Alliance.

It is a pleasure to join you and the leaders of the other B9 countries, as well as President Biden, for this important meeting. President Biden's participation today demonstrates the US's commitment to rebuilding alliances and strengthening NATO. The NATO Summit next month offers us a unique opportunity to start a new chapter in transatlantic relations, to reinforce the unity between Europe and North America, said Jens Stoltenberg.

US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are attending today via video conference the Bucharest Format Summit hosted by President Klaus Iohannis and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. The other heads of the Bucharest Format states, as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also video-conference into the gathering.
Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Wendy Morton is starting today a two-day visit to Romania, according to the British Embassy in Bucharest.

The visit will strengthen the relationship between the UK and Romania and will demonstrate close bilateral co-operation in areas such as security and defence, the rule of law, modern slavery and human trafficking, as well as the close ties between the two countries.

On her first visit to Romania, Morton will meet senior global affairs and diplomatic strategies official with the Romanian Foreign Ministry Cornel Feruta, Interior Minister Lucian Bode, and she will be welcomed by Senate Chair Anca Dragu.The British official will also visit projects carried out in Romania with support from the United Kingdom, including in the field of gender-based violence, and Roma rights.The embassy quotes Morton as saying she looks forward to her two-day visit to Romania, a close friend of the UK, with whom there is excellent co-operation, and that she will meet her Romanian counterparts to discuss the renewal of the UK-Romania strategic partnership, security and defence, and the rule of law, modern slavery and human trafficking, as well as COP26, and climate change.
President Klaus Iohannis will host on Monday, together with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, the Bucharest Format Summit (B9), the Presidential Administration informed.

According to the quoted source, the event is organized at the initiative of President Iohannis and will take place with the presence in Bucharest of the President of the Republic of Poland, on an official visit to Romania, and with the participation by videoconference of other heads of state and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The Presidential Administration points out that the agenda of this summit is aimed at preparing the NATO Summit to be held in Brussels on June 14, with a special focus on strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the allied position of deterrence and defence on the Eastern Flank, and the NATO 2030 reflection process.

The meeting will also take place in the context of recent worrying security developments in the Black Sea region.

Dialogue and cooperation with Eastern Neighborhood partners, support for strengthening their defence capabilities, as well as increasing the resilience of NATO, allies and partners in the face of current security challenges, will also be addressed by the summit participants.

The Bucharest Format (B9) is an initiative launched by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, in which NATO member states on the Eastern Side of the Alliance participate: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.

The first B9 Summit was held in Bucharest in November 2015. Subsequent summits took place in Warsaw (June 8, 2018) and Kosice (February 28, 2019).

AGERPRES
Catalin Raiu welcomes the appoitment of the EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion of Belief

Catalin Raiu, president of FoRB Romania and member of panel of experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief at ODIHR/OSCE, welcomes the appointment of Mr. Christos Stylianides as the EU Special Envoy for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief ,forb.ro confirms.

The European establishment will always be indebted to Dr. Jan Figel, the first Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief (2016-2019) for his continuous effort, courage and wisdom to raise awareness within government officials of European Union members states and beyond to promote FoRB democratic agenda.

Following an almost two years gap since the end of term of Mr. Jan Figel, the appointment of Mr. Christos Stylianides comes at a moment of great menace as FoRB is in decline worldwide: Christophobia, Antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise, the level of religious persecution at the highest concern, religious monorities face discrimination and so on.

In this pandemic context, attacks on people of all faiths has intensified worldwide. Many faith groups such as Christians, Jews, Yazidis, Rohingya or Uyghur Muslims have been officially identified as scapegoats and blamed for the spread of the virus. Moreover, religion-driven persecution is contributing to the migration crisis and related security challenges which threaten not only the very borders of the EU, but also our European common values.

The mandate of the EU Special Envoy is based on the 2013 EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief and the EU international leadership in response to protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief worldwide together with the US and the UK.

Hopefully, Mr. Stylianides will boost the expansion of the EU national special envoys network to all EU member states for a more European common approach towards the promotion of FoRB. Addressing the worsening situation of religious freedom worldwide it is a global task in which the European Union can deliver an unifed massage only by adhering more steadily at its core values and democratic standards and by a unified and coherent network of national Special Envoys for the Promotion of FoRB.

May this be a step towards more solidarity and democracy within the European framework of Freedom of Religion or Belief.
The head of the Defence General Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, stated, on Monday, that a consolidation of the North Atlantic cooperation "is all the more necessary and justified" in the current security context.

"In the current security context, the consolidation of the North Atlantic cooperation is all the more necessary and justified. The Strategic Partnership with the United States and the commitment of the American forces to consolidate security in the Black Sea region remain the main pillars of Romania's defence and security," said Petrescu, present at the Air Base in Boboc.

The airfield of the Boboc Air Base is hosting, on Monday, a sequence of the Swift Response 21/Defender Europe 21 multinational exercise, which includes airborne insertion activities conducted by American, Polish, Dutch, German and Romanian paratroopers.In this context, the head of the Defence General Staff hailed the contribution and involvement of the servicemen of the Polish, German and Dutch armies."Their presence in the multinational airborne structure proves that joint training during peacetime can transform into a common response in crisis situation," stated Daniel Petrescu."This exercise targets increasing the operational capacity and interoperability. It is associated with the NATO Steadfast Defender 21 exercise which focuses on consolidating the discouragement and defence posture of the Euro-Atlantic space. (...) The Romanian Armed Forces, through the planning started last year, are acting during the Dacia series of exercises, both the Defender Europe component, through training in the context of the Romanian-American Strategic Partnership, as well as the Steadfast Defender 21 component, through the sequences of training of Romanian forces together with NATO forces. This confirms the capacity of Romania, of our army, to employ its capabilities in defense operations, as well as through the permanent availability of the Alliance and of the American strategic partner to rapidly deploy to our country credible forces to accomplish defence if need be. In the context of the conduct of this series of exercises, the Romanian Army demonstrates that it is able to accomplish its mission to defend the country, as well as the security obligations assumed within NATO, the EU and as part of strategic partnerships," the head of the Defence General Staff also said.
The head of the National Statistics Institute (INS), Tudorel Andrei, estimates that Romania could have 3.2 million agricultural holdings after the General Agricultural Census is completed, a number that is lower than the number identified in the previous census, which was 3.6 million agricultural holdings.

"In the last census, the number of holdings was over 3.6 million. We estimate 3.2 million agricultural holdings. For this reason this activity is especially complex. It's one thing to come and visit a reduced number, 600,000, as is the case of France, for example, and another to visit over 3.2 million agricultural holdings," said Tudorel Andrei, in a press conference on the occasion of the launch of the General Agricultural Census - the 2020 round.

He stated that the second reason for which the action is a complex one regards the fact that the partners of the census - the Agriculture Ministry, the INS, the Interior Ministry and the Special Telecommunications Service (STS) - propose for the first time another form of collecting data in the field, namely in electronic format."We have here or we had an extraordinarily good collaboration with the colleagues from the World Bank and our colleagues from the Special Telecommunications Service. It's a work that we started two years ago and today we have the first concrete results," said Tudorel Andrei.The third argument regarding complexity refers to the possibility of continuing this collaboration in the future. He mentioned that he had several discussions and meetings with Agriculture Minister Adrian Oros, and one of the objectives is that this census or the data obtained through this census be obtained annually, at least on the important variables, from administrative sources."What we are doing now in this period all the states in the European Union have done or are doing. The variables that are included in this questionnaire are variables common to all member states. According to the European regulation, Romania has the obligation to ensure the provision of data starting from the use of agricultural land after locating the administrator of the agricultural land. We, using also the administrative resources that we have with the Agriculture Ministry, will ensure statistics both in agreement with the European regulations, but also starting from the effective localization of the agricultural field. Thus, it's twice the work that we are conducting in this period," said Tudorel Andrei.
President Klaus Iohannis declared on Monday that the B9 Summit is a very important format for the North-Atlantic Alliance, and his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, said that the participation of the head of the American administration in these talks, Joe Biden, as well as the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, further highlights that the situation in Eastern and Central Europe deserves to be regarded with special attention.

The two presidents were asked during a joint press conference, at the Cotroceni Palace, about the presence at the Bucharest Format Summit (B9) of the president of the United States and the NATO secretary general.

"This B9 format is formed within the NATO framework and here we are meeting before the NATO summits in order to discuss about the common and specific problems. Before we gather, we had the preparation phase of this summit and I can gladly say that both the president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, as well as the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, have accepted my invitation of joining the talks of the B9 Format. For us, the strategic partnership with the USA and the NATO membership are the essence of our national security, and as a result, the role of the president of the USA and the NATO secretary general within these talks is natural, and that is why I believe it is a very important format for NATO, a format which is important for both Romania as well as for Poland," Klaus Iohannis said.He specified that within the B9 Summit there will be talks regarding Ukraine."The Eastern flank, the problems specific to the Eastern Flank are the priority topics which we will discuss within B9, along with the positions which we will be adopting within the NATO Summit," the head of state explained.I would not say that it is a B9 Format plus, because B9 is part of NATO, and the NATO secretary general and the US president represent a part of NATO, maybe the most important one, so it is is not a B9 plus format due to their presence. It is just a presence of friends within a NATO meeting, even if it refers to this part of Europe, but we are not separating from the rest. And I want to be very clear that we will always lean towards important matters for us, but we never forget that the general rule of NATO is the 360 degree rule. So, all areas of potential threats, even the ones which are further away from us are being considered, are important to us and we are always taking them into account. We are ready to act, to react, to collaborate, to bring allied help at any given time. (...) The presence of the US president and NATO secretary general (...) shows that the B9 format is an important forum within the Alliance where matters of security are being discussed, and the fact that the two are taking place additionally highlights that the situation from this part of Europe is a situation which deserves to be regarded with special attention, said Andrzej Duda.He added that both the Ukraine matter, as well as this country's journey towards NATO, its security and the security of the Eastern Flank will definitely have a "special" importance at the NATO summit in Brussels.So, it is even more important that these matters to be discussed today and to be well prepared in order to present a common position. This format proved its efficiency and I could say that it even impressed our allies the fact that we, the states of Central and Eastern Europe, are very seriously regarding the policy which we are making within the Alliance, regarding the responsibilities that each of us has within this alliance, the president of Poland declared.The president of the United States, Joe Biden, along with the American secretary of state Antony Blinken are taking part on Monday, via video-conference, in the Bucharest Summit Format (B9), hosted by president Klaus Iohannis, along with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda. Furthermore, other heads of state will take part in the video-conference from the Bucharest format, as well as the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.The Bucharest Format (B9) is an initiative launched by president Klaus Iohannis and the president of the Polish Republic, Andrzej Duda, where the Alliances' Eastern flank NATO member states participate: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.The first B9 Summit was organized in Bucharest in November 2015. The later high level reunions took place in Warsaw (June 8, 2018) and Kosice (February 28, 2019).
A new report from YouGov for HR tech firm Applaud indicated that 53% of businesses are planning to offer either remote or flexible working policies in the future, while 14% expect their staff to never return to the office

The UKs office landlords are facing the prospect of a difficult future post-pandemic after reports emerged that around 26% of British businesses are planning to either close or downsize their workspaces in a move toward more flexible, hybrid models of working.

New research has indicated that53% of businesses are planning to offer either remote or flexible working policies, while 30% expect that their employees will be in the office between one and three days per week.

Meanwhile, 14% of employers said they did not expect their workers to return to the office at all once the pandemic has subsided, according to the research by YouGov for HR tech firm Applaud.

The shift toward hybrid working patterns is also expected to be accompanied by a greater focus on increasing staff engagement and improving worker experience remotely, with around 35% of companies planning to develop employee engagement roles distinct from human resources.

Another 18%, meanwhile, are reportedly investigating whether to provide their workers with better pay and promotions in the coming months.

As expected, many businesses are starting to cut back and downsize on office spaces, and these figures highlight the volume of organisations that are following suit when deciding on business operations post-pandemic. The hybrid working format which sees workers operate from a part-home, part-office environment, is clearly becoming the model of choice for a majority of businesses. This hybrid model will appease cost-concerned employers whilst maintaining benefits such as flexibility and wellbeing improvements, all the while injecting a social element back into workspaces, said Sridhar Iyengar, managing director of the European arm of web-based office software group Zoho.

As these businesses take this route, it is crucial that decision makers equip IT teams with better long-term solutions to surging demand for their services. This includes adopting a scalable suite of SaaS and mobile applications, which are designed to enable and streamline head-to-toe hybrid working. The right tools, coupled with the right leadership approach and the right communication, should lead to happy and engaged employees, whether in the office or working remotely, the MD added.

While the trend toward hybrid working may be a boon for Zoho and other online work software firms such as messaging platform ( ), remote conferencing specialist ( ) and Teams owner Microsoft Corp ( ), the report is likely to make for grim reading for the UKs biggest owners of office space, including blue-chip firms Company PLC ( ) and Group PLC ( ) as well as mid-cap property group PLC ( ).

Shares in were up 1.5% at 543.8p in early afternoon trading on Monday, while LandSec rose 1.1% to 750.4p and Derwent climbed 1.2% to 3,520p.
Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that he had discussed with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda deepening and expanding the Romanian-Polish strategic partnership, announcing that a new joint meeting of the two national governments would take place in the second half of the year that will design a new partnership action plan for the years 2021-2025.

"At the meeting that has just concluded, held in a very open atmosphere of friendship, we discussed the expansion and deepening of the Romanian-Polish Strategic Partnership established in October 2009 and renewed in 2015. I was glad to note that this strategic partnership has encouraged a sustained development of our bilateral relations in recent years. Holding in the second half of this year of a new joint meeting of the national governments of Romania and Poland where a new action plan of the strategic partnership for the years 2021-2025 will be agreed on demonstrates once again the excellent level of the Romanian-Polish dialogue," said Iohannis at a joint news conference with Duda.
The Minister of Justice, Stelian Ion, declared on Monday that solutions need to be found for all types of special pensions, this being one of the proposals which could be discussed on Tuesday at the Ministry of Labor.

"There are many choices. We will go tomorrow (Tuesday, ed. n) together with those from the legal system, with the representatives of the High Court, the Magistrates Superior Council (CSM). It is important to discuss these matters tied to the Social Democratic Party (PSD), regarding service pensions and all other names the special pensions are generically called. So, we must find solutions for all special pension categories, not just for some of them. So that some of tomorrow's discussions can take place around this idea, because otherwise a category can consider itself wronged from another category. If we took responsibility for this matter, together, as much as the Constitution and Constitutional Court allow, this is what we must do," Stelian Ion declared in Parliament.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Justice will be present at the Ministry of Labor, where there will be talks regarding special pensions.
Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Monday he was convinced that the target of 5 million people getting vaccinated in Romania by June 1 would be reached and pointed out that next week it is possible that members of the government take to the streets and get directly involved in the mass vaccination campaign.

"We continue at the same pace. We have the resources from the government; we make them available with more vaccination campaigns moving forward to reach our target that we set: 5 million vaccinated Romanians as of June 1 for people. I believe in that goal," said Citu before a meeting of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Executive Bureau.

He announced a "government meeting in the streets" next week."I think that next week we will have the entire government in the streets in the country - ministers and senior officials - at vaccination centres. The entire government must get directly involved in this campaign and I think that next week we will take action, a kind of government meeting in the streets where we will all be and talk to the citizens; we will answer their questions after they come out from vaccination," said the prime minister.
Romania's President Klaus Iohannis will be welcoming today at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda as part of Duda's official visit to Romania.

The visit of the Polish President, at the invitation of President Klaus Iohannis, takes place amidst the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of a Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Republic of Poland, signed on March 3, 1921, a symbolic moment in their bilateral relationships.

According to the Presidential Administration, talks between the two officials will focus on ways to develop and deepen the bilateral strategic partnership, and for that purpose regional as well as international security co-operation will be examined.

"The Strategic Partnership established in October 2009 and renewed in March 2015, at the level of chief of state, provides a comprehensive framework for co-operation, encouraging a sustained development of Romanian-Polish relationships in recent years," the Presidential Administration says.

More attention is expected to be paid to the security dimension, which has increased substantially in relevance in recent years, with the dialogue on this issue generating mutual benefits for both countries, for our region and for NATO. The significant results of bilateral defence co-operation under the Bucharest Nine (B9) format are to be reviewed in preparation for a B9 summit to be held in Bucharest on Monday, and in the in the run-up to a June NATO summit.

The prospects for strengthening economic co-operation between the two countries will also be addressed, given that Poland is one of Romania's most important trading partners, with trade exceeding seven billion euros in 2020, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Stimulating mutual investment and deepening sectoral co-operation will also be considered.

From the perspective of the Three Seas Initiative, the implementation of strategic regional interconnection projects will be discussed, with emphasis on projects jointly promoted by Romania and Poland connecting the North and South of the region, namely Rail2Sea and Via Carpathia.

Regarding the relations with the European Union's Eastern Neighbourhood, regional security developments will be addressed, as well as boosting and substantiating the Eastern Partnership in preparation for this year's summit.

Duda's Monday's schedule of his visit to Bucharest also includes official talks with President of the Romanian Senate Anca Dragu and Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban, as well as a working lunch with Prime Minister Florin Citu.

On Tuesday, May 11, the two heads of state will participate in a day of the distinguished visitors of the military exercise "Justice Sword 21," taking place at the Smardan shooting range in which Poland participates with the forces and hardware deployed to Romania under NATO's forward presence on the Eastern Flank, from the NATO Multinational Brigade in Craiova.

The exercise is designed to test the capacity of the participating bodies in executing actions and measures established by the planning documents and the way of achieving Romania's support for the troops and equipment transiting on its soil.

AGERPRES
President Klaus Iohannis welcomed at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Monday his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, who is paying an official visit to Romania.

The military honour reception was carried out on the ceremony plateau.

The head of state delegation is made of Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca, presidential advisers Ion Oprisor, Leonard Orban, Diana Loreta Paun, Daniela Barsan.The two presidents will have head-to-head and official talks and will hold a joint press conference.Klaus Iohannis and Andrzej Duda are hosting on Monday afternoon the Bucharest Nine Summit (B9), with US President Joe Biden also attending by videoconference.The visit of the Polish President takes place in the context of celebrating the 100th anniversary since the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Polish Republic, signed on March 3, 1921, a symbolic moment in the bilateral relation.According to the Presidential Administration, talks between the two officials will focus on ways to develop and deepen the bilateral strategic partnership, and for that purpose regional as well as international security co-operation will be examined.Enhanced attention is expected to be paid to the security dimension, which has increased substantially in relevance in recent years, with the dialogue on this issue generating mutual benefits for both countries, for our region and for NATO. The significant results of bilateral defence co-operation under the Bucharest Nine (B9) format and inside NATO are to be reviewed.The prospects for strengthening economic co-operation between the two countries will also be addressed, given that Poland is one of Romania's most important trading partners, with trade exceeding seven billion euros in 2020, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Stimulating mutual investment and deepening sectoral co-operation will also be considered.From the perspective of the Three Seas Initiative, the implementation of strategic regional interconnection projects will be discussed, with emphasis on projects jointly promoted by Romania and Poland connecting the North and South of the region, namely Rail2Sea and Via Carpathia.Regarding the relations with the European Union's Eastern Neighbourhood, regional security developments will be addressed, as well as boosting and substantiating the Eastern Partnership in preparation for this year's summit.Duda's Monday's schedule of his visit to Bucharest also includes official talks with President of the Romanian Senate Anca Dragu and Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban, as well as a working lunch with Prime Minister Florin Citu.On Tuesday, May 11, the two heads of state will participate in a day of the distinguished visitors of the military exercise "Justice Sword 21," taking place at the Smardan shooting range in which Poland participates with the forces and hardware deployed to Romania under NATO's forward presence on the Eastern Flank, from the NATO Multinational Brigade in Craiova.The exercise is designed to test the capacity of the participating bodies in executing actions and measures established by the planning documents and the way of achieving Romania's support for the troops and equipment transiting the national territory.
NATO countries must be prepared to defend Belarus, "if it is necessary to defend this independence," Polish President Andrzej Duda told a joint news conference with President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest on Monday.

"This is the problem in Belarus, which also affects Belarusian citizens of Polish origin. We have cases of arrests of Polish minority leaders there. The situation is very difficult, but we have uncertainty about the future of Belarus and its inhabitants. We would very much like this country to move towards democracy, we would very much like this country to become a fully sovereign country, we would like these ambitions and aspirations of the people of Belarus and all the citizens and its inhabitants to be fulfilled," said the Polish head of state, according to the official translation.

"We must be very careful, observe the situation on the one hand, but, on the other hand, be prepared to react to any dangers that may come from that direction and be prepared to defend Belarus if it is necessary to defend this independence," he added.President Klaus Iohannis is hosting on Monday, together with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, the Bucharest Format Summit (B9). The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will also have an online speech at this summit."I am very pleased that the President of the United States will also attend this summit. I am glad that the Secretary General of NATO will also attend. This shows that our meeting is really important, it is a meeting that is welcomed by the North Atlantic Alliance and it shows North Atlantic cohesion," Duda said.The visit of the Polish President takes place in the context of celebrating the 100th anniversary since the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance Convention between the Kingdom of Romania and the Polish Republic, signed on March 3, 1921, a symbolic moment in the bilateral relationship.On Tuesday, May 11, the two heads of state will participate in a day of the distinguished visitors of the military exercise "Justice Sword 21," taking place at the Smardan shooting range in which Poland participates with the forces and hardware deployed to Romania under NATO's forward presence on the Eastern Flank, from the NATO Multinational Brigade in Craiova.
The president of the Senate, Anca Dragu, will carry out an official visit to the Kingdom of Spain, during the period of May 13-16, following the invitation of her Spanish counterpart, Pilar Liop Cuenca.

Anca Dragu will be accompanied by the vicepresident of the Senate, Alina Gorghiu and the president of the European Affairs Committee, Cristian Ghica.

"The visit will take place in the context of the 140th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with Spain, with the role of deepening Parliamentary cooperation between the two states. The visit's schedule contains both governmental, parliamentary and political meetings, as well as with the civil society and representatives of the Romanian community," according to an internal memorandum of the Senate.
The volume of products and services traded between Romania and Israel is nearing one billion euro, said, on Monday, the chair of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), Mihai Daraban, during a meeting with Israeli Ambassador, David Saranga.

"Between the two states there is a high level in what regards economic cooperation, Romania having registered over 8,000 companies with Israeli capital. Although the volume of products and services trade is nearing 1 billion euro, we all agree that the potential of the two states is far bigger. Only if we take into consideration the fact that, recently, natural gas reserves have been discovered in Israel, certainly we will be able to identify cooperation opportunities between the specialists in the energy domain in the two states. In this context, it becomes very important to know the dimension, the turnover and the interest on the Romanian market of Israeli companies," said Daraban.

For Israel, the economic cooperation with Romania represents a top priority. Thus, the dialogue between the representatives of the companies in the two states will have to intensify. The two states can develop intense relations in economic sectors such as: agriculture, water management, cyber-security, healthcare and digital solutions for healthcare, said Ambassador Saranga, recalling also that Israel is a leader in innovation and digitization, aspects that Romania can also take full advantage of.

According to a press release of the CCIR, sent on Monday to AGERPRES, the meeting between the two officials had as a main objective analyzing the status of economic cooperation between the two states, as well as identifying the optimum ways to consolidate bilateral economic relations.

The data of the National Office of the Trade Registry (ONRC) shows that the total volume of commercial exchanges Romania - Israel totaled 570.15 million euro, at the end of 2020.

At the level of March 2021, there were 8,298 Israeli companies in Romania, with a total value of subscribed capital of 64.05 million euro.
Some 257,000 government and public corporation officials went on overseas business trips during the two and a half years between 2005 and the middle of 2007, spending nearly W1 trillion. This is according to the results of an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection done on 603 central and provincial authorities and public firms in June and July of last year.

The BAI says that from 2005 to the end of May 2007, 54,094 officials from 59 central agencies, 111,384 from 246 provincial agencies and 91,553 from 298 public firms traveled overseas on business. These trips cost W390.5 billion in 2005, W442.7 billion in 2006 and W147.8 billion in the first five months of 2007, for a total W981 billion.

Regulations allow first-class travel only for ministers, but according to the audit executives of 12 public firms including the Korea Electric Power Corp. also flew first class. Some corporations gave cash to employees for airfare, and five Financial Supervisory Service workers who received cash aid for business seats actually flew in economy to pocket the margin of some W2.7-4.2 million.

Top ranking officials of central state agencies received per diems of US$288 for trips to the U.S. while public firm officials received at least $310 and the auditor and vice president of the Korea National Housing Corp. $503.
Bond ETFs and cryptocurrency exchange-traded commodities have become very popular

The combined pile of cash invested in ETFs is thought to have eclipsed the money held in more established tracker funds that follow major indices.

ETF assets under management (AUM) reached $US7.71bn in December versus US$7.76bn for tracker funds, but ETFs have now passed US$8.3bn, the Financial Times has reported, using data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and .

In the US, where ETFs incur lower tax than mutual funds, there was US$5.6bn held in ETFs at the end of March, compared with nearer US$5tn in index funds and roughly US$15bn in active mutual funds.

Investment research firm CFRA said ETFs were attracting so much money as they offer a wider choice of options than traditional funds, while fund's like Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation ETF have captured investor imaginations with their winning performance last year.

The sheer number of ETFs has for a long while put trackers in the shade, with over 6,700 ETFs around the world as of December, according to the ICI, versus just under 3,200 for index funds.

Investors desire to reduce fees has also driven the shift from active to passive, according to strategists at Bernstein.

Bond ETFs and cryptocurrency and other exchange-traded commodities have also quickly become popular.

Accelerating inflows into ETFs on both sides of the Atlantic in 2021 led to white label platform HANetf recently reporting that its AUM passed US$2.5bn in April from US$1.1bn at the start of the year, boosted by the popularity of its bitcoin ETC product.

Under lockdown and with more time on their hands, many investors have also increased the time they spend trading shares, with a study from leveraged ETF operator finding that 12% of British investors during the Coronavirus crisis were trying to make it as day traders.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
Silver (CVE: SNG) CEO Mike Power joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news about their property Cambridge which is in Nevada. Grab and chip samples were collected from waste dumps & vein exposures with assays from trace to 80 g/t.

Power telling Proactive the best assay result returned from the North Trend, approximately one kilometre north of the Cambridge Mine. Chip samples returned 0.75 m @ 12.75 g/t Au and 0.5 m @ 9.72 g/t Au. Power said they plan on doing much more work on the property as the year rolls on.
Britain is expanding the tasks its special operations forces carry out. For example, more will be assigned to work more closely and frequently with MI6 (foreign intelligence, like the CIA). The expansion will also include creating a Special Operations Brigade containing four battalions of Rangers, similar in training and function to the American Ranger Regiment.

The original rangers, after which the American rangers are named, were actually a British unit. The first rangers were long range scouts, or ranging men and the most experienced practitioners were American colonists before and after the revolution. One group, led by American Major Robert Rogers, who grew up in the American colonies, developed ranger tactics while fighting foreign and Indian threats during several European wars that spread to North America. When the American Revolution came along (1776), the rangers fought for the British, not against them (as one of many loyalist units) because Rogers was mistrusted by senior rebel leaders. The British were impressed by the effectiveness of ranger tactics, which Rogers put in print. Some British units adopted the ranger name, but true ranger tactics were secondary to training for fighting more conventional foes.

The rangers as specialist units were revived during World War II as American versions of the British commandoes. However, the American rangers, while they had some successes, did not do well enough to be kept on after World War II. They were revived during the Korean war as long range scouts and commandos, but then disbanded. Same thing was going to happen during and after the Vietnam war. But instead, in 1974, the first battalion of modern (as they are now) rangers were created. The American rangers came full circle, beginning in British service, and now returning to British service. The United States has three battalions of rangers belonging to the 75th Ranger Regiment. This was formed in the 1980s.

The British army always had officers who advocated establishing units of ranging men and some such units were informally established in the many new colonies Britain established. In 2004 Britain planned to use one of its paratrooper battalions and retrain them as rangers. This plan was not carried through as the paratroopers already performed many ranger functions. But the British have noted the success the Americans have had with the ranger concept, and how other countries had successfully adopted the concept. One of the more successful of these are the Filipino Scout Rangers, who regularly rank near top during international special operations competitions.

The new British Special Operations Brigade is intended to support the SAS (Special Air Service), one of the British World War II commando units that established the standards for current elite special operations troops. Under the new reorganization SAS will spend more time working with MI6 operatives in covert operations worldwide. These this will make possible a new campaign to disrupt Russian, Iranian, North Korean and Chinese use of special operations forces, often not wearing uniforms, to carry out disruptive operations.

Some of these operations will be in Britain itself, where, since the 1990s, Russian special operations agents were found to be carrying out recent espionage and assassination operations against targets inside Britain. Iran has been doing the same thing in Europe and other parts of the world. This is a capability showing up with more frequency and using SAS/MI6 teams to detect and thwart such attacks is seen as a solution. This approach had already been adopted by the Americans several decades ago when they successfully used army Special Forces troops in plain clothes to augment overseas CIA operations.

One reason for assigning SAS to MI6 is to keep their work secret and immune from lawsuits. After 2003 British special operations troops were often accused of war crimes and sued in British courts. An extensive investigation, costing $40 million and taking years, discovered that all these lawsuits were scams by Iraqis and Afghans trying to con foreign troops out of more compensation for false claims. This often worked in Afghanistan until the Americans investigated and confirmed local rumors that these were all scams often exploited by the locals because they could.

While British commandos have to worry about getting sued or prosecuted, MI6 operatives have a degree of legal cover for its operations. Under the Intelligence Services Act of 1994, MI6 officers have immunity from prosecution for real or invented crimes committed outside Great Britain. The Criminal Justice Bill of 1998 made it illegal for any organization in Great Britain to conspire to commit offenses abroad, but Crown agents have immunity. Which means, in effect, that yes, Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service really is licensed to kill. Another advantage of MI6 is that they have always had some SAS commandos trained to work with MI6 and were always available for any MI6 needs. This commando organization was called Increment and was used for assassinations, sabotage or other dangerous jobs, like arresting war criminals in the Balkans. In addition, every station chief has a direct line to SAS headquarters and a good working relationship with the commandos. These days if British commandos want to do what they were trained for they have to hope for a call from MI6.

The Royal Navy is also taking part in this new strategy, with a new (in 2024) MROSS (Multi Role Ocean Surveillance ship) that can detect tampering with undersea digital data cables that have long been vulnerable to taps or, more recently, being deliberately cut to disrupt Internet service. In some parts of the world, the main access to the Internet is via one or more of these undersea cables. These taps are often installed by naval special operations troops travelling in subs.
The word from rebel-held territory is that Iran is giving the orders now. This began in late 2020 after Iran sent a Quds Force general to be the Iranian ambassador to Yemen. Since 2015 the rebels have controlled the traditional Yemeni capital, where all the foreign embassies were (and a few still are) as well as headquarters for the government ministries. Most of the embassies and government ministries have left for the temporary capital of the last elected government in the southern port of Aden. Despite that, the rebels insist that because they occupy the capital and control over a third of the population, they are the real government and their opponents are southern separatists or foreigners. This ignores the fact that many of the people in rebel territory are kept in line via threats to cut off access to food, medical supplies and imported items. Tribes that try to break away risk starvation and a blockade of roadblocks and attacks on smugglers trying to get in. More and more tribes have been able to break away but the rebels have maintained a presence around many towns and cities and see the capture of Marib province as essential to maintaining their legitimacy.

The new Iranian ambassador came to Yemen mainly to supervise Iranian support for combat operations and take a more direct role in running the war. Quds felt so confident that they bluntly rejected recent UN and American offers for ceasefire talks and instead increased the number of offensive operations. For more than a month Quds force officers outside Yemen have boasted to foreign journalists who proceeded to publish what Quds Force was up to in Yemen. The Iranian senior clerics, who have the final say in what Iranian policy is, realized that openly discussing the direct Iranian control of rebel operations was a mistake. Quds was ordered to leave media interviews and Internet announcements to the government. This was reflected in the Shia rebels suddenly giving reasons for rejecting ceasefire negotiations. The rebel spokesmen (a Yemeni, not an Iranian general giving interviews outside Yemen) insisted they did not reject the ceasefire offers but were simply seeking clarification. Previously the Saudis and Yemeni government had announced willingness to try another ceasefire with the rebels. Current UN efforts to revive peace talks are stalled because of disagreements over what can be negotiated. The rebels are insisting on preconditions which makes government forces and civilians more vulnerable to rebel attacks. Even pro-rebel foreigners are criticizing the rebels for this.

Iran is taking more direct control over the Shia rebels in order use this control as part of the negotiations to end economic sanctions on Iran. If Iran pulled out of Yemen the Shia tribal forces would be defeated, as they have many times before. Quds force commanders are reluctant to give up gains made in Yemen and may have been told that they could revive support for the Yemeni Shia after the economic sanctions on Iran are lifted. Because of these sanctions Quds force saw its budget cut by half since 2017, forcing major reductions in Quds activities in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Yemen was always the least expensive Quds operation and did not suffer noticeable aid cuts.

Meanwhile Yemen continues to lose foreign aid donors because of the inability to halt rebel diversion of aid to support military operations and control the non-Shia populations in rebel territory. The UN has only been able to obtain a third of the aid needed for 2021 because more aid donors find that aid funds are more effective elsewhere. There is limited aid to meet all the worldwide demands. While sending aid is often controlled by politics, if it becomes known that much of the aid is not reaching the needy in a particular country, political support for Yemen aid diminishes.

May 9, 2021: In the northwest, Shia rebels launched another cruise missile, actually an explosives laden UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), into southwest Saudi Arabia. The rebels claimed this cruise missile was programmed to attack the King Khalid Air Base, which is about 200 kilometers from the Yemen border. This cruise missile/UAV was intercepted and destroyed before it could reach the airbase. The Shia rebels insisted the UAV hit its target but whenever that happens, which is rarely, there is suddenly a lot of chatter on the Internet, often accompanied by cellphone photos, from local witnesses.

Saudi Arabia has a growing problem with Iranian UAVs used as cruise missiles. For several years Iran has been smuggling in UAV components to northern Yemen. Unfortunately for the Saudis the home province of the Shia rebels is in northwest Yemen along the Saudi border. That border is 1,800 kilometers long although only about a hundred kilometers is controlled by the Shia rebels. Even before the civil war the Saudis suffered cross-border raids by the Yemeni Shia. Those attacks increased after 2015, with the addition of Iranian rockets and missiles. By 2019 Iranian UAVs and cruise missiles were used against Saudi economic and military targets farther from the border. The Saudis were prepared for the ballistic missiles and long-range rockets and used their Patriot AMD (anti-missile defense) systems to stop the rockets and missiles headed for a populated area or an economic or military target. The Iranian UAVs and small cruise missiles were harder to detect and shoot down. The Iranians noted that and ordered the Shia rebels to increase the number of such attacks into Saudi Arabia. These attacks have been a lot more frequent in 2021.

The Saudis adopted older Israeli tactics against the UAVs, which were carrying explosives on a one-way mission using GPS to guide them along a programmed course to a specific target. These improvised cruise missiles were smaller, slower and flying lower than the original American cruise missiles that used a small jet engine and, before GPS became available in the 1990s, less accurate but effective guidance systems. The Iranian UAV/cruise missiles cost a tenth of what a conventional cruise missile does and are easier to smuggle into Yemen and assemble locally for a single one-way mission. These UAVs were more prone to failure and some were found on both sides of the border after they crashed. But most of them worked and the Saudis turned to their American advisors for ideas. Radars that could detect the low/slow UAVs were easier and cheaper to obtain that methods for destroying them. The Saudis have apparently been using air-to-air missiles fired by their F-15 jet fighters. The Saudis are seeking a cheaper solution and Israel, their new unofficial ally, has many such solutions.

May 8, 2021: In central Yemen (Marib province) the rebel offensive continues. There are two main objectives. The most obvious one is the Marib provincial capital, which is 120 kilometers east of the rebel held national capital Sanaa. The other one is the Marib oil fields. Yemen has some oil resources and even though they are tiny compared to what Iran and the other Arab states in the region have, they were enough to supply internal needs as well as provide some for export. Production and exports halted several years ago but possession of Yemenis oil resources is a prestige thing. The Yemeni government and the Arab coalition also wanted to use Marib as a base area for a possible ground advance in the rebel held national capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been supplying government areas with fuel, some of which is smuggled into rebel areas. Some of the foreign aid consisted of fuel and the aid donors objected to how the rebels distributed the fuel aid. Like food and other aid, rebels halted supplies to areas that were resisting rebel rule. The Saudis have responded to this by increasing fuel and other aid to maintain electric power supplies in government-controlled areas.

Since February most of the combat in Yemen has been in Marib. The rebels have suffered heavy casualties without much to show for it. The government forces, mainly tribal militias with access to Saudi air and artillery support have been able to regain lost ground. The rebels ignore this and insist they will prevail. Captured rebels and monitoring rebel communications revels that many of the replacement fighters are there mainly for the pay or because of rebel threats to block food aid. Its increasingly common for daily casualties in Marib to exceed one or two hundred dead and wounded. When the Marib offensive began in February it was assumed it would follow the usual pattern of being intense for a few days or weeks and then fading. The fade never came.

Instead, the Marib combat kept escalating. Calling the fighting a rebel offensive was misleading, most of the time, because most of the fighting involves artillery and mortar fire as well as dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles. The government forces respond with even more artillery fire and air strikes, all provided by the Arab Coalition. During the first six weeks of this intense fighting the dead and wounded amounted to nearly 500 fighters from both sides as well as a few civilians. In the six weeks those totals have doubled.

The rebel offensive was all about pushing government forces out of key areas of the province and it has failed. Some of these attacks temporarily weakened the rebels in Marib sufficiently for the government counterattacks to force the depleted rebel forces back. The February offensive began because the rebels believed the government military capabilities had been seriously diminished when UAE forces left Marib in early 2020 because of disagreements with Saudi Arabia over strategy and to concentrate all their military forces back home where they were needed to discourage any Iranian aggression. For that reason, the UAE took their missile defense systems with them and that made government military bases more vulnerable to rebel ballistic and cruise missiles attacks. The withdrawal of Arab coalition forces from Marib enabled the rebels to successfully regain control of much territory in the province. But the early gains did not continue as the offensive encouraged more Yemenis tribes to provide fighters to defend Marib and not just keep the peace in their home provinces.

May 7, 2021: The increased Iranian control in Yemen played a part in Iran and Saudi Arabia agreeing to begin secret (unannounced and officially denied) negotiations in mid-April. Such secrets do not stay secret for long and today the Saudis confirmed that the negotiations were underway. That explains the nice things Iran and Saudis have been saying about each other since late April. Iran wants the economic sanctions lifted and the Saudis want Iranian forces gone from their southern border. Making that happen is how deals are made in the Middle East. The Iranian threats against the Saudis would continue and the current Iranian government believes that with sanctions lifted they can deal with the growing unrest inside Iran against the religious dictatorship that has mismanaged Iran since the 1980s. The Saudis believe that there will be another revolution inside Iran and that justifies getting Iran out of Yemen. For both sides, its a gamble but because both sides are run by Islamic governments that believe God is on their side and the risk factor is somewhat diminished. To an outsider, Iran seems to be in a weaker position. Yet the Iranians have been more successful at gaining and holding onto power for thousands of years and even the wealthy Gulf Arab states recognize that.

History justifies the hopes of both sides. The Iranians have suffered major defeats in the past because of inept rulers and civil war. That helped made it possible 2,500 years ago for a weakened but seemingly mighty Persian empire to fall to the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great. This conquest was considered impossible but the pattern repeated itself 1,500 years ago when the Arabs, inspired by a new religion (Islam) did impossible (for Arabs) and conquered the Persian (Iranian) Empire. Five centuries ago, the Turks were able to block Iranian expansion into Arab lands. The Russians blocked Iranian expansion to the north and the British blocked expansion to the east. After the Ottoman Turk empire fell apart a century ago the Iranians found their imperial ambitions blocked by Russia and Western forces. Iranians have long believed that without the internal squabbling Iran could have avoided damage done by the Greek, Arab, Mongol and Western invasions. Currently the moderates (nationalists) in the Islamic government pay attention to history and the radicals (Islamic zealots) dont. But when radicals do look closely at the past, they often become moderates and that is how the moderates are winning. That has the Iranian government scared and the Arabs encouraged, at least in the short term.

May 6, 2021: In the Arabian Sea (northwestern Indian Ocean between India and Arabia) an American destroyer halted and searched a dhow suspected of smuggling. The boarding party found the cargo was twelve tons of weapons. This included over three thousand Chinese assault rifles, machine-guns and sniper rifles. Most of the weapons were older Chinese models, still sold by Chinese manufacturers to price-conscious customers. Some Russian ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) and hundreds of RPG rockets were also included. Questioning of the crew and checking intel information indicated the dhow (a coastal cargo ship long popular in the region) came from Iran and was apparently headed for Yemen, where final delivery would probably be made by fishing boats carrying cargoes of weapons rather than recently caught fish. There are so many of these fishing boats off the Red Sea coast of Yemen that not all can be searched and the smuggler boats seek to appear less suspicious than the actual fishing boats. Iran pays what it takes to get this smuggling done and there are plenty of skilled smugglers in Yemen looking for work, no questions asked. Such cargoes used to be sent to Gaza on a regular basis but the Israeli-Egyptian blockade is tighter than ever and it is difficult to even get individuals or suitcases of cash into Gaza.

Iran is a major practitioner of plausible deniability and usually smuggles cheap foreign-made weapons to nations where Iran denies violating UN sanctions against weapons imports. Despite growing proof of Iranian arms exports to the Shia rebels, Iran denies it. China collaborates by producing a lot of cheap weapons mainly for sale to anyone who can pay. Bulk sales go to middlemen like Iran, who then distributes weapons to groups they deny they are arming. While not a big business for Chinese arms firms, it is profitable enough to keep production going. For legitimate customers China exports that latest, and more expensive, stuff. Iran produces its own assault rifles and other infantry weapons.

May 5, 2021: In the south the tribal leaders are calling for partition of Yemen. S ince 2015 the STC (South Transitional Council) has been backing this. STC is composed of southern tribes that want autonomy but claim they are willing to fight and defeat the Islamic terrorists as well as the Shia rebels first. Aidarous al Zubaidi, the STC leader is seen as more popular in the south than Abdrabu Mansur Hadi the last and current elected president of united Yemen. Hadi has only briefly visited Yemen a few times since 2015 and spends most of his time in the Saudi capital. This is for Hadis safety, given the number of assassinations going on in Aden, where the Hadi government was moved to in 2015. The Saudis and the UAE do not agree on dividing Yemen once more but for the moment it is more convenient to support the STC and efforts to defeat the Iran backed Shia rebels

Many Yemenis trace the current crisis back to the civil war that ended, sort of, in 1994. That war was caused by the fact that, when the British left Yemen in 1967, their former colony in Aden became one of two countries called Yemen. The two Yemens finally united in 1990 but another civil war in 1994 was needed to seal the deal. That fix didn't really take and the north and south have been pulling apart ever since. This comes back to the fact that Yemen has always been a region, not a country. Like most of the rest of the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa region, the normal form of government until the 20th century was wealthier coastal city states nervously coexisting with interior tribes that got by on herding or farming (or a little of both) plus smuggling and other illicit sidelines. This whole "nation" idea is still looked on with some suspicion by many in the region. This is why the most common forms of government are the more familiar ones of antiquity; kingdom, emirate or modern variation in the form of a hereditary dictatorship. For a long time, the most active Yemeni rebels were the Shia Islamic militants in the north. They have always wanted to restore local Shia rule in the traditional tribal territories, led by the local imam (religious leader). This arrangement, after surviving more than a thousand years, was ended by the central government in 1962. Yemen also became the new headquarters of AQAP (al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) when Saudi Arabia was no longer safe for the terrorists after 2007. Then came ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and then an invading army of troops from oil-rich neighbors.

May 2, 2021: In the south (Dhalea province) STC forces drove Shia rebels out of the province which the rebels had long held because of the income obtained from the prosperous farms producing legal (coffee) and illegal (khat) products. The rebels had reduced their forces in Dhalea to sustain the Marib offensive and the STC saw an opportunity. A day of intense combat, causing about a hundred casualties, most of them rebels, and a withdrawal of rebel forces from areas they had controlled and exploited since 2019.

April 12, 2021: For the rebels there has been a major shift in targets for long-range weapons. Iran apparently ordered a shift to civilian targets in Saudi Arabia. This initially caused the Saudis to temporarily close some of the largest civil airports. There are continued Shia rebel attempts to attack these airports and destroy airliners and kill civilians. None these strikes have got past Saudi air defenses but the Saudis realized one cruise or ballistic missile warhead hitting any part of an airport or near one would be a major blow to the Saudi reputation for security from airstrikes or Islamic terrorist attacks. This is more important now because in 2019 the Saudis made changes to their visa laws and access to tourist attractions for all foreigners. This program was interrupted by the covid19 crises but that is now less of a problem and more tourists are beginning to arrive. The Saudis assume that this is why Iran has shifted its efforts to Saudi airports. The Iranians realize that many attacks can fail against such high-profiles targets but if one missile gets through, all the failed attacks are worth it. This sort of thing is a standard part of the Iranian playbook, as it the preference for using others (mercenaries or foreign clients) rather than make the attacks from Iran or using easily identifiable Iranian personnel.
SANT'ANTONINO, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / 1. The shareholders of Interroll Holding Ltd. approved all the recommendations of the Board of Directors with a large majority at the Annual General Meeting on May 7, 2021.

Due to the ongoing exceptional situation in connection with COVID-19 as well as official orders by the Swiss Federal Council and the government of the Canton of Ticino, the 2021 Annual General Meeting of Interroll was held this year once again in camera. However, shareholders were able to follow the meeting via livestream.

The shareholders approved in advance all proposals in electronic form or by written instruction to the independent proxy, including the total amount of compensation for the members of the Board of Directors for the period from the Annual General Meeting 2021 to the Annual General Meeting 2022 and the total amount of compensation for the members of the Interroll Group Management for the year 2021.

The appropriation of profits for the 2020 financial year was approved by a large majority. Shareholders will receive a dividend of CHF 27.00, an increase of CHF 4.50 compared to the previous year. Proposed amendments to the Articles of Incorporation, which newly regulate the chairmanship, the taking of minutes, and the vote counter, as well as the constitution of the Board of Directors, were also approved by a large majority.

All proposed members of the Board of Directors confirmed

Paul Zumbhl was newly elected to the Board of Directors as Chairman. Susanne Schreiber was elected as a new member of the Board of Directors, which now consists of seven members.

Contact:

Martin Regnet

Interroll (Switzerland) AG

Head of Communications & Investor Relations

Via Gorelle 3 a 6592 Sant'Antonino a Switzerland

+41 91 850 25 21

investor.relations@interroll.com

www.interroll.com

Interroll share

The registered shares of Interroll Holding AG are traded in the Main Standard of the SIX Swiss Exchange under the security number 637289.

Interroll profile

The Interroll Group is the world's leading provider of material handling solutions. The company was founded in 1959 and has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1997. Interroll supplies system integrators and plant manufacturers with a comprehensive range of platform-based products and services in the categories "Rollers" (conveyor rollers), "Drives" (motors and drives for conveyor systems), "Conveyors & Sorters" (conveyors & sorters) and "Pallet & Carton Flow" (flow storage). Interroll solutions are used in express and postal services, e-commerce, airports, food & beverage, fashion, automotive and other industries. The company counts leading brands such as Amazon, Bosch, Coca-Cola, DHL, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Walmart and Zalando among its users. Headquartered in Switzerland, Interroll has a global network of 34 companies with sales of around CHF 530.6 million and 2,300 employees (2020).

Additional features:

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SOURCE: Interroll Holding AG

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BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ogletree Deakins and KPMG Law in Germany1 are forming a global alliance to provide businesses with global workforce solutions. This alliance will be instrumental in expanding immigration and employment law reach for both organizations and will enable KPMG firms outside of the US2 to bring the US capability and services of Ogletree Deakins to their clients around the world.

The alliance is in response to growing client demand for a technology-powered, globally unified approach to business challenges faced in the areas of immigration and global mobility, labor and employment, and the associated tax, compensation, and benefits issues. This non-exclusive alliance with Ogletree Deakins does not include KPMG in the US or entities that it owns or controls, which do not provide legal services3.

As businesses expand and look to shore up recovery in the post-pandemic world, there is increasing pressure for multinational organizations seeking to get the right people in the right places at the right time, and in compliance with the requirements of any given jurisdiction, said Thomas Wolf, Head of Global Immigration Services for the KPMG organization. Ogletree Deakins labor, employment and immigration experience in the United States is a perfect fit for KPMGs organization of firms as we expand our global legal services practice4 and our global mobility services offerings around the world. We are excited to join forces with Ogletree Deakins to offer clients even deeper global coverage for their pressing employment and immigration legal matters.

Both Ogletree Deakins and KPMG Law in Germany are leaders in utilizing technology and innovation to enhance client service, including in the areas of artificial intelligence, data analytics and knowledge management. By combining the strengths of both organizations, this new alliance will provide clients with an increased breadth of technology solutions. KPMG Law in Germany is part of the broader KPMG Law / Global Legal Services network across KPMG firms, with 2,800 lawyers in 81 jurisdictions.

Ogletree Deakins is an international labor and employment firm and has established an extensive network of lawyers practicing in 53 offices across North America and in Europe to meet our clients needs. Our alliance with KPMG Law in Germany will benefit clients by complementing our US labor, employment and immigration offerings with end-to-end workplace solutionsincluding tax, compensation, global immigration, and related advisory and consulting services, over a truly global footprint. Our firm shares a vision with the KPMG network for client service, innovation and cutting-edge technology solutions, and we are already working together on a next generation mobility services platform, said Matt Keen, managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins.

About Ogletree Deakins

Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest US labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Premier client service, as outlined in the firms Client Pledge, is one of the firms top priorities and a cornerstone of its core values. U.S. News  Best Lawyers Best Law Firms has named Ogletree Deakins a Law Firm of the Year for 10 consecutive years. In 2021, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its Law Firm of the Year in the Litigation  Labor & Employment category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 900 attorneys located in 53 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, from small businesses to Fortune 50 companies. More: ogletree.com.

About KPMG International

KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 146 countries and territories and in FY20 had close to 227,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients. More: kpmg.com

_______________________________

1 The agreement will be initially signed by KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law in Germany), which is associated with KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprufungsgesellschaft, the German member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative, a Swiss entity. Other non-US member firms are expected to join this non-exclusive alliance over the next several months.

2 KPMG Law in Germany was established in 2007 and is an independent corporate law firm associated with KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprufungsgesellschaft and affiliated with the KPMG International Cooperative. This non-exclusive alliance with Ogletree Deakins does not include the KPMG US member firm or entities that it owns, or controls, which do not provide legal services. For cases where KPMG in the US clients require immigration and/or employment and labor law services, Ogletree Deakins may contract with these clients separately.

3 For cases where KPMG US clients require immigration and/or employment and labor law services, Ogletree Deakins would contract with these clients separately.

4 Certain member firms of the KPMG global organization, including KPMG in the US, do not provide legal services. For the purpose of this press release any commentary will be on general concepts only and is not in any way intended as legal advice or views on laws of any jurisdiction.

Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates and related entities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210509005026/en/

Ryan King

Ogletree Deakins

(404) 870-1742

ryan.king@ogletree.com

Lauren Ruiz

Ogletree Deakins

(404) 260-0645

lauren.ruiz@ogletree.com

Amy Diaz

KPMG International

(416) 777-3042

amydiaz@kpmg.ca

Source: KPMG
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Alumni New Venture Challenge (ANVC), a program dedicated to supporting University of Chicago alumni across the globe in launching and developing their startup ventures.

Seven teams presented their business plans to a panel of judges during a virtual finals event Thursday, May 6, for a chance at a $100,000 investment pool.

First place, and $50,000, was awarded to Rosita Longevity, based in Valencia, Spain. Cofounded by Chicago Booth alumni Juan Cartagena, MBA 12, and Clara Fernandez, MBA 19, Rosita Longevity is a mobile app that promotes healthy lifestyle habits for seniors, with the goal of increasing healthy life expectancy by five years.

Two teams that tied for second place each will receive $25,000.

Gravitrek, based in Arizona and cofounded by Booth alum Kira Burns, MBA 07, makes a walker-type device that simulates a reduced-gravity environment to help people with physical disabilities be more mobile.

Project Hive Pet Company, based in Minneapolis and cofounded by Melissa Rappaport Schiffman, MBA 94 MA 94, is a mission-driven brand of premium dog toys and treats that gives a share of proceeds to organizations that restore bee and butterfly habitats.

The camaraderie and support that teams showed one another was inspiring, said Gorana Kolar, senior associate director at the Polsky Center. And despite all the challenges of launching a business during a pandemic, the teams made tremendous progress and have so much to be proud of.

The ANVC, now in its third year, is one of five tracks of the New Venture Challenge, a top-ranked university accelerator at the Booth School of Business that has helped launch nearly 400 companies that are still active today. The NVC, a pioneering program when it launched in 1996, this year marks its 25th anniversary.

The alumni track, which is open to all University of Chicago alumni, is run out of six geographic regions, with alumni volunteering to serve as co-chairs to organize regional semi-finals events. Three of the regions are in North America, with the West Coast, Midwest and East Coast serving as hubs. The others are Asia-Pacific, Latin America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Of the 57 teams that applied to be in this years ANVC, 28 were selected to compete in the regional semi-finals, with access to mentors and online resources from the Polsky Center to help them prepare. Seven of those 28 teams advanced to the finals.

One of the truly special things about the ANVC is that it exemplifies the broad, global reach of the University of Chicago and its business school, said Dan Sachs, executive director of education and programs at the Polsky Center. It is a vehicle for building a global network of entrepreneurs that support each other in launching and growing businesses.

About the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation applies world-class business expertise from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to bring new ideas and breakthrough innovations to market. With a 60-person professional staff, the Polsky Center drives the creation of new ventures and commercial partnerships at the University of Chicago and beyond. As a global leader in entrepreneurship education, the Polsky Center is home of the Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge, one of the top accelerator programs in the nation. The Polsky Center provides training for aspiring entrepreneurs and those seeking a career in private equity, venture capital, and entrepreneurship through acquisition. Learn more at polsky.uchicago.edu and follow updates on Twitter @polskycenter.

Fill out the Get Started with the Polsky Center online form to access our resources and subscribe to our newsletters.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210507005440/en/

Media contact: Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, alexia.elejalde-ruiz@chicagobooth.edu

Source: Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago
Skin Releaf is on a mission to tackle skin issues for people of color

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Standard Chartered (Bank) is pleased to award Skin Releaf, the 2021 winner of its Women in Tech (WiT) Incubator Competition, $25,000 of seed money to support the development of its business plans.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005857/en/

Skin Releaf, winner of 2021 Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator Competition (Photo: Business Wire)

As part of the WiT program, Skin Releaf created an online platform to help people of color improve skin health through access to dermatologists and skin experts. This solution was selected as the winner by judges from both financial and professional services industries. The judges also awarded Nailerz, a digital marketplace that connects licensed nail technicians or small businesses with clients, second place. Nailerz received $5,000 funding to help advance their business idea.

"Special thanks to the Zahn staff and Standard Chartered. We are honored and grateful for this opportunity, said Camile Delva, CEO of Skin Releaf. This years startup competition has taught us a lot about ourselves and the communities we want to serve. From our weekly boot camps to our Round Robin practice pitches, we learned to identify the problems in our industries, created an innovative solution, and grew as a team. Our plan is to continue to utilize our knowledge, network, and experience to help us move forward."

Congratulations to the Skin Releaf team and everyone involved. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to celebrate the energy, creativity and effort of the many participants and volunteers throughout the program, said Steven Cranwell, CEO of Standard Chartered Americas. We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to realize their potential. And by providing support, mentorship opportunities and training with the Zahn Innovation Center, we hope to inspire and enable future generations of women-led businesses in New York.

This year marks the seventh anniversary of the Banks partnership with the Zahn Innovation Center (Zahn Center) at The City College of New York (CCNY). Since its launch, which initially had 17% female participants, the program reached gender parity in its third year. To date, over 1,000 students have benefitted from the program.

"We are so impressed by what the competitors were able to accomplish over the course of this program, particularly as most never had a chance to meet in person, said Kesia Hudson, Interim Director, Zahn Innovation Center at The City College of New York. Skin Releaf has identified a niche within the health and beauty industry. Providing access to reliable information and dermatological care will benefit so many people of color struggling with melanated skin issues. We are so excited for their product launches."

The incubator is part of the Banks Futuremakers initiative, a global effort where the Bank uses its expertise, staff volunteering and local partners to help young people access jobs and economic opportunities.

For more information on the Women in Tech Incubator, please visit here. To learn about Standard Chartered Americas other community engagement programs, please click here.

# # #

About the Women in Tech Incubator at the Zahn Innovation Center

Formed in October 2014, the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator program is an initiative that aims to support greater diversity in gender representation within the technology sector. The incubator program is a partnership with the Zahn Innovation Center at the City College of New York that provides support, guidance, and resources that early-stage women-led startups need to grow into successful businesses. This partnership has various levels of engagement and supports entrepreneurship among women across campus through:

A mentorship network, including both Bank employees and local leaders in tech and government

A Women in Entrepreneurship themed speaker series

A newly renovated space housing the Standard Chartered Technology Incubator for Women Entrepreneurs Resource Center

Entrepreneurship courses and material to address entrepreneurship challenges

About Standard Chartered

We are a leading international banking group, with a presence in 59 of the worlds most dynamic markets, and serving clients in a further 85. Our purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, and our heritage and values are expressed in our brand promise, Here for good.

Our history in the US dates back to 1902, and we are currently present in eight locations throughout the Americas. Our Americas franchise focuses on financial institutions and select corporates and plays a key role in facilitating trade and investment flows between the Americas and Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Standard Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.

For more stories and expert opinions please visit Insights at sc.com. Follow Standard Chartered on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

About the City College of New York

Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNYs annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the for dollar return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005857/en/

Chris Teo

Head of Corporate & Business Communications, Americas

Standard Chartered Bank

Tel: +1 212 667 0446

Email: Chris.Teo@sc.com

Sammi He

Communications Manager

Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing, Americas

Standard Chartered Bank

Tel: +1 862 448 8488

Email: Sammi.He@sc.com

Source: Standard Chartered
FILE PHOTO: A Marriott flag hangs at the entrance of the New York Marriott Downtown hotel in Manhattan, New York November 16, 2015. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

By Shreyasee Raj

(Reuters) -Marriott reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue because of fewer bookings in its main U.S. market, but the business showed a sharp rebound in China, which is emerging from the coronavirus pandemic at a faster pace.

It is a long road to recovery for Marriott and its smaller rival Hilton, analysts have said, as the hotel operators rely heavily on business travel, which remains weak due to border curbs in many countries.

Marriott, which gets about three quarters of its revenue from the United States and Canada, said its RevPAR, a key measure for a hotel's top line performance, fell 46.3% in the region, sending its shares down as much as 3.8%.

Greater China was the only market that showed positive occupancy growth as RevPAR surged nearly 77%, while it plunged 80% in Europe, making the continent the worst performing region due to the fresh restrictions that have been imposed.

"While recovery trajectories vary from region to region, the resiliency of demand has been most keenly demonstrated in mainland China, where occupancy is near the pre-pandemic level," Chief Executive Officer Tony Capuano said.

"Given rising COVID cases and strict restrictions in many countries (in Europe), 25% of the region's hotels are currently closed," he told analysts.

Last week, rival Hilton had said Asia, including China, was its only market with positive quarterly occupancy rates and the smallest year-over-year fall in RevPAR.

Marriott, which owns the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands, said more than 95% of its hotels were open globally.

The hotel operator's adjusted profit fell 33% to $296 million in the first quarter, below market expectation of $305.6 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Total revenue halved to $2.32 billion and missed Wall Street estimate of $2.36 billion.

(Reporting by Shreyasee Raj in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
FILE PHOTO: 888 7th Ave, a building that reportedly houses Archegos Capital is pictured amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) -The meltdown at Archegos Capital Management that triggered big losses at several banks highlighted the need to review rules on posting margin or cash against derivatives trades, the head of a global markets regulator said on Monday.

Archegos was highly exposed to ViacomCBS Inc, whose shares plunged in March, leaving the hedge fund facing a massive margin call from its prime broker banks. Archegos was unable to meet the call to secure equity swap trades the banks had partly financed.

"It's early days, but in my view incidents like these are valuable opportunities to test the effectiveness of these post-crisis reforms," Ashley Alder, chairman of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), told a conference held by derivatives industry body the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

"I am asking the IOSCO secretariat initially to do some work in this area," Alder said.

IOSCO, which groups market regulators from the United States, Europe and Asia, introduced tougher margin requirements on trades following the global financial crisis of 2008 in which derivatives played a role.

Alder said that in addition to these margin rules, prime brokers may and should choose to collect additional margin as part of their internal risk management.

"That is an area for further examination," Alder added.

To shine a light on the multitrillion-dollar derivatives market after the 2008 crisis, regulators required all transactions to be reported to trade repositories.

The Archegos incident provides a good opportunity to see if the repositories are working and whether the quality of their data gives regulators "a clear line of sight" to multiple prime brokers and spot risks before they blow up, Alder said.

Many repositories have sprung up in recent years, making it harder to get a clear snapshot of risks that can straddle borders and firms.

"I do think that more work needs to be done to ensure that potential red flags are more apparent to regulators ex-ante. We are on to this and we intend to pick this up at the international level," Alder said.

(Reporting by Huw Jones in LondonEditing by Susan Fenton and Matthew Lewis)
LONG BEACH, NY and LIMA PERU, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ipsidy Inc. (www.ipsidy.com) [OTCQB: IDTY], a leading provider of an Identity as a Service (IDaaS) platform delivering a suite of secure, mobile, biometric identity verification and authentication solutions, and BPSmart, an innovative technology provider servicing the North American and Latin American markets, announced that BPSmart will deploy Ipsidys biometric identity verification services to verify each customers identity when interacting with their AI-Powered Chat-based Digital Assistant Platform.

Intelligent chatbot applications perform online sales, customer and technical support conversations via text or text-to-speech, in lieu of providing direct contact with a live human. Increased consumer demand for seamless self-service as well as the benefits of reduced operational costs and quicker customer query resolution, is accelerating chatbot adoption across the banking, insurance, and lending segments as well as with outsourced customer support providers. With expanded digital services, however, comes increased opportunities for identity fraud and account takeover.

To provide the highest levels of security for their digital assistant platform without the fear of fraud, BPSmart will integrate Ipsidys innovative facial biometric platform services with its chatbot applications. Proof by Ipsidy delivers seamless identity verification with quick mobile identity document capture and tamper check, liveness confirmation and facial biometric matching of a selfie to the credential photo. Proof ensures the person presenting the identity is its legitimate owner and is physically present, thereby increasing trust that the BPSmart chatbot service is supporting the true account owner.

To ensure seamless customer authentication experiences and eliminate outdated and insecure knowledge-based or SMS-based authentication, BPSmart will also deploy Ipsidys Verified cloud-based, biometric multi-factor authentication solution. Rooted to a trusted identity obtained during the Proof process, Verified confirms a customers identity with a quick selfie when entering a chat-bot session. With the addition of Ipsidys identity verification and authentication services, BP Smart can help its client portfolio prevent fraud and deliver digital services with the highest level of identity assurance.

Digital transformation requires trusted identity, said Phillip Kumnick, Chairman and CEO of Ipsidy Inc. Our identity platform offers innovative solutions that are flexibile, fast, and easy to integrate and use. Our support for BPSmarts chatbot applications demonstrates Ipsidys ability to advance digital transformation efforts without the fear of identity fraud.

The intelligent digital assistant market is rapidly growing, and verification of an individuals identity creates the basis of a new form of trust, said Julio Mires, CEO of BPSmart. By adding Ipsidys identity services to our AI-powered, chatbot platform, BPSmart can help our clients mitigate identity fraud while offering their customers enhanced services with the highest level of identity assurance.

For further information about these exciting new solutions please contact info@bpsmart.ai or sales@ipsidy.com.

About Ipsidy Ipsidy Inc. (OTCQB: IDTY) www.ipsidy.com, is Digital Identity. Ipsidys mission is to ensure our customers know the identity of their users with biometric certainty. Our Identity as a Service (IDaaS) platform delivers a suite of secure, mobile, facial biometric identity solutions, available to any vertical, anywhere. Our robust identity verification and authentication solutions work great on their own but even better together to help answer everyday questions: Who is applying for a loan? Who is sending money? Who is requesting an account change? Ipsidy is committed to providing seamless, accurate and speedy identity solutions that establish security and trust in todays digital world.

Ipsidy is headquartered in New York and has operating subsidiaries: MultiPay in Colombia, www.multipay.com.co; Cards Plus in South Africa, www.cardsplus.co.za; Ipsidy Enterprises in the U.K. and Ipsidy Peru S.A.C. Further information on Ipsidy can be found at www.ipsidy.com or contact us at sales@ipsidy.com.

About BPSmart BPSmart is an innovative technology solutions provider focused on enterprise process management, including AI-driven smart sales, accounts-receivable management, and customer service, all with a design to make companies operational processes in these areas more efficient and cost effective.

BPSmart is headquartered in Lima, Peru and has operating subsidiaries in Bogota, Colombia and San Francisco, California. Further information on BPSmart can be found at www.bpsmart.ai or contact us at info@bpsmart.ai.

Contacts:

Ipsidy Inc. Phillip Kumnick, CEO and Chairman phillipkumnick@ipsidy.com+1 (516) 274-8700 Matthew Cordis, Director Business Development, Americas matthewcordis@ipsidy.com BPSmart Julio Mires, CEO julio.mires@bpsmart.ai+511 7447984

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsInformation contained in this announcement may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included herein, including, without limitation, those regarding the financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations of both Ipsidy and its business partners, future service launches with customers, the outcome of pilots and new initiatives and customer pipeline are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions regarding Ipsidy present and future business strategies, and the environment in which Ipsidy expects to operate in the future, which assumptions may or may not be fulfilled in practice. Implementation of some or all of the new services referred to is subject to regulatory or other third-party approvals. Actual results may vary materially from the results anticipated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of risk factors, including the risk that implementation, adoption and offering of the service by customers, consumers and others may take longer than anticipated, or may not occur at all; changes in laws, regulations and practices; changes in domestic and international economic and political conditions, the as yet uncertain impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and others. Additional risks may arise with respect to commencing operations in new countries and regions, of which Ipsidy is not fully aware at this time. See the Companys Annual Report Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2020 filed at www.sec.gov for other risk factors which investors should consider. These forward-looking statements speak only as to the date of this announcement and cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. Ipsidy expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any changes in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

Source: Ipsidy Inc
The SNP failing to gain a parliamentary majority and the Bank of England's improved UK economic growth forecasts are significant for the banks, the analysts said

PLC ( ) is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of the UK banks from the reduced uncertainty for the UK from the improving economy and diminishing threat of a Scottish independence vote, according to .

After the SNP failed to gain a majority in the weekends count of the election last week and following the upping its UK economic growth forecasts, the path of the recovery has become less uncertain, the Swiss investment bank said.

While risks remain, we think uncertainties have reduced, and hence we reduce our elevated cost of equity, Credit Suisse analysts Omar Keenan and Findlay Williams said in a note to clients published on Monday.

The lowering of the UK cost of equity from 11.5% to 11% resulted in increases in share price targets for the UK high street banks.

For Lloyds the target price was hiked 7% t0 58p, for PLC ( ) by 6% to 247p and for (LON:BRC) by 3% to 217p.

Relative to the FTSE 100 and the Euro Stoxx banks index, UK bank shares are still cheap relative to historic PE multiples, the analysts added, and also trade cheaper than normal relative to UK international banks PLC ( ) and ( ) despite the reducing uncertainties.

With all UK banks having seen positive earnings revisions in the past month except StanChart, the analysts said they think positive earnings revisions are likely to continue.

The next catalyst is expected to be an update from the Bank of England on the dividend payout restrictions that were put in place at the start of the pandemic, which is anticipated to come before 30 June.

Credit Suisses top pick in the sector is Lloyds, which has shown the best sequential improvement in net interest margins.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Finning International Inc. (TSX: FTT) (Finning, the Company, we, our or us) reported first quarter 2021 results today. All monetary amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

HIGHLIGHTSAll comparisons are to Q1 2020 results unless indicated otherwise.

Q1 2021 EPS(1) of $0.43 represented a 30% increase from Q1 2020 and included $0.05 of Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and $0.03 from the final return on our investment in Energyst. Q1 2021 Adjusted EPS(2)(3) was $0.35, up 6% from $0.33 in Q1 2020.

Q1 2021 revenue of $1.6 billion and net revenue(2) of $1.5 billion were up 2% compared to Q1 2020, higher in all operations. An increase in new and used equipment sales was partly offset by lower product support revenue, mostly due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in Chile and Canada.

SG&A(1) was down by $11 million or 3% compared to Q1 2020 reflecting savings from global cost and efficiency initiatives. Excluding long-term incentive plan (LTIP) expense in Q1 2021 and LTIP benefit in Q1 2020, first quarter SG&A was down $35 million or 10% year over year.

South America delivered a strong quarter despite difficult operating conditions due to a second wave of COVID-19 in Chile. Q1 2021 EBIT(1) as a percentage of net revenue(2) was 8.6%. Q1 2021 Adjusted ROIC(1)(2)(3) was 14.4%, the highest since Q3 2018.

Subsequent to the quarter, our South American operation received a notice of award from Chilean state-owned copper mining company, Codelco, to deliver new trucks, product support, and an autonomous technology pilot to its mining operations in northern Chile.

In the UK & Ireland, Q1 2021 backlog(2) was at record levels, driven by strong order intake(2) in construction, including additional orders for the HS2 project, and a significant backlog of power systems projects for data centre customers.

Consolidated equipment backlog increased by 57% from December 31, 2020 to $1.2 billion at March 31, 2021, the highest backlog since Q4 2018. Consolidated order intake was up by 33% from Q4 2020, the highest since Q1 2018, with all operations reporting a significant increase in order intake.

Q1 2021 free cash flow(2) was a use of cash of $20 million compared to a use of cash of $50 million in Q1 2020. Over the last twelve months, we have generated $900 million in free cash flow, significantly strengthening our balance sheet.

We are encouraged by the build-up of equipment backlog in all our regions and product support activity strengthening through the first quarter. We are seeing strong quoting activity for equipment and product support across all market sectors. In the UK & Ireland, we have secured additional equipment orders for HS2. In South America, we are very pleased to build on our long-term relationship with Codelco to deliver and support the new Caterpillar ultra-class truck fleet at its Radomiro Tomic mine and pilot Caterpillars autonomous solution at the Ministro Hales mine. We continued to navigate through COVID-19 restrictions in all our operations to safely provide service to our customers while positioning our business for an improving demand environment. We are optimistic about market recovery gaining momentum in the second half of 2021 as the vaccine rollout ramps up in each of our regions, said Scott Thomson, president and CEO of Finning International.

I am confident that we have positioned the business for strong performance going forward. In 2021, we expect to benefit from operating leverage in a recovering market, product support growth in all regions, significant progress towards our mid-cycle target of 17% SG&A as a percentage of net revenue(2), and the effective allocation of capital. We expect our business to continue demonstrating improved earnings capacity in the upcoming quarters as we execute on our profitability drivers. Despite slower than anticipated vaccine rollout in Canada and continued challenges related to COVID-19, we expect our 2021 earnings to exceed 2019, concluded Scott Thomson, president and CEO of Finning International.

Q1 2021 FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Quarterly Overview $ millions, except per share amounts Q1 2021 Q1 2020 % change Revenue 1,596 1,558 2 Net revenue 1,469 1,439 2 EBIT 108 94 15 EBIT as a percentage of net revenue 7.4 % 6.6 % EBITDA(1)(2) 185 170 9 EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue(2) 12.6 % 11.8 % Net income 70 54 30 EPS 0.43 0.33 30 Free cash flow (20 ) (50 ) 60

Q1 2021 EBIT and EBITDA by Operation$ millions, except per share amounts Canada South America UK & Ireland Corporate & Other Finning Total EPS EBIT / EPS 69 41 7 (9 ) 108 0.43 CEWS support (10 ) - - - (10 ) (0.05 ) Return on investment in Energyst - - - (5 ) (5 ) (0.03 ) Adjusted EBIT(2)(3) / Adjusted EPS 59 41 7 (14 ) 93 0.35 Adjusted EBIT as a percentage of net revenue(2)(3) 7.7 % 8.6 % 3.2 % n/m(1) 6.3 % Adjusted EBITDA(2)(3) 105 61 17 (13 ) 170 Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue(2)(3) 13.6 % 12.8 % 7.9 % n/m 11.6 %

Q1 2020 EBIT and EBITDA by Operation$ millions, except per share amounts Canada South America UK & Ireland Corporate & Other Finning Total EPS EBIT / EPS 60 38 1 (5 ) 94 0.33 EBIT as a percentage of net revenue 7.9 % 7.8 % 0.5 % n/m 6.6 % EBITDA 103 60 11 (4 ) 170 EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue 13.7 % 12.4 % 5.2 % n/m 11.8 %

Q1 2021 INVESTED CAPITAL(2) AND ROIC(2) SUMMARYAll comparisons are to Q1 2020 results unless indicated otherwise.

Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, invested capital decreased by $575 million from March 31, 2020 driven primarily by improved inventory management in all operations and lower property, plant, and equipment.

Inventory turns(2) of 2.83 increased by 26% from Q1 2020 to the highest level since 2012. Working capital to net revenue ratio(2) of 25.9% was down by 300 basis points from Q1 2020, driven by significantly improved working capital(2) performance in South America and the UK & Ireland.

Adjusted ROIC in South America was up 220 basis points from Q1 2020, driven by improved working capital performance, including the monetization of excess inventory. On a consolidated basis, lower Adjusted ROIC compared to Q1 2020 reflects challenging market conditions due to COVID-19 impacts.

Invested Capital and ROIC Q1 2021 Q1 2020 Invested capital ($ millions) Consolidated 3,177 3,883 Canada 1,832 2,093 South America (US dollars) 781 937 UK & Ireland (UK pound sterling) 202 243 Invested capital turnover(2) (times) 1.78 1.83 Working capital to net revenue ratio 25.9 % 28.9 % Inventory ($ millions) 1,593 2,152 Inventory turns (dealership) (times) 2.83 2.25 Adjusted ROIC (%) Consolidated 10.0 12.0 Canada 10.8 14.2 South America 14.4 12.2 UK & Ireland 7.6 8.4

Q1 2021 HIGHLIGHTS BY OPERATIONAll comparisons are to Q1 2020 results unless indicated otherwise. All numbers are in functional currency: Canada  Canadian dollar; South America  US dollar; UK & Ireland  UK pound sterling (GBP).

Canada

Net revenue increased by 2%, driven by strong used equipment sales, particularly in mining. In response to improving customer demand and extended lead times for new equipment, we have increased our focus on rebuilds and re-sale of used equipment to capture market recovery.

Product support revenue declined by 4% due to the continued capital and cost constraints of our customers in the oil sands and softer market conditions in construction at the start of the quarter compared to Q1 2020. Compared to Q4 2020, product support revenue increased by 4%, driven by improved demand and stronger rebuild activity in the construction sectors.

Rental revenue was down 19% year over year due to work stoppages at certain pipeline and construction sites to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

We continued to qualify for CEWS and recognized $10 million of this wage subsidy in Q1 2021, which is included in other income and excluded from our adjusted earnings. Support from the CEWS program has allowed us to preserve jobs, as well as rehire and retrain our workforce. We have rehired close to 150 technicians since June 2020. Our OEM Remanufacturing facility in Edmonton has returned to a 3-shift operation, and we have been able to continue delivering our apprentice program throughout the pandemic. Our strong financial position is enabling us to make strategic investments early in the recovery cycle, including capacity expansions and the construction of new facilities in partnership with local Indigenous communities.

Adjusted EBIT as a percentage of net revenue was 7.7%, down 20 basis points compared to Q1 2020 due to a decline in gross profit as a percentage of net revenue mostly from a lower proportion of product support in the revenue mix. SG&A decreased by 7% from Q1 2020 on higher revenues, reflecting cost savings from restructuring activities and improved operating efficiencies.

4Refuel delivered strong performance, with a 3% increase in net revenue and a 21% increase in Adjusted EBITDA compared to Q1 2020. We are accelerating revenue synergies between Finning and 4Refuel. As part of 4Refuels growing relationship with AECON, in addition to equipment, we will be supplying fuel to Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors Joint Venture over the next three years for highway upgrades through the Kicking Horse Canyon in British Columbia.

South America

Net revenue was up 7% from Q1 2020, driven by a 58% increase in new equipment sales reflecting improved activity in the construction and mining sectors, including deliveries to Tecks QB2 project.

Product support revenue was down 3%, impacted by COVID-19 restrictions in Chilean mining operations which led to lower copper production in the quarter. Chile copper production in Q1 2021 declined by 2% from Q1 2020 and was down 7% from Q4 2020.

Despite difficult operating conditions due to a second wave of COVID-19 in Chile, South America delivered a strong quarter. EBIT as a percentage of net revenue was 8.6%, up 80 basis points from Q1 2020, reflecting improved execution to capture growth opportunities and increased operating efficiencies. Adjusted ROIC was 14.4%, the highest since Q3 2018, driven by improved working capital performance, including the sale of excess inventory.

Subsequent to the quarter, we received a notice of award from Codelco to supply 22 Caterpillar 797F off-highway trucks to the Radomiro Tomic open pit copper mine and support the fleet under a 5-year maintenance and repair contract. We expect to start delivering the trucks in the second half of 2021. In addition, we have secured a 5-year extension of our existing product support contract with Codelcos Ministro Hales copper mine, which operates 39 Caterpillar ultra-class trucks, 6 Caterpillar shovels, and a fleet of Caterpillar support equipment. We will also work closely with Caterpillar and Codelcos Ministro Hales Division to pilot Caterpillars AHS (Autonomous Haulage System) to enable autonomous operations at the Ministro Hales copper mine.

United Kingdom & Ireland

Net revenue was up by 2% from Q1 2020, driven by higher product support revenue and power systems project deliveries to data centre customers.

EBIT as a percentage of net revenue was 3.2% compared to 0.5% in Q1 2020, driven by a shift in revenue mix to product support and improved operating efficiencies.

The record backlog in the UK & Ireland reflects strong order intake in construction, including additional equipment orders related to HS2, and a significant backlog of power systems projects for data centre customers.

Q1 2021 MARKET UPDATE AND BUSINESS OUTLOOK

The discussion of our expectations relating to the market and business outlook in this section is forward-looking information that is based upon the assumptions and subject to the material risks discussed under the heading Forward-Looking Information Caution at the end of this news release. Actual outcomes and results may vary significantly.

Canada

In the oil sands, our customers are increasing production while remaining disciplined on capital expenditures, which is expected to drive improved demand for rental equipment and increased fleet utilization. We expect higher product support activity in the oil sands in 2021 compared to 2020. Our expectation assumes sustainment of strong oil prices and that the Alberta government will not re-impose oil production curtailments. The improved outlook for copper, precious and base metals is expected to continue supporting increased mining activity in Western Canada. We are actively quoting on multiple requests for proposals for equipment and product support, including projects in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, which represent significant greenfield opportunities. The large and aging mining equipment population is expected to drive opportunities for future fleet renewals, rebuilds, autonomy conversions, and continued demand for product support. We are also well positioned to help our mining customers reduce cost per ton and improve operating efficiencies through initiatives such as autonomy and leveraging our technology solutions. Approximately 7% of large and ultra-class Caterpillar off-highway trucks operated by our mining customers in Western Canada are currently autonomous, and we expect this ratio to increase to 10% by the end of 2021.

The federal and provincial governments fiscal stimulus programs are expected to have a positive impact on construction activity as major projects are awarded. Significant private sector investment in LNG and power projects are expected to continue to drive demand for equipment, product support, heavy rentals, and prime and standby electric power generation in 2021. We are seeing an increase in order intake for construction equipment and are capturing increased product support market share in the construction sector by leveraging our rebuild programs and technology solutions. We expect improved utilization of our heavy rental equipment at pipeline construction sites during the second quarter as our customers have resumed work. Although COVID-19 restrictions at customer sites have eased, high infection rates continue to pose a near-term risk given slower than expected vaccine rollout in western Canada.

South America

We remain optimistic about mining recovery in Chile. We are actively quoting on multiple opportunities for new mining equipment and autonomous solutions for both brownfield expansions and greenfield projects. According to Cochilco, the Chilean Copper Commission, Chiles portfolio of mining projects includes about US$20 billion of investment in brownfield project expansions over the next two years.

In the near term, COVID-19 restrictions are expected to continue to limit the capacity of mining operations. We are monitoring the mining industrys response to a second wave and expect mining product support revenue to recover in the second half of 2021 as customers resume major maintenance work. We reached agreements with our own unions, and we are closely monitoring our customers upcoming union negotiations.

The outlook for the Chilean construction industry is positive, supported by the governments public investment in infrastructure. We are seeing improved customer activity and order intake in the construction markets in Chile. We continue to monitor the political and economic reform process in Chile leading up to general elections in November 2021.

In Argentina, we expect recovery in construction activity in 2021 and stable activity in gold mining and oil and gas. We expect the overall business environment in Argentina to remain challenging, and are actively managing key risks, including ARS devaluation.

UK & Ireland

The outlook for general construction equipment markets in the UK has improved, driven by optimism about a post-COVID economic recovery, a ramp-up of HS2 construction activity, and the UK governments tax incentives. Our backlog at March 31, 2021 includes 83 million of equipment orders related to HS2, and we expect to start delivering equipment to this project in Q2 2021.

Strong demand for our power systems solutions, particularly in the data centre market, is expected to continue. We expect power systems project deliveries to accelerate in the second half of 2021 and into 2022.

Improved Earnings Capacity in a Recovery

Our overall outlook for 2021 remains positive, underpinned by our strong backlog. We are optimistic about market recovery gaining momentum in the second half of 2021 as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout ramps up in each of our regions. However, we expect 2021 revenue to remain below 2019 levels.

In 2021, we expect to benefit from several profitability drivers, including operating leverage in a recovering market, product support growth in all regions, significant progress towards our mid-cycle SG&A target, and effective allocation of capital. Despite slower than anticipated vaccine rollout in Canada and continued challenges related to COVID-19, we expect our 2021 earnings to exceed 2019.

We expect to deliver strong annual free cash flow in 2021. However, with increased inventory purchases and related cash usage, our annual EBITDA to free cash flow conversion(2) is projected to be modestly below 50% for the year.

CORPORATE AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

Dividend

The Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.205 per share, payable on June 10, 2021 to shareholders of record on May 27, 2021. This dividend will be considered an eligible dividend for Canadian income tax purposes.

Renewal of Share Repurchase Program

We have received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") to renew our normal course issuer bid (NCIB) to purchase for cancellation up to 8,000,000 of our common shares, representing approximately 5% of the total common shares issued and outstanding of 162,393,066 common shares as at May 7, 2021.

The NCIB, which will begin on May 13, 2021 and end no later than May 12, 2022, will be conducted through the facilities of the TSX or other Canadian marketplaces or alternative trading systems, if eligible, and will conform to their rules and regulations.

Our Board of Directors believe that, from time to time, the purchase by Finning of its common shares represents a desirable use of its available cash to increase shareholder value.

The average daily trading volume of our common shares over the six-month period ending April 30, 2021, as calculated in accordance with TSX rules, was 385,026 common shares. Consequently, under TSX rules, we will be allowed to purchase daily, through the facilities of the TSX, a maximum of 96,256 common shares representing 25% of such average daily trading volume, subject to certain exceptions for block purchases. All shares purchased pursuant to the normal course issuer bid will be cancelled.

Purchases under the normal course issuer bid will be made by means of open market transactions or such other means as the TSX may permit. The price to be paid by Finning for any common share will be the market price at the time of acquisition, plus brokerage fees, or such other price as the TSX may permit.

Under the current NCIB, which expires on May 10, 2021, we obtained approval to purchase up to 8,000,000 common shares. We did not purchase any common shares under the current NCIB.

SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

$ millions, except per share amounts Three months ended March 31 2021 2020 % changefav (unfav) New equipment 403 353 14 Used equipment 103 68 51 Equipment rental 45 53 (15 ) Product support 887 934 (5 ) Net fuel and other 31 31 - Net revenue 1,469 1,439 2 Gross profit 407 418 (3 ) Gross profit as a percentage of net revenue(2) 27.7 % 29.1 % SG&A (314 ) (325 ) 3 SG&A as a percentage of net revenue (21.4 )% (22.6 )% Equity earnings of joint ventures - 1 Other income 15 - EBIT 108 94 15 EBIT as a percentage of net revenue 7.4 % 6.6 % Adjusted EBIT 93 94 (2 ) Adjusted EBIT as a percentage of net revenue 6.3 % 6.6 % Net income 70 54 30 Basic EPS 0.43 0.33 30 Adjusted EPS 0.35 0.33 6 EBITDA 185 170 9 EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue 12.6 % 11.8 % Adjusted EBITDA 170 170 - Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue 11.6 % 11.8 % Free cash flow (20 ) (50 ) 60 Mar 31, 2021 Dec 31, 2020 Invested capital 3,177 3,067 Invested capital turnover (times) 1.78 1.68 Net debt to EBITDA ratio(2) 1.3 1.2 Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio(2)(3) 1.5 1.4 ROIC 12.5 % 11.4 % Adjusted ROIC 10.0 % 9.6 %

To access Finning's complete Q1 2021 results in PDF, please visit our website at https://www.finning.com/en_CA/company/investors.html

Q1 2021 INVESTOR CALLThe Company will hold an investor call on May 11, 2021 at 10:00 am Eastern Time. Dial-in numbers: 1-800-319-4610 (Canada and US), 1-416-915-3239 (Toronto area), 1-604-638-5340 (international). The investor call will be webcast live and archived for three months. The webcast and accompanying presentation can be accessed at https://www.finning.com/en_CA/company/investors.html.

ABOUT FINNINGFinning International Inc. (TSX: FTT) is the worlds largest Caterpillar equipment dealer delivering unrivalled service to customers for 88 years. Finning sells, rents, and provides parts and service for equipment and engines to help customers maximize productivity. Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., the Company operates in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

CONTACT INFORMATIONAmanda HobsonSenior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury Phone: 604-331-4865Email: amanda.hobson@finning.com https://www.finning.com

FOOTNOTES

(1) Earnings Before Finance Costs and Income Taxes (EBIT); Basic Earnings per Share (EPS); Earnings Before Finance Costs, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA); Selling, General & Administrative Expenses (SG&A); Return on Invested Capital (ROIC); not meaningful (n/m). (2) These financial metrics, referred to as non-GAAP financial measures, do not have a standardized meaning under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which are also referred to herein as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. For additional information regarding these financial metrics, including definitions and reconciliations from each of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable measure under GAAP, where available, see the heading Description of Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations in the Companys Q1 2021 management discussion and analysis (MD&A). Management believes that providing certain non-GAAP financial measures provides users of the Companys MD&A and consolidated financial statements with important information regarding the operational performance and related trends of the Company's business. By considering these measures in combination with the comparable IFRS financial measures (where available) set out in the MD&A, management believes that users are provided a better overall understanding of the Company's business and its financial performance during the relevant period than if they simply considered the IFRS financial measures alone. (3) Certain financial metrics were impacted by significant items management does not consider indicative of operational and financial trends either by nature or amount; these significant items are described on pages 5 and 24-25 of the MD&A. The financial metrics that have been adjusted to take into account these items are referred to as Adjusted metrics.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CAUTION

This news release contains information that is forward-looking. Information is forward-looking when we use what we know and expect today to give information about the future. In particular, the discussion under the heading Q1 2021 Market Update and Business Outlook section of this news release is forward-looking information and is subject to this disclaimer including the assumptions and material risk factors referred to below. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the following: our expectations to start delivering trucks to Codelcos Radomiro Tomic copper mine in the second half of 2021 and related to piloting Caterpillars AHS technology to enable autonomous operations at Codelcos Ministro Hales copper mine; that we are optimistic about market recovering gaining momentum in the second half of 2021 (based on our assumption about COVID-19 vaccine rollout ramping up in each of our regions); that we have positioned the business for strong performance going forward; our expectation that in 2021 we will benefit from operating leverage in a recovering market, product support growth in all regions, significant progress towards our mid-cycle target of 17% SG&A as a percentage of net revenue, and the effective allocation of capital; our expectation that our business will continue demonstrating improved earnings capacity in the upcoming quarters as we execute on our profitability drivers; our expectation that our 2021 earnings will exceed 2019; our supply, through 4Refuel, of fuel to Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors Joint Venture over the next three years for highway upgrades through the Kicking Horse Canyon in British Columbia; the Canadian income tax treatment of the quarterly dividend; and potential purchases of our common shares under our normal course issuer bid. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws.

Unless we indicate otherwise, forward-looking information in this news release reflects our expectations at the date in this news release. Except as may be required by Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Forward-looking information, by its very nature, is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties and is based on a number of assumptions. This gives rise to the possibility that actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking information and that our business outlook, objectives, plans, strategic priorities and other information that is not historical fact may not be achieved. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information will materialize. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by this forward-looking information include: the impact and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken by governments and businesses in response; general economic and market conditions and economic and market conditions in the regions where we operate; foreign exchange rates; commodity prices; the impact of changes in the UKs trade relationship with the European Union as a result of Brexit; the level of customer confidence and spending, and the demand for, and prices of, our products and services; our ability to maintain our relationship with Caterpillar; our dependence on the continued market acceptance of our products, including Caterpillar products, and the timely supply of parts and equipment; our ability to continue to sustainably reduce costs and improve productivity and operational efficiencies while continuing to maintain customer service; our ability to manage cost pressures as growth in revenue occurs; our ability to negotiate satisfactory purchase or investment terms and prices, obtain necessary regulatory or other approvals, and secure financing on attractive terms or at all; our ability to manage our growth strategy effectively; our ability to effectively price and manage long-term product support contracts with our customers; our ability to reduce costs in response to slowing activity levels; our ability to drive continuous cost efficiency in a recovering market; our ability to attract sufficient skilled labour resources as market conditions, business strategy or technologies change; our ability to negotiate and renew collective bargaining agreements with satisfactory terms for our employees and us; the intensity of competitive activity; our ability to raise the capital needed to implement our business plan; regulatory initiatives or proceedings, litigation and changes in laws or regulations; stock market volatility; changes in political and economic environments in the regions where we carry on business; our ability to respond to climate change-related risks; the occurrence of natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, geo-political events, acts of terrorism, social unrest or similar disruptions; fluctuations in defined benefit pension plan contributions and related pension expenses; the availability of insurance at commercially reasonable rates and whether the amount of insurance coverage will be adequate to cover all liability or loss that we incur; the potential of warranty claims being greater than we anticipate; the integrity, reliability and availability of, and benefits from, information technology and the data processed by that technology; and our ability to protect our business from cybersecurity threats or incidents, and with respect to our normal course issuer bid, our share price from time to time and our decisions about use of capital. Forward-looking information is provided in this news release for the purpose of giving information about managements current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of our operating environment. However, readers are cautioned that it may not be appropriate to use such forward-looking information for any other purpose.

Forward-looking information made in this news release is based on a number of assumptions that we believed were reasonable on the day the information was given, including but not limited to the specific assumptions stated above; that we will be able to successfully manage our business through the current challenging times involving the effects of the COVID-19 response and low and/or volatile commodity prices and successfully implement our COVID-19 risk management plans; An undisrupted market recovery, for example, undisrupted by COVID-19 impacts, commodity price volatility or social unrest; the successful execution of our profitability drivers; that our cost actions to drive earnings capacity in a recovery can be sustained; that commodity prices will remain at constructive levels; that our customers will not curtail their increasing capital expenditures; that general economic and market conditions will improve; that the level of customer confidence and spending, and the demand for, and prices of, our products and services will be maintained; our ability to successfully execute our plans and intentions; our ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition will remain at similar levels; the products and technology offered by our competitors will be as expected; that identified opportunities for growth will result in revenue; consistent and stable legislation in the various countries in which we operate; no disruptive changes in the technology environment and that our current good relationships with Caterpillar, our customers and our suppliers, service providers and other third parties will be maintained; sustainment of strengthened oil prices and the Alberta government will not re-impose production curtailments; quoting activity for requests for proposals for equipment and product support is reflective of opportunities; and strong recoveries particularly in Chile and the UK. Some of the assumptions, risks, and other factors which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are discussed in our current AIF and in our annual MD&A for the financial risks, including for updated risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We caution readers that the risks described in the AIF and in the annual and most recent quarterly MD&A are not the only ones that could impact the Company. We cannot accurately predict the full impact that COVID-19 will have on our business, results of operations, financial condition or the demand for our services, due in part to the uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the virus, the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, the steps our customers and suppliers may take in current circumstances, including slowing or halting operations, the duration of travel and quarantine restrictions imposed by governments of affected countries and other steps that may be taken by such governments to respond to the pandemic. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that are currently deemed to be immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operation.

Source: Finning International Inc
LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Probate and Conservatorship Attorney Lisa MacCarley, a fervent supporter of the #FreeBritney movement, announced she will be featured in the upcoming BBC Select documentary The Battle for Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship which will air on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. In the 60-minute documentary by BAFTA award-winning journalist Mobeen Azhar, Ms. MacCarley answers questions about the troubling manner in which Ms. Spears conservatorship was first established.

Lisa MacCarley has been an active proponent of reforming the Conservatorship and Guardianship courts. In early 2020, she founded the non-profit Bettys Hope to bring attention to deficiencies in our nations conservatorship and guardianship courts. When fully effectuated, Bettys Hope will provide a system of training and supervising attorneys representing persons facing and in conservatorship, similar to the Public Defenders office for criminal defendants but staffed by attorneys who have expertise in representing adults alleged to be incapacitated.

The inspiration for Bettys Hope came from my involvement with two families, both with loved ones named Betty, states Ms. MacCarley. Each family experienced needless trauma, exploitation and abuse due to the present, court-appointed lawyer system. Currently, court-appointed lawyers do not receive any meaningful training or supervision and yet the local Probate Courts have come to rely, almost exclusively, upon reports and recommendations by these lawyers. The system is clearly broken, as evidenced by movies such as Netflixs I Care A Lot, and the chilling episode of Dirty Money featuring Guardians, but no one is looking at the lack of training, supervision and accountability of the lawyers who are selected by the bench officers for these important roles.

In addition to the BBC documentary, Attorney MacCarley was also recently interviewed for the podcast Toxic: The Britney Spears Story, which will air on Stitcher, a subsidiary of NPR, this summer. In their podcast Britneys Gram, journalists Tess Barker and Barbara Gray discuss Britneys controversial conservatorship and uncover disturbing truths about our legal system.

In Toxic: The Britney Spears Story, says Ms. MacCarley, I talk about policies and practices used in the Los Angeles County probate courts which are inconsistent with the Rule of Law as set forth by California State legislators. These practices and policies, such as having a court-appointed lawyer render an opinion about their own clients capacity to hire counsel, absolutely result in injustice.

As a probate and conservatorship attorney for over 25 years, I have seen injustices result from the failure to abide by the law. Failure to abide by the law, coupled with a staggering lack of empathy and understanding, often results in financial and psychological harm. I am hoping to bring attention to the fact that our nations conservatorship and guardianship courts must be more strenuously trained and supervised. Our elders and other persons facing conservatorship deserve much better representation than what is presently be offered.

The Battle for Britney: Fans, Cash and a Conservatorship will air on May 11, 2021 on BBC Select, which can be accessed through Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video.

For more information on Bettys Hope, go to: www.BettysHope.com or you can read more on Facebook at: BettysHope.

MEDIA INQUIRIES:For more information please contact:Attorney Lisa MacCarley: (818) 241-5800Email: lisa.maccarley@gmail.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/86c6ad31-0e2d-46fa-9fd8-263db699753d

Probate and Conservatorship Attorney Lisa MacCarley Lisa MacCarley, Attorney at Law and Founder of Bettys' Hope

Source: Lisa MacCarley, Attorney at Law
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ValOre Metals Corp. (ValOre; TSXV: VO; OTC: KVLQF; Frankfurt: KEQ0, the Company) today provided an exploration update for ValOres 100%-owned Angilak Property Uranium Project (Angilak), located in Nunavut Territory, Canada.

Angilak represents a world-class advanced uranium exploration project with tremendous upside potential, stated ValOres Vice President Exploration, Colin Smith. Hosting one of the worlds highest-grade uranium resources with favorable metallurgy, and in a vastly-underexplored uranium-rich district, we aim to add tangible value to future exploration programs through the acquisition and interpretation of WorldView spectral data, re-processing the substantial geophysical and geochemical datasets, and a subsequent integrated targeting review for the entire project.

Angilak Uranium Project Highlights

The 49,619-hectare Angilak Property is situated in the mining- and exploration-friendly Nunavut Territory, Canada, and has district-scale potential for uranium, precious and base metals. Since acquisition, ValOre has invested over C$55 million on resource delineation and exploration drilling (89,572 metres in 589 drill holes), metallurgy, geophysics, geochemistry, and logistics across the large land package. This work supported the development of the significant Lac 50 Trend NI 43-101 inferred resource estimate (Lac 50).

The Lac 50 NI 43-101 Technical Report (effective date March 1, 2013) defined an inferred resource estimate which represents Canadas highest-grade uranium resource outside of Saskatchewan, and one of highest-grade uranium resources on a global basis. Highlights include:

43.3 million pounds U 3 O 8 in 2,831,000 tonnes grading 0.69% U3O8. CLICK HERE for a summary table of the Lac 50 Trend inferred resource estimate;

in 2,831,000 tonnes grading 0.69% U3O8. CLICK HERE for a summary table of the Lac 50 Trend inferred resource estimate; Supported by 351 resource delineation drill holes totaling 62,023 metres (m);

Metallurgical results for Lac 50 demonstrate high uranium recoveries and rapid leach kinetics. See news releases: February 28, 2013, September 11, 2013 and February 27, 2014;

Lac 50 Trend is a 15 kilometre (km) by 3 km area with excellent potential for resource growth and new discoveries;

Uranium mineralization starts at surface, and has been drilled to 400 m vertical depth;

Upside exploration potential includes 11 pre-resource targets with high-grade uraniferous drill intercepts on parallel structures outside the current resource area.

The broader Angilak Property represents a district-scale opportunity, with ValOres land position covering 55 km of the margin of the highly prospective Angikuni Basin. The planned targeting work in 2021 could have significant impact on future exploration, discovery, and resource expansion programs.

CLICK HERE for ValOres May 6, 2021 video summarizing the highlights of Angilak.

CLICK HERE for ValOres May 6, 2021 video reviewing the 2021 focus for Angilak.

Q2 2021 Exploration Plans to Drive Property-Wide Targeting and Future Discoveries

WorldView Spectral Data Acquisition

ValOre is acquiring 466 km2 (46,600 hectares) of new WorldView spectral data and high-spatial resolution imagery covering 100% of the high-priority targets and prospective basin-margin at the Angilak Property in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The WorldView-3 (WV-3) satellite provides the highest-resolution commercially available satellite imagery in the world, capturing data to a 50-cm pixel size, with both Visible-Near-Infrared (VNIR) and Short-Wave-Infrared (SWIR) spectra. This enables regional spectral mapping of prospective geology, alteration, and mineralogy at a boulder-scale. The Angilak WorldView data will augment ValOres extensive existing exploration dataset for Angilak, which includes district-wide geochemistry, geophysics, geological mapping and over 89,000 m of drilling.

Geophysics and Geochemistry

Together with WorldView spectral data acquisition, ValOre is re-processing historical Angilak geophysical and geochemical datasets. Geophysical surveys to date include district-wide airborne magnetics, airborne radiometrics, airborne time-domain electromagnetics (TDEM), airborne frequency-domain electromagnetics (FDEM), ground very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM), ground gravity and ground seismic. Re-processed geophysical data will provide critical exploration constraints on Lac 50 Trend resource expansion targets, pre-resource drill-confirmed uranium targets and untested geochemical anomalies throughout the Angilak Property.

The Angilak geochemical database includes downhole multielement assay data for 589 drill holes, totaling 89,572 metres (463 core holes and 126 RC holes), 897 rock samples, 3,209 conventional soils, 1,539 Enzyme Leach soils and 75 mobile metal ion (MMI) soil samples. ValOres 2021 focus will include state of the art re-processing of the extensive drill assay database, followed by an integrated targeting review for the entire district.

The application of WorldView spectral data paired with re-processed geophysical datasets at ValOres 100%-owned Pedra Branca Platinum Group Elements (PGE) Project in northeastern Brazil led to the 2020 drilling discovery at the C-04 target, which graded up to 7.95 grams per tonne palladium + platinum + gold (g/t 2PGE+Au) at surface and returned 2PGE+Au mineralization in three of three 2020 core drill holes. CLICK HERE for ValOres news release dated October 27, 2020.

About WorldView Spectra Data

CLICK HERE for ValOres summary of WorldView spectral data, and CLICK HERE for additional information from DigitalGlobe on the Hi-Res WV-3 orbiting system.

Qualified Person (QP)

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Colin Smith, P.Geo., ValOres VP Exploration.

About ValOre Metals Corp.

ValOre Metals Corp. (TSXV: VO) is a Canadian company with a portfolio of highquality exploration projects. ValOres team aims to deploy capital and knowledge on projects which benefit from substantial prior investment by previous owners, existence of high-value mineralization on a large scale, and the possibility of adding tangible value through exploration, process improvement, and innovation.

In May 2019, ValOre announced the acquisition of the Pedra Branca Platinum Group Elements (PGE) property, in Brazil, to bolster its existing Angilak uranium, Genesis/Hatchet uranium and Baffin gold projects in Canada.

The Pedra Branca PGE Project comprises 39 exploration licenses covering a total area of 39,987 hectares (98,810 acres) in northeastern Brazil. At Pedra Branca, 5 distinct PGE+Au deposit areas host, in aggregate, a current Inferred Resource of 1,067,000 ounces 2PGE+Au contained in 27.2 million tonnes grading 1.22 g/t 2PGE+Au (see ValOres July 23, 2019 news release). All the currently known Pedra Branca inferred PGE resources are potentially open pittable.

Comprehensive exploration programs have demonstrated the "District Scale" potential of ValOres Angilak Property in Nunavut Territory, Canada that hosts the Lac 50 Trend having a current Inferred Resource of 2,831,000 tonnes grading 0.69% U3O8, totaling 43.3 million pounds U3O8. For disclosure related to the inferred resource for the Lac 50 Trend uranium deposits, please refer to ValOre's news release of March 1, 2013.

ValOres team has forged strong relationships with sophisticated resource sector investors and partner Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) on both the Angilak and Baffin Gold Properties. ValOre was the first company to sign a comprehensive agreement to explore for uranium on Inuit Owned Lands in Nunavut Territory and is committed to building shareholder value while adhering to high levels of environmental and safety standards and proactive local community engagement.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Jim Paterson

James R. Paterson, Chairman and CEO

ValOre Metals Corp.

For further information about, ValOre Metals Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at valoremetals.com or contact Investor Relations at 604.653.9464, or by email at contact@valoremetals.com.

ValOre Metals Corp. is a proud member of Discovery Group. For more information please visit: discoverygroup.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although ValOre believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events that may prove to be inaccurate. These factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information to ValOre. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors including those set forth in other public filings could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the future operations of ValOre and economic factors. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release and, except as required by applicable law, ValOre does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ValOre undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of ValOre, or its financial or operating results or (as applicable), their securities.

Source: Valore Metals Corporation
Voltalia wins a mixed photovoltaic and battery storage power plant in French Guiana

Voltalia (Euronext Paris, code ISIN: FR0011995588), an international player in renewable energies, will expand its Toco complex which, thanks to this new contract, confirms its position as the largest battery storage complex in France with a capacity of 25.6 megawatt hours.

Voltalia is the sole winner of the fifth period of the CRE 4 tender for non-interconnected areas for ground-based solar power plants in French Guiana.

The project, called Parc Sable Blanc, combines a five-megawatt photovoltaic power plant with a lithium-ion battery storage facility with a capacity of 5 megawatts and of 9.3 megawatt-hours.

Located in the commune of Mana, in the heart of the very dynamic Western Guiana, close to the ocean coast and the border with Suriname, Parc Sable Blanc was designed to produce during the day thanks to excellent sunshine and inject its production on the Guyanese electrical grid during the peak from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. after sunset.

Fully developed by Voltalia, the Parc Sable Blanc project will also be built and operated by its teams. It will benefit from a guaranteed selling tariff for 20 years. Once commissioned in 2023, Parc Sable Blanc will increase the power of the Toco complex to 19.3 megawatts with a capacity of 25.6 megawatt-hours.

Voltalia currently operates solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage power plants in French Guiana with a combined capacity of 31 megawatts, allowing the coverage of nearly 10% of the main electricity grid consumption.

Sebastien Clerc, CEO, concludes: "We are very proud to have won this new project which once again strengthens our presence on the territory that saw the birth of Voltalia 16 years ago. Parc Sable Blanc will produce green electricity at a more competitive cost than thermal electricity. Moreover, in a region in strong development whose electricity grid, not interconnected, remains fragile, we wanted to participate in improving the predictability of electricity production injected into the grid. I would like to thank our teams very warmly who, through this new success, continue to make French Guiana an excellent showcase of Voltalia's expertise and innovation capacity."

Next on the agenda: General Meeting on May 19, 2021

About Voltalia (www.voltalia.com) Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Group produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage facilities that it owns and operates. Voltalia has generating capacity in operation and under construction of more than 1.4 GW and a portfolio of projects under development representing total capacity of 9.7 GW.



Voltalia is also a service provider and supports its investor clients in renewable energy projects during all phases, from design to operation and maintenance.



As a pioneer in the corporate market, Voltalia provides a global offer to private companies, ranging from the supply of green electricity and energy efficiency services to the local production of their own electricity.



The Group has more than 1,130 employees and is present in 20 countries on 4 continents and is able to act worldwide on behalf of its clients.



Voltalia is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Paris, compartment B (FR0011995588  VLTSA) and is part of the Enternext Tech 40 and CAC Mid & Small indices. The Group is also included in the Gaia-Index, an index for socially responsible midcaps. Voltalia

Investor Relations: invest@voltalia.com

T. +33 (0)1 81 70 37 00 Actifin

Press Contact: Jennifer Jullia

jjullia@actifin.fr . T. +33 (0)1 56 88 11 11

Attachment
Belo Horizonte, Brazil--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2021) - Brazil Minerals, Inc. (OTC Pink: BMIX) (the "Company" or "Brazil Minerals"), the Strategic Mineral Resources Company for the Green Energy Revolution, is pleased to announce that it now has no outstanding investor debt of any type.

This news has also been reported on a Form 8-K filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Brazil Minerals has already announced that its Bylaws have been changed to prohibit the Company from issuing any variable convertible debt again.

On May 7, 2021, Brazil Minerals paid $276,391 in cash to GW Holdings Group LLC to repurchase and extinguish the last convertible debt held by such fund in the Company. The day before, May 6, 2021, a private trust converted the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the convertible note it held into Brazil Minerals' common stock. The trust is interested in the long-term success of the Company and has been a shareholder for several years.

Marc Fogassa, CEO of Brazil Minerals, stated, "It is very rare for a company in our stage to not only completely eliminate investor debt, but also to prohibit any future financing from variable-rate convertible debt. In my opinion, these actions will prove to be highly positive to our shareholders over time."

About Brazil Minerals, Inc.

Brazil Minerals, Inc. (OTC Pink: BMIX) is a lithium company with two 100%-owned hard-rock lithium projects in Brazil totaling over 80,000 acres. The Company also has full ownership of projects in other strategic minerals such rare earths, titanium, nickel and cobalt. Additionally, Brazil Minerals owns a majority-stake in Apollo Resources Corp., a private company developing its first iron mine, and a minority stake in Jupiter Gold Corporation (OTCQB: JUPGF), which is developing two large gold projects and a quartzite mine. Brazil Minerals is well-positioned in the growing ESG space. Follow us on Twitter: @BMIXstock.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are based upon the current plans, estimates and projections of Brazil Minerals, Inc.'s management and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward- looking statements. Such statements include, among others, those concerning market and industry segment growth and demand and acceptance of new and existing products; any projections of production, reserves, sales, earnings, revenue, margins or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; uncertainties related to conducting business in Brazil, as well as all assumptions, expectations, predictions, intentions or beliefs about future events. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: business conditions in Brazil, general economic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, availability of capital, Brazil Minerals, Inc.'s ability to maintain its competitive position and dependence on key management. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. We advise U.S. investors that Brazil Minerals' (and its subsidiaries') properties and projects, as of now, are exploratory and do not have measured "reserves" as such term is defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

Brian W. Bernier

VP, Corporate Development and Investor Relations

(833) 661-7900

info@brazil-minerals.com

www.brazil-minerals.com

@BMIXstock

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/83436
London, UK, May 10, 2021  Link Reservations Inc. (OTC Pink: LRSV) (the Company), a provider of wellness and cannabidiol (CBD) products for both humans and pets, announces that its pet-dedicated website, LinkResPet, will be translated into Spanish. Having revealed its intentions to start operations in the European Union, the Company is looking to increase its customer base and attract Spanish speakers.

As we look to enter the European market, we identified the importance of appealing to customers in their native language. While there is a growing group of English speakers in Spain, providing a website and information in Spanish will allow us to target with the majority of the population. After all, if we intend to trade in a country, we should be communicating everything in their language, commented Rene Lauritsen, CEO at Link Reservations Inc.

As more people look at pets as a family member, they are spending more money in their health, wellness and overall in their daily life. CBD has become a very popular health booster in the US and, increasingly so, across the world. In line with this, people are also using CBD as a complementary treatment for their pets general ailments. LinkResPet offers CBD products for both cats and dogs and has been focusing on expanding its market beyond the US.

With 47 million people living in Spain and 42 million native Spanish speakers in the United States[1], with many more across Europe and the world, it is with great excitement that we look at the opportunities available just by opening the door to a different language. In fact, 26% of Spanish households own at least one dog, and 11% own at least one cat  that is at least a quarter of the population owning a pet, which means it is a great consumer market to target. We look forward to doing so with other languages, and we will update our shareholders through press releases when we have any further updates, added Lauritsen.

For more information about LinkResPet or to purchase CBD products for pets, please visit www.linkrespet.com or follow them on Twitter on @res_pet

For more information about DailyLifeCBD, the Companys range of CBD and mushroom product for people, please visit to learn more or purchase: https://dailylifecbd.com/

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44201444

About Link Reservations Inc.

Link Reservations Inc is a CBD and wellness product provider dedicated to improving the health and life conditions of both people and pets worldwide. Its trades through its two brands; LinkResPet and DailyLifeCBD. LinkResPet develops and markets hemp-based CBD products for cats and dogs. DailyLifeCBD provides everyday hemp-based CBD wellness products for people, including a functional mushroom range. The Company has operations in the US and Europe.

Forward-Looking Statements & Disclaimers:

The information in this Press Release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of Federal Securities Laws, as that term is defined in section 27a of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21e of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this document, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Investors are cautioned that such statements are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law.

Link Reservations Inc.

400 Thames Valley Park Drive

Reading Berkshire RG6 1 PT

United Kingdom

Phone: +44 330 808 0897
LONDON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Abingworth, a leading international life sciences investment group, today announced the final closing of its new Clinical Co-Development Fund at $582 million. Abingworth Clinical Co-Development Fund 2 (ACCD 2) was significantly oversubscribed, exceeding its target of $350 million, and closed at its hard cap. Alongside the recent $465 million Abingworth Bioventures 8 (ABV 8) fund, Abingworth has raised over $1 billion in new funds to invest in life science companies in the US, UK and Continental Europe developing innovative therapeutics with potential to significantly improve human health.

The ACCD 2 fund provides finance for the development of late-stage clinical programmes from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. ACCD 2 will invest directly in late-stage product financing opportunities, as well as through its co-development portfolio companies Avillion (UK) and SFJ Pharmaceuticals (US).

SFJ and Avillion finance and facilitate clinical trial execution, using their operational expertise to increase the speed and quality of the trials. They incur all the clinical and regulatory risk and receive a pre-negotiated return once the drug is approved.

Abingworth pioneered the clinical co-development investment strategy in 2009, investing initially via its venture funds and then alongside the first dedicated fund  Abingworth Clinical Co-Development Fund (ACCD 1), which launched in 2016.

To date, Abingworth has made eleven investments in co-development opportunities through Avillion and SFJ. Of the seven that have completed, six resulted in pre-negotiated pay-outs to the fund and five resulted in FDA drug approvals. Partnerships with AstraZeneca, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Nektar Therapeutics and PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals are ongoing.

As part of the new fund closing, James Cornwall, PhD, has joined Abingworth as Partner in charge of business development for clinical co-development deals and will work alongside the Investment Partners. James has over 25 years' pharmaceutical and CRO industry experience, including roles in clinical research and corporate development. He was formerly with Nuvelution, a structured finance investment vehicle, and Quintiles, a global CRO.

In addition, David Simmons, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PPD, has been appointed as a Senior Advisor to Abingworth focusing on its clinical co-development strategy. David has nearly a decade of experience leading one of the world's largest CROs as well as 15 years as a senior executive at Pfizer.

"Our bespoke clinical co-development approach has succeeded as an alternative investment strategy since we pioneered the concept a decade ago, both in terms of generating returns for investors and gaining new product approvals. Our CCD programme enables biotech companies to avoid near-term equity dilution and enables resource constrained pharma companies to pursue additional clinical projects," said Kurt von Emster, Managing Partner. "As we expand our CCD efforts, we have augmented the team and are very pleased to welcome David Simmons and James Cornwall, whose breadth of pharma and CRO expertise will be important as we continue to execute this approach in the years ahead."

"We are delighted to announce this new Clinical Co-Development Fund that, combined with our $465 million Abingworth Bioventures 8 fund, brings new funds closed by Abingworth in 2021 to over $1 billion," added Tim Haines, Chairman & Managing Partner. "With ABV 8 primarily targeting company creation and development stage opportunities, ACCD 2 provides a substantial, dedicated fund that invests alongside our venture funds to finance late-stage co-development opportunities with the potential to bring new medicines to patients in a reduced time frame. Our investments in this strategy, combined with our venture investments have contributed to 19 new medicines gaining FDA approval in the last 8 years."

ACCD 2 welcomed a prestigious and diversified group of new limited partners to its international investor base while also receiving support from existing investors including leading asset managers, endowments, family offices, foundations, healthcare corporations, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds, from the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Asante Capital Group and Wise Capital Limited acted as global and regional placement advisors respectively for ACCD 2. Goodwin Procter acted as legal counsel.

Notes for Editors

About Abingworth

Abingworth is a leading transatlantic life sciences investment firm. Abingworth helps transform cutting-edge science into novel medicines by providing capital and expertise to top calibre management teams building world-class companies. Since 1973, Abingworth has invested in 172 life science companies, leading to 44 M&As and 70 IPOs. Our therapeutic focused investments fall into three categories: seed and early-stage, development stage, and clinical co-development. Abingworth supports its portfolio companies with a team of experienced professionals at offices in London, Menlo Park (California), and Boston.

Contacts

Tim HainesChairman & Managing PartnerTel: +44 (0)20 7534 1500www.abingworth.com

For media enquiries:Mark Swallow or David Dible, Citigate Dewe RogersonTel: +44 (0)20 7638 9571Email: abingworth@citigatedewerogerson.com

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SOURCE Abingworth
VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Capella Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: CMIL) (FRA: N7D2) (the "Company" or "Capella") is pleased to advise that a further 96km2 of exploration concessions have been staked immediately adjacent to the existing Kjli claim block, in order to cover 11 new high-grade copper-zinc targets that were identified through the CARDS Artificial Intelligence ("AI") analysis. These new targets are in addition to the 13 copper-zinc targets and 11 gold-silver targets already identified within the original Kjli claim block (see Company News Release dated May 5, 2021).

Highlights

Capella has staked a further 96km2 of exploration claims to cover 11 new high-grade copper-zinc targets located adjacent to the original Kjli claim block (Figure 1).

Significant potential exists for the discovery of new high-grade copper-zinc deposits immediately adjacent to, and to the NE of, the former Kjli copper-zinc mine. Three key target areas, each measuring >2km in length, and numerous smaller anomalies have been defined. Historical copper grades from the old Kjli mine were reported to be 2.9% Cu1.

Eric Roth, Capella's President and CEO, commented today: "I am pleased to be reporting today that a total of 24 high-grade copper-zinc VMS targets have now been identified at our expanded Kjli project from the CARDS AI analysis. Four of these targets have strike extensions of over 2km each and clearly represent high-priority targets for drill collar definition and then drill testing. The CARDS AI work has confirmed the prospectivity and upside potential of the Kjli area, and we look forward to pushing the project along the path to discovery drilling."

1 Historic production figures are from Birkeland, A. (1986) Mineralogisk og geokjemisk undersokelseav Killingdal gruver, Sor-Trondelag. M. Scient. Thesis, University of Oslo in Geological Survey of Finland, Special Paper 53 pg. 86.

About the Kjli Copper Project

The Company's Kjli copper-rich VMS project lies in the northern part of the Rros mining district, which saw copper production from a number of high-grade VMS deposits from the mid-1600's through until the mid-1980's. Kjli represents a district-scale brownfields/greenfields exploration project covering the former Kjli and Killingdal mining operations, together with approximately 15 km strike of underexplored but highly prospective stratigraphy for the discovery of new copper-rich VMS deposits. Access to the property is excellent, with the main Trondheim-Rros highway and railway line passing by the SW corner of the property. Hydroelectric power is also readily available within the broader Kjli district.

The Company acquired its 100% interest in the Kjli Project from EMX Royalty Corp (NYSE: EMX) (TSXV: EMX) in late-2020.

Qualified Persons and Disclosure Statement

The technical information in this news release relating to the Kjli project has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101, and approved by Eric Roth, the Company's President & CEO, a Director, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Roth holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Mr. Roth has 30 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.

On Behalf of the Board of Capella Minerals Ltd.

"Eric Roth"___________________________ Eric Roth, Ph.D., FAusIMMPresident & CEO

About Capella Minerals Ltd

Capella is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of quality mineral resource properties in favourable jurisdictions with a focus on high-grade gold and copper deposits. The Company's copper focus is on the discovery of high-grade massive sulfide (VMS-type) deposits within district-scale land positions around the past-producing Lkken and Kjli copper mines in central Norway. The Company's precious metals focus is on the discovery of high-grade gold deposits on its recently acquired Southern Gold Line Project in Sweden, in addition to its active Canadian Joint Ventures with Ethos Gold Corp. at Savant Lake (Ontario) and Yamana Gold Inc. at Domain (Manitoba). The Company also retains a residual interest (subject to an option to purchase agreement with Austral Gold Ltd) in the Sierra Blanca gold-silver project in Santa Cruz, Argentina.

Field activities are ongoing on all projects, with the primary focus being to advance priority targets through the permitting process and onwards to drilling and discovery.

The Company also holds marketable securities in Cerrado Gold Inc. (TSXV:CERT; 833,334 shares) and Ethos Gold Corp. (TSXV:ECC; 2,000,000 shares), providing Capella shareholders with indirect exposure to both exploration and operational success by these Companies.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of Capella, including the timing, completion of and results from the exploration and drill programs described in this release. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. All such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Capella in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. This information, however, is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from this forward-looking information include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in Capella's most recently filed MD&A. Capella does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE Capella Minerals Limited
QINGDAO, China, May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Qingdao, an island of youth and a hot spot of innovation and entrepreneurship, has a complete industrial system, outstanding innovation ability and profound financial genes, and is promoted to develop more quickly with the holding of the Global Venture Capital Conference here for three consecutive years. At present, Qingdao is actively integrating into the new development pattern featured by the mutual promotion of domestic and international dual-circulation while taking domestic circulation as the main body. The 2021 Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference will also be endowed with a more far-reaching historical significance, which is to build Qingdao into a highland for high-quality capital accumulation by standing at the forefront of opening up to the outside world at a higher level.

On the morning of May 7, the 2021 Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference, hosted by Qingdao Municipal People's Government and guided by the Asset Management Association of China, was held solemnly at Qingdao Haitian Financial Center Hotel. Themed on "A New Era for Venture Capital, A Bright Future for Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Building the Height of High-Quality Capital Accumulation", the Conference was held with the attendance of more than 100 renowned experts, scholars, entrepreneurs and representatives of financial institutions in the industry from all over the world to agglomerate the consensus on development, stimulate the entrepreneurial vitality, and discuss opportunities and the future.

Wang Xinfu, Vice Governor of Shandong Province, attended the Conference and made an address. Zhao Haozhi, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Qingdao, and Jiang Xiaojuan, Member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, Deputy Director Member of the Social Construction Committee, Professor and Dean of School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, delivered the keynote speeches. Liu Jianjun, First-Class Inspector of the Second Department of Market Regulation of China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wang Lei, Deputy Director General of the Department of Capital Project Management of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Hu Jiafu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Asset Management Association of China, Lu Dabiao, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Stock Exchange, Li Hui, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Mao Zhirong, Member of the Management Committee and Managing Director of Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Luo Wencai, the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Exchange Limited made addresses and delivered speeches respectively.

Mayor Zhao Haozhi pointed out in his keynote speech that, over the past two years, with the joint efforts of all circles, the construction of Qingdao Venture Capital Center has been developed comprehensively, showing a good situation of vigorous development. More venture capital institutions have been laid out in Qingdao, more enterprises have received capital support, and a better industrial ecology has been formed more quickly. In the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Planning of Qingdao, the construction of Global Venture Capital Center is taken as an important objective of work. Qingdao will continuously innovate policies to provide strong support for the development of venture capital; will strive to optimize services to create a good atmosphere for the development of venture capital; and will strengthen coordination and linkage to actively explore the creation of a regional capital alliance.

Mayor Zhao Haozhi said that Qingdao is currently focusing on developing the real economy to provide new space for venture capital; focusing on promoting technological innovation to provide new opportunities for venture capital; focusing on accelerating digital transformation to provide new opportunities for venture capital; focusing on implementing organic urban renewal to provide a new hot spot for venture capital. Taking this Conference as an opportunity, Qingdao will invite more venture capital institutions to pay attention to Qingdao, to enter Qingdao, and to become "partners" of Qingdao for urban development.

The important ceremony is full of highlights, and the Conference promotes a satisfactory result of contract signing

The important ceremonial section of the Conference mainly displayed the development achievements of Qingdao Municipal Government Guidance Fund at its 10th anniversary. The Conference also carried out the inauguration ceremony of the public venture capital platform and Qingdao Innovation Investment Co., Ltd.

At the Conference, contracts were signed for 28 key projects on the spot, with a total scale of RMB61.688 billion Yuan, including 16 implemented fund projects with a total scale of RMB50.3 billion Yuan and 10 investment projects with a total scale of RMB11.388 billion Yuan. Zhongtai Securities Co., Ltd. signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Finance Bureau of five cities in Jiaodong Peninsula to help with the economic transformation of the five cities. Also, at the Conference, the intentional contract for the qualification of QDLP pilot fund manager of CITIC Trust was signed, making a substantial step towards the pilot foreign investments of QDLPs in Qingdao. In addition, the contracts for a number of projects were signed, including Shandong Green Development Equity Investment Fund, Qilu Qianhai (Qingdao) Venture Capital Fund, Shandong Land and Sea Linkage Development Fund, Qingdao Meihuashengkai Equity Investment Partnership, Qingdao Chengwei Zhongying Kechuang Venture Capital Partnership, etc..Qingdao has seen increasingly prominent gathering effect of building a global venture capital center, which empowers the high-quality development of real economy continuously with the power of venture capital.

Ten Policies of Qingdao for Venture Capital 2.0 issued, leading the first-move

The Conference released several policy measures of Qingdao to further support the construction of Qingdao Venture Capital Center. As an upgraded version of the "Ten Policies of Qingdao for Venture Capital", these policy measures fully promote the construction of a global venture capital center with the most competitive policy provisions in China.

The version 2.0 of the "Ten Policies of Qingdao for Venture Capital", with a total of 10 articles and 30 items, covers the full chain of "fundraising, investment, management and withdrawal", and is fully in line with the first-tier cities and featured by stronger support for venture capital, broader coverage, more comprehensive supporting measures and more precise supported areas. Striving to provide what others don't have or what better than others, this policy is currently the most leading and competitive in the domestic venture capital industry. The upgraded policy encourages early investment, investment in small-scale enterprises, and investment in science and technology, encourages institutions to make more investments more bravely, explores the establishment of risk-sharing mechanism, insists on the attachment of equal importance to "bringing in" and "going global", further optimizes the profit concession measures for government-guided funds, and provides a better business environment for venture capital institutions to develop in Qingdao.

Global guests offer their wisdom and advice to continuously build the height of high-quality capital accumulation

In the keynote speech section of the Conference, Wang Zhongmin, Chairman of Shenzhen Financial Stability & Development Institute and former Vice Chairman of National Council for Social Security Fund, Li Xunlei, Chief Economist of Zhongtai Securities and Director of Institutional Committee, Liu Erhai, Founding and Managing Partner of Joy Capital, Jia Kang, President of China Academy of New Supply-side Economics and winner of Sun Yefang Economic Science Award, Yu Minhong, Founder of Hongtai Aplus and Founder of New Oriental, and Sheng Xitai, Founder of Hongtai Aplus and other heavyweight guests delivered keynote speeches, providing new ideas for the high-quality development of economy in Qingdao.

This Conference was also held by inviting more international heavyweight experts, scholars as Nobel Prize winners, and leaders of international institutions. Eric Maskin, the winner of 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics, Detlef ZUEHLKE, the originator of Industry 4.0 in Germany, Olivier Guillet, Vice Dean of Sciences Po's School of Management and Innovation , and Tadayoshi Yamanaka, Founder and CEO of Venture Labo Group, and other economists and industry leaders from the United States, Germany, France, Japan, etc. gave advice on continuously developing Qingdao into a global venture capital center, comprehensively enhancing the international perspective of the Conference.

The 2021 Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference lasted for two days. The Conference set one main forum and four parallel sections, including a special session on science and technology innovation mother funds, a special session on Chinese funds, an on-cloud meeting of outstanding talents, and regional and municipal promotions. It has various functions such as policy promotion, project contract signing, communication and interaction. The annual white book of global venture capital will also be issued at the Conference for three consecutive years. More than 20 media platforms made a full-process live streaming of the Conference, presenting a pageant of professional industrial exchange and high-end resources convergence to the world.

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SOURCE Qingdao Global Venture Capital Online Conference
ROCKVILLE, Md., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest lodging franchisors, today reported its results for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

"The strategic decisions we have made in recent years and our targeted actions amid the pandemic to support our franchisees drove impressive first quarter results that position the company to further capitalize on growth opportunities in 2021 and beyond," said Patrick Pacious, president and chief executive officer, Choice Hotels. "Our results are a testament to the success of our long-term growth strategy to invest in brands built for the customer of tomorrow. We believe our high-quality, well-segmented brand portfolio, compelling franchisee value proposition and the continued expansion of our travel platform, combined with our strong balance sheet, will allow us to continue to grow our share of travel demand in the years to come."

Highlights of first quarter and year-to-date 2021 results include:1

Domestic systemwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) change outperformed the total industry by 23 percentage points, declining 18.7% and 4.4% for first quarter 2021 compared to the same periods of 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The company's performance has continued the trend of sequential domestic systemwide RevPAR change improvement, with April 2021 RevPAR declining approximately 4.2% versus April 2019 and increasing 140% from April 2020.

The company's Board of Directors reinstated the dividend at the pre-pandemic rate and declared a cash dividend on the company's common stock of $0.225 per share. The dividend is payable on July 16, 2021 to stockholders of record on July 1, 2021. The Board has also approved the resumption of the company's share repurchase program.

The company awarded 89 domestic franchise agreements in first quarter 2021, a 53% increase compared to the same period of the prior year. Over 80% of the agreements awarded in the first quarter were for conversion hotels.

Net income was $22.3 million for first quarter 2021, representing diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.40.

First quarter adjusted net income, excluding certain items described in Exhibit 7, decreased 26% to $31.6 million from first quarter 2020.

Adjusted diluted EPS were $0.57, a decrease of 25% from first quarter 2020.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first quarter were $63.1 million, an 11% decrease from first quarter 2020. First quarter adjusted EBITDA margin increased 330 basis points to 69% from first quarter 2020.

____________________________1 RevPAR comparison data is shown for comparable prior year periods that include 2019 and 2020 for additional context in light of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic toward the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Performance Trends

Domestic systemwide RevPAR for first quarter 2021 outperformed the respective chain scales in which the company competes by 750 basis points compared to the same period of 2019.

All Choice Hotels' brands achieved domestic systemwide RevPAR index gains versus their local competitors with portfolio average share gains of 640 basis points for first quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019.

The company's extended-stay portfolio continued to outperform the industry throughout the first quarter, with an average domestic systemwide occupancy rate of 70%. Specifically, the WoodSpring Suites brand achieved RevPAR growth of 3.2% in first quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019, driven by an increase in average daily rate (ADR) of 4.3% and occupancy levels of over 74%.

The company's upscale portfolio continued to achieve domestic systemwide RevPAR share gains versus its local competitors for first quarter 2021, compared to first quarter 2019, with the Cambria Hotels brand achieving gains of 16 percentage points. In addition, the Ascend Hotel Collection's domestic systemwide RevPAR change surpassed the upscale segment by nearly 20 percentage points in first quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019.

The company's midscale portfolio continued to achieve RevPAR share gains versus its local competitors for first quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2019. Specifically, the Comfort brand family's domestic systemwide RevPAR change outperformed the upper-midscale chain scale by nearly 11 percentage points, and the brand gained nearly 10 percentage points in RevPAR share from its local competitors in first quarter 2021, compared to the same period in 2019.

Additional details for the company's first quarter 2021 results are as follows:

Revenues

Total revenues decreased 16% to $182.9 million for first quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2020.

Total revenues excluding marketing and reservation system fees decreased 15% to $91.4 million for first quarter 2021, compared to the same period of 2020.

First quarter 2021 domestic royalties totaled $63.0 million, a 5% decrease from the same period of 2020.

The company's domestic effective royalty rate for first quarter 2021 increased 7 basis points over the prior year first quarter to 5.02%.

Development

Of the total domestic franchise agreements awarded in the first quarter, over half were executed in the month of March. The company's domestic franchise agreements for conversion hotels increased by 76% in the first quarter, compared to the same period of 2020, and include 22 franchise agreements associated with the company's strategic alliance with Penn National Gaming.

As of March 31, 2021, the number of domestic rooms in the company's upscale portfolio expanded by 22% since March 31, 2020, driven by an increase in room count of 12% for the Cambria Hotels brand and 26% for the Ascend Hotel Collection, the latter of which includes 22 properties associated with the company's strategic alliance with Penn National Gaming. For the first three months in 2021, the upscale portfolio experienced the highest number of hotel openings in a quarter, matching the company's all-time record.

The company's extended-stay portfolio continued its rapid expansion, reaching 454 domestic hotels as of March 31, 2021, an 11% increase since March 31, 2020, with the domestic extended-stay pipeline expanding year-over-year to 310 hotels awaiting conversion, under construction or approved for development. Since March 31, 2020, the WoodSpring Suites, MainStay Suites and Suburban brands grew the number of open domestic hotels by 7%, 26% and 10%, respectively.

The company continued its leadership in the midscale segment by increasing the number of domestic hotels by 1.2% from March 31, 2020. Specifically, the Comfort brand family continued to grow its number of domestic hotels by 1.7% since March 31, 2020, and reached over 260 hotels in its domestic pipeline, including over 70 hotels awaiting conversion, which will drive the brand's growth in the near term. In March, the company launched the new Comfort Rise & Shine prototype to position the brand for continued strong performance and system growth while maximizing owners' return on investment.

The number of domestic hotels and rooms, as of March 31, 2021, increased 0.7% and 1.9%, respectively, from March 31, 2020. The company's domestic upscale, midscale and extended stay segments reported a 2.4% and 3.3% aggregate increase in units and rooms, respectively, since March 31, 2020.

The company's total domestic pipeline of hotels awaiting conversion, under construction or approved for development, as of March 31, 2021, reached 943 hotels that represent over 77,000 rooms.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

The company maintained its strong balance sheet and liquidity position in first quarter 2021 and continues to benefit from its primarily franchise-only business model, which has historically provided a relatively stable earnings stream, low capital expenditure requirements and significant free cash flow. As of March 31, 2021, the company's total available liquidity consisting of cash and available borrowing capacity through the revolving credit facility was approximately $823 million.

Shareholder Returns

On May 7, 2021, the company's Board of Directors approved the reinstatement of its quarterly cash dividend payments at the pre-pandemic level, declaring a cash dividend of $0.225 per share of common stock payable on July 16, 2021, to stockholders of record on July 1, 2021. Based on the current quarterly dividend rate of $0.225 per share of common stock, the company expects to pay dividends totaling approximately $25 million during 2021, subject to declaration by the Board of Directors.

The company's Board of Directors has also approved the resumption of the company's stock repurchase program. As of March 31, 2021, the company had 3.4 million shares remaining under the current share repurchase authorization. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the company repurchased less than 0.1 million shares of common stock for $5.1 million through repurchases from employees in connection with tax withholding and option exercises relating to awards under the company's equity incentive plans.

Outlook

The company is not providing formal guidance for second quarter or full year 2021 given that the precise impact of COVID-19 on the company's future results is still unknown.

For the month of April 2021, the company's RevPAR declined by approximately 4.2% versus April 2019 while occupancy levels increased by 80 basis points from April 2019, marking near returns to 2019 RevPAR levels. The company currently expects RevPAR change for the remainder of 2021, as compared to both 2019 and 2020, to outperform first quarter 2021 results as compared to both 2019 and 2020.

The company will continue to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 across its business and will provide further updates in the next earnings report based on the best information then available.

Conference Call

Choice Hotels International will conduct a conference call on Monday, May 10, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the company's first quarter earnings results. The dial-in number to listen to the call domestically is (888) 349-0087 and the number for international participants is (412) 317-5259. A live webcast will also be available on the company's investor relations website, http://investor.choicehotels.com/, and can be accessed via the Financial Performance and Presentations tab.

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With more than 7,100 hotels, representing nearly 600,000 rooms, in over 40 countries and territories as of March 31, 2021, the Choice family of hotel brands provides business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upscale, midscale, extended-stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program offers members benefits ranging from everyday rewards to exceptional experiences. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain matters discussed in this presentation constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, our use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "believe," "anticipate," "should," "will," "forecast," "plan," "project," "assume," or similar words of futurity identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs, assumptions and expectations regarding future events, which, in turn, are based on information currently available to management. Such statements may relate to projections of the company's revenue, expenses, earnings, debt levels, ability to repay outstanding indebtedness, payment of dividends, repurchases of common stock and other financial and operational measures, including occupancy and open hotels, the company's ability to benefit from any rebound in travel demand, the company's liquidity, the company's ability to assist franchisees through relief or other financial measures, the company's ability to achieve cost savings and reduce discretionary spending and investments and the impact of COVID-19 and economic conditions on our future operations, among other matters. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors.

Several factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, continuation, resurgence or worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic, including with respect to new strains or variants; the rate and pace of vaccination in the broader population; changes in consumer demand and confidence, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment rates, consumer discretionary spending and the demand for travel, transient and group business; the impact of COVID-19 on the global hospitality industry, particularly but not exclusively in the U.S. travel market; the success of our mitigation efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the performance of our brands and categories in any recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic disruption; the timing and amount of future dividends and share repurchases; changes to general, domestic and foreign economic conditions, including access to liquidity and capital as a result of COVID-19; future domestic or global outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics or contagious diseases, or fear of such outbreaks; changes in law and regulation applicable to the travel, lodging or franchising industries; foreign currency fluctuations; impairments or declines in the value of the company's assets; operating risks common in the travel, lodging or franchising industries; changes to the desirability of our brands as viewed by hotel operators and customers; changes to the terms or termination of our contracts with franchisees and our relationships with our franchisees; our ability to keep pace with improvements in technology utilized for marketing and reservations systems and other operating systems; the commercial acceptance of our Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") technology solutions division's products and services; our ability to grow our franchise system; exposure to risks related to our hotel development, financing and ownership activities; exposures to risks associated with our investments in new businesses; fluctuations in the supply and demand for hotel rooms; our ability to realize anticipated benefits from acquired businesses; impairments or losses relating to acquired businesses; the level of acceptance of alternative growth strategies we may implement; cyber security and data breach risks; ownership and financing activities; hotel closures or financial difficulties of our franchisees; operating risks associated with our international operations, especially in areas currently most affected by COVID-19; the outcome of litigation; and our ability to effectively manage our indebtedness and secure our indebtedness. These and other risk factors are discussed in detail in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measurements

The company evaluates its operations utilizing the performance metrics of adjusted EBITDA, revenues excluding marketing and reservation system activities, adjusted net income and adjusted EPS, which are all non-GAAP financial measurements. These measures, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP measures in Exhibit 7, should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of performance or liquidity as promulgated under or authorized by GAAP, such as net income, EPS and total revenues. The company's calculation of these measurements may be different from the calculations used by other companies and comparability may therefore be limited. We discuss management's reasons for reporting these non-GAAP measures and how each non-GAAP measure is calculated below.

In addition to the specific adjustments noted below with respect to each measure, the non-GAAP measures presented herein also exclude restructuring of the company's operations including employee severance benefit, income taxes and legal costs, debt-restructuring costs, exceptional allowances recorded as a result of COVID-19's impact on the collectability of receivables, and losses on sale/disposal and impairment of assets primarily related to hotel ownership and development activities to allow for period-over-period comparison of ongoing core operations before the impact of these discrete and infrequent charges.

Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization: Adjusted EBITDA reflects net income excluding the impact of interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, franchise-agreement acquisition cost amortization, other (gains) and losses, equity in net income (loss) of unconsolidated affiliates, mark-to-market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments, share based compensation expense (benefit) and surplus or deficits generated by marketing and reservation system activities. We consider adjusted EBITDA to be an indicator of operating performance because it measures our ability to service debt, fund capital expenditures and expand our business. We also use adjusted EBITDA, as do analysts, lenders, investors and others, to evaluate companies because it excludes certain items that can vary widely across industries or among companies within the same industry. For example, interest expense can be dependent on a company's capital structure, debt levels and credit ratings, and share based compensation expense (benefit) is dependent on the design of compensation plans in place and the usage of them. Accordingly, the impact of interest expense and share based compensation expense (benefit) on earnings can vary significantly among companies. The tax positions of companies can also vary because of their differing abilities to take advantage of tax benefits and because of the tax policies of the jurisdictions in which they operate. As a result, effective tax rates and provision for income taxes can vary considerably among companies. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes depreciation and amortization because companies utilize productive assets of different ages and use different methods of both acquiring and depreciating productive assets or amortizing franchise-agreement acquisition costs. These differences can result in considerable variability in the relative asset costs and estimated lives and, therefore, the depreciation and amortization expense among companies. Mark-to-market adjustments on non-qualified retirement-plan investments recorded in SG&A are excluded from EBITDA, as the company accounts for these investments in accordance with accounting for deferred-compensation arrangements when investments are held in a rabbi trust and invested. Changes in the fair value of the investments are recognized as both compensation expense in SG&A and other gains and losses. As a result, the changes in the fair value of the investments do not have a material impact on the company's net income. Surpluses and deficits generated from marketing and reservation activities are excluded, as the company's franchise agreements require the marketing and reservation system revenues to be used exclusively for expenses associated with providing franchise services, such as central reservation and property-management systems, reservation delivery and national marketing and media advertising. Franchisees are required to reimburse the company for any deficits generated from these marketing and reservation system activities and the company is required to spend any surpluses generated in future periods. Since these activities will be managed to break-even over time, quarterly or annual surpluses and deficits have been excluded from the measurements utilized to assess the company's operating performance.

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share: Adjusted net income and EPS exclude the impact of surpluses or deficits generated from marketing and reservation system activities. Surpluses and deficits generated from marketing and reservation activities are excluded, as the company's franchise agreements require the marketing and reservation system revenues to be used exclusively for expenses associated with providing franchise services, such as central reservation and property-management systems, reservation delivery and national marketing and media advertising. Franchisees are required to reimburse the company for any deficits generated from these marketing and reservation system activities and the company is required to spend any surpluses generated in future periods. Since these activities will be managed to break-even over time, quarterly or annual surpluses and deficits have been excluded from the measurements utilized to assess the company's operating performance. We consider adjusted net income and adjusted EPS to be indicators of operating performance because excluding these items allow for period-over-period comparisons of our ongoing operations.

Revenues, Excluding Marketing and Reservation System Activities: The company reports revenues, excluding marketing and reservation system activities. These non-GAAP measures we present are commonly used measures of performance in our industry and facilitate comparisons between the company and its competitors. Marketing and reservation system activities are excluded, as the company's franchise agreements require the marketing and reservation system revenues to be used exclusively for expenses associated with providing franchise services, such as central reservation and property-management systems, reservation delivery and national marketing and media advertising. Franchisees are required to reimburse the company for any deficits generated from these marketing and reservation system activities and the company is required to spend any surpluses generated in future periods. Since these activities will be managed to break-even over time, quarterly or annual surpluses and deficits have been excluded from the measurements utilized to assess the company's operating performance.

 2021 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. and Subsidiaries Exhibit 1 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) Three Months Ended March 31, Variance 2021 2020 $ % (In thousands, except per share amounts) REVENUES Royalty fees $ 66,047 $ 70,339 $ (4,292) (6)% Initial franchise and relicensing fees 5,427 7,284 (1,857) (25)% Procurement services 11,191 13,797 (2,606) (19)% Marketing and reservation system 91,521 110,385 (18,864) (17)% Owned hotels 4,354 9,422 (5,068) (54)% Other 4,407 6,948 (2,541) (37)% Total revenues 182,947 218,175 (35,228) (16)% OPERATING EXPENSES Selling, general and administrative 30,267 28,383 1,884 7 % Depreciation and amortization 6,362 6,529 (167) (3)% Marketing and reservation system 98,173 130,447 (32,274) (25)% Owned hotels 4,147 6,034 (1,887) (31)% Total operating expenses 138,949 171,393 (32,444) (19)% Operating income 43,998 46,782 (2,784) (6)% OTHER INCOME AND EXPENSES, NET Interest expense 11,777 11,380 397 3 % Interest income (1,281) (2,288) 1,007 (44)% Loss on extinguishment of debt - 607 (607) (100)% Other (gain) loss (1,205) 4,729 (5,934) (125)% Equity in net loss of affiliates 5,997 1,955 4,042 207 % Total other income and expenses, net 15,288 16,383 (1,095) (7)% Income before income taxes 28,710 30,399 (1,689) (6)% Income tax expense (benefit) 6,373 (25,064) 31,437 (125)% Net income $ 22,337 $ 55,463 $ (33,126) (60)% Basic earnings per share $ 0.40 $ 1.00 $ (0.60) (60)% Diluted earnings per share $ 0.40 $ 0.99 $ (0.59) (60)%

Choice Hotels International, Inc. and Subsidiaries Exhibit 2 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (In thousands, except per share amounts) March 31, December 31, 2021 2020 ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $ 222,961 $ 234,779 Accounts receivable, net 156,754 149,921 Other current assets 65,429 48,214 Total current assets 445,144 432,914 Property and equipment, net 336,508 334,901 Intangible assets, net 306,868 303,725 Goodwill 159,196 159,196 Notes receivable, net of allowances 82,651 95,785 Investments in unconsolidated entities 53,003 57,879 Operating lease right-of-use assets 15,312 17,688 Investments, employee benefit plans, at fair value 28,558 29,104 Other assets 156,898 156,141 Total assets $ 1,584,138 $ 1,587,333 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT) Accounts payable $ 70,980 $ 83,329 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 65,687 78,920 Deferred revenue 52,701 50,290 Liability for guest loyalty program 54,432 43,308 Total current liabilities 243,800 255,847 Long-term debt 1,059,169 1,058,738 Deferred revenue 114,279 122,406 Liability for guest loyalty program 71,428 77,071 Operating lease liabilities 10,212 12,739 Deferred compensation & retirement plan obligations 33,114 33,756 Other liabilities 32,901 32,528 Total liabilities 1,564,903 1,593,085 Total shareholders' equity (deficit) 19,235 (5,752) Total liabilities and shareholders' equity (deficit) $ 1,584,138 $ 1,587,333

Choice Hotels International, Inc. and Subsidiaries Exhibit 3 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) (In thousands) Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: Net income $ 22,337 $ 55,463 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 6,362 6,529 Depreciation and amortization - marketing and reservation system 5,815 4,873 Franchise agreement acquisition cost amortization 3,044 2,819 Loss on debt extinguishment - 607 Non-cash stock compensation and other charges 5,026 (2,575) Non-cash interest and other investment (income) loss (2,059) 4,339 Deferred income taxes (1,378) (26,677) Equity in net losses from unconsolidated joint ventures, less distributions received 5,997 2,105 Franchise agreement acquisition costs, net of reimbursements (6,770) (7,122) Change in working capital and other (38,254) (34,597) NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES 120 5,764 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Investment in property and equipment (9,364) (6,229) Investment in intangible assets (885) (1,004) Contributions to equity method investments (968) (2,201) Distributions from equity method investments - 157 Purchases of investments, employee benefit plans (551) (1,544) Proceeds from sales of investments, employee benefit plans 1,992 1,697 Issuance of notes receivable - (5,778) Collections of notes receivable 63 63 Other items, net - 14 NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES (9,713) (14,825) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Net borrowings pursuant to revolving credit facilities - 396,800 Principal payments on long-term debt - (33,239) Purchases of treasury stock (5,046) (54,072) Dividends paid - (12,791) Proceeds from exercise of stock options 2,845 1,235 NET CASH (USED IN) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES (2,201) 297,933 Net change in cash and cash equivalents (11,794) 288,872 Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (24) (684) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 234,779 33,766 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF PERIOD $ 222,961 $ 321,954

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Exhibit 4 SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATING INFORMATION DOMESTIC HOTEL SYSTEM (UNAUDITED) For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 Change Average Daily Average Daily Average Daily Rate Occupancy RevPAR Rate Occupancy RevPAR Rate Occupancy RevPAR Comfort(1) $ 80.51 48.9 % $ 39.34 $ 87.57 48.3 % $ 42.33 (8.1)% 60 bps (7.1)% Sleep 72.72 47.6 % 34.65 78.82 48.9 % 38.54 (7.7)% (130) bps (10.1)% Quality 69.89 42.2 % 29.52 72.79 41.7 % 30.36 (4.0)% 50 bps (2.8)% Clarion(2) 69.39 33.0 % 22.91 74.59 36.7 % 27.34 (7.0)% (370) bps (16.2)% Econo Lodge 58.26 41.4 % 24.10 57.25 38.3 % 21.93 1.8 % 310 bps 9.9 % Rodeway 58.84 43.7 % 25.70 59.61 40.9 % 24.36 (1.3)% 280 bps 5.5 % WoodSpring Suites 47.31 74.3 % 35.13 47.02 70.3 % 33.05 0.6 % 400 bps 6.3 % MainStay 70.48 51.4 % 36.21 78.35 53.9 % 42.25 (10.0)% (250) bps (14.3)% Suburban 49.57 65.7 % 32.55 54.19 61.8 % 33.51 (8.5)% 390 bps (2.9)% Cambria Hotels 100.76 42.4 % 42.73 131.95 48.2 % 63.55 (23.6)% (580) bps (32.8)% Ascend Hotel Collection 110.30 42.5 % 46.88 119.06 46.2 % 54.97 (7.4)% (370) bps (14.7)% Total $ 69.49 47.1 % $ 32.73 $ 74.22 46.1 % $ 34.23 (6.4)% 100 bps (4.4)% Effective Royalty Rate For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2021 March 31, 2020 System-wide(3) 5.02 % 4.95 % (1)Includes Comfort family of brand extensions including Comfort and Comfort Suites (2)Includes Clarion family of brand extensions including Clarion and Clarion Pointe (3)Includes United States and Caribbean countries and territories

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Exhibit 5 SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATING INFORMATION DOMESTIC HOTEL SYSTEM (UNAUDITED) For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 Change Average Daily Average Daily Average Daily Rate Occupancy RevPAR Rate Occupancy RevPAR Rate Occupancy RevPAR Comfort(1) $ 80.51 48.9 % $ 39.34 $ 90.78 55.9 % $ 50.77 (11.3)% (700) bps (22.5)% Sleep 72.72 47.6 % 34.65 82.35 55.7 % 45.89 (11.7)% (810) bps (24.5)% Quality 69.89 42.2 % 29.52 75.87 48.0 % 36.40 (7.9)% (580) bps (18.9)% Clarion(2) 69.39 33.0 % 22.91 78.39 43.2 % 33.83 (11.5)% (1,020) bps (32.3)% Econo Lodge 58.26 41.4 % 24.10 59.50 42.2 % 25.10 (2.1)% (80) bps (4.0)% Rodeway 58.84 43.7 % 25.70 60.70 44.4 % 26.98 (3.1)% (70) bps (4.7)% WoodSpring Suites 47.31 74.3 % 35.13 45.36 75.0 % 34.04 4.3 % (70) bps 3.2 % MainStay 70.48 51.4 % 36.21 82.51 58.7 % 48.46 (14.6)% (730) bps (25.3)% Suburban 49.57 65.7 % 32.55 58.36 67.7 % 39.49 (15.1)% (200) bps (17.6)% Cambria Hotels 100.76 42.4 % 42.73 134.26 61.3 % 82.26 (25.0)% (1,890) bps (48.1)% Ascend Hotel Collection 110.30 42.5 % 46.88 115.97 56.4 % 65.40 (4.9)% (1,390) bps (28.3)% Total $ 69.49 47.1 % $ 32.73 $ 77.15 52.2 % $ 40.27 (9.9)% (510) bps (18.7)% Effective Royalty Rate For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2021 March 31, 2019 System-wide(3) 5.02 % 4.84 % (1)Includes Comfort family of brand extensions including Comfort and Comfort Suites (2)Includes Clarion family of brand extensions including Clarion and Clarion Pointe (3)Includes United States and Caribbean countries and territories

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Exhibit 6 SUPPLEMENTAL HOTEL AND ROOM SUPPLY DATA (UNAUDITED) March 31, 2021 March 31, 2020 Variance Hotels Rooms Hotels Rooms Hotels Rooms % % Comfort(1) 1,648 129,785 1,621 127,563 27 2,222 1.7 % 1.7 % Sleep 409 28,831 399 28,188 10 643 2.5 % 2.3 % Quality 1,691 128,093 1,688 128,951 3 (858) 0.2 % (0.7)% Clarion(2) 183 21,951 178 22,548 5 (597) 2.8 % (2.6)% Econo Lodge 762 46,258 794 47,774 (32) (1,516) (4.0)% (3.2)% Rodeway 544 31,212 581 33,404 (37) (2,192) (6.4)% (6.6)% WoodSpring Suites 296 35,631 277 33,303 19 2,328 6.9 % 7.0 % MainStay 92 6,504 73 4,636 19 1,868 26.0 % 40.3 % Suburban 66 6,365 60 6,082 6 283 10.0 % 4.7 % Cambria Hotels 57 8,058 50 7,222 7 836 14.0 % 11.6 % Ascend Hotel Collection 219 27,864 205 22,202 14 5,662 6.8 % 25.5 % Domestic Franchises(3) 5,967 470,552 5,926 461,873 41 8,679 0.7 % 1.9 % International Franchises 1,171 133,215 1,219 136,350 (48) (3,135) (3.9)% (2.3)% Total Franchises 7,138 603,767 7,145 598,223 (7) 5,544 (0.1)% 0.9 % (1)Includes Comfort family of brand extensions including Comfort and Comfort Suites (2)Includes Clarion family of brand extensions including Clarion and Clarion Pointe (3)Includes United States and Caribbean countries and territories

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES Exhibit 7 SUPPLEMENTAL NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) REVENUES, EXCLUDING MARKETING AND RESERVATION ACTIVITIES (dollar amounts in thousands) Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Revenues, Excluding Marketing and Reservation Activities Total Revenues $ 182,947 $ 218,175 Adjustments: Marketing and reservation system revenues (91,521) (110,385) Revenues, excluding marketing and reservation activities $ 91,426 $ 107,790 ADJUSTED SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES (dollar amounts in thousands) Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Total Selling, General and Administrative Expenses $ 30,267 $ 28,383 Mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments (1,425) 4,334 Operational restructuring charges (447) (1,364) Share-based compensation (2,351) 1,157 Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19 (133) - Adjusted Selling, General and Administrative Expenses $ 25,911 $ 32,510 ADJUSTED EARNINGS BEFORE INTEREST, TAXES, DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION ("EBITDA") AND ADJUSTED EBITDA MARGINS (dollar amounts in thousands) Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Net income $ 22,337 $ 55,463 Income tax expense (benefit) 6,373 (25,064) Interest expense 11,777 11,380 Interest income (1,281) (2,288) Other (gain) loss (1,205) 4,729 Loss on extinguishment of debt - 607 Equity in operating net loss of affiliates, net of impairments 1,192 1,955 Loss on impairment of unconsolidated joint venture 4,805 - Depreciation and amortization 6,362 6,529 Mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments 1,425 (4,334) Operational restructuring charges 447 1,364 Share-based compensation 2,351 (1,157) Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19 133 - Marketing and reservation system reimbursable deficit 6,652 20,062 Franchise agreement acquisition costs amortization 1,726 1,598 Adjusted EBITDA $ 63,094 $ 70,844 Revenues, excluding marketing and reservation activities $ 91,426 $ 107,790 Adjusted EBITDA margins 69.0 % 65.7 % ADJUSTED NET INCOME AND ADJUSTED DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS) (dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Net income $ 22,337 $ 55,463 Adjustments: Loss on the extinguishment of debt - 493 Loss on impairment of unconsolidated joint venture 3,719 - Operational restructuring charges 336 1,070 Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19 103 - Marketing and reservation system reimbursable deficit 5,149 16,328 Foreign tax benefit on international restructuring - (30,572) Adjusted Net Income $ 31,644 $ 42,782 Diluted Earnings Per Share $ 0.40 $ 0.99 Adjustments: Loss on extinguishment of debt - 0.01 Loss on impairment of unconsolidated joint venture 0.07 - Operational restructuring costs 0.01 0.02 Exceptional allowances attributable to COVID-19 - - Marketing and reservation system reimbursable deficit 0.09 0.29 Foreign tax benefit on international restructuring - (0.55) Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) $ 0.57 $ 0.76

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SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.
The drilling program has focused on infilling and expanding the existing mineral resource, for conversion to ore reserve status.

The Scotia Mining Centre is around 25 kilometres south of the Norseman Gold Project.

Pantoro Limiteds ( ) (FRA:RKN) ongoing drilling at Scotia Mining Centre within the Norseman Gold Project has returned several deep high-grade intersections from inside and outside of the inferred mineral resource envelope.

The infill drilling program around and below the historic underground workings continues to increase the companys confidence in the ongoing upgrade of mineral resources from the inferred to the indicated category for subsequent expansion of ore reserves.

Two high-grade lodes have been confirmed at the deepest level drilled to date, which is over 400 metres below surface and remains open.

New results include:

4 metres at 10.83 g/t gold including 0.7-metre at 56.20 g/t from 437 metres;

2.6 metres at 6.51 g/t from 451.8 metres;

5.25 metres at 5.27 g/t from 155.75 metres;

10 metres at 3.18 g/t from 177 metres;

3 metres at 8.12 g/t including 1-metre at 21.60 g/t from 180 metres;

3.85 metres at 4.03 g/t from 446.1 metres; and

9.94 metres at 7.24 g/t including 1.75 metres at 17.38 g/t from 195.06 metres.

Key component of Norseman restart

The latest drilling at Scotia has returned the deepest high-grade intercepts in the area to date and confirms the long term underground mining proposition following completion of open pit activities as contemplated in the project DFS.

Pantoro managing director Paul Cmrlec said: The Scotia Mining Centre is a key component of the planned recommencement of production at Norseman.

Ongoing drilling continues to confirm the growth potential of the Scotia Mining Centre, at depth, through expansion of other existing mineral resources, and through new discoveries such as Green Lantern and Panda.

The Scotia Mining Centre is around 25 kilometres south of Norseman, with historic production (1987 until 1996) from open pit and underground mining recorded at 811,000 tonnes at 5.9 g/t gold for 155,000 ounces.

It hosts several mineral resource areas in close proximity, including the dominant Scotia resource and smaller satellite resources at Lady Eleanor and Free Gift.

The companys ongoing drill program using multiple drill rigs at Scotia is planned to continue throughout this year.

New results at Scotia

Norseman production plans

The Norseman Gold Project (Pantoro 50%) comprises 146 near-contiguous mining tenements in the southern end of the highly productive Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Pantoro has focused initial project planning on six initial mining areas containing multiple deposits which are amenable to both open pit and underground mining.

A Phase 1 DFS was completed in October 2020 detailing an initial seven-year mine plan with a centralised processing facility and a combination of open pit and underground mining producing approximately 108,000 ounces per annum.

A new one million tonnes per annum processing plant is to be constructed by GR Engineering following an extensive tendering process.

Pre-construction works are underway, with first production planned for the first half of 2022.

An additional 100,000 metres of drilling is planned to be completed during 2021 with the aim of doubling the current mining inventory.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction (www.hathawaydinwiddie.com ), celebrating 110 years of industry leadership and quality construction, today announced strategic transitions within its senior ranks. John Cowles has been named Chief Operating Office and Arthur Kozinski has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Regional Manager of Southern California. David Lee , current COO, will continue his leadership with the Company's Board of Directors working on long term financial strategies. Steve Smith , Southern California Regional Manager for the last 23 years, will shift into more substantive support of ongoing major projects.

"Hathaway Dinwiddie has a culture of promoting from within, and fostering opportunity throughout the Company," said Greg Cosko, President & CEO of Hathaway Dinwiddie," and these promotions are good examples of that."

"Hathaway Dinwiddie has always been like a family," said Kozinski and Cowles in a statement. "Having seasoned veterans like Steve Smith and David Lee as mentors, during the transition of responsibilities, is key to how our company builds and fosters generational wisdom."

John Cowles career with Hathaway Dinwiddie started nearly 35 years ago when he started work part time in the field while attending college. Throughout his career John has been a has been a leader in the planning, development, and implementation of many of the company's most complex projects and is an avid believer of using technology to increase the productivity, quality and safety of our Projects. Cowles is also an adjunct professor at USC having taught there for over a decade. It is currently contemplated that Cowles will conduct his duties from Los Angeles, with regular trips to the Bay Area.

Arthur Kozinski has been with Hathaway Dinwiddie for over 35 years. He has overseen, led and supported the growth of the office and many significant projects including the Getty Center, 2000 Ave of the Stars, Tishman Speyer's work in Playa Vista, and more recently the USC Village, the Coliseum, Vermont Corridor and Lumen West, to name a few.

Hathaway Dinwiddie celebrates its 110th year of business in California in 2021. The company focuses on the California market and is known for constructing many of the state's iconic buildings. Consistently ranked in the ENR Top 100 General Contractors in the United States, Hathaway Dinwiddie provides General Contracting, Project Planning and Management services in California's most dynamic markets. The company has helped the nation's premier companies and institutions develop landmark structures and quality interior spaces throughout Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

Media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

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SOURCE Hathaway Dinwiddie
AUSTIN, Texas, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Austin-based philanthropists, Ryan and Annie Jacob, announce a $500,000 donation to The Arc of the Capital Area to promote and protect the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

Founded in 1949, The Arc of the Capital Area is a non-profit organization supporting Central Texans with I/DD through compassionate case management and innovative programs. By actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes, The Arc of the Capital Area creates a future in which people with I/DD have the same opportunities as others to pursue full and productive lives.

"Texas has the second-largest number of individuals with disabilities in all states, yet ranks 49th in the nation for funding services, despite having the 12th largest economy in the world," said Dr. Mary Van Haneghan, chief executive officer for The Arc of the Capital Area. "More than 500,000 individuals with I/DD live in Texas, and currently, more than half of these individuals are in need and on waitlists for services in Texas with an average wait time of 15 years. Despite these stark statistics, there is very little awareness of the crisis at hand. The majority of our governmental contracts have not received a rate increase in almost two decades. With our government funding covering less than 60% of what it costs to deliver services, contributions like from the Jacob family are not only a critical but vital part of our ability to meet the needs of those we serve.

"With the amazing support of Ryan and Annie Jacob, we can continue to close the significant statewide funding and service gaps through connecting individuals with I/DD and their families with continuing education, employment, recreation and lifelong services to ensure there are opportunities to pursue full, productive and healthy lives. As our nation recognizes and expands opportunities for diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Jacob family is leading the way to ensure individuals with I/DD are recognized, acknowledged, and prioritized."

Ryan Jacob serves as the vice president for The Arc of the Capital Area Board of Directors. Ryan and Annie Jacob understand the importance of advocating for and with people with I/DD and serving them and their families. Ryan and Annie's son, Grayson, was diagnosed with Angelman syndrome at two years old. Angelman syndrome affects 1 in 15,000 people and is characterized by developmental delays. Children with Angelman syndrome may have severe impairments in speech and communication. By the time they are teenagers, they tend to stop walking.

"Combating inequality for intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals is a priority for our family," said Ryan Jacob. "Improving the lives of children and adults with genetic diseases, like Angelman syndrome, and intellectual and physical disabilities is our primary focus. The Arc of the Capital Area continues to perform phenomenal work to ensure people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have the support and services necessary to be fully engaged in their communities. Annie and I are proud to support a local non-profit organization such as The Arc of the Capital Area."

In addition to their monetary donation, Ryan and Annie Jacob are supporting The Arc of the Capital Area by donating resources to raise additional funds for The Arc of the Capital Area. The Arc of the Capital Area is currently hosting a raffle for a round-trip flight in a private plane. All proceeds will support the Arc of the Capital Area's various initiatives and services. To learn more, please visit arcaustin.org/events-news/raffle/.

To learn more about The Arc of the Capital Area, please visit www.arcaustin.org. Keep up with the latest news from The Arc of the Capital Area on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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SOURCE The Arc of the Capital Area
OSLO, Norway, May 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Saga Pure ASA (Saga Pure) (OSE: SAGA) reported a net profit in the first quarter 2021 of NOK 147.8 million, representing a quarterly return on equity of 16 percent, (Q1 2020: NOK -101.0 million) following a positive development for the companys investment portfolio within renewable energy, hydrogen, circular economy and CO2 reductions.

"The first quarter was an eventful period for Saga Pure with high business development activity for our investment team focusing on renewable energy, hydrogen, circular economy and CO2 reductions. We reported a quarterly return on equity of 16 percent, announced investments in Heimdall Power, Pryme and IC Technologies, held NOK 833 million in cash, which provides a solid platform for further growth and expansion in 2021, " says Bjrn Simonsen, Chief Executive Officer of Saga Pure.

Saga Pure reported a net profit from continued operations in the first quarter 2021 of NOK 147.8 million, up from NOK -101.0 million in the corresponding quarter in 2020, driven by the positive development in the investment portfolio, representing a return on equity of 16 percent. The company had NOK 833 million in cash at the end of the quarter.

During the first quarter, Saga Pure invested in:

Pryme  The company uses a modified pyrolysis process which converts waste plastics into pyrolysis oil which will be further refined downstream for production of new plastic.

Heimdall Power  The company offers a rapid transition to fully digitalized electric grid assets with its patented low-cost sensors and software portfolio.

IC Technologies  The company develops storage and distribution solutions for cryogenic gases with focus on liquid hydrogen.

"Focus on renewable energy and the transition towards a more sustainable future is gaining momentum, supported by ever-stronger policy measures from governments around the world. Alongside evaluating a number of investment opportunities Saga Pure is focused on building a team of strong and broad industrial competence in accordance with the new investment strategy. With no interest-bearing debt, and substantial cash following the disposal of the former investments and recent private placements, Saga Pure is well positioned for pursuing new possibilities for our green and sustainable investment strategy," Simonsen concludes.

Saga Pure will host an investor presentation 10 May at 10:00 CET and the presentation can be followed live at www.saga-pure.com, or at https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20210510_3/

The presentation of the financial results for the first quarter 2021 and the Board of Directors report are enclosed.

For additional information, please contact:

Bjrn Simonsen, CEO, +47 97 17 98 21

Espen Lundaas, CFO, +47 92 43 14 17

About Saga Pure ASA | www.saga-pure.com

Saga Pure ASA is an investment company focusing on opportunities within renewable energy, hydrogen, circular economy and CO2-reduction.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/saga-pure-asa/r/saga-pure--first-quarter-2021-financial-results,c3343545

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https://mb.cision.com/Public/20232/3343545/9f0a742792f9eab9.pdf SAGA OSE Notification Q1 2021 https://mb.cision.com/Public/20232/3343545/a5865c2c686ae040.pdf SAGA Q1 2021 Report https://mb.cision.com/Public/20232/3343545/9fbc2e313412a32b.pdf SAGA Q1 2021 Presentation

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saga-pure-first-quarter-2021-financial-results-301287099.html

SOURCE Saga Pure ASA
Council commission chair Anne Tolley is sympathising with Tauranga residents over the impact of anti-social behaviour related to homelessness and alcohol abuse on 12th Ave.

Her reaction comes as two petitions for liquor bans to be installed in the area were discussed in a council meeting this week.

However, any potential ban would require an earlier review of the Alcohol Control Bylaw 2018, which is not currently scheduled for review until 2027/28.

Both residents and business owners along 12th Ave submitted petitions for liquor bans to be initiated in the area.

One resident, Maggie Stewart, was present at the council meeting where she made her case clear to the Tauranga City Council commissioners.

We have had a lot of problems over the past year or so, with homeless people gathering along the end of the road, she says.

Getting very drunk, rowdy, and noisy.

We have got a lot of old people in the street that feel threatened and intimidated.

Maggie claims that one woman was nearly run over whilst crossing the road to avoid the converging group, another is considering selling her property and moving elsewhere, whilst there have been cases of those involved entering properties.

It must be very frightening, says Tolley, reacting to the residents testimony.

Paul Billinghurst, sales manager and part owner at Professionals NRG Realty on the corner of Cameron Road and 12th Ave, also spoke at the council meeting.

He says this has been an issue for the majority of his four years based at the location, but the issues have accelerated over the past six to 12 months.

He details how the company billboard has been regularly urinated on whilst their drain has also been defecated in.

On Monday morning, prior to the council meeting, Paul had to clear vomit from the front of the property and the issue is now having a direct impact on business.

From a business point of view, it has gotten to a point where my team does not want to bring clients in.

Paul says he has universal support from business owners in the area regarding the petition.

It is not a good look for us businesses and our staff do not feel safe, he explains.

Look, they are harmless and I have never had any incidents but its intimidating, especially for females and school kids walking past when there are a bunch of drunk males outside.

Maggie and Paul both praised the work of police when called out. However, without a liquor ban in place, they appreciate their hands are somewhat tied.

Western Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton admits alcohol has an impact on communities in the region.

He highlights how homelessness is a complex issue and warns more than just a liquor ban is needed to address these issues.

Alcohol causes significant harm in our communities and its consumption can lead to anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder, says Clifford.

Safety of the community is polices primary concern.

We cannot address alcohol-related offending or anti-social behaviour alone, we ask everyone to take responsibility for themselves and their friends when it comes to alcohol.

Police may search and seize, without warrant, any container a person is carrying in an alcohol-free area as well as any vehicle that is in, or entering, an alcohol-free area.

Police may also arrest any person found to be committing an offence, including refusing to comply by leaving the alcohol-free area or surrendering any alcohol in their possession.

Instant fines can also be handed out by police in these areas.

Council will now prepare a report for Commissioners, with a timescale of late June to early July earmarked as the likely time of submission.

However, a liquor ban would require community consultation and an earlier than anticipated amendment to the current Alcohol Bylaw.

Council staff will prepare a report for the Commissioners, setting out the options available to respond to the issues raised in the petition from 12th Avenue residents and business owners, says Barbara Dempsey, general manager: regulatory and compliance.

If an introduction of a permanent liquor ban, for example, was agreed to, it would require an early review of the Alcohol Bylaw, the next review is currently scheduled for 2027/28.

Any proposed bylaw change would require a formal community consultation process.

Paul is hopeful that a liquor ban in the area would give police more powers when it comes to dealing with the anti-social behaviour regularly occurring on 12th Avenue.

We are trying to do the right thing by going through the council and getting this liquor ban, he says.

I 100 per cent believe that once that happens they will move on very quickly because we can then call the cops and they can start arresting or giving warnings.
Tauranga is still one of New Zealands leading cities for rapid property market growth at present, despite some predictions that its slowing.

In fact, Taurangas average house price is rapidly closing in on $1 million.

At 7.8 per cent growth for the quarter  including three per cent for the month of April  it looks as though the city should reach that mark later this month, reports QV.

As it stands now though, the average price of a home here is currently $992,087.

Although confidence in the Tauranga economy remained strong, local QV property consultant Derek Turnwald advises that a number of factors will still likely slow the citys rampant house price growth in the future.

With the gradual removal of interest cost deductibility for investors its highly likely that investor interest will decline now, he says.

Agents are receiving less enquiries from New Zealanders living overseas, possibly as a consequence of vaccine rollouts and increased confidence that there is an end in sight to the worst effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Plus theres a sense that FOMO (fear of missing out) is being slowly replaced by a fear of paying too much for a property.

Following the Reserve Banks recent announcements, Derek expects the central bank to implement additional controls and policy changes, if recent changes are not effective in cooling the countrys overheated property market.

Just over a month has passed since the Government announced measures aimed at dampening the rampant growth of the property market, and yet the latest QV House Price Index data shows the market hit a new high in April.

The average value increased 8.9 per cent nationally over the past three-month period, up from the 7.8 per cent quarterly growth seen in March, with the national average value now sitting at $913,209.

This represents an increase of 21.4 per cent year on year, up from 18.2 per cent last month.

The average value in the Auckland region now sits at $1,306,913, up 8.2 per cent over the last quarter, with annual growth of 19 per cent, up from Marchs year-on-year growth of 16.1 per cent.

Of the 16 major urban centres we monitor, all except Napier City and Queenstown Lakes District are showing an increase in quarterly growth compared to last month, says QV general manager David Nagel.

However, Napier is still showing the strongest gains in value, followed closely by Hastings, with 14.2 per cent and 14 per cent value growth respectively over the past three months.

Were hearing a range of anecdotal evidence of investors disappearing from auction rooms and even a decrease in first-home buyer presence. And while less properties may be selling under the hammer, the majority are still being sold at prices that are at least as strong as before the tax announcements were made at the end of March.

Were starting to see some interesting regional trends emerging, with the strongest value growth occurring in the southernmost regions of the North Island.

The Hawkes Bay region, Manawatu-Wanganui and also the greater Wellington region are all showing very strong month-on-month value growth with Hawkes Bay leading the pack at 4.9 per cent monthly growth. The two southern regions of Otago and Southland are showing much more conservative monthly growth of just 2.1 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively, he says.

Well all just be guessing the impacts of the recent tax changes until we get another couple of months of sales data to analyse.

But theres certainly an expectation that well see at least a slowdown in the rate of value growth, with potentially less investors and maybe a few more first-home buyers entering the market over the coming months.
Conservationists are saddened by what they suggest appears to be the taking of meat from a great white shark in Tauranga.

The head and remaining dismembered carcass of a juvenile white pointer has been discovered at Pilot Bay over the weekend.

The White Shark Conservation Trust is hoping to find information on how the shark came to be in the location with the lacerations in question.

We are extremely saddened by this incident, says Bruce Goorney, trustee with White Shark Conservation Trust.

We urge anyone who has information about this shark being caught or cut up, to contact DOC or MPI with all urgency.

The incident, while rare, has left the DOC disappointed and they are now investigating.

Every year about 12 dead or dying great white sharks show up on New Zealand shores, but the Tauranga shark is the first one for a while that appears to have been taken for food, says Clinton Duffy, Department of Conservation marine technical advisor.

The Department of Conservation is saddened by this act which is being investigated and anyone with information is urged to get in touch.

Mel Kellett, a postgraduate student at the University of Waikato, has been studying sharks for four years.

Unfortunately, she is of the belief the shark has indeed been taken for meat. She also states those involved may not have been aware of the breed of shark.

The shark had a number of stab wounds into the head, and had been trunked with just the head, pectoral fins, stomach, and intestines being left behind, she explains.

This suggests the shark had been deliberately killed and the rest of the body taken for its meat.

The shark was a juvenile estimated to be around 1.8  2m total length. It is possible that the person responsible did not recognise the shark as a white shark.

Further details are required to understand the circumstances around the incident.

Whilst there have been increased sightings of great white sharks in Bay of Plenty waters in recent months, the DOC is keen to remind the public they remain relatively rare.

Great white sharks are quite rare with a population of about 12,000 that move back and forth between New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, Clinton explains.

The population is considered stable or slightly decreasing while, globally, white sharks are considered vulnerable.

The species status as vulnerable means they are protected and deliberate hunting, killing or harming carries potentially severe penalties, with fines up to $250,000 and two years in jail at the upper end of the punishment scale.

The great white shark is a protected species under the Wildlife Act. It is illegal to hunt, kill or harm great white sharks, says Clinton.

It is illegal to deliberately catch one of the sharks, but not illegal to accidentally catch one. It must be released alive and unharmed.

It is illegal to retain any part of a great white shark, even if it is dead, Clinton affirms.

Mel is hopeful this incident can be now be used as a learning experience for what to do in case of an accidental catch of a shark like the one found on Pilot Bay.

A huge part of protecting species and ecosystems is education, she says.

The rules around fishing, catch limits, and the retention of body parts varies depending on the species of interest. In this case, the white shark is a protected species under the New Zealand Wildlife Act and Fisheries Act.

If you are ever unsure about a species you catch, the safest action is to put it back. It is not illegal to accidently catch a white shark as long as it is released alive and unharmed and reported to the DOC.

If the shark is already dead on retrieval, it should be reported to DOC immediately as the carcass could be used for research.

Sighting, captures or strandings can be reported to DOC sharks@doc.govt.nz or to 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).
Resource infill drilling at Kulumalia returned high-grade silver assays which have potential to improve the economics of mining at Kulumalia due to the silver credits gained offsetting gold production costs.

The company is on track for a mineral resource and ore reserve update in the September quarter.

( ) (FRA:RZZ) has received encouraging new gold and silver results from an ongoing 8,000-metre resource drilling program at Kulumalia, at the southern end of the main Umuna orebody of its flagship 3.6 million ounce Misima Gold Project in PNG.

Recent drilling returned multiple wide mineralised intercepts outside of the reserve pit shell, increasing geological confidence in the existing resource and reserve models and also delineating new mineralisation beneath the current life-of-mine plan.

Best results include:

20.7 metres at 2.52 g/t gold and 86.1 g/t silver from 99.3 metres;

17.5 metres at 2.28 g/t gold and 2.5 g/t silver from 221.9 metres; and

8 metres at 1.39 g/t gold and 3.6 g/t silver from 210.2 metres.

Silver results

Notably, drilling also returned high-grade silver assays within and immediately adjacent to the gold mineralisation, which has the potential to improve the economics of mining at Kulumalia due to the silver credits gained offsetting the gold production costs.

Results include:

2 metres at 192 g/t silver and 0.68 g/t gold from 87 metres; and

37.4 metres at 90.9 g/t silver and 1.5 g/t gold from 91.6 metres.

De-risking project

Drilling has confirmed and extended mineralised intervals within and below the current life-of-mine plan, increasing confidence in the existing resource and potentially highlighting additional mineable material in this area of the Umuna Pit.

Kingston managing director Andrew Corbett said: This latest round of assay results at Kulumalia builds on the encouraging results released in March.

This area is shaping up to be an important component of Kingstons development strategy for Misima.

It is particularly pleasing to see some of the deeper holes drilled at Kulumalia to date returning high-grade mineralised intervals.

This shows that gold mineralisation continues at depth in fresh rock and confirms that Kulumalia is more than just a source of shallow oxide ore  it is an extremely well-mineralised component of the main Umuna trend.

Kingstons geology team is doing a great job de-risking the project and adding value to the proposed mine production plan, which will ultimately help to strengthen Misimas credentials as a long-life, low-cost gold operation.

Kulumalia plan map showing drill hole collars in resource, production target and reserve pit shells.

Next steps

Drilling of the Cooktown stockpile has been completed and both drill rigs are moving back to Kulumalia to continue the resource definition program that builds on the updated geological interpretation to include drill testing of near-surface gold mineralisation in structures in the hanging wall of the main gold-rich zone, strike extensions to the east and west, and in-fill of existing and intermediate sections.

The resource definition program will be followed by a program of geotechnical drilling in the second half of 2021, which will contribute to the ongoing definitive feasibility study (DFS).

Following completion of the drill program, assay results will feed into an updated ore reserve estimate for the Misima Gold Project, which is expected to be delivered during Q3 this year.
Ilion, N.Y. -- The Remington Arms factory in the Herkimer County village of Ilion has reopened, eight months after its previous owner closed the plant and laid off more than 700 workers.

Richmond Italia, managing partner for RemArms owner Roundhill Group LLC, said in an email that the company has called back 230 workers to the factory, with plans for starting production with the Model 870 shotgun line, according to the Times Telegram.

Phil Smith, director of communications and governmental affairs for the United Mine Workers of America, said 120 hourly workers are among those who have been called back to work.

The reopening comes a little more than a month after the union announced it had reached an agreement with Roundhill that recognizes the union as the hourly employees collective bargaining agent when they return to work, establishes a recall process for more former Remington workers to be called back, and sets up a 60-day timeframe for the parties to begin negotiating a full labor contract.

Roundhill has said it hopes to hire back hundreds more workers as it ramps up firearms production in Ilion.

Remingtons previous owner filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of U.S. Bankruptcy Code last year after suffering falling sales. Roundhill purchased the gun factory in the fall for $13 million in a sale supervised by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Alabama.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
New York  All State University of New York campuses will require Covid-19 vaccines for in-person students, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

The mandate applies to City University of New York schools in New York City as well.

Students must get vaccinated before the return to campus in the fall.

You must have a vaccine to come back in September, Cuomo said during a press conference in New York City. If you have to get it by September, you may as well get it now.

Cuomo said hes also encouraging private colleges to require vaccines this fall.

Colleges in the Syracuse area, including Syracuse University and Le Moyne College, have already announced they will do so. Cornell University in Ithaca is also requiring the shots.

The vaccine mandate at SUNY schools is part of a state push to get more shots to young people, Cuomo said.

Just 24.7% of New Yorkers age 16 to 25 are vaccinated, according to data Cuomo shared during his briefing.

Thats by far the lowest percentage of any age group in the state. Over 73% of New Yorkers age 65 to 74 are vaccinated, for example.

The mandate wont take effect unless the federal government grants full, regular approval to one or more of the Covid shots on the market now. So far, those vaccines are operating through emergency use authorizations, which prevent the state from requiring anyone to get them, Cuomo said.

But federal officials are expected to give regular approval to at least one of the shots soon, well before September, he said.

Cuomo announced two other vaccine-related efforts today.

He is proposing a law barring discrimination against people who have received the vaccine. Thats a response to reports of some summer camps banning campers or staff members who have been vaccinated, Cuomo said.

In addition, the state will offer the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at several subway, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North hubs from this Wednesday through Sunday. Those who get their shots at subway stations will get free seven-day MetroCards. Those who get vaccinated at Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North sites will get two free one-way trips anywhere in the service area.

The stations offering the shots include Ossining, East 180th Street, Grand Central Station, Penn Station, Coney Island, 179th Street, Hempstead and Broadway Junction.

The effort to offer shots at the stations is a pilot program and could be expanded if successful, officials said.

The state is also waiving its residency requirement for Covid vaccines, so anyone visiting from elsewhere can get a shot in New York, Cuomo said.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
The U.S. will likely ease up on indoor mask guidelines in real time as COVID-19 vaccinations continue to increase, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.

I think youre going to probably be seeing that as we go along and as more people get vaccinated, Fauci, the top White House medical adviser, told ABC News This Week. We do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated [because] the number of cases per day will absolutely go down. Were averaging about 43,000 a day. Weve got to get it much, much lower than that. When that gets lower, the risk of any infection, indoor or outdoor, diminishes dramatically.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adjusted its mask recommendations in late April, saying many unmasked outdoor activities such as running or walking were safe, especially for vaccinated Americans. The CDC also relaxed guidelines for some indoor activities, noting that masked vaccinated people can attend worship, visit restaurants or bars or partake in indoor exercises class.

But most people should still don masks indoors around people who are not vaccinated. Large crowds without social distancing should still be avoided, the CDC says.

We know the virus spreads very well indoors, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last month, arguing the agency would only further relax indoor mask recommendations after new daily cases were below 50,000.

Fauci, in an interview with NBC News Meet the Press on Sunday, noted that mask-wearing dramatically impacted the most recent flu season. He said more Americans may start wearing masks seasonally to prevent respiratory infections.

I think people have gotten used to the fact that wearing masks ... clearly, if you look at the data, it diminishes respiratory diseases. Weve had practically a non-existent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominately against COVID-19, he said.

Former Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CBS News Face the Nation that COVID-19 cases were down to a point right now where we can ... start lifting these ordinances and allowing people to resume normal activity. Certainly, outdoors, we should not be putting limits on gatherings anymore and we should be encouraging people to go outside. States where infection rates are low should also see relaxed indoor public health guidelines, Gottlieb argued.

Both the town of Brookline and the city of Salem chose to continue their outdoor face covering mandates after Gov. Charlie Baker announced on April 27 that masks would only need to be worn outside when its not possible to socially distance and at other times based on sector-specific guidance.

Under the states current guidance, face coverings are still required in indoor public places and at events, whether held indoors or outdoors and whether held in a public space or private home, except for when eating or drinking, according to the governors office.

At small gatherings in private homes, face coverings are recommended but not required. The $300 enforcement fine for mask-wearing was eliminated as well.
A 28-year-old father and his 3-year-old were killed after their kayak overturned on Lake Champlain Friday afternoon, according to New York State Police.

Patrick S. Wells and his 3-year-old son, Beckett L. Wells, both of Willsboro, NY in Essex County, were both found unresponsive in the water about 2:20 p.m., troopers said in a news release Monday.

Police said the two drowned due to hypothermia and cold water exposure.

The temperature of the water this weekend was about 45 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. A person can become unconscious in as little as 30 minutes and can die in one to three hours in water that cold.

The two were rushed to the University of Vermont Healthcare Network at the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) in Plattsburgh after the accident.

Patrick Wells was pronounced dead at CVPH. Beckett Wells was transported by Life Flight to the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVM) in Burlington, VT and pronounced dead Saturday.

State Police were assisted at the scene by the Essex County Sheriffs Office, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers, and Willsboro/Essex EMS and Fire Department.

The accident remains under investigation, police said.

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
Syracuse, NY  Justin McGann panicked after fatally striking a pedestrian on West Genesee Street in August 2020, abandoning his vehicle nearby before confessing to police four to five hours later, his lawyer said Monday.

McGann, then 24, had a knee-jerk reaction that may have been triggered by the fact he lost his older brother, Robert McGann, to a car crash on James Street in July 2012, Justin McGanns defense lawyer, Karin Marris, said.

With that panic, he left the scene, Marris said. He wishes he could change that.

Paris Bitting, 33, died from injures in the early morning Aug. 9, 2020 crash. McGann was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash, a felony punishable by up to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.

On Monday, Justin McGann avoided jail and was sentenced to five years on probation by County Court Judge Stephen Dougherty.

The judge noted that a life was lost. None of this... we cant forget that Ms. Betting is dead, Dougherty said.

But he overruled prosecutor Chris Bednarski, who had asked the judge to sentence McGann to 1 to 3 years in prison.

In those early morning hours, (McGann) cared far more about himself than the woman he had just struck, the prosecutor said. The message needs to be sent to the community: Thats just simply unacceptable.

The victims family also wanted some jail time. And a probation report had recommended McGann start his probation with 6 months in jail.

None of that swayed the judge to lock McGann up.

I dont think that accomplishes anything, the judge said.

The judge noted McGanns clean criminal record before the crash, his employment as a laborer and his family at home: one child with another on the way.

Justin McGann didnt go far after striking and killing Bitting in the early morning hours of Aug. 9, Dougherty said.

He stayed in the area, not knowing what to do next, Dougherty said, citing the police investigation.

McGann then went home and told his family before turning himself in to police within five hours, the judge noted. In meeting with police, McGann cooperated and admitted his involvement.

There was no proof that McGanns crash was caused by drug use or inattention, Marris said. However, there was proof he was speeding, the judge noted.

But a police investigation determined that it may have been impossible to avoid Bitting, the victim, even if driving at the 30 mph speed limit, Marris noted. Its highly likely that the crash was caused by pedestrian error, the police investigation concludes.

Theres no question that McGann has expressed remorse from the time he turned himself in, hours after the crash, the judge said.

McGann later wrote a heart-felt apology on social media, which was acknowledged by a member of the victims family, Marris said.

And McGann said Monday he wished the victims family had attended his own sentencing (they did not) so he could apologize to them in-person.

I wish the family was here, so I could tell them to their face that I am sorry, McGann said in court. In my life now, I have achieved a reason that I have to do better.

McGanns brother, Robert, died as a result of injuries suffered when a car he was riding in crashed into a pole on James Street in 2012. Robert McGann was a passenger in a car driven by Darryl Trapps, 20, in that crash.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
Through her writing and photography, 17-year-old Rayan Mohamed is a storyteller.

Mohamed, a junior at Henninger High School, participated in National Geographics week-long photo camp earlier this year, which teaches students to use photojournalism to tell stories about themselves and their communities. The program is led by world-renowned photographers Andrea Bruce and David Guttenfelder, focusing on students perspectives on important issues. The program began in 2003 and has been run in over 35 countries.

This years virtual camp focused on Democracy in Action. The group of students met on Zoom and held discussions on what democracy meant for them. For Mohamed, whose family left Somalia and lived in refugee camps in Ethiopia until she moved to the United States at age 11, a personal definition of democracy is important. Coming to America, Mohamed said she experienced racism and social injustice that she had not had to worry about before.

As a black, Muslim girl that was born in a civil war in Somalia and raised in a refugee camp located in Ethiopia, I view democracy as peace, equality and respect, Mohamed said. She says she appreciated the diversity of her program group and hearing her peers unique definitions of democracy.

Mohameds experience in the photo camp greatly influenced her photography.

Some of my favorite pictures are the black and white side profile picture and the one [where] Im praying because that represents to me peace and respect. That I will be able to pray anywhere at anytime, which thats not the case now, but I hope to be in the future we are able to not differentiate anyone just because they are different then you, Mohamed said.

Mohamed was introduced to the Photo Camp opportunity by Ahmed Badr, the founder of Narratio. Narratio is a global platform meant to encourage youth empowerment through creative expression. Mohamed spent her summer writing and creating short films.

(The camp) gives me the opportunity to explore my story through photography. I was humbled and honored to be part of such talented photographers and amazing students across the country, Mohamed said.

While shes not sure exactly what she wants to do in the future, Mohamed plans to continue with photography and keep telling stories.

National Geographic has been the best experience I ever had. It gives me hope for the future because the discussions we had in class were so true and so deep of what democracy means to us, she said.

In her own words

Rayan Abdulahi Mohamed, a 17-year old Somalian refugee living in Syracuse, shared her thoughts on democracy as a Black Muslim woman in one of her assignments for the National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Democracy in Action.

Im 17 years old. Im from Somalia and I lived as a refugee in Ethiopia for 7 years. I never actually never thought about what democracy meant.

Now I think, democracy is about bringing people together without one being left out, and having a community thats fair and respecting each others background and beliefs. As a minority black Muslim in this country, it can be hard to think about. Am I even welcome in this country? It can be hard to think about social justice, if something happens, god forbid, will I get justice?

I think it wont be the same justice for me.

The differences we have may cause the separation, but I think having people that are from all over the world and still working together to bring a better future and preparing the next generation is a hope -- that difference doesnt mean one is better than the other.

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Syracuse, N.Y.  Barbara Jarvis, an 84-year-old resident of Van Duyn nursing home, was unable to safely walk on her own.

She needed assistance getting to and from the bathroom, but nursing staff did not help her.

Jarvis was found dead Dec. 13 after she fell and accidentally hanged herself when part of her hospital gown got caught on a bathroom door handle, according to the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office.

The state health department cited Van Duyn for its handling of her care.

Van Duyns nurse aides did not escort Jarvis even though her written care plan said she was at high risk of falling and required help, according to a state health department inspection report obtained by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

The aides thought it was OK to let Jarvis walk by herself because they did not read her care plan, which they are required to review daily, the inspection shows.

Patrick Calli, Van Duyns administrator, did not answer questions about the incident from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. He said federal patient privacy law prohibited him from discussing Jarviss care.

The Van Duyn family is saddened by the events surrounding Ms. Jarvis and that an accidental fall while she was a resident in our facility led to her passing,' Calli said a prepared statement.

John W. Jarvis, Barbara Jarviss son who lives in North Carolina, said his mothers death could have been prevented. I think she was just neglected, he said.

He said medical records show she lost 27 pounds while living at Van Duyn.

Barbara Jarvis and her sons, John, left, and David, in 1999.

The inspection report shows Jarvis fell at least twice before her fatal fall in December. After the falls, the nursing home updated her care plan to indicate she needed extensive assistance getting in and out of bed and walking in her room.

Van Duyns assistant director of physical therapy told a state inspector Jarvis  was not able to demonstrate she could safely ambulate on their (sic) own and he would not expect staff to allow independent ambulation because of the risk of falling.

Jarvis died just three months after moving into Van Duyn, a 513-bed facility at 5075 W. Seneca Turnpike which has been notorious for poor care for more than a decade.

Regulators have cited Van Duyn for deficiencies three times more often than the average New York nursing home over the past four years. Its been sued for negligence or malpractice in state Supreme Court 20 times since 2016, more than any nursing home in the Onondaga County.

Van Duyn has an overall rating of one-star from Medicare, the lowest rating which means much below average. Its understaffed. The average Van Duyn resident gets one hour and 29 minutes of care daily from nurse aides, more than an hour less than the national average.

Eighteen residents on one of Van Duyns units never got their medications Nov. 1 because the facility did not assign a nurse that day to administer drugs, according to an inspection. It also was cited in 2017 for not having enough nurses and aides to care for residents.

Regulators faulted Van Duyn last year for not protecting residents from abuse. A nurse aide purposely pushed a residents wheelchair into a wall, injuring the residents leg, an inspection shows. Van Duyn subsequently fired the aide.

The state cited Van Duyn in 2018 for letting the body of a deceased resident badly decompose in its morgue before it was picked up by a funeral director. The temperature inside the morgue was between 80 and 90 degrees, according to an inspection report. The morgue should have been refrigerated.

Van Duyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, 5075 W. Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, N.Y., Thursday May 21, 2020. Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.comScott Schild | sschild@syracuse.

Van Duyn was named a special focus facility and placed on a list of the nations worst-performing nursing homes in 2011 when it was owned by Onondaga County. Nursing homes placed on that list are watched more closely by regulators. If they dont improve, they can lose Medicare and Medicaid funding and be forced to shut their doors.

Van Duyn improved enough to get off that list in 2013 just before the county sold it to a private, for-profit company, Upstate Services Group.

Van Duyns majority owners are Uri Koenig, an accountant, and Efraim Steif, a nursing home administrator, both of Rockland County. Upstate Services operates 11 other nursing homes in New York, including Central Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Syracuse. The owners have repeatedly promised to improve Van Duyn. But inspection reports show the facility is still dogged by persistent problems.

Lindsay Heckler, a supervising attorney at the Center for Elder Law and Justice in Buffalo, said regulators should consider putting Van Duyn back on the special focus facility list.

This facility needs to be looked at more closely, Heckler said after reviewing Van Duyns inspection reports.

Heckler believes the health department downplayed the severity of what happened to Barbara Jarvis.

Regulators use four different categories to assess the seriousness of nursing home violations. The least serious violation is labeled no actual harm with the potential for minimal harm. The most serious violation is labeled immediate jeopardy. That means something happened that caused or is likely to injure, harm or kill residents.

The health department labeled the lapse in Barbara Jarviss care: No actual harm or immediate jeopardy, but has the potential to cause more than minimal harm. Thats the second least serious of the four potential violations.

When someone dies because of the failure to implement care plans, how can it be no actual harm? Heckler said.

Richard Mollot, of the Long Term Care Coalition, a nursing home resident advocacy group in Manhattan, agrees.

This sends a terrible message to nursing homes, that they can get away with grossly substandard care, even when it leads to a residents death, Mollot said. What a horrific way to die, and what an abject dereliction of duty on the part of the department of health.

Van Duyn submitted a plan to the health department on how it will fix its failure to follow resident care plans. The nursing home said nursing staff will be trained to review residents care plans. The facility also said it would review the way the ambulatory status of residents is documented in medical records. The department approved that plan Jan. 21.

Barbara Jarvis and her husband, John J. Jarvis, who died in 1994.

Jarvis grew up in Syracuse. She worked for Royal Insurance, now known as Royal & Sun Alliance, on James Street. Her husband, John J. Jarvis, was a Centro bus driver. They had three children. Her husband died in 1994.

They did everything together, her son said. When he passed, she had a hole in her heart she couldnt fill.

Barbara Jarvis developed Alzheimers disease and severe dementia.

She moved to North Carolina five years ago to be closer to her son. As her dementia got worse, Barbara Jarvis would get lost driving her car. Police would call John W. Jarvis and ask him to come pick her up. He took away his mothers car and moved her into his home. He was working full time, taking care of both his mother and disabled wife.

I had a lot on my plate. It was overwhelming, he said.

Barbara Jarvis moved back to Syracuse last year and stayed with her daughter, before moving into Van Duyn in September.

John W. Jarvis said his mother was a good person who didnt deserve such a horrible death.

She was last seen alive at 12:35 a.m. Dec. 13, according to the inspection report. A nurse aide found Jarvis dead in her room at 1:55 a.m. A forensic autopsy indicated Jarvis got up to use the bathroom. While exiting the bathroom, a tie that fastened the neck of her gown got entangled with the door handle, according to the report.

The resident then stumbled to her knees, tightening the tie which then partially encircled her neck. This acted as a noose compressing the vessels at the sides of the neck, the report says.

Alyssa Jarvis Dias, Jarviss granddaughter who is a nurse practitioner in North Carolina, said she has spent the last 10 years caring and advocating for patients. Thats why the states finding that Van Duyn dropped the ball on her grandmothers care is a bitter pill to swallow, she said.

I wouldnt want any other family to have to go through this, she said.

If you are a Van Duyn resident or have a loved one who lives there, we would like to hear about your experience. Please contact James T. Mulder at jmulder@syracuse.com or 315-470-2245.
MIAMI (AP)  A fight inside a Wendys restaurant in Miami caused injuries to an employee and resulted in a deadly shooting, officials said. The suspected shooter escaped.

The Miami Herald reports that two customers began fighting Saturday, and when an employee of the fast food restaurant tried to intervene, he was punched in the face by one of the men.

Miami-Dade police told the newspaper that the other man pulled out a gun, shot and killed the other customer.

The name of the man who was killed has not been released and police have not given a description of the suspected shooter. The 20-year-old employee was treated for his injuries at the restaurant.
Funds raised will be used to assess exploration and mining opportunities at the Mt Dimer mining lease following a recent successful exploration campaign.

The rights issue attracted strong support from shareholders and new institutional and professional investors.

( ) has closed its partially-underwritten renounceable rights issue strongly oversubscribed, raising around $2.7 million.

The rights issue received strong support from shareholders and new institutional and professional investors.

Following completion of the issue, the company is now well funded to advance its prospective suite of exploration assets.

TSCs chief executive officer Simon Phillips: We would like to thank our shareholders for the support they have shown during this Rights Issue, demonstrating their continued commitment to the company and enthusiasm for our future as we embark on this exciting next stage for TSC.

Use of funds

Funds will be used for the following activities:

Assess exploration and mining opportunities at its Mt Dimer mining lease after a recent successful exploration campaign;

Progress further exploration on the Mt Dimer exploration lease, adjacent to its Mt Dimer mining lease (currently underway);

Mobilise a crew to commence geochemical soil testing programs on its 220 square kilometres, underexplored Marda Greenstone ground at Yarbu;

Fast-track the next program of work on the Rover Project, including follow-up work on the projects best soil results to date at Blue Hills, Four Corners and Middle Well;

Progress opportunities to maximise value from its highly prospective NSW IOCG projects; and

Use for working capital purposes generally.

Rights Issue details

The company will issue a total of 532,137,912 new fully paid ordinary shares and 266,068,956 new options exercisable at 0.9 cents, with an expiry date of October 31, 2023, to investors who applied.

The options will be quoted under the ASX code TSCOA.

Mahe Capital Pty Ltd acted as lead manager and underwriter to the Rights Issue and advised the company on the issue.

Director participation

Non-executive directors Mark Burchnall and Robert Scott have demonstrated their confidence in the company by participating.

Burchnall acquired 1.5 million shares in an indirect interest, increasing his holding to 7.5 million fully paid ordinary shares.

Scott also acquired 1.5 million shares in an indirect interest and now holds 7.5 million shares.
The creation of a Special Economic Zone for Manono is part of the cooperation agreement and will deliver economic benefits to the project in the form of tax concessions and import duty relief.

The DRC Government could potentially sign off the formal cooperation agreement sometime this month.

( ) (FRA:3A2) (OTCMKTS:AZZVF) is encouraged that the newly established Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has moved quickly to approve a draft inter-ministerial decree relating to the draft cooperation agreement with the company.

Approval of both documents by the Council of Ministers of the new DRC Government, which was only sworn in on April 27, 2021, will ultimately deliver significant fiscal benefits for the Manono Lithium and Tin Project once finalised.

The company believes that approval of these two draft agreements within the first month of the newly elected government being in office is a very positive step towards the approval of the Manono Special Economic Zone (MSEZ).

Key milestone for Manono Project

AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said: The approval of both the draft decree relating to the cooperation agreement and the draft cooperation agreement is yet another milestone for the Manono Project.

The final cooperation agreement will deliver significant long-term economic benefits for the project, as well as further underpinning our substantial investment in the DRC.

It will also deliver long-term benefits for the people of the Manono region, including access to improved health and education services, stable employment opportunities and upgraded infrastructure including electricity supply.

AVZ's market cap is approximately A$465 million while shares have been up as much as 9.4% intra-day to A$0.175.

Manono Special Economic Zone

The approval of these drafts is positive for AVZ in terms of the eventual approval of a MSEZ that is expected to deliver economic benefits to the project in the form of tax concessions and import duty relief.

Ferguson said: In addition, the cooperation agreement reinforces the DRC Governments pledge to financiers that the DRC is open for business to the international investment community.

Once finalised, Manono will be just the second special economic zone (SEZ) created in the DRC.

FEED study being finalised

The fiscal incentives and benefits that will be derived by the Manono Project operating within the SEZ will further reinforce the financial outcomes compared with the 2020 Manono Projects definitive feasibility study.

A FEED study is being finalised, along with the re-run of the resource estimation on the back of all wedge drilling data being made available for input into the newly structured definitive feasibility study model.

The first review of the DFS document has been completed and on all final data being received, this document will be finalised and released to the market.

Formal cooperation agreement pending

AVZ's DRC team is working hard with government officials to finalise negotiations on the Mpiana Mwanga HEPP and the Manono SEZ terms and conditions now that an incentivised, newly formed government is available.

The formal decree relating to the cooperation agreement with AVZ and the formal cooperation agreement are expected to be signed by the DRC Government as soon as practicable  potentially by the end of this month.
NASA is moving forward with the Ingenuity and Perseverance's mission in the Red Planet, and would now venture into a believed "ancient river" to look for signs of early or "ancient life" on Mars. This move is to know the unknown, and optimistically, discover more of the neighboring planet before it accommodates the first human missions in the coming years.

While Mars is a next-door neighbor to Earth, it is still uncharted territory and could hold a lot of harm and dangers for human life that would be unknown and surprising once in place. It is evident that the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) is looking to put its efforts in a manned mission to the Red Planet, and soon study it on-site.

Certainly, this effort and venture were well-known for the private space agency of Elon Musk with SpaceX's ventures of the Starship, recently achieving an optimal landing maneuver with the SN15. The success of the company makes them one step closer to their goal, and it is to be able to reach Mars with actual human astronauts and build "Nuwa."

Read Also: NASA Photos of Fungi on the Red Planet is Bad Science--Available Evidence Points out to Mars Being Not Suitable for Mushrooms

NASA: Mars Exploration to Go Deeper

NASA has achieved something incredible with the Ingenuity helicopter's fifth flight and mission, which is a one-way trip that moved it further in the Red Planet, soon to be followed by the Perseverance rover. The new "Airfield" of Ingenuity would be its temporary space, especially as it awaits its next mission as directed by the space agency.

The next mission would go further and dive deeper into Mars, particularly in learning more of the Red Planet for the researchers to see and collect as it flies around the region near the Jezero Crater. The rover and helicopter were strategically placed in the crater as it is believed to have signs of water in the area, which NASA is trying to know.

Further missions would be dedicated more to diving deep into the unknown and hopefully discover new information regarding Mars and its past, particularly as it was believed to have water before. This follows the alleged "ancient river" in Mars, which initially had flowing water, and maybe an indication that there is life on Mars.

Ingenuity, Perseverance to Look at Ancient River for Signs of Early Life

According to CBS News, Ken Farley, a geochemist in NASA, says that the company is looking for early forms of life, and "conceive" of the unknown. And this would be achieved or soon discovered via the technology brought by the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter which are controlled by humans remotely, here on Earth.

"Where there is water, there is life," and that's what most people believe, as it is known that water is sufficient to continue the flow of life, especially as it holds a lot of minerals that can pinpoint history. The search for water and the "ancient river" by NASA would soon lead its scientists to know the mystery of life on Mars.

Related Article: NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Successfully Completes 5th Flight on One-Way Trip; Major Milestone After the Failed 4th Test

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China's technology giants are looking into the venture to introduce a native-made electric vehicle in the country as Huawei, Baidu, and Xiaomi have already invested a total of $19 billion in their ventures. This move is a massive step for these companies and China, especially as it somehow beats the US' tech giants in their electric vehicle projects.

Apple is known to look into delivering the "Apple Car" by 2025 says analyst reports, and it would already feature a fully electric motor that is also capable of self-driving once it releases. That is a massive step for Apple, especially as it has focused its technology and innovation on consumer electronics, and not on transportation.

Another US Big Tech in this venture is Alphabet and Google, which are known for its development of Waymo that has presented its technology for several years now. They are also one of the firsts in autonomous driving technology, particularly with robotaxis or ride-hailing apps, and would be developed for different cars using Waymo's technology.

Read Also: NIO's ES8 Electric SUV to Arrive in Europe: China Electric Car Company Takes on Global Deliveries

China's Big Tech Looks into Electric Vehicles, Self-Driving Technology

While the US has two of its Big Techs to venture into EV technology, China has three that want to look into electric mobility and debut one of the world's top growing industries and mode of transportation. According to Bloomberg, three Chinese big techs have already confirmed and have either pledged their assets or already invested in the venture.

These big techs include two smartphone makers, Huawei and Xiaomi, and the other is Baidu, an internet-service and search engine company that has also ventured into artificial intelligence. These three companies are known for their claims on electric vehicle stakes within the country, and the top three which has confirmed their pledge on the venture.

China's Big Tech and their EV Stakes

Huawei has already invested $1 billion (USD) in their stakes in smart car components and autonomous driving technology, which is a huge step for the smartphone company. The smartphone company is known for its partnership with Arcfox for its components.

On the other hand, Baidu was known to have looked into robotaxi ventures since 2013, making their total investments to $7.7 billion.

Lastly, Xiaomi has only pledged its commitment to electric vehicle development with $10 billion already intended for the venture. This comes after initial speculations that the Beijing-based company is looking into the EV market.

US vs China: Who is in the Lead?

In terms of car companies, the US takes the win, especially with the prominence of Tesla and General Motors (GM) with their electric vehicle ventures and technology that has been popular in recent events. However, in terms of Big Tech companies, China takes the lead, especially as the US trails one company short of venturing, and with Apple and Google not revealing any financial details as of now.

Related Article: Tesla FSD Won't Be Ready by End of 2021, Elon Musk's Timeline Clarified by Autopilot Director

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Robocalls are fake calls that people have been getting, and it has led to a major security issue that has been spamming people regarding different issues that may or may not concern them. With this, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is regulating them, and overseas calls would be the most affected, with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile looking into protesting against it.

While there are limited to no ways of discerning a call to be legitimate or a "robocall" before answering it, the regulations commission would be making no exception on overseas calls and its supposed block or bans. This could not only affect the service of international calls made to and from America, but it could also hinder the network companies' other features.

Various reports of robocalls have been indifferent developments now, especially as its tactics and efforts have become more apparent over the past events, and have been affecting customers and recipients. The failure to stop these fake calls has been on the cell network companies which pushed the FCC to fine them for not preventing it.

Read Also: Robocalls Now Increase to 4.6 Billion! But, You Can Turn Them Into Cash-- Here's New Tool

Robocalls Could Block Legit Calls, Companies to Go Against FCC Ruling

The top three cellular network companies in the country are joining forces to protest against the FCC with the recent ruling of the regulators of blocking robocalls which would also affect legitimate ones. According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are looking into coming up with a protest to ease up the restrictions of these fake calls done via their networks.

The recent FCC ruling suggests that it would make the effort of looking into blocking overseas calls to prevent the attacks or campaigns by these robocalls that have affected the daily lives of Americans. However, while the FCC ruling looks into making the phone less busy with the robocall plague, it could also affect the legitimate international calls received by the number.

These three cellular companies are all looking into appealing this with the FCC and would ask for reconsideration in doing this, as it could also hinder real calls made by friends or loved ones abroad.

Robocalls: Why Is it a 'Plague?'

There are ways to discern robocalls from legitimate ones, and Google was one company to do this for its smartphones and OS users, but these network providers have been shy of what the internet company did.

Robocalls are surely hard to track and prevent, especially as they can launch millions of calls in one go, directed to numerous users in a random or targeted campaign by these callers. Preventing and filtering them may be hard, especially as the network companies cannot track them all at once, but the FCC has had enough with the fake ones.

Related Article: FCC is Collecting Bad Internet Data by Urging People to Use Its Internet Speed Test App

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Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In the latest one of what has been numerous high-profile video game industry departures recently, Call of Duty is seeing one of its former voice actors leaving the long-running franchise.

Kotaku reports that Activision has officially cut ties with Jeff Leach, the voice actor for the iconic Call of Duty character Ghost, due to alleged misogynistic remarks. Leach was tagged for the behavior in a Twitter video posted by the user NitroLukeDX, which shows him during a 2017 live stream.

In the stream, Jeff Leach apparently insulted streamer Natalie Casanova (TheZombiUnicorn on Twitch). She didn't appear in the live show, which prompted Leach to comment, saying "She'd actually have to be amusing, she couldn't just rely on her horrendous cleavage." It can also be seen that Leach was called out by one of the show's hosts for the crass remark.

This also is supposedly not the first time Leach was heard spewing sexist comments. As reported on MSN, Leach and Casanova have already been at each other's throats over the years. Everything from anecdotes to DMs between her and Leach were revealed, which eventually led to a case claiming that the Call of Duty actor's uncalled-for behavior broke Twitch's Terms of Service.

Leach's Ghost character was featured in two mainline CoD titles: Call of Duty Modern Warfare and the popular battle royale title Call of Duty Warzone. Ghost was also featured in a handful of mobile CoD games.

Read also: Call Of Duty Helps Propel Activision Blizzard's Revenues And Stock Price: What's Driving The Success?

Activision Makes A Stand

In light of these allegations, Call of Duty developer and publisher Activision just decided to part ways with the actor. In a prepared statement, the company directly named Jeff Leach, claiming a strong condemnation of his remarks and a commitment to ensuring that all Call of Duty players have fun in a safe environment.

As a response, Leach called the scandal a "character assassination," mostly claiming that the Twitter video was "taken out of context." He also said that the words he used in another video showing him berating another streamer was a response to a troll. Leach says that as a stand-up comic, he deals with a lot of these hecklers the only way he seems to know how: by firing back.

Not An Isolated Case

Activision and Leach's parting is not the first time that game studios had to deal with inappropriate behavior concerning people connected with their companies. Over the years, sexism and bullying (among others) have been sources of scandals involving some high-profile gaming companies and streaming sites like Twitch.

One of the biggest was that of Ubisoft. According to a report by The Verge, a survey revealed last year that a quarter of all Ubisoft employees have been victims or witnesses of sexual harassment, sexism, and toxic workplace culture. This prompted CEO Yves Guillemot to promise massive changes in the company, and was a PR nightmare for a time.

Another, more recent departure was that of Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, director of the legendary game The Witcher 3, from CD Projekt Red. As reported on Bloomberg, Tomaszkiewicz left after accusations of workplace bullying concerning him surfaced. His departure is just one of many issues facing the embattled Polish studio, which has been trying to contain the fallout of Cyberpunk 2077's horrendous launch.

The gaming industry is booming, sure, but still has a lot of work to do to make the community more inclusive and safer for everyone.

Related: Call Of Duty Warzone PPSh-41 SMG Is Here-How To Unlock It And Best Loadout

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A ransomware cyberattack forced the largest fuel pipe in the United States to shut down on Friday night. The administration of President Joe Biden, in response, declared a state of emergency on Sunday, as pipes remain out of order -- and may continue for days.

The New York Times reported that Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the system, carries at least 45% of the fuel supply on the East Coast or 2.5 million barrels a day.

The ransomware, as reported by BBC, forced the operator to halt its 5,000 pipelines.

Colonial Pipeline forcibly shuts down its system as a precautionary move to prevent hackers from obtaining data that could control parts of the pipeline, the company said in a statement.

The state of emergency announcement provides leeway for fuel to be transported via road. It is an alternative to the thousands of pipelines deemed useless -- minimizing the impact of the cyber attack.

Colonial has not yet confirmed if it is willing to pay the ransom. Also, it is unclear when the operations of its pipelines resume. Thus, experts are predicting a sharp increase in fuel prices.

Read Also: NBA Attacked with Alleged Ransomware 500 GB of Houston Rockets Data Stolen Including Contracts and More

Are Fuel Prices Looming to Rise?

As New York Times reported, Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, said that Americans should anticipate a 2 to 3 percent increase by Monday.

Prices are likely to go up as high as $3, which is the first time since 2014, Jay Hatfield, chief executive of Infrastructure Capital Management, said via New York Times.

If ever the service interruption persists until Tuesday, Atlanta, Tennessee, then New York is in "big trouble," Independent oil market analyst Gaurav Sharma told the BBC.

On the other hand, Bloomberg also notes that fuel suppliers have become nervous about the possible supply shortage.

The shutdown, even temporary, will likely have a significant impact on fuel prices in the U.S.

Efforts to Restore Pipeline Service

However, the U.S. government and Colonial are doing their best to mitigate such effects.

"These actions temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some of our IT systems, which we are actively in the process of restoring," Colonial said in a statement.

The pipeline operator further said that they will be restoring its services once they find it safe to do so. Furthermore, the U.S. government, on their part, eased up restrictions on traveling the fuel on land.

Ransomware and U.S.

Ransomware is a cyberattack that holds hostage the information that the attacker will release for a ransom. And government agencies are the usual victim.

In recent news, a ransomware group attacked the D.C police department. It was the 26th time a government agency's cybersecurity was compromised. The third for a police department.

Apple is also one of the latest victims of ransomware.

Related Article: D.C. Police Department Becomes the Latest Ransomware Attack Victim; Hackers Leak Stolen Data

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Written by Teejay Boris

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
UK's National Cyber Security Center(NCSC), the country's cyberattack watchdog has recorded more scams and malicious activities that happened last 2020. It's 15 times more prevalent compared to the previous year before the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

Mainly, cybercriminals use the data to deceive people to give more sensitive information about them. Specifically, they do it by installing malware, as well as launching other related hostile operations.

Uk's Cyber Crime Group Dismantles 700,595 Malicious Activities in 2020

According to the most recent report of Bloomberg, the recorded cases of scams at the time of the pandemic are 15-times more compared to the year 2019.

In a report published on Monday, May 10 UK's NCSC noted that the suspicious campaigns continue to increase despite the pandemic. Additionally, the online attacks remain active for a longer time.

While people struggle to cope up with the health crisis, scams in the form of phishing and hacking persist across the globe. Since people are frequently working at home now, the scammers took this opportunity to trick people using misleading links.

Read Also: Hackers Target UK Parliament In A Sustained Cyber-Attack

Some of the malicious contents involve fear-mongering the coronavirus' aftermath to the public. Upon seeing the suspicious link, the user will click it and they will be directed to an unfamiliar website where they are instructed to input their personal details.

There are also instances that hackers mimic how the UK government informs its people. The cyber report also indicated that a US-based domain host NameCheap falls into this category.

According to NCSC, the median "take-down" times were more than 60 hours by mid-year. Furthermore, NameCheap has been closely monitored since it is said to be the host of the phishing campaigns during the time.

Forms of Scams that Cyber Attackers Launch

The cybercrime group also said that 46.4% of the hacking operations tackle make-shift celebrity endorsements like in the case of Richard Branson, a billionaire. Amazon was found out to own the suspicious server.

Hackers make use of the servers which will attract a lot of people to the hosting market. Through the help of the British cybersecurity team, the server of Amazon was immediately taken down--one of the quickest reaction times for the scam.

Besides fake endorsements, scams also come in the form of the fake news article. Again, Branson was involved in this case, but this time, the hackers "fabricated" his quotes about the benefits of a cryptocurrency site.

Deceptive quotes such as "Brits are using this to make an average of 450 pounds a day and quitting their jobs!" is usually what could be seen on the platform. Most probably, the target of these scams is the crypto traders in the market.

When an Amazon representative was asked about the issue, he/she did not immediately reply outside the standard business hours.

On the other hand, a NameCheap representative did not give an immediate answer to the question.

Related Article: Coronavirus Themed Cyber Attack Targets UK, One in Every Four Cases Proven COVID-19 Related

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China's state media has recently written an editorial about its critics who hit them about Long March 5B's rocket debris, which fell to some parts of the world. Mainly, the article pointed out NASA and the US scientists.

Over the weekend, people were waiting for the rocket's return to Earth until it plunged to the Indian Ocean near Maldives on Sunday, May 9.

China's Media Outlet Puts NASA, the US on Hot Water Over Long March 5B's Junk

The Chinese government's news outlet highlighted that the Long March 5B has plummeted at 72.47 degrees east (longitude) and 2.65 degrees north (latitude) in the afternoon of Sunday (AEST).

As a result, several critics have blasted China's irresponsible handling of its rocket debris. Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA has accused China after it failed to meet the "responsible standards" about its space junk.

Moreover, it even attracted the attention of other professionals around the world. They commented that China's Long March 5B's unexpected landing could contain "dire consequences."

Read Also: Can China's Long March 5 Debris be Prevented? Experts Say This Advanced Space Laser Can

In a recent report of The Global Times, the Chinese news mouthpiece, the "shameless hype" brought by NASA and the US experts was the only way to "discredit" the country's capability when it comes to the aerospace industry.

Furthermore, the article stated that China has no entire control of the situation. It even lambasted the US over its rocket debris landing.

Okay finally I saw the rocket passing in riyad saudi arabia  #ChineseRocket pic.twitter.com/klYqRt9ElN  Mohamed Sherif Hassan (@MohamedSherif_H) May 9, 2021

It claimed that there is no sufficient evidence that will prove that the space debris from the US's rocket is "more controllable" than China's space junk.

As a support to this claim, the article wrote that the detritus left by the SpaceX rocket could potentially bring damage when it landed in Washington last March.

"It is seriously anti-intellectual to claim that China's rocket debris is especially risky," the news outlet read.

China Thinks Critics Are Only 'Jealous' on Their Space Technology's Progress

According to a report by News.com.au, the news outlet did not mince its words about the critics who slammed Long March 5B's space debris. It said that they are only "jealous" because the country has been making a huge process when it comes to space technology.

Moreover, the article also hit the critics' "evil" plans and accuse the US of using its "selfishness and unreasonable demands" as a form of international justice.

During the weekend, people from different parts of the world waited for the opportunity to see China's Long March 5B--and they were sure that they had witnessed the debris falling from the skies.

For Ted Muelhaupt, an expert in space debris, what China did should be a lesson on their part. He added that in the last couple of decades, that was the second-largest uncontrolled re-entry.

Previously, the space debris that fell to Eastern Africa has brought a lot of damage.

Meanwhile, China seems to owe the world an explanation for this cause. The Pentagon also commented that China should do a "better job" in maneuvering its rockets.

Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, said that there should be a requirement for the space operation en route to a "thoughtful" and safe mode

Related Article: US Can Shoot Down China's Uncontrolled Long March 5 Rocket, But Refuses to Do It-Even If the Crash Could Happen Soon

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(Photo : Screenshot From Commons.Wikipedia.org) Medieval Robots Created as Early as the 12th-Century! Here's What The Earliest Machines Could Do

When it comes to ancient technology, it can be quite hard to imagine robots and machines that actually use electricity. Although the previous civilizations did not have electricity on their side, they were still able to use the technology present during that time to come up with early machines!

Medieval Robots and What They are Capable of

According to the story by National Geographic, imagine fountains that could actually be programmed to turn on and off, certain model of a particular Indian mahout (or driver) who struck the particular half hour on his own elephant's head, and the automatons in the particular form of servants that could actually get their guests a towel. When it comes to mechanical servants capable of getting towels, one can only think of robots!

These are actually some amazing inventions that existed as early as the 12th-century by the Muslim inventor known as Ismail al-Jazari. He reportedly laid down a huge chunk of the groundwork for today's hydraulics, engineering, and even robotics! Some of his lavish and colorful creations actually became novelty playthings for the few that were very wealthy.

Ismail al-Jazari, the 'Father of Robotics'

Al-Jazari also made some practical machines that were able to help the common folk which included some water-drawing devices for farmers to be used for centuries. Ismail al-Jazari was reportedly born back in 1136 in Diyarbakir which is currently known as Turkey. al-Jazari was reportedly a son of a typical craftsman and was born during political turmoil as the Crusades took effect.

An article by RobotShop called Ismail al-Jazari as the "father of robotics" which although not always recognized, is definitely a testament to how his early technologies were able to change lives and contribute to how robots work today. Although his technologies might not be used today, the foundations definitely have a significant influence on how current technologies work.

Read Also: No Vaccine No Entry | Over 100 US Colleges & Universities Require Students to Get Vaccinated

How Ancient Technology Influences Today

Ancient technology can be quite fascinating since it centers around how early technologies were invented and how out-of-the-box ways to automate the machines were found with the resources available during that time. Today, machines basically create more machines and people now have to simply engineer them and have them produced.

Back in the day, technology was usually handcrafted with the use of a few tools from the start. One thing that is exceptionally amazing about previous technologies is the hardcore use of mathematics. As of today, it might seem easier to measure things but in the past, one can only imagine how certain things were measured.

Automation did exist in the past with the right use of mathematics and engineering. Ismail al-Jazari was definitely one of the earlier names to contribute a great deal to today's technology especially when it came to robots. A video by Showcase details how his machines were able to influence the world of today. The technology he crafted to make robots during the early days still have their influence in the way technologies are made today.

Related Article: Scripps Health Forces Employees to Use Offline Chart Systems Due to Cyberattack

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Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As a part of the 2021 exploration program at Elizabeth, the company plans to continue and extend the exploration drilling it began in November 2020 which has completed 11 holes for 2,006 metres.

Tempus plans to drill a minimum of 7,500 metres at Elizabeth during the 2021.

( ) (OTCMKTS:TMRFF) ( ) is mobilising resources as a part of the 2021 exploration program at its Elizabeth Gold Project in southern BC, Canada.

The company has executed a flexible contract with Full Force Diamond Drilling Ltd for the provision of diamond core drilling services at Elizabeth for the drilling of up to 12,000 cumulative linear metres.

Tempus has also started road clearing and preparation of drilling pads to support the drilling activities at the project and is also coordinating a baseline environmental sampling and cultural survey.

The drill rigs and operators are expected to complete mobilisation to Elizabeth by late May.

2021 exploration program

As a part of the 2021 exploration program at Elizabeth, the company plans to continue and extend the exploration drilling that began in November 2020 (total 2,006 metres over 11 holes already completed) that intercepted several high-grade zones with assays of up to 186 grams per tonne gold.

The high-grade quartz veins encountered in the 2020 drilling at Elizabeth show close geological similarities to the Bralorne mesothermal vein system which has been mined to a depth of around 2,000 metres.

It also suggests there is strong potential to extend the mineralisation down plunge from the current deepest intersections that are approximately only 200 metres below the surface.

Tempus is planning on drilling a minimum of 7,500 metres at (with the potential to increase to 12,000 metres) which will focus on three key zones:

Down plunge step-outs below the high-grade intercepts from drill-holes EZ-20-06 and EZ-20-10;

Infill and down plunge extension of the Northern ore shoot on the SW Vein; and

Exploration of the SW Vein structure along strike to the North.

Elizabeth plan view showing 2020 and planned 2021 drill locations

Aeromagnetic and radiometric survey

The company has also retained Precision GeoSurveys Inc. to conduct a helicopter-borne high resolution aeromagnetic and radiometric survey over the entire 115 square kilometre Elizabeth claim block area.

The data collection survey flights are planned for early June and will be flown on a 200 metres line spacing with 100 metres spacing for infill areas for a total estimated 735 line kilometres.

The geophysical surveys will assist in the generation of additional greenfields gold targets and the identification of structures in the Elizabeth Project area.

First Nations committees

The company plans to continue building a positive relationship with First Nations Committees associated with the Elizabeth Project.

Tempus has signed an exploration agreement for the Elizabeth Project with the Xwisten (Bridge River Indian Band).

As per the agreement, the company plans to hire approximately 50% of the planned workforce for the 2021 Elizabeth Project exploration program from the members of the Xwisten community, including key members of the environmental and cultural heritage monitoring teams for the project.
( ) ( ) continued its operational expansion in North America during the March quarter in line with accelerated growth plans that see projected FY21 revenue set to increase by more than 40% year-on year.

In the companys March quarterly report, SenSen highlighted its strong performance through COVID-19 with expectations that the positive momentum will continue for FY22 and beyond.

After raising A$7.1 million early in the quarter with strong support from institutional and professional investors, the company continued its growth momentum and received customer receipts of around A$820,000 in the March quarter - a 9% increase over the previous corresponding period.

Strong growth initiatives combined with disciplined expense management has led to an expected FY21 year-on-year revenue increase of more than 40% while keeping expense growth to less than 11%.

SenSen also continued to establish a strong sales pipeline through the quarter by establishing new channel partners globally, responding to multiple global tenders and participating in proof-of-concept trials across the globe.

Pipeline established with recurring revenue

Chief executive officer Dr Subhash Chall said: Our pipeline is now reinforced with significant recurring revenue contracts because of our strong third quarter performance.

In a post-pandemic world, we see significant potential to expand revenues in the US and other geographies.

After the quarters closure, the company released its North American operations and expansion update, where SenSen noted a strong positive upswing in recurring customer revenue.

Currently, SenSens ARR flowing in from American and Canadian operations exceeds A$1.5 million per annum from FY22 and is likely to fund all its marketing, sales and operational expenses for North America.

The company believes this is a great result as it lays strong foundations for growth into the future.

Strong revenue growth predicted

All clients have renewed their contracts including City of Brisbane, City of Calgary, City of Edmonton, Changi International Airport and multiple smart surveillance analytics customers of recently acquired SNAP Network Surveillance continuing SenSens track record of zero churn and strong annual recurring revenues.

Post reporting period, new orders were received from City of Brisbane and Chicago Parking Meters for additional systems and services driving strong revenue growth in FY22 and beyond.

Three components

The attractiveness of SenSens products comes from three critical components - data fusion, AI algorithms and software - working together to produce results that improve the productivity and safety of customers operations and deliver business insights that are otherwise impossible to obtain from traditional data sources.

SenSen has completed the hiring of key marketing and sales executives to accelerate growth in the region with additional staff hired to increase key account management and customer support.

North American headquarters

North American headquarters have been opened in Las Vegas, Nevada, fitted with a range of SenSen solutions for demonstrations and customer sales.

The company will also participate and present at multiple vertical-focused industry trade shows and conferences in the region in the next six months to support marketing efforts and promote SenSen solutions.
FEMA rules may require more than 1,800 East Baton Rouge Parish homeowners to elevate their homes or sell them to the government for demolition because of the 2016 floods  but Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome isn't identifying who they are yet.

The city-parish was preparing to send out letters informing the residents of their situation, but Broome said on April 30 that those letters were on hold. That announcement came days after Livingston Parish leaders told 1,221 residents about the same problem, drawing an outcry from shocked homeowners.

"While I respect the federal government and its guidelines, there must be a better way for our people who work hard every day and have been more than resilient in the face of adversity," Broome said in a statement.

Officials in other parishes have already followed FEMA rules and informed owners of their "substantially damaged homes." Ascension did so nearly five years ago, months after the historic flood, and Livingston did so a few weeks ago.

FEMA has pressured East Baton Rouge and Livingston to send the letters now because of 2019 audits that found the parishes did not properly assess damage and permits after the floods. The audits threatened to limit future federal aid if the failures weren't rectified.

In Livingston, the letters -- which come nearly five years after the painstaking rebuilding from the floods -- have already caused problems for some homeowners.

Ron Polozola and Sara Wall, a couple in their 70s who have lived in the Denham Springs area more than 30 years, were trying to sell their home, which was restored after the 2016 flood. The potential requirement for elevation scared the buyer off, the couple said.

"If they had told us (in 2016)," Polozola said, "we would have done something different."

In a meeting with Ron, Sara and dozens of other residents, Livingston officials acknowledged that they should have informed homeowners in 2016 but failed to do so. The officials said they also had an opportunity to tell residents a year ago but were sidetracked by the pandemic.

+6 Livingston homeowners grill officials after letters tell them to elevate or take buyouts LIVINGSTON  Dozens of unhappy Livingston Parish homeowners had plenty of questions, a few tears and their share of demands for parish governm

Livingston Parish Councilman Garry "Frog" Talbert said his parish decided to inform residents because, officials have been told those people might not have access to federal aid after a future flood.

"Given that situation, I think it's really negligent, you know, to not at least inform them of their problem," he said.

A question from FEMA HQ

A home is substantially damaged if its flood damage is 50% or more of its value, excluding land. The homes must also be in a high-risk flood area and sit at an elevation that is below the height of a benchmark flood.

If owners of substantially damaged homes don't elevate or take a buyout, they may not be able to get flood insurance or permits for major construction, among other possible consequences.

+2 Post-2016 flood home restorations under scrutiny in East Baton Rouge Parish The Federal Emergency Management Agency has East Baton Rouge Parish under the microscope over the way the city-parish allowed flooded homeowne

East Baton Rouge officials wouldn't say how many homes meet those criteria. Reports obtained through open records requests show that, as of early October, there were 1,803 of them.

As Livingston's letters went out late last month, FEMA officials asked city-parish officials when the Baton Rouge letters were going to be mailed, email exchanges show. Darrin Dutton, a FEMA insurance and floodplain supervisor, told city-parish officials that questions about the parish's compliance were coming from the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Robert L. Joyner, an engineer in the city-parish subdivision engineering office, told Dutton that officials had been planning to send out the letters in batches of 300 or so so his small staff could manage the expected rush of questions from residents. But staffers weren't able to hit that target with the first batch of letters.

"We did about 100 but ran out of envelopes," Joyner wrote on April 21.

After Broome's April 30 announcement about halting the letters, a top administrator wrote back to Dutton to explain the delay.

Kelvin Hill, assistant chief administrative officer for Broome, said the "content of the letters could change to include more detailed funding information & direction" after Broome's talks with FEMA and others.

"We are trying to ensure that we have a complete plan for how to help & support our residents," Hill wrote on April 30.

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+8 Move, demolish or elevate? Substantial damage findings leave many grappling with how to proceed ST. AMANT  John and Sharon Pugh's two adult sons and their cousins stacked sandbags and put five pumps around their one-story house last Augu

On Friday, Mark Armstrong, spokesman for the city-parish, said that officials expect to have a conference call with FEMA officials this week to begin addressing Broome's concerns. He couldn't say how quickly the talks would lead to the letters being mailed.

The city-parish has also already taken other steps to get in compliance. Last year, the Metro Council adopted new procedures on substantial damage determinations in a future disaster.

Why FEMA requires the letters

FEMA requires substantially damaged homes to elevate or sell because it doesn't want homeowners to keep rebuilding in areas that regularly flood. When that happens, it raises premiums and costs to the national flood insurance program, which is subsidized by taxpayers across the U.S.

Roy Wright, the former chief executive for the flood insurance program and former associate FEMA administrator, said the agency should speak clearer and quicker  and might show too much patience at times.

But he said that FEMA is geared toward working with communities because the law gives FEMA only blunt tools to bring them in line: first taking flood insurance discounts away, then putting communities on probation and making policyholders pay a $50 surcharge, and then halting the sale of flood insurance.

"Those are the legal tools they have and so their inclination is to collaborate and work and find a path forward," Wright said.

He added that FEMA will eventually force the issue to bring communities into compliance.

Ascension councilmen air worries about home elevations as damage assessments begin to roll out DONALDSONVILLE  About one-fifth of the homes in Ascension Parish reviewed so far for flood damage have crossed a national flood insurance thr

Wright, who became the president and CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety in 2018, was still working for FEMA during the 2016 flood. He said he met with local officials in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017 about the issue of substantial damage letters.

"We were clear with them then what the right answer was, and there was not going to be some kind of waiver. There was not going to be some kind of other path," Wright said.

Wright said the incentive for communities to follow the rules upfront  as Ascension did  is that they are not in the position that Livingston and Baton Rouge are now in five years later.

The FEMA audit had also prompted a separate review of East Baton Rouge's flood insurance rating, which can affect discounts on the premiums paid by tens of thousands of policyholders in the city-parish. A third-party contractor has since recommended that FEMA grant a rating that would maintain city-parish's 15% discount, city-parish records show.

FEMA declined to address that recommendation or how the current damage assessment problems in East Baton Rouge might affect its final decision on future insurance ratings discounts.

A less preferred option

City-parish officials then in the administration of former Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden had sent out an army of contract inspectors to assess more than 34,000 homes in the months after the 2016 flood. But, three years later, the FEMA auditors said they could only find evidence that 267 properties out of at least 3,325 homes suspected of having substantial damage had received notification letters.

City parish officials responded to auditors that they had taken an alternate option offered in FEMA rules to notify homeowners when they get their permits, instead of proactively sending out letters. FEMA auditors noted in an August 2019 letter that, while the option is available, it isn't preferred.

Homeowners will begin repairs and hire architects without permits, the auditors noted. As a result, they won't take into account the elevation requirements for substantially damaged homes, a risk explained in the FEMA rules.

"The Parish is now in a situation cited as a challenge to the second option of waiting on the property owner," the auditors wrote.

That original tally of 3,325 has since been winnowed to 1,803, city reports show.

After delay, Ascension, FEMA agree on deal to do damage assessments, hire inspectors Within the next two weeks, FEMA will have 10 two-person teams of inspectors doing damage assessments of the 10,000 to 12,000 Ascension Parish 

In contrast, officials in the administration of former Ascension President Kenny Matassa took the FEMA-preferred, proactive approach. They too sent out parish and contract inspectors and later mailed out more than 1,570 substantial damage letters to homeowners in the months after the flood.

At the time, the tally represented close to a quarter of all flooded structures in the parish, prompting hand-wringing from council members and concern from residents who saw the letters as yet another blow in an uncertain and emotional moment.

Officials in Ascension say they have since passed their post-flood audits without red flags and have maintained their flood insurance ratings.
The former Taylor Clark Gallery building on Government Street has been sold again, this time to a marketing and branding firm that plans to move its business there.

Panoramic Properties LLC paid $675,000 for the building in a sale that was filed last week with the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Courts office. The seller was RKB Investments LLC. Baton Rouge-based RKB bought the building at 2623 Government St. in August 2019 for $660,000.

Panoramic Properties has the same Perkins Road address as JCW and its officers are John Williams, who serves as the chief executive officer of the company, and Taylor Williams, who handles web issues for the business.

JCWs clients include Catholic High, the Port of New Orleans, Martin Wine Cellar and Episcopal Day School.

Matthew Shirley, with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate, who represented the seller, said its good to see something other than a restaurant buy property on Government Street. Thats much more of a stabilization factor, he said. Grey Mullins of Grey Mullins Commercial Properties represented the buyer.

Mid City art gallery building sold The building housing Taylor Clark Gallery at 2623 Government St. has been sold to a local investor.

The nearly 6,400-square-foot building was designed by renowned architect A. Hays Town in the 1960s. Taylor Clark decided in 2019 to become an online business, handling art appraisals.
Proponents and opponents of legalizing recreational marijuana are both mounting a furious last-minute lobbying effort ahead of a potentially decisive vote Monday on a bill before Louisianas conservative House of Representatives.

The states sheriffs, who enjoy huge influence at the State Capitol, are asking lawmakers to vote no on Rep. Richard Nelsons House Bill 699, which would legalize the drug for recreational use by adults over 21. They claim the measure, which has shown surprising viability, is rushed and ignores the downsides of legalization other states have experienced. On Saturday, the Louisiana Republican Party, which rarely wades into legislative issues, issued a "call to action" urging people to contact their lawmakers to get them to vote down the bill.

Meanwhile, proponents, including the conservative group Americans for Prosperity and the progressive Louisiana Progress Action  which has partnered with the national Marijuana Policy Project  are phone-banking and advertising online to get people to urge their legislators to vote yes.

Nelson, a Mandeville Republican, said hes working on changes to the bill to make it more palatable to the House, where many members remain skeptical of legalization. He delayed a scheduled vote on the bill last week, saying he was a few votes shy of a majority.

Nelsons gambit remains a long shot. If his HB699 passes the House, it would still need approval by the state Senate, which is generally more skeptical of looser pot laws, and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has said he opposes legalization.

As the improbable effort has gained steam, opponents have put forth a host of claims about the pitfalls of legalizing the drug, including that teen use and suicides will rise, traffic accidents will skyrocket, and the black market will continue to thrive. The head of the District Attorneys Association suggested legalization could prompt an influx of grow houses that in turn could shut the electrical grid down in Baton Rouge.

Almost everything they say, theyre just grasping at straws, Nelson said, pointing to data that shows Louisiana has more highway deaths per capita than Colorado, which legalized cannabis almost a decade ago. They just take most of the research out of context, they dont read it.

Bid to legalize marijuana in Louisiana advances to full House for debate in milestone vote A Louisiana House committee has advanced a proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use, sending the bill to the full state House in a 

Experts caution that many of the sweeping claims about legalization cant be backed up by data yet.

"There's no peer-reviewed causation studies that show, because of X, Y, said Andrew Freedman, who served as Colorados first cannabis czar under then-Gov. John Hickenlooper. There's plenty of speculation around correlation. Some of it reaching levels of silly. Like, you can't really decide that cannabis legalization caused this blip in crime when at the same time there was a pandemic."

Louisiana House overwhelmingly backs bill to allow smokable medical marijuana The Louisiana House has backed proposals to legalize and tax the raw, smokable form of medical marijuana, a key expansion of the states medic

Freedman, who now runs a national organization that aims to inform a federal regulatory framework for the inevitable national legalization of cannabis, said in an interview that there are trends that are worth keeping an eye on, like data showing more people in fatal car crashes had cannabis in their system.

But youth use hasnt shot up in Colorado and other states that have legalized the drug, he said. And accident data is muddied by the fact that states that legalized pot have gotten better at screening for it.

Jonathan Caulkins, a professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, said amazingly, the news with the kids is better than we thought it was going to be.

Youth pot use was a reasonable thing to worry about, Caulkins said, but the available data shows it has remained flat, even if it hasnt declined like youth alcohol and tobacco trends.

Caulkins said the effects of cannabis use is more comparable to the effects of overindulging in video games than of drinking.

Cannabiss downsides are not suicide, its not violence, its certainly not overdose, he said. If cannabis is going to have a downside ... its going to be more likely to be just sort of its a bad habit kind of thing.

+3 Opinions on marijuana are mellowing in Louisiana. Are looser laws on the horizon? Six years ago, Louisiana became the first state in the Deep South to authorize a medical marijuana program, giving the state a head start over

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However, Caulkins said there are reasons to be concerned about a rush to legalization, and he favors moving slowly on creating private markets for the drug. He said in 25 years, legalization could turn out to be fine, but it could also turn out to have created another influential industry similar to Big Tobacco that caused more adults to start using marijuana daily.

The Louisiana Sheriffs Association has long been opposed to legalizing marijuana. But several sheriffs, district attorneys and other opponents have acknowledged this year that its ultimate legalization is inevitable. Still, the association sent a note to House members last week asking them to vote against Nelsons bill.

We must first understand the pitfalls experienced by other states who have legalized it rather than a quick rush to judgement, the note said. We also must oppose this bill because marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug  a federal crime  and sheriffs took an oath to uphold federal and state laws.

Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard, the associations president, said in a statement that the group supports a resolution by state Rep. Marcus Bryant to study legalization and issue recommendations ahead of the 2022 session.

+3 Follow marijuana in the Louisiana legislature and how the first of many bills fared The first of several bills aimed at changing Louisianas marijuana laws received a warm reception from lawmakers Thursday, with a bill to tax 

Sheriffs across the state have been calling members in recent days to lobby them against the bill. Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi said he was a little bit surprised some of the members he spoke with seemed open to legalization.

I do oppose it, Stassi said. For 20 years, 40 years, surely the years I've been sheriff, weve taught our kids to say no to drugs. I believe that marijuana is a gateway drug to the harder stuff. I think that if we start weakening on one thing, the next thing is well be weakening on every level. Its just a line I don't think we should cross.

Colorado and Washington became the first states to vote for legalization in 2012, and the product came to the market in 2014. A few years later, both states did reports on the consequences, which several experts praised as solid analyses of legalizations effects.

Louisiana House overwhelmingly backs bill to allow smokable medical marijuana The Louisiana House has backed proposals to legalize and tax the raw, smokable form of medical marijuana, a key expansion of the states medic

A 2019 report found no significant trends in the marijuana use among Washington youth, dramatic drops in arrests and convictions for marijuana crimes, and a stable level of school suspensions and expulsions. It also found adult use of marijuana increased each year and calls to poison centers for marijuana incidents increased, among other things.

Colorados 2018 report found no significant change in marijuana use among youth, and dramatic drops in arrests for marijuana crimes. It also showed the number of adults who reported using marijuana in the past month ticked up slightly, from 13.6% in 2014 to 15.5% in 2017. Hospitalization for marijuana issues increased in the year after legalization, and poison control calls related to pot had increased up until legalization, then stabilized.

Louisiana had one of the highest marijuana possession arrest rates in 2018, according to a 2020 report by the American Civil Liberties Union. It was one of several states where marijuana arrest rates increased from 2010 to 2018, rising by 18% over that period. The report also found Black people were 3.4 times more likely than White people to be arrested for marijuana possession. In East Baton Rouge Parish, the disparity was the largest in the state, with Black people 7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than White people.

Beyond the legalization bill, the House is also expected to debate two different measures to decriminalize marijuana this week. House Bill 652 by Democratic Rep. Cedric Glover, a former Shreveport mayor, mirrored Shreveports local loosening of pot enforcement and is supported by one of the House's most conservative members, Republican Rep. Alan Seabaugh, who also represents parts of the state's third largest city. Seabaugh says hes not ready to vote to legalize marijuana, but can support making every possession offense a misdemeanor with no jail time.

I do think were moving in that direction, Seabaugh said of legalization. I just dont want to move in that direction too fast.

Sheriffs and other opponents have also worried about a new black market that could arise after legalization, with illegal grow operations designed to ship marijuana elsewhere.

Caulkins, of Carnegie Mellon, said the nations scattershot approach to marijuana enforcement has created that opportunity. But he expects that with national legalization, legal producers will eventually be able to out-compete the illegal market.

Hillar C. Moore III, the district attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish, has been studying the issue intensely, reviewing a host of studies from other states. Moore says hes leaning more toward decriminalizing marijuana, and thinks more time should be devoted to studying full legalization, including hearing from mental health experts.

Rep. Tanner Magee, the Republican speaker pro tem of the House, said he hasnt decided how hell vote on the bill. But he said Nelsons effort has prompted members to take legalization much more seriously than they ever have.

Thats a sea change that were talking about details of it, Magee said. People are debating the merits of pieces of it in a real way, not just pro or against.
Fenix Resources recently made a strong start to life as an iron ore producer while Fe Limited aims to begin shipping iron ore product in the current quarter.

Supply is not able to meet the strong demand for iron ore from Chinese steelmakers.

Iron ore futures jumped on Monday as supplies of the steelmaking raw material stretched on strong demand from Chinese steel producers.

Singapore iron ore futures jumped more than 10% to hit a fresh record high of US$226 a tonne on Monday after prices breached US$200 for the first time only last week.

commodities analyst Vivek Dhar said in a Bloomberg interview that This sector is very, very hot, and just when Chinas steel demand impulse will ease is perhaps the biggest question of 2021.

Supply is still not able to meet that strong demand.

Big miners shares jump

Fortescue Metals ( ), BHP Group (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) saw their share prices surge on Monday following the run-up in the iron ore price.

New and emerging iron ore producers such as ( ) and ( ) are also expected to benefit from the red hot demand for the commodity.

Tailwinds from stimulus measures

According to a Bloomberg report, steel prices have jumped in China as heavy users like the construction and manufacturing sectors enjoy a busy period, as well as enjoying tailwinds from stimulus measures.

Steelmakers in the rest of the world such as ArcelorMittal SA are also enjoying a boom cycle as markets bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

CBAs Dhar added: There is a chance that ex-China demand can come back to such an extent that we still see steel demand pick up globally and that will see iron ore demand remain at these elevated levels.

Strong start as an iron ore producer

Fenix Resources recently made a strong start to life as an iron ore producer, with four shipments in the March quarter and ore grades in line with forecasts.

The company shipped a total of 220,000 tonnes of iron ore from its Iron Ridge Project in WA at an average price of US$156/tonne during the March quarter with the ramp-up now complete.

C1 costs averaged A$93/tonne and are expected to progressively decline to about AS$85/tonne now that the ramp-up is complete.

Closer to production at JWD Iron Ore Project

is progressing its JWD West Wiluna Iron Ore Project in WA, having begun work to refurbish offices and other infrastructure at the existing exploration camp with the goal to begin early site works by the end of the month.

Executive chairman Tony Sage said it was exciting to see all the pieces coming together at the project.

He said: Im looking forward to seeing works on the ground continuing to ramp up over the coming weeks.

The iron ore market remains strong, particularly for high-grade lump material that we envisage to produce.

We will continue to push hard to finalise the remaining operational contracts so we can join the ranks of iron ore producers.

The company aims to begin shipping iron ore product in the current quarter, alongside an assessment of second-phase mining at the project, which it hopes to begin in the September quarter.
Heavy rain and flooding across Southeast Louisiana may continue Monday morning, and the National Weather Service has put Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and their surrounding parishes under a flood watch.

Showers and thunderstorms moved in overnight and are expected to continue, with a second round of heavy rain and flooding possible from mid to late morning. The rain could slow down or stall for a few hours, which could lead to flooding.

The rain could fall during the morning rush hour, NWS said. The flood watch is set to last through Monday morning.
Pendals new boss Nick Good says the international market offers better opportunities for growth, following the groups acquisition of a US-based value manager, which cements the ASX-listed investment firms status as a global player.

Once an Australian-focused fund manager, Pendal began its foray into international investing in 2011 with the acquisition of London-based equity manager J O Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM).

Pendal cements its US expansion by acquiring TWS. Credit:AP

A decade on, Pendal has announced it will fully acquire Virginia-headquartered value manager Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley (TSW) in a $US320 million ($413 million) deal thats expected to be completed by September.

Mr Good, who took the reins at Pendal in March after longstanding CEO Emilio Gonzalez stood down, said both acquisitions were motivated by the need to diversify the groups operations and also open up opportunities in bigger markets.
In February, returned travellers caused a spectacle in Melbourne by wearing garbage bags over their heads while moving between quarantine sites. Not for any health reason but to protect their identity from the press who were on scene, hungry to score an exclusive.

News outlets reported the incident without much reflection, but the hotel guests were right to be afraid. Some media outlets proved their eagerness to incite blame and encourage condemnation throughout the pandemic.

Some media outlets proved their eagerness to incite blame and encourage condemnation throughout the pandemic. Credit:iStock

When two young women of colour misdirected contact tracers, some newspapers instinct was to vilify them. The Courier-Mail branded them enemies of the state while many papers published their names and photos. In the ensuing court case, the magistrate noted that the media scrutiny was so severe that it counted as a punishment in itself.

In another case, when a migrant on a temporary visa misinformed contact tracers about their movements, South Australian authorities treated them like a criminal by disclosing their personal information to the media and launching a police investigation in an attempt to make an example of them.
Recipients of the coronavirus vaccine in NSW Healths new vaccination hub watched a slideshow of photos showing a flowing river, transitioning into a forest, on a screen moments after their shot.

The slideshow played on flatscreen televisions, in front of about 40 people on socially distanced chairs in a clinically white large room under a sign that read Observation.

Ben Shepherd from the NSW Rural Fire Service receives his COVID-19 vaccine at the Olympic Park Vaccination Centre. Credit:Nick Moir

It was designed to calm any nerves for all recipients at NSW Healths new two-storey mass vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park, which opened on Monday morning.

Frontline workers in and out of uniform, as well as others who qualified in phase 1b of the rollout, watched the green screens until 15 minutes after the time written in Texta on a sticker placed on their upper arm, when they could be cleared to leave by staff.
Research has found packs of instant rice contain up to 13 milligrams of microplastics, highlighting the need for more to be done to limit plastic content in food.

Researchers from the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Queensland set out to look at how much microplastic was in all forms of rice available to consumers.

Research has found instant rice contains up to 13 milligrams of microplastics in every 100 grams. Credit:iStock

Lead author Jake OBrien said they found regular uncooked rice had about three to four milligrams of microplastics for every 100 grams of rice in the samples they tested, while that jumped to 13 milligrams for instant rice.

We looked at consumer, store-bought rice, so we sourced all our samples from stores in the same way consumers would buy them, Dr OBrien said.
When legal educator Mililma May arrives at Darwins Don Dale Youth Detention Centre to teach 10- to 17-year-olds their legal rights, she often ends up using baby talk. Many of the children she visits are primary school children the same age as her cousins and siblings.

Arriving recently in H-block, the centres high security area, Ms May, who works for the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, was approached by a little 11-year-old boy holding a frog on his pinky. He was like, Miss, look at this little frog. My voice went to baby [voice], and I said, Bubba, where did you find him?.

Mililma May, front, and Sharna Alley are the co-founders of UP: Uprising of the People. Credit:Rhett Wyman

On Monday outside Northern Territory Parliament House, Ms May, the co-founder of new protest group Uprising of the People, addressed a rally opposing the introduction of tough new laws on youth crime. Ms May, a Larrakia woman, said she was physically sick at the acts of genocide and injustice that were happening to her people on her country. Nearly all children in detention in Don Dale are Indigenous.

The crackdown follows a rash of youth crimes, particularly in Alice Springs, including one in which an older woman was knocked to the ground as three teens grabbed her bag.
China will set up "a line of separation" at the summit of Mount Everest to prevent the mingling of climbers from COVID-hit Nepal and those ascending from the Tibetan side as a precautionary measure, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.

Everest base camp on the Nepalese side has been hit by coronavirus cases since late April. The Nepalese government, starved of tourism revenue, has yet to cancel the spring climbing season, usually from April to early June before the monsoon rains. It was not immediately clear how the line would be enforced on the summit, a tiny, perilous and inhospitable area the size of a dining table.

A small team of Tibetan climbing guides will ascend Everest and set up the "line of separation" at the summit to stop any contact between mountaineers from both sides of the peak, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the head of Tibet's sports bureau. A group of 21 Chinese nationals are en route to the summit on the Tibetan side, Xinhua reported.


The new CAR-T agreement for the OmniCAR platform adds to Prescients existing and related research program with Peter Mac into Cell Therapy Enhancements.

OmniCAR seeks to make CAR-T more controllable and adaptable.

( ) has signed an agreement related to advancing a new research program with world-renowned Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to advance its next-generation CAR-T program utilising the OmniCAR platform.

Prescient has an existing research agreement with Peter Mac focusing on Cell Therapy Enhancement program, which seeks to improve current generation CAR-T approaches.

This new agreement expands the Prescient and Peter Mac research relationship to include development of the next generation OmniCAR platform.

Next-gen modular platform

CAR-T is a revolutionary cancer treatment that involves removing immune cells from a cancer patient, reprograming them in a lab to recognise and attack cancer cells and then infusing them back into the patient.

OmniCAR platform, a next-generation modular CAR-T platform, seeks to overcome the limitations of current generation CAR-T approaches by giving clinicians greater control, safety, flexibility and efficacy as well as the potential to improve CAR-T performance against solid tumours.

The company is developing three OmniCAR programs internally, including next-generation CAR-T therapies for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML); Her2+ solid tumours and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

Delighted to deepen ties

Prescient CEO and managing director Steven Yatomi-Clarke said: We are delighted to deepen our ties with a world-class institute in Peter Mac.

Prescient is committed to developing all three OmniCAR programs expediently, and to the highest standard.

This latest research program with Peter Mac is an important part of Prescients development plans, which include institutional and commercial laboratories.

We continue to work very closely with Professor Darcy and the team at Peter Mac as we progress this exciting development of controllable and adaptable next-generation CAR-T therapies.

Prescient is developing OmniCAR as a CAR-T platform, capable of being deployed by other CAR-T and oncology companies under licence to advance their own programs.

Under the terms of the Peter Mac OmniCAR contract research agreement, Prescient will have access to the world-class expertise and facilities of Peter Mac, led by international CAR-T expert, Professor Phil Darcy, to undertake part of the OmniCAR preclinical development programs.

Resulting intellectual property

Prescient will own any resulting intellectual property from the work.

This partnership with Peter Mac now includes two post-doctoral scientists and two research assistants who are dedicated full time to Prescient work.

The company has also secured grant funding of $100,000 from the Federal Governments Innovation Connections scheme towards this research.

Global leader in CAR-T

Peter Mac is at the global forefront of CAR-T treatment, research and manufacturing.

Cell TherapiesPty Ltd  which is based at the Melbourne site of majority shareholder Peter Mac  is the Asia Pacific regions only manufacturer of approved CAR-T therapies.

In 2019, Peter Macs Centre of Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy attracted $105 million  including $80 million from the Federal Government  to establish a dedicated CAR-T clinical unit and expand capacity for CAR-T manufacturing and clinical trials.

Current generation CAR-T therapies have demonstrated unprecedented efficacy in certain blood cancers, but face several challenges, including manufacturing costs and logistics, safety, control and limitations in targeting solid tumour cancer antigens.

Professor Phil Darcy said: CAR-T is a breakthrough treatment that can be life-saving for blood cancer patients who have limited treatment options, and the great challenge now is to find a way to replicate this in solid tumours.

We are excited by the opportunity and potential offered by the OmniCAR platform to make headway into solid tumours and other blood cancers, and to greatly enhance and improve the clinical control and efficacy of existing CAR-T cancer therapies.
Ora Banda Mining Ora Ltd ( ) (FRA:M6N) became Australias newest gold producer after it recommissioned the Davyhurst Gold Processing Plant in WA, together with its associated site infrastructure, with the first gold poured on February 7, 2021.

It marked a major milestone for Ora Banda, transitioning the company from a developer to a gold producer.

The gold producer now has two operating mines  Riverina and Golden Eagle - with the third, Missouri, in development.

Its 1.2 million tonnes per annum nameplate process plant is operational and it is continuing to build ore stores.

Quarterly highlights

During the quarter, a total of 3,024 ounces of gold were sold at an average price of A$2,235 per ounce. At quarter-end the company had:

Unsold bullion of 1,166 ounces;

Gold in Circuit (GIC) of 1,354 ounces;

Gold in surface ore stocks of 6,593 ounces.

Riverina open pit productivity continued to increase during the quarter, reaching the 425mRL bench level by March 31, 2021.

The dewatering and rehabilitation of Golden Eagle underground was also completed in the quarter and first gold production achieved.

All key infrastructure was completed during the quarter, including power, camps, processing plant, and bore fields.

With A$1.25 million investment in exploration, a total of 30,225 metres of exploration and resource definition drilling were completed.

Davyhurst Gold Project

With the first gold poured in February, project works have been delivered on schedule and within budget.

They include:

Riverina open pit & Golden Eagle underground operational;

Process plant in ramp-up phase with full throughput imminent; and

Planning for commencement of mining operations at Missouri in progress.

Multiple production sources underpin the long-life operation at Davyhurst, with six deposits contributing to the current 5.2-year mine plan, all within 50 kilometres of the Davyhurst plant.

There are potential open pit extensions and strong underground mineral resources of 500,000 ounces of gold (3.7 million tonnes at 4.4 g/t), providing the opportunity for near-term mine-life extensions beyond current designs.

It has highly strategic long-term infrastructure in place to support growth and resource extensions, with Ora Banda positioned well to be a long-term regional producer in a leading jurisdiction.

Key DFS metrics

At its base case gold price of A$2,100 per ounce gold, the Davyhurst Gold Project is forecast to deliver:

 Post-tax free cash flow of A$175 million;

 Average annual free cash flow of A$35 million;

 Rapid payback of 14 months; and

 Post-tax net present value (NPV) of A$137 million.

The life-of-mine production forecast is at 418,000 ounces of gold for the life-of-mine or 81,000 ounces per year of gold.

The DFS has confirmed the project will generate strong cash flows and financial returns with its six distinct mining operations - Riverina, Missouri, Sand King, Waihi and Callion open pits and the Golden Eagle underground.

These six deposits will feed the Davyhurt Processing Plant.

District-scale landholding

Its district-scale land holding stretches from Kalgoorlie to the north of Menzies with significant exploration potential.

The tenement package consists of 111 granted tenements covering an area of about 1,350 square kilometres.

It has around 200 strike kilometres of greenstone sequences prospective for gold as well as nickel sulphide and base metal mineralisation.

At its Riverina South and underground prospects, it has confirmed an extension to the Riverina Main Lode mineralisation, which remains open along strike to the south and at depth.

It has a maiden resource estimate of 650,000 tonnes at 2.1 g/t for 43,000 ounces.

At the Riverina open pit and underground, 48 kilometres from the Davyhurst process plant, there is considerable scope to grow the resource and reserve base with its underground mining evaluation study in progress and confirmed extension to the Riverina Main lode.

At its Golden Eagle Underground only 2 kilometres from the Davyhurst process plant, drilling has been targeted at extending and upgrading the current resource with 4,083 infill diamond metres drilled in the March 2021 quarter.

A major resource definition drilling program has been planned from underground locations to upgrade the inferred resource.

Financing

As of end-March 2021, the company had A$18.5 million in cash with no debt.

It also has a A$15 million credit terms agreed with the ( ) (OTCMKTS:CBAUF) (FRA:CWW) for hedging and working capital purposes to support prudent risk and capital management during the ramp-up phase, subsequent to the first gold pour at Davyhurst.

Ora Banda managing director David Quinlivan said the addition of these credit facilities was a prudent step in the management of risk and working capital.

He added: We see this as a significant step, given the companys recent transition from developer to a producer with significant exploration upside.

This facility enables management to undertake discretionary gold hedging.

Management change

Peter Nicholson took over as chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from April 6, 2021.

Quinlivan, who was holding both managing director and CEO hats, will continue as managing director in the short to medium term, and take on a role as a non-executive director of Ora Banda when Nicholson takes on the role of managing director as well.

The timing of that proposed change will be determined by the board to ensure an orderly transition of all executive functions.

Ora Banda chair Peter Mansell said this was a significant appointment for Ora Banda as Nicholsons  strong combination of technical, commercial and operational expertise and experience will be a substantial contributor to the ongoing success and growth of Ora Banda.

Nicholson has 25 years of industry experience in operational and mine management roles, coupled with deep experience in private equity across international mining and mining services.

He has been exposed to an extensive range of assets and commodities, spanning more than 50 countries, and has considerable experience in leading senior multi-disciplinary technical and commercial teams.
Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ) is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Castillo Copper about to embark on aggressive Mt Oxide exploration amidst strong copper market

Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ) (LON:CCZ) (FRA:7OR) is set to begin its aggressive 2021 exploration program at Mt Oxide Copper Project in northwest Queensland coinciding with a "massive global transformation" in the copper market.

Green stimulus programs at a global level together with electric vehicles rapidly gaining traction have propelled copper prices to 10-year-highs due to fears of forward supply deficits.

This provides great encouragement for Castillo Copper which is advancing along the path to becoming a mid-tier copper group.



Upcoming Mt Oxide work

Managing director Simon Paull reflects the optimism in describing the upcoming work at Mt Oxide.

"Over the past few months CCZ's geology and corporate teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes on two fronts - the next phase of exploration for the flagship Mt Oxide Project and identifying prospective strategic partners to develop our Zambia and New South Wales assets.

"With the wet season in northwest Queensland now largely over, we have received approval from the landowner to recommence exploration activities at the Mt Oxide Project."
Perpetual Resources Ltd (ASX:PEC) is focused on the global glass and foundry sand industries, which are the two largest and fastest-growing users of silica sand.

Perpetual Resources signs MoU for high-grade silica sand offtake with supplier to China glass industry

Perpetual Resources Ltd (ASX:PEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a supplier of end product inputs to a range of high-end glass producers in China for the purchase of 400,000 tonnes per annum of high-grade silica sand from the Beharra Project in Western Australia.

The MoU is with Guangdong Qinyin New Material Technology Co Ltd, a purchaser, upgrader and supplier of silica sand among many other specialist commodities.

PEC shares have been almost 20% higher this morning to 11 cents on the arrangement with Qinyin, which has developed long-term relationships with many industry participants.



"Exciting market"

Perpetual executive chairman Julian Babarczy said: "We are extremely pleased to be entering into discussions with Qinyin regarding potential offtake for Beharra, particularly as Qinyin represents such a well-positioned and active participant in the silica sand and glass raw material input market in China.

"Demand from the photovoltaic and photoelectric glass industry in China is anticipated to grow significantly in coming years and our recent metallurgical test results show strong potential for Beharra to be a key participant in this exciting market".
Between 9,000 metres (m) and 10,000m will be sunk, to include both definition drilling in the main resource area as well as step-out drilling

Nelligan already boasts a resource estimate of 3.2 million of inferred ounces of gold at a grade of 1.02 grams per ton

( ) has told investors that its joint venture partner and project operator IAMGOLD ( ) is expected to begin a drill program on the Nelligan project in Quebec in June this year.

Between 9,000 metres (m) and 10,000m will be sunk, to include both definition drilling in the main resource area as well as step-out drilling, focusing on the west extension known mineralization ahead of a potential updated resource estimate.

In addition, exploration will also continue to identify and evaluate new targets, Vanstar said.

"Preliminary results from a partial glacial till sampling survey completed in November 2020 and from an IP survey executed this winter have been received and have defined new exploration targets elsewhere on the joint venture property. Additional till sampling is planned and the defined targets will be field-checked this summer in conjunction with a detailed geological and structural mapping program," it added in a statement.

Mining major IAMGOLD owns 75% of the near 6,000 hectare Nelligan project, while Vanstar owns 25%. The bigger company can earn 80% by funding and publishing a feasibility study.

Nelligan already boasts a resource estimate of 3.2 million of inferred ounces of gold at a grade of 1.02 grams per ton (g/t). Nelligan is open along strike to the west and at depth.

IAMGOLD is funding the project's development to production and Vanstar would retain a 20% carried interest until the start of commercial output and a 1% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on the eight original project claims.

Vanstar also owns 100% of the Felix property and 100% of Amanda, a 7,679 hectare property on the Auclair formation with historic gold showings up to 12.1 g/t gold over 3m.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
The company said it plans to add more vendors to the Hand-Picked program, a partnership model that aims to increase sales through a shared rent and revenue model

The Canadian independent organic grocer will sell a selection of house-aged cheeses, cured meats and branded dried goods at Cheese Boutiques Toronto locations

Ltd ( ) (OTCQX:OGGFF) has said it is expanding its Hand-Picked Partner program via a new partnership with Torontos Cheese Boutique.

The Canadian independent organic grocer will sell a selection of house-aged cheeses, cured meats and branded dried goods at the boutiques Toronto locations.

Organic Garage said it plans to add more vendors to the Hand-Picked program, a partnership model that aims to increase sales through a shared rent and revenue model. The concept allows select vendors to sell unique, ready-made and specialized foods to customers through small-footprint, in-store kiosks.

Organic Garage said it will keep exploring opportunities with new vendors as part of its program and increase its current natural and organic product selection to include specialty breads, prepared foods and plants and flowers.

I am pleased to extend our partnership with Cheese Boutique and continue the growth of our Hand-Picked Partner Program, said Organic Garage CEO Matt Lurie in a statement. Cheese Boutiques knowledge and the curation of the selection offered in Organic Garage ensures a unique shopping experience for our customers and further differentiates Organic Garage from our competition.

Cheese Boutique is a gourmet food emporium, owned and operated by the Pristine family since its inception in 1970.

This partnership with Organic Garage is a natural one for us; its a fun place to shop and fits with the curated and exciting environment weve created for customers at our own store, stated Cheese Boutiques maitre fromager, Afrim Pristine.

Founded in 2005 by a fourth-generation grocer, Organic Garage is headquartered in Toronto. The company is focused on continuing to expand its retail footprint within the Greater Toronto Area.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
Little West will continue to be run and operated by its founders Cassandra Troy and Andrew Walker, Brad Neumann and their California-based team, while leveraging PlantX's extensive e-commerce platform, technical business expertise and marketing resources

PlantX Life said the acquisition of Little West provides it with expertise in the cold-pressed juice vertical which it is anticipated will enable the company to further grow in the North American market

PlantX Life Inc. (CSE:VEGA) (FRA:WNT1) (OTCQB:PLTXF) said it has closed on the transaction to acquire privately-held Little West LLC, a cold-pressed juice maker based in California, in an all-stock transaction.

The company announced on April 30, 2021, that its wholly-owned subsidiary PlantX Lifestyle USA Inc. had entered into a membership interest purchase agreement dated April 29, 2021, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding limited liability membership interest of Little West. The acquisition closed at previously disclosed terms, the company added.

PlantX Life said the acquisition of Little West provides it with expertise in the cold-pressed juice vertical which it is anticipated will enable the company to further grow in the North American market.

Little West will continue to be run and operated by its founders Cassandra Troy and Andrew Walker, Brad Neumann and their California-based team, while leveraging PlantX's extensive e-commerce platform, technical business expertise and marketing resources in aims of promoting Little West products and accelerate the company's expansion across the US and Canada.

"It is truly exciting to finalize our Acquisition and partnership with Little West" said Sean Dollinger, PlantX founder in a statement. "We've already seen a lot of interest in the Little West cold-pressed juices since we announced our intention to acquire this amazing company, and we are very much looking forward to working together with Little West team and capitalize on our mutual strengths to enhance the Company's growth moving forward."

Regarded as a leader in quality standards and fresh taste for cold-pressed juice, Little West produces ultra-premium, small-batch, cold-pressed juices with no preservatives, concentrates, or added sugars. Founded in 2013 using fresh produce from farmer's markets, Little West stays true to their community roots and continues to source all fruits and vegetables from local family farms.

As the digital face of the plant-based community, PlantX's platform is the one-stop shop for everything plant-based. With its fast-growing category verticals, the company offers customers across North America more than 10,000 plant-based products.

In addition to offering meal and indoor plant deliveries, the company currently has plans underway to expand its product lines to include cosmetics, clothing, and its own water brand  but the business is not limited to an ecommerce platform. PlantX Life uses its digital platform to build a community of like-minded consumers, and most importantly, provide education. Its successful enterprise is being built and fortified on partnerships with top nutritionists, chefs and brands.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
Highlights of the results include an intersection of 152 metres of 0.47% copper equivalent (CuEq), including 30 metres at 0.81% CuEq

Deep-South is planning to drill 10,000 metres at Haib, one of the oldest porphyry deposits in the world

( ) (OTCMKTS:DSMTF) has revealed the first drill results from its Haib copper project in Namibia showing an intersection of 152 metres of 0.47% copper equivalent (CuEq).

The intersection included 30 metres at 0.81% CuEq, according to the Vancouver-based resource company.

Other results included 128 metres of 0.42% CuEq, including 14 metres at 0.57% CuEq, and 36 metres of 0.65% CuEq, including 12 metres at 1.04% CuEq.

Pierre Leveille, Deep-Souths CEO, told investors that the company was extremely enthusiastic about the first results from the ongoing drill program.

Previous drilling programs point to the presence of higher-grade zones of copper, probably associated with near-vertical structures within the broader mineralised areas of the project, Leveille said in a statement.

According to the CEO, vertical drilling in the past potentially missed certain structures, resulting in an underestimation of overall grade. The companys current drilling program is looking to amend this by using inclined holes to identify and delineate these structures and test the association with higher copper grade zones.

These first results seem to support this updated interpretation, showing substantial intersections at copper grades considered high for Haib, Leveille added. Additionally the presence of molydenum has been confirmed with high Mo grades obtained in association with structures and alterations. Furthermore, three holes have expanded the size of Pit 2 in the higher-grade area.

Deep-South is planning to drill 10,000 metres at Haib, one of the oldest porphyry deposits in the world.

The company has completed 14 holes so far, with another two currently in progress. It plans to drill a number of holes to depths greater than 350 meters to test the vertical extent of the deposit.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
Deep-South Resources (CVE: DSM-OTC: DSMTF) CEO Pierre Leveille joined Steve Darling from Proactive to bring news the company has released their first drill results from their current program at the Haib Copper project in southern Namibia.

Leveille telling Proactive they saw significant copper and molybdenum intersections with numbers like 0.47% CuEq over 152 metres, including 30 metres at 0.81% CuE and 0.65% CuEq over 36 metres, Leveille also told Proactive a change in the way drilling has been done in the past is being proven successful with these first results
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Eight out of 10 officials of the Seoul Metropolitan Government have been to the U.S. and the U.K. on lengthy furloughs billed as training or study programs over the past five years.

The city government spent about W16 billion in taxpayers' money on the programs that were justified by a vague goal of "expanding the international network and fostering global talent" (US$1=W1,117).

According to city government data, 136 or 81 percent of all 168 officials who were sent abroad for training since 2016 went to the U.S. (94) and the U.K. (42). Next came Singapore (nine), Japan (six), and China and Australia (three each). The jaunts cost an eye-watering average of W97 million per official.


A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
As for my mother? Her life wasnt easy, and in a country where the color of your skin shaped your life, she believed herself to be ugly because she was black in a white South Africa.

by Ruby Marks

On my most recent trip to Cape Town, some old family friends handed me a few black and white photos of me with my mother, and other children who used to be playmates. I was a scrawny little thing with long legs and the only one in the various group pics with bare feet. Theres a lively energy about me, and I seem impatient with posing. Theres one pic in particular that wrenches at my gut-Im sitting on my mothers lap, shes holding me firmly while staring out to sea. I look as if Im squirming to get out of her lap. The pic was taken at a time of her life when she was working as a sleep-in domestic worker for a white Jewish woman in Sea Point. Next to her is the only pic of her younger brother called Boetie, who became one of those many young black men in apartheid South Africa in the 60s and beyond who drifted through a series of menial jobs in Cape Town, and he suffered occasional spells in prison for vagrancy or petty theft. I remember that he visited us once to ask my mother to take him in. She was forced to say no, because at the time she could barely fend for us. I still have a memory of him walking away after that conversation with such a defeated look about him. We learned much later that, like many others, his life ended on the side of the road. My mother struggled for a long time with her own sense of guilt that she couldnt take him in.

As for my mother? Her life wasnt easy, and in a country where the color of your skin shaped your life, she believed herself to be ugly because she was black in a white South Africa. She resembled her father, a Xhosa man, and she always recounted her amazement that she was classified as colored because there was no way that she couldve passed the pencil test! But there she was, in the Cape province that she moved to from the South Cape, and that enforced, upon prison sentence, a strict colored job preferential policy. But even with that classification, the job pickings remained poor and menial. She took to wearing a short black wig with stiff plastic fibre hair, that over time turned into dry bristles at its ends. It was always pinned down firmly with a doek, and it eerily retained its shape like a faceless women on the side table next to the single bed we shared. We never had a conversation about my lighter skin color that was in some contrast to her own. It never mattered to her, even within an apartheid context where lightness was privileged, either as a badge of honor or as something that confered an advantage. I wonder if it reminded her of the pain of being forced to trade in her own Xhosa identity in order to make a living? Im sad that she is no longer with me, and did not live to see and enjoy the fullness of her dreams for me. Still, I wonder as I look at this picture, with her holding me while she stares out over that cold sea in Sea Point on one of her off-days as a servant there.was she seeing the poverty and despair of her own life, and starting to knit together in her mind what my life could be if she gave me what she never had?

I remain my mothers dream.

( The writer is a diplomat, served as South African High Commissioner to Sri Lanka)
Russia stands ready to continue working constructively with all partners who share these approaches in order to bolster the authority and fully unlock the potential of the UN as the true centre of multilateralism.

by Sergey Lavrov

Remarks at the meeting of the UN Security Council, Maintenance of international peace and security: Upholding multilateralism and the United Nations-centred international system, held via videoconference, Moscow, May 7, 2021

First of all, let me thank Mr Wang Yi, State Councillor and Foreign Minister of the Peoples Republic of China, for organising todays debates. Maintaining multilateralism and the UN-centred international system is as topical as ever and demands the UN Security Councils constant attention.

Today the world finds itself in a critical stage of development. The coronavirus pandemic has posed a grave challenge to everyone without exception. Normal life has been completely upended. It is difficult to predict the long-term or deferred consequences of the crisis, although we can see some positive trends thanks to the massive deployment of coronavirus vaccines.

The pandemic broke out in a world that was already far from perfect. In recent years, we have seen growing international tensions, as well as escalating regional conflicts and cross-border challenges and threats. The entire architecture of global governance created after the Second World War is being tested.

It is clear that the prospects of the international communitys sustainable and predictable development are directly connected with our ability to find effective solutions to common problems and our readiness to exercise collective leadership in order for true multilateralism to prevail.

Russia, like the majority of countries, is convinced that such work must be carried out solely on the basis of universally recognised norms of international law. The United Nations must serve as the key platform for coordinating efforts: it is the backbone of the modern global order, where all independent states are represented. Today, its unique legitimacy and unique capabilities are especially needed.

The core tenets of international law enshrined in the UN Charter have withstood the test of time. Russia calls on all states to unconditionally follow the purposes and principles of the Charter as they chart their foreign policies, respecting the sovereign equality of states, not interfering in their internal affairs, settling disputes by political and diplomatic means, and renouncing the threat or use of force. This is especially important at the current stage in the difficult process of forming an international multipolar system. At a time when new centres of economic growth, financial and political influence are gaining strength, it is necessary to preserve the internationally recognised legal basis for building a stable balance of interests that meets the new realities.

Unfortunately, not all of our partners are driven by the imperative to work in good faith to promote comprehensive multilateral cooperation. Realising that it is impossible to impose their unilateral or bloc priorities on other states within the framework of the UN, the leading Western countries have tried to reverse the process of forming a polycentric world and slow down the course of history.

Toward this end, the concept of the rules-based order is advanced as a substitute for international law. It should be noted that international law already is a body of rules, but rules agreed at universal platforms and reflecting consensus or broad agreement. The Wests goal is to oppose the collective efforts of all members of the world community with other rules developed in closed, non-inclusive formats, and then imposed on everyone else. We only see harm in such actions that bypass the UN and seek to usurp the only decision-making process that can claim global relevance.

The well-known idea to convene a Summit for Democracy proposed by the US Administration is in the same vein. The establishment of a new club based on interests, with a clearly ideological nature, has the potential to further inflame international tensions and deepen dividing lines in a world that needs a unifying agenda more than ever. Of course, the list of democracies to be invited to the summit will be determined by the United States.

Another initiative with the goal of global leadership that bypasses the UN is the French and German idea to create an Alliance for Multilateralism. What could be more natural then discussing the tasks of strengthening multilateralism at the UN? However, Berlin and Paris think differently and issue joint documents declaring that the European Union is the cornerstone of the multilateral international system and promote the conclusions of the Council of the European Union under the title The central role of the European Union and European institutions in promoting multilateralism. Presumptuous, you might say. The EU does not think so and declares its own exceptionalism despite all its invocations of equality and brotherhood.

By the way, as soon as we suggest discussing the current state of democracy not just within states but on the international stage with our Western colleagues, they lose interest in the conversation.

New ambitious initiatives to create narrow partnerships are emerging all the time within the Alliance for Multilateralism, on issues that are already being discussed at the UN or its specialised agencies, for example, on cyber security (with 65 member countries), respect for the international humanitarian law (43 member countries), the Information and Democracy Partnership (over 30 countries), etc.

This also reveals the Wests true attitude toward multilateralism and the UN, which they do not regard as a universal format for developing solutions acceptable to everyone, but in the context of their claims to superiority over everyone else, who must accept what is required of them.

Another example of the dictatorial methods introduced by the West is the practice of imposing unilateral sanctions without any international and legal grounds, with the sole purpose of punishing undesirable regimes or sidelining competitors. During the pandemic, such restrictions have limited the capacity of a whole range of developing countries to counter the spread of the infection. Despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterress call to suspend such unilateral sanctions during the pandemic, we mostly see them becoming harsher.

We believe such efforts to impose totalitarianism in global affairs to be unacceptable, yet we see it more and more from our Western colleagues, above all the United States, the European Union and other allies, who reject all principles of democracy and multilateralism on the global stage. As if to say, either its our way, or there will be repercussions.

It is striking that Western leaders, while openly undermining international law, do not hesitate to argue that the main task of world politics should be to counter the attempts of Russia and China to change the rules-based order. Such statements were made the other day following the G7 ministerial meeting in London. In other words, there has already been a substitution of concepts: the West is no longer concerned with the norms of international law and now requires everyone to follow its rules and observe its order. Whats more, US representatives freely admit that the USA and Great Britain have had the biggest hand in shaping these rules.

I am not saying all of this to ratchet up the confrontational rhetoric or advance an accusatory agenda. I am simply stating facts. But if we all support multilateralism in word, let us honestly search for ways to ensure that there is fairness in deed, without attempts to prove ones superiority or infringe on anothers rights. I hope that this approach to maintaining multilateralism and the UN-centred system will guide the activities of the UN Secretary-General and his team.

I am convinced that the time has come to do away with medieval and colonial habits and recognise the reality of todays interconnected and interdependent world. Honest and mutually respectful cooperation based on equal partnership between all states, guided by pragmatism and devoid of any ideology or politicisation, is what is needed now. It is the only way to improve the atmosphere in the world and ensure predictability in the advancement of the human race. That is especially true of such global challenges as the threat of terrorism and the proliferation of WMDs, climate change, new infectious diseases, and protecting human rights, starting with the most important one  the right to life.

I agree with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who stressed recently that no country can overcome such global threats to the lives of our citizens alone, not even the United States.

The permanent members of the UN Security Council are called on to play a key role in fostering open and direct dialogue about the most pressing problems of our time. According to the UN Charter, they bear special responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. President of Russia Vladimir Putin proposed convening a summit with the leaders of the five permanent members. We hope to make this idea a reality once the epidemiological situation in the world stabilises.

In conclusion I would like to emphasise that the UN, as the main multilateral platform, must keep pace with changes on the global stage. The organisation must constantly adapt to ever-changing conditions, while continuing to fully respect the division of labour between the main UN Charter bodies and maintaining the support of all the member states. At every stage of change, our actions must be measured by the improvements made to the United Nations real-world effectiveness.

Russia stands ready to continue working constructively with all partners who share these approaches in order to bolster the authority and fully unlock the potential of the UN as the true centre of multilateralism.
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[May 10, 2021] Alyssa Hall of Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC) Honored as a Power 60 Solution Provider Among CRN's 2020 Women of the Channel

Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC) announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company, has named Alyssa Hall, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, to its 2021 Power 60 Solution Providers list, an elite subgroup of honorees chosen from the highly regarded Women of the Channel list. The women honored on this year's list pushed forward with comprehensive business plans, marketing initiatives and other innovative ideas to support their partners and customers, helping them through the uncertainty brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic. CRN celebrates these exceptional women for their leadership, dedication and channel advocacy. The Power 60 Solution Providers are chosen by the CRN editorial team based on their contributions, expertise and dedication to building strong solution provider businesses. The award recognizes an exclusive subgroup of elite industry role models who continue to drive professional success through leadership and dedication to their own organizations and the entire IT channel. Since joining CDI in 2016, Hall has been instrumental in elevating the company's brand, and overseeing all marketing initiatives and channel relationships. With a focus on partner strategy, she has worked to increase the number of vendor partners from five to almost 200 in a span of just five years, both organically and through acquisitions. Under her leadership, CDI has achieved numerous partner accolades, including reaching ServiceNow (News - Alert) Elite status, and consistently showing revenue numbers at the top of the region for Cisco, Dell Technologies and VMware. Hall is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of The Park School of Communications at Ithaca College and has more than two decades of marketing experience spanning a wide variety of industries. Her previous roles include Director of Marketing at GAF roofing manufacturer, Director of Market Rsearch with Harris Interactive (News - Alert) and Marketing Director with Meridian Capital Group.



"CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges accomplished, influential women whose dedication, hard work, and leadership accelerate channel growth," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "We are proud to honor them for their many accomplishments and look forward to their continued contributions to the IT channel." "I feel extremely fortunate to have the support of an amazing company and a talented team, without which I could not have achieved the honor of being placed on this prestigious list with so many women I admire," stated Hall. "We have experienced tremendous growth at CDI over the past few years and expect that to continue as we stay focused on driving digital transformation for our clients and providing expertise for customers and partners alike. I hope to cross paths with many of the women listed here as CDI expands."

The 2021 Women of the Channel and Power 60 Solution Provider award will be featured in CRN Magazine on May 10th and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC. About Computer Design & Integration LLC (CDI LLC): CDI LLC was founded in 1995, with corporate headquarters in New York City, and office locations in Teterboro, N.J., Atlanta, Annapolis, Philadelphia, Boston and Virginia. The firm has been recognized as one of the top technology providers in the world, offering clients and businesses of all sizes the most up-to-date hybrid IT solutions. CDI continually focuses on achieving client satisfaction by developing and implementing digital solutions that enhance day-to-day workflow processes, and combines the required experience, exceptional talent, quality assurance and stability needed to solve today's most complex business challenges. For more information, visit cdillc.com or call 1-877-216-0133. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. LinkedIn (News - Alert): @The-Channel-Co @CRN

Twitter: @TheChannelCo @CRN

Facebook: @TheChannelCompany @CRNmag View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005499/en/

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[May 10, 2021] American Honda Foundation Collaborative is Boosting STEAM Interest and Learning Among Young Black and Latino Men

TORRANCE, Calif., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Honda Foundation committed $2.5 million over a five-year period when it established the Honda STEAM Collaborative, a cradle-to-college and career pipeline for young Black and Latino men in the Greater Los Angeles area. The funding provided resources and support to eight nonprofit educational organizations in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). Approaching its fifth year of funding, this unique program has yielded improved school attendance and grades, and 40 percent gains in STEAM learning as measured by program tests. Beyond creating greater interest in STEAM subjects for involved students, teachers report that the Honda STEAM Collaborative also is improving student behavior and self-esteem. The Honda STEAM Collaborative is yielding improved school attendance, grades and interest in STEAM. Based on the understanding that the needs of young men of color are so complex that no one organization can possibly address them all, the American Honda Foundation conceived of and created the Collaborative in 2017 in partnership with past foundation grantees that demonstrated longstanding involvement and success with STEAM programs for Black and Latino youth. These eight Southern California organizations are Bridge Builders Foundation, Brotherhood Crusade, California Academy for Science and Mathematics (CAMS), Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Children Youth and Family Collaborative (CYFC), Long Beach Math Collaborative, Posse Foundation, and UNCF. The Collaborative then partnered with the Lynwood Unified School District in a pilot project to bring the partnering organizations' programs to the students. In the Lynwood Unified School District pilot program, students received over 200 hours of afterschool and Saturday STEAM instruction and engagement each year, providing opportunities and support not readily accessible in their schools or communities, including hands-on STEAM activities, academic tutoring, mentoring and leadership development. The partnering organizations collectively reach elementary through high school students in underserved communities across Southern California. Increasing Educational, Economic, and Leadership Opportunities Fully funded by the American Honda Foundation, the Honda STEAM Collaborative was formed to address the reality that young men of color are academically under-performing in school, over-represented in the correctional justice system and critically under-represented in higher education, 21st century careers, and leadership positions of all kinds. Black and Latino males have the lowest graduation rates of any other sub-group in Los Angeles County . 1

. One of three African-American boys and one in six Latino boys will be incarcerated. 2

African-American men compose only 7.7 percent, and Latino men compose only 8.6 percent, of America's scientists and engineers3 "We believe young men of color deserve better outcomes and the American Honda Foundation is determined to increase their representation in STEAM professions while building a community of role models to inspire the next generation," said Rich Richardson, president of the American Honda Foundation Bord of Trustees. "Every young person deserves an equal opportunity to reach their potential and achieve their dreams."



Supporting Students' Well-Being and Development During the Pandemic Following school closures in 2020, program services were moved to a virtual/distance learning platform. The partner organizations came together to ensure a continuation of services for students, including:

Tablets and hotspots/Wi-Fi in the homes of families without internet access

STEM kits that contained materials for students to carry out hands-on activities at home

Virtual mentoring by professional men, some of whom have STEAM careers, to inspire, motivate and provide guidance

Virtual physical fitness sessions  held on Saturdays with certified instructors  encouraged students to get moving, helped relieve stress, and promoted the importance of overall health. The young men received exercise kits with an exercise ball, jump rope and resistance bands.

Additional resources and support to the young men and their families, which included school supplies, clothing, and food Honda STEAM Collaborative Programs The Honda STEAM Collaborative was established with eight partnering organizations that provide free services and support through afterschool and Saturday programs: Bridge Builders Foundation  The Foundation's mission is to remove the barriers of race, poverty, ignorance, and despair through mentoring, educational support, health care awareness, and community uplift.

 The Foundation's mission is to remove the barriers of race, poverty, ignorance, and despair through mentoring, educational support, health care awareness, and community uplift. Brotherhood Crusade  The non-profit organization addresses the needs of South Los Angeles' underserved population by building alliances with other organizations and foundations of goodwill that are committed to and understand the need for helping people prosper.

 The non-profit organization addresses the needs of underserved population by building alliances with other organizations and foundations of goodwill that are committed to and understand the need for helping people prosper. California Academy for Science and Mathematics (CAMS)  Located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills , CAMS is a public magnet high school focusing on science and mathematics.

 Located on the campus of , CAMS is a public magnet high school focusing on science and mathematics. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science  The private nonprofit student-centered University is committed to cultivating diverse health professional leaders who are dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations. Its Pipeline Programs provide STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) education to students and families across Los Angeles County .

 The private nonprofit student-centered University is committed to cultivating diverse health professional leaders who are dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations. Its Pipeline Programs provide STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) education to students and families across . Children Youth and Family Collaborative (CYFC)  CYFC establishes partnerships with youth-centered organizations in an innovative collaboration designed to link volunteers from the community with youth who are at-risk or in foster care.

 CYFC establishes partnerships with youth-centered organizations in an innovative collaboration designed to link volunteers from the community with youth who are at-risk or in foster care. Long Beach Math Collaborative  The mission of the CSULB-LBUSD Math Collaborative is to increase the mathematics achievement and college-going rates of African-American males in north Long Beach, Calif .

 The mission of the CSULB-LBUSD Math Collaborative is to increase the mathematics achievement and college-going rates of African-American males in north Posse Foundation  A college access and youth leadership development program, Posse identifies, recruits and selects student leaders from public high schools and sends them in groups to attend some of the top colleges and universities in the country.

 A college access and youth leadership development program, Posse identifies, recruits and selects student leaders from public high schools and sends them in groups to attend some of the top colleges and universities in the country. UNCF  Founded in 1944, UNCF's mission is to build a robust and nationally-recognized pipeline of under-represented students, who because of UNCF support, become highly-qualified college graduates. Together, these organizations create a holistic network of support that is unique in providing not only academic assistance, but also job training, mentorship, and leadership development, to build life skills. While most efforts to address opportunity gaps faced by young men of color exclusively target middle and high school, the Honda STEAM Collaborative has developed a pipeline of support that starts at the elementary school level and continues through college admission. Comments from Program Partners and Schools James Breedlove , President, Bridge Builders Foundation: "Young men of color face daunting challenges; many must persist in environments that view them with apprehension and are deplete of positive same gender, same race, role models. Exposure to professional men, who look like them, and have shared experiences is empowering for young boys of color; it dispels myths, reduces stigma, and raises life trajectories."

"Young men of color face daunting challenges; many must persist in environments that view them with apprehension and are deplete of positive same gender, same race, role models. Exposure to professional men, who look like them, and have shared experiences is empowering for young boys of color; it dispels myths, reduces stigma, and raises life trajectories." Dawn Green , Principal, Rosa Parks Elementary: "By having STEM and the wonderful resources this Collaborative is providing our school and students, we are producing students who are able to think critically, to problem solve, think analytically  skills they will need for their future and beyond." About the American Honda Foundation The American Honda Foundation is dedicated to helping prepare America's children for tomorrow's challenges. The Foundation focuses its efforts in the areas of youth and scientific education, with a specific focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) subjects and the environment. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $44 million to organizations serving over 118 million people in every state in the U.S. For more information, please visit https://www.honda.com/community. About Honda in America Honda started U.S. operations with the establishment of America Honda Motor Co., Inc. in 1959. Today, Honda employs 30,000 associates in America engaged in the development, manufacturing, sales and service support of Honda and Acura automobiles, Honda power equipment, Honda powersports products and the HondaJet advanced light jet and GE Honda HF120 turbofan engines. Based on its longstanding commitment to build products close to the customer, Honda operates 12 major U.S. manufacturing facilities, working with more than 620 U.S. suppliers to produce the diverse range of Honda products. In 2020, more than two-thirds of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in America, using domestic and globally sourced parts. Honda also operates 17 research and development facilities in America which fully design, develop and engineer many of the products the company manufactures in America. More information about Honda is available in the Digital Fact Book.

1 According to The Counter Narrative: Reframing Success for High Achieving Black and Latino Males in Los Angeles County (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2sv226tf)

2 According to NAACP Criminal Justice Fact Sheet (https://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/)

3 According to 2017 data from National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-honda-foundation-collaborative-is-boosting-steam-interest-and-learning-among-young-black-and-latino-men-301287079.html SOURCE American Honda Foundation

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[May 10, 2021] APL Photonics Announces 2020 Future Luminary Awardee

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wen Xiong won the annual Future Luminary Award by APL Photonics, a publication of AIP Publishing for her work in proposing and demonstrating a self-referenced method of characterizing ultrafast pulses with a multimode fiber. The $3,000 award recognizes excellence in highly promising early career researchers and comes with an invitation to join the Early Career Editorial Advisory Board and write an Invited Article in APL Photonics. In her winning paper, "Deep learning of ultrafast pulse with a multimode fiber," Xiong and her colleagues applied machine learning to extract the encoded information from the two-photon absorption speckle patterns. "Our approach is to convert the temporal information into spatial patterns," Xiong said. "A multimode fiber couples the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom of light. It means that when the temporal shape of the pulse changes, it will generate a different nonlinear speckle pattern." Xiong grew up in Enshi, China, and began developin an interest in physics when she was in high school.



"My high school physics teacher was very good at cultivating students' intuition of solving physics problems. I was very impressed by the fact that with a very simple physics law, I can solve a lot of problems," she said. She went on to earn her doctorate degree from Yale University in 2019, focusing on the physics and applications of light transmission in multimode fibers. The use of these fibers in sensing and imaging led her to Facebook Reality Labs, where she currently works on applying novel optics techniques to augmented reality.

In her APL Photonics paper, the machine learning technique provides a simple, low-cost solution to measuring ultrafast pulses, making multimode fibers even more versatile in a wide range of sensing and imaging applications. "These patterns are like the fingerprints of the pulse and machine learning algorithms can be used to reversely find the pulse shape," said Xiong. "I am excited to know that people in the optics community like this paper. It would not have worked out without all the contributions from my coauthors, especially my advisor, Professor Hui Cao," Xiong said. "I also thank APL Photonics for recognizing our work." ABOUT THE AWARD

The APL Photonics Future Luminary Award recognizes the achievements of highly promising early career researchers with the potential to become luminaries in the field of photonics. Eligible applicants are within 10 years of their Ph.D. and have a paper published in APL Photonics within the selection year. ABOUT THE JOURNAL

APL Photonics is the dedicated home for open access multidisciplinary research from and for the photonics community. The journal publishes fundamental and applied results that significantly advance the knowledge in photonics across physics, chemistry, biology and materials science. See https://aip.scitation.org/journal/app ABOUT AIP PUBLISHING

AIP Publishing is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics (AIP). AIP Publishing's mission is to support the charitable, scientific and educational purposes of AIP through scholarly publishing activities in the fields of the physical and related sciences on its own behalf and on behalf of our publishing partners to help them proactively advance their missions. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/apl-photonics-announces-2020-future-luminary-awardee-301286718.html SOURCE AIP Publishing

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[May 10, 2021] Best's Special Reports: Although Pandemic Drove Flurry of Insurer Innovation Efforts, It Also Hampered Results

One-year benchmarking analysis of AM Best-rated companies' innovation assessments show that just 13% of companies earned the highest scores on their output results, illustrating that actual sustainable results over a longer period has yet to be seen in what may be the new normal business environment given the impacts of COVID-19. In March 2020, AM Best formally integrated its criteria procedure, "Scoring and Assessing Innovation," into its rating process, which outlines how AM Best explicitly considers an insurance company's innovation efforts. In a new series of Best's Special Reports, AM Best examines how insurers performed on their innovation efforts since implementation of the criteria. As the pandemic surged in the first half of 2020, AM Best observed a recalibration of priorities by innovation teams, with some insurers pausing major initiatives. At the same time, many companies achieved more in the past year than in the years leading up to 2020. Innovation strategies vary by company and business line, and insurers generally still face difficulty with regard to the linkages between innovation inputs and results, especially in times of crisis. The individual reports are as follows: "Pandemic Speeds Up Pace of Insurer Innovation" : Developing an innovative culture among insurers has been an ongoing challenge, but COVID-19 upended the industry's methodically slower pace, causing insurers to act swiftly to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. However, despite the gains in creating a more-innovative culture, most companies still score at the lower end on their innovation output scores, in large part highlighting the obstacles created by the pandemic. Report: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308454.

: Developing an innovative culture among insurers has been an ongoing challenge, but COVID-19 upended the industry's methodically slower pace, causing insurers to act swiftly to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. However, despite the gains in creating a more-innovative culture, most companies still score at the lower end on their innovation output scores, in large part highlighting the obstacles created by the pandemic. Report: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308454. "COVID-19 Pandemic Shifts Innovation Benchmarking Results Slightly" : Although COVID-19 forced many insurers to seek out innovative solutions, most companies still show room for improvement. Th latest innovation assessment scores are slightly lower than the preliminary results released ahead of the innovation criteria in 2020, driven mainly by the challenges of the pandemic. However, one trend that has held during this period is that more-favorable innovation assessments skew toward higher-rated organizations. Report: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308458.

: Although COVID-19 forced many insurers to seek out innovative solutions, most companies still show room for improvement. Th latest innovation assessment scores are slightly lower than the preliminary results released ahead of the innovation criteria in 2020, driven mainly by the challenges of the pandemic. However, one trend that has held during this period is that more-favorable innovation assessments skew toward higher-rated organizations. Report: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308458. "Reinsurance, Autos, and Health the Most Innovative Lines of Business" : The reinsurance industry has been the most innovative insurance segment, according to AM Best's scoring. Highlighting how innovation can go beyond technology, even large reinsurers need to be nimble with regard to cycle management and use innovative strategies to be profitable in a highly competitive market. Health and automobile insurance represent the next two most innovative lines of business. Report: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308457.

: The reinsurance industry has been the most innovative insurance segment, according to AM Best's scoring. Highlighting how innovation can go beyond technology, even large reinsurers need to be nimble with regard to cycle management and use innovative strategies to be profitable in a highly competitive market. Health and automobile insurance represent the next two most innovative lines of business. Report: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308457. "Innovation in EMEA: Underlying Principles Consistent Across Markets"; "Innovation in Asia-Pacific: Varies by Market Maturity and Business Needs" : In a pair of reports, innovation efforts in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions show that while carriers' focuses differ by market maturity and unique characteristics, distribution is a common factor. EMEA: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308455. Asia Pacific: http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=308460.

: In a pair of reports, innovation efforts in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions show that while carriers' focuses differ by market maturity and unique characteristics, distribution is a common factor.



http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=innovation421. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright  2021 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005165/en/

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[May 10, 2021] CI Financial to Acquire Dowling & Yahnke, a Leading San Diego Wealth Advisory Firm with US$5.1 Billion in Assets

CI Financial Corp. ("CI") (TSX: CIX; NYSE: CIXX) and Dowling & Yahnke, LLC ("D&Y") today announced an agreement under which CI will acquire the San Diego-based registered investment advisor firm with US$5.1 billion in assets. D&Y, which does business as Dowling & Yahnke Wealth Advisors, was founded in 1991 and serves over 1,300 clients, primarily individuals, families, and non-pro?t organizations. D&Y provides comprehensive investment management and financial planning services tailored to clients' individual life and legacy goals. The firm's accolades include being named to the FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisors list every year since the list's inception in 2014. Additionally, Chief Executive Officer Dale Yahnke was ranked No. 23 on the Barron's 2020 list of Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors, the 14th time he has made the list, and was named to the Barron's Advisor Hall of Fame in 2019. "Dowling & Yahnke is one of the top RIAs in the U.S. and we're thrilled to welcome the team to CI," said Kurt MacAlpine, CI Chief Executive Officer. "Dale Yahnke and his team have built an exceptional business distinguished by their dedication to clients, deep expertise in holistic wealth planning, and an enduring reputation for excellence." The transaction is expected to increase CI's total U.S. assets to US$63 billion (C$79 billion), continuing the company's rapid growth in wealth management. CI entered the U.S. registered investment advisor ("RIA") sector in January 2020 with the goal of building the nation's leading private wealth firm. The company has since become the fastest-growing RIA platform in the U.S. through an ambitious series of acquisitions. "D&Y is our second-largest RIA acquisition to date and will be the sixth RIA in our group to have over C$5 billion in assets," Mr. MacAlpine said. "Our vision and value proposition continue to resonate with advisors, and we're honored that the country's leading RIAs are choosing to partner with CI." "Our firm was founded 30 years ago on the idea of placing the best interests of our clients above all else," said Mr. Yahnke. "A strategic partnership with CI at this time allows D&Y to reach new heights in delivering a further elevated level of professional service for those that would trust us with the responsibility of overseeing their complete financial picture. "We are impressed by CI's depth of experience in wealth management as well as the caliber of the firms they are assembling to create a premier, national wealth management organization. Being part of CI ensures enhanced support and services for our clients, continued growth for our firm, and new opportunities for our employees. e look forward to working with CI and its other partner firms in this exciting new stage of development for the collective team."



D&Y will be CI's first San Diego location and its addition is expected to more than double CI's assets in the key southern California market. This transaction represents CI's 18th RIA acquisition (including acquisitions by CI-affiliated RIAs) and is expected to increase CI's total assets under management and wealth management assets globally to approximately US$230 billion (C$289 billion).

CI's U.S expansion reflects its strategic priorities of globalizing the firm and expanding its wealth management platform. As part of this, CI will be extending the CI Private Wealth brand to its operations in the United States. The D&Y transaction is expected to close later this quarter, subject to regulatory, stock exchange, and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed. D&Y was advised by the Asset & Wealth Management Investment Banking team of Raymond James Financial, Inc. and Alston & Bird LLP. Hogan Lovells US LLP was legal advisor to CI. All asset amounts are as at March 31, 2021. About CI Financial CI Financial Corp. is an independent company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services. CI managed and advised on approximately C$240.6 billion (US$192 billion) in client assets as at March 31, 2021. CI's primary asset management businesses are CI Global Asset Management (CI Investments Inc.) and GSFM Pty Ltd., and it operates in Canadian wealth management through Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd., CI Private Counsel LP, Aligned Capital Partners Inc., CI Direct Investing (WealthBar Financial Services Inc.), and CI Investment Services Inc. CI's U.S. wealth management business consists of holdings in 13 registered investment advisor firms across the country. CI is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under CIX and on the New York Stock Exchange under CIXX. Further information is available at www.cifinancial.com. The FT 300 assesses registered investment advisors based on desirable traits for investors and presents the FT 300 as an elite group, not a competitive ranking of one to 300. RIAs must complete an application to be considered. The formula the FT uses to grade advisers is based on six broad factors and calculates a numeric score for each adviser. Areas of consideration include AUM, asset growth, the company's age, industry certifications of key employees, SEC (News - Alert) compliance record and online accessibility. The Barron's advisor ranking reflects the volume of assets overseen by the advisors and their teams, revenues generated for the firms, and the quality of the advisors' practices. Barron's requested Dowling & Yahnke to apply for the ranking. The information for the ranking was compiled by the advisor and may or may not be verified by Barron's. It is unknown as to the number of applicants considered for the ranking and the percentage of applicants that made the ranking. The award should not be viewed as representative of any one client's experience and should not be taken as an indication of performance by Dowling & Yahnke and any of its clients. While Dowling & Yahnke did not pay a fee to apply for the award, the firm does purchase goods or services from the publisher of the award (such as subscriptions to the publication, reprints of the ranking, and payment to be included in other Barron's-published lists). Barron's Hall of Fame is an award honoring a group of advisors who exemplify long-term success and commitment to their clients. Each member of the Hall of Fame has appeared in 10 or more of Barron's annual Top 100 Advisor rankings. This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations with respect to CI Financial Corp. ("CI") and its products and services, including its business operations, strategy and financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "foresee", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and "project" and similar references to future periods, or conditional verbs such as "will", "may", "should", "could" or "would". These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management beliefs regarding future events, many of which by their nature are inherently uncertain and beyond management's control. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements involve risks and uncertainties. The material factors and assumptions applied in reaching the conclusions contained in these forward-looking statements include that the acquisition of D&Y will be completed and its asset levels will remain stable, the investment fund industry will remain stable and that interest rates will remain relatively stable. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market conditions, including interest and foreign exchange rates, global financial markets, changes in government regulations or in tax laws, industry competition, technological developments and other factors described or discussed in CI's disclosure materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than as specifically required by applicable law, CI undertakes no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statement after the date on which it is made, whether to reflect new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005160/en/

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[May 10, 2021] eMaxx Expands Platform for Insurance Companies to Enter Variable Cost Captive Market

eMaxx, an InsurTech commercial managing general agent specializing in alternative risk, announced today the expansion of its turnkey platform for insurance companies to enter the variable cost captive market. eMaxx provides a platform that includes technology, product development, marketing, sales support, administration and can assume quota share excess of loss (XOL) reinsurance. Insurance companies provide fronting, excess XOL reinsurance, claims oversight and their independent agency network. "Variable cost captives are the fastest growing sector of the commercial insurance market and there is high demand for alternative risk captive programs," Brian McCarthy, CEO, eMaxx. "Commercial Insurers can enter the alternative risk market quickly and provide their independent agency partners a branded product within months instead of years." eMaxx recently launched its customer centric technology platform for variable cost captive programs. The platform provides a centralized source for customers to manage their own insurance and risk management program through the power of technology. Through the Customer Centric Platform, customers have access to insurance policies, program documents, historical exposures, claims details including access to the adjusters notes, real time billing information and have the bility to make payments. Customers that are members of the variable cost captive programs can view their fund performance and profitability. Risk Management capabilities include telematics ranking and score cards, driver files management, MVR monitoring and eLive Connect online learning platform.



"We have partnered with eMaxx since 2018 and seen the innovation they have brought to the market," Jeff Kenneson, President, Davies Captive Management. "Their infrastructure including their proprietary technology are scalable and provide insurance companies the opportunity to provide products to their customers that are in demand. Davies Captive Management are pleased to be one of their key partners." eMaxx has the ability to build and provide support for homogenous, heterogeneous (regional) captives, single parent and enterprise captives for insurance company partners. eMaxx acts as the sponsor of eCaptiv, a Vermont domiciled captive reinsurance company that is organized to provide protected cells reinsurance support. Programs today are focused on the energy industry and emergency roadside assistance providers that are affiliated with AAA. Recent announcements include Amy Lussier as Chief Financial Officer of eMaxx and the appointment of Governor Mary Fallin-Christensen to the Board of Directors.

About eMaxx eMaxx Assurance Group of Companies, Inc. is an InsurTech that has four operating companies. The companies include: eMaxx Insurance Services, LLC (Insurance Program Administrator), eCaptiv (Vermont- Domiciled Captive Insurance Company), eRisk Solutions, LLC (Loss Prevention / Safety, Claims Investigational & Oversight, and Litigation Management) and eTech Services, LLC (Loss Expense Reducing Technology Systems and Platforms including Telematics Exchange and eLive Connect). More information can be found at: https://www.emaxxgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005580/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Envistacom Celebrates 10 Years in Business

Envistacom, LLC today celebrated its tenth anniversary - marking a decade of supporting the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to equip America's warfighters with mission-critical solutions and technology to counter existing and emerging threats protecting military personnel, civilians, and infrastructure. The company reflected upon numerous milestones as it transformed into a recognized employer of choice, strategic government partner and technology pioneer. Alyssa Carson founded Envistacom in 2011 with the mission to "make the world a safer place." The company quickly gained a reputation for agility in providing innovative solutions leading them to become a trusted partner to U.S. DoD and coalition partners. Today, Envistacom operates in 15 countries and employs more than 440 professionals worldwide. A core driver for the Georgia-based defense contractor's significant growth over the years is Envistacom's dedication to research and innovation that are integrated into the solutions for customers across the U.S. DoD and intelligence community. In support of this, the company opened its Envistacom Innovation Center in Duluth, GA in 2017, and Research & Development Centers in Frederick, MD, and in Peachtree Corners, GA in 2020. "This anniversary is a major milestone for Envistacom, and it's been exciting to see our business grow and transform over the years," said Alan Carson, President, Envistacom. "With a rapidly growing global network of experts and an expanding partnership with our U.S. DoD and partner nations customers, we remain committed in our mission to equip America's warfighters with the technology and tools necessary to help make th world a safer place."



As a solutions provider, Envistacom is modernizing DoD and commercial communication infrastructures while developing new means for transport interoperability and resiliency in satellite communications. To meet the growing need for interoperable wireless connectivity solutions, the company is developing an open ecosystem for network transport and other real-time continuous processing applications. Through Envistacom's Transport Virtualization Ecosystem (TVE), common-off-the-shelf hardware can be utilized reducing the logistical and operational burden for the user. Over the last two years, Envistacom was issued four new patents supporting the development of the ecosystem, adding to the company's expanding intellectual property. Recognized as a strong supporter of America's Veterans, Envistacom's workforce is comprised of over 50% military veterans. In addition, the company supports many outreach organizations including the Veterans Empowerment Organization, the Warrior Alliance, Wreaths Across America, Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and others. Envistacom's outreach program also dedicates resources to at-risk youth organizations like Covenant House.

In 2020, Envistacom was selected as one of the Top 40 Innovative Technology Companies in Georgia by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and a Military Times' Best for Vets employer. In 2021, the company was selected as a "Pacesetter" by the Atlanta Business Chronicle which is a designation for the fastest-growing private companies in Metro Atlanta. "The founding principle of the company was to create an employee-first organization," said Alyssa Carson, founder and CEO, Envistacom. "Our people have always been and will continue to be the core of our success and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication over the last 10 years." About Envistacom LLC Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Envistacom provides communications, cyber and intelligence solutions to the U.S. DoD and coalition partners in the aerospace, defense, and intelligence communities. Customers rely on Envistacom for rapid-response, secure technology solutions and subject-matter expertise to support mission critical operations. With an elite team of former military leaders and domain experts located around the world, and multiple indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicles worth over $62B, Envistacom is a trusted partner in protecting military, civilians and critical infrastructure around the world. Envistacom is a Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Business (DWOSB). For more information on solutions or contract vehicles, please visit www.envistacom.com, and follow @Envistacom on Facebook, Twitter (News - Alert) , LinkedIn and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005046/en/

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[May 10, 2021] EVOTEK Features Six Employees on CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel List

SAN DIEGO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EVOTEK today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named six of their employees to the highly respected Women of the Channel list for 2021. These six employees include CFO, Mari Rodish, Marketing Manager, Ann Strandberg, Regional Vice President of Arizona, Teresa Annibale, Regional Vice President of Colorado, Susan Bullwinkle, Alliance Director, Stacy Staver, and Director of Professional Services, Andrea Wolff. This annual list recognizes the unique strengths, vision and achievements of female leaders in the IT channel. The 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges women from all over the IT channel, including vendors, distributors and solution providers. The women honored on this year's list pushed forward with comprehensive business plans, marketing initiatives and other innovative ideas to support their partners and customers, helping them through the uncertainty brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic. CRN celebrates these exceptional women for their leadership, dedication and channel advocacy. EVOTEK has continuously pushed the bar in empowering women in the technology space. Recently, they founded the non-profit organization, Women in Technology, where they will both award a scholarship and provide support to women who are interested in joining the industry. In addition, EVOTEK strives to honor the women that have paved the way for upcoming talent. The organization prides itself on its Minority Business Enterprise certification and defining a culture where all employees can feel recognized and appreciated. "CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges accomplished, influential women whose dedication, hard work, and leadership accelerate channel growth," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "We are proud to honor them for their many accomplishments and look forward to their continued contributions to the IT channel." "I am proud to see so many of EVOTEK's employes being noticed and honored by CRN," said Cesar Enciso, Founder and CEO of EVOTEK. "We strive to be an organization that empowers our employees to reach their true and desired potential in the technology industry and in life and each of these women play an integral part in our organization's success."



The 2021 Women of the Channel list will be featured in CRN Magazine on May 10th and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC. About EVOTEK

EVOTEK is North America's premier enabler of digital business with a focus on innovation. With technology offerings in data center and cloud, EVOTEK is uniquely equipped to enable customers with the industry shift from traditional IT computing to secure multi-cloud. With services practices in cybersecurity, mobility, platform engineering and AIOps, EVOTEK is moving up the value chain, closer to the part of digital business that matters most. EVOTEK was named to Inc. Magazine's "Best Places to Work" in 2018 and 2020. For five consecutive years, from 2016-2020, EVOTEK was listed in The San Diego Business Journal's "Best Places to Work" and recognized in CRN's "Solution Provider 500" list, CRN's "Next-Generation 250" list, CRN's "Triple Crown" and highlighted as CRN's "Top 150 Growth Companies", holding the #1 spot in 2017 as the fastest growing system integrator in the country. In 2020, EVOTEK was named to the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest growing companies in America.

To learn more about how EVOTEK can enable your digital business, visit www.evotek.com.

Follow EVOTEK: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. The Channel Company Contact:

Jennifer Hogan

The Channel Company

309520@email4pr.com Media Contact:

Ann Strandberg

EVOTEK

(858) 362 5083

309520@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/evotek-features-six-employees-on-crns-2021-women-of-the-channel-list-301287069.html SOURCE EVOTEK

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[May 10, 2021] Exelon and Exelon Foundation Surprise Seven Female STEM Students With Full Ride College Scholarships

Exelon President and CEO Chris Crane surprised seven young women from the company's STEM Academy Leadership program this week with news that Exelon will provide them with full-ride college scholarships. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005631/en/ Exelon will pay all of their costs associated with college, including tuition, room and board and all other expenses that aren't covered by other confirmed scholarships, family contributions and work-study grants. The total value of the seven scholarships is about $1 million. The Exelon STEM Leadership Academy is a free, week-long experience for teen girls ages 16-19 from diverse and low-income communities held each summer in the Washington, D.C. metro region, Chicago and Philadelphia. The STEM Leadership Academy Scholarship is designed to be a supportive and clear pathway from student engagement in the academy to entry into the energy workforce, ideally as an Exelon employee. The newly launched scholarship was made available to STEM Leadership Academy alumnae who are graduating from high school in 2021 or who have already begun their post-secondary eucation at a two- or four-year educational institution.



This year's seven scholarship recipients, each of whom attended an Exelon's STEM Leadership Academy, had applied for the scholarship but had no idea that it was a full ride. "These scholarships are going to enable you to attend college debt-free, and it's not just a commitment for one year. We promise to stand by you for your whole time at college," Chris Crane, president and CEO, Exelon, told the students. "As a company, we are committed to give back to the communities we serve, so being able to help you young women, who are going to go out and change the world, is very important to us."

Some of the students have already decided where they plan to attend college, while some are still deciding. The hope is that this scholarship will give the students the financial flexibility to study at the college of their choice. "The journey I have had thus far with Exelon Corporation through the Exelon STEM Academy has been life changing," said 2021 Exelon Foundation STEM Academy Scholarship recipient Asata Mander. "It reaffirms my desire to be a member of a company that is forward-thinking and willing to invest in future scientists and engineers." The STEM Academy Leadership Academy Scholarship recipients of 2021 are: STEM Academy Baltimore and DC Alima Conde, Computer Science & Programming ( Aberdeen (News - Alert) , Md.)

Nesochim Iheanyi-Igwe, Engineering (Elkridge, Md.)

Danielle Thompson, Mechanical Engineering (District Heights, Md.) STEM Academy Chicago Teegan Mathey, Environmental Science (Aurora, IL)

Nicole Onyemeziem, Engineering (Chicago, IL) STEM Academy Philadelphia Samantha Booher, Mechanical Engineering (Yardley, Pa.)

Asata Mander, Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience and Computer Science (Philadelphia, Pa.) More information about Exelon's commitment to the communities it serves can be found here. About Exelon Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC) is a Fortune 100 energy company with the largest number of electricity and natural gas customers in the U.S. Exelon does business in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada and had 2020 revenue of $33 billion. Exelon serves approximately 10 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania through its Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO (News - Alert) , and Pepco subsidiaries. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with more than 31,000 megawatts of nuclear, gas, wind, solar and hydroelectric generating capacity comprising one of the nation's cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company's Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 2 million residential, public sector and business customers, including three fourths of the Fortune 100. Follow Exelon on Twitter (News - Alert) @Exelon. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005631/en/

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The Korea Enterprises Federation has urged big conglomerates to freeze wages and hire more workers instead.

The KEF sent a message on Sunday to its 4,300 member companies asking them to minimize wage increases this year and instead hire additional workers and offer more support for small and mid-sized contractors.

"Considering the economic situation with its worsening youth unemployment and a widening gap between big and small businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is necessary to boost hiring and work to narrow the gap," it said.

According to the KEF, the ratio of average monthly salaries in companies with more than 500 workers and small firms with five to 10 staff was 199.1 to 100 in 2019. Abroad the difference is much smaller with 129.6 in Japan, 154.2 in the U.S. and 157.7 in France.

A committee of representatives from businesses, labor unions and the government will meet soon to decide the minimum wage increase for next year and is expected to arrive at a rate by July.
[May 10, 2021] Fastmail Announces the Launch of New Email Navigation Feature

PHILADELPHIA and MELBOURNE, Australia, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fastmail PTY LTD, an email hosting company, is excited to announce the launch of a contextual sidebar that will be added to its email operating system. This new sidebar feature is designed to help users easily navigate to - and take action on - the most meaningful parts of their email conversations. Fastmail's new feature comes as a response to its users' busy lives, especially given the increase in virtual communication over the last year. The sidebar puts the user's emails, calendars, contacts, and files in one place. This all-encompassing feature will allow users to see their calendar appointments as they work, find a good time for a new meeting, learn more about the people in their conversation, and remind them when and why they last spoke to the contact. "We're all busier than ever before, and relying on your memory isn't enough," explains Helen Horstmann-Allen, COO. "Fastmail's sidebar helps provide context to your conversations, whether it's surfacing the last time you talked to someone, the next time you'll see them, or your own personal notes." This sidebar integrates a number of existing features the email company offers in an effort to streamline daily email tasks. Aggregating these intuitive features will save users valuable time without having to toggle between multiple platforms. For instance, users can create a new calendar event without leaving the inbox. "The new Fastmail sidebar tools work how you expect, even though you weren't expecting them to be there. You can keep working the way you're used to, but lots f things take fewer steps." says Ricardo Signes, CTO. The sidebar also allows quick reference to contact details and history and provides options to take direct actions like call or text. The integration includes DuckDuckGo Maps for easy access to directions when needed as well.





"How many of us wish we had a trusted voice at our side, reminding us how we know someone?," asks Horstmann-Allen. "Fastmail contacts use your own email history to jog your memory right when you need it." The People tab is where customers will find the information they need to quickly jump into each email conversation with details on that contact's card, such as their full name, job title, or time zone.

Historically, Fastmail has been known for its ability to create software that works for its users, not against them. The core values of Fastmail ensure that every customer is treated fairly and good behavior is the norm. This stems from their workplace culture of human-to-human email and the encouraging connection that Fastmail prides itself on. These values and customer needs were at the forefront of the development of the sidebar feature, in addition to an update to the contacts tab to embody a more modern aesthetic. For customers who might be hesitant to make the switch from their existing email system, Fastmail allows users to bring their email history with them. "The Fastmail importer can bring in entire accounts' worth of mail in minutes. So import your messages and contacts, and see for yourself!" invites Horstmann-Allen. The sidebar feature is now available for all users. With this level of connection to information, customers can make better decisions, be more prepared, and save time and energy. About Fastmail: Fastmail is an independent, employee-owned email provider, offering what we like to call email on your side. For over 20 years, Fastmail has been a leader in email and email privacy. We believe in working for customers as people to be cared for, not products to be exploited. Advertisers are left out, putting people at the center. Fastmail's moving email forward with new internet standards and open-source innovations that power many email services other than our own. Visit us at fastmail.com . MEDIA CONTACT:

Taylor Garrett

Slice Communications

tgarrett@slicecommunications.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fastmail-announces-the-launch-of-new-email-navigation-feature-301287740.html SOURCE Fastmail

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[May 10, 2021] Freshfields Hires Brock Dahl from US National Security Agency

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP announced today that it has hired technology, data and cyber attorney Brock Dahl as a counsel in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley. Mr. Dahl brings cutting-edge technology, cyber and data expertise to the firm after spending the past six years with the National Security Agency (News - Alert) (NSA). In his most recent position of Deputy General Counsel, Operations, he advised the NSA's leadership on how to achieve their mission objectives within the boundaries of state, federal, and international cyber, privacy, and national security laws. In this role, he gained a deep understanding of advanced technologies and the legal challenges they raise. Alongside his colleagues, he has been at the forefront of the government's response to many of the most significant global cyber incidents of recent years. Mr. Dahl's arrival is driven by increasing demand from global businesses for cutting edge technology and data expertise across the world and represents the latest stage of Freshfields' strategy to strengthen what is already one of the world's foremost technology, data privacy and security practices. Mr. Dahl will advise Freshfields' clients on a range of issues, including regulatory investigations, cyber crises and transactional risks, and will help them shape their technology and data strategies and investments. Freshfields adds Dahl's capabilities against the backdrop of increasing regulatory scrutiny of the way businesses handle personal data. "Cross-border data-transfer issues are front of mind for Freshfields' clients in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Brock is designed for this practice. His time at Treasury and the NSA give him a rare perspective on fixing cyber problems and achieving trans-national cooperation," said Boris Feldman, partner and head of Freshfields' U.S. Technology practice. "I've been privileged to work with Brock since he was a young lawyer, and it's been rewarding to see him rise to the top."



Eric Bruce, head of Freshfields' U.S. Disputes, Litigation and Arbitration, and Global Investigations practice, added, "Our team comprises attorneys with cutting-edge privacy, investigations and litigation experience across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Brock's arrival adds further bench strength in the United States, where the world's largest fines for data-related misconduct originate." "I am excited to join the outstanding Freshfields team, which is helping global clients navigate today's most complex data crises, regulatory investigations and data-related litigation. The firm's work liaising with diverse authorities, its comprehensive view of overlapping regulatory demands, and its extensive on-the-ground experience gives clients a material advantage," said Mr. Dahl.

Freshfields has a track record of handling the biggest and most complex data loss incidents in the world, including some of the handful that have occurred since the advent of Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Mr. Dahl joins a growing group of attorneys and advisers with government backgrounds in Freshfields' Washington, D.C. office. In recent years, the firm has hired senior officials from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the Department of Justice's antitrust division, reflecting the increasing importance of sophisticated government experience to its clients' global growth ambitions. About Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a global elite law firm with a long-standing track record of successfully supporting the world's leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments on groundbreaking and business-critical mandates. Our 2,800-plus lawyers deliver results worldwide through our own offices and alongside leading local firms. Our commitment, local and multinational expertise, and business know-how means our clients rely on us when it matters most. Freshfields is ranked by Chambers Global in Band 1 across the six areas of antitrust, corporate/M&A, litigation, international arbitration, tax, and public international law. For more information visit Freshfields.us. This material is for general information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005449/en/

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[May 10, 2021] The Future of Collaboration: Boom Collaboration Signs Nine-One-One Communication Supply as First Canadian Distribution Partner

The need for well-equipped meeting spaces is on the rise and predicted to increase 300% over the next 3 years. Hardware that facilitates those communications is more important than ever. The right tools allow for easy communication by transmitting clear video and audio which is key for successful collaboration in today's environment. "We are delighted to represent Boom Collaboration as a Canadian Distributor," said Barry McCallum, President of Nine-One-One. "After a single demo we quickly confirmed that all cameras are definitely not created equal. Using a Boom camera just once will convince anyone. The simplicity of the installation is truly plug and play." According to industry experts, like Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) , video conferencing is here to stay. With workers choosing to continue working from home and businesses opting for smaller meeting spaces, solutions like those in Boom's portfolio are vital to successful video meetings. Nine-One-One's dealer network has access to the full Boom catalog enabling their partners to offer quality solutions for their customer's hybrid meeting needs. "We are very excited to become a disributor for a young and exciting company such as Boom Collaboration," said Jesse Foster, VP of Sales for Nine-One-One. "We feel their products add great value to our current offerings and allow us to further expand into the quickly growing 'remote worker' space. The picture quality of the Boom cameras sets them apart from anything else we have looked at or used."



With a mission to make meetings better, Boom Collaboration is dedicated to providing excellent hardware solutions that meet and exceed the demands of the changing work environment. When workers are communicating with colleagues and clients on platforms like Zoom, Teams, GoogleMeet, and Webex, equipment that seamlessly transitions from meeting to meeting is a necessity. "The combination of Boom's portfolio with the vast experience and coast to coast dealer network at Nine-One-One will help businesses and organizations adopt reliable solutions for our hybrid work environments," said Fredrik Hornkvist, CEO of Boom Collaboration. "With the industry slated for massive growth we're thrilled to enter into this strategic partnership and bring these solutions to market with a leader like Nine-One-One."

About Boom Collaboration: Boom is passionate about collaboration. Video-enable remote workers, huddle rooms, classrooms and conference rooms with Boom's professional and stylish video and audio portfolio. Built with the highest quality, Boom's solutions offer clear and vivid images and excellent sound quality to achieve the best remote meeting experience. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Austin, TX, start-up Boom Collaboration develops hardware solutions for today's meeting environments. With a focus on quality design and simplicity paired with excellent video and audio technology, Boom Collaboration is on a mission to make meetings better. About Nine-One-One Communication Supply: Founded in 1989 and based in Calgary, AB, Nine-One-One Communication Supply Inc. has been providing telephony solutions to interconnects and Telco's across Canada for more than three decades. In addition to being a wholesale distributor servicing all of Canada from coast to coast, we have refurbishing facilities and provide technical support on all products we sell. From the early days of rotary dial, to current technologies such as UC and SIP, Nine-One-One has always tried to stay ahead of the curve in an ever-changing technological landscape. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005582/en/

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[May 10, 2021] H.I.G. Capital Invests in Infratech Bau GmbH

H.I.G. Capital ("H.I.G."), a leading global alternative investment firm with over 36 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that an affiliate has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Infratech Bau GmbH ("Infratech", "Company"). Infratech is one of the leading general contractors of infrastructure services deploying fiber-to-the-home ("FTTH") broadband networks and bringing Gigabit internet to households and businesses in Germany. The transaction is subject to clearance by the relevant antitrust authorities. Infratech builds complex FTTH networks on behalf of public and private German operators with a base of highly skilled employees and a well-established and reliable network of partners. Based in Meppen (Germany), the Company was founded in 2007 and has grown significantly over recent years connecting thousands of households and businesses in Northern and Western Germany to high-speed internet. FTTH is an attractive market with significant growth opportunities, driven by the German Government's ambition to provide high-speed internet access to the majority of German households over the coming years. The founders and Managing Directors of Infratech, Gregor Klaen and Andreas Muchall, will remain in their management positions and retain a significant share in the Company. Gregor Klaen, co-founder and Managing Director of Infratech, commented: "We look forward to continue developing Infratech into a leading platform for FTTH network construction. Infratech welcomes H.I.G. as an experienced and hands-on partner that will help us achieve our ambitious goals with its financial resources and long-standing expertise in supporting entrepreneurial companies. H.I.G.'s invesment allows us to further build our market position throughout Germany."



Andreas Muchall, co-founder and Managing Director of Infratech, stated: "We are delighted to have found a strong financial partner with H.I.G. that allows us to continue providing high-quality services for our infrastructure customers and to continue growing our operations. Infratech's specialization, experience and top-notch employee base will remain the foundation of our success in the German FTTH market." Holger Kleingarn, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, added: "The FTTH market shows tremendous growth potential, based on the various digitization efforts in Germany. Together with the management team, we will further build Infratech's position as a leading independent provider of FTTH infrastructure services organically and through selected acquisitions nationwide. We very much look forward to working together with Infratech's two founders and Managing Directors, Gregor Klaen and Andreas Muchall."

The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction. About H.I.G. Capital H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over 36 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with European offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and U.S. and Latin American offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach: H.I.G.'s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses. H.I.G.'s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance. H.I.G.'s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of 27 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com. * Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005548/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Infotools Enhances Insights Generation, Collaboration and Sharing With Major Harmoni Release

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Infotools , a global leader in market research analysis and reporting solutions, has released the latest iteration of its Harmoni platform with expanded features for combining, analyzing and reporting on all types of data. Built specifically for insights professionals, Harmoni provides functionality that handles the complexities of market research data, making it easier for insights teams to collaborate on projects, investigate marketing-relevant data streams, uncover critical insights and share data stories to influence business actions.

"This release offers exciting capabilities within Harmoni for our users that will allow them to get the most out of their consumer data through improved team collaboration, storytelling, insights sharing and more," said Ant Franklin of Infotools. "We've taken our depth of experience in market research, knowledge about the changing technological landscape, and direct customer feedback to thoughtfully create this newest version of the platform." The updated look and feel in the newly released platform, provides a backdrop for enhanced features such as: Intuitive navigation to provide streamlined access to functions for loading, managing and sharing data within Harmni, saving time and reducing errors

Enhanced control for managers to make it simple to share the right projects and stories with the right people, and collaborate with team members

Easy-to-use functionality that quickly allows users to analyze and interact with the data, apply filters, generate insights and create data stories

Powerful, immersive reporting capabilities for users to view and present insights that will drive better organizational decision making and business actions that resonate with stakeholders.





Harmoni supports a wide range of data sources such as SQL, SPSS, Excel, CSV, tab-delimited files as well as live API connections to leading data collection platforms. The platform harmonizes data from multiple sources into one usable data set, using the power of automation and machine learning, along with extensive domain expertise. An intuitive user interface and advanced statistically driven analysis functions make it easy to investigate the data for insights generation. The result is real-time insights based on the very latest available data, presented and shared through advanced reporting, dashboards and storytelling capabilities.

About Infotools

Infotools is an award-winning software and services provider with particular expertise in processing, analyzing, visualizing and sharing market research data. The company offers a powerful cloud-based software platform, Harmoni, which is purpose-built for market research data, together with data experts who can drive data harmonization, insights discovery, analysis, visualization and reporting. Established in 1990, and with a presence in the US, Europe, South Africa and New Zealand, Infotools works with some of the world's best-known brands, including Coca-Cola, Shell Orange, Samsung and Mondelez. For more information, visit www.infotools.com or follow on Twitter @infotools. Media contact: Marie Melsheimer, 309524@email4pr.com, +1-541-815-3951 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infotools-enhances-insights-generation-collaboration-and-sharing-with-major-harmoni-release-301287466.html SOURCE Infotools

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[May 10, 2021] John Marshall Bank Appoints Mike Bell as Chief Accounting Officer

John Marshall Bank is pleased to announce that Mike Bell (News - Alert) has joined the Bank and will be serving as the Chief Accounting Officer. Before joining the Bank, Mike served as a Senior Manager in the Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) practice at Ernst & Young (EY) in McLean, VA. During his tenure at EY, Mike supported both the audit and FAAS practice where he provided operational oversight to various teams and strategic consulting and audit services. This included serving public registrants and private clients in the banking and capital markets industry. His experience includes a strong community banking and commercial lending background, accounting policy and procedure development, process and control design, and operational accounting and financial reporting support. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005615/en/ Mike Bell, Chief Accounting Officer (Photo: Business Wire) Mike began his career with EY in an audit capacity ad spent over a decade elevating to increasing roles of responsibility within the company. His professional background is supported by an extensive academic career. Bell is a Virginia Tech graduate with both a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Finance, as well as a Masters in Accounting and Information Systems from Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business. Additionally, he is a Certified Public Accountant in both Virginia and Washington D.C.



"I'm excited to help support John Marshall (News - Alert) Bank's financial operations as we embark on the next phase of the Bank's growth strategy. The Bank has a strong balance sheet and I look forward to working with the highly talented and experienced team to execute on our strategic priorities," stated Bell. "Having Mike serve as JMB's Chief Accounting Officer is an important step in executing our growth strategy and continuing to create value for all of our stakeholders. Mike brings deep accounting expertise and exemplary business judgment that will make him a key contributor to the Bank's future success," stated Kent Carstater, EVP, Chief Financial Officer.

About John Marshall Bank: Headquartered in Reston, VA, John Marshall Bank is one of the largest community banks in the region with eight full-service branches located in Alexandria, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William, Reston, Rockville, Tysons, and Washington, D.C. and one loan production office in Arlington, Virginia. The Bank is dedicated to providing exceptional value, personalized service and convenience to local businesses and professionals in the Washington DC Metro area. JMB offers a comprehensive line of sophisticated banking products and services that rival those of the largest banks along with experienced staff to help achieve customers' financial goals. Dedicated Relationship Managers serve as direct points-of-contact, providing subject matter expertise in a variety of niche industries including Charter and Private Schools, Government Contractors, Health Services, Nonprofits and Associations, Professional Services, Property Management Companies, and Title Companies. Learn more at www.johnmarshallbank.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005615/en/

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[May 10, 2021] JustKitchen Announces Hong Kong Expansion

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ Significant Milestone Marks the Company's First Step in Executing on its International Growth Plan Beyond Taiwan TSXV: JK VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2021 /CNW/ - Just Kitchen Holdings Corp. ("JustKitchen" or the "Company") (TSXV: JK) (Frankfurt: 68Z), an operator of ghost kitchens specializing in the development of delivery-only food brands for customers, is pleased to announce that has entered into an agreement to open its first ghost kitchen location in Hong Kong. As one of the highest population density regions in the world with over 7.5 million people, Hong Kong also has a mature online food delivery market, which makes it a natural choice as JustKitchen's first international location beyond Taiwan. Over time, the Company believes that the Hong Kong market can support approximately 6-8 of its ghost kitchen locations. The Hong Kong location will be situated in the mixed-use urban area of North Point in the Eastern District, which will also have delivery access to the areas of Fortress Hill, Quarry Bay and Tai Koo, and is expected to be open in mid-June. The Company expects to initially launch with a select portfolio of its strongest proprietary food menus, including Body Fit, Craftsman's Soul-Made Ramen, Boba Mania and BIT Beef Noodle, along with Formosa Chang as the partner brand deemed to have the best fit for this new market. With alcohol delivery permitted in Hong Kong, JustKitchen also expects to develop and offer mixology-based items and menus in the near future, which is anticipated to increase customers' average order size and overall levels of satisfaction and loyalty. At the outset, the Company's food delivery partners are expected to be Foodpanda and Uber Eats. "We are very excited to announce JustKitchen's expansion into Hong Kong, which is a major achievement for our Company and marks an inflection point in the global element of our competitive strategy," said Jason Chen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of JustKitchen. "Based on the solid foundation that we've established for the Company in Taiwan, we are now ready to execute on the international expansion promised to shareholders and take our proven brands, technologies and standard operating procedures to new markets from this point frward," added Mr. Chen.



The North Point area is highly populated with residential high-rise buildings and office towers, with demographics that imply strong demand for food across all key day-parts, which makes it a prime location for a ghost kitchen offering delivery-only menus. Based on the strong location and flexible configuration of the Hong Kong kitchen, JustKitchen will enter the market by deploying a decentralized and just-in-time operating model, supported by the Company's proprietary, cloud-based Kitchen OS technology, by efficiently combining the outsourcing of non-core or laborious food preparation activities with in-house meal production and order finishing for delivery. Additionally, the Company has filed a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus (the "Prospectus") with the securities commissions in each of the provinces of Canada, except Quebec. When made final or effective, the Prospectus will allow the Company to offer up to a maximum amount of CAD$50,000,000 of common shares, preferred shares, debt securities, warrants, subscription receipts, units or any combination thereof (collectively, the "Securities") from time to time over the 25-month period that the Prospectus, including any amendments or supplements thereto, remains effective. Unless otherwise indicated in a prospectus supplement relating to a particular offering, the Company intends to use the net proceeds from any potential sale of the Securities for working capital requirements or for other general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, any potential international expansion of its operations.

The Company filed the Prospectus to enhance its financial flexibility but has no immediate intentions to undertake an offering. Should the Company decide to offer securities during the 25-month effective period, the specific terms, including the use of proceeds from any offering, will be set forth in a prospectus supplement to the final base shelf prospectus, which will be filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these Securities in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualifications under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. ABOUT JUSTKITCHEN JustKitchen is primarily an operator of ghost kitchens specializing in the development and marketing of proprietary and franchised delivery-only food brands for customers. The Company currently operates in Taiwan with plans to expand operations to the United States and other Asian countries. JustKitchen uniquely utilizes a hub-and-spoke operating model, which features advanced food preparation taking place at larger hub kitchens and final meal preparation taking place at smaller spoke kitchens located in areas with higher population densities. The Company combines this operating model with online and mobile application-based food ordering fulfilled by third-party delivery companies, to minimize capital investments and operating expenses and reach more customers in underserved markets. The Company's other business, JustMarket, is an e-commerce grocery delivery platform that allows customers to purchase groceries for delivery or add select grocery items to meals ordered through JustKitchen. For more information about the Company, please visit investors.justkitchen.com. JustKitchen's final prospectus, financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, among other documents, are all available on the Company's profile page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur including but not limited to: the Company's ability to maintain to commence operations in Hong Kong; the viability of its proposed decentralized operating model in Hong Kong and the size of and the Company's ability to capture market share in Hong Kong. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks, including those risk factors identified in the Company's prospectus dated March 26, 2021, and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. SOURCE Just Kitchen Holdings Corp.

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[May 10, 2021] Moma Protocol Completes a $2.25 Million Round to Create Infinite Liquidity for Long-tail DeFi Lending Markets

SINGAPORE, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Moma Protocol, an innovative solution to solve scalability, liquidity and speculation needs in the current DeFi lending market, has completed a $2.25 million dollars round of funding led by Fundamental Labs and SevenX Ventures. Moma Protocol creates, manages, accelerates, and aggregates lending markets through a proprietary smart contract factory, creating an ecosystem that allows for the infinite expansion of lending liquidity and market diversity. Moma Protocol was incubated and supported by Lichang, a community App with over a million registered users. Since the protocol's concept inception, the concept of "improving the scalability of the DeFi lending market" has been favored by the crypto market and recognized by the community. The investors in this round include Fundamental Labs, a highly reputable blockchain fund that has invested in Coinbase, and also SevenX Ventures, which has over 100 successful investments in it's portfolio, as well as other investors including AU21 Capital, Blocksync Ventures, BuildingBlocks, Coins Group, Consensus Investment, DFG Capital, FBG Capital, Finlink Capital, Lotus Capital, Magnus Capital, Moonrock Capital, Moonwhale Ventures, Oasis Capital, Spark Digital Capital, Waterdrip Capital, X21 Digital and Zee Prime Capital. (Participating institutions in alphabetical order). As an ecosystem with unlimited expansion of lending liquidity and market diversity, Moma Protocol can enrich the DeFi lending market by opening up new lending markets for long-tail digital assets. SevenX's spokesperson pointed out the reason for his bullish view on the Moma Protocol: "As the most important foundation pillar of DeFi architecture - the lending agreement, Moma has made a unique and permissionless innovation here, which greatly enriches the diversity of the market. It has huge potentials to become a scalable platform covering both the mainstream and long tail digital assets."



Commenting on the investment in Moma Protocol, FBG's founder Shuji Zhou said, "The DeFi market has seen explosive growth over the past year, with more and more assets being swept up in the DeFi wave. Moma Protocol meets the lending needs of long-tail assets by providing a proprietary smart contract factory that combines the strengths of Uniswap and Compound, to produce an unlimited number of customizable lending pools, thereby bringing more assets into the current lending market to increase the liquidity, diversity and scalability of the DeFi ecosystem, which is something to look forward to." Moma Protocol's Founder and CEO, Ocean Liao commented, "I believe that the goal that Moma Protocol wants to achieve is to create an expandable, scalable and flexible infrastructure for the DeFi world in 5-10 years, in a way that everyone can freely participate. I am optimistic about the DeFi ecology and the lending scenario, and I am happy to be able to drive Moma Protocol to explore the future with the infinite liquidity-generating factory model that fascinates me the most. We are ready to set sail!"

About Moma Protocol As a solution to meet users' demand for liquidity, scalability, and speculation needs in the DeFi lending markets, Moma Protocol produces, manages, accelerates and aggregates the lending market through a proprietary smart contract factory, creating an ecosystem that can expand infinitely in lending liquidity and market diversity. The beta version of the product has currently been online and the official version of the product will be live in Q2 2021. Team CEO Ocean Master Degree at Fudan University, senior programmer, serial entrepreneur in the blockchain industry with solid experience in initiating projects such as Gravity (300,000 users), Lichang (1 million users), TokenUp wallet (100,000 users); respected veteran in the Chinese community. CTO V.C Master Degree at Fudan University, senior blockchain developer, independently led the development, testing, and deployment of two Ethereum-based DeFi projects, and was involved in the launch of the mainnet and application development of blockchain projects such as EOS, Platon and Worbli. CMO Virginia Co-founder of Coins Group, a crypto fund based in Hong Kong, 12 years of experience in digital marketing and internet start-up building; 4 years of experience in blockchain investment and project incubation, invested in over 30 blockchain projects. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moma-protocol-completes-a-2-25-million-round-to-create-infinite-liquidity-for-long-tail-defi-lending-markets-301287338.html SOURCE Moma Finance

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[May 10, 2021] Nautic Partners Completes Sale of Spartech to The Jordan Company

Nautic Partners, LLC announced today that it has sold portfolio company Spartech LLC to The Jordan Company, L.P. ("TJC"). Nautic Partners will remain a minority shareholder. Headquartered in Maryland Heights, MO, Spartech is a leading custom manufacturer of specialized acrylics and other engineered extruded plastics used in a variety of applications and end markets including healthcare, aerospace & defense, industrial, automotive, consumer goods, and packaging. Through its network of 14 manufacturing plants and a unique innovation center, Spartech provides acrylic products, plastic sheet and rollstock, specialty film laminates, and packaging solutions to over 1,000 customers in North America, many of whom have partnered with Spartech for decades. Spartech has a long history of providing customers with innovative material science formulations and engineered solutions. The company's breadth of highly technical manufacturing capabilities is unique in the industry, utilizing multiple plastic resin types and manufacturing processes including acrylic cell casting, stretching, multilayer extrusion, blown film, and thermoforming. Chris Pierce, Managing Director of Nautic, said, "Spartech's management team is one of the best I have worked with, and it is very impressive what they have accomplished to transform the business in a short period of time. We thank John Inks, Roger Sim, Joe Herres, Greg Zeis, Matt Gisoni, John Vandeven, Dave Gorenc, and the entire team for their accomplishments. It has been a pleasure partnering with them. Thanks to them, the company is well-positioned for continued organic and inorganic growth." Sean Wieland, a Principal of Nautic, continued, "Spartech experienced strong organic growth through a combination of commercial and operational initiatives executed by the company's deep and experienced management team. The team also closed and integrated its first add-on acquisition during our investment period. We are confident that the company will be able to continue to execute its growth strategy in partnership with TJC." John Inks, CEO of Spartech, said, "Spartech has lways been committed to providing top-quality products, engineering, and service to our customers. In partnership with Nautic, we remained true to that commitment while successfully executing on operational enhancements and an organic growth strategy. We greatly enjoyed working with Nautic. They have been an excellent partner through the company's evolution over the last two years, and we now look forward to working with TJC in the next chapter for Spartech."



John Manzi, operating advisor to Nautic and former Executive Chairman of Spartech, added, "John Inks and the management team have built Spartech into a leader in engineered thermoplastics and custom packaging by leveraging technology to consistently deliver exceptional quality and customer service across very diverse markets. We are confident in Spartech's ability to stay on their growth trajectory and look forward to continuing our relationship." Piper Sandler's Valence Group and William Blair served as advisors to Spartech and Nautic. McDermott Will & Emery served as legal counsel.

About Spartech Headquartered in Maryland Heights, MO, Spartech is a leading manufacturer of engineered plastics including cell cast and extruded sheet, specialty film laminates, and thermoformed packaging solutions. Spartech's history dates back to the 1960's and today the company operates 14 plants across the U.S. utilizing a wide breadth of highly technical manufacturing processes and polymer material science capabilities. For more information, please visit www.spartech.com. About Nautic Partners, LLC Nautic is a middle-market private equity firm that focuses on three industries: healthcare, industrials, and services. Nautic has completed over 140 platform transactions throughout its 35-plus year history. Nautic's strategy is to partner with management teams to accelerate the growth trajectory of its portfolio companies via add-on acquisitions, targeted operating initiatives, and increased management team depth. Nautic generally makes equity investments of $50 million or more. For more information, please visit www.nautic.com. About The Jordan Company, L.P. The Jordan Company ("TJC") (www.thejordancompany.com), founded in 1982, is a middle-market private equity firm that has managed funds with original capital commitments in excess of $14 billion since 1987 and a 39-year track record of investing in and contributing to the growth of many businesses across a wide range of industries, including Consumer & Healthcare; Industrials; Technology, Telecom & Utility; and Transportation & Logistics. The senior investment team has been investing together for over 20 years and it is supported by the Operations Management Group, which was established in 1988 to initiate and support operational improvements in portfolio companies. Headquartered in New York, TJC also has offices in Chicago and Stamford. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005192/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Navitaire Expands Investment in Cloud With Move of Digital Platform

Navitaire, an Amadeus company, has passed another milestone on its journey to deliver more cloud-enabled solutions with the migration of its Navitaire Digital Platform and Navitaire NDC Gateway to Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure. This progress represents a key step in Navitaire's accelerated move of services to the public cloud. The Navitaire Digital Platform provides modern technology applications to let carriers connect, communicate, sell and inform. Its extensive digital APIs and Digital Experience Suite toolkits allow Navitaire customers to offer mobile, web, kiosk and wearable applications spanning the travel experience, all powered using advanced and open technologies such as JSON, REST, GraphQL and Single Page Application (SPA) frameworks. The Navitaire NDC Gateway is an integrated offer and order management system for New Skies carriers that allows airlines to extend their ticketless retailing capabilities, including optimized pricing of ancillaries, in the indirect sales channel. Moving the Navitaire Digital Platform and Navitaire NDC Gateway (News - Alert) to the cloud creates a rich 'digital edge', allowing these key applications to dynamically scale and to be closer to carriers. With greater elasticity, carriers can be better positioned to adapt to evolving business conditions. Navitaire solutions, including its flagship New Skies reservations, e-commerce and retailing platform, are built on a modern technology stak founded on Microsoft technology, making Azure a natural fit for Navitaire's cloud strategy. This choice benefits from Navitaire's long-standing relationship with a trusted partner and its deep experience with Microsoft solutions. Using Azure, Navitaire has architected its services to be cloud-agnostic to be responsive to its customers' needs and minimize potential downline impact.



This latest development is part of Navitaire's comprehensive plan to move its services to the public cloud, implementing its long-term cloud strategy centered on enabling customer innovation via a security-focused, pragmatic approach. Navitaire continues to invest in this strategy through development of new cloud-enabled solutions and the migration of additional services to the cloud. Strengthened by its own decades-strong relationship with Microsoft, Navitaire will also use key benefits of the new partnership between Amadeus and Microsoft. "Navitaire has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to help our customers evolve and grow for over 25 years, and the industry disruption as a result of COVID-19 brings the need for adaptive, scalable solutions even more sharply in focus," said David P. Evans, Navitaire CEO. "As our customers chart their path to recovery, our expanded cloud offerings are designed to foster innovation and help deliver improved flexibility, responsiveness and efficiency."

Navitaire Chief Technology Officer, Kyle Stromberg, added, "Aligned with Microsoft Azure, Navitaire continues to deliver on our long-term cloud vision and strategy as we move forward with key investments designed to aid our customers and Navitaire." About Navitaire Navitaire, an Amadeus company, delivers industry-leading technology services supporting growth, profitability and innovation to 60 airlines and rail companies worldwide, carrying a total of 819 million annual passengers in 2019, including many of the world's most successful low-cost and hybrid airlines. Navitaire offers a full suite of proven solutions focused on revenue generation and streamlining costs in the areas of reservations, ancillary sales, loyalty, revenue management, revenue accounting and business intelligence. Navitaire has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Amadeus Group. Learn more about Navitaire's industry leadership in shaping the world of travel at www.navitaire.com. Navitaire's New Skies reservations solution is a digital, "e-commerce first" platform with comprehensive retailing, analytics and passenger personalization tools. The solution is designed for efficiency, using a single record approach which manages both the offer and the order throughout the customer lifecycle. Real-time data for on-demand decision making and omni-channel processing are hallmarks of New Skies, which are leveraged extensively by airlines with clear industry leadership in innovation. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005058/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Nokia selected by Movistar Chile for commercial 5G network launch

Press Release Nokia selected by Movistar Chile for commercial 5G network launch Movistar Chiles commercial 5G network to launch with Nokias AirScale technology

The deal upgrades Telefonicas 4G and 4G+ network across several Chilean cities; option for a seamless upgrade to 5G services in the future

This high-speed mobile technology will be supported by Movistar Chile's fiber optics, which will allow the different mobile antennas deployed in cities to be interconnected May 10, 2021 Espoo, Finland  Nokia has today announced that it has been chosen by Telefonicas Latin America brand, Movistar Chile to provide equipment from its AirScale portfolio to launch the operators 5G network in the country. This milestone deployment will enable 5G services for Movistar customers. In addition, Nokia will upgrade Movistars 4G and 4G+ networks to strengthen the critical network backbone across Chiles key markets. To meet the demands from consumers and businesses for improved speeds and enhanced services, Movistar has turned to Nokia to modernize its mobile networks and support its growth ambitions. The upgraded network, which will operate across Movistars recently won spectrum in Chiles 5G auction in the 3.5GHz band, will leverage Nokias AirScale Radio Access portfolio to deliver ultra-low latency, huge connectivity and extreme capacity, offering both consumers and small to medium-sized business a path to 5G in Chile for the first time. Nokias AirScale portfolio can be seamlessly upgraded from 4G/LTE to 5G/NR via a software-based upgrade to enable a smooth evolution towards 5G deployments. In addition to delivering upgraded mobil data services to consumers, the 5G network will offer Movistars business customers access to 5G use cases, including support for Industry 4.0, public sector and health innovations, and private wireless. This high-speed mobile technology will be supported by Movistar Chile's fiber optics, which will allow the different mobile antennas deployed in cities to be interconnected.



Chile is the first country in Latin America to have a 5G auction, which is the first step towards launching a commercial network. Movistar Chile acquired 50 MHz in the 3.5Ghz band, which will support enhanced mobile broadband services in Chile. 5G is an evolution in mobile networks. Telefonica Hispanoamerica is evaluating the right circumstances for deployment in each market, taking steps towards the evolution of the network in several countries. Antonio Bueno, Head of Technology at Movistar Chile, said: We believe that 5G will bring enormous potential to the country, both for people and for the vertical sectors. It is in this last area where the fifth generation will also be able to make the Connected Industry and the Internet of Things (IoT) a reality, thanks to its low latency, high speeds, and the ability to connect thousands of devices. From our company, and together with Nokia, we will continue to accelerate the developments and innovations that Chile needs, also adding universities, startups, entrepreneurs, and other actors in the economy.

Osvaldo Di Campli, Head of Latin America at Nokia, said: Latin America has a diverse mix of emerging markets and more established economies, yet this melting pot of business and consumer potential has so far not been able to experience the benefits of 5G. Chile epitomizes the regions hunger for growth and innovation, so we are excited to work with Telefonica on its 5G commercial network in Chile to bring next-generation connectivity to enterprises and end-users. Resources Webpage: Nokia AirScale

Webpage: Nokia 5G 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 Communications Phone: +358 10 448 4900 E-mail: press.services@nokia.com Media Relations Latin America Lygia Torelli E-mail: lygia.torelli@nokia.com



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[May 10, 2021] PROLIM expands into Australia and New Zealand

Detroit, Dallas, Bengaluru, Melbourne, New Zealand, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PROLIM Global Corporation (PROLIM) announced today that it has acquired Melbourne, Australia-based Edge PLM (Edge PLM) Software Pty Ltd. Founded in March 2004, with over 330 customers, Edge PLM provides customers across Australia and New Zealand with world-class digital design, simulation, test, manufacturing and data management software and service solutions. Edge PLM specializes in the supply, integration, consulting, and training of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions for manufacturing and engineering companies. Edge PLM has operations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, and New Zealand. Edge PLM enables customers in developing digital twins, moving towards Industry 4.0 and ensuring there is a digital thread framework which connects data flows and produces a holistic view of data across its product lifecycle. We have earned a reputation as an honest and ethical organization by meeting high standards and PROLIM can continue to offer more solutions in PLM and IoT space, says Barry Bevis, Managing Director & Founder of Edge PLM Software Pty Ltd.



PROLIM Global Corporation is a recognized leader in PLM, Engineering, IoT and IT Services. The acquisition of Edge PLM will immediately enable expansion in Australia and New Zealand markets and provides an increased opportunity to leverage the IT consultants to develop and deploy turn-key IT solutions. I am thrilled about the acquisition as we will be able to offer our technology and solutions to Edge PLM customers to enable innovation and digital transformation. The future of the two companies under one brand, PROLIM, is aligned to be a great success. I look forward to expanding our global presence, as we continue to deliver and grow our quality and customer satisfaction. says Prabhu Patil, Founder & CEO of PROLIM.

About PROLIM



PROLIM is a leading provider of end-to-end IoT, IT and PLM solutions for 400+ customers in Aerospace, Automotive, Healthcare and Industrial Machinery with global operations in the USA, Canada, Europe, and India. PROLIM helps customers to improve profitability and efficiency by providing PLM, CAD, CAM, IoT Solutions, Advisory, and Engineering consulting services to worldwide businesses of all sizes, including many Fortune 500/1000 companies. About Edge PLM



Edge PLM is a Melbourne, Australia-based corporation that has over 330 customers across Australia and New Zealand across diverse industries including Aerospace & Defense, Government, Manufacturing, Medical Devices, Mining & Resources. Edge PLM is a dynamic, innovative, and value-driven company that specializes in the supply, integration, consulting, and training of Siemens Digital Industries Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions for manufacturing and engineering companies. The Siemens solutions include Solid Edge 3D CAD, Femap CAE, NX Nastran, SIMCENTER, Teamcenter Rapid Start PDM & NX CAM manufacturing.

PROLIM Global Corporation Email: info@prolim.com Phone: 888-9-PROLIM Edge PLM Software Pty Ltd. Email: info@edgeplm.com.au Phone: 1300 883 653

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[May 10, 2021] Root Inc. Welcomes Christine Patrick as VP, Investor Relations

Root Inc., the parent company of Root Insurance, has announced today that Christine Patrick will join the company as VP, Investor Relations. "Root continues to transform since the October 2020 IPO. We're thrilled to welcome Christine to Root at such a pivotal time for the company," said Root CFO Dan Rosenthal. "Christine brings significant expertise in investor relations, communications, and strategy to the team. We're eager to leverage her experience and insights as we continue to communicate the Root value proposition and disruption to investors." Christine Patrick comes to Root with more than 10 years of insurance-industry experience, both in investor relations and as a sell-side-analyst. Most recently, Patrick led investor relations with Kemper Corporation and previously with National General Holdings Corporation. As a senior equity research analyst at JMP Securities (News - Alert) , she covered both Property & Casualty and Mortgage Insurance sectors. "Given Root's significant growth and recent IPO, it's an xciting time to have the opportunity to join the team," said Patrick. "Marrying behavioral data with actuarial claims experience puts Root in a unique position to disrupt the auto insurance industry, and I look forward to taking part in communicating that story."



About Root Insurance: Root Insurance is the nation's first licensed insurance carrier powered entirely by mobile. We were founded on the principle that auto insurance rates should be based primarily on driving behaviors, not demographics. Using mobile technology and data science, Root offers personalized, fair rates to good drivers all through an easy-to-use app.

Root is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with renters insurance available in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, Tennessee, and Utah, and auto insurance currently available to drivers in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005916/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Seedo Corp Seeks $1.7 Million Grant From Israeli Innovation Authority

Upon approval Saffron Tech can take the fast track for TASE IPO as an R&D company. Tel Aviv, Israel, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seedo Corp. (OTCQB: SEDO) has successfully applied to the Israeli Innovation Authority for a $1.7 million grant. The funds would go towards developing a new approach to cultivating saffron that would expand the market. Factors that have hindered market growth include the high cost and labor-intensive process required by traditional agricultural farming and the specific climate conditions that limit cultivation to one time per year. Seedo Corp. is developing the protocols to grow saffron year-round using vertical farming technology. This would provide a reliable source of saffron for applications in a variety of sectors including pharmacology, culinary, beauty and wellness. The Israeli Innovation Authority looks to support disruptive innovation that can bring change to the technological landscape. This support will maintain the great momentum weve gathered this year, says David Freidenberg, CEO of Seedo Corp. The Israeli Innovation Authority serves as an accelerator for innovative projects. We are thrilled to be a contender for the R&D funding the agency provides to help companies realize their goals and it will be part of our IPO strategy for Saffron Tech According to Business Insider, real saffron can cost you over $10,000 per kilogram. Despite the high cost, the demand for saffron is high and increases annually with an anticipated revenue based CAGR of 5.99%. Reshaping the way saffron is produced could improve the supply chain and create business opportunities that would expand its presence in the market.



About Seedo: Seedo Corp. (OTCQB: SEDO) is an agritech company that focuses on the research, development and commercialization of agriculture products. Seedos technology is aimed at transforming the way agriculture is done by offering a responsible and sustainable way to grow crops in a world confronted by environmental challenges and dwindling earth reserves, diminishing water sources and unstable weather conditions. Saffron Tech is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seedo Corp.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This letter contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are based on managements current beliefs and expectations and are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from that expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to our ability to successfully execute a smooth transition of CFO functions as well as our ability to retain and recruit qualified executives; uncertainties related to, and failure to achieve, the potential benefits and success of our senior management team and organizational structure; our ability to successfully compete in the marketplace; our substantial indebtedness, which may limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, engage in additional transactions or make new investments; compliance, regulatory and litigation matters; other financial and economic risks; and other factors discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, including in the sections captioned "Risk Factors and Forward Looking Statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Media Relations Contact: David Freidenberg, Chief Executive Officer,

info@saffron.ag

(800) 608-6432



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[May 10, 2021]

Skydeo and Aristotle Partner to Supercharge Digital Audiences

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aristotle, the leader in political, consumer and finance data and technology has partnered with Skydeo, a mobile-first platform for identity and audience data to bring Aristotle pre-built branded digital audiences for activation on The Trade Desk, Google DV360, MediaMath, Facebook, TikTok and others via LiveRamp datastore.

Aristotle recently launched digital audiences covering the B2B and B2C markets, which include both 100 percent deterministic, along with award-winning machine learning and predictive data modeling segments. This new partnership with Skydeo gives Aristotle the ability to have pre-built branded digital audiences ready for activation and can be used to target audiences across the digital eco-system.

This Aristotle data offering includes:

Digital Audiences

Aristotle Consumer

Aristotle Affluent

Aristotle Political

Aristotle Holiday

Aristotle Auto

Aristotle Government - Coming Soon

Custom Segments

"We are excited to partner with Skydeo, a mobile-first market lader that allow our clients and others to leverage our robust consumer, political and donor offerings across digital media on any platform, anywhere, anytime," said Aristotle Vice President of Digital Data Sales and Strategy Michael Lombardi.







"Aristotle has long been a data market leader in political and consumer data," said CEO Skydeo Mike Ford. "We're pleased Aristotle selected Skydeo as their partner for digital onboarding for social and programmatic data activation."

About Aristotle

Aristotle is the global leader in providing political data and technology to political campaigns and organizations, offering a seamless solution for campaign software, voter data, PAC and grassroots software and services.

About Skydeo Inc.

Skydeo provides customer acquisition solutions to brands and advertisers through Skydeo's mobile-first, data marketing platform. Skydeo's unique combination of privacy-compliant identity and audience data solutions features the Skydeo IDGraph, AppGraph, PlacesGraph, ShoppingGraph & ConsumerGraph for CRM onboarding, custom audiences and look-alike modeling.

Media Contacts:

Brandi Travis

(270) 704-2462

brandi.travis@aristotle.com

Related Images

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Aristotle Logo

skydeo.png

Skydeo

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skydeo-and-aristotle-partner-to-supercharge-digital-audiences-301287195.html

SOURCE Aristotle
[May 10, 2021] TECHFUND has officially become a sponsor of Digital Securities & Tokenization summit along with tZERO and POLYMATH

TOKYO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 7th, we are pleased to announce that TECHFUND has officially become a sponsor of Digital Securities & Tokenization summit by Digishares scheduled on May 19th & 20th 2021. With technology playing an increasingly critical role in every aspect of business, many companies seek various digital solutions to boost their growth. TECHFUND has been a major player in assisting more than 300 companies from industry-leading enterprises to promising startups as an accelerator in the blockchain field mainly in Japan. As an indication of commitment,TECHFUND has been developing a STO arranging business to help startups raise funds by tokenization followed by hosting ICO/STO related acceleration programs in Singapore. Not only startups, we also arrange foreign brokers with real-estate placed in the major cities of the island such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. We believe this sponsrship will vitalize the next-gen technology products and platforms. Additionally, TECHFUND and Digishares will actively develop a further strategic business collaboration to unlock the full potential of STO worldwide. We will also be open to bonding with startups, investors, brokers and platforms who are interested in exploring STO business with us.



"We look forward to partnering with TECHFUND. We see TECHFUND as a leader in the space of tokenization in Japan and we hope that the partnership will strengthen DigiShares in Japan and the surrounding countries." said Claus Skaaning, CEO of Digishares. "We look forward to partnering with DigiShares, a leader in STO platforms.

This is Day 1 for tokenized securities of prime Japanese real estate and other assets to be widely available in the market. We are creating a new era of international financial infrastructure. We are looking for partners who can help us spread the word about this initiative." said Yuta Matsuyama, CEO of TECHFUND. Appendix " Digital Securities & Tokenization Summit " https://fintechdisrupt.io/

Digital Securities & Tokenization Summit https://fintechdisrupt.io/ " DigiShares " https://digishares.io/

DigiShares https://digishares.io/ " ACCEL PROGRAM " https://accel-program.io/

ACCEL PROGRAM https://accel-program.io/ " ACCEL RAISING " https://accel-raising.io/ Company information Company name: TECHFUND Pte.Ltd. (ACN 201900181D)

Co-Founder: Yuta Matsuyama , Peaske Kawahara

, Peaske Kawahara Location: 1 George St, Level 10, Singapore 049145

049145 Capital stock: $ 1.2 million

Website: https://techfund.jp

Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/techfund.inc Contact Information To arrange an interview or for further information, contact: accel-raising@techfund.jp SOURCE TECHFUND

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[May 10, 2021] World's Largest Civilian Hospital Ship, the Global Mercy Successfully Passes Final Sea Trials

Mercy Ships announced this week that the Global Mercy has now completed deep water sea trials, one of the final milestones in the countdown towards the hospital ship's delivery, equipping, maiden voyage and launch into service to sub-Saharan Africa in 2022. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210509005024/en/ Global Mercy Successfully Passes Final Sea Trials (Photo: Business Wire) Deep water trials are designed to test the vessel during extended sailing time to ensure that all systems are fully operational and in line with strict standards and specifications. Tests include engine performance and fuel consumption, navigation and radio equipment, emergency systems, speed tests, maneuverability, engine, and thruster tests as well as safety evaluations. "These deep-water trials represent a critical checklist before delivery of our new purpose-built ship to become the platform for service it is designed to be. Trials systematically test operational aspects by putting the vessel through paces for an extended period at sea. I am pleased to say that the Global Mercy successfully passed every test," stated Jim Paterson, Marine Executive Consultant for Mercy Ships. "We are then left with some finishing touches in the interior, particularly the hospital area before we take delivery," Paterson added. Robert Corley, Chief Operations Officer, confirmed that after Mercy Ships takes final delivery of the vessel, the ship will make its maiden voyage to Belgium as a guest of the Port of Antwerp. While docked, the Global Mercy will complete several months of final outfitting and crewing. This includes installation of medical equipment and IT systems as well as stocking the vessel with supplies through the Mercy Ships European Distribution Center in the Netherlands. The visit to Europe will culminate in a final send-off from Rotterdam for the ship's first voyage to Africa. Mercy Ships also plans to hold an Africa commissioning event for the arrival of the Global Mercy in Dakar in early 2022, at the start of the ship's first field service in Senegal. The purpose-designed hospital decks epresent the unique heart of the ship, consisting of six operating theatres and hospital wards for 200 patients, laboratory, general outpatient, ophthalmology, and dental clinics. The ship has space for up to 950 persons in port including 641 crew, comprised of volunteers from around the globe. The Global Mercy is especially equipped with first-class training facilities to allow Mercy Ships to contribute to the sustainable support of essential surgical and related skills for local healthcare professionals when docked.



Mercy Ships expects to more than double the charity's current impact with both life-changing surgeries and training of healthcare professions during the anticipated 50-year lifespan of the vessel. The Global Mercy represents an international collaboration. With an overall length of 174-meters, a beam of 28.6 meters, with a Gross Tonnage of 37,000, the ship is a tailored Passenger Ship-class vessel. As the first of its kind, the ship has undergone construction at Tianjin Xingang Shipyard, with project management by Stena RoRo AB of Gothenburg, Sweden, and construction design by Deltamarin of Turku, Finland. The French ship brokerage company Barry Rogliano Salles (BRS) was instrumental in helping negotiate the contract. The new ship is classed by Lloyd's Register in the UK who was in attendance to witness these important tests. The Global Mercy is flagged by Malta and will initially serve within Africa.

As the world's largest purpose-built civilian hospital ship, the Global Mercy has received wide attention from all over the world from the very beginning of its construction in 2015. The Global Mercy has a design draft of 6.15 meters and a service speed of 12 knots. This new vessel is the first ship built from design to implementation by the charity as all previous ships were adapted from other purposes. The Global Mercy will join the current Mercy Ship, Africa Mercy in service to sub-Saharan and Central Africa. ABOUT MERCY SHIPS: Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class healthcare services, capacity building, and sustainable development to those with little access in the developing world. Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 55 developing countries, providing services valued at more than $1.7 billion and directly benefitting more than 2.8 million people. Our ships are crewed by volunteers from over 60 nations, with an average of over 1,200 volunteers each year. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, healthcare trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills. With 16 national offices and an Africa Bureau, Mercy Ships seeks to transform individuals and serve nations one at a time. For more information click on www.mercyships.org For More Information Contact: Laura Rebouche'

U.S. National Media Relations Director, Mercy Ships

laura.rebouche@mercyships.org

Sea trial B'roll here: https://vimeo.com/540774984/cfccb272e9

Hi-res photos and general Mercy Ships B-Roll video footage are available upon request. ABOUT STENA RoRo AB: Since 1977, Stena RoRo has led the development of new RoRo and RoRo-passenger concepts (RoPax). We specialize in custom-built vessels, as well as standardized RoRo and RoPax ships. The company leases about fifteen vessels to operators worldwide, both to other Stena companies and third parties. Stena RoRo specializes above all in applying its technical expertise to the design and production of new ships and the conversion of existing ships for delivering tailored transport solutions to its customers. We call this "Stenability". Since 2013, we have been responsible for the design and building supervision of the Mercy Ships new hospital vessel the Global Mercy - the world's largest civilian hospital ship. www.stenaroro.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210509005024/en/

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[May 09, 2021] CMHK and BExcellent Group (Beacon College) jointly launch the brand new "Sync-Class Pro" to establish a digital learning norm with technology & to create a smart learning city

HONG KONG, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- China Mobile Hong Kong Limited (CMHK) and BExcellent Group Holdings Limited (the parent company of "Beacon") signed a copyright permission and value-added service agreement to reinforce cooperation between the two parties. Through this collaboration, the two parties aim to leverage their expertise and leadership in the fields of education and technology, partnering to bring innovation into learning by fully digitizing learning and utilizing artificial intelligence systems to integrate 5G technology into education. The overall aim of the collaboration is to enhance the development of the "smart learning city" in Hong Kong as well as in the Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). "Sync-Class", an industry-leading education platform, was introduced by CMHK and has received favorable feedback from a range of sectoral representatives since its launch. "Sync-Class" provides students with the most-updated, high-quality and exclusive education information, breaking through constraints of time and space and allowing students to learn anytime, anywhere at their own pace, and towards the goal of "Merging Technology into Education". To further enhance the content and functionality of "Sync-Class", CMHK has joined with Beacon to create a brand-new e-learning application, "Sync-Class Pro", which mitigates previous shortcomings of e-learning and traditional classrooms by providing students with a quality e-learning platform, including game-based learning and complementary teaching tools that solve a perceived problem of e-learning, namely an intrinsic lack of engagement. "Sync-Class Pro" introduces full content upgrades and functions to benefit students and parents "Sync-Class Pro" will provide a wide range of courses, from kindergarten to senior secondary school level, professional examinations, overseas educational examinations and overseas courses together with Beacon, the exclusive content partner, benefitting parents and students in Hong Kong and in the GBA. In addition to the provision of learning videos for various subjects and levels by Beacon, "Sync-Class Pro" has also upgraded its content and functionality, including: - Personalized courses recommended by AI : big data is utilized to adjust the teaching process, analyze students' different learning needs and provide them with personalized content recommendations - Live class function : regardless of time and geographical constraints, teachers can interact with students in real-time, and keep track of each student's learning condition, as well as providing individual guidance to improve learning effectiveness - Interactive assessments and exercises : students can partake in in-class assessments and exercises during and after classes, which allow real-time test and Q&A sessions during live streaming, and thus perfecting the teaching programme and improving the teaching quality - Online examinations : providin students with an online examination venue, even for cross-boundary students, students are no longer restricted to regions and can take their examinations online from anywhere as long as network coverage is available



- Smart learning analysis : to offer a solution for parents who cannot systematically trace their children's performance in class, smart learning analysis provides reports to parents so they can monitor the study progress of their children in each class. Meanwhile, teachers can notify parents of their children's status in class in real-time through an SMS service on the platform, so parents can effectively guide their children on class preparation and revision. Ms. June Leung Ho Ki, Executive Director and Chairperson of BExcellent Group, said, "As the exclusive partner of 'Sync-Class Pro', Beacon has jointly launched the new e-learning platform with CMHK, which marks a significant step forward in the digitization of education in Hong Kong. Learning is no longer only confined to the classroom, and this effort to create a 'Merge of Technology in Education' will become a new trend going forwards. As a pioneer in the industry, Beacon will provide parents and students in Hong Kong and the GBA with high-quality teaching content and big data evaluation through "Sync-Class Pro", enabling them to know their students' study progress in real-time, as well as provide them with personalized teaching through the use of big data analysis."

She continues, "This will revolutionize the unidirectional education model, enabling the teaching of students according to their specific aptitudes, and connecting teachers and students in the class. With the inclusion of big data analysis, copyright maintenance and online examination functions in 'Sync-Class Pro', I am delighted to see more professionals joining our 'Sync-Class Pro' platform, and in the near future we will be able to achieve a win-win situation for all parties." Mr. Sean Lee, Director & Chief Executive Officer of China Mobile Hong Kong, said, "As online learning has become increasingly popular and continues to set global trends, CMHK has been actively developing the online education platform 'Sync-Class' since 2018 with the aim ultimately of creating a pathway to a smart learning city. Online learning typically faces numerous challenges, including network speed limitations, availability of teaching content and copyright issues for tutors' courses, as well as mutually acceptable calculations of the revenue share between the organization and tutors." Mr. Lee continues, "The launch of the brand-new 'Sync-Class Pro' is a one-stop solution for users and partners to address these pain points, such as with industry-leading 5G high-speed network availability for a seamless live streaming experience; and, the addition of high-standard copyright protection technology to guarantee the copyrights of cooperating organizations and their tutors. Meanwhile, an automatic revenue splitting function is added into the system's financial reporting functionality to reduce administrative costs for partners and tutors in calculating their share of revenue. We hope to encourage more high-quality educational institutions to join the development of online teaching through perfecting online teaching support, integrating technology into education, and enhancing the quality of learning for local students and those in the GBA." The cooperation between CMHK and Beacon, which has over 32 years of experience in teaching, has resulted in the partners jointly launching "Sync-Class Pro", which represents a true connection between education and technology, linking and integrating upstream and downstream resources in the education industry, as well as leading the development of digitalization in the sector. The concept of "Learning is not only confined to a classroom" will become the new norm, and the "Merge of Technology in Education" will also be a developing future trend. The application of big data is set to be the biggest engine for education industry development in the next 10 years. CMHK will continue to develop online education, supporting services in the hope of laying the foundation for online teaching in Hong Kong, and creating a better smart learning city for the next generation. Starting from today until 10 July 2021, all courses will offer a free partial preview. For more information on "Sync-Class Pro", please visit: https://eshop.hk.chinamobile.com/tc/corporate_information/Data_N_VAS/Sync-Class_Pro.html. About China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited ("CMHK") is the wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile Limited (HKEx: 941) (NYSE: CHL), which ranks 65th on the Fortune Global 500. CMHK was incepted in January 1997 and was the first mobile network operator to launch PCS services in Hong Kong. The Company offers innovative and comprehensive communications services, including voice, data, IDD and international roaming through 5G, 4G LTE and 3GHSPA and other technologies. The Company is committed to the development of 5G with new technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, cloud computing and big data, integrating 5G applications in different industries, promoting the construction and development of smart city groups in Greater Bay Area. * China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile Limited. As of 31 December 2019, China Mobile Limited had the largest number of mobile network subscribers in the world. About BExcellent Group Holdings Limited (To be provided by BExcellent) BExcellent Group Holdings Limited is a public listed company in Hong Kong. (SEHK: 1775) The group provides private supplementary secondary school education services for students under the "Beacon" brand. Beacon mainly offers tutorial classes at the secondary level, day-time secondary courses for senior secondary students, pre-education courses and life-learning courses. With the effort and passion of their outstanding and highly qualified teachers, the group has now established an extensive network of teaching centres throughout the territory. Beacon currently runs 12 teaching centres with a capacity approaching 100 classrooms, serving tens of thousands of students each year. Beacon is the largest chain operated education organisation in Hong Kong. Beacon has a good reputation and provides high-quality education. From 2012  2020, over 50 super scholars (DSE takers who received a level 5** in 7 or more DSE test subjects) have enrolled with Beacon, with most of them enrolling with Beacon for two or more years. Beacon has helped countless students in their university admission journey. In recent years, Beacon has been actively developing its online education service. Since 2020, Beacon completed over 1.3 million teaching hours, and served over 30,000 unique students via online services provided by the Group. Beacon also operates an online system that aims to assess the abilities of secondary students. Over 150 secondary schools and over 360 teachers from various subjects have signed up to use the service. And over 7000 students use the system. Beacon has been named as a "Caring Company" for 12 years consecutively since 2008. BExcellent Group Holdings Limited was awarded "2018 Hong Kong Top Service Brand" from the Hong Kong Brand Development Council to recognise BExcellent Group' s outstanding contribution in the education field. Photo Download: https://bit.ly/3xORqJL SOURCE China Mobile Hong Kong

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[May 10, 2021] Ogletree Deakins and KPMG Law Join Forces in a New Alliance

Ogletree Deakins and KPMG Law in Germany1 are forming a global alliance to provide businesses with global workforce solutions. This alliance will be instrumental in expanding immigration and employment law reach for both organizations and will enable KPMG firms outside of the US2 to bring the US capability and services of Ogletree Deakins to their clients around the world. The alliance is in response to growing client demand for a technology-powered, globally unified approach to business challenges faced in the areas of immigration and global mobility, labor and employment, and the associated tax, compensation, and benefits issues. This non-exclusive alliance with Ogletree Deakins does not include KPMG in the US or entities that it owns or controls, which do not provide legal services3. "As businesses expand and look to shore up recovery in the post-pandemic world, there is increasing pressure for multinational organizations seeking to get the right people in the right places at the right time, and in compliance with the requirements of any given jurisdiction," said Thomas Wolf, Head of Global Immigration Services for the KPMG organization. "Ogletree Deakins' labor, employment and immigration experience in the United States is a perfect fit for KPMG's organization of firms as we expand our global legal services practice4 and our global mobility services offerings around the world. We are excited to join forces with Ogletree Deakins to offer clients even deeper global coverage for their pressing employment and immigration legal matters." Both Ogletree Deakins and KPMG Law in Germany are leaders in utilizing technology and innovation to enhance client service, including in the areas of artificial intelligence, data analytics and knowledge management. By combining the strengths of both organizations, this new alliance will provide clients with an increased breadth of technology solutions. KPMG Law in Germany is part of the broader KPMG Law / Global Legal Services network across KPMG firms, with 2,800 lawyers in 81 jurisdictions. "Ogletree Deakins is an international labor and employment firm and has established an extensive network of lawyers practicing in 53 offices across North America and in Europe to eet our clients' needs. Our alliance with KPMG Law in Germany will benefit clients by complementing our US labor, employment and immigration offerings with 'end-to-end' workplace solutions-including tax, compensation, global immigration, and related advisory and consulting services, over a truly global footprint. Our firm shares a vision with the KPMG network for client service, innovation and cutting-edge technology solutions, and we are already working together on a next generation mobility services platform," said Matt Keen, managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins.



About Ogletree Deakins Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest US labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Premier client service, as outlined in the firm's Client Pledge, is one of the firm's top priorities and a cornerstone of its core values. U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" has named Ogletree Deakins a "Law Firm of the Year" for 10 consecutive years. In 2021, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its "Law Firm of the Year" in the Litigation - Labor & Employment category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 900 attorneys located in 53 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, from small businesses to Fortune 50 companies. More: ogletree.com.

About KPMG International KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 146 countries and territories and in FY20 had close to 227,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients. More: kpmg.com _______________________________ 1 The agreement will be initially signed by KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH ("KPMG Law in Germany"), which is associated with KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprufungsgesellschaft, the German member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative, a Swiss entity. Other non-US member firms are expected to join this non-exclusive alliance over the next several months. 2 KPMG Law in Germany was established in 2007 and is an independent corporate law firm associated with KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprufungsgesellschaft and affiliated with the KPMG International Cooperative. This non-exclusive alliance with Ogletree Deakins does not include the KPMG US member firm or entities that it owns, or controls, which do not provide legal services. For cases where KPMG in the US clients require immigration and/or employment and labor law services, Ogletree Deakins may contract with these clients separately. 3 For cases where KPMG US clients require immigration and/or employment and labor law services, Ogletree Deakins would contract with these clients separately. 4 Certain member firms of the KPMG global organization, including KPMG in the US, do not provide legal services. For the purpose of this press release any commentary will be on general concepts only and is not in any way intended as legal advice or views on laws of any jurisdiction. Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates and related entities. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210509005026/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas partners with Eurisko Mobility to release innovative, AI-powered digital platform

BEIRUT, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Al-Qabas, Kuwait's top newspaper, just launched a state-of-the-art digital platform powered by Artificial Intelligence that includes a web portal, mobile app and cutting-edge Content Management System. This digital platform, designed and developed by Eurisko Mobility, will give readers on-the-go access to Al-Qabas TV, Al-Qabas audio books and their very own "My Page" section, a personalized news page tailored to each reader's preferences. "Engineers and user experience experts from Eurisko Mobility and content specialists from Al Qabas worked with a wide variety of focus groups  including users from different age groups and demographics  to create a truly unique and hyper personalized digital platform", said FaisalKarkoh, Digital development manager at Al-Qabas.



"And despite a global pandemic that pushed teams online while working from home, Eurisko Mobility built this cutting-edge platform in six short months. Eurisko Mobility's engineers created an automated process that minimizes the risk of human error, allowing for continuous delivery and feedback", said Edgard Tawk, CEO at Eurisko Mobility. Al Qabas is proud to be the first media outlet in the region to offer readers innovative features like an intelligent recommendation and search engine powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). "Unlike other digital platforms and news apps, Al Qabas will bring readers recommended content they actually want to see instead of simply nudging them toward what's most popular", added Karkoh.

"The AI-powered search and recommendation engine brings together the latest in high-end technologies, intelligent algorithms, optimization techniques and industry best practices to bring startlingly accurate and personalized results in a matter of milliseconds", added Tawk. Combining the best of Al Qabas' content and media from several of its systems, users will have no shortage of options when considering what to watch or read. The new Al Qabas digital platform was painstakingly designed for a maximum user experience and its AI and ML components mean the platform will responds intelligently to each unique user. Working with regionally renowned developers from Eurisko Mobility, whose clients include American Express, MBC Group, Saudi Aramco, Al Hilal Bank, RightBite, Azadea Group and many others, AlQabas's new platform is the result of six months of design iteration and continuous user feedback. Design experts also spent months iterating and gathering focus-group feedback to create a one-of-a-kind platform with a look unlike anything currently on the market. Al Qabas's new platform is deployed using serverless infrastructure managed by Amazon Web Services, which means the platform can auto-scale as more users join, able to accommodate millions of users without compromising speed or security. Al Qabas has long been known for high-quality content and is beyond excited to bring its entire library of print, video and audio features to users' fingertips instantly and intelligently. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1505190/Eurisko_Mobility_Al_Qabas.jpg

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Aegon Bank has set up an additional Covered Bond Program

Aegon Bank has set up an additional Covered Bond Program, using a Soft Bullet structure. Any new covered bonds issuances are expected to take place under this program.

The new Covered Bond Program will allow further diversification of the debt investor base and enhance flexibility with respect to bond maturities.

About Aegon Bank

Aegon Bank N.V is part of Aegon the Netherlands and currently operates under two brands: Aegon Bank, an online retail savings bank, and Knab, an online bank for retail and self-employed customers. Aegon Bank N.V. develops savings and investment products, and supports Aegon's purpose of helping people achieve a lifetime of financial security. Aegon Bank N.V. also offers a platform for funding mortgages for Aegon the Netherlands. Aegon is a leading lender in the Dutch residential mortgage market. Aegon Bank N.V. has a credit rating of A by S&P Global.







View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210509005065/en/
[May 10, 2021] Finbourne deploys Taskize to resolve reconciliation issues

LONDON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Finbourne integrates Taskize to deliver secure issue resolution to their clients.

Enables Finbourne LUSID users to resolve portfolio reconciliation issues across parties.

Enables efficient onboarding to Finbourne LUSID clients as part of their marketplace offering.

Cloud-based for ease of deployment. Taskize, the leading provider of inter-company workflow to the financial services industry, has been chosen by Finbourne as a component of its award winning LUSID open investment platform. Finbourne LUSID clients now benefit from streamlined counterparty issue resolution, Taskize's Smart Directory to efficiently resolve issues with the right people, and complete traceability. Finbourne joins other leading firms using the Taskize network to deliver consolidated cross-party workflow, faster issue resolution, enhanced control, and improved auditability to their clients. The capability is available to all Finbourne LUSID clients as part of their marketplace offering. Thomas McHugh, co-founder and CEO of Finbourne said: "For anyone considering their technology stack and new investment technology systems, being at the forefront of innovation is important. Finbourne is changing the way the industry manages and interacts with its data, simplifying the investment management processes and reducing integration challenges. We are constantly listening to or clients needs and using their feedback to drive which vendors we work with on our marketplace. This approach made Taskize the logical solution in our mission to streamline the exception-based reconciliation challenges faced by our mutual clients."



John O'Hara, co-founder and CEO of Taskize, said: "The new normal is for our clients to meet business needs using best-of-breed cloud services whilst retaining control of their data. Taskize provides them with cloud-native exception management, workflow between counterparties, and an open architecture. We are delighted that Finbourne has chosen to use Taskize with its innovative LUSID investment platform. It joins the Taskize network which includes DTCC, Euroclear, LCH and leading sell-side and buy-side firms."

About Finbourne FINBOURNE Technology was founded in 2016 with the mission to reduce the cost of investing and increase transparency for everyone. We are doing this with LUSID, our open cloud-based investment data management system which modernises the investment management process by solving the data management problem; and with Luminesce, our data virtualisation platform solving the issue of centralised and secure access to disparate data sources. Our solutions serve the entire investment management industry from start-up investment managers to global asset management institutions. The seven members of the founding team are all multi-year veterans of financial services technology. FINBOURNE clients rank among the top asset managers, hedge funds, and asset serving firms globally. About Taskize Taskize Limited is trusted by over 300 financial firms in 52 countries making it the leading provider of inter-company workflow to the Financial Services Industry. Taskize streamlines costly counterparty workflows across buy-sides, sell-sides, custodians, market infrastructures and Fintech providers, without risking data sovereignty. Founded by industry veterans with a record of open innovation, Taskize eliminates the inefficiency and insecurity of email, phone, and chat to provide everything needed to resolve operational issues securely and efficiently. Taskize is cloud-native, with an open architecture and bank-friendly terms leading to easy adoption and benefit realisation. Taskize is backed by Euroclear, a leading global provider of Financial Market Infrastructure services. Follow @Taskize on LinkedIn, or visit taskize.com to get started. Taskize Media Relations Contact: Philip Slavin philip.slavin@taskize.com Finbourne Media Relations Contact: Joel Burnette joel.burnette@finbourne.com

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[May 10, 2021] Microsoft and Darktrace Partnership Extends Autonomous Cyber Defense Across the Cloud

CAMBRIDGE, England, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Darktrace, a leading autonomous cyber security AI company, today announced that it has joined forces with software giant Microsoft. The partnership provides mutual customers with enterprise scale, self-learning AI that detects and autonomously responds to cyber-threats. This collaboration amplifies Darktrace's self-learning artificial intelligence for cyber security within Microsoft environments, including Microsoft 365 and cloud applications like Azure Sentinel. As organizations and workforces across the globe increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure and virtual collaboration tools, the partnership ensures that attacks can be thwarted by Microsoft's solutions together with Darktrace's Autonomous Cyber AI technology. The partnership between Microsoft and Darktrace provides enhanced security across multi-platform and multi-cloud environments, automates threat investigations, and enables teams to prioritize strategic tasks that matter. The two organizations are collaborating to help organizations in a number of critical areas: Cyber AI Email Security  Antigena Email, which uses Darktrace's autonomous response technology to stop the most advanced email threats, is now hosted on Microsoft Azure and listed on Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

 Antigena Email, which uses Darktrace's autonomous response technology to stop the most advanced email threats, is now hosted on Microsoft Azure and listed on Microsoft Azure Marketplace. Simplified and Streamlined Security Workflows  Darktrace now integrates seamlessly with Azure Sentinel, with a bespoke Workbook allowing users to send and visualize Darktrace threat alerts and automated threat investigation reports inside Sentinel.

 Darktrace now integrates seamlessly with Azure Sentinel, with a bespoke Workbook allowing users to send and visualize Darktrace threat alerts and automated threat investigation reports inside Sentinel. Seamless Data integration  Darktrace one-click integrations allow users to connect Darktrace's AI detection capabilities to Microsoft Defender for endpoint. Clare Barclay, CEO, Microsoft UK, said: "As cyber-attacks become increasingly sophisticated, AI is adding a deeper level of protection in detecting these threats. The partnership between Microsoft and Darktrace will help keep organisations secure, enabling them to focus on their core business and customers." "I am proud to be partnering with Microsoft, bringing Darktrace's Cyber AI and autonomous response into joint customer environments" commented Poppy Gustafsson, CEO, Darktrace. "Everywhere Microsoft runs, Darktrace secures." About Darktrace Darktrace is a leading autonomous cyber security AI company and the creator of Autonomous Response technology. It provides comprehensive, enterprise-wide cyber defense to over 4,700 organizations in over 100 countries, protecting the cloud, email, IoT, traditional networks, endpoints and industrial systems. A self-learning technology, Darktrace AI autonomously detects, investigates and responds to advanced cyber-threats, including insider threat, remote working risks, ransomware, data loss and supply chain vulnerabilities. The company has 1,500 employees globally, with headquarters in Cambridge, UK. Every second, Darktrace AI detects a cyber-threat, preventing it from causing damage.







Media Contacts





Amy Longo Edelman (US) +1 (646) 912 3210 darktrace@edelman.com Nikhol Hui Brands2Life (UK) +44 (0) 7908 714 331 darktrace@brands2life.com



Aliya Anwars Golin +65 9172 3242 darktrace@golin.com



Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1425205/Darktrace_Logo.jpg

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[May 10, 2021]

China Online Education Group to Report First Quarter 2021 Financial Results on Monday, May 17, 2021

BEIJING, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk", or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, today announced that it will report its first quarter 2021 unaudited financial results on Monday, May 17, 2021, before the open of U.S. markets.

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on May 17, 2021 (8:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time on May 17, 2021).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:









United States Toll: +1-866-264-5888 International: +1-412-317-5226 Mainland China Toll: 400-120-1203 Hong Kong Toll: 800-905-945 Hong Kong-Local Toll: +852-3018-4992



Participants should dial-in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "China Online Education Group."

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.51talk.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until May 24, 2021, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States Toll: +1-877-344-7529 International Toll: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 10156395

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.

For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

China Online Education Group

Investor Relations

+86 (10) 8342-6262

ir@51talk.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

+86 (10) 6508-0677

+1-212-481-2050

51talk@tpg-ir.com

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-online-education-group-to-report-first-quarter-2021-financial-results-on-monday-may-17-2021-301287299.html

SOURCE China Online Education Group
[May 10, 2021] Bacchus Capital Establishes North American Investment Banking Operations

LONDON, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bacchus Capital is pleased to announce that Steven Latimer has joined the firm as Managing Director and Head of Bacchus Capital's presence in the Americas. Steven will be based in Toronto and will focus on providing Bacchus Capital's new and existing clients with on-the-ground strategic, financial and tactical investment banking support, and advancing Bacchus Capital's Venture business in the region. He will work closely with Karr McCurdy, who is a member of the Bacchus Capital Senior Advisory Board, based in Denver, and with the Investment Banking team in the UK and globally. Steven is an experienced global investment banker with an extensive career leading complex advisory and financing transactions, and has many longstanding, trusted client relationships, particularly in the natural resources sector. Most recently, Steven was President of Jefferies Securities, Inc. (Canada), Managing Director and Head of the firm's Canadian Investment Banking business. Peter Bacchus, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bacchus Capital, commented: "We are excited to have Steven join our team. With over 30 years of global investment banking experience, Steven will enable us to expand our presence and industrial expertise across several verticals in the mining sector, including precious metals, base metals, uranium, iron ore and, importantly, within the growing battery metals sector, including lithium and cobalt. Bacchus Capital is focused on providing truly differentiated solutions for our clients, particularly in the context of highly strategic M&A, takeover or defence situations or moments of tactical or financial stress, and on delivering value-added results. Steven has an unrivalled track record of providing high quality tactical and financial dvice, in Canada and globally, and we are delighted to have him join us."



Steven Latimer, Managing Director and Head of North America, said: "Bacchus Capital has quickly established an outstanding reputation for providing clients with innovative, and dedicated support since it was founded, often in complex, high stakes transactions. It has a firm foundation from which to build internationally, and I look forward to joining the team and leading the firm's growth in the North American markets."

Steven received his Honours Business Administration Degree from The University of Western Ontario, completed his MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and is a CFA charterholder. Additionally, he has been admitted into the ICD-Rotman Directors Education Program (DEP), joining the Toronto DEP 96 cohort commencing in the fall of 2021. Bacchus Capital, based in London, is an independent investment and merchant banking platform with particular expertise in public market takeover and defence, bringing together senior investment banking professionals and senior executives from industry. The firm has three distinct areas of business focus, including through its Advisory, Capital Markets and Ventures divisions. Bacchus Capital has grown to 16 employees and advisers. Since being founded in 2017, Bacchus Capital has partnered with some of the most innovative companies within the global natural resources sector, and advised on a number of sector-defining transactions - beginning with the highly successful public takeover defence of ASX-listed battery metals technology company Lepidico against a hostile offer from Lithium Australia, and subsequently the creation and IPO on the London Stock Exchange of Yellow Cake plc, the public market uranium vehicle which served as a catalyst for renewed investor interest in the commodity. With in excess of $400 million invested, Bacchus Capital has raised more equity finance in the uranium industry than any other investment bank in recent times. In the last year alone, Bacchus Capital advised on three high profile M&A transactions in the gold sector (advising Golden Star Resources on the Sale of the Bogoso-Prestea Gold Mine in Ghana, Titan Minerals on its successful contested public takeover of Canadian listed Core Gold, and Nordgold on its proposed $500 million takeover of ASX listed Cardinal Resources). Bacchus Capital Ventures has also developed a portfolio of investments in some of the most exciting growth companies in the natural resource sector, particularly in battery metals and critical minerals. For more information, contact: Peter Bacchus

Chairman and Chief Executive

6 Adam Street, London WC2N 6AD UK

peter.bacchus@bacchuscapital.co.uk

Tel: 44 (0) 203 848 1640 Peter Ogden, Powerscourt (07793 858 211) View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bacchus-capital-establishes-north-american-investment-banking-operations-301287336.html SOURCE Bacchus Capital Advisers

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[May 10, 2021]

IT Peripherals Market Procurement Intelligence Report with COVID-19 Impact Updates | SpendEdge

NEW YORK, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

The IT Peripherals market will register an incremental spend of about USD 20 billion, growing at a CAGR of 4% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to IT Peripherals sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Download Free Sample Pages

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation of the pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Request a Free Sample Report for More Information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for IT Peripherals market. The report also aids buyers with relevant IT Peripherals pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

Insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants have resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecsts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors..







Identify favorable opportunities in Promotional Products TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

Some of the top it peripherals suppliers listed in this report:

This it peripherals procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Apple Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

HP Inc.

Logitech International SA

Dell Technologies Inc.

Lenovo Group Ltd.

Related Report on Information Technology Include:

To access the definite purchasing guide on the it peripherals that answers all your key questions on price trends and analysis:

Am I paying/getting the right prices? Is my IT Peripherals TCO (total cost of ownership) favorable?

How is the price forecast expected to change? What is driving the current and future price changes?

Which pricing models offer the most rewarding opportunities?

To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment,

Subscribe Now for Free.

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/it-peripherals-market-procurement-intelligence-report-with-covid-19-impact-updates--spendedge-301287155.html

SOURCE SpendEdge
[May 10, 2021] See's Candies Launches a Classic Favorite with a Spicy Twist

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the heritage candy company's history, See's Candies has announced the next Limited Time Sweet of their yearly series, in addition to re-introducing the sought-after, Maple Cashew Brittle, as a permanent offering, available year-round. In honor of Mary See's original Peanut Brittle, an adored classic over the past one hundred years, See's has created another yummy brittle to join the ranks. This piece features buttery almond goodness with a little heat from cayenne, cinnamon and Ancho chile that builds as you eat more. "We can't improve on Mary's recipe. She made the best brittle you can find, and we get to continue to make it. By no means is it luck that Mary's original recipes are always fan-favorites, even after one hundred years. Her commitment to quality ingredients makes these recipes timeless and truly one-of-a-kind. To celebrate a century of deliciousness, we thought our customers would be thrilled about this spicy twist on a classic favorite," said Pat Egan, President & CEO. Almond Brittle with a Kick can be enjoyed with an assortment of complementing treats or cocktails, and can b shipped to family and friends for a surprise delivery. Sweet and spicy incoming! Almond Brittle with a Kick is available now for $15.00 while supplies last in shops and online.



Additionally, See's fan favorite, Maple Cashew Brittle, will now be available year-round as a permanent addition to their candy line. A delectable treat for See's brittle fans. Whole roasted premium cashews are combined with fresh butter, pure sugar, and just the right touch of rich maple flavor. Yum! Maple Cashew Brittle is available now for $15.00 in shops and online. See's Candies brittles are made with the best California sourced nuts. See's inspects and sifts through the nuts to ensure they meet the brand's specifications for size and quality. They even have a dedicated nut room where the rich aroma of gently toasted nuts fills the air.

"Our customers drive this business. In the past, our Maple Cashew Brittle was a limited time offering that customers loved and would tell us they wanted year-round. Because of its popularity, and ever-growing demand, our team of Candy Experts has been dedicated to making this a permanent piece," said Egan. See's Candies encourages its customers to celebrate their sweet history with these two delicious products. About See's Candies

For 100 years, See's Candies has been dedicated to making candy Mary See's way. Only the finest, freshest ingredients are used in making each recipe. American made, famous for deliciousness, with the friendliest customer servicesince 1921. Today, customers can choose from over 100 different candies and chocolates, whether shopping online or visiting one of See's iconic black-and-white checkered shops. Founded and headquartered in sunny California, See's Candies has expanded from one candy shop to over 250 shops across America and a flourishing online store. For more information visit https://www.sees.com/. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sees-candies-launches-a-classic-favorite-with-a-spicy-twist-301286922.html SOURCE See's Candies

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[May 10, 2021] CrowdStrike and Google Cloud Extend Strategic Partnership to Deliver Defense-in-Depth Protection Across Hybrid Cloud Environments

CrowdStrike, a leader in cloud-delivered endpoint and workload protection, and Google (News - Alert) Cloud today announced a series of product integrations to deliver joint customers defense-in-depth security, comprehensive visibility and workload protection at scale across hybrid cloud environments. These integrations will enable more seamless sharing of telemetry and data between the two security platforms, helping maintain high levels of security across a customers' entire cloud or hybrid environment. Under this expanded partnership, CrowdStrike will tightly integrate its CrowdStrike Falcon platform with Google Cloud's suite of security products including Chronicle, VirusTotal Enterprise, and Google Cloud Security Command Center (SCC), helping security teams increase visibility of threats across cloud and hybrid deployments, and enabling them to act much more quickly to address them. "The past year forced organizations to push their digital transformation forward at record pace to support remote workforces. However, digital transformation cannot be done without security transformation, in order to protect organizations' cloud presence," said Amol Kulkarni, chief product officer of CrowdStrike. "That is why we are proud to expand our partnership with Google Cloud and deliver deeper integrations with their security capabilities. These integrations are powered by our best-in-class, AI-powered telemetry to provide contextual and actionable intelligence that accelerates incident response to better protect cloud workloads from sophisticated threat activity." "Security issues continue to disrupt enterprises across all industries, prompting many to modernize their security plans and operations with the cloud. At the same time, attackers continue to become more sophisticated and evolve attack methods," said Sunil Potti, Vice President & General Manager of Google Cloud Security. "Our expanded partnership with CrowdStrike helps our joint customers make the most of their security investments and gain multi-level defenses that can only be delivered by the power of the cloud." The new integrations between CrowdStrike's Falcon platform and Google Cloud include: Google Cloud's security analytics engine, Chronicle, will integrate with the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, which processes over five trillion endpoint-related events per week, enabling security teams to more easily analyze endpoint and workload telemetry in order to find and address threats quickly. Teams will also be able to correlate petabytes of data from Chronicle with datasets from the Falcon platform, enabling them to thoroughly investigate long-term attacks and stop new ones.

VirusTotal, a crowdsourced malware collection platform, will integrate with CrowdStrike Falcon and is planned to be available via the CrowdStrike Store, allowing cybersecurity teams to quickly search for and identify files or URLs that are relevant to an investigation, and uncover previously unknown threats. Integrating VirusTotal with the Falcon platform will also enable cusomers to more effectively track adversaries and generate detection rules that can eliminate blind spots in their cloud and hybrid infrastructure.

Google Cloud's SCC will aggregate alerts and events from the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, which helps provide a single comprehensive view of security and compliance across a customers' cloud environment. This unified management console makes it much easier for security teams to maintain visibility and control over their environment and to more quickly prioritize violations and investigate alerts.

Google Cloud's BeyondCorp Enterprise and Google Workspace will also integrate with Falcon Zero Trust Assessment (ZTA) to allow joint customers to create and enforce granular access policies to applications using CrowdStrike's unique risk signals, strengthening zero trust initiatives. In addition, CrowdStrike will offer integrations with Google Cloud's Security Agent Deployment taking advantage of the Operating System Configuration Management for automated and scalable sensor deployment.



blog and the Google Cloud newsroom. Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding benefits customers may experience as a result of integrations with the CrowdStrike Falcon platform. There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release. You should not rely on these forward-looking statements, as actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those anticipated or implied by these forward-looking statements as a result of such risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made. About CrowdStrike CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity leader, is redefining security for the cloud era with an endpoint and workload protection platform built from the ground up to stop breaches. The CrowdStrike Falcon platform's single lightweight-agent architecture leverages cloud-scale artificial intelligence (AI) and offers real-time protection and visibility across the enterprise, preventing attacks on endpoints and workloads on or off the network. Powered by the proprietary CrowdStrike Threat Graph, CrowdStrike Falcon correlates over 5 trillion endpoint-related events per week in real time from across the globe, fueling one of the world's most advanced data platforms for security. With CrowdStrike, customers benefit from better protection, better performance and immediate time-to-value delivered by the cloud-native Falcon platform. There's only one thing to remember about CrowdStrike: We stop breaches. Qualifying organizations can gain full access to Falcon Horizon and Cloud Workload Protection by starting a free trial.

Learn more: https://www.crowdstrike.com/

Follow us: Blog | Twitter  2021 CrowdStrike, Inc. All rights reserved. CrowdStrike, the falcon logo, CrowdStrike Falcon and CrowdStrike Threat Graph are marks owned by CrowdStrike, Inc. and registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and in other countries. CrowdStrike owns other trademarks and service marks, and may use the brands of third parties to identify their products and services. About Google Cloud Google Cloud accelerates organizations' ability to digitally transform their business with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and expertise. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, giving customers a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problem View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005305/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Xerox and State of Victoria (AU) Announce Joint Venture to Solve the Global Problem of Aging Infrastructure

Xerox and the Victorian Government announced today they have partnered to launch Eloque, a joint venture to commercialize new technology that will remotely monitor the structural health of bridges. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005440/en/ The new joint venture with Xerox and Victorian Government (AU) will use Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology to remotely monitor the structural health of bridges. (Photo: Business Wire) The Eloque solution is an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology, using tiny fiber optic sensors attached to the bridge to accurately measure and estimate structural strain, thermal response, bending, loads, vibration, and corrosion, which are all measures of structural health. Advanced analytics are then used to evaluate the sensors' data and deliver insights directly to the bridge owners and operators in real time, to monitor whether a bridge is being over or underutilized, has structural problems or damage that needs repair. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, in the United States alone, 42 percent of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and nearly 231,000 bridges need repair and preservation work. This problem extends across the globe. An estimated 70 percent of Australia's bridges are more than 50 years old, around 11,000 of Germany's 25,000 rail bridges are over 100 years old, and seven percent of bridges in France are already at risk of collapse.



"Aging and deteriorating public infrastructure is a global problem. We are pioneering technology that maintains the safety of bridges, extends their useful life and positively impacts planning," said Xerox Vice Chairman and CEO John Visentin. "Our partnership with the Victorian Government not only allows us to solve this problem for Victoria, but also rapidly expand to customers around the world facing these challenges." The technology was developed at Xerox's Palo Alto (News - Alert) Research Center (PARC) and trialed through a partnership between Xerox and VicTrack, the Victorian Government state-owned enterprise that owns all railway and tram lines in the state. PARC's solution uses sensors and advanced analytics to monitor structural health in bridges to optimize asset life.

"This will help to detect problems earlier, reduce delays caused by road closures for manual inspections and repairs, and help to find problems more quickly and accurately in the case of bridge strikes or other unexpected events," said Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan. The Victorian Government committed $50 million to introduce the Eloque technology on priority bridges across Victoria, Australia. This technology enables early detection and prediction of problems, allowing issues to be found before they potentially become more costly to repair and helps customers efficiently manage maintenance budgets. "The technology has already been deployed on 7 bridges in Victoria and will be progressively deployed on priority bridges, particularly those that regularly deal with heavy loads and are at the most risk of deterioration. This is solving a major pain point for customers and allowing them to better manage their assets," said VicTrack Chief Executive Campbell A. Rose AM, who has taken the role of CEO of Eloque to support the company through its early establishment. "While our initial focus will be rail and road bridges, Eloque's technology is versatile and we plan to adapt it for use on other critical structures in the future," said Ersin Uzun, general manager of IoT for Xerox and Board Member of Eloque. "We are already looking to expand the technology to tunnels, ports, multi-story parking garages and other critical infrastructure assets." Xerox is the majority owner of Eloque, and this is part of its strategy for broad entry into the IoT market with new industrial offerings. Last year Xerox also announced that PARC is working with the United States' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of a technology that can enable large scale monitoring of seas under the Ocean of Things program. Xerox Holdings Corporation (NYSE: XRX) For more than 100 years, Xerox has continually redefined the workplace experience. Harnessing our leadership position in office and production print technology, we've expanded into software and services to power today's workforce. From the office to industrial environments, our differentiated business solutions and financial services are designed to make every day work better for clients - no matter where that work is being done. Today, Xerox scientists and engineers are continuing our legacy of innovation with disruptive technologies in digital transformation, augmented reality, robotic process automation, additive manufacturing, Industrial Internet of Things and cleantech. Learn more at xerox.com. Note: To receive RSS news feeds, visit https://www.news.xerox.com. For open commentary, industry perspectives and views, visit http://www.linkedin.com/company/xerox, http://twitter.com/xerox, http://www.facebook.com/XeroxCorp, https://www.instagram.com/xerox/, http://www.youtube.com/XeroxCorp. Xerox is a trademark of Xerox in the United States and/or other countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005440/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Ingersoll Rand and Engineers Without Borders Make Life Better through Strategic Partnership to Build Resilient Communities around the World

In its latest release of environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts, Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE: IR) has partnered with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) to globally focus on sustainable community development and infrastructure. EWB is a nonprofit humanitarian organization building a better world through engineering projects that help lift communities out of poverty. Ingersoll Rand, a global provider of mission-critical flow creation and industrial solutions, will help build sustainable water, sanitation, energy and disaster response solutions for underserved communities around the world. "We have a world-class team of 16,000 problem solvers who are ready to put their know-how, passion, and ownership mindset to work for EWB on critical infrastructure projects like sanitation and water systems, solar energy panels and structurally sound bridges and buildings," said Vicente Reynal, Ingersoll Rand CEO. "As part of our broader ESG goals, this strategic and impactful collaboration with EWB truly embodies our purpose to 'Lean On Us to Help You Make Life Better,' and I know our volunteerism, contributions and mission-critical products will create lasting change for people in more than 45 countries." Beginning in May 2021, Ingersoll Rand employees can join Ingersoll Rand's corporate chapter of EWB to volunteer for projects around the world to bring focused and tangible results in the following ways: With Ingersoll Rand's employee-driven program, employees can volunteer through EWB's Volunteer Village regardless of their technical background. There are opportunities to plan, design, test and implement solutions as well as learning opportunities, assembling critical supply kits and in-person project implementation.

Ingersoll Rand businesses and teams are able to select an EWB project to champion. These projects will provide hands-on experience for Ingersoll Rand employees while delivering much-needed solutions to recipients in a developing community.

Ingersoll Rand wll develop technical solutions for EWB partner communities using its engineering and technical expertise, innovative processes and critical voice-of-customer insights.



"We are excited Ingersoll Rand is joining our community of partners to address global challenges, and welcome Nick to the Corporate Leadership Council. The expertise Ingersoll Rand brings will enable us to build more resilient communities through sustainable infrastructure projects," said Jackie O'Brien, chief executive officer of EWB.

About Ingersoll Rand Inc. Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR), driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and ownership mindset, is dedicated to helping make life better for our employees, customers and communities. Customers lean on us for our technology-driven excellence in mission-critical flow creation and industrial solutions across 40+ respected brands where our products and services excel in the most complex and harsh conditions. Our employees develop customers for life through their daily commitment to expertise, productivity and efficiency. For more information, visit www.IRCO.com. About Engineers Without Borders Engineers Without Borders Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) is a nonprofit organization that builds a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs and equip leaders to solve the world's most pressing challenges. EWB-USA's thousands of highly skilled volunteers work on more than 650 projects in partnership with local communities, NGOs, governments and UN agencies in 45 countries to design and implement sustainable and technologically appropriate infrastructure solutions. For more information visit ewb-usa.org and connect on Engineers Without Borders USA on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005463/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Hexion Announces Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Commitment

Hexion Inc. announced that in order to help address climate change, it has committed to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2030. A leading producer of adhesives, coatings and composite resins, Hexion's commitment encompasses "Scope 1" and "Scope 2" emissions, which are direct and indirect greenhouse emissions from operations and consumed energy. The reduction target is compared to 2017, the baseline year of operations. "Today's announcement is part of our ongoing commitment to further align our manufacturing operations with our strategic sustainability practices," said Craig Rogerson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Doing our part to address the significant global environmental challenges of climate change and resource scarcity is aligned with our company values of supporting the communities where we operate, and our associates live. In addition, our product portfolio is strategically aligned to support products with sustainable attributes, such as wind energy and composites for lightweight auto applications. Our ongoing commitment to new product innovation -- coupled with manufacturing enhancements that support lower emissions -- is expected to guide our long-term growth plans going forward." Hexion is also reviewing its "Scope 3" emissions, which are those associated with all other aspects of our business, such as raw materials, product use and disposal, waste generation, business travel, and the impact of associate commuting, among others. The establishment of the greenhouse gas reduction commitment follows a 2020 materiality assessment where Hexion engaged with various internal and external stakeholders. From that assessment, the Company determined its most important areas of focus, which included formalizing the following goals: Minimizing climate change impact - Hexion will strive to protect against climate change throughout its business lifeccle by efficiently using natural resources, optimizing existing processes and enhancing products and technologies through continuous innovation.

- Hexion will strive to protect against climate change throughout its business lifeccle by efficiently using natural resources, optimizing existing processes and enhancing products and technologies through continuous innovation. Developing innovative sustainable products - Hexion is committed that by 2030, all new products will incorporate sustainable attributes.

- Hexion is committed that by 2030, all new products will incorporate sustainable attributes. Enhancing worker safety/well-being - By 2022, Hexion will offer a voluntary well-being program that addresses associate physical, mental, and financial well-being with the goal of 50% associate participation in the program by 2025. Hexion also re-affirmed its commitment to continue to drive toward zero recordable injuries.

- By 2022, Hexion will offer a voluntary well-being program that addresses associate physical, mental, and financial well-being with the goal of 50% associate participation in the program by 2025. Hexion also re-affirmed its commitment to continue to drive toward zero recordable injuries. Reducing spills and releases - Hexion has committed to reduce spill mass and releases by 80 percent by 2025.

- Hexion has committed to reduce spill mass and releases by 80 percent by 2025. Maintaining product stewardship - Hexion remains committed to implementing the Responsible Care Product Safety Code and will continue to be transparent and communicate to key stakeholders regarding its stewardship programs such as risk reviews and reduction of substances of concern.



News - Alert)  Partner of the Year award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program. Hexion was recognized for numerous successes in waste reduction and energy efficiency throughout the company since 2014. In that time, Hexion has reduced global energy intensity by 28 percent, executed more than 250 sustainability projects, and produced water and energy savings of approximately $14 million, including $2 million in 2020 alone. Each year, the ENERGY STAR program honors a group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements. ENERGY STAR Award Winners lead their industries in the production, sale, and adoption of energy-efficient products, services, and strategies. These efforts are essential to fighting the climate crisis and protecting public health. Hexion also recently released its 2020 Sustainability Report, which details the Company's current progress against these goals. The report can be viewed at www.hexion.com/company/responsibility/sustainability.

About the Company Based in Columbus, Ohio, Hexion Inc. is a global leader in thermoset resins. Hexion Inc. serves the global adhesive, coatings, composites and industrial markets through a broad range of thermoset technologies, specialty products and technical support for customers in a diverse range of applications and industries. Additional information about Hexion Inc. and its products is available at www.hexion.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005478/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Grown Rogue Retires Senior Secured Convertible Debentures

Grown Rogue International Inc. ("Grown Rogue" or the "Company") (CSE: GRIN) (OTC: GRUSF), a multi-state cannabis company with operations and assets in Oregon and Michigan, today announced the retirement of the Company's senior secured convertible debentures of CAD$2.36M that would have matured on November 1, 2021. The early retirement of the debt will save the Company CAD$100k in interest payments over 2021. The debt repayment also results in the removal of the general security agreement over all of the Company's assets and leaves only $1.04M of term debt, of which $450k is current. Of the current amount of $450k, $100k will complete a payment contributing to an option payment to acquire Golden Harvests, LLC ("Golden Harvests"). This results in a debt to projected 2021 adjusted EBITDA1 ratio of 0.15. The debt repayment included a cash payment of CAD$1.54M and the issuance of 6,555,556 common shares of the Company at a price of $0.125 per share in accordance with the terms of the debentures. The repayment of principal results in the elimination of a potential conversion of debt into 12. 3M (News - Alert) common shares or approximately 8% of the current issued and outstanding common shares of the Company. "Retiring this senior secured convertible debt is an important step in Grown Rogue's path to financial health and continues our goal of creating shareholder value with disciplined capital allocation," said Obie Strickler, Chief Executive Officer of Grown Rogue. "With our industry leading cash margins of 65%+ and the recent capacity increase of over 500lbs per month of high quality indoor production we are excited to continue executing on our plan to become a top producer in the US cannabis markets." With the recent acquisition by Grown Rogue's partner, Canopy Management, LLC, of the controlling interest of Golden Harvests, the Company now beneficially controls 127,000 sq ft of indoor production, which will yield more than 1,000 lbs per month in constructed capacity. With additional expansion already underway in Michigan, Grown Rogue expects to increase production to 1,800lbs per month in 2022. For more information about Grown Rogue please visit www.grownrogue.com NOTES: 1. The Company's "Adjusted EBITDA" is a non-IFRS measure used by management that does not have any prescribed meaning by IFRS and that may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as the Company's net income (loss) for a period, as reported, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and is further adjusted to remove transaction costs, stock-based compensation expense, accretion expense, gain (loss) on derecognition of derivative liabilities and the effects of fair-value accounting for biological assets and inventory. The Company believes that this is a useful metric to evaluate its operating performance. The following is a reconciliation of the Company's net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA. About Grown Rogue Grown Rogue Internationa (CSE: GRIN | OTC: GRUSF) is a multi-state Cannabis family of brands on a mission to inspire consumers to "enhance experiences" through cannabis. We have combined an expert management team, award winning grow team, state of the art indoor and outdoor manufacturing facilities, and consumer insight-based product categorization, to create innovative products thoughtfully curated from "seed to experience." The Grown Rogue family of products include sungrown and indoor premium flower, along with patented nitro sealed indoor and sungrown pre-rolls and jars.



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: (i) statements regarding the future direction of the Company (ii) the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business and financial objectives, (iii) plans for expansion of the Company into Michigan and securing applicable regulatory approvals, and (iv) 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 of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. 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 of the combined company. 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; and 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 the public perception of cannabis; decreases in the prevailing prices for cannabis and cannabis products in the markets that the Company operates in; adverse changes in applicable laws; or adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws; compliance with extensive government regulation and related costs, and other risks described in the Company's public disclosure documents filed on 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. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) the Company's financing plans; (ii) trends affecting the Company's financial condition or results of operations; (iii) the Company's growth strategy and operating strategy; and (iv) the declaration and payment of dividends. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "intend" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including the risk disclosed in the Company's Form 20-F and 6-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is indirectly involved in the manufacture, possession, use, sale and distribution of cannabis in the recreational cannabis marketplace in the United States through its indirect operating subsidiaries. Local state laws where its subsidiaries operate permit such activities however, these activities are currently illegal under United States federal law. Additional information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are disclosed in the Company's Listing Statement filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005506/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Information Analysis Inc. Announces New Board Member

FAIRFAX, Va., May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Information Analysis Incorporated (OTCQB: IAIC) (IAI or the Company) today announced the addition of Donald J. Tringali to the Companys Board of Directors, effective May 6, 2021.

Stan Reese, IAI CEO, commented, Don is a seasoned executive and corporate board member. In my recent letter to shareholders, I detailed the significant opportunities ahead of us and our intention to be aggressive in pursuing our growth plan. A big part of that is having the right board in place to provide direction and counsel and we expect Dons legal background and breadth of experience to be a great fit. Mr. Tringali is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Augusta Advisory Group, a boutique financial and business consulting firm providing a full range of executive, operations and corporate advisory services to companies. He has held a variety of C-level executive positions and directorships for public and private companies across many industries. In addition to board membership at the Company, he is currently on the boards of Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee, Inc. (TSX: SWP.TO), POSaBIT Systems Corporation (CNQ: PBIT.CN), and ParagonSpace Development Corporation (private). He is the former Chairman of the Board of National Technical Systems, Inc. (NTSC), a leading international testing and engineering firm that was sold to a private equity firm in 2013, and the former Executive Chairman of the Board of Cartesian, Inc. (CRTN), an international telecom consulting company, which was sold to private equity in 2018. Mr. Tringali began his career as a corporate attorney in Los Angeles, where he was a partner in a prominent firm representing public and private companies in general business matters and M&A transactions. Mr. Tringali holds a BA in Economics from UCLA and a JD (Juris Doctor) degree from Harvard Law School.



About Information Analysis Incorporated

Information Analysis Incorporated (www.infoa.com), headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, is an information technology product and services company. The Company is a software conversion specialist, modernizing legacy systems and securely extending their reach to the Cloud and more modern platforms. Additional information for investors

This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding the Company's business, customer prospects, or other factors that may affect future earnings or financial results. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Investors should read and understand the risk factors detailed in the Company's 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact: Jeremy Hellman, CFA The Equity Group Inc. (212) 836-9626 jhellman@equityny.com



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[May 10, 2021] DiA Imaging Analysis Partners with SonoScape Medical Corporation to Deliver Cardiac Ultrasound AI solutions

BE'ER SHEVA, Israel, and SHENZHEN, China , May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DiA Imaging Analysis Ltd. (DiA), a leading provider of AI-powered ultrasound analysis solutions today announced that it has partnered with SonoScape Medical Corporation (300633.SZ), a leading developer and manufacturer of ultrasound systems. As part of the partnership, SonoScape's ultrasound devices will provide DiA's ultrasound artificial intelligence analysis solutions aiming to reduce the variability associated with manual or visual analysis, and increase efficiency and accuracy throughout the analysis process. A recent survey indicated that 85% of ultrasound users said that AI saved their practice time and 69% reported that it saved costs. By providing automated ultrasound AI solutions, this partnership fills the growing need for objective and accurate analysis in this booming market where ultrasound analysis is often done in a subjective and time-consuming method  by visual or manual estimations. "SonoScape is committed to delivering outstanding services to its ultrasound users to help increase their eficiency," said Dr. Nai Zhang Feng, General Manager of Ultrasound Division at SonoScape. "By joining hands with DiA, we will enhance our users' capabilities with the most innovative technology of cardiac ultrasound AI tools."



DiA's FDA cleared and CE marked AI-based cardiac solutions, LVivo Toolbox, were developed by a proprietary technology that imitates the way the human eye detects borders and identifies motion, therefore, allowing ultrasound users with various levels of experience automatically analyze and identify clinical abnormalities that are otherwise difficult to find visually. "We are thrilled to partner with SonoScape to empower their users with our most advanced ultrasound AI solutions," said Hila Goldman - Aslan, CEO and Co-Founder of DiA Imaging Analysis. "Combining SonoScape's ultrasound capacities with DiA's AI technology is another great step forward to make the analysis of ultrasound images smarter and accessible to all."

About DiA Imaging Analysis DiA Imaging Analysis is a leading provider of AI-powered ultrasound analysis solutions that make the use and analysis of ultrasound images smarter, faster and accessible to all. The company's FDA cleared and CE marked LVivo product line for cardiac and abdominal auto analysis allow clinicians with various levels of ultrasound experience to use and analyze ultrasound images on their ultrasound devices or healthcare IT systems with increased speed, efficiency and accuracy. DiA currently serves thousands of end users worldwide.

For additional information, please visit www.dia-analysis.com . About SonoScape SonoScape Medical Corp. manufactures medical equipment. The Company develops, produces, and sells ultrasound diagnostic systems, transducers, and other medical equipment products. SonoScape Medical serves customers worldwide. Founded in 2002 in Shenzhen, China, SonoScape has committed itself to "Caring for life through innovation" by providing ultrasound and endoscopy solutions and delivering first-rate services. It now has seven R&D centers in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Harbin, Wuhan, Tokyo, Silicon Valley and Seattle. Ranked as the top 10 ultrasound brands globally, SonoScape invests heavily into R&D annually, with more advanced products to be introduced into the pipeline. Contact:

Tal Sacharov

VP Marketing

DiA Imaging Analysis

tal.sacharov@dia-analysis.com

www.dia-analysis.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dia-imaging-analysis-partners-with-sonoscape-medical-corporation-to-deliver-cardiac-ultrasound-ai-solutions-301287453.html SOURCE DiA Imaging Analysis

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[May 10, 2021] Ottopia Announces Availability of Teleoperation Software on NVIDIA DRIVE Platform

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ottopia Technologies, the global leader in teleoperation, announced today that its teleoperation software is now available on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform. NVIDIA DRIVE is an open, software-defined, end-to-end platform used by the transportation industry to develop safe, autonomous vehicles at scale. Mission-critical systems like power plants and airplanes have human supervision. Similarly, a human must be in the loop, or present, for autonomous mobility to exist. As such Ottopia, an NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem partner, brings its teleoperation solution that allows for the safe monitoring and remote control of self-driving vehicles. Ottopia is the only teleoperation provider to solve this problem with automotive grade technology. This is achieved by combining the key components of teleoperation, including dynamic video compression, AI-based network optimization, safety systems and cybersecurity, the latter two of which are exclusive to Ottopia. Ottopia's platform is an ideal option for autonomous vehicle developers looking to add this capability to their self-driving systems. "There are always going to be edge cases that autonomy alone is not equipped to hndle. You will always need, and want, a human to be able to intervene. That is why Ottopia's technology should be integrated with any autonomous system," said Amit Rosenzweig, Ottopia's Founder and CEO. "Ottopia's software is optimized to efficiently run on the state-of-the-art NVIDIA DRIVE platform, so customers working in autonomous vehicles and autonomous machines can enjoy the benefits of teleoperation, right out of the box."



"With Ottopia as an NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem partner, developers can now access a universal teleoperation option for safe remote monitoring with tight integration to the DRIVE platform," said Rammy Bahalul, director of autonomous machines and vehicles at NVIDIA. About Ottopia

Ottopia Technologies, founded in 2018, is a technology company engaged in the design, development and commercialization of teleoperation systems. Ottopia is the only company that provides all key technologies to control vehicles remotely and safely. Ottopia's customers save lives and save money by deploying its teleoperation platform in their autonomous fleets - trucks, forklifts, shuttles and other types of vehicles. The company's systems are designed to accelerate the commercial deployment of autonomous systems and improve their uptime. Ottopia is targeting the automotive, logistics, last mile, agricultural and mining sectors and predicts that its system will revolutionize each of those industries. The company's first product is a universal teleoperation platform, which allows a human operator to monitor and control any type of vehicle from thousands of miles away. For more information about Ottopia, visit https://ottopia.tech, follow us on LinkedIn or contact us at info@ottopia.tech. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ottopia-announces-availability-of-teleoperation-software-on-nvidia-drive-platform-301287492.html SOURCE Ottopia

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[May 10, 2021] Privacy-first COVID verification technology takes a giant step forward with Cardea

SEATTLE, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardea, a complete open-source ecosystem for the exchange of privacy-preserving digital health credentials has been accepted as a Linux Foundation Public Health (LFPH) project. Indicio open-sources Cardea to Linux Foundation Public Health as complete ecosystem for privacy-preserving digital identity.



Created by Indicio.tech, a leading developer of privacy-first decentralized identity and verification solutions, Cardea can help public health authorities (PHAs) around the world combat COVID-19 and future epidemics by providing end-to-end tools using interoperable standards for sharing critical health data in a privacy-preserving way. Preserving privacy is a critical challenge for digital health credentials and travel passes. A recent poll from IATA highlighted that 78% of passengers who took part in the survey will only use a travel health credential app if they have full control over their data. Solving this problem led to the creation of Cardea, and its first implementation on the island of Aruba.

Indicio, together with SITA and the Aruba Health Department, created the Aruba Health App based on Cardea code. This successful pilot makes it easy for visitors to Aruba to share a trusted-traveler credentialbased on their health statusprivately and securely on their mobile device when they check in at participating hospitality sites on the island throughout their journey. By contributing Cardea to LFPH, Indicio wants to empower PHAs to design, build, and deploy open-source, privacy-first, and simple-to-use COVID solutions. With this technology, the community can work together to reopen economies without people having to give up their privacy. "With the contribution of Cardea to LFPH," says Heather Dahl, CEO, "Indicio has taken the lead on privacy-first decentralized identity technology. And as a Public Benefit Corporation, we believe that open sourcing decentralized identity technology through LFPH will lay the foundation for a better, fairer world to come." "We're thrilled to have Cardea as a part of our open source offerings for public health authorities at the Linux Foundation Public Health," said Brian Behlendorf, General Manager of Blockchain, Healthcare, and Identity at the Linux Foundation. "We look forward to helping the project thrive within the LFPH community and grow to become one of the reference implementations for the interoperable standards we're developing within the COVID-19 Credentials Initiative." To participate in the Cardea project at LFPH, go to Cardea.app Media Contact: pr@indicio.tech, 415-583-9963 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/privacy-first-covid-verification-technology-takes-a-giant-step-forward-with-cardea-301286983.html SOURCE Indicio Tech

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[May 10, 2021] AIG Named One of DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity for the 4th Consecutive Year

For the fourth consecutive year, American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) has been named one of DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity, the leading assessment of diversity management in corporate America. AIG President & Chief Executive Officer Peter Zaffino said: "We are proud to receive this recognition for the progress we are making to advance all forms of diversity across our organization; however, our work is not done. We remain committed to taking actions that will result in lasting, meaningful outcomes for our colleagues and communities. AIG will be a company of action in our pursuit of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion." The list, derived from survey submissions of companies with a minimum 750 employees in the U.S., reflects DiversityInc's evaluation of performance in six key areas of diversity and inclusion management: human capital diversity metrics, leadership accountability, talent programs, workplace practices, supplier diversity, and philanthropy. AIG Chief Diversity Officer Ronald Reeves said: "AIG's commitment to stand as allies with our colleagues and in our communities is unwavering. We continue to expand our efforts toward shaping an inclusive workplace where everyone belongs and has opportunities for growth and advancement." For more information about DiversityInc and its efforts to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, visit: https://www.diversityinc.com/about-diversityinc.



American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement solutions, and other financial services to customers in approximately 80 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com | YouTube (News - Alert) : www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter (News - Alert) : @AIGinsurance www.twitter.com/AIGinsurance | LinkedIn (News - Alert) : www.linkedin.com/company/aig. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries and jurisdictions, and coverage is subject to underwriting requirements and actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005461/en/

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La Rioja (Spain), 10 May 2021 (SPS) -The participants of the 25th anniversary of the European Parliament Intergroup Peace for the Sahrawi People on Saturday called for the organization of a self-determination referendum to end the conflict in Western Sahara.



Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference took place in one day with in camera working sessions.



Two conferences on the legal and social framework of Western Sahara were held in the morning.



The two conferences were led by members of the Parliament of La Rioja belonging to the Intergroup in which participated lawyers and people involved in the Sahrawi cause.



The two conferences were attended by the professor of international law at the University of La Rioja, Mariola Urrea, the representative of the Polisario Front in Spain, Abdullah Arabi and the president of the Association of Friends of the SADR.



During the second part of the day, meetings were held in camera, bringing together members of national parliamentary inter-groups, members of associations of friends of Western Sahara, members of various committees and Sahrawi delegates from all over Spain.



The report issued after the work of the first session was presented by the president of FEDISSAH, Carmelo Ramirez, in addition to a report from the International Association of Western Saharan Lawyers, Felipe Briones. The report includes five political, social, economic and human rights goals.



During his speech, the FEDISSAH president denounced the brutal harassment of the Sahrawi people by the Moroccan police in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.



He also referred to the "intolerable" case of the Sahrawi activist Sultana Khaya and her family, under house arrest in the occupied city of Boudjdor for over four months. (SPS)



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Wind River Named One of the "Best Places to Work" in the Bay Area

Wind River, a leader in delivering software for intelligent systems, has been recognized as a "Best Places to Work in the Bay Area 2021" award winner by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Wind River (News - Alert) earned the prestigious distinction based on employee satisfaction across several areas, including personal engagement, team dynamics, and trust in leadership.

"As emerging technologies transform the workplace, a recent study estimated that 79% of U.S. CEOs are concerned about a growing shortage of key skills.1 Wind River continues to invest in its expanding employee base to provide qualified talent for an increasingly software-first, AI-first world," said Wind River President and CEO Kevin Dallas. "Through the years, we've also maintained our strong 'One Wind River' team culture, and it's an honor to be recognized with this latest workplace award. I am extremely proud of our team for making our cultural attributes of customer focus, growth mindset, and diversity and inclusion the guiding framework for how we work with each other and our customers at Wind River every day."

Wind River industry-leading software is helping customers transform and find a path for success in an AI-first world. Celebrating its 40-year anniversary this year, the company can tout a history of being at the forefront of industry change, including having the first real-time operating system on Mars and playing a key role in the world's first successful 5G data session. Most recently, Wind River introduced Wind River Studio, the industry's first cloud-native platform for the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of mission-critical intelligent systems where security, safety, and reliability are required.







The annual Best Places to Work awards recognize the top employers in the Greater Bay Area. The designation is determined by results of a voluntary employee survey rating satisfaction across several key areas. The survey contains scored items designed to measure employee engagement and other workplace factors, including communications and resources, individual needs, manager effectiveness, personal engagement, team dynamics, and trust in leadership. The results were tabulated by research firm Quantum (News - Alert) Workplace.

The Best Places to Work recognition is the latest in a series of recent Wind River industry accolades, which include the following: 2021 Top Workplaces USA Award, Stevie Bronze Award, Cloud Computing Excellence Award, IoT Evolution 5G Leadership Award, IoT Evolution Edge Computing Excellence Award, Military & Aerospace Technology Innovator Award, and 2020 BIG Awards for Business "Executive of the Year" for Wind River President and CEO Kevin Dallas.

To learn more about Wind River career opportunities, visit the Wind River Careers page.

About Wind River

Wind River is a global leader in delivering software for intelligent systems. The company's technology has been powering the safest, most secure devices in the world since 1981 and is found in billions of products. Wind River offers a comprehensive portfolio, supported by world-class global professional services and support and a broad partner ecosystem. Wind River software and expertise are accelerating digital transformation of mission-critical intelligent systems that will increasingly demand greater compute and AI capabilities while delivering the highest levels of security, safety, and reliability. To learn more, visit Wind River at www.windriver.com.

1 PwC Global CEO Survey

Wind River is a trademark or registered trademark of Wind River Systems, Inc., and its affiliates. Other names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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[May 10, 2021] RYAH Group, Inc. Enters New Zealand Market, signs Distribution Agreement with Medical Kiwi Ltd

New York, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire-- RYAH Group, Incs (CSE:RYAH) wholly owned subsidiary, RYAH Medtech, Inc., a medical device, data and technology company announced today that it has entered into a definitive wholesale supply and distribution agreement with Medical Kiwi Ltd: a leader in R&D, manufacturing, cultivation and distribution of medical cannabis and medical devices. The newly formed cooperation implies distribution of the RYAH Smart Inhaler and cloud based data analytics platform in New Zealand. The agreement was executed on April 5, 2021 The new agreement will enable RYAHs suite of connected IoT devices and cloud-based data analytics to be connected with Medical Kiwis cultivated medical cannabis formulations and patient network for pre-clinical and clinical trial settings as well as medical patient care in New Zealand. In addition, RYAH and Medical Kiwi intend to explore medical device registration for the RYAH dose-control Smart-Inhaler, which would be the first of its kind in the country. Our new partnership with Medical Kiwi Ltd in New Zealand further expands our global clinical and distribution network for plant-based medicine and digital patient care," said Gregory Wagner, CEO of RYAH Group Inc. and of RYAH Medtech, Inc. "In December 2019, the New Zealand Government passed legislation to improve access to medical cannabis products. Our new relationship with Medical Kiwi presents an opportunity for both parties to drive innovation and to deliver cutting edge plant-based medical solutions in New Zealand. " About Medical Kiwi Ltd Medical Kiwi Ltd is a medical cannabis market leader in New Zealand that has built a strong health-based, scientific and business savvy team , developed a clear plan for research, product development and distribution and successfully raised our initial seed fund capital and crowdfunding equity. With signing partnership agreements with global industry-leading companies, Medical Kiwi has been granted a Medicinal Cannabis licence from the Ministry of Health to cultivate, manufacture and supply medicinal cannabis. About RYAH Group, Inc.

RYAH Group, Inc. (RYAH) is a connected device and big data and technology company focused on valuable predictive analysis in the global medical plant and nutraceutical intake inustry. Its robust artificial intelligence platform aggregates and correlates HIPAA-compliant patient data, which is intended to help doctors and patients personalize plant-based treatments to better predict treatment outcomes. The data collection is relevant for clinics, doctors, dispensaries and pharmaceutical companies and Licensed Processors (LPs) to monitor and manage formulation effects on patient and demographics. With a strong IP portfolio, RYAH gathers deep and insightful data on the complete patient session and formulation lifecycle.



Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words may, would, could, should, potential, will, seek, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions as they relate to the Company are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Companys current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include, without limitation: the general business and economic conditions in the regions in which the Company operates; the ability of the Company to execute on key priorities, including the successful completion of acquisitions, business retention, and strategic plans and to attract, develop and retain key executives; difficulty integrating newly acquired businesses; ?the benefits of RYAHs user-generated, HIPAA-compliant data; the success of its launch in Europe; RYAHs plan to roll-out several other clinical delivery mechanisms; the results users may receive from using RYAH products; the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities; disruptions in or attacks (including cyber-attacks) on the Companys information technology, internet, network access or other voice or data communications systems or services; the evolution of various types of fraud or other criminal behavior to which the Company is exposed; the failure of third parties to comply with their obligations to the Company or its affiliates; the impact of new and changes to, or application of, current laws and regulations; legal and regulatory risks inherent in the cannabis industry; risks relating to the regulatory landscape in certain countries and enforcement related to cannabis, including political risks; risks relating to anti-money laundering laws and regulation; other governmental and environmental regulation; public opinion and perception of the cannabis industry; risks related to proprietary intellectual property and potential infringement by third parties; risks inherent in an agricultural business; risks associated to cannabis products manufactured for human consumption including potential product recalls; a novel business model; granting of permits and licenses in a highly regulated business; the overall difficult litigation environment, including in the United States; increased competition; changes in foreign currency rates; increased funding costs and market volatility due to market illiquidity and competition for funding; the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations; critical accounting estimates and changes to accounting standards, policies, and methods used by the Company; the occurrence of natural and unnatural catastrophic events and claims resulting from such events; and the risk associated with a business in the cannabis industry. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. RYAH Medtech Inc Contacts:

Gregory Wagner, CEO invest@ryah.com 917 210 0543

Sofiya Kleshchuk Client Relations +1 917 210 0543 Public Relations:

InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN)

Los Angeles, California

www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com

310.299.1717 Office

Editor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com

.



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[May 10, 2021] Emily Scales of Code Corporation Featured on CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel List

Code Corporation, a global leader in barcode scanning and data capture technologies, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Emily Scales, Sr. Channel Marketing Manager, to the highly respected Women of the Channel list for 2021. This annual list recognizes the unique strengths, vision and achievements of female leaders in the IT channel. The 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges women from all over the IT channel, including vendors, distributors and solution providers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005079/en/ Emily Scales of Code Corporation Featured on CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel List (Photo: Business Wire) The women honored on this year's list pushed forward with comprehensive business plans, marketing initiatives and other innovative ideas to support their partners and customers, helping them through the uncertainty brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic. CRN celebrates these exceptional women for their leadership, dedication and channel advocacy. Scales has worked in marketing for almost 20 years, starting as an event coordinator before moving to her passion, channel maketing. She leads Code's channel marketing department, where she is redefining and strengthening the focus of their Partner Program to reach new heights. In 2020, Scales grew the CodeAlliance reseller program 18 percent year over year and leveraged 75 events to present Code to key industry players.



"CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges accomplished, influential women whose dedication, hard work, and leadership accelerate channel growth," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "We are proud to honor them for their many accomplishments and look forward to their continued contributions to the IT channel." "Code is experiencing record-breaking growth and we, in no small part, give credit to Emily for the strategic, creative and highly effective development and management of the Code channel program," said Kent Hansen, CEO of Code Corporation. "She has worked tirelessly to establish new standards for the program that empower the team to deliver individual attention to our partners, which in turn gives rise to a string of powerhouse relationships. We congratulate Emily for her well-earned national recognition on CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel List."

The 2021 Women of the Channel list will be featured in CRN Magazine on May 10th and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC. About Code Corporation For more than 20 years, Code Corporation has been an industry pioneer, leader, and champion for data capture innovation and has garnered more than 100 patents. By crafting and continuing to perfect its unique decoding algorithms, Code and its line of image-based scanning and decoding technology consistently deliver unparalleled performance companies around the world depend on every day. Code designs and manufactures a complete line of market-leading hardware and software data capture solutions. Code products are not only valued for providing a consistent level of workflow efficiency year after year, but also for their ergonomic design, durability, ease of customization, and seamless integration. Code is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah with offices in Boston and Amsterdam. For more, please visit www.codecorp.com. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005079/en/

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[May 10, 2021]

Digital Logistics Market To Reach USD 22170 Million By 2026 at a CAGR of 11.5% - Valuates Reports

BANGALORE, India, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Logistics Market by Type - Consulting services, System integration services, Other services, By Application - Warehouse management, Labor management, Transportation management. This report is published on Valuates Reports in the Transportation & Logistics Category.

The global Digital Logistics Market size is projected to reach USD 22170 million by 2026, from USD 10230 million in 2019, at a CAGR of 11.5% during 2021-2026.

Major factors driving the growth of the digital logistics market are:

Digital logistics increase the transaction speed, flexibility of operations, scalability of resources, business transparency, cost-effective logistics and supply chain solutions across various industry verticals.

Exponential growth in the e-commerce industry along with rising customer expectations.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF DIGITAL LOGISTICS MARKET

Exponential growth in the e-commerce industry is expected to drive the growth of digital logistics market size. Because of the increase in e-commerce activity, logistics companies must work quickly and more effectively to process small individual orders. Customers expect accurate orders, same-day or same-hour delivery, and free returns when ordering online. Digital logistics systems allow users to track the location, availability, and movement of assets over time (materials, equipment, labor, etc.). They also allow users to track the location, availability, and movement of assets in real-time.

The increasing globalization of supply chains and freight logistics has brought about more opportunities and more costs. The increasing need to manage logistics and supply costs effectively is driving the growth of digital logistics market size. Using robust Digital logistics solutions gives competitive freight companies the means to control a broad range of costs, including, Warehouse Management, Labor Management, and Transportation management.

Collaboration between various internal and external structures and people is made possible by digital logistics. Collaboration allows for the reduction or elimination of the "data silo effect," in which data is stored in separate, siloed information systemsor, worse, individual spreadsheets. A single interface that provides a cohesive, shared view of the supply chainrather than a network of forty-plus integration pointsimproves cross-departmental and cross-trading partner visibility and coordination, making agility and responsiveness an essential part of the digital supply chain.

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DIGITAL LOGISTICS MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

North America is expected to hold the largest digital logistics market share. The presence of large IT companies and rapid technological developments in the United States and Canada are driving market growth in this area. These countries' well-established economies enable them to invest heavily in cutting-edge digital logistics solutions and services.

Based on application, the warehouse management segment is expected to be the most lucrative during the forecast period. Warehouse management is accomplished by the use of tools and platforms dedicated to keeping track of incoming and outgoing products in the warehouse. Orders are synced with inbound and outbound logistics information in the WMS, allowing logistics service providers to keep track of inventory hat is being stored inside and going out of the warehouse.







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Digital logistics Market by Key Companies

Advantech Corporation

Digilogistics

Hexaware Technologies

IBM

JDA Software

Oracle

Samsung Co

SAP Ag

Tech MahindrA

UTI Worldwide Inc

Digital logistics Market by Types,

Consulting services

System integration services

Other services

Digital logistics Market by Application,

Digital logistics Market by Regions

North America

Europe

China

Japan

Southeast Asia

India

Central & South America

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SIMILAR REPORTS :

- Worldwide IoT in Logistics Market will grow at an estimated CAGR of 35.5% during the forecast period 20162022. North America is currently the market leader, and Asia Pacific is becoming one of the fastest growing regions. IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Intel, SAP, FedEx Corporation, XPO Logistics, and Cisco Systems, NC are among the key players profiled in the study.

- Supply Chain Big Data Analytics Market by Product-Type: On-Premise Supply Chain Big Data Analytics, On-Cloud Supply Chain Big Data Analytics, Application: Retail, Healthcare, Transportation & logistics, Manufacturing, Others, by key players, by Regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan, etc.

- The global Connected Logistics market was valued at USD16.774 Billion in 2016, and is projected to reach at USD27.722 Billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 7.60% from 2017 to 2023.Several factors affect the global Connected Logistics industry, including increased IoT and logistics 4.0 penetration, expanded application areas, expanded market for cloud solutions and proliferation of connected devices, growth associated with end-use industries, demand from emerging economies, and others. All of these factors, taken together, create opportunities for the Connected Logistics market to expand.

- Companies are constantly experimenting with Artificial Intelligence in Logistics in order to optimise last-mile distribution, minimise time to market, and provide consumers with the customization they need. The Artificial Intelligence market in logistics is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 42.9% over 2017-2023 to reach USD 6.5 billion by 2023.

- E-Commerce Logistics Market is expected to reach USD 535.895 Billion by 2022, supported by a CAGR of 21.2%.The global e-commerce logistics industry will be shaken by the upcoming proliferation of e-commerce websites and the availability of low-cost freight. Furthermore, the widespread use of C2C and B2C e-commerce websites has boosted demand for international and domestic e-commerce logistics.

- Global Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Market by Type - Transportation, Warehousing, Other, by Application - Automobile, Retail, Manufacturing, Other, By Regions, Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021-2027.

- The global Digital Freight Brokerage market size is projected to reach USD 2395.7 million by 2026, from USD 555.5 million in 2019, at a CAGR of 22.7% during 2021-2026.

- Project Logistics Market by Product-Type: Transportation, Forwarding, Inventory Management and Warehousing, Other, Application: Oil and Gas, Energy and Power, Construction, Manufacturing, Other, by key players, by Regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan, etc.

Click Here To See Related Reports On logistics

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[May 10, 2021] uLab Announces Ground-breaking, Ease of Use and Functionality Upgrade to uDesign Software

First 100 uSmile aligners submitted through the uDesign 6.0 receive special pricing SAN MATEO, Calif., May 10, 2021 /CNW/ -- uLab Systems, the creator of uSmile Clear Aligners and the state-of-the-art uDesign aligner planning software, proudly announces the release of uDesign version 6.0, the most significant software update release to date. With the addition of AI-Guided Setup and One-Touch Bracket Removal, uDesign is the most sophisticated treatment planning software for orthodontists on the market. These features are part of uLab's plan to progress the digital workflow to a new level for the orthodontic community. uLab Systems announces the release of uDesign version 6.0, the most significant software update release to date Charlie Wen, Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder, President, and Board Member of uLab states, "The uLab uDesign 6.0 release is further proof of our commitment to continuous innovation in the orthodontic community. Our breakthrough AI technology offers our users a whole new level of efficient work-flow and ease of use for the set-up of moderate and more complex cases." uDesign 6.0 advances uLab's AI-assisted software, further simplifying the treatment planning process and saving orthodontists even more time across all case types. The new uDesign includes the following key features: Guided Setup (GS)uses familiar clinical processes with a novel AI approach for easier set-up of even complex cases. One-Touch Bracket Removalmakes finishing bracket cases in aligners easier than ever by allowing easy removal of the brackets post-scanning so aligners can be ordered and ready when bracket removal day arrives.



Dr. John Graham , a prominent orthodontist in Utah , states "uDesign 6.0 includes major time-saving features like One-Touch Bracket Removal and Guided Setup, all of which allow me to slash the time it takes to do a patient workup. Enhancements like greater archform control and AP jaw movement evaluation will allow even the uninitiated uDesign user a clear path to efficiency, predictable outcomes, and a greater landscape of treatment possibilities." The founders of uLab were the pioneers who first brought orthodontists AI-assisted chairside treatment planning, pricing that finally makes sense for the orthodontist, routine delivery of aligners in 10 days or less, and same day aligner capabilityall industry firsts. uLab remains dedicated to designing software and systems that amplify the unique training orthodontists possess to create superior smiles.

1The orthodontic community can improve efficiency with in-office digital workflow and save money with uDesign 6.0 immediately: The first 100 aligners submitted from an office utilizing uDesign 6.0 will be charged at $15 apiece starting June 1, 2021 .

apiece starting . To qualify, a minimum of one uSmile aligner case planned on 6.0 must be submitted by June 30, 2021 .

. All $15 uSmile aligners must be ordered by August 31, 2021 . Training webinars for customers will be held on May 14th. Visit https://www.ulabsystems.com/udesign-6-0 to sign up in advance. To learn more about uLab Systems or to trial the new 6.0 software, visit?www.ulabsystems.com. About uLab Systems Located in San Mateo, CA, uLab Systems is led by a proven team of engineers and entrepreneurs with extensive experience bringing innovative new products to market. uLab's mission is to advance the orthodontic industry with digital treatment planning software and aligner products that let orthodontists take back control of their treatment plans. Contacts uLab Systems Media Contact

David Thrower

Chief Commercial Officer

david@ulabsystems.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ulab-announces-ground-breaking-ease-of-use-and-functionality-upgrade-to-udesign-software-301287641.html SOURCE uLab Systems

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[May 10, 2021] DBRS Morningstar: Shadow Banking Saved by Central Banks in COVID-19 Crisis But Risks Still Remain

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS Morningstar) published a commentary analyzing the impact of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the shadow banking industry. In a stressed environment, withdrawals, funding difficulties, and other disruptions at shadow banks can have a widespread impact on the markets. Positively, extraordinary measures taken by central banks to inject liquidity into the markets over the past year prevented the potentially adverse impact to the markets that could have been elevated to extreme levels absent this support. Key highlights include: At $57 trillion in total assets, shadow banks are substantial participants in the global financial system. Collective investment vehicles (CIVs), a significant component of shadow banking assets, are susceptible to runs on liquidity. At the onset of the pandemic, funding markets were stressed and demand for liquidity increased, leading to large outflows from CIVs.

The extraordinary measures of support provided by the central banks contributed to staving off further fund withdrawals, alleviating funding pressures, supporting credit quality and limiting defaults. However, CIVs still pose a risk in terms of funding mismatches, investing in longer maturity assets and allowing investor redemptions.

Shadow banking asset growth outpaced bank asset growth in 2019. However, shadow banking assets are expected to decline in times of stress while central bank and bank assets grow. This occurred in 1Q20, as central bank and bank balance sheets expanded while non-bank assets contracted. "We see significant risk in shadow banks due to their increasing size, lack of robust global regulation and inconsistent reporting/lack of transparency. We know that significant risk has moved off bank balance sheets into non-banks post-financial crisis. The extent of this risk is difficult to measure," said Man Na Cheung, Assistant Vice President. To view the full report, click here: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/378180/shadow-banking-saved-by-central-banks-in-covid-19-crisis-but-risks-still-remain The DBRS Morningstar group of companies consists of DBRS, Inc. (Delaware, U.S.)(NRSRO, DRO affiliate); DBRS Limited (Ontario, Canada)(DRO, NRSRO affiliate); DBRS Ratings GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany)(EU CRA, NRSRO affiliate, DRO affiliate); and DBRS Ratings Limited (England and Wales)(UK CRA, NRSRO affiliate, DRO affiliate). For more information on regulatory rgistrations, recognitions and approvals of the DBRS Morningstar group of companies, please see: https:// www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/highlights.pdf. The DBRS Morningstar group of companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc.  2021 DBRS Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information upon which DBRS Morningstar ratings and other types of credit opinions and reports are based is obtained by DBRS Morningstar from sources DBRS Morningstar believes to be reliable. DBRS Morningstar does not audit the information it receives in connection with the analytical process, and it does not and cannot independently verify that information in every instance. The extent of any factual investigation or independent verification depends on facts and circumstances. DBRS Morningstar ratings, other types of credit opinions, reports and any other information provided by DBRS Morningstar are provided "as is" and without representation or warranty of any kind. DBRS Morningstar hereby disclaims any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement of any of such information. In no event shall DBRS Morningstar or its directors, officers, employees, independent contractors, agents and representatives (collectively, DBRS Morningstar Representatives) be liable (1) for any inaccuracy, delay, loss of data, interruption in service, error or omission or for any damages resulting therefrom, or (2) for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, compensatory or consequential damages arising from any use of ratings and rating reports or arising from any error (negligent or otherwise) or other circumstance or contingency within or outside the control of DBRS Morningstar or any DBRS Morningstar Representative, in connection with or related to obtaining, collecting, compiling, analyzing, interpreting, communicating, publishing or delivering any such information. No DBRS Morningstar entity is an investment advisor. DBRS Morningstar does not provide investment, financial or other advice. Ratings, other types of credit opinions, other analysis and research issued or published by DBRS Morningstar are, and must be construed solely as, statements of opinion and not statements of fact as to credit worthiness, investment, financial or other advice or recommendations to purchase, sell or hold any securities. A report with respect to a DBRS Morningstar rating or other credit opinion is neither a prospectus nor a substitute for the information assembled, verified and presented to investors by the issuer and its agents in connection with the sale of the securities. DBRS Morningstar may receive compensation for its ratings and other credit opinions from, among https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/disclaimer/ others, issuers, insurers, guarantors and/or underwriters of debt securities. DBRS Morningstar is not responsible for the content or operation of third party websites accessed through hypertext or other computer links and DBRS Morningstar shall have no liability to any person or entity for the use of such third party websites. This publication may not be reproduced, retransmitted or distributed in any form without the prior written consent of DBRS Morningstar. ALL DBRS MORNINGSTAR RATINGS AND OTHER TYPES OF CREDIT OPINIONS ARE SUBJECT TO DISCLAIMERS AND CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. PLEASE READ THESE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS AT https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/disclaimer. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING DBRS MORNINGSTAR RATINGS AND OTHER TYPES OF CREDIT OPINIONS, INCLUDING DEFINITIONS, POLICIES AND METHODOLOGIES, ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com. Users may, through hypertext or other computer links, gain access to websites operated by persons other than DBRS Morningstar. Such hyperlinks are provided for convenience only, and are the exclusive responsibility of the owners of such websites. DBRS Morningstar does not endorse the content, the operator or operations of third party websites. DBRS Morningstar is not responsible for the content or operation of such websites and DBRS Morningstar shall have no liability to you or any other person or entity for the use of third party websites.



View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005669/en/



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[May 10, 2021] Family Legacy Capital Launches FLC Credit Partners

Family Legacy Capital Management, LLC ("FLC"), a private investment manager for leading family offices, today announced the launch of FLC Credit Partners, a private credit fund manager. Headquartered in New York, the investment team is led by experienced industry executives Peter Eschmann, Matthew Hart and Jay Rogers, who have collectively completed over 250 transactions and deployed more than $15 billion of capital at their prior firms. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005689/en/ Inspired by what many businesses experienced during the COVID-19 crisis, FLC Credit Partners provides financing solutions to capital-constrained, lower middle market companies in North America. In particular, it addresses the capital needs of family- and entrepreneur-owned businesses, through creative private credit solutions from a financial partner who is aligned with and understands the dynamics inherent in these types of companies given its own investor base of leading family offices. FLC Credit Partners makes both primary and secondary opportunistic private credit investments, with an emphasis on secured loans, but also selected mezzanine and structured equity solutions. The group targets $10 million to $100 million transactions to fund re-financings, leveraged buyouts, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth/working capital, "rescue" capital, DIP loans and exit finance. "With our limited partner base comprised entirely of leading families who are willing to share their Intellectual, Relational and Financial Capital, we are more closely aligned to family- and entrepreneur-owned buinesses," said Hendrik Jordaan, Chairman and Co-Founder of FLC. "It provides us with a unique ability to better serve these potentially stressed, complex or misunderstood business, often in out-of-favor industries. We are incredibly excited for Peter, Matt and Jay to join the Family Legacy Capital platform and know that their deep expertise positions us well to deliver desired outcomes to our investors."



Mr. Eschmann, Partner and Managing Director, brings over 25 years of private credit experience including 16 years at Cerberus Capital Management, and earlier at Deutsche Bank, Chase Manhattan and Bankers Trust. Mr. Hart, Partner and Managing Director, has over 20 years of private credit and restructuring experience, including as Head of Private & Transitional Finance at Jefferies and earlier at Lazard, Merrill Lynch, Intrepid Financial Partners and Eos Partners.

Mr. Rogers, Partner and Managing Director, has over 20 years of private credit experience including seven years at Cerberus Capital Management, and as Chief Credit Officer at Catalyst Capital, and at GE Capital. Also joining the team as Vice President is Mr. Brian Mullin. Mr. Mullin has over 10 years of experience in capital raising and investor relations for investment funds, including at Neuberger Berman and Campbell & Company. FLC is affiliated with the private investment manager for One Thousand & One Voices ("1K1V"), a private equity fund whose family-only limited partners invest their Intellectual, Relational and Financial Capital in sub-Saharan Africa. 1K1V's portfolio companies have exported over $60 million of product from Africa to over 30 countries, and have created thousands of jobs, resulting in economic support to tens of thousands of people. Similar to FLC Credit Partners, 1K1V's limited partners are comprised solely of leading family offices. About Family Legacy Capital Family Legacy Capital Management, LLC ("Family Legacy Capital") manages, directly or indirectly, private investment funds whose limited partners are comprised of leading family offices. The firm is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. For more information, please visit www.familylegacycapital.com. About FLC Credit Partners Family Legacy Capital Credit Management, LLC, operating under the brand "FLC Credit Partners," is the private credit fund manager of Family Legacy Capital. The investment team is based in New York, New York. For more information, please visit www.flccredit.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005689/en/

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[May 10, 2021] TPG Announces Leadership Transition

TPG, a leading global alternative asset firm, announced today that Co-Founder Jim Coulter has become Executive Chairman of the firm and Jon Winkelried, who has served as Co-Chief Executive Officer with Coulter, has been named sole Chief Executive Officer. David Bonderman, who co-founded TPG with Coulter, will continue in his role as Co-Founder and Chairman of TPG. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005711/en/ Jon Winkelried named sole Chief Executive Officer. (Photo: Business Wire) The announcement is a continuation of the leadership strategy the firm set in 2015 when Winkelried joined the firm as Co-CEO alongside Coulter. Winkelried, who previously served as President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs, joined to help build and transform the firm in partnership with Coulter. The appointment brought together complementary skillsets, and with TPG's global team of senior leaders, Coulter and Winkelried have led the firm through a period of significant growth and expansion, nearly doubling the firm's assets under management over the past five years. As CEO, Winkelried will maintain oversight of the firm's day-to-day management and continued evolution. As Executive Chairman, Coulter will increase his focus on investing activities, becoming the Managing Partner for TPG Rise Climate, the firm's newly formed climate initiative, while continuing to serve as Co-Managing Partner for The Rise Fund. Since its launch in 2016, The Rise Fund has established itself as the industry-leading and largest private markets impact investing patform in the world. Coulter will focus his time on building these platforms within TPG, while remaining active in the firm's investment decision processes, key client relationships, and strategic direction.



Together with a strong team of partners and investors, Coulter and Winkelried have led significant growth and development at the firm. TPG has bolstered its leadership and investment teams for its flagship strategies and innovated new platforms and strategies to serve clients, positioning the firm to provide capital solutions to an expanding and diversified set of portfolio companies. Together, the firm's global leadership team has launched more than a dozen distinct investment strategies, while placing an increased focused on sector expertise in transformative industries. This leadership change streamlines the executive function and management of the firm, focuses TPG's effort to extend its impact investing franchise, and creates more opportunities to launch new businesses and strategies. "Nearly 30 years ago, TPG leadership set out to build a unique firm with a distinctive culture and a hands-on approach to value creation. It has been immensely fulfilling and inspirational to see our vision come to life. David and I are pleased to have a leader of Jon's caliber as the firm sets the course for TPG's next chapter," said Coulter. "On a personal level, Jon's perspective and expertise have been incredibly valuable to me as we led the firm together over the last five years. On an organizational level, every aspect of the firm has benefitted from the experience, enthusiasm, and rigor he has brought to TPG."

"TPG has continued to succeed because of the trust we put behind leadership; the firm's future under Jon's direction will be no different," said Bonderman. "Our ability to bring in a leader with Jon's experience and expertise five years ago is a testament to the quality of the firm and culture we've built over the years. Jim and Jon have done an exceptional job of strengthening the firm's position together and we look forward to continuing to benefit from their leadership and experience as they divide their responsibilities in this new way." "I am grateful to Jim for his friendship and partnership and look forward to continuing our work together in his new role," said Winkelried. "I joined TPG because I fully believed in the TPG team's ambitions to grow the firm into a diversified alternative investment platform that enables value through specialization, growth through innovation, and insight from a broad ecosystem. This announcement allows us to continue to deliver on that vision, maintain the entrepreneurial spirit that has long been a hallmark of TPG, and positions us to capitalize on the opportunities ahead." About TPG TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with more than $91 billion of assets under management and offices in Beijing, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, and Washington D.C. TPG's investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth equity, impact investing, real estate, secondaries, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of its portfolio. For more information, visit www.tpg.com or @TPG on Twitter (News - Alert) . View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005711/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Per Vices Named one of the Top 100 Defence Companies in Canada

TORONTO, May 10, 2021 /CNW/ - Per Vices Corporation has been named one of the Top Defence Companies in Canada for 2021 by Canadian Defence Review, a leading defence and military magazine. A new inclusion to the list for 2021, Per Vices is an industry leader in software defined radio solutions that are integrated into radar, GNSS/GPS, satellite, aerospace, and communications systems. The company is growing and expanding its operations and product line to satisfy the stringent and advanced requirements of its clients and their applications. Per Vices Named one of the Top 100 Defence Companies in Canada



"We are incredibly honoured to be added to this list. This shows recognition and support for high performance manufacturers and companies that are bringing innovative solutions to the table, both within Canada and internationally. We offer the best software defined radio solutions commercially available and work closely with our customers to solve challenges for mission critical applications." - Brandon Malatest, COO, Per Vices Corporation. The companies, which must have manufacturing, R&D or service operations in Canada, are evaluated by CDR editorial staff, and independent advisors, and are ranked based on factors such as economic impact to the country, research & development initiatives, innovation, contribution to the nation's security, and contract wins. The list is used to showcase Canadian technological innovation and its defence industry.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/per-vices-named-one-of-the-top-100-defence-companies-in-canada-301287701.html SOURCE Per Vices Corporation

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[May 10, 2021] Snowden Lane Partners Expands Southeast Presence with New International Financial Advisor

Snowden Lane Partners, an independent, advisor-owned, wealth advisory firm dedicated to providing client-focused advice in a values-driven culture, today announced that former Wells Fargo (News - Alert) financial advisor, Marivi Rodriguez, has joined the firm as a Partner and Managing Director. Based out of Snowden Lane's growing Coral Gables office, the veteran advisor is being joined by Client Relationship Manager, Raul Ciauhat, where they will be forming a new team at the firm. Ms. Rodriguez oversees $71 million in client assets, much of which is with international clients, and is the latest internationally focused advisor to join Snowden Lane. In total, the firm employs over 100 employees nationwide, with more than a third of them serving the international marketplace, as Snowden Lane continues to establish itself as the go-to RIA for international advisors. "I'm thrilled to be joining a firm with such a positive and unique culture," said Ms. Rodriguez. "As my clients' needs have changed in recent years, it became clear that the old wealth management model was broken, and I needed to find a home that was built with my clients in mind. Snowden Lane immediately jumped out from the crowd as having a truly independent spirit, and their fast growth is a testament to their commitment and dedication to supporting their advisors." "Marivi represents everything you can ask for in a colleague and advisor and we're so excited to welcome her to the firm," said Greg Franks, President and COO of Snowden Lane Partners. "She's excelled at every step along her career and brings a unique perspective and a wealth of knowledge, both of which have helped establish her as a star advisor. It's clear that she's going o do great things and we can't wait to watch her get started with us."



Ms. Rodriguez has spent the last 11 years at Wells Fargo Advisors, where she offered a wide range of services for both domestic and international clients and families. Prior to that, she worked for Citi Wealth Services for 13 years. She started her career with Barnett Securities, and received a Bachelor of Science in Finance & Economics from Nova Southeastern University and an Associate in Arts degree from Miami Dade Community College. Added Richard Ganter, Managing Director, Southeast, for Snowden Lane: "Expanding our footprint and growing our international presence are two key strategies for us that perfectly go hand in hand. The South Florida market is one we've been investing in for a while, and we're only going to increase that focus in the years ahead. As the shift from wirehouse to independent continues to gain steam, especially among advisors with international clients, we feel very well-positioned and are excited as our recruiting pipeline continues to grow."

Since its founding in 2011, Snowden Lane has rapidly built a national brand, attracting top industry talent from Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, JP Morgan, Raymond James, and Wells Fargo, among others. The firm has 12 offices around the country: Pasadena and San Diego, CA (News - Alert) ; New Haven, CT; Coral Gables, FL; Chicago, IL; Pittsburgh, PA; Baltimore, Salisbury and Bethesda, MD; San Antonio, TX; Buffalo, NY, as well as its New York City headquarters. The Financial Times (News - Alert) named Snowden Lane to its elite FT 300 list in 2020 for the sixth-straight year, recognizing it as one of the top independent RIA firms in the U.S. The firm was also included in the Barron's 2020 Top 100 RIA Firms ranking, and many of the firm's advisors have been recognized as FT 401 Top Retirement advisors, and a number by Forbes/Shook as Forbes Best-In-State Wealth advisors. About Snowden Lane Partners Snowden Lane is a nationally branded, open-architecture, hybrid registered investment advisor and broker-dealer that provides wealth advisory services to high net-worth individuals, families, and institutional clients. Snowden Lane is led by an experienced team of industry executives, including Lyle LaMothe, Chairman of the Board of Managers, Rob Mooney, Managing Partner & CEO, and Greg Franks, Managing Partner, President & COO, who are dedicated to building a client-focused, nationally branded, boutique wealth advisory partnership. Snowden Lane is headquartered in New York City and operates an SEC (News - Alert) registered investment adviser and a broker-dealer. Snowden Lane provides a multi-custodian, multi-currency platform, with aggregated performance reporting and leading analytical tools for clients and advisors. It further provides full operational, finance, compliance, human resources, and financial advisor transition support to its financial advisors. For more information about Snowden Lane, please visit www.snowdenlane.com. References to "Snowden Lane" and "Snowden Lane Partners" are references to Snowden Capital Advisors LLC, an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and its affiliated entities. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005676/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Strong Values, Goal-Based Planning, and Independence Draws Waddell & Reed Team With Nearly $200 Million in Assets to Ameriprise

Crosstown Financial Advisors, a wealth management practice managing $192 million in client assets, joined the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial, LLC (NYSE: AMP) from Waddell & Reed. The team, which operates two office locations in Sugar Grove, Illinois and Lisle, Illinois, includes financial advisors Christopher Forbes, CFP, Thomas Morrissy, CFP, Kathleen Morrissy, CFP and David Servatius. When the sale of Waddell & Reed was announced in late 2020, the advisors felt it was in the best interest of their clients to do their due diligence on a variety of firms. They were looking for a values-driven partner that would provide independence, and robust succession planning expertise - while enabling them to deliver a superior client experience grounded in goal-based financial planning. After evaluating the marketplace, they found that Ameriprise was the best fit. "Ameriprise gave us confidence that they would not only guide us through the transition process, but they would also support our future growth," said Forbes, who has over a decade of experience in the industry. "The technology platform far exceeded our expectations. The integration of tools and capabilities makes it efficient for us to do business and seamlessly engage with clients - whether we're meeting face-to-face or screen-to-screen. It'sa game changer that clients only need one login to see progress toward achieving their goals."



Thomas Morrissy, who plans to retire later this year after 30 years in the business, said about the decision to move, "I have peace of mind that my clients will be in good hands. Ameriprise has a strong reputation for serving clients with integrity. I am assured that my fellow team members - particularly my daughter, Kathleen - are surrounded by leaders and corporate office experts who are ready and able to support their personal and practice growth." Crosstown Financial Advisors is supported locally by senior field vice president Trish Moll.

Ameriprise has continued to attract experienced, productive advisors, with approximately 1,700 joining the firm in the last 5 years.1 To find out why experienced financial advisors are joining Ameriprise, visit ameriprise.com/why. About Ameriprise Financial At Ameriprise Financial, we have been helping people feel confident about their financial future for more than 125 years. With extensive advisory, asset management and insurance capabilities and a nationwide network of approximately 10,000 financial advisors, we have the strength and expertise to serve the full range of individual and institutional investors' financial needs. For more information, or to find an Ameriprise financial advisor, visit ameriprise.com. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.  2021 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Ameriprise Financial 2020 10-K. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005679/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Wells Fargo Joins OneTen Coalition to Hire, Upskill and Advance Black and African American Talent in the U.S.

Wells Fargo (News - Alert) & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced support for OneTen, a coalition that brings U.S. companies together to improve hiring, retention, upskilling and advancement of Black and African American talent by creating one million family-sustaining careers over the next 10 years and fostering more diverse and inclusive corporate cultures. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005783/en/ Male Wells Fargo employee shaking hands with another male in front of a teller line. (Photo: Wells Fargo) "As we continue to drive change at Wells Fargo, we are excited to join the OneTen coalition, which can play a significant role in our efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at the company and in the communities we serve," said Kleber Santos, Head of Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion at Wells Fargo. "We are looking forward to working with OneTen to find ways to alleviate some of the barriers that hinder advancement." OneTen is a coalition "committed to ensuring that Black and African American talent with the skills and aptitude to earn success also have the opportunity to achieve success." OneTen's mission aligns with commitments set by Wells Fargo to create a more diverse, inclusive and equitable workforce at the company. These commitments include: Increasing recruiting staff for outreach to diverse communities

Partnering with senior leaders to enhance focus on recruiting, promotion and development programs for diverse talent

Expanding participation in national diversity events, along with a commitment to potentially interview and hire on the spot

Requiring senior leaders to identify and engage with external diversity-focused organizations related to their line of business or function

Increasing focus on skills-based hiring

Factoring DE&I metrics into senior leader compensation Established in December of 2020 by leading executives, OneTen works with coalition members on a skills-based approach to both source talent for open roles and upskill / promote existing talent within company organizations. OneTen encourages companies to identify roles that pay a living wage, have a low risk of being automated, do not require a four-year degree, and focus on the applicant's skill set, demonstrated experience, and ability to execute the role. "We are thrilled to have Wells Fargo join the OneTen coalition and embrace our mission to catalyze opportunities for Black talent to grow the United States economy, specifically in the financial services sector," said Maurice Jones, Chief Executive Officer of OnTen. "At OneTen, we believe that connecting Black talent with family-sustaining careers will transform the prospects of those families, companies and the American project. We look forward to working closely with Wells Fargo to achieve our common goals."



Wells Fargo, now one of nearly 50 companies that are part of the OneTen coalition, will begin the onboarding process that includes determining the number of jobs, geographic locations, new hires and promotions the company will target as part of the commitment. OneTen matches its coalition members with talent developers that will align their working groups to help source candidates for positions. Wells Fargo also will participate in quarterly Community of Practice gatherings that bring the leadership of coalition companies together to inspire and share information and best practices as each works to achieve goals of this commitment. "Joining this coalition gives Wells Fargo another great resource and partner to reach diversity and inclusion goals in our workforce," said Carly Sanchez, Head of Talent Acquisition, Wells Fargo. "OneTen brings a unique approach to sourcing talent and we are looking forward to working with the team to expand employment opportunities and identify a broader pool of talented candidates who are a great match for Wells Fargo positions."

About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets and proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of all middle market companies and small businesses in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 30 on Fortune's 2020 rankings of America's largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health and a low-carbon economy. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories. Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter (News - Alert) : @WellsFargo. Cautionary Statement about Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements about our future financial performance and business. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Forward-Looking Statements" discussion in Wells Fargo's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as well as to Wells Fargo's other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, available on its website at www.sec.gov. About OneTen OneTen is a coalition of leading chief executives and their companies who are coming together to upskill, hire and promote one million Black individuals over the next 10 years who do not yet have a four-year degree into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement. We connect employers with talent partners, leading non-profits and other skill-credentialing organizations who support the development of diverse talent. By creating more equitable and inclusive workforces, we believe we can reach our full potential as a nation of united citizens. Member corporations include Accenture, ADP, Allstate, American Express, Amgen, Aon, AT&T (News - Alert) , Bain & Company, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Cargill, Caterpillar, Cisco, Cleveland Clinic, Comcast, Deloitte , Delta Air Lines, Eli Lilly , General Motors, Gilead Sciences, HP Inc., Humana, IBM (News - Alert) , Illinois Tool Works, Intermountain Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe's, Medtronic, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Merck, Nike, Nordstrom, Northrop Grumman, Pepsico, Roper Technologies, Stryker, Synchrony Financial Target, Trane (News - Alert) Technologies, Verizon, Walmart, Wells Fargo, Whirlpool Corporation, and Yum! Brands. Join us at OneTen.org. News Release Category: WF-DI View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005783/en/

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[May 10, 2021] S&P Global Ratings Provides Full Alignment Opinion On AEDAS Homes Green Financing Framework

MADRID, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Ratings said today that AEDAS Homes S.A.'s Green Financing Framework is fully aligned with the four components of the Green Bond Principles (GBP) and the four components of the Green Loan Principles (GLP). The Framework Alignment Opinion report is available here. "We consider AEDAS Homes' green financing framework to be fully aligned because it commits to using net proceeds of financing issued under the framework to fund eligible green projects that fit into the categories defined by the GBP," said Maria Ortiz de Mendivil, the primary contact at S&P Global Ratings. The framework provides details on the management of proceeds, outlines the process for project evaluation and selection, and commits a high level of transparency for impact reporting. AEDAS Homes Green Financing Framework allows the company's investors to participate in its efforts to facilitate the transition to an environmentally sustainable and low-carbon economy. The green financing framework reflects AEDAS Homes' commitment to promote the development of a sustainable environment to meet some of United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The eligible category defined by the company within the green financing framework is "Green Buildings." Green buildings, including new construction and acquisition of existing buildings (with a rating "B" or above, in the Energy Performance Certificate), help in climate change mitigation and contribute to the development of sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). S&P Global Ratings' Green, Social, or Sustainability Framework Alignment Opinions are not credit ratings. They are a point-in-time second opinion on a seeker of finance's financing framework's alignment with the International Capital Market Assn.'s (ICMA's) Green Bond Principles (GBPs), Social Bond Principles (SBPs), or a combination of the GBPs and SBPs, collectively known as ICMA's Sustainability Bond Guidelines (SBGs), and/or the Loan Market Association's (LMA's), Asia Pacific Loan Market Association's (APLMA's), and Loan Syndications and Trading Association's (LSTA's) Green Loan Principles (GLPs). Framework Alignment Opinions reflect the financing framework only, and do not consider individual financial transactions. They remain effective until such time as there is a change in the financing framework or the relevant Principles. This report does not constitute a rating action. S&P Global Ratings is the world's leading provider of independent credit ratings. Our ratings are essential to driving growth, providing transparency and helping educate market participants so they can make decisions with confidence. We have more than 1 million credit ratings outstanding on government, corporate, financial sector and structured finance entities and securities. We offer an independent view of the market built on a unique combination of broad perspective and local insight. We provide our opinions and research about relative credit risk; market participants gain independent information to help support the growth of transparent, liquid debt markets worldwide.



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S&P Global Ratings, 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-global-ratings-provides-full-alignment-opinion-on-aedas-homes-green-financing-framework-301287722.html SOURCE S&P Global Ratings

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[May 10, 2021] USAFacts Coronavirus Tracking Hub Earns a Gold Media in Edison Awards and an Honorable Mention in Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Competition

USAFacts, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic initiative providing the most comprehensive and understandable single source of government data, today announced its Coronavirus Tracking Hub and Interactive Map earned an Innovation Services Gold Medal for the 2021 Edison Awards' category. It also won an honorable mention in the Pandemic Response category of this year's Fast Company World Changing Ideas competition. Both awards recognize the groundbreaking work that the small but mighty USAFacts team did to inform the public throughout the global pandemic. "On behalf of our entire team, we're honored that our Coronavirus Tracking Hub and Interactive Map has been so well received and recognized. This initiative was inspired by team members who saw it as their responsibility to gather disparate information to keep people informed during the pandemic," said USAFacts Chief Product Officer Richard Coffin. "USAFacts believes in making government data and content available to Americans and this initiative demonstrates the lengths we'll go to to find and share those facts." "We were very impressed by the level of collaboration and discovery in this year's entries," said Edison Universe Executive Director Frank Bonafilia. "Somehow, while facing the unprecedented challenges of this global pandemic, companies around the world figured out how o work safely and smartly and still innovate at an award-winning level. The award-winning work by USAFacts is a prime example."



"There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it's important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems," said Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. "Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020." USAFacts Coronavirus Tracking Hub and Interactive Hub is still live on USAFacts and has been expanded to include a state-level vaccine tracker.

About USAFacts USAFacts is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic initiative making government data easy for all Americans to access and understand. USAFacts provides engaging visuals on data and trends in US spending, revenue, demographics, and policy outcomes to help Americans ground public debate in facts. It produces topical content throughout the year and has produced annual reports and 10-Ks on the nation. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook (News - Alert) , and Instagram at @USAFacts, and sign up for the data-driven newsletter at www.usafacts.org. 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. About the World Changing Ideas Awards World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company's major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005827/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Student-Led Startup Skin Releaf Takes USD 25,000 Top Prize in Standard Chartered 2021 Women in Tech Incubator Competition

Standard Chartered ("Bank") is pleased to award Skin Releaf, the 2021 winner of its Women in Tech ("WiT") Incubator Competition, $25,000 of seed money to support the development of its business plans. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005857/en/ Skin Releaf, winner of 2021 Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator Competition (Photo: Business Wire) As part of the WiT program, Skin Releaf created an online platform to help people of color improve skin health through access to dermatologists and skin experts. This solution was selected as the winner by judges from both financial and professional services industries. The judges also awarded Nailerz, a digital marketplace that connects licensed nail technicians or small businesses with clients, second place. Nailerz received $5,000 funding to help advance their business idea. "Special thanks to the Zahn staff and Standard Chartered. We are honored and grateful for this opportunity," said Camile Delva, CEO of Skin Releaf. "This year's startup competition has taught us a lot about ourselves and the communities we want to serve. From our weekly boot camps to our Round Robin practice pitches, we learned to identify the problems in our industries, created an innovative solution, and grew as a team. Our plan is to continue to utilize our knowledge, network, and experience to help us move forward." "Congratulations to the Skin Releaf team and everyone involved. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to celebrate the energy, creativity and effort of the many participants and volunteers throughout the program," said Steven Cranwell, CEO of Standard Chartered Americas. "We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to realize their potential. And by providing support, mentorship opportunities and training with the Zahn Innovation Center, we hope to inspire and enable future generations of women-led businesses in New York." This year marks the seventh anniversary of the Bank's partnership with the Zahn Innovation Center ("Zahn Center") at The City College of New York ("CCNY"). Since its launch, which initially had 17% female participants, the program reached gender parity in its third year. To date, over 1,000 students have benefitted from the program. "We are so impressed by what the competitors were able to accomplish over the course of this program, particularly as most never had a chance to meet in person," said Kesia Hudson, Interim Director, Zahn Innovation Center at The City College of New York. "Skin Releaf has identified a niche within the health and beauty industry. Providing access to reliable information and dermatological care will benefit so many people of color struggling with melanated skin issues. We are so excited for their product launches." The incubator is part of the Bank's Futuremakers initiative, aglobal effort where the Bank uses its expertise, staff volunteering and local partners to help young people access jobs and economic opportunities.



For more information on the Women in Tech Incubator, please visit here. To learn about Standard Chartered Americas' other community engagement programs, please click here. # # #

About the Women in Tech Incubator at the Zahn Innovation Center Formed in October 2014, the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator program is an initiative that aims to support greater diversity in gender representation within the technology sector. The incubator program is a partnership with the Zahn Innovation Center at the City College of New York that provides support, guidance, and resources that early-stage women-led startups need to grow into successful businesses. This partnership has various levels of engagement and supports entrepreneurship among women across campus through: A mentorship network, including both Bank employees and local leaders in tech and government

A Women in Entrepreneurship themed speaker series

A newly renovated space housing the 'Standard Chartered Technology Incubator for Women Entrepreneurs' Resource Center

Entrepreneurship courses and material to address entrepreneurship challenges About Standard Chartered We are a leading international banking group, with a presence in 59 of the world's most dynamic markets, and serving clients in a further 85. Our purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, and our heritage and values are expressed in our brand promise, Here for good. Our history in the US dates back to 1902, and we are currently present in eight locations throughout the Americas. Our Americas franchise focuses on financial institutions and select corporates and plays a key role in facilitating trade and investment flows between the Americas and Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Standard Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges. For more stories and expert opinions please visit Insights at sc.com. Follow Standard Chartered on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY's annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the "for dollar" return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005857/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Ed TALKS Brings Together Leading Experts on Privacy

WILMINGTON, Mass., May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Security Innovation , an authority in software security assessment and training, announced that its upcoming Ed TALKS on May 13th will discuss privacy and security in the context of new laws and todays digital landscape. Three industry experts will gather with CEO Ed Adams to discuss the organizational impacts of privacy, compliance, and the difference between data security and data privacy.

Featured speakers include: Erika Fisher , Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel, Atlassian

, Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel, Atlassian Larry Ponemon , Chairman, Ponemon Institute

, Chairman, Ponemon Institute Elena Elkina , Partner / Privacy & Data Protection Management Executive, Aleada Consulting



While GDPR got companies scrambling to address their privacy practices, recent legislation like CCPA and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act set the trajectory for consumers to maintain greater control of their data. The continued growth of IoT, AI, and other data-driven technologies will force organizations to rethink their data privacy and security programs. Today, as companies grapple with massive digital privacy weaknesses, concerned consumers feel powerless. A 2020 research study from the Ponemon Institute found that 68% of consumers are more concerned about privacy and the security of their personal information than they were three years ago.



This panel of experts will discuss the intersection of digital privacy, corporate responsibility, government regulation, and consumer concerns. Despite increasing attention in the cybersecurity industry over the past few years, privacy threats are constantly increasing and evolving, said Ed Adams, CEO of Security Innovation and host of Ed TALKS. It is critical for organizations to have a strategic focus on strengthening their security posture around privacy or face the risk of financial and reputational damage that even a simple breach could cause. What: Privacy in a Gossipy, Digital World

When: May 13th, 2021 at 1:00 pm EDT

Register: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/16345/483804

The experts on this webinar will cover a broad range of privacy-related topics, including: Findings from the Ponemon Institute recent study "Privacy and Security in a Digital World

The impacts of emerging technologies, such as 5G and AI on privacy programs

How the WFH movement has changed corporate strategies for privacy and security

Practical tips on how to protect both privacy and data security ABOUT ED TALKS  Engaging, Realistic, Diverse

Led by Ed Adams, CEO of Security Innovation, Ed TALKS is an engaging, practical discussion of security in practice and the real challenges being faced. Mr. Adams invites industry luminaries and practitioners to discuss approaches and challenges to securing our digital world: complex tech stacks, evolving threats, motivated attackers, mounting regulations, and unsettling skill gaps. ABOUT SECURITY INNOVATION

Security Innovation is a pioneer in software security and literally wrote the book How to Break Software Security. Since 2002, organizations have relied on the companys assessment and training solutions to secure software wherever it runs. Recognized 6x on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for computer-based security training, CMD+CTRL Training combines role-based courses with hands-on cyber ranges to build skills that stick. With over 3.5 million users, CMD+CTRL helps all software security stakeholders address the risk of todays tech stacks  flawed design, defenseless code, expanded attack surface, and misconfigured deployments. For more information, visit https://www.securityinnovation.com/ or connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter . Maureen Robinson

Marketing Director

Security Innovation

+1.978.694.1008 x21

mrobinson@securityinnovation.com



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[May 10, 2021] NewRez Appoints Raj Singh as Chief Risk Officer

NewRez LLC ("NewRez", the "Company"), a national mortgage lending and servicing organization, announced today that Rajinder Singh has joined its executive team as Chief Risk Officer, effective immediately. As Chief Risk Officer, Mr. Singh will oversee all aspects of risk, including the development and implementation of scalable infrastructure, analytics, processes, and systems for enterprise-wide risk management. This elevated, executive position reflects NewRez's objective to further emphasize risk management throughout the entire organization. "Raj brings a wealth of experience in risk, audit, management, and process improvement to NewRez," said Baron Silverstein, President of NewRez. "His extensive knowledge of the mortgage industry and experience in enterprise risk management will further support advancing our Company and our strategic objectives. Raj will be a crucial member of our leadership team and play a key role in fostering a strong risk culture that helps responsibly grow our business. We are thrilled to welcome him to NewRez." "NewRez is a distinguished leader within the mortgage industry with a clear focus on elevating risk management across all facets of the Company's strategy," said Mr. Singh. "I look forward to working with the NewRez team to continue providing best-in-class service and experience to our customers, clients and homeowners." A seasoned leader in global financial services, Mr. Singh bringsmore than 23 years of experience to his new role. His career background includes leading risk management teams at Genworth, Citigroup, GM Financial, and GE Capital and he is an experienced board member of public companies, private companies, and non-profit organizations. Mr. Singh earned his M.B.A in Finance from the University of Rochester, Bachelor's degree in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and has completed The Wharton School's Advanced Risk Management Program.



Headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, with offices across the United States, NewRez specializes in finding the right loan for every borrower. The lender offers a wide range of mortgage products that help make the dream of homeownership attainable. Visit newrez.com for more information on products and instructions on applying for a loan. About NewRez

NewRez is a leading nationwide mortgage lender and servicer. As a lender, NewRez focuses on offering a breadth of industry-leading products, supported by a loan process that blends both human interaction and the benefits of technology into an unparalleled customer experience. Founded in 2008 and licensed to lend in 50 states, NewRez is headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and operates multiple lending channels, including Correspondent Lending, Wholesale, Direct-to-Consumer, Retail, and a network of joint venture partners. NewRez's servicing business consists of its performing loan servicing division, NewRez Servicing, and its special servicing division, Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing. NewRez also has several affiliates that perform various services in the mortgage and real estate industries. These include Avenue 365 Lender Services, LLC, a title agency, and E Street Appraisal Management LLC, an appraisal management company. NewRez is member of the New Residential Investment Corp. family. More information is available at www.newrez.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005930/en/

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[May 10, 2021] ZEISS to Acquire Capture 3D to Extend Its Industry Expertise in 3D Measurement and Inspection Solutions

ZEISS plans to expand its national coverage in the US for its Industrial Quality & Research segment by acquiring Capture 3D. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, Capture 3D is the leading US partner for GOM 3D non-contact measuring solutions. With this acquisition customers will benefit from a seamless integrated experience to get the best measuring solutions for their specific tasks. "We are pleased to bring the Capture 3D team and their know-how into the ZEISS Group," states Dr. Jochen Peter, member of the ZEISS Group Executive Board responsible for the Industrial Quality & Research segment. "After the acquisition of GOM two years ago, we will now also combine our strategic forces in the important US market to provide customers with best-in-class measuring solutions from one source." "We look forward to being a part of ZEISS to combine our efforts in serving our customers with the best in class measuring solutions and services," adds Richard White, CEO of Capture 3D. "Being part of the ZEISS Family will open up new opportunities for the Capture 3D team and our customers in the future." "Having such a talented team with expert industry knowledge and a passion for 3D metrology is important," states Michael Kirchner, Head of ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions in the US. "This will expand the ZEISS support network for our customers." Once the transaction is complete, Capture 3D will become part of the Industrial Quality Solutions strategic business unit within the ZEISS Industrial Quality & Research segment (revenue in 2019/20: 1.640 billion euros). Subject to approval by the regulatory authorities, the transaction is due to be finalized in summer 2021. Both sides have agreed not to disclose the financial details of this transaction. About ZEISS ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 6.3 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2020). For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distribues highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.



With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development - this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future. With over 32,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, microscopy systems for industrial quality assurance as well as metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the portfolio. In addition, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with ZEISS Quality Excellence Centers close to its customers. The company is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment. About Capture 3D Capture 3D, Inc. is the leading US partner for GOM GmbH (a ZEISS company) located in Santa Ana, California. Founded in 1997 as one of the first distributors of GOM, they now have 5 locations across the US with nearly 100 employees and over 2,900 installations. From marketing and sales, to engineering, automation, and support, Capture 3D is specialized in GOM technology for various industries. They provide innovative 3D measurement solutions to help customers make significant improvements in product design, manufacturing, quality control, and production processes. Capture 3D's solutions deliver meaningful data intelligence to empower its customers to make good decisions and be successful. In fiscal year 2019, the company generated approximately 44 million dollars in revenue. Capture 3D combines vast industry expertise with robust technology to change the way people think about and experience measurement. Further information at www.capture3d.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005921/en/

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[May 10, 2021] Brinks Home Announces Partnership With ShopHQ Network

Brinks Home has entered an exclusive agreement to provide home security and automation services through the ShopHQ network. This long-term partnership will allow both companies to provide a unique offering to a new customer segment. "This partnership with ShopHQ allows us to put our products and platinum grade protection in front of Americans who may not have considered smart home security before," said Eric Hattey, senior director of New Channel Evolution, Brinks Home. "We want homeowners to know that Brinks Home offers more than security-we make their homes smarter, more efficient, and provide them with peace of mind whether they are at home or away." As part of the agreement, customers who purchase through ShopHQ will have access to an exclusive set of product packages, professional installation, and a guaranteed monthly rate for the duration of their contract. "Our go-to-market strategy includes identifying unique partnership opportunities that open up new consumer audiences to the unique offering that Brinks Home provides customers," said Kelly Atkinson, chief commercial officer, Brinks Home. "The partnership with ShopHQ is an opportunity to further expand the awareness of potential customers to the high level of service, variety of products, and commitment to quality that we prvide."



The exclusive ShopHQ Brinks Home packages will be available through shophq.com or may be purchased during live television segments with ShopHQ hosts and a Brinks Home security expert. About Brinks Home

Brinks Home is one of the largest home security and alarm monitoring companies in North America. Headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Brinks Home provides platinum grade protection to over 950,000 residential and commercial customers through highly responsive, simple security solutions backed by expertly trained professionals. The company has one of the nation's largest networks of independent authorized dealers and agents-providing products and support to customers in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico-as well as direct-to-consumer sales of DIY and professionally installed products. To learn more about Brinks Home or how to become an Authorized Dealer, Partner, or Representative, visit brinkshome.com or brinkshome.com/partners. The exclusive ShopHQ + Brinks Home offer includes three months of free monitoring when you sign-up for a new smart security system. About iMedia Brands, Inc. iMedia Brands, Inc. is a leading interactive media company that owns a growing portfolio of lifestyle television networks, consumer brands, and media commerce services. The brand portfolio spans multiple business models and product categories-television brands are ShopHQ, ShopBulldogTV, ShopHQHealth, and LaVenta; media commerce services brands are Float Left Interactive and i3PL; and consumer brands include J.W. Hulme, Live Fit, and Indigo Thread. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005997/en/

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[May 10, 2021] InvestCloud Signs Pioneering Wealth Management Deal with MUFG, Japan's Largest Bank

SINGAPORE, HONG KONG and TOKYO, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- InvestCloud , an award winning global FinTech firm serving some of the largest banks, wealth managers and asset managers in the world, today announced the deployment of its Wealth Adviser Platform by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan's largest bank and one of the world's largest banks by total assets. InvestCloud's Wealth Adviser Platform will be used by many MUFG employees to support end-to-end wealth management and financial planning. The engagement reflects not only the multi-jurisdictional reach of the InvestCloud Wealth Adviser Platform, but also the company's pioneering status in Japan, which is the second largest wealth management market by country. InvestCloud established a dedicated local presence in 2019 and has since moved to a larger Tokyo office while expanding a fast-growing local team of IT and walth management professionals whose skill sets match the needs of financial service providers in Japan.



Christine Ciriani, CEO of the InvestCloud Private Banking division, says: "We've made a significant investment in our Japanese presence. This means everything from supporting local regulation to adapting our wealth management platform to the Japanese script and the Japanese calendar. The strength of our local team is being recognised by some of the largest firms in Japan, because the team understands the financial culture and has the right discipline to deliver projects to our Japanese clients." Haruka Homma, Country Manager Japan, InvestCloud says: "Thanks to our Japanese presence and expert knowledge of the local market, we have been able to ensure programme delivery to MUFG with our local team, while providing remote support from additional InvestCloud resources as needed. We are looking forward to growing our Japanese presence further and continuing to support MUFG through delivering innovative and market-leading platform for wealth management services amidst a fast-growing regional customer needs."

About InvestCloud InvestCloud is a global company specializing in digital platforms that enable the development of financial solutions, pre-integrated into the Cloud. The company offers on-demand client experiences and intuitive operations solutions using an ever-expanding library of modular apps, resulting in powerful products. Headquartered in Los Angeles, InvestCloud has over 20 global offices including New York, London, Geneva, Singapore and Sydney, supporting trillions in assets across hundreds of diverse clients  from the largest banks in the world to wealth managers, asset managers and asset services companies. For more information, visit InvestCloud.com. SOURCE InvestCloud

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School Nurses Serve Tennessee Students Every Day & Through Pandemic

Nashville, TN In celebration of National School Nurse Day on Wednesday, May 12, the Tennessee Department of Education is recognizing Tennessees over 1,600 school nurses, who support the health and wellness of Tennessee schools and students every day and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In honor of the celebration, Governor Bill Lee proclaimed May 12th as Tennessee School Nurse Day, which coincides with the birthday of 19th century health care advocate, battlefield nurse and Crimean War hero Florence Nightingale.

With the challenges presented during the 2020-21 school year, school nurses have been true heroes, serving our school communities to ensure our students are healthy and able to continue learning, said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. Their contributions have been critical to ensuring in-person learning continues and we give the best for all our students.

School nurses provide services such as assessment, planning, care-coordination, critical thinking skills, quality improvement, health education and promotion which benefit schools, families, and children with acute and chronic health conditions.

For tips and ways districts, schools, and community members can participate, the department has created a toolkit along with accompanying social graphics. Additionally, the department created a highlight video of school nurses from across the state. Click here to view a video from Governor Bill Lee, Commissioner Penny Schwinn, Lt. Governor Randy McNally, and Speaker Cameron Sexton on why they are thankful for Tennessees school nurses.

Throughout the state, district and school leaders have praised the work school nurses have done during this challenging school year.

"Nurses at Hamilton County Schools play an essential role in keeping our schools operating. In order for our children to accelerate academically, they need to be healthy and well cared for. Our school nurses have always positively impacted the lives of our children, but this school year they have gone above and beyond to help us navigate educating students during a global pandemic while also keeping our students and staff healthy. We are so fortunate to have these HCS heroes on our team!"

- Dr. Bryan Johnson, Director of Schools, Hamilton County Schools

"We are so grateful for our school nurses and the commitment and dedication they show each and every day. This past year has brought about very challenging demands on our staff, and they have met and exceeded those in a remarkable way. Unicoi Schools appreciates our school nurses and all they do for our staff and students!"

- John English, Director of Schools, Unicoi County Schools

I would like to thank all our school nurses for everything they do. They always do everything in their power to meet the needs of students whether it is providing clothing, food, etc. while also providing one on one service for every student that enters their office. Our nurses make our students feel like they are the most important people in the entire building."

- Dr. Jeanny Phillips, Director of Schools, Oneida Special Schools

Millington Municipal Schools could not truly take care of our children without our AMAZING nurses. In MMSD we have a saying, Family takes care of family. Our nurses are the aspect of the family that tends to our students health issues every day.

- James Bo Griffin, Director of Schools, Millington Municipal Schools

In what has indeed been an unprecedented year, our school nurses have played a vital role in (Clarksville Montgomery County School Systems) success in keeping our buildings open for our students. They have stepped up, stood out and shined and I have never been more proud of them.

- Danielle Kriminger, BSN, RN, NCSN, Nursing Supervisor, Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools

I cant thank our school nurses enough for their hard work and dedication this year. They went above and beyond every single day to ensure the safety of our students and staff. I could not ask for a better group of nurses to work with. They are truly amazing!

- Liz Sumpter, BSN, RN, Health Services Coordinator, Bristol, Tennessee City Schools

In Macon County, our students have been attending school in-person, 5 days a week, since August, with not one school closure due to COVID. Our school nurses had their first COVID quarantine on the very first day of school and have been doing it ever since (while still doing all their other job responsibilities). They are all physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, but are still here for our students, faculty and staff every single day. I cannot brag on them enough. Absolutely resilient!

- Casey Brawner RN, BSN School Nurse Supervisor, CSH Coordinator, Macon County Schools

I would like to take this time to thank all of our Johnson County School nurses for all their hard work and support during this difficult year. Their strength and dedication to our students and staff has amazed me. I cant put into words how proud I am of each and every one of these ladies.

- Shannon Wood, LPN, CSH Educator, Johnson County Schools

The past year has been a challenging  and interesting  year. As school nurses, they found themselves removed from the clinics within the schools and reinvented the way they work with our students  whether virtually, in the classroom, or in a hybrid world. Our nurses are contact tracers, infectious disease experts, mental health advocates and staunch advocates for the health and safety of our schools and our communities. Students are the heart and soul of what drives the nurses.

- Heather Ledbetter, CSH Coordinator, Maryville City Schools

"Our school nurses worked tirelessly this year to navigate the choppy and ever-changing waters of COVID. They not only assisted our district with plans to be able to safely start the school year in-person but helped keep the doors open and achieve the ultimate goal: finishing the school year in-person. Their diligence to assist students and families affected by COVID has been unwavering. We are truly blessed with the best Nurses at Milan Special School District.

- Kate Smith, CSH Director, Milan Special Schools

I want to thank all our nurses for their hard work this year! Not only have they worked long hours for contact tracing, but also we have had to endure a few tragedies along the way! We have had a terrible bus accident that claimed two lives, family deaths, and just personal struggles along the way. As a group we have all made it work all year! We are all excited for the years to come, and excited that this year is ALMOST over!

- Ashley Hurst, RN, Lead Nurse, Meigs County Schools

I am so blessed to be working with such a knowledgeable, dedicated nursing staff team. They truly keep the best interest of the students, staff, and community in mind with everything they do. I want to personally thank them for showing up every day for their students and staff.

- Madison Branham, RN, Nursing Coordinator, Oak Ridge Schools

Arlington is fortunate to have a school nurse in each school building. Our school nurses play an integral role in bridging health and education to improve each childs cognitive, physical, social and emotional development, regardless of whether they are physically present in school or not. As we say here in Arlington, TN our nurses are #ArlingtonAwesome!

- Dana Viox, BSN, RN, CSH Specialist, Arlington Community Schools

The school nurses for Washington County Schools are truly exceptional. I honestly do not have words to adequately describe their commitment to serving with compassion! This school year has been challenging to say the least and yet, each nurse continues to be flexible, lead with a servant's heart and serve with passion! They truly represent Florence Nightingale's vision for our profession!

- Kelly Wagner, RN BSN, CSH Director, Washington County Schools

Find additional information about Tennessees school nurses in the Annual School Health Services Report.

For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.

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SMYRNA, Tenn. - The Tennessee National Guards 117th Regional Training Institute, headquartered in Smyrna, will conduct a change of command ceremony at the Volunteer Training Site in Smyrna on Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m.

Col. Jason Fleming, the current 117th commander who is from Covington and resides in Stanton, will relinquish command to Lt. Col. Tommie Stevens who resides in Sherwood.

Fleming served as commander since February 2018. During his command, he led the 117th through the COVID-19 pandemic. After the initial quarantine, the 117th was one of the first Army-wide schools to reopen and resume classes using innovative methods to implement CDC recommendations. The 117th graduated over 2,100 students during Flemings time as commander. A field artillery officer with over 31 years of military experience, Fleming will be retiring from the Tennessee National Guard following the ceremony.

Stevens currently serves as the operations officer for the 117th RTI. He is also a field artillery officer whose prior commands include the 2nd Battalion of the 117th RTI and command of Chattanoogas Battery B of the 1-181st Field Artillery Regiment. He deployed overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 35 years of military experience.

The 117th RTI provides nationwide programs and training for Soldiers in the U.S. Army, National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserves. They specialize in individual and team level instruction and certification for Military Police, Armor, and Quartermaster branches as well as commissioning Soldiers through Tennessees Officer Candidate School. They also host and provide numerous training events to ensure the readiness of all forces in the Tennessee National Guard.

******MEDIA COORDINATION INSTRUCTIONS******

Media interested in attending must RSVP by calling the 117th Regional Training Institute at (615) 355-3712 or email Sgt. 1st Class James Mayberry at james.o.mayberry@mail.mil. Media will be met in the lobby of Building 500 in Smyrnas Volunteer Training Site prior to the ceremony. All CDC guidelines will be adhered to.
A local lobbyist organization shares a bit of chest thumping after a recent legislative win against jaywalking.

Here's their perspective as the group continues to push forward their agenda . . . Read more:

Since the summer of 2020, BikeWalkKC has advocated for the decriminalization of walking and biking. In a letter to Mayor Quinton Lucas , we identified three portions of the municipal code which effectively criminalized the activities of walking and biking: In January, Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced Ordinance #210100 to address these measures.
A note from the courthouse hopes to encourage pandemic public health solutions for the urban core.

Check-it . . .



Jackson County Executive endorses $5 million vaccine hesitancy and health services proposal for citys eastside



KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. will express his support at Mondays legislative meeting for Our Healthy KC Eastside (OHKCE), a community-based partnership and project to address vaccine hesitancy and health inequities in portions of Jackson County identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having exceedingly high socially vulnerable index scores. The meeting on Monday, May 10 begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Legislative Assembly Area on the 2nd floor of the downtown Jackson County Courthouse.



Led by Dr. Jannette Berkley-Patton, Director of the UMKC Health Equity Institute, the OHKCE project proposes the use of $4,998,014 in CARES Act funding to implement its innovative efforts. The project is proposed to take place June 1, 2021  November 31, 2021 with primary goals to significantly increase vaccination intake and the use of prevention health services.



Building on nearly two decades of large-scale collaborative community studies, the organizers will fully engage community members in the multi-sectoral COVID-19 education, communication and vaccination project. The OHKCE project will also tap the University of Missouri Kansas Citys, Truman Medical Centers and the Black Health Care Coalitions extensive experience in providing health services in community and medical settings on KCs Eastside.



In addition to County Executive White and Dr. Berkley-Patton, the following project partners will be in attendance to speak on the importance of the OHKCE program:



- Dr. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D., Chancellor, University of Missouri-Kansas City

- Charlie Shields, President and CEO, Truman Medical Centers/University Health

- Rev. Eric D. Williams, Pastor, Calvary Temple Baptist

- Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, Dean, UMKC School of Medicine and member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee



These individuals, as well as the Chairman of the Jackson County Legislature, Dan Tarwater, will be available afterward for individual interviews with the media.



A copy of the Our Healthy KC Eastside: A Community-Wide COVID-19 Vaccination and Health Services Project to Address Health Inequities proposal, as well as over 30 letters of support from community partners, is attached.



###

Developing . . .


Progressive public radio shares this report on COVID anxiety amid the return to normal. Hopefully, there will be more resources and attention given to this growing trend as employers struggle to assure workers who are making more cash by way of stimmy.

Read more . . .


(Photo: Unsplash)

The pandemic brought global travel to a screeching halt. The world shut down, and so did travel. That meant people weren't traveling to or from the United States, but now there have been vaccine rollouts around the world.

Some countries are speeding ahead with their vaccination programs, including the United States and Israel, among others.

With vaccines will come an increase in global travel.

If you're outside of the U.S. and you hope to come at some point, what should you know?

The following are some of the big things for travelers coming to America.

Do You Need to Know English?

You can theoretically visit the U.S. without knowing any English, but it's a good idea to have some conversational skills.

When you have English conversational skills, it will make your travels easier and safer. You'll be able to navigate and figure things out, such as how to order at a restaurant and how to get an Uber for example.

If your trip isn't right away, you might want to take the time to brush up on your English conversational skills.

If you're visiting a bigger city, like Los Angeles, Dallas, or New York, you'll hear a lot of languages being spoken, and especially Spanish. The same is true in some southern locations like Miami, which is a very international city.

Then, there are other places where that's not as common.

Can You Enter the U.S. Right Now?

You may have to wait a little longer to come to the U.S. based on current travel restrictions. President Joe Biden issued several restrictions on travel entry, but there are exemptions.

If you've been in certain countries within 14 days before their trip may be denied entry.

The CDC has guidelines for people who have been in foreign countries and hope to enter the U.S. for a visit. First, if you're fullyvaccinated, the guidelines are getting tested 3 to 5 days after you travel and then following any state and local recommendations.

If you aren't vaccinated, you should get a viral test and self-quarantine for seven days after you travel.

The rules and guidelines change quickly, so make sure you're aware of them. You also have to think about the requirements for getting back into your home country.

You aren't considered fully vaccinated until you're two weeks out from your second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two weeks out from your single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Understand The Region Where You're Going

If you're going to be traveling in the south, it's going to be a lot different than traveling in the western U.S. or the northeast, for example.

The south has a lot of mountains, rivers, and lakes. It tends to operate at a slower pace than some other parts of the country, although there are big southern cities including Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville.

The west coast and the northeast tend to be more densely populated than the south and faster-paced.

If you've never been to the U.S., you might expect that every region or area looks the same, or that it's a similar travel experience, and the fact is that it's a very diverse country in all ways.

Most People in the U.S. Tip

One of the biggest adjustments for some overseas travelers to the U.S. is the tipping culture, especially when you're dining out. It's also customary to tip if you valet your car, if you get a service like a manicure or haircut, and if you just get a drink in a bar.

The standard rate is 15% to 20%.

The higher your tip, the more you're saying that you were happy with the service you received.

Don't Forget Your Visa

If you're an international traveler who hopes to come to the U.S., you should give yourself time to sort out your visa. If you don't have the right visa and you show up at the U.S. border, you'll be denied entry.

Some travelers qualify for the ESTA, which stands for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization.

That is a 90-day visa waiver, and it's available to citizens of member countries, which include most European countries, Japan and Australia. You can use this for business or leisure travel for 90 days or less, as long as you have an approved application and a valid passport.

It only takes around 20 minutes to fill out the application online, and when you're approved, the ESTA is valid for two years.

Get Travel Insurance

It's strongly advised that you get travel insurance before going to the U.S. If you were to get hurt or sick, health care costs are very expensive.

Just an ambulance ride can be thousands of dollars, as can a trip to the emergency room for something seemingly simple.

If you have travel insurance, you can protect yourself somewhat.

Try to Visit a National Park

The National Parks in the U.S. really are beautiful and amazing. If you have a chance to see one, do it.

In the south, one of the most popular is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but there are options across the country.

You'll Very Likely Need to Rent a Car

If you're going to be visiting a bigger city, you might be able to get away without having a car, but even in some cities like Dallas or Nashville, you'll probably need one.

If you're going to a smaller city, or you want to travel between locations, you'll absolutely need a car.

America is a car-centric country, and outside of New York, the public transportation options are pretty limited. Everything is spread out, so financially, taking an Uber or cab often doesn't make sense.

The easiest way to do things is to rent a car.

Give yourself a quick refresher on the rules of the road in America before you go, and if you're a pedestrian outside of a big city, be careful because it's not always something U.S. drivers are accustomed to.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018


(Photo: Melina Taj Emphasizes on Collective Contributions to Alleviate Sufferings of COVID-19 Victims)

Across the world, people are coping with the novel coronavirus outbreak crisis. Due to the pandemic, hospitals are trying to manage the ever-increasing demands with limited supplies. Citizens grapple with suspending their livelihoods to protect themselves, their family members, and those with a compromised immune system.

Thankfully, distress in the surroundings hasn't stopped people from giving back to those in need and inspiring us all in these difficult times. Be it celebrities, industrialists, or regular people; everyone's doing their bit amid the pandemic. Many celebrities and those in influential positions are using their power to donate funds, boost everyone's spirits, and increase awareness. One of them is the Iranian beauty influencer, Shabnam Tajik, popularly known as Melina Taj.

The young influencer, who's also a renowned fashion designer and makeup creator on Instagram and YouTube, is trying to make a difference amid the pandemic. She is always encouraging her massive fanbase on various social media platforms to donate as much or as little as they can. Being a leading beauty influencer, especially the first one in Iran, she is considered an Instagram star with over 1 million followers. Melina Taj believes that having a virtual family of over a million people comes with its perks. If they all join hands together, they can help those at the receiving end of this pandemic. She's also of the opinion that it's a moral responsibility of every public figure to guide, assist, and encourage people to donate for COVID-19 relief.

Taj added, "It's time to say we can, we will, and we must help. I'm thankful to those who have extended their helping hands in some way or the other. Your generosity will go a long way! And the rest, let's continue supporting the fight against COVID-19." Her deep emphasis on collective donations stems from her belief that the same contributions - monetary or otherwise - can provide support to those suffering during the pandemic. From essentials, food supply, and medical aid, to supporting those in need, there is a lot to be done.

In many of her social media stories and posts, Taj expresses concern over the devastation caused due to the coronavirus. She believes, her charitable endeavor and philanthropy through her influence and impact can help make a tangible difference. Taj explained, "This pandemic has affected every single individual. We have never witnessed a crisis of this magnitude. That's why we must stand united and support each other in our time of need."

Through her influence, words, actions, and relationship with fans, Taj hopes that her efforts and initiative will increase awareness. On the other hand, through Instagram and YouTube, the young influencer can often be seen spreading smiles and cheers to lighten the stressful times.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018


(Photo: University of Phoenix's Christopher Wilson Wins 2020 Faculty of the Year Award)

From a field of more than 1,300 applicants, University of Phoenix instructor Christopher Wilson won the University's 2020 Faculty of the Year Award. He is one of just 15 winners. Wilson, a member of the College of Health Professions faculty, started his University of Phoenix journey at the Oregon State Fair in 2004, when he noticed the University booth at the trade fair pavilion. Said Wilson, "After many starts and stops in my life with college, I simply wanted to complete my degree. University of Phoenix and Portland State became the two places I was considering, and University of Phoenix won because of the systems they have to support students. I didn't have that support anywhere else."

Wilson went on to earn his Bachelor of Science in Human Services degree from University of Phoenix in 2008 and his Education Specialist and Master of Science in Leadership degrees at other universities. He is currently working to complete his doctoral degree in Education with an emphasis on Leadership in Higher Education at University of Phoenix.

Wilson's Teaching Journey

At University of Phoenix, Wilson teaches traditional and competency-based Master of Health Administration courses. He also teaches middle school math and science in the Illinois East St. Louis School District. However, he didn't start out wanting to be a teacher. Wilson spent 15 years in the Army National Guard, served as the Director of Education and Development at Oregon State Hospital and worked at the Medicaid Office of the Oregon Health Authority. At University of Phoenix, he served as the College of Healthcare Administration's program chair from 2015 to 2018. While in that position, he helped to found the University's honor society, Upsilon Phi Delta, which now has more than 2,000 members.

Wilson is very modest about his considerable achievements. However, Chair of the College of Health Professions Rich Schultz, Ph.D, had this to say about Wilson: "Christopher is fondly remembered as a team player, leader, subject matter expert and an altruistic professional!" Schultz knows Wilson well. He is his supervisor at the College of Health Professions and a member of Wilson's dissertation committee. Schultz explained Wilson's teaching style: "Christopher ... provides the safety net for failure which he translates into learning moments from which student successes are soon realized."

Wilson's Favorite Courses

Wilson said that his favorite courses to teach concern ethics. For example, the Master of Health Administration class on authentic leadership made Wilson realize how much of an impact course discussion can have on his students. "We do an asynchronous video chat where students can post responses," Wilson explained. "That's been received so well by the students because it changes and challenges them." The responses from his students, many of whom are joining the discussion at home with kids and pets in the background, has driven home the point for him that his students come from a wide variety of experiences, situations and home cities. After watching one student react to the discussion and tie it into the current climate of social protest and civil disobedience, Wilson recalled, "It hit me that what we were doing was special."

Students Make the Real Difference

While Wilson appreciated the award, he believes that it's the students who make the real difference. Said Wilson, "The student who's a pharmacist and the student working at the convenience store learn from each other. A lot of students want to get this degree to validate their knowledge, but they also have to figure out what they don't know." The diverse student body at University of Phoenix helps to bring together ideas and points of view that students might never otherwise be exposed to, according to Wilson.

The Thrill of Teaching

Wilson is the first person in his family to earn a college degree. For him, the thrill of teaching is finding the spark in every student. His students describe him as both demanding and supportive. Wilson admits that he's faced more than a few closed doors in his career. "I'm the grittiest person," he said. "And so are our students."

About University of Phoenix

Founded in 1976, University of Phoenix offers a variety of business undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of fields of study. The school has campuses across America for in-person learning and is available online to students worldwide. More than one million students have earned degrees from the University, which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission hlcommision.org. University of Phoenix has an open enrollment policy, meaning it accepts all students who have earned a high school diploma, GED or equivalent.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018


(Photo: France)

France is known for its beautiful culture and natural attractions. They have triggered most of the tourist's attention. It has always been the choicest of travel destinations in the world. Millions of travelers have been here to spend their unforgettable vacations to date. The abundance of tourists drew the attention of France and European countries towards the need for the management of foreign visitors. In Concern with the management, control, and keeping track of the visitors, the ETIAS system has generated.

ETIAS stands for "European Travel Information and Authorization System" is an electronic system that accesses all the information about tourists visiting countries in European Union, including France. Most importantly, the ETIAS will only be pre-screening travelers not needing a Schengen Visa. It is inapplicable for those who require a Schengen Visa.

The requirements to register for the European Travel Information and Authorization System are as follows:

 A valid passport and an Internet connection to complete and submit the ETIAS application.

 Registration fee.

A visitor is free to spend a maximum of 90 days as a tourist and free to travel to any country in the Schengen area. Any business, study, or leisure purposes are allowed up to 90 days, or a visitor more than that requires to carry a Travel Visa. The immigration officer may ask to disclose the amount one has to travel and even ask to show the return tickets.

A visitor is obliged to carry all the needed documents along with him, and to leave its copies back home is preferable. A special check on passport validity is obligatory. A valid passport is mandatory for at least three months to post the planned date of departure from the Schengen area. At least a blank page for stamps is compulsory. An approved ETIAS is essential to travel if one travels from an ETIAS-eligible country.

Many documentation, certifications, and approvals are needed to have a French visa. Since now ETIAS France has been implemented, travelers from visa-free countries or passport holders from these countries are bounded to pass this system to travel to France.

How to apply for ETIAS registration?

Online registration for ETIAS needs a piece of original biographical information, besides the required documents; the most significant is an ID card, a Passport, credit card, debit card, and an e-mail account. This registration will lead to some security questions for verification reasons.

After providing all the required information, other documents, and data, ETIAS will transfer all the data to the different databases of various countries that manage this electronic system, and the data will be re-checked. If the given data matches any illegal activity in any country, the registration will cancel. Then the applicant will not be allowed to travel to any country that is a part of this system.

The ETIAS process is simple and easy. The approvals are mostly announced in few minutes and are also valid for 3- years from the date of issue.

The chief purpose of ETIAS is security. Therefore, it serves to control millions of visitors with a safe trip. Those wishing to explore the EU are trying to register with ETIAS after receiving positive feedback.

People love to travel. Since traveling has facilitated to this extent, people do not want to miss any chance to enjoy themselves with their loved ones at their dream places. On the other hand, the threats of terrorism are on the verge. Thus, implementing such electronic systems for surveillance and safety is the primary measure.

The distinct features of its accuracy in collecting information and simplicity have fascinated all potential visitors.

After approval by ETIAS, one is free to travel to all the 26-countries registered in this system. Being updated to avoid any procedural problem is of vital importance; for the one who wishes to travel abroad, especially to Europe. All of this is to have uninterrupted enjoyment on your most memorable trip.

This unique system of ETIAS is soon to take into action across the borders of Europe for a safer

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018


(Photo: How to Apply for a Canadian Tourist Visa)

Travel restrictions to Canada are expected to end on May 21, 2021, and just in time for visitors to enjoy the start of eventful summer days with plenty more outdoor activities like canoeing, wildlife viewing, camping in the Canadian Rockies, or simply sipping a cocktail (or two) at the Toronto Waterfront. The Canadian tourist industry can't wait to welcome back visitors and show them why Canada is one of the most vibrant destinations to satisfy the wanderlust of every type of traveler!

Itching to book that flight? You might have to take care of some important business first. Below, find out how to apply for a visitor visa in Canada when the much-awaited time finally arrives!

How to Apply for a Canadian Visitor Visa in 3 Steps

Step 1: eTA vs Tourist Visa

The first step is to check if you need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) or a tourist visa to visit Canada. An eTA is a simple entry requirement for visa-exempt foreign nationals, and the application process is much simpler and faster. All you need is a valid passport and $7 to pay the application fee. Your eTA approval will be sent to your email in a matter of minutes!

While an eTA is easy enough to obtain, the majority of visitors require a Canadian tourist visa that's valid for six months. The tourist visa application process is longer, more expensive, and requires more documents.

Read more about the Canadian tourist visa here.

Step 2: Visitor Visa Application Processing Times

One of the most important things you must consider when applying for a Canadian tourist visa is the application processing times so that you can plan your trip and book your flight accordingly. The good news is that the Canadian tourist visa is valid for six months from the time it is issued, and visitor visa applications are typically processed in a few weeks or less, but keep in mind that processing times vary from country to country.

However, it's best to prepare for delays due to additional COVID-19 measures and a surge of applications once the travel ban is lifted.

Step 3: Canada's Tourist Visa Eligibility Requirements

One of the major tourist visa eligibility requirements is to show proof of your genuine intention to visit Canada. So, if you're planning to ski at Whistler Blackcomb, for example, you could include a copy of your hotel reservation or ski pass. Otherwise, if you're going to visit your family, simply include a letter of invitation from your parents, siblings, etc. Other requirements include submitting documents of the following:

Proof of funds to cover your travel expenses during your stay;

Proof of identity and first-time applicants must give their biometrics at an additional fee of $85;

Police certificate (only when asked for by Canadian officials); and

Pay a $100 processing fee.

Use ArriveCAN to Travel to Canada

Currently, all eligible travelers are required to provide travel, contact, and quarantine information upon and after entry into Canada by using ArriveCan, which's available as a mobile app, or you can sign in online. A quarantine plan may be exempt or adjusted from the travel requirements to Canada once the borders open. However, you will be requested to provide a negative COVID-19 test at the airline before boarding an international flight to Canada.

Plan Your Trip. Leave the Admin to Us

Not sure how to proceed from here? Don't let one mistake on your visitor visa application hold you back from an adventure of a lifetime! Simply visit CanadianVisa.org to put your application in the trusted hands of certified visa professionals who know how to apply for a Canadian tourist visa on your behalf and get the results you want - faster!

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Steven B. Merrill Named Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Field Office

Director Christopher Wray has named Steven B. Merrill as the special agent in charge of the Honolulu Field Office. Mr. Merrill most recently served as a financial crimes section chief in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Merrill joined the FBI as a forensic scientist in 1991 and was selected as a special agent in 1994. His first assignment as an agent was to the San Francisco Field Office, where he worked on the investigation and prosecution of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and also conducted public corruption investigations.

In 2006, Mr. Merrill served as an acting supervisory special agent at FBI Headquarters as a Department of Justice advisor to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. He was promoted to assistant legal attache to New Delhi in 2007 and was the first FBI agent to respond to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Mr. Merrill supervised public corruption, civil rights, and antitrust investigations in San Francisco in 2010. He resumed work as assistant legal attache in 2013, this time in Manila, Philippines.

In 2017, Mr. Merrill was promoted to assistant special agent in charge in the Boston Field Office, where he managed white collar crime matters in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. He also managed the forensic accountant program and oversaw the Varsity Blues college admissions case and the Insys Therapeutics health care fraud case.

He was promoted to section chief at Headquarters in 2019, leading the FBIs efforts to identify, deter, and disrupt complex financial cases involving health care, money laundering, virtual assets, intellectual property crime threats, and economic crimes. He also led the FBIs efforts to combat fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Merrill earned a bachelors degree from the University of Miami and masters degree in forensic science from the George Washington University.

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Last Friday, 149 out of 249 stores along a 1.2-km strip were clearly empty, which translates into a vacancy rate of around 60 percent and is even worse than the 38 percent in the first quarter of this year estimated by the Korea Real Estate Board.

Just two years ago, Myeong-dong was dotted with posters and signs welcoming Chinese tourists, while hawkers learned Chinese and Japanese to attract customers. But now two out of three stores are empty and "for rent" signs have replaced the banners welcoming tourists.

Store owners who have been doing business there for 30 to 40 years say the coronavirus pandemic is not the only reason that the area is turning into a ghost town.

Seoul's downtown shopping district of Myeong-dong is on a sharp decline. Gone are the days when the glitzy storefronts and bustling stalls in the prime shopping area attracted people of all ages.

One 53-year-old worker who was busy removing merchandise from a shuttered store said, "Stores that closed temporarily while their leases were still running are moving out now they're expiring. I never imaged that such a bustling shopping district would end up like this."

Myeong-dong was hit harder than other areas when tourism ground to a halt because it had focused solely on the tourist market. Kim Seok-soo (62), who has run a coffee shop for 29 years, said, "Even until the early 2000s, there were a lot of unique stores in Myeong-dong, but they all turned into cosmetics shops catering mainly to foreign tourists. All of the marketing efforts were aimed at tourists, while local customers were ignored, so they stayed away."

Hwang Dong-ha, head of the merchants' association in Myeong-dong, said, "Some 82 percent of tourists made a beeline for Myeong-dong, so store owners went all out to capture them. Local shoppers might buy one or two cosmetic products, but foreigners would spend W1-2 million worth per visit, which prompted store owners to focus on them" (US$1=W1,117).

One estate agent in the area said, "Local customers started associating Myeong-dong with Chinese tourists. Even when the pandemic ends, Korean customers won't come back."

Kim Young-keun, who has run an optician's since 1994, said, "In the past, Myeong-dong was the heart of Seoul, but that aura of being home to long-established shops, restaurants, tailors and jewelers no longer exists."

The high rents became another problem, soaring to W1 billion per 3.3 sq.m. Hwang at the merchants' association said, "Building owners have slashed the rent by up to 70 percent, but there are still no takers. The appraised value of the property has doubled, while landlords are practically begging tenants to stay. But even if rent has declined sharply, who in their right mind would think about investing their money to open a shop here now?"

Cosmetics will always have some appeal for Chinese tourists if and when they return, but the district has been hollowed out. Can Myeong-dong recover some of its former glory by going back to basics? Kim, the optician, said, "Store owners in Myeong-dong need to do some hard thinking and look for ways to bring local customers back."
As it detects genetic material, it should be fine. but, hey, who am i ...

Ask the airline that will carry you to Germany. They will be the one responsible for you having the correct travel documents (that includes the correct test).

I guess with FCA you mean FRA
During a working trip to Luhansk region on May 8, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a video conference with President of the Republic of Latvia Egils Levits.

As a result of the conversation, the heads of state signed a joint declaration on Ukraine's European prospect, the press service of the President of Ukraine informs.

Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Latvia and its President for supporting Ukraine, especially since 2014.

"Thank you for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, for helping the wounded Ukrainian military, for expert assistance in carrying out reforms," he said.

The President of Ukraine also congratulated Egils Levits on the Day of Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia which was celebrated on May 4.

The leaders discussed the steps taken by the governments of the two countries to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The interlocutors also exchanged information on the progress of immunization and agreed on the importance of ensuring access to the COVID-19 vaccine for EU partner countries.

Separately, the heads of state discussed the aggravation of the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea. They stressed the importance of launching the Crimean Platform as a mechanism for the de-occupation of Crimea and the protection of the rights of people living on the peninsula. Egils Levits confirmed his participation in the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform in Kyiv on August 23 this year.

"The Crimean Platform is a very important initiative of Ukraine, aiming to prevent the international community from forgetting the problem of Crimea. I am one hundred percent sure that Ukraine will be able to return Crimea, and I think that the Crimean Platform is a very important political tool for this," said the President of Latvia.

In addition, the heads of state discussed a number of issues on the bilateral agenda, in particular, stressed the importance of restoring the dynamics of trade and economic cooperation to reach pre-crisis levels.

The talks resulted in the signing of a joint declaration on Ukraine's European prospect, in which the two leaders commended the significant progress made in implementing the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, support the need to update it, agree on the need for a strategic revision of the Eastern Partnership initiative and express intentions to strengthen joint efforts to support Ukraine's integration into the European Union. The presidents also pointed out Ukraine's intention to apply for EU membership in the future and agreed that the Republic of Latvia would support Ukraine when our state is ready for this responsible step.

Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Egils Levits for supporting Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

As the Presidents press service notes, Latvia became the third country with which such a Declaration was signed, joining the circle of closest friends and partners of Ukraine. Relevant declarations were concluded with Lithuania and Poland in March and May this year.

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On Tuesday, May 11, the three-day All-Ukrainian Forum Ukraine 30. Countrys Security will start.

Within the framework of the event, key representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and international partners will discuss the National Security Strategy, the fighting capacity of the Ukrainian army, and internal security for which the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible, the organizers of the Forum told Ukrinform.

President of Ukraine  Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will open the Forum. He will outline the basic principles of the National Security Strategy of Ukraine.

The second day will be dedicated to the topic of national security in the field of defense and the role of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, the reform of the Armed Forces and the defense industry according to NATO standards and the fighting capacity of the military reserve will be discussed.

Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov will open the third day of the Forum. The main topic of this day is the internal security of the state and the protection of its borders.

"The participants will touch upon the security challenges and prospects for overcoming them, capacity building in the field of civil protection and public safety, as well as border security, migration processes, and international cooperation," the event organizers informed.

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The Russian-controlled armed formations in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADLR) handed over prisoner exchange lists to Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reports, this was announced by a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, a member of the humanitarian subgroup Tetiana Ivanova on the air of Ukraine 24 TV channel.

At the same time, she noted that the Ukrainian side had submitted the lists for exchange six months ago.

"The Ukrainian side handed over the lists for prisoner exchange six months ago, or even earlier. All this time, Ukraine has insisted that we be given lists by CADLR in a mirror way. These lists were not submitted for a long time, and we received those lists in April," Ivanova said.

According to her, the lists are being currently specified.

As reported, according to the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova, 251 Ukrainians are held captive by the militants in the temporarily occupied territories.

At the same time, as the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG stated, Russia and Russian-controlled militants are blocking the process of prisoner exchange.

However, the "all for all" exchange was one of the agreements reached at the summit of the Normandy format leaders in Paris on December 9, 2019.

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Published May 10, 2021

The University of Louisiana Monroe is home to the federally funded TRIO Programs, which focuses on assisting first-generation and income-eligible students earn a college degree.

An essential facet of TRIOs Educational Talent Search is the Outreach Program and its mentoring program, Rising Above Mediocrity for Success, or R.A.M.S., for students at Richwood, Wossman, and Carroll high schools.

R.A.M.S. is directed by Joe Riser, TRIO Outreach Coordinator, with Tommie Nelson, TRIO Retention/Outreach Coordinator, and Brenda Grover, a robotics teacher at Richwood.

Students in R.A.M.S. were honored for their academic achievements and participation at the TRIO Scholars Brunch on Saturday, May 1, 2021, at the ULM Activity Center.

The guest speaker was Ebony Watson, MSN, Assistant Professor in the Kitty DeGree School of Nursing. Several seniors shared how R.A.M.S. helped them make positive choices and plans to further their education.

Ebony Watson, MSN, Associate Professor of Nursing, left, with nursing student Brea Lockett, who received a scholarship from Parks Community Service, Inc., through ULMs TRIO Programs.

Photo by Tommie Nelson/TRIO Programs

TRIO Programs partner Parks Community Support Service, Inc., awarded scholarships for top GPAs and/or trophies to Richwood graduating seniors. The students include Zoe Wilson, Curterrius Williams, Lee Dixon, Esmeralda Duenez-Sauceda, MarTanea McGee, RiShante Cooks, and Joe Cleveland.

Brea Lockett, a nursing student who is a volunteer with TRIO Programs, also received a scholarship at the event.

Special attendees were Eric Davis, Ed.D., Principal of Carroll High School; Linda Coleman, Richwood High School counselor; and robotic/science teachers Wandesha Traylor of Wossman; Shirley Neal of Carroll; and Brenda Grover of Richwood.

Representing ULM were Valerie Fields, Ed.D., Vice President for Student Affairs, Pamela Saulsberry, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and John Sutherlin, Ph.D., Chief Innovation and Research Officer.

R.A.M.S. meets regularly at ULM for mentoring activities designed to boost success in school and life, as well as going on enriching field trips to explore museums, historical sites, college campuses, and STEM learning sites.

ULM TRIO is proud to support our high school participants. Their success is critical to the mission of ULM and TRIO, said Catherine Estis, Ph.D. Executive Director of TRIO Programs.

Educational Talent Search is one of eight federal TRIO programs designed to assist first-generation/income-eligible students in completing high school prepared and ready to enroll in college and graduate with a baccalaureate degree. The U.S. Department of Education fully funds TRIO Programs.

For more information about TRIO Programs at ULM, visit https://www.ulm.edu/research/trio/index.html.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi at joint press event with European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson.  European Union, 2021

Thank you very much, thank you Ylva. I just want to echo what Commissioner [for Home Affairs] Johansson just said. Im here for two-three days in Brussels for a number of meetings. The fact that over this weekend, we have witnessed again arrivals through the Central Mediterranean is further proof that we do need the [European] Pact [on Migration and Asylum].

Europe needs a predictable mechanism to deal with these matters. Yes, there were several boats coming, but were talking about manageable numbers.

Through a rational and agreed mechanism, this would be very manageable, in our opinion.

Even if, as always in the beginning of the summer, there are more arrivals  what we need is a more and more predictable, more efficient State-led mechanism to rescue people at sea, because weve also seen in the last few weeks a lot of loss of life.

We need, of course, a predictable mechanism for disembarkation and relocation.

We need to stop the pushbacks that are happening all along the external border of the European Union. And we need a mechanism to investigate those pushbacks when they happen.

And I fully agree with the Commissioner  we need a mechanism that balances proper arrival arrangements with solidarity through relocation.

I personally think that this is the least that Europe could put in place.

Lets not forget that when we talk about sharing the responsibility for refugees, asylum seekers and other people of concern to my organization [UN Refugee Agency], 90 per cent of those people around the world are not in rich countries. They are in Africa, they in the Middle East, they are in Asia.

So what were asking of Europe is something that other countries are already doing quite substantively, as we have seen even throughout the pandemic.

We also need clearly, and thats what we also discussed with the Commissioner Johansson - we need a good efficient and fair, rights-based, but nevertheless fair, mechanism of return to their countries of those that are not recognized as refugees. And this mechanism needs the support also of the countries to which they would be returned.

Finally, two more points that are also very important aspects of the proposed Pact.

One is stepping up resettlement, meaning European States taking refugees from other countries where they are already refugees - like Lebanon for example, Turkey, Kenya, Pakistan and so forth. And I am very happy that the [European] Commission is increasing its initiatives to encourage States to do more resettlement to provide safe pathways for refugees that could come to Europe and avoid going through dangerous routes.

Then of course there is an external dimension of the Pact  helping countries hosting large numbers of refugees, or transit countries through which refugees come such as in countries in Africa for example  manage better those flows so that way it can be avoided that people embark again on further dangerous journeys.

I want to conclude by saying that I do know, I am perfectly aware, that the negotiations around the Pact are very complex, that there are different interests that need to be reconciled.

But I would like to put on record once more that the United Nations Refugee organization is fully behind the European Commission in hoping and trusting that these arrangements will eventually be approved by the European Union.
Dhaka, May 9 (UNI) Relief materials have been distributed among journalists in the capital amid Covid-19 crisis.

Partex group, the countrys major business establishment, stood beside the journalists who have been badly affected due to the pandemic.

MA Hashem Trust, a concern of Partex Group, today (Monday) distributed food stuff also among cultural workers, members of third gender and poor people.
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In the history of the world there have been some very bad ideas: Screen doors on submarines. New Coke. Eliminating nearly 22 child protective social worker positions at the NH Division for Children, Youth and Families. While the first idea is a joke and the second idea a marketing failure, t
Spain's SOS Desaparecidos missing persons group has called for the public's help to locate Miguel Hurtado Cuenca, who has been missing since 22 April. The group has released a photograph of the 16-year-old in an effort to find him.

Miguel is described as tall for his age - at 1.87 metres - with a thin build, short brown hair and brown eyes.

The SOS Desaparecidos organisation has released two telephone numbers for anyone to call if they have any information about Miguels whereabouts - 642 650 775 or 649 952 957. It is also possible to contact them by email at sosdesaparecidos@sosdesaparecidos.es.
DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 10th May, 2021) Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, today toured the new Sharjah Livestock Market as part of a series of site visits aimed at boosting national food security through ensuring the flexibility and continuity of food supply chains, and improving the efficiency of consignment inspection and release procedures.

The Minister inspected the market facilities, including livestock and poultry shops, barns, and veterinary clinics and laboratories.

Dr. Al Nuaimi said: "We are pleased with the markets state-of-the-art services and facilities. Enhancing national food security is a strategic priority of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. To achieve this objective, we have adopted a multi-pronged approach, including boosting public-private partnerships in the sector, and reinforcing the countrys local and international food supply chains through increasing the number of food import markets and improving the efficiency of procedures at border quarantine, examination, and laboratory facilities to fast-track the release of inbound consignments.

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According to the latest update as of 31st March, 2021, there are 165 accredited slaughterhouses from 64 countries exporting Halal meat to the UAE. Sheep imports between January and April 2021 have seen a year-on-year increase of 35 percent, from 300,225 head in 2020 to 405,773 head in 2021. Over the same period, cattle imports recorded a 58 percent year-on-year increase  from 5,928 head to 9,358 head.

The market features 141 shops selling sheep and goats, equipped with barns that can accommodate about 6,200 head, 26 stores selling cattle with a capacity of 2,288 head, 12 shops selling camels with a capacity of about 880 head, 74 poultry shops, 44 fodder shops, 34 multi-purpose shops, and 32 nursery shops.
BEIJING, May 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th May, 2021 ) :The Suki Kinari Hydro Power Project woth US $ two billion being completed at a cost of US $ two billion under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework is expected to become operational by December 2022.

Around 60 percent work of the 884 MW hydro power project in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has been completed. It has also achieved the second-stage river closure, entering a new phase of its dam construction, according to a report published by CEN.

Suki Kinari Hydropower Project is the largest independent hydro power producer in Pakistan, expected to generate 3,081 GWh million units per year.

The project is expected to increase power generation capacity by more than five percent. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will earn approximately Pakistani 1.5 billion rupees per year water use in the form of royalty. The province will receive additional 113MW electricity in its share after completion.

Suki Kinari is a run-of-the-river largest private sector hydropower project located on Kunhar River in the Kaghan Valley of District Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project poses minimal environmental and social impact because it is a run-of-the-river project.

It is considered one of the most cost-effective hydropower schemes in the region due to its high design head of 900 meters and relatively short intake structure crest.

The Kunhar river originates and traverses through the whole length in Pakistani territory which ensures 100 percent uninterrupted flow through the project life. The project will generate maximum power for up to four hours daily.

This project is being supported and closely monitored by the governments of Pakistan and China due to its importance. Chinese company 'China Gezgouba Group Corporation' initiated the work on Suki Kinari Hydropower Project in 2017.

The project is being built on a "Build-Own-Operate and Transfer" basis in accordance with the Government of Pakistan's Policy for Power Generation Projects 2002.

The total operational life of the project is 100 years and the company will hand over the Suki Kinari hydropower project to the Government of Pakistan after 30 years.

During this period, the company will be responsible for its maintenance and other expenditures.

The potential for energy generation from Kunhar River was first identified around 1960. In 1959, Charles T Main US consultants were engaged by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to study this potential.

In January 1960, they issued a report entitled "Kunhar River Project-Kaghan Valley". Further studies were conducted in 1984 and 1995 to optimize the power potential of Kunhar River.

These studies identified a series of potential sites along with the river from where the energy could be produced by cascading the water-energy through run-of-the-river hydro projects.

Studies suggested potential sites for these projects at Batakundi, Naran, Suki Kinari, Balakot and Patrind. Run-of-the-river project envisages that the water is drawn from the river, taken to the turbines in a powerhouse, located downstream through a tunnel and after running the turbines and producing energy, the water is again diverted back to the river.

This water is now again available to be used to produce energy through yet another similar setup downstream. This is called cascading. Unfortunately, no worthwhile efforts were made in the past on these hydro projects for producing electricity at affordable rates.

The project has provided around 5,000 local jobs and it will beautify the landscape, thus attracting more tourists to come and generate greater revenue.
(@FahadShabbir)

Paris, May 10(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2021 ) :Two suspects in the fatal shooting of a police officer last week in southern France were arrested Sunday around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city, a source close to the case said.

The pair are suspected of being the shooter and an accomplice in the killing of Eric Masson in Avignon, said the source.

Masson, 36, and a father-of-two, was shot and killed Wednesday while investigating activity at a known drug-dealing site in the city.

Sunday's arrests came a few hours after several hundred people attended a ceremony in honour of the fallen officer at Avignon's police commissariat.

Prime Minister Jean Castex and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin are due to attend a homage to Masson in the city on Tuesday.

The officer's death has reignited a debate over President Emmanuel Macron's record on fighting crime.

It has caused deep shock in Avignon, a city better known for its summer theatre festival than for violent crime.
(@FahadShabbir)

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting in his office to map out the annual development programme's priorities for the financial year 2021-22

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2021 ) :Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting in his office to map out the annual development programme's priorities for the financial year 2021-22.

The meeting expounded suggestions to include Punjab-based mega development projects in the public sector development programme.

Federal Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, Provincial Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht, P&D chairman and others attended the meeting while Federal P&D Minister Asad Umar, Federal Industries Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission and NHA chairman participated through video-link.

Addressing the meeting, the CM said that social sector development would be prioritised in the next ADP. The regional needs would be prioritized in development schemes as a separate development package had been devised for every district in consultation with the respective MNAs and MPAs, he added.

A balanced package has been devised for PSDF by identifying local needs, he added.

The CM apprised that the projects worth billions of rupees were being started under public-private partnership to provide more facilities to the masses by expediting the composite economic development process.

Every area in Punjab will be provided with its rights and new projects were also being started along with timely completion of ongoing schemes, the CM concluded.

Federal ministers Asad Umar, Hammad Azhar and Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar presented proposals for thenext ADP and the participants agreed to further promote synergy between the Planning Commission and thePunjab government.
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Iran said Monday it may extend an agreement allowing UN inspectors to monitor some key activities if talks with world powers on its nuclear programme continue "on the right track"

Tehran, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2021 ) :Iran said Monday it may extend an agreement allowing UN inspectors to monitor some key activities if talks with world powers on its nuclear programme continue "on the right track".

The International Atomic Energy Agency is hosting talks aimed at getting the US to return to a 2015 deal abandoned under former president Donald Trump and lift sanctions, and to bring Iran back to full compliance with nuclear obligations it retreated from in response.

An agreement reached with the IAEA in February is due to expire later this month, potentially impeding the talks in Vienna.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said an option after May 21 could be to extend that date "in case the talks are on the right track and Tehran agrees as well".

"Since we are in no rush to conclude these talks, in addition to not allowing them to drag on... we do not want any date to prevent our negotiating team from precisely carrying out Tehran's instructions," he told reporters.

The "temporary solution" reached in February allowed UN inspectors access to Iran's declared nuclear sites.

But Iran suspended so-called "voluntary transparency measures" -- notably inspections of non-nuclear sites, including military ones suspected of nuclear-related activity.

Tehran also denied the IAEA access to recordings from monitoring equipment that the UN agency installed at its sites to verify its compliance.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said cameras would keep running at the sites but the withheld footage would be deleted if US sanctions are not lifted by the end of the three-month period.

The changes to the monitoring and inspection regime, ordered last year by Iran's parliament, are part of a series of retaliatory measures Iran has adopted in response to Trump's 2018 withdrawal from the deal.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi said Friday he hoped the Vienna talks could reach a conclusion "in the shortest time possible".

Araghchi said the Americans had "expressed readiness to lift a large part of their sanctions" but added that they had not yet gone far enough.

Khatibzadeh said the United States had "accepted a major part of what it has to do" but stressed Iran had also called for the lifting of sanctions that were "meant to destroy" the deal when imposed by the previous US adminstration.

"It is no secret that we have serious disagreements in this field," he said.
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LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2021) The UK's cabinet office minister dismissed on Sunday the Scottish nationalists' push for a new vote on independence, calling it a "massive distraction" from more pressing matters at hand.

"It's not an issue for the moment. Of course, the people of Scotland, as we saw in the referendum in 2014, they have that right, but it is absolutely important that we concentrate now on the issues in front of us," Michael Gove told the Sky news channel.

He argued that the governing Scottish National Party fell short of an overall majority in Thursday's election, in contrast to the one that preceded the 2014 referendum.

The SNP still holds the majority in parliament together with the pro-independence Scottish Greens.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who leads the SNP, said on Saturday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had "no democratic justification" to block a second referendum, paving the way for a legal battle over the future of Scotland.
Thousands of young people partied on the streets of Spain this weekend after the end of the country's night curfew and the state of alarm. The numbers reached such a magnitude that the Junta de Andalucia has already expressed its "worry and fear" about the situation.

The gatherings were predictable: young people had not gone out for months and they really wanted to, said the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, speaking this Monday (10 May).

"This was going always to happen, it was common sense; everyone expected it except the government of Spain, except prime minister [Pedro] Sanchez," he said.

Moreno expressed his "fear" after seeing "the explosive mix" of young people and alcohol, and reproached the government for ending the state of alarm: "What would it have cost to extend it for another month or five weeks until we had more people vaccinated?

"I know that there is a lot of desire to go out and have fun after everything we have suffered with the pandemic, but please: use your heads. It has cost us a lot to lower the incidence rate, and now we cannot go back, he said.

Asked about the possibility of extending the curfew, Moreno said that he recognised that the night mobility limitation has been "an important instrument against the pandemic" and, therefore, would like it made "available to the regions if the coronavirus incidence rate is very high.

This is how the Andalusian president reacted after learning that central government "will support" the regions that ask for a state of alarm. This was stated by a senior government minister, Miquel Iceta, who, on Basque public radio said: "If the lehendakari [Basque president] or any regional president suggested it for their region, the government would take a look at it."
(@FahadShabbir)

Myanmar's overthrown State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation's de facto leader, will be for the first time since the coup tried in person at a special court in Naypyitaw on May 24, The Irrawaddy opposition-aligned news outlet reported on Monday, citing lawyers

BANGKOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2021) Myanmar's overthrown State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation's de facto leader, will be for the first time since the coup tried in person at a special court in Naypyitaw on May 24, The Irrawaddy opposition-aligned news outlet reported on Monday, citing lawyers.

All previous court hearings of Aung San Suu Kyi's case, including the one on Monday, were held via teleconferencing.

According to the report, the next hearing will be held in the district court of Zayar Theikdi Ward, near the ousted state counselor's Naypyitaw residence.

During the Monday hearing, Aung San Suu Kyi once again demanded a personal meeting with her lawyers, with whom she has not yet been able to discuss the defense, the news outlet said.

The Myanmar democracy icon was detained along with other top officials on February 1, when the military seized power after accusing her party of rigging the November elections. Most of those detained have since been released, but Aung San Suu Kyi, ousted President Win Myint and a few other senior party leaders were placed under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi was initially charged with illegally importing walkie-talkies and violating the natural disaster law by staging a campaign ahead of the November election, in breach of coronavirus restrictions. The country's military later accused Aung San Suu Kyi of violating the law on state secrets, which is punishable with up to 14 years in prison.
Catholic Bishops have distanced the Church from coup accusations and any plan that could lead to an undemocratic change of government in Nigeria.

Paul Samasumo  Vatican City.

Nigerias Catholic Bishops say assertions from President Buharis office accusing disgruntled religious and past political leaders of plotting to remove the President from office forcibly are a distraction and unnecessary propaganda. In a statement seen by Vatican News, the Bishops advise President Buhari to improve the economy, security of Nigerians and to embrace criticism.

A security summit

The Presidency recently stated that some religious leaders and some Nigerian politicians are plotting to destabilise the countryWhile we reject any call for the destabilisation of Nigeria or military takeover, we nonetheless say to the Federal Government of Nigeria, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, there is no need to focus your energy, time and resources in any form of propaganda against religious leaders who disagree with your performance. There is no need to spend so much of your time trying to blackmail anyone who criticises your Government, said the Archbishop of Benin City and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Augustine Obiora Akubeze.

Archbishop Akubeze added, however, that given the serious security and economic challenges facing the country, It is not out of place to call for a security summit in whatever form it may take as long as it leads to the unity, peace, justice, progress and protection of Nigerians, stated the Archbishop.

Military pledges loyalty

Last week, local media quoted Nigerias Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, saying that security agents had unveiled evidence linking some disgruntled religious and past political leaders to a planned undemocratic change of Nigerias leadership.

Before Adesinas statement linking religious leaders to the alleged coup, the countrys Department of State Services (DSS) also made similar claims. The recent happenings in Abuja perhaps explain why Nigerias military generals recently pledged loyalty to uphold Nigerias constitution. They said as military, they are subject to civilian rule and warned all military personnel to stay away from politics.

The Presidency

The Nigerian Bishops further criticise President Buharis penchant for speaking to the nation through spokespersons.

In every democracy, the welfare of citizens is of great concern to the President. From time to time, Presidents address the people and give an account of the state of affairs in the country. Presidents of countries grant interviews to the media who are the watchdogs of democracy. But in Nigeria, we hardly hear directly from our President. Most of the time, we hear from the Presidency. Nigerians did not elect presidential media spokespersons. Nigerians do want to hear directly from their President and hear words that are matched with actions, said Archbishop Akubeze.

Calming the storm

Some clerics and religious leaders, in Nigeria, reacted sharply to accusations of a coup plot causing Archbishop Akubeze to try and calm the storm.

To every religious leader, let us not use inflammatory words that distort the real message we are sending to this Government, advised the Metropolitan prelate of Benin City.

The economy and insecurity

General Muhammadu Buhari was first elected as President of Nigeria, in 2015 promising to improve the economy, tackle corruption and enhance the general security of the country. Buhari is currently serving his second and last term in office. It ends in 2023.
Filipinos are scheduled to go to the polls to choose a new president and vice-president on May 9, 2022.

By Robin Gomes

Bells of Catholic churches across the Philippines rang out simultaneously at midday on Sunday urging the faithful to exercise their right and duty to vote in the next presidential election to be held next year. The bells pealed for 3 minutes exactly a year before the country goes to the polls on May 9, 2022, to elect successors to President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo.

Making voices heard

According to the Philippine Constitution, Duterte is ineligible for re-election after his 6-year term. Church authorities are encouraging churchgoers, especially those who have not yet registered, to make their voices heard through their votes.

Let us awaken and enliven once more our love for the country. Register to vote  Make your voices heard. If you want to see change, elections are the democratic way to effect change, said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, the director of Caritas Philippines, the social and development arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

He said Filipinos must begin to reflect on the qualities they want their next president to have as the election draws near. We only have one year before we choose. May we choose them well by praying and examining our conscience, he said, adding it is a call for Catholics to be involved in good governance.

Registration campaign

The tolling of bells was part of initiatives by a group called Eleksyon 2022 Koalisyon, a non-partisan, multi-sectoral coalition of 29 civic and religious organizations and individuals, including Caritas Philippines. The groups Regi to Vote campaign is using both ground and social media initiatives to encourage the countrys new and deactivated voters to register.

According to data revealed by the Commission of Elections (Comelec) in February, there will be 73 million Filipinos who will be aged 18 and above by 2022. The Commission said some 1.5 million will be voting for the first time. About another 4 million eligible voters have yet to register themselves, while 7 million others have been cut from the electoral register for failing to vote in previous elections and would have to re-register. We are looking at more than 12 million more votes if both eligible voters and deactivated ones participate this time, Comelec said. The deadline for filing applications for registration is September 30, 2021.

Voting a right and duty

On the question of voting, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country.

Caritas executive secretary Father Antonio Labiao said the Catholic Church has begun mobilizing citizens to be more active in the upcoming elections. Its important for the Church if we are serious with our mandate  to actively participate. This is a call for us to become involved in good governance, Father Labiao said in a radio interview.

CBCP president, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao stressed that the electoral process is our sacred duty, not only as Filipinos but as Christians. Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila agreed with him underscoring the Catholic Churchs moral duty to urge the faithful to vote. Getting into politics is not an evil in itself. Being involved in politics is a way to show love for ones country. If the candidates who are running are good, the people would have good choices as well, the bishop said on Sunday.

Voter disenchantment

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a church group that advocates credible, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful elections next year, said many Filipinos do not vote because they have lost their trust in the whole political system. Millions  do not vote because they do not believe anymore in the sanctity of elections. When the voting process is overshadowed by money and violence, it makes elections a rich-only affair. It discourages the poor from voting or to sell their vote for money, said Roderico De Guzman, a council volunteer from Manila. The Mass is just the start. PPCRV calls for our peoples prayers for our nation as we countdown to May 9, 2022, it said.

Eleksyon 2022 Koalisyon believes in the dream that everyone, regardless of their age, status and personal viewpoints, can collectively unite to achieve our ambition of a brighter and better future for all, especially the poor and marginalized. We believe that registering to vote is among the most accessible and sustainable means for every Filipino to achieve this desired future, the coalition said in a manifesto issued to the public on May 7. (Source: UCA News)
Pope Francis meets with the President of the Republic of Latvia, Mr. Egils Levits (Vatican Media)

Pope Francis receives the President of Latvia, Mr. Egils Levits, in audience on Monday morning in the Vatican.

By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis met Monday with Mr. Egils Levits, the President of the Republic of Latvia, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.

Mr. Levits subsequently met with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, accompanied with the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

During the cordial talks, satisfaction was expressed for the good bilateral relations, recalling the centenary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Latvia.

The parties also highlighted the fundamental contribution of the Christian faith and of the Catholic Church to the promotion of an authentic humanism, open to the spiritual dimension, for the protection of the dignity of man and of the family.

The encounter then focused on matters of mutual interest, both in the international and regional spheres, and the parties reaffirmed their desire to work together in the pursuit of the common good and the promotion of a culture that fosters peace and fraternity among peoples.
Ukraine says at least two soldiers were killed and another wounded in recent days in clashes between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists. The military claims the latest reported clashes rose the death toll to at least 36 Ukrainian soldiers killed in the east this year.

By Stefan J. Bos

Ukraine's government and the West have expressed alarm about a flareup in violence between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

They have been fighting Ukraine since 2014, but in recent days several Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and the military says scores of troops died this year alone.

Russia claims it has no military presence in eastern Ukraine and vehemently denies wrongdoing. But critics say it fueled new tensions this year by massing troops and large-scale military exercises near its border with Ukraine.

Amid the tensions, Ukraine's President marked the anniversary of World War II's end in Europe by visiting a village along the Russian border, where hostilities escalated during the recent Russian military buildup.

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the village of Milovoe in eastern Ukraine accompanied by ambassadors from the European Union and the Group of Seven wealthy nations.

Earlier, foreign ministers from Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg visited the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine before meeting with Ukraine's president and foreign minister in what they called a show of support to Kyiv.

US support

Separately, President Zelenskyy met US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who told the president that Washington supports Ukraine's battle for sovereignty against what it views as Moscow's aggression.

"We stand with you against aggression. We stand with you too as you work to strengthen your democracy, build your institutions, combat corruption, and advance reforms," Blinken stressed.

Zelensky said he appreciated the US support for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty.

However, more than 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and negotiating a political settlement has stalled.

Tensions also remain high over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014, which sparked Western sanctions.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will stop financing new coal power plants under a draft energy policy released earlier this week. (Photo: Reuters)

Hanoi  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will stop financing new coal power plants, the main source of power supply in developing countries, under a draft energy policy released earlier this week.

The ADB, which provides loans and grants for projects in the poorest countries in the Asia Pacific region, said its current policy was "no longer adequately aligned with the global consensus on climate change".

Coal and other fossil fuels have played a large part in ensuring access to energy for the region's economic development, but they have not solved the energy access challenge, and their use harms the environment and accelerates climate change, the Manila-based bank said in the document.

The lender will also no longer fund "any coal mining, oil and natural gas field exploration, drilling or extraction activities", the document said.

However, under certain conditions, it would provide funds for natural gas projects and "hybrid electricity solutions" involving fossil fuels as backup systems, according to the draft.

Between 2009 and 2019 the ADB funnelled 42.5 billion USD into energy sector projects in Asia, where around 60 percent of electricity is generated by coal, its data show.

The final version of the energy policy is expected to be submitted to the ADB board of directors by October.
My Phuoc 4 IP will have approximately 240,000sq.m of logistics and light industrial facilities

The partnership marks ESRs entry into Vietnam, expanding the groups Asia-Pacific footprint in the high-growth Southeast Asia region.

My Phuoc 4 Industrial Park (the "Park"), which will have a total of approximately 240,000 square metres of logistics and light industrial facilities upon completion, is located north of Ho Chi Minh City in the strategic Binh Duong market, a leading hub of industrial development in Southern Vietnam.

The "Park" will have the ability to cater to a wide variety of local and international tenants, given its prime location with excellent motorway access and connectivity to densely populated areas, major industrial clusters, ports, and airports.

BW is currently developing My Phuoc 4 the "Park" with completion scheduled for August. Besides, ESR will work with BW on the leasing of the "Park" leveraging its strong roster of customers. Vietnam is an important market in ESR's strategy and looks forward to welcoming customers to My Phuoc 4.

Jeffrey Shen and Stuart Gibson, ESR co-founders and co-CEOs, remarked that Vietnams industrial and logistics real estate sector is coming of age. It is one of the most promising markets within Southeast Asia, benefitting from a range of favourable macro-economic factors including its high and stable GDP growth rate, growing income level, and thus emerging middle class, rapid urbanisation, and infrastructure development.

We are most pleased to make our first foray into the Vietnamese market with this meaningful joint venture with BW, the leading local logistics and industrial developer in Vietnam, which sets a strong foundation for our growth plans in the country, they said.

Lance Li, CEO of BW said that, E-commerce is a very important positive tailwind that drives the demand for logistics real estate in Vietnam. We are very delighted to work hand-in-hand with ESR, leveraging our collective relationships, experience, and track record in development and management, to capitalise on opportunities for this project.

As the Vietnamese industrial and logistics property sector is entering a strong cycle of growth, BW is focused on continuing to be a pioneer in the market and accelerating our growth trajectory on the back of both greenfield developments, acquisitions, and joint ventures. We believe that the firm is well-positioned to capture the increasing opportunities as the demand for industrial spaces continues to grow, he added.

As a key consumer and manufacturing market with a population of close to 100 million, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia. Revenue from e-commerce is estimated to have reached approximately $7 billion in 2020, implying a growth of 46 per cent over 2019 alone, thereby fuelling the demand for modern, primely located logistics facilities.

Vietnams logistics real estate is expected to grow another 14-16 per cent annually over the next three years on the back of insufficient supply in the key southern logistics hubs, including Binh Duong and strong expected e-commerce growth of 34 per cent over the next five years. Vietnam has also been a key beneficiary of the reallocation of manufacturing and supply chain activities to Southeast Asia.

This transformative shift has been further accelerated by the supply chain disruptions that have resulted on account of COVD-19. Vietnams best-in-class response to the pandemic and successful public health outcome has ensured that the country continues to benefit from increasing manufacturer interest from across regions.

Founded by Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, and Becamex, a leading industrial infrastructure developer in Vietnam  BW is Vietnams largest and fastest growing logistics and industrial real estate developer with over 5 million sqm of prime industrial land under control across over 25 projects in 20 prime economic locations across the country.

BW has been focused on developing light industrial and modern warehouses to capture the outsized manufacturing growth, increasing domestic consumption and the rapid growth in e-commerce. BW has secured equity commitments in excess of US$500 million from its shareholders and has formed strategic partnerships with key e-commerce and logistics customers to serve one of the fastest growing markets in Asia. For more information on BW, please visit: bwindustrial.com.

ESR is the largest APAC focused logistics real estate platform by gross floor area (GFA) and by value of the assets owned directly and by the funds and investment vehicles it manages. ESR and the funds and investment vehicles it manages are backed by some of the worlds preeminent investors including APG, CPP Investments, JD.com, Oxford Properties, PGGM and SK Holdings. The ESR platform spans major economies across the APAC region, including the Peoples Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, and India.

As of 31 December 2020, the fair value of the properties directly held by ESR and the assets under management with respect to the funds and investment vehicles managed by ESR recorded approximately US$30 billion, and GFA of properties completed and under development as well as GFA to be built on land held for future development comprised over 20 million sqm in total.

Listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in November 2019, ESR is a constituent of the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (Large Cap), Hang Seng Composite Index and MSCI Hong Kong Index. For more information on ESR, please visit: esr.com.
Justin Gisz, partner from Frasers Law Company

Remarkable progress has been made in facilitating international-standard merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in Vietnam during the last 20 years and the rate of progress has also accelerated markedly during the last decade.

The legal framework which underpins M&A transactions in Vietnam has become increasingly clear, robust, and effective, particularly since 2015.

This year in particular has seen the entry into force of a raft of new laws which are of fundamental importance to M&A in Vietnam, including (amongst others) the new Law on Enterprises, Law on Investment, and Law on Securities, all of which came into force on January 1. These new laws represent significant improvements as compared with their predecessors and are likely to have a materially beneficial impact on M&A transactions in Vietnam.

Despite there still being room for improvement, generally any domestic or foreign investor wishing to implement an M&A transaction in Vietnam will in most cases be able to obtain (before committing to the proposed transaction) a relatively clear picture in relation to key matters, including foreign ownership restrictions; structuring options and restraints; regulatory approval requirements; the passing and registration of legal title in acquired equity interests or assets; compulsory payment pathways and processes; transaction implementation timetables; and necessary completion deliverables and post-completion obligations.

Merger control issues

Perhaps the most significant issue which faces many investors (both domestic and foreign) in relation to M&A in Vietnam is the issue of merger control notification requirements.

This issue applies equally to M&A transactions involving public target companies as well as those involving private target companies. Merger control notifications in Vietnam can often be expensive, burdensome, and time-consuming.

Although in some cases merger control notification applications are processed through to determination within one to two months, in other cases merger control notification applications (particularly in more complex cases) may take 3-6 months to process.

The legislated triggers for merger control notification obligations under Vietnamese competition law are (in international terms) comparatively low and capable of exceedingly broad application.

Unlike many other jurisdictions worldwide, in Vietnam there are no clearly legislated exceptions to or exemptions from merger control notification obligations and no safe harbour tests upon which M&A transaction participants can rely. In addition, the market research and competition impact reports which must be filed as part of merger control notification applications can often be burdensome and expensive to procure.

Many M&A transactions connected with Vietnam (whether or not implemented inside the country)  including many which would not have given rise to any merger control issues under the previous Law on Competition  must now be notified to the competition authorities, before they can be completed.

The burdensome nature of the notification procedures and requirements, combined with the often lengthy transaction timetable delays, appear to be presenting a material disincentive to many otherwise eager participants in the M&A market in Vietnam.

Legal moves are being made to ensure fewer burdens are placed on the process of carrying out an M&A transaction, Photo: Shutterstock

Public target companies

In relation to public target companies, the legislative and regulatory regime which underpins M&A transactions is comparatively robust and effective, although various key complaints are often heard from investors.

For example, the rigidity of the trading band system is irksome to many investors. In relation to share sale and purchase transactions implemented at prices falling outside the legislated trading bands (+/-7 per cent either side of last exchange trade price for the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, or +/-10 per cent either side of the last exchange trade price for the Hanoi Stock Exchange), specific State Securities Commission (SSC) approval is required before the transaction can proceed.

The logistics of obtaining these SSC approvals and then the mechanics of actually implementing these types of transactions via the case-by-case Vietnam Securities Depository application system are often perceived by investors as being cumbersome and opaque.

Another example is the mandatory public offer (MPO) (public tender) requirements which apply in relation to certain categories of significant M&A transactions. The procedures and timelines for seeking SSC approval for MPOs and then actually implementing them are also often perceived by investors as being cumbersome and opaque.

A number of other complaints are often heard in relation to M&A in the context of public companies in Vietnam. First is the comparatively lenient nature of Vietnams insider trading laws and the comparatively lenient sanctions applicable (and generally applied) to insider traders.

Second would be the comparatively lenient market disclosure requirements applicable to public companies, as well as the comparatively lenient sanctions applicable (and generally applied) to companies failing to observe their disclosure obligations.

Next is the comparative difficulty in procuring enforcement or sanctions against board members, executives, or managers of public companies who breach their officers duties or otherwise act unlawfully to deny shareholders their lawful rights, following completion of M&A transactions.

Lastly is the absence of a formally legislated takeover framework (aside from the abovementioned MPO framework), including mop up provisions to compel the buy-out of residual minority shareholders following a successful takeover.

On the whole, however, despite investor complaints of the kind outlined above, the legislative and regulatory platform which underpins M&A in Vietnam in relation to public target companies generally operates effectively and facilitates the on-going growth and enhanced sophistication of the M&A market in Vietnam.

Private target companies

Insofar as private target companies are concerned, again, the legislative and regulatory platform in Vietnam is generally robust and effective and is vastly improved as compared with its predecessor equivalents.

The key complaints which are most commonly heard from investors in connection with private company M&A in Vietnam relate primarily (but not exclusively) to foreign investors and include the following:

- The cumbersome and process-heavy nature of routing transaction payments through the compulsory indirect investment capital accounts or direct investment capital accounts (in addition to the generally restrictive and burdensome nature of foreign exchange control regulations, overall);

- The cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive requirements to procure and file consular legalised corporate supporting documents as part of the application dossiers which must be filed with relevant licensing authorities in order to apply for M&A Approvals;

- The lack of clarity and certainty around the issue of indirect or deemed corporate income tax, which is capable of being imposed upon capital gains realised by foreign-domiciled sellers of shares in foreign-domiciled companies that in turn hold shares in Vietnam-domiciled companies;

- The difficult, time-consuming, and unclear nature of the processes involved in securing tax clearances following completion of M&A transactions, including the lack of clarity around precisely what is deemed to constitute tax clearance (which is frequently interpreted differently by different banks); and

- The comparative difficulty associated with enforcement of shareholder rights against majority shareholders, board members, officers, or executives who unlawfully act so as to deny the lawful rights of shareholders or members (in particular, minority stakeholders), following completion of M&A transactions.

These types of issues are for the most part issues that are encountered by foreign investors as opposed to domestic investors. Overseas investors continue to face a number of issues, challenges, and risks which do not affect domestic investors, which in itself is a factor which may be argued to constitute a hindrance to Vietnams development as an international-standard M&A jurisdiction.

The excellent work which the Vietnamese government has done in order to establish a comparatively clear and robust legislative and regulatory platform for M&A in Vietnam must be acknowledged and commended.

Further action to address these key investor complaints outlined above is to be encouraged, in order to accelerate Vietnams ascension up the ranks of the worlds most desirable jurisdictions for engagement in M&A activity.
People take part in a protest against the hosting of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in front of the National Stadium in Tokyo on May 9, 2021.(Philip FONG / AFP)

Bach's trip had been scheduled for May 17-18 but organisers "decided to postpone it based on various situations including the extension of a virus state of emergency" by the Japanese government.

The Japanese government and Olympic officials insist the virus-postponed Games can go ahead safely this summer, although polls show most Japanese people support cancellation or another delay.

Japanese media reports said the organisers plan to reschedule Bach's visit for June.

Japan's state of emergency, which is less strict than blanket lockdowns in other countries, has been extended to the end of May in the hardest hit regions, including Tokyo.

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Games, said Friday it would be "very difficult" to arrange the visit given the state of emergency.

Japan's Covid-19 outbreak remains much smaller than in many countries, with around 10,800 deaths.

But its vaccine rollout is moving slowly and some areas have seen record cases as more infectious variants drive fresh waves of contagion.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was forced on the defensive on Monday, insisting in parliament he has "never put the Olympics first" and that his priority remains "the lives and health of the Japanese people".
Toshiba Carriers worlds-first commercial air conditioner

Toshiba Carrier is an air-conditioning joint venture in Japan between tech giant Toshiba Corporation and Carrier. Carrier is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, a leading global provider of healthy, safe and sustainable building and cold chain solutions.

The IEEE Milestones programme commends historic achievements of groundbreaking innovations in the areas of electrical, electronics, ICT, which are at least 25 years old and have made a significant contribution to the advancement of society and industry.

Since the start of the programme in 1983, IEEE has awarded 209 milestones in the world. The first IEEE Milestone for achievement in the HVAC industry is awarded to Toshiba Carrier.

With this honour, the Toshiba group has received three IEEE Milestone; Japanese Word Processor JW-10 in 2008 and Laptop PC T1100 in 2013 are the previous two Milestones awarded in addition to this most recent Milestone.

Before the emergence of inverter air conditioners, the arrival of new technology was long-awaited for a mechanism to achieve reduced energy loss and more flexible temperature adjustment than the conventional on-off control of the compressor run at a fixed speed (50 or 60Hz in Japan).

Toshiba, with a state-of-the-art power electronics technologies and microprocessor control, achieved a significant downsizing in its inverters that were instrumental in variable-speed compressor operation for optimised temperature control with significantly improved comfort and energy efficiency. These innovations have led to wide-spread use of inverter air conditioners across the world.

It is a great honour that our achievement has been recognised as an IEEE Milestone, said Toru Kubo, president and CEO of Toshiba Carrier Corporation. We take pride in this glorious achievement by our predecessors and would like to carry their spirit into the next generation to lead in global innovation as a heat pump solution company and offer products, systems and services that give added values for our customers businesses.
Welcome to Tea with Erping.



Have you heard of Qin Shi Huang, the emperor who united China? How about Kublai Khan, the mighty Mongolian warrior who invaded China and established the Yuan Dynasty? Or perhaps the Qing emperor Kang Xi, the great patron of the arts?

Each of these powerful men advanced Chinese civilization in a different period of history, and each came from a ruling family of noble clans, as per Chinas dynastic tradition which lasted for thousands of years until the early 20th century.

The great emperor I want to introduce today is a man who lived many centuries earlier, between 2334 and 2234 B.C. He was born with the name Shun (). Shun would become known as one of Chinas five legendary sage kings. The great historian, Sima Qian, wrote about him in Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, so his story is one that future Chinese emperors, like Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty, Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty, and Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty would all have known.

But Shun began life as a poor peasant. How did this very ordinary person come to rule all of China?

As a child, Shun lived on a farm with his father, stepmother, and half-brother. In fact, his whole family couldnt stand their eldest son. They even tried to kill him unsuccessfully on multiple occasions. But despite his abusive family, Shun never stopped being filial to both his parents and was always caring towards his younger half-brother. He would happily do anything they asked of him. It was said that the family couldnt kill Shun when they wanted to, yet when they needed him, he was always around.

Shun was an extraordinary person even from a young age. When he was 17, he was driven out of the house and became homeless, so he made a living as a laborer. In fact, wherever he traveled, he proved diligent and resourceful. People liked and respected him. Shun first became an apprentice in a village by the Yellow River that produced pottery. Within a year, he helped improve the standard of pottery for the whole village, and won the admiration of his competitors. The village grew into a thriving city within a few years.

Wherever Shun moved, the local area prospered. (Image: Public Domain)

Shun then traveled to a mountain village to farm. Other farms wanted to offer him land. He decided to share the land with others so the whole community could grow crops. At lake Zhe, Shun became a skilled fisher and he quickly learned where the best fishing parts of the river were. But he would always leave those to others, and never took the best spot for himself.

After Shun joined them, the intense infighting among the fishermen stopped. Miles away, in the capital Pingyang, which would become modern-day Shanxi Province, Emperor Yao, a wise and benevolent ruler, was looking for a successor. He had nine sons, but realized that none of them had the virtue to inherit his throne. So he sent out his ministers to find a worthy candidate who had what it would take to become the next ruler.

Yaos ministers recommended Shun. After Shun was brought to court, Emperor Yao decided to test him. He let Shun marry his two daughters. Along with a house and dowry, he gave him a district to govern.

This may sound strange today, but polygamy was normal practice at that time. At 30 years old, you might think Shun had hit the jackpot, but instead of riding off into the sunset to live the good life, he continued to work in the field every day and even convinced the two princesses to join him in living a humble life in the countryside.

A Qing-dynasty depiction of E Huang and Nu Ying, daughters of Emperor Yao who married Shun. Some legends identify them as goddesses of the Xiang River in todays Hunan Province, which may have played some role in their testing of Shuns ability. (Image: Wang Hui []/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Shuns own family saw his success and became enraged. His half-brother lured him into a barn and tried to burn him alive. On another occasion, Shuns stepmother asked him to dig a new well for the family, and tried to use it as a trap to bury him alive. But Shun survived, and yet never tried to blame or punish them. Not surprisingly, among the 24 most celebrated Chinese in terms of filial piety, Shun ranks number one.

Towards the end of Emperor Yaos reign, Sun assumed the role of acting emperor at 50 years old. After three years, he quietly left for home so that Danzhu, Emperor Yaos son, could govern the country.

But the public demanded Shun to continue taking care of the state affairs. So at 61, he officially became emperor, and arranged compassionately for 39 years.

Do you know why I find the story so interesting? Some ancient rulers in the West also began their lives as peasants. there was Diocletian of Rome, who rose through the ranks of the military and Basil I, the Byzantine emperor who took power through a violent coup.

But Shuns story is different. It makes me wonder, what makes a good emperor? Shuns life shows us the five fundamental relationships in Confucian philosophy: those between ruler and subject, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, husband and wife, friend and friend.

The Chinese philosopher Mencius said: The great Shun had a still greater delight in what was good. He regarded virtue as the common property of the people.

(Image: Screenshot/Tea with Erping)

In imperial China, people believed the right to rule was granted by Heaven, and that Heaven selected the ruler for his virtue. Mencius commented on Shuns reign:



The sovereign can present a man to Heaven, but he cannot make Heaven give that man the throne. Yao presented Shun to Heaven, and Heaven accepted him. He presented him to the people, and the people accepted him. Therefore, I say heaven doesnt speak. It simply indicated its will by his personal conduct and the conduct of affairs.



Sima Qian wrote in Records of the Grand Historian that civilization and kindness in the world started with Shun.

Before Shuns death, instead of having his own children take over the seat of power, he passed his throne to Yu, who was famed for controlling the notorious floods of the Yellow River. He later founded the Xia Dynasty.

Shun was a great man and a great emperor, but actually he wasnt the only Chinese emperor who came from a humble background. There was also Liu Bang, who founded the Han Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty  both through armed rebellion against the previous dynasties. But neither of them matched Shun in terms of virtue or filial piety.

At the end of the day, Shun is known for his rule of virtue. In the words of Confucius, Shun was a sage of virtue, and thereby an esteemed Son of Heaven. For centuries, the rule of virtue that started with Shun was a timeless golden standard for all emperors and rulers in China, until 1949 when the foreign communist ideology took over the Middle Kingdom.

Historians know that some 80 million innocent lives were lost under the past 70 years of communist rule  more than the victims from both World War I and World War II put together. According to Freedom House, an independent human rights NGO, China ranks among the worst most closed societies in its 2021 Freedom in the World report.

In this digital age Chinese people sadly dont have access to international media outlets and social media platforms. In Western media, we have learned about horrific abuses such as the genocide in Xinjiang, forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, demolitions of Christian churches, imprisonment of human rights lawyers, and outspoken reporters.

(Image: Screenshot/Tea with Erping)

As Confucius said, Study the past if you would divine the future. Many Chinese hope that the time for returning to the rule of virtue and to our cultural heritage is long overdue.

Its widely believed that the open society in Taiwan where traditional culture flourished along with a vibrant democracy should be a successful model for mainland China. Speaking of Taiwan, its time for tea break and now Im going to enjoy my high mountain tea from the treasured island.

Until next time, peace and tea be with you.
HARARE (Reuters) - A Chinese-owned mining company denied on Tuesday it had drilled holes in a burial site in Zimbabwe, after local people complained about what they viewed as the desecration of graves.

Pictures posted on social media last weekend showed deep holes near graves in the Dinde area Zimbabwes western Hwange district. Some residents have blamed Chinese-owned Beifa Investments, which is searching for coal.

However Beifa said the accusations against it were false and that its drilling site was "nowhere near" the graves.

"Beifa Investments (Pvt) Ltd categorically denies ever desecrating any graves in the Dinde Community as alleged or at all," the company said in a statement, adding that it would ask the relevant authorities to investigate.

"If there are any holes on the grave site that would be the work of other people unknown to the company."

Daniel Molokele, the Member of Parliament for the area, said he would travel to the area next weekend to investigate.

"Desecration of a cemetery has got spiritual effect on the community, it brutalizes people's souls," said Farai Maguwu, director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance, a Zimbabwean watchdog. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe Editing by Helen Reid and Peter Graff)
Korean businesses in India have been hit hard by the huge surge in coronavirus infections there.

With a population of 1.4 billion people, India ranks among the world's top three markets along with the U.S. and China, but 403,738 new infections were reported there on Saturday alone, forcing around 700 Korean companies there to send non-essential staff back to Korea and have essential employees work from home.

Hyundai, which has a factory in Chennai, is halting production from Monday to Saturday for facility repairs that were traditionally done in the summer holidays. "Our production has not been directly affected yet, but more and more areas are being locked down and only around 20 percent of our dealers are working," a staffer said.

After the U.S. and China, India is the third largest market for the Korean automaker and the only one where its overseas sales rose last year.


Upcoming HBO series The Prince has been delayed following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

The satirical series which focuses on the life of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges son Prince George has been postponed after Prince Philips death last month at the age of 99.

Showrunner Gary Janetti - who previously worked as a screenwriter on 'Family Guy' and as an executive producer on 'Will and Grace' - teased the upcoming show in a Twitter post made on April 4 that read: The Prince coming soon on HBO Max.

A representative for streaming service HBO Max has now confirmed that the air date for the comedy has been moved out of respect for Philip, who was Queen Elizabeth's husband.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the rep said: "We were saddened to learn of Prince Philips passing and will adjust plans for the series debut.

"A new date will be announced at a later time.

In the animated series, Philip is depicted as a decrepit and feeble old man, toothless and grey.

'The Prince' boasts a star-studded cast with Philips character voiced by former Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens, while Orlando Bloom portrays Prince Harry, writer-and-producer Zanetti voices Prince George, Lucy Punch plays Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Condola Rashad as Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Iwan Rheon as Prince William and Sophie Turner as Princess Charlotte.

Bloom previously admitted he was initially wary of accepting a role in the series, because hes very proud of his British roots, and didnt want to take part in a show that could be seen as cruelly mocking the UK's royal family.

However, the 43-year-old actor soon realised Janetti was presenting the series in a very affectionate and witty way, and was encouraged to accept the role by his fiancee Katy Perry.

Bloom said: "I don't know if you've seen Garys Instagram but he's incredibly funny and has a very affectionate and witty way of commenting on the royal family.
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Following a Daily Beast report questioning why he had moderated a Clubhouse chat room in which users espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories last Wednesday, LaKeith Stanfield posted a lengthy unconditional apology to Instagram, expressing his regret that he didnt immediately shut down or exit the conversation. I unconditionally apologize for what went on in that chat room, and for allowing my presence there to give a platform to hate speech, he wrote Friday. I am not an anti-Semite, nor do I condone any of the beliefs discussed in that chat room.

Yesterday I entered an online chat room on Clubhouse about the teachings of Louis Farrakhan. When the rooms participants noticed me, I was quickly made a moderator of this room, said Stanfield. At some point during the dialogue, the discussion took a very negative turn when several users made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements and at that point, I should have either shut down the discussion, or removed myself from it entirely. According to the Daily Beast, Stanfield himself reportedly never said anything that would be considered anti-Semitic.

The leader of the Nation of Islam since 1978, Farrakhan has been criticized for decades for public anti-Semitic statements. During one 2018 address in Chicago, he declared, the powerful Jews are my enemy and blamed Jewish peoples grip on the media for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out, turning men into women and women into men.

On Thursday, the Daily Beast reports, the actor took part in another Clubhouse chat, this one moderated by Jewish educators attempting to address the detrimental rhetoric, during which Stanfield acknowledged that, as the moderator of the derailed room, he needed to pay attention to what is actually being discussed, and determine if thats a discussion that you really want to get into.

Stanfields Instagram statement continued, I condemn hate speech and discriminatory views of every kind. I unconditionally apologize for what went on in that chat room, and for allowing my presence there to give a platform for hate speech. I am not an anti-Semite nor do I condone any of the beliefs discussed in that chat room.
One man is dead following a two-vehicle wreck near Toney Sunday afternoon.

It happened off Pulaski Pike and Herbert Clark Road around 3:45 p.m.

Don Webster with Huntsville Emergency Medical Services Inc. confirmed the man was in his early 30's. He said one female patient was transported to Huntsville Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Alabama State Troopers are investigating the crash. The Madison County Sheriff's Office helped divert traffic.
Huntsville police officer William Darby is out on a $100,000 bond following his guilty verdict Friday.

Hours after the verdict, his attorney announced plans to appeal the jury's decision.

In 2018, Darby responded to a call for a suicidal person where he found Jefferey Parker holding a gun to his head.

Darby shot Parker to death with a shotgun.

WAAY-31 spoke with an attorney to learn more about the appeals process.

Some people are upset that Darby is appealing his guilty verdict, but Mark McDaniel has been a lawyer for more than 40 years and told us in cases like this, it's expected.

He says Darby has the right to appeal, but McDaniel believes it may not turn out the way Darby wants.

"Great prosecutors, great defense lawyers, one of the best trial judges in Alabama, were there any errors. That's what you're going to look at," said McDaniel.

Mark McDaniel is a lawyer in Huntsville and he says in almost any high-profile case...someone is going to try and appeal it.

In Darby's case, the biggest matter at hand was the police body camera footage and if Darby acted reasonably in the shooting and killing of Parker.

In the end, the judge and jurors believed he did not rather quickly.

So the same could be possible in the appeal process as well.

"There probably won't be a month-long trial or 2-month trial. There won't be as many legal issues to argue," said McDaniel.

He also says there's no telling exactly how long this appeals process will be, but that at the end of the day, to expect a fair process.

"You have justice, okay, because you've got the best lawyers on both sides and you've got a great trial judge. That's what justice is," said McDaniel.

Darby's attorney believes they will appeal the court's ruling, but we will not know anything more until the next several weeks.

Parker's family now plans to pursue a civil lawsuit against Darby and the City of Huntsville.
The executive chairman of Rupert Murdochs News Corp Australia has confirmed the company has formalised payments from tech giants Google and Facebook as he announced plans to hire a further 100 editorial staff.

Michael Miller declined to comment on any future strategic plans for the local owner of The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun or whether the company would use money from the $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) in debt raised by the global parent company last month for local acquisitions. He said any assets acquired locally would be determined by what audiences were willing to pay for.

News Corp Australasia chairman Michael Miller said the new roles were born from readers appetite for more local news. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Weve always evolved with a variety of assets and without wanting to flag any of our future plans ... a greater proportion of revenues for our businesses are consumer-led, rather than client-led, Mr Miller said.

That is consistent with consumers preparedness to pay for a variety of services and its not just news media but entertainment media. Theres digital delivery, consumer revenues becoming a greater portion of our portfolio, but you do have to have a number of varying revenue streams so you are able to move as different audience movements and client movements occur.
For better or worse, it was Nancy who had made the Mitfords  on and off the page. As Deborah put it, she saw people and situations as no one else did, and could turn the serious into the ridiculous. Without their eldest sister, and her ceaseless, elaborate, often unkind teases (like calling Unity, Jessica and Deborah NIT SIC AND BOR after the middle letters of their names) and her genius for transmuting lifes banalities into shrieks and screams, which is to say jokes, they might have been a more normal family. Everything sprang full-blown from Nancy, said Jessica. Inevitably, there were winners and losers in this game. In The Pursuit of Love, Sydney, a noted eccentric, becomes vague Aunt Sadie (played by Dolly Wells in the new series, which was adapted by Emily Mortimer, who makes a cameo as Sadies sister, The Bolter). I dont mind what you write about me when I am dead, Sydney told Nancy, but do dislike seeing my mad portrait while I am still alive. Assaad Bouab and Lily James in The Pursuit of Love. Arguably, Sydney got off lightly. This is the woman who said, of the 1938 Nuremberg rally: How sensible it is of H[itler] to put all Germans into uniforms, as they have such terrible other clothes. Diana, who in 1932 had fallen for the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, had persuaded the Redesdales to overcome their antipathy to the Hun (Farve is one of natures Born Fascists, Diana told Nancy) and tour Nazi Germany. They were impressed. Unity, of course, was already there, dreaming of life as the Hon Mrs Adolf Hitler, as her biographer put it. When war was declared, Lord Redesdale publicly renounced the Nazis, Unity shot herself in the head, and Sydney, maddened with grief, or perhaps just mad, remained pro-Hitler (he has very good manners). But, of course, you wont read any of this in Nancys novels. So successful have they been at imposing their version of Mitford reality that readers now take them for memoir-in-code, whereas the truth is that they are wishful thinking on a heartbreakingly grand scale.

In 1945, when Nancy wrote the book that made the world fall in love with her family, that family was in tatters: Diana under house arrest, Unity brain-damaged, Tom dead in Burma, Jessica starting from scratch in America. Her parents had separated, so theirs was a broken home. Nancy, after an ectopic pregnancy, had woken up on the surgeons table to be told she was barren. (Ovaries  I thought one had 700, like caviar, was her mothers response.) She had no money; her marriage to the unfaithful Peter Rodd  whom her father called the bore  was over. Working in a Mayfair bookshop, she was asked to suggest a book for the Duke of Beaufort: He NEVER reads you know. If somebody could write a book for people who never read they would make a fortune. So she did. Loading Why not, she must have thought, go back to that cosy mythical pre-political time when the Mitfords all ran as a pack? In fact, why not rewrite herself  the raven-haired changeling in a blonde family  as the great beauty of a brunette one? And why not lend the Mitfords the stable grandeur of the Radletts at Alconleigh, their large, ugly, north-facing, Georgian house... as grim and bare as a barracks. Nancy was, offhandedly, running down something she longed to have. She had been born in a small London house, and thereafter we lived under the shadow of two hammers: that of the builder and that of the auctioneer. Her father eventually quartered the family in Swinbrook, a ruinously expensive new-build, some lesser Nazis vision of a Cotswold manor house, as Nancy put it, which she nicknamed Swinebrook. There, the children slept in whitewashed cells and found their sponges frozen over each morning. The only warm place was an airing cupboard, known as the Hons Cupboard, where the children (all Honourables because their father was a lord) met to plot war on the terrible Counter-Hons. This detail makes it into The Pursuit of Love, which Nancys left-wing friends, like Cyril Connolly, found particularly obnoxious. But the Mitfords were never meant to be Hons  their father only became a lord by accident, when his brother was killed in the Great War. Nancy was, as her biographer Laura Thompson put it, intrigued by the question of what constitutes an aristocrat because she was only one herself by the skin of her pointed little teeth. The fictional Linda does not have an easy time in love but in real life Nancy had it far worse. The feckless, fey and undoubtedly gay Hamish St Clair-Erskine strung her along for years; when he finally let her down, she tried to commit suicide  like Linda, who eats a basket of yewberries to rejoin a lost labrador  except Nancy put her head in the oven. Then she went back to bed & was sick.

On the rebound, aged 29, she married Rodd, whose two unlovely sides were fictionalised in The Pursuit of Love, as Selina Hastings noted, in Lindas two husbands: the bore Tony Kroesig, his head full of a vast quantity of utterly empty fact, and the ideologue Christian, so detached from other human beings he hardly notices whether they are there. For Linda, it takes a Frenchman, Fabrice, Duc de Sauveterre, to show her real love. For Nancy, it was Colonel Gaston Palewski, de Gaulles chef de cabinet in London. Palewski, a Frenchman of Polish extraction, was one of those charmers who, as Forbes put it, could talk away their face in half an hour with a pretty girl, which was fortunate because he had, in Thompsons words, a face like a King Edward potato. But it is thanks to Nancys intoxication with Palewski that The Pursuit of Love is suffused with a magical benevolence entirely lacking in her cynical, forgettable earlier novels. He, however, was embarrassed by the book  the French press making hay with Hitlers Mistresss Sister dedicates daring book to M Palewski. Lily Collins and Emily Beecham in the BBC adaptation of Nancy Mitfords The Pursuit of Love. Supplied In The Pursuit of Love, the womanising Fabrice tells Linda he loves her and wants to marry her. Nancy, on the other hand, would wait and wait, abasing herself, for the Cols affection. She moved to the same street in Paris; her grey-enveloped letters were so frequent that he, crushingly, nicknamed them an avalanche grise. I know ones not allowed to say it but I love you, she wrote. After a quarter of a century, in 1969, he suddenly announced he was marrying another of his mistresses: the Duchesse de Sagan. What a smack in the face for the nearly-not-Hon Nancy Mitford. No more than she deserved, some say. Is Mitford fever  this unhealthy obsession with a clutch of backward girls, mostly either snobs, or Nazis, or both  something Britain will ever grow out of? There is no question over whether Nancy was a snob. Her notorious 1954 article on U and non-U English (napkin or serviette?) was, she protested, meant as a volley of teases, but it was not a one-off; her novels, too, enjoy their delicate fingering of fraught middle-class nerves, as Thompson calls it.
In her consultations with patients, Genea fertility specialist Dr Kate Mcllwaine says many couples assume the issue is with the female reproductive system, so it often comes as a surprise to patients when I diagnose male factor infertility. Loading But a growing body of research about the males role in fertility is slowly turning the conversation away from just women. Only a few weeks ago, news that we could reach a zero sperm count in the West shocked the world, with New York-based environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Shanna Swan writing in her new book Count Down that following current projections, sperm counts are set to reach zero in 2045. Its an explosive claim, but one established from a 2017 systematic review which looked at 185 studies based on the semen samples of nearly 43,000 men between 1973 and 2011. Swan  a co-author  found that sperm quality and quantity has been steadily declining since the 1970s by about 1 to 2 per cent, which if continued will result in her claim of zero by 2045. And while some researchers say this stark difference could be related to limited data (most of the 43,000 men analysed came from the west) it nonetheless raises an important question: what do we do about the plummeting sperm counts in the Western world?

Historically, there has been way too much emphasis placed on female fertility and infertility  we know that its definitely a 50-50 issue, says Monash IVF deputy director and senior lecturer in reproductive biology at the University of Melbourne, associate professor Mark Green. While womens ability to conceive plummets after age 35, male fertility decline is more subtle  but can be just as impactful. While men over the age of 40 can still sire children, Dr Green says their offspring tend to have a much greater chance of being on the autism spectrum or developing other neurological disorders. So you can have a female in her 20s and a male in his 40s, and while she is very fertile, the likelihood of their child having an issue is much higher than if the father was younger, he says. There is a difference between conceiving and having a healthy pregnancy  even if a sperm can fertilise, it doesnt mean the long-term health of the offspring wont be affected. Aside from factors such as cultural shifts towards having smaller families, contraception and the rising cost of children, everywhere chemicals found in plastics, cosmetics and pesticides that affect endocrines make it harder to conceive.

Many people are unaware that products they use in daily life contain chemicals called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that may reduce a couples ability to have a baby, says Professor Green. Some common examples of EDCs include bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, which are used in childrens products, personal care products and food containers, and flame retardants used in furniture and floor coverings. Men generally dont talk as openly as women about this, and I think this contributes to how hard it can be when male factor infertility is at play. However, the worst chemicals  called PFAS  are found in Teflon products, as well as in the lining of pizza and popcorn boxes, Professor Green says. Theyre called the forever chemicals because theyre heat resistant and dont break down easily, he says. Studies show that about 95 per cent of people have EDCs in their bodies and that people who struggle to conceive often have higher levels of some EDCs.

Viewing infertility through the lens of being able to conceive places the blame more on the woman and psychologically minimises the role of the male, whose masculinity and sexual prowess is often conflated with the ability to impregnate a woman, says Professor of Psychiatry at The Alfred and Monash University Jayashru Kulkarni. A man can be very good as a lover, but be infertile  and the two things often get confused, she says. Professor Kulkarni points out that stories about men fathering children well into their old age  we hear anecdotes about Picasso fathering children into his 70s  make people believe that that is the primary role of the man in the fertility process. David Allcock and his wife struggled with infertility for three years before starting IVF. Moreover, women and children are bracketed together and child rearing, as well as childbearing, is seen as a female role, so this is perhaps why the male role is not seen as critical, she says.

When chef David Allcock from Orange, NSW found out his sperm were moving slower than usual, he didnt fully comprehend what it meant. I had no idea really, no thoughts about it and did not consider the fact that I had a problem at all, he says. Definitely this is not something males think about; its usually left up to the woman. At the time, Allcock and his wife had been trying unsuccessfully for three years to have a baby, and even after tests showed his sperm motility (how fast the sperm swims) was reduced, the GP did not make a big deal of it. Even after another round of tests, our doctor said it was fine and to keep trying naturally, Allcock, 37, says. Eventually they realised time was running out, and the couple decided to try ICSI IVF.

It all worked out the first time, from the same batch: we now have three children, aged five, three and eight months, as well as my wifes first son. Loading While Allcock says hes always been comfortable with his masculinity, he says he copped a bit of slack in his regional town and had some uncomfortable conversations [about his own fertility]. Dr Kate Mcllwaine sees a similar sentiment among her patients. Men generally dont talk as openly as women about this, and I think this contributes to how hard it can be when male factor infertility is at play. Allcocks advice to other men out there with infertility issues is to seek help and advice as soon as possible: it may surprise you how easily certain issues can be found and dealt with.
It is increasingly obvious that hotels  built for tourists or temporary stays by non-infectious residents  are unsuitable and unsustainable as a quarantine solution. The answer now increasingly argued for is that of Howard Springs, near Darwin, in the Northern Territory.

There is much to be said for that: overseas arrivals (detained for their and our safety) stay in huts where open air circulates in ways that are impossible in high rise buildings in densely populated cities. However, and isnt there always a however, little or no discussion seems to be taking place anywhere south of Darwin about how this solution may be affecting residents of the smallest and most isolated capital city in the nation, those who already work to capacity at the single large hospital, and the 30 per cent of the 250,000 Northern Territory population who are Indigenous and particularly vulnerable.

The Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin. Credit:Louise Radcliffe-Smith

If the relevant ministers were moving with less reluctance to establish similar quarantine facilities elsewhere  Toowoomba, Melbourne, Christmas Island, anywhere near Canberra  it would certainly make sense to see Howard Springs as an example. And yes, as part of a bigger picture of accelerating care. But as a sole adequate solution? And while expanding the number of people detained there to 3000 when staff are reportedly hard to find (and PPE is particularly uncomfortable in the steamy tropics)? It feels increasingly like those hopeful banners flashed across our television screens daily, telling us that if we are concerned about the content of what we have just viewed, Lifeline will mop up our problems.

As someone who in the last seven years has made Darwin her increasingly committed home (alongside my husband who has lived there for 40 years or more), I frequently feel that this small, fascinating, genuinely multicultural city, plus the territory more generally, is required to carry more than its fair burden of the governments eagerness to dump rather than share out problems.
The Federal Court has dealt a major blow to a legal challenge to the Morrison governments temporary ban on citizens entering Australia from India, with a judge dismissing the first round of the case.

Lawyers for Gary Newman, a 73-year-old Australian man stranded in Bangalore, filed an urgent application in the Federal Court last Wednesday, seeking to overturn an emergency declaration made by Health Minister Greg Hunt on April 30 under the Biosecurity Act.

Health Minister Greg Hunt imposed new travel restrictions on April 30. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The declaration took effect last Monday and makes it a crime, punishable by a maximum $66,000 fine, five years jail, or both, for people including citizens and permanent residents who have been in India in the past 14 days to enter Australia.

The temporary ban, aimed at mitigating the public health risk posed by a surge of COVID-19 cases in India, will be lifted on May 15. It is not yet clear if it could be reintroduced.
Ex-Australia Post boss Christine Holgate has been appointed chief executive of rival multibillion-dollar parcel business Global Express, but says she will carry a life-long scar over her controversial exit from the postal service.

Ms Holgate is seeking an apology from the Australia Post board over its handling of the Cartier watches saga but wants no financial compensation, with a resolution now in sight after the parties agreed last week to enter mediation to resolve their issues.

Christine Holgate has been named CEO of parcels businesses Global Express, a major rival to Australia Post. Credit:Simon Schluter

Announcing her new role on Monday, one week after her non-compete with Australia Post expired, Ms Holgate said she was excited to be back working in the parcels business.

I am really excited about it and I want to look forward. Ive spent six months having to look backwards, she said on Monday.
More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islams holiest sites, as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the iconic golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets. Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Monday. Credit:AP In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by ultra-nationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The marchers were ordered to avoid the area and sent on a different route circumventing the Muslim Quarter on their way to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray. But tensions remained high. More than 300 Palestinians were hurt, including 228 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Seven of the injured were in serious condition. Police said 21 officers were hurt, including three who were hospitalised. Israeli paramedics said seven Israeli civilians were also hurt.

The confrontation was the latest after weeks of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional centre of their conflict. There have been almost nightly clashes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities. A wounded boy lies on a stretcher in a hospital following an explosion in the town of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on Monday. Credit:AP Most recently, the tensions have been fuelled by the planned eviction of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of east Jerusalem where Israeli settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties. Monday was expected to be particularly tense since Israelis mark it as Jerusalem Day to celebrate their capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. On Monday, two anti-Arab members of Israels parliament, surrounded by an entourage and police, pushed through a line of protesters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Several Arab members of parliament were among those trying to stop Betzalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, amid shouting and jostling. Smotrich and Ben Gvir eventually got to the other side of a police barricade and entered a house already inhabited by settlers. Over the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians and several dozen police officers have been hurt in clashes in and around the Old City, including the sacred compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The compound which has been the trigger for rounds of Israel-Palestinian violence in the past, is Islams third-holiest site and considered Judaisms holiest.

A wounded man is evacuated during clashes at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Credit:AP An AP photographer at the scene said that early on Monday morning, protesters had barricaded gates to the walled compound with wooden boards and scrap metal. Sometime after 7am clashes erupted, with those inside throwing stones at police deployed outside. Police entered the compound, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and stun grenades. At some point during the morning about 400 people, both young protesters and older worshippers, were inside the carpeted al-Aqsa Mosque. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades into the mosque. Police said protesters hurled stones at officers and onto an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray. The tensions in Jerusalem have threatened to reverberate throughout the region.

Before Mondays rocket attack on Jerusalem, some 100 kilometres north of Gaza, Palestinian militants had fired several barrages of rockets into southern Israel. Protesters allied with the ruling Hamas militant group have launched dozens of incendiary balloons into Israel, setting off fires across the southern part of the country. Police entered the compound, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and stun grenades. Credit:AP The rare strike on Jerusalem came moments after Hamas had set a deadline for Israel to remove its forces from the mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah and release Palestinians detained in the latest clashes. Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israels destruction, has fought three wars with Israel since it seized power in Gaza in 2007. The group possesses a vast arsenal of missiles and rockets capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel should stop immediately, and he urged all sides to take steps to de-escalate the situation.

I am deeply concerned about the rocket attacks, Blinken said in brief remarks ahead of his meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at the US State Department. Safadi also said the focus was to ensure escalation stopped. The UN Security Council scheduled closed consultations on the situation on Monday. Late on Sunday, the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat. A White House statement said that Sullivan called on Israel to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm and expressed the USs serious concerns about the ongoing violence and planned evictions. Netanyahu pushed back against the criticism on Monday, saying Israel was determined to ensure the rights of worship for all and that this requires from time to time stand up and stand strong as Israeli police and our security forces are doing now.

In other violence, Palestinian protesters hurled rocks at an Israeli vehicle driving just outside the Old City walls. CCTV footage released by the police showed a crowd surrounding the car and pelting it with rocks when it swerved off the road and into a stone barrier and a bystander. Police said two passengers were injured. Loading The day began with police announcing that Jews would be barred from visiting the holy site on Jerusalem Day, which is marked with a flag-waving parade through the Old City that is widely perceived by Palestinians as a provocative display in the contested city. But just as the parade was about to begin, police said they were altering the route at the instruction of political leaders. Several thousand people, many of them from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, were participating.
Washington: A US Coast Guard ship fired about 30 warning shots after 13 vessels from Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy came close to it and other American Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon said on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

This is the second time within the last month that US military vessels have had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behaviour by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year.

US sailors search for surface contacts during a Strait of Hormuz transit in 2019. Credit:Getty

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the warning shots were fired after the Iranian fast boats came as close as 150 metres of six US military vessels, including the USS Monterey, that were escorting the guided-missile submarine Georgia.

The US Coast Guard cutter Maui fired the warning shots from a .50-calibre machine gun before the Iranian vessels left, Kirby said.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
WASHINGTON (AP)  Hit by a cyberattack, the operator of a major U.S. fuel pipeline said Monday it hopes to have services mostly restored by the end of the week as the FBI and administration officials identified the culprits as a gang of criminal hackers.

U.S. officials sought to soothe concerns about price spikes or damage to the economy by stressing that the fuel supply had so far not experienced widespread disruptions, and the company said it was working toward substantially restoring operational service by the weekend.

The White House said in a statement late Monday that it was monitoring supply shortages in parts of the Southeast and that President Joe Biden had directed federal agencies to bring their resources to bear.

Colonial Pipeline, which delivers about 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast, halted operations last week after revealing a ransomware attack that it said had affected some of its systems.

Nonetheless, the attack underscored the vulnerabilities of the nation's energy sector and other critical industries whose infrastructure is largely privately owned. Ransomware attacks are typically carried out by criminal hackers who scramble data, paralyzing victim networks, and demand large payments to decrypt it.

The Colonial attack was a potent reminder of the real-world implications of the burgeoning threat. Even as the Biden administration works to confront organized hacking campaigns sponsored by foreign governments, it must still contend with difficult-to-prevent attacks from cybercriminals.

We need to invest to safeguard our critical infrastructure, Biden said Monday. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the attack tells you how utterly vulnerable we are to cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure.

The attack came as the administration, still grappling with its response to massive breaches by Russia of federal agencies and private corporations, works on an executive order aimed at bolstering cybersecurity defenses. The Justice Department, meanwhile, has formed a ransomware task force designed for situations just like Colonial Pipeline, and the Energy Department on April 20 announced a 100-day initiative focused on protecting energy infrastructure from cyber threats. Similar actions are planned for other critical industries, such as water and natural gas.

Despite that, the challenge facing the government and the private sector remains immense.

In this case, the FBI publicly assigned blame Monday by saying the criminal syndicate whose ransomware was used in the attack is named DarkSide. The group's members are Russian speakers, and the syndicates malware is coded not to attack networks using Russian-language keyboards.

Anne Neuberger, the White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said at a briefing that the group has been on the FBI's radar for months. She said its business model is to demand ransom payments from victims and then split the proceeds with the ransomware developers, relying on what she said was a new and very troubling variant.

She declined to say if Colonial Pipeline had paid any ransom, and the company has not given any indication of that one way or the other. Though the FBI has historically discouraged victims from making payments for fear of promoting additional attacks, she acknowledged the very difficult situation that victims face and said the administration needs to look thoughtfully at this area" of how best to deter ransomware.

"Given the rise in ransomware, that is one area were definitely looking at now to say, What should be the governments approach to ransomware actors and to ransoms overall?

Speaking later in the day at a conference on national security, Neuberger said the administration was committed to leveraging the government's massive buying power to ensure that software makers make their products less vulnerable to hackers.

Security can't be an afterthought, Neuberger said. We don't buy a car and only then decide if we want to pay for seatbelts and airbags.

The U.S. sanctioned the Kremlin last month for a hack of federal government agencies, known as the SolarWinds breach, that officials have linked to a Russian intelligence unit and characterized as an intelligence-gathering operation.

In this case, though, the hackers are not known to be working at the behest of any foreign government. The group posted a statement on its dark web site describing itself as apolitical. Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society, DarkSide said.

Asked Monday whether Russia was involved, Biden said, Im going to be meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin, and so far there is no evidence based on, from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved, although there is evidence that the actors, ransomware, is in Russia.

They have some responsibility to deal with this, he added.

U.S. officials have sought to head off anxieties about the prospect of a lingering economic impact and disruption to the fuel supply, especially given Colonial Pipeline's key role in transporting gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other petroleum products between Texas and the East Coast.

Colonial is in the process of restarting portions of its network. It said Monday that it was evaluating the product inventory in storage tanks at its facilities. Administration officials stressed that Colonial proactively took some of its systems offline to prevent the ransomware from migrating from business computer systems to those that control and operate the pipeline.

In response to the attack, the administration loosened regulations for the transport of petroleum products on highways as part of an all-hands-on-deck effort to avoid disruptions in the fuel supply.

The time of the outage is now approaching critical levels and if it continues to remain down we do expect an increase in East Coast gasoline and diesel prices, said Debnil Chowdhury, IHS Markit Executive Director. The last time there was an outage of this magnitude was in 2016, he said, when gas prices rose 15 to 20 cents per gallon. The Northeast had significantly more local refining capacity at that time.

The pipeline utilizes both common and custom technology systems, which could complicate efforts to bring the entire network back online, according to analysts at Third Bridge.

Granholm, the Energy Secretary, said Cyber attacks on our critical infrastructure  especially energy infrastructure  is not going away."

This is a serious example of what were seeing across the board in many places and it tells you that we need to invest in our systems, our transmission grid for electricity. We need to invest in cyber defense in these energy systems," she told Bloomberg TV.

The attack has not affected the supply of gasoline, she said, but if it goes on too long, of course that will change.

Gasoline futures ticked higher Monday. Futures for crude and fuel, prices that traders pay for contracts for delivery in the future, typically begin to rise anyway each year as the driving season approaches. The price you pay at the pump tends to follow.

The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline has jumped 6 cents over the past two weeks, to $3.02 per gallon, which is $1.05 higher than a year ago. The year-ago numbers are skewed somewhat because the nation was going into lockdown due to the pandemic.

The attack on the Colonial Pipeline could exacerbate the upward pressure on prices if it is unresolved for a period of time.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Bajak in Boston and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.
Nadja Klier / TNS

In his 1993 best-seller Without Remorse, novelist Tom Clancy introduced Navy SEAL John Kelly, a character in the Jack Ryan series who has been previously been played on-screen by Liev Schreiber (The Sum of All Fears) and Willem Dafoe (Clear and Present Danger). Now its Michael B. Jordans turn in Tom Clancys Without Remorse on Amazon.

As this espionage thriller begins, Kellys head emerges from underwater in full scuba gear. Hes on a mission to extract an asset out of Aleppo in Syria, where he and his men must unexpectedly battle Russian soldiers instead of the mercenaries that his CIA boss (Jamie Bell) said would be guarding the hostage.
Today

Partly sunny, more seasonable, and turning less humid; a spotty morning shower, especially south of the Lehigh Valley.

Tonight

Becoming partly to mostly cloudy; more comfortable.

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy and much cooler with a shower possible, especially farther south of the Lehigh Valley. More sun towards the Poconos.
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Williamson, WV (25661)

Today

Rain showers in the morning with numerous thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 79F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
President Moon Jae-in delivered a special address to mark his fourth year in office at 11:00 a.m. Monday.

In the televised speech, Moon reflected on the past four years and explained how he plans to govern in his final year in office.

He touched on all the major issues including COVID-19 vaccinations, economic recovery and skyrocketing real estate prices. He then took questions from reporters, only 20 of whom were admitted due to coronavirus restrictions.

Moon promised to focus "all efforts" on solving these issues in a "steady and cautious" way, adding that the remaining year is as important as the last four.

He claimed the end of the coronavirus epidemic is "in sight" as the government is speeding up vaccinations and vowed it will do its best to achieve four percent economic growth this year.

Moon also pledged to cooperate closely with U.S. President Joe Biden to find a breakthrough in stalemated relationship with North Korea. When they meet later this month, "we will explore a way to restore dialogue between South and North Korea, as well as North Korea and the U.S., and take the step of peace and cooperation again," he said.

Asked about criticism over yet more corruption and sleaze among recent nominees for ministerial posts, he claimed that objections from the opposition were "unilateral" and do not mean the candidates are unfit for office.


HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's boundaries were closed to non-essential travel on Monday, as the province reported 121 new cases of COVID-19.

Nova Scotia's new premier, Iain Rankin, departs from his first COVID-19 news conference, in Halifax, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. Nova Scotia's borders are closing to all but essential travel today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tim Krochak, POOL

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's boundaries were closed to non-essential travel on Monday, as the province reported 121 new cases of COVID-19.

But as the new health order took effect  nearly two weeks into a provincewide lockdown  chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang sounded a cautiously optimistic note, saying there are early signs that restrictions are beginning to work.

He told reporters the number of virus cases is coming down on a "slow but regular basis."

"We are headed in the right direction, but I'm fully aware you don't turn this around overnight," Strang said. "We have to be slow and cautious through this whole process."

Health officials said they identified 94 new cases in the central zone, which includes the Halifax area, 16 in the province's eastern zone, six in the western zone and five in the northern region. The province has 1,655 active reported cases of COVID-19 and 58 people in hospital, including nine in intensive care.

Traffic was light on the Trans-Canada Highway in northern Nova Scotia near Amherst, N.S., on Sunday, April 5, 2020. Nova Scotia's provincial boundaries are closed to all but essential travel today, as the province tries to control a COVID-19 outbreak. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Strang said progress has been made on a backlog of 200 positive cases that had yet to be entered into the province's database. About 100 cases remained, he said Monday, adding that the system should catch up by mid-week.

Monday's new health order, which closes boundaries to previously exempted Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, also applies to anyone moving to the province. Nova Scotia had prohibited non-essential travel from most of the country since April.

Premier Iain Rankin on Monday clarified the rules for moving to Nova Scotia, saying there are some exceptional circumstances that require "compassionate exemptions" because the province doesn't want people to find themselves homeless.

"There needs to be some flexibility on previously agreed upon (moving) dates," he said.

Under the change, people can apply for an exception under the following circumstances:

 they have a purchase or sale agreement for a property bought in 2021, with an offer accepted on or before April 21 and a closing date on or before May 20

 they have a minimum one-year lease signed on or before April 21, which is beginning on or before May 20

 they have a letter of acceptance for new employment in Nova Scotia for work that cannot be done virtually or deferred; the letter must be dated on or before May 7

The new restrictions also apply to parents from out of province who were hoping to pick up or drop off students. Under the new rules, rotational workers returning home from so-called outbreak zones such as the oilsands hub of Fort McMurray, Alta., must self-isolate for 14 days.

Nova Scotia's travel rules are in force until at least the end of the month and an application process for most travellers will be introduced by May 14.

Rankin announced the new restrictions on Friday as part of measures aimed at reining in the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Atlantic Canada since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, the premier also announced $1.3 million in funding for food banks on Monday in order to assist individuals and families in need during the lockdown. The money will go to charity Feed Nova Scotia and its network across the province.

Nova Scotia imposed a provincewide lockdown on April 28 when it became clear the virus was spreading at a rapid rate. The majority of the cases have been identified in the Halifax area.

"Our numbers are just starting to trend in the right direction, but we are not there yet," Rankin said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2021.
OTTAWA - Changes to the federal plan to finance experimental ways to deliver social services should more easily and quickly bring in needed private-sector backers for the strategy to work, says the minister on the file.

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Ahmed Hussen takes part in an update on the COVID pandemic during a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Changes to the federal plan to finance experimental ways to deliver social services should more easily and quickly bring in needed private-sector backers for the strategy to work, says the minister on the file.

Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said the changes respond to the concerns he heard from social-purpose organizations over the last year as their revenues dropped and demand for their services rose.

Last month's federal budget outlined a pledge to boost near-term spending for groups to partner with a private investor and test ways of delivering services like skills training.

The budget would also redo the parameters of the program to have the federal treasury take on a little more financial risk to lure the private capital needed.

Hussen said in an interview Monday that the risk is necessary if the government wants to lure private dollars and stretch public funds first pledged three years ago.

The Liberals set aside $755 million in a social-finance fund in 2018, banking that it would bring private money, and some private-sector discipline, into social services governments typically either provide themselves or pay for directly  sometimes ineffectively.

Instead of directly funding positions at a company, a group would have a private backer front the money, and public coffers would only pay any profit if the program works, saving the government money up front and over time.

"We know that every crisis is followed by a recession, and every recession is followed by austerity measures. So we're going to have scaled back social safety nets," said Mojdeh Cox, executive director of Pillar Nonprofit Network, which helps social enterprises scale and grow.

"We can actually offset some of the impact of that as a community-at-large by by talking about recovery in tangible ways."

This year's budget moved up some of the planned spending so that the fund would dole out $220 million this year and next, instead of the $170 million originally envisioned, as seed money to local and regional funds that will encourage these kinds of financing arrangements.

The Liberals are also hoping to boost rebounding investor appetite by loosening rules to allow for some of the funding to not be repaid, and attract by Hussen's estimates $2 of private money for every $1 of public dollars.

"If we want to support new ways of doing things and expansion and creating and attracting more private-sector capital, then the government has to be seen to be at least willing and open to a little bit more risk," Hussen said.

Money from the fund likely won't move to smaller or community funds until the end of the year, and Hussen suggested some of it would go to groups that traditionally have a hard time accessing seed money, such as Black women, Indigenous people, and people of colour.

"The capital the government is deploying can be catalytic, in particular to groups that tend to be under-represented at the leadership level of social finance," said Narinder Dhami, managing partner at Toronto-based Marigold Capital, which invests in companies helping reduce social and economic barriers for marginalized groups.

The budget also adds a further $50 million to help groups build capacity and take part in the growing field. The first round of the readiness program helped 680 groups, Hussen said, more than the 500 originally envisioned.

Adam Spence, chief executive of Social Venture Connexion, which works with and connects investors, social finance funds and service groups, said the various measures are all welcome, and now the sector is keen to see the rollout of the social finance fund happen as rapidly as possible.

"There are tremendous and in many cases growing needs, whether it's from housing to food systems, to racialized communities, that have been incredibly hard hit by the pandemic," he said.

"These folks are ready for that capital to flow."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2021.
OTTAWA - Canada's justice and heritage ministers will be recalled to justify a change to the Broadcasting Act that critics warn could erode the rights of individual users who upload content to social media.

Justice Minister David Lametti responds to a question during a news conference in Ottawa, Friday May 7, 2021. Canada's justice and heritage ministers will be recalled to justify a change to the Broadcasting Act that critics warn could erode the rights of individuals users who upload content to social media. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Canada's justice and heritage ministers will be recalled to justify a change to the Broadcasting Act that critics warn could erode the rights of individual users who upload content to social media.

The Heritage committee on Monday called for Justice Minister David Lametti and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault to address new questions about Bill C-10 at its next meeting on Friday or as soon as possible afterward.

Work of the 11-member committee has been stalled since Liberal MPs on the committee moved to cut a section of the legislation that expressly excluded user-generated content, such as a photo or statement posted to social media, from regulation.

Only Conservative MPs voted against a Liberal motion to remove Section 4.1, which was passed 7-4 on April 23 with support from New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois members.

That vote  which was made as part of clause-by-clause review of Bill C-10, which will amend the Broadcasting Act to include internet platforms  quickly stirred angry protests and media commentary, with critics arguing that the change may infringe on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Guilbeault has said the protests against the bill are unwarranted and threaten to delay Bill C-10's update to the Broadcasting Act. He says the intent of the bill is to give the CRTC power to regulate some activities of large social media platforms when they behave like broadcasters.

But the Conservatives, with some support from other opposition MPs on the committee, said the issue is important enough to get a new charter impact statement from the Justice Department.

Backbench MPs on the all-party committee agreed on Monday to a compromise that will see the two ministers to be grilled about how the change could affect individual rights to free expression.

The committee also voted to have other experts, including University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, return next week with their analysis of what the ministers say.

Guilbeault's parliamentary secretary, who is a member of the Heritage committee, said after Monday's committee meeting that she welcomed an end to the Conservative-led delays.

"Additionally, we are happy to see a charter statement coming that further addresses all parties concerns that have been raised, and I look forward to seeing the content of this new statement," MP Julie Dabrusin told reporters after the meeting adjourned.

She added that Bill C-10 has strong support from Canadian cultural industries that want big platforms to pay a share of their revenue to fund programming, as conventional broadcasters do.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2021.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's finance ministry said Monday that sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and a former subsidiary have filed 22 lawsuits to recover assets worth over $23 billion from various institutions and individuals.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's finance ministry said Monday that sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and a former subsidiary have filed 22 lawsuits to recover assets worth over $23 billion from various institutions and individuals.

1MDB was set up by former Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 but it accumulated billions in debts and sparked investigations in the U.S. and several other countries. U.S. investigators allege that over $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB and laundered by Najib's associates.

FILE - In this May 14, 2015, file photo, construction workers chat in front of a billboard for state investment fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) at the fund's flagship Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia's Finance Ministry said Monday, May 10, 2021 that sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and a former subsidiary have filed 22 lawsuits to recover assets worth over $23 billion from various institutions and individuals. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul, File)

Finance Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the governments recovery efforts are now focused on pursuing other wrongdoers who have caused losses to 1MDB and SRC International following successful settlements with U.S. firm Goldman Sachs, Malaysias AmBank Group and Deloitte PLT.

1MDB earlier this month filed six suits against nine entities including two foreign financial institutions and 25 people for various violations including breach of trust, fraud and negligence. SRC filed 22 lawsuits against 15 individuals and 8 entities over for similar wrongdoings.

The two companies contend those entities and people were unjustly enriched by wrongfully receiving monies from 1MDB or SRC," the ministry said in a statement that did not name any of the entities or individuals.

The government will not rest until all those involved are made fully accountable for the wrongdoings caused to the country through their involvement" in 1MDB and SRC, Zafrul said in a statement.

Malaysia received a 10.5 billion ringgit ($2.5 billion) settlement from Goldman Sachs last August. The ministry said the government will also receive 2.83 billion ringgit ($689 million) from the Ambank Group and 336 million ringgit ($80 million) from Deloitte.

The 1MDB saga sparked public anger that led to the defeat of Najib's long-ruling coalition in 2018 elections. But it has regained power by joining an unelected alliance that took over last year.

Najib was found guilty last year and sentenced to 12 years in jail in the first of several corruption trials linked to the 1MDB scandal. He is appealing the sentence.
Opinion

It was one hell of a Mothers Day present.

On Sunday, the same day the province was plunged into yet another partial COVID-19 lockdown, Education Minister Cliff Cullen and Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Brent Roussin announced schools in Winnipeg and Brandon would be closed until the end of May.

As demoralizing as the announcement was, it was hardly a surprise.

Two months of dithering by Premier Brian Pallister had led Manitoba back to the brink of yet another wave of COVID-19. After Friday tightening rules for business openings and social interactions that would take effect Sunday, it seemed like the end to in-person learning could not be far behind.

It was a horribly ironic decision to deliver to Manitobans on Mothers Day; although the closure of schools has a huge impact on almost everyone, women are hit much harder than men.

Still predominantly responsible for child care, legions of women will once again be forced to leave work  either for now or for good  to care for children. The insult added to the injury of this decision for many women will be the infuriating knowledge that the closure of schools was not inevitable.

Schools are not being closed because in-person learning triggered the third wave; schools are being forced to close largely because the Pallister government stood idly by as the third wave grew in size and intensity.

Research the world over has shown that as long as community transmission of COVID-19 is kept in check, in-person learning can continue without putting staff or students in harms way. Although children can acquire COVID-19 and pass it on to others, their rate of infection and transmission is much lower than adults'.

However, if community transmission outside schools is allowed to run amok, then it will become necessary at some point to shut down schools.

In other words, this not only could have been avoided, it should have been avoided.

Pallister and his public health advisors had all the medical and scientific knowledge to help them stop or at least dramatically slow the third wave. Instead of the short and sharp lockdown that has been proven to stop COVID-19 outbreaks in their tracks in other places, we in Manitoba continue to embrace what Pallister and Roussin call "the least-restrictive means possible."

Last week, Roussin testified as part of a court challenge of Manitobas COVID-19 restrictions. Although the libertarian group that launched the challenge argued Manitobas restrictions were too harsh, Roussins testimony actually revealed a significant disconnect between what Manitoba is doing, and what we know to be the leading edge of pandemic management.

Roussin told the court under direct examination that his chief goals are to "minimize morbidity and mortality" while minimizing social impacts. "Im bound by using the least-restrictive means."

Bound by who or what? It remains a mystery here in Manitoba whether Roussins devotion to the least-restrictive means is actually paying fealty to Pallisters not-so-thinly veiled libertarian sensibilities, or a reflection of an outdated public health philosophy.

Either way, it is preposterous for the provinces top doctor to claim he is "bound" to any one particular strategy when he is, in reality, combating an unprecedented public health crisis for which there is no playbook.

What does the "least-restrictive" strategy look like in Manitoba?

In large part, it has dictated that government should only introduce restrictions slowly and incrementally, in lockstep with increases in daily case counts and community transmission. However, when you look at the countries in the world that have had the most success in avoiding or minimizing subsequent COVID-19 waves, you can see that "least-restrictive" is the most backwards way of fighting COVID-19.

The most successful countries  Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea to name a few  start with the most severe restrictions and then remove them as case counts drop. Those countries have spent less time in any kind of lockdown and are now enjoying a greater range of freedoms than countries "bound" to the least-restrictive approach.

Manitoba started showing worrisome epidemiological signs roughly six weeks ago. Despite that, the Pallister government continued allowing Manitobans to engage in a number of practices that medical professionals believe are extremely risky: indoor social gatherings with people from different households; maskless church services; large, maskless gatherings in outdoor public spaces; indoor dining with people from different households.

The least-restrictive means is also what emboldened the government to continue whittling away at these freedoms, rather than shutting everything down. Last Friday, even as it did tighten restrictions, the province was still allowing crowds of indeterminate size in shopping malls and permitting groups of five people to socialize maskless in outdoor public spaces.

Whether its Pallister, or Pallister and Roussin enabling, we here in Manitoba are trapped in a hell where it seems no one is able to convince the powers that be to admit they made a mistake and make a sincere commitment to adopting a better, evidence-based approach.

Someone needs to remind both men that in the face of a crisis, there is a tipping point where stubborn resolve becomes incompetence, and unfounded optimism becomes stupidity.

And in Manitoba, it appears we have tipped both points.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
One evening, 16-year-old Divya Sharma found herself participating in a typical high school rite of passage.

She gathered with her classmates following an after-school program to talk about their futures  where they would go to university, what they would study, and what dreams they might pursue. Divya, a Grade 11 student at Fort Richmond Collegiate in Winnipeg, had just finished a science topics class, an after-hours course where students explore topics such as astronomy or forensic sciences.

Thats when she was struck with the idea for a passion project.

"We sort of had this discussion about how there arent enough opportunities for students who are interested in law and want to pursue the field of advocacy," Divya explains in a phone interview.

"There are so many opportunities for people who wanted to go into the field of medicine  you can go and shadow a doctor  but you dont really see that with students who are interested in law."

Divya set out to create that very opportunity, brainstorming what would eventually become Law and Witness (L.A.W.): an organization dedicated to connecting youth with a passion for law and advocacy to professionals in the field through monthly virtual (and one-day in-person) meetups.

Divyas own passion for law and advocacy began early, as a child growing up in India guided by the concept of "seva," meaning selfless service.

As a young girl in India, Divya said she didnt have as many opportunities to volunteer or get involved as she may have liked. After immigrating to Canada in the fifth grade, some doors began to open.

Over the years, Divya has nurtured her passion by joining a laundry list of clubs, anti-racism groups, and youth philanthropy organizations dedicated to that very same service.

"I instantly realized how the Canadian culture revolves around the idea of empathy, compassion and giving back, ultimately," she says. "Volunteering has helped me shape my identity to what it is today.

"This passion, volunteering with a diverse group of people with different cultures, religions and gender, has probably been one of my biggest sources of strength."

Now, Divya is angling towards a career in criminal law, with specific hopes to advocate for Canadas Indigenous populations.

To get there, however, shell need some guidance, which she hopes will come about through L.A.W. sessions.

"We really wanted to get one-on-one experience," Divya says of the organizations goals. "The idea is that this would be a program started by people who were interested in law and would be used to help other youth."

Khushee Patel, a 19-year-old student taking online classes at McMaster University, met a young and enterprising Divya through a Manitoba Youth Parliament information session.

The two chatted about their mutual interest in law, when Divya brought up the upcoming L.A.W. project.

"She said: Im working on this passion project and I could really use a partner like you, and thats where it all started," Patel says with a laugh during a phone interview.

"I just really love the idea behind what we do... There are a lot of students just like me who want to go into law, but theres just so much to do and its so unexplored when youre in your undergrad."

Patel is in her first year, taking "all the usual pre-law courses," such as philosophy and political science. As a high school debater who "loves to talk," Patel decided to pursue law after taking a history class with an influential teacher when she was in Grade 11.

"For me, this organization is an opportunity to work on not just my future but for the future of my friends and peers around me, as well," she says.

Patel is hoping to pave the way for students coming after her to access support and guidance pursuing a law career. Even in her undergrad, Patel said there is a lack of formal guidance on the types of law, how to apply for law school, what resources are important, and wha t the field ultimately looks like.

"When youre unsure of what you want to do, youre sort of scrambling," she explains. "If you have a knowledge of what your futures going to be like, theres sort of a comfort in that."

To that end, Law and Witness is now putting the wheels in motion to host its first gathering, after launching its website in March.

Like most budding groups this year, its initial plans to hold an in-person meeting at the University of Manitoba were hampered by COVID-19 restrictions, but Divya and Patel are now poised to host a Zoom meetup  with a guest lawyer speaking  May 14.

As the group grows, Divya and Patel hope to bring a wide variety of perspectives, from across Canada and some international locations, for youth to learn from and network with.

"(We want) lawyers from all different countries sharing what their perspective is, how they got into different programs, and really understanding what each sector holds," Divya says.

"It creates that network, so when people like me who are interested in the field of law step into the field of law, were already connected with real-life lawyers who can guide us when we become lawyers."

L.A.W. and its founders are ambitious, hoping to see the program expand to other cities across Canada over the next several years, to ensure youth from all backgrounds and in all places have an opportunity to chase their passions.

Sessions are open to any interested high school and university undergraduate students who want to connect with professionals and learn more about the legal field. Meetings will be hosted online  for now  and will be announced on the Law and Witness website (lawandwitness.com).

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
OTTAWA  Manitobans have used the COVID Alert app to notify contacts in just 3.38 per cent of confirmed infections since the province started using the app last October.

OTTAWA  Manitobans have used the COVID Alert app to notify contacts in just 3.38 per cent of confirmed infections since the province started using the app last October.

Data obtained by the Free Press suggest Manitoba is in the middle of the pack for using the app, which raises questions about how useful it is.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES COVID Alert anonymously logs when one smartphone is near another app-users phone for 15 minutes, using anonymized codes.

COVID Alert anonymously logs when one smartphone is near another app-users phone for 15 minutes, using anonymized codes.

When someone tests positive for COVID-19, provincial authorities give them a password, which they enter to have the app send an alert to anyone whos been in close contact over the past two weeks.

The alert notifies people they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, and gives them instructions on how to respond, as stipulated by their provincial government.

As of May 4, Manitoba app users had entered 1,277 of these codes, of the 37,785 cases that had been reported from when the province activated the app on Oct. 1.

In Saskatchewan, 5.24 per cent of reported cases have led to an alert since that province approved the app last September.

Quebec adopted the app last October, and just 1.8 per cent of cases reported since then have resulted in the alert app being triggered.

Meanwhile, Ontario generated a code for 4.97 per cent of cases since the app was launched in late July, amounting to 22,075 codes  but officials could not say Friday how many of those codes were actually used.

In fact, Manitoba said just 73 per cent of the 1,758 codes public-health nurses have issued have actually been put into use. That means 481 codes were never entered into the app in order to notify people, though some of the codes were generated during training.

In Saskatchewan, only 62 per cent of 3,444 generated codes have been used. Thats compared to Quebec where 96 per cent of the 5,085 issued codes were put into use.

There have been 6.5 million downloads of the COVID Alert app, representing 28 per cent uptake. Thats based on the population aged 18 and over in the nine jurisdictions using the app, representing 23 million Canadians.

Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and information-management professor at the University of Toronto, said the app is worth trying out, but is probably not designed for success.

Unlike other countries apps, Canadian officials focused intensely on privacy, foregoing any details for users on where and when they were exposed.

"If uptake were really high, I think wed be talking about a lot of the false alarms," Furness said.

For example, the Bluetooth technology could identify a contact in another room or apartment, even if there is zero chance of COVID-19 transmission through a wall.

Not knowing when someone was exposed or where they were physically located makes it impossible to tell if the exposure stemmed from an outdoor meeting, a shared bus trip or an indoor gathering, each of which would involve different risks and air quality.

"It creates a huge amount of anxiety, but you dont know what to do," said Furness.

He argued it would help to know when someone is exposed so that nurses can advise whether its too early or late to get a COVID-19 test.

Furness said contact tracing involves sifting through numerous situations to identify possible exposures, which he said is akin to finding a needle in a haystack, even in the best circumstances.

"The app contributes a lot of haystack. How many needles? Not sure," he said.

Meanwhile, the app only logs encounters that last 15 minutes, even though provinces are treating shorter encounters as exposures, due to more contagious coronavirus variants.

On top of that, Furness said the poor uptake might be the nature of an app aimed at telling someone they might have a highly contagious disease that has killed almost 25,000 Canadians.

"People will play Candy Crush like crazy. People will download apps and use them if theyre entertaining  the COVID (Alert) app is not that. Its this possible bearer of bad news."

Furness said he downloaded the app itself, and hopes it will help inform future pandemics, heaven forbid.

"Maybe the biggest use of the app will be learning how to do it more effectively next time."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
For years, leaders of Muslim-led charities in Canada have expressed concerns the Canada Revenue Agency targets them for special audits.

For years, leaders of Muslim-led charities in Canada have expressed concerns the Canada Revenue Agency targets them for special audits.

A new report by the National Council of Canadian Muslims says there is a real basis for such fears.

The report, titled Under Layered Suspicion, says Ottawas approach to anti-terrorism financing and anti-radicalization makes Muslim-led charities exceptionally vulnerable to audits, or worse, revocation of charitable status.

The report identifies patterns of audit practices that show potential biases in the CRA that casts a chill on the community, undermines their effectiveness, and calls into question Canadas commitment to inclusive multiculturalism.

"We had heard a number of concerns from Muslim charities feeling something was off with the audits," said Nadia Hasan, chief operating officer of the civil liberties and human rights organization that advocates against Islamophobia and racism. "They felt it was like an extra layer of scrutiny."

After hearing the concerns multiple times, the organization decided to see if there was anything to it. The answer, it found, was yes.

Using case studies of three Muslim charities that lost charitable status, Hasan said the research found suspicious patterns of structural biases and prejudicial policies that influence the selection of Muslim-led charities for audit.

"Audits are a normal and necessary process to safeguard the charitable sector," she said, noting she isnt saying Muslim charities never do anything wrong.

"We have no complaint with that. But we wonder why the CRA asks Muslim charities for information about things like religious literature and transcripts of sermons," she said, wondering if charities supported by other religions have to do that same things.

The research also questions whether staff at the CRA are "competent to interpret and understand those things. What religious expertise does the CRA have for that?"

Hasan realizes its important to be on the lookout for anything that supports terrorism or radicalism. "But this level of scrutiny is unique and unusual... it has a chilling effect and adds a whole other layer of decision making for Muslim charities."

This includes scrutinizing the social media accounts and websites for anyone they ask to speak, to make sure nothing was said that could be interpreted as supporting terrorism or radicalization.

"Many mosques now have agreements with speakers where they have to attest they have never said anything that supports terrorism," she said, wondering if charities supported by other religions feel the need to do the same thing.

"These extra steps are hard, especially for smaller groups. It adds an administrative and psychological burden."

The report recommends the government of Canada formally investigate patterns of bias within the CRA. It also calls for an examination of the idea of "extreme ideas," as a key feature of analysis in what constitutes radicalization since it is an ambiguous concept open to interpretation.

Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of Winnipegs Islamic Social Services Association, shares the concern.

"This has been a long-standing concern for Muslim charities going back some years," she said. "As the research states, the lens through which Muslim charities were reviewed is problematic and, for me, is frankly a double standard."

Fears about the power of the CRA to take away charitable status has "sent a chill across the Muslim charitable sector and intimidated many to self-censure."

Another local Muslim community leader, who didnt want to be named for fear of drawing unwanted CRA attention, said he is always careful when inviting a speaker.

"I check their background, speeches, YouTube, articles," he said, emphasizing he doesnt want to invite anyone who supports terrorism.

"We cant afford to make one mistake."

In a response, Pamela Tourigny of the CRAs media relations department said a charity can be selected for audit for a variety of reasons, and that "the CRA does not select registered charities for audit based on any particular faith or denomination, nor does it maintain statistics that track audits based on the denominations of faith-based charities."

To view the report, go to www.layeredsuspicion.ca.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
Instead of creating once-in-lifetime experiences for international tourists, former Winnipeggers living in Tanzania are using their pandemic downtime to employ dozens of their neighbours to build a much-needed medical clinic.

Instead of creating once-in-lifetime experiences for international tourists, former Winnipeggers living in Tanzania are using their pandemic downtime to employ dozens of their neighbours to build a much-needed medical clinic.

"People in our community really, really need work because theres no tourism in the area," said Shirley Peters, who owns Dashir Lodge and Safari with her husband, Darryl.

"Sixty families are getting monthly income through the construction of the health centre," added Darryl, a former high school math and science teacher at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute.

The former Glenelm residents quit their jobs in Winnipeg 11 years and sold everything to construct the lodge in northern Tanzania, near Mount Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park and other parks and conservation areas.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down international tourism in March 2020, the couple, who describe themselves as "Canadians in love with Africa," closed their eco-friendly lodge, sent their 30 staff home, and figured out how to survive.

After consulting with Canadian friends, along with Tanzanian engineer Elisante Kipuyo, they developed plans to build a 7,500-sq.-ft. private, non-profit medical clinic, including a maternity wing.

"Tanzania has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world," said Darryl, of the need for the medical centre, which is scheduled to open in early fall.

Supplied Construction crew

"This is mainly due to a lack of quality medical facilities, especially in the rural areas."

UNICEF statistics show the 2019 mortality rate for children under five to be 50.3 out of 1,000 live births, compared with 4.9 in Canada.

Before starting construction, the couple separated their tourism business from their charitable work, by creating two non-profit organizations under the name Dashir Community Projects International  one in Tanzania, the other based in Canada  to raise funds for Dashir-Kikwe Health Centre, located near the village of Kikwe, about 25 kilometres from the regional capital of Arusha.

"It doesnt feel like a year with COVID, Were busier now than before," says Shirley of the flurry of activity around buying property, developing blueprints and hiring workers.

Instead of hosting visitors on their expansive property, which has views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the couple set up websites, filed for charitable status (which is still pending) and set up fundraising campaigns to pay for the project, which is estimated to cost $340,000 for the building, land, and infrastructure.

The project was jump-started by an unexpected donation of $60,000 to purchase 2.4 hectares (six acres) of land adjacent to their 12-hectare (30 acres) property and fortified by the enthusiasm of friends, former visitors and a six-person Canadian advisory team.

An online campaign this spring raised more than $90,000, mostly from Canadians who have visited Dashir Lodge or plan to in the future, said Winnipegger Dennis Dyck, a member of the advisory board for the Canadian non-profit.

"Were the conduit in terms of money and (Darryl and Shirley Peters) are the conduit in terms of making it happen," said the retired civil servant, who last visited Dashir in 2019.

Artists rendering of the clinic.

Dyck and his colleagues need to raise another $120,000 to complete the clinic and equip it.

Expected to open in September, it will offer outpatient care initially, with plans to expand to a 16-bed maternity hospital clinic two years later, giving women the option of avoiding a long ride over rough rural roads while they are in labour.

"We believe that when this clinic is done, women from around here will get more help and more good facilities," explained Kikwe resident Edna Lomayani in a recent Facebook video about the clinic.

Right now, the concrete block walls are up and workers are digging a water reservoir, pouring the foundations for a water tower, and constructing 700 metres of fences around the clinic, says Darryl. The clinic will be run on solar power with a back-up generator.

Registered as a medical facility with the Tanzanian government, the clinic will be run by local doctors and nurses and sustained by donations and modest patient fees. Darryl and Shirley Peters are the only non-Africans involved in the project,

They view this as more than a pandemic pastime, but as a project that will improve and sustain the community the couple now calls home and the Tanzanians they view as their family.

"Its like I gave birth to all of them," explained Shirley, mother of three adult children living in Canada, about her relationship with lodge staff and clinic construction workers.

"They are truly like family. We have their backs, and they have ours."

brenda@suderman.com
More than 300 Palestinians were hurt, including more than 225 treated in hospitals and clinics, after clashing with Israeli police at a holy site in Jerusalem. Officers fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets at stone-throwing Palestinians. Police said 21 officers were injured, including three who were hospitalized.

Canada is scheduled to receive two million doses of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine this week.

A brazen afternoon shooting outside one of Canadas largest airports on Mothers Day is believed to be linked to the ongoing gang conflict in British Columbia's Lower Mainland.
Students taking mathematics exams are continually given instructions to show their work. Just jotting down a final answer without providing the equations that produced it earns a poor grade.

Editorial

Students taking mathematics exams are continually given instructions to show their work. Just jotting down a final answer without providing the equations that produced it earns a poor grade.

The "show your work" requirement appears not to apply to the provincial government and its COVID-19 health team.

For more than a year, Manitobans have been asked to accept the governments response to the pandemic but have been given precious little information to support that its recommendations are the best actions to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

It has neglected to show its work  for reasons mostly unexplained, the province guards its pandemic modelling with the ferocity of a polar bear mother protecting her cubs  and in so doing has failed to fully explain its often contradictory rules and restrictions.

Among those most impacted by the information deficit are Manitobas teachers.

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin has said many times that in-school transmission of COVID-19 is limited.

Failure to release pandemic modelling means Manitobans, including teachers, have received no data to support Dr. Roussins claim. And recent events, including the provinces move on Sunday to shift all Winnipeg and Brandon schools to remote learning, make it harder to accept that Manitoba schools are the safe spaces the province describes.

On Sunday, Manitobas test-positivity rate was nearly 11 per cent and in Winnipeg that rate has climbed to 13 per cent  numbers that havent been seen since the height of the pandemics second wave in mid-January. Several Winnipeg schools have already reverted to at-home learning in the past week despite the provinces continuing assurances, and provincial investigations are underway to find the sources of the COVID-19 cases that prompted the closures.

The job of educating children is daunting at the best of times, but the emergence of COVID-19 is undoubtedly a major factor in the sharp rise in illness-related absences among teachers and school staff.

After a series of freedom-of-information requests, the Free Press reported that in 2020 the Seven Oaks School Division marked an 81 per cent spike in teacher sick days and a 95 per cent rise in educational-assistant sick days compared to the previous year.

These absences are contributing to burnout among teachers and their substitutes. One educator described the citys educational system as "reaching a breaking point."

Meanwhile, the only special program floated by the province to address teachers concerns has been Premier Brian Pallisters short-lived scheme to allow teachers to get vaccines in North Dakota  a plan which, after being flatly dismissed by the teachers union, now seems to have mutated into a convoluted request for U.S. vaccines to be shipped to Manitoba for administration to teachers here.

Without otherwise being granted priority status for vaccination, Manitobas front-line teachers are left waiting in line for the provinces age-based criteria plan to eventually grant them eligibility for a vaccination. And after more than a year of lockdowns, restrictions and relentless workplace stress, the very least the province could do is provide the educators it claims to value so highly with the statistical information that justifies the decision to leave them off the priority-vaccination list.

Until then, teachers will no doubt be among the Manitobans giving their government an "unsatisfactory" grade for not showing its work.
DeepMind establishes scholarship for four Wits Masters students in machine learning

Scholarships seek to increase diversity in the fields of machine learning and are aimed at students from backgrounds underrepresented in AI.

DeepMind, an Alphabet company and a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence research and its applications in the real world, has donated scholarship funding for four Wits students to complete their Masters degrees in the field of machine learning.

The scholarships will fund students registering for MSc degrees in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, orRobotics in the academic years between 2022 and 2024.

The scholarships, known as the DeepMind Scholarships, will only be awarded to students who would not be able to take up their studies without financial assistance. Preference will also be afforded to South African citizens from underrepresented groups, including black students and women. It will also be open to international students, with a preference to residents of Sub-Saharan African states.

The spirit of the donation and the DeepMind Scholarships is to increase diversity in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and to increase the representation of the groups currently most underrepresented in these fields, says Obum Ekeke, Global Lead, University Relations & Education Partnerships at DeepMind. We are proud to help support the next generation of AI researchers and engineers in Africa.

The Scholarships will provide tuition fees, a stipend, plus conference and equipment funding for two Masters students who aim to complete their degree through dissertation over two years, as well as for two students who enrol in a Masters programme through coursework and dissertation over two years.

Artificial Intelligence is an important building block and key driver in the Wits Digital Transformation suite of centenary projects, of which artificial intelligence and machine learning is a key driver, says Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University.

In participating in the DeepMind scholarships programme, Wits University joins world-leading universities in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, New York University and University College London, and is one of only three African universities selected to host DeepMind Scholarships, alongside Stellenbosch University and Makerere University.

Scholars get their Masters' fees paid in full, as well as guidance and support from a personal DeepMind mentor.

Professor Benjamin Rosman, associate professor in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits says the scholarships will become a much-needed platform and launchpad to the careers of some of the countrys most talented students in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Wits.

This is an exciting recognition of Wits role as a leader in Machine Learning and AI in Africa. Enabled by this support from DeepMind, Wits will bring an even broader range of African talent to the global conversation in cutting-edge AI research, says Rosman.

Prospective Masters students in the fields of AI and machine learning are encouraged to visit the Wits website for more information on how to apply for the DeepMind scholarships.
ALBANY, N.Y.  SUNY schools plan to require students who are learning in person to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 this fall, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

This will also apply to CUNY schools in New York City, Cuomo said.

The requirement aligns with decisions made by other private colleges in New York, like Syracuse University and LeMoyne College, who announced vaccine mandates for students and staff in April.

Cuomo said the requirement cannot take effect until the FDA provides full approval for the vaccines, beyond the emergency use authorization.

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras released the following statement after the announcement:

Since day one of this pandemic, our students, faculty, and staffs health and wellbeing have always been top priority. We have taken extraordinary steps to keep our communities safefrom 100 percent weekly mandated testing; to enhanced health and safety protocols; to opening our campuses to serve as vaccination sites for SUNY and the broader community; to advocating for expanded vaccine eligibility for the entire SUNY community; and to a comprehensive public service campaign to get our SUNY community vaccinated. And all of these efforts have paid enormous dividends.

"SUNYs 14-day positivity rate is 0.14 percent and our systemthe largest comprehensive system in the nationhas done an extraordinary job keeping our campuses running under trying circumstances. Over the past several weeks we have been working with our SUNY community to develop the best plan to make sure we can return to full reopening in the fall and turn the page on COVID. We thank the Governor for providing resources to our many campuses offering vaccines to SUNY and the broader community. The States new vaccination requirementcontingent on full FDA approvalwill be another step in restoring normal campus activity this fall.

According to the immunization requirements on the SUNY website, a person may be exempt if a doctor verifies that a vaccine would be detrimental to the patients health.

People who hold genuine and sincere religious beliefs which are contrary to immunization may also be exempt.

Currently, students are required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella.

The SUNY COVID-19 tracker shows a positivity rate of .41% across all campuses since the start of the pandemic. The rolling seven-day average is .12%, with 102 new positive cases reported during that time.
ROME, N.Y. (UPDATED)  Two people were arrested after allegedly shoplifting from the Walmart in Rome, and threatening a loss prevention officer with a BB gun when confronted.

Police were called to the scene just before 9 p.m. for a larceny in progress with a weapon involved, following multiple reports of shots fired.

Alexander J. Sisti, 24, and Aubry E. Mayo, 19, are both accused of hiding jewelry, headphones and camping merchandise inside their jackets and backpacks and attempting to leave the store. When a loss prevention officer attempted to stop them, Sisti allegedly threatened the officer with what was thought to be a handgun. Police later determined it was a BB gun. Police say there was no evidence that any shots were fired at the scene.

The two then ran toward the parking lot. Troopers and Oneida County sheriffs deputies who were at the scene began searching for the suspects, who were found hiding behind a business on Rome-Taberg Road.

Both were taken into custody.

Sisti was charged with second-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. He is currently being held at the Oneida County jail.

Mayo was charged with petit larceny, issued an appearance ticket and released.
Its National Police Week  and Utica Coffee Roasting Company is honoring fallen Utica Police Officer Thomas Lindsey with the release of a new coffee blend in his honor.

The Badge 4963 Blend is available at the cafes and online. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Thomas Lindsey Foundation, an organization that researches and analyzes violent crimes against police to help develop preventative action.

Lindsey was shot and killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop on Neilson Street in Utica in 2007.

Utica Coffee President Frank Elias says this is a way to show gratitude to local police.

"Its a partnership with our local community. It shows that we support our police officers it shows that we recognize what they do in this community on a daily basis. And it shows that we're in support of them, he said.

The Badge 4963 Blend will be on sale until the end of May.
INDIANAPOLIS (WLFI) -- Indiana State Park properties are set to host special events for Kids to Parks day.

It's a national day dedicated to outdoor play, which aims to connect families with local, state and national parks.

It takes place this Saturday, May 15th.

And the day is a chance for children to learn things like park stewardship, outdoor recreation, and cultural and natural history.

If you would like to find planned events for your family to attend, you can click here.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) -- Food Finders Food Bank just possibly got its largest single donation of cereal boxes ever. That's thanks to the students of West Lafayette Elementary School.

They were given the challenge to collect at least 1,000 boxes of cereal in a week. The students ended up surpassing that goal by 275 additional boxes.

"I made this goal of being tapped to the wall thinking that probably wouldn't happen but they are incredible," said West Lafayette Elementary Principal Amber Taggart. "To watch the little ones walk in the door with giant bags of cereal, they were so excited."

In-person and E-learning students all got to participate in helping their school reach this goal. If they collected 1,000 boxes in a week, the reward was to get an opportunity to duct tape Principal Taggart to a wall. If it took two weeks they'd get to cover her in stickers. And if it took three weeks she'd have to ride an obstacle course on a tricycle.

While students were enticed to see their principal hang from the wall by tape, they say that wasn't their personal goal.

"It feels happy because we could give away our food to other people," said student Alaya Ajayr.

"Some people don't have everything that others have and especially because of Covid, they need more food so that's why we decided to participate," said student Ramona Jacquier.

"It feels pretty good that we are donating cereal boxes to people who don't have much food," said student Sammy Kyburz.

Before donating the cereal, students got to see all 1,275 boxes do a domino effect down the hallway. This entire experience is bringing lessons they'll carry on for years to come.

"I learned that it's good to care about other people," said Kyburz.

"You should donate money to food banks and stuff," said Kirsten Jacquier. "It's better to give than to get," added Ramona.

"They were excited for the opportunity to do it but they're so proud to help other people and to know that other people can have the things that they have and so how can you be any prouder," said Taggart.

This activity was inspired by other schools across the nation taking on this cereal box donation challenge. This is the first big event the school has done since the Covid-19 restrictions kicked in.
Service and engagement combine for spring 2021 Impact Week

Each semester, three student organizations go head-to-head to raise money for their service projects during Impact Week. Like the name suggests, these service projects are designed to have a positive impact on William & Mary and the Williamsburg community. To receive the $5,000 of prize money given by anonymous donors, the organizations encourage fellow students to vote for their project in the form of a $5 gift to any area of William & Mary. First place receives $2,500 towards their project, second place receives $1,500 and third place receives $1,000.

In this spring's Impact Week, from April 19-23, the three organizations that competed were Kappa Sigma, supporting the Williamsburg House of Mercy; InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, supporting 3e Restoration; and Greater City, also supporting 3e Restoration.

The winner was Kappa Sigma with 34% of the vote. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship came in second with 33% and Greater City came in third with 32%.

Our commitment to the House of Mercy has become a staple for the fraternity over the years. We are proud to help support them, says Daniel Driscoll 22, a member of Kappa Sigma.

The House of Mercy serves those who are hungry or homeless and alleviates copay burdens for participating members through donations and volunteer service from the Williamsburg community. The nonprofit provides yearlong support to over 3,500 in-need families in Williamsburg and its surrounding areas.

The House of Mercy has seen a significant influx of patrons due to the pandemic. Many people who are in and out of jobs come through their shelter. All of our granted Impact Week fund will go toward restocking their food pantry shelves with nonperishable goods, says Driscoll.

3e Restoration seeks to break the cycle of homelessness and social displacement through hospitality and systematic change. InterVarsity will support 3e by educating on the issue of homelessness in Williamsburg and by purchasing essential hygiene products and household items for the socially displaced. Greater City also will support 3e but in a slightly different way  by purchasing canned food, cooking supplies and hygiene products for the residents of the Pineapple Inn.

Our project comes in two parts: food security-cooking supplies, grocery delivery and canned goods; and Blessing Bags  welcome bags with things like hygiene products, laundry money, and homemade cards. Unfortunately, the pandemic is hitting Williamsburg residents hard. Weve heard from residents that its been disheartening not to receive their student visits, let alone in-person church services, says Lucas Arnett 22, a member of Greater City.

These kinds of opportunities to serve the community and widespread student participation helped to place W&M in Princeton Reviews rankings as the best public university in the nation for making an impact through community engagement.

The organization behind Impact Week is Students for University Advancement. SUAs goal is to build a culture of philanthropy on campus and facilitate community engagement, and it puts on events such as Tag Day, Impact Week and the One Tribe One Day carnival.

SUAs role in Impact Week is as a facilitator and an uplifter. There are a multitude of student organizations that have these big ideas that could be realized given some philanthropic guidance and a generous donation. SUA helps these organizations connect with the students on campus who are willing and eager to support their philanthropic projects and in turn the Williamsburg community, says Jordan Strong 22, SUA chair.
Winning the Nobel Prize once is no easy feat let alone winning it twice! The first ever person to do so was chemist and physicist Marie Curie as many of you might already know.





Similarly, John Bardeen has won the prestigious prize for physics first in 1956 and then in 1972. Although, if you happen to watch The Big Bang Theory , it might come off as surprising that he was an engineer by profession.





Bardeen (1908-1991) completed his bachelor and master degrees in electrical engineering in 1928 and 1929 respectively. He was then employed by Gulf Oil Corporation where he worked for four years.





However, his love for physics was intact and urged him to go back to school. Therefore, he enrolled at Princeton University to study physics and mathematics in 1933.





There he wrote a thesis on solid-state physics under the guidance of Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner. After graduating in 1935, he was chosen as Junior Fellow at Harvard University, a position he held for three years.





In 1939, the second world war broke out and John could no longer facilitate his individual research interests. The big break came after the war in October 1945 when he started working at Bell Labs.





Along with colleagues William Shockley and Walter Brattain, John invented the first transistor in 1947. Their relationship, however, soured when Shockley tried to take most of the credit for the invention.





Replica of the first transistor

Shockley prevented both Bardeen and Brattain from working any further on the transistor technologies. So, John left Bell Labs in 1951 and accepted an offer from the University of Illinois to study superconductivity.





In 1956, he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with Shockley and Brattain for their work on the transistor. Today, as you might know, most of computing technologies are unimaginable without the transistor.





When Bardeen brought only one of his three children to the prize distribution ceremony, the King of Sweden ridiculed him, to which Bardeen candidly replied: "Next time I will bring them all to Sweden."





In 1957, John wrote a theory of superconductivity along with Leon Cooper and John Schrieffer. It ushered a new era of transportation and medical technologies such as MagLev and MRI respectively.





15 years later, John kept the promise he made to the King of Sweden when he took his three children to the Nobel Prize distribution ceremony in 1972.





John stayed as a professor of engineering at University of Illinois until 1975. In 1983, Sony corporation, which owed much of its commercial success to inventions by John, created an honorary John Bardeen professorship at the university.





It's similar to the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, a chair founded in 1663 and held by icons like Newton Dirac and Hawking




Spanish is one of the Iberian Romance languages that originated on the Iberian Peninsula. It evolved from the Vulgar Latin brought to the Peninsula by the Romans around 210 BCE. The Spanish language is one of the United Nations six languages and an official language of the European Union, Union of South American Nations, Organization of American States, the African Union, and several other international organizations. Globally, it is the native language of close to 500 million people, making it the worlds fourth-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese. Despite its popularity as a spoken language, the Spanish language is rarely used in technology and scientific writing. However, it is the third most used language online.

Geographic Distribution

Map of Spanish-speaking countries.

Besides the 500 million native speakers, 75 million people speak Spanish as their foreign or second language, while millions of other people can communicate in it with limited capacity. It is used as the official language in 20 sovereign states and one dependency. Apart from Equatorial Guinea and Spain, the majority of Spanish speakers live in the Americas.

About 420 million are in the Americas. The region of the Americas with the majority of Spanish-speakers is known as Hispanic America, to differentiate from Latin America which includes countries with another dominant Romance language besides Spanish. In these countries, Spanish is the main language and may share the official status with other Indigenous or foreign languages. Although the United States, Canada, and Brazil are not part of Hispanic America, they too have significant Spanish speakers.

In Africa, Spanish is one of the African Unions official languages. However, it is the official language of only one Africa state, Equatorial Guinea. Spanish is also widely spoken in some North African cities like Melilla and Ceuta and the Canary Islands. Morocco has about 20,000 Spanish speakers, some of which live in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. In Oceania, Spanish is the most popular and official language on Easter Island, a Chilean territory.

Countries Where Spanish Is The Official Language

A Spanish sign for Tijuana, Mexico. Mexico is the country with the most Spanish speakers.

Spanish is the official and the most-used language in 20 countries. It is a de facto official language in five of the 20 countries and by law in the 15 others. Apart from Equatorial Guinea and Spain, the rest of the countries that use Spanish as the official language are part of Hispanic America. Mexico is the largest Hispanophone country, with over 120 million Spanish speakers. Although it uses Spanish as an official language, its official status is not recognized by law. Mexico has no official language at the federal level.

Colombia is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country, with 99% of its population speaking Spanish. It is recognized by law as the countrys official language (Castellano, another term for the language) and is spoken alongside 68 other languages. Spain is Europes largest and the worlds third-largest Hispanic country, with about 47 million Spanish speakers. It is the only official language at the national level and co-official in some regions. The language originated from and was named after Spain.

Besides Mexico, Spanish is a de facto official language in four other countries: Argentina, Chile, Nicaragua, and Uruguay. In Argentina, Spanish is the main language spoken by almost everyone, sometimes alongside other foreign and native languages including English, Italian, and Yiddish. In Chile, Nicaragua, and Uruguay, Spanish is spoken throughout but not recognized by law as the official language.

Equatorial Guinea is the only African country where Spanish is an official language recognized by law. Spanish holds official status alongside Portuguese and French at the national level. About 67% of the countrys population speaks or understands the language. Other countries where Spanish is, by law, an official language include Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Paraguay, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Peru. In Paraguay, Spanish is one of the two recognized official languages (the other is Guarani). Bolivia uses Spanish and several other indigenous languages as official languages at the national level.

Other Countries With Significant Population Of Spanish Speakers

A Spanish sign in Arizona, US. Though the US does not use Spanish as an official language, it is spoken by a significant minority of the population.

Although Spanish is the official language of Spain, Equatorial Guinea, and Hispanic American countries, it is spoken regularly by a significant proportion of the populations in other countries.

United States

The US has the worlds fifth-largest native Spanish population after Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Argentina. Spanish is a native language to about 41 million people, and at least 14 million more use it as a second language, making it the country's second-most spoken language after English. With over 50 million speakers, the US is home to the worlds second-largest Spanish speakers after Mexico. It is the countrys second-most studied language after English, with over five million students.

Spanish was brought into the country by Spanish colonizers in the 15th century. Currently, it is a popular language in California, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. In California, government documents and forms are often bilingual in Spanish and English, though English is the states official language. Apart from these states, Spanish is also widely spoken in Puerto Rico, where it is one of the two official languages (the other official language being English). The American territory was under Spanish rule for about 400 years before becoming a US possession in 1898.

Belize

Spanish has no official status in Belize, yet it is surrounded by other countries where the majority overwhelmingly speak the language. Although English is the countrys official language, Spanish, alongside Kriol, is spoken by a sizeable number of people, either as a first or second language. According to the 2010 census, 30% of the population consider Spanish as their native language, while another 50% can understand the language. All told, about 56.6% of Belizeans speak Spanish. It is the most popular language in Orange Walk, Cayo, and Corozal districts.

Andorra

Andorra is located on the Iberian Peninsula and neighbors Spain, one of the worlds largest Spanish-speaking countries. As such, there is a significant portion of Spanish speakers in the country. Although Catalan, also derived from Vulgar Latin, is Andorras official language, Spanish is the second most spoken language. Spanish is spoken by about 43% of the population, most of which are Spanish immigrants. The languages popularity in the country and its use as a Lingua franca forced the government to promote Catalans universal and general use.

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by Spain and hosts some Spanish immigrants. English is Gibraltars official language because of its status as a British territory. However, Spanish is also widely spoken and used on some official documents. It is one of the languages used by the media and has also been included in the education system.

Spanish-Speaking Countries

Country Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico* Spain Uruguay Venezuela

*: Puerto Rico is a dependency of the US and therefore is not a country.
On Thursday, a worker at Amazons BHM1 fulfillment center (FC) in Bessemer, Alabama collapsed while on the job. According to press reports, the worker was taken to the hospital where he later died.

Amazon, which employees nearly 6,000 workers at the Bessemer site, later told news reporters that the worker, whose name was not given, had suffered a medical incident and that the employee had not reported suffering from any preexisting health conditions. The company told Business Insider that it would offer grief counseling to all workers at the facility.

He was working at the station behind me then just disappeared, a worker who witnessed the incident posted on social media. Next thing I know hes getting carried out on a stretcher. The worker added that they would not reenter the warehouse after witnessing the death. I cried at work I cant do Amazon, I tried Shouldve let that man go home AND EXCUSE his time the first time he mentioned that he didnt feel well [emphasis in original].

Banner on Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama (Credit: WSWS Media)

Workers gave comments of support and solidarity to the worker and his family on Twitter. Many offered accounts of similar incidents and conditions at their own facilities. There were several people who died at a call center I worked at on the job, a worker named Kevin said. They werent found for hours after they disappeared, he added. Amazon runs their employees into the ground! another commenter posted.

One month ago, the BHM1 facility was the site of a massive repudiation of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which staged a months-long organizing drive at the facility. Only 738 out of the BHM1s 5,800 workers voted yes to accept the RWDSUs representation at the time.

The RWDSUs failure to gain support occurred despite glowing wall-to-wall media coverage in the corporate and left-wing press, an unprecedented de facto endorsement by Democratic President of the United States Joseph Biden, as well as a coterie of capitalist politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, who lent their support to the campaign.

In the end, workers turned away from the pro-capitalist organization, which tellingly placed no demands on Amazon as it sought to drum up votes for itself.

The RWDSU has yet to issue its own statement on the incident at BHM1, merely retweeting an article from the corporate press on its social media account. The organization has given far more attention on its Twitter feed to the ongoing effort to appeal last months election loss at the warehouse than it has to putting forward demands on Amazon for a full accounting of the circumstances behind the workers death.

The death comes amid reports of rising COVID-19 infections at Amazon facilities. In October, company spokespeople revealed that over 20,000 Amazon associates had been infected in the course of the first 10 months of 2020. That number was given in advance of the winter months, which coincided with both an intensification of work for Amazon and other shipping workers during the holidays as well as a third wave of the pandemic in the US.

In December of 2020, Amazon workers in Baltimore took matters into their own hands and announced the formation of an independent rank-and-file safety committee at the corporations BWI2 fulfillment center. The committee, a genuine workers organization comprised of and led by rank-and-file Amazon workers, has vowed to defend the interests and rights of its fellow Amazonians.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon appeared on lists of the most dangerous occupations in America due to its reckless speedups, defective equipment and lax safety provided for employees.

Last month, Amazon founder and worlds richest man Jeff Bezos announced in a final letter to shareholders that the company must do a better job for our employees. The former CEO declared that in order to make Amazon Earths Safest Place to Work, the company should offer enhanced guidelines for workers to avoid injuries caused by repetitive motions.

Such initiatives are window dressing for the company, which produced a record-setting $23 billion in profit during 2020, to continue its callous exploitation of its workforce amid the pandemic. When asked about Bezos plan to help workers use different muscle-tendon groups to decrease repetitive motion, a Baltimore Amazon worker and member of the BWI2 rank-and-file committee explained that the cause of Amazons record-setting injury level was the unrealistic demands the company places on workers.

[Workers] know that these rates [the number of items a worker is expected to package and ship per minute] are unrealistic, the worker said. Because of this, trainers are teaching workers shortcuts in order to make rate. Such methods lead to stress injuries and other debilitative side effects.

The death at BHM1, less than a month after the RWDSUs failed organization drive, demonstrates the need for the building of organizations that genuinely defend the class interests of workers.

Amazonians at Bessemer and elsewhere should contact the International Amazon Workers Voice and seek information on how to build their own independent rank-and-file safety committees to demand genuine safety protocols from Amazon, linking their struggles to other workers in their region and internationally.
Cheryl Crisp is the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia). She was a founding member of the Socialist Labour League, the forerunner of the SEP, in 1972, and has played a leading role in the Trotskyist movement in Australia for more than four decades. She delivered these remarks to the 2021 International May Day Online Rally held by the WSWS and the ICFI on May 1.

Speech delivered by Cheryl Crisp to the 2021 International May Day Online Rally

On behalf of the SEP Australia, I would like to welcome listeners throughout the world.

The last year has been one like no other. The spread of COVID-19 has transformed the lives of billions of people. More than three million have died. The events in India, Brazil, the US and Europe highlight that far from the pandemic being under control by the end of 2020, this year has seen an acceleration of its spread, its lethality and the deterioration of the conditions of life of the working class internationally. This was not inevitable, but the outcome of conscious policies of capitalist governments.

Australia and New Zealand have been hailed as countries whose governments defeated the disease. Nothing could be further from the truth. The conservative Morrison Coalition governments approach to the pandemic was no different than any other capitalist government. It enacted lockdowns and quarantining only because of the demands of workers and the fear of wider opposition developing.

Cheryl Crisp

The low infection rates in this country could transform overnight. Recent outbreaks in all the mainland capital cities have been a warning of that. The fact is the governments vaccination program is in tatters. Only 5 percent of the population have received their first dose, and no figures have been released on the number fully vaccinated. But the ruling class demands the borders open, both state and national, despite the unchecked spread of new variant forms of the virus.

This is a government of immense weakness. In January 2020, it confronted the developing pandemic as it was hated by broad sections of the population because of its criminal disinterest in the impact on the population of the worst bushfire crisis in Australias history in the previous six months. Morrison and his government were not able to deal with a growing emergency in the form of COVID-19.

In fact, one of the first actions of the Morrison government was to establish a National Cabinet made up of federal government representatives and the leaders of all the state and territory governments, the majority of which are Labor Party. This cabinet replaced parliament, which barely met for six months in 2020.

This de facto national unity formation enlisted both Labor and particularly the trade unions, which, under the guise of the pandemic, pledged to work with the government. Sally McManus, the secretary of the ACTU, the peak union body in Australia, collaborated with the government to secure the reversal of the most basic conditions of the working classpenalty rates, standard working hours and pay rates.

Parliament, however, sat long enough to pass four stimulus packages, which resulted in a transfer of more than $400 billion from the public purse to corporations and big business. This was 10 times more than that issued during the 200809 financial crisis. The SEP warned that the stimulus packages would have to be paid back through the increased exploitation of the working class through a deepening and unrelenting assault on the working class. This has been confirmed.

The pandemic has been the occasion for a meteoric rise in the stock markets internationally, and this is no different here. Australias billionaires grew in number and wealth. While unemployment and underemployment hit 26 percent of the workforce, levels not seen since the 1930s depression, the wealth of the 10 richest Australians increased by more than 44 percent from 2019 and the number of billionaires rose by 25 percent.

After the government ended the JobKeeper payment at the end of March, total wages decreased by 3.1 percent in the first fortnight, with payroll jobs falling by almost 2 percent. This is just the very beginning of the impact of removing the totally inadequate payment and slashing the poverty-line welfare payments.

But this only intensifies a process which has been underway for decades. The ACTU released a report this week, which is itself an indictment of its own role, outlining the impact of the assault on wages over the past four decades. It said:

Wage growth  is now at its lowest levels since record keeping began If workers share of GDP had remained at 1970s levels, it would have been $200 billion higher in 2019, or an extra $15,000 in additional income, on average, for each and every employed Australian.

There has been here, as evidenced in many other countries, a fight back by workers against these conditions. This was expressed starkly last November when the Coles supermarket chain, one of the largest corporations in Australia, locked out 350 warehouse workers in the Sydney facility at Smeaton Grange in planning to close down the facility.

This began a 14-week struggle, with the workers voting more than 10 times against the union-company offer. The union refused to organise a strike fund and during the more than three-month lockout, workers were paid around $200 in total. The union kept the dispute isolated, even from other Coles warehouse workers.

It was only through the World Socialist Web Site and the SEP that workers at Coles facilities in multiple states found out about the lockout. The SEP fought for a break from the union and the establishment of independent rank-and-file committees that could coordinate a unified struggle with other sections of workers in Australia and internationally, including the Hunts Point warehouse workers in New York, in struggle.

Everything was thrown at these workers to drive them back to work. And in what was a revealing video appearance, one of the Coles senior managers, Matthew Swindells, announced the extension of the lockout as retaliation for their no vote, venting his fury at them and the SEP for fighting against the union betrayal.

Swindells said: With the no vote there is no plan. The only people with an alternative plan is the extreme socialists that have infiltrated this dispute They are suggesting this wider agenda of taking on big business and the banks. They are pushing the agenda now... These are faceless people who are not even part of the union. In fact they are anti-union people, down on the picket, handing out leaflets.

In other words, Swindells, one of the top national managers at one of Australias largest corporations, was defending the United Workers Union (UWU) from socialist criticism. His comments demonstrate that management views the UWU as an essential partner in enforcing its agenda.

Unintentionally, Swindells exposed the union-company alliance against the workers. This conspiracy is being carried out in every workplace in every country. The unions are not workers organisations. They are the policemen of capitalism against their own members. Outside a complete break with these corporate watchdogs, workers are shackled to the interests of their national ruling class.

This is why the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is calling for the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committeesto provide the mechanism by which workers can fight for their independent interests. Workers can collaborate throughout their industry, country and internationally. Communities can discuss and coordinate their response to the crisis engulfing their neighbourhoods and cities.

This is a fight that must be waged internationally against the system which has created this disastercapitalism. It is only the ICFI which fights for the socialist transformation of society. I urge you to join this party.
The opposition Labour Party suffered massive losses in the Super Thursday elections throughout the UK.

Elections were held for the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, and in 143 English councils, where more than 5,000 seats were contested including 35 metropolitan and 59 district councils. Mayoral elections were contested in major cities and regions including London and Greater Manchester.

Elections for the Hartlepools parliamentary seat saw Labour lose for the first time in over 60 years, with a 16 percent swing to the Conservatives. This was only the second ever by-election victory by a ruling party, taking a seat from an opposition party, since the Second World War.

Sir Keir Starmer (left) and Angela Rayner (centre) campaigning in Birmingham during the election (credit: @AngelaRayner)

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party stayed in office for a fourth successive term, falling just short of winning an overall majority.

With all 143 council results declared, the Tories made a net gain of 13 councils, electing 2,345 councillors (up 235), while Labour has lost control of eight, electing 1,345 councillors (down 326).

In Dudley, in Englands West Midlands, the Tories gained 12 seats, all but one from Labour, leaving them with 46 and in control. In Harlow, Essex, an area that heavily backed leaving the European Union in 2016, the Tories took control with Labour holding only one of the seven seats contested.

While Labour lost control of councils, this did not necessarily come as a result of a switch by Labour voters to the Tories. In Sheffield, among the UKs largest cities, Labour lost eight seats and overall control of the council for the first time in a decade. A third of Sheffields seats were contested, with the Greens taking five from Labour. The Liberal Democrats took three seats. The Tories won just one seat in the city, Stocksbridge, their first since 2007.

The Greens and Liberal Democrats made gains nationally, with Green councillors gaining 85 seatsfrom the Tories and Labourtaking their nationwide total to 151. In Bristol, the Greens gained 13 seats from Labour, with both parties on 24 councillors each. The Greens elected councillors for the first time to local authorities in Northumberland, Stockport, Hastings and Derbyshire. The Liberal Democrats won St Albans council, previously under no overall control.

It was mostly in Brexit voting areas that the Tories made gains, as those who voted previously for the anti-EU UK Independence Party/Brexit Party switched. All 59 council seats were being contested in Rotherham, with the Tories taking 20 seats, from zero. Labour lost 12 seats while still maintaining control.

In the north east of England, Labour lost control of Durham County Council, which it has run since 1925, losing 15 seats as the Tories took 14. Labour fell short of a majority, with the loss compounded by the fact that a host of already well established Independents held their seats, and, along with smaller parties, saw a gain of three seats for a total of 31.

Labour was able to hold councils in some of its strongholds, including in London, Manchester and Liverpool. In the 25-member London Assembly elections, Labour retained its majority, with 14 seats contested and none changing hands.

Labour's right-wing figurehead Sadiq Khan was re-elected as London's mayor, winning 55.2 percent of the vote including second preferencesafter a better-than-expected performance by Conservative Shaun Bailey fighting on a law-and-order ticket. Turnout was 42 percent, down from 46 percent five years ago. Khan won 40 percent of first round votes, against 35.3 percent for Bailey, in a field of 20 candidates. There is little to distinguish the pair.

Labour Mayors also retained power in Liverpool, Greater Manchester and Salford with comfortable wins.

Turnout was generally low in the council elections, manifesting the growing alienation of millions of working people from the entire political establishment. This is shown even where it rose slightly from already low levelsfor example in Durham at 36.35 percent, up from 31.25 percent in 2017, Bristol 41.04 percent, down from 44.76 percent at the 2016 elections.

In Wales, Labour was able to stay in office for a sixth successive term, primarily as the beneficiary of an anti-Welsh nationalist vote. Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) won just five seats, taking their total to 13 on a manifesto committing them holding a referendum on independence by 2026 had they secured a majority in the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) this election.

Labour won 30 of the 60 seats, including the Rhondda seat of former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood. The Tories took second place, finishing with 16 seats. Plaid Cymru presents itself as a reformist party but has never been able to win office in national elections, with support for Welsh independence only backed by a minority.

Labours dire showing was the occasion for the media to concludewith fervent backing from party leader Sir Keir Starmer and his supportersthat a sharper turn to the right was needed. The official narrative is that more than a year after Starmer took over as leader from the nominally left Jeremy Corbyn, Labour did not do enough to distance itself from him, and was suffering from Long Corbyn. In addition, Starmer was supposedly unable to shine and connect with Labour voters in the partys northern traditional heartlands in the so-called Red Wall because of the pandemic.

None of this is true. Corbyns collapse in support in 2019, after Labour made significant gains in 2017, was not due primarily to the confused pro-Brexit sentiment of some older workers in the de-industrialised north, and certainly not because his policies were too left-wing. It was the deserved result of his refusal to honour his commitment to shift Labour to the left by fighting to end the domination of the Blairiteswhich lost Labour just as much support among pro-Remain young workers and students in the metropolitan areas.

Whatever result Labour had secured on Thursday, the Blairites would still be arguing for a right-turn. Labours political evolutionas demonstrated under the five years of Corbyns leadershipis dictated by its historic role as a pro-capitalist and pro-imperialist force, under conditions where the global capitalist crisis and the polarised relations between the classes precludes any genuine appeal to working people.

Over the weekend Starmer carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet that included the promotion of several leading Blairites.

Initial talk was that Angela Rayner, the partys deputy leader, would be demoted as party chair. An inveterate careerist previously sympathetic to Corbyn, her use value to Starmer was as a woman from a northern seat who got the Brexit sentiment in Red Wall seats. In the event, due to opposition from her supporters who complained that Starmer was scapegoating her, she was removed as chair and national campaigns coordinator, while being handed a leading position of shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, shadowing Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove. Rayner also got a new post as shadow secretary for the future of work.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds, who had also served in Corbyn ally John McDonnells shadow treasury team, was removed and given the lesser post of party chair. Dodds was replaced as Shadow Chancellor by Rachel Reeves, who is on record that Labour would be tougher on benefit claimants when in office than the Tories. Another figure from the Corbyn era, Nick Brown, was replaced as chief whip by lan Campbell. Anti-Corbyn coup plotter Wes Streeting was handed a newly created position of shadow minister tackling child poverty.

Writing in the Financial Times Saturday under the headline, Starmer must listen to voters, not Labour factions, Tony Blairs closest collaborator Peter Mandelson, wrote, The idea that the party, freed from the incubus of Corbyn, can continue to uphold his policies is ludicrous. Starmer needs to wipe the slate clean and address the fresh challenges of the post-Covid, post-Brexit era with boldness and realism.
Lawyers, cultural workers, investigative journalists, representatives of faith communities and leading politicians have been threatened in Germany for almost three years by a group calling itself NSU 2.0. The perpetratorswhose moniker is a reference to the fascist terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU) responsible for the murder of nine immigrants and a police officerhave repeatedly made use of confidential information retrieved from police databases.

On Tuesday night, special forces of the Hesse state police arrested a 53-year-old right-wing extremist in Berlin, seizing a ready-to-use firearm and several data storage devices. The investigating Hesse State Criminal Police Office and Interior Minister Peter Beuth (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) have since presented the man as being the sole author of all the threatening messages.

The recipients of the anonymous threats of murder and violence include Seda Basay-Yldz and Mehmet Daimaguler (lawyers acting for the NSU victims), journalists Hengameh Yaghoobifarah and Deniz Yucel and cabaret artist Idil Baydar. They also include around 30 federal and state parliamentarians from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, the Left Party and the CDU, as well as Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, and Josef Schuster, chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

A demonstration in Berlin following the terrorist attack in Halle, 2019. The placard reads: Enough of the 'lone perpetrator' thesis. Where are the accomplices, arsonists, networks? (Photo WSWS)

The Hesse state Interior Ministry reports that at least 133 threatening messages have now been sent to 32 people and 60 institutions originating from NSU 2.0. The messages contain private, personal data on a total of 20 of the victims, many of whom had previously been the subject of searches in police databases. Death threats were also addressed to state Interior Minister Beuth and Hesse state Premier Volker Bouffier (CDU).

The man arrested, Alexander Horst M., is a single, longterm unemployed man with a criminal record. He is said to have posed as a criminal police officer in the early 1990s so as to request information from the police. According to the investigators, the man also obtained the private information of NSU 2.0 victims in the same wayincluding the first name of a two-year-old child and several nonpublic residential addresses.

What role this man actually played is currently still unclear. However, there is no doubt that his arrest provides the politically responsible authorities in the Interior Ministry the opportunity to once again cover up the wide extent of terrorist networks inside the German state apparatus and to exonerate the police of any suspicion of wrongdoing.

Beuth himself expressed this openly on Tuesday, telling the press, According to everything we know today, a Hesse police officer was never responsible for the series of NSU 2.0 threatening emails. Should the man be confirmed as the perpetrator, the entire Hesse police force can breathe a sigh of relief, he said. The suspicion about an internal perpetrator, which has weighed heavily on the Hesse police for a long time, was now lifted, the interior ministers message stated.

In the previous months, the investigating authorities had developed the narrative of a technically skilled lone perpetrator, who had succeeded in concealing his identity for years via the darknet. In July last year, Beuth had declared that a uniform language style in the threatening messages could not be established. Now, allegedly, in close cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police Office, it is precisely this style that is said to have led directly to the suspected perpetrator in Berlin via blog entries on a neo-Nazi website.

That this version of events is completely implausible and leaves many questions unanswered is noted in numerous reports and commentaries in the bourgeois press. Rather, in their totality, the information and investigative findings available so far paint a picture of a criminal network of armed neo-Nazis and right-wing extremist police officers, which is shielded and minimised by the law enforcement agencies and leading politicians.

In the course of nationwide investigations into the NSU 2.0 case alone, thousands of illegal data searches have been discovered at German police authorities, as well as criminally relevant Nazi propaganda and calls for violence in countless police chat groups.

Journalist and author Aiko Kempen (Auf dem Rechten Weg? Rassisten und Neonazis in der deutschen PolizeiOn the right-wing path? Racists and Neo-Nazis in the German Police) speaks of a total of well over a thousand cases in which the criminal offence of using the symbols of unconstitutional organisations is involved, including swastikas, SS runes and Hitler salutes. In addition, there were hundreds of cases of alleged incitement of racial hatred.

As the Tagesschau news programme recently reported, however, the court cases against right-wing extremist police officers are usually dropped, despite comprehensive evidence being available. The reason is that the officers allegedly do not publicly call for violence against immigrants and glorify the Nazi regime but keep it to themselves.

If a case is not dropped, it is instead systematically separated from the overall issue. For example, senior public prosecutor Michael Loer explained on Wednesday that there are currently no further links between the radical right-wing police groups in Hesse and the authors of the NSU 2.0 threatening messages. The associated court proceedings were therefore being conducted completely independently of each other.

However, especially in the original case of Frankfurt lawyer Basay-Yldzwho remains at the centre of right-wing attacksthe facts suggest that the investigations are systematically aimed at covering up the role of right-wing extremist police officers.

Basay-Yldz had received a fax in August 2018 threatening to slaughter her then two-year-old daughter. The daughters name, which the sender used in his message, had been retrieved from a Frankfurt police computer less than an hour before the fax was received.

The account used for the computer query was quickly identified, as was its owner. However, the police officer was initially investigated only superficially because she stated at the time that she had written down her access information on a piece of paper, which was easily accessible. Later, she was identified as a member of a chat group in which police officers gave open expression to their hatred of immigrants, Jews and people with disabilities.

In the case of one member of the group, investigators came across a Nazi museum that the police officer had set up in his barn. The subsequent trial for inciting racial hatred and illegal possession of weapons, which could have also brought to light further details about the policewoman in question, was completely separated from the investigation into the NSU 2.0.

In the case of cabaret artist Idil Baydar as well, the investigators were able to quickly trace which police officer had logged on at the time her data was retrieved. However, the lead prosecutors office did not question him until six months after taking over the case, citing the coronavirus crisis as the reason for the delay.

A second Hesse police officer, who was considered a suspect in connection with the computer query about Basay-Yldz, was transferred from Frankfurt to Berlin in the spring of 2019 without his new employers being informed of the investigation against him.

Left Party politician Anne Helm (parliamentary group leader in the Berlin state legislature) had pointed out that the man shared information about ongoing investigations in a chat group that also included members of Berlins Neukolln neo-Nazi scene. According to Helm, members of the scene had, in turn, learned of private details about her through clandestine spying, which was included in a threatening letter addressed to her. The police officer was only suspended six months after his transfer.

In Bavaria, in the summer of 2020, investigators finally arrested the former police officer and neo-right-wing actor Hermann S. and his wife. Although 12 letters with insulting, inciting and threatening content could be attributed to the couple, both were released a few days later. The investigators described the well-connected man, who had been found with several weapons, as a copycat.

The fairy tale of the lone perpetrator, which is always propagated by the German authorities in connection with fascist terrorism, flies in the face of a sober consideration of the facts and is correspondingly hated among workers and young people as well as the victims of state and right-wing violence.

Although there are extensive nationwide links and the addressees of the threatening messages live in eight different federal states, the Hesse authorities have still been allowed to investigate themselves for almost three years now. Yet Hesse is one of the federal states in which the symbiosis between the state apparatus and right-wing extremists is particularly well documented.

Currently, for example, another officer at the Frankfurt police headquarters is being investigated for allegedly misappropriating firearms from the evidence room on a large scale and selling them to individuals and companies. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, this involves a three-digit number of pistols, revolvers, long guns and ammunition whose whereabouts are currently completely unclear. The detective superintendent responsible for the weapons had also pursued unauthorised secondary employment for a right-wing extremist mercenary company, including in Iraq.

Probably the best-known example of the involvement of the Hesse authorities with right-wing extremist murderers is the case of Andreas Temme, an agent of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as the secret service is called, whose own right-wing extremist convictions have long been known. Temme was at the scene of the NSU murder of Halit Yozgat in 2006 but claims to have been unaware of the killing of the young internet cafe owner taking place. The secret service then transferred Temme to the Kassel district office of CDU politician Walter Lubcke. In his role as a secret service agent, Temme was in contact, on official business, with Stephan Ernst, who has since been convicted of Lubckes murder.

On the day of the court verdict against Ernst, pupils of the Walter Lubcke School in Wolfhagen held a vigil at the Higher Regional Court and demanded tougher prosecution of right-wing extremist violence. The next day, the school received a bomb threat signed NSU 2.0.
Palestinian demonstrators were met once again on Sunday night by Israeli police clad in riot gear and on horseback in a neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem where Zionist settlers are seeking to evict Palestinian families from their homes.

Sundays protests follow days of clashes incited by heavy-handed Israeli repression. Demonstrators also took to the streets of the northern port city of Haifa, where 18 were arrested, as well as Nazareth and Ramallah. There were also clashes with riot police outside the gates of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where an attack on a Palestinian by Israeli civilians sparked a protest.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 14 people had been treated for injuries suffered at the hands of the Israeli security forces, bringing the total number treated for injuries over the past three days to 560.

Israeli police officers detain a Palestinian demonstrator during a protest against the planned evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, Saturday, May 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government have readied the police and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in preparation for further clashes with the Palestinians on Monday, when a provocative march by far-right Israeli nationalists is to take place in Jerusalem.

Tensions have been mounting in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank since the start of the month-long Ramadan fast on April 12. The authorities installed barricades around the plaza outside the Damascus Gate, a traditional gathering place during Ramadan for worshippers after prayers in the al-Aqsa mosque, leading to multiple clashes with police and hundreds of injured Palestinians.

In addition, the authorities had disconnected the mosques loudspeakers so that the call to prayer would not disrupt Israels Memorial Day ceremony for fallen soldiers at the Western Wall, and restricted the number of West Bank Palestinians attending Ramadan services at the compound to just 10,000, subject to vaccination.

There have been nightly confrontations with the police in Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighbourhood north of the Old City. Palestinian Israelis have been gathering to protest the likely eviction of Palestinian families, in a long-running legal case, to make way for settler homes and the increasing encirclement of the Old City by Jews. The fascistic and racist legislator Itamar Ben-Gvir, cultivated by Netanyahu in a bid to bolster his support base, sought to fan the flames by setting up his own office in the neighbourhood. The Supreme Court hearing on the case, set for today, has been postponed for 30 days at the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblits request.

The planned eviction is part of the governments broader process of judaicising the city, making it impossible for the Palestinians to ever set up their own mini-state with some part of East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israels actions in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank include home demolitions, settlement expansion and displacement of Palestinians, in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention and international laws prohibiting an occupying power from destroying property or transferring its own civilians to occupied territories. It is de facto ethnic cleansing.

Last Thursday night, hundreds of far-right Jewish Israelis marched through Jerusalems streets chanting death to Arabs and confronted Palestinians, leading to the wounding of more than 100 Palestinians, with 21 needing hospitalisation, and around 50 arrests.

On Friday night, riot police stormed Jerusalems al-Aqsa compound, known as al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims and Temple Mount to Jews, entering the mosque and trampling on prayer rugs with their boots, after they claimed Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks at officers.

More than 200 Palestinians were injured, with 88 taken to hospital, as thousands of Palestinians faced off with several hundred Israeli police in full riot gear, using rubber bullets and stun grenades inside the mosque and in the plaza. According to the Palestine Red Crescent, one of those injured lost an eye, two suffered serious head wounds and two had their jaws fractured.

Hundreds of worshippers went on to Sheikh Jarrah to show their solidarity, where they were met by police using water cannon mounted on armoured vehicles.

Israels public security minister, Amir Ohana, said the police had his complete backing to use all means, force and the necessary power to restore law and order. Netanyahu said in a meeting with security officials, Israel is acting responsibly to ensure respect for law and order in Jerusalem while allowing freedom of worship.

On Saturday night, as an estimated 90,000 worshippers gathered to mark Laylat al-Qadr, or Night of Power, the holiest night of Ramadan, clashes erupted with Israeli police outside the Old City. According to the Palestine Red Crescent, at least 120 people were injured, including a one-year-old child, with 14 taken to hospital. Police again sought to limit the numbers coming to worship at al-Aqsa by setting up roadblocks and halting public transport from other parts of the country, forcing Palestinians to walk along highways. Others ferried stranded worshippers into the city.

There were angry protests by Palestinian Israelis in towns throughout the country, including Jaffa and Nazareth, against the threatened Sheikh Jarrah evictions and Friday nights raids on al-Aqsa, marking an unprecedented involvement of Israels Palestinian citizens in anti-government protests from which they have traditionally stood apart.

Tensions are also mounting in the occupied West Bank, where there are almost daily reports of the killing and wounding of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, as well as unprecedented levels of settler violence against Palestinians and their property. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently postponed Palestinian electionsthe first since 2006amid plummeting support for his Fatah faction, once the leading faction in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, citing Israels (longstanding) refusal to guarantee it would allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote.

The al-Aqsa clashes have brought condemnation from Egypt and Jordan, whose population is largely of Palestinian descent, fearing that any instability in the Palestinian territories could spill over into their own unstable countries.

Turkey, as well as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two of the countries that signed normalisation accords with Israel last year, issued statements criticising Israel.

The US State Department responded by urging both sides to exercise decisive leadership to quell the violence, in effect gave its backing to Israel. Secretary of State spokesperson Ned Price said, We call on Israeli and Palestinian officials to act decisively to deescalate tensions and bring a halt to the violence.

Netanyahus order to the IDF to expand its forces in the West Bank by four battalions, assist the police in security and deploy Iron Dome batteries in the south, takes place as Israels settler groups and far-right forces began marking Jerusalem Day, starting last night and ending today. The day marks the anniversary of East Jerusalems capture from Jordan in the 1967 Arab Israeli war and its illegal annexation to Israel. The main event is todays planned march through Arab neighbourhoods in the city, taunting the Palestinians.

Netanyahus provocations are tantamount to a declaration of war against the Palestinians and could spark a broader war in the Middle East, where Israelthe strongest military power in the regionacts as Washingtons proxy force. It has stoked dissent within Israel as senior security officials warned that the flag march on Jerusalem Day could fan the flames in East Jerusalem and cause the violence to spread to Gaza and the West Bank. They have urged politicians to postpone the march, limit the number of participants and change the route, so as not to enter the al-Aqsa compound. A police spokesman told Israels Army Radio Sunday night that the provocative march would take place.

These moves come as President Reuven Rivlin has called on opposition leader Yair Lapid to form a government after Netanyahu proved incapable of cobbling together a coalition that would ensure his ability to evade his corruption trial, now entering its evidence sessions. The eruption of a new Palestinian uprising would preempt any possibility of Lapids potential right-wing partners such as Naphtali Bennett of Yamina or Mansour Abbas United Arab List joining his coalition, thereby precipitating a fifth election and/or a state of emergency that would ensure Netanyahus continued premiership.
Workers who attended the International May Day Online Rally held by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) on May 1 told the World Socialist Web Site that they were most struck by how speakers from many different countries described the common conditions confronting workers around the world and advanced a common international strategy for workers to fight the pandemic, social inequality, and the danger of war and fascism.

Several workers spoke about the opening report by David North, the chairman of the international editorial board of the WSWS and national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the US, who reviewed how capitalist governments around the world had refused to take the necessary measures to save lives during the pandemic because this would undermine the private accumulation of wealth by the worlds billionaires. Drawing the comparison to revolutionary struggles that finally brought World War I to an end, North said that the pandemic could only be brought under control if new means and instruments of social struggle were formed to unleash the creative power of the working class in the US and around the world.

North explained the ICFIs call for the formation of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC), which he said was aimed at encouraging workers in all countries to break out of the prison-like shackles in which they are confined by the existing state-controlled and antidemocratic unions, staffed by right-wing pro-capitalist executives. In assisting workers to build the IWA-RFC, North said, the ICFI and the World Socialist Web Site would outline a clear international strategy, to explain the connection between local struggles and the unfolding global struggle of the working class against capitalism and imperialism.

Junior high teacher Angela Andrus at a rally Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A striking worker from the ATI Vandergrift plant in Pennsylvania said, Id never really tied together COVID and the struggles that are going on, like a lot of the speakers did. He was particularly struck by the numerous exposures of the treacherous role of the trade unions in countries across the globe: People from all over the world, all over the place, a lot of the problems theyre having are the same problems were having in this country. Workers are the people who end up paying the price in the end.

Commenting on Norths remarks, an autoworker in Kokomo, Indiana said, The report talked about the need for containing the spread of the pandemic. The ruling class is saying everyone needs to be prepared for reopening and that the cure must not be worse than the disease.

People are facing evictions, no healthcare, no internet. The fear of the ruling class is the uncontrolled eruption of the class struggle. Their plan is using the unions for continued suppression of the working class so they cant advance their own social interests. In order for the working class to keep going forward, she said, workers have to overcome all these obstacles from the ruling class by standing together and defeating all the suppression efforts.

The worker explained how the shortage of microchips had led to the closure of many auto plants and layoffs of five weeks or more. Saying that the shortage could last up to two years, the worker commented, They need to figure out how make their own parts in the US, so we dont have to be relying on other places when there are problems.

Discussing this issue with her, members of the Socialist Equality Party pointed out that there is no national solution to any of the problems facing the working class. The Biden administration and the unions are promoting economic nationalism and the reactionary idea of reeling the global economy back into the confines of the national economy, they explained, to pit American workers against their class brothers and sisters around the world, prepare for trade war and ultimately military confrontation with China and other economic competitors.

Taking this criticism to heart, the worker responded: It is a global issue; it doesnt matter where theyre made, but everyone needs to have the chips. If we have all the chips here, other people cant have them. Its a global problem; it needs to be resolved everywhere, not just here. I guess I didnt look at it that way. I didnt think about all the global processes, with all the countries involved. All the workers are involved, and it takes a lot of workers to produce these chips. If you have one nation dominating, thats like a form of slavery. If all the workers are involved, then that gives more people power.

This [chip shortage] could cause a war where one country wants to dominate over another, she added. History could repeat itself. Its really about internationalism vs. nationalism. Workers need to intervene before a war happens. Theyre going to keep exploiting the workers, so we have to find a way to overrule all the CEOs and the people who have money, so the workers are in control. There are more of us than them, they need us more than we need them because without us nothing can be made, and its past time for the workers to have power over them.

Commenting on the rally, a founding member of the Alabama Educators Rank-and-File Committee said: I learned a lot, especially things going on in other countries and stories about how the political leaders, like the UKs Boris Johnson and Brazils Jair Bolsonaro, are treating the people. It's crazy to me. There are so-called humanitarian efforts around the world, but they don't care about the working class or everyday workers. It's like it's my job to keep you all rich but you won't protect us and give us what we need. All schools need to go virtual to save lives.

I liked seeing different countries, different reports on what's going on. India has me in tears. I have family friends in India, and they let me know it's so crazy over there. And UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says, let the bodies pile up. We have #MeToo and all these other movements, but someone says that and its not hitting the airways and the media doesnt have a problem with that.

They won't even raise the minimum wage, and they are just getting rich. Governments are not giving health benefits, and there is no protection when workers get sick. Its eye-opening. You hear about this stuff but to see the scope and magnitude of it, and hearing whats going on in different countries was very powerful. I enjoyed seeing it in different languages, we could be coming together globally to find way to beat the pandemic.

The Alabama teacher said the reason why elemental measures to save lives have not been taken is money. The heads of country or powers-that-be felt that if they listened to science and shut everything down, the rich would lose money. It went from being about health to money. When we listened to scientists and shut countries down, they lost money. So, they stopped listening to science. That's when the CDC turned into a political tool.

We could be so much further along. There would have been vaccines and cures if we put money together to get it. Capitalism isnt allowing researchers to do what they need or want to do but are funding projects that make them money.

She also spoke about the common problem workers around the world face with unions that oppose their interests. That's another thing we have in common. What our union (Alabama Education Association) says to us is, We have people on both sides, because you all are both our customers. We have to cater to everybody. The powers-that-be put unions in place for us to give them our money. It is the corporations that fund the unions. This is how they maintain political control over what the union does. The unions are not for us.

All these protests by educators against school openings, none have been backed by unions. An individual person protesting is a small amount, and theyre OK with that, but if it's the whole group they wont support it. They dont ask us what our desires are, theyre not in the trenches with us. The unions just want to get us to agree to deals that are not for us, but for the corporations.

She concluded: This pandemic has revealed the underbelly of society. Contrary to popular belief, the underbelly is not the criminal and murderer on our streets, it is the CEOs and the people who run these corporations. These people have done more damage and more killing than any criminal in our criminal justice system. And theyre making money doing it. The victims and workers who are paying to being oppressed; we're paying them to kill us.

The WSWS also spoke with two members of the Baltimore Amazon Rank-and File Committee. One worker said that the May Day events speakers mirrored each other and that he could totally agree and relate with the remarks describing conditions of working people across the world. Regarding the call for the formation of rank-and-file committees independently controlled by workers, he said, If you're a part of the working class, you don't have much control over your destiny. The most important thing workers have is their voice. Without that, you will be subject to whatever capitalists throw on you.

Another leading member of the rank-and-file committee added that workers as a class have a lot of power which we don't tap into. The only way we can do that is by expanding our collective voice, he said. We stand on common ground, from city to city, to state to state and country to country as a working class against capitalist society and we must band together.

Speaking about the trade unions that are currently seeking to tie workers to capitalist interests, the Amazon worker said, Theyre playing a chess game with working people. He referenced the situation with the United Auto Workers former president Dennis Williams, stating that these organizations were corrupt. .. they are all about themselves and their money, not workers.

John, a teacher in Maryland, added that he was especially moved by Alex Lantier, who spoke at the May Day rally from France. The French speaker mentioned the 1871 Paris Commune, in which police were used to kill workers, he said. The teacher likened the far-right US-backed government of Colombian President Ivan Duque to the reactionary government of Adolphe Thiers, who drowned the Paris Commune in blood in 1871. Almost 200 years later, the capitalist class still is acting the same.

John agreed with statements raised by Tomas Castanheira from Brazil. One speaker said that the trade unions are politically responsible, that is absolutely right, he said. Our unions abandoned us, he said, speaking about his own experience as a teacher.

They said that we could reopen safely with a vaccine for teachers, but they had us working for almost a month in person before they let us get vaccinated, he said. In my school, I teach in a windowless classroom with a bunch of students who are not vaccinated. We just had a case in our school this week, it was a student. The teacher said that unsafe working environments face workers everywhere, whether it is auto, or in supermarkets, or teachers.

A founding member of the Rank-and-File Safety Committee at the Faurecia Gladstone auto parts plant in Columbus, Indiana said: These companies are hoarding all the money they can, and they dont care who they run over to get it. Their employees are just a number to them. They dont care whether they hurt their employees or not. Faurecia was a lot different when I first started than it is now.

Many years ago, the veteran worker said, The union used to fight for you. If you wrote a grievance up, the company dealt with it and they took care of it to your satisfaction. They will not now. All they say now is, We have the right to manage any way we see fit. And the union says they do. They dont even try. They are all part of management.

This is happening worldwide, and they think they have carte blanche. We need to stand up to them, and that is what Ive been telling everybody at work now. It is not going to stop unless we stand up to them. And when we do there wont be anything the corporations can do about it.

They are trying to make us feel that workers in other countries are the enemy, but they are not. It is the governments which are fighting each other, and they are trying to get the working class on their side. They know they cannot do anything by themselves. I think it is criminal myself. The government is in with the companies, and the union is too. The working class has to get together.

Referring to Bidens promotion of the failed union drive at the Bessemer, Alabama Amazon warehouse, he said, For the president to go and rally for a union just shows that the government, the unions and the companies are all in bed with each other.

Im a member of the rank-and-file committee and I am proud. We all need to build these committees. All the working class needs to get together and work against the capitalists. There is no other way to put it. The government is capitalist. The companies are capitalist. Now the unions are opportunist. They are being bribed to do what the companies want.

I have talked to members of the rank-and-file committees in the schools, I have talked to autoworkers around the world. I tell them we need to do this. Otherwise, they are just going to kill us and throw us to the curb. And thats what they are doing.

Concluding, the worker said, We need to build an international alliance of rank-and-file committees to take the power out of the hands of the companies and unions. It is going to come down to replacing the capitalist governments with workers governments. That is something that I am going to be proud to see if I live long enough. Thats the socialist perspective which is the backbone of the rank-and-file committees.
Tom Peters is a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand). He delivered these remarks to the 2021 International May Day Online Rally held by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Committee of the Fourth International on May 1.

Speech delivered by Tom Peters to the 2021 International May Day Online Rally

The Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand extends revolutionary greetings to workers listening to this May Day rally throughout the world, including everyone in the Pacific region, where COVID-19 continues to cause immense suffering. The legacy of colonial rule by Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States has left many countries in this region severely underdeveloped, often with little access to clean water, let alone decent medical facilities.

In Papua New Guinea, the uncontrolled spread of the virus has killed more than 100 people and infected more than 10,000. Thats the official figure, but authorities admit they have no idea of the real toll. The World Health Organisation (WHO) this week warned that PNGs health system is in a state of collapse and unable to address the crisis. This country of nine million people has received around 140,000 vaccines, including just 8,000 doses from the Australian government, which is utterly indifferent to the fate of people in Australias former colony.

In East Timor, where more than 2,000 cases have been recorded, the pandemic is being exacerbated by flooding and landslides that left thousands homeless last month.

Fiji, which had been largely isolated from the virus, has just entered a two-week lockdown after several cases of the Indian variant were detected. The countrys health secretary warned that a single misstep will bring about the same COVID tsunami that is being experienced in other countries.

The media has praised New Zealand as a model for its handling of the pandemic. But what is never mentioned is that Jacinda Arderns government was forced to impose a relatively strict lockdown, just over a year ago, to preempt an incipient rank-and-file rebellion by health care workers, teachers and other workers, who were demanding a lockdown, independently of the unions, which wanted the schools kept open.

If the government had decided not to lock down, the unions would have enforced that decision, as their counterparts are doing in the US, Europe and elsewhere, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.

Tom Peters

Six months ago, Arderns Labour Party was re-elected and formed a coalition government with the Greens. This was celebrated by the media and pseudo-left groups internationally, such as Jacobin magazine, as a progressive government that would benefit workers.

Only the Socialist Equality Group and the World Socialist Web Site told workers the truth: that this is a right-wing government, carrying out an historic assault on the working class.

Like every country, New Zealand remains highly vulnerable as long as the virus rages out of control internationally. Only 60,000 people have been vaccinated, about 1 percent of the population. A significant outbreak would overwhelm the health system. Public hospitals are run down and frequently filled to overflowing, with people waiting hours in emergency departments.

This week, an 11-year-old boy wrote to the Prime Minister saying he was angry that his nine-year-old cousins heart surgery was postponed five times because there werent enough intensive care beds. He pointed out that the government set aside $250 million to upgrade parliament, but refused to fully fund the expansion of Starship Childrens Hospital.

Meanwhile, New Zealands military budget has nearly doubled in the past decade, from $2.6 billion to nearly $4.5 billion last year, as the country has integrated into Washington's war preparations against China.

While it starves essential services, the Ardern government has handed out tens of billions in subsidies and bailouts, including to large corporations like Fletcher Building, SkyCity and Air New Zealand, which then proceeded to sack thousands of workers with the collaboration of the trade unions.

There is a worsening social crisis. About 12 percent of workers are now unemployed or cant find enough work, and median incomes have fallen more than 6 percent. More than one in five children live in poverty. Rampant property speculation has driven up rents by nearly a quarter since 2017, pushing thousands of families into homelessness.

The government, adopting the policies of the right-wing nationalist NZ First Party, is seeking to divert blame by whipping up nationalism and xenophobia. Thousands of migrant workers are trapped outside New Zealand and barred from returning by a blatantly discriminatory border regime.

The ruling classs ruthlessness is pushing workers to the left and leading towards a resurgence of class struggle. Just last week, Wellington bus drivers, who make less than the minimum wage, were locked out by NZ Bus for voting to strike against the companys attempt to strip them of one weeks leave and slash their overtime pay.

Nurses reacted angrily after recently being offered a pay increase of 1.38 percent, and nothing to address the staffing crisis in hospitals. This is even less than the 3 percent offered in 2018, which triggered an historic nationwide strike by 30,000 hospital workers before the New Zealand Nurses Organisation pushed through a sellout deal.

The betrayal of the 2018 nurses and teachers strikes demonstrated that as workers fight for decent wages and conditions, and to defend their health and safety, they will increasingly come into open conflict not only with the state and big business, but with the pro-capitalist trade unions.

The Ardern governments push to shut down the investigation of the Pike River coal mine, where 29 men died 10 years ago in a preventable explosion, shows the lengths to which the Labour Party and the unions will go to protect businesses who put profit and production ahead of workers lives.

Far from New Zealand being an exception, the brutal attacks on the working class under this government highlights the urgent need for workers to form new organisations of struggle, as part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.

Above all, we call on workers to join the Socialist Equality Group and fight to build it as the New Zealand section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, to unify their struggles with workers internationally, and fight for the socialist reorganisation of society.
Huntsville, Alabama police officer William Darby was convicted last Friday for the murder of Jeffrey Parker, 49, on April 3, 2018. Darby will face 20 years to life in prison.

Parker had called 911 to report that he was suicidal and that he was holding a gun to his head. According to a lawsuit filed by the family of Jeffrey Parker, another officer, Genisha Pegues, had arrived five minutes before Darby. She entered the room with her gun pointed down towards the floor to find Parker sitting on the couch with a gun pointed to his head. She attempted to speak with him for several minutes, prior to Darbys arrival.

Darby, who was 25 at the time and had been on the force for just 18 months, arrived and immediately began screaming at Pegues to aim her gun at Parker and ordered Parker several times to drop his weapon. After Parker failed to comply with his orders Darby fired a single fatal shot, just 11 seconds after entering the house.

This booking photograph from Friday, May 7, 2021, shows Huntsville, Ala., police officer William Darby, who was convicted of murder in a fatal shooting that happened in 2018. (Madison County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The murder of Jeffrey Parker, who was clearly suffering from a mental health crisis, is one case in a far broader epidemic of police killings of people with mental health issues.

According to data on police killings compiled by the Washington Post, one in four people killed by the police suffered from mental health problems.

While media coverage of police centers around the racial aspects of police brutality, the stunning figures on police killings of the severely mentally ill present an even deadlier relationship, between the police and a group of people who make up less than 1 in 50 Americans. Another study by the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) found that people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by the police than other civilians.

By dismantling the mental illness treatment system, we have turned the mental health crisis from a medical issue into a police matter, said John Snook, the co-author of the study by the TAC. This is patently unfair, illogical and is proving harmful both to the individual in desperate need of care and the officer who is forced to respond.

The dismantling of mental health services over the past decades has created an unprecedented crisis of mental health treatment in America. A study by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing found that while 56 percent of Americans seek mental health services, only 26 percent believe these services to be accessible.

And as with all major social crises, mental health is fundamentally a class issue. According to the study, more than half of people who seek mental health services are in low-income households. One in four respondents noted that they had to choose between receiving mental health treatment or meeting the daily necessities of life, and 17 percent responded that they had to choose between mental health care or physical health care due to financial constraints.

This horrendous lack of available mental health services has resulted in the police becoming the primary responders to mental health crises. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that 15 percent of men and 30 percent of women in jail have a serious mental health condition, highlighting how the response of the capitalist system to mental illness is to treat those suffering from it as criminals.

For the capitalist class it is far more cost-efficient to imprison or kill the mentally ill than to make any effort to effectively treat their illness.

This is reflected in the approach of the police to handling interactions with the mentally ill, highlighted in the murder of Jeffrey Parker. According to Peter Scharf, a criminologist at the Louisiana State University School of Public Health and Justice, police officers may receive from anywhere between four to 12 hours of training in mental health. A study by the Police Executive Research Forum revealed that officers receive an average of 58 hours of firearms training, compared to just eight hours of crisis intervention training.

The result has been more than 1,300 police killings of mentally ill people since 2015, according to the Washington Post database. Of these, 94 percent were men, 56 percent were white, 16 percent were black and 13 percent were Hispanic.

Many police departments have promised to expand mental health and crisis intervention training. However, it is not clear that this will result in fewer killings.

In Springfield, Oregon in 2019, 33 year old Stacy Kenny was killed by police in her own car while on the phone with 911. Kenny, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, desperately pleaded with the 911 operator to explain why she was being pulled over by the police. The police proceeded to break the windows of her car, taser her twice, punch her in the face over a dozen times and attempt to pull her from the vehicle by her hair.

Kenny was eventually shot to death when she attempted to drive away with an officer inside the car. After her death an officer can be heard on the recorded 911 call saying, We are all okay. Bad guy down.

The officer who assaulted and shot her five times, Sgt. Richard A. Lewis, was in charge of the Crisis Intervention Team training for the Springfield police department.

Nor have local politicians and police departments given any indication that they view the police murder of the mentally ill as a significant problem.

Following the murder of Jeffrey Parker, the Huntsville City Council donated $125,000 to Darbys defense, and mayor Tommy Battle said in a statement that Officer Darby followed the appropriate safety protocols in his response on the scene. He was doing what he was trained to do in the line of duty.

Battle was not lying or attempting to make excuses. These are the tactics that the police are trained in and encouraged to deploy against the population.

Despite testimony from Genisha Pegues that she had never felt threatened by Parker, the city and police department continue to hold the position that he was a threat to both officers lives and that Darby was justified in his use of force.

The police will continue to see the harassment and murder of the mentally ill as justified and they will increasingly deploy these same tactics against the working class as a whole. Even though Darby has been convicted in this case, police violence against the mentally ill will continue to be a persistent problem under the capitalist system.
Germanys government is resisting with all means at its disposal the lifting of the patents on coronavirus vaccines.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, has been advocating an end to the patents for some time in order to overcome the shortage of vaccines in developing countries. More than 100 member countries of the World Trade Organisation, led by South Africa and India, have launched such an initiative. Several non-government organisations, including Doctors Without Borders, are supporting the call.

When US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that his administration was considering suspending the patents, alarm bells began ringing in government buildings in Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel personally called Ugur Sahin, founder of the Mainz-based company Biontech, which brought the first approved coronavirus vaccine to market in conjunction with the US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

Caption: Biontech-Pfizer vaccine (Picture: Marco Verch / CC-BY 2.0)

The federal government subsequently declared its firm opposition to lifting the patents. The protection of intellectual property is the source of innovation and must remain so in the future, stated a government spokeswoman. The factors limiting the manufacturing of vaccines are not the patents, but the lack of production capacity and high-quality standards, the statement continued.

The federal parliament opposed a motion by the Left Party calling for the abandonment of the patents by 498 votes to 117. The media was full of comments as to why patent protections must be retained.

The pharmaceutical companies have invested considerably to manufacture effective vaccines quickly, even though they received state subsidies, stated the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Their right to intellectual property should not be underestimated. The incentive to take risks and produce such achievements must be retained.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung commented, Property is a valuable motivation for innovation. The fact that the first vaccine against coronavirus came from Germany is thanks to the local economy, which is based on incentives for entrepreneurs. The pioneering spirit of some researchers and businessmen is based on a systemic principle: my idea, my project, my business, my colleagues, and yes, my profit.

The Medication Manufacturers Research Association, which represents the interests of major pharmaceutical companies, warned that without patents, the original producers would have no incentive to participate in the quickest possible worldwide distribution of vaccines.

These arguments have no basis in reality. The mRNA technology on which the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine is based was developed at publicly funded universities. It was described for the first time in 1990 and used to vaccinate mice in 1994. Private firms only showed an interest in it when huge profits beckoned. And even then, they were generally supported and protected with public funds.

A vaccine against COVID-19 could have been produced much more quickly if the progress made during the SARS epidemic in 2002-3 had been intensively pursued. But after the SARS wave subsided and no more profit was possible from it, the pharmaceutical industry lost interest.

The reality is that the opposition to lifting the patents on coronavirus vaccines is about money, a huge amount of money. The business of coronavirus vaccines is extremely lucrative. Pfizer earned profits during the first quarter of 2021 of $3.5 billion from its vaccine. The companys overall revenue rose by 45 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching $14.6 billion. The company cashed in on profits amounting to one third of total revenue, $4.9 billion.

Biontechs share price rose from 13 in October 2019 to 150 today. The start-up is now worth 34 billion. A similar process has occurred with other vaccine producers.

But the current surplus is only a fraction of the anticipated profits. The pharmaceutical companies, which generate $1.2 trillion around the globe annually, are banking on a massive boom. The mRNA technology, which was first applied for the coronavirus vaccine, could also be used to combat cancer and other illnesses. Alongside Biontech, other German firms are working in this area. Curevac, whose coronavirus vaccine is in its final tests, has been conducting research on the technology for 20 years. A bitter struggle for the global market has now erupted.

In a background article in its latest edition, news magazine Der Spiegel bluntly laid out what is at stake. Is a multi-billion industry of the future emerging, in which the Germans are exceptionally in the lead? asks the article. Not just great hopes of containing the pandemic around the world rest on the German companies, but also ambitious industrial policy expectations in Berlin and Brussels. This has been for some time not just about COVID-19, but rather the mRNA technology as a whole. Its about the question of how can Europe secure its advantage in a future technology that promises to fundamentally transform the pharmaceutical market?

According to Der Spiegel, this is what makes the US patent plans so extremely dangerous for the company. A tremendous amount of basic research conducted by Biontech, which is already being used for cancer treatment, is contained in the COVID-19 vaccine, would also be made public. In the view of the European Union commission, there would be only one beneficiary: Beijing. Giving up the knowledge advantage on mRNA technology would above all benefit the Chinese pharmaceutical branch, noted Der Spiegel, citing an official from Brussels.

Biontech does not want to block its vaccine from reaching China, but merely to earn money through its sale to the Chinese market. Company head Sahin flew to Shanghai in April to personally negotiate supplies and the expansion of production facilities there. China is also working on mRNA vaccines, but those approved for use so far rely on the older vector technology and only have an effectiveness of 50 percent.

Biontechs push into China is likely one of the reasons why the US government has shifted its stance to the patents on coronavirus vaccines. The EU is accusing Washington of perfidious double standards, since it has to date blocked the export of production materials and stored vaccine doses, thus majorly undermining the international supply of vaccines.

As in all other areas of the coronavirus pandemic, the health and lives of millions of people are being subordinated to the profit interests of big business. Although already 3.3 million people have officially died from COVID-19, infection rates continue to rise, and hardly anyone has been vaccinated in developing countries, the German government is vehemently opposed to lifting vaccine patent protections. The US government also has no intention of following up its announcement with actions, especially when its own geostrategic interests are at stake.

Lifting patent protections would significantly help to vaccinate the population in Africa, where only 2 percent has been vaccinated, and other impoverished regions. Supporters of abandoning the patents refer to the example of AIDS.

In the mid-1990s, new medications in the wealthy countries stopped the deaths of people infected with HIV. In poorer countries, millions of people continued to die because the medication remained unaffordable. This only changed in 2001, when the WTO allowed 50 poor countries to produce generic drugs. Treatment costs dropped by around 99 percent, helping to save millions of lives.

What is true of COVID-19 also applies to the treatment of cancer, from which 10 million people die annually. Instead of making all research results public so that scientists throughout the world can build on them and develop effective drugs, they are patented and kept under lock and key so profits can be made.

The capitalist social order, which sacrifices the needs of society to the enrichment of a financial oligarchy and the predatory interests of imperialism, is irreconcilable with the interests of the overwhelming majority of humanity. The struggle to end the COVID-19 pandemic demands its abolition and the building of a socialist society.
Over the course of the last month, tensions have mounted sharply between the Philippines and China over the presence of Chinese vessels anchored in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The tensions are finding open expression in Philippine politics, where the bourgeois opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte had gathered to form a coalition party, 1Sambayan, whose fundamental concern is to reorient Philippine foreign relations away from Beijing and back into the camp of Washington.

The heightened tensions first emerged over the announcement in late March, in the same week that 1Sambayan was founded, that Chinese vessels were anchored near Whitsun Reef, a feature of the South China Sea claimed by both countries. The Chinese government initially stated that the boats were fishing vessels sheltering in the boomerang shaped atoll from the brunt of a storm. While some vessels departed, others remained anchored in at Whitsun Reef for over a month.

Duterte sought to quietly deal with the tensions, stating that he intended to speak with the Chinese ambassador. The Biden administration, however, has been pushing sharply against China since it took office in January. The formation of 1Sambayan and the confrontation at Whitsun can only be understood in the context of the renewed US drive against China.

In this Feb. 6, 2020, file photo, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. gestures during a senate hearing in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

While Duterte sought to downplay the confrontation, the US Embassy in Manila immediately issued a statement denouncing China for using maritime militia to intimidate, provoke and threaten other nations, which undermines peace and security in the region.

It is, in fact, Washington that is chief culprit in deploying its military forces to intimidate and provoke. During the crisis in April, the US deployed multiple warships to the region and 65 surveillance aircraft. The South China Sea Strategic Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a think tank associated with Peking University, issued a report indicating that publicly available flight data revealed that US spy planes had been conducting record levels of flights over the South China Sea since January. The report referred to the US activity in the South China Sea as unprecedented intensity.

Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, on March 29 issued a sharp statement, referring to the US deployment of naval forces to the disputed waters. No one is more suitable than the US for the label of militarization and jeopardizing freedom of navigation, it said.

Tensions sharpened further on April 27, when the Philippine Coast Guard reported that seven Chinese vessels were anchored near the Sabina shoal in the northeastern portion of the Spratly islands. After the Coast Guard confronted the ships, the Chinese vessels departed the area.

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin issued a statement that revealed how far tensions had mounted. He declared that any attack on a Philippine vessel, however small, as long as it is a government vessel, is an attack on the US, triggering the MDT [Mutual Defense Treaty] and that response is global.

Locsin was referring to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines that states that an attack on either party was an attack on both. He was stating that if shots were fired in the South China Sea the result would be a global war. Far from urging caution, however, he went on, We must have the courage to go where probably we cannot go back from.

On May 3, Locsin escalated further, issuing a vulgar tweet, China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see... O... GET THE F..K OUT. He went on to refer to China as an ugly oaf.

The public crudity of the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs expresses the level of tension that has been created over the disputed waters. It created the remarkable situation in which notoriously vulgar Duterte called for calmer and more reasonable language. China remains our benefactor, he stated. Just because we have a conflict with China does not mean to say that we have to be rude and disrespectful. As a matter of fact, we have many things to thank China forboth its help in the past and its aid today.

When Duterte spoke of aid from China, he had in mind in particular the Philippines reliance on China as the single largest source of vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite repeated efforts, the Philippines has been unable to secure large quantities of vaccine from Washington, and the limited vaccination roll-out thus far has relied heavily on vaccines secured from China, many of them donated by the Chinese government.

Locsin belatedly issued a public apology, not to China, but to his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, declaring I just dont want to lose my friendship with the most elegant mind in diplomacy with manners to match.

The mounting tensions in the South China Sea, inflamed above all by the provocations of the Biden administration, have sharpened global tensions and brought in a number of imperialist powers.

The UK announced that it was sending its Carrier Strike Group, the largest armada it has deployed in years, to the South China Sea. UK Defence Secretary described the deployment as flying the flag for Global Britainprotecting our influence, signalling our power. The UK armada will be accompanied by a US Navy destroyer as it sails through the contested waters.

Japan, through its Self-Defense Forces (SDF), announced that it would be providing a $US1.1 million defence aid package to the Philippines, supplying the Philippine military with non-lethal aid, and Japanese troops would be providing Filipino forces with training. The deal marks the first time that the SDF is supplying military equipment as a form of official development assistance.

The question of Manilas geopolitical alignment, as Washington sharpens its campaign against China, has become the central focus of the upcoming 2022 presidential elections in the Philippines.

Vice President Leni Robredo, head of the opposition Liberal Party, denounced the President as pro-China in her weekly radio address on Sunday. She stated that Dutertes repeated assertions that confronting Chinas boats in the South China Sea raised the danger of war was throwing our sovereignty out the window.

The elite political opposition to Duterte coalesced into an umbrella organization, known as 1Sambayan. The focus of the new grouping is the attempt to use the elections to reorient Philippine foreign policy away from Beijing and back into the camp of Washington.

Two of the leading organizers behind 1Sambayan highlight this agenda. Retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario were at the centre of Manilas activities sharpening tensions in the South China Sea as part of the Aquino administration's integration in the Obama administrations pivot to Asia. Carpio and del Rosario were directly responsible for Manilas submission of a legal claim to contested portions of the South China Sea before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in The Hague.

The courts ruling in Manilas favour in mid-2016 did little to alter the state of affairs in the region, as Duterte took office a month before the ruling was handed down. Duterte sought to downplay tensions in the South China Sea as a means of securing improved trade and diplomatic relations with China. The bourgeois opposition to Duterte is seeking to reverse this state of affairs and use the 2016 ruling to press Manilas claim and sharply exacerbate tensions in the region.

In a speech on May 5, Duterte returned to this topic, stating, They filed a case, we won. That paper, in real life, between nations, that paper is nothing. Carpio issued a public demand for Duterte to resign. Duterte challenged Carpio to a public debate. Carpio accepted, but then Duterte backed out.

Former Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Albert del Rosario, a leading convenor of 1Sambayan issued a statement in response to the discovery of the Chinese vessels at the Sabina shoal, We Filipinos have a collective constitutional duty to protect our national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest and the right to self-determination.

A critical element of support for the platform of 1Sambayan comes from the Stalinist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and various so-called national democratic organizations that follow its political line. Founder and ideological leader of the CPP, Jose Ma. Sison, published statements on Facebook referring to Duterte as a traitor for supposedly relinquishing Philippine sovereignty.

Bayan Muna, a leading national democratic organization, is a founding member of 1Sambayan, where it is joined to the bourgeois opposition and to the right-wing Magdalo party. Magdalo was founded by coup-plotting elements of the military officer corps.

The Philippines remains in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. The working population and poor are suffering under the worst conditions of mass hunger since the Japanese occupation. The CPP and its allied organizations are attempting to channel the mass opposition emerging throughout the country behind the electoral interests of 1Sambayan, a coalition founded on the interests of escalating tensions with China and rejoining the war-drive of US imperialism.
25 years ago: ValuJet Flight 592 crash kills 110 on board

The DC-9-32, photographed in 1995, that later crashed in the Florida Everglades

On May 11, 1996, Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades approximately 10 minutes after takeoff, killing all 110 people on board.

The crash was caused by improper storage of canisters filled with hazardous and explosive chemicals, which were loaded into the front cargo bay of the plane underneath the cockpit. The plane was not licensed to carry such materials. A subsequent 15-month investigation into the cause of the fire determined that the fire broke out below the passenger cabin, causing the crash.

The accident brought widespread attention to the airline industrys aggressive cost-cutting measures at the direct expense of safety. The crash was not merely the product of one airlines greed and indifference to safety. It was the outcome of the deregulation of the airline industry which began under Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s with legislation drafted by liberal Democrat Edward Kennedy and pursued and developed under Reagan, Bush, and then Clinton.

ValuJet was a start-up airline, which, in its first two-and-a-half years of business, expanded its operations to 60 jets and became a major player in the industry. The company succeeded in combining low fares and high profits through a cost-cutting campaign that raised eyebrows even in the airline industry, where the erosion of safety standards to boost profit margins was standard operating procedure. The bulk of ValuJet maintenance was farmed out to subcontractors, many of which operated without FAA scrutiny and hired workers with less skill and experience than other major carriers.

ValuJet paid its pilots the lowest rate in the industry, then at $45,000 a year in starting salary, and required them to pay up to $10,000 a year for training out-of-pocket. It paid pilots per flight instead of a base rate. If a ValuJet flight was canceled, the pilots and flight attendants did not get paid, increasing the pressure to ignore minor problems.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found three parties played a role in the disaster: SabreTech, the company responsible for incorrectly packaging and storing dangerous materials; ValuJet, for not supervising SabreTech; and the FAA, for not mandating smoke detection measures after a similar incident in 1988.

ValuJet was grounded by the FAA on June 16 but was allowed to resume flying just three and a half months later. The airline was not prosecuted and eventually rebranded under the name AirTran after acquiring that airline in a merger in 1997.

50 years ago: Egypts Anwar Sadat purges political opponents

President Sadat with U.S. Senator Joe Biden (left), and U.S. Senator Frank Church (center), at Camp David, 1979

On May 14, 1971 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat declared in a national television broadcast that he had removed from office or arrested six leaders of his government and three officials in the ruling Arab Socialist Union party. Among those arrested were Vice President Ali Sabri; Sharawy Gomaa, the Interior Minister and head of the secret police; and the Minister of War, Lieutenant General Mohammed Fawzi.

Sadat claimed that the purge was in response to a coup attempt against him. According to Sadat, the ministers had conspired to bug his home. In the broadcast he warned that he would cut to pieces any continuing political opposition to his presidency. The next day the National Assembly voted to expel 18 members who were opposed to Sadat.

The purges were the beginning of what would become known as Sadats Corrective Revolution. The move was aimed most principally at removing the pro-Soviet faction in the Egyptian ruling class and creating the political foundations for an agreement with the United States and Israel on re-opening the Suez Canal, which had been closed since the 1967 Six Day War, and more broadly, on opening Egypt up to the interests of western capital.

The following week, on May 20, Sadat gave a speech to the National Assembly in which he declared that a secret Communist-oriented faction had been formed in the Arab Socialist Union and was conspiring to bring about his demise. He also declared that he would be presenting a new constitution for the country, effectively dissolving the government established by the 1952 Egyptian revolution.

Sadat added that just before the purges, he had concluded discussions with US Secretary of State William P. Rogers, who assured the Egyptian president that he would work to find a settlement with Israel. In the address to the assembly, Sadat invited the leading imperialist power to resolve the crisis in the Middle East. The United States must define its position, Sadat said.

In the days and weeks after the announcements, Sadat was visited by the left-nationalist leaders of Syria, Sudan, and Libya who also assured him that he maintained their full support. Yet Sadats purge and Corrective Revolution were reflective of a general shift to the right among the Arab bourgeois nationalists. As it had become apparent that the program of pan-Arab nationalism was incapable of achieving even limited unity among the various Arab states, the Arab ruling classes now each looked to cut its own deal with the imperialists. The most critical element of this was achieving the assistance of the US in suppressing the class struggle within Egypt and the other Arab states.

75 years ago: Nazi SS troops convicted of mass killings at Mauthausen concentration camp

Mauthausen prisoners forced to carry granite stones up from quarry on the Stairs of Death

On May 11, 1946, a war crimes tribunal organized by the US military convicted 61 members of the Nazi Waffen SS of war crimes, including the murder of some 70,000 people, most of them Jewish, at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. The trial was one of a series held in the German town of Dachau by the Allied powers in the aftermath of their defeat of Hitlers Nazi regime in May 1945.

The Mauthausen camp had been established by the Nazis after their absorption of Austria into Germany in 1938. It would function as the main site of a network of some 100 camps throughout Austria and southern Germany.

The Mauthausen site was operated by the DEST Company, a private concern owned by a senior member of the SS, but it was controlled by the German state. The camp was constructed there for its proximity to a nearby granite mine. Prisoners of the Nazis from around Europe were brought to the facility, where they were forced into slave labor aimed at extracting the maximum profit from them as they were worked to death.

Members of the Jewish and European intelligentsia were dispatched to the camp where many perished. Prisoners included socialist and communist activists, members of the Roma minority, and Spanish anti-fascists.

The trial heard evidence of the barbaric practices employed by the Nazis at Mauthausen. This included compelling prisoners to race up mountains carrying heavy stones, after hours of labor, forcing them to line up on the side of a cliff and giving them the option of being shot or pushing a fellow prisoner to their death, and conducting cruel and pseudo-scientific experiments on them. In 1941 the Nazis built a gas chamber at the camp that could murder up to 80 people at a time. The following year the camp officials were given a mobile gas chamber by the German government, which could kill 30 people at once. Tens of thousands would be murdered by these methods.

The defendants were charged with violations of the laws and usages of war. They included SS officials, camp administrators, guards, and doctors. All 61 defendants were found guilty after a trial that lasted six weeks. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. The remaining 58 were given a death sentence, which was later changed to life imprisonment for nine of them.

100 years ago: Communist Party of Czechoslovakia founded

Image of Rude Pravo (Red Truth)

At a conference, held May 14-16, 1921, in the National House in the Prague neighborhood of Karlin, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was formed by supporters of the Communist International who split from the Social Democratic Party of Czechoslovakia.

One of the first actions of the Congress was to ratify the 21 conditions the Communist International had set for member parties to join the International. The Congress elected to the top leadership of the party Vaclav Sturc, Bohumir Smeral, and Vaclav Bolen. The partys daily publication in Czech was Rude Pravo (Red Truth).

Czechoslovakia itself was a new capitalist state that had been formed from the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of its defeat in 1918 by the Allied imperialist powers. The new state fought wars with Poland and Hungary over the acquisition of territory.

The founding of the Communist Party came in the aftermath of the general strike of December 1920, which had been brought about by the high cost of living and a housing shortage. Coal miners and textile workers responded to an appeal of the left, Communist, wing of the Social-Democratic Party. The strike was opposed by the partys right wing. In some areas, workers formed revolutionary committees and armed themselves. In some places, workers seized the post offices and railways and disarmed military units send out against them.

One of the main reports to the Third Congress of the Communist International held in Moscow in the summer of 1921, noted, The Czechoslovak Communist Party was formed this past May with 350,000 members, alongside the Communist Party of German Bohemia [Sudetenland], which had been formed earlier and has 60,000 members. The Communists thus make up a large segment not only of the Czechoslovak proletariat but also of its population as a whole. It added that, The Czechoslovak party  must unite the workers of all nations within Czechoslovakia in a solid proletarian front against nationalism, the main weapon of the bourgeoisie in Czechoslovakia.
On Saturday, more than 200 workers from the Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) plant in Banbury, Oxfordshire, along with family and supporters, picketed the plant as part of a 24-hour strike against the companys use of Section 188 fire and rehire notices to push through contract changes.

Striking Jacobs Douwe Egberts workers in the UK speak out against fire and rehire

Holding placards and sounding horns around the entrance to the plant, picketers endured a rainy and windy day to oppose the inferior contracts. JDE is one of the largest employers in Banbury, and broad community support for the strikes was apparent from the stream of car drivers sounding their horns.

Even though the pandemic has seen 9.1 percent growth for JDE Peetsthe owners of JDEdue to booming demand for their coffee and tea products, workers are facing a brutal assault on their terms of employment.

Tom, who has worked at the plant for 14 years, told our reporters, Ill be losing about seven grand a year, just on my basic [salary]. The overtime rates are going to be slashed, so no double-time or time-and-a-half  therell be a flat rate. My shift patterns are going to change, so Ill be expected to do another 33 shifts a year, which means Im going to be away from my family, for less money. Thats what my fights aboutthey talk about work-life balance and theyre completely stripping it away.

The Jacob Douwe Egbert factory in Banbury (WSWS media)

Pensions will also be targeted. JDE worker Alex explained, We used to be on a defined benefit [pension scheme] Hes taken that off us, and that to me personally means a deficit of nearly 15 grand a year. So, you can understand where were coming from.

Workers have faced escalating attacks since the company was purchased by JAB Holdings in 2012, just three years after the global financial crisis. Its divide-and-conquer, said one worker. Theyve got different people on different contracts. Some are being offered one thing and some another. They are trying to force people to accept with different deadlines and different hourly rates. Some people are being offered 40 a year for an extra 150 hours. Christmases, weekends, bank holidays. Its just disgraceful.

Marvin, who has worked at the plant for 27 years, went further: They dont value us anymore, no matter the experience or skill set. Youre basically just another number in their game. Thats how people feel now. You dont get the best out of people when you treat them like that. Its horrible place to work now. Every day is toxic.

JDE workers on the picket line on the first day of the strike (credit WSWS media)

JDEs use of Section 188 notices is part of a wave of fire and rehire attacks launched in recent months, including at British Airways, Tower Hamlets Council, British Gas, SPS Technologies and Go North West buses. Major corporate and financial interests are seizing on the pandemic to implement far-reaching attacks on pay and conditions.

But it is necessary to issue a sharp warning. Unites campaign against fire and rehire is an appeal directed to company boardrooms, shareholders and capitalist politicians and has nothing to do with defending the conditions of workers. The unions sole concern is that new demands for workplace flexibility, cuts to pay, redundancies and pension reform, must be implemented via corporatist agreements with the union.

Saturdays 24-hour strike was held one day after Unite officials began talks with JDE executives at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). Joe Clarke, Unite National Officer for the Food Industry, told strikers, We made demands to the company to de-escalate and withdraw the Section 188, and to be honest, we were met with pure arrogance. But Clarke, along with Unite Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner, said little about the content of the ACAS talks.

Unite officials have declared their aim is to force JDE to return to the negotiating table but are silent on the unions own negotiating position.

At British Airways, after the company issued fire and rehire notices, including demands for the elimination of 12,000 jobs and pay cuts of 20 percent, Unite declared a victory after it negotiated a deal resulting in the loss of 4,000 jobs and the gutting of conditionsa deal that cabin crew denounced as a total shambles and betrayal.

Unite Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner (credit: WSWS media)

At Go North West in Manchester, where nearly 500 bus drivers have been on strike against fire and rehire since February 28, Unite has countered with alternative savings proposals worth 1.3 million. The company has responded by withdrawing its Section 188 threats to enter talks with Unite, with the content of their proposed deal yet to be announced. At SPS Technologies, Unite pushed through annual pay cuts worth 1,500 per worker, as opposed to the 3,000 initially demanded by the company. Similar victories workers have suffered via company-union restructuring deals are being prepared under the whip of intensified global competition for markets and profit.

At JDE, the workforce has suffered from a steady divestment and shrinking of the plant over the past 20 years. As one of the picketers explained, Its a massive factory, but if you look around, half of it has been sold off. R&D (Research and Development) has been shut down. That part of the factory there has been sold off. They are selling off all the assets The office block here has been empty for about 10 years. They want to knock it down, but the cost of it, they dont want to incur yet. They are slowly strangling the place.

Company-union agreements in recent years have seen the introduction of 12-hour shifts and other attacks on pay and conditions. Unites opposition to a genuine fight is shown by its refusal to challenge JDEs axing of 50-60 jobs at its Research and Development division at the Banbury site. There has been no call for united action to defend the jobs.

Workers at JDE can only defend themselves by breaking from Unites corporatist straitjacket, forming a rank-and-file committee and appealing to JDE workers across Europe and other sections of the working class for support.

On Saturday, there was widespread recognition that European-wide action is needed to defeat JDEs fire and rehire threats. But no faith can be placed in Unites claims that solidarity action is being organised by union officials in Germany and the Netherlands, or via consultation with the European Works Council, a corporatist body established under EU law that brings together unions and management to negotiate on cross-border workplace change.

JDE workers must appeal directly to their brothers and sisters at JDE plants in Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and across its 19,000-strong global workforce.

The dead-end character of Unites campaign will be on display Tuesday, when Unite officials and Labour politicians sail down the Thames on a barge decorated with banners against fire and rehire. They will moor outside the Houses of Parliament, timed to coincide with the reading of the Queens Speech in which the Johnson governments legislative agenda will be set out.

The union is promoting an open letter signed by 140 MPs and Lords calling on Johnson to legislate against fire and rehire. Turner told Saturdays rally, I know some of you are coming down to Westminster next week because in that Queens Speech [there] should be a paragraph saying that the government will act to prohibit, to end, to make unlawful, fire and rehire.

Turner did not mention that the vast majority of Labour MPs refused to sign an Early Day Motion against fire and refire that was debated in parliament on April 27.
One of the 14 men charged in last years pre-election plot to kidnap and execute Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer dropped his extradition appeal in Wisconsin, was taken to Michigan and was briefly booked into the Antrim County Jail last Tuesday.

Brian Higgins, 52, is facing a 20-year felony charge after being charged last October with providing material support of an act of terrorism. Higgins is one of a group of right-wing militia supporters who have been charged in the plot to kidnap and kill the governor over her actions in enforcing an initial coronavirus lockdown a year ago.

Higgins attorneys had been fighting the extradition request up until last week. After Higgins was extradited on Tuesday, Magistrate Noren Kastys granted his lawyers request for a $100,000 bond with the option to post 10 percent. Kastys agreed that as long as Higgins wore a GPS tracker and turned over his passport, he would be free to leave the state. Higgins is not required to appear for a May 12 probable cause conference.

Protesters stand with their rifles during a rally against Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, May 14, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya]

According to the FBI, Higgins is a member of the Wisconsin Patriot Three Percenter Militia and was an intel guy for the fascist group. At least two members of the Three Percenters, Guy Wesley Reffitt of Wylie, Texas and Robert Gieswein, from Woodland Park, Colorado, have been arrested for their role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.

In an affidavit filed last year, Michigan State Police (MSP) alleged that Higgins, along with previously indicted Wolverine Watchmen militia members Shawn Fix, Eric Molitor and twin brothers, William and Michael Null, conducted surveillance of Whitmers family vacation home in Antrim County. The MSP alleged that during an evening reconnaissance mission, Higgins provided night-vision goggles for the group to use. Higgins is also alleged to have used a mounted dash camera to record and survey the governors home.

As with the January 6 attempted coup, the plot against Whitmer was not simply the result of a conspiracy between a few fascists, but was supported by significant sections of the police and Republican Party. Dozens of militia members, displaying semi-automatic weapons, filled the halls of the Lansing Capitol on April 30, 2020.

The action was coordinated with the Republican Party establishment and backed by Trump, and was one of a series of actions at state capitols around the country that served as dress rehearsals for the main event on January 6.

It was followed less than three weeks later by the American Patriot Council Rally, organized by Republican Allendale Township planning commissioner, real estate agent, and aspiring 2022 Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley and his friend Jason Howland. At least seven of the 14 men who were arrested in the plot against Whitmer attended this rally, including the Null brothers, who provided security.

Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey next to William Null at May 18, 2020 American Patriot Council Rally (Credit: Jason Howland - Parler)

It should be noted that Kelley and Howland were also photographed on US Capitol grounds on January 6. Neither have been charged as of this writing.

Speakers at the May 18, 2020 rally included Kelley, Howland and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, a member of the fascistic Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). The CPSOA was founded by former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, who along with Stewart Rhodes is a founding board member of the Oath Keepers. A dozen members of this fascistic group have been charged for their roles in the siege of the US Capitol.

Leaf has repeatedly defended the kidnapping plot against Whitmer, claiming it was legal and a justifiable response to Whitmers allegedly unconstitutional actions in imposing pandemic-related health restrictions.

Another prominent speaker at the rally was state senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. Shirkey appealed to the fascist militia members, telling the crowd of roughly 350 people to Be ready to test and challenge government when they get it backasswards and they think theyre the ones who have the rights to give us, when really the government is to provide and protect our rights.

In a photograph from the rally, Shirkey is seen standing next to William Null, a smile across his face. The photo was shared by Howland on the right-wing social media site Parler approximately two weeks ago. Shirkey has previously admitted to meeting with militia groups to give them advice on optics.

The New York Times reported in February that after the April 30 storming of the Lansing Capitol, Shirkey thought the optics werent good and advised the militia members not to bring guns, according to an organizer of the April 30 event. However, Shirkey changed his tune shortly thereafter; in a social media post, Howland claimed that Shirkey, To his credit, came around and spoke at our next event, which was the May 18 rally.

Despite the now obvious, and ongoing, connections between fascist militias and the Republican Party, the Democrats, led by President Joe Biden, continue to downplay and cover for their colleagues, in order to carry out the bipartisan class agenda of herd immunity at home and imperialist war abroad.

Demonstrating that the Democrats would rather make deals with, instead of expose, the fascists within the state apparatus, Whitmer called for unity with the Republicans and maintained that she was ready to work with our legislative leaders during an April Cadillac Area Chamber of Commerce meeting.

This comes one month after Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser joked about assassinating Whitmer, along with Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. The Democrats refuse to draw public attention to the ties between the fascist militias and the Republican Party because it cuts across their drive for bipartisanship and would undermine the legitimacy of the entire two-party political setup.
SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - An investigation is now underway in Illinois after law officials found a man dead in Lake Shelbyville.

This is near Wolf Creek State Park in Shelby County.

70-year-old Donald Pygott of Mattoon Illinois was reported missing on Saturday.

Later that night Pygott was found dead at that same location.

The Shelby county sheriff's office, Shelby county dive team, Shelby county coroner's office, and Illinois department of natural resources conservation police are assisting in the investigation.

If you have any information contact the Illinois state police.
State leaders in Illinois want to make it easier for people to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

During a Monday press conference, Governor JB Pritzker said the state is no longer battling vaccine shortages.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is now working to broaden the number and type of vaccination locations.

Starting this week, Illinois-Walgreens vaccination teams will deploy to business districts to offer the vaccine.

The governor said this would make getting vaccinated convenient and keep workers COVID free.

Business managers that are interested in workplace clinics in Illinois can click here.
CLAY COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - A missing Terre Haute woman was found dead after what officials initially thought was a hit and in Clay County.

Officials say 36-year-old Jessica Nascimbene was found dead in a lake near State Road 59.

It started with a hit-and-run investigation on April 30. The Clay County Sheriff's Office was notified about a hit and run that involved the Indiana Sheriff's Youth Ranch sign.

Police say the vehicle crossed the center line at some point, went off the east side of the road, where it hit the Sheriff's Youth Ranch sign, and drove through a ditch for a short distance. Police said there were no marks that show where the vehicle went back to the road.

Deputy Sheriff for Clay County Josh Clarke, "We're not sure at this time why she left the roadway. We assume the crash happened in the early morning hours. So, we're not sure if she's fallen asleep or if there are other medical concerns or not that put her leaving the roadway."

Using cell phone records, police learned Nascimbene's last known location was in Clay County on State Road 59 between County Road 500 North and 600 North.

LINK | Police release more details on missing woman, 36-year-old Jessica Nascimbene

Police returned to search the area near the youth ranch sign and learned the vehicle did not go back onto the road and instead went down a deep ravine under five to 10 feet of water.

After a truck towed the vehicle out of the water, detectives found the victim, later identified as Nacimbene, still inside. Officials say Nascimbene died due to the crash, but it's unclear why she left the road.

The investigation is ongoing.
(CNN) -- Neil Chatterjee, a top federal energy regulator, is calling on energy CEOs to step up their cyber defenses following a ransomware attack that knocked one of America's most important pipelines offline.

"This is a real wake up call," Chatterjee, a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, told CNN Business in an exclusive interview Monday.

The Colonial Pipeline, which delivers nearly half of the diesel and gasoline consumed on the East Coast, shut down Friday following the cyberattack. The supply disruption is raising the specter of $3 a gallon gasoline in the United States for the first time since 2014.

"Every CEO in the energy sector  and especially pipeline CEOs  should immediately convene their incident management teams to do a deep dive review of their security posture and protocols," Chatterjee said.

The incident underscores just how vulnerable the nation's critical infrastructure is to cyber attacks.

"These pipelines are now, in many ways, on the frontlines of our national defense," said Chatterjee, a Republican who previously chaired FERC, which regulates the power grid and evaluates pipeline applications. (The Transportation Safety Administration regulates pipeline safety.)

'Red alert' for Washington

A criminal group originating from Russia named "DarkSide" is believed to be responsible for the attack on the Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined products pipeline in the United States. The FBI confirmed Monday that DarkSide ransomware was used in the attack.

"The United States government at its highest levels needs to be firm and clear that we will not tolerate nation states like Russia harboring ransomware teams. And we will defend our national interests," Chatterjee said.

Greg Valliere, chief US policy strategist at AGF Investments, said the latest hack should be a "red alert" for the White House following years of hackers blackmailing local governments, businesses and hospitals.

"This lucrative enterprise has emboldened criminals, but the response from Washington has been glacial, even as far more sophisticated hacks increase from countries like Russia and China," Valliere wrote in a note to clients Monday.

The White House formed an inter-agency working group over the weekend to discuss scenarios and plan for next steps. A person familiar with the matter told CNN's Kevin Liptak that the Biden administration is finalizing an executive order to better respond and defend against major cyber attacks.

Prolonged shutdown could cause 'widespread' fuel shortages

It would be hard to find a larger target than the Colonial Pipeline, which transports more than 100 million gallons of fuel daily from the US Gulf Coast to the East Coast.

"I can't emphasize enough how critical it is," Chatterjee said of the pipeline.

The worry is that a prolonged shutdown will leave drivers and airports without the fuel they need  just as the US economy reopens from the pandemic.

"Depending on the duration, the supply shock could leave the region with widespread fuel shortages," Michael Tran, RBC Capital's director of global energy strategy, wrote in a note to clients.

That would be on top of various shortages impacting the US economy, including computer chips, steel, lumber and even workers.

The Colonial Pipeline Company, a privately held firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said Sunday it is developing a system restart plan. The company said its four main pipelines remain offline, but some smaller ones between terminals and delivery points are now operational.

"Our primary focus continues to be the safe and efficient restoration of service to our pipeline system, while minimizing disruption to our customers and all those who rely on Colonial Pipeline," the company said in a statement.

The White House said Monday there are no issues with fuel supply, and the Biden administration is working closely with Colonial Pipeline to mitigate the effects of the ransomware attack and subsequent shutdown of the pipeline.

Ready for the next attack?

The attack is just the latest surprise event to disrupt a key part of the world's energy infrastructure.

In 2019, an attack on Saudi Aramco caused a severe outage that briefly sent oil prices skyrocketing. Earlier this year, a deadly blackout gripped Texas after freezing temperatures knocked offline natural gas, coal and wind facilities.

The Colonial Pipeline shutdown also raises questions about the cyber preparedness of the facility and the energy industry at large.

The pipeline, whose owners include Royal Dutch Shell and Koch Industries, said it "proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat" and immediately hired third-party cyber experts to launch an investigation.

"They worked quickly to try and maintain operational security," Chatterjee said. "But clearly the fact that such a critical pipeline has come offline is of concern to everyone."

Asked if the federal government is doing enough to protect against cyber threats, Chatterjee said, "We can always do better." And he emphasized that the standards set by regulators need to be the floor, not the ceiling, when it comes to cyber defenses.

"Our adversaries are sophisticated and are consistently evolving and continually evolving their tactics and methods and approaches," Chatterjee said. "And we need to do the same."

-- CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this report

The-CNN-Wire

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SCOOBA, Miss. (WTVA) - Graduation season is full of traditions. Yet, some 2020 graduates are just now experiencing what a true graduation feels like.

On Friday at East Mississippi Community College, 2021 graduates got to walk across the stage to get their degree and the class of 2020 finally got the graduation they've been waiting for.

For Abigal Parker, the graduation ceremony was a very special day for her.

"It's a little nerve-wracking because I am so young," Parker said. "But I'm excited and ready to take the next step of my life."

Abigal Parker graduated high school last year. The Coronavirus prevented her from having a high school graduation. Now with her family in the crowd, Abigal walked across the stage -- not for her high school degree but for her Associate's degree.

"Being able to say hey I actually did this and hard work does pay off," Parker said.

Also among the graduates was the 2020 class. One year later and Anayia Weatherspoon finally got the chance for an in-person graduation.

"It's that feeling, it's that feeling that you will never forget," Weatherspoon said. "It's uplifting to finally be on the stage and take all that feeling like we wanted to do last year."

Last year the school hosted a virtual ceremony. On Friday, they followed Covid guidelines as the class of 2020 and 2021 received their degrees.

"We are very happy to be here with the 2021 class and with the 2020 class that wanted to come back and walk," EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks said. "It's been a tough year but our students have been very resilient."
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  University of Mississippi Medical Center officials say they are seeing an impact from a multimillion dollar grant that aims to get more doctors working in rural areas.

In July, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the UMMC medical school the first $1.9 million of a grant that is worth at least $7.6 million. In addition, the school is eligible for an extra $5 million at the end of the first year.

IMPACT, the RACE Rural Track Program, covers funding for more medical students to get clinical training in rural areas. They can now spend a large portion of clinical training in places like UMMC Grenada or Magnolia Regional Hospital in Corinth.

Dr. Sheree Melton, assistant professor of family medicine and clerkship director for the Department of Family Medicine at UMMC, said in a medical center news release that some students are training in rural hospital systems and then signing contracts to work there after graduation.

Theyve agreed to come back there and practice for a certain number of years once theyve finished their residency training," Melton said. "They already have a job before they graduate from medical school.

Weston Eldridge, a fourth-year medical student, is one of those students. Eldridge has signed a contract to practice medicine in Winston County.

We did wellness exams at this elementary school  a lot of bellyaches and earaches, Eldridge said in the news release. Sometimes it was just little children who needed to be loved on. I had such a great day.

More than half of Mississippis residents live in rural areas, according to the federal government. Eighty of the state's 82 counties are medically underserved, and 94% of the counties have shortages of primary care physicians, including those who practice family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology and geriatric medicine.
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) - Students from one school paid tribute to local African Americans from the 19th and 20th centuries.



On Saturday in the Sandfield Cemetery, students shared untold stories that happened right in the Columbus community.

The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) is a high school located on the campus of Mississippi University for Women (MUW, The W) in Columbus. Photo Date: Feb. 4, 2021. The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) is a high school located on the campus of Mississippi University for Women (MUW, The W) in Columbus. Photo Date: Feb. 4, 2021.

Finding untold stories and giving them a voice, that was the goal for the students at the Mississippi School of Mathematics and Science and the singing group Voices in Harmony.

Students come out to get involved in telling and preaching these untold stories," performer Jaylin Jones said. "But for the community to learn about its history and learn about all the narratives that were suppressed.

Jaylin Jones portrayed Rev. Jesse Boulden, a man he believed people should know about.

"He is one of many that deserves to be celebrated for all the work they did during periods of times where this work was rejected, Jones said.

The students shared stories of many African American leaders. Some educators, businessmen, preachers, and even political leaders.

I just love everything black history," performer Niyah Lockett said. "Im very involved in the black community so I just thought this was the perfect opportunity to do something to give back, Lockett said.

Just like Jaylin Jones, Niyah Lockett found an interest in utilizing her voice to share stories.

Not many people know the significance of Sandfield Cemetery," Lockett said. "They dont know the significance of black history in Columbus so its really important to me to be able to relay the story to the public.

As for Jaylin, he hopes the stories students told live on forever.

I hope that the sermon that I just gave showed that hope is still alive, Jones said.



The Eight of May project gained attention nationally on HBO documentaries and on a recent session on the Today Show.
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Girls star Lena Dunham and award-winning director Spike Jonze were the center of attention as co-hosts of last nights benefit dinner in support of the proposed Lowline underground park. But it was Alicia Glen, New York Citys deputy mayor for housing and economic development, who may very have stolen the show.

During remarks at the Lowlines third annual anti-gala, held at the Skyline Modern event space on West 27th Street, Glen made it clear the de Blasio administration is fully in support of the project, which would bring a 60,000 square foot park to an abandoned trolley station below Delancey Street. It was the first time any official representing the mayor had publicly endorsed the initiative.

Glen oversees the Economic Development Corp., as well as the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the two agencies responsible for managing the redevelopment of the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. The Lowline is adjacent to the Seward Park site, where private developers are completing plans for a nearly two-million square foot residential and retail complex. Glen said the project, known as Essex Crossing, is a model of the kind of equitable and sustainable development that the mayor seeks to create throughout the city. Half of the apartments to be built are defined by the city as affordable.

Glen asserted that its her job to unlock the creative potential in the city, embellishing New Yorks reputation as a worldwide center of commerce, culture and innovation. She said the Lowline could become the citys next great public space and suggested that, along with Essex Crossing, it could help advance what she called the revitalization of the Lower East Side. Its a message that the Seward Park developers, in attendance last night, were very likely delighted to hear. During an interview with The Lo-Down last month, they were not shy about expressing support for the Lowline and argued that it could energize their own retail plans for Delancey Street.

While the citys support is significant, the Lowline team still lacks what it needs most: approval from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which controls the site, and from Governor Cuomo. Last night, Lowline founders Dan Barasch and James Ramsey said they are still pressing the MTA for access to the site.

During the anti-gala, guests feasted on dishes from LES caterer Neumans Kitchen, sipped cocktails from Lower East Side-based chef Dave Arnold and took part in a live auction. Among the items sold: Lena Dunhams Lowline-inspired dress from designer Rachel Antonoff. The after-party featured James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and a performance by Bleachers, the side project of Jack Antonoff.
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ABC News

U.S. Park Police did not clear Lafayette Park and the nearby area of protesters on June 1, 2020, so President Donald Trump could walk from the White House over to St. Johns Church, but learned of his interest in surveying the site hours after they already had begun planning to clear the area to put up new fencing, according to a new watchdog report. The Interior Departments inspector general did not determine whether law enforcement acted inappropriately against demonstrators last year and did not focus on individual incidents of police use of force, but found that poor communication between agencies and ineffective dispersal warnings "may have contributed to confusion during the operation and the use of tactics that appeared inconsistent" with initial plans. Specifically, the report found that Bureau of Prisons officers on the scene used pepper spray against protestors and that Metropolitan Police officers used tear gas, despite orders from Park Police not to do so.
Police in Colorado were searching for a motive Monday after a gunman opened fire at a birthday party over the weekend, killing six people before killing himself.

The shooting at a Colorado Springs, Colorado, mobile home park early Sunday is the 13th mass killing this year, according to database compiled by USA TODAY, Northeastern University and The Associated Press.

Colorado Springs police responded to reports of shots fired shortly after midnight Sunday at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park and found six people dead. A seventh was taken to the hospital where he later died.

"The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life. This horrific act has resulted in the death of six adult victims," Colorado Springs Police Department said in a statement.

The group was gathered inside the residence for a birthday party, and friends, family and children all inside, police said. No children were injured in the shooting, and all were with relatives Sunday.

Police said on Twitter that they would release the victims' names in a Tuesday news conference.

A mobile crime lab was parked early Monday outside the Colorado Springs home, which was cordoned off by yellow police tape as officers guarded the scene. By midafternoon the tape was gone; a sign stood in front of the home advertising Grief Support, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.," at the mobile home park office.

A small crowd of mourners arrived to pay their respects, leaving bouquets of yellow roses and devotional candles on a small table they set up in front of the home. They silently gazed, then left without comment under a dark, gray sky and blustering winds. Someone closed a partially open window in the home from the outside.

Freddy Marquez told the Denver Post he was at the party before the shooting with his wife and children, and the victims were all of the same extended family. The party was to celebrate his wife's and her brother's birthdays, but Marquez said his family left around 10 p.m. because his wife had to work the next day.

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Mourners are pictured on Monday outside a mobile home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where a shooting took place at a birthday party on Sunday.

'Unspeakable acts': Gunman kills 6, then self, at birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colorado, police say

It was all family, so everything was fine, he told the newspaper. When his wife woke up the next morning, she saw numerous missed calls. Marquez's wife's mother, two brothers and three extended family members died. Its just crazy; its not what we expected on Mothers Day, he told the Post. Im at a loss for words.

Neighbor Yenifer Reyes told the newspaper she thought the gunshots she heard were a thunderstorm but, "then I started hearing sirens."

Gladis Bustos, who lives three homes away, tearfully recalled the homes owner, whom she identified as Joana, as a warmhearted, hardworking person who always took the time to say hello to her neighbors, ask how they were doing, and brag about her children.

She was an incredibly pleasant woman, very beautiful, happy all the time, Bustos told AP. She loved to chat. And she was very proud of her family.

The gunfire that startled Bustos from her sleep early Sunday had forever changed what she described as a safe and welcoming neighborhood. Were all in shock," she said. How can this happen here? This is all so painful, so devastating, so overwhelming.

Authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims, and police said they are still investigating a motive for the shooting. Marquez told the Denver Post he didn't know the suspected shooter well and the man was not at the party earlier.

"This is something you hope never happens in your own community, in the place that you call home. When these types of unspeakable acts happen, there is nothing that can be done to fully rebuild what was lost or replace those who are no longer with us," Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski said in a statement.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said on Twitter that the shooting was "devastating, especially as many of us are spending the day celebrating the women in our lives who have made us the people we are today.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, crime report data indicates about 1 in 5 homicide victims in the U.S. are killed by an intimate partner. Over half of female homicide victims are killed by a current of former male partner, the CDC says.

The massacre is the second mass killing in Colorado this year, according to the USA TODAY, Northeastern University and The Associated Press database, which defines mass killing as those in which four or more people were killed, not including the assailant.

Columbine, Aurora, Boulder: Colorado has the sixth-highest rate of public mass killings

In March, 10 people were killed in Boulder when a gunman opened fire at a grocery store. The shooting occurred less than a week after rampage at Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead, mostly women of Asian descent.

The shooting this weekend is the deadliest in the U.S. since a former employee at an Indianapolis FedEx facility killed eight people before dying by suicide.

Three of the 13 mass killings this year have occurred in Indiana, said James Alan Fox, professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University. Seven of the 13 were in residential settings; an eighth was partially in a residence, he said.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, another database that defines mass shooting as four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter, May has already seen 24 mass shootings.

Contributing: Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colorado Springs shooting: Police seek motive in birthday party attack
BERLIN (AP)  The German government on Wednesday banned a Muslim organization that it accused of supporting "terrorism globally with its donations."

Police raided buildings associated with Ansaar International in 10 German states, the German Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry alleged the money the organization collected ostensibly went into welfare projects as a ruse to help finance groups such as the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate known as the Nusra Front, the Palestinian group Hamas and al-Shabab in Somalia.

The organization Ansaar International and its suborganizations were banned. The network finances terrorism globally with its donations, an Interior Ministry spokesperson tweeted.

More than 1,000 police officers raided buildings and office spaces across Germany and confiscated about 150,000 euros ($180,000).

When wanting to fight terrorism, one needs to dry out its money sources, German Interior Ministry Horst Seehofer said. He alleged that Ansaar International spreads a Salafist view of the world and is financing terror around the globe under the disguise of humanitarian help.

A man who answered a phone call to the organization's headquarters in the western German city of Duesseldorf immediately hung up when The Associated Press called seeking comment.
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As New York Citys leading provider of child care and preschool, Bright Horizons offers a unique early education experience built on more than 30 years of expertise, and on what families want and need for their childrenand for themselves. Our newest location on Clinton Street is currently accepting registrations for all programs and will be ready to welcome families later this spring.

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May 10Roughly 80 % of Hawaii residents worry about COVID-19 daily, giving the state the No. 1 worry rank in a new nationwide report from SafeWise.

The data, which breaks down pandemic concerns by state, comes from SafeWise's State of Safety survey, which was conducted in September by Lux Insights.

Researchers conducted a weighted survey of at least 100 people from each state to glean their results, which have an error rate of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.

The survey showed that on average only 62 % of Americans worried about the pandemic each day, said Andrea Harvey, SafeWise's outreach director.

"Hawaii stood out to us. We thought it was pretty strange that they had one of the lowest case rates and some of the most concern, " Harvey said. "Some states just tend to be more worried and more concerned about what's going on in their states than others."

California, New York, Florida and Georgia rounded out the top-five list of most worried states after Hawaii.

The worry data comes as state Department of Health officials Sunday reported one new coronavirus-related death and 84 additional infections statewide, bringing the state's totals since the start of the pandemic to 488 fatalities and 33, 207 cases.

The latest death was a Maui man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions and was hospitalized.

The state's official coronavirus-related death toll includes 376 fatalities on Oahu, 53 on Hawaii island, 53 on Maui, two on Kauai and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

Sunday's new statewide infection cases include 52 on Oahu, 16 on Maui, eight on Hawaii island and eight Hawaii residents diagnosed outside the state, according to health officials.

The statistics released Sunday reflect the new infection cases reported to the department Friday.

In comparison, the U.S. coronavirus-related death toll Sunday was more than 581, 000, and the nationwide infection tally was about 32.7 million.

Story continues

SafeWise said the percentage of the population of each state worrying about the pandemic on a daily basis varied. Only about 44 % of residents of Wyomingthe least worried of the 50 statesworried about the pandemic each day.

Alaska, North Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma also were among the five least worried states.

Researchers compared the "worry rank " with the CDC's number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and vaccines per 100, 000 people in each state (as of February 2021 ) and found "no significant correlation between worry and cases."

They found that in general, states with the higher case rates weren't necessarily the most concerned. Likewise, those with high concern didn't necessarily have the highest or lowest case rates.

"I live in Utah. Utah had one of the lowest levels of concern and one of the highest case rates, " Harvey said. "It seems that a lot of people here either they think that it's kind of a hoax or it's not something to worry about or it's being overdramatized in the news. Meanwhile, they keep going out without masks, and it just keeps spreading because they aren't really concerned about it. Being concerned means that you are going to be more cautious."

Researchers did find that states in the survey with the lowest death rates tended to exhibit the least worry ; however, that wasn't true of Hawaii, which had the lowest death rate throughout the pandemic.

SafeWise found that most people in Hawaii were concerned about the pandemic on a daily basis ; however, 9 % said they were neutral, and 11 % said they weren't concerned at all.

When it came to how COVID-19 affected their personal safety, only 60 % of Hawaii residents were affected, 14 % were neutral and 26 % weren't affected.
May 9Shannon Fuller learned at an early age what it means to make an impact in people's lives.

A child of a military family, Fuller moved frequently. When they'd arrive in a new community, Fuller's mother made sure she and her siblings got involved.

Volunteering with the Special Olympics, visiting senior citizens in nursing facilities  if there was a community event, Fuller and her siblings were there.

"Anything the community had, our mom was always signing us up for," she said.

The Peru woman followed in her family's footsteps after she graduated from Maconaquah High School and joined the Air Force. She considered making a career of it, but after five years of active duty, she entered the reserves where she is in her 14th year.

Going the reserves route meant Fuller need to get a "civilian job."

She thought back to her childhood and her mother, who is a teacher at the Kokomo Area Career Center.

Fuller then enrolled at Ivy Tech Community College with the intent of becoming a teacher.

She loved playing school as a kid but joked that it was probably because she liked being the boss. As she got older though, Fuller saw teaching as a way to make an impact.

"As I grew older I wanted to make a difference," she said. "I really wanted to be an advocate for the kids."

Between caregiver of her grandparents, serving in the reserves, being a mom of two and multiple other examples of serving others, Fuller found the time to complete her degree with a 4.0 grade point average.

Fuller and her husband, Michael, even took in a family member's child when they were in a tough spot. Technically called a kinship placement, it's similar to being a foster parent.

On Friday, she'll graduate as the top student of the education department and the recipient of the Chancellor's Award, the highest honor awarded to an Ivy Tech graduate.

Tara Kaser, chair of the education department, nominated Fuller for the award.

Story continues

"It takes an amazing amount of hard work to do all that," she said. "And that hard work should be awarded."

Kaser said Fuller was a model student, always on time with meaningful things to add to class discussion.

Fuller knew she could maintain her 4.0 and tried her best to do so. It was a practice what you preach lesson, as she pushes her children to try their best in everything they do.

Still, though, she didn't think it would net her an award.

"The fact they saw something in me I didn't was humbling," Fuller said.

Fuller will attend Indiana University Kokomo for her bachelor's degree in education.

She's considering teaching sociology or science at the middle or high school level. Both are subjects that offer the opportunity for conversation, to see what makes students tick.

Fuller considered studying psychology, maybe eventually working as a court appointed special advocate for children, but saw teaching as a way to reach kids before they need more urgent help.

"You could see how caring she is, and what an amazing teacher she will be," Kaser said.

Fuller intends to stay in the reserves, joking that they'll have to make her leave. Fuller works at Grissom Air Reserve Base and is a first sergeant.

She credits her mom in instilling the importance of making an impact.

"Just to see her in action is where I think I got that drive from," Fuller said.

And it's a drive she will pass along to her kids. A summer project is in the works  a Facebook page where people can celebrate kids doing great things. Fuller envisions building up kids who hold the door open for others and other acts of kindness. Fundraisers are also part of the plan.

To listen to Fuller explain the look in a child's eye, the feeling they get when they do something nice for others and how instilling that at a young age can be formative for young children as they develop, it becomes obvious where she belongs.

In a classroom, making a difference.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.
Photo by Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images

Among other reports and revelations that have come out of her split from Bill Gates, weve now learned that Melinda Gates first started consulting with divorce lawyers in 2019, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A former employee for the Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation told the outlet that at least part of her decision was related to her husbands relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Last week, The Daily Beast reported that Melinda was furious after she and her then-husband met with Epstein back in 2013. Bill had since said that meeting with Epstein was a mistake in judgment, and that he thought that those discussions would lead, literally, to billions of dollars going to global health. It turned out that was a bad judgment.

The pair were together for 27 years, announcing their split last week after putting a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, their Twitter statement read.

Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and build a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives, it added. We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.

According to the WSJ, the divorce filing shows that Bill and Melinda were around 1,250 miles apart when they finally signed itBill was in Palm Desert, California, while Melinda did so near the foundation headquarters and family home in Bellevue, Washington.

A spokesperson for Melinda reportedly did not respond to questions about why they split, while a source close to Bill said he stands by his 2019 statement about Epstein.

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May 10PORTSMOUTH  In 1954, the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4 (now recognized in May) was declared by the United States Congress and proclaimed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to be the first National Salvation Army Week, a reminder to Americans to give freely of themselves.

In his speech, President Eisenhower said, "Among Americans, The Salvation Army has long been a symbol of wholehearted dedication to the cause of human brotherhood. In times of war, the men and women of this organization have brought to those serving their country far from home friendliness and warm concern. In the quieter days of peace, their work has been a constant reminder to us all that each of us is neighbor and kin to all Americans. Giving freely of themselves, the men and women of The Salvation Army have won the respect of us all."

According to the Salvation Army, in the nearly 70 years since, the organization has continued to do the most good for local communities and broadened its services to those that the organization couldn't conceive in 54. The week of May 10-16, 2021, is Salvation Army Week, and to celebrate the week, the DailyTimes will be showcasing a few of the folks who work and volunteer at the local Salvation Army in Portsmouth.

Garnet Adams has been involved with the Salvation Army for 54 years. She was first involved when her dad drove the Salvation Army bus when she was just a little girl. She was a nurse's aide as her full-time job but has always been involved with the Salvation Army in some form since she was a child.

Adams shared she was involved in things that the Salvation Army had for children like, Sunbeams, Girl Guard and even a volleyball team. Dan Simco said that Adams is a soldier (member) of The Salvation Army.

"She does a lot of volunteer work as well as some paid work in our kitchen and family store," Simco said.

Adams said she continues to work with the Salvation Army because of her dad and likes helping people.

Story continues

"I love helping people and talking about God," Adams said.

When asked which she liked best, working in the kitchen or at the Family Store, she said that she liked them both because she gets to interact with the homeless in both places and gives her joy. She added that if she's having a problem, it makes her problem go away by listening to others.

Adams has two children grown and live in Tennessee, her son Richard Lennex and her daughter Amanda Lennex Rickett. She said that she plans to work with the Salvation Army as much as she can while she can do so, but with both her children in Tennessee, she sees herself venturing that way someday.

Adams added that she was also a timbrelist as a teenager. She said that it was a group in the Salvation Army that played tambourines in church for the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army timbrelists have been around for more than 100 years and have played for many audiences. Adams also shared she is a recovering addict for 13 years and wanted to remind people that they have meeting there at the Salvation Army, Narcotics Anonymous.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 40 million Americans live in poverty, and millions more live near the poverty line. Approximately half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and one-third of adults between 18 and 64 live in low-income households. And after a year of devastation due to the COVID pandemic, the need is greater than it has ever been. Anyone who wants to donate can click on their website https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ and there you will find a link to donate to your local Salvation Army.

Reach Kimberly Jenkins (740)353-3101 ext. 1928

 2021 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
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The government is hoping to speed up coronavirus vaccination despite a string of setbacks and its failure to secure sufficient vaccines in time.

The current modest goal is to inoculate 13 million of Korea's 58 million population in the first half of the year, but uptake has been poor amid fears of side effects from the vaccines, and calls are growing to offer incentives for people to take the jab.

Health authorities say there were only 19,631 reports of side effects or a mere 0.47 percent of all 4.18 million vaccine doses administered as of Sunday morning.

The reporting rate dropped from 1.81 percent in the first week of vaccinations (Feb. 26-March 6) to 0.12 percent in the ninth week (April 25-May 1), but fears linger.

Currently, the government pays for all medical costs if a causal relationship is found between vaccination and death or illness.
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich wants Arizona consumers to be on the lookout for settlement checks related to the Arizona Attorney Generals Office Consent Agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS).

APS is sending refund checks over course of the next few weeks totaling $24 million to approximately (i) 210,000 consumers who were not on their most economical rate plan for electric utility service, and (ii) 15,000 additional consumers impacted by a 2017 letter with a data error. Eligible consumers either will receive a $98 check if they were not on their most economical rate plan or varying restitution if they were impacted by the 2017 letter. All consumers receiving restitution also will receive a letter from the Attorney General's Office confirming the settlement and that the checks are valid.

This is the first time in our states history that the Attorney Generals Office has reached an agreement with a utility company to provide refunds directly to consumers, said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Im always proud to help protect the pocketbooks of hardworking Arizonans.

The $24 million in restitution is a result of a consent agreement APS reached with the Arizona Attorney Generals Office (AGO) in February 2021, which alleged that:

APS did not inform customers adequately regarding the benefits of switching to their most economical plan.

Additional APS customers may have been affected by a data error that impacted letters recommending the Saver Choice plan as the most economical plan in late 2017.

Corresponding to the allegations, the consent agreement allocates the refunds as follows:

$20.7 million to up to 210,000 consumers who APS estimates were not on their most economical plan as of the March 2020 billing cycle and could have saved $120 or more over the previous 12 months. This group of consumers will receive $98.

Up to $3.3 million to approximately 17,500 consumers who may have been affected by the data error in the 2017 letters. This group of consumers will receive a varying restitution payment based on the likely effect on the consumer resulting from the data error.

Recipients should deposit or cash checks within 90 days. No further action is required on the recipients part. Residential customers who have questions about the refunds or about whether they are on their most economical plan should call APS directly at 602-371-7171 in metro Phoenix (800-253-9405 other areas).



In addition, as a requirement of the consent agreement, APS has posted frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers providing customers information about APS rate plans, on-peak and off-peak hours, and demand pricing, as well as rebates and cost-saving tips.
Arizona News

Yuma, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey is working with the Arizona Legislature to strip all licensing and regulatory responsibilities from the board that oversees the leadership of nursing care and assisted living facilities.

The move follows an investigation by the Arizona Republic that detailed how the Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers granted a license to an individual convicted of a felony for fraud, failed to investigate complaints in a timely manner, and did not provide accurate information to the public.



Governor Duceys call for greater accountability coincides with his veto of Senate Bill 1282, which would have reauthorized the board for eight years, until July 2029.



In a sharply worded veto letter, the Governor asked the Boards responsibilities be transferred to the Arizona Department of Health Services.



I look forward to working with the Legislature to transfer all licensing and regulation of nursing care institution administrators and assisted living facility managers to the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Governor said in the letter. Its time for accountability and new leadership to supervise these facilities. Our seniorsthese are our grandmothers and grandfathersdeserve nothing less.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - Students who are graduating with their associate degree this spring are invited to participate in Arizona Western Colleges commencement festivities. AWC will be holding two in-person ceremonies this year on May 13 and May 14 to reduce crowd sizes.

On Thursday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium, 7150 E. 24th Street, AWC graduates earning an Associate of Arts, Associate of Business, Associate of General Studies, Associate of Applied Science (degrees A-C), and Nursing students along with graduates of local Arizona State University and University of Arizona partners will be celebrated. (Note: Although NAU-Yuma has chosen not to participate in person, NAU-Yuma graduates will still be recognized and a message from their student speaker will be shared.)

On Friday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium, AWC graduates earning an Associate of Applied Science (degrees D-W) and specific major degrees will be honored.

AWC sent out 1,086 invitations to participate in graduation this year. These students are candidates for an AA, AAS, ABUS, AGS, or AS degree. Some candidates have applied for more than one degree. There are also 111 candidates to receive an occupational certificate who will be recognized in the commencement program.



In my 31 years in education, these are the two graduations that I will be looking forward to the most. When you think of everything these graduates have had to go through during this pandemic, they have all overcome so much. These students deserve this opportunity to be celebrated and they deserve all the accolades they will receive, said AWC President Dr. Daniel Corr.

Graduates have been sent packets inviting them to participate along with two guest tickets. For safety reasons, guests are limited to two per graduate and will be seated six feet apart in pods of two in the stadium seats.



As with past commencements, both nights will be aired LIVE on the AWC Facebook Page (no account needed to view) and on Channel 74, so that extended family and community members can tune in and celebrate as well.



Rehearsals will take place at 8 a.m. each morning at Veterans Memorial Stadium with a Grab-and-Go breakfast hosted by the AWC Alumni Association. The AWC Foundation will also have pre-packaged concession items available for purchase on both nights.

Diane Fonseca and Fatima Covarrubias Rios were selected as this years AWC student commencement speakers. More information on Diane and Fatima is included below, along with details on the student speakers from local university partners sharing in the commencement activities.



For information and updates regarding this years commencement activities, visit azwestern.edu/commencement.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - The City of Yuma joins the International Economic Development Council in recognizing the importance of the local economy during National Economic Development Week, May 9-15.

National Economic Development Week was created by the International Economic Development Council, the largest professional membership organization for economic developers, to recognize the unique role economic development has in creating vibrant communities with strong economies.

In Yuma, improving the business climate is a joint effort. This year, the Yuma City Council adopted several strategic outcomes and priority initiatives that focus on economic development, including support for a local multiversity campus, additional broadband access, continued riverfront development, a spaceport and enhanced coordination with the private sector. Partners such as the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation helped recruit businesses looking to start or expand in the community; and City staff assisted them through the development process.

Economic Development Week highlights the importance of Yumas economic health and recognizes the vital role businesses play in our community, said City of Yuma Economic Development Administrator Jeff Burt.

Yumas economic development partners have worked hard to create positive momentum despite the obstacles of COVID-19. This past year, the City broke nearly every development record. The construction valuation and permit growth in 2020 was the highest in Yumas history. Total construction valuation in 2020 was $167.6 million, a 16 percent increase from 2019 ($143.8 million). And to date, residential permits are up 55 percent compared to the same time last year. The March 2021 unemployment rate for the City of Yuma was just 8.7 percent, nearly the lowest unemployment figure in 10 years.

Several Yuma-area industries and manufacturers have expanded in the past three years including Northwestern Industries, Insultech, Holaday Seed Co., Almark Foods, Swire Coca-Cola, and MPW Services.

As more company projects move from the COVID sidelines and actively seek to expand or relocate, the City of Yuma will aggressively pursue investment opportunities with our economic development partners, Burt said.

At present, the City is competing among many communities and states for several projects representing nearly $100 million in capital investment and more than 750 jobs. Decisions for most of those projects are expected in the next six months. The City will continue to seek private sector investments that deliver full-time jobs for area residents and contribute new financial resources in support of important City infrastructure and services.

Working together, we can make 2021 another year of economic progress for the City of Yuma, Burt said.
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NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that his government is preparing for the third wave of the deadly coronavirus and said that he has requested more vaccines from the Centre.

We're increasing oxygen beds... We must prepare for the third wave. In this wave, Delhi recorded maximum 28,000 cases in a day. The scale at which we're creating infrastructure, we'll be able to deal even if 30,000 daily cases are reported in the next wave, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said while talking to reporters.

Raising the issue of vaccine shortage, the AAP chief said, We're left with vaccine stock for 3-4 days. We have placed orders with companies but I think the Central govt is allocating the vaccines because we get a letter from the Central govt about the stock that we would get in a month. We request the Centre to give us more vaccines.

Earlier today, Kejriwal along with Health Minister Satyendar Jain inspected a COVID care centre near GTB hospital. Delhi on Monday reported 319 more COVID-19 fatalities and 12,651 new infections, the lowest in four weeks, with a positivity rate of 19.10 per cent, the Health Department said.

The dip in new cases, the lowest since April 12, can also be ascribed to a smaller number of tests (66,234) conducted on Sunday. At 19.10 per cent, the positivity rate is the lowest since April 16, when it stood at 19.7 per cent, according to government data. The positivity rate has remained above the 20 per cent mark since April 17.

Delhi Health Bulletin - 10th May 2021 #DelhiFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/NP8rKXh2E3  CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) May 10, 2021

It was 21.67 per cent on Sunday, 23.34 per cent on Saturday, 24.92 per cent on Friday, 24.29 per cent on Thursday, 26.37 per cent on Wednesday, 26.73 per cent on Tuesday, 29.56 per cent on last Monday, 28.33 per cent on last Sunday and 31.6 per cent on last Saturday.

On April 22, a positivity rate of 36.2 per cent, the highest so far, was recorded. Delhi had reported 13,336 cases on Sunday, 17,364 on Saturday, 19,832 on Friday, 19,133 on Thursday, 20,960 on Wednesday, 19,953 on Tuesday, 18,043 on last Monday, 20,394 cases on last Sunday and 25,219 on last Saturday.

The city had witnessed 273 deaths on Sunday, 332 deaths on Saturday, 341 on Friday, 335 on Thursday, 311 on Wednesday, 338 on Tuesday, 448 on last Monday, the highest so far, 407 on last Sunday, 412 on last Saturday, and 375 on last Friday.

The national capital conducted 66,234 tests, including 57,265 RTPCR/CBNAAT/True Nat tests on Sunday. Over 13,300 people recovered from the infection during the period, the health bulletin said. There are 85,258 active cases in the city and 52,451 of them are in home isolation, it said.

The number of cumulative cases stands at 13,36,218 and the death toll at 19,663. Over 12.31 lakh people have either recovered, migrated out or have been discharged, according to a health bulletin. Of the 22,667 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, 3,229 are vacant, it said.

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Bengaluru: A 14-day stricter lockdown has come into effect in Karnataka from 6 AM on Monday (May 10, 2021) which aims to break the chain of the deadly COVID-19 transmission across the state. The restrictions will remain in force in the state till May 24.

The BJ-ruled state was already under the corona curfew since April 27. But in view of the growing cases of coronavirus, the BS Yediyurappa-led government had last week decided to extend the curfew.

As Covid-19 cases are surging in the state, corona curfew was not successful. A complete lockdown will be imposed from 6 am on 10 May till 6 am on 24, CM Yediyurappa had announced last week.

Announcing the decision, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that all hotels, pubs and bars will remain closed across the state. Eateries, meat shops and vegetable shops can operate from 6 am to 10 am, said the government order.

The Chief Minister also announced a ban on intra-state travel in view of alarming cases of coronavirus in Karnataka. In addition, a cap on the number of guests at the wedding has been imposed, i.e. only 50 people are allowed at wedding ceremonies.

The state has been witnessing a steep rise in COVID cases with a daily caseload of about 50,000 and fatalities are also going up at an alarming proportion. The active cases are close to 4. 5 lakh in the state.

Whats restricted during the lockdown

-Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed.

-All public places like cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, playgrounds, swimming pools, parks, clubs, theatres and bars will remain shut.

-All social, political and cultural functions are suspended.

-All religious places, places of worship will remain closed for the public.

-Metro rail services in the state will remain shut.

-Taxis, auto-rickshaws and services of cab aggregators will not be allowed (except while hired for emergency).

-Hotels and restaurants will remain closed for the general public. However, kitchens can operate for takeaway or home delivery of food items.

-Citizens who have to travel via flights and trains will be allowed to move during the lockdown and their tickets will serve as a pass for movement.

Whats allowed during the lockdown

-All health Services to remain functional.

-All agriculture and allied activities are allowed.

-Unrestricted movement of all types of goods and cargo. Supply of essential goods shall be allowed to operate adhering to national directives for COVID-19 management.

-Grocery shops and Public Distribution System shops will be allowed to function from 6 am to 10 am.

-Take away from standalone liquor shops and outlets will be allowed from 6 am to 10 am.

-The sale of vegetables and fruits through pushcarts is allowed from 6 am to 6 pm.

-Milk booths and Hopcom outlets are allowed from 6 am to 6 pm.

-Banks, insurance offices and ATMs will remain functional as per normal working hours.

-Print, electronic and broadcast media to remain functional.

-Internet and cable service operators will be allowed during the lockdown.

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New Delhi: A 26-year-old woman activist from West Bengal, who was on her way to join the farmers protest at New Delhi's Tikri border, was reportedly assaulted and subsequently died of COVID-19 related complications. According to the farmers group, the victim was travelling with the same accused, who posed to be members of Kisan Social Army

Six people booked for Tikri gangrape

On May 9, the Haryana Police formed a special investigation team after the woman's father alleged she was raped when she had gone to the border point with some members of an outfit supporting the protest against the Centre's new farm laws. Six people, including the two prime accused, have been named in an FIR registered in the case following a complaint from the father on Saturday, an official said.

Strict action has been taken against those found guilty, says Samyukta Kisan Morcha

"She was assaulted by some of these persons on the way to Delhi and after reaching Tikri border. A week later, she developed high fever and was found COVID-19 positive. She was admitted to a private hospital in Bahadurgah. Sadly, on April 30, she passed away due to COVID-19. When this came to the notice of the SKM, we decided to take strictest possible action. Four days ago, the Tikri committee of SKM had already removed the tents and banners of the so called 'Kisan Social Army'. The accused were also barred from participating in the movement and public appeal was issued for their social boycott," the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in a statement.

"The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) makes it abundantly clear that it stands with the struggle for justice for our deceased woman colleague. SKM has already taken strict action against the accused in this case and we are committed to take this fight for justice to its logical conclusion," the farmers' group added.

The SKM added that the Kisan Social Army was never the authorised social media voice of the farmers group and none of its handles have anything to do with the movement.

Several farmers are protesting against the farm laws at border points of Delhi, including Tikri and Singhu, since November, 2020.

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New Delhi: 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), the anti-COVID-19 drug that has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and been given an emergency use nod by Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI), was first studied by Patanjali researchers, claimed Acharya Balkrishna on Sunday (May 9, 2021).

A day after the DCGI granted permission for the Emergency Use of this drug as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients, Acharya Balkrishna said, "We take immense pride that Patanjali has been the pioneer centre-stone for most of the researches conducted for COVID-19."

Balkrishna, MD of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and co-founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, also shared a picture of his research paper, co-authored with three other researchers.

We take Immense Pride that #Patanjali has been the Pioneer Centre-stone for most of the researches conducted for COVID-19 https://t.co/r5ujVaBt0l pic.twitter.com/a0oDaWyv0P  Acharya Balkrishna (@Ach_Balkrishna) May 9, 2021

Yoga guru Swami Ramdev also expressed, "Proud of Patanjali being the first in every research on COVID-19."

Link to the paper where Patanjali Research Institute was the first one to suggest use of 2DG https://t.co/X8h2rQFfxL  Monica (@TrulyMonica) May 8, 2021

This is to be noted that the therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of DRDO, in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL).

Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence and that the higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID-19 patients.

"The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19," said the Ministry of Defence.

In April 2020, during the first wave of coronavirus, INMAS-DRDO scientists conducted laboratory experiments with the help of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and found that this molecule works effectively against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibits viral growth. Based on these results, DCGI CDSCO permitted a Phase-II clinical trial of 2-DG in COVID-19 patients in May 2020.

The DRDO, along with its industry partner DRL started clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug in COVID-19 patients. In Phase-II trials (including dose-ranging) conducted from May to October 2020, the drug was found to be safe in COVID-19 patients and showed significant improvement in their recovery. Phase IIa was conducted in six hospitals and Phase IIb (dose-ranging) clinical trial was conducted at 11 hospitals all over the country. Phase-II trial was conducted on 110 patients.



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Chandigarh: To assist state governments in the fight against coronavirus, the Army's Western Command has set up three 100-bed hospitals in Chandigarh, Faridabad and Patiala.

These hospitals have been set up under the Indian Army's Operation Namaste, launched in March this year to insulate the 1.3 million-strong force from coronavirus and extend all possible assistance in containing the pandemic.

Lieutenant General R P Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief , Western Command, on Monday announced the operationalisation of the first 100-bedded COVID Hospital at a hostel for international students in Panjab University. Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator V P Singh Bandore was present on the occasion.

The other 100-bed facilities have been set up at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College in Haryana's Faridabad and Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, Punjab.

These will be made operational on May 11 and 12, respectively, a defence release said here.

Lieutenant General R P Singh highlighted the efforts put in by both the Indian Army and the civil administration in the early operationalisation of these hospitals.

He assured governments of both states and the Chandigarh Administration of support in the fight against COVID 19.

These hospitals have been set up on a war footing, having the capacity to accommodate and treat mild to moderate patients, the release said.

The Army's Western Command has deployed its doctors, nursing officers and paramedics for a holistic treatment of patients as per ICMR guidelines, it said.

The civil administration is facilitating essential amenities, service management, uninterrupted oxygen supply and ambulance services at these hospitals.

The admission to these hospitals will be open to all citizens and coordinated by chief medical officers (CMOs).

Patients requiring higher grade of treatment will be shifted to other hospitals, coordinated by the CMO as per availability of ICU facilities.

In a recent virtual meet between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Lt Gen RP Singh, the CM had shared his concerns over the rising COVID cases, especially in

the major cities of Punjab and had sought the Western Command's assistance to manage the crisis.

The Army Commander, as per the release, had assured the chief minister of all possible assistance within the institutional capacity of the Western Command.

Consequent to the virtual meet with the Punjab chief minister and requests received from other states, the Western Command had said it is in the process of setting up various COVID-related facilities.

Apart from contributing 108 doctors, 14 nursing officers and 205 paramedics in various hospitals set up by the DRDO, the Western Command had earlier said it will also be setting up 100-bed COVID hospitals at Chandigarh, Patiala and Faridabad.

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New Delhi: South Delhi Police have arrested 2 people on Monday (May 10) who were caught illegally selling oxygen cylinders through a CAT ambulance.

Ambedkar Nagar police station in Delhi received a complaint about the illegal sale of oxygen after which the police investigated and traced the mobile number to the person responsible.

Pawan, a trained healthcare worker and his partner were selling the oxygen siphoned from the CAT ambulance in which they worked

Pawan attempted to mislead the police but after strict interrogation and retrieving information from his phone, he confessed that he was black-marketing the oxygen present in the CAT ambulance.

Pawan had posted his mobile number on social media so that people who need oxygen can contact him easily.

The investigation revealed that Pawan used to make 40 thousand rupees for 15 liter cylinders and 90 thousand rupees for 50 liter cylinders.

They used to take all this money through Paytm which was later transferred to Axis Bank and PNB Bank from which they would withdraw the money.

Police also arrested a person named Vipin who was related to the blackmarketing of oxygen cylinders. Vipin was a driver in a CATS ambulance and used to help Pawan in the black marketing of oxygen.

Police have recovered 2 oxygen cylinders, 32 PPE kits and Rs 1 lakh cash during the raid.

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New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the party has to take note of its serious setbacks in assembly polls in several states, and face the reality to draw the right lessons.

Addressing a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the UPA chairperson said she intends to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses.

"We have to take note of our serious setbacks. To say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement. I intend to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and report back very quickly," she told the meeting in her inaugural address.

Gandhi said the party needs to candidly understand "why in Kerala and Assam we failed to dislodge the incumbent governments, and why in West Bengal we drew a complete blank".

"These will yield uncomfortable lessons, but if we do not face up to the reality, if we do not look the facts in the face, we will not draw the right lessons," she noted.

The meeting of the top Congress body was convened to deliberate and introspect on the party's poor performance in the just-concluded assembly elections.

The Congress fared poorly, drawing a blank in West Bengal and failing to win back power in Kerala and Assam, besides losing Puducherry. The party only came to power with the help of its ally DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Gandhi also said that the schedule to elect the new Congress president would also be discussed at the meeting. She also hit out at the Narendra Modi government over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The situation has become even more catastrophic. Governance failures have become even starker. Scientific advice has been wilfully ignored and the country is paying a horrendous price for the Narendra Modi government's neglect of the pandemic, indeed its wilful patronage of super-spreader events that were allowed for partisan gains," she said.

She slammed the Centre over its handling of the surge in coronavirus cases, stating it has "abdicated its responsibilities.

It would have been financially more equitable for the Centre to provide free vaccine to all, she added, also expressing concern over a possible third wave, in her remarks at the CWC meet.

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New Delhi: Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday (May 10) urged President Ram Nath Kovind to convene a special session of parliament to discuss the COVID-19 situation prevailing in the country.

In a letter to the President, Chowdhury said that a special covid crisis session should be held so that the MPs could discuss about the constituencies they represent.

Corona pandemic in the Country is in a grave situation and you must be well informed about the exact scenario. In this critical situation I would urge your kind conscious to convene a special (covid crisis) session of Parliament, Chowdhury wrote in the letter.

He said the session was needed as India consists of a number of constituencies and each Member of Parliament represents his/her constituency from respective State has some say about the condition of people therein and in order to find a way to ease lives of suffering people.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to convene a special session of the Parliament over the #COVID19 crisis. pic.twitter.com/K6Ou0h3jgK  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2021

The request from the Congress party comes at a time the country is facing the second wave of the pandemic that is having a devastating impact on the people. Many opposition leaders have demanded for the functioning of parliamentary panels by virtual means.

India has touched a record number of COVID-19 cases in recent days. After recording over four lakh fresh cases for four consecutive days, India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,66,161 COVID-19 cases on Monday, which pushed its tally to 2,26,62,575, according to the health ministry.

The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 2,46,116 with 3,754 more people succumbing to it, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

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New Delhi: As a large part of the country continues to remain under strict curbs due to the raging COVID pandemic, several states and Union Territories including Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh extended till May 17 their ongoing lockdown. Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Rajasthan will also have a two-week shutdown starting May 10, while in Karnataka stringent restrictions will come into effect till May 24. On Saturday, Kerala came under a nine-day complete lockdown.

Here is a look at coronavirus-induced restrictions imposed by states and union territories:

Delhi: The national capital has been under lockdown since April 19 and it has now been extended till May 17.

Uttar Pradesh has extended the duration of corona curfew with strict lockdown-like curbs till May 17.

Haryana which was under a seven-day long lockdown from May 3, has extended it till May 17.

Bihar on May 4 imposed a lockdown till May 15.

Odisha is under a 14-day lockdown from May 5 till May 19.

Rajasthan has decided to implement a strict lockdown in the state from May 10 to 24, though curbs continue to be in place since last month.

Jharkhand has extended the lockdown-like restrictions till May 13. The restrictions were first imposed on April 22 as 'Health Safety Week'.

Chhattisgarh announced a weekend lockdown while earlier allowing district collectors to extend local lockdowns till May 15.

Punjab has imposed extensive curbs, in addition to measures like a weekend lockdown and night curfew till May 15.

Chandigarh administration has also imposed weekend lockdowns.

Madhya Pradesh has imposed 'Janta curfew' till May 15 with only essential services allowed.

Gujarat has imposed night curfew (from 8 pm to 6 am) and other day-time restrictions in 36 cities till May 12.

Maharashtra had imposed lockdown-like curbs on April 5 coupled with prohibitory orders and restrictions on the movement of people. The curbs were later extended till May 15. Local lockdowns in district like Latur and Solapur have been imposed, and curbs tightened in Amravati, Akola and Yavatmal.

Goa government has imposed a curfew from May 9 to May 24. It lifted a four-day lockdown on Monday, except in tourist hotspots like Calangute and Candolim in North Goa, though restrictions were continuing.

West Bengal has since last week imposed extensive curbs including ban on all kinds of gatherings.

Assam advanced the night curfew to 6 PM from the current 8 PM with restrictions imposed on the movement of people at public places from Wednesday. Night curfew was imposed on April 27 till May seven.

Nagaland has imposed partial lockdown with stricter rules from April 30 to May 14.

Mizoram government has announced seven-day complete lockdown from 4 AM of May 10 to 4 AM of May 17.

Arunachal Pradesh has imposed night curfew, from 6.30 pm to 5 am, for the entire month starting Saturday.

Manipur government has imposed curfew in seven districts from May 8 till May 17.

Sikkim imposed lockdown-like restrictions till May 16.

Jammu and Kashmir administration has imposed lockdown-like restrictions till May 10.

Uttarakhand has decided to impose a strict COVID curfew from May 11 to May 18.

Himachal Pradesh has imposed lockdown or 'corona curfew' in the state from May 7 to May 16.

Kerala has lockdown from May 8 to May 16.

Tamil Nadu is under lockdown from May 10 to May 24.

Puducherry has extended lockdown from May 10 to May 24.

It is to be noted that Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi are among 10 states that account for 71.75 per cent of the 4,03,738 new COVID-19 cases registered in a day, the Union Health Ministry said in its Sunday morning update. The other states in the list of 10 are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Haryana.

India's total active caseload has reached 37,36,648 and now comprises 16.76 per cent of the country's total infections.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh cumulatively account for 82.94 per cent of India's total active cases, the ministry stated.

Besides, 4,092 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours. Ten states account for 74.93 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (864). Karnataka follows with 482 daily deaths.

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Lucknow: Controversial Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Khan were shifted to Lucknow`s Medanta Hospital from Sitapur jail on Sunday for COVID treatment. The father-son duo was tested positive for the coronavirus on April 30, according to police.

Azam Khan`s health suddenly deteriorated on Sunday following which he along with his son was sent to Lucknow by an ambulance. "Azam Khan has tested positive for COVID-19, and has moderate symptoms," Medanta Hospital (Lucknow) Director Dr Rakesh Kapoor told PTI.

On May 2, the jail administration reportedly tried to convince Azam Khan for treatment at Lucknow's King George's Medical University but the SP leader refused to move out of the jail. He was later convinced and officials confirmed in the evening that he along with his son were headed to Lucknow's Medanta Hospital.

"Azam Khan has fever, and has been kept on four litres of oxygen. His tests are being conducted, and accordingly, his treatment will be done. His son is stable," Kapoor told the news agency.

A team of doctors from the district hospital, including Sitapur CMO Madhu Garola, had examined Azam Khan on Sunday. Officials from the district administration explained to the SP MP for a long time the need to take him to Lucknow for better treatment, Deputy Jailor Onkar Pandey told PTI.

Notably, 13 other inmates had also tested positive for COVID-19 after they complained of fever and cough on April 29.

Since February last year, Azam Khan has been lodged in Sitapur jail with more than a hundred cases registered against him, while his son Abdullah was also lodged in the same jail in several cases filed against him.

Azam Khan, along with his son and wife Tazeen Fatma, was lodged in jail in February last year in connection with various cases. In December, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Tazeen Fatma in all 34 cases registered against her.

(With Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: Patients, who had organ transplants, remain vulnerable to COVID-19 infections even after a second vaccine dose, finds a study that urges people who are immunocompromised to strictly adhere to wearing masks, and maintain physical distancing, even after vaccination.

The study, led by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US, showed that after two doses of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID 19, just 54 per cent of people who have received solid organ transplants produced sufficient antibodies. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

"Transplant recipients should not assume that two vaccine doses guarantee sufficient immunity against SARS-CoV-2 any more than it did after just one dose," said Dorry Segev, Professor of Surgery and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

"Based on our findings, we recommend that transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients continue to practice strict COVID-19 safety precautions, even after vaccination," added lead author Brian Boyarsky, a surgeon at the varsity.

People who receive solid organ transplants (such as hearts, lungs and kidneys) often must take drugs to suppress their immune systems and prevent rejection. Such regimens may interfere with a transplant recipient`s ability to make antibodies to foreign substances, including the protective ones produced in response to vaccines, the researchers said.

The study evaluated this immunogenic response following vaccination from either Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech in 658 transplant recipients, none of whom had a prior diagnosis of COVID-19, between December 16, 2020, and March 13, 2021.

The team found that only 98 of the 658 study participants, 15 percent, had detectable antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at 21 days after the first vaccine dose.

At 29 days following the second dose, the number of participants with detectable antibodies rose to 357 out of 658, 54 per cent. After both vaccine doses were administered, 301 out of 658 participants, 46 per cent had no detectable antibody at all while 259, 39 per cent only produced antibodies after the second shot.

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New Delhi: In the view of rising COVID-19 cases, the Uttarakhand government on Sunday (May 9, 2021) decided to impose a week-long 'COVID Curfew' which will remain in force between 6 am on May 11 and 6 am on May 18.

State Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal while making the announcement said, people of Uttarakhand coming from outside will have to undergo seven-day isolation.

The State Cabinet Minister also added that the shops will only be open from 7 am to 10, except today (Monday), where shops will be open till 1 pm.

Take a look at the complete set of guideline here:

1. Shops selling essential items like fruits, milk and vegetables will be allowed to function from 7 am to 10 am.

2. Shopping malls, market complexes will also remain shut during this period.

3. Public places like gyms, theatres, assembly halls will remain closed.

4. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will remain closed till further notice.

Additionally, travellers coming from outside the state will now have to produce negative RT-PCR results not older than 72 hours and will also have to register themselves on the Dehradun administration's portal before entering the state. People of Uttarakhand coming from outside will have to undergo a 7-day quarantine.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Uttarakhand recorded over 5,890 new COVID-19 cases and 180 deaths. The state also recorded 2,731 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

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By Nadia Langley

langleyn@grinnell.edu

The Smith Gallery has re-opened to host two virtual student solo art exhibitions. Hannah Taylor `21 opened her show Setting on April 24, and Tommy G Lee `22s show Formal is set to open on May 12.

In regular years, students could walk in and out of Smith Gallery on their way to the Dining Hall, stepping in for a curious glance or spending more time perusing the walls of the small space and engaging with the frequently rotating exhibits.

With many students still living off campus, the physical space of Smith Gallery located in the Joe Rosenfield Center (JRC) has closed its doors, but a virtual space was created to host the student shows which traditionally occur regularly throughout the semester.

Taylors Setting showcases her interest in marrying the natural and the manufactured world by bringing her art into the outdoors. Taylor created wooden shoe soles engraved with the image of a prairie flower she found in the Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve located six miles from Grinnell College. She then sent these soles to family and friends located across the country with instructions to photograph the impressions created by the wood prints in the sand, mud, clay or whatever surface they were placed on.

The photos exhibited in Taylors show display the prairie flower print pressed into the sandy shore of Stinson Beach, California; a muddy park path in Boston, Massachusetts; and a clay slab in Olympia, Washington.

Ive realized that I am just totally falling in love with making work that lives outside, Taylor shared during the virtual opening event she hosted on Zoom. I think that the act of making and then leaving is so, so liberating. Its just out of my control.

Taylor has been planning for her solo show in Smith Gallery ever since she saw third and fourth years showcasing their work when she was new to the studio art major. She has dedicated pages of her sketchbooks to jotted-down ideas for possible exhibits, yet what Taylor eventually settled on was conceived and carried out in the five weeks leading up to the opening of the show.

Setting was titled both for the physical space Taylor sought to explore as well as the movement captured in interacting with this physical space. Its an action of setting something down, Taylor explained, and stepping into it and making images that are unique to the person and the place theyre made.

Looking to the future, Taylor plans to explore her affinity for creating art in the natural world at the Wormfarm Institute, an artists residency in Wisconsin dedicated to connecting urban and rural communities. At the residency, Taylor hopes to shift her focus from restored natural spaces like Krumm Nature Preserve to farms and other overtly manufactured spaces.

Lees show Formal, opening on the Smith Gallery website May 12, will showcase a collection of fired clay sculptures. Ranging in shape, size and color, Lee described the pieces in an email to The S&B as unintentional self-portraits.

I am unable to pinpoint an inspiration, he wrote, Something about my interaction with clay allows the subtle and unspeakable parts of myself to be expressed in tangible, visual forms. These sculptures show and reflect who I am more than I can articulate in spoken or written form.

Form plays a key part in Lees most recent work, with the pieces lines and silhouette bringing the clays shape from the artists mind into the physical space, a consideration which played directly into Lees choice of title for the virtual show. In another take on the title, this show is an opportunity for Lee to finally present his work in a formal setting to the public.

While viewers cant interact in the same way with the sculptures as they would in a physical gallery, viewing from different angles how each piece sits in space, the virtual format challenged Lee to document his work in a way that provides viewers as close to an in-person experience as possible.

The sculptures which will be on display in Formal were created over the past year, but Lee himself admitted his art is constantly evolving. I dont really have too much control over the work that I make, he wrote, adding that he often intends to start projects, but what he ends up creating veers drastically from the original plan.

When asked what he hopes viewers take away from his show, Lee wrote, I have no intention, because I dont understand my work anyway! I hope people have fun.

You can keep up with Lee and Taylors most recent work by following their Instagram accounts: @tommy.g.lee and @hannahtaylorstudio, respectively.
MBABANE  The countrys gross official reserves were recorded at E9.5 billion at the end of the past month.

This reflected growth of 3.3 per cent from March 2021 and 16.9 per cent over the year. According to the monthly statistical release from the Central Bank of Eswatini, the month-on-month increase was as a result of the quarterly Southern African Custom Union (SACU) receipts at the beginning of April 2021.

Reserves

In line with the increase in reserves, the import cover rose from 4.0 months recorded in March to 4.1 at the end of the past month. Valued in special drawing rights (SDR), the reserves amounted to SDR457.2 million at the end of April, higher by 4.0 per cent relative to the previous month and 40.3 year-on-year. One common rule is that reserves that can cover three months worth of imports are adequate. Reserves are simply the foreign currencies held by a countrys central bank. There are several reasons why banks hold reserves. The most important reason is to manage their currencies values. The critical function is to maintain liquidity in case of an economic crisis.

Extended

Meanwhile, credit extended to the private sector declined by 1.6 per cent month-on-month but grew by 9.3 per cent over the year to settle at E15.3 billion at the end of March 2021. The fall over the month was evident in credit to businesses and other sectors of the domestic economy. However, credit to households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) increased slightly. Credit extended to businesses, on the other hand, amounted to E6.1 billion at the end of March this year, representing a decline of 3.1 per cent over the month and 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Distribution

The month-on-month decline in credit to businesses was discernible in distribution and tourism as well as agriculture and forestry sectors by 9.9 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively. Against this backdrop, however, growth was observed in the following subsectors: construction (8.4 per cent); mining and quarrying (2.9 per cent); community, social and personal services (5.3 per cent); transport and communication (1.8 per cent), real estate (1.0 per cent) as well as manufacturing (0.2 per cent). Credit to other sectors reflected a month-on-month fall of 2.7 per cent and growth of 54.2 per cent year-on-year to reach E1.9 billion at the end of March 2021.
While the kingdom remains in a state of confusion and paralysis occasioned by an apparent lack of leadership and foresight to get off the starting blocks, by contrast, Lesotho is already cruising at high speed in the exploitation of cannabis on its economic value chain to fast-track its development in the wake of one of its firms breaking into and becoming the first in Africa to be licenced, in April, to sell medical cannabis to the lucrative European Union (EU) market.

Lesothos top medical cannabis producer, MG Health, has met the EUs good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards and is thus licenced to export cannabis flower, oil and extracts as an active pharmaceutical ingredient. The GMP are said to be the minimum requirements a manufacturer or producer must meet to ensure products are safe and of a consistent high quality. They are used to control the licensing for the sale of food, pharmaceutical and medical products.

Tragedy

Indeed the story of cannabis mirrors the tragedy of Eswatini in the 53 years of so-called independence. Apparently still riding on the motto theres no hurry in Eswatini, government is unhurried, moving at a tortoises pace to create an enabling legal framework to decriminalise cannabis for medicinal and industrial exploitation. Last week, it emerged that a E2.1 billion investment in cannabis by Swaurora Organic Health Products was lost while the Eswatini leadership procrastinated if not prevaricated on the subject. Even more disturbing were accusations by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Leandra du Plessis, which has since reportedly taken its investment to another SADC country, that members of Parliament (MPs) had demanded bribes when she lobbied them to pass the amendments to the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs Act of 1922, which would have decriminalised cannabis for medicinal and research purposes.

Allegation

As I see it, the allegation that MPs demanded bribes is indeed an indictment on a political system that harbours and, indeed, is tolerant of corruption to the extent that the scourge has embedded itself as a subculture among emaSwati. Proof of this is the deliberate and systemic weakening of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as attested to by the appointment, by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that itself is not above the fray, in recent times of dubious characters long haunted by allegations of corruption to the extent that it has become a useful ornament to project the false facade, especially to bilateral and multilateral partners as well as the global community, that the political system and the leadership frown upon corruption when the reverse could be true if what is happening on the ground is anything to go by.

The JSC, besides recommending ill-fitting candidates, has further played a direct role in emasculating the ACC as attested to by one particular judgment of the High Court authored by Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala, who also chairs the JSC that practically removed any teeth that remained on the ACC. Under the circumstances, perennial political pronouncements and condemnations from every level of government have been nothing but posturing since they have not given effect in terms of political commitment and practical support from those who matter to fight the scourge of corruption that has become endemic in both the public and private sectors, such that it has generally become part of the ecosystem of emaSwati. Therefore, any suggestions that the ACC should investigate the accusations levelled at lawmakers for demanding bribes to do their work would be abortive and a waste of resources and, consequently, the rot should continue to fester in the hope that it may poison itself to death in the long-term.

Also disturbing is the apt repeated narrative, which is yet to be contradicted, in and outside Parliament that failure to pass the amendment to the colonial legislation  God knows why we still have pieces of legislation from the colonial era a whole 53 years after so-called independence  was largely influenced by illegal dagga farmers. This may suggest a fair sprinkling of such illegal farmers within the hallowed halls of the Legislature, yet another plus to the Tinkhundla system of governance.

What has become crystal is that the political status quo is working in favour of the political elites and the privileged, who are extending their tentacles to every sector of the economy while emaSwati are watching helplessly on the sidelines. That is why things are as they are because the elites are in comfort zones in which they would rather have no competitors, but empty mouths of ordinary folk in which to occasionally drop crumbs through their so-called charitable work. In the meantime, the gulf between the rich and the poor, the haves and have-nots, the wielders of political power and the disenfranchised majority keeps on widening exponentially.

Cannabis could have been the catalyst with which to break the vicious cycles of poverty that are holding captive the majority of emaSwati.








MBABANE  The Royal Eswatini Police Service officers (REPS) were part of the newly-named Zulu King Misuzulu KaZwelithinis security detail.

This is according to Acting Ludzidzini Governor Chief Lusendvo Fakudze, who said the countrys police officers offered protection to the newly-named Zulu King before his mother, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, was laid to rest. However, Fakudze could not ascertain when the police were deployed to be part of the Kings security detail. Now that Prince Misuzulu has been named King of the Zulu nation, he is the responsibility of the South African Government. We have gathered that he was left under the care of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the South African Police Service (SAPS), said Fakudze. The acting governor said the Eswatini police officers should be making their way back to the kingdom as their job of protecting Prince Misuzulu was now done.

When asked about the number of police who were deployed to watch over the heir-apparent Prince Misuzulu, he said he could not give the exact number. Prince Misuzulus life was believed to be in danger as his succession as King of the Zulu Nation was being opposed. There was commotion and chaos at the KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace in KwaNongoma last Friday night, when the late Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulus will was read. The late queen named his eldest son, Prince Misuzulu as the preferred successor to the throne. Queen Mantfombi is the daughter of King Sobhuza II and sister to His Majesty King Mswati III. Eswatini is Prince Misuzulus maternal home.

In a video which was trending on Twitter, REPS officers are seen roaming the Zulu Royal Palace and the cars are in the parking lot. Also spotted in the video is Prince Guduza and the royal entourage which he led to South Africa to send-off the late Queen Mntfombi. According to our sister publication the Times SUNDAY, Prince Misuzulu had reportedly moved to Eswatini to ensure his safety. The Times SUNDAY reported that soon after the demise of Queen Mantfombi, Prince Misuzulu was brought to Eswatini for his own safety. He is said to have left for the burial of his mother, reported the Times SUNDAY. In the meantime, Prince Misuzulus safety concerns are still an issue, especially after reports in the South African media of the alleged withdrawal of VIP protection by the SAPS. VIP is the acronym for very important person. However, South African publication, the Sunday Times, came out to say the SAPS denied withdrawing protection services for the new Zulu King. The office of police minister Bheki Cele has moved to quash claims that all SAPS officials who had previously been deployed to the Zulu Royal Palace had been withdrawn.


President Moon Jae-in is facing criticism even from within the ruling party after revelations that candidates he nominated for ministerial posts are accused of wrongdoing, but he has refused to replace Kim Oe-sook, his senior secretary for personnel affairs. Kim is part of Moon's inner circle and widely expected to be safe in her job until Moon's term ends next year. She was appointed in May 2019 and has been responsible for some of the worst personnel disasters, including fly-by-night Justice Minister Cho Kuk, his successor Choo Mi-ae, and the presidential secretaries for civil affairs Kim Jo-won, Kim Jong-ho and Shin Hyun-soo, who all left in disgrace when public discontent became too great.

Controversy has occurred over new ministers every time the government reshuffled Cabinet, and 14 ministers have been named without getting approval from the opposition in a parliamentary hearing. The ongoing reshuffle is not an exception. Science minister nominee Lim Hye-sook, oceans minister nominee Park Jun-young and land minister nominee Noh Hyeong-ouk are variously suspected of spending public money on trips abroad, smuggling fine porcelain and profiting illegally from the sale of an apartment in the Sejong administrative city. Moon's chief personnel secretary has the opposite of the Midas touch when it comes to nominating candidates for high-ranking government posts, but she has never once apologized.

Kim Oe-sook is Moon's longest-serving top aide. The president apparently trusts her quiet style of working -- in other words she does whatever he tells her to do. She has assisted him in this faithful fashion since she joined his law firm in 1992 and knows where all the bodies are buried. She was appointed minister of government legislation in 2017, and in this role she arrived at the hair-raising conclusion that the Pyongyang joint declaration between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in September 2018 was not subject to National Assembly ratification. Soon she was appointed personnel chief despite her lack of experience. To be fair, she offered to resign in August last year because she owned multiple apartments, a great shibboleth of this administration, but of all the chief secretaries who took the fall for the same reason, hers was the only resignation Moon turned down.

The whole personnel office is riddled with worms. Shin Mi-sook, a former Cheong Wa Dae official, was found guilty of driving out officials at agencies under the Environment Ministry. The court ruled that Shin could not have done it alone, but her superior, Kim Oe-sook's predecessor, was not even investigated and was appointed ambassador to Germany instead. Some of the worst of Moon's appointments have toppled like dominoes, but Moon said, "I do not agree that I failed in personnel appointments." He is unlikely to change while his lame-duck government falls to pieces in its last year in office.


The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has announced the postponement of its flagship event, LiftEx Bahrain, to March next year amid global uncertainities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event was to be held from September 27 to 28 this year at the Gulf Hotel and Convention Centre, Manama.

Announcing the decision, CEO Ross Moloney said: "As the situation is still somewhat unclear due to the pandemic, with international travel restrictions currently in place, and some organisations putting a hold on employees travel until the end of the year, LEEA is concerned that running LiftEx this year will affect the results for our exhibitors and compromise the success of the event."

"Furthermore, the Minister of Labour in Bahrain has suggested that early next year is a far more suitable time to hold the show, he added.

Moving forward, Moloney said "the current exhibitors have to simply transfer their booking to the new March dates, or if this is not practical, participation can be cancelled without penalty."

The LEEA is the leading representative body for all those involved in the lifting industry worldwide. It is the authoritative representative body for its members who work in every aspect of the industry - from design, manufacture, refurbishment and repair, through to the hire, maintenance and use of lifting equipment.

The association has played a key role in this specialised field for over 75 years, from training and standards setting through to health and safety, the provision of technical and legal advice, and the development of examination and licensing systems, said Moloney.

"We are bitterly disappointed that we cannot hold an in-person show this year, but are confident that with more time for the vaccination rollout and pilot testing for exhibitions and live events, we will all enjoy a successful show in March," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
APM Terminals Bahrain, the operator of the Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP), said it has been honoured with the AME Region - Terminal of the Year 2020 at the APM Terminals Africa and Middle East Region awards.

The recognition is a huge testament to APM Terminals Bahrains relentless efforts in evolving KBSP, the kingdoms only commercial port as a major regional trade and transportation hub, through its world-class infrastructure, services and highly skilled talent.

It is a joint venture between APM Terminals International BV - a unit of Denmark-based container shipping company AP Moller-Maersk - and YBA Kanoo Holdings of Bahrain.

It is only APM Terminals-operated port to have earned this award in the GCC region, said the company in a statement.

This demonstrates the successful partnership between APM Terminals Bahrain and the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications working together to contribute towards Bahrain's economic development and the people's future, it added.

Lauding the achievement, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications in Bahrain, said: "We are very proud that our countrys main commercial port located in Hidd has received this global recognition."

"We have worked hand in hand with APM Terminals to implement the highest safety and security standards while maintaining the levels of business efficiency that our stakeholders have come to expect from the kingdom," he stated.

On the top honours, CEO/Managing Director Maureen Bannerman said: "We are proud that APM Terminals Bahrain has been awarded the AME Regional Terminal of the Year for 2020."

"With Covid-19 disrupting the global economy and supply chains last year, our role as facilitators of the maritime trade was even more critical to support the Bahrain government and our customers with uninterrupted operations of bringing 90% of consumer goods through the port," she stated.

"This was possible with the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications' continued support and the dedication shown by our employees and partners. With renewed efforts, we will continue supporting the nation and our customers by connecting Bahrain seamlessly to the world" he added.

The AME Region Awards aims to acknowledge APMT teams and individuals' accomplishments across the region, focusing on health, safety, security and environment (HSSE), ways of working, customer focus and financial performance of AME Terminals in 2020.-TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), one of the worlds fastest-growing global mining companies, is celebrating the fifth anniversary of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030.

As a key industry player in the kingdom, Maaden has implemented significant incentive programmes and announced major reforms in the last five years to accelerate the development of the mining industry as a strategic pillar of the Saudi economy.

This includes the recently launched mining investment law aimed at attracting investors and paving the way for the full utilisation of Saudi Arabias mineral resources, which are estimated to be worth more than $1.3 trillion.

This goes in line with the objectives of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), one of the most important programs for achieving Vision 2030.

The kingdoms mining champion highlights key achievements since the Vision 2030 launch and plans that reflect its commitment to the kingdoms social and economic development.

Maaden has kept its projects across a range of commodities moving on a strong growth trajectory since 2016.

The company has expanded its investment portfolio, refinanced key projects, and made its first international acquisition, laying the foundation for future growth and new investment opportunities in the Saudi mining industry.

Despite some challenges in 2020 due to Covid-19, Maaden managed to maintain its agility and remained focused on its goal to become a global Saudi mining giant, while adhering to the highest standards of health, safety, and environment.

Located on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, Ras Al Khair Industrial City jumpstarted the mining industry development in Saudi Arabia, leveraging the countrys strategic location in connecting three continents.

In November 2016, Ras Al-Khair Industrial City was further expanded and connected via railway to Maadens bauxite mine in Qassim and phosphate mine in Al Jalamid, making it a cornerstone of the Kingdoms mineral and metal production and export industries.
The ambitious architectural concept of the Austrian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai will not only represent a comprehensive picture of modern Austria, but will also showcase its rich history of innovation, according to an Austrian official.



With their tag "Austria makes sense", the pavilion supports Expo 2020s vision of organising one of the most sustainable world expos of all time, reported Emirates news agency Wam.



This has been done by building a pavilion that needs 70 percent less energy than a conventionally air-conditioned building in the UAE, and by only incorporating companies with spectacular vision for a better future.



"The sustainable, responsible use of resources has a long tradition in Austria. Expo 2020 Dubai will be the biggest event in the world this year and will thus provide a global podium for the key questions of our time. We want to use this forum to showcase prototypical future scenarios for climate and resource-efficient buildings of tomorrow," said the pavilion's Commissioner General Beatrix Karl.



Located in the Opportunity District, the pavilion combines ecology and technology to an optimum and thus sets a strong signal for climate protection. The Austria Pavilion also focuses above all on the creative use of digitalisation, made possible by the inclusion of Austrian high-tech companies.



"Currently, Austrian companies are making lasting impressions at the Expo 2020 Dubai site with their strength and creativity while highlighting the possibilities of sustainable construction with their future-oriented creations. In fact, a list of different Austrian companies have already left their mark at the Expo 2020 site including Unger Stahlbau, who are among the team to construct the four entrance gates at the Expo. They are one of Austria's most successful steel construction companies on the world market," the pavilion's Commissioner said.



The Austria-based Raintime, a company that focuses on fogging technology, is also part of the Expo grounds. Their innovations will protect the Austria Pavilion and its audience from heat. This same fogging technology will also be used in the Singapore Pavilion to provide cooling.



Three Austrian companies offer timber construction at Expo 2020, including Rubner Holzbau, a leader in the field of sophisticated timber-frame buildings, Stora Enso, a supplier of Cross Laminated Timber, and Tilly, which supplies joinery and three-layer boards made of natural wood.



Austrian artist Thomas Medicus, who creates his pieces out of glass, built a sculpture that will be placed in the newly established underground station near the Expo main entrance. In order to make a hidden Expo 2020 logo appears every 90 degrees when the artwork is rotated, he had to create almost 1000 hand-painted and hand-cut glass fragments that were spread over 100 blank glass strips.



The Austrian construction company PORR has had a strong presence in the UAE for numerous years. Theyve accomplished the "Deep Tunnel Storm Water System" project for Dubai Municipality together with Belhasa Six Construct. That tunnel will be used to channel groundwater and rainwater towards a pumping station by the sea. Forty percent of Dubai's urban area will be drained by means of the tunnel.



With new and unique digital services, Doka is focusing on the construction methods of tomorrow. As one of the world's leading companies for innovative formwork, solutions and services in all areas of construction, Doka is also a global provider of scaffolding solutions for a wide range of applications.



Finally, Helioz, an Austrian social enterprise working in the field of water disinfection and climate project development, relies on environmentally friendly solutions for water disinfection. It plans to help supply thousands of families in India, Africa and Southeast Asia with clean drinking water.
Marhaba Europe is set to return to Dubai this month with a delegation of almost 60 exhibitors from across Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland, presenting a united tourism front ahead of this years Arabian Travel Market.

The two-day event, which will take place between May 14-15 at W Dubai, The Palm, will host close to 80 travel professionals from the GCC, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon who will meet with the European exhibitors.

The schedule of B2B meetings aim to strengthen ties and encourage business between the countries across the travel sector, inviting attendees to interact with European airports, shopping facilities, local tourist boards, hotels, destination management companies and transport companies keen to network with local representatives and to bridge communication between the regions.

Marhaba Europe will also host a Gala dinner on May vwhich offers a much welcome opportunity to network with industry professionals, with Ambassadors to the UAE from Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland set to be in attendance.

Yamina Sofo, Director of Sales & Marketing, German National Tourist Office (GNTO), the regional office of German National Tourist Board (GNTB), said: As one of our top three overseas source markets, the GCC is vital for our restart activity in encouraging travel to Germany. Marhaba Europes return provides us with an ideal opportunity to re-engage and further develop B2B partnerships between the two regions which will support our continued efforts to position Germany as a destination of choice."

Matthias Albrecht, Director GCC of Switzerland Tourism commented: When speaking to our GCC guests, we really feel that they are desperate to travel again to Switzerland and Europe; therefore, Mahaba Europe is a fantastic way to reconnect tourism professionals with each other, just at the right time to accommodate the desires of our customers.

Robert Groeblacher, Director Middle East & South East Asia of Austrian National Tourist Office cited: Our four countries are among the most popular premium destinations by travellers from the Middle East. We are very proud to join forces again to connect the major touristic players in our countries with the local travel trade.

Karim Mekachera, Regional Director Middle East & Turkey of Atout France, commented: First non-virtual event since the beginning of the pandemic, we, at Atout France, are very pleased to join our Europeans colleagues at Marhaba Europe to meet, exchange and network with the regional travel trade and start devising together the post-covid tourism new era. - TradeArabia News Service
Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is gearing up for Saudis Arabia resumption of international flights.

According to the Ministry of interior, the travel ban will be lifted on May 17 for specific groups and tourists.

Through its platform, Wego saw 52 per cent increase in international flight searches and a 59 per cent increase in international hotel searches, following the announcement.

Around 25 per cent of travellers are looking to travel within the 15 days of Saudi resuming flights where the search demand for this period has increased by 80 per cent since the date of the announcement.

Egypt topped the list for the flight search destinations, followed by Philippines, Morocco, Jordan and Turkey. Wego also saw new vacation destinations emerge for flight searches such as Maldives, Tunisia, Ukraine, Greece, and Sri Lanka.

Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said: This is a great step towards reviving the tourism sector in the region. Saudi Arabia constitutes a significant percentage of the tourism sector in the Middle East. The country has been handling the pandemic very well, reinstating confidence for travellers. Many people have been eagerly waiting for this announcement and we expect to continue to see a surge in flight and hotel bookings to and from Saudi Arabia.

Wego supports Saudi Arabias decision on the resumption of flights and explains the categories of travelers allowed to enter and exit the country.

Those who are allowed to travel include citizens who received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine or who passed 14 days after taking the first dose of the vaccine as well as people who have recovered from Covid-19, given they have spent less than six months since their infection as confirmed by the data displayed on Tawakkalna App. In addition to the citizens who are under the age of 18 years, provided that they show an insurance policy before traveling approved by the Saudi Central Bank.

Departing travellers need to show a PCR test certificate from an accredited screening center in the Kingdom. Upon return to the country, travellers will have to quarantine for seven days and take a PCR test at the end of the week.

According to our data, resorts are leading the searches for travellers with 58 per cent growth, followed by the apartments and hotels.

Around 68 per cent of travellers searching for flights are solos, 20 per cent families, and 12 per cent are couples.

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that is handling the pandemic very well. The country is making great efforts in rolling out the Covid-19 vaccination to its residents. It has one of the lowest new cases per capita in the MENA region.

Travellers are feeling more reassured where airports and hotels are reinstating the confidence in travel. With stringent precautionary measures followed and safety measures that meet the high standards, Wego expects a steady recovery for the tourism sector. - TradeArabia News Service
Leading global travel marketplace Skyscanner has announced the trending destinations for Eid Al Fitr 2021 and the extended summer period. The research demonstrates that the time is now for travel, as MENA travellers are eager to travel safely and responsibly as soon as they can.

The top searches for travellers within the UAE and Saudi Arabia during the Eid period included Cairo, Amman and Alexandria for families, whereas groups are turning their attention to Ibiza and Malaga and couples are looking to go to the Maldives, Mauritius and Santorini. For UAE travellers, staycations are still prioritised, with Abu Dhabi, Fujairah or Ras Al Khaimah proving popular.

According to Skyscanners recent travel trends report - Skyscanner Horizons - The Return of Travel - that revealed the top trending destinations globally, Dubai was ranked the 4th most popular destination, likely driven by travellers looking for a holiday, as well as wanting to reunite with friends and family to celebrate Eid.

The comprehensive report also highlights that travellers are making their holidays count, as global average trip length is 16 days in 2021  two days higher in comparison to 2019 averages. This is a result of shorter journey times as travellers opt for trips that are closer to home, particularly from June to September, with longer trips in October 2021. In 2019, the average journey time during June to October was 11 hours. This has fallen to 10 hours in 2021.

Ayoub El Mamoun, Global Travel Expert at Skyscanner shares his tips on how to bag a good last minute deal and plan ahead for future travels: Safe and responsible travel remains a key topic for MENA consumers and with travel beginning to re-open across the region, travellers are eager to getting back out to explore again, as safely as possible. With the ever-changing travel restrictions, were seeing more and more travellers wait until the last minute to book travel. But it can be daunting for anyone thinking about a last-minute break to book with peace of mind. The best way to make sure youre covered is purchasing a flexible ticket - you can use the Flexible search filter on Skyscanner to select flights with policies which entitle you to a refund, while others let you rearrange for another date if circumstances change. Travel insurance and the right level of cover is also more important than ever - make sure any existing policy you have in place covers you for the travel you are looking to book.

Travel is returning in the region at a strong pace and we are seeing bright lights on the horizon for MENA outbound travel, with pent up demand for travel for UAE and Saudi Arabian travellers being particularly prolific. On Skyscanner, interest in both regional and international flights have increased steadily from UAE travellers, with a lift of 23 per cent in searches and even more dramatically from Saudi travellers, where there was an increase of 110 per cent in searches from February to March of this year.

The news follows the recent launch of Skyscanners Arabic platform, which is available on desktop, mobile web or via the app, enabling travellers to select Arabic as a language option to access more localised content, including local currency and a better user experience when linking to partner sites to complete their travel bookings.

In addition, when travellers select a flight option with a partner, they will automatically be redirected to the Arabic locale on the partners site, where it is offered as a language option, ensuring for a smoother, more user-friendly experience.

Skyscanner is already a well-established player in the region, with Etihad Airways, Emirates and Air Arabia all participating in the travel marketplaces direct booking platform. - TradeArabia News Service
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the newest national airline of the UAE, has announced plans to launch flights to four new destinations - Ukrainian city of Kiev, Italian city of Bari and the Omani cities of Salalah and Muscat - from its hub, Abu Dhabi, starting from July.

The Kiev flights will be operated thrice a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays starting from July 1; while flights to Bari, will be operated on Tuesdays and Saturdays beginning September 21.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will fly twice a week to Salalah - on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting from July 3; while flights to the capital Muscat will be operated thrice a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, beginning July 1.

The new ultra-low fare routes between Abu Dhabi and the cities of Kiev, Bari, Salalah and Muscat will provide additional and affordable travel options for business and leisure travellers between the countries, said the UAE national airline.

The special fares for Kiev start at AED179 ($49) for one-way, while Bari tickets will up for grabs for AED229 and the Salalah and Muscat tickets for AED99 onwards, it added.

Since its launch in January 2021, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has been operating flights to 22 destinations with further destinations to be revealed in the coming months.

Managing Director Kees Van Schaick said: "Were excited to offer these new routes giving travellers sustainable options to explore new places. Travellers will be dazzled by beautiful architecture found in every corner of Kiev, a wealth of history and gorgeous beaches in Bari, and the nature and diverse landscape found in Oman."

The beautiful and historic city of Kiev is Ukraines most populous, bursting with retail and F&B options, striking architecture, cultural attractions and landmarks  it is also Ukraines science and industrial hub.

The city is a unique travel opportunity for all whether its for a weekend getaway or for work. For those who would like to enjoy a memorable holiday, the authentic and welcoming city of Bari in Italy features a bustling traditional harbour and beautiful beaches providing the perfect balance between sightseeing and relaxation, stated the Abu Dhabi carrier.

While the cities of Muscat and Salalah in Oman are the perfect escape for those searching for peace and mindfulness  Oman boasts beauty, deep-rooted heritage and culture, golden sands, glowing crystal waters, clear blue skies, colourful birds and temperate weather, said Schaick.

"Kiev, Bari, Salalah and Muscat are our next destinations in a series of new route announcements we have made, and will continue to make  we are committed to providing Abu Dhabi residents and tourists with new travel options and destinations at affordable prices. Tickets are already on sale on its website, with Omani fares starting from as low as AED99," he added.

All Wizz Air operates its flights on Airbus A320 aircraft, with 180 seats and A321 aircraft with 230 seats and Airbus A321neo aircraft with 239 seats.-TradeArabia News Service
Chennai, May 10 (UNI) After protracted discussions, the AIADMK on

Monday announced that former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami

was elected as the Legislature Party (LP) Leader following which he

will be the Leader of the Opposition in the 16th Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Mr Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the AIADMK Legislature

Party (LP) leader at the second meeting of the newly-elected MLAs

held at the party office in the city, today.

This was announced in a joint statement by Mr Palaniswami, who is

also the Co-coordinator of the AIADMK and Coordinator and former

Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

The first meeting of newly-elected AIADMK legislators held on Friday

to choose the Leader of the Opposition turned stormy and remained

inconclusive as the supporters both the leaders want their leader to

be elected to the post.

Both leaders are learnt to have staked claim to the important post,

which is equal to that of a Cabinet rank.

As the meeting remained inconclusive, the two leaders called for a

second meeting of MLAs today in which Mr Palaniswami, elected

to the Assembly from his native Edappadi constituency for a fifth

time, was elected 'unanimously' as the LP leader, following which

he will be the leader of the main Opposition in the State Assembly.

In the single phase elections held on April six, the AIADMK lost to

the DMK after being in power for ten years.

The AIADMK-led Front out together managed to win only 75 seats

in the 234-member Assembly. The AIADMK won 66 seats, while its

allies PMK and BJP won five and four seats respectively.

By winning 66 seats, the AIADMK emerged as the second largest

party and will be the principal Opposition party in the Assembly.

Riding on the silent anti-incumbency factor against the AIADMK

regime, the DMK stormed back to power after a gap of ten years.

The DMK-led Front won 159 of the total 234 seats in the polls.

While the DMK won 133 seats (including six by its allies who had

contested on DMK's Rising Sun symbol), the Congress and VCK

won 18 and four seats respectively. DMK's other allies CPI and

CPI(M) bagged two seats each.

This is the first Assembly elections faced by the AIADMK and

DMK in the absence of two tall leaders, J Jayalalithaa and

M Karunanidhi respectively.

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Lucknow, May 10 (UNI) The Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MP Mohammad Azam Khan was shifted to the ICU of Medanta Hospital in Lucknow on Monday.



Mr Khan had to be shifted to Lucknow from Sitapur Jail on Sunday for the Covid treatment.



Azam Khans son Abdullah was also shifted to Lucknow along with him. Both father-son duo had tested positive for Covid-19 a few days back. They were shifted on Sunday evening with a police team to Lucknows Medanta Hospital.



As per sources here, Mr Khans oxygen requirement was about 10 litre per minute after which he was shifted to ICU.



Earlier at the Sitapur jail, the oxygen level of Azam Khan had dropped to 90, after which Azam Khan had to be shifted to Lucknow in heavy security along with officials of the health department and administration.



Sources said that initially, Azam Khan was not ready to go to Lucknow, but after officers explained the situation, he agreed to it.



The Samajwadi Party veteran has been in the Sitapur jail for more than a year along with his wife Tazeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam after they surrendered at the Rampur court.

Khans wife, however, had secured bail a few days back, but his son and Azam Khan both are still in jail.



The three have multiple cases lodged against them by the Yogi Adityanath government for their alleged connection to various incidents such as land grabbing, encroachment and others. The Samajwadi Party leader also has secured bail in most of the cases. His son also got bail in some of the cases lodged against him.

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The Seoul Central District Court last month dismissed a claim for compensation from the Japanese government from victims of wartime sexual slavery. That is bad news for the victims but surely correct under international law, and an inadvertent byproduct of this development may be a return for South Korea to the center of regional relations and diplomacy.

The court ruling prevents the government from appropriating Japanese company assets in South Korea and recognizes a 2015 compensation agreement as the primary vehicle for addressing any damage claims for survivors. At the same time, Japanese export restrictions on semiconductor materials, imposed in retaliation over an earlier ruling on victims of wartime forced labor, are being evaluated by a dispute settlement panel in the WTO. These developments provide a temporary reprieve after almost five years of freefall in South Korea-Japan relations, and a window of opportunity for the Biden administration to bring some normalcy back to U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral relations.

The Biden administration has not been standing idly by, of course. It has been hard at work reconstituting the alliance after the Trump years, starting with the 2+2 meetings in March with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meeting with their counterparts. On this occasion, Blinken also signed a deal on the upkeep of the U.S. Forces Korea, ending a protracted deadlock over cost-sharing. Shortly thereafter, the national security advisers of Japan and South Korea came to Annapolis to meet with Jake Sullivan and Kurt Campbell to re-establish executive-branch coordination and prepare for a potential summit-level meeting of the three allies. Behind all of these events sits a large volume of calls, messages, and in-person meetings to move the policy process forward. For the start of a new administration in Washington, this is a tremendous amount of activity in a short period and reflects the priority the Biden administration places on re-establishing trilateralism as a core element in Asia.

The purpose of these efforts is to bolster policy positions with regard to North Korea and China. But arguably another important objective of reconciling Japan-South Korea relations is to bring South Korea back into the fold of diplomacy with the major democracies in Asia. There has been a quiet but discernible trend developing over the past few years where South Korea was growing increasingly isolated.


UW Mortar Board Selects Award Recipients

The University of Wyomings senior honor society, Mortar Board, recently selected this years winners of awards for outstanding advising, service and dedication.

Christine Wade is the recipient of the Outstanding Advisor Award. Wade is an associate professor and head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She also serves as an adviser to the UW chapter of Mortar Board.

The Outstanding Advisor Award recognizes a member of the university community who has performed outstanding academic, career and personal advising. Students are asked to nominate individuals who skillfully, and consistently, provide academic advice as well as career guidance, and who establish personal relationships with their students.

Dr. Wade has done a fantastic job with Mortar Board this year, and I think we all appreciate her work and efforts, says nominator Christian Moncrief, an environment and natural resources, and psychology double major from Cheyenne.

Dr. Wades dedication to the students, both in and out of Mortar Board, shows her true passion for what she does, says nominator Hailey Moss, an outdoor recreation and tourism management major from Douglas.

Kent Noble is the recipient of the Outstanding Service and Dedication Award. Noble is the Bill Daniels Chair of Business Ethics in the College of Business.

The Outstanding Service and Dedication Award recognizes a member of the university community who has exhibited exceptional dedication to students and service to the university for a number of years.

Everything Noble does at UW is fueled by his want to improve the university and the students, says Mortar Board member Kerry Adams, a marketing major from Castle Pines, Colo. UW truly would not be the same without Kent Noble.

Mortar Board is a national honor society that recognizes college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. It provides opportunities for continued leadership development, promotes service to colleges and universities, and encourages lifelong contributions to the global community.

The UW Cap and Gown Chapter of Mortar Board was chartered in 1933. UW chapter members participate in many projects and activities throughout the year, both on the UW campus and in the Laramie community.
UW Plans Commencement Ceremonies May 14-15

The University of Wyoming is scheduled to accord degrees upon 1,515 undergraduate students, 363 graduate students, 71 College of Law students and 53 School of Pharmacy students during spring commencement ceremonies Friday and Saturday, May 14-15.

Four ceremonies are planned in UWs Arena-Auditorium, with each graduate allowed a limited number of guest tickets. The ceremonies each will feature an abbreviated program of speakers, followed by the awarding of degrees. There will be no processional or recessional, and the stage party will be limited. Social distancing and face masks will be observed in the seating of both the graduates and their guests.

Graduates also will have the opportunity to participate in commencement virtually, as the ceremonies will be broadcast live via UWs WyoCast system and YouTube.

-- The first ceremony, set for 12:30 p.m. May 14, is for students graduating from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Energy Resources. The keynote speaker is Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, who also will receive an honorary doctoral degree from the university. The link for viewing is https://wyolinks.uwyo.edu/2021SpringComm1.

-- The second ceremony, starting at 5:30 p.m. May 14, is for students graduating from the College of Business, the College of Health Sciences, and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. The keynote speaker is UW President Ed Seidel. The viewing link is https://wyolinks.uwyo.edu/2021SpringComm2.

-- The third ceremony, set for 9 a.m. May 15, is for all graduate students as well as undergraduate students graduating from the College of Education. The speaker is Ryan Walsh, who was asked by family to speak in place of Crawford White Eagle Sr., UWs other 2021 honorary degree recipient, who is being recognized posthumously. The link is https://wyolinks.uwyo.edu/2021SpringComm3.

-- The fourth ceremony, scheduled at 2 p.m. May 15, is for students graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences. The keynote speaker is Seidel. The link is https://wyolinks.uwyo.edu/2021SpringComm4.

UWs College of Law will hold its own commencement ceremony at 11 a.m. May 14 in the UW Conference Center. It will be available for viewing at https://wyolinks.uwyo.edu/2021SpringLawComm.

UW-Casper will conduct commencement May 13.

For more details on commencement as they become available, go to www.uwyo.edu/commencement.
Cloey Payne, left and Haddiyyah Abdul-Kareem invite you to enjoy Monday night brunch with Babylon Eats tonight at Tootsies in Red Hook.
Chief Minister's Statement to Parliament - A Minute's Silence: Death of the Duke of Edinburgh

"Mr Speaker, Her Majestys Government of Gibraltar and the People of Gibraltar were greatly saddened on the 9th of April to hear the news of the death of His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh."

"Prince Philip had always had an interest in Gibraltar.

He visited in November 1950 for the inauguration of our predecessor Chamber, the then Legislative Council and on several other occasions.

He was explicitly supportive then of the strengthening of the institutions of self-government in Gibraltar.

The development of our democracy and the emergency of this Parliament and his enhanced jurisdiction and powers are a demonstration that successive governments of Gibraltar and the People of Gibraltar have lived up to the challenge set by the Duke at the birth of Gibraltarian representative democracy.

He personally berthed the Royal Yacht Britannia alongside in the dockyard on the final stretch of his Arctic Adventure, and remained on the Rock for ten days. How fitting that the United Kingdom is now likely to commission a new Royal Yacht in his memory.

His Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme touched the lives of many young people in Gibraltar and around the world. I know that many in Gibraltar are very grateful for establishment of that scheme and have benefitted greatly from it. The continued work by High Royal Highness the Count of Wessex will therefore be very welcome.

In 1991 he personally piloted the aircraft in which he flew into Gibraltar airport for a visit to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his award scheme.

He was also Admiral of the Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club  something else which cemented our links with him.

And, of course, as Commandant General of the Royal Marines, a position he held for many decades, he routinely wore the cap badge of that Corps that carries the word Gibraltar so prominently.

Every time I had the privilege of meeting him, here and in London, he recounted positive recollections of his many times on the Rock.

The last time I spoke to the Duke, he was keen to ask after the fortunes of our People and had fond words of recollection of the Convent, where he stayed on his visits to Gibraltar.

Mr Speaker, the condolences of all her loyal subjects in Gibraltar have been expressed in writing to Her Majesty The Queen.

I now propose that after any tributes, the successor in title to the Legislative Council he inaugurated 71 years ago, should hold a minutes silence on his behalf."
The World Customs Organization (WCO) participated in a training session organized on 23 April 2021 by the Belgian Customs Training Centre for French-speaking mid-level African Customs officials (Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Comoros, Gabon, Mali and Niger). The WCO provided two presentations: one on the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS  Africa Programme) and the other related to Rules of Origin (RoO) in the African context.

The Belgian Customs Training Centre organizes a 10-month training course for French-speaking mid-level African Customs officials every year. The training focusses on Customs techniques, in particular, the HS, RoO, valuation, but also on Customs legislation and procedures. The current course started in October 2020 and will last until June 2021.

Sixteen Customs officials from six African countries participated actively in the discussions throughout the session, which was facilitated by two experts from the WCO Secretariat.

During the session, a presentation on the HS-Africa Programme provided an overview of Programmes main objectives and the results achieved to date, the context in which the activities are carried out as well as the perspectives of the action. A brief introduction of a new HS e-learning course soon to be finalized by the Programme was shared with the participants.

Regarding the AfCFTA RoO, the presentation covered the scope of the AfCFTA Negotiations and the update on AfCFTA Rules of origin such as origin conferring criteria, origin certification, methods of verification and the challenges and opportunities. In addition to this, the pending issues under negotiations contained in Annex 2 - Rules of Origin were addressed.

The discussion highlighted, among others, that the correct understanding and application of the Harmonized System as well as the preferential rules of origin are key to better implementation and utilization of the AfCFTA RoO. This will be achieved by building more expertise in origin matters, conducting more trainings and enhancing the stakeholders engagement.

Many participants noted that the session was an eye-opener and that they would raise awareness in their home administrations upon their return about the importance of correct understanding of the Harmonized System and the relevance of the HS-Africa Programme as well as the AfCFTA rules of origin.
Next phase of China's growth will ride out odds

From:ChinaDaily | 2021-05-10 09:42

With the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations becoming broad-based, the growth rate of China's foreign trade is likely to experience a high-speed expansion in the first half of this year and a relatively slower growth pace in the second half.

Even though China's foreign trade surged more than 29 percent on a yearly basis in the first quarter, the public should not get unduly optimistic.

Instead, they should be aware that global demand for Chinese medical supplies and stay-at-home products won't sustain over the long term. The recovery of other emerging economies' supply capacity will also squeeze China's exports.

Under such circumstances, Chinese companies in both public and private sectors may want to deploy more resources to modernize industrial chains and crack open certain hard nuts like bottlenecks in technological advancements, in order to develop the country into a manufacturing powerhouse.

For its part, the government is pushing forward the transformation of its economic growth model to ensure more efficient and high-quality development. China also aims to move up the value chain to make its manufacturing sector not only big but smart and tech-savvy. Focus of such efforts is on achieving breakthroughs in key technologies.

Therefore, innovative, green and low-carbon products and solutions, including 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, the internet of things, new energy vehicles and the next-generation industrial batteries, will be the driving force of China's economic growth, particularly in the area of exports in the next phase of development.

The automobile sector, for instance, could emerge as a crucial part of China's industrial upgrade. The country has outlined a road map for developing automated vehicles, aiming to achieve massive scale in the production of driverless cars with conditional automation systems, where human drivers can take over the steering wheel in seconds, if necessary, by 2025.

The surge in China's imports in March was on the back of high international commodity prices, sending the quarter's growth rate to 19.3 percent. This fact, to a certain extent, will put extra pressure on the country's export-oriented companies.

Although the main indexes of the country's industrial production, investment and consumption have stayed in a moderate recovery range since January, prices of key commodities like iron ore and copper ore as well as soybean rose 53.5 percent, 28 percent and 11.1 percent year-on-year, respectively, in the first quarter. This price-rise has boosted the surge in China's total export-import volume.

Apart from the imbalances in the global vaccine supply situation, and restricted flow of people and cross-border goods, the pandemic will remain a major barrier to China's foreign trade this year.

Elsewhere, globalization is facing a bit of a backlash, while the politicization of trade issues has directly affected international production, and supply and trade capabilities, besides interfering with the existing international trade order.

As the international industrial and supply chains have undergone profound changes and face growing instability, foreign trade companies, from a micro perspective, are under multiple pressures. For instance, international logistics capacity is tight and freight rates are high, against a background of rising commodity, material and labor costs.

To ensure the country's export sector moves in the right direction, the government must pay close attention to the development of the global trade and economic situation, maintain policy continuity, stability and sustainability, and improve relevant trade policies to put the country's growth of foreign trade on a firmer footing.
Paducah Murder Suspect Appears in Court

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A Paducah man facing murder and other charges stemming from a fatal crash was in court Friday.Ancinio Friar appeared for a pretrial conference. The McCracken Circuit Court Clerk said the hearing was continued to May 21.Friar was arrested on August 8 after a deadly crash on Old Mayfield Road that claimed the life of 29-year-old Ronneka Hampton. McCracken County deputies reportedly clocked Friar traveling 92 mph in a 35 mph zone shortly before the crash.He faces charges of murder, DUI, evading police, speeding 26 mph or more, and reckless driving.
Give Blood for a Chance to Win a Travel Trailer

By West Kentucky Star Staff

WESTERN KY/SOUTHERN IL - If you give the life-saving gift of blood at an upcoming American Red Cross blood drive in western Kentucky or southern Illinois, you could take home a brand new travel trailer courtesy of Suburban Propane.The American Red Cross along with actor James Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly, have joined together to urge all who are healthy to make this a summer full of life for patients by scheduling an appointment to give blood or platelets.The Van Der Beek family knows firsthand how important blood donations are in a health crisis. In the past year, Kimberly Van Der Beek experienced back-to-back pregnancy losses. Each time she needed emergency hospital care and blood transfusions to save her life."Donating blood is something that I've always done throughout my life," said James Van Der Beek. "It seemed important. But I never knew how important until the woman I love most was in a situation where that much blood made the difference between life and death. It just brought it home in a very real way."Hemorrhaging is the leading cause of pregnancy-related complications that can occur anytime during pregnancy. "In instances of severe bleeding, blood transfusions often play a lifesaving role," said Dr. Ross Herron, divisional chief medical officer for the Red Cross. "For mothers with complicated pregnancies or deliveries, generous donors are the only source of the transfusions they may need to survive.""If you've never given blood before, allow this to be your formal invitation. Will you please give blood?," added Kimberly Van Der Beek.Individuals of all blood types are urged to schedule an appointment now to give blood, and in most cases, those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine can donate. However, knowing the name of the manufacturer of the vaccine they received is important in determining donation eligibility. Appointments can be made by downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.Anyone who gives blood, platelets or plasma in May will automatically be entered for a chance to win a travel trailer camper that sleeps five, powered by Suburban Propane, via their SuburbanCares initiative. The Red Cross is also thanking those who come to donate May 28-June 13 with a limited-edition T-shirt, while supplies last."Suburban Propane is honored to partner with the American Red Cross and actor James Van Der Beek on their summer campaign to help bring attention to the need for blood donations," said Nandini Sankara, Spokesperson for Suburban Propane.The Red Cross is testing blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies. The test may indicate if the donor's immune system has produced antibodies to this coronavirus, regardless of whether they developed symptoms. Testing may also identify the presence of antibodies developed after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.Plasma from routine blood and platelet donations that test positive for high levels of antibodies may be used as convalescent plasma to meet potential future needs of COVID-19 patients. Convalescent plasma is a type of blood product collected from COVID-19 survivors who have antibodies that may help patients who are actively fighting the virus.The Red Cross is also screening all blood, platelet and plasma donations from self-identified African American donors for the sickle cell trait. This additional screening will provide African American donors with an additional health insight and help the Red Cross identify compatible blood types more quickly to help patients with sickle cell disease. Blood transfusion is an essential treatment for those with sickle cell disease, and blood donations from individuals of the same race, ethnicity and blood type have a unique ability to help patients fighting sickle cell disease.Donors can expect to receive antibody test and sickle cell trait screening results, if applicable, within one to two weeks through the Red Cross Blood Donor App and the online donor portal at RedCrossBlood.org.Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center takes precautions such as temperature checks, social distancing and face masks for donors and staff. Donors are asked to schedule an appointment prior to arriving.Upcoming blood donation opportunities May 16-June 12Johnson County, Illinois:Vienna5/17/2021: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., Fellowship Baptist Church, 890 Senior Ave.Massac County, Illinois:Metropolis6/4/2021: 11:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 307 Massac Creek RoadPulaski County, Illinois:Ullin5/25/2021: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Cross Road United Methodist Church, 1289 Ullin Ave.Caldwell County, Kentucky:Princeton6/3/2021: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 121 Kentucky Ave.Calloway County, Kentucky:Murray5/27/2021: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., St. John's Episcopal Church, 1620 W. Main St.6/10/2021: 12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 1601 Main St.6/11/2021: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Lowe's Home Improvement, 1400 Lowes DriveCrittenden County, Kentucky:Marion5/25/2021: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., Crittenden County Public Library, 204 W. Carlisle St.Graves County, Kentucky:Fancy Farm5/16/2021: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Knights of Columbus Hall 1418, 106 Picnic Blvd.Mayfield5/18/2021: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., American Legion, 211 S. 7th5/19/2021: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Trace Creek Baptist Church, 3577 State Route 1315/28/2021: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Graves County Public Library, 601 N. 17th St.6/2/2021: 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., Northside Church of Christ, 711 Housman St.6/3/2021: 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Independence Bank, 100 E. College St.6/8/2021: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., American Legion, 211 S. 7thWingo6/1/2021: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., Mt Pleasant Mennonite Church, 2345 Almus RoadHickman County, KentuckyClinton5/17/2021: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 210 S. Washington St.Livingston County, Kentucky:Salem5/26/2021: 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Livingston Hospital Health Care Services, 131 Hospital DriveLyon County, Kentucky:Eddyville5/27/2021: 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Lyon County Convention Center at Lee S Jones Park, 172 Lee S Jones ParkMarshall County, Kentucky:Benton5/17/2021: 12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., First Christian Church, 2515 S. Main St.5/24/2021: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., Marshall County Hospital, 615 Old Symsonia Road5/24/2021: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Marshall County High School, 416 High School Road5/28/2021: 11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Draffenville Pharmacy, 153 US-686/1/2021: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Marshall County Sheriff's Office, 52 Judicial DriveCalvert City5/21/2021: 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., Altona Baptist Church, 5817 US HWY 62McCracken County, Kentucky:Paducah5/9/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/16/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/17/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/18/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/20/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/21/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/22/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/23/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/24/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/25/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/26/2021: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Concord United Methodist Church, 5178 Hinkleville Road5/27/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/28/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/29/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/30/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive5/31/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/1/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/3/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/4/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/5/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/6/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/7/2021: 11:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., First Christian Church, 415 Audubon Drive6/7/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:15 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/8/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/9/2021: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Concord United Methodist Church, 5178 Hinkleville Road6/10/2021: 11:45 a.m. - 6:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/11/2021: 8:45 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest Drive6/12/2021: 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m., Paducah Blood Donation Center, 4635 Falconcrest DriveAll blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver's license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.
Princeton Man Arrested on DUI, Drug Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

CALDWELL COUNTY - A traffic stop Friday night in Caldwell County resulted in a man's arrest on numerous charges.The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said a deputy stopped a car for speeding on US 62. According to police, the driver, 32-year-old Garrick Koinva of Princeton, was found to be under the influence of intoxicating substances, and was driving on a license that was suspended for a previous DUI.Koinva was arrested and charged with speeding, driving on a DUI suspended license, DUI-3rd offense, possession of a cancelled or fictitious operator's license, possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In this crime scene evidence photo released by the Louisville Metro Police Department, Louisville Police marked shell casings are seen at the front door of Breonna Taylor's apartment after she was fatally shot by police in Louisville, Ky., on March 13, 2020. The Kentucky Attorney General said in October that two long rifle shell casings were also found at the scene after the police raid that killed Taylor. (Louisville Metro Police Department via AP) PHOTO:Louisville Metro Police Department via AP

Report: Police Shouldn't Have Fired in Taylor Raid

By The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A newspaper report says Louisville police documents in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid are revealing internal disagreements about whether officers were justified in using deadly force.In a report from December, a Louisville police investigator said the officers shouldnt have returned fire because it put others in danger.They were shot at by Taylor's boyfriend, who says he thought an intruder was breaking in.According to the Courier-Journal, the findings by Sgt. Andrew Meyer of the departments Professional Standards Unit were overruled by police leadership.Meyer said even Sgt. Johnathan Mattingly shouldn't have fired.Mattingly was struck in the leg by a bullet when Taylor's boyfriend fired.
Nonprofit organizations from throughout the commonwealth will participate in the ninth annual Kentucky Gives Day tomorrow, Tuesday, May 11. PHOTO:Star file

Tuesday is 9th Annual Kentucky Gives Day

By West Kentucky Star Staff

LEXINGTON - Nonprofit organizations from throughout the commonwealth will participate in the ninth annual Kentucky Gives Day tomorrow, Tuesday. The 24-hour online giving campaign will provide the 254 participating charities the opportunity to raise as much money as possible from midnight (EDT) through 11:59 p.m.  all through a single website: www.kygives.org

The annual event is hosted by Kentucky Nonprofit Network (KNN), the state association of charities.The association's year-end survey of Kentucky's nonprofits found that many charities are struggling to juggle increased demand for services, millions in lost revenue, difficulty hosting in-person fundraising events, and challenges accessing relief funds.

"COVID-19 has changed so much, but it can't change Kentucky's giving spirit," said Danielle Clore, KNN's CEO. "Kentuckians are needed to rally for a powerful day of action on May 11 to support the causes that help keep our communities healthy and thriving  together we can keep Kentucky strong. Nonprofits need support now and every amount helps," Clore added.

Kentuckians are asked to visit www.kygives.org, select the causes they care about and make donations. Promotion of the event and the website address on social media is also a great way to help the participating nonprofits, using the hashtag #kygives21.




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A visitor tries perfume in the Fashion Life Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. Slated for May 7-10, the first China International Consumer Products Expo has attracted 648 overseas companies and 1,365 brands from 69 countries and regions, as well as 857 enterprises and 1,263 brands from China. Covering 80,000 square meters, the expo will be the largest consumer goods expo in the Asia-Pacific region, the organizers said. [Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

HAIKOU, May 7 (Xinhua)  As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage and the world economy drags on, the first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) marks a major step by China to further open its market and bolster the global economy.

The four-day event opened on Thursday in the southern island province of Hainan. It is the first-ever expo focusing on quality consumer goods held by China at the national level.

Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido was the first cosmetics company to sign up for the expo. It also participated in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) held in Shanghai in 2019 and 2020, attracted by the world's most promising consumer market.

Shiseido China CEO Kentaro Fujiwara said the CICPE has created a global platform for international investors to display and trade consumer products. He said it has injected new impetus into global consumption growth, showing China's consistent efforts to share its market opportunities with the rest of the world.

"We are very optimistic about the favorable investment environment in China and confident in the prospects of the Chinese market. We will introduce more new brands, products and technologies into China," he said.

Shiseido is one of the 648 foreign enterprises showcasing over 1,300 brands to consumers at the expo. Covering 80,000 square meters, including 60,000 square meters of international exhibition space, it is expected to be the largest exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Foreign enterprises and brands account for the majority of the exhibitors, which once again proves China's firm determination to promote higher-level opening-up," said Wang Bingnan, China's vice minister of commerce. "It also demonstrates that foreign enterprises are optimistic about the Chinese market and full of confidence in China's economic development."

Switzerland, as the event's guest country of honor, has an exhibition area of approximately 1,100 square meters for 40 well-known luxury goods and high-end consumer goods enterprises.

The expo marks another big step forward in the construction of the Hainan free trade port (FTP) and the acceleration of China's integration into the global economic system, said Swiss Ambassador to China Bernardino Regazzoni.

China in 2018 proposed the establishment of a free trade zone in Hainan and began construction of the Hainan FTP last year. On April 8, China released a guideline in support of easing market access in the Hainan FTP. That was one among many efforts to build the province into a globally influential, high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

"The expo is an ideal platform for global high-end brands to enter both Hainan and the whole Chinese market," said Sung Hae Lee, chief representative of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, which organized the attendance of 50 small and medium-sized firms in the fields of cosmetics, daily necessities and food and healthcare products at the expo.

"We hope the Hainan FTP will become an important gateway for China's opening-up and play a key role in promoting the innovation-driven, high-quality development," said Wang, China's vice minister of commerce.

According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, the total value of China's imported consumer goods reached nearly 1.6 trillion yuan (about 244.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, accounting for 11 percent of total imports. In the first quarter of this year, China's imports of consumer goods increased by 18.1 percent year on year.

"The potential of the Chinese consumer market will encourage global brands to enhance innovation and increase investment in China, injecting great vitality into the recovery of the global consumer market and economic development," said Yann Bozec, president of Tapestry Asia Pacific, which is also participating in the expo with its latest products.

Visitors walk past jewelry products in the Fashion Life Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. [Xinhua/Ding Hongfa]

People visit the Swiss National Pavilion of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. [Xinhua/Ding Hongfa]

A man takes photos of products in the Fashion Life Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. [Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

People visit the France Exhibition Area in the Fashion Life Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. [Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

A woman looks at products in the Jewelry Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. [Xinhua/Zhou Jiayi]

Visitors ask information about watches of domestic brands in the Fashion Life Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. [Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

(Source: Xinhua)
Photo shows the replica of a pavilion found in the Forbidden City independently built by Su Qingwu. [People's Daily Online/Jin Zhongyao]

Su Qingwu, a post-90s girl from Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, has recently amazed netizens by building a replica of a wood pavilion found at the world-renowned Forbidden City in the courtyard of her own home, without relying on glue or nails.

Su spent five months and roughly 10,000 yuan ($1,544) completing the construction of the pavilion.

Su's story is an extraordinary one because the young woman, who is now an independent photographer, never attended a class on architecture or carpentry before and completed all the construction work by herself throughout the whole process, other than her parents helping her to carry wooden pillars for the pavilion.

Out of her love for the architecture of the Forbidden City, Su decided in May of last year to build a pavilion in imitation of the techniques used in constructing the treasured masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture. To make this happen, the young woman, who previously lacked even the most basic knowledge about architecture, began from then on to learn woodworking skills by examining academic papers, such as learning an ancient Chinese mortise and tenon technique, and by watching related instructional videos.

Su even visited the Forbidden City herself to inspect the specific pavilion she intended to copy and examined its unique mortise and tenon joint structure. Back home, she applied the same mortise and tenon joints found in the Forbidden City.

Su's amazing achievement has won high praise from her parents, who initially did not support their daughter in building the pavilion. Whenever the family has guests at home, Su's father always guides them to the pavilion and tells them that the pavilion is his daughter's masterpiece.

Photo shows Su Qingwu building a wooden chair. [Photo provided by the interviewee]

Photo shows Su Qingwu standing in front of the pavilion she built independently. [People's Daily Online/Jin Zhongyao]

Photo shows the site where Su Qingwu plans to build a new pavilion. [People's Daily Online/Jin Zhongyao]

(Source: People's Daily Online)
Editor : Ling Xiao

Source : Ecn.cn

The local government has encouraged farmers to plant dendrobium flowers, a traditional Chinese medicinal product, to increase incomes in recent years.
A view from Wrexhams Member of Parliament

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home  you can find them all here.

Today, Wrexhams MP Sarah Atherton writes

Today Wales will find out the make-up of the Government that runs our healthcare, education, and transport for the next five years. It has been a long campaign, affected by a global pandemic. But this is a watershed moment in our history, this is the first election of the Senedd  which replaced the Assembly  and we have a new regional voting system and a lower voting age. Whilst I wish the incoming Senedd Members and Welsh Government well, the first task of the new Welsh Government must be to produce a roadmap out of the restrictions that continue to exist.

A roadmap is not simply a courteous means of letting people know what to expect and when. For some businesses and individuals, it can be the difference between staying afloat and not. Reopening a business cannot happen with 24 hours notice: plans need to be made, perishables ordered, staff notified, childcare arranged. In England, people are as clear as they can be about what they will be able to do and when. Not so here in Wales.

Great to see #Wrexham getting back on its feet as lockdown eases and the economy reopens! However, I do know that many constituents would still like a clearer #roadmap. For example, constituents have come to me seeking clarity on weddings & large events, which I hope to see soon. https://t.co/M9siyh3C38  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) May 4, 2021

A lack of clarity not only affects businesses. A constituent with whom I have been working recently cannot plan a wedding because the lockdown in Wales may not lift at the same rate as it is doing in England. So, over the border in Cheshire people are planning weddings for the end of June, but here in Wrexham people could plan a reception, spend thousands of pounds, only to find that it is not going ahead. Or else not do so, only to find that it could have done.

www.sarahatherton.org.uk/campaigns

Two points from my six-point plan for Wrexham are to aid the Covid-19 Recovery and to develop our local economy. It is for this reason that I bang the drum for Wrexham so often in Parliament. I brought the Prime minister here twice followed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to show them what our town has to offer. However, when it comes to the Covid-19 Recovery and growing our local economy, a roadmap out of lockdown is essential.

https://twitter.com/AthertonNWales/status/1386653165693571074

Nonetheless, it has still been wonderful to see our town centre reopening. Wrexham is the most populated town in North Wales and a thriving high street will be at the centre of our regeneration. More needs to be done and many agencies can play a part in this, not just the Welsh Government. Many residents have come to me about parking fines incurred because of sharp practices by enforcement companies. Such activities deter people from coming to our town, which in turn harms local businesses and our economy. This is something that needs looking at and I am keen to hear peoples views on this. If you have been affected, please complete my parking survey at: sarahatherton.org.uk/surveys.

I have seen a number of posts on Facebook about the situation at Island Green car park in #Wrexham, managed by Euro Car Parks. If you have been affected by unfair fines, or any other parking issues in Wxm, please do fill out the survey on my website: https://t.co/HfgY2R3bZi pic.twitter.com/Mw501PmGzu  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) April 19, 2021

Likewise, housing is a significant issue too. I have been working with dozens of residents on the waiting list for council housing, at a time when Wrexham Council has over 500 vacant properties which are being kept empty for regeneration. Secure housing is central to anybodys life chances and this is something that needs fixing and I will work with anybody to make this happen.

So today we celebrate democracy and welcome an incoming Government. Tomorrow, though, the people of Wales need to be clear about their future.

As always, if there is anything I can do to support Wrexham residents please dont hesitate to contact me on the details below:

Email: sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk

Phone: 020 2719 4885 | 01978 291742

Post: Office of Sarah Atherton MP, 65 Regent Street, Wrexham, LL11 1PF



Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Welsh and UK Parliament representatives to write a monthly article with updates on their work and closer to home  you can find them all here.
Welsh Ambulance Service and Macmillan Cancer Support launch new initiative to improve care for terminally ill patients

The Welsh Ambulance Service has joined forces with Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales to launch a new initiative to improve the care delivered to terminally ill patients.

The collaboration, which launches this Dying Matters Awareness Week (10-16 May 2021), is designed to improve the training delivered to ambulance crews so they can provide the very best care for patients at the end of life.

The training will help to give staff a greater understanding of end of life care, supporting clinicians to better recognise when a patient is nearing end of their life, and improving communication and symptom management skills to prevent avoidable hospital admissions.

Ed OBrian, Macmillan Paramedic and the Trusts End of Life Care Lead, said: The collaboration between Welsh Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Support will bring huge benefits to patients and staff across Wales.





Ambulance clinicians are often called to assist patients nearing the end of their life due to an advanced or terminal illness, so its vital they can do so having had the appropriate training and with the right support structure around them to deliver the best care.

The network of support being developed as part of this project in conjunction with Palliative Care Wales is invaluable, such as the ability for an ambulance clinician anywhere in Wales to be able to contact a palliative medicine doctor 24/7 from the patients home to seek their advice and guidance in order to achieve the best outcome for the patient.

The two-year project will also help us to identify why, where and when patients at the end of life are needing to access the ambulance service, so we can identify areas for further development across the health and care sector in Wales.

This is the latest in a series of initiatives between the Welsh Ambulance Service and Macmillan Cancer Support designed to improve the care that palliative patients receive.

Richard Pugh, Head of Partnerships for Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales, said: Macmillan is so very proud to be able to help fund this project through the fantastic and tireless support given by our fundraisers.

This first-of-its-kind partnership means we can help people, and their loved ones, to spend their final days in the way they want.

As people near the end of life, dignity and the knowledge that their final wishes have been met is the best comfort and gift we can give them.

In 2019, the Welsh Ambulance Service won an NHS Wales Award in the Delivering Person-Centred Services category for its End of Life Care Rapid Transport Service, as well as the Outstanding Contribution to Transforming Health and Care Award.

The End of Life Care Rapid Transport Service, delivered by the Trusts Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service, works with teams across Wales to provide transport for terminally ill patients to their preferred place of death.

The enhanced service ensures patients and their families have minimal delays, helping to reduce any further distress and anxiety.

The dedicated service has made nearly 2,000 compassionate journeys since its introduction in 2017.

The Trust was also the first ambulance service in the UK to introduce Just in Case medications to its frontline emergency vehicles, allowing paramedics to better manage the symptoms that may sometimes be experienced as terminally ill patients become more poorly.

Nikki Pease, Palliative Care Consultant at Velindre University NHS Trust, added: Where and how people die matters.

This all-Wales collaborative project serves to ensure first class end of life care to all.
Calon FM set to return to the airwaves with members of local community urged to get involved

A community radio station is set to return to the airwaves after being saved by a team of former presenters and staff.

Calon FM was revived after the group stepped in after its closure earlier this year.

At the time, the end of Calon FM after 13 years was attributed to the withdrawal of support from Wrexham Glyndwr University, which the radio station board said left them in an untenable position.

However a group of volunteers organised and entered a process alongside two other interested entities to effectively take over the remnants of the Calon FM setup and then reboot a local station.





Their community company, Wrexham Community Broadcasting, is in the process of securing the OFCOM licence and has plans to increase broadcasting hours from a brand new, purpose built town-centre location.

Now Calon FM is returning to the airwaves, with the organisations first major event set to be an online concert featuring a fantastic range of local talent.

Evrah Rose, Andy The Duke Duncan, Check Masses and many more acts are confirmed for the gig, which will broadcast for six hours on May 23.

Director Andy Snowden said: Calon means heart in Welsh and we intend to be at the heart of the community with a new base right in the town centre. Well be building on our long-standing reputation with new programmes and added features.

To make this happen, were delighted that the vast majority of previous presenters have been involved in setting up the new venture as well as experienced former staff and community leaders.

Were launching a crowdfunder to enable local people to play their part in ensuring the new project hits the ground running. Please go to bit.ly/calon_give as every donation is appreciated no matter how large or small.

We intend to launch in the coming weeks and urge everyone whos interested to contact us at fundraising@wrexhamcb.live for the latest information.

Weve had to start afresh, and desperately need funds to get back on air as soon as possible.

We offered a vital service during the pandemic, and want to resume as quickly as we can, as well as continuing to offer work experience and career opportunities to our community.
Hundreds of ventilators and oxygen concentrators to be sent to India from Wales

Medical equipment is to be sent from Wales to support the international emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic in India, it has been announced.

The Welsh Government and NHS Wales are providing around 600 oxygen concentrators and more than 300 ventilators which are due to leave for India in the coming days.

India has been hit by a large second wave of the virus  with more than 400,000 cases recorded on several days in the last week alone.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething and Chair of the Wales branch of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) Professor Keshav Singhal visited the NHS Wales National Distribution Centre on Monday (10 May) to inspect the supplies.





Mr Gething said: Covid-19 is a global threat and as such it is right that we are part of the global response, supporting other nations.

We have worked closely with the UK Government and the Government of India on the logistics in arranging for these supplies to be transported to India and distributed to the hospitals where they are needed most.

Flights are being arranged by the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office.
New and expectant mums across the region reminded that its OK not to be OK

A woman who experienced serious mental health problems during pregnancy and the early months of motherhood is urging other new and expectant mums who are struggling to reach out for support.

Francesca Austen, from Flintshire, experienced heightened anxiety during pregnancy and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after the birth of her daughter Aderyn in 2019.

Instead of enjoying the first few weeks of motherhood, she had difficulties bonding and started feeling resentment towards her newborn baby.

The 29-year-old, from Mold, was supported by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Boards specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service, which has recently been expanded, with funding from the Welsh Government.





To mark Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week (3-9 May), Francesca has shared her story to help raise awareness of perinatal mental illness and encourage other new and expectant mums to reach out for support.

My perinatal mental health issues started the moment I found out I was pregnant, she explained.

Having health anxiety, extreme phobia of needles and everything associated with them (i.e doctors, hospitals etc) makes pregnancy scarier for me and triggers my health anxiety along with generalised anxiety disorder and depression. It was for these reasons that I was referred to the amazing Perinatal Mental Health team.

I received support to make a birth plan and after giving birth, I was fully supported and had a few sessions where we discussed the birth, my mental health, and anything else I wanted or needed to talk about.

The first month after giving birth was a nightmare as Id had a very hard 40 hour labour. When my baby was born, I didnt feel an instant connection or overwhelming love, rather I felt just overwhelmed and almost mentally absent from the birth. I am so grateful to Kelly from the Perinatal Mental Health team for telling me that its normal to not feel the connection that is widely associated with giving birth.

I was then stuck in hospital for four days, facing all of my triggers and not being able to be in a safe enough place (to me) to process everything and recover.

It was after this stay that I started to struggle with the symptoms of PTSD. I was constantly waking up in the night thinking about it all, as well as having frequent nightmares. I was having anxiety attacks, intrusive thoughts and still finding it hard to connect with my baby.

My relationship with my baby improved with time but it was at least six months until I started to feel more myself and the relationship with my baby started to properly blossom. My daughter is now almost 2 and our relationship is amazing!

With the help of rewind therapy provided by the Perinatal Mental Health team, the symptoms of PTSD became more manageable until they eventually faded.

I wholeheartedly believe that the Perinatal Mental Health team prevented me from so much suffering, which helped me to cope through the most extreme experience and change of pregnancy and birth, allowing me to learn to thrive and enjoy it.

Up to 20 per cent of women develop a mental health problem during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth, while seven in ten women will underplay or hide the severity of their perinatal mental illness.

Francesca is joining other NHS professionals in urging new and expectant mums to reach out for support if they are struggling.

She said: As you grow up, youre told this narrative about pregnancy and birth, how its a hard but magical journey and the intense love you immediately feel the moment you see your new baby, she explained.

Of course thats the story you want to experience, however thats just not the case for some of us. Which is totally ok!

Its the most extreme experience you can imagine, whether it goes perfectly well or not. If youre like me and have existing mental health problems which make normal experiences a struggle, it goes without saying that some specialised support is so important.

Thanks to the Perinatal Mental Health team, I coped better than I couldve imagined and the safety I felt from that support being there was invaluable to me and my family.

The North Wales Perinatal Mental Health Service works closely with GPs, midwives and health visitors to support women experiencing mental health problems during pregnancy and the postnatal year.

The service has recently been expanded with funding from the Welsh Government, to enable women across North Wales to have quicker access to specialist support.

BCUHB is also offering perinatal mental health training to all its staff, and it is the first health board in Wales to set up a network of Perinatal Mental Health Champions, made up of staff working in services that come into contact with new and expectant mums.

Kelly Arnold, BCUHBs Perinatal Mental Health Team Lead, said: Providing timely and effective support to new and expectant mums who are struggling with their mental health is critical not only for their own health, but for the longer-term health and wellbeing of their child. We know that the first 1,001 days  from pregnancy through to a childs second birthday  is a critical window of time that sets the stage for a persons intellectual development and lifelong health.

We cover a large area with a small team, so by providing specialist training to other health professionals and recruiting perinatal champions, we can help ensure that women experiencing perinatal difficulties feel well supported by all health professionals that they come in to contact with.

We want new and expectant mums to know that its ok not to be ok, and if they are struggling that they can reach out to any health professional for support.
TAC: 98% of positive cases and 98% of contacts reached by Track Trace Protect teams

Welsh Government has published more of the scientific and technical research, and evidence they have received to form a response to the pandemic in Wales.

The latest advice document from the Technical Advisory Cell (TAC) has been published, although public on Friday the document itself is as usual several days old and is dated April 30th. The Technical Advisory Cell (TAC) is a conduit and interpretation group, interpreting UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) outputs into a Welsh context, relay relevant information and questions from Welsh Government to SAGE as well as feed the information to groups such as Local Resilience Fora.

Compared to documents just a couple of months ago it makes more positive reading, with keynotes:

Case numbers continue to decrease at a national level with a 26.5% reduction to 10.8 cases per 100k population, bringing Wales into the lowest case threshold. There is considerable variation at a regional level, although generally at a low level of incidence.

As reported by PHW, as at 30 April over 1.8 million first doses of COVID-19 vaccine and over 0.7 million second doses have been given in Wales. This means that around 80% of the population of Wales has now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

As at 30 April, Variant of Concern VOC-20DEC-01 remains the dominant variant in Wales, with 11,604 (+186 since last report) cases detected to date (B.1.1.7, first identified in Kent).

It notes others had been detected, including variant VOC20DEC-02 (B.1.351, first identified in South Africa), variant VUI-21FEB-03 (B.1.525, first identified in Nigeria), variant VUI-21JAN-01 (P.1, first identified in Brazil via Japan) and variant VUI-21APR-01 (B.1.617, first identified in India)  but no additional cases of any of those had been detected during the 7 day period ending 30 April.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) report on both suspected and confirmed COVID-19 deaths using data available on completion of the death registration process, and the TAC reports their findings, noting a possible five week lag, In Wales, the number of weekly registered deaths involving COVID-19 decreased by 26% from 19 to 14, accounting for 2.2% of all deaths compared to 3.3% the previous week. The total number of deaths registered in Wales decreased from 644 to 616 in the week ending 23 April. This remains below the five-year average for Wales (6.8% below the five year average).

The TAC explains possible future risks, The main issues that could cause a significant resurgence of COVID-19 harms are: widespread transmission of a vaccine escape and/or immune escape variant; a breakdown in social distancing behaviour; or to a lesser extent, a change in vaccine supply or significant drop in vaccine uptake. New variants also need to be monitored for differential impacts, for instance on transmissibility in children.

The TAC has council based data, however it is now around a week or two out of date, Wrexhams benchmark rate is currently 15.4 per 100k, with the below being the recent case / test data for the council area.



That data in context of the second wave is graphed below:

The TAC explains due to low cases, the incidence changes between weeks will be more variable, as a result of the impact of outbreak clusters against a background of low cases.

Locally we have seen an issue in Bala affecting the health of people in Wrexham.

Track Trace Protect stats are also referenced including that in the week ending 24 April of the 405 positive cases that were eligible for follow-up, 397 (98%) were reached and asked to provide details of their recent contacts. Of the 1,250 close contacts that were eligible for follow-up, 1,222 (98%) were successfully contacted and advised accordingly, or had their case otherwise resolved.

The total contacts through the pandemic so far note of the 175,116 positive cases that were eligible for follow-up, 174,583 (99.7%) were reached and asked to provide details of their recent contacts and of the 402,209 close contacts that were eligible for follow-up, 382,142 (95%) were successfully contacted and advised accordingly, or had their case otherwise resolved.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-09 20:51:17|Editor: huaxia

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A Chinese peacekeeper hugs his wife upon his arrival at the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 27, 2018, after conducting a one-year mission in South Sudan. The sixth team of Chinese peacekeeping police to South Sudan, with seven members all selected from Zhejiang, arrived in Hangzhou that evening. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Filming recently wrapped for "Formed Police Unit," a movie spotlighting Chinese police units on overseas United Nations peacekeeping missions.

The film's executive producer is Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, the helmsman of the 2019 disaster blockbuster "The Captain," and it stars Huang Jingyu, Wang Yibo and Zhong Chuxi.

Lau says "Formed Police Unit" shows how Chinese people treasure and love peace, and it pays tribute to all the peacekeepers.

A release date has not yet been announced, but a Thursday post via the film's social media says it will hit theaters in 2022.

2020 marked the 20th year of Chinese police participation in UN peacekeeping missions. China's police forces have sent over 2,600 peacekeeping officers on the missions over the past 20 years, according to data released in January.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-09 21:33:33|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 25, 2019 shows the arrival ceremony of the first freight train of the China Railway Express (Yiwu-Liege) Alibaba eWTP Cainiao from eastern China's Yiwu in Liege, Belgium. (Xinhua/Pan Geping)

Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China is ready to take it as an opportunity to jointly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and further promote the development of bilateral ties.



BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that China is ready to push forward a steadier and healthier development of China-Belgium relations from a new historical starting point.

Wang made the remarks during his telephone conversation with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmes.

Belgium is the heart of Europe, and has long been a bridge for China-Europe exchanges, Wang said.

Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties, Wang said China is ready to take it as an opportunity to jointly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and further promote the development of bilateral ties.

Noting that Belgium is mired in the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang said China is willing to provide necessary support to Belgium according to its needs, and to join hands with Belgium to promote economic recovery.

Chinese medical materials are prepared to be loaded onto the plane to Belgium at Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

The Chinese market is open to the whole world, and will certainly open wider, offering Belgium more development opportunities, Wang said, adding he hopes Belgium will provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.

Wang briefed the Belgian side on China's position on affairs concerning Hong Kong and Xinjiang, stressing that these are China's internal affairs concerning China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and allow no external interference.

As China and Europe have different social systems and historical and cultural backgrounds, the two sides should respect each other, treat each other as equals, and enhance mutual understanding through dialogue, which is what a comprehensive strategic partnership should be, he said.

Belgium hosts the headquarters of the European Union (EU), and therefore has a unique advantage, Wang said.

He said that he hopes Belgium will play a constructive role in the EU, and promote the long-term and steady development of China-EU relations, so as to better benefit the two peoples.

For her part, Wilmes said cooperation between Belgium and China has been rich in content, and the two countries have enjoyed mutual respect and mutual trust.

Belgium attaches great importance to its relations with China, and is willing to further advance bilateral friendship by celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, she said.

Photo taken on Oct. 19, 2020 shows China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicles which will be exported to Europe at Waigaoqiao Port in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Wilmes said that Belgium is ready to carry out friend-like and high-quality dialogue and communication with China, continuously enhance mutual trust, properly handle differences, promote bilateral cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, agriculture, aviation, climate change and biodiversity conservation, facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries, and further develop Belgium-China as well as Europe-China relations. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 02:07:09|Editor: huaxia

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DOHA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Qatari health ministry on Sunday announced 389 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 210,992, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

Meanwhile, 1,063 more people recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 201,530, while the fatalities increased by six to 508, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA.

A total of 1,945,111 persons in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far, while the total number of vaccine doses administered is 1,813,240. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 04:07:33|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Abdolnasser Hemmati, said Sunday that the United States should remove banking sanctions against the Islamic republic, state TV reported.

Iran has been insisting on the removal of banking sanctions as a condition to return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Hemmati was quoted as saying.

Then, Iran will verify the removal of sanctions against the CBI and other Iranian banks, and money transfer via SWIFT and between Iranian and other major foreign banks, said Hemmati.

"We will make the verification in our own ways," he said, adding that "personally, I am hopeful about the trend of negotiations."

Iranian senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that the United States was ready to remove a large part of sanctions against Iran, but it was not enough.

The U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and unilaterally re-imposed sanctions on Iran. In response to the U.S. moves, Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its JCPOA commitments from May 2019.

The JCPOA Joint Commission started meetings in Vienna of Austria on April 6, aiming at getting the United States to return to the deal and Iran to resume full compliance with it. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 05:24:45|Editor: huaxia

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QUITO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador surpassed 400,000 cases of the novel coronavirus disease on Sunday after registering 1,375 new cases, for a total of 400,296, the Ministry of Public Health reported.

Meanwhile, 75 more deaths from COVID-19 were also reported, bringing the death toll to 13,997.

Another 5,225 deaths are considered to be COVID-19 related, but not verified, according to the ministry.

Ecuador is facing an accelerated increase in infections due to citizen relaxation, mainly in large provinces where hospitals have been overwhelmed with requests for beds in intensive care units.

The provinces of Pichincha and Guayas have registered the largest increase in infections in the country, and Pichincha, where the capital Quito is located, has a case incidence rate of 4,364 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Pichincha and Guayas, along with 14 other provinces, have been under a state of emergency since April 23 which was declared to stop the spread of infection and prevent the collapse of the health system.

Under the state of emergency, which will last until May 20, a nighttime curfew has been enacted which lasts from Monday to Friday, with total confinement on weekends.

The population is urged to continue to be cautious to avoid getting infected as the national vaccination program advances.

A total of 1,245,822 people have been vaccinated so far, with 981,620 receiving the first dose and 264,202 receiving the second, according to official figures. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 05:31:39|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO -- Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Sunday that Egypt will start locally producing China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in June.

During a press conference in Cairo, the minister said that the first 2 million doses will be produced in June at the plants of the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA). (Egypt-China-Vaccine Production)

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KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait launched on Sunday the second phase of the COVID-19 field vaccination campaign that provides vaccines for workers of shopping malls in the country.

Abdullah Al-Sanad, spokesman of the Kuwaiti Health Ministry, said in a press statement that this campaign comes within the efforts of the ministry to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country. (Kuwait-COVID19-Vaccination)

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RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia has announced its plan to hold Hajj ritual this year in a manner that ensures preserving health and safety of the pilgrims, the Saudi Press Agency reported Sunday.

The health authorities in the kingdom continue to assess conditions and take all measures to protect the health and well-being of the public, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said. (Saudi Arabia-Hajj Ritual-COVID19)

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AMMAN -- Jordan on Sunday decided to reduce curfew hours as the kingdom's epidemiological situation improved, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

The government announced that the public would be allowed to move from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., while establishments will be restricted between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., starting from the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Ramadan. (Jordan-COVID19) Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 07:21:59|Editor: huaxia

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LOS ANGELES, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Six adults were killed early Sunday morning when a suspect opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado Springs, a city in U.S. state of Colorado, police said, adding the suspect took his own life on scene.

The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said in a statement Sunday afternoon that they responded to a shooting call at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park at approximately 12:18 a.m. local time.

"Upon arrival, officers located six deceased adults and one adult male with serious injuries who was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," the statement read.

The CSPD said that through an initial analysis of evidence and preliminary interviews they believed the mass shooting incident occurred when a birthday party was being held for one of the victims.

The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life.

The children at the scene were not injured by the suspect, police said, noting they were still investigating to determine a motive. More details would be released later.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski made some emotional remarks in the statement, saying "words fall short to describe the tragedy that took place this morning."

"As the chief of police, as a husband, as a father, as a grandfather, as a member of this community, my heart breaks for the families who have lost someone they love and for the children who have lost their parents," he said.

"This is something you hope never happens in your own community, in the place that you call home," he added.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis also issued a statement, saying the incident was "devastating."

"The tragic shooting in Colorado Springs is devastating, especially as many of us are spending the day celebrating the women in our lives who have made us the people we are today," Polis said in the statement. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 10:36:29|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows the books of students who were killed in a car bomb attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)

"The people of Afghanistan as the victims of the so-called U.S.-led war on terror had suffered in war ... and would continue to suffer even after the troops' pull out as the militants are still very much active in the country," said an Afghan political analyst.

KABUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghans, as the victims of the so-called U.S.-led war on terror, would continue to suffer after the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from the country even 20 years after the presence of the U.S.-led troops in the country, said an Afghan political expert.

"The people of Afghanistan as the victims of the so-called U.S.-led war on terror had suffered in war during the 20 years old presence of the huge military and would continue to suffer even after the troops' pull out as the militants are still very much active in the country," analyst Nazari Pariani told Xinhua on Saturday.

The United States and its allied nations invaded the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on the excuse of the country providing shelter to former al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, the alleged architect of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2011, and dethroned Taliban reign but diminished neither the group nor al-Qaida, Pariani suggested.

He described the U.S. forces withdrawal at this stage as irresponsible when the militants are still active and fighting continues, saying "first phase of war ends with the troops' pull out and the next phase of war would be more catastrophic" and the Afghans won't embrace peace in the near future.

Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)

The renowned political expert, who is also the editor-in-chief of the popular newspaper Mandegar, doubts U.S. President Joe Biden's remarks that Washington has achieved its goal which was punishing bin Laden and smashing al-Qaida network, which, he said, didn't need costly war and launching military invasion in a poor country like Afghanistan.

"Killing Osama and destroying terror groups were small objectives which never required launching such a costly and longest war in the U.S. history," he told Xinhua, suggesting the U.S. objectives should have been larger than declared by Washington.

"Fighting has been continuing and al-Qaida and like minded groups are active in Afghanistan and the brutal war claims Afghans' lives every day," he said.

The interview coincided with a car bomb attack Saturday on a girl school in Police District 13 of Kabul city, which claimed more 50 lives and injured over 100 others, all of whom were civilians. Hinting at the deadly attack, Pariani said the merciless killing of civilians and Taliban attacks on government forces in several provinces demonstrate the outcome of the troops pull-out from Afghanistan.

An Afghan man stands in a damaged room near the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, May 9, 2021. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)

On the capability of Afghan security and defense forces, the analyst said, "The security forces would continue to defend the government against Taliban attacks and the armed group would continue to resist. The victims are ordinary people, and the scenario would be continuing after U.S. forces withdrawal."

About intra-Afghan talks, the political observer said "the prospect seems uncertain and the talks for peace in Afghanistan at the upcoming conference in Turkey would face deadlock as it previously faced in Doha."

"No desired outcome is foreseen in the ongoing peace process and Afghans won't reach a peace agreement over the next six months," Pariani predicted.

Washington formally started its forces pull-out from May 1 in Afghanistan and the process, according to the U.S. administration, would be completed by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 12:46:07|Editor: huaxia

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An injured child receives medical treatment at a local hospital in Kandahar city, Afghanistan, May 10, 2021. At least 11 civilians were killed and 25 others wounded when a Taliban roadside bomb struck a passenger bus along a provincial highway in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province Sunday night, the local government confirmed on Monday. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua)

QALAT, Afghanistan, May 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 civilians were killed and 25 others wounded when a Taliban roadside bomb struck a passenger bus along a provincial highway in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province Sunday night, the local government confirmed on Monday.

"The incident occurred in Shahr-e-Safa district at midnight. The provincial police and rescue teams transported the wounded to a regional hospital in Kandahar province, in the west of Zabul. The number of the casualties may change as several wounded were in critical condition," the government said in a statement.

Some 43 people were aboard the bus when the explosion occurred, the statement said.

"The bodies were transported to a provincial hospital. The provincial police will try to contact and notify the relatives of the victims," the statement said, blaming the Taliban for the attack.

Militants in Afghanistan have been using homemade improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to make roadside bombs and landmines targeting security forces, but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.

More than 920 civilians were killed and over 1,640 others wounded in IED explosions last year, according to official figures. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 15:07:43|Editor: huaxia

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JERUSALEM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel said Monday that it has shut down the Erez Crossing, the only pedestrian passage between the Gaza Strip and Israel, after Gaza militants fired more rockets towards Israel.

Militants in Gaza fired three rockets towards southern Israel early Monday morning, one of which was intercepted by Israel's anti-rocket Iron Dome system, and it was not immediately clear where the other two fell, according to a military statement.

No damage or injuries were reported.

The projectiles came after an overnight cross-border exchange of attacks. Militants in Gaza fired two rockets, which failed to reach Israeli territory and fell within the Gaza Strip. Israeli tanks struck military posts belonging to Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs the coastal Palestinian enclave.

On Monday morning, Israel's Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories Ghassan Alian announced in a statement that the Erez Crossing was shut down "until a further notice" and that only "exceptional humanitarian cases" would be allowed to pass.

Alian said that the measure was a response to the rockets and incendiary balloons from Gaza over the past days, which were "a violation of Israeli sovereignty."

The move came a day after Israel closed the fishing zone offshore the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade since 2007.

Tensions were soaring between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Hundreds of Palestinians have been injured and at least one was killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

The clashes were sparked by Israeli restrictions during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and the planned eviction of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 15:38:50|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Amid the robust recovery of the domestic tourism market following the effective containment of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, "red tourism" stands out.

Red tourism, which refers to visiting historical sites with a modern revolutionary legacy, has become the top choice of many Chinese tourists this year.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

According to a report recently released by online travel booking platform Ctrip and Xinhua Finance, during the just-concluded May Day holiday, online searches for "red tourism" surged about sevenfold from last month and red tourism orders placed on Ctrip rose 375 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

In Longyan City of east China's Fujian Province, the former site of the Gutian Meeting, a landmark event in the history of the CPC and the army, witnessed a peak in visitor numbers during the holiday.

Among the flocks of tourists was 72-year-old Chen Bingyin from northwest China's Shaanxi Province. "As a veteran Party member, I joined a red tourism tour group to revisit our history," he said.

The tour group took Chen to two other revolutionary areas in neighboring Jiangxi Province before arriving in Fujian.

Zhang Lianqiu, 68, chose to drive all the way from Xinjiang in the northwest to Jiangxi's Jinggangshan with his friends to visit the red sites.

"I have learned the revolution stories that happened in Jinggangshan since childhood, and coming here is like a dream come true," said Zhang enthusiastically.

Yet it is not just senior citizens turning to red tourism.

A recent report on red tourism during the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday in early April and the May Day holiday indicated a general trend of an increasing number of younger individuals among the tourists.

Over 89 percent of the tourists visiting revolutionary sites were aged under 40, with those born in the 1990s and 2000s accounting for more than 40 percent of the total, while those born in the 1980s accounted for over 30 percent, said the report by a research center affiliated to online tourism platform TravelGo.

Li Yanan, a guide at a commemorative park marking the victory of the Central Red Army's Long March in Shaanxi Province, has also noticed the change in tourist demographics.

Before the visitors were mostly elderly people and from the locality, but that picture has gradually shifted to include different age groups and people from outside the region, according to Li.

The rising popularity of red tourism among young people may be partly attributed to the promotion of more creative tourist products, many of which employ new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

"Red tourism is no longer just about visiting historical sites and museums. Instead, it is now designed to cater to the interests of young people, highlighting an immersive experience or offering time travel scenarios to attract more young visitors," said Xu Yongde, a staffer at a revolutionary site in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 17:50:05|Editor: huaxia

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GAZA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli tanks struck military posts belonging to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) early Monday morning in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Palestinian sources and Israeli army said.

The Palestinian sources said Israeli tanks stationed at the borders between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel fired several shells at Hamas lookout posts in northern and southern Gaza Strip.

Several explosions were heard in the two areas, the sources said, adding that no injuries were reported, but damage was caused to the posts that belong to Hamas military wing al-Qassam Brigades.

Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesman said in a press statement that Israeli artillery struck several Hamas military posts in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets and incendiary balloons launched into southern Israel.

Israeli media reported that Gaza militants early in the morning fired two rockets at Israel. One was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system and the other landed at an empty area, causing no injuries or damage.

On Sunday, masked young men in Gaza launched dozens of incendiary balloons from the coastal enclave into Israel, causing more than 40 fires in agricultural fields, according to the Israeli media.

In response to rockets and incendiary balloons fired from Gaza, Israeli authorities banned more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen from fishing off the Gaza Strip coast until further notice.

Tensions between Israel and Palestinians have been flaring over the past few days due to escalated clashes in East Jerusalem between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police forces. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 18:39:26|Editor: huaxia

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Tourists visit the site of the Zunyi Meeting, a watershed event in the history of the Communist Party of China, in Zunyi City of southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Amid the robust recovery of the domestic tourism market following the effective containment of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, "red tourism" stands out.

Red tourism, which refers to visiting historical sites with a modern revolutionary legacy, has become the top choice of many Chinese tourists this year.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

According to a report recently released by online travel booking platform Ctrip and Xinhua Finance, during the just-concluded May Day holiday, online searches for "red tourism" surged about sevenfold from last month and red tourism orders placed on Ctrip rose 375 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

In Longyan City of east China's Fujian Province, the former site of the Gutian Meeting, a landmark event in the history of the CPC and the army, witnessed a peak in visitor numbers during the holiday.

Among the flocks of tourists was 72-year-old Chen Bingyin from northwest China's Shaanxi Province. "As a veteran Party member, I joined a red tourism tour group to revisit our history," he said.

The tour group took Chen to two other revolutionary areas in neighboring Jiangxi Province before arriving in Fujian.

Zhang Lianqiu, 68, chose to drive all the way from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest to Jiangxi's Jinggangshan with his friends to visit the red sites.

"I have learned the revolution stories that happened in Jinggangshan since childhood, and coming here is like a dream come true," said Zhang enthusiastically.

Yet it is not just senior citizens turning to red tourism.

A recent report on red tourism during the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday in early April and the May Day holiday indicated a general trend of an increasing number of younger individuals among the tourists.

Over 89 percent of the tourists visiting revolutionary sites were aged under 40, with those born in the 1990s and 2000s accounting for more than 40 percent of the total, while those born in the 1980s accounted for over 30 percent, said the report by online tourism platform TravelGo.

Li Yanan, a guide at a commemorative park marking the victory of the Central Red Army's Long March in Shaanxi Province, has also noticed the change in tourist demographics.

Before the visitors were mostly elderly people and from the locality, but that picture has gradually shifted to include different age groups and people from outside the region, according to Li.

The rising popularity of red tourism among young people may be partly attributed to the promotion of more creative tourist products, many of which employ new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

"Red tourism is no longer just about visiting historical sites and museums. Instead, it is now designed to cater to the interests of young people, highlighting an immersive experience or offering time travel scenarios to attract more young visitors," said Xu Yongde, a staffer at a revolutionary site in southwest China's Guizhou Province. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 19:32:30|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Monday confirmed for the first time that it is in talks with Saudi Arabia to defuse tensions, official IRNA news agency reported.

"The removal of tensions between the two countries in the Gulf region is in the interest of both nations and the region," Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh spokesman said at his weekly press briefing.

The dialogues were earlier confirmed last Friday by a Saudi foreign ministry official after press reports about talks between the two sides in Iraq were initially dismissed in April.

The Iranian spokesperson stressed that Tehran has consistently been open to dialogue with Riyadh, and voiced his hope that "a meaningful common understanding of bilateral and regional matters" will be reached.

Last month, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed Saudi desire to develop good ties with Iran during an interview with Al Arabiya TV. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 19:32:30|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China remained the biggest sales market for raw timber from Germany in 2020 as around half, or 6.4 million cubic meters, of total timber exports went to China, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Monday.

Germany's raw timber exports to China have increased significantly since 2015 when the share was only around 10 percent, according to Destatis. Austria was the second biggest destination for raw timber from Germany last year, with a share of around 19 percent.

"The construction boom during the coronavirus pandemic boosted the demand for timber as a building material in Germany and abroad," Destatis said.

Germany exported a total of 12.7 million cubic meters of raw timber worth 845 million euros (1.03 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to Destatis. In terms of quantity, this was an increase of 42.6 percent year-on-year.

Growing international demand was reflected by "record wood felling figures" in Germany. According to Destatis, 80.4 million cubic meters of wood were cut in German forests last year, the highest level since German reunification in 1990.

Damaged trees and forests were the main reason for the record level of wood felling in Germany. According to Destatis, wood cutting due to insect infestation accounted for more than half of the total wood harvest in 2020.

The annual report for 2020 on Germany's forests published by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture found that the past three years of droughts, massive bark beetle infestations, storms and increased forest fires had "caused massive long-term damage to forests."

The results of last year's forest condition assessment were among the worst since the first report in 1984. Only 21 percent of all trees in Germany showed no crown defoliation. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 20:36:01|Editor: huaxia

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JUBA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan is facing one of the worst food security and nutrition crises globally, as an estimated 7.2 million people are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity between now and July, aid agencies warned on Monday.

The Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG), a multi-stakeholder regional forum chaired by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said out of these, some 108,000 people are expected to be in Catastrophe phase (IPC 5) between April and July mainly in Jonglei, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and Warrap States.

According to the FSNWG and FAO, the main drivers of food insecurity in the country are conflict, widespread flooding, COVID-19, and a protracted macroeconomic crisis.

The group said of particular concern is Pibor county where, according to the famine review committee, Gumuruk, Pibor, Lekuangole, and Verteth payams in the county are projected to face a "Famine Likely" situation while Kizongora and Maruwa payams will be at "Risk of Famine".

The organizations said the nutrition situation also remains critical, as an estimated 1.4 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through 2021.

"Of these, about 313,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and therefore face an increased risk of death," FSNWG said.

FSNWG said that initiatives such as providing food and cash assistance, strengthening social protection systems, improving availability of and access to quality curative and preventive nutrition services should all be scaled up.

The group also called for sustained advocacy to ensure continuity of essential health, nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation services. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 20:44:46|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed boosting the quality and competitiveness of domestic products and services to make Chinese brands reliable choices in both domestic and overseas markets.

Li made the remarks in an instruction to this year's China Brand Day event, which kicked off on Monday in Shanghai.

Enhancing brand building and the influence and competitiveness of Chinese brands is a significant move to improve supply, expand demand, and push for high-quality development, said the premier.

Li urged all localities and government departments to put quality and efficiency first, strengthen brand awareness among the entire society, and guide companies to uphold the spirit of professionalism and craftsmanship to enhance their courage and ability to compete fairly in open markets.

Efforts should also be made to encourage companies to build their brands amid further market opening-up and participation in fair global competition, Li said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 20:51:18|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- One of the key misunderstandings of China's new development paradigm of "dual circulation" has been that the world's second-largest economy is withdrawing to its domestic market and shying away from the world. Quite the opposite, Beijing continues to facilitate its huge domestic market to foreigners and the China International Consumer Products Expo is a good example.

The expo, which closes on Monday, presents an unprecedented platform to access the Chinese consumer market. Products of companies and brands from 69 countries and regions worldwide were on display. According to the Ministry of Commerce, foreign-funded enterprises and brands were the majority of participants at the event, a testament to the Chinese market's attractiveness and potential for foreign businesses.

The expo is an integral part of the overseas circulation in the new development paradigm featuring "dual circulation," in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

"Behind the technical-sounding phrase lies an idea that could change the global economic order," Mark Leonard, co-founder and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in an April commentary. "One realm ('external market') will remain in contact with the rest of the world, but it will gradually be overshadowed by another one ('internal market') that will cultivate domestic demand, capital, and ideas."

Such is typical of the foreign analysis over the "dual circulation" in recent months, which envisioned China looking or turning "inward," a word that has been splashed across the headlines in The New York Times, Financial Times, and South China Morning Post.

Earlier this month, Qiushi, the Communist Party of China's flagship journal, published Chinese President Xi Jinping's key speech illustrating the new development paradigm. The first misunderstanding that shall be avoided, Xi said, was the one-sided emphasis on the domestic market advocating a substantial contraction in the opening up to the outside world.

In other words, the domestic market as the "mainstay" does not mean it comes at the expense of overseas market. This may be difficult to understand for outsiders, but it is in line with the dialectical logic that has been preached and practised by the Communist Party of China for decades. In theory, the unity of opposites is the central category of dialectics: whereas two conditions, in this case, two markets, appear opposite to each other, they are yet dependent on each other and presupposing each other.

In practice, China has never ceased its steps to open up. In recent years, China has been holding a series of national-level trade fairs that also include the Canton Fair, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and the China International Import Expo. The China International Consumer Products Expo is the latest addition.

Hainan, the island province that hosted the expo, is being built into a free trade port, a move that demonstrates Beijing's resolve to advance reform and opening-up, widen market access, improve the business environment, and expand imports and outbound investment.

President Xi has also underlined the enormous importance of building an ultra-large market in a sustainable fashion. On the whole, China is expected to become the world's largest goods consumption market during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period and the biggest services trader by 2035, Chi Fulin, head of the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development, said at a forum during the expo.

The data for this year already looks promising. According to the General Administration of Customs, China's import and export value in the first four months rose 21.8 percent compared with the same period in 2019, beating expectations. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 22:15:45|Editor: huaxia

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-- The first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) concluded on Monday in Haikou, the capital of south China's Hainan Province, with the participation of 1,505 enterprises from 70 countries and regions.



-- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage and the world economy drags on, the CICPE has provided a new platform for global enterprises to tap into the Chinese market and inject new growth momentum into the global economic recovery.

-- The expo will become a new growth driver of Hainan's high-quality development. It will not only facilitate international brands to enter the Chinese market but also domestic brands to go global.

by Xinhua writers Xu Ruiqing and Ma Xiaoran

HAIKOU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The first China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) concluded on Monday in Haikou, the capital of south China's Hainan Province.

A total of 70 countries and regions attended the four-day expo, and 2,628 brands under 1,505 enterprises from home and abroad participated in the exhibitions. Covering 80,000 square meters, the expo also attracted more than 240,000 visitors.

Major e-commerce platforms including JD Worldwide and Tmall Global also joined the expo with global brands. Livestreaming rooms garnered over 16 million viewers, with a total turnover of 68 million yuan (about 10.4 million U.S. dollars), said Han Shengjian, director of the Hainan bureau of international economic development.

People select goods at the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

The first group of companies from sectors including fashion, life services, travel services, service consumption, food, health products and jewelry have already signed up for the second CICPE. Over 80 percent of exhibitors this year expressed willingness to participate in the second CICPE.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the world economy continuing to drag, the expo has provided a new platform for global enterprises to share the development opportunities brought by the Chinese market and inject new growth momentum into global economic recovery.

NEW PLATFORM

U.S. luxury fashion company Tapestry was in the first group of enterprises to sign up for the second China International Consumer Products Expo on Monday.

"We released several new products at the expo and visitors were very interested. We have seen the huge potential of the Chinese market," said Zhou Guanghua, vice president of Tapestry.

A man takes photos of products in the Fashion Life Exhibition Hall of the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

China was the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth in 2020, with its GDP up 2.3 percent year on year. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, imports of consumer goods grew 8.2 percent in 2020, reaching 1.57 trillion yuan.

"The expo has brought new opportunities for global high-end brands to enter and expand the Chinese market," said Swiss Ambassador to China Bernardino Regazzoni. "The expo also marks another big step forward in the construction of the Hainan free trade port (FTP) and the acceleration of China's integration into the global economic system."

China in 2018 proposed the establishment of a free trade zone in Hainan and began construction of the Hainan FTP last year to build the island into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

Hainan has implemented a package of favorable policies to ease market access and further facilitate free trade, investment and cross-border capital flows. According to the provincial government, direct foreign investment in Hainan grew from 340 million U.S. dollars in 2017 to 3.03 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.

"This is our first exhibition in China. We hope to use the platform to enter Hainan's duty-free market and reach cooperation with China's duty-free enterprises," said Chilli Zhou, country sales director of Swiss luxury underwear brand Zimmerli Textil AG.

People visit the Hainan Exhibition Area during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, May 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Official data shows that sales of offshore duty-free shops in Hainan reached nearly 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, and the duty-free shopping industry on the island is likely to become a 100-billion-yuan industry in the next few years, insiders said.

China will further expand domestic demand and unleash the potential of the world's largest consumption market, said Ales Cervinka, director of the Czech Trade Promotion Agency in China. "I expect that we will find more business partners to help our product to enter duty-free outlets here."

"By holding the expo, we will give further play to the policy advantages of the Hainan free trade port, effectively promote the accumulation of global high-end goods, capital, talent and other resources, and vigorously promote the development of the services sector, such as exhibitions, and commerce and trade," said Rong Yansong, deputy director of the Hainan provincial department of commerce.

NEW IMPETUS

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer products expo has given a strong boost to global economic recovery.

"Despite facing challenges in the past year, the strong resilience and growth potential of China's consumer market has greatly impressed the world," said Yann Bozec, president of Tapestry Asia Pacific.

Photo taken on May 8, 2021 shows a fashion booth during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Jiayi)

With a total population of over 1.4 billion and more than 400 million middle-income residents, China has become the world's most promising consumer market.

The retail sales of consumer goods in the first quarter of the year, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, edged up 33.9 percent year on year to over 10.5 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, said at an expo forum that the event will become a new growth driver for Hainan's high-quality development.

He added that China has the conditions to double its GDP scale by 2035, or its per capita income level in urban and rural areas, on the basis of 2020. He said that as people become wealthier, their demand for better lives will also be enhanced.

Photo taken on May 9, 2021 shows a domestically produced motorcycle on display during the first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

The constant upgrading of Chinese consumer demand has brought new trends and opportunities to the market, becoming a powerful driving force for the growth of the global market, added Yann Bozec.

Italy, an important participating country at the Hainan expo, brought more than 50 brands to take part. Paolo Bazzoni, chairman of the Italy Chamber of Commerce, said Hainan is becoming the number-one location for quality retail travel. "We are here to interact with the local government in order to be more present and to give more opportunities to our companies in Hainan," he said.

The expo pooled global high-end consumer brands to tap into the market potential of the world's second-largest economy, and the country's consumption demand is expected to expand substantially and continuously.

The consumption rate of residents in China is currently less than 40 percent, far below the level in line with the current economic volume, said Long Guoqiang, deputy head of the Development Research Center of the State Council, at an expo forum.

Aerial photo taken on May 3, 2021 shows a bridge in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Shanghai-headquartered Fosun International Limited, with 25 years of business experience on the island in sectors including tourism, participated in the expo with products in diverse areas. "The expo not only facilitates international brands entering the Chinese market, but also domestic brands going global," said Qian Jiannong, board chairman and chief executive officer of the Fosun Tourism Group.

China's rate of contribution to global economic growth is likely to be maintained within a range of 25 percent to 30 percent over the next five to 10 years, said Chi Fulin, head of the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development, at an expo forum.

(Video reporters: Liu Shaopeng, Zhang Han and Wang Xiaoxia. Video editor: Tian Zijun)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 22:54:20|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on Monday encouraged Hong Kong's young people to seize opportunities and better integrate into the country's overall development.

Lam made the remarks at the 7th anniversary celebration of the Hong Kong CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) Youth Association and the inauguration ceremony of its 4th executive committee.

According to the outline of the national 14th Five-Year Plan, the country supports Hong Kong's development in many important areas, which fully reflects the country's firm support for Hong Kong and its concern for the development of young people in Hong Kong, Lam said.

Over the past two years, the HKSAR government has launched a string of projects related to the development of young people to help them seize the opportunity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's development and actively integrate into the country's overall development, she said.

Lam said that with the implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR and the improvement of the electoral system of the HKSAR, "one country, two systems" is back on track and the Hong Kong society is expected to return to security and stability, so that people can refocus on development.

She said that the central authorities have attached great importance to the opinions of young people, and especially under the improved electoral system of the HKSAR, young people's voices will be better represented in the Election Committee.

Lam said that she looks forward to working with the the Hong Kong CPPCC Youth Association to create a broader development space for young people and help Hong Kong better integrate into the overall development of the country. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 23:16:58|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared his intention to run for a second term, expressing a strong belief in nations working together to solve the world's crises and conflicts.

Guterres, who is running for a second term, took questions from member states in the General Assembly Hall on Friday.

He urged the world's nations to avoid a new type of Cold War, and stressed that everything from the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation and the pushback on human rights is inter-linked in the 21st century.

Multilateralism "depends a lot on the establishment of trust among member states, and on making functional relationship among the biggest powers," he said.

"If there is no trust among member states and if the relationship among the biggest powers remains dysfunctional, then there's not much the multilateral system can do," he added.

Guterres became the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations on Jan. 1, 2017, succeeding Ban Ki-moon.

Guterres served as High Commissioner of the UN Refugee Agency from June 2005 to December 2015 and prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. Enditem
Jill Sanborn Named Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch

Director Christopher Wray has named Jill Sanborn as the executive assistant director (EAD) of the National Security Branch. As the EAD, Ms. Sanborn will make sure the FBI executes its mission to defend the United States and its interests from national security threats.

Ms. Sanborn most recently served as the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She began her FBI career as a special agent in 1998 and was assigned to the Phoenix Field Office to investigate bank fraud and computer intrusions. She joined the Phoenix Joint Terrorism Task Force in 2001 and has held primarily counterterrorism assignments since.

In 2006, Ms. Sanborn was added to the Counterterrorism Divisions Fly Team and deployed to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Pakistan. She was detailed to the CIAs Counterterrorism Center as the acting deputy director for law enforcement in 2010.

Ms. Sanborn was promoted to unit chief in the Counterterrorism Division in 2011, leading more than 400 extraterritorial investigations covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia. She returned to the field in 2012 as a supervisory special agent at the Washington Field Office, where she managed overseas kidnapping cases and the extradition of four high-value terrorism subjects.

In 2015, Ms. Sanborn was promoted to assistant special agent in charge (ASAC) in the Los Angeles Field Office, where she directed counterterrorism matters in Orange County and the cities of West Covina and Riverside. As ASAC, she oversaw the investigation of the 2015 San Bernardino terror attack that left 14 dead and 22 injured.

Ms. Sanborn was promoted to section chief in the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters in 2016 and was responsible for managing all counterterrorism investigations overseas. Director Wray named her the head of the Minneapolis Field Office in 2018 and as the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division in 2020.

Ms. Sanborn earned a bachelors business administration in finance from the University of Portland. Prior to joining the FBI, she was an investigator at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 00:03:24|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO -- Japan on Monday purportedly began to speed up its highly criticized and sluggish rollout of COVID-19 inoculation campaign, informed sources said Monday.

The central government said that plans are currently in effect to ensure that all of Japan's 36 million senior citizens are inoculated by the end of July amid soaring cases of the virus and with no signs of it abating in urban areas even under extended emergency measures.(Japan-Vaccination)

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PHNOM PENH -- The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) will continue to inject impetus into the China-ASEAN cooperation and the ASEAN community building towards a more open, inclusive and prosperous region, Cambodian experts said in recent interviews with Xinhua.

Launched on March 23, 2016 during the first LMC Leaders' Meeting in Sanya, a resort city in south China's Hainan Province, the LMC consists of six countries, namely China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.(Cambodia-LMC-China)

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KATHMANDU -- Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Monday, opening door for the formation of a new government more than three years after he became the executive head of the nation.

Against 136 needed to win the vote of confidence in the House with 271 lawmakers, Oli just managed to garner 93 votes. The lawmakers from Madhav Nepal faction (UML) within his party CPN-UML did not vote for him and abstained from the voting process.(Nepal-PM-Confidence vote)

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HONG KONG -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on Monday encouraged Hong Kong's young people to seize opportunities and better integrate into the country's overall development.

Lam made the remarks at the 7th anniversary celebration of the Hong Kong CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) Youth Association and the inauguration ceremony of its 4th executive committee.(Hong Kong-CE-Youth) Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 03:06:14|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations has deployed 300 peacekeepers to help secure the town of Bakouma in the Central African Republic (CAR), a UN spokesman said on Monday.

The peacekeepers moved Sunday morning into Bakouma, one of the towns where security concerns delayed holding elections in December and March, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The peacekeepers will protect the civilian population and help to organize legislative elections later this month, Dujarric said.

Access to Bakouma, about 130 km north of the regional capital of Bangassou on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is possible following the repair of bridges damaged weeks ago by armed groups. The peacekeepers are part of the mission known as MINUSCA.

Three UN peacekeepers died in December in regional violence leading up to the long-delayed legislative elections. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 03:07:26|Editor: huaxia

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ANKARA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey condemned on Monday the Israeli operations at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and urged it to halt these attacks as soon as possible.

"We condemn the continuation of the operations by the Israeli security forces with firing stun grenades and using force against Palestinian civilians worshipping at al-Aqsa Mosque and the violation of the sanctity of Haram Al-Sharif, despite all the calls of the international community," said Turkish Foreign Ministry in a written statement.

Ankara called on the Israel government to take necessary measures to stop the "attacks of racist Jewish groups and the security forces on Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to prevent the racist groups from entering Haram Al-Sharif," which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held phone conversations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the chief of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh on the issue of the tension in Jerusalem, Turkey's presidential office said in a statement on Monday.

Erdogan reiterated that Turkey would always be a supporter of the Palestinian cause and pledged that he would do everything in his power to mobilize the world.

Confrontations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City have intensified following a court ruling that tried to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.

Fresh clashes erupted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, after the end of the morning prayer early Sunday. Over 300 Palestinians were injured in violent clashes over the weekend. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 03:39:04|Editor: huaxia

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HAVANA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Cuba expects to complete the necessary doses to immunize all its 11.2 million residents with vaccines against COVID-19 developed in the country, the official newspaper Granma announced on Monday.

The most advanced candidates, Soberana-02 and Abdala, will be used in the mass immunization, although Cuba has three others, Soberana-01 and Soberana Plus, as well as Mambisa, in different phases of clinical trials, Granma reported.

President of the state-owned company BioCubaFarma Eduardo Martinez explained that Soberana-02 and Abdala have their own production systems "so as not to compete" and "to be able to manufacture many vaccines in a short period of time," according to the newspaper.

"We are increasingly reaching industrial stability. We have manufactured batches of vaccines, which passed a rigorous evaluation process, to start the health intervention," Martinez added.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health will start on Wednesday a mass vaccination campaign in seven of Havana's municipalities, which will continue in the second half of May in the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Matanzas, as well as Santiago de Cuba and the Special Municipality of Isla de la Juventud. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 04:00:24|Editor: huaxia

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A refinery and storage tanks are seen across the Buffalo Bayou in La Porte, Texas, the United States, on June 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Yi-Chin Lee)

Although its main lines remained shut, The Colonial Pipeline Company said parts of the pipeline are in a process of restoration.

HOUSTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The operator of a main U.S. fuel pipeline declared on Monday its goal of restoring operational service by the end of the week after all pipeline operations temporarily halted due to a cybersecurity attack.

The Colonial Pipeline Company, operator of the pipeline carrying gasoline and diesel fuel to U.S. east and southeast parts, said a phased approach is being executed to facilitate a return to service.

"This plan is based on a number of factors with safety and compliance driving our operational decisions, and the goal of substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week," the company said in a press release.

Although its main lines remained shut, the company said parts of the pipeline are in a process of restoration.

"Segments of our pipeline are being brought back online in a stepwise fashion, in compliance with relevant federal regulations and in close consultation with the Department of Energy," the statement said.

The Colonial Pipeline Company temporarily halted all pipeline operations after the cybersecurity attack involving ransomware was detected on Friday. After the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Transportation declared regional emergency, lifting restrictions for motor carriers and drivers who are providing assistance to areas that are suffering shortages of refined petroleum products.

Thanking the government's decision to alleviate local supply disruptions, the company said it continues to evaluate product inventory in storage tanks at facilities and is working with shippers to move product to terminals for local delivery.

The Colonial Pipeline is the largest refined-products pipeline in the United States, transporting more than 100 million gallons of fuel daily on the East Coast. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 05:29:08|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. experts and advisers for F-16 fighter jets withdrew from Balad Air Base after a series of rocket attacks targeted the air base in Iraq's Salahudin province, Iraqi sources said on Monday.

"Up to 72 experts flew before noon by a military aircraft from Balad Air Base and headed to Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan," an army source anonymously told Xinhua.

A Salahudin provincial security source confirmed to Xinhua that the U.S. team of experts withdrew from Balad Air Base, some 80 km north of Baghdad, and headed to Erbil.

Balad, which houses Iraqi F-16 jet fighters, is the largest military air base in Iraq.

Previously, the U.S. troops also withdrew more than a year ago after the airbase came under a series of rocket attacks by unidentified militias.

On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said during his meeting with some local media that "the absurd rockets do not target the Americans, because Balad Air Base contains Iraqi aircraft and Iraqi forces, and what is happening embarrasses Iraq."

The Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops across Iraq and the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone have been frequently targeted by mortar and rocket attacks. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 05:39:35|Editor: huaxia

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Palestinians gather around bodies of Palestinians who were killed during an Israeli airstrike at a hospital morgue in the northern Gaza Strip, on May 10, 2021. Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people, as rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave continued through Monday night, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people, as rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave continued through Monday night, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

After hundreds of Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police in East Jerusalem on Monday morning, Hamas launched a rocket attack at Jerusalem in the afternoon, which drew a heavy Israeli response.

An Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement that fighter jets struck an offensive tunnel belonging to Hamas. According to Israeli media, several militants inside the tunnel were killed in the attack.

The Israeli air force struck additional sites belonging to Hamas including two rocket launchers and two military posts.

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said in a statement that 20 people were killed, including nine children, and 65 others wounded on Monday evening in explosions in the town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip.

The sharp escalation began at 6 p.m. (15 GMT) after Hamas set an ultimatum for Israel to withdraw its forces from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, where Israeli police injured hundreds of Palestinians in clashes earlier on Monday.

After the deadline, Hamas launched seven rockets at Jerusalem, according to the Israeli army. One of them caused a light damage to a home.

Over 100 rockets have been fired at southern Israel since the afternoon, lightly injuring two people. A third person was lightly injured by the remanent of an anti-rocket Iron Dome interceptor missile.

The Israeli army said in a statement that dozens of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome system.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of "crossing a red line" with the rockets on Jerusalem, and vowed that "Israel will respond with great forcefully."

The military's Home Front Command said the schools have been canceled in communities in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip and instructed residents to stay indoors.

The Israeli Airports Authority said that landing routes were redirected to avoid possible harm. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 06:01:06|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday asked a UN team investigating Islamic State (IS) crimes in Iraq to hand over evidence it collected to the Iraqi government so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice.

The UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/Islamic State (UNITAD) has collected a large amount of evidence. Only a timely transfer of the evidence to the Iraqi government can lead to tangible results of holding terrorists accountable, thereby achieving the intended objectives of UN Security Council Resolution 2379, said Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

"We hope UNITAD will hand over evidence to the Iraqi side in a timely and complete manner in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions," he told the council.

Terrorism is the common enemy of humanity. The international community should continue to support Iraq in its fight against terrorism, bring terrorists to justice, and consolidate hard-won counterterrorism gains. At the same time, the international community should also earnestly respect Iraq's sovereignty and jurisdiction over crimes committed on its soil, and support Iraq in its pursuit of accountability against terrorists in accordance with domestic laws, he said. "We appreciate Iraq's active effort to take forward its domestic legislation to hold former IS terrorists accountable."

All the parties concerned and the United Nations should also support Iraq in dealing with foreign terrorist fighters within Iraqi territory, he added.

In its report, UNITAD put forward some preliminary ideas about a "completion strategy." China encourages the investigative team to fully communicate and coordinate with the government of Iraq in this regard. The Security Council should also conduct a study and discuss the relevant issues in due course, he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 06:42:48|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations on Monday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a side event to be organized by the United States, Britain, Germany and a few nongovernmental organizations in New York on the human rights situation in Xinjiang, China.

The spokesperson urged the co-sponsors to cancel this event, which interferes in China's internal affairs, and called on other UN member states to reject the event.

"The three countries and other co-sponsors, out of anti-China political motivation, are using human rights issues as a political tool in a vain attempt to create division and turbulence in Xinjiang, interfering in China's internal affairs and disrupting China's peaceful development," said the unnamed spokesperson.

The current situation in Xinjiang is at its best in history with stability, rapid economic development and harmonious co-existence among people of all ethnic groups. The United States and other co-sponsors of the side event are obsessed with fabricating lies and plotting to use Xinjiang-related issues to contain China and create mess in China. This approach is strongly resented by all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including the Uyghur population, firmly opposed by all Chinese people, and doomed to fail, said the spokesperson.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is still ravaging, UN member states are calling for international solidarity in global response and concerted efforts for recovery. However, the co-sponsors turn a deaf ear to the strong call, persistently politicize human rights issues, provoke political confrontation and undermine the unity and collaboration of member states. Such practices gravely violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and norms of international relations, severely undermine the efforts of member states in addressing global challenges, and poison cooperation in human rights and other areas. Such practices will be firmly opposed by member states, said the spokesperson.

The United States and other co-sponsors are deliberately fabricating lies and spreading malicious disinformation about Xinjiang with no respect for truth. In fact, thanks to the tireless efforts and effective measures taken by China, there has not been a single terrorist attack in Xinjiang over the past 4 years, and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are living harmoniously and working peacefully. Over the past six decades, Xinjiang's economy grew by more than 200 times, its per capita GDP grew by nearly 40 times, and residents' life expectancy rose from 30 to 72 years. The Uyghur population in Xinjiang grew from 5.55 million to 12.8 million in the past four decades. China's achievements in protecting human rights are known to all. It is the United States and other co-sponsors who need to reflect on their poor treatment of minorities in their own countries, said the spokesperson. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 01:05:48|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 236 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Morocco on Sunday, taking the country's tally of infections to 513,864, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

In the past 24 hours, eight people have died from the disease, taking the death toll to 9,072 in the country, while 241 people are in intensive care units.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 500,914 after 374 more were added.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in Morocco stands at 1.8 percent while the recovery rate is 97.4 percent.

Meanwhile, 5,473,809 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against COVID-19 in the country, and 4,390,752 people have received the second dose.

Morocco on Saturday expanded eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines to residents aged 50 and older, in line with the vaccination campaign, which aims to reach herd immunity by vaccinating 80 percent, or 30 million, of the Moroccan population.

The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on Jan. 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 02:20:30|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army (SNA) on Sunday killed at least seven al-Shabab militants after the SNA forces conducted operations near Mahas district in Hiran region in central Somalia, an official said.

Mohamud Hassan Ibrahim, SNA army commander in the region, told the state-owned Radio Mogadishu that 17 other al-Shabab militants were also injured and the government forces burnt down an armored vehicle of al-Shabab during the operation.

Ibrahim said that the operation was aimed at liberating areas still under al-Shabab militants and making sure the main roads are safe for movement.

There was no immediate comment from the militants on the military operation by SNA forces in the central region.

Southern and central regions of Somalia have seen clashes between the government forces and al-Shabab since the militants were chased out of the capital Mogadishu in August 2011 by allied forces. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 09:16:52|Editor: huaxia

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LAGOS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian troops have arrested 13 suspected Boko Haram militants in the northwest state of Kano, the army said on Sunday.

The suspected terrorists were arrested around Filin Lazio, Hotoro axis of the Kano State following an operation, said Mohammed Yerima, the army spokesman in a statement.

The ongoing operation, according to the army spokesman, was predicated on the need to apprehend criminals who might want to hibernate in any part of Kano state.

The Boko Haram group has been trying to establish an Islamic State in northeastern Nigeria since 2009. The terrorist group has also extended its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 13:49:26|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan navy on Sunday denied shooting at an Italian fisherman off the Libyan coast during an operation against four boats from Sicily.

The navy said in a statement that four Italian fishing boats were spotted on Thursday 30 miles (about 48 km) off the coast of Khoms city, some 120 km east of the capital Tripoli.

A Libyan Coast Guard vessel went to the location and issued orders to the Italian boats to be inspected, but the boats did not respond, the statement said.

One of the Italian boats was captured and inspected in the presence of an Italian navy vessel and was then released after the crew signed a pledge not to fish in the area, the statement said, adding that a member of the Italian boat's crew was injured "when he hit one of the windows of the boat."

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio condemned the Coast Guard's actions but also warned against crossing into Libyan waters.

"We have been advising against going there not just for months but for 10 years," he said.

Salvatore Quinci, mayor of the fishing port of Mazaro del Vallo in southwestern Sicily, said members of the Coast Guard shot at the fisherman's boat, the Italian news agency Agi reported. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 19:23:53|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Somali President Mohamed Farmajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Roble have condemned Sunday evening's suicide bomb attack in the restive capital, Mogadishu, that left at least six people dead and six others injured.

In separate statements, Farmajo and Roble sent their condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, including two senior police officers, and wished quick recovery for those injured.

"President Farmajo sends his profound condolences to families and all Somali people for the loss of police officers and civilians who were killed in Sunday's cowardly terrorist blast in Mogadishu," the president said in a statement.

According to police spokesman Sadik Aden, a suicide bomber in a speeding vehicle detonated his vest at the front gate of the Waberi police district police station.

Ahmed Abdullahi Bashane, commander of Waberi district, and Abdibasid Mohamud Agey, deputy commander of Weliyow Adde police department, were among those killed, along with three other police officers, Aden said.

A civilian who lived next to the station also died in the explosion, which took place despite tight security in Mogadishu and its environs during the holy month of Ramadan, the police spokesman said.

The attack occurred in the last days of Ramadan when people were making preparations for Eid celebrations.

Al-Shabab, which has been fighting the internationally recognized government, claimed responsibility for Sunday's terror attack.

The al-Qaida-allied terror group, which was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by allied forces, still controls vast rural areas and remains a major threat to peace in Somalia. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 21:23:01|Editor: huaxia

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Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with Egyptian Senate Speaker Abdel Razeq, via video link in Beijing, capital of China, May 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang met with Egyptian Senate Speaker Abdel Razeq via video link Monday, pledging to enhance friendly exchanges between the two sides.

Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that this year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and China stands ready to work with Egypt to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, consolidate mutual political trust, support each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns, and promote cooperation on economy and trade, people-to-people exchanges and anti-epidemic efforts.

The CPPCC National Committee is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges with the Egyptian Senate and further enrich the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

Abdel Razeq expressed the willingness to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, and continue to firmly support China's principled position on the issues of Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 21:54:26|Editor: huaxia

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KAMPALA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan police and military have stepped up security in and around the capital Kampala ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of President Yoweri Museveni slated for this Wednesday, a police spokesperson said on Monday.

Fred Enanga, police spokesperson, told reporters that joint security forces have been deployed on motorized and foot patrols to ensure a peaceful event.

"The swearing-in security is in a very advanced stage. We have a posture that is robust and multi-layered jointly coordinated by all security agencies," said Enanga.

"We continue to assess our security situation for hot spots. We have security presence in the suburbs of Kampala and this will be rolled out in the entire country," he said.

The celebrations will be held at Kololo Independence ceremonial grounds in the capital Kampala under strict COVID-19 prevention measures, according to the ministry for the presidency.

At least 4,000 guests, including heads of state, world leaders and former presidential candidates, have been invited to attend the function to be held after Museveni won the Jan. 14 presidential elections.

Museveni came into power in 1986. Since then, he has won several elections. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 22:32:27|Editor: huaxia

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LUSAKA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Zambia and Botswana on Monday launched a bridge that links the two countries, with Zambian President Edgar Lungu commending China and other cooperating partners for financing the project.

The 923-meter-long Kazungula Bridge has been described as a game-changer in promoting trade not only between the two countries but the entire southern African region.

The 259.3 million U.S. dollars bridge comprises a bridge across the Zambezi River, and one border post of the two country's sides. It started construction in 2014.

Lungu, who commissioned the bridge on the Zambian side, said the project would not have become a reality without the financial support of China, Japan, South Korea and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

"This multi-million-dollar project required diverse resources and input for the vision to become a reality," he said.

According to him, the project exemplifies the essence of development cooperation and embodies the spirit of solidarity on the global platform.

The construction of the bridge, he said, will improve traffic transit due to reduced border transit time as well as improved trade facilitation measures and border management operations due to the inclusion of a one border post.

This will lower the cost of doing business and this, in turn, will result in an increase in trade and competitiveness, job creation, tourism, and other positive ripple effects, he added.

The Zambian leader further said the completion of the bridge was timely as it will facilitate increased intra-African trade and regional and continental integration.

Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi opened the one border post on the Botswana side. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 11:20:38|Editor: huaxia

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SEOUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that his government will seek to find a way for restored talks between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and between the DPRK and the United States.

Moon made the remarks during a televised address to mark the fourth inauguration anniversary of his five-year tenure. He took office in May 2017.

The president said that through the upcoming summit talks with U.S. President Joe Biden scheduled for May 21 in Washington, he will firmly solidify the South Korea-U.S. alliance and coordinate the DPRK policy more closely.

He noted that his government will seek to find a way to restore the South Korea-DPRK and the DPRK-U.S. dialogues, and step forward for peace and cooperation.

Moon said he will make all-out efforts if an opportunity comes during the remaining tenure of his presidency to turn the "peace clock" again and advance the Korean Peninsula peace process, expressing his anticipation for a response from Pyongyang.

Moon welcomed the DPRK policy of the Biden administration, which he said would be a flexible, gradual, practical approach through diplomacy and based on the Singapore declaration with a basic goal of the peninsula's complete denuclearization.

Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump held their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing to the complete denuclearization of and the lasting peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 12:03:03|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed that the government is working on a roadmap to reopen the country's international borders.

"It's really built around the three principles of green lanes and opening up new bubbles with different safe countries, as we've done with New Zealand, and as we'll do with others in the Pacific and within the region as they become progressively safer," he told reporters on Sunday.

"Second part of the roadmap is in relation to our own domestic vaccination strategy, protecting the nation. And then the third element is the capacity for regular travel for those who have been vaccinated."

The government has previously flagged greater travel freedoms for people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, including being able to quarantine at home rather than at hotels or in dedicated facilities on return to Australia.

Hunt said they would be "able to travel earlier" and highly likely "return with lesser restrictions."

The government will hand down the federal budget for the financial year 2021/22 on Tuesday night.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that forward projections contained in the budget are based on the assumption that migration and travel will resume in 2022.

However, he warned that there were several factors that would determine that timeline.

"We've got to follow the medical advice," Frydenberg told public service broadcaster SBS recently.

As of Sunday afternoon, there had been 29,923 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the numbers of locally and overseas acquired cases in the last 24 hours were zero and 16 respectively, according to the latest figures updated on Sunday evening from the Department of Health. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 13:24:51|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Taliban outfit has announced a three-day ceasefire with the Afghan government during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, a Taliban spokesman said on Monday.

"To provide a peaceful and secure atmosphere for our compatriots to celebrate this joyous Eid al-Fitr with a greater peace of mind, all Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate (name of the ousted Taliban regime) are instructed to halt all offensive operations against the enemy countrywide from the first till the third day of Eid," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said on Twitter.

The first day of the Eid al-Fitr festival will probably fall on Thursday (May 13) this year, depending on the sighting of the moon.

The Taliban spokesman also urged the insurgent fighters not to go to areas under the control of the Afghan troops during the ceasefire.

The announcement came when clashes rage in the country as the Taliban-led insurgency and counter-insurgency traditionally get momentum in spring and summer commonly known as the fighting season. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 13:47:43|Editor: huaxia

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SEOUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that his government will seek to find a way during the remainder of his presidency for restored talks between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and between the DPRK and the United States.

"I will consider the remaining one year of my term to be the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible," Moon said in a televised address to mark the fourth inauguration anniversary of his five-year tenure. He took office in May 2017.

"It is time to take action," Moon said hailing the Biden administration's DPRK policy, which he said aimed to "achieve the primary goal of the Korean Peninsula's complete denuclearization via diplomacy with a flexible, gradual and practical approach by building upon the foundation of the Singapore Declaration."

Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump held their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing to the complete denuclearization of and the lasting peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Moon is scheduled to visit Washington for summit talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on May 21 in a bid to restore the deadlocked dialogue between the two Koreas and between the DPRK and the United States.

"We (he and Biden) will restore dialogue between the two Koreas and between the United States and North Korea (the DPRK) and find a way to step once again toward peaceful cooperation by more closely coordinating policies toward North Korea," Moon said.

"If there is an opportunity to restart the clock of peace and advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything I can. I look forward to North Korea responding positively," he noted.

"We have seen clear potential for issues to be solved diplomatically," the president said, citing the three inter-Korean summits and the two DPRK-U.S. summits during his tenure that failed to achieve a complete success but maintained peace.

"If we make a little more effort, the issue will be able to be solved through diplomacy. I found a possibility for and had confidence in the Korean Peninsula's complete denuclearization and the lasting peace settlement," he added.

Following Biden's first Congressional speech in which the U.S. president called the DPRK's nuclear program a "serious threat," Pyongyang warned earlier this month that Washington will "face a worsening crisis" if the United States holds on to the outdated hostile policy towards the DPRK.

Moon said he did not interpret the DPRK response as a refusal to dialogue.

He said the prolonged dialogue deadlock will never be desirable, adding that his worry was shared by the Biden administration, which rapidly established its DPRK policy through close coordination and consultations with Seoul. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 14:10:40|Editor: huaxia

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MALE, May 10 (Xihua) -- The Maldives police have arrested the primary suspect in connection to a terrorist attack which injured Speaker of Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed last week, local media reported on Monday.

Ahmed Adhuham, 25, was apprehended by the police in Hulhumale 15 hours after the release of CCTV footage featuring him at the scene of the attack. Two other suspects, 21-year-old Mujaz Ahmed and 32-year-old Thahumeen Ahmed were arrested on Saturday.

State media reported that Maldives' Parliamentary Committee on National Security Services will conduct an inquiry into the breach of the Speaker's security. The Committee has resolved to identify any negligence leading up to the attack, and may seek technical assistance from foreign experts.

Meanwhile, President Ibrahim Solih has ordered an audit on the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) in order to ascertain the reason for security failures leading to the attack on Nasheed on Thursday.

Nasheed was critically injured when a remotely-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a motorcycle parked near his car exploded. He was transferred to the ADK Hospital where he received multiple surgeries.

Hospital authorities have said that Nasheed is recovering from his injuries. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 14:40:43|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including a district police chief, were killed and 14 others wounded in roadside bomb explosions in Afghanistan's two eastern provinces, authorities said on Monday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 16:07:10|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Three people including two personnel of paramilitary troops and a passer-by were injured when a blast went off in Quetta, capital of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Monday, police said.

The troops of Frontier Corps (FC) were patrolling across the city on their motorbikes when they were hit by a roadside improvised explosive device, police told local media.

The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital where their condition is stable. Police cordoned off the area for investigating the incident.

No group or individual has claimed the attack yet. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 16:10:57|Editor: huaxia

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VIENTIANE, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Lao officials around the country are patrolling border areas to prevent people from entering Laos illegally from neighboring countries, especially across the Mekong River.

Officials will travel along the Mekong River to deter people crossing at unauthorized locations, as part of the efforts to prevent people from entering Laos illegally and avoiding screening for COVID-19, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Monday.

The Lao government is stepping up operations to prevent illegal immigration and conducting stringent checks of everyone entering Laos.

The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has instructed authorities in Savannakhet, Saravan and Xayaboury provinces, which are considered at high risk for the spread of the virus, to record the details of everyone entering Laos.

As of Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Laos has reached 1,327 with one death.

Laos reported its first two COVID-19 confirmed cases on March 24 last year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 16:42:32|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Australia has administered more than 400,000 coronavirus vaccines in one week for the first time, Greg Hunt, the Minister for Health, on Monday announced.

There were 402,000 vaccine doses administered in the seven days last week, which took the total number of vaccines since the rollout began in February to more than 2.6 million, according to the minister.

"Every day, those numbers are climbing," Hunt told reporters. "More Australians are being vaccinated and that's greater protection for them and for the nation."

He was joined by Eric Young, the Royal Australian Navy Commodore responsible for coordinating Australia's vaccine program, who said that 351,000 Pfizer vaccines arrived in the country on Monday morning.

Young said that the government was set to distribute more than 900,000 doses to general practitioners (GPs) and vaccination centers over the week.

"In terms of distribution of the vaccine, last week, we successfully distributed 560,000 doses of the vaccine," he said.

"This week, on the back of the additional allocations and amid growing supplies, we will be distributing over 900,000 doses of vaccines, with more than 5,000 orders going out across the country. That is our biggest week by far."

The government has abandoned its goal of vaccinating the Australian population against COVID-19 by October.

Hunt said that greater travel freedoms for vaccinated people flagged by Prime Minister Scott Morrison would be an incentive for Australians to get inoculated as soon as possible. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 20:10:10|Editor: huaxia

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BISHKEK, May 10 (Xinhua) -- President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the initiative of the Russian side, the press service of the Kyrgyz president reported on Monday.

The report said that the heads of state congratulated each other on the 76th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The Russian president also congratulated the people of Kyrgyzstan on the entry into force of a new constitution.

During the conversation, the two sides also discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as the situation related to the recent conflict at the Kyrgyz-Tajik section of the state border.

Putin said that Russia was ready to provide Kyrgyzstan with necessary assistance to overcome the humanitarian consequences of the border conflict, the report said.

Following the talks, the two sides agreed to hold a working visit of Zhaparov to Moscow at the end of May, during which the most pressing issues of bilateral cooperation and Eurasian economic integration will be discussed.

The two sides will pay special attention to regional security, including within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The two leaders will also discuss measures to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, including the supply of Russian vaccines to Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the Kyrgyz president said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 21:33:28|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Australia signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on Monday to contribute an additional 4 million Australian dollars (3.15 million U.S. dollars) to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on Cambodia, the UNDP said in a press release.

The deal took effect immediately, the UNDP said, adding that the additional contribution will fund further work to strengthen social assistance, support local businesses to adapt to pandemic-related difficulties, and other priorities identified through consultation with the Cambodian government and civil society.

The contribution will top up the Australia-UNDP Resilience Fund, a flexible mechanism that has already been providing targeted support to Cambodia's socio-economic response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNDP said.

"Together we've managed to react quickly to this crisis, providing support to the rapid scale-up of social assistance to those who need it most, and protecting trade and livelihoods too," said Nick Beresford, UNDP resident representative in Cambodia.

Australian Ambassador to Cambodia Pablo Kang said COVID-19 poses urgent challenges for Cambodia's economy and the livelihoods of its people.

"Working with the UNDP, we are also boosting funding to support the work needed now to position Cambodia to make a rapid and inclusive economic recovery from the pandemic," he said.

The Resilience Fund has facilitated the continuation of safe cross-border trade through the provision of critical protective equipment and sanitation materials to Cambodia's General Department of Customs and Excise, the UNDP said.

It added that the fund has also helped small businesses connect with online e-commerce platforms to keep operating during the lockdown and participate in the digital economy. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 22:50:42|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China and Bangladesh are witnessing progress in their joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming said Monday.

Li made the remarks during a virtual interaction on Monday with members of Bangladesh's Diplomatic Correspondents Association, with a gift of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines set to arrive in Bangladesh on May 12th.

The vaccine aid arrives "just in time," Li said, adding that "it is the latest outcome of China-Bangladesh anti-pandemic cooperation, which again shows that our two peoples are in the same boat, and we will stand with each other till the end of this battle."

"The virus is our common enemy, and cooperation is the only way out," he said.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, the two countries have come a long way in the common fight against the pandemic, the ambassador said, calling the anti-pandemic cooperation "close and effective."

As a densely-populated country, Bangladesh has witnessed a prompt decrease of daily new cases in the second wave of COVID-19, from around 7,000 a month ago to around 1,000 Monday, Li said.

China and Bangladesh have been working to implement a high-level bilateral consensus on fighting COVID-19 through multiple telephone and written exchanges, and mutual support, according to Li.

The ambassador mentioned in particular Bangladesh's support for China when it was hit hardest by the virus, with a letter of condolence sent and medical supplies donated, "including 1 million gloves, 5 million masks, 100 thousand hand sanitizers and tens of thousands of pieces of surgical attire." he mentioned.

In response, when Bangladesh was battered by COVID-19, the "public and private sectors of China, local Chinese groups and associations as well as the Chinese government both at the central and local level, have provided large quantities of medical supplies and essential goods to the government and people of Bangladesh," including the country's one-and-only foreign medical team on COVID-19 so far, which is from China, Li added.

"China and Bangladesh have stayed in touch regarding vaccine cooperation, including through clinical trials, bilateral assistance, commercial purchases and local production, some of which will materialize very soon," Li said.

Meanwhile, the diplomat said that China and Bangladesh have been champions of multilateralism, humanitarianism and international collaboration at the regional and multilateral levels, an example of which would be the foreign ministers video meeting on the COVID-19 response held among China, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on April 27th.

"China's dedication to international vaccine cooperation is a reflection of its belief in building a community with a shared future for mankind," said Li. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 22:56:25|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan recorded a 15-percent increase in exports to Afghanistan during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year 2021, compared with last fiscal year, Abdul Razak Dawood, advisor to Pakistani prime minister for commerce and investment, said on Monday.

The country's exports to Afghanistan during July-April (2020-21) were recorded at 869 million U.S. dollars against the exports of 754 million U.S. dollars during July-April (2019-20), Dawood said on Twitter.

He said the exports of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy products, chemicals, electrical equipment, machinery, paper and paperboard have contributed to the increase.

"We continue to encourage legal, secure, transparent, consistent and reliable trade with Afghanistan. Exporters are urged to aggressively market their exports to Afghanistan," the official added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 23:05:02|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Monday purportedly began to speed up its highly criticized and sluggish rollout of COVID-19 inoculation campaign, informed sources said Monday.

The central government said that plans are currently in effect to ensure that all of Japan's 36 million senior citizens are inoculated by the end of July amid soaring cases of the virus and with no signs of it abating in urban areas even under extended emergency measures.

Thus far, Japan has only managed to vaccinate 240,000 of those aged 65 or older with the second of their two jabs, in stark contrast to the pace of other advanced countries.

In the following two weeks, the government said it will deliver enough vaccines to local municipalities to inoculate 9 million seniors, with all 36 million of this demographic having the requisite amount of vaccine doses delivered by the end of June.

Around 390 municipalities will launch the expedited inoculation program in the next seven days from Monday, marking the largest number per week.

The health ministry here has claimed that of the 390, 120 local governments launched the campaign as of Monday.

As criticism of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga grows over the slow national rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, all 47 prefectural governors in the country took aim at the central government Monday during an online meeting.

The National Governors' Association expressed their dissatisfaction and mounting fears about the rapid spread of new virus variants around the country, despite the extended and expanded state of emergency in Tokyo and other major urban areas last week.

With Japan already in the grip of a fourth wave of infections, Tokyo governor Koike Yuriko said during the meeting that the virus situation has "entered a new phase" and people should be aware they are facing the "risk of an explosive surge in infections."

Japan's public broadcaster NHK also quoted Okayama governor Ryuta Ibaragi as saying that new virus variants should be "treated as viruses that are completely different from the original strains that require bold countermeasures."

Ibaragi said if the central government maintains its current course of action then "it will be too late to take the next steps."

The country's governors are putting together a set of emergency recommendations for the central government as they feel not enough has been done.

Underscoring the severity of the situation, the health ministry said the number of COVID-19 patients designated as being in a "severe condition" reached a record high of 1,152 on Monday, topping Sunday's record of 1,144. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 00:40:16|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Monday after more than three years in power, opening door for formation of a new government in the country.

Against 136 votes needed to win the vote of confidence in the House with 271 lawmakers, Oli just managed to garner 93 votes. The lawmakers from Madhav Nepal faction (UML) within his party CPN-UML did not vote for him and abstained from the voting process.

The CPN-UML has 121 seats in the House of Representatives which is short of 15 votes to win the vote of confidence in the parliament. Despite the party whip to vote in favour of the vote of confidence motion, the lawmakers from the UML faction, with 28 votes, did not stand for Oli due to the escalated feud within the party.

The government was pushed into minority after CPN (Maoist Centre) on May 5 withdrew its support for Oli extended in February 2018. Oli, however, had decided to take the vote of confidence on May 2 even before the CPN (Maoist Centre) withdrew its support.

After losing the vote of confidence Oli has been relieved of the prime ministerial position as per Article 100 (3) of the Constitution of Nepal, according to constitutional experts.

House Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has written to President Bidya Devi Bhandari after the voting, informing her that Oli has lost the majority in the parliament, which allows her to open the door for the formation of a new government.

"Oli is just a caretaker government after losing the vote of trust," Bipin Adhikari, an expert on constitution who is a former dean at Kathmandu University School of Law, told Xinhua. "Now the president should start the process towards the formation of a coalition government."

"The president has called for the formation of the government as per Article 76(2) by Thursday evening, " said Keshab Prasad Ghimire, spokesperson at the President's Office Monday night .

Currently, Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and Janata Samajbadi Party are under negotiations to form a government.

The Nepali Congress has 63 seats, with two of them suspended having no voting right while CPN (Maoist Centre) has 49 lawmakers. Similarly, Janata Samajbadi Party has 34 lawmakers, including two suspended having no voting right. The formation of the coalition government is only possible if the three parties come together.

President of the Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba, Chairperson of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Upendra Yadav, Chair of Janata Samajbadi Party, while addressing the parliament on Monday, said the process for the formation of a coalition government should begin.

However, the three parties have not reached an agreement yet. While the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) are ready to do so, the Janata Samajbadi Party is divided within itself as one of its factions is against the idea.

Deuba, Dahal and Yadav on Monday evening urged President Bidya Devi to call for a coalition government as per Article 76 (2) of the constitution. The president is now supposed to appoint as the prime minister a member of the House of Representatives who can command majority with the support of two or more parties in the House.

Oli hasn't resigned yet despite losing the trust of the parliament, but that doesn't stop the president from making calls for the formation of the new government.

Constitutional experts say if the three parties fail to form a coalition government, the president will then allow Oli to form a government as a parliamentary party leader of the single largest party. Article 76 (3) of the constitution allows the largest party to form a government if a coalition government is not possible.

"Oli will have to seek vote of confidence in 30 days once (he) gets appointed as a prime minister as a leader of the largest party," Purna Man Shakya, a professor at Nepal Law Campus, told Xinhua. However, the country may head towards the dissolution of the House once again if Oli fails to get the vote of confidence even after he forms a new government.

Oli had dissolved the House of Representatives while he was still leading a majority government in December last year. The Supreme Court on Feb. 23 overturned the decision saying it was unconstitutional.

Addressing the House of Representatives before Monday's vote of confidence motion was tabled, Oli had said his government always worked for nationalism, development and taking the country towards the path of prosperity.

"I decided to take a vote of confidence because I believe the parliament has righty assessed the works by the government," he said in the parliament. "There is no reason why the government shouldn't get trust vote."

Oli's Nepal Communist Party (NCP) won elections in late 2017 and in early 2018 he was chosen to be prime minister by the parliament. A split in his party in March this year weakened him, prompting him to call the vote of confidence in an attempt to demonstrate he still had enough support to stay in power.

However, a new split after he had decided on calling the confidence vote took place, leading to his defeat.

Oli has also been criticized for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the country reporting its largest number of new cases and deaths in the past few days.

Authorities have imposed a lockdown in most parts of the country since last month, while hospitals are reportedly running out of beds, oxygen and medication as the situation keeps worsening.

On Monday, the country reported 9,127 cases, the highest increase yet. Nearly 4,000 people have died since the pandemic began, according to official figures.

"Our situation is pathetic and helpless," Sameer Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson at the health ministry, said on Sunday. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 00:46:39|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has barred its citizens under 40 years of age and those with a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from taking the jab, the health ministry said on Monday.

According to the interim guidelines issued by the health ministry on Sunday about administering the AstraZeneca vaccine, people who developed blood clotting issues after receiving the first dose of the vaccine should not take the second does.

Those with active gastrointestinal bleeding or seizure, or a history of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis are also stopped from opting to get the AstraZeneca vaccine administered, the guidelines said.

The decision follows reports in some countries of rare blood clotting and low platelets events in people, especially those below 50 years, after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, local media reported.

Pakistan received its first shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccines on Saturday under the COVAX Facility, a World Health Organization-led initiative aimed at ensuring equal access to COVID-19 vaccines by various countries, according to the reports.

Pakistan is currently facing a third wave of COVID-19, and to bring the situation under control, the government is taking stringent measures including locking down almost the whole country during the ongoing Eid al-Fitr holidays, and accelerating the vaccination process. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 01:26:24|Editor: huaxia

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Peter Voser, chairman of Swiss technology and engineering firm ABB, addresses the 50th St. Gallen Symposium at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, May 5, 2021. (St. Gallen Symposium/Handout via Xinhua)

by Martina Fuchs

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The chairman of Swiss technology and engineering firm ABB told Xinhua he was bullish about his company's performance outlook for 2021 driven by its China business and strong push into robotics and e-mobility.

"The first quarter (Q1) of this year was better than expected, both in revenue terms but also in profit terms," Peter Voser told Xinhua on the sidelines of the 50th St. Gallen Symposium, a conference and student initiative taking place at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland in May every year.

ABB, headquartered in Zurich, is a global technology and robotics leader with some 110,000 employees worldwide.

In Q1, the company reported a 34 percent year-on-year jump in its net profit to 502 million U.S. dollars and expects orders and revenues to grow by more than 10 percent during the second quarter.

"So all in all, I think a positive outlook for the second quarter, and then for the rest of the year. But there we haven't given any numeric targets at this stage, but we are more positive than we used to be at the beginning of the year," he said in the interview.

According to Voser, ABB will focus its long-term strategy on e-mobility.

"That's not just for passenger cars, because we are also involved in train electrification, ship electrification, buses and trucks. The whole e-mobility business is very important to us."

"ABB in general is engaged in two major revolutions. One is the transition to electric mobility and the other one is automation and robotics," he said. "So, we are well positioned to capture growth in the future."

CHINA GROWTH STRATEGY

China is ABB's second largest market worldwide. Headquartered in Beijing, the company has around 15,000 employees in the country.

Voser said the group's China strategy is focused on an "in China, for China and the world" approach, which entails improving its local research and development (R&D) and innovation capabilities.

"We are continuously investing in China," Voser said. "Our biggest project at the moment is the new robot factory, which is also an R&D center and an automation artificial intelligence (AI) center for robotics, so it's the value chain in which we are investing now."

In September 2019, ABB broke ground on its new robotics factory by investing one billion Chinese yuan (154.5 million U.S. dollars) in Shanghai. It is planned to become the world's most advanced, automated and flexible robotics factory and is slated to open in 2022.

"China is the biggest market at the moment, we are number one in robotics in China, and our projected growth there is enormous," Voser said.

"For us, in general, a great business in China, growing very fast, and robotics is the biggest investment now," he told Xinhua.

Voser also said he was bullish on the long-term macroeconomic outlook for the world's second largest economy.

"From a macro point of view, we are very positive about China and the government has outlined its target for the year ... We are well positioned to capture growth in China, and that's why we are investing in robotics."

China aims to expand its gross domestic product (GDP) by over six percent year-on-year in 2021, and it plans to bolster its reform, innovation and high-quality development efforts.

"Given the size of ABB in China with its 15,000 people, we have great expectations, and I think the country will deliver on this," said Voser, noting that China's economic push is "very positive" for the world, and also for ABB. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 05:16:18|Editor: huaxia

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BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Serbia reported 834 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest since last November, its Ministry of Health stated in a press release on Sunday.

The new cases came out of 9,389 tested.

Meanwhile, 19 new coronavirus-related deaths were registered, bringing the toll in the country to 6,558, with a mortality rate of 0.94 percent, the ministry informed.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,929,245 people have been tested, of which 700,408 were positive for the coronavirus," said the ministry.

The decreasing numbers were a relief after new infections peaked in mid-March to up to 5,500 per day.

Serbia started vaccinating a wider population earlier than elsewhere in Europe, thanks to the procurement of Sinopharm vaccine from China, in addition to vaccines from other manufacturers.

Over 3.5 million doses of vaccines have been administered across the country, while over 1.5 million people are immunized against the coronavirus.

Currently there are 3,827 people in hospital, with 137 on respirators.

Serbia decided on Friday to allow gatherings in bars and restaurants, although music is not allowed, and the closing time is set at 10 p.m. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 10:15:54|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- One of Britain's most wanted fugitives was arrested in Dubai after eight years on the run, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said Sunday.

Michael Paul Moogan, who had been wanted for his alleged role in a large-scale international drug trafficking plot, was apprehended on April 21 as a result of joint working between Dubai Police and British law enforcers, the NCA said.

The NCA has established that Moogan was using numerous false identities to avoid capture.

"Dubai Police believe that after entering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using a different identity, he tried to avoid Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in an attempt to elude detectives. Utilising the latest capabilities, including the Criminal Data Analysis Center, they were able to track him down," said the NCA.

"For operational reasons details can only be revealed now," said an NCA spokesman, adding that Moogan had been on the run since a raid on a Rotterdam cafe suspected of being used as a front for meetings between drug traffickers and cartels, and central to a plot to bring hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the UK every week.

The NCA suspected that Moogan and two other British men were involved in plans to import drugs from Latin America to the European Union (EU). Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 20:48:53|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chief medical officers for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on Monday recommended Britain's coronavirus alert level be downgraded from Four to Three as infections and deaths have fallen consistently.

"Thanks to the efforts of the UK public in social distancing, and the impact we are starting to see from the vaccination program, case numbers, deaths and COVID hospital pressures have fallen consistently," the chief medical officers as well as National Health Service (NHS) England national medical director Stephen Powys said jointly in a statement.

"However, COVID is still circulating, with people catching and spreading the virus every day so we all need to continue to be vigilant. This remains a major pandemic globally," they said.

"It is very important that we all continue to follow the guidance closely and everyone gets both doses of the vaccine when they are offered it," they added.

During the peak of the pandemic in winter, Britain was put at the highest alert level of Five when there was a real risk of the NHS becoming overwhelmed.

By late February, as cases and hospitalisations started to fall, the alert was lowered to Four, which meant the epidemic "is in general circulation" and that "transmission is high or rising exponentially".

Level Three suggests the epidemic is "in general circulation", but would mean a gradual reduction in social distancing measures and restrictions.

The COVID-19 alert level system is separate and independent from any government decisions on easing or tightening restrictions, according to the BBC.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce later Monday that England will move ahead with the next phase of lockdown easing from May 17, including households mixing indoors and the return of indoor hospitality.

More than 35.3 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, 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. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 06:43:08|Editor: huaxia

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Romania's President Klaus Iohannis (R) and Polish President Andrzej Duda hold a press conference after the virtual Summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) format in Bucharest, Romania, May 10, 2021. The virtual Summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) format closed late Monday with a joint declaration, expressing the expectation and support of the participating countries for the upcoming NATO Summit to take substantive and forward-looking decisions to strengthen the alliance's deterrence and defense architecture. (Romanian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

BUCHAREST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The virtual Summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) format closed late Monday with a joint declaration, expressing the expectation and support of the participating countries for the upcoming NATO Summit to take substantive and forward-looking decisions to strengthen the alliance's deterrence and defense architecture.

"We endorse the recently adopted strategic military concepts for strengthening deterrence and defense of our Alliance and commit to their full implementation," the participants of the summit stated in the joint declaration, adding that allies should commit to modernizing the NATO Force Structure.

According to the declaration, the heads of state of the nine countries reiterated their commitment to NATO's Open Door policy, stressing that NATO's door should remain open to all willing and able to join the community.

The summit was hosted by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his visiting Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Bucharest. Leaders of the other seven member states as well as U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined the event via video link.

The B9 is an initiative launched by the presidents of Romania and Poland, joining a group of European countries on the eastern edge of NATO -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

The first B9 summit was held in Bucharest in 2015. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 09:27:02|Editor: huaxia

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HAVANA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 1.7 million people from the Cuban capital Havana will receive doses of the homegrown COVID-19 vaccine candidates as part of an intervention study starting on Wednesday, according to local newspaper Tribuna de La Habana.

Clara Zamora, a resident of Havana's Camilo Cienfuegos district, is looking forward to receiving the first dose of Abdala COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the coming days.

"I very much trust in the expertise of Cuban scientists and doctors," the 72-year-old said. "I have no doubt the mass vaccination rollout will help the island contain the spread of the virus."

The government confirmed on Sunday that mass vaccinations will begin Wednesday in seven municipalities of Havana and will continue in the second half of May in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, and the Special Municipality of Isla de la Juventud.

It came as the island nation registered on Sunday 1,069 new COVID-19 infections and ten more deaths related to the virus in the past 24 hours, with the totals standing at 115,981 and 732, respectively.

Francisco Duran, national director of hygiene and epidemiology at the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, is confident that the mass vaccination rollout will help decrease COVID-19 infection rates across the country.

"We will be able to go through this difficult situation working together, with the participation of people and the mass vaccination drive," he said, adding new COVID-19 variants circulating on the island are deadlier and more contagious.

Currently, Phase III clinical trials for Cuban COVID-19 vaccine candidates Soberana 02 and Abdala are underway, as well as intervention studies involving frontline workers from Havana and the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Granma.

In the coming weeks, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers in the Caribbean nation could also apply for emergency use authorization from Cuba's Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices, according to local authorities.

During a televised address, Cuban Minister of Public Health Jose Angel Portal Miranda said that the island expects to immunize more than 70 percent of its population against COVID-19 by August.

"The key to success is to prevent the population from getting sick. Prevention is the way; we must keep on doing our best," he said.

Cuba, home to over 11 million people, has adopted partial lockdown measures to confront its sharpest rise in new COVID-19 infections and deaths since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Amid the tightened U.S. embargo against the island, Cuba is now working on the development of five COVID-19 vaccine candidates, namely Soberana 01, Soberana 02, Soberana Plus, Mambisa and Abdala.

Local biopharmaceutical authorities expect to immunize the country's entire population with domestically manufactured COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-10 17:28:00|Editor: huaxia

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LOS ANGELES, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Six adults were killed early Sunday morning when a suspect opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado Springs, a city in the U.S. state of Colorado, police said, adding the suspect took his own life on the scene.

The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said in a statement Sunday afternoon that they responded to a shooting call at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park at approximately 12:18 a.m. local time (0718 GMT on Sunday).

"Upon arrival, officers located six deceased adults and one adult male with serious injuries who was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," the statement read.

The CSPD said that through an initial analysis of evidence and preliminary interviews they believed the mass shooting incident occurred when a birthday party was being held for one of the victims.

The suspect, the boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life.

The children at the scene were not injured by the suspect, police said, noting they were still investigating to determine the motive. More details would be released later.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski made some emotional remarks in the statement, saying, "Words fall short to describe the tragedy that took place this morning."

"As the chief of police, as a husband, as a father, as a grandfather, as a member of this community, my heart breaks for the families who have lost someone they love and for the children who have lost their parents," he said.

"This is something you hope never happens in your own community, in the place that you call home," he added.

According to The Gazette, a Colorado Springs-based newspaper, the party was to celebrate the birthdays of Nubia Marquez, 28, and her brother, Melvin Perez, who would have turned 31 this week, as well as their mother, Joana Cruz, who would have turned 54 this week.

Nubia Marquez and her husband Freddy Marquez left the party at about local time 10:00 p.m. (0500 GMT on Sunday), hence survived the tragedy, in which both Melvin Perez and Joana Cruz were killed.

The local newspaper reported that a woman who lives in the mobile home park said she awoke to the sound of what she believed were gunshots, eventually heard people crying outside and saw two young children were put in the back of a patrol car.

"And on Mother's Day," said the woman, who did not wish to be named.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis also issued a statement, saying the incident was "devastating."

"The tragic shooting in Colorado Springs is devastating, especially as many of us are spending the day celebrating the women in our lives who have made us the people we are today," Polis said in the statement.

Sunday's incident is the fourth deadliest mass shooting in Colorado's history and the second mass shooting within 60 days in the state. On March 22, a gunman killed 10 people at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 06:07:59|Editor: huaxia

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CHICAGO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday authorized the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12-15 for the prevention of COVID-19 vaccine caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

The FDA has determined that Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has met the statutory criteria to amend the emergency use authorization (EUA), and that the known and potential benefits of this vaccine in individuals 12 years of age and older outweigh the known and potential risks, FDA said in a news released posted on its website on Monday.

According to the available safety data uploaded by FDA, 2,260 participants aged 12 through 15 years old enrolled in an ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial in the United States. Of these, 1,131 adolescent participants received the vaccine and 1,129 received a saline placebo. More than half of the participants were followed for safety for at least two months following the second dose.

The most commonly reported side effects in the adolescent clinical trial participants, which typically lasted 1-3 days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, chills, muscle pain, fever and joint pain. With the exception of pain at the injection site, more adolescents reported these side effects after the second dose than after the first dose. The side effects in adolescents were consistent with those reported in clinical trial participants 16 years of age and older.

FDA further noted that while some individuals experience side effects following any vaccination, not every individual's experience will be the same and some people may not experience side effects.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine should not be given to anyone with a known history of a severe allergic reaction, including anaphylaxis to any component of the vaccine, FDA stressed.

The EUA amendment for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine was issued to Pfizer Inc. The issuance of an EUA is not an FDA approval (licensure) of a vaccine. The EUA will be effective until the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biologics for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 is terminated, and may be revised or revoked if it is determined the EUA no longer meets the statutory criteria for issuance or to protect public health or safety, the news release said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-11 06:28:27|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged all sides to de-escalate in Israeli-Palestinian clashes while recognizing Israel's right to self-defense in the face of rocket attacks.

"We're very focused on the situation in Israel, West Bank, Gaza, very deeply concerned about the rocket attacks ... that need to stop and need to stop immediately," Blinken said before his meeting with visiting Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

He also expressed concerns about "the violence and provocative actions in and around the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount."

Blinken welcomed Israel's decision to reroute an annual nationalist flag parade and postpone a decision on the eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

"It's imperative that all sides take steps to de-escalate and calm the situation," he stressed.

The top U.S. diplomat also voiced deep concerns about rocket attacks against Israel, saying Israel has a right to defend its people and its territory from these attacks.

Safadi in his remarks highlighted that Jerusalem is a "red line" and maintaining peace and stability in Jerusalem is the key.

"Our focus right now is ensuring that the escalation stops ... we do believe that all immediate provocative measures against either the peoples of Sheikh Jarrah or in terms of violations into al-Haram must stop, status quo needs to be preserved, and the rights of the Palestinians need to be respected," he added.

After hundreds of Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police in East Jerusalem on Monday morning, Hamas launched a rocket attack at Jerusalem in the afternoon, which drew a heavy Israeli response.

The tension between Israelis and Palestinians has been flaring up over the past few days amid the escalating violence in East Jerusalem between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli forces.

The clashes were sparked by the Israeli restrictions on Palestinian Muslims in East Jerusalem during the holy month of Ramadan and a plan to evict some Palestinian families from a neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed East Jerusalem shortly after the war, claiming it as part of the Israeli capital. Enditem
Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo, arrives at Sochi Airport to take part in the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, October 22, 2019. Vladimir Smirnov/TASS Host Photo Agency

Somalia's President Mohamed Farmaajo was on Tuesday evening expected to deliver a national address, as more of his closest allies fled his camp over a simmering electoral dispute.

A statement from his official residence; Villa Somalia, said the President will address the public on national TV, to "brief them on the latest development in the country and the upcoming elections."

The announcement followed two days of tensions in Mogadishu after the military fractured along clan lines with soldiers fighting one another, and divided on sides supporting a two-year extension for Farmaajo and those opposed.

It also came just minutes after leaders of Hirshabelle and Galmudug, which had backed him all through the controversy withdrew their support, and demanded an "immediate" election and termed any extension as "illegal."

State Presidents Abdi Karie Qoorqoor of Galmudug and Ali Abdullahi Hussein of Hirshabelle decamped on Tuesday, joining a growing voice against President Farmaajo's recent extension of his term by two years.

South West joined the camp later in the day. Led by, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, South West issued a statement renouncing support for term extension and demanding immediate elections.

The three joined Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland and Ahmed Madobe of Jubbaland in voicing their opposition to a decision two weeks ago by the Lower House of Parliament to extend their term and that of Farmaajo, ostensibly to allow time for universal suffrage.

South West, Hirshabelle, Galmudug had all stuck with Farmaajo, especially since their recent respective elections are perceived to have been influenced by Villa Somalia.

Elections standoff

But as an impasse on the electoral calendar grew, their decamping is thought to be a direct impact of can politics in Somalia.

The leaders' respective clans have recently voiced opposition to Farmaajo staying longer without elections. Qoorqoor (from Habar-Gidir sub-clan) and Hussein (of Abigaal sub-clan) belong to the larger Hawiye clan which has produced some influential personalities like ex-Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed as well as Prime Minister Hussein Roble, former Planning Minister and opposition leader Abdulrahman Abdishakur.

Last week, the clan's professionals and politicians gathered in Mogadishu and announced they had withdrawn support for Farmaajo as President.

On Sunday and Monday, a number of roads were barricaded in the city as soldiers loyal to opposition leaders under the National Salvation Forum guarded neighbourhoods hosting opposition supporters.

Government termed the soldiers as "militia" although the groups were mainly composed of soldiers trained under the Somalia National Army.

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"Somalia can achieve peaceful elections if Farmaajo wanted it," said Senator Ilyas Ali Hassan, Secretary for Foreign Affairs for opposition party Himilo-Qaran.

"It is unfortunate that, in the Holy Month of Ramadhan, people in Mogadishu are fleeing for their dear lives because of one person's interests and who is refusing to hold an immediate election."

President's options

With the decamping of his two main allies, Farmaajo could on Tuesday decide to return to dialogue for an indirect election as demanded by the opposition. Or, he could stay put and create more turmoil.

"I welcome their call for return to the September 17 Agreement, which is the only prelude to a general election in this country," said Senator Abshir Ahmad, one of Farmaajo's vocal opponents on term extension.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was concerned with the violence, and called on stakeholders to resume dialogue.

Farmaajo argued Parliament took the decision after Federal state leaders disagreed with him on venues, dates of elections and composition of the electoral management bodies. His rivals say he wanted to front his men to manage the vote, ensuring rigging.

The African Union, European Union, US and UK have all voiced their opposition to the two-term extension.
LATE talented musician, Paul Matavire's mother, Mafirechuma Makanani (84) is appealing for help as she is languishing in poverty-stricken conditions with no one to take care of her.

Matavire died aged 44 in 2005 with several hit tracks to his name; 'Ndagumbuka', 'Kamoto kamberevere'.

He rose to fame in the 1980s as a leader of the Jairos Jiri band before pursuing a solo career.

The late artist, affectionately known as 'Doctor Love', a nickname pejoratively due to his social commentary in songs possessed a lyrical and vocal prowess.

Despite his strides in the music industry, his struggling mother and dependants in rural Mwenezi district, Masvingo province have very little to show for his achievements.

The Late Paul Matavire

Speaking to a local publication, his ailing mother said while other people were benefiting from her late son's work, she was subjected to dilapidated living conditions which she would not have faced if Matavire was still alive.

She went to plead for donations from well-wishers.

"I am struggling but people are spending my son's money, I have many orphans under my care," she said.

"I can no longer do piece jobs in the community to earn a living. My house is in very bad shape, windows are broken, the asbestos sheets are falling off.

"I really need some money so I can fix my house and live in better conditions. During the rainy season we are soaked in water," she added.

Matavire's music is available on digital streaming sites and YouTube where it has bagged hundreds of thousands of views, but his family does not benefit from this as it posted through piracy accounts.

The little funds from royalties are awarded to his children.

Matavire was survived by his second wife and three children from his first marriage.
A former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell has described Nigeria's political elites as panicky and as such, considering "radical options" against the backdrop of the worsening insecurity in Nigeria, although they have yet to agree on "radical restructuring" of the country.

Campbell, the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa poli cy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in his latest post on the CFR website that, some Nigerian movers and shakers appeared panicky over the worsening security nationwide.

He cited calls by a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, for President Muhammadu Buhari to seek foreign assistance to tackle the nation's deterioration of security.

"The bottom line is that... something of a consensus among Nigerian elites seems to be forming that the country is in deep trouble and that radical options must be considered," Campbell pointed out.

Last Sunday, Robert Clarke (SAN), often critical of the Buhari government, had raised a fresh dust,when he recommended that the country's democratically-elected administration should hand over power to the military to save Africa's most populous nation from disintegrating as he wondered whether Nigeria would survive another six months.

However, the former U.S. diplomat, who had served twice in Nigeria, as a political counsellor from 1988 to 1990, and as an ambassador from 2004 to 2007, further noted: "But no consensus exists about what state collapse would look like, what the way forward should be, and what' radical restructuring of the Nigerian state' would actually mean or how it could be achieved.

"For now, however, the outlook would seem to be continuing, perhaps accelerating instability and uncertainty."

On April 27, President Buhari, in a virtual meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, requested that the headquarters of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) be moved from Germany to Africa so that it would be closer to the fighting against terrorism in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin.

Campbell noted: "In the face of the deterioration of security, doom and gloom about the future of Nigeria is widespread in public discourse. Still, Clarke went further than most--and on national television."

"Buhari's AFRICOM request is an indication of a willingness to consider hitherto unacceptable options. Twenty-two years after the military left power and civilian, ostensibly democratic federalism was restored, it is striking that the army felt it necessary to issue a denial of any intention to seize power," he added.

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On May 3, in a statement, the Defence Headquarters stated, "We also wish to remind all military personnel that it is treasonable to even contemplate this illegality. The full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on any personnel found to collude with people having such agenda."

The military high command further dissociated "itself from such anti-democratic utterance and position," categorically stating that the "Armed Forces of Nigeria remain fully committed to the present administration and all associated democratic institutions."

According to the army spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, the military will continue to remain "apolitical, subordinate to the civil authority, firmly loyal to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, and the 1999 Constitution as Amended."

Assuring the elected leadership that it would not make any attempt to seize power or disrupt the country's democratic dispensation, the Army promised: "We shall continue to discharge our constitutional responsibilities professionally, especially, in protecting the country's democracy, defence of the territorial integrity of the country as well as protection of lives and properties of citizens.

"The current security challenges are not insurmountable as the military, in partnership with other security agencies, are working assiduously to ameliorate the challenge. Nigeria will know peace again."
Many Nigerians narrate their experience travelling to Cape Verde, a West African country that appears to discriminate against Africans.

It was meant to be a week of reunion to catch lost times between two lovebirds, but it turned out sour.

Oke Osharode and his wife had lived separately for a while, but in May 2012, they decided to have a reunion in Boa Vista, one of the ten islands in Cape Verde.

Mr Osharode flew from Lagos May 4 and was to connect to Boa Vista two days later after stopovers in Dakar and Praia, capitals of Senegal and Cape Verde. His wife was to land on the island from the UK the same day.

"Her own flight from the UK and the hotel cost was 1,223," Mr Osharode told PREMIUM TIMES, providing details of their travel schedule.

He had booked an economic double room in an all inclusive hotel in Boa Vista for seven nights. They were poised to have fun.

The Nigerian, who currently resides in the UK, said the journey turned on its head when he arrived in Praia May 5, and he was picked out by immigration officials for questioning.

"They inquired of a cash BTA (basic travel allowance). I presented my all inclusive hotel and flights booked and fully paid plus 150 cash and a bank card having 200 equivalent.

"But the officer said he is not sure of the authenticity of my holiday booking and had me locked up in a holding room for removal the next day to Dakar."

The former microfinance bank official said further efforts to check his papers were not done before he was deported.

In the holding room, he saw more Nigerians who had been detained and barred from entering the archipelago West African country.

"This whole trip was meant to be fun as myself and my wife wanted it as a catch up prior to our family reunion in the UK Unfortunately, it turned sour.

"When my wife got the information, she could not embark on the trip at that time it was too late to seek refunds for her flights and the hotel booked costing us 1,223 plus."

Out of bounds

When it was clear that the Enyindah Okwakpam, 31, would be travelling out of Nigeria for the first time, he pinched himself to be sure he was not dreaming.

The prospect of having his virgin passport stamped for the first time excited him so much that he began to prepare for the December 2020 vacation to Sao Vicente, another island in Cape Verde, since September.

While he planned, the archipelago neighbour was on lockdown due to the novel coronavirus.

Hit by COVID-19 scare, authorities in the country located in the central Atlantic Ocean, imposed a strict entry ban. This made earnings from tourism and travel-related industry, which account for a quarter of the nation's GDP, nosedived.

In 2019 alone, there were some 820,000 registered tourists, for a country with around 500,000 people.

So when the country eased its lockdown in October 2020, not only was it meant to trigger economic rebound, it made Mr Okwakpam jolt with joy.

"I was ready for my trip," he recalled. "I had 1000 in cash on me and also my bank statement showing my bank balance with more cash."

By December 12, on board a double-headed flight from Lagos which had a stopover in Casablanca, Morocco, he arrived in Praia the next morning.

The Nigerian who now lives in The Gambia began to smell trouble when he was approached by two female immigration officials who skipped those ahead of him on the screening queue.

"I gave one of them my passport, PCR test and yellow fever card. She immediately returned my PCR test without looking through it. She left with my passport, came back some minutes later and told me to follow her," Mr Okwakpam said.

At the office, a senior official whose tag bore Edar asked Mr Okwakpam about the purpose of his visit, to which he responded was for tourism and volunteering.

"He said the country wasn't opened for tourism until January or February of (2021), and for that reason he would send me back immediately."

His contention of Mr Edar's submission fell flat.

"He told me that 'your people come in for schooling, and if you come for that we will let you in. But for tourism, no. We are not open for tourism because of the pandemic.'"

He was deported without his luggage, which he got a week later. Crestfallen, he returned home, but with a resolve to return the following month.

Barred again

On January 8, Mr Okwakpam again flew to Cape Verde. His purpose this time was to work as a volunteer at a not-for-profit.

Like before, he had his paperwork prepped, including his return tickets, PCR result, Nigeria police character report.

He also had his NIF number (Numero de Identificacao Fiscal, loosely translated as Foreigner's Identity Number) which is the tax identity number in Cape Verde.

After his documents were checked, he was again set aside and told a document that was to be written by the head of the NGO "stating that she would be totally responsible for me" was missing.

"I was once again told to head back to the plane and I was taken to get my luggage this time around," he said.

The head of the NGO told him "she had never given that document to anyone coming in to volunteer before. She also confirmed that I was her first African volunteer. The rest have been Europeans over the years."

He was deported alongside a Senegalese and three Nepalese. He had to part with some euros before his passport was released to him.

Cape Verde's relationship with the rest of Africa

A cluster of ten volcanic Islands (Santo Antao, Sao Nicolau, Brava, Santa Luzia, Maio, Sal, Boa Vista, Santiago, Fogo, Sao Vicente), Cape Verde is flanked by Senegal 570 km away.

Tony Chiedozie, a Nigerian-Cape Verdean who is fluent in English, Portuguese and Creole, offered an insight into what it is like to be black in Cape Verde.

He had lived in the country since 2001 and he became a citizen five years later by the virtue of his residency, but returned to Nigeria in October.

The itinerant, who works as a business development consultant and lives in Enugu, said he experienced, firsthand, how locals expressed stronger allegiance with Europeans and whites than they do Africans.

Due to interracial marriage, the modern population of Cape Verde are largely a blend of native-born African and European descent called mulattos (or mesticos).

Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Angola, Panama, Guyana and Jamaica are among the countries with significant populations of mulattos.

"Cape Verdeans hate to be called mulatto," Mr Chiedozie said. "They hate to see themselves as African. They are so racist to the point that it gets me angry."

As it is derogatory to call blacks nigga, Cape Verdeans call blacks "manjako" (an African community the Cape Verdeans were first exposed to).

Mr Chiedozie said "pe rachado" (meaning cracked feet or destitute) is another derogatory word used by nationals to describe the predominantly black population like those on the islands of Santiago and Mayo.

Nonetheless, Mr Chiedozie said, "they relate with the black among their own people well," as well as other Portuguese speaking African nations.

"I have not been treated badly. This is because I speak the languages and carry myself with dignity and demand respect because I give it. It pains me that I can be treated well and not others."

This, he said, worked for him when he sought to be nationalised. Were it not for that, the "immigration might never give you that passport."

He nonetheless faulted the behaviour of some Nigerians in the country much that "I found myself not revealing my identity."

Cape Verde's European quest

Although geographically part of Africa, Cape Verde, a former colony of Portugal until 1975, has made moves to exit from regional the AU and ECOWAS, while it shopped for closer ties with the European Union.

The Praia government announced in September 2006 its plans to limit access to its territory for other West African nationals.

The island nation has also tabled a "special status" proposal to ECOWAS, one that will exempt it from the "full membership" status of the West African bloc.

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Unlike Morocco, another African country that once sought to become European, there has been no formal rejection of Cape Verde's European bid, neither has there been any political recognition.

Nonetheless, if history is anything to go by, Cyprus, an island nation geographically in Asia, has shown that persistence to join another continental bloc is possible as the country is now a member of the Council of Europe and the EU.

One too many?

Over a fortnight ago, a Nigerian development expert, Teni Tayo, recalled how she, alongside three other Nigerians, were deported by authorities in Cape Verde while white foreign travellers were allowed in.

Her account gave rise to a spark of experiences shared by other African nationals who accused Cape Verde of having racist tendencies.

Everyone PREMIUM TIMES interviewed with this experience said they lodged complaints to both Nigerian and Cape Verdean authorities but got no result.

They all said they are still haunted by their experiences.

A representative of the ECOWAS office in Cape Verde declined comment. An email sent to Cape Verde's airport authority has not been replied. Spokesman of the Nigerians in diaspora commission, Balogun Abdulrahman, said the commission takes complaints seriously.

It has been almost ten years since the Osharode couples experienced harassment in Cape Verde, but it is still fresh in their minds like it was yesterday.

"We still grieve about the loss even though we have lived fantastically better from then," Mr Osharode said in an email response.

Mr Okwakpam said his experience has since made him develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) whenever he is around police or immigration officers or thinks of travelling abroad by road or air.

Their experiences are not isolated as it followed a pattern, especially among third world citizens.

All interviewees have vowed to continue to speak up, hoping it could be psychological therapy for themselves and also a travel advisory for other compatriots.
President Muhammadu Buhari has described as madness the spate of killings witnessed in the wake of security challenges in different parts of the country.

The President, in a release on Sunday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, condoled with the relatives of those who lost their lives in what he called madness going on across the country.

"The President takes this opportunity to condole with all who lost family members due to what he described as the 'madness' going on in parts of the country".

President Buhari also called for a low key end of Muslim fast celebration as a result of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

"As Muslims in Nigeria join others globally in preparations towards Eid Al-Fitr, a day that is celebrated to mark the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, President Buhari has directed that all celebrations be limited due to the global Coronavirus crisis.

"To this end, the President, First Family, his personal aides, members of cabinet and Service Chiefs who choose to remain in Abuja will congregate in full compliance with COVID-19 protocols at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja to observe the Eid prayers by 9:00am.

"Thereafter, there will be no traditional Sallah homage to the President by religious, community and political leaders and as was the case last year, the President encouraged such leaders to be content with modest celebrations at home in view of the pandemic".

He specially thanked the Ulama (Islamic Clerics) and all other religious (Muslim, Christian) leaders who continue to pray for the wellbeing of the nation and its people.

The President called on all local leaders to talk to their youths and warn them against being used to incite and foment violence.

He asked: "If we attack institutions guarding us, who will protect us in future emergencies?"
No fewer than 128 civil society organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of Joint Action Civil Society Coalition/Nigerian Mourns Sunday said almost 2,000 fatalities were recorded between January and March due to the rising spate of armed attacks, banditry and insurgencies across the federation.

With these increasing atrocious incidents nationwide, the coalition challenged President Muhammadu Buhari and 36 state governors to rise up to their constitutional duties and put an end to Insecurity as enshrined in section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians.

This was revealed in a statement issued by the coalition Sunday, calling on all Nigerians to register their displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by participating in a series of mass actions from May 26.

Among others, the coalition includes Action Aid, Bimbo Odukoya Foundation (BOF), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Global Rights, Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), Lagos Women 2030 and Yiaga Africa.

In its 2020 mass atrocities report, Global Rights had put fatalities at 4,558 nationwide, a 42.9% increase above 3,188 incidents recorded nationwide in 2019.

In the 24-page report titled "Save the Date: National Day of Mourning," the organisation had revealed that mass atrocities-related killings by region affected no fewer than 1527 (33.5%) in Northwest with Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, recording second highest after Kaduna.

In Northeast, the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency, the report put mass atrocities-related killings at 1508 (33.08%), North-central 685 (15.03%), South-south 443 (9.72%), South-west 231 (5.07%) and South-east 162 (3.55%).

In its statement Sunday, however, the coalition revealed that the incidents of mass atrocities between January and March 2021 had risen to about 2,000 fatalities.

It revealed: "We recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country. This week, across the 6 geopolitical zones, there were escalated combustions of violence resulting in even more deaths.

The coalition, therefore, called the federal and state governments "to rise up to their constitutional duties as enshrined in section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians, and pull the nation back from the path of destruction."

Despite a strongly worded statement issued on February 22, the coalition noted that Buhari's government "has failed to heed our call to fulfil his role as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Nigeria's democratically elected President."

As a result, it observed that it was left with no other option than "to take action to drive home our call to the government. We are calling on all Nigerians to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28."

With the glaring failure of the federal government to stop killing in nearly parts of the federation, the coalition challenged Nigerians "to boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29 in protest of the deplorable state of our democracy."

Referring to the joint statement issued on February 2021, the coalition said it had catalogued the assortment of mass atrocities plaguing the country, in particular: the unending war in the North East with our troops often bearing the brunt of this government's security failures.

It observed that the gross injustices by Buhari's government against the Nigerian people such that peaceful protesters "are threatened and attacked by the government's security agents while terrorists carrying out mass murder, rape, maiming and kidnapping of Nigerians including women and children are feted, molly coddled, granted 'amnesty' and paid by the government.

"This is tantamount to funding and supporting terrorists, encouraging murder and the decimation of the Nigeria's gallant troops and amounts to treason against the Nigerian State and people.

"Terrorist herder attacks on unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of government inaction and failure to bring the terrorist herdsmen and their funders to justice.

"Large scale terrorist attacks in the Northwest irresponsibly tagged by the government as 'banditry' in a bid to downplay their criminality.

With grave concern for the future of Nigeria, the coalition lamented industrial scale kidnappings nationwide, extrajudicial killings by State Security agents in various forms, inter-ethnic violence and the menace of political cult gangs and ethnic militia.

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The coalition had called on Buhari's government to take immediate actions to provide political and moral leadership for the security crisis and ensure governmental actions are humane in tandem with Section 17 (2) (C) of the 1999 Constitution.

It observed that it had the government "to end impunity for abuse of power and sectionalism through his appointments by balancing the need for competence with the federal character principle.

"In this way, he will demonstrate that every part of Nigeria matters as sectional appointments appear to fuel sectional violence.

It had called the government "to take responsibility and end the persecution of the media and free speech both of which are foundations of a democratic state or mobilise our rich Nigerian assets to address the insecurity situation across the country and seek international cooperation to ramp up security assets.

"We had also demanded that where the President fails to fulfill his constitutional duties as stated above, that he steps aside, or, that the National Assembly initiates impeachment proceedings against him on grounds of gross misconduct as provided for in Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
analysis

Security challenges in Nigeria have sparked anger and calls for President Buhari to step down or be removed from office. Analysts say disgruntled military members and politicians want to overthrow the president.

Nigeria's secret police say they have uncovered a plot to remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office. According to the investigators, disgruntled politicians and religious leaders are behind it.

The presidency also raised the alarm, accusing  without mentioning names  former and present leaders working with foreign powers of trying to remove President Buhari from office forcefully.

"They are plotting to hold conferences, which would pass a vote of no confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari, a man they so much love to hate," Femi Adesina, President Buhari's special media advisor, said.

The report published by The State Security Service came just a few days after the army pledged its loyalty to the constitution and subjected itself to civilian rule, warning its members to stay away from politics.

"If the coup is going to occur, it won't be carried [out] by the serving generals for the simple reason that they're benefiting from the system," security analyst Kabiru Adamu told DW. He added that a coup could be staged, however, by a group of officers that "feels disfranchised and unhappy" with the current situation.

If these unhappy military members work together with political players interested in changing the government, the possibility of a coup is "huge," according to Adamu. He pointed to the recent military takeover in neighboring Chad as an example that could inspire a revolt in Nigeria.

The military junta took over power in Chad in the aftermath of the death of President Idris Deby. It dissolved both the parliament and the government and announced they would hold an election in 18 months.

Why is President Buhari a target?

Boko Haram insurgents, believed to be headquartered in Sambisa forest in Borno State, have long terrorized the country, killing and abducting many in Nigeria's north.

In 2015, the militant group began using girls as young as 10 to carry out suicide attacks. That same year the incumbent president promised Nigerians that he would wipe out the militants.

Nigerians say the situation has deteriorated under Buhari's administration. He came to power in 2015, and his second and last term in office ends in 2023.

Last year, Boko Haram murdered at least 76 farmers in Borno State. In most cases, the government failed to mount an effective counter-response, Buhari critics say.

But Adamu said it's unfair to put all of the blame on the president. He pointed a finger at the governors and senators, saying that they could have initiated needed security reforms, not the President.

A violent business model

Organized crime syndicates have recently adopted a kidnap-and-ransom tactic. The business model has drawn the international community's attention while forcing state officials to negotiate with criminals and pay them millions of dollars in ransom to secure freedom for many school children.

President Buhari has spoken out against the practice and insinuated that state governors were fueling the crisis.

Criminals  locally known as bandits  confided in DW that they borrow weapons from state security officers and then share the income with them after 'work.'

"Even the so-called police, you see, we hire their guns and return them later," one member of a criminal gang in Niger Delta told DW.

His account is corroborated by retired Admiral John Nicholas Bakpo, a long-serving Nigerian military officer.

"We know them [the bandits], we know where they stay, we know who they are. But the issue is this: Some of these boys were dragged into what they are doing by us. Either because of our political interests or what we wanted to gain," Bakpo said.

Kidnapping, torture and death

Fatima Ibrahim Mohammed, 23, spent 57 days in the hands of her kidnappers . She was one of 27 students abducted in March from a forestry college in Nigeria's Kaduna state. "I have been beaten and tortured, especially when they [the bandits] spoke to our parents and came back without good news," Mohammed told DW.

"We were beaten with sticks or with their guns," she added.

Because of torture, Mohammed said, she lost her pregnancy. Her father also died while she was in captivity. Neighbors said Mohammed's father's death was a result of shock due to the abduction of his daughter.

"I have never lived such life, but God allowed that to happen," Mohammed said, adding that all abductees were sleeping in an open space under the trees.

Mohammed's ordeals mirror the lives of many women and men in northern Nigeria subjected to the kidnappers.

More than 800 students, the majority of them young girls, have been abducted from schools in the region in recent months.

"Children are afraid of going to school, parents are no longer comfortable sending the children to school. That's going to be a serious setback to the educational development in Northern Nigeria, and education is the backbone of everything," human rights activists Auwal Aliyu said.

Many of the students were released, others are still in captivity, and scores have been killed because their parents or the government could not pay ransom money.

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Is Nigeria a failed state?

The deteriorating security has sparked fear among Nigerians and foreigners alike. Some scholars and political analysts go as far as calling Nigeria a failed state.

"If you look at the economy, you find out that people are no longer going to the farms, people are afraid of moving from point A to B because of the possibility of being kidnapped, and then you're asked to pay a heavy ransom. If you don't have it  then you lose a member of your family," activist Aliyu said.

Former US ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell tweeted that he would argue that Nigeria is a failed state.

Security analyst Kabiru Adamu said it's too early to call Nigeria a failed state, though he admits that state institutions are weak and, in most cases, not able to fulfill the constitutional mandate.

"To conclude that the state is failed is going too far," Adamu said.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy in Africa, and many of its neighbors' economies hugely depend on Africa's most populous nation. Scholars urge that business opportunities and innovations are the backbone of Nigeria's economy. Should the state fail, then Nigeria's neighbors are mostly like to fall apart as well.
The back of the pictured postcard reads This old house knew a barefoot boy, he was full with laughter and joy. Through the years he was so gay, he grew old, his hair turned gray. Left this house and went above, hope he joined all folks he loved. Emma Rieber, November 17, 1955.
Some 15 people have been reported dead after an outbreak of cholera in Koya village of Minjibir Local Government Area of Kano State.

Forty others have also been confirmed hospitalised as the result of the outbreak whose cause is yet-to-be ascertained.

The village head of the community, Sulaiman Muhammad, who confirmed this to Daily Trust also said most of the victims were women and children.

Reports say the victims experienced diarrhoea and vomiting.

The Executive Secretary, Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr Hussaini Tijjani confirmed the outbreak on Sunday to Daily Trust.

He said the state's Ministry of Health has already sent health personnel to the community to help curtail its further spread.

Efforts to hear from the state's Commissioner for Health, Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa proved abortive as he is yet to answer the calls made to him or call back as at the time of filing this report.

Daily Trust reports that some communities in the state had last month experienced strange illness as a result of using expired or substandard juice drinks where more than 10 people have been reported dead, more than 200 were hospitalised.
The lockdown against coronavirus has been severe, and easing of restrictions to guard against the spread of the virus has been troubled.

As the country goes through a phase of reopening and restoring livelihoods, the new reality has emerged of a second wave of the pandemic.

It comes as new cases of coronavirus infections, which had earlier levelled off, began tipping up a second time.

It also comes at a time when businesses and places of worship had to reopen--and children who had been locked out of school for months, nearly losing an entire academic year, had to return to the classroom.

The big question Nigerians are having to answer is how to keep children safe in school.

What schools need are facilities for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), according to a needs assessment

How will social distancing, hand-washing, mask wearing, and all the other restrictions be introduced to help check the spread of COVID-19, and to be maintained in a school, an environment where children typically spend nearly half a day together, five days a week?

What students need to stay in school

What schools need are facilities for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), according to a needs assessment by the Victims Support Fund's Taskforce on COVID-19.

Three schools in Enugu in late March were among the latest schools to receive a consignment of facilities for water, sanitation and hygiene: Girls Secondary School, Ngwo; Boys Secondary School, Agbani; and Community Secondary School, Ugbene Ajima.

Each school got a solar-powered borehole, four hand wash stations, 2,000 reusable face masks, 20 litres of hand sanitiser, 120 bottles of 500ml handwash, and five cartons of bleach.

The VSF chairman Gen TY Danjuma (rtd) had in March last year set up a taskforce on COVID-19 to facilitate the intervention.

As the country eases back into a semblance of normalcy, such donations have become necessary for life in the new normal.

Providing the materials needed to restrict the spread of COVID-19 in schools is a mandate VSF has taken up. It has a mandate to provide the materials across a total 54 schools in 18 states.

At the Government Secondary School, Federe in Plateau, the taskforce hands over Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) projects, including a solar-powered borehole

Enugu's commissioner for education, Uche Eze, received the donated items from the chair of the VSF Task Force on COVID-19 Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji in a symbolic handover.

Eze commended the fund for its "kind gesture" and said the state would ensure the facilities were "protected and maintained".

From north east concerns to hygiene

So far the donations have gone to three schools each in Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Kaduna, Jigawa, Osun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau, Nasarawa, Abia, Bauchi, Kebbi, Bayelsa, Edo, Borno and the FCT.

It is the third phase of the task force's distribution of food items and personal protective equipment, costing approximately N1 billion in a marked expansion of the VSF's mandate from focusing on internally displaced persons and victims of disasters to other vulnerable communities in other parts of the country beyond the northeast.

In its larger distribution, each state gets 10,000 bottles of 250ml hand sanitisers, 5,000 standard face mask, 20,000 reusable face masks as well as a minimum of 1,174 each of hazmat suits, goggles, pairs of boots and pairs of latex gloves.

Bare neccessities

Beyond schools and their needs to observe prescribed restrictions, food items have gone to vulnerable communities in respective states to help them combat hunger - with an average of 4,442 benefitting units in each location getting 10kg of rice, 10kg beans, 10kg maize, 4-litre container of oil and a 2kg of salt.

It is the protective equipment that have been most elevating for schools as they continue to navigate the vagaries of keeping children safe, preventing spread of coronavirus and teaching children with the prospect of new restrictions and possible lockdowns constantly hanging in the air.

Yusuf Usman is the chairman of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) at Government Junior Secondary School, NAF Base in Kaduna. He met the donation presented to the school on behalf of parents of the school.

"We really, deeply appreciate it," he said. "You do your search [for schools in need] without lobbying. If it were lobbying, we are nobody. We thank the coordinators for the exercise," he said on the day the school took delivery of the donations.

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Student uses handwash station at Community Security School, Mbaukwu

A similar donation in Oyo has been made to communities in which the three chosen schools are located, especially the solar-powered borehole.

"We will make judicious use of this water to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and it will be beneficial to the surrounding community," said Amina Atere, permanent secretary of Oyo State Education Ministry at the handover of WASH facilities to schools in the state.

She officially opened the borehole in February. For accountability and visibility, the items were handed over to the state's department for planning, research and statistics.

"Research shows Oyo is viable for the donation," said Akerele-Ogunsiji.

"We want the world to see the faces of people who receive these items on the side of the school. When they are holding the VSF accountable, they are also holding you accountable on the side of the school."
Abune Mathias, the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, has accused the government of wanting to destroy Tigray.

"They are working day and night to destroy Tigray," he said in Amharic on the 14-minute video. "They have no rest when it comes to destroying Tigrayans."

These are the first public comments from Abune Mathias, originally from Tigray, since the beginning of the civil war six months ago. He says he has been stifled and censored by the government.

Public criticism by an Ethiopian figure against the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, is rare.

However in the video, Abune Mathias described the violence as the carnage of people - particularly the killing of innocents.

The conflict engulfing the region pits Abiy's military against forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which was once the dominant party in power.

"In all parts of Tigray there are killings. They mean to wipe Tigrayans from the surface of the earth," said Abune Mathias.

Abiy has repeated a number of times that the military is targeting TPLF leaders and not civilians. But reports out of the Tigray region have indicated otherwise.

HH Abune Mathias, Head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church says "they want to destroy the people of Tigray" with actions of "the highest brutality and cruelty." He lived in exile for 30 years for criticizing country's then-communist regime. Now, He is under house arrest. pic.twitter.com/p8BegOpnfB - Mehari Taddele Maru (@DrMehari) May 9, 2021

Attacks on civilians, including numerous masscacres and gang rapes, have been documented.

Survivors blame Ethiopian troops and Eritrean soldiers, who are backing Abiy, of committing these war crimes.

Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into Tigray in November after accusing the TPLF of attacking army barracks.

Abiy declared victory in late November after the army entered Mekele, the regional capital. But fighting continues there.

Orthodox Church finally speaks out

The Orthodox Church is Ethiopia's largest, with more than 40 percent of the population as adherents.

The French news agency, AFP, was in the Tigrayan town of Dengolat in February, where Orthodox priests said they were disappointed that Abune Mathias had not spoken out about the massacres committed on church grounds and in other parts of the town.

But they conceded that he and others might have been afraid of speaking publicly.

In the video, Abune Mathias decried the massacres and destruction that had happened in Dengolat and on church property.

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He said he had tried to speak out against the war multiple times but the government had prevented him.

"I spoke out and they held it back. I spoke out again and they held it back. Until now I have not had the opportunity to display my message through the media," he said.

Chance

He had the chance after Dennis Wadley, the director of the US-based group Bridges of Hope International, who is also a friend, recorded the video on 26 April during a trip to Ethiopia.

"The patriarch asked me not to release it until I was out of the country, back in the US," Wadley told AFP.

An Orthodox official confirmed the authenticity of the recording.

World leaders believe that if the fighting continues, Tigray could turn into a humanitarian disaster.

Abune Mathias said he was worried about worsening hunger in Tigray and that farmers might not be able to plant this year.

"I call on international governments to try and find a way to stop this immediately," he said.
An African adage maintains that a woman's hair is like a crown: it stands high, carrying the history and identity of a whole race. And more women in Cameroon are proudly wearing it today as a fashionable look.

Curled, thick and puffed, short and long and in every style possible--this is visible on the streets of Douala, Cameroon's economic capital.

Many no longer find it necessary to spend huge amounts of money to relax their hair or to hide it with artificial hair to feel beautiful and attractive.

Wearing African hair is today a trend, and even more in vogue in Cameroon's Anglophone city, Buea, in the South West region, according to Meforo Isdname, a hairdresser and African hair specialist.

"In the English zone, we have more naturals than the relaxed and those who keep extensions on their hair," he told Africa Calling podcast.

More Francophones relax their hair than Anglophones, according to Isdame, claiming that in cities like bustling Francophone Douala, it is too time-consuming to care for natural hair, compared to those living in English-dominated zones.

Mary Jane Chin Yaya, a young Cameroonian humanitarian worker and blogger based in Buea, is living proof of Isdname's theory.

Natural is nicer

Keeping her hair in its natural state was a decision Yaya took years ago after she noticed her formerly relaxed hair and scalp had suffered damage from chemicals.

Yaya said she began her natural hair journey when she realized that her scalp was hurting too much from the array of products she put on her hair to make it soft.

Today she proudly wears an Afro and believes it brings out her true allure.

"Wearing your natural hair is one of the best things that any woman of color can do. It brings out your beauty in a different way," said Yaya.

While touching her hair, she beamed: "It's like you're wearing a crown."Men also seem to notice.

"When I see a woman with her natural hair, she looks beautiful and I would like my woman to be like that," said Yeeh Clifford. "I see them naturally beautiful with their hair as it should be."

Clifford adds that he is not a fan of women wearing weaves and wigs, which is still quite common.

The import and sales of these products cost South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon more than 7 billion dollars, according to 2016 research.

African identity

African women wearing imported hair, or relaxing their hair is a denial of their identity, said Murielle Ndje Ndje, psychology lecturer at Yaounde University 1.

"In changing your hair, you will not become a white woman and you will no longer be a black woman. So you are in the middle - you don't have any identity," she said.

From a psychological point of view, choosing the natural hair journey is already a big step towards embracing some lost African values and a return to one's true likeness.

"I think women are conscious that they have to come back to their real identity, and then we think that we have to conserve our hair as we come to the world with," she said.

In his 12 years of experience in natural hair styling and treatment, Isdame, nicknamed the "Hair Maestro", attests that healthy natural hair is still a far-fetched concept for many Cameroonian women, despite them embracing natural hair.

Nurturing African hair to become beautiful and healthy takes time, patience and above all, professional treatment, which is largely unavailable in Cameroon.

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"We have few professionals who manage hair, and it's difficult to have healthy hair," said Isdname, who is also the Cameroonian brand ambassador of Biotipo - a Brazilian brand of natural hair products.

"When you go to salons, it's the professionals who advise you to relax your hair, that your hair is too strong," he said.

Treat your hair with care

The professional method is perhaps too costly for the average Cameroonian woman.

At Isdname's salon in the Deido neighborhood in Douala, natural hair treatment and styling costs six to 15 thousand FCFA, or 9 to 22. That's why many of the women who have chosen the natural hair path like Yaya find comfort in natural home remedies.

"Natural hair is very expensive to maintain, keep soft, beautiful, shiny and moisturized.

"But at the same time, there are very local products that you can use that are also very healthy," Yaya added.
A former leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, who himself had been abducted by the rebel group as a child, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday.

Dominic Ongwen, 45, was found guilty of 61 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including rape, murder and sexual enslavement, committed in Northern Uganda between July 2002 and 31 December.

In summarizing the decision to sentence him, Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt highlighted the unique nature of the case.

Victim and perpetrator

"The Chamber is confronted in the present case with a unique situation. It is confronted with a perpetrator who willfully and lucidly brought tremendous suffering upon his victims", he said.

"However, it is also confronted with a perpetrator who himself had previously endured extreme suffering himself at the hands of the group, of which he later became a prominent member and leader."

Judge Smith said the Chamber decided to give certain weight in mitigation to the circumstances of Mr Ongwen's childhood, abduction by the LRA at a very young age, and his early stay with the group.

The LRA was formed in the 1980s by Joseph Kony, a self-styled prophet who has long been sought for war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Children forced to kill

The group launched its insurgency in northern Uganda, attacking camps hosting internally displaced people, eventually spreading to countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.

It is estimated that as many as 25,000 children were abducted and forced to fight in the hostilities, or to serve as labourers.

As an LRA brigade commander, Mr. Ongwen sanctioned the killing of large numbers of civilians, forced marriage, sexual slavery and the recruitment of child soldiers, among other grave crimes.

He had been detained at the ICC, which is located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, since January 2015, and was found guilty in February.

The detention period will be deducted from his overall prison sentence.

The ICC also issued an order for submissions on reparations to his victims. Inputs from parties to the case are due by 6 September of this year, while those from "interested persons or organisations, particularly with local expertise" are due by 7 July 2021.
document

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth will travel to South Sudan from May 9 to May 13, 2021. Special Envoy Booth will hold meetings with government officials, political stakeholders, and civil society and international partners.

The Special Envoy's travel underscores the United States' commitment to work with IGAD and other regional and international partners to support peace and stability in South Sudan. Of particular concern to the United States is the slow implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), ongoing violence, and deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions.
Abuja  Amid assurances that schools in the Federal Capital Territory are safe, some parents and guardians were seen at the Government Secondary School, Kuje, at the Weekend withdrawing their children and wards from the school's boarding facility over fear of attacks by bandits.

A source who saw the parents taking their children home, told LEADERSHIP, "Schools in the FCT are still in session and I was shocked at the number of parents and guardians who came to withdraw their children from the school at the weekend. I understand their fears and as a parent I am equally concerned about the safety of my children in schools within the FCT."

RELATED: Abuja Schools Shut Down As Truckload Of Bandits Arrives In Border Town

However, the FCT education secretariat said parents are taking their children home for the Sallah holiday, as schools are not shutting down over reports of attacks.

The public relations officer of FCT education secretariat, Malam Kabiru Musa, explained that there is no terrorists' threat in FCT schools, which would make parents to withdraw their children from schools out of panic, saying that some people are trying to cause tension in the FCT.

According to him, the reason why parents are presently taking away their children from schools is because of the Sallah break, adding that it is usual during Sallah or other celebrations.

"What was witnessed in schools at the weekend when parents went to take their children from schools, was as a result of the Sallah break, not because of any tension of insurgency in schools.

"I also went to my daughter's school at Abaji to pick her on Saturday, because they are going on Sallah break. There is no way we will be celebrating Sallah and the children will be in school.

"That was what happened last week when it was reported that schools were shutting down in the FCT because of insurgency, we had to release a statement to correct that report. So, there is not insurgency threat in schools in Abuja, people should disregard such report," he said.
Abuja  The Army on Saturday raided a mosque located at Filin Lazio, Hotoro in Kano and arrested 13 Boko Haram terrorists.

The director, Army public relations Brig Gen Mohammed Yerima, said the raid was part of an ongoing effort to flush out all forms of criminality within the Brigade's Area of responsibility.

He said the operations is predicated on the need to apprehend criminals who may want to hibernate in any part of Kano State.

The director urged residents of Filin Lazio Hotoro to go about their lawful businesses as security forces are on top of the situation.

He further appealed to the people of Kano State to maintain high level of vigilance and continue to report suspected movement of strange individuals or groups in their environment to the relevant security agencies for prompt action.

RELATED: Insecurity: Govs Back Zulum On Engagement Of Mercenaries
Lagos  Seven months after the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) flagged off the evacuation of cargoes from Lagos Ports to Onne Port, Rivers State and Onitsha Inland port in Anambra State, the service is yet to become operational.

NIWA had said the initiative was to decongest the Lagos Port from the perennial traffic gridlock, reduce cost of haulage of containers as well as make the Onitsha River Port boom of economic activities.

The managing director of NIWA, Dr George Moghalu, had in October 2020, said the agency had met with the stakeholders, including the importers in the Eastern part of the country, the barge operators, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the security agencies, the communities along the route from Lagos to the final destination, among others, on the commencement of the initiative.

Moghalu said the evacuation of cargoes from Onne Port to Onitsha River Port would commence fully in the first quarter of 2021.

But seven months after the flag-off of the exercise to decongest the port access road, the project which attracted a lot of enthusiasms is yet to begin, thereby raising concerns among maritime stakeholders.

A credible source in the industry attributed the lateness in the project's take off to the MD's engagement in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State.

Moghalu is seeking the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November election and had allegedly suspended activities in NIWA until after the party primaries.

When asked about the commencement of the cargo evacuation, the source said, "The MD has relocated to Anambra and until he is done with the APC primaries nothing can be done. Activities at the headquarters here have been on a standstill for the past few months and they will remain so until the primary election of the party is concluded."

However, the non-commencement of the initiative has elicited anger from stakeholders in the maritime sector, especially shippers, who described the project as a "blind adventure" by NIWA

The president of Shippers' Association of Lagos State (SALS), Rev. Jonathan Nicol, said insecurity on the waterways, shippers would not entrust their cargoes on any barge from Lagos to Onitsha.

He said, "NIWA should set their priorities right and stop going into a blind adventure. I will also advise them to be cautious because it will take one day (with a good road network) to get to Onitsha than entrusting cargoes on a barge that will take three days with insecurity to get to Onitsha from Lagos.

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"Another reason is that during dry season, I don't know the route they will want to use because some rivers have already dried up and the present security situation in the country doesn't support the use of riverine areas that are not secured to move containers that cargoes on it are worth several millions of naira, so it is a blind adventure," Nicole said.

Also, a member of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Philip Ikedim, said the non-dredging of River Niger is the reason why the project has failed.

He said it was a white elephant project that cannot be executed due to a series of challenges such as insecurity, unworthiness of some of the barges and lack of insurance on the cargo.

Giving an instance, Ikedim said why shippers may lose interest in the evacuation of cargoes through barges was the recent incidents where cargo estimated to be over N500 million dropped deep down inside the water.

He said about seven 40ft containers dropped deep down along the Mazamaza water channel. Some of the containers were said to contain LED television sets, a scenario that elicited bitter reaction from stakeholders.

"If that should happen to an Onitsha or Onne-bound cargo, who will bear the burden?" he asked. This is part of the challenges that we are yet to be told how to go about," he said.

He continued, "if a barge is hijacked by sea robbers on the way to Onitsha or Onne Port, who will pay for the ransom demanded? This is a misplaced priority; the MD should first ensure sanity on the nation's waterways before going into cargo evacuation by barges."

Efforts to get Moghalu's reasons for the non-commencement of the project failed as text messages sent to his mobile were not responded to.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday joined worshippers for the end of the Tafsir at the State House Mosque to offer prayers for Allah's protection on the nation, its people and the leaders.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the president and worshippers listened to the final round of the daily interpretation of the Quran delivered by Sheikh Abdulwahid Abubakar Sulaiman, the Chief Imam, which they did throughout the fasting period.

During Sunday's episode, the Imam reviewed the virtues of the Ramadan and prayed against disunity, unrest, anger and crimes.

He also prayed to God for peace, harmony and security for the nation and its people.

Abdulwahid said: "We desperately need God's peace in view of the challenges facing the nation."

The Chief Imam further urged all citizens to be fair to one another and seek restoration through repentance, humility and love. (NAN)
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 74F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 74F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, on Sunday tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to speak up on insecurity in Nigeria.

He declared that God will not forgive President Muhammadu Buhari if Nigeria should go to war, saying recent calls for secession were as a result of the federal government's failures to address pressing issues that are capable of destroying the foundation and future of the country.

Adams spoke at his 51st birthday Thanksgiving Programme held at the Saviour Ministries C & S Worldwide, Alausa, Lagos, a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Aderemi said.

He quoted the Yoruba war general as expressing displeasure at President Buhari's "Lacklustre attitude to the myriads of security challenges in the country."

Adams said Nigeria has never had it so bad in the county, noting that killer bandits have taken over the entire country.

He added that President Buhari's silence on the security situation in the country is not golden.

According to him, the president's body language is already fueling disunity in Nigeria.

"Schools are being shut, churches, mosques are not spared. Bandits are gradually leading the country into a tailspin and the president seems to have been bereft of ideas.

"What we experience daily now in Nigeria is enough to set the country on fire."

Adams urged President Buhari to rise to the occasion and listen to the genuine calls for true federalism where the regions develop at their pace.
The Presidency yesterday said over 2,000 hectares of land with titled documents haf been given by 24 States for President Muhammadu Buhari administration's social housing programme.

A presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande in a statement, said 17 states had also indicated interest to participate in the solar power programme.

Akande said both programmes were important elements of the ongoing Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

He said these were some of the highlights emerging from a review meeting on the ESP implementation presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa over the weekend.

He said an agreement had been reached with at least one major cement manufacturer in the country to sell at significantly discounted prices as low as N2,600 per bag of cement for the social housing projects.

Akande said this was after a meeting Osinbajo held with three major cement manufacturers in the country namely Dangote Cement, Bua Cement and Lafarge Cement manufacturers.

He quoted Osinbajo as saying that the Buhari administration would continue to focus on creating more jobs while improving access to power and affordable housing for majority of Nigerians.

Akande said the vice president also stated that the Federal Government would continue to collaborate with States to ensure more Nigerians benefit from the housing scheme.

He said the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Ahmad Salihijo, disclosed that the Solar Power Naija team had had engagements with the six states who had identified private sector developers.

The team, according to him, has also selected Akwa Ibom, Ekiti and Kano as pilot states for the state-guaranteed transaction model for the solar power programme.

"He explained that REA is currently tracking transactions worth N55 billion potentially contributing the first two million connections in Nigeria and providing thousands of jobs," Akande stated.
Nairobi  Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday hosted leaders from Mt Kenya region to discuss how to re-engineer the country's economy.

Ruto said the meeting which was a follow-up to a similar forum held in Maasai Mara on May 1 deliberated on collaborative efforts to re-engineer government economic approach to one that promotes enterprise and fosters the empowerment of ordinary Kenyans.

"Through the ongoing consultations covering all regions and all sectors of the economy, we anticipate the generation of more jobs and expanded opportunities for those in the lower cadre will rid our country of poverty," he tweeted.

During an engagement with three representatives from each of the 11 counties from Mt Kenya region, it was agreed that more targeted and inclusive sessions should be held with Hustler Movement representatives, Members of the County Assemblies, religious and business leaders to follow as the country opens up.

The DP has been building the Hustler Movement, a political group championing for a bottom-up economic model, as his preferred platform for the 2022 presidential run.

At Maasai Mara, Ruto was accompanied by economist David Ndii who briefed the legislators on DP's proposed 'Bottom-Up Economic model' which seeks to uplift the common citizen and provide them with an opportunity to have a say in government.

The DP on Friday held another meeting with over 50 individuals including a section of Mt Kenya where the politicians and experts from different sectors discussed economic revival, a subject Ruto has been propagating since the pandemic broke out in the country.
Nairobi  The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is pursuing an armed criminal gang that carjacked and attacked a Ruaka resident on Saturday, disappearing with his car as he drove to his residence from work.

A statement by DCI on Sunday indicated the victim was ambushed by a gang of three who smashed his car and fired shots at him while the gate was opened as he pulled over by the apartment's gate.

"Getting home from work after a shift that runs through the night the victim pulled over by the apartment's gate, unaware that a gang of three assailants was laying in wait for him. As the gates opened, the driver's window was suddenly smashed with an iron rod, before two shots were fired in the air from a pistol in an attempt to subdue him," DCI said.

Before the victim managed to force his way into the parking lot and scampered for safety, the gang roughed him up before grabbing his car keys and phone and drove off.

Kiambaa-based detectives, on receiving the report, launched a manhunt for the suspects but only found the stolen vehicle abandoned in Kagongo village, having been extensively vandalized.

"A few hours later, detectives found the stolen vehicle abandoned in Kagongo village, having been extensively vandalized, Its rear and front headlights, side mirrors, all tires, nose guard, boot and radio had been stolen," the agency noted.

Detectives believe that the three suspects who are still on the run are part of a larger criminal syndicate operating within Kiambu county.

"The miscreants have been targeting taxi drivers while posing as customers, only to turn against them at isolated places, then assault the drivers and vandalize their vehicles. Some members of the syndicate have previously been arrested and arraigned in court. The DCI wishes to caution Kenyans on this trend," DCI added.
Nairobi  Kenyans on Sunday took to social media to express their heartfelt love as the world marked Mother's Day with most narrating the special role mothers have played in their lives.

Industrialist and Capital Group Chairman Dr Chris Kirubi, Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi, Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya were among those who paid tributes.

In a message on his Twitter account, Dr Kirubi said Mother's Day should be celebrated everyday because the role of a mother in the family is highly honoured.

A special day to celebrate motherhood is here after an interval of a year. In truth, Mother's Day should be celebrated everyday. The role of a mother in the family is highly honoured.

Happy Mother's Day to all wonderful women in our lives. #HappyMothersDay #AskKirubi pic.twitter.com/xJmDXeF6Kb- Chris Kirubi (@CKirubi) May 9, 2021

It is perhaps ODM Leader Raila Odinga's moving tribute to his late mother who passed away on November 5, 1984 while he was in detention which is likely to carry the toast of the door.

The opposition leader formally learned of his mother's demise about two months after her demise.

"My mother, like the millions of others, was special and unique."

"Just like Mother Earth, they make the world a better place; they love us unconditionally, and oh man they can multi-task. It's Mother's Day. I single out single mums today. Happy Mother's Day," he stated

Deputy President William Ruto tweeted; "Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing, incredible and hardworking mothers out there. We honour and celebrate you for the dedication, unconditional love, distinctive and life-changing roles that you play in our lives and the society."

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Muturi and Kimunya similarly saluted all mothers saying Mothers are the bridges that connect the present to the future, bringing forth and nurturing generations, with unconditional love and understanding.

"Mothers are Special! They hold their children's hands for a short while,but their hearts forever. While everything under the sun may be unsure,their love is not. #HappyMothersDay to all mothers for their dedication,unconditional love and the support they offer to their families," the House Speaker stated.

Kimunya posted: "I wish all the great mothers, from my mum, wife, daughter, those in Kipipiri and the rest of Kenya, a happy Mother's Day 2021."

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka also wished all mothers well, noting that a mother's influence is greatly impactful and unrivalled.

Church leaders also took time to also pay tribute to Mothers for their role to continue making it happen around the world.

"Let us also go and love others as our mothers love us. Let us pray for all mothers, even those who are no longer with us may, The Almighty God receive them in Heaven."

"And to all those who are still with us, may we at all times make time to appreciate our mothers and thank her for giving us their very best," said the Mass Leader at the Holy Family Basilica.

Mother's Day which is celebrated on May 9 annually, is a celebration honoring mothers, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.
Nairobi  Police Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai on Sunday directed Gender and Children's Directorate to probe claims of harassment and graft in the National Police Service, made by a female officer in a viral video clip.

The female officer in the video said she will resign over frustrations, even if it means her losing her income.

She further claimed that such frustrations are the main causes of deaths among officers who have either committed suicide or murdered their colleagues.

According to the officer attached to Mombasa's traffic department, claims filed by officers at the internal affairs unit never get attention, citing corruption as the main cause.

"I just want to resign and do another job as a civilian, the internal affairs office which is supposed to assist officers is not helping at all, I ask the President to disband that office because it's of no help," she said.

This comes even as Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi recently announced plans to have a team formed to come up with rules that will guide relationships in the police service.

Matiangi also said a Gender Relations Office would be established under the Office of the Inspector General to manage the issue.

He cited indiscipline among police officers and sexual harassment directly linked to affairs.

Matiangi said the ministry was alarmed by high numbers of female police officers complaining of sexual harassment.
Nairobi  Deputy President's spouse Rachel Ruto has sent a heartwarming message to all mothers praising them for continuously taking up the role of nurturing and loving their children.

In a message shared on Twitter, she lauded mothers for taking many sacrifices for their children saying that there is no pause button on motherhood.

"There's no pause button on motherhood. Mothers continuously take up the role of others but no one can take the role of a mother. A life-giver, nurturing and loving and the glue that holds everyone together. Today we celebrate all the mothers. For the many sacrifices you continue to give," she said.

Gender, Public Service, and Youth Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia also saluted all mothers for their role in providing for their families and for their unconditional love and resilience.

"On this Mothers Day, we salute all mothers for the role you play in providing for your families. We honour you for your unconditional love and resilience," Kobia said.

The National Gender and Equality Commission, while celebrating mothers said women leadership will gain momentum in the near future so much that it won't be a matter of affirmative action.

"In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders. We celebrate all Mothers," the commission said.

Industrialist and Capital Group Chairman Dr Chris Kirubi also honored matraichs saying Mother's Day should be celebrated everyday because the role of a mother in the family is highly honoured.

Deputy President William Ruto tweeted; "Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing, incredible and hardworking mothers out there. We honour and celebrate you for the dedication, unconditional love, distinctive and life-changing roles that you play in our lives and the society."

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka also wished all mothers well, noting that a mother's influence is greatly impactful and unrivaled.
Deputy President William Ruto's daughter June is officially off the market, thanks to an elaborate engagement ceremony in Nairobi that had her parents dancing in excitement.

June officially introduced his fiancee, Nigerian Dr. Alexander Ezenagu, to his family and the world on Saturday.

Ezenagu holds an LLB from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and is also a graduate of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

He currently is an Assistant Law Professor at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

He is known to specialize in international tax law, transfer pricing, tax planning, investment advisory, and commercial law advisory and practice.

The engagement bash turned into a blend of two cultures from East and West Africa.

The groom-to-be is from the Igbo culture whilst the reserved June hails from the Kalenjin community in Kenya, best known for its exploits on the field and track

"June's father kept the event small and simple and family-focused. His position as Deputy President was relegated as he played the role of a father. Ruto and his wife were great hosts," Nigerian politician Osita Chidoka, who was head of the Nigerian delegation.

The engagement comes six months after the DP publicly challenged her daughter to get married.

June holds a degree in International Communication and joined the diplomatic service in Kenya in 2014.
A child walks in the rubble after an armed confrontation in Alindao in Central African Republic (file image)

The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Chief of Defence Staff, General Jean-Bosco Kazura on Saturday received the chief of General Staff of the Central African Republic Armed Forces (FACA), Major General Zephlin Mamadou, who was in Rwanda to among others discuss strategies of defence cooperation.

General Mamadou, according to a statement from RDF, was accompanied by a military team of experts from the government of CAR.

Following their discussions, the two governments signed an implementation protocol in areas of operations and training.

In addition, the statement noted that the officials deliberated on the implementation of the Defence Cooperation Agreement signed between CAR and Rwanda in October 2019.

"I have come to Rwanda with a team of military experts to discuss the implementation of the Defence Cooperation Agreement that was earlier signed between our two countries."

Maj. Gen Mamadou added, "The signing of this protocol follows successful engagements of close cooperation between our two respective Defence forces."

Rwanda is among the major troop contributors to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Currently, the government maintains two battalions and a Level Two Hospital under the initiative.

The country has also deployed an additional battalion in the framework of bilateral agreement, that supports the consolidation of peace and security in Central African Republic.
Rwanda Meteorology Agency has announced "very heavy rains" that will be experienced between May 8 and 12.

The warning was issued after thorough analysis was done by the Weatherman that showed that scattered widespread rainfall being experienced over several parts of the country is expected to continue in the next coming four to five days.

"It is likely to intensify to more than millimetres in 24 hours over Southern, Western and Northern provinces, from 8th to 12th May 2021," the forecast said.

The expected impacts, the analysis says, include severe widespread flooding to major rivers and catchments, damage to infrastructure, landslides, loss of livestock and risk of loss of human lives.

It adds that poor visibility causing incidence of accidents, danger to life due to fast-flowing and deep water is also expected.

"Due to accumulated rainfall in the past two days in most parts of the country and expected rains in four coming days, contingency measures should be put in place to avoid likelihoods of negative impacts associated with increased rainfall especially in disaster-prone areas," reads the announcement signed, on May 8, by Aimable Gahigi, Director General of Meteo Rwanda.

In the forecast that had been issued at the end of April, the Meteo agency said that the rains expected within the first ten days of May would be slightly above normal compared to the same period in the past years.

The call for contingency measures to avoid likelihoods of negative impacts associated with increased rainfall especially in disaster-prone areas comes as many households are still stranded in high risk zones while others have been displaced by disasters.

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Philippe Habinshuti, the Director for the Response and Recovery Unit at the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), told The New Times in March this year that there is a plan to build decent houses for 14,051 households displaced by disasters

According to official data by this ministry, at least 8,013 houses, 95 classrooms, four health centres, 151 roads, 102 bridges, 22 churches, 26 water supply systems, 96 electricity transmission lines, 16 administrative offices, six markets and one factory were damaged while 3,491 livestock died owing to disasters last year.

The data shows that 5,968.653 hectares of crops and 458 hectares of forests were damaged by disasters while 290 people lost their lives as 398 were injured in 2020.

In 2019, the report shows, at least 271 disasters destroyed 5,687 houses while 10,610.45 hectares of crops were damaged.

Disasters also damaged 203 classrooms, 30 roads and 50 churches, 40 bridges and 21 administrative offices, six water supply systems and 72 transmission lines, four markets and two factories while 2,979 livestock died in the same year.
Council Discusses Future Plans, Hears Planning & Zoning Requests

The Hillsboro City Council continued discussions from a recent planning workshop and considered planning and zoning recommendations in a regular meeting held Tuesday, May 4.



City Manager Megan Henderson recapped information covered during the recent workshop. She stressed the importance of planning improvements, communicating those plans effectively to the community and following through to accomplish the projects.



A major topic of discussion has been the condition of city streets, and Henderson said that a multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment to street improvements is necessary utilizing bond, stimulus and grant funding. Plans also include using those same sources of funding to increase the quality of water and sewer systems.



In addition to repairing streets, Henderson said that a significant increase in the annual budget is needed to perform preventative maintenance on streets and keep them in good condition.



She explained that the city should set budget targets to increase routine and preventative maintenance each year and ease into greater investment over time, because the projected growth in property tax and sales tax would support increased investment.



Henderson proposed creating a dashboard, which would be a framework for communication with citizens regarding street conditions and progress on street projects. She explained that assessing current conditions and trends, obtaining citizen input and stretching street dollars will be part of the process.



The city manager said that a method similar to the street project dashboard, but simpler, can be used to communicate the city's plan for water and sewer improvements.



Targeting improvements in areas where multiple issues can be solved in the same project would be one way to stretch the city's dollars, Henderson explained.



During the planning workshop, infrastructure problems that were brought to light during the February freeze were discussed, and the council discussed the importance of having an estimated repair time frame communicated to them and citizens when there are water line breaks.



The growth of the city was also discussed at the planning workshop. Henderson said that the upcoming census numbers are projected to show growth in Hillsboro. The downtown area is growing, and the real estate market is active with properties filling up throughout the city.



Henderson said that Hillsboro is well positioned to attract positive growth because of its location and downtown area, and she pointed out the importance of continuing to invest in the community.



Another goal discussed in the workshop was creating a convention, meeting and expanded library space with grant and tourism dollars.



Establishing a convention center has been a goal of the council for several years, and Library Director Susan Mann presented an update on the proposed library expansion project, which would accomplish that goal, at the planning workshop.



The original library expansion plan considered by the council last year has been scaled down to reduce costs, and Mann presented the updated proposal from Architexas to the council.



The architect's opinion of probable cost included a total budget of $5,335,321.19. The funding sources would include a $2 million fund-raising goal, $1,985,000 in funding from the city, $900,000 from the sale of the former Walmart building on Corsicana Highway and $457,000 in hotel occupancy tax funds.



A lack of nearby parking has been a topic of concern throughout the discussions about the library expansion. It was pointed out that drivers are often willing to park further away for special events and conferences than they are for everyday business, and parking is available in the downtown area. A parking study could provide more information about spaces that would serve the proposed library expansion.



The city manager said that community outreach and involvement are goals that she is committed to, and she outlined ideas for citizen involvement, including newspaper articles, social media posts, water bill newsletter inserts and town hall meetings.



In regular business, the council held a public hearing and first reading of an ordinance that would revise the text of the zoning ordinance to allow an indoor amusement center in the Central Business District.



Both the Hillsboro Main Street Board of Directors and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the change, which would allow K and T Axe House to operate at 50 West Elm Street. The business will offer recreational axe throwing on the premises.



The council also held a public hearing and first reading of an ordinance to abandon an alley adjacent to 605 South Park Street. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the request to allow the owner to re-plat the property into one lot.



The Texas Department of Transportations Click-it-or-Ticket grant was also approved by the council. The purpose of the funding is to increase seatbelt use by conducting enforcement, public information and education efforts.



The grant will cover 80 percent of overtime pay for police officers from May 21 through June 9.



The council's next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 18, at Historic City Hall.




Jubilee and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) have locked horns over campaigns for the Bonchari parliamentary by-election scheduled for May 18 over claims of use of State agencies in favour of the ruling party candidate.

Despite working together courtesy of the March 9, 2018 'handshake' between their leaders - President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Raila Odinga, they have now clashed over the Bonchari mini poll in which they are the front runners.

Jubilee Party is behind former legislator Zebedeo Opore while ODM has fronted former Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) Director-General Mr Pavel Oimeke.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) cleared 13 candidates, including Ms Teresa Bitutu of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), which is linked to Deputy President William Ruto.

The allegation

The misunderstanding between Jubilee and ODM has reached the IEBC desk with the latter's Executive Director, Mr Oduor Ong'wen, accusing the ruling party of deploying "State's administrative and security agencies" to campaign for Mr Opore.

In a protest letter to IEBC chair Mr Wafula Chebukati, dated May 6 and received by the commission the following day, Mr Ong'wen accuses the State's administrative agencies and security personnel of plotting to "adversely influence a free, fair and democratic electoral process".

"The national government administrators at the county level, led by the Kisii county commissioner and chiefs, have, in an overt manner, converted themselves into campaign agents of the Jubilee candidate Zebedeo Opore," Mr Ong'wen's letter states.

He also linked the recent arrest of Riana MCA Vincent Moisabi to abn alleged wider scheme to intimidate the ODM brigade.

Mr Ong'wen stated that on May 4, 2021, Mr Zebedeo Onditi Ntabo, the assistant chief of Bogitaa Sub-location told the people of Bonchari to vote for Mr Opore, "the State candidate". He said the administrator spoke at a funeral in Mugoga within Riana Ward

In his letter, which was accompanied by photographs and clips, Mr Ong'wen claims the administrator in his address stated that; "... the government is the one that brings roads and electricity. To us as the government office, when we've been asked to support the government, we need to tell you that the government has a candidate in the forthcoming by-election."

"My plea to you is to support the candidate. I know you know the candidate the government supports. Isn't it so? Which is the government party? The candidate from the government side is the chosen one and should be supported," the assistant chief is quoted as saying.

Government resources

On Sunday, ODM's National Treasurer Timothy Bosire, who is leading the party's campaigns in Bonchari, said a team of government officials, including some parastatal chiefs from Kisii, had been mobilised by a senior government official to campaign for Mr Opore.

"They have gone there with government resources to influence the voters by all means," Mr Bosire told the Nation, even as the party further alleged plans to influence the transfer of the constituency's tallying centre from the traditional Suneka Baraza Hall to an ungazetted zone of Igonga Secondary School.

ODM, in its complaint to the IEBC, also noted that on May 5, the Nyanza Regional Coordinator and the Kisii county commissioner convened a meeting of chiefs and sub-chiefs at Kerina in Riana Ward, that was attended by the Jubilee party candidate, "dressed in full party campaign attire."

"One wonders what the agenda of the meeting was and why only one candidate was invited to attend and address the chiefs to the exclusion of others," Mr Ong'wen said.

"This brazen attitude and conduct of public officers only reinforces what many locals have intimated to be an endorsement by a senior public officer in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and elements within the National Police Service, who are actively engaged in these by-election campaigns.

He added that "it is a trite law that public officials, whilst discharging their duties, should do so in a manner that does not impair public confidence in the performance of their functions and duties".

"We therefore demand application of Chapter 6 of the Constitution on leadership and integrity, the Public Officers Ethics Act: the Election Offences Act, and the Electoral Code of Conduct with a view to restore integrity, public confidence and sanity in the electoral process."

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Jubilee denies claims

Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju said he was not privy to the ODM protest letter and denied claims of using State agents to campaign for the party's candidate.

"How would we do that? I haven't seen the letter but our party cannot, in any way, be involved in such activities," Mr Tuju said.

Nyanza Regional Coordinator, Mr Magu Mutindika, denied the claims that security personnel were involved in the campaigns for the Jubilee candidate in Bonchari.

"It is true we went to Riana for the posting of a new assistant county commissioner. We were joined by the Jubilee candidate but did not campaign for him. That's just politics," Mr Mutindika told the Nation on the phone on Sunday.

He said Mr Opore wanted to speak to the gathering but that this happened after they had left the venue.

"If they (ODM) are overpowered, let them not blame us," he added.
Police in Kisumu have arrested five people in an operation to flush out suspected terrorists believed to have sneaked into the country.

The suspects were arrested in a two-day operation by a multi-agency team of officers from Kisumu and Nairobi.

Kisumu County Commander Samuel Anampiu said that acting on intelligence reports, his team arrested two Pakistani nationals at about 11am on Saturday, along Kisumu-Kakamega Road near the Mamboleo roundabout.

For the better part of Sunday morning, once again guided by intelligence, police apprehended three more people along Kisumu-Ahero Road.

The Sunday operation caused a massive traffic snarl-up that stretched over 20 kilometers.

"The Anti-Terror Police Unit, in conjunction with our multi-agency team, is handling the matter. We are still investigating the matter ... it is too early to declare the suspects terrorists," Mr Anampiu said, describing them as "aliens".

He requested members of the public to give authorities helpful information.

"There should be no cause for alarm since we are on the ground firmly, alert and vigilant," said the county commander.

Five long hours

The traffic jam on Kisumu-Ahero Road started at about midday and lasted at least five hours.

Many travellers heading as far as Nairobi remained in their vehicles, some expressing worries about reaching their destinations past the curfew hour of 10pm.

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Some opted to use motorcycles to navigate between vehicles so that they could reach their destinations in good time.

What made matters worse was the usual indiscipline of impatient motorists who overlapped and created a gridlock.

Police tried to ease the congestion but there had been no significant changes by 6pm.

Strict surveillance

Meanwhile, Kisumu has stepped up surveillance after the Indian variant of the coronavirus was detected there.

Monitoring has been taking place round the clock, with travellers undergoing checks at several points including Ahero.

Last week, the county confined at least eight foreign nationals who tested positive for the Indian variant and is currently conducting elaborate contact tracing to help stop the spread of the virus.

Health executive, Dr Boaz Otieno Nyunya, said it is suspected that the eight, who were working at a local fertiliser company, had travelled from india.

At least 100 other workers said to have been in close contact with them have been quarantined.
Bishop Joseph Muchai of Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Nakuru Diocese tested positive for Covid-19 on March 24. He was admitted to Nakuru Specialist Hospital for one week. The bishop and his wife Mary Muchai, who is a Lay Canon, survived to tell the story.

"I panicked when I tested positive for Covid-19, I asked myself many questions including where I had contracted the virus. I decided to leave everything to God," Bishop Muchai said.

He added: "God worked a miracle, we responded so well to treatment and the doctors were surprised by our quick recovery. We thank God for saving us from the jaws of death."

The cleric has said that most people do not want to reveal their Covid-19 status.

"I experienced a lot of stigma while in hospital. Many people were asking where I had contracted the disease," he told Nation.Africa.

Deadly virus

"Before I contracted the deadly virus, I made sure all the faithful observed Covid-19 containment measures," he added.

"I was stressed when some church members sent me text messages about members of my congregation who had succumbed to the virus," he said.

Bishop Muchai said that he was shocked at the number of Covid-19 patients who died in the hospital.

"I don't know why some people were sending distressful messages to me when I was equally in critical condition," he said.

He felt abandoned by people who had been very close to him.

"Some of the so-called friends have never called me even after I was discharged from hospital," he said.

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He says that those he met after being discharged from hospital adjusted their face masks.

"Those who are not sick forget that the virus is still with us and they could also contract the disease," he says.

Covid-19 stigma

He added: "By going public on my Covid-19 status, many of my colleagues have come out to speak about the disease. I thank God they have recovered. This is the best way to end the stigma."

"Covid-19 has made me discover my true friends. I thank the head of ACK in Kenya Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit for calling me daily to find out how I was recovering. Friends like retired Bishop Stephen Njihia and Mr George Kagima never abandoned me.

"I would not wish to see anybody going through such a painful experience. One day I would wake up feeling okay and the following day I would wake up feeling unwell. While in hospital, I was diagnosed with diabetes, I am now on medication," he said.

He said that the church has lost many members to the virus. Some of them, he said, accrued medical bills amounting to more than Sh3.5 million which is a big burden to Christians.

He has appealed to the government to invest more in the health sector. He is grateful to his family office staff and Nakuru Specialist Hospital staff for their support.

He has urged Kenyans to observe Ministry of Health protocols by washing hands, wearing face masks and avoiding gatherings to keep Covid-19 at bay. He says his health insurance firm of nine years declined to pay his medical bills.
The National Police Service has launched investigations into the murder of a senior immigration officer on Sunday morning.

Via Twitter on Sunday, the NPS said Phillip Sitienei was shot three times at about 7am, while on a routine morning run.

"[He] was shot dead along Lokichogio-Nadapal road. The officer was on his routine morning run to keep fit when unknown attackers shot him in the leg, shoulder and head. He died on the spot," the NPS said.

"We condemn this heinous act with the strongest words possible. No stone will be left unturned until we get the killers of the civil servant. Among other duties, NPS remains committed to protecting life and property"
Jestina Mukoko, a director of rights group Zimbabwe Peace Project, and one of the organizers of the #ResistDictatorshipConstitution online rally, in Harare in December 2020.

Harare, Zimababwe  Zimbabwean opposition and rights groups have held an online protest against proposed constitutional amendments that would allow the president to handpick top judges. Thousands of people viewed the Thursday night rally, which was streamed online to avoid arrests amid a coronavirus lockdown and ban on public gatherings.

Stanley Gwanzura - better known as Pastor G, a Zimbabwean gospel musician - sang "It Shall Be Well" as the opposition and rights groups started the online "rally" Thursday evening.

Jestina Mukoko, a director of a rights NGO named the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was one of the organizers of the #ResistDictatorshipConstitution rally.

"Should we just allow a few people to amend the constitution? As Zimbabweans, should we allow ourselves to be short-changed? It removes the tenets that we want to aspire to get to as Zimbabweans: democracy, transparency and accountability. If these amendments are allowed to take root, it means what we will have at the end is a dictatorship and this is why we are saying #ResistDictatorshipConstitution," Mukoko said.

The three-hour plus online rally sought to mobilize Zimbabweans to stop President Emmerson Mnangagwa from signing the amendments into law.

The amendments, passed by parliament Tuesday, would allow the president to appoint judges to the Constitutional, Supreme and High Courts without lawmakers' approval. The president would also choose his two vice presidents without an election and be able to delay the retirement of the chief justice by five years.

Critics are accusing the ruling ZANU-PF party of seeking to undermine the judiciary.

Among those who took part in Thursday's protest was 22-year-old Namatai Kwekweza, who is already facing charges of holding a protest last year against the amendments.

She said young Zimbabweans must "rise up against" the movement to amend the constitution, which was hailed as progressive by most countries in 2013.

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"These people are authoring standards by which Zimbabweans in 2013 agreed to be governed. They are authoring those standards without the consent of the people. The people of this country would have said no. The lockdown was taken advantage [of]. They knew the civil society, the opposition could not mobilize, because we were under the lockdown," Kwekweza said.

Tafadzwa Mugwadi, director of information for ZANU-PF, said the removal of a running mate clause was meant to ensure a president can chose his vice presidents and ensure stability of the government. On hand-picking judges, Mugwadi said the procedure is not without precedent.

"The process of appointment of Supreme Court judges in the United States of America is no different from the framework that has been put in place. This is what happens across jurisdictions. The point that I am trying to make is not to say we are trying to follow the United States of America on this issue but the justice delivery system is a technical task that requires maturity, wisdom and experience," he said.

But contrary to Mugwadi's comparison, in the U.S., presidents nominate Supreme Court justices but they must win approval in the Senate.

Along with the online protesters, the amendments have been condemned on social media by main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance and its leader, Nelson Chamisa.

However, the president is expected to sign the bill in the next few days.
Deputy President William Ruto held a meeting with leaders from the Rift Valley and Mt Kenya on Friday, just a day after lawmakers allied to him voted for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) at the National Assembly.

Dr Ruto met 33 leaders at Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika's residence in Nairobi in what he said was discussions on "re-engineering Kenya's economy".

"Through ongoing consultations covering all regions and sectors of the economy, we anticipate the generation of more jobs and expanded opportunities for those in the lower cadre," he said after the meeting.

He promised to meet ward representatives, the clergy and business leaders when restrictions meant to stop the spread of coronavirus are lifted.

Ms Kihika is a political rival of Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri, a Ruto ally who voted for the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Mr Ngunjiri was in Nakuru town distributing United Democratic Alliance (UDA) membership cards yesterday. The party is associated with Dr Ruto.

A source at the meeting said the leaders agreed to let senators "vote with their conscience on BBI" as Team Ruto puts all its energy on the 2022 General Election and identifying candidates to contest in areas represented by MPs not friendly to him.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria briefed the meeting on the Juja by-election.

Mr George Ndung'u Koimburi is contesting the seat on a People Empowerment Party, an outfit linked to Mr Kuria.

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Dr Ruto's allies have rallied behind Mr Koimburi in the May 18 Juja mini vote.

Murang'a Senator Irung'u Kang'ata, who attended the meeting, told the Sunday Nation that the DP and his economic adviser David Ndii took the leaders through his "bottom-up" economic plan, which he hopes to use in his journey for State House.

"The meeting discussed economic issues. The economic team gave its ideas and we added our views," Mr Kang'ata said.

"I proposed three issues to be added to the blueprint - free healthcare, deregulation of the economy to spur growth and free lunch to school children."

He said the leaders agreed to dispel the notion that the economic model is State-led capitalism.

Asked if it was a crisis meeting after a number of Dr Ruto's supporters backed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 on Thursday, he maintained that the (BBI) is not a priority to the DP's allies "and will never be part of our discussions".

Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua said the meeting took place at the request of Dr Ruto's allies who were not part of the Maasai Mara retreat "and wanted to be appraised on the new economic model".
Schools will reopen tomorrow for the Third Term after a seven-week break to a unique crash academic programme amid tight health measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Third Term is usually the shortest in the school calendar and will this time last only two months as teachers race to complete the 2020 syllabus.

Also, for the first time in the history of the country, schools will open for the Third Term without the pressure of preparing candidates for national examinations.

Traditionally, Standard Eight and Form Four candidates sit their national examinations in the Third Term.

However, this time round the focus will shift to Standard Seven and Form Three students, who are expected to finish their syllabus on time before they start preparing to sit their national exams in less than a year.

The national examinations for the 2021 class are scheduled for next March.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said registrations for the exams will start as early as this term, unlike previous years. Usually, registrations for national examinations start in January, during the usual first term of the school calendar.

Recover the 'lost year'

However, due to the revised calendar occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, schools will have to adjust to the new ministry regulations to recover the "lost year".

"As you are aware, we are already behind schedule and therefore the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) will begin the registration of the 2021 candidates ahead of the March examinations," said Prof Magoha.

Tomorrow, only learners in Pre- Primary One and Two, Grades One to Three, Standard Five to Seven and Forms One to Three will be reporting to school. The Third Term will run from May 10, 2021 to July 16, 2021.

Notably, 1,392,385 Grade Four learners -- 347,636 in 14,086 private schools and 1,044,749 in 23,157 public schools -- will not be reporting to schools.

Despite efforts by several private school owners to initiate various extra-curriculum programmes to accommodate the learners in schools during the two months they are required to be home, Prof Magoha ruled out the possibility of having the pupils from private schools engaged in any form of learning.

He said before the school calendar was revised, the ministry engaged all stakeholders, including those from private schools.

Grade Four learners

"Grade Four learners will remain at home until July 26 as we agreed with stakeholders and anyone thinking they will call them back to school should go and create their own country, their own government and their own education system," said Prof Magoha.

The Grade Four learners completed their Third Term in March and are awaiting to join Grade Five in July 26.

Already, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has finalised the content for Grade Five ahead of the rollout.

Prof Magoha warned parents against falling prey to private schools, some of which have begun sending them fees guidelines.

Last week, several private schools sent messages to parents informing them about plans to roll out Grade Five while others cited non-completion of the Grade Four syllabus as the reason for recalling Grade Four learners. Others said they would engage learners to ensure they do not forget what they had studied before the school closed.

On schools preparation regarding Covid-19, Prof Magoha asked schools to observe the health protocols issued last year.

"The ministry has already released a circular to all field officers to ensure that all schools are ready to accept learners, and that they are all prepared to comply with Ministry of Health Covid-19 measures," he said.

Covid-19 vaccine

In the regulations, schools are required to ensure they install handwashing facilities that have enough running water and make sure that the thermo guns bought in the last term are working.

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Prof Magoha also urged teachers to take the Covid-19 vaccine to ensure they are safe when interacting with learners.

"When more vaccines are available, the government will ensure that all teachers who voluntarily accept to be vaccinated get the vaccine, possibly by the end of next month," he said.

So far, 143,525 teachers have been vaccinated. The teachers have been advised to access the vaccine in 622 centres across the country.

But, even as schools prepared to reopen yesterday, Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers secretary-general Akelo Misori asked the government to address the issue of teacher shortage in schools.

"The policy on 100 per cent transition to secondary schools and the new class establishment had revealed a teacher shortage of 97,000 before the pandemic," said Mr Misori. "This deficit will be made worse by the retirement of more than 25,000 by June 30."

Mr Misori urged the Teachers Service Commission to absorb intern teachers on permanent terms, recruit at least 50,000 new tutors in the next financial year, and a similar number over the next three years to meet the demands of the Competency-Based Curriculum.
President Uhuru Kenyatta with his Somalia counterpart Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo after the National Prayer Breakfast at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on May 31, 2018.

Mogadishu, Somalia  Somalia's cargo and travel industries have welcomed the resumption of diplomatic ties with neighbor Kenya after a five-month freeze that damaged bilateral trade. But tensions remain over an unresolved maritime territorial dispute.

Somalia and Kenya have announced the resumption of their diplomatic ties Thursday following mediation brokered by Qatar.

Speaking to the media in Mogadishu, Somalia's minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation, Mohamed Abdirizack, said Nairobi has agreed not to interfere in the domestic affairs as a condition.

Abdirizack said the foreign policy of Somalia does not tolerate domestic affairs interference. He added respect for sovereignty, no interference in internal political affairs and borders are the foundations of the African Union principles.

As the two neighboring states are working on a new diplomatic engagement, various businesses have been affected during the diplomatic tension.

Among them is Somalia's travel, tourism and cargo sector.

Ali Ahmed Farah, manager of Idil travel and general services in Mogadishu, said the five-month break in relations reduced travel between Somalia and Kenya.

Farah said before Somalia severed diplomatic ties with Kenya, there were five or six daily direct flights between Mogadishu and Nairobi, but the number has been reduced to one or two. He added that the passengers they serve also faced immense visa restrictions due to the closure of diplomatic missions.

Somalia's government's ban on Kenyan flights carrying the mild narcotic drug khat has remained in place since March of last year, while Kenyan farmers still count losses.

At the same time, Somali cargo business operators face challenges from Kenyan authorities.

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Mohamud Jamaa from Easy Way Cargo said business has dropped in the past five months.

He said since the two countries engaged in the diplomatic dispute the few airlines transiting Mogadishu - Nairobi route rejected to offer cargo services for fear of consequences from immigration officials. He said they hope business will improve after the announcement of new relations when the two neighbors will lift restrictions.

Qatar's special envoy for mediation of conflict resolution, Mutlaq Al Qahtani, met with officials from both countries in an effort to repair relations.

But Kenya and Somalia still have issues to resolve, the biggest being a dispute over maritime energy rights.

The case was filed in 2014 by Somalia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - the United Nations' highest court for disputes between states -- and a decision could determine rights to exploit oil and gas deposits in the deep waters off the East African coastline.

Adan Makina, a doctoral student at Walden University in the United States, said it's hard to tell how the ICJ might deal with the case.

"These are two neighboring countries that have had political altercations for a long time. Between 1935-1945 the two colonial powers of Italy and Britain couldn't resolve this maritime dispute and they decided to leave it the way it is. How the two nations can agree on how to reach a resolution is hard to tell," Makina said.

In March, Kenya refused to participate in ICJ hearings about the dispute, citing alleged bias by the court.
A group of accountants from Mandera have donated food stuff to the needy in the society.

Under the community social responsibility programme, the bookkeepers who are members of the Certified Accountants of Kenya (Icpak), spent the weekend reaching out to vulnerable members of society in Mandera East.

"We felt it was important as registered accountants to help vulnerable families in Mandera especially in this last week of Ramadhan as we seek more partners to expand to other areas in the county," said Mr Abdinur Adan, The Icpak Northern Region branch vice chairman.

Each beneficiary received a 25kg bag of rice, a bale of white flour, 3 litres of cooking oil and cleaning detergents as Idd ul-Fitr package.

"We thought it was more important for every household to have happy Idd celebrations and that is why we fundraised amongst ourselves to sponsor this programme," he said.

Target groups

The accountants targeted orphans, people living with disabilities and the elderly in the community. Identification of the beneficiaries was done by chiefs and other community leaders.

Mr Adan said Icpak head office facilitated the local branch in undertaking the event.

At least 30 households benefited from the donations as the group pledged to reach out to more people.

Mr Adan said the initiative has also been carried out in the counties of Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo and Marsabit.

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"We are about 160 accountants subscribing to Icpak and with our own donations and support from the head office we have successfully provided food to many families this period of Ramadhan," he said.

Mr Gedi Noor, a beneficiary, thanked the group for putting a smile on many families in Mandera.

"I have been without food but this group has saved me from the hustle of providing for my family at least for some time. I am happy," he said.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, a chief in Mandera, lauded the programme, terming it a relief to the government.

"We are happy as national government officials in Mandera for this programme has helped us in feeding the society," he said.

Mr Ibrahim appealed for support from other partners in feeding the needy in Mandera, citing the high number of people who need assistance.

"We are appealing to other development partners to come in so that together we can feed our less privileged members of society in Mandera," he said.
Johannesburg  African nations have welcomed news that the U.S. supports a proposal to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. But, they warn, the road ahead is long and full of obstacles.

Health experts and activists say the decision, announced this week by the U.S. trade representative, could save lives in parts of the world where the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage and vaccines are in short supply.

Fatima Hassan is director of the Health Justice Initiative, a South African group that advocates for equitable health care.

While Hassan said she welcomes U.S. support of the so-called "TRIPS" waiver -- it stands for "Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property" -- she worries that the process is moving too slowly.

"Obviously ... we welcome the Biden administration's announcement -- and really its giving effect, partially, to a promise he made when he was campaigning to be the president of the United States," he said, but added that it is only a "small step to be able to go forward in terms of the TRIPS waiver, but also in terms of other initiatives to scale up manufacturing not just in Africa, but in the global South, particularly in Latin America and Asia as well."

Implementing waiver of intellectual property rights at WTO is not as simple as handing over vaccine recipes so countries can make generic versions

The waiver idea came from two nations that have suffered greatly during the pandemic: South Africa and India. South Africa is the continent's worst-hit country, with nearly 1.6 million confirmed cases and a vaccination program that has been plagued by fits and starts. Health officials are now bracing for a third wave of infections.

Hassan stressed that the waiver alone won't immediately produce a bounty of locally produced vaccines. The Africa Centers for Diseases Control has identified about six facilities on the continent that are capable of manufacturing vaccines -- hardly enough to quickly meet the needs of more than 1.2 billion Africans.

And, says Yuan Qiong Hu of global aid group Doctors Without Borders, the U.S. does not have the final word here. The World Trade Organization meets in June to hammer out the conditions, and there are a number of high-profile opponents, including the European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Australia.

While more than 100 countries support the waiver proposal, countries that oppose the waiver, says Hassan, may fear that it sets an irreversible precedent.

Industry groups also have weighed in. In a statement late last year, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations said diluting intellectual property rights would be "counterproductive" and would risk "undoing" the very system that generated life-saving vaccines in record time in the first place.

Despite such opposition, Hassan remains upbeat.

"Maybe this statement from the U.S. trade office is actually the first of a long journey, where over the next few decades we'll finally be able to have a real reckoning around the impact of intellectual property on access to healthcare services, in particular medicine," she said. "The fact that medicines are still commodified, that they are subject to a trade regime and subject to the quite excessive and quite protectionist rules of the World Trade Organization is a key concern for many organizations and many health advocates and activists.

"I think that we shouldn't underestimate the statement and the move by the U.S. government," she added. "It's certainly going to create a ripple effect."

Umunyana Rugege, director of South African advocacy group Section 27, certainly hopes that is the case. Her group campaigns for social justice in South Africa. Before COVID-19 appeared, their health advocacy focused on another pandemic: HIV. South Africa carries the world's heaviest burden of that virus. Rugege said her country's lengthy experience in that battle enabled them to act quickly when COVID-19 first appeared.

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"Early in the pandemic, what we did was to call for a number of things," she said. "The first thing was a moratorium on any new patents on COVID-related technologies. So that's before we even had vaccines, before we knew what treatments were going to work. We said, let's make sure that we're not giving out new patents on these technologies. The second thing we demanded was for automatic compulsory licenses where there are health technologies that are found to be effective against COVID, but that have patents."

This is familiar ground for African health activists. From the mid-90s, activists lobbied hard for the World Trade Organization to issue a similar waiver for lifesaving antiretroviral medications. A final agreement was inked in 2001.

According to the United Nations, as many as 42 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since counting began more 40 years ago. Since COVID was first recognized in early 2020, the World Health Organization says it has killed 3.2 million people.
Hill Regional To Administer 2nd Vaccine Doses Hill Regional Hospital is reminding those who have received first doses of COVID-19 vaccines of the dates to return for their second shots.



Those who received Moderna vaccines from Hill Regional Hospital at the Hill County Fairgrounds on April 14, are reminded that their second doses will be given Thursday, May 13, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.



Those who received Pfizer vaccines on Wednesday, April 21, are scheduled for second doses to be administered Friday, May 14, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.



Appointments for those not yet vaccinated are available by visiting www.hillregionalhospital.com. Registering online is preferred, but those who are unable to do so may sign up by phone.



For questions or to make an appointment by phone, call the hospital at 254-580-8500 for more information.


Kampala, Uganda  Ugandan lawmakers this week passed a bill on sexual offenses that would increase punishments for offenders and would strengthen protection for victims. But critics note the measure also would enshrine the criminalization of same-sex relations, sex work and those living with HIV.

Monica Amoding, the legislator who pushed for the Sexual Offenses Act, said that for 10 years there has been a high incidence of sexual offenses, with sexual violence topping the list of crimes that needed to be battled.

However, not everyone supported the bill.

Under terms of the act, consensual same-sex relationships would remain a crime in Uganda and could lead to 10 years in prison.

Not surprised

Amoding said it wasn't surprising that parliament came up with the penalty, mainly because parliament is a mirror of its society.

"With this provision, at least the punishment has been reduced to 10 years, which was life imprisonment earlier on," she said. "So it means that some things are changing. The mindset of people is changing. Parliament is changing. Maybe in due course, society will appreciate this as well."

In a statement Thursday, Mausi Segun, the Human Rights Watch Africa director, urged Uganda to focus on ending endemic sexual violence rather than seeing this as an opportunity to embed what he called abusive provisions that criminalize the sex lives of consenting adults.

Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, described the act as alarming.

"It shows how conservative Uganda is," he said. "Because there have been several recommendations to parliament. First of all, not to criminalize people because of their sexual orientation or because of who they choose to love. So this expanded criminalization, in a way. It shows you how our parliament is obsessed with homosexuality."

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The act defines a sexual harassment suspect as a person who makes direct or indirect advances or requests, whether verbal or written; displays sexually suggestive pictures or gestures; or makes sexually oriented comments, jokes or offensive flirtations. The crime would be punishable by seven years in prison or a fine of $1,700 or both.

'It won't work' for men

On the streets of Kampala, Ben Kawaida said that as a man, he must use certain words and gestures to interest a woman.

"I won't accept it," he said of the bill. "It won't work for us young men. Because as men we must entice women. Through actions, through messages and many other things. Yeah, so how do I go about it? Does that mean enticement should stop?"

The act, among other things, also would require mandatory HIV testing of defendants and would treat HIV status as an aggravating factor when a person is accused of specific sexual offenses.

Proponents of the bill said they were torn on how to balance justice between offenders and victims in cases where HIV-positive people intentionally infect others.

The act requires President Yoweri Museveni's signature for it to become law.
Over 11,100 Huduma cards remain uncollected at the Kibra Huduma Centre offices.

According to Kibera Deputy County Commissioner Gideon Ombongi, only 4,400 cards have been collected. He is now appealing to the public to go for the cards at the offices.

"We have 11,197 cards that have not been collected. We have done everything to look for the owners to collect them but they are not coming forward," Mr Ombongi said.

But Mr Ombongi revealed that there has been confusion in the delivery of the cards. He said the cards do not indicate the places of residence of the owners, making it hard for the national government administration officials to deliver them.

Details lacking

"The problem is that they brought them without details of the holders' whereabouts or contacts. Therefore, it is very difficult to trace the owners," Ombongi said.

Mr Ombongi held a meeting with assistant county commissioners, chiefs and assistant chiefs over the delivery of the cards.

The administrators are required to work with Nyumba Kumi officials to make sure the cards reach the owners.

At the same time, the Kibra administrator said that some youths are receiving payments from the Kazi Mtaani initiative for work they are not doing and will be weeded out.

He said there are people who got jobs elsewhere and stopped working for the government project but are still receiving payments.

"Some went back to school, others got employment even with the government including the Kenya Defence Forces and others were hired by counties and moved out of Nairobi but are still being paid because they are in our records," Ombongi said.

Chiefs will come up with a new list of the youths working under the initiative.

The administrator said the work will be supervised to ensure service delivery "because there are those that are idling in the streets waiting for the end of the day while doing nothing yet they receive payment".
Blantrye, Malawi  Refugees and their advocates in Malawi have expressed alarm at President Lazarus Chakwera's defense of a plan to force about 2,000 people back into a refugee camp. A court injunction has prevented their immediate relocation, but authorities have appealed the order.

Speaking with CNN on Thursday, Chakwera said the government was enforcing the law by moving to relocate refugees staying outside their designated camp.

Malawi's encampment policy prohibits refugees from staying outside their camp. It also requires the refugees to work within the camp premises.

Under the relocation order issued in early April, the government said by staying outside the camp, the refugees threatened national security.

Chrispine Sibade, a human rights lawyer based in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe. said forcing refugees into camps was a violation of their rights.

Sibande said the Malawi Constitution gives everyone certain economic rights, regardless of their place of origin.

"Therefore, we expect the government to protect the rights of refugees and also consider international practice whereby any decision pertaining to their fundamental rights will be protected and promoted," Sibande said.

However, Malawi's government said it was not backing down in its move to relocate the refugees. Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda told VOA on Friday that the government was working to vacate the injunction the refugees obtained last month against relocation.

The spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malawi, Rumbani Msiska, said in an email response Friday that the move to relocate the refugees was concerning.

He said that while Malawi's government might have legal justifications for the relocation, returning them to the camp would create serious problems at the country's only refugee camp, such as school overcrowding, and a scramble for water and even health facilities.

Dzaleka refugee camp in central Malawi is a home to over 48,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from various countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Ethiopia.

One of the group leaders at the camp, who asked not to be named, said returnees were facing a lack of accommodation.

He said, "Some are living in the tents while others are sleeping on the ground. And the problem is that we don't know the progress of a judicial review case."

UNHCR's Msiska said the returnees were being provided with temporary shelters while efforts were underway to identify empty plots for the refugees to construct their own shelters.
Geneva  The United Nations says thousands of people in Madagascar are suffering from famine, while more than 1 million others are facing acute hunger and are forced to resort to extreme measures to keep from starving.

More than 1.1 million people in southern Madagascar are unable to feed themselves because the country is suffering from its most acute drought in four decades. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns the humanitarian crisis gripping the country is deteriorating rapidly.

OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke says conditions in the Amboasary Atsimo district are particularly serious. About 75% of the population is facing severe hunger, and thousands, he says, are catastrophically food insecure.

"We have during this crisis for the first time identified 14,000 people who are in famine condition ... Now, children are, of course, especially vulnerable. There is extreme malnutrition, and as we have heard from others, there is no doubt that the level that this has reached now is costing lives among children and others," Laerke said.

Aid agencies say the number of children admitted for treatment for life-threatening severe acute malnutrition in the first quarter of this year was four times the five-year average. That condition causes wasting, stunting, and can lead to problems of physical and cognitive development.

Laerke said the United Nations is in desperate need of money to stave off a looming catastrophe. He said the U.N. is renewing an appeal for $76 million, which was launched in January.

He said only 22% of the funds have been received, an amount that falls far short of what is needed to provide life-saving support for more than 1 million people.

"The amount of money that [the U.N.] is asking -- $76 million -- is not a lot of money. It frankly is not in the bigger picture. And now, there is really an opportunity for donors to step up with a modest amount of money and save lives from one day to the other," he said.

Laerke warned, however, time is running out fast for people in Madagascar, especially for children. He said there is no time to waste. International donors must give money to support this life-saving effort -- and they must give now.
Yaounde, Cameroon  Envoys from Chad's ruling military council are seeking support from its central African neighbors in fighting rebels who they say endanger a smooth return to civilian rule. Chad's delegation told Cameroon's president that without peace, a transition to civilian rule will be impossible, but Chad's opposition says the military rulers should immediately step down if they genuinely want peace to be restored.

Abdelkerim Idriss Deby, deputy director of cabinet of the Republic of Chad, held discussions for close to two hours with Cameroon President Paul Biya Friday. Abdelkerim is a son of Chad's late president, Idriss Deby.

Abdelkerim said Cameroon is one of the five central African states Chad's military council asked him to visit and give an account of the situation since Deby died April 20, 2021.

Abdelkerim said Chad has been witnessing a series of protests and deadly rebel attacks that are threatening its unity since Deby died. He said Chad's military council has sent him to all member states of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community to explain plans the military leaders have for a smooth transition to civilian rule. He said Chad needs the assistance of its neighbors for peace to return.

When asked, Abdelkerim declined to comment on the type of assistance his country needs. He said, however, security will be threatened in the region and that threat will spill over to all central African states, should the situation in Chad remain fragile.

A rebel force known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) has been involved in bloody battles with Chadian troops on the central African state's northern borders with Libya, Niger and Sudan. Chad said several hundred troops, rebels and civilians have been killed within a month.

Chad under Deby was a key ally of France in the fight against jihadist groups across West Africa, including Boko Haram. These terror groups and other jihadist militants have over the years destabilized parts of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.

Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode, a lecturer in international security and defense at the University of Yaounde-Soa, said Chad's envoys are visiting central African nations to lobby for the kind of support the former president of Chad had from his neighbors all through his 30 years rule.

He said Chad's late president Deby and Cameroon President Paul Biya signed an agreement to assist each other in maintaining security in both countries and in providing support against attacks. He said Chad's military council wants to maintain the agreement signed between Cameroon and Chad. He said the terms of the agreement between the countries are clear: An attack on Chad is synonymous with an attack on Cameroon and vice versa.

Marsa Success, a Chadian opposition leader of the Transformers Movement, said although there are serious threats to stability, civilians do not want Chad's constitution violated. He said the military council is not showing signs of wanting to hand over power to a civilian rule.

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Marsa said the charter presented to Chadians by the military council states that the military rulers can renew their mandate of 18 months if insecurity persists. He said a national dialogue should be convened and a civilian designated to lead the transitional period while the military carries out its duty of maintaining peace.

Marsa said any civilian chosen to lead the transition should not be a candidate at the presidential election. He said Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville, should help bring peace by advising Chad's military to hand power to civilians.

Currently, Chad's transitional military council is headed by Idriss Deby's 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Deby. Mahamat was named interim head of state by the council after his father who spent more than three decades in power, and was one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, was killed fighting rebels at the age of 68.

Mahamat promised to hold elections within 18 months, but the opposition and rebels dismissed the takeover as a coup and said the military must relinquish power to a civilian-led government.

Thousands were the streets to protest military rule. The demonstrators said they do not support what they called a "Deby monarchy."

The rebel group FACT has vowed to depose the transitional military council should it fail to hand over power to civilian rule.
Five police officers are among at least six people killed Sunday evening in a suicide bombing in Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said.

Major Sadiq Aden Ali, a spokesman for Somali police,confirmed to the media that two police commanders are among those killed.

Major Ahmed Abdullahi Bashane, the commander of Mogadishu's Waberi district,and Major Abdibasid Mohamud Agey, the former deputy commander of Weliyow Adde police department, were killed along with three other police officers. A civilian who lived next to the station also died the explosion.

The explosion was caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest who approached the officers outside the Waberi district station around 9:30 p.m.& local time, witnesses said.

Six other people were injured in the explosion, according to the police.

A witness who could not be named for security reasons said Bashane died at the scene while Agey died of his injuries after being evacuated for medical treatment.

Three hours before the explosion, Bashane posted a Mother's Day tribute to his mother on his Facebook page.

"May Allah protect her and give her health, amen," the message read.

Bashane was new to the job. He transferred from another police station within Mogadishu less than a month ago, officials said.
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has demanded that President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi should be held personally liable for the legal costs in the case in which the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Commissioners Jean Mathanga and Linda Kunje were challenging rescission of their appointment.

The High Court of Malawi has ordered the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) to reinstate the two commissioners and pay both their honorarium as well as the legal costs.

It is on the payment of the legal cost that CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa feels is inappropriate and unfair on the tax-burdened Malawians who will now have to shoulder the bill and therefore Chakwera and his Secretary should take up this tab.

Namiwa, in a statement issued on Saturday, requested the legal counsel for Mathanga and Kunje to consider moving the courts to slap President Chakwera and SPC Chikhosi with the legal costs in their personal capacities for allegedly wantonly disregarding the rule of law, and in direct defiance of legal advice from the Attorney General (AG).

"This in fact is enough ground for impeachment!" declared Namiwa.

Namiwa, the former press secretary for former President Peter Mutharika, feels vindicated considering the organisation's two previous petitions of December 18, 2020 and January 19, 2021 where it asked the President and the SPC to act on the Attorney General's legal opinion to give the two MEC Commissioners their appointment letters.

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Namiwa adds that having noticed the total disregard of the two petitions, his organization formally wrote President Chakwera on February 13, 2021, challenging him that his decision to ignore the AG's legal opinion could be construed as political victimization, coupled with his nepotistic tendency and dislike for the people from the Southern Region.

He said in the same letter, the human rights watchdog warned President Chakwera and Chikhosi that CDEDI and all well-meaning Malawians would hold them personally liable in the event that the two MEC Commissioners decided to take the government to court for unfair dismissal.

"It is for this reason that we are appealing to the legal team representing the two commissioners to move the courts to ensure that the poor and marginalized taxpayers should not pay for Chakwera's growing disrespect for the rule of law and, and the Republic Constitution," he said.

After all, he added a good precedent was already set, where the country's former President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika, and the former SPC Lloyd Muhara, were recently personally held liable for similar decisions they made while they were in office.

CDEDI says before assuming the high office of the presidency, Chakwera took an oath to protect the constitution without fear or favour.

"CDEDI therefore, will not hesitate to mobilize Malawians to stand up against Chakwera's total disrespect for the rule of law, selective application of justice and attempts to take back the country to dictatorship," says Namiwa in his statement.
The National Planning Commission (NPC) has not only produced the Malawi 2063 vision document in braille version, but it has also started distribution the copies which are both in Chichewa and English.

The document was officially handed over to Malawi Union for the Blind (MUB) on Friday at their offices at Chiwembe in Limbe by NPC Director General, Dr. Thomas Munthali together with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malawi -- which partnered with NPC in the production, printing and distribution of the braille version.

In his remarks, MUB president Moses Yohane said they have wholeheartedly and with immense satisfaction received the document, which "without any doubt will be read, meditated and understood" by all the visually impaired citizenry in order to positively contribute to its implementation.

"This has not been taken for granted because we are going to study it with positive minds taking cognizance of the good plans the government has for the nation in the years to come," he said.

MUB executive director, Ezekiel Kumwenda said there are over 700,000 visually impaired citizenry, making it the largest group of physically challenged people in the country.

He applauded NPC for including MUB in the formulisation process of the MW2063, which was officially launched President Lazarus Chakwera on January 19, 2021.

"What NPC and the UNDP Malawi have done is to emphasize that vision impairment should not be a barrier in order to contribute towards the development of this country."

He said they seem not to offer much in most development programmes simply because their biggest challenge is lack of information like what they have been given by NPC and the UNDP.

"Now we don't have an excuse and we are going to study this document in order to positively contribute towards its implementation," he said.

Economic Advisor at UNDP Malawi, Wilmot Reeves, who was present at the event said the development arm of the UN system is very happy to have been part of the formulation of the MW2063 as well making the document available to every section of the country.

He also applauded NPC for giving an opportunity to the visually impaired people to be part and parcel of the whole process, saying lack of information hinders critical stakeholders from making critical contributions towards the development of the country.

He pledged that UNDP Malawi is committed and "stands to provide relevant support towards the implementation of the MW2063".

Director General, Munthali said NPC is now in the process of finalizing the formulation of the first 10-year implementation plan to actualize the MW2063 vision.

He also said they have embarked on a campaign to popularize the Vision because "its success lies in a multi-stakeholder approach that will mobilise different constituencies -- including vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities -- to understand and rally behind the Vision.

"Malawi 2063's vision statement is 'Inclusive Wealth Creation and Self Reliance' and we believe that inclusivity should include making sure that every citizen in the country is reached with information about the Vision and ensure they are part and parcel of its implementation and success.

"This is why we are saying we are leaving no one behind by making sure that even our fellow citizens -- who cannot read normal text of the document due to sight challenges -- are able to read the Vision and take part in its implementation.

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During the ceremony, Blessings Mwalwanda read a page of the document and Munthali made special recognition of the impeccable English she presented.

"I was impressed by you, Blessings, that you read it so well and every word is what is contained in the MW2063 document.

"I have just been told that Blessings is a secondary school teacher, which means that she and other teachers will definitely enhance this document in all their respective schools, thereby reaching out to as many as possible the vision impaired citizens of this country."

The NPC is a government agency charged with the mandate of coordinating the formulation of long-and medium-term national development plans for the country and overseeing their implementation through an Act of Parliament of 2017.
"Malawi Police singled as top corrupt department on ACB corruption index"

Controlling officers for government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are failing to activate the functions of Institutional Integrity Committees that President Lazarus Chakwera kick-started to enhance the fight against corruption when he commissioned the National Integrity Committee (NIC) on December 9, 2020.

Deputy Secretary in the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC), Dr. Janet Banda made the observations on Thursday in Mangochi during one-day workshop for controlling officers on National Anti-Corruption Strategy II (NACS-II).

NIC was commissioned to oversee the implementation of NACS-II.

Earlier, Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Elia Bodole, expressed concerns that most Institutional Integrity Committees for MDAs are not operational despite government's funding allocation for the same.

"Controlling officers should make sure that they utilise one per cent of funding that government allocates to MDAs for anti-corruption activities," said Banda.

Banda urged controlling officers in MDAs to prioritise establishment and implementation of Institutional Integrity Committees to enhance the fight against corruption.

She described Institutional Integrity Committees as a vital tool in fighting corruption and that all MDAs should ensure that the committees are operational and in compliance with the law.

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The 2019 Corruption Perception Survey conducted by Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR) indicates that public servants are the most corrupt in the country.

On the other hand, ACB ranks Malawi Police Service (MPS) as the top player on the country's corruption index.

However, MPS Inspector General, Dr. George Kainja, said in an interview that the police have already started making adjustments aimed at cleaning its image through a special section called Professional Standards Unit (PSU).

Kainja said the PSU was established to deal with police officers found on the wrong side of the law, including on matters to do with corruption.

Government through ACB is implementing NACS-II 2019-2024 in institutions across the country to provide a common approach in the fight against corruption.

NACS-II is a continuation of the anti-corruption drive that commenced with the NACS of 2008.
The coalition called on Nigerians to join series of mass action across the country on May 26 to register their displeasure about the country's state of insecurity.

A coalition of over 120 civil society organisations and activists has called on Nigerians to join series of mass actions in different parts of Nigeria on May 26 to register their displeasure about the worsening state of insecurity in the country.

The coalition in a statement on Sunday also urged Nigerian citizens to join "solemn assemblies" to mark what it described as the 4th national day of mourning and remembrance for victims of mass atrocities on May 28.

In addition, it called on Nigerians to boycott the activities lined up by government for this year's Democracy Day.

Although Nigeria's Democracy Day now holds on June 12, it was erroneously stated in the statement as May 29, which used to be the date for the annual national event until it was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/334632-democracy-day-why-june-12-is-more-significant-than-may-29-tinubu.html">changed</a> in 2018.

The coalition in its statement titled, 'State of the Nation: A Call to President Muhammadu Buhari to the Stop the Bleeding and Take Action to End the carnage', also lamented the horrendous breakdown of law and order across Nigeria.

The groups catalogued series of mindless killings, kidnappings and destruction of public property by criminals since the first quarter of the year.

"Following its sharp increase of 43 per cent in mass atrocities 2020, Nigeria has continued to experience a decline in security across the nation. In the first quarter of 2021(January to March), we recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country," the statement read in parts.

It added, "We are therefore calling on all Nigerians to register their displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by participating a series of mass actions from Monday the 26th of May 2021, participate in solemn assemblies across the country to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28th 2021 and boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29, 2021 in protest of the deplorable state of our democracy.

Call for Buhari's action

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The coalition accused President Muhammadu Buhari of "gross injustices against the Nigerian people" by clamping down on peaceful protesters, while terrorists carrying out mass murder, rape, maiming and kidnapping of Nigerians including women and children are feted, molly coddled, granted 'amnesty' and paid by the government."

The groups said the pampering of terrorists by the Buhari-led government amounts to "treason" against the people.

"Terrorist herder attacks on unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of government inaction and failure to bring the terrorist herdsmen and their funders to justice."

"We again call on Muhammadu Buhari led national government and the state governments to rise up to their constitutional duties as enshrined in S14(2)(b), to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians, and pull the nation back from the path of destruction," the statement read.

The CSOs had in their February statement, charged President Buhari to halt the drifting of Nigeria to state of anarchy by providing the desperately needed "political and moral leadership" that are lacking in the country.

The CSOs include, <a target="_blank" href="https://actionaid.org/">Action Aid</a>, Adinya Arise Foundation, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Bauchi Human Rights Network, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution.
Hillsboro ISD Board To Meet This Evening The Hillsboro Independent School District (HISD) Board of Trustees will meet in a regular session Monday, May 10, at 6 p.m.



The board will discuss regular business and hear an update on the new elementary school. Dates for upcoming budget workshops are also expected to be reviewed.



The meeting will be held in the board room of the HISD Administration Office, located at 121 East Franklin Street in Hillsboro.


PRESIDENT Samia Suhulu Hassan has described former president Ali Hassan Mwinyi as an architect of reforms for the country's progress that has been recorded so far.

Mzee Mwinyi was president of the second phase administration between 1985 and 1995, and prior to that, he was the president of Zanzibar between 1984 and 1985.

Speaking yesterday at the book launch event to launch the autobiography of the retired president Mwinyi titled "Mzee Rukhsa: Journey of My Life", the head of state said during his tenure in the office, the former president made crucial reforms for the interest of the country.

Going into details, President Samia said it was during Mzee Mwinyi's administration where reforms on finance and insurance, involvement of the private sector and privatisation of public owned enterprises were established.

"These were some of the initiatives taken to revamp the economy that was shrinking," she said, adding that the retired President also played a major role in the establishment of the country's multiparty system.

She said by the time Mzee Mwinyi was assuming office, the country was facing a lot of challenges, including the great depression, fall of the then East African Community (EAC), drought, hike of price of edible oil and scarcity of basic needs, including food, medicine and spare parts.

"He therefore took important measures to rescue the situation and bring life to normal, indeed, he is the architect of all the major economic reforms," said President Samia.

The head of state mentioned five lessons that Tanzanians have to learn from the leadership of retired President Mwinyi, saying the former leader has set his own record.

According to Ms Samia, from the legacy of Mzee Mwinyi, Tanzanians should learn that leadership comes from the almighty God, and not something that people should plan for "This is due to the fact that the former president didn't plan for it, and the positions he held came as a surprise to him, he is also telling us that leaders should be accountable for whatever is done under their portfolio," she added.

Adding; "We are also learning that being a leader you should be patient, tolerant and strong enough to face challenges". Moreover, she said Tanzanians should learn to love one another like what Mzee Mwinyi did during his tenure in office, after appointing to the cabinet one of the ministers who had kicked him out of his government office immediately after he resigned from heading the Home Affairs ministry in 1977.

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"We should also learn not to hold grudges, respect one another and put forward national interest in whatever position we are serving," noted the President.

In another development, President Samia commended the second phase president for writing a book in Swahili language, saying the move will help in spreading the national language abroad.

"The book is well written and so helpful, I have read it twice and clearly understood all that has been said in it," she explained.

The book that was published by Mkuki and Nyota contains the life stories of President Mwinyi from his birth in Mkuranga district, Coast Region until when he was elected as the President of Tanzania.

In attendance to the book launch event, was also the President of Zanzibar, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, retired President Jakaya Kikwete, retired presidents of Zanzibar, Amani Abeid Karume, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein and senior leaders from public and private sectors, regional and international organisations.
THE Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) has applauded the decision taken by President Samia Suluhu Hassan to grant amnesty to more than 5,000 prisoners during the marking of the 57th anniversary of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

A statement issued to the media yesterday by the Chairman of CHRAGG, retired Judge Mathew Maimu noted that the commission considers the decision to be bold and puts more weight the President's roles of ensuring human rights issues are enjoyed by citizen including prisoners.

CHRAGG also supports the President's call to the prisoner's to make sure they are using the knowledge and skills obtained in prison to collaborate with their counterparts in building the nation while observing the laws.

According to the Chairperson, Article 25 (1) (a) of the 1977 Constitution of Tanzania and the Zanzibar Constitution of 1984 Article 22(1) (a) states that everyone has the right to participate legal means of production.

Likewise, Article 26 (1) and Article 23 (1) of the two Constitutions grants obligation for every citizen to abide to the laws of the country. Judge Maimu (rtd) appealed to all the prisoners who were granted their freedom to abide to adhere to the laws of the land.

CHRAGG calls upon the public to positively welcome the prisoners and grant them all the necessary cooperation in building the nation.

The Chairman warned against discrimination in their communities for it might cause stigma and act as a catalyst for them to return to their old ways.

Equally, the commission urges the beneficiaries to be good citizens and refrain from wrong doing.
THE government has set aside over 100 hectares of land for investment opportunities on oil and gas in Mtwara Region, the National Assembly was told here on Friday.

Speaking in Parliament on behalf of the Minister of Industry and Trade on Friday, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe, said the government decision also prompted for the implementation of Mtwara Free Port Zone Construction Project that involves the building of a special section with berth and supply section for servicing investors in the oil and gas sector.

He said that the purpose of establishing an investment zone in the free port area of Mtwara is to provide companies engaging in gas and oil exploration activities along the coast of Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique with a base for material supply.

"The 110-hectare investment project area in the Mtwara Free Port Zone is being developed in phases. In the first phase, ten hectares of the area have been developed by 100 percent as planned," said Mr Bashe.

He noted when answering a dicquestion by Anastazia Wambura (Special Seats-CCM) that the implementation of the project involves offsite and onsite infrastructure including tarmac roads, electricity and water supply system.

The deputy minister pointed out that currently investment activities in the area are progressing and three companies are at the site going on with investment activities.

In his question, the MP wanted to know the extent the EPZ area allocated by the Mtwara Regional Ports Authority for investment has been used for the intended activity.

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When asking a supplementary question, the lawmaker expressed her concern on the slow pace of investment activities at the allocated area.

She, thus, wanted to know when all 110 hectares would be developed so that more investors could invest and if there was any possibility to subdivide the area for other uses.

Responding, Deputy Minister Bashe said that the government's commitment has not changed.

"Allocating the area for other uses would not be appropriate and if the original objective of allocating the area for oil and gas investment is not be achieved, then the government could review its position," he said.

He said the government still believes that there is a need to preserve the area for further phased expansion due to the current needs. "The idea of redistributing the area for other uses is until now not justifiable and has no place," the deputy minister said.

Regarding the development of the whole area, Mr Bashe explained that there are times when the oil and gas business booms and there are times when it goes down, meaning that the area should be preserved for the intended objective.

"We all know how gas exploration activities in the world have gone down and how the investment in Mozambique has been so delayed.

Therefore, I believe that the needs for having the area for the major investment is still needed in the world," the deputy minister said.

Therefore, he said, they would expand the use of the area as demand arises. He invited investors to the ministry, if there was any who was ready, to discuss how to expand the area in question.
A UK mining company, Lancaster Exploration Limited has for drilling 22 boreholes in Phalombe District where it is venturing into mining of rare earth, as part of its corporate social responsibilities.

The company is also providing education support to children and besides maintaining roads prompting commendations from the Member of Parliament (MP) for Phalombe North East, Denis Namachekecha for providing basic amenities to the constituency.

The parliamentarian made the remarks in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Wednesday at Songwe hills mining site, Mauzi in Phalombe where the Vice President, Dr. Saulos Chilima inspected preliminary works by the company.

Namachekecha said the company provided school materials to learners at Changa, Mangazi and Mphembezu Primary Schools and was also providing scholarship to over 31 students in various districts and national secondary schools apart from providing university scholarship to

two students from Phalombe North East.

He also commended the mining company for employing casual labourers from the area in the exploration and testing stages of the mining.

"We're expecting the company to employ many people from this area once full scale mining starts," he said while looking forward to more mining related development such as electricity, piped water and good roads.

Namachekecha also anticipated national economic growth saying the rare earth is a forex earner saying it has a great value on the international market.

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In an interview after winding up tour of Phalombe and Mulanje, Chilima described the Phalombe mining venture as game changer saying this is reflecting well to the country's industrialization aspirations.

The Vice President was taken on a tour of the base of Songwe Hills where large scale mining of the rare earth is expected for many years.

The Lancaster Exploration Limited President, Alexander Lemon said Songwe Hills has large deposits of rare earth in millions of tones.

Discovery of the rare earth was done in 1930 following a geological survey and later the Japanese

International Cooperation Agency (JICA) did another geo survey in collaboration with Malawi Geological Survey Department in the 1980s to ascertain quantity, according to Lemon.

Rare earth is used to manufacture electronics for cell phones, x-ray machines and largely used in manufacturing of electric vehicles.

Songwe Hill mining site is closer to Mpoto Lagoon and also closer to Mozambique border in the North Eastern part of Phalombe.
"... Pay their honorarium"

The High Court in Blantyre on Friday ordered President Lazarus Chakwera to immediately reinstate two embattled Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Commissioners Jean Mathanga and Linda Kunje.

The court has further ordered government to pay honorarium to the two mentioned MEC commissioners starting from the month they stopped receiving these benefits.

Apart from that, High Court Judge, Jack Nriva has also ordered said the office of the president to pay all the legal costs.

Chakwera fired the two saying they were appointed illegally and government at the time that they were already not receiving their monthly benefits against the Attorney General's advice.

In a letter dated April 7 addressed to the two Secretary to the President and Cabinet Zangazanga Chikhosi said the appointment made by former President Peter Mutharika last year has been rescinded with immediate effect.

"The rescission is on the basis that you were adjudged incompetent by the Supreme Court of Appeal on 8th May, 2020 in MSCA Constitutional Appeal no.1 of 2020 regarding the manner in which you handled the 2019 General Elections," said Chikhosi.

Attorney General Chikosa Silungwe told Chikhosi that maintaining the composition of the current MEC commission would be "neater and mature political pragmatism."

But according to Chikhosi, the Supreme Court ruling disqualified Mathanga and Kunje from being appointed as MEC commissioners.

He cited section 75 (3) (b) of the Constitution which says that a person shall cease to be a commissioner of MEC "if any circumstances arise that, if that person were not a member of the Electoral Commission, he or she would be disqualified for appointment as such."

However the two challenged the President's decision to rescind their appointment.

Speaking in a phone interview, Kunje while confirming the development, expressed her excitement saying "I feel vindicated."

The firing of the two also came days after the ruling Malawi Congress Party dragged Chakwera to court of the composition of the electoral commission.

Kunje and Namathanga were appointed by former President, Peter Mutharika to represent his party, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) despite the high court declaring them incompetent especially in the way they handled the 2019 presidential elections, which the court nullified.
"If the finger of evidence points at you, you are going to jail."

Police in Lilongwe this week arrested yet another top official at Ministry of Information suspected to be involved in abuse and mismanagement of K6.2 billion Covid-19 response funds.

Deputy Director for Publications, Edson Mwamvani was apprehended on Wednesday in the capital for his alleged complicity in abuse of the money set aside by the government to help in the fight against the ravaging coronavirus global pandemic.

The Police have confirmed the arrest saying the officer was picked this week but they were coy to divulge more information on the matter saying "investigations are still underway" and that more arrests are likely to follow.

Police had earlier arrested former Information Director Mzati Nkolokosa and Deputy Director Deogratus Mmana and other officials from the Ministry on the same issue are still under lock and key in remand.

Nyasa Times understands that the Mwamvani like all K6.2 billion plunder suspects will face charges of; theft by public servant, conspiracy to commit a felony, making a false document and contravening the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act.

The arrest comes at a time when Nyasa Times reported that current Director of information Chikumbutso Mtumodzi is being shielded by President Chakwera as he has been earmarked for a top State House job.

According to a forensic audit report on the management of the K6.2 million Covid funds, Mtumodzi is named to have drawn fuel amounting to K600, 000 through cheque number 000916 on 3rd December 2020 from Petroda Malawi Limited through Invoice number 199393 which was not accounted for and was also not recorded in both fuel and vehicle register books of the Ministry of Information.

Mtumodzi also on the same day drew another cheque amounting to K550, 000 through cheque number 000919, invoice number199394 under the disguise of 'Covid-19 communication messages and development of new Covid-19 messages'. This too was not recorded in the official books and could not be accounted for.

The Police have promised more arrests are to be made in connection with the alleged abuse of Covid-19 funds.

The police are tracing people who allegedly abused the Covid-19 funds, after an audit report ordered by President Lazarus Chakwera revealed that government officers and the private sector had misspent about $1.3 million of the funds through procurement and allowances irregularities.

Information minister Gospel Kazako in an interview Friday said: "The police are just doing their job and that is arresting all those suspected to have abused or mismanaged public resources."

"The Tonse Alliance administration is not going to protect anyone who was or involved in criminal activities. As President Chakwera said and I quote; "If the finger of evidence points at you, you are going to jail."

Police have so far arrested over 80 people in connection with the K6.2 billion Covid-19 response funds.

Recently, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera surprised the nation by firing Minister of Labour Ken Kandodo after an investigative audit of Covid-19 funds spending found that the minister improperly used nearly 614,000 Malawian kwacha ($780) as an allowance for a foreign trip to the Republic of South Africa.

The K6.2 billion audit -- a part of the commitment, which the Malawi government made when seeking financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- looked into how the money set aside to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic disbursed by the government in 2020 was used.

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Last year the government of Malawi received $91 million from IMF under the Rapid Credit Facility to help to address the coronavirus pandemic.

Carried out after Social media influencer and journalist, Idriss Ali Nassah had asked the report to be made public under the Freedom of Information Act (FIA) amid public outcry over allegations of misuse of COVID-19 funds, which health experts said was crippling the country's pandemic response, the audit report revealed unprocedural procurement, irregular allowances, improper accounting, and wasteful expenditure without any appropriate budgets.
A child walks in the rubble after an armed confrontation in Alindao in Central African Republic (file image)

The Prime Minister of Central African Republic (CAR), Firmin Ngrebada, on Friday, May 7, awarded certificates to his Rwandan 'Special Escort Team' in recognition of their service.

The recognized Police officers constitute Rwanda Protection Support Unit (PSU), which is largely charged with the protection of top government officials in CAR, including the Prime Minister and other VIPs.

The event was held at the Office of the Prime Minister in Bangui.

PM Ngrebada thanked the officers for their commitment and professionalism since they were assigned to ensure his security in January 2020.

"Today, I recognize your sacrifice, discipline, selfless and professional service in all the journeys we have made together here in Bangui and different parts of the country," the Prime Minister said.

He thanked them for the teamwork spirit and working well with the CAR military in the execution of their duties.

"On behalf of the President and people of CAR, I commend the Government of Rwanda for the invaluable efforts to restore security and development in CAR."

He paid tribute to the whole PSU contingent for their role during the recent peaceful elections adding that their partnership with other local security organs and other peacekeepers gave no room for evil-minded armed groups to destabilize the elections.

He wished them success and urged them to maintain the spirit even when they return back home.

Rwanda PSU contingent commander, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Valens Muhabwa thanked the Prime Minister for the tribute.

"We take this opportunity to thank you for the support and affection from January 2020 until today; these certificates mean a lot to us as a unit.

We commend the whole team in your office and the people of CAR whose support equally made our duties easy," CSP Muhabwa said.

He pledged the commitment of Rwanda National Police in collaboration and cooperation in varied matters of security and the welfare of the people of CAR.
The Ministry of Health should commission a thorough psychological diagnosis on perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi, to determine their frame of mind when they committed the horrific acts in 1994.

The call was made by Tom Ndahiro, a researcher on the Genocide against the Tutsi while speaking at the event to commemorate employees of the health ministry who were killed during the Genocide.

The commemoration event kicked off with laying a wreath at Ndera memorial site in Gasabo district, where the medical workers and patients at the Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital killed during the Genocide are laid to rest.

"Starting the commemoration event from the Ndera brings me to question whether a person who kills a psychiatric patient is actually normal," he said.

Going forward, Ndahiro urged the ministry to commission special research on the mindset and thinking capacity of the perpetrators, focusing on how a normal person can overnight turn into something worse than an animal.

Ndahiro then talked about the role of doctors who were in charge of saving lives, but instead chose to deny that life to some of their patients, something that is totally against their oath of service.

He gave an example of Theodore Sindikubwabo, who was the interim president of the government that executed the Genocide, who was a doctor by training.

Sindikubwabo was named president of an extremist government that was selected on the basis of how deep each of the members hated the Tutsi.

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"Analyzing his statements (during the Genocide), I wonder if he ever thought about the Hippocratic Oath he made when he became a medical doctor, because the key promises in the oath is to salvage life," Ndahiro said.

In his speech, the Minister of Health Dr Daniel Ngamije said that it was despicable that doctors and other employees in the health sector descended on their colleagues and killed them.

Ngamije called upon all heads of hospitals around the country to take it upon themselves to gather information on all employees in the health sector who were killed during the Genocide to ensure that they are all honoured.

"So far, we have 44 names of victims who worked at the ministry but there is still a long way to go. We need to gather all the names such that during periods like these, we can stand with their surviving family members to commemorate them," Minster Ngamije said.

Stanisilas Simugomwa, a Genocide survivor who worked at the ministry as a driver during the Genocide recounted events of 27 years ago and before as "very difficult in all aspects."

He said that to start with, getting any government job was an uphill task for a Tutsi, adding that he was unfairly dismissed on different occasions on the account of his ethnicity but somehow got the job back.

"During the genocide, a bad situation got even worse and we only managed to survive thanks to the few people that helped us along the way," said Simugomwa.

Among other mourners, the event was attended by Dr Kasonde Mwinga the country representative of the World Health Organization in Rwanda, heads of different agencies under the Ministry of Health, victims' families and other employees of the ministry.
Mogadishu  The African Union (AU) has appointed former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama as its high representative to Somalia, to help mediate between stakeholders who have failed to agree on an electoral calendar and on who should manage the polls.

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat made the announcement in a statement on Saturday, saying Mahama will work with Somali stakeholders to reach a mutually acceptable compromise towards an all-encompassing resolution to the elections stalemate in the shortest possible time.

"In fulfilling his mandate, Mahama will be supported by the peacekeepers serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) to ensure mediation efforts and the peace support operation work together seamlessly," he said.

The AU hopes the appointment will ensure democracy in Somalia and help curb the threat to the stability of the country and the region as a whole.

Parliamentary elections were initially to take place in 2020 and the presidential election in February 2021, but both were delayed due to squabbles among stakeholders and disagreements on modalities for voting.

Internal disagreements

Initially, Federal President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and the Lower House of Somalia's bicameral parliament preferred a one-man, one-vote universal suffrage.

There were some who preferred an indirect election whereby delegates selected from clans would elect members of Parliament.

But discussions between President Farmaajo and the presidents of the five Federal Member States (FMS) - Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland, Southwest and Jubbaland - as well as the Mayor of Mogadishu in Dusamareb, an upcountry town in Central Somalia, an agreement was signed on September 17, 2020, paving the way for an indirect election to be held in the Horn of Africa nation in 2021.

However, squabbles emerged when the parties started to discuss on how to implement the agreement, particularly when Puntland's leader Said Abdullahi Deni and Ahmed Mohamed Madobe of Jubbaland opposed Farmaajo's position.

A number of attempts to solve the impasse produced no tangible outcomes, even after the Federal Government of Somalia and FMS held meetings in the capital, Mogadishu.

On April 12, a dramatic change occurred when the legislators of the Lower House of Parliament, popularly known as Golaha Shacabka (Peoples' Hall) convened and voted for the extension of Parliament's terms and Farmaajo's ternure, while urging the National Independent Election Commission to hold a one-man, one-vote election in not more than two years.

Pressure on Farmaajo

The move technically abolished the indirect electoral modality enshrined in the September 17 agreement.

The two-year extension granted to Farmaajo immediately generated a heated opposition from Punland and Jubbland as well as other political stakeholders like the Coalition of the (opposition) Presidential Candidates (CPC) that includes former Somali presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and ex-Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.

Soon after the extension, the Somali leader whose four-year term expired on February 8 jetted off from Mogadishu to Kinshasa where he met with DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who is the current AU chair.

Following discussions, President Tshisekedi accepted Farmaajo's view that African problems must have African solutions, thus requesting the AU to intervene in the electoral impasse in Somalia.

The fruits of the request appeared to material when on April 20, UN Security Council members rejected President Farmaajo's term extension but endorsed the AU's efforts to help parties resolve the electoral impasse.

The consistent pressure forced Farmaajo to address the Lower House of Parliament, which eventually voted to revoke the term extension.

Mahama's big task

The UN and AU's suggestions culminated in Mahama's appointment to mediate in issuing the Somali sides are grappling with.

The appointment comes just days after a special envoy from the office of the Qatar Foreign minister, Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, was sent to Somalia to engage with the country's political rivals.

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More on this: Qatari special envoy in Somalia over electoral impasse

The renowned strategist's visit to Mogadishu enabled him to meet with Farmaajo, PM Mohamed Hussein Roble, representatives from opposition groups and most of the leaders of the FMS as well as the mayor of Mogadishu.

Al-Qahtani's intervention seemed to have neutralised the military confrontations between forces loyal to the opposition and the State's security personnel.

On Friday, the opposition loyalists who originally deserted the military posts, especially in the Middle Shabelle region, north of Mogadishu, left the trenches in the capital in obedience to the demilitarisation requested by PM Roble.

Aidarus Hassan, a Mogadishu-based intellectual, foresees massive work awaiting Mahama.

"He is to touch the root causes of the political standoff if he is to attain good results," Hassan told the Nation on Saturday.

"Clan power-sharing and alliances are a complex jungle. He has to negotiate his way to solve the puzzle."
The fourth edition of the Female Journalists Mentorship Programme was launched on Saturday, bringing together a fresh cohort of journalism and mass communication students from five local universities.

The programme will involve 50 students from Maseno, Moi, Masinde Muliro and Maasai Mara universities, as well as the Technical University of Mombasa (TUM).

It is coordinated by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) with the support of the US Embassy in Kenya.

Currently in its fourth year, it has seen the mentorship of 100 female university students from across the country.

Imbalance in the media

Speaking at the launch at Brackenhurst Hotel in Limuru, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Mr Eric Watnik, noted that the mentorship is crucial to addressing gender imbalance in the media.

"It is important to bring up the new generation of women in a profession that is still underrepresented by women, for inclusion and diversity of ideas," he stated.

Mr Watnik encouraged the cohort to make the best of the opportunity that they competitively got selected for.

"You stand on the shoulders of giants. Your mentors have broken many barriers and have set examples for you," he said.

"Around the world, there are few mentors, so you are privileged to have women in the media to walk with you. You have people to ask questions and set you in the right direction," added Mr Watnik, who was the chief guest.

An inspiration

Pamela Makotsi-Sittoni, Executive Editor of the Daily Nation at Nation Media Group, said unequal representation of women in the media has been a prevailing status quo that can only be changed by such mentorship programmes.

Ms Makotsi-Sittoni decried the inequality in the media industry, noting that many young women pursue journalism courses in college but fall off shortly after joining the industry.

She advised the mentees to take advantage of the mentorship programme and remain true to themselves.

"Listening to stories of success in this programme is such an inspiration. It is motivating to see young women in this country doing great things. I hope resources will continue being made available to mentor and train young, especially young women, because we need to hear the voice of the women in the media."

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Ms Beryl Akinyi, a programme alumna, said her life changed drastically and that she had accomplished a lot and overcome insurmountable challenges, thanks to the mentorship programme.

Top women leaders

Mr Josephine Karani, chairperson of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), said that the choice of women as world political leaders shows they have what it takes to rule the world.

Ms Karani, who issued the opening remarks at the launch, cited the nomination of Court of Appeal Judge Martha Koome as the Chief Justice to succeed David Maraga.

She also mentioned President Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, who took over after the death of President John Pombe Magufuli, and US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ms Karani said mentors serve as models, teachers, counsellors and examples to mentees, the goal being to produce people greater than themselves.

"We must appreciate that the mentors here intend to leave you better than themselves," she told the university students.
Hormones matter in EU health policy

Brussels, 4 May 2021. Today, EU policymakers, experts, patient representatives and other stakeholders gathered online to discuss the role of hormones in our everyday life, its interlinkage with prevalent non-communicable diseases and the policy measures required to address the many challenges in this rapidly growing area of human health.

The event, organised by the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), saw the launch of the Society's first-ever White Paper titled "Hormones in European Health Policies: How endocrinologists can contribute towards a healthier Europe". Discussions covered a wide range of topics including COVID-19 together with 4 key topics described in the White Paper: obesity, cancer, rare diseases and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs). In his opening remarks, John F. Ryan, Director for Public Health in DG SANTE said "I am impressed by the links made in the White paper to the Beating Cancer Plan, obesity, Farm to Fork, nutrition, as well as the European Reference Networks. All these issues are very relevant topics that are being looked at in the European Commission's work plan."

Building on these remarks, President of ESE Prof. Dr. Andrea Giustina from San Raffaele Hospital in Milano said "COVID-19 has really highlighted the importance of endocrinology and hormones across all policy areas. Almost two thirds of people who were hospitalized for COVID-19 had a metabolic condition. Our White Paper is not the last step. It is a first step towards including endocrinology at the highest level of EU policy." 13 top policy and expert speakers spoke in front of more than 130 participants - a testament to the importance of endocrinology across a wide range of policy areas. During the event, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) including Sirpa Pietikainen (EPP/FI), Cristian Busoi (EPP/RO) and Jytte Guteland (S&D/SE) reflected on the importance of hormones to COVID-19, obesity and cancer respectively together with expert endocrinologists covering the same topics. DG Environment Head of Unit Sustainable Chemicals Cristina de Avila presented the Commission's plan for EDCs, and a rare disease panel saw interventions among others from rare disease umbrella association EURORDIS and DG SANTE policy officer Jose Valverde, responsible for ERNs and health data.

The panel of expert speakers presented the key asks from the white paper, including the need to treat obesity as a disease across all EU member states, and the need for member states to share health data - critically important for rare diseases. The speakers also called for a deeper inclusion of endocrinology in the implementation of the EU's Beating Cancer Plan, as well as an urgent phase out of EDCs. Finally, they expressed the need for research funding to better understand the relationship between EDCs, endocrine diseases and the COVID-19 virus.

All speakers agreed there is scope for more in-depth follow-up meetings between experts and policymakers, to work together on devising solutions for these large societal challenges.

###

The Launch event on 'Why hormones matter in EU health policy' took place on Tuesday 4 May from 10h00 to 12h00 (CET). The full line-up of speakers can be found here.

Download the White Paper here: http://www. ese-hormones. com/ whitepaper

European Society of Endocrinology

Starling House, 1600 Bristol Parkway North, Bristol, BS34 8YU, UK Tel +44 1454 642247 info@euro-endo.org http://www. ese-hormones. org President Andrea Giustina Milan, Italy. President-elect Martin Reincke Munich, Germany. Secretary Monica Marazuela Madrid, Spain. Treasurer Djuro Macut Belgrade, Serbia. Executive Committee members: Felix Beuschlein Munich, Germany. Mirjam Christ-Crain Basel, Switzerland. Simona Glasberg Jerusalem, Israel. Riccarda Granata Torino, Italy. Beata Kos-Kud?a Katowice, Poland. Robin Peeters Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Ex-Officio members: Nurse Representative Sherwin Criseno West Bromwich, UK. ECAS Representative Anton Luger Vienna, Austria. EYES Representative Ayse Zengin, Victoria, Australia. Registered in England and Wales No. 5540866. Registered Office: Redwood House, Brotherswood Court, Great Park Road, Almondsbury Business Park, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 4QW, UK. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Charity No. 1123492.

To find out more please visit http://www. ese-hormones. org and follow us on Twitter @ESEndocrinology, Facebook @EuropeanSocietyofEndocrinology and LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/european-society-of-endocrinology

This story has been published on: 2021-05-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
TDCJ Sentences Handed Down In 66th District Court The office of District Attorney Mark Pratt prosecuted felony criminal cases in the 66th Judicial District Court of Hill County in April, with the following Texas Department of Criminal Justice convictions handed down:



Evaristo Arroyo, prohibited substance/item in correctional facility, 20 years prison; possession of methamphetamine between four and 200 grams, 20 years prison



Dmon Watley, evading arrest detention with previous conviction, 13 months state jail



Kevin Montgomery Williams, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 14 months state jail



Dervie Gene Balusek, possession of methamphetamine between four and 200 grams with intent to deliver, eight years prison



Daniel Earl Littlejohn, possession of methamphetamine between four and 200 grams with intent to deliver, eight years prison



David Leslie McCoy Jr., possession of methamphetamine between four and 200 grams with intent to deliver, 16 years prison; endangering a child criminal negligence, five years prison



Gabriel A. Adamez, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 22 months state jail; tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, nine years prison



Russell Wylie Cockerham, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 15 months state jail



Tommy Edward Harris Sr., assault family/household member impeding breath/circulation, injury to elderly with intentional bodily injury, eight years prison



Jesse Franklin Ford III, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 18 months state jail



Tylor John Creamer, burglary of a habitation, 15 years prison



Clinton Tyler Noblett, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 15 months state jail



Jinger Janina Roberts, evading arrest/detention with a vehicle, three years prison



Charels Keystone Hodge, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 15 months state jail



Jimmy Parker, robbery, six years prison



Donald Earl Brooks, possession of methamphetamine under one gram, 15 months state jail



Ryan Anthony Driskel, possession of cocaine under one gram, 15 months state jail



Lewis Anthony Crosby, assault family/household member impeding breath/circulation, eight years prison



Jose Ines Mendoza, driving while intoxicated-third or more, four years prison



Kourtney D'Joshua Cannon, continuous violence against the family, six years prison; theft of property between $2,500 and $30,000, 18 months state jail



James Edward Forcey Jr., possession of methamphetamine between four and 200 grams with intent to deliver, 20 years prison



Derrick Dewayne Bridgewater, sex offender's duty to register, 18 months state jail



Tayler Leigh O'Neal, driving while intoxicated with open container - third or more, five years prison



Emmi Lee Kinsey, harassment of public servant, three years prison



Zerina Rene Wilson, possession of methamphetamine between one and four grams, four years prison



District Judge Lee Harris presides over the 66th Judicial District Court.


Luanda  The UNITA parliamentary group expressed on Saturday its deep sorrow over the death of member of parliament Raul Danda, who died this morning in a health unit in Luanda, victim of disease.

In a condolence message sent to ANGOP, the UNITA Parliamentary Group stresses that the parliamentarian Raul Danda was an exemplary figure, fearless patriot, polyglot, man of arts and culture, defender of the less privileged and of the Angolan and African identity, having served with honour and dedication the tasks assigned to him in the House of Laws.

"MP Raul Danda inspired several generations in the party and in society, through his dedication to the causes in which he believed, for his forceful and well-founded speeches in parliamentary debates and other public spaces, always accompanied by a saying in Ibinda, his mother tongue," the statement said.

The UNITA Parliamentary Group, on behalf of its members, advisors and staff, extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family.

For its part, the Presidential College of the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) considers the passing of Raul Danda as a hard blow to democracy, to the plurality of ideas and to freedom of expression, whose departure leaves an enormous void in the process of building a democratic state based on the rule of law in Angola.

In a statement of condolence, Interior Minister Eugenio Laborinho said that Raul Danda, from a very early age, was committed to the consolidation of peace and national stability, having dedicated a large part of his life to the nation.

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Raul Danda was born on the 13th of November 1957, in Cabinda province, northern Angola.

In a condolence message sent to ANGOP, the UNITA Parliamentary Group stresses that the parliamentarian Raul Danda was an exemplary figure, fearless patriot, polyglot, man of arts and culture, defender of the less privileged and of the Angolan and African identity, having served with honour and dedication the tasks assigned to him in the House of Laws.

"MP Raul Danda inspired several generations in the party and in society, through his dedication to the causes in which he believed, for his forceful and well-founded speeches in parliamentary debates and other public spaces, always accompanied by a saying in Ibinda, his mother tongue," the statement said.

The UNITA Parliamentary Group, on behalf of its members, advisors and staff, extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family.

For its part, the Presidential College of the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) considers the passing of Raul Danda as a hard blow to democracy, to the plurality of ideas and to freedom of expression, whose departure leaves an enormous void in the process of building a democratic state based on the rule of law in Angola.

In a statement of condolence, Interior Minister Eugenio Laborinho said that Raul Danda, from a very early age, was committed to the consolidation of peace and national stability, having dedicated a large part of his life to the nation.

Raul Danda was born on the 13th of November 1957, in Cabinda province, northern Angola.
Soyo  The Minister of the Interior, Eugenio Laborinho, appealed Friday in Soyo, Zaire province, for joint actions between his sector and other State bodies to combat cross-border crimes, particularly illegal immigration and fuel smuggling.

Speaking to the press, at the end of a visit of a few hours to Soyo, where he laid the first stone for construction of a police station that will house all the sector's bodies, the minister promised to work with the Provincial Government of Zaire and other similar bodies to discourage these actions.

At the time, the minister acknowledged that there were some weaknesses along the river border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to the geographical complexity of the municipality of Soyo, surrounded by 125 navigable islands.

"Here in the port of Kimbumba, for example, there is a frenetic movement of national and foreign citizens. We are therefore calling for combined action between the Fiscal Police, AGT and other forces, and I appeal to the population to collaborate with the authorities, denouncing offenders," he said.

Zaire province, in northern Angola, shares 310 kilometres of border with the DRC, of which 120 kilometres are on the land border and 190 kilometres on the river, via the Zaire river.

Speaking to the press, at the end of a visit of a few hours to Soyo, where he laid the first stone for construction of a police station that will house all the sector's bodies, the minister promised to work with the Provincial Government of Zaire and other similar bodies to discourage these actions.

At the time, the minister acknowledged that there were some weaknesses along the river border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to the geographical complexity of the municipality of Soyo, surrounded by 125 navigable islands.

"Here in the port of Kimbumba, for example, there is a frenetic movement of national and foreign citizens. We are therefore calling for combined action between the Fiscal Police, AGT and other forces, and I appeal to the population to collaborate with the authorities, denouncing offenders," he said.

Zaire province, in northern Angola, shares 310 kilometres of border with the DRC, of which 120 kilometres are on the land border and 190 kilometres on the river, via the Zaire river.
Luanda  The government on Saturday announced a ban on citizens entering and leaving Luanda province, as of Monday, 10 November, as part of new measures to prevent and combat Covid-19.

According to the Minister of State and Head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adao de Almeida, until 8 June only duly authorised citizens (on duty, businessmen with goods and services, health, security forces, the sick) may enter and leave Luanda, a province with a health fence.)

As this is the focus of the disease in Angola, the minister said, it is required to present a service document from the employer in order to leave or enter Luanda.

"The presentation of the proof of a negative test is not enough. The work statement issued by the employer will be required for citizens to leave or enter Luanda," the minister added.

Available data indicates the record of 245 new cases, in Luanda, out of a total of 276, in the last 24 hours.

The Angolan capital also registered, in the same period, 15 recovered patients and two deaths.

According to the Minister of State and Head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adao de Almeida, until 8 June only duly authorised citizens (on duty, businessmen with goods and services, health, security forces, the sick) may enter and leave Luanda, a province with a health fence.)

As this is the focus of the disease in Angola, the minister said, it is required to present a service document from the employer in order to leave or enter Luanda.

"The presentation of the proof of a negative test is not enough. The work statement issued by the employer will be required for citizens to leave or enter Luanda," the minister added.

Available data indicates the record of 245 new cases, in Luanda, out of a total of 276, in the last 24 hours.

The Angolan capital also registered, in the same period, 15 recovered patients and two deaths.
Luanda  The Angolan government announced Saturday the suspension, as of Monday, 10, of the entry into Angola of non-resident foreign citizens from or with passages in Brazil and India.

According to the Minister of State and Head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adao de Almeida, who was speaking at a press conference on the new restrictive measures to prevent and fight Covid-19, it does not cover Angolans and resident foreign citizens who must, however, comply with a mandatory quarantine of seven days.

Adao de Almeida warned that it was still compulsory for travellers to carry out tests before boarding and after disembarking in Angolan territory.

The government official also warned that from now on citizens that provide false information upon arrival (false data about the place of residence) will be fined.

The application of the fine, he said, aimed to discourage a practice that is registered in the filling out of the post-disembarkation form at the 4 de Fevereiro international airport.

According to the minister, the country remains under sanitary fence.

According to the Minister of State and Head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adao de Almeida, who was speaking at a press conference on the new restrictive measures to prevent and fight Covid-19, it does not cover Angolans and resident foreign citizens who must, however, comply with a mandatory quarantine of seven days.

Adao de Almeida warned that it was still compulsory for travellers to carry out tests before boarding and after disembarking in Angolan territory.

The government official also warned that from now on citizens that provide false information upon arrival (false data about the place of residence) will be fined.

The application of the fine, he said, aimed to discourage a practice that is registered in the filling out of the post-disembarkation form at the 4 de Fevereiro international airport.

According to the minister, the country remains under sanitary fence.
Luanda  The MPLA parliamentary group expressed on Saturday its sadness over the death of member of parliament Raul Danda, in Luanda.

In a statement of condolences, to which ANGOP had access, MPLA said it was with deep regret that its Parliamentary Group received the sad news of the death of the member of the National Assembly, Raul Danda, occurred today.

According to the document, the death of member of parliament Raul Danda represents an irreparable loss and leaves the Angolan political scene poorer, especially for the Parliamentary Group of UNITA, where he was president.

The MPLA also says that "despite our partisan differences, at many moments, throughout the three mandates that we were together in the exercise of parliamentary activity, we not only converged on many issues of national interest and diverged when it was necessary to defend structurally opposing positions, all on the basis of democratic values and principles".

Raul Danda was, among other duties, president of the UNITA Parliamentary Group and vice-president of the same political party.

He was also a journalist, teacher and writer.

He graduated in Business Management and Economic Sciences from the Lusiada University of Angola, and was born in the Angolan province of Cabinda, on 13 November 1957.

In a statement of condolences, to which ANGOP had access, MPLA said it was with deep regret that its Parliamentary Group received the sad news of the death of the member of the National Assembly, Raul Danda, occurred today.

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According to the document, the death of member of parliament Raul Danda represents an irreparable loss and leaves the Angolan political scene poorer, especially for the Parliamentary Group of UNITA, where he was president.

The MPLA also says that "despite our partisan differences, at many moments, throughout the three mandates that we were together in the exercise of parliamentary activity, we not only converged on many issues of national interest and diverged when it was necessary to defend structurally opposing positions, all on the basis of democratic values and principles".

Raul Danda was, among other duties, president of the UNITA Parliamentary Group and vice-president of the same political party.

He was also a journalist, teacher and writer.

He graduated in Business Management and Economic Sciences from the Lusiada University of Angola, and was born in the Angolan province of Cabinda, on 13 November 1957.
Eleven people died Saturday in three road accidents in Murang'a, Nyeri and Butere.

In Murang'a County, three people died on Saturday morning in separate accidents along Kenol-Murang'a road.

Two bicycle riders died after they were hit by vehicles.

One of the accidents took place outside Maragua Police Station and the other at the Sabasaba water supply bridge, which is considered a black spot. The cyclist fell into the river after he was hit.

Murang'a South police boss Anthony Keter said investigations would establish who was at fault.

Read: Three killed in Southern Bypass road accident

No escape

In the Maragua incident, the driver of the public service vehicle that hit the rider attempted to escape but bodaboda riders cornered him after a chase.

It was amid these events that the third person was hit and killed.

All the bodies were taken to the Murang'a County mortuary.

In Nyeri County, four people died after the cars they were travelling in collided along Nyeri-Nyahururu highway, Kieni West divisional police commander (OCPD) Ali Ahmed confirmed.

Two other people were rushed to Mary Immaculate Mission Hospital in Mweiga in critical condition.

According to the OCPD, a tyre burst caused the accident. The vehicle then swerved but ended up hitting an oncoming car.

The wreckage was towed to Kiawara Police Station and the bodies to the mortuary at Nyeri County Referral Hospital.

Another tyre burst

In Butere, Kakamega County, another four people died in an accident involving a lorry and two motorcycles in Emukangu, along Ekero-Buyangu road.

It was reported that the driver of the lorry lost control following a tyre burst and hit two motorcycles.

The driver of the lorry, which was heading to Sabatia trading centre, fled after a crowd turned hostile and attacked him. The accident caused a heavy traffic jam along the busy road.

Reports indicated that the four were relatives on their way to a funeral in the neighbourhood.

Witness Charles Anzaya said the lorry driver had been speeding when the vehicle suddenly swerved and hit the boda boda riders who had passengers.

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"He hit a motorcycle rider who was carrying a woman, killing them instantly. The vehicle then veered to the right side of the road and hit another motorcycle, killing the rider and his passenger, before landing in a ditch," said Mr Anzaya.

Another black spot

Shianda-Marenyo Ward Representative Geoffrey Ondiro said the area has turned into a black spot.

Last week, Mr Ondiro noted, two school girls were hospitalised after they were knocked down by a speeding saloon car.

"This is not the first or second accident at this spot. We have lost many people here and scores have been left with injuries. We call upon the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to erect bumps and signs in this area," said Mr Ondiro.

He added that since the black pot is at a sharp bend leading to River Efiratsi, ignorant drivers cause accidents due to speeding.

Bodaboda rider Boniface Wamunyinyi said: "Drivers don't respect people riding motorcycles. They should observe traffic rules, like we all do," he said.
For many years, Joseph Nguruma has been growing maize on five acres in the semi-arid Solai in Subukia, Nakuru County, with little success.

Despite spending a fortune on fertilisers, seeds and other inputs, his yields have never surpassed 20 bags.

For Ms Jecinta Kirubi, a tomato farmer in the region, her yields have also been declining. And to compound her woes, she is forced to sell her produce to middlemen at a throwaway price.

"A crate of tomatoes goes at between Sh3,000 and Sh3,500 in the retail market in Nakuru town but middlemen buy from me at Sh2,500," she recounts.

Many farmers in the region share their predicament, but this is set to change, according to the Agriculture executive Immaculate Maina. The county has launched a programme to ensure farmers diversify their ventures to enable them to reap from their sweat.

"We are urging farmers in Nakuru County to diversify from maize and potatoes to crops like macadamia, which has the potential to give them good money," said Maina.

According to her, a farmer can harvest up to three tonnes of macadamia nuts per acre at a low production cost as compared to tea, coffee and maize.

Governor Lee Kinyanjui recently toured farms in Solai to encourage smallholder farmers to diversify from traditional crops.

Kinyanjui said he was doing the tour to identify areas where farmers can grow macadamia.

"I was impressed by the farming practices employed on one macadamia farm, including use of mechanisation. There is a bright future in macadamia," he said.

The county has so far distributed 14,000 macadamia seedlings and set aside Sh5 million for the purchase of more seedlings in the next financial year through the Crop Diversification Programme.

Kenya is the third top producer of macadamia in the world after South Africa and Australia. The growing export market in the United States and Europe allows room for more farmers in Nakuru County to join this trade.
Dar es Salaam  The elderly exuded hope for a better life yesterday after President Samia Suluhu Hassan promised to address their myriad challenges, including access to health care and their security during her tenure.

President Hassan made the promises yesterday as she addressed the nation through some 1,000 Dar es Salaam elders.

This was her maiden address to the elders since she was sworn in as the sixth president.

All eyes were directed to the event as the elderly members of society hoped to hear how the government was going to address their many challenges, particularly under a new administration.

Reading a memorandum before the President, the chairman of Dar es Salaam Council of Elders, Mr Salum Matimbwa, outlined the challenges as including: access to health care, delayed pensions for the elderly, and lack of old age protection law.

Mr Matimbwa thanked the government for issuing medical exemption cards to the elderly, but noted that they were still facing challenges in health facilities.
Arusha/Dodoma  Maize exports to Kenya from Tanzania have not restarted days after the two countries agreed to lift unnecessary barriers.

Until yesterday there were no trucks loaded with the cereal heading to the border town for clearance into Kenya.

"There are none at the border. The exporters have two weeks to resume business", said Mr Lothi Lemeirut, a trader from Namanga on the phone.

Mr Lemeirut is also a member of the regional chamber of commerce.

He said Tanzanian maize traders could still be buying time as they have two weeks to resume exports as ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

"Maybe we will see maize cargo from next week," he said

During his meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Nairobi this week, President Kenyatta ordered that stranded lorries with maize from Tanzania be allowed into Kenya.

The cargo had been stopped at the border following the March 5 ban on maize imports from Tanzania over alleged contamination with cancer-causing Aflatoxin.

Speaking during a meeting with cassava stakeholders in Dodoma yesterday,

Tanzanian Minister for Agriculture Prof Adolph Mkenda said he had spoken with Kenya's Minister for Agriculture and Fishery, Peter Munya who informed him that he was on his way to reopen up the border. (Zephania Ubwani and Jonathan Musa)
Dar es Salaam  While Tanzanians are desperately out and out to eliminate mosquitoes for causing malaria, it is a different case for Paulina Haule, 21, who dreams to end the disease while leaving the insects alive and well!

Paulina and her four colleagues have developed a mosquito repelling machine which, they say, can keep the insects at bay using frequency noise waves.

Not all mosquitoes spread the disease; only the female anopheles does so. Besides, mosquitoes are important for biodiversity, as there are other creatures which live on mosquitoes as their food...

Known as 'Ultrasonic Mosquito Repellant,' the electric anti-mosquito machine produces a range of sounds in frequencies of which no mosquito can withstand.

"You just switch it on - and the sound keeps mosquitos at bay; it doesn't kill them; it just keeps them away from of the area," she explained.

No human being or other living things can hear or be affected by the sounds, she adds.

"The machine can be placed in any area where people sit or sleep. It is portable - which means it can be used almost anywhere," she says.

Innovation of the machine

When Paulina joined Jangwani High School in 2018, taking Physics, Chemistry and Biology (PCB), she was not aware that the subjects would create something helpful to the society and make some money.

Paulina's dream was to be a surgeon and that is still vivid.

Currently, she is at the University of Dar es Salaam studying a medical programme.

"My current bigger dreams are becoming a professional surgeon and the owner of a mosquito repellant company," she says.

At school, she met Bupe Mayala, Julieth Moisori, Nia Mfaume and Grace Yusto. The four are her classmates and co-developers of the machine.

The five joined the Future STEM Business Leaders (FSL) programme in June 2018. The programme is managed by the Dar Teknohama Business Incubator with a view to supporting science students from high schools to apply their studies to solve local problems and earn money through the creation of science-based businesses.

"It was a normal class session when our Physics teacher told us about the programme. He said any student with interest could volunteer and I was the first to accept the offer and so my colleagues," she says.

Science students from six high schools participated in the programme for consecutive three years and Paulina's crew emerged the winner after developing such a machine.

The five students from each school spent three months in a seminar, studying how they could use their normal science studies to solve problems to the societies and turn the ideas into businesses.

They spent another week at the University of Dar es Salaam's Department of Economics, learning how to do businesses.

"After the long learning period, the facilitators told us to find scientific ideas which could help our societies and be good business," Paulina says.

Each school in groups of five members, she says, had a task of coming up with the brilliant idea and competing with others.

Paulina's crew came up with different ideas but did not stick to their ambition to win.

"It was during a deep discussion, when the idea of mosquito and malaria kicked in. We then tried to find something new in the most researched field," she said.

After doing some research they found that the majority of technologies designed to fight malaria suggest killing mosquitoes.

"We wanted to fight malaria while keeping the mosquitoes alive. We, as scientists, believe that the insects are still important in the environmental ecosystem and biodiversity," she says.

They finally designed the machine which is portable, noiseless to other living things and friendly to the environment.

"We prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the competition. As the project manager, I presented it before our tutors and competitors," she recalls, with a bright smile.

Paulina's group won the competition at first place and was granted a practical study at Gngali Model firm, an inspiring and empowering platform for Africans to give back to their rural communities through innovative appropriate technologies in Arusha.

They spent six weeks in Arusha for practical studies where they also got management, accounting, supervision and customer care service skills.

Future plans

It costs up to Sh80,000 to manufacture one machine, she says, as they plan to sell it at wholesale price of Sh100,000 and retailing it at Sh120,000.

"We are currently struggling to register our business name and copyright of the business," she says.

Their mega future plan, according to her, is to open up a factory for the company.

However, capital remains the big challenge for them as they need not less than Sh25 million to establish the factory and start manufacturing the machines.

Another challenge is long distances among them as each of them studies in different universities.

The second Future Stem Business Leaders (FSL) programme was launched in 2021, consisting of science students from eight high schools in Dar es Salaam and Arusha regions.

During the launch, Dr Amos Nungu, the director general of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech) said the project, which will support technological revolution in the country, had come at the right time in the country, as the government was pushing its economic industrialization agenda.

"There are many opportunities available in technology, particularly those that help to simplify work and improve performance in various areas such as the social and economic life. Hence banking on technology is the right thing to do. We need to invest massively in this area," said Dr Nungu.

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Programme manager Josephine Sepeku said the project helps science students and their teachers to learn how to turn their acquired knowledge into opportunities including finding solutions to various issues.

"We target high school students studying physics, chemistry, biology and geography subjects because they acquire knowledge and skills, which they don't know where to take. So, now they will be taught about the issues of administration, marketing and finance management so as to help them in their activities after school," said Ms Sepeku.

However, she said they would be increasing two more schools every year so as to reach out to more students studying science and develop those students with innovative ideas.

The secretary of the Physics community in the country, Dr Mlyuka Nuru, said science subjects, particularly physics, were normal lessons that could be taken up by any person unlike what people generally thought about them.

"The main problem is the fear that causes many people to shun Science subjects, which are really easy to learn - and the acquired knowledge can be turned into prosperity, unlike other subjects," said Dr Nuru, who doubles as a lecturer of Physics at the University of Dar e Salaam.

The objective is to help students translate what they learn in theory in the classroom into productive practical knowledge.
Dodoma  Parliamentarians yesterday advised the government to introduce prepaid meters to water services in order to reduce outcry of inflated water bills.

Full disbursement of development funds in order to meet President Samia Suluhu Hassan's commitment to end water woes in the country, higher prices of connecting water services and delaying implementation of water projects were among the issues that dominated debates yesterday.

Other issues are unrealistic costs of drilling water sources for government projects, worries of meeting the government's target to supply clean and safe water by 85 percent for rural and 95 percent for urban Tanzania reaching 2025 as well as provision of water to 28 towns under the funding of the government of India.

Debating the Sh680 billion budget for the ministry of Water, Kyerwa Constituency MP Innocent Bilakwate said prepaid meters were the only to address the challenge of inflated bills.

Mr Bilakwate was supported by Kawe Constituency MP Bishop Josephat Gwajima who said his father who was living alone was supposed to pay Sh600,000 per month.

Special Seats MP Jane James said government institutions should be the first to be installed with prepaid meters as the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) 2019/20 report implicated them with revenue losses.

"These institutions are supposed to pay for water and electricity because we have been passing their budgets here," she said.

Special Seats MP Khadija Hassan Aboud (CCM) proposed that institutions that are chronic debtors should be directly deducted by the ministry of Finance and Planning.

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Rorya Constituency legislator, Mr Jaffary Chege said all funds set for implementation of development projects should be released this fiscal year.

"That will enable the ministry to implement all the projects and address water woes as promised by President Hassan," he said.

"Let us make a history this fiscal year by disbursing all funds set for implementation of development projects (Sh680.630 billion)."

"Release of funds should be realistic when compared to the amount endorsed contrary to Sh376.4 billion disbursed last fiscal year which is equivalent to 53.3 percent," said Mr Japhet Hasunga., MP for Vvawa Constituency

"The ministry of water should release funds on time for timely implementation of the projects because there are good projects in the budget that are going to be implemented in order to end water challenges in the country," said Ms Abdallah.

She said the costs of water connectivity was high for ordinary Tanzanians to manage, noting that the prices of pipes from Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Ruwasa) was extremely high as compared to those in ordinary shops.

Special Seats MP Tunza Malapo (Chadema) challenged authorities to connect clients on time after payments have been done.

MPs Steven Kiluswa (Longido), Anne Kilango (Same East) and Jerry Silaa (Ukonga) expressed their concerns over execution of water projects worth billions of shillings but living the same to water committees that lack expertise, hindering projects sustainability.
Dar es Salaam  Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan, starting from the early days of her administration, has gestured that she would put a lot of emphasis on economic diplomacy.

She has done that by undertaking crucial visits and meetings recently which were expected to influence the trading partnership with the rest of the world.

From holding meetings with key players in the international economy, foreign traders to recent visits to Uganda and Kenya, the new Head of State, who was inaugurated in March, is repairing ties with the outside world.

One can say the President's approach of meeting personally with the heads of state and those of bilateral organizations is a way to open up and strengthen Tanzania diplomatic relations and reinforcing her political influence across the region.

The latest two-day state visit to Kenya saw Tanzania signing natural gas pipeline deal from Dar es Salaam to Mombasa and the leaders from the two countries resolved to clear trade hurdles to increase cross-border trade, by removing some non-tariff barriers.

Analysts commented that the President was on the right truck to mend ties with other nations around the globe.
Education minister Janet Museveni has said government is considering setting up a factory to manufacture and supply sanitary towels to all schools as a means to support the girl-child through school.

She made the revelation during a presentation of the education sector under the seven-day series scheduled to mark the National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto week at State House Entebbe on Thursday.

The presentation was to highlight progress made by the NRM party in fulfilling pledges in the 2016-2021 term.

"This [pads for school girls] has proved to be rather difficult to implement because it is not something we can just do at once. It requires us to put [up] a factory that would produce sanitary pads for all schools. That is the only way we can solve this problem," Ms Museveni said as she explained why government has not yet fulfilled its promise to deliver sanitary pads to learners.

Without disclosing when this would kick off or how much it would cost, Ms Museveni said: "We have costed it. We know what it will cost."

She added: "So we are indeed waiting for the money and once we get the money, we will begin and that problem will be taken care of."

Ms Museveni also said government would undertake a research study to establish why there are continuous dropouts among learners in government-supported schools under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) and the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programmes.

"What we are doing about these dropouts is to research at country level, which we are taking [on] soon to find out what the population thinks about UPE or USE. Should education be free for all or should it be subsidised? Because that is what has been bringing [about] the dropout rates," Ms Museveni said.

In a bid to fight rampant absenteeism within schools, especially among staff, the minister said more funds had been allocated to tame the vice.

"Government has increased budget allocation for the inspection and supervision of education institutions in pre-primary, primary, secondary, teacher training education and BTVET [Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training] sub-sectors by 73.1 per cent, thus Shs6.53 billion, from Shs8.93 billion in Financial Year 2016/2017 to Shs15.46 billion in Financial Year 2020/2021," Ms Museveni said.
Yvonne Sandra Kunda, a tour consultant, appeared to be in a jovial mood at the closing ceremony of this year's Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) held at Sheraton Hotel Kampala. She said it was a moment of relief after taking part in the first virtual tourism expo as the sector navigates towards the new normal.

It took Kunda two days to set up her company's virtual booth. She recollects the 2019 edition, where she secured a booth at Shs500,000 and preparations were less strenuous. "We had marketing materials on display and it was exciting to engage visitors at our booth," she says.

As an exhibitor in 2019, she met her current employer and also secured her colleague a job in the sector. "The physical expo is the real deal. It is interactive, engaging and gives exposure," Kunda says.

The virtual experience

Without a doubt, the experience of showcasing tourism products and services online is an arrangement tourism operators are struggling to cope with. The pandemic has affected meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE), but Uganda Tourism Board CEO Lilly Ajarova urges Ugandans to embrace technology in tourism businesses.

She says the virtual POATE 2021 offered an opportunity to embrace transformation. Ajena Jafar, the UTB Digital marketing officer with support from Talent Africa guided exhibitors both on call and online to set up their virtual booths.

Ajena supported tour operators to navigate the Whova App, an all-in-one event management software. "By day two, more people and businesses were struggling to set up the virtual booth. Fortunately, we have a digital team that ensured everyone had a great experience," he remarks.

The new normal

The virtual expo did not have all the excitement that goes along with a real live event, but the sight of the moderator, Peter Igaga, a media personality, clad in a white tunic, popularly known as a Kanzu, gave life to the virtual event.

Ajarova and three other panelists donned the African Masai Shuka. "We have always had POATE as a physical event. Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the way we do business. UTB has embraced the change and that is why we are going virtual this year with POATE," says Ajarova.

Level of exhibition

Previously, the size of a booth and location of a stall determined an exhibitor's return on investment. It had everything to do with sponsorship and packages. Exhibitors usually rush to secure more strategic space.

Much as many potential exhibitors consider virtual events risky compared to physical events, the sixth POATE attracted 978 visitors, 27 speakers, 64 media personalities, 36 sponsors, 424 hosted buyers and 440 exhibitors for the 2021 virtual edition, compared to the 180 exhibitors in 2019.

Exhibitors comprised tour and travel companies, lodgings, airlines, government agencies and authorities, among others. There was no competition for the biggest, most central spot in the exhibition tent; instead exhibitors were listed in alphabetical order.

Regional participation

Despite big numbers gracing the virtual expo, regional tourism representation registered a decline this year. It is only Kenya Tourism Board that continued to reinforce its promotional action with Ugandan tourism market, in partnership with UTB.

"With participants looking for brand experience, I expected KTB to create smart displays that capture potential travellers' attention, captivate them, and respond quickly to their needs. Unfortunately, they had a poor show," says Nicholas Mulimira, a travel consultant. Meanwhile, some indigenous tourism operators enjoyed the virtual business opportunities.

Pinnacle Africa, a logistics and leisure company that showcased in the five previous POATE editions, hopes that business engagements will translate into clients and partnerships.

"We have received online business appointments from companies in Southern Africa, Europe that wish to expand to Uganda. The virtual challenge was the different time zones, but we agreed to schedule zoom calls the following week," explains Francis Kimbowa, the managing director.

Casting virtual doubts

Despite opening the marketing tool to many tour operators, there is a significant number of unknown potential exhibitors, who were not convinced about the value of the virtual expo.

It requires UTB to allay fears that the visitors or agents are legitimate. Denis Ntege, the managing director of Raft Uganda, participated in POATE 2021 and says doubts were inevitable considering that this was a first time experience.

He commends the organisers for the tutorials, conferences on community tourism, presentations on MICE and business to business meetings.

Time to reposition Uganda

The tourism expo comes at a time when Uganda is striving to emerge out of the harsh effects of pandemic. "POATE comes at a time when the tourism sector needs to reassure the world that it is vibrant, resilient and build confidence that it is going to bounce back soon,"Ntege says.

Ntege applauds UTB and the national organising committee for pulling off the first virtual tourism expo in East Africa amidst the global Covid-19 challenges. "It has put destination Uganda at a new pedestal in the supply and value chain of tourism.," he adds.

Intensive online workshops

Indigenous raft operator Ntege urges UTB to organise vigorous trainings for exhibitors prior to the expo, and calls upon fellow tour operators to embrace digital technology to reach out to new clients. He advises UTB to consider a hybrid expo such as INDABA, ITB, and WTM for tourism operators that may not afford to travel beyond borders.

Cost-effective

Previously, there was limitation on how many people POATE could attract, the high costs of setting up and managing an event, flight expenses and giving the hosted buyers a special safari treat. It was a different experience this year, according to the UTB. Ajarova says the virtual edition was an opportunity for Ugandans to reach a bigger audience. She says exhibitors were not charged any fee to participate in the virtual expo.

"UTB invested in trainings and tutorials on how to set up their booths, make appointments, and the only cost an exhibitor incurred was to buy data," she says.

Kunda admits that the 2021 edition did not have huge financial costs on tour operators. "The previous tradeshows required one had to pay for travel, meals, booth space, furnishings, internet and electricity and accommodation," she says.

Environmentally friendly

Diana Kisakye, a tourism marketing executive, says virtual in a way eliminated the production of materials that would otherwise go to waste after the three-day expo, such as brochures, flyers, and handouts.

From her experience, hotels and tour operators invest huge sums of money to create and print appealing promotional content, but do not consider that fact that expo visitors move from stall to stall gathering material, which they dump at the exit points of the expos.

Long term

Besides saving time on travel, the virtual booth which offers an online marketing platform is likely to stay connected for up to a year after the expo. Denis Ntege explains that the POATE platform is going to remain open for the next six months for continuous engagement in tourism.

Participants missed the physical POATE editions that are characterised by dance displays, culinary experiences, photo moments and familiarisation trips. Tour operator James Mwere says it is impossible for an exhibitor to focus on the booth the entire day.

Mwere, a seasoned tour guide also notes that it is hard to make an impression virtually. "The communication style shifts from the personal touch to instant messaging exchange. With this, one loses the ability to put a face to a business in an industry that is defined by hospitality and physical experiences."

Sponsorship impact

Sponsoring a real live expo creates positive interactions for hosted buyers, attendees, exhibitors who enjoy special hours sponsored by various companies that wish to enhance their brand value.

These businesses invest a huge portion of their marketing budgets in lunch, cocktail parties, souvenirs which creates a lasting impact during the expo. Mulimira says sponsorship at a virtual POATE meant appearing on the website, and missing the chance to create a memorable presence for the targeted audience.

In response, Ajarova highlights the hybrid sessions such as the dinner at the closing ceremony which was both virtual and in-person with limited attendance. "Our sponsors were also able to have a special moment with the audiences during coffee breaks which were both live sessions or pre-recorded."

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Road map to revive the sector

Ajarova says UTB has embarked on digital marketing to improve service delivery for all tourism sector players. She also notes that the marketing and promotion agency signed new contracts with Market Destination Representatives (MDRs) in UK, UAE, Japan, China and Germany that will market Uganda aggressively in the international markets.

POATE theme

The annual Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo brings together all tourism stakeholders and other service providers, presenting a unique opportunity for the tourism business operators to meet new clients, network, and discuss business deals with the global tourism and travel trade partners.

POATE 2021 took place from 27 -29, April under the theme; Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development. Some of the guest speakers included Chris Mears, CEO of African Travel and Tourism Association, Judy Kepher , lead director of Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda (STTA), Evie Ndhlovu, community development specialist of Planeterra, Tes Proos, President-Society of Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE); Peter Mwanja, the managing director of Ugandan Safari Chapter -Entebbe.

Facts

Lilly Ajarova, the chief executive officer of Uganda Tourism Board, says the virtual edition was an opportunity for Ugandans to reach a bigger audience. She says the marketing and promotion agency signed new contracts with Market Destination Representatives (MDRs) in UK, UAE, Japan, China and Germany that will market Uganda aggressively in the international markets.

Key

The sixth POATE attracted 978 visitors, 27 speakers, 64 media personalities, 36 sponsors, 424 hosted buyers and 440 exhibitors for the 2021 virtual edition, compared to the 180 exhibitors in 2019.

Exhibitors comprised tour and travel companies, lodgings, airlines, government agencies and authorities. There was no competition for the biggest, most central spot in the exhibition tent.
Residents in Lugazi Municipality, Buikwe District, are leaving in fear following the increasing number of stray dogs in the area.

Locals say the stray dogs move in a pack of 5-10 dogs and ask leaders to come to their rescue.

Mr Herman Mukasa, a boda -boda rider in Lugazi Municipality said "stray dogs have become a menace to the public because they keep loitering around the town."

"The dogs are not vaccinated and when they bite a person, he or she will catch rabies, which can be life threatening. We call upon the authorities to either kill them or vaccinate them so that we are on the safe side," Mr Mukisa said during an interview on Friday.

Dr. James Kabanda, the Lugazi Municipality production officer, said they have for a long time warned dog owners against letting them to loiter in town but they have refused to take heed.

He said they have already received reports that the roaming dogs are killing domestic animals and scaring away school going children.

"We are in the process of acquiring the dog poison to kill all these stray canines. But before we do that , we shall make announcements on local radio stations asking dog owners to chain them so that no one comes out to complain when stray dogs are killed," he cautioned.

At the height of increased dog bites in 2017, police in Masaka District resorted to a shoot-to-kill approach to eliminate the animals.

By the time police intervened, the affected residents had killed at least eight stray dogs using spears and machetes.

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At least 40 stray dogs were killed during that year.

Over the years, the World Animal Protection, an international nongovernmental organisation that looks at the welfare of animals, has been calling upon local urban authorities to stop the habit of poisoning dogs as a way of exterminating them, arguing that it is an inhuman act and not acceptable internationally.

Past attacks

In October 2016, stray dogs invaded six villages in Bukomansimbi District.

In 2015, eight people were hospitalised after sustaining severe injuries in separate dog attacks in Sembabule District.

In 2010, dogs mauled to death a 72-year-old man in Butenga Sub-county, Bukomansimbi District.

In September 2009, more than 20 people in Masaka District sustained wounds after they were bitten by stray dogs. In the same year, stray dogs also killed 35 domestic animals in Ndagwe Sub-County, Lwengo District.
press release

ICMRA1 and WHO call on the pharmaceutical industry to provide wide access to clinical data for all new medicines and vaccines (whether full or conditional approval, under emergency use, or rejected). Clinical trial reports should be published without redaction of confidential information for reasons of overriding public health interest.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the need for information and data to support academics, researchers and industry in developing vaccines and therapeutics; to support regulators and health authorities in their decision-making; to support healthcare professionals in their treatment decisions; and to support public confidence in the vaccines and therapeutics being deployed.

While some initiatives have met with stakeholder support (e.g. WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, US NIH ClinicalTrials.gov database, Health Canada Clinical Information Portal, EMA Clinical Trials Register and Japan Registry of Clinical Trials), not all past efforts have been successful. Often this was because they were unsustainable due to reliance on goodwill or lack of appropriate resourcing.2

The common aim of these initiatives is to ensure that results of research are accessible to all those involved in health care decision-making. The priority should be for new innovative medicines and vaccines. This improves transparency and strengthens the validity and value of the scientific evidence base. To succeed, initiatives need multi-stakeholder engagement aimed at finding solutions that deliver benefits for public health.

Regulators continue to spend considerable resources negotiating transparency with sponsors. Both positive and negative clinically relevant data should be made available, while only personal data and individual patient data should be redacted. In any case, aggregated data are unlikely to lead to re-identification of personal data and techniques of anonymisation can be used.

The first benefit is public trust. Regulators are opening their decisions to public scrutiny demonstrating confidence in their work.

Another benefit is the possible check of data integrity, a scientific necessity and an ethical must. Data must be robust, exhaustive and verifiable, through peer-review. Data integrity is priceless. Wrong regulatory decisions, made on selected or unreliable data, will affect the patients who receive that medicine.

Lack of public access to negative trials has been identified as a source of bias, which weakens the conclusions of systematic reviews and provides a false sense of reassurance on the safety or efficacy of the medicine.

Publication of data allows science to advance faster, by avoiding repetition of unnecessary trials and waste of resources (human and financial). This also brings benefits by improving the efficiency of development programmes and reducing both development costs and time. Publication of data also allows secondary analyses (and meta-analysis) which have a different or complementary focus.

Many public bodies have made open access a requirement as data are a common good. Providing access to data is also owed to trial participants who contributed physically and took the potential research risks.

Not all data are of high quality, and increased public scrutiny should eventually improve the overall quality of data. Resources however are needed for data sharing, and systems for such access need to be established. Standardisation of data will allow better analyses but is not a requirement.

While there may be a small risk of misuse of data (piracy or data mining for unfair commercial purpose) and misinterpretation, trial data can be put in context when published with the regulatory review of such data.

Data must be published at the time of finalisation of the regulatory review. It cannot be justified to keep confidential efficacy and safety data of a medicine available on the market, or which has been refused access to the market. Some regulators regularly publish the data that support positive approvals, but fewer do this for rejections, while this should avoid false expectations, misuse (accidental or not) and safety issues. Many completed trials on publication platforms only disclose protocols while results remain partial, outdated or unpublished.

ICMRA and WHO are conscious of concerns that some stakeholders may have as regulators move to greater levels of transparency, but we remain confident of the overwhelming positive public health benefits of doing so.

Providing systematic public access to data supporting approvals and rejections of medicines reviewed by regulators, is long overdue despite existing initiatives, such as those from the European Medicines Agency and Health Canada. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how essential to public trust access to data is. ICMRA and WHO call on the pharmaceutical industry to commit, within short timelines, and without waiting for legal changes, to provide voluntary unrestricted access to trial results data for the benefit of public health.

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__________________________________________________________

1 ICMRA is a voluntary coalition of leaders of medicines regulatory authorities that provides strategic directions for enhanced cooperation, improved communication and effective global crisis response mechanisms.

2 E.g. Past declarations and private initiatives abandoned or not followed through include: -- Walsh F (26 February 2013), "Drug firm Roche pledges greater access to trials data" -- Alltrials Campaign, https://www.alltrials.net/ (most recent data from March 2019) -- WHO and multi-party Joint statement on public disclosure of results from clinical trials, 18 May 2017 (accessed here, March 2021).
document

Wednesday's announcement by the United States of America that it will support a temporary waiver of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines is a significant statement of solidarity and support for vaccine equity. We are in an unprecedented crisis that requires unprecedented action. Cases are at a record high, almost 100 thousand people are dying globally each week, and we have a chronic vaccine crisis.

This afternoon, WHO gave Emergency Use Listing to Sinopharm Beijing's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality. The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, has also reviewed the available data, and recommends the vaccine for adults 18 years and older, with a two-dose schedule.

As we recover and rebuild, we have a unique moment to mobilize investments for healthier, more resilient, more productive and more sustainable societies. That's why we have established a new WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All - to identify new ways to shape the global economy, and to build societies that are healthy, inclusive, equitable and sustainable.

Wednesday marked the International Day of the Midwife. To mark the day, WHO, the UN Population Fund, the International Confederation of Midwives and other partners published the 2021 State of the World's Midwifery report, which shows that the world currently faces a shortage of 900 000 midwives.

_________________________________________________

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

Wednesday's announcement by the United States of America that it will support a temporary waiver of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines is a significant statement of solidarity and support for vaccine equity.

I know that this is not a politically easy thing to do, so I very much appreciate the leadership of the United States, and we urge other countries to follow their example.

I also want to emphasize that WHO values the incredible contribution of the private sector to the pandemic and to health in general.

We would not have the vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and devices that save lives and improve well-being around the world if it were not for the innovation of the private sector.

WHO supports companies making a fair return on their investment in research and development, for investment in further innovation.

We are in an unprecedented crisis that requires unprecedented action. Cases are at a record high, almost 100 000 people are dying globally each week, and we have a chronic vaccine crisis.

The World Trade Organization provisions for IP waivers were designed precisely for a situation like this. If we don't use them now, then when?

It's also important to remember that intellectual property waivers will need to be accompanied by transfer of technology and know-how for these difficult-to-make vaccines.

We continue to encourage all Member States to support technology transfer through C-TAP, the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool.

We encourage governments to offer incentives to manufacturers to share technology and know-how.

And we encourage countries with the most vaccines to donate doses through COVAX, which is the fastest and most equitable way to increase the distribution of vaccines globally.

Just as it takes a comprehensive approach of public health measures to defeat COVID-19, so solving the vaccine crisis requires that we pull out all the stops.

WHO is continuing to explore every avenue for increasing access to vaccines globally.

This afternoon, WHO gave Emergency Use Listing to Sinopharm Beijing's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality.

This expands the list of vaccines that COVAX can buy, and gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approval, and to import and administer a vaccine.

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, has also reviewed the available data, and recommends the vaccine for adults 18 years and older, with a two-dose schedule.

Vaccines remain a vital tool. But right now, the volume and distribution of vaccines is insufficient to end the pandemic, without the sustained and tailored application of public health measures that we know work.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a vivid demonstration that a health crisis is not just a health crisis; it can have dramatic consequences for livelihoods, businesses and economies.

The pandemic has shown that when health is at risk, everything is at risk. But when health is protected and promoted, individuals, families, communities, economies and nations can thrive.

That's why universal health coverage is WHO's top priority. All roads should lead to universal health coverage.

But globally, we are going in the wrong direction. Around the world, more households are spending an increasing proportion of their income on health. And more people are being exposed to poverty as a result of out-of-pocket health spending.

It is clear that making progress towards universal health coverage cannot just be a matter for ministries of health, but takes an all-of-government approach, with leadership from the highest political levels, and close engagement with ministries of finance.

As we recover and rebuild, we have a unique moment to mobilize investments for healthier, more resilient, more productive and more sustainable societies.

We need a new narrative that makes health for all the central goal of public policies on innovation, industry, employment, environment and more.

That's why we have established a new WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All - to identify new ways to shape the global economy, and to build societies that are healthy, inclusive, equitable and sustainable.

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The council comprises 11 distinguished experts in economics, health, government, finance and development from around the world, and is chaired by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, the Professor of the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, and Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London.

Professor Mazzucato, thank you for your leadership of this new council, and thank you for joining us today. You have the floor.

[PROFESSOR MAZZUCATO ADDRESSED THE MEDIA]

Thank you so much, Professor Mazzucato, and I very much look forward to the council's work in the months and years ahead, and thank you so much for your leadership.

Finally, Wednesday marked the International Day of the Midwife.

To mark the day, WHO, the UN Population Fund, the International Confederation of Midwives and other partners published the 2021 State of the World's Midwifery report, which shows that the world currently faces a shortage of 900 000 midwives.

Fully investing in midwives by 2035 would avert roughly two-thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives per year.

Midwives are not a cost, they're an investment in a healthier, safer, fairer future for all of us.

Christian, back to you.
analysis

The minister of police wrote a strongly worded letter to the national commissioner after the latter announced - in Parliament - several appointments that went against instructions the minister had given to him.

A frosty standoff between the two figures in charge of South Africa's police - National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole and Police Minister Bheki Cele - has become even more fraught with Cele this week saying Sitole's "disregard" for him will not be tolerated.

On 4 May, Sitole announced four senior appointments in the SA Police Service during a meeting in Parliament.

But it turns out he went against Cele's instructions, who has deemed the appointments irregular and invalid.

This has exposed even more bad blood within the police service, which has been rocked by factionalism as well as claims and counterclaims among officers.

DM168 has previously reported that Cele called for an inquiry into Sitole's fitness to hold office. This related to the classification of documents linked to Crime Intelligence's allegedly unlawful procurement of a surveillance device known as a grabber at an inflated price of R45-million (when the usual price was a comparatively low R7-million) ahead of...
Abia government has condemned the attack launched by hoodlums on the Mike Okiro Police Station, located along the Umuahia-Uzoakoli Road, in Umuahia North Local Government Area (LGA).

Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, the Commissioner for Information, made this known in a press statement on Sunday in Umuahia.

Okiyi-Kalu said that "on Sunday, at about 09.45 hours, the Mike Okiro Police Station, located along Umuahia-Uzoakoli Road, close to Ubani market, was attacked by hoodlums,who came in a bus, 2 Sienna mini vans and 3 motorcycles.

"While two vehicles, two motorcycles, stationeries and office equipment inside the police station were set on fire, there were no human casualties or loss of weapons.

"Following security review of credible intelligence, officers at the station were evacuated and relocated three weeks earlier.

Okiyi-Kalu said "The Government of Abia State condemns, in its totality, the attacks on security agents and facilities across the country," warning those responsible for the attacks that they will certainly not escape the long arms of the law as "our security architecture in the State is robust enough to bring them to justice."

He expressed dismay over the attacks on security agents, especially the Nigeria Police Force, adding that this would constitute danger for everyone in the society.

Okiyi-Kalu called on the citizens and leaders to come together and evolve strategies that would bring an end to such needless and mindless acts of attacking security agents and facilities.

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He said that the destruction of security facilities would create more problems than solutions, adding that venting one's grievances and agitating for redress as provided for in our constitution is more effective than taking laws into one's hands.

He urged the people of Abia to remain law abiding and maintain vigilance as they go about their normal businesses, and advised them to observe the curfew hours of 8.00pm to 6.00am.

Okiyi-Kalu said that the state government would deploy every necessary resource in ensuring the safety of the residents and visitors in Abia, as well as bring criminal elements to justice swiftly.

He added that the government had directed all relevant agencies involved in enforcing the ongoing curfew to continue to exempt members of the public on essential duties from the curfew.

(NAN)

Vanguard News Nigeria
Chief George Moghalu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Anambra, says electing a credible candidate is critical for the party to capture power in the state.

Moghalu said this on Sunday in Awka, when he inaugurated his campaign teams, called "Georgy likeminds".

He urged party faithful to remain firm, resolute and insistent on the election of a credible candidate that could wrestle power from the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance.

Moghalu also urged them not to be deceived by "empty campaign promises" by his co-APC aspirants.

"The choice of an aspirant with questionable character during the primary will be risky and can spell doom for the party at the Nov. 6 poll.

"This is a season of lies and empty promises.

"Many will promise free education from primary to tertiary institutions, building of universities in all the 21 local government areas of the state.

"Others will also promise massive road construction to your door steps and whole lots of bogus promises.

"This election is not going to start and end with primary. There is going to be the main election. "We must go to the poll with a candidate that can win.

"We need a candidate that has no baggage because people's integrity will be put to test," Moghalu said.

He commended his loyalists for their support and dedication to his aspiration and pledged not to disappoint them.

"No one person can win election. This number of Georgy likeminds is enough for me to win the election.

"You have demonstrated commitment and support for me not because of money but because you love our state and believe we can change the story.

"I will not betray the confidence you have placed in me.

"I'm ready for any form of primary, be it direct or indirect, as long as people must be involved," he said.

Vanguard News Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday bemoaned the killings in the country that have worsened the nation's security challenges.

The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, condoled with the relatives of those who lost their lives in what he called madness going on nationwide.

The killings continued at the weekend as bandits murdered no fewer than 11 persons in Katsina and Kaduna States.

Also, gunmen sustained their attacks on police facilities in the South-east as they hit a police station in Umuahia, Abia State capital.

Buhari, who called for a low-key Eid al-Fitr celebration as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic said: "As Muslims in Nigeria join others globally in preparations towards Eid al-Fitr, a day that is celebrated to mark the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, President Buhari has directed that all celebrations are limited due to the global Coronavirus crisis.

"To this end, the president, first family, his personal aides, members of the cabinet and service chiefs who choose to remain in Abuja will congregate in full compliance with COVID-19 protocols at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja to observe the Eid prayers by 9:00 am.

"Thereafter, there will be no traditional Sallah homage to the president by religious, community and political leaders

as was the case last year, the president encouraged such leaders to be content with modest celebrations at home in view of the pandemic."

Buhari thanked Islamic clerics and other religious leaders who continue to pray for the wellbeing of the nation and its people.

The president called on all local leaders to talk to their youths and warn them against being used to incite and foment violence, saying that "if we attack institutions guarding us, who will protect us in future emergencies?"

Bandits Kill 11, Injure Three in Kaduna, Katsina

Meanwhile, no fewer than 11 persons were confirmed killed while three others were injured by bandits in a fresh reprisal by suspected bandits at Tsatskiya community in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State and another separate attack by gunmen in Kaduna.

A retired army sergeant, his wife and daughter-in-law were killed in the Kaduna incident.

The bandits who attacked Katsina community on Saturday were believed to be avenging a mob action against two of the bandits' informants who were reportedly killed by some people in the community.

The bandits, who were said to have invaded the community in the afternoon, also wounded three others who are currently receiving treatment at a Dutsinma town hospital.

Residents confirmed that the bandits were on a reprisal over the recent killing of their informants.

One of the informants was said to have been killed four days ago in a nearby community called Hakon Kartakawa.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Gambo Isah, a superintendent of police, confirmed the incident yesterday.

"During the attack, two people were equally wounded and are still receiving medical attention at Dutsinma General Hospital," he said.

Following the attack, the residents of Tsatskiya community and other neighbouring villages fled the village to Dutsinma town for safety.

In another incident, a retired army sergeant, Christopher Madaki, his wife and daughter-in-law were killed by bandits following an attack on Golkofa community, Jama'a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

However, his son, Mr. Clement Madaki, was only injured.

Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the killings in a statement yesterday in Kaduna.

Aruwan said the killings took place on Saturday night when bandits invaded the community.

The commissioner also said a breakdown of law and order was averted in Kachia town, headquarters of Kachia LGA following the alleged killing of one Hamidu Nura by one Abba Muhammad.

Aruwan said the killings in Golkofa were reported to the state government by the Kaduna State Police Command and the Defence Headquarters outfit "Operation Safe Haven."

Also yesterday, gunmen attacked a police station, named after a former Inspector-General (IG), Mr. Mike Okiro, in Umuahia.

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The news of the attack caused pandemonium in the town as churches abruptly ended their services to enable worshippers flee to safety.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state command, Mr. Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the incident while speaking with THISDAY on phone.

He said the attack occurred at 9.45 am, adding that the attackers came in a bus and two Sienna SUVs.

He stated that a police officer was shot and wounded in the leg during the attack.

According to the PPRO, the building was not burnt as the roof did not catch fire when torched.

However, he said the hoodlums invaded the offices and gathered files, documents and furniture and set them ablaze. Also, two vehicles and two motorcycles on the premises were burnt.

The attack on the Mike Okiro Police Station was the first such incident in Umuahia although no fewer than four police stations have been razed in the state this year.
analysis

In Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, it is estimated that over 70% of the population live in informal settlements. Many of these have a history rooted in colonial policies whereby the "African native" was a temporary resident of the city. Africans could only live in the city as registered labourers.

As these informal settlements grew over the years, their names - and the names of places within them - have grown to encapsulate their history.

Africans were forced to live in dormitory-like working quarters. In spite of these restrictions some still found their way from their rural homes into the city. However, with their illegitimate status, they could only construct shanties (crudely built shacks) on unused land.

These shanty towns were, from time to time, destroyed and the occupants forced back to their rural homes. The 1922 Vagrancy Act made this possible with provisions to segregate, evict, arrest, expel and limit the movement of the "African workers".

When Kenya gained independence in 1963, native Africans were given the right to live anywhere in the country, this included the urban areas which were previously heavily restricted. As a result, many people moved to the city to look for employment opportunities. Between 1963 and 1979, the population of Nairobi grew from 342,000 to 827,000 people.

Nairobi was ill-prepared to handle such a massive influx. From newspaper archives, I saw how a lack of housing led to the expansion of informal settlements and efforts to curb them through demolitions - which did not succeed. Another strategy to curb their growth was by denying them basic infrastructure such as water, sewerage and electricity connection. Despite this, the population in these areas grew exponentially.

And then came the names - what would these settlements, inhabited by most, if not all, of Kenya's over 40 ethnic communities - be called? After all, unlike other "planned" residential areas, the residents themselves have the prerogative of naming their neighbourhoods instead of the local government or private developers.

I carried out a study which investigated the naming process of three of Nairobi's largest ghettos; Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru. I also looked at the names of the settlement's "villages", roads and pathways, shops, kiosks and other establishments. I did this using Kenyan and British archives, newspaper records and focus group discussions with long-term residents.

What I found was a testament to historical injustices - such as land grabbing, forceful evictions and arson - and urban inequalities, such as the lack of provision of basic infrastructure. The names gave a voice to residents, representing the issues that they struggle with every day.

What's in a name?

Kibera

Kibera is located about 6km from Nairobi's city centre. It covers an area of 2.5km and has a disputed population size ranging from 200,000 to 1 million people. This wide disparity is because of the high number of unregistered people that live there and because many people constantly move in and out. Official statistics can't capture this.

Kibera's history is intricately tied to the Nubian community, originally from Sudan, who were brought into Kenya by the British colonial government to serve in the East African Rifles, a regiment of the British colonial armed forces. They settled in what is Kibera today in the early 1900's.

The settlement's name was initially "Kibra" in the Nubian tongue, meaning forest or jungle. After Kenya's independence in 1963, other African communities settled there. They mispronounced the word and it became "Kibera".

Kibera is currently divided into 13 villages. Many of the village names reflect the settlements' military history. For instance, "Laini Saba", originally known as "Lain Shabaan", refers to a rifle range area. Kibera was also organised into "camps", as happens in military barracks. For instance, the area "Kambi KAR" is named after the Kings African Rifles (KAR) and "Kambi", the Swahili word for "camp".

Since the settlements' inception, Kibera residents have had a tense relationship with government authorities, who sought to evict them. Certain names are a nod to this struggle. For instance, "Soweto East" and "Soweto West" are named after the South African township to pay homage to the 1976 student uprisings against the authorities.

Mathare

Mathare is approximately 6km north-east of Nairobi's central business district. The name "Mathare" comes from the Kikuyu (the largest ethnic group in Kenya) word for Dracena trees.

The settlement has a long history. The first residents arrived in the 1920's. It was known as a historical centre for opposition to the colonial government with residents participating in the Mau Mau anti-colonial movement. This made it a constant target of demolition and arson attacks during the emergency period from 1952 to 1960. The main road cutting through the settlement was named "Mau Mau Road".

Residents of Mathare have long-struggled with evictions. This was largely because some people in power - from members of parliament to Chiefs - grabbed land. For instance, in 1999, some residents were evicted to make way for a mosque and were to be resettled, but instead people from outside the settlement were brought in to live there. This caused a major conflict and the area was named "Kosovo", after the Kosovo War which was happening around the same time.

Mathare also has many smaller neighbourhoods named after countries for the activities known in the area. For example, an area known as "Nigeria" because of its illegal businesses - such as drug peddling - reportedly done by some West Africans there. There's also "Kampala" because of the high number of immigrants living there from Uganda.

Mukuru

Mukuru is an extensive settlement located East of Nairobi's city centre. It borders the industrial area and many residents work as casual labourers in the industries. At 2.7km, Mukuru is the largest (in terms of area) of the three settlements. With an estimated population of 300,000 it comes second after Kibera. It is also the newest settlement, having been developed in the 1980s.

Mukuru is a particularly hazardous settlement to live in. It has an oil pipeline, high voltage electricity transmission lines and the highly polluted Nairobi River running through it. The settlement has 21 villages, or neighbourhoods.

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The origins of the names of Mukuru's villages are diverse. One is named Sinai after a mountain in Israel because it's on relatively high ground. Another is called "Moto Moto" (meaning fire or hot in Kiswahili), because of the settlement's fire hazards. In fact, one of the worst fire tragedies in Kenya in the recent past was the 2011 Sinai fire caused by a fuel spillage. It led to the death of 120 people and 100 more were injured.

Other village names include Jamaica, Kingstone, Kosovo, Diamond and Mombasa. These names make reference to the lifestyle of residents as well as the living conditions. Jamaica and Kingstone point to the Rastafarian lifestyle adopted by some young people, Kosovo (like in Mathare) points to the conflicts with the local authorities and Mombasa which seems to carry two meanings - one is of an area that floods showing the fragile ecological condition of the village, and the other one connotes a place where people like to enjoy themselves just like 'Mombasa Raha' especially while drinking cheap liqour.

A glimpse

My work shows the incredible array of names within Nairobi's informal settlements, and offers a glimpse into the lived realities of people that inhabit them.

The names reflect the challenges faced by the residents and, as such, slum upgrading proponents should make an effort to understand the names within informal settlements as a step in problem identification. Understanding these bottom-up naming processes gives a more nuanced and intimate understanding of our poor urban communities.

Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita, Lecturer, Technical University of Kenya
Recently, Parliament debated the health conditions of prisoners at Kitalya Prison. Some Members of Parliament said prisoners at Kitalya were in bad health and ate very bad food.

This was not the first time that Parliament was discussing food and health conditions of prisoners.

It should be noted that in the 1950s, some prisoners at the Luzira Remand and Murchison Bay Prison, Luzira, had better meals than many free Ugandans.

In May 1956 as Uganda's colonial Parliament, the Legislative Council (Legco), debated the proposed 1956/1957 Budget, Timothy Bazarrabusa, a nominated member from Tooro, wondered why there was discrimination against Africans in the prisons.

The MPs were deliberating on the Prison Ordinance (Amendment). The new Prison Ordinance was enacted in 1958.

One of the reasons fronted for the amendment of the Prison Ordinance made before the World War I was complaints of mistreatment of prisoners by European officers, as well as the May 18, 1956, escape of four hard-core criminals from Luzira prison.

Earlier, there had been the Luzira Prison Commission instituted to inquire into the welfare of prisoners.

"As an ex-officio visiting justice, I have been taking an interest in some prisons, and from what I have seen I think there is room for amendment of the Prisons Ordinance, which I understand was enacted a very long time ago. A big advance has taken place in the standard of living of Africans, and whereas at the time perhaps when this Ordinance was made, educated and well-to-do Africans did not go to prison - now the learned and well-to-do are found there in great numbers, men whose standard of living outside prisons was as good as those persons of European or Asian races," Bazarrabusa said, according to proceedings of the Legislative Council of May 23, 1956.

"I was astounded to find so much discrimination inside prison walls - particularly in the way of food and equipment. No wonder the African prisoners complained so much on such matters, while the Asians and Europeans prisoners had nothing to complain about. They were satisfied; they were living as well as if they were in their own homes. The [1956 prison] Ordinance sets out the requirement for food and equipment for European, Asians and Africans."

Bazarrabusa said for persons of European origin or descent, there was Scale A. They had their food three times a day - 6:30am, they had wheat made into porridge; they had sugar, salt and milk. At noon and 6:15pm, they had fresh meat free of bone, potatoes, vegetable, bread, butter and salt.

Scale B was for Indians, Arabs and Somalis. They had chapattis at 6am. At noon they were given rice and polished dhall, simsim oil, and ground nuts. At 5pm, they had two chapattis, simsim, vegetables, salt and curry powder. In addition, they had tea, half a pint of milk and sugar daily.

Ugandans fed poorly

"Now, as to the Scale C, that is for people of African origin. They are given maize or maize meal - the usual thing, millet flour or potatoes or banana without stalks well, of course, even Africans do not get banana stalks - beans or peas or soya beans or meat or simsim or ghee, meat, sweat potatoes or spinach. No tea, no milk," Bazarrabusa said, adding that the Ordinance did not give a specific time for Africans to have meals and how often. Other foods Ugandan prisoners were given was maize bread (posho).

As for accommodation, Ugandans slept like animals while Europeans and Indians slept like kings.

"As to equipment, they too apply as follow: Scale A prisoners get one mattress, two blankets, two sheets, two pillows, one mosquito net and two towels. As to furniture, one iron or wood bedstead, one stool or chair, one mirror, one table, one cupboard, one filter and eating utensils. They get a milk jug, four plates, two enamel mugs, one basin, one soap dish, one jug and one chamber," Bazarrabusa said.

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"And, of course, the B scale follows quite as closely as possible. They get two blankets, two towels, one mosquito net, one bed board, or set of boards, one set of utensils, a mirror, a water jug, plates and two mugs.

"When you come to the C scale, that is prisoners of African origin, they get one sleeping mat on the cement floor, no bed, no bed boards, nothing. They get one blanket only, and they get two iron or enamel mugs and that's all."

As he called for the improvement of the welfare of Ugandan prisoners, Bazarrabusa said it was time the Prison Ordinance was improved.

"I know, Sir, it will cost the country much more to improve the conditions of living of prisoners. I am afraid we are in for it. The times have changed and we have got to change with it," he said. "I only hope that the improved conditions will not increase crime and attract more prisoners into prison."

As he concluded, Bazarrabusa recommended that government considers the provision of individual cells for every prisoner.
Thefirst Bishop of the diocese of Kinkizi, Rt. Rev. Em. John Wilson Ntegyereize has been laid to rest.

Ntegyereize's burial ceremony which stretched from Saturday morning to evening at St Peter's Cathedral Nyakatare attracted several area politicians, church and other religious leaders, businessmen, laymen to pray for his soul and later escort his body to his final resting place near the St Peter's Cathedral.

Bishop Ntegyereize died on May 6 at Bwindi community hospital at the age of 75, following a long illness resulting from several behavioral diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, according to family members.

"We should not mourn but rather cerebrate with faith that he worked good for this church and the country and if without doubt he is going to heaven. If working for the world gets people to heaven then he will go straight for the good he did," former Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi said as he eulogised the late Bishop emeritus.

Several other speakers described the late bishop as an innovative religious leader who would not wait for meetings and bureaucratic decisions to perform his duties, a character that helped him perform beyond expectations.

He was consecrated first Bishop of the diocese that comprises the entire district of Kanungu on May 7, 1995, after serving in different portfolios from the lowest catechist in the church. At the time he was elected bishop, he was serving as a coordinator for the foundation of the diocese and archdeacon Kinkizi arch deaconry after serving for years as the dean Emmanuel Cathedral Kinyasano, North Kigezi diocese, a mother diocese to Kinkizi.

The North Kigezi diocese Bishop Rt Rev Benon Magezi who preached at the ceremony described the deceased's achievement as immeasurable for the religious leaders taking over from him.

"It would be so hard to have these achievements that he had in 15 years unless you are a pioneer like him. He was workaholic and authoritative, among the many characters one would describe him for. His successors will find it hard to match his record," Bishop Magezi said.

In his tenure as bishop, Ntegyereize was key in the foundation of the Kanungu District, writing the first memorandum to the president that led to constituting a meeting for creation of the district later in 2001. He started a water development project together with the diocese of North Kigezi, constructing at least 20 gravity flow schemes, 200 protected springs, several boreholes and household water tanks. He mobilized leaders and locals against brewing alcohol cutting down several plantations of brewing bananas.

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Bishop Ntegyereize played a key role in the foundation of at least 21 health centres, including Bwindi community hospital where he died from, Nyakatare health centre IV, Kanyanshogi health centre, among others in rural areas of Kanungu district.

The diocesan Bishop Rt Rev. Dan Zoreka said the diocesan has lost "a big father" who was a unifying factor respected by all.

The Kinkizi East Member of Parliament Dr Chris Baryomunsi who also represented President Museveni at the burial ceremony described the deceased as a friend to many, strong hearted politician who would never hide the truth and emotions from anyone.

Bishop Ntegyereize is remembered nationally for being the only religious leader, a bishop at the time who signed an affidavit in support of the presidential election petition by Dr Kizza Besigye in 2001 in which he said he turned up for voting only to find that his vote had been cast.

Businessmen including Mr James Musinguzi Garuga, Dr Ben Mbonye of the Nakasero Hospital all Kanungu district Members of parliament attended the function.

Bishop Ntegyereize is survived by four children and wife Pamella Ntegyereize with several grandchildren.
analysis

Lesotho's Judicial Service Commission has started a process to recruit seven judges of the High Court through a merit-based process. In February 2021, the Commission issued a public advertisement announcing the vacancies and spelling out the competencies required. The vacancies follow a slew of deaths and retirements of judges.

The High Court is the second highest court in Lesotho; after the Court of Appeal. But, the High Court is more important as it is the highest court with unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil or criminal proceedings, and the power to review the decisions or proceedings of any subordinate court or tribunal. Since 2000, the court sits as a constitutional court when it decides on constitutional matters.

The Constitution provides that the High Court shall comprise the Chief Justice and any number of judges as the Act of parliament may determine. Judges are appointed by the King on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The JSC is a constitutional structure responsible for the appointment, conduct and removal of judicial officers.

The advertisement was intended to culminate in public interviews of shortlisted candidates in May. But the process has been suspended due to lack of funding.

Nevertheless, the move to appoint judges through an open process based on merit is unprecedented in Lesotho, a small nation that is completely landlocked by South Africa, and thus laudable. So far, the appointment of judges has been an obscure and oftentimes clandestine affair between the Commission and government. This has produced incompetent judges and claims that the judiciary is beholden to the executive.

Welcome as it is, the move towards an open process is only a small step in reforming the country's judiciary. The appointment of judicial officers in Lesotho is beset with much deeper systemic problems that need urgent attention.

The practice so far

In the past, the public used to simply see a person being announced as a judge of the High Court by the JSC. The usual practice has been to appoint a person as an acting judge, which would ordinarily attract little public scrutiny, and later confirm the person as a permanent judge.

This deplorable practice is arguably a factor, among others, contributing to the current state of incompetence in the High Court. The Court of Appeal often decries the quality of the judgments of the High Court judges.

Until now, the JSC and government have tended to promote either magistrates or registrars of the High Court to the bench. The registrar is the chief accounting officer for the judiciary. Even this practice was not based on any objective criteria.

Sometimes, very junior magistrates would be appointed over more senior and competent ones. That practice excluded other areas of the legal profession, such as private legal practitioners (lawyers) and legal academics.

Perhaps the new approach to recruiting judges is inspired by the practice in South Africa, and the fact that Lesotho is in the process of constitutional reforms.

Hopefully, the drive for meritocracy in the High Court will be applied across all facets of the judiciary to make it genuinely meritorious.

The bigger problem

While the new move is welcome, a lot still remains to be done to enhance merit in the appointment of judges of the superior courts in Lesotho.

The problem is that meritocracy is currently not a constitutional requirement. The Constitution is still cast in the colonial mould whereby the executive dominates the appointment of judges. That needs to change.

The problem is more acute when it comes to the appointment of judicial leaders - the Chief Justice and the President of the Court of Appeal. They are appointed through a purely political process.

The Constitution provides that the King appoints them on the advice of the Prime Minister. There is no constitutional requirement for competition or scrutiny. Consequently, successive PMs have treated it as an executive prerogative and exploited this deficiency to their political advantage. Hence the judiciary has been enmeshed in politics. The high turnover in the offices of President of the Court of Appeal and that of Chief Justice in recent times is testament to the manner in which the judiciary is entangled in politics.

When it comes to the appointment of other High Court judges, other than the Chief Justice, it is slightly better. That's because the Constitution created the Judicial Services Commission as an interlocutor. But the Commission is weirdly constituted.

In terms of section 132(1) of the Constitution, the Commission consists of four members: the Chief Justice as chairperson, the attorney general, chairman of the public service commission and a judge or former judge chosen by the King, on the advice of the Chief Justice.

The Commission's composition is skewed in favour of the executive as all its members are direct or indirect appointees of the executive. This is not surprising as the entire relationship between the three arms of government - parliament, the executive and the judiciary - in Lesotho turns on the strong executive that overshadows the other two branches. This is a profoundly ingrained constitutional problem.

Move towards meritocracy

The new move towards openness comes after a previous process to appoint High Court judges was invalidated by the Constitutional Division of the High Court in December 2020.

It found the process to have been clandestine and irregular. The former acting Chief Justice and former Attorney General had secretly constituted themselves into a Judicial Services Commission, and appointed their preferred five candidates to the bench.

The registrar, who was allegedly on the list of candidates, then wrote to King Letsie III to advise him to appoint those candidates. The registrar is the secretary to the Commission.

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The King declined to appoint the judges, citing irregularity in the appointment process. The then Minister of Justice, Nqosa Mahao, also openly opposed the appointment as irregular. The Constitutional Division of the High Court confirmed this view.

What needs to happen

There is, therefore, a need for a more comprehensive judicial reforms in Lesotho. Fortunately, the country is in a somewhat sluggish constitutional reform programme which includes, among others, the reforms of the judiciary.

It is vital that the reforms recast the relationship between the executive and judicial branches of government to reduce the executive's excessive powers over the judiciary, including the appointment of judges.

The JSC, as the buffer between the two branches, will also have to change. Its composition, processes of appointment and powers over the judicial officers will have to change significantly. Its membership will have to be more diverse and reduce executive dominance.

Its mandate will then have to be expanded to include the appointment, discipline and removal of all judicial officers - including the Chief Justice and the President of the Court of Appeal.

Hoolo 'Nyane, Head of Department, Public and Environmental Law Department, University of Limpopo
Luanda  Historian Alberto Oliveira Pinto said Thursday that African literary works, in general, and Angolan in particular, served during the colonial era as a means of propaganda, many without the intention of the authors.

The professor, who was speaking at the conference, via zoom, promoted by the Angolan Academy of Arts, said these works at the time (half of the 20th century) were looked down upon for being written by Africans.

"In the colonial era, the colonizers sought to belittle African literature and exalt other literature," he said.

Because of this, he continued, many of the works by African writers were plagiarized by other writers.

Alberto Oliveira Pinto highlighted the need to talk more in the media, schools, talk, write, and share knowledge about colonial literature so that the history may be known by several generations.

During his speech, the historian approached the theme "Angola and the Angolans in the Portuguese colonial literature of the first half of the 20th century".

The event held under the theme "Angola and the Angolans in the Portuguese colonial literature of the first half of the 20th century was attended by several guests from Angola, Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique.

The professor, who was speaking at the conference, via zoom, promoted by the Angolan Academy of Arts, said these works at the time (half of the 20th century) were looked down upon for being written by Africans.

"In the colonial era, the colonizers sought to belittle African literature and exalt other literature," he said.

Because of this, he continued, many of the works by African writers were plagiarized by other writers.

Alberto Oliveira Pinto highlighted the need to talk more in the media, schools, talk, write, and share knowledge about colonial literature so that the history may be known by several generations.

During his speech, the historian approached the theme "Angola and the Angolans in the Portuguese colonial literature of the first half of the 20th century".

The event held under the theme "Angola and the Angolans in the Portuguese colonial literature of the first half of the 20th century was attended by several guests from Angola, Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique.
ZANZIBAR President Dr Hussein Mwinyi yesterday invited potential investors in the ambitious Mangapwani integrated project, declaring the isles' keenness to implement the multimillion dollar scheme.

"We want the world to appreciate the fact that we are ready to implement the Mangapwani project," President Mwinyi said soon after receiving the project's master plan at Vuga-based State House.

He said the government has been receiving many prospective investors with interest to participate in the project. "...you can now come for discussions on the cooperation procedures," charged Dr Mwinyi, inviting both domestic and foreign investors.

The president said the Mangapwani project was not for foreign investors alone. "I want to see many domestic investors participating in this flagship project."

According to the master plan, which Oman Investment Authority's (OIA) Africa Regional Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Al-Tooqi presented to Dr Mwinyi, the project involves construction of Mangapwani multi-terminal port, satellite city and redevelopment of Malindi port as a tourism hub.

The OIA, a multibillion dollar government organisation with large investments in the Sultanate of Oman and 35 countries globally, had hired the Seaport Group of Netherlands on the plan consultancy.

The 180-hectare satellite city whose 10 per cent is for commercial uses will accommodate 50,000 inhabitants. The Zanzibar government and OIA had on February 28, 2021 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the multi-terminal port project.

The investment authority was given six months to develop the master plan, the task it has performed in hardly three months. Mr Al-Tooqi said after the master plan, the authority will require six months to develop the project's bankable feasibility study.

But, President Mwinyi directed that the job be accomplished in less time.

"Six months for the bankable feasibility study is too much...we don't have that time," President Mwinyi said, charging: "We want speed and precision in this investment; we don't want to make mistakes."

President Mwinyi underscored the need for speedy execution of the project, saying: "We are in a crisis with Malindi port, which is too small to handle all our cargoes. Many big ships are not docking here."

He said the government is determined to succeed in the grand development project, the first under the eighth phase government.

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The government, through the project, aims at transforming Zanzibar into the East and Central Africa's commercial and tourism hub through construction of essential economic infrastructure.

Under the all inclusive Mangapwani project, Zanzibar envisages a huge and modern port with various terminals for containerised and general cargo; fuel; fishing vessels; oil and natural gas.

Besides the fishing related facilities, the project will have industrial infrastructure and maritime training institutions, which will facilitate the country's blue economy drive.

Zanzibar government has opted for the ocean-based activities as the engine of its economic growth.

Under the blue economy, the country will pursue deep sea fishing, fish processing, fish farming, exploration of oil and gas, among other economic undertakings.
Abeokuta  The Ogun State Government has been nominated to benefit from three federal government's agricultural pilot programmes aimed at further positioning the state as the food basket of the country.

The Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Paul Ikonne, made this known when he led the management of the Authority to the office of the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, on Wednesday.

He noted that the state would benefit from the Integrated Farm Estate, Garri Packaging Plant, a training programme on soil testing and extension services for 200 young graduates with science and agriculture related degrees.

The Executive Secretary added that the Integrated Farm Estate would be sited in the three senatorial districts of the state, stressing estate would involve everything from production to processing, packaging and marketing.

Ikonne explained that the Garri Processing Plant would give farmers the opportunity of farming with the belief that their efforts will not go to waste.

"We are running programmes and projects which Ogun State has been slated to be one of the pilot states. NALDA's Integrated Farm Estate is going to be cited in Ogun State in the three senatorial districts of the state.

"The Integrated Farm Estate is a concept that takes in everything from production to processing, packaging and marketing, we also have residential areas for farmers inside the integrated Farm Estate.

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"Knowing that Ogun has the highest capacity in cassava production, our Garri Packaging Plant will be located in the state, thereby NALDA will be the off-taker from the farmers, we process it, package it accordingly and move it into the market.

"We are training young Nigerians based on the President's directives on soil testing and extension services, so Ogun State is expected to nominate 200 people in the first phase.

"Again, Ogun is one of the states in the pilot stage of this programme, it will nominate young graduates that have agric or science related degrees that will undertake this intensive two week training.

"They will be empowered by NALDA with soil test kits and implements to collect soil samples after the training and they will begin to generate money for themselves, thereby making a living from the programme," he said.

He disclosed that NALDA would not sit back and watch the state improve the worth of agriculture alone, "the Authority would also be re-activating the 700 hectares of land at Joga-Orile immediately, with the hope that the reactivation will increase the status of the state in food production".

Responding, Governor Abiodun attributed the success of his administration's agriculture project to the support of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, adding that his administration holds agriculture as a "triple barrel pillar" that allows the state to feed its people, create employment, as well as generate revenue for the state.
press release

The High-Level Committee on COVID-19 has decided to list the village of Camp Diable as a Red Zone following the detection of five new positive cases.

Three persons were tested positive in the ongoing Contact Tracing exercise at Camp Diable and the other two cases were detected following screening done at the village.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness made an appeal to all the persons who were in contact with Mr Riad Hullemuth, a resident of Camp Diable, during the last three weeks to call on the hotline 8924.

In addition, a total of 1 022 PCR tests were carried out as at 19 00 hours today.

531 patients considered cured have returned home.

Latest figures on COVID-19 since 05 March 2021:

434 cases recorded following Contact Tracing and sampling in COVID-19 Testing Centres.

123 cases registered in quarantine (negative patients on admission).

37 cases recorded following targeted screening.

7 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Number of active cases at the local level: 48.

It is noted that screening tests at Camp Diable will continue tomorrow. As for villages of St Aubin and Tyack, screening will be organised by the Ministry.

Further details on the COVID-19 situation will be provided in a communique tomorrow.
Abuja  More than 2, 000 hectares of land with titled documents have been given by 24 states of the federation for the Muhammadu Buhari's administration's Social Housing Programme while 17 states have indicated interest to participate in the solar power programme, both important elements of the ongoing Economic Sustainability Plan.

In a statement issued by presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, he said agreement had been reached with at least one major cement manufacturer in the country to sell at significantly discounted price of N2,600 per bag for the housing project.

This came after a meeting the vice president held with three major cement manufacturers in the country namely Dangote Cement, Bua Cement and Lafarge Cement manufacturers.

Akande said they were some of the highlights from a review meeting on the Economic Sustainability Plan implementation presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa at the weekend.

Commenting on the implementation of components of the ESP, Osinbajo said the Buhari administration would continue to focus on creating more jobs.

The vice president said the federal government would ramp up efforts to ensure that more Nigerians have access to electricity and affordable housing.

In a presentation made by the managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Alhaji Ahmad Salihijo, the Solar Power Naija team had engagements with the six states which have identified private sector developers. The team has also selected Akwa Ibom, Ekiti and Kano as pilot states for the state-guaranteed transaction model for the solar power programme.

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For instance, the programme is currently tracking four transactions in the commercial bank upstream channel contributing 3,500 jobs and 100,000 connections, he said.

The MD added that nine participants have submitted applications for N4 billion of the N20 billion allocated with three companies close to receiving their disbursements.

In the same vein, the managing director/CEO of Family Homes Fund Limited (FHFL) - the implementing agency for the Social Housing scheme, Mr. Femi Adewole, said 17,584 units across 16 locations are in the pipeline.

He said in addition to the typical 2, 3, and 4-bedroom housing units, the FHFL was considering a "Students and Young People's Housing - to address the needs of young people."
analysis

The April 26 investiture of President Felix Tshisekedi's new parliamentary majority, known as the Sacred Union, marks the end of a long period in which the president remained under the strong influence of his predecessor, Joseph Kabila.

Prime Minister Sama Lukonde presented his new team on April 12 and Parliament endorsed it almost unanimously (with 410 of the 412 deputies present voting in favour), despite tensions over the division of ministerial posts. The new government gives Tshisekedi freedom to push ahead with his reforms.

Controlling the various forces within his new coalition is Tshisekedi's immediate challenge. The thorny negotiations to form the Sacred Union government show the precariousness of a majority that rallied to displace Kabila but lacks a shared political agenda.

Cracks began to appear in the coalition almost soon as the government was proclaimed on April 12. Almost 200 of the deputies who had defected from Kabila's FCC set up a "coalition of revolutionary deputies" to protest the imbalance in the new government. Some provinces had several ministries; others had none.

They accused Lukonde of failing to reward their "shift of allegiance" with a government position

Another weakness of this team is the plethora of decision-making entities prone to causing deadlocks within the coalition government. The appointment of powerful opposition figures to deputy PM positions, particularly Eve Bazaiba, secretary general of Jean-Pierre Bemba's Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo, and Christophe Lutundula, a senior official in Moise Katumbi's Ensemble pour la Republique, will severely restrict Tshisekedi's room for manoeuvre as he will not be the only captain aboard ship.

The other leaders of political parties in the Sacred Union will also use their positions to ensure their interests are catered to and hamper plans to develop a single, non-partisan government.

Also, the general elections in December 2023, when the big names in Lukonde's government are likely to stand as candidates, could soon cause tensions and generate rivalries.

The "top priority" is to put an end to violence in eastern DRC. Considering its military campaigns' poor results, the government should accelerate implementation of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme to reintegrate former fighters.

The writer is an ICG analyst for DR Congo and Burundi.
The International Criminal Court on May 6 sentenced former child soldier Dominic Ongwen to 25 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Uganda.

Mr Ongwen, now 45, becomes the first Ugandan and former LRA commander to be tried, convicted and sentenced by The Hague-based Court.

Mr Ongwen was convicted of 61 crimes on February 4, including murder, rape, torture and forced marriage, committed in northern Ugandan in 2003 and 2004, for which he could have been given the maximum jail sentence of life imprisonment. But Presiding Judge of the Court's Trial Chamber IX Bertram Schmitt said when handing down the sentence, that the Court gave weight to certain mitigating circumstances of Ongwen's childhood -- his abduction by the LRA at a very young age and early stay with the rebel group.

"The Chamber was confronted in the present case with a unique situation. It is confronted with a perpetrator who wilfully and lucidly brought tremendous suffering upon his victims. However, it is also confronted with a perpetrator who himself had previously endured extreme suffering himself at the hands of the group of which he later became a prominent member and leader," he said.

A press release from the ICC said that the Chamber also declined to sentence former child soldier to life imprisonment considering his individual circumstances and in order to envisage a concrete prospect for him to eventually re-build his life.

Judge Bertram Schmitt and Judge Peter Kovacs gave the 25-year sentence while Judge Raul Cano Pangalangan gave a dissenting opinion that would have sentenced Mr Ongwen to a total period of 30 years imprisonment.

Mr Ongwen's lead defence Krispus Ayena Odong says he will appeal the decisions.

"Horrific. The Judges missed the point even on basic principles of law," he said.

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The Court said the six years Ongwen spent in detention between January 4 2015 and May 6 2021, will be deducted from the total time of imprisonment imposed on him.

The Chamber analysed one-by-one the gravity of each of the 61 crimes for which Ongwen was convicted, finding several aggravating circumstances applicable to some or even most crimes, the Court said.

Aggravating circumstances included particular cruelty, multiplicity of victims, the victims being particularly defenceless, and discrimination on political grounds and discrimination against women, a press release from the ICC said.

The Chamber imposed individual sentences for each crime, taking the mitigating circumstance of Ongwen's childhood and abduction by the LRA into due account.

The press release said the highest individual sentences were of 20 years, while other sentences pronounced for individual crimes were of 14 or 8 years of imprisonment.

In 2005, the ICC indicted and issued warrants of arrest to five LRA commanders, including the rebel group's leader Joseph Kony, three years after Uganda government referred "the northern Uganda situation" - the first case referred to The Hague based court.

The Court says that it has confirmed, using DNA, that two ex-LRA commanders Raska Lukwiya and Okot Odhiambo are dead while Kony and his deputy Vincent Otti remain at large, although reports say the latter was reportedly killed on Kony's orders in October 2007.
editorial

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu and her Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta took decisive steps this week to put a frosty past behind them and shift focus to the promise of a new dawn in relations.

At the end of her two-day state visit to Kenya, Samia and Uhuru announced a deal to build a pipeline to convey Tanzanian gas to Kenya. They also agreed to boost cross-border investment by dismantling barriers to bilateral trade.

In a region where firewood is still the primary source of energy for more than half the population, the gas deal reminds one of just how much energy is stranded on the continent because there are no pipelines to transfer it from areas of abundance to areas of deficit. Apart from the West African Gas Pipeline that connects Nigeria's Niger Delta with Benin, Togo and Ghana and the 865km Mozambique National Pipeline Company that has been taking Mozambican gas to South Africa since 2004, the other pipeline projects, including the Dar-Kampala pipeline and now the Dar-Mombasa pipeline, remain mere proposals on paper.

The proposed projects tap into a huge continental market and are critical for resource-rich countries to monetise otherwise stranded resources. To take off, however, they will not only need money and political will, but also harmonised regional policy and regulatory regime. After the fanfare, this will be the real measure of the success or failure of Samia and Uhuru's forward-looking commitments. Easing travel and communications for Tanzanians by joining the East African One Network Area and accepting national identity documents for travel are low-hanging fruit.

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President Samia should be lauded for taking bold steps to move out of her predecessors' shadow. Her move breathes new life into a stalled regional integration project. Her decision to open her country to the rest of the region demonstrates that it is possible to overcome historical differences if leaders open up their minds to the possibilities that the future offers. Tanzania and Kenya have a long history of hostility. It dates to the ideological differences of the 1960s.

At one time, founding fathers Jomo Kenyatta and Julius Nyerere verbally sparred, with the latter describing Kenya as a "man-eat-man society" and Kenyatta calling Tanzania a "man-eat-nothing society". That triggered the rivalry that led to the collapse of the East African Community in 1977. Despite a revival, Tanzania remained lukewarm to the EAC project. Intraregional trade suffered hiccups as Tanzania sparred with its neighbours. President John Magufuli's isolationist policy needs to be looked at in that contest. Some of those policies are fairly popular at home and President Samia and her northern neighbours will need to make sure that her move to open up delivers quick dividend, if it is to be domestically embraced.

There are lessons in both Magufuli and Samia's approaches. Isolation worked to the extent that it enabled Tanzania to achieve critical mass in domestic production. After that Tanzania needs markets for its surplus. That is a message President Samia will need to drive hard to her domestic audience. After critical mass is gained, they will need trade partners.

Samia has a unique opportunity to reset East African relations by getting her country out of the cold. But Mugufuli's isolationist stance is a cautionary tale that without equity, integration risks a long and winding path to Mecca.
Ugandan women's rights defender Rita Aciro has been named winner of the EU Human Rights Defenders' Award for 2021.

This was in recognition of her outstanding work advancing the role of girls and women in all aspects of life in Uganda. For years, she worked on women's land rights, those at the margins as well as peace building, economic rights and access to justice.

In the past year, Aciro has played a leading role in promoting the rights of women during Uganda's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and during the recently-concluded election period.

Because of her work to advance women's rights and democratic freedoms, Aciro endured her organisation's bank account being frozen for several months.

Courage and determination

Speaking at the award ceremony on April 29, Matthias Schauer, the ambassador of Germany to Uganda, said: "Human rights need to be defended all over the world for the marginalised have a hard time in many countries.

"Fortunately, there are people with courage and determination to speak out for human rights and in particular for disadvantaged groups and support them to overcome many obstacles. To do this, they often make great personal sacrifices."

Aciro said it was an honour to accept it "on behalf of the invisible human/women rights defenders in the homes, communities and public spaces who may never have such an opportunity to hug the spotlight and stage but still do a credible job giving voice to women and girl's rights."

The immediate former winner was Aime Moninga (2020), Founder of Men of Hope and an advocate for the rights of male survivors of sexual violence in conflict.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has expressed concern over the increasing cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in the Mount Kenya region.

She singled out Kirinyaga, where she said women have been battering their husbands following domestic disputes.

"There is a spike in gender-based violence in the region," the governor said.

Speaking in Sagana town on Saturday afternoon, Ms Waiguru said the situation is worrying and called on Kirinyaga and Njuri Ncheke elders to help eradicate the vice.

She told the elders, who met for a cultural exchange programme, that they have a role to play in bringing peace in homes.

Offer solutions

"The elders should be aggressively involved in addressing gender-based violence and offering solutions to the problems," she stated.

Recently, a man was attacked and seriously injured by his wife in Gichugu Constituency.

The victim, Evans Miano, 64, was injured on his nose and lips after he was assaulted in Muthigiini village.

Witnesses said that the couple quarrelled over unknown reasons.

It was then that the woman confronted Mr Miano and repeatedly rained blows on him.

It took the intervention of the neighbours to rescue the victim from the wrath of the assailant.

Bleeding profusely

"We had to rescue Mr Miano who was bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth and took him to Kianyaga Sub-County Hospital where he was treated and discharged," one of the neighbours, Mr John Ngure, said.

The neighbours narrated how Mr Miano fled for his life with his wife in hot pursuit.

"We saw Mr Miano fleeing towards our homesteads screaming for help. We had to stop his wife from beating him," Mr Ngure explained.

The neighbours said the woman had been habitually beating up her husband on trivial issues.

Went underground

Kirinyaga East Sub-County Police Commander Anthony Wanjuu said the woman went underground immediately after the assault but she is being pursued.

The suspect will face assault charges once arrested.

"We have reliably learnt that the woman has been battering her husband in the past three months. The victim has been suffering in silence and his wife must face the law," said Mr Wanjuu.

Already, three witnesses have recorded statement at Kianyaga Police Station and will be prosecution witnesses when the suspect appears in court.

Cases on the rise

Mr Wanjuu lamented that cases of men being battered are on the rise in the sub-county.

Last Month, four cases were reported and police said were treating the matter seriously.

"In this area men receive severe beatings from their wives. Some of the cases even go unreported," Mr Wanjuu remarked.

He said one man committed suicide after constant attacks by his wife.

Discourage FGM

Ms Waiguru advised couples to resolve their disputes without attacking each other.

She also asked the elders to discourage female circumcision in the region.

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"FGM (female genital mutilation) is an outdated cultural practice which should be discarded," she said.

She observed that girls are forced to drop out of school and marry once they are subjected to FGM.

"The FGM ruins the lives of young girls and the elders should go round the region preaching against it," Ms Waiguru said.

In response, the elders said they do not support GBV and FGM, and vowed to be actively involved in fighting the two vices.

"As elders, we don't condone GBV and FGM. These are crimes which should be condemned in the strongest terms possible," said Mr Cyrus Githaka, the chairman of the Kirinyaga Council of Elders.

The elders said GBV and FGM are outdated and those involved in them should be heavily punished in accordance with the law.
Children with HIV will have to go back to taking pellets after the country ran out of the syrup, following the current shortage of antiretroviral drugs in the country, the Nation has learnt.

Kenya moved from giving infants and children Lopinavir/ Ritonavir pellets to a syrup of the same drug, which is now out of stock.

In a crisis meeting held yesterday to discuss the shortage, the Council of Governors and the Global Fund admitted that Lopinavir/Ritonavir syrup is out of stock and that the country is awaiting emergency supplies.

In the meeting, it also emerged that HIV testing kits, dual kits for testing HIV and syphilis, Dolutegravir/Lamivudine/Tenofovir viral load testing kits and paediatric Lopinavir/Ritonavir were some of the commodities affected by stockouts.

Last week, the National Aids and STD Control Programme (Nascop) had indicated that it was bringing in the drug. It is yet to arrive.

The Nation has also learnt that although the drug is equally effective and better if the syrup is Kaletra, there are not enough pellets in stock.

The pellets are administered with soft food or juice or porridge and the challenge would be ensuring that the food does not require chewing to minimise the chances of the child chewing or crushing the pellets.

Taste of pellets

Another challenge of the pellets is making sure that the child takes all the food once the drug is mixed in.

"If giving LPV/r pellets to infants of 6 months and below, it may also be helpful to observe administration of the first dose to ensure the infant swallows the full dose. Infants should be carefully observed for signs of aspiration which may include, coughing, choking, gagging or eye reddening," says the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The international health agency also advises that the pellets should not be broken, crushed, chewed, or allowed to dissolve, to maintain the integrity of the drug's dosage.

"The taste of pellets is similar to syrup, though the adherence of syrup to children is more than pellets," says WHO.

The counties resolved to share ARVs amongst themselves, considering that some of them have high-risk populations.

"Counties with high stocks of ARVs are now considering redistributing to other counties with low stocks. This is to sustain more patients on drugs until such a time that we are fully stocked," said a COG statement.

This is even as stocks of ARV drugs are lying at the Port of Mombasa for close to four months because the Ministry of Health and the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) have failed to agree on who is going to distribute the drugs.

Accruing storage charges

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"It pains me that we are playing politics with the lives of over Sh1.5million Kenyans," said Mr Nelson Otwoma, the national coordinator, National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/Aids.

Mr Otwoma questioned why the government was taking so long to clear the drugs yet it is aware of the drugs stockouts.

"In as much as the pellet drug is equally effective, we don't have to be giving a drug today and shifting to the other the next day, the virus at some point develops resistance to these drugs and that's how they fail," he said.

The US is considering moving the antiretroviral drugs from the port to another country. This is going to affect patients who have been waiting for the drugs and who do not have the money to buy from private hospitals.

The USAid cited the remaining shelf life of the drugs and the accruing storage charges, stating that already, it amounts to a total of over one-quarter of the cost as some of the factors they are looking at.

If the consignment is cleared, it will be moved to a USAid-contracted warehouse in Nairobi and will be prepared for disbursal, said the US embassy.

"If the clearances do not arrive, the US will need to determine whether it is cost efficient, given the remaining shelf life, to keep the medicines in storage near the port or move the medicines to other countries where they are also needed," said the embassy.
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated government's commitment to continue its capacity building programme for the Ghana Prisons Service.

Speaking at the graduation and commissioning of officers from the junior corps of the Prisons Service in Accra on Friday, Vice President Bawumia underscored the crucial role of the Prisons Service in the administration of justice in the country, and government's continuous efforts to improve the capacity and welfare of the Service.

Dr. Bawumia highlighted interventions the Akufo-Addo government has been making in the past four years towards improving the capacity of the Service, especially in expansion of personnel, infrastructure, as well as welfare.

"Government's commitment to improve adequately the human resource of the Prison Service has led to the expansion of its manpower base, with the recruitment of some two thousand, nine hundred and fifty (2,950) recruits, and enlistment of three hundred (300) cadets, over the course of the last four years," Dr. Bawumia revealed.

Dr. Bawumia stressed that government is mindful of challenges confronting the Ghana Prisons Service, and that it has been taking necessary steps since 2017 to address some of these challenges.

"For instance, in November last year, the Service took delivery of ten (10) brand new Nissan Hardbody pickups to augment its fleet. I know the Service needs more vehicles, and I assure you that you will receive more vehicles in our second term."

"With respect to accommodation for officers, I am happy to inform you that contractors working on residential facilities at the Ankaful, Nsawam and Roman Ridge Prisons Complexes, have resumed work in earnest, after the brief break due to COVID-19."

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"Government is also upgrading all health facilities in the prisons, to make them more responsive to the health needs of officers and inmates. Currently, the infirmary at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison has been elevated to the status of a District Hospital, whilst those at the Ankaful Maximum Security, Kumasi Central and the Koforidua prisons, have also been elevated to clinics."

"Government will continue to work closely with the Service to develop the capacity of prison officers, and to enable them perform their duties in accordance with international standards, which are of great concern to the Ghanaian people," Dr. Bawumia assured.

One hundred and ninety-eight (198) men and women of the Officer Cadet Course Intake 28 were commissioned into the Senior Officer Corps of the Ghana Prisons Service and the Vice President urged them to continually justify the confidence reposed in them in the discharge of their duties.

"It should not be lost on you that your call is one of trust reposed in you. Contemporary correctional management does not focus on punishing the prisoner, condemning and stigmatizing them with painful treatment methods, but rather on repairing their humanity, and helping to restore their God-given talents, in line with international standards."

"I urge you to embrace this new emerging order of restoration. Let it be your duty to treat prisoners with care, respect and decency, without compromising your professional ethics. I am confident you will make our nation proud in this regard," Dr. Bawumia told the commissioned officers and the Prisons Service in general.
Abuj  The people of Enwang community, headquarters of Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have petitioned the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Yusuf Magaji Bichi, over the alleged gruesome killing of members of the community by attackers from a neighbouring community, Uko Nteghe Uda.

The petitioners alleged that the victims of the attack were beheaded and their heads taken away by the attackers.

They said the attackers completely destroyed 14 houses and set other houses ablaze, including the residence of former Inspector-General of Police, late Mr. Etim Inyang.

In the petition titled: 'A Petition and Passionate Appeal for the Investigation of the Unprovoked Invasion and Attack of the People of Enwang Community, Headquarters of Mbo LGA of Akwa Ibom State by their Uko Nteghe Usa neighbours', the people said four members of the Enwang were beheaded while the attackers made away with heads of the victims.

The petition signed by the National Coordinator of the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights and Justice, Mr. Udo Eke-Okon, said the invasion of the community was triggered by the rape of a 50-year-old woman in the community.

"The prelude to the organised invasion of Enwang community happened in the morning of January 6, 2021, when an Uko Nteghe Uda carpenter, Mr. Eteka Edet John, accosted a 50-year-old, Mrs. Arit Asuquo of Eyo Atabia Ufiok in Uko

Akpan Enwang, who went to fetch firewood and mercilessly raped her, after thoroughly beating her to submission.

"This matter was officially reported at the Divisional Police Headquarters in Enwang. However, the police did not prosecute the case further, as they alleged that 'the big men' of Uko Nteghe Uda have intervened and 'killed the matter'," they stated.

The community said militants from the neighbouring community launched the first attack on farmers, who were cultivating their farmland.

According to the people, "As this is the time of the year when our people normally prepare their farmlands for cultivation, on January 19, 2021, a section of the Enwang community, notably Eyo Evai, Eyo Ukut, Eyo Udombo and part of Uko Akpan villages who have over the years exclusively farmed Uko Ateni, went to the said farmland to clear and prepare it for cultivation.

"For the avoidance of doubt, part of this farmland has been a cause for legal disputes for many years between Uko Akai Uko Akpan in Enwang and Uko Akai Uko Nteghe in Uda.

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"It needs be emphasised here that villagers of the Enwang community, who went for the clearing of Uko Ateni did so on the strength of the Oron High Court judgement in suit No: HOR/1/2013 delivered by Hon Justice Theresa E Obot on February 19, 2020, which ruled that the communities should restrict themselves to their ancestral boundaries."

The petitioners noted that the judgement was never appealed by the people of Uko Nteghe Uda.

The judgement declared in part: "That the Uko Akai Uko Akpan people and Uko Akai Uko Nteghe people shall continue to share and cultivate their communal land as they have been doing since time immemorial."

The Enwang natives said: "The unexpected and bloody attack did not stop in the farmland, as many heavily armed Uko Nteghe militants and their mercenaries also invaded Enwang, damaged and burned several buildings on the same day."

The petition added that the militants launched another attack on the community while at a meeting with officials of Akwa Ibom State Government, who had intervened in the matter.

"We hereby most respectfully appeal to the DG of the DSS to use his good office to direct a thorough investigation into the matter with the aim of bringing the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice. This is the only way to bring about closure of this sad event and the ugly scars it has left in the psyche and memory of Enwang people," it stated.
The government has welcomed the United States' support for a waiver on patent protection for Covid-19 vaccines, saying it is a generous move.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya has been advocating for the waiver for a long time as it presents an opportunity for the manufacture of more vaccine doses.

"This is especially welcome, considering that most developing countries have been experiencing supply disruptions occasioned by vaccine nationalism," Mr Kagwe said.

Kenya, he added, is developing programmes that will make it possible to produce vaccines locally starting with a fill and finish infrastructure.

"The US voice adds to more than 60 others among World Trade Organisation (WTO) members and marks steps towards increased production of vaccines to meet the global demand," the minister added.

He challenged Kenyan manufacturers to intensify their efforts and develop capacity for the production of vaccines.

"We want to do this quickly. This is the best news ever. History will remember the decision by the US government to fight a global pandemic," Mr Kagwe said.

Covid-19 vaccines

The European Union (EU) said it is open to discussions on waiving intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines.

The same position has been taken by African Union (AU), which termed the call a "remarkable expression of leadership".

The two organisations said allowing the production of generic vaccines would boost distribution in poor countries that are struggling to fight the coronavirus.

However, the waiver is not expected immediately since it has to be approved by the WTO.

Pharmaceutical companies in the US, Germany and several other developed countries have opposed the patent waiver.

A patent is the government authority or licence giving a right or title for a set period - especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention or product - and allow the originator to cover the costs of development and encourage investment.

If the intellectual rules are overridden, countries can start making the generic versions of coronavirus vaccines and medicines without the risk of being sued by firms that own the property.

The call for a vaccine patent waiver comes as Kenya faces acute shortages.

Ministry of Health officials are not sure when the country is likely to get its second batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The government is now looking at other options, including the Pfizer and Johnson&Johnson vaccines.

Kenya has vaccinated 911,515 people against coronavirus.

The country has extended the time for getting the second dose from eight to 12 weeks. Kenya depends on the Covax facility for the supply of vaccines from the Serum Institute of India.

India, the world's largest vaccine producer, is running out of supplies to make life-saving doses for its people following a surge in coronavirus in recent months, with the daily death toll at more than 4,000. This has affected Kenya and many other counties.

India has cancelled the export of vaccines as it grapples with the fast rising Covid-19 infections. It has also fallen far behind on its vaccination targets.

Should there be a patent waiver, low income countries or nations that have the capacity to manufacture the drugs would not have to queue while pharmaceutical companies take orders from wealthy states.

"This is a global health crisis and the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic call for extraordinary measures," US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said while announcing the waiver.

She said the President Joe Biden administration believes in intellectual protection but supports the patent waiver "in the service of ending this pandemic".

The United Kingdom has begun discussions with the US and the WTO on how to increase the production and supply of vaccines.

In November last year, India and South Africa proposed a waiver on certain provisions of WTO trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.

More than 100 other countries, Kenya included, supported the call.

EU countries and drug manufacturers, including Pfizer and Moderna, are opposed to the patent waiver.

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They say easing patent rules could backfire and create more backlog for vaccine ingredients and response to emerging Covid-19 variants.

Legal risks

Experts say the waiver does not offer a blanket solution. It would take long for governments to set up factories, train personnel and procure materials to make the vaccines.

Once all WTO members agree, the next step would be for countries to implement the waiver at national level by removing legal risks that hinder production and supply.

The 164 WTO member states and a panel on intellectual property are expected to discuss the matter in June.

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the US decision "historic", adding that it "marks a monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19".

The sentiments were echoed by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director John Nkengasong.

"History will remember the US government as having done the right thing at the right time," Dr Nkengasong said.

"This development is a step in the right direction.
Governor Sani-Bello says prayer remains the best option for promoting peace in Nigeria and for ending the insurgency.

Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger has urged residents of the state to continue praying for divine intervention in Nigeria's security challenges.

The governor also says prayer remains the best option for promoting peace in the nation as a whole.

Mr Sani-Bello said this when he hosted top government functionaries, political office holders and others to iftar in Minna on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event which drew people of diverse backgrounds and culture "is aimed at strengthening the bond with God as well as with brothers and sisters, particularly in the month of Ramadan."

Also at the event were lawmakers from the National Assembly, state executive council members, directors-general of parastatals, political appointees, heads of information and media organisations.

Others were imams, leaders of unions and organisations.

The event culminated with a special prayer session by key government officials, seeking God's intervention in addressing the security challenges confronting the state in particular and the country.

Those that attended, appreciated the governor for the act of kindness and generosity in line with the teachings of the Quran and Hadith. (NAN)
The Auditor-General Obadiah Biraro is expected to appear before a joint parliamentary session on Tuesday, May 11, where he will present his 2019/2020 audit report.

In the report, whose summary has been seen by The New Times, Biraro raised concerns over the failure of some institutions to fully implement recommendations that he points out in each report that he has released in the past.

He indicated that so far, the rate of fully implemented recommendations has not reached 50 per cent in the last three years.

He pointed out the value of implementing the recommendations saying that they make a real contribution in achieving the desired improvements in effective management and use of public funds.

The Auditor-General placed some of the blame on inadequate coordination efforts especially in situations where implementing the recommendations does not fall under one public institution.

"Management and those responsible for governance should take the lead in implementing the recommendations because they provide important feedback for resolving the continued occurrence of irregularities and other identified weaknesses," he said.

Concerns raised

The report among others faults the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) for disregarding the principles of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in awarding tenders worth Rwf21bn representing 40 percent of the institution's total budget of Rwf54bn.

This is blamed on irregularities including inadequate market surveys, improper technical and financial proposal evaluation, and side-lining internal tender committee in awarding some tenders among others.

It points out that RAB failed to meet the conditions set by development partners leading to a loss of Rwf989m earmarked for several projects. As a result, RAB may be required to forego other planned activities to reimburse the funds.

Lack of audits

The report also touches on the National Fund for Environment (FONERWA) which from February 2014 to June 2020 funded 39 projects.

Out of these, 27 were implemented from 2016 to June 2020 to a tune of Rwf25bn. However, the report indicates that there was no final audit for all the 27 completed projects.

"As a result, Fonerwa cannot confirm whether the intended objectives were achieved," the report indicates.

Nduba Landfill

The report indicates that from January 2016 to March 2021, the government has spent Rwf5.6bn on the management of Nduba Landfill.

However, it indicates that the failure is likely to fail due to lack of clear roles and responsibilities in managing the landfill, inefficient management of solid and liquid waste, and delays in conducting the feasibility study for the construction of a modern sanitary landfill.

Tuition fraud case revived

The report revived the fraud case involving Rwf346m meant for Rwandan students in Nigeria that were diverted to an unknown entity back in 2015.

It indicates that although the Rwanda National Police involved Interpol and didn't get feedback, the case stagnated mostly because there was no ownership.

The report indicates that when the Higher Education Council (HEC) took over some duties from the Rwanda Education Board, the former did not pick interest in the case pushing the dream of recovering the money even further away.

Failure to follow up students

The report touched on the government's efforts to sponsor students especially those studying abroad.

It indicates that although they are required to provide the official annual academic progress reports and only promoted students continue to receive government sponsorship, the Rwanda Development Board and HEC do not have records to support these students.

"The progress made by every individual student in terms of how many were sponsored, how many have completed their studies, ongoing students whether promoted or repeated and those who suspended their studies is not known by both institutions," the report indicates.

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The report comes at a time when the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has summoned eight cabinet ministers who will this month appear as follow up on the recommendations that were issued after the review of the Auditor General's reports spanning four years.

Prosecuting the crime

The issue of what happens after the Auditor General has publicly released his report every year has a matter of debate.

However, the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) says that it has handled cases related to the 2017-18 Auditor General's report. According to the figures, the prosecution handled 92 files related to this report, and some Rwf537m lost in embezzlement was returned before some of the cases went to trial in the last nine months.

Over the same period, Prosecution has also taken 373 people to court over embezzlement and other corruption-related crimes.

Official numbers obtained exclusively by The New Times, the number is part of embezzlement and corruption-related offenses involving 1,253 (992 male and 261 female) received by this office between July 2020 and March 2021.
Kenya is seeking the help of governors to boost exports of raw bananas and broccoli to South Korea. The exports have failed to grow despite the Asian nation exempting the two Kenyan goods from its stringent quality tests.

In 2018, South Korea's Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) exempted raw bananas and broccoli from Kenya from pest risk tests as it moved to meet rising local demand for bananas, which make up to 50 per cent of its fruit imports, amid soaring prices of apples and other home-grown fruits.

The Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) tests on fruits, vegetables and plants check for the presence of pests, a confirmation which leads to the goods being destroyed, returned to the exporter or banned.

But with the waiver, Kenyan exporters now only require a clearance certificate from local authorities to get their produce to South Korea.

Bilateral consultations

Trade PS Johnson Weru, however, notes that despite this exemption, exporters are yet to increase their sales to the South Korean market, and he is seeking the assistance of county governors to arrest the situation.

"One of the major outcomes of the bilateral consultations (between Kenya and South Korea) was information to the effect that the Korean government had granted market access authorisation for Kenya to export unripe bananas and broccoli to South Korea," Mr Weru said.

In the letter to the Council of Governors chief executive officer Jacqueline Mogeni, Mr Weru requests her to lobby counties that produce the two products to ramp up their production and seek clearance certificates at the plants health inspectorate for export. "These two products do not require Pest Risk Analysis (PRA). However, the products should be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from Kenya's competent authorities. In spite of this offer, we have noted that the volume of exports of these two products is dismally small," the PS said.

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Pests and diseases

The quality checks for pests and diseases for horticultural produce and plants meant for export from Kenya are done by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service.

Counties that produce green bananas include Kisii, Nyamira, Bungoma, Kakamega, Murang'a, Nyeri, Kericho and Kirinyaga.

But most banana farmers produce the fruits small-scale, which means that the bananas are mostly consumed locally especially in major towns, with fewer farmers producing enough quantity or quality to favourably compete in the cut-throat international banana market.
Rwanda's private sector players are optimistic of increased intra-regional trade in the East African Community (EAC), following the change of leadership at the bloc's Secretariat, which took office last month.

Speaking during a roundtable dinner for CEOs, organized by the East African Business Council (EABC) on May 7 in Kigali, Rwandan businessman Dennis Karera outlined several issues that upset the smooth flow of trade in the region, and called for action towards addressing them.

Karera is also the EABC Vice Chairman.

Among the issues, he mentioned the persistent non-tariff barriers, an uncoordinated approach in handling Covid-19 and unharmonized tax regimes as issues stifling intra-EAC trade which currently stands at about 15%.

Describing Peter Mathuki, the new secretary General of the EAC as "an ardent supporter of the private sector," Karera said he is confident that he will fast-track implementation of the many issues disrupting intra- EAC trade.

Before being appointed EAC Secretary-General earlier this year, Mathuki was the executive director of the EABC.

The private sector players are also urging the EAC Secretariat to champion the conclusion of the review of the EAC Common External Tariff (CET), aimed at facilitating industrialization and regional value chains in the East Africa Community.

Karera called upon the secretariat to engage partner states to commence the actual process of harmonization of domestic taxes.

"We urge for the prompt harmonization of excise duties and Value Added Tax (VAT) followed by Income Tax and ultimately, tax incentives," he said.

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To resolve persistent non-tariff barriers, the players also called for the finalization of the amendment of EAC Elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers Act, 2017, as well as the activation of the Dispute Resolution Mechanism by operationalizing the EAC Trade Remedies Committee.

It is about 11 years since the EAC Common Market was established, however, restrictions on the movement of services and service providers continue to disrupt the EAC regional integration agenda, and reduce cross-border trade.

Other issues that the private sector is advocating for include; ratification of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Protocol, review of EAC Rules of Origin, 2015, and quick admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo to expand the market for products made in the EAC region.

Besides this, fast-tracking of the creation of the One Regional Air Space for East Africa (Skies) and air cargo liberalization within and out of the EAC region to bring down the cost of air transport in the region is also looked at as a priority for the private sector.
A poorly coordinated traffic control system and minimal investment in lighting at city junctions have kept thousands of Nairobi residents stuck in gridlocks every day and lost billions of shillings in missed business opportunities and wasted fuel.

The city has more than 400 junctions but just 42 traffic light-controlled junctions with half of the lights using manually pre-fed data while the other half uses an automated intelligent system to allocate time for roads with heavier traffic. Several of these junctions with light either do not work or are manned by police officers.

Intelligent systems

The lack of coordination between the intelligent systems largely in the western part of Nairobi and the other light-controlled junctions in the central business district -- mostly manned by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services askaris -- have fuelled the mess that keeps motorists in traffic for hours.

On Ngong Road, where an Intelligent Traffic Control System (ITS) was recently installed, vehicles only move smoothly between Karen and the junction with Hospital Road, thanks to the smart traffic lights along the section. Beyond there, the traffic system in town has no way to tell how much traffic to expect and what time to allocate.

The NMS, Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) and the Traffic Police all have different approaches to keep vehicles moving in the city, which do not link up, creating an endless confusion that causes heavy snarl-ups.

Traffic experts say as soon as the coordination is fixed and human intervention is minimised in the junctions, traffic flow in Nairobi will be made efficient with the lights allowing time to traffic depending on the weight of flow from a given direction.

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"For traffic to flow in Nairobi, we need a system that can communicate in all the junctions and all in a shared platform that even the police can use for security monitoring.

Peak hours

"Having one part of the city serviced by an automated intelligent system and the rest of the junctions in darkness manned by people who cannot predict what weight of traffic to expect from a particular road increases the clogs we witness during peak hours," said Nicholas Airo, managing director and ITS expert at NAS International Holdings behind the smart traffic lights on Ngong Road.

NAS International manages 20 junctions with such traffic lights that use sound and cameras to tell the time to allocate for a particular side of the road on behalf of the Kura.

According to Mr Airo, the use of such systems in Nairobi have proven that junctions can be completely unmanned with the cameras able to record traffic violations and prompt the authorities to trace offending motorists.

The move is supported by traffic management experts within the Ministry of Transport who did not want to go on record for fear of being seen as criticising past initiative by the various state departments blamed for worsening traffic situation in the city.

The experts say the multi-billion shilling investments in overpasses and road expansions have done little in reducing road congestion given the high rate of increase in the number of vehicles entering the city and the limited space within which the roads can expand.
Migrants who survived the capsizing of a smugglers boat in the Gulf of Aden were brought ashore in Obock in Djibouti.

Misrah, an undocumented migrant worker, and her family, left their home in Ethiopia hoping for a better life. Instead, her three children are now dead, drowned during a perilous sea crossing across the Gulf of Aden, when the overloaded boat smuggling them into the country capsized.

"I have lost everything," says Misrah, as she struggles to recount the most traumatic of events, witnessing the deaths of her three children. The 27-year-old Ethiopian woman, her husband and children - Aziza, five; Rachar, three; and Ikram, two - and at least 55 other migrants and refugees were aboard a boat controlled by smugglers crossing the Gulf of Aden from Yemen to the Horn of Africa via Djibouti, on 12 April.

'They were too young; the sea was too rough'

Overcrowded and travelling in the dead of night, the vessel capsized under the weight of its passengers. Sixteen children, including Misrah's, and at least 44 migrants and refugees drowned, trapped beneath the sunken vessel. She and her husband Abdul Basit were two of just 14 to survive.

Hawa Diallo/IOM Misrah lost three children who drowned when the boat they were travelling in capsized in the Gulf of Aden.

Speaking through a translator, Misrah musters the strength and courage to describe the moments leading up to the tragedy. "As we approached the Djiboutian shore, the boat began to fall apart," she recalls. "My children were sleeping when the boat turned over. I was holding Ikram in my arms. I knew I could swim. That is how I survived. Unfortunately, it was not the case for my children. They were too young; the sea was too rough."

Alone, Misrah swam to shore, making her way on foot and with the help of a passing motorist to the town of Obock, Djibouti, where she met staff from the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Migrant Response Centre. "I was given a phone to call my mother and I feel better. Later they also helped locate my husband, who, thankfully, made it back to Ethiopia," Misrah says.

"The staff members are taking care of me, trying to reassure me. I would like to see my mother; she is the only one who can comfort me right now."

The plight of undocumented migrants

Alexander Bee/IOM Staff at the IOM Migrant Response Centre in Obock, Djibouti, provide support to migrants who wish to return home.

In 2012, Misrah left her home in Derdawah, Ethiopia, to find work. "I wanted to take care of my family, my mother and my siblings," she explains. "I managed to travel to Djibouti where I worked as a maid. Thanks to the money I earned I was able to afford to travel to Yemen by boat."

Thousands of migrants from Ethiopia make the same journey through Djibouti to Yemen each year hoping to reach Saudi Arabia, where there are better work opportunities and higher incomes than back home. Others, like Misrah, intend to remain in Yemen where, prior to the conflict and the current pandemic, there were opportunities for migrant workers. Historically, there has always been movement back and forth between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

Misrah slowly built a new life in the city of Aden, finding work as a cleaner. In 2014 she married Abdul Basit, and they started a family. "I liked my life in Yemen," Misrah says. When Misrah's mother fell ill back in Ethiopia, she felt compelled to return and care for her. Her husband was concerned for Misrah's safety, reluctant for her to travel alone; ultimately, they decided to travel together as a family.

Alexander Bee/IOM Ethiopian migrants on the shore of Obock, Djibouti.

Like most undocumented migrants in the region, they had no formal or official stay documents in Yemen or papers needed to return to Ethiopia, and were forced to pay smugglers USD 400 to travel from Yemen to Djibouti by boat, the first leg on the journey to Ethiopia. Often, this trip can cost a lot more.

IOM staff in Djibouti are providing Misrah with trauma counselling and support, and working with IOM in Ethiopia to help her return home to be reunited with her husband and mother.

"Before I leave Djibouti, I want to say goodbye to my children. I would like to have the opportunity to mourn them at the graveside before I return to Ethiopia," she says.

She will continue to receive counselling from IOM Ethiopia and, together with Abdul Basit, support to reintegrate back into their community and start to rebuild their lives. But Misrah says the heartbreaking loss of her three children, Aziza, Rachar and Ikram, will never leave. "I want migrants in Yemen to understand that the journey is too risky," she says. "I am alive, but I feel like I am dead."

Alexander Bee/IOM Ethiopian migrants cross the deserts of Djibouti.

Life-threatening journeys
The Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y Suleiman has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi chapter to suspend its ongoing strike so as to allow students to resume academic activities immediately.

Suleiman who made the appeal during a meeting he convened with the management of the Polytechnic led by the Rector, Dr. Alhaji Adamu Sa'idu and leadership of ASUP, ATAP led by its Chairman, Malam Dahiru Musa at his residence, Sunday in Bauchi.

Suleiman who expressed his concern and that of the honourable members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly on the long stay of students at home due to the strike, which came few months after the year-old COVID-19 outbreak said the strike portends a serious setback to the educational pursuit of students of the state.

He pledged to take up the demands of the striking polytechnic lecturers to Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammad immediately with a view to resolving all the issues raised.

In his remarks, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr Sa'idu thanked the speaker for intervening on the matter, which he described as statesmanship and patriotism, adding that the management had made all efforts to avert the strike so that academic activities will continue after being halted by the COVID-19 pandemic but the union resisted.

He also appealed to the union to heed the patriotic calls of the management, the State Assembly, the government and good people of Bauchi State to suspend the strike while the issues and demands of the union were being resolved.

Responding, the Chairman of the Union, Malam Dahiru Musa said that they had already presented their demands, which included the issues of implementation of promotion, yearly salary increment and third party deductions to the Head of Service but were not satisfied with the conditions given by him.

While appreciating the speaker and the Head of Service for intervening, the chairman urged him to take up their demands to the governor and ensure that a written agreement on the implementation dateline was obtained.

On the request of the speaker that the strike should be suspended while he took up the matter to appropriate quarters, Malam Musa promised to take up the request to the members of the union for their approval.
Airlines are expected to make significant losses this year as International Air Transport Association (IATA) revises its forecast issued in December because of challenges in containing new coronavirus variants and slower vaccination in some regions.

IATA is projecting a post-tax losses of Ksh5.1 trillion ($47.7 billion) in 2021 from their initial Ksh4 trillion ($38 billion) projection in December.

"Financial performance will be worse and more varied this year than we expected in our December forecast, because of difficulties in controlling the virus variants and slower vaccination in some regions," said IATA.

According to IATA, large airlines have raised sufficient cash to cover for these losses with the aviation sector expecting a cash burn of Ksh8.6 trillion ($81 billion).

"Many smaller airlines haven't and will need government aid or to raise more cash from banks or capital markets - adding to the industry's debt burden and balance sheet leverage problem," the agency said.

Kenya Airways and other regional carriers such as RwandAir have suspended flights to India due to high cases of Covid-19 in this Asian country.

The airlines woes will be compounded with the rising cost of fuel, which is expected to have a negative impact on the airlines.

"We now expect much higher fuel prices with jet at $68.9 per barrel from $49.5 and oil rising to $64.2 per barrel from 45.5 previously as the stronger global economy pulls all energy prices higher," IATA said

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The worst point of the impact of Covid-19 on airline profitability was in the second quarter of last year, when operating losses were more than 70 percent of revenues. Cost cutting and a strong cargo business helped reduce losses in the second half of 2020.

However, many airline costs are fixed over short periods and hard to avoid. As a result, losses were reduced only to around 50 percent of revenues by the last quarter of 2020.

Sharp decline on summer bookings saw Kenya Airways losses nearly triple to Ksh36.2 billion in the year ending December 2020 as the carrier sank deeper into the red following a slump in passenger numbers occasioned by Covid-19.

IATA said cargo remains a very strong business for airlines in 2021 as the strong economy and restocking is driving an increase in share of world trade, with 13.1 percent growth in volumes, which is higher than the World Trade Organisation forecast growth for global trade of eight percent.

African airlines' cargo demands in February increased by 44.2 percent compared with the corresponding period in 2019 marking the strongest growth of all the regions, according to International Air Travel Association (IATA).
Ahead of this week's crucial visit to Ethiopia by President Joe Biden's new Horn of Africa envoy, Jeffrey Feltman could not have been blunt about the grim prospect facing Ethiopia. His warnings should send a chill down the spine of those following the unfolding in the Horn of Africa.

Failure to manage the growing tensions in Ethiopia, Feltman warned, would make "Syria look like child's play by comparison."

Known in the global diplomatic circle as a seasoned hand, his voice was heard loud and clear in Washington DC. Four members of the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee have urged Ambassador Feltman to persuade Addis Ababa to guarantee unfettered access for humanitarian responses, ensure the immediate withdrawal of the Eritrean army, and non-state troops, as well as allow for international investigations of war crimes committed in the northern parts of the country.

These, the Senators believe, should not be matters dealt with separately, but crises of "interwoven nature" requiring "holistic strategies."

Africa was supposed to have developed such a holistic strategy to assess trouble spots, engage parties in conflicts through elaborate dialogue, and deploy forces to fulfill responsibilities to protect. When designed in the early 2000s, the African Union peace and security architecture was thought to be a radical departure from its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

Non-interference

OAU's cardinal rules of non-interference in the internal affairs of member countries were held dear by its founding fathers. Informed by a series of coup de tete, civil wars, and crimes against humanities committed in the 1980s and 90s, the AU founders felt the need to change course. When member states fail to protect their population or become the very source of the atrocities, the AU took upon itself to challenge.

The norms and principles of the African peace and security architecture are made to be incorporated in the five institutions created to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts. Of these, the Peace and Security Council has been the most active, while the Panel of the Wise and the Continental Early Warning System have modest functions. In contrast, the Standby Force and the Peace Fund have yet to be activated.

The 15-member council for peace and security - along with an initiative the chairperson of the African Commission may take - lifts much weight in determining where and how to intervene. Since its foundation, the AU suspended Mali and Egypt from membership and threatened to banish Sudan after its military deposed Hassan Al Bashir, its leader for 30 years.

Currently chaired by Kenya, the Council was hoped to answer to Ethiopia's leaders' rhetoric of "African solutions for African problems" when war broke out in the Tigray Regional State in November last year.

Any earlier effort by the Chairperson of the AU then, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, dispatched eminent personalities to Addis Ababa was granted cold reception. A team of three elders - Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia, Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa, and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, all former presidents moonlighting for the Panel of the Wise - were told Ethiopia's business was internal matters to worry on its own.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government framed the war in Tigray as a "law enforcement" exercise targeting a few of reneged leaders of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), a leftist insurgency instrumental in deposing the military government of Mengistu Hailemariam (Col.) in the early 1990s. It morphed into a ruling coalition under the EPRDF, where the TPLF's influence lasted until Mr Abiy disbanded the ruling coalition two years ago.

The genesis and evolution of the war in Tigray have been anything but law enforcement operations. The full force of Ethiopia's army, with all its ground and Air Force assets, was involved alongside militia forces of neighbouring regional states, not to mention the introduction of drone warfare supplied, arguably, by a non-Africa country.

The most vexed issue is the onslaught against Tigrayan forces by the entire Eritrean army, initially denied by Addis Ababa until their presence was a matter that can be concealed no more.

While the war was raging in Tigray, ironically, the last summit by the African heads of state held in February - virtually - wanted to "silence the guns" in the continent. Mr Abiy and his diplomats successfully rebuffed it from raising an issue that was transpiring a few hundred kilometers from where the AU Commission and its situation-room for conflict early warning system are housed. The summit pretended nothing of the sort the trans-Atlantic effort is consumed now was progressing.

But the watershed moment arrived when leaders of Igad members met in Djibouti in December last year after the Chairperson attempted to raise the war in Tigray as an agenda was frustrated by Ethiopia.

After almost a decade, Igad saw a change of guard in its leadership and the secretariat right about at the same time. Sudan took the helm from Ethiopia; and, Kenya's seasoned diplomat, Mahmoud Maalim, handed over guardianship at the Executive Secretary to Worqneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopia's former Foreign minister and a staunch ally of Prime Minister Abiy during his ascent to political power.

Mr Abedella Hamdouk, Sudanese prime minister, had to cut short a planned two-day state visit to Ethiopia ahead of the Igad summit. His offer to mediate a truce between Ethiopia's federal government and Tigrayan forces had angered Mr Abiy, who threatened to withdraw Ethiopia from the club in the face of what he saw was an interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. Mr Hamdouk's Sudan was a recipient of over 63,000 refugees from the Tigray war, hosting them in camps reopened after they were closed 20 years ago.

After nearly three-decade working for the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), headquartered in Addis Ababa, Mr Hamdouk had to leave to assume the role of Prime Minister after delicate negotiations between the revolutionaries and the military. The Ethiopian PM was a major figure in this process, perhaps a bit of irony for Mr Hamdouk to be told to stay away from when Ethiopia finds itself in deep waters.

Shielded from the rest of the world, the ongoing war in Tigray resulted in the displacement of 1.7 million civilians. It severely damaged the credibility of Mr Abiy, a Nobel Peace Laureate, for declaring a war that never ended and claimed no civilians were killed in its executions. Today, the world knows thousands of civilians were killed in cold blood, and hundreds of women were raped. The mayhem, destruction, looting, pillage and systematic deprivations of productive activities in Tigray were never seen in recent history.

Famine in Tigray is inevitable. As this report shockingly documented Starving Tigray is not a by-product of a war gone amok, but a deliberate war strategy executed to the smallest detail to impoverish an entire community.

Igad, and the AU, have abdicated their responsibilities to protect civilians, unable to overcome the legacy of the OAU fending member states from external interventions. Ethiopian authorities could not have it any better when Moussa F. Mahamat, chairperson of the AU Commission, endorsed during the Djibouti summit that Ethiopia's federal government military campaign in Tigray was "bold steps" aimed to "preserve the unity, stability and respect for the constitutional order of the country." Perhaps inadvertently, Mr Mahamat declared what Addis Ababa did was "legitimate for all states."

It is a view conveniently amplified by Mr Billene Seyoum, spokesperson of Prime Minister Abiy. She recently tweeted, "sovereignty and principles of non-interference enshrined in the UN charter are not privileges bestowed upon a few."

Such was gross omissions, if not misrepresentations, of the constitutive act of the AU under article four. The AU is obliged to intervene in member states if there arise "grave circumstances" of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

A trans-Atlantic alliance resurrected in the post-Trump world now demands for independent international investigations on all these allegations of the war in Tigray. Mr Feltman arrived in Addis Ababa this week to deliver on these messages in no uncertain terms.

The AU and Igad have chosen to succumb to a relic from the OAU era the Ethiopian government leveraged on for non-interference, no matter what may damage their credibility. The tenet designed to make AU more relevant than its predecessor was undermined, leaving those eager to write its obituary relished.

Ethiopia, hosting the Commission, may have contributed to Africa's reluctance to reclaim and reassert AU's norms and principles. However, in the absence of big countries cheerleading, multilateral organisations in Africa or elsewhere become helpless to stand up for these principles. The manifestation of this is Ethiopia and its war in Tigray, which has put the continent's peace and security architecture inept and irrelevant.

In the five months since the start of the war in Tigray in November last year, not one of the 19 meetings held by the Peace and Security Council made a notable concern of the atrocities being committed in Tigray. Bar a call for peace by Mahamat, twice in November and December, though. In contrast, the heavy lifting of addressing the humanitarian crises in Tigray has been done by a trans-Atlantic alliance for the Horn of Africa, overshadowing any meaningful efforts by African institutions.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair, Jim Risch, could not have been more direct in his conversation with Feltman before his departure to Addis Ababa.

He tweets: "I reiterated the importance of Eritrean troops leaving Tigray immediately. Securing Eritrea's withdrawal and addressing the atrocities committed in Ethiopia should be central to his trip."

The Europeans have been more forceful in their demands, even before the administration change in the US brought a shift in tone, if not policy. A statement the Council of the European Union issued in mid-March expressed its "extreme concerns" of testimonies to the possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, extra-judicial killings, and series of human rights violations. The EU took the lead in calling for actions to end these "immediately and for perpetrators to be brought to justice."

Yielding to such pressures from this alliance, Prime Minister Abiy belatedly acknowledged the role of an African institution - the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights - to undertake investigations on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. Both these institutions currently led by Ethiopians, Abiy may have in mind his forthcomingness can help him fend off international involvement on a matter he deems are internal affairs.

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He appears to have a few friends left from near and afar other than Eritrea's Issaias Afeworki and Somalia's embattled Mohammed A. Mohamed (Farmaajo). Back in 2019, the three leaders were jet-setting to their respective capitals, forming a new alliance under the Horn of Africa Council. It is an alliance the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs described as, "a formulation of a new road-map, a task that must be accomplished without compounding external interference."

Disgruntled for so long due to Ethiopia's leadership of Igad in the 2000s, what Issaias could offer the new alliance is only his military machine.

The push by the Horn of Africa Council against involvement from "interfering" forces no doubt concerns and frustrates neighbouring countries, including Kenya. Its place in the non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council, along Niger and Tunisia from Africa, brought the attention of President Biden. The latter sought the help of President Uhuru Kenyatta to bring the war in Tigray to an end.

Once a close ally to Ethiopia in matters that is IGAD, Kenyan diplomats' repeated efforts to bring Prime Minister Abiy into their orbit had borne no fruit. They had thought keeping him busy with a series of state visits to Kenya could have kept him away from the "bad boys" in the region. His last state visit of two days, immediately after he had prematurely declared "mission accomplished" in Tigray, was part of a deliberate effort to extend a sympathetic gesture to show how much Kenya values its relationship with Ethiopia. Kenyan diplomats would find it hard to admit that it is a tactical manoeuvre with nothing to show for.

Addis Ababa remains fortified and increasingly defiant of the pressure from the trans-Atlantic alliance, standing in contrast to the overriding interest of the Gulf- countries, China and now Russia.

Ambassador Feltman has done himself no good by making public what haunts him ahead of his visit. He will be unlikely to receive a helping hand from the African institutions whose mantra of "African solutions to African problems" has been frustrated by the Africans themselves.

Unable to stand on the sideline, Kenya may have the little leverage to make a difference if it chooses to pursue its place in the AU Peace and Security Council and its seat at the UN Security Council.
ZIMBABWE, like most parts of the world, yesterday commemorated Mother's Day, a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society.

Mother's Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May.

It is largely a day when mothers sit back and relax while others perform tasks for them. However, this was not the case with First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa who chose to spend her morning with over 60 children at Maryward Children's Home here whom she served mouth-watering breakfast.

It was delightful to see the First Lady effortlessly serving eggs, tea, coffee, baked beans and bread to the children.

Amai Mnangagwa was assisted by Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Larry Mavima, Local Government Minister July Moyo, Cde Kenneth Musanhi and female urban councillors to prepare and serve the breakfast.

It was a hive of activity at the home as the First Lady, Ministers and other guests donning aprons and matching head gears served the children from all corners.

Tables and chairs were well decorated to give the event a touch of royalty.

Sister-in-charge of Maryward Children's Home Sister Aleta Dube expressed happiness on being paid a visit by the mother of the nation on such a special day.

"The visit by the First Lady is joyous, especially today as Mother's Day when she should be relaxed with us as children running around for her. However, it is not the case with our mother, it is the other way round, we are seated as she prepares food and feeding the children. This is where I noticed that a mother's love is without rest and I am thankful for her visit. She is giving confidence to children in homes because when they see such an important person visiting them, it boosts confidence," she said with happiness written all over her face.

So ecstatic about the visit were administrators at the home that they sang praises for the First Lady.

Sister Elizabeth Kotore quipped: "On behalf of Maryward sisters, I want to thank the First Lady for what she has done. Today is Mothers' Day where mothers ordinarily sit as we perform tasks for them but she has showed love and come to us and to our children. We rely on donations and are happy with being remembered by our mother. We see her traversing the length and breadth of the country visiting orphans among other vulnerable groups and today she has come to our children's home here in Amaveni to be with us. For this love, I am grateful and may God bless her."

Not to be outdone was Father Victor Musendeki who expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her love towards vulnerable groups.

"We are very delighted to receive the First Lady here, particularly on Mother's Day. She has decided to be with us at a time when other mothers were going on holiday to enjoy and relax. She found it worthy to spend her Mother's Day visiting children here and spending the day with them. I think this is the greatest sign of motherhood being able to spend your life for your loved ones. We urge all mothers to strive to measure up to the example that has been given by the First Lady," he said.

Fr Musendeki also read John 15:13 which says no one is as loving as the one who gives his/her life for their loved ones.

"Our mother is giving her day to the country's citizens, the poor, the downtrodden and the lowly requiring help. She has great love and concern for the underprivileged and less fortunate citizens. No words can ever be enough to express our deep heartfelt gratitude to Amai for her humility and true love," he said.

In her remarks, the First Lady thanked Maryward Children's home for remaining steadfast in assisting those in need despite the various challenges they face.

"The sisters here have remained steadfast throughout the challenges at the home. Some children are abandoned here as day-olds who are left on the gate and it's not easy but she took all that and today she explains that there are children who passed their Ordinary Level examinations and are proceeding to Advanced Level. There are PhDs that came out from here, some entered white weddings from here. All this is done through the strength of the place where the children are cared for. All the Sisters in charge of this place, I want to thank you for the job well done. Had you not done this, we would perhaps see these children on the streets smoking and taking drugs," she said.

The First Lady also had warm words for Blue Star Logistics which has partnered her in providing breakfast for those in need countrywide.

"I want to urge Blue Star Logistics to keep up the good work. Vana vangu, we have come for you so that you can be happy with your mother. I want you to be happy knowing that I love you heartily," she said warmly.

One of the children living at the home expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her assistance and show of love.

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"I would like to thank Amai for the love she is showing us. She is doing this to all those who are in need and it simply shows that she has got love for us and God is blessing her every day because there is no way someone who is evil can do this, it is only the kind-hearted like our First Lady who exhibits this kind of love. Someone who believes in God is the only one capable of giving and Amai travels around the country sharing whatever she has with those in need. The bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. To us, Amai's gesture shows that we have friends and we have family outside there who think about us each and every day. We would like to thank God for what she is doing and may she continue doing this each and every day," he said.

For continuity of the programme, the First Lady donated sugar, milk, eggs, baked beans, bread, tea bags, jam, margarine, cooking oil and mealie meal to the home.

Blue Star Logistics general manager Mr Tafi Chakaingesu said his company was inspired by the philanthropic works of the First Lady hence coming on board to give a helping hand to the Angel of Hope Foundation's Patron for the benefit of vulnerable groups.

The mother of the nation is taking the breakfast programme to several homes in all the country's provinces.
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will today join his Botswana and Zambian counterparts for the commissioning of the Kazungula Bridge to which Zimbabwe is now part of having been included in the project thanks to the re-engagement and engagement efforts of the Second Republic.

The President will meet with Zambian President Edgar Lungu and Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi for the commissioning of the Kazungula rail-road bridge which will improve regional trade and traffic flow.

While commissioning a completed 6,5km stretch of the Marongora-Hellsgate section of the Makuti-Chirundu Road, the President said the Kazungula bridge is now a property of three nations.

"During this month, I will be joining the Presidents of Botswana and Zambia at Kazungula, to commission the Kazungula Bridge. With the coming in of the new dispensation, Zimbabwe came on board the project and the bridge is now owned by three countries," he said.

As part of the deal, Zimbabwe will pay a portion for the development of the US$259,3 million project, as well as expeditiously widen the Victoria Falls-Kasane Road that will ensure the country benefits from the traffic coming from either Botswana or Zambia riding on its centrality as the regional trade hub.

The commissioning of the bridge comes at a time when the Second Republic is carrying out massive infrastructural development projects including the dualisation of the Harare-Beitbridge-Chirundu highway.

This is in line with the country's five-year economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy 1, which prioritises infrastructure development as a sine qua non of economic recovery and growth.

To this end, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava said the Second Republic is focused on increasing trade and cooperation hence its involvement in the trilateral project.

"We have agreed with our counterparts, the Government of Botswana, the Government of Zambia, we are now part of the Kazungula bridge and subsequently, we are going to be paying our portion of the development of that bridge.

"From the time that his Excellency the President agreed with his counterparts, this is the first anniversary of that agreement. We need to cooperate and enhance Zimbabwe trade in whatever form possible that this bridge can bring, from Botswana via that route to Zimbabwe and Zambia via that route to Zimbabwe.

"Zimbabwe itself is going to improve the Kasane-Victoria Falls highway in a way that it can carry the load that comes via the bridge," said the Minister.

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Just last week President Mnangagwa commissioned the completed phase of the Marongora-Hellsgate section of the Makuti-Chirundu road and said the completion of the project gives impetus to SADC's Regional Development Master Plan -Vision 2027, which envisions well maintained and operated infrastructure that promotes seamless transport services in the region.

He said the infrastructural development projects fit into intra-regional and continental ideals encapsulated in the Africa Agenda 2063 of a more integrated, united, and prosperous continent.

One of the key expectations of NDS-1, said President Mnangagwa, was the completion of the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway when it lapses in 2025.

It is anticipated that completion of the Kazungula project will result in reduced border transit time, on top of increased traffic, reduced time-based transport, and trade cost.

It will facilitate intra and extra-regional trade activities by integrating economies served by the corridor. There will also be improved border management operations arising from the new one-stop border facilities.
The second phase of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme has begun with the Second Republic budgeting $33,6 billion and Zinara already disbursing $2,3 billion as Government intensifies efforts to rehabilitate the country's road network.

This follows the declaration of state of national disaster for all roads by Government on February 9 this year.

President Mnangagwa then launched the secondphase of the emergency programme, ERRP2, in Mt Darwin recently with a Government budget of $33,6 billion.

Zinara spokesperson, Mr Tendai Mugabe yesterday confirmed the disbursement of funds to various road authorities for ERRP2 and other road projects.

"A good road network is vital for us to realise Vision 2030. So far, we have disbursed $2,3 billion for road works that include ERRP and periodic and routine road maintenance since the beginning of the year.

"Under ERRP, we have disbursed advance payments to all road authorities and road works have already started in earnest in all provinces. This is a special project being championed by Government following a public outcry on the state of roads that were heavily damaged by heavy rains received in most parts of the country during the just ended rainfall season. President Mnangagwa heeded the public outcry and declared all roads a state of national disaster paving way for the launch of the ERRP2," he said.

Mr Mugabe said some road authorities were delaying asking for their allocated funds thereby slowing down the pace of road works in some parts of the country.

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"Some road authorities are taking long to claim their allocated funds and we are pleading with them to expedite their claims so that our road infrastructure is attended to without delay," he said. "As Zinara, we are ready to disburse the funds once we receive the necessary paperwork."

Teams were already deployed in the field to monitor progress on road rehabilitation.

Under ERRP2, Government is targeting to rehabilitate 10 000 kilometres of roads countrywide.

The rehabilitation and modernisation of the country's road infrastructure so far have seen the opening of more than 160 kilometres to traffic on the Harare-Beitbridge road and the refurbishment of the Karoi-Binga road among other roads.

Last week President Mnangagwa officially commissioned the completed phase Marongora-Hellsgate section of the Makuti-Chirundu road funded by the Japanese government for US$21 million and several other roads completed roads are now ready for commissioning in various parts of the country.
ROAD rehabilitation works are at full throttle countrywide following Government's recent intervention that resulted in the launch of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP).

In Matabeleland North, upgrading of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls and Victoria Falls-Kazungula roads is set to be scaled up as engineers are expected on the ground next week while an in-flight kitchen will be set up at Victoria Falls International Airport.

Cabinet recently declared the country's road network a state of disaster as most of the roads have become untrafficable due to ageing and damage by heavy rains that were received during the past summer cropping season.

The US$400 million ERRP was recently launched by President Mnangagwa.

Some of the roads like feeder roads in the country are administered by local authorities while the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development and District Development Fund share main roads, both tarred and gravel.

Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona was in Victoria Falls where on Friday he toured the Victoria Falls International Airport, Vehicle Inspectorate Depot, Inland Waters and Central Mechanical Department.

The Minister said the actual upgrading of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls and Victoria Falls-Kazungula roads will start soon, adding to the pothole patching that has been ongoing.

The two roads are key to the country as they link the tourism capital both to South Africa and Botswana.

Minister Mhona said Government has set all its sights on rehabilitating roads.

"His Excellency said we now have to move with speed especially when it comes to the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme where he mentioned the upgrading of Kazungula-Victoria Falls road and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road.

"So basically, I am actually going around with my team trying to assess and understand some of our departments and areas that are under our purview as a ministry," he said.

"We are actually in full throttle in terms of road upgrade following the launch by President Mnangagwa in Karanda and I am glad to say in all the provinces in terms of road works we have started and we have got teams that will actually be camped in Hwange in the coming week taking charge of Victoria Falls-Kazungula and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road so that we start rehabilitating.

"We are doing pothole patching but not only that, we are going to be upgrading because we want to give facelift to our roads.

"So, I can say we are no longer in a talk show but we are actually implementing as the Ministry of Transport."

He said plans are underway to computerise all Vehicle Inspectorate Department depots countrywide to try and fight corruption at the same time enhancing service delivery.

Minister Mhona said the in-land kitchen at the Victoria Falls International Airport will be ready by August, adding to several other on-site facilities at the giant airport.

"As you know Victoria Falls is now a city so we started by touring the airport where we are moving with speed to try and have an in-flight kitchen which is very important so that when we start having our numbers in terms of those who are plying our airport, we will be having the services to cater for fresh meals and this is one of the priority projects that we have to implement soon," said Minister Mhona.

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"We want to see what we can do in terms of going digital. Last month we opened a very important platform in Masvingo where we are saying in order to mitigate issues of corruption we also need to move with speed and try to digitise.

"As for CMED, we are trying to re-brand especially when it comes to fuels as we want a brand that will be known countrywide."

At the VID depot, the Minister was told that the offices have been operating without electricity since February when a lightning bolt triggered off power while the station still does not have a hill start.

The depot also faces challenges with vehicles while its road network inside the premises also needs upgrading.

At Inland Waters, a department which deals with water activities and registration of boats in the ministry, there are challenges with vehicles while there is need to build new offices and staff accommodation.
Mother's Day yesterday saw some Zimbabweans presenting gifts to their biological mothers, others to their spiritual mothers while some had the opportunity to honour aunts, sisters and grandmothers who raised and provided for them in the absence of their mothers.

Mothers have been described as a rare species that has strength and unconditional love.

In her message on Mother's Day, First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa expressed concern over Covid-19, which has taken many lives and urged mothers to pray for the nation and the leaders to find a lasting solution to the pandemic.

"As a mother I am worried by the surge in teen pregnancies as we saw at the end of the previous Covid-19 induced lockdown that many of our daughters failed to return to school after falling pregnant. Falling pregnant at a tender age exposes our children to serious health challenges, poverty and sexually transmitted infections among many other challenges," she said.

She also showed concern over the increase of drug abuse and domestic violence as a result of Covid-19 and urged mothers to have time to listen to their children's challenges and proffer solutions where possible.

Amai Mnangagwa expressed concern over the increase in children being murdered for ritual purposes.

"We have no place for killers in our country and (must) avoid behaviours and beliefs that border on the bizarre and lack of respect for the sanctity of human life. The law must take its course and ensure perpetrators of such heinous crimes are removed from society and be made to rot in jail. We all have a role to play in raising morally upright children in a safe environment," she said.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, told The Herald that as a Cabinet minister, who is also a mother, she takes special pride in, and reveres the celebration of the universal Mother's Day.

"As we receive goodwill messages, cards, flowers, wines and an assortment of gifts, we must cherish our eternal and sacred duty of ensuring the perpetual continuity of the human race. We have those special and exciting nine months as our collective badge that ends up in a burst of the joy of life.

"There is the ensuing tender care all the way to maturity and beyond. Our duty of shaping the building bricks of family, community, society, nationals and the global humanity. Let's share the auspicious occasion as we bond tight to our husbands, our men, our boys and our daughters and all from further afield," said Minister Mutsvangwa.

On their twitter account yesterday, the UN Women celebrated mothers: "Today, we want to thank mothers everywhere, in all shapes and forms, for the immeasurable contributions that they make every day. On #MothersDay, we show our appreciation for mothers and caregivers & make visible their contributions to the lives and futures of our next generation".

Albino Charity Organisation of Zimbabwe (Alcoz) founder Ms Loveness Mainato, who looks after children with albinism, said being a mother was a great honour as it bestowed a sense of responsibility on someone.

"I am obliged to take God's duties as a mother to the vulnerable children with albinism. It makes me feel my worthiness to the society. I treat all the children equally the same. I'm a proud super mum. I raise my shoulders higher as I celebrate Mother's Day," she said.

Apostle Farai Chipoyera of Kingdom Prosperity Ministries, who received flowers and gifts from her congregation, said motherhood meant caring, loving, raising kids, rebuking them, shaping their destiny, guiding them, leading them.

"Motherhood means warning children about dangers that lie in wait in life, teaching them the ways of God, prayer, fasting, word, principles, generosity . . . teaching them how to be a good spouse, how to build a solid marriage, mentorship and much more," she said.

Apostle Chipoyera said mothers should be honoured and respected all the time with children recognising their role in their lives.

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Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Association Trust president Mrs Depinah Nkomo said a mother was an important figure in a family and the nation as a whole.

"Mothers sacrifice their lives ensure families are well fed. Mothers have joined their male counterparts in farming businesses and we are taking it seriously producing food for our families, nation and export markets.

"No matter what circumstances mothers do not give up on their families and as such women farmers should continue working hard to feed the nation and contribute towards the well-being of the nation," she said.

Harare woman, Mrs Faith Zemba said Mother's Day was not only for biological mothers but anyone who plays a role in the upbringing of a child.

"Mothers come in different forms and we should cherish and honour them," she said.
Around 80 percent of people in Seychelles recently infected with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated, a top official said on Saturday.

Though infections have risen recently, thanks to the island nation's vaccination programme which was rolled out in January, people are not seriously ill and the health system is not under pressure Sylvestre Radegonde, the minister for foreign affairs and tourism said.

Radegonde told SNA that for now, the situation is manageable. COVID-19 patients are being treated in two hospitals - the Perseverance Family Hospital and the Anse Royale Hospital, he said.

The minister explained that patients infected with the virus are stable with mild symptoms. Out of the around 40 who are hospitalised, only two are in critical conditions and are currently in the Intensive Care Unit.

Radegonde said that the majority of people who are infected are Seychellois. As they have been vaccinated they are showing few symptoms and are stable. "This shows that the vaccination has had its effect," added Radegonde.

He added that the number of infections for the past week is fluctuating and an increase in the number of detected cases is a result of more tests being done and an increase in contact tracing.

However, the minister said the current situation is worrying. Radegonde added that the number of new cases shows that with the vaccination programme people are letting their guards down.

"Seychellois because they are vaccinated now are relaxing and think that all is ok. We are letting our guard down, we are not as careful as before," explained the minister.

Since the last update from the Ministry of Health, 497 new cases were recorded for three days. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 6,373.

More than 5,000 people -- 5,277 -- have recovered from the virus and 28 deaths have been recorded. None of those who died from the virus had been vaccinated.

There are currently 1,068 active cases, among which 84 percent are Seychellois and 16 percent are foreigners.

Radegonde said that with the restrictions reintroduced earlier this week, he expects the situation to be put under control and with the population abiding by health regulations, life on the island can go back to near normal.

The minister said that the restrictions are geared towards the local population and that visitors are welcome to the islands for their holidays.

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"Tourists can always come, with a negative PCR test they are welcome. They can move freely on the islands without any problem," he explained.

Radegonde admitted that there were some.challenges with administering PCR tests and getting the results for outbound visitors, but with the opening of a new private clinic offering this service, this should now go on smoothly with visitors not having to rely solely on the Ministry of Health for tests and results.

The minister is calling on Seychellois and visitors to take precautions, abide by regulations of hand sanitizing, wearing masks and maintain physical distancing.

Just over 60,400 people in Seychelles - 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean - have to date taken doses of either Sinopharm or Covidshield which the island nation is administering to its adult population. This represents 86 percent of the targeted population of 70,000.

The vaccination campaign on the three main islands of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue started on January 10, and is also targeting foreigners who are currently working on the islands.
Naveur/ Navaf/ Sixth Fleet Public Affairs Tunis, Tunisia  The Sentinel-class fast response cutters USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141) and USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC 1142) departed Tunis, Tunisia, after a routine logistics visit and key leader engagements, April 25, 2021.

This port visit marks the cutters' second stop while conducting operations in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of responsibility en route to their new homeport of Manama, Bahrain.

The Moulthrope and Goldman work in Tunis builds on previous military operations with Tunisian Forces such as the USCGC Bear (WMEC 901) deployment conducting military-to-military operations with the Tunisian Navy and Royal Moroccan Navy in 1999 and USCGC Dallas (WHEC 716) work with Tunisian navy counterparts to share best practices for responding to maritime issues and at-sea emergencies in 1995 as well as ongoing international training efforts.

This visit is a continuation of our commitment to our Tunisian partners, further enhancing cooperation between U.S. and Tunisian forces in support of shared security goals. In January 2021, Military Sealift Command Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport USNS Trenton (T-EPF 5) and Tunisian Navy partners conducted joint maritime operations to enhance maritime security, critical lifesaving capabilities, and Tunisia's ability to protect its maritime borders.

"The exercises showcased both the Tunisian Naval Forces and U.S. Coast Guard's ability to operate as multi-mission partners through a variety of exercises ranging from defense operations, to search and rescue, and illegal fisheries enforcement - all of which highlighted our services' similarities in both missions and responsibilities," said Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Blase, commanding officer, Robert Goldman.

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During their stop in Tunis, Moulthrope and Goldman engaged with navy leadership, local dignitaries and conducted military-to-military exercises with the Tunisian navy for interoperability and familiarization.

"It was an honor to help lead the first U.S. Coast Guard visit to Tunisia in over 25 years and strengthen our partnership with the Tunisian Naval Force (TNF). The engagements and maritime exercises highlighted service capabilities, promoted interoperability between both nations, and enhanced stability throughout the Mediterranean Sea," said Lt. Cmdr. Steven Hulse, commanding officer of Charles Moulthrope.

USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141) and USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC 1142) are en route to their new homeport in Bahrain in support of the Navy's U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia. While in the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet area of responsibility, the crews will support engagements with partner countries strengthening relationships and demonstrating our continued commitment to global maritime security and stability.

Moulthrope and Goldman are the first two of six Sentinel-class ships headed to U.S. Patrol Forces Southwest Asia. Established in 2002 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, PATFORSWA played a critical role in maritime security and maritime infrastructure protection operations. It is the U.S. Coast Guard's largest unit outside of the United States.

The U.S. Coast Guard remains operational during COVID-19, following all COVID-19 safety precautions and regulations.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.
Maputo  The Mozambican Minister of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, Augusta Maita, said on Friday that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) envisages achieving, by 2030, over 350,000 tonnes of aquaculture production, which was estimated at 100,950 tonnes in 2020.

Addressing from Maputo the opening session of the Joint Meeting of SADC Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security and Fisheries, which was held virtually, Maita said this goal will be attained through diversified production and integrated value chains drawn up to achieve the overall objectives of the SADC Regional Strategic Action Plan.

"The implementation of the SADC Action Plan for Aquaculture is fundamental, because it will contribute to poverty eradication and food security. It is also an opportunity for the private sector to generate wealth and employment," she said, in representation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Celso Correia, who currently heads the SADC ministerial body.

The member states, she pointed out, must be aligned with the need to make efforts intended to take the greatest possible advantage from the fisheries potential offered by the region, especially for aquaculture, taking into account the current low levels of catches.

Maita also praised the regional initiative for the creation of a regional Centre for Monitoring, Coordination, Control and Inspection of Fisheries, which will be based in Mozambique, and will assist member countries in reacting to illegal fishing, which requires a regional and multinational approach.

She hailed the regional efforts to promote sustainable management of fishery resources in the framework of the "Blue Economy", maximizing its benefit, ranging from an improvement in food and nutritional security, job creation through the development of a value chain up to resilience to climate change.

As for agriculture, Maita said "It's our concern, in the framework of the Regional Agriculture Policy, to ensure coordinated control and management of cross-border animal diseases and pests affecting crops".

Thus, member countries, she warned, must focus on the Crop Development Regional Programme which will control the quality of fertilisers, but also the Livestock Development Regional Programme intended to enhance and coordinate regional policies and strategies in the areas of animal production, disease control and marketing.
Maputo  The Mozambican health authorities on Saturday reported another death from the Covid-19 respiratory disease, 28 new cases and 43 recoveries.

According to a Ministry of Health press release, the latest victim was an 86 year old Mozambican man, who died in Maputo city. This brings the Covid-19 death toll in Mozambique to 821.

Since the start of the pandemic, 526,810 people have been tested for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, 1,425 of them in the previous 24 hours.

1,397 of the tests gave negative results and 28 tested positive for the coronavirus. This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases diagnosed in Mozambique to 70,166. Half of the new cases came from the far south - 12 from Maputo city and four from Maputo province. There were also five cases from Niassa, four from Sofala, and one each from Cabo Delgado, Zambezia and Tete.

The positivity rate (the proportion of those tested found to be infected) for this 24 hour period was just under two per cent. This compares with 2.3 per cent on Friday, 5.2 per cent on Thursday, and three per cent on Wednesday.

The number of people under medical care in the Covid-19 treatment centres fell to 33 (down from 36 on Friday. The great majority of these patients - 24 (72.7 per cent) were in Maputo. There were also two cases in Nampula, two in Zambezia, two in Tete, two in Inhambane and one in Niassa. No Covid-19 patients were hospitalised in the other five provinces.

The Ministry also reported that a further 43 people made a full recovery from Covid-19 in this period - 28 in Nampula, eight in Niassa and seven in Inhambane. This brings the total number of recoveries to 67,749, or 96.6 per cent of all those ever diagnosed with Covid-19 in Mozambique.

The number of active Covid-19 cases fell to 1,592 (down from 1,608 on Friday). The geographical distribution of these cases was as follows: Maputo province, 788 (just under 50 per cent of the total); Sofala, 297; Maputo city, 261; Zambezia, 125; Gaza, 26; Niassa, 22; Nampula, 21; Cabo Delgado, 18; Inhambane, 13; Manica, 12; and Tete, nine.

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Cameroon has created 11 new political parties, bringing the total number of legalised political parties in the Central African country to 330.

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon minister for Territorial Administration, announced Wednesday that he has legalised the new political parties "which will enrich political debate and encourage freedom of expression" four years to major elections in the Central African country.

He said the new political parties will "henceforth contribute to the facilitation of a contradictory but constructive political debate" in the country of 26 million people.

One of the newly legalised political parties is the Patriotic and Republican Alliance (APAR) of Celestin Djamen--a former member of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) of Ni John Fru Ndi--and the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) of Prof Maurice Kamto.

Speaking at a press conference in Douala last month, Mr Djamen said he created the party to fill in a vacuum left by current opposition parties in the country. He said APAR "will be very active in the field."

He said the political party will never boycott any election in the country, adding that it has great plans for 2025.

President Paul Biya's current mandate will end in 2025 when the veteran leader will be 92. The mandate of current members of the National Assembly as well as local municipal authorities will also come to an end in the same year.

Mr Djamen, however, did not elaborate on the party's plan.

But he added that APAR will have a secretariat in charge of cooperation with other political parties with whom they will discuss issues relating to the reform of the electoral law of the country.

President Biya accepted the reintroduction of multiparty politics in the country in the 90's and in 1992 the country organised its first multi-candidate presidential election which he won and has since remained a serial election winner albeit reports of massive rigging.
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Washington DC  End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF's Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF's Executive Board for discussion and decision.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Cemile Sancak undertook a virtual visit to Mauritius during April 19-May 7, 2021 to conduct the discussions for the 2021 Article IV consultations.

At the conclusion of the virtual visit, Ms. Sancak issued the following statement in Washington:

"Mauritius has been successful in containing the Covid-19 pandemic so far thanks to strict health measures. Mauritius has had very few cases of domestic transmission of Covid-19 following a strict nationwide lockdown during March-May 2020 and closure of the border until early October. Building on the country's strong public health system, the authorities were able to rapidly contain outbreaks by implementing extensive testing, robust contact tracing, and strict isolation of all suspected and confirmed cases, and maintaining mask requirements in all public places. As border restrictions were eased, comprehensive testing of arrivals and strict quarantine requirements were put in place. An outbreak of domestic transmission led to a second lockdown in March 2021, though it was shorter in duration and more flexible than that of the previous year. Vaccinations began in February, and the authorities target vaccinating 60 percent of the population by July 2021.

"Despite the country's success in containing the pandemic so far, the pandemic has seriously impacted the economy due to the sharp decline in tourism and contributed to a contraction of real GDP by nearly 15 percent in 2020. The authorities have successfully implemented a large and comprehensive set of stimulus measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the economy, including a wage subsidy and income support for the self-employed, to support firms and households while preserving financial stability.

"The key macroeconomic challenge for Mauritius is to restore employment and growth despite the tourism sector remaining subdued at least through 2022. IMF staff projects growth to be about 5 percent in 2021, assuming some recovery in tourism. As the country emerges from the pandemic, however, there is uncertainty about tourism flows, which depend on the propensity to travel as the pandemic recedes as well as conditions in other countries.

"The mission supported the authorities' overall fiscal policy response and advised them to continue the accommodative fiscal stance during the reopening phase with prioritized and targeted expenditures to set the stage for resilient growth. The mission recommended prioritizing programs that are consistent with medium-term development needs and broader social and environmental goals, such as digitalization, inclusion, and climate change mitigation during the recovery phase.

"The government should prepare plans for fiscal consolidation to stabilize debt in the medium term once Mauritius has firmly emerged from the pandemic to preserve fiscal sustainability and build buffers given the substantial increase in public debt level, which is likely to exceed 90 percent of GDP in the wake of the crisis.

"The mission supported the monetary policy response to the crisis and advised the central bank to maintain accommodative monetary policy in the near term. It recommended strengthening the monetary policy lever in anticipation of the waning of the crisis. Mechanisms should be phased in to further support the central bank's credibility and solidify an effective monetary policy as the economy recovers to a normal level of capacity utilization and the need for monetary policy normalization becomes apparent. The central bank law is being reformed, including to preempt further exceptional transfers to the government, in line with international best practices. In addition, the mission recommended that the central bank should relinquish ownership of the Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC), and financing of the MIC should be provided through the budgetary process.

"During the recovery phase, the authorities should prioritize support measures to further improve competitiveness, enhance diversification, and accelerate the long-term structural transformation to turn Mauritius into sustainable and resilient economy built on education and technology.

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"The mission welcomed the authorities' concerted efforts to exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and European Union Anti-Money Laundering/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) lists and encouraged them to keep up these efforts.

"The mission met with the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Dr. Renganaden Padayachy, the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius Harvesh Seegolam, and other senior government and Bank of Mauritius officials, as well as the opposition leader, representatives of the private sector, civil society, and the diplomatic community.

"The mission team expresses its gratitude to the authorities for the productive discussions and excellent cooperation. The IMF stands ready to assist the authorities in the implementation of their economic program, including through the provision of capacity development, and looks forward to continuing fruitful policy dialogue."
press release

In response to the devastating violence in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado region, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing vital humanitarian relief supplies in a series of shipments to help meet the urgent needs of people forcibly displaced from their homes.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled fighting in Cabo Delgado, where ISIS-affiliated terrorists brutally killed, maimed, and abducted civilians, destroyed infrastructure, and displaced more than 700,000 people. This assistance will provide emergency shelter supplies to approximately 20,000 displaced families, as well as blankets and kitchen sets - shipped by sea from USAID warehouses in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Pisa, Italy.

The United States, through the State Department, will also provide $700,000 in new Fiscal Year 2021 humanitarian assistance that will help the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) provide shelter, blankets and mattresses, as well as mental health and psychosocial support for many of the 28,000 people newly displaced by the Palma attacks.

The United States is the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Mozambique. This aid adds up to more than $82 million in humanitarian assistance in Fiscal Year 2020. The United States is responding to this crisis with food, household items, shelter, and hygiene kits for approximately 250,000 displaced Mozambicans in Cabo Delgado and neighboring Nampula and Niassa provinces. These funds also supported the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) to transport by air, sea, and road relief items and humanitarian workers to difficult to reach Mozambicans throughout Cabo Delgado.

The U.S. remains extremely concerned about the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation and urge other donors to step up to provide much needed support to save lives.
Gaborone  President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi on Friday signed five SADC legal instruments which will contribute to the development and integration of the region.

They include Protocol on Industry, two agreements amending the 2017 and 2019 SADC Protocol on Extradition as well as two others amending the 2017 and 2019 SADC Protocol on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

The industry protocol, which was adopted by the August 2019 SADC summit, seeks to promote the development of a diversified, innovative and globally competitive regional and national bases to enable achievement of sustainable and inclusive industrial development.

In an interview, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Mr Mmusi Kgafela said the signing of the protocol had the potential to develop more industries in Botswana and address cross border industry challenges.

With the protocol, Botswana would be able to develop SMMEs and boost the economy, he said.

Minister Kgafela underscored the need for SADC member states to collaborate to improve the region's SMME sector through the protocol.

In developing the sector, he said, it was important for the region to recognise People with Disabilities, women and youth.

He expressed the hope that member states would develop consistent policies that would benefit SADC countries with regard to the protocol.

For his part, Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Dumezweni Mthimkhulu said implementation of the instruments amending the SADC Protocol on Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters would assist in request of extradition as well as requirement of information processes.

Mr Mthimkhulu said the amendments would also help with process of document authentication.

Source : BOPA
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has urged the United States of America, USA, not to sell arms to the Nigerian government.

Kanu in a letter to US President, Joe Biden, begged him to turn down the request by President Muhamnadu Buhari, soliciting US military assistance to Nigeria.

The IPOB leader, in the letter, claimed that President Buhari had made Nigeria "the most dangerous country in the world."

Kanu argued that Nigeria would turn any arms received from the US against innocent agitators of self determination, who the country had unilaterally and unjustifiably branded terrorists.

The letter read: "We, the Indigenous People of Biafra applaud your election as President of the United States, the most powerful office in the history of the world. We salute your adept and muscular discharge of presidential duties during your tenure in the White House.

"Mr President, as you consider Buhari's request for military assistance to Nigeria, we respectfully urge you to also consider the following:

"Mr Buhari's draconian measures were geared to retaliating against peaceful demonstrations favouring the restoration of Biafran independence that was cruelly extinguished by a genocidal military campaign Buhari partly led between 1967 and 1970.

"He has concocted treason charges against IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to crush Biafran self-determination, despite the fact that self-determination is legal under Nigerian law.

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"We respectfully suggest that you consider, among other things, denying weapons sales or transfers to Nigeria under the Leahy Amendment; listing Nigeria complicit in persecuting Christians and Jews under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

"We respectfully urge Mr President to invoke particularly Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended, which prohibits the furnishing of assistance authorised by the FAA and the Arms Export Control Act to any foreign security force unit where there is credible information that the unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.

"In conclusion, we state categorically that the national interests of the United States lie in protecting Christians and Jews in Nigeria, defeating radical Islam and preventing instability in West Africa which will altogether be enhanced by a US-led diplomatic pressure on the Nigerian government to - as a matter of urgency - agree to a UN-supervised referendum on Biafran Independence.

"We wish you and your family many wonderful years in the White House."

Vanguard News Nigeria
Kisumu  Five Pakistani nationals were Sunday detained in Kisumu as police commenced a probe on their presence in the country.

County Policy Commander Samuel Anampiu said two of them were arrested along Kisumu-Kakamega road while the other three were picked along Kisumu-Nairobi road at Ahero centre.

He said the operation was mounted by the anti terror unit in conjunction with a security multi agency.

Anampiu said it is still too early to declare the suspects terrorists.

"I can confirm that yes, we arrested two Pakistanis nationalities, at about 1100hrs along Kisumu - Kakamega Road near Mamboleo roundabout following our intelligence reports," he said.

"We again through our intelligence collection had an operation along Kisumu-Ahero Road and we managed to arrest three more totaling to five so far," he added.

The operation led to a traffic snarl up along the busy road running into several hours.

Anampiu appealed to the locals to volunteer information to the police to help beef up security.

"My humble requests to you all is that since security starts with us all, give us as much information as possible," he said.
press release

Geneva  Sierra Leone is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its current session taking place from 3 to 14 May *. Sierra Leone's first and second UPR reviews took place in May 2011 and January 2016, respectively.

The documents on which the reviews are based are:

national report - information provided by the State under review;

information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities;

information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Sierra Leone on 12 May can be found here.

Location: Assembly Hall, Palais des Nations, Geneva [NB: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will be held using a combination of in-person and remote participation, and media representatives are encouraged to follow the proceedings on webcast.

Time and date: 14.30 - 18.30, Wednesday, 12 May (Geneva time, GMT +1 hour)

The UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed twice within the first and second UPR cycles. During the third UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country.

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The delegation of Sierra Leone will be led by Anthony Yeihwoe Brewah, Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs ("troika") for the review of Sierra Leone are: China, Libya and Mexico.

The webcast of the session will be at http://webtv.un.org

The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Sierra Leone will be posted on the UPR Extranet

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Sierra Leone at 17.00 on 14 May. The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during their review.

* The UPR 38th session was originally scheduled to be held in January 2021, although was postponed due to COVID-19 measures.
Tragedy hit the people of Dugboken, Electoral District#3, Maryland County this week when a 42-year-old classroom teacher met his demise in a road accident.

The late Joe Kouh was returning from withdrawing his salary from a commercial bank in Pleebo Sodoken district, riding on a motorbike, which ran into an abandoned truck, killing him instantly.

The incident occurred between Dorrobo koloneso and Gwissiken recently when the bike collided with a vehicle belonging to Caritas, a non-governmental organization operating in the county.According to eyewitnesses, the late Teacher Kouh was Pastor of the First Assembly of God (A.G.) Church. He was assigned in Sawtoken One, Barrobo district.

The deceased was a father of many children and a dedicated classroom teacher. He had left his family in Borrobo on early Thursday, April 29, 2021 to receive his salary in Pleebo.

Eyewitnesses described as very critical, leaving several body parts of the deceased fractured, including his head, while the rider of the bike was rushed to the J.J. Dossen Hospital in Harper City, the provincial capital.

Locals lamented that the sudden death of Joe Kouh has created serious setback to the school system in the district, as schools shot their doors to pay respect to his sudden passing.

Barrabo, which is in Karluway, Maryland County Electoral district#3, currently has 32 towns but due to lack of basic social services, civil servants are constraints to travel to Pleebo City to receive their monthly salaries ridding on commercial motorbikes.
The hierarchy of the Armed Forces of Liberia dismisses claims of soldiers requesting for 200,000 Liberian dollars from local authorities of River Gee County to remove illicit miners from the county. AFL Chief of Staff Maj./Gen. Prince C. Johnson, III, called the New Dawn in Monrovia on Thursday, 06 May and said the army had never gone to River Gee County despite claimed by Senator Jonathan "Boy Charles" Sogbie in plenary this week.

General Johnson said he had been out of Liberia on vacation to the United States, and numbers were off, contrary to claims by this reporter of contacting him. He dismisses the story as "trash."

However, River Gee County Senator Jonathan Sogbie, speaking in plenary of the Liberian Senate on Tuesday, May 4, expressed shock and disappointment that soldiers on national duty would ask for such huge amount from citizens to execute an assigned mission.

He noted that upon learning that AFL personnel were reportedly demanding money from chiefs, he (Sogbie) immediately placed a call to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Prince C. Johnson, seeking his intervention.

The Senator observed that the attitude of miners in the county suggests the illicit operators are well connected to higher officials in Monrovia.

He narrated that during his intervention, calls from higher-ups in government kept his telephones busy, something, he noted is the mean reason illicit miners are ruining the country's mineral deposits.

The plenary of the Liberian Senate had summoned the Minister of Lands and Mines Gisler Elbert Murray to give reasons and factors responsible for increased activities of illicit miners in the country.

Plenary said illicit miners, including Ghanaians, Malians, Burkinabes and Chinese are invading rivers, creeks, traditional shrines, villages and towns in search of gold and other minerals.

In response to the communication, Minister Murray said that his ministry had since been engaged in combating the illicit miners.

He narrated that the ministry had engaged Forest Rangers from the Forestry Development Authority, the AFL and the Emergency Response Unit of the Liberia National Police that are helping to prevent operation of illicit miners.

Liberia is endowed with natural resources, including iron ore, gold, diamond, etc. The country currently has four iron ore concessions and two gold concessions.

However, it remains virtually unexplored and has great potential for economic growth and socio-economic development from these resources. To realise this potential, Liberia needs a strong governance and regulatory framework, backed by regional cooperation in the mining sector.

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Since 2006, Liberia has made significant progress towards improving the governance framework around natural resource management. The government has a national mineral policy that is based on the African Mining Vision (AMV), which seeks to promote equitable exploitation of mineral resources. The Liberian government had also established a Mineral Cadastral and enacted a Public Procurement and Concession (PPC) Act, which requires open, transparent and competitive bidding for known resources.

In addition, the government of former president Ellen Sirleaf effected a Revised Revenue Code that provides special fiscal packages for the resource sectors. The country is member of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) since 2007 and remains Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) compliant for diamonds.

Meanwhile, the Senate has set up an ad-hoc committee headed by Grand Bassa County Senator Jonathan Kaipee to investigate the matter and report to the plenary within three weeks.

The committee also comprises the chairpersons on Internal Affairs, National Security, Veteran Affairs, Lands, Mines and Energy, Ways, Means, and Finance.
The Liberian Senate has concurred with the House of Representatives for the printing of 1,000 Liberian dollar bank note to be part of the new family of bank notes totaling over 48 billions, requested by the Central Bank of Liberia.

The joint conference committee says it requires sufficient time to print the 48 Billon and to remove the already existing bank notes in the country, recommending the money should be printed within three years; 2021, 2022 and 2024, respectively. The committee notes that 2023 is elections' year, so money should not be printed.

The Senate earlier rejected printing of 1,000 Liberian bank note, and had said the new family of bank notes should be printed within two years; 2021 and 2022, noting that 2023 is election year.

However, the joint conference committee reviewed the proposal from the Central Bank and the amendment from the Liberian Senate, and eventually concurred for the printing of LRD1,000 notes in order to save cost.

Members of the joint conference committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate include Montserrado County District#16 Rep. Dixon Seapoe, Co-chair; Sinoe County District#3Rep. Matthew G. Zaza, District#2 Gbarpolu County Rep. Cllr. Kanio Wesso; Montserrado County District#11 Rep. Richard N. Koon; Nimba County District#9 Rep. Johnson Gwaikolo; Montserrado District#8 Rep.Acarous Gray, and Rep. Thomas Fallah of District#5 Montserrado County. Those from the Senate include; Grand Gedeh Senator Marshall Dennis, chair; Margibi County Senator J. Emmanuel Nuquay, Co-chair; Bomi County Senator Morris Saytumah, Grand Cape Mount County Senator H. Varney Sherman; Maryland County Senator J. Gbleh-bo Brown, Senator James Biney of Maryland County, and Senator Zoe E. Pennue, Grand Gedeh County, respectively.

The Central Bank of Liberia in February requested the House's approval to print 48 billion Liberian dollars in denominations of LRD20s, LRD50s, LRD100s, LRD500s along with LRD10 and LRD5 in coins.

Therefore, the committee on Banking and Currency, as the lead committee, followed by the committees on Public Account, Ways, Means and Finance and the Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petition met with committees from the House of Representatives and they had a hearing with officials of the Central bank of Liberia and the Minister of Finance and Development Planning to justify the request for complete replacement of the existing Liberian dollar bank notes currently in circulation.
-Official cites incarceration of Inspectors

What appears to be a complex syndicate allegedly condoned by some local and high placed officials is said to be shielding and enriching illegal foreign miners while interfering with Liberian mine inspectors' operations as the mine sector rots in illegal mining activities.

Mr. Emmanuel O. Sherman, Deputy Mines and Energy Minister for Operations claimed during a live talk show on OK FM Thursday evening, 6 May that when mine inspectors carry out operations and make arrests, some former lawmakers would ask mine officials to leave the people.

Mr. Sherman did not include current lawmakers in his discussion, but indicated that when arrests are made, the former lawmakers who had pleaded for their people's release would later call the Mines and Energy Ministry to appear at the Capitol and then complain about illicit mining activities that are ongoing in the country.

"Yes, and you know? Syndicate, and you know? So that is what we are trying to break, but it is, to break it needs the collaborative efforts of not only the Ministry of Mines and Energy, but the security apparatus ... Internal Affairs, you know, local people, we all need to work together and do that. But because we are in charge so we take the heat," he said when asked if there was a syndicate.

"And then moreover, the local people are not willing, you know, to get these guys out ... and then it comes back to us at the ministry. We do not have control over our borders, alright, yeah," Mr. Sherman continued.

In one case, Minister Sherman said his inspectors in Grand Bassa county had arrested some Ghanaians and took them to a police station in the county. Following that arrest, Sherman said a chief called him and said the Ghanaians were his people.

"Most of the time imagine our inspectors sometimes when they go out there, they are even arrested and incarcerated from the traditional side, yeah. That's what happens, it's a serious thing," the Deputy Mines Minister said.

He explained that when mines inspectors went out along the Tuma River to get rid of the Ghanaians who were mining there, the local authorities in that area ordered the inspectors not to go there because they were about to put their country's devil outside. Tuma River connects Bokomu and Gbogolala Districts in Gbarpolu County, western Liberia.

The local officials having denied the mines inspectors access, Sherman said the Ghanaians are still at that river working, adding: "We banned dredges but they have dredges there, other places."

He lamented that the operations of these illicit miners affect and pollute the streams from which villagers fetch their drinking water.

The Mines and Energy official stated further that there is a serious security implication when you have foreigners enter your bush and carry out dredging because "those guys come in with drugs."

Regarding payment of mining agents, Mr. Sherman said some of these agents are getting [US] $200.00. He further said the Ministry of Mines and Energy budget of "pitiful" US$1.7m dollars can only pay salaries, adding that there is nothing on that budget for operations and logistics.

He recalled that in 2018, the Mines and Energy Ministry formed a special task force and held a series of meetings with the Liberia Immigration Service, the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) and Defense Ministry, and carved strategies on how to raid the bushes of illicit mining operations.

He said the Mines and Energy Ministry was looking for somewhere around half a million dollars to carry out the operation, but it could not be implemented due to lack of funding

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Having highlighted the security challenges, Mr. Sherman said it's good to have the Defense Ministry involved, while Mines and Energy is in the background providing the database and technical information about where the illicit miners are.

"We need to form a joint task force, right, that will go and raid these places like what is being done in Ghana, yes. [Get] army people on it, you know? They're afraid of [the] army, you know?" he noted.

In previous operations he said they used the police and officers from the LDEA, but most of the time there is a challenge. According to Minister Sherman, Liberia's mining law is over 20 years old, noting that it was enacted in 2000 during a time when people were just using Class "C" License for mining activities.

He said the ministry is seeking funding from the World Bank, and once the law is finalized and amended, detailed mining regulations would be made.
President George Manneh Weah on Thursday, 6 May 2021 dispatched a special delegation of the Government of Liberia to the Republic of Cote D'Ivoire to mitigate the situation involving several Liberians living in Cote D'Ivoire.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Liberian Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., heads the delegation to Cote D'Ivoire.

Other members of the delegation include Cllr. F. Musa Dean, Minister of Justice; Gen. Daniel Ziakahn, Minister of National Defense; Atty. Samuel Dakena, Security Sector Reform Coordinator; Jefferson Karmoh, National Security Advisor; Edward Sharpe, Deputy NSA Director; Sylvester Pewee, Assistant Minister, Public Affairs, MFA and Mr. Charles Johnson, EPS Team Leader.

The release quoted Minister Kemayah as saying the situation is an attempt to cause chaos and undermine democratic gains subsisting between countries within the Mano River basin.

It can be recalled that the Ivorian army said it killed three armed men and captured another during Wednesday, April 21, 2021 pre-dawn attack on the N'dotre base, with security sources adding that a Liberian passport and driver's license were found on two of the dead assailants.-Press release
The Special Investigative Committee set up to probe into allegations of corruption involving Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Acting Chair Cllr. Kanio Bai-Gbala has submitted its report to President George Manneh Weah, saying there was no criminal intent or wrongdoing on the part of Cllr. Gbala in the discharge of his duties.

"The report concludes by emphasizing that the investigation established no criminal intent or wrong doing on the part of Cllr. Kanio Bai Gbala in the discharge of his duties as Vice Chairman of the LACC as had been alleged in the three-count complaint of the former ED," the report says.

In a press release issued Thursday, 6 May, the Ministry of Information in Monrovia said the office of the President is in receipt of the Special Investigative Report clearing, Gbala.

The independent internal investigation, which was spearheaded by the LACC's Program Manager for Enforcement and Investigations, Baba M. Boakai, was commissioned under the leadership of the entity's former head, Cllr. Ndibusi Nwanudike.

The allegations against Cllr. Gbala by the former Executive Director (ED) Mohammed Fahnbulleh, were three-pronged: double dipping, inability to account for Daily Sustenance Allowance (DSA) and Cllr. Gbala's alleged failure to [properly] account for money intended to cover a press conference.

Regarding the allegation of double dipping, the investigators found that "without proper due diligence on the part of the administration and advice of Cllr. Gbala as to his status of employment, and without the expressed authorization from Gbala, the administration paid into Cllr. Gbala's account two (2) months' salary amounting to U.S.$5,645.25 and L$267, 154.20"

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But the investigators also uncovered that following "joint observation and reflection made by the Human Resource Officer and Cllr. Gbala in January 2020 on the employment status, he (Cllr. Gbala ) immediately instructed the HR Officer to correct the error by taking all necessary corrective actions in returning the monies paid into his account back to the LACC".

Regarding the DSA allegation, the investigators found that "all fuel supplied for Cllr. Gbala's trip to Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County were accounted for by the Transport Officer and turned over to the administration of the LACC."

It further said that "though the five days DSA (50,000.00 Liberian Dollars) given to Cllr. Gbala was not immediately turned over to the administration, but said DSA was compensated and accounted for by him attending the last two Regional Consultations in Gbarnga, Bong County (3 days) and Buchanan, Grand Bassa County (2 days).

On the issue of the Money for a Press Conference at MICAT, the investigators found that the U.S.$500 was "not paid to Cllr. Gbala as alleged, rather the check was raised in the name of Mr. Garley Youlo for onward payment to MICAT for the purpose of distributing same to journalists who attended to cover the program".-Press release
Strike early this week by dock workers, port truckers and brokers at the Freeport of Monrovia that paralyzed normal business activities in the port is just a tip of the Iceberg of what appears to be deep simmering strain in relations between the foreign-operated company APM Terminals and the Government of Liberia.

APM Terminals Liberia is a subsidiary of Danish shipping giant Maersk A/S.

The company and the Government of Liberia under former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed an agreement that is reviewable after 25 years to manage cargo or container handling for the National Port Authority. It was inaugurated in Monrovia by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and began operation in 2011.

But it has come under increasing criticisms form the Weah administration for alleged arbitrary activities, including flagrant disregard for the labor law of Liberia.

The APM Terminals Management has reneged to reinstate over 20 suspended employees and pay them for the period they were out of job despite instructions by the Ministry of Labour.

Now, while the National Labor Court in Monrovia is calling on the APM Management to reinstate the dismissed employees or risk arrest, members of the Liberian Senate are equally enraged about the company's activities and have been expressing so publicly.

Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe of Bomi County, cautions that if the Liberian government did not arrest the operations of the APM Terminals here it evoke public uprising against the Weah administration and bring the government down.

Speaking Thursday, May 06, in chambers plenary of the Liberian Senate during debate on reported bad policies and labor practices by the company, he said such popular uprising could mainly come from members of the business community who bear the brunt of the company's excessive tariff.

He notes that the bad policies and terrible operations of the APM Terminals at the Freeport of Monrovia are largely responsible for daily hike in prices of commodities brought to the county while the government sits and watch.

Senator Snowe regrets for ever voting for the passage of the APM Terminals agreement while he served in the House of Representatives.

"Mr. Pro-tempore, if you ask me today, my regret since [I] started my working for the 15 years at the legislature, I will tell you is my vote for the passage of the APM Terminals agreement. The agreement is terrible and is responsible for the hardship our people are facing. Pro-tempore, do you remember when the APM Terminals took members of the House of Representatives to do fact-finding on the company's operations in Accra, Ghana, the situation is as far apart as light is from darkness," he says.

According to him, the APM Management changes cargo clearance period at the Freeport from five days to three days, and when its equipment are down, owners of containers are compelled to pay for the days the equipment are non-operational.

Adding his voice to the debate, Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Koung notes the worse aspect of the APM Terminals' agreement is that government can do no amendment until after 25 years of operation.

Senator Koung describes the agreement as a death sentence for the Liberian people and government. He urges the Weah administration to find options to handling this matter or else, it could lead to something ugly.

Meanwhile, the plenary of the Liberian Senate still investigation activities of APM Terminals' thru a special committee headed by Senator Gble-bo Brown of Maryland County.

Liberia's Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Ledgerhood J. Rennie posted on the ministry's official Facebook page that the Management of APM Terminals Liberia has been mandated by the National Labor Court to reinstate 24 employees who were suspended and locked out of the company's facilities as a result of protesting working conditions.

The Court in a communication to its clerk requested the sheriff to serve a notice of temporary restraining order on the company's management, stating that "they, under penalty of law or at risk of contempt of this honorable court", are ordered to reinstate the 24 employees that the Minister of Labor, Cllr. Charles Gibson, had earlier directed.

Some aggrieved employees of the company, with support from the Dock Workers Union, have been staging protest actions in demand of better working conditions, including unpaid leave allowances, medical insurance and food allowance.

Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean on May 4, 2021, reinforced the Labor Ministry's mandate to have the employees reinstated, pending a complete resolution of the concerns of the various parties.

Minister Dean said the "urgent Injunction", which is in accordance with the Decent Work Act of 2015, became necessary because the government is concerned that the lockout action of APM Terminals and the attendant go-slow by the employees were affecting economic activities at the Freeport of Monrovia "thus, creating a serious security problem for the state".

However, despite increasing outcry from Liberian authorities over APM Terminals' operations in the country, the company enjoys support from western diplomats in Liberia.

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In February, United States Ambassador Michael McCarthy and EU Ambassador Laurent Delahousse visited the company's facilities at the Freeport of Monrovia and lauded the management for its strive to improving facilities inside the Freeport.

Ambassador McCarthy thanked APM Terminals Liberia management for their critical contributions to ensure safety and security compliance at the Freeport of Monrovia, which paved the way for Liberia's removal in December 2020 from the U.S. Coast Guard's Port Security Advisory after many years on the watch list.

Ambassador Delahousse underscored the efforts of APM Terminals Liberia to train a skilled Liberian maritime and port workforce, noting that APM has only three expat senior managers; the company employs 230 direct employees and over 1,000 subcontractors.

Both Ambassador McCarthy and Delahousse noted the importance of foreign investment, which brings good jobs, infrastructure, and tax revenue to the Liberian government and people. They also praised APM Terminals Liberia's corporate social responsibility, which has led the company to stand with Liberia through both the Ebola epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic and make substantial donations of medical facilities and supplies.
Information Deputy Minister Kindness Paradza is in the eye of a raging storm after an armed gang linked to the Zanu PF politician fought running battles against fellow party youths in Chinhoyi Saturday.

Paradza is the Zanu PF district coordinating committee (DCC) chairperson for Makonde where he is also the local MP.

The bloody clashes happened Saturday with Zanu PF youths accusing Paradza of protecting a suspected "G40 mole", Ketty Chanetsa, who is the Makonde DCC youth secretary.

Zanu PF youths are demanding Chanetsa should be removed from her post and expelled from the party, but Paradza is said to be protecting her.

Police had to fire tear-smoke to quell the riotous situation that unfolded while Paradza was convening a tense meeting with 45 Zanu PF DCC chairpersons from Chinhoyi constituency last Saturday.

The ruling party officials were forced to end the meeting abruptly and armed police officers, on standby, escorted Paradza and his security aides from the venue.

However, soon after he left the venue of the meeting, the Chinhoyi Public Service Training Centre, was turned into a war-zone as Paradza's militia armed with machetes, stones, beer bottles, and a spear, arrived aboard his party-issued double-cab truck before unleashing violence against fellow party youths.

Sources told NewZimbabwe.com the meeting was briefly disrupted after some DCC youth chairpersons walked out in protest accusing the Makonde legislator of failing to take action against his ally Chanetsa, who faces disciplinary sanctions over a slew of allegations.

The meeting, sources said, only reconvened after Chanetsa was forced to leave the venue.

This is when all hell broke loose as the MP's armed mob descended on the venue and clashed with fellow Zanu PF youths who were keeping vigil to block Chanetsa from attending the indaba.

When contacted for comment Sunday by NewZimbabwe.com, Paradza said he did not have any comment to make before hanging up.

"I have no comment," Paradza curtly said. However, asked further why he didn't have a comment, Paradza hung up.

Earlier Saturday, Paradza had attended World Press Freedom Day commemorations at Cooksey Hall in Chinhoyi while the youth gang from his Makonde constituency milled around the venue.

He uncannily told journalists attending the event he had mobilised the youths and was taking them to the DCC meeting.

The youths are believed to be the same belligerents who were involved in the bloody skirmishes that later left several party youths nursing a few injuries from the violence at the training centre.

Prior to the ill-fated Saturday meeting, Paradza was reportedly quaking in his boots after getting wind party youths were planning to protest against him.

He has previously clashed with party youths over concerns he helped his cronies rig last December's DCC elections, and is protecting Chanetsa who is an alleged "sell-out."

Ketty Chanetsa

To confirm his insecurity, Paradza issued a pre-emptive notice to DCC members Thursday warning members to guard against elements bent on disrupting the scheduled Saturday meeting.

Reads the notice leaked to NewZimbabwe.com last week; "Hello colleagues. This Saturday we have an inter-district meeting in Chinhoi (sic). We want to have a smooth and productive meeting and l expect our leadership in Chinhoi (sic) to mobilise bonafide delegates only for this meeting.

"I also expect discipline prior, during, and after the meeting just like what we witnessed in Mhangura and Makonde. Am, therefore, directing Chinhoi (sic) leadership to make sure that we don't have any disruptions to our meeting."

Sensing the situation could turn volatile, Paradza notified the police.

The notice further reads; "l have already notified the police to be on standby and arrest anyone who disrupts our meeting. I expect Cde Voster (Mashevedzanwa) to do your job and you must liaise with our (state) security agencies for them to be on high alert. Thank you."

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Chanetsa, whom Paradza seeks to protect, was recently barred from attending the Makonde DCC inaugural meeting held at the same venue.

She is accused of leaking sensitive Zanu PF information to social media personality South Africa-based Gugu Ncube a.k.a "Dr. Amai", who in turn allegedly uses it to denigrate the party and its leadership on her platforms.

Chanetsa also faces charges of fomenting divisions, holding unsanctioned meetings, gossiping, maligning and blackmailing senior party leaders.

She is also accused of faking her abduction by party colleagues during the emotive DCC elections last December, thereby putting the party's name into disrepute.

Youths in the party recently signed a petition calling for Chanetsa's ouster.
Commonwealth Heads of States and Government's Meeting (CHOGM) which was scheduled for June 21st this year has been postponed due to the Covid-19 surge and related effects in some member countries.

This is according to a joint statement by President Paul Kagame and Patricia Scotland, the Commonwealth Secretary-General.

"The decision to postpone CHOGM for a second time has not been taken lightly. The health and welfare of all Commonwealth citizens at this critical time must take precedence. We look forward to welcoming the Commonwealth family to Kigali for CHOGM at the appropriate time," President Kagame said.

The secretariat noted that using the World Health Organization risk assessment tool, the CHOGM total risk and mitigation ranks at level 4 which is high.

"The overall risk of transmission and further spread of COVID-19 was also rated high, which implies not only a threat to travellers but to the people of Rwanda itself should imported variants spread within the country," the communique reads in part.

The secretariat also noted that 29 of the CHOGM member countries had implemented either a partial or full border closure, including Pacific Island nations and several Asian and Caribbean nations.

With that, a number of countries have closed their borders and have also, in the majority of cases, banned international flights or imposed severe restrictions which would have reduced the participation of Heads of State and Government summit and the four forums.

Based on the set of factors, and in consultation with the Rwandan Government, the secretariat took the decision to postpone the summit for the second time.

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"Having reviewed all the available evidence and risk assessments in close consultation with the Government of Rwanda, we have, with deep regret and despite the enormous efforts Rwanda has made in preparation for hosting CHOGM efficiently and safely in June 2021, come to the unavoidable conclusion that we are compelled to postpone the CHOGM in Kigali for a second time," the secretariat wrote.

Going forward, the Commonwealth Secretariat said that they will continue to work closely t with the Government of Rwanda as host government, to ensure that they reach a satisfactory arrangement for the rescheduling of CHOGM in Kigali when the conditions allow.

"I want to thank the Government and people of Rwanda for their professionalism, support, patience and their impeccable readiness to hold CHOGM," Scotland said.

Rwanda was however ready to host the summit going by assessments led by Patricia Scotland, as well Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the UK Minister of State for the Commonwealth who have both visited the country to review the planning process.

Beyond the preparation of the sites to host the summit, the country was found to have stood out with regard to Covid-19 preventive measures to limit transmission.

Among the measures include a coordinated vaccination plan, testing and monitoring international arrivals, tracking and treatment of confirmed cases among others.
MTN Ghana Foundation, as part of its Corporate Social Investment, has donated Protective Personal Equipment (PPEs), to the St Gregory Catholic Hospital at Buduburam in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region.

The PPE included 2,000 nose masks, 10 cartons of gloves, 15 pieces of contactless thermometers, 1,000 pieces of face shields and 30 gallons of methylated spirits.

Speaking to reporters after the donation, the Chief Customer Relations Officer of MTN Ghana, Jemima Kotei Walsh, said the donation formed part of programmes outlined by the MTN Ghana Foundation to support hospitals and frontline health workers across the country to help them fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to her, more than GHC1 million had been allocated by the MTN Ghana Foundation this year for the exercise.

She said, so far, the Foundation had made similar donations to 29 hospitals and 15 senior high schools across the country to protect hospital staff, patients and students of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mrs Walsh indicated that there was the need to support hospitals and frontline health workers across the country with PPE to protect them from the disease.

She assured that MTN Ghana and MTN Ghana Foundation would continue to assist hospitals in the country with the necessary PPE to help them combat the disease.

The Chaplain of the St Gregory Catholic Hospital, Reverend Father Daniel Yaw Ganu, expressed gratitude to the MTN Ghana Foundation for the donation.

He said the donation had come at an opportune time when the hospital seriously needed the PPE to protect the staff of the hospital as well as patients of the coronavirus disease.

Rev. Fr Ganu explained that the St Gregory Hospital was the only major hospital in the Gomoa East District, serving a lot of communities including Akawe, Buduburam, and Winneba.

He appealed to other corporate organisations to come to the aid of the hospital with PPE and other health supplies to enable the hospital to better serve the health needs of the residents in the district.
Ecobank, in partnership with TANOE Woman Rising has organised a business advisory and training clinic for women business owners and leaders.

This workshop forms part of the bank's Ellevate programme designed to assist women reach their full potential by empowering, growing and supporting them with customized financial and value-added solutions.

The clinic, which was held at the East Airport branch of Ecobank for over 60 participants, provided enhanced training on Digital Marketing, Website Design, Graphic Design and Financial solutions from Ecobank.

To ensure effective financial support, an Ellevate account was subsequently opened for each participant at no cost.

Speaking on the event, Dr Loretta Sarpong, the head of the Women's desk at Ecobank said, "Ellevate by Ecobank is designed to support women entrepreneurs and businesses with a full suite of flexible financial and non-financial solutions, and this business clinic in partnership with TANOE WomanRising is one of such solutions. This is the first of a series of clinics scheduled to be organised for women-focused businesses throughout the rest of the year".

On his part, the Head of SME for Ecobank Ghana, Mr Kingsley Adofo-Addo said "Ellevate by Ecobank is an end-to-end all-inclusive product suite designed for women business owners and leaders. We have done our homework, appreciate their challenges and understand what is required of us as financial partners for our women business owners and leaders to ensure that they reach their full potential."

Speaking on the business clinic, Mr Ekow Mensah, the CEO of TANOE WomanRising said, "Our mission at WomanRising is to equip women entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses and provide them with the needed tools to grow. This business branding and digital marketing clinic comes to augment the efforts of women business owners and leaders to build brand awareness and attract prospective clients."
The acting President of the Shama Traditional Area, Nana Kwamena Wieno II, chief of Yabiw, has commended the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) for its continuous support in education, skills training and health in its host communities.

This follows the presentation of scholarship awards to 142 students from five communities in the Shama District of the Western Region and the Greater Accra Region who received full scholarships for their tertiary education.

At least 104 are from the Aboadze area in (Aboadze, Abuesi, Dwomo, Lower Inchaban and Shama communities) while the rest are from Tema Manhean and Kpone.

Nana Wiwno said the scholarship from WAPCo, had always come as a great relief to students whose parents find it difficult to meet the financial requirements.

The beneficiary students are currently pursuing medicine, pharmacy, engineering, law, social sciences, actuarial science and mathematics, while a few others have already completed their first degree programmes.

Speaking at the ceremony, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs of WAPCo, Dr Isaac Adjei Doku, said the company has for the past nine years, invested more than GH4million in the programme nationwide.

"We believe that in the not distant future, our host communities will have a number of professionals who would contribute to the development of their communities," he said.

The company had also introduced the Community Youth Enterprise Scheme (CYES), which is a skills acquisition programme and upon completion WAPCo gives start up tools to the beneficiaries to enable them set up their own businesses.

The objective of the scholarship he said was to support brilliant but needy students to obtain secondary and technical education, and now university education as well as development of entrepreneurs.

He said each year WAPCo supported 10 young people from each of their seven host communities in Ghana to pursue their education. Five of the beneficiaries were selected under the Scholarship Scheme and the other five for the Community Youth Enterprise Scheme.

The CYES provided the youth who had completed basic education but could not pursue further studies due to financial constraints the opportunity to learn a trade of their choice in recognised vocational and technical institutions in Ghana.

From the outset of the WAGP Project, WAPCo decided to invest in the development of its stakeholder communities, particularly in programmes that have had cumulative impact on the generality of the communities in which it works.

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He said at the early stage and during the construction phase of the pipeline system, its investments in education were to assist local governments to provide the necessary school infrastructure in communities that lack them.

"As a result, we have constructed a number of school projects in the district; key amongst them were the Abuesi Methodist Primary School, Shama Model Junior High School and kindergarten school blocks, and renovated the Dwomo Methodist Junior High School," he said.

He said so far, we have supported 447 students made up of 339 students in the mainstream scholarship scheme and 108 students under the skills acquisition programme.

Director of the Ghana Education Service of the Shama District, Mrs Afia Anoakoah-Quansah noted that WAPCo continued to invest in the communities in which they operated and they must be commended.

"This is a succession plan that the company is building; thank you for the foresight, this investment will not go waste and urge beneficiaries to take advantage of this opportunity and learn harder," she said.
The Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Professor Benjamin Nyarko, has advocated the harnessing of the potential of nuclear energy to spur the country's developmental agenda.

He noted that nuclear applications hold key to achieving nine out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to Prof. Nyarko, the goals are energy, SDG-7; health, SDG-3; agriculture, SDG-2; water management, SDG-6; climate action, SDG-13; industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG-9; decent work and economic growth, SDG-8; no poverty, SDG-1; education, SDG-4 and ecosystems, SDG-14 and 15.

Prof. Nyarko, who is also the Vice President of Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO), was speaking at an engagement with some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on SDG eight and nine, organised by the Nuclear Power Institute of GAEC and GNPPO, in Accra, yesterday.

The engagement was to inform the CSOs and relevant stakeholders on the benefits of nuclear power to national development as well as allay their fears about the safety of the energy option being pursued by the government.

According to Prof. Nyarko, nuclear applications continued to contribute to meeting the developmental objectives of many countries in areas such as power production, human health, food production, water management, and environmental protection.

"The sun produces energy through fusion and the fundamental energy God created is from nuclear reaction, so I don't think anybody should be afraid of nuclear energy," he said.

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Prof. Nyarko explained that SDG eight and nine were interdependent and that without industrialisation there would be no economic development.

"Industries drive the economy of every nation and for industries to thrive, energy will be required, and not just any form of energy but a dense, stable, clean and affordable energy and that is where nuclear energy comes in.

"We are not saying other energy sources should be abandoned. What we are saying is that it should be an addition to Ghana's energy mix just as South Korea and other developed countries have done and are enjoying the benefits," he said.

The Director of Nuclear Power Ghana, Dr Stephen Yamoah, said the nuclear project and programme, were to propel industrial growth and improve on technology and services.

Citing the South Korea's industrial transformation of which nuclear energy played a key role, he said "Today they are not just an economic giant, they are selling nuclear technologies and nuclear power plants to other countries.

"Nuclear energy is a very interesting technology that as a country we must take very seriously to help transform our country".

A representative of CSOs platforms on SDGs in Ghana, Mr Kwadwo Owusu, said: "If we make good strides in the generation of energy, I think almost all the SDGs stand to benefit."
The experts say nuclear energy, also called nuclear power, atomic energy or atomic power, is a form of energy that is obtained through nuclear reaction that releases heat energy which in turn heats water into steam to turn steam turbines to produce electrical power. Nuclear energy can be obtained from fusion, fission or nuclear decay reactions.

One method of releasing nuclear energy is by controlled nuclear fission in devices called reactors, which now operate in many parts of the world for the production of electricity.

Another method for obtaining nuclear energy, controlled nuclear fusion, yet to be perfected, is said holds promise.

The foregoing point tallies with the assertion by Professor Benjamin Nyarko, the Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), that nuclear applications continue to contribute to meeting the development objectives of many countries in areas such as power production, human health, food production, water management, and environmental protection.

The Ghanaian Times is delighted at this piece of information because already Ghana wants to include nuclear energy in its energy mix by 2029.

Already, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the State Atomic Energy Corporation of the Federation of Russia (ROSATOM), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in August 2015 to construct a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Ghana. The country is expected to purchase the Russian model VVER (water-water energetic reactor) with capacity ranging between 1000-1200 MW, according to the signed agreement.

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When it materialises, the country would have its energy production boosted as the industrialisation the government wishes to undertake would have sustainable energy.

However, there are a few questions to be answered. One of them has to do with the stage of preparation towards the establishment of the NPP almost six years after the related MoU was signed.

The second one is the fear associated with nuclear production. Even though Prof. Nyarkoh seems to allay such fear by his statement that "the sun produces energy through fusion and the fundamental energy God created is from nuclear reaction, so I don't think anybody should be afraid of nuclear energy", this is not enough to banish such fear.

There must be sustained intensive education for the citizenry and even some well-educated people to accept the use of nuclear energy production and use because their fear is rooted in some nuclear accidents that have occurred in other parts of the world.

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission can undertake such public education with its agencies.

Another question relates to cost of production and, for that matter, of use.It is on record that renewables such as solar and wind are relatively cheaper than the nuclear power. Are we, as a country, ready for the cost, even though countries like South Korea are massively using it?

The story, however, is that the introduction of the 1200 MW nuclear energy, if it materialises, would change the current scenario. It is said that the addition of nuclear energy to the generation mix will not only increase the installed capacity but also lead to a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases into the environment, which has a telling effect on lives.
Harith General Partners, one of the largest investors in African Infrastructure, has announced a US$200 million capital raise in a follow-up fund to its Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) 2, which is open to existing and new investors.

The PAIDF 2 Infrastructure Top Up Fund is a shorter term vehicle that is being established to take advantage of very near-term expansion opportunities in some of the best performing PAIDF 2 portfolio companies and realise a mature pipeline of high-quality infrastructure opportunities for investors.

Harith's PAIDF 1 & PAIDF 2 portfolio companies include Aldwych Holdings Limited, one of the largest Independent Power Provider's on the continent; leading South African telecommunications infrastructure group CIVH; MainOne, an undersea cable company and leading provider of innovative telecom services and network solutions for businesses in West; Lanseria International Airport, South

Africa's only privately owned international airport; the busiest border post in Southern Africa, Beitbridge Border Post, among others.

The capital raised will be invested in existing PAIDF portfolio company expansion opportunities as well as in selected key new pipeline deals and strategic infrastructure investment opportunities. These opportunities are both pre-determined and existing.

Since 2007, PAIDF 1 has recorded a 36 per cent increase in the USD amount invested. The fund had a Portfolio Valuation of US$742.9 million at December 31, 2020. PAIDF 2 has recorded an 84 per cent increase in the amount invested and had a portfolio valuation of US$471.8 million as at 31 December 2020.

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Mr Sipho Makhubela, CEO Harith General Partners commenting on the feat said "Rather than just investing in potential future projects, our PAIDF 2 Top-Up Fund provides investors with immediate exposure to established, world-class assets that are generating returns today and an experienced management team that has been together for more than a decade, making investments in some of the most difficult environments on the continent.."

"Harith is therefore uniquely positioned to capitalise upon the critical infrastructure requirements presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The PAIDF 2 Top-Up fund will further invest in up to eight core strategic transactions that will strengthen capacity to leverage large-scale future projects and allow Harith to scale up its existing position in some of the best portfolio companies in the PAIDF Portfolio," he said.
Residents of Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, have appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reappoint Victoria Peprah as Chief Executive for Birim Central Municipal to continue with the several development initiatives.

They pleaded with the president to consider the competence already shown by Madam Peprah during her tenure and nominate her for the job for continuous progress.

The residents said the caretaker Municipal Chief Executive had worked to address challenges confronting the municipality and she worked for the construction of classroom blocks and provided several furniture for basic schools, which had mitigated the burden on parents and helped promote quality education.

They noted that some infrastructural challenges had been solved and the rest were under construction and during her administration, the municipality was selected to benefit from the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP).

The residents indicated that during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Madam Peprah supported and assisted traders and the public with hand sanitisers, nose masks, veronica buckets, soap and other protective items and the initiative helped families and households to make some savings as a result since people did not have to buy any COVID-19 protective gears with their pocket monies. -GNA
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sent a request to Parliament to consider and approve the nomination of private legal practitioner, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, as the next Special Prosecutor.

Mr Agyebeng, who was called to the bar in October 2003, has been nominated to replace Mr Martin Amidu who resigned from the position late last year.

He was nominated by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, on April 16 as the second occupant of the office.

According to a press statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin, President Akufo-Addo "deems Mr Agyebeng as being eminently qualified to become Special Prosecutor."

The statement said President Akufo-Addo has, by a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, dated April 29, requested Parliament to approve the appointment.

"The President is hopeful that Parliament will expedite the confirmation process of Mr Kissi Agyebeng, so he can assume the position without delay," it said.

Mr Agyebeng holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from the University of Ghana and Master of Law (LLM) degrees from Dalhousie University and Cornell Law School.

The Appointment Committee of Parliament is expected to invite Mr Agyebeng for vetting and present its report to the House.

The House will then take a decision on his approval through a vote.
Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said Friday 07/05/2021 that he is eager to encourage the export sector as it is a key pillar to the national economy and a genuine locomotive for growth.

In a statement by the Finance Ministry, Maait said the ministry is working hard to overcome any obstacles that could face exporters and producers, saying that the customs authority spares no effort to ease measures for exporters in order to reduce the time of customs clearance.

For this purpose, the head of the customs authority has established a unit for supporting exporters and producers in implementation of the directives of the finance minister to boost governance, support the export sector, and remove all the hardships could face the exporters.
Transport Minister Kamel el Wazir visited Damietta Port to follow up the implementation of a number of projects.

In a statement on Friday 07/05/2021, the Transport Ministry said that Wazir was apprised of the latest development of the projects and raised the flag on a new tugboat that was received recently.

Wazir visited the project of the new west wave barrier which aims at decreasing the annual expenses and decreasing agglutinating. He also visited the project of renovating the east wave barrier.

The ministry is working on developing all maritime ports to benefit from their geographical location and increase their competitiveness to international trade ports.

Meanwhile, Wazir held an extended meeting with members of parliament and senate in Damietta in the presence of Damietta governor.

This comes within the framework of continuous contact with lawmakers of the two houses in the different governorates to improve services offered to citizens.
The Egyptian government's Unified Government Complaints System received and monitored 106,000 complaints, requests, questions and appeals in April, according to a report reviewed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli.

The report introduced by the concerned complaints system shows its performance in dealing and responding to complaints submitted by citizens over the past month.

In this regard, Madbouli said on Friday 07/05/2021 the government is keen on effectively communicate with the citizens through various channels, topped by the complaints system upon President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's directives.

The premier thanked the cooperating ministries and bodies for solving the citizens' problems.

Head of the unified government complaint system Tareq el Refae said the citizens' complaints have been examined and redirected to bodies concerned for taking action.

According to the report, 78% of the complains have been redirected to the ministries, while 15% of them were redirected to the governorates.

Ministries of Electricity, Awqaf, Agriculture, Health, Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Manpower, Supply and Internal Trade, ICT, Housing, Education and Transportation achieved high rates of dealing with the complaints and solved them within April.
Sudan  Sudanese Christians celebrated Easter on Sunday, May 2, the Coptic date for Easter according to the Orthodox Church calendar. For the occasion, Radio Dabanga decided to investigate the experiences of Christians in Sudan before and after the ousting of former dictator Omar Al Bashir.

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok congratulated Sudanese Christians on this 'glorious Easter holiday'. The PM conveyed his Easter wishes to "the Sudanese church leadership and people inside and outside the country,".

"May God make all their days a feast, may they be happy, doing well, and enjoying stability", Hamdok wrote on his official Facebook account

The public celebration of Christian holidays has not always been supported by the country's authorities. During the dictatorship of Omar Al Bashir (1989-2019), religious minorities were severely repressed in Sudan. Christian holidays were not recognised.

However, less than two weeks after the ousting of Al Bashir in 2019 Sudan's Transitional Military Council reinstated Sunday as the official recess day for Christian schools in the country. In December that year, the new government declared Christmas a public holiday for the first time in a decade.

A church service in the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, in 2015 (World Watch Monitor)

For the occasion of this Easter holiday, Radio Dabanga reached out to several Christians in the country asking them if they experience any change following the revolution. However, many were not keen to answer questions in the media.

Jirjis Efendi*, a Nuba Christian basic school teacher from Omdurman, told Radio Dabanga that Sudanese Christians keep to themselves "because of the fear we had during the former regime".

"Christian people here are not used yet to freely expressing their opinion on religious subjects," he said. "Many can still not believe that Sudan has changed."

After Omar Al Bashir took power through a military coup in 1989, Sudan witnessed a significant clampdown on religious freedoms.

Especially from 2012 onwards, organisations such as Christian Solidarity Worldwide and the Sudanese Human Rights and Development Organisation (HUDO) reported an increase in detentions and deportations of Christians and in the "systematic targeting" of Christian minorities, such as Nuba Christians in South Kordofan.

Many priests and other Christians were detained by the infamous National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

At the end of 2012 and early 2013, the NISS in Khartoum expelled more than 240 foreign Christians from the country, accusing them of secretly evangelising Sudanese Muslims.

The government also prohibited the construction of churches and church buildings were frequently confiscated and demolished or burned.

A demolished church building in Khartoum (Radio Tamazuj)

After the fall of the Al Bashir regime, things have changed. In August 2019, the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) signed a Constitutional Document that includes provisions regarding freedom of belief and worship.

After taking office, PM Hamdok promised that his administration would address "religious discrimination," and the minister of religion invited Jews and Christians who had to leave to return to Sudan.

In his Easter message, Hamdok said that one of the main goals of the current transition process is that "the Sudanese, with their various religions, will be united".

"Our aspiration is to achieve change and democratic transition after the painful years of tyranny, of setting groups against each other, and of the deliberate exclusion of some communities", Hamdok wrote.

He invited Christians to "actively participate in the process of rebuilding and developing the homeland according to their wishes so that we can realise a new and different Sudan that accommodates all".

Teacher Jirjis Efendi also spoke about a "great change". Christians in post-revolution Sudan "are able to perform their religious prayers and organise their religious celebrations and events in public spaces with complete freedom, something new after 30 years of oppression, he told Radio Dabanga.

"The [Muslim] Minister of Religious Affairs even attends Christian celebrations and occasions, that are now recognised as official holidays," he noted.

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"Another positive development is the permission to construct new churches in a number of states, and Christian schools are allowed again to give lessons on Saturday instead of Sunday so that the teachers and pupils are able to attend the Sunday mass.

Yet, Efendi also said that there are still things to be done. Teachers specialised in Christian education are still not appointed in state schools. As for Christian educational textbooks, they are still printed by private printing houses and not by the Education Ministry - which prints all the other textbooks, including Muslim education and Islamic jurisprudence.

Furthermore, attacks on Christians or church buildings still took place after the ousting of Al Bashir. In March last year, two churches were burnt down in the space of three weeks whilst three churches were set on fire twice in the space of four weeks in January that year according to HUDO.

Lawyer Demas Marjan accused the Sudanese government authorities of covering up on the burnings and practising a media blackout.

* Jirjis Efendi is a pseudonym.
analysis

Eritrea's Office of the Auditor General (OAG) was established in 1992 and it constitutes the Supreme Audit Institution in Eritrea. Its mandate encompasses auditing or causes auditing of all government institutions and parastatals; to impound documents where it suspects there are fraudulent activities and crimes and, investigate accordingly; to establish and follow on audit tools and standards; to advise the Ministry of Finance in preparation of financial rules and regulations, where necessary; and to issue certificates of competence to private auditors and accountants.

The Audit Services Corporation was also established to audit the public enterprises and parastatals, which functions under the general supervisory control of the Auditor General.

The functional structure of the OAG was designed and updated to respond to national and international requirements of the Audit profession. Currently, it has two Audit Departments - each of with has three Audit Divisions - and three other Support Services Divisions; namely Finance and Administration, the Human Resources Development, and the Information System.

The OAG began its operations with 34 employees in 1992. Since then, it has been working to develop its human resources. In 1998, due to the war with Ethiopia, the employees, like many other Eritreans, performed their national duty to defend their country. When the situation settled, they returned to their former posts in the OAG.In the subsequent years, the OAG has made considerable progress in terms of human and material resources, and it has contributed a lot to the establishment and enhancement of the Eritrean Public Sector Financial Management System through auditing services. The Government of the State of Eritrea has consistently supported the OAG to strengthen its capacity. However, the OAG has not yet reached the capacity where it can audit every government organization annually. Currently, there are 139 employees, including the Administration and Finance, HRD, and IS personnel.

Though the human resource requirement still has a wide gap to fill, the OAG has been working to equip its employees with the necessary professional skills by organizing domestic and international training workshops. Mr. Gherezgiher Ghebremedhin, the Auditor General, stated, "Our manpower is our sole capital. If we can't develop this capacity, the service that we provide will not persist." For this reason, the OAG strives to keep in shape not only its employees but also all accountants and internal auditors who work in the public financial management of the country. That is why the OAG has also been offering training that focuses on internal audit to employees from different government organizations.

The OAG is expanding its services to wider branches and functions of all institutions. This is not only in terms of quantity, but also the quality and the type of auditing services extended to the institutions. For example, while only Financial and Compliance Audits were traditionally practiced in the OAG, in 2019 Performance Audit was introduced, too.

Most of the time, auditing is done annually unless there is an urgent accounting matter that needs a real-time audit. However, given that there is a challenge in terms of manpower in the OAG, it gives priority to institutions with significant annual budgets and those perceived as sensitive by conducting a risk assessment procedure through the analysis of predetermined factors. For example, while the institutions with a significant annual budget and those that have complicated accounting systems are audited annually, the institutions with relatively lower risk are audited on a rotational basis in an interval of 3-4 years.

In Eritrea, embezzlement is relatively uncommon. However, we cannot say that there are not deficiencies in managing government property and documents. Providing organizations with audit recommendations to improve the internal control system to prevent and manage the risk of mismanagement and embezzlement is one of the tasks that the OAG is persistently working on.

Internal auditing is not a new concept in the public sector, but external audit has been receiving little attention within the private sector. In the past 30 years, the OAG has been working hard to create awareness among the public regarding the benefits of auditing. As a result of its continuous efforts, the OAG has managed to encourage and strengthen the internal audit functions in government organizations. "We have been working to change the perception of auditing as a fault-finding tool. Instead, we promote the idea that the OAG is a consulting partner that assists management in eliminating any business glitches," Mr. Gherezgiher said.

In its 29 years of auditing, the OAG has been challenged by many factors. The biggest downside is a lack of sufficient and skilled human resources, although the government and the OAG have been working relentlessly to fill the gap. Until now, the OAG has managed to acquire only one-third of the minimum required manpower for the effective provision of the audit service in the country. According to Mr. Gherezgiher, poor application of financial and property management directives in the audit clients, and the inability to retain professional auditors by the OAG are some of the major challenges.

In strengthening its positive impact in the public financial management system of the country and building its own capacity, the OAG closely works with national and international stakeholders and organizations.

Nationally, it has close working relationships with the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the President, the Law Enforcement Institutions, and the Private Auditors when conducting its audits. It also works closely with the Ministry of Information for increasing public awareness about auditing. In addition, the OAG works with other regional and international organizations that are mandated with standard-setting for accounting and auditing. In collaboration with regional organizations and other Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), the OAG conducted several training workshops. In filling its gaps in human resources, it works closely with the National Higher Education and Research Institute, the Human Resources Coordination Centre, located in Adi Halo, as well as relevant departments in different national colleges.

Regarding its prospects, the OAG issued a 5-year strategic plan for 2019-2023. According to this strategic plan, the OAG is working on the efficient and effective implementation of the identified goals and objectives. To increase its value, the OAG is also working on building up its capacity by optimizing its institutional structure, adding various audit genres, and equipping its employees with the necessary skills to keep pace with emerging developments in the auditing profession. Moreover, the OAG plans to digitalize its documents and functions so as to reduce the time and energy exerted, and provide more efficient service to the government and the people. "Finally, strengthening our relationship with the stakeholders and regional and international audit organizations is a contributing factor to all the other plans that we have at hand," Mr. Gherezgiher said.

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Though the OAG is relatively a new Supreme Audit institution as compared to other Supreme Audit Institutions in our region, it has already garnered considerable credibility as an audit institution. Indeed, the former Auditor General, H.E. Mr. Berhane Habtemariam obtained an Award in 2007from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants International (ACCA) in recognition of his efforts for introducing and promoting the audit profession in Eritrea. The OAG also received recognition for 'Best Progress Demonstrated During 2014 Technical Update', as well as the 'Award of Recognition in Performance Auditing' in 2018. Both awards were from the African Organization for English Speaking Supreme Audit Institutions, an umbrella organization of the Regional Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions.

Overall, the OAG in Eritrea is one of the most vital organs of the government. For many years, it has played a large, significant role in ensuring accountable institutional management by creating awareness among the civil servants and the public at large.
Abuja  The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) yesterday disclosed that it was forging closer ties with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to unravel the actual owners of oilfields and other assets in the country.

NEITI disclosed that both organisations have resolved to establish a joint coordination committee to identify, document and disclose the owners under the country's implementation of "Beneficial Ownership" policy of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

A statement by the NEITI's Head of Communications and Advocacy, Mrs. Obiageli Onuorah, noted that the decisions were taken at a meeting between the management of the two agencies held in Abuja.

Speaking during the meeting, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji described the CAC as a dependable ally in Nigeria's implementation of the global EITI's beneficial ownership disclosure requirements.

The NEITI executive secretary explained that the documentation of the owners of the assets would help to check illicit financial flows, terrorism financing, tax evasion and diversion of government revenues.

"The CAC has the institutional responsibility of keeping the register of all companies doing business in Nigeria while NEITI sits on information and data on oil assets, key players and investors in the extractive industries. We therefore need each other to build a consolidated data base on beneficial ownership disclosures.

"The knowledge repository in the two agencies makes it important for us to work together to ensure that the commitment made by Nigeria to the international community on effective implementation of beneficial ownership in the extractive industry is realised," Orji explained.

He described access to information by the citizens as the power to hold government and companies doing business in Nigeria accountable.

"The exclusion of information about our natural resources was at a huge cost to the Nigerian economy and affected Nigeria's optimisation of revenues from its natural resource wealth.

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"With your cooperation and reputation, we can help our government fight the resource curse which is the reason the EITI and NEITI exist," Orji said.

He commended the Registrar General of CAC, Mr. Garba Abubakar for the reforms ongoing at the CAC and re-affirmed NEITI's readiness to forge closer ties with the commission to strengthen institutional reforms.

Abubakar assured of the CAC's irrevocable commitment to partner NEITI towards meeting the compliance standards set by the global EITI in beneficial ownership reporting.

He stated that the CAC was already working on a comprehensive beneficial ownership register that would be of global standard, stressing that since January 3 this year, all companies registering to do business in Nigeria were required to disclose the identity of their real owners.

"This information became a requirement by the CAC for purposes of beneficial ownership information in public interest for anyone who needs it and at no cost to other government agencies," he said.

He listed some of the reforms that have been introduced by the CAC to include the use of electronic workflows and digitisation of its processes including post - registration activities.

"From January 2021, CAC upgraded to an end-to end electronic registration, abolishing the printing of registration certificates", he explained.

The two agencies also agreed to expand collaboration as key members of Open Government Partnership (OGP) on ease of doing business and extractive revenues governance, transparency and accountability.
Tunis/Tunisia  Tunisia denounced with "the utmost firmness" the invasion of the esplanade of the al-Aqsa mosque by the occupation forces and the aggression of "unarmed" Palestinian worshippers.

More than 200 Palestinians were injured on Friday night in a clash with the occupation forces, which invaded the mosque.

In a statement released on Saturday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Tunisia reiterates its call to the international community to ensure "rapid" protection of the Palestinian people against these "repeated" aggressions, calling on the occupation forces to comply with the resolutions of international legitimacy.

Tunisia reaffirms its constant support to the Palestinians to recover their "violated" rights, the same statement said.
Tunis/Tunisia  The EU delegation to Tunisia announces the opening of applications for the 2nd edition of the Lina Ben Mhenni Prize for Freedom of Expression, which rewards the best articles defending the principles and values of democracy, freedoms and rights shared by Tunisia and the EU.

The award is a tribute to Lina's struggle and also a EU initiative to continue supporting democracy in Tunisia, whose media landscape is changing, said the EU delegation in a statement.

Lina Ben Mhenni, a blogger and leading figure of the 2011 revolution, died on January 27, 2020, at the age of 36, of a chronic illness. She was a human rights defender.

Her name had been considered for the Nobel Peace Prize after the revolution that ousted the former president from power in 2011.

Tunisian journalists, bloggers and whistleblowers who are willing to participate can send their investigative articles by October 31, 2021, the EU delegation to Tunisia specifies, adding that the prizes will be awarded on December 10, 2021 on the International Human Rights Day.

The Jury is composed of Larbi Chouikha (president), Assia Atrous, Olfa Belhassine, Henda Chennaoui, Sadok Ben Mhenni (representing the Lina Ben Mhenni Association) and a representative of the EU delegation to Tunisia.

The latter said that this award coincides with the observance of the World Press Freedom Day.

On this occasion, the EU reiterates its "unwavering" support for this democratic foundation and expresses commitment to assist the Tunisian media for free, independent and credible information, reads the same statement.

Those interested can contact the EU delegation to Tunisia at the following address: DELEGATION-TUNISIA-LINA-BEN-MHENNI-PRIZE@eeas.europa.eu
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Refuge Place International (RPI), Dr. Mosoka P. Fallah, has been invited as one of the panelists at ensuing 'Decolonising Global Health in Africa' Webinar to be hosted by Newmark Group IMC and the Global Health Decolonisation Movement in Africa (GHDM-Africa).

In a communication from the Senior Management at the 'Decolonising Global Health in Africa' Webinar, the event will be paneled by Dr. Fallah alongside Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, Executive Director, African Population and Health Research Center.

According to him, the panelist will share their vast knowledge and experience on the important subject matter.

"We are incredibly honoured to have you for this upcoming webinar on 'Decolonising Global Health in Africa', and we cannot wait to hear all of you share your vast knowledge and experience on this very important subject matter," said the communication.

Among other things, the communication indicates that Dr. Lioba Hirsch, PhD, Research Fellow at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will serve as guest speaker at the occasion.In a related development, the former Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) has been invited by the Center for Population-Level Bioethics, at Rutgers University in the US to serve as one of the four panelists on the webinar under the Theme, "The Ethical Imperative: Global Vaccine Equity". The program is slated May 12, 2021 through a zoom meeting on the Global Vaccine Access.

In a communication to Dr. Fallah from Nir Eyal, Founder and Director of the Center for Population-Level Bioethics (CPLB) at Rutgers University, the Liberian health expert will share his experiences on lessons on international cooperation in infectious disease outbreaks, especially from the Ebola pandemic and applied to sharing vaccines in the current one.

"As we see it now, we'd like to ask you which lessons on international cooperation in infectious disease outbreaks we should have learned from the Ebola pandemic and applied to sharing vaccines in the current one," the invitation noted.

The CPLB is a new center at the Rutgers University dedicated to the study of macro-level bioethical dilemmas: those that arise outside the clinical encounter, at the level of the population, the state, the country, or the globe.

Questions of interest range from the theoretical to the applied, such as how to conceptualize measure and evaluate health inequalities or disease severity; how to prioritize resources between disease areas, rural and urban patients, and age cohorts or generations; the acceptability of paternalistic health promotion measures; and many others.

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The approach emphasizes collaboration and interdisciplinary, and seeks to inform and be informed by other fields of inquiry such as general ethics and philosophy, health policy, and health economics. We welcome innovative questions and methods and ambitious thinking, and value clear presentation of ideas.

The work of CPLB engages a broad range of bioethical issues, especially in population-level bioethics. We work on the measurement and fair distribution of health care and of benefits and risks from health policy and other public policies; ethical questions about health promotion; normative aspects of climate change and existential risk; and ethical issues in research on human participants, especially as it interacts with population health; among other things.
The "political" legal fight between Lofa County County Senator-elect Brownie Samukai and the Liberian government has deepened to the point that Supreme Court Justice in Chambers, Joseph Nagbe has ordered his certification process halted.

Justice Nagbe order says until the former Defense Minister and others restitute more than One Million United States Dollars misappropriated from the Armed Forces of Liberia salaries account, his certification should be on hold.

The Justice in Chambers instructed the Supreme Court Clerk to Communicate with the National Elections Commission not to certificate Mr. Samukai until he and the other defendants can pay the AFL embezzled funds.

The Associate Justice handed-down the ruling Tuesday, May 4,2021 when he responded to statements from the National Elections Commission.

The Elections Commission in its statements to the Supreme Court Justice in Chambers maintained that the Petitioner Movement for Progressive Change did not have the legal authority to file a writ of Prohibition, and for a single Justice to overturn the full bench decision which initially instructed NEC to proceed with the Certification process following a case that was filed by some Lofa citizens.

The petitioner further explained that the respondent Samukai being convicted by the first Judicial Circuit for Montserrado County, Criminal Court 'C' for the Crimes of theft of Property, Criminal Conspiracy and misused of public funds, which final ruling the Supreme Court Affirmed in the court's opinion had on February 8, following an appeal filed before the court.

" He is a convicted felon whose civil liberties are ceased for committing the Crimes as charged; hence, he cannot occupy and serve in a public office as Senator- elect of Lofa county until the disability is removed; that is, by serving the sentence and certifying the penalty imposed by the trial court and subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court," the petitioners added.

Upon the filing of the petition, justice Nagbe issued a stay order on the NEC and cited the parties to a conference on March 9.

Following the conference, Justice Nagbe ordered the alternative writ for prohibition issued against the Respondents herein and further ordered the clerk of the court to notify said respondents to file their respective return on or before March 16.

Justice Nagbe explained that if the NEC were to proceed to certificate Samukai as senator- elect for Lofa county, he would be seated as senator who was convicted by the court and which conviction has imposed upon him a disability that can be removed by serving the sentence and fully satisfying the penalty, therefore suspended sentence by operation of law does not vitiate the Crime so committed.

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Justice Nagbe noted that the statutory law on disqualification or forfeiture contained in the penal code and the 1986 constitution already cited supra are intended to punish crimes so committed.

He furthered that," in this case, the law provides specifically in section 50.12 and Articles 21(j) of the constitution that Samukai must forfeit the holding of a public office until the sentence is full satisfied the amount of US$ 1,147,656.35 is fully restituted."

The Associate also said that the law extant require that any official of government, whether in the Legislature, executive or Judiciary must take oath before taking upon the duties of the office to which he/ she is be elected or appointed.
President Muhammadu Buhari has warned against attacks on police and military formations in the southeast.

In a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, the president condoled with all who lost family members due to what he described as the "madness" going on in parts of the country.

The Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), is suspected to be behind the spate of attacks on military and police formations in the southeast.

Buhari called on all local leaders to talk to their youths and warn them against being used to incite and foment violence.

The president asked: "If we attack institutions guarding us, who will protect us in future emergencies?"

The latest of such attacks happened on Sunday. Hoodlums suspected to be affiliated with the proscribed IPOB razed Ubani Police station, along Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Akara road, in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.

The police station, which was established to serve the Ubani International Market and a private housing estate along the road, was attacked by the arsonist in the early hours of Sunday.

Daily Trust gathered that the station is no longer in use by the police as they have relocated inside the TradeMoore Housing Estate.
Tunis/Tunisia  The Provisional Authority in charge of determining the constitutionality of laws (French: IPCCPL) received a challenge over the unconstitutionality of the organic bill amending and completing the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court, filed by a group of MPs, IPCCPL Secretary Hayder Ben Amor told TAP Saturday.

Over 30 MPs affiliated to the Democratic bloc and non-affiliated Saturday lodged a challenge against the unconstitutionality of the bill on the Constitutional Court adopted last May 4, after it was returned by the President of the Republic, deputy Haikel Mekki (Echaab Movement) told TAP.

The challenge invokes a violation of Article 46 of the Constitution as well as of Article 81, given that the bill returned by the President of the Republic for a second reading was not examined within the committee as stated, but was directly submitted to the plenary, the MP added.

It also indicated that the bill was directly sent to the plenary by the parliament's Bureau, while it is up to the crisis unit to schedule plenary sessions to review bills under the exceptional provisions and by a two-thirds majority.

The MPs also challenged voting the bill in its entirety, without debating its title and its articles, Mekki said.

The challenge also included the time dedicated to the general debate (only 15 minutes) as well as to the vote (1 hour instead of 15 minutes), which is a "serious violation of the procedures in force" made by the chair of the session, the same source said.

The parliament last May 4 adopted the draft organic law amending and completing the Organic Law No. 2015-50 on the Constitutional Court after its return by the President of the Republic, with 141 votes for, 15 against and 10 abstentions.
Investigations into alleged fraud in the selling of the Gandun Sarki land had recently pitched the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, against the state's Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC).

The investigation, coming barely a year after Emir Bayero ascended the throne, is similar to the corruption probe that shook the reign of his predecessor, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

This time, it is the sale of 22 hectares of land at Gandun Sarki, Dorayi Karama, in Gwale Local Government Area of the state and alleged diversion of the money into private royal pockets that have landed the Kano royals in hot waters.

But the Kano Emirate Council had in its reply to enquiries from PCACC said it never approved the sale of the land and so, the purported sale was null and void.

Court papers in a suit filed by the alleged buyer, Alhaji Yusuf Shuaibu Aliyu, to restrain the anti-corruption boss from stopping construction works, had indicated that the Emirate Council sold 14 of the 22 hectares to him at N200m while the heirs of the late Emir Ado Bayero sold the remaining eight hectares to him at N575m.

The court case as well as a petition from the Dorayi Development Association had triggered the PCACC investigation, which observers said could turn out to be an albatross for the new emir just like his predecessor.

The Chairman of the PCACC, Muhyi Magaji Rimingado, had in an earlier interview confirmed that the commission is investigating the Council and all those involved in the transaction.

But the council had in its letter dated April 15 and signed by Alhaji Abba Yusuf, the Council's Secretary, said it "views with great concern some allegations made against certain individuals, some of whom are employees of the Council. Accordingly, the Council has started its own investigation into this matter, the outcome of which will be made available to your commission."

Subsequently, the Council implored the anti-graft commission "to please bear with it and exercise due restrain [sic] pending the outcome of its investigation."

The commission would later question the trio of Kabiru Sarki Waziri (son of Danrimin Kano), Isa Sunusi Bayero and Awaisu Abbas Sunusi, after insisting that the Council's administrative investigation could not stop its ongoing criminal investigation.

It was, however, gathered that elders in the state have intervened in the matter with the aim of saving the royal family from further public resentment, akin to what it suffered during the dethronement saga of former Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.

The intervention, it was further gathered, will give the three persons fingered as the orchestrators of the sale of the land a soft landing as long as they refund the money collected from the alleged buyer of the property.

Like Sanusi, like Bayero?

While there are other variables that differentiate the present development from what led to the dethronement of Emir Sanusi, allegations of fraud in the sale of royal assets and the "probe" by the state anti-corruption commission are familiar routes.

The PCACC had investigated the dethroned Emir and the Kano Emirate Council on the sale of landed properties belonging to the Emirate Council.

But before the probe, it was obvious to observers of development in Kano State that there was no love lost between the dethroned Emir and the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

And while the probe by the PCACC rings a familiar tune, one thing the current Emir has in his advantage is his perceived cordial relationship with the governor.

This, it was gathered, may be the reason for the silence from Governor Ganduje and his appointees while the investigation rages.

Down history lane

The Kano State government dethroned Emir Muhammadu Sanusi ll on March 9, 2020 over allegation of disrespect to the office of the governor and other government agencies, bringing to an end the battle between the governor and the emir despite reconciliation efforts by notable Nigerians including that led by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Sanusi, who was named the new emir of Kano in June 2014, spent 5 years, 9 months and 2 days on the throne.

The clash between him and the governor had started long before May 8, 2019 when the governor signed into law a bill for the creation of four new emirates, all of which used to be districts under the Kano Emirate Council.

Sanusi, a former governor of the country's apex bank, had been critical of some of the policy decision of the state government including seeking foreign loans and was alleged to be working against the re-election bid of the governor.

But the government had said the dethronement was because of "his (Emir) total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the State Governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organised by the government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination,"

Historians noted that the dethronement of Emir Sanusi II had a similar undertone with the dethronement of his grandfather, Muhammadu Sanusi I, by the then Premier of Northern Nigeria, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello.

It was said that the older Sanusi and Bello were allies but fell apart due to some political differences.

According to Malam Idris Basheer, a Kano-based historian, Alhaji Isa Kaita, who was the Northern Region's Minister for Works and later Minister of Education, was one of the closest advisers of the premier and was dispatched to Lagos to inform the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, about the plan of the Sardauna to depose Emir Sanusi.

"When he got to Lagos, he met the then Prime Minister in company of his five ministers - Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Zanna Bukar Suloma Dipcharima, Alhaji Maitama Sule and Alhaji Tudun Wada. The ministers advised against the premier's decision. Upon delivering the message, the Prime Minister told Alhaji Kaita that the Sardauna should not act that way. However, Kaita told Tafawa Balewa that he was there to inform them that Sardauna had made up his mind, and was not going back," revealed Idris.

It was on record that Emir Sanusi was in 1963 dethroned and banished to Azare in present Bauchi State. After the deposition of the Emir, the Turaki of Kano and district head of Dawakin Kudu, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Abbas, became the Emir. His reign was less than 12 months before he died.

According to a political analyst, Comrade Hassan Bello Jaja, the second crisis between the state administration and Kano Emirate was in the Second Republic when a radical approach to governance by the PRP led to the emergence of Abubakar Rimi as governor of Kano State in 1979.

He said records revealed that on April 1, 1981, Rimi created four new emirs who were declared to be co-equal with the Emir of Kano at that time, the late Alhaji Ado Bayero (father of the present Emir of Kano).

The four new emirates were Auyo, Dutse, Gaya and Rano while hitherto emirates of second-class status, namely Hadejia, Gumel and Kazaure, were promoted to first class status.

This move was seen by many as an attempt to reduce the influence of Kano Emirate to the lowest level.

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Rimi, it was gathered, then declared emirs to be "mere public servants working under the directives of their local government chairmen."

As an offshoot of this development, Emir Ado Bayero was queried on April 7, 1981 via a letter dispatched to him by the then Secretary to the Kano State Government, Sule Yahaya Hamma, accusing the emir of not respecting the government's invitation and refusing to show up at the venue of a celebration marking the first anniversary in office of the Kano State House of Assembly.

Other allegations were the extension of his 1981 annual leave beyond what was approved, refusal, in spite of invitations, to attend or send representation to the installation ceremonies of the Emirs of Gumel, Auyo, Dutse, Gaya and Rano.

The emir was given 48 hours to forward his defence and to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

It was gathered that the next day, Mansur Kankarofi, Kano State secretary of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), the ruling party at the federal level, issued a press statement saying: "the people of Kano will not allow one of our most respected institutions to be eroded by irresponsible people who by sheer political accident happen to be in the control of the Kano State Government."

The affair completely left the terrain of Kano radicalism and became instrumentalised in a vicious battle between the NPN and the two factions of the PRP.

On July 10, 1981, thugs attacked and killed 34 people and burnt organisations they felt were articulating government propaganda, including Kano Radio and the Triumph newspaper offices. The thugs searched for and assassinated Dr. Bala Mohammed, political adviser to the governor, who was writing the whitepaper that would have led to the removal of the emir.
Kaduna  When the federal government conceived the idea of a 215-megawatt power plant in Kaduna as part of efforts to revive industries that folded up due to unstable power supply, little did those expected to benefit from the project envisage that it would remain incomplete 11 years after.

The contract for the northern Nigeria's biggest power plant project, awarded in November 2009 to General Electric and Rockson Engineering for a dual thermal plant, using Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and natural gas, was expected to have been concluded on December 31, 2013. But almost eight years after the expiration of its deadline and having gulped over N100 billion, the project is yet to take off.

Located around the Kudenda industrial area, off Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway in Kaduna, the power plant, a project of the Federal Ministry of Power, was designed to use eight installed turbine units to add to the power supply in the industrial area. It was expected that with its eventual take-off, 12 textile factories located at the Kakuri industrial area would be the main beneficiaries. Due to its delayed takeoff, however, more textile companies have folded up in Kaduna, with thousands said to have lost their jobs.

Findings by Daily Trust on Sunday had revealed that due to several challenges, the deadline for the completion of the project had been shifted several times.

In 2019, an investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday revealed that the initial completion deadline of December 31, 2013 was shifted to June 2014 and later extended to 2017. With the other challenges resulting from poor state of roads that made it difficult to transport imported equipment from the Onne port to site, the initial takeoff of the project suffered delay.

When our correspondent visited the plant, said to occupy 1, 200 plots of land recently, there was no sign of ongoing work as the place looked deserted, with cobwebs on the gate. A security guard on duty informed our correspondent that the site manager was around, but he declined a meeting as he was said to be busy at that time.

However, in March, 2019, the site manager of Rockson Engineering, Paul Adeyemo, had told Daily Trust that the plant was configured to operate, using both natural gas and diesel fuel.

Adeyemo had said the project initially was sited at Kudenda industrial area instead of Kakuri because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was expected to route a gas pipeline tagged the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) near the site.

The gate of the power plant in Kudenda area of Kaduna

Describing the plant, Adeyemo had said: "It is a 215MW power plant project comprising eight turbine units, which have been installed. Electrical works are at various stages of completion in each unit, and for the first and second units, pre-commissioning has started."

He said what was left was to install the Power Control Module (PCM), which placed the work at 86 per cent completion level for the project, which comprised engineering, procurement and construction.

"Each of the eight units generates up to 25MW. The plant has also been designed in a way that it will be powered by diesel, and gas in the absence of diesel," Adeyemo said.

Nevertheless, even as the takeoff continues to face delay, owners of the plots of land where the plant is presently established say they are yet to be reallocated new plots earlier promised them by the then administration of Namadi Sambo.

In 2014, the then Kaduna State governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, approved the allocation of alternative plots to the people affected by the construction of the power plant, but six years after that approval, only few have been allocated alternative plots while others died waiting.

According to Gora Jatau, the paramount ruler of Anguwan Bahago, where the plant is located, some plots were replaced while others were not. Jatau, a former staff of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), said 15 of his plots had been taken over by the plant project, but he had only been allocated five.

Lami Saleh, a farmer who owned two plots says she has not been allocated any plot

"Some had four plots and they were given one while others have not received any. Many members of the community have died waiting for their allocations," he said.

He appealed to the government to complete the project so that the youths can be gainfully employed, and also replace the plots of land promised to community members.

The paramount ruler further appealed to the government to construct the road leading to Ligari Bridge, as well as build a school, a primary health centre and a police outpost for the community, which he said had a population of about two million people.

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On her part, Lami Saleh, a farmer who owned two plots of land at the plant site said she had not been given or reallocated any plot. She also appealed to the government to reallocate plots for her so that she can continue to engage in her farming business.

The paramount ruler of Anguwan Bahago, Agwa New Extension, Gora Jatau, says only five out of his 15 plots were allocated to him

Just like Jatau and Saleh, the then president of the Power Plant Landowners Association, Garba Haruna, had in 2014 said the landowners had at the beginning of the project told the government that they wanted to be relocated and not compensated because they felt the project would bring lasting development to the state. Haruna had said 99 per cent of what was taken was virgin land divided into plots, while only about 10 people had made some construction attempt.

Today, residents of the area are hoping that upon completion, the power plant would serve to resuscitate the moribund textile factories, which once employed over 35,000 people in Kaduna, as well as provide other youths with job opportunities in the power sector.
SETIF-President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune affirmed on Thursday that the upcoming legislative elections will inject a new momentum into the "national renewal" process, expressing confidence in the willingness of the Algerian people to uphold the rule of law.

"We are convinced of the willingness of the Algerian people to strengthen the foundations of free democratic choice to uphold rule of law and build the sovereign and strong Algeria dreamed by the Shouhada (war veterans) and the Mujahideen," said the Head of State.

The Head of State stressed the importance of valuing the Memory and its transmission to youth, and called it "best guarantee for the immunization of the Nation."

"The sacred message left by our Shouhada who, by their pure blood, paved their way to freedom, requires us to close ranks and form with the Algerian young people a united force to address challenges," he continued.

Regarding these efforts, President Tebboune referred to the recent amendment of the Constitution that enshrined 1st November 1954 and affirmed the respect of the symbols of the Liberation Revolution as well as the development of national history writing and teaching to young people.
Greenville  President George Manneh Weah and Entourage entered Sinoe County yesterday, May 7, 2021 as part of continuation of his Third Leg Nationwide County Tour.

The Liberian Chief Executive, flanked by Intenal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf, Traditional Leaders including Zanzar Karwor and other top-notch Government Officials, are visiting the country's Third Original County, one of the "trio powers" of Liberia's Independence.

While in Murryville, President Weah broke grounds for the construction of a Prison Referral Facility to be built 1m away from the main route leading to the Beach Side.

According to Superintendent Lee Nagbe Chea, the Prison Facility when constructed will be a major correctional facility within the Southeast, and will aid in mitigating crimes.

The Liberian Leader also broke grounds in Murryville for the construction of a 100-bedroom Hospital Facility.

'The Facility will serve as a major boost for health related matters in the area and adjoining communities including Greenville", Liberia's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francis Ketteh was quoted as saying following President Weah who expressed glee while meeting various health practitioners who graced the brief ceremony.
A self-styled Mutare prophet was arrested Saturday in Marondera after he was found in possession of a Rinkal Cobra by police.

According to Information Ministry secretary Nick Mangwana, Maxwell Muguta (28) told police Central Intelligence Department (CID) officers that he had paid US$70 for the serpent in Seke to use it for ritual purposes.

"Madzibaba Maxwell Muguta of Mutare was arrested by CID Marondera after being found in possession of a Rinkal Cobra. He says he had bought it for US$70 from a traditional healer from Seke intending to use it for ritual purposes," Mangwana confirmed.

Muguta is expected to appear in court at the Marondera Magistrates' Court this Monday and the cobra has since been left in the custody of Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management (ZimParks) officers.

According to sources, Muguta was arrested at Makute along the Harare-Mutare Highway while waiting for transport after the police had been tipped the suspect was in possession of a snake. He later told police he had bought the serpent from a Seke traditional healer.

Last week, a Mhangura bogus prophet was slapped with 36 months imprisonment for illegally keeping a two-metre-long African rock python he used as part of his paraphernalia to fake exorcisms.

Chusi Bhunu (31) of Village 2, Binje farm, Doma in Mhangura appeared before Chinhoyi provincial magistrate Ruth Moyo, who sentenced him to 36 months in jail, before suspending six months on condition of good behaviour.

He will, therefore, serve an effective 30 months behind bars.

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The state, led by Review Nikisi, told the court that on 3 May this year Bhunu, who is also a member of the Bible Fellowship Apostolic Ministry, was approached by Farai Makumbi who was seeking prophetic healing for his sick wife, Neria Makumbi.

On the same date, at around 8 pm, Bhunu proceeded to Makumbi's residence at Plot 47, Jechenene also in Doma to perform a healing session for the ailing woman.

It was heard in court that Bhunu was carrying on his back a black traveller's bag.

As he got into his would-be clients' yard, the 'prophet' took out a green sack containing the snake from the bag before placing it outside the house.

However, two family members, Takemore Chando and Edmore Revesai spotted Bhunu hiding the sack and confronted him over the suspicious luggage, but he managed to escape.

ZimParks rangers later arrested Bhunu who indicated to the police how he duped people performing fake miracles using the python valued at US$5 000.
Transport Minister Kamel el Wazir on Saturday inspected service projects that are being implemented in Alexandria Port.

The projects include moving 554 families from slums to newly-established housing units. Their 21,000-meter previous land would be annexed to the port of Alexandria, as part of the expansion of the port's western region.

The minister directed officials to accelerate the pace of work according to the targeted rates to be ready to receive large vessels in the first quarter of 2022.

He also ordered officials to strictly adhere to coronavirus precautionary measures at all worksites.
South African demonstrators march to Parliament to protest against Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt's Mufti Shawqi Allam has strongly condemned the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque and attacks on Palestinian worshipers by Israeli police.

In a statement on Saturday, Allam decried the firing of rubber bullets and tear gas canisters by the Israeli occupation forces towards the Palestinian worshipers after the Maghrib prayers on Friday, leaving several Palestinians wounded.

The hostile acts carried out by the Israeli authorities represent a deliberate provocation of the Palestinian worshipers and deprive them of the right to perform their religious rites, Allam pointed out.

He also denounced Israel's eviction of dozens of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Eastern Jerusalem, which constitutes a violation of the international legitimacy resolutions and international humanitarian law.

MENA
The ministries of tourism and civil aviation have decided to extend the enforcement period of an initiative to promote domestic tourism until May 31, instead of May 15.

However, all hotels will continue to operate within the 50 percent capacity, while adhering to all anti-coronavirus measures and public safety requirements, according to a statement by the civil aviation ministry on Saturday.

The decision, which coincides with the holiday and summer season, was made as part of the government efforts to stimulate domestic tourism, the statement said.

Under the initiative, it has been decided that airline ticket prices for Egyptians and foreigners will continue to be fixed at a flat tax-included rate for arrival and departure from Cairo and Alexandria to Luxor for EGP 1,500 and to Aswan for EGP 1,800.

Moreover, ticket prices from Cairo or Alexandria to Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Taba are set a fixed rate of EGP 1,800 and EGP 2,000 to Marsa Alam.

The initiative was launched by the two ministries as per the recommendations of the Ministerial Committee for Tourism and Antiquities during a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli in December 2020.
Al Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed el Tayyeb said that less demanding obligations (taklif) is a point of strength and an invitation to unity and cohesion in Muslim communities.

Enjoying less demanding obligations open the door to variety, integration and opinion sharing in Muslim communities and thus reduce differences leading to extremism, Tayyeb said in a televised daily sermon during the holy month of Ramadan.

He added that schism and divergence are more harmful than "idolatry" in detroying communities.

The grand imam noted that difference in opinions over religious matters pose a threat to the unity of Mulsims worldwide, because it is exploited by enemies to sow sedition among believers.

He made it clear that most divisions among Muslim sects are politically motivated.
Jos  The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has given the assurance of the federal government's support to the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) by collaborating with the agency and Plateau State to harness the state's rich solid mineral resources potential in order to achieve the much needed diversification of Nigerian economy.

According to him, Plateau state is known for solid mineral resources such as tin, Platinum, zinc, and iron ore, even as the temperate climate of the state supports certain agricultural produce.

Speaking on Friday during an inauguration ceremony of the NSC North-central zonal coordinating office complex in Jos, Amaechi said the resources would need access to both domestic and international markets, and the dry port in Heipang, Jos, will provide such access.

He added that the strategic location of the North-central coordinating office was to ensure delivery of council's services in the North-central zone.

"I therefore implore the good people of Plateau state to put it in optimal and beneficial use when completed."

Amaechi went on to say that the Federal Ministry of Transportation, through the NSC activities, highlights the benefits of the maritime sector as the best alternative for economic diversification. "Let me state categorically that the transportation sector has the potential for employment, investment, and growth of our nation's international trade."

The Minister said the maritime resource centre that the council was promoting is a project with tremendous economic potentials for the state in terms of employment, tourism, and intellectual development.

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"Our vision is to re-engineer the economy by establishing modern transport infrastructure that will strengthen the nation's logistics value chain and support the development of the non-oil sector."

Also speaking, the governor of Plateau state, Mr. Simon Lalong said having the North-central coordinating office in Jos will add a lot of value to the general development of the Inland Container terminal, and will facilitate the economy.

He recalled that Plateau state has been a centre for economic and socio political activities in Nigeria right from colonial times because of its serenity, centrality, easy access, good weather, mining and agricultural activities, hospitality and tourists attraction.

While appreciating the Minister of Transportation and the Governor for their support, the Executive Secretary/CEO of the NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello said that the NSC has a dream of building an international resource centre which would cost N15,000, 000 in Jos.

According to him, "This is a massive and magnificent monument that will include a 5-Star hotel, shopping mall, restaurant, multipurpose halls, conference center (automate) with a capacity of 2,500 persons. The project will be delivered through Public Private Partnership (PPP) and supported at all times by the NSC."
ignored based on ego, ethnocentric or wrong behavioral pattern associated with their character. Others respect the value of gratefulness and ensured those characteristics are well attained in their lives. Conflict is not the means to resolve any scenario in the world. It set apart the humankind and brings about long hatred that goes through generations. In most cases, the generations that never had any physical part to play in the conflict(s), sometimes becomes worst in its reprisal application. Today, I don't know how the problem of Indigenous and settlers or Americo-Liberians will ever be solved. Too much hard feelings. Sad! But, whatever it is, we must be peaceful in Liberia and forgive the wrong past.

However, in the context of the Liberty Party, which was organized by us during the dangerous governance of President Charles Taylor, many nights my family did not see me because I could not come home due to the risk it posed on our lives. Sometimes, we will have meetings to places and there was no way to return home. Prior to the 2005 elections, Romeo D.N. Gbartea, James Innis, Milton F. Quaye, and Jerome Walker (late) were assigned to ensure every citizen in Grand Bassa County understands the philosophy of Liberty Party. We went to every part of the county and ensured the message of Liberty Party resonated to the people. We slept in towns and villages just for our people to get the ideology of Liberty Party. We were always in contact with the local leaders in the county especially George Gaybueh, traditional leaders and prominent citisens.

In 2005, I was working with the National Transitional Government of Liberia as Senior Research Analyst, Advisor and served as Acting Vice Chair for two hours (2003-2005). I had to take some leave of absence to work for the FOB. In fact, I served as one of the authors for the Result Focused Transitional Framework, the policy of the NTGL. My work in the NTGL was on course. I was multi-tasking. However, I had to achieve the objective of Friends of Brumskine (FOB). FOB conceptualized that Gabriel Kpolleh was a teacher and we underscored that to develop the Liberian society, every generation must be educated, therefore we wanted to work with his party but it failed. During a visit to Gabriel Kpolleh Town in 2005, after we slept to the Seminary in Gbarnga, Bong County, Milton F. Quaye and I, drove in my car in the escort with our leader, Counselor Brumskine and we had a terrible accident but only God rescued us. We left the car in the forest and went to Gabriel Kpolleh home. We took the car to Gbarnga and slept in the car until the next morning, then we drove to Monrovia. We would had died and today, the legacy of gratefulness would have been ignored by the leaders in Liberty Party. We must reduce the tension in Liberty Party and prepare for a better future.

In 2008, when the politics was at its peak in Liberia and we wanted to maintain the representative seat of district number three for Byron Browne, Counselor Charles W. Brumskine and Byron Browne felt over the bridge in the river in Klein's Town. Counselor Brumskine had to rescue Byron Browne from the big and running river. Milton F. Quaye and I crawled on the log to reach Klein's Town. Counselor Brumskine had to wear his wet clothes to address the people in Klein's Town, District number three, Grand Bassa County. The FBO/Liberty Party story is pathetic and the leaders in the party must help to reduce the tension for a productive way forward. They must be grateful to the Friends of Brumskine (FOB).

Furthermore, when we knew that the other parts of the country needed to be mobilized, the Friends of Brumskine used its skills to disseminate the message by riding canoes and other means of transportation that was not too normal. Comrades Nathaniel Toe, Murphy Dennis, Isaac Jackson went in the south-east to ensure the people understand the advocacy of Liberty Party. Abel Voker, who was recruited by the first Chairman of FOB, Atty. Jerome Walker (late) ensured Nimba County understood the ideology of Liberty Party. The founding members always worked with the indigenous in the areas they disseminated the information. The legacy of gratefulness must be enhanced and the tension in Liberty Party must reduce.

In the 2017 elections, many political variables were interplaying, therefore I used my progressive skills to advice the political leader Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine on how a party can follow its ideology. Therefore, I recommended Comrade Milton F. Quaye , a student of economics understood the foundation of the FOB movement. Therefore it was good for him to serve. He could even checked "chicken soup" one at a time when there was distribution of foods by Liberty Party in other parts of the country. Life! While Mr. Israel Akinsaya was supporting Ben Sanvee based on his known and unknown variables. I narrated to Counselor Brumskine that Ben Sanvee didn't have the experience and didn't understand the ideology of good governance based on his young advisory role with Pres. Charles G. Taylor. Therefore, Mr. Milton F. Quaye was suitable for the position of Chairman of Liberty Party. Counselor Brumskine escorted Milton to see the renovation of the party's office and was prepared to make the announcement for him to serve when Israel Akinsanya persuaded Mr. Quaye. Life!

Unfortunately, based on my stance, for Milton F. Quaye to be Chairman, Mr. Israel Akinsanya instructed group of men in the party's office to throw me out. This rivalry created serious problem for the party, however I refused to publicize it because it would have created problem for the 2017 campaign. However, little did I know that some of my best friends in the world got the information? The Liberian Government intervened and the police wanted to keep Akinsanya in prison, I didn't want the news to go in the public so I took the pains and agony internally. The legacy of gratefulness must be enhanced. We have suffered for too long for good governance and the rule of law.

Most times when you trust God in everything you do with sincerity, life becomes empirical in the real world. To justify my claims, in few months, Mr. Ben Sanvee was listed as one of the debtors of the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning loan scheme. The information came out during the course of the Liberty Party Nimba Convention. Counselor Brumskine was shocked and ensured that Ben Sanvee resigned to settle the issue. Ben Sanvee resigned to solve his corrupt issue and he was reinstated based on some fundamental agreement. The legacy of gratefulness must be established at all times.

There are people who are still asking whether Counselor J. Fonati Kofa resigned from the party based on his challenge in the United States of America. Indeed, Cllr. Kofa resigned as Chairman of the party. We were strict on the rule of law. What was interesting is that we were telling the truth to our friends and laughing about it. The movement was joyous based on our intellectual skills there were no malice against anybody for decision we took which was right.

Today, the founding members of Liberty Party, the Friends of Brumskine (FOB) continues to make history. Romeo D.N. Gbartea, Vice Chairman for two hours, National Transitional Government of Liberia, We have Kamara Abdullah Kamara (KAK) Act of Press Freedom, Aruna Fallah, works for a major international organization in the world etc. There was nothing like Ethnicity in the ideology of the entity and there will never be. Our common objective was to do the right thing in the context of the governance and the rule of law especially to build a fragile country that will promote sustainable development and good governance.

Education is viable tool to build any society. That's why all the founding members of Liberty Party are well schooled. The entity provided scholarships to every Liberian despite of ethnic group religion, race etc. Please permit me to outline academic backgrounds of some of the FOB members: Romeo D.N. Gbartea, Ph.D Candidate (abstract level), Aruna Fallah Master, Bus. Adm., Lamin Kpargo, Master, Law, Isaac Jackson, Master, Law, J. Fonati Kofa, Deputy Speaker, Master, Law, Powo C. Hilton, Master, MBA, Milton F. Quaye, Economist, Telecommunication expert, Ben Wymon, Master, Peace & Conflict, Jacob Smith, Master, Int'l relations, etc. These comrades suffered for Liberia to experience good governance, that's why they are advocating for the Chairman to resign. They have no hatred against him but they are grateful to the legacy of FOB.

When Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine recommended Nyonblee Karngar to serve as the political leader of Liberty Party, it was endorsed by me as an advisor to Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine. I want to remain grateful with my decision but it is our responsibility to solve the conflict in a more peaceful internal manner. I am convinced by God's Grace the Chairman of Liberty Party, Musa Bility will step aside for a moment to resolve his "awkward challenges" that have the tendency to break down governance and the rule of law in Liberia.

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Conclusively, the Government of Liberia and the International community spent intensive resources to ensure the Vision 2030 document that have the goals of decentralisation, good governance, sustainable development the rule of law and integrity was structured. The funding from the International Community and the Government of Liberia come from the tax payers of their countries and Liberia. We must respect the people that continues to pay their taxes and do them justice.

We must be guided by the principle of transparency. It will enhance a "Developmental State" in Liberia. Corruption has destroyed the image of this land of Liberty. When people are corrupt, they use an entire ethnic group to protect their poor character. They intend to breed conflict. Nobody is against Mr. Musa Bility based on his ethnic group. We all didn't choose our ethnic identity. It was a natural variable. I am calling on all the concern Liberty Party members to resolve the issue internally. When Israel Akinsanya, Ben Sanvee etc resigned to solve their corruption case, it was done internally in the party. When conflict is resolved internally in good style and manner, it helps unity.

This internal conflict has the propensity to make Liberty Party to lose the opportunity to govern the country. This opportunity could go away if ego and arrogance persist. Good Governance and a stable Liberian society matter most. Liberty Party must solve their problem and be grateful to the legacy of governance and the rule of law. The Legacy of Gratefulness and the avoidance of conflict in Liberty Party will be good. Conflict in organization can breed out the wrong people to lead the country.

Liberia First!
Monrovia  Brewerville City, one of the oldest cities in Montserrado, County, Liberia, has been given a facelift, amid the growing of grass and stockpile of garbage in several communities in the city.

This followed the official launch of a major clean up and sanitation campaign on Saturday, May, 2021 by the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema -Liberia, a branch of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema in collaboration with the Brewerville City Corporation under the theme: " Caring for Our Environment".

Among other things, the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema seeks to unify and coordinate the efforts of African Muslims Oulrma, promote peace and religious tolerance, fight terrorism and violence, and make the world better and peaceful for all.

Following the official launch of what has been described as a worthy initiative, about 60 young volunteers drawn across Brewerville City and its environs immediately kicked off the clean up and sanitation campaign, with the brushing of the huge grass, collection of stockpile of garbage and sweeping of the streets and other places.

Prior to the official launch of the initiative, the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema -Liberia donated several wheelbarrows, brooms, rakes and other sanitation materials to the Brewerville City Corporation via its Mayor S. Bedell Fahn, II to help carry out such great initiative.

In remarks, the President of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema -Liberia, Sheik Omarau A. Kamara, underscored the importance of cleanliness, making specific reference to part of the Koran that talks about ablution-an Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. Wudu consists of washing the face, arms, then wiping the head and finally washing the feet with water. Wudu is an important part of ritual purity in Islam.
opinion

Monrovia  President George Manneh Weah is yet to sign off on a controversial new protocol that would reportedly quarantine travelers from India, a country currently overwhelmed with a new coronavirus variant dubbed, "double mutant", FrontPageAfrica has learned.

At least 15, 000 Indians travel to Liberia annually for business or visit to families, friends and loved ones doing business in Liberia.

As of May 6, according to the Situation Report prepared by the National Public Health Institute(NPHIL),incoming travelers testing positive for the virus were put at five. There have been five positive cases regarding travelers from Australia, Pakistan, Nigeria Traveler from Australia tested positive, Ghana.

By nationality, the positive tests include one Australian, two Liberians, a Pakistani and a Nigerian. By profession, two of those testing positive were businessmen, a PFM consultant, a student and a Geologist. No positive tests were reported out of India where the variant is rising by the day.

All five cases embarked from Australia, Ghana, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. Three of the passengers flew in on Kenya Airways, one on Africa World Airlines and one from Qatar.

The variant recently detected from samples collected in India.

The country of about 1.3 billion people has seen infections rise by more than 1 million in the past week alone, bringing its total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to more than 18 million. The death toll has surpassed 200,000 and is expected to be much higher. The surge hit as India's government loosened restrictions and struggled to vaccinate its population with variants potentially serving as an accelerant.

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The variant, whose official name is B.1.617, is described as a bit of a misnomer, because it actually carries 13 mutations, seven of which are in the spike protein. The moniker comes from two notable mutations found in other variants that appeared together for the first time in this new strain: the L452R mutation and the E484Q mutation.

Strain a Concern Around the world

The L452R mutation in the spike protein was first found in the COVID-19 variant detected in California.

One study found that the California variant carrying this mutation may be up to 20% more transmissible than wild-type strains.

In the United Kingdom and other countries, the strain has been declared a "variant of concern" as cases skyrocket.

Health authorities in India say that the new variant has a shorter incubation period, whereas the progress of the infection is much faster than the other strains.
Dozens of Muslim worshippers performing the congregational prayers (Tahajjud prayers performed during Ramadan) were reportedly kidnapped by bandits in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The bandits, it was gathered, stormed the area around 2 am and kidnapped the worshippers in a mosque located in the outskirt of the town.

Sources in the area said the bandits whisked away mostly men and women as well as children in the attack.

The Katsina State Police Command was yet to issue any official statement on the ugly incident.

Vanguard News Nigeria
AGRICULTURAL researchers are planning to train the Extension Officers at the grassroots in regions with high acidity soils on types of fertilizers to use in farms.

That was after the realization that farmers in such regions have been realizing low yields due to poor knowledge on the types of fertilizers required in such areas.

According to a special countrywide soil research conducted by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), 10 regions have high acidity soils registered as at least 21.4 percent.

The regions include Mbeya, Songwe, Kigoma, Mtwara, Geita, Kagera, Tabora, Katavi, Mtwara and Lindi.

According to the National Coordinator for Soil Research at the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Dr Sibaway Mwanga the regions in question use of fertilizers must go in accord with recommended agricultural lime applications.

"The survey established that in the regions, farmers are failing to get high yields, because they lack knowledge on the application of needed fertilizers. For instances, most of them are ending up harvesting seven sacks of maize per hectare instead of 30," he pointed out.

Dr Mwanga noted that farmers within the regions have often been using UREA and DAP types of fertilizers, which are unfriendly to the acidic soils.

"The proper fertilizer that suits in such areas with high acid concentration is CAN and this must also be applied with agricultural lime. "The institute has a series of strategies aimed at educating farmers countrywide on what type of fertilizer to use and also tell them the soil type," he added.

Elaborating, he said Tanga, Dar es Salaam, Coastal, Songea, Ruvuma, Singida, Shinyanga, Manyara and Rukwa regions have soil acidity rate 46.2 percent.

"In these regions there's no need for the application of agricultural lime when putting fertilizers, but farmers must use non acidifying fertilizers like CAN," he further directed.
PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday led mourners to pay their last respects to renowned woman entrepreneur and media stakeholder, Teddy Mapunda, who died in Dar es Salaam last week.

The Head of State was accompanied by former President Jakaya Kikwete and other dignitaries to pay their last respects to the late Teddy at the Karimjee grounds in Dar es Salaam.

Teddy, who was the Managing Director of Service and Montage died suddenly on Tuesday night at Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam at the age of 46.

Upon her death last week, President Samia quickly tweeted, saying; "We have lost a capable, hardworking, creative, and vibrant woman, who vividly demonstrated the abilities of women."

The President said she remembered Teddy for her noble commitment to the ruling party CCM and the government as well as her love for the country.

Chairman of the governing board of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), Judge (rtd) Juxon Mlay expressed his deepest sadness on the demise of the late Teddy Mapunda, who was a member of the MCT Board.

"On behalf of the MCT governing Board and staff, I send deepest condolences to the deceased's husband, children, family, close relatives and friends for the huge loss," said retired judge Mlay.

The late Teddy was the founding Director of Montage Limited, a multi-dimensional consultancy and creative agency based in Dar es Salaam.

She had twenty years of leadership experience in public relations. She was also the Vice- Chairperson for the Road Safety Committee Kinondoni Region.

She had previously served as a Board Director at Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB), Board Member at Governing Body of Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative.

Among other boards that the late Teddy had served includes TPS Eastern Africa (Serena Hotels), an Advisory Board Member at Why Africa Now in USA and a Founding Member - Young Executive (YES) - Tanzania.
WORKS and Transport Deputy Minister Mwita Waitara has directed the management of Mtwara Port to review tariffs in their custody and set reasonable charges that will attract large cargo ships.

In line with that, Mr Waitara asked the Port Manager to work on the Dangote factory request to use the harbor in transporting cement produced in Mtwara to other markets in other regions and neighboring countries.

He made the call here over the weekend, shortly after touring the port to see the work in progress at the port, following the completion of the project that involved construction of the 300- metre berth and a cargo storage yard.

The move was part of the government's efforts to open up the southern transport corridor. Mr Waitara said the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and the management of Mtwara Port should discuss the tariffs and other barriers being raised by the customers and work on them immediately.

"You have to review various charges in order to attract companies with large ships to come and collect cargo here," he said. The deputy minister said TPA should set up reasonable tariffs that will attract rapid economic growth at the port.

He said the newly constructed 300-metre berth and a cargo storage yard were among the advantages of the port to attract volume of cargo if only the tariffs are reduced.

"It is better to reduce the charges that will attract more companies to use our ports," he said. TPA was prompted to build the new berth with a length of 300 metres and 13.5- metre depth, to enable the terminal accommodates mega cargo ships weighing 65,000 tonnes.

Before the construction of the new berth, the natural harbour had the capacity to accommodate cargo ships with 40,000 tonnes (Dead Weight -DWT) as the old berth was measuring 380 metres in length while its yard had the size of 40,000 square metres. The second yard constructed measures 79,000 square metres, creating more space for cargo.

In another development, Waitara asked the Mtwara Port to speed the process of building a warehouse for cashewnut storage, as they waited for transport.

In response, the port management told Mr Waitara that they are in the process of building a storage house. Currently Mtwara Port is serving the neighbouring country of Mozambique as plans are underway to serve more countries including Zambia and Malawi.
Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is expected in Saudi Arabia today for an official visit at the invitation of the ruler of the regional power King Salman, the first such visit since January when Qatar reunited with its neighbors.

Sheikh Tamim, reports say, will be received at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah by Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.

The Qatar ruler during his sojourn, will hold a bilateral summit during which they will discuss the situation in the Gulf region in light of the developments in international talks with Tehran on the Iranian nuclear file and the efforts of the two countries in terms of confronting the Israeli attacks on the Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Bab Al-Amud area and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in addition to The situation in Yemen and recent developments in the Afghan peace process, German state-run news agency DPA reports.

The two sides will also discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them in all fields to serve their aspirations, the agency adds.

The visit is the first by the Qatari ruler to the kingdom of Saudi since January after the reconciliation summit that put an end to more than years of Qatars isolations by its neighbors led by Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain severed ties with the tiny gas-rich country in 2017 on allegations that Doha sponsors terrorism.

Qatar blasted the charges and accused the Saudi-led league of plotting its invasion.

Diplomatic ties between sides have been restored since January. Last month, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, received the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, who delivered an invitation from King Salman bin Abdulaziz to visit the kingdom.
ZANZIBAR government has defended delays in disbursing funds to the municipal offices for other charges (OCs), blaming the problem on insufficient resources realized in the wake of Covid-19 that has adversely impacted on the global economies.

Minister of State in the President's Office, Finance and Planning Minister Jamal Kassim Ali told the House of Representatives here yesterday that since the outbreak of Covid-19, Zanzibar, as other countries, has suffered economically.

He was responding to Kwahani Representative Rashid Yahya Abdulla, who decried undue delays in the release of OCs used by the city and municipal councils to among others pay transport allowances to their employees.

However, the minister assured them that subject of the verifications of all claims will be addressed before the end of next fiscal year, adding that all will receive their due allowances.
GOING by several researchers various theories examining biological, social and environmental factors that influence or drive individuals to commit crime, you will realize that no one is born naturally a criminal, implying that crime can be corrected.

With this school of thought, the government (especially the Prison Department and the Judiciary), as well as other stakeholders and the society in general must go back to the drawing table on how to fully reform criminals, especially those who come out of jail and still find themselves going back for the same or different crimes.

It has been historical in the country as well as other States that during the national holidays, the government(s) has been pardoning or showing mercy to some people in jail and hence, released so that they come back and reunite with their families in building the economy.

This kind of extending an olive branch to those in prison is done so that others should also take it as a lesson and learn that the society does not ostracize its members, but present them with another platform to repent and reform from their crimes.

Based on the lesson above, it has been worrying to find some prisoners pardoned and released from jail, instead of thinking of how to fully become members of the society, only resort to crime.

In prisons, prisoners are taught different things including carpentry so that after serving the jail term, one is expected to find a means of eking out a decent living, and that is why it is called a correction facility.

For instance, according the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) Chairman, retired Judge Mathew Maimu, Article 25 (1) (a) of the 1977 Constitution of Tanzania and the Zanzibar Constitution of 1984 Article 22(1) (a) everyone has the right to participate in legal means of production.

Likewise, Article 26 (1) and Article 23 (1) of the two Constitutions grant obligation for every citizen to abide to the laws of the country.

This in a way appeals to all the prisoners who were granted their freedom to abide and adhere to the laws of the land in building Tanzania that belongs to all of us.

As reuniting the prisoners back into the society continues, the same society should be educated on creating a good environment without discrimination that might cause stigma and act as a catalyst for them to return to their old ways.
"MAN'S best friend" is a common phrase used to describe domestic dogs, referring to their millennia-long history of close relations, loyalty, friendship, and companionship with humans.

It is claimed that the first time the phrase 'man's best friend' was used, was in 1789 by King Frederick the Great of Prussia.

"The only, absolute and best friend that a man has, in this selfish world, the only one that will not betray or deny him, is his DOG." He was talking about his Italian Greyhound when he used this phrase.

However, the man's best friend can be dangerous to human beings because they are the most important vectors of rabies, a zoonotic viral disease which infects domestic and wild animals.

Rabies is transmitted to other animals and humans through close contact with saliva from infected animals through bites, scratches, licks on broken skin and mucous membranes.

According to WHO rabies is a vaccine-preventable. However, once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is virtually 100 per cent fatal. In up to 99 per cent of cases, domestic dogs are responsible for rabies virus transmission to humans.

Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries and territories and dogs are the main source of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99 per cent of all rabies transmissions to humans.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information says approximately 99 per cent of the estimated 59,000 annual human rabies deaths in Africa and Asia are attributed to dog bites and are preventable through parenteral dog vaccination.

In addition to dog rabies, the rabies virus also circulates in wildlife carnivores in southern Africa and virus exchange occurs readily across species barriers.

Most human deaths follow a bite from an infected dog. About 30 to 60 percent of dog bite victims are children under the age of 15.

In Tanzania, studies show that rabies is responsible for an estimated 1,500 deaths per year. Poverty and access to health services present additional barriers to treatment, especially in rural areas.

A large-scale rabies control programme in Tanzania was implemented in South-eastern Tanzania and Pemba Island from 2010 to 2016 under financial support of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Project sites covered 28 districts and a population of approximately 8.9 million people.

As part of achievements, animal bite cases (a proxy for rabies exposure) approximately halved across project sites, and human rabies deaths reduced by more than 75 per cent following human and canine rabies interventions.

Tanzania is currently finalizing a national rabies control strategy, and aims to eliminate dog-mediated rabies countrywide by 2030 It is under the national rabies control strategy, the government launched a national canine rabies vaccination campaign in Kisarawe District, Coast Region on Wednesday last week where university students are vaccinating dogs and cats and sensitize the communities on rabies control.

Fifty students from Sokoine University of Agriculture and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) started vaccinating the animals and provide education about rabies prevention in 17 wards of Kisarawe District.

Why Kisarawe? Kisarawe District is considered to be among the hotspots for rabies as it borders the Nyerere National Park, the largest national park in Tanzania and also one of the world's largest wildlife sanctuaries, according to the Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Prof Herzon Nonga.

"There is wildlife, livestock and human interface and due to that wildlife diseases may easily be spread to domestic animals are the main vehicle," he told the Daily News at the launching event. "Kisarawe borders Nyerere National Park and Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserve.

There are so many rabies cases. Kisarawe is among hotspots for rabies in Tanzania," he said. Prof Nonga other risky areas for rabies were those near wildlife, wildlife conservation areas such as Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), Manyara National Park.

"These area have lots of interaction between wildlife and domestic animals. There is wildlife, livestock and human interface. So many wildlife diseases are spread to domestic animals including rabies where dogs are the main vehicles of transmission to human beings," he said.

How do students come in? Prof Nonga said a meeting held in Morogoro in April agreed to use of university students in the vaccination drive under the One Health policy where multiple sectors work together to achieving optimal outcomes with minimum costs.

The symposium in Morogoro involved various sectors from the ministries of health, livestock and fisheries development, regional administration and local government.

Other participants were from Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Tanzania Office, USAID, Ifakara Institute, Africa One Health University Network (AFROHUN) and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

He said the participants discussed a national rabies control strategy which aims to eliminate dogmediated rabies countrywide by 2030 and agreed to run the national rabid vaccination campain by using the workforce of university students.

Prof Nonga said they expect that at least 70 per cent of all dogs and cats in the country, estimated to reach 4.5 million and 2.0 million respectively will be vaccinated.

He said rabies was responsible for an estimated 1,500 deaths per year in Tanzania while dogs attacks on humans (a proxy for rabies exposure) is estimated to reach 3,387 per year.

He said it was far easier to carry out canine rabies vaccination drive than to treat poeple infected with rabies as it cost between 2,000/- and 3,000/- to inoculate one dog while it takes about 200,000/- to treat someone bitten by a suspected rabid dog or cat.

Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, he said noting vaccinating dogs or cats was the most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies in people.

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Prof Nonga said under the national rabies control strategy vaccination of dogs was compulsory and owners of the animals would be needed make sure their dogs and cats are inoculated.

"Nowadays vaccinating your dog is no longer an option. It is compulsory and a legal issue," he said. "The guideline is to keep dogs and cats that we can take care of instead of letting them wandering in streets.

We have so many stray dogs and cats," he said. The District Commissioner, Jokate Mwegelo thanked development partners who supported the vaccination campaign and hailed the ministry and partners for initiating use of university students in the campaign to help them get the necessary field experience while making optimal use of available human resources.

She urged the local community in the district to come out in large numbers to get an education and provide their dogs and cats to be vaccinated.

"Let us leaders go out to the people and encourage them to come out and participate in this campaign. No dog or cat should be left out," she said in the launching event.

She however called on district and ward leaders to get prepared to run other rabies vaccination campaigns that may follow using local resources instead of relying on donor support.

"Our leaders need to be prepared. In campaigns like this it is better to get prepared to be self-reliant. If we can organize ourselves we can take care of things like this campaign using our own money," she said
The rehabilitation of Binga airstrip and others countrywide has started in a move aimed at improving accessibility especially in tourism areas to boost the economy.

Rehabilitation work is underway at the Binga airstrip located on the edge of the Zambezi River west of Binga Centre, and a few hundred metres away from one of the sand beaches, making it strategic for tourism.

Binga is a tourism destination sitting on untapped tourism opportunities especially with regards to sand beaches that are not being fully utilised on the Zambezi River.

With investment, the beaches can become Binga's tourism drawcard for recreation, leisure and sport.

The district has potential to attract thousands of tourists but lacks the necessary infrastructure for the drive, hence the Second Republic's commitment to develop the area.

Other activities and attractions available in Binga, which have potential to transform the areas are hot springs, wildlife, fishing, boating, crocodile farming and cultural activities.

However, the distance from other towns and a poor road network make it difficult for tourists to visit the area.

Rehabilitating the airstrip, which is managed by the District Development Fund (DDF) on behalf of Government, will make Binga attractive as a destination as some light aircraft could fly directly to the area.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister, Felix Mhona, said a number of airstrips some of them Bumi Hills, Kanyemba, and Chapoto are under rehabilitation countrywide. He was speaking in a recent interview during a tour of his ministry's infrastructure in Victoria Falls.

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"It's not only Binga but all airstrips as we are actually trying to resuscitate and rehabilitate them so that we then resonate well with the bigger picture of vision 2030 and also to promote tourism.

"So Binga is being upgraded and also are other airstrips that were under the purview of District Development Fund and some that were still under the military that are going to be transferred to civilian. This is what is happening and I am glad to say that the second dispensation is moving with speed," said Minister Mhona.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana tweeted that Government was leaving no one behind in its development programmes.

"Work has started on the rehabilitation and modernisation of the Binga airstrip. This will help with access to this part of the country which has got attractions such as Binga beaches among others. Government is leaving no one behind in its development programmes," he said. In a recent interview, DDF acting director for roads, Engineer Goodwell Mapako said the airstrip can accommodate small aircraft.

The tourism industry has welcomed the upgrading of aviation infrastructure as a key enabler to the travel industry.

"As areas such as Binga become more accessible we will be able to realise full potential over the various products that the country offers. "We look forward to the same for Eastern Highlands to be able to see flights linking Victoria Falls which is the gateway to our world of wonders and grow length of stay in the country," said Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe national vice chairman Mr Garai Chimba, who is Victoria Falls Hotel general manager.
A Zimbabwean man has been jailed for an effective 15 years by a Musina Magistrates Court under Limpopo province for smuggling contraband of explosives worth R95 000 into South Africa.

Brighton Chuma (27) was jailed last Friday.

Recently, Chuma was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on December 17 last year at Beitbridge Border Post while driving a Toyota Hilux.

Hawks spokesperson for Limpopo Captain Matimba Maluleke said the explosives were found hidden in the truck and packed in bags.

"The man was traveling from Zimbabwe to South Africa in a Toyota Hilux double cab when he was stopped and searched at Beitbridge port of entry by the police.

"Upon searching the vehicle, 32 blasting cartridges of explosives to the value of R 95 000-00 were found hidden in the loading portion covered with packed bags and the accused was subsequently arrested," said Capt Maluleke.

He said the case was referred to the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation team which successfully opposed Brighton's bail bid during his trial until his fate was sealed recently.

"The court has effectively condemned him to an effective 15 years' direct imprisonment with no option of a fine," said the official.
Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in commemorating mental health week from today up to Saturday, amid calls to intensify the fight against the problem.

A community based organisation, Summit Care Trust (SCT), has lined up a number of events aimed at bringing awareness about the effects and impact of Mental Health on families, corporate entities, civic society and communities.

SCT mental health advocate and officer, Ms Tanatswa Chikaura said mental health is prevalent in all sectors of society but often goes unattended to, and worse still undetected yet the signs are there for all to see.

She said the week-long event aims to raise awareness about mental health in the country and to play a pivotal role in getting the country's key stakeholders such as the Government, community and media, to put strengthen the fight against mental health.

"Our research has shown that there is a yawning treatment gap for mental health in Zimbabwe and Africa," said Ms Chikaura.

She said in 2017, a Doctors Without Borders article said Zimbabwe has 20 registered clinical psychologists and nine mental health institutions.

With a population that is over 14 million, it means the majority of citizens do not have access to mental health facilities.

Ms Chikaura said another point of concern is that the majority of Zimbabweans cannot afford mental help therapy and in some instances the institutions that offer therapy are not accessible to the ordinary people.

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She added that a part of the week's events, they will be broadcasting a discussion about the stakeholders' roles in mental health conversations. "The commemorations will also highlight how mental well-being affects livelihoods, human rights, governance and advocacy and sexual and reproductive health rights. We have lined up psychologists, lawyers, media personnel, teachers, medical doctors, parents and young people and adolescents to came and share their experiences on mental health."

"The event will bring together community organisations that are fighting to have mental health recognised in our country, inspiring a united vision of a person's right to dignity and right to care.

"It will also bring to the fore personal experiences of mental health challenges with individuals openly sharing their experiences and in the end acquire information on how best they can be assisted for sustainable solutions," said Ms Chikaura.

SCT has four thematic areas which are adolescent, youth sexual and reproductive health rights (ASRHR), livelihoods, human rights and governance and advocacy.
Public servants have also allegedly been engaged in illegal stand allocations, along with local government councillors and officials, with four senior officials of the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works appeared in court last Friday charged with recommending to the Ministry's Permanent Secretary allocations of residential stands to 10 people not on the waiting list.

Andrew Rhory Shawatu, Nyarai Priscilla Mudzinge, Leah Chigoma and Daisy Mtyambizi, appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court last Friday charged with criminal abuse of office.

Shawatu was the principal administration officer State Lands, with Mudzinge being the director local authorities, while Chimoga was acting director legal and Mtyambizi being deputy director spatial planning.

They were not asked to plead when they appeared before regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje, who remanded them in custody to today for continuation of the hearing of their bail applications.

The charges relate to alleged attempts to convert the land set aside by Sally Mugabe Heights Housing Cooperative for public use to residential stands. The co-operative was offered 760 hectares of residential stands at Acom Farm through an offer letter dated January 7, 2005, by the Local Government Ministry.

On July 15, 2005, the Department of Physical Planning, as required by the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act, approved a layout plan of a housing scheme called Acom Estate. By law the ministry had to retain 10 percent which could only be allocated by the Minister of Local Government. This block of land, something that is standard in all layouts, is to ensure that there is land for schools, health services, recreation and other public needs and is compulsory in all suburb developments, public and private, but other public needs can also be considered.

Investigations carried out revealed that sometime between 2010 and April 2011 the four allegedly connived and wrote a memorandum to the Permanent Secretary recommending the allocation of residential stands in Acom disregarding the dictates of the State Land Management Manual Part 2.

They allegedly allocated to the people who were not on general waiting list or priority list.

It is alleged that the Permanent Secretary acted upon the misrepresentation and approved stands to nearly 10 people who were not on waiting list.
Over 100 people drawn from MDC-Alliance and Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) including a former legislator, on Saturday defected to Zanu PF in Hwange district saying they wanted to work with a party that is pro-people and development.

The ruling party's Hwange District Coordinating Committee (DCC) held a meeting at Chinotimba Hall on Saturday where the defectors were welcomed by scores of Zanu PF supporters.

One of the defectors, who is one of the MDC-T founding members and former MP for Hwange West Mr Peter Nyoni, said he lost faith in the party following the death of its founding president Morgan Tsvangirai, and had been contemplating joining Zanu PF since then.

DCC chairman Cde Mathew Muleya invited the new members to rise and be introduced to the party, prompting the supporters to erupt in song and dance.

In his address, Cde Muleya called for unity of purpose especially in local authorities saying people want service delivery that can improve their livelihoods.

"We represent people and we will do what people want. When we talk about development as Zanu PF, people should see it on the ground. I feel proud when people join Zanu PF like this.

"It's now up to us to work hard especially the local authorities to make sure people are happy so that many more join us," he said.

Mr Nyoni said they were six when they formed MDC but some people "killed the party".

"I divorced with MDC when Morgan Tsvangirai passed on. There is no use in opposing a party that has direction like Zanu PF. Now is the time to move Zimbabwe to the next level and let's unite to achieve this. I have been following developments and asked myself what it is that we are opposing," said Mr Noni.

He said he made the decision to join Zanu PF and work towards building the country, and "I am not regretting it".

"I am very proud to be with you today because I have support from my family. My wife couldn't make it but I brought my daughter here, hence I encourage everyone to do the same," Mr Nyoni who was accompanied by his daughter Jacqueline (19).
HARARE regional magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna has acquitted former Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) board chairperson Stanley Kazhanje on bribery charges after he successfully applied that the offence be dismissed on the basis that he had been previously convicted on same allegations.

Kazhanje, through lawyer Tawanda Nyamakura, had argued that he could not be prosecuted twice on allegations that he was convicted of.

He was being jointly charged with businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his company Intratrek Zimbabwe, who are alleged to have bribed him with US$10 000 in return for favour of awarding them a tender.

Chivayo and his company are denying the charges saying the payment made to Kazhanje was for consultancy work he did for Intratrek Zimbabwe through another company called Terminal Engineers.

They argued that the consultancy services to Terminal Engineering were rendered before Kazhanje was appointed ZPC board chairperson.

In acquitting Kazhanje last Friday, Harare regional magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna said: "In the instant case, the third accused (Kazhanje) was tried before a competent court for a certain offence arising out of same facts and in such trial, he was convicted.

"Hence, the immunity against another trial for an offence arising out of the same facts is squarely attracted in the facts of the case. This court will therefore not fail to appreciate the scope and ambit of our law in this respect and will reject the contention of the State that this subsequent trial is maintainable.

"Accordingly, it is found that the plea of autrefois convict (previously convicted) is successful and accused three is accordingly discharged from this prosecution.

"He is found not guilty and is acquitted."
DAVID Whitehead Textile (DWT) corporate rescue practitioner Knowledge Hofisi, has started the process of removing the company under judicial management.

In a notice of termination, Mr Hofisi said the company was out of financial distress and was ready to stand on its own.

"It is hereby notified in terms of... Insolvency Act, the corporate rescue practitioner has concluded his brief and there are no longer reasonable grounds to believe that the company is financially distressed," read part of the notice.

"Accordingly, the proceedings are terminated upon the filing of this notice. All those who are an affected person... and wish to make an objection nor representation in regard of this notice shall lodge an objection or representation."

DWT was first placed under the judicial management in May 2006 and the process ran through to April 2008.

During that period, Elgate Holdings won a competitive bid to acquire new shares, which translated to 51 percent in DWT, for US$5,4 million.

However, Elgate only paid US$1,6 million to DWTL, according to a forensic audit.

Following the cancellation of the first judicial management in April 2008, the company was handed over to Elgate Holdings, principally owned by Andrew Toendepi.

Two years later, the company was again placed under provisional judicial management for the second time. For the following three years, there were several litigation cases, with judicial manager Wensley Militala (the late), recommending the company's liquidation due to lack of investor interest.

But in March 2014, the High Court granted the final judicial management order after a business rescue plan was prepared by Mr Hofisi.

And in April 2019, an order for the forfeiture of the shares previously issued to Elgate Holdings was granted by the High Court.

A month later, the forfeited shares were then sold to a local company Agri Value Chain Zimbabwe, which subsequently then bought out some of the shareholders. Agri Value Chain now owns 74 percent of the company's shareholding.
WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine already used in Georgia

By Veronika Malinboym

Earlier last week, the World Health Organization approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency uses in all countries.In his statement, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Health Products Dr. Mariangela Simao said that the vaccine produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd has the potential to allow countries access the rapid vaccination process of the medical workers and other high-risk groups and urged the Sinopharm manufacturers to join the COVAX platform to contribute to the accessible vaccination for all countries around the world.The first 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine have been delivered to Georgia earlier last month, and the vaccination with the Chinese jab began on May 4, just several days before the WHOs official approval.Head of the Georgian Center for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze has received the first shot of the Sinopharm vaccine live on Georgian TV, and, on May 8, it became known that the country will also receive an additional 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from the Red Cross and with the help of International Federation of Red Cross, Red Crescent societies and The Red Cross Society of China.Details will be known soon regarding when those 100,000 will become available, said Deputy Minister of Health of Georgia, Tamar Gabunia.As of right now, any Georgian citizen aged over 18 can register for the vaccination in the country.Over the last 24 hours, a total of 1,089 new cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Georgia, 1,489 patients have recovered, and 18 individuals have died.The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has now reached 321,919 with 300,989 recoveries and 4,281 deaths. Today, 16,623 remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia.
analysis

A potential border war brewing between Sudan and Ethiopia threatens to destabilise the two nations and the entire region. How the issue is handled will also have severe consequences for political transitions in both countries.

On 4 May, Ethiopia issued a statement accusing Sudan of 'increasingly bellicose propaganda' regarding their border and negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). It criticised Sudan's 1 May claim of sovereignty over Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region, where the dam is being constructed.

This is an escalation of the border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia that started in November 2020 over al-Fashaga, an area between Sudan's eastern province of Al Qadarif and Ethiopia's Amhara and Tigray regional states. It also points to the growing intersection of the border dispute with the stalled negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the GERD.

Disputed al-Fashaga area

Ethiopia accuses Sudan of invading its territory and taking advantage of the security vacuum created by its armed confrontation with the Tigray People's Liberation Front in the north. It claims third parties - alluding to Egypt - are fuelling the dispute. Egypt and Sudan recently signed a military cooperation agreement that reportedly includes a common defence pact. Sudanese military representatives say Ethiopians are expanding their farmland into Sudan with the support of local militia, whom they accuse of killing civilians.

So far, diplomatic attempts to defuse tensions have failed. A strained status quo has been established around the border, with sporadic skirmishes. While both countries claim they want to resolve the issue peacefully, neither has shown signs of compromising on conditions required to start negotiations.

Ethiopia insists that the Sudanese military withdraws from the area before it engages in negotiations, but Sudan refuses, saying al-Fashaga is historically within its territory. Sudan claims the border has been demarcated, and only technical consultations are needed to fix boundary markers. It holds that successive Ethiopian governments have recognised al-Fashaga as Sudanese territory. Sudan says it allowed Ethiopian farmers to cultivate the land to maintain good relations with the previous Ethiopian government.

How the conflict is handled will have serious consequences for political transitions in both countries

Sudanese politicians want negotiations to start and are apparently willing to accept third-party mediators. Ethiopian officials say, however that the boundary is yet to be demarcated. Most of the border between Sudan and Ethiopia was delineated through various treaties between Ethiopian emperors and Britain, the colonial power in Sudan.

However, clarity was lacking in some parts, including al-Fashaga, which has been disputed for about a century. The ebb and flow of tensions have depended on the state of relations between the two countries.

Long-term observers of these developments, who requested anonymity, agreed that each country had exploited the shifting geopolitical context to extract concessions regarding al-Fashaga. In this instance, Ethiopia's internal instability and soured relations between the two over the GERD have re-ignited the border dispute.

Both Sudan and Ethiopia are trying to assert their sovereignty over al-Fashaga. In Sudan, the issue has become a rallying cry for national unity. It has united different political actors and created a rare instance of agreement between political parties and the military.

For Ethiopia, al-Fashaga has political and economic significance. Its fertile land, with major rivers bordering the area, is a source of livelihood. Local communities have accused successive Ethiopian governments of failing to safeguard their source of income and historical land rights during negotiations with Sudan.

In Sudan, the dispute has created a rare agreement between political parties and the military

The Amhara regional state government is especially under pressure from locals to retain sovereignty over the area. It, in turn, is putting political pressure on the federal government, which could create a serious fissure in the ruling party if these conditions aren't met.

With only a month left until planned national elections in June 2021, Ethiopia's government has refrained from becoming involved in a military confrontation with Sudan. However, Ethiopia and Sudan have a history of engaging in proxy wars and supporting each other's armed opposition groups. If relations continue to deteriorate, there's no shortage of armed groups to back on both sides.

The border tension is happening at a time when both nations are facing internal challenges. There are almost daily protests against the rising cost and shortage of bread and fuel in Sudan. The alliance that allowed Sudanese to overcome their differences and form the transitional government is weakening.

Similarly, Ethiopia is experiencing a level of internal political instability it hasn't seen for decades. Rising tensions and worsening internal challenges on both sides will have direct consequences for both countries' stability.

Ethiopia and Sudan have a history of proxy wars and supporting each other's armed opposition groups

Resolving the dispute won't be easy. The situation needs to be de-escalated before starting negotiations as a matter of urgency. Beyond bilateral talks, both governments must also engage their constituencies, as rapprochement won't be possible without local buy-in.

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For decades, attempts at comprehensive border management have only achieved temporary solutions for al-Fashaga. In the past, significant progress has been made using various committees, but temporary solutions tend to collapse when regimes change.

There are various mechanisms Ethiopia and Sudan can use to find sustainable solutions. They can continue with bilateral negotiations, involve third-party mediators, or use international arbitration if all other avenues fail. Offers of facilitation by other nations, including South Sudan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, have not garnered enough support in the two countries.

Ultimately the two must reach a political accord that can pave the way for technical negotiations. This means gaining internal support for talks, which may be difficult considering both countries' domestic problems. In the short term, tensions must be dialled down to prevent the conflict becoming another destabilising factor in Ethiopia, Sudan and the region.

Shewit Woldemichael, Researcher, Africa Peace and Security Governance, ISS Addis Ababa

This article was first published in the ISS PSC Report.
Utjiua Muinjangue has defeated a faction in NUDO which was helllbent on removing her as president after her appointment as health deputy minister.

The newly elected National Unity Democratic Organisation's national executive committee (NEC), which held its first meeting on Saturday, unanimously endorsed, retrospectively, her appointment as health deputy minister.

This endorsement brings an end to ongoing plans aimed at ousting Muinjangue as party president, which came as a result of her appointment by President Hage Geingob in March 2020.

After her appointment, there was an orchestrated attempt to get her out of office before the end of the year. Another bone of contention was Muinjangue's alleged failure to consult the party leadership when she accepted Geingob's appointment as deputy minister.

However, Nudo secretary general Josef Kauandenge told New Era yesterday that it has been a hotly debated issue within the party for the past two years.

"At its first meeting on Saturday, the NEC unanimously agreed and endorsed her position or decision taken by the previous leadership that there is nothing in the constitution of the party that prevents her from taking up a position in the Republic of Namibia. I think this will put to rest this whole issue of legitimacy on whether it was legal or not, or whether the issue was consulted on or not. I think this decision will go a long way to harmonise the relationship within the party, going forward. For us, it's a major thing that we have put this to rest finally," Kauandenge said.

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The NEC meeting was attended by 24 newly elected leaders, who among other issues resolved that Muinjangue's appointment as deputy health minister in the government is proper.

Although Muinjangue was herself part of that decision, she expressed some sigh of relief when contacted for comment yesterday.

"Yes, indeed it is somehow a relief, but I remain alert. Constitutionally, there is nothing wrong. It's an opportunity to contribute to nation-building and Nudo is serving the Namibians, and is adding value to the wellbeing and dignity of the Namibian nation. Yes, I have been a very positive person," she noted.

The NEC also resolved that all members, either expelled or suspended, should seek redress by lodging their appeals to a yet-to-be-established disciplinary committee.

Equally, a committee is to be established to facilitate dialogue between the party's leadership and the chief counsel to attend to outstanding matters.

Nudo is expected to partake in the upcoming Opuwo rural by-election, slated for July this year.

Muinjangue became Nudo president in March 2019 when she defeated Vetaruhe Kandorozu at the party's third extraordinary elective congress.
Omuthiya  Two male suspects were on Friday arrested in Oshikoto for gang-raping a 17-year-old Grade 10 learner at Oniipa.

The incident happened in broad daylight at Omadhiya village when the two suspects cornered the unsuspecting victim and took turns to rape her in the nearby bushes.

"It is alleged the victim was on her way from school and found the two guys standing in the road. One of them grabbed her as she walked past and dragged her into the bushes. The suspect called the friend to help hold the girl's arms while he undressed her before sexually assaulting her," said Chief Inspector Paulus Endjala.

When the first suspect was done, he switched to holding the girl's hands, giving a chance to the friend to also rape the victim, added Endjala. The victim is a Grade 10 learner at Oshilulu Combined School.

The suspects are known and will appear in Ondangwa Magistrate's Court today.

In Tsumeb, Endjala said, the police registered a case of attempted murder following a shooting incident involving two brothers.

"It is alleged the suspect, who's the owner of the house, came home drunk and started to quarrel with his brother for unknown reasons. The suspect was armed with a pistol - and shortly after the argument, he fired multiple shots at his younger brother, inflicting serious injuries."

He said eight spent cartridges were found at the scene. The suspect, a 51-year-old, has been arrested and will appear in the Tsumeb Magistrate's Court today. The victim, Paulus Nghifikenwa (38), who is in a critical condition, has since been transferred to Oshakati State Hospital, where he is receiving medical treatment.

"The pistol used is a 7.65mm Beretta with a serial number NR B9170W, licensed to the suspect. It was confiscated and booked as exhibit, police investigations continue," said Endjala.
At a time when the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) board announced that some striking workers returned to work and the strike should end, the representative union threatened to drag the broadcaster to court over alleged non-compliance with strike rules.

After nearly two weeks of workers being on protected industrial action, the NBC board on Friday issued a statement saying they are adamant the strike should end, as some workers continue to abandon the strike and return to work.

NBC board chairperson Lazarus Jacobs said the board and management applauded the staff who remained at work, while also thanking those striking employees who have decided to return to work in order to serve the Namibian nation diligently.

He explained that when the strike started, 67 employees opted not to strike. By Friday, the staff members who returned to work stood at 141.

"The board is adamant that the strike should end, and this can only happen if all parties come together to find workable solutions. It is still the board's position that there won't be any winners with this strike. Currently, National FM is back on air, and as more striking employees return to work, the rest of live broadcasting will follow. The returning striking employees are welcomed with open arms, without being subjected to intimidation and/or harassment," Jacobs said.

Namibia Public Workers' Union (Napwu) head of operations, Gideon Thomas briefed the striking workers on Friday, and contrastingly said due to non-compliance with strike rules by the broadcaster, the union would seek legal recourse.

"I promised that we were going to put up a battle against the non-compliance of striking rules by the NBC. This includes the fact that the NBC uses a so-called automated system, and the fact that the NBC wants to rely on volunteers and people who did not strike. The system will not run without the people who run it, especially technical and knowledgeable people who run the system. They are out there convincing them through such heavy-handed means, not really politely, so that they can come back and broadcast. As a result, we have gone out. We are preparing to take the employer to court to interdict this non-compliance with the striking rules. We are at an advanced stage to make sure the case is made out," he charged.

However, he reminded the affected workers that taking someone to court is a procedural aspect, where the lawyer files the case with the High Court, and the respondent is still given room to respond.

According to Thomas, the union wrote a letter to the conciliator on Thursday, who was willing to see both parties after hours, but the NBC was not available.

"When the NBC said it's available after having a board meeting [Friday], the conciliator was not going to be available until Monday [today]. So, if we are not in court on Monday morning, we will probably be back at conciliation. We are in the process of ensuring that this aspect of non-compliance is addressed," he added.

He urged the workers to be patient while the union looks forward to making sure that what is due to the members gets to the members. "If the NBC found money for management, we want them to find money for everyone else. We want the national leaders to know that this gap we are creating here with no broadcasting is creating room for black marketers to disturb NBC's market", the unionist said.

Jacobs said the strike situation still remains unresolved due to the reduction of the government subsidy from N$334.1 million to N$127.5 million for the current financial year.

"This resulted in a 62% cut in subsidy. The main focus at this stage is to secure jobs as opposed to salary increases during these difficult and trying times. The board of directors would like to reiterate its call for all workers to return to work as they are risking losing their much-needed income due to the 'no work no pay' principle as part of the strike rules," he reasoned.

Jacobs said despite the challenging economic climate, a once-off payment offer was made to the employees within the bargaining unit amounting to N$7.6 million, which was initially rejected.

He added that the NBC is at this stage seized with finding funds that would ensure that the broadcaster could function as a going concern.

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"Industrial action at this juncture linked to wage increases won't solve our challenges, given that the 62% cut in subsidy as announced by the Ministry of Finance denotes a N$206 million annual reduction in subsidy, compared to the N$334.1 million allocated in the previous financial year (2020/21)," he argued.

Jacobs said the financial situation of the national broadcaster is so dire that during April 2021, only the net pay of all employees could be honoured with the N$6.1 million tranche payment of government, together with own generated revenue.

The NBC is unable to honour any of its statutory obligations such as pensions, medical aid and other trade payables. These current debts amount to N$30 million to date, and are accumulating interest and penalties.

Therefore, Jacobs reiterated that the current financial situation is untenable and the liquidity risk of the business is extremely high, which could possibly lead to a situation hampering normal operations as well as jeopardise the possibility to continue as a going concern.
Political leaders from the Otjozondjupa region have expressed dissatisfaction over non-compliance with labour standards by some employers in the region, saying some farmworkers, charcoal producers and security guards were experiencing unpleasant working conditions.

The dissatisfaction was expressed during a stakeholders' consultative meeting with labour minister Utoni Nujoma, the ministry's executive director Bro-Matthew Shinguadja, labour inspectors and other senior officials last week in Otjiwarongo.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues of labour concerns in the region.

"We are here, in a consultative process, to listen to your issues and challenges. This region is an important economic region that is big on beef and charcoal exports. We felt that we have neglected the region a little", expressed Nujoma during the meeting.

During the meeting, the stakeholders listed poor and inhumane treatment of workers by their employers, low salaries, unconducive working environment, lack of protective gears and unfair treatment of workers in the workplace as some of the challenges that workers are experiencing in the region.

Omatako constituency councillor Israel Hukura proposed that the ministry conducts outreach programmes to his constituency to inspect and investigate the challenges that farmworkers are experiencing at the hands of their employers.

"My constituency has the highest number of farms in the region; go there and see things as they happen on the ground," he requested.

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Councillor for Okakarara Ramana Mutjavikua requested the ministry to establish an office in Okakarara to help address some of the pertinent issues facing workers.

He further urged the ministry to inspect the issue of illegal immigrants, saying there is a high number of them in his constituency, which makes them vulnerable to cheap labour. A representative from the Mineworkers Union of Namibia urged the Ministry to be proactive and put in more efforts in inspecting labour issues and resolving labour grievances, stating workers are experiencing hardships in their workplaces and the culprits are not being punished.

"For example, just go to Cheetah Cement; the situation there is bad. Workers there are being harassed, abused and mistreated. Some even think of suicide at some point. The situation there is so bad and it needs government's intervention as soon as possible," he said.

On his part, Shinguadja promised investigations into the cases reported during the meeting.

He also reassured the meeting of the ministry's commitment and dedication towards effective and efficient service delivery in Otjozonjupa.

"We would, however, like to urge the public to submit names of our officials who are not doing their job accordingly in order to allow for a quicker and easier reprimanding of such officials," said Shinguadja.

Otjozondjupa Regional Council chairperson Marlayn Mbakera also encouraged the ministry to redouble its efforts in fighting labour matters.

"Let us all be proactive and reach out to the people so that they know their rights," she said.
press release

The DA can reveal that the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, is trying to enforce his will on the National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, in the appointment of senior managers in key positions within the South African Police Service (SAPS).

In a letter the DA has seen, Minister Cele berates General Sitole for not submitting the new candidates they had agreed upon in a 15 April 2021 meeting and not reversing the appointments.

While regulations do allow for approval of appointments by the Minister, this letter seems to be about more than ticking bureaucratic boxes. It's rather an indication that there is truth to news reports that the Minister and the Commissioner have fallen out. Minister Cele seems to now be using his authority to undermine General Sitole to the detriment of SAPS in what seems to be a blatant attempt at cadre deployment.

The DA will write to Minister Cele for clarification regarding this situation, and to get an indication of how he intends to resolve it.

SAPS cannot afford petty squabbles between its top leadership. Already, it is facing ever-rising challenges of evidence processing, equipment maintenance and corruption within its ranks. If South African communities are ever to see effective policing again, only officers with the necessary experience and training can be appointed in appropriate positions. Cadre deployment will continue to rot away institutions until nothing is left.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.
A graphic showing the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has confirmed that four of the specimens it had, have tested positive for the COVID-19 B.1.617.2 variant.

In a statement, the NICD said it had sequenced the COVID-19 specimens from individuals who had travelled to India.

"The institute can confirm that four of the specimens tested positive for B.1.617.2 (two cases from Gauteng and two from KwaZulu-Natal). The B.1.617.2 variant is currently highlighted as a variant of interest by the World Health Organization and is one of multiple variants circulating in India," it said in a statement on Saturday.

It added that all cases have been isolated and managed according to COVID-19 case management guidelines. Contact tracing has also been performed in order to limit the spread of this variant.

Another variant that is currently dominating COVID-19 infections in Europe and North America, B.1.1.7 has also been detected in South Africa.

Eleven cases of B.1.1.7 have been confirmed, with eight cases in the Western Cape, two cases in Gauteng and one case in KwaZulu-Natal.

"It is not surprising that new variants have been detected in South Africa", said NICD Acting Executive Director, Professor Adrian Puren.

Head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response at the NICD, Dr Michelle Groome, assured the public that the institute is focusing its resources and research efforts towards understanding the variants and what the potential implications are for South Africa.

Groome added that provincial health authorities remain on high alert and are prioritising the sequencing of COVID-19 positive samples from travellers entering the country, from India specifically and their close contacts.

The institute said minimising the spread of the disease and possibly curtailing a resurgence through compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions could not be emphasised enough.

"We understand that many are suffering from COVID-19 fatigue, and becoming lax in exercising preventative measures. But for the sake of yourselves and your loved ones, wash or sanitise your hands, wear your masks and maintain physical distance of 1.5 m from others. Remember to hold gatherings outdoors, or in well ventilated areas and roll up your sleeve once the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to you," said Puren.
Deputy President David Mabuza, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform, has convened a meeting of the IMC.

This was hot on the heels of the successful land and title deeds handover to the Covie community in the Western Cape on 30 April 2020.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Presidency said the meeting received a report on the status of land that is under the jurisdiction of state-owned enterprises, as well as plans for the usage of the land for spatial integration.

"The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure as well as the Department of Public Enterprises will jointly audit the land under state-owned enterprises to determine what is to be released for redistribution in the short, medium and long term," reads the statement.

Furthermore, the meeting noted consultations by government with various stakeholders of the Land Administration and Tenure Reform intended to initiate a process of transferring communal land to persons or communities whose tenure of land is not legally secured, as approved by Cabinet.

"To this end, consultations with the National House of Traditional Leaders, Contralesa and the National Khoisan Council are ongoing," the Presidency said.

During the meeting, the IMC was also updated on progress in the implementation of the National Spatial Development Framework in guiding land redistribution and development towards spatial transformation, consolidation and integration.

"In particular, the meeting was apprised on ruralisation and the need for decisive and sustainable rural development and agrarian reform. The meeting was encouraged by the ongoing work in eliminating legacy imbalances in housing distribution and building of inclusive residential markets as well as ensuring service delivery in an integrated residential landscape," reads the statement.

The Presidency added that the emphasis was spatially transforming and consolidating settlement development in new and existing areas and to continue to use the delivery of housing for a broad range of housing typologies within integrated mixed-use developments and multiple tenure options.

Additionally, the IMC was appraised on the ongoing consultations in regards to the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution.
The South African Post Office (SAPO) has announced the reopening of most branches that were temporarily closed following extensive negotiations with landlords.

The branches will re-open on Monday and will be trading normally.

"Customers are therefore welcome to visit these post offices for collecting parcels, paying car licences or doing other postal transactions," SAPO said in a statement.

Vehicle owners who want to renew their car license have to bring an identity document and a completed renewal form, which can be downloaded from the Post Office website: https://www.postoffice.co.za/. The form is under the domestic products button.

"Post Offices are important access points for government services such as social grants. To eliminate long waiting times, the Post Office has introduced separate queues for different transactions. This also serves to eliminate crowding and ensures that COVID-19 regulations are adhered to," SAPO said.

The Post Office offers the most cost-effective delivery service for small international parcels and therefore plans to play a growing role in delivering e-commerce parcels.

"Its network of outlets is one of the reasons it is able to offer a unique service, and the organisation intends to maintain its extensive network," SAPO said.

The following branches will re-open:

Gauteng: Aston Manor; Belle Ombre, Pretoria; Fontainebleu; Hillbrow; Kelvin; Khumalo; Leondale; Moroke; Northmead and Three Rivers.

Eastern Cape: Greenfields; Motherwell; Northcrest and Schauderville.

Western Cape: Edgemead; Kleinmond; Mbekweni and Melkbosstrand.

KwaZulu-Natal: Esikhaleni; Gillits; Impendle; and Overport.

Limpopo: Enkelbult; Letsitele and Tonga.

Mpumalanga: West Acres, Mbombela.

Northern Cape: Hopetown.

The Post Office said negotiations will continue with landlords of the remaining few branches that are closed.

"They will re-open as soon as agreement is reached with property owners. This is expected to be within the next few weeks," SAPO said.
A 31-year-old off-duty police officer attached to the ZRP Support Unit has been arrested for illegally releasing seven deportees from the Beitbridge quarantine centre after taking a R1500 bribe.

Webster Mudadisi was busted by his colleagues soon after escorting the group from the facility on Friday.

He was not asked to plead to charges of criminal abuse of office as a public officer when he appeared before Ms Vavariro Gabi on Saturday.

Mudadisi was remanded in custody to May 20 for trial.

Prosecuting, Mr Ronald Mugwagwa told the court that the accused, who is currently deployed to Beitbridge quarantine centre was off duty when he committed the offence.

He told the court that on May 7, Mudadisi was approached by one man who had been deported from South Africa and was offered R250 to facilitate his escape from quarantine.

The State further alleged that the accused asked the man to mobilise more people who were to pay R250 bribes each to buy their freedom. Mudadisi was then given R1500 to facilitate the release of seven people.

After which, he escorted them out of the quarantine and was intercepted by other police officers who were closely monitoring his movements.

Upon realising that he had been busted, he forcibly stashed the bribe money in one of the deportees' jacket. The group was interrogated and revealed they had paid Mudadisi who was subsquently arrested and the money was recovered.
Winnie Atieno Miseda is the head of Human Resource (HR) and Head Admin at the Track and Trace Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) Division.

She holds a Business Administration Diploma with a major in Public Relations from Kenya Methodist University (KEMU). She is currently undertaking a degree in Management and Leadership at Management University of Africa, majoring in HR.

Atieno spoke to nation.africa about her rise from chapati-selling girl to a corporate executive.

Tell us about your childhood and family life.

I was born and raised in Muhoroni, Kisumu County. I am the firstborn in a home of three children, all girls. We lived at the Muhoroni sub-county hospital (Nyayo Hospital) quarters where my mum worked.

My dad passed on in 2004 and we had a rough childhood. We could barely afford clothing and food and my mother often had to borrow from friends and neighbours for our survival. However, this did not stop her from instilling valuable values in us that have come in handy in adulthood.

Educational background.

I attended Muhoroni Success Primary School and this set a strong foundation for me. I joined Nyamira Girls in Bondo for my high school education although I briefly dropped out in Form Three due to lack of school fees. After completing high school, I stayed at home for more than two years as I waited to join college. My desire was to study Mass Communication but I missed my chance at Maseno University. My parents wanted me to either join Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) or a Teachers Training college, but I declined.

During the two years, I would make chapatis, samosas, cakes, popcorns, and supply them to the staff at the hospital as well as in the quarters and shops on orders. My mother introduced me to a chamaa that enabled me to save.

One day I saw an advert on the Daily Nation by the then Mombasa Polytechnic for a course in Mass Communication and Journalism. I applied without my mums knowledge and was lucky to be shortlisted. I finished the course and later enrolled in a Business Administration course at Kenya Methodist University (KEMU).

Share with us your career journey.

My first job was as a shop attendant that paid Sh100 per day. I later volunteered at Kenya News Agency (KNA) for over four years, after completing my internship and with no job opportunities coming my way. Here, I learnt to put my skills into use and engaged in consultancy which would at times pay.

I finally got a job at the Kenya Broadcasting Channel (KBC) although this was short-lived as I had to drop off due to hyperthyroidism, a condition that forced me to undergo an operation. This really took a toll on me but I was lucky to get another job. This time, as an editor for The Kilifian, a Coast-based regional newspaper.

In 2017, I transitioned to Track and Trace. I joined the company as the Accounts Manager  ECTS Division, a totally different area from my scope of training. The pressure was too much and I almost quit. I also faced a lot of rejection and bullying from colleagues who thought I was not deserving of the job. I spoke to the then General Manager  now the Managing Director  Ms Betty Muthumbi and she was very helpful. Through her guidance and Gods grace, I pulled through.

In 2018, I was tasked with the duty of managing the Mombasa region offices. Once again, office politics were at play. At some point, it started affecting my productivity, and one day during my performance review with my supervisor, I mentioned this and she encouraged me to carry on. This was reassuring and I got the courage to carry on.

Later I was elevated to an HR and administrative role in an acting capacity until the end of 2018 when I was officially confirmed for the job.

What do you remember most about your career journey?

I vividly remember how much I have endured to get to this level. I have been bullied, rejected, and obstructed but still, I did not lose focus. Prior to joining my current organization, I had to endure working without pay. My former employer still owes me six months worth of salary.

How have you progressed over the years career-wise?

I owe my career progression to God. Before I leave the house, I pray. When I get to the office, I pray. This is a routine everyone around me, even my colleagues understand too well. I would not have made it from that chapati-selling girl to this position were it not for His grace. Im also very professional and have a learning spirit. Whatever I do, I do it with lots of passion and whenever I encounter a challenge, I reach out for help.

What has been the key driver of your growth? Lessons learned, highlights and failures.

Over the years, I have learnt that you can be who you want to be so long as you have the right, positive and teachable attitude. You are the obstacle to your growth. This statement by Malcom Gladwell keeps me going: The key to getting people to change their behaviour, in other words, to care about their neighbour in distress, sometimes lies with the smallest details of their immediate situation. The power of context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they may seem.

Also, according to Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, he identifies that good to great leaders never wanted to become larger-than-life heroes. They never aspired to be put on a pedestal or become unreachable icons. They were seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results.

My highlights include serving my team. It motivates me just to see them comfortable and satisfied. I go out of my way just for them. At times we engage in heated debates with my supervisor about the team. As a manager and leader, always maintain boundaries. I set principles to distinguish work and friendship.

In regards to failure, I have cried myself out over peoples mistakes. It hurts to see those that I have counselled, mentored and wished to see grow, get fired, or decide to bow out due to pressure.

Who are the people or relationships that were useful in your career growth and how did they influence your trajectory?

God Almighty, for His strength, favour, and grace. Dealing with people without His strength is impossible. People management is the toughest area one would ever end up in.

My mum, Pamella Miseda. Reflecting on her hard work, sacrifice and commitment single-handedly to see us through school and life inspires me.

My Supervisor, MD Betty Muthumbi. Her push to get the best out of me. Seeing my capacity and investing in it. She held my hands as she does to all around her team in the management.

My CEO, Mr Edward Njoroge is another person I look up to. Im greatly indebted to him for believing in me and giving me a chance to work in this company.

My Pastor, Reverend Wilson Kalume, a humble servant of God. His humility to serve challenges me. He gave me Sh1,000 as transport to go for an interview at Trace and Trace (my current employer) when I didnt have fare to Nairobi. He also stood with me when I was admitted in hospital for surgery when everyone ran away from me. He is the dad God gave me after losing my biological father.

Other notable relations include my colleagues Mercy, Festus, Gidraf and Sang. I also value my two sisters, Sheila and Beryl Miseda, they are heaven-sent.

I have also built a wide network with professionals from all walks of life and that keeps me going. I get to learn a lot from all of my networks.

Your current role and scope?

My current role involves maintaining employee records. I ensure that casuals are paid in time. Basically, I am in charge of all the administrative roles in my division. I am in charge of hiring and firing, paying salaries, managing payrolls, paying casual wages, implementation of SOPs, maintaining employee records among other HR/admin-related duties.

What would you advise the youth in Kenya and Africa today?

I would encourage them to volunteer as much as they can. They should also stop the love for quick and easy money. Work hard and get paid for your own sweat. I would also encourage them to always go the extra mile. Finally, they ought to be teachable and disciplined. Growth is two way  Choose your way.

Future plans career-wise?

I intend to continue through to obtaining a Ph.D. in Strategic Management. This has always been my area of interest. I love strategic management and would love to implement it, especially in the public sector. I want to see the company I work for grow. I would desire to leave after creating an impact that will see the company shine.

Anything else you want to add?

If you get fired, never take offense, just weigh in and reflect. Stay positive. My boss always says, if you are let go, its not that you are bad, you just do not fit. This should apply to all.

Parting shot?
The government's delegation held discussion with the management of Ibom Air over the weekend, an official says.

The Bayelsa State Government at the weekend opened partnership discussions with its Akwa Ibom counterpart on the use of Ibom Air to start commercial flight operations at the Bayelsa International Airport.

Ibom Air, a commercial airline, is owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government.

Speaking as the leader of a delegation from Bayelsa at a meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, the Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, said the choice of Ibom Air was informed by proximity and the good bilateral relations between the two sister states.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo, in a statement by media aide, Doubara Atasi, on Sunday, explained that Akwa Ibom has proved itself as a dependable neighbour to Bayelsa in so many ways over the years, which must be reciprocated "in the spirit of give-and-take".

He expressed optimism that the partnership deal would soon be sealed for the airline to commence flights to and from Bayelsa, Lagos and Abuja, describing the two routes as the highest in traffic for the people of the state.

The deputy governor assured Bayelsa residents and the public of the administration's commitment to ensure smooth operations at the state airport.

According to him, the state government was applying the business principle of "starting small to grow big" by going for a 50-Seater aircraft in its present deal with Ibom Air to promote socio-economic activities in the state.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo, who likened efforts for acquiring the operational licence to Nelson Mandela's "Long walk to Freedom", however, added that the government has plans to do business with other airlines in the near future.

"Our intention is to do two flights for now, a trip to and from Abuja, as well as a trip to and from Lagos. These are the major cities that our people visit very often for now either for business or for other purposes," the deputy governor said.

Other members in the state delegation were the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo, Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, their transport counterpart, Grace Ekiotenne, and the Manager of the Bayelsa International Airport, Elizabeth Akpama.
According to the family, Mrs Ugboma died days after undergoing fibroid surgery at the hospital.

The Lagos State Government has said it would investigate allegations of medical negligence levelled against Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Victoria Island, leading to the death of Peju Ugboma, a chef.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that at least 3,000 people had signed an online petition, as of Sunday morning, calling on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Ministry of Health to investigate the death.

According to a statement signed by Nwabeze Ugboma on behalf of the family, the deceased died days after undergoing fibroid surgery in the hospital.

The state government said the Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, has directed the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMMA) to conduct a proper investigation into the death of the chef and establish the facts of the matter.

"On behalf of the Lagos State Government @followlasg, @HEFAMAA_LASG commiserates with the family of Mrs. Peju Ugboma, may God in His infinite mercies bless her soul and give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss," the agency said via its official Twitter account on Sunday.

On behalf of the Lagos State Government @followlasg, @HEFAMAA_LASG commiserates with the family of Mrs. Peju Ugboma, may God in His infinite mercies bless her soul and give the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. https://t.co/Iypmh1kz1D

- HEFAMAA (@HEFAMAA_LASG) May 9, 2021

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"Meanwhile, the Honorable Commissioner @LSMOH, @ProfAkinAbayomi has directed, @HEFAMAA_LASG the agency charged with the responsibility of accrediting, monitoring, and inspecting all public and private health facilities in the State, to conduct a proper investigation on the occurrence to establish the facts of the matter."

"We assure the family and the public that @HEFAMAA_LASG will do the needful to get to the root of the matter and ensure #JusticeForPeju with a view to preventing such unfortunate incidents in the future.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, on Monday also confirmed the development to this reporter.

"The (Health) commissioner has ordered an investigation into the death of the lady. One of our agencies, HEFEMAA will take it up from there and brief the commissioner," he said.

The petition

On Sunday, a petition set up by a committee of friends, led by Abdul Mahmud, a human rights lawyer, garnered over 3,000 supporters on Sunday morning, calling Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and the Ministry of Health to investigate the incident.

As of Sunday evening, at least 7,500 people had signed the petition.

Autopsy

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported how the family of the late Peju Ugboma accused Premier Specialist Medical Center of negligence resulting in her untimely demise.

The family said an independent autopsy by pathologists at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) showed that Mrs Ugboma suffered internal bleeding after the surgical procedure.

The autopsy revealed that she had about two litres of blood in her abdomen and pelvic area.
The priest said the protest that led to the destruction of the church properties was hijacked by hoodlums

Outspoken Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, has apologised to the Catholic Church over the attack and destruction of the Enugu Catholic Diocese Bishop's Court and the Holy Ghost Cathedral in Enugu.

Mr Mbaka, who is the spiritual director of Adoration Ministries, Enugu, apologised while delivering a sermon on Sunday at the Adoration Ground in Emene.

He said the church did not kidnap him and apologised to people who may have misunderstood his statement when he resurfaced in Enugu.

He said he was misquoted by people who wanted to cause problems between him and the church.

The priest said the protest was hijacked by hoodlums who unleashed mayhem on the church.

"I wish to apologise to whoever misunderstood my statement at New Haven. I didn't clap for anybody for destroying anything.

"I am here standing on your behalf and I render my sincere apologies to the Holy Roman and Apostolic Church where I belong and say may the mother church forgive us in any way we didn't do it well even in all that I said, where I didn't say it well, we pray for their forgiveness.

"I am on your behalf, kneeling down for the church and I say may the church forgive. What has happened has happened, we are to save the image of the church and the face of the church and the souls of the son of God.

"People started going in and breaking things... Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas, Catholics and non- Catholics.

"The church is not my property. I belong to the church so I am asking my Lord, Bishop Onaga and all the priests of Enugu diocese and for everybody to rest the case."

He said he will join the prayer of reparation called by the bishop as he did not send anybody to destroy the bishop's residence.

"The prayer of reparation, we will join, I didn't send anybody to destroy anything, I have no problem with anybody and I can't disobey the church --who am I? How can somebody who has been serving the church for 25 years come out to begin to fight the same church."

Mr Mbaka condemned the destruction of properties at the bishop's court, although he said he was not aware of what was destroyed.

He explained why he had praised the crowd despite the destruction at the bishop's residence.

"What I was praising you for was not for anything destroyed. I was praising you for your ability to search for your missing pastor," he said.

He enjoined them to look for any priest that goes missing in Nigeria because "we are sharing in one priesthood of Christ Jesus".

"I thank God nobody died. One person was said to have poured himself fuel and started pouring it round the Bishop's Court and wanted to light himself up with the house, is that not another type of suicide bomber?

"But the Adoration people beat the hell out of him. And some others wanted to destroy the sanctissimum sacramentum (Holy Sacrament) and the grotto but the Adoration members blocked them and started praying."

The parishioners, he said, "will agree on a day to go in their large number to the bishop and apologise to him".

Background

Following the exchange of words between Mr Mbaka and Nigeria's presidency because of his call for President Muhammadu Buhari's resignation, the priest was summoned last week by the bishop of the diocese. Some hours later, information went viral on social media that the priest was missing.

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His parishioners, thereafter, embarked on a protest to the bishop's residence where they allegedly destroyed properties within the premises.

They reportedly destroyed properties at the Holy Ghost Cathedral before Mr Mbaka later resurfaced and took them away to New Haven where he addressed them.

Mr Mbaka had told the parishioners he was denied access to his phones and ordered to proceed on one month suspension.

He also alleged that the diocesan leadership wanted to close down the Adoration ministry.

Following the attack, the Bishop, Callistus Onaga declared a one week prayer for reparation over the incident.
The Executive Chairman, Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), Mr Igbinidu Inneh, has warned traders' associations against the collection of unauthorised revenues in the state.

Inneh, in a statement issued by EIRS's Head, Corporate Communications Unit, Mr Eboigbe Courage, on Sunday in Benin, gave the warning during a tax meeting with members of Electronics and Computer Dealers Association of Nigeria (ECDAN) in Benin.

Inner, who was represented by EIRS' Executive Director, Income Tax, Prince Felix Isuku, said: "The sole government's institution legally recognised to collect and account for generated revenue is the EIRS."

According to him, the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) prohibits trade associations from collecting taxes on behalf of government.

He urged the association to be tax compliant by contributing their quota to the development of the state through the payment of taxes for sustainable infrastructure and human capital development.

He added that "most states have began to chart new courses, looking inwards to generate funds to execute government projects rather than depending on revenue from oil which is no longer sustainable.

"Your contribution will enable government to do more for its citizens and address issues of insecurity.

"Government is doing all within its power to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive as well as provide job opportunities for Edo youths under several outfits.

"Such as Edo State Traffic and Management Agency, Public Works Volunteers, Edo State Constabulary Police, Mobile Revenue Collectors, Tax Relationship Officers among others."

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He said that "the administration of Gov. Godwin Obaseki has shown leadership, transparency and capacity in the judicious utilisation of taxpayers' money.

"If you pay your taxes, you will have every right to query what government is doing. But if you don't pay your taxes, criticizing government becomes difficult."

Inneh told the trade association that, "the revenue service has provided multiple payment platforms for seamless tax remittances by taxpayers.

"These are through using Revenue Scratch Card, web payment and even the Point of Sales (PoS) device."

The EIRS boss warned traders of the implications of tax avoidance, evasion, benefits of paying taxes/tax clearance certificate and the position of the personal income tax act (PITA) on entities authorised to collect taxes on behalf of government.

Responding, ECDAN's chairman, Prince Paul Ani, assured the EIRS of members compliance to payment of taxes for use by the state government.

He sued for more engagement with the revenue service to assist in enlightening members.

(NAN)

Vanguard News Nigeria
There is trouble brewing in the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) following the firing of Ken Kandodo as Labour Minister for his involvement in the alleged mismanagement of Covid-19 funds.

Shortly after Chakwera gave his Labour Minister the boot, Malawi Congress Party elders in Kasungu took the issue as a war between Kasungu MCP and Lilongwe MCP.

We can exclusively reveal that MCP custodians in Kasungu sent an envoy to President Chakwera demanding the reinstatement of Kandodo as cabinet minister and to "stop taking MCP as a Lilongwe party."

Weeks later President Chakwera has bowed to pressure and publicly apologized on Friday when he addressed people in Kasungu on his way to Mzuzu.

"Inu a Kandodo simudalakwe. Kungoti muma ofesimu muli anthu otcherana ndale. Ofuna kukugwetsani. Ine sidadziwe kuti mwabwera (Mr. Kandodo there was nothing wrong you did. Only that people want to finish you in your office. Be careful, some people have scores to settle with you," said Chakwera, marking the first sign of the reinstatement of Kandodo soon.

A local analyst has since described Chakwera as a weak leader who has been captured by MCP forces and he is failing to make independent decisions. The analyst said once Chakwera re-appoints Kandodo he is going to lose his global standing, earned when he showed resolve in fighting corruption within his Government.

The MCP politburo has Chakwera against letting his Vice Saulos Chilima stealing his shine, according to Nyasa Times source.

Chakwera's visit is seen as an attempt to downplay the impact his Vice's visit three weeks ago.
The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has concluded arrangements to hold its 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, May 15, 2021.

The hybrid event will hold online via the zoom platform and physical venue at its Lagos office.

The meeting which will be presided over by the President/Chairman of Council, Dr. Bayo Olugbemi, is expected to be attended by top bankers and other distinguished dignitaries from other sectors of the economy such as Chairmen of banks; MD/Chief Executives of banks, past presidents of the institute, Presidents of other professional bodies, top government functionaries, fellows, honourary senior members, associates, microfinance certified and among others.

According to a statement, the annual reports, accounts, auditor's report, adoption of the minutes of last year's AGM and other important matters affecting the institute and the welfare of members would be considered at the meeting.

It is expected that members of the institute all over the world will join via zoom and youtube platforms as well as participate actively at the discussions for the interest of the banking profession and industry in the country.
A robber believed to be a member of a gang that allegedly specialised in breaking into financial institutions, warehouses and companies, Musah Adamu also known as Adams has been arrested by the Tema Regional Police Command.

Other members of his gang who are on the run are Ali aka Dangote, Nsiah aka Nab, Efo aka Senior Man, Solani, Quarshie, Santiago and Adamu a taxi driver.

He has since been put before the Tema Circuit Court and remanded in police custody to reappear on May 17.

According to the Public Relations Officer for the Tema Regional Police Command, Chief Inspector Stella Dede Dzakpasu who briefed the media on Saturday, the 25 year old accused was a notorious robber who had been on the wanted list of the Police for some time.

She said Adamu with his accomplices on November 24 last year engaged in a suspected robbery activity at the Tema Industrial Area but fled upon Police response to a distress call leaving behind his unregistered motorcycle and mobile phone.

She said the suspect was arrested upon intelligence reports received by the Tema Regional Police Command on May 5, 2021, at his hideout in Tema.

Chief Inspector Dzakpasu disclosed that some members of Adamu's gang were currently on trial at the Sunyani High Court after their arrest during a robbery activity.

She appealed to the general public to volunteer information that would assist the police to arrest and prosecute the suspects who are now on the run.
The End of Its 10-Year Forecast Range, It Expects Sales to Reach Gh6.55bn (Us896mn) By 2030.

Ghana will become the hub of pharmaceutical production in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) on the back of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to Fitch Solutions, the country continues to work towards its aim of establishing itself as a pharmaceutical hub on the continent.

The creation of a pharmaceutical industrial park for pharmaceutical companies to establish large scale operations is therefore a testament

"Global vaccine demand has placed countries with local manufacturing capabilities in a stronger position to guarantee access. In this respect Ghana's local industry is limited, however, on April 19, 2021, the Pharmaceutical Association of Ghana (PMAG) appealed to the government to strengthen local vaccine production," it said.

The move the research arm of ratings agency, Fitch, said would help guarantee a reliable source of vaccines for the country and the SSA region, adding, the country has also started feasibility studies to manufacture its own vaccine for COVID-19 and also to reduce Ghana's and Africa's reliance on foreign vaccines in the long-term.

The Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy last September signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a construction firm for the creation of a pharmaceutical industrial park.

Furthermore, President Akufo-Addo in November tasked the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to position the country to become the centre of generic drugs production across Sub Sahara Africa.

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Since Ghana is one of the only two countries in Sub Saharan Africa which produces active pharmaceutical ingredients, Fitch Solutions, believe these initiatives will significantly help to bolster pharmaceutical growth.

To encourage pharmaceutical market growth, the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy with funding from foreign and development organisation, have created a support package of $626,000. The fund will be used to provide grants to pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and consulting firms within the pharmaceutical sector.

The objective of the grant is to provide support to companies to address vulnerabilities in the pharmaceutical supply chain, among others.

The report said increased localised production will help decrease the pharmaceutical trade deficit in the long-term

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical sales is expected to rise to GH2.86 billion this year.

It is expected to reach GH3.96 billion in 2025.

"We maintain a positive forecast for Ghana's pharmaceutical market. Increased local prodction will help to drive Ghana's domestic pharmaceutical market and we expect growth will mainly be driven by local generics production, "the report said.

"Pharmaceutical sales in Ghana reached GH2.69 billion (US$462mn) in 2020, and we forecast figures to rise to GH2.86 billion (US$468mn) in 2021. Looking further forward to 2025, we expect sales to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 8.0 per cent in local currency (3.3 per cent in dollars) to reach GH3.96bn (US$544mn)".
The Management of GCB Bank Ltd and Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) have resolved to foster stronger alliance in the interest of the two institutions and to help propel national growth.

While operating in different sectors of the national economy, the management of the two institutions agree that collaboration will help lubricate the engine of growth in the strategic interest of Ghana.

This point was reiterated when the Managing Director (MD) of GCB Bank, Mr Kofi Adomakoh, paid a working visit to the Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Ato Afful, in Accra.

"Partnerships like this would be very useful. You are the most dominant media institution in the country and I think, we coming from the same mother, it is important that we cooperate and collaborate in business and social events," Mr Adomakoh stated.

Mr Adomakoh's visit was to introduce himself as the new MD of GCB Bank and to share ideas on how best Ghanaian companies could collaborate to build businesses of international character and magnitude.

He acknowledged that both the banking and the media industries have been evolving, very fast, adding, strategies are needed to take businesses to the next level and see how we can support each other.

"We want to play a role in making sure that you get there. More importantly, there are also things that we can look at together and you can also help us disseminate what GCB wants to do along our various businesses," he said.

"The disruption with COVID-19 and what has happened forced banks to get more digital to reach their customers. So those days when we had armchair bankers who sat in the office and waited for the customer to queue outside are long gone and it will even change more in the coming years," he explained.

He said that was one of the reasons why he was reaching out to the GCGL, which was one of its customers, to find out how the Bank could be of help to the company in the coming years.

,Mr Afful on his part, said the GCGL had enjoyed a fantastic relationship with GCB Bank over the decades, with the Bank being immensely helpful.

"As an ongoing relationship, we will obviously be looking at upping the ante on both sides. We appreciate the services that you have rendered to us over the decades," he said.

Mr Afful said the GCGL recognised the fact that times had changed and, therefore, the company had rolled out several initiatives to ensure that the business remained sustainable.

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"Graphic is now doing thought leadership programmes in partnership with other stakeholders. Additionally, because of the traditional base of print, the leaders of this business over time saw it fit to venture into the printing, publishing and packaging business which led to the establishment of the subsidiary company GPAK," he said.

He said the GCGL also partnered another company to establish a courier services company that was into nationwide delivery.

"The company also, through partnership, has renovated and expanded its clinic which used to serve only staff and family to now serve the entire public," he stated.

Furthermore, he said the company had some physical assets that it intends to develop and was therefore in discussion with some partners in that regard.

Mr Adomakoh was accompanied by Mr John Adamah, Mr Kojo Kwarteng and Mr Linus Kumi, Heads of Consumer Banking, Corporate Affairs and Corporate Banking Departments of GCB.
analysis

Yesterday, Mother's Day was celebrated across the world in more than 50 countries, including GhanaAustralia, Denmark, Finland, and Belgium.

Other countries, however, observe the day in different months and even on different days in the same month. For instance, whereas Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Burundi, Burkina Faso, and Russia celebrate it along with the International Women's Day on March 8, Arab nations mostly celebrate it on March 21. Even Argentina marks the day in October.

The second Sunday of May celebration is said to have originated from the US even though the celebration itself is traced to ancient Greece when their goddess Rhea was honoured on a particularly day.

The American incarnation of Mother's Day is said to have been created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914.

The Americans are so much particular about the day that even its spelling as 'Mother's Day' has been formalized and explained.

In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrase "Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder", noting that "Mother's" should "be a singular possessive, for each family to honour its own mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."[

The Ghanaian Times hopes that henceforth any confusion over the actual spelling of 'Mother's Day' is resolved. This should prompt us, educated people, to note that though such mistakes are not fatal, they give us out as careless, lackadaisical and lazy people. Therefore, it is always best to ascertain the accuracy of what we bring into the public domain, not only correct spelling, but even the veracity of a whole piece of information.

Mother's Day traditionally involves presenting moms with flowers, cards and other gifts in metropolitan countries.It is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.

While we think of how to make mothers happy on the day, we should note that influence of mothers begins from conception because the womb was the first environment of every living soul. How well the woman keeps herself before and during conception has affected the destinies of some people.

Some people contracted diseases from the womb and have been disabled as a result.

You may have grown and think you like one thing or another according to your own sense of choice. Find out! Your tastes have been influenced by your mother through her care.

Your language and behavioural development is influenced by your mother more than father. The list is endless.

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If mothers really influence society that much, what it means is that women should be well educated so that their influence on children could help these to-be adults to make better choices that in turn would influence society for the better.

We need mothers to teach children to love schooling, build the sense of dignity of work, appreciate making money as income from work or returns on investment, live in peace with self and with others, and acknowledge that there is competition out there and every growing child must prepare for it, They should also teach children that morality counts.

While we raise such issues, we wish to appeal to all members of the society, especially husbands and relations, to recognise the important roles of mothers in society and assist them to discharge them with honour..

The Ghanaian Times wishes mothers belated HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Dogs are wonderful companions. Many people across the world choose to share their lives, food, homes, and spare time with their dogs. There are so many different breeds with different temperaments, qualities, and challenges alike. Dogs truly are the most special creatures, loved from Kenya to Morocco, Ghana to South Africa. In fact, dogs were the continents most searched pet as seen in the map below by this website.

But, owning a dog impacts more than just your happiness and playfulness around the house! They do have a significant impact on our lives. They create new tasks to keep up with, new bonds to develop, and new ways of living to discover. In this article, we are going to take a look at how owning a dog will completely change your life. Dont worry, its all for the better.

There Are Reasons Dogs Are Popular

The vast majority of dogs are loyal, caring, protective, and playful creatures often referred to as mans best friend due to these qualities. Domesticated dogs have been an ever-present part of human life for over 10,000 years in some areas. Some even estimate that Serbians domesticated dogs over 23,000 years ago. Humans have always loved their pets.

Dogs love being around their owners and doing whatever they can to please them. This makes dogs a very special companion to most people. They also protect their owners and are known for making people feel safer. Even small dogs can act as scary guard dogs. Dogs are also great for people with disabilities, visual impairments, or other special needs.

Dogs Require Space

Lets examine dogs and the amount of space they require. Dogs, of course, need exercise, feeding, watering, and space to do their business. In some cases, it is enough to have a small yard and take the dog on a couple of walks per day. In other cases, youll need a large amount of space for your pup.

Different Breeds Needs

Its quite obvious that different breeds of dogs will require differing amounts of space, time, and energy expenditure. For example, a Chihuahua, a toy-sized dog, will likely be happy being indoors most of the time. They are small and only require enough space to run their tiny legs around. A Great Dane, on the other end of the scale, will need both a huge home and a vast amount of outdoor space. This size of dog requires constant access to a yard, one that is big enough for it to run and play.

Somewhere in the middle, breeds like Labradors, Collies, and Bull Terriers fall. These dogs are the perfect mid-sized animal for most families. They do, of course, require regular walking and exercise  were talking twice a day! But they are healthy and satisfied in a medium-sized home with an average yard. It is a requirement to have enough space to keep your dog healthy, with different breeds having very different needs.

How Much Will This Space Cost?

Though it depends where you live, generally, bigger dogs will cost you more in terms of how much land you need to keep your pet healthy. Sticking with the prior examples, lets look at Kenya and South Africa.

In Nairobi, Kenya, the average acre of land costs $17,524 while the average 1-3 bed home with a yard costs around $147,000. So, you want to buy some land, its pretty cheap! And, the average family home with a yard isnt too bad either. A medium-to-large dog isnt going to break the bank in Kenya!

In Cape Town, South Africa, however, things are a little different. The capitals average acre of land fetches between $100-200,000  more than quadruple the value of land in Nairobi. Similarly, the average family home with outdoor space sits at over $500,000  meaning it is far more expensive to have a bigger dog in Cape Town.

Other Dog-Related Costs

Of course, its not only the space dogs require. They also need feeding, washing, trips to the vet, vaccinations, toys, bedding, and more! Obviously, any dog lover doesnt mind spending this sort of money. But, its worth comparing once more. The average Great Dane eats 8-10 cups of food every day! The average Yorkshire Terrier eats only 175 calories a day   to  cup per day. Thats a huge difference in long-term expenditure. Combine the need for space with the need for food, regular vet trips, and everything else associated with dog ownership, and youll soon get an accurate picture of what sized breed is right for your family.

Do You Have The Time?

As well as money, dogs cost you time! This is not a bad thing at all unless you simply dont have enough to give. Dogs demand attention, need feeding, and get seriously lonely when left for too long. If youre pulling 16-hour shifts and sleeping the rest, you wont be able to give a dog enough time and love. You should only buy or rescue a dog if you know you have plenty of hours to give it the attention it requires every day.



Theyll Keep You Fit!

Another thing youll need is energy. Dogs will want to walk every day, playing with, and interacting with very, very regularly. They take up a lot of energy! For many, this is a good thing as having a good-sized dog can help keep you fit. A large breed requires walking for a couple of hours a day. Even for a younger person, this is enough to help keep you in shape. An older person may not be able to keep up with the needs of a large, speedy dog, so might opt for a terrier or small breed instead.

So, as you can see, a dog of any size is going to change your life. Some will certainly take more time, money, and attention than others. But, all dogs are great. They bring such joy and happiness that we believe any amount of walking and feeding is totally worth it!
Wa  The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has encouraged journalists in the Upper West Region to write positive stories about the area in order to attract investment opportunities for the region.

The Minister stated that producing stories that projected the economic opportunities and other endowments of the region would augment governments of efforts at wooing the needed investment for the region.

"We can obviously do this through the stories we tell by not limiting ourselves to gory and negative news only, but also focusing on other key areas that can project the region. People are interested in investing in well-endowed areas; not just resources but good prospects as well," he stated,

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said this when he met with some media practitioners at Wa over the weekend as part of a day's working visit to the region to interact with the practitioners on issues of national concern.

He defined balanced journalism as a practice that was geared towards promoting the good of an area by advancing its economic opportunities vis-a-vis reporting on usual occurrences and said both should be given equal attention in the media landscape as they both complimented government's efforts at developing the nation.

The Minister reiterated that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had devastating effect on the economy of the country as well as other global economies and was therefore incumbent on Ghanaians to collectively work with government to offset the adverse effect of the pandemic in Ghana.

"The pandemic is real and has caused a strain on the Ghanaian economy; although we admit that it will take a while to recover, government will still need the collaboration of the citizenry to restore the nation's fortunes and also deal with other things that bedevil us as a people," he expressed.

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The reason for which government, he stated had had to introduce additional taxes to raise more revenue to help deal with the depressed economy and continue to fight the pandemic.

He was therefore of the view that the journalists would be of more help to the restoration agenda if they were able to educate the populace to understand the intricacies of the pandemic as well as the difficulties it had brought on the Ghanaian economy and further encourage them to collaborate with government to work at reviving the economy by contributing a little more revenue.

"The cost of vaccinations among other interventions for instance warrant additional cost financing and therefore necessitated the introduction of the COVID-19 levy to enable the citizens donate a little to support government to deal with the pandemi,c" he said.

Addressing concerns from some of the journalists about the state of affairs in the country, the Minister reiterated that government had not authored any 'culture of silence' as was been speculated amongst the populace.

He added that the state of the economy would not have significant toll on the performance of government as well as the development of other sectors of the country such as roads and industrialisation as government had a clear policy direction to sustain the economy.
Fez  His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and HRH Prince Moulay Rachid, commemorated on Sunday Laylat Al Qadr (26th day of Ramadan).

On this blessed religious occasion, HM the King performed the prayers of Al-Icha and Taraouih. The Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs proceeded to the closing of "Sahih Al Boukhari" before the Commander of the Faithful.

His Majesty the King has commemorated this blessed night within the framework of the preventive and precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Khartoum  The Sudanese Fiqh Academy issued a fatwa on Sunday, barring the planned ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The No to Oppression of Women Initiative calls for the dissolution of the Academy.

In end April, the Council of Ministers endorsed the ratification of CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. The Council noted reservations to some articles of CEDAW (Article 2, 16, and 29/1) without giving further details. The text is to be formally ratified in a joint meeting of the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers.

The Sudanese Women's Union lauded the step at the time, saying it rejects any reservation on the contents of the convention. According to the Union, "the three articles form the spirit of the convention. They clarify the rights of women. Without them, the agreement becomes a dead letter".

Sudan is one of the very few countries that did not ratify the international treaty for women rights adopted by the UN in 1979. CEDAW has been ratified by 187 countries, though most of the Arab and Islamic states have expressed reservations based on provisions of the Islamic law (Sharia).

The Fiqh (Muslim jurisprudence) Academy falls under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments. Its fatwa (ruling) on CEDAW states that the international convention can only be approved following the removal of articles "that lead to the abolition of Muslim family and inheritance laws, in addition to "the acknowledgement of good [Muslim] customs observed throughout history [which] are not to be violated in any way".

'IS ideology'

In response to the fatwa, Amira Osman, chair of the No to Oppression of Women Initiative, called on the government "to expedite the dissolution of the Academy and transfer its budget to the Ministry of Health".

She told Radio Dabanga that she does not understand the reason for keeping the Fiqh Academy after the revolution. "The role of the Academy ended with the fall of the deposed regime that established it in order to have religious support for its policies," she explained. "And we utterly reject the spread of IS ideology in our country."

She further pointed to the many Islamic countries that ratified CEDAW, including Saudi Arabia.

Since the 1980s, Sudanese women groups have called for the ratification of the CEDAW, forming "a legislative umbrella for the protection of women and allow them to effectively participate in public affairs".

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Islamist women in Sudan rejected CEDAW and gender equality in the past, while promoting political and economical empowerment for women.

UN conventions

Human Rights Watch stated in a letter to the UN Human Rights Council on September 2020 that Sudan's "Transitional Government announced a 'full cooperation' policy towards the United Nations, which includes cooperation with the Council and its mechanisms, as well as ratifications, namely of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)".

The organisation urged Sudan to review its legislation "to bring it fully in line with international human rights standards and the Constitutional Document".

In February, the Sovereignty Council and Council of Ministers approved two draft laws to join the 1984 CAT, and the 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).
press release

The SADC Ministers responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture participated in a joint meeting through video-conferencing on 7 May 2021, to review progress in the implementation of the SADC relevant sectoral programmes, projects and related strategies under the Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), in line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2020-2030).

The joint meeting, chaired by the Minister of Seas, Inland Waters and Fisheries of the Republic of Mozambique, Ms Augusta de Fatima Charifo Maita, was attended by 92 delegates from the 14 Member States, namely Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The SADC Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr Thembinkosi Mhlongo pointed out that despite the prospects of improved food and nutrition security for the just commenced marketing year, the region is still experiencing negative effects of climate change experienced during the past few seasons and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for Minister Augusta de Fatima Charifo Maita, she congratulated the Member States for their efforts in promoting agricultural production and productivity, despite the challenges created by adverse climatic conditions, in the past cropping seasons, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also highlighted important regional strategies that are key to enable agriculture production in the region, including the SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063), the RAP, the Livestock and Crop Development Programmes, the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Strategy, and Regional Aquaculture Strategy. She encouraged all Member States to actively implement the RAP and the Protocol of Fisheries to ensure agricultural transformation and achieve food and nutrition security in the region.

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During the joint meeting, the Ministers noted with concern, the high numbers of food and nutritionally insecure people in the region (50.8 million) and urged Member States to continue implementing and domesticating the SADC Food and Nutrition Security Strategy in National Food and Nutrition Strategies in order to improve food and nutrition security.

They encouraged Member States to attend and actively participate at the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit to be held in September 2021 which is intended to transform global food systems. They also urged Member States strengthen and expand coverage of social protection and safety-nets programmes so as to increase period of consumption, reduce malnutrition, reduce post-harvest losses and create employment

The Ministers commended the positive development trajectory witnessed in the area of fisheries and aquaculture which now employs approximately 3 million people in the region and contributes about 9% of the region's agriculture GDP.

The Ministers approved the regional strategies for the management of transboundary pests and diseases including Regional Strategy for Management of Fruit Flies, Fall Armyworm, and Tuta absoluta. They also approved the SADC Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance Control and the SADC Regional Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Strategy, as well as Guidelines on the Operations of the SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre and directed that conservation of crop wild relatives be included among the responsibilities of National Plant Genetic Resources Centres.
press release

DA must stop playing politics with land

Yesterday, Matlhodi Maseko, MPP, DA Western Cape Committee Spokesperson on Human Settlements issued a statement in which she asserts that the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) is the greatest obstacle to unlocking transformative inner city housing opportunities and that DPWI refuses to hand over the land for housing.

These are blatant lies.

The DA's MMP, Matlhodi Maseko must stop playing politics with land. She is a scripted experiment and must first go and learn how government works. Housing is a concurrent function and the province and the City of Cape Town must use the plenty parcels of land on the province and City's immovable asset register to respond to the need for housing. I will teach the member how to access the asset register and the deeds office.

Both the Western Cape Government as well as the City of Cape Town are sitting on well-located land that will enable them to respond to the need for housing especially affordable housing. But they refuse to integrate the city and bring people of colour closer to well located areas in the city.

They have a legal mandate to provide human settlements and they should look at their own parcels of land and explain to the people of the Western Cape what their plans are for the land that they own and how they will use their land for the benefit of the many people who need housing.

When I was the Mayor, in September 2017, we identified 11 sites in the inner city to be set aside for affordable and social housing initiatives to address the housing need, reverse apartheid spatial planning by bringing working class people closer to the inner city and to deal with the impact of gentrification on working class and poor families.

A total of 11 sites were identified for development, and calls for proposals were issued in respect of five.

The five sites, alone, would have added 4000 social housing rental units to the inner city. It was an unprecedented attempt to mitigate rising unaffordability of accommodation in the inner city, and gentrification.

The request for proposals was put out to the private sector to come up with development proposals which the private sector was very excited about.

Unsurprisingly and sadly in August 2019, the DA-led City of Cape Town cancelled five projects that included affordable housing in Woodstock and Salt River.

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The five projects included the Woodstock Hospital site, Woodstock Hospital Park, Pickwick Street, New Market Street and where Fruit & Veg City is located in Roeland Street.

The property developers sector was equally disappointed by this move and said that several developers and consultant teams worked tirelessly to come up with innovative solutions.

Since I became the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, I have been working with Ministers on the Inter Ministerial Committee on Land Reform to fast track any requests to DPWI for land for human settlements purposes across the country.

I have approved the release of 5 parcels of land for human settlements purposes in the Western Cape alone.

The MMP must stop lying and the DA must stop regurgitating the same statement hoping that one day people will believe them. The DA must account on what they are doing with their well-located land to respond to the need for affordable housing.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli had a meeting with a delegation from Bechtel Corporation, an American engineering, procurement, construction and project management company.

The Sunday meeting was attended by Housing Minister Asem El Gazzar, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir and US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen, among others.

The premier said the government is keen to enhance cooperation with the US side in different domains, including the construction of the 6th line of metro and the management of new cities in Egypt.

Madbouli said the state aims to localize modern industries in Egypt, praising good ties between Egypt and the US, as evidenced by the visit of the US corporation.

Shaun Kenny, president of Bechtel's infrastructure global business unit, voiced strong desire to partake in major projects currently carried out in Egypt.

Kenny also lauded strong relations between Egypt and the US.
Assistant Foreign Minister Nazih El Naggari held a meeting with Israeli ambassador to Egypt Amira Oron, reaffirming Egypt's stance on rejecting the recent storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces.

The Foreign Minister said in a statement on Sunday that Egypt stressed the need to respect Islamic holy places and provide protection for Palestinian civilians to practice their religious rites.

The meeting also discussed all points stated in the ministry's statement on the recent worrying developments in East Jerusalem.

The ambassador was asked to convey a message to Israeli officials on the need to provide protection for Palestinian worshippers to pray freely and safely.
Tanzania is, certainly, an under-rated power. Its strategists, however, view East Africa's largest country as the spider weaving diplomatic relations at the centre of the web. With the coming of President Samia Suluhu Hassan to power, Tanzania is on a diplomatic charm offensive aimed at remaking East, Central and Southern Africa.

This comes after years of frosty Kenya-Tanzania relations. Even Tanzania's most virulent populists, from Julius Nyerere to John Magufuli, have considered East Africa's economic powerhouse as a strategic neighbour.

Under President Jakaya Kikwete (2005-2015), Kenya was not a competitor but a strategic partner. Trade between the two countries increased by 40 per cent, and Kenya became Tanzania's largest trading partner with an investment of $1.65 billion. According to Tanzania Investment Centre, by 2015, some 529 Kenyan firms had invested an estimated $1.7 billion in Tanzania, creating employment for about 56,000 Tanzanians.

At the end of 2019, Kenya's exports to Tanzania stood at US$329.56 million while imports from Tanzania totalled US$269.78 million, according to the United Nations database on international trade.

Tanzania set its diplomatic relations with Kenya during the 'era of the beautiful bride'. It established a High Commission in Nairobi and later a consulate in Mombasa. Tanzania was a founder member of the East African Community (EAC) in 1967 before it collapsed in 1977 and got revived in 2000.

Tanzania's third President Benjamin Mkapa mediated between former President Daniel arap Moi and Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. He also helped broker peace in Kenya after the 2008 post-election crisis. On November 30, 2019, Tanzania backed Kenya's bid for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.
Dar es Salaam  President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Sunday led mourners to pay their last respects to a renowned entrepreneur and media stakeholder, Ms Teddy Mapunda.

Alongside her were former President Jakaya Kikwete and his wife Salma Kikwete, Dar Regional Commissioner Abubakar Kunenge, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Simon Siro, family members and her workmates from public and private firms.

Ms Mapunda, the managing director of Service and Montage, passed away on Tuesday night at Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam, where she was rushed for treatment.

She is survived by her husband Mr Nestor Mapunda and two children Tevin (20) and Naisor (15).

According to her first child, Tevin, Ms Mapunda's death occurred at 11pm at Agha Khan Hospital due to heart problems and diabetes.

"It was a day when my mother was serving an iftar at Serena Hotel. She suddenly fainted at 8pm after her heart stopped beating and she was rushed to hospital where she was confirmed dead," he said when profiling his mother.

Dead at the age of 46, she was the last born of the four children, according to him.

"Mother started her education journey in 1981 and completed her Bachelor's degree in 1995. She worked with different public and private institutions within and outside the country," he said.

She had 20 years of leadership experience in public relations. She was also the Vice Chairperson for the Road Safety Committee in Kinondoni Region.

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She had previously served as a Board Director at Tanzania Tourist Board, a Board Member at Governing Body of Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative.

Among other boards that Teddy had served includes TPS Eastern Africa (Serena Hotels), an Advisory Board Member at Why Africa Now in USA and a Founding Member - Young Executive (YES) - Tanzania.

"Later, she with my dady found the Montage Limited, a multi-dimensional consultancy and creative agency based in Dar es Salaam, providing direct jobs to more than 40 people," he said.

Nestor Mapunda, her husband said the company was responsible for organising top government events and other individual events.

"I remember during the 2020 general elections, my wife (Teddy) travelled all the country with the former president John Magufuli and I was with the current President Hassan who was the Vice President at the time," he said.

"Your death is a big blow to me and our children. I real love you Teddy and I will not forget you," he said as he was paying his last respect to his deceased wife.

Preaching at the farewell mass yesterday, Father Joseph Matumaini from St Joseph's Cathedral yesterday said there is no common age for death.

"There is a notion that it is not a normal thing for a person to die at a young age, but it is not true. Even Jesus died at 33," he said.

He said death has no limits, but people must be prepared to die and get a second life in heaven.
analysis

South Africa's efforts at land reform since 1994 have been shambolic and have largely failed. On these points, there is a general consensus. But untangling the mess is no easy task.

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.

In Land Matters: South Africa's Failed Land Reforms and the Road Ahead, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi has pulled many of the threads that have become entwined on this issue and woven them together in a narrative that is thought-provoking and, at times, bare-knuckled. Core to his overarching thesis is the failure of market-based approaches such as "willing seller, willing buyer". This will make it a discomfiting reading for some.

But Ngcukaitobi is not pushing some EFF or Zanu-PF kind of agenda. A highly respected advocate whose previous book The Land Is Ours offered a penetrating look at the evolution of constitutionalism through the lens of South Africa's pioneering black lawyers, he is welded to the concept of the rule of law.

But laws in his rendering must embed justice and correct the past while securing the future. One supposes few would argue with that take in the abstract. But on the issue of land reform, many would also remain on a path...
The Managing Director at Nairobi City Water And Sewerage Co. Ltd (NCWSC), Eng Nahason Maingi Muguna, fields questions from the public via Sunday Nation.

Mukuru Kwa Njenga residents have been unable to access clean drinking water for months due to collusion between your officers and cartels. Please help us. Eric Ambuche, Embakasi South

Largely, we have a water deficit since our optimal production per day is 525,600 cubic metres against an estimated demand of 830,000 cubic metres. This has necessitated the rationing of water in the whole city through our equitable distribution programme that ensures optimal supply to all customers.

Special attention is given to informal settlements like Mukuru as we have a fully-fledged department to focus on those areas. Since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the company with support of national government through Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and the Nairobi County government made deliberate intervention of supplying free water to the informal settlements.

We encourage our customers and the public to use our USSD code *888# to authenticate people who say they are NCWSC staff. We also encourage the public to report any malpractices among our officers through our hotline numbers provided on our website.

Has your company neglected its mandate and left residents at the mercy of cartels in the city? Komen Moris, Eldoret

We have water scarcity problems, but the government through the Nairobi Metropolitan Services has stepped up efforts to provide clean water. We have drilled 193 boreholes in all the informal settlements to provide free water. NCWS is responsible for operation, maintenance and management of these boreholes.

Our tariffs, which are regulated by the Water Services Regulatory Board, critically balance issues of proper use of water for environmental conservation purposes and social and equity aspects.

Years back, politicians in Muranga County attempted to incite residents to cut off Ndakaini Dam water supply to Nairobi County. What do you think can be done to stop such fights? Dan Murugu, Nakuru

The constitution and Water Act 2016 are very clear that water resources, like what is harvested and stored in Thika Dam (Ndakaini), are vested with the national government on behalf of the people of Kenya. The national government is responsible for water apportionment for various uses with the priority being drinking water.

The county governments are mandated with the provision of water and sanitation services. The national government should ensure that residents of areas where water is sourced are also provided with portable water. For example, the government is in the process of improving access to clean water to the level of 70 percent in Muranga County by the time the Northern Collector Tunnel Water Project for Nairobi City is completed. The national government should focus and encourage inter-county governmental communication in order to avert such challenges.

With a population of nearly four million people in Nairobi County, it follows that demand for water surpasses supply. What measures have you put in place to ensure everyone gets their share? Dan Murugu, Nakuru

Yes, as per the 2019 census report, NCWSC serves 4.4 million residents of Nairobi at night and more during the day, plus 0.3 million people in some pockets of Kiambu County. As I have stated above, Nairobi City has a water deficit of approximately 304,000 cubic metres per day. This has necessitated the rationing of water. All customers are encouraged to use water sparingly. To bridge this deficit, the national government through Athi Water Work Development Agency (AWWDA) is in the process of completing by mid-2021 the Northern Collector Tunnel that will inject 140,000 cubic metres per day of treated water to our network. This will in the long run increase water for various uses in the city.

Please quantify losses as a result of broken pipes and illegal connections? What have you done over time to manage them? Githuku Mungai, Kiambu

The water losses technically known as non-revenue water (NRW) for NCWSC stand at an average of about 38 per cent. This has drastically reduced over time due to increased investment, surveillance of main water lines and rapid response in attending to water leakages.

The company has a fully-fledged department that focuses on NRW and one of the themes in our fifth, 2019/20  2023/24 Strategic Plan is on NRW management. We have also been disconnecting illegal connections and ensuring every building is metered besides metering of the water produced and the water entering various parts of the city.

Does the management of NCWSC fear that they may be out of business because most of the buildings and houses that are coming up are now drilling their own boreholes which in the long run could eat into the revenues of NCWSC? Paul Netia

This is more of a public-private sector collaboration in provision of water, especially where infrastructure operated by NCWSC does not reach. Currently, NCWSC has a water coverage of 79 per cent and also we are only able to meet 65 per cent of the city water demand. The borehole water is more expensive than water from NCWSC and most of the time augments our water supply.

What plans do you have for people to get 24-hour supply of water? Paul Netia

Currently, the national government is constructing the Northern Collector Tunnel 1 (NCT1), which will inject 140,000 cubic metres per day into the city water distribution network. The project is funded by the World Bank, AFD and GoK and is expected to be completed by mid-2021. Also, Karimenu dam is under construction and expected to inject 23,000 cubic metres per day into the city water distribution network once completed. Other water sources in the procurement stage meant to increase water supply to the city are Maragua and Ruiru 2 Dam. Ruiru 2 dam will be completed by end of 2023 and it will inject into the distribution network 50,000 cubic metres per day while Maragua dam will be completed by 2026 and inject 180,000 cubic metres per day to the water distribution network.

Once these projects are completed, the city will enjoy 24/7 water supply to the horizon of 2028 when again we expect the Ndarugu dam to have been constructed and to inject 225,000 cubic metres per day into the city water distribution network to take us to 2035.

I would want to request Nairobi Water Company to reconnect clean water to Kamulu Drumvale. There is a big pipe running along Kangundo Road, all the way to Kamulu shops, which had water years ago. Then water stopped flowing and there has been no explanation whatsoever. What happened? JB Murage

The overall goal of the current international development blueprint under the Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 and Kenyan Vision 2030 is universal water coverage by the year 2030. NCWSC plays a critical role for Kenya to achieve this. The longrun target is to have all areas under NCWSC supplied with clean water.

For Kamulu Drumvale, it is at the tail end of our water distribution network and as the population of the city grows, more water is consumed upstream of the network hence reduction of the amount of water reaching those who are in the downstream. We shall rationalise the areas served by the pipeline along Kagundo Road to ensure also our customers in Kamulu-Drumvale are enjoying water supply as before.

Why is Kamburu Drive in Kilimani never included in your equitable water distribution programme? Could this be the reason why we have to keep buying water from the clean water bowsers? Mercy Mwendwa
If the international community is truly committed to human rights and the values of equality and non-discrimination, vaccines should be viewed as a global public good, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The President made the remarks in this week's newsletter in which he argued that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) should consider South Africa and India's proposal for a temporary waiver of certain aspects of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). This, he said, would facilitate wider access to technologies needed to produce vaccines and medicines.

"The idea is to rapidly scale up local production to ensure wider access to affordable and effective vaccines," wrote the President.

The waiver proposal currently enjoys the support of more than 100 countries. Last week, the US government announced its support for the proposal, which will give the current negotiations added momentum.

Public good against private profit

Previously, the President highlights in the letter, South Africa scored a victory in a lawsuit that pitted public good against private profit in the height of the HIV/Aids pandemic.

Then, the country sought to enforce a law allowing South Africa to import and manufacture affordable generic antiretroviral medication to treat people with HIV and save lives.

In response, representatives of the pharmaceutical industry sued the government, arguing that such a move violated the TRIPS. This is a comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property.

The case, dubbed 'Big Pharma vs Mandela', drew widespread international attention. The lawsuit was dropped in 2001 after massive opposition by government and civil society.

He said the enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to research and development and innovation in the quest for human progress.

"But our position as South Africa is that such a waiver is necessary at this time. It is temporary and is in direct response to an emergency. This is an unprecedented situation. It requires that all intellectual property, knowledge, technology and data related to COVID-19 health technologies be put at the disposal of all," President Ramaphosa said.

They should be made available to all, not just to the highest bidders, he said.

"A situation in which the populations of advanced, rich countries are safely inoculated while millions in poorer countries die in the queue would be tantamount to vaccine apartheid. It will set a devastating precedent in our quest to realise a more egalitarian world and our ability to handle future pandemics.

"Social responsibility for health is a recognised principle in the Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights adopted by the international community in 2005. It affirms that progress in science and technology must contribute to justice, equity and the interests of broader humanity. It notes that the benefits of scientific research should be shared with society as a whole and within the international community, in particular with developing countries that face resource constraints," said President Ramaphosa.

Vaccine equity

Earlier this year, the UN's education, science and culture body UNESCO called for vaccine equity, noting that it was not just the right thing to do, but also the best way to control the pandemic, restore confidence and to reboot the global economy.

Currently, 55% of the existing vaccine manufacturing capacity is located in East Asia, 40% in Europe and North America, and less than 5% in Africa and South America.

"In the case of developing countries, much of this capacity is under-utilised," he said.

South Africa is one of only five countries on the continent with vaccine production capacity.

Added the President: "Although we have secured enough vaccine doses to reach 'population immunity', there will continue to be a need for vaccines. We are therefore preparing to bolster global vaccine manufacturing for COVID-19 and other major diseases. Existing facilities need to be repurposed and new capacity built".

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In the letter, President Ramaphosa called on all South Africans to support this effort, and in particular civil society organisations that played a leading role during the HIV/Aids pandemic.

"Civil society has a critical role in mobilising international support for this cause, particularly through international cooperation with like-minded organisations in developed countries. This is an issue that calls for greater public advocacy and awareness-raising.

"As a nation, we must stand united in our effort to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines to save lives and proceed with the national recovery," he said.

South Africa's commitment to putting human lives first does not diminish its commitment to honour international trade agreements, he said, adding that the proposal was about the promotion of health as a public and social good.

"It is about affirming our commitment to the advancement of equality and human rights, not just in our own country but around the world," he said.
THE public has been advised to stop stigmatizing women, girls and People with Disabilities (PLWD) as well people living with HIV/ AIDS and instead support them, where they need assistance.

The advised was made in Dodoma over the weekend by the UN Women Coordinator of HIV Programmes in the country, Mr Jacob Kayombo saying the groups have been experiencing high level of discrimination and stigma, adding that the situation affects their progress.

While supporting a training to provide district council leaders and HIV/AIDS with a network so that they also become ambassadors in the society, he further said it the best way to address stigma in the society.

Mr Kayombo noted that stigma and discrimination draw back HIV programmes in the society, hence become violation of human rights.

Coordinated by the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) with support from the Global Fund, the training objective was to educate the leaders and to enable them go into the villages and wards with the right messages on HIV/AIDS.

He noted that for the country to meet the global target of ending HIV/Aids by 2030, it has to invest efforts to end stigma towards people living with the scourge.

Kayombo said that people living with HIV/AIDS are still left behind and neglected from various opportunities with some of facing challenges like access to good health services.

"So, we have brought these leaders here to share with them right skills on how to take good care of people living with HIV, and also considering various opportunities available in the district councils," he added.

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Mr Kayombo further said: "The fight against HIV/AIDS started many years ago, but we fail to meet the targets due to several challenges including discrimination based in gender, age, health situations and employment."

However, according to Judith Luande, TACAIDS Gender Issues Coordinator, discrimination is one of the main causes of depression to people living with HIV /AIDS, hence called upon members of the society to support the fight.

She said that through several programmes, the government has enabled a number of people living with HIV/AIDS to have access to health services as well engage in various economic activities.

Data from TACAIDS shows that the national HIV prevalence among adolescents and adults aged 15-49 years decreased slightly from 5.1 to 4.8 percent in two years ago, but prevalence among women is higher compared to men that is 6.2 percent versus 3.7 percent.
THE government has urged local contractors to pay back loans taken from Contractors Assistance Fund (CAF) to enable the scheme become more sustainable and benefits other inividuals.

The call was made over the weekend in Arusha by the Deputy Minister for Works and Transport, Mwita Waitara, while closing a two-day Consultative Meeting between the Contractors Registration Board (CRB) and local contractors from the northern zone.

In the meeting it was learnt that CRB introduced the fund dubbed 'CAF scheme' to issue loans to local contractors of all classes of up to 100m/- to enable them realize their construction projects and payback.

On the breathe, the Deputy Minister commended CRB management for introducing the fund, which he said if contractors will utilize efficiently, it would be a major bridge to their success in their profession.

Waitara said it is unpleasant to witness some of the local contractors who benefited from the fund, refusing to pay back as required in the contract they signed, adding that it is something that might kill the fund and deny others the opportunity to access more loans.

"My dear colleague I must tell you the truth if you are trusted by people, try to be honest and honour the contract you signed when you were taking the loans. Frankly speaking, this trend will kill the fund within a very short time... you must change," pointed out Mr Waitara.

However, Mr Waitara commended CRB for arranging a regular consultative meeting with local contractors that would build their capacity to enable them execute the strategic projects in the future.

On his part, the CRB Registrar, engineer Rhoben Nkori told the deputy minister that they have arranged to visit different projects, which are implemented by local contractors awarded to them by the government as a move to build their capacity.

He added that CRB will address all challenges, which obstruct local contractors from implementing the projects so that government succeeds in its schemes.
OCCUPATIONAL Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) has strengthened capacity building on safety to workers who are most at risk in the steel industries.

Authority's trainer Respicious Kundawa said that over the weekend that they reached out to workers of the industries, because the face various risks in the whole production chain.

"We have trained those involved in the whole chain from those receiving raw materials, smelting to people who load into trucks," Mr Kundawa noted in Dar es Salaam after trained workers of PNP Industries Ltd.

During the weekend, the OSHA equipped 90 workers of PNP Industries Limited based in Dar es Salaam, with skills to maintain safety at the factory and avoid risks.

The move was part of the authority's campaigns to bring the number of accidents and diseases at workplaces to zero, thus increasing productivity.

Mr Kundawa pointed out that the training was crucial to the factory's staff who were directly involved in the production chain in which they might get injured.

The management of the factory expressed satisfaction with the training offered by the authority, promising to put the knowledge into practice.

"We thank the authority for the training given to us which we believe would improve safety at our workplace," Mr Iddy Hamis, Human Resources Officer of the PNP Industries Limited said.

One of the participants of the training, Mr Juma Kajembena said the training would help him improve the way he has been working on safety issues at the workplace.

"I appreciate the training which would take us from one step to another as far as safety at the workplace is concerned," he said.

Meanwhile, the authority said it has completed training over safety at the workplace to oil and gas experts who would be in charge of health and safety matters at their workplaces
SERENGETI Breweries Limited (SBL) has inaugurated a 220m/- water project at Machochwe village Serengeti District in Mara Region, in a bid to bring safe and clean water close to the area's residents.

With the capacity to serve 12,000 people, the project consists of a borehole and its systems, a solar water pump and a water tank that can produce 7,500 litres of water per hour.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, SBL Corporate Relations Director, John Wanyancha, said the project, dubbed 'Water of Life', is among similar initiatives that the brewer has undertaken in Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Tanga, Ruvuma, Dar es Salaam, Coast and Dodoma regions, providing over one million beneficiaries with clean and safe water.

Wanyancha said that the Machochwe project will not only boost the residents' health, but will also increase economic productivity, "particularly for girls and women who will no longer need to spend long hours on finding clean water elsewhere.

"SBL has a policy commitment towards the wellbeing of our community with water for life being one of our four priority areas that our company has defined in its objective to provide social support to the community in which it serves", said Wanyancha describing other priority as, Provision of Skills for Life, Environmental Sustainability and Promotion of Responsible Drinking.

He further said that SBL has an agricultural programme which in the past three years has assisted over 400 farmers in the country by providing them with technical and financial assistance, helping them improve their lives and the lives of their communities.

As a result, he said, "SBL has gone from sourcing 0 to 17,000 tonnes of locallygrown raw materials from these farmers, which has contributed to the company's growth and boosted the farmers' income".
VODACOM Tanzania has introduced an innovative product in the market after launching an E-Fahamu website that would assist teachers and students to get textbooks and supplementary books online for free.

In addition, Vodacom in partnership with the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), has installed textbooks and syllabus approved by TIE to the E-Fahamu website, where over 80 textbooks, 1,020 supplementary books and 18 cartoons have been so far being published.

The Minister for Education and Vocational Training Prof Joyce Ndalichako commended Vodacom Tanzania for launching an innovative website that will make students acquire reading materials for free something which will make them perform well in their studies.

'As we all aware that the youth nowadays have interested on internet, now instead of browsing stuff that doesn't suit them, Vodacom Tanzania has offered them an opportunity to acquire learning materials for free," she said in Dodoma over the weekend.

The Minister acknowledged the efforts being made to reach many students and especially those in rural areas, done by Vodacom Foundation in partnership with the Universal Communications Service Fund (UCSAF) in distributing computers and routers to secondary schools in the country.

"So far, a total of 48 computers, 24 routers and Sim cards have been distributed to 24 secondary schools in the country being the first phase while the second phase is preparing to distribute 556 computers, 83 printers and 151 routers to 163 secondary schools," she said while applauding Vodacom for the donation.

The Minister said that she was confident that through the E-Fahamu website, performance in schools will increase as now teachers and students will have a variety of reading materials of their choice.

Earlier, the Vodacom Foundation Rosalynn Mworia said that the E-Fahamu platform, which was previously named Instant Schools, has increased reading materials after partnering with the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) to get positive results for learners who are using English and Swahili languages.

'Through E-Fahamu platform, any person can search, download and get different learning materials including those for class learning and vocational training through Vodacom networking by visiting the below website.
The government has set aside over 10.6bn/- in the next financial year to facilitate Agricultural Seed Agency (ASA) produce improved seeds that can boost edible oil production in the country.

Deputy minister for Agriculture Hussein Bashe told the National Assembly on Monday the country's annual demand for edible oil stands at 570,000 tonnes, but production weighs on 205, 000 tonnes leaving a deficit of 365,000 tonnes.

Responding to a basic question from Boniphace Getere (Bunda - CCM) who had wanted to know what caused Tanzania's insufficiency of cooking oil, the deputy minister said underproduction owing to poor faming technologies is to blame.

He quickly said the deficit in production of edible oil has forced the government to spend 474bn/- per year to import the key ingredient for cooking.

"The government continues to encourage the cultivation of oil crops including sunflower, palm oil and cotton in all regions with land and climate suitable for the cultivation of these crops," he noted.

Equally, the Ministry has planned to enable 680 extension officers of Singida, Dodoma, and Simiyu motorcycles for monitoring, training and enabling such extension workers to establish farms of sunflower and cotton as well as establishing collective farms.
analysis

The stand-out performance of the citrus industry in SA is an export-led success story, which has generated hundreds of thousands of jobs along the value chain. Less well appreciated is the collaborative work that has made this success happen.

Shingie Chisoro-Dube is a researcher at the Centre for Competition Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED), University of Johannesburg. Simon Roberts is professor at CCRED, University of Johannesburg, and visiting professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London.

Citrus exports overtook wine as South Africa's largest agricultural export in 2010 and grew to 2 times the value of wine exports by 2020 (see graph). The growth in export earnings over the past decade has been driven by higher value "soft citrus" varieties along with lemons and limes, while the growth in the export of oranges was more important in earlier years. South Africa is genuinely a world leader, with improved home-grown varieties and smart agriculture techniques being applied in upgrading production.

The output growth and upgrading reflect two critical developments. First, there has been increased planting of varieties responding to changing global demand patterns. Second, more sophisticated capabilities have...
When the Senate convenes tomorrow to take a vote on the Bill to change the Constitution, focus will be on Deputy President William Ruto' allies in the House.

After last week's shock in which some Tangatanga MPs in the National Assembly went against the grain and voted in support of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the DP and his handlers are hoping that lightning does not strike twice.

Dyed in the wool

On Thursday, 235 MPs, a significant number of whom are dyed in the wool supporters of the DP, voted to support the Bill and give President Kenyatta and ODM's Raila Odinga bragging rights, raising queries over their loyalty.

MPs David Sankok (nominated), Kareke Mbiuki (Maara), Joash Nyamoko (North Mugirango), William Chepkut (Ainabkoi), Purity Kathambi (Njoro), Malulu Injendi (Malava), Gideon Koske (Chepalungu) and Ngunjiri Kimani (Bahati) exposed the deep chasm in Tangatanga when they voted for the Bill.

Yesterday, sources told the Nation that DP Ruto and his handlers' hope his troops will rise to the occasion, if only to salvage the little that is left of the group's perceived strength.

The DP's allies in the Senate -- Kipchumba Murkomen, Kithure Kindiki, Mithika Linturi, Irungu Kangata, Samson Cherargey, Aaron Cheruiyot, Millicent Omanga and Christopher Langat -- have relentlessly criticised the Bill.

And while they have vowed to reject the Bill, which they say is a scheme by the President and Mr Odinga to settle political scores and isolate their man, it remains to be seen how they will act. Being their last line of defence, any sense of division in the group will signify the deep challenges the camp faces as the DP sets his eyes on moving to State House.

Mr Murkomen, Prof Kindiki, Mr Linturi, Mr Kangata, Mr Cherargey, Mr Cheruiyot and Mr Langat have dismissed the Bill as a claw-back on democratic gains arising from the 2010 Constitution and have vowed to oppose it.

"I'll oppose this Bill in totality," Prof Kindiki said yesterday, describing the draft law as "an unpleasant result of an unfortunate process aimed at settling political scores".

"The people ought to overthrow, not the Constitution but the men who seek to pervert the Constitution. Wherever they are holed up, smoke them out, overthrow them and defend the Constitution," he added, noting that some of the proposed amendments don't call for constitutional change.

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Dismissing the BBI initiative as 'deception', Mr Murkomen argued that the entire process is an ulterior scheme by Mr Kenyatta to amend the Constitution through the back door.

Prof Kindiki said during debate on the Bill that the task force that was chaired by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji, who died in February, was never intended to review the Constitution.

"It was established as a team that was to collect views on how to unite the Kenyan people. At least that is what we were told.

"The people of Kenya were deceived that the task force was meant to unite the country but the ulterior motive was to amend the Constitution through the back door," Prof Kindiki said.

Intimidation

Similar sentiments were expressed by Mr Cheruiyot, who argued that the BBI process leading to the drafting of the Bill was flawed.

"There has been intimidation of anyone who has shown the desire to oppose the BBI process," he told the House, and warned that enacting the Bill will amount to dancing on the graves of those who died in the Second Liberation.

Mr Cherargey and Ms Omanga have submitted amendments to the office of the Speaker to cure what they consider weaknesses in the Bill, which if adopted will expand the size of Parliament and the national executive.

Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua has submitted five amendments.
Gaborone  Following an article carried by the Midweek Sun of May the 5, 2020, title Workers Union fed up with BDP, warn other political parties, the Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Kabo Morwaeng has responded to the article.

Below is the full text of his response;

"I have taken note of an article carried by the Midweek Sun of the 5th May, 2020, titled Workers' Unions fed up with BDP, warn other political parties, attributed to Botswana Federation of Public Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) President, Johannes Tshukudu.

The remarks attributed to Mr Tshukudu are factually incorrect and misleading.

To suggest that His Excellency, Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi and his government have failed to live up to the pledge of cultivating cordial working relations with the labour movement, as made during the 2019 General Elections, lacks merit.

Indeed, His Excellency has committed to leading a consultative and transparent government, and he regularly engages key stakeholders, including trade unions, on pertinent issues of national interest, in both his official and private capacities.

After his inauguration in 2019, among his first key stakeholder meetings, His Excellency met with union leaders.

Additionally, when constituting the COVID-19 Task Force, trade unions were included as key components of the team, with Mr Tshukudu and Mr Martin Gabobake representing BOFEPUSU and BFTU, respectively.

Over and above that, ever since coming into office, I have had frequent cordial and fruitful meetings with trade union leaders.

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For instance, on His Excellency's guidance, on the 28th February, 2021, I met with some Public Service Trade Union leaders in Gaborone, where we discussed matters of national interest.

In addition, at the end of March 2021, His Excellency convened a consultative meeting with trade union leaders at the State House, whereat he updated them on the impending constitutional review process as well as efforts targeted at ensuring good governance.

On all these, he sought their input in order to make the processes inclusive.

There are, of course, areas of concern, especially in relation to the resuscitation of the Bargaining Council, something that His Excellency has acknowledged.

Speaking on May Day this past week, His Excellency noted efforts on the part of both the DPSM and trade unions to appoint an independent facilitator to help the parties to mutually engage.

He further stated that the parties had resolved to seek expert advice from the ILO to address outstanding issues in order to complete the task of resuscitating the Bargaining Council.

Lastly, as the Minister responsible for the public service, I am in constant contact and discussions with trade union leaders, and, importantly, I maintain an open-door policy to allow for ease of interaction between the Government and the labour movement."

Kabo N. S. Morwaeng [Signed]

MINISTER FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS, GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Source : BOPA
Gaborone  Government will soon introduce major reforms that will affect cabinet, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the public service with a view to improving service delivery and Botswana's economic standing.

Briefing the nation on Saturday following a cabinet and BDP retreat, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said the current global crisis caused by COVID-19 and the resultant economic meltdown necessitated re-evaluation of the way government had been doing things.

"The combination of the devastating global pandemic - COVID-19 - and the catastrophic economic recession it has caused the world over, dictates that we revisit our problem-solving strategies, that we regroup; that we reset," he stated.

He said the resetting of priorities aimed at breaking barriers, removing hurdles and building momentum towards Botswana's goal of becoming a high income country must be immediate.

"To reset is to set new priorities, to adopt new approaches and to put new implementation resources in place immediately," he said adding that the resetting would bring clear, evident and immediate change.

"This is not a turnaround that will take years; It is immediate," he stated. President Masisi also stressed that resetting was for the entire nation.

"We want to move forward in unison. Hence this reset button encompasses not only my cabinet and the whole government but also the ruling Botswana Democratic Party and the entire population of Botswana, whom we represent by virtue of having been elected by voters in 2019, to effect broad- based change in our country and economy," he said.

The President said a new mindset, seeking new and smarter ways of implementing projects on time and budget, whose focus was citizen economic inclusion, was necessary.

To that end, he said, the public service, as the key tool of governance and delivery, had been scrutinised, revealing degradation in the sector.

Dr Masisi said the degradation led to implementation failures that appeared to have become the norm in government.

"There is a correlation between the quality of the public service texture of the high economic growth rates of post-independence to the 90s, and the degradation of the public service of the post 90s with much lower growth rates of the economy in the last 30 years," he said.

The President said there was evidence that it was the underperforming public service which called the shots instead of the political leadership.

"We find an evolving culture of a democratically elected but increasingly pliable political leadership of the last three decades, held to ransom by groups of abrasive technocrats in low productivity mode, albeit with rising incidence of corruption," he said.

Dr Masisi said the retreat also found that there were entrenched interests that had caused economic exclusion and denigration of indigenous Batswana.

Stating that change would be effected within two weeks, he said government implementation machinery would be aligned to the presidential agenda encompassing his roadmap and the transformational agenda.

Among government's key priorities, the President mentioned the need to save Batswana from COVID-19 through implementation of life saving programmes including successful and timely vaccination.

President Masisi said digitisation was another key priority because of its service delivery benefits and the immense potential to unlock and enable high productivity.

Also on the high priority list was value chain development as it had potential to unlock opportunities for new, high-growth companies and youth employment among other citizen empowerment attributes.

Initially the development would focus on minerals, tourism, food and education with the intention of identifying new sectors in the global export product space which could successfully grow in Botswana resulting in job creation for the youth while also driving export diversification.

The President reiterated the need for mindset change stating; "We cannot remain locked in the thinking of the unproductive eras and expect to escape the middle income trap. This comes with developing capacity for entrepreneurship, eliminating our inferiority complex, and implementing government and strategic reforms that put citizen economic inclusion at the centre of our economic development initiatives".

President Masisi said to achieve the set priorities, the public service must be harnessed therefore energetic reformists would be empowered to think outside the box and implement accordingly.

He also emphasised the need for deeper scrutiny of the public service which he said was failing to implement projects on time and on budget.

He said although there were some notable positive outcomes, a litany of unfinished or poorly executed projects filled the development roadmaps of the last 30 years.

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As a result, President Masisi said, the mindset of Batswana had been pulverised by negativity and a cancerous inferiority complex that thwarted the ambitions of young and old.

The President said private sector participation was also critical to the implementation of the new priorities. The new implementation approach would therefore include Batswana from the private sector to enhance job creation ability, he said.

President Masisi said strategic reforms that would be enacted in the coming months were intended to change the state of Batswana.

"This is the implementation of the change mandate that the electorate of Botswana entrusted to us 2019. This prioritisation accelerates the implementation of the most impactful aspects of our change mandate," he said.

Dr Masisi said the mandate would result in attainment of goals and should start with accelerated implementation of priorities with the reset woven throughout the society.

Stigma of dislike among Batswana should be uprooted, he stated.

Source : BOPA
opinion

South Africa is the most carbon-intensive G20 economy with the highest coal reliance

To hear President Ramaphosa's 22 April address to the Virtual Leaders' Summit on Climate Change, you'd think South Africa were going "above and beyond" when it comes to addressing the climate crisis. Not so.

SA's long-awaited draft updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) closed for written public comment on 30 April. The NDC is our country's pledge to take action to meet the goals of the historic Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions soon enough to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The Paris Agreement requires that every country signatory prepare and submit increasingly-stringent five-yearly NDCs, setting out its "highest possible ambition" to reduce GHG emissions, "reflecting its common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances".

SA's draft updated NDC correctly recognises that a "just transition is at the core of implementing climate action", and that no one must be "left behind as we move from a high GHG emission, low-employment energy development pathway to a low emission, climate-resilient and job-rich pathway".

But when it comes to reducing our climate-changing emissions - what is called "mitigation" - the NDC is not nearly ambitious enough to avoid global warming's most dire impacts.

The updated NDC proposes a significant reduction in the range of GHG emissions allowed. But it sets weak emission reduction targets, with the intention to "over-achieve" them.

Although it undertakes to curb the upper limit of our (already unrealistically-high) emissions targets, there is zero progression in the claimed "highest possible ambition" to reduce emissions (the lower emissions range limit).

In the first - and current - 2015 NDC, our mitigation targets are: to peak GHG emissions until 2025 in a range with a lower limit of 398 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2-eq) annually, and upper limits of 583 (for 2020) and 614 (for 2025); to plateau emissions until 2035, between 398 - 614 (by 2035); and from 2036 to 2050, to decline emissions between 212 to 428 (all figures are MtCO2-eq).

Our draft "updated and enhanced" NDC instead proposes the following emission targets:in 2025, between 398 - 510; and in 2030, between 398 - 440.

In other words, maximum emissions will not exceed 510 in 2025, and 440 in 2030. This is a 17% reduction of the current NDC's upper 2025 level (614) and a 28% reduction in its 2030 upper level (also 614).

And that all sounds pretty good, until you realise that we've never even reached the previous upper limit. The country's actual emissions, in 2017, were only 482. Abandoning a hopelessly-unrealistic target of 614 is hardly a sacrifice.

But more important is the lower emissions trajectory. In 2015, when submitting our current NDC, South Africa claimed that the lowest our emissions could get, by 2035, was 398. In our updated NDC - five-and-a-half years later - 398 inexplicably remains our best effort.

The Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal is to keep global average temperature rise to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (C) above pre-industrial levels, "pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C ... , recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change". The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C demonstrates that limiting temperature rise to 1.5C would have major benefits for people and ecosystems. It will also require "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society"; including reducing global CO2 emissions by 45 percent (%) by 2030.

Two independent international assessments - by Climate Action Tracker and the Climate Equity Reference Project - confirm that our draft NDC's mitigation targets are significantly too weak to help limit warming to 1.5C.

Besides the updated NDC's failure to demonstrate meaningful mitigation, it makes achievement of its targets contingent on developed countries' financial support, and claims that "it is an injustice that with a relatively small share of responsibility, our economy has been disproportionately negative[ly] affected by climate change."

South Africa is the 12th largest global GHG-emitter, with the 38th largest per capita emissions (higher than China's and India's, and well-above the global-average). At more than double the global average, ours is the most carbon-intensive G20 economy, with the highest coal reliance. South Africa is home to Sasol's Secunda-complex - the self-proclaimed single largest point-source GHG-emitter on Earth (with emissions bigger than some entire countries), and to Eskom, the largest GHG-emitter in Africa.

The draft NDC assumes full implementation of the Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity, 2019 (IRP). This despite the fact that the IRP foresees adding at least 4,500 megawatts of new fossil fuel electricity; which is not only expensive and not all required for energy security, but which will, if built, have massive GHG emissions, and multiple other negative impacts on human health and the environment.

Irrational approach

Rapid, extensive scaling up of renewable energy generation is the most cost-optimal energy pathway, presenting significant economic benefits and opportunities. This is not controversial, despite the outdated narratives peddled by many in government and business about fossil fuels being required for "development", job creation, and "baseload" power.

The country, and the continent, is highly vulnerable to climate risk, with limited ability to adapt to it. Our economy is also particularly vulnerable to trade-related climate change from measures aimed at transitioning to low-carbon pathways - such as "carbon border adjustments" (taxes imposed by trade partners on goods imported from countries which those partners regard as not taking sufficiently-urgent action to tackle climate change).

South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with staggeringly-high unemployment rates (just under one-third of the population). Climate change is the ultimate risk-multiplier, and its severe impacts will only worsen our already deeply-unequal society. Poor and marginalised communities will, as always, bear the brunt.

It is irrational for the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment to rely on SA's significant development challenges to delay more meaningful climate action - this will merely increase and exacerbate our deep inequality and severe poverty.

In any event, more ambitious climate plans and an accelerated just transition will attract more climate finance to support a just transition and more social development.

To date, combined global climate action is woefully inadequate. The NDC Synthesis Report demonstrates that, even if the 75 countries (some 30% of global GHG emissions) that communicated their latest NDC by 31 December 2020 achieved those plans, their combined impacts would result in only 1% reduction in global emissions by 2030 - about one-fiftieth of what is required to meet the 1.5C temperature goal. Pinning our hopes on the expectation that developed countries will step up to provide the necessary resources to assist developing countries is a dangerous gamble.

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The reality is that, irrespective of whether South Africa receives all of the climate change aid it would like, we must increase our mitigation ambition. Neglecting to do so will condemn people in this country to further inequality, poverty, worsened health, a more degraded environment, and leave our future generations worse off. Litigation for failure to protect constitutional rights is also a risk: courts are increasingly stepping in as "lawmakers", when governments are not taking adequate climate action.

The Department must exercise clear and decisive leadership, by demonstrating in the updated NDC that it understands the scale and urgency of the challenge; and is taking bold action to protect people in SA from the worst consequences of the climate crisis. To create a more inclusive, sustainable future, and a just recovery from Covid-19, plans for unnecessary, harmful new fossil fuel projects must be cancelled, GHG emitters must be held accountable for their impacts and must set science-based decarbonisation strategies and emission reduction targets, and there must be a massive increase in funding for renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.

Robyn Hugo is Director: Climate Engagement at shareholder activism organisation Just Share.

View expressed are not necessarily those of GroundUp.
The provincial education department says construction will start during the 2022/23 financial year

Learners at Maila primary school outside Louis Trichardt have been using dilapidated mobile classrooms since 2010. The Limpopo Department of Basic Education says new classrooms and other infrastructure will be built during the next financial year.

For years, learners from Munzhedzi had to walk 30 kilometres to and from the nearest school. In 2009, parents with the help from other villagers built two classrooms that could only accommodate two grades.

When the school opened the next year, the two grades were taught in classrooms and the rest were accommodated at a nearby church.

According to Tshotheli Muvhango, school governing body member, the department gave them mobile classrooms the following year. There are currently six mobile units and one structure made of zinc sheets.

The roofs of the two classrooms built by parents are leaking. One of the two classrooms is now used as a storeroom for books, detergents, food and anything that the school may receive.

There are two water tanks, of 5,000 and 10,000 litres, but they only use the smaller tank. The school used to get water from the communal pump nearby but it was disconnected three months ago. Currently the school hires people to deliver water twice a month at a cost of R1,200 to fill the small tank.

Muvhango said, "We thought the department would soon build us proper classrooms but up to now we are still waiting. In 2018, the school's application for a new building was approved. The department showed us the layout of the whole school. Surprisingly, we are still waiting for the proper classroom blocks."

When asked about the details of the construction plans, the department could not give exact details of the project at the time of publication.

"This information will be made available to the school in line with our infrastructure briefing protocols to the community," said Tidimalo Chuene, spokesperson for the provincial department.

Chuene said that a team would visit the school soon to assess the current state of the mobile units.
Deputy President William Ruto is now a changed man.

From a staunch advocate of merging political parties to form one strong monolith with a national outlook, the DP has now surrounded himself with political party leaders that appear to have no plan to dissolve their outfits as happened when 12 parties gave way for the formation of Jubilee in 2016.

Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) leader Isaac Ruto, The Service Party (TSP) boss Mwangi Kiunjuri and Omingo Magara of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) have all announced that while they support the DP for the presidency in 2022, they intend to keep their parties.

And although still members of Jubilee, Tharaka-Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria are also expected to back Dr Ruto's presidential bid in their new outfits in next year's elections.

Mr Kuria is already associated with People's Empowerment Party (PEP), whose candidate he is campaigning for in the upcoming Juja parliamentary by-election, while Prof Kindiki in January signalled he will be in a new party for the 2022 polls.

Small parties

"I support Deputy President William Ruto, but I will not join UDA because I am in TSP," Mr Kiunjuri, the former Agriculture minister, told Inooro TV last week.

Arguing that many small parties are not a problem, Mr Kiunjuri said: "Our people have awakened. They don't choose parties, they choose the most suitable person."

Prof Kindiki, who was kicked out of the Senate Deputy Speaker position for his association with the DP, says Jubilee Party has taught them a lesson on being used and dumped once a purpose has been achieved. For this reason, he said, they would be apprehensive of a proposal to fold their parties to form a monolith.

"We keep our word. We shall rally behind William Ruto for president in 2022. But, as they say, once bitten twice shy. When it comes to political parties, we will not repeat the mistakes we did in 2017. We must come together and then tell Ruto from which party we will support him," Prof Kindiki said in January this year.

The DP's dalliance with party leaders who are keen on keeping their outfits is a departure for a man who went round the country in 2016 campaigning for an idea whose time he said had come - a national party that brings together all small, often regional outfits under one roof.

"I have seen people complain and say, 'If we dissolve our parties, we are setting ourselves up for ridicule and being taken for granted in future.' But what does that say about you, that you think someone will con you out of your party? Isn't that really stupid?" Dr Ruto asked in mid-2016, as the Jubilee merger debate raged on.

Jubilee Party

Throughout the merger discussion and long after the September 2016 formation of the Jubilee Party, Dr Ruto became the face and the voice of the need to form one "truly national party".

Barely five years after the pompous launch of the Jubilee Party, Dr Ruto is hanging by a thread in the ruling party he touted as the solution to Kenya's perennial political woes.

Yesterday, Elgeyo-Marakwet senator Kipchumba Murkomen and his Murang'a counterpart Irungu Kang'ata said the discussion on whether or not the DP will have those leaders supporting him fold their parties, was premature.

"Our focus now is on building this new party, but we cannot block anybody from supporting the DP. We are not in a fight. We may convince them at a later date to join UDA, or not, but we will try as much as possible to get people to support us and the DP's presidential bid," Mr Murkomen said.

Mr Kang'ata said there was nothing out of the ordinary in party leaders seeking to retain their outfits even as they back the DP.

"It is illogical of any person to think that there will be only one party affiliated to Ruto in Mt Kenya region. It didn't work in 2002 and 2007 under Kibaki and 2013/2017 under Uhuru.

"We shall only strive to make UDA the party and others our sister parties helping us for the larger cause. Kuria and Kiunjuri parties will exist in the Ruto political wing," Mr Kang'ata said.

Jubilee's make-or-break moment, it appears, came after the March 2018 Handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.

Presidency

Dr Ruto has alleged the deal was meant to give the former PM an easy ride in his fifth stab at the presidency.

Isolated from the running of Jubilee party and government, Dr Ruto and his Tangatanga wing of Jubilee, have found a home in UDA, a rebranded version of the Jubilee-affiliated Party of Development and Reforms (PDR).

UDA fielded candidates in Matungu and Kabuchai parliamentary by-elections as well as the Machakos senatorial one.

Top Jubilee officials have revealed intentions to have President Kenyatta remain party leader beyond the end of his presidential term in 2022.

But even as Dr Ruto further drifts towards the newly formed UDA, he says he still stands by the original vision of Jubilee.

"The biggest regret I will ever have as a politician is losing the Jubilee Party. The kind of emotional, political and financial investment we have put in building Jubilee is immense. A strong national party is the only insurance against politics of tribalism and conmanship," Dr Ruto said last year.

Formed in September 2016 after the merger of 12 parties, Jubilee Party has at least one elected representative in 41 of Kenya's 47 counties.

Jubilee boasts 171 seats in the National Assembly - 140 in the 290 constituencies, 25 of the country's 47 county woman representatives, and six of the 12 nominated MPs - coming just 62 shy of an absolute two-thirds majority in the House.

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25 governor seats

The party also won 25 governor seats, and 34 of the 67 senator seats, 25 of them elected, thus cementing its foothold as Kenya's largest political party.

But with just over a year to the next election, the President's party, which was launched with much fanfare and a promise to right all the wrongs committed by ruling parties in Kenya, is staring at the same fate: A murky end, a one-election cycle and the unenviable tag of a special purpose vehicle with no further use once the rulers rise to power.

And is Jubilee a victim of its own success and ambition? Jubilee secretary-general Raphael Tuju seems to think so.

"We are victims of the challenges we have as a country. We took two bold gigantic steps in the last few years: the folding of 12 parties to form Jubilee Party and the March 2018 Handshake between President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga. What we need to do is ask how we can take advantage of those gigantic steps because, in the end, Kenya is a project in the making," Mr Tuju said in an earlier interview.

Mr Tuju believes the problems bedevilling the Pangani-based Jubilee are representative of Kenya's own challenges in its journey towards having truly national political parties as Jubilee had hoped.

"Parties in Kenya, Jubilee included, are facing transitional challenges that need to be addressed legislatively and with constitutional provisions to strengthen and give them the teeth to enforce discipline and create structures," Mr Tuju then said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party will meet today to decide on whether to challenge the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) verdict that stopped the party from expelling five nominated senators over disloyalty.

Jubilee secretary-general Raphael Tuju said the party's National Management Committee (NMC) will meet to deliberate on the decision and agree on whether to appeal, start a fresh process of kicking out the "renegades" from the party or simply let the matter rest. "We have scheduled a meeting of NMC for Monday where we shall discuss the matter and agree on the way forward," Mr Tuju said.

In its ruling on Wednesday last week, the tribunal faulted Jubilee for what it said was failure to follow its own party regulations and the principles of fair administrative action in expelling the five senators.

The five are Millicent Omanga, Mary Seneta, Naomi Waqo, Falhada Dekow and Victor Prengei.

The ruling on a case filed by Senator Isaac Mwaura which was delivered on Friday, however, favoured the ruling party.

The tribunal upheld a decision of the ruling party to expel Mr Mwaura on grounds of indiscipline.

The tribunal chaired by Desma Nungo found that the party had followed due process in expelling the senator and the internal mechanisms were exhausted, hence the decision cannot be faulted.

The ruling paves way for the Registrar of Political Parties to remove Mr Mwaura's name from membership of the party unless the party leader -- President Kenyatta -- intervenes and pardons him.

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Mr Mwaura is, however, likely to move to court to challenge the expulsion and seek to have the execution of the tribunal's ruling and the party's decision stayed.

Read: Tribunal upholds Isaac Mwaura's expulsion from Jubilee Party

The tribunal dismissed Mr Mwaura's claims that the party had not furnished him with the details of the charge levelled against him.

Rebut claims

But for the five, the tribunal ruled that it was unfair for Jubilee not to give them a chance to effectively rebut the claims against them.

"A declaration is hereby issued that the decision to expel the applicants was unlawful and against the Jubilee Constitution," the tribunal ruled.

PPDT, however, ruled Jubilee can still initiate a fresh disciplinary process.

Mr Mwaura, who was facing accusations of disloyalty to the party and advocating for the interests of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) associated with Deputy President William Ruto, had filed a separate case from his colleagues.

Mr Tuju had in February said the six had been fingered on "disciplinary violations as per Article 13 of the party's Constitution".

In the deliberations in the party's disciplinary committee, Ms Omanga, Ms Seneta, Ms Waqo and Mr Prengei are accused of skipping the State House Senate Parliamentary Group meeting convened by President Kenyatta in May last year.

The senators had won conservatory orders immediately after the decision of the ruling party pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, yesterday donated some food items to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Gwada town of Niger State.

The items donated included 1,000 bags of 5kg bags of rice; 1,000 packaged food items; 150 cartons of noodles among others.

The wife of the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Amina Sani Bello, handed over the items to the Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, at the Gwada IDP camps.

In a brief remark, Inga appreciated the gesture of the first lady, saying the donations will go a long way to ameliorate the sufferings of the IDPs.

Inga, who said the materials would be distributed judiciously, recalled that the Niger State Government had also recently donated some food and non-food items to the IDPs.

He solicited more support from public-spirited individuals and organisations to enable the IDPs live near-normal lives

Not less than 3,000 people are in the two camps at Gwada. They were displaced by bandits who attacked their communities in Shiroro and Munya Local Government Areas.
The Nigerian Army has said the troops of 8 Division operating in Zamfara and adjoining states have eliminated many bandits' commanders and over 48 members of their gangs in North West.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

Yerima said that the Division had earlier launched "Operation Tsare Mutane" following the directives of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru.

He said that the COAS had directed the Division to stabilise the security situation in the zone to facilitate the return of socio-economic activities.

According to him, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Division, Maj.-Gen. Usman Yusuf, launched the first phase of the operation that lasted from March 23 to April 2 in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara.

"The troops successfully cleared many bandits' camps in Jaya, Kadaya and Bayan Ruwa amongst several others.

"The troops successfully neutralised 48 bandits while the bandits' leader in the area known as Jummo sustained a gunshot wound to his leg.

"The troops rescued 18 kidnap victims from the bandits' enclave and recovered eight AK-47 rifles, one G3 rifle, one PKT and a Machine Gun from the bandits," he said.

'Bandits' camp sacked'

Yerima also disclosed that the troops sacked several other bandits' camps around Gabiya, Bozaya and Mereri and the adjoining forests in Maru Local Government Area during the second phase of the operation.

According to him, the second phase of the operation took place from April 19 to May 3, adding that the areas which were heavily infested by bandits were successfully cleared by the "highly spirited" troops.

He said that key bandits' leaders including Yellow Mai-Bille, Sani Meli, Dan-Katsina and Sama'ila Bakajin Bari were neutralised in the process while the main leader, known as Nasanda, narrowly escaped with fatal injuries.

He said that one Isan Heshi, a close ally of a notorious bandit called Nagala, was also neutralised during the operation.

According to him, items recovered in the second phase include 4,600 rounds of ammunition, two AK-103 rifles, eight AK-47 magazines, 1,628 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 54 rounds of PKM as well as one motorcycle and five Techno mobile phones. (NAN)
As Kenyans prepared for a rather dull Christmas marred by the Covid-19 pandemic, a family in Tabani village, Bungoma County, was worried about their kin.

Unlike previous years where she either travelled home or sent goodwill messages, 47-year-old Sebezia Killong went silent.

The family, which says their communication with her went off on December 22, was plunged into panic, and started searching for her.

Ms Killong had moved to Nairobi from Eldoret in August last year to start a cloth-selling business.

"We even sent her photos of Christmas and New Year celebrations at home but she didn't respond. We started getting worried," her last born sister, Joy Killong, told the Nation Sunday.

Desperate search

On New Year's Day, worried about her whereabouts, the family started a search for Ms Killong. But their worst was yet to come.

After asking around from friends and relatives in Nairobi, the family reported the matter at Eldoret Police Station on January 11 before traveling to the capital in what was now becoming a desperate search.

While in Nairobi, they reported her disappearance at Ngong Police Station on January 16, and later at Kabete Police Station on January 29, as their desperation worsened.

Keen to cover all their bases, the family also visited Mbagathi Hospital, and later City Mortuary, now looking forward to finding Ms Killong dead or alive.

Their fruitless efforts prompted them to visit Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) several times but officials there, like all the places they had visited before, denied admitting a person fitting the description of Ms Killong.

"When KNH said they had not admitted anyone looking like my sister, we then tried on social media and posters but all was in vain," said Joy.

The family then moved to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who were in touch with them since January when they reported Ms Killong missing, desperate to know where she resided in the city.

Tracked by metre number

"The DCI helped us track her home in Kangemi using Kenya Power token payment system. They found her metre number which they used to track her house," said Joy.

Accompanied by officers from Special Crime Unit, the family went to the Kangemi house believed to have been Ms Killong's from which they recovered her passport and other belongings.

"We were told by the landlady's daughter that Ms Killong told her she had gone to make her hair but she never came back," explained the sister.

Days later, Joy said, she received a call from DCI informing her that they had pinpointed her last location as KNH.

During the time she went missing, it emerged, Ms Killong had been admitted to KNH under unclear circumstances, the family said the detectives told them.

The DCI also told Joy that her sister's mobile phone had been stolen by a patient who slept next to her, and that, that was how her last location was discovered.

The suspect, who is helping police with investigations, allegedly admitted taking the phone from Ms Killong after she suspected that she had died in the bed next to hers.

Buried at Lang'ata Cemetery

It was this important piece of information that led the family to the discovery that their kin had not only died at KNH but the top referral hospital had also gone ahead and buried her remains at the Lang'ata Cemetery as their search went on.

"Why did they (KNH) go ahead and bury her three days later after the DCI had written to them over the matter? Are they covering up something or is it a matter of professional negligence," said Joy.

"If that is the case, this is something that we would not want to happen to any other person because it's traumatising."

The family has now sought legal redress over the mysterious death of their kin and her burial at Lang'ata despite their frequent visits to KNH as they searched for her, dead or alive.

"We want to be given the body of our daughter to be laid to rest in a decent send-off. After that we will take the next step," said Mr George Killong, the woman's father.

Post-mortem

Once the body has been exhumed, the patriarch wants a post-mortem done under the supervision of a multi-agency team to unravel the truth behind the death and the subsequent lonely burial.

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"This is a very sad moment for my family and we want to know the truth. What happened to our daughter? This matter should not go silent; it's very painful," said Mr Killong.

Her mother, Teresa Chebet, said: "We don't know if she was kidnapped, killed or had an accident. We have so many questions over my daughter's disappearance and mysterious death."

A letter from KNH and seen by the Nation indicates that the woman was admitted on December 20, 2020 in Ward 8D and died on December 28 while undergoing treatment.

A burial permit, serial number 1672774, was issued on the same day she died without a record of her kin or her home.

An official from Kenyatta National Hospital, who sought anonymity, confirmed that the deceased was admitted at the facility and died in December but had not given records of her next of kin.

"This lady came to hospital but did not give her next of kin. How could we keep a body for more than four months after she died in December?" said the official.

He revealed that the hospital management would give its official statement regarding the matter this week.
FIRST lady Monica Geingos says there has been a decrease to her assets since she took office in 2015.

Six years ago president Hage Geingob and Geingos declared their assets at State House revealing that the first lady had between

N$45 and N$60 million in equity.

Geingos said this during an interview with The Namibian's online talk show called The Conversation on Friday.

"As a matter of fact there has been a significant decrease to my balance sheet," she said.

She was responding to talk that her marriage to the president is a business arrangement.

In 2015, The Namibian reported that Geingos had resigned from the board of Namibia Media Holdings (NMH), which owns newspapers like Namibian Sun and Republikein as well as from Alumini Fishing, a firm that has a hake fishing quota.

She also resigned from 10 companies, namely Bannerman Resources Namibia, Cymot Limited, Cymot Investments, Joe's Beerhouse Properties and Namibia Office Equipment Company which trades as Nashua Namibia, Plaspack Investments, Plastic Packaging, Plaspack Properties Prosperita, Toledo Investments and Walvis Bay Stevedoring.

As the first lady, Geingos earns a salary equivalent to that of a deputy permanent secretary, which is between N$350 000 and N$400 000 a year.

Geingos said the business arrangement talks have been around since before their wedding day. "This was a narrative pushed when people heard we wanted to get married. It was pushed by people who were vehemently opposed to us getting married," she added, saying the talk resurfaced during the 2017 Swapo congress.

"They knew my balance sheet, so they could not say it was money but that I wanted power and access to business. Some of those people were at the 2017 [Swapo] congress in one of the other teams," she said.

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"The only way they can justify this narrative is to accuse me of business transactions which I have not had since I became first lady," she said.

MY PRAYER ANSWERED

Geingos described president Hage Geingob as her best friend who met all requirements she wanted in a husband.

"I am speaking about Hage as a person, highly principled. If there was ever a prayer I gave to the Lord about the kind of man I want to marry, Hage checked all of it. The Lord delivered to me exactly what I asked for," she said.

During a recent talk on intergenerational relationships in Windhoek, Geingos spoke about the power dynamics and bargaining power when there is an age gap, saying a 'sugar daddy' relationship is complex, but important to deal with, because it may lead to abuse.

She got backlash on social media with people accusing her of being in such a relationship.

"You cannot compare a 40-year-old mother of two with a credible balance sheet, confidence, capital and capacity to a 17-year-old high school student with an older person who looks after her. There's a different dynamic there," she said. She described sugar daddies as older men who prey on vulnerable girls and that relationship is of a transactional nature. "We do not have a transaction relationship. I am not vulnerable," she stated.
THE Windhoek city council management committee has come up with a N$5,1 billion budget for the current financial year, almost equivalent to the national budget allocated to the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.

Although not yet approved by the minister of urban and rural develoment, the budget which was last month presented by Fillemon Hambuda, the chairperson of the management committee, might have a deficit of N$453 million.

This is due to non-cash expenses of depreciation and defined benefits of N$666 million having pushed the budget up, with depreciation of the city's assets topping the non-cash expenses at N$564 million.

Without non-cash expenses, the budget stands at N$4,9 billion - of which N$507 million is for capital projects and N$4,4 billion for operational expenditure.

Hambuda estimates revenue to be around N$4,6 billion for the year.

In his presentation, Hambuda conceded that the "council is not generating enough revenue from tariffs to cover its operating and capital expenses".

This is despite the council expecting around N$300 million from anticipated land sales and statutory funds of N$8 million for the year.

At least 58% of the N$4,4 billion operational budget (N$2,6 billion), will go to general expenses, while 35% (N$1,54 billion) goes to salaries, mainly of 1 935 permanent employees.

Hambuda indicated that the salary-related expenses will be analysed in the coming year to ensure that "our human resources capacity speaks to the resources required to execute the Strategy and Transformation Plan."

Repairs and maintenance will take up 5% and capital charges 1% and other expenses take up the remaining 1%.

Hambuda said over the past few years, the capital budget faced increasing demand for the provision and maintenance of basic services infrastructure, but there was no increase in the available resources.

"It has witnessed a diminishing revenue base, thereby contributing to an imbalance between demand for better and improved services and limited resources," he said.

For the past three financial years, only capital projects with secured funding were approved by the line ministry.

Hambuda highlighted that electricity infrastructure will take up N$174 million of the half-a-billion capital budget, followed by informal settlement upgrading which will take up N$104 million.

Housing construction and property acquisition will receive N$61 million and water and road infrastructure will get N$46 million.

With the fight for internet provision in the city, the councillors plan to spend N$20 million on information technology infrastructure.

The N$507 million capital budget will be funded in three ways; the city plans to channel N$204 million from its projected revenue. A grant of N$148 million is also expected from the central government.

According to Hambuda, the remaining N$155 million will be bank loans.

TARIFF HIKES

For the city to meet its 2021/2022 budget, some tariffs are expected to go up, pending approval from various regulators.

City residents should brace themselves for hikes on electricity, bus services, water, and refuse removals and solid waste charges.

The electricity tariffs will be amended once the regulator, (Electricity Control Board-ECB) pronounces itself on the city's proposal to increase electricity tariffs by 5%.

The water tariff adjustments are still under consideration and will be adjusted pending approval from NamWater.

A 5% tariff increase is proposed for refuse removals and solid waste management.

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Individuals who use the city buses are expected to pay 7% and 6% more for smart card fares and cash fares, respectively, Hambuda revealed.

He also added that land delivery, especially in the informal settlement, targets to reach 5 000 pre-allocations by February 2024.

Also, included in the budget, is the construction of 100 affordable housing units at Goreangab Ext 4.

The current Strategic Plan that guided the city budget and plans comes to an end in 2022.

The municipality will start drafting a new Strategic and Transformation Plan this year, which will guide future budgetary allocations, especially the needs of informal settlements, said Hambuda.

He added that they are crafting a plan to make Windhoek financially sustainable.

Email: [email protected]
THE Namibian government says it has noted with "grave concern" the rising tensions in East Jerusalem over the possible eviction of Palestinian families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

"In this regard, Namibia expresses concern about the possible evictions and condemns the violence exercised by the Israeli police during the past days against Palestinian demonstrators and the storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque, (and the) assaulting peaceful worshippers," the international relations ministry's executive director Penda Naanda said in a statement.

He said the Namibian government stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and called on the Israeli forces to end their violent acts against Palestinians.

"Namibia further reaffirms its resolute support for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli occupation, the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and independence, with East Jerusalem as their capital.

"We call on the international community to continue to support the Palestinian people through the implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions and all other agreements," Naanda added.
THE Landless People's Movement leadership at Walvis Bay is condemning the "biased" actions of the Walvis Bay Municipal Council's administration, saying they are causing vulnerable people to suffer because of outstanding debts.

The party demands that the water supply of businesses, the well-off and the politically connected who owe the council be cut with immediate effect.

In a press statement on Saturday, the party's regional leader, Stanly Bikeur, said Walvis Bay is one of the few municipalities that does not owe NamWater or ErongoRED any outstanding amount, as the council is the majority shareholder, with a 49% share in the Erongo region's electrical distribution business.

"Yes, the council has inherited an outstanding debt of N$436 928 493, which originated from various rented services. Since these debts are not from yesterday, it is clear that the policies in place are less effective regarding the wealthy and politically connected. It only seems to be useful and fully effective and executed on the vulnerable, in terms of debt recovery.

"Therefore, policy review is vital, as the current credit-control and debt-recovery policy was not imposed across the board in full. This was the cause of the accumulation of debt," Bikeur said in the statement.

He said many vulnerable people at the town are left without the needed basic services, as they owe the council, while those who are well off owe the most.

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"The government itself owes N$21 636 147,19, while businesses make up a debt rate of

N$56 150 188,70, but they still enjoy basic services, which are restricted to the vulnerable in terms of credit-control and debt-recovery policy. Where is the fairness when the vulnerable are the ones who suffer in most cases?" he asked.

Bikeur said the council is creating room for debt accumulation through payment arrangements on outstanding debt to keep taps full. He said vulnerable people, who have accumulated debt due to payment arrangements, are mostly unemployed, which contributes to non-payment. The LPM is therefore proposing the drafting and immediate implementation of a policy for the vulnerable at the town. Walvis Bay municipality's spokesperson Kevin Adams said the municipality treats everyone the same.

"If they see anything that is not handled correctly, they must bring it to the attention and discuss the matter with acting chief executive officer Frans Gonteb," he said.
OSHAKATI resident Halumelinda Nandongo (99) has no access to running water at a time when handwashing is crucial.

Her daughter, Theresia Gabriel (67), and her grandchildren have to fetch drinking water from a pond some 500 m from their four-bedroomed house.

Nandongo's water supply has been cut off by the Oshakati Town Council because her account is N$8 000 in arrears.

She has been living at Oshakati for 46 years, and accommodates 10 unemployed people.

The group depends on Nandongo's monthly old-age pension grant of N$1 300.

With this money they have to buy food, cosmetics, firewood and nappies for Nandongo.

According to her granddaughter Linea Nambinga (41), the family has not paid for water since March last year.

"We have not been without water since 19 April this year. Sometimes we get water from our neighbours, but most of the time we fetch water from a nearby pond," she says.

Nambinga says she went to the office of the Oshana Regional Council where she met with governor Elia Irimari to ask for help with the family's water account, or to provide them with employment.

"The governor told me to write him a formal letter, which I wrote and delivered to his office the next day. He has not responded to it," she says. Nambinga says she followed up on her letter, but was told the governor's office cannot pay their water bill.

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"They told me to try some other time.

I used to pay for water when I was working for a construction company. After I was retrenched, we are unable to pay for water. I would like to ask good Samaritans to give one of us a job so that we can pay for water and support the family. I can do any job," she says.

Gabriel says she does not receive a social grant yet as she only registered for this recently.

She says she makes baskets which she sells, but this is not enough to support the family with.

Oshakati mayor Leonard Negonga says the Nandongo family were supposed to write to his office to ask for assistance.

He says the town council is in the process of discussing special municipal rates for pensioners with the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.

Irimari says he has written a letter to the town council regarding the matter, but has not received a response.

He says there are about 60 elderly people facing the same problem at Oshakati,

Ongwediva and Ondangwa.
TWO Walvis Bay residents charged with smuggling cocaine worth more than N$200 million into Namibia three years ago are due to hear next week if defence lawyer Sisa Namibia will be allowed to continue representing them when they go on trial in the Windhoek High Court.

The court should direct Namandje to withdraw from the case in which Walvis Bay residents Grant Noble and Dinath Azhar are charged, because Namandje has also represented one of the prosecution's prospective witnesses in the case, state advocate Salmon Kanyemba has argued in an application that has delayed the start of the two men's trial before judge Orben Sibeya.

Sibeya on Friday rescheduled the delivery of his ruling on Kanyemba's application, saying that written arguments drawn up by Namandje had not been brought to his office after it had been filed at the court near the end of April. As a result, he postponed the delivery of his ruling to 18 May.

Sibeya also informed Kanyemba and Namandje that the trial is still scheduled to start on 7 June.

The trial had been due to begin on 6 April, but did not commence after Kanyemba applied for an order to compel Namandje to withdraw from the matter.

Noble and Azhar are charged with dealing in or possessing a Namibian record quantity of 412 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street-market value of N$206 million, at Walvis Bay between February and 15 June 2018, and also face a count of money laundering.

The state is alleging that they imported 412 kg of cocaine into Namibia by having it shipped from Brazil to Walvis Bay in a shipping container, in which police and customs officers on 15 June 2018 discovered the drugs hidden in boxes supposedly containing printing paper.

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In support of his application, Kanyemba has argued that Namandje has a conflict of interest and is ethically obliged to withdraw from representing Noble and Azhar because he represented one of the state's prospective witnesses in a previous case in the High Court during 2013.

According to police officers involved in the investigation of the case of Noble and Azhar, the witness also claimed to have been advised by Namandje not to provide a statement to the police when he was asked to do so in May 2019.

Kanyemba argued that the court has the power to order the withdrawal of a legal representative from a case if the lawyer's continued involvement in a matter would not be in the interest of the proper administration of justice.

Namandje, who is opposing the application for his withdrawal, has argued that the claim that he advised the witness not to give a statement to the police was based on hearsay evidence, on which the court could not rely.

He also argued there is no rule in Namibian law on the basis of which a lawyer could be disqualified or barred from representing clients who have chosen the lawyer as their representative. If the court bars a lawyer from representing clients, that would infringe the clients' constitutional right to be represented by a lawyer of their choice, Namandje further argued.

Noble and Azhar are being held in custody while awaiting their trial.
A KATIMA Mulilo resident recently started stocking up on devil's claw roots to dry them for medicinal and other uses.

Margaret van Rooi says inhabitants of the region, especially the elderly, are suffering ill health, and she wants to make a difference.

She is adamant that the plant's root has medicinal properties.

In the Silozi language the plant is called malamatwa, and is found not only in Namibia, but also in other southern African countries, such as Angola, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.

The plant's roots and tubers are used to make medicine.

Devil's claw, or the harpagophytum plant, has been used to treat atherosclerosis, arthritis, gout, muscle aches, back ache, tendonitis, chest pain, gastrointestinal disturbances, heartburn, fever, and migraines.

Van Rooi claims the plant can also relieve high blood pressure and stabilise blood sugar.

She sells the roots cut into smaller pieces, which are then exported to South Africa and Germany, where they are crushed and processed into a syrup.

Van Rooi, who relocated from Windhoek to Katima Mulilo last year, started her devil's claw business to support her family, and has created job opportunities for 18 locals already.

On site she fills bags with the plant's roots after a cleaning process, before the bags are sent off to Germany and South Africa.

"Most of the roots come from Botswana. It all started at Gobabis, Rundu, Divundu, Tsumkwe and Katima, and thus the demand is slowly rising," she says.

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She says she has received orders totalling 50 tonnes of the product so far.

"One thing I love is the process of how it is prepared. It's really amazing to see how they take it out of the soil, how deep they actually go. And then they cut it and dry it. All of that is an experience I love partaking in," she says.

Van Rooi says she prepares around 10 tonnes of roots a week.

In 2010, Namibia's government approved a national policy on the utilisation of devil's claw products.

To sell the plant, three permits are required: a cultivation permit, research permit and transport permit.

"It's really high in demand. Now, the only thing is the price. People disagree over the pricing. It all depends on the quality they are looking for. The yellow ones are procumbens, and the brown ones are zahire. This means a lot to the people of Katima, because these people are suffering, especially the elderly," Van Rooi says.

She encourages people to get familiar with this natural remedy while the demand for it is still relatively low in the region.

Research confirming the plant's medicinal properties is not readily available.
MINISTER of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula on Friday made his way to Walvis Bay for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Namibia.

"I could not come last year during the lockdown, because of a Cabinet decision that members of the executive should remain in Windhoek due to meetings on almost a daily basis," he said.

Without formal operating procedures, the region navigated the virus mainly through the intervention of the Erongo Covid Care initiative and the assistance of security forces.

The team behind the initiative was able to mobilise financial resources from businesses to upgrade ailing public healthcare facilities, especially at Walvis Bay.

Basic items such as personal protection equipment (PPE), masks and gloves were also sourced.

Additionally, companies such as Namdock roped in their staff to assist with the repair of hospital beds and the renovation of buildings at the local state hospital, which served as quarantine facilities.

The private sector made donations towards basic equipment, including an oxygen plant.

The only equipment outstanding were washing machines, which were outdated and irreparably damaged.

The state hospital's laundry was done in Windhoek for 11 years at a high cost.

Local businessman Jose Bastos rounded up industry players and acquired the necessary laundry equipment.

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"At the time we knew the government had a difficult time financially because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the drought.

We took the opportunity to assist with this important service for the community," Bastos said.

Shangula commissioned the laundry machines, valued at N$1,1 million.

He expressed his appreciation for the donation and the business community's handling of the pandemic.

"The support that the ministry has received during the pandemic has demonstrated the uniqueness of our togetherness and solidarity when faced with a common enemy. It is a potential we need to harness for the benefit of Namibians," Shangula said during his visit to the Walvis Bay State Hospital.

He also undertook a tour of the hospital's quarantine facilities.

To his surprise, there were only six patients in the general Covid-19 ward and none in the high care and intensive care units.

The minister urged Erongo residents to not let their guard down.

He said the biggest challenge the country is currently facing is the increasing number of patients who need hospitalisation.

Since 1 May the region has recorded 140 new Covid-19 cases and seven deaths.

Kalumbi Shangula and Walvis, Bay business mogul Jose Bastos during the commissioning of the new laundry facilities at Walvis Bay State Hospital.
MINISTER of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula says the increasing number of intensive care unit (ICU) Covid-19 patients and hospitalisations is worrying for Namibia, indicating that Namibians have stopped being cautious.

The number of people hospitalised and in ICU after contracting the virus has been on the rise with intensive care unit (ICU) patients hovering around 40 from 1 May to 45 on 8 May, a situation Shangula described as worrying.

In an interview with The Namibian yesterday, Shangula said the spike in ICU cases actually started on 23 April, which recorded the highest number since the beginning of the year.

Moreover, Namibia recorded 341 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the highest number of new cases since the beginning of April.

"We need to pull up our socks. There is no behavioural change from us at all. People are very relaxed and life is going on as normal for them compared to their behaviour last year at the start of the pandemic where they took it very seriously," he said.

He added that even though people are being vaccinated in Namibia and are getting some level of immunity, the level of immunity or how long the immunity will last is not yet known.

"This is why we are encouraging Namibians to get vaccinated," he said.

So far, 37 578 people have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines.

The minister urged Namibians to exercise extreme caution to avoid infection and avoid the situation unfolding in India. Moreover, South African laboratories found that a Covid-19 variant from India was in that country. However, Shangula could not say whether Namibia is testing for that variant. Instead, he said all Covid-19 variants, whether mutated or not, remain dangerous.

"All of them are our enemies, whether the South African variant or Indian variant. All are equally dangerous," he explained.

A specialist physician in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Dr Ishmael Katjitae, recently described the horrible feeling ICU patients experience. "Imagine someone putting a pillow on your face and sitting on top of you. That is what they [ICU patients] feel when they are breathing," he said.

Katjitae said patients on ventilators have more breathing difficulty and would require sedation.

The physician explained that despite the oxygen, they often put the patients on machines to help them breath and sometimes sedate them so that they do not experience the discomfort of pipes in their faces and throats,

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If all these measures do not work, the patients will die, which is what the country has been witnessing, he added.

Katjitae described the increasing number of ICU cases and deaths as "bad" in relation to Namibia's population.

"We cannot afford to bleed out so many people. Unfortunately, those numbers are going up every day," he added.

Former Centres for Disease Control country director in Namibia Eric Dzuiban last week said Namibia can avoid the situation being experienced in India right now by staying focused on what has worked for the country last year.

"Any country could still have another wave and it could be much worse than the ones that have already come. It's like being in a close match with just a few minutes left on the clock. It's not the time to walk off the field and lose the progress that has been made," he said.

Dzuiban added that after the second wave started coming down from its peak at the end of December, the number of cases and deaths in Namibia never dropped as low as the numbers after the first wave.

"Most days have [recorded] between 100 and 300 new cases and Namibians are dying of the virus each day. This means we need to be vigilant so things don't get worse," Dzuiban explained.

Covid-19 deaths currently stand at 683, while total confirmed cases stand at 49 893, as of Saturday.
WHILE the world celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, Olethu Nghikupulwa and Sevelia Paulus spent the day mourning their two children who had drowned the day before.

The two women, who are neighbours at One Nation Ombili informal settlement in Windhoek, say their lives were turned upside down on Saturday afternoon, when their children, little Erastus Nghituwama and little Lucia Fernando fell into a community pit latrine and drowned in the sewage.

Chief police inspector Elifas Kuwinga on Saturday confirmed the incident, saying the toddlers, both aged two, allegedly fell into the latrine and drowned.

At around 13h00, one of the mothers realised the children, who were playing outside, were missing and a neighbour announced on a megaphone that two children were missing and requested the community's assistance with the search. The two children's bodies were discovered in the latrine pit by members of the community at around 14h00.

'WE RAISED HIM AS OUR OWN'

Olethu Nghikupulwa (41), who was the adopted parent of little Erastus Nghituwamata, said she and her partner have been left heartbroken as they raised him as their own since 2018 when his biological parents died. Little Erastus was only two-months old when they took him in, she said.

She says he was a very smart boy for his age and would always do things that were mature for his young age.

"On the morning of the day he passed away, he woke up and prayed Our Father and accompanied me with my partner as I went to do laundry at the communal tap. Later, he went to play with his friends until I heard people crying and I got to hear about his death," said Nghikupulwa.

Nghikupulwa's partner, Fillemon Joshua (47), who was like a father to Erastus, said he remembers taking a walk with him to the neighbours and buying him a snack before sending him off to play with other children that morning.

"I didn't expect this to happen. He had been very excited since morning. I'm sad and heartbroken.

"We ask the government to assist us because we are unemployed and do casual jobs on some days. We live from hand to mouth," he said.

A FAMILY'S GRIEF

Little Lucia's father Fernandu Petrus (36) said he was at work when the tragedy struck and received a call from the mother of his child about the death of their daughter.

"It is a difficult moment to think of coming home and finding your child is gone while she was fine and alive when I left for work. I appeal for the government to assist us in whatever way it can," he stressed.

Sevelia Paulus (26), Lucia's mother, said she is still in disbelief and speechless and could not say much.

"I was doing house chores and saw the children playing, so I went to prepare a meal and asked the neighbour's child to call Lucia for me so she could come and eat, but she was nowhere to be found. The neighbours went far while the children were just in a hole two houses from our shack," she said.

SHOCKING

A neighbour of the two families, Ester Naholo said the accident has sent shock waves through the neighbourhood.

She said neighbours joined the search and followed the footprints of the children. Later that afternoon, an 11-year-old boy saw their hands through the toilet hole.

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"This is the most shocking and heartbreaking news I have heard of. The children were like family to me and always ran to me when I got home from work," she said.

Deputy inspector general of the Namibian Police Joseph Shikongo said every parent should take responsibility of their children regardless of where they live.

"Because if they fail, to they can be charged with child neglect," he warned. He made reference to a recent incident where the children burnt to death at Otjomuise in Windhoek when the father left them at home and locked them in the house, which burnt down while they were trying to cook.

Shikongo added that such cases are on the increase.

*This story has been updated since it was first posted on Saturday, 8 May.
With the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn affecting the South African Post Office (SAPO) revenue, the entity has implemented long-term initiatives to diversify its income.

"These have started to show results, and the Post Office has also identified quick solutions that will improve its income in the short-term," the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies said on Monday.

The Ministry, as the shareholder said it continues to work closely with the Post Office to strengthen the executive management of the entity.

Nomkhita Mona was recently appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the SAPO for a five-year term. The position had been vacant since 2019.

"The South African Post Office is a key stakeholder in delivering on government's developmental objectives of improving access to basic services in previously underserviced communities. Its network is currently the largest point of presence nationally and is able to connect government, businesses and citizens anywhere in South Africa," Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

The Minister has welcomed the reopening of most of the SAPO branches across all provinces that were temporarily closed following extensive negotiations with landlords.

Twenty-seven branches have been reopened in all nine provinces.

"Negotiations continue with landlords of the remaining few Post Offices that are closed; they will re-open as soon as agreement is reached with property owners. This is expected to be within the next few weeks," the Ministry said.
Nairobi  PwC has commended the move by the Commissioner of Customs and Border Control, Kenya Revenue Authority to lift restrictions on warehousing of goods in Customs bonded warehouses imposed by Customs in May 2020.

The policy shift by the government is a welcome relief for businesses that utilize customs bonded warehouses to store goods, defer payment of duties and are involved in regional trade. This decision was communicated through Gazette Notice no. 3738 dated 15 April 2021.

"We expect that with Customs having lifted restrictions on warehousing of goods will help contribute to the Government's agenda of reviving the economy in light of the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, improve cash flow and stock management for businesses," commented Maurice Mwaniki, Indirect Taxes Associate Director at PwC Kenya.

"Furthermore, we expect this will once again enhance the competitiveness of Kenya as a global and regional logistics hub; and will assist attract inward investment into Kenya and the wider East African region," said Mwaniki.

Why there is a need for consistency in tax law

Whilst the decision to lift the restriction is positive, it is important to note that the initial decision made in May 2020 to stop warehousing of goods in bonded caught many investors by surprise. This forced many businesses to re-evaluate whether they would continue serving their customers across the region from Kenya. As a result, it is likely this cost Kenya business opportunities.

Given the challenges currently facing businesses, it is imperative for tax policymakers to ensure tax laws are not changed frequently as the lack of consistency results into significant adverse impact to businesses.

Warehousing of goods is not unique to Kenya

Businesses world over rely on bonded warehousing to manage cashflow and secure global supply chains. By allowing businesses to warehouse goods without payment of duties makes countries competitive and more attractive to investors who are looking at Kenya as their preferred base for regional trade. The move by the Government of Kenya fits in well into the government's agenda of developing infrastructure to make Kenya a global and regional logistics hub.
Highlights Elon Musk's SpaceX has announced a new space mission.

It has named the new satellite Doge-1.

The entire mission will be funded by Dogecoin.

On April 1, Elon Musk had tweeted - SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon. The tweet led to a surge in Dogecoin price and it has pretty much been ruling the internet since then. Yet, no one would have expected Musk to actually do that. And, here we are. The Tesla chief is actually sending Dogecoin to the moon. Elon Musk's commercial rocket company SpaceX has announced that it will launch "DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon" in the first quarter of next year.

Musk tweeted that company's new satellite will be called Doge-1. Not just this, in an unprecedented move, the entire mission will be paid for in Dogecoin. This will make Doge the first crypto in space. Ironically, it will also be the first meme in space.

"SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year. Mission paid for in Doge. 1st crypto in space. 1st meme in space. To the mooooonnn!!" Musk tweeted, a day after his Saturday Night Live appearance which saw the crypto crash. Dogecoin had lost one third of its price while Musk on SNL as he called it a hustle.

Geometric Energy Corporation gave further information about the space mission through an official statement on Sunday.

"This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce", SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero was quoted as saying in the statement released by Geometric Energy.

The statement adds that Dogecoin is "sophisticated enough to finance a commercial Moon mission in full" and that it'll be used for all lunar business between the two companies.

Despite all the good news and hype around it, Dogecoin has had a tough week. Its price has been fluctuating for different reasons but Elon Musk has been at the centre of all. Overall, the crypto has given almost 10,000 per cent returns this month and recovered late Sunday evening after a dramatic fall on Saturday after Musk's SNL performance.

While the new space mission sounds exciting, it will be interesting to see how effective it is. Also, time will tell if sending Doge-1 to the moon will also send Dogecoin to the moon or not. The phrase has become increasingly popular among investor. To recall, Dogecoin started as meme currency and probably, Musk has taken the joke too far.
Bank of Kigali Plc and Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development, on May 10 launched the 5th edition of BK Urumuri Initiative to identify and support 25 innovative businesses.

The initiative began in 2017 marking Bank of Kigali's 50th anniversary and continues this year as a sign of the bank's continued commitment to invest in Rwanda's emerging business leaders.

Winners of the competition will access six months of training, consulting, and business advisory from Inkomoko, and they will be candidates for zero-interest loans from Bank of Kigali.

"At Bank of Kigali, we are committed to enhance entrepreneurs' access to credit, thus support those who have brilliant ideas including youth-led enterprises to manage their businesses. This year's edition will welcome entrepreneurs who have innovative business ideas and BK Urumuri will help them to achieve their full potential," said Dr. Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali.

For this edition, the initiative is seeking promising innovative growing enterprises which have potential to support Rwanda's growth.

"We are honored to continuously support entrepreneurs to discover their potential and grow their innovative business ideas that respond to our community's economic issues," said Teta Ndejuru, the Managing Director of Inkomoko.

"At Inkomoko we value young entrepreneurs because they are a powerful source of innovation and the future of Rwanda," she added.

The application deadline is on May 31, 2021.

Eligible businesses must be based in Rwanda, have annual revenue that is less than Rwf500m, have proof of registration for at least 1 year, demonstrate financial profitability, or plan to reach profitability within the next year.

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The competition is open to people of all ages and nationalities.

The 25 selected winners will start the Inkomoko Business Development accelerator on June 14.

In the previous edition (2020), a wide range of businesses were selected for the 4th edition of Urumuri and six of them won interest-free loans from BK, including, Work Roselyne Ltd, Jotete Investment Ltd, Nova Leather Ltd, Exalto Engineering and Supply Solutions ltd as well as Weya Creations Ltd.

All 25 businesses got support from Inkomoko for improving their financial planning, growth strategy, accounting, digital marketing, and more.

"Being a part of the 2020 Urumuri Initiative has helped me grow professionally. Beyond this, I acquired skills that significantly contributed to the growth of my business. I was able to open a line of lingerie for both women and men and to increase my revenues." said Aurore Kayitesire, Founder and CEO of Weya Clothing, and 2020 Urumuri winner.
Residents of Botanic Area in Mzuzu on Friday held a peaceful demonstration to express their dismay over the delay in upgrading of the road from Luwinga to Mzuzu Technical College, which they say is crucial infrastructure for their livelihoods.

The residents want government to honour its pledge by setting aside K3.5 billion which will help in the upgrading of the 10.5 Kilometre Road.

The road is now almost impassable as it is so muddy with dangerous potholes.

The development has seen some pregnant women finding problems to easily reach a hospital where they could be assisted to deliver and some have been giving birth along the way.

Chairperson for the concerned people, Paul Mvula, said people from Botanic Area had the right to benefit from development projects in the country including road infrastructure.

"There is congestion on our roads here in Mzuzu. We do not have a bypass that can reduce congestion in the main road right in the city. People are dying. Pregnant women are regrettably giving birth on their way to hospital because of the condition of this road," lamented Mvula.

Receiving the people's petition on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Mzuzu City Mayor, Kondwani Brian Nyasulu, said the complaint by the residents was genuine.

"They have a genuine concern. The problem is that as a council, we receive minimal funding. We will be party in lobbying for such funding for that particular road. We will patiently wait to hear how government will respond," remarked Nyasulu.
Chad's military claimed victory on Sunday in its weeks-long battle with northern rebels that led to the death of President Idriss Deby on the battlefield.

However, the rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) said it was not aware of an end to the fighting. The group "will comment when it has reliable and credible information," said a FACT spokesman.

The transitional military authorities have claimed in the past to have defeated the rebels - only for clashes to continue.

Crowds in the capital N'Djamena cheered on Sunday as soldiers returned from the front line in a column of tanks and armoured vehicles.

"The triumphant return of the army to the barracks today heralds the end of operations and Chad's victory," the army's Chief of the General Staff Abakar Abdelkerim Daoud told reporters.

At an army base in N'Djamena, dozens of captured rebels sat in the dirt, on display for the assembled press.

Chad's military claims victory over rebel group, displaying dozens of prisoners in N'Djamena https://t.co/9pbrQBOw2k pic.twitter.com/OdxP5S53CH

Tear gas

FACT fighters crossed the border from Libya in April to take a stand against Deby, whose 30-year rule they opposed.

His subsequent death while visiting troops plunged the country into crisis.

On Saturday, security forces fired tear gas to disperse a protest against the ruling military council. The council, led by Deby's son Mahamat Idriss Itno, seized power after Deby's death, promising to oversee an 18-month transition to elections.

Opposition politicians and civil society have denounced the takeover as a coup and called for supporters to take to the streets. At least five people were killed during a protest on 27 April.

Opposition protest postponed

Opponents had planned a further protest on Sunday but postponed it, fearing the authorities might use violence to suppress it, prominent human rights activist Mahamat Nour Ibedou told Reuters.

The military council had given permission for a protest on Sunday.

Former colonial ruler France, which has a military presence in Chad and was a long-term backer of Deby, initially signalled its strong support for the council but has since called for a civilian national unity government.

Chad is a key power in central Africa and a longtime Western ally against Islamist militants across the Sahel region.
Mr Emmanuel Joof, the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has told the national assembly that the 50 plus one and second round of voting should be included in the Election Bill 2021.

Mr. Joof said this on Wednesday 5th May 2021, during their appearance before the joint committee on IEC, Human Rights and Constitutional Matters of the National Assembly, while expressing their views on the election Bill 2021. He said the bill talks about voting, deposits, thresholds and many things, but second round of voting for the presidency is not captured in the Bill.

"We looked at the Bill and second round of voting was stipulated in the constitution once upon a time, but it was easily removed. So, we thought that the 50 plus one should be included in the Election Bill 2021," he said.

Joof also said they have observed clause 4 sub clause 2(G) of the Election Bill 2021, which relates to the powers and functions of the IEC. He said their concern is with the issue of issuing permit to the political parties for campaign, processions and rallies, as stated in section 25.

Joof said section 25 guarantees and talks about the right to freedom of assembly, including the right of political parties to hold rallies and subjecting the exercise of this right to the authority of permit. He said subjecting the exercise of this right to the authority of permit, may hinder its enjoyment. He said they are suggesting a law be put in place so that what will be required is notification regime in order to allow the state to facilitate the exercise of this right.

"The issue of notifying makes it easier rather than requesting, as one is begging even though it is a fundamental right. Let us look at the nomenclature and look at what happens in other countries and look at our advisory note. We should also change the nomenclature and make it in line with practices in those countries, for the issuing of permit to be based on notification," he said.

Chairperson Joof said they have also scrutinized clause 140, which talks about results of the referendum as well as clause 141, which he said has no relevance.

Joof said clause 68, which talks about priority in voting, stated that in casting of votes, the Presiding officer shall give priority to persons with disability to be changed to persons with disabilities, as opposed to saying in sub clause (C) persons with disability.
The National Assembly Joint Committee on IEC, Human Rights and Constitutional Matters, has on Friday 7th May 2021, engaged the people of West Coast Region on the Election Bill 2021.

The engagement was aimed at feeling their pulses on the Election Bill 2021. The said Bill, once enacted, will be the guiding tool for the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections in the Gambia.

The participants said IEC should be fully funded by the government, when asked whether the Commission should receive grants and donations. They however said in the event government cannot fully finance the commission, IEC can seek or receive donations and grants from international bodies and agencies such as UN.

They also maintained that in receiving donations and grants from international bodies, the commission must not receive donations and grants from individual donors or grantors. Participants recommended that attestations be issued by an Alkalo and assisted by five elders in the community.

"The D500, 000 deposit for presidential candidates and the 40 percent threshold for a candidate to get his or her election deposit is adequate," majority of the participants said.

However, some are of the opinion that the D500, 000 deposit for presidential candidate is minimal and should be increased to two to five million dalasi. They argued this is because elections are expensive and that the number of registered political parties has increased over the years.

On the postponement of election due to the demise of an independent candidate, they said elections should be postponed if an independent candidate dies during election as provided for in the Election Act.

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"If the candidate of a registered political party dies, election should be postponed as stated in the Election Act. Equally, if an independent candidate dies, the same treatment must be accorded to him or her, so that all the candidates are treated fairly and equally," one of the participants said.

On Diaspora registration and voting, the West Coast people said as far as they are Gambians, they should be registered so that they would participate in all elections of the Gambia.

"Voting should start at 7:00 am and close at 6:00pm. The weather changes in December and sometimes, identification of ballot boxes becomes difficult," one of the participants said.

On transfer of voter's card, they said it should be facilitated free of charge and that the reason for the transfer must be made explicit to the IEC officers.

On declaration of election results, they said the declaration should be made by the chairman of the IEC. But in his absence, they said the Vice Chairman should declare the results.

"This will ensure that elation results are announced on time because when the announcement is delay, it can ignite serious confusion and violence," one of them said.

There was also call for the commission to distinguish first class citizens and second class citizens. This, to some of them, will guarantee first class citizens have the opportunity to take charge of key positions in the country, such as presidency, national assembly seats among other key positions.

They also proposed the need to hold both presidential and national assembly elections simultaneously.
The University of the Gambia (UTG) on Thursday the 6th May, gathered stakeholders to validate national languages curriculum to be introduced in the university by next semester.

The validation event, which was held at the university campus at Kanifing, was initiated by the university and championed by the School of Arts and Sciences of the UTG.

Linguistics expects in Gambian languages demonstrated the value of local languages in the educational system as self-independence.

Professor Pierre Gomez, UTG Acting Vice Chancellor (Academies), described the validation as a turning point in the history of the university as linguistics expects longed for it.

"The university will lead the creation of Mandinka 101, Fula 101 and Wollof 101 etc. in the university curriculum and later expand linguistics in the school structures where people can write BA in local language in the Gambia," he said.

Professor Gomez said students are taught in various foreign languages in the Gambia, but they are not taught in their national languages.

"Yet we called ourselves independent and what type of independence is that, when you speak your own national language without knowing how your language is structured," he said.

He further said there is need to decolonize the curriculum as well as the mindset of people regrading national languages, so as to empower them to take the lead.

Dr Abdul Karim Kamara, Dean of School of Arts and Sciences, said his department initiated the teaching of national languages in the school for the advancement of education in the country. Dr Kamara, who is also the head of humanitarian and social sciences, said the national languages are fading away.

"If something is not done about it, it is going to have a negative impact on the generation to come," he said.

He said the UTG should take the lead and rescue the national languages from dying, by preserving them before it's too late.

"There might be challenges in the process and it will not be easy to adopt with the situation. But someone needs to take a start and that is what the university has done," he said.

Sidia Jatta, lawmaker and linguistics specialist, said people, who do not language, have no identity. He described language as a fundamental factor that "defines who you are as a human being and it is rooted in culture."

"Why are Africans teaching their children foreign languages even after colonialization and people still believed that is civilianization or modernization?" he asked.

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Jatta said people are incapacitated in their own language because they don't use the instruments that are fundamental due to the foreign languages that are rooted in the system of education.

"We have the means to survive in this country with dignity and without being slaves to anybody," he said.

"Since independence to date, the country is totally with no development because the country doesn't have the key to development. Your key to development is your language," he said.

UTG Vice Chancellor, Professor. Faqir Mahammad Anjum, said the usage of Gambian languages will ensure equality and democratic participation of the people in the development of the country.

He said the poor performance of the pupils and students is largely associated with the lack of understanding of the language used in classrooms as a medium of instruction

He said the introduction of Gambian languages, as a general requirement, in the university system is a clear testimony of the commitment to the development of the country and which will pave way for the revival of Gambian cultures.

The Vice Chancellor noted that his institution is working on establishing a linguistics department which will give students the opportunity to explore Gambian languages in Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, and Semantic, all in a quest for the development of the country.
Nairobi  President Uhuru Kenyatta was briefed on the results of the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations Monday ahead of the formal release to the public.

The results were presented to the Head of State by Education CS Prof George Magoha at a briefing attended by Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua, Early Learning and Basic Education PS Dr Julius Jwan, and TSC CEO Nancy Macharia and her KNEC counterpart Mercy Karogo.

The Ministry of Education was set to release the results on Monday afternoon.

President Kenyatta congratulated the 2020 KCSE candidates for a great performance despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, and thanked the education sector stakeholders for the smooth administration of the examinations.

At the same event, the President witnessed the swearing in of Prof Fatuma Chege as the Principal Secretary of the new State Department for Implementation of Curriculum Reforms within the Ministry of Education.

The Head of State expressed confidence in Prof Chege's ability to steer the ongoing roll out of the new curriculum.

"You have been at the forefront in the development of this curriculum. You know what needs to be done," the President tasked Prof Chege.
Nairobi  Senate Minority Leader James Orengo has downplayed reports of a fallout with his Party Leader Raila Odinga.

Orengo and Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo who was kicked out as vice-chairperson of the influential Justice and Legal Affairs Committee have lately rubbed some members of Raila's ODM Party inner circle the wrong way after calling for amendments to the Building Bridges Initiative Constitution Amendment Bill.

The senior counsels said some proposed amendments such as the creation of 70 new constituencies will entrench inequality.

In a tweet posted Sunday evening Orengo suggested that reports of a feud with Raila was a creation of 'conspiracy theorists' aimed at divert public attention from the key issues.

"In Kenya's politics life really imitates art. But the artist is a conspiracy theorist with a hypothesized fanciful narrative fed as news or fact. Before the big lie unfolds public debate on the big issues of the day is just a shouting match. Full of sound and fury signifying nothing," Orengo stated.

However, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen took on his Siaya counterpart saying he may not be sincere in his recent statements.

Murkomen who is among legislators who are opposed to the constitution amendment bill dared Orengo to vote against the document when the Senate reconvenes.

"Either Jimmy is downplaying reports about a fallout with his Party Leader or chastising those who angrily criticize BBI Constitutional Amendment Bill but when it matters most they vote for it (after engaging in a shouting match).I wish he meant the later but you know he doesn't," Murkomen stated in his reply to the Orengo's tweet.

Orengo's response come as Senators await a ruling by Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka which is expected to guide them on whether to correct anomalies picked by the joint Justice and Legal Committee or pass the amendment bill without alteration.
Nairobi  ODM leader Raila Odinga met Senator James Orengo and Governor Wycliffe Oparanya Monday in a move to end open defiance in his party ahead of the crucial vote in the Senate for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

Lawyer Orengo is Odinga's closest ally who has stuck with him for years, but is lately seen to revolt after opposing the party's position on the proposed 70 new constituencies.

On the other hand, Oparanya, seen as Odinga kingpin in Western Kenya has set his eyes on the presidency and left tongues wagging when he met Deputy President William Ruto.

Odinga tweeted Monday that he had a brunch with Orengo, Oparanya and Kitui Governor charity Ngilu but no further details of the talks were provided.

I had a great chat this morning with Governor @mamangilu and @GovWOparanya together with Senator @orengo_james whom I hosted for brunch.

Thanks for dropping by. pic.twitter.com/FNffTomHYM

- Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) May 10, 2021

The meeting comes days aft ODM kicked out Rarieda Otiende Amolo from the National Assembly's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee for opposing the party's position on BBI.
A San family from Kavango West's Mpungu constituency continues to languish in abject poverty. The family of three, including a five-year-old child, sleep in one of the wooden structures that only has wooden poles on the sides and with a bit of grass and a huge plastic sheet on top.

The head of the family, Josef Hamukanda, who was struggling to speak as he was emotional, said they struggle a lot, and that life is a harsh reality for them. "We struggle a lot to survive. There is no food, there are no blankets or any other household items," he said as tears started to well up in his eyes.

"There are no containers to fetch water

in, unless you have to borrow. And when they take it back, you just sit and do nothing unless you fetch it in bottles," added Hamukanda's wife, who identified herself as Miliam Nkasi. Due to the condition of the structure they dwell in, when it rains, especially during the night, they have to wake up and seek cover elsewhere as they have nowhere to hide, unlike during the day when they can at least seek refuge at nearby cuca shops.

"You sit on the side where it is better, but if it comes with the wind, then we just stay like that and get wet until it stops raining," Nkasi said woefully. The ramshackle structure also makes them vulnerable to snakes that could slither in at any time, and goats would also at times cause havoc to the little food they store in their dwelling.

The family does not have proper blankets, therefore share a single sheet on pieces of a torn mattress. As these conditions make them more vulnerable to cold weather during winter, Hamukanda said as a gentleman who has his family's wellbeing at heart, he improvises to at least keep them warm.

"He collects firewood and lights a fire so that he sleeps on the other side while I sleep on the other side. He would give me, the wife, the sheet to cover myself with it while he covers himself with a sack," narrated Nkasi, as her husband nodded in agreement. The unemployed pair say eating every day has also become difficult for them as they do not have enough food.

Although they are beneficiaries of government's relief food programme meant for the San people, they get most of their food from doing casual work at other people's houses as no one offers them free food, even when they are really hungry. When this reporter visited the family last week, they said that they did not have anything for lunch, adding that the last time they ate was some three days ago. They are now asking for Government and Good Samaritans to come to their rescue.

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"They must assist us with food, a mattress, corrugated iron sheets, a proper room to sleep in, mosquito nets and other household items. We are really suffering," said Nkasi.

Hamukanda has a Namibian identification document (ID) card showing he will turn 52 years this year, whereas his wife Nkasi, who could not remember her age, claimed she only has a voter's card, which is currently with a custodian. She has not tried to acquire national identification documents, claiming that there is no one to take her to a place to do that.

Meanwhile, Mpungu constituency councillor Titus Shiudifonya said he was not aware of the family's plight, but promised that he will visit them to assess the situation and see how they can be assisted.

He urged village development committee (VDC) members to always inform his office of such situations in their villages in order for the office to act on it, as they have done in other villages.

"If VDC members are not identifying such people and informing us, it is going to be very difficult for us because they are the eyes and ears of the constituency office," he stated. Any assistance to the family can be made through the constituency office. Mukonda village is located 30 kilometres south-west of Mpungu village on the way to Tsintsabis.
As India braves the second wave of COVID-19, everyone from common citizens to celebrities, has extended a helping hand. Some people, however, have questioned celebrities for not contributing enough to India's fight against COVID-19.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan wrote a blog on how he and his family continue to receive "everyday abuse and the filth of distasteful comment" and that these comments do not really make a difference. He also laid down a list of charity work done by him without revealing the amount.

Bachchan further revealed that he had contributed Rs 2 crore to a 250-450 bed care COVID-19 facility at Delhi's Rakab Ganj Gurudwara.

The 102 Not Out actor wrote, "Yes I do charity, but have ever believed it to be done, than spoken of... it is embarrassing, in too great a self-consciousness.. Of one that has ever felt shy of public presence despite the profession- one that has to find its usp in public domains is relevant today for me.."

He further wrote, "The pressure though the everyday abuse and the filth of distasteful comment has never been of attention to me or to the family.. We have seen it from time immemorial.. happens.. Some are ridden with the wisdom that it shall happen.. So all the efforts continued in the quiet.. No divulge to the information agencies.. No talk of it either.. Only the receiver knew and that was the end.."

Also read: Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma donate Rs 2 crore, begin fundraiser for COVID relief

Bachchan, also known as the Angry Young Man of Indian cinema, divulged details about the help he has provided to people.

"Over a 1,500 farmers bank loans paid off by my personal fund and prevented them from suicide, as the suicides grew.. from Andhra Maharashtra, UP et al.. calling them over after identifying with respective banks and getting them all to Janak and in the presence of the bank representatives, paying them in person and getting them to strike off the loan, giving each farmer the document that they did not owe any more, that their loan was over and completed and paid back to the bank.. some 300 odd from UP could not all be present.. a bogie in the train booked for a limited number of 30 to 50 of them, from their respective cities in UP, received in Mumbai, brought over to Janak, fed and given the loan cancellation certificate and put back on the train to their homes.. all at my expense.."

He further added, "The brave soldiers at the border of the country who had been martyred, their lists sought and their families, young wives and their children, some wives pregnant and expectant, given succour.. The martyrs at Pulwama after the terrible terrorist attack, their families spread all over the land contacted and brought to Janak and given succour.. at the hands of Abhishek and Shweta.."

Also read: COVID-19 relief work: Salman Khan to give monetary help to 25,000 film industry daily wage workers

Elaborating on the COVID relief work he and his family did, Bachchan said, "Those that suffered during the COVID last year.. providing food for over 400,000 daily wage earners in the country for a month.. feeding almost 5,000 in the city each day lunch and dinner.."

"Provided masks, PPE units to front line warriors.. Police Hospitals in the thousands.. through personal funds.. donating to the Sikh Committee that was helping the migrants to travel back home in the Inter State buses, where the drivers were mostly Sikhs.."

Bachchan had also booked 30 buses to ferry migrant workers in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and arranged food and water for them.

"Booked an entire train from Mumbai to UP to carry 2,800 migrant passengers free of cost at my expense.. and when the destination State blocked the train from coming into their State and cancelled the train.. immediately chartered 3 IndiGo Airline planes and flew almost 180 migrants in each flight to UP and Bihar and some to Rajasthan and J&K.."

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

Also read: 'Vaccinate yourself as soon as you can', says Virat Kohli; gets first shot of COVID-19 vaccine
The Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade has cautioned the public about a bogus Facebook account, created in the name of Minister Lucia lipumbu. Ministry spokesperson Elijah Mukubonda warned that the account was created by perpetrators committing cybercrimes.

"The description of this account depicts Hon lipumbu as the deputy minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development, among many other portrayals that fall short of truth, assuming the personation of the minister. We would like to inform and educate the public in relation to the following facts - Hon lipumbu does not have a Facebook account; the following account, bearing her name, is false and therefore destitute of truth; and lastly, she does not interchange messages on social media with the public, especially on allotting investment opportunities. The name of the Facebook account is Lucia lipumbu (Magano): https://www.facebook.com/lucia.iipumbu.3," read Mukubonda's statement.

Mukubonda further cautioned the public not to exchange any information nor provide personal details via such Facebook platforms because the people managing these Facebook pages are fraudsters.

"We have reported the fake account to Facebook for appropriate action in terms of their policies," Mukubonda concluded.
The Onandjokwe state hospital became the latest beneficiary of much-needed medical equipment from diamond company Debmarine, worth N$ 1.3 million.

The donation, recently handed over to the hospital, will be used by doctors to examine patients' digestive organs and for medical personnel to enable them to efficiently and effectively cater to their various patient care.

During the handover, Debmarine's CEO Otto Shikongo said this is not their first donation to the Ministry of Health and Social Services - as a month ago, the company completed renovations to the women's section of the Windhoek Central Hospital's mental health unit.

"In 2020, Debmarine Namibia supported the government's efforts to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through a sponsorship investment of medical equipment and the maintenance of Covid-19 PCR testing equipment, procured through De Beers' shareholder global supply-chain system, valued at over N$8 million," he said.

Shikongo added they will continue supporting government's effort to provide healthcare to the people and ensure their social welfare include the weak and vulnerable members of society.

He said Debmarine's partnership history with the health ministry spans over seven years.

In 2014, Debmarine Namibia made a five-year commitment to the health ministry in support of the national suicide prevention programme.

Deputy minister Utjiua Muinjangue said the endoscopy machine is one of the most effective equipment in medical and surgical procedures.

"Endoscopy surgery is a welcome addition to our health services. It requires just a small incision into the human body and surgeons can get a perfect view of the internal organs and attend to the problem with unprecedented ease," said Muinjangue.
opinion

History was made on 7 April 2021 when the Namibia Revenue Authority (NamRA) opened its doors for business. The new entity takes over the responsibilities of the Inland Revenue Department and the Customs and Excise Directorate - both of which fell under the Ministry of Finance. These two departments were not only the largest but the only ones with a regional footprint.

Some 1 300 staff members will move to the new entity and only about 400 will remain with the Ministry of Finance. Furthermore, assets, business systems such as ITAS and AsycudaWorld as well as other infrastructure that were supporting the departments have now been assigned to NamRA to support its business strategy. This will be carried out through asset transfer processes.

By doing so, it will ensure continuity of the business, and a smooth transition and future modernisation.

NamRA will be responsible for administering tax, customs and excise laws and services. This means all tax, and customs and excise-related matters fall under the ambit of the new body. This, in fact, is a tried and tested method in many countries around the world.

By and large, the work of the Ministry of Finance is only known through the Inland Revenue Department and the Customs Directorate because of the tax collection, trade facilitation and border management control - all of which have a direct bearing on the public. So, apart from the national budget, the ministry's other critical activities and services are less well-known. Questions have been raised as to the work of the public relations office without tax and customs duties activities.

Indeed, the PR office has often interacted with the media because of tax and customs-related issues but this is because these two departments are the biggest stakeholders in the ministry - again with direct bearing on the citizens.

However, although these two units have been abolished, the Ministry of Finance, as the national treasury, remains one of the biggest ministries in the country, arguably small on the ground but big in operations. The Ministry of Finance currently

runs six departments, namely: Administration (of which the Public Service Medical Aid Scheme (PSEMAS) is part of); State Accounts (responsible for all Treasury Operations ); Economic Policy Advisory Services; Public Private Partnerships and Procurement Policy Unit and Government Internal Audit.

All these departments play a big role in the development of our country and place the ministry at the pulse of the nation.

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It is also important to note that as NamRA takes over the revenue administration functions, policy issues, such as legislative amendments and Bills, negotiations of treaties and international agreements relating to tax and customs and excise, continue to resort under the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry is currently restructuring to introduce a new functional unit for Revenue Policy Advisory Service (RPAS). Therefore, Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue policy-related enquiries can be directed to the Office of the Executive Director in the ministry. However, administrative issues such as tax registration, tax refunds and customs duties and other trade-related matters should be directed to the Office of the Commissioner of NamRA. In other words, the ministry is a policymaker and NamRA is an administrator and revenue collector.

NamRA is still in the nascent stage and is still operates from the premises of the ministry. Efforts are being made to transform the entity into a semi-autonomous institution with its own offices and concomitant assets.

The media and the public are kindly requested to take note of the difference between the functions of the ministry as a policymaker and NamRA as a policy administrator (revenue collector).This institutional reform should be wholeheartedly embraced by all of us. In the SADC region, only two countries have not introduced revenue authorities so far.

*Tonateni Shidhudhu is a chief public relations officer in the Ministry of Finance.
Farmers in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs) can now breathe a sigh of relief following prospects of a lucrative market for their animals.

This comes after the ministry of agriculture recently sent a team to scout for a market for cattle north of the veterinary cordon fence, also known as the red line. That mission, according to executive director in the ministry Percy Misika, proved to be a successful one as an agreement is expected to be signed soon between Namibia and Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo-Brazzaville for the selling of cattle from the NCAs. "A team was sent recently to look for a market in those countries. In two weeks' time, we might be signing an agreement with these countries for the NCAs to export their animals," enthused Misika.

He was briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources last week, which is conducting a series of consultative meetings with different stakeholders falling under its mandate. Misika, who acknowledged the lack of cattle in the communal areas due to the devastation of the recent recurrent drought, assured Members of Parliament of the ministry's strategies aimed at restocking farmers.

He noted that government has already instituted a task force led by the Meat Board of Namibia. The veterinary cordon fence is an age-old policy dating back to the German colonial period that separates northern Namibia from the central and southern parts of the country with the intention to control infectious diseases among livestock. The rationale behind this approach has been that it has sustained the Namibian meat industry, particularly the exporting of such products to the European Union.

However, critics have slammed the arrangement as limiting communal farmers' access to domestic, regional and international markets. Namibia currently exports its meat to the European Union and Economic Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries in Europe such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark and others.

Countries such as the United States of America and China have also joined the growing list of Namibia's export markets. In Africa, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana are likewise part of the market. Misika furthermore revealed that Namibia has secured rights to export its meat to Russia, Egypt and Turkey. Although he bemoaned practices by some communal farmers who take their animals across the borders, therefore putting their animals at risk of infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, he assured Members of Parliament that Namibia has continued to maintain its good animal health status.

"Namibia has maintained its official disease status as granted by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). We had an outbreak of FMD in September last year, but it is now under control, and restrictions have been lifted. We have challenges with farmers taking their animals to areas that are not vaccinated across the border.

We appeal to you Members of Parliament to help us sensitizse our people," implored Misika. As part of efforts to improve livestock marketing locally, the executive director noted that the Eenhana, Outapi, Oshakati and Katima Mulilo abattoirs have been renovated, upgraded and handed over to operators. The Rundu abattoir's construction is nearing completion, as well as the construction of a cold storage and processing facility at Ongwediva.

Water infrastructural development has also improved with 136 boreholes drilled, 112 installed, 278 short pipelines constructed and over 2000 private connections from pipelines laid during the previous financial year. The executive director further briefed the committee on land reform, stating that 10 farms at a total cost of over N$88 million were acquired in the financial year 2020/21, benefiting 20 out of the targeted 26 people.

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Over 7 000 customary land rights were also registered. Amongst the challenges mentioned by Misika which the ministry is grappling with include limited financial resources that threaten the current operations of the ministry to contain the migratory locust outbreak that has devastated large swathes of agricultural land, and ageing water infrastructure.

The committee, which is chaired by Tjekero Tweya, comprises fellow MPs Gotthard Kasuto, Paula Kooper, Maria Elago, Lucia Witbooi, Herlinde Tjiveze, Fenni Nanyeni, Sebastian Karupu, Johanna Kandjimi, Vincent Mareka, Kletus Karondo, Natangue Ithete, Tangeni Iijambo, Erastus Shuumbwa, Agnes Kafula, Gorthard Kandume and Jerry Ekandjo.
Makurdi  The Nigerian military has commenced a seven-day operation with the codename: Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) to clear Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States of bandits' activities

This was disclosed yesterday by a military source in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

The source said the operation was sequel to the incessant bandits' operations in some communities across the states, which had resulted in the death of so many people.

He disclosed that the clearance operation covers some islands behind NASME barracks in Makurdi and Gbajimba in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, where it is believed that the bandits, who normally come from Nasarawa State, have their hideouts where they launch attacks on innocent people.

The military source further revealed that the operation was to cover the Sankera axis of Logo, Ukum and Katsina-Ala LGA to Yoyo River and Kwente in Kwande LGA of Benue State, where the militia, led by one Chekere also known as Azonto, terrorise locals.

He urged members of the public to remain calm and go about their legitimate business without fear, saying the operation targets specific locations and is meant to bring about peace in all communities of the three states to enable farmers go to their farms and return in peace.

He noted that the outcome of the operation, which is still ongoing, would be made known by the military high command at the appropriate time.

Residents of Makurdi town woke up yesterday morning with military helicopters hovering around the town and driving them into panic.
Kenya Airways PLC and Airlink (PTY) have signed an interline agreement that will extend the airlines' reach in the southern African region via Johannesburg and Cape Town. The new agreement will offer customers seamless travel to over 40 cities across Africa.

Kenya Airways continues to diversify its services and operations in response to their customers' needs. Under this latest agreement, Kenya Airways' customers flying to South Africa will be able to connect with Airlink-operated flights to Windhoek, Durban, Gaborone, Maseru, Pemba, Maputo and Port Elizabeth, amongst others. It will also enable Airlink passengers to book a through ticket to Nairobi, and enjoy connections to the rest of Kenya Airways' destinations within Africa, including Entebbe, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Kinshasa and more.

The agreement presents new growth opportunities for both airlines, and will strengthen aviation ties between Kenya and southern Africa.

This partnership also plays a significant role economically, improving trade exchanges and spurring tourism across the continent.

"As global economies continue to reel from the effects of the pandemic, such strategic partnerships are critical.

"These new routes will positively impact the flow of trade and tourism across the region by offering our customers convenient travel around the continent," said Julius Thairu, KQ's acting chief commercial officer.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), at the weekend, busted an online drug trafficking cartel that sells drugged cookies, cakes, brownies and all sorts of illicit substances to residents of the FCT and beyond using cyberspace as its platform.

Five members of the cartel were arrested during sting operations between Friday, May 7 and Saturday, May 8, 2021, by officers of the FCT command of the agency and different brands of illicit drugs were recovered from them.

The spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, gave the names of the five arrested drug dealers as Queen Nvene, Collins Ozoemena, Samson Peter, Chika Nvene and Habila Musa.

According to him, the group specialises in the clandestine production of drug-based cookies, brownies and other edibles and markets and sells same online through their Twitter and Instagram handles.

He further said, "They also market and sell all types of marijuana; Arizona, colorado and loud, among other illicit drugs online.

"While Queen Nvene, a graduate of Business Administration, produces drugged cookies and brownies and sells same on Instagram, Collins Ozoemena sells all types of illicit drugs, especially loud and skunk online.

"Samson Peter on the other hand is the Manager of SK Express Courier Company who manages motorcycles and dispatch riders to deliver illicit drugs from Collins and drugged edibles from Queen and Chika; both sisters. Members of the cartel operate from different locations within the FCT, but operate as a network."

He said their arrest followed online orders of drug-based edibles by undercover agents and that supplies of were delivered and received from different SK Express dispatch riders at various times by narcotic operatives before the final sting operation.

He quoted the FCT Commander of the NDLEA, Mohammed Malami Sokoto, as saying that follow up raids of their locations in Gudu, Kubwa, Lokogoma, Apo and Damagaza, all in Abuja, led to the seizure of the illicit substances.

He explained that 55 pieces of drugged edibles, 1.3kg of skunk used as an ingredient for making the cookies and brownies; among others, were seized from Queen; while 0.9g ecstasy, popularly called molley, 300g of skunk and 200g of loud were recovered from Collins; and 300g of skunk were seized from Chika.

Other items recovered from the syndicate include a dispatch motorcycle, various equipment for producing cookies and brownies, 10 handsets and two laptops used for online transactions.

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Babafemi said under interrogation the suspects confessed to have a large platform of customers who ordered for drugs and drug-based edibles on daily basis for parties and ceremonies in and outside Abuja, and that they had been in the business for three years.

Meanwhile, operatives of the Ondo State Command of the agency has intercepted and seized 60kg of cannabis.

In the process, 29-year-old Emmanuel Utaji was arrested on Matado Street in Akure South Local Government Area.

The acting Commander of the agency in the state, Callys Alumona, disclosed that the location was raided at about 9.pm and that the suspect was arrested when the consignment was to be evacuated and taken outside the state.

In the same vein, a drug dealer and suspected armed robber, Sanusi Abdullahi, was arrested by officers of the Rivers State Command at Iroko village and 15.8kg of skunk and 16 SIM cards were recovered from him on Saturday.

The state Commander of NDLEA, Rachael Shelleng, said further investigation would unravel other criminal activities perpetrated by the suspect.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed its opposition to the payment of ransom to secure the release of any abducted citizen of the country.

The body, however, says that it is not against negotiations with the bandits.

The ACF's position was contained in a statement over the freedom regained by students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka in Kaduna State who were in captivity for 55 days.

Daily Trust reports that 27 students who were part of the 37 abducted from the school on March 11, 2021, regained their freedom on Wednesday after a bandit was released and about N15 million was paid as ransom.

However, the ACF in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, said it rejoiced with the families of the students and other Nigerians on the news that the last batch of 27 students were released.

Yawe said the forum was grateful to Nigerians who risked their lives in the "delicate negotiating" process to free the abducted students but expressed regrets that millions of Naira were alleged to have been paid to the bandits to secure the release of the students.

"The ACF is against the payment of such ransom even though we agree with negotiating with bandits.

"We appeal to those bandits holding other students at Greenfield University also to set them free without further delay. Having killed five of them in cold blood, killing more will certainly not help matters.

Whatever may be the grievances of the kidnappers against society, spilling innocent blood will not be a solution," he said.

In another development, the ACF on Sunday also said it received with shock, news of the death of Pastor Oluwadamilare Temitayo Adeboye, the son of the General overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) who passed on in his sleep.

The forum said it was sure that "as a man of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has taken the death of his third son whom he fondly called a miracle child in good faith".
Namibian Defence Force (NDF) officer, accused of shooting and murdering a 32-year-old civilian in 2019, is set to go on trial in September.

This follows the prosecutor general's decision last month to have Mulele Darrel Nyambe stand trial on the charge of murder.

Nyambe made his first appearance in the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday before magistrate Johannes Shuuveni, where he was informed his trial is scheduled for 1 to 3 September. This was upon the agreement between the State prosecutor Sirka Nangoro and defence lawyer Lindrowski Tibinyane from the government attorneys.

The charge of murder, to which Nyambe is expected to answer, is derived from the death of Benisius Kalola. Kalola died on 5 September 2019.

Police reports at the time indicate Kalola was shot with an AK-47 in the back at Smarties location, a couple of metres from his family home at Single Quarters in Katutura, Windhoek.

This happened after a hot pursuit of Kalola by armed NDF members. Kalola succumbed to his injuries at the Katutura State Hospital hours after the shooting. According to the police, Kalola was shot while members of Operation Kalahari Desert were on a search for narcotics, and a substantial amount of cannabis/dagga was recovered and three suspects were arrested.

Kalola had two pending robbery cases registered with the police prior to being gunned down. Kalola was the second person to die at the hands of a soldier under Operation Kalahari Desert after a Zimbabwean citizen, who made a living as a taxi driver in Namibia, Fambauone Black (22), was shot dead when he allegedly tried to evade a police roadblock in Windhoek in June 2019. For Black's death, the police arrested NDF soldier Gerson Nakale, who is scheduled to make an appearance in court on 15 September.

Each of the soldiers are out on N$2 000 bail.
More than 25 people from the Oshana region have received equipment and materials from the ministry of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare.

The equipment was handed over by deputy minister Bernadette Jagger.

Jagger said her ministry has the mandate to ensure gender equality, poverty eradication and the socio-economic development of targeted groups.

The income-generating activities' support programme empowers women and men economically with materials and equipment to establish or expand their micro businesses.

The deputy minister said the programme increases men and women's economic opportunities by ensuring their equitable access to financial resources and services with a funding ratio of support for 70% of women and 30% of men. "The ministry strives to improve the quality of life for all Namibians by encouraging women and men from poor communities to embark on

income-generating activities to improve livelihoods, and to promote self-employment initiatives," she added.

The value of the materials and equipment handed over total N$105 000, only for the Oshana region.

"I am pleading with all beneficiaries to use these materials and equipment optimally to improve incomes and create employment," she advised.

She then urged those whose applications were not successful in the last financial year to come up with innovative business ideas,

and reapply until they get supported.

"Let's pull together. Let's unite in the name of Namibia, and live up to the dreams and aspirations of our forebears," she said.

Ongwediva mayor Taarah Shalyefa applauded the government for continuing to empower communities in the fight against poverty.
Inaugurated on 23 May 2017 by former President Hifikepunye Pohamba, the Ongwediva Medipark private hospital has since become the epitome of health care in Ongwediva and surrounding areas. With the Government Institutions Pension Fund's (GIPF) investment of N$31.6 million, including the Fund Manager TEMO Capital (Pty) Limited's investment, Medipark has since performed ground-breaking medical procedures.

Medipark is the first hospital in northern Namibia to have performed a successful Kidney transplant and has to date performed approximately ten operations.

On 29 March 2021, the first kidney recipient Bernard Maswahu, celebrated the fifth anniversary since his pioneering medical procedure. Maswahu, who is a GIPF member, was employed at the ministry of agriculture in Oshakati and got diagnosed with the illness, approximately four years before he was due to go on normal retirement.

"Our members are our core business, and it gives me great pleasure to know that our efforts towards investing in creating socio-economic impact is not only profitable but enhances the standard of living for our members," said David Nuyoma, CEO and principal officer of GIPF.

"GIPF appeals to all its members and the public to watch the investment project profile video, which highlights the impact of Medipark and testimonies on broadcast media and all its social media platforms between 10 May 2021 to 21 May 2021," Nuyoma concluded.

Medipark to date employs approximately 402 individuals directly, including resident doctors with private practices on the hospital premises, who specialise in various fields. These include anaesthesia, cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, dentistry, dermatology, general surgery, kidney transplant, neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynaecology as well as plastic surgery - to name a few.
Agribank has confirmed its CEO Sakaria Nghikembua will leave the bank at the end of July when his term comes to an end. The board has emphasised that Nghikembua has served his full term and opted not to renew his contract for a second term. He will take up a role as group CEO of Momentum Metropolitan Namibia, effective 1 August 2021.

The board and bank employees thanked Nghikembua for elevating the bank to become a premier agricultural lender and for his contributions since 2016.

Through his leadership, Agribank was put on a new, exciting growth trajectory.

The bank's five-year strategy was devised and implemented.

Financial sustainability became a long-awaited reality, resulting in significant growth in the bank's loan book, its interest income, as well as loan repayment and expense management discipline. The governance environment was strengthened, making Agribank one of few public enterprises to punctually complete its annual audits and hold its annual general meetings on time.

Agribank has become a customer-focused lender in Namibia's most important socio-economic sector, agriculture. Numerous new products were launched, such as the salary-backed no-collateral loans, the emerging retail financing product and the women and youth scheme.

The bank's accessibility to clients was improved with new branch offices at Gobabis and Grootfontein, whilst the Zambezi branch in Katima Mulilo was moved to more customer-friendly premises.

The bank implemented a robust performance management system and managed to recruit highly skilled executives, managers and employees at all levels - all of whom have played a key role in the implementation of the bank's strategy.

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Commenting on Nghikembua's contribution, board vice chairperson Dagmar Honsbein stated: "It is regrettable to have to lose Mr Nghikembua to the private sector. The value he added was immense, and the board and the bank's employees will continue to build on this solid foundation". Honsbein added that the bank's strategy and policies, aimed at ensuring its sustainability, whose implementation Nghikembua dutifully championed, will continue.

She further stated that the process of recruiting a new CEO is well underway and the public media will be duly informed.

On his part, Nghikembua said he relished his role at the bank, adding: "I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to serve in this public service role over the past five years. We have done some fantastic things and have achieved quite a lot in a difficult operating environment. We have in place a good team that will continue to implement the strategy to ensure we consolidate the gains of the past years. I am truly grateful".
Namibia Wildlife Resorts Limited Hospitality Institute (NWR Hi) recently received a donation of 122 cartons of fish, valued at N$20 000, from Tunacor. The donation from Tunacor is aimed at supporting the newly established NWR Hospitality Institute students in their culinary arts experiential learning training.

Receiving the donation in Swakopmund, Upahee Kasete, NWR Swakopmund senior sales consultant, said "We are very grateful to have a reputable organisation, such as Tunacor, being our first industry sponsor partner in the area of fish culinary arts specialisation. Tunacor should be assured that this donation will enrichen our students in getting first-hand practical Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)".

Simon Williams, NWR TVET Apprenticeship, Hospitality & Tourism trainer and the entire NWR Hi team were extremely excited and grateful at this latest development.

Since the inception of the institute, NWR Hi has looked at partnering with the industry to find ways for collaboration.

"Thus, this donation from Tunacor speaks to this sort of partnership that we have been looking for. Through this donation, our students will derive maximum value from their practical lessons. Therefore, we would like to call on other organisations to emulate Tunacor's example by partnering with NWR Hi".
Deputy minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi officiated at the ground-breaking for the construction of the Endola-Eembo district road in Ohangwena region on Thursday.

District road 4113 starts from main road 120 at Endola settlement, extending in the northern direction to the intersection with the Outapi-Omafo district road and ends at Eembo settlement.

At the official groundbreaking ceremony, Nekundi said the ministry is committed to ensuring progressive transformation reaches into rural communities to guarantee they benefit from development.

He stressed the ministry adheres to the principle of enhancing rehabilitation and development of all sectors, as well as maintenance of transport infrastructure as the priority, which could help the country reduce poverty.

This road is co-funded by the Federal Republic of Germany through a German state-owned development bank and Namibia. The total cost of the project is N$73 million and the construction period is 18 months. This new district road is 20 kilometres long and will be constructed to gravel standards.

"The construction of this gravel road will be done through labour-based methods - and as a result, approximately 100 jobs will be created. This is indeed commendable, as our rural areas are characterised by high levels of poverty, and limited economic and employment opportunities," He added.

Nekundi said this project will contribute significantly to the development of the Ohangwena region. "Various environmental and social benefits are expected from this project. For example, public transport is expected to increase for the benefits of the majority of people who don't own vehicles," He added.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the community members, traditional leaders and the regional councillors.

The governor of Ohangwena, Walde Ndevashiya, applauded the German government for funding this project.

Ndevashiya says the Roads Authority should continue to take development to all corners of Namibia.
Luanda  Angola is under prevention measures, as of Monday, 10, as part of the Executive actions to prevent and halt Covid-19 pandemic.

The government announced new measures, coming into force until 8 June, under the Presidential Decree on the Situation of Public Calamity.

The minister of State and Head of the Civil Affairs Office to the President, Adao de Almeida, who announced the new actions, said the workforce is being reduced from 75 percent to 50 percent in public and private services in Luanda.

But other institutions will keep the workforce at 100 percent, according to the shifts created.

They include education, health, defence and public order forces, media, energy and water, ports and airports, bank branches and solid waste collection services.

Restrictions also include the closure of restaurants and other facilities in Luanda on weekends.

Still in Luanda province, the list include ban on leaving and entering Luanda without authorisation, with the exception of citizens on duty, duly accredited, merchants with goods and services, transporting patients or transferring corpses.

In order to prevent the import of the new variants of the disease, the Government also determined a ban on the entry of non-resident foreign citizens coming from or passing through Brazil and India.

Cinemas in Luanda will also remain closed during this period running until June 8.

Adao de Almeida said that the new measures are intended to halt the increase in positive cases in Angola, at a time the country reports the second variant of the disease.

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The government announced new measures, coming into force until 8 June, under the Presidential Decree on the Situation of Public Calamity.

The minister of State and Head of the Civil Affairs Office to the President, Adao de Almeida, who announced the new actions, said the workforce is being reduced from 75 percent to 50 percent in public and private services in Luanda.

But other institutions will keep the workforce at 100 percent, according to the shifts created.

They include education, health, defence and public order forces, media, energy and water, ports and airports, bank branches and solid waste collection services.

Restrictions also include the closure of restaurants and other facilities in Luanda on weekends.

Still in Luanda province, the list include ban on leaving and entering Luanda without authorisation, with the exception of citizens on duty, duly accredited, merchants with goods and services, transporting patients or transferring corpses.

In order to prevent the import of the new variants of the disease, the Government also determined a ban on the entry of non-resident foreign citizens coming from or passing through Brazil and India.

Cinemas in Luanda will also remain closed during this period running until June 8.

Adao de Almeida said that the new measures are intended to halt the increase in positive cases in Angola, at a time the country reports the second variant of the disease.
This was during aNational ExecutiveCommittee (NEC)meeting chaired by theNational Chairman ofthe party, John Fru Ndion May 8, 2021 in Yaounde.

Members of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party have met and evaluated the activities of the party in recent times and charted a way forward to improve theprogress of the party. The May 8,2021 meeting was chaired by its National Chairman, John Fru Ndi at the party's headquarters at Olezoa in Yaounde.

Explaining the objective for the organisation of the meeting to the press, the National Communication Secretary, Denis Nkemlemo said three major things which included the life of the party, the nation and the international scene were discussed during the get-together. Despite several challenges encountered by the party, he noted that officials still continue to work at contributing to improving democracy and multiparty politics in Cameroon through propositions and constructive criticism on a vast area of subjects.

On the activities of the party, he noted that various reports from Commissions were examined. "The meeting is an ordinary meeting like anyother NEC meetings that we usually hold three or four times a year. And when we meet, we examine the lifeof the party, the life of the nationand the international community. Specifically speaking about the party, the agenda had to take care of there ports of the Reconciliation Commission, the presentation of a comprehensive report of the presidentialelection and the last twin elections organised in the Cameroon, and also disciplinary files like in the Littoral,South West, Centre and North West Regions," he explained. With regardsto the disciplinary files in the Littoral Region particularly the rife between Joshua Osih and Jean-Michel Nintcheu, the legal department of the partywas asked to examine the regularityof the application of Article 8.2 by the Douala Regional Bureau.

As concerns the life of the country, the National Communication Secretary said they discussed the management of the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccination strategy by government, an aspect which he noted has raisedso much controversy. "The SDF will come out with a position on the vaccination and the management of Co-vid-19," Denis Nkemlemo stated. With regards to the international scene, the party examined conflicts and their management at various levels, brainstorming on how the SDF through partners can contribute to peace.
Luanda  National Assembly Speaker Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos Saturday described the MP Raul Danda as a politician committed to his country.

Raul Danda, 63, died of disease last Saturday morning.

In his message of condolence, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos

highlighted the MP's interventionist approach to debates in the National Assembly.

"On behalf of the MPs, Parliamentary employees and on my own, I extend condolences to the bereaved family, to whom I express my full solidarity", reads the document.

Raul Danda was born on November 13, 1957 in the northern province of Cabinda.

He served as Parliamentary leader of the large opposition UNITA party and vice president of this political organisation.

The late MP, who served as shadow UNITA prime minister, was a politician, journalist, teacher and writer.

Raul Danda, 63, died of disease last Saturday morning.

In his message of condolence, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos

highlighted the MP's interventionist approach to debates in the National Assembly.

"On behalf of the MPs, Parliamentary employees and on my own, I extend condolences to the bereaved family, to whom I express my full solidarity", reads the document.

Raul Danda was born on November 13, 1957 in the northern province of Cabinda.

He served as Parliamentary leader of the large opposition UNITA party and vice president of this political organisation.

The late MP, who served as shadow UNITA prime minister, was a politician, journalist, teacher and writer.
A 37-YEAR-OLD artisanal miner from Mhangura was killed when a shaft he was working in together with his brother gave in and collapsed and buried him alive.

Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Margaret Chitove confirmed the accident which occurred at Silver Hills Mine, some 20km east of the now defunct copper mining settlement of Mhangura at around 4pm.

She said Godfrey Shumba of Damba Village, Mhangura was extracting gold ore from a disused shaft with his brother Amos Shumba (21) before a bolder fell from the roof of the shaft and hit him on the head.

His brother tried to rescue him but failed as tonnes of earth fell, burying him alive.

Amos managed to escape and looked for help.

Godfrey's remains were retrieved yesterday following rescue efforts from villagers, fellow artisanal miners and a local mine AfroLiga that provided machinery.

His body was taken to Makonde Christian Hospital for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, Inspector Chitove urged artisanal miners to desist from using disused mine shafts that have become death traps.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has charged the incoming FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Samuel Ogar Ochi, to ensure the enforcement of all traffic regulations on FCT roads.

He also urged the FRSC to embark on enlightenment and advocacy in the discharge of his duties.

The minister who gave the charge when he received the new sector commander in his office, said: "In the discharge of your duties, your keyword should be enforcement, enforcement, enforcement.

"After this, you can go to the second one which is enlightenment and advocacy because so many people on the streets are driving vehicles without knowledge of traffic regulations."

Malam Bello also urged Mr Ochi who had previously functioned as the Head of Operations of the FRSC in the FCT to pay adequate attention to and meet the traffic challenges along Airport Road.

Bello also said apart from the Airport Road, he should also focus on the Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway, "starting all the way from the interchange junction, right through to the Apo interchange, as well as the Aminu Kano Crescent in Wuse II. These are some of the areas in the city where you have the greatest concentration of traffic and also the greatest challenges."

Malam Bello also urged Mr Ochi to ensure the commitment of the men and women to their jobs, while pledging the continuous support of the FCT Administration to the FRSC in the discharge of its responsibilities in the FCT.

Mr Ochi, while responding, pledged to work hard to meet the challenges of ensuring road safety in the FCT, adding that he was already familiar with the demands of his assignment.

Speaking earlier, the outgoing Sector Commander, Mr Ayuba Gora Wobin, expressed appreciation to the FCT Minister for all the support he enjoyed from his administration as the sector commander.
Masvingo  A school headmaster at Avhunga Secondary School, Cde Master Makope has won the Zanu PF primary elections in Mwenezi East where a parliamentary by-election is looming.

Cde Makope(44),who is also the Zanu PF Mwenezi District Coordinating Committee(DCC) secretary for commissariat, on Saturday polled 2576 votes to outgun 12 other candidates who were vying for the right to represent the ruling party in the by-election whose dates have not yet been set.

The by-election will be held to fill a vacancy created after last year's death of Cde Jusby Omar who was the House of Assembly representative for the area.

Cde Makope's nearest rival was Cde Lovemore Mberesi who garnered 1108 votes in the highly subscribed poll where 6780 Zanu PF faithful took part under strict adherence to Covid-19 regulations that calls for wearing of face masks and practising social distancing.

Speaking after his victory Cde Makope pledged to develop Mwenezi East and help in the implementation of programmes that are in sync with Vision 2030.

Polling took place at 33 centres across the constituency with a team led by provincial secretary for commissariat Cde Jevas Masosota presiding over the polls.
Police in Gweru are investigating a murder case in which a 52 year-old woman was found dead along a footpath near Gweru' Megawat complex.

Midlands provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said the deceased woman, Gladys Frank's body was found by a passerby yesterday(Sunday) while lying in a pool of blood with her head crushed with huge stones.

"Police who attended the scene discovered that the head of the deceased had serious injuries indicating her attackers could have used huge stones and concrete blocks to crush the head," said Insp Mahoko adding that the police Investigations into the murder case were underway.
Maputo  The Mozambican health authorities on Sunday reported two further deaths from the Covid-19 respiratory disease, and 46 new cases.

According to a Ministry of Health press release, the latest victims were two Mozambican women aged 47 and 80, who both died in Maputo city. This brings the total death toll from Covid-19 in Mozambique to 823.

Since the start of the pandemic, 528,305 people have been tested for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, 1,495 of them in the previous 24 hours. Of the samples tested, 533 were from Maputo city, 224 from Maputo province, 179 from Gaza, 122 from Manica, 119 from Tete, 107 from Niassa, 85 from Sofala, 61 from Nampula, 29 from Inhambane, 22 from Cabo Delgado, and seven from Zambezia.

1,449 of the tests yielded negative results, and 46 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This brings the total number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in Mozambique to 70,212. All the new cases are Mozambican citizens. 26 are women or girls and 20 are men or boys. Four are children under 15 years of age, and one is over 65 years old. No age information was available in three cases.

19 of the new cases (41.3 per cent) were diagnosed in the Greater Maputo Metropolitan Area (Maputo and Matola cities and the adjacent districts of Boane and Marracuene). There were also nine positive cases in Niassa, seven in Sofala, six in Nampula, three in Zambezia and two in Gaza. No positive cases were reported from Cabo Delgado, Tete, Manica or Inhambane.

The positivity rate (the proportion of those tested found to be infected) for this 24 hour period was 3.1 per cent. This compares with two per cent on Saturday, 2.3 per cent on Friday, 5.2 per cent on Thursday, and three per cent on Wednesday.

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Over the same 24 hour period, three covid-19 patientS were discharged from hospital (two in Inhambane and one in Maputo), and three new cases were admitted (two in Maputo and one in Inhambane).

The number of people under care in the Covid-19 treatment centres on Sunday fell to 31 (down from 33 on Saturday). 23 of these patients (69.7 per cent) were in Maputo. There were also two in Nampula, two in Zambezia, two in Tete, one in Niassa and one in Inhambane. No patients were hospitalised in the other five provinces.

The Ministry also reported that a further 36 people were declared fully recovered from Covid-19 (29 in Maputo province, and seven in Zambezia). This brings the total number of recoveries to 67,785, or 96.5 per cent of all those ever diagnosed with Covid-19 in Mozambique.

The number of active Covid-19 cases in the country rose slightly on Sunday to 1,600 (up from 1,592 on Saturday). The geographical distribution of these cases was as follows: Maputo province, 764 (47.8 per cent of the total); Sofala, 304; Maputo city, 273; Zambezia, 121; Niassa, 31; Gaza, 28; Nampula, 27; Cabo Delgado, 18; Inhambane 13; Manica, 12; and Tete, nine.
Maputo  A group of 40 refugees fleeing from the northern Mozambican town of Palma have managed to escape from the terrorist group that had taken them prisoner, according to a report in Monday's issue of the independent newssheet "Mediafax".

After the jihadist attack on Palma town on 24 March, many thousands of the town's residents fled - some of them northwards, to the Tanzanian border, some to the west to Nangade and Mueda districts, while many others attempted to make the hazardous journey to the provincial capital, Pemba.

The 40 who escaped from the terrorists fell into the latter group. They had boarded an artisanal boat in an attempt to make the sea journey from Palma to Pemba. But at Makalokwe island, off the coast of Macomia district, they were intercepted.

The terrorists took them to the coastal area of Pangane, where they were used as slave labour. According to "Mediafax" they managed to escape, when they were supposed to be harvesting cassava, for the meals at the islamist camp.

The group walked for 80 kilometres, until they reached Macomia town. After a brief stay in the Macomia district police command, they were given a lift to Pemba by a local businessman, named only as Abija.

When the refugees, hungry and thirsty, reached Pemba, people of good will offered them water, cakes and soft drinks. No support was forthcoming from the official relief agency, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Institute (INGD).

"Mediafax" also reports that hundreds of refugees from Palma are continuing to cross the Rovuma river to enter Tanzania. The paper's sources say that many of them reached Suavo island in the middle of the river where some were rescued by Tanzania boats.

But the frequency of visits by these vessels has declined, and so the refugees attempt to cross the river and reach the Tanzanian shore by their own means.

But the Tanzanian authorities are still refusing to accept Mozambican refugees. Those who do cross the river are likely to be repatriated via the Negomano border post in Mueda district.
Maputo  The Mozambican police will set up an anti-kidnapping brigade, in line with a decision taken at the meeting of the police Coordinating Council held last week at the Police Science Academy (Acipol), on the outskirts of Maputo.

According to the daily paper "Noticias", the first unit of this brigade will be 200 strong, and will be trained at the Police Sergeants' School at Nhamatanda, in the central province of Sofala.

The police hope that, with the creation of this brigade, they will bring to a speedy end the wave of kidnappings of business people and their relatives in the main cities. The kidnappings began in late 2011 and, although there have been pauses, the kidnap gangs have never entirely stopped their activity.

The Coordinating Council also decided to hold a study, covering the 2018-2020 period, to find whether there is any relationship between the occurrence of kidnapping and the muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The police will also study the best way of involving retired police officers in public security in their places of residence. Taking into account the experience they acquired in the police force these retired officers could be placed inside the neighbourhood structures to control the movements of the residents.
Maputo  The Mozambican Association of Small Importers of Alcoholic Drinks (APIBA) has called on the government to extend the trading hours for the sale of alcoholic beverages, which under the current presidential decree can only be traded between 9.00 and 13.00 hours between Monday and Saturday, and not at all on Sundays.

At a press conference on Monday in Maputo, APIBA chairperson Francisco Junior claimed that the current four hours of trading for bottle stores, and for those sections of supermarkets and other shops that sell alcoholic drinks, are having a negative impact on businesses. He claimed that very few, if any consumers, shop for drinks in the permitted hours. (AIM's own observations suggest that this is simply untrue).

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic reached Mozambique in March 2020, the government has limited the sale of alcohol. Bars, night clubs and stalls or kiosks selling alcoholic drinks were ordered to close. The main justification of this was to prevent the gathering of crowds of people, providing an environment in which Covid-19 can easily be spread. Bottle stores and shops are allowed to sell alcohol, but with a strict limitation on when.

"The latest presidential decrees have been severely penalising for those businesses selling alcoholic beverages," Junior said, claiming that this affected over 23,000 jobs across the country.

Junior added that the losses in the value chain, from the smallholder who supplies raw material, to the brewing industry, to the retailers, can range between 30 to 50 per cent.

Before the pandemic, Mozambique's annual production of beer was three million hectolitres, but after the adoption of restrictive measures hit the commercial chain, production slumped to two million hectolitres.

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"The amount of losses depends on the subsector. For instance, the subsector of wine sales recorded losses of about 30 per cent, whereas the spirit drink subsector reached 50 per cent losses," said Junior.

He argued that places such as bottlestores, supermarkets, shops and warehouses are not meant for the consumption of alcoholic drinks, which is why they pose no risk of crowds of drinkers gathering, and spreading the disease.

Junior also warned of the fiscal impact caused by the restrictive measures, since the drinks sector is among the largest contributors to the country's tax revenue.

Pf/ (385)

________________________________
President Adama Barrow on Friday made an unannounced visit to the Gam-Petroleum storage facility at Mandinary village of the West Coast Region. The visit, officials said avails the president the opportunity to get first-hand information about the state of the fuel storage depot.

President Barrow during the visit also reaffirmed his government's continued commitment in ensuring that the site is massively improved and also expanded. The government, he went on, will equally enhance solid security and protection to the facility.

Barrow added: "There is a great need to solidly protect the facility so that it would be entirely managed by Gambians. We will do everything possible with a view to build the capacities of the staff for effective and efficient management."

An investigation team, he said, was set-up with the objectives of finding out what exactly was happening at the facility and how it was administered.

"In fact, after the investigation, there was an audit report that examined the number of staff working at the facility. However, we understand that there was a gap with regard to the position of a Human Resource Manager. Therefore, we immediately recommended the facility to be provided a competent human resources manager with a view to ensure effective services delivery."

"We want this place to be protected taking into account that it's a huge business and is managed by Gambians. Therefore, to move forward, we have to protect and secure this place that's why I am here."

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During the president's visit at the facility, it was also revealed that the government spent $50 million for building the facility terminal which consists of 17 fuel tanks with a total storage capacity of 51,000 metric tons of heavy and light fuel oils as well as Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG).

"It was highlighted further that 19 loading bays for tanker trucks, a state of the art technology in gauging, a metering equipment, a fully equipped LPG bottling plant and 3 off- shore pipelines of 2.5 km each to access the draft for berthing big fuel tankers were included."

Meanwhile, Saihou Drammeh, the general manager of Gam-Petroleum, who spoke to our reporter at the side-line of the event said: "The facility made over 200 million dalasis as profits in 2020."

"The facility also facilitates a storage facility for onward supply within the sub-region especially in Mali, making it a key hub."

In 2020, he claimed, the company paid over D120 million to its major shareholders namely: Social Security and Gambia Ports Authority, making it one of the highest paying dividend pay-outs in The Gambia.

Gorrgui Mboge blamed in incident that claimed 6 pregnancies

'We Were Raped in PIU Custody' Kalama Revolution Survivor Breaks Silence After 5 Years
The Gambia has registered 59 new positive coronavirus cases, bringing the total cases ever confirmed in the country since the confirmation of the first case in March 2020 to 5, 564.

No death was registered with the total since March last year still at 166.

Meanwhile, the Senegalese Ministry of Health yesterday reported 73 new cases bringing its total positive cases to 39, 237.

It also reported 3 deaths which brought its total death to 1,073.

No official instructions so far regarding Hajj, says ministry

Gorrgui Mboge blamed in incident that claimed 6 pregnancies
The Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) on Saturday 8th May 2021 celebrated World Red Cross and Red Crescent Days at its Headquarters in Kanifing.

The day is dedicated to staff and volunteers of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that are reaching and supporting people affected by COVID-19. It is also meant to inspire, facilitate and also promote all humanitarian activities that are carried out by the Red Cross Movement.

The theme for this year's celebration is 'Unstoppable'.

Jato Sillah, president The Gambia Red Cross Society said this year's theme carries a special message because 'together our commitment to make the world a safer and more peaceful place is unstoppable.'

He added that Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and staff know that change to the world lies within people and communities, noting that they work every day to ensure communities have the knowledge and means to protect themselves, reduce their risk, and live safely and with dignity.

He further said that they also take the lead in responding to all emergencies in humanitarian contexts.

He thanked volunteers across the globe that give their time and apply their skills to make their communities safer, more resilient, and more inclusive.

He also encouraged volunteers and staff to sustain the momentum by volunteering new skills to communities.

"It only takes simple acts of kindness and volunteerism to transform lives and small gestures can make a world of a difference", he stated while encouraging those joining the Red Cross movement to be agents of positive influence in their communities.

Mr. Sillah noted that humanitarian issues the world faces can only be solved by people who are passionate and determined to come together to alleviate human suffering.

Alasan Senghore, secretary general GRCS said throughout their interventions, volunteers and staff of Red Cross continue to play an integral role in their programmes with so much commitment, determination and enthusiasm.

He highlighted that they are unstoppable when it comes to alleviating human suffering, building resilient communities, and getting to hard to reach communities to improve lives and livelihood of people.

He noted that Gambia Red Cross volunteers have been delivering services under difficult and critical circumstance during the Covid-19 pandemic and therefore thanked them for their services.

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He said among their achievements during the Covid-19 response include fumigation, sensitisation, safe and dignified burials, contribution to stopping the chain of transmission, provision of hand washing stations, provision of ambulances assigned to handle transfer of complex cases, provision of cash support to vulnerable households, among others.

"We believe in disaster management continuum process", he said, adding that pandemics and disasters will continue to occur in future.

SG Senghore thanked all their benefactors and partners who supported them during the pandemic in ensuring they are able to deliver what is expected. He also thanked volunteers who risked their lives and that of their families daily in delivering services during the pandemic.

He further said that they are not only delivering under Covid-19 but also development and humanitarian services.

Isatou M. Bah, Gender and Diversity Focal Point said they respond based on needs but in the process, factor gender and diversity that is key in humanitarian response.

She described volunteers' role as very vital in ensuring no one is left behind, saying The Gambia Red Cross Society's operation is beyond first aid and disaster response.

Unity Foundation distributes food, medical items
RIYADH -- The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced that it has not yet issued any official instructions with regard to the conduct of the annual pilgrimage of Hajj for this year.

Hisham Saeed, the spokesman of the ministry, told "Al-Arabiya.net" that Saudi Arabia is keen on enabling all Muslims around the world to perform the rituals of Hajj. However, the ministry puts the safety of the pilgrims first, he said. Only a limited number of domestic pilgrims were allowed to perform Hajj last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Abdel Fattah Mashat had said earlier that both foreign and domestic pilgrims can perform Umrah in accordance with the health requirements and coronavirus preventive protocols. The procedures for performing Umrah can be completed through the applications of Eatmarna and Tawakkalna. He emphasized that the application of precautionary measures would be the top priority while allowing both domestic and foreign pilgrims to perform Umrah.

Mashat called on the faithful not to pay heed to any advertisements on social media claiming to issue permits for Umrah.

Source: Saudi Gazette report

Gambians should commend Jah Group for huge investment, youth employment: Saine

Covid-19: Gambia registers 59 new cases
Blog

Ethiopia has the world's attention. The United Nations Security Council finally found its voice to call for improved humanitarian access and express concern over reports of sexual violence in Tigray. The crisis made it onto the crowded agenda of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The United States' new special envoy for the Horn of Africa has headed out to the region to add diplomatic heft to Washington's efforts. While meetings and statements of concern provide neither security nor justice to the Ethiopian people, the international community does appear to be grasping just how dangerous the country's turmoil is for international peace and security.

But Ethiopia's crisis, which is fundamentally about unresolved internal political questions (though greatly complicated by other states in the region), shows no sign of abating. Desperately needed aid still is not reaching vast numbers of people in Tigray, and experts increasingly warn of famine. Violent conflict, sometimes rising to the level of ethnic cleansing, is occurring in multiple parts of the country. Eritrean troops remain active on Ethiopian soil.

Meanwhile, the avenues to work through Ethiopia's political tensions are being closed off. Over the past week the Ethiopian government formally designated the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Oromo Liberation Front-Shene as terrorist organizations, erecting a barrier to the kind of dialogue that seems essential to end the violence and move all of Ethiopia's political factions into a peaceful and rule-governed process for resolving their differences. One need not defend the tactics or objectives of these organizations to worry about steps that could make peace talks more difficult.

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Perhaps Prime Minister Abiy and his allies are banking on the elections slated for early June to provide definitive answers to Ethiopia's most pressing political questions and to shore up their legitimacy. But given pre-election conditions, including martial law in some areas, opposition party boycotts, and a lagging voter registration process, those elections will resolve very little. On May 3, the European Union canceled its plans to send an observation mission, citing concerns about the independence of its mission and the security of its communications.

Holding up the results of what will be deeply flawed elections as evidence of a popular consensus about the direction of the country risks pushing more actors out of purely political competition and into the kind of violence the Ethiopian government aims to delegitimize. It is difficult to see a path out of Ethiopia's political and security crisis that does not feature inclusive dialogue and reforms that can create conditions for the genuinely representative elections that the Ethiopian people deserve.

Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.
Daily FT [Sri Lanka]

7 May 2021

The current regime in Sri Lanka continues to head deeper into crisis. Many are expressing growing concern about its authoritarian direction. There is increasing awareness of the fragility of liberal democracy. Democracy is no longer considered inevitable. But there has not been a similar public debate about the parallel transition away from the pre-pandemic era of globalisation.

Reckoning with the threat to democracy requires grappling with the ongoing transformation of the global economy. If we take the need for democracy seriously, the aim must be to understand the roots of the present crisis. Toward this end, pushing back against authoritarianism demands a different vision of Sri Lankas economy; in particular, one that embraces the possibilities of self-sufficiency.

The rupture

Many may assume that the present crisis is simply the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and will end as soon as the virus is controlled. Besides the fact, however, that the pandemic is far from abating, it also occurs in a structural context. It has exposed the underlying fault lines in the global economy, especially the continuing dependence of poor countries on rich ones. India, for example, is in the throes of a world historical catastrophe, while the United States appears to be on the path to recovery.

Powerful global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have in turn argued that the US could pursue stimulus because of its fiscal space; the degree to which the baseline of its wealth could accommodate more generous policy. But this explanation is insufficient. The US did not always pursue the transformative options politicians are considering today. Instead, changes in policy are the outcome of a widening of the ideological debate.

Multiple political campaigns and theoretical critiques of the dominant economic orthodoxy laid the groundwork for the break from the austerity economics, which dominated the previous response to the Great Recession of 2008. The example of the changing priorities of state intervention in the economy shows that the limits of policy making are more often the limits of our own thinking. The material limit cannot be separated from the way in which we interpret it.

The fracturing of consensus

In the case of Sri Lanka, there has not yet been a similar root-and-branch rethinking of what is possible. Local experts and policy makers across the spectrum of Government and Opposition continue to frame their solutions in terms of attracting Foreign Direct Investment and fiscal consolidation. FDI has become a deus ex machina to avoid probing questions about the structure of the economy, especially domestic revenue mobilisation. And while it is important to re-balance the economy in favour of the poor and marginalised, fiscal consolidation too often becomes a tool of austerity.

At the same time, the global consensus within dominant institutions such as the IMF and World Bank is fragmenting. This is evident from contradictory statements put out about the need for coordinated fiscal stimulus versus fiscal sustainability. The fracturing of the global consensus should encourage us to think more deeply about the political economic contradictions that provoke the ramping up of nationalist authoritarianism as the dominant response from the right. This includes the recent proposed burqa ban in Sri Lanka.

If local experts and policy makers have found themselves flat-footed by rapid changes in the global economy, the current regime also faces its own challenges. Against the spectre of depression, it is forced to pursue its nationalist project with more intensity to keep its bloc together. Yet this approach cannot solve the underlying contradictions. The regime appears to have subordinated the sketchy developmental goals that it proposed in response to the pandemic to its overriding nationalism. Talk last year of import substitution now comes off as an empty sloganor worse, a counterproductive, ad hoc systemin the absence of a serious, concerted attempt to mobilise across society to transform the economy.

Instead, the regime is attempting to mitigate the ongoing crisis by reverting to its old platitudes of Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour. This response only increases the potential scope for social disaster as the crisis grinds on. The most ideologically self-aware actors within the opposition meanwhile have come to accept that because democracy is not inevitable, they must work harder to justify its value. If the oppositionwhatever the diverse political actors involvedhowever, is serious about preventing further democratic backsliding, it must extend the same critical eye toward reconceiving the economic framework of democracy.

Changing Contradictions

For the democratic opposition, that means revisiting the core assumptions around which a populist bloc was constructed in the late 1970s to promote the open economy as the positive successor to the closed economy. The open economy was initially a successful authoritarian populist reaction against social democracy. The right was able to exploit the contradictions that had accumulated within the latter. The left lacked a similarly effective response that could have worked through these contradictions in favour of popular democracy.

Around the same time, social theorist Stuart Hall argued in his brilliant analysis of Thatcherism in Britain, Popular-Democratic vs Authoritarian Populism, that Margaret Thatcher could represent Labour as part of the big battalions, ranged against the little man (and his family) oppressed by an inefficient state bureaucracy. The political scientist James Jupp made a strikingly similar observation in the Sri Lankan context on the eve of JRs victory. He noted in his article, Democratic Socialism in Sri Lanka, that the UNP appealed to voters by arguing that: If property through the country is widely dispersed in millions of private hands, the power which resides in the ownership of property is also dispersed and power cannot be used coercively.

At the same time, because the open economy has been so successful in tilting the balance in favour of capital over more than four decades, it has undermined the livelihoods of the working people and middle classes on which it depends for continued mass support. This is the space in which authoritarian nationalism now intervenes. It intensifies the crisis of the old order. Accordingly, attempts to revive economic liberalisation appear quixotic. They lack the support base that would make them an effective part of a reconfigured defence of democracy. In fact, they are more likely to be crushed electorally.

Put another way, it is not enough to replace J.R. Jayewardenes authoritarian instincts with Mangala Samaraweeras multicultural progressive attitudes while maintaining the same liberal economic dispensation. The contradictions of Sri Lankas political economy have changed. The successful bloc capable of defeating authoritarian nationalism and creating a popular-democratic base of support must break with the assumptions of the entire regime of accumulation represented by the open economy.

On a fundamental level, that means questioning the supposed inevitability of globalisation. The name of the alternative is self-sufficiency. Too often, the people most attuned to the ideologically salient debate about democracy versus authoritarianism have mocked self-sufficiency as backward-looking. The reality is that the question of state intervention in the economy, of which self-sufficiency is just one potential aspect, is incredibly complex. It continues to evoke new potential combinations that could provide a more effective basis for democracy.

Modes of state intervention

Discussions about the ways in which the state played a fundamental role in the economy have been central, for example, to the tentative construction of a developmental state model in the East Asian context. Chalmers Johnson, the scholar of Japans developmental state, pointed out that authoritarianism often backfires. We could draw a parallel with the failed attempts of the current regime in Sri Lanka to use circulars and directives to achieve top-down economic goals.

In contrast, as Johnson argued, the developmental state has historically required disciplining capitalist investment by pursuing shared belief in a social mission, which can avoid the worst pitfalls of authoritarianism. Or as he put it in his review, The Developmental State: Odyssey of a Concept: In the true developmental state, on the other hand, the bureaucratic rulers possess a particular kind of legitimacy that allows them to be much more experimental and undoctrinaire than in the typical authoritarian regime. This is the legitimacy that comes from devotion to a widely believed-in revolutionary project.

In the historical context of East Asia, the pressures and opportunities were real because of both the communist example in the region and the overwhelming aid and access to export markets that the US provided, to facilitate reconstruction after World War II. These challenges provoked states to pursue redistributive measures, such as land reform.

In the case of Sri Lanka, we must reimagine within our own historical context what methods can effectively discipline capital. A framework of sanctions and incentives could include increasing domestic revenue mobilisation by punishing tax evasion among the rich and powerful. The money instead could be used for recurrent welfare expenditures. Incentives could include deficit spending on a comprehensive plan to revive critical areas of the economy, such as agriculture. These measures success pivots around countervailing social powers that set limits on coercive state action against the poor and marginalised, while strengthening the States capacity to pursue development.

In contrast to the prevailing assumptions about import substitution as it was historically practiced in Sri Lanka, especially during the 1970s, this may require a combination of State-led wholesale distribution of basic goods along with production organised through voluntary association. Thinking through this relationship involves complex questions about the autonomy of these social organisations, such as agrarian cooperatives, within the overarching goal of transforming society.

Sri Lankas great social scientist Godfrey Gunatilleke summarised this paradox in a short Lanka Guardian piece on The Mixed Economy. He reflected on the muddle of the countrys post-independence trajectory. As he argued, the old left had needed to theorise a longer intermediate phase in which the incentive systems and the framework of economic prospects had to create conditions for both the public and private sectors to function effectively over a considerable period.

Nevertheless, the limitations of past attempts to transform society in an egalitarian direction can also inspire present solutions. The New Deal, which initiated the USs recovery from the Great Depression of the 1930s, has become a springboard for collective responses to crisis in Western countries. Likewise, we can draw from Sri Lankas own historical example. Omissions and errors can be converted into solutions by grappling with the limitations of these experiments.

A New Order

The first step, though, requires genuine curiosity about the question of self-sufficiency. It further demands a much greater degree of intellectual scepticism toward conventional policy prescriptions. Broadly speaking, the concept of self-sufficiency is just a shorthand method for visualising a better future, versus the alternative scenario of increased suffering amid global unravelling. In the debate, there are of course variations in tone and emphasis, including ongoing arguments about whether globalisation in its current form can weather the storm.

True insight, however, comes from honestly acknowledging the political economic contradictions and working through them to establish, in broad ideological outline, the possibility of a new order. The alternative in Sri Lanka is to surrender to the nationalist response to global crisis; willingly or unwillingly (as the case may be), by continuing to back an unpopular economic program. The terminus is usually social disaster. In this regard, the trajectory of India under Narendra Modi should be a massive red flag.

Self-sufficiency, of course, has many shades. The scope of policies that can be proposed and enacted depends on the historically shifting balance of forces between capital and labour, though the balance has skewed to an extreme degree in favour of capital for decades now. But it is necessary to begin the conversation, to interpret these tasks within a comprehensive vision of what Sri Lanka could become. As Ahilan Kadirgamar and I, along with other members of our Combating Crisis column in the FT, put it last year, this includes the possibility of a new social contract.

Preventing extreme authoritarian takeover dovetails with the larger goal of achieving a better, safer, and more equitable society. Toward this end, we must grasp the underlying contradictions that the current regime is attempting to neutralise. Unfortunately, its preferred tools increasingly appear to be authoritarian nationalist measures. Just as democracy is not inevitable, neither should we assume that the pre-pandemic orientation toward the economy is an adequate vehicle of democracy.

The writer is an independent researcher who holds a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles
Calls for Buhari to Step Down Over Insecurity in Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari is in the eye of a storm as criticism swells around him over the level of insecurity under his watch as Nigeria's leader. Security challenges have sparked anger and calls for Buhari to step down or be removed from office. Nigeria's secret police say they have uncovered a plot to remove the president from office. According to the investigators, disgruntled politicians and religious leaders are behind it. However, the Nigerian army has expressed its support for Buhari, vowing that the military will uphold the country's democracy and warned against plots to overthrow the government.

Buhari came to power in 2015 with a pledge to fight insecurity in the northeast, in which 6,000 people have died and more than two million have been displaced. But six years later, things are getting worse. Boko Haram is expanding its enclaves in the northwest of the country, while banditry, kidnappings and communal clashes are on the rise. Criminal gangs that have terrorized the population for years have engaged in mass abductions of schoolchildren and students, provoking international outrage. Recently, Buhari asked the U.S. to support Africa's efforts in tackling growing insecurity in the region.
Ethiopian Migrant Recounts Losing Three Children at Sea

Misrah, an undocumented migrant worker, and her family, left their home in Ethiopia hoping for a better life. Instead, her three children are now dead. They drowned during a perilous crossing of the Gulf of Aden, when the overloaded boat smuggling them into the country, capsized under the weight of its passengers. The 27-year-old Ethiopian woman, her husband and three children, and at least 55 other migrants and refugees were aboard the vessel controlled by smugglers crossing the Gulf of Aden from Yemen to the Horn of Africa via Djibouti on April 12, 2021. Sixteen children, including Misrah's, and at least 44 migrants and refugees drowned, trapped beneath the sunken vessel. She and her husband Abdul Basit were two of just 14 to survive. In 2012, Misrah left her home in Derdawah, Ethiopia, to find work. Thousands of migrants from Ethiopia make the same journey through Djibouti to Yemen each year hoping to reach Saudi Arabia, where there are better work opportunities and higher incomes than back home. Others, like Misrah, intend to remain in Yemen where, prior to the conflict and the current pandemic, there were opportunities for migrant workers. Historically, there has always been movement back and forth between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, writes the UN News Service.
Kazungula Bridge Means Shorter Queues for Southern Africa

The opening of a bridge at Zambia's Kazungula on May 10, 2021, should have a significant impact on South Africa, relieving congestion at the infamous Beitbridge border crossing for freight truckers. Currently, truckers moving goods from South Africa to Lusaka must travel via Zimbabwe, crossing the notoriously congested Beitbridge at the border between Limpopo and its northern neighbour.

But with the new bridge at Kazungula, South Africans can travel via Botswana, bypassing the Beitbridge crossing - and Zimbabwe - altogether. The five-year project cost approximately U.S.$269.3 million, according to one of the funders, the African Development Bank Group.
Malawi Orders Thousands to Return to Overcrowded Refugee Camp

Refugees and their legal teams have expressed alarm at Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera's plan to force about 2,000 people residing outside the overcrowded camp at Dzaleka, to return. A court injunction has prevented their immediate relocation, but authorities appealed the order. Chakwera has said the country's encampment policy prohibits refugees from living outside of camps, and requires refugees to work within the premises. Human rights lawyer Chrispine Sibade has said that "forcing refugees into camps is a violation of their rights because the constitution gives everyone certain economic rights, regardless of their place of origin". However, the government has said it is not backing down, with Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda saying "the government is working to vacate the injunction the refugees obtained last month against relocation". Dzaleka refugee camp in central Malawi is home to over 48,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from various countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Somalia and Ethiopia.
Respetando la programacion respectiva y sin saltarnos la cola, cumplimos con nuestro deber de vacunarnos contra la Covid-19. Sigamos poniendo el hombro. @Minsa_Peru @pcmperu pic.twitter.com/mrlqUbrWEV
Presidente @FSagasti: Todo el pais y el Gobierno estamos agradecidos por la entrega y sacrificio que estan teniendo en esta lucha contra el narcotrafico y el terrorismo. A lo largo del tiempo hemos visto el compromiso de las FF. AA. por defender el orden interno y la paz. pic.twitter.com/pgAXJjohUk
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. Mayor of Ferrara city of Italy Alan Fabbri is ready to initiate Artsakh recognition process, establish sister-city relations with one of Armenia's cities and visit Armenia, Fabbri told ARMENPRESS in a video-interview.

Speaking about a performance on the Armenian Genocide at the city's theatre, and the reaction of Turkish embassy to it, the Italian Mayor said, ''We organized an event on April 24, where we commemorated the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Writer Antonia Arslan, as well as other intellectuals, participated in that performance. The next day we received a letter from the Turkish Ambassador to Italy. We sent it back because it's inadmissible for us. It was an attempt to intervene in the activities of the city, which is a city of free ideologies'', Alan Fabbri said, noting that it was disrespectful and totally unacceptable for them. ''Attempts to censor the opinions of others is unacceptable in our country'', he said.

To the question if he has any plans to establish sister-city relations with any Armenian city, Alan Fabbri said, ''Yes, sure. I assumed the position of Ferrar's Mayor in 2019 and of course, it would be a great pleasure for me to be able to establish such relations with one of the cities of Armenia'. He expressed hope to visit Armenia some day.

To the question if Ferrara has any plans to recognize the independence of Artsakh, given that numerous Italian cities have already done so, and also the fact that 106 years after the genocide Turkey supported Azerbaijan against Artsakh, showing that remaining unpunished gives birth to new crimes, the Mayor of the Italian city said, ''Yes, definitely yes, without any fears or problems. I think it's not easy today to be European and Italian politician and openly support the Armenian side. But we will do that without any problems, we have always been and will be supportive to Armenia, because the Armenian people, also as a Christian nation, has a great value for us, and we will always stand with Armenia''.
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. A stable operational situation with no incidents has been maintained along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact of the Armenian state border overnight May 9-10, the Defense Ministry of Armenia told ARMENPRESS.

According to the information provided by the Armenian National Security Service, no border incidents were registered in Vorotan-Davit Bek section of the Goris-Kapan inter-state road which is under the responsibility of the NSS border troops.

The Armed Forces of Armenia and the NSS border troops confidently control the border situation along the entire borderline.
Greek authorities hope that beaches like this, on the small island of Elafinissos, will soon be inviting tourists once again

Greece is keen to see crowds of holiday-makers flooding back to its idyllic islands and has despatched the tourism minister to London to convince one of its biggest markets the country is safe.

Before the pandemic, 3.5 million British holiday-makers visited Greece in 2019 and Harry Theoharis said he will spend three days "promoting" the destination this week.

The United Kingdom has put Greece on its amber travel list for now, meaning British people returning home from Greece face at least five days in quarantine.

Tourism rakes in a as much as a quarter of Greece's annual income and Athens wants to persuade tour operators the country is safe to visit.

Theoharis will meet British junior foreign minister Nigel Adams to push the case for an easing of travel restrictions, a Greek statement said.

He will also have talks with British Airways, EasyJet and Jet2 which, the statement said, "have frequent flights to Greece, which is very important ... proof it's a safe destination".

Athens was one of the first European Union capitals, with Madrid, to back the idea of a vaccination certificate to enable mass travel to resume, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted Monday after talks with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez.

"On May 14, the start of tourism and travel between (Greek) departments is an extremely important step," which coincides with the reopening of museums, said government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni.

Under partial lockdown since November 7, Greece is still recording more than 1,500 Covid-19 infections daily, mostly in Athens, along with dozens of deaths and hospitals are overwhelmed.

But it has since early April been gradually reopening non-essential shops and cafe terraces in a bid to kickstart tourism.

On Monday, all schools were allowed to reopen after six months' closure.

Student and teachers will have to self-test for the virus twice a week.

Nearly a month ago seven days of quarantine was lifted for travellers from the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

hec/chv/bp/pvh
Korea Investment & Securities Mobile App and Branch Locations to Offer Western Union Services

Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, and Korea Investment & Securities (Korea I&S), one of the leading providers of financial services in South Korea, collaborate to offer Western Union consumer-to-consumer money transfers, via retail and digital channels.

Korea I&S account holders in South Korea may choose to send Western Union money transfers via truefriend.com or the companys mobile app (available for Android and iOS), or send and receive at more than 88 Korea I&S locations across the nation. Money transfers sent via Korea I&S digital or retail channels can be paid out into recipient bank accounts in select countries1 or at more than 550,000 retail locations in more than 200 countries and territories.

The digital service capability will be operational in the coming months to enable Korea I&S account holders to receive money transfers via web and app.

Leading regional partners have seamlessly integrated Western Unions cross-border, cross-currency money moving capabilities into their platform, giving customers the convenience and choice to transfer money worldwide. Western Union has opened its platform to enable leaders in e-commerce, telecommunications, financial services, and other sectors to expand into new markets and expand service for their customers.

"Western Union is a global leader in cross-currency, cross-border money movement, enabled by technology," said K. Premmananth, Head of Network, Singapore, Indonesia and North Asia, Western Union. "We have challenged ourselves to leverage our platform to offer many new ways for our customers and clients to move money globally. We are delighted to collaborate with Korea I&S, providing a multi-channel offering connecting the digital with the physical and servicing a multi-generational user base."

Story continues

"At Korea I&S, our commitment is to serve our customers efficiently while exploring new ways to meet the changing needs of our customers," said Simon SP Mun, Executive Vice President, Korea Investment & Securities. "Western Union sets the standard for international money movement and we are excited to collaborate with them, giving our customers greater ease and access in every transaction they make while upholding what matters most to them speed, reliability and convenience."

CUSTOMER GUIDANCE

To send and receive money at locations, account holders can walk into more than 88 Korea I&S locations and process their money transfers. Senders can fund their transfers from their accounts, and South Korean receivers can direct their money transfers into their accounts.

To send money via a mobile app, customers can fund their money transfers through their Korea I&S account.

In line with Koreas local laws and regulations, before the first use of the service, customers can visit any Korea I&S location to open an account and for verification, or they can register on the mobile app and opt for electronic verification. Acceptable IDs include, among other options, a valid resident registration ID or a drivers license.

Once the account is verified and active, customers can conveniently send and receive Western Union money transfers at either Korea I&S locations, or send via their mobile app anytimewith a few clicks.

Customers can learn more by calling the CS Center Local Line 1544-5000 or CS Center Overseas +82-2-2090-4000 or by visiting www.truefriend.com for support.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Western Unions platform provides seamless cross-border flows and its leading global financial network bridges more than 200 countries and territories and over 130 currencies. We connect businesses, financial institutions, governments, and consumers through one of the worlds widest reaching networks, accessing billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and over half a million retail locations. Western Union connects the world to bring boundless possibilities within reach. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

About Korea Investment & Securities

Korea Investment and Securities Co., Ltd. (Korea I&S) is one of the largest securities firms in Korea.

This company was founded as "Korea Investment Management" in 1974 and was merged by "Dongwon Securities Co., Ltd" in 2005 to become Korea I&S.

Korea I&S has 88 branch locations as well as digital channel (Web, mobile apps) with 5M customer base and is offering a broad range of financial services including investment, trading, brokerage, trust, wealth management and so on targeting mainstream Koreans in Korea. Based on FY2019 financial data, Korea I&S total asset is US$ 37 Billion, and revenue is US$ 6.7 Billion.

For more information, Kor URL: https://www.truefriend.com, Eng. URL: https://www.truefriend.com/eng/main.jsp

1 Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210509005025/en/

Contacts

Media Contacts:

Western Union Asia-Pacific

Karen Santos; Karen.Santos2@westernunion.com
PRESS RELEASE [May 9, 2021]

We deeply mourn the death of a 26-year old activist from APDR (Sreerampur) in West Bengal, who passed away on 30th April, 2021 at Bahadurgarh in Haryana. She was deeply inspired by the farmers movement and had gone to express her solidarity at the Tikri border with the Kisan Social Army who had been campaigning around Bengal from 2nd April to 11th April, 2021. As we mourn her loss, we are also deeply troubled and concerned on hearing the events that had unfolded during her short stay at the Tikri border.

From the accounts of her parents and her few friends, we have come to know that she underwent sexual harassment by Anil Malik, of Kisan Social Army on the train itself on her journey to Delhi. As she did not know anyone else at Tikri, the woman stayed at the Kisan Social Army camp from 11th to 16th April, 2021 wherein she was being sexually harassed by Anil Malik. On 16th April, 2021 she had reported the harassment to some people. The woman was then shifted to another tent where there were more women. On 21 April, 2021 she reported having mild fever and was taken to the medical camp at Tikri. As she began experiencing shortness of breath, she was also given medical attention. Upon the pretext of taking her back to West Bengal, on April 25, Anil Malik and Anup Singh Chinaut reportedly took her in a car. However, on tracking her location it was discovered that she was instead being taken to Hansi in Haryana. As senior leaders of SKM intervened, she was brought back to Bhagat Singh library camp at Tikri. When her health deteriorated further, she was taken to a hospital in Bahadurgarh where she passed away due to Covid on 30th April, 2021.

Yesterday evening, 8 May, 2021, the womans father supported by leaders of SKM, filed an FIR against Anil Malik and Anup Singh Chinaut on charges of sexual assault, and abduction. The complaint was filed first with the local SDM who ordered the filing of the FIR. Then it was received by the SHO, PS City Bahadurgarh late last evening.

The SKM has stood with the family of the young woman after her death. They announced in a meeting on 5 May that the accused along with their organization Kisan Social Army have been disassociated from the Morcha. Further, their banner and tent were also removed by SKM from the protest site. They also said that the Kisan Social Army was neither a formal member of SKM nor its representative in social media.

Unfortunately, this is not the first incident of its kind. There have also been other women survivors who have given their testimonies to their experiences within Trolley Times, SFS and Swaraj Abhiyan. While we hope registering the FIR in this case will be a step towards some form of justice, we firmly believe that all complaints of sexual violence within organizations and movement spaces need to be addressed and redressal mechanisms put into place. They cannot be eradicated simply through reactive measures to individual cases. There has to be a political will to build up sustained gender sensitization and put an end to sexual harassment within organizations and movements.

In solidarity with all the survivors, and as allies of the farmers movement, we join with their voices to call upon SKM to take cognizance of all these cases and take constructive steps to build a zero tolerance policy to curb incidents of misogyny, sexual violence, and patriarchal oppression. As we stand in solidarity with the farmers protest and its relentless fight against the three draconian farm laws, we urge SKM to continue to stand by the family and friends of the young woman in this case and support the enquiry to the end till justice is done.

Women have been at the forefront of the farmers movement and have been equal stakeholders in the protest. Women have been braving state repression, media defamation, and patriarchal hurdles to assert their right to protest, to register their dissent against the farm laws. The onus is therefore on all of us to make movement spaces safe for women. As we grieve and rage this young activists death, we also recognize that what she went through in those days has been a collective failure from all our part. Thus, as feminists, while we mourn and remember her young life in struggle, her unwavering support for the movement, and her idealism, we:

Call upon SKM to issue a public statement expressing their resolve to undertake zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment within the movement space.

Give a call that a helpline and a committee be set up within the movement space so women can reach out when they need help, so as to prevent such cases from happening again.

Resolve, even as we, together, continue to struggle for the repeal of the three farm laws to collectively deepen our political will in fighting patriarchal violence and oppression so as to enhance womens active political participation in peasant movements, trade unions and mass organizations!!

In solidarity and rage,

Feminists in Resistance, Kolkata;

A Group of Survivors, Haryana and Punjab;

Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS);

Forum against Oppression of Women, Mumbai;

Pinjra Tod;

Saheli, New Delhi;

Shramjivi Mahila Samiti, West Bengal;

Bekhauf Azadi;

All India Progressive Womens Association (AIPWA) ;

All India Democratic Womens Association (AIDWA);

Wajood, Punjab;

Bebaak Collective;

Jan Sangharsh Manch, Haryana;

Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti, West Bengal;

Pragatisheel Mahila Ekta Kendra;

Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, Delhi;

Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Haryana;

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Former Sri Lanka Test plaer Avishka Gunawardene (R) has been cleared of match-fixing charges, the International Cricket Council said

Former Sri Lanka Test player Avishka Gunawardene has been cleared of match-fixing charges by an independent tribunal, cricket's world governing body announced Monday.

The independent anti-corruption tribunal also dismissed three out of four charges made against another former Sri Lankan international, Nuwan Zoysa, who was last month banned from cricket for six years.

Both players had been accused of trying to fix matches in a T10 tournament in the United Arab Emirates in 2017.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) statement said the tribunal had "unanimously" cleared Gunawardene, 43, who played six Tests and 61 one-day internationals for Sri Lanka.

The ICC said Gunawardene, who went on to become a Sri Lanka A coach, was free to take up cricket activities again.

Gunawardene had been accused of "facilitating" match-fixing and failing to disclose approaches to the ICC's anti-corruption unit.

The ICC declined to make any other comment on the case.

Zoysa, 42, who was a bowling coach after his career of 30 Tests and 95 one-day internationals, was cleared of three out of the four charges against him, but his six-year ban will continue, the ICC said.

He has been cleared of directly being a party to corruption, influencing others and failing to disclose full details of an approach to fix a match, but the charge of failing to cooperate with investigators stands.

Last month, another former Sri Lanka fast bowler, Dilhara Lokuhettige, was banned for eight years for trying to fix the same T10 tournament in 2017.

Sri Lanka introduced a law against match-fixing in 2019 after then-sports minister Harin Fernando declared that the ICC considered it the world's most corrupt cricket nation.

Former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya was banned for two years in October 2018 for failing to cooperate with a match-fixing inquiry.

aj/mtp
Riot police shut down large illegal party in Barcelona

Newsflare  21,816 views  a month ago

Riot police in Barcelona shut down a large party in the popular Placa dels Angels, more commonly known as MACBA. A crowd of up to 2,000 young people had gathered in the square from midnight on Sunday May 9, to celebrate the end of Spain's coronavirus State of Alarm, which had been in place for six months and featured a night time curfew. However, the autonomous Government in Catalonia still maintains a limit of six people per social gathering, to combat Covid-19. Riot police arrived at around 3:30am local time and dispersed the crowd into nearby areas. Many partygoers were seen without masks despite masks still being mandatory in Spain.
SUNY has been offering COVID vaccines to students before they return home after the end of the spring semester. That effort was affected by the pause of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was being used because it wouldn't require students to return for a second. (The other two COVID vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer, are administered in two doses.) The use of the J&J vaccine has resumed.

Malatras announced on Friday that SUNY vaccination sites have administered more than 1.5 million vaccine doses. Facilities on 35 SUNY campuses are being used as mass vaccination centers.

While the new mandate affects public college students, Cuomo also views it as a way to overcome vaccination hurdles with a group he describes as "the youthful." These are younger New Yorkers who, until early April, weren't eligible for the vaccine.

The vaccination rates among the 16-25 age group are lower compared to older residents. The age group with the best vaccination is 65-74, at 73.6%. But the youngest group of eligible New Yorkers, which includes college-aged people, have a 24.7% vaccination rate.

Since SUNY students are required to be vaccinated for in-person classes, Cuomo doesn't think they should wait to get their shots.
World's largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp has decided to extend shutdown across its facilities which had begun in April. The decision comes as the country is still trying to cope with the surge in Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks.

Hero MotoCorp issued a statement on Sunday saying the shutdown also includes its Global Parts Center (GPC) in Neemrana and the Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur.

The two-wheeler manufacturer had decided to shut down its facilities in a phased manner starting April 22 to May 1, which was further extended to May 9 later. The shut down halted operations at Hero MotoCorp's six manufacturing units located at Dharuhera and Gurugram in Haryana, Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, Haridwar in Uttarakhand, Neemrana in Rajasthan and Halol in Gujarat.

Hero MotoCorp issued a statement that read, "The company is continuously monitoring the situation and is ready with its business continuity plans to be able to quickly resume and scale up operations as and when the situation improves."

The decision to shut down facilities across the country may likely impact Hero MotoCorp's output for the month. It is feared that low demands this month has forced a lot of manufacturers to scale down production. The Hero MotoCorp facilities that have been impacted by this shutdown has a total yearly production capacity of 90 lakh units.

Hero MotoCorp is the second vehicle manufacturer in the last few days to announce an extension of their ongoing shutdown. Earlier last weekend, India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki too had announced that it will extend its 'planned maintenance' across facilities in Haryana to May 16.

Maruti also fears that demand for its cars may go down due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions across the country. It may consider scaling down production too given the current Covid-19 situation across the country. According to the top management in Maruti, the problem currently is about sales volumes. It said that several dealers have been forced to shut shops sales because of a partial lockdown and curfew in several states.
Digital Transformation is an essential solution and also an unavoidable trend for enterprises in Vietnam in general and in Thua Thien Hue in particular, to survive, improve their competitiveness and production efficiency, accelerate and develop.

Co-Plus Company has nearly finished the data digitization and is going to choose the technology to apply

For businesses to "move" faster

From 2014 to 2017, the concept of digital transformation was quite strange; and only a small part of businesses was interested in this concept. Since 2020, digital transformation and the 4th Industrial Revolution have been the keywords that are frequently mentioned when the achievements of science and technology are present in every aspect of life. Especially due to the impacts of the pandemic, businesses have increased their activities in the online platform.

In Hue, after "unforgettable" experiences from the recent pandemic's impacts, many businesses have decided to focus on investing in digital transformation to ensure both business development and disease prevention and have a flexible plan to adapt if the pandemic recurs.

In 2020, Co-Plus Company made the first step in preparing for digitization and digital transformation at the firm. Up to now, nearly 100% of internal and customer data has been digitized. Co-Plus is currently establishing processes for departments and preparing for the selection of technologies for application.

"We are considering in choosing the existing technologies from abroad or using new domestic technology. After digitizing and building the process, our company will build a platform to share and connect data, fully interacting online," informed Nguyen Thi An Nhan, CEO of Co-Plus company.

To prepare for this stage, Co-Plus had planned it a few years ago. "The company is fortunate to have the director board's members specializing in technology and have worked frequently with technology units; so, it has a certain advantage when starting the internal digital transformation process. In addition, digital transformation is a national program and considerably supported by the Government, partly helping businesses to access the resources they need, and by experts in building a digital transformation plan," said An Nhan.

Mr. Tran Minh Duc, Director of Hong Duc Joint Stock Company, shared that since 2015, Hong Duc has implemented the digital transformation. Starting from using the Online office suit  an office software and, in fact, it has brought efficiency to businesses.

"The most obvious advantage is that it increases working productivity, reduces operating costs and helps businesses become "smarter; especially, the management work on each department and staff is better thanks to the diary recording system of each member," said Mr. Duc.

According to Mr. Duc, any enterprise that soon implements the digital transformation will benefit from this activity, especially when production and business activities are increasingly closely attached and dependent on the digital economy, which is already growing rapidly day by day.

Many solutions to support

We are living in a period when digital transformation is an inevitable trend. And, the transition from the traditional way of doing business to digital platforms is becoming more and more popular, considered as an effective solution to help enterprises to penetrate and expand markets , in the context that Vietnam is increasingly integrating deeply with the world economy and the digital revolution is developing strongly all over the world.

In Hue, with over 95% of small and micro enterprises, according to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son, the director of the Department of Information and Communications, the digital transformation is quite challenging since the traditional thinking and methods are still the majority. Therefore, promoting digital transformation is an urgent problem today.

"At present, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Ministry of Information and Communications have had programs to promote digital transformation for small and medium enterprises. Besides, the province is also taking advantage of integrating central programs with local ones. Recently, the Provincial Business Association have coordinated with the Department of Planning and Investment to organize activities and seminars on digital transformation for enterprises to prepare for promoting digital transformation in the coming time," stated Mr. Son.

Mr. Duong Tuan Anh, Chairman of the Provincial Businessmen Association, said that in the present time, digital transformation is an opportunity for businesses, and they have to "put their hand" to work immediately with specific solutions.

"For the Association, we are organizing activities for businesses to approach the digital transformation and e-commerce and holding the Association's e-commerce platform for businesses to give advantages to the member enterprises in the local area."

To encourage enterprises to move faster in the process of digital transformation, the Department of Science and Technology is creating a long-term plan to support enterprises with providing more solutions to encourage enterprises to apply more advanced technologies in product promotion, traceability application, application of new production and business models through start-up and in technology innovation policy programs.

"In addition, we will aid local manufacturing enterprises in accessing digital technologies to promote their products and in accessing advanced production technologies to enhance their reputation and products in the process of production and sale," said Mr. Ho Thang, Director of the Department of Science and Technology.

Currently, the Government has approved the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with the orientation to 2030. Thua Thien Hue also has a plan to implement the digital transformation program to 2025. It is clear that the national and provincial digital transformation strategy has had a roadmap, so the remaining issue is the capacity and energy of each enterprise in their awareness, investment, and implementation.

Story and photo: Lien Minh
[May 10, 2021] Eight Mitel Leaders Named to CRN's 2021 Women of the Channel List Mitel (News - Alert), a global leader in business communications, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Sue Anders, Stephanie Ford (News - Alert) , Denise Hanson, Fiona Hills, Lana King, Kristi Lakich, Ilona Masche, and Jennifer Orr to the Women of the Channel list for 2021. This highly respected annual list recognizes the unique strengths, vision and achievements of female leaders from across the IT channel, including vendors, distributors and solution providers. Selected by the CRN editorial team for their contributions to channel advocacy, leadership, and dedication to the IT channel, this year's honorees have also made their marks by driving innovative ways of supporting partners and customers through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the Mitel team had a record-breaking eight channel leaders receive recognition for their contributions: Sue Anders, Regional Vice President, Verticals East, SLED and Healthcare - Anders is an effective negotiator and passionate about developing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with channel partners, sales teams, and customers. When the pandemic hit, she implemented programs to educate partners on CARES Act funding as well as Mitel's extensive public sector contract portfolio to assist customers in procurement on a state-by-state basis. As lockdowns continued, she drove development of product bundles designed to support public sector organizations with the transition to remote work and established forums for partners to learn about solutions and financing options that would help customers navigate the everchanging landscape.

- Anders is an effective negotiator and passionate about developing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with channel partners, sales teams, and customers. When the pandemic hit, she implemented programs to educate partners on CARES Act funding as well as Mitel's extensive public sector contract portfolio to assist customers in procurement on a state-by-state basis. As lockdowns continued, she drove development of product bundles designed to support public sector organizations with the transition to remote work and established forums for partners to learn about solutions and financing options that would help customers navigate the everchanging landscape. Stephanie Ford, Vice President, U.S. Sales - Ford worked closely with sales and partners to support customers in adapting to the remote working environment brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, helping hospitals and healthcare clinics to implement new virtual contact centers in a matter of days, and guiding educational institutions in modernizing their communications technology to support the operational changes needed for virtual learning. Focused on building and maintaining partner relationships, Ford established a quarterly partner summit to keep partners abreast of market trends, provide continued education, and ensure an avenue for ongoing feedback.

- Ford worked closely with sales and partners to support customers in adapting to the remote working environment brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, helping hospitals and healthcare clinics to implement new virtual contact centers in a matter of days, and guiding educational institutions in modernizing their communications technology to support the operational changes needed for virtual learning. Focused on building and maintaining partner relationships, Ford established a quarterly partner summit to keep partners abreast of market trends, provide continued education, and ensure an avenue for ongoing feedback. Denise Hanson, Senior Director, Partner Experience - Hanson has been a champion for Mitel's 'partner first' approach in a newly created role where she serves as a "voice of the partner" advocate within Mitel to drive post-sales initiatives in ways that elevate the partner experience while supporting alignment with Mitel's go-to-market strategy. Through more than 100 one-on-one conversations with partners, she gathered feedback on how Mitel could improve its post-sale experience and created a scorecard that's now utilized to prioritize Mitel's partner experience efforts. Hanson's hands-on engagement also enabled her to lead and execute multiple operational improvements that made an immediate impact on partners' ability to easily sell and deliver Mitel's cloud offerings.

- Hanson has been a champion for Mitel's 'partner first' approach in a newly created role where she serves as a "voice of the partner" advocate within Mitel to drive post-sales initiatives in ways that elevate the partner experience while supporting alignment with Mitel's go-to-market strategy. Through more than 100 one-on-one conversations with partners, she gathered feedback on how Mitel could improve its post-sale experience and created a scorecard that's now utilized to prioritize Mitel's partner experience efforts. Hanson's hands-on engagement also enabled her to lead and execute multiple operational improvements that made an immediate impact on partners' ability to easily sell and deliver Mitel's cloud offerings. Fiona Hills, Director, Americas Global Partner Program - Hills led the development and launch of Mitel's new hospitality specialization, which recognizes and rewards partners for their expertise in hospitality-focused sales and technical solutions and enabled them to differentiate themselves in an industry heavily impacted by the pandemic. Hills was also instrumental in supporting the launch of Mitel's new partner portal and lead registration tools, which provide partners with greater visibility into their sales pipelines. Her efforts to educate internal sales teams on the value of partner enablement have led to higher program compliance with both technical and sales competencies that will in turn, enable partners to provide a quality, end-to-end experiences for customers.

- Hills led the development and launch of Mitel's new hospitality specialization, which recognizes and rewards partners for their expertise in hospitality-focused sales and technical solutions and enabled them to differentiate themselves in an industry heavily impacted by the pandemic. Hills was also instrumental in supporting the launch of Mitel's new partner portal and lead registration tools, which provide partners with greater visibility into their sales pipelines. Her efforts to educate internal sales teams on the value of partner enablement have led to higher program compliance with both technical and sales competencies that will in turn, enable partners to provide a quality, end-to-end experiences for customers. Lana King, Vice President, Partner Programs, Training & Enablement - King has been a driving force behind Mitel's channel operations and enablement, successfully leading change management programs for new partner portals and tools that enable partners to more effectively manage their Mitel business, as well as championing focus groups to gain partner input on the overall partner experience. Over the pst year, her guidance has driven multiple initiatives to support partners through the pandemic including adapting partner program assessment criteria to changing market conditions and introducing free, self-paced virtual technical training to help partners increase competencies without requiring travel. King has also played a critical leadership role in the development and implementation of Mitel's new MiCloud Connect Partner Managed model, which gives partners more control over the cloud customer lifecycle.

- King has been a driving force behind Mitel's channel operations and enablement, successfully leading change management programs for new partner portals and tools that enable partners to more effectively manage their Mitel business, as well as championing focus groups to gain partner input on the overall partner experience. Over the pst year, her guidance has driven multiple initiatives to support partners through the pandemic including adapting partner program assessment criteria to changing market conditions and introducing free, self-paced virtual technical training to help partners increase competencies without requiring travel. King has also played a critical leadership role in the development and implementation of Mitel's new MiCloud Connect Partner Managed model, which gives partners more control over the cloud customer lifecycle. Kristi Lakich, Regional Vice President, Channel Sales - Lakich played a key role in helping Mitel partners move their customers to remote work, including numerous success stories where the transition took place almost overnight. A highly engaged leader, she has been instrumental in increasing partner engagement through unique incentives and virtual events, guiding cross-functional efforts to improve the partner experience, and leveraging her personal network to help partners and channel managers build strategic relationships. Lakich is actively working on several initiatives that will enable partners to capture new UCaaS opportunities and empower them to serve as true consultants who can help customers not only address today's business challenges but stay well-positioned for the future.

- Lakich played a key role in helping Mitel partners move their customers to remote work, including numerous success stories where the transition took place almost overnight. A highly engaged leader, she has been instrumental in increasing partner engagement through unique incentives and virtual events, guiding cross-functional efforts to improve the partner experience, and leveraging her personal network to help partners and channel managers build strategic relationships. Lakich is actively working on several initiatives that will enable partners to capture new UCaaS opportunities and empower them to serve as true consultants who can help customers not only address today's business challenges but stay well-positioned for the future. Ilona Masche, Marketing Director, Central Europe - Masche launched and implemented Mitel's first virtual roadshow series for channel partners in Central Europe. The Mitel Expo series spanned four weeks and, through Masche's leadership, saw a 97% participant rate, including engagement from 600+ channel partners in one country alone, and 2,700+ breakout session registrations. Based on the event's success, she consulted with other regions and channel partners to develop and implement their own virtual engagement strategies. Leading marketing for Mitel's most diverse sales region, Masche is focused on empowering partners to modernize their customer base and win new business by arming them with sophisticated marketing tools that increase market visibility.

- Masche launched and implemented Mitel's first virtual roadshow series for channel partners in Central Europe. The Mitel Expo series spanned four weeks and, through Masche's leadership, saw a 97% participant rate, including engagement from 600+ channel partners in one country alone, and 2,700+ breakout session registrations. Based on the event's success, she consulted with other regions and channel partners to develop and implement their own virtual engagement strategies. Leading marketing for Mitel's most diverse sales region, Masche is focused on empowering partners to modernize their customer base and win new business by arming them with sophisticated marketing tools that increase market visibility. Jennifer Orr, Vice President, Master Agent Channel - Orr lobbied for and helped drive creation of the agent track within Mitel's partner program, including a certification for master agents and partners. Orr also helped to better align internal teams with channel needs while driving messaging and awareness around contact center capabilities. In the year ahead, she plans to increase partnerships and the number of incremental opportunities registered, as well as grow Mitel's enterprise business and contact center footprint.

"This year's Mitel honorees truly embody our partner-first approach," said Mary McDowell, Mitel President and CEO. "In an incredibly challenging year, their continued advocacy and passion for channel enablement, creative business solutions, and commitment to building meaningful relationships with our partners represent the best of Mitel's strategy and our values as a company. Partners play an essential role in delivering a great communications experience for Mitel customers and the dedication these women showed in making that possible despite the challenges of COVID allowed countless organizations to not only survive during the past year, but to thrive." The 2021 Women of the Channel list will be featured in CRN Magazine on May 10th and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC. Additional Facts Mitel is a leading provider of cloud communications, enabling more than 5 million users, including 1.5 million UCaaS customers (Source: Synergy (News - Alert) Research Group).

CRN  recognized Mitel with a 5-Star rating in its 2020 Partner Program Guide.

recognized Mitel with a 5-Star rating in its 2020 Partner Program Guide. Mitel recently announced its enhanced 2021 Global Partner Program, extending its partner-first commitment with new resources to further empower partners to own the customer communications lifecycle and support cloud adoption.

In February, Mitel launched its MiCloud Connect Partner Managed model in North America, giving partners more control over how they deliver and manage cloud services. About Mitel

A global market leader in business communications powering more than two billion business connections, Mitel helps businesses and service providers connect, collaborate and provide innovative services to their customers. Our innovation and communications experts serve more than 70 million business users in more than 100 countries. For more information, go to www.mitel.com and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @Mitel. Mitel is the registered trademark of Mitel Networks Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  2021. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005100/en/

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on May 10, 2021

2021/05/10

The second China+Central Asia (C+C5) foreign ministers' meeting will be held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province on May 12. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will host the meeting. Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, and Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov will attend the meeting in China.

China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors and strategic partners with profound traditional friendship and close exchange and cooperation in various sectors. In July 2020, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and C5 foreign ministers held their first virtual meeting, introducing a new platform to deepen mutual trust and cooperation. As this year marks the 30th anniversary of the C5's independence and the centenary of the CPC, and the year 2022 will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the C5, all hold high hopes for stronger cooperation going forward, bringing new historical opportunities for the development of relations between the two sides.

Against such a background, China proposed holding a second C+C5 foreign ministers' meeting, which will be the first face-to-face event under this mechanism, receiving positive feedback and support from the other countries. During the upcoming meeting, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and C5 foreign ministers will hold in-depth exchange of views on anti-epidemic and BRI cooperation, connectivity, international coordination and other issues of common interest, sign relevant outcome documents and conduct a series of bilateral talks as well as multilateral exchange sessions.

It's worth mentioning that Central Asia has been an important node on the Silk Road since ancient times. It is also in this region that President Xi Jinping first put forward the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative. The C5 are all China's important BRI partners. The choice of venue for this meeting, the city of Xi'an, cradle of the ancient Silk Road, carries special significance. We believe this event will be a complete success, contributing to fresh progress in China-C5 relations and BRI cooperation.

Shenzhen TV: Russia held a grand military parade in Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Putin said in his address that those who are "obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusivity" are in fact utilizing aspects of Nazi ideology. He added that Russia consistently defends international law and firmly protects national interests and the security of its people. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: We noted that Russia successfully held a grand military parade to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War. We expressed sincere congratulations. This year marks the 76th anniversary of the victory of WWII. China and Russia, as the main theaters in Asia and Europe during the war, made huge and painful sacrifices for and tremendous historical contributions to the final victory.

Over the past few years, a certain country has been pursuing the erroneous policy of unilateralism and protectionism, clinging to the mindset of zero-sum game and hyping up differences of ideology and political system in an attempt to create cliques and divisions and pursue bloc politics. Against such a backdrop, China and Russia always stand side by side to support each other on issues concerning respective core interests, firmly reject hegemony and bullying and jointly uphold international equity and justice. In the face of the once-in-a-century pandemic and changes, China will continue to work with Russia and the rest of the international community to defend the victory of WWII and hard-won peace, firmly safeguard the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law, adhere to the common value of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom held by all, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

CNR: Recently, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros announced that Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine was listed for emergency use. The vaccine is the first developed by a non-Western country to be included in the Emergency Use Listing (EUL). It is also the first time the WHO has given emergency use approval to a Chinese vaccine for any infectious disease. Do you have any comment? China earlier announced that it would provide 10 million doses to COVAX. What will you do in the future?

Hua Chunying: As Dr. Tedros said, the Sinopharm vaccine received WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality. China will continue to work with the international community to promote vaccine equity and accessibility in the developing world and contribute to mankind's early victory over COVID-19. China has announced to provide 10 million doses of vaccines to COVAX mainly to meet the urgent need of developing countries. We will honor words with actions. We are keeping close communication with the WHO on this.

Al Jazeera: As Ramadan continues, Israeli police illegally broke into the holy Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for no good reason and attacked Palestinians with rubber bullets, leaving hundreds wounded. As the clash roils on, Israel's provocations have drawn concerns and condemnation from many countries. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: China is concerned about the escalating tension between Israel and Palestine over the past couple of days. We call for calm and restraint to avoid more injuries from the clash. In the meantime, we hope that relevant parties of the international community will work for an early resumption of peace talks between Israel and Palestine according to relevant UN resolutions and on the basis of the two-state solution. China is ready to play a constructive role in this.

Xinhua News Agency: We noted that Cuban Ambassador to China Carlos Pereira, speaking at the Seminar on Poverty Alleviation, Development and Progress of Human Rights in China held in the city of Ningde, Fujian Province on May 8, commended China's achievement in eradicating extreme poverty while fighting COVID-19 as a brave victory. For over 60 years, Cuba has been suffering from a US blockade tantamount to genocide, Ambassador Pereira said, adding that Cuba rejects politicization of or double standard on human rights. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: I also note relevant reports. This Seminar on Poverty Alleviation, Development and Progress of Human Rights in China was part of a visit to Ningde, Fujian Province by diplomats from 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America including Cameroon, South Africa and Cuba at the invitation of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). Through field trips and seminars, the diplomats saw with their own eyes China's achievement in poverty-alleviation, development and human rights as well as local people's heartfelt joy and sense of gain, getting a deeper understanding of the people-centered development concept and governing philosophy upheld by the CPC and the Chinese government.

The inherent mandate of the international human rights cause is to enable every human being, regardless of nationality, ethnicity and cultural background, to enjoy equal freedoms and rights as well as decent food, clothing, health, housing, employment and education. Committed to a people-centered human rights philosophy, China always strives for greater progress in this field. Our objective is to ensure national security, ethnic harmony, social stability, equity, justice, economic and ecological well-being and to deliver tangible benefits to all the Chinese people. To leave no one behind in the pursuit of happiness for the 1.4 billion Chinese people and to make sure that no one is suffering from war, turmoil, poverty, hunger or epidemic, this is the achievement of China's human rights endeavor and the CPC's tremendous contribution to the global human rights cause. At the same time, China has been engaging actively in international human rights dialogue and cooperation and supporting the developing world in growing the economy to benefit the people in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other places. According to a World Bank report, BRI projects could help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty across the world by 2030.

The US, in contrast, has been violating human rights while preaching the cause of human rights. For instance, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it kept unilateral sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and Iran in disregard of their basic need to contain the virus and save lives. This has gravely threatened the basic human rights including the right to life, health and development of the people in these countries. For the 28th consecutive year, the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed on Cuba by the US.

Human rights should not be used as a pretext to suppress other countries. The US should immediately stop and redress its erroneous approach of politicizing and weaponizing human rights and applying double standard, and immediately lift all illegal unilateral sanctions and embargo on countries like Cuba. This is also what the international community is calling for.

KBS: Almost 100 days has passed since Myanmar was plunged into turmoil. China can play a very important role in resolving the situation. Where do you stand on this?

Hua Chunying: As a close neighbor of Myanmar, China is highly concerned about the current situation in the country, which is a member of the big ASEAN family. China supports parties in Myanmar in seeking a political solution through dialogue within the constitutional and legal framework, and advancing the hard-won democratic transition process suited to Myanmar's national conditions. We also support ASEAN, a mature regional organization, in upholding the principle of non-interference and the tradition of consensus-based decision-making to encourage and constructively participate in Myanmar's internal reconciliation process in the ASEAN Way. China also supports joint efforts to explore effective ways to ease the situation and solve the issue within the ASEAN framework. At the same time, we appeal for efforts to avoid further bloodshed, conflicts and civilian casualties, and prevent the situation from deteriorating or even spiraling out of control; to avoid improper intervention of the UN Security Council, lest it should undermine Myanmar's sovereignty and further complicate the situation; and to avoid external maneuvers to add fuel to the flames and mess up Myanmar in pursuit of selfish gains.

China hopes and believes that ASEAN will continue to play a constructive role in promoting political reconciliation in Myanmar and safeguarding ASEAN solidarity and cooperation as well as regional peace and stability. We will continue to stay in close communication with ASEAN and support its mediation efforts, while reaching out to parties in Myanmar in our own way, so as to facilitate an early "soft landing" for the situation in Myanmar.

CCTV: Recently, the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) based in Sweden released a feature report titled "The Xinjiang Genocide Determination As Agenda" to debunk the false accusation of "genocide" in Xinjiang fabricated by the US and other Western countries. The independent US website Counterpunch published an article titled "Reflections on Genocide as the Ultimate Crime", saying that the US allegation of "genocide" in Xinjiang was motivated by ideological posturing and was "unsupported by even a hint of evidence". Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: I read relevant articles. The increasing objective voices across the world on Xinjiang we've seen recently show that justice will eventually prevail.

As pointed out in the TFF report, the relevant US think tanks and authors of the "report" accusing China of committing genocide in Xinjiang have obvious political leanings, and the "report" seriously violates academic norms and intentionally neglects the definition of "genocide" and such important factors as terrorism. It comes to the conclusion that the so-called "report" by relevant US think tanks lacks credibility, parts of it would hardly pass as a paper for an MA course, and the empirical basis for accusing China of "genocide" is surprisingly weak.

As for the article published by the US website Counterpunch, it is co-authored by a human rights expert and a renowned professor of international law, who made in-depth elaborations on Xinjiang-related issues from a professional perspective. Their observations carry weight and are supported by convincing evidence. As they pointed out in the article, genocide is a well-defined term in international law. Allegation that China was committing genocide in Xinjiang was unsupported by even a hint of evidence. The US interest in the fate of the Uyghur people is not motivated by the protection of human rights, but rather geopolitics. The above-mentioned report and article happen to present the same view with many academic experts and journalists from the US, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Singapore and other countries.

China has talked about the stability and development in Xinjiang many times. We introduced our Xinjiang policy and debunked the despicable moves and vicious intention by some people to fabricate and spread lies and rumors on Xinjiang. The report and article again corroborated that. On Xinjiang-related issues, we hope that there can be more facts and truth, fewer lies and rumors; more objectivity and justice, less rumor-mongering and smearing; and more communication and cooperation, less political manipulation.

The door to Xinjiang is always open. We welcome people from other countries to visit Xinjiang and learn the truth about it. With abundant facts and truth, the lies of "genocide" in Xinjiang concocted by anti-China forces will never find a foothold.

RIA Novosti: After the debris of a Chinese rocket fell into the Indian Ocean, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that China is failing to meet responsible standard regarding the space debris. I wonder what is your comment?

Hua Chunying: The US and a few other countries have been hyping up the landing of the Chinese rocket debris over the past days. But as we've seen from reports, the upper stage of the rocket has reentered the atmosphere and there's no surface damage reported.

You mentioned some comments from the NASA administrator. We've learned from China Manned Space Engineering Office that it is currently common practice across the world for launch vehicles of spacecraft to undergo natural orbital decay after passing orbital altitude and then eventually be ablated upon reentry into the atmosphere. On April 29 Beijing time, the Long March-5B Y2 rocket successfully sent into orbit the space station's core module Tianhe. China has been following closely the upper stage's reentry into the atmosphere. The upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that it will not explode in orbit and produce space debris, and most of its parts will burn up upon reentry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low.

China monitored closely the reentry trajectory throughout the process and released a notice on the reentry in advance. We know from monitoring and analysis that the upper stage has landed in a sea area with the center at 2.65 degrees north latitude and 72.47 degrees east longitude at 10:24 a.m. on May 9. So far no damage has been reported.

In fact, the Chinese side shared its reentry forecast through international cooperation mechanisms. We always conduct activities for peaceful uses of outer space in accordance with international law and customary practice. We stand ready to have broader exchange and cooperation with other countries on the issue of space debris to ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities.

However, I would like to point out that some media and individuals in the US clearly hold double standard on this issue. You may recall that in March this year, when a piece of a SpaceX rocket crashed on a farm in the country, American media used such romantic descriptions as "lighting up the night sky like a meteor, producing a spectacular light show". But when it comes to China, the tune is completely different. I noticed some jesting online in China, saying that US politicians may be forgetful, but the Internet has a long memory. We stand ready to strengthen cooperation with other countries including the US, but we reject double standard on this issue.

Reuters: Just to follow up on that. Did China notify the Indian and Maldives governments in advance that the debris would fall close to them?

Hua Chunying: As I just said, China's space authority has released information several times on the reentry of upper stage debris of the Long March-5B Y2 rocket and shared reentry forecast via international cooperation mechanisms. To date no damage by the landing debris has been reported.

I've seen reports that since the launch of the first man-made satellite over 60 years ago, not a single incident has occurred where a piece of debris hit someone. US experts put the chances of that at less than one in a billion. For incidents of such infinitesimal likelihood, we should trust the judgement of professional departments and personnel and leave them to handle the matter. There is really no need for media to exaggerate things and create panic.

China Review News: We noticed that after the Sinopharm vaccine is listed by the WHO for emergency use, foreign media are saying that the world is becoming increasingly reliant on Chinese vaccines. Do you have a comment?

Hua Chunying: What I can tell you is that China is providing more vaccines to developing countries than any other country. China is committed to building a community of health for all. We are the first to pledge to make vaccines a global public good and we are honoring our words with concrete actions. China has offered vaccine assistance to over 80 developing countries and exported doses to over 50 countries, as part of our continuous effort to remove "vaccine divide".

Vaccines are important weapons to fight the virus. We hope countries with the conditions and capabilities can take prompt actions to offer more, timely doses to developing countries to promote the equitable distribution and application of vaccines across the world, and reject hoarding vaccines.

Bloomberg: A question on the South China Sea. The Philippines military has said that it will ask President Duterte to fund a logistics hub on the South China Sea islands. The objective is to drive away Chinese maritime militia and other Chinese vessels from their exclusive economic zone. Does the foreign ministry have any comment?

Hua Chunying: China's position on the South China Sea issue is clear, firm and consistent.

The South China Sea issue might be an issue between China and the Philippines, but it is not insoluble. China and the Philippines enjoy a friendship spanning thousands of years whereas the South China Sea issue arose only several decades ago. Our two countries have reached the consensus to properly and peacefully handle the issue through dialogue and negotiation. China and other ASEAN countries also share the same consensus to properly handle relevant issues through dialogue and negotiation while jointly safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea. We hope certain individuals will refrain from stirring up trouble on this issue.

China News Service: Some US officials recently accused the Chinese government of using state media and their platforms to engage in propaganda and spread disinformation overseas in an attempt to disrupt and undermine democracy while restricting freedom of press and speech at home. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: Some in the US, in the name of freedom of press and speech, wantonly smear and attack China. This in itself is spreading disinformation and a travesty of real freedom and democracy.

If they are truly defending freedom, why won't they allow others to tell the truth when they are making up lies to confuse public opinion? If they are truly defending freedom, why is it that Mr. Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, was thrown in prison after being forced to shelter in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven years? If they are truly defending freedom, why not respect or at least tolerate the existence of other civilizations and systems? If they are truly defending freedom, why target views different from its "political correctness" and repress those holding such views? If they are truly defending freedom, why deprive other countries of their right and freedom to normal development and suppress them?

Al Jazeera: May 15 is Palestine's Nakba Day. The Israeli attack took place in Jerusalem. Does China recognize East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital? And does China see this attack as an act of aggression on the Palestinian territory?

Hua Chunying: As I just said, China is concerned about the escalating tension between Israel and Palestine recently. We hope they can remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid more injuries. We hope that relevant parties of the international community will work for an early resumption of peace talks between the two sides according to relevant UN resolutions and on the basis of the two-state solution.

On the Palestine question, China always holds an objective and just position. We support the just cause of the Palestinian people and support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that enjoys full sovereignty, with East Jerusalem as its capital and based on the 1967 border. For multiple times, President Xi Jinping sent congratulatory messages to meetings held by the UN to observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. We sympathize with the sufferings of refugees both in and outside Palestine. China will continue to contribute through concrete actions its strength and wisdom to the comprehensive and just resolution of the Palestinian issue at an early date and to lasting peace in the Middle East.

Reuters: There are reports that China asked UN member states not to attend a virtual Xinjiang event planned by Germany, the US and the UK on Wednesday. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: The US, rallying a handful of countries like the UK and Germany, plans to hold the so-called virtual meeting on Xinjiang and falsely calls it a sideline event of the UN. This reminds me of the farce back in January this year when US Permanent Representative to the UN Kelly Craft, abusing her capacity, sneaked into the UN General Assembly Hall to make a video of virtual interaction with students in Taiwan. The US and the few countries it has assembled are abusing the resources and platform of the UN to smear and attack China to serve selfish political interests. This is a shameful travesty of the UN. I must point out that a handful of Western countries such as the US, the UK and Germany can by no means represent the UN, even less the international community.

The US claims that it cares about the human rights of Muslims, but it is the US that killed more Muslims than any other country in the world. Putting aside the long-standing systemic racial discrimination in the US, we know the US has waged wars and carried out military operations in the name of "counterterrorism" in 80-plus countries around the world. More than 800,000 people have died from direct war violence, most of whom were civilians, and tens of millions of people have been displaced. Today, over 20 million people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other countries are still living in extreme conditions. Nearly 600,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and I noted that a study by the University of Washington estimates the real number may far exceed that. How hypocritical it is for the US to watch callously as tens of thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria died at its hand, and as more than 600,000 Americans died from COVID-19, and then to go all out and fabricate the so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang!

If there were a real human rights problem in Xinjiang, wouldn't the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its over 50 member states be more concerned than the US? The OIC sent a delegation to visit Xinjiang upon invitation, during which it fully recognized the importance the Chinese government attaches to protecting the rights of Muslim believers and spoke highly of China's preventive counterterrorism and de-radicalization efforts. At the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, more than 80 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Muslim countries, voiced their support for China's position on Xinjiang-related issues in different ways. For the United States, a country that has killed nearly a million Muslims and infringed upon the human rights of tens of millions more, to profess concern over the human rights of Uyghurs in Xinjiang is just like the weasel paying respect to the hen without the best of intentions.

As is pointed out in a recent article titled "Things to Know about All the Lies on Xinjiang: How Have They Come About?" on Chinese media, the anti-China forces in the US and the West seem to have developed a routine for manufacturing and peddling lies and rumors to attack China. First, rumors are packaged as information leaked by "scholars" and "victims", which are then hyped up by media, and followed by official intervention. With this routine, "witness accounts" and "reports" emerge one after another, "directors" and "actors" come on stage in various disguises. In response, China has issued 12 white papers on Xinjiang and "Fact Check: Lies on Xinjiang-related issues versus the truth". The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has also held more than 40 special press conferences to share the real situation in Xinjiang. I believe you all have a very clear idea of what the issue is truly about. As we all noted, Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sibel Edmonds, former FBI translator, admitted that they never care about people or any ethnic minority in Xinjiang. They only want to use them to foment unrest and destabilize China from internal places rather than external in order to realize their conspiracy of disrupting Xinjiang and containing China. There are many media reports about this. US independent news website The Greyzone published an article exposing how anti-China "scholar" Adrian Zenz has fabricated the centenary lie of "genocide" in Xinjiang through data abuse, information distortion and false witness account. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, the Australian Citizens Party's weekly publication The Australian Alert Service, and Brazil's Estado de Minas and many other media ran reports and articles to show the effective counter-terrorism work in Xinjiang and expose the double standard on fighting terrorism held by Western countries including the US and their geopolitical conspiracy to use Xinjiang to contain China. The Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao, the website Project Syndicate, the Sweden-based Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research and the US independent website Counterpunch published articles or released reports to point out that the US claim of "forced labor" and "genocide" in Xinjiang is totally groundless. A recently-released feature report by former mayor of Frogn municipality in Norway, "The Xinjiang Genocide Determination As Agenda", laid bare the lack of objectivity, verity and integrity of a report alleging genocide in Xinjiang by US think tanks. Another example, French author Maxime Vivas in his book "Uyghurs: To Put an End to Fake News" proved that all sorts of lies and rumors on Xinjiang are baseless with his own two trips there.

Some in the US have repeatedly hyped up the so-called "human rights issue" in Xinjiang on nothing but the words of merely about 20 false witnesses and scholars. By contrast, there are so many Xinjiang residents who told their own stories in the press conferences on Xinjiang held by China and so many people from the international community like those who disclosed the true intention of Xinjiang-related lies and rumors fabricated by the US and the West as I just cited. They have far exceeded the false witnesses and scholars treasured by the US in terms of number and representation. Isn't the US a democracy? Even from a democratic perspective, certain individuals on the US side choose to buy the "account" of 20-plus false witnesses and actors but refuse to listen to the voice of people whose number is several times, ten times, one hundred times, one thousand times, even ten thousand times greater than the former, refuse to heed the call of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, including more than 25 million people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Is it in line with their self-styled democratic values? In the final analysis, they are too cowardly to face the truth and are afraid of the truth.

But no matter how deep they bury their heads into the sand or how hard they try to cover their ears, the facts and truth about Xinjiang are there for all to see. These politicians in the US and other Western countries have been fabricating lies and rumors without any scruples out of the vicious intention of suppressing and containing China, but this farce is being seen through by more and more people. The cheap shot will only accelerate the erosion of the credibility of the US itself. So they should know better than keeping up the play.

Beijing Youth Daily: On May 7, US Secretary of State Blinken released a statement calling on the WHO Director-General to invite Taiwan to participate as an observer at the WHA. The statement reads that "excluding the interests of 24 million people at the WHA serves only to imperil, not advance, our shared global health objectives" and would be detrimental to collective international efforts to prevent future health crises. The G7 foreign ministers' meeting also issued a communique earlier, voicing support for "Taiwan's meaningful participation in World Health Organisation forums and the World Health Assembly". Do you have a comment?

Hua Chunying: China has stated its solemn position on the content concerning Taiwan in the communique of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting. The statement by US Secretary of State Blinken gravely violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques and interferes in China's domestic affairs. We deplore and reject it.

There is only one China in the world. The participation of China's Taiwan region in activities of international organizations, including the WHO, must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle. This is a key principle established by UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, which has received broad support from the international community. It is the DPP authority's entrenched "Taiwan-independence" separatist position that has depleted the political foundation for the region's participation in the WHA. The DPP authority knows only too well that it bears full responsibility for this.

Driven by political agenda, the US is pushing the narrative that excluding Taiwan from the WHA will imperil shared global health objectives and would be detrimental to efforts to prevent future health crises. This is nothing but a political lie. As a matter of fact, no one cares more about the health and welfare of our compatriots in Taiwan than us. After COVID-19 broke out, the Central Government of China invited health experts from the Taiwan region, before inviting anyone else outside the mainland, to visit Wuhan, Hubei Province to see the situation on the ground. We shared 52 epidemic-prevention documents with Taiwan in 13 batches and updated it on the latest information for multiple times, including information on Taiwan residents infected in the mainland. We also notified it in particular of the information that the mainland shared the genome sequencing and routes to obtain relevant genome sequencing. By May 5, the Central Government had given the Taiwan region 258 updates about the COVID-19 outbreak. In March this year, a cross-strait virtual seminar on prevention policies and experience-sharing was held to share technical experience.

Based on the one-China principle, the Central Government of China has made appropriate arrangements for Taiwan's participation in global health affairs. According to incomplete statistics, since 2020, health experts in Taiwan have participated in 16 WHO technical activities, including important meetings like the fourth Global Vaccine and Immunization Research Forum and WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization meetings. There is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region. Taiwan also has an account to log onto the WHO event information website and has timely access to WHO information on public health emergencies through the website and the daily updates. It can also report incidents to the WHO in a timely manner. With the approval of China's Central Government, the WHO Secretariat notified health experts in Taiwan three times of information about COVID-19. Taiwan has also joined COVAX. Experts in the region attended multiple times WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization meetings and got timely and full access to COVID-related information.

I want to draw your attention to one point. Isn't it self-contradictory for the Taiwan authority to tout itself as a model for epidemic prevention and for the US to pile praise on Taiwan's anti-epidemic outcomes while sensationalizing the narrative of imperiling global heath objectives? This exposes fully that the US claim that excluding the 24 million Taiwan people at the WHA would be detrimental to collective international efforts to prevent future health crises is purely political manipulation to justify Taiwan's participation in the WHA.

I would like to stress again that the Taiwan question bears on China's core interests, where there is not a single inch for compromise. As COVID-19 continues to rage, this WHA's primary task is to focus on global anti-pandemic cooperation. We urge the US to stop hyping up Taiwan-related issues, which will not help with the global anti-virus cooperation and will be firmly rejected by the vast majority of members of the international community.

Global Times: It is reported that as it conducted an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, the US State Department obtained an internal document written by scientists from the Air Force Medical University of the People's Liberation Army and senior Chinese public health officials in 2015. The paper says that SARScoronaviruses can be "artificially manipulated into an emerging humandisease virus, then weaponised and unleashed in a way never seen before". What's your comment?

Hua Chunying: I note reports on this. Some in the US take every opportunity to cite and play up so-called "internal documents" and "reports" to denigrate and smear China. However, facts and truth always prove that they are either the offender playing the defendant, or making vicious interpretations by taking words out of context or with presumption of guilt, or spreading sheer lies. There are already media reports saying that the document mentioned by the US side is not any classified internal document, but rather a piece of openly available academic work. It cited relevant research by former US Colonel Michael Ainscough and pointed out that "next generation bioweapons" are part of US air force projects which are aimed at helping the US to better cope with the threat of weapons of mass destruction. The argument by Ainscough shows that it is the US that is researching the technology of genetic engineering applied to bio-warfare and bio-terrorism.

China has always strictly fulfilled its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention and doesn't develop, research or produce bio-weapons. China has put in place a complete set of laws and regulations, technical standards and management system on the safety of bio-labs.

I also want to point out that many countries are gravely concerned about bio-labs built by the US both within its borders and overseas. It is reported that the US has over 200 overseas bio-labs in 25 countries and regions including Africa, Middle East, South Asia and the former Soviet Union. The sites where some bio-labs are based have seen outbreaks of large-scale infectious diseases. A USA TODAY Network investigation reveals that since 2003, hundreds of lab incidents have occurred in the US biological laboratories where humans had accidental contact with deadly pathogens, leading to epidemics. Since June 2019, US media have been reporting on problems at Fort Detrick. However, nearly two years on, the US government still remains reticent on this. A Russian official recently said that Russia believes that labs under US control along the Russia-China border are developing biological weapons. People are eager to know: Why did the US set up so many bio-labs around the world? What's it after? How much sensitive biological resources and information did the US acquire from relevant countries? What activities are carried out at Fort Detrick and its overseas bio-labs? Are they somehow linked to the US research on "next generation bioweapons"? The US owes the international community an honest, transparent and responsible answer to those question.
BWXT Medical Ltd. (BWXT Medical) announced today that it has entered into a new long-term, mutually exclusive agreement to manufacture TheraSphere Y-90 Glass Microspheres for Boston Scientific, a leading global medical device company.

Developed for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), TheraSphere treatment is comprised of millions of glass microspheres containing radioactive Yttrium-90, which are delivered directly to liver tumors via catheter and result in minimal exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.

BWXT Medical is a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT) and a global supplier of medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals.

Under the terms of the agreement, BWXT Medical will invest to automate the production process at its Ottawa, Canada facility, and thereby significantly increase capacity and dependability to support a growing global demand for TheraSphere.

"We congratulate Boston Scientific on its recent receipt of FDA PMA approval of TheraSphere, which expands patient access to this unique technology," said Martyn Coombs, president of BWXT Medical. "We share the aspiration of making a significant difference in the lives of people suffering with cancer, and we look forward to continuing to build a strong supply chain foundation for future growth."

Forward Looking Statements

BWXT cautions that this release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to expectations for the production, performance, demand, timing and impact of TheraSphere. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, changes in market demand, delays in automation of our production, regulatory approvals and competitive actions. If one or more of these or other risks materialize, actual results may vary materially from those expressed. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see BWXTs annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. BWXT cautions not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release, and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except to the extent required by applicable law.

Story continues

About BWXT

At BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT), we are People Strong, Innovation Driven. Headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., BWXT provides safe and effective nuclear solutions for national security, clean energy, environmental remediation, nuclear medicine and space exploration. With approximately 6,700 employees, BWXT has 12 major operating sites in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, BWXT joint ventures provide management and operations at more than a dozen U.S. Department of Energy and NASA facilities. Follow us on Twitter at @BWXTech and learn more at www.bwxt.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005041/en/

Contacts

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The Canadian banking giants like TD Bank and Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO)(NYSE:BMO) have been roaring back in a big way over the past year. Through the worst of last years lockdowns, many investors felt jittery over the thought that banks would have to grapple with negative interest rates, soaring provisions for credit losses (PCLs), and meagre loan growth, potentially for years to come.

The headwinds faced by Canadas top banks couldnt have been stronger. There wasnt much of anything to be optimistic about. If you sided with history despite the seemingly insurmountable pressures, you did pretty well, and it didnt matter which bank stock you picked. They all breathed a massive sigh of relief when Pfizer revealed its incredibly effective vaccine breakthrough, which caught many investors by surprise.

All of a sudden, the market chatter about negative rates has all but vanished. And in their place? Rising rates.

Jitters over higher rates are back

Investors seem so worried about higher rates such that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellens remarks on rate hikes were enough to spook investors and cause a vicious single-day sell-off led by tech stocks. Fed chair Jerome Powell remains as dovish as ever. Despite Yellens clarification that she sees no need for Powell to hike rates, investors seem to be erring on the side of caution, with valuations now at the higher end of the spectrum.

Like it or not, inflation is coming, and it could overshoot, sparking the need for rate hikes far sooner than 2024. Surprises can happen, and investors would be wise to be ready for whatever unpredictable curveball Mr. Market throws at them next.

That means getting back into the stocks that will stand to benefit from higher rates and a booming economy. For the first time in years, the Canadian banking giants seem too good to ignore; just one year after it seemed like all hope was lost.

Like it or not, the boring bank stocks are the new momentum stocks. And as value stays in the drivers seat of this market, I think the big banks are must-buys for any long-term-focused portfolio.

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A new era of growth for the banking giants?

A CIBC analyst named Paul Holden seems to think that Canadas banks will be entering a new era of growth on the back of a stimulus-driven economic recovery, the likes of which we may not have seen since WWII.

I think Holden is right on the money. The macro picture hasnt looked this good for the banks in years, if not decades.

Its been a rough patch for the Big Six over the past three years, as they navigated through a rare Canadian credit downturn that preceded the horrific coronavirus crisis. The rear-view mirror is dark, but the road ahead is absurdly bright. And with the tables poised to turn in a big way, now is as good a time as any to punch your ticket to your favourite banking giant, as they look to ride to new highs on the back of this bull market.

My favourite pick is Bank of Montreal, a name that nearly shed half of its value during the coronavirus crash, as small business and the oil patch crumbled in what seemed like an instant. With oil prices poised to make a run to US$70, while small businesses have a weight lifted off their shoulders in the post-COVID environment, Id say BMO stock still has much to gain in a return to normalcy. BMO was the scariest a year ago. Now, I think its one of the sexier plays of the Big Six banking giants.

Foolish bottom line

Its been a long time coming for the big banks. So, if youve got the inflation or rate hike jitters, it may be wise to hedge your tech bets with Canadas top banks, which still seem too cheap for their own good, even after their historic recoveries.

The post Canadian Banking Giants Could Surge in the Roaring 20s appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The operator of low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has raised $250 million (around 11.96 billion) in fresh funds as it continues to face financial hemorrhage with a net loss of 7.29 billion in the first quarter due to lingering coronavirus restrictions.

In a statement issued Monday, listed Cebu Air Inc. (CEB) said the multimillion-dollar investment from the IFC, the IFC Emerging Asia Funda private equity fund managed by the IFC Asset Management Companyand American private equity firm Indigo Partners could provide longer liquidity to help the company withstand the effects of the pandemic until travel demand recovers.

The investments were in the form of convertible bonds, the Gokongwei-led firm said almost a month after it signed the deal with the private equity investors.

In March, CEB also inked a 16-billion loan deal with the state-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines. Other lenders in the term loan facility include Asia United Bank Corporation, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, and Union Bank of the Philippines.

We view Indigo, IFC, and IFC Emerging Asia Fund not only as capital providers but also long-term partners in driving improvements in the business, as well as accelerating our sustainability agenda, Lance Gokongwei, president and chief executive of CEB, said in the statement. This will further strengthen CEB as we recover."

Meanwhile, its disclosure in the local bourse showed that CEB widened its net loss by a whopping 516.9% to 7.29 billion against the 1.18 billion posted a year earlier.

This, as the group's core business suffered from an 83% decline in revenues, dropping to 2.70 billion from the 15.91 billion generated in the same period in 2020.

Air travel remains "far behind its normal activity level due to ongoing flight restrictions and weak demand for travel", CEB said.

Passenger revenues plunged 92.2% to 887.447 million against the previous 11.388 billion, CEB said, It noted that passenger volume dramatically dropped to about 500,000 in January to March period from 4.4 million a year ago.

Ancillary revenues also decreased 85.7% to 501.719 million compared to last year's 3.512 billion.

The group's cargo business, on the other hand, saw strong demand with revenues jumping 30.3% to 1.320 billion versus the 1.013 billion recorded a year earlier.

CEB's shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange went up 1.14% or 55 centavos to close at 48.80 each on Monday.
Chinese Embassy Supports Needy Muslim Groups with Ramadan Food Items

2021/05/11

On May 10, 2021, H.E. Chinese Ambassador Hu Zhangliang, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, donated a batch of food items to the needy Muslim Groups as they are observing the holy month of Ramadan. Hon. Minister of Social Welfare Mme. Baindu Dassama witnessed the handover of the items.

The donated items include 6.25 tons of rice, 1,250 liters of cooking oil, 2.5 tons of sugar and 450 kg of salt, which were received by the United Council of Imams (UCI) for further donation to the needy.

On receiving the donation, Alhaji Dr. Mohammed Habib Sheriff, the President of UCI and other senior Muslim leaders thanked the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone for this kind gesture and its continued support. They said that the food items come at the right time and assured that the items will be used for their intended purposes.

Ambassador Hu said that this donation is a gesture of friendship and thanked the Hon. Minister of Social Welfare and the UCI for their coordination. He also expressed his good wishes through the UCI to the Muslim brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone and wished them a joyous Eid Al-Fitr in advance.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  Manny Villar-led Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. (VLL) is not in the mood for a land-buying spree this year, the company said Monday.

The VLL group, a listed property developer focused on residential subdivisions and construction of housing and condominium units, said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange it will "maintain its stance on minimal land acquisition thereby maximizing its existing land bank..."

It also seeks to be "conservative in terms of its leasing space expansion program."

In a filing dated April 23, the firm said its raw land inventory stood at 2,976 hectares as of end-December, a bulk of which are located in Mega Manila.

"However, the company has the capacity to fast track construction and to launch projects when opportunities present themselves," it said.

VLL's companies focused on residential property development are Brittany Corp., Crown Asia Properties, Inc., Vista Residences, Inc., and Camella Homes, Inc. Its Vistamalls, on the other hand, is engaged in commercial property development.

Meanwhile, its top official said first-quarter numbers looked "encouraging" despite expecting earnings to fall 14% to 2.1 billion.

Coming from 2020, our preliminary first quarter headline numbers this year are quite encouraging," Manuel Paolo A. Villar, president and chief executive officer of Vista Land, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Revenues may also decrease by 12% to 8.7 billion, he said, as real estate and leasing contributions to the company are expected to drop to 6.3 billion and 2 billion, respectively.

Reservation sales in the first quarter, however, went up 4% to 16.1 billion.

"We continue to navigate through these still challenging times brought about by the pandemic but with a more optimistic outlook this year especially as the vaccination rollout ramps up. In addition, indicators such as Overseas Filipinos (OF) demand remains to be resilient with an upward trend as the host countries of our OFs are on their way to achieving herd immunity, Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said.

The projected growth of OF remittances this year also bodes well for the Company since approximately 55% to 60% of our sales are OF sales, he added.

Shares in VLL traded slightly higher by 2.30% on Monday to close at 3.56.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  Chinese vessels are still in the West Philippine Sea, with Philippine naval and aerial assets not backing down from sovereignty patrols in the area, the chief of the country's armed forces said Monday.

Without giving the exact number, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana told CNN Philippines' The Source that the vessels include those from China's navy, coast guard and militia while some are manned by fishermen. He said the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea will be the one to provide the figures.

"There are still Chinese vessels from Coast Guard, Navy, some are militias, some are fishermen. I would suggest that the figures will be taken from NTF-WPS dahil 'yun ang usapan namin, (because that is what we have discussed)," he added.

Sobejana said at least 10 Philippine Navy ships are currently deployed to conduct sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea, while four planes from the Air Force are on standby under the Western Command.

Radio challenges from China have also continued over the past weeks, but the Philippines is not backing down, Sobejana noted.

"Sa surface patrols lang madalas may challenges. May template na itong Chinese navy, coast guard na this is our territory, get out of here. But we are not intimidated by those challenges," he said.

[Translation: During surface patrols, they issue challenges. The Chinese navy and coast guard already has this template saying, 'this is our territory, get out of here.' But we are not intimidated by those challenges.]

"We continue our route," he said, adding that they ensure the patrol plan is not disrupted by those challenges.

Sobejana also said they are looking at transforming Pag-asa Island in the Kalayaan Island Group into a logistics hub and installing a high-resolution monitoring system in the country's nine occupied features there to "improve their situational awareness" amid the sea dispute.

READ: AFP: Logistics hub, high-res CCTVs eyed to improve WPS patrols

The military is also ready to assist the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources who are mainly exercising their police authority over foreign vessels spotted within the country's exclusive economic zone.

"Very clear ang mandate ng AFP (The AFP has a very clear mandate). That is to secure the people and defend the territory," Sobejana stressed, noting that patrols will continue to ensure that Filipino fishermen can continue to exercise their rights in contributing to the country's food security.

"Isa pa (One more thing), it is ours. We [will] continue to do our part as defender of our territory and protector of the people," he added.

Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Armand Balilo said last week that there will also be a second leg of maritime exercises in the West Philippine Sea where they will deploy their 84-meter offshore patrol vessel, BRP Gabriela Silang, their largest and most modern offshore patrol vessel to date. The PCG is also recruiting additional personnel and preparing more assets to strengthen its functions.

READ: PCG: More personnel, assets underway to strengthen coast guard functions
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  Time lost is lives lost, vaccine czar and National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. said, as he called on the Nayong Pilipino Foundation to immediately sign the agreement on the construction of a mega vaccination site in the area.

In a statement on Sunday, he said the government [does] not wish to downplay the position of the NPF board, which has raised concerns regarding the project, including its impact to the ecosystem.

Galvez stressed, however, the urgency of building the facility, which is seen to help hit the target of nationwide herd immunity from COVID-19 within the year.

We would like to emphasize that the government deeply cares for the environment, he said. But as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the lives of our people and our economy, we have to make the choice. Green and open spaces will be useless if there will be no one to visit them.

Last month, the national COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force approved the proposal for the mega facilitys construction at Nayong Pilipino. Still, site works have not yet begun, as the NPF board has yet to sign a memorandum of agreement with the national task force.

On Thursday, the board said the abrupt cutting of nearly 500 trees, along with other site works on the property, will kill the existing ecosystem and negatively impact Metro Manila residents. Galvez said, however, they believe it is inappropriate to equate the fate of 500 Ipil-Ipil trees with the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Filipinos.

Moreover, the proposed site of the facility is a reclaimed piece of land and not a protected forest or a marine sanctuary, he added.

He also assured that the environmental impact of the project has been carefully considered in the vaccination sites design by renowned architect and urban planner Felino Palafox.

Health, legal concerns

Apart from environmental matters, the NPF raised possible health risks for people set to receive vaccines, since a quarantine facility is also located at the Nayong Pilipino.

A careful study of the design and ventilation systems for both are necessary to ensure there is no cross-contamination to take place, the board said.

It also questioned the propriety of allowing a private institution, the ICTSI Foundation, to operate and manage the government property, "contrary to Presidential Decree No. 1445." The foundation is part of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.s group of companies.

In response, Galvez pointed out that Razon has offered to build the facility at no cost to the national government.

Vouching for the billionaire's integrity, Galvez added that Razons offer for help reflects his deep concern for his countrymen and strong commitment to help the government in scaling up the nations COVID-19 response, mitigation and vaccination efforts.

The mega vaccination center eyed at Nayong Pilipino is expected to accommodate around 10,000 vaccine recipients daily. The government said that once vaccine supply stabilizes, it aims to inoculate 500,000 people in Metro Manila per day to help reach the goal of immunizing 50 to 70 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by year-end.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The country received 193,050 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

DHL flight LD457 landed at 8:51 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2.

The vaccines are from COVAX, a global initiative led by the World Health Organization, Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which seeks member countries' equitable access to vaccines.

In a joint statement released by the Department of Health, WHO and UNICEF on Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the Pfizer vaccines will be used on priority groups A1 to A3, adding that the vaccines would continue to boost confidence in the government's national vaccination program.

"Today's arrival of vaccines is one more step in the fight against COVID-19," UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov said in the same statement.

WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said many of the vaccines that arrived on Monday would be administered to healthcare workers.

In an interview, Abeyasinghe said he hopes the arrival of the vaccine would encourage more people to be inoculated.

"We believe that with the introduction of the Pfizer vaccine, people who had some degree of hesitancy would have confidence because the Pfizer vaccines have a good track record," he said.

He added that achieving herd immunity may be difficult this year, due to challenges in the suppply chain.

"Whether we can achieve that within this year, may be a challenge. So we are looking at probably next year when can we achieve full herd immunity, because although we have planned for large quantities of vaccines to come, we have seen challenges on the global supply chain," he said.

Cabinet secretary Karlo Nograles said President Rodrigo Duterte was aware of the arrival of the vaccines and was "very happy" about it.

He added that the President was not able to attend the event as he had an important function to attend the next day.

In a separate statement, the US Embassy said it "welcomes the successful arrival" of vaccines to the country.

"As we fight the pandemic together, the United States will continue to support the Philippines' vaccination and COVID-19 mitigation efforts," said US Embassy Charge d'Affaires John Law.

Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the vaccines would be distributed in Metro Manila and other major cities which can handle the product's storage requirements of -70 to -80C.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said a total of 1.3 million doses of the vaccines developed by the American firm may arrive in the country this month.

The Philippines was supposed to receive 117,000 doses of the vaccines in February but it failed to push through due to the lack of an indemnification deal.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines claimed that the clash with over 20 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) over the weekend could be a diversionary tactic from the military's focus on other areas in Maguindanao.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source , AFP chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana on Monday said the BIFF group which occupied the Datu Paglas town market on Saturday is a splinter group that is among those who are looking at vacuum areas in the province with no military presence.

"Ang intention nila, as we assess, is to divert our attention," Sobejana said. "Itong 20 is just a splinter group of Bangsamoro (Islamic) Freedom Fighters."

[Translation: Their intention, as we assess, is to divert our attention. The 20 is just part of a splinter group of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.]

"Gusto nilang ma-divert ang ating attention by doing perceived attacks para ma-sway yung ating direction," he also said. "Nakikita namin isa ito sa ginagawang tactics, techniques and procedures."

[Translation: They wanted to divert our attention by doing perceived attacks to sway our direction. We see this as part of their usual tactics, techniques and procedures.]

Four BIFF members presumed injured

No deaths and property damage were reported. But Sobejana said at least four BIFF members were believed to be injured after an exchange of fire between them and the rebel group, based on reports of civilians who witnessed the encounter.

"Based on observations of some of the civilians, merong apat na binubuhat na (there were four of the rebels who were being carried and) we presumed were wounded," he said.

READ: Maguindanao town 'under control' after BIFF gunmen cause stir, fight with troops

At least four improvised explosive devices were also retrieved in the area.

Meanwhile, residents who evacuated are now returning to their homes after government troops declared that the situation is "under control."

Sobejana clarified that a hot pursuit operation is ongoing to locate the 20 who headed toward Liguasan Marsh. He said they are improving marshland operations capability. The military is also adjusting its operations to monitor the main group while other contingency forces can monitor the vacuum areas within the province, he added.

He added that simultaneous security operations are also ongoing to track the activities of other terrorist groups in Bangsamoro, in the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan, and other areas of Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, 6th Infantry Division commander, said in a public briefing that operations also ongoing against Dawlah Islamiya. Stakeholders and local government units are coordinating to help secure the province and prevent terrorist recruitment.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) - Unilever has committed to stop skin retouching and digital alteration of bodies in its ads as part of its progressive "Positive Beauty" vision and strategy.

Among the commitments, Unilever will not digitally alter a person's body shape, size, proportion, or skin color in its brand advertising - a move already started by Dove in previous years. The beauty and personal care company also vowed to increase the number of advertisements portraying people from diverse groups who are under-represented, as part of its long-time support to the #UnStereotype global movement.

Unilever will also eliminate the word 'normal' from all of its beauty and personal care brands' packaging and advertising. This year, Pond's is shifting its products and campaigns to veer away from whitening, empowering Filipinas to love and care for their skin.

Unilever's "Positive Beauty" will be implemented across its beauty and personal care brands, including its portfolio in the Philippines. "Dove, Cream Silk, Lifebuoy, Closeup, Love Beauty & Planet, and the rest of its brands will champion a new era of beauty which is equitable and inclusive, as well as sustainable for the planet," Unilever said in a statement.

The strategy is based on a 10,000-person study commissioned by Unilever, conducted across nine countries. The research found that:

- More than half of people (56%) think that the beauty and personal care industry can make people feel excluded.

- People want to see the beauty and personal care industry focusing more on making people feel better than just looking better (74%).

- More than half of people (52%) say they now pay more attention to a company's stance on societal issues before buying products.

- Seven in ten people agree that using the word 'normal' on product packaging and advertising has a negative impact. For younger people aged 18-35, this rises to eight in ten.

"In the Philippines, Unilever continues to leverage on its scale to drive positive impact in its communities. In its effort to transform its portfolio of well-loved products into brands with purpose, Unilever Philippines says 'Yes to Positive Beauty', a movement not just for us, but for all Filipinos to champion a new era of beauty and personal care that's inclusive, equitable and sustainable," said Dorothy Dee-Ching, Unilever Philippines' Vice President for Beauty and Personal Care.

"As the number 1 beauty and personal care company in the country, we acknowledge the part we play in being a force for good, and Yes to Positive Beauty encompasses our commitment to do this through our brands," she added.

Just this April, Unilever also launched its very own online portal www.BeautyHub.ph, a content hub celebrating a progressive, inclusive and tolerant world, representing all types of shapes, sizes, orientations, ages, religions, and more. Your everyday beauty expert, www.BeautyHub.PH celebrates unique experiences through features and content that's helpful, authentic, and positive.

Underpinned by multiple commitments and time-bound targets, "Positive Beauty" follows the launch of "Clean Future", the sustainable business strategy of Unilever's Home Care Division in September 2020, and Future Foods, the sustainable business strategy of Unilever's Foods & Refreshment Division in November 2020 and marks Unilever's pathway to realize its vision of being the leader in sustainable business globally.

As Unilever continues to build its portfolio of purpose-driven brands, its commitments will tackle the key challenges of our time, such as packaging and waste, gender equality, human rights, and fair value, climate change, and social inclusion.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The guests who attended a possible super spreader gathering at a resort in Caloocan City over the weekend have been advised to undergo quarantine.

Around 300 guests were at Gubat sa Ciudad resort on Sunday although these recreational establishments are prohibited from opening due to the modified enhanced community quarantine status over the city. As the heat index soared, dozens of people were also seen frolicking in a giant pool in the resort, despite strict mass gathering restrictions due to the COVID-19 surge in Metro Manila.

The Department of Health on Monday said it has ordered its regional office to monitor the health of those who attended the gathering. The guests were told to finish the 14-day quarantine to stop the possible spread of the virus.

"Ang mga nagpunta sa resort na iyan, kailangan nila mag-quarantine for 14 days, lahat po sila, so we can ensure na walang pagkakahawa-hawaan na mangyayari," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.

[Translation: Those who went to the resort need to undergo 14-day quarantine -- all of them -- so we can ensure that the virus will not be transmitted.]

Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan said the 300 registered guests are mostly from other cities. He said they will test the guests from the city.

The resort owner also received a tongue lashing from Vergeire for allowing its business to open.

"Ang kababayan natin ay pupunta diyan kung papayag kayo, eh binuksan natin kaya nakapasok ang mga tao at nakapagswimming at nakapagsaya. Ito ay mali. Hindi natin ito ito-tolerate.

[Translation: People will go there if you allow it. You opened it so people went there to swim and enjoy. This is wrong. We will not tolerate this.]

Malapitan said the owner of the resort and the barangay captain overseeing the area will have to face criminal and administrative complaints, respectively. He said the business permit of Gubat sa Ciudad resort will be permanently revoked following the violation, adding the final notice will be served on Monday.

"Ang second step namin, nireready na namin, magfa-file kami ng criminal offense dito sa owner ng establishment. RA11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act) ... At nagfile din ako ng administrative complaint sa barangay captain na sumasakop noong establishment," he told CNN Philippines.

[Translation: Our next step is to file criminal offense against the owner. We are preparing to file it for violation of the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act... I also filed an administrative complaint against the barangay captain.]

Mayor Malapitan is, however, off the hook according to Interior Department.

"So far no. Mayor Malapitan has been doing all the appropriate actions including legal since yesterday. He is also closely coordinating with my office. The barangay captain and other officials will be held liable on this," DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya said.

In a separate interview with CNN Philippines on Monday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said the Caloocan LGU did all the appropriate measures as soon as they found out about the incident.

Ano said the barangay captain was summoned by the Philippine National Police for an investigation.

"Nagtutulungan ngayon ang PNP at Caloocan LGU kung ano ang mga kaukulang kaso na isasampa natin sa barangay captain at saka sa mga violators nitong IATF guidelines... Kasama na rin yung may-ari ng resort na kakasuhan natin," he told Newsroom Ngayon.

[Translation: The PNP and the Caloocan LGU are now working together to find out which cases can be brought against the barangay captain and those who violated the IATF guidelines... The owner of the resort will also be charged.]

He said those who went to the resort may be punished as well.

Ano said he found it difficult to believe the owner who said they didn't know the resort was open.

"Mahirap naman yatang reason, kung ikaw ang may-ari, hindi mo alam na bukas yung resort mo. Parang, hindi yan tumutugma sa logic. Siyempre, ikaw ang may-ari niyan e, and it is your responsibility," said Ano.

[Translation: If you are the owner and you don't know that your resort is open, that is a strange reason. It defies logic. You are the owner and it is your responsibility.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The Health Department on Monday refuted a lawmaker's claim pushing for the use of antiparasitic drug ivermectin against COVID-19, with the solon alleging that the agency could face graft charges for purchasing remdesivir for coronavirus patients.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire responded to the warning of Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor that DOH could face charges for "recklessly and foolishly spending" P1 billion-worth of funds that is grossly disadvantageous to the government when it bought remdesivir for COVID-19 patients.

She said the agency does not purchase this experimental drug as it still does not have a certificate for product registration.

She said DOH allocates funds to hospitals so they can apply for remdesivir compassionate special permit, which the hospitals can use to buy the experimental drugs if approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"Itong sinasabi na pinoprocure natin ay wala tayong ganung datos o ginawa ang DOH [There is no data or any truth that DOH procured this]. We will not do that because we follow regulatory protocol," she said in a media briefing.

Defensor and Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta held an event in April to give away free ivermectin capsules despite the warning of the DOH that only hospitals granted compassionate special permit can distribute these drugs with prescription.

Meanwhile, DOH said there are local studies showing that there is evidence that antiviral drug remdesivir can help prevent the progression of a COVID-19 patient's condition. This comes after the World Health Organization recommended against the use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients as there is currently no evidence that remdesivir improves survival and other outcomes in these patients.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  Independent research group OCTA is in favor of relaxing community quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila and nearby provinces by May 15 as new COVID-19 cases continue to see a downtrend.

It said on Monday that the average number of daily COVID-19 cases in the capital region Metro Manila is expected to dip between 1,700 to 1,800 by May 14  when the modified enhanced community classification in NCR Plus is scheduled to end.

"With the current development and downward trend, if this continues until the end of this week, definitely it can be considered to downgrade to GCQ 'yung quarantine classification," said OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David.

A number of mayors in Metro Manila have said they are in favor of easing to GCQ by mid-May.

The OCTA fellow said continuing the bubble set-up over Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna should be considered even under a downgraded quarantine classification, as there are some cities and provinces that have unstable COVID-19 trends. He suggested the gradual easing of restrictions as lifting the lockdown could lead to another surge.

"One feature that I would like to retain is we can still have the bubble. It could be a GCQ bubble because cases are still significant inside the bubble and as you mentioned, may ibang LGUs pa [There are still some LGUs] with an unstable trend," he added.

OCTA Research also noted hospital bed and intensive care unit occupancy rates in NCR Plus of 50% and 67%, respectively, compared to the 56% and 71% logged the week before.

DOH Technical Advisory Group Member Dr. Edsel Salvana said the healthcare system should be able to cope in case a surge follows after the easing of restrictions.

"If you open up, you're going to see more cases," he told CNN Philippines on Monday. "We have to keep cases manageable and at the same time we have to have the healthcare capacity to take care of patients in case there is another surge."

To be able to shift to GCQ, the DOH said the healthcare utilization rate should be below 50% and the average daily attack rate and two-week growth rate should be steadily decreasing. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are also reviewing the daily attack rate, or the number of people getting COVID-19 per 100,000 population, two-week growth rate of infections, and the gate keeping indicators of every local government. This includes their contact tracing, early isolation and quarantine and testing capabilities.

OCTA stressed protocols for incoming travelers should remain strict to prevent the entry of the B.1.617 variant first discovered in India. Aside from this, David said ventilation in indoor spaces should be improved following the published study showing the virus is airborne.

Three cities named areas of concern

OCTA has also flagged Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental, Puerto Princesa in Palawan, and Bacolod in Negros Occidental as "areas of concern" due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in their vicinities.

Data analyzed by the independent research group showed that for the past week, Puerto Princesa logged a 78% increase in coronavirus infections, CDO listed a 75% spike, while Bacolod recorded a 19% increase in new cases.

Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno on Monday said that from 10 new daily cases two months ago, the new infections in their city has been steadily rising -- citing a recurring trend related to the situation in Metro Manila.

"We have observed a trend: Whenever Metro Manila experiences a surge, it seems like after two months, other smaller cities are likewise affected. We saw that last year and it's coming back again," he told CNN Philippines.

Cagayan de Oro now has 5,376 COVID-19 cases.

Despite this, the city is still not restricting the entry of travelers.

Moreno said that although there is an ongoing spike, the COVID-19 situation remains manageable in Cagayan de Oro. The mayor also said he does not recommend the imposition of stricter community quarantine classification in their area, which is currently under modified GCQ.

"The situation is under control although I can understand the concerns of the people... We have a good system of contact tracing, profiling, extracting those identified as high-risk close contact, and those who have tested positive already. We have city isolation units, and we have temporary treatment facilities and our health system is okay," he said.

CNN Philippines correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10) -- Almost a week after President Rodrigo Duterte made the order, the police have so far recorded 18,862 face mask protocol violations.

During Duterte's televised address on Monday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said 904 persons have been arrested from May 6 to 10 for not wearing face masks in public. He added that 9,379 were let off with a warning, 8,027 were fined, and 61 were subjected to inquest proceedings.

Duterte on May 5 ordered the police to arrest and question people not wearing face masks or not wearing them properly.

Both Ano and Philippine National Police chief PGen. Guillermo Eleazar assured that there will be no abuses in enforcing the Presidents order.

Ano added that 5,473 individuals were also caught in the same period for violating physical distancing protocols, while some 280 offenders were apprehended for conducting mass gatherings amid the pandemic.

Duterte also warned earlier that local chief executives will be held liable if violations of COVID-19 health protocols occur in their respective jurisdictions.
A Family Man: Instrumental Music to Inspire, Motivate and Relax a Family Man

NEWS PROVIDED BY

IAM Music Company

May 10, 2021

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- IAM Music Company releases a stunning new instrumental music collection into the contemporary jazz instrumental music genre. The project, from award winning producer, songwriter and musician, Derrick 'Doc' Pearson, is entitled "A Family Man: Instrumental music to inspire, motivate and relax a family man."

On the heels of his last three consecutive Billboard Top 10 Gospel album projects, Doc Pearson turns his attention to inspiring through impactful instrumental music. With the help of his friends (Earth Wind & Fire legendary horn arranger, Thomas 'Tom Tom' Washington and Motown legendary orchestration arranger Paul Riser, along with a group of renown musicians and artists), Derrick 'Doc' Pearson offers the world an instrumental music collection that blurs the lines between Inspirational, Funk, R&B and Contemporary Jazz music.

The first single, "A Family Man," is a funky foot stomping instrumental musical romp featuring Doc Pearson's classic base and keyboard stylings. "A Family Man' is complimented by an entertaining animated music video, "A Family Man" (The Family Version), which is being viewed and streamed now on YouTube, Vevo and other video formats.

"A Family Man: Instrumental music to inspire, motivate and relax a family man"

features 18 Digital tracks (15 CD tracks), of musical magic that will inspire and motivate any listener. From motivation, to relaxation, to inspiration, this instrumental music project, with its unique blend of musical genres, has it all.

Featured tracks: A Family Man, Beside Still Waters, The Soldier Boy March, I Surrender All Y'all, Road Trip, The Climb, Confidence, and Cozumel.

SOURCE IAM Music Company

CONTACT: Derrick E Pearson, docpearson1@me.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The military is set to further improve its naval operations to improve their sovereignty patrols in the West Philippine Sea.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Cirilito Sobejana on Monday said they will soon turn Pag-asa Island in the Kalayaan Island Group into a logistics hub and install a high-resolution monitoring system in its nine occupied features to "improve their situational awareness."

According to Sobejana, based on the orders of the Department of National Defense, at least 10 navy ships have been deployed to monitor the West Philippine Sea. Operations, however, must be improved in such a way that the ships do not have to return to the port in Puerto Princesa in Palawan to refuel and get some supplies, he said.

"Considering na ang West Philippine Sea napakalayo nito sa Puerto Princesa, lahat ng supplies natin at logistic activities ay ginagawa sa Puerto Princesa which is on the opposite side," he said. "Iikot ka pa bago makuha ang pangangailangan ng sailors, even the requirements of naval assets."

[Translation: Considering that the West Philippine Sea is very far from Puerto Princesa, all our supplies and logistic activities are still being done in Puerto Princesa which is on the opposite side. You have to turn to the opposite direction to get the needs of sailors and even the requirements of naval assets.]

Sobejana said Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez highly favored the idea, but the military needs a "substantial amount" to push through with the project.

He said they will make "a very strong representation to the national leadership" to fund the proposed logistics hub.

Meanwhile, the military is also aiming to enhance its security posture in the Philippines' nine occupied stations by putting up high resolution and night vision closed-circuit television cameras connected to the command center to easily monitor the maritime situation in nearby areas.

"We will be transforming itong maliliit na island as static naval assets," Sobejana said. "Doon ise-set up ang elements, navigational aids, CCTVs. Pag nahagip within that coverage of our occupied stations, malalaman kaagad natin ang sitwasyon sa lugar."

[Translation: We will be transforming these islands into static naval assets. We will set up elements, navigational aids and CCTVs there. Once our occupied stations read the situation within their coverage, we get to know what is happening in the area.]

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea previously said the country will continue law enforcement patrols and maritime exercises in Philippine waters despite challenges from Chinese forces.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) -- Department of Health officials may face criminal charges if they continue to buy more supplies of remdesivir for COVID-19 patients, said Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor.

We consider all new purchases of remdesivir as reckless and foolish spending in light of the WHO recommendation, and considering that government is scrounging for money to buy more COVID-19 vaccines and to pay for the P2,000 cash aid for every Filipino contemplated under the Bayanihan 3 bill, said Defensor in a statement.

All further purchases of remdesivir - after the WHO came out with its adverse recommendation - may be deemed as transactions highly detrimental to the government under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, he added.

The DOH still pushed through last year with the clinical trial of the remdesivir despite the World Health Organizations recommendation against the anti-viral drug to treat severe COVID-19 cases. Health Secretary Rosario Vergeire cited then that remdesivir was one of the drugs included in the WHOs Solidarity Trial, adding that the WHO recommended that countries can continue with the trial to gather more evidence if the drug can help patients.

The national government has procured more supplies of remdesivir and another experimental drug, tocilizumab, last March.

Citing the law, Defensor said DOH officials may be held liable for a grossly disadvantageous transaction.

Defensor also urged the Department of Budget and Management to repurpose the money to be spent on the purchase of more redemsivir to acquire more COVID-19 vaccines.

The problem with redemsivir is its outrageous price, and yet, based on the findings of the WHO, the drug offers no significant relief to patients, he said.

The DOH earlier warned about overpricing of remdesivir, noting that a 100-milligram vial must only cost 1,500 to 8,200. The use of the drug also requires a compassionate use permit from the Food and Drug Administration.

Defensor and fellow congressman House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta were recently criticized for distributing the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, although the FDA has not yet authorized the sale of the drug for COVID-19 treatment. Health experts, including those from the WHO, said there is not enough evidence that ivermectin can be used to cure COVID-19 infection.

READ: Doctors or solons liable for ivermectin giveaway lapses? DOH to cover all bases in probe
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) -- Following the recent order of President Rodrigo Duterte to detain health protocol violators, newly appointed Philippine National Police chief Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar reminded cops to only arrest violators and not hurt them.

Huhulihin natin sila and then bibigyan natin ng face mask, and we will bring them doon sa ating mga holding areas [] So ang bilin natin pati, hindi tayo magbibigay ng parusa. Arrest them, but do not hurt or punish them, said Eleazar in an interview with CNN Philippines.

[Translation: We will arrest them and give them face masks, and we will bring them to our holding areas [] So, we always remind them that we will not give out any punishment. Arrest them, but do not hurt or punish them.]

Duterte earlier ordered the police to arrest and question individuals not wearing face masks properly, stressing that the wearing of face masks is a critical need amid the pandemic.

Eleazar added that ordinances by local government units can be applied on the arrested persons.

With the corresponding provisions of the existing ordinance in your locality, yun ang i-apply natin. Kung community service, so be it. Kung kailangan magmulta, so be it, he said. Then after not more than 12 hours, i-release na natin sila.

[Translation: With the corresponding provisions of the existing ordinance in your locality, thats what we will apply. If they need to render community service, so be it. If they need to pay a fine, so be it. Then after not more than 12 hours, we will release them.]

To avoid overcrowding in police stations, Eleazar also ordered cops to coordinate with LGUs to prepare holding areas for arrested violators.

I gave instruction to our unit commanders, kung masikip na sa mga police station, hindi na dun dadalhin. Coordinate with concerned LGUs and barangay officials so we can look for holding area na kung saan dadalhin sila dun for booking procedure, he said.

[Translation: I gave an instruction to our unit commanders not to bring violators in police stations if its already crowded there. Coordinate with concerned LGUs and barangay officials so we can look for a holding area, where they can be brought there for booking procedure.]

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano earlier said health protocol violators will be given a warning first and will not be immediately arrested.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 10)  The provinces of Apayao, Benguet and Cagayan will be shifting to tighter community quarantine restrictions beginning today in light of rising COVID-19 cases, as approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

IATF Spokesperson Harry Roque announced the three areas shall be under a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from May 10 to 23, in line with the bodys Resolution No. 114-C.

The risk-level classifications of the aforementioned provinces shall be without prejudice to their reclassification as may be warranted and the declaration of localized Enhanced Community Quarantine in critical areas, read the issuance.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, the Cagayan provincial information office said the IATF has pointed out to Governor Manuel Mamba that the province was among high-risk areas with the surge in infections, particularly in Tuguegarao City.

Nababahala din ang IATF sa hindi bumababang kaso ng COVID-19 sa Tuguegarao na may epekto na sa pagdami ng kaso sa ibat ibang bayan, the post read.

[Translation: The IATF is also disturbed with the never-ending rise in COVID-19 cases in Tuguegarao, which also has an effect on the increase of cases in other places.]

Benguet is likewise facing a spike in confirmed cases while fatalities have been increasing. A three-year old girl from Buguias, Benguet passed away this May 7, noted the provinces PIO.

The three provinces were originally under the more relaxed general community quarantine for the entire May prior their reclassification.
(CNN) -- Prince Michael of Kent, Queen Elizabeth's first cousin, said Sunday that he "has no special relationship" with Russian President Vladimir Putin after an undercover journalistic investigation claimed he and a close friend were "secretly trading on their links" with Putin for profit.

The report centers around undercover recordings of a Zoom meeting involving Prince Michael, his friend and business partner Simon Isaacs -- whose title is the Marquess of Reading -- and two undercover journalists posing as executives of a fake South Korean company that invests in gold.

The investigation by the UK's Sunday Times and Channel 4 does not allege Prince Michael or Isaacs took part in any illegal activity.

According to The Sunday Times, their undercover reporters claimed the fictitious South Korean company "was looking to hire a royal to market its investment service" and wrote in a letter that it "was planning to set up a Moscow office and offered to hire the prince as an adviser to use his 'excellent contacts' in Russia."

"I've traveled extensively around Russia for many different reasons, but mainly on business," the prince told the undercover journalists on a Zoom call, clips of which were posted by The Sunday Times.

Prince Michael's links to Russia

Prince Michael is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and has often appeared alongside her during royal engagements. His maternal and paternal grandfathers are first cousins of Czar Nicholas II and he has been visiting Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, according to his website.

"Prince Michael has long established business, charitable and cultural connections with Russia and is proud of all the work he has done for UK-Russia trade," a statement from his spokesperson said.

He speaks Russian, is patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and in 2009 was "presented with the Order of Friendship from President (Dimitri) Medvedev, one of the highest orders in Russia, for his work on Anglo-Russo relations," his website said.

In the same video published by The Sunday Times of the Zoom call with the undercover reporters, Prince Michael leaves the call, but Isaacs continues the meeting and appears to promise access to President Vladimir Putin and his associates.

Referencing the name of the fake South Korean company, Isaacs says on the video: "If (Prince Michael) is representing the House of Haedong, he could mention that to Putin and Putin would find the right person who is interested in South Korea or interested in gold. It just opens the door, you know, which is so helpful."

Prince 'has no special relationship' with Putin

The prince's spokesperson said in a statement: "Prince Michael has no special relationship with President Putin. They last met in 2003 and he has had no contact with him or his office since then."

"Lord Reading is a good friend, who made suggestions which Prince Michael would not have wanted, or been able, to fulfill," the spokesperson added.

In the Zoom call after the prince had left the meeting, Isaacs goes on to say that, in Russia, the prince is "not seen as political" and is seen as "a friend of Russia."

He adds that Prince Michael is highly regarded due to his "royal family heritage" and that "he is just generally regarded as Her Majesty's unofficial ambassador to Russia."

Prince Michael's spokesperson, in Sunday's statement, said he has never represented Buckingham Palace, "in Russia or elsewhere."

The statement also added that "Prince Michael receives no public funding and earns his own living through a consultancy company that he has run for over 40 years. Their Royal Highnesses pay a market rent and fees for their home at Kensington Palace."

In a statement to The Sunday Times, the Marquess of Reading said, "I made a mistake and overpromised and for that, I am truly regretful."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Queen's first cousin allegedly trading on links to Putin and monarchy, UK media report"
Page Content

The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Mr Apostolos Tzitzikostas, officially launched the Network of Former Members of the European Committee of the Regions, a new CoR initiative, at the 144th CoR Plenary in the presence of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, a former CoR member himself.The Network , counting now more than 170 members, brings together former members and alternates of the CoR and gives them the possibility to continue following the CoR's political work and activities. It will encourage and provide communication support for their initiatives organised in their regions and cities."The Network will help us to increase our political outreach, including within the national level where many Members play important political roles. I believe that this will also nourish our discussions about the functioning and the future of the Union. Together, I hope that we will bring Europe closer to people", said Mr Tzitzikostas in his speech.

Protocol and institutional correspondence

Visitors' center

FormerMembers@cor.europa.eu

Tel: + 32 2 282 21 24/25 64


TBN Set to Air Full Slate of New Programming This Month

Exclusive Content Begins Friday, May 14 Showcasing Significant Figures in Christian History



Thursday Night Block of Shows Beginning May 27

NEWS PROVIDED BY

TBN

May 10, 2021

LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- TBN, the world's largest religious broadcaster, announced today a new lineup of fresh programming premiering this month. Beginning on Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET, Cody Crouch, the grandson of TBN Founders Paul and Jan Crouch, will make his stand-alone hosting debut with "This Month in Christian History." The new monthly series consists of 12 episodes and aims to honor the significance of the past highlighting saints, athletes, missionaries and regular people who did extraordinary things in the corresponding month throughout history.



For more information and the promotional trailer, visit: https://e.tbn.org/christian-history

"The rollout of new programming represents TBN's continuing commitment to produce and air faith content that is informative, engaging, and relevant to a wide range of viewers," says Matt Crouch, chairman of TBN. Crouch adds that he is particularly thrilled with the premiere of son Cody's new monthly series and says, "While Cody has been involved in nearly every aspect of TBN production for a long time, the debut of This Month in Christian History represents the first official introduction many TBN viewers will have of the Crouch family's third generation leadership in Christian television. Of course, Laurie and I could not be prouder."



On Thursday, May 27, TBN will air a special block of programming beginning with "Drive Thru History: Holy Land" at 9 p.m. ET. The Holy Land series walks viewers through the ancient world of the Bible giving a fast-paced encounter with the people, places and events that have shaped our world and the Christian faith. This Drive Thru History series includes on-location explorations with lots of animations and fun narration for the whole family. From the Patriarchs of the Old Testament to the events in Jerusalem during the life of Christ, this series will give great insight into the history and culture behind the stories of Scripture.

"For over fifty years TBN has been a leader in encouraging Christians around the world to actively support and pray for the nation of Israel," says Crouch. "That's why we're devoting two hours every Thursday evening to programming on Israel -- to inform, inspire, and encourage our viewers around the world to take an active role in praying for and blessing this nation and people so dear to God's heart."



Next, "Insights: Israel & The Middle East" will premiere at 9:30 p.m. ET. Hosted by Samuel Smadja and Mati Shoshani, this 13-episode documentary series gives viewers an inside look into modern Israel by sharing stories of what Israel has accomplished in technology, energy, innovation, faith and more. Each episode focuses on a unique topic and features global leaders in their industries and disciplines.



Following "Insights: Israel & The Middle East" is "The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck" at 10 p.m. ET. This program delivers the geo-political background of Israel and the Middle East and why it matters to everyone.



Rounding out every Thursday night, "Why Israel Matters" will premiere at 10:30 p.m. ET. Produced in partnership with four organizations, this exclusive 13-part original series is designed to powerfully demonstrate the crucial importance of this Jewish state to Christians, to America and to the world.



For more information and the promotional trailer, visit: https://e.tbn.org/journey-to-israel



TBN's new programming for the month concludes with "Discovering God" on Monday, May 31 at 10 p.m. ET. Bestselling author, speaker and TV host Shawn Bolz hosts the 14-episode series and unpacks this reality: The names of God are literally invitations for us to discover the aspects of his nature that give us life in all its fullness.

Crouch explains, "Through Shawn Bolz's new series Discovering God, we're excited to help viewers discover how they can connect with God at a deep level and tap into His power and purpose for every aspect of their lives."

For more information and the promotional trailer, visit: https://e.tbn.org/discovering-god



About Trinity Broadcasting Network:

Trinity Broadcasting Network is the world's largest and most watched faith-and-family broadcaster, reaching over 175 nations across the earth with inspirational and entertaining programming 24 hours a day in 14 languages and on 32 global networks. As the world's most influential non-profit religious broadcaster, TBN has led the way in expanding the impact of faith-based television across the earth through the creation of innovative content designed to reach every viewer demographic with the life-changing message of hope and grace. To find out more about the TBN Networks, visit us at tbn.org.

SOURCE TBN

CONTACT: Jennifer Willingham, Jennifer@epic.inc; Jessica Brown, Jessica@epic.inc
The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost.
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Bangladesh: Alternative resilient livelihood through fish farming

by Ashish Barua, Moumita Sen, and Md Kamruzzaman Khan

May 10,2021 | Source: Dhaka Tribune

Intense and frequent occurrences of cyclone, flood, tidal surge, river erosion, and salinity stress have been rigorously disturbing agriculture, fish cultivation, and livestock rearing in the coastal zone in Bangladesh. Communities in these coastal areas remain enormously vulnerable to these disasters which hinders their livelihoods more than any other region of Bangladesh. The poor infrastructure, disorganized institutional setup, improper resource management, social inequality, and absence of freshwater due to salinity intrusion has made the situation worse. I was a fisherman. Due to this seasonal loss in fish farming; my livelihood was destroyed by the attack of two consecutive cyclones Sidr and Aila, said Bidhan Chandra Das from Sonatola village. Sonatola village lies within the administrative boundary of Jiudhora Union at Morelganj Upazila in Bagerhat District and it is a disaster-prone area. Bidhan is the only earning member in this family of five, consisting of his wife, two daughters and ageing mother. He depends solely on fish farming on his small fish gher of two bigha land. During monsoon season, tidal inundation results in most of the fish ghers becoming submerged; this persists even after the monsoon is over. Moreover, climate change is causing longer and wetter rainy seasons in the coastal region, which is eventually initiating this waterlogging and longer flood period. These flood waters wash away the fishes from the ghers, adding to the suffering of the local fish farmers. The farmers have to endure significant loss as most times they are unable to achieve their expected profit due to the damages of their fishes in the gher.



Bidhan faced a similar fate, like many others in his village. The prolonged and constant loss experienced every year since 2009 resulted in the cumulative debt. I did not know how to recover from that miserable situation. I was burdened by huge debt. I could not see any source of earning. It was a huge challenge to recover the cost and make a profit again, Bidhan recalled his sufferings. It was a mental trauma for me to arrange meals every day for my family. Seemed like a never-ending journey, added Konika Mistry, Bidhans wife. Bidhan had been working in the fish farming sector all through his life. He has reasonable knowledge and years of experience in this sector, but he was left clueless at this stage in his life. He stated, I was confused and frustrated. I have only expertise in fish farming. One thought was roaming in my mind; at this age, should I go for another occupation without any knowledge? I was hoping and praying for any support to continue the fish farming again. On one side, Bidhan was trying to find a way or opportunity, on the other hand, the Upazila Fisheries Office(UFO) with the support from international and national NGOs was organizing training for fish farmers and looking for helpless farmers like Bidhan. In 2014 Bidhan started his journey to learn new techniques and explore support offered by Upazila Fisheries Office to grow his expertise to be able to run his fish farm better and be resilient to climatic shocks. I have received various training on fish farming for capacity building by the Upazila Fisheries Office. Upazila Fisheries Office also organized fish farming exhibitions for disseminating modern fish farming techniques to the local farmers, Bidhan stated. In 2016, Bidhan became a Local Service Provider (LSP) for the Producer Group (PG) with the support from Upazila Fisheries Office and other sector actors. He understood very clearly that this new expertise will help him to run his fish farm while also providing advisory support to other farmers in this sector. Bidhan used to apply very traditional methods to nurture his fish farm, which was neither profitable nor climate-resilient. It always left him uncertain of unpredictable natural events.



As per the local practice, fish farmers depend heavily on loans to run their business. Any kind of distraction from estimated profit can lead up to huge debt. After receiving the training, Bidhan realized, The traditional ways of fish farming are very much exposed to climate changes and extreme events. The recovery period is very long and sometimes fish farms cannot be restored fully. It is very wise to use and adopt modern technologies to respond and resist the natural calamities efficiently. By enlightening the local fish farmers with proper knowledge and information regarding advanced techniques aligned with climate resilience with the help of local government authority, the traditional mindset of a fish farmer like Bidhan has been changed uplifting their confidence in their profession. More advocacy at the community level can make fish farming one of the dominant livelihood options as well as more resilient and sustainable. Bidhan stated, Now I am now very much familiar with new scientific and climate-resilient technology. For example, I have elevated the banks of the gher considering flood. The death rate of fish has decreased during the last 3 years due to proper nurturing of the gher all the year-round. Previously when ghers were flooded due to ill-equipped management of the banks, local ghers did not have any backup plan to recover from the situation. After receiving the training and guidance from Upazila Fisheries Office, they realized what was wrong with how they were doing it. Only training and technical support were not enough for Bidhan. By realizing the fact, Upazila Fisheries Office provided financial assistance of Tk22,000 with various equipment and technical support for crab farming in 2019. Later, Bidhan initiated crab farming with his capital. He has spent around Tk45,000 for fish and crab farming and earned around Tk200,000. In 2020, Bidhan built his own house by spending Tk1,75,000 from the profit made through cultivating fish and crab.



Bidhan stated, Being an LSP, I am more connected with the Upazila Fisheries Office, which helped me to get all the necessary information. He now provides advice to local fish farmers on improved farming and motivates local people to start fish farming as it is a very profitable business as modern techniques and technologies can be applied. Compared to the local demand, we usually do not have the required set up to support training due to lack of manpower and resources. But we do provide updated information and guidelines to local farmers from time to time. But I think more training can contribute to building resilience in the fish farming sector, said Pranab Kumar, Upazila Fisheries Officer. He added, Bidhan came up with such a positive attitude, which became an inspiration to others. He keeps regular communication with UFO and disseminates the updated information to other farmers. He has a leadership quality which helped the community to rethink their coping strategies to recover their miseries. Local fish farmers seek help from Bidhan from getting his advice to buying the best quality fish fry to fish feed. He also updates them about the current market rate for selling. Many of us started fish farming again with a small piece of land. Bidhan da provided the guidance and demonstrated new techniques to restart our farm. He also introduced us to professionals of the Upazila Fisheries Office, said Nasima Begum, a local farmer from the village. We call Bidhan Da Friend of Fish Farmers in our village, echoed Eva Rani Paik, another local farmer. Local Service Providers should be promoted and provided support to keep the pace of fish farming on track. Timely training and knowledge dissemination can make the fish farming sector climate-resilient and profitable for local farmers. Moreover, to enhance the diversity of livelihoods through transformative actions and a participatory approach from both ends can bring accountability including governance structures. And the story of Bidhans journey so far with UFO and within his community has been evident to this concept.
Hey, did you hear the one about the guy who dragged out his legal case for years, and when he got to prison said, Have pity on me, warden, Im an old man?

Sheldon Silver, 77, may have been laughing, but the rest of us werent when the ex-Assembly speaker was released from prison last week.

He went home on furlough while officials weighed his request to serve the rest of his 6 1/2-year sentence on federal corruption charges in home confinement. Hed been in prison for about eight months.

That was a gut punch to anti-corruption efforts, and to all those who expect even the powerful to be held to account.

Its true Mr. Silver is advanced in years, and in ill health. But this isnt a man who was sent to prison at a young age and served his time. This is a top New York politician who monetized his power for years and wasnt caught until late in life. And even then, it took five and a half years after his arrest for two trials, two convictions, and a deliberately wrung-out appeals process to play out before he reported to Otisville.

As it turns out, Mr. Silver's Lower East Side homecoming was short-lived: His request for home confinement was rejected on Thursday. Back to prison.

Good. We hope, though, that in coming days, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will outline how this decision, and its sudden reversal, came about.

At sentencing last July, U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni rejected Mr. Silvers attorneys pleas that his COVID risk should keep him home. She emphasized the sentence was intended to send a message to Albany. Prison officials must not muddle that message by allowing Mr. Silver to weasel out of this. It takes years to amass the kind of power he had; if powerful people are then deemed too old to be held accountable, anti-corruption laws have no bite.

A win for cleaner air

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has denied a Ravena cement plant's push to burn tires in its kiln. It's a decision that should make Albany County residents breathe a little easier. LafargeHolcim lacks the equipment and infrastructure to burn tires safely, DEC says.

The decision is the latest step in a long push and pull between Lafarge, regulators, and residents over what the cement plant can burn in its kilns. In 2017 Lafarge denied that it planned to burn waste until evidence emerged that, in fact, it was looking into it.

Worries about Lafarges plans were one of the catalysts for the Albany County Legislatures 2019 clean air law. The Coeymans Town Board also passed its own clean air law, but it was weakened in 2020 when a new administration took office.

Good for DEC for drawing a line here. Residents deserve to know that state officials have their backs  and lungs  on this.

Voting rights victory

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation last week to restore voting rights for people on parole. It expands on a 2018 executive order that gave parolees back their vote via a pardon process. Under the new law, the right will be restored automatically.

People who have paid their debt to society and are again following its laws deserve to participate fully in their communities. And because Black and Latinx residents comprise a disproportionate number of prison inmates, barring parolees from voting disproportionately disenfranchised people of color. This law chips away a little more at the effects of systemic racism.
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP)  Authorities say a 16-year-old driver who fatally struck a cyclist in Coralville last month was speeding and using social media at the time of the accident.

The incident happened April 6, killing 36-year-old Andrew Pavlovec of North Liberty. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported Monday that the driver faces a charge of vehicular homicide. Iowa law prevents naming minors charged with crimes that are not forcible felonies.
Asked Monday whether Russia was involved, Biden said, Im going to be meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin, and so far there is no evidence based on, from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved, although there is evidence that the actors, ransomware, is in Russia.

They have some responsibility to deal with this, he added.

U.S. officials have sought to head off anxieties about the prospect of a lingering economic impact and disruption to the fuel supply, especially given Colonial Pipeline's key role in transporting gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other petroleum products through 10 states between Texas and New Jersey.

Colonial is in the process of restarting portions of its network. It said Monday that it was evaluating the product inventory in storage tanks at its facilities. Administration officials stressed that Colonial proactively took some of its systems offline to prevent the ransomware from migrating from business computer systems to those that operate the pipeline.

In response to the attack, the administration loosened regulations for the transport of petroleum products on highways as part of an all-hands-on-deck effort to avoid disruptions in the fuel supply.
President Joe Biden speaks from the Treaty Room in the White House about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, in Washington, on April 14, 2021. (Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden: No Evidence Russia Is Behind Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack

President Joe Biden said there is no evidence Russia is behind the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack but said that the cybercriminal organization behind the ransomware attack may be in Russia.

The pipeline, which supplies a significant amount of fuel to the East Coast, was shut down over the past weekend due to ransomware. The firm said Monday that it is working to restore service to its four main lines.

So far there is no evidence  from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved, although theres evidence that the actors ransomware is in Russia, Biden told reporters on Monday, adding that he is going to be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon.

Russia, Biden added, has some responsibility in dealing with the cyberattack. He did not elaborate further.

The FBI earlier in the day confirmed that the DarkSide ransomware was behind the incident, and cybersecurity firms have said the group is comprised of hackers who sell ransomware to other criminals to carry out attacks. The group appeared to issue a statement on Monday, saying it is not a political actor and only seeks profit.

We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for our motives, DarkSides statement said, according to cybersecurity firm Cybereason. Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society. From today we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.

DarkSide, like other ransomware rings, makes its money by hacking a victims network and encrypting their files so they cannot be accessed by the victim. Then, the groups threaten to publish them online if theyre not paid.

Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said Monday that Colonial initially shut down its systems for precautionary reasons, adding that the hackers did not reach computers that control the pipelines infrastructure. On Sunday, the Department of Transportation declared an emergency in 17 states that lifted restrictions on truck drivers transporting fuel.

As the pipeline stays shut down, analysts have warned of a surge in fuel prices. The Colonial system runs 5,500 miles from the Gulf Coast to Linden, New Jersey, and transports about 100 million gallons of fuel each day.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said that Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina could be hit the hardest in the coming days, according to the Wall Street Journal. A large portion of Tennessees fuel comes from Colonials lines.
BERLIN (AP)  Germany's powerful Catholic progressives are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering such blessings at services in about 100 different churches all over the country this week.

The blessings at open worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vaticans orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which said Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex unions because God cannot bless sin.

The document pleased conservatives and disheartened advocates for LGBTQ Catholics around the globe. But the response has been particularly acute in Germany, where the German church has been at the forefront of opening discussion on hot-button issues such as the churchs teaching on homosexuality as part of a formal process of debate and reform.

The dozens of church services celebrating blessings of gay unions are the latest escalation in tensions between conservatives and progressives that have already sparked alarm, primarily from the right, that part of the German church might be heading into schism.

Germany is no stranger to schism: 500 years ago, Martin Luther launched the Reformation here.

Pope Francis, who has championed a more decentralized church structure, has already reminded the German hierarchy that it must remain in communion with Rome during its reform process, known as a synodal path."

In Berlin, the Rev. Jan Korditschke, a Jesuit who works for the diocese preparing adults for baptism and helps out at the St. Canisius congregation, will lead blessings for queer couples at a worship service May 16.

I am convinced that homosexual orientation is not bad, nor is homosexual love a sin, Korditschke told The Associated Press in an interview Friday. I want to celebrate the love of homosexuals with these blessings because the love of homosexuals is something good.

The 44-year-old said it is important that homosexuals can show themselves within the Catholic Church and gain more visibility long-term. He said he was not afraid of possible repercussions by high-ranking church officials or the Vatican.

I stand behind what I am doing, though it is painful for me that I cannot do it in tune with the church leadership, Korditschke said, adding that the homophobia of my church makes me angry and I am ashamed of it.

The head of the German Bishops Conference last month criticized the grassroots initiative for gay blessings which is called Liebe Gewinnt or Love Wins.

Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing said the blessings are not suitable as an instrument of church political manifestations or political actions.

However, Germany's powerful lay organization, the Central Committee of German Catholics, or ZdK, which has been advocating for gay blessings since 2015, positioned itself once more in favor of them. It called the contentious document from Rome not very helpful" and explicitly expressed its support for Love Wins."

These are celebrations of worship in which people express to God what moves them," Birgit Mock, the ZdK's spokeswoman for family affairs, told the AP.

The fact that they ask for God's blessing and thank him for all the good in their lives  also for relationships lived with mutual respect and full of love  that is deeply based on the Gospel, Mock said, adding that she herself was planning to attend a church service with gay blessings in the western city of Hamm on Monday in which she would pray for the success of the synodal path in which we, as a church, recognize sexuality as a positive strength."

The ZdK has been taking part in the synodal path meetings for more than a year with the German Bishops Conference. They are due to conclude in the fall. The meetings include talks about allowing priests to get married, the ordination of women and a different understanding of sexuality, among other reforms. The process was launched as part of the response to revelations of clergy sexual abuse.

We're struggling in Germany with a lot of seriousness and intensive theological discourses for the right path, Mock added. Things cannot continue the way they did  this is what the crimes and cover-ups of sexual abuse showed us."

"We need systemic changes, also regarding a reassessment of the ecclesiastical morality of sexuality, Mock said.
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PHOENIX  Health officials in Arizona on Sunday reported 448 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and two more deaths.

The latest numbers pushed the states pandemic totals to 868,830 cases and 17,409 deaths, according to the states coronavirus dashboard.

The daily cases, daily deaths and the daily hospitalization figure all remained well below the pandemic highs seen last winter.

The dashboard also showed that more than 5.3 million vaccine doses have been administered in Arizona.

Over 3 million people  42.2% of the states population  have received at least one shot and nearly 2.5 million Arizonans now are fully vaccinated.

The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in the states hospitals decreased by 20 to 592 on Saturday while the number of ICU beds used by coronavirus patients increased from 184 to 190.

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WASHINGTON  The U.S. Treasury will start pumping $350 billion in relief funds to state and local governments with the first payments beginning in a matter of days, senior administration officials said.

On Monday, the treasury opened its portal for states, territories, counties and city governments to request their aid from the American Rescue Plan. Small towns will receive their funds from state government.

New York will receive $12.7 billion, while Albany County will receive $59.3 million and the city of Albany will get $80.7 million.

Although governments have previously been awarded pandemic relief, this round will mark the first time that all cities and towns will be eligible for money.

"Since COVID-19 hit, the need for services provided by state, local, territorial and tribal governments have increased dramatically, including setting up emergency medical facilities, standing up vaccination sites and supporting struggling small businesses," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. "At the same time, these governments have faced significant revenue shortfalls because of economic fall-out from this crisis."

Governments can use the money to pay for public health expenses, address negative economic impacts from the pandemic on workers, businesses and the public sector, replace lost revenue, provide premium pay to essential workers and also use it to improve water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, the treasury said.

Governments cannot use the money to directly or indirectly reduce taxes before all the money is spent. They also cannot use the money to make a deposit into a pension fund.

Local governments should expect to receive funds in two parts with half provided beginning this month and the balance in a year. States that have experienced a net increase in the unemployment rate of more than 2 percentage points from February 2020 to the latest available data as of the date of certification will receive their full allocation of funds in a single payment. As of Monday, New Yorks unemployment data indicates it will be eligible to get its full $12.7 billion this month, a Treasury memo shows.

The state Division of Budget declined say when it will request its funds or whether it expected to qualify for one lump sum payment.

"We are reviewing the guidance," said Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state Division of Budget.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's budget for fiscal year 2022 will spend $5.5 billion of the $12.7 billion that the state is slated to receive. The state will spend the remaining funds over the next four years.

Albany County said it will be reaching out to the treasury in the next few days regarding the funds. The county is still calculating its revenue losses as well as increased pandemic expenditures before considering any other projects.

This is a necessary step in rebuilding our economy after the pandemic," Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said. "Thank you to our federal delegation and everyone who recognized that counties needed this funding, not only to survive but to prevent the significant revenue losses we suffered from becoming an additional burden to our local taxpayers.

The federal government will distribute $195 billion to states, $65 billion to counties, $45.6 billion to cities, $20 billion to towns and local government agencies, $20 billion to tribes and other sovereign entities, and $4.5 billion to territories.

Republicans have opposed providing so much government aid to states and local governments, calling it a "blue state bail-out" when they were negotiating COVID-19 relief this winter.

"With the Treasury Departments announcement today, we can say: help is on the way," said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. The Treasury Departments flexible guidance is just what is needed to help get states and municipalities the resources and funding they need to prevent layoffs, to keep essential services running, and to keep our Main Streets alive and able to rebound as we increase vaccinations and emerge from the pandemic."
Marcus A. McPeek, 38, of the 100 block of Ash Street, Palatine, was charged with driving under the influence, improper right turn and improper lane usage April 30 following a traffic stop on Ela Road at Route 14. McPeek was issued a June 15 court date.
SHIPLAKE College is set to welcome more female students.

The independent school is aiming to become fully

co-educational by 2027, with the first intake of girls in year 7 due in September 2023.

The school has had girls in the sixth form since 1998.

Headmaster Tyrone Howe said the move was a natural way forward.

A fully co-educational boarding and day environment will develop the complete person, creating equality and promoting mutual respect and understanding, he said.

Girls and boys will develop both pastorally and academically when learning and socialising side by side and these relationships will lead to a better understanding of each others different perspectives and emotional responses.

We will be equipping young people with the skills to thrive within the fast-changing, complex and modern world both during their school years and, even more importantly, beyond.

Our teachers are strong role models and accomplished educators and already have experience of educating girls in our sixth form. Many of them have prior experience of teaching in girls-only or co-educational schools.

We shared our decision with staff at the beginning of the Easter holidays and this was met by a universally positive and enthusiastic response. Together, we look forward to planning for our first cohort of year 7 girls.

Shiplake hopes to increase the number of pupils over time while retaining its small school ethos.

Mr Howe said: Our

vision is to establish Shiplake College as one of the leading co-educational schools in the country, which is transformational for all its pupils and offers a school experience that is based

on emotional security, mutual respect and positive relationships.

In September, the Oratory School in Woodcote started teaching girls for the first time in its 161-year history. The independent Catholic school welcomed an initial cohort of 47, joining the 250 boys already on the roll.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  The state is looking to boost the number of bilingual and multicultural early childhood educators in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Higher Education and Early Childhood and Care departments are teaming up to spur recruitment and create a pipeline for personnel.

According to a news release, the state budget includes $7 million for this effort, which is billed as the first of its kind.

The money can go toward hiring costs, recruitment initiatives and endowments.

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Through this new investment, we hope to expand the talent pool of bilingual and Indigenous early childhood educators to meet the needs of our states multicultural and multilingual communities, Early Childhood Education and Care Department Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky said in a statement. We especially look forward to working in partnership and close consultation with New Mexicos pueblos, tribes and nations as we seek to actively support their efforts to integrate language and culture into the education of their youngest learners.

APS SUMMER PROGRAMS: Parents may feel like the 2020-21 school year, which has largely taken place online during the COVID-19 pandemic, may never end, but it is nearing the finish line. Albuquerque Public Schools announced details of summer program options such as Summer Learning Adventure, a free project-based, in-person program for grades K-5.

Theres also online high school credit recovery for APS students to take up to four half-credit courses for free, in addition to other programs.

Scheduling information and a more exhaustive list of options are available at APS.edu.

ITS A SIGN: New Mexicans who are continuing their education beyond high school were celebrated last week as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared Tuesday College and Career Signing Day. The day aimed to encourage students to look into higher education.

Students were recognized in a video on the state Public Education Departments Facebook page.

Students and community leaders from across New Mexico submitted photos and videos announcing their college, trade school or training program of choice, state officials wrote in a news release.

REQUEST DECLINED: Recently, the Journal was denied an interview with Secretary of Education Ryan Stewart about schools reopening.

The PED communication team said Stewart declined to talk because there wasnt new information. Spokeswoman Judy Robinson said that was the sole reason the interview didnt happen.

Its worth noting that a few days earlier, the Journal was told to submit questions in advance of a potential interview for Stewart to be prepared.

When the Journal refused, the paper was told that Stewart wouldnt be sent to an interview that he cant be prepared for.

Shelby Perea: sperea@abqjournal.com
Mumbai: Vaccination centres in Mumbai did not administer Covaxin for the second consecutive day on Monday (May 1) because of lack of stock, leaving citizens fuming as many of them are due for their second dose of the vaccine against COVID-19.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), through its Twitter handle, released a list of 105 vaccination centres that would be functional on Monday, but informed that these would be administering only the Covishield vaccine, news agency PTI reported..

On Sunday (May 9) also, the BMC had not administered Covaxin to the beneficiaries due to unavailability of the vaccine.

Several citizens expressed anger and frustration at the state of affairs as many of them are due for their second dose since they had taken the first jab over 42 days back.

As per the government guidelines, the recommended gap between two doses of Covaxin is four-six weeks and for Covishield the suggested interval is four-eight weeks.

The BMC's executive health officer, Mangala Gomare, did not respond to calls or text messages on the lack of Covaxin doses in the city.

According to a BMC report, a total of 1,76,505 people have been administered Covaxin doses in the city, including 1,20,167 who have received the first dose and 56,338 who have got the second dose as well.

Till Sunday evening, 27,00,431 people were vaccinated in Mumbai against COVID-19. These included 20,52,963 beneficiaries who have taken the first dose and 6,47,468 people who have received their second dose, the report said.

Currently, there are 175 active vaccination centres in Mumbai, included 81 run by the BMC, 20 by the state government and 74 private facilities.

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The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office believe they found the body of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey late Sunday night. (St. Johns County Sheriff's Office)

Missing 13-Year-Old Florida Girl Found Dead, Classmate Arrested: Officials

The death of a 13-year-old girl in Florida who went missing over the weekend is now being investigated by police, according to authorities, who said they arrested a teenage boy in connection to her death.

Tristyn Baileys family reported her missing at around 10 a.m. Sunday after they saw her at midnight, according to News4Jax. Dozens of neighbors then attempted to search for the girl on Sunday.

Later, St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick announced that authorities found the likely body of the girl at around 8 p.m. that night, according to the report.

This was not the outcome the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office wanted, or this community (wanted), Hardwick said. This is a grieving community and were going to respect our grieving community.

On Monday, Hardwick said that a suspecta fellow student at the girls schoolwas arrested.

Aiden Fucci, 14, is in custody and is now facing a second-degree murder charge, Hardwick said, according to ActionNewsJax. The girls cause of death has not been released at this time.

We have a suspect arrested and, unfortunately, a 13-year-old girl dead, Hardwick said in an 11:30 a.m. update, reported News4Jax.

According to FirstCoastNews, investigators said they are interviewing a number of witnesses, but they said that only one suspect is in custody.

Other details about the case were not provided.
The city of Worcester announced Monday morning the creation of the Worcester Green Corps., a public-private partnership focused on cleaning and beautifying Worcester.

The program is a joint effort between the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Central Massachusetts, Worcester Community Action Council, MassHire and the city of Worcester.

Department of Public Works commissioner Jay J. Fink announced that WCAC has committed 25 youth work students for the program for the summer. Five managers will also be hired to oversee the five teams assigned to each district in the city.

This is a terrific example of what can be accomplished through partnerships, said Fink. In addition to having the obvious benefits of helping to keep Worcester clean, the Green Corps. creates opportunities for our youth.

According to Fink, the city plans to hire a full-time Worcester Green Corps. coordinator whose job it is to supervise year-round beautification efforts and oversee the five managers and 25 youth workers.

In addition to providing the citys Quality of Life team assistance with cleanup and beautification efforts, the city says the youth hires will learn about sustainability best practices, as well as education and employment opportunities.

Marybeth Campbell, executive director for the Worcester Community Action Council, called the program a quadruple win for the youth that we serve.

This is an opportunity for our young people to get exposure to jobs that [they] may not have even otherwise thought of, said Campbell. Recruiting kids is something that we do really well. And were looking at kids that are really interested in looking at green jobs.

The 25 summer jobs for the youths will be 25 hours a week and pay minimum wage.

Jeff Turgeon, Executive director of MassHire Central Region Workforce Board, said $33,000 in funding for the jobs will come from the YouthWorks summer jobs program, a state-funded employment program that helps income-eligible youth and young adults gain experience to find jobs.

Last week, United Way of Central Massachusetts CEO Tim Garvin announced that the Central Mass. chapter is donating $25,000 to the Green Corps. program as part of $250,000 being donated via six grants focused on innovation and making a difference in moving Worcester forward. The money comes as part of a $5 million donation from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott.

Its about youth development, which weve done for 100 years, said Garvin. Its about summer employment, and summer jobs and teen employment, which we believe in. Its about neighborhood cleanup and beautification, which all of us over the city need...Get ready for it, were excited.

On Wednesday, city councilors will be asked to add two nuisance officers to the citys Quality of Life team, Fink announced. Those officers will respond to complaints of trash, debris, overgrowth, unkempt properties, abandoned vehicles and other concerns.

A dedicated litter patrol will also be established within the DPW and tasked with the sole responsibility of removing litter and debris along the rights of way throughout the city, he added.

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A competition to spot a snake hiding in ferns is doing the rounds on social media and drawing hilarious responses from entrants.

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers uploaded the tricky brain teaser to their Facebook page on Sunday.

The snake catcher group has promised a stubby cooler and snake ID poster to the first person who can spot the snake, draw a circle around it, and identify the species.

A competition to spot a snake hiding in ferns is doing the rounds on social media and drawing hilarious responses from entrants

Though the competition has proven to be incredibly tricky with entrants struggling to find the reptile hiding in the ferns.

One social media user took a cheeky approach and edited an image of a cartoonish snake onto the photo.

'Case solved,' they commented.

Another entrant claimed they had spotted the snake but didn't know how to draw a circle around it.

Others took the high road and admitted they had no idea where the reptile was lurking.

'How the hell did I survive seven years in Australia?' one person commented. 'I can never see these bloody snakes.'

Another person commented, 'Not a chance.'

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers will release the name of the winner on Monday.

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers owner Stuart Mckenzie later identified the species of the snake as a brown tree snake.

One social media user took a cheeky approach and edited an image of a cartoonish snake onto the photo

The competition has proven to be incredibly tricky with entrants struggling to find the reptile hiding in the ferns

The reptile is considered to be mildly venomous and feeds on lizards, birds, small mammals and eggs.

Mr Mckenzie said the competition also served as a warning to locals to always keep an eye out for snakes when leaving the house.

'People need to make sure they're not complacent, even as we head into cooler months,' he said.

'This morning has been crazy. I've received seven to eight calls already. There are still smaller snakes about and people need to wary.'
If Robert Doyle is genuinely ashamed and sorry for what he did, he should pick up the phone, call the number given to him by detectives from the Victoria Police sexual crimes squad and agree to answer their questions.

For three years, Melbournes longest-serving lord mayor used his fragile mental health to shield himself from the women he accosted.

Former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle offers a tearful apology for the hurt his actions caused during an inteview with 3AW.

When an inquiry established by the City of Melbourne asked Doyle to answer allegations made by Kharla Williams that he assaulted her at a Melbourne Health dinner, Doyle was too sick to respond.

When a parallel inquiry established by Melbourne Health asked Doyle to respond to the same allegations, the former Liberal Party leader cited the same excuse.
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KELLER, Texas  A former North Texas police officer has been indicted for his role in arresting and pepper spraying a man after he filmed his sons encounter with police.

Ex-Keller Police Sgt. Blake Shimanek is facing a charge of official oppression, a misdemeanor, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorneys Office announced Friday.

If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail. Court records did not list an attorney for Shimanek.

Bodycam footage shows Marco Puente being pepper-sprayed and arrested on Aug. 15, 2020.

Dillon Puente was pulled over for a traffic violation which his dad was recording on his phone across the street. Footage showed Shimanek ordering Officer Antik Tomer to arrest and pepper spray Puente for filming the arrest.

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Shimanek claimed Marco Puente blocked a roadway, but a subsequent investigation found Puente did nothing wrong.

Keller Police Chief Brad Fortune later said the way Puente and his son were treated caused great disappointment and regret in the department.

Shimanek was demoted after an internal investigation. He resigned from the police department in February. Tomer was not disciplined as officials said he was following orders.

Marco Puente sued the city of Keller and later settled his case for $200,000.
[May 10, 2021] CIC Health and Quest Diagnostics Collaborate to Help Schools, Camps Open Safely Nationwide

CIC Health and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) today announced a collaboration that will help more schools safely return to in-person learning by greatly increasing COVID-19 testing logistics and lab capacity across the country. It comes at a pivotal moment as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) releases state funding to expand testing for K-8 public schools nationwide. The collaboration will also support the testing needs of camps and other summer programs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005518/en/ CIC Health, one of the largest school-based testing services providers in the U.S., already facilitates COVID-19 pooled testing - a proven, low-cost way to test large populations - for over 80 school districts and more than 600 schools across 20 states. The company helps implement testing from soup to nuts with a model designed to minimize school-day disruption by enabling all sample collection in a matter of minutes. Results are generally returned the next day. "Through strategic collaboration, we can make testing easy, fast, and affordable so school systems across the country can open and operate safely," said Tim Rowe, CEO and co-founder of CIC Health. "In Massachusetts, we've seen firsthand the effectiveness of state-sponsored school testing. We're excited to bring this same confidence in a safe return to in-person learning to thousands more schools as we expand our reach alongside Quest." As the nation's leader in diagnostic information services, Quest Diagnostics has capacity to perform 300,000 COVID-19 PCR (News - Alert) tests a day through its network of approximately two dozen laboratories, which covers every U.S. state and Washington, D.C. as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. The vast majority of results are delivered in a day. Quest COVID-19 testing will complement and extend CIC Health's lab network to dramatically expand its capacity, allowing the company to serve schools and camps across the country. "All of us are eager to get back to school and camp as safely as possible, and COVID-19 testing is key," said James E. Davis, Executive Vice President of General Diagnostics for Quest. "Quest is at the forefront of COVID-19 testing, providing nearly 40 million molecular diagnostic tests since March 2020, and our collaboration with CIC Health is informed by this experience. We know that Questcan make a major contribution to safer schools and camps, empowering these organizations with lab insights to help them foster safer environments."



The CIC Health and Quest Diagnostics collaboration is effective immediately, with teams ready to support any interested schools, camps, and summer programs. The school testing programs will follow recommendations in 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 toward routine school testing to safely reopen America's schools. In addition, CIC Health has been selected as a finalist for managing coordination hubs nationwide for the HHS federal school testing program, and Quest Diagnostics would serve as a partner lab in that endeavor.

About CIC Health

CIC Health offers comprehensive COVID-19 testing and vaccination services that are accessible, fast, and easy. The health tech company operates dozens of public testing sites, provides testing services - including pooled testing - to more than 600 schools and 375 organizations, and runs three mass vaccination sites: Gillette Stadium, Hynes Convention Center, and Reggie Lewis Center. Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the company facilitated more than 1.6 million PCR tests in its first eight months and over 925,000 vaccine doses in less than four months. CIC Health collaborates with private and public entities like CLIA-certified labs, physician networks, health care institutions, and state and municipal governments to streamline and expedite operations to meet public health challenges. It is a 2021 Fast Company World Changing Ideas and 2020 Massachusetts Tech Top 50 honoree, and a subsidiary of Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC). Learn more at cic-health.com. About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics empowers people to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, our diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors, and improve health care management. Quest annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our 50,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives. QuestDiagnostics.com. For more information about the latest developments with Quest's COVID-19 testing, visit: newsroom.questdiagnostics.com/COVIDTestingUpdates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210510005518/en/

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Some in Hawaiis Micronesian community say the April 5 shooting of 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap highlights the racism they face in a place they expected to be more welcoming to fellow islanders
New Delhi: In the view of rising COVID-19 cases, the Uttarakhand government on Sunday (May 9, 2021) decided to impose a week-long 'COVID Curfew' which will remain in force between 6 am on May 11 and 6 am on May 18.

State Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal while making the announcement said, people of Uttarakhand coming from outside will have to undergo seven-day isolation.

The State Cabinet Minister also added that the shops will only be open from 7 am to 10, except today (Monday), where shops will be open till 1 pm.

Take a look at the complete set of guideline here:

1. Under the week-long COVID curfew, shops selling essential items like fruits, milk and vegetables will be allowed to function from 7 am to 10 am.

2. On the other hand, grocery shops in the state will be permitted to open on May 13 only.

3. Shopping malls, market complexes, gyms, theatres, assembly halls will remain closed during this period.

4. Not more than 20 people will be allowed to attend a wedding ceremony or funerals in the state.

5. Mediapersons, Journalist will be allowed to travel in the state after presenting their ID cards.

6. Travellers coming from outside the state will now have to produce negative RT-PCR results not older than 72 hours.

7. Travellers will also have to register themselves on the Dehradun administration's portal before entering the state.

8. People of Uttarakhand coming from outside will have to undergo a 7-day quarantine.

9. Interstate movements of vehicles will not be allowed to take more than 50 percent of passengers.

10. Individuals who are travelling to a vaccination centre will be exempted, but will have to present registration documents.

'COVID curfew to be imposed in Uttarakhand from 6am on May 11 till 6am on May 18; shops selling fruits, vegetables, dairy items to remain open from 7am-10am, shopping malls, market complexes, gyms, theatres, assembly halls, bars, liquor shops to remain closed until further orders pic.twitter.com/nRC9GdRQmo  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2021

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Uttarakhand recorded over 5,890 new COVID-19 cases and 180 deaths. The state also recorded 2,731 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

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Anil Jain, Joint managing director, Bajaj Healthcare said: "We are pleased to add Ivermectin to our growing product portfolios. The second waves is more aggressive and bigger in number than the first. We hope the availability of an effective treatment such as Ivejaj will considerably ease the pressure and offer patients much needed and timely therapy option."Bajaj Healthcare has developed the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and the formulation for Ivermectin through using it's R&D team. Most patients ailing from mild to moderate symptoms can benefit from the use of Ivejaj.The company's net profit surged to Rs 326.1% to Rs 26.42 crore on a 79.6% to Rs 178.33 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.Source: Medindia
Grayling Laboratory Director to Retire after 35 Years with the State Police

Grayling Laboratory Director to Retire after 35 Years with the State Police

May 3, 2021

Grayling Laboratory Director Connie Swander kicked off her career with the Michigan State Police (MSP) having already spent 18 years as a medical technologist in the private sector. More than three decades later, most of her original MSP colleagues hung up their white coats years ago. Half of the staff she now manages weren't born when she began working at the laboratory.

"I love this job. I've worked with and for some great people," said Swander. "That's the hardest thing about retiring and probably what kept me from doing it for so long, but this felt like the right time."

At 74-years-old and with an impressive 35-years in the State Police's Forensic Science Division, Swander will log her last day May 26. Her official retirement date is June 1.

"If I had waited until next year, I would have had 18 years as a medical technologist, 18 years as a biologist and 18 years as a laboratory director; the trifecta," said Swander, who started with the MSP, assigned to the Grayling Laboratory, analyzing biological fluids like blood and saliva.

"We used test tubes and assessed samples by hand. When agencies submitted evidence, we documented the pieces by physically writing. I eventually had to switch to an electric typewriter because no one could read my reports. Now we're paperless. I have a hard time imagining what's next," Swander added.

In those early days, she and three others were tasked with setting up the Serology Unit in Grayling. DNA profiling for criminal investigations was just gaining traction in the United States and not in use at that time. The MSP started using DNA analysis of crime scene evidence in 1991.

Her work took her all over the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Michigan, a total of 35 counties, for years. She still finds herself mentally back at those crime scenes when driving around the Grayling area where she raised her two sons and continues to live with her husband.

Swander promoted to laboratory director for the Grayling and Marquette facilities in 2003. At the time, each examiner averaged roughly 200 cases each year, which was more than triple her tally when she began. The Marquette Laboratory would later get its own director, allowing Swander to focus her time on the Grayling Laboratory.

Swander estimates she's testified in court more than 300 times and the cases stick with her too - homicides, sexual assaults, child abuse and deadly traffic crashes. She was named MSP's Civilian of the Year in 1992.

"I've always felt we're here for a reason. God placed me here for a reason. A lot of times it's the forensic evidence that seals the case - good or bad," she said. "Sadly, I'm leaving with a few cases not solved."

"Connie embodies the traits we value in our forensic scientists as a dedicated, passionate and service-oriented colleague and friend," said Jeff Nye, director of the Forensic Division. "Throughout her distinguished career she has inspired many professionals to become better scientists through her leadership and positive outlook on life."

Swander took every opportunity to make her voice heard and offers that advice to newcomers - participate however you can. She's served on the American Society of Crime Laboratory Director's (ASCLD) Board of Directors, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Director's Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD-LAB) Board of Directors, as well as the FBI's Criminal Justice Advisory Policy Board.

Swander looks forward to having more time with her grandchildren and spending time in warmer weather. The animal rescue and church groups she currently volunteers with will benefit from some extra hours too.

"It's been an exciting and rewarding career," Swander said. "But now it's time for someone else to lead."

Time for new blood, appropriately.

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Portland Police Have Responded to at Least 359 Shootings This Year

Police officers in Portland, Oregon, have responded to at least 359 shootings so far in 2021, as the states largest city continues to see unprecedented levels of gun violence.

Preliminary statistics indicate that officers responded to 357 shootings, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman told The Epoch Times via email on May 7; at least two other shootings have occurred since then. Ninety-five of the shootings resulted in injuries, with 113 people being injured.

The numbers dont count suicide attempts.

On May 7, officers responded to a report of shots fired and found evidence of gunfire in the area of Northeast Prescott Street and Northeast 33rd Avenue. A short time later, an off-duty officer witnessed a gunshot victim being dropped off at a nearby hospital.

On May 9 around 1 a.m., officers went to a home on Southeast Harney Street following a report of shots being fired. They found a chaotic scene, with what appeared to be a house party underway and one person unconscious, the bureau said in an incident summary. The person was soon declared dead.

People are being shot at a rate we havent seen in Portland before, Lt. Greg Pashley, a Portland police officer, told KATU. We know its taking its toll on the community, and if there was some switch we could flip, we would love to put an end to it. But as long as people are willing to pull triggers in those emotional, heated moments to resolve their disputes, unfortunately, were going to continue to see this sort of thing.

Pashley said any information that people can provide to police can help solve crimes.

Shootings and homicides spiked in Portland in 2020 following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. That was part of a trend in cities across the United States.

Portland recorded 56 homicides for all of 2020; this year through April, 27 have already been recorded.

Commissioners last month approved $6 million to combat shootings, though none of those funds went to the police. The largest chunk was allocated to community organizations that work on intervention and other efforts related to shootings. Commissioners also approved funding to hire additional unarmed park rangers and for smaller groups intended to address the root cause of gun violence.

Police in Portland have struggled to respond to all 911 calls in a timely manner because of regular protests and riots that started in the wake of Floyds death. Some calls have been put on hold for hours because of the number of officers required to deal with civil unrest.

Other cities have also seen higher murder rates so far this year. Chicago, for instance, recorded 195 homicides as of May 2. In 2020 through the same date, 160 murders took place. New York City saw 132 killings as of May 2, an increase from 113 in the year-earlier period.
A proposal for St Conleths Community College in Newbridge put together to provide free sanitary products to people affected by period poverty has received a very favourable response from the school and is to be adopted in September for the new school year, it has emerged.

The proposal was put together by local student James Stokes (15) in collaboration with other students and the support of Cllr Chris Pender.

Student James said: Period products, such as pads and tampons, should be available for all who need them, when they need them, in order to access education. Having periods should not be a barrier to education for anyone."

James, who is also a member of the student council in St Conleth's Community College, added: "Simply put, period products should be as readily available as toilet paper. There should always be a way to access period products when needed."

Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, handwashing facilities, and/or waste management.

Campaigning group Homeless Period Ireland and the Simon Communities say it is a growing issue in Ireland, particularly since the onset of the pandemic.

A study by Plan International also found that almost 50% of girls aged between 12 and 19 in Ireland found it difficult to pay for sanitary products.

Speaking of why he saw a need for this proposal, James said: I didnt actually realise it was a problem until I was speaking to some people about it, thats when I found out there is no way to access any form of period products in the school, I was honestly shocked, I was aware that Chris also was involved in an "end period poverty" campaign so I contacted him and he helped me with all I needed during my research and investigation

Cllr Pender praised James as a young man who wants to be pro-active in politics and wants to work to make changes to support people that dont have access to basic necessities.

"Ive been fortunate to have James along with me while I do my work on a couple of occasions and to say hes passionate and committed would be an understatement.

Young people need to be encouraged and empowered to become active in politics and though they most certainly didnt vote for me I am their voice too.

"James has been an inspiration to work with and quite honestly If he keeps going down the road hes on I may start looking for a new job, Cllr Pender joked.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Former President Barack Obamas dog Bo died Saturday after a battle with cancer, the Obamas said on social media.

News of Bo's passing was shared by Obama and his wife Michelle on Instagram, where both expressed sorrow at the passing of a dog the former president described as a true friend and loyal companion.

He tolerated all the fuss that came with being in the White House, had a big bark but no bite, loved to jump in the pool in the summer, was unflappable with children, lived for scraps around the dinner table, and had great hair, Barack Obama wrote.

Bo, a Portuguese water dog, was a gift to the Obamas from the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a key supporter of Obamas 2008 presidential campaign who became close to the family. Bo helped Obama keep a promise to daughters Malia and Sasha that they could get a dog after the election.

A companion dog, Sunny, joined the family in August 2013.

Both were constant presences around the White House and popular among visitors there, often joining the Obamas for public events. The dogs entertained crowds at the annual Easter Egg Roll and Bo occasionally joined Mrs. Obama to welcome tourists. The dogs also cheered wounded service members, as well as hospitalized children the first lady would visit each year just before Christmas.

In a post featuring a slideshow of images of Bo  including one of him sitting behind the presidents Resolute Desk in the Oval Office  Mrs. Obama recounted his years bringing some levity to the White House.

He was there when Barack and I needed a break, sauntering into one of our offices like he owned the place, a ball clamped firmly in his teeth. He was there when we flew on Air Force One, when tens of thousands flocked to the South Lawn for the Easter Egg Roll, and when the Pope came to visit, she wrote.

Mrs. Obama wrote that she was grateful for the time the family got to spend with him due to the pandemic, and said that over the past year, no one was happier than Bo.

All his people were under one roof again, she wrote.

___

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
Young adults living with incurable illnesses will have access to waterfront respite care when Australias first hospice for young people opens on Sydneys northern beaches next year.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday turned the first sod at the site of the adolescent and young adult hospice, which will provide palliative care for 15 to 24-year-olds and their families when construction completes late 2022.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at the site of which will be Australias first palliative care hospice for young people living with an incurable illness or condition. Credit:Photo: Kate Geraghty

The facility is the first of its kind and is being pitched as a test case for similar facilities across the country for young people who have to seek respite care in aged care facilities if required.

What families have told us is that once children achieved teenage years there was really nowhere for them to go if theyre suffering from chronic, life-debilitating or life-limiting disease, Ms Berejiklian said.
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Turkish FM in Riyadh, first visit since Khashoggi case Cavusoglu to meet his counterpart, new detente after Egypt

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MAY 10 -Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday and Tuesday will visit Saudi Arabia in the first official trip by a member of Ankara's government since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. During a meeting with his counterpart in the Kingdom, prince Faysal bin Farhan bin Abdullah El Saud, "bilateral relations will be discussed and points of view on regional issues will be exchanged", according to the Turkish foreign ministery.



The mission comes after the phone call last week between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman.



The talks are expected to focus on various causes of tension that have emerged over the last few years, including an informal boycott of Turkish products and the closure of several schools managed by Ankara in the Kingdom. The mission is part of efforts of the Turkish government to rebuild relations with several countries in the region, after the start of the normalization process with Egypt, where last week the first Turkish government visit took place since the ouster in 2013 of president Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brothers backed by Erdogan.(ANSAmed).




EBRD, EIB and PROPARCO provide 87.4 million to support 1 st Total Erens project in Uzbekistan

100 MW solar plant to be put into operation near Samarkand

One of the first private-sector renewable energy projects in the country

The government of Uzbekistans plans to develop 8 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030 have received a major boost following the approval of an 87.4 million financing package jointly organised by, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European investment Bank (EIB) and PROPARCO, a subsidiary of Agence Francaise de Developpement. The funds will be used to construct and put into operation a 100 MW photovoltaic solar power plant near the city of Samarkand.

The package will be provided to project developer Tutly Solar LLC, which is fully owned by Total Eren, a leading France-based independent power producer (IPP) from renewable energy sources (mainly solar and wind), active globally. It will consist of an EIB loan of 43.7 million and two loans of approximately 21.8 million each from the EBRD and PROPARCO.

This is one of the first private-sector renewable energy projects in the country. It will help diversify the energy mix, which is currently dominated by fossil fuel-fired power stations, and increase generation capacity and the reliability of supply to address growing demand for electricity. Once implemented, the project will help reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 160,000 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent and generate an additional 270 GWh of electricity for thousands of inhabitants of Central Asias most populated country.

The project will thus contribute to priorities identified in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; and climate action.

After the commissioning, the electricity produced by Tutly Solar will be sold to the operator, National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan, through a 25-year power-purchasing agreement. The project, which involves Total Eren as one of the first Independent Power Producers in the country, will develop Uzbekistans huge solar potential.

PROPARCO is pleased to contribute to financing the Tutly solar power plant, a unique project developed by Total Eren and our first project in the renewable energy sector of Uzbekistan. This financing is fully in line with AFD Groups 100 per cent Paris Agreement commitment, said Anne Gautier, head of PROPARCOs Power and Digital Division for this region.

EBRD Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group, Nandita Parshad commented: We are very proud to co-finance this landmark project conceived by Total Eren. It is contributing to Uzbekistans long-term decarbonisation strategy, which is being developed jointly with the EBRD and is designed to achieve carbon neutrality of the power sector by 2050, as well as to align development of the countrys power sector with commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Teresa Czerwinska, Vice-President at EIB, Responsible for operations in Uzbekistan, stated: With Climate Action at the heart of the EIB investment activities, we are proud to support development of Tutly solar plant in Uzbekistan. The plant will make an important contribution to both countrys sustainable economic and social development, and allow Uzbekistan to reinforce the global fight against the climate change. This makes Tutly an investment in local economic development and the future of our planet. I am grateful to our partners from the European Union, the EBRD and Total Eren for the far-sighted partnership for a safe and prosperous future of Uzbekistan, Central Asia and the world.

Laurence Juin, EVP and CFO of Total Eren, stated: We are pleased to have successfully finalised the financing of our first solar project in Uzbekistan, and I would like to thank the Uzbek authorities and our lenders, the EIB, the EBRD and Proparco, for their support, as well as our teams in Tashkent and Paris for their hard work. Total Eren is proud to be one of the first independent power producers to develop, build, and finance a solar project in Uzbekistan to supply the population with low-carbon electricity and help reduce the countrys dependence on fossil fuels. We are eager to commission the Tutly solar farm and to develop other renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan and in the region.
(Newser)  Seth Rogen has been a longtime collaborator and buddy of fellow actor James Franco, stretching back to the late '90s, when they both appeared in the sitcom Freaks and Geeks, and extending into more recent co-starring turns in such films as Pineapple Express, The Interview, and The Disaster Artist. Now, however, in the wake of a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against the 43-year-old Franco, Rogen is keeping his distance and isn't sure when or if they'll work together again, per a new interview with the Times of London. In 2018, after the claims of inappropriate and sexually exploitative behavior against Franco began to surface, Rogen was asked if he would continue working with his friend. He answered in the affirmative but said he didn't want to talk about the allegations, insisting he didn't know enough about the developments and that "my perspective on this is the least relevant perspective."

story continues below

The 39-year-old has since changed his tune. "I ... look back to that interview in 2018 where I comment that I would keep working with James, and the truth is that I have not and I do not plan to right now," he tells the Times. Rogen also addresses accusations by actor Charlyne Yi that he's been a Franco "enabler." She recently cited a 2014 SNL bit in which Rogen and Franco both poked fun of the latter's propositioning of a 17-year-old girl on Instagram. Rogen now tells the Times it was a "terrible joke" that he regrets, and that "I despise abuse and harassment and I would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it, or knowingly put someone in a situation where they were around someone like that." Rogen says everything that's transpired has indeed affected their relationship, but he's not as clear on whether his friendship with Franco is done for good. "I don't know if I can define that right now during this interview," he says. (Read more Seth Rogen stories.)
The world was in shock last week when it was announced that multi-billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates have decided to divorce.

I havent been this upset since multi-millionaires Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got kicked out of the royal family and were told to go fend for themselves. The last I heard they were on the mean streets of an exclusive upscale, gated community in Montecito, California. Is there no mercy in the world?

No one is exactly sure why the Gates are splitting up, but it might be because Bill is getting too old for Melinda. She had been complaining that he had lost his hard drive for business and was constantly using up all his memory. Bill also might have gotten tired of the child processes running in the background and decided he needed a reboot.

The couple is worth an estimated $40 billion. Their portfolio is so large if it were a ship it wouldnt even fit through the Suez Canal going the right way.

Actually Im not too surprised at the split. Statistics show that nowadays marriage is the leading cause of divorce in the United States.

No one is sure what Bill Gates will do once he pays for his newfound freedom. However, Hollywood is considering him for a starring role in the new reality TV series Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? or a slightly different version of the old Danny Thomas show Make Room for Sugar Daddy.

So the lawyers are getting ready to do battle although the couple has publicly said their parting is amicable. I cant wait for the main bout. These are the same lawyers who represented opposing sides in multi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos divorce last year so they should be in top shape. I can see the fight now.

Ladies and gentlemen. In this corner we have Bill Gates attorney Ted Billbe weighing in at $1,000 an hour. In the other corner we have Melinda Gates attorney Sherri Anderson at about the same rate. I want a good clean fight. Ted, no bringing up any possible weight gain Melinda Gates may have had during her years of marriage.

What do you mean by that?

No hitting below the belt.

OK.

When the bell rings come out filing.

Dont you mean fighting?

No, filing! Youre lawyers, arent you? Come out filing affidavits, bills of attainders, codicils, and habeas corpuses. If your opponent gets knocked to the canvas, retreat to a neutral corner and have the referee issue him a summons to return to the center of the ring.

Each round will be months and months. After youve slugged it out for a few rounds, and have charged your client around $1 billion of their hard earned money, you can settle. Are there any questions?

I have just one question.

Yes?

If this is a ring, why is it square?

Joe Crawford is a longtime Alton resident who writes weekly columns for The Telegraph. He can be contacted at crawfordjo@aol.com.
There's growing concern over the situation in Nepal

As India battles a major coronavirus wave, there's concern about rising infection levels in neighbouring countries.

Travel and other restrictions have been introduced amid fears that poorly resourced local health services will be unable to cope.

What's happened to case numbers?

In India, daily case numbers and deaths began rising in March and then surged dramatically.

India's immediate neighbours have also seen numbers rising - although on different trajectories.

There's particular concern about Nepal, which saw sharply rising infections in April. More than 40% of all Covid tests are showing a positive result, according to the Red Cross, citing government data.

Charts showing progression of daily cases in South Asian countries

Nepal shares a 1,880km (1,168 mile) land border with India, and many people regularly cross it for business, tourism and family reasons.

The country's former king Gyanendra tested positive after making a visit to India, including spending some time at the big Kumbh Mela religious festival.

In March, the Nepalese authorities brought in additional health checks at border crossings, finally closing more than 20 crossing points on 1 May.

Restrictions were imposed in the Kathmandu valley area on 29 April.

Bangladesh saw case numbers rising from early March, and brought in a national lockdown on 5 April. This has now been extended to 16 May.

The land border with India was also closed to passenger traffic for two weeks from 26 April, although some people are still being allowed to cross.

Daily reported cases in Bangladesh have come down significantly since then.

In Pakistan, cases and deaths have also risen sharply, leading to fears about the strain on the health service.

Pakistan has restricted access across the border from Iran

Some provincial authorities had imposed restrictions and mandated mask wearing, and the army is helping out in some areas.

And ahead of the forthcoming Eid al-Fitr celebrations, there's now a partial lockdown across the country, with only essential services allowed to remain open.

Story continues

Border restrictions have been imposed for travellers from India, and from Afghanistan and Iran.

Sri Lanka has also seen a sudden surge in case numbers since mid-April, leading it to close schools in some areas, restrict religious gatherings and ban travel from India.

Why are case numbers rising?

There are fears that India variants may be partly to blame for growing case numbers in neighbouring countries.

Health experts are looking at whether one of these types of variant might be more transmissible.

But it's also possible that new infections could be linked to variants from elsewhere, such as the UK one.

Woman in India gets a swab test

Nepal sent 15 samples collected two months ago to a WHO-certified lab in Hong Kong, which discovered the UK variant in nine of them and the India variant in one.

And in Pakistan, genome sequencing in April found the UK variant was present in a majority of samples. The health authorities in the southern province of Sindh have also identified the presence of the South Africa and Brazil variants.

And the South Africa variant has also been found in Bangladesh.

But it's worth pointing out that genome sequencing in the region is extremely limited, so there isn't enough data to show if these new variants might be driving infections.

Bar chart showing tests per confirmed case in South Asia countries

And in terms of the overall spread of Covid, testing levels have been generally below or only just within the 10-30 tests per new confirmed case recommended by the World Health Organization as adequate.

The limited testing and relatively high positive numbers coming back means the true extent of infection is not being mapped.

Doctors, health experts and others have also pointed out that public adherence to Covid safety measures has slipped over time, with mixed messages coming from political leaders.

In Pakistan, doctors struggling with growing case numbers and limited hospital facilities have even spoken of their relief that the army was being used to help enforce social distancing and other measures.

How are the vaccination drives going?

The slow rate of vaccinations is a major concern.

Countries in the region began rolling out vaccines in January, but they are not yet widespread enough to make a real difference.

Nepal has administered about 7.2 doses per 100 people, Bangladesh 5.4, Sri Lanka 4.8, Pakistan one, and Afghanistan 0.6, according to the latest data.

Click here to see the BBC interactive

In the UK, it's about 76 doses per 100, in the US about 75, in the European Union nearly 37 and in China more than 20.

India donated some vaccines manufactured by the main producer, the Serum Institute of India, as well as Bharat Biotech to its immediate neighbours.

But it then temporarily halted exports to prioritise domestic requirements amid rising cases.

And there have been supply issues with the global Covax vaccine scheme, leading to delays in shipments.

Nepal and Sri Lanka had to stop their vaccination drives at one point until they received donations of the Sinopharm vaccine from China.

Pakistan has also turned to both Chinese and Russian vaccines to try to boost its vaccination programme.

Additional reporting by Krishna Acharya in Kathmandu and Waliur Rahman Miraz in Dhaka

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The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has bemoaned the high cost of running for political office in Ghana saying, it remained the biggest obstacle to the fight against corruption.



The situation, he said was a threat to Ghanas democracy and exacerbating the plights of the ordinary Ghanaian.



He has therefore called on all stakeholders including academia to undertake researches to salvage the situation and to save the countrys democracy.



The cost of getting elected into any position in Ghana has increased to an intolerable level and that is the root cause of corruption. So if there is a way, we can do more research in that field and see how we can clean our politics, he stated.



This will help us to save our democracy because the more the countrys politics became monetized, the more merit is sacrificed, he added.



Mr Asiedu Nketiah shared the sentiment during a stakeholders consultative workshop on the development of three new academic programmes of the Department of Peace Studies of the school for Development Studies (SDS) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Thursday.



The workshop was attended by representatives of the two main political parties, the Electoral Commission, the National Media Commission, the National Labour Commission, the security agencies, members of the academia and the media.



The three new programmes are PhD, Mphil and MA in Peace and Development Studies, PhD, Mphil and MA in Politics, Peace and Security and certificate courses in Mediation.



Mr Asiedu Nketiah spoke against how persons were recruited into the security agencies in the country and warned of dire consequences if nothing was done to change the narrative.



If we are not careful and we structure our security services along ethnic, political and religious lines, then we shouldn't have security at all because by that you are nursing a lion which will come back to consume all of us, he warned.



He further expressed worry about what he described as charlatans who were masquerading as religious leaders threatening politicians and exploiting the vulnerable in the society.



I see a lot of charlatans emerging in our religious scene threatening politicians that if you do not see me you can not win. We are in a country of poverty and yet the very poor are the people who are being exploited, he lamented.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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It was high time  pardon the pun  that marijuana was decriminalized/legalized in New Mexico. I applaud the efforts of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to help make that happen.

Although many criminal records of people convicted for marijuana-related offenses will be expunged, I believe the government should at least acknowledge and apologize for the hardships those convictions have caused people in terms of job restrictions, lack of SBA loans, Second Amendment rights, etc. Theyve stood on the backs of those folks for many years, and now that theyve had an epiphany in the form of a new tax revenue stream, it all gets neatly cleaned up.

This is not your daddys weed.

For all the buzz generated  pardon again  regarding millions of dollars going to communities from marijuana taxation and licensing revenues, I have yet to hear about what percentage of those revenues will be allocated to addiction research and treatment for the ills caused by marijuana use.

Mental health experts have become more aware of the psychosis attributed to the habitual use of marijuana among young adults. There is already a shortage of mental health care professionals in New Mexico, particularly in rural communities, and many insurance carriers do not cover treatment.

Having said that, at this point it appears the revenues will be generated on the backs of the poor and psychologically susceptible.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



................................................................

More thought needs to be focused on this issue. We do not want and should not create another situation that alcohol and tobacco has burdened society with. Think for a minute of the strain that the physical illnesses derived from alcohol and tobacco have put on our health care system.

A doctor once told me that tobacco is more addictive than heroin, but its legal because of the revenue it generates for the tobacco producers and government. Same goes for the alcohol industry, the destroyer of lives and families.

Lets not rush to line anyones pockets without analyzing the unintended results of our actions.
Chennai: The release of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case convicts has once again come to the fore in Tamil Nadu shortly after regime change that brought the DMK to power.

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, whose party is in an alliance with the ruling DMK, has written to Chief Minister MK Stalin demanding the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who have been in jail for nearly three decades.

Despite not having committed the crime, Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan are languishing as death-row convicts. Similarly, Nalini, Ravichandran, Robert Payas, Jeyakumar have lost their youth years languishing in jail and suffering mental agony, said Vaiko.

Vaiko has written to Stalin saying that the Supreme Court Chief Justice had left the decision regarding their release to the state government, over two and a half years ago.

Despite the apex court having urged the Governor to facilitate their release, the Governor has treated it like consigning the matter to the dustbin. There is no need to ask the central government regarding this issue, but people are being misled saying that the central government has denied permission for their release, read the letter.

Vaiko referred to how the DMK has been vocal about releasing the seven convicts for a long time and urged MK Stalin to fulfill the wishes of the people of Tamil Nadu.

The release of the convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has been an issue that Tamil Nadus political parties have been dilly-dallying over the years. Every now and then, leaders from various parties have expressed hope for the release of the convicts, but nothing has materialized yet.

In 2020, when Home Minister Amit Shah was visiting Chennai, Tamil celebrities on Twitter trended hashtags pertaining to the release of the Rajiv Case convict Perarivalan.

In late 2020, it was widely speculated that Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohits visit to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Home Minister, MoS Prime Ministers Office and the Vice President of India was regarding the ramifications and possibilities of the convicts release. The Governors office had then mentioned that the discussions were about important issues related to Tamil Nadu.

On November 3, 2020, a Supreme Court bench expressed unhappiness over the fact that the recommendation for the release of Rajiv Gandhi convicts sent to the Governor by the state government was pending for over two years.

Earlier, it was informed that the reason behind the delay from the Governors end was owing to the probe of the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) which is looking into the larger conspiracy behind the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case. However, the Court had held that the MDMA probe should not have any impact on the Governors decision to pardon the convicts.

Seven people including Perarivalan were convicted by the special TADA court for their role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on May 21,1991 by an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriperumbudur, in the outskirts of Chennai.

https://zeenews.india.com/tamil-nadu/mdmk-chief-vaiko-releases-manifesto...
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Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
M&A

What drew Noblis to acquire McKean Defense

Deal adds customers and expands tech-related work

For Noblis, its acquisition of McKean Defense represents the nonprofit science and technology organizations third in seven years and latest move to further grow in the government markets defense segment.

Amr ElSawy, who became Noblis CEO that same year, said Friday that adding McKean Defense is the latest move to further balance the portfolio beyond the historical core of civilian and health care-focused work.

Prior to McKean Defense, the two most recent acquisitions for Noblis have been primarily focused on the national security space including the 2014 addition of National Security Partners and last years purchase of Inductive Minds.

ElSawy told me each of those deals also focused on adding new contract vehicles, from which they can pursue more task orders.

Half of our growth has been organic and half of it has been acquired, ElSawy said regarding Noblis recent history.

So what did Noblis find in McKean Defense? Glenn Hickok, who leads Noblis defense mission area as vice president, was succinct in his description of the acquired asset: Nobody knows the Navy better than McKean.

Our defense business was mostly focused on the environmental sciences with the Air Force and the DCGS battlefield information system also in the portfolio, Hickok told me. We had some Navy, but not a whole lot of it.

Noblis environmental focus included programs to help address pollutants at military installations for instance.

But Noblis has gradually added more of a technology lens for its defense portfolio including cybersecurity and communications through the combination of organic and acquired growth described by ElSawy.

On a combined basis, Noblis estimates its annual revenue at $418 million with close to 1,900 employees.

Philadelphia-headquartered McKean focuses its services on the Navy surface fleet in areas such as readiness, modernization, sustainment and integration. Hickok said one main idea behind all of that is to extend the lifespan of legacy platforms by implementing newer systems into them.

A second thrust Hickok highlighted in our conversation is that of conditioned or predictive maintenance, whereby operators can see when a system or part needs to be fixed ahead of time.

That also is not exclusive to the defense side of Noblis. Hickok said the firm is looking to apply that in other parts of the government.

We can inject advanced technologies from a scientific perspective, ElSawy said.

He also highlighted how Noblis has found in recent years is that many emerging technologies such as 5G wireless networks, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and others are not specific to particular agencies.

Many of these areas are cutting across the entire government, with the transition to the cloud coming at the top, ElSawy said.

So too are the many of the capabilities to help agencies make that technological leap a reality from Noblis point-of-view.

The techniques for AI, cyber and working with large data sets are very complementary skill sets, ElSawy said.

McKean is now a subsidiary of Noblis and also led by Hickok in addition to his defense area role. The subsidiary will adopt a new name in the future.
WATLINGTON has been awarded plastic-free community status.

The town was recognised by Surfers Against Sewage, a marine conservation charity and campaign group.

It follows a campaign launched last year by Nicola Schafer, co-founder of the Watlington Climate Action Group, and parish councillor Terry Jackson.

They worked with businesses and organisations to minimise the amount of disposable plastic used in their daily operations.

Councillor Jackson said: Im really pleased we got this far and Im looking forward to getting the rest of the community more involved.

This is just the start but with this accreditation we can really push to encourage more businesses and organisations to join us.

We currently have 10 organisations and community groups in Watlington who are our plastic-free allies and parish councillors also signed the pledge.

We need to continue and get everyone involved as we want to make the high street plastic-free and we are not far off.

Mrs Schafer said: Its a fantastic achievement. We are so pleased with the community engagement and the way businesses have responded. Everyone we have asked has been very keen to be involved. All the most visible businesses on our high street are now plastic-free champions. In order to do that, they had to make at least three changes to their handling of single-use plastic as well as a plan on how to reduce plastic going forward.

It is really important that we dont stop now  we need to make sure this issue stays in the public eye.

The first business to be named a plastic-free champion was Calnan Brothers butchers in High Street.

The business uses wax-coated paper instead of plastic to wrap meat, paper carrier bags instead of plastic ones and strong cardboard boxes for turkeys.

It has also reduced the use of plastic trays with lids which are now only used for ready pre-prepared meals.

Owner Tom Calnan said: Everyones a bit more conscious about single-use packaging and we have taken a couple of small steps to improve ours.

Its all recyclable and it keeps the product better because plastic makes meat sweat if its kept there a long time so its win, win.

You go into supermarkets and all the packaging is horrific. Think about a supermarket chicken  its in a plastic tray with a plastic covering. People will come in here three times a week and will buy what they are going to eat so youre cutting down on food waste. All our stuff is fresh daily so theres never any wastage.

Local shops have more control over their produce compared with supermarkets. The bigger message is shop local and without knowing it, youll be doing more for the environment.

The Undercroft, which is run by Angela Clark at the town hall, has reduced its single-use plastic by returning customers strawberry punnets to the supplier, changing the string used to tie asparagus and using paper packaging instead of plastic bags.

Other plastic free champions include bulk-buy shop So Sustainable, run by Steph Van de Pette, where customers fill up their own containers, the Orange Bakery and chocolate shop Tutu Delicious.

Rachel Yates, of Surfers Against Sewage, said: Its great to see the work that Watlington has done to reduce the availability of avoidable plastics, raise awareness and encourage people to refill and reuse.

We have more than 600 communities across the UK working to reduce single-use plastic and the impact it has on our environment.

Every step those communities and the individuals in them take is a step towards tackling the problem at source, challenging our throwaway culture and encouraging change.
Phuket ICU beds near critical shortage

PHUKET: The number of beds available for COVID-19 patients in intensive-care units (ICU) at Phuket government hospitals is nearing critical, Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol has revealed.

COVID-19CoronavirushealthVaccine

By The Phuket News

Monday 10 May 2021, 11:39AM

Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol (right) explains the ICU bed shortage issue during the live broadcast yesterday (May 9). Screenshot: Official COVID-19 Information Center Phuket

If the number of patients needing ICU care continues to rise, patients at government hospitals may soon need to be transferred to private hospitals, or even to hospitals outside Phuket, Dr Chalermpong said.

Dr Chalermpong revealed the news during a live broadcast at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday evening (May 9), joined by Phuket Vice Governor Piyapong Choowong.

Dr Chalermpong explained that the number of beds available in Phuket for general care of people confirmed infected with COVID-19 during the current outbreak was not a concern.

The number of beds being used in hospitals is high, while the number of beds being used at the field hospital is not very high, he said.

In first raising the alarm over a possible shortage of ICU beds in Phuket last week, Dr Withita Jaeng-iam, an epidemiologist at Vachira Phuket Hospital, explained, In Phuket, 50% of the [confirmed] cases do not have any symptoms, 30% have light symptoms of pneumonia.

However, Dr Withita also noted, ...and 10% have severe symptoms. That means we need a lot of breathing apparatuses [to treat patients].

Of the patients in care at Vachira hospital, the main government hospital on the island, Dr Withita noted last week, About 50% of the cases have symptoms of pneumonia for which patients need breathing apparatus.

Dr Chalermpong yesterday further explained that patients considered PUI (person under investigation, for possible COVID infection) have separate rooms where they wait for the results of their swab tests.

There are about 280 rooms for PUI cases in all hospitals, but not all of the rooms are proper negative pressure rooms for COVID-19 infected cases, he said.

But of those who do suffer symptoms of infection, suffer serious symptoms, Dr Chalermpong noted.

In this outbreak, most of the infected cases [being treated] in hospital have severe symptoms, as the virus moves to their lungs. They need to receive close observation and treatment in hospitals, Dr Chalermpong said.

Currently, the infected cases [at government hospitals] have severe symptoms, so we cannot let them stay at the field hospital at PSU [Prince of Songkla University Phuket campus in Kathu].

There are 170 beds there, but we have never used over 100 beds, he said.

A second field hospital has been set up at the Phuket Rajabhat University (PRU) campus in Rassada, north of Phuket Town, but the number of people in care at the PSU field hospital has not yet reached a level for health officials to start using the field hospital set up at PRU.

This kind of incident is happening in many provinces, like Bangkok, Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Songkhla and Surat Thani, Dr Chalermpong said.

Vachira Phuket Hospital has nine ICU rooms. Only five of the nine rooms are negative-pressure rooms for severe-symptom cases, while the remaining four are now used for cases with light symptoms under close observation, he explained.

For now, the five cases in our five negative-pressure rooms have very bad symptoms, while the symptoms of the four cases are still stable and under consideration to be moved out of the rooms, he added.

If the nine rooms are full of severe symptom cases, that will be a big critical stage. We may need to transfer our patients to other provinces or private hospitals, which may involve additional costs, Dr Chalermpong said.

We have only a small gap to reach the critical stage, he warned.

In these two weeks, I want to ask every person to avoid gathering for any activities, Dr Chalermpong urged.

One more thing is that please register to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity and to reduce the chance for you to have severe symptoms if you are infected, he said.

We will have 100,000 doses of Sinovac coming in the middle of this month and another 100,000 doses in the beginning of June, Dr Chalermpong explained.

In June, we will receive 240,000 doses of AstraZeneca, he said.
Jeff Zients, the White House's COVID-19 response czar, speaks during a press briefing at the White House on April 13, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

US Turning the Corner on CCP Virus Recovery: Official

Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told CNN in an interview on May 9 that the United States is rounding a key inflection point in its fight against the CCP virus and is turning the corner.

Zients was asked by host Jake Tapper to assess the dynamics of the outbreak in the United States, given the progress in vaccinations and the sharp 40 percent drop in new daily infections in the past month.

I would say we are turning the corner. We now have, as of this morning, 58 percent of adult Americans with at least one shot, over 110 million Americans fully vaccinated, Zients responded.

The official hinted at the administrations desire to overcome vaccine hesitancy while noting President Joe Bidens new goal of 70 percent of adult Americans getting vaccinated with at least one shot by July 4.

Were at 58 percent today, so weve got a path ahead of us, which will involve getting people even easier access to the vaccine, making sure that people build their confidence, those who have questions about the vaccine, that we answer their questions, Zients said.

Declining demand for COVID-19 vaccines in the United States is leading states across the country, from South Carolina to Washington, to refuse their full federal allocations of doses, despite the Biden administrations efforts to raise take-up rates.

Wisconsin health officials have asked for just 8 percent of the 162,680 doses that had been set aside for the state next week, according to The Associated Press, with the report citing a state health department official as saying that vaccinators are looking to reduce existing inventories before ordering more doses in the face of softening demand. Kansas officials asked for less than 9 percent of their 162,000-dose allotment this past week, South Carolina plans to order 21 percent of its doses, and Washington state reduced its order by 40 percent, according to the report.

A survey by the Census Bureau found that a quarter of adults in Wyoming said they will definitely not or probably not get the CCP virus vaccine, while more than 20 percent of adults said the same in Kentucky, Montana, and North Dakota.

Reduced vaccine demand comes as nearly 46 percent of the total U.S. population (all ages) has received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine and about 34 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

In a bid to overcome vaccine hesitancy and boost take-up, Biden announced on May 4 that federal officials will push education campaigns and expand smaller and mobile vaccination clinics to make inoculations more readily accessible. Biden also touted incentive programs as officials in some states have rolled out programs that essentially pay people to get the shot.

West Virginia recently announced $100 savings bonds for people between the ages of 16 and 35 if they get the vaccine or have gotten it.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Mostly clear early then increasing cloudiness after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly clear early then increasing cloudiness after midnight. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.
A mother carries her newly born baby as a doctor helps her at the Medellin General Hospital, in Medellin, Colombia, on May 21, 2020. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP via Getty Images)

With Birthing People, We Approach a Brave New World

Commentary

I am writing on May 9, Mothers Day in the United States.

I used to look askance at the holiday, not because I have anything against motherson the contrarybut because it always seemed like a Hallmark Holiday, something manufactured by corporate interests and glazed in a sugar of sentimentality from which one could free oneself only by a tithe of flowers or luncheon for the mothers in ones life.

Lately, however, I have become a staunch partisan of the holiday.

This isnt because I doubt the cynicism of the interests encouraging us to splurge on cards, flowers, chocolates, and luncheons, but rather because the wardens of wokeness have finally got around to canceling the very idea of motherhood.

Thus we have Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley calling for an expansion of Medicaid to include coverage for birthing people.

Birthing people.

Pressley is a freak, granted. But she isnt alas an anomaly among our elected representatives. Consider the words of her colleague Congresswoman Cori Bush: Black birthing people and our babies die because our doctors dont believe our pain.

All this was fodder for fun today as various commentatorsand The Babylon Bee, of courseweighed in to ridicule the ridiculous.

Birthing people.

Funny, isnt it? Preposterous. But remember, this language is coming out of the mouths of the people we have elected to govern us.

What does that tell us about them? What does it tell us about ourselves?

The rejection of the word mother is part and parcel of a much larger rejectiona rejection of human reality as traditionally conceived.

And remember that one of the first acts of President Joe Bidens administration was to insist that all federal agencies query people about their preferred pronouns. (I have always suspected that Bidens preferred pronoun was Xi, but that is a different topic.)

And Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the third in line to the presidency, took the spoon with chocolate ice cream out of her mouth long enough to issue her own linguistic carnage, including the rules that would replace such terms as mother, father, daughter, son, sister and brother with gender-neutral terms such as parent, child, and sibling.

There is a lot that could be said about the attempt to force gender-specific terms into early retirement.

In this column, Id just like to point out that it isnt a new idea.

Mother as Blasphemous

Consider the picture of sexual relations in Aldous Huxleys dystopian novel Brave New World (1932).

I dont myself regard Brave New World as a particularly accomplished work of literature.

But considered as a work of social-moral prognostication, its a work of genius.

Perhaps the aspect of Huxleys dystopian fable that is most frequently adduced is its vision of a society that has perfected what we have come to call genetic engineering.

Among other things, its a world in which reproduction has been entirely handed over to the experts.

The word parents no longer describes a loving moral commitment but only an attenuated biological datum.

Babies arent born but designed according to exacting specifications and decanted at sanitary depots like The Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre with which the book opens.

As with all efforts to picture future technology, Huxleys description of the equipment and procedures employed at the hatchery seems almost charmingly antiquated, like a space ship imagined by Jules Verne.

But Huxleys portrait of the human toll of human ingenuity is very up-to-date.

I used to say that we hadntnot quite, not yetcaught up with the situation he describes.

We didnt, until very recently, inhabit a world in which mother and monogamy were blasphemous terms from which people have been conditioned to recoil in visceral revulsion.

But isnt that precisely what the rhetoric of radicals like Pressley and Bush encourage?

Hatcheries

Thinkers as different as Michel Foucault and Francis Fukuyama have pondered the advent of a posthuman future, eagerly or with dismay, as the case may be.

Scientists busily manipulating DNA may give substance to their speculations.

Its often suggested that whats most disturbing about Brave New World is its portrait of eugenics in action: its vision of humanity deliberately divided into genetically ordered castes, a few super-smart Alpha-pluses down through a multitude of drone-like Epsilons who do the heavy lifting.

Such deliberately instituted inequality offends our democratic sensibilities.

What is sometimes overlooked or downplayed is the possibility that the most disturbing aspect of the future Huxley pictured has less to do with eugenics than genetics.

That is to say, perhaps what is centrally repellent about Huxleys hatcheries isnt that they codify inequality.

Nature already does that more effectively than our politically correct sensibilities like to acknowledge.

Rather, what is repellent is the idea that the hatcheries should exist at all.

Are they not a textbook example of Promethean hubris in action? It is worth stepping back to ponder that possibility.

In the 17th century, Rene Descartes predicted that his scientific method would make man the master and possessor of nature.

Are we not fast closing in on the technology that proves him right?

Progress?

And this raises another question.

Is there a point at which scientific development can no longer be described, humanly, as progress?

We know the benisons of technology. Consider only electricity, the automobile, modern medicine. They have transformed the world and underscored the old observation that art, that techne, is mans nature.

Nevertheless, the question remains whether, after 200 years of breathtaking progress, we are about to become more closely acquainted with the depredations of technology.

It would take a brave man, or a rash one, to venture a confident prediction either way.

For example, if, as in Brave New World, we manage to bypass the inconvenience of human pregnancy altogether, ought we to do it? (Note the moral adumbration of the word ought.)

Ifor rather whenthat is possible (as it certainly will be, and soon), will it also be desirable?

If not, why not?

Why should a woman go through the discomfort and danger of pregnancy if a fetus could be safely incubated, or cloned, elsewhere?

Wouldnt motherhood by proxy be a good thingthe ultimate labor-saving device?

Most readers, I think, will hesitate about saying yes.

What does that hesitation tell us?

Some readers will have no hesitation about saying yes; what does that tell us?

Culture as Dangerous

As Huxley saw, a world in which reproduction was rationalized and emancipated from love was also a world in which culture in any traditional sense was not only otiose but dangerous, and hence severely policed.

This suspicion of culture is also a sub-theme of that other great dystopian novel, George Orwells 1984, which ends with the work of various writers, such as Shakespeare, Milton, Swift, Byron, Dickens, being vandalized by being translated into Newspeak.

When that laborious propaganda effort is finally complete, the original writings, with all else that survived of the literature of the past, would be destroyed.

The point is that culture has roots. It limns the future through its implications with the past. Moving the reader or spectator over the centuries, in Hannah Arendts phrase, the monuments of culture transcend the local imperatives of the present.

They escape the obsolescence that fashion demands, the predictability that planning requires. They speak of love and hatred, honor and shame, beauty and courage and cowardicepermanent realities of the human situation insofar as it remains human.

The denizens of Huxleys brave new world are designed and educatedperhaps his word, conditioned, is more accurateto be rootless, without culture.

Ditto the denizens of Orwells nightmare totalitarian society.

In Brave New World, when a relic of the old order of civilizationa savage who had been born, not decantedis brought from a reservation into the brave new world, he is surprised to discover that the literary past is forbidden to most of the population.

But why is it prohibited? asked the Savage. In the excitement of meeting a man who had read Shakespeare, he had momentarily forgotten everything else.

The Controller shrugged his shoulders. Because its old; thats the chief reason. We havent any use for old things here.

Even when theyre beautiful?

Particularly when theyre beautiful. Beautys attractive, and we dont want people to be attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.

Huxleys brave new world is above all a superficial world. People are encouraged to like what is new, to live in the moment, because that makes them less complicated and more pliable.

Sensations and Emotions

Emotional commitments are even more strictly rationed than Shakespeare. (The same, again, is true in 1984.)

In the place of emotional commitments, sensationsthrilling, mind-numbing sensationsare available on demand through drugs and motion pictures that neurologically stimulate viewers to experience certain emotions and feelings.

The fact that they are artificially produced isnt considered a drawback but their very point.

Which is to say that the brave new world is a virtual world: Experience is increasingly vivid but decreasingly real.

The question of meaning is deliberately short-circuited.

Youve got to choose, the Resident World Controller for Western Europe patiently explains to the Savage, between happiness and what people used to call high art. Weve sacrificed the high art. We have the feelies and the scent organ instead.

But they dont mean anything.

They mean themselves; they mean a lot of agreeable sensations to the audience.

If this seems like a prescription for arrested development, that, too, is part of the point: It is their duty to be infantile, the Controller explains, even against their inclination.

Promiscuity is encouraged because it is a prophylactic against emotional depth.

The question of meaning is never pursued beyond the instrumental question of what produces the most pleasure.

Socrates told us that the unexamined life is not worth living. Huxley (yet again like Orwell) pictures a world in which the unexamined life is the only one available.

Huxleys imagination failed him in one area.

He understood that in a world in which reproduction was emancipated from the body, sexual congress for many people would degenerate into a purely recreational activity, an amusement not inherently different from ones soma ration or the tactile movies.

He pictured a world of casual, indeed mandatory, promiscuity. But he thought it would develop along completely conventional lines.

He ought to have known that the quest for agreeable sensations would issue in a pansexual carnival.

In this area, anyway, we seem to have proceeded a good deal further than the characters who inhabit Huxleys dystopia.

Happy Mothers Day.

Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of The New Criterion and publisher of Encounter Books. His most recent book is Who Rules? Sovereignty, Nationalism, and the Fate of Freedom in the 21st Century.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
New York, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Retinal Disorder Treatment Market Research Report by Type, by Dosage Form, by Distribution Channel - United States Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06063323/?utm_source=GNW



Market Statistics:

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



The United States Retinal Disorder Treatment Market is projected to grow with a significant CAGR in the forecast period. Economic development and substantial infrastructure development have constituted regional revenue generation. Further, the patterns associated with domestic production, import and export, and consumption have helped market participants to analyze and capitalize on potential opportunities. Besides, the qualitative and quantitative parameters provided in the report with detailed analysis highlights the driving and restraining factors of the United States Retinal Disorder Treatment Market.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Retinal Disorder Treatment to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type , the Retinal Disorder Treatment Market studied across Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Degeneration. The Macular Degeneration further studied across Dry Macular Degeneration and Wet Macular Degeneration.



Based on Dosage Form, the Retinal Disorder Treatment Market studied across Capsules & Tablets, Eye Drops, Eye Solutions, Gels, and Ointments.



Based on Distribution Channel , the Retinal Disorder Treatment Market studied across Hospital Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, and Retail Pharmacy.



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



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



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



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

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The report answers questions such as:

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The U.S. Air Force is testing a specialized uniform and other gear meant to protect airmen in case of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear, or CBRN, attacks.

Members of the 88th Test and Evaluation Squadron tried out the new Uniform Integrated Protective Ensemble, or UIPE, Air system on HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, last month, according to a news release.

The uniform includes a two-piece layered undergarment, gloves and respirator, among other items, the service said. The gear is expected to be distributed to units in 2024.

Read Next: Nearly Half of Female Soldiers Still Failing New Army Fitness Test, While Males Pass Easily

"This item will service aircrews for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force, so our testing phase is critical," said 2nd Lt. Gunnar Kral, a CBRN Defense Systems Branch systems engineer at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, in the May 7 release. The new equipment will replace the 66P aviation protection ensemble.

The new suit will provide better mobility as an undergarment and better regulate body temperature than its predecessor, reducing the chance of overheating while in the uniform, according to the announcement.

"Moving to an underlayer allows aircrews to use an outer layer they're more familiar with, like their flight suits," 1st Lt. Hunter Mangueira, an AF CBRN Defense Systems Branch systems engineer at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, said in the release. "We're trying to make CBRN flight equipment similar to the flight crews' regular mission set equipment, removing the learning curve and any hindrance when they conduct their missions."

Pave Hawk units will be among the first to adopt the UIPE. The 88th, which falls under the 53rd Wing, is part of the Combat Search and Rescue Combined Test Force and is responsible for all test, evaluation and tactics development for the service's CSAR mission.

Follow-on integration is slated for crews within the KC-135 Stratotanker, F-16 Fighting Falcon and C-130 Hercules communities.

In 2018, the service began testing upgraded masks for Pave Hawk and UH-1N Huey helicopter crews. The masks are meant to safeguard aviators' eyes and skin and improve respiratory function in the event of a chemical attack, according to a report from Air Force Times.

The Air Force is also exploring other uniform and gear enhancements for its pilots and support crews.

In March, Oros Apparel, a subsidy of Lukla Inc., received a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I contract to explore how the company's SolarCore technology can be integrated into a long-range flight suit for pilots flying above 30,000 feet; the suits would act as an added layer of protection at altitudes where air temperatures can range from -40F to -70F, according to the company.

The service earlier this year posted a list of its priorities for next-generation aircrew apparel; heated flight suits were near the top.

The service wants to reduce the bulky clothing layers flight crews add for warmth, so it's looking for an "electrically or electrical-heated" underlayer or outer layer that would cover an airman's feet, hands, torso and legs, Air Force Materiel Command spokesman Brian Brackens told Military.com in March.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Related: The Next Major Battlefield Threat Facing US Troops May Be Undetectable


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A man who dropped a bag containing over 210,000 of heroin when he spotted gardai on patrol has been jailed for six years.

Joseph Brady (30) attempted to flee from gardai, but was caught and further deals of heroin were found on his person. He was also carrying over 1,000 in cash.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a search of his home uncovered a further large sum of cash as well as over 5,000 of cannabis.

Brady of Moatview Avenue, Priorswood, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and cannabis for sale or supply at locations in Priorswood on August 19, 2019.

He has four previous convictions, including a conviction for possession of cannabis valued at 24,000 for sale or supply for which he received 240 hours of community service.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Melanie Greally said it was notable that Brady had previously been dealt with on a very lenient basis. She said it was somewhat regrettable that he reoffended within such close proximity to receiving the previous sentence.

Judge Greally said his role regarding the large amount of drugs was of moving them from one location to another. She said it was clear from the evidence that he was actively involved in drug dealing at the time of the commission of the offences.

She said the accused was very much hands-on in terms of drug supplying activities which was consistent with the large amount of cash found on his person.

The judge noted that since going into prison Brady has addressed his drug use and is currently drug free.

Judge Greally sentenced Brady to seven years imprisonment, but suspended the final 12 months of the sentence on strict conditions including that he follow all directions of the Probation Service for 12 months post release.

At a previous sentencing hearing, Garda Ciaran Upton told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, gardai were on patrol in the Priorswood area when they saw Brady with a yellow bag over his shoulder.

Gda Upton said that when Brady saw the gardai he ran across a green area and dropped the bag which contained heroin with a value of 211,708.

Following his apprehension, further deals of heroin and 1,325 in cash were found on his person. During a subsequent search of his home gardai found a further 2,800 in cash and cannabis with a value of 5,404.

Gda Upton agreed with Paul Murray SC, defending, that his client was not under surveillance at the time and that it was a random stop. He agreed his client would not make admissions as to who owned the drugs.

Mr Murray said his client developing a drug debt got him involved in this in the first instance and he was told his debt would be paid if he picked up the yellow bag.

Counsel said his client's family home had been petrol bombed because of his brother's drug addiction.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
DeWitt, N.Y.  DeWitt police are warning people to be on the alert for a driveway paving scam, and report any solicitation by RA Paving to 911.

DeWitt Police Department said on its Facebook page they have taken multiple complaints regarding a driveway paving scam in the area.

Police said residents should be on the lookout for orange trucks with RA Paving on the side. The truck drivers have been stopping at homes telling people they have leftover asphalt from another job, and without permission start to pave the driveway, police said.

The people behind RA Paving ask the homeowner to pay an exorbitant amount, police said, and when questioned they agree to take a lower amount. They then leave the area, and police said residents report the work done as being substandard.

Police said there have reports throughout the state regarding this RA Paving. Police said the associates named with the company are Richard Attenborough and Marc Attenborough.

Police are telling people if approached, refuse business with them and call 911.

In 2017, the New York State Attorney General sued and won a case against Tri-State Paving, which was operated by Richard Attenborough III and Steve Paige Castle-Lagerquist. A judge ruled they had to pay $33,400 restitution to former customers across the state, officials said, along with a $10,000 state penalty,

Tri-States operation worked in a similar way to what police say RA Paving is doing, but DeWitt police said its not confirmed if the Attenborough is the same person involved in the 2017 incidents.

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
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When it comes to education-related scores, New Mexico ranks pretty low in the U.S., but the state now has bragging rights as the birthplace for the nations No. 1 middle school math curriculum, thanks to a small Taos-based startup.

EdReports, a national nonprofit clearinghouse that reviews and ranks nearly all mainstream educational curriculum in the U.S., gave MidSchoolMath LLCs interactive story-telling approach to instruction a perfect score in April on every area reviewed, including the math curriculums focus and coherence, its rigor and mathematical practices, and its usability.

Thats an impressive achievement that no other U.S. educational publishing firm has yet achieved under EdReports most current criteria for ranking fifth- to eighth-grade math materials, said MidSchoolMath co-founder and CEO Scott Laidlaw.

We didnt receive just a good score, but a perfect score, which is the highest achievement by any publisher to date on EdReports new criteria, Laidlaw told the Journal.  Were now literally the nations leading publisher for mid-school math. Were challenging the biggest publishers who have existed since the early 1900s by bringing something entirely new to students in school districts across the country.

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That could immensely increase school district adoption of the companys innovative curriculum, which is entirely based on computer games, live video and digital animation. The program provides immersive multimedia platforms that aim to make math fun, drawing kids into colorful, fantasy adventures where they wield math tools to solve problems.

Its already been used in about 120 schools in 23 states, reaching about 80,000 fifth- to eighth-grade students. Now, requests for more information are pouring in from schools around the nation, according to Laidlaw.

Since the EdReports scores came out, weve had requests for trials and demonstrations from some of the larger school districts in the country, he said. We expect to double or triple the size of our user base over the next couple of months. I can barely manage all the inquiries.

A new, three-piece article series by the education-focused journalism initiative EdSurge is also generating broad interest. The series includes an interview with Jo Boaler  a nationally renowned Stanford University professor and author of numerous books on math education  who chose to endorse the MidSchoolMath curriculum after rejecting all previous endorsement requests from other publishers.

Boaler, who tested the curriculum with middle school students in California, said MidSchoolMath offers an authentic, multidimensional experience with deep engagement that inspires kids to care about what theyre doing and seek answers to questions.

Theyre looking at data, Boaler told EdSurge in the interview, published April 12. Theyre seeing visuals. They are engaged in conversation. I have been asked by a lot of publishers to endorse their curriculum. This is the one we need for our middle grades.

Laidlaw, a former middle school math teacher in Questa, and former CPA Jennifer Lightwood launched the company together in 2009 to develop a comprehensive curriculum that uses immersive storytelling to attack the infamous midschool math cliff, where students from fifth to eighth grade notoriously plummet in math skills. The company says that problem arises from just throwing an equation at students and asking them to solve it.

In contrast, MidSchoolMath draws students into computer games created with digital animation and live video filmed with real actors. That allows kids to directly participate in adventures, like traveling to Mars on a rocket, navigating the open seas on ancient ships, or dealing with problems in the time of the Black Plague.

The programs ask students to resolve math problems in the stories, such as figuring out how big the cannons and cannon balls must be on a sea vessel to repel attacking pirates, balancing a scale properly on a spice-trading ship, or setting a dial accurately on a Mars rover to correct its positioning.

The company has developed 139 different simulations that together address 136 core math standards required for middle schoolers. Different sets of questions and challenges are posed to students based on grade levels.

EdReports puts the curriculum from each publisher that submits material through lengthy, rigorous reviews. That process spanned more than a year for MidSchoolMath, culminating in perfect scores in all categories evaluated for each different grade level.

EdReports is generally considered to be the central, most-credible source for high quality instructional materials, Laidlaw said. Every single one of the big publishers  all of them  go through EdReports.

To get a perfect score is a huge endorsement.

It provides strong assurance to any school district in the country that your curriculum can meet the needs and expectations of teachers and students any place in the nation, Laidlaw said.

The company built its curriculum and the technology behind it with $4.3 million in funding from a broad array of state and federal agencies and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. To date, its earned about $3 million in revenue from its products and services, which it licenses out to school districts and individual schools, said Lightwood, the companys chief financial officer.

Its an entirely cloud-based, online system for schools that we built from the ground up, Lightwood said. We believe it has the potential for large-scale, national impact.

The New Mexico Public Education Department selected MidSchoolMath in December 2019 for inclusion on its official list of instructional materials that schools and school districts can choose from to teach the states fifth- to eight-graders core math standards. To date, 28 local middle schools have adopted the curriculum, including 11 school districts around the state, Lightwood said.

That includes Santa Fe Public Schools, which decided in 2020 to license the curriculum for the next six years, said Erica Wheeler, the districts instructional materials coordinator.

MidSchoolMath is so engaging for mid-schoolers, Wheeler told the Journal. Its designed for big groups, small groups, peers and individual learning. Were switching up our pedagogy for a more student-centered teaching approach, and MidSchoolMath really facilitates that.

Kevin Robinson-Avila covers technology, energy, venture capital and utilities for the Journal. He can be reached at krobinson-avila@abqjournal.com.
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Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a motion for preliminary injunction asking the U.S. District Court in Arizona to prevent the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from implementing the agencys Interim Guidance. The request is based on internal federal and state documents the Attorney General's Office (AGO) obtained that show a nearly 50 percent drop in ICE deportations and interior arrests.

The District Court has set this matter for a hearing on May 27, 2021.

Arizona and Montana are suing DHS, ICE, and other federal officials over the dangerous DHS Interim Guidance. In addition to slashing arrest and deportations, the new policy has forced the release of potentially dangerous individuals into Arizona communities. ICE is not picking up convicted individuals from state prisons after the conclusion of their sentences, even though ICE has detainers on them. As a result, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry is forced to release the individuals and place them on community supervision at the cost of the state.

It is illegal and unconscionable for the federal government to force the release of dangerous criminals into Arizona communities when they are required to be deported by statute, said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Upholding the rule of law and preserving public safety must always come before any political or special interest group agendas.

The Interim Guidance is in direct violation of federal law for removals, 8 U.S.C.  1231, which requires an alien, who has received a final deportation order, to be removed from the United States within 90 days. The word shall as used in the federal statute is mandatory language.



DHS claims it ordered the Interim Guidance due to limited resources. However, there is nothing in the administrative record that corroborates this claim. The documents obtained in this case instead confirm that ICE never considered removal data, changes in resource constraints, or the connection between them when developing the Interim Guidance. In fact, the records reveal a politicized and purposeful process designed to slash lawful removals.



Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, ICE was consistently carrying out nearly 6,000 removals per month under the prior administration. But on February 4, 2021, the Acting ICE Director abruptly instituted a shift in removal policy from normal removal operations, to limited removals except for three narrow categories (which later became the Interim Guidance). The policy change followed intense pressure from advocacy groups to the White House, including assertions that removal flights during Black History Month were an attempt to thwart the new administrations priorities."

Comparing the three months before February and three months since shows that ICE-generated book-ins have dropped to only 41% of the number of noncitizens per month from the previous number.

Comparing the three months before February and three months since shows that ICE is only removing 55% of the number of noncitizens per month that it had been.

As a result of the Interim Guidance, removals have plummeted almost 50% to fewer than 3,000/month since February. This is the lowest level of removals ever recorded, and will result in ICE only removing approximately 55,000 aliens in FY2021 at the current ratea shockingly low number as ICE has never removed fewer than 100,000 aliens. ICE has approximately 6,000 Enforcement and Removal officers that are now averaging 1 interior arrest per 2.5 months per officer, on pace for just 4-5 arrests per year.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday (May 10) said that his government is aiming to set up 300 oxygen plants in the state.

He also said though he has managed to get oxygen supply from other states with the help of railways and the Air Force to deal with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need to set up new plants in the state.

Oxygen Express is being run, tankers being sent on large aircraft of Air Force. Yesterday, we supplied 1000 MT of oxygen in the state. But it shouldn't remain restricted to supply, Oxygen Plants should be established too. Work is underway to set up 300 oxygen plants in the state, Adityanath was quoted as saying by ANI.

We have also provided Oxygen concentrators to all districts. In the first phase, all districts have been provided the same. More concentrators will also be provided, he added.

The chief minister admitted that the second wave of the pandemic brought new challenges, especially due to the rise in oxygen demand.

The second wave posed a new challenge before us. The demand for oxygen went up suddenly. We have to supply oxygen to Ayodhya too, from where it is being supplied to nearby districts. We are thankful to the Government of India and PM Modi who are running special trains for this, he said.

Earlier, Adityanath had said there was no shortage of oxygen in the state. He even warned of action against individuals and hospitals that falsely complaints of oxygen shortage.
The telecom department on Monday asserted that there is absolutely no link between 5G technology and the spread of COVID, as it urged the public not to be misguided by baseless and false messages being circulated on social media platforms.

The claim that 5G trials or networks are causing coronavirus in India is "false" and without any scientific basis, an official release said.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said several misleading messages are being circulated on various social media platforms, claiming that the second wave of coronavirus has been caused by the testing of the 5G mobile towers.

"...These messages are false and absolutely not correct...The general public is hereby informed that there is no link between 5G technology and spread of COVID-19 and they are urged not to be misguided by the false information and rumours spread in this matter. The claims linking the 5G technology with the COVID-19 pandemic are false and have no scientific basis," it said.

The testing of the 5G network has not yet started anywhere in India, therefore the claim that 5G trials or networks are causing coronavirus in India is "baseless", it contended.

"Mobile towers emit non-ionizing Radio frequencies having very minuscule power and are incapable of causing any kind of damage to living cells including human beings.

DoT has prescribed norms for exposure limit for the Radio Frequency Field (i.E. Base Station Emissions) which are 10 times more stringent than the safe limits prescribed by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and recommended by WHO (World Health Organization)," it said.

Outlining the initiatives already taken, the DoT said it has a well-structured process so that operators strictly adhere to these prescribed norms.

"However, any citizen having any apprehension about any mobile tower emitting radio waves beyond the safe limit prescribed by the department, a request for EMF measurements/testing can be made on Tarang Sanchar portal at https://tarangsanchar.Gov.In/emfportal," the department said.

Last week, industry body COAI had expressed concern over false information and rumours linking 5G technology with the spread of COVID-19 and had dismissed the unsubstantiated and unverified claims in this regard.

Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) said it came across multiple messages on social media platforms mentioning 5G spectrum trials as the probable cause of rising cases of COVID-19.

"We would like to clarify that these rumours are absolutely false. We urge people not to fall for such baseless misinformation," SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI said in a statement last week.

Several nations have already rolled out 5G networks and people are using these services safely, COAI had emphasised.

COAI - whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - had urged the public not to fall for fake messages in this regard.

The association had highlighted that telecom services are the lifeline for the nation, especially in the current times.

"In fact, these networks are keeping people safe by enabling work from home, online classes, e-health and online doctor consultations...Hundreds of millions of people depend on these networks to access real-time information when they need it the most, COAI had pointed out.

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New UK government figures released reveal many businesses are still overwhelmed by the impact of Brexit, with over 39% of importers reporting they are still struggling with new customs duties and other issues

Retailers and other companies that import products from the Far East to the UK are facing major supply chain disruption and increased logistics costs resulting from the global shortage of shipping containers and challenges in accessing ocean freight capacity, adding to continuing Brexit-related and Covid-related challenges, one UK logistics representative has highlighted  as new UK government figures released highlighted how many UK import businesses are still overwhelmed by the impact of new post-Brexit trading conditions.

Noting that the scarcity of containers had helped push up ocean freight shipping prices to near record highs, Charlie Walker, head of marketing at logistics solutions specialist Walker Logistics, commented: The container crisis is increasing the pressure on British retailers and manufacturers at a time when businesses are already having to contend with the impact of Brexit and the pandemic on their profitability. Many internet retailers are understood to be running out of stock of certain items while manufacturing firms have reported delays in production as a result of the difficulty of getting vital component parts from Asia.

And it is not just imports from the Far East that are affected, Walker noted. Walker recently highlighted that UK importers and businesses were also still facing challenges due to the new post-Brexit trading conditions. He said a growing number of British online retailers were seeking to ease the extra customs and tax administration and costs involved in trading with the EU by shifting stock from UK warehouses to storage facilities on the Continent.

The addition of VAT, customs duties, and in some cases tariffs, on shipments sent from the UK to customers across the channel  not to mention delays at ports and increased shipping costs  are prompting many businesses, including e-commerce firms, to reconfigure their European supply chains, said Walker.

New UK government figures released this week reveal many businesses are still overwhelmed by the impact of Brexit. Over 39% of importers reported they are still struggling with new customs duties and 38.6% were battling with increased transport costs.

The international delivery specialist ParcelHero said the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Insights results, covering the period 5-18 April, show that there are still significant difficulties in importing goods from the EU post-Brexit. It warned that, inevitably, the increased costs will have to be passed on to consumers.

ParcelHeros head of consumer research, David Jinks, said: Aprils figures on the importing and exporting challenges facing British businesses are pretty dire. The Government can no longer hide its head in the sands of Britains coastal borders. There was a huge flaw in the governments final trade deal struck just before Christmas, and its seemingly insoluble.

Under the Brexit so-called free trade deal, goods arriving in the UK from the EU that are sourced and manufactured in Europe dont pay tariffs. But how many products are entirely sourced and made in a single area in todays world of global supply chains? The answer is very few. Electronics incorporate components from across the globe, while clothing can include materials from many continents. Thats why importers are paying more duties, customers are finding unexpected charges on items ordered from EU traders, and transport costs are rising because of mounting delays and returns.

Jinks continued: This latest ONS Business Insights assessment, in the section entitled Exporting and Importing Challenges, reveals that 41% of importers are still struggling with the nightmare of increased paperwork. Changing tax rules and new proof of origin forms have proved difficult for many companies, both large and small.

Additionally, a slew of other Brexit difficulties had not been ironed out by April. Nearly 7% of importers said their suppliers were still not Customs ready, while 4.5% of British importers said their regular suppliers had stopped trading with the UK entirely in April, as the full impact of Brexit bureaucracy hit home.

He said smaller importers have been hit disproportionately by the cost of Brexit. In April, 25.3% of SME importers experienced disruption at UK borders, as opposed to just 14.4% of large companies, and 38% of smaller companies wrestled with transport costs, as opposed to 30.5% of larger importers.

The basic problem is that EU manufacturers and sellers are no longer fighting to get their goods into the British market, noted Jinks. The UK is no longer seen as an easy and profitable market.

European transport companies hate the new duties, delays and the fact that goods are still being turned away at ports because of incomplete paperwork. Those companies that continue to serve the UK are increasing their prices to compensate.

He said importers are bearing the brunt of these changes for now but, before long, these increased costs will have to be passed on to the end customer, adding: The challenge of Covid may at last be subsiding but, for Britains retailers and manufacturers, the impact of Brexit is not going away.

Our fear is that there could be even worse to come. Lets not forget that some of the most complex new EU border regulations have been postponed, unilaterally, by the UK government. It remains to be seen what their impact might be on these already worrying import figures once they are imposed.

After the European Parliament late last month ratified the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), the British International Freight Association stressed that there was still much work to be done as freight forwarders and their customers continue to report ongoing disruption and difficulties in the post-Brexit trade arrangements. BIFA said the experience of its members since 1 January 2021 has clearly shown that large sections of the trading community have not been prepared for the changes in processes brought in by phase one of the Border Operating Model.

Robert Keen, Director General of the British International Freight Association, said: While the ratification of the TCA has removed any lingering doubts, the reality is that the changes within the agreement have been operational now for almost four months. Whilst the government has extended the deadlines of the Border Operating Model, it now needs to address significant unresolved issues such as delayed Customs declarations.

The experience of our members since 1 January 2021 has clearly shown that large sections of the trading community have not been prepared for the changes in processes brought in by phase one of the Border Operating Model. As the trade association that represents the UKs freight forwarding businesses that manage a large proportion of the UKs visible trade, we continue to express significant concerns regarding phases two and three of the Border Operating Model; and various government departments have been unable to provide satisfactory answers to many of these.



Actions speak louder than words and with the TCA now ratified, government needs to engage extensively with businesses to support them to adjust to the new requirements already in place and to prepare for the new requirements to come, to avoid the ongoing disruption and difficulties which many of our members continue to report.

Walker highlighted that by fulfilling orders from distribution hubs located within mainland Europe, UK exporters are able to avoid the need for their EU-based customers to pay the VAT charges and customs duties which have been effective since 1 January. The changes to the tax regime are driving many online retailers and their logistics service partners to conclude that they have no option but to invest in distribution networks within the EU, said Walker.

According to Walker, it is not just British companies that are opting to use European warehousing: he believes US and Asia-based traders who export to Europe are choosing to shift stock out of the UK too.

Under the rules of origin criteria that form part of the Brexit agreement, products that are not made in Britain, attract tariffs when re-exported from the UK into the European market, he explains. So, by bringing products that are produced outside the EU and destined for the European market directly into the mainland - rather than exporting to the UK and re-exporting to the EU, companies can make significant tax savings.

But he said the supply chain stress of companies that export from the UK to the EU is being ramped up a few more notches by significant, yet under-reported, delays at many of the nations ports in the early months of this year, some of which were Brexit-related. He said the hold-ups were a result of goods having the wrong, or incomplete, paperwork, although the UK government has been happy to brush the problems off as mere teething trouble.

To help online retailers and other exporters overcome the tax and customs issues and port delays, a number of UK order fulfillment, warehousing and logistics companies, such as Walker Logistics, are promoting the benefits of warehousing in Europe. He said the Netherlands was proving an attractive location  with Rotterdam being Europes largest port and Schiphol Airport one of the worlds major air freight hubs.

At the start of this year, Walker Logistics signed a partnership agreement with Dutch third party logistics services provider, RIF Europe. He said the deal allows Walker to offer its clients the opportunity to hold stock and fulfill orders bound for mainland Europe from RIFs multi-user distribution hubs, which are located on the outskirts of Amsterdam close to Schiphol Airport.

Walker noted that the fallout from Brexit was also forcing Europe-based companies that export in to the UK to rethink their supply chain strategies and Charlie Walker says there is a trend  particularly among American-owned companies  to appoint UK-based fulfilment specialists to manage the storage and delivery of orders for the British market.

It is the same situation but in reverse, said Walker. Previously these companies have located their European inventory in a facility within the EU but since Brexit many have been prompted to seek dedicated UK-based supply chain support and Walker has successfully managed a number of these migrations in recent months.

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Cordileone, in his pastoral letter, wrote that its the responsibility of Catholic clergy to correct Catholics who erroneously, and sometimes stubbornly, promote abortion.

Initially, this rebuke should come in private conversations between the erring Catholic and his or her priest or bishop, wrote Cordileone, who then noted that such conversations are often fruitless.

Because we are dealing with public figures and public examples of cooperation in moral evil, this correction can also take the public form of exclusion from the reception of Holy Communion, he wrote. This is a bitter medicine, but the gravity of the evil of abortion can sometimes warrant it.

In the 2020 presidential election, Catholic voters split their votes almost evenly between Biden and Republican Donald Trump. National polls have consistently shown that a majority of U.S. Catholics believe abortion should be legal in at least some cases.

Were Biden to be excluded from Communion, McElroy wrote, fully half the Catholics in the United States will see this action as partisan in nature, and it will bring the terrible partisan divisions that have plagued our nation into the very act of worship that is intended by God to cause and signify our oneness.
[Latest news: Colonial Pipeline restarted its operations.]

HOUSTON  The ransomware attack that forced the shutdown of a pipeline delivering fuel to the Northeastern United States highlighted the vulnerability of the American energy system. It led governors of several states to declare emergencies. And it caused panic among motorists as thousands of gas stations have run out of supply.

The operator of the pipeline, which was taken offline on Friday, has begun restoring the flow of fuel. But for each day that the shutdown has dragged on, a sense of crisis has grown, testing the countrys aging infrastructure and a new White House administration combating growing cyberthreats.

Whats the latest?

Colonial Pipeline, the company that runs the vital artery, said on Wednesday that it had restarted operations but that it could take several days for energy to flow normally. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible, the company said in a statement.
A mother and daughter were arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into a feud between two families in Cork.

Garda Rose Jennings charged both women with being in possession of a knife.

The ongoing investigation focused yesterday on a shot being fired at Ravensdale Close in Mahon.

Middle-aged woman Julia McDonagh of 1 Inchera Close, Mahon, Cork, was arrested by Garda Jennings and charged with possession of a weapon, namely a knife at Jacobs Island, Cork, on Sunday, May 9.

Her daughter, Julianne McDonagh, who is in her 20s, was arrested and charged with the same offence.

Both women were brought before Cork District Court.

Sergeant Pat Lyons said there was no objection to the two accused being remanded on bail.

Garda Armed Response at the scene in Mahon, Cork, yesterday where it was alleged that gun shots were fired.

However, strict bail conditions were sought. Solicitor, Shane Collins-Daly, who represented both women on free legal aid said there was no objection to the bail conditions.

The two accused are required to reside at 1 Inchera Close, Mahon, Cork, abide by a curfew of 10pm to 8am daily, sign on at Anglesea Street garda station between 9am and 9pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, abstain from intoxicants and not cross the north channel of the River Lee except for medical and legal appointments.

Free legal aid was granted by Judge Olann Kelleher to Shane Collins-Daly to represent Julia McDonagh who is on a widows pension and Julianne McDonagh who is on Jobseekers Allowance.

The case against both women was adjourned for four weeks at Cork District Court.
Jerusalem: A total of four rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as violence near the border intensified over the impending eviction of dozens of Palestinians from East Jerusalem`s neighbourhood.

According to The Times of Israel, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) reported two rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip towards the city of Ashkelon and surrounding communities on Sunday (May 9) night.

Before midnight, two more rockets were launched but landed inside the Strip."Terrorists in Gaza just fired 2 rockets toward Israel. The rockets exploded inside Gaza, endangering Palestinian civilians," the IDF tweeted.

Terrorists in Gaza just fired 2 rockets toward Israel. The rockets exploded inside Gaza, endangering Palestinian civilians.  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 9, 2021

The military said one of the first pairs of rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, while the second apparently landed in an open, unpopulated area. There were no reports of injuries and damage.

This came an hour after Israel announced it was closing the Gaza Strip`s fishing zone in response to the launching of dozens of balloon-borne incendiary devices throughout the day, reported The Times of Israel.

The devices caused dozens of fires and burned large swaths in southern Israel, along with a mortar attack in the wee hours of Sunday (May 9).

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 14 more people have been treated for injuries amid clashes in Jerusalem.

At least 560 people have been treated for injuries in the last three days. Clashes in Jerusalem are reportedly continuing and there are reports of gatherings at West Bank checkpoints near Ramallah.

Over 70 Palestinians in total are set to be evicted from Sheikh Jarrah in the coming weeks to be replaced by right-wing Jewish Israelis.

The Palestinians live in houses built on land that courts have ruled were owned by Jewish religious associations before the establishment of Israel in 1948, reported The Times of Israel.

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The universities cant squirm out of it this time. Last year, all 13 Australian universities that host China-funded Confucius Institutes declined to register them under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. Some even tweaked their contracts with the Chinese government to avoid having to register on technicalities.

The government was not amused.

Last December, the Australias Foreign Relations Act, or AFRA, removed any ambiguity: it gave universities six months to declare any written arrangement, agreement, contract, understanding or undertaking with any foreign government or any foreign university that does not have institutional autonomy.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will decide on a case-by-case basis whether controversial Confucius Institutes at 13 Australian universities will be allowed to continue their operations. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Australias states and territories were also forced to declare their foreign entanglements, and the act gives the Foreign Minister the power to cancel any state, territory, or university arrangements that she deems inconsistent with Australias foreign policy.

Ministerial protestations notwithstanding, the obvious target of the AFRA is China. Marise Payne has already used her new powers under the act to cancel Victorias Belt and Road agreement with the Chinese government. That was a purely political gesture. Given that the Victorian agreement was never legally binding in the first place, its cancellation doesnt change much.
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), apex national body representing automobile dealers in India, on Monday, 10 May 2021 released monthly vehicle registration data for April 2021.

Total vehicle registrations tumbled 31.83% to 11,85,374 in April 2021 over 17,38,802 in April 2019. The organisation said: "Unlike other months, we can't represent a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) comparison since India was under complete lockdown in April 2020 and not a single vehicles could be sold. Hence, all comparisons for this month has been done on M-o-M basis."

Two-wheeler registrations tumbled 35.35% to 8,65,134 in April 2021 as compared to 13,38,278 in April 2019. Three-wheeler registrations slumped 55.59% to 21,636 in April 2021 as against 48,722 in April 2019. Passenger Vehicles (PV) registrations fell 11.56% to 2,08,883 in April 2021 over 2,36,188 in April 2019. Commercial Vehicles (CV) registrations skid 34.58% to 51,436 in April 2021 as compared to 78,630 in April 2019.

Tractor registrations rose 3.52% to 38,285 in April 2021 from 36,984 in April 2019.

Commenting on April 2021 performance, Vinkesh Gulati, the President of Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), has said that: "India is currently facing one of its toughest times with 2nd wave of covid creating a havoc in everyone's life. This time, the spread is not only limited to urban markets but has also taken rural India in its grasp. Auto Registrations for the month of April witnessed double digit fall to the tune of -28% M-o-M, as most of the Indian states started going under lockdown (partial as well as full) beginning April 5th onwards. The spread started with Maharashtra followed by Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and other Indian States following the suit. Not surprisingly, all categories hence closed the month in red with 2W down by -28%, 3W by -43%, PV by -25%, Tractors by -45% and CV by -24% respectively on a M-o-M basis."

"Unlike last year, the lockdown this time around has been imposed by State Governments and not the Central. Due to this, there has been no relief announcements which has come out till now either by the Center or RBI and Auto OEMs. FADA humbly requests Auto OEMs (our Principals) to handhold their dealers the way they did last year during the 1st phase of pandemic as situation is very grim in most of the states and Dealer Principals as well as their teams are fighting for their survival from COVID-19. FADA also requests OEMs to not burden dealers with high billings all the states where lockdown has been announced. FADA also requests the Government to come out with financial package, the way they did last year. We also request RBI to come out with guidelines/notifications for relaxation of loan re-payment equivalent to the tune of number of days of lockdown each state has announced," he added.

In its near term outlook, the organisation said, "The 1st 9 days of May has seen extremely lean sales due to lockdown announced by majority of states. Lockdown also means dealership outlets to remain closed thus meaning zero sales. Considering the rising number of cases, one can expect the peak in terms of infections for India on a whole could be at least a fortnight away. Even where, Dealerships are open, the walk-ins have dropped to 30% and customers are delaying their purchase decision. The just-concluded elections in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, movement of migrant workers back to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar can keep the curve rising. Overall, FADA hence maintains absolute sluggishness for the month of May as most of the states have announced extension of lockdown till the end of the month."

For its near term outlook, FADA said, "The 2nd wave of covid has not only unsettled urban but also the rural markets this time around. Recovery hence looks to take a longer time when compared to recovery which came after 1st wave. The only ray of hope lies on Monsoon's on time arrival which is likely to enter India through the southern coast around June 1. The country's weather office has also said that India is expected to get average monsoon rains this year, thus raising expectations of higher farm output, which is central to the country's economy. This will also lead to rural markets recovering faster than urban. Also, categories like Tractors and 2-Wheelers will have a rub off effect in terms of recovery."

The Nifty Auto index rose 1.56% to 9,973.05. The index added 4.12% in four sessions.

Tata Motors (up 3.83%), M&M (up 1.71%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.53%), Eicher Motors (up 1.19%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.92%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.06%) advanced.

Hero Motocorp (down 0.73%) and TVS Motor (down 0.75%) declined.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
London: Sadiq Khan has been re-elected as Mayor of London for a second term after beating his closest rival with a vote share of 55.2 per cent versus 44.8 per cent in an election that was closer than expected.

Labour Party candidate Sadiq Khan, 51, defeated his Conservative Party rival, Shaun Bailey, after winning a total of 1,206,034 votes as against 977,601 when both first and second preference votes from Thursday's mayoral election were fully counted overnight on Saturday.

The Pakistani-origin former Labour member of Parliament was the first Muslim mayor of a European capital city when he was first elected in 2016. The mayoral poll was due last year but was postponed by a year at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

"I am deeply humbled by the trust Londoners have placed in me to continue leading the greatest city on earth," said Khan.

"I promise to strain every sinew, help build a better and brighter future for London, after the dark days of the pandemic and to create a greener, fairer and safer city for all Londoners, to get the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential. I am proud to have won an overwhelming mandate today," he said, speaking at his City Hall office.

Khan reiterated his previous pledge to be a mayor for all Londoners and work to improve the lives of every single person in this city.

"The results of the elections around the UK shows our country, and even our city remains deeply divided. The scars of Brexit have yet to heal. A crude culture war is pushing us further apart," he said.

"As we seek to confront the enormity of the challenge ahead, and as we endeavour to rebuild from this pandemic, we must use this moment of national recovery to heal those damaging divisions," he added.

Rival Bailey said he had been "written off" by pollsters, journalists and other politicians but Londoners didn't write me off".

His victory is one of the few positives for the Labour Party as the party held on to its dominance in the London Assembly as well. Labour also kept hold of its mayoralty in Greater Manchester, where Andy Burnham was re-elected in a landslide win.

However, overall the local election performance has been largely dismal for the Opposition party as it lost many of its strongholds. The Conservatives have gained control of around 12 councils and the Labour has lost control of seven and the Labour failed in its attempt to oust Conservative Andy Street as the popular mayor of the West Midlands.

UK Environment Secretary George Eustice said the Labour had been punished in Leave-voting areas by "wrangling" over Brexit in recent years. The Boris Johnson led Conservatives are also seen to have benefitted from the successful roll-out of vaccines against COVID-19.

The polls were seen as the first major leadership test for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who took over from Jeremy Corbyn after a disastrous December 2019 general election defeat.

He reacted by dramatically dismissing his deputy leader Angela Rayner, who was also the party's local election campaign chair. Starmer, who said he takes 'full responsibility' for his party's poll setback, is set to reshuffle his top team further.

(inputs from PTI)

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DENVER  An officer in Colorado was shot in the leg and police launched a search for the shooter.

Officers responded late Saturday to a home in Denver on a report of a person on a porch who did not belong there, Division Chief Ron Thomas told reporters early Sunday.

The shooter opened fire on officers at the scene and one officer was shot in the leg, Thomas said. The officer was taken to Denver Health Medical Center in critical condition.

Police were not immediately sure whether the suspect was in custody. Thomas said officers made contact with multiple individuals of interest but the investigation was still ongoing.

Authorities set up a perimeter in the area of the shooting in search of the suspect. Residents in the community northwest of downtown were encouraged to stay inside their homes.

The search involving police dogs ended and the area reopened to the public Sunday morning, the Denver Post reported.

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New Delhi: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has donated Rs 2 crore for the COVID-care facility at Rakab Ganj Gurdwara in Delhi. The Rakab Ganj Gurdwara facility will start operating from today, i.e on May 10, 2021.

The facility will have atleast 300 beds, oxygen concentrators, doctors, paramedics and ambulances. All the services will be given to patients at free-of-cost.

The president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management committee Manjinder Singh Sirsa posted all the update on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

He thanked the Don actor and wrote, Sikhs are Legendary

    

These were the words of

@SrBachchan Ji when he contributed 2 Cr to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Covid Care Facility.

While Delhi was grappling for Oxygen, Amitabh Ji called me almost daily to enquire about the progress of this Facility.

Sikhs are Legendary

    

These were the words of @SrBachchan Ji when he contributed 2 Cr to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Covid Care Facility While Delhi was grappling for Oxygen, Amitabh Ji called me almost daily to enquire about the progress of this Facility@ANI pic.twitter.com/ysOccz28Fl  Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) May 9, 2021

Sirsa shared that Big B has also arranged oxygen cylinders for the COVID centre as there is scarcity of oxygen in the hospitals.

Senior Bachchan is leaving no stone unturned in making the people aware about the novel coronavirus. On Sunday, he shared a 2.8-minute video on his Twitter handle directly from the Vax Live event.

During the event, he requested the world to come forward and help India in its fight against the deadly virus.
Jordan urged Israel on Sunday to stop what it described as barbaric attacks on worshippers in Jerusalems al Aqsa mosque and said it would step up international pressure.

Jordan, which has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, said Israel should respect worshippers and international law safeguarding Arab rights.

East Jerusalem tensions have spilled over into clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians around al Aqsa, Islams third-holiest mosque, at the height of the Ramadan fasting month.

What the Israeli police and special forces are doing, from violations against the mosque to attacks on worshippers, is barbaric (behaviour) that is rejected and condemned, the government said in a statement.

Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was safeguarding the right of worship and would not tolerate rioting in the compound that houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Frictions have mounted in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, with nightly clashes in East Jerusalems Sheikh Jarrah  a neighbourhood where numerous Palestinian families face eviction.

King Abdullah, whose Hashemite family claims descent from Islams Prophet Mohammad and draws legitimacy from its custodianship role, said Israeli actions in the holy city were an escalation and called on it to end its dangerous provocations.

The monarch accused Israel of trying to change the demographic status of the holy city which contains sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Jordan summoned the Israeli charge daffaires in Amman to express the kingdoms condemnation over what it said were Israeli attacks on worshippers, state media said.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the kingdom, which lost East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, would do its utmost to protect rights of Palestinians against ownership claims by Jewish settlers.

Israel as the occupying force carries responsibility for protecting rights of Palestinians in their homes, Safadi said in comments on state media.

Jordan had earlier provided the Palestinians with land deeds in Sheikh Jarrah it says proves Israeli settler claims to the property were groundless.

The eviction of Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah from their homes is a war crime, Safadi said.

Several hundred Jordanians protested near the fortified Israeli embassy in Amman as dozens of anti-riot police stood by. Scores in the crowd chanted Death to Israel.

They called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and scrapping of an unpopular peace treaty with Israel. Many citizens in Jordan are of Palestinian origin.

SOURCE: REUTERS
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Hundreds of potential homebuyers have flocked to a leafy suburban street to attend an auction in one of Sydney's most sought-after suburbs.

Not even coronavirus restrictions could keep crowds away from attending auctions on Saturday as property prices continue to soar.

A lifestyle blogger filmed a crowded street attending an auction in the city's northern suburbs, believed to be in North Sydney.

The footage shows both sides of the street packed with potential homebuyers, including young families.

A Sydney suburban street was flooded with potential homebuyers (pictured) on Saturday

Several cautious attendees can be seen wearing masks after two locally-acquired coronavirus cases were recorded in Sydney last week.

The video was later uploaded to TikTok where it has since gone viral, attracting more than 185,000 views and hundreds of comments.

Viewers were stunned by the crazy scenes.

'Thought this was at the Easter Show,' one person commented.

Another added: 'I thought it was a peaceful protest for a sec.'

Footage of the large crowd at the auction has gone viral online after it was shared to TikTok

Many viewers said the video was a reflection of the housing market not just in Sydney but nationwide.

'For those of you who don't know, Australia is in a huge housing and rental market crisis, pretty much every open house and auction is like this,' one person commented.

Another added: 'Overpriced market on Earth and it's going to crash big time next year or 2023, 100 per cent!'

Others suggested many of crowd were nosey neighbours simply there for a sticky beak and others with no intention of bidding.

'House auction is a spectator sport in Sydney,' one person quipped.

The auction was one of 1,157 held across Sydney on Saturday, 1,119 over the previous week and 216 this time last year.

Preliminary results show that of the 985 auctions reported so far, 82.6 per cent of homes went under the hammer, according to CoreLogic.

Around 171 auctions were uncleared.

The auction in Sydney's north attracted a huge crowd (pictured), including young families

Saturday was the second busiest week for auctions across Australia.

More than 3,000 homes went to auction across the combined capital cities compared to 480 a year ago.

National property values climbed by 1.8 per cent in April, a sharp comedown from March's 2.8 per cent pace which was the fastest since October 1988, where Sydney's median house climbed by 4.3 per cent in one month to a whopping $1.112million, according to CoreLogic data.

House and apartment prices have soared by 10.2 per cent since the short-lived Covid downturn in property prices ended in September last year.

Sydney house prices are expected to skyrocket over the next few years with 140 suburbs tipped to lead the biggest property boom in the city.

Data from real estate research group Hotspotting has flagged the regions around the New South Wales capital that homebuyers should keep their eye on.

The suburbs stretch from Bondi, in the eastern suburbs, to Mount Druitt, in western Sydney, and from Chatswood, in northern Sydney, to Cronulla, in Sydney's south.

Sydney's northern beaches leads the way, followed by the Central Coast, the Sutherland Shire, the North Shore and Ryde with the Hills District in the city's north-west rounding out the top six regions across the state.
[May 10, 2021] Leo Electric Scooter?s Experience from Tel Aviv Rides to Selina Hotels in Mexico

TEL-AVIV, Israel, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LEO Riders  an Israeli based company has presented a new revenue model for hotels while empowering guests experience. "We have dedicated our entire efforts into the hospitality sphere. While working with 50 hotels in Israel, we have learned how to cater both hotels and guests needs" says Mr. Motti Hasfari, LEO's CEO LEO provides hotels and resorts with a full turnkey micromobility solution combined with a digital tour guide embedded in LEO's app. "During the last 12 month we've generated a daily net average income of 12$ per scooter, thus generating a good and healthy win-win model with the hotels" says Hasfari. Now, with a business model offering hotels rev. share from rides, Leo is deploying its operation with Hotel brands: Fattal, Brown Selina andNomad's in Israel, Mexico and Greece.



About Leo: The young Israeli company, founded in 2019 by Kfir Benshooshan and Dror Benshooshan; owners of Inokim scooter brand, has taken the scooters utility services trend to the B2B level, offering hotel guests a new experience to explore main point of interests with Leo designated app.

After a successful collaboration with 40 Fatal hotels in the city of Eilat, Leo launched this week its expansion outside of Israel in 2 cities in Mexico with Selina and Nomad's hotels. Leo and Selina had signed a strategic partnership which will allow Leo to expand to other hotels and hospitality businesses in Central and South Americas.

Says Motti Hasfari, Leo CEO: "While the sharing electric scooters highly competitive business struggles to achieve positive EBITDA, Leo focuses in the hospitality industry, partnering with hotel chains, to create new revenue stream hotels and bring a new micromobility experience to guests. "We are super excited to launch our first activation outside of Israel in the Riviera Maya area of Mexico and soon with Brown hotel chain in Greece." For more info:

motti@leoride.co

www.leoride.co View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leo-electric-scooters-experience-from-tel-aviv-rides-to-selina-hotels-in-mexico-301287410.html SOURCE Leo Riders Ltd

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PICAYUNE, Miss. (AP)  A man has been arrested in connection with a 1998 murder of a 91-year-old woman in Mississippi, according to police.

Sergio A. Williams of Picayune was taken into custody Sunday and charged in the killing of Leola Jordan, news outlets reported. She was found dead in her home after being stabbed multiple times nearly 23 years ago.
MIDDLETOWN  A plan to reorganize the Middletown Planning, Conservation and Development office by splitting it into two departments was approved for consideration at the most recent common council meeting.

The goal is two-fold, Mayor Ben Florsheim said.

Its going to make city operations more efficient, but its also going to make city operations more tailored to the needs of the community, he said.

The plan calls for eliminating the POCD and parking offices, and creating a Department of Land Use and separate Department of Economic and Community Development.

The Parking Department will be incorporated into the new DECD.

We really think that is important, because our parking infrastructure  and transportation infrastructure more broadly  needs to be working hand-in-glove with our economic development office to make sure were meeting the needs of businesses in town and people who are coming into town in terms of parking, Florsheim said.

The city is undergoing a parking analysis  an update to the 2008 study  the findings of which are expected to help meet increasing demand for spaces in the downtown, as well as future housing development to lay the groundwork for more of a residential character, and allow for more growth, Florsheim said last week.

The city is starting to shift its focus back to priorities it had prior to the pandemic, including creating a master plan for Connecticut River redevelopment, Planning, Conservation and Development Director Joseph Samolis said at Wednesdays Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce meeting.

With COVID, things got pushed into a higher priority, Samolis said. Im trying to make sure we stay vital, and stay relevant in terms of making sure that our business community and downtown is thriving around Middletown.

Land use staff will handle the regulatory end, Samolis said, by bringing applications, permits through [the Planning and Zoning Commission], Inland Wetlands, Zoning Board of Appeals and overall planning, and ensuring we are moving our development in line with our newly adopted Plan of Conservation and Development.

That document, Middletown 2030, which will guide the city through the next 10 years, envisions a thriving, vibrant, connected and sustainable city.

The community structures associated with all those departments would be relatively unchanged. We would look to better align our resources and staff to have a more efficient, effective output for the benefit of the community, Samolis said.

It had been suggested the Arts and Culture office move from the mayors office to DECD for many of the same economic reasons, however, the arts community had a different view and wanted to make sure the office has some autonomy, which makes a lot of sense, Florsheim said.

That proposal was rejected by the council. Im totally supportive of that, said the mayor, who will be working with Arts Coordinator Kisha Michael and the overall arts community on a collaborative approach to operations.

Common Council Majority Leader Gene Nocera is familiar with the restructuring proposal, after seeing it when it was first unveiled at a General Counsel Commission meeting. I had the luxury of seeing the flow chart and an explanation. Now, its time for the whole council to look at that, after which time, membership will vote on the measure or send it back to committee for review.

Florsheim anticipates the proposal will be taken up at the June 14 budget adoption meeting  or the regular July council session.

Department heads will meet at City Hall during a special council meeting June 7 at 6 p.m., when Samolis will present the plan.
Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID and chief medical advisor to the president, testifies at a hearing in Washington on April 15, 2021. (Amr Alfiky/Pool/Getty Images)

Fauci: India Needs Other Countries to Chip in as COVID-19 Cases, Deaths Surge

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that India needs other countries to chip in to assist the country in curbing the transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

India saw its deadliest single-day surge of a record-breaking 412,262 infections on May 6 and its total death count as of the same day was 230,168. Deaths rose by more than 4,000 for a second consecutive day on Sunday.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABCs This Week that other countries need to assist India with getting supplies, hospital beds, oxygen for COVID-19 patients, and building field hospitals.

The end game would be for the population to be vaccinated, Fauci said.

Theyve got to get their resources, not only from within but also from without, and thats the reason why other countries need to chip in to be able to get either supplies for the Indians to make their own vaccines or to get vaccines donated, Fauci told host George Stephanopoulos.

Support has been pouring in from around the world in the form of oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ventilators, and other medical equipment.

Fauci added that he has advised Indian authorities that they need to shut down the country.

Ankita Patel, a 31-year-old paramedic, adjusts the oxygen mask of a woman inside an ambulance waiting to enter a COVID-19 hospital for treatment in Ahmedabad, India, on April 29, 2021. (Amit Dave/Reuters)

Youve got to shut down. I believe several of the Indian states have already done that, but you need to break the chain of transmission. And one of the ways to do that is to shut down, he said.

Many Indian states have imposed strict lockdowns over the past month while others have announced restrictions on public movement and shut down cinemas, restaurants, pubs, and shopping malls.

But pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a nationwide lockdown as it did during the first wave last year.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) called for a complete, well-planned, pre-announced lockdown instead of sporadic night curfews and restrictions imposed by states for a few days at a time.

IMA is astonished to see the extreme lethargy and inappropriate actions from the Ministry of Health in combating the agonizing crisis born out of the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said in a statement on Saturday.

Reuters contributed to this report.
News_release

Chemotherapy can induce a painful peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), a chronic condition and common adverse effect for cancer patients undergoing treatment. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, have used a mouse model to demonstrate the pivotal role of cholesterol in CIPN, and proposed a novel therapeutic approach to reverse it.

The findings are published in the May 10, 2021, online issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

The study was a collaboration between the laboratories of senior study author Yury Miller, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, and Tony Yaksh, PhD, professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology, both at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Miller studies cholesterol metabolism and cardiovascular and neuro inflammation. Yaksh specializes in neuropathic pain.

It was truly gratifying to work at the intersection of two disciplines and identify the role cholesterol plays in activation of microglia  immune cells of the spinal cord  and regulation of chronic pain, said first author Juliana Navia-Pelaez, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Millers lab.

The metabolism of cellular cholesterol was already linked to neurological conditions, such as Alzheimers disease, but we were first to show its role and underlying mechanisms in chronic pain.

Cholesterol is essential for brain function, both during development and in adult life. It is a major component of cell membranes, a precursor to some hormones and serves as a cellular messenger. However, excess of cholesterol is detrimental to human health; buildup of cholesterol plaques in large arteries often causes heart attacks and stroke.

The UC San Diego team found that changes in cholesterol metabolism contributed to reprogramming of microglia in a way that perpetuated chronic inflammation in the spinal cord. Genetically modified mice lacking cholesterol transporters in microglia were unable to remove excessive amounts of cholesterol, and thus experienced pain  even without chemotherapeutic intervention.

The outer membrane of these cells, which is normally fluid, became rigid with accumulated cholesterol in the form of floating solid platforms called lipid rafts. The lipid raft environment, said the authors, favors assembly and activation of cellular proteins that mediate inflammatory response, such as Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4).

We were surprised to find that in CIPN, enlarged lipid rafts and TLR4 assemblies persisted for days and weeks, said Miller. We even started calling them inflammarafts to stress the importance of these membrane domains in neuroinflammation and pain states.

To reverse the harmful effects of excessive cholesterol in microglia, researchers used a modified version of the apoA-I binding protein (AIBP), which hastens cholesterol removal and disrupts inflammarafts, but does not damage physiological lipid rafts. A single injection of AIBP in the spinal canal of mice reversed CIPN pain, and the therapeutic effect lasted for several weeks, without adverse effects.

The long-lasting effect we observed with the delivery of AIBP points to a reprogramming of these immune cells that implies cholesterol plays a fundamental role in gene expression, said Navia-Pelaez. It might even act as a driver of epigenetic alterations in microglia and ultimately pain behavior.

The authors said the results are part of a promising series of investigations, conducted by UC San Diego and Raft Pharmaceuticals.

Considerable work remains to be done in terms of safety and kinetics to move this new biologic ahead for clinical trials, said Yaksh, but the present results are exceedingly promising as they provide a hitherto unappreciated target  inflammarafts in immune cells  for drug development in the management of chronic neuropathic pain.

Co-authors include: Soo-Ho Choi, Luciano dos Santos Aggum Capettini, Yining Xia, Ayelet Gonen, Colin Agatia-Boyle, Jungsu Kim, Jenny W. Lu, Benjamin Saylor, Lauriane Delay, Gilson Goncalves dos Santos, Glaucilene Ferreira Catroli, Maripat Corr and Irina Kufareva, UC San Diego; Holger Winkels, Christopher P. Durant, Yanal Ghosheh and Klaus Ley, La Jolla Institute for Immunology; and Graham Beaton, Raft Pharmaceuticals.

Funding for this research came, in part, from the National Institutes of Health (grants NS102432, NS104769, NS099338, HL135737 and HL136275) and Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil). The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (grant P30 NS047101) supports the UC Sn Diego School of Medicine Microscopy Core.

Disclosure: Yury Miller and Tony Yaksh hold equity in Raft Pharmaceuticals.
Paris: Frances education ministry has banned the use of gender-inclusive words in classrooms, saying they harm learning and risk cementing the status of English as the worlds dominant language.

The decree sent to schools across the country took specific aim at the practice of introducing full stops into the middle of words to denote both masculine and feminine endings, such as turning amis (friends) into ami.e.s - a so-called midpoint.

French schoolchildren in Strasbourg. Credit:AP

In French grammar, nouns reflect the gender of the object to which they are referring and male dominates female in mixed settings - so a group of friends with nine women and one man would nevertheless be termed with the masculine amis.

Activists have long pushed for textbooks to add an e to feminise certain words, making them more inclusive. In their preferred teaching materials, elus, French for elected officials, becomes elu.e.s, for example.
RICHMOND, British Columbia (AP)  A 28-year-old man was fatally shot Sunday at the Vancouver International Airport in what Canadian authorities said was a gang-related slaying. Police were later fired on while pursuing the suspects.

The man was shot near the departure terminal at the airport, which is in neighboring Richmond, British Columbia. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Frank Jang said the victim was known to police and the incident was related to a gang conflict the region has seen lately.

This generation of gangsters is taking things to a new level with no regard to community safety, Richmond Chief Supt. Will Ng said. They will stop at nothing to target rivals even if its at an international airport in broad daylight on Mothers Day. And they shot at a police officer.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers intercepted the suspected getaway car shortly after the 3 p.m. shooting and were shot at from the car. At least two suspects escaped in the SUV, and no officers were injured.

Police said the officer did not return fire as there were bystanders. Police later found a burning car about 28 kilometers (17 miles) away.

At the airport, traffic cones blocked off a section of the international and domestic departure areas and police erected tall, white screens in front of an entrance, blocking views of the shooting scene. Most of the shops in the area were shut down.

Police asked for witnesses and those with video to come forward.

The Vancouver Airport Authority referred questions about the shooting to police. It said the airport remained open.

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in a statement on Twitter that the shooting was disturbing.

My thoughts are with the communities in the Lower Mainland who have been impacted by gun and gang violence far too often, particularly over the last week, Blair said.

There has been a string of shootings in the Vancouver area over the last several days, including two separate daytime shooting deaths in busy shopping malls. Police said both were targeted killings. One of the victims was a prison corrections officer.

Were tired of seeing the violence that has been taking place on our streets," Jang said. There comes a time where there are no further words. ... It's falling on deaf ears."

___

AP writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council held emergency consultations Monday on escalating violence in east Jerusalem and was considering a proposed statement calling on Israel to cease evictions and calling for restraint and respect for the historic status quo at the holy sites.

Irelands U.N. ambassador, Geraldine Byrne Nason, who joined in calling for the emergency meeting, said that the Security Council should urgently speak out, and we hope that it will be able to do so today.

Council diplomats said all 15 members expressed concern at the clashes and rising violence but the United States, Israels closest ally, said a statement might not be useful at this time.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, speaking to reporters in Washington, said the Biden administration wants to ensure that anything from the Security Council be that statements or anything else -- dont escalate tensions. Thats our overriding priority.

The U.S. agreed to have council experts discuss the statement after all other members said the U.N.s most powerful body must react, the council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations were private. But the U.S. was still wary late Monday afternoon, they said.

The draft statement would express the Security Councils grave concern at escalating tensions and violence in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and serious concern over the possible evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, many of whom have lived in their homes for generations.

There have been weeks of mounting tensions and almost nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities.

Most recently, the tensions have been fueled by the planned eviction of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem where Israeli settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties.

The proposed statement would call on Israel to cease settlement activities, demolitions and evictions, including in east Jerusalem in line with its obligations under international humanitarian law and refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undermine the viability of the two-state solution.

It would express deep worry about daily clashes, especially in and around Jerusalems holy sites which have led to many injuries and would call for restraint and refraining from provocative actions and rhetoric.

Calling for respect for the historic status of Jerusalems holy sites, the draft would also underscore that Muslim worshippers at the holy sites must be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocations.

The council would also reiterate its support for a negotiated solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict where two states, Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestine live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders.

Chinas U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun, the current council president who proposed the statement under consideration along with Norway and Tunisia, called the clashes between Israelis and Palestinians disturbing.

Israeli authorities should take necessary measures to prevent violence, threats and provocations against Muslim worshippers, Zhang said.

Notway's U.N. ambassador, Mona Juul, said: The situation on the ground is clearly explosive, not only in east Jerusalem but also in and around Gaza. This will have grave consequences and is the last this region needs."

She told AP her key message to the council was that it is vital for the 15-member council to come out with a clear statement, calling for de-escalation and confirming its support to the two-state solution."

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired warning shots from its .50-caliber machine gun at a large group of armed Iranian speedboats that were quickly approaching American ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday morning.

In a briefing with reporters, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the group of 13 fast boats were part of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, or IRGCN. He called the encounter "significant."

The boats "conducted unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers, and failed to exercise due regard for the safety of U.S. forces as required under international law, while operating in close proximity to U.S. naval vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz," Kirby said.

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The U.S. Navy said in a statement that the Iranian boats were fast in-shore attack craft, a type of speedboat that is armed with machine guns.

Two Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy fast in-shore attack craft conducted maneuvers in close proximity to USCGC Maui as it transits the Strait of Hormuz, May 10, 2021 (U.S. Navy)

This represents the second time in two weeks that American ships have fired warning shots at Iranian speedboats. The Navy last month said its ships encountered Iranian speedboats on April 26 in international waters in the north Arabian Gulf and, after issuing several warnings, fired warning shots.

Six U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels, including the guided missile cruiser Monterey, were escorting the guided missile submarine Georgia when they encountered the Iranian ships, Kirby said, adding that the ships were on their way to the Persian Gulf.

The other American ships involved in the encounter were the Navy patrol ships Thunderbolt, Hurricane and Squall, and the Coast Guard patrol boats Maui and Wrangell.

Kirby said the Iranian boats approached the American ships at high speed, coming as close as 150 yards from them.

The Navy said that two of the 13 Iranian speedboats broke away from the larger group and moved to the opposite side of the U.S. formation. Those two speedboats approached the Maui and Squall from behind, the Navy said, at more than 32 knots, or nearly 37 miles per hour.

The Navy said the two Iranian boats had their weapons uncovered and manned. The other 11 Iranian boats remained in their original position, the service said, putting the U.S. ships between two groups of Iranian boats.

Kirby said the U.S. ships followed "all the appropriate and established procedures" and made several attempts to communicate with the Iranian boats and dissuade them from their approaches.

The Navy said that the Maui and Squall made multiple bridge-to-bridge verbal warnings, five "acoustic device" warnings, and five short horn blasts. The service said that is the internationally recognized signal for danger when trying to prevent collisions at sea.

When those efforts were unsuccessful, Kirby said, the Maui fired two volleys of warning shots from its .50-cal, totaling about 30 shots in all. The first volley was fired when the ships were within 300 yards, the Navy said, and the second when they were within 150 yards.

After the second volley of warning shots, the 13 Iranian ships broke off contact.

"The U.S. crews operated with distinct professionalism and superior seamanship," the Navy said. "As professional mariners, we expect the IRGCN to operate with due regard for the safety of all vessels as required by international law.

"Our Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting the rules-based international order throughout the region," the service continued. "In support of international norms, the U.S. is not an aggressor. Our naval forces remain postured in a non-provocative manner that exemplifies professionalism, incentives adherence to international law and customs, and persuades others to emulate our actions. Our forces are trained, however, to conduct effective defensive measures when necessary."

Kirby said he could not comment on how often such encounters have happened in the Strait of Hormuz, but added that this kind of encounter is dangerous in close quarters.

"It's an international waterway and, of course, when you're in the strait, there are certain limits to your ability to maneuver," he said. "It is a choke point in the region. So it's not insignificant that this kind of dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional behavior occurred there."

Kirby said it is not yet known whether video of this encounter exists. But videos of incidents have been released after a classification review, he said.

Kirby declined to comment on the Iranian boats' possible motivations for this encounter, or at what point U.S. ships might fire directly upon Iranian vessels.

But, he said, U.S. vessels have the right of self-defense and the means to defend themselves and their crews.

"Sadly, harassment by the IGRC Navy is not a new phenomenon," Kirby said. "It is something that all our commanding officers and crews of our vessels are trained for, when serving in the Central Command area of responsibility, particularly in and around the Gulf."

Kirby said that the two recent incidents show that American crews "are very stringent about following the proper procedures for providing warnings verbally first and then, if need be, through the use of warning shots to try to change and to mitigate the Iranian behavior."

But, he said, such behaviors are unsafe and unprofessional.

"This kind of activity is the kind of activity that can lead to somebody getting hurt, and can lead to a miscalculation in the region," Kirby said. "And that doesn't serve anybody's interests."

The Monterey recently discovered and seized an arms shipment aboard a "stateless dhow" it intercepted in the northern Arabian Sea.

That arms seizure operation, which began last Thursday and concluded Friday, netted a cache of Chinese-made Kalashnikov-style assault rifles, sniper rifles, heavy machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

While the Navy did not say where the shipment likely originated, similar arms caches interdicted by U.S. and other allied forces in the region were later described to be headed for Yemen.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: US Navy Fires Warning Shots at Iranian Fast Attack Craft
Page Content

While employees may cheer the news that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is relaxing its guidance on wearing masks for people who are fully vaccinated, California employers should not relax their standards yet, according to employment law attorneys.

At the federal level, the CDC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration are still recommending that workers continue to wear masks. Employers in the Golden State also should be looking to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Healthknown as Cal/OSHAwhen developing their workplace safety standards related to the COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to masks, California's rules require people to be masked if they are in a public or private space with people from outside their household, regardless of whether they are interacting inside or outside.

Update

On May 13, the CDC provided guidance stating that people who are fully vaccinated can resume many activities without wearing a mask, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance. For now, rules regarding face coverings at work remain unchanged for California employers, noted Arlene Yang of law firm Meyers Nave. On May 20, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board will consider a rule that would permit employees to work indoors without face coverings when all persons in a room are fully vaccinated and do not have COVID-19 symptoms.





Even those working outdoors, such as construction workers, should remain masked for now, said Allison Scott, an attorney with Dykema in Los Angeles.



California officials plan to lift most COVID-19 business restrictions and reopen the economy on June 15. If vaccination rates continue to rise and cases and hospitalizations remain low, the state will eliminate use of its current four-tier safety systemwhich sets regional limits on activities based on COVID-19 rates.

Mask mandates, however, will remain in effect, according to the governor's office. Here's what California employers need to know as they continue to monitor guidelines and mandates.

SHRM Resource Hub Page

Coronavirus and COVID-19



Providing a Safe Workplace

Attorneys agree that employers should approach protecting their employees and customers from COVID-19 as they would other workplace safety issues.

Here, the hazard involves a communicable disease, rather than wet floors or dangerous equipment. "We need to protect employees from hazards of all kinds, and in this case that means close contact with someone who is unmasked," said Melissa Peters, an attorney with Littler in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Arlene Yang, an attorney with Meyers Nave in San Diego, noted that virus variants are circulating, and that people can still get COVID-19 after they have been vaccinated.

Cal/OSHA emergency standards are still in place, and there is no vaccine caveat, Scott explained.

"Employers have an affirmative obligation to provide a workplace that is safe for all employees. And that means following the guidance of Cal/OSHA and county public health agencies," she said. "Cal/OSHA made it clear last November that masks are required in the workplace. They may eventually change those standards, but so far, they haven't. Masks are required, even if you are vaccinated."

Guidelines and mandates may change, so employers must continue to monitor for state and local orders revising mask requirements.

Maintaining Consistent Practices

"We understand that everyone has lockdown fatigue. People are looking for any sort of reason to get rid of masks," Peters observed. "But it comes back to employer liability. As soon as you let standards slip, even a bit, you run the risk of an outbreak or a work-related exposure."

Not everyone is going to be vaccinated, she said. "You don't want to create different rules for different classes of employees, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated."

Masks need to fit snugly and cover the nose and mouth. Scott said employers would be wise to quickly correct workers who are not in compliance. "If an employee complains about a safety issue, such as some not complying with masking, they are then engaged in a protected activity." The last thing employers want is employees calling Cal/OSHA or other regulators to voice concerns.

"You have to engage in those uncomfortable conversations," Scott said. "We've seen an increase in lawsuits by employees who complain about COVID safety and whether there is proper protective equipment available."

Even with reopening, people's comfort levels will vary. "You want to make sure you don't have employees who feel their concerns won't be addressed, or fear that they will suffer negative actions for expressing them," she said.

Enforcing Policies

While there is some question as to whether employers are required to provide masks for employees, it makes sense for employers to provide disposable masks, gloves and plenty of sanitizer throughout the workplace as they encourage a culture of compliance.



If certain employees cannot wear a mask for health reasons or other legally protected reasons, employers should have a discussion to see if there is an alternative solution, such as telecommuting or wearing a face shield with a drape.

As far as engaging with mask violators, Yang said, employers should focus on education and proactive compliance. This may include having managers model proper behavior and posting signs in the workplace that highlight safety protocols and the correct way to wear a mask.

Workers who can wear masks but violate company policy should be treated as they would for violating any other safety protocol. "The most punitive route is that mask-wearing is a condition of employment, which means employees could be terminated, but most employers will not take that route," Yang said. Enforcing the policy equitably is the key to compliance.



"The pandemic isn't over," she noted. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said everyone should be cautious until U.S. COVID-19 rates drop to 10,000 cases a day, but the CDC is currently reporting an average of more than 40,000 new cases a day.



Susan Kostal is a freelance writer and editor in San Francisco.


NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Big Idea Ventures LLC , the global leader in early-stage alternative protein investing, announces the launch of the Generation Food Rural Partners (GFRP) fund, and has selected NC State University as its inaugural collaborator. GFRP is a $125 million target fund that will fuel economic development in rural communities across the United States through the commercialization of food and agricultural technologies, protein innovation and other university intellectual property.



Big Idea Ventures was founded to solve the worlds greatest challenges by backing the worlds best entrepreneurs, said Andrew D. Ive, founder and managing general partner. This new fund will widen our scope to capture breakthrough technologies from world-class universities that will impact the global food supply chain. The goal is to drive job creation and entrepreneurship in rural communities hungry for economic development and have them continue to be the centers of food innovation and production for generations to come.

The GFRP fund will establish at least five venture centers to facilitate collaboration with multiple leading U.S. universities. BIV venture center staff will work with the universities to identify and evaluate new developments with the strongest commercialization potential and the fund will then invest in new companies formed around the groundbreaking research. These new companies will be headquartered in rural communities near the collaborating universities and the GFRP team expects the first of these new companies to be established in North Carolina.

We are excited to launch Generation Food Rural Partners with NC State as our first university collaborator, said Tom Mastrobuoni, chief investment officer for Big Idea Ventures. We chose NC State because of its forward-looking investments in plant science and plant-based food innovation and its historical excellence in plant breeding and agricultural research. We want to help universities like NC State benefit from the formation of these new businesses while demonstrating the commercial value of university research. We believe GFRP will drive more scientists to pursue additional research and encourage other entrepreneurs to establish their companies near our venture centers in rural America.

NC State is a top-ranked land-grant university globally recognized as a research powerhouse. Researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alone were awarded $96.5 million in grants last year and exceeded $130 million in research expenditures in more than 600 active research programs in on-campus labs, field labs, farm fields, and in the states network of 18 research stations.

We are thrilled that Big Idea Ventures has recognized NC States world-class agricultural research capabilities, and this opportunity aligns perfectly with our mission to create prosperity for our state and reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of this university. With our Think and Do mindset, we believe research has its greatest value when its at work in the real world creating opportunities and solving problems. Were delighted to be working with this team from the very beginning, said Wade Fulghum, assistant vice chancellor for research commercialization.

North Carolina has the third most diverse agricultural economy and the most entrepreneurial farmers and agribusinesses in the nation, said Richard Linton, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. With their investment in NC State research and programs such as the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative and the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab, we believe we have a complete innovation ecosystem to attract and support the best researchers and food entrepreneurs in the world.

Venture support is critical to the further development of rural businesses and infrastructure, said Sen. Brent Jackson, N.C. Senate. Bringing food manufacturing companies directly to the source of the agricultural products they need will be a game-changer for our farmers, our rural communities, and the entrepreneurs who take advantage of this opportunity. Only 20 percent of the states agricultural GDP comes from food manufacturing. Expanding the states food manufacturing capabilities in rural communities is a key area of focus for the North Carolina General Assembly.

This cutting-edge venture reflects the potential for innovation to help bridge the urban, rural economic divide, said Sen. Paul Newton, N.C. Senate.

This exciting opportunity is a recognition of the incredible natural and human resources we enjoy in our state, and Im proud to support ongoing entrepreneurial collaborations that benefit our citizens, said Rep. Kristin Baker, N.C. House.

About Big Idea Ventures

Founded in 2018, Big Idea Ventures is solving the world's greatest challenges by supporting the worlds best entrepreneurs. We're a venture capital fund investing in and partnering with the most innovative companies and founding teams to bring big ideas to the world. For more information visit www.bigideaventures.com.

Media Contacts

Big Idea Ventures | Worth Sparkman, worth@bigideaventures.com, 479-236-0674

NC State University | Richard Campbell, rtcampbe@ncsu.edu, 919-513-3128
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
New Delhi: After Delhi, vaccinations have now started at Noida's government centers on Monday (May 10). Earlier, people had to travel from Noida to Delhi to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

The vaccination drive in Noida started at 9am on Monday and saw long lines forming from 8am onwards.

Post the introduction of vaccination centres in Noida, those who had to travel to Delhi to get the vaccine were happy that now they will not have to travel far to get the second dose.

The 18-44 age group will also be able to take part in the Phase III vaccination program that had started in many states across the nation on May 1.

Last week, immunization of 18+ age group started in 7 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

From today onwards, vaccination of 18+ will commence in 11 districts including Noida and Ghaziabad.

The COVID-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar surged to 317 on Sunday with 10 more fatalities, while nine more people died of the disease in adjoining Ghaziabad, pushing its toll to 326, official data showed on Sunday.

The two districts adjoining Delhi now have a cumulative death toll of 643, according to data released by the state's Health Department for a 24-hour period.

Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 940 new cases during the period, pushing its tally to 51,767 while the number of active cases in the district rose to 8,265, the data showed.

Ghaziabad logged 578 new cases that pushed its caseload to 46,711 and active cases to 5,782, it showed.

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The fight over Senate Bill 7 is reaching past Texas all the way to Hollywood.

The bill, which would drastically alter voting accessibility in Texas, passed through the Texas House of Representatives early Friday morning. Now, celebrities are weighing in and urging followers to fight the bill with their wallets via Twitter.

HERE IN HOUSTON: Meet the Houstonian making city council meetings more accessible

The chain reaction seems to have started with Kevin McHale, an actor from Plano best known for playing Artie Abrams in "Glee."

"Tell the Texas GOP: Dont mess with Democracy. Help [Texas Democrats] fight back," McHale wrote on Twitter with a link to Texas Democrats donation page to fight Senate Bill 7 and House Bill 6.

Thus, McHale basically created a form letter for Hollywood's politically engaged to copy and paste into Twitter.

Canadian band Tegan and Sara weighed in.

... As did other "Glee" star Jenna Ushkowitz.

SENATE BILL 7: 63 Texas civil rights groups target GOP voter suppression bills

Paul Bettany, an English actor known for playing Vision in multiple Marvel films and "WandaVision," doubly made his feelings known.

And then Emmy winner and fictional vice president Julia Louis-Dreyfus quoted Bettany.

JOE WIDEN?: President Joe Biden once again confirmed human, not a giant

If it passes, Senate Bill 7 will limit early voting hours, ban drive-thru and overnight voting, and limit the number of polling places in Texas' largest counties under the guise of "election security." (Texas has only prosecuted 174 cases of voter fraud since 2005  a minuscule portion of the more than 93 million ballots cast since then, according to the Houston Chronicle editorial board.)

No telling if this game of celebrity hot potato for our voting rights will make a difference in the end.
OLD LYME  By the fall, the Mile Creek School will have a new classroom  outdoors.

This project is the first in a district plan to create outdoor classroom spaces, an idea coming from staff and parents after schools reopened in September.

Wed often in the past brought kids outside on nice days, but we thought why not create a permanent space that we can use when the weathers nice? Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser said.

The outdoor classroom idea also addressed concerns of being indoors, a worry many had when classes resumed in September.

Ron Turner, Lyme-Old Lymes director of facilities and technology, has been working on the project since the early stages of development. He had the idea of working with technical schools in the area to complete the new structure.

Turner and Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Principal Mark Ambruso, a former technical school principal, reached an agreement with Middletowns Vinal Technical High School for its students to work on the project.

Its kind of been a great match so far, Neviaser said. Its a great project for their students and benefits us in the long run. It benefits our students to have that outdoor space.

Kerry Markey, director of communications for Connecticut Technical Education and Career System, said in a statement that Vinal Technical High School became involved through the state programs student workforce. The student workforce is run by faculty and students, offering services from construction jobs to in-house dining and catering.

Technical high school students get the benefit of completing real projects for real customers here in Connecticut, while our customers get a high-quality product at a fraction of the market price, Markey said in a statement.

Vinal Technical School will be responsible for designing, constructing and installing the space, which is now a large gazebo. The structure will be built behind the Mile Creek school building, allowing for easy access as each classroom at the school has an exterior door leading to the area.

While most of the projects in the school district are completed during the summer, this one will be finished once school is in session.

Unfortunately, the students of Vinal dont work over the summer, Neviaser laughed. Theyre hopefully going to start before this school year ends. Were just trying to get through some of the permitting process.

After the permitting process is complete, materials can be brought to the construction site.

All of Mile Creeks estimated 300 students enrolled for the next school year will have access to this new space. The plan is for the space to be available to every classroom during the school day.

The gazebo was originally considered as a way to safely hold a class in an outdoor setting during the pandemic, but it would not be large enough to accommodate 12 to 15 students if social distancing is still in place next school year.

Its our hope that next year we wont be dealing with some of those guidelines, Neviaser said. It definitely is a consideration for the future and if that becomes an issue again, well have to adapt as we did this year and find a solution to make that big space usable.

christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com
New Delhi: Actress Kishwer Merchantt has reacted to the death of 35-year-old actor Rahul Vohra from COVID-19 complications.

Kishwer expressed her views in the comment section of the post uploaded by a paparazzo account sharing the news of Vohras death. I so wish his message had reached @sonu_sood .. things would probably be different.. Prayers and Strength to the family, wrote the actress.

Actor Sonu Sood has been working non-stop since last year starting after a nationwide lockdown was announced. The Dabangg actor helped migrant workers reach their homes safely amidst the lockdown and is now helping save COVID patients' lives by arranging hospital beds, oxygen cylinders for them.

Rahul had used his Facebook account to share a desperate appeal for help before succumbing to his death on Sunday (May 9).

The actor on May 4, wrote that he is COVID positive and requires an oxygen bed in the national capital of the country as his oxygen levels are consistently dropping.

Main Covid Positive hu. Admit hu. Lagbhag 4 din se but koi recovery nahi. Kya koi aisa hospital hai ? Zaha oxygen bed... Posted by Irahul Vohra on Monday, 3 May 2021

Rahul, just a day before the virus took his life away, posted a helpless message on his social media handle, wishing that he had received a proper treatment.

Mujhe bhi treatment acha mil jata, To main bhi bach jata tumhaara Irahul Vohra (If I would have gotten a proper treatment, I would have survived, your Irahul Vohra).

Mujhe bhi treatment acha mil jata, To main bhi bach jata tumhaara Irahul Vohra Name-Rahul Vohra Age -35 Hospital name... Posted by Irahul Vohra on Saturday, 8 May 2021

Currently, India is witnessing a devastating second wave of COVID-19, which has overburdened the healthcare infrastructure of the country. Hospitals are running out of beds, many people have died due to oxygen shortage and the lack of proper treatment.

Many celebrities like Sonu Sood, Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra, Ayushmann Khurrana, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and others have contributed funds to fight the pandemic.
Sunday's parade was an attempt to boost the army's popularity at at time of great uncertainty

The military in Chad has claimed victory against northern rebels following weeks of fighting.

The conflict against Libya-based rebels threw the country into a crisis when President Idriss Deby died after being wounded on the frontline last month.

The military takeover under the leadership of Mr Deby's son has been condemned by the opposition and civil society groups, leading to protests.

The rebel group says it is not aware of an end to the fighting.

However a victory parade took place through the streets of the capital, N'Djamena, on Sunday, aimed at boosting the popularity of the Chadian military at a time of great uncertainty in the country.

Some onlookers cheered on Sunday as soldiers returned from the frontline in a parade of tanks and armoured vehicles.

At an army base, journalists were shown dozens of people said to be captured rebels.

Chad is reputed as having one of the best-trained and best-equipped armies in West Africa, and is one of the Western-backed "G5" countries fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region.

The army put people they said were captured rebels on display, along with confiscated weapons

The rebel group, Front for Change and Concord in Chad (Fact), crossed the border from Libya into Chad in April to take a stand against President Deby's 30-year rule.

It is not clear if Fact is still a threat to the military junta now running the country, and a spokesman for the group said it was not aware of an end to the fighting, reports the Reuters news agency.

As the BBC's Africa editor Will Ross reports, the public was told a few weeks ago that the rebel group had been defeated - only for the fighting to resume.

In recent weeks protests demanding a return to civilian rule have been violently broken up by the security forces. In the latest of these, 10 people were injured including one person who was shot in the capital on Saturday.

You may be interested in watching:
Raul Tapia, 31, of the 200 block of Brett Circle, Wauconda, was charged with driving on a revoked license and speeding April 23 following a traffic stop on Rand Road at Wynstone Drive. Tapia was given a June 4 court date. Tapia was also found to have a failure to appear warrant out of Lake County for driving while license revoked.
English French

MONTREAL, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velan Inc. (TSX: VLN) today announced that, on Wednesday, May 19th, 2021, it will release its 4th Quarter and annual results for the year ended February 28, 2021.



The company will hold an analyst call on Thursday, May 20th, 2021, at 11:00 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time) to discuss the results. The call may be accessed by dialing 1-800-772-0453 and quoting the reservation number 21994268. There will be PostView available for 7 days following this conference call. The numbers are as follow: 1-416-626-4100 or 1-800-558-5253. Enter Reservation number 21994268 then follow the system prompts.





For further information, please contact:

Yves Leduc, President & CEO

Tel.: 438-817-9917

OR

John D. Ball, Executive Vice-President, Global

Finance

Tel.: 514-707-2542

Web: www.velan.com
Cai Wei (L) poses for a photo in Beijing in June, 2018. (Friend of Cai Wei via AP) and Chen Mei (R) poses for a photo in Hong Kong in 2018. (Chen Mei Family via AP)

2 Face Trial as China Enforces Online Control Amid Pandemic

TAIPEI, TaiwanMore than a year after two amateur computer coders were taken by police from their Beijing homes, they are set to be tried Tuesday in a case that illustrates the Chinese regimes growing online censorship and heightened sensitivity to any deviation from the official narrative on its COVID-19 response.

Authorities have not said specifically why Chen Mei, 28, and Cai Wei, 27, were arrested in April last year, so friends and relatives can only guess. They believe it was because the two men had set up an online archive to store articles deleted by censors and a related forum where users could skirt real-name registration requirements to chat anonymously.

Started in 2018, the archive kept hundreds of censored articles and the forum saw discussions on sensitive issues including the protests in Hong Kong and complaints about the ruling Communist Party. But what got them in trouble with authorities appears to be archiving articles showing an alternative to Chinas official narrative about its pandemic response just as the country started facing questions over its handling of the initial outbreak.

In keeping the censored articles and providing a place for them to be discussed, the two run afoul of increasingly strict regulations in an already stifling online environment under leader Xi Jinping. Just last year hundreds were prosecuted for online speech.

Chen and Cai are being prosecuted under a catch-all charge of stirring up trouble and picking quarrels. Chens older brother, Chen Kun, said the court-appointed lawyer notified the family last week that their case would be heard Tuesday.

In January 2020, the two began archiving articles about a mysterious new illness circulating in Wuhan. For Cai, who is from the area and could not go home to see his family for the Lunar New Year holiday, the news was particularly upsetting.

A lot of things happened in China then that made us very upset, and he may have been affected by that, said his girlfriend, Tang Hongbo. She was also detained but released after 23 days when it became clear she didnt know much about the project. Every day we were looking at the Internet, and we were all in this tragic mindset.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping reaches to press the green button as he votes on a new draft security bill for Hong Kong in Beijing on May 28, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Xi has made cyberspace governance a priority, and under his direction, the regime created its own model to manage the challenges and opportunities of the Internet. China eliminated online anonymity by requiring people to register under what is known as the real name system starting in 2016. Social media accounts are linked to a mobile phone number, which is tied to an individuals national ID number.

A Chinese activist, using court and regime records and media reports, tallied more than 750 prosecutions for web speech in 2020 in an online database and posted on a Twitter account named SpeechFreedomCN. He said he runs the database anonymously out of fear of retribution.

A friend of Cai, who declined to be named out of fear of retribution, said Cai had grown frustrated with the censorship regime. In response, he and Chen launched the Terminus2049 archive and 2049bbs forum in 2018 as a public platform of free exchange, Cai wrote in a welcome post.

Its not just the real name systemthe deletions of posts, the bans, have reached a point thats really shocking domestically, Cai wrote in another 2018 post. When you have to worry about whether you have touched a sensitive keyword in any post you write, how can you really have the brave desire to express yourself?

On the forum, Cai wrote about movies, music, and books he liked. Others discussed more sensitive topics. It was a place to speak without worrying about having posts deleted or getting ones account banned. It didnt require a phone number to register, or even an email address.

Chen was more low-key but similarly chafed against the censorship system.

He wants information to flow. He wants quality information to flow freely, said Chen Kun, his older brother. We have this type of value deep in our bones, the independence of discourse on the Internet and the free transmission of information.

Cai and Chen met in 2011 at a summer camp hosted by Liren College, a socially conscious educational program. Both self-taught coders, they first started cooperating on a project to archive all the lectures and information from the summer camps, said a friend of both, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution. Authorities shut down Liren in 2014.

Terminus2049 primarily housed articles that had been deleted from WeChat and Weibo, popular social media platforms that are subject to regular algorithmic and human censorship. While similar databases existed, most were blocked in China. Terminus2049 was available on Github, a code-sharing platform that is not blocked.

A pro-democracy activist holds a placard urging Chinese authorities to release 12 detained Hongkongers, outside the Chinese central governments liaison office, in Hong Kong, on Dec. 28, 2020. (Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

The topics the archived articles touched on were broad, but they shared a focus on social issues. One was concerned about the expulsion of migrant workers from Beijing after a fire, while another shared questions about a company that falsified data on rabies vaccines.

It was only after Cai and Chen got arrested that their families found out from friends and peers what the two had been working on. They suspect that pandemic-related content triggered the arrests, in part because in the weeks before and after their detention, police questioned acquaintances about what the two had done during the outbreak.

They were told that Chen Mei has family members abroad, has provided foreign organizations with information about the pandemic and is basically handing a knife over to the enemy, said Chen Kun, who now lives in France.

Police in Beijing did not respond to a faxed request for comment and court-appointed lawyers did not respond to phone calls.

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan also fell afoul of the law after reporting from Wuhan in the early days of the outbreak. She received a four-year sentence in December.

The 2049bbs forum, which never had major reach, is now blocked in China. Yet the discussions continue and the records of the forum live on in a site called 2047, set up by a self-described person who walks the same path and some members of the old forum.

Cais father, who hasnt seen his son in more than a year, still cant understand how his son ran afoul of the authorities.

He didnt say anything bad. He didnt try to organize some protests, Cai Jianli said. How did this become picking quarrels and stirring up trouble?

By Huizhong Wu
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Saudi Arabia's most prominent womens rights activist was summoned by security officials on Sunday and informed of a supreme court decision that ultimately upholds her initial conviction, relatives told The Associated Press.

The twists and turns of Loujain al-Hathloul's case have drawn international attention and brought focus to a wider crackdown on rights activists and perceived government critics in Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Shed been among a group of vocal activists who pushed for greater womens rights and the right of women to drive a car before the ban was lifted in mid-2018.

Al-Hathloul was tried and found guilty in December by an anti-terrorism court on charges related to her activism. She was sentenced to five years and eight months with conditional release.

She was released from prison on Feb. 10 after nearly three years in detention, including stretches of solitary confinement and allegations shed been tortured.

Her release from prison in February, based on time already served, came just weeks after the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who has vowed to reassess the U.S.-Saudi partnership and stand up for human rights. He welcomed the news of her release from prison at the time, describing it as the right thing to do.

On Sunday, her sister, Alia al-Hathloul, told the AP she was asked to report to the office of the Interior Ministrys General Directorate of Investigation, or mabaheth, in the capital, Riyadh. It was not immediately known why shed been summoned.

Hours later, her relatives told the AP and her sister, Lina al-Hathloul, confirmed on Twitter that shed been called in to sign a document informing her of a supreme court decision to uphold the judgement of an appeals' court, which had upheld her initial conviction. They questioned why she was informed of the legal ruling by a security agency.

The terms of her release from prison include a five-year travel ban and three years of probation. Many Saudi prisoners released on charges related to their activism and speech must also sign declarations before leaving prison, vowing to stop tweeting and posting on social media. Some are also routinely summoned for questioning during probation.

In recent days, al-Hathloul has shared posts about a women's rights campaign against sexual harassment in Kuwait, and waded into the sensitive topic of Gulf Arab normalization with Israel. Recently, she wrote that many of her Saudi friends have stopped writing on Twitter altogether.

When is this nightmare going to end?, she wrote. I WANT my friends back!

A number of other women's rights activists remain imprisoned, including Samar Badawi, whose brother Raif Badawi is serving 10 years in prison and was publicly flogged in 2015, and Nassima al-Sada, a rights activist from the Eastern Province.

Saudi activists say Mohammed al-Rabiah, who'd posted on Twitter in support of women's right to drive was sentenced last month to six years in prison. He was detained in the sweep against womens rights activists in May 2018 and thus has already served three years of his sentencing. His charges included seeking to disturb the social fabric", instigating strife and carrying out "foreign agendas that disrupt security and stability."

The rights group that focuses on Saudi human rights cases, known as ALQST, and others who have spoken with his relatives, say al-Rabiah suffered torture while in detention - being held in a small wardrobe for several days, hung upside down by his feet, and beaten unconscious.

His verdict, activists say, points to the continued suppression of rights campaigners by Prince Mohammed. The crown prince, who has been hailed for introducing social and economic reforms, has simultaneously faced international criticism over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 by agents close to him.
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The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued notices of commencement of investigation and summons two hospitals accused of medical negligence leading to the deaths of the patients in their care.

Premier Medical Specialist Centre and Beachland Hospital were alleged to be responsible for the death of Peju Ugboma and Omolara Omoyajowo respectively, last week.

Akin Abayomi, the Lagos State commissioner for health, had earlier directed the states Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFMAA) to investigate the allegations of unprofessional conduct leveled against Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Victoria Island, leading to the death of Mrs Ugboma, a chef.

In its statement on Monday, the FCCPC said the initial information it gathered was sufficient for the Commission to open an investigation into the cases.

As such, the Commission has today issued Notices of Commencement of Investigation & Summons to Produce (NCISP) to relevant persons/entities, Babatunde Irukera, FCCPCs chief executive, said.

The Commission is also communicating with the Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), to expand engagement to the extent that any pertinent conduct may be otherwise unprofessional and, or may be subject of any disciplinary process (if applicable).

While Mrs Ugboma died days after undergoing fibroid surgery at Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Ms Omoyajowo reportedly gave up. the ghost after she was admitted at Premier Hospital, Arepo, in Ogun State.

Mr Irukera said Section 17(a), (e), (s) and (y) of the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) mandates the commission to enforce any enactment with respect to the protection of consumers, conduct investigations into matters related to consumer protection; ensure consumer interests receive due consideration, and provide redress to obnoxious practices; ensure service providers comply with local and international standards of safe service delivery.
Sentencing set in insulin injection deaths of 7 VA patients View Photo

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  Sentencing is set this week for a fired nursing assistant who admitted to killing seven elderly veterans with fatal doses of insulin at a West Virginia hospital. Still a mystery is what provoked Reta Mays to commit the crimes.

Mays pleaded guilty last year to intentionally killing the patients with wrongful insulin injections at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. She faces up to life in prison for each of seven counts of second-degree murder when she is sentenced Tuesday in federal court.

Mays, 46, of Reynoldsville, admitted at a July plea hearing to injecting the veterans with unprescribed insulin while she worked overnight shifts at the northern West Virginia hospital between 2017 and 2018. Hospital officials reported the deaths to the VA inspector general and fired Mays.

The motive of Mays, who served in the Army National Guard in a noncombat position in Iraq and Afghanistan, is still unclear. Then-U.S. Attorney Bill Powell had said authorities did not receive a satisfactory response to questions about the reasoning behind her actions.

Among Mays duties included measuring patients vital signs and blood glucose levels. VA nursing assistants are not qualified or authorized to administer medication, including insulin, prosecutors said. The hospitals nursing assistants also were not required to have a certificate or license as a condition of continuing employment.

Powell said there were about 20 suspicious deaths at the medical center during the time Mays worked there, but charges were only brought in cases where the government thought it had sufficient evidence.

Some family members are expected to make statements during the sentencing hearing.

The second-degree murder charges involved the deaths of Army veterans Robert Lee Kozul Sr., 89, Archie D. Edgell, 84, Felix Kirk McDermott, 82, and a 96-year-old man identified only by his initials, W.A.H.; Navy veteran Robert Edge Sr., 82; Air Force veteran George Nelson Shaw Sr., 81; and Army and Air Force veteran Raymond Golden, 88.

Its not clear whether Mays admitted a connection to the death of Navy veteran Russell R. Posey Sr., 92. But in addition to her other pleas, she also pleaded guilty to one count of assault with intent to commit murder involving the death of veteran R.R.P.  Poseys initials. She faces up to 20 additional years on that count.

Separately, the federal government has agreed to the settlement of numerous lawsuits filed by veterans families alleging a widespread system of failures at the hospital.

The VA is responsible for 9 million military veterans. The agencys former director was fired in 2018 in the wake of a bruising ethics scandal and a mounting rebellion within the agency. Robert Wilkie took over as Veterans Affairs secretary in July 2018.

By JOHN RABY

Associated Press
Restaurants ask premier to ease COVID measures

THAILAND: Restaurant operators have asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to ease COVID-19 restrictions, including lifting the ban on dine-in services.

CoronavirusCOVID-19

By Bangkok Post

Monday 10 May 2021, 08:28AM

The latest tightened COVID-19 restrictions allow restaurants in dark-red zones, including Bangkok, to open for takeaway only until 9pm. Photo: Somchai Poomlard.

Food and beverage operators have been suffering because of the restrictions imposed by the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said Pasinee Pitaknilpradap, president of the Restaurant and Goods Product Association (RGPA).

The government has increased its COVID controls, widening restrictions in dark red maximum- and strict-control zones where the virus has been spreading rapidly since the start of April.

In dark-red provinces, including Bangkok, restaurants can open for takeout only until 9pm.

Dining in is allowed until 9pm in red zones and until 11pm in orange zones, with no sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. In red zones, restaurants can take orders for takeout until 11pm.

The restrictions have hurt operators with income declining by more than 50% and hundreds of thousands of employees also affected, said Ms Pasinee, who has sent a letter to Gen Prayut asking for relief.

The association wants the premier to help operators by allowing restaurants and eateries to provide dine-in services for customers. It has also asked him to exempt and reduce income taxes, signboard tax and building and land tax; reduce electricity and water fees, and slash employers contributions to the Social Security Fund (SSF).

To help employees, the association asked the government to compensate them for lost income at a rate of 50% of their salaries, and extend the period of reduced 2% contributions to the SSF.
By Nancy Qian





CHICAGO  Economic reporting about China focuses far too much on total gross domestic product (GDP) and not enough on per capita GDP, which is the more revealing indicator. And this skewed coverage has important implications, because the two indicators paint significantly different pictures of China's current economic and political situation. They also focus our attention on different issues.



A quick search through all English-language news outlets in the ProQuest database for the ten-year period from 2011-21 shows that 20,915 articles discussed China's GDP, whereas only 1,163 mentioned its GDP per capita. The difference was proportionally even larger among the eight largest and most elite papers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, where 5,963 articles referred to Chinese GDP and only 305 discussed the per capita measure.



In 2019, China's GDP (measured at market exchange rates) of $14 trillion was the world's second largest, after that of the United States ($21 trillion), with Japan ($5 trillion) in third place. Aggregate GDP reflects the total resources  including the tax base  available to a government. This is helpful for thinking about the size of China's public investments, such as in its space program or military capacity. But it has much less bearing on Chinese people's everyday lives.



Most economists therefore care more about China's per capita GDP, or income per person, than the aggregate measure. And the key takeaway here is that China remains a poor country, despite its phenomenal headline GDP growth over the past four decades.



China's per capita GDP in 2019 was $8,242, placing the country between Montenegro ($8,591) and Botswana ($8,093). Its per capita GDP in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms  with income adjusted to take account of the cost of living  was $16,804. This is below the global average of $17,811 and puts China 86th in the world, between Suriname ($17,256) and Bosnia and Herzegovina ($16,289). In contrast, GDP per capita in PPP terms in the U.S. and the European Union is $65,298 and $47,828, respectively.



To understand the extent of poverty in China, we also need to consider the degree of inequality across its large population. China's current level of income inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient) is similar to that found in the U.S. and India. Given that 1.4 billion people live in China, the country's inequality implies that there are still hundreds of millions of impoverished Chinese.



The Chinese government has said that 600 million people have a monthly income of barely $155, equivalent to an annual income of $1,860. Of these people, 75.6 percent live in rural areas.



To leave the ranks of the world's poorest countries, China must significantly boost the incomes of a population about the size of that of Sub-Saharan Africa, and with a similar average income of $1,657. And the Chinese government is aware that it must do so in order to maintain popular support. All else being equal, it will be preoccupied for at least another generation by the need to increase domestic incomes.



But all else is rarely equal in politics, and governments can also bolster their popular support in ways that do not foster economic growth. The Chinese government, for example, emphasizes its role in defending the population against external or impersonal forces, such as earthquakes or the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also recently adopted an assertive stance regarding territorial disputes in the South China Sea and along the Chinese-Indian border.



Western countries have responded to these and other Chinese actions in a variety of ways. The U.S. is ramping up its military presence in the South China Sea, while China also faces the threat of economic sanctions and a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics because of human-rights concerns.



Experience suggests that sanctions, boycotts, and military pressure are unlikely to achieve their intended aims. Russia, for example, has faced Western economic sanctions since 2014  and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration recently announced further punitive measures  but the Kremlin has persisted in its policy of occupation in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Likewise, the boycotts of the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Games in Los Angeles had little effect on either side in the Cold War.



On the contrary, military aggression often provokes a political backlash in the targeted country and strengthens support for its government. Economic sanctions can have similar effects and solidify public opinion behind more hardline policies.



The backlash effect is easily observed in China nowadays. Many Chinese think the West is seeking to reassert political dominance and feel painful reminders of colonialism and World War II, when China lost 20 million people, more than any country except the Soviet Union. The strong emotions triggered by Western policies toward China overshadow the fact that some of China's actions are troubling countries like India, Vietnam, and Indonesia, which also suffered brutal colonial policies.



These emotional reactions also distract attention from important domestic issues, not least the need to boost incomes. China's poor, most of whom probably care little about border disputes or international sporting events, will bear the brunt of any collateral damage.



To engage effectively with China, other countries should remember: Contrary to first impressions, it is not an economic monolith. Behind the world's second-highest GDP are hundreds of millions of people who just want to stop being poor.





Nancy Qian is professor of managerial economics & decision sciences at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and Director of China Lab. Her article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).


London/Melbourne: Amid the ongoing second surge of COVID-19 pandemic, reports say that the US State Department has obtained documents referring Chinese military scientists allegedly investigated weaponising coronaviruses five years before the coronavirus and may have predicted a World War III fought with biological weapons.

According to 'The Sun' newspaper in the UK, quoting reports first released by 'The Australian', the 'bombshell' documents obtained by the US State Department reportedly show the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) commanders making the sinister prediction.

The papers, which were written by military scientists and senior Chinese public health officials in 2015 as part of their own investigation into the origins of COVID-19, allegedly stated that Chinese scientists described SARS coronaviruses 'of which COVID is one example' as presenting a "new era of genetic weapons".

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, several of which cause respiratory diseases in humans ranging from a common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The PLA papers referenced allegedly seem to fantasise that a bioweapon attack could cause the "enemy's medical system to collapse", and it references work by US Air Force colonel Michael J. Ainscough, who predicted World War III may be fought with bioweapons.

The paper also includes musing that SARS 'which hit China in 2003' could have been a man-made bioweapon deliberately unleashed by "terrorists". The Chinese scientists reportedly boasted the viruses could be "artificially manipulated into an emerging human disease virus, then weaponised and unleashed in a way never seen before".

According to the report, the document lists some of China's top public health figures among the authors and has been revealed in an upcoming book on the origins of COVID, titled 'What Really Happened In Wuhan'.

China reported the first COVID-19 case in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and since then the deadly disease has become a pandemic, affecting more than 157,789,300 people and causing over 3,285,200 deaths worldwide.

Tom Tugendhat MP and Australian politician James Paterson said the document raises major concerns about China's transparency on the origins of COVID-19. Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was quoted in 'The Sun' as saying, "China's evident interest in bioweapons is extremely concerning. Even under the tightest controls these weapons are dangerous".

He further added, "This document raises major concerns about the ambitions of some of those who advise the top party leadership."

Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), told news.Com.Au that the document is as close to a "smoking gun" as we've got, adding "I think this is significant because it clearly shows that Chinese scientists were thinking about military application for different strains of the coronavirus and thinking about how it could be deployed."

Among the 18 listed authors of the document are reportedly People's Liberation Army scientists and weapons experts.

Robert Potter, a cybersecurity specialist who analyses leaked Chinese government documents, was asked by The Australian to verify the paper. He says the document definitely is not fake and quoted by news.Com.Au as saying, "We reached a high confidence conclusion that it was genuine. It's not fake but it's up to someone else to interpret how serious it is."

Questions remain over the origins of the deadly virus after a much-derided World Health Organisation (WHO) probe earlier this year, with the organisation ordering a further investigation which factors in the possibility of a lab leak.

Most scientists have said there is no evidence that COVID-19 is manmade, but questions remain whether it may have escaped from a secretive biolab in Wuhan ? from where the pandemic originated.

China is known to have been carrying out high-risk "gain of function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) which is near the outbreak's ground zero at the Huanan Seafood Market. However, there is no evidence so far to suggest it was intentionally released by China.

The state-run Global Times newspaper, meanwhile, slammed The Australian for publishing the article to smear China. "An academic book that explores bioterrorism and possibilities of viruses being used in warfare was interpreted as a conspiracy theory by The Australian, which deliberately and malignantly intends to invent pretexts to smear China," a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, Chen Hong reportedly told the newspaper.

(With Agency Inputs)

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MISSOULA, Mont. (AP)  Officials in western Montana, working with a private DNA lab in Texas, have identified the victim of an early 1980s homicide and are now investigating to see if she may have died at the hands of a suspected serial killer, the Missoula County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

DNA obtained from the skeletonized remains, which were found in Missoula County in September 1985, was compared to commercial databases and was traced to the family of Janet Lee Lucas of Spokane, Washington. Lucas was 23 when she was last seen in Sandpoint, Idaho in the summer of 1983.

After decades of missing Janet, our family is broken-hearted to learn that she was tragically taken, unidentified and spent a large amount of years alone, her family said in a statement released by the sheriff's office. However, she never spent one moment without being loved. Janet had a contagious smile, warm personality and wore her heart on her sleeve.

She had a 5-year-old son at the time of her death and now has four grandchildren, the family said.

When officials couldn't identify her, she became known as Christy Crystal Creek, after the area where her body was found. She had been shot twice in the head and her remains were found by a bear hunter.

Two suspected victims of Wayne Nance were also found east of Missoula. They were initially called Debbie Deer Creek and Betty Beavertail, but were later identified as Marci Bachmann, 16, and Devonna Nelson, 15. Nelsons remains were found in 1980 and Bachmanns in 1984. Both girls had been shot in the head.

"Our focus has changed from who is Christy Crystal Creek? to what happened to Janet Lucas, Detective Capt. Dave Conway said. This is now a cold case homicide investigation.

The remains of Bachmann and Lucas were found in the same general area so the sheriff's office's cold case unit is reviewing evidence to see if there's any link between Nance and Lucas, the sheriff's office said.

Nance is suspected in at least six killings, but was never tried or convicted, in part because he was killed by an intended victim.

Nance was suspected in the 1974 death of Donna Pounds, the mother of some of Nance's school friends. She was shot to death in her basement. Prosecutors were unsuccessful in getting an indictment.

In December 1985, Nance is believed to have broken into a home in Ravalli County, tied up Mike and Teresa Shook and killed them before setting the house on fire. Their children were rescued from the burning house. Two items stolen from the house were later found at Nance's residence, the Missoulian reported.

Nance died in September 1986 at the age of 30. He went to the home of his boss in Missoula and knocked Doug Wells unconscious. He forced Kris Wells to tie her husband up before Nance tied her up to a bed, investigators said. He then beat and stabbed Doug with a knife before going back upstairs. Doug was able to free himself, grabbed a rifle and shot Nance.

The suspicions against Nance were chronicled in a 2016 book, To Kill and Kill Again, by John Coston.
Editor: Fifty years ago on April 28, Workers Memorial Day, the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect. It promises workers the right to safe jobs.

The law was won through tireless efforts of the labor movement, which organized for safer working conditions and demanded government action. Unions and our allies have fought hard to win job protections and make lives safer. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions injured in dangerous working conditions.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the link between workplace safety and health. The virus has killed more than 580,000 people nationally. We have organized for safe jobs and the right to speak out against unsafe working conditions. We demanded access to ventilation, respirators and other measures to protect workers from the virus.

Organized labor and our allies have strengthened job safety to save lives. Worker safety and workers voice go hand in hand. The approval of unions is at 65%  one of the highest marks since OSHA was implemented in 1971.

Americas labor movement leads the campaign to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would give all workers who want to form unions a fair path to do so. Strong unions hold employers and the government accountable to keep workers safe and raise the baseline of job safety protections.

On April 28, unions of the Scranton Central Labor Council and AFL-CIO observed Workers Memorial Day to remember those who suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe jobs.

Decades of struggle by working people and unions have improved working conditions and made jobs safer. We have an opportunity to strengthen our rights and protections so that everyone can come home safely at the end of a work shift and without chronic illnesses from exposure at work.

WILLIAM E. COCKERILL JR.

GREATER SCRANTON CENTRAL LABOR UNION

DUNMORE

Editor: In reference to the April 30 Times-Tribune story, Mayor candidates bring different perspectives by staff writer Jeff Horvath, in addition to candidate John Murrays campaign slogan, Scranton native, I find his comments regarding being a lifelong resident insensitive, exclusionary and reminiscent of the citys past problems.

Is Murray somehow more qualified simply because he was born here? As mayor, would he only represent the ideas of, and employ, lifelong residents?

As a real estate broker here for 20 years, I have heard from countless outsiders who in many ways appreciate and love all the city has to offer as much as those born here. I believe that having lived in other areas not only helps people appreciate what we have here, but they can also bring experience and many social and economic benefits.

The city of Scranton may not be my native city, but I have been a resident for more than 20 years; this is my home and I love my city. I volunteer my time on numerous local boards, participate in park cleanups and sponsor community programs. I consider myself as concerned and committed as any lifelong resident.

Furthermore, I cannot imagine how Murrays statement may make foreign nationals and new citizens feel  those who also fell in love with the city and call it their home. Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti has done an excellent job of finally creating a transparent and inclusive City Hall and to go backward now would be such a disappointment.

NELL DONNELLY-OBOYLE

SCRANTON

Editor: The rampant invasion begins in Scrantons historic Hill Section.

Unlicensed all-terrain vehicles and cycles terrorize people on our streets and endanger citizens, especially children and pets. The offenders have no regard for obeying traffic lights or stop signs. They speed through our streets at all times of the day and night, causing dangerous situations, not to mention loud noises from vehicles that can be heard blocks away. My own experience occurred with my grandchildren crossing East Gibson and North Webster Avenue and almost being run over by these vehicles.

As a Hill Neighborhood Association member, I contacted city police numerous times to no avail. The police respond by saying they cannot do much to stop this invasion. Something has to be done before someone gets seriously injured. The laws are not being enforced or have no effect. Summer is coming quickly, when more citizens are out and about. Lets put a stop to this invasion.

JOHN ANDREJACK

SCRANTON

Editor: I think its sad, and rather quite inexcusable, for Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak to skip the debate for the state Senate candidates on May 1 at the University of Scranton.

The voters had a real opportunity to see where the candidates stand on the issues and defend their policy positions against one another. Chermak decided not to show up. As a potential constituent, I worry if Chermak would also have prior arrangements if he would be asked to defend a bill he voted on, or if he would be asked to meet with constituents across the district.

ANTHONY DISTLER

ARCHBALD

Editor: What a pleasant surprise to read The Times-Tribune story on April 23 that Scranton street signs are being replaced and updated.

The neglect of street signs has been a continuing problem in our city for about 20 years. This situation came to my attention when friends called for help. They couldnt find our home due to missing and broken signs.

Over the years I asked various city officials about the condition of street signs and they all acknowledged the problem, but nothing was ever done.

Thanks to Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti for finding a solution to this ongoing dilemma. How fortunate we are to now have a mayor who is part of the solution and not part of the problem.

JOAN LLOYD

SCRANTON
The A Rocknroll Dance mare Lady Rocknrolla A was tighter in her second start at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, winning a $11,200 feature for pacing distaffs in 1:54.2 during a soggy Sunday (May 9) card where the temperature did not exceed 45 degrees.

The recent Canadian import and driver James MacDonald were intent on setting the pace in this event, with the favourite putting second-choice Royaltywestho in behind her by the :27.2 quarter. A breather to the half in :57.3 was followed by a challenge from Topville Angelina nearing, at and past the 1:25.4 three-quarters, but Lady Rocknrolla A dug in gamely to defeat that challenger for trainer Carmen Auciello and owner Stephen Klunowski.

Another $11,200 contest, this one for trotters, saw Nextroundsonme cover a ton of Pocono real estate yet still emerge victorious in 1:56.1. Four wide to the eighth before tucking, the Cantab Hall gelding then moved second over, had to go three wide around the far bend, and yet still summoned enough for driver Tyler Buter to hold off the inside move of Consus Victory, winning for trainer Jenny Melander and owner Jose Cervantes.

The meets leading trainer, Gilbert Garcia-Herrera, sent three winning horses, driven by three different drivers; two of them were Tyler Buter and the meets leading driver, George Napolitano Jr., who also each recorded a three-bagger.

The top claiming trotters at the track will be featured in a pair of $12,800 contests on the Monday (May 10) card at Pocono, with Thisisshe looking for her fourth-straight win upon being reunited after a claim with owner Gilbert Garcia-Owen and trainer Gilbert Garcia-Herrera. Mondays action begins at 12:30 p.m. (EDT). Program pages will be available at the PHHA website.

(PHHA / Pocono)
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A federal judge acknowledged Monday that with the proposed date for Nevadas first execution in 15 years to be scheduled for late July, hell have time to review the states unannounced lethal injection plan and decide what information about it should be made public.

We still need to move quickly because of the proposed date, U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II.

An execution date is expected to be set for convicted mass murderer Zane Michael Floyd by a state judge on Friday.

Floyd, 45, is fighting his execution for the 1999 shotgun killings of four people and the wounding of a fifth at a Las Vegas supermarket. He lost federal appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take his case.

Boulware told attorneys for Floyd, the state and the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was inclined to grant a stay of execution so he can review the execution process, called a protocol. But the judge said no decision-making can take place until state officials supply details about the protocol.

Were waiting for a key piece of evidence that is central to all this inquiry to be finalized, Boulware said.

Nevada Department of Corrections Director Charles Daniels testified last Thursday that he has not finalized the execution plan  including the drugs that would be used. Daniels said hed like to be given up 120 days to do so.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson had wanted to seek Floyds execution in early June. Last Friday, prosecutor Alexander Chen said Judge Michael Villani will be asked this week to set Floyds execution date during the last week of July. Nevada would join Texas, Idaho and Pennsylvania as the only U.S. states with executions scheduled.

State prison officials want to keep secret their records about the drugs that would be used, how they are obtained and the names of the manufacturers.

The last execution in Nevada was of Daryl Mack in 2006. He was convicted in a 1988 rape and murder in Reno and asked for his lethal injection to be carried out.

The court fight over Floyd's execution is shadowed by delays of an execution that was scheduled twice  in 2017 and 2018  for convicted killer Scott Dozier.

Dozier pleaded with the state to put him to death, but his lethal injection was called off twice by court fights over the protocol, the never-before-used combination of drugs and the unwillingness of pharmaceutical companies to let their products be used. Dozier killed himself in prison in January 2019.

Death penalty opponents want the Legislature to repeal capital punishment in Nevada. They have said the process is expensive and unwieldy and that the 64 people currently on the state's death row should have their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole.

The state Assembly approved a repeal bill in April, but leaders in the state Senate have not indicated whether theyll take up the measure before the Legislature adjourns next month. Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, opposes it.

Leaders of civil rights and Black community groups held a virtual news conference Monday to describe what they called inequities in Nevadas capital punishment law and to call for the repeal bill to get a Senate hearing.

Why, I ask you, are we wasting money on killing people? Why? asked Ender Austin III, a regional leader of Faith in Action Nevada. He said millions of dollars spent on death penalty case investigations, trials and appeals could be better spent educating children.

Boulware set another hearing about Floyd's case for May 20.
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low 78F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low 78F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has flown into Afghanistan for a brief visit to discuss the withdrawal of Australian troops and hopes for ongoing peace in the war-torn country.

Senator Payne also discussed the handling of alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

She described the planned departure of Australian troops later this year as "beginning a new chapter" in the relationship.

"We will continue our close friendship, and support our shared aspiration of peace, stability and prosperity," Senator Payne said in a statement on Monday.

"We will continue our development assistance program to work to preserve the significant gains made by the Afghan people, in particular advancing the rights of women and girls."

Her confidential visit came after powerful explosions outside a high school in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 50 people and wounded scores more, many of them teenage girls leaving class.

Mr Ghani has blamed the bombings on Taliban insurgents.
[May 10, 2021] Bishop Fox Appoints Veteran Human Resources Executive as New Vice President of Team People

PHOENIX, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bishop Fox, the largest private offensive security testing firm, today announced the appointment of MJ Porcello as the companys new vice president (VP) of team people. Porcello brings decades of human resources (HR) leadership experience, helping to build teams in high growth cybersecurity and technology companies, including BitSight and Arbor Networks. She will be responsible for providing Bishop Fox with the resources and structure to support the companys accelerated growth, developing tools, training and resources that support those leading teams, and helping to further enhance rewards, recognition, and development programs that engage and further the careers of employees.

Bishop Fox has experienced a surge in demand for our security consulting services and recruiting exceptional talent to support this growth and deliver a top-quality service to our customers is a top priority, said Chief Operations Officer Bill Carroll at Bishop Fox. To help us achieve our strategic business goals at such a pivotal time, we sought a seasoned HR executive. Were fortunate to have MJ join us as she brings years of experience and success in building teams during times of expansion. We firmly believe that if we retain great talent, then we can continue to be the best offensive security company in the world. Porcello brings more than 20 years of human resources leadership experience, including a decade working at several leading companies in the cybersecurity industry. Prior to joining Bishop Fox, she served as the VP of people and talent at BitSight where she built and spearheaded the HR function. Prior to BitSight, she was the VP of human resources at Mendix, a Siemens company and the global leader in enterprise low-code software. She also served as the VP of HR at Arbor Networs (acquired by NETSCOUT in 2015) where she led the HR function during a time where the company tripled in size, soaring to more than 500 people; and as the VP of HR at Viisage (acquired by IDEMIA), a multinational technology company that provides identity-related security services. Earlier in her career, she helped build the global compensation programs for International Data Group (IDG), the worlds leading technology media, data, and marketing services company. Porcello received a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and earned a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern University.



Providing organizations with the assets and guidance needed to achieve their growth goals, while preserving the culture and values that made them great from the start, has always energized me throughout my career, said Porcello. Bishop Fox stands out as they consistently go above and beyond not only for their customers but their employees, and that philosophy is what attracted me to the team. The company truly fosters an employee-first culture with the utmost transparency and is dedicated to mentoring employees and nurturing advancement within the company. Im really excited to expand upon all of the amazing talent management programs that Bishop Fox has created and to help the company attract and retain smart, team-oriented people who want to make a difference and thrive in their careers. About Bishop Fox

Bishop Fox is the largest private offensive security testing firm. Since 2005, the company has provided consulting and Security as a Service to the worlds leading organizations  working with over 25% of the Fortune 100  to help secure their products, applications, networks, and cloud resources with penetration testing and security assessments. In February 2019, Bishop Fox closed $25 million in Series A funding from ForgePoint Capital, which has allowed the company to continue to grow its research capabilities and augment and scale its assessment capabilities through next generation offensive security technologies like the award-winning Continuous Attack Surface Testing (CAST), named Best Emerging Technology in the 2021 SC Awards. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ and has offices in San Francisco, CA and Barcelona, Spain.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Torode

CHEN PR for Bishop Fox

jtorode@chenpr.com

781.672.3119 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e518778b-5256-405b-b4f1-4ad9d55db5ba



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A funeral was held Monday for the Delaware police officer who died at the hospital last month after suffering head injuries while responding to a call for help at a housing subdivision.

The body of Delmar Police Cpl. Keith Heacook, who was a 22-year veteran of the force, was transported from Short Funeral Home in Delmar, Delaware, to Emmanuel Wesleyan Church in Salisbury, Maryland, Monday.

Hundreds of law enforcement officials as well as members of the community, attended the funeral, Fox 5 DC reported. Roads by the church were to be closed off since around 4 a.m., WJZ reported.

DELAWARE POLICE OFFICER DECLARED DEAD AFTER ASSAULT WHILE RESPONDING TO CALL FOR HELP

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Delaware Gov. John Carney, Delmar Police Cpl. Kevin McCahill, as well as family and friends, spoke at the service, WBOC reported. Photos showed uniformed Maryland State Police and Delaware State Police officers outside the church Monday, as the funeral was livestreamed on large screens outside for more to view. Officers saluted Heacook's casket  seen draped in an American flag  while it was taken out of the hearse.

"He's a devoted father, husband, son," Maryland State Police spokesman Ron Snyder said in a statement Sunday. "Whenever this happens, whether it be a police officer in this case, a firefighter or trooper, the community rallies together and wants to make sure that we do all we can to ensure that everyone pays the proper respects to a fallen hero like this."

Heacook suffered a traumatic head injury while responding alone to 911 calls shortly after 5 a.m. on April 25 about a fight in progress at the Yorkshire Estates Community in Delmar. Police said 30-year-old Randon D. Wilkerson of Salisbury attacked Heacook inside a home and also assaulted a 73-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman living across the street.

Heacook, a 54-year-old married father to a 12-year-old son, was first transported to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury, but was later taken to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, part of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Story continues

He was taken off life support three days later.

Country music star and Delaware native Jimmie Allen is expected to hold a concert at the Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach around 7 p.m. Monday to raise money for Heacook's family, WJZ reported. Maryland State Police has also raised $20,000 for Heacook's son.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Wilkerson was facing charges of attempted murder, assault, burglary, possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony and terroristic threatening. His charges were to be upgraded to first-degree murder and assault following Heacooks death, authorities said.

Fox News' Frank Miles contributed to this report.
Cinderella Castle is seen at the end of an empty Main Street at Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Fla., on March 16, 2020. (Gregg Newton/Reuters)

Disney Embraces Race Politics, Critical Race Theory in Employee Training: Leaked Documents

The Walt Disney Corporation is pushing the quasi-Marxist critical race theory in its employee training, teaching them that America has a long history of systemic racism while urging them to reflect on their white privilege, according to leaked internal documents.

The documents were leaked to City-Journal journalist Christopher Rufo by multiple anonymous Disney employees who revealed that the training was part of the companys diversity and inclusion program called Reimagine Tomorrow. One of the modules in the training program relies on the controversial critical race theory, an ideology that claims that the United States is a fundamentally racist country and that one race is inherently superior to another.

The module in question, called Allyship for Race Consciousness, includes training on topics such as systemic racism, white privilege, and microaggressions. It also tells white employees to examine and work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness to understand what is beneath them and what needs to be healed and recommends that employees challenge colorblind ideologies and rhetoric such as All Lives Matter or I dont see color because they are harmful and hurtful.

Employees are encouraged to not question or debate Black colleagues lived experience or rely on your black colleagues to educate you, which is emotionally taxing, the document states.

The document also tells employees to reject equality and equal treatment but instead embrace equality of outcome.

Equality is a noble goal. Equal treatment and access to opportunities help each of us perform our best within a shared set of parameters. But we really need to be striving for equity, where we focus on the equality of the outcome, not the equality of the experience by taking individual needs and skills into account, according to the leaked document.

Disney also allegedly recommends its employees to engage in other resources such as the 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge, which is sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering. Part of that challenge encourages participants to fill out a self-assessment to determine how privileged the individual is (pdf), which includes items such as I have never been raped, I have never had an eating disorder, I have never considered suicide, and I have never been shamed for my religious beliefs.

The training also recommends employees read 103 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice. The reading material, which has since been updated, encourages individuals to support Black Lives Matter, call for the end of qualified immunity, promote the defund the police movement, push for criminal justice reform, and decolonize your bookshelf, without expanding on the recommendation.

Disneys press office did not immediately respond to a request to comment by The Epoch Times on the documents. The documents have not been independently verified by The Epoch Times.

This comes after the company came under fire for restricting access of children under seven to some of its videos including Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Aristocats on its streaming service, which it says contains negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures.

Meanwhile, the company also fired Mandalorian actress Gina Carano following a social media post that was seen to perpetuate a conservative viewpoint.
MINNEAPOLIS, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nonin Medical, a global leader in noninvasive medical monitoring and the manufacturer of the CO-Pilot Wireless Handheld Multi-Parameter System, received an honorable mention in Fast Companys 5th annual World Changing Ideas Awards in the health category. These prestigious awards honor businesses, policies, projects and concepts actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovations dedicated to solving health and climate crises, social injustice or economic inequality.

The CO-Pilot is a handheld device with wireless capabilities that helps EMS and firefighters measure patient parameters following carbon monoxide or smoke inhalation and cardiac arrest. It offers reliable readings to allow for improved first responder patient care or any emergency setting outside of the hospital. The CO-Pilot simultaneously tracks patient pulse oximetry (SpO 2 ), pulse rate, carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) and methemoglobin (MetHb); cerebral and tissue oximetry (rSO 2 ) can be measured using an additional sensor.

The World Changing Ideas Awards recognize innovators in categories such as Health & Wellness and AI & Data. A panel of respected Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across multiple categories. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.

Nonin has set the standard for innovation and accuracy ever since we advanced pulse oximeter technology in 1986. Our CO-Pilot is the next in a long line of industry firsts and provides first responders with potentially life-saving patient data through wireless technology, says Christine Horton, vice president of global marketing at Nonin Medical. Nonins CO-Pilot being named an honorable mention in Fast Companys World Changing Ideas Awards in the health category reflects our ongoing commitment to improving patient outcomes and quality of life across the globe.

There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, its important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems, says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.

World Changing Ideas Award nominees in the health category are featured online at https://www.fastcompany.com/90619564/world-changing-ideas-awards-2021-health-finalists-and-honorable-mentions.

ABOUT NONIN MEDICAL

Since 1986, Nonin Medical has developed reliable technologies and manufactured durable noninvasive patient monitoring devices for healthcare professionals and consumers. Nonin pulse oximeters, cerebral and tissue oximeters, capnographs, sensors, and software deliver dependable performance day after dayeven in challenging environments. To learn more, visit nonin.com.

ABOUT THE WORLD CHANGING IDEAS AWARDS:

World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Companys major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all. To learn more visit www.fastcompany.com/world-changing-ideas.

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(Newser)  The first two women to be honored as part of the US Mint's American Women Quarters Program: Maya Angelou and Sally Ride. The poet and the astronaut will appear on the "tails" side of the coins, entering circulation in January, the New York Times reports. George Washington will still be on the "heads" side, though the Mint will use a new design. As many as 20 women will ultimately be featured on coins issued as part of the program over the next four years, and the public has been asked to submit suggestions. Janet Yellen, the country's first female secretary of the Treasury, will ultimately consult with the Smithsonian Institutions American Womens History Initiative, the National Womens History Museum, and the Congressional Bipartisan Womens Caucus to select the women who will be depicted.

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Women on US coins have been in short supply: Queen Isabella of Spain was featured on an 1893 quarter, and Helen Keller appears on the Alabama state quarter, issued in 2003. Susan B. Anthony was the first woman to find herself on a circulating coin, a silver dollar issued in 1979. Sacagawea was honored on a dollar coin produced between 2000 and 2008. The women chosen for the Mint's new program will not be living, as required by law, NBC News reports. They will have "ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds" and will represent "a wide spectrum of fields including, but not limited to, suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts," the Mint says in a statement. (Read more Maya Angelou stories.)
JERUSALEM  Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Monday, setting off air raid sirens throughout the city, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city.

The early-evening attack drastically escalated what already are heightened tensions throughout the region following weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, explosions could be heard in Jerusalem. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The Israeli Army said there was an initial burst of seven rockets, one was intercepted, and rocket fire was continuing.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas military wing, said the rocket attack was a response to what he called Israeli crimes and aggression in Jerusalem. This is a message the enemy has to understand well, he said.

He threatened more attacks if Israel again invades the sacred Al-Aqsa compound or carries out evictions of Palestinian families in a neighborhood of east Jerusalem.

Earlier, Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets clashed with stone-throwing Palestinians at the iconic compound.

More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islams holiest sites, as police and protesters faced off inside the walled compound that surrounds it, said an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the iconic golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the nearby plaza. Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets.

In an apparent attempt to avoid further confrontation, Israeli authorities changed the planned route of a march by ultranationalist Jews through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The marchers were ordered to avoid the area and sent on a different route circumventing the Muslim Quarter on their way to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

But tensions remained high.

More than 305 Palestinians were hurt, including 228 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Seven of the injured were in serious condition. Police said 21 officers were hurt, including three who were hospitalized. Israeli paramedics said seven Israeli civilians were also hurt.

The confrontation was the latest after weeks of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional center of their conflict. There have been almost nightly clashes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities.

Most recently, the tensions have been fueled by the planned eviction of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem where Israeli settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties. Monday was expected to be particularly tense since Israelis mark it as Jerusalem Day to celebrate their capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war.

On Monday, two anti-Arab members of Israel's parliament, surrounded by an entourage and police, pushed through a line of protesters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Several Arab members of parliament were among those trying to stop Betzalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, amid shouting and jostling. Smotrich and Ben Gvir eventually got to the other side of a police barricade and entered a house already inhabited by settlers.

Over the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians and several dozen police officers have been hurt in clashes in and around the Old City, including the sacred compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The compound which has been the trigger for rounds of Israel-Palestinian violence in the past, is Islams third-holiest site and considered Judaisms holiest.

An AP photographer at the scene said that early Monday morning, protesters had barricaded gates to the walled compound with wooden boards and scrap metal. Sometime after 7. a.m., clashes erupted, with those inside throwing stones at police deployed outside. Police entered the compound, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and stun grenades.

At some point during the morning about 400 people, both young protesters and older worshippers, were inside the carpeted Al-Aqsa Mosque. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades into the mosque.

Police said protesters hurled stones at officers and onto an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray.

The tensions in Jerusalem have threatened to reverberate throughout the region.

Before Monday's rocket attack on Jerusalem, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Gaza, Palestinian militants had fired several barrages of rockets into southern Israel. Protesters allied with the ruling Hamas militant group have launched dozens of incendiary balloons into Israel, setting off fires across the southern part of the country.

The rare strike on Jerusalem came moments after Hamas had set a deadline for Israel to remove its forces from the mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah and release Palestinians detained in the latest clashes.

Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel's destruction, has fought three wars with Israel since it seized power in Gaza in 2007. The group possesses a vast arsenal of missiles and rockets capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

The rocket strike on Jerusalem was a significant escalation and raised the likelihood of a tough Israeli response.

After several days of Jerusalem confrontations, Israel has come under growing international criticism for its heavy-handed actions at the site, particularly during Ramadan.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled closed consultations on the situation Monday.

Late Sunday, the U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat. A White House statement said that Sullivan called on Israel to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm and expressed the U.S.s serious concerns about the ongoing violence and planned evictions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against the criticism Monday, saying Israel is determined to ensure the rights of worship for all and that this requires from time to time stand up and stand strong as Israeli police and our security forces are doing now.

In other violence, Palestinian protesters hurled rocks at an Israeli vehicle driving just outside the Old City walls. CCTV footage released by the police showed a crowd surrounding the car and pelting it with rocks when it swerved off the road and into a stone barrier and a bystander.

Police said two passengers were injured.

The day began with police announcing that Jews would be barred from visiting the holy site on Jerusalem Day, which is marked with a flag-waving parade through the Old City that is widely perceived by Palestinians as a provocative display in the contested city.

But just as the parade was about to begin, police said they were altering the route at the instruction of political leaders. Several thousand people, many of them from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, were participating.

In the 1967 war in which Israel captured east Jerusalem, it also took the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its capital. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.

The recent round of violence began when Israel blocked off a popular spot where Muslims traditionally gather each night during Ramadan at the end of their daylong fast. Israel later removed the restrictions, but clashes quickly resumed amid tensions over the planned eviction of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah.

Israels Supreme Court postponed a key ruling Monday that could have forced dozens of Palestinians from their homes, citing the circumstances.

This article was written by ILAN BEN ZION and JOSEPH KRAUSS from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

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Rockets are launched by Palestinian militants into in Gaza, Israel, on May 10, 2021. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Hamas Fires Rockets on Israel, 9 Dead in Gaza

JERUSALEM/GAZAHamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired rockets toward the Jerusalem area and southern Israel on Monday, carrying out a threat to punish Israel for violent confrontations with Palestinians in Jerusalem.

The Gaza health ministry said nine Palestinians, including three children, were killed in a series of strikes in northern Gaza. It did not explicitly blame Israel for the deaths, in an area that has been a staging ground for Hamas cross-border rocket attacks.

Rocket sirens sounded in Jerusalem, in nearby towns and in communities near Gaza minutes after the expiry of an ultimatum from the enclaves ruling Hamas terrorist group demanding Israel stand down forces in the al Aqsa mosque compound and another flashpoint in the city.

As Israel celebrated Jerusalem Day earlier on Monday, marking its capture of eastern sections of the city in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, violence erupted at the mosque, Islams third most sacred site.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said more than 300 Palestinians were injured in clashes with police who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas in the compound, which is also revered by Jews at the site of biblical temples.

The skirmishes, in which police said 21 officers were also hurt, at al Aqsa had died down by the 6 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) deadline Hamas had set.

Rockets fired from Gaza last hit the Jerusalem area during a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas in the territory.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that on Monday, at least six of the 45 rockets fired from Gaza were launched towards Jerusalems outskirts, where a house was hit. No casualties were reported.

We have started to attack Hamas military targets, Conricus said in a briefing to foreign reporters, putting no timeframe on any Israeli offensive. Hamas will pay a heavy price.

He said Israel had carried out an airstrike in northern Gaza against Hamas terrorists and was looking into reports that children were killed.

We had multiple events of rockets fired by Gaza terrorists falling short. This might be the same, Conricus said.

Along the fortified Gaza-Israeli border, a Palestinian anti-tank missile fired from the tiny coastal territory struck a civilian vehicle, injuring one Israeli, he said.

Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad terrorist group claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.

This is a message the enemy should understand well, said Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamass armed wing.

Violence Around Al Aqsa Mosque

A Palestinian woman reacts during scuffles with Israeli security force members amid Israeli-Palestinian tension as Israel marks Jerusalem Day, near Damascus Gate in Old City, Jerusalem, on May 10, 2021. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

The hostilities caught Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an awkward time, as opponents negotiate the formation of a governing coalition to unseat him after an inconclusive March 23 election.

For Hamas, some commentators said, its challenge to Israel was a sign to Palestinians, whose own elections have been postponed by President Mahmoud Abbas, that it was now calling the shots in holding Israel accountable for events in Jerusalem.

Recent clashes in Jerusalem have raised international concern about wider conflict, and the White House called on Israel to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem has also been a focal point of Palestinian protests during the Muslim month of Ramadan.

Several Palestinian families face eviction, under Israeli court order, from homes claimed by Jewish settlers in a long-running legal case.

In an effort to defuse tensions, police changed the route of a traditional Jerusalem Day march, in which thousands of Israeli flag-waving Jewish youth walk through the Old City. They entered through Jaffa Gate, bypassing the Damascus Gate outside the Muslim quarter, which has been a flashpoint in recent weeks.

Police rushed the marchers to cover at Jaffa Gate after the sirens went off.

Israel views all of Jerusalem as its capital, including the eastern part that it annexed after the 1967 war. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they seek in Gaza and the West Bank.

By Jeffrey Heller and Nidal al-Mughrabi
[May 10, 2021] Main Street America Launches E-Commerce Tool in Partnership With GoDaddy to Help More Small Businesses Get Online

CHICAGO, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Main Street America (MSA) launched Main Street Online, a new tool to help businesses grow and strengthen their online and e-commerce capabilities. Supported by GoDaddy, the tool assesses the unique needs of individual small businesses through a series of questions and offers customized guidance for implementing and maximizing solutions to improve their digital presence. The tool was conceived after MSA's survey of nearly 6,000 small business owners in the spring of April revealed that nearly 67 percent had no e-commerce component to their business. Of the one-third that did have e-commerce sales, all indicated that it made up less than 25 percent of their sales volume. Extrapolated out, of the nearly 2.6 million retail businesses with less than 20 employees, more than 1.7 million businesses are in need of an e-commerce sales channel in order to survive during and post-COVID. When asked about technical assistance needs, survey participants identified e-commerce assistance as a top priority. "The marketplace for e-commerce solutions is crowded and confusing to navigate," said Matthew Wagner, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer at Main Street America. "Since small businesses are often limited by time and resources, we wanted to develop a tool to help them easily navigate the process of strengthening their online presence as it will be essential to ensure a strong business model moving forward." The tool was designed specifically for small businesses with 20 or fewer employees in the retail, service, and food and beverage sectors. After business owners complete the survey, they receive customized results on everything from POS systems, website platforms, and content creation software to help market their business. "GoDaddy is on a ission to empower entrepreneurs everywhere by giving them the support and tools they need to succeed online," added Stacy Cline, Senior Director, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at GoDaddy. "We're thrilled to partner with Main Street America to launch a tool that provides small business owners a resource to navigate all the considerations of how to best bring their ideas online."



Developed for both new and mature businesses, the tool is free and accessible to all small business owners. Learn more at mainstreetonlinetool.org. ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA

Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for 40 years. Today, its network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. The organization is a program of the National Main Street Center, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit www.mainstreet.org. ABOUT GODADDY GoDaddy is empowering everyday entrepreneurs around the world by providing all of the help and tools to succeed online. GoDaddy is the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers, sell their products and services, and manage their work. Our mission is to give our customers the tools, insights and the people to transform their ideas and personal initiative into success. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com. MEDIA CONTACT Jenna Temkin

jtemkin@savingplaces.org

312-939-5567 Related Images main-street-online.png

Main Street Online View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/main-street-america-launches-e-commerce-tool-in-partnership-with-godaddy-to-help-more-small-businesses-get-online-301287227.html SOURCE Main Street America

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)  There was no shortage of tips about who killed Pamela Pitts, a rowdy but compassionate 19-year-old whose body was found burned beyond recognition in a pile of trash in 1988.

A Satanic cult. A drug dealer. A cowboy. An ex-lover. A guy nicknamed Halftrack. Or maybe it was an overdose at a spot in central Arizona where people went to party.

It would take more than 30 years, some prison calls and an eyebrow-raising plea deal before a convicted murderer would confess and the mystery would partly be solved. But in a shocking twist, a court recently agreed Pitts killer wouldn't spend any more time behind bars.

Over the years, investigators couldn't pin down the evidence they needed to arrest anyone. The tips that poured in didn't add up. The slaying had stoked widespread fear about a killer on the loose around Prescott, a tourist town about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Phoenix.

And then the case went cold.

Yet, suspicion followed Pitts' roommate, Shelly Harmon, for the 20 years she spent in prison for fatally shooting her ex-boyfriend, Raymond F. Clerx. As her sentence was ending, police reopened the Pitts case and started monitoring Harmon's phone calls, eventually collecting 20 hours' worth of recordings, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

One call gave prosecutors what they said they needed to connect Harmon to Pitts' killing. In it, Harmon's father said she never told him what actually happened.

I had a moment. I had a huge moment, Harmon replied.

Dennis McGrane of the Yavapai County Attorney's Office saw it as an admission of guilt.

Like a sudden quarrel with the roommate," he said. She wasn't planning it, but she did do it.

Harmon's attorney, Dwane Cates, said statement could have referred to Clerx's death.

Clerx had wanted to end the relationship and was going to take their dogs. In a burst of anger, Harmon shot him as he lay on the roof of a car watching planes overhead. She stored his body in the trunk of her car for two weeks before the smell became overpowering and she dropped it in a mineshaft.

Before confessing, Harmon said, I loved him. I was planning to spend the rest of my life with this man.

With Pitts' death, Harmon's story changed over the years: She said Clerx was her alibi. She said she was never at the party spot outside town where Pitts went missing on Sept. 16, 1988. She claimed another roommate strangled Pitts. At one point, Harmon declared, I never killed my roommate. I never wanted to kill anyone. I loved her dearly.

Prosecutors tried to draw similarities between the two cases to back up a theory that when Harmon felt threatened or abandoned, she killed.

Cates called that a stretch and argued prosecutors may have well said, They were both human, they both breathed air."

What prosecutors did have is that Harmon was furious with Pitts over money, for wanting to move out and for sharing news of Harmon's pregnancy that she wanted to keep from her father, according to court documents.

The same day Pitts went missing, Harmon drove around Prescott looking for her and saying she'd kill her if she found her, the documents say. Harmon also said she knew how to conceal a killing: by burning a body or dumping it down a mineshaft  a statement a judge said could be included at a trial that was supposed to start last week.

But prosecutors were dealt a huge blow when the court ruled no evidence of Clerx's death could be introduced. The risk of unfair prejudice was too great, the court said.

Plus, the autopsy was inconclusive because of the extent of Pitts' burns. The court ruled that no one could suggest it was a homicide or probable homicide, though that was listed on the report. Pitts was identified through dental records.

Prosecutors acknowledged that they faced a trial without the evidence they had hoped to present. Some witnesses also had died or their memories faded, and the records were incomplete. That's when they considered a plea deal.

It weighed heavily on us, guaranteeing an outcome versus taking a chance at trial," McGrane said.

Harmon maintained the evidence was stronger against someone else. A former lead detective on the case recommended charges against another woman in 1990 and would have been the defense's star witness, Cates wrote in court documents.

He accused prosecutors of intentionally delaying the case, not taking it to a grand jury until a month after the former detective died in 2017. Harmon was charged with a first-degree murder.

Yavapai County sheriff's Lt. Victor Dartt, who got the case as a new detective in 2011, said he followed leads until they no longer checked out.

Shelly was the only one that I could keep corroborating, he said.

Harmon was living outside Carson City, Nevada, after being released from prison for Clerx's death. She got married, managed rental properties, and did bookkeeping and tax work. Neighbors and friends called her a brilliant and generous Christian woman, entrusting her to care for them, their pets and their homes.

Harmon had not registered as a felon as required in Nevada, so she was picked up on that allegation and told of the murder charge once she got to a sheriff's office, Dartt said.

In March, she agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and detail how she killed Pitts. Until then, authorities thought someone else may have witnessed the killing and had not come forward.

Harmon said she was alone. In court, Harmon recounted that she was upset Pitts was late on rent and had overdrawn a joint bank account. So, she went looking for her, the two fought and Harmon said, I just lost it.

She said she hit Pitts repeatedly against the ground until she was no longer moving, no longer breathing. As voices drew near, Harmon said, she "freaked out.

I was thinking, Oh, my God, shes dead, shes dead, and I killed her,' said Harmon, whose maiden name was Norgard.

The Pitts' family found the account unbelievable, ridiculous and weak, like half a story. Harmon did not talk about how Pitts' body was burned.

It was just to get out of jail," said Pitts' brother, Paul Pitts Jr. She got a golden ticket, and she got away with murder.

Harmon was sentenced to 20 years but received credit for the time she served for Clerx's death and the years she spent in jail awaiting trial in Pitts' slaying.

Still, the Pitts family celebrated  it wasn't justice, but it was an ending to the decadeslong case. They remembered Pitts, who exuded 1980s rock style and whose room always smelled like Aqua Net hair spray. She loved animals, took care of the elderly, was kind and bubbly but also had a tough, know-it-all side, her family said.

Her remains were cremated, and her family spread the ashes by Thumb Butte, a geographical landmark in Prescott, where she liked to hike and visit a creek.

Her father bought dinner and drinks at a restaurant after the March 1 court hearing. The family crowded around a framed picture of Pitts and smiled, thankful for the work law enforcement put into the case.

Pitts' mother, Carol, said Harmon will have to live with killing her daughter for the rest of her miserable life.

None of Harmon's family or friends were at her final court hearing, according to court documents.

She's barred by the plea agreement from talking about the case. And her usually chatty attorney, Cates, would only say, This is a very sad case all the way around, and it just needed to end.

Harmon, now 50, is back in Nevada, friends say. Mary Burgoon said she's had a few meals with Harmon and her husband. She said Harmon was unjustly jailed and believes Harmon pleaded guilty only to avoid prison time.

Wouldn't you if that was the only way you could get out of there? said Burgoon, a past president of the Carson City Republican Women's Club. I do not believe that she did it.

___

This story has been corrected to show the month the trial was supposed to start is May.
A 20-year-old Scranton woman faces charges she sexually abused a 14-year-old girl for several months, according to a criminal complaint.

Julia Schneck, 1429 Academy St., admitted to city Detective Vince Uher on Thursday that she had sexual contact with the teenager and described specific sex acts she engaged in, which she said happened more than once.

The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.

The teenager reported late last month she met Schneck last summer. By September, Schneck began kissing and touching her. The child reported she had been forced to engage in sexual acts, according to police.

A forensic interviewer, Jennifer Aglialoro, spoke with the victim Wednesday at the Childrens Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, where the child described the acts Schneck performed, despite the 14-year old telling her no. She said that it went on almost every night for at least four months at the victims home in Scranton. Schneck was 19 years old at the time.

Schneck is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors.

Schneck is jailed at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled 9 a.m. Monday.
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

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New Delhi: Hours after the debris from the Chinese 'Long March 5B' rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday (May 9, 2021), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that China is failing to meet the responsible standards.

In an official statement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the spacefaring nations must minimize the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects.

Nelson also stated that the spacefaring nations should maximize transparency regarding those operations.

"It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris," NASA said.

The US space agency added, "It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities."

The statement came after the remnants of China's biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean and as per media reports, the debris landed near the Maldives archipelago.

Harvard-based astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told Reuters that the potential debris zone could have been as far north as New York, Madrid or Beijing, and as far south as southern Chile and Wellington, New Zealand.

"Since large chunks of the NASA space station Skylab fell from orbit in July 1979 and landed in Australia, most countries have sought to avoid such uncontrolled re-entries through their spacecraft design," said McDowell.

"It makes the Chinese rocket designers look lazy that they didn`t address this," said McDowell.

This is pertinent to note that the 'Long March' was the second deployment of the 5B variant since its maiden flight last year. In 2020, pieces from the first Long March 5B fell on Ivory Coast and had damaged several buildings. However, no injuries were reported.
Thiruvananthapuram: As part of efforts to decongest jails in view of the highly-infectious second wave of COVID-19, as many as 568 prisoners, lodged in various prisons across the state, have been released on parole in Kerala.

Besides them, 932 other convicted prisoners may also be released temporarily soon while around 350 remand prisoners would be freed on interim bail, news agency PTI reported.

The decision was taken based on a recent Supreme Court directive ordering the immediate release of prisoners with an aim to avoid overcrowding in jails in the wake of the unprecedented spread of the pandemic.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, on May 8, said all those who were allowed to go out on bail in March last year by the high-powered committees of states and Union Territories (UTs) during the first wave of COVID-19 be granted the same relief now also without any reconsideration to avoid delay.

On March 16, 2020, the top court had on its own taken cognisance of overcrowding of prisons across the country and said it is difficult for jail inmates to maintain social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

State jail DGP, Rishiraj Singh said the high-powered committee, appointed by the apex court, has ordered 90 days parole for prisoners who have been convicted.

Interim bail has been granted to the remand prisoners, who are not habitual offenders and have no criminal background and those punished for offences for which prescribed punishment is up to 7 years or less, with or without fine and those convicted for a lesser number of years than the maximum, he said.

High Court judge, Justice C T Ravi Kumar, home secretary T K Jose and DGP Rishiraj Singh comprise the High- Powered Committee (HPC) in Kerala, set up as per directive of the top court.

"Thus, over 1,500 prisoners, including 568 people released on parole the other day, will get temporary relief. Besides them, around 350 remand prisoners may also be released on interim bail," the Jail DGP said here, according to news agency PTI.

Singh directed various jail authorities to implement the HPC's order with immediate effect.

He also directed the prisoners, who are released, to comply with the COVID protocol completely while going outside and stay safe at their homes.

Over 6,000 prisoners are lodged in a total of 54 jails, including three central jails in Kerala.

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Reader GM sent this nugget from the CDC:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/breakthrough-cases.html

To be more polite that I ought to be, this action make no sense from a scientific perspective. The CDC could provide updates on serious cases versus mild/asymptomatic cases among the fully and partly vaccinated. Or are we to believe the CDC is less good at data than the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has no trouble publishing multiple unemployment indices?

And there do appear to be meaningful numbers of fully vaccinated people who are testing positive. When I mentioned this issue this evening, our aide, who also works part time in a local hospital, said an RN in her ward had just tested positive despite having had two shots and being >2 weeks past the second. I have more reports from MDs all over the country but was asked to hold back one more week on publishing anecdata to make sure this troubling trend looked to be sustained.

But as you can see, now thanks to the CDC, MDs will be left only with anecdata. Is that any way to practice public health? As one MD in the oil patch said, The health department here treats us like enemy combatants, we are assumed to be on the wrong side of everything.

Reader GM elaborated as to why asymptomatic cases among the vaccinated matter. Remember that this vaccine was never expected to achieve the level of sterilizing immunity, where the immunity conferred by a vaccine is so complete that the pathogen cant get a foothold in a vaccinated individual. With a respiratory virus1 (or one with the airways as a major vector for infection), its pretty much impossible to achieve that level of protection.

But that doesnt mean that sticking your head in the sand about breakthrough cases makes any sense. In fact, it is fully part of the US prioritizing profit over public health. The pretense of getting back to a semblance of normal, and relaxing Covid precautions, is more important than having a reality-based grip on health outcomes and what they imply.

As GM observed:

The real worries here are the following: First, that the breakthrough cases are asymptomatic/mild now, but they will not be so mild later in the year, as antibodies wane. Second and most important, from the perspective of the virus, this is not actually an OK state of affairs. Sure, it gets transmitted at some level, but its evolutionary goal is not just to survive, but to make as many copies of itself as possible. And the milder cases tend to have less of the virus (yes, there are completely asymptomatic superspreaders that generate a huge amount of virus in the URT, but in general, if it can get past the URT and cause real damage, that means a lot more copies of the virus, so the evolutionary pressure is there for it to evolve in that direction). So whatever can escape the antibodies generated by the vaccines and lead to more replication will be selected for, and that may well mean a much more contagious and virulent virus just from that. So far immune escape has evolved hand in hand with stronger affinity for the ACE2 receptor, which directly translates into higher contagiousness and also elevated virulence too. The likely mutations to come next identified in vitro (to be noted, in vitro evolution had already correctly identified the ones that characterize the current variants, so it has a good track record so far) also have exactly those characteristics. But in vitro works has also identified ways for it to get deadlier through a different mechanism  shutting down innate immunity by inhibiting the interferon response is a key strategy that these viruses have evolved in their battle with bats immune systems, and there is some evidence that this one is actually not all that good at it compared to, for example, the first SARS virus from 2003. And this might be a major reason why SARS-1 was much more lethal. Could vaccination select for a reversion back to that state, i.e. it goes in the direction of countering the immune system as whole by becoming better at overcoming the innate arm of it when the adaptive arm has been strengthened by vaccines, the evolutionary potential for which does appear to be there? I dont have an answer, but I sure hope that it does not. The refusal to stop transmission runs the risk of breeding something much more contagious and deadly. And because it may well happen in stages, there is also the risk of it becoming gradually normalized, just as the current level of deaths was.

Dont say you werent warned. At a bare minimum, I would stockpile masks, particularly the really good ones, now that they are being depicted as out of fashion.

____

1 Covid is looking more and more like a vascular disease.
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union

ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday that State University of New York campuses will require COVID-19 vaccinations for students starting in the fall semester.

The policy will also apply to the City University of New York, and Cuomo said he would encourage private colleges to adopt it as well. It starts by September, and if the federal government doesn't give full approval to the vaccines beyond the current emergency authorization, the policy would not apply.
Unaccompanied minors hold hands as they await transport after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft in Penitas, Texas, on March 12, 2021. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)

Texas Ranchers Find 5 Unaccompanied Minors Abandoned on Land

Five unaccompanied minors, all under 7 years old, were abandoned overnight on a farm near the Rio Grande River along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Texas couple who found the children on their land Sunday morning.

This baby and four others under four years old dumped like trash by the river on our farm! All alone, all night, no food no water no adultnothing Kate Coleman Hobbs wrote in a Facebook post, along with photos and videos of the girls sitting on a dirt road.

No mother, no father, no nothing, Hobbs said in one video. This is one of our workers wives right here taking care of this tiny one. No on with these children. Dumped out on the side of the river here on our farm. If this doesnt make you mad and make you want to take to the streets, I dont know what will.

In another video uploaded on Facebook, Hobbss husband said that one of his farmers found the children by the river.

This is happening everywhere!!!! Share, make calls, raise hell! Stop this inhumanity! This summer is going to be a killer for many! 110 degrees! Stop! Stop this!, Hobbs added.

Hobbs and her husband alerted local authorities, who then called Border Patrol agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Station.

Border Patrol in a news release later revealed three of the children were Honduran nationals ages seven, three, and two. While the two youngest children were Guatemalan nationals ages five and 11 months.

The girls required no medical attention, according to the release, and were transported to the Uvalde Station for processing pending transfer to Health and Human Services custody.

It is heartbreaking to find such small children fending for themselves in the middle of nowhere, said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Austin L. Skero II. Unfortunately, this happens far too often now. If not for our community and law enforcement partners, these little girls could have faced the more than 100-degree temperatures with no help.

In late March, two toddlers were dropped over a 14-foot border barrier by smugglers. Border patrol agents were able to rescue the girls after witnessing the act via security cameras. And in early April, an 8-year-old boy was found abandoned in the New Mexico desert.

The Biden administration has been struggling to address the surge of illegal border crossings and has opened numerous temporary holding facilities to meet the demand.
UN tells Israel to cease demolitions, evictions Guterres concerned by violence in East Jerusalem

(ANSAmed) - NEW YORK, MAY 10 - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has "expressed deep concern for the constant violence in occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the possible eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in the districts of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan". In a statement, a spokesperson "urged Israel to cease the demolition and evictions, in line with its obligations according to international humanitarian law". "Israeli authorities - the statement also said - must exercise the utmost moderation and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly".



"All leaders have the responsibility of acting against extremists and of pronouncing themselves against acts of violence and instigation", continued the note. Guterres also urged to "maintain and respect the status quo in holy sites", as well as reiterating "his engagement, also through the Quartet for the Middle East, in supporting Palestinians and Israelis in the solution of the conflict based on pertinent resolutions of the United Nations, international law and of bilateral agreements". (ANSAmed)
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It was concerning last week when the governor and a bipartisan group of lawmakers got into it over who has authority over spending. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams vetoes stripped $1.1 billion in federal stimulus funding from the state budget. Lawmakers say they have authority appropriating undesignated general funding. The governor contends she does. The courts should clear that issue up.

But the drama goes from bad to worse as the governor didnt simply veto legislators appropriations; she also apparently crossed out a word here and there that directed how public money would be spent. And that, according to the New Mexico Supreme Court, is a big no-no.

In one veto, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, removed a requirement certain money be used for correctional officer pay raises, allowing her to spend the money more broadly. She also took out language that sought to make $1 million in funding contingent on submission of a cybersecurity plan. N.M. governors are allowed to make line-item vetoes of spending bills but cannot change the meaning of an appropriation. Lujan Grisham, a lawyer who should know better, crossed the same line her predecessor got in trouble for.

In June 2011, the state Supreme Court struck down an attempt by then-Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, to change a dollar amount in the states budget bill. As reported in the Journal, top-ranking Democratic lawmakers contended Martinez overstepped her constitutional authority with the line-item veto in April, which reduced funding for oversight of regional housing authorities from $150,000 to $50,000. A unanimous court agreed.

Regarding the current debate, if the Legislature as a whole fails to act, individual lawmakers could and should file a lawsuit seeking clarity, especially now that its been reported Lujan Grisham actually altered language. With over a billion dollars and constitutional powers at stake, its a fight worth having.

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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Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
STOWE, Vt. (AP)  Eduardo Rovetto is hoping the state of Vermont's reinstated requirement that people who are collecting unemployment benefits must seek work to qualify will help him hire enough staff for his restaurant in the resort town of Stowe.

After more than a year of coronavirus restrictions on his business, Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge, he's expecting a breakout summer tourism season. But like employers across the country, he's worried he won't have enough workers.

Weve been getting many excuses as to why not to return, said Rovetto, who is offering a signing bonus of up to $600 to try to add 15 to 20 employees who agree to stay through the middle of October. Obviously, it was a legitimate one with COVID, but, you know, I think thats getting used less and less now. The vaccines are free; they are out there for anyone.

Many employers are telling similar stories. Fourteen months after COVID-19 put hundreds of thousands of people out of work, the U.S. economy is rebounding and employers are desperate for workers.

The challenge was highlighted Friday when employers nationwide added 266,000 jobs, far fewer than expected, and businesses reported they couldnt find people to fill the openings they have to keep up with the rapidly strengthening economic rebound.

To encourage people to return to work, more states are making it harder for people to stay on unemployment. Many blame the easy benefits that followed the pandemic, including what is now a $300-a-week supplemental federal payment on top of state benefits. The argument is that people make more money staying home than going back to work.

Several states have begun requiring those receiving unemployment benefits to show they are actively searching for work, and a few will stop providing the additional federal supplement.

It's not just the hospitality sector that is scrambling to fill positions. Alene Candles, based in Milford, New Hampshire, is looking to fill 1,500 positions for its facility there and another in New Albany, Ohio, to meet demand for the holiday season. Company representatives will be participating in a number of virtual job fairs this month.

We have had more than 100 positions open since the start of the year, and just recently we increased sign-on bonuses to $1,200 for hourly positions - in-part because we are competing with an entity that can print its own money - the federal government - and its $300 per week additional unemployment benefit," said CEO Rod Harl. I would love to welcome those searching for work to join our team.

On Monday, the state of New Hampshire reopened its job centers for the first time since the pandemic hit to help people looking for work, but only a handful showed up in the first few hours at the largest one in Manchester.

Labor experts say the shortage is not just about the $300 payment. Some unemployed people also have been reluctant to look for work because they fear catching the virus. Others have found new occupations rather than return to their old jobs. And many women, especially working mothers, have had to leave the workforce to care for children.

The details and the timing of the state-led efforts to get people back to work differ, but they are coming from states led by both Republicans and Democrats.

In addition to Vermont, states reinstating the work-search requirement include Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and South Carolina. Lawmakers are advancing work-search legislation in Pennsylvania.

As President Reagan said, the best social program is a job, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, said when announcing the resumption of the work-search requirement. This statement rings true today. Unemployment benefits are still available to Arizonans who need them, but now that plenty of jobs are available, those receiving the benefits should be actively looking for work.

Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and South Carolina are planning to stop accepting the $300 benefit.

In announcing last week that unemployed workers will no longer receive the additional benefit beginning June 27, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, said it was doing more harm than good.

Rachel Mata, an area manager for a Fayetteville, North Carolina-based staffing company, said its been increasingly difficult to find people for positions since the passage of the latest federal COVID-19 relief bill.

We get candidates who will mention, Hey, you know, why would I go to work when I get paid more on unemployment to sit at home? said Mata.

At a recent job fair, only one candidate showed up, said Mata, whose company, Mega Force Staffing Group Inc., mainly focuses on manufacturing jobs. In other cases, candidates have gone through the staffing companys onboarding process, only to not show up on their start date.

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the heart of the states $20 billion tourism industry, restaurants and resorts are scrambling for summer help. Angelo Verdone, an assistant general manager at Seaside Resorts, said hotels are so short-staffed that managers are working double duty, cleaning rooms and doing maintenance. He is working some front desk shifts.

Some applicants have responded to ads but failed to attend the interviews; others have gotten offers but did not show up to the job itself.

Though the company has offered a $500 sign-on bonus for its $11-an-hour housekeeping role, it got no takers.

Its not like theyre bad jobs, Verdone said. Most years, people are beating down the front door for the front desk jobs.

William Spriggs, an economist at Howard University and the chief economist for the AFL-CIO, said the issue isn't as simple as the unemployed being able to receive more benefits. He says the economy has changed.

He said he didn't think the job-search requirement is bad, but it won't solve the labor shortage.

Matching workers to employers isnt as easy as people think, which is what some of these employers are finding out," Spriggs said.

There might be a lot of jobs available, but in some cases they don't fit for the unemployed with specialized work skills.

I am a master technician with 30 years experience. You think I am going to go work in a pet store?" said Harry Chaikin, an out-of-work stagehand from Burlington, Vermont, who lost his job last year when the theater where he works stopped offering performances.

Chaikin says he is eager to return to work when theaters resume normal performances. He's receiving unemployment, including the $300 supplemental benefit, but he's still months behind in his rent.

The sense of optimism I feel is that human nature being what it is, I know that sooner or later people are going to gather again in big groups to be entertained. And when that happens, I will have work," he said.

And people are still losing their jobs.

Crystal Dvorak, 41, an audiologist in Billings, Montana, who has two teenage daughters, weathered a furlough early in the pandemic and had to dip deep into her savings. Last month, she found out she would lose her job when the clinic where she worked for nearly nine years had been sold.

When the governor announced the $300 supplemental benefit would end, it was Dvorak's second day of unemployment.

It had me in tears, she said.

The state plans to launch a new program to give one-time $1,200 bonuses to unemployed workers who return to work. Dvorak has begun applying for waitressing jobs, even though it could complicate her search for positions in her field.

Knowing that change is coming, Im having to be open to other positions, she said. I have shown interest in more jobs in the last week than I have applied for my entire 25 years of working.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Liu in Columbia, S.C.; Kathy McCormack in Manchester, New Hampshire; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; Iris Samuels in Helena, Montana, and statehouse reporters across the country contributed.
BENGALURU, India (AP)  Since India opened vaccinations to all adults this month, hoping to tame a disastrous coronavirus surge sweeping across the country, the pace of administering the shots has dropped with states saying they only have limited stock to give out.

Cases meanwhile are still rising at record pace in the worlds second-most populous nation. Alongside a slowdown in vaccinations, states have gone to court over oxygen shortages as hospitals struggle to treat a running line of COVID-19 patients.

On Sunday, India reported 403,738 confirmed cases, including 4,092 deaths. Overall, India has over 22 million confirmed infections and 240,000 deaths. Experts say both figures are undercounts.

Indias Supreme Court said Saturday it would set up a national task force consisting of top experts and doctors to conduct an oxygen audit to determine whether supplies from the federal government were reaching states.

Complaints of oxygen shortages have dominated the top court recently, which stepped in earlier this week to make sure the federal government provided more medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, New Delhi.

The countrys massive vaccination drive kicked off sluggishly in January when cases were low and exports of vaccines were high, with 64 million doses going overseas. But as infections started to rise in March and April, India's exports drastically slowed down so doses went to its own population. So far, around 10% of Indias population have received one shot while just under 2.5% have got both.

At its peak in early April, India was administering a record high of 3.5 million shots a day on average. But this number has consistently shrunk since, reaching an average of 1.3 million shots a day over the past week. Between April 6 and May 6, daily doses have dropped by 38%, even as cases have tripled and deaths have jumped sixfold, according to Bhramar Mukherjee, a biostatistician at the University of Michigan who has been tracking Indias epidemic.

One reason for the drop in shots is that there are just not enough available, experts say. Currently, Indias two vaccine makers produce an estimated 70 million doses each month of the two approved shots  AstraZeneca, made by the Serum Institute of India, and another by Bharat Biotech.

Vaccine supply has remained nearly the same since the drive began in January, but the target population eligible has increased by threefold, said Chandrakant Lahariya, a health policy expert. In the beginning, India had far more assured supply available than the demand, but now the situation has reversed, he added.

In Kerala state, the drive to inoculate all adults is crawling along because our single biggest problem is the very slow arrival of supplies, said the state's COVID-19 officer, Amar Fetle.

In New Delhi, many are waiting for hours outside vaccination centers  but only after theyve been able to book a slot.

For Gurmukh Singh, a marketing professional in the city, this has been impossible. It gets really frustrating, having so many hospitals and vaccine centers around but not being able to get access because they are all pre-booked, he said.

Experts also point to a new policy change by the government, which has upended how doses are being distributed.

Previously, all of the stock was bought by the federal government and then administered to the population through both public and private health facilities.

But from May 1, all available stock has been divided in two, with 50% purchased by the government going to public health centers to inoculate those above 45. The remaining half is being purchased by states and the private sector directly from manufacturers at set prices to give adults below 45.

This has led to lags as states and private hospitals, still adjusting to new rules, struggle to procure supplies on their own.

You have now taken it out of a fairly efficient system where every dose was still centrally-controlled, said Jacob John, a professor of community medicine at Christian Medical College, Vellore. But with market forces at play and unprepared states burdened with such a daunting task, the efficiency of the system has fallen.

Things could change in the coming months, as the government last month gave an advance to the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, which could help boost manufacturing. And last week, India received its first batch of Sputnik V vaccines. Russia has signed a deal with an Indian pharmaceutical company to distribute 125 million doses.

But with vaccines currently in short supply, there are worries that those most in need are missing out. The goal should be to prioritize preventing deaths, which means fully vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable first, said Dr. Gagandeep Kang, a microbiologist at Christian Medical College, Vellore.

You need to give it (earlier) to people who are more likely to die first, Kang said.

___

Associated Press journalists Rishabh R. Jain and Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report.
LADY McALPINE is urging consumers to buy British goods and produce and shun cheaper imports from the Far East.

She says this is far less damaging to the environment and will create more jobs in this country.

She has been doing this for many years and is now encouraging family, friends and contacts to follow suit by adding the slogan Back Britain: buy British, dont buy Chinese to her email signature.

This has inspired her teenage grandchildren to take more interest in where their purchases come from and they have posted several videos about the subject on Instagram.

Lady McAlpine, of Fawley Hill, pictured right, came up with the idea shortly before Christmas, when one of the youngsters wanted some clothes from an online shop but didnt know they were made in China because the website didnt advertise this.

She investigated but refused to purchase the clothes because they would be flown or shipped thousands of miles to get here.

Lady McAlpine is also concerned by reports that workers making Chinese goods, which are typically far cheaper than domestic ones, are underpaid and exploited. Last year the countrys Communist government was found to be supplying major clothing and electronics firms with goods made by prisoners from the Uyghur minority group, which many human rights groups say are being persecuted.

Lady McAlpine says the British economy has been badly impacted by the coronavirus crisis so making more in this country would help to revive it.

But she says this will only happen if people stop buying foreign goods and foods, which would force retailers to look elsewhere. This would also make people buy less, using fewer of the planets natural resources.

She hopes her campaign will capture peoples imaginations in the same way as the 1968 Im Backing Britain initiative in which people worked extra hours unpaid and pledged to buy British.

I always bang on about buying British but this came about after we were hit by coronavirus, she said. We were hearing all these reports of the economy booming in China, where the virus originated, and it just seemed so unfair. So many of our purchases are made over there and people dont realise because while its no secret, they dont always make it clear.

They have huge factories making things under the auspices of other companies, often in appalling working conditions which amount to slave labour.

Weve all become accustomed to paying too little for quality and are too focused on quantity. If you cant afford to buy British, buy second-hand or ask yourself if you need it at all, which often you dont.

Most things used to be made in Britain and they lasted far longer  my first refrigerator and vacuum cleaner lasted 30 years and in those days we didnt have a television set because they were too expensive.

Additionally, British manufacturing is almost entirely reliant on small-scale stuff like the arts or specialist goods. There arent that many manufacturing jobs any more but Im sure many youngsters who arent necessarily academic would love to be more involved in making stuff and learning a trade.

This campaign touches on a lot of issues but its hard to make people pay attention these days so the slogan sums it up neatly and gives people something they can do. Were often talking about the need for zero carbon emissions so lets start by not importing stuff from halfway around the world and accepting that we can repair and reuse the things we already have.

She said the same applied to food, explaining: Now, more than ever, we need to be aware of the country of origin. Why do we call our country Great Britain but dont follow through with support? We are happy to support the tireless workers of the NHS and our publicans if they can do takeaway food.

Can we not show the same support for our farmers, who can never take a day off, and for those struggling to keep businesses going and people employed?

Supermarkets dont help  three years ago I picked up a cauliflower in Tesco and put it back. The lady beside me asked what was wrong and I said, Grown in Spain. She hadnt looked but put hers back too.

At the time, Cornish cauliflowers were being ploughed back into the fields. I felt so angry  how can it be right for a cauliflower from Spain to be wrapped in clingfilm and offered to us instead of a fresh British one?
Nature & Weather, Local News, Business & Finance, Press Releases, Politics

By Chris Boyle Published: May 10 2021

This bipartisan legislation follows the release of an alarming study earlier this year by the First Street Foundation.

U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice (NY-04) and Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) introduced the National Flood Insurance Program Reporting on Impact to Seaboards and Counties (NFIP RISC) Act to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to release a comprehensive impact analysis of new flood insurance rates at least six months before any changes can be made to the NFIP. Additionally, the bill would prohibit any changes to FEMAs flood-risk assessment methodology during, or within six months following, the COVID-19 emergency declaration.

This bipartisan legislation follows the release of an alarming study earlier this year by the First Street Foundation, a group of academics and experts that models flood risks. According to the study, the NFIP would have to quadruple premiums on high-risk homes inside floodplains to reflect the risks they already face. The First Street Foundation states it conducted the study using the same flood-modeling techniques that FEMA is using in Risk Rating 2.0, its new system to calculate flood insurance premiums. Currently, FEMA plans to implement premium changes on October 1, 2021 for new flood insurance policies and amend existing policies on April 1, 2022.

We cannot allow Long Island homeowners to be burdened with more expensive flood insurance premiums during this national emergency, said Rep. Kathleen Rice. Especially when FEMA has not yet explained how Risk Rating 2.0 will affect grandfathered policies or low-income households. This bipartisan bill will require that FEMA publicly disclose and provide additional details before any changes to its flood insurance models can be implemented. I thank Congressman Garbarino for joining me in this effort to protect homeowners on Long Island and across the country by preventing any sudden changes to the NFIP and ensuring FEMAs new methodology can be fully vetted and analyzed.

I am proud to join this bipartisan effort to bring transparency and accountability to FEMAs flood-risk assessment process, said Rep. Andrew Garbarino. The last thing Long Islanders need this year is an unexpected increase in their flood insurance premiums. This bill would not only require FEMA to provide analysis of the impact of upcoming changes to its flood-risk assessment methodology, but also ensure that no premium increases will go into effect while our community is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. Flood insurance is essential for coastal residents, but the people of Long Island deserve better than to be blindsided by premium hikes, especially during a global pandemic. This bill will help ensure that homeowners know what to expect and are given the time to prepare before any changes to their premiums are implemented.

Long Beach City Councilmember Liz Treston reached out to Rice about introducing legislation following the First Street Foundation study, expressing her concerns with rising costs.

Our communities are made up of diverse socio-economic populations that cannot afford drastic increases in flood insurance, said Council Member Liz Treston. New York is projected to see 68 percent of our policies increase, and NFIP policies should fairly reflect this risk nationally. Im also concerned how new rates may impact the Community Rating System, an important program that provides residents with discounts on their policies. During this pandemic, it seems the right thing to do is to once again, put off Risk Rating 2.0 and give us all a chance to recover, both from still unaddressed Sandy issues and effects of the pandemic itself. I support the bipartisan NFIP RISC Act because the extra time would allow us to see how this all will work and if it truly reflects true costs to our families and policyholders.

Michele Insinga, the Executive Director of Adopt A House, a local non-profit dedicated to Sandy recovery efforts, also supports the NFIP RISC Act.

Advocates have been concerned with FEMA Risk Rating 2.0 since it was first announced two years ago, Michele Insinga, Executive Director of Adopt A House. So much is still unknown regarding how it will affect our NFIP policyholders on Long Island and across the nation. Too many are still in recovery mode after Sandy, and we must know how Risk Rating 2.0 will affect policyholders. When we read 10,000 policies in New York will face the highest price increases, we fear most will be on Long Island. We have properties that are still considered substantially damaged from Sandy that never got into the New York Rising program. The high cost to rebuild and vicinity to water are only a few variables already driving up flood insurance premiums, and further increases may risk loss of property value. We should support the middle class and households that are low-income, not drive them away.

The public disclosure required by the NFIP RISC Act would have to include a comprehensive analysis of the expected impacts from new chargeable premium flood insurance rates. The impact analysis would include detailed information on:

Overall changes in premium costs.

Impacts on various categories of properties, including low-income households and properties with grandfathered premiums.

Enrollment in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) (as some policies become more expensive and homeowners drop out, or more affordable and bring low-risk properties into the system, thus stabilizing the programs finances).

Overall financing for the NFIP.

Funding for other activities run through the NFIP, such as the community rating system and flood mitigation efforts.

Replacement cost value of homes due to fluctuations in premium prices.
A man who was found with nearly half a million euro worth of cocaine and heroin in his bedroom has been jailed for four and a half years.

John Kelly (29) also had 17 shotgun cartridges hidden in a sock, which he told gardai he had found while out walking and which he was planning to make fireworks with.

Kelly, with an address at Parlickstown Green, Mulhuddart, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of possessing cocaine and heroin for sale or supply at his home address on September 21, 2018. Another count of possessing ammunition was taken into consideration.

He has 17 previous convictions, mostly for road traffic offences.

Garda Tara Byrne told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that gardai placed the home Kelly shared with his mother under surveillance following a confidential tip-off. When they searched the home on the day in question, they found bags of cocaine and heroin stashed in Kelly's wardrobe.

The cocaine had a street value of 65,000, while the heroin was worth 387,480. The drugs had a combined total of about 452,400, the court heard.

When arrested, Kelly made immediate admissions to gardai. He said he had a drug debt of about 1000 and had been pressured into holding the drugs.

Garda Byrne said Kelly was gobsmacked when he was told the value of the drugs. He completely broke down in interview, it was actually uncomfortable to be in the room, Gda Byrne said. Kelly told gardai he had believed the drugs were worth about 20,000, the court heard.

Ann-Marie Lawlor SC, defending, said her client had been in a road accident just a few weeks prior to this offence and his cannabis intake had increased as a result. She said he tried to pay back the drug dealers but was instead told to store the drugs in question.

The prosecution accepts he was under duress, Ms Lawlor said. He had no option and he didn't have a notion as to the value of what he was being asked to hold.

She urged Judge Martin Nolan to show leniency to this young man whom the court heard cares for his ill mother.

Judge Nolan said he accepted Kelly had been put in a difficult position. But he said Kelly involved himself with people he knew were drug dealers and he held the drugs.

The judge noted Garda Byrne was sceptical in relation to Kelly's story about where the ammunition came from.

He handed down a sentence of four and a half years.
HONOLULU (AP)  A U.S. judge is allowing a former Honolulu police chief convicted in a corruption case to meet with family and friends in Washington state before he begins serving a seven-year prison sentence in Oregon.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright on Monday approved Louis Kealoha's travel request. Kealoha will travel to the Seattle area on May 29 and then drive to the federal correctional facility in Sheridan, Oregon, where he will begin his sentence on June 1, said his attorney Rustam Barbee.
White House: Biden Wont Underestimate Trump If He Runs for President Again

White House chief of staff Ron Klain said President Joe Biden will not underestimate former President Donald Trump if he runs for president in 2024.

While Trump hasnt publicly said he would run for president, hes toyed with the idea in recent interviews and suggested he would make a decision following the 2022 midterm elections.

I wouldnt want to estimate or underestimate Donald Trump as an opponent if he chooses to run, Klain told Axios on May 9. My experience  is that incumbent presidents are judged on their record, he said, adding that Biden is hopefully assembling a powerful record to run on if he runs for reelection in 2024.

Trump, in his clearest remarks yet in late April, told Fox Business that hes floating a 2024 run and would consider Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a running mate.

I endorsed Ron, and after I endorsed him, he took off like a rocketship, he said. Hes done a great job as governor. Im saying what I read and what you read, they love that ticket. Certainly, Ron would be considered. Hes a great guy.

Ron Klain, former White House Ebola response coordinator, testifies before the Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Subcommittee hearing on Community Perspectives on Coronavirus Preparedness and Response in Washington, on March 10, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

Other potential GOP presidential candidates include Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

Trump has retained a significant influence over the Republican Party and still has the support of a loyal voter base.

The former president said he wont make a definitive announcement about a 2024 run because if he makes it too early, it will have a big impact on fundraising and many other things.

Its a little bit of a crazy, complex thing, Trump said. The whole fundraising contribution stuff is ridiculous; the laws are so archaic and stupid, frankly.

Before he was sworn in on Jan. 20, there were rumors and speculation that Biden would only serve one term in the White House or would step down before the end of his first term, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to become president.

Biden, meanwhile, said during his first news conference in March that he plans to run for reelection, amid questions about his health and age.

My plan is to run for reelection. Thats my expectation, Biden told reporters. Im a great respecter of fate. Ive never been able to plan four-and-a-half, three-and-a-half years ahead for certain.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  From behavioral health to telecommunications, New Mexicos Ethics in Business 2021 award winners are a diverse group.

But they have one thing in common: The awards, they say, are confirmation of the mission of their business or organization  and the community.

Its a great honor, and recognition of the work that our organization is doing to improve health equity, especially to address racial health disparities, said Dr. Bill Wagner, executive director and founder of Centro Savila, winner of the Hopkins Award for Excellence in Ethical Practice by a Non-Profit Organization.

The award also is a recognition that our community values that as well, that that is something that as a community in Albuquerque we hold as a value, he said. I always think these celebrations are not only about the award, but about the organization that is giving the award.

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Indeed, the South Valley-based behavioral health center plans to extend its reach using telehealth, Wagner said. Its a lesson from the pandemic.

Weve had to do a lot of telehealth and we hope to expand our capacity to do telehealth in our community and to reach out to communities in New Mexico that have even greater disparities than Albuquerque, Wagner said.

John Badal, CEO of rural telecommunications firm Sacred Wind Communications Inc., said the award and his companys efforts go well beyond telecom.

Its an affirmation of who we are in the community, where we operate and how we operate, Badal said. I always wanted to make the workplace welcoming, safe and comforting for all employees and to treat our customers as I wanted to be treated. Our initial efforts were to serve the Navajo Nation, which has so much need. It goes beyond telecom service.

Kira Luna, director of engagement to guide program development and implementation at NMCAN, said she is humbled by winning the Emerging Leader in Ethical Excellence award.

I think that ethics is something that everybody feels on a daily basis either subconsciously or consciously, said Luna, whose organization works with young people aging out of foster care, as well as those who are impacted by the juvenile justice system or homelessness. It comes with a great responsibility to have the award attached to your name.

The annual New Mexico Ethics in Business Awards program honors for-profit companies, non-profit organizations and individuals in the state that demonstrate a strong commitment to the highest level of ethical business practices in daily operations, management and personal philosophies, and in their response to crises and challenges.

Nominations were reviewed and vetted by the New Mexico Ethics in Business Awards Screening Committee. The finalists went through an additional vetting process that included participation of Central New Mexico Community College business students.

Winners included:

 PNM Award for Individual Excellence in Ethical Business Practice, in Honor of John Ackerman  Charles Ashley III. Ashley is president and founder of Cultivating Coders, a New Mexico company that provides technical training and curriculum in web and mobile app development to underserved K-12 schools in tribal, rural and underserved urban areas that lack resources in coding and computer science education.

 Hopkins Award for Excellence in Ethical Practice by a Non-Profit Organization  Centro Savila. Centro Savila was founded by Dr. Bill Wagner, a clinical social worker, psychotherapist and medical anthropologist with extensive experience in public health advocacy, clinical service provision and research. He has worked as a clinician and researcher with immigrants and refugees that have survived political, domestic and community violence for more than 25 years.

 Emerging Leader in Ethical Excellence  Kira Luna. Luna is driven to create a more diverse, inclusive and equitable non-profit sector. After participating in the New Mexico Women of Color Leadership Initiative at the Santa Fe Community College Foundation, she stepped into her current role as director of engagement to guide program development and implementation at NMCAN, an organization that partners with young people to build community, promote equity and lead change.

 Rust Award for Excellence in Ethical Business Practice by a Medium-Sized For-Profit Business  Sacred Wind Communications. Sacred Wind, based in Yatahey, New Mexico, focuses on bridging the digital divide for rural tribal communities in northwest New Mexico. Sacred Wind provides telephone service and some of the highest internet speeds found on tribal lands in New Mexico.

Winners will be celebrated at a virtual awards ceremony on June 10 at 8:30 a.m. for both the 2020 and 2021 New Mexico Ethics in Business Award recipients.
Virginia Police Chief Shot Twice After Shoplifting Incident: Officials

A police chief in Virginia was shot twice after he was called to investigate a shoplifting incident in Norton.

The shooting occurred May 8 near the Walmart store on Commonwealth Drive after the Norton Police Department got a report about a shoplifter, officials said.

As Norton Police Chief James Lane pulled up to the parking lot, he encountered a male pedestrian, the Virginia State Police said in a press release. The man began shooting into the chiefs vehicle, striking the chief. The chief returned fire.

A second officer also returned fire, officials told WJHL. Both Lane and the suspect were injured in the gun battle, officials said.

There were several units on the scene very quickly, helping secure the scene, helping provide first aid to both people that were shot, so with the tourniquets and things like that to stop the bleeding [until] rescue got here and they were transported, Wise County Sheriff Grant Kilgore told the station.

Alan Levine, CEO of Ballad Health, confirmed Lane was shot twice.

He was shot twice, and our team at Norton Community Hospital and Johnson City Medical Centers trauma team are doing their work to help him and the community heal, he wrote on Twitter.

James Dyer Buckland, 36 of Pound, Virginia, was charged with attempted capital murder and other charges, according to the station.

As of May 8, authorities said Lane was in stable condition following the shooting.

Out of respect for the privacy of Chief Lane and his family, we would like to provide only a brief update just to let you know that Chief Lane had surgery last night and his condition is stable at this time. We continue to ask for your prayers and support, said the City of Norton in a statement.
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Mostly clear skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 54F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

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Mostly clear skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 54F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Writing at Bloomerg CityLab, Philyaw writes about the difficulty of trying to pursue her life as a writer in the city of Pittsburgh, a place that was, in reality, not just indifferent, but fundamentally hostile to her goals. Philyaw observes, I dont owe my writing success to any city programs or policies designed with my success in mind because there arent any. I dont owe my success to the local philanthropic community that favors white-led organizations and rewards individual artists with crumbs.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gestures as she speaks during a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H., on Nov. 23, 2019. (Mary Schwalm/AP Photo)

Warren Weighs In on Trump Facebook Ban: Theyre Acting Like Theyre Bigger Than Government

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has raised concerns about Facebook over its decision to uphold its ban on former President Donald Trump, saying the social media giant has become too powerful and should be broken up.

Warren was interviewed on Yahoo Finance and Cheddar News on May 5, the day that Facebooks oversight boardan advisory body some have dubbed the Supreme Courtsaid that the continued suspension of Trump was necessary to keep people safe.

Commenting on the ban, Warren told Cheddar News she was glad Trump remains off the platform, but that Facebooks move was worrying.

Im glad that hes not on Facebook, Warren said. I think that he poses a real danger. But I dont think that Facebook ought to have this kind of power.

She then called for Facebook to be broken up, arguing that social media giants are crushing competition, and in cases like Facebook, theyre acting like theyre bigger than government.

We need to break up these giant tech companies, Warren said. And Facebook is one of them.

In remarks to Yahoo Finance, Warren struck a similar tone in criticizing the heavy footprint of Big Tech.

This is just further demonstration that these giant tech companies are way, way, way too powerful, she said, responding to a question about the Trump ban. She also took aim at the Supreme Court nickname.

Listen to the arrogance of it, Warren said. The name of the group that made the decision is called the Supreme Court. I missed the part where those people had hearings in front of Congress, and were voted on before they were made decision-makers with this kind of authority.

The oversight boards upholding of Trumps ban from Facebook prompted a fiery missive from the former president on his new communications platform, From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.

What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before, Trump wrote, adding that these corrupt social media companies must pay a political price.

While Trump didnt detail the repercussions he had in mind for Big Tech, he later touted a new book by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has been a vocal advocate of breaking up Big Tech.

Josh Hawley, our fantastic Senator from the beautiful and great State of Missouri, has a fantastic new book, just out this week, about the terrible Big Tech companies and their attempt to ruin our Country. Its called The Tyranny of Big Techit has my Full and Complete Endorsement, Trump wrote in a message on his platform on May 7.

Hawleys new book, in which he argues that Big Tech poses the biggest threat to American freedoms in decades, is currently No. 1 on Amazons Media & Internet in Politics chart and No. 38 on Amazons overall list of best sellers.

Amassing unimaginable amounts of personal data, giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Appleonce symbols of American ingenuity and freedomhave become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power, the books summary states, echoing remarks on Hawleys website, which calls for Big Tech to be broken up.

We need a trust-busting agenda for the 21st century that puts power back into the hands of the American people. We have to make it easier for enforcers to break up megafirms, crack down on mergers and acquisitions by monopoly companies, strengthen antitrust enforcement to pursue the breakup of dominant, anticompetitive firms, Hawleys website states in the context of his recent legislative proposals to rein in the power of the biggest corporations.

In April, Hawley introduced the Bust Up Big Tech Act (pdf) and the Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act (pdf), new legislation that challenges Big Tech dominance by such measures as drastically increasing antitrust penalties and banning major companies from competing with third-party vendors on their platforms.

It comes as big tech companies have drawn intense scrutiny for perceived political bias and alleged unbalanced moderation of user content.

Critics on the right have accused social media giants of stifling free speech, arguing that much of the companies moderation in recent times has unfairly targeted conservative speech and Trump supporters.

Left-leaning critics have tended to argue that the Silicon Valley giants havent done enough to combat misinformation and so-called hate speech.
A vile of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is seen at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 21, 2021. (Mark Evans/Getty Images)

New South Wales to Offer Vaccinations to Those in Their 40s

Around a million people in NSW aged between 40 and 49 could get a Pfizer COVID-19 jab at the new purpose-built vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park within weeks.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the exciting development at the opening of the government-run Homebush hub on Monday.

People aged 40 to 49 can register their interest in getting that Pfizer injection from 5 p.m. today at nsw.gov.au, she said.

About a million people are in that age group, among the six million adults in NSW, she said.

For the first two weeks, the vaccination hub will be open to people in categories 1a and 1b  emergency and aged care workers, frontline workers and their families.

From Wednesday, anyone 50 or older can register to get the AstraZeneca vaccine at the hub from May 24.

The premier says its still preferable that anyone 50 or older get vaccinated by their GP who knows their medical history.

If you dont have a GP or dont have access to a GP, or you find it difficult getting to them, you can book with us from 12 May and get your jab from 24th May, she said.

NSW Health said there were no new local COVID-19 cases recorded in the 13,768 tests undertaken in the 24 hours until Sunday night.

Coronavirus restrictions imposed across Greater Sydney last Thursday will remain in place for another week, except customers in shops will no longer be obliged to wear a mask.

Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerry Chant said while it remained unclear how an infected Sydney man caught the virus last week, the only person hes passed the virus on to so far has been his wife.

Genome sequencing confirmed he somehow caught the same strain of the virus that infected a returned US traveller.

Unfortunately, we havent found that missing link, Chant said.

We have tested everyone in close proximity to this gentleman, (so) the contact with the infectious person must have been very fleeting.

However, there could be undiscovered chains of transmission in the community, she added.

The NSW government expects the Homebush hub will be able to administer 30,000 COVID-19 jabs per week.

It will operate six days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in a state-of-the-art building fitted out specifically for that purpose.

Berejiklian said NSW was ramping up the effort to vaccinate as many people as soon as possible.

Were getting close to 700,000 but weve got a way to go, she said.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard noted it was 15 months since COVID-19 had arrived in Australia.

Its been a war ever since. Were fighting back and this (vaccination hub) is our headquarters for the NSW Health team, he said.

The continuing restrictions mean that for the next week household gatherings remain capped at 20 people, masks are compulsory on public transport and in indoor venues such as theatres and aged care homes, and singing and dancing remains mostly banned.

Hospitality patrons are still not permitted to drink while standing.
AROUND Christmas of 1996, Sophie Toscan du Plantier was found dead near the small town of Schull in West Cork. In and around this time, London-born Jennifer Forde would have been visiting her grandparents in Limerick city.

Skip forward to 2018, Jennifer and her husband, Sam Bungey, would cover the notorious murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in their now widely-acclaimed podcast entitled West Cork.

Jennifer spoke over the phone about her Limerick connections - her English accent reminding this reporter of the haunting narrative in the podcast. Both my parents are from Limerick. They went to London in their early twenties but we had close ties to Limerick growing up. Both sets of grandparents were there so we came back at least once or twice a year.

Jennifers mother Muriel, whose maiden name is Leavy, grew up in Caherdavin House while her father Dara Forde grew up in Fort Mary Park. They lived in Limerick for about a year when Jennifer was young, on Clancy Strand. Jennifer attended Milford Grange Primary School during her time here.

Jennifer and her husbands podcast covers this infamous murder over the course of 13 episodes, with a new episode on the horizon.

Jennifer explained to the Leader why this case grabbed her attention. We didnt look into it initially because it was true crime. It was all the other reasons. It was this incredible sense of place. It felt to us the crime and the investigation that followed wouldnt have happened the same way anywhere else.

Each episode of the podcast goes into detail about a certain aspect of the case. With interviews from people involved, to people around the area, Jennifer and Sam allow the people of West Cork to paint the picture of this horrifying story.

Everyone just spoke so beautifully. I think that was such a huge part of its popularity in other countries. The way people opened up and talked about their feelings. It really brought people into the spot in West Cork, she expressed.

Jennifer and Sam lived in West Cork for a winter and a summer during their investigation and Jennifer remarked how sometimes it reminded her of her time here as a child. At times it reminded me of summer holidays wrapped in towels trying to shield from the weather.

The new episode that is expected to come out soon will cover the trial of Ian Bailey in Paris. The Irish authorities decided against extraditing Bailey, so he was not present at the trial. Jennifer explained that the episode focuses more on who Sophie was, because Ian Bailey wasnt there, it allowed for Sophie to play a more prominent role.

The case of Sophie Toscan du Plantier and the suspicion on Ian Bailey has lived on and Jennifer concluded with what the case means now, 20 years later. I dont know what justice looks like now. So much has happened. Even if Ian Bailey went on trial in Ireland for the same evidence in France and a jury found him guilty, would people accept even that as justice? I don't think they would. At this point, the legacy is quite a sad one unless new evidence comes to light.

As of March 2021, all episodes of West Cork are available for free on Acast.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks to the media outside Bridgewater Hall, in the shadow of the North West Nightingale Hospital at Manchester Central, in Manchester, England, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

UK Labour Party Should End Civil War, Focus on Delivery: Manchester Mayor

The British Labour Party should move on from its ongoing civil war and focus instead on delivering results in local authorities under its control, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said on Monday.

Labour needs to move on from the left and the right conducting this civil war within, focus on delivery now and making change happen, and celebrating Labour in powerbecause this is Labour in power, look at what were doing, he said after winning reelection as mayor with 67.3 percent of the votes.

In last Thursdays elections, Labour lost the seat for Hartlepool in the House of Commons and also lost control over eight local councils.

Left-wing MPs within the party blamed the crushing defeat on the leadership of Keir Starmer, who has sidelined the allies of the hard-left former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But Burnham stressed that the results were mixed and not catastrophic.

I think weve got a mixed set of results here, rather than the early narrative that this was catastrophicdefinitely not, he said. Weve got 10 Labour mayors now across the country, that is a fantastic foundation for the Labour Party to build on and I believe we will, and thats the opportunity before us.

Burnham said he was looking forward to meeting Tracy Brabin, the new Labour mayor of West Yorkshire.

Were building out a cluster here across the M62 and there is so much potential there for us to work together, the three great city regions of Liverpool city region, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, he said.

The M62 is a 107-mile-long motorway in northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds.

This is a huge opportunity for us and today is a day to be really positive about what Labour can achieve in power, Burnham said.

Burnham was responding to the criticism of Starmers leadership from allies of Corbyn.

Diane Abbott, who was shadow home secretary during Corbyns leadership, said there was a problem with strategy.

What we want is a strategy for winning from this leadership, because its clear from what happened over the weekend, particularly what happened in Hartlepool, theres a problem with the strategy, she told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed that Labour needs to change as society is facing seismic changes. But he said Starmer should be given the space and the power he needs to respond to the challenges.

He has got to be given the space and the power and the leaders working with him to change the Labour Party, so that it can deal with these fundamental challenges that have been aggravated by COVID, he told Today.

PA contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP)  There was a time, not long ago, when Elise Stefanik would not say Donald Trump's name.

He was simply my party's presidential nominee, she would say. The pragmatic New York congresswoman was far more focused on welcoming a new generation of voters to what she hoped would be a more inclusive Republican Party.

Today, Stefanik is one of Trump's fiercest defenders in the House of Representatives, where her loyalty to the former president  and the support he returned  has carried the 36-year-old to the brink of becoming one of the most powerful women in Congress. She is widely expected to become the third-ranking House Republican in the coming days once Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., is stripped of her leadership post because of her vocal criticism of Trump.

Stefanik's rise is linked to her commitment to bringing more Republican women to Congress, an effort that helped make the House GOP's 2021 first-term class one of the most diverse in history. But those close to Stefanik suggest there is one moment above all that solidified her political transformation and rise in Republican politics  and that moment had little to do with diversity.

It was a Thursday night in November 2019, and Trump's first impeachment inquiry was raging on Capitol Hill. Stefanik had emerged as a leading Trump defender in committee hearings, but on that night, she brought her message to Fox News' Sean Hannity for the first time.

After attacking the Democrats' case for impeachment, she asked Fox viewers to send money to a website designed to protect her from a growing wave of political attacks.

Within 15 minutes, she had raised $250,000, aides later tweeted. Several hundred thousand more flowed into her campaign by the next morning. Her team had never seen anything like it, according to people with direct knowledge of her operation who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose private discussions.

The snowball grew the next day when Trump went on Fox and Friends and praised Stefanik. It grew still more weeks later when Trump singled her out during a White House event as he crowed about beating impeachment.

In total, Stefanik raised more than $13 million over that cycle, almost twice as much as the combined fundraising totals from her previous three elections. She raised an additional $2 million for Republican candidates and assembled what her office now describes as one of the five strongest donor email lists among 212 House Republicans.

She never wavered in supporting Trump again.

Even as staff privately encouraged her to moderate her message in the following weeks, Stefanik leaned harder into Trumpism. Her team began regularly insulting critics and reporters on social media. Her transformation was complete when Stefanik, a former White House aide under President George W. Bush and admirer of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., voted against certifying the 2020 election results even after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Stefanik's evolution is the story of the modern Republican Party, which has come to believe that the path to power and fundraising success runs through Trump, whether party members like him or not. A few Republicans have resisted his influence, including Cheney, but the vast majority has fallen in line even as Trump continues to spread the same disinformation about the 2020 election that inspired the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Trump has been our strongest supporter of any president when it comes to standing up for the Constitution, Stefanik said this past week on former Trump aide Steve Bannon's War Room podcast.

In the same interview, she again cast doubt about the integrity of the 2020 election, even though allegations about widespread voter fraud have been discredited by senior Trump administration officials and dozens of judges across the country.

Those who have worked closely with Stefanik describe her as a hardworking, smart and disciplined messenger, tenacious in her pursuit of energizing Republican voters and framing the terms of the debate.

She became a policy aide in the Bush White House after graduating from Harvard University in 2006. By the time the 2012 presidential election arrived, she was a well-regarded political operative with strong ties to the Republican establishment. She joined former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlentys short-lived presidential campaign before going to work for Mitt Romney, the partys presidential nominee against the Democratic incumbent, Barack Obama.

After the election, Stefanik moved from Washington to her parents home in upstate New York with an eye on the U.S. House seat left open by Democrat Bill Owens' retirement. In what was widely considered a swing district, the 30-year-old Stefanik won the race and became the youngest woman, at that time, ever elected to Congress.

She found success with a moderate message focused on bringing a new generation of voters to the Republican Party.

Jeff Graham, the former mayor of Watertown, New York, remembers meeting the fresh-faced Stefanik a year before the election. He quickly became a supporter.

At first I said, Who the hell is she? I went on Google, couldnt find a lot about her, he said. Even though she was young, she had a rich background -- being in the Bush White House and being pals with Paul Ryan."

In her early years in Congress, Stefanik earned a reputation as a studious moderate who stayed close to her district, a massive rural expanse of upstate New York bordered by Vermont to the east and Canada to the north. She paid especially close attention to Fort Drum.

She put politics aside, said Carl Zeilman, chairman of the Saratoga County Republican Committee. She knows how to roll up her sleeves and get things done.

Facing her first reelection test in 2016, she was reluctant to embrace Trump. She initially backed Ohio Gov. John Kasich's presidential bid.

The decision to support the Ohio moderate was in line with her voting record. Stefanik has a lifetime rating of 48% from the conservative Heritage Action for America and 35% from Club for Growth, among the lowest grades for House Republicans.

In the late spring of 2016, when Trump emerged as the GOPs presumed presidential nominee, local press noted that she refused to say Trumps name, promising only to support my partys nominee in the fall.

Stefanik became a more vocal Trump supporter as the election approached, but she regularly reminded voters that she disagreed with him at times. She described his remarks captured on video about sexually assaulting women as offensive and just wrong.

She warmed to Trump further after he took office. She also started a political action committee, Elevate PAC, designed to bring more Republican women to Congress. She was widely praised for the effort last fall, when 18 of the 30 women she endorsed won.

One was Rep. Ashley Hinson, an Iowa Republican who says she was in constant communication with Stefanik throughout her election. Beyond offering strategic guidance and moral support, Stefanik helped connect Hinson with her network of donors and political contacts in Washington.

It was an important and very pivotal year for the GOP in terms of telling the story that we were a party of women, minorities and veterans, Hinson said. And Elise had a great hand in that.

Trump was impressed, too.

While Cheney's conservative ratings are far superior to Stefanik's, Trump this past week called Cheney a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership.

Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair, he said in a written statement. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!

Back in upstate New York, longtime supporters have noticed Stefanik's evolution.

Graham, the former Watertown mayor, acknowledged that Stefanik has become more Trumpian, but like many other Republicans in the rural district, he's generally pleased with the trajectory of her career.

Our members of Congress up here have not had much time on the national stage," Graham said. Were proud of most of it.

___

Associated Press writer Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Centre and Delhi government to do something without waiting for orders from court to prevent black marketing and hoarding of medicines and medical equipment, like oxygen concentrators.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli was hearing a PIL seeking directions to them to declare medicines and medical equipment meant for COVID treatment as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act. It said if something has to be done, "do it without waiting for orders from the court".

The court issued notice to the Union Health Ministry and the Delhi government, represented by additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal, on the plea which has also sought setting up of fast track courts to deal exclusively with cases of black marketing and hoarding of medicines and equipment.

The petition by Delhi resident Manisha Chauhan has also sought appointment of special public prosecutors for dealing with such cases before the special fast track courts.

Advocates Sanjeev Sagar and Nazia Parveen, appearing for Chauhan, told the court that in the absence of a notification declaring medicines and equipment meant for COVID as essential commodities, these are being hoarded and black marketed.

They also told the bench that in the absence of any such notification, people hoarding or black marketing such items are trying to claim benefit of it and the subordinate courts appear to be unaware of the high court's orders on this issue.

The petition has also sought initiation of contempt action against those persons who are engaging in black marketing and hoarding of medicines and equipment meant for COVID treatment in violation of the high court's direction against such practice.

During the hearing, the Centre told the bench that the suggestion to fix MRP of the equipment was a good suggestion as it would prevent dumping of spurious imports on Indian ports and it would not discourage genuine importers.

It said it was looking into the issue.

The court, during the hearing, suggested that some incentives in the form of certain percentage of returns can be given to the importers at the time of fixing a price of the equipment and medicines.

It also said that if there is free flow of the imported goods, then the market forces and competition would determine the prices, if there was no caterlisation.

It said the government should also examine whether it can issue any notification to prevent hoarding and black marketing of the imported items.

To this, the Centre said that while an MRP can be fixed for sale of these imported goods, no time line as such can be fixed for selling them.

It also said that due to exemption from customs duties on COVID related equipment and medicines, a lot of people, including individuals, are importing them.

AAP govt asked if MLA Imran Hussain got oxygen from refillers

The Delhi High Court today asked the Delhi government whether AAP MLA Imran Hussain was supplied any oxygen through refillers in the national capital who were given the gas for individuals in home care, hospitals and ambulances.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli also asked the MLA to show documents that he procured the oxygen from Faridabad, Haryana, as claimed by him and not from the gas allocated for Delhi.

The directions came after Hussain, represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, told the court that he procured the gas from outside Delhi, while the cylinders were rented from the national capital and he has the receipts to prove it.

As the receipts were not on record, the court asked the MLA to show the documents in support of his claims and listed the matter for hearing on May 13.

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How much an Olympic silver medallist and his younger brother knew about a $200 million cocaine-smuggling plot is central to the sentence they should receive, a court has heard.

World champion kayaker Nathan Jon Baggaley and his brother Dru Anthony Baggaley were found guilty last month of trying to import 650kg of cocaine into Australia.

Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Ann Lyons will sentence Nathan Baggaley, 45, and his 39-year-old brother on a date to be decided.

On Monday prosecution and defence barristers made submissions about whether the pair should be sentenced on having "actual knowledge" about the plot to import a border-controlled drug into Australia or on the basis of "recklessness".

The trial heard Dru Baggaley and Anthony Draper got the cocaine from a foreign ship hundreds of kilometres off the NSW coast in July 2018.

Bundles of cocaine - valued at between $100 million and $200 million - were tossed from the ship and loaded onto the rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) the pair were in.

Footage viewed during the trial showed Draper behind the wheel of the RHIB trying to outrun a navy patrol boat, while Dru Baggaley ditched packages of cocaine into the ocean.

Dru Baggaley told the jury Draper asked him to buy and prepare a RHIB to meet a ship from Indonesia that would bring tobacco to be sold in Australia.

He said Draper insisted he get on the boat when the pair were at the Brunswick Heads boat ramp about 9.30pm on July 31.

"(Draper's) basically said ... I'm going to be held responsible for all this s*** and people are going to come after my family and me if I don't come on board," Dru Baggaley added.

But Draper told the jury he was the one recruited by Dru Baggaley for a voyage to pick up smoko, which he thought was cannabis.

The 56-year-old NSW man was testifying as part of an undertaking made when he admitted his involvement in the bungled smuggling attempt.

Prosecutor Ben Power said on Monday the primary organiser behind the scheme was unknown, but "it clearly wasn't Draper" who appeared to be less intelligent and articulate on the witness stand than the brothers.

Story continues

"He simply did not come across as a very smart man," he added.

"It's not to say one needs to be a genius to organise a drug importation, but our submission is that Your Honour would reject the contention it was Draper who organised it."

The trial heard Nathan Baggaley also played a key role in the smuggling attempt by buying the $100,000 RHIB, equipping it with a navigation system and a satellite phone and taking it to the Brunswick Heads boat ramp.

The prosecution also argued Nathan Baggaley covered the RHIB's registration number in heavy duty black tape and planned to meet the cocaine-laden boat on its return.

The Crown claimed Nathan Baggaley communicated or tried to communicate with his brother at sea using the pseudonym "Thunderbutt" saying: "I'm on standby, ready".

Nathan Baggaley denied he was Thunderbutt, saying he had "no suspicions it (the RHIB) would be used for anything like this".

The legal teams made submissions on Monday about whether the evidence proved Nathan Baggaley knew about the cocaine plot when he bought the boat or only at the time of the sea voyage.

The bungled smuggling attempt resulted in 587kg of cocaine being recovered by the navy ship, while bundles continued to be recovered on Queensland's coast as far north as Yeppoon for months afterwards.

The brothers were both found guilty of attempting to import the commercial quantity of a border controlled drug at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast between December 2017 and August 2018.

Nathan Baggaley's career had already been tarnished with drug scandals like testing positive for banned steroids in 2005 and then being jailed, with brother Dru, 10 years later for his role in a drug manufacturing syndicate.

Draper has been sentenced to 13 years' jail after pleading guilty to the same drug importation charge.
Within the scope of the monitoring mission initiated by the EU Delegation in Armenia for the purpose of assessing the performance of actions that are part of the EUs Support to Human Rights Protection in Armenia budget support financing agreement, Head of the Special Investigation Service of Armenia Sasun Khachatryan, Deputy Head Vladimir Hovhannisyan and the Head of the Department for Investigation of Crimes against Humanity met with experts Mushegh Yekmalyan and Yanis Sofianopoulos.

As reported the Special Investigation Service, during the meeting, the experts were told about the peculiarities of the investigation of tortures and crimes against humanity and the statistics on the criminal cases being investigated by the Service.

Expressing gratitude to the head of the Service for the meeting and cordial reception, the experts presented the key target directions of their program, including support to human rights protection and gender equality. They also mentioned that the earmarked actions are being carried out in two stages, including monitoring for assessment of the actions that are part of the agreement and the submission of a recommendation on the new program to be implemented in Armenia.

The need for video-recording the investigative actions performed within the scope of preparation and investigation of instituted criminal cases by the police and investigative bodies was also considered, and according to the interlocutors, this will help reveal cases of torture and maltreatment and increase effectiveness of investigation.
Australian Border Will Be Closed for a Long Time: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that Australia would be closed to the rest of the world for a long time, with the Treasurer noting that the border will remain shut until at least 2022.

I dont see an appetite for that at the moment, Morrison said in an interview with News Crop on Sunday. I think what were seeing at the moment is the appreciation of the people that the pandemic isnt going anywhere.

Morrison said there are few countries in the world like Australia, whose geographic location as an island has prevented it from a serious pandemic, and caution must be used to maintain the prevention of the epidemic.

We dont as of yet have considerable clinical evidence that tells us transmission is preventable  at this point in time, I think Australians want to ensure that the way were living at the moment is maintained.

Asked about when immigrants can return, the Prime Minister answered, I cant tell you. I dont know, saying that the pandemic is now a medium-term challenge rather than a short-term one.

Morrison later said that the statements about zero cases were misreported in the news article and have been corrected online.

Australias COVID suppression strategy has not changed to an elimination strategy nor is zero cases our goal as reported today, he said in a post to Facebook.

There will always be cases as we return Australians home from overseas. International borders will only open when it is safe to do so. We still have a long way to go, and there are still many uncertainties ahead, Morrison said.

Australians are living like in few countries around the world today. We will continue to do everything we can to work together prevent a third wave and roll out our vaccination programme.

Scott Morrison warned that Australia would be closed to the rest of the world for a long time (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the international border is expected to open in stages. At the same time, the government negotiates for more travel bubbles with safe countries, besides the current one with New Zealand.

Our goal is very simple, to progressively open as quickly as we can, subject to safety, Hunt said on Sunday. Green lanes, vaccinations, and then the potential for those that have been vaccinated to be able to travel and return in different circumstances.

However, the opposition warned that it would take until 2023 for the Australian population to be fully vaccinated based on the current pace.

Three weeks ago, Scott Morrison said there could be international travel and home quarantine by as early as July, Shadow Health Minister Mark Butler told reporters on Sunday.

This morning  hes saying Australia will be locked down forever.
BANGKOK (AP)  Health authorities in Thailand said Monday they have confirmed the countrys first cases of the Indian variant of the coronavirus, in a Thai woman and her 4-year-old son who have been in state quarantine since arriving from Pakistan.

The finding comes as Thailand battles a new wave of the coronavirus that began at the beginning of April, originating in upmarket entertainment venues in Bangkok and spawning clusters in several crowded slum communities. Many of the recent cases involve the British variant of the virus, which is more infectious than the original form found last year.

Thailand banned travelers from India, other than Thai citizens, starting on May 1 in response to a massive outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the South Asian nation that began in early April. India has reported more than 22.6 million infections, second only to the United States, and more than 246,000 deaths. Both figures are widely believed to be undercounts.

Thailand extended the entry ban to foreigners visiting from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal on Monday in an effort to keep the Indian variant from spreading, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said.

Apisamai Srirangsan, a deputy spokesperson for the governments Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said separately that Thai authorities are also worried about people who cross into Thailand illegally, mostly from neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar.

Apisamai said the Indian variant was found in a pregnant 42-year-old woman who arrived on April 24 with three sons. She and her 4-year-old were staying in the same room under state quarantine. The two other sons, ages 6 and 8, stayed in another room and tested negative.

Thailand on Monday announced 1,630 new cases, bringing its confirmed total to 85,005 since the pandemic began. There were 22 new deaths, for a total of 421.

About one-third of the reported cases in the latest wave were found in Bangkok, where daily increases have declined to 565 on Monday from 980 on Sunday and a record 1,112 on Saturday.

New clusters continue to be discovered in Bangkok, not only in crowded communities, but also at markets and department stores.

Other clusters have been found among migrant workers at factories in two provinces near Bangkok.

In the eastern province of Chanthaburi, a gem mining center, nearly 100 cases were found among African gem traders, the newspaper Thai Rath reported, citing the provincial health office. The governor this past weekend ordered the closure of gem and amulets markets, it said.
More than a year after Gov. Tom Wolf temporarily shut down much of the states economy because of COVID-19, public bus ridership in Lackawanna County remains in a deep slump.

Only 35,219 rode County of Lackawanna Transit System buses in March, down 40.7% from March 2020, when ridership first declined sharply because of Wolfs order to allow only essential businesses and services to remain open.

The March 2020 ridership, 59,361, was down 29.9% from March 2019, a year before the pandemic.

For fiscal year 2019-2020, ridership declined to 802,623, a 20.1% drop from 1,003,947 in fiscal year 2018-2019. COLTS operates on a fiscal year with a year beginning July 1 and ending the following June 30. With three months to go, 301,332 have ridden COLTS buses in the current fiscal year.

One bright spot: March ridership this year increased sharply from 21,557 in February, which was unusually low compared to previous months, partly because a bus driver shortage forced COLTS to temporarily eliminate Saturday service.

Theyre slowly creeping up, said Robert Fiume, COLTS executive director.

Fiume, chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association board, said he talked with about 10 mass transit agency leaders across the state two weeks ago and most reported similar troubles.

So, were really right there with everybody else, he said.

Fiume said the agency only recently returned to a full schedule, resuming Saturday service. He cited peoples ongoing fear of COVID-19 and many residents still working from home.

Im not extremely worried right now, Fiume said. I think this is going to take time; we knew that from the beginning. ... So I dont think right now is any reason to panic.

Shawna Russell, the associations executive director, agreed.

I think that kind of tracks with what were seeing statewide, certainly they are continuing to grow, Russell said. If I look around the state, there are people who perhaps are operating at 50 to 60% capacity. And then we have others, some with heavier commuter markets than others, that are anywhere 85 to 100% capacity. So it absolutely continues to rebuild.

Fiume said he hopes better weather and more COVID-19 vaccinations bring back riders.

Im pretty confident that were going to rebound, he said. Maybe not to where we were pre-COVID  that may take a longer time  but I think were going to get close to where we were a couple months down the road. Thats what were hoping for.
Florid Gov. Ron DeSantis listens to a report from a member of his administration during a meeting at the governor's office in Tallahassee, Fla., on April 1, 2021. (Screenshot via Epoch Times)

Gov. DeSantis Warns Antifa, Portland Rioters: Stay out of Our State

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged rioters during a press conference last week to stay out of the Sunshine State, warning that if anyone gets harmed, or any property damaged, agitators will face very swift penalties.

The Republican governor made the announcement while showing the states support for law enforcement in a round of one-time $1,000 bonuses for first respondersincluding firefighters and law enforcement officers.

DeSantis vowed to protect Floridians, police officers, and anyone in the state from rioters such as Antifa left-wing activists, pointing to places such as Portland and areas nationwide where crime has spiked due to a lack of support for police.

If you look around the country, what happens is, like in Portland, these people riot every night, the governor said. They go, they get their mug shot, and then they get put right back on the street to do it again. Thats what we dont want.

The minute you harm somebody else or you harm somebodys property, or you do those types of things, the only way were going to put a stop to it is to have very swift penalties for it, he added.

Theres a lot of places around this country that have not stood by law enforcement, and the tragedy of it is, youre seeing crime spike in certain parts of our country like we havent seen in decades, DeSantis explained. The people that are going to be most affected by that are the most vulnerable members of our society.

Portland police and fire crews respond to a fire set by rioters Portland, Ore., on April 17, 2021. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

He noted that there is a clear and obvious difference between exercising First Amendment rights and the violence that is happening in some places across the nation.

Florida has also seen protests, with most of them remaining peaceful. The governor explained he fully supports people exercising their rights and its part of being American, but rioting and violence have to be penalized.

We saw some places in Tampa and Orlando where people started to get violent, DeSantis said, noting that the violence ended quickly after the national guard was activated.

If youre in Portland, you think you can come down to Florida and do this? DeSantis posed during the conference. Stay out of our state, we dont want you coming down here causing problems.

And if anyone does cause these problems, if you try to burn something down, if you try to harm anybodybut particularly a police officerduring one of these violent assemblies, there will be consequences, he warned. They will be swift, they will be severe, and they will be such that people who see that happening will know, thats not something we want to do going forward.

DeSantis has taken active measures against rioters by signing an anti-riot bill into law in late April, praising lawmakers for including provisions that make it harder for local governments to defund the police. The measure, called HB 1: Combating Public Disorder, says local authorities cant cut their police budgets without approval from the state.

The mission has been accomplished on a lot of what we set out to do to support our men and women in law enforcement this legislative session, he said at the time. When we passed our anti-rioting bill, we had a very strong provision in there that said, we are not going to let local governments defund law enforcement  and if you try to do it, were going to fight back.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.

From NTD News
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In the interest of full disclosure, I have what one of my daughters calls a side hustle in which I facilitate Section 1031 real estate exchanges.

I suppose this makes me biased in favor of such things. However, its just a side hustle so I am not dependent on it.

These exchanges allow an investor to defer paying taxes on gains. Word is that Congress has its sights on the like-kind exchange provisions. To be fair, this word has been on the street for a long time and nothing has come of it.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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This is one that I just dont get. I know the feds need money, and Ive even discussed a few ways that they might think about finding some spare change. There is nothing unique about real estate like-kind exchanges. Setting them up as a revenue target acts like there is.

The tax law says that when an asset is either sold or exchanged, a gain or loss has been realized. If a gain, it must be currently recognized unless a relief provision can be found.

The law has several relief provisions to protect a taxpayer from recognizing a realized gain. They all operate on a single principle  no gain if the taxpayer has simply continued his investment in an alternative form. The form changed, the substance did not.

Lets say that you operate a business as a proprietor. Things are going well but an attorney advises you that you are taking too much personal risk and need a separate entity to house the business.

You are all in. You exchange ownership of business assets worth $1 million with a tax basis of $400,000 for $1 million of corporate stock. You have a $600,000 realized gain from an exchange.

The IRS visits your office and, in a gravelly voice from an old gangster movie, says thats a nice business you have. Itd be a shame should something happen to it. Indeed. Sounds like somebody needs some relief.

Section 351 of the tax law says no gain is recognized when property is transferred to a corporation solely for stock. Why? Because the taxpayer has simply continued the substance of the business in an alternative (corporate) form.

The same relief is possible if you choose to bring in a partner to this business. You exchange your business for an interest in a partnership. Same realized gain. Section 721 of the tax law allows you to avoid recognizing any gain. Same reason  you continued the substance of the investment in an alternative form.

Twenty years ago, two corporate behemoths, Phillips Petroleum and Conoco, merged. Shareholders of each company surrendered shares for shares in the new ConocoPhillips.

Many shareholders had a realized gain on this share swap. They received no cash. Section 368 of the tax law allowed this exchange to be tax-free because the former Phillips or Conoco shareholders continued the substance of their investment in an alternative form.

Three tax relief provisions. Same principle. Same result. There are more. Section 1031 is one. It allows you to exchange real estate held for investment or business use for other real estate to be held for investment or business use. The substance of the investment continues in a different form.

There is nothing special about Section 1031. It is one of a package of tax relief provisions serving the same tax policy purpose. But it draws more attention than the others. It should not.

There is an argument that Section 1031 serves a purpose broader than the others I mentioned. It mitigates the lock in effect and creates liquidity for real estate investment.

Lock in means that an owner may decide to ride out an investment when he learns that a sale will reduce available assets by the tax paid on the gain.

A $1 million investment may turn into $900,000 after taxes. A better $900,000 investment in another asset may be less attractive than continuing the $1 million current investment. If so, the owner feels locked in to the current investment.

Section 1031 allows real estate to keep trading based solely for investment reasons, free of tax penalty. Yes, its a tax break, but it comes from a good family.

James R. Hamill is the Director of Tax Practice at Reynolds, Hix & Co. in Albuquerque.
Day 211

A client working for a multi-national who has to attend four Zoom meetings a day with zero chance of being called on to contribute confessed shes taken to doing her 10,000 steps during the first of those meetings, listening as she goes but not visible onscreen.

Day 212

The EU hasnt distinguished itself thus far in relation to vaccinations. Speedy development of a simple vaccine passport could redress the balance.

Day 213

I hear a chirping. Like a bird in distress. Inside my home. Accompanied by the triumphant bellowing of a cat with prey. Rushing out into the main room, I encounter the rear view of Dino, who is settling down to a repast. Without registering one crucial detail, I kick him with a socked foot, yelling profanities at him. He is affronted by this, moving away but not far and gazing at me with concentrated enmity. The detail I missed was a long tail. No feathers. Just the kind of long tail you get on an oversized rat. I panic that the rat may attack the socked foot with which I kicked Dino, but the rodent doesnt seem to have any attack left in him. I apologise to Dino and invite him to get on with the meal I interrupted. He gives me a long thatll teach you look and exits, leaving the rat as my problem.

Day 214

Bill and Melinda Gates put out a statement to the effect that they can no longer grow together. Grow together? Ah, lads. Why dont the rich simply say weve gone off each other?

Day 215

My colleague, Robyn, sends a copy of Boys Dont Cry by Fiona Scarlett with a tiny note marveling at this being a debut novel. Shes right.

Day 216

Overnight, Alan English, the editor of the Sunday Independent, has canned Eoghan Harris.

Its taken a long, long time. When I was a teenage freelance journalist and broadcaster, Harris, then an RTE producer, became a legend during a series of sit-ins within the national station. My print boss at the time was the wonderful Mary Kenny, and, at a meeting in her office in the defunct Irish Press on Burgh Quay, I listened to her accurately describing Harris as a brilliant, charismatic leader. One of the volunteers over in the TV block in Donnybrook, sitting in as a protest, was my radio producer, Howard Kinlay, already under a management cloud for left-wing activism.

Worried for Howard, I told Mary, in front of the other freelances on her team, that Eoghan Harris was a ruthless demagogue who never considered the possibility that he might be wrong about anything, a man who didnt care about his followers, leading the naive into danger yet somehow never suffering, in career terms, himself.

The silence that greeted this blurt was, I thought, more reverential than the comment actually deserved. Until Mary drew a deep breath, nodded at one of the other hacks present, and said: You do know, dont you, that Anne is Eoghans wife? Of course, I hadnt, and, of course, its impossible to apologise satisfactorily for something youve said when you believe every word to be true. What small potential had ever existed for Anne Harris and me to be friends died right there.

Nobody ever stopped him

I wasnt particularly clever in my teens and I mention what I said then not in schadenfreude but to wonder why, in the half-century afterward, until Alan English, nobody ever stopped Eoghan Harris.

Harris survived and succeeded like the Hydra in Greek mythology. The Hydra had an endless supply of heads, which, until Hercules outwitted it, made it unkillable. Same with Harris, unique in his transient energetic commitment to political parties including, at different times, Labour, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and unionists. Fine Gael was badly burned by his tasteless, unfunny, ard fheis skit starring Twink. The party leader of the day had to apologise for that skit at some length. Harris, never. In fact, he found a way to blame Fine Gael for the disaster.

As the Sunday Times noted yesterday, Harris for 20 years denied his secret membership of the Workers' Party, threatening to sue anybody likely to say otherwise. His political loyalties might shift. His modus operandi, never.

His key instrument was the unstoppable monologue. Some politicians at the receiving end worked out that the payoff for humouring him could be a positive mention in his Sunday Independent column. The currency was attention. Give him that, and approval flowed from him. His prime need is to be validated, whether as a commentator, screenwriter, or adviser to politicians. So bottomless is the pit of his neediness, its no surprise he ended up on Twitter praising himself for oratory, literacy, singing, and heroism.

Most commentators, when RTE stops ringing them, know  if theyre realistic  the station a) thinks theyve become predictable, or b) finds them a temperamental pain in the arse to deal with. Not so Harris. He used the Sunday Independent and  as we now know  his pseudonymous Twitter account for the same purpose: To rail against his absence from the airwaves as being attributable to RTE being in the pocket of Sinn Fein.

Insight? None.

Its crazy someone could kid themselves theyd assuage the anxieties of the disaffected Northern Ireland working class through a Twitter account with fewer than 2,000 followers. Its crazy to insult this papers Aoife Moore in such crude terms that she needed the help of gardai and a counsellor to cope with it. (And, dont forget, the account impugned Aoifes journalistic standards as well as laying twisted sexuality on her.)

Its crazy that a man with half a page to himself every week in our biggest Sunday newspaper would repeatedly speak of himself as having no platform.

Its crazy he and some other anonymous old persons would set up and use eight sock puppet Twitter accounts so ineptly. (The word tribal is a giveaway. Harris always uses it to smear people he disagrees with.) Its crazy that, having been discovered, fired, and exposed, he would still think he would win by going on RTEs Drivetime to be interviewed by someone whod been Tweet-abused by him. Its even crazier that, when Sarah McInerney instanced this abuse, he basically told her it was all right because she was a strong presenter.

This is parallel universe stuff. But it has worked. For 50 years, Harris built a career out of duplicity, force of personality, lack of insight, flashes of creativity widely separated from each other, frenzied self-regard, and sheer uncaring nastiness to others. Anybody whos come into contact with him could see him for what he was. And is.

Because he has never changed.

But in half a century, nobody stopped him. Nobody stopped him. Thats our shame. Not his.

Day 217

I am twice blessed. Or at least, as of yesterday, twice vaccinated. Oh, the places Ill go! If they ever open up, that is.
The 15-year-old was arrested on charges of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a person under 18 and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, according to the press release.
Press Release

May 10, 2021 DOFIL CLOSING REMARKS In light of what has transpired today, we are all the more convinced now that we need to look into the OWWA Funds and to ensure that the government is adequately funded to withstand the massive job losses, displacements and continuing repatriation of Filipinos stranded abroad. I couldn't agree more with Senator Drilon that this "final issue" is worth looking into and we thank him for bringing this to the fore. Our OFWs contribute to the OWWA Fund through their toil, tears and sweat but they don't know what their benefits are. So, kailangan talaga na pagtuunan natin ng pansin yoong information dissemination din. Kung ang ating DOFIL po ang magiging daan para maproteksyunan ang pondong ipon ng ating mga OFWs, malaking bagay po ito para magtiwala sa tinatayo nating DOFIL ang ating mga kababayan abroad. We're also delighted with new developments and we trust the words of Cabsec Nograles that there's already a recommendation to the President for the allocation of Php5.2 billion as additional repatriation expense. So, klaro na po hindi na gagalawin ang OWWA Trust Fund. And we also congratulate OWWA for making a firm stand that its trust fund cannot be used in activities like repatriation. We also thank our OWWA Administrator, Hans Cacdac, for being here physically to give us significant info that we need in finalizing this particular measure at hand. Kaya gusto po nating makakita ng "Flow Chart" at "Gantt Chart" kung kinakailangan to address, especially yung mga concerns ni Senator Binay, on how to divide the functions of agencies currently handling OFWs and those that will be absorbed by the DOFIL especially as regards to the control of the ATN funds. Ang pagbuo po ng DOFIL ay isang napakalaking pananagutan sa ating bayan. At niyakap po natin ang pananagutang ito bilang Hepe ng Komite na ipinagkatiwala sa atin ng buong Senado. Batid po natin na marami ang may gustong tapusin na ito, pero nakita n'yo naman po kung gaano ka-kumplikado ang proposed DOFIL. Lahat po ng mga problema na may kinalaman sa migration policy natin mula 1970s o sa loob ng halos limang dekada ay sinosolusyunan po natin sa pamamagitan ng DOFIL. But this doesn't mean that current system or the "status quo" is not working. Let's not forget that all our policies in place were crafted amidst conflicts, economic downturns and several epidemics in the past like Ebola, SARS and MERS-CoV. Kumbaga po, tried and tested na po ang current system kaya nga kahit ang DFA ilang beses sinabi sa mga previous hearing natin na "gold standard" ang migration policy ng Pilipinas. But like most of you in the Executive, I'm also a believer that there's always a room for improvement. But in a pandemic situation where everything is shifting, all these reforms or improvement should be done at the side of caution. The design of DOFIL should meet the country's need of navigating a post-pandemic world that will be challenging to OFWs. By the time the DOFIL will be in full operation, it will be a "changed world". And we are not designing tomorrow's agency on the specs and the needs of yesterday. Sa ngayon, mayroon pong increase sa demand sa health services, habang bagsak naman ang travel and tourism, which impacts on OFWs in the service sector. Yung cruise ships, grounded. Kaya po sa isang mundong binago ng pandemya, ano dapat ang papel ng DOFIL? It is in this regard that we want to thank our colleagues, especially, Senator Frank, Senator Nancy, Senator Imee and Senator Francis for helping us scrutinize this bill up to the last letter to ensure that overseas Filipinos will stand to win amid COVID-19 and in a post-pandemic world. Sa palagay ko po ay klaro naman sa atin ang kasabihan ng mga matatanda: "Ang naglalakad ng matulin, kung matinik ay malalim". But we've made this bill as inclusive and as widely consulted as possible, and the records will bear us out. Because while there is a clamor to create a separate Department for Overseas Filipinos, there are also apprehensions voiced around time constraints, funding, sustainability, including the fact that we can't afford a "learning curve" at this critical junctures. It's not our intention to hear the voice of every OFW, because there are 10-million of them scattered in all the continents. But with the more than a thousand that we have consulted, I would say it's a 50/50. Sa isang OFW consultation natin, nagpahayag ang Filipino Domestic Caretaker Union sa Taiwan na kung maaari, gusto nilang mas busisiin pa ang itinatayo nating DOFIL dahil hindi raw po nila makita na ito na ang sagot sa mga problema nila. We also acknowledge that this is a priority legislation and certified urgent measure of the President and I believe that we're still within timetable. If you recall, during our initial hearing on this measure, we made it clear that we will have at least 4 or 5 hearings to substantially cover all aspects of this new department, primarily recruitment, red tape, response to emergencies, repatriation, reintegration, re-training and resource allocation. But more than the nitty-gritty details, we also want to fully understand the larger picture: What is the role of worker deployment in our economic agenda and the future of our nation? Shall we remain as mere merchandise in the global labor market? Or should we start harnessing our human resources for our growth? These questions can't be rushed. And urgency doesn't mean speed or haste. It means working diligently and doing the right thing for the right reasons. Kaya titiyakin po natin na ang ihahain nating Committee Report sa plenaryo ng Senado ay isang panukala na mas magbibigay ng oportunidad sa ating mga kababayang OFW ngayon at sa susunod na henerasyon ng mga Pilipino. Maraming salamat po. God bless us all.
Migrants: 600 returned to Libya by coast guard, UNHCR Many women and children 'in detention' in hosting centers

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MAY 10 - The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR tweeted on Monday that "some 600 people were returned today to Tripoli and Zawiya by Libyan coast guard, along them many women and children". The agency added that "UNHCR and IRC were present at the disembarkation point and provided them with urgent medical assistance and relief items".



"They were all sent to detention", the organization also tweeted, referring to Libyan hosting centers. (ANSAmed)
Terri Morse spoke at a rally to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pa., on May 8, 2021. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

She Instilled in Me a Deep Appreciation and Respect for Asian Culture: Grateful Flight Instructor on Eve of Mothers Day

Terri Morse, a flight instructor from Pennsylvania, spoke at a rally to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day on May 8 at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. She thanked her mother for guiding her to Falun Dafa, an ancient Chinese spiritual practice consisting of simple, slow-moving meditation exercises, and shared her incredible story of recovering from Lyme disease after practicing Falun Dafa.

The following is a transcript of her speech:

Today, on the eve of Mothers Day, I would like to give special thanks to my mom. She instilled in me a deep appreciation and respect for Asian culture. I have very early memories of her telling me that the grandfather of Asian culture is China and that through the study of traditional Chinese culture, one could relate to all cultures.

I first learned of the practice of Falun Dafa 22 years ago. Thanks to my Moms earlier guidance, I was able to immediately recognize it as a profound part of traditional Chinese culture, something to be deeply cherished.

From the moment I first started to practice, my life has been enriched and blessed in ways I could never have imagined.

Ten years previous, in 1989, I had been diagnosed with Lyme disease. The side effects of the disease were very debilitating. Some of my symptoms were: chronic fatigue, loss of hearing, fibromyalgia, neuralgia, chronic allergies, asthma, chronic back pain; the list went on and on.

While the physical pain was very intense, I found the mental pain to be even more difficult to endure. The mental anguish compelled me to review my life and to search my soul, inquiring more deeply about the spiritual aspects of life.

The suffering was the catalyst for me to realize that if I was to improve both mentally and physically as a person, it would be through the improvement of my heart and mind nature, my character, a connection that transcends mere bodily health and physical fitness.

Upon my first reading of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa, so many questions that I had about life and the meaning of my existence were answered. Falun Dafa has assisted me to live and act upon the guiding principles of the practice: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerancein essence, to return to the core of my true self.

In the process of improving my character, by continually striving to live by these principles and letting go of negative thoughts, emotions, and attachments, my mind is more at peace and the chronic side effects of Lyme disease have miraculously disappeared.

Professionally, I am a flight instructor. In 2014, I had the opportunity to fly a historic, all-womens transcontinental air race from California to Pennsylvania. Before the race, a local newspaper reporter interviewed me. She asked me a great question, regarding how do I prepare for something like this, both mentally and physically. She suggested the more typical mediums, like running and working out. My response was meditation, or more specifically, Falun Dafa.

In 2013, a groundbreaking study by researchers from Wisconsin, Spain, and France reported the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body, following a period of meditation. The study indicates that meditation has the power to overcome stress, control inflammation, and provide pain reliefat the genetic level.

Modern day life depicts stress as a constant factor, prevalent in every aspect of our lives today.

Air racing can be a very competitive and stressful sport. In preparation for and during the course of this grueling, four-day air race, spanning over 2,300 nautical miles, the practice of Falun Dafa gave me abundant energy and guidance to manage stress and stay well-focused.

I came to realize that this four-day race was like a microcosm of life in general. No matter how stressful and difficult life may be, can I always strive to live by the guiding principles of Falun Dafa? I came to see for myself that possibly achieving first place and gaining the big prizes in cash, material goods, and fame would only be superficial and not worth much, without being a good person and regarding others welfare first.

I am eternally grateful to Mr. Li Hongzhi for introducing Falun Dafa in 1992 to the general publictraditionally only taught in private.

In seven short years, the Chinese regime estimated that over 70-100 million people in China were actively practicing, the benefits were openly acknowledged. The return to a traditional practice filled a longtime void, enabling people to reconnect to their true culture and nature. So much of Chinas cultural inheritance had been lost or destroyed over the years since 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In July of 1999, the Chinese regime banned Falun Dafa in China, launching a brutal persecution and campaign to eradicate it.

The CCP continues to perceive Falun Dafa as a threat to its ongoing coup to control the hearts and minds of the people in China. Fortunately, this profound practice continues to flourish outside China and is practiced in over 100 countries around the world.

In the shadow of the Liberty Bell, together, we can raise awareness of this vicious, sinister persecution, calling for its immediate end.

We encourage everyone to visit our tables, become more informed, sign petitions, and share information with friends and family members.

Today, in honor of World Falun Dafa Day, we can openly celebrate its introduction to the world, in 1992, and the enormous benefits it imparts to society through its guiding principles of truthfulness, compassion, and toleranceprinciples that the world can never get enough of and needs now, more than ever.

Thank You.
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WarnerMedia is joining Netflix and Amazon Studios in refusing to participate in any more events related to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association until the org demonstrates real, lasting reform and change, according to a letter that has been sent to HFPA president Ali Sar.

In the letter, signed by key WarnerMedia execs and shared with reporters on Monday morning, the conglomerate writes that its leaders dont believe that the HFPAs plans for change, announced last week, goes far enough in addressing the breadth of our concerns, nor does your timeline capture the immediate need by which these issues should be addressed. WarnerMedia Studios and Networks will continue to refrain from direct engagement with the HFPA, including sanctioned press conferences and invitations to cover other industry events with talent, until these changes are implemented.

In particular, WarnerMedia said its concerned that the 18-month timeline for change means that the same voting body will be impacting the next two nomination and voting cycles, through 2023. Lasting and meaningful change to your membership goals could be achieved in under 18 months.

WarnerMedia also singled out the lack of diversity in its nomination and awards process, as well as racially insensitive, sexist and homophobic questions at press conferences and events. For far too long, demands for perks, special favors and unprofessional requests have been made to our teams and to others across the industry, the conglom said. We regret that as an industry, we have complained, but largely tolerated this behavior until now.

And the conglom also said it would also like to see the HFPA implement a specific and enforced code of conduct that includes zero tolerance for unwanted physical contact of all talent and staff. That may be a reference to accusations by actor Brendan Fraser that former HFPA president Philip Berk groped him in 2003.

The boycott includes work with HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Warner Bros. Television, TNT and TBS. Execs signing the letter include Ann Sarnoff, chair and CEO, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks; Casey Bloys, chief content officer, HBO and HBO Max; Toby Emmerich, chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Channing Dungey, chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group; Brett Weitz, general manager, TBS, TNT and TruTV; Johanna Fuentes, head of global communications, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks; and Christy Haubegger, chief inclusion officer, WarnerMedia.

The HFPA, which hands out the Golden Globe Awards, has been under fire for months, following an initial expose by the Los Angeles Times about both the small, insular organizations questionable financial practices, as well as paltry record of diversity and representation (including an entire lack of Black members). Last week, the group released a framework for reform that includes measures to increase the number of people of color in its ranks. The plan, which was approved on Thursday, also includes new restrictions on gifts that the members could receive and payments for work on their committees.

NBC, which broadcasts the Globes, and Dick Clark Prods., which produces the ceremony, issued statements soon after the announcement, expressing encouragement that the HFPA was taking the industrys concerns seriously. But soon, the floodgates opened, as various Hollywood groups, studios and streamers said the proposed changes may not go far enough or be able to be implemented fast enough.

On Thursday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos wrote to the org, We dont believe these proposed new policies  particularly around the size and speed of membership growth  will tackle the HFPAs systemic diversity and inclusion challenges, or the lack of clear standards for how your members should operate. That was followed by Amazon Studios, which in a statement said, like the rest of the industry, we are awaiting a sincere and significant resolution before moving forward.

A group of more than 100 Hollywood publicity firms wrote in a joint statement about their concerns; Times Up, GLAAD and actors including Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson and David Oyelowo have also released statements about the org in recent days.

We will continue to refrain from any HFPA sanctioned events, including press conferences, unless and until these issues are illuminated in detail with a firm commitment to a timeline that respects the looming 2022 season reality, reads a statement released by the group of publicists on Friday. We stand ready to collaborate with the HFPA to ensure that the next Golden Globes  be it in 2022 or 2023  represents the values of our creative community. We are reminded of the HFPAs 1943 motto, conceived by the original group of foreign journalists: Unity Without Discrimination of Religion or Race. Seventy-eight years hence, your commitment to swift and deliberate action remains essential.

Sar and the HFPA havent responded to all of the recent developments, but earlier addressed Sarandos directly: We would love to meet with you and your team so we can review the very specific actions that are already in the works, Sar wrote to the Netflix topper. An open dialogue would help to ensure that we are addressing these concerns as quickly as possible.

Here is the WarnerMedia letter to Sar:

Dear Ali,

As an organization, WarnerMedia is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion as moral and business imperatives, and we strive to be a force for good in our communities. As an industry, together with other production companies, studios, networks, guilds, unions and talent agencies, we all have a responsibility to ensure that our workforce, content and creative partners reflect the diversity of our society and the world around us. This also extends to the organizations with which we do business.

While we commend the HFPA memberships approval of the plan to move towards radical reform, we dont believe the plan goes far enough in addressing the breadth of our concerns, nor does your timeline capture the immediate need by which these issues should be addressed. WarnerMedia Studios and Networks will continue to refrain from direct engagement with the HFPA, including sanctioned press conferences and invitations to cover other industry events with talent, until these changes are implemented. This includes work with HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Warner Bros. Television, TNT and TBS.

The work of ensuring equity and inclusion is never finished and something we all must work together to achieve. We understand the challenges ahead for you, as we work towards diversifying our own executive and employee ranks. However, we call upon you to move with greater urgency. The currently planned 18-month timeline runs through the 2023 Golden Globes, which means the same voting body will be impacting the next two nomination and voting cycles. The HFPA has a membership of less than 90 journalists. Lasting and meaningful change to your membership goals could be achieved in under 18 months. The HFPA cannot accurately reflect the best of our industry until your membership expands to reflect more of the social, cultural and ethnic diversity that exists in the stories we tell and the creators with whom we work.

Were also asking for a strong commitment to significant change in talent press conferences. We are keenly aware of how much harder weve had to lobby to secure press conferences for a number of Black performers and creators, representing unquestionably worthy content. This same work has often then gone unrecognized in your nomination and awards process. In addition, our teams have endured press conferences where our talent were asked racially insensitive, sexist and homophobic questions. For far too long, demands for perks, special favors and unprofessional requests have been made to our teams and to others across the industry. We regret that as an industry, we have complained, but largely tolerated this behavior until now.

Our talent and our staff deserve a professional environment while doing their jobs promoting our series and films. Therefore, we would also like to see the HFPA implement a specific and enforced code of conduct that includes zero tolerance for unwanted physical contact of all talent and staff. We recognize that this conduct is not representative of your full membership, but we need assurances that there will be timely, actionable next steps to discipline members who exhibit inappropriate behavior.

These matters deserve urgency, and the timeline you have proposed thus far does not inspire confidence that meaningful change will happen before two more seasons of voting are impacted. We welcome a discussion to address these issues with you and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Ann Sarnoff, Chair and CEO, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks

Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO and HBO Max

Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group

Channing Dungey, Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group

Brett Weitz, General Manager, TBS, TNT and truTV

Johanna Fuentes, Head of Global Communications, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks

Christy Haubegger, Chief Inclusion Officer, WarnerMedia

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) holds a press conference with Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), right, Rep. Kevin Brady, (R-Texas), Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and other Republican leaders on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 10, 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

House GOP Leader McCarthy Sets Vote on Cheney for May 12

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he has set a vote for May 12 over whether to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her position as House GOP conference chair, soon after he endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for the partys No. 3 spot in the chamber.

Cheney, in recent weeks, has drawn the ire of top House Republican leaders after she continued to criticize former President Donald Trump while questioning Republicans messaging and strategy to court voters.

McCarthy and other Republicans, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), have said Cheneys comments to the media have put the Republican Party off-message as the GOP is trying to unify to win back the House in 2022. Cheney also voted to impeach Trump during his second impeachment trial, drawing criticism from Trump as well as his large base within the party. Some Republicans have accused her of capitulating to the Democrats.

It had been my hope that our driving focus would be taking back the House in 2022 and implementing our Commitment to America, McCarthy said in a letter on May 10 to House Republicans. Despite the mainstream media working overtime against us, I believe we still have a great chance to do so. Unfortunately, each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future.

McCarthy added that its not the time to take our eye off the ball, adding that these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team.

Having heard from so many of you in recent days, its clear that we need to make a change, he said. As such, you should anticipate a vote on recalling the Conference Chair this Wednesday.

During an interview on May 9, McCarthy said he would support Stefanik for the position instead of Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Trump also threw his support behind Stefanik, praising her communications skills.

McCarthy suggested that Cheneys vote to impeach Trump isnt the reason for the vote on May 12 and noted that dissenting views are fine as long as it doesnt undermine the GOP leadership.

We are a big tent party. We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate, the GOP leader said.

Amid the leadership struggle, few Republicans have come to Cheneys defense.

On May 10, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) claimed that ousting her would cost Republican votes during the 2022 and 2024 elections. Romney was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump in February.

Expelling Liz Cheney from leadership wont gain the GOP one additional voter, but it will cost us quite a few, he wrote on Twitter.

Last week, Cheney, in an opinion article for The Washington Post, again lambasted Trump for his claims about fraud during the 2020 election and said Republicans should support the ongoing Justice Department criminal investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Meanwhile, she said the party needs to break away from Trump, whom she described as dangerous and anti-democratic.

Cheneys office didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
British Gas owner Centrica is on track to save around 100million thanks to its restructuring, including the controversial 'firing and rehiring' of thousands of its staff.

The group said that almost all its engineers had agreed to sign new employment contracts, which will require them to work an extra three hours a week for a total of 40 hours, and will not be paid more to work on weekends and public holidays.

Unions have claimed that under the new contracts, workers will suffer a 15 per cent pay cut, something which British Gas denies.

New contracts: Centrica said 98% of British Gas engineers had agreed to sign new contracts

Centrica chief executive, Chris O'Shea, told investors this morning: 'The modernisation of our Group remains on track and the difficult, but necessary process to move colleagues onto new terms and conditions is now complete.

'We are pleased that 98 per cent of UK colleagues have accepted the new contracts which will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers.'

It comes as in July, Centrica told more than 21,000 staff to accept new contracts or potentially lose their jobs, leading to dozens of strikes over the last year in a dispute over pay and conditions.

A month earlier, in June, the company had announced that it would slash 5,000 jobs.

British Gas profits tumbled 35 per cent to 80million last year as it lost another 164,000 customers and many of its business customers used less energy after shutting their offices due to the pandemic.

O'Shea said today that trading conditions for Centrica as a whole have remained 'tough' due to less demand for electricity as many offices remain closed and fewer boilers' installations.

In the first three months of this year business electricity demand dropped by around 15 per cent, Centrica said.

And the number of boilers that it installed in homes across the country dropped 11 per cent compared with the same period last year.

'As expected, trading conditions have remained tough in the year to date,' O'Shea said.

But he added: 'Although the external environment remains uncertain, our tight focus on cash and on fixing the basics across the group leaves us well placed as we continue the turnaround of our company.'

Centrica said it is not in a position to guess how its finances will look like this year due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

It said that net debt dropped from 3billion to 500million between December and March, due to the nearly 3 billion sale of US subsidiary Direct Energy.

Shares fell 2 per cent to 56.72p towards the end of Monday's session.




Police have questioned the wife of Belgium's ambassador to South Korea over accusations she hit two boutique staff in the head in a row over shoplifting, officials said Friday.







Ambassador Peter Lescouhier has previously said that he "sincerely regrets the incident involving his wife", adding that he "wants to apologise on her behalf".







"No matter the circumstances, the way she reacted is unacceptable."







The woman, named in media reports as Xiang Xueqiu, "was questioned Thursday", said a detective at Yongsan police station in central Seoul, without providing further details.







Reports say the envoy's wife tried on clothing in the Seoul store before walking out, prompting an assistant to run after her to ask about an item she was wearing and triggering the confrontation.







CCTV camera footage showed her pulling at one employee's arm and hitting her in the head, before slapping another worker who tried to intervene across the face.







The footage  provided by the family of an alleged victim  was widely reported by local media and circulated online and turned public opinion sharply against the ambassador's family.







The Belgian embassy issued the ambassador's apology in a bilingual Facebook post as it sought to contain the damage, but its Korean translation sounded heavy-handed, further souring some reactions.







"You are apologising in that tone?" asked a poster on Naver, the country's largest portal. "Do you really reflect your country's stature?"







Ambassadors' wives enjoy diplomatic immunity but the embassy said she would cooperate with police. (AFP)


KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  Grieving families buried their dead Sunday following a horrific bombing at a girls school in the Afghan capital that killed 50 people, many of them pupils between 11 and 15 years old.

The number of wounded in Saturday's attack climbed to more than 100, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. In the western neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi, families buried their dead amid angry recriminations at a government they said has failed to protect them from repeated attacks in the mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood.

The government reacts after the incident, it doesnt do anything before the incident, said Mohammad Baqir, Alizada, 41, who had gathered to bury his niece, Latifa, a Grade 11 student the Syed Al-Shahda school.

Three explosions outside the school entrance struck as students were leaving for the day, said Arian. The blasts targeted Afghanistans ethnic Hazaras who dominate the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, where the bombings occurred. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims. The Taliban denied responsibility, condemning the attack and the many deaths.

The first explosion came from a vehicle packed with explosives, followed by two others, said Arian, adding that the casualty figures could still rise.

In the capital rattled by relentless bombings, Saturday's attack was among the worst. Criticism has mounted over lack of security and growing fears of even more violence as the U.S. and NATO complete their final military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

At Vatican City, in his traditional Sunday remarks to faithful in St. Peters Square, Pope Francis cited the bombing. Let us pray for the victims of the terrorist attack in Kabul, an inhumane action that struck so many girls as they were coming out of school. He said. The pontiff then added: May God give Afghanistan peace.

The Dasht-e-Barchi area has been hit by several incidents of violence targeting minority Shiites and most often claimed by the Islamic State affiliate operating in the country. No one has yet claimed Saturdays bombings.

In this same neighborhood in 2018, a school bombing killed 34 people, mostly students. In September 2018 a wrestling club was attacked killing 24 people and in May 2020 a maternity hospital was brutally attacked killing 24 people, including pregnant women and infants. And in October 2020, the Kawsar-e-Danish tutoring center was attacked, killing 30 people.

Most of the attacks were claimed by the Islamic State affiliate operating in Afghanistan.

The radical Sunni Muslim group has declared war on Afghanistans Shiites. Washington blamed IS for a vicious attack last year in a maternity hospital in the same area that killed pregnant women and newborn babies.

Soon after the bombing, angry crowds attacked ambulances and even beat health workers as they tried to evacuate the wounded, Health Ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigar Nazari said. He had implored residents to cooperate and allow ambulances free access to the site.

Arian, the Interior Ministry spokesman, blamed the attack on the Taliban despite their denials.

Bloodied backpacks and schools books lay strewn outside the Syed Al-Shahda school. In the morning, boys attend classes in the sprawling school compound and in the afternoon, it's girls' turn.

On Sunday, Hazara leaders from Dasht-e- Barchi met to express their frustration with the government failure to protect ethnic Hazaras, deciding to cobble together a protection force of their own from among the Hazara community.

The force would be deployed outside schools, mosques and public facilities and would cooperate with government security forces. The intention is to supplement the local forces, said Parliamentarian Ghulam Hussein Naseri.

The meeting participants decided that there is not any other way, except for people themselves to provide their own security alongside of the security forces, said Naseri, who added that the government should provide local Hazaras with weapons.

Naseri said Hazaras have been attacked in their schools, in their mosques and it is their right to be upset. How many more families lose their loved ones? How many more attacks against this minority has to occur in this part of the city before something is done?"

One of the students fleeing the school recalled the attack, the girls' screams of the girls, the blood.

I was with my classmate, we were leaving the school, when suddenly an explosion happened,  said 15-year-old Zahra, whose arm had been broken by a piece of shrapnel.

Ten minutes later there was another explosion and just a couple of minutes later another explosion, she said. Everyone was yelling and there was blood everywhere, and I couldnt see anything clearly. Her friend died.

Most of the dozens of injured brought to the EMERGENCY Hospital for war wounded in the Afghan capital, almost all girls and young women between 12 and 20 years old, said Marco Puntin, the hospital's program coordinator in Afghanistan.

In a statement following the attack, the hospital, which has operated in Kabul since 2000, said the first three months of this year have seen a 21 per cent increase in war-wounded.

Even as IS has been degraded in Afghanistan, according to government and US officials, it has stepped-up its attacks particularly against Shiite Muslims and women workers.

The attack comes days after the remaining 2,500 to 3,500 American troops officially began leaving the country. They will be out by Sept. 11 at the latest. The pullout comes amid a resurgent Taliban, who control or hold sway over half of Afghanistan.

The top U.S. military officer said Sunday that Afghan government forces face an uncertain future and possibly some bad possible outcomes against Taliban insurgents as the withdrawal accelerates in the coming weeks.

_____

Associated Press photographer Rahmat Gul and video journalist Ahmad Seir in Kabul, Afghanistan and Kathy Gannon in Islamabad, Pakistan and Frances D'Emilio contributed to this report.
On January 13, 2021, in the case of Nizar Sassi and Mourad Benchellali, two French nationals detained at the US prison of Guantanamo Bay, the Cour de Cassation  the highest French jurisdiction  recognized that former president of the United States George W. Bush and various government officials were in fact likely to have participated, as authors or accomplices in the alleged crimes of torture and arbitrary detention in the context of the counter-terrorism operations following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

However, and no matter how serious, these crimes are, according to the French court, to be considered as falling within the exercise of state sovereignty (also called acts of state) which in the case of state agents and given the state of international law () do not constitute exceptions to the principle of immunity from jurisdiction.

The principle of immunity is the main and most controversial obstacle to prosecution. It is justified by either the nature of the crime or the official function (in the sense of organs and entities that constitute the emanation of the state) of the alleged perpetrator, the main criteria being whether or not the acts can be considered as the expression of state sovereignty versus mere acts of management. In line with that reasoning, immunity was denied in France in a 2015 case filed by Transparency International against the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea who had been charged with money laundering and corruption, acts considered as committed for personal purposes . Paradoxically, in the case of Rwandese national Pascal Simbikangwa, no immunity was ever considered.

Filed in November 2002 by French lawyer WiIliam Bourdon, the Guantanamo case went through several phases: from clear reluctance to investigate, to serious efforts to move it forward, despite the open resistance of the US administration to cooperate. Bourdon was later joined by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Centre for Constitutional Rights which have been proactively engaged in similar strategic litigations in other European countries (including in France against Donald Rumsfeld) as well as before the International Criminal Court. The Cour de Cassation considered that further investigation and collection of evidence about the Bush administrations interrogation and detention policies was not necessary since they cannot be prosecuted or indicted or subjected to arrest warrants. The issue of whether the two French ex-detainees the right to a fair trial has been violated is being taken to the European Court of Human Rights.

The 2021 French ruling is in blatant contradiction with the now well-established rule of customary international law that immunity should not extend to international crimes such as torture. This is a norm of international law from which there should be no derogation under any circumstances.

As the US prosecutor Robert Jackson pleaded on 21 November 1945 before the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg, the idea that a state, any more than a corporation, commits crime, is a fiction. Crimes are always committed only by persons It is quite intolerable to let such a legalism become the basis of personal immunity Modern civilization puts unlimited weapons of destruction in the hands of men. It cannot tolerate so vast an area of legal irresponsibility.

Acts of torture, as the 1999 Pinochet case reaffirmed, shall never be considered as being committed in the official capacity of a Head of State, and their alleged perpetration is sufficient to dismiss any immunity because the offenders are common enemies of all mankind and all nations have an equal interest in their apprehension and prosecution. Similarly, before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal, Hissene Habre was indicted and later convicted for crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes even though his crimes were committed while he was the sitting head of state of Chad.

Ruling that acts of torture fall within the remit of sovereign acts-of-state is simply appalling.

Germany will not be a safe haven

While the highest French jurisdiction was granting immunity to former state officials alleged to have ordered the commission of torture, a few days later, on 28 January 2021 the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) found that, on the contrary, state officials do not enjoy immunity from foreign criminal jurisdictions for war crimes and other crimes under international law.

The BGH was asked to decide whether the court could rule on acts committed by a defendant in the exercise of foreign sovereign activity, in this case an Afghan military officer alleged to have mistreated three captured Taliban fighters during interrogation and had the body of a Taliban commander hung up like a trophy.

To take an informed decision, the German Court analysed the current state of international law vis-a-vis jurisdictional immunities, including a 2012 decision of the Swiss Federal Court which found that former Algerian defence minister Khaled Nezzar did not enjoy functional immunity for torture and crimes against humanity, and similar cases in Belgium and Spain illustrating that holding an official function is not an impediment to prosecution.

The German Court upheld that the act-of-state doctrine does not apply to international crimes, reiterating the Adolf Eichman decision of the Supreme Court of Israel which using the Nuremberg Principles, held that the act of State doctrine did not preclude criminal liability for violations of international law, in particular for international crimes such as crimes against humanity. The German court concluded: Germany was not, is not and will not be a safe haven for individuals who have committed crimes against the international community.

In light of the above, the French ruling is archaic and contrary to customary international law. In what appears to be an opportunistic call to support its conservative views, the French court indicated that: It is up to the international community to set the eventual limits of this principle [jurisdictional immunity] in the face of other values recognized by this community, including the prohibition of torture. With a new session of the United Nations International Law Commission under way during which states are to discuss the immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, it should strongly be reaffirmed that functional immunity does not protect state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction in respect of international crimes  genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial executions.
Gov. DeSantis Signs Law That Bans Gun Regulation by Local Governments

Amidst local governments legal battle with the State of Florida over a gun law, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would expand the prohibition on local firearm regulations.

The bill, known as Senate Bill 1884, was signed on May 7 and will take effect on July 1.

It will fortify a law from 2011 that has the potential to make local governments pay up to $100,000 in damages for enforcing firearm regulations. Additionally, local officials could face $5,000 in fines and possible removal if they pass gun regulations.

The final outcome of the ongoing legal battle could be determined by the Supreme Court of Florida.

The bill signed by DeSantis would expand the 2011 law by allowing legal action for unwritten local directives that disregard measures for gun regulation preemption.

Preemption in law refers to the concept of a higher jurisdiction displacing the law of a lower one when both are in conflict.

Additionally, local authorities might face damages and attorney fees if they alter firearm policies after the legal cases are filed.

Local government legal representatives filed a motion last month asking the 1st District Court of Appeal to transfer primary points in the case to the Supreme Court, two weeks after the Tallahassee-based appeals court upheld the 2011 laws constitutionality.

Thousands of elected officials, irrespective of political party, in hundreds of local governments throughout the state, take oaths of office to serve the public good and represent their constituents; and they do so believing that their quintessentially legislative act of voting in favor of an ordinance will not subject them to either liability or a judicial inquisition into their motives, the introduction of the motion (pdf) states in part.

In light of the questions of great public importance at issue in subjecting such public servants to dissection of thought and motive in fulfilling their legislative obligation to vote, it is appropriate for the Florida Supreme Court to reconcile the competing constitutional interests in this case, to weigh the pronouncements of the U.S. Supreme Court on the importance of local legislative immunity, and to decide whether the Legislatures desire to punish local elected officials can survive that inquiry.

Rep. Cord Byrd, (R-Neptune Beach), who was the House sponsor of SB 1884, said during a floor debate on April 28 that the measure is necessary to secure Second Amendment rights, reported SunSentinel.

Byrd said that the measure intends to send a message to local governments.

I brought this forward so that local governments will once and for all stop violating the rights and stop wasting taxpayer money, Byrd said.

Democrats, however, contended that local governments ought not to be penalized for attempting to restrain mass shooting incidents, such as the 2016 Pulse nightclub incident in Orlando.

If the state doesnt want to take any action against the gun lobby, stop prohibiting local governments from doing that, Rep. Anna Eskamani, (D-Orlando) remarked during the debate.
Indore: As many as 2,118 branches of 10 public sector banks have either been closed or merged with other banks in the last fiscal, according to an RTI reply.

The highest number of 1,283 branches of Bank of Baroda were either closed or merged, according to information provided to an RTI query filed by Neemuch-based activist Chandrashekhar Gaud.

No branch of Bank of India and UCO bank was closed in the last fiscal. The government consolidated ten PSU banks into four in the last financial year, bringing the number of nationalised banks to 12.

All India Bank Employees Association general secretary CH Venkatachalam said a dip in the number of the public sector banks was not in the interest of the banking industry and domestic economy.

He said there was a need to expand the branches of the banks to cater to the vast population in the country.

Bringing down the number of bank branches has reduced employment opportunities in the banking sector following which the young people were frustrated, Venkatachalam added.

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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Connecticut officials on Monday proposed an additional $280 million in funding for nursing homes in an effort to avoid strikes by nearly 4,000 health workers that are set to begin Friday if negotiations fail.

Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont's budget director, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw, sent letters to labor union and industry officials outlining the proposed funding, which includes $149.5 million for 4.5% wage increases for nurses, aides and other nursing home workers in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years.

Weve got an aggressive proposal on the table because theres nothing more important than taking care of our seniors, and I hope to God the nurses are there to do it," Lamont said Monday.

McCaw sent the letters to the Service Employees International Unions District 1199 New England, which represents about 5,000 nursing home workers in Connecticut, and the presidents of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and LeadingAge Connecticut, which represent nursing homes and other health care facilities around the state.

There was no immediate response from the union or the two industry groups.

The Lamont administrations proposed funding package also includes a temporary 10% Medicaid rate increase from July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, totaling $85.8 million. In addition, the state would increase funding by $19.5 million for pension enhancements for workers, $13 million for worker training and $12.5 million for hazard pay for workers.

If there are strikes, plans are in the works to send in replacement employees. Negotiations are ongoing.

More than 3,400 workers at 33 Connecticut nursing homes are ready to strike beginning Friday if demands for better wages, benefits and staffing ratios arent met. Union officials said Monday that 600 additional workers at another six nursing homes have voted to strike beginning May 28.

Also Monday, District 1199 New England and Yale Law School released a report saying Connecticut's nursing home workers continue to struggle with severe staffing shortages, a lack of protective equipment and low pay during the coronavirus pandemic.

They called for more Medicaid money and other funding to address what they said was a long-standing underfunding problem. They also said state officials haven't done enough to hold nursing homes accountable for violating COVID-19 protocols and guidance.

The report, titled We Were Abandoned: How Connecticut Failed Nursing Home Workers and Residents During The COVID-19 Pandemic, was written by Yale Law School students for District 1199 New England.

These workers risk their lives and the lives of their loved ones back home to care for these residents in unsafe conditions and for low pay, Yale student Aaron Bryce Lee said during a news conference held by video conference Monday. The state must make the financial investments necessary to improve compensation, benefits and staffing levels.

Matthew Barrett, president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, a group of 150 skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities, said Monday that he could not comment on the Yale report because he was still reviewing it.

Barrett has previously said his members have been sounding an alarm bell to the General Assembly and Lamonts office for the urgent need for a significant increase in funding to address decades of underfunding in Medicaid payments and the increased costs from the pandemic.

Out of the more than 8,100 Connecticut residents who have died from COVID-19 during the pandemic, nearly 3,900 were nursing home residents. Sixteen District 1199 New England union workers also have died, said Jesse Martin, a vice president at the union.

Nursing home workers need to be recognized for their sacrifices, need to be put in a position where they live a life outside of poverty," Martin said during Monday's news conference.

A bill now before state lawmakers would increase minimum staffing level requirements at nursing homes and mandate them to maintain a three-month supply of personal protective equipment, among other measures.

The Yale students also said the state has done little to hold nursing homes accountable for health care violations. A review of Public Health Department citations during the pandemic showed 34 COVID-19-related violations at nursing homes and an average fine of less than $2,900, significantly below the allowed maximum fine.

The review also showed there were no records of citations or fines for another 170 nursing homes where nearly 3,400 residents died, the report said.

Responding to the report's claims about oversight, Lamont said the state has been really strict and really firm with nursing homes in terms of fines if they were not following the protocols."

The report cited low wages for many nursing home workers. Nurse's aides in Connecticut, for example, earn a median wage of $16.19, while the median wage for entry level workers is $13.71.

Tanya Beckford, a nurse's aide at Newington Rapid Recovery Rehab Center, said it will be difficult for the nursing home workers to strike because they care about the residents.

Everything we want to do is to make sure that theyre getting the best quality of care because thats what they deserve and thats what theyre paying for, she said at the news conference. As for us, we are just so tired right now. Its just so exhausting every single day to go in there and having to take care 15 to 17 residents.
Ex-Australia Post boss Christine Holgate has been appointed chief executive of rival multibillion-dollar parcel business Global Express, but says she will carry a life-long scar over her controversial exit from the postal service.

Ms Holgate is seeking an apology from the Australia Post board over its handling of the Cartier watches saga but wants no financial compensation, with a resolution now in sight after the parties agreed last week to enter mediation to resolve their issues.

Christine Holgate has been named CEO of parcels businesses Global Express, a major rival to Australia Post. Credit:Simon Schluter

Announcing her new role on Monday, one week after her non-compete with Australia Post expired, Ms Holgate said she was excited to be back working in the parcels business.

I am really excited about it and I want to look forward. Ive spent six months having to look backwards, she said on Monday.
Restrictions on Foreign Students Work Hours Lifted to Support Tourism and Hospitality Sector

The federal government announced it would support Australias tourism and hospitality industry by offering visa flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The existing work hour limits for student visa holders currently at 40 hours fortnightlywill be lifted for those employed in the tourism and hospitality industry. There are currently about 350,000 student visa holders in Australia.

Temporary visa holders working in or intending to work in the tourism and hospitality industry will also be able to apply for the 408 COVID-19 Pandemic Event Visa 90 days before their existing visa expires.

The 408 COVID-19 Pandemic Event Visa lasts for a period of 12 months and is already open to key industries of agriculture, food processing, health care, aged care, disability care, and child care.

While the international border closure has dealt a severe blow to the tourism and hospitality industry, it has also resulted in the loss of a large number of student visa holders and backpackers (working holiday visa holders), a group that had long been a steady labour source for the sector, especially in regional hotspots.

Government has listened carefully to the States, Territories, and industry and is introducing these changes to support critical sectors for Australias COVID-19 economic recovery, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said in a statement on Saturday.

Tourism and hospitality employ more than half a million Australians, and these changes will allow them to supplement their existing workforce to keep their businesses running in addition to generating employment through a job multiplier effect.

I am continuing to take feedback and advice from a range of sectors and will make further announcements on temporary visa flexibility measures and priority skills in the near future, he said.

The news about the visas comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned on Sunday that the Australian border would remain closed for a long time. He said he had no idea when immigrants can return, considering that the COVID-19 pandemic is now a medium-term challenge rather than a short-term one.

International borders will only open when it is safe to do so. We still have a long way to go, and there are still many uncertainties ahead, Morrison said.
New York: Top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline shut its entire network, the source of nearly half of the U.S. East Coast`s fuel supply, after a cyber attack on Friday (May 7) that involved ransomware.

The incident is one of the most disruptive digital ransom operations ever reported and has drawn attention to how vulnerable US energy infrastructure is to hackers. A prolonged shutdown of the line would cause prices to spike at gasoline pumps ahead of peak summer driving season, a potential blow to U.S. consumers and the economy.

"This is as close as you can get to the jugular of infrastructure in the United States," said Amy Myers Jaffe, research professor and managing director of the Climate Policy Lab. "It`s not a major pipeline. It`s the pipeline."

Colonial transports 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, and other fuels through 5,500 miles (8,850 km) of pipelines linking refiners on the Gulf Coast to the eastern and southern United States. It also serves some of the country`s largest airports, including Atlanta`s Hartsfield Jackson Airport, the world`s busiest by passenger traffic.

The company said it shut down its operations after learning of a cyberattack on Friday using ransomware. "Colonial Pipeline is taking steps to understand and resolve this issue. At this time, our primary focus is the safe and efficient restoration of our service and our efforts to return to normal operation," it said.

While the U.S. government investigation is in its early stages, one former official and two industry sources said the hackers are likely a professional cybercriminal group. The former official said investigators are looking at a group dubbed "DarkSide," known for deploying ransomware and extorting victims while avoiding targets in post-Soviet states. Ransomware is a type of malware designed to lock down systems by encrypting data and demanding payment to regain access.

Colonial said it had engaged a cybersecurity firm to help the investigation and contacted law enforcement and federal agencies.

The cybersecurity industry sources said cybersecurity firm FireEye was brought in to respond to the attack. FireEye declined to comment. U.S. government bodies, including the FBI, said they were aware of the situation but did not yet have details of who was behind the attack. President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident on Saturday morning, a White House spokesperson said, adding that the government is working to try to help the company restore operations and prevent supply disruptions.

The Department of Energy said it was monitoring potential impacts to the nation`s energy supply, while both the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Transportation Security Administration told Reuters they were working on the situation.

"We are engaged with the company and our interagency partners regarding the situation. This underscores the threat that ransomware poses to organizations regardless of size or sector," said Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director of the cybersecurity division at CISA.

Colonial did not give further details or say how long its pipelines would be shut. The privately held, Georgia-based company is owned by CDPQ Colonial Partners L.P., IFM (US) Colonial Pipeline 2 LLC, KKR-Keats Pipeline Investors L.P., Koch Capital Investments Company LLC and Shell Midstream Operating LLC.

"Cybersecurity vulnerabilities have become a systemic issue," said Algirde Pipikaite, cyber strategy lead at the World Economic Forum`s Centre for Cybersecurity.

"Unless cybersecurity measures are embedded in a technology`s development phase, we are likely to see more frequent attacks on industrial systems like oil and gas pipelines or water treatment plants," Pipikaite added.

Pump Price worries

The American Automobile Association said a prolonged outage of the line could trigger increases in gas prices at the pumps, a worry for consumers ahead of summer driving season.

A shutdown lasting four or five days, for example, could lead to sporadic outages at fuel terminals along the U.S. East Coast that depend on the pipeline for deliveries, said Andrew Lipow, president of consultancy Lipow Oil Associates.

After the shutdown was first reported on Friday, gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 0.6% while diesel futures rose 1.1%, both outpacing gains in crude oil. Gulf Coast cash prices for gasoline and diesel edged lower on prospects that supplies could accumulate in the region.

"As every day goes by, it becomes a greater and greater impact on Gulf Coast oil refining," said Lipow. "Refiners would have to react by reducing crude processing because they`ve lost part of the distribution system."

Oil refining companies contacted by Reuters on Saturday said their operations had not yet been impacted.

Kinder Morgan Inc, meanwhile, said its Products (SE) Pipe Line Corporation (PPL) serving many of the same regions remains in full service.

PPL is currently working with customers to accommodate additional barrels during Colonial`s downtime, it said. PPL can deliver about 720,000 bpd of fuel through its pipeline network from Louisiana to the Washington, D.C., area.

The American Petroleum Institute, a top oil industry trade group, said it was monitoring the situation.

Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska and a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the cyberattack was a wake-up call for U.S. lawmakers.

"This is a play that will be run again, and we`re not adequately prepared," he said, adding Congress should pass an infrastructure plan that hardens sectors against these attacks.

Colonial previously shut down its gasoline and distillate lines during Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2017. That contributed to tight supplies and gasoline price rises in the United States after the hurricane forced many Gulf refineries to shut down.

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A poll worker talks to a voter before they vote on a paper ballot on Election Day in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Brynn Anderson, File/AP Photo)

Kansas Sheriffs Office Still Probing 12 Claims of 2020 Election Fraud

The Shawnee County Sheriffs Office in Kansas confirmed last week that its still investigating claims of voter fraud from the 2020 election.

Twelve cases are being investigated, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal, which cited Deputy Abigail Christian, the sheriffs office spokesperson; she said she couldnt release more details about the investigations.

State Rep. Vic Miller, a Democrat, had asked Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay to look into the alleged election fraud, noting that 12 people had listed UPS stores and other businesses in Topeka as their places of residence.

Andrew Howell, the Shawnee County election commissioner, said that he doesnt recall anyone contacting him or the election office about election fraud but said his office is trying to clean up the list. He added that using a UPS address or business address doesnt necessarily mean there was election fraud involved, according to the Journal.

There are situations that do occur where people are allowed to use unusual addresses, Howell said. It doesnt on its face alone prove anything.

The sheriffs office didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

In Pennsylvania, several people recently have been charged with election fraud stemming from the Nov. 3 election, including two women in Bucks County who allegedly cast ballots on behalf of their deceased mothers. District Attorney Matthew Weintraub told news outlets that the incidents are isolated and said there was no evidence of widespread or systematic election fraud here in Bucks County.

Two weeks ago, a Delaware County man identified as 70-year-old Bruce Bartman pleaded guilty and admitted he made a stupid mistake when he cast a ballot for his deceased mother.

Since the November election, some GOP state legislatures have passed laws to strengthen the rules around absentee and mail-in ballots. That includes Floridas legislature, which last week approved a bill that provides more regulations for ballot drop boxes as well as more identification requirements for voters who request a mail-in ballot, while Texass state House passed a similar bill on May 7.

Immediately after the Florida bill was signed into law, Democratic lawyers and other groups filed several lawsuits challenging the measure as unconstitutional.
JERUSALEM (AP)  For weeks now, Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have clashed on a daily basis in and around Jerusalem's Old City, home to major religious sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims and the emotional epicenter of the Middle East conflict.

Jerusalem has been the scene of violent confrontations between Jews and Arabs for 100 years and remains one of the most bitterly contested cities on earth. The latest clashes began a month ago with an Israeli move to block some Palestinian gatherings at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities. After those restrictions eased, tensions over a plan to evict dozens of Palestinians from an east Jerusalem neighborhood continued to fuel confrontations.

On Monday, stun grenades echoed across a holy hilltop compound, and hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes between stone-throwing protesters and police firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Police were also injured.

Here's a look at why Jerusalem always seems to be on edge  and what set off the latest round of violence.

CAPITAL OF TWO PEOPLES

Israel views Jerusalem as its unified, eternal capital. It had captured east Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians want those territories for their future state, with east Jerusalem serving as their eventual capital. But Israel annexed the eastern part of the city in a move not recognized internationally.

The fate of east Jerusalem has been one of the thorniest issues in the peace process, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago.

Israelis on Monday were set to mark Jerusalem Day, a national holiday celebrating the annexation. In past years, thousands of Israelis  mainly religious nationalists  have marched through the Old City, including the densely populated Muslim Quarter, in a display considered provocative by many Palestinians.

In recent days, hard-line Israelis have staged other events in east Jerusalem, leading to scattered, violent altercations with Palestinians.

___

THE HOLY HILLTOP

Monday's clashes took place in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City. The mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam and sits on a sprawling plateau that is also home to the iconic golden Dome of the Rock. Muslims refer to the compound as the Noble Sanctuary.

The walled plateau is also the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, because it was the location of biblical temples. Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D., with only the Western Wall remaining. The mosques were built centuries later.

Neighboring Jordan serves as the custodian of the site, which is operated by an Islamic endowment known as the Waqf. The site is open to tourists during certain times but only Muslims are allowed to pray there. The Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray.

In recent years, groups of religious and nationalist Jews escorted by police have been visiting the compound in greater numbers and holding prayers in defiance of rules established after 1967 by Israel, Jordan and Muslim religious authorities. The Palestinians view the frequent visits and attempted prayers by Jews as a provocation, and it often ignites scuffles or more serious violence.

Some Israelis say the site should be open to all worshippers. The Palestinians refuse, fearing that Israel will eventually take over the site or partition it. Israeli officials say they have no intention of changing the status quo.

___

DISCRIMINATORY POLICIES

Jews born in east Jerusalem are Israeli citizens, while Palestinians from east Jerusalem are granted a form of permanent residency that can be revoked if they live outside the city for an extended period. They can apply for citizenship, but it's a long and uncertain process and most choose not to because they don't recognize Israeli control.

Israel has built Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem that are home to some 220,000 people. It has severely limited the growth of Palestinian neighborhoods, leading to overcrowding and the unauthorized construction of thousands of homes that are at risk of demolition.

The Israeli rights group B'Tselem and the New York-based Human Rights Watch cited the discriminatory policies in east Jerusalem in recent reports arguing that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid. Israel rejects those allegations, saying Jerusalem residents are treated equally.

___

THREATENED EVICTIONS

The recent nightly clashes began at the start of Ramadan, when Israeli police placed barriers outside the Old Citys Damascus Gate, a popular gathering place after the evening prayers during the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. They later removed the barriers, but then protests escalated over the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The families have been embroiled in a long legal battle with ideological Jewish settlers who seek to acquire property in crowded Palestinian neighborhoods just outside the Old City. Israel portrays it as a private real-estate dispute, but the families' plight has attracted global attention.

___

WIDER UNREST

Clashes in Jerusalem, and particularly in Al-Aqsa, often reverberate across the region.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, has called for a new intifada, or uprising, like the one triggered by an Israeli politician's visit to Al-Aqsa in 2000. Gaza militants have fired rockets and balloons with incendiary devices attached to them in support of the protesters as an informal cease-fire with Israel has started to fray.

Protests have been held in the occupied West Bank and in Arab communities inside Israel. A series of deadly shootings in the West Bank last week has also heightened tensions.

Jordan and other Arab nations that have friendly ties with Israel have condemned its crackdown on the protests, while Israel's archenemy Iran has encouraged Palestinian attacks. The U.S. and the EU have condemned the violence and expressed concern about the evictions.
Press Release

May 10, 2021 De Lima alarmed over recent incidents of cybersex trafficking involving youths; renews call to investigate child cybersex abuse in PH Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has renewed her call for a Senate review into the status of implementation of existing laws on protecting children from abuses as she expressed alarm over continued incidents of cybersex trafficking involving Filipino youth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. De Lima, a staunch anti-human trafficking advocate, lamented how suspects are taking advantage of the community quarantine and the current health crisis to exploit children. "Dahil sa lumulubha pang kahirapan na dala ng pandemya, maraming pamilyang Pilipino ang nahuhulog sa patibong ng pag-abuso sa internet para kumita. Sa kasawiang palad, ang mga inosenteng bata ang nabibiktima ng sekswal na pang-aabusong ito ng sarili pa nilang mga kapamilya, lalo pa't nasa bahay lang ang mga kabataan at mas maraming oras ang mga mapagsamantala sa panahong ito ng krisis," she said. "The proliferation of cases of child cybersex abuses in the country requires serious attention and response from the government that is why I urge my esteemed colleagues in the Senate to act with dispatch on my proposed Senate Resolution No. 201, which I filed as early as 2019, urging Congress to review the status of implementation of existing laws on protecting children from abuses," she added. Based on media reports, up to 14 minors were rescued when the PNP-Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit-Bicol raided a cybersex den in Camarines Sur last May 7. PLt. Angelo Babagay, team leader of the Camarines Sur Cyber Crime Response Team of the PNP-Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit-Bicol, confirmed that the youths recruited in the online child pornography operation by four suspected residents of Barangay San Antonio ranged in age from 2 to 17 years old. The victims rescued were apparently children and nephews of the suspects. Babagay said they seized pornographic materials and electronic gadgets allegedly used in cybersex and online pornography, as well as money transfer receipts which showed that suspects earn around 5,000 per transaction, saying "Bibigyan lang kung magkano [ang] bata. Ang nag-profit itong mga suspect person." While De Lima lauded the PNP-Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit-Bicol for rescuing the minors, she stressed that a Senate investigation into the cases of cybersex trafficking in the country is necessary as it could lead to possible legislation imposing stiffer penalty and heftier fines against sexual predators. "I am relieved to know that the PNP-Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit-Bicol managed to rescue these innocent minors, but our fight against cyber child sex abuse should not end there," she said. "The pervasive problem of child abuse and sex trafficking in the Philippines calls urgently for more vigilant, tougher and higher penalties to eradicate this growing industry of child exploitation through cyber pornography in the country and consequently ensure that offenders are held accountable, and due justice is delivered to children," she added. In filing SR No. 201, De Lima urged the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality to inquire into the unabated proliferation of child cybersex abuses in the country. The said resolution remains pending in the Committee. This 18th Congress, De Lima also filed Senate Bill No. 621 requiring commercial establishments and public institutions to use appropriate filtering devices that will restrict children's access to harmful materials in the internet. When she was justice secretary, De Lima chaired the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to coordinate efforts in implementing laws against human trafficking, including all forms of sexual exploitation, which resulted in the country's attainment of the Tier 1 Status in the annual United States Trafficking in Persons Report in 2016.
Minister Byrne attends virtual launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg

Press release

The Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, T.D., attended the virtual/in person hybrid official launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg.

Minister Byrne said I am delighted to be part of the launch of The Conference on the Future of Europe today, May 9th, which is Europe Day. I hope this will be the start of a real and active citizen led discussion across the EU and across the island of Ireland.

The Conference on the Future of Europe will include a range of events across the EU aimed at promoting greater citizen involvement. It will provide all EU citizens with an opportunity to consider the challenges the European Union faces and our policy priorities in addressing them together. Europe cannot recover from the COVID-19 crisis without the support and trust of its citizens.

An EU-wide Multilingual Digital Platform has been launched as part of the Conference. This portal is available in English and Irish and all EU citizens, including those living in Northern Ireland can take part. The platform can be accessed at Conference on the Future of Europe (https://futureu.europa.eu/). The platform will allow citizens from across the EU to engage directly and have their say on the topics that they consider important for the future of the EU. It will enable EU citizens to put forward their ideas, comment on other peoples ideas, create and participate in events and the platform will also act as a central hub where all contributions to the Conference will be brought together and shared.

Minister Byrne said:

In Ireland, we have a positive record of direct engagement with citizens through the Citizens Dialogues and the Citizens Assembly. I hope to build on this engagement throughout the Conference and welcome the opportunities this platform can provide to facilitate this. The Conference on the Future of Europe will be the voice of the people setting out our vision of Europe for the next generation. I encourage everyone to engage with the platform and submit your ideas and suggestions. I look forward to announcing our own plans for the Conference here in Ireland at the official Department of Foreign Affairs launch on Friday, 14th May.

ENDS

Press Office

9 May 2021

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Carbon emissions in the retail industry have dropped by almost half since 2005, according to new figures.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that emissions among major retailers had fallen by 49 per cent, with retail store emissions declining by 46 per cent, while they plummeted by 84 per cent for store deliveries.

By contrast, the transport sector saw emissions decrease by only 43 per cent between 2005 and 2020 when controlled by growth, but only 15 per cent in absolute terms.

Shopping well: The BRC currently estimates that the British retail sector contributes 215 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually across its value chain

The retail industry's reduction in emissions represents a near doubling on the sector's target to cut emissions by a quarter by 2020 and means the sector is far closer to achieving its goal to be net zero by 2040.

That objective forms part of the BRC's climate action plan, which it announced last year, and also contains aims for UK retailers to decarbonise their electricity use by 2030 and their deliveries by the middle of next decade.

The BRC currently estimates that the retail sector contributes 215 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually across its value chain, giving it a higher carbon footprint than all UK households and road transport.

Food, drink and tobacco are the largest emitters of any retail subsector due to the large level of grocery sales, being responsible for 62 per cent of all emissions, followed by homeware goods, electricals, and clothing.

Major retailers who have signed up to the BRC's plan include leading supermarkets Marks & Spencer and Ocado, apparel sellers Primark and Asos, and electricals retailer Dixons Carphone.

Peter Andrews, head of sustainability at the BRC, said: 'It's a fantastic achievement to have halved greenhouse gases from our stores and lorries in little over a decade.

Ocado are among the major retailers who support the BRC's Climate Action Roadmap

'However, we recognise we can do much more by helping drive decarbonisation across our supply chains and supporting our customers, the British public, to live lower carbon lifestyles through the products they buy. Our climate action road map sets out our path to net-zero operations and supply chains by 2040.'

To decarbonise, the BRC's roadmap sets out five 'pathways' for action: low-carbon logistics, heavy use of greenhouse gas emissions data, sustainable sourcing, the decarbonising of retail sites and help for employees to lead a more low-carbon lifestyle.

To try and deliver these sustainability targets, the trade organisation has also announced that Co-op chief Steve Murrells will now chair the steering group for the road map.

The group includes CEOs and senior executives of leading retailers, including major grocers Sainsbury's and Iceland, Ikea, Mountain Warehouse, and home furnishings seller Dunelm.

Mr Murrells said: 'Global society is facing a monumental climate crisis, entirely of its own making. We must all recognise that we are in part responsible and that we all have to do more to foster change and do it more quickly.

'The global response to the pandemic has shown us what we can achieve when the need is great and urgent enough. The required levels of co-operation needed to tackle climate change are unprecedented, and the BRC road map will help unify UK retailers around a common purpose.'
AstraZeneca and the Oxford vaccine may be the toast of great swathes of the United Kingdom, but the Citys governance mavens take a different view.

The fact that chief executive Pascal Soriot grasped the nettle and developed a cost price, easily stored and transported vaccine for the whole world has done it no good with advisory services, which monitor pay in the boardroom, or the precious UK long funds.

Both groups are proving unwilling to look through the companys pay report in the light of the gift to humanity or advances in the groups share price.

Covid fight: AstraZeneca chief exec Pascal Soriotn faces a shareholder vote on his potential 18m pay

When the votes on rewards and in particular Soriots potential 18million pay in the current year are totted up at todays annual general meeting a substantial minority, perhaps 40 per cent to 50 per cent, will have cast their vote against.

There wont be as big a revolt as that at Rio Tinto last week. But given the contrasting contributions of the shamed mining company executives and Soriot to the world it seems an unnecessary punishment.

The only saving grace is that the French chief executive will be unanimously re-elected. What appears to have caused most dissonance at the Investment Association (IA), whose members manage some 8.5 trillion of assets, is that the remuneration panel moved the goalposts two years in a row.

That triggered 15.4million in 2020 and even more this time with the prospective bonus rising from 550 per cent of salary to 650 per cent.

AZ chairman Leif Johansson, who is seeking an extra year in office, backed the uplift for Soriot knowing he had been dissatisfied with his salary package for some time. He wanted to make sure that Soriot remains in place and his achievements are recognised.

Soriots performance and that of AZ shares can be contrasted with that at the UKs other big pharma group Glaxosmithkline where the chief executive Emma Walmsley is under siege from vulture activists Elliott Management over a slipping valuation.

Among those thought to have voted against Soriots pay is Aviva, which was at the head of the queue when it came to dissing the recent float of Deliveroo.

Soriot made errors in the pandemic by not addressing European and US concerns about the vaccine and delivery schedules urgently enough.

But his contribution to Britain has been immeasurable. He led the battle against a government-encouraged takeover by Pfizer in 2014 at 55-per-share.

The shares are now trading at 77. He has built an open access 1billion pharmaceutical research centre in Cambridge and AZ has been at the forefront in development of cancer fighting immunology drugs.

The IA and advisory groups such as Glass Lewis feel that they cannot give anyone a free pass on pay for fear that greedy executives will come flooding through the gates.

By being so inflexible on Soriots pay they are failing to acknowledge the public good created by AZ which overwhelms all else. Should the result of the vote rile Soriot and lead him to reconsider his future, it will not just be AZ which pays the price but Britain.

That is barmy.

Door stop

The end of high interest, doorstep lending might seem a decent development. In recent times Provident Financial has not covered itself in glory.

The switch from local agents familiar to hard-pressed customers, many of them women, to direct employees and a more digital approach left it open to challenge by claims management firms.

It made Provident an easy target for complainants who found a willing ally in the Financial Ombudsman Service. The decision (as foreshadowed here) to cut and run isnt good for anyone.

It opens the door to more abusive lenders, less regulated, less transparent and often violent. From now on, the Provvy intends to focus on its banking/credit card operation Vanquis which offers services to borrowers without credit ratings.

That leaves those at the very bottom of the socio-economic ladder exposed. That is not a welcome outcome.

La-la Land

The grand dame of UK property Land Securities is not giving up on central London.

It has decided to press ahead with the second stage of its Nova development in the citys Victoria area, adding a 160,000 sq ft of new office space.

It includes public amenities such as 15 fantastic terraces and a community lounge. We shouldnt read the last rites for big cities just yet.
A homeless man faces charges after police said he broke into a Clarks Summit business Saturday morning.

Police responded to Imagine NEPA, 320 S. State St., around 7:45 a.m. after the owners told officers their video system recorded someone entering the building around 3 a.m.

When police found Dennis James Melia, 39, inside the business, he told them he needed a place to sleep Friday night because it was cold and rainy.

Police said Melia appeared to enter the back of the building through an unlocked door into a common hallway.

He then pried open the door to the children's theater, which was locked, and made himself a place to sleep, police said.

Police said Melia tore insulation from the structure to use as a blanket and urinated into a full five-gallon pail of paint.

Melia was charged with criminal trespass and criminal mischief.

He remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $7,500 straight bail. A preliminary hearing is set for May 19.
In a still image from body-camera footage, a man identified by the FBI as Frederico Klein, right, clashes with law enforcement officers outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (FBI)

DOJ Plans to Offer Plea Deal to Trump Appointee Charged in Capitol Breach

The Department of Justice plans to offer a plea deal to a Trump appointee who was charged in the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors said on May 10.

We expect to extend a plea offer to Mr. Klein. Its not clear whether thats something hes interested in, but we do expect to extend it to allow him to consider it, a prosecutor told the court in a remote hearing.

Federico Klein, appointed by then-President Donald Trump to a position at the State Department, is accused of assaulting law enforcement officers during the tumult in Washington in early January.

Stanley Woodward Jr., a lawyer for the defendant, didnt indicate in the hearing whether Klein is open to accepting a plea deal; Woodward didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The status hearing was brief, and it primarily involved updating District Court Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, on minor matters. The government, for example, told the judge that it has provided Klein with the complete contents of his specific FBI file and the body-camera footage from the officer who came into contact with him.

Significant discovery in the case is ongoing and will be provided to Klein, according to a prosecutor, who requested another status hearing in 30 days to give the government time to work through the discovery. Woodward didnt oppose the request as his defendant reviews the materials hes been given.

Discovery will likely not be forthcoming in some of the cases until late summer or early fall, Bates said, which could create some problems with respect to some of these cases.

Whether this is one of them or not, I dont know. Well cross that bridge when we come to it, he said, before agreeing to schedule another status hearing next month.

The interests of justice outweigh the interests of the defendant and the public for a speedy trial, the judge ruled, after making sure neither the defense nor prosecution opposed an approximately 30-day period until another hearing.

Klein attended the virtual hearing and only spoke to say he was present. He was warned to continue complying with the conditions of Batess previous order of release.

Klein was arrested on March 4 and released from custody on April 12. Bates ruled that Kleins conduct on Jan. 6 does not approach the high end of the spectrum of violence that occurred and was threatened that day.

According to court documents, Klein that day entered a tunnel that leads to a U.S. Capitol entrance, pushed his way to the front of a crowd, and physically and verbally engaged with the officers blocking the entrance, thereby affecting their ability to disperse the crowd.

Klein, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, was captured on bodyworn camera footage refusing to back up and shoving a shield toward officers, at one point placing the shield in between doors to prevent officers from closing them, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

Klein was charged with obstruction of justice, assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, and other charges.
WITH many people expected to staycation this year, Cork County Council has launched a new one-stop-shop tourism app, which details more than 850 places to see and things to do throughout County Cork.

The Explore Cork app is the first of its kind by any Local Authority in Ireland and allows users to browse tourism activities from a range of 850 attractions and 18 categories, which can be filtered by areas of interest such as beaches, visitor attractions, heritage sites, islands, arts and culture and more.

Explore Cork shines a spotlight on each of the countys main 23 towns, presenting local information and video footage to highlight the diverse range of tourism activities, amenities and often unfamiliar attractions within each town and its surrounding areas.

A dedicated Trails section offers extensive information on County Corks many spectacular walking trails.

The app is also linked to an extensive database of dining and accommodation options via the Pure Cork website.

The free app was developed following the success of the web-based Rediscover Cork County GIS Tourism Map, launched by the Council last summer.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey said the app will be instrumental in this critical stage of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, initially by encouraging people to realise the value of staying closer to home and enjoy the many outdoor activities throughout County Cork, and later on, as businesses re-open, by supporting the economies in our towns and villages and welcoming domestic tourists.

He added: Cork County Council developed this tool not only to assist in the recovery from the global pandemic, but also to further the ambitions of County Cork in the area of destination development. In the long term, this app will serve as a significant marketing asset in attracting the international visitor, placing Cork firmly on the map as a leading tourism destination in Europe.

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley said that the local authority will continue to develop the app and expand upon the range of attractions and categories.

The free Explore Cork app will be available to download on Android and iOS.
The Diocese of Scranton celebrated its annual Mothers Day Adoption Mass on Sunday at St. Peters Cathedral in Scranton. This liturgy recognizes all mothers, with a special emphasis on adoptive and foster mothers. Bishop Joseph C. Bambera was the principal celebrant and homilist. The diocese said the Mass reflects Pope Francis belief that humanity is built on mothers and that their love is a cure for a world often divided and filled with bitterness.
New York  New York is ending its residency requirement for Covid-19 vaccines, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

Anyone can now come to the state and get a shot, Cuomo said during a press conference in New York City.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week he wanted to roll out vaccine clinics for visiting tourists. The state approved, according to NBC New York.

Cuomo said today the residency requirement will end statewide.

Anyone from out of state can get a vaccine in New York, he said. If youre tourist and you come to New York, well give you a vaccine.

The moves comes as demand for Covid vaccines is falling in New York and throughout the rest of the nation. Anyone 16 and up can now get a shot in New York and the states mass vaccination sites are all taking walk-ins with no appointments required.

Cuomo announced new efforts today to try to boost the rate of shots in New York:

All State University of New York and City University of New York schools will require vaccines for in-person students before the fall semester. Cuomo is encouraging private colleges to do the same.

READ MORE: All SUNY schools to require Covid vaccines for in-person students in fall, Cuomo says

The state will run a pilot program this Wednesday through Sunday offering the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at several commuter rail and subway stations in the New York City area. Those who get shots at the stations will get free subway and train tickets.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Health care heroes: The public-health workers who quietly slowed the spread of Covid-19

Vaccine clinics bump 2 high school graduations from NY State Fairs Expo Center

Healthcare heroes: Voices of the caregivers who got us through Covid-19

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
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PROMOTIONS

Cynthia Mohler has been promoted by New Mexico Mutual to vice president of human resources and administration.

Mohler has more than 30 years of experience in human resources and administration. She previously served as director of New Mexico Mutuals human resources and oversaw the administration department since 2014, when she joined the company.

Before joining New Mexico Mutual, she was an employee benefits consultant with Dougher and Fridline, an Albuquerque insurance company. Prior to that she was vice president of administration at Albuquerques Molzen Corbin & Associates.

Mohler is certified as a Professional in Human Resources by the HR Certification Institute and as a SHRM Certified Professional by the Society for Human Resource Management.

A longtime New Mexico resident, Mohler is on the board of directors of the Society for Human Resource Managements New Mexico State Council. She previously served on the board of the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation.

APPLAUSE

Kimberly Parko, professor of creative writing at Institute of American Indian Arts, has been named the institutes 2020-21 Faculty of the Year.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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Parko joined the IAIA faculty in 2004 after spending 10 years as an educator in the public school system in Santa Fe and in Atlanta. Parko also spent two years as a humanitarian volunteer with the Peace Corps at the Mumias School for the Deaf in Kenya.

Parko holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design with a concentration in painting, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Bennington College with a concentration in poetry.

Items for consideration for Briefcase should be e-mailed to gporter@abqjournal.com.
N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP)  At the small hospital where Dr. Oumaima Djarma works in Chad's capital, there are no debates over which coronavirus vaccine is the best.

There are simply no vaccines at all.

Not even for the doctors and nurses like her, who care for COVID-19 patients in Chad, one of the least-developed nations in the world where about one third of the country is engulfed by the Sahara desert.

I find it unfair and unjust, and it is something that saddens me, the 33-year-old infectious diseases doctor says. I dont even have that choice. The first vaccine that comes along that has authorization, I will take it.

While wealthier nations have stockpiled vaccines for their citizens, many poorer countries are still scrambling to secure doses. A few, like Chad, have yet to receive any.

The World Health Organization says nearly a dozen countries  many of them in Africa  are still waiting to get vaccines. Those last in line on the continent along with Chad are Burkina Faso, Burundi, Eritrea and Tanzania.

Delays and shortages of vaccine supplies are driving African countries to slip further behind the rest of the world in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the continent now accounts for only 1% of the vaccines administered worldwide, WHO warned Thursday.

And in places where there are no vaccines, there's also the chance that new and concerning variants could emerge, said Gian Gandhi, UNICEFs COVAX coordinator for Supply Division.

So we should all be concerned about any lack of coverage anywhere in the world, Gandhi said, urging higher-income countries to donate doses to the nations that are still waiting.

While the total of confirmed COVID-19 cases among them is relatively low compared with the world's hot spots, health officials say that figure is likely a vast undercount: The countries in Africa still waiting for vaccines are among those least equipped to track infections because of their fragile health care systems.

Chad has confirmed only 170 deaths since the pandemic began, but efforts to stop the virus entirely here have been elusive. Although the capital's international airport was closed briefly last year, its first case came via someone who crossed one of Chad's porous land borders illegally.

Regular flights from Paris and elsewhere have resumed, heightening the chance of increasing the 4,835 already confirmed cases.

The Farcha provincial hospital in NDjamena is a gleaming new campus in an outlying neighborhood, where camels nibble from acacia trees nearby. Doctors Without Borders has helped supply oxygen for COVID-19 patients, and the hospital has 13 ventilators. The physicians also have plenty of Chinese-made KN95 masks and hand sanitizer. Still, not a single employee has been vaccinated and none has been told when that might be possible.

That was easier to accept at the beginning of the pandemic, Djarma said, because doctors all around the world lacked vaccines. That has changed dramatically after the development of shots in the West and by China and Russia that have gone to other poor African countries.

When I hear, for example, in some countries that they've finished with medical staff and the elderly and are now moving on to other categories, honestly, it saddens me, Djarma said. I ask them if they can provide us with these vaccines to at least protect the health workers.

Everyone dies from this disease, rich or poor, she says. Everyone must have the opportunity, the chance to be vaccinated, especially those who are most exposed."

COVAX, the U.N.-backed program to ship COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, is aimed at helping low- and middle-income countries get access. A few of the countries, though, including Chad, have expressed concerns about receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX for fear it might not protect as well against a variant first seen in South Africa.

Chad is expected to get some Pfizer doses next month if it can put in place the cold storage facilities needed to keep that vaccine safe in a country where temperatures soar each day to 43.5 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit).

Some of the last countries also took more time to meet the requirements for receiving doses, including signing indemnity waivers with manufacturers and having distribution plans in place.

Those delays, though, now mean an even longer wait for places like Burkina Faso, since a key vaccine manufacturer in India scaled back its global supply because of the catastrophic virus surge there.

"Now with global vaccine supply shortages, stemming in particular from the surge of cases in India and subsequently the Indian governments sequestration of doses from manufacturers there, Burkina Faso risks even longer delays in receiving the doses it was slated to get, said Donald Brooks, CEO of a U.S. aid group engaged in the COVID-19 response there known as Initiative: Eau.

Front-line health workers in Burkina Faso say theyre not sure why the government hasnt secured vaccines.

We would have liked to have had it like other colleagues around the world, says Chivanot Afavi, a supervising nurse who worked on the front lines of the response until recently. No one really knows what this disease will do to us in the future.

In Haiti, not a single vaccine has been administered to the more than 11 million people who live in the most impoverished country of the Western hemisphere.

Haiti was slated to receive 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine via COVAX, but government officials said they didnt have the infrastructure needed to conserve them and worried about having to throw them away. Haitian officials also expressed concerns over potential side effects and said they preferred a single-dose vaccine.

Several small island nations in the Pacific also have yet to receive any vaccine, although the lack of outbreaks in some of those places has meant there is less urgency with inoculation campaigns. Vanuatu, with a population of 300,000, is waiting to receive its first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine later this month, but it has recorded only three cases of coronavirus, all of them in quarantine.

At the Farcha hospital in Chad, nine health care workers have gotten the virus, including Dr. Mahamat Yaya Kichine, a cardiologist. The hospital now has set up pods of health care worker teams to minimize the risk of exposure for the entire staff.

It took almost 14 days for me to be cured, Kichine says. There were a lot of caregivers that were infected, so I think that if there is a possibility to make a vaccine available, it will really ease us in our work.

___

Associated Press writers Sam Mednick in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand; and Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed.

-

Follow APs pandemic coverage at

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/hub/understanding-the-outbreak
By John J. Metzler





"Your papers, please," has long been the customary greeting for people crossing borders, visiting many foreign countries, or sometimes even moving about cities under COVID-19 "lockdown." At its worst the question conjures up what I call the "Checkpoint Charlie" syndrome, crossing into East Berlin or back during the bad old days or some other nervous foray into the East Bloc before 1989.



Now the same aura could be coming here. Naturally it's all about COVID, the seemingly perennial pandemic which has ravished the world and greatly restricted travel and freedoms. The restrictions are all about, science, political science, where governments on all levels see another bureaucratic opportunity to protect and control movement; naturally for your own good.



Vaccine passports would be such a measure. They would record your COVID vaccinations, store data on your health, and then presumably reopen the doors to the world for you. The "passport" would probably be some sort of a biometric credit card which would be required to visit sporting arenas, museums, restaurants and naturally allow wider air travel. Given that more people are now getting vaccinated the "passport" would be the logical next step to prove both compliance and offer a reward.



From a technical standpoint this is probably pretty simple to implement. I recall interviewing Estonia's prime minister a few years ago, and being genuinely surprised by the size and scope of that small Baltic democracy's "health card" which all citizens must carry. It has just about everything about you and your health status stored on a computer chip on the credit card-sized document. Impressive  to a point.



Without moralizing, the issue of vaccine passports is less about technology than about civil rights and liberties. Big tech plutocrats can probably implement this task over the weekend and make a fortune doing so. But then there are the very real constitutional concerns here in the U.S. about control as well as conformity.



Back in the 1960's and into the 1970's I remember needing the "international certificate of vaccination," a little yellow booklet issued by the U.S. health authorities and the World Health Organization.



The booklet, recording your shots and vaccines with dates of the jabs, was needed even for travel in Europe and beyond. While everybody had the "plain vanilla" shots I recall being particularly proud to get a yellow fever shot and later some sort of special jab before going to Panama.



Last year Operation Warp Speed saw government and the private sector join forces to "follow the science" and create the vaccines. Despite the naysayers and prophets of doom, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson created the lifesaving vaccines in record time.



New York State is talking about the Excelsior Pass as being the vaccine passport. Sounds impressive, even magisterial, but given the Pandemic of Fear, such "voluntary documentation" virtue signaling is almost certain to build the U.S. and the society where the keys to the kingdom are a digital app on your smartphone.



What are the Constitutional protections for those people who wish to opt out of such plans but still wish to have freedom of movement?



The Excelsior Pass is being developed by IBM; you can carry a printed copy or keep a digital version on your phone. "The first-in-the-nation Excelsior Pass heralds the next step in our thoughtful, science-based reopening," according to New York's controversial Governor Andrew Cuomo.



New York City and State has been decimated by the pandemic; the city which was a global tourist hub fell from 66 million tourists in 2019 to a loss of two thirds of its visitors in 2020.



While seemingly simple, achieving a unified global health passport may be a real hurdle. Different countries, conflicting national approaches, and the myriad of vaccines beyond the widely accepted American and European versions, can create confusion.



The U.S. or European Union countries will feed the information into national databases and cross-check with airlines. For land travel, a vaccine app can provide identification at borders such as Canada or within some European countries. A unified international system remains elusive at least in the short run.



Yet this reembrace of globalization raises troubling questions; how secure is the data from hacking? Do QR code verification devices also record and store data? What role will nosy governments play in monitoring such data from both its citizens and foreign visitors?



Vaccine passports are clearly possible technically, but it's time for pause until after civil and political rights have been properly protected.





John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism  The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."




Multi Factor & Adaptive Authentication Engineer Best Buy Co., Inc. has an opening working for and based out of its corporate headquarters as a Multi Factor & Adaptive Authentication Engineer.This position provides a telecommuting benefit allowing the employee to reside anywhere in the United States, but the employee must physically report to Best Buy headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota at least once every fiscal quarter. Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system. Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures. Direct software programming and development of documentation. Integrate and configure applications with SecureAuth IDP. Configure, manage, and troubleshoot issues with SecureAuth IDP. Develop MFA Authentication framework for web- based applications integrated with other IDP (Identity Provider) solutions. Engage in detailed engineering to meet business requirements in implementing SSO (single sign-on) and MFA (multi-factor authentication) capabilities. Provide level 3/level 4 escalated support for SSO and MFA capabilities to help resolve issues experienced by business and technology teams. Coordinate installation of software systems and advise on maintenance of system. Full Requirements Bachelors Degree or foreign equivalent degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a closely-related IT discipline, or the equivalent combination of education and/or experience in one of the fields listed above, plus at least three (3) years of experience in computer systems administration for large corporations and supporting high-volume systems based requests through resolution and working with SecureAuth, IDP, MFA products (RSA, Ping, and/or OAAM) and Federation Protocols (SAML, WS-Fed and/or OAUTH). Experience must also include working with the following (1) evaluating SSO webservices and new authentication and authorization features of SSO (Rest Certificate Authentication, Federation Services and/or OpenID) (2) setting up PING Access in clustered environments (3) Implementing and supporting PingID credentials to enable multi-factor authentication for Windows, UNIX and/or Linux (4) coordinating infrastructure setups using Citrix ADC platforms and/or F5 ADC and (5) Evaluating various SSO products in the market for modern & seamless authentication patterns to rationalize the current environment and reduce overall risk to the enterprise. Involves incidental domestic travel to company headquarters at least once per quarter. Qualified applicants should apply online by going to (requisition 803628BR), or by sending resumes and cover letters to Kelly Vannier at Kelly.Vannierbestbuy.com

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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on job numbers from April, 2021, at the East Room of the White House on May 7, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden Rolls Back Trump Proposal to Limit Work Permits for Immigrants Ordered Deported

The Biden administration is rolling back an immigration policy sought by former President Donald Trump that would have limited work permits for immigrants with final deportation orders.

Trump on Nov. 19, 2020, proposed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revise its regulations regarding employment authorization for immigrants who have a final order of removal from the country by a federal judge, and are released from DHS custody on an order of supervision.

On May 10, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that President Joe Bidens administration will withdraw the proposal after reviewing 302 public comments the department received during a 30-day period.

Nearly 98 percent of commenters opposed the proposed rule with several commenters specifically requesting that DHS withdraw the NPRM [Notice of Proposed Rulemaking], Mayorkas said, noting that less than 2 percent of commenters expressed support for the proposal.

Those who backed the proposal supported it because they believed it would deter illegal immigration and protect U.S. workers, Mayorkas wrote.

Commenters opposed to the rule were concerned about the immigrants ability to support their families and the impact it would have on their potential employers.

The rule would impose exorbitant costs and burdens on U.S. employers related to labor turnover, the DHS said.

DHS believes that continuing to provide employment authorization to individuals who have final order of removal and are released from DHS custody on an order of a supervision is consistent with this administrations values and priorities on immigration enforcement, Mayorkas said in justifying the withdrawal.

It will allow individuals who do not fall within the administrations enforcement priorities and who are still in the United States to continue to qualify for employment authorization, to legally work, remain self-sufficient, and support their families, which in many instances include U.S. citizen children.

Since taking office, Biden has issued a number of orders rescinding Trump-era immigration rules, including suspending the U.S.Mexico border wall construction, the remain in Mexico policy, and dozens of other executive actions. According to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, Biden unleashed more than 90 executive actions during his first 100 days in office.

Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies told Breitbart News that the latest move is a de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants.

This is yet another commonsense Trump reform that is being reversed, Vaughan told the news outlet. Most Americans would be astounded to hear that in 2019, the government issued more than 25,000 work permits to people who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge. These are often criminals who cant be deported because their home country refuses to take them back.

So, we just let them stay, with benefits like a work permit. The Trump administration finally got around to stopping this practice, but not fast enough to keep it from being undone, she said. We can expect the Biden administration to use the work permit authority to the maximum extent possible, because its a de facto amnesty that is easier than trying to get an amnesty bill through Congress.

Republicans have blamed Bidens immigration messaging as well as a rollback of some Trump-era policies for the surge in illegal immigration and crowding at border facilities.

In March, immigration agents apprehended more than 172,000 individuals seeking to illegally enter the United States. According to the latest report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 351,800 encounters were made in the first three months of 2021, compared to 107,700 during the same period in 2020.

The Biden administration has blamed the influx of illegal immigrants on seasonal factors and the crowding of facilities on a broken immigration and asylum system inherited from the Trump administration.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Indias private hospitals are charging some of the steepest rates in the world for administering Covid-19 vaccines with Serum Institute of Indias (SII) Covishield priced between Rs 700 and Rs 900 and Bharat Biotechs Covaxin costing Rs 1,250 to Rs 1,500 per dose.

The current prices represent an increase of up to six times the cost citizens had to pay before the Centre relaxed price controls on the vaccines from May 1. Bharat Biotech set the price of its vaccine at Rs 600 per dose, while Serum Institute had announced a price of Rs 1,200 per dose for private hospitals, which is double what states are charged in both cases.

The landed price of Covishield, inclusive of GST and transportation expenses, was Rs 660-670, a Max hospital spokesperson told Times of India. She added that there was a 5-6% wastage due to breakage and the total cost of the vaccine rounded up to Rs 710-715 per shot. After including charges for hand sanitiser, protective gear for staff and biomedical waste disposal, the cost comes up to a grand total of Rs 900.

Read | Vaccination strategy equitable, 'overzealous' judicial intervention to have consequences: Centre to SC

The Centre justified its decision for liberalisation of vaccine pricing and differential pricing for the states in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, contending that the pricing policy would spur a competition in the private market and result in higher production of vaccines with affordable prices. Vaccines provided to the states by the Centre will still be available free of cost in government hospitals.

Indias vaccination drive is struggling to keep up with the massive swell in the countrys Covid caseload, even as many countries are providing vaccines for free. According to data on the CoWIN portal, four private players  Apollo, Max, Fortis and Manipal  are conducting the bulk of the vaccination in the private sector.

Also Read | Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala among 10 states that account for over 73% of new Covid-19 cases

The cost of vaccines in Indias private market is one of the highest in the world, being $12 per dose of Covishield and $17 for Covaxin. The 27-member European Union is paying $2.15-$3.50 per dose, while vaccines in the United States are available for $4, according to data compiled by the British Medical Journal. Indias neighbour Bangladesh is paying $4 per shot supplied by SII, as per a Reuters report.

Adding to woes, several state governments in the country have flagged shortages in stocks to continue their vaccination drives. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said the capital had only four to five days of stock left, while Maharashtras health minister Rajesh Tope has announced that SII would not be able to supply vaccines to the state until May 26.
Doctors caring with COVID-19 patients ferry medical equipment at the Farcha provincial hospital in N'Djamena, Chad, April 30. While the world's wealthier nations have stockpiled coronavirus vaccines for their citizens, many poorer countries are scrambling to secure enough doses, and some, like Chad, have yet to receive any. AP-Yonhap



At the small hospital where Dr. Oumaima Djarma works in Chad's capital, there are no debates over which coronavirus vaccine is the best.



There are simply no vaccines at all.



Not even for the doctors and nurses like her, who care for COVID-19 patients in Chad, one of the least-developed nations in the world where about one third of the country is engulfed by the Sahara desert.



''I find it unfair and unjust, and it is something that saddens me,'' the 33-year-old infectious diseases doctor says. ''I don't even have that choice. The first vaccine that comes along that has authorization, I will take it.''



While wealthier nations have stockpiled vaccines for their citizens, many poorer countries are still scrambling to secure doses. A few, like Chad, have yet to receive any.



The World Health Organization says nearly a dozen countries  many of them in Africa  are still waiting to get vaccines. Those last in line on the continent along with Chad are Burkina Faso, Burundi, Eritrea and Tanzania.



''Delays and shortages of vaccine supplies are driving African countries to slip further behind the rest of the world in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the continent now accounts for only 1% of the vaccines administered worldwide,'' WHO warned Thursday.



And in places where there are no vaccines, there's also the chance that new and concerning variants could emerge, said Gian Gandhi, UNICEF's COVAX coordinator for Supply Division.



''So we should all be concerned about any lack of coverage anywhere in the world,'' Gandhi said, urging higher-income countries to donate doses to the nations that are still waiting.



While the total of confirmed COVID-19 cases among them is relatively low compared with the world's hot spots, health officials say that figure is likely a vast undercount: The countries in Africa still waiting for vaccines are among those least equipped to track infections because of their fragile health care systems.



Chad has confirmed only 170 deaths since the pandemic began, but efforts to stop the virus entirely here have been elusive. Although the capital's international airport was closed briefly last year, its first case came via someone who crossed one of Chad's porous land borders illegally.



Regular flights from Paris and elsewhere have resumed, heightening the chance of increasing the 4,835 already confirmed cases.



The Farcha provincial hospital in N'Djamena is a gleaming new campus in an outlying neighborhood, where camels nibble from acacia trees nearby. Doctors Without Borders has helped supply oxygen for COVID-19 patients, and the hospital has 13 ventilators. The physicians also have plenty of Chinese-made KN95 masks and hand sanitizer. Still, not a single employee has been vaccinated and none has been told when that might be possible.



That was easier to accept at the beginning of the pandemic, Djarma said, because doctors all around the world lacked vaccines. That has changed dramatically after the development of shots in the West and by China and Russia that have gone to other poor African countries.



''When I hear, for example, in some countries that they've finished with medical staff and the elderly and are now moving on to other categories, honestly, it saddens me,'' Djarma said. ''I ask them if they can provide us with these vaccines to at least protect the health workers.



''Everyone dies from this disease, rich or poor,'' she says. ''Everyone must have the opportunity, the chance to be vaccinated, especially those who are most exposed.''





People gather on Flagey Square to celebrate the end of the lockdown, as Belgium reopens their outdoor space, including terraces of bars and restaurants, after closing down for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in central Brussels, May 8. Reuters-Yonhap
UK Falun Gong Practitioners Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day

Practitioners of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, gathered in London on Sunday to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day.

May 13, 2021, marks the 29th anniversary of the spiritual practices introduction to the public in China in 1992, and the 70th birthday of its founder Li Hongzhi.

Dozens of practitioners meditated opposite the Chinese Embassy in London to mark the event and to protest against the 22-year persecution of the peaceful practice in China.

Im so happy to be here. I love being with all the other practitioners. Its just such a wonderful feeling to be with everyone. And especially after lockdown, its so good to see everyone again, therapist Racheli Senanayake told NTD, sister company of The Epoch Times.

For years, Senanayake and her husband Lasitha, an operations executive, have been at Londons Trafalgar Square every weekend to tell passers-by about Falun Gong and the persecution its followers have been suffering in China.

For me, its my responsibility to speak out for the people that cant [speak out] in China, Senanayake said. Here, if I do that, Im not arrested, but in China, thats whats going to happen.

I also practice Falun Gong, and they cant speak out for their belief so I do it here for them, she added.

Falun Gong practitioners Racheli Senanayake (R), Lasitha Senanayake, and their six-month-old twin boys during a celebration of World Falun Dafa Day in central London on May 10, 2021. (Jeff Zhang/NTD/Screenshot)

Voices of Support

Greetings from several politicians who sent well-wishes and expressed their appreciation of Falun Dafas doctrine of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance were read during the event.

On behalf of the citizens of Cardiff, I express my deepest gratitude to all observing Falun Dafa Day, for making our world a more harmonious, peaceful place through your commitment to the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, Lord Mayor of Cardiff Rod McKerlich wrote.

Peter Holland, lord mayor of Exeter, also sent his message of support on behalf of the citizens of his city.

Discrimination threatens the very fabric of civilisation, he wrote. Our world often feels fragile and vulnerable and we cannot be complacent. Prejudice and the language of hatred must be challenged by us all. Memorial days of this kind enable everyone to better understand how hurtful mankind continues to be.

The values of the Falun Dafa community, truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, are my values and if adopted across all nations then I am confident that the world will be a much better place, he added.

Other notable figures who extended their well-wishes included Raymond Hervey Jolliffe, fifth Baron Hylton; professor Margot Ruth Aline Lister, Baroness Lister of Burtersett; Alan Robert Haworth, Baron Haworth; Leslie Arnold Turnberg, Baron Turnberg; and Denise Hyland, deputy mayor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
INS Kolkata reached New Mangalore Port on Monday carrying 40 MT of medical oxygen filled in ISO tanks from Kuwait.

It also carried 200 oxygen cylinders packed in 10 pallets weighing 10 MT and four high flow oxygen concentrators.

The vessel arrived at berth number 7 and the work of unloading the tanks is in progress.

The distribution of the oxygen will be decided by the state government.

As part of the Samudra Setu -II, the Indian Naval ship had recently reached Port Shuwaikh in Kuwait to get liquid medical oxygen and other medical items to India.

Earlier, INS Talwar, carrying 40 metric tonnes (MT) of liquid medical oxygen filled in ISO cryogenic containers had arrived at the New Mangalore Port (NMP) on May 6.
San Franciscos Pier 9 has a new visitor: a futuristic catamaran that is completely powered by carbon-free energy.

The French-developed vessel called the Energy Observer is decked out with solar panels that, combined with batteries and other equipment that produce and store hydrogen, allow the 30-ton boat to move across the ocean without using fossil fuels.

It arrived in San Francisco several days ago and is scheduled to be at Pier 9  just south of the Exploratorium  until Friday morning as part of a years-long campaign to demonstrate the potential of renewable energy to reshape how people and goods move around the Earth.

Its really a pioneer ship to try and showcase that all those renewable energy (technologies) are available today and that they can sustain the worst type of environment, Katia Nicolet, an onboard scientist with the Energy Observer, said Monday morning. Its to show that another type of transportation is possible, even at sea.

The Energy Observers surface is almost completely covered with solar panels, some equipped to draw energy from the reflection of sunlight off the water below. Those panels send power into batteries that have a storage capacity of about 100 kilowatt-hours, Nicolet said. On a totally sunny day, the boat could run using only solar power, she said.

But the boat often gets a lot of its energy from hydrogen. Salt water from the ocean is run through an onboard desalination plant, then zapped with electricity taken from the batteries to separate hydrogen and oxygen, Nicolet said. The boat releases oxygen and stores hydrogen in eight tanks.

When the Energy Observer needs to use some of the stored hydrogen, fuel cells convert it back into electricity. She said the hydrogen, which could keep the boat running for as long as six days without any sunshine, helps the Energy Observer stay light enough to function. If the boat had tried to meet its energy needs with only batteries, it would be too heavy, she said.

We would sink, Nicolet said. Hydrogen is really the key for long-term autonomy, especially at sea, where weight is critical.

The Energy Observer traces its roots to 2013, when the French boat racer Victorien Erussard bought a 100-foot racing catamaran after his own boat stalled in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when its diesel generator broke down. He was frustrated by his boats inability to use any of the abundant sources of renewable energy around him  the sun and sea.

Erussard, who also had a background as a merchant navy officer, then assembled a team of professionals to help transform the catamaran into the Energy Observer. In that capacity, the boat first took to the sea in 2017 and has since traveled more than 30,000 nautical miles.

It arrived in Southern California last month after a one-month journey from the Galapagos Islands. Following its stop in San Francisco this week, the Energy Observer is set to travel to Hawaii and should take about two weeks to get there, Nicolet said.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
New Delhi: In a hilarious new video, Bollywood actress Rakhi Sawant urges her fans to wish their mom on Mother's Day 'offline' or in-person instead of resorting to online wishes. She reasons that since we were born and not 'downloaded' we should wish our mothers offline and not on social media.

In the video, she is seen sitting with her mother and gifting her a silk sari from Chennai. Her mom who recently had a tumour removal surgery was seen sitting beside her admiring the sari Rakhi bought for her.

After gifting the sari to her mom, Rakhi says, "Doston, mein aap sab se kehna chahti hoon, ki aap log apni mom ko online wish na kare, offline wish kare, kyuki aap peda huye ho, download nahi huye ho (Friends, I want to tell you all to not wish your mom online but wish her offline as you were born not downloaded)".

Have a look at her hilarious video:

Rakhi's mother Jaya Bheda is recovering from her tumour removal operation. On the day of the surgery, Rakhi Sawant had taken to thank Salman Khan, Sohail Khan and their family for funding her mother's expensive cancer treatment and helping her with treatment.

Rakhi's mother Jaya Bheda had a tumour of the gallbladder which turned cancerous. For the past few months, she had been going through Chemotherapy and finally had her surgery of the tumour removed on April 19, 2021.

On the work front, Rakhi Sawant was last seen in the reality show 'Bigg Boss 14' which earned her rave reviews, and is currently shooting for her new web series titled 'Tawaif Bazaar-E-Husn'.
Irelands oil and gas exploration companies have made a submission to the Governments climate action plan proposing low-carbon hubs for Cork and Mayo, but said that new gas discoveries will still be required to avoid the country relying on imported energy.

The Irish Offshore Operators Association (IOOA) is presenting two distinct but interlinked proposals which they said will support Ireland becoming carbon neutral by 2050  The Cork Net Zero Emissions Hub, and the Corrib Critical Infrastructure Hub.

Capturing carbon emissions

The Cork Net Zero Emissions Hub envisages the use of technology to capture carbon emissions from oil and gas usage in the Cork region and sequestering in the reservoir rocks of the nearby depleted Kinsale Head gas field.

They also said a hydrogen industry could be developed in Cork using natural gas as a feedstock, and that excess energy from the planned offshore wind farm off the Cork coast could also be used for hydrogen production.

The Corrib Critical Infrastructure Hub envisages similar hydrogen production using natural gas. The IOOA said there are a number of broadly similar initiatives in the UK including the Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and the Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH) projects.

'Ireland can achieve energy sovereignty'

Alan Linn, chairperson of IOOA and chief executive of Providence Resources, which aims to develop the Barryroe oil and gas fields off Cork, said a clear, realistic, costed, and fully integrated plan was needed for Irelands decarbonisation transition.

Without further indigenous gas discoveries, Ireland will be entirely reliant on imported gas, he said.

Mr Linn added that Ireland would be vulnerable to interruptions of gas supply without an indigenous replacement for the Corrib gas field that is now in decline.

We believe that Ireland has the capacity to maintain a level of energy sovereignty by using its own resources.

Ireland can reduce our imports and our emissions while increasing investment and jobs.

This will only be achieved if politicians are willing to be honest about Irelands energy security limitations and are prepared to realise the full potential of Irelands offshore resources.
Publishers Weekly will host a new trade fair for the book business this month called the U.S. Book Show, stepping in to replace some of what disappeared when BookExpo, a convention that filled the Javits Center in New York every May, was retired last year.

The Book Show, which will be held virtually May 25-27, is aimed at librarians, independent booksellers and book buyers from major chain stores. It is intended to help publishers push their biggest fall titles, which is when many of the biggest books of the year are released in advance of the crucial holiday shopping season.

Two of the main features of the Book Show will be Editors Picks panels, during which book editors will discuss some of the most anticipated titles of the fall. There will also be 140 exhibition booths, with book galleys and chapters available to read and private author chats via video and instant messaging. There will also be panels on issues like the future of libraries and of the publishing office.

There will be famous speakers, as well. Oprah Winfrey will discuss her book published by Flatiron last month, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. The actor Keanu Reeves, who created and co-wrote a graphic novel called BRZRKR, will be on a panel with his co-author and illustrator. Senator Elizabeth Warren and the authors Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See) and Ijeoma Oluo (So You Want to Talk About Race) will speak as well.
Linda Ricci, Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig Linda Ricci is a well-known, dedicated, and highly respected member of the Boston and broader Massachusetts community, said David J. Dykeman and Terence P. McCourt, co-managing shareholders of Greenberg Traurigs Boston office.

Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP continues to expand its White Collar Defense & Special Investigations Practice, this time adding Linda M. Ricci as a shareholder in Boston. Ricci draws from more than 15 years of experience working at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts, where she served as Chief of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit and previously was a member of the Economic Crimes Unit. Her experience includes hands-on work conducting investigations, providing strategic direction to investigators, prosecuting crimes, and handling in-court proceedings in areas including financial fraud, money laundering, securities fraud, criminal tax violations, and crimes related to COVID-19.

During her tenure with the U.S. Attorneys Office, she represented the United States in jury trials, detention hearings, evidentiary hearings, change-of-plea hearings, sentencing hearings, and grand jury proceedings. She helped develop enforcement strategies and policy guidance in the District of Massachusetts and the New England region.

Linda Ricci is a well-known, dedicated, and highly respected member of the Boston and broader Massachusetts community, said David J. Dykeman and Terence P. McCourt, co-managing shareholders of Greenberg Traurigs Boston office. Our clients, who are increasingly impacted by changes in how U.S. regulations impact businesses operating in the U.S. and foreign markets, will appreciate Lindas experience with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts, where she served as the lead prosecutor for several complex international cases, and worked with many local, state, and federal agencies, including the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Secret Service, the DEA, and the Department of Homeland Security, among others.

Ricci also has experience handling internal investigations in a variety of industries. Those include the pharmaceutical, medical device, international vitamin, and airline publication industries.

Greenberg Traurigs White Collar practice has a global reputation for success, excellence, and collaboration, Ricci said. The firms platform, together with outstanding legal talent across multiple disciplines and jurisdictions, was important to me because of the expanding nature of white collar investigations in an increasingly global business environment. Equally as important to me is the firms long-standing commitment to the Boston community. I look forward to continuing my legal career and making a difference at Greenberg Traurig.

Ricci received a J.D. in 1994 from Yale Law School where she was editor of the Yale Law Journal. She received a B.A., magna cum laude, in 1991 from Dartmouth College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She served as a law clerk for the Hon. John M. Walker, Jr. in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1995-1996, and for the Hon. John S. Martin, Jr. (ret.) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1994-1995.

The firms robust White Collar Defense & Special Investigations Practice includes more than 30 former federal prosecutors and more than 60 attorneys. The practice has seen significant recent expansion. In addition to Ricci, these shareholders joined most recently: Vernon Lewis, Former Deputy Chief of the Fraud Section in the U.S. Attorneys Office, Southern District of Texas; former U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah John Huber; Adam S. Hoffinger and David I. Miller, former Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the Southern District of New York; Kyle R. Freeny, a former federal prosecutor for the Special Counsels Office and former member of the DOJ Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; Benjamin G. Greenberg, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Mohammed Khamisa QC, former Standing Counsel for the British Governments Department of Trade and Industry; Jessica Natali, a former DOJ litigator; Daniel Pulecio-Boek, who teaches cross-border litigation at Georgetown University; and Masoud Zabeti, a former head of the Finance & Banking Disputes Group at a Silver Circle U.K. firm.

About Greenberg Traurigs White Collar Defense & Special Investigations Practice: Greenberg Traurigs White Collar Defense & Special Investigations Practice protects companies and individuals under government scrutiny. GTs creative defense lawyers in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific are at the forefront of white collar defense, with wide-ranging experience in structuring internal investigations, developing guidelines, implementing compliance programs, and addressing issues of voluntary disclosure. Their representations involve alleged securities and commodities fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations, health care/pharmaceutical fraud, environmental crimes, money laundering, financial services fraud, public corruption/campaign finance, tax corruption, defense contracting, and bankruptcy fraud. In addition, the majority of GTs litigation shareholders and counsel have first-chair trial experience.

About Greenberg Traurigs Boston Office: Established in 1999, Greenberg Traurigs Boston office is home to more than 80 attorneys practicing in the areas of bankruptcy and restructuring, corporate, emerging technology, energy, environmental, financial services, gaming, governmental affairs, intellectual property, labor and employment, life sciences and medical technology, litigation, public finance, and real estate. An important contributor to the firm's international platform, the Boston office includes a team of nationally recognized attorneys with both public and private sector experience. The team offers clients the value of decades of helping clients in complex legal matters and hands-on knowledge of the local business community, supported by the firm's vast network of global resources.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com
Statement by Ambassador Byrne Nason at UNSC Briefing on UNITAD

Statement

Thank you Mr President and thank you Karim for your report and briefing today. Before I begin my statement, and as this is your last briefing to the Council in this role, I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge your service and leadership, Karim, over the past three years.

I would also like to thank Nadia Murad for her powerful briefing this morning. As she did when she advocated for the creation of UNITAD , you again eloquently set out the very real need that survivors of ISILs crimes, in getting for justice and accountability. This is the reason we really must ensure that evidence of atrocity crimes is preserved and your courageous testimony today is central to that task.

In spite of the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, it is clear from todays briefing that UNITADs work has continued apace with the completion of initial case briefs on its two core investigative priorities  the attacks against Yazidi in the Sinjar region and the mass killings at the Tikrit Air Academy. I want to commend the Teams use of innovative technologies to gather and analyse evidence, including artificial intelligence, machine learning and translation.

Tangible evidence of the results of these efforts, and the cooperation between UNITAD and the Iraqi authorities can be seen in the important work which led to the excavation of mass grave sites and the identification and return of the remains of 103 Yazidis reflecting the wishes of the Yazidi community itself. Faced with this horrific evidence of ISILs crimes, we want to acknowledge the work done by the Team and the Iraqi authorities in adopting a victim and survivor-centered approach.

We know that accountability is essential to heal the wounds of conflict and build sustainable peace. However, the manner in which we pursue justice is also important.

We welcomed the detail provided in the most recent report on the Teams approach to the investigation of sexual and gender-based crimes and the terrible crimes against children. It is noteworthy that in spite of restrictions on the Teams presence in Iraq, the Gender Crimes and Children Unit has commenced an investigation on ISIL crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, conducted interviews with survivors of sexual violence and also appointed focal points within field investigations units. We strongly support UNITADs work to enhance the provision of psychosocial support to survivors and witnesses, in particular women and children.

Mr President,

When it comes to conflict-related sexual violence, truth telling, lifting stigma and documenting crimes are critical. However, it is essential that we move from evidence-gathering to prosecution and conviction of crimes of sexual violence committed by ISIL, and to real accountability. Ms Murad, Nadia, you and all survivors deserve nothing less.

We also welcome the Yazidi Female Survivors Law introduced in recent weeks, and its inclusion of Turkmen, Christian, Shabak and other survivors of atrocity crimes. We look forward to full implementation of this landmark law by delivering on reparations for survivors.

We commend the support provided by UNITAD to the Iraqi authorities to develop a domestic legislative framework that would enable the domestic prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. We have also noted the training provided by UNITAD, including to the Iraqi judiciary to assist in the development of case-files against ISIL for atrocity crimes. We strongly urge the continuation of this important work.

We also welcome further work to develop a means of sharing evidence that complies with UN policies and best practice, for use in fair and independent criminal proceedings, consistent with applicable international law including international human rights law. In this regard, I want to recall Irelands unequivocal opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases and circumstances.

We look forward to engaging with colleagues on the Council ahead of the renewal of UNITADs mandate in September and once again, wish to pay particular tribute to your Team, its important work and the excellent brief we received today.

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Jerusalem: Christian churches express dismay, concern Actions at holy site, Sheikh Jarrah violate city's sanctity

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 10 - The heads of Christian churches in the Holy Land said they were "dismayed and concerned by recent violent events in East Jerusalem". "Whether they take place in the Al Aqsa Mosque or in Sheik Jarrah - the added - they violate the sanctity of Jerusalem, City of Peace", they also said. "These actions, which put at risk the security of worshippers and the dignity of Palestinians threatened with eviction, are unacceptable". "The growing tension, backed mainly by radical right-wing groups, damage the already fragile balance in and around Jerusalem", they said.



The churches' leaders then urged the international community "and all people of good will" to intervene in order to end "these provocative actions and continue to pray for peace in Jerusalem". (ANSAmed)
Georgia Governor Signs Bill Preventing Defund the Police

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the defund the police movement would endanger Georgian communities and signed a bill into law on May 7, forbidding large budget cuts for local police.

Today, I am proud to sign [HB] 286 to protect law enforcement budgets and ensure the safety of local communities across Georgia, Kemp said in a statement.

HB 286 (pdf) prohibits county governing authorities from reducing the police budget by more than 5 percent a year or during a rolling five-year period. The Republican-led General Assembly passed the bill and sent it to Kemp in early April.

Radical movements like the defund the police movement seeks to vilify the men and women who leave their families every day and put their lives on the line to protect all Georgians, Kemp said in a signing ceremony at the Barrow County Sheriffs Office gun range. This far-left movement will endanger our communities and our law enforcement officers and leave our most vulnerable at risk.

Defund the police became popular among leftist activists following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Proponents of defund the police argue that governments should spend less on law enforcement and more on social services to address racial problems.

Protesters hold up signs as they block the freeway during a demonstration calling for the removal of District Attorney Jackie Lacey and to defund the police in Los Angeles, on July 1, 2020. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

In Atlanta and Athens-Clarke County officials debated cutting or redirecting law enforcement spending, but they ultimately rejected the proposals.

The new law allows for some exemptions, such as cities and counties whose revenues decline by more than 5 percent or cities and counties with fewer than 25 officers.

The law also requires local governing authorities to hold public hearings if they wish to decrease the police budget by more than 5 percent.

Most Democrats criticized the law, saying it restricts local control over public spending.

Listen, I support local control, but when you have local governments that are out of control, I knew we had to act, state Rep. Houston Gaines said of Athens-Clarke and Atlanta. The Republican is a sponsor of the bill.

While were fortunate these proposals didnt pass the first time around, we cant let it happen, Gaines added.

A similar measure has become law in Florida. Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a one-time $1,000 bonus for law enforcement officers.

Some want to defund the police. Were funding the police and then some, DeSantis said at the time.

Texas Senate also passed a bill last month, blocking local governments from reducing their law enforcement budgets without voter approval.

Associated Press contributed to this report.
New Delhi: A week after the results of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the main opposition party AIADMK on Monday (May 10, 2021) elected former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami as its legislature party leader. The announcement came after two meetings over the last one week within the AIADMK, to decide between O Pannerselvam and Palaniswami as the leader of the opposition.

The AIAMDK's official Twitter handle announced the development ahead of the maiden session of the State Assembly on Tuesday.

The previous meeting of AIADMK party MLAs, which was held on Friday, was inconclusive as there were arguments between the supporters of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam over who deserved to be the leader of the opposition.

It is pertinent to note that Panneerselvam was always the trusted lieutenant of late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, as he was chosen to be sit-in Chief Minister whenever Jayalalithaa had to step down owing to a crisis or incarceration. However, in the tussle that ensued after Jayalalithaa's demise in 2016, it was Palaniswami who gradually took over the reins of the party.

Between 2017 and 2021, Palaniswami held his flock together and continued to govern unhindered, despite repeated threats from the then opposition leader Stalin about AIADMK Government's imminent fall.

Of the two leaders, Palaniswami is also seen as the one with a more dynamic image and connect, as he has been at the forefront of AIADMK's governance over the past four years. With his vociferous attacks against the opposition in the Assembly, defence of AIADMK's decisions and schemes, Palaniswami has established himself as the leader of the post-Jaya AIADMK.

Palaniswami has also been the major campaigner for the AIADMK during the recently concluded polls, where his oratory skills were put to good use, in attacks against the opposition. However, the AIADMK which was vying for a third straight term managed to win only 66 seats, whereas their allies BJP and PMK won four and five seats respectively.

In the 234-seat Assembly, the DMK under MK Stalin won in 133 constituencies and their allies including the Congress and Left parties won 26 constituencies. While there were players such as Kamal Haasan, TTV DInakaran and Seeman who were aiming to make a dent in the polls, all of their parties drew a blank and only managed to cut votes of the major parties.



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Japanese Prime Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sits in the cockpit of a F4EJ Kai jet fighter of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force after reviewing the force's personnel at Iruma Air Base in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, on Nov. 28, 2020. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Japans Defense Improves Slowly, Pick Up the Speed

Commentary

Change often comes so slowly in Japan that its easy to overlook. Thats especially true with the Japan Self Defense Force (JSDF)Japans military.

Five years ago the idea of foreign troopsother than the Americanstraining in Japan was thought impossible. It was: unconstitutional, politically explosive, and for Japanese officials, too difficult (preceded by the sound of air sucking through teeth).

Yet, from May 11 to 17, French Army troops will be training in Kyushu at Kirishima Training Ground along with the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) and U.S. Marines.

The exercise will involve the GSDFs Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB)Japans Marines and will also include tabletop exercises at Camp Ainoura near Sasebo, the ARDBs home base. Ten years ago, the idea of a Japanese amphibious force was considered equally preposterous. It wasnt, to those who knew better, but thats another story.

This isnt the GSDFs first brush with the French forces.

In 2017, the French amphibious ship, Mistral, with French Marines and British Royal Marines aboard linked up with GSDF and U.S. Marines for joint four-way on Guam and nearby Tinian.

But this weeks training is the first time the French will be coming ashore in Japan.

Although largely overlooked these days, the British beat them to the punch.

In 2018, a year after the Guam exercises, the Royal Navys HMS Albion came to Japan with a company of UK Royal Marines. The British Marines and the Japanese Army did all the planning necessary for a small amphibious landing exercise at Numazuwest of Tokyoand involving the British and Japanese navies, but the landing exercise was weathered out by rough seas.

This would have been the first time foreign ground troopsother than U.S. forcestrained in Japan with the Japan Self Defense Force.

The upcoming Kyushu training is, in fact, the latest in a gradual expansion of GSDF (and JSDF) activities. It may seem to take place under the radar, but it is progress nonetheless.

Here are some of the important things to know about the French coming to Japan:

First, nobody in Japan is complaining. Such was also the case when the Royal Marines showed up three years ago. The public response was a collective yawn. Indeed, ask about it and one was likely to hear: atarimaeor in other words, why not? Its common sense.

Even the usual suspectscertain Japanese politicians, academics, and leftist mediathat typically howl at any excuse to claim Japan is returning to the 1930s military dictatorship had nothing much to say. Notably, the Asahi Shimbun that is both anti-military and often anti-American was quiet. It even wrote a straight news piece on the British visit and landing exercise.

The amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) launches an F-35B Lightning II assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, while sailing in formation with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force JS Akebono during exercises on April 9-11, 2020. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jomark A. Almazan)

Second, consider the implications of French (and British) troops training with the Japanese and the Americans in a location not far from where the Chinese are challenging Japanese control of the Senkaku Islands and the East China Seaand also threatening Taiwan.

No matter what Paris might say, they are taking sides with the free nations supporting the idea of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Though never directly stated, the implicit idea behind FOIP is to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open from Chinese domination and control. And in Frances case, with territories and huge maritime exclusive economic zones in the South Pacific (and modest military forces covering the region), the Chinese threat is real.

Britains new aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth II, and escort ships (and with a U.S. Marine F-35 squadron embarked) are en route to the Pacific, and will be conducting training with the Japanese military later this year.

Since the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army is not on the dance-card, one fairly concludes that France and Britain have a favorite in the Japan-China struggle.

Third, the training demonstrates that the Ground Self Defense Force is gradually becoming (or being allowed to become) less insular and potentially more professional via exposure to foreign militaries. Sixty years of seeing nothing but Americans has not been ideal for the GSDFs development.

The GSDF (and the JSDF) still has a ways to go before it is an actual warfighting force. But, it is trying. And with a bite-sized approach and the right focus and training, the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade could become a useful addition in a combined defense of Japans southern islandsincluding the rest of the JSDF, the Americans, and any other partners that wish to get involved.

Progress? Yes, but not fast enough.

While the training with the French and the British does indicate progressnot least in Japanese thinking about defense, its much too slowand given the threat, it is glacial. The Peoples Liberation Armys rapid and ongoing development into a daunting force has outstripped the JSDF and is causing American commanders to sweat.

So here are some ideas for using the French visit as a stepping stone for picking up the pace:

Have Japanese and American forces (and any other free nations forces) conduct routine and regular training, exercising, and patrolling in the Nansei ShotoJapans southern islands. This weeks training will take place in Kyushu, about 800 miles north of where the Japanese and Chinese are contesting control. Operate much closer to the hot zone.

Establish a joint headquarters on Okinawanext to the III Marine Expeditionary Force building on Camp Courtneyto organize and carry out the combined defense of the region. Have extra seats available for the British, the French, the Australians, the Canadians, and others who wish to join in.

Include Taiwans defense in the equation and operate with that requirement in mind. Invite the Taiwan military to participate in the aforementioned activities.

Permanently assign a Royal Marine liaison and training team to Japanto operate with both the Japanese Army and Navy. The British Marines are different than the U.S. Marines, and have different operational styles, organization, and equipment. The Royal Marines way of doing things is in some respects better suited for the Japanese Marines than are U.S. Marine Corps practices.

The Australian Army recently assigned a liaison officer to the GSDF. This is a good thing, but sending a lot more Australians would be even better. Consider dispatching a Royal Australian Air Force squadron to operate out of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa or Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni.

As for the French military? If they want to come, welcome them with open arms.

Create a multinational amphibious group akin to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and U.S. Navy Amphibious Squadron 11 that currently operate out of Okinawa and Sasebo. The 31st MEU has a couple thousand Marines and four or five amphibious ships. It is supposed to cover the entire Western Pacific Ocean. Look at the map and one sees how difficult that is.

A multinational MEU combining an amphibious ship from each of the United States, Japanese, and Australian naviesand Marines or amphibious trained infantrywill be an excellent platform for developing joint, amphibious capabilities while taking a burden off the 31st MEU. And theres a political significance to all this as wellas free nations demonstrate a willingness to do something difficult to defend themselves and their friends.

Get the multinational MEU underway and other nations might want in on a good thing. Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines Indonesia, South Korea, and India come to mind.

But isnt all this impossible? No. Everything mentioned above is no more impossible than the idea of French infantry coming to Japan seemed five years back. Its only as hard as you want to make it.

And if the Peoples Liberation Army breathing down Japans (and everyone elses) necks doesnt concentrate mindsespecially with risk averse Japanese Ministry of Defense and U.S. Department of Defense bureaucratsnothing will.

Atarimae.

Grant Newsham is a retired U.S. Marine officer and a former U.S. diplomat and business executive who lived and worked for many years in the Asia/Pacific region. He served as a reserve head of intelligence for Marine Forces Pacific, and was the U.S. Marine attache, U.S. Embassy Tokyo on two occasions. He is a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
BRUSSELS (AP)  European Union foreign ministers on Monday debated ways to maintain support for Afghanistans beleaguered government after a brutal weekend attack on a girls' school underscored deep concern that violence will spread as U.S.-led troops leave the country.

With the departure of foreign troops just a few months away, European governments are still trying to work out what kind of diplomatic presence they will keep in Afghanistan and who will provide security for them. They are particularly reluctant to be perceived as abandoning the country.

Just hours after the Taliban announced a cease-fire for later this week, a bus in southern Zabul province struck a roadside mine on Monday killing 11 people. At least 24 others on the bus were injured, the Interior Ministry said.

On Saturday, a bomb attack on a girls school killed up to 60 people, most of them students aged 11-15. The death toll from the three explosions there continues to climb.

After the terrible attacks of recent days, it is all the more important for the EU to make very clear that Afghanistan and the Afghan government can continue to count on Europes support, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Brussels.

We will continue to make available sufficient funding for civilian reconstruction, and we will do everything we can so that the ongoing peace negotiations reach a conclusion, Maas said. Peace talks, though, between the divided Afghan government and the Taliban appear to be going nowhere.

The remaining 2,500 to 3,500 American troops officially began leaving Afghanistan on May 1. They are expected to be out by Sept. 11 at the latest  a deadline set by President Joe Biden. European troops depend on U.S. forces for transport and logistics help and will leave with the Americans.

Germanys defense ministry has suggested that a July 4 withdrawal might be on the cards.

The U.S. has openly also warned of battlefield gains for the Taliban and officials in Washington say Afghan government forces face an uncertain future against the insurgents as the withdrawal accelerates in the coming weeks.

This is all raises deep security concerns for the Europeans which weigh heavily as they debate how to help ordinary Afghan civilians, including many who have helped international forces, agencies and NGOs during almost 20 years of conflict.

The decision has been taken and what we have to do is to face the situation that is going to be created, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said last Thursday. The violence in Afghanistan is increasing, and its clear that once the U.S. will withdraw, the European Union troops will not be able to stay.

We better face the future and to try to take positive decisions in order to face reality, Borrell said.

Part of that reality could be a return of the Taliban as the dominant force.

No matter who is in control in the future, Maas said Monday, the EU will always point out to those in charge in Afghanistan that the aid we make available is tied to the things that have been achieved in the past 20 years  regarding the building of the state, regarding womens rights, regarding education  not being sacrificed. That is the precondition.

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
And all I can say  again its an extremely uncomfortable position to be put in not to be able to say all the things I wish I could say  but at the end of the day, I think the question is, you know, what I will do as mayor and what I have done in city government and on these issues that Im actually very proud of, including the way in which I gave guidance around doing what we should do as a city to be very transparent. And it was not always possible to get done the things that I thought should be done. But I certainly appreciate your question because I think its extremely important and it matters deeply to me. And look, I voted with my feet in 2016. I was out of that administration for five years, and I left during that time period, and theres a reason I left.

Kathleen Kingsbury: Brent, maybe we can move on to schools.

Brent Staples: One of the things that happens in New York  it happened with Bloomberg, and it happened with this administration  is that the administration becomes captive to the union, to the teachers union, which is very powerful in New York and a few other places. There are instances of that. And just as a note, people are projecting that when school starts this fall, as many as 30 percent of the teachers will opt not to return to school and well end up with a kind of Zoom classroom situation. Are you comfortable with that, number one? And number two, we have a long history of discrimination in terms of access to high-quality schools in New York and a deepening problem of segregation. I mean, what concretely, if anything, would you do about those things?

[Across the country, teachers' unions played a role in delaying in-person school reopenings. Critics say Mayor de Blasio frequently cowed to the demands of the citys teachers' union.]

So are you satisfied with this teachers union arrangement, and that maybe two-thirds of teachers may not come back to school, and what are you doing about access to high-quality education for poor people?

The short answer to the first question is that I think its critically important that we lead with the advice and guidance of public health experts who have been explicit about our ability to come back to school with certain social distancing, three feet. And that its incumbent upon us to make sure every single kid can get a high-quality education, get back into the classroom. Im someone who called for that early, that we had to get our kids back to school and be very transparent about how were doing it to be safe and follow public health protocols.

And some of this also relates to the other part of your question, Brent  or Mr. Staples, apologies for the informality  but that we actually have to end all discriminatory admissions practices, period. I was very, very grateful for the opportunity to co-chair the School Diversity Advisory Group process with Hazel Dukes from the N.A.A.C.P. and Jose Calderon from Hispanic Federation. And the work we did over almost two years, which was not just an inclusive process in terms of the 40-plus people who were at the table as a formal part of that group, from students to parents to educators and academics and advocates, but also the over 800 people we met with in every single borough in meetings about what they wanted to see and what they were seeing and experiencing. So its very clear Im standing by those recommendations. Im going to implement them.

But the other part of this is we have to recognize so much of what we were hearing, of course, from our parents and students who were in segregated schools, is that, were not getting the resources. This is the first year were going to have Fair Student Funding, fully funded. Im going to hire 2,500 more teachers to bring down class sizes because that will improve educational quality. Im going to make sure thats also the opportunity we need to diversify the teaching force, which we know also increases the academic performance of Black and Latino students.
Meetings with government authorities, the business community and civil society

Focus on Romanias post-Covid-19 recovery and supporting investments

With a more enabling business environment, Romania could become one of EBRDs top investment destinations

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso will pay her first official visit to Romania on 10 and 11 May in virtual format, meeting with the government, private sector, international financial institutions and civil society.

The EBRD President will make use of digital platforms, which have profoundly reshaped ways of working and international relations over the past year.

The meetings will focus on Romanias post-Covid-19 recovery and the ways the EBRDs investments can support this rebound and complement European Union funds.

Speaking ahead of her meetings, President Renaud-Basso said: Despite the ongoing pandemic, Romania is one of the fastest-growing economies in the European Union and has huge potential to unleash in the infrastructure sector and reform of state-owned enterprises. With accelerated reforms and increased project implementation capacity, Romania could become one of our top investment destinations.

So far in 2021, the Bank has signed investment projects worth a total of 127 million in Romania; it delivered 340 million in financing for the countrys economy last year. The EBRDs focus in Romania is on financing infrastructure, especially in less-developed regions, boosting private-sector productivity and advancing financial-sector and capital-market development.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Romania and has invested almost 9 billion in the country to date, with 76 per cent of that in the private sector.
NORWALK, Conn., May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clarion Partners, LLC and Marcus Partners today announced that Frontier Communications (Frontier) and Real Estate University both signed leases at Merritt 7 at the end of Q1 2021, with transactions totaling nearly 50,000 square feet. Frontier will occupy 48,000 square feet in building 401, and Real Estate University will occupy a 1,259-square foot suite in Building 101. David Block of CBRE represented Frontier, while ownership was represented by Thomas Pajolek and Ned Burns of CBRE, along with David Fiore and JoAnn McGrath of Marcus Partners.



Frontier is excited to have our headquarters remain at Merritt 7. After touring the market to find the best fit for our firm in the post-pandemic office world, Merritt 7 stood above all the competition, said Jim Campbell, GVP of Frontier Communications. The renovations to the outdoor plaza, new indoor-outdoor flex spaces and newly upgraded Metro North station on-site were key factors for us, as well as Merritt 7s advanced dual air filtration system. All of these features confirmed that Merritt 7 was the best choice in the Fairfield county market.

Merritt 7, a six-building, 1.4 million square foot office park, is in the midst of a comprehensive improvement plan designed by renowned architectural firm Gensler. The upgrades include a new plaza, a new multi-purpose center offering tenants a versatile, open lounge space and relaxation area, as well as a flexible conferencing facility that can accommodate a variety of meeting requirements. The space also provides direct access to the outdoor plaza via a retractable glass wall. Building 601 boasts a newly modernized lobby featuring curated art, with additional new flex spaces currently underway. The park boasts over 60,000 square feet of outdoor amenity space, including 30,000 sf in the 501/601 plaza, as well as nearly 10,000 sf of flexible indoor meeting and conferencing space, providing tenants with a variety of different areas to utilize without expanding their footprint. Conference and meetings spaces can accommodate events from 10 to 250 attendees.

We are delighted that Frontier Communications will be keeping its headquarters at M7 and are thrilled to welcome Real Estate University to our diverse array of tenants, said Margaret Egan, Clarion Partners Senior Vice President of Asset Management. The renovation program and abundance of assorted meeting spaces and outdoor recreation areas have been well-received by tenants, and our state-of-the-art dual air filtration system and rigorous COVID re-entry protocols are giving tenants and prospects an added level of comfort and confidence in our property.

Merritt 7s advanced air filtration system, which had been in place prior to the onset of COVID, has become a focal point for users as they re-enter the market and seek to address their long-term occupancy needs. The system utilizes dual MERV-8 and MERV-15 filters, the latter being above and beyond current COVID-19 best practices. MERV-15 filtration is the same grade used in general surgery settings.



As air quality and HVAC systems become higher priority, the advanced technology and comprehensive filtration process at Merritt 7 has impressed both prospective and current tenants. Our tenants were incredibly pleased to learn that the air filtration in all of our buildings is comparable to the air quality in a general surgery environment, said John Busby, Marcus Partners head of property management. Our system introduces 20% fresh air throughout the day and purges 100% of the air after hours. Current and prospective tenants feel re-assured once they learn about our system and process. The response has been phenomenal.



Merritt 7 can accommodate a vast range of tenant requirements. Current opportunities include move-in ready units ranging from 2,123-square foot pre-built penthouses and fully built 40,000-square foot office-intensive installations with flexible lease terms. A contiguous block of up to 158,000 square foot is also available at Building 601, where additional renovations continue to make headway.



Merritt 7 is located immediately off the Merritt Parkway in close proximity to Fairfield Countys appealing and varied amenities. The property has its own dedicated on-site Metro North station, which is undergoing significant upgrades and is slated to open in 2022. Major tenants at Merritt 7 include Hearst, Datto, EMCOR, Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), Jarden, IPSOS, Mercer, Millward Brown, Aon, Xerox, and Siemens.

About Merritt 7 Corporate Park:

Located on a 22-acre campus setting along the Norwalk River, Merritt 7s six buildings feature 60,000 square feet of curated outdoor amenity space, technologically advanced infrastructure, sustainable design features and extensive on-site amenities; including Starbucks Cafes, a fitness center, private commuter shuttle, multiple cafes and food halls, a hair salon, car wash, shoeshine services and nearly 10,000 square feet of indoor conferencing and meeting spaces. Merritt 7 has been recognized and awarded for its energy conservation efforts, including LEED EB certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for buildings 101, 301, 401, 501 and 601, the EPAs Energy Star rating, and is currently pursuing Fitwel certification. For more information, visit merritt7.com.

About Clarion Partners :

Clarion Partners, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser with FCA-authorized and FINRA member affiliates, has been a leading real estate investment manager for over 38 years. Headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in major markets throughout the U.S. and Europe. With $56.8 billion in total assets under management, Clarion Partners offers a broad range of both equity and debt real estate strategies across the risk/return spectrum to its more than 500 domestic and international institutional investors. More information is available at www.clarionpartners.com.

About Marcus Partners :

Marcus Partners is a vertically integrated real estate firm with a strong history of successful investment, management and development. The firm is based in Boston, with regional offices in Metro New York City and Metro Washington, D.C. The firm focuses on strategic and opportunistic investment strategies across multifamily, industrial, life science and other property types where it can create value and maximize risk-adjusted returns. Its current portfolio includes approximately seven million square feet of commercial real estate along the East Coast. For more information, please visit www.marcuspartners.com .

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d8a82ef9-76e4-4bae-bdf6-32197939d712
Roseburg, OR (97470)

Today

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable.
A MOTHER whose son died after being diagnosed with schizophrenia has shared his story in a book to help others affected by mental illness.

Gill Mann, a former trustee of the Riverside Counselling Service in Henley, will donate proceeds from sales of A Song Inside to the charity as well as national charities Rethink and Sane.

The book tells how her 22-year-old son Sam Roberts became increasingly ill in his late teens and was hospitalised three times because he could no longer look after himself.

He struggled to cope with his medication, which had unpleasant side effects.

The former Henley College student gradually improved and was pursuing a career as a massage therapist when he took an apparent fatal drug overdose while travelling overseas.

His death was probably accidental as Sam had plans for the rest of the trip and was in good spirits when he chatted to his mother on the phone only days beforehand.

Ms Mann, a former solicitor who retrained as a psychotherapist when her son was a child, recorded her thoughts and feelings in a diary over the years after her sons death.

She showed this to a friend who had lost a loved one in similar circumstances and who found it to be a great comfort and said it ought to be published.

The book begins on the day police told Ms Mann that Sam was dead, then works backwards to explore his struggle while also celebrating the happy times he shared with his family and friends.

Its title comes from a passage in which his mother reflects that you are a song inside me now, a melody that stirs and bursts into life when I think of you.

Ms Mann, who is still a legal advisor to Riverside, said: I never set out to write a book but Ive always kept journals and the process became a conversation with Sam.

It was a huge part of my grieving and trying to make sense not only of his death but the final years of his life. My friend said reading it was like having someone holding her hand so I went on writing courses to help give it structure.

I didnt want to make money for myself but as well as helping others, this book will support three very important charities while raising awareness of schizophrenia and hopefully destigmatising it.

I wanted readers to get to know Sam as a person and see the human behind the label. It makes difficult reading at times but its not depressing, just honest and quite moving.

The book also charts her grieving process over the years after Sams death, which she says is timely as many people have lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Mann recalls her son as a very funny, very challenging little chap who was fiercely independent, pushed boundaries and looked at life in a creative and unusual manner from a young age.

She said: He was a joy because he was always so funny and impossible to second-guess. He had to do everything his own way, even if it meant learning some painful lessons.

Underneath it all, he was highly sensitive and felt things very deeply but he was always popular, always had friends and was a very busy child who could never sit still for long. He was incredibly bright but he didnt always apply himself or see the point in trying at school.

Sam struggled academically and was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 13, then attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder shortly after he enrolled at the college to study history, drama, philosophy and psychology.

Without the timetable he had in secondary school, he found it hard to manage his schedule or travel independently.

Ms Mann said: His philosophy tutor told us he was a brilliant thinker who held things up to quite a different lens from everyone else.

They said he should have been born in an earlier era, when hed have been free to follow his own interests.

He had a fantastic sense of humour and if he laughed, everyone else in the room would join in because he had such an infectious energy.

Sam passed his AS-levels in his first year.

However, he also became obsessed with the purity of food he was eating, cutting out anything he felt wasnt clean and insisting on eating only organic produce.

On a family holiday in 2010, he ate only packaged salads because he didnt trust the food at the hotel where he was staying with his mother and father Simon Roberts, who were separated but remained on good terms, his sisters Rosy and Ellie, half sister Imogen and his parents new partners.

Sam also got sunburned after refusing to wear sun cream, fearing it contained dangerous chemicals which would make him ill.

Back at college, he lost all his motivation and walked out of his

A-level exams. He promised to resit them but declined whenever the opportunity arose and refused to see a doctor despite his familys pleas.

In 2010 and 2011, he travelled abroad by himself, falling into the company of homeless drifters. When he returned to his mothers house he became lethargic and refused to socialise or find a job. He sometimes ate with the family but often did so alone in his bedroom, where he would sleep on the floor.

He became obsessed with unusual religious and spiritual ideas and seemed unnaturally happy at times and not to care about how little he was achieving.

Sams parents were worried but doctors wouldnt intervene as he wasnt sick enough and advised watchful waiting.

Ms Mann considered hiding his passport to stop him travelling again but was frightened of betraying his trust and driving him further away.

His parents booked family therapy sessions in a bid to improve communication with him but Sam refused to go, saying he didnt see the point.

On a rainy afternoon in 2012, he was found wandering along the central reservation of the A4 near Sonning in a dazed, incoherent state.

He was sectioned at the Prospect Park psychiatric unit in Reading and diagnosed with schizophrenia, which has a wide range of symptoms but in his case included severe psychological detachment from the outside world.

He wasnt hearing voices or suffering from delusions, which happens to some people, but his thoughts were so jumbled that he spoke in fragmented sentences which even his mother couldnt understand.

Ms Mann said: Sam always had a unique outlook on life and when things started to go wrong, it wasnt clear whether he was becoming a more extreme version of the child we knew or something worse.

As a parent, you hope for the best and dont want to consider alternatives but Id started keeping a diary of his behaviour because it was so unusual.

In the end, he was so obviously ill that I couldnt keep telling myself he was just dehydrated or confused from travelling.

Sam was still himself some of the time and could be coaxed out of his room to eat with us but he just couldnt understand why we were worried. Its hard to admit, but part of me was glad when he was sectioned because I hoped the professionals could finally make sense of the situation and turn it around.

It was painful because he felt betrayed by us and didnt think he needed help, which is often a symptom of the illness.

No one would readily ask a stranger to take their child away and lock them up in an unfamiliar place but the situation was desperate and we couldnt cope any longer.

Ms Mann hopes her book will dispel the common misconception that people with the illness are aggressive or a danger to others. In fact, studies have shown that sufferers are far more likely to be victims of crime because they are so vulnerable.

She said: Id become a therapist because I wanted to understand people but Sams experiences were so extreme that I couldnt even begin to make sense of them.

He could sit wearing only a singlet on an icy day with the window open or eat big handfuls of dried chilli flakes while seemingly feeling nothing. It was so far beyond what Id worked with and I couldnt possibly have stayed emotionally detached. I always approached it from a mothers perspective, not a psychotherapists.

In 2012 and 2013, Sam spent months in hospital, usually after stopping his medication because it made him feel lethargic and he struggled to accept he needed it.

On one occasion, he tried to take his life because he felt he had lost all his freedom.

He eventually found a treatment which he could tolerate and was discharged to live independently in supported housing, where he continued to show signs of stability.

After about nine months, he enrolled on a massage training course and then flew to Thailand on an exploratory trip in April 2014 and never returned.

The following month, he was found dead in the hut he was renting in a small village in the north of the country.

In his final conversations with his family, he said he had hired a moped and was looking forward to exploring the area. Sam was cremated in a Buddhist ceremony in Thailand and the family attended. Ms Mann said: We can never be sure what happened but if hed meant to take his life, I doubt hed have made so many other plans. I hope his story will educate people about schizophrenia because its a big unknown for many.

Its disconcerting, unsettling and uncomfortable because theres a real otherness about those who are going through psychosis but I want to explain that it could happen to anybody.

We were very lucky that Sam had continuity of care from a psychiatrist who took the time to get to know him throughout his hospital stay, which is really important but doesnt always happen.

Sam always hated his medication because its a chemical cosh which did the job, but with a lot of other effects on his wellbeing.

There needs to be more research into treatments as they havent improved for decades.

The condition gets such little funding compared to other illnesses and while the cause isnt as obviously compelling, schizophrenia is devastating and affects one in 100 men and women worldwide. Despite that, you hardly ever hear about it on the news except when someone with it tragically harms another person. In reality, thats very rare and is such a small part of the story.

 A Song Inside costs 12.49 in paperback or 3.99 digitally. To order a copy, visit

gillmannauthor.co.uk
An electronic billboard leased by Xinhua, the news agency operated by the Chinese regime, makes its debut in New York's Times Square on Aug. 1, 2011. (Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese State-Run News Agency Xinhua Registers as Foreign Agent in US

Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua has registered as a foreign agent under U.S. law, more than two years after the Justice Department (DOJ) reportedly ordered it to do so.

Xinhuas U.S. division was registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) on May 5, according to the DOJs online FARA database (pdf). This makes Xinhua the third Chinese state-run media organization to register as a foreign agent, after CGTN, the international arm of the Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television, and China Daily, an English-language newspaper overseen by the regimes propaganda department.

In September 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that the DOJ had ordered Xinhua and CGTN to register under FARA. CTGN did so in February 2019.

FARA was passed in 1938 to combat Nazi propaganda efforts and influence campaigns in the United States. It requires foreign governments, political parties, and lobbyists they hire in the United States to register with the Department of Justice. While registration doesnt affect a media outlets editorial content, it does require the organization to disclose its annual budget and expenditures.

The FARA filing shows that Xinhuas Beijing headquarters paid its North American bureau more than $8.6 million in operating expenses from March 2020 to April 2021. Xinhuas North American bureau has eight offices, in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Francisco.

Xinhua has leased a giant screen in Times Square since 2011, dubbed the China screen. In February, the electronic billboard played ads urging unity in the fight against the pandemic, while promoting Beijings efforts to combat the CCP virus worldwide. This was around the same time the regime was drawing criticism over its lack of transparency as WHO investigators were probing the origins of the virus.

Expenses associated with the billboards hire werent included in the FARA filings. The documents, however, show that Xinhua paid more than $130,000 in unspecified communication fees between March 2020 to May 2021. It doesnt indicate who the fees were paid to.

Xinhuas filing comes after several lawmakers asked the DOJ to probe the issue of Xinhuas registration under FARA in recent years. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) in a January 2020 letter to then-Attorney General William Barr, said it was extremely troubling that the outlet hadnt yet registered, adding that Xinhua and the Chinese Communist Party have deep, longstanding ties.

Last year, Xinhua was among 15 Chinese state-controlled media designated as foreign missions by the Trump administration. The move, which restricted their operations in the United States but didnt impact what they could publish, was made in recognition of their roles as propaganda organs of the Chinese Communist Party.

A 2017 U.S. congressional commission report warned that Xinhua wasnt only involved in propaganda work.

Xinhua serves some of the functions of an intelligence agency by gathering information and producing classified reports for the Chinese leadership on both domestic and international events, stated the report by the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Former Xinhua reporter Canadian Mark Bourrie said he had been used by the outlet to collect intelligence on overseas critics of the regime while working as a press gallery reporter from 2010 to 2012. In one instance, he was asked to prepare a transcript of a press conference the Dalai Lama held with reporters in Ottawa, and also asked to find out what the spiritual leader discussed in a private meeting with Canadas then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper. When Bourrie asked his bureau chief if the material was to be used for a news story, the chief replied no.

When they go to something like a two-day conference on Tibet and film everything and transcribe everything, that is not going to a special publicationthat is going to Chinese intelligence, Bourrie told The Epoch Times at the time.

Xinhua North America did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Epoch Times, and the DOJ declined to comment.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  From discarded face masks to tossed-out hand wipes, the COVID-19 pandemic has left a visible mark on New Mexicos roads.

State transportation officials said Monday they have struggled over the past year with an abundance of litter, even offering to pay overtime to Department of Transportation employees who agree to clean up roadway trash on their weekends.

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It has been really hard to keep up, state Transportation Secretary Michael Sandoval said at a news conference. We can clean up an area and, a day or two later, it looks like no one has even touched it.

In an attempt to combat the problem, state transportation officials announced Monday they are bringing back a public awareness campaign  dubbed Toss No Mas  first launched in the 1990s that, in its new iteration, will feature radio and billboard ads.

But a catchy slogan might go only so far in addressing the deluge of roadside debris.

One of the factors contributing to New Mexicos struggle with highway and interstate litter has been the state Corrections Departments halting of the practice of having inmates clean up roadside trash, Sandoval said.

A Corrections spokesman said Monday the department suspended all outside inmate work crews last year as a preventive measure in an attempt to halt the spread of COVID-19.

We do plan on resuming the cleanup crews in the near future and we are working with our health experts to determine when it is safest to do so, agency spokesman Eric Harrison told the Journal.

Another likely culprit in the litter problem is New Mexicos spring winds, which can blow trash out of pickup truck beds and open car windows without notice.

To prevent that from happening, state officials urge residents to secure their garbage loads with a tarp or another method on their way to the dump.

Once the wind picks it up and carries it, were lost, said DOT spokeswoman Marisa Maez.

The swirling roadside litter is not only an eyesore, but also can pose risks to motorists, transportation officials said. Monday.

While littering is a petty misdemeanor punishable by a $50 fine under New Mexico law, enforcing the statute is difficult and its unclear how many citations were issued in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation spent about $3.5 million in the 2020 budget year on litter removal efforts, Sandoval said, and has more than 880 workers assigned to road maintenance issues, which includes picking up litter.

He said its unclear what the price tag might hit this year as the agency is able to decide how to spend some discretionary funds within its budget.

While state officials grapple with litter woes, theyre moving ahead with highway projects.

Overall, roughly $600 million was appropriated by lawmakers for road repairs and construction during this years 60-day legislative session, Sandoval said.

While New Mexico still has a roughly $3 billion backlog of roads projects, he said the funding infusion would help pay for projects in all regions of the state.

Among the projects slated to begin once the funding is available in July is construction of a new Interstate 25 interchange in Los Lunas and a reconstructed I-25 interchange at Montgomery Boulevard in Albuquerque.

In addition, construction crews will begin the process of expanding the highly traveled stretch of Interstate 40 between Gallup and Albuquerque this summer.

Eventually, the entire 138-mile stretch will be a six-lane roadway, with three lanes of traffic in each direction, Sandoval said.
Maybe you have had that sinking feeling of returning to where you thought you had parked your car, only to find an empty spot.

Did you forget where you had parked it? Maybe. Was it stolen? Perhaps. But in many cases, your car has been towed  and it will cost you to get it back.

If it was towed, you might have overlooked a no parking sign, were blocking a loading zone or simply misunderstood whether a spot was available for public parking. It is frustrating and inconvenient, but the tow is not without cause.

In other cases, the circumstances are murkier. In some places, private businesses contract with towing companies to patrol parking lots at shopping centers and apartment complexes and remove improperly parked cars. While this seems reasonable on the surface  businesses want to make sure parking spaces are available for their customers  it can become a costly game in which towing companies patrol lots looking for any reason, however slight, to tow cars and earn fees.

Depending on where you live, you may not be able to retrieve items you left in the car until you pay the towing fee  which averages $165 plus storage costs of about $28 a day, in the roughly two dozen states that set maximum fees, according to the author of a new report on nonconsensual towing from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

Its an ongoing problem, said Grace Brombach, the funds consumer watchdog associate and the author of the report. But it is likely to intensify, she said, as the coronavirus pandemic begins to abate and more Americans, increasingly vaccinated, get behind the wheel again.

People will be traveling more often, after being cooped up, she said.

This sort of towing differs from a tow you request when your car breaks down or is disabled after an accident. In that case, you initiated the service, and your auto insurance carrier might even pay for it.

Towing contracts often do not require the businesses to pay anything to the towing companies, said Eric Friedman, director of the office of consumer protection in Montgomery County, Maryland. Instead, he said, the contracts allow the towing company to keep all fees earned from towing, creating an incentive for it to be aggressive.

Sometimes it is governments that are accused of improper towing. The city of Chicago is the subject of a class-action lawsuit claiming that it towed and disposed of cars deemed to be abandoned without properly notifying owners  including a wheelchair-accessible van owned by a woman with multiple sclerosis.

The Chicago Department of Law said in an emailed statement the case concerns unregistered vehicles with expired license plates that are abandoned on city streets and that the city provides ample notice concerning the towing of these vehicles. Nevertheless, last summer the city passed an impoundment reform ordinance and is committed to a broader effort to reform processes around fines and fees.

The city said it is vigorously defending itself against the claims in the suit and noted that an appeals court has agreed to review the suits certification as a class action.

The PIRG report found that consumer towing protections in most states were weak, nebulous or nonexistent.

Only about half the states set maximum fees for towing or storage of cars towed without the drivers consent. And just 14 states require towing companies to display towing rates, either on a sign at the parking lot or at their storage facility. A handful of states offer extra protections, like requiring a photo of an improperly parked vehicle before it is towed or banning trucks from patrolling streets and parking lots looking for cars to tow.

Sometimes cities and towns have stricter rules than states do. But in many areas, there is little consumers can do but pay the fee  and complain about it afterward. Most states have consumer protection offices that can be a good first stop with a complaint.

It helps to be aware of the possibility of a tow when parking. People assume that a lot near a store or other business is public, Friedman said, but it is usually private property  so act accordingly. Its a mindset consumers have to have, he said.

Scrutinize any signs on the lot that provide information about parking and any restrictions, he advised, and resist the urge to park and run errands at additional locations if the spot is dedicated to a specific store. If you have any doubt, find another spot. It may help to take a picture of your car, noting the time and any relevant signs with your phone, in case it can be used to challenge a towing fee, he said.

Here are some questions and answers about towing fees:

Q: What should I do if my car is towed?

A: If a phone number is posted in the parking lot, call it. Otherwise, call the nonemergency number of the local police department. In many places, local rules require towing companies to report a vehicle to the police before hauling it away.

There is typically little you can do to get back your car until you pay the fee. Its a highly unusual transaction from the get-go, Friedman said, in that you have to pay the money and challenge the fee afterward.

Ask for an itemized bill when you retrieve your car. Fees can stack up, Brombach said. You may be charged a release fee and an after hours fee, and you will want to be sure you were not overcharged.

If you can prove that your car was illegally towed, you are eligible for reimbursement in 27 states, the report notes. In 17 of those states, you are entitled to collect damages as well as reimbursement.

Q: What if I return to my car while it is in the process of being towed?

A: In 18 states, tow truck drivers must release your car at no charge or for a smaller drop fee if you return to your car before it has been removed from the lot. In some areas, however, you may have no recourse but to visit the storage lot.

Q: What if I left medication or important items, like a laptop, in my car when it was towed?

A: In 20 states, the towing storage facility must grant you access to all personal items in your car, even if you cannot pay to get your car back right away. Nine more states allow retrieval of emergency items, like a wallet or medication.
Jerusalem: calm reported at holy site, police 215 demonstrators wounded, Red Crescent; 10 officers hurt

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 10 - Israeli police restored a precarious calm after clashes on Monday morning at the holy site in Jerusalem known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, police said. The same source said that 10 officers were injured in the incidents, including two who were taken to hospital. "There is now calm on Temple Mount and police forces are on the ground and are continuing to protect law and order", said a police statement.



According to the Red Crescent, the number of injured among Palestinian demonstrators following clashes with police at the holy site has risen to 215. The same source was quoted by local media as saying that they include 154 people who were taken to hospital - four in serious condition.



Palestinian National Authority (PNA) official Hussein al-Sheikh called the clashes in East Jerusalem a "criminal aggression" on Twitter. "The PNA - he added - is evaluating all possibilities to respond to this criminal aggression against holy sites and residents".



Meanwhile preparations for new demonstrations along the border with Israel are ongoing in Gaza, local sources said.



According to the sources, trucks full of tires to be burned are being driven from Gaza City to the border. The tires are given to demonstrators so to burn so the smoke prevents Israeli soldiers from seeing what is happening on the other side of the protective barrier.



Last night Hamas urged residents to go to the border to demonstrate solidarity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, putting at their disposal the necessary buses.



"What is going on at the al-Aqsa mosque is a real slaughter and a war crime", said on Hamas' website its spokesman Abu Zuhri. "We call on our people to take to the streets and confront the occupier. These crimes will have consequences", he wrote. (ANSAmed)
Mongolia's candidates for 2017 presidential election Enkhbold (L) and now-president Battulga (R) take part in a televised debate in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on June 24, 2017. (Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/AFP via Getty Images)

US Senators Say Mongolias Democracy Is Under Threat

U.S. senators have expressed concern about the current political situation in Mongolia, writing to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last week, urging the State Department to make its voice heard.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Budget Allocation Committee, wrote in the letter: Recent political developments may portend for the future of democracy in the country. As you know, Mongolia has been a remarkable democratic success story, particularly considering how it is precariously situated between two authoritarian neighbors, the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation, the former of which has expressed expansionist designs toward Mongolia in the past and may still harbor them.

Mongolias political system is semi-presidential, with a parliament and a publicly-elected president that chairs the National Security Council and acts as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

On April 29, one month before the presidential election, the Mongolian Peoples Party (MPP), which has a majority in parliament, hastily initiated a law to change the rules of the presidential election and approved it within seven minutes, removing incumbent President Khaltmaagiin Battulga from the ballot. The law prohibits the president being reelected, because he was very likely to be reelected.

The party attempted at taking the jurisdiction under its control by influencing appointment and dismissal of members of the Constitutional Court, whose main responsibility is protecting the Constitution, in addition to giving them tasks and requiring the court to execute the given tasks, not considering that their actions are weakening the independence of the Court. They are doing it explicitly and shamelessly, said the President in his Presidents Address to the Nation on Protecting Mongolias Democracy on April 23.

Various attempts to control the election have been made by a MPP members, some of them led Mongolia under communist rule until the 1990 democratic revolution and are now seeking to regain power and restore one-party rule, according to the Presidential Media Department,

Recent controversial actions taken by the parliament, the judiciary, and the presidentincluding the hasty passage of an amendment to the Presidential Election Law that barred the incumbent from seeking reelection, the removal of a constitutional court judge seen as likely to challenge the constitutionality of the parliaments action, and the presidents emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to disband the ruling partyhave sparked a political crisis that could undermine the credibility of the presidential election on June 9, the letter states.

We are concerned that this chain of events could make Mongolia increasingly vulnerable to the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) efforts to undermine Mongolias democracy, rule of law, and its judicial system through corruption of and collusion with certain Mongolian leaders.

In November 2016, following a visit by the Dalai Lama, the CCP punished Mongolia with economic sanctions. Tsend Munkh-Orgil, then-foreign minister and a member of MPP, publicly supported Beijings demand that capital Ulaanbaatar prohibit the Dalai Lama from ever visiting the country again, an unprecedented move given Tibetan Buddhism is Mongolias dominant religion.

The MPP general secretary reportedly made similar comments on the MPPs centennial anniversary in March 2021, and several formal exchanges between the CCP and MPP have taken place in recent years involving the general secretary and other senior MPP officials, according to the letter.

Because of its unique geopolitical positioning, Mongolias relationship with America is not insignificant and provides opportunities for both countries.

The State Departments Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations (pdf) asserts that the the main purpose of U.S. assistance to Mongolia is to ensure that the United States remains an advantageous partner over its geographical neighbors, Russia and China, and to give Mongolia greater latitude in defining its independent foreign and security policy.

The senators concluded: In light of these developments, we respectfully urge the State Department to engage in dialogue with all political parties involved with the aim of deescalating the growing tensions between them, ensuring that no one is arbitrarily denied the standing to run for election and each political party has the right to nominate the candidate of their choice to appear on the presidential ballot, and encouraging the maintenance of an impartial judiciary.

Democracy promotion must remain a core element of our foreign policy, particularly as authoritarian forces such as the CCP are working tirelessly to erode these values around the world they added.
Then Secretary of State John Kerry (R) watches as Marines raise the American flag at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. on Aug. 14, 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Havana Syndrome Absolutely Result of Deliberate Attacks: Expert

As the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence demands answers about the mysterious Havana syndromea neurological sickness that hit U.S. Embassy workers in Cuba and elsewherean expert told NTDs The Nation Speaks that he believes the phenomenon is absolutely the result of a deliberate attack and called for accountability.

Gary Miliefsky, a founding member of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine, said he is certain U.S. diplomats in Cuba years ago were targeted by some kind of an ultrasonic weapon.

Absolutely, Miliefsky said, when asked whether he thought the health symptoms dubbed Havana syndrome were the result of deliberate hostile actions. They recorded the background noises and sounds during the attack. And it sounded to me exactly like whats known as an ultrasonic weapon.

U.S. authorities have struggled to understand the mysterious attacks since they were first noted in 2016, when diplomatic and intelligence personnel in Cuba first began reporting disturbing symptoms, including head pressure or vibration, and dizziness, sometimes followed by visual problems and cognitive difficulties.

For some of these patients, their case began with the sudden onset of a loud noise, perceived to have directional features, and accompanied by pain in one or both ears or across a broad region of the head, reads a State Department-sponsored study into the phenomenon by the National Academy of Sciences.

A 19-person committee of medical and scientific experts involved in the study considered chemical exposures, infectious diseases, and psychological issues as being behind the symptoms, but concluded that the most likely cause was directed microwave energy.

Overall, directed pulsed RF (radio frequency) energy, especially in those with the distinct early manifestations, appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases among those that the committee considered, the report found.

The report didnt suggest that microwave energy was part of a deliberate scheme targeting U.S. personnel, but noted that the mere consideration of such a scenario raises grave concerns about a world with disinhibited malevolent actors and new tools for causing harm to others, as if the U.S. government does not have its hands full already with naturally occurring threats.

Miliefsky insisted that what happened to diplomatic and intelligence personnel in Cuba was a weapon-based attack.

Its an experiment on human subjects to hit somebody in the brain with that level of ultrasound damage to their ears, potentially causing brain damage, Miliefsky said. Its an absolute bioweapons attack that needs to be regulated, stopped, defended against, and I think Cuba should admit they did it, but they never will.

Dr. Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, was part of the standing committee that produced the report. Asked in an interview on The Nation Speaks whether, as some skeptics have contended, the Havana syndrome is merely the result of a hysteria, she insisted it wasnt.

My belief is that the committee felt there was something real going on, she replied, while acknowledging that the report authors are not 100 percent sure of actually what happened.

Birnbaum added that she was disappointed that, following the publication of the report, the matter wasnt pursued more vigorously by U.S. authorities.

Her remarks come as the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee have vowed to get to the bottom of the mysterious directed-energy attacks, which are reportedly on the rise.

Committee Chairman Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Vice Chairman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) confirmed in a joint statement on April 30 that theres an apparent rise in the incidence of directed-energy attacks on U.S. personnel.

For nearly five years, we have been aware of reports of mysterious attacks on United States Government personnel in Havana, Cuba, and around the world, Rubio and Warner wrote. This pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving our government appears to be increasing. The Senate Intelligence Committee intends to get to the bottom of this.

Their statement comes after media reports stating that incidents bearing the hallmarks of Havana syndrome attacks had taken place in Washington, including just outside the White House and in Miami. One of the alleged energy attacks took place on the south side of the White House in November 2020, and is believed to have sickened a White House aide, CBS reports.

Rubio and Warner said in their statement that the Senate Intelligence Committee has already held fact-finding hearings on these debilitating attacks, many of which result in medically confirmed cases of Traumatic Brain Injury, and will do more.

CIA Director William Burns, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in late February, committed to investigating the phenomenon.

I will make it an extraordinarily high priority to get to the bottom of whos responsible for the attacks and to ensure that colleagues and their families get the care they deserve, including treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health, Burns said at the time.

Warner and Rubio said in their statement that they welcomed renewed investigation by the CIA into the incidents, noting that it was important to better understand the technology behind the weapon responsible for these attacks.

Ultimately, we will identify those responsible for these attacks on American personnel and will hold them accountable, they said.
An aerial screenshot of Los Angeles County firemen at the scene of a collapsed balcony incident in Malibu, Calif., on May 8, 2021. (Fox 11 KTTV via AP)

Malibu Beach House Balcony Collapse Leaves 9 People Hurt: Officials

A beach house balcony in Malibu, California, collapsed and sent people onto the sand and rocks below, injuring nine people, fire officials said.

About 10 or 15 people were on the balcony during what was described as a social gathering on a home along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, officials told KTLA.

Then, according to Los Angeles County Fire spokesman Ron Haralson, the balcony collapsed. The fall was between 10 and 15 feet, Haralson said, adding that nine were injured and four were taken to hospitals.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Melanie Flores told MyNewsLA that two people were taken to trauma centers in critical condition.

Security camera footage from the home next door obtained by CBS 2 shows a group of people looking out at the waves when the balcony gives way.

Officials said the collapse is under investigation.

The owner of the house, who was not identified, told local media she was renting her residence to a group of four people and told them they were not allowed to have parties.

Neighbors over the weekend complained about noise, and the homeowner checked her security cameras and saw dozens of people in her home, according to KTLA. Local media reported that the home was declared by officials as uninhabitable.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
New Delhi: Mahatma Gandhi once said that the real India lives in villages. This was a period when villages were the soul of India. But over the years we have gradually forgotten the villages because the centre of power was in the cities. The centre of the media was also in the cities. Even today the media of our country shows the news of cities and the regional media is limited to the state capitals. Opinion makers of our country live in the cities. All celebrities and movie stars also have their homes in the cities.

Even today during the ongoing COVID pandemic, everyone is talking about the cities and the villages have been ignored.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Monday (May 10) discussed the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic in rural India.

The coronavirus infection is spreading rapidly in the rural areas of many states and there are some villages where there have been five or more deaths due in the last 10 days. It should be noted that until someone from the village goes to the COVID Centre at the district headquarters, they are not included in the government records.

The situation is such that people in the villages still believe that the deaths are because of fever and cough. In many villages, people have locked themselves in their homes. In some villages, people are not even getting a proper funeral owing to the fear of infection.

There are reports of infection in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. But it is difficult to estimate precisely how much infection has spread there. This is because there is no facility for COVID testing in the villages and there is no treatment facility either.

Even a drug like Paracetamol is being black-marketed there. Normally a leaf of Paracetamol comes at Rs 6 to 7 but nowadays in villages it is not available even for Rs 200.

There are about six and a half million villages in India, in which about 90 crore people live. 45 crore people live in the cities. That is, more than half of the population of our country lives in villages and the situation is not good.

At present, the total number of infected patients in India is 27 million, of which it is estimated that about 80 per cent of the patients are living in big cities. 18 to 19 per cent of patients are in small towns and less than one per cent are in villages. Now if the infection spreads in the villages just like the cities, it is feared that crores of people will be affected.

Three key points need to be understood in this regard:

1. The villages do not have COVID testing and corona treatment facilities. Although 90 crore people of our country live in villages, the bitter truth is that there are neither large hospitals nor doctors in the villages. There is an insufficient number of Community Health Centres, First Aid Centers, and Health Sub Centres.

2. The number of doctors in the villages is very less and the number of quacks is more. According to a 2016 WHO report, 57 per cent of doctors in the country are fake. And most of them treat people in villages. The same thing is happening at this time. In many villages of Uttar Pradesh, fake doctors are treating infected patients and giving them medicines for malaria and typhoid. This is worsening the condition of the people.

3. Many people in the villages are undermining the threat of coronavirus. Last year, the infection was mainly confined to the cities and hence some people call it the disease of the cities. The village people believe that they breathe pure air, eat good and nutritious food, so they will not get this infection. However, according to the Ministry of Health, the new variants of coronavirus are capable of badly affecting the rural population as well.

The need of the hour is that the villagers should be made aware of the reality of the situation and the government must work to create healthcare infrastructure in the rural areas.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Taliban on Monday announced a three-day cease-fire for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan this week. But hours later, a roadside bombing killed 11 passengers on a bus in eastern Afghanistan  the latest in relentless violence that has gripped the country.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Responding to the cease-fire announcement, the government in Kabul  which has faced rising attacks as U.S. and NATO troops pull out of Afghanistan  called for a permanent truce. A statement from the presidential palace chastised the Taliban for the increasing violence but said the government would also observe the holiday cease-fire.

The Taliban said the cease-fire would begin on either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the sighting of the new moon that determines the start of the holiday.

The announcement comes amid heightened violence in the country and follows a brutal attack on a girls school on Saturday in Kabul that killed as many 60 people, most of them students between 11 and 15 years old. The death toll from the attack still continues to climb.

The Taliban have denied responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a mostly Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi in western Kabul, where past attacks have been carried out by the Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan. Attacks in the area are most often claimed by the Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan, but no group yet has claimed the attack on the school.

Just hours after the Taliban announcement, a bus in southern Zabul province struck a roadside bomb, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. The explosion killed 11 and at least 24 more people on the bus were wounded. Improvised explosive devices litter the countryside and have been used extensively by the Taliban.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Taliban fighters have been ordered to stop all offensives, to provide a peaceful and secure atmosphere to our compatriots ... so that they may celebrate this joyous occasion with a greater peace of mind.

The U.S. and NATO are withdrawing the last of their military forces from Afghanistan. The final 2,500-3,500 American soldiers and roughly 7,000 allied NATO forces will leave by Sept. 11 at the latest.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, was in Kabul on Monday although no details of his visit were immediately available.

Pakistan has been key to getting the Taliban to enter into peace talks with the Afghan government, as well as a deal that the insurgents signed with the U.S. last year under former President Donald Trump. However, the Taliban-Afghan government negotiations have been in a stalemate for moths now, even as the U.S. has sought to accelerate the pace of the talks.

However, the Afghan government has also complained about the presence of the Taliban leadership in southwestern Pakistan while Islamabad has expressed deep concern about the presence in Afghanistan of another violent militant group, the Pakistani Taliban, which is anti-Pakistan.

___

Gannon reported from Islamabad.
CORK

Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place, Cork

Zurich Portrait Prize: The second year the shortlisted entries for the prestigious prize have been available to see in the Cork gallery. You'll also be amazed at the standard in the Junior section of the prize.

For Those That Tell No Tales: Photographs by Dara McGrath in which he has revisited the sites of killings in Cork during the War of Independence. Each picture is accompanied by a text explaining the context of the violent death that took place there.

The Glucksman, University College Cork

Home - Being and Belonging in Contemporary Ireland: The concluding installment of a trilogy of exhibitions presented at the Glucksman to mark the Decade of Commemorations through contemporary Irish art.

Viewpoints - Children's Rights in Imaginary Spaces: An exhibition exploring the potent realm of children's literature as a place for young people to develop and understand their rights, through the work of seven Irish children's picture-book authors, including Fatti Burke.

Chris Haughton: among the artists whose work for children's books is currently on display at the Glucksman

Lavit Gallery, Wandesford Quay, Cork

Tom Climent - Further Shores (running until May 15): A continuation of the visual artist's exploration of both real and imaginary worlds - inviting the viewer to journey to a place that is just out of reach.

Cork Printmakers 30th Anniversary (running May 20 to June 19): Celebrating the diverse practices and approaches to printmaking by current members of Cork Printmakers - across lithography, etching, screenprint, relief print, as well as expanded, cross-media print practice.

DUBLIN

Work from the Paula Rego exhibit at IMMA, Dublin

National Gallery of Ireland

Perspectives - New Acquisitions, 2011-2020: Newly acquired Irish art, Western art, portraiture, works on paper, and archival material, featuring artists from Peter Paul Rubens (15771640) to Alice Neel (1900-1984), and Ilya Bolotowsky (19071981) to Mandy ONeill (b.1968). Opens tomorrow.

Living with Art: Picasso to Celmins: 30 prints and drawings by artists ranging from Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse to Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, David Hockney and Vija Celmins - curated and maintained by the late film critic Alexander Walker.

Shaw and the Gallery: Marking 70 years since George Bernard Shaws death, this display from the Gallerys archives illustrates his fascinating life and relationship with the National Gallery of Ireland.

Something from There: This exhibition, created with people living or formerly living in Direct Provision, explores the idea of home - the end of an ambitious, long-term project coordinated by artist Dragana Jurisic and the Gallery, rooted in a concept by Evgeny Shtorn.

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Paula Rego - Obedience and Defiance: Obedience and Defiance is a major retrospective by one of the most influential figurative artists of our time Paula Rego. Spanning Regos entire career from the 1960s, comprising more than 80 works, including paintings never seen before, and works on paper from the artists family and close friends.

Northern Light - The David Kronn Collection: Northern Light is drawn from the exceptional collection of photography amassed by Dr David Kronn over the past 25 years. This exhibition presents work by photographers that examines the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland specifically and places it alongside other events internationally.

LIMERICK

Limerick City Gallery, Pery Square

Mary-Ruth Walsh - Skin Deep: the Limerick stop of a national touring exhibition by Wexford artist Mary-Ruth Walsh. Through collage, film and sculpture/installation, Walsh extends her interest in architecture and explores skin as substance and metaphor.

Mary Burke - At Home on the Farm: Mary Burkes paintings of her experience on five Limerick farms take centre stage in an exhibition of oil works, created in response to an invitation from the gallery to live and create with the county's farming families and flocks.

Cows are Mostly Silent - Selections from the Permanent Collection: a selection of abstract and semi-abstract bovine-themed works from the gallery's collection, an accompaniment to the Mary Burke exhibition.

WATERFORD

Nancy Holt's 'Electrical System II: Bellman Circuit', among the work on display at the Lismore Arts Centre.

Waterford Gallery of Modern Art, Lombard Street

Kevin Callaghan - Quite Similar But Actually Very Different: A "sensorial installation" looking at the form and function of daily shapes and objects - and toying with perceptions and emotions. Moved into the physical gallery after being a Covid online-only affair.

Lismore Arts, Lismore

Nancy Holt - Light and Language: For the first time, works of the late installation artist Nancy Holt are on display alongside those of artists that have been directly been influenced by her, including A.K. Burns, Matthew Day Jackson, Dennis McNulty, Charlotte Moth, and Katie Paterson.

Kaye Donachie at St Carthage Hall: Kaye Donachies paintings pay tribute to a cast of historical female figures - modernist performers, futurist actresses and non-conformist poets, "protagonists connected by their unconventional beliefs and preferences", according to the artist.

TIPPERARY

Na Cailleacha arts collective: quite happy to be labelled 'witches' - South Tipp Arts Centre, from today

South Tipperary Arts Centre, Clonmel

Na Cailleacha (The Witches): Work from a collective of eight older women, all based in Ireland but coming from Holland, England and Switzerland, as well as Ireland  six artists, one musician and an art writer/curator. Exploring ways of working together, taking stock of collective experience over many years, and attitudes to ageing.
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar in a press conference on Monday (May 10, 2021) said that he will visit the post poll violence affected areas in the state.

As part of my constitutional duty, I've decided to visit affected parts of the State and have asked the government to make arrangements. Unfortunately their response hasn't been very responsive. I'll go ahead with my schedule or make arrangements for a self visit in the coming days, said Jagdeep Dhankar, West Bengal Governor.

Post poll, we are in a deep crisis in the State. Retributive violence, acts of arson, loot now have graduated to intimidation and extortion. This is worrisome, added the West Bengal Governor.

Post poll, we are in a deep crisis in the State. Retributive violence, acts of arson, loot now have graduated to intimidation and extortion. This is worrisome: Jagdeep Dhankar, West Bengal Governor pic.twitter.com/I30GvZap6N  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2021

Governor Jagdeep Dhankar also condemned the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for showing no accountability.

He targeted the TMC government in his address and called them to restore the credibility of their governance in the state by identifying and punishing the culprits who have chosen to tarnish our democratic fabric".

"If your vote becomes the cause of your death or property destruction, it signals the end of democracy," he said.

Earlier, Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday (May 9, 2021) had sanctioned the prosecution of four leaders of the Trinamool Congress  all of them ministers during the time of the alleged commission of a crime that came to light in the purported Narada sting tapes.

"Honourable governor is the competent authority to accord sanction in terms of law as he happens to be the appointing authority for such ministers in terms of Article 164 of the Constitution," a statement issued by the officer of Raj Bhavan read.

Live TV
NEW YORK, April 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acreage Holdings, Inc. (Acreage) (CSE:ACRG.A.U, ACRG.B.U), (OTCQX: ACRHF, ACRDF) a vertically integrated, multi-state operator of cannabis licenses and assets in the U.S., today announced it has closed its previously disclosed agreement to divest 100% of its Acreage Florida, Inc. subsidiary to Red White and Bloom Brands, LLC (the Buyer).



We continue to deliver on our commitments to strengthen our balance sheet and focus our business on core states, which are primarily in the Northeast and Midwest, said Peter Caldini, Chief Executive Officer of Acreage. The divestiture of our Florida operations was a significant milestone for Acreage as it accelerates our path to profitability. We are excited to close this chapter and look forward to significant adult-use sales growth opportunities in New Jersey, New York and other Northeast states where Acreage operates.

Closing significantly strengthens Acreages balance sheet with the receipt of an aggregate $60 million in proceeds.

ABOUT ACREAGE

With its principal address in New York City, Acreage is a multi-state operator of cannabis cultivation and retailing facilities in the U.S., including the companys national retail store brand, The Botanist. Acreages wide range of national and regionally available cannabis products include the award-winning The Botanist brand, the highly recognizable Tweed brand, the Prime medical brand in Pennsylvania, the Innocent edibles brand in Illinois and others. Acreage also owns Universal Hemp, LLC, a hemp subsidiary dedicated to the distribution, marketing and sale of CBD products throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 2011, Acreage has focused on building and scaling operations to create a seamless, consumer-focused, branded experience. More information is available at www.acreageholdings.com.

On June 27, 2019, Acreage implemented an arrangement under section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) with Canopy Growth Corporation (Canopy Growth), which was subsequently amended on September 23, 2020 (the Amended Arrangement). Pursuant to the Amended Arrangement, upon the occurrence (or waiver by Canopy Growth) of changes in federal laws in the United States to permit the general cultivation, distribution and possession of marijuana (as defined in the relevant legislation) or to remove the regulation of such activities from the federal laws of the United States (the Triggering Event), Canopy Growth will, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions, acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class E subordinate voting shares (the Fixed Shares) on the basis of 0.3048 of a Canopy Growth share per Fixed Share (following the automatic conversion of the Class F multiple voting shares and subject to adjustment in accordance with the terms of the arrangement agreement entered into between Acreage and Canopy Growth on April 18, 2019, as amended on May 15, 2019 and on September 23, 2020).

In addition, Canopy Growth holds an option, exercisable at the discretion of Canopy Growth, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class D subordinate voting shares (the Floating Shares) at the time that Canopy Growth acquires the Fixed Shares, for cash or Canopy Growth shares, as Canopy Growth may determine, at a price per Floating Share based upon the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of the Floating Shares on the CSE relative to the trading price of the Canopy Growth shares at the time of the occurrence or waiver of the Triggering Event, subject to a minimum price of US$6.41 per Floating Share.

For more information about the Amended Arrangement please see the Acreage proxy statement and management information circular dated August 17, 2020 (the Circular) and the respective information circulars of each of Acreage and Canopy Growth dated May 17, 2019, which are available on Acreages and Canopy Growths respective profiles on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed with the SEC on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. For additional information regarding Canopy Growth, please see Canopy Growths profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release and each of the documents referred to herein contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation, respectively. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information, including, for greater certainty, statements regarding Acreages position in the New Jersey market or the Amended Arrangement, including the likelihood of completion thereof, the occurrence or waiver of the Triggering Event, the satisfaction or waiver of the closing conditions set out in the Arrangement Agreement and other statements with respect to the proposed transactions with Canopy Growth. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. 

Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Acreage or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, but not limited to financing and liquidity risks, and the risks disclosed in the Circular, Acreages management information circular dated May 17, 2019 filed on May 23, 2019, Acreages annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 dated March 25, 2021 and Acreages other public filings, in each case filed with the SEC on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov and with Canadian securities regulators and available on the issuer profile of Acreage on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Acreage 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. 

Although Acreage believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Acreage does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider has reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

For further information contact:
At a time when all the talk seems to be about vaccinations for COVID-19, new chatter is building around a new vaccine and shot in development that would immediately block the transmission of Lyme disease from an infected tick to humans.

New York has the third-highest cases of Lyme disease infections, behind Pennsylvania and New Jersey. According to the CDC, New York had 2,446 confirmed cases in 2018, the most recent data released, and 1,192 probable cases of Lyme, which has historically been underreported.

There actually was a Lyme vaccine for humans on the market once before. LYMErix was created in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which prevented 76 and 92 percent of infections after three injections, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But there wasnt strong public interest in a Lyme disease vaccine at the time, and production ultimately came to a halt because sales declined from 1.5 million doses in 1999 to an estimated 10,000 doses in 2002.

Although Lyme disease cases were on the rise then, LYMErix debuted near the beginning of anti-vaccine mania, Vox reported, which contributed to the vaccine's poor sales performance.

COVID-19 boosted vaccine discussion

Nearing, Brian/New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

For nearly a decade, Dr. Mark Klempner of MassBiologics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has been working toward a shot, administered annually like a flu shot, that would prevent Lyme disease in humans.

Now, with the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and a renewed worldwide discussion on vaccines, the timing might work in his favor. The general public is learning that vaccines are not just for the young and is becoming conversant in medical terms like mRNA, efficacy, and epidemic.

Still, he said, there will always be skeptics. We do see some hesitation still with vaccines, said Klempner.

Klempners advantage in gaining public trust may lie in the approach of his preventative measure, which is actually a medicinal shot versus a vaccine.

It is medicine that bypasses the immune system, gives you exactly what you need and nothing else, said Klempner, who also said a shot has fewer side effects. It should be even more acceptable.

Mark Klempner

The difference between a Lyme shot vs. a vaccine

The former vaccine LYMErix did lend itself to some breakthroughs in Klempners work. The state of Massachusetts funded Klempners research with a $1 million appropriation out of the state budget, enabling him to create a pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, that delivers anti-Lyme antibodies directly to a patient.

One of the things we did learn from the vaccine trial was that it could work by blocking the transmission of the bacteria before it even got to you from the tick, said Klempner. From that finding, we asked: What is the exact medicine and molecule that works in the tick and prevents the bacteria from ever leaving the tick and getting into you?

Klempner said that while vaccines create many different antibodies against what youre trying to create immunity, the shot he is creating only injects you with the one antibody (a monoclonal antibody) that is needed for protection.

We bypassed the entire vaccination or immunization program and cut it short by identifying exactly what the molecule is that your body would make to prevent you from acquiring Lyme disease, said Klempner. We isolated that very antibody  Lyme PrEP  and it is the medicine that is the protective molecule that will prevent you from getting Lyme disease.

With that, someone is very unlikely to have off-target side effects since the shot isnt delivering a number of different antibodies to your body, which your body then needs to fight.

The year-long first clinical trial, which began in February and is currently underway in Nebraska where recipients have had no prior exposure in Lyme disease, is designed to show that increasing doses remain safe. Following the first trial will be another year-long trial that will test how long the antibody remains in the bloodstream to remain effective against future Lyme exposure.

As soon as someone receives this shot, which will require annual injections, they would immediately be protected against Lyme disease for what Klemper is hoping will last for the entirety of the tick season between March and October.

If all goes well, the shot would be available to the public by the spring of 2024.

This is important on a public health standpoint, said Klempner. Not only in the suffering and long-term consequences, but the sheer magnitude of the problem mandates that we do everything we can to prevent this public health issue, with some people calling it an epidemic. There is clearly a need.

The shot wont work as a treatment for Lyme disease if you already have it, but Klempner did say that those who have had Lyme disease in the past would have access to this medicine to ensure they do not contract the disease again.

People who have had Lyme disease before can get it again, said Klempner. The reason they can get it again is because the antibodies they developed when they got the disease are not the ones that block the transmission from a tick. Thats what were supplying.

JerryCallaghan/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Pfizer, Valneva developing a Lyme disease vaccine

Klempner isnt the only scientist working on a preventative measure for Lyme disease. A French biotech company, Valneva, announced in 2018 that its Lyme vaccine passed Phase 1 trials, which are happening here, and initiated its final Phase 2 study in early March of this year. The first clinical study included a pediatric population from ages 5 to 17 years; however the Phase 2 study will target older participants as well, from 5 to 65 years of age.

Pfizer partnered with Valneva to accelerate the development of its Lyme vaccine. Last year, Valneva's CEO anticipated that it would come to market by 2024 or 2025.

In nearby Connecticut, where the first case of Lyme disease was reported in 1975, Stamford Therapeutics Consortium is currently enrolling locals to participate in the clinical trials for the adolescent and pediatric cohort with Valneva and Pfizer, with an estimated completion of enrollment in another month and a half. It comes after they helped complete the Phase 1 trial in 2018 and decades after they enrolled volunteers for LYMErix. Aside from Stamford Therapeutics Consortium, a number of other research companies have been involved in the 600-person clinical trials for the Valneva and Pfizer vaccine, including ones in Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York.

Its something Ive had a keen eye on and interest in developments in this area, said Jeffrey Stein, president of the Consortium.

Stein has found that because Lyme disease has not diminished in the northeast and is a growing problem, they havent had any issues finding volunteers, most of whom have been personally infected or have had family members who have been infected.

Theyre very motivated to try to find a solution to this, said Stein.
BALTIMORE  A little after 2 on a cool, sunny afternoon in the Mid-Atlantic, a side door to a horse van opened outside the Stakes Barn at Pimlico Race Course and out stepped a sleek, dark bay-colored racehorse named Medina Spirit.

He had no idea of the fuss that has been made over him the past two days.

The horse arrived here after a 600-mile van ride from Louisville, Ky., where he won the Kentucky Derby 10 days ago. Whether he keeps that title or is allowed to run in Saturdays 146th running of the Preakness Stakes are the questions no one seems to have answers for.

Medina Spirit tested positive for the regulated substance betamethasone following the Derby. That started the dominoes as Churchill Downs then suspended Medina Spirits Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert indefinitely from racing at its track. The ball is now in the court of the Maryland Jockey Club and the Stronach Group to decide whether or not they will allow the horse to run in the Preakness.

A spokesman for the MJC said late Monday afternoon that no decision has been reached. The draw for the race, which was scheduled for Monday, is now set for 4 p.m. Tuesday.

When Medina Spirit got here, Baffert was noticeably absent. He said earlier on Monday that he was not going to attend the second leg of the Triple Crown, opting instead to fly home from Louisville to California on Tuesday.

I dont want to be there, Baffert said by cellphone. I dont want to be a distraction. I have always liked going to the Preakness. Its my favorite race. Now, I just dont want to deal with it. Im going home. Jimmy (assistant Barnes who traveled with the horse) can handle it.

Baffert, who has won the Preakness seven times and trained two Triple Crown winners, is hurt by the allegations brought against him. He denies that he has ever given betamethasone  an anti-inflammatory  to Medina Spirit and says he has documentation to prove it.

This is the fifth time in the past year that a horse in Bafferts care has had a positive test after a race.

If a second sample from Medina Spirit comes back positive, he would be disqualified from his Derby win and second-place finisher Mandaloun would be declared the winner. It is not expected that decision will come out before the Preakness is run.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who at age 85 will saddle Ram in the Preakness, served on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission from 2013-16. When asked how long it takes to get a second sample result, Lukas said, About 20 minutes. They really drag it out.

For Baffert, who has long been the face of thoroughbred racing, it has been a whirlwind of emotion in the past two weeks. He went from the high of winning his seventh Kentucky Derby to the lowest of possible lows.

My reputation has taken a hit for the last couple of years, Baffert said. When this happened, it was like, This can not be happening. This is like a nightmare.

Medina Spirits test showed 21 picograms of betamethasone in his system. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram. Under Kentucky racing rules, betamethasone is not allowed to be administered within 14 days of a race.

According to Kentucky Equine Research, betamethasone is used in horses to provide relief in joints from discomfort or inflammation.

Baffert has no idea how the drug got into Medina Spirit. His best guess would be contamination.

When asked if he thought someone might be out to get him, he sighed.

I think there are people out there who would like to see me go away, he said. Its hard to say. Its one of those things where I dont know what to think. I am at a loss for words what is going on here.

Baffert got some encouragement from Lukas, who, said Baffert called him within an hour of finding out Medina Spirits test results.

He is perfectly innocent, Lukas said. Bob has great horses and he is a great trainer. Maybe some guy at a small race track who is in the third race and is desperate to pay the feed company might try a little something. Bob Baffert is not going to do it. I believe him. He is a friend. I think he would level with me. I know this is hurting him. He is flat hurt. I have never seen him this distraught.

Baffert will sit home on Saturday and watch Medina Spirit  as well as stablemate Concert Tour  run in the Preakness. He will continue to fight this allegation and hope his name is cleared.

Do you think I am going to take a chance on a great race like (the Derby)? Baffert said. Come on. You would have to be stupid to do something like that. How can you convince the public? I dont know. They have to be their own judge.

Twilkin15@gmail.com. @tjwilkin
Ireland has the longest peacekeeping record in the United Nations (UN). We are also a member of the UN Security Council and our forces are rapidly becoming a 'United Nations of personnel'.

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show that while Irish-born personnel remain the backbone of the Army, Naval Service, and Air Corps, there has been a growing shift in the number of people joining up who were born elsewhere, which has been welcomed by Defence Forces Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett.

Today's Defence Forces include personnel born in far-flung parts of the world: While they include our nearest neighbours Britain, they stretch as far as Australia; North, South, and Central America; Africa; the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

Ireland has a proud record in going to countries on international peace and security operations  including a number of countries some of our newest recruits come from.

The Defence Forces made its first contribution to peacekeeping in 1958 when approximately 50 officers were assigned to the United Nations (UN) Observer Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL) as observers along the Armistice Demarcation Line (ADL) between Lebanon and Israel.

After that came missions in the Congo, which unfortunately led to several Irish soldiers losing their lives, as also happened in Lebanon.

In total 87 Defence Forces members have lost their lives overseas in the last 63 years.

From 1958 there have been 70,000 individual tours of duty completed by Irish Defence Forces personnel.

Today, the Defence Forces have a particular advantage in the diversity that foreign-born personnel bring.

They have valuable multi-language skills and are able to provide an insight into cultures which our military may have not yet gathered, despite extensive overseas experience gained in many countries in the past by former and serving Irish-born personnel.

Currently, there are a significant and ever-increasing number of foreign-born personnel serving in the Defence Forces and it's projected this will become more pronounced in the years ahead.

Defence Forces Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett has welcomed the new diversity among his ranks and said it signified the change from an indigenous Irish society to one which is becoming more and more multicultural, like many other European states.

The British-born contingent is the largest outside the Irish-born and it's believed the vast majority have Irish parentage and came back here because of a sense of belonging; they account for 428 personnel.

One of the recent cadets at the passing out parade was the first Rastafarian to join the Defence Forces, Ansoumane Firkins, from Guinea in West Africa.

The next biggest cohort are of European birth. However, some figures supplied by the Defence Forces press office show many just opted on their application form just to give 'Europe' of their place of birth.

In total they account for 110: The largest contingent hail from Poland, with 37; there are also other personnel who were born in France, Germany, Serbia, Belgium, Ukraine, Italy, Cyprus, and Austria.

The North Americans, from the USA and Canada account for 28. Again it's believed that a number of them have Irish heritage, the majority of whom are second generation who wanted to come back and protect the motherland of their ancestors.

From further afield, there are eight Defence Forces members who were born in Australia. Again it's understood that many of them have the same paternal or maternal links to this 'mother country'.

Interestingly, there are 15 personnel who were born in Africa, five from Asian countries and another five from the Middle East.

The Defence Forces press office was asked if there was any connection with the influence of Irish peacekeeping UN troops serving in these regions, especially in Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole. A spokesman said they didn't have any details about that.

Foreign-born recruits 'following in the family tradition'

It's unprecedented that one-fifth of a Naval Service recruit class who recently 'passed out' to become fully-qualified seamen were foreign-born.

However, in many cases they and others like them now joining the Defence Forces share a common bond  their relatives served their native country's military.

The latest recruit class in the Naval Service  called 'Deirdre', after one of their former ships  contained 25 personnel.

Five were foreign-born, including the first Rastafarian to join the Defence Forces, resplendent with his envious dreadlocks among comrades sporting more sombre military-style crewcuts.

The Irish Examiner was the first to exclusively report that Ansoumane Firkins, who was born in Guinea in West Africa, had joined up and will be allowed to keep the locks because that's part of his religion. Military high-command is openly courting such diversity.

Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Vice Admiral Mark Mellett congratulates five of the latest Naval Service recruits who passed out from training and who are foreign born. They are Luis Eduardo Espindola Caldas (Brazil), Filip Bezjuk (Croatia), Raul Muresan (Romania), Ansoumane Firkins (Guinea), and Daniels Tuceks (Latvia).

Tamba Kallas Traore, his late grandfather, served in Guinea's military; Ansoumane pointed out proudly that he was one of the country's founding fathers when in 1958 it gained its independence from France.

This newspaper also highlighted the story of his colleague, Brazilian-born Luis Eduardo Espindola Caldas. His father, also Luis, served with that country's special forces and was a trained medic.

In the same group was Filip Bezjuk, 23, who was born in Croatia:

My brother is an officer in the Croatian Army.

Filip came to live in Ireland three years ago and his sister also lives here now.

He pointed out that his father was in the merchant navy back in his country of birth.

This explains the affinity with the sea and he added very emphatically that he's loving it [the Naval Service].

Raul Muresan, 25, was born in Romania. He came to live in Ireland at the age of 16, moving to Waterford.

My dad, Adrian, was in the Romanian Army, he said.

Raul, however, preferred seafaring for an early age and has found his niche.

He explained that at the start of 2018 he joined as a volunteer with the Waterford Marine Search and Rescue unit. Then Raul joined the Naval Service Reserve and felt it was an obvious progression to join the full-time regulars.

I like being on the water, I love it, Raul said.

The exception to the military heritage rule amongst the five foreign-born men is Daniels Tuceks, who is a native of Latvia.

The 19-year-old moved permanently to Ireland three years ago, living with his family in Baileboro, Co Cavan.

I am the first person in my family to join the military. I wanted to do something to challenge myself and this is it, Daniels said.
Jerusalem: Egypt condemns 'Israeli aggression' Foreign minister says violence brings new tension

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MAY 10 - The Egyptian foreign ministry has expressed "condemnation, with the utmost firmness, for the aggression of worshippers and their expulsion from the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque", stressing the need for Israel to take responsibility "for these quick and dangerous developments that lead to predict new tensions and an escalation", according to a note published Monday on the Egyptian ministry's Facebook page.



The Egyptian ministry "moreover stressed the need to end all practices that violate the sanctity of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, in the respect of the norms of international law and to guarantee the security of Palestinian civilians in the mosque" and "in the rest of East Jerusalem".(ANSAmed).




COTTAGE HILLS  A Sunday afternoon fire destroyed Liberty Fence in Cottage Hills.

Cottage Hills Deputy Fire Chief Michael Thompson said firefighters were dispatched at 3:19 p.m. Sunday to the fencing warehouse firm at the corner of Neunaber Street and West MacArthur Boulevard in Cottage Hills.

According to Thompson, additional departments from Rosewood Height, Bethalto, Wood River, East Alton, Meadowbrook and Fosterburg also responded to the fire. The Cottage Hills Fire Protection District remained on the scene until 12:37 a.m. the next morning.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation, though Thompson said there is no evidence of foul play.
Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Chris Boyle Published: May 10 2021

Joseph Recca, 28, of West Islip, originally pleaded guilty on Feb. 26 to multiple charges.

Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the sentencing of a former NYPD officer to prison for selling fentanyl and causing a fatal overdose in 2019.

The Suffolk County District Attorneys Office is aggressively investigating and prosecuting drug dealers, particularly those who are causing overdoses, and Joseph Recca is the latest example, District Attorney Sini said. Today, my Office and the Court held him responsible for the death he caused. What makes his case unique and particularly troubling is the fact that he was selling drugs while also serving as a police officer. We will not tolerate drug dealers peddling poison in our communities, and our message today is that no one is above the law.

Joseph Recca, 28, of West Islip, pleaded guilty on Feb. 26 to Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a class C Felony; Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony; and Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony. He was sentenced today by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro to five years in prison with two years of post-release supervision.

Recca, who had been employed as an NYPD officer since 2017, resigned from the department following his arrest in July 2020.

On Sept. 3, 2019, members of the Suffolk County Police Department responded to the scene of a fatal overdose in Copiague. An investigation into the fatal overdose, including an analysis of the victims cell phone, revealed evidence that Recca had sold the victim fentanyl pills and had been in proximity to the victim at the time of the final sale prior to the victims death.

The text messages recovered also included an exchange that occurred on Aug. 29, 2019, in which Recca was texting the victim about payment for a previous drug sale. The victim texted Recca that he was in the hospital recovering from a non-fatal overdose. Recca replied So when will you have the money you think.

Further investigation, which was conducted in collaboration with the NYPDs Internal Affairs Bureau, revealed that Recca was engaged in a conspiracy with two other individuals to sell narcotics. The investigation involved physical and electronic surveillance as well as court-authorized eavesdropping. During the course of the investigation, Recca used official NYPD resources to run the license plate numbers of vehicles he believed were following him in furtherance of the drug trafficking operation.

On July 21, 2020, Recca was arrested and found in possession of approximately 100 pressed fentanyl pills marketed as Oxycodone. Members of the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office, Suffolk County Police Department, and the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau also executed a search warrant at Reccas home, which resulted in the recovery of more than $10,000 cash.

The prosecutions against Reccas two alleged co-conspirators are still pending. Mike Sosa, 25, of Brentwood, is charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, an A-1 felony; Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a B felony; and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a C violent felony. He is due back in court on May 14. Michael Corbett, 54, of West Islip, is charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a B felony, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a B felony. He is due back in court on May 21.

This is the fourth case prosecuted by the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office in which a defendant is convicted of Manslaughter for causing a fatal overdose.

While we continue to be leaders in the State on this front and will continue to be innovative to do what we need to do to hold these criminals accountable, we need legislation by the State to create a death by dealer statute, District Attorney Sini said. We need to send a clear message that when you sell drugs and you kill people, you are responsible for those deaths. We are all on notice that these drugs are deadly; how many people need to die before we pass common sense legislation at the State level?

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jacob Kubetz and Kristin Barnes, of the Special Narcotics Bureau.
29 Palestinian children wounded in East Jerusalem, UNICEF '8 minors arrested'. Appeal to sides to 'protect children'

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 10 - Over the past two days "29 Palestinian children have been wounded" in East Jerusalem, including in the Old City and in the district of Sheikh Jarrah, UNICEF said. "Eight Palestinian minors have in the meantime been arrested", the organization denounced, adding that a one-year-old child is among the injured. Some children who were taken to hospital for treatment had head and spinal injuries, UNICEF noted.



The organization said it has received reports according to which ambulances were prevented from reaching the scene and evacuate the injured and that a clinic there was targeted and searched. The UN organization urged Israeli authorities to abstain from using violence against children and to release the detained minors. It stressed that the detention of minors is a last-resort solution and should be used for the minimum amount of time possible. It also launched an appeal to "all sides involved" to prevent "any further escalation" and "protect all civilians, especially children".(ANSAmed).




Dublin, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Gastrointestinal Drugs Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Implications and Growth to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report covers this critical market and the impact on it from the COVID-19 virus. It provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the increasing demand for gastrointestinal drugs. Vitamins and Minerals play a crucial role in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 as they are used as immunity boosters.

The global gastrointestinal drugs market is expected to grow from $46.68 billion in 2020 to $48.74 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4%. The change in growth trend is mainly due to the companies stabilizing their output after catering to the demand that grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The market is expected to reach $62.19 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 6%.

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Understand how the market is experiencing rapid growth due to the coronavirus and how it is likely to stabilize as the impact of the virus abates.

Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.

Identify growth segments for investment.

Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.

Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.

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Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

Where is the largest and fastest growing market for the gastrointestinal drugs market? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The Gastrointestinal Drugs Market global report answers all these questions and many more.



The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider gastrointestinal drugs market, and compares it with other markets.

The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market.

The market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the market, the influence of the COVID-19 virus and forecasting its growth.

Market segmentations break down market into sub markets.

The regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast growth. It covers the growth trajectory of COVID-19 for all regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets.

Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market shares, and a description of the leading companies. Key financial deals which have shaped the market in recent years are identified.

The trends and strategies section analyses the shape of the market as it emerges from the crisis and suggests how companies can grow as the market recovers.

The gastrointestinal drugs market section of the report gives context. It compares the gastrointestinal drugs market with other segments of the gastrointestinal drugs market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, gastrointestinal drugs indicators comparison.

Major companies in the gastrointestinal drugs market include Takeda Pharmaceticals; Allergan Plc; Novo Nordisk A/S; AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson.



The gastrointestinal drugs market consists of sales of gastrointestinal drugs by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that produce gastrointestinal drugs to treat gastrointestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, perianal infections, anal fissures, hemorrhoids, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. The key gastrointestinal diseases drug categories include Anti-peptic agents (antacids, antagonists, Proton Pump Inhibitors, Sucralfate, and Misoprostol), antiemetics, adsorbents, anticholinergics, opiates, intestinal flora modifiers, emollient/surfactants, hyperosmotic, saline, and simulant/irritant. The gastrointestinal drugs market is segmented into antacids; antiulcerants; vitamin and minerals; antiobesity; antiemetics and antinauseants; and antidiarrhoeals.



North America was the largest region in the global gastrointestinal drugs market, accounting for 48% of the market in 2020. Asia Pacific was the second largest region accounting for 24% of the global gastrointestinal drugs market. Africa was the smallest region in the global gastrointestinal drugs market.



Major companies in the gastrointestinal drug industry are investing in making oral capsules of macromolecular drugs for gastrointestinal diseases for making the drug more effective. Macromolecular drugs, such as peptides, proteins, and antibodies, form a new class of drugs which can treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, such as inflammatory bowel disease. These macromolecular drugs are usually injected and only a fraction of the administered dose reaches the disease sites in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, major companies such as Eli Lilly have been increasingly investing in making oral capsules for macromolecular drugs. In December 2017, the company invested $5 million to enter into a collaboration with Entrega to study the oral delivery of complex molecules, such as peptides to combat gastrointestinal diseases.



During the historic period, the growth of the gastrointestinal drugs market was restrained by patent expiration of branded gastrointestinal drugs. In general, pharmaceutical companies invest a large sum of money in the drug development process and patents. During the patency period, the company holding the patent holds exclusivity for the manufacturing and distribution of drugs. Post expiration of patency, generic versions of the drugs are manufactured by other companies with prices much lower than the original branded drugs. Overall, this negatively impacts the growth of the market in terms of value.



The aging population profile of most countries contributed to the growth of the gastrointestinal drugs market. The increase in patient pool due to rising geriatric population globally, contributed significantly to the growth of the market during the historic period. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the share of population over the age of 65 in the global population increased from 8% in 2015 to 9% in 2019. The global population aged 65 years or over was 703 million in 2019. This rise in the geriatric population increased the demand for medical care and drove the healthcare expenditure. This has led to increased demand for pharmaceuticals products, significantly impacting market growth during this period.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Report Structure



3. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Characteristics

3.1. Market Definition

3.2. Key Segmentations



4. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Product Analysis

4.1. Leading Products/ Services

4.2. Key Features and Differentiators

4.3. Development Products



5. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Supply Chain

5.1. Supply Chain

5.2. Distribution

5.3. End Customers



6. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Customer Information

6.1. Customer Preferences

6.2. End Use Market Size and Growth



7. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Trends and Strategies



8. Impact of COVID-19 on Gastrointestinal Drugs



9. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Size and Growth

9.1. Market Size

9.2. Historic Market Growth, Value ($ Billion)

9.2.1. Drivers of the Market

9.2.2. Restraints on the Market

9.3. Forecast Market Growth, Value ($ Billion)

9.3.1. Drivers of the Market

9.3.2. Restraints on the Market



10. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Regional Analysis

10.1. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, 2020, by Region, Value ($ Billion)

10.2. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic and Forecast, by Region

10.3. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, Growth and Market Share Comparison, by Region



11. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Segmentation

11.1. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, Segmentation by Type

11.2. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, Segmentation by Distribution Channel

11.3. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, Segmentation by Route of Administration

11.4. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, Segmentation by Drug Classification, Historic and Forecast

11.5. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market, Segmentation by Mode of Purchase, Historic and Forecast

12. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Metrics

12.1. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Size, Percentage of GDP, 2015-2025, Global

12.2. Per Capita Average Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Expenditure, 2015-2025, Global

13. Asia-Pacific Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

14. Western Europe Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

15. Eastern Europe Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

16. North America Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

17. South America Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

18. Middle East Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

19. Africa Gastrointestinal Drugs Market

20. Gastrointestinal Drugs Market Competitive Landscape

20.1. Competitive Market Overview

20.2. Market Shares

20.3. Company Profiles

20.3.1. Takeda Pharmaceticals

20.3.1.1. Company Overview

20.3.1.2. Products and Services

20.3.1.3. Strategy

20.3.1.4. Financial Performance

20.3.2. Allergan Plc

20.3.2.1. Company Overview

20.3.2.2. Products and Services

20.3.2.3. Strategy

20.3.2.4. Financial Performance

20.3.3. Novo Nordisk A/S

20.3.3.1. Company Overview

20.3.3.2. Products and Services

20.3.3.3. Strategy

20.3.3.4. Financial Performance

20.3.4. AstraZeneca Plc

20.3.4.1. Company Overview

20.3.4.2. Products and Services

20.3.4.3. Strategy

20.3.4.4. Financial Performance

20.3.5. Johnson & Johnson

20.3.5.1. Company Overview

20.3.5.2. Products and Services

20.3.5.3. Strategy

20.3.5.4. Financial Performance



21. Key Mergers and Acquisitions in the Gastrointestinal Drugs Market



22. Market Background: Pharmaceutical Drugs Market

22.1. Pharmaceutical Drugs Market Characteristics

22.2. Pharmaceutical Drugs Market Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F Growth, by Segment, Value ($ Billion), Global

22.3. Global Pharmaceutical Drugs Market, 2020, by Region, Value ($ Billion)

22.4. Global Pharmaceutical Drugs Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Historic and Forecast, by Region

22.5. Global Pharmaceutical Drugs Market, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, Segmentation by Type, Value ($ Billion)



23. Recommendations

23.1. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market in 2025 - Growth Countries

23.2. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market in 2025 - Growth Segments

23.3. Global Gastrointestinal Drugs Market in 2025 - Growth Strategies



24. Appendix



25. Copyright and Disclaimer

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nl2qwi
CDC: Report of 2-Year-Old Dying After COVID-19 Vaccination Is False

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has deemed a report of a 2-year-old dying after getting a COVID-19 shot to be untrue.

The agency runs the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) with the Food and Drug Administration. VAERS is a passive system to which anyone can submit reports of adverse reactions following vaccinations, with the bulk of the reports relating to COVID-19 vaccines. Health officials, including CDC officials, have encouraged people to report adverse reactions following vaccination to VAERS.

One of the latest reports claimed a 2-year-old died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

A CDC spokeswoman told The Epoch Times in an email that as with all reports of post-vaccination deaths, investigators probed the report, including requesting medical records, autopsy reports, and death certificates.

It was during that process that CDC discovered that the report submitted to VAERS was false. The report was therefore removed from VAERS, she said.

Most post-vaccination deaths have come among adults; most children havent been vaccinated. Only one of the three types of COVID-19 shots authorized for emergency use in the United States is legally allowed to be administered to 16- or 17-year-olds.

But other VAERS reports say children have died after getting vaccinated.

One says that a 16-year-old Wisconsin girl who was injected on March 19 at a clinic died on March 30, with testing pointing to pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest; another says a 15-year-old Colorado boy died two days after getting a COVID-19 vaccine on April 18; and a third says a 15-year-old New Hampshire girl died in April after getting a vaccination against the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19. (Report numbers: 1225942-1, 1242573-1, 1187918-1, 1255745-1)

Another claims that a Virginia toddler received a Pfizer shot on Feb. 25 in a Pfizer-sponsored program. Pfizer started a trial on its COVID-19 vaccine in children between 6 months and 11 years old in late March.

The CDC referred The Epoch Times to the health departments for the states in which the deaths were reported. None of the departments immediately responded to requests for comment.

Colorado health officials told KDVR that the CDC is leading the investigation into the report of the Colorado boys death.

Given the large number of COVID-19 vaccinations currently underway, it is expected that events such as heart attacks, strokes, serious illnesses, and death will, by chance alone, occur in the days following vaccination. To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment said.
Disgraced former lord mayor Robert Doyle has embarked on a television and radio blitz, tearfully apologising for hurt and offence caused by his actions towards three women during his time in office.

But he declined to address the findings against him. Three separate independent investigations have found he embarked on behaviour that constituted sexual harassment and sexual misconduct.

Former lord mayor Robert Doyle appearing on A Current Affair on Monday night. Credit:A Current Affair

Im not going to comment on specific things, he told Channel Nines A Current Affair on Monday night. Nine also owns The Age.

Im not going to argue the report or its findings; they are history now, Mr Doyle said. And I am trying, trying to say to the people who I have hurt, I have heard you, I have listened to you. And Im so sorry.
Santa Ana to Remove Homeless Encampment

The city of Santa Ana is planning to remove a homeless encampment after a contract was violated by a nonprofit that previously agreed to clear the space.

El Centro de Cultural de Mexico, a cultural center on 837 N. Ross St., has been allowing at times more than 40 homeless people to sleep on its parking lot since early 2020. The encampment has sparked concerns among nearby residents and businesses, whove complained about trash, noise, and excrement being left in alleys.

The center on March 17 signed a contract with the city, agreeing to clear the space within 45 days. In exchange, the city agreed to provide onsite portable toilets, a wash station, and two intensive outreach events to encourage the homeless to go into a shelter, which it did. The city was also willing to forgive the $1,800 in encampment-related fines El Centro had incurred since last May.

Despite the April 30 deadline passing, El Centro has not yet removed the encampment from its land, with approximately 30 people remaining.

During the outreach events, the city partnered with several health and social service organizations to provide COVID-19 testing and vaccines, social services, medical care, legal assistance, and other aid, Santa Ana spokesperson Paul Eakins told The Epoch Times.

Unfortunately, the majority of those living there declined offers of shelter, and El Centro allowed the number of people living on its property to grow, which is in violation of the settlement agreement.

Due to a violation of the agreements of the contract, the city has obtained an abatement order from a judge that allows Santa Ana police to visit the property and clear the unpermitted encampment, Eakins said.

The cultural center has claimed that the city hasnt provided enough shelter space, though Eakins said this is untrue.

There have been shelter beds available, and there still are shelter beds available, Eakins said. In fact, about 17 people from the site did accept shelter and were moved into shelter beds. However, many of the other people that are living on the property didnt want shelter and declined to take shelter. So we do have shelter beds available, and if other individuals living there did want shelter beds, we would have space.

Eakins couldnt say when the city is looking to execute the powers of the abatement order.

The $1,800 in fines the cultural center incurred will now stand, since it violated the terms of the contract, Eakins said.

A homeless encampment off Ross Street in Santa Ana, Calif., on May 10, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Santa Ana Councilwoman Nelida Mendoza told The Epoch Times she sees the issue as a tough problem that will take the entire Orange County community to solve.

I dont see it as putting blame on anyone. Its a social issue that we need to work together to resolve, Mendoza said. The issue here with El Centro Cultural, its understandable that theyre trying to help in having a safe space for really unfortunate homelessness, but its gotten out of hand, because not all the homeless people are well-intentioned. The businesses around that area, theyre suffering. Theres vandalism, theres excrement around their properties, and its driving away their clientele.

The city had no choice but to move forward with the abatement order, she said, because without stepping in, the issue would worsen.

Mendoza said that one of the bigger issues is that some of the homeless people arent willing to go into shelters because of the strict rules they impose.

Some of these homeless people do not want to be in a shelter because theres rules to follow, she said. Theres absolutely no drug use, and many of the homeless have already fallen into being victims of drugs. And then at this point, they dont want help, they want to continue to use the drugs and so they would prefer to stay up there in homeless encampments, to be able to continue to do the drugs.

I hope that they will realize that they can get the help to kick the habit. And to continue a life that has protection for them, because its dangerous. Its dangerous to be out there among the homeless people; theres abuse and violence. And so we dont want that to happen.

El Centro de Cultural de Mexico didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
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The Lagos state government on Monday disclosed plans to completely get rid of motorcycles and tricycles from the state, with last-mile buses provided as alternatives.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos, announced this during a security town hall meeting on Monday.

Commercial motorcycles and tricycles, popularly called Okada and Keke respectively, are the means of transportation to inner streets for many Lagosians.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the government has identified the dangers motorcycles and tricycles pose on Lagos road and plans are underway to eradicate them.

The governor also announced the roll-out of 500 last-mile buses to service people to the inner routes instead of motorcycles and tricycles.

The announcement came on the day the police chief in the state blamed the Okada riders for the high crime across the metropolis.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the earlier ban of motorcycles and tricycles in 15 local government areas in the state and on all highways.

The enforcement of the ban, which commenced on February 1, 2020, saw many riders and operators laments its impact.

Several motorcycles and tricycles were impounded by law enforcement agents during the period.

However, the enforcement was short-lived as many motorcycles and tricycles and back to the previously restricted areas.

Giving update on the position of the state government on the operation of motorcycles and tricycles within the state, Mr Sanwo-Olu said his administration was set to completely eradicate them in all parts of the states.

He said a new transport system is set to be launched in the state.

Jubril Gawat, special adviser to the governor on social media, also posted on Twitter Monday that about 500 last-mile buses would be rolled out to serve as alternatives to tricycles and motorcycles in the first phase.

He added that the state will keep rolling out the mini buses till about 5,000 of them are spread within the state.
Page Content

As of May 8th, there was one (1) person who tested positive for COVID-19; however four (4) persons have recovered; bringing the total active cases to thirty (30). The total number of confirmed cases is now two thousand two hundred sixty (2260).





The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are monitoring twenty eight (28) people in home isolation. Two (2) patients remains hospitalized at the St. Maarten Medical Center. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains at twenty seven (27).





The number of people recovered since the first case surfaced on St. Maarten has increased to two thousand two hundred three (2203). Thirty six (36) people are in quarantine based on contact tracing investigations carried out by CPS.





The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (VSA) Airport Health Team in collaboration with Health Care Laboratory Sint Maarten (HCLS) have tested 2, 754 travelers arriving at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), while CPS tested 26, 359 people throughout the community. As the numbers continue to fluctuate, CPS will continue to actively execute its contact tracing measures.





Minister Ottley would like to thank everyone who came out to the COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach today at the Belvedere Methodist Church. For continuous safety, wear your mask, practice social distancing, and sanitize or wash your hands frequently.
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Thunder possible. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Thunder possible. Low 69F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
TEL AVIV - The Israeli army has decided to block a few roads and areas around the security barrier with Gaza and to cancel all trains between Ashkelon and Beer Sheva. The decision was motivated with the "current situation" over incidents in Jerusalem and the threats made by Hamas. Moreover, civilians were asked to "avoid all stops besides roads and areas adjacent to the Strip".


Press Release

May 10, 2021 DOFIL Opening Remarks Maganda at mapagpalang araw po. [ In Proverbs 24 verse 3, it says "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established". Continuing in verse 6, "For by wise guidance you can wage your war and in abundance of counselors there is victory." ] Naniniwala po ako na there's no harm in getting all positions on the table, especially when it comes to a policy issue that will affect the lives of our overseas Filipinos which is 10% of our total population. That's why we are doing our best to consult as many people as we can including our kababayans abroad. I-report ko lang po na last April 22, we touched base with more than 850 OFWs from 35 countries. And everytime we let our OFWs speak, there are always new issues and concerns that need attention. As a matter of fact, tuloy-tuloy pa rin po ang natatanggap nating mga sulat at position papers dito sa DOFIL. We are also keeping close tabs on what's happening with our OFWs in the midst of this pandemic. We believe that COVID-19 will continue to impact mobility and migration. Halimbawa, may mga kababayan tayong idinadaing pa rin ang "travel cap" kaya hindi sila makapagpa-rebook ng ticket at makauwi. Imagine, pinipigilan po silang umuwi sa sarili nilang bansa? DOFIL should be designed to address these kinds of situation. Your committee wants to make sure that DOFIL will work now and in the post-COVID-19 world which, as many experts describe, "will be less open, less free, less prosperous, and more competitive" [from Harvard Business Review]. Now, having said that, it seems that we need to pay more attention to repatriation and reintegration of overseas Filipinos. And we are here today because there is one very important aspect that came out in the last hearing last March 18 on the matter on how we can strengthen the OWWA Fund which now stands at around 22 billion pesos [DOFIL Hearing, March 18]. In the course of our hearing, we agreed with our good minority leader and former DOLE Secretary, Senator Frank Drilon, to strengthen the nature of OWWA as a trust fund and look at the possibility of having a social security set-up similar to the SSS which now, by the way, covers all sea-based and land-based OFWs and includes benefits such as retirement, death, disability, sickness and maternity [Compulsary coverage of OFWs is mandated by RA 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018]. Yung sinasabi po ni Senator Drilon, pareho po ng narinig natin sa mga kababayan nating OFWs last April 22. Nag-co-contribute sila sa OWWA pero hindi maliwanag sa kanila ang mga benepisyo or kung may makukuha ba sila para sa kanilang retirement at hospitalization. Marami daw po sa kanila ang wala talagang ipon pag-uwi dahil naipapadala rin nila sa Pilipinas ang sweldo nila kada buwan. Importanteng tanong po: Paano gagawing permanent social security benefit fund itong OWWA Fund na pag-aari ng ating mga manggagawa? Kung hindi po kasi natin ito poproteksyunan, baka magamit pa sa repatriation services na dapat namang gastusan ng gobyerno at pondohan sa ating GAA. We are basically in the last leg of our hearing on the DOFIL and again, the reason we called our resource persons today is to guide us in coming up with a system to make OWWA a Trust Fund that Overseas Filipino Workers can look to in terms of retirement, sick leave, and other programs that are essential for the reintegration of our OFWs. Sabi nga po, mas maraming nag-iisip, mas marami tayong mareresolba. Maraming salamat po. God bless us all.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Damaging Childrens Vision

A rise in nearsightedness could grow worse as children spend more time indoors on devices

Eye doctors had planned to celebrate 2020 as the year of vision (as in seeing 20/20). Instead, it will be known as the year that worsened the worlds vision for decades to come. Scientists are attributing this latest health issueone that is hidden in plain sightto the pandemic.

Rates of myopia, also known as nearsightedness or shortsightedness, have been increasing worldwide for decades. Half of the worlds population is predicted to be myopic by 2050.

The length of time children spend viewing digital screens has been exacerbated by a massive increase in remote schooling, directly contributing to further increases in childhood myopia. Home-schooled children of the COVID-19 era are at risk of becoming the visually compromised population of tomorrow.

A recent study of more than 120,000 children in China demonstrated that 6- to 8-year-olds who were in lockdown for the first six months of 2020 are more myopic than their counterparts from previous years.

Myopia Risks

For a child with myopia, distance vision is blurry while near vision remains clear. In the past, the increase in myopia diagnoses from year to year was given little thought, since it was correctable with glasses or contact lenses. However, eye-care professionals now know that the younger a child becomes myopic, the higher their prescription may eventually become, and high prescriptions are bad news for eyes.

There is an established link between high myopia and increased lifelong risk of devastating eye diseases. Someone who has a prescription of more than six corrective units, or dioptres, (a prescription of -6.00) has a 90 percent likelihood of being visually impaired by the age of 75.

A number of eye conditions are more prevalent in highly myopic adults including cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment, retinal degeneration, and other ocular diseases that can have a lifelong impact on their vision. These complications typically happen in later life, so concern for children may seem irrelevant or premature. However, there are other more immediate effects of high prescriptions.

A child or teenager with a fairly high prescription will be visually debilitated when not wearing their glasses or contacts, making them totally dependent on their vision correction. As an example, someone who has 10 dioptres of myopia sees anything beyond half an arms length as blurred. And dont think that laser vision correction will save the day once theyre old enough. That degree of myopia may leave them ineligible or subject to a less successful outcome.

Screen Time

The question then turns to what causes myopia in the first place, and what can be done about its onset and progression.

The biggest factor that cant be changed is parental myopia. A child is extremely likely to become myopic if both parents are myopic.

One factor that is modifiable is the amount of time children spend on near tasks, those that involve viewing things closer than 40 centimeters from their eyes.

Extended periods of time spent focused on short distances contribute to myopia increases. Digital screens have been targeted as the reason, but is it the electronic display itself or that a child holds a tablet or phone very close for extended periods? While there is some debate, the short focusing distance is the more likely culprit.

Even with the digital onslaught, all is not lost. Parents and caregivers can help prevent children from becoming nearsighted and slow down the rate at which the condition progresses.

Protecting children from myopia takes some attention but its worth it.

Simply spending more time outside can delay the onset of myopia. Direct sunlight plays a part, as well as the long-range focusing while playing outdoors. Restricting screen time is helpful and following optometrist-endorsed recommendations relating to screen times for children can help safeguard eyesight.

For children schooled at home where limits arent practical, ensure that the screen isnt being held or positioned too closely to a child, encourage regular breaks, and use the 20-20-20 rule: Look 20 feet away every 20 minutes for 20 seconds. Some researchers have found that children who go to bed later are more likely to be myopican added incentive for parents who are looking for reasons to call it a night.

A childs myopia usually continues to progress until around the age of 16, but about 10 percent of myopic patients vision keeps worsening into their early 20s.

Treatment and Prevention

Many options exist for vision correction, but more importantly, there is an increasing number of options available to slow down the progression of myopia and reduce the risk of developing sight-threatening complications in later life. They range from contact lenses and glasses specifically designed to slow down myopia progression to precisely formulated eye drops.

These can be discussed with your eye-care practitioner, who will recommend the best path based on each child.

More than anything else, dont assume a child can see well. There is no substitution for an examination with an eye-care professional. The pandemic has already caused widespread hardship. By acting now, parents can minimize its impact on the vision and ocular health of generations to come.

Debbie Jones is a clinical professor at the School of Optometry & Vision Science and Clinical Scientist at the Centre for Ocular Research & Education at the University of Waterloo in Canada, and Kate Gifford is a visiting research fellow in Optometry and Vision Science at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia. This article was first published on The Conversation.
Dublin, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Government and Industrial/Financial Blockchain: Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2021 to 2027" report from Wintergreen Research, Inc has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

A $4.47 million market worldwide in 2020, it is anticipated to grow rapidly to $83.3 billion in 2027 as central banks figure out how to use blockchain in their digital currency initiatives.

Worldwide markets are poised to achieve continuing growth as blockchain proves its value by managing digital transactions in real time across national boundaries, encouraging collaborative business efforts. Lowering transaction management costs is a key benefit.

Blockchain can be implemented in an IBM mainframe that is already a core technology for virtually every bank. Blockchain updates the security in transaction processing, implementing end to end encryption.

Government blockchain is used to implement Web 3.0. the ability ot transfer money as easily as people send an email. The question becomes, what does Web 3.0 look like? It looks like a distributed ledger system providing immediate currency exchange worldwide that mimics how the Internet is used to exchange e-mail. Web 3.0 features enhanced security added to a real time digital economic process.

The government blockchain market does not include what has been the biggest use of blockchain - to hide the money of criminals and terrorists - perform money laundering. After an inauspicious beginning, government blockchain has moved to digital currency, government blockchain is on the cusp of phenomenal growth, ready to reach $83 billion worldwide by 2027 as it creates new digital economic infrastructure.

ConsenSys acquired Quorum, the blockchain platform belonging to JPMorgan in a move that will solidify an ongoing relationship between the JPMC and ConsenSys. The-Quorum-blockchain is a premier transaction management system, settling $5 trillion in transactions per day.

The government blockchain market moves into rapid growth mode as the digital economy takes hold. As the banks and finance industry move into the modern age of real time transaction processing, blockchain is a core enabling technology for central banks. This market segment previously has been held back in part by the outdated aspects of the mainframe computing technology. IBM Blockchain and others are spurred by more modern ways to manage global transactions across national borders from IBM, Microsoft, and Accenture.

Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger system providing enhanced security to the real time digital economic process. Blockchain is comprised of blocks of digitally recorded data. The global market for blockchain at $4.47 billion in 2020 is anticipated to reach $83 billion in 2027. IBM, ConsenSys, and Microsoft are driving blockchain as their clients are making the transition to cloud services. Accenture has measurable market share as well.

Key Topics:

Distributed Ledger

Web 3.0

Blockchain

Cryptocurrency

Digital Economy

Central Bank Transactions

Digital Transactions

Digital Currency

Data Center Infrastructure

Enterprise Application

Industry Trends

Enterprise Application Market

Financial Ledger

Internet Financial

Architecture

Transactions in Real Time

Enhanced Security

Collaborative Business

Across National Boundaries

Key Topics Covered:

1. Government Blockchain: Stable Value Currency Market Description and Market Dynamics

1.1 Government Blockchain Market Description and Market Dynamics

1.1.1 Blockchain and Cyber Attacks

1.1.2 Central Banks Seek to Master Stable Value Digital Currency

1.1.3 Digital Virtual Currencies Goal: Stable-Coins that Have a Consistent Value

1.2 Blockchains: Cryptographically Secured Distributed Ledgers

1.2.1 Central Bank Currencies: Wholesale and Retail

1.2.2 Advantages of Central Bank Digital Currency

1.2.3 Blockchain Companies Initial Coin Offerings - ICOs

1.2.4 Transfer of Social Trust: From Institutions to Systems Using Well-Tested Computer Code

1.3 Central Banks Exploring Creation of Digital Currency Issued by Government -Accepted as a Method of Payment

1.3.1 Fed System as It Exists Now

1.3.2 Digital Currency Approach Uses Blockchain To Verify and Track Transactions

1.3.3 Individuals Would Hold Accounts Directly at The Central Bank

1.3.4 Sovereign Digital Currencies

1.3.5 Digital Currencies as Payment Methods

1.3.6 Enterprises to Speed Up Digital Transformation

1.3.7 Role of Central Banks in Digital Currency Interoperability

2. Government Blockchain Stable Value Digital Currency: Market Shares and Forecasts

2.1 Government Blockchain Stable Value Digital Currency Market Driving Forces

2.1.1 Replacing Client Server Data Center Architecture with Blockchain Brings New Digital Efficiencies

2.1.2 Blockchain Leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI)

2.1.3 Governments Use Blockchain Distributed Ledgers to Achieve Business and Fiscal Transparency

2.2 Government Blockchain Market Shares

2.2.1 Blockchain Market Shares, Dollars, Worldwide, 2020

2.2.2 IBM and Microsoft

2.2.3 IBM Blockchain

2.2.4 IBM Implements AI Support for Blockchain

2.2.5 IBM Blockchain Decentralized Ledger in Supply Chains

2.2.6 IBM Blockchain Decentralized Ledger in Medical Industry

2.3 Government and Industrial/Finance Blockchain Market Forecasts

2.4 Blockchain Market Forecasts: Banking, Finance, and Insurance, Healthcare, Cybercurrency, Supply Chain, and Internet of Things (IoT)

2.4.1 Rapid Adoption of Technology

2.5 Government and Financial Blockchain Applications

2.5.1 BFSI: Blockchain Impact on Stock Market

2.5.2 Blockchain for Healthcare

2.5.3 Blockchain for Contracts and the Legal Industry

2.5.4 Blockchain for Supply Chain

2.5.5 Blockchain for Internet of Things

2.5.6 SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Sees 1 Trillion Devices for Internet of Things

2.6 Blockchain Pricing

2.6.1 Microsoft Blockchain Pricing

2.7 Central Bank Digital Currency Blockchain Regional Market Segments

2.7.1 US

2.7.2 Covid-19 Pandemic Toll on US Communities

2.7.3 US Fed Exploring the Use of Innovative Technologies to Enhance Payments Efficiency

2.7.4 Japan Central Bank Digital Currency

2.7.5 Europe

2.7.6 Bank of China

2.7.7 China Opens Its Financial System to The World

2.7.8 China Ending Anonymity of Virtual Accounts to Cryptocurrency Exchanges

2.7.9 Korean Blockchain Association

2.7.10 UK

3. Government and Industrial/Financial Blockchain Central Bank and Vendor Activities

3.1 Government and Central Bank Planning for Digital Coins and Tokens

3.2 Boston Fed Looking at 30 to 40 Blockchain Networks for Digital Dollar

3.2.1 US Fed and Digital Currency

3.3 EU and Digital Currency

3.3.1 Sweden's Central Bank, Riksbank

3.3.2 Germany and Italy

3.3.3 Bank of Spain

3.4 China's Retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

4. Blockchain Research and Technology

4.1 On a Blockchain, a Node Replicates Data for All Nodes

4.2 Blockchain Electricity Usage - Moving to Asynchronous Process

4.3 Accenture Patent Tied To "Editable Blockchain"

4.4 Digital Currency Models

4.4.1 Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

4.5 Facebook Libra - Diem Association

5. Blockchain Company Profiles

5.1 360 Blockchain Inc

5.2 Accenture

5.2.1 Accenture Blockchain Culture of Innovation

5.2.2 Accenture Blockchain Solutions

5.2.3 Accenture Blockchain Partnerships

5.2.4 Accenture Alliance with Digital Asset Seeks to Fundamentally Change the Way Companies Verify and Settle Transactions

5.2.5 Accenture Digital Asset Partners

5.2.6 Accenture Revenue

5.3 Abra

5.4 Amazon

5.4.1 Amazon Blockchain Partners

5.4.2 Amazon Blockchain Partner Solutions

5.4.3 Amazon Sawtooth

5.4.4 Amazon (AMZN) Integrating Blockchain Technology into Its Networks

5.4.5 Amazon Blockchain Deloitte

5.4.6 Amazon Web Services

5.4.7 Amazon Blockchain for Bitcoin

5.5 Axoni

5.5.1 Comments from Axoni Users as to Reliability of Equity Swap

5.6 BitFury Group

5.6.1 Richard Branson Digital Currency Summit on Private Caribbean Island

5.6.2 Bitfury Group Blockchain Analytics

5.6.3 Bitfury Group Lightning Network

5.7 Binance Exchange

5.8 Blockchains

5.8.1 Slock.It

5.8.2 Slock.it Builds Next-Generation Sharing Platform

5.8.3 Slock.It Addresses Global Market for Sharing

5.9 BlockCypher

5.9.1 BlockCypher Payment Forwarding

5.10 BTL Group

5.10.1 BTL Blockchain Platform, Interbit For Energy Trading.

5.10.2 BTL Group Blockchain Based Cross-Border Settlement Solution

5.11 BMW

5.12 Chain

5.12.1 Chain and Changetip Participate with The Nasdaq-Created Blockchain System Linq

5.12.2 Chain Partners

5.13 ConsenSys

5.13.1 ConsenSys/Quorum

5.13.2 Quorum

5.14 Corda R3

5.15 Deloitte

5.16 Digital Asset Holdings

5.17 Eris Industries

5.18 Ethereum

5.18.1 Ethereum/Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD)

5.18.2 Ethereum Blockchain CryptoKitties

5.18.3 Problem of Ethereum's High Fees

5.19 EzyRemit

5.20 Facebook

5.21 Fidelity Investments

5.21.1 Fidelity Size

5.22 Global Arena Holding

5.23 Goldman Sachs

5.24 Government Blockchain Association (GBA)

5.25 Hitachi

5.26 HIVE Blockchain Technologies

5.27 IBM Blockchain

5.27.1 IBM Blockchain Platform Optimized for Deployment on Red Hat OpenShift

5.27.2 IBM Cross Border Payments

5.27.3 IBM Batavia

5.27.4 IBM Internet of Things

5.27.5 IBM Supply Chain Tracking

5.27.6 IBM Blockchain in the Supply Chain

5.27.7 Use Cases for IBM IoT and Blockchain

5.27.8 IBM Revenue

5.27.9 IBM Datacenter Blockchain

5.28 Intel

5.29 JP Morgan Chase

5.29.1 JPMorgan Chase Quorum Blockchain Technology

5.30 Kube MQ

5.31 Lenovo

5.31.1 Lenovo Revenue

5.32 Luno

5.33 Microsoft Blockchain

5.33.1 Microsoft Azure Supply Chain Track and Trace

5.33.2 Microsoft Strengthening Blockchain Partnerships

5.33.3 Microsoft Revenue

5.33.4 Microsoft Covid-19

5.34 MIT Digital Currency Initiative

5.35 NEO Open Source Blockchain

5.36 OnChain Public Platform Project in Conjunction with NEO

5.37 Oracle

5.38 Overstock

5.39 PokitDok

5.40 Provenance

5.41 R3

5.41.1 Blockchain Startup R3 CEV Attracts $107M From BofA, HSBC, Intel and Others

5.41.2 JPMorgan Chase & Co Quit the R3 Initiative

5.41.3 R3 Corda

5.42 Ripple

5.42.1 Ripple XRP Digital Asset for Payments

5.42.2 Ripple Labs a Global Leader in Distributed Ledger Technology

5.42.3 Ripple XRP The Digital Asset

5.42.4 Ripple Product Manager from JP Morgan Chase

5.42.5 Ripple Board of Directors, Susan Athey Has Strong Ties to Microsoft

5.43 SAP

5.44 Scorechain

5.45 Samsung Nexledger

5.46 TATA Consultancy Services

5.46.1 TCS Integrated Blockchain Solution

5.46.2 TCS Risk Information Management Solution

5.47 TON

5.48 Visa

5.49 Wishknish

5.49.1 Wishknish Authentication

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1dg8d0
New Delhi: Three Indian Naval warships will arrive on Monday (May 10) to deliver COVID-19 medical supplies from Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore.

The supplies include four 27-MT oxygen filled containers, Eight 20 T cryogenic oxygen tanks (empty), 900 Filled oxygen cylinders, 3,150 oxygen cylinders (empty),10,000 Rapid Antigen Test kits, 54 Oxygen concentrators, 450 - PPE kits.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra will be the states to receive the medical equipment arriving on these ships

INS Airavat will be reaching Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh with (probably the largest consignment by a single platform) consignment of Eight 20 T cryogenic oxygen tanks (empty) 3,150 oxygen cylinders (empty), 500 Filled oxygen cylinders, 07 Oxygen concentrators, 10,000 Rapid Antigen Test kits & 450 - PPE kits from Singapore.

INS Kolkata will be arriving in New Mangalore, Karnataka with Two 27 MT Oxygen filled containers, 400 Oxygen cylinders and 47 Oxygen concentrators from Qatar and Kuwait.

INS Trikand will be reaching Mumbai, Maharashtra with two 27-MT oxygen filled containers from Qatar.

Meanwhile, Indias daily rise in COVID-19 cases has retreated from the 400,000 mark on Monday (May 10), while its daily rise in deaths also fell after two straight days of more than 4,000 fatalities.

The health ministry reported 366,161 new COVID-19 infections and 3,754 more deaths. The total caseload now stands at 22.66 million, with 246,116 deaths.

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The ticking of the clock, rising costs and years of delaying payments have created an often-overlooked crisis for municipal pension systems, according to a new analysis.

While there have been plenty of headlines on the states pension chasm  considered the worst in the nation  municipalities are facing a reckoning of their own. The race to close the gap has some cities raising taxes or cutting people and services to keep up.

In simplest terms, pensions are funds intended to provide financial security for government employees when they retire. The state promises it will cover a percentage of an employees salary for each year of work, usually adjusting it upward each year with a cost-of-living increase. Employees contributions, typically at significantly lower rates, are added in.

In Illinois, the state covers pensions for teachers, state employees, judges, state lawmakers, and those employed at state universities. By the states conservative estimate, those systems are $144 billion in debt; an analysis by Moodys Investors Service puts it at $317 billion as of June 30.

More Information The entire report is available at bit.ly/3f6pnN5 See More Collapse

Pension funds for municipal workers, including police and firefighters, are no better. These are maintained on a mostly local level  although there is one pension fund for municipal workers in the state, there are 355 separate funds for police and 296 for firefighters.

The unfunded liability for those funds is more than $200 billion, according to state estimates.

Illinois state-level pension crisis gets all the attention, but theres another crisis brewing right in peoples backyards, said Ted Dabrowski, president of Wirepoints, a fiscal policy group based in Chicago.

The group is independent, but has advocated for changes to Illinois pension system  pushing for a move for new employees to a 401(k)-style system that would suspend cost-of-living increases until pensions are fully funded. It also would require state retirees to pay more for health insurance.

Such changes have been rejected by many lawmakers.

Thats handcuffing local officials from doing what they can to save their communities from collapse, Dabrowski said. If lawmakers do nothing, Illinois cities will continue to hollow out and slide toward insolvency.

His groups latest report, Communities in crisis, examined local pensions in 175 Illinois cities and graded them A to F for how well they were being maintained based on 10 weighted metrics.

More than half  102  received a failing grade. Two decades ago, only seven were graded F.

Rising costs for Illinois 650 local pension funds are wreaking havoc on city budgets, taxpayer wallets and the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of police, firefighter and municipal workers and retirees, Dabrowski said.

City governments have been painfully aware of the situation, with some cutting personnel, adding new fees or increasing property taxes. Du Quoin property taxes were raised 15% to cover its pension shortfall without having to lay off workers, according to Wirepoints.

In west-central Illinois, the study reviewed Springfield, Jacksonville and Beardstown. Springfield was rated F, with the others receiving D grades.

Jacksonville

The citys total score fell from 77 in 2003 to 60 in 2019.

City taxpayers contributed 2.7 times more to pensions compared to 2003, and yet city pension debts today are 4.4 times larger, according to the report.

It estimates pensions were funded at 55.7% for police, 58.8% for firefighters and 92.2% for municipal employees by 2019. In 2003, the funding ratios were 68.6% for police, 82.6% for firefighters and 112.1% for municipal pensions, according to the report.

City pension contributions were $2.65 million in 2019, with employees adding $679,092.

Mayor Andy Ezard said pensions are watched closely.

We consult the auditors, the investment advisers, the bankers on the boards, the board members, and board attorney. All are happy where we are at, he said.

The state Department of Insurance builds in extra to the levy each year and Ezard said we always pay that whole levy.

One of the specifics affecting the police pension is turnover, which he said cannot be controlled.

Oddly enough, the only ones that are unhappy are people who are unaffected, Ezard said. If we never put another penny in those funds, we could pay at current levels to the pensioners for 11 years.

Beardstown

The citys score went from 81 in 2003 to 66 in 2019.

City taxpayers contributed 2.1 times more to pensions compared to 2003, and yet city pension debts today are 5.6 times higher, accounting for 9.6% of the citys budget, according to the report.

The citys total benefits liability is about $9.44 million, with a shortfall of about $3.35 million, according to the report.

It estimates pensions were funded at 43.1% for police, 57.4% for firefighters and 89.7% for municipal employees by 2019. In 2003, the funding ratios were in the low- to mid-70 percentile for police and firefighters and almost 106% for municipal pensions, according to the report.

In 2019, the city contributed $325,731 to the pension plans, with employees adding $102,728.

Springfield

The overall score dropped from 67 in 2003 to 48 in 2019.

City taxpayers contributed 4.6 times more to pensions compared to 2003, and yet city pension debts today are 2.9 times larger, accounting for 27.6% of the citys budget, according to the report.

The citys total benefits liability is about $885.2 million, with a shortfall of more than $429.54 million, according to the report.

In 2019, Springfield contributed nearly $32.1 to its pension plans, with employees adding $6.88 million.
MDHHS names Dr. Alexis Travis as senior deputy director for the Public Health Administration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2021

Contact: MDDHS, Chelsea Wuth, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. - Dr. Alexis Travis has been named the new senior deputy director for the Public Health Administration at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and will start on May 30.

Travis joined MDHHS in 2018 and most recently served as senior deputy director of MDHHS's Aging & Adult Services Agency (AASA), where she provided statewide leadership, direction, and resources to support Michigan's aging, adult services, and disability networks. In this role she advanced health equity for older adults and led efforts to address the need to expand the direct care workforce. She led AASA in Michigan to become the fifth state in the nation and first in the Midwest to join the World Health Organization and AARP age-friendly initiative. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Travis worked with the AASA team and the state's aging network to launch many innovative programs to address food insecurity, social isolation and support risk mitigation in one of the highest risk populations of older adults in Michigan.

Prior to that to her work with AASA, Travis served as director of MDHHS's Bureau of Health and Wellness within the Population Health Administration where she managed the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Control and the Division of HIV and STD Programs. In that role, she collaborated with stakeholders to develop a state dementia plan and established a state-level public health workgroup on healthy aging, which she continues to lead.

As senior deputy director of public health, Travis will oversee the Bureau of Laboratories, Bureau of Epidemiology and Public Health, Bureau of Health and Wellness, Bureau of Infectious Disease Prevention and the Bureau of EMS, Trauma, and Preparedness. She will work with local, state, and federal partners to develop and implement public health policies. Dr. Travis will continue to report to Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, who will continue in her role as chief deputy director of health and chief medical executive for MDHHS.

"Dr. Travis is a champion of public health and has driven measurable positive change in her time at MDHHS. She continues to be an integral asset in reducing health disparities and increasing health equity for Michiganders," said MDHHS director Elizabeth Hertel. "She is well-suited to develop strategies and programs to promote the health of Michiganders, and we're excited to have her in this role."

Travis holds a doctorate in public health from Walden University in Minnesota, a master's degree of pharmacy with honors from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom and was a participant in the Socrates/Erasmus Student Exchange Program at the University of Salamanca in Spain. She is a graduate of the Local Public Health Institute of Massachusetts/Boston University School of Public Health Managing Effectively in Today's Public Health Environment Class of 2017.

# # #
BRISBANE, Australia, April 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

MARCH QUARTER 2021 KEY HIGHLIGHTS1

Olaroz Lithium Facility (Olaroz) operations increased the Gross Cash Margin more than $1,800/tonne with the sales price up more than 50%. Costs remained near all-time lows despite much a greater proportion of sales being battery grade material which has higher production costs. Market conditions have improved materially and this will be reflected in higher June quarter product pricing. Operations continued under the established Bio-Security Protocol.

OLAROZ LITHIUM FACILITY (ORE 66.5%)2

Activities continue to focus on the health and well-being of our staff, contractors and communities while maintaining production and expansion works with no COVID-19 related stoppages during the period

Production of 3,232 tonnes was the highest achieved in a March quarter and up 18% on the previous corresponding period ( PCP ). It was down 13% quarter on quarter ( QoQ ), due mainly to a nine day planned maintenance program undertaken during February and an increase in the proportion of battery grade product

). It was down 13% quarter on quarter ( ), due mainly to a nine day planned maintenance program undertaken during February and an increase in the proportion of battery grade product Sales volume of 3,032 tonnes was up 18% on PCP, but down 30% QoQ after record sales to clear inventory in the December quarter

Sales revenue was up 7% QoQ to US$17.7 million with the realised average price achieved up 54% to US$5,853/tonne on a free onboard basis ( FOB ) 3 with stronger lithium market conditions. Prices have now increased by nearly 90% over the last six months

) with stronger lithium market conditions. Prices have now increased by nearly 90% over the last six months Cash costs (on a cost of goods sold basis) 4 were down 3% to US$3,867/tonne on PCP excluding the export tax of US$210/tonne. Importantly, costs were only up 7% QoQ despite the proportion of battery grade sales increasing from 34% to 47% QoQ

were down 3% to US$3,867/tonne on PCP excluding the export tax of US$210/tonne. Importantly, costs were only up 7% QoQ despite the proportion of battery grade sales increasing from 34% to 47% QoQ Gross cash margin was up materially to US$1,986/t, an improvement of US$1,812/t on the December quarter with better pricing

An agreement has been reached with Prime Planet Energy and Solutions ( PPES ), the automotive battery cell manufacturing joint venture between Toyota (51%) and Panasonic (49%) for supply of battery grade lithium carbonate during Japanese fiscal year 21/22 ( JFY21/22 ). Future annual discussions will determine details for subsequent years leading to supply of 30,000 tonne per annum ( ktpa ) of lithium carbonate equivalent ( LCE ) by CY25. Orocobre has commenced dispatching product from Olaroz to a bonded warehouse in Japan in preparation for the first delivery of battery grade lithium carbonate to PPES.

), the automotive battery cell manufacturing joint venture between Toyota (51%) and Panasonic (49%) for supply of battery grade lithium carbonate during Japanese fiscal year 21/22 ( ). Future annual discussions will determine details for subsequent years leading to supply of 30,000 tonne per annum ( ) of lithium carbonate equivalent ( ) by CY25. Orocobre has commenced dispatching product from Olaroz to a bonded warehouse in Japan in preparation for the first delivery of battery grade lithium carbonate to PPES. Lithium prices continue to recover and Orocobre price guidance has now been raised with Q4 FY21 prices expected to be approximately US$7,400/tonne (FOB)3. Budgeted FY22 production is fully contracted and subject to variable pricing related to benchmarks that will benefit from the expected continued improvement in market conditions

____________________________

1 All figures presented in this report are unaudited

2 All figures 100% Olaroz Project basis

3 Orocobre report price as FOB (Free On Board) which excludes insurance and freight charges included in CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) pricing.

Therefore, the Companys reported prices are net of freight (shipping), insurance and sales commission. FOB prices are reported by the Company to provide clarity on the sales revenue that is recognized by SDJ, the joint venture company in Argentina

4 Excludes royalties, export tax and corporate costs

LITHIUM GROWTH PROJECTS

During the March quarter work at Olaroz Stage 2 continued with strong adherence to the COVID-19 bio-security protocol. At the end of March, 70% of contracts had been awarded and a further 8% were at award recommendation stage. Additional accommodation facilities were completed in the quarter and more will become available in the June quarter

Stage 2 is expected to be complete in H1 CY22 and to commence production the following half. Production will ramp up over two years to full capacity of 25ktpa of primary grade lithium carbonate by H2 CY24

Naraha Lithium Hydroxide Plant construction has continued throughout the period and is now approximately 94% complete. Commissioning will be delayed until Q1 CY22 due to COVID-19 related delays of travel to site by international technicians

A scoping study into a further expansion at Olaroz (Stage 3) commenced during the March quarter. The study will investigate options for additional production of 25-50ktpa from Olaroz, Cauchari or a combination of both, leveraging existing Stage 1 and 2 infrastructure

Discussions continue with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) regarding an expansion of lithium hydroxide production to meet forecast growth in demand



BORAX ARGENTINA

Overall sales volume for the December quarter was 10,282 tonnes, down 3% QoQ and 4% on PCP

Sales revenue was up 5% QoQ due to higher average prices that were up 8% QoQ with strong customer demand

CORPORATE

At 31 March 2021, Orocobre corporate had available cash of ~US$241.6 million of which US$11.1 million and US$85.5 million have been set aside as pre-completion guarantees for the Naraha debt facility and Olaroz Expansion debt facility respectively

Including SDJ and Borax cash and project debt, net group cash at 31 March 2021 was US$97.7 million, down from US$119.8 million at 31 December 2020

OLAROZ LITHIUM FACILITY

COVID-19

During the first quarter of CY21 the epidemiological situation in Argentina was under control, with low infections in our areas of operation. The team is planning additional preventive actions to manage any impact from an expected second wave across the country. As vaccination for all employees is not yet an option, our first and most effective barrier remains a strong Bio-security Protocol.

Daily monitoring of the workforce health continues throughout 14-21 day rosters that apply to all personnel and include those employees who would normally reside in local communities. Since July 2020, the Company medical service has performed more than 9,500 COVID-19 tests (Serological and PCR). At this point, approximately 35% of our employees have had the disease and have generated high levels of antibodies.

Additional accommodation facilities are being installed to enable the growing construction workforce to operate within the COVID-19 bio-security protocol.

SAFETY

Health and safety remains a key priority for the Company. One Lost Time Injury (LTI) was recorded with a contractor at Olaroz on February 27th after 446 days without an LTI in both the operations and the expansion project. The worker involved was provided immediate medical assistance and is now recovering.

In March the ISO 14001 & 9001 & 18001 audit was performed. No major findings were reported and recertification was granted. A new work permit system and hazard analysis tool will be implemented in the next several weeks. The Dupont programs continue to enhance our safety culture and remain a key priority. Orocobre is consolidating all key leading and lagging indicators following the ACSI Future Health and Safety reporting.

OPERATIONAL UPDATE

QUALITY

Brine concentration remains well above prior years supporting excellent plant stability and reliability. The continuing high process capability ratio (CpK) demonstrates the ongoing ability of Olaroz to produce lithium carbonate well within specification limits.

Product quality continues to improve with reduced magnetic particles and increased product consistency.

PRODUCTION

Production for the March quarter was 3,232 tonnes, up 18% from 2,732 tonnes in the PCP with 55% of production being battery grade lithium carbonate. Brine concentration remains at higher levels than in recent years resulting in high daily production rates, higher plant recovery and continued low costs. A nine day plant shutdown was undertaken in February for planned maintenance.

SALES AND COMMERCIAL

Product sales were 3,032 tonnes of lithium carbonate up 20% on PCP but down 30% QoQ after a strong December quarter. Total sales revenue was up 7% QoQ to US$17.7 million and up 46% on PCP. The average price received was up 54% QoQ to US$5,853/tonne on an FOB3 basis and up 22% on PCP with stronger pricing relative to a year ago.

Approximately half the sales in the March quarter reflect contracts that were agreed in late November and early December prior to significant movement in lithium prices.

More than 50% of forecast sales for the June 2021 quarter are expected to be allocated to long term battery grade contracts as Olaroz commences delivering product to PPES. Such percentage of battery grade product sales is expected to increase into FY22.

Several customers have recently expressed an interest in increasing their volume offtake allocation for FY22 as they struggle to secure volumes with other vendors suggesting that the market is now in a deficit position. Budgeted production at Olaroz for FY22 is fully sold and additional volumes will only become available when Olaroz Stage 2 commences production in the second half of CY22.

The estimated average price for the June 2021 quarter is expected to be approximately US$7,400/tonne FOB3, subject to shipping schedules.

PPES MOU

An agreement has been reached with Prime Planet Energy and Solutions (PPES), the automotive battery cell manufacturing joint venture between Toyota (51%) and Panasonic (49%) for supply of battery grade lithium carbonate during Japanese fiscal year 21/22 (JFY21/22). Future annual discussions will determine details for subsequent years leading to supply of 30,000 tonne per annum (tpa) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by CY25. Orocobre has commenced dispatching product from Olaroz to a bonded warehouse in Japan in preparation for the first delivery of battery grade lithium carbonate to PPES.

COSTS/MARGINS

Cash cost of goods sold for the quarter (including COVID-19 related costs) decreased by 3% on PCP remaining near all-time lows at US$3,867/tonne4. This excludes export duties for the quarter of US$210/tonne. Importantly, costs increased by only 7% QoQ, while the proportion of battery grade sales increased from 34% to 47% QoQ.

Total cost of sales has been maintained at low levels demonstrating the significant focus and reduction of fixed costs within the operating business. Lower reagent usage due to improved process efficiency and an increase in the export incentive refund with higher product prices have also contributed to the strong cost performance.

Gross cash margins for the quarter returned to being strongly positive at US$1986/tonne, this is expected to further improve with better pricing in Q4 FY21.

STAGE 2 EXPANSION AT OLAROZ

ACHIEVED MILESTONES

Commissioned and partially operating the brine handling system for Stage 2

8 out of 9 harvestable ponds are in service and 5 out 22 evaporation ponds are in service

Lime plant #2 has been operating since February

TK1100, a new brine collection pond has been in operation since January

4 new wells are in service and four additional wells in the final stages of completion



FUTURE MILESTONES

Work in H2 CY21 will focus on the delivery of additional gas fired power generators, completion of pond construction and construction of lime plant #3. In the first half of CY22 all new wells, the soda ash facilities and carbonation plant will be completed.

PROJECT STATUS

During the March quarter work at Olaroz Stage 2 continued with strong adherence the COVID-19 bio-security protocol. At the end of March, 70% of contracts had been awarded and a further 8% were at award recommendation stage. Additional accommodation facilities were completed in the quarter and more will become available in the June quarter.

Stage 2 is expected to be complete in H1 CY22 and to commence production the following half. Production will ramp up over two years to full capacity of 25ktpa of primary grade lithium carbonate by H2 CY24.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Construction camp expansion works continue with 250 additional beds available in March. It is expected another 200 beds will become available in April. Further beds will be available in May to cater for the rapidly growing construction workforce which currently is ~500 personnel. The camp mess has also been completed and further sewage treatment facilities are being planned. A variety of medium voltage lines and other electrical works are in progress. Overall infrastructure works are now 75% complete.

WELLS AND BRINE GATHERING

Brine extraction works are now 58% complete. Six wells are currently at various stages of completion. Five drill rigs are currently in operation. Brine gathering networks are progressively being installed with the TK1100 facility operating since January.

PONDS

Ponds construction is well progressed with approximately three quarters of work completed. Geomembranes continue to be installed as ponds are completed. Civil and electrical work is underway at six ponds. A total of 13 harvestable and non-harvestable ponds have now been completed, a further 17 are under various stages of construction.

CARBONATION, LIME AND SODA ASH FACILITIES

Carbonate plant construction commenced in February along with soda ash handling facilities. Earthworks are advancing with foundations being established. All of the steel structure for the carbonation and soda ash plants has now arrived at site including cladding, roofing and overhead cranes.

Planning for lime plant #3 is well underway and contracts are likely to be awarded by the end of April. This additional liming capacity is expected to be available by the end of the year.

NARAHA LITHIUM HYDROXIDE PLANT

PROGRESS TO DATE

The Naraha Plant, the first of its kind to be built in Japan, is designed to convert primary grade lithium carbonate feedstock into battery grade lithium hydroxide. Feedstock for the 10,000 tpa Naraha Plant will be sourced from the Olaroz Lithium Facilitys Stage 2 Expansion that will produce primary grade (>99.0% Li 2 CO 3 ) lithium carbonate.

Since construction commenced at the Naraha Plant there have been no LTIs recorded with nearly 100,000 hours worked on the project. An earthquake occurred on 13 February which caused only minor damage to the office building, no defects have been found in the plant. A further earthquake occurred in March with no damage or injury to personnel or the site.

At 31 March, approximately US$50 million has been spent on engineering, civil works, electrical, instrumentation, fabrication and procurement at the Naraha Plant. Capex spend has remained relatively static due to the agreed payment schedule with Veolia, the EPC contractor.

Site operations have continued throughout the period with construction now approximately 94% complete. Commissioning will be delayed until Q1 CY22 due to COVID-19 related delays of travel to site by Veolias international commissioning engineers and technicians.

SHARED VALUE PROGRAM AND COMMUNITY

The Shared Value team built on their knowledge of local communities and sustainability with a combination of remote work and a number of visits to communities that are directly and indirectly influenced by the companys operations.

Key actions during the quarter included:

Community Relations

Management of work rosters within COVID-19 limitations: Communication with Community Coordinators, local government contacts and local suppliers to manage and confirm the date and location of PCR sample collection (COVID-19 tests) and the transfer schedules for rostered employees

Identification of risks and opportunities for the social development of communities within the COVID-19 environment. COVID-19 has presented new challenges for the management of interaction and implementation of programs within local communities

Ongoing engagement and field visits with community leaders and community members to respond to their queries related to development programs

The expansion project director and team made presentations to local communities on plans and opportunities for local suppliers and future employee needs

Community development programs

Program to Support Food Independence: Family Food Production Units UPAF

A program to encourage independent food supply in local communities continued during the quarter. In Coranzuli families are finishing the harvesting stage with excellent results for vegetables and fruit such as chard, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, strawberries and raspberries. In Olaroz the community continued with construction of greenhouses that are now 70% complete. Plans and materials are being arranged for a planting of winter crops which is expected in May.

Sustainable Management of Vicunas at Olaroz Chico

Participants in the Vicuna management program at Olaroz Chico were supported in the development of a conservation and management plan. Family Farming program technicians from the National Institute of Technology (Jujuy) and community members have been planning and obtaining approval for construction of additional infrastructure for management of the Vicuna herd.

MARKET

The lithium market continued recovering during the March 2021 quarter. Average global prices for lithium carbonate increased by more than 50% from the December 2020 quarter as demand from cathode manufacturers continued to increase production in response to the Electric Vehicle (EV) driven demand.

DEMAND

Demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs) continues to accelerate with global sales during January and February 2021 more than double those of January and February 2020 as sales were constrained by COVID-19 in China.

EV models with lithium carbonate dominant chemistry batteries continue to be the preference in China where the battery grade lithium carbonate spot prices increased approximately 90% during the March quarter as cathode manufacturers rushed to secure supply. Prices in Asia-ex China increased by approximately 25% during the quarter.

Support from national governments towards EVs strengthened during the March 2021 quarter particularly in North America with the Biden administration committing US$174 billion investment in EVs through a mix of subsidies to individuals and the private sector, as well as replacing the governments vehicle fleet with EVs.

Longer- term EV demand outlook has been revised upwards by a range of market analysts in recent months, suggesting that estimated global sales will increase from 3.2 million units in 2020 to approximately 14 million units by 2025. Demand for lithium chemicals is expected to increase to approximately 1 million tonnes by 2025 following recent investment commitments on battery giga factories by the private sector.

SUPPLY

Lithium chemicals production continued at reduced capacity in China during March 2021 which was impacted by the spring holiday as well as restricted feedstock supply from Chinese brines due to cold weather conditions and reduced production capacity from Australian spodumene producers. Such market dynamics coupled with increased demand from cathode manufacturers led to further inventory reductions in the region and pricing increases for spodumene and lithium chemicals in the spot market.

In response to the favourable market conditions, Australian spodumene producers and Chinese convertors are expected to increase production/conversion capacity throughout the rest of CY2021. Additional lithium chemicals production is also anticipated from South American producers towards late 2021. However, its estimated that global lithium chemicals production will not be able to catch up with growth in demand in the short term.

BORAX ARGENTINA S.A.

SAFETY

Borax has improved safety performance and the team have worked hard to restore the safety commitment and accountability at all levels of the operating business.

Subsequent to the safety review last year, there have not been any LTI or Environmental incidents at the three operational Borax sites. As at 31st March, Sijes recorded 274 days free of accidents, Tincalayu achieved 258 days and Campo Quijano has had 217 days without an LTI.

This quarter Borax successfully finished the annual shutdown in Sijes and in Tincalayu without any Safety or Environmental incidents.

A Monthly Safety Committee was developed. Initiatives that will be implemented over the rest of the year include the development of a local emergency response team, improvement of the work permit safety system and the use of Intelex workflows to report, investigate and track corrective actions of adverse events.

The Management team is setting objectives for the next financial year to fully implement leading and lagging indicators. Some of the Dupont initiatives implemented in SDJ are being considered for implementation at Borax.

PRODUCTION, SALES AND OPERATIONAL UPDATE

The March quarter achieved sales of 10,282 tonnes, down 3% QoQ and down approximately 4% from the PCP. Total sales revenue was up 5% QoQ with the average price received up 8% QoQ.

Operations have continued under the Orocobre Bio-security Protocol.

COMBINED PRODUCT SALES VOLUME BY QUARTER

CORPORATE AND ADMINISTRATION

FINANCE

CASH BALANCE

At 31 March 2021, Orocobre corporate had available cash of ~US$241.6 million of which US$11.1 million and US$85.5 million have been set aside as pre-completion guarantees for the Naraha debt facility and Olaroz Expansion debt facility respectively.

The US$5.2 million corporate net cash reduction from the previous quarter was the result of US$3.8 million advanced to SDJ Joint Venture as a shareholder loan to largely fund finance payments, US$1.5 million corporate costs and US$0.2 million other project payments partially offset by US$ 0.3 million of interest income.

Including SDJ and Borax cash and project debt, net group cash at 31 March 2021 was US$97.7 million, down from US$119.8 million at 31 December 2020 as calculated below and after including Naraha facilities:

ARGENTINA ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Currency: The official foreign exchange rate depreciated by 9.3% in the March quarter from AR$84.15 at 31 December 2020, to AR$92 at 31 March 2021. The accumulated 12-month period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 resulted in a ~43% devaluation of the AR$ against the US$.

Inflation: March inflation was 4.8% and accumulated ~13% in the quarter. The accumulated 12-month period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 resulted in inflation of approximately ~43%.

Authorised by:

Rick Anthon

Joint Company Secretary

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrew Barber

Chief Investor Relations Officer

Orocobre Limited

P: +61 7 3720 9088

M: +61 418 783 701

E: abarber@orocobre.com

W: www.orocobre.com


New Delhi: Bigg Boss 14 fame Nikki Tamboli has been quite broken up about her brother's demise due to COVID-19. She recently took to Instagram to pen a long, emotional note describing the emotional pain she has been enduring.

In her post, Tamboli spoke in length about her state of mind after losing her brother and said that she sobs herself to sleep every night. The actress also revealed that she doesn't feel strong and expresses that 'each day is difficult to live'.

She wrote, "I miss my brother so much and I am sobbing myself to sleep almost every night. Few people whom I know tell me that it was his time to go and I should be glad he's not in emotional pain anymore and not sick anymore and that I have to let him go but my mind doesn't want to accept that. I just want to be able to talk to my brother and when I say this to my friends they say me that I still can, but it's not the same... They are just not understanding or listening to how I am feeling."

She further wrote, "I don't feel strong at all now. I feel like everything is too hard and I just feel each day is difficult to live. I haven't accepted my brother's death. I feel such a deep, dark pit of sadness has overcome my whole being and I am totally drowning in it."

Nikki also goes on to say that some days, she can't see the point in living. "Some days, like today, I just can't see the point of me being alive or any reason for my life to go on. I don't like I can take this intense sadness," she confessed.

Have a look at her emotional note:

Nikki is currently in Cape Town, South Africa, shooting for the adventure reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi. The actress has been posting Instagram stories from South Africa.

Earlier, the actress also posted a long note on how her family is most important to her and that despite her personal loss, she will be participating in Khatron Ke Khiladi as it is something that her brother really wanted for her.

Nikkis brother Jatin was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was also infected by tuberculosis and pneumonia.
Washington: National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan on Sunday (May 9) spoke by phone with Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat to express the United States` serious concerns about the situation in Jerusalem, evictions of Palestinians, including violent confrontations at the Haram al-Sharif / Temple Mount during the last days of Ramazan.

Sullivan highlighted recent engagements by senior US officials with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials and key regional stakeholders to press for steps to ensure calm, deescalate tensions, and denounce violence, read a statement from National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Emily Horne on NSA Jake Sullivan`s call with Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat regarding the situation in Jerusalem.

Sullivan also reiterated the United States` serious concerns about the potential evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

They agreed that the launching of rocket attacks and incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel is unacceptable and must be condemned, read the statement.

Sullivan encouraged the Israeli government to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations.

Sullivan expressed the administration`s commitment to Israel`s security and to supporting peace and stability throughout the Middle East, and assured Ben-Shabbat that the US will remain fully engaged in the days ahead to promote calm in Jerusalem, the statement added.

Meanwhile, amid violent clashes in East Jerusalem, the Israeli Supreme Court has delayed a hearing scheduled for Monday (May 10) that could have determined whether four Palestinian families in the city`s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood will be evicted.

Over 70 Palestinians in total are set to be evicted from Sheikh Jarrah in the coming weeks to be replaced by right-wing Jewish Israelis.

The Palestinians live in houses built on land that courts have ruled were owned by Jewish religious associations before the establishment of Israel in 1948.

The city has been embroiled in intense chaos as Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police, with both sides blaming the other for igniting the confrontations.

Over 300 Palestinians have been injured in the riots, several of them seriously hurt by rubber-tipped bullets in the head, eye and jaw.

Live TV
May 10, 2021 10:00 AM

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Huntsman Cancer Institute

In recognition of exceptional service including scientific achievements, training, and scholarly accomplishments, faculty at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) have recently received honors for their work. HCI congratulates faculty who have recently been honored with new or renewed endowed chairs and professorships, as well as a faculty member who was recently recognized as a distinguished professor at the U of U.

Endowed chairs at HCI play an important role in creating a partnership between donors and researchers. These chairs can provide resources to attract and retain top faculty, fund lab trainees, and support innovative research.

Huntsman Cancer Foundation is delighted to contribute to the future of the cancer institute by raising funds to create these chairs, says Susan Sheehan, president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Endowed chairs allow us to confer the highest accolades to a talented cancer researcher and we are immensely grateful to the donors who made three new chairs possible. We are honored to recognize Drs. Onega, Schiffman, and Kohli for their contributions to cancer knowledge and insights.

2021 Newly Appointed Endowed Chairs

Joshua D. Schiffman, MD

Joshua D. Schiffman, MD, pediatric hematologist-oncologist and researcher at HCI and professor at the U of U, as the Helen Clise Presidential Endowed Chair in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Research

HCI established this endowed chair thanks to a generous estate donation from Helen Cliseand daughter Sherry Clise, both deceased. The Clises lost family members to Li-Fraumeni syndrome and were deeply committed to helping HCI advance its mission.

Receiving an endowed chair named for a member of a family so drastically impacted by Li-Fraumeni syndrome is especially meaningful and underscores the importance of our research. The investigation of p53, a tumor suppressor gene, and its role in causing cancer remains a top priority in our research laboratory. The support of the Helen Clise Presidential Endowed Chair in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Research will help us explore new approaches to the prevention and treatment of cancer. This endowed chair is particularly impactful to me having clinically cared for Clise family members through the Family Cancer Assessment Clinic at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Although the family members are no longer with us, we are grateful to continue our p53 research in honor of their memory.

Manish Kohli, MD

Manish Kohli, MD, genitourinary oncologist and prostate cancer researcher at HCI and professor of internal medicine at the U of U, as the Jack R. and Hazel M. Robertson Presidential Endowed Chair

The Roberstons gave generously to several areas of the U of U Health system, including HCI. Hazel Robertson, who died in 2017, had a lifelong love of nursing and a desire to help those in need.

Being bestowed the Jack R. and Hazel M. Robertson Presidential Endowed Chair is an honor, a privilege, and an accomplishment. But beyond that it is a responsibility, an inspiration, and a commitment to work harder for alleviating morbidity and mortality from cancer.

Tracy Onega, PhD

Tracy Onega, PhD, cancer, epidemiology, and health services researcher at HCI and professor of population sciences at the U of U, as a Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Presidential Professor in Cancer Research

The Utah State Legislature created the Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Presidential Professorship in Cancer Research at Huntsman Cancer Institute to honor and celebrate Mr. Huntsmans legacy.

Im truly honored to be named as a Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Presidential Professor in Cancer Research. The Huntsman familys generosity and dedication to ending suffering from cancer humbles me and calls me to also work tirelessly in that pursuit. Im grateful for this honor and for the opportunity to work with my fabulous colleagues to deliver a cancer-free frontier.

Renewed Endowed Chair

Daniel R. Couriel, MD, MS

Daniel R. Couriel, MD, MS, hematologist and researcher at HCI and professor of internal medicine at the U of U, as holder of the Huntsman Cancer Institute Endowed Professorship in Adult Leukemia Research

An endowed professorship is a recognition, an honor, and a responsibility beyond your academic rank. It means the institution recognizes you professionally and personally and honors your contributions to the field throughout your life. At the same time, as everything in life, it is our responsibility to live up to the expectation. I think that working in a healthy environment like ours makes it easy to do our part.

Distinguished Professorship

Saundra S. Buys, MD

At the U of U, distinguished professors are individuals who have been recognized by peers with national and international stature for achievements exemplifying the highest goals of scholarship, as well as recognized by students or colleagues for showing a high dedication to teaching.

Saundra S. Buys, MD, chief of the division of oncology at HCI and professor in the department of medicine at the U of U, as a Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine at the U of U

My personal and professional lives have been shaped and immensely enriched by the example and mentoring of so many of the distinguished professors at the University of Utah. Being considered a colleague is a huge motivation in working to approach the standards they have set.
It is one of the most isolated major cities on earth, boasts some of the worlds finest beaches and is mercifully Covid-19 free.

But Perth  which straddles the banks of the Swan River on the shores of the Indian Ocean  has another key attraction.

The sun-drenched city is the capital of Western Australia, the worlds largest supplier of iron ore.

Boom town: Perth  which straddles the banks of the Swan River on the shores of the Indian Ocean  is the capital of Western Australia, the worlds largest supplier of iron ore

This precious commodity, used to make steel, is Australias biggest export, with record iron ore prices of more than $200 a ton helping to power the countrys rapid recovery from the Covid crisis.

Recent estimates put Western Australias iron ore resources at 48bn tons  enough to last half a century.

The bulk of it is mined in the Pilbara region, roughly 800 miles north of Perth.

This desolate expanse  home to more than 31 Aboriginal groups  is also host to a large network of mines all dedicated to digging up the riches lying underneath the arid red earth.

The dominance of the mining industry in this part of the world is clear for all to see in Perths elegant skyline, with the names of FTSE 100 mining titans Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton emblazoned at the top of the citys two tallest skyscrapers.

Just down the road are the headquarters of Fortescue Metals Group, the worlds fourth largest iron ore producer behind Rio, BHP and Brazils Vale.

Its founder and biggest shareholder, Andrew Twiggy Forrest, is Australias second richest man with an estimated fortune of 12.9billion.

The top spot is taken by fellow Perth-based iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart, who has amassed a cool 16.2billion as the head of Hancock Prospecting, the mining firm started by her late father Lang Hancock.

Together the duo  known in mining circles as the Pilbara red dirt twins  are the biggest corporate cheeses in town.

Their fortunes have soared in recent months as iron ore prices have risen  another 10 per cent to more than $226 a ton yesterday. Copper, meanwhile, hit a record high of $10,747 a ton.

The iron ore boom is being driven largely by the insatiable appetite for steel from China, Australias biggest trading partner and the largest consumer of iron ore on the planet.

More than 80 per cent of the iron ore that is dug out of the ground of Western Australia is shipped to the worlds most populous country.

Cashing in: Fortescue Metals Group boss Gina Rinehart - pictured, left, with the company's biggest shareholder Andrew Twiggy Forrest - has amassed a cool 16.2bn fortune

But demand has ramped up as China has embarked on a gargantuan post-Covid infrastructure spending spree under President Xi Jinping.

The appetite for iron ore has also increased to a lesser extent around the world as other countries emerge from lockdowns and start building again.

Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank, said: We are seeing a global steel boom. Steel production in China is hitting all-time highs and steel prices everywhere are at all-time highs.

One of the biggest beneficiaries has been Rio Tinto, which is expected to dish out 7billion in dividends this year, up from 4.3billion last year.

The increase in demand from China for Australias iron ore has come despite growing tensions between the two countries.

The iron ore boom is being driven largely by the insatiable appetite for steel from China, Australias biggest trading partner and the largest consumer of iron ore on the planet

Relations have deteriorated further over the last year after prime minister Scott Morrison bravely led calls for an inquiry into the source of the Covid pandemic.

Beijing responded by imposing trade sanctions on key Australian exports including barley, beef, lamb, cotton and wine.

But it has been forced to hold its nose and buy iron ore from Down Under in vast quantities  because it has no choice.

Beijing is trying to reduce its dependency on Australia, and is investigating a number of possible iron ore mines in Africa, including large deposits in Gabon and Madagascar.

Its biggest hope is the proposed Simandou iron ore mine in the Nzerekore region of Guinea, which is part owned by Rio Tinto.

None of this poses a real threat to Australias stranglehold on the market  at least in the foreseeable future. Nobody, however, is under the illusion that the iron ore bonanza can last forever.

Chinas appetite is expected to taper off, while supply in Brazil and Australia is forecast to rise as new mines are opened and old ones brought back into production.

Shaw predicted prices will remain strong well into the second half of the year, before falling sharply. Rios chief executive of iron ore, Simon Trott, said demand from China is likely to ease in the second half of the decade as its economy matures.

Russ Mould of AJ Bell said that miners were the biggest dividend payers in the FTSE 100 last year, handing out 10billion.

This year, he expects them to pay a massive 16billion  or 21 per cent of the total  with profits at Rio and BHP set to double.

So for the short term at least, investors can expect to do very well indeed from the iron ore lying underneath Pilbara.
A woman receives a vaccine against the COVID-19 coronavirus as part of South Africas inoculation campaign at the Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Umlazi, south of Durban on Feb. 18, 2021. (Mlungisi Mbele /AFP via Getty Images)

Stealing Vaccine Patents Would Be a Big Mistake

Commentary

The Chinese Communist Party is not the only national administration that believes in stealing intellectual property. The Biden administration, supported by much of the Democrat Party and their allied progressive minions in the globalist international community, now also support patent theft, an act that until now has always been grounds for civil liability and potential criminal culpability.

Thieves always claim to have a good excuse for their pilfering. The Chinese Communists determined long ago that patent-stealing was the fast-track to modernizing Chinas economy. Thats not surprising: China is, after all, a tyranny.

But freedom requires adhering to different principlesparticularly the rule of laweven when violating that norm might seem expedient and supportive of a good cause. Today, that venerable tenet of liberty is under pronounced assault from political progressives, poor countries in desperate need, and the bureaucrats at the United Nations, World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization.

Heres the story: South Africa and Indiaboth hit catastrophically by COVIDhave petitioned the WTO to waive vaccine patent protections so that the inoculations can be manufactured in poor countries that have inadequate vaccine supply.

Political progressiveswho believe in equality of outcomesmeaning a rush to the lowest common denominatorsupport the radical plan as a means of combating vaccine nationalism and furthering international equity.

The idea is opposed by the EU and well offI would also note, freecountries like the UK, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. The United States, always a strong defender of intellectual property rights also resisted the waiver schemeuntil now.

But the Biden administration just announced that it will support the stealing of the vaccine patents in the WTO, essentially putting the United States in the same mindset as China when it comes to the inviolability of intellectual property.

Proving how powerful international progressive politics has become, the administrations announcement received quick support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationeven though Bill recently opposed such waivers because the thing thats holding things back in this case is not intellectual property, Gates also worried about the safety of manufacturing such sophisticated medicinal products in poor countries with inadequate existing infrastructure. Apparently even one of the worlds richest men cares more about what the woke elite think than he does previously argued issues of principle and practicality.

But Wesley. People in poor countries are hurting from COVID! Indeed, they are, and the United States should use its considerable financial heft to help increase the vaccine supply. Certainly, nothing is stopping gazillionaires like Gates from philanthropically licensing the manufacture of vaccines and building the facilities to carry out that process carefully and expeditiously.

But it has to be said that helping those who are in dire straits is one thing. Stealing from others to do so is quite another. Equity and justice will not be served by stripping patent protections from those who invested the time, money, and scientific creativity bringing life-saving vaccines to the world in the first place.

Its also foolhardy. Diluting patent protection for new medicines will devastate innovation and stifle investment, meaning fewer drugs brought to market. Why? As the Wall Street Journal editorialized, once stolen, IP breakthrough innovations like Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech mRNA vaccines cant be returned. Exactly. A patent isnt like a stolen painting or a necklace that can be restored to its rightful owner. Once the information is out there, exclusivitywhich is what generates profitwill be gone forever.

Besides, support for stealing patents isnt limited among progressives to COVID vaccines. Already, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)a bellwether of hard left thinkingtweeted Lets do insulin next.

This makes little sense. Drug patents generally last 20 years, which is why so many generics are on the market today, including insulin. Yes, new and improved insulin products still get patented. But patents are why medicines are continually updated. Taking away that legal protection would grind the process of revising medicines to a screeching halt.

AOC is not alone in wanting to corrode medicinal patent protections. A Medicare for All proposal pending in Congress would allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. If the companies refuse the price offered, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to permit the use of any patent by another company for purposes of manufacturing such drug for sale under Medicare for All Program, with compensation paid to the patent-owning company in an amount determined by the bureaucracy.

Again, how willing would pharmaceutical executives be to green light the billions in investments required to develop new medicines knowing that the government could simply seize their patent and license another company to manufacture it if it refused to sell the product at a price the government demands?

Patent protection is crucial to the free-market system and essential to continuing medical innovation. Indeed, without the secure knowledge that risk will be rewarded upon success by legal intellectual property protection, the dynamism and innovation that are earmarks of medicine in the West will wither. Whatever immediate benefit might be derived by stealing the vaccine would ultimately be more than offset by the new drugs never brought to market and vaccines not invented.

How shortsighted. Bidens patent waiver support is like the hungry farmer deciding to roast the goose that lays the golden eggs. It may satisfy briefly, but the long-term detriment to the foolish farmer will be incalculable.

Award winning author Wesley J. Smith is chairman of the Discovery Institutes Center on Human Exceptionalism.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Tema Regional Police Command in the first quarter of 2021 recorded three attempted murder cases in the region.



Chief Inspector Stela Dede Dzakpasu, Acting Public Relations Officer for the Tema Regional Police, told the Ghana News Agency that one of the cases was sent to court and under trial, the remaining two were under investigation.



Touching on other cases, she said three cases of abduction of children under 18 years were also under investigation.



A total of 15 cases were recorded in the first quarter of the year by the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Regional Police Command.



The 15 consisted of three defilements, two duties to maintain a child, two emotional, verbal, psychological abuse, seven cases of failing to maintain a child and one rape.



On robbery, the acting PRO disclosed that 58 cases of robbery were documented during the period out of which one involved car snatching, one street robbery, 51 residential, three workplace, and two highway robberies.



Twenty-two possession of Indian Hemp cases were also handled by the Command out of which 15 were under trial at the courts and six still under investigation.



On economic fraud, 10 general frauds, 23 land and mortgage, nine fraudulent transactions, six issuances of false cheque, 305 trespassing and eight unlawful damages were reported at the various police stations within the Tema region.



She advised people to be cautious and take their security seriously, adding that people should desist from walking in isolated areas, especially at night to avoid attacks and robberies from unscrupulous people.



People should carefully select domestic staff and artisans and be couscous of persons that know their private life, by virtue of their work and association for example domestic staff, close relatives, and religious associates, among others.



Chief Inspector Dzakpasu further advised the public against keeping huge sums of money and other important documents at home and resort to the use of the banks.



She also encouraged residents to consider forming a neighbourhood watch committee to help know and protect each other, adding that every suspicious criminal activity must be reported to the police for prompt actions to be taken.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Bay Area Falun Gong Practitioners Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day

SAN FRANCISCOA truck rolls by, distinguishing itself from the rest of the traffic in San Francisco because of its LED electronic billboards. The colorful screens, which are mounted on three sides of the vehicle, continuously play videos of people doing slow-moving exercises. At the front, a flower-bordered sign reads: Falun Dafa is Good.

Dan Ngo, a local Falun Gong practitioner who owns the truck, put a lot of effort into getting the vehicle ready in time for the parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day, which falls on May 13 each year.

Dan Ngo drives his truck in a parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. (David Lam/The Epoch Times)

His goal in the May 8 parade is to draw attention so that more people can see what Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is all about.

The truck actually brings out new ideas for people to look at, Ngo told NTD News. The content actually gets people to actually see what it is.

He started learning Falun Gong in 2017, initially just to please his wife. However, after he started to read the practices main book, Zhuan Falun, and applied its teachings, he became a better person.

The sign on the front of a truck is decorated with real flowers for the parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

Im actually a way better father, he said. Everything I do, before I say anything, I actually look internally now. Business-wise, work-wise, I [look at] everybody with a different perspective  and the three words, I always remember [them] every day.

Falun Gongs teachings are based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Along with doing the five sets of exercises, practitioners seek to live a healthy life in harmony with their surrounding environment.

Leader of the Band

Abraham Thompson, who leads the Tian Guo Marching Band, has been a Falun Gong practitioner for almost 20 years. He first learned it from a friend in Santa Cruz. He bought Zhuan Falun and couldnt put it down.

I was very attracted to this book and the principles within itto upgrade your moral character and to put truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance into your life to become a better and better person, and raise yourself spiritually. Those things really were attractive to me, Thompson told NTD News.

Abraham Thompson conducts the Tian Guo Marching Band in a parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. (David Lam/The Epoch Times)

He said he always felt there was more meaning and a bigger purpose to life. When he put those principles into practice, he felt that his life improved.

The first thing I noticed is I became more happy, he said, when I started becoming more truthful, when I started thinking about other people first, putting compassion into my life. When I started being more tolerant of people, I started to become more happy because I wasnt upset by the way other people treated me. If someone did something bad to me, I would say, Well, how can I improve? rather than asking how other people could improve.

He says he also became more clear-minded and focused on whats important to him in life.

After the regime in China began its persecution of practitioners in 1999, he wondered what he could do to tell people about Falun Gong and the truth about the practice.

The Tian Guo Marching Band passes by Pier 39 in a parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. (David Lam/The Epoch Times)

Some of us local practitioners, we said, Lets pull people together and start a band, Thompson said. I have experience with music from the past in percussion and so I started helping to develop the drum team. And then, they needed a conductor and I was good with rhythm, and so I naturally, became the conductor.

The marching band was first formed in New York before expanding to creating one in San Francisco.

Thompson said he feels really positive when he marches with the whole band and sees bystanders clapping along and enjoying the music.

Thats really at the core of us, is wanting to share the beauty of Falun Dafa with the community, because weve all benefited so much from it. But we also want to help the people in China who are being persecuted, he said.

Hundreds of Bay Area Falun Gong practitioners wish their teacher, Li Hongzhi, a happy birthday in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. Lis birthday is May 13, the same day as World Falun Dafa Day. (David Lam/The Epoch Times)

Many pedestrians stopped to watch one of the first large-scale parades since the pandemic and lockdowns began.

The magnitude of all the people just coming together and just the peace and then the beautiful wind. I think God just kind of sent that, at the time that everyone was marching down the street. Its just very spiritual, Dawn, a Sacramento resident, told NTD News.

She came to the city with her family for the weekend to celebrate Mothers Day.

Hundreds of Bay Area Falun Gong practitioners participate in a parade in front of the Ferry Building to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. (David Lam/The Epoch Times)

This is gorgeous, Renuka Zellars, from India, told NTD News. I love the music  the meditation. I would like to learn more about it.

When I first saw it, I had goosebumps because it was so touching, so soothingmeditation. Thats what we need nowadays in this world, right? This is a great feeling. I love it, Zellars said.

Bay Area Falun Gong practitioners meditate in front of the Ferry Building before a parade to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in San Francisco on May 8, 2021. (David Lam/The Epoch Times)

Its very beautiful and I feel like its very empowering, and I feel like it sends a message, Irene Brizuela, from Silicon Valley, told NTD News. Peaceful, like a peaceful vibe.

Meditation is good for the soul, especially given the year weve had, Sheila Beakin, from Laguna Beach, told NTD News.
Stills from NYPD Crime Stoppers surveillance video show the suspect wanted in connection with a shooting in New York City, on May 8, 2021. (NYPD/Crime Stoppers)

Police ID Suspect in Times Square Shooting: Reports

Police have identified the prime suspect in Saturdays shooting in New York Citys Times Square as 31-year-old Farrakhan Muhammad, according to multiple reports.

Detectives with the New York Police Department (NYPD) have released a wanted poster naming Muhammad as the individual suspected of discharging a firearm in Times Square and wounding three people, including a toddler. There is probable cause for Muhammads arrest on charges of attempted murder, according to the poster, which was shared on Twitter by NBC New York reporter Myles Miller.

The photo of Muhammad featured in the poster was taken from a March 2020 arrest after he was charged with assault, according to Spectrum News.

Two senior NYPD officials told NBC New York that the suspect tried to shoot his brother after an argument.

According to the New York Post, detectives working an unrelated stabbing case approached a man bearing a close resemblance to Muhammad, with the man telling them that he was Muhammads brother and that he was the intended target of the shooting.

No arrests have been made in the case. NYPD Crime Stoppers released surveillance video of the suspect.

A man who police say is connected to a shooting near West 44th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, on May 8, 2021, in this still image taken from surveillance footage. (@NYPDDetectives/via Reuters)

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told a press conference on Saturday that the victimsa four-year-old girl from Brooklyn, a 23-year-old female tourist from Rhode Island, and a 43-year-old woman from New Jerseywere innocent bystanders unrelated to one another.

Shea said the four-year-old and 23-year-old were shot in the leg and the 43-year-old was shot in the foot.

According to New York Daily News, the aunt of the four-year-old victim, who asked not to be named, said the injuries to her niece were relatively minor.

It didnt hit any important bones because they did the X-rays to check. But they did a full cleaning to make sure she doesnt get any infection or anything like that, the aunt told the outlet. Theres no bullet fragment. They didnt see anything left. It didnt break, it just entered and then exited.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reacted to the shooting in a statement on Twitter, expressing relief the victims were in stable condition.

The perpetrators of this senseless violence are being tracked down and the NYPD will bring them to justice, he wrote.
A U.S. Army Ranger from Rensselaer will be commemorated on a new monument nearly 60 years after his military flight to South Vietnam mysteriously disappeared.

Sgt. Clarence Ganance Jr. of Rensselaer will be among 92 other Rangers enshrined on the monument during an unveiling ceremony that will include surviving families on land donated by Wreaths Across America Founder Morrill Worchester and his wife, Karen Worchester, WAA executive director, at land just off Route 1 at Columbia Falls, Me., on Saturday, May 15.

The Rangers, three South Vietnamese military personnel and 11 crew members were aboard Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 that disappeared in the Pacific between Guam and the Philippines on March 16, 1962. The flight originated from Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

Flight 739s ultimate destination was Saigon.

The Rangers, all of whom specialized in electronics and communications, were on a secret mission during the early years of the Vietnam War. Also, the Rangers were assigned to replace other Rangers who had been helping the South Vietnam military fight the Viet Cong.

A massive search began shortly after air controllers lost radar and radio contact with the L-1049 Constellation. The Clark Field Rescue Coordinating Center launched a 200,000-square mile search. Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard ships and planes found no trace of the plane. Eight days later, Clark officials called off the search and declared the aircraft crashed and everyone assumed dead.

An explosion in the sky and two fireballs that landed in the ocean where Flight 739 might have been was reported by Liberian tanker SS T L Linzen crew members, according to a Stars and Stripes report and the Civil Aeronautics Board. Searchers found no debris in that area.

To compound the mystery, another Flying Tiger Line aircraft departed Travis the same day as Flight 739. The other plane was carrying military cargo when it crashed in Alaska and burned.

Seven other Rangers were from New York state. They were Sgt. 1st Class George Bliss of Fort Jay, Spc. 4 George M. Slocum of Westerfield, Sgt. Robert Bako of Elbridge, Spc. 4 Lawrence A. Fox of Conestoga, Spc. 5 Roy Edward Greenleaf of Bloomfield, Spc. 4 Fred W. Talbot of Salamanca, and Staff Sgt. James Edward Twitty of Brooklyn.

Though the soldiers were heading to Vietnam when they died, their names have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. because the plane didnt go down in a combat zone, according to the Department of Defense. But surviving families have launched an unsuccessful effort to have those names added to The Wall. A congressional bill, SB 1891, to add those names is stalled and should be moved to the Committee for Armed Services.

We do know the surviving family and friends of the lost souls aboard that plane want them remembered and honored for their service, said Karen after she talked with family members on Mission Matters on Wreaths Across America Radio program.

Also each family member will have an opportunity to place dog tag replicas on trees to create a living memorial for their loved ones in the Wreaths Across America Tree Remembrance Program. The dog tags will be placed on trees that are used to make wreaths that are placed on veterans graves each Christmas season.

That action will be part of this unveiling program. A replica dog tag will be hung on individual trees that are used to make remembrance wreaths for Wreaths Across America Day. The dog tags will be a living tribute "from the fallen to the fallen" in remembrance of their service and sacrifice: as every three years, the trees where the tags are hung, will be tipped to make veterans wreaths to be placed on headstones by volunteers on Wreaths Across America Day, according to Sean Sullivan, Wreaths Across America spokesman.

This years Wreaths Across America Day nationwide event, including at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville, will be on Dec. 18. Last December, hundreds of volunteers placed wreaths on more than 13,000 graves at the Saratoga National Cemetery.

Wreaths Across America is the non-profit organization best known for placing wreaths on veterans headstones at Arlington National Cemetery. Last year, the organization placed more than 1.7 million sponsored veterans wreaths at 2,557 participating locations nationwide, Sullivan said. Anyone can sponsor a veterans wreath anytime for $15 at www.wreathacrossamerica.org. Each sponsorship goes toward a live, balsam wreath that will be placed on the headstone of an American hero, he says.

Worcester, the Wreaths Across America founder, made the private monument possible and donated the balsam tip-land where brush is harvested each year to make veterans remembrance wreaths.

For information, contact Sean Sullivan at ssullivan@wreathsacrossamerica.org.

Fundraising update

The Marine Reserve Capital Region Toys for Tots exceeded its previous high of distribution of toys this past Christmas.

The community donated and volunteers distributed more than 206,000 toys to needy children in a 12-county area of operation that includes the Capital Region, said retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Albert Roman of Glenville, who coordinated the campaign. The previous high was 196,000 toys.

The record number was achieved despite COVID-19 setbacks, he said.

We collected and distributed toys to 206,000 children, Roman said. We accomplished that with less people, less people (volunteers), less money, less support and less vehicles. Our community came through."

The community gave $4.2 million in cash donations, the value of donated toys and services in kind, he added. After the mission was completed there was more than $40,000 in cash left to help start the next drive.

Toys for Tots accomplished its mission with half the number of usual volunteers and far less vehicles, Roman said.

We usually had a total of 400 volunteers working at our warehouse in Clifton Park, he said. But, this past year we only had about 200. Toys for Tots usually had 12 vans available for distribution, but had only five this past campaign, he added.

More Information News of your troops and units can be sent to Times Union, Terry Brown, Duty Calls, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownttimesunion.com.

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National Nurses Week, May 6-12

National Nurses Week, May 6-12

Media Contact: LARA Communications (517-335-LARA (5272))

Email: mediainfo@michigan.gov

Working on the frontlines, behind masks and face shields, Michigan's 187,000 licensed nursing professionals have been the symbol of strength and health to all of us and especially to those isolated in nursing homes and hospitals. With strong dedication to their profession and the people they care for, licensed nursing professionals have gone above and beyond to care for their patients during pandemic times, often substituting for absent patient family members while isolating from their own families. It is with a great debt of gratitude that we recognize these hardworking healthcare professionals every day, and especially during National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2021.

"Now more than ever, we need to support our nurses who work selflessly in Michigan hospitals, nursing care facilities and all healthcare settings," said Orlene Hawks, Director of LARA. "From administering tests and vaccines to caring for those in need, it is important to appreciate and recognize the critical work nurses do by honoring them and appreciating them not just this week but also every day."

During the pandemic, LARA has prioritized the licensure of health care professionals such as nurses. Since March 2020 to date, LARA has licensed 15,870 new nurses in the state of Michigan. The steadfast commitment of the nursing community to meet the needs of patients needs to be commended. Through their broad range of work settings, roles and tasks, the collective effort of Michigan nurses shows us the amazing strength and dedication of those who work selflessly for the greater good.

LARA continues to work with health care stakeholders and Michigan schools that graduate nurses to equip graduating students with knowledge about the licensing process and make it easier to apply online using the Michigan Professional Licensing User System (MiPLUS). This partnership with our nursing schools helps to ease the stress of licensure and makes the process more efficient by knowing what documents and information are required when applying for a license. For more information about licensure and our Board of Nursing, please visit LARA - Nursing (michigan.gov).

To help keep Michigan healthy and show your support for Michigan nurses and all health care workers, LARA encourages all licensees and Michiganders to get shots in the arm to protect against and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. To view updated information on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, please go to https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus.
ALTON  Ten COVID-19 vaccination clinics are planned this week in Madison, Greene, Jersey and Calhoun counties.

The MCHD is planning COVID-19 vaccination clinics May 11 and 13 in Collinsville; May 11 in Godfrey; May 14 in Roxana and Edwardsville; and May 15 in Madison and Alton. Walk-ins will be accepted at the clinics, but appointments are requested for planning purposes.

To schedule an appointment, click the green appointment link at www.madisonchd.org. People needing help scheduling appointments can call 618-692-8954, Ext. 2, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Minors who are 16-17 years old are only eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, must show a photo ID (e.g. drivers license, school ID, etc.), proof of age, and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to their appointment. Additional details are listed on the scheduling link.

The Greene County Health Department is planning COVID-19 vaccinations May 13 in White Hall and May 18 in Roodhouse; for details visit http://greenecountyhd.org/. The Calhoun County Health Department is planning vaccinations May 13 in Hardin; for details visit http://www.calhouncountyhealth.net/.

The Jersey County Health Department is offering COVID-19 vaccinations every Tuesday. For details visit http://jerseycountyhealth.org/. The Macoupin County Health Department also has launched a homebound vaccination program; for details visit http://www.mcphd.net/.

Walmart and CVS pharmacies also are now offering COVID-19 vaccinations.

More Information Vaccinations Total: 166,175 Fully: 84,078 (31.79%) Source: MCHD COVID-19 cases by county Madison - 29,923 (496 deaths) Jersey - 2,684 (49 deaths) Calhoun - 524 (5 deaths) Greene - 1,344 (48 deaths) Macoupin - 4,841 (111 deaths) Montgomery - 3,708 (73 deaths) St. Clair - 27,777 (512 deaths) Clinton - 5,751 (90 deaths) Bond - 2,039 (24 deaths) Monroe - 4,355 (93 deaths) Randolph - 4,128 (84 deaths) Washington - 1,639 (25 deaths) Source: IDPH & MCHD See More Collapse

On Sunday the MCHD reported 166,175 COVID-19 vaccinations have now been administered in the county.

A total of 84,078 county residents  or 31.79% of the countys population  are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

On Monday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported that 9,978,915 vaccines vaccines had been administered in Illinois. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily in the state is currently 81,265 doses, according to the IDPH.

As of Monday , 34.11% of the residents in Jersey County were fully vaccinated according to the IDPH. Other fully vaccinated rates were 29.22% in Calhoun County and 31.7% in Macoupin County. An updated figure for Greene County was not available.

The MCHD recorded no new COVID-19 related deaths on Sunday, leaving the total at 496. On Monday the IDPH also reported no new COVID-19 related deaths in Madison County.

On Sunday the MCHD reported 26 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, as well as 555 new tests. To date, Madison County has recorded 29,923 cases and 315,787 tests. There were 14 COVID-19 patients in Madison County hospitals Sunday, none on ventilators.

The IDPH on Monday reported 1,424 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 12 additional COVID-19 related deaths statewide. To date, the IDPH has reported 1,356,391 cases, including 22,235 deaths.

Statewide there were 1,906 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on Saturday night, including 473 in intensive care units and 242 on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from May 3-9 was 2.8%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity for the same period was 3.4%.

For more COVID-19 information, visit https://coronavirus-response-madcoil.hub.arcgis.com/, www.madisonchd.org or Facebook @madisonchd. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us or Facebook @madisoncountyil for more vaccination news and daily updates.

For The Telegraphs online vaccine tracker, visit https://www.thetelegraph.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker-alton-illinois/. For additional vaccine locations visit https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/vaccination-location.

Local and statewide information also is available at www.dph.illinois.gov. Click the coronavirus banner.

For health-related questions about COVID-19, people also can call the IDPH hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli police on Saturday clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Jerusalem's Old City during the holiest night of Ramadan in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city's worst religious unrest in several years. Earlier, police blocked busloads of pilgrims headed to Jerusalem for prayer at Islam's third holiest site.

Police defended their actions as security moves, but these were seen as provocations by Muslims who accuse Israel of threatening their freedom of worship. Competing claims to east Jerusalem, home to major shrines of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have triggered serious violence in the past.

The unrest came a day after violence in which Palestinian medics said more than 200 Palestinians were wounded in clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and elsewhere in Jerusalem. Friday's violence drew condemnations from Israels Arab allies and calls for calm from the United States and Europe and the United Nations. The Arab League scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday.

Early Sunday, the Israeli military said Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at the country's south that fell in an open area. In response, aircraft struck a military post for Hamas, the militant group ruling the territory. There were no reports of casualties in either attack.

Police chief Koby Shabtai said he had deployed more police in Jerusalem following Friday night's clashes, which left 18 police officers wounded. After weeks of nightly violence, Israelis and Palestinians were bracing for more conflict in the coming days.

The right to demonstrate will be respected but public disturbances will be met with force and zero tolerance. I call on everyone to act responsibly and with restraint, Shabtai said.

Saturday night was Laylat al-Qadr or the Night of Destiny, the most sacred in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Islamic authorities estimated 90,000 people gathered for nighttime prayers at Al-Aqsa, the third-holiest site in Islam.

A large crowd of protesters chanted God is great outside the Old City's Damascus Gate, and some pelted police with rocks and water bottles. Police patrols fired stun grenades as they moved through the area, and a police truck periodically fired a water cannon.

Palestinian medics said 64 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by rubber bullets, stun grenades or beatings, among them a woman whose face was bloodied. Eleven people were hospitalized, medics said.

One man with a small boy yelled at the police as they marched by. You should be ashamed!" he said.

Earlier, police reported clashes in the Old City, near Al-Aqsa, and in the nearby east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where dozens of Palestinians are fighting attempts by Israeli settlers to evict them from their homes. Police reported several arrests, and said one officer was struck in the face with a rock.

Earlier Saturday, police stopped a convoy of buses that were filled with Arab citizens on the main highway heading to Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers. Israels public broadcaster Kan said police stopped the buses for a security check.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, and travelers, upset that they were stopped without explanation on a hot day, exited the buses and blocked the highway in protest. Kan showed footage of the protesters praying, chanting slogans and marching along the highway toward Jerusalem. The road was reopened several hours later.

Ibtasam Maraana, an Arab member of parliament, accused police of a terrible attack on freedom of religion. Police: Remember that they are citizens, not enemies, she wrote on Twitter.

The current wave of protests broke out at the beginning of Ramadan three weeks ago when Israel restricted gatherings at a popular meeting spot outside Jerusalems Old City. Israel removed the restrictions, briefly calming the situation, but protests have reignited in recent days over the threatened evictions in east Jerusalem, which is claimed by both sides in their decades-old conflict.

Other recent developments also contributed to the tense atmosphere, including the postponement of Palestinian elections, deadly violence in which a Palestinian teenager, two Palestinian gunmen and a young Israeli man were killed in separate incidents in the West Bank, and the election to Israels parliament of a far-right Jewish nationalist party.

One right-wing lawmaker, Itamar Ben-Gvir, briefly set up an outdoor office in Sheikh Jarrah, near the homes of residents facing eviction.

On Sunday evening, Jewish Israelis begin marking Jerusalem Day, a national holiday in which Israel celebrates its annexation of east Jerusalem and religious nationalists hold parades and other celebrations in the city. On Monday, an Israeli court is expected to issue a verdict on the planned evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza  territories the Palestinians want for their future state  in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally, and views the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians view east Jerusalem  which includes major holy sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims  as their capital, and its fate is one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict.

The Al-Aqsa mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam. It is also the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the biblical temples. It has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In recent days, protests have grown over Israel's threatened eviction in Sheikh Jarrah of dozens of Palestinians embroiled in a long legal battle with Israeli settlers trying to acquire property in the neighborhood.

The United States said it was deeply concerned about both the violence and the threatened evictions. The so-called Quartet of Mideast peace makers, which includes the U.S., European Union, Russia and United Nations, also expressed concern.

Egypt and Jordan, which made peace with Israel decades ago, condemned Israel's actions, as did the Gulf countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two of the four Arab countries that signed U.S.-brokered normalization agreements with Israel last year. The UAE expressed strong condemnation of Israel's storming of Al-Aqsa.

In a call to Palestine TV late Friday, President Mahmoud Abbas praised the courageous stand of the protesters and said Israel bore full responsibility for the violence. Abbas last week postponed planned parliamentary elections, citing Israeli restrictions in east Jerusalem for the delay.

Israel's Foreign Ministry had earlier accused the Palestinians of seizing on the threatened evictions, which it described as a real-estate dispute between private parties, in order to incite violence.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and opposes Israel's existence, has called for a new intifada, or uprising.

Late Saturday, several dozen protesters gathered along Gaza's volatile frontier with Israel, burning tires and throwing small explosives. Israeli forces fired tear gas at the crowd. No injuries were immediately reported.

In an interview with a Hamas-run TV station, the group's top leader Ismail Haniyeh warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to play with fire in Jerusalem.

Neither you, nor your army and police, can win this battle, he said.

___

Akram reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
The $953 billion government Paycheck Protection Program was launched last year to help struggling businesses make it through the pandemic and continue to pay their employees.

One California man, however, used the funds to buy a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and a Bentley, federal prosecutors say.

Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine was indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and six counts of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of California.

Prosecutors said Qadiris efforts to obtain federal loans started in late May 2020 and netted him nearly $5.1 million in June last year.

Qadiri applied for the loans through the government program for four different companies in Southern California, all of which were not in operation, say prosecutors. He also allegedly submitted fraudulent company information, altered bank account records and stole another person's identity and Social Security number, officials say.

Beyond the luxury vehicles, Qadiri is also accused of spending the money on "lavish vacations," court documents reveal.

Some of Qadiri's cars have already been seized, prosecutors said, including a 570 horsepower 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia and a 2020 Bentley Continental GT Coupe. Both vehicles can sell for far over $100,000 in today's market.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office told the New York Times that if convicted, Qadiri's charges would carry a combined maximum penalty of 302 years in prison.

Additionally, $2 million from Qadiri's bank account was seized along with the cars by federal agents when he surrendered himself to authorities Friday morning, reports USA Today.
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PHOENIX (AP)  On the floor of Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where NBA stars like Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan once dunked basketballs and Hulk Hogan wrestled King Kong Bundy, 46 tables are arrayed in neat rows, each with a Lazy Susan in the middle.

Seated at the tables are several dozen people, mostly Republicans, who spend hours watching ballots spin by, photographing them or inspecting them closely. They are counting them and checking to see if there is any sign they were flown in surreptitiously from South Korea. A few weeks ago they were holding them up to ultraviolet lights, looking for a watermark rumored to be a sign of fraud.

This is Arizonas extraordinary, partisan audit of the 2020 election results in the state's most populous county  ground zero for former President Donald Trump and a legion of his supporters who have refused to accept his loss in Arizona or in other battleground states. These ballots have been counted before and certified by the Republican governor. Much of the country has moved on.

And yet, in this aging arena, Republicans are searching for evidence to support claims they already believe.

The effort has alarmed voting rights advocates, election administrators and civil rights lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice, who this past week demanded confirmation that federal security and anti-intimidation laws are being followed. Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican, responded Friday by telling the department it had nothing to worry about.

They lost, and they cant get over it," said Grant Woods, a former Republican Arizona attorney general who became a Democrat during Trumps presidency. And they dont want to get over it because they want to continue to sow doubt about the election.

The 2.1 million ballots were already counted by Maricopa County election officials in November, validated in a partial hand recount and certified by Gov. Doug Ducey. Two extra audits confirmed no issues. No evidence of fraud sufficient to invalidate Joe Bidens narrow victory in Arizona and Maricopa County has been found.

Still, counters are being paid $15 an hour to scrutinize each ballot, examining folds and taking close-up photos looking for machine-marked ballots and bamboo fibers in the paper. The reason appears to be to test a conspiracy theory that a plane from South Korea delivered counterfeit ballots to the Phoenix airport shortly after the election.

When the recount started, the ballots were viewed under ultraviolet light to check for watermarks. A theory popular with QAnon followers is that Trump secretly watermarked mail ballots to catch cheating.

There are no watermarks on ballots in Maricopa County. The effort has since been abandoned.

Despite their obvious partisan biases, the auditors insist they can be trusted because theyre running an independent and transparent operation. Yet theyre recruiting from right-wing groups. They tried to block media access. They fought in court to not disclose written procedures theyre using to count votes and keep ballots secure. They lost.

And its entirely unclear who is paying for it and how much its costing. Taxpayers, through the Senates operating budget, chipped in $150,000, but the CEO of the small company leading the audit has acknowledged that wont cover costs.

Fundraisers, one from the conservative One America News Network and another tied to Patrick Byrne, a former CEO who promoted election conspiracies, are raising hundreds of thousands more.

Critics call the undisclosed private funding a huge red flag  the audit could be funded by foreign governments or people with a stake in the outcome like ardent Trump supporters.

Ken Bennett, a former Republican secretary of state who is serving as the Senate's liaison to the auditors, dismissed mounting criticism.

I think Republicans can count votes on ballots as well as Democrats or Libertarians or independents, Bennett said.

The audit has its own Twitter account, and it has taken on a Trumpian air, deploying hyperbole and sharp attacks on Democrats and journalists.

THE GREATEST AUDIT IN THE GALAXY CONTINUES!! the account tweeted on May 4.

All of it is made possible by the GOP-controlled state Senate, which issued an unprecedented subpoena demanding access to all ballots and the machines that counted them in Maricopa County, home to the Phoenix area and 60% of Arizona voters.

After months of court battles with the GOP-controlled county Board of Supervisors, which maintains the election was well run, the Senate got hold of the ballots. That came despite repeated audits and a hand count of a sample of ballots that showed the results were accurate.

Fann, the Republican Senate president, insisted again Saturday that the audit has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with the large segment of GOP voters who he convinced that he actually won, despite the lack of evidence.

Everybody keeps saying, oh, theres no evidence, and its like, yeah, well, lets do the audit, and if theres nothing there, then we say, look, there was nothing there, Fann said. If we find something, and its a big if, but if we find something, then we can say, OK, we do have evidence, and now how do we fix this?

The ballots were handed over to Cyber Ninjas, a tiny cybersecurity firm whose president, Doug Logan, is a Trump supporter who has shared outlandish conspiracy theories about the election.

That concern continues to the counters themselves. Anthony Kern, a former Republican state lawmaker who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, has been spotted several times tallying the votes.

Senate Republicans are threatening to issue another subpoena as soon as Monday demanding passwords for voting machines and internet routers. County officials are balking, saying that they've turned over all passwords they have and that giving up routers would jeopardize a wide variety of sensitive data, from health records to confidential and classified information at the sheriff's office.

Sheriff Paul Penzone, a Democrat, called the demand mind-numbingly reckless and irresponsible.

The audit is recounting only the presidential race and the U.S. Senate contest, two contests won by Democrats. Down-ballot races, where Republicans fared better, are not being reviewed.

The operation has been slowed by mistakes and operational problems. On the first day, a reporter noticed counters using blue pens, which are banned in ballot counting rooms because they can be read by machines. That prompted a court order requiring only red or green pens.

Staffing has been an issue as well. Despite promises that an army of counters is imminent, only about a third of the 46 counting tables are being used.

On Thursday afternoon, just 16 counting tables and 12 photography tables were in use, split into red, blue, green and yellow color-coded teams.

The fastest tables spent about 6 seconds per ballot. One particularly slow green table spent 20 seconds or more on each one. So much time passes between batches of ballots that, at any given time, half or more of the counters were not doing anything.

The Senate leased the Coliseum for four weeks as part of an audit that was supposed to take about 60 days. But with one week left before the auditors have to vacate the arena for a series of high school graduations, only about 10% of the ballots have been counted.

Bennett said the count may continue into July.

One Republican senator, who initially was fine with the review, has grown disillusioned with the choice of an auditor with preconceived notions" and a focus on pursuing conspiracy theories.

There's not even a perception of independence, said Sen. Paul Boyer of Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.
Afghan men bury a victim of deadly bombings near a school, at a cemetery west of Kabul, May 9. Korea's foreign ministry has strongly denounces last week's bomb attack that killed dozens of people and wounded over 160, mostly young schoolgirls, in Afghanistan. AP-Yonhap



South Korea strongly denounces last week's bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 68 people and wounded over 160, mostly young schoolgirls, the foreign ministry said Monday.



"Our government strongly denounces the attack that occurred near a school in the Afghan capital of Kabul on May 8. We also extend our deepest condolences to the victims and their bereaved families," ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a commentary.






Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looks on during the third round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 10, 2021 in Augusta, Ga. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

GOP Governors Slash Unemployment Benefits as Businesses Plead for Workers

Expanded federal unemployment benefits that were implemented during last years pandemic relief efforts are ending earlier than scheduled in Arkansas, Montana, and South Carolinaand Florida is expected to follow suit as Republican governors nationwide respond to pleas from businesses to encourage Americans to return to work.

We absolutely can put more people to work, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told reporters during a press conference Wednesday, announcing that Floridians receiving the $300 weekly extra payments will soon have to provide proof that theyre actively looking for a job.

The Republican governor signaled that he would soon follow a similar push from other GOP states in encouraging Americans to return to work.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) has said that by the end of June his state would no longer participate in the extended weekly unemployment benefits under the Biden administrations new $1.9 trillion stimulus planthree months earlier than its expiration.

Earlier, the Republican governors of Montana and South Carolina announced similar plans, claiming that these benefits have discouraged people from returning to the workforce and have become a drag on the recovery.

GOP Texas lawmaker Kevin Brady meanwhile has said he expects more states will follow suit, accusing the White House of being in denial that many businesses are struggling to hire more people.

Normally when youre getting unemployment, the whole idea is thats temporary, and you need to be looking for work to be able to get off unemployment, DeSantis said of the matter. It was a disaster, so we suspended those job search requirements. I think its pretty clear now, we have an abundance of job openings.

The demand is there. Businesses want to hire more people, and I think we can go in that direction very soon, he added.

It comes as U.S. jobs growth for April was far lower than what the market had predicted. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs last month versus an estimate of 1 million. The unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent from 6 percent in March.

Nearly 40 percent of workers could make more on unemployment at the $300 level than they would earn by returning to work, according to American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute.

The economy is still 8.2 million jobs below pre-COVID levels.

Businesses and organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest business lobbying groups, have called on the Biden administration to end the unemployment benefits.

Its clear that paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market, the group said.

However, President Joe Biden, when asked by a reporter whether the enhanced unemployment benefits had had any effect on the weak job numbers, said, No, nothing measurable.

Democrats have said that companies arent offering high-enough wages or subsidized childcare programs, while some say that last months job report suggests that Congress needs to pass Bidens infrastructure bills.

In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the expanded jobless benefits have been a lifeline of survival for the unemployed during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. The CCP virus is commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The White House didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.
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Ottawa, ON, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TECHNATION, Canadas national technology industry association, along with leading-edge tech leaders from across Canada, are virtually descending on Ottawa this week to promote the tech sectors forward-looking recommendations to the federal government. Discussion will include some of Canadas biggest challenges that face us as we strive to drive economic recovery and innovation adoption.

The Pandemic has proven that digital transformation can make or break economies, said Angela Mondou, president & CEO of TECHNATION. TECHNATION and our members, want to influence a more resilient and prosperous future - and we are committed to collaboration with government to execute on the digital investments announced in Budget 2021. This week, we look forward to having bold discussions with Ottawa on how the tech sector can do just that.

Canadas tech sector is incredibly well positioned to lead growth in jobs, innovation, and economic development, added Mike Hilton, president, HPE Canada. We are ready to help our nation successfully compete on the world stage.

Throughout the week, TECHNATION will engage with Ministers, Members of Parliament, and top departmental officials, focusing on three areas where the tech sector is poised to help Canada recover:

Driving the Jobs of the Future: Technology firms are positioned to drive Canadas economic recovery, fuel the creation of innovative, high-quality, well-paying jobs, and position our changing national economy for long-term success. Canada can and should be a global technology leader, driving growth in all sectors of our economy, but we need the right government policies and support in place to achieve this.

Technology firms are positioned to drive Canadas economic recovery, fuel the creation of innovative, high-quality, well-paying jobs, and position our changing national economy for long-term success. Canada can and should be a global technology leader, driving growth in all sectors of our economy, but we need the right government policies and support in place to achieve this. Ensuring Canada Thrives in the New Normal : Canadas tech sector can help governments, and businesses in all sectors, overcome their challenges and step boldly into the new normal. This will be achieved through tech adoption, regardless of industry. Canadas tech sector has solutions to transform Canadas data capabilities, strengthen our national health system, tackle supply chain issues, safeguard our privacy and security, enable a remote workforce, modernize citizen services, and more.

: Canadas tech sector can help governments, and businesses in all sectors, overcome their challenges and step boldly into the new normal. This will be achieved through tech adoption, regardless of industry. Canadas tech sector has solutions to transform Canadas data capabilities, strengthen our national health system, tackle supply chain issues, safeguard our privacy and security, enable a remote workforce, modernize citizen services, and more. Transforming Canadas Public Sector: Canadas tech sector is home to world-leading technologies and innovations that can provide the backbone to a modern, nimble, productive, and efficient public service; one that is able to deliver on the evolving needs of citizens and provide programs and services that are accessible to Canadians wherever they are, under any circumstances.

The federal government spends at least $6.8 billion every year on technology, and is promising new, generational investments to improve its digital footprint including over $3 billion in new funding in Budget 2021. By challenging our nations tech sector to meet the Governments needs within the new normal, and by shifting the way that industry and government work together, Canada can leverage its substantial spending power as a strategic economic lever to regain its position as a leading-edge digital government; delivering innovative solutions to service delivery that meet the ever-changing expectations of citizens and businesses.

Executed strategically, this much-needed investment, will help technology firms across Canada, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to scale and grow. Strengthening domestic tech firms can in turn provide solutions to all sectors of our economy, driving productivity, resilience, and job-creation across the nation.

Similarly, the federal governments injection of $2.2 billion in the new Canadas Digital Adoption Program announced in Budget 2021, will help SMEs across Canada purchase and deploy the technology they need to prosper in the post-pandemic world, driving economic growth across all sectors and employment for thousands of Canadians.

TECHNATION looks forward to presenting these ideas and recommendations, to political leaders and departmental officials across the Government of Canada throughout the week. Follow our Hill Days social posts - #TechHillDays2021  on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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About TECHNATION

TECHNATION is the industry-government nexus for technology prosperity in Canada. As a member-driven, not-for-profit, TECHNATION unites Canadas technology sector, governments and communities to enable technology prosperity in Canada. TECHNATION champions technology prosperity by providing advocacy, professional development and networking opportunities across industry and governments at all levels; connecting Canadian scale-ups with global tech leaders; engaging the global supply chain; and filling the technology talent pipeline. TECHNATION has served as the authoritative national voice of the $210 billion ICT industry for over 60 years. More than 43,200 Canadian ICT firms create and supply goods and services that contribute to a more productive, competitive, and innovative society. The ICT sector generates more than 666,500 jobs and invests $7.5 billion annually in R&D, more than any other private sector performer. For more information: www.technationcanada.ca

About Canadas Tech Sector

Canadas tech sector is best positioned to serve as a catalyst driving high quality job creation and economic growth today, and for the long term. There are more than 73,000 technology businesses in Canada, employing 1.66 million Canadians, generating $210 billion in annual revenue, paying wages that are 40% higher than average private sector jobs, and leading significant year-over-year job growth in eight of ten provinces. Importantly, technology adoption across businesses can be a rising tide that floats all boats - a 10% increase in digitalization can create an almost 1% decrease in the unemployment rate, while every 1% increase in digital adoption can add $8.7 billion (0.5%) to GDP.
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New Delhi: A week after the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) won a comfortable majority in West Bengal, the party's ministers will take oath at the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata today (May 10, 2021).

A total of 43 ministers will be sworn in including 24 cabinet ministers and 19 ministers of state.

Veteran leaders such as Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Jyoti Priya Mallick, Moloy Ghatak, Aroop Biswas, Dr Shashi Panja and Javed Ahmed Khan will be made cabinet ministers.

New faces in the council of ministers will have former West Bengal Ranji skipper Manoj Tiwary, IPS officer Humayun Kabir and Siuli Saha. Kabir will be among 10 persons who will become ministers of state (independent charge), and Tiwari along with Saha will take oath as ministers of state.





Mamata Banerjee, who took oath as the West Bengal Chief Minister for the third time on May 5, is also likely to hold the first Cabinet meeting today after the swearing-in ceremony.

The TMC won 213 seats in the just concluded state assembly elections, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) garnered 77 seats in the 294-seat state assembly.

Earlier on Sunday, the Governor of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar sanctioned the prosecution of four TMC leaders  all of them ministers during the time of the alleged commission of a crime that came to light in the purported Narada sting tapes.

As per a Raj Bhavan official the decision to accord the sanctions against Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee was taken after a request was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Narada sting tapes which were made public before the West Bengal 2016 assembly elections claimed to have been shot in 2014. In the video, ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favours.

(With inputs from agencies)



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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  More than 1 million New Mexicans have now received at least one vaccine dose  a significant milestone as the state pushes to vaccinate 60% of its adults against COVID-19 by the end of June.

It means the state would reach the target if every person whos already received one shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine returns for their second dose. The third vaccine, Johnson & Johnson, requires only one shot.

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Dr. Jason Mitchell, chief medical officer for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, said New Mexicans can be proud of the progress theyve made.

But its critical, he said, for people to return for their second shot if they still need it or to book their appointment to start vaccination, especially as a way to protect people who dont have the option of getting the shot, such as children 11 and under.

We have accomplished a lot  you can see our state really starting to pick up and thrive, Mitchell said in an interview, but we cant stop now.

The state crossed the million-person threshold Monday when the Department of Health updated its vaccine tally to reflect the most recent shots administered.

The department intends to lift capacity restrictions on New Mexico businesses once 60% of the states adults are fully vaccinated.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has said the state is on track to reach its goal by the end of June, though it could happen even earlier, depending on the pace of vaccinations.

This is great news, Department of Health spokesman Matt Bieber said of the vaccine numbers, because it means that New Mexicans have the power to decide how fast we get there  and every time one of us gets vaccinated, were one step closer.

New Mexico ranks high

As it stands now:

 1,007,687 people in New Mexico have received at least one dose, or 60% of the population 16 and older.

 805,923 people are fully vaccinated, or 48% of the adult population.

New Mexico remains among the top states in vaccinations. It ranked No. 6  behind a collection of Northeastern states and Hawaii  for the number of doses administered per capita, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By another standard  the share of vaccines administered out of the doses delivered  the state ranked first, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data.

The vaccine is free and available without the need for insurance. Appointments can be scheduled at vaccineNM.org.

The Pfizer vaccine had been cleared for anyone 16 and older. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday cleared the shot for kids as young as 12.

Dr. Tracie Collins, who heads the state Department of Health, has urged parents in New Mexico to register their children ages 12 to 15 so they can get the shot as soon as the CDC granted final approval.

Mitchell said the vaccine is incredibly effective among children in the new age range and will be a critical way to protect them at school. He said he has registered one of his own children for the vaccine.

This is a chance to really help your kids, Mitchell said.

Side effects worth it

As for those concerned about the side effects of the second shot, Mitchell said, its true that your arm could be more sore and you could have fever and chills. But its temporary and necessary, he said, to the get protection you need.

The Department of Health reported 570 new COVID-19 cases for three-day period that ended Monday  157 of which were in Bernalillo County and 154 in San Juan County.

The state also reported eight more deaths, although only one of the fatalities was recent. The state has been adding deaths from previous months to the tally as medical investigators work through a backlog and determine which deaths were related to COVID-19.

The states virus-related death toll now stands at 4,106.

The number of coronavirus patients in state hospitals is 143, in line with the recent average.

Gaps still remain

Despite the states progress, gaps remain in the vaccination rate among racial and ethnic groups.

Black and Hispanic residents, for example, have consistently trailed other ethnic groups during the vaccine rollout.

The latest state data shows that 60% of Asian American or Pacific Islanders are fully vaccinated, 46% of whites, 38% of Native Americans, 36% of Hispanics, and 29% of Black or African American residents.

There are also broad gaps by county.

Los Alamos County, in northern New Mexico, leads the state, with 67% of its adults fully vaccinated. Roosevelt County in the east is the lowest, at 24%. Bernalillo County  the states most populous  is at 51% fully vaccinated, slightly ahead of the state average.

New Mexicos vaccine equity plan calls for the use of walk-in clinics and mobile vaccination teams that travel the state to boost access to the vaccine among the communities hit hardest by COVID-19.

Mitchell, the Presbyterian doctor, said anyone with concerns about whether they should get a COVID-19 vaccine should talk to their health care provider.

A number of fears shared through social media have been debunked multiple times, Mitchell said.

People can take comfort in the fact that 150 million Americans have had at least one dose, health officials say, including the last two presidents, Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Its not like this is small sample size, Mitchell said. Theres no ambiguity. The scientific community across the world has been all over this.
Searching for hope, 32 migrants were pushed to extremes in an attempt to enter the US
The Makurdi High Court in Benue State has awarded N50 million as damages against the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank over the unlawful arrest and detention of its former Managing Director, Robert Orya, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The court tongue-lashed the EFCC and the IGP for turning themselves tools of persecution in the hands of the NEXIM Bank authorities.

It ordered them to apologise to Mr Orya.

Mr Orya had filed the suit marked MHC/2393/2020, against the EFCC, the IGP, and NEXIM Bank, among others, accusing the defendants of breach of his fundamental human rights to freedom of movement and to own property.

The rest of the respondents are, the State Security Service (SSS), rhthendependent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Code of Conduct Bureau, and NEXIM Bank.

In an affidavit deposed to in support of the fundamental human rights enforcement suit, Mr Orya told the court that the NEXIM Bank (6th respondent) led by Abba Bello wrote series of petitions accusing of corruption.

He said one of the petitions was submitted to the EFCC and then Special Presidential Panel on Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), which was headed by Okoi-Obono Obla.

The applicant further deposed that he was arrested and detained by the EFCC for four days before he was requested to continue to report on a daily basis and then weekly for the period covering 2016 to 2018 at the Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Section of the anti-graft agency in Abuja.

In October 2017, the NEXIM Bank management wrote to the SPIP and Mr Orya was apprehended and detained at the 2nd respondents (IGP) police station at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja for four days, where he was denied access to his lawyers.

Some of the respondents, EFCC, IGP, SSS, ICPC, CCB, and NEXIM Bank, had in their preliminary objections, challenged the courts jurisdiction to entertain and determine the case.

Preliminary objection dismissed

They had argued that the suit ought to be instituted at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, being where the alleged cause of action arose.

However, the presiding judge, M. A. Ikpambese, in a ruling held that the Federal High Court and State High Court have concurrent jurisdiction to grant redress for an infringement of fundamental rights, citing Section 46 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Having established that the applicant is from Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State and resides at Plot No. C38 Hudco Quarters, North Bank, Makurdi, Benue State, the High Court of a State in Benue State and the Federal High Court or State High Court in Abuja have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application brought under chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

I make bold to hold that this matter comes within the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court of Benue State by virtue of Section 46 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the judge said.

Multiple arrests illegal

In a certified true copy of the ruling dated March 31, 2021, which was seen by our reporter on Thursday, Mr Ikpambese further held, the arrest and detention of the applicant by the 1st to 5th respondents is multiple and duplication of same set facts hence it is unlawful as there is no legal foundation to base the multiple arrests and detentions.

The findings in the preceding paragraphs proves that the respondents particularly the 1st defendant (EFCC) and the 2nd respondebt (IGP) breached the applicants right to freedom of movement and right to acquire and own property under Sections 41 and 43 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The court noted that by the provisions of Section 35(1) (C) and 6 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended, a person who is unlawfully arrested and detained shall be entitled to compensation and public apology from appropriate authority or person.

EFCC, IGP ordered to apologise to applicant

Mr Ikpambese, then held, the 1st and 2nd respondents (the EFCC and the IGP) being the organs used by the 6th respondent (NEXIM Bank), are to tender public apology to the applicant and refuse to be used as witch hunts.

ADVERTISEMENT

In respect of the five hundred million naira (N500, 000, 000. 00) general damages for breach of applicants fundamental rights, the 6th respondent (NEXIM Bank) shall bear the consequences of such conduct.

The sum of fifty million naira (N50, 000, 000. 00) is awarded in favour of the applicant (Mr Orya) against the 6th respondent with a stern warning to desist from using the institutions established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to witch hunt the applicant in the guise of statutory powers even when exercised outside the ambit of the established legislations/statutes, the court declared.

Background

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in 2019 accused Mr Orya of corruption and fraud.

The apex bank had accused the past management of the export/import bank of plotting the removal from office of its deputy governor in charge of Economic Policy Directorate, Joseph Nnanna.

Mr Nnanna is also the chairman of the Board of NEXIM, which commissioned forensic audit into the lending business of the bank.

The CBN said the audit exposed different levels of procedural abuses fraught with high level of fraud in the disbursement of the loans by the former management (of the bank).

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Mr Orya, who was the MD of NEXIM from inception in August 2009 till February 2016,. described the accusations of fraud in the disbursement of loans against him as wild, inappropriate, unacceptable and untrue.

He was succeeded by the Executive Director, Business Development of the Bank, Bashir Wali, who held the office in an acting capacity until April 2017, when the incumbent Managing Director, Abubakar Bello, took over.
A screenshot of a remote hearing taking place in Bailey v. Antrim County on May 10, 2021. (13th Circuit Court/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Michigan Judge Considering Request to Dismiss Election-Related Case

A judge in Michigan will rule next week on whether to dismiss a case alleging that fraud occurred in the 2020 election.

Judge Kevin Elsenheimer of the 13th Circuit Court heard arguments on the motion to dismiss on May 10 and will take about a week to decide whether to allow the case, Bailey v. Antrim County, to move forward.

Lawyers for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, and Antrim County are seeking to end the case because they argue that the plaintiff, voter William Bailey, has been given the relief he sought last year when filing a lawsuit.

The suit asked for a forensic examination of machines used in the county, a protective order to preserve records, and an independent audit. It was filed after officials in Antrim County falsely reported Democrat Joe Biden received more votes than Republican Donald Trump.

The examination took place last year. The team that conducted the examination asserted that Dominion Voting Systems software is flawed. Dominion and state and county officials have disputed the report from the examiners, primarily by attacking their credibility.

Elsenheimer also granted the protective order, while Erik Grill, a lawyer for Benson, alleged that an audit was completed already.

In a recent motion, Bailey sought an audit of machines in Antrim County townships, alleging that a recent assessment of Dominion software by analyst Jeffrey Lenberg uncovered numerous error conditions sufficient to warrant an expert review of source code for the companys technology.

Grill argued that the plaintiff is trying to design his own custom audit.

If every single voter had the right to concoct his own audit and had that performed, the audits would be endless, he told the judge.

Citizens who feel their votes werent counted or elections were run improperly can petition for a special election, among other remedies, he said.

Matthew DePerno, Baileys lawyer, said he had submitted substantial evidence to the court that showed that manipulation of the tabulation machines was easy to carry out.

Weve shown how the actual fraud works, he said. He disagreed with the states claim that an audit was carried out and noted a statewide hand recount didnt inspect any ballots other than those cast in the presidential election.

Bailey and his attorney are concerned his ballot wasnt counted in the election last year and he didnt vote in an election last week because he no longer trusts these voting machines, DePerno said. Bill Bailey is entitled to an actual audit of an election.

Dominion didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The firm has said the examination of its machines in Antrim County was debunked by a report from analyst J. Alex Halderman, pointing to Bensons statement that the analysis affirmed the countys official presidential election results were accurate and that unofficial results were initially reported incorrectly due to human error.

Elsenheimer said he planned to go into the hearing not to make an immediate decision on the motion to dismiss or the motion for summary disposition. He plans to take until next week to deliver his ruling orally to the parties involved.

Elsenheimer earlier in the hearing rejected subpoenas that DePerno tried issuing to various townships. The attorney sought to conduct a forensic audit and review of information from the 2020 election, including all paper ballots, all system logs, and all vote tabulators.

A lawyer representing the townships argued that allowing the plaintiff to do so could violate agreements between election officials and Dominion, and could render the machines unusable in future elections. Grill charged that since the discovery period ended last month, the judge should block the subpoenas.

Elsenheimer ultimately agreed, telling the court that DePerno could have sought the information shortly after filing the lawsuit last year.

The court believes at this point that the additional expense, annoyance, work associated with the nonparty motions would exceed the value of the discovery they would produce, he said, ruling in favor of a motion to quash the subpoenas.
The kinetic crime series Gangs of London, currently airing on AMC, is a pulpy video game adaptation that follows a chaotic gang war that begins after the mysterious killing of the mob boss Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney). The major players include Finns vindictive son Sean (Joe Cole), the macho Welsh gangster Kinney Edwards (Mark Lewis Jones) and Kinneys petulant son Darren (Aled ap Steffan). In the first episode, Darren kills Finn at the request of an unidentified rival. (Not even Darren knows who it is.)

The other key components of the series, which premiered in Britain last year, are brutal, dynamic fight scenes that bear the unmistakable signature of Gareth Evans, who created the series with the writer and cinematographer Matt Flannery. Evans, a Welsh filmmaker, is known for his electric action sequences, and the set pieces in Gangs of London stand out for their visceral impact, sophisticated choreography and extreme violence.

One of the most striking examples came in Sundays episode, which concluded with a nervy 24-minute sequence in which a team of mercenaries storm a safehouse amid a barrage of gunfire, explosions and bloody carnage.

When it came to Episode 5, we agreed that every death should be a tragedy, Evans said in a recent Zoom interview. Almost every single person gets killed, but theres grief associated with that.
Ireland presents a very particular profile with regard to the climate change objective in the EUs common agricultural policy (CAP).

Uniquely, we have the highest level of permanent grassland in the EU, which at 91% is almost three times the EU average of 31%.

Furthermore, we have very extensive peatlands, covering more than 20% of Ireland.

This means that Irish soil is a huge store of carbon.

Yet, according to the EU, we face very serious climate change challenges, strongly linked to agriculture.

Our net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farming have been rising since 2011, to 35.3% of total national emissions by 2018.

The EU acknowledges that this can be partly explained by Irelands lack of heavy industry.

Nevertheless, it is clear that cattle expansion, especially dairy cattle (also a threat to the CAP objective of environmental care) is pushing emissions, along with increases in use of synthetic fertiliser.

From 2013 to 2018, the EU estimates methane from ruminants increased 9.6%, manure management emissions grew 7.5%, and soil management emissions grew 6.2% (linked to expansion of areas awarded a nitrates derogation, with consequences also for the CAPs environmental care objective).

The EU has asked Ireland to build responses to these challenges into its plan for the next CAP, starting in 2023, which will be very instrumental in the transition towards sustainability.

The EU also sees problems with our peatlands, drained on a large scale over the years, for peat extraction, farming and afforestation, to the point where 80% are degraded.

80% of peatlands degraded

Although trees can no longer be planted on peatlands, in 2017, active drainage and peat extraction was still taking place on 56,000 ha.

It is estimated that drained peat soils release around 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide GHG per hectare per year.

And forest and woodland to absorb carbon is only thinly present in Ireland, says the EU.

Our forest cover is only 11% (the EU average is 40%).

We have plans to lift forest to 18% by 2046, but planting has been well behind the necessary 8,000 ha per year.

Moreover, our grasslands, though a carbon sink, also have high carbon emissions, so there are overall positive net emissions from land use, land use change, and forestry, according to the EU.

Lack of forests is part of Irelands modest renewable energy production from the land.

Only 2.6% of our renewable energy production came from farming in 2018 (the EU averages 12%) and 19% from forestry (the EU averages 41%).

Biogas and biomethane in Ireland are still at early development stages, and our forests are not expected to keep pace for much longer with the combined needs of wood panelling and wood-based energy.

On the other hand, Irelands use of energy in agriculture and forestry (42 kg of oil equivalent per hectare in 2018) is modest by EU standards.

The EU fears Irish agriculture is vulnerable to climate change because of specialisation, but most farmers here are not interested in diversifying, despite predictions of more autumn and winter rain (due to climate change) causing additional nutrient leaching, soil erosion, and pollution from farmland to fresh water.

Hotter and drier summers are also expected, threatening yields and availability of fodder.

In response to these various issues, Irelands national energy and climate plans set out various pathways for action.

Water, soil and air concerns

The EU sees points of concern in relation to water, soil and air in Ireland, principally due to livestock numbers rising substantially.

This trend has left 33% of Irelands cattle, owned by 10% of farmers, occupying 14% of the agricultural area.

The EU sees the involvement of industry as essential in finding solutions to this trend, because these farmers are less dependent on the CAP for their income support.

In this regard, the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme provides 30 free advisors to farmers through a combination of State and dairy industry funding.

The EU says such initiatives should be encouraged.

Water, soil and air concerns also arise from growing use of synthetic fertilisers, sales of which increased by 10% year-on-year in 2017 and 2018, before a 10% decrease in 2019, with Teagasc leading efforts to reduce fertiliser use.

Ireland has legally binding limits for nitrogen and phosphorus through its Nitrates Action Programme, and 21% of soils are at agronomic optimum for phosphorus, potassium and lime, so there is considerable potential for gains in fertiliser use efficiency.

However, ammonia emissions from agriculture pose a significant problem, climbing since 2011, exceeding EU legal limits in 2016 for the first time, and leaving Ireland at high risk of non-compliance with EU emission reduction commitments for ammonia.

Meanwhile, the quality of Irelands rivers is falling, with poor status surface water bodies reporting rising to 18% in 2013-2018 from 15% in 2007-2009.

Irelands Environmental Protection Agency says water quality is getting worse after a period of relative stability and improvement.

On the other hand, in 2013-2018. 92% of ground water bodies (in 98% of the country by area) were in good chemical and quantitative status).

The main water problem in Ireland is nutrient pollution, with a third of rivers and a quarter of estuaries failing to meet nutrient-based environmental quality standards.

Although Irelands potential nitrogen surplus on farmland, at 41 kg/ha/year in 2017, was lower than the EU average (47 kg), it had been rising since 2011 (having declined from 1995 to 2011.

The potential phosphorus surplus was 20kg/ha/year in 2015, significantly above the EU average of 1kg (and rising since 2008), though this may reflect efforts at rectifying past depletion.

Overall, nutrient discharges to water are reported to have been increasing since 2013 because of higher cattle numbers, increased fertiliser use, and nitrate derogations.

The 2018 derogation report confirmed that, since 2013, water quality decreased, particularly in the south and south-east, where nitrogen emissions are a particular concern, whereas phosphorus concentrations are too high in various parts of Ireland.

Heavy rainfall and regularity of storms often overwhelm measures to protect and enhance water quality.

Generally positive soil picture

In contrast, there is a generally positive soil picture in Ireland, with organic carbon content of 127 g/kg (versus 47 g in the EU), including 67 and 82 g on Irish arable land (the highest in the EU).

Nor is there significant pressure from soil erosion by water, or from soil sealing.

Peatlands however are under threat.

The EU says Ireland has potential advantages with regard to the CAP objective of preserving landscapes and biodiversity.

For example, the EUs highest farmland share of permanent grassland, a large presence of peatland, and a well-established network of hedgerows, all support biodiversity.

Nevertheless, there are causes for concern. The farmland bird index stood at 107 in 2016 (up from 100 in 2000). But the European Environment Agencys Countryside Bird Survey shows Irish farmland bird populations fell by 8% from 2005 to 2014, and shrubland/peatland species fell 8.7% (but just 0.2% in the case of woodland species).

EU Habitats Directive Natura 2000 zones cover just 3.6% of Irelands agricultural area, compared with 11% for the EU as a whole.

Natura 2000 grassland habitats of EU interest, affected by agriculture and reported on under the Habitats Directive, do not have favourable conservation status, and did not improve from 2013 to 2018.

For 17%, the status is unfavourable, inadequate; it is unfavourable, bad for the remaining 83% (compared to 43% of such grassland habitats in the EU as a whole).

All three heathland habitats have unfavourable, bad status (especially significant because 20% of the EUs wet heaths are in Ireland).

Declines in bird populations

For heathland and grassland habitats, there have been declines in bird populations.

For example, the breeding population of the lapwing has undergone a long-term decline of 56%. Grassland butterfly species are significantly under threat.

The EU says monitoring of flora and fauna outside Natura 2000 zones needs improvement, but, in any case, similar farmland habitat biodiversity problems are observed more generally.

As in many countries, there has been a long-term decline in pollinators: 30% of bee species are now considered threatened with extinction in Ireland.

Key pressures on grasslands and heathlands include land use intensification (but abandonment in some areas) as well as inappropriate mowing and harmful burning of vegetation.

The EU says Irelands native woodlands are in some respects in a poor state: small and fragmented, lacking full ecological functionality. Native woodland accounts for just 27% of the total wooded area.

Establishment of native woodlands is supported by a national scheme.

Around 0.9% of Irelands utilisable agricultural area is taken up by hedgerows and other linear landscape features (a 2018 estimate, somewhat higher than the EU average of 0.6%). But Ireland has less fallow land (0.1%, versus 4.1% in the EU)

Finally, uptake of organic farming is low in Ireland, at 2.6% in 2018, up from 0.9% in 2008. Our organic farms are almost completely made up of permanent grassland,
The Government has been accused of "passing the buck" on the status of a shipwreck off the coast of Cork.

The MV Alta was washed onto rocks by the force of Storm Dennis about three miles west of Ballycotton on February 15, 2020. A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board found the ship had drifted over 2,300 nautical miles for 496 days before being shipwrecked.

Since, the ship has become an attraction for sightseers and people posting pictures on social media. Last week, local fire crews and emergency services had to extinguish a blaze aboard the ship, and concerns are growing about the health and safety risks posed by the wreck.

Junior transport minister Hildegarde Naughton told local Sinn Fein TD Pat Buckley that the State is likely to bear the cost of the removal because the owner of the ship has never been identified. In response to questioning, she said her department had established a working group to examine the dangers posed by abandoned ships in Irish waters.

Working group

"My department has established a working group to explore the risks and potential costs to the State presented by derelict ships entering Irish territorial waters and coming ashore in Ireland, and to make proposals for means to identify, monitor, track, and interdict derelict ships before they endanger other ships and seafarers in the vicinity," said Ms Naughton.

"While the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act 1993 does allow for the removal of a wreck, it does not contain provisions in relation to the costs associated with the removal of a wreck where the sale of that wreck is not possible and the owners of the vessel cannot be located."

Ms Naughton said that Cork County Council, which has spent considerable money to make the wreck environmentally safe, is the lead agency in handling the situation.

However, Mr Buckley said he was dissatisfied with the response from the minister and told the Irish Examiner he would be resubmitting some of his queries as he felt "the Government was passing the buck".

Health and safety issue

"It's a health and safety issue at this point," said Mr Buckley. "Between the people crossing private lands to see it, people climbing on to it, and now the fire, something will need to be done. Local landowners are getting nervous about what will happen into the summer."

"It feels like the Government is passing the buck and just hoping that this will break apart and sink into the sea."

The ship had been sailing from Greece to Haiti in September 2018 when it became disabled about 2,220km south-east of Bermuda.

The 10 crew members were rescued by the US Coast Guard and brought to Puerto Rico.

It is believed the ship was then towed to Guyana but later hijacked a number of times.
KONNOR PERRIN, Chariho boys lacrosse, freshman: Perrin established a school record for assists in a game with nine in the Chargers 22-0 win over Ponaganset. Perrin leads the team with 21 assists to go with 14 goals.

LILA RICH, Stonington girls track, senior: Rich won two events at the ECC Division I track meet. Rich was first in the high jump (5-0) and the pole vault (10-0) as the Bears finished third at the meet.

MADIGAN HILTZ, Westerly boys lacrosse, senior: Hiltz scored seven goals and had three assists in pair of victories for the Bulldogs. Hiltz has 17 goals and seven assists for the season.

ADDIE HAUPTMANN, Wheeler softball, junior: Hauptmann was 4 for 9 with a home run and six RBIs in two games. For the season, Hauptmann is hitting .617 with eight homers and 42 RBIs. She has 50 hits.

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Just over one in three people (34 percent) have now received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the latest figures from the HSE.

Over one in eight (12.8%) are now fully vaccinated.

In a tweet this morning, Mr Donnelly said he expected a further 250,000 doses to be administered this week.

More than one in three of those who can receive a vaccine dose now have had one.



One in eight - just shy of half a million people - are now fully vaccinated.



We are making real progress - in excess of a quarter of a million vaccine doses will be administered this week. pic.twitter.com/4PAi8qUki7  Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) May 10, 2021

Meanwhile, the Department of Health confirmed two further deaths linked to Covid-19 last night.

There have also been an additional 514 confirmed cases of the virus in the previous 24-hour reporting period.

As of Sunday morning, there were 116 Covid-19 patients in hospital, of whom 31 were in intensive care units.

As the country's vaccination programme progress, from today, people aged 53 and older can register for a Covid-19 vaccine  Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca - on the HSE portal, with over half a million people now registered.

This comes as the HSE said it will launch an at-home vaccination service for a small number of people with very high-risk medical conditions under 70.

A spokeswoman for Damian McCallion, HSE national lead on vaccinations: A vaccination pathway for housebound patients with very high-risk medical conditions under the age of 70 years is under consideration. In a response to Cork TD Colm Burke who raised this issue with the HSE, the spokeswoman added: Plans are progressing and we are hoping to start this programme of vaccination in the coming weeks. But she said there is now an interim system.

She wrote: I have contacted the National Ambulance service  they will vaccinate someone under the age of 70 if they receive an e-mail from that persons GP outlining the persons individuals circumstances.

Corkwoman Louise O Leary had contacted Mr Burke and other TDs including Thomas Gould in despair at the lack of vaccine access for her 69-year-old mother. Her mother has Alzheimers Disease and struggles to walk.

On Saturday the Irish Examiner reported Ms O Learys mother received her jab at home this week, following the interventions.

She said: This is all we wanted, I feel about 10 stone lighter. Youre made to feel if you cant get to the vaccine centres then good luck to you. Theyre great, but not everyone can get to a centre.

Meanwhile, the European Union did not renew its orders for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after June, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has said.

Mr Breton did not rule out renewal at a later date after this contract expires, according to Reuters, but said: We did not renew the order after June. Well see what happens.

The commission is currently taking legal action against AstraZeneca around issues with vaccine deliveries.

Health Minister speaks of 'time for hope' as restrictions ease

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly: 'If we all continue doing what clearly we have been doing over the last few months, I think we're looking at a really, really positive summer - the kind of summer the country needs' Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Health minister Stephen Donnelly has said now is a time "for hope" as the recent lifting of restrictions had not been accompanied by a surge in infection rates.

"What's happening is that as we're opening up, as people are travelling around more, people are still sticking with the basic measures, they are staying outdoors, they're wearing the masks where they need to and they're keeping their distance from people," he told RTE Radio One.

"They're doing the basics and it's having a big effect. On top of that, obviously we're vaccinating now several hundred thousand people a week, which helps. So, I am hopeful. I am an optimist."

Mr Donnelly said Monday would be a big day in relation to how the latest relaxations would impact transmission rates. He said the following Monday would also be key, when retail reopens fully.

"If we all continue doing what clearly we have been doing over the last few months, I think we're looking at a really, really positive summer - the kind of summer the country needs," the minister added.
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Police suspect social media challenges are driving a spate of Mazda thefts.

A group of 30 teenagers - some as young as 13 - are believed to be responsible for stealing more than 100 cars of this brand since January.

The Mazda theft phenomenon first appeared in Taranaki in November and December, when up to 30 were stolen.

Since the start of the year, a total of 200 vehicles have been taken in the province - 108 of them Mazdas, many of the type usually referred to as "nana cars".

Taranaki crime prevention manager Senior Sergeant Kyle Davie says it appears the young people - some of who are repeat offenders - are trying to make a name for themselves.

"We understand there is some link to social media and that videos of the offending are being posted on to various social media platforms which is potentially something to do with those young people gaining notoriety."

Police were aware of videos being posted on Snapchat and have also had reports of them appearing on the TikTok platform, says Davie says.

He urges Mazda owners to be vigilant.

"We can't be 100 percent sure why they should be targeting Mazdas, but we believe it's because there is a perception that they are easy to break into and to interfere with the ignition wiring to get them going, which is known as hot-wiring, and that's why we tend to think these Mazdas are being taken."

The most commonly stolen Mazdas are the Demio, Familia and Atenza models.

An Oakura mother - whom RNZ agreed not to identify - says she felt guilty when her daughter's Mazda was stolen from outside the family home recently.

"We had been actually moving our cars around and blocking her Mazda in because we knew they were targeting all Mazdas, but like, she came home late, we didn't think about it and didn't block it in and of course next morning it wasn't there when we got up.

"So for me I felt quite guilty about not blocking it in because I hadn't thought of it and then I thought I shouldn't have to be blocking a car in."

Police recovered the car within 48 hours, but it was badly damaged.

"They'd obviously been using it for burn ups. They even changed a tyre because they'd obviously blown a tyre and then put the spare on and continued. They took the headlights, the front bumper was on the back seat and it was basically scratched up, beaten up and written off."

The woman says her daughter has been left out of pocket due to the hefty excess on her insurance.

And the Mazda theft phenomenon is not confined to Taranaki either.

New Plymouth businessman Shaun Conaglen says his daughter's Mazda was stolen from outside her flat in Palmerston North, where she was studying.

It's the first car she'd ever owned.

"She'd worked a good year to save up and buy that car. We didn't give her anything. She paid for that out of her own pocket.

"She'd been working after school at the diner and other odd jobs here and there and saved up all the money so she had a car to come back and forth to uni.

"She was really upset because she'd never been through anything like that."

Conaglen thought it's surprising that nana-style cars are being targeted.

"Yeah it it is. It just seems to be just old Mazdas they're after. Like the Demios and the cars from the 90s and early 2000s seem to be hot property and all Mazdas."

Meanwhile, police in Taranaki have been placing flyers on Mazdas warning owners that they were being targeted.

There are simple steps people could take to prevent themselves becoming victims, Davie says.

"We're talking to them about keeping their cars secure, using immobilisers or putting alarms in their cars or parking in such a place that it's less likely to be offended against. Putting steering locks on it and making sure it's locked.

"A lot of the cars are unlocked. We do have a bit of a poor habit in Taranaki particularly for leaving our vehicles and our houses unlocked."

Given the age of the offenders, the overarching principle for police was safeguarding their well-being, Davie says.

So while some were going through the Youth Court process, others were being dealt with via family conferences and other measures with the aim of them ultimately becoming responsible citizens.

-RNZ/Robin Martin.
Press Release

May 10, 2021 108 Malasakit Centers continue to provide convenient access to medical assistance nationwide as Bong Go lauds latest launch in Apayao While helping the government address the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen the health care system amid the ongoing health crisis, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go also remains focused on achieving his vision of providing convenient access to health services nationwide. He recently virtually attended the launch of the country's 108th Malasakit Center at the Conner District Hospital in Conner, Apayao on Friday, May 7. This is the fifth Malasakit Center in the Cordillera Administrative Region and the second in the province, the other being at the Far North General Hospital and Training Center in Luna town. The 107th Malasakit Center was also launched at the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital in Bauko, Mountain Province on the same day. In a speech he delivered, Go maintained that taking measures to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and ensure patients have access to medical care has always been a top priority of the Duterte Administration. "Magtiwala tayo sa gobyerno. Ginagawa nito ang lahat para hindi bumagsak ang health care system at walang matatanggihan na ma-admit sa ospital. Ayaw natin na may mga severe cases na naghihingalo at nasa labas ng ospital nag-aantay para maasikaso," began Go. "Bilang inyong Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, sisiguraduhin ko na ang kalusugan, kapakanan at interes ng bawat Pilipino ay mangunguna parati. Kung mayroon kayong reklamo, bukas ang aking opisina para tumulong, lalong-lalo na sa mga ospital na nangangailangan ng karagdagang hospital beds," he continued. In this regard, the Senator revealed recent discussions with President Rodrigo Duterte and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated for the continued COVID-19 vaccine rollout even beyond this year. "Dapat maging handa tayo ... hindi natin masasabi kung may dadarating bang bagong strain, kung kaya ba itong sugpuin ng mga kasalukuyang bakuna na binili natin. Ayaw nating mangyari dito ang nangyari sa India," said Go. "Kaya binabalanse ng gobyerno ang mga interes ng ekonomiya at public health. Pero para sa akin, unahin natin dapat ang kalusugan at buhay ng bawat Pilipino. A life lost is a life lost forever kaya pangalagaan natin ito," he stressed. Go also emphasized the need to invest more on health research as he cited how crucial it was for the country when he was able to successfully push for additional funding for the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine which now plays an essential role in the country's pandemic response. To ensure an adequate health care workforce capacity during the pandemic, the Senator also shared he had earlier urged the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to include the frontline personnel of the Professional Regulation Commission, such as proctors and watchers, and board examiners in the A4 priority group for inoculation. "Ipapabakuna natin sila para makapag-conduct na sila ng examinations para sa mga nurse at iba pang health graduates para makapag-board exams na sila. Lalo na ngayon, kailangan talaga natin ng mga health workers. Kulang talaga tayo sa mga lugar na nagkaroon ng surge, gaya ng Metro Manila," continued Go. "Kaya maraming salamat kay Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino at sa mga ospital ng Region VII. Nakapagpadala sila ng almost 100 nurses and medical workers para tumulong sa mga bagong modular hospitals sa Maynila. Nakikita niyo naman, basta Pilipino, nagtutulungan, walang imposible," he said. To improve access to health care for Filipinos, President Duterte signed Republic Act 11463 or the 'Malasakit Centers Act of 2019' on December 3, 2019. The law, which Go authored and sponsored in the Senate, directs the establishment of a Malasakit Center in the Philippine General Hospital in Manila City and the 73 hospitals administered or managed by the Department of Health. Hospitals run by local government units and other public hospitals may also establish their own provided they meet a standard set of criteria to guarantee the sustainability of its operations. Pioneered in 2018 by then Special Assistant to the President and now Senator Go, the center is a one-stop shop which brings together national agencies offering medical-related assistance programs. They include the DOH, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. The primary aim of the Malasakit Center is to reduce a hospital bill balance to the lowest amount possible with the government shouldering the cost of expenses. The program has benefitted an estimated two million Filipinos since its launch. After the ceremony, Go's personnel provided meals, food packs, vitamins, masks and face shields to a total of 163 health workers and 17 patients. They gave selected health workers new pairs of shoes or bicycles so they can commute with ease while others received computer tablets for their children's school activities. Representatives from the DSWD also provided each beneficiary with financial assistance in a separate distribution. The Senator expressed gratitude to the various government officials who worked together to provide the people of Apayao with better health care. He specifically thanked Secretary Dino of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, DOH Undersecretary Roger Tong-an, Assistant Secretary Girlie Veloso of the Office of the President, DSWD Assistant Secretary Victor Neri, Representative Elias Bulut, Jr., Governor Eleanor Begtang, and Mayor Martina Dangoy, among others.
In 2019, Jawa Darazim celebrated Ramadan in Egypt, and this was one of her suhoor meals. Suhoor is the meal Muslims eat before they begin their daily fast at sunrise during Ramadan. (Photo/Jawa Darazim)
(Bloomberg) -- Gasolines rally dissipated after the operator of the largest U.S. oil-products pipeline system said its restarting portions of the line following a cyberattack.

Colonial Pipeline Co., a key supplier of fuels to the eastern U.S., was forced to halt operations late Friday and now sees service mostly restored by the end of this week. Gasoline futures erased practically all of its earlier gains of as much as 4.2% on Monday, and oil also ended the session little changed.

The impact of the shutdown across the U.S. will vary by region and is likely to cause fuel pile-ups, as well as shortages in the short-term, along different parts of the extended supply chain. With the conduit linking U.S. Gulf Coast refineries to the East Coast down for at least another several days, emergency shipments of gasoline and diesel from Texas are already headed for Atlanta and other southeast cities via trucks. At least one refiner is reducing processing rates in response to the pipeline outage.

The price action has been somewhat muted so far, given the expectation that it might not last too, too long, Citigroup Inc.s Eric Lee said in a virtual webinar on the pipeline outage. Bottom line, its bullish for East Coast gasoline and diesel and bullish for European gasoline, while the opposite is true for U.S. Gulf Coast prices.

The Colonial network is the main source of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel for the East Coast, with capacity of about 2.5 million barrels a day on its system from Houston to as far as North Carolina, and another 900,000 barrels to New York.

While the pipeline disruption has so far not made huge waves in futures markets, it proves ill-timed as the summer travel rush approaches in the worlds largest oil-consuming country. Over the weekend, traders were said to be securing barges and tankers to send barrels from the U.S. Gulf to the East Coast, and even seeking ships to temporarily store products in the Gulf if the shut down does last longer than expected. Meanwhile, Total SAs Port Arthur plant in Texas is already scaling back operations at its fuel-making unit.

Story continues

Despite the muted price action in headline futures, more pronounced movements have cropped up in spot prices and regional differentials. U.S. Gulf Coast spot gasoline prices slipped on Monday to the biggest discount to futures in roughly a year. The premium for New York gasoline against Gulf Coast widened to the largest gap since mid-February.

Theres particular concern for southeastern cities where total regional stockpiles of gasoline were already at their lowest in ten years before the ransomware attack, according to U.S. government data. Convenience-store chains in places like Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, began clamoring for emergency fuel deliveries on Friday afternoon, said Steve Boyd, senior managing director at Houston-based distributor Sun Coast Resources Inc. Rack gasoline prices in Atlanta rose on Monday to the highest in two months.

U.S. President Joe Bidens administration has already extended the time delivery drivers can spend behind the wheel when transporting fuel, and has the option of waiving the Jones Act, which requires ships to be built and flagged in the U.S. and crewed by American workers to transport goods between U.S. ports.

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Over the course of Diljit's career in the music industry, he has made one thing certain that he is a style god by all means. Dosanjh has time and again turned our heads to his sartorial choices. Another thing that Diljit has made clear is the fact that he is into finer things in life. Take a look at his Instagram feed and you would see him in all sorts of luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci and what not.

 Instagram/Diljit Dosanjh

 Instagram/Diljit Dosanjh

That being said, every piece that he wears carries a unique edge to it. He recently posted a picture on his Instagram feed. In it, Diljit sported a rather contemporary desi wear - a black kurta with black pyjama. With this, he was also seen wearing a pair of basic white cokes. All in all, while the outfit looked dapper and sat well with Diljit's personality, what we were stunned by was the brand that designed the ensemble.



 Instagram/Diljit Dosanjh

Diljit's black kurta is by Lacoste. The French company is recognised by its green Crocodile logo and is a brand that's known for its Polo T-shirts and other accessories including shoes, sunglasses, watches etc. But, none of us ever knew that Lacoste made Indian desi wear as well. Diljit's Lacoste kurta hence came as a surprise to many. Turns out, the French label had showcased this as a part of their Spring Summer collection in 2007.



 Lacoste

 Lacoste

The Spring-Summer collection back in 2007 was all about relaxed, appealing loungewear. It didn't come as a shock to us that Diljit wore a kurta as we have often seen him wear one, but a French brand making traditional wear is a rare sight. The combination is simple and fuss-free. We also like the way Diljit completed the look with a classy red turban. It added more appeal to his desi avatar.



 Instagram/Shehnaz Gill

 Instagram/Shehnaz Gill

On the work front, Diljit and Shehnaz Gill will be seen together in a Punjabi movie, Honsla Rakh. The duo was filming in Canada and the romantic comedy is slated to release this year.


Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.
A police car is observed blocking an entrance to the Dunedin Central Countdown in Dunedin, New Zealand on May 10, 2021. (Joe Allison/Getty Images)

Three Critically Injured After New Zealand Supermarket Stabbing Attack

Three people are in critical condition after a man allegedly stabbed several individuals in a supermarket in Dunedin, in New Zealands South Island on Monday.

Witnesses say they heard loud screaming and saw a man holding two knives before injuring four people, three of whom have been admitted to intensive care.

Two supermarket employees were among the victims.

Southern District Police Commander Superintendent Paul Basham told reporters those in critical condition would undergo surgery later today.

The incident occurred at Countdown Supermarket, a subsidiary of Australias Woolworths.

Basham said some of the victims were attempting to restrain the man and stop him from injuring more people.

Superintendent Paul Basham speaks to media outside the Dunedin Central Police Station in Dunedin, New Zealand, on May 10, 2021. Four people have been injured  three critically  after a man started stabbing shoppers at the Countdown supermarket in St. Cumberland. (Joe Allison/Getty Images)

I have viewed the CCTV footage, which is quite traumatic, and what I can say is that those that intervened, some of whom became injured themselves, I think have acted selflessly and with great courage to prevent this man from hurting anybody else he said.

It is nothing short of heroic.

Basham said the man would be charged later tonight.

Police officers are observed standing guard outside the main entrance of the Dunedin Central Countdown in Dunedin, New Zealand, on May 10, 2021. Four people have been injured  three critically  after a man started stabbing shoppers at the Countdown supermarket in St. Cumberland. (Joe Allison/Getty Images)

Emergency services are observed in the Dunedin Central Carpark in Dunedin, New Zealand, on May 10, 2021. Four people have been injured-three critically-after a man started stabbing shoppers at the Countdown supermarket in St. Cumberland. (Joe Allison/Getty Images)

One witness told Stuff news media, It just sounded like someone fell over and then screaming got louder and louder.

We walked past the aisle, and we heard someone say, He has got a knife, so we just kept moving forward.

Another person described the alleged perpetrator as having Curly hair, quite a mess little fellow.

Countdown Supermarkets issued a statement on Facebook saying, We are shocked and devastated by the events in our Dunedin Central Store this afternoon.

Our priority right now is our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event. We are distraught that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has denied the incident was terror-related.
BRANFORD  While some saw the enormous stone house as a historic treasure in the center of Pine Orchard, others said they were happy to see it torn down.

The Warner House at 265 Pine Orchard Road, a 10,105-square-foot home with nine bedrooms and seven baths, sold in January for $1.3 million to Wallingford-based 265 Pine Orchard Road, LLC. The local landmark, which sat across the street from Youngs Pond, was on the market for about five years.

Built by Alden Young in 1894, one of the founders of Pine Orchard, as a wedding present for his daughter, Olive Warner, the house has been called a white elephant by some neighbors, while others said they cherished the history of the place. Many expressed shock on Facebook that was razed on Friday, May 7.

Local preservationist and architectural historian John Herzan echoed that sentiment in a phone interview: The demolition is shocking and sad.

Members of the Branford Historical Society and Preservation Connecticut had initially applied for a 90-day demolition delay.

The demolition permit on file was under the name of 265 Pine Orchard LLC, according to the Branford Building Department.

A spokesperson for the Wallingford-based 265 Pine Orchard LLC, Peter Berdon, declined to comment when reached by phone.

The real estate agent who sold the house, Peter Cowie of William Pitt Sothebys, also declined to comment on any aspect of the house, sale or the buyer.

Meanwhile, local historical groups agreed to rescind the demolition delay once the new owner allowed them access to the house to document its interior for their records.

The 127-year-old house had changed over the years, adding features, such as intricately carved mahogany hunting scenes over a gleaming solid wood bar done in 1990; and wood ceiling medallions carved by European artisans who lived at the house and worked in a workshop onsite in the 1980s, according to the listing at William Pitt, Sothebys.

You can see a video of the interior of the house while it was on the market and more photos of the house.

While the funky carving on that house is not historically significant, its incredible craftsmanship and an incredible piece of the story, said Jane Montanaro, director of Preservation Connecticut, which had filed the demolition delay request along with the Branford Historical Society.

Its not historic but it will be! she noted.

In 1927, a two-story music room with tall windows, was built to accommodate a now rare Skinner pipe organ. The organs 1,500 pipes were housed in a pipe room in the basement, according to local historians,

While the organ, circa 1927, had a player component to it, that feature could be turned off to allow the organ to be played manually, according to Jean Allen who lived in the home for nearly 10 years.

It needed a lot of work, she said, referring to the antique instrument.

I had an organ guy come because I felt like I was steward of it and I didnt want to do it further harm, she said. He did a few tweaks, but basically he said the whole thing needs to be restored, a complete restoration.

Montanaro noted that the new owner salvaged the organ and shipped it to a church near the University of Virginia.

Along with the organ, many of the houses unique features will find new homes, according to Allen.

While she did not go into a lot of detail about the new owners, she said, I think they really worked hard to try to find homes for what they could.

Neighbor Betty Ann Donegan said that before the demolition, she saw a New York salvage company spend about a month at the house, removing wood, paneling, the elevator, bar, Stony Creek granite and the organ.

The house did have modern amenities  such as a professional kitchen with a six-burner Blue-Star range with Zephyr hood, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and Miele dishwasher. On the flip side, there was a 1931 working elevator, likely cutting edge in its day.

What makes a house historical?

Among local historians there seems to be disagreement on what makes a house historical.

Branford Historical Society member Matt Radulski said he didnt find much of historic value on the tour.

He noted that there were no interesting doorknobs or hardware  many historic homes in Branford often have doors retrofitted with Branford Lock Works stuff, and the bathrooms didnt hold anything antique  no claw-foot tubs or old pedestal sinks.

As far as pieces in the house of historical significance, Montanaro said she takes a wholistic approach.

Inside the house you could see where the original section was. The beautiful two-story music room and the staircase, she said.

We dont get caught up in being purists of what was historical, she added. We are open to houses evolving over time and changes being made as needed and new families moving in and being able to adapt it.

But for Allen it was home, not necessarily an historic house.

It becomes your house and your space you move around in, she said.

She said that the upkeep was a lot of work.

I spent an inordinate amount of time maintaining that house, she said.

It is rather ironic that I spent so much time maintaining that house and for five years it was on the market and getting it up to snuff each time and then somebody comes and it doesnt matter anymore, she said.

Allen said she is peaceful with the new owners decision to demolish the structure.

Some neighbors happy to see it go

For Donegan, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1973, seeing the house come down was wonderful.

It was too big a house, she said. It was too close the road, it was too big and it was dark inside. It was a real white elephant.

It was a nice house in its day, but it was impractical, she added. It was dark and cold. The people that bought it  its going to be lovely.

What theyre going to put up is going to be a nice normal house, she said. Im sure it will be lovely and much better situated on the property.

She is looking forward to seeing a new home, built farther off Pine Orchard Road.

Its going to brighten up the whole area, she added.

Yet for Montanaro, the new structure being built away from the road and closer to the water, changes the streetscape that she so admired.

When youre driving down the street  the scale, the materials, you know, the quirky architecture  that is what is being lost, Montanaro said.

Meanwhile, Donegan said the neighbors she has talked to are all very happy.

She watched, all day long, as a huge excavator dismantled the home, piece by piece.

Its interesting watching it come down, Donegan said, late in the afternoon as she watched work continue across the street.

They had to separate all the different components of the house, she said. They have to put the wood in one area, the metal in one area and the stones have to be separated.

Hes using that big machine like he could pick up a toothpick with it, she added, referring to the excavator. Its just incredible.

Another neighbor, Paul Gavejian, who could hear the work being done from his home, agreed with Donegan.

Im one of those folks that thinks that houses live their life and this has done exactly that, he said. I think its probably a good fitting that its being torn down.

Memories

Madison resident Ellen Kremskis mother, Ellen Lakso Johnson, was the cook for homeowner, a doctor whose last name was Smith, in the early 1930s and met her husband, Paul Johnson, (Kremskis father) while he was employed as the family driver.

Johnson moved from her home at the iconic Lakso Farm, currently on the market for some $5 million, to serve as the Smith family live-in cook, recalled Kremski. Smith worked at Waterbury Hospital, she noted.

One memory stood out for Johnsons granddaughter, Allison Herold, who remembered traveling with Johnson in her later years.

Herold recalled hearing about Johnsons time sheltered at the Pine Orchard home during the Hurricane of 1938.

Whenever they saw a home on the water, Johnson would say, Wait until the big storm comes, theyll be sorry, Herold said. If I had a dollar for every time she said that, I would be a wealthy woman.

Eunice Lasala, a 50-plus year Pine Orchard resident, has warm memories of the Warner house and doesnt consider it a white elephant.

She remembered, as a young bride, meeting the lady of the house in 1970 whom she described as a beautiful blonde woman.

I met her very casually. Somehow she invited Tony (Lasalas husband) and me to a dinner party at this house and didnt say much about it.

When the young couple came to the home, We were so overwhelmed. I was in complete awe. She had 200 people at a sit-down dinner in that big room.

What impressed me so much was that she had matching silver for everybody and I loved silver.

She remembered asking the hostess, Did you rent this? and her telling her Oh no thats part of my silver. Part of it! Lasala cried.

Lasala, active in Branford civic organizations for decades, noted that the house had hosted memorable events for nonprofit groups for years, from opera concerts, arts and crafts shows, to lavish parties.

In the 1990s, Lasala recalled a fundraiser for the Blackstone Library, where she served as a board member.

Then-owner Paul Halley, whom she described as enormously generous, allowed the library group to hold a very festive Kentucky Derby party.

He just turned it over completely to us, she said.

We had [live] horses provided by the Chambers from Shelleys. All the women wore big fancy hats, the men were dressed up  it was elegant. Everybody was given mint juleps.

It was just so elegant  what you would think that house would be befitting of, she said.

Lasala said she will miss the house, although, I wouldnt say Im sad. This is progress. Things keep moving, We have to accept it whether we like it or not.

Still, as a neighbor, she said, I kind of enjoyed going by it, having those memories. Its just what happens.

A shoreline community with history

Although these residents might not agree, the iconic house and other existing historic structures are an important part of Pine Orchard and part of what makes the hamlet unique, according to Montanaro. Pine Orchard, she said, has a whole lot of historic integrity as a shoreline community.

Montanaro sees her role as helping owners of historic properties to be in touch with what attracted them to a historic area in the first place. She said she aims to help them see the value of preserving historic elements or incorporating original features in their new dream house.

It seems contradictory to Montanaro when homeowners tell her: I love this historic district  but Im going to drop my dream house right here in the middle.

Now that the Warner house is demolished, she has hope that some Pine Orchard residents may consider becoming part of a National Register historic district.

She stressed that under the auspices of the National Register, there is no local oversight regarding homeowners making improvements and there are tax credits and incentives available.

Were hoping that something like this happening may cause the neighbors to maybe reconsider, she said.
Four people were stabbed on Monday in a supermarket in Dunedin on New Zealand's South Island, police said after detaining the man believed to have been responsible.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the incident did not appear to be a terror-related attack, for which authorities have been on alert since 2019, when a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch.

"There is nothing to suggest, from the police's perspective, that this is what they would define as a domestic terror event," Ardern told reporters.

Police said they had yet to formally interview or charge the alleged offender and would investigate the motive for the assault at the Countdown supermarket.

"However, on the face of what we currently know, we believe this was a random attack," Paul Basham, commander of the Southern District, told reporters in Dunedin in a televised media conference.

Read more: Eleven killed as bomb blows up a bus in Afghanistan

Police arrived to find store shoppers had detained the attacker, Basham said. The victims are in hospital along with the alleged assailant, who is under police guard.

"This was a fast-moving and extremly traumatic event for every person in the supermarket - for the victims who were stabbed, for those who were present who tried to intervene and those who had to flee to a place of safety," Basham added.

Supermarket chain Countdown said it has been concerned about escalating violence towards its staff.

"We are deeply upset that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured," the company said in a statement.
Peter Westmore, former president of the National Civic Council speaks at the World Falun Dafa Day event in Melbourne, Australia on May 8, 2021. (Chen Ming/Epoch Times)

Australians Support Falun Dafa Practitioners on World Falun Dafa Day

Federal minister shows support on World Falun Dafa Day

MELBOURNE, AustraliaFederal Liberal MP Tim Wilson, Australias former human rights commissioner, has given his support to Falun Dafa practitioners on World Falun Dafa Day saying he believes liberal democratic countries, like Australia, have a responsibility to uphold religious freedoms in the face of cultural hegemony, being imposed by oppressive authoritarian regimes such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Wilson made his remarks in a letter of support for World Falun Dafa Day, marked annually around the world to celebrate the anniversary of Falun Dafas introduction to the public in 1992 by founder Mr. Li Hongzhi.

In his letter, Wilson said Australians must continue shining light on the CCPs brute force and societal oppression against Falun Dafa practitioners in China.

The worlds liberal democracies must renew their commitment to freedom of religion for all people, everywhere, in the face of the CCPs brutal efforts to impose a cultural hegemony, Wilson said.

Freedoms of conscience, belief, and thought are not granted by governmentthey are an essential part of being human and therefore beyond reproach, he added.

MP Tim Wilson speaks to Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe at the House of Representatives Economics Committee at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on Feb. 7, 2020. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Falun Dafa or Falun Gongs teachings are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. Along with doing the five sets of exercises, practitioners live a healthy life in harmony with their surrounding environment.

An estimated 100 million people have taken up the practice in over 90 countries, according to Faluninfo.net.

According to the invitation letter, the practice empowers individuals to embrace what is virtuous in life and improves their wellbeing holistically.

Melbourne Marks World Falun Dafa Day

Falun Dafa practitioners in Melbourne Australia marked the day with festivities including waist drum performances, and traditional Chinese fan dances, and speeches by business leaders, politicians and supporters.

Practitioners of Falun Dafa perform the five sets of exercises at the World Falun Dafa Day event in Melbourne, Australia on May 8, 2021. (Chen Ming/Epoch Times)

Independent journalist Morgan Jonas, CEO of the MCJ Report, said that it was clear to him that Falun Dafa is a peaceful practice that deserved support.

[Y]et in China, since the inception of the movement, the Falun Dafa practitioners have been subjected to the worst crimes imaginable, he said.

I consider it very important that as Australians, we support groups like Falun Dafa and their right to practice their beliefs and engage in public demonstrations.

Morgan Jonas, an independent journalist and CEO of the MCJ report, speaks at the World Falun Dafa Day event in Melbourne, Australia, on May 8, 2021. (Thoai Nguyen/Epoch Times)

In China, Falun Dafa practitioners often risk their lives if they choose to publicly appeal for an end to the CCPs persecution. When then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin unilaterally launched the persecution in 1999, he set a three-month goal to completely eradicate the practice. Despite this, adherents have endured harsh treatmentincluding torture, forced labour, killed for their organsfor over 22 years, refusing to give up their faith.

Frank Ruan Jie, Editor of Tiananmen Times, speaks at the World Falun Dafa Day event in Melbourne, Australia, on May 8, 2021. (Chen Ming/Epoch Times)

Despite the CCPs stated goal to eradicate the practice within three months, Frank Ruan Jie, the editor of the Tiananmen Times, said Falun Dafa actually instead spread all around the world.

Frank said that in the 22 years of raising awareness of the persecution, practitioners efforts have instead [restored] the spirit of the Chinese people against the [CCP].

I believe Falun Gong will make a great contribution to Chinese history, he said

Peter Westmore, former national president of the National Civic Council, said the principles of Falun Dafa that practitioners espoused were essential for a civilised and prosperous society.

I understand exactly where they are coming from, and I support them completely, and I congratulate Falun Dafa practitioners for upholding these important principles in public life in our country.

Rick Garotti, Banyule Council Mayor, speaks at the World Falun Dafa Day event in Melbourne, Australia, on May 8, 2021. (Chen Ming/Epoch Times)

Banyule Council Mayor Rick Garotti echoed Westmore, who thanked practitioners in his area for contributing positively to his councils and Melbournes multicultural fabric.

[T]he work that Falun Dafa does is really about embracing people and from a spiritual sense, Garotti said. Its just another component of what makes Melbourne and Australia so great.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Gerard Flood, from the Democratic Labor Party, who also thanked Falun Dafa practitioners for the promotion of the highest ethical beliefs, which he says was very much needed in todays world.

Without the demand for, and the reality of our practice of truthfulness injustice, there can be no implementation of the rule of law, and with no rule of law, there will be no protection of human rights, no protection against injustice, and persecution, and no freedom.

Rita Li contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly named Morgan Jonas as Morgan Jones and incorrectly named the Democratic Labor Party as the Democratic Labour Party. The Epoch Times apologises for these errors.
The Horizon Interactive Awards has recognized LKCS for distinction in web design under the Bank / Finance category. Chosen as winners were the websites developed for IAA Credit Union (Bloomington, IL), Midwest Members Credit Union (Wood River, IL), and Superior Credit Union (Lima, OH).

For nearly 20 years, the Horizon Interactive Awards has been a leading marketing media competition with entries from around the world. This years competition had over 1,000 entries in a variety of categories. Each submission is reviewed by a panel of industry professionals specializing in design, multimedia, marketing and advertising backgrounds. Entries are reviewed for excellence in creativity, sophistication, and technical advancements.

LKCS designed and programmed the winning websites from start to finish. Each had its own set of goals and priorities to work with.

IAA Credit Union (https://www.iaacu.org) has over 17,000 account holders and serves employees and members of the Illinois Farm Bureau and COUNTRY Financial family of companies. The design was focused around lead acquisition as its primary goal.

It was important to make the new website interactive and engaging while pushing users to take action, noted project leader, Tom Quesse.

Marketing Manager at IAA Credit Union, Jennifer Killian said (LKCS) understood our brand and listened to the goals of our site. We were able to not only take their feedback and direction but also add our own. We are extremely happy with their service and knowledge.

Located in Maryville and Wood River, Illinois, Midwest Members Credit Union (https://www.midmembers.org) has been serving their community since 1935. Theyve grown with the vision of investing in the financial future of their expanding local community.

Project lead Ryan Simonson noted his approach focused on delivering a modern design and brand experience. The curved shape design flows with their branding and directs viewers to each new section. We created a more engaging experience with small animations to indicate the action of hovering over quick links.

Superior Credit Union (https://www.superiorcu.com) is an Ohio-based financial institution with close to 90,000 members. Their focus is on building trusted relationships via personalized financial solutions.

To achieve this, we developed a concept that utilized all the testimonials Superior had accumulated as a focal point throughout the design. It drives the message that theyll help with any financial need, said LKCS Head of Design, James Markey.

About LKCS

Based in Peru, Illinois, LKCS is the leader in providing omni-channel marketing, graphic design, commercial printing, direct mail, web development, and statement processing services to financial institutions nationwide. Combined with over 60 years of financial marketing expertise, LKCS leverages the latest technologies and techniques to improve marketing results and return on investment for our clients. We do that. Additional information about LKCS can be found at https://www.lk-cs.com.
The QLD Department of Transport posted graphic to Facebook on Wednesday

A road safety quiz about overtaking turning vehicles has infuriated Australians drivers, who said those who can't answer the very simple overtaking question should be banned from the roads.

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads shared a graphic showing a car attempting to maneuver around a turning truck to Facebook on Monday.

'The blue car's approaching an intersection behind the long white truck displaying a "DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE" sign, which is turning left,' the caption read.

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads shared a graphic showing a car attempting to maneuver around a turning truck to quiz motorists on road rules

The image showed the truck positioned across two lanes as the blue car waited behind the vehicle.

'Is the blue car allowed to cross the double line to overtake the truck?', the Department asked.

Poll Can blue car cross the double line to overtake the truck? Yes No Can blue car cross the double line to overtake the truck? Yes 17 votes

No 757 votes Now share your opinion





Social media users flocked to the comments section to share their answers.

'Stay behind and wait till the truck goes. Stay in your own lane,' one user said.

'No, its illegal to cross a double line. Secondly, the back of the truck may swing out over the lane,' another commented.

Other motorists were outraged at the 'incompetence' and 'impatience' of drivers who would cross the double lines.

'People would seriously cross the lines to go past? I must admit I've not witnessed that level of impatience yet,' one said.

'Have some patience and wait for the truck to turn,' another suggested.

One driver simply said: 'Does this really need to be asked? Some people shouldn't be allowed to drive.'

The Department of Transport and Main Roads confirmed that the blue car is not allowed to cross the double line to overtake the truck.

Department of Transport and Main Roads confirmed the blue car could not overtake the turning truck or cross the double lines (pictured: stock image of truck)
The Rockies are planning to reinstate Antonio Senzatela from the injured list, manager Bud Black told reporters (including Thomas Harding of MLB.com) yesterday. The righty will start this evenings game against the Padres.

Senzatela went on the IL May 1 with a right groin strain, so hell return after spending the minimum ten days on the shelf. He has managed only a 5.76 ERA/4.67 SIERA over his first six starts. The 26-year-old throws a lot of strikes and induces plenty of ground balls, but hes one of the leagues worst at missing bats. Senzatelas 13.1% strikeout rate ranks 131st out of 136 starters with at least 20 innings pitched this season.

Black also provided updates on a handful of other health situations involving the club (via Harding). Lefty Kyle Freeland, a longtime rotation fixture, hasnt pitched this season after suffering a shoulder strain in March. Hes scheduled to throw four exhibition innings at the teams Spring Training facility in Arizona this week, but a timeline for his return to the majors is still unclear. Infielder Brendan Rodgers will join Freeland in Scottsdale as he rehabs from a left hamstring strain. Colorados presumptive regular second baseman, Rodgers has also yet to make his regular season debut after going down in March.

First baseman C.J. Cron has missed the past three games because of lower back soreness. Black told Harding the club is still evaluating whether hell need a stint on the injured list. Signed to a minor-league deal over the winter, Cron has emerged as the Rockies most productive hitter in the early going. Hes off to a .290/.394/.495 start with five homers over 109 plate appearances. As a low-cost impending free agent on a 12-22 team, Cron will be one of the sports most obvious summer trade candidates if he continues to mash. The Rockies have turned to Matt Adams and Connor Joe with Cron unavailable the past few days.
A car parade with over 100 vehicles drove across Greater Toronto to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the introduction of Falun Dafa to the public, in Toronto, Canada, on May 8, 2021. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Toronto Area Practitioners Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in Car Parade

A car parade of over 100 vehicles drove across Greater Toronto over the weekend, celebrating the 29th anniversary of the introduction of Falun Dafa to the public.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice that consists of five meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the core tenets of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance, according to its website. The practice was first introduced to the public in China and gained popularity in the 1990s. Practitioners gather annually across the globe to wish the founder of the practice, Li Hongzhi, a happy birthday on May 13th.

One of the event organizers, Jeff Jiang, told the Epoch Times that at least 120 vehicles were registered online for the car parade in Toronto, with an estimated 300 participants.

Over a hundred vehicles drive across Greater Toronto in a car parade to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the introduction of Falun Dafa, in Toronto, Canada, on May 8, 2021. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

World Falun Dafa Day

Helen Dhieu, a Vietnamese immigrant and a resident of Hamilton, said many countries in the world are now celebrating May 13th as the official Falun Dafa Day. She noted that the Niagara Falls City Hallalong with over ten other jurisdictions across Canada raised a flag on May 7 ahead of the celebration that says Falun Dafa Day.

I just want everyone first to know about Falun Dafa, how good it is, because its the best body and mind cultivation, Dhieu told The Epoch Times.

Helen Dhieu, a resident of Hamilton, attends the Toronto car parade on Saturday, May 8, 2021. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Masi Khosravi, an Iranian immigrant who attended the car parade with her husband, Moe Esmaeili, said the practice had rid her of bad health and depression.

I was in bad health, I had back aches, I was depressed  and I had questions for my life, Khosravi, who started practicing Falun Dafa in 2001, told The Epoch Times. When I found Falun Dafa, after doing the exercises, I found its so energetic, I found something good, good energy in this practice.

Iranian immigrant Moe Esmaeili (L), and his wife, Masi Khosravi (R), attend the car parade on in Toronto, Canada, on May 8, 2021. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

22 Years of Persecution

Omar Tuzovic, a resident of Scarborough, said the car parade is more than a celebration of the practice, but it also raises awareness among Canadians of the persecution against Falun Gong and its adherents in China.

Todays event is a celebration of Falun Dafa Day, its showing people what Falun Dafa is, and bringing people to understand the persecution thats going on in China, Tuzovic told The Epoch Times. I think if people know about Falun Dafa, they could slowly know about whats happening in China.

Omar Tuzovic, a resident of Scarborough, attends the car parade with his wife to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day and raise awareness of the ongoing persecution, in Toronto, Canada, on May 8, 2021. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

According to the Chinese regimes official estimation, around 70 million to 100 million people in China were practicing Falun Gong by the late 1990s. Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had perceived Falun Gongs presence as a threat to the Partys rule, and launched an unprecedented campaign to eradicate the practice in 1999. The persecution continues to this day.

Meanwhile, with Beijings increasing control over Hong Kong, civil rights advocates have expressed concerns about Falun Gong adherents in the region facing growing threats. Last June, Beijing passed the national security law, giving it the power to target individualsincluding those who reside outside of Hong Kongfor any acts interpreted by the CCP as secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

We are practicing Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, why [the Chinese] government should persecute these people? The only reason can be this government is [an] evil government, Esmaeili said. And we want to share with Canadians, and say to them that  say no to CCP.

Dhieu said the CCPs persecution of Falun Gong is an act against humanity, and it now pushing its draconian campaign in Hong Kong, where Falun Gong adherents were previously given more freedom to practice their beliefs.

Communist itself is wrong, and the communist party is cruel, Dhieu said. People have the rights, [and] have the freedom to practice whatever they believe in.
MORE infectious than its parent virus, the Covid-19 P1 (Brazilian variant) is now pretty certain to be the dominant strain in Trinidad and Tobago, having expanded rapidly since it was first detected locally in April 2021.
NEW YORK (AP)  The nation's consumer watchdog is signaling a more aggressive approach toward the financial services sectors after a few years of being on a tight leash.

Under President Biden, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has rescinded or scaled back a number of policies put in place by the Trump administration. And the bureau is staffing up in anticipation of taking a more active role in regulation and enforcement, as it did during the Obama administration.

This is all being done without the CFPB having a permanent director, an important position since the bureaus authority comes from the director who is answerable only to the president. Dave Uejio, a long-time career employee of the bureau, has been the bureaus acting director since Trumps appointee Kathy Kraninger resigned the day Biden was sworn into office.

Despite holding a caregiver or placeholder position, Uejios has been quite active in the role.

In April, the bureau broadened the scope for what it considers to be abusive behavior by providers of financial services or products to consumers. Under Kraninger, the bureau adopted a narrower definition that, among other things, made monetary penalties less likely. The change will likely result in more enforcement actions and larger fines against the financial services industry, experts said.

Created in 2011, the CFPB was supposed to be a nonpartisan advocate for consumers and borrowers after the Great Recession; instead, the bureau has often been caught in the middle of the ideological war between Democrats and Republicans views on how to run government.

Under the Trump administration, enforcement actions and fines dropped off significantly compared to when the bureau was controlled by Richard Cordray, President Obamas appointee to the bureau who left in November 2017. The bureau's own data shows the CFPB collecting roughly $650 million in fines or penalties per year under Trump appointees' control compared to $1.84 billion on average collected annually under the Obama administration.

The bureau also rescinded several measures put into place by the Trump administration during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Many of these directives were designed to give banks flexibility  particularly when it came to record-keeping as the entire industry shifted to working remotely. But consumer advocates argue that the banking industry has had a full year to adjust at this point, and consumers deserve accurate records no matter what.

Hes off to a promising start, setting the tone and direction for the CFPB that we hope the permanent director will adopt, Odette Williamson, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, said of Uejio.

The bureau has also extended its mission in ways previously not seen.

Using its authority to go after debt collectors, the CFPB moved last month to protect tenants behind on rent due to the pandemic from eviction. The Centers for Disease Control last year put into effect an eviction moratorium, but the CDC had no statutory authority itself to enforce its own rule. So, the bureau used its authority to force any agents acting on behalf of landlords, typically law firms hired to collect back rent, to give tenants their rights under the CDCs rule and to make sure struggling tenants got assistance.

The CFPB had never held any authority over renters or rent collection previously, and the change was welcomed by poverty and consumer advocates.

The banking industry has been critical of the more aggressive posture of the bureau, partly because the changes are happening under a temporary director.

At the very least, if hes going to make these changes and be in this role for an extended period of time, he should appear in front of Congress as is statutorily required, said Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, a trade group for the larger retail banks.

A CFPB spokesperson said Uejios actions have reflected the urgency of the crises our nation is facing, adding that moving slowly would further put American families in harms way.

Rohit Chopra, Bidens choice for CFPB director, has himself signaled a more aggressive approach to the bureaus mission once hes confirmed by the Senate. Chopra is a former bureau employee and currently a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission. The White House reportedly has not wanted him to move over to the CFPB until a replacement can be found for him at the FTC.

Another familiar face will also return in a new role. On Tuesday the White House announced it would put Cordray, the bureaus first director under the Obama administration, in charge of the Federal Office of Student Loans. The amount of student loan debt owed by Americans has grown to $1.7 trillion.

While Corday will be working under the Department of Education, his position is likely to restore the working relationship between the bureau and the DOE. Trumps Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had effectively cut off the CFPB from any authority over student loans.

Appointing Cordray to lead (the office) is a great step, showing that the administration is serious about whats necessary to protect borrowers and address the student debt crisis, said Seth Frotman of the Student Borrower Protection Center, and the former top official at the CFPB over student loan issues.
Indian variant of COVID-19 confirmed in Thailand

THAILAND: The Indian variant of COVID-19 has arrived in Thailand.

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthIndianimmigration

By Bangkok Post

Monday 10 May 2021, 04:27PM

Health workers in India wearing personal protective equipment carry a patient suffering from the coronavirus disease COVID-19. Photo: AFP file.

The variant was detected in a Thai woman and her young son arriving from Pakistan, prompting authorities to consider widening the ban on international arrivals to other countries besides India.

Apisamai Srirangson, the assistant spokeswoman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said today (May 10) the woman and her three sons, aged four, six and eight, arrived in Thailand from Pakistan via Dubai on April 24.

All were in a state-arranged quarantine facility after the arrival and the first tests found the mother and her youngest son were positive, while the other children were not infected.

A whole genome sequencing test conducted at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital yesterday confirmed the virus detected on them was the variant from India, named B.1.617.1.

These were the first detections of the Indian variant in the country, Dr Apisamai said.

The B.1.617.1 variant was recorded for the first time in India in October before spreading to other countries. Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh were among the nations on the subcontinent where this virus was found. In Southeast Asia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have detected the same variant.

Dr Apisamai said authorities were worried by the arrival of this version of the virus and the new danger it poses. There is concern about this variant and about the possibility that it could mutate in Thailand, she added.

Thailand has barred foreign arrivals from India since the beginning of this month due to worries about the Indian variant. The Thai embassy in India does not issue certificates of entry (COE) to any non-Thai nationals, effectively meaning they cannot travel to the kingdom.

The assistant spokeswoman said the Foreign Ministry and Department of Disease Control were today holding discussions about halting the issuance of the entry permit in other countries to try to keep the Indian variant of COVID-19 out of Thailand.

She did not name the countries but said the variant had been recorded in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

There is a possibility of delaying COEs in other countries, she added.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The remains of a former Nigerian Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Al-Hassan, popularly called Mama Taraba, have been laid to rest in Jalingo, Taraba State.

She died on Friday in an Egyptian hospital at the age of 61.

Her funeral prayers took place at the palace of the Emir of Muri in Jalingo. The prayer was led by the Chief Imam of the palace, Nuruddeen Sallah, late on Monday.

Her remains were later lowered at Jakada fari central graveyard in Jalingo.

The deceased politician left behind three children and 13 grand children. She also left behind her aged father who holds the traditional title of Sarkin Ayukan Muri.

Late Mrs Al-Hassan served as minister in the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari but expressed loyalty to a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, when the latter fell out with Mr Buhari.

She later left the cabinet to contest the governorship seat in her home state of Taraba.

After the All Progressives Congress disqualified her from its primaries, she moved on to pick the ticket of the United People Democratic Party (UDP) but did very poorly in the general election.

In his reaction to the death, President Buhari said he was deeply saddened.

The demise of the notable politician, Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan has left many saddened. Both in office and out of office, her concern for the education of the girl child, especially those of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, who were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, shone through.

Her death is a huge loss not only to the female gender activist community but to the country as a whole. Our condolences to her family, friends, National Assembly and government and people of Taraba State, the president SAS quoted as saying by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
Set your alarm clocks early on Thursday, June 10. A partially eclipsed crescent sun, a rare celestial event, will be on view for Hudson Valley residents who get up in time to see the sunrise at around 5:24 a.m. The early wake up is worth it  especially considering this kind of eclipse has only happened in our area twice in the past 150 years: in 1959 and 1875.

A similar celestial event happened in 2013, but the moon did not eclipse as much of the sun as it will this year. The sunrise eclipse in June will not be a total eclipse to Northeastern viewers, but it will cover about two-thirds of the suns surface and will be visible from points throughout the Hudson Valley and Catskills with a clear view to the east.

People usually have to travel to see a solar eclipse, noted SUNY New Paltz Physics and Astronomy professor Dr. Amy Bartholomew by email, and many people never have the opportunity to see one in their lifetime. While lunar eclipses (when the full moon is darkened as it passes through the Earths shadow) can be viewed from anywhere on the night side of the Earth, solar eclipses (when the moon passes in front of the Sun) can only be viewed from a small region of the Earths surface where the moons shadow falls.

Michael Zeiler, www.GreatAmericanEclipse.com

During this annular, or ring-shaped solar eclipse, the moon will cover the suns center, making the sun appear as a so-called ring of fire, but this will only be visible in remote parts of Canada, Greenland, Siberia and the North Pole. There, roughly 88 percent of the sun will be covered by the moon, according to Forbes.

Dont miss a headline: Sign up for the Hudson Valley 5 newsletter.

Those in the Northeastern U.S. and central Canada, however, will be able to see a 72 to 87 percent partial, or crescent eclipse. The Hudson Valley will be on the lower side of that, around 73 percent, said Michael Zeiler of GreatAmericanEclipse.com.

The new moon, happening on the same day, will be the farthest from the Earth so it wont produce near darkness, but it will be unique. And EarthSky reported that New York viewers will luck out with a deeper eclipse that will be visible for a longer period after sunrise.

Michael Zeiler, www.GreatAmericanEclipse.com

This is a rare event for the Hudson Valley, wrote Hudson Valley weatherman Ben Noll in an email. The next similar eclipse, in terms of moon obscuration of the sun, wont occur until April 2024 and that one will happen in the middle of the day, not at sunrise.

Consider this a taste of what will come in three years. The upcoming April 8, 2024 event will be a rare total solar eclipse that will bring a maximum of 4 minutes and 28 seconds of totality, or the maximum phase of the eclipse, to parts of North America.

As with any solar eclipse, protective eyewear is required when viewing, which can be purchased for about 10 dollars.

Designed specifically for safely viewing the sun, these inexpensive glasses filter out eye-damaging solar radiation that traditional sunglasses can't, said Noll. Staring at the sun without protection can cause a burned retina which can cause permanent vision loss.

Once youre equipped with your protective eyewear, head to an east-facing bank of water, the top of a building or to a high elevation with unobstructed views.

The rising sun will have an eerie appearance of two horns first appearing above the horizon, followed by a full crescent, wrote Zieler in an email. To see this spectacle, find a spot with a clear view of the horizon at 60 degrees clockwise from true north.

Hudson Valley has a number of high points and riverfronts that could make for optimal viewing, like the shoreline section of the Empire State Trail in Kingston, Ferncliff Forests fire tower or Rhinebecks Drayton Grant Park at Burger Hill. As long as its a clear morning  which Noll suggests it might be after a slugging spring in terms of temperatures during April and May that could make for a warmer than average June  it will be a sight to see.

It is a special event indeed, said Noll. Plan to set those alarm clocks for 4 to 5 a.m. on June 10th.
New Delhi: The Liquor Welfare Association in Uttar Pradesh has written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and sought the opening of the liquor shops during the COVID-19-induced partial lockdown in the state.

The General Secretary of the Association, Kanhaiyalal Maurya, stated that they are incurring a daily loss of over Rs 100 crore due to the closure of liquor shops in the state.

He wrote that the shops have been shut since the UP Panchayat elections.

Maurya also said that there is no mention of the closure of liquor shops in the government's order and that the license holders have also not received any order from the Excise Department.

"This has created confusion among liquor license holders," Maurya wrote in a letter to UP CM.

He also told Yogi Adityanath that the shop owners are concerned about the fixed monthly quota and license fees.

The Liquor Welfare Association in Uttar Pradesh has also sent a letter to the state's Excise Secretary and the Commissioner of Excise.

ALSO READ | Alcohol home delivery is here! Place your liquor orders online in THIS state

Earlier on May 4, the liquor prices in Uttar Pradesh were increased after the state government decided to impose a 'corona cess'.

As per IANS, the prices of liquor have been increased by Rs 10-40 per bottle.

"The cess of Rs 10 has been imposed on regular-premium category liquor, Rs 20 on the super premiere, Rs 30 on scotch and Rs 40 on liquor imported from abroad," the news agency reported.

The Yogi Adityanath-led government has extended the partial 'corona curfew' in the state till May 17 morning.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the states which has been severely affected by the second wave of coronavirus in India. The state recorded 23,333 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday that pushed its total tally to 15,03,490 while 296 more fatalities took the death toll to 15,464.

(With inputs from agencies)



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Shahjahanpur: Uttar Pradesh Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna on Sunday said that people who test positive for COVID-19 are spreading fear of the disease and that is also causing many deaths.

It is everyone's responsibility not to spread fear, he told reporters after visiting the medical college here.

Khanna also visited the hospital's ICU ward.

"After testing positive for COVID-19, people are spreading fear of the disease from inside their homes to outside. Deaths are also taking place due to this fear. In such a scenario, it is our responsibility not to spread fear of COVID," Khanna said.

For days now, Uttar Pradesh has figured among the biggest contributors to India's COVID-19 tally, according to Union health ministry data.

According to an official statement, the state recorded 23,333 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday that pushed its tally to 15,03,490 while 296 more fatalities took the death toll to 15,464.

On his visit to the medical college, Khanna said COVID-19 patients admitted in the hospital are satisfied with the treatment being given to them.

He claimed that there has been a decline in the number of patients due to the government's proactiveness. The number of patients has dropped to 78,000 from 3.10 lakh on April 30.

Khanna also claimed that there is no shortage of oxygen or hospitals beds in Shahjahanpur.

"You can bring your patients, we will admit them," he said.

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91-Year-Old Police Officers Upbeat Attitude Inspires Arkansas Community: I Love People

A 91-year-old Arkansas police officer is inspiring those around him with his upbeat work ethic and attitude of loving others.

After having served in law enforcement for nearly five decades, police officer L.C. Buckshot Smith plans to keep on working.

Despite his age, Buckshot is still on duty with the Camden Police Department, in the city where he was born and raised, reported THV-11 News.

Police officer L.C. Buckshot Smith. (Courtesy of Elaine Thomas)

Buckshot told the TV station that when people ask him when he is going to retire, he tells them, When the good Lord says so.

After 46 years with the Ouachita County Sheriffs Office, Buckshot retired. However, it didnt last long, as four months later, he was back at work to join the Camden police, the report stated.

I feel like, I live longer at my age to keep on working, Buckshot told the outlet.

The elderly hero isnt only motivated to work to stay active. Rather, he says it is his passion to serve people.

I love people. I love to help people, he said.

The nonagenarian officer is a bit of a community grandfather, the kind of man who knows everyone, and everyone knows him.

Mike Sherman, a Camden resident and a good friend of Buckshot, according to THV-11 News, said: The thing with Buckshot is hes been around so long, when someone says I know everybody, Buckshot knows everybody.

Buckshot, who will turn 92 in May, attributes his health and longevity to staying active and eating well.

I eat a lot of vegetables, he said. I dont eat too much fast food.

Buckshots work ethic is also an inspiration to the other police officers, particularly the young recruits at the Camden Police Department.

This gun and this badge dont make a police officer. You got to want to do it, Buckshot told THV-11 News.

According to the report, Lt. Jamario Bush, who has been with the Camden Police Department for eight years, himself looks up to Buckshot.

Bush said Buckshot actively talks to the new recruits, giving them a life lesson on how to get into police work and how to stay in police work.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Morgan Duarte, director of Schneider Electric IT Vietnam in charge of APC by Schneider Electric

2021 is expected to be a year of recovery and acceleration for businesses after a long hiatus due to the pandemic. Are these expectations too optimistic compared to the actual situation?

Up to now, COVID-19 has not shown signs of easing. There are new pandemic outbreaks in countries such as India, Cambodia, and Thailand. It is too early to make forecasts about the overall picture of 2021, but its consequences on industries, manufacturing, and services are indisputable: We find the disruption of the supply chain, the stagnation of production, the shortage of working capital, and the decline of businesses due to the pandemic.

The government and enterprises all have strategies to minimise the negative impacts by applying technology to transform their operating and business models.

The government and enterprises all have strategies to minimise the negative impacts by applying technology to transform their operating and business models. This is proved by the estimated total global IT spending in 2020 of approximately $3.7 trillion, according to Gartner. In fact, the pandemic has made global businesses promote digital transformation more aggressively than ever.

Vietnam is one of the rare exceptions with positive economic growth and stable socio-economic and political environment, and successful pandemic control after the second and third waves. In March 2021, World Bank also shows us very positive signs as Vietnam's economy grew 4.5 per cent in the first quarter, while the industrial production index increased by 6.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Overall, 2021 is both an opportunity and a challenge for businesses to restructure and rearrange their models as well as to find new growth drivers with technology, especially in information technology infrastructure construction.

What role will technology, in particular IT infrastructure, play in the new normal?

The new technologies will promote the rearrangement of production, operation optimisation, and end-user experience improvement. Thereby, they can build a durable business model that is ready to adapt to any changes. According to Accenture, six new trends will help businesses shape and build durable models: Anywhere operations, Optimal infrastructure, Operational continuity, Core modernisation, Distributed cloud, Critical skills vs. critical roles. Of this, the trend of Optimal infrastructure will shape the transition from "infrastructure and operation" to "integration and operation". Various infrastructure options such as cloud computing and edge computing can be applied to different locations and workloads to improve resilience, stability, and security for the overall system.

The survey conducted by Tech Research Asia has shown a surprising finding that 1,100 CTOs of corporations and businesses in the Asia-Pacific all choose Edge Computing as the priority task for the next 12 months, which proves the rightness and urgency of this trend in the next normal context.

With extensive experience in energy management and automation, especially in integrated IT infrastructure, how do you evaluate the adoption of new trends, in particular edge computing adoption? Does it suit the needs of Vietnamese businesses?

The strategy of applying edge computing is in a part of the country's overall digital transformation plan with a vision to 2045; in the National Digital Transformation Programme to 2025, with a vision to 2030, and also in the draft of the National Data Strategy for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030.

In the current needs of organisations and businesses, edge infrastructure management tools are essential to a successful digital transformation that retains network reliability and uncompromisingly high standards of security. They serve as eyes and ears in places you cannot be and cannot afford to staff. And the best tools can be quickly and cost-effectively deployed, accelerating mean time to repair (MTTR) for unplanned outages while improving the quality and speed of decision-making.

With real-time data processed by AI, businesses can have insights and data-driven recommendations for predictive and proactive maintenance to ensure efficient operations at the edge. That helps to improve the sustainability of the environment and human resources when every operational decision is precisely and efficiently optimised, as well as minimises waste.

The edge computing adaptation is now thriving in many countries around the world. Now we are seeing some of those technologies in Vietnam, for example, in Long An province, where rice farmers are using drones to automate some of their tasks such spraying pesticides, monitoring of cultivated areas resulting in reducing the loss of rice, reducing the water and energy consumption, as well as better protecting farmers health.

How is Schneider Electric implementing its solutions in Vietnam to support businesses in adopting edge computing in IT infrastructure? What are the core points that CTOs need to know to take advantage of this new trend?

With the experience of deploying and managing energy management and automation solutions in many countries around the world, Schneider Electric is always a pioneer in developing and applying new solutions, in which edge computing is one of the strategic offers to support businesses and organisations in many fields including banking, manufacturing, and food and beverage.

The strategy for SE Edge Computing solutions in Vietnam focuses on two factors: simplicity and certainty in the design, implementation, and management of edge systems with key solutions including EcoStruxure Micro Data Centers, APC Smart-UPS Lithium-ion, EcoStruxure IT. Especially, we have just launched our 43U MDC, the latest innovation under EcoStruxure MDC C-series which can be deployed in weeks, not months. The 43U packages power, cooling, security, and monitoring solutions into a single enclosure that eliminates the need for an IT room.

The deployment is quick and costs up to 48 per cent less than typical data centre build, as well as allows for secure management from anywhere. In addition, users can centrally monitor infrastructure devices such as UPS or cooling on a single HMI Display Panel, providing safe management and security.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico's state government will receive $1.75 billion in pandemic relief from the federal government under the economic recovery plan from the Biden administration and Congress, the U.S. Treasury Department announced on Monday.

New Mexico is eligible to receive its entire state allotment of flexible federal aid immediately, because its unemployment rate has risen above federal thresholds during the pandemic.

The Treasury Department provided new detailed guidance on how states and local governments can spend the relief, under the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief law signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year. The law contains $350 billion of flexible aid for state and local governments, plus billions of dollars more for particular programs such as housing assistance.

Unlike past coronavirus aid, states have broad leeway to use the money to plug budget holes, address the economic impacts of the pandemic and invest in certain infrastructure.

Specifically, the guidance on Monday allows states to replenish unemployment trust funds to pre-pandemic levels. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Democrat-led Legislature both have signaled an interest in using a large portion of relief funds to rebuild the states unemployment fund, a move that would stave off future tax increases on businesses.

The Unemployment Insurance fund remains a top priority, as does supplementing lost revenue for state agencies, in addition to focusing on behavioral health, broadband, and the recovery of economic drivers like the tourism and hospitality industry, Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said Monday. The state is committed to distributing funds equitably and ensuring that the hardest hit communities receive the support they need.

State Sen. George Munoz of Gallup, a lead budget negotiator in the Legislature, said the conversation about the relief spending should focus on restoring economic stability and state income before the money runs out  a challenge when a single coronavirus infection still can suspend classroom attendance and prompt quarantines.

Use it wisely, use it correctly and make sure state revenues come back before you expend it all. ... That's my advice," he said.

At the same time, Lujan Grisham and the legislative leaders are engaged in a standoff over which branch of government has spending authority over new relief from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Lujan Grisham in April vetoed the Legislatures proposal for about $1.1 billion in federal relief spending, including a suggested $600 million for the states unemployment fund and $100 million toward college scholarship programs.

The Democratic governor said in her veto message that the Legislature lacks the authority to tell her how to use the money. Leading legislators continue to assert their authority over federal money flows though the state general fund.
It was one of Maynard Sinclair's favorite shirts, a yellow tee with a tongue-in-cheek recipe for a specialty cocktail hand-crafted, not-so-lovingly, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for more than 30 years.

A little bit of dry cleaning solvent, some engine degreaser, a hefty dash of benzene and a bit of vinyl chloride, and you've got Cocktail #26, The Camp Lejeune, served to Marines and family members in their drinking water from 1953 to 1987.

Exposure to the toxins at Camp Lejeune and Agent Orange in Vietnam killed Sinclair last year, according to his family members. In February, his widow, Valri, also died after battling multiple myeloma, a cancer linked to the tainted water.

Read Next: Nearly Half of Female Soldiers Still Failing New Army Fitness Test While Males Pass Easily

To honor her parents, their daughter, Samantha Via, an administrator for the Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Survivors Facebook group, led an effort to reprint the shirt, which she says "raises awareness right away" of the problem to everyone who sees it.

"I'm always surprised when I talk to Marines and they don't know about the water or how bad it was," said Via, who lived in the base's Berkeley Manor neighborhood for 11 years and has battled breast cancer twice as an adult, as well as a uterine tumor and ovarian cysts.

"My son was born missing his kidney [flap valves]," she added.

Samantha Via worked with a fellow member of the Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Survivors group to reprint a favorite t-shirt of her father, Maynard "Lee" Sinclair, a Marine Corps veteran who died last August of illnesses related to being stationed at Camp Lejeune. (Courtesy Samantha Via)

The T-shirt design was created a decade ago by Russell Mantz, a former motor transport Marine who was stationed at Lejeune from 1978 to 1981 and now suffers from sarcoma, or cancer of the bones and soft tissue. He said he was heading home from a seminar on the water situation when it came to him.

"There we were, drinking the water, showering in the water, never giving it a thought that something could be wrong," Mantz said. "I thought, well, that's a real cocktail."

He numbered the cocktail for Water Supply Well 26 in the Tarawa Terrace neighborhood, which was contaminated by groundwater runoff from a dry cleaning business roughly a half-mile away.

But the contamination extended beyond one dry cleaner and its illegal dumping. Two of the base's water treatment facilities were also polluted by runoff from underground storage tanks, industrial spills and dumping of toxic materials.

"Whenever I meet a Marine [veteran], the first words I ever say is "How is your health?'" Mantz said. "Sometimes, I get some pretty troubling responses."

Mantz printed up shirts and gave them to fellow Camp Lejeune veterans, including Sinclair, who wore it "all the time," according to Via.

With her father gone, Via sought a reprinting; she enlisted the help of Laurel Roethel, the wife of a Camp Lejeune Marine veteran who has cancer. She runs a small design shop that sells clothing items for Camp Lejeune water victims.

Via's effort to revive the T-shirt was first reported in the Jacksonville Daily News.

"I wanted to honor my dad. I was pretty angry and depressed after his death, and that shirt meant a lot to me. I'm so grateful that Laurel said she would do it," Via said.

The shirts are being made available for a limited time. Roethel has tweaked the design a bit, using the correct spelling of Camp Lejeune rather than Mantz's purposeful misspelling, a poke at the Marine Corps.

"We trusted the Marine Corps to give us clean water, a roof over our head and healthy food to eat, just like when you buy a T-shirt you expect it to be correctly spelled," Mantz said.

He has been battling cancer for more than a decade and is currently undergoing chemotherapy for sarcoma, which his doctors say is related to exposure at Camp Lejeune. He calls himself fortunate that the $3,000 monthly tab for his chemo is covered by grants, since his type of cancer is not listed among the 15 conditions that would qualify him for health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, or one of the eight types of cancer or other illnesses that would make him automatically eligible for compensation and medical care.

"I don't know why they picked out a few cancers. If I get the numbers right, there are a million or so who have cancer, and there's only one thing they had in common: Camp Lejeune," Mantz said.

Roethel's company, River Rat Design, is taking orders for the shirts through her website. Via said she hopes people wearing them will spur questions from others and that word will spread about the contamination billed as the country's worst incident of drinking water contamination.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced a bill last year that would allow individuals to sue and recover damages for harm that has resulted from exposure to the contaminated water.

That bill has not been reintroduced this year, but Via said she is encouraging everyone she knows to call their representatives and urge them to support legislation that would broaden benefits for affected veterans.

"We don't do any type of GoFundMe. I'd like people to call their representatives and support the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. That's what we want," she said.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Related: Radiation Exposure and Liver Flukes: Little-Known Veterans Issues Get Attention in Congress
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Kathmandu: CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) leader and Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli is set to face a confidence vote in Parliament on Monday.

A special Parliamentary session is set to take place where the fate of PM Oli will be decided, the session is scheduled to start from 1 PM (local time) on Monday afternoon.

PM Oli faces a confidence vote after alliance partner NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) withdrew support last month.

Parliament secretariat has also made special arrangements for COVID positive MPs to participate in the vote.

Nepal's Parliament Secretariat has issued a probable schedule of Monday's meeting where senior leaders would make statements at the beginning of the meeting and then head for voting.

Earlier this week Nepal's Federal Parliament members underwent RT-PCR COVID tests from Wednesday ahead of the special session.

"Over two dozen lawmakers who have tested positive for COVID-19 also would betaking part in the voting, arrangements have been made for them as well," Parliament Secretariat sources told ANI.

CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) has 121 seatsin Parliament.

Former PM Madhav Kumar is leading the rival faction. It had demanded that the government address their grievances earlier on Monday, also adding he would cast his vote against Oli if the government failed to address his demands.

The rival faction has been demanding to scrap of earlier decisions of Oli to form a General Convention Committee, "cancel all the decisions made after party unification attempts and work together on existing problems that are surfacing inside the party".

Along with the demands, the rival faction of the ruling party also has threatened to resign en-masse which would further endanger Oli to continue as Prime Minister.

Ahead of Monday's voting, the ruling CPN-UML also has issued a whip to all lawmakers belonging to a party to cast their votes in favor of the Prime Minister and party's parliamentary leader KP Sharma Oli.

"The whip was issued as per the Political Party Act-2017 and UML's Parliamentary Party Statue-2021. It has been made mandatory for all the lawmakers to attend the special session and vote in favor of Prime Minister Oli," Bishal Bhattarai, Chief Whip of the party confirmed.

Oli would require 136 votes to claim control over the floor of Parliament and continue his Prime Ministership but the prevailing situation in parliament would not help Oli to garner majority as he falls sort of 15 votes in the parliament.

The Opposition Nepali Congress has decided to vote against Oli. It has 61 seats in Parliament. While Maoist Center having 49 seats and later withdrew its support to the government has also decided to vote against Oli.

Janata Samajbadi Party has a decisive role in the parliament with 32 lawmakershas decided to let its Parliamentary members let decide on their own whether to supportor go against Oli.

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

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Oilsands Are a Canadian Success Story and Their Importance to the Economy Should Be Recognized: Report

Increasing oilsands investment would create more jobs than boosting production, report says

The oilsands are a uniquely Canadian success story and an increasingly rare example of Canadian innovation, says a report that aims to contribute to a better understanding of the oil industry.

A national project: How oil sands investment and production benefit Canadas economy concludes that both higher investment and higher production in the oilsands raise gross domestic product (GDP) by similar amounts, but the increase in investment leads to more jobs created than an increase in production.

Authored by Macdonald-Laurier Institute senior fellow Philip Cross, the report determines that spending on production is more stable than investment in downturns. Oilsands production is more resilient to industry downturns than conventional or shale operations, it adds.

Thus, investment in the oilsands tends to be more cyclical than production, which doesnt necessarily decline when prices fall due to the high level of fixed costs, according to the report. With high fixed costs, little is saved by lowering output, and raising production lowers the average cost to produce.

The report analyzes that a $10 billion investment in the oilsands would raise Canadas GDP by 0.5 percent. The corresponding increase in jobs would be 81,734 or 0.4 percent of all the jobs in Canada, whereas the increase in jobs from a $10 billion increase to production would lead to a gain of 38,237 jobs or 0.2 percent.

For investment, 18.3 percent of the GDP generated accrues to other provincesworth $1.920 billion in absolute terms. In the case of higher production, 13.5 percent of the increase in GDP, or $1.415 billion, accrues to the rest of Canada, the report says.

The jobs created in Alberta tend to be extremely lucrative, paying on average $214,000 annually, based on 2017 data. But the report says that average pay in a region declines if it is not directly involved in oilsands work.

Ontario captures about half the increase in jobs outside of Alberta from both higher investment and production, but few benefits reach the Atlantic provinces, according to the report.

Cross argues that innovation in the oilpatch is a stellar example of how Canadian ownership and Indigenous participation can help boost the economy. For example, he points out that Alberta has developed unique technology and expertise for the oilsands that large international players dont have.

It will then be important for the industry and governments in Canada to set the public record straight on what this industry has accomplished and its importance to Canadas economy, he writes.

Changing a Bad Rap

Canadas oilpatch is in an ongoing battle against some negative media and public perceptions such as the disparaging and completely inaccurate description as the tar sands, Cross writes.

Media portrayals rarely present what an oil sands mine looks like after the land has been rehabilitated, something all companies must commit to and set aside funds for when they begin operations, says the report.

But the oilpatchs record of hard work and innovation gives the industry hope.

To protect the large investments already made in the oil sands against its demonization by its opponents, further innovation will be required to further lower operating costs and emissions. The track record of relentless innovation by the industry suggests such an outcome is eminently possible, states the report.

The report makes a strong case for the oilsands as its market share in the United States is growingthe current 3.8 million barrels a day exported to the United States is expected to rise to between 4.2 and 4.4 million barrels a day over the next few years.
Kolkata: The West Bengal CID has summoned six CISF personnel who were on duty at booth number 126 in Jorpatki in Sitalkuchi assembly constituency where four persons were killed in a firing by the central forces personnel during voting, an official said on Monday (May 10).

The six CISF officials, including two of its officers, have been asked to meet sleuths of the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the CID, formed to investigate the killings, at Bhawani Bhawan Tuesday morning, he added.

"Four CISF constables, one inspector and one deputy commandant have been served notices under section 160 of CrPC to appear before SIT of the CID in connection with the killing of four persons in Sitalkuchi firing incident during the fourth phase of voting on April 10," the officer added.

According to sources, the CISF officers' request to appear before the CID virtually citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were turned down and all of them have been asked to be present physically at Bhawani Bhawan by 11 am.

The firing during voting in the Cooch Behar district had hogged national limelight and triggered a fierce war of words between the TMC and the BJP.

Meanwhile, on Monday, questioned the Inspector in-charge of the Mathabhanga police station in connection with the matter, he added.

The investigating officer of Mathabhanga police station was also questioned last Thursday.

At least four persons died outside booth number 126/5 in Jorpatki in Sitalkuchi assembly constituency when CISF personnel openly fired "in self defence" during the fourth phase of polling held on April 10.

Following the incident, the poll body had suspended the polling process in the booth and later it banned political leaders including Mamata Banerjee from entering Cooch Behar district for the next three days.

The state government will be providing jobs of home guards to kin of victims in Sitalkuchi, Banejree has announced.
The decision of China's top economic planner to suspend indefinitely all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue is a strong political signal as well as a clear-cut warning that China will not tolerate any Australian moves that jeopardize its national interests.

Marking the first time that Beijing has officially frozen a diplomatic channel with Canberra, the National Development and Reform Commission's decision on Thursday was also a major Chinese countermeasure to the Australian government's series of anti-China policies, which culminated last month in Canberra announcing that it had scrapped the Belt and Road Initiative deal the State of Victoria had signed with China.

As the saying goes those who sow the wind will reap the storm. Ties between China and Australia are at their lowest ebb for years, for which Canberra bears sole responsibility. The Australian government has not only allowed anti-China rhetoric to run rampant but also crafted policies targeting China under far-fetched excuses.

The anti-China sentiment in Australia has even reached the extent that some of its high-ranking politicians have been openly making war-mongering remarks, ridiculously suggesting that there will be a military conflict with China.

What is in Australia's best interests, sustaining ties with its biggest trading partner or destroying them?

Clearly any person in their right mind would answer that maintaining the health of bilateral ties best serves Australia's interests.

For years, Australia has garnered colossal economic interests from its exports to China, which contribute 98 percent of its foreign trade surplus. From agricultural products to coal and iron ore, the country is counting on China as its major market for an array of Australian exports.

According to statistics from Australian media, in the past year, by the end of March and not counting the trade in services, Australia's exports to China reached 147 billion Australian dollars (about $115 billion).

Any Australian politician with an ounce of sense will be aware of this and know the value of maintaining healthy relations. But the political atmosphere in Australia is so poisonous that some of its politicians are obviously intent on driving what used to be thriving relations with China onto a road of no return.

After scrapping the Victoria State agreement, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne is reportedly reviewing the Port of Darwin' 99-year lease with a Chinese company, another eyesore to biased Australian politicians. If Australia breaks its word again, it would be tantamount to rubbing more salt on the open wounds of bilateral ties.

Canberra should demonstrate the respect and trust that are the prerequisites for normal exchanges and cooperation by ending its politicizing and stigmatizing of normal economic cooperation and exchanges.

For Australian politicians obsessed with Cold War mentality, they should know China will not sit idle while they jeopardize China's interests. They should correct their wrong positions and create an atmosphere conducive to improving bilateral ties.
A Chinese submarine launches a missile in an offshore blockade exercise during the third phase of the Sino-Russian "Peace Mission 2005" joint military exercise, held Aug. 23, 2005 near China's Shandong Peninsula. (China Photos/Getty Images)

Beijings Mouthpiece Calls for Missile Strikes on Australia

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda newspaper The Global Times has called for Beijing to plan missile strikes targeting Australia if it were to join the United States in aiding Taiwan against an attack.

The messagewhich appeared in an op-ed published by The Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijincomes after the CCP indefinitely suspended high-level economic talks with Australia on May 6.

Given that Australian hawks keep hyping or hinting that Australia will assist the U.S. military and participate in war once a military conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, and the Australian media outlets have been actively promoting the sentiment, Hu wrote. I suggest China make a plan to impose retaliatory punishment against Australia once it militarily interferes in the cross-Strait situation.

The plan should include long-range strikes on the military facilities and relevant key facilities on Australian soil if it really sends its troops to Chinas offshore areas and combats against the Peoples Liberation Army.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, in this undated photo. (The Epoch Times)

China has a strong production capability, including producing additional long-range missiles with conventional warheads that target military objectives in Australia when the situation becomes highly tense.

Hu is a vocal and often controversial commentator on a range of issues affecting the CCP.

His comments come after the National Development and Reform Commission suspended the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, which followed after Foreign Minister Marise Payne terminated the Belt and Road Initiative agreement signed between the commission and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, saying they were inconsistent with Australias foreign policy.

Experts, however, argue that the cancellation of the Strategic Economic Dialogue will have little effect on Australia, especially since talks between ministers and their Chinese counterparts have been frozen since April 2020. In addition, Australian exporters are already busy pivoting away from the China market to avoid further exposure to economic coercion from Beijing.

Meanwhile, last month, Australian Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo issued a stern warning for the country to be strong and prepared, saying the drums of war were beating in the region.

Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo speaks during a Senate inquiry at Parliament House in Canberra on Sept. 24, 2020. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Today, free nations continue still to face this sorrowful challenge. In a world of perpetual tension and dread, the drums of war beatsometimes faintly and distantly, and at other times more loudly and ever closer, he wrote in an op-ed.

War may well be folly, but the greater folly is to wish away the curse by refusing to give it thought and attention as if in so doing war may leave us be, forgetting us perhaps.

Joseph Siracusa, adjunct professor of the history of international diplomacy at Curtin University, called the Global Times op-ed a threat of physical violence against Australia, and said the federal government must demand an apology, or potentially evict the Chinese ambassador.

This wasnt written by somebody in some ivory tower, or some big glass building in Beijing. It was written by somebody on the ground, and then they passed the draft up to them, and then they got approval, he told The Epoch Times, noting that The Global Times wasnt a mere newspaper with rogue editors, but a representative of CCP leadership.

The Australian government should demand or call the Chinese ambassador to the foreign ministers office to explain. Then I would ask him to repudiate it. And if he doesnt, Ill give him 48 hours to leave the country, he said, referencing moves by the Czech government who last month evicted several Russian Embassy staffers.

Were not going to close the Embassy, what were going to do is were going to throw the ambassador out of the country. I think hes the guy that has been orchestrating the hate campaign against Australia. No doubt in my mind.

Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye has been at the forefront of Beijings wolf-warrior diplomacy against Australia and made the initial threats of retaliation in 2020 in response to the governments calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP)  Authorities in a Virginia suburb of the nation's capital say they are seeking to arrest a man who reportedly left a restaurant without paying, used racial slurs when confronted by two Asian American workers and assaulted one of them.

Arlington County Police said in a news release Saturday that officers were called to the unspecified restaurant earlier in the week for a report of an assault.
PITTSBURGH (AP)  In the weeks before she died of COVID-19 in the dementia unit of a suburban Philadelphia personal care home, Barbara Demech often lamented about the Alzheimers disease that began gripping her mind a decade earlier.

Shed say to me, I just feel like somebody is in there taking over, recalled her son, Mike Demech. She would say it often toward the end.

Like so many people in the throes of dementia, it was difficult for her and others in the memory care unit to take the most basic steps  like wearing a mask or social distancing  and prevent themselves from contracting the disease.

By the time the virus raged through The Birches at Newtown  starting in her unit a year ago  26 residents had died, including Mrs. Demech, in the second deadliest outbreak of any personal care home in the state.

The deaths in the home and many others across Pennsylvania highlight the dangers that residents with dementia faced during the pandemic and a state oversight system that imposed few protections during the worst of the crisis.

Less than a third of all personal care homes and assisted living facilities in the state have dementia units  343 in all. And yet the special subset of homes with those units account for nearly 70% of all such facilities that had five or more deaths from the virus, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found.

The risks with dementia residents in personal care homes and assisted living facilities  which are far less regulated than nursing facilities  brought yet another set of problems for public health officials that they had never confronted.

Youre going to try to tell these folks to wear a mask? asked Mr. Demech, whose mother died last May at 80. Its not that they wouldnt want to comply. Its just that they dont have the mental capacity to follow A,B, C or D. Officials at Birches did not return calls for comment.

The disease took a devastating toll on long-term care homes, but the impact on people suffering from dementia represents one of the least known problems in the long-term care homes during the pandemic.

A lack of training and staffing requirements by the state and as well as a failure to ensure homes are complying with minimal requirements left many of the states most vulnerable residents without critical protections, say experts.

Dementia patients dying

Just keeping the infections from dementia wards has been daunting, said Dr. David Nace, chief medical officer for UPMC Senior Communities and co-lead of the states regional collaborative that responds to outbreaks in long-term care homes in Western Pennsylvania.

It would spread among the (dementia) residents very quickly, he said, citing a host of reasons, including the inability to maintain hand hygiene, social isolation, masking, cough etiquette, all of those things. In the eight counties in southwest Pennsylvania, 17 of the 34 personal care and assisted living homes with five or more deaths from the virus had dementia wards.

Kevin Cysyk, director of assisted living and personal care for the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, said that data could be misleading because dementia units tend to be in the larger homes, and those homes are more likely to have more deaths.

However, a national study released in February that reviewed more than 60 million medical records found people with dementia  living in long-term care facilities or not  were twice as likely as those without dementia to be infected with the virus and nearly four times as likely to die from it.

Dr. Pamela Davis, co-author of that peer-reviewed study in Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association, said residents living in memory wards were at a clear disadvantage when it came to fending off the virus.

Its the dementia units that are kind of leading the way both in infections and consequences, said Dr. Davis, dean emerita of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Davis said further studies will examine the reasons for the higher rates, including whether damage to the blood-brain barrier that occurs in people with dementia makes it easier for the virus to enter the brain and cause significant damage.

It really spread

At The Sheridan at Bethel Park, the virus started in the memory care unit, said Wendy Mildner, the administrator, and eventually spread to 56 of the 97 residents  including most of the people in the memory unit. Seven of those residents later died.

Once it got into memory care, it really spread, she said. In memory care, it was really difficult to get them to wear masks or social distance.

Part of the problem in personal care homes is they were initially created in the state to serve as retirement homes for people who were mobile and in relatively good health. As the homes evolved -- and the elderly population boomed  more people with poor health conditions began moving into the facilities, including those with dementia.

But unlike the oversight of nursing homes, state regulations didnt keep up with the growth. For instance, there are no state infection control regulations for personal care homes  critical to helping stave off something like COVID-19.

Personal care homes are also not required to have medically trained staff like a nurse on site.

Even for those who are on staff, a home with a dementia ward must only provide two hours of care a day to each resident as opposed to one hour for residents without dementia.

But adding more workers is easier said than done, said Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which represents many of the states long-term care homes.

Were struggling to find workers to fill the positions now, said Mr. Shamberg. And anything that we do, or anything that we want to do, is really going to have to be a collaborative effort to make sure we have that pipeline of workers to fill any boost in staffing requirements.

Bracing for more

Adding to the problem of a worker shortage is that people are living longer and the number of people diagnosed with dementia will grow by about 14% by 2025, according to the Alzheimers Association.

Dementia is the next explosion in our senior population, said Mr. Shamberg, who noted that his grandfather has dementia and is in a personal care home.

State data shows thats the case: The number of personal care and assisted living homes with dementia units in Pennsylvania has increased by 76  or 22%  since 2015.

Some believe the growth in demand for dementia care will only increase because of the pandemic, largely from the isolation than many seniors experienced either living at home or in long-term care facilities.

Unfortunately the increase for the need of (dementia care) has just gone through the roof over the last year, said Cathy Himes, administrator at Grace Manor at North Park personal care home, which opened a new, 18-bed dementia unit in February in the midst of the pandemic.

That was true for Mike Majchers mother, Frances Majcher, 95, who lived in Sunrise of McCandless personal care homes dementia unit before she was infected with COVID-19 and died on January 3.

For a long time they tried to do activity carts and feed them in their rooms to isolate them and try to keep them safe, said Mr. Majcher of McCandless. But they found the isolation was making their dementia worse, even with activities or meals in their room.

Eventually, though, the virus swept through the memory unit and the rest of the home, infecting 35 residents and killing 17 . one of the 10 deadliest outbreaks among personal care and assisted living homes in the state. Sunrise officials would not answer questions about the outbreak.

Lack of critical training

Beyond the staffing levels, experts said the state does not require nearly enough training to care for people now filling the homes dementia wards.

Staff members who work with dementia residents in assisted living homes need only eight hours of training when they are hired and an additional eight hours annually. Personal care home staff must have just six hours of yearly training, but the curriculum is largely decided by the home and is not standardized.

Teepa Snow, an expert on dementia care who provides training to homes through her company, Positive Approach to Care, said in many states like Pennsylvania, there are no regulations dictating the proper training for the staffs, and the most many (homes) do for training is to have them watch a video for six hours, and then youre ready to go.

On top of that, the states small number of inspectors rarely cite a home for failure to provide enough daily care to any residents, although it does regularly cite them for failing to staff enough people for night shifts to perform fire drills.

Theyre more concerned about the fire drill than actual care, said Ms. Snow. The amount of care and the amount of support is not monitored by the state.

The state does mandate that both types of homes offer weekly programs in dementia units for gross motor activities and exercise; self-care; social activities; social and memory enhancement exercises, and outdoor activities.

While Dr. Nace said staffing clearly plays a role in helping to prevent outbreaks  something his staff saw play out in the homes they responded to  but how much required care is actually provided is unclear. And whether each facility actually meets the two hours of daily care requirement is unclear as well.

Unlike nursing homes, which are overseen by federal and state requirements that require staffing levels be disclosed, there is no similar system of assessing the care provided at personal care or assisted living homes in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, which oversees personal care and assisted living homes, said in an emailed response to questions that it was aware of the impact of COVID-19 on residents with dementia in the homes.

In its guidance to long-term care homes early in the pandemic, DHS did note that having a dementia unit may make a facility more prone to outbreaks and that they should have more regular screening and testing of residents to root out infections quickly.

Although DHS did not have figures on the number of residents with dementia who became infected or died, it said that out of the 600 rapid responses to outbreaks conducted by the regional collaboratives, 73 were to facilities with dementia wards.

What went wrong

State Rep. Frank Farry, R-Bucks, chair of the state House Human Services Committee that oversees personal care and assisted living regulations, said he didnt know about the connection between dementia, long-term care and the virus until the Post-Gazette described the data it found.

He was concerned to learn about the criticism of the states staffing and training requirements, as well as the lack of requirement for medical staff in personal care homes, especially in dementia units.

Id like to talk to all the stakeholders and find out the root of those regulations from the providers as well as the department, he said. Because just looking at it, it doesnt seem like its sufficient, whether its not having health care providers on site, as well as the amount of care provided.

Despite the problem of dementia and virus cases in the homes in Pennsylvania, Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, chair of the state Senates Youth and Aging Committee  which has held multiple hearings about how to respond to the pandemic in long term care  said dementias role has not come up in any hearing so far.

I was shocked to hear the Post-Gazettes data on the link between dementia units and COVID-19 deaths, said Ms. Ward, who wants to look closer at the problem.

I really am committed to looking at what went wrong and how we can make it better, Ms. Ward said.

Sara Murphy, vice presidents of programing and services for the Alzheimers Association of Greater Pittsburgh, said her group is pushing hard to make changes to the states regulations for dementia units.

Its 100% on our radar because its not up to par by any means, Ms. Murphy said. Were working with the department to provide clear recommendations for changes, including standardization of training for staff who work with residents with dementia.

Last summer, as the pandemic grew, the Alzheimers Association made a series of recommendations to the state to change the states long-term care regulations, including improving training, said Jen Ebersole, director of state government affairs for the Alzheimers Association in Pennsylvania.

We are taking a look at how these regulations can be changed, Ms. Ebersole said. Were already in a problem area, and its only going to get worse if we dont make changes.

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Employees shall work together to increase their individual and collective capacity to effectively teach an equitably diverse and changing student population.

 Albuquerque Public Schools Equity and Diversity page

Statements like this suggest APS is dedicated to providing students with a high-quality education that meets their diverse needs. However, the district does not contribute enough to this effort. In fact, APS fails to acknowledge an important population of students in one of its most vital educational curricula, sexual education. This is despite the fact that this population, according to a New Mexico Department of Health report, is three times more likely to be victims of sexual assault and experience dating violence.

This population is APS lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other non-heterosexual/cisgender students (LGBTQ+). APS does not require LGBTQ+ identities to be discussed in its schools sexual education classes. The districts Human Sexuality and AIDS Instructional Guidelines do encourage schools to provide accurate and unbiased information. However, the guidelines do not specifically encourage nor require them to develop curriculums that cover LGBTQ+ topics. This does not mean the district curriculum is completely exclusive. In an interview, two APS high school health teachers stated they are not required to teach inclusive sex-ed but are provided training and allowed to teach about LGBTQ+ topics left out in educational standards. The problem, however, is that school cultures vary, and as it stands, LGBTQ+ students do or do not receive the sex-ed they need depending on their academic community. And yes, inclusive sex-ed is a need. A 2020 Journal for School Health research study suggests that to combat high rates of sexual and relational violence, schools must provide sexual education that reduces LGBTQ+ stigma, creates a deeper understanding of gender identity and sexual orientation, and incorporates examples of healthy LGBTQ+ relationships. Without such a curriculum, LGBTQ+ students look to other sources, healthy or not, to teach them.

However, inclusive sex-ed is not just for LGBTQ+ students but is essential for non-LGBTQ+ peers, especially peers with anti-LGBTQ+ biases or who participate in LGBTQ+ targeted bullying. According to a Children, Youth and Families Department resource guide, lesbian, gay, and bisexual students are bullied twice as much as their non-LGBTQ+ peers. Half of these students report feeling unsafe at school, and 15% report missing school each month out of fear. With Americans long anti-LGBTQ+ history and the current wave of anti-transgender legislation, it is not surprising some students are misled into committing orientation and gender-based harassment. However, APS can do more to ensure its school environment is safer by teaching non-LGBTQ+ students about their diverse peers.

Some are concerned that inclusive sex-ed confuses youth or is too obscene, but children from a young age decipher their gender identity and determine who they consider attractive. Age-appropriate inclusive sex-ed will not create confusion but rather give youth the words they need to name their experiences. Inclusive sex-ed is also no more descriptive than any other comprehensive sexual education curriculum. The curriculum simply states the facts, and the fact is that LGBTQ+ students exist and deserve relevant sexual education. It is time for APS to contribute more to equitable education by including LGBTQ+ topics in its instructional guidelines and mandating inclusive sex-ed be taught in its schools.

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Some staffers of Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, Oyo State, on Monday, took to the streets to protest alleged casualisation by the institutions management.

The protesting workers, who were armed with placards with various inscriptions, took to major streets in the town as early as 7 a.m., chanting solidarity songs.

They later assembled at the institutions gate at about 10 a.m.

The spokesperson of the workers, Adekunle Lookman, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the protest was staged to press home their demand for regularisation of their appointments.

Some of us had been recruited since 2011 as casual staffers, with N20,000 monthly salary, which was later increased to N30, 000 before tax deduction.

We want people to know that the state government is cheating us and they are calling us slaves for working for them.

About 187 of us (teaching and non-teaching), with families and dependants, taking home less than N30,000 month. It is disgusting.

Worst still, they have refused to regularise our appointment, even after using for accreditation of some of the courses, he said.

According to Mr Lookman, the protest had become necessary because the government had turned deaf ears to their demands, adding: they are happy as we continue to suffer.

Another member of the group, Adebayo Samson, said the government had issued a white paper on the regularisation of their appointments, wondering why it had refused to implement it.

This is a copy of the white paper that was issued in 2019 but up till today, it has not been implemented.

What is happening to us here is nothing but modern-day slavery and cheating, hence our resolve to embark on this peaceful protest, Mr Samson said.

In his reaction, the institutions Governing Council Chairman, Olusola Ajayi, however, told NAN that it was not true that the white paper had not been implemented, adding that it was only the financial aspect of it that had not been given much attention.

It is not true that we have not been implementing the while paper. Its only the financial aspect of it that remains to be implemented and we all know what the nations economy is now, said Mr Ajayi, a professor.

The implementation has some financial implications on the government and the institution. Our regular staffers are agitating for salary increase, while about 150 others are also asking to be included in the salary structure.

I have held several meetings with them, giving them explanations and asking them to be patient with us, he said.

Mr Ajayi added that at the last meeting of the governing council, salary increase option was considered for the affected workers pending the regularisation of their appointments.

We also thought of absorbing 59 of them for now.

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Since they have decided to demonstrate today (Monday), it is their right to do so. I just want to plead that they should not spoil the progress we are already making on the matter, the governing council chairman said.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the Commissioner for Education, Olasunkanmi Olaleye, for his reaction did not yield a result, as he declined calls put through to his cell phones.

(NAN)
Minister of National Security Fitzerald Hinds says there is no consideration at this time for a vaccine passport as a requirement for entry into T&T, as this country prepares for a possible re-opening of our borders in 4 to 6 weeks-time.
Provident Financial is closing its 141-year-old doorstep lending business  putting 2,100 jobs at risk.

The firm, which specialises in loans for people who are deemed too risky by normal banks, blamed 'changing industry and regulatory dynamics' for the poor performance of its home credit division in recent months.

In a huge departure from its roots, Provvy will try to sell the business or wind it down, meaning the lender will no longer offer any high-cost or home-collected loans.

End of an era: Doorstep Provident Financial blamed 'changing industry and regulatory dynamics' for the poor performance of its home credit division in recent months

Instead, it will focus on 'mid-cost' products such as credit cards and unsecured personal loans through its Vanquis Bank brand, motor finance through its Moneybarn arm and payday lending through its Satsuma business.

Provvy's doorstep lending division, which dates back to 1880, has been dogged by rising customer complaints and an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Professional claims management companies have increasingly targeted sub-prime lenders like Provvy, many of whom rely on doing business with the same customers again and again, after the regulator decided to clamp down on repeat lending.

Provvy  whose woes had been amplified by a botched restructuring in 2017, when it tried to convert its army of self-employed agents into full-time staff  has now had to set up a 50million compensation fund to deal with the complaints.

While its decision to ditch doorstep lending will be welcomed by campaigners who want to put a stop to expensive debt, there are worries that Provvy's departure could drive cash-strapped borrowers into the arms of loan sharks.

Justin Modray, of Candid Financial Advice, said: 'Whilst Provident Financial and other regulated doorstep lenders might come under fire for the high interest they charge, it is probably preferable to old-school local lenders who are unlikely to be sympathetic when a loan cannot be repaid.

Provident's chief executive Malcolm Le May (pictured) said the company was 'confident' in the outlook for 2021

In an ideal world everyone would get a grip on their finances and avoid borrowing in this way, but in reality there is demand for doorstep borrowing and better it's via FCA-regulated businesses than not.'

Provident, founded by insurance agent Sir Joshua Waddilove when he saw how hard it was for working-class families to buy home essentials, also believed its local agents' expertise and relationships provided better results for borrowers than going to a faceless bank.

Jason Wassell, chief executive of the Consumer Credit Trade Association, which represents alternative and high-cost lenders, said: 'Access to credit will be reduced for hundreds of thousands of people.'

Provvy's announcement came as it unveiled its results for 2020, swinging to a loss of 113.5million from a profit of 119million a year earlier.

But although Provvy had to scale back its new lending during the pandemic last year, as it waited to see how the economy would recover, chief executive Malcolm Le May said the company was 'confident' in the outlook for 2021.

Le May added that the pandemic could bring in more business for Provident in the long run, as people lose their jobs or have to take pay cuts and turn to lenders to make ends meet.
[May 10, 2021] Investing in Achievers

ORANGE, Calif., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MerchantMaverick.com, a business product comparison site for small business owners, announced the winners of its inaugural Opportunity Grants Program. Four $10,000 grants were open to Black female entrepreneurs in the United States. Merchant Maverick launched the grant program - which will target a different underrepresented business demographic every year - as a way to give back to the business community. This year, the company chose to award the grants to Black female entrepreneurs, one of several minority demographics impacted by lack of access to business capital. More information can be found here: https://www.merchantmaverick.com/merchant-maverick-opportunity-grant-winners/ While the winnowing process was painstaking, Merchant Maverick is proud to stand behind the four business owners elected to receive the grant money: *Abena Foli, owner of POKS spices in St. Paul, Texas

*Jennifer Greer, owner of Jane Deaux Investigations in Clarksville, Tennessee

*Brianna Hairlson, owner of Bri's Dance Place in Merrillville, Indiana

*Robn Holmes, owner of Deddle's Mini-Donuts in Pikesville + Baltimore, Maryland



While many businesses were crippled by the pandemic, the B2B comparison site was privileged to see an increase in website traffic as businesses navigated government loan programs. Thankful for increased traffic and affiliate earnings brought by Merchant Maverick's pandemic-related content, CEO Amad Ebrahimi did not want to profit off of COVID: All money earned from COVID-related traffic in 2020 was reinvested in the Opportunity Grants Program. Spurred by the obvious need for more resources in the small business community, the executives at Merchant Maverick thought about how the company could help all applicants -- not just the winners. Every woman who applied will receive a free eBook on how to negotiate payment processing and the opportunity to be featured in content on the Merchant Maverick site.

"I'm a great believer in Karma," says Ebrahimi. "Generosity has a ripple effect, and giving back to the business community is the right thing to do." Julie Titterington, Editor-in-Chief and Opportunity Grant Program Coordinator, agrees. "The response to our program was overwhelming. We received over 2,000 applications within the first few weeks alone. Black women form the backbone of so many communities across the country, and we feel incredibly privileged to have heard so many of their small business stories." Two of Merchant Maverick's affiliate partners also stepped in with generous offers for the applicants. Stax (formerly Fattmerchant) and Payment Depot are both giving every applicant the opportunity to sign up for discounted payment processing services and software. "Stax and Payment Depot really went the extra mile for these applicants," says Markus Mazen, Merchant Maverick's Partnership Manager. "For these 2,000 business owners, savings on payment processing fees may make the difference between a business staying open or closing forever." The Opportunity Grants Program will continue annually, addressing different underrepresented business demographics every year. About MerchantMaverick.com :

With more than 700,000 page views per month, MerchantMaverick.com is an online publication devoted to providing business owners with accurate, unbiased reviews for their businesses. The company's goal is to provide the most honest, accurate, and useful reviews of business products and services to empower entrepreneurs with businesses of all sizes. Contact: Sarah Johnson

309407@email4pr.com

917-864-6355 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investing-in-achievers-301287004.html SOURCE MerchantMaverick.com

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SANTA FE  New Mexico Republicans decision to hold a three-day soiree this week in neighboring Texas  instead of New Mexico  has reignited a debate over political activities during the pandemic.

State GOP Chairman Steve Pearce said simmering frustrations over COVID-19 restrictions in New Mexico were not the reason Republicans chose to hold the event, dubbed Operation Freedom, in Amarillo.

We can be angry about it, but it was a very pragmatic decision, Pearce said in a recent interview. We would have loved to have this in New Mexico because its a big economic shot.

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Specifically, he said Republicans previous attempts to bring GOP elected officials from other states to New Mexico to headline political events were unsuccessful due to what he described as a state shutdown.

While Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration has eased business restrictions in recent months, a face mask mandate and limits on large public gatherings remain in place under the states public health order.

But Pearce said reluctance evaporated after the decision to shift the convention to Texas, which has fewer restrictions. Among those scheduled to appear at the three-day event, which starts Friday, are South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Pearce said more than 300 attendees have registered for the event, which will also feature workshops, presentations and other activities.

New Mexico Democratic Party Chairwoman Jessica Velasquez described Republicans decision to hold the out-of-state convention in person as irresponsible, reckless and selfish.

Traveling out-of-state in order to hold a several-hundred person event is unnecessary and dangerous, and poses a significant public health risk for those who attend and their communities here in New Mexico, Velasquez said in a statement.

While COVID-19 infection and death rates have declined significantly since last year, Velasquez said the pandemic is not over. She also said no state has reached herd immunity, which occurs when a large portion of the population is immune from a disease.

And state Democratic Party spokeswoman Miranda van Dijk said the party will continue to limit attendance at in-person political events, hold meetings outside when possible and wear face masks in compliance with the states public health order.

The divergent political responses to the pandemic are not new in New Mexico.

Last summer, Lujan Grisham sparked criticism  and praise  by urging political parties to bar their candidates from door-to-door campaigning, which she described as hugely problematic due to possible virus transmission.

But the Republican Party declined to issue such an edict, and some GOP candidates knocked on voters doors in the run-up to last Novembers general election.

Republicans do not currently hold a single statewide, non-judicial office in New Mexico, and Democrats hold sizable majorities in both legislative chambers.

That prompted some GOP lawmakers to express frustration during this years 60-day legislative session about being unable to block a Democratic-backed agenda.

One Republican state senator even filed a proposal during this years session that would have allowed counties to petition the Legislature to secede from the state  either to join a neighboring state or create a new state.

Meanwhile, Pearce said a major theme of this weeks three-day event would be encouraging political involvement in school board races and other local-level campaigns.

We can affect change from the bottom up, he said.

He also said Amarillo officials have been tremendously good to work with, adding the citys mayor and the areas elected congressman are among those scheduled to address attendees.
MONTREALGay studio Masqulin continues its fresh talent search series The Masqulin Project with the arrival on DVD of volume 2 through Pulse Distribution.

"Four our second Masqulin Project DVD, we included three scenes," a studio rep said, "two of which star one of our most popular actors, Markus Kage."

Elaborates a company synopsis, "The Masqulin Man recuirtment begins with Linus Gray wanting to try out and Ace Quinn being the lucky stud to determine his potential. Next up is big-dicked Markus Kage, who is all about attracting new talent, first with muscle tattooed Andrew Green in a streamy shower scene, and again with fit, bearded blonde exhibitionist Starlen Gold."

See the hardcore trailer for The Masqulin Project Volume 2 here.

To keep up with Masqulin, visit Masqulin.com and follow the studio on Twitter @masqulinxxx and Instagram @masqulinofficial.

For additional inquires, contact Nicolas F. at [email protected].
VIRGINIA  The Cass County Board is scheduled to meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today at 100 E. Springfield St.

Among the items on the agenda are:
Seven years after similar efforts hit a wall under former Gov. Chris Christie, a group of 16 New Jersey celebrities are calling on state leaders to ban the farm practice of using gestation crates to confine pregnant pigs and veal crates to confine calves.

The celebrities  including Steven Van Zandt, Debbie Harry, Chelsea Handler, and Ethan Hawke  joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund in penning the open letter urging the state Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphy to enact a new bill that would criminalize the use of such crates in New Jersey, calling the practice indefensible.

Gestation crates and veal crates are inherently cruel, the celebrities wrote in the letter, according to a copy obtained by NJ Advance Media. Both include severely restricting the animals movement, to the point of virtual immobilization, which leads to highly stressful conditions that induces physical and psychological illness  and great suffering.

From D.C. to Trenton to your town, the N.J. Politics newsletter brings the news right to your inbox. Sign up with your email here:





The celebrities are musician and actor Steven Van Zandt (a Middletown native), actress Maureen Van Zandt, actor Paul Wesley (of Marlboro), comedian Michael Ian Black (of Hillsborough), actress Taissa Farmiga (of Whitehouse Station), television host Daisy Fuentes (of Harrison), comedian Chelsea Handler (of Livingston), musician Debbie Harry (of Hawthorne), actor Ethan Hawke (of West Windsor), YouTube Grace Helbig (of Woodbury), television personality Alison Haislip (of Tewksbury), comedian Myq Kaplan (of Livingston), comedian Bill Maher (of River Vale), actress Cristin Milioti (of Cherry Hill), actress Christina Ricci (of Montclair), and musician Karen O (of Englewood).

Gestation crates are used to confine pigs and calves during pregnancy. Proponents say the crates prevent the animals from fighting each other. Opponents say they prevent the animals from turning around and fully extending their limbs.

Coupled with increasing demand by consumers for increased compassion and transparency in how farmed animals are raised, now is the time for New Jersey to ban the crates, Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells said.

New Jerseys bill (S3401), sponsored by Democrats, would make their use a crime and establish monetary fines. Ten other states, as well as Canada and the European Union, have banned gestation crates.

Christie, a Republican, vetoed measures banning pig gestation crates twice during his tenure as governor, first in 2013 and then in 2014.

Critics accused the then-governor of rejecting the bill because he was planning to run for president and didnt want to upset pork producers in the key state of Iowa, where nearly one-third of the nations hogs are raised.

But it was also uncertain as to how much of an effect the measure would have had in New Jersey. The state is home to fewer than 10,000 pigs, and its unclear if any are kept in crates when pregnant.

Christie noted both the state Board of Agriculture and state Department fo Agriculture adopted humane standards in 1995 that cover the issue. He also accused sponsors of using the bill as a political cudgel against him.

I will rely on our in-state experts rather than the partisan politicians who sponsor this bill, Christie said at the time.

Both houses of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature would need to pass the new bill before Murphy, a Democrat, could decide whether to sign or veto it.

Former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak recently wrote an op-ed saying he had hope the measure would succeed this time now that Murphy is in charge.

Help is on the way for the suffering pigs, Lesniak, a Union County Democrat, wrote.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
Minister Byrne to attend meeting of the General Affairs Council

Press release

The Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, T.D., will discuss Covid-19 Coordination and the Conference on the Future of Europe, at a meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) in Brussels on Tuesday 11 May.

Ministers will also prepare for the special European Council meeting on 25 May 2021. At that meeting, Leaders will discuss Covid-19, climate change and hold a strategic debate on Russia. At the GAC on 11 May, Ministers will also focus on the Enlargement and Stabilisation and Association Process, as well as EU-Switzerland relations.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Minister Byrne said:

I look forward to engaging with my ministerial colleagues on our agenda, including preparing for the meeting of the European Council on 25 May where Leaders will have an important discussion on Climate Change and EU relations with Russia.

The Portuguese Presidency will also provide an update on the Conference on the Future of Europe. I am pleased that the Conference is now formally underway and through the interactive Digital Platform is providing citizens all over Europe with a valuable opportunity to have a greater say in shaping the future direction of EU policies and priorities at this pivotal time.

On 14 May, we will have our national launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Ireland. Our aim is to have an inclusive conversation with Irish and other EU citizens living across the island of Ireland, to ensure that all of our voices are heard during this process.

ENDS

Press Office

10 May 2021

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ALBANY  The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association filed a federal lawsuit Friday that seeks to overturn a new law banning prolonged solitary confinement in state prisons. The civil complaint ties decreasing segregation practices to an increase in violence against both employees and inmates since 2012.

The Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, or HALT Solitary, was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in March. It was hailed by criminal justice advocates as a much-needed step for the state, bringing New York into compliance with the United Nations standards that define prolonged solitary confinement for more than 15 days as torture.

The correctional officers union, in its lawsuit, contends policies that prohibit isolating violent inmates has endangered their members and those "who are attempting to serve out their sentences peacefully."

"These policies purport to limit isolation for incarcerated individuals serving sanctions in prison for dangerous and disruptive disciplinary infractions," states the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Albany. "However, these policies diminish accountability for those incarcerated individuals who commit violent acts while in prison, and create a dangerous living and working environment by permitting those incarcerated individuals who have shown a propensity to violently assault peaceful incarcerated individuals and/or state employees to be placed in congregate settings where they are easily able to repeat such violent acts."

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the 18,000-member union and six employees names as plaintiffs, asserts that the law  as well as other restrictions on solitary confinement adopted since 2012  violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by putting officers in an unnecessary amount of danger at work. They say that hampering the prisons' ability to place incarcerated people into segregated living, or solitary confinement, has led to an increase in violence.

A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Thomas Mailey, said that while the department declined to comment on pending litigation, the internal disciplinary policies in prisons are proactive about working to stop and prosecute assaults behind prison walls, and when assaults are committed, they may result in addition prison sentences for violent inmates.

"The HALT bill has been signed into law and DOCCS has been working on a plan to safely implement the law, which still provides for segregated housing for acts of violence against officers and other incarcerated persons," Mailey said.

NYSCOPBA officials held a press conference on Monday morning outside the James T. Foley Federal Courthouse in Albany to discuss their lawsuit.

Behind the podium, they displayed a chart highlighting DOCCS data since 2012, which showed assaults by incarcerated people against corrections officers had nearly doubled, while assaults by incarcerated people other inmates has increased about 85 percent. That increase occurred during a period when the overall prison population has declined by 36 percent. The numbers range from 2012 to present because 2012 marked a landmark lawsuit that reshaped the solitary confinement policies in New York.

Chloe Hayes, a corrections officer, said she was attacked by an incarcerated person in a housing unit of a prison. She said her attacker kneed her, hit her, ripped her shirt and forced her to the ground.

"If it wasn't for someone hearing my screams I don't know how the situation would have turned out," she said. The assault will impact her forever, she said, but under the HALT Solitary law, the person who committed it could only be placed in isolation for 15 days.

The law has not gone into effect, so its effect on overall rates of violence are not yet measurable. But NYSCOPBA argues that further diminishment of the harshness of discipline in prison can only lead to more violence.

Jerome Wright, head of the #HALTSolitary advocacy campaign that pushed for the law, responded to the lawsuit in an emailed statement.

"To be clear, any assaults on officers or incarcerated people are unacceptable. The question is how does the state prevent and reduce violence. Simply put, solitary confinement is torture," Wright wrote. "The reality is that HALT doesnt take effect for a whole year, and the laws and regulations currently in effect, which allow DOCCS to keep people in solitary for months, years, and even decades, have not prevented the violence NYSCOPBA describes, and most New Yorkers agree we need a new and better way forward.
[May 10, 2021] Axcient's Kaitlyn Langer Named 2021 Women of the Channel

DENVER, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axcient, a leader in business availability software for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Kaitlyn Langer, Senior Marketing Manager at Axcient, to the highly respected Women of the Channel list for 2021. This annual list recognizes the unique strengths, vision, and achievements of female leaders in the IT channel. The 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges women from all over the IT channel, including vendors, distributors, and solution providers.

It is an honor to be named to the 2021 Women of the Channel list, said Langer. We believe in partner advancement and enabling business growth through technology, events, and programs. I am proud to be driving these strategies and efforts at Axcient, a company that genuinely cares about partner success. The women honored on this years list pushed forward with comprehensive business plans, marketing initiatives, and other innovative ideas to support their partners and customers, helping them through the uncertainty brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic. CRN celebrates these exceptional women for their leadership, dedication, and channel advocacy. CRNs 2021 Women of the Channel list acknowledges accomplished, influential women whose dedication, hard work, and leadership accelerate channel growth, said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. We are proud to honor them for their many accomplishments and look forward to their continued contributions to the IT channel. The 2021 Women of the Channel list will be featured in CRN Magazine on May 10 and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC.



To learn more about Axcients BCDR and Direct-to-Cloud, please visit https://axcient.com/solutions/direct-to-cloud-bcdr/ . About Axcient

Axcient is an award-winning leader in business availability software for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Axcient x360 empowers MSPs to Protect Everything by combining SaaS Backup, BCDR, and secure File Sync & Share into one platform and experience. Trusted by MSPs worldwide, Axcient protects business data and continuity from events such as security breaches, human error, and natural disasters. For more information, visit www.axcient.com.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn , and Facebook . Media Contact:

Amanda Lee

ARL Strategic Communications for Axcient

Amanda.lee@arlpr.com



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DENVER  Some residents in the Denver neighborhood of Park Hill are suing a nonprofit, a church and its pastor, and the city of Denver in an effort to prevent a legal homeless encampment from opening.

The complaint filed Thursday in Denver District Court argues the site poses a danger to children, does not meet city requirements and does not address the impact it will have on the neighborhood, The Denver Post reported.

The encampment is planned in the parking lot of the Park Hill United Methodist Church, which is also named in the lawsuit alongside lead pastor Nathan Adams.

Attorneys Heather Anderson Thomas and Douglas Baier filed the lawsuit on behalf of residents Kurt Monigle, Dave Rodman, Jean-Baptiste Varnier, Justin Lovacand Blair Taylor.

The lawyers did not return a message from the newspaper seeking comment.

The legal encampments are meant to be cleaner and more stable environments for those experiencing a lack of shelter. Organizations also work to connect people who stay there with mental health and addiction services.

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Colorado Village Collaborative Executive Director Cole Chandler called the suit baseless.

Denver spokesman Mike Strott said the city understands the concerns, fears and questions raised by residents and will continue to partner with the Colorado Village Collaborative to address them.

We stand proudly with the CVC  it will take a whole-of-city approach to deliver safer, healthier and more dignified options to our unhoused neighbors than living on the streets, he said.

Chandler said he wants to open the Park Hill site, which should have room for up to 50 people, by early June.
Ladaria made several other points that could complicate the plans of bishops pressing for tough action:

 He said any new statement should not be limited to Catholic political leaders but broadened to encompass all churchgoing Catholics in regard to their worthiness to receive Communion.

 He questioned the USCCB policy identifying abortion as the preeminent moral issue, saying it would be misleading if any new document "were to give the impression that abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest accountability on the part of Catholics.

 He said that if the U.S. bishops pursue a new policy, they should confer with bishops conferences in other countries both to learn from one another and to preserve unity in the universal church.

 He said any new policy could not override the authority of individual bishops to make decisions on who can receive Communion in their dioceses. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., has made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches in the archdiocese.
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Ireland is an "outlier" and "very much behind" other European countries when it comes to mental health services, according to new figures compiled by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA).

At present, there are only 22 acute mental health beds per 100,000 population, compared with the EU average of 70 per 100,000.

The IHCA says that 30% of permanent consultant psychiatrist posts here are vacant - one of the highest vacancy rates for any medical specialty.

Consultant Liaison psychiatrist Dr Anne Doherty said this is leading to difficult choices for Irish doctors.

When I graduated from medical school in 2005, there were 4,000 acute mental health beds in Ireland. That number has now decreased to 1,000.

"In real terms, what that means is that for every four patients we would have admitted to hospital in 2005, we would only admit one today, she said.

Dr Doherty said consultants now regularly had to make very tough choices about "who gets a bed and who doesnt."

"Inpatient care now is only reserved for the most seriously ill patients.

Ireland's ineffective mental health treatment services were prompting many trained psychiatrists to move abroad for work.

"Because these countries' health services are functioning better than ours, its very difficult for Irish doctors to then decide to come home."

The effect of Covid

Dr Doherty said that the Covid-19 pandemic has only compounded the issue. Delayed treatments are now leading to longer stays for patients with severe mental illnesses, in hospitals that are already stretched beyond capacity.

According to the IHCA, growing waiting lists for diagnosis and treatment in other areas of medicine are also having knock-on effects for psychiatric care as patients develop secondary mental health symptoms.

Dr Doherty says that only through increasing bed capacity, establishing mental health teams, and recruiting consultants can the shortcoming in Irelands mental health services be addressed.

IHCA President, Professor lan Irvine said that Ireland currently has neither the resources nor the number of consultant psychiatrists required to provide quality, timely care to those in need.

"The appointment of additional consultants is the key enabler required to tackle the unacceptable waiting lists in our hospitals and mental health services," he said.

Prof Irvine said the Governments latest mental health strategy, published last year, provided "no clear plan to address the significant deficits in our mental health services."

"The new policy kicked the problem down the road with a suggestion of a further review of acute inpatient capacity. This is simply not good enough.

"As Ireland moves towards a plan for reopening our economy and society, we must start to focus decision-makers' minds on addressing the fallout from Covid on healthcare."

Prof Irvine said action must be taken now by Government and the health authorities to prevent another crisis in Irish hospitals.
Bright Pattern was recently recognized by Ovum as a Market Challenger, by Omdia for best platform functionality, by Frost & Sullivan as a top-performing vendor, and by Gartner as a leader in the Call Center FrontRunners Quadrant.

FREMONT, CA: Bright Pattern, a leading provider of AI-powered cloud contact center software, has been deployed by over two dozen Business Process Outsourcers (BPOs) across all global regions. BPOs have continued to partner with Bright Pattern for its ease of use, speed of deployment, speed-to-ROI payback, remote agent capabilities, and the flexibility the platform provides by allowing you to bring your own telco provider, your choice of the cloud provider, open APIs, and out-of-the-box integrations to over 50 technology providers.

Bright Pattern's AI-driven omnichannel contact center software makes providing BPO call center services personalized and accessible. Utilize powerful automation and AI tools, customizable APIs in our customer journey builder, and built-in quality management to streamline your business processes and make providing exceptional customer service simple.

Some of the recent BPO use cases on Bright Pattern Contact Center

Atento, a leader in the Gartner Customer Service BPO Magic Quadrant, most recently used Bright Pattern to launch a COVID appointment setting hotline with 200 remote agents in less than a day, handling 14,000 calls on day one. The call center is expected to grow by 750 percent over the next month.

Everise uses Bright Pattern Contact Center for its largest client, including a multi-billion dollar health insurance enterprise and leading multi-state wholesale retail chain. Everise and Bright Pattern successfully deployed AI bots and an AI-powered Conversational IVR to manage 50 percent of customer interaction volume, which had increased due to the pandemic.

Omni Interactions uses Bright Pattern to power a new paradigm of omnichannel communications for their Fortune 100 customers.

The Connection transitioned from a premise-based provider to Bright Pattern and saw an 80 percent call deflection using self-service IVR and a 33 percent decrease in average handle time.

Transcosmos supports a global network of call centers in the United States, Asia, Central America, and South America using Bright Pattern's omnichannel solution with powerful skills-based routing to thousands of call center representatives specializing in different languages and cultural nuances.

UpCom DTS, the largest Chilean BPO with over 1,700 customers, uses Bright Pattern to deploy remote workforces for their clients quickly.

VIPdesk uses Bright Pattern to provide an elevated experience to their customers, consisting of some of the most iconic luxury brands and retailers, beauty product providers, and consumer electronic companies in North America.

Vivax, one of the leading BPOs in Peru, uses Bright Pattern Contact Center to provide omnichannel communications that allow customers to switch between channels with the same agent seamlessly.

80024 Support uses Bright Pattern to provide highly technical support. Their agents are highly trained, and specialized routing and omnichannel conversations were necessary when replacing their existing premise-based technology.

"Bright Pattern continues to be the top choice for innovative BPOs," said Michael McCloskey, CEO of Bright Pattern. "In our recent BPO deployments, Bright Pattern won the business because there was a need that could not be met by other vendors. Whether it be speed and flexibility in deployment, reliability/scalability, remote agent functionality, omnichannel capabilities, or breadth of integrations, Bright Pattern has been helping BPOs succeed and grow their client base in ways other vendors were not able to."
English Danish

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boyden, a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 75 offices in over 45 countries, is delighted to announce strong growth in Denmark in 2020 despite the impact of Covid-19 and welcomes MedTech expert Sren Rysholt Christiansen as Partner in Boydens global healthcare & life sciences practice.



Morten Winther, Managing Partner, Boyden Denmark, comments, The pandemic has created a fragmented market with contraction among larger executive search firms, while Boyden has benefited from working at the most senior levels and collaborating with regional and global colleagues. In addition, our dual office structure in Denmark differentiates our firm, underlines our commitment to the market and puts us near our clients. We have been rewarded with a stronger financial performance than last year, increasing our turnover by 25%, and we are poised to deliver exceptional results this year. Boyden Denmarks gross profit increased by approx. 40% in 2020, with a result before tax of DKK 5.8 million with the same number of employees.

Boyden Denmark has proved its capabilities with significant traction across industries, particularly in renewable energy. During the pandemic, almost solely online, Boyden won and completed the search for a new CEO for wind market leader Gurit AG. In just 16 weeks, Boyden Denmark mapped the global leadership talent in the industry, collaborating with Boydens teams in Switzerland, Spain and the Benelux region, two leading wind energy markets, presented final candidates to the nomination committee and helped finalize the appointment of Mitja Schulz as CEO.

During a year when everyone has suffered from Covid-19, our dual offices setup in Denmark and a broad customer and industry coverage demonstrates the robustness of our business model, added Henrik Harbo, Managing Partner, Boyden Denmark. This has enabled us to grow our business among different industries and client demographics such as privately-held companies and private equity investors that value our ability to deliver the right leadership aligned to their growth agendas.

The appointment of Sren Rysholt Christiansen completes Boydens sector coverage, providing executive search, board consulting, and CEO succession to clients in industrial, consumer & retail, and financial services. Being a MedTech expert, Christiansen further strengthens Boydens mature global healthcare & life sciences practice, and brings exceptional local expertise to clients in Denmark and the Nordic region.

Christiansen has a distinguished career as CEO at MedTech pioneer Acarix AB - a spin-out from Coloplast A/S - and has held other leadership positions at dentistry supplier XO CARE A/S, hearing aid producer GN Hearing, medical equipment supplier BK Medical/BK Ultrasound, and medical device leaders Elos Medtech and COOK Medical. He was a member of the Public Affairs Focus Group with European medical device industry association Eucomed, and board member of the Danish medical device association Medicoindustrien. Culturally fluent, Christiansen has commercial experience in EMEA, the United States, Asia, and Latin America. He holds an executive MBA and a Graduate Diploma in International Business from Copenhagen Business School.

I am delighted to be appointed Partner with Boyden Denmark and to support MedTech, Biotech, and Pharma clients, who are substantial contributors to the Danish economy, commented Sren Rysholt Christiansen, Partner, Boyden Denmark. Healthcare and life science is growing in importance as a key industry for Denmark. My appointment underlines the critical role that business leaders, and leadership experts play in supporting export earnings and economic growth in Denmark. I have walked in the shoes of Boydens clients and have led businesses with different ownership structures, so I feel well-placed to contribute to the growth of Boydens business in the region and worldwide.

About Boyden

Working out of our 75 offices in over 45 countries, our global reach enables us to serve client needs anywhere they conduct business. We connect great companies with great leaders through executive search, interim management, and leadership consulting solutions. Boyden is ranked in the top 10 on Forbes Americas Best Executive Recruiting Firms for the past four years. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

Contacts:

Chris Swee, Boyden

Global Head of Marketing

T: +1 914 747 0172

E: cswee@boyden.com Henrik Harbo, Boyden

Managing Partner, Denmark

T: +45 29 709 759

E: hharbo@boyden.com



Morten Winther, Boyden

Managing Partner, Denmark

T: +45 202 82884

E: mwinther@boyden.com





A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dfaff2e9-749e-4d66-a72c-a2baf6e02c19
New Delhi: Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was elected leader of both the BJP and NDA Legislature Party on Sunday, is all set to be sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati today (May 10, 2021).

Sarma has been invited by Governor Jagdish Mukhi to take the oath after he met him on Sunday. The 52-year old had called on the Governor at Raj Bhawan and submitted a list of elected legislators owing allegiance to the NDA.

The North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor was elected as the legislature party leader, a week after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a comfortable majority in Assam. Sarma's name was reportedly proposed by outgoing Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and seconded by BJP state party president MLA Ranjeet Kumar Dass and newly elected Haflong MLA Nandita Garlosa.

Request your gracious #Virtual_Presence on the occasion of the swearing in of Dr. @himantabiswa as Chief Minister, Assam at 11.30 am on Monday, the 10th May, 2021 at Srimanta Sankaradeva International Auditorium, Kalakshetra, Ghy. WhatsApp Hi to 80111 26043 to get the link. pic.twitter.com/IDvueYqQwx  BJP Assam Pradesh (@BJP4Assam) May 9, 2021

After being elected unanimously, the five-time MLA from Jalukbari thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and assured him that he will leave no stone unturned to carry forward PM's vision of taking Assam and the northeast to greater heights.

"How enormously blessed I feel Hon PM Sri Narendra Modi for your faith in me. This is the biggest day in my life, and I so fondly cherish your generous affection. I assure you we shall leave no stone unturned to carry forward your vision of taking Assam, & NE to greater heights," Sarma said.

How enormously blessed I feel Hon PM Sri @narendramodi for your faith in me. This is the biggest day in my life, and I so fondly cherish your generous affection. I assure you we shall leave no stone unturned to carry forward your vision of taking Assam, & NE to greater heights. pic.twitter.com/fQPKjXjDzR  Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 9, 2021

He was also effusive in his praise for Sonowal and described his tenure as 'unblemished without a single charge of corruption or any other allegations'.

Congratulations to Shri @himantabiswa on being elected the leader of @BJP4Assam Legislative Party. I believe that you will carry forward the development journey of Assam that we together began as #TeamAssam under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji. pic.twitter.com/l6BaGHiPMD  Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) May 9, 2021

Sarma also offered gratitude to the people of Assam and expressed, "I would not have been what I am had it not been for your pious faith in me. On this day, I vow to work with and for each one of you with greater passion Assam."

With fragrance of Assam in my heart & love of my wonderful people in my veins, I offer my deepest gratitude to you all. I would not have been what I am had it not been for your pious faith in me. On this Day, I vow to work with & for each one of you with greater passion Assam. pic.twitter.com/VyG24TucPl  Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) May 9, 2021

Sarma, a former Congress leader who joined BJP in 2015, is known to have played a key part in the 2016 state assembly elections and bringing the saffron party to power.

He has been a minister in all cabinets since 2001 and has also been praised by former Congress Chief Ministers Hiteswar Saikia and Tarun Gogoi.

In the 2021 Assam assembly election, out of the 126-seat assembly, the ruling alliance won 75 seats with BJP bagging 60 while its alliance partners AGP got nine seats and UPPL six.

(With agency inputs)



Live TV
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Republican caucus luncheon in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 16, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

McConnell Signals GOP Support for Raising Infrastructure Bill Ceiling to $800 Billion

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has suggested that Republican senators would be willing to raise their ceiling for an infrastructure plan to $800 billion, as a GOP delegation is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House this week to discuss his $2.25 trillion proposal.

The proper price tag for what most of us think about when we think about infrastructure is about [$600 billion to $800 billion], McConnell said in an interview on public television in Kentucky over the weekend.

His remarks come after a White House official told reporters on May 7 that Biden will meet with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) on May 13.

Capito has led a group of Senate Republicans in unveiling a $568 billion counterproposal to Bidens plan, saying at an April 22 press conference that the GOP defines the concept more narrowly, as core infrastructure, physical infrastructure. She shared an overview of the GOP proposal in a tweet, in which she said that Bidens plan goes beyond what constitutes infrastructure.

The Biden administration has sought to frame infrastructure far more broadly, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) telling reporters on April 15 that for the package, called the American Jobs Plan, to meet its aims, there must be human infrastructure to go with it.

McConnell, in the interview, said the proposal that Capito and her colleagues put together is a bill thats related to the subject of infrastructure.

What weve got here can best be described as a bait-and-switch, McConnell said of Bidens proposal. The bill is called infrastructure, but much bigger, with a whole laundry list of other things, McConnell said, adding that in order to pay for the package, the Biden administration has proposed rolling back some of the provisions of President Donald Trumps 2017 tax reform bill.

McConnells remarks come as Republicans fight to slim down the multitrillion-dollar package that they say contains provisions that have little to do with infrastructure. They are also apprehensive about rolling back Trumps tax cuts, which is a key feature of Bidens plan. To pay for the infrastructure plan, the White House is proposing to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from the current 21 percent.

A White House official said on May 7 that McConnell will join other congressional leadersHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)for a May 12 meeting with Biden to discuss the infrastructure package.

Biden traveled to the Republican stronghold of Louisiana last week to sell his plan, while signaling a willingness to back off some of his demands.

Im willing to hear ideas from both sides, Biden said. Im ready to compromise. What Im not ready to do is, Im not ready to do nothing.
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MORIARTY  Its no secret that the pandemic has been hard on commercial aviation. While passenger traffic has ticked up slightly in recent months at the Albuquerque International Sunport and other airports, numbers have stayed well below normal since last March.

But what about smaller airports, like Moriarty Municipal Airport in the East Mountains? On the one hand, an uptick in demand for personal planes, and the freedom they bring, has meant more business for smaller general aviation airports recently. But on the other hand, more traffic means needing to add more infrastructure to keep up with demand.

These airports are here; this is your economic engine, said Ryan Waguespack, senior vice president with the National Air Transportation Association, during a tour stop in Moriarty on Tuesday.

The stop in Moriarty was part of NATAs General Aviation Advancing America tour, designed to highlight the general aviation industry, which includes all civilian flying except scheduled passenger airline service. Waguespack spoke and fielded questions and comments from East Mountain business leaders on the state of the aviation industry and the role the airport, now the states third-busiest, plays in the community.

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Its beautiful when you walk into a room and everybody gets it, he said.

Waguespack noted that the entire aviation industry came to a grinding stop last March, as travel restrictions and fear about the virus kept people out of the air.

By July, however, Waguespack said the general aviation industry had exploded. As more people began to work remotely, they realized they didnt need to live in crowded cities if they didnt want to.

People are living where they want to live, Waguespack said.

One less-reported side effect was that some of those people bought planes to explore remote locations. Consequently, Waguespack said the number of planes on the market is incredibly low as demand soars. And many of those new pilots are seeking out smaller, rural airports and communities.

When I say theres no inventory, truly, theres no inventory, Waguespack said.

In Moriarty, the citys unique wind patterns have made it a popular spot for gliders, fixed-wing aircraft that dont require engines to fly. Bob Hudson, Moriartys airport manager, said this success helped the airport stay busy during the worst of the pandemic.

We have people from all over the world who come here, Hudson said. In June, well be very, very busy.

But with the popularity with glider pilots and expected growth of the East Mountains region comes the need to improve infrastructure to keep up with demand. The Journal recently reported that the airport is receiving $289,000 in state funding to improve and expand its waterline, but Hudson added that the cost to build new hangers has skyrocketed, thanks in part to supply chain disruptions for lumber and other supplies.

Nobody wants to build a $250,000 box to put their $40,000 airplane in, Hudson said.

Moreover, Waguespack pointed to sea changes in the industry that threaten to disrupt everyone from Boeing to small companies. Waguespack said the industry faces a long-term shortage of pilots, noting that its expensive to get a license and gain enough experience to fly professionally. In a study from industry consulting firm Oliver Wyman, the firm predicted that between 25,000 and 35,000 current and future pilots may choose alternative career paths over the next decade following the pandemic.

Even as the industry moves toward more automated aircraft, Waguespack said he thinks there will still be a need for well-trained pilots for years to come.

These machines cost money, and the talent costs money, he said. And Im afraid this next ripple is going to be very hard.

Stephen Hamway covers economic development, health care and tourism for the Journal. He can be reached at shamway@abqjournal.com.
A LEGAL challenge to South Oxfordshire District Councils local plan has been refused for a second time.

Bioabundance, a community interest company, claims the document contradicts the Governments climate change targets.

In March, High Court judge Mr Justice Dove rejected its application for a judicial review.

Now the firm has lost an appeal against that decision. Mrs Justice Lang described the case as unarguable.

The document sets out the districts housing needs for the next 15 years but Bioabundance claimed councillors were pressured into adopting it in December.

They also felt it does not pay enough attention to the mitigation measures for building 23,550 new homes.

When a Liberal Democrats and Green coalition took charge of the council in May 2019, it proposed to scrap the plan, which had been drawn up by the former Conservative administration.

However, this was blocked by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, who issued a directive that the plan be adopted by the end of 2020.

This was achieved but seven councillors voted against, including leader Sue Cooper, a Lib-Dem. There were also nine abstentions.

Jenny Wigley, representing Bioabundance, claimed the inspector who oversaw a public examination of the plan had not provided enough justification for the level of development and impact on the environment and green belt.

She also said councillors felt pressured into approving the plan for fear of missing out on infrastructure funding and losing control over planning matters.

She said: We say the council took into account matters that were not related to the use or character of the land but instead extraneous matters.

There were threats of having powers taken away and future funding and income streams lost that were not related. The council has to have a free unfettered decision.

Miss Wigley said the plan was driven by growth ambitions beyond the standard method and the inspector had failed to grapple the contradiction with climate change targets.

District councillor Sue Roberts, who founded Bioabundance, said: We were under dictation by Robert Jenrick and threatened with losing our financing and our powers.

This greedy plan is to build four houses for every new home that can be filled by our slowly growing population.

James Goudie, representing the Secretary of State, described the appellants case as hopeless and said Bioabundance had passed off the pressures of being a council as coercion by Mr Jenrick.

He also said the inspector gave perfectly adequate reasons for the housing requirement against carbon reduction.

Richard Honey, representing the council, said the loss of power over future decisions was a material planning consideration.

He added: The arguments dont have any evidential basis at all.

Mrs Justice Lang said the intervention by the Secretary of State was lawful and that he acted responsibly.

In her ruling, she said: Councillors suggested they were under pressure to adopt the plan and were faced with no real choice.

It was made clear to councillors that they had a choice and could choose not to [adopt the plan].

The cabinet member for planning confirmed this was the case.

 She said they were faced with no real choice, which reflected the practicality of the situation.

The judge directed Bioabundance to pay the councils costs of 8,266.

Nearly 15,000 had been raised by the company through an online fundraising page to help pay for its legal fees.

The company could appeal to the Appeal Court.

Cllr Roberts said: It seems things are against us but we are considering whether to appeal.

A council spokesman said: The council remains confident it worked within the law to produce and adopt its local plan.

The adopted local plan continues to have full weight in any planning decision made and remains the adopted policy of the council.

The council revealed earlier this year that it is thinking of producing a joint local plan with the Vale of White Horse, which would take up to five years. The existing plan will remain until a new one is approved.
Logistics/Warehouse Assistant

Remuneration: R12000 - R14000 per month Basic salary Location: Cape Town, Maitland Education level: Degree Job level: Mid/Senior Own transport required: Yes Type: Permanent Reference: #DS-SHIP Company: DeskStand

Job description

Fun, dynamic and active work culture.

Mid level experience of customer service fundamentals.

Training on DeskStand offerings and practices throughout international and national logistics offerings.

An opportunity to learn about branding and marketing.

Health and wellness in the working environment experience.

Requirements

Relevant degree/diploma (logistics/warehousing)

Minimum five years' experience, which includes stores, warehousing, MRP, stock control in a manufacturing environment

Minimum three years people supervision or management

In-depth knowledge of warehousing and stock control processes and systems in a manufacturing environment

Preparing and booking of stock transfers locally and internationally by use of pallets and full container loads

Previous work with Amazon and Takealot systems a huge advantage

Ensuring all shipments run on time

Being proactive to avoid delays in the shipment delivery timeline

Oversee day-to-day activities such as supervising the factory production flow, stock transfers, re-stock planning

Manage a team of 15 factory staff in terms of weekly expectations set out. This includes ensuring a production schedule is in place that supports what products need to be produced

Updating of all actual stock (raw material, WIP, finished goods) to online records

Import and export experience is essential

Fulfilling customer lead-time orders

Supplier communication of shipments

Booking of product returns

Packing and labelling

Stock take on a monthly basis

Liaise closely with operations department regarding material requirements and work flow processes

Must be a Highly competent individual

Exceptional analytical skills

Masterful verbal and written English communication skills with documented portfolio of work

Must be a people person

Reliable and responsible

Active and healthy lifestyle with a fun-loving attitude

Brilliant eye for detail and highly organised

The ability to work independently and collaborate with the team when necessary

Accountable and resourceful

Multitasking ability and great time management

Ability to work with tight deadlines and work well under pressure

Highly focused and takes initiative

A logical thinker

A positive attitude

Fluent in English and Afrikaans.

Masterful verbal and written English communication skills with a documented portfolio of work.

Exceptional customer service and representation of the DeskStand brand.

brand. Sending out follow-ups and meeting requests.

Regular feedback sessions with your director/manager.

Continually engage and communicate with the factory and our team to strengthen relationships.

Keep all administrative work updated.

Report on sales activity and opportunities as required (weekly and monthly).

A willingness to learn and work as part of a team.

The ability to take initiative and think out of the box.

We are on the lookout for a passionate individual to join our team. You will work closely with our Director and help run day-to-day activities such as supervising the movement, distribution and storage of stock in our company. You will also be tasked with planning local and international routes, analysing budgets, and processing local and international shipments. Monthly reports will also be required. We are looking for someone who communicates well within a small team, enjoys new challenges, is deadline driven and takes initiative in sourcing new and innovative ways to improve their roles within the business. You will also be getting involved with overall strategy and structure development and implementation of campaigns.The work demands a very professional approach to satisfying our shipping needs plus the ability to multitask.The role will also require you to be able to service our current international customers by regularly following up and shipping out US and UK orders.DeskStand improves lives by offering customers a product that improves posture while standing or sitting while a user works on their computers. By providing companies ergonomic workstations, people become more productive and happier at the office or home office. We offer a range of ergonomically designed products that are locally produced in Cape Town and ship packed flat. We pride ourselves on selling products that are eco-friendly and 100% bio-degradable. Posted on 10 May 15:30
The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Schools of Education, Health and Human Behavior, and Engineering concluded the SIUE commencement season Sunday at First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center as Chancellor Randy Pembrook conferred degrees upon the Class of 2021.

To return to in-person commencement exercises during the COVID-19 era, Pembrook oversaw a series of 10 smaller ceremonies for 2,325 eligible graduates during the first two weekends in May at both outdoor and indoor venues. The outdoor ceremonies were the first held at SIUE since the early 1990s. All ceremonies are archived on siue.edu/tv.

Pembrook noted that life is about change and adjustments, and also about changing the world through ones own actions. He quoted human rights activist Desmond Tutu, Do your little bit of good where you are. Its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

SIU President Dan Mahony, PhD, extended his congratulations. Graduating from University is always a significant accomplishment, but graduating as you did is particularly notable, he said. Everyone who graduates faces challenges along the way, but few students have faced the challenges youve endured during the pandemic. Be particularly proud that you persevered to this point. We are excited about what is to come next and wish you the best of luck in the next chapter in your journey.

The School of Education, Health and Human Behavior had two exercises on Sunday. The student speaker was Peter Romero, of Edwardsville, who received a bachelors in elementary education. In his virtual remarks, Romero spoke of both anxiety and anticipation.

Just like today, we are all probably nervous about moving on to another new chapter of our lives, but I hope that everyone is also excited, Romero said. After all, this is how life works. We enter a new phase, work hard, tackle any challenges to the best of our ability, achieve a goal and then move on to the next life milestone. Of course, I dont know everyones life goals or dreams, but if theres one thing that I do know, its that you should chase those dreams with all youve got.

Spring 2021 Commencement concluded with the School of Engineering. Student speaker Leanne Montgomery, of Belleville, is a non-traditional student who earned a bachelors in mechanical engineering. She discussed the benefits of experiencing failure.

Five years ago, I knew I needed a career change. I knew I wanted to work in aerospace, and I knew I wanted to study mechanical engineering, Montgomery said. But I also knew something I hadnt when I was 18: its ok to fail.

In your life, you are sometimes going to find yourself in social, professional and business situations where you cannot snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But failure is a better teacher than success. It is only in falling short that we realize where we need growth. It is only by experiencing failure that we realize the world wont end, and we become more resilient. And it is only by being willing to fail that you sometimes eke out a success.

Earlier on Saturday, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) held three sessions, beginning in the morning and continuing through the afternoon. Student speaker Kenzie Holzinger, of Highland, earned a bachelors in fine art with a specialization in drawing and an interest in painting.

In her virtual commencement address, Holzinger recognized that graduation is not a final destination at all, but a powerful step along the path toward future moments of impact. Upon graduation, our next assignment is not to enter society, were already a part of it, she said. Instead, SIUE has given us the invaluable tools and knowledge to operate in society with more effect. Once college is finished, there are no course deadlines and professors to keep you motivated. But if you need a life assignment to gain momentum, let it be this: no matter what you think you know, continue to learn. No matter what someone tells you, continue to question. When the world seems to stop because of a pandemic, continue to persevere.

Previously at noon on Friday, School of Business students received their undergraduate and graduate degrees. The School had two student speakers with Samuel Childerson, of Altamont, who is earning a bachelors in economics and finance, and Ronald Akpan, of Dunlap, who is earning a bachelors in accountancy.

Childerson urged his fellow grads to persevere through these uncertain times. We are entering a world that is being forced to change, hopefully for the better, he said. Luckily, we are entering this world uniquely positioned to adapt and create our own change. With our degrees in hand, we are now the next generation shaping this ever-changing world. As we move toward new experiences, we are in a position where taking a risk is not only a reasonable choice, it may just be the default option. While intimidating, an uncertain world is a perfect space for trailblazers to leave their mark.

Akpan praised his classmates resilience. We have spent the past year working through technological errors, Zoom fatigue and an even more competitive job market than usual, he said. That speaks volumes to our unique resilience. As community contributors and future employees, it underscores our ability to adapt, get creative and serve as high-achieving, committed individuals no matter the obstacles in front of us.

Later that afternoon, the School of Nursing combined its traditional pinning ceremony with commencement. Bailey Johnston, of Benton, earned a doctor of nursing practice (DNP)/family nurse practitioner (FNP), and served as the student speaker.

Johnston was thankful for the SON facultys dedication and her familys support. The encouraged her classmates to reflect upon their achievements through discipline, hard work and perseverance. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from all of you as you shared your practice experiences and thoughts in group work and various discussion posts, she said. Good luck to all as you embark on your new journey to becoming great nurse practitioners. We all hold great responsibility to deliver high-quality primary care to a nation which desperately needs it. Your future patients will be lucky to have you.

On May 1, the School of Pharmacy began the SIUE commencement season as Pembrook and Dean Mark Luer conferred degrees upon 79 graduates in the 2021 class. Conner McClain, of St. Louis, earned a doctorate in pharmacy and provided the student address.

McClain praised his classmates for their perseverance. Our class has utilized our competitive nature to propel us forward amid adversity, he said. Our perseverance and ambition began when we exceeded expectations on difficult exams that have left our professors saying they should have written harder questions. It continued when we ranked number one on the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment exam out of 142 pharmacy schools in the United States. And it was further exemplified amid the pandemic as we upheld the prestigious nature of the SIUE School of Pharmacy despite the drastic changes made to our clinical rotations.

We have proven that no matter the obstacle, not only will we overcome it, but also we will grow as individuals and further develop our pharmaceutical knowledge and skills along the way.

On Thursday, SIUE alumni, who were unable to celebrate with an in-person experience for their respective spring or fall 2020 ceremonies as a result of COVID-19 mitigations, had the opportunity to cross the stage.

SIUE is also offering virtual spring 2021 ceremonies that went lives on the virtual commencement website. These pre-recorded virtual ceremonies include brief remarks from Pembrook, Mahony and, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Denise Cobb, along with the student speakers.
CATAWBA, S.C. (AP)  A South Carolina cardboard factory has found itself in the middle of a stinky situation as environmental regulators order it to lower emissions after receiving thousands of complaints relating to a noxious, rotten egg-like smell coming from the plant.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control ordered the New-Indy Containerboard factory in Catawba to check its regulations and equipment and decrease emissions of what the agency called a noxious air contaminant by mid-May, The State reported.
A reminder to all horse people that all Standardbreds racing in Canada will be required to be microchipped to race as of January 1, 2022.

The deadline was extended to December 31, 2021 as a result of restrictions in place due to COVID-19.

All of SCs ID Technicians are currently working and wearing Personal Protective Equipment and working under Public Health Guidelines, practicing proper health and safety protocols, when they visit farms and training centres, to ensure the health and safety of our members.

Farm visits can be scheduled by contacting the ID Technician in your region, or members can complete a location report for their stable.

ID Technicians

Maritimes Provinces: Stephen MacLeod (902) 897-5156

Quebec and Ontario (East of Napanee): Daniel St-Jacques (514) 290-4114

Ontario (West of Napanee): Mike Pennington (416) 580-3683

Western Provinces: James Mohorich (604) 649-1119

For more information on Microchipping, click here.

Standardbred Canada has been microchipping horses since January 2019 and the process has been found to be much easier on the horses and more efficient for owners, breeders and trainers.

For foals, the cost of microchipping remains in the registration fee. For horses that are already Freeze Branded, the cost is as follows:

1  4 horses: $45/each

5  9 horses: $35/each

10 or more horses: $30/each

To read about the background and process of microchipping, or watch a video on microchipping, click here.

Microchip Scanners

Scanners can also be purchased from Standardbred Canada and are offered at a discounted price for members. The Universal HomeScan Reader reads and displays the horses' microchip number and temperature. This device requires two AA batteries and will sell for $80 for members of Standardbred Canada and $95 for non-members.

The Universal WorldScan Reader Plus offers faster microchip reading detection and is equipped with USB or wireless Bluetooth connectivity, which allows for easy electronic transfer of Microchip ID to your computer.

The Universal WorldScan Reader Plus also reads the temperature of the horse and will sell for $375 for SC members and $450 for non-members.

If you wish to purchase a scanner, contact Linda Bedard at Standardbred Canada at (905) 858-3060 x 238 or [email protected].

Microchip App

In October, 2019 SC launched a Microchip ID app which can be used with the Universal WorldScan Reader Plus microchip readers from Merck/HomeAgain.

SCs Microchip ID app under the SC Mobile brand can be downloaded from the Apple Store (Apple) or the Google Play Store (Android) by searching Standardbred Canada Mobile.

For more information on the SCs Microchip ID app and microchipping, click here.
Australia is responsible for a third of the world's traded coal. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

Small Australian Mining Firms Being Squeezed Out by Climate-Change Activism

Local Australian resource firms say financial institutionsdriven by climate changeare constricting the industry by withholding vital insurance and loan services crucial for new mining projects.

Leading some companies to warn that global mining conglomerateswho can go offshore for financial supportwill become more entrenched as smaller businesses risk closing. This comes as a parliamentary inquiry examines the impact the financial sector is having on Australian exports.

Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment, George Christensen, said mineral exports generated billions in revenue for the country, and any impact on the industry needed to be scrutinised.

Coal operations at the Port of Newcastle, Australia, on Nov. 18, 2015. (William West/AFP/Getty Images)

Norah St George, the chief financial officer for the Bloomfield Groupan 80-year-old firm that employs 550 people in the New South Wales Hunter Valley regionnoted in a submission to the inquiry that mining projects were dependent on banks or insurance companies to help fulfil environmental rehabilitation obligations.

In recent years, following concerted campaigns by climate activist groups, many insurance companies globally have turned away from insuring risk in the coal mining industry to such an extent that insurance cover is prohibitively expensive if it can be obtained at all, St George wrote (pdf).

Typically, when a company receives a mining lease, they need to provide financial security for the cost of rehabilitating the area after the project is complete. These securities usually come in the form of bank guarantees, insurance, or cash and are normally provided by banks and insurers.

We understand the following insurers have withdrawn from insuring coal mines in the past three years: Allianz, Chubb, Liberty, QBE, CGU, Vero, Zurich, certain Lloyds syndicates, Swiss Re, Munich Re. Sterling, FM Global, Axis, and AXA, St George added.

Zurich signage is seen during the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 22, 2021, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

In 2020, Bloomfield had to find 13 different insurers to cover one policy, with each insurer taking a percentage.

They are not alone in their challenges.

The Resource Industry Networka peak body based in the coal-rich central Queensland regionsaid one members indemnity insurance ballooned 300 percent over the past four years.

The current insurer has stipulated the business cannot have more than 40 percent of its revenue come from thermal coal mining clients, according to its submission (pdf). This is despite the fact our business also does work for the renewable power sector.

Insurance is our single biggest spend on a single item each year. We spend more on insurance than we do on diesel.

The Network also warned that restricting local businesses from insurance and finance would provide an unfair advantage to global conglomerates, who can easily source similar services from overseas.

The point was echoed by Australias largest, independent coal miner Whitehaven who said, While the large multinationals have long enjoyed access to diversified international funding, local players such as Whitehaven have been more reliant on local banks and, subsequently, have a greater exposure to Australian banks placing restrictions on exporters.

Protesters hold placards during a rally against Whitehaven Coal in Sydney on February 20, 2014. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Louise Davidson, CEO of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI)which represents 36 superannuation firmsargued that climate change presented significant risks to the global economy, and companies needed to adjust accordingly.

If Australia does not align its climate-related policies with its international trading partners, the competitiveness of Australian exports will be at risk, she wrote (pdf). Australian company directors and investors have a legal obligation to consider climate change in their assessment of financial risk and manage this risk in their decisions.

It is estimated that the likely damage to Australias economy of leaving climate change risks unchecked is a reduction in GDP of 6 percent by 2070, equivalent to $3.4 trillion (US$2.6 trillion) in present value terms, and 880,000 jobs lost, she added.

Nathan Findley of Lime Financial Planning said banks did not want to be left with debtors (mining companies) who could not pay back their loans.

Investors do not see fossil fuels as valid long-term options to create or preserve capital, he wrote.

In recent years, banks and superannuation funds have been withdrawing support and investment from coal-related industries, with Australias Big Four banks all setting targetsvarying between 2025 to 2030for divesting from the industry altogether.

This combination of photos taken in Sydney on November 30, 2017, show the signs of the big four Australian banks (clockwise from top L), National Australia Bank (NAB, Westpac, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank.  (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

Last month, ACSI announced that it would recommend its members vote against the re-election of company directors deemed moving too slowly on climate change action.

The CEO of Brisbane-based New Hope Group Reinhold Schmidt said moves to divest from the coal industry was to pacify the vocal minority of activists.

In New Hope Groups case, we have seen superannuation funds and major investment firms take a small position in the company only to sell the shares in a very public announcement to create the perception of being a responsible investor, Schmidt said his submission (pdf).

The Group employs 750 people across regional towns in New South Wales and Queensland.

The New South Wales (NSW) government and Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman backed the concerns of mining firms.

Haulage truck at the Rio Tinto West Angelas iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of West Australia July 9, 2014. (AAP Image/Alan Porritt)

Ombudsman Bruce Billson said financial institutions should be obligated to show cause for a decision to deny financial support to mining companies.

Where denial of these essential services occurs, for example, in industries like live animal exports and resources, this hinders small business export opportunities and therefore Australias economic recovery from the impacts of COVID-19, he wrote (pdf).

The NSW government echoed these concerns saying restrictions would stymie the states recovery from COVID-19.

The coal mining industry is likely to remain an important employer in certain regional communities in NSW for some decades, according to the NSW submission (pdf).

However, the NSW coal industry has reported it is already reporting difficulties accessing finance and financial services as investors make the independent and prudent assessments of risk to which they are entitled, it continued.

Differing understandings and assessments of future demand for coal may be impacting on investment decisions.
YEREVAN.  As of Monday morning, 83 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 219,353 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 4,249 cases.

Two 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 1,041 now.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 622, the total respective number so far is 205,200, and the number of people currently being treated is 8,863which is a drop by 556 in one day.

And 1,790 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Armenia over the past one day, while 1,016,681 such tests have been performed to date.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig, left, speaks to the media at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters in Detroit, Mich., on Nov. 21, 2019. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)

Detroit Police Chief Announces Retirement, Hasnt Made Decision on Gubernatorial Run

Detroits police chief on May 10 said he will retire and consider challenging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022.

Police Chief James Craig, a Republican, said he will voluntarily step down on June 1.

We saw what happened to many chiefs across this country. Some were forced out. Some retired because they didnt feel supported. And some were fired. So Im leaving in a good place. I love this city. And I love this state, he told a press conference, thanking Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat, and other officials for supporting him.

Duggan praised Craig, who he said brought professionalism to the department.

Duggan is hiring a firm to conduct a search and provide him with a list of candidates to become the next chief.

Craig became police chief in Detroit in 2013. He has headed departments in Portland, Maine; and Cincinnati, and worked for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Craig said Detroit showed how to react correctly to riots and protests that erupted in the wake of George Floyds May 2020 death.

We didnt retreat. The city did not burn. And were a model for the country, he said, crediting law enforcement and community members.

Craig said hes been receiving questions about a possible gubernatorial run.

I have gotten countless calls, text messages, Facebook shots, emails from people across this great state, Democrats and Republicans, who say they want me to seek office, Craig said.

I have not made that decision. Im not ruling it out. Theres an appropriate time. I will get past this and then I will come out with a decision. So I am not ruling it out. I am deeply passionate for public service but not just public service, but in a leadership role, deeply passionate about it.

Whitmer, a Democrat, entered office in January 2019. Shes in her first term. She beat Bill Schuette, a Republican who was the states attorney general while running.

Republican Rick Snyder was governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019.

The list of governors of the state going back decades includes both Democrats and Republicans.

Whitmer has received pushback from the GOP for the harsh measures she imposed to try to curb the spread of the CCP virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a dozen recall efforts have been launched against Whitmer, but none so far have garnered enough signatures.

Whitmer hasnt yet announced she will run again.

A handful of candidates have been declared for the 2022 race, including businessman Garret Soldano and pastor Ralph Rebandt.
In an innovative step, Leitrim GAA Senior hurlers will carry the message "No to Racism" on their jerseys for the forthcoming season after announcing an important partnership with the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland.

Announcing the news, the MRCI said "Today marks an important day in the fight against racism in Ireland. The Leitrim GAA Hurling team are delighted to partner with Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) in saying no to racism."

The Leitrim Hurling team will display No To Racism on their new jerseys for this years fixtures, starting on Sunday May 16, as a show of solidarity with all people affected by racism.

Zak Moradi, of Leitrim Hurling team, said Racism is one of the worst things you can encounter. It creates a huge divide between people and without its existence we would have a more peaceful, welcoming and inclusive society.

We want to raise awareness and create a community that sticks together as a whole with no divides. We're all human and we all deserve a sense of belonging regardless of race. We want the same team spirit of sports: all for one and one for all.

The Leitrim Hurling team has chosen to partner with MRCI because of its long history in tackling racism and discrimination in the labour market and fighting for the rights of migrant workers and their families.

Edel McGinley, Director at MRCI said Racism has no place in our society, communities, workplaces, schools or in sport. It has a devastating impact on peoples lives, affecting individuals, families and the community."

Sport plays a very important role in promoting diversity and inclusion. The Leitrim jersey sends a clear message, raises awareness and shows solidarity with everyone impacted by racism. We commend the leadership shown by Leitrim Hurling team, the GAA and Zak Moradi in taking this stand.

We would like to thank The One Foundation for their support in making this initiative possible.

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) is a national organisation working to promote the rights of migrant workers and their families at risk of exploitation, social exclusion and discrimination. We believe people should be able to move in safety and work with dignity.

Since 2001, MRCI has been working with migrant workers in unregulated precarious employment - low pay, poor working conditions, and insecure immigration status. Workers have brought into public view exploitation, discrimination and social exclusion.

MRCI combines frontline support and strategic casework with research, policy, advocacy and campaigning to achieve change. Our focus on collective action and organising with migrant workers aims to build stronger communities, better workplaces, and a fairer society for all.
NEW DELHI: Himanta Biswa Sarma, the charioteer of BJP`s stride in the Northeast, is all set to take oath as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam amid a simple ceremony on Monday.

Himanta Sarma, who was elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party in Assam on Sunday, will replace Sarbananda Sonowal, who tendered his resignation as Assam Chief Minister to Governor Jagadish Mukhi.

The Governor also accepted Himanta Biswa Sarma`s claim for chief ministership and asked him to form the government. On being announced the Chief Minister of the state Sarma took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the people of the state. "With the fragrance of Assam in my heart & the love of my wonderful people in my veins, I offer my deepest gratitude to you all. I would not have been what I am had it not been for your pious faith in me. On this day, I vow to work with & for each one of you with greater passion Assam," he tweeted.

In another tweet, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, "This is the biggest day in my life, and I so fondly cherish your generous affection. I assure you we shall leave no stone unturned to carry forward your vision of taking Assam, & NE to greater heights."

Political career

Sarma has been credited as the man behind the BJP's saffron surge in the North East. The veteran leader has played a stellar role in the success of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Assembly polls in Assam with the alliance returning to power overcoming the stiff challenge posed by the Congress-led alliance.

He was a key campaigner of the party and strongly articulated its position on various issues at play in Assam which has a diverse population with sometimes competing interests. During the campaign, he took repeated digs at Congress for its alliance with All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).

A mass leader

Fondly known as 'Mama', Sarma won from Jalukbari, a seat he has won four times earlier. He won the seat by a margin of 1,01,911 votes. He has risen in prominence in BJP since he joined the party in 2015 and has played a key role in the party`s growing footprint in Assam as also other states of the northeast.

A former blue-eyed boy of Congress

Sarma was once a former Congress strongman and 'blue-eyed boy' of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi. He felt side-lined in Congress as he had apparent chief ministerial ambitions and joined the BJP, which was looking for expansion in the northeast.

Sarma is credited with the Congress party's victory in the 2011 Assembly polls when the party won 79 of 126 seats. However, his career in the Congress was also dogged by allegations of corruption and critics dubbing him as a 'Machiavellian operator'.

A falling out with Gogoi over the political prospects of the chief minister's son Gaurav and a snub for a 'pride of place' in party high command led him to join the BJP just prior to the 2016 Assembly polls. By August 2016, he was appointed convener of the then-newly formed NEDA.

Sarma helped BJP oust the Congress in the 2016 assembly elections and gave BJP its first victory in the northeastern state. The BJP forged alliances with Bodoland People`s Front and Asom Gana Parishad. The alliance won 86 seats. In 2018, Sarma with the BJP's Tripura in-charge, managed to break the entire top leadership of the state Trinamool Congress and the Congress to bring them into the BJP fold as well as build an Assam-style alliance with the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT).

An able administrator

Sarma handled key portfolios like Finance, Health and Education in the Sarbananda Sonowal government. He was made the convener of the North East Development Alliance (NEDA). His work and strategy have contributed to BJP`s growth in all the states of the northeast.

Sarma had cut his teeth in the All Assam Students` Union and made a mark as he won Jalukbari assembly in 2001 defeating Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, one of his political mentors. He has also been president of the Badminton Association of India.

Early life & schooling

Born on 1 February 1969, to Kailash Nath Sarma and Mrinalini Devi, Sarma studied at Guwahati's Kamrup Academy School and Cotton College. He was general secretary (GS) of Cotton college Student's Union from 1991 to 1992.

He has an LLB From Government Law College and a PhD from Gauhati University. Sarma practised law at Gauhati High Court from 1996 to 2001.

He married Riniki Bhuyan Sarma on 7 June 2001, with whom he has a son and a daughter. In 2017, he was elected as the Badminton Association of India president.

Third disgruntled Congress leader to become CM

Sarma had quit the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the party in 2015. Sources said that Sarma had dreamt of becoming the Chief Minister of the state.

Opposing Chief Minister Gogois leadership, he switched over to the BJP. Though he did not succeed in becoming the Chief Minister after the BJP`s victory in the 2016 Assembly elections, this time, considering his hard work in the 2021 Assembly polls, the party decided to give him the post, replacing the outgoing Chief Minister, Sarbananad Sonowal.

Earlier, two more Congress leaders - N Biren Singh and Pema Khandu  who switched to BJP had become chief ministers of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh respectively.

Live TV
NEW YORK (AP)  Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said Monday that it blocked more than 10 billion suspected phony listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold.

The numbers were released in Amazons first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technologies in 2019. The number of suspected bad listings that it blocked last year was up about 67% from the year before.

The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth said the number of counterfeiters attempting to sell on the site rose as scammers tried to take advantage of shoppers who were buying more online during the pandemic.

Amazon has been wrestling with counterfeits for years. But since 2019, it has warned investors in government filings that the sale of phony goods poses a risk to the company and its image. Brands may not want to sell their items on the site if they know there are fake versions being offered. And knock-offs could cause shoppers to lose their trust in Amazon.

Counterfeiters try to get their products on Amazon through its third-party marketplace, where sellers can list their items directly on the site. The company destroyed 2 million counterfeit products sent to its warehouses last year before they could be sold. And it said fewer than 0.01% of all items bought on the site received counterfeit complaints from shoppers.

Amazon said it can stop counterfeiters before they can sell anything thanks to machine-learning technology, which automatically scans listings to remove suspected counterfeits. The company also gives brands a way to remove fake items from the site themselves, rather than reporting them to Amazon and waiting for it to do something.

The company's efforts comes as lawmakers are looking at ways to reduce counterfeits online. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois re-introduced the INFORM Consumers Act this year. It would require third-party sellers to be verified and to disclose their name and address to shoppers. The bill was introduced last year, but wasn't voted on.

Amazon and smaller online stores, such as eBay and Etsy, oppose the bill for reasons including concerns it could discourage people from starting a small business and selling online. But groups that represent big-box physical retailers, such as Home Depot and Lowe's, support it because they say it levels the playing field, since physical retailers already make sure their shelves are free of fakes.

Amazon.com Inc. said it spent more than $700 million last year on its fraud and anti-counterfeiting efforts and has 10,000 people working on it. The company has also been filing joint lawsuits with brands, including one earlier this year with Salvatore Ferragamo against counterfeiters who were selling knock-offs of the high-end brand's belts on the site.

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This story has been corrected. Sen. Bill Cassidy is a Republican, not a Democrat.
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PHOENIX  An elected Arizona utility regulator has shared discredited conspiracy theories while trying to persuade energy and power providers not to require their employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Arizona Corporation Commission member Jim OConnor said during an interview that the government and the news media are covering up the shots causing numerous deaths and people becoming human vegetables, but theres no evidence of such problems, the Arizona Republic reported Saturday.

OConnor, a Republican, was elected last November to his statewide office as one of five commission members. He served as a presidential elector for then-GOP nominee Donald Trump during his successful campaign in 2016.

OConnor said one source of his information was Ryan Cole, an Idaho physician who has made false and controversial statements about COVID-19.

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The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania debunked several of Coles claims about COVID-19 vaccines on its website.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the vaccines are safe. Besides mild side effects such as soreness and fever, the only serious side effects so far are very rare blood clots associated with one of the three vaccines and even rarer allergic reactions.

Commission records indicate that OConnors office sent a video by Cole and a statement from OConnor to at least four major utilities and a trade group for water utilities, asking top officials to view the video before encouraging another employee to submit to this experimental vaccine, the Republic reported.

OConnor told the Republic he was concerned that Arizona utilities would mandate vaccine and that he was concerned about the health and safety of utility workers.

If people are willing to individually choose to get the shot, God bless them, he said. For those who arent, I dont want people to lose a job, lose income.

In March, during a commission meeting with utilities about preparing for summers peak demand on the power grid, OConnor asked officials from companies including Arizona Public Service Co., the Salt River Project, Southwest Gas Corp. and Tucson Electric Power whether they were mandating COVID-19 vaccines.

None of the major utilities mandates the shots but all encouraged workers to get them.

CEO Mike Hummel of the SRP, a water and power district that is not regulated by the commission, said he did speak with OConnor about vaccines after being contacted by OConnor.

We continue to see vaccines as a way out of this, Hummel said. What weve done is try to make information available to employees.

The Republic reported that OConnors outreach to utility executives discouraging the vaccine was first reported by the Yellow Sheet Report, a subscriber-based newsletter that is a sister publication of the Arizona Capitol Times.
The United Steelworkers has offered management additional concessions as they continue to isolate the strike by 1,300 steelworkers who are entering the sixth week on strike against Allegheny Technologies in Pennsylvania and four other states.

In the meantime, management is maintaining its hard line, ramping up plans to bring in strikebreakers to restart production.

After seven years without a raise, ATI workers are determine to recoup their enormous sacrifices. Their strike is part of growing signs of militancy, including the walkout by over 1,000 coal miners at Warrior Met in Alabama, nurses in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduate student workers in New York City, and ExxonMobil refinery workers in Beaumont, Texas. After a year of a deadly pandemic, workers are insisting on adequate pay, good benefits and safe working conditions.

Allegheny Technologies

The struggles in the US are part of an international movement that has seen struggles on multiple continents, including electricity workers in Turkey and ongoing mass strikes and protests in Colombia.

Instead of seeking to mobilize the power of the working class, the United Steelworkers is seeking to isolate the ATI workers and impose a sellout agreement.

In a series of secret negotiations held last Thursday and Friday, the USW proposed additional concessions to management, with the union pledging to work with the company to cut health care and allow ATI to continue its restructuring, resulting in the elimination of hundreds of additional jobs.

Meanwhile, ATI has begun hiring scabs and has warned that they plan to restart production. The USW has played down this danger, complacently telling workers that the company wont be able to restore production and, if they do, customers wont buy the steel.

As part of the 2016 concessions contract the USW agreed to higher co-pays and deductibles under a 90/10 plan in which workers have to pay up to 10 percent of all health care costs. Now, the USW plans to work with ATI to save the company money by reducing the quality of the benefits offered.

At the same time, the proposal offers a back door to added costs. Instead of raising premiums, the USWs proposal would allow the company to claw back money from workers profit sharing.

The union bulletin reads, we also offered a safety net so that if the cost increased the difference would be returned to ATI by reducing the profit sharing by the same amount.

Striking ATI workers outside the Brackenridge Plant last month (WSWS Media)

On Friday, Allegheny Technologies rejected the offer, making clear that the proposed cuts did not go far enough. The company is demanding that workers pay a portion of health care premiums equal to 5 percent of the cost of a COBRA plan. The company also wants to expand the already existing two-tier system so that new employees would be paying 10 percent.

The strike, which began March 30, involves five Pennsylvania facilitiesBrackenridge, Latrobe, Natrona Heights, Vandergrift and Washingtonand at Lockport, New York; Louisville, Ohio; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Waterbury, Connecticut.

Workers have not received a raise in over seven years. In 2015-16 the company locked out the workers for seven months. During that struggle the USW worked to keep the ATI workers separated from workers at US Steel and ArcelorMittal, whose contracts had also expired, pushing through concessions at all three companies.

On May 1, ATI eliminated health care benefits for the striking ATI workers and sent them letters on how to sign up for health care under COBRA, which allows workers to continue coverage by paying hefty premiums.

However, it is not clear who will pay the costs. The USW is telling workers to sign up for COBRA, but not to pay the premiums, claiming the company will pay them. However, the company has not agreed to that arrangement, which would in fact defeat the purpose of cutting off the benefits in the first place.

Several workers picketing at one of the gates at the Brackenridge plant spoke with the World Socialist Web Site about the strike.

I'm tired of concessions, said a worker from ATIs Brackenridge facility who has worked at the plant for 14 years. We gave too much in the last contract and now they keep taking more and more.

They continue to cut jobs while (ATIs president and CEO Robert) Wetherbee gets paid millions.

Since 2015 the company has cut its workforce from 2,200 to roughly 1,300 today. Currently the company is in the process of cutting 400 jobs by eliminating its production line making steel for appliances. The company plans to close its plants in Lockport, New York and Waterbury, Connecticut and cut the number 3 division in Brackenridge.

They say they want to focus on making steel for aerospace and get out of making steel for appliances, the Brackenridge worker continued. We can make steel for both. People need jobs. It doesnt make sense to have some people working 12 hour shifts and others laid off.

The USW proposal would not stop the shutdown of plants or layoffs, but only provide those workers affected with a few more benefits.

Another worker with 18 years service responded to the companys hiring of scabs. They did this during the lockout. Right now, I dont see them making anything, but whoever heard of a union allowing scabs to take our jobs.

Asked if they felt that their struggle should be united with the striking workers in the US and around the world, such as Warrior Met coal miners in Alabama, locked out ExxonMobil refinery workers and the striking workers in Turkey and Colombia, the worker responded, Yes, weve all got to unite together. These corporations are all about money, they dont care about the workers. It doesnt matter where you are or who you are, they just care about money.

For its part, the USW has been working to isolate the strike and starve the workers into submission. Only this week, as a face-saving measure, did the USW begin issuing strike benefits out of its $1.5 billion in assets, $260 a week for every striking member.

However, even this pathetic amount is not being sent directly to the workers, but to the local unions, which get to decide how to distribute the money.

Most workers are only receiving a $150 prepaid Visa gift card, while the rest of the money is being kept by the locals as an emergency reserve. Workers, who for years have had to pay over 1 percent of their pay to the union, are now being forced to beg for additional help to cover health care expenses or prevent utility shutoffs.

ATI workers must take a balance sheet of the role of the United Steelworkers. Despite its name, the USW does not represent the interests of the workers. Instead, it is a well paid and financed part of corporate management whose role is to ensure a reliable workforce.

We call on ATI workers to form rank-and-file committees made up of the most trusted workers, democratically controlled by workers themselves and independent of and opposed to the unions as well as the Democrats and Republicans.

These committees must fight for workers demands, including the recovery of all concessions, across-the-board wage increases, no cuts to health care, full pensions for new hires, job security (including for the hundreds of workers slated to lose their jobs this contract), an end to wage and benefit tiers, a return to the eight-hour day and immediate payment of $900 a week in strike pay from the USWs massive financial assets.

Workers interested in finding out more should contact the WSWS.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the $2bn (1.6bn) fund led by Bill Gates, has confirmed it has invested in Irish company Ecocem, which has been developing low-carbon cement for more than two decades.

Breakthrough Energy and its European arm invested 22.5m in Ecocem. The money will enable the company to seek approval from EU regulators to roll out its new formulation.

It will also go toward building xsew plants outside the region, which would help prove to larger cement companies that its lower-carbon formulation can be made in different parts of the world.

Breakthrough's investors include Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Michael Bloomberg.

Ecocem Materials is tackling a particularly intractable problem when it comes to lowering greenhouse gases emissions. Producing cement contributes as much as 8% of global carbon pollution. Manufacturing plants can last for five decades or more, meaning new technologies enter the market very slowly.

Emissions from cement

The vast majority of emissions from cement are linked to the production of clinker  a binding agent that can make up as much as 70% of the final product.

Clinker is made by heating limestone in a hot kiln along with clay, an energy-intensive process that generates large amounts of carbon dioxide even if fossil fuels arent used.

To address the problem, Ecocem has sold slag as a part replacement for clinker since the company was founded in 2000.

The byproduct of steel production that has similar chemical properties to clinker and putting that waste to use is better for the environment.

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CAIRO - "More than 700 migrants were intercepted yesterday off Libya by the Libyan coast guard", IOM spokesperson Safa Msehli tweeted on Monday. "At least five people, among them one child, drowned when their boat capsized.



While survivors were brought to shore by fishermen", tweeted the representative of the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM).



Msehli told ANSA that "we are concerned that an increasing number of people are undertaking this dangerous trip and the loss of human lives is intolerable". "So far, at least 500 people have drowned in the central Mediterranean this year compared to some 150 deaths registered over the same period" in 2020, she told ANSA. "States cannot ignore their responsibility and obligations according to international law. We need more means guided by the State for search and rescue in the Mediterranean", added the spokeswoman.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ECI Pharmaceuticals, LLC (ECI) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive U.S. agreement with Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Qilu) to manage the sales, marketing, and distribution for the therapeutically equivalent generic of Cialis, with strengths of 2.5mg, 5mg, 10mg, and 20mg tablets.



Cialis, and the generic equivalent Tadalafil, is in a class of medications called phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors. Tadalafil is used to treat erectile dysfunction and the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH; an enlarged prostate).

Cialis and its generic equivalents have an estimated IQVIA market value of approximately $131 million for the 12 months ending December 2020. ECI plans to launch Tadalafil under the ECI label.

We are extremely pleased to have signed this important first agreement with Qilu and to have the opportunity to expand ECIs portfolio in cooperation with this excellent partner, said Bob Franks General Manager for ECI.

This alliance with ECI will broaden market access for our generic product, Tadalafil, commented Jing Zhang, General Manager of Import & Export Division of Qilu. We are excited about the opportunity and look forward to working closely with ECI to launch this product in the coming weeks.

Cialis is a registered trademark of Eli Lilly and Co.

About ECI Pharmaceuticals LLC

ECI Pharmaceuticals LLC is a Fort Lauderdale based Pharmaceutical company involved in the development and manufacturing of generic pharmaceuticals seeking to gain approvals for a comprehensive range of therapeutic areas for marketing and distribution in the U.S.

About Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is one of the leading vertically integrated pharmaceutical companies in China, focusing on the development, manufacturing, and marketing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished formulations. Qilu Pharmaceutical currently has ten manufacturing sites for finished dosage forms, chemical synthesis, genetic-engineering, fermentation, and other products. The Company has established a comprehensive domestic and overseas sales network covering North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand. The total sales revenue was $4.26 billion in 2020.

Contact:

Bob Franks

General Manager

ECI Pharmaceuticals, LLC.

Main: 954-486-8181

bfranks@ecipharma.com




SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) will host its 2021 Virtual Spring Conference & Exhibition May 12-13, delivering a package of updates, analyses and perspectives on multiple issues affecting the states water community.



Discussion panels will touch on several areas related to a second year of dry conditions in California, ranging from wildfire resilience to the potential impacts of a drought on water rights. Panels will also explore topics that remain top issues within California water, such as federal and state efforts related to PFAS and the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disadvantaged communities.

California Department of Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot is scheduled to deliver a keynote address, as well as California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth, who will address attendees on Bay-Delta conveyance, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, water use efficiency and the Water Storage Investment Program. Attendees will also hear a keynote address by cybersecurity expert Bob Flores, founder and president of Applicology Inc.

The full conference program with event dates and specific times is available online. News media interested in covering parts of the virtual conference can make arrangements by contacting ACWA Communications Director Heather Engel at heathere@acwa.com or by calling (760) 217-0627.

WHAT: ACWAs 2021 Spring Virtual Conference & Exhibition WHEN: Wednesday, May 12, 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Thursday, May 13, 9 a.m.  12 p.m.

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose more than 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

Contact: Heather Engel, Director of Communications | C (760) 217-0627
In brief: In the opening week of Epic v. Apple, Epic's lawyers pulled out the big guns calling console makers Sony and Microsoft to the stand. However, Apple countered by filing a motion to strike the latter's testimony for not producing supporting documentation.

Last week, Vice President of Xbox Business Development Lori Wright testified that Microsoft does not, nor has it ever profited from Xbox sales. She claimed that most of Xbox's revenue stems from Xbox Live and Game Pass subscriptions, with a smaller portion coming from a 30-percent commission from sales in its digital storefront.

On Thursday, Apple filed a motion asking for an adverse credibility finding in Wright's assertions. If granted, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers would strike Wright's entire testimony from the record as being not credible. Apple lawyers assert that they did not receive relevant files that supports her claims. Such documentation would have included profit and loss statements for the Xbox division.

"Ms. Wright testified in her deposition and confirmed at trial that she has documents in her files relevant to the issues on which she testified regarding important, disputed issues in this case," the filing reads. "These include, for example, Xbox profit and loss ("P&L") statements that might have shed light on Ms. Wright's unsupported assertion that the Xbox console business is unprofitable."

Despite Wright admitting that she reviewed documentation in preparation for her deposition, Microsoft "intentionally withheld" the supporting evidence. Apple says this forced its counsel to cross-examine Wright "with one arm tied behind its back" since it did not have the financial statements that may have contradicted her testimony.

The Verge notes that documentation has been an issue throughout the legal battle. Many of the filings uploaded to the public Box folder have been removed and sealed. Almost daily public filings are pulled to the point that Vox has created a mirror to keep track of the proceedings.

Wright admitted in court that "Microsoft has a large financial incentive to support Epic," but it seems reluctant to go as far as revealing sensitive financial information to its competitor.

Image credit: Mundissima
NEW HAVEN  The state Board of Pardons and Parole for more than two years effectively ceased hearing inmates requests to have their sentences commuted, in part due to what an official said is an ongoing review of its application processes.

While the process now is expected to get rebooted this summer with changes in eligibility and the application process, the delay meant inmates did not have an opportunity to be heard, defense attorney Alex Taubes said.

Board Executive Director Richard Sparaco said that the panel suspended its acceptance of commutation applications in 2020 while it reviewed policies and procedures. The board had reviewed only one application in 2019, records show.

According to state data, after accepting 37, 85 and 101 commutation applications in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively  five of which were granted  the board accepted one in 2019, none in 2020 and none so far this year.

Taubes contends that meant people in prison were inappropriately being denied the chance to even lobby the board.

The board has the power under the law, under its discretion, to commute everyones sentence, said Taubes. Not only do they not use that power, they dont even have a process to submit applications.

Without the outlet of the board, Taubes said those in prison needed the approval of prosecutors to seek a sentence reduction or to get a judge to approve a motion for compassionate release.

But those are high bars, he said  prosecutors are not always inclined to support sentence reductions, and, in Connecticut, a person needs to be physically or mentally debilitated, incapacitated or infirm as to be physically incapable of presenting a danger to society, as described by the board, to be granted compassionate release.

Taubes said he had worked with clients who had been in prison for decades without disciplinary issues. They and others deserve a second chance, deserve a second look at their lives, he said.

Theyre not being heard, said Taubes. They have nowhere to go.

A review

Sparaco said in an email that the board had temporarily interrupted the acceptance of applications for commutations while we focused on the creation and implementation of a completely automated web based application processing system for Absolute Pardons and Certificates of Employability, which began in early 2020.

Then, during the pandemic, the Board had to refocus its entire operation and shift to a virtual environment, which caused further delay, he said.

We did this without interrupting the parole and pardons hearings process. However, during this time we had to completely place our commutation review on hold as we focused on our other statutory releases. Over the past months, we began to shift focus back to the commutation process, said Sparaco.

Our review has resulted in the broadening of the eligibility criteria for commutations and (the) creation (of) a new application process, Sparaco said. As we near the end of our review, we are looking forward to once again accepting applications with a current anticipated date of July 1, 2021.

Sparaco declined to discuss immediately the details of how the eligibility criteria had been changed, saying that it was still in draft form. The changes should be finalized within the month, he said.

The board reviewed 1,426 parole applications and 1,396 pardon applications in total in 2020, according to state statistics, down slightly from 1,703 and 1,592, respectively, in 2019.

The board also considers whether to pardon people, which erases a criminal record; commutations are issued to people serving ongoing sentences.

Over that two-year period, the board granted 1,585 pardons - 593 in 2019, 992 in 2020 - and released 1,709 people on parole, 848 in 2019 and 861 in 2020, state data shows.

As of Friday, the boards website noted it is in the process of revising the application and policy governing commutations.

Taubes said he thinks the administration of Gov. Ned Lamonts administration had not made it a priority. Taubes said that governors in other states have the power to grant commutations

Max Reiss, a spokesman for the Lamont administration, noted the governor does not have the power to grant commutations or intervene in individual cases. The governor supports the board resuming hearing commutation applications later this year, he said.

Guidelines

Mike Lawlor, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven and former state lawmaker and prosecutor, said the standard for granting commutations had been unclear to date. Taubes noted this as well, saying it was the important for the board to establish clear guidelines.

Under the state constitution, the victims of the crime in question have to have input, but beyond that, its a judgment call by the board, Lawlor said.

The primary population that could garner a commutation, he said is are those who committed isolated violent crimes while young, then were sentenced to decades or life in prison without parole.

He raised the examples of Penny Krom, a Danbury woman who was granted clemency in 2016 after drowning her newborn child, and Clyde Meikle, who had his sentence reduced by a judge after killing his cousin in 1994. Both had been model prisoners, he said.

Its just a question of: do all these people need to be locked up forever? Lawlor said.

Lawlor said he believed commutations would become more common in the future, as the board, and society in general, revisits some of the harsh sentences of the 1990s.

Decades prior, Lawlor said, people convicted of murder had been eligible for parole, before standards for punishment became more aggressive.

The whole idea of commutation of sentence ... is something that only happened very occasionally in the past, but in recent years, theres been more of a focus on that, said Lawlor. I think youre going to see more of these in the future.

Taubes described the plan to resume accepting applications as extremely good news, saying it was better late than never.

He said he hoped the board would make applications available before July 1, so those who would like to seek a commutation can work on their filings before the process formally resumes.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Indianapolis, IN (46208)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Thunder possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Thunder possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  A jury has convicted a Colorado Springs man in a 2018 double-slaying in which a woman and man were shot and left in a burning car in a scheme to steal marijuana.

The panel on Friday found Nashid Rayon Rivers guilty of first-degree murder in the killings of Serena Garcia and Marcus Denton on the citys southwest side, The Gazette reported.

Garcia was 21 and lived in Parker. Denton was 20 and was from Atchison, Kansas.

Rivers also was convicted of aggravated robbery, tampering with human bodies and other counts. Fourth Judicial District Judge Frances Johnson imposed an automatic penalty of life in prison without parole.

Im innocent, Rivers told the judge in a profanity-laced tirade after the verdict.

Jurors returned their verdict after more than two days of deliberation, after a trial that lasted about two weeks.

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According to prosecutors, Rivers and Marquis Hazard conspired to lure Denton to a drug deal at which Rivers would kill him and take his marijuana, and Hazard would be the getaway driver.

Garcia was essentially a bystander who had driven to pick up Denton after he crashed his vehicle on a snowy road, prosecutors said. At the meet-up Rivers ambushed Denton and Garcia from inside their car, shooting them in the head, testimony showed.

Rivers then used gasoline to set fire to the car but accidentally burned himself, causing him to flee without the marijuana. Hazard, 22, and his girlfriend, Shailynn Ryles, 21, returned to the scene to collect the pot, authorities said.

Hazard is also charged with first-degree murder under the complicity theory, accused of helping to plot and cover up the robbery. His trial is scheduled for September. Ryles, a key witness against Rivers, has pleaded guilty to accessory to murder under a deal that will result in probation.

Attorneys for Rivers tried to convince the panel that Hazard was the mastermind and shooter, but prosecutors cited evidence that the defendant wielded the gun, including that the murder weapon was found in Rivers home.
Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy in Rome, April 29, 2021. (Nadia Shira Cohen/The New York Times)

CARIGNANO, Italy  Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, the son of the last king of Italy, gave his granddaughter a big 16th birthday present.

In a formal 2019 decree, the Duke of Savoy, Prince of Naples and by the grace of God direct heir to Head of the Royal House of Savoy, amended a medieval law that for centuries had restricted succession in his royal line to male heirs.

He bumped our beloved granddaughter Vittoria Cristina Chiara Adelaide Maria up the royal food chain, making her the first woman in 1,000 years to be invested with the authority to eventually lead the family and stake a claim to the defunct monarchy.

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It was the best gift he could give me, Vittoria, now 17 and a burgeoning Instagram influencer, said from her Paris home.

While Vittorias father in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and mother in Paris were as delighted as her grandparents in Gstaad, Switzerland, about her ascension to the top of Italys would-be royal family, a rival branch of Savoias were not pleased. Not at all.

Totally illegitimate, said Prince Aimone di Savoia Aosta, a cousin and rival claimant, who works as an executive for the Pirelli tire company in Moscow.

And so began the latest chapter in an ongoing dynastic dispute between the pretenders to Italys pretend throne. There are bitter feelings, thrown punches, warring noble committees, dukedom politics and as of last month, Vittorias ascending social media status.

What there is not is an actual crown to fight over.

Italy is a republic, having abolished the monarchy 75 years ago for its disastrous support of Mussolini, and Italians have approximately zero interest in a royal restoration.

Never say never, said Vittorias father, Emanuele Filiberto, an Italian television personality who claims the title Prince of Venice, which is also the name of his Los Angeles restaurant and former food truck. (We do a lot of film premieres. We did Jumanji,  he said.) Obviously, he said, the monarchy wasnt returning tomorrow, but he had no sons and the family needed a head of the royal household to run its historic orders. Plus, we also have a lot of people who are seeing the family with a potential comeback.

Story continues

Few Italians want that, even in Carignano, an ancestral home of Vittorio Emanueles branch of the family, which Vittoria became princess of on her 16th birthday.

Never heard of her, said teenagers, middle-aged shoppers and old men with canes as they walked near the Piazza Savoia, once home to a castle, now a parking lot.

It seemed that only Paolo Castagno, the local historian, knew anything about Vittoria or the family feud over her ascension. As he showed the tomb of one of Vittorias extremely distant ancestors in a church adorned with white stucco angels, he posited a source for the current spat.

Money, said Castagno, 59. Only heirs to the throne, he said, control the orders that distribute noble titles in exchange for lucrative payments to the family. By changing the inheritance law, Vittorio Emanuele ensured his branch a future revenue stream and prestige.

They are the ones getting invited to royal weddings.

The Savoias, like newly enlightened non-despots, insist that money has nothing to do with it and that they have only high-minded motivations for changing the order of succession, like embracing European Union values and boosting womens rights. Emanuele Filiberto is currently creating a Crown-like series about his grandmother, Queen Marie-Jose.

Totally anti-fascist, he said.

A great anti-fascist, echoed Vittoria, who called her a role model.

Emanuele Filiberto notes that many of Europes remaining monarchs are women, starting with Queen Elizabeth in Britain. Their royal houses have a much better track record of female empowerment than Italys Parliament, where women are notoriously underrepresented, he said.

Monarchies, he said, at least we give the power to the women.

Emanuele Filibertos wife, French actress Clotilde Courau, whom he met as they fenced at an event organized by his friend Prince Albert of Monaco, also cast her daughter as a gender equality trailblazer.

Its a huge thing in history, said Courau, who lives with Vittoria and her younger sister in Paris. She added that while she wished Vittoria had more time to prepare, she now, is, how do you say, the future regnante, or ruler.

Vittoria, when asked whether she thought Italy was ready to have her as a queen, or head of the family, said she had heard Italy is not really progressive.

But she added, they will learn.

She is already starting to assert herself. Last month, her father helped her draft the language and firm up her intonation for a straight-to-camera defense of the rights of French private school students in an Instagram address to Frances president, Emmanuel Macron.

The speech, viewed nearly 300,000 times, amounted to the public debut of what her father calls a rock 'n' roll princess.

Like her great-grandfathers great-grandfather, Vittorio Emanuele II, who united Italy, Vittoria is much more comfortable in French than Italian. When asked if she wanted to be Italys queen, she called the concept abstract and said she is just trying to figure out what she wants to do in life. She spends her days studying for finals, modeling midriff shirts on Instagram, dancing with friends and gossiping about Prince Harry and Meghan at school.

But mostly, she wants to design her own fashion brand.

I dont want to seem different, she said. Im Vittoria.

For decades, the disgruntled branch of the family, called the Aosta, has argued that the Carignano Savoia are sullying the good family name. Some of them took issue with the marriage of Vittorias grandfather, the exiled son of the last king, to a former competitive water skier who wasnt a noble.

Vittorio Emanuele IV, now 84, has a knack for insulting Italians. It didnt help his reputation when he was accused of accidentally killing a German tourist with a rifle shot from his yacht off the coast of Corsica in 1978. A French court acquitted him of manslaughter.

In 2006, after Italy let him and his son, Vittorias father, back in the country, the patriarch served time in a Potenza jail on charges of involvement in illegal gambling and prostitution, and accepting envelopes full of cash, which he said was a contribution to a noble order. He was eventually acquitted.

In the current fight over Vittoria, the Aosta have turned to an unsanctioned Board of the Senators Council in the Kingdom, also known as The Consulta. Referring to House of Savoy bylaws, the Aosta sympathizers deemed Vittorias ascension invalid. Among other things, they argue the law should only be changed when the monarchy is restored.

Prince Aimone, Duke of Puglia, declined to meet for an interview in the Tuscan country estate of his father, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who was reportedly punched twice in the face by his cousin, Vittorio Emanuele, at the 2004 wedding of the future King Felipe VI of Spain. Soon after that altercation, Amedeo claimed to be the legitimate Duke of Savoy.

To put it mildly, it is not a good relationship, Aimone said in a phone interview. But he said he wanted to avoid a public shouting match with his cousins over something that doesnt exist. I try to be more dignified if possible given the great responsibility of such a name.

Regal condescension runs in the family.

I dont even pay any attention to it, Vittoria said of her detractors.

But her father, backed by a rival Consulta, definitely does.

They are seeing UFOs, Emanuele Filiberto said in the Rome apartment of a noble family friend down the street from the hulking Vittoriano, or Altar to the Fatherland, honoring Vittorio Emanuele II.

He scorns cousins who, he said, were never important enough to even exile, and who, having failed in their efforts to supplant his father and him, were now targeting his daughter.

They were thinking that me, not having any sons, they would finally have what they were waiting for, for 150 years, but his father foiled their plans.

They got screwed, he said. And they got pissed.

All of this responsibility is starting to weigh on young Vittoria, and, well, uneasy lies the head that wears an imaginary crown.

Its a lot, she said.

Her father is trying to get her to study more, to vacation less, and to understand the value of work.

Emanuele Filiberto can himself seem like the hardest working nonroyal in show business. In the past 20 years, he has sought to win over a skeptical Italian public through its most venerated of institutions, variety television.

He is a star judge on a talent show he competed in during its celebrity season. He won Italys Dancing With the Stars, nearly won its Sanremo singing competition (they screwed me) with a song he wrote called Italia Amore Mio, and appeared in a show in which he tried out normal professions. (What was the worst? Perhaps it was the dog groomer.)

He has been the face of pickled olives and appeared in an ad for an electronic cigarette company. (FumOk where you want, like a prince.)

And last year, he appeared in a short video on Italian television soberly announcing, I have a duty to officially announce the return of the royal family. It was an ad for the Netflix series The Crown.

Emanuele Filibertos efforts to leverage his celebrity into a political career have gone nowhere and he knows he will not be the one to lead a royal restoration. He looks forward to leaving everything, he said, abdicating and sailing around the world.

That is, he said, once my daughter is prepared.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

 2021 The New York Times Company
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Linden Junction Tank Farm in Woodbridge, New Jersey, U.S. in an undated photograph. (Colonial Pipeline/Handout via Reuters)

FBI Confirms DarkSide Ransomware Behind Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack

The FBI on Monday confirmed that the DarkSide ransomware was used in the hack of the Colonial Pipeline, which prompted the U.S. Department of Transportation on Sunday to declare a state of emergency for 17 states due to potential fuel shortages.

The law enforcement agency said that the DarkSide cybercriminal ring stole a large amount of data before it locked Colonials computers with ransomwareconsidered possibly the most destructive ransomware attack so far.

The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline networks. We continue to work with the company and our government partners on the investigation, the agency said Monday. The FBI did not provide further details that those two lines.

According to the Boston-based Cybereason firm, DarkSide is an organized group of hackers who sell ransomware to other criminals to carry out cyberattacks.

DarkSide, according to Cybereason, appeared to issue a statement on its website. It said that it is apolitical and only wants to make money.

We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for our motives, the statement said, according to Cybereason. Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society. From today we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Colonial said that it proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which temporarily halted all pipeline operations, and affected some of our IT systems, and added that to restore service, we must work to ensure that each of these systems can be brought back online safely.

While this situation remains fluid and continues to evolve, the Colonial operations team is executing a plan that involves an incremental process that will facilitate a return to service in a phased approach, said its statement. This plan is based on a number of factors with safety and compliance driving our operational decisions, and the goal of substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week.

And on Sunday, the Department of Transportation declared a regional state of emergency over the ransomware attack.

This Declaration addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products and provides necessary relief, the agency said.

The affected states, according to the DOT, are Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee on Monday (May 10) hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying he must atone for his mistakes and serve the people instead of carrying on with his personal agenda oblivious to the sufferings all around. The CWC, the Congress' highest decision-making body, in a resolution also questioned the government data on coronavirus cases and fatalities, and alleged non-reporting of deaths.

The solution lies in facing challenge, not in concealing the truth, it said.

The CWC also expressed deep concern over the government's coronavirus vaccination strategy, alleging the supply was grossly insufficient and the pricing policy opaque and discriminatory.

Congress leaders K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said the CWC is of the firm belief that this is a time for showing an unwavering sense of national unity, purpose and resolve. "In order that it may become a reality, the Prime Minister must atone for his mistakes and commit to serving the people instead of carrying on with personal agenda, oblivious to the suffering all around," the CWC resolution said.

The two leaders said the CWC noted with concern that the government data on COVID-19 deaths is "horribly wrong and afflicted by a massive non-reporting of deaths". "The solution lies in facing the challenge and stopping the casualties from COVID-19 and not in concealing the truth by burying the data on deaths and infections," the CWC said.

The CWC said the second COVID-19 wave is nothing short of a grave calamity and is a direct consequence of the Modi government's "indifference, insensitivity and incompetence".

On other issues in the resolution, the two leaders said that a committee proposed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for assessing the party's losses in the recently concluded state polls would be set up within 48 hours and it would give its report very soon.

Surjewala said the Congress Working Committee also expressed its revulsion at the "shocking expenditure" priorities of the Modi government. At a time when the nation's resources should be devoted to ensuring expansion of vaccination drive and the supply of essential medicines and oxygen, the Modi government is indulging in a 'criminal waste of money' by continuing with the 'personal vanity' project of the Prime Minister in the national capital, the CWC said, referring to the Central Vista revamp exercise.

"This is the height of callousness and insensitivity, as also an insult to the people of the country," the CWC said.
Lawyers have made their final pitches to jurors in the case against a former Massachusetts mayor accused of swindling investors who backed his smartphone app and extorting marijuana vendors